The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-09-23 00:00:00

years of toil and sacrifice of the blood of thousands, and

tem of thousands of her fairest population, and the ex-
haustion of her treasure for the re-establishment of order
in Europe, and of security in her own dominion, perform
the insane part of ignominiously leaving that position
she has gained ? Shall she become, in the hands of un-,
hecile leaders, the passive instrument of her own degra-
dation on the one hand, and of aiding the march of level-
ling republicanism through civilized Europe on the other,
under the false covering of the western alliance treaty ?
And, can it be possible that even Lord Palmerston is
himself so blind to the consequences of his own hitherto
reckless career as still to attempt to persist in that line of
temporising, meddling policy which has thrown two of
the finest countries in Europe into the arms of the most
appalling anarchy, and compromised the legitimate in-
terests, and destroyed the ascendant influence of this
powerful kingdom in both ? There is no longer the
"lull" which precedes the storm with regard to the pre-
sent condition of the entire western continent of Europe
—that storm has already burst on Spain and Portugal in
fearless fury, and what means have we at command to
arrest its progress, to avert its calamity ? Are not the
ingredients of further political combustion, in the very
heart of another powerful state still nearer home, on the
eve of explosion, if the very mischief so freely developed
elsewhere has not itself been engendered primarily in her
secret societies, fomented in the fertile bosom of her re-
volutionary crater ) Our generally well-informed con-
temporary of the London 'Standard, of Monday evening,
gave intimation of Lord Palmerston's retirement from
office—this would be the natural event to be looked for
at the hands of any man properly alive to his situation,
as our foreign minister ought to be ; but we think that
out shrewd contemporary has, in this instance, under his
own notions of propriety, formed an erroneous judgment
with regard to the object of his commentary, or rather of
his sensibility to the influences of that lofty decorum
which should sway the actions and govern the conduct of

a statesman so circumstanced. No, we fear that there is
a sad deficiency of that Standard quality—that greatness
of soul which piques itself on the virtue of confessing
error, and thus of making the only atonement within its
power for inflicted injury, or breach of duty! Under this
impression, then, we say, Lord Palmerston will not resign
—such resignation, at this moment, would break up the
Supreme Cabinet of the modern " Talents;" and this
oligarchical conclave, as may be gathered from the very
last manifesto of, their Master just out, warm from his
popish steam-engine press, shows that they have yet fur-
ther mischief in contemplation, before they give up the
ghost! And we would ask, of what avail would be the
mere circumstance of Lord Palmerston's retirement,
without that retirement were to be followed by an entire
change in, or a positive rejection of that policy which
has, not only proved itself inadequate to arrest the pro-
gress of national dismemberment, but has been its main=
spring, its accelerator in the hands of wily foreign diplo-
matists, intriguing bankrupt stock-jobbers, and the curse
of every nation, political anarchists; whilst it has just
enabled th.t King of the barricades to play with singular
adroitness, the deep game of avoiding all the responsi-
bility, and of evading the displeasure of the Northern
powers by withholding the ultimatum of a direct inter-
vention. We will deal as little as possible with gene-
ralities, and speculation on the climax of this essential
subject of our foreign policy ; but let any man capable of
exercising the faculty of reflection, just take a retro-
spective view of the_ various measures which have fol-
lowed in succession, from the protocolic reign of diplo-
macy in Belgium, to this time, and survey the posture
in which this nation now stands with all the powers of
Europe, and involve Turkey, as a necessary appendage,
and he will come to the inevitable conclusion, that
nothing save a miracle, short of the immediate confront
of a master-mind, and the assertion of a divided principle
of action, will avert a general appeal to arms. Alas ! we
know too well the incapabilities of the present administra-
tion, as a whole, mentally and morally, to cope with the
crisis it has brought on its own head—its utter inability to
withstand the shock of a fOreign war,—this is an awful ex-
igency, assuredly, to provide against, after all our

vaunted pacific dispositions, and the compromise of our
national credit. The Times has formed in its discussion

of this grave topic, within the last few days, a thorough-
y searching and comprehensive conclusion. with regard
to the position of the Ministry, upon the facts in detail,
and we fearlessly risk issue thereupon, and upon the
opinions we now express. And although we might even
feel disposed to accord Lord Holland a greater share of tact
than falls to the lot of the ensemble of his Whig associates, the
most likely by his experience to parry the consequences
of that concatenation of evil they have produced, even his
sprightly wit will not avail here, although his " ne plus
ultra" of a constitution, in which the majority of citizens
may, with impunity, be suffered to take off the heads of

the minority, should even be put before us! No, Lord
Holland, not even you, for whose judgment we have some
respect, arising from opportunities for forming an accu-
rate opinion on that quality, and founded on the judg-
ment of one dear to our memory, who was long intimate
with your career as a statesman, and your closet powers
—we say, that even you, my lord, unless you change
your views, and follow in the conversion of your intimate
friend, M. Guizot, shall not alter our opinion. As this
able man has failed in his attempts to govern France,
upon principles which are incompatible with reason and
sound philosophy, as the revolutiOn in Spain has proved,
and France herself too sadly experienced in the denoue.
ment of the tragedy before her eyes, your less able col-
leagues, though protected by your genius, shall not be
permitted to seal with irretrievable ruin the destiny of
this country, as one of them has been permitted to seal
the destiny of Spain. There is yet time for an honour-
able retreat, or an ignominious downfal, which awaits
that association, we will not honour by the name of
party All that is honourable and virtuous in the ranks of
the old whigs, with one or two exceptions, have disclaimed
the compact; and O'Connell's insolence respecting Sir
James Graham and the recent election for East Cumber-
land, will have little weight indeed. That contemptible
convention and chart of imbecility, the quadruple treaty,
has been the ruin of Christina, through the quality of
its principle in the first place, and in the next, through
the total inefficiency of the means adopted for its sup-
port; whilst the additional ruin of thousands of British
families, engulphed -in the mire of the stock-jobbing
speculations and loans it has led to, are its immediate re-
sults at home. What, then, is the duty of a ministry
towards themselves and a people so circumstanced ?
That ministry will not, it seems, either nobly or justly,
answer this question, or meet it manfully before the Bri-
tish nation, although sufficiently stultified by its own
acts, and its doom settled; but, if that nation knows and
feels what is due to its interest, on every footing of dig-
nity and honour, nay of self-preservation, it will speedily
answer for itself in a voice of thunder, not to be mistaken.

if any noble individual of the present day more than
another, fills a proudly elevated position in the conserva-
tive ranks of Englishmen, that noble individual is the
present Earl of Wilton. When we look back upon the
momentous catalogue of events, under which the great
community of our social family, as a people, has been
agitated during the last four or five years, we cannot but
have abundant reason for rejoicing at the altered condi-
tion and present auspicious aspect of our domestic poli-
tics and our civil prospects; although we have yet much
to contend fur, which we shall assuredly not obtain, with-
out persevering energy and devotion of purpose. Yet,
a short period gone by, and constitutional principles had
become, as it were, a bye-word amongst all classes of the
people, and the whole frame-work of our great national
.society appeared on the eve of being broken up, under
the false enthusiasm of their maddened reforming career.
The " raging of the sea " and the "madness of the peo-
ple" has been aptly compared in Holy Writ, and the
simile was appropriately apposite to our national position
—this fever has happily subsided. What, then, must
not be the gratification of feeling experienced by the
Earl of Wilton, as a constitutionally conservative peer,
on now finding himself supported by the thinking part
of the community, returned to a state of sober reflection,
and sustained by the wealth, talent, respectability, and
industry of one of the most populous counties in Britain,
comprehending its southern division, and re-edioing