The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-12-20 00:00:00

ers of,strife" and agitation, or in the political

that carries desolation in its course. But let us track
these fugitive ministers to their hiding places—we shall
find much matter there foi speculation. Do we.not be-
hold them there, in all the agony of disappointed ambi-

" To be, or not to be. that is the question."

"present cabinet cannot stand the assaults of the nex

parliamentary session." Perhaps, though we feel almost
reluctant to use so strong a simile, like wicked spirits, in
days of old, when commanded " to come out" of their
bond slave, they first " rent him sore," till he " was as
one dead." So our present ministers seem resolved to
place in hazard the very existence of the state, and to
convulse it to its very foundations, before they will relin-
quish the honours of office.

But, whilst we express our surprise at the sudden and
permanent disappearance of our ministers, who, chame-
leon-like, feed upon air, the vitiated breath of discon-
tent, we are not regardless of their several spiraculw,
which are stretched abroad in almost every part of the
kingdom, and which first agitate, and then inhale, the
noxious blast. Sir John Campbell, Mr. Gisborne, and
my Lord Ebrington, are the very nostrils of the present
administration; but we fancy that this diet, unsubstan-
tial as it is, fails also in quantity—in quality we are sure
it is much less pure than ever.

After all the attempts that have been made to conjure
up the demon of destruction under the name of Reform,
if ministers find him chained down by the moral spell of
Conservatism, will they madly persevere in their political
witchcraft? We answer for them—oh yes . We fancy
we hear them say—we have not retired to seek rest—the
stillness before the storm is our emblem,-we are forging
armour, which neither truth, nor justice, nor shame, eau
penetrate. Ireland shall have justice measured to her,
according to her own standard, till popish priests cry'
out—enough I—though Protestant property and the Pro-
testant Church be sacrificed in the accomplishment of it.
Let the House of Lords, let the English clergy, offer
what resistance they may, we will reform them both—we
have the plan prepared, and the attempt shall be made.
Such is the kind of language we can imagine to proceed
from ministerial retreat. " Bold words," to be " vouched
by deeds as bold"—still they pass by conservative inte-
grity "as the idle wind which we regard not." In such

a war of desperation, the Fabian policy is ou.rs—they
will perish by their own hands.

We have had but one design throughout this address—
to wain our friends not to slumber because ministers ap-
pear to sleep. We have, hitherto, proved ourselves
" watchers." Our noble conservative dinners--our gi •
gantic operative associations—our ever-speaking press--
all proclaim us prepared for any assault from the enemy.
But we conclude with the emphatic word—WATCH.

In our last journal we enjoyed a few very agreeable
moments at the expense of the radical members of Scot-
land Ward. " Merrier men we never spent an hour's
chat withal "—not a sentence escaped theii lips but was
modelled for the ears of " laughter holding both his
sides." We had an invitation in the same report to
move our diaphragms at a dinner given to J. D.
Thornely, Esq., " Vauxhall Ward." But we made a
hasty election : we dare not deliberate, or, between the
two
therefore, of i sjs we should have been like the ass and the
hay—starving in a superfluity of luxury. We
now,
shall just step from Scotland to Vauxhall
to partake of the crumbs that fell from the table ; and we
could without much effort of mind believe that we were
bundlese texclu
literally and truly in "Vauxhall" surrounded with' all its
buffoons. Hold—no slander. Let us proceed to the
entertainment.

The chairman, who, officially, always leads the orches-
tra, opened with " a blast so loud and strong"—never
were prophetic sounds "so void of sense." "He hoped
all present would be thankful for what his Majesty had
already done, and also for what remains to be done"—to
the end pf time—a compendious mode of discharging the
debt of gratitude to future kings by paying it in advance
'to their ancestors—a radical reddrnption of the land-tax
of obligation to succeeding monarchs, or a piece
Of ver-
biage vernacular at Vauxhall, and the correct language
of reform dinners, where the Destructives never fail to

tion, muttering imprecations against the Lords, who have
"vast them down to utterless perdition." Whilst the
heart palpitates, and the lungs refuse their office, is not
the hand raised to denounce vengeance upon their ad-
versaries. Is the brain not tortured, and the imagina-
tion exhausted, in planning schemes of spoliation, as the
only means left of revenge ?—does not a smile of malig-
nant joy play upon the countenance and cause the dis-
tracted eve to relax when Ireland flashes across the
mind ?—lreland, that fertile soil of discontent—that vic-
tim of every political recreant—yes, Ireland, we think
we hear them exultingly exclaim, Ireland may still be
enraged to pierce the side of her protecting sister Eng-
land. In Ireland may be dimmed, perhaps quenched,
the Protestant light of Britain. In Ireland, may be melted
down, and recast, after an O'Connell plan, the British
Constitution. Oh Ireland, Ireland, which nature, policy,
and experience, invoke to cherish the tenderest affection
towards your sister England, why do you suffer your
worst enemies to alienate you from her You are made
an instrument, in the hands of oppressive selfishness, to
crush the interest, disturb the peace, and endanger the
stability of England; and when they who have used you
for this purpose have accomplished their design, they will
throw you aside, as other tools are, till you are wanted
again. But whatever conspiracy may be formed against
the perdurable constitution of Britain—in whatever point
it may be assailed—with what novelty of weapons soever
her enemies may assault it—whether by open face or se-
cret stratagem—it is fenced round with conservative bul-
warks which mock every attempt.
We fancy we see ministers in their retreat, looking
" through the loop-holes of the world" to catch " what
news abroad." How frequently is the countenance dark-
ened, as the post brings intelligence, that another and
another conservative meeting has sounded forth the prin-
ciples of loyalty and good government ? From the four
winds the same intelligence arrives, as if all England had
united in one acclamation—till, like a fatal sirocco, it
produces in them a political asphyxia. Arrayed against
them they see the title, wealth, virtue, and talent of the
land. Still, who can tear out the heart, however dis-
eased, and live ? Cease to be ministers, and cease to be
anything.—

Much as we deprecate the conduct of Lord John Rus-
sell and Viscount Melbourne, we can sympathise with
them as men. If they have drunk too deep of political
poison, and.are now suffering under its noxious influence,
we would urge them, whilst there is time, before another
Parliament meets, to take the antidote of conservative
council, lest another draught of the deadly potion should
prove their ruin. But, alas !we speak to the deaf adder.
We see the same hand, though half paralysed, preparing
a cup of the very same ingredients as the last; and in a
" brief month," or so, in the face of their country, they
intend to drink of it themselves--to divide it to the dregs
among- their deluded followers.
There may be much of political tact in this silent se-
clusion of ministers. Whilst the lion sleeps the jackal]
is abroad seeking prey ; and we have watched the move-
ments of many of these state jackalls. We have heard
their cry, and are not ignorant of the victims marked out.
In one spot we have seen the House of Lords singled out
for the chase of destruction. Sir John Campbell hunted
as vigorously as the confined powers of his mind enabled
him. Mr. Gisborne, though too infirm for parliamentary
duties, displayed reviving energies in pursuit of such no-
ble game; and my Lord Ebrington followed, in a new,
"unheard, and unread of" track. But this royal bird
soars beyond the reach of so mean a quarry, and they
" beat the air" in vain with their rapacious cries.
We envy not the condition of the present ministers—
they are in a "straight betwixt two." On one side
their pledge of Irish reform hedges them in, and no
sooner do they evince a desire to break through it, than
the O'Connell hounds, fiercely yelping, keep them back;
on the other side, Conservative Justice, Truth, and Vir-
tue, forbid any escape. Surrender or destruction are the
only alternatives. As wise men they ought not to hesi-
tate. If, after the mortification of defeat, they find some
solaee in seclusion, yet let them remember, a "worse
• •,, tit,. - t
designs ; it has, explicitly, avowed its sentiments ; the
dullest understanding—the most infatuated prejudice—
even the devoted friends of radio 4: reform, Sir William
Bentinck and the ministerial press, acknowledge that a
" reaction" has possessed the public mind, and that the