New-York daily tribune., 1855-08-28
LORD JOHN RUSSELL.


lutionary family and Old Wing house OF be'iiork
enabled him to play in the drama a Europcs"
affairs. and the correction Of his name with sens
Of the great progressive Measures Of the day
seem 70 US 10 entitle him to somewsx,f more
lepethened and analytic obituary.
"IfIgss painter saii Old Cobbett, "faere
would place the old oar, (the British Consti-
"tutiop,) corroded at the root, bis top ae'd.
/" his trunk hollow, loosened s.'bis bss,, rocAssS
"with every blast, and there would phce Lefa
"John Russell, in the person Of a tom -fif' an
"deayorirg to put all right BY picking 1t nses
"of asima,eur seated in the hsif-rotten eSfA
.. Of enc Of the raeanest branches TAsrs are
SEINE who even think that he is eating the
"buds while he prstends to clear tie tzcs ot
sinjurious insects So minute were Lst
John Russelrs reforn efforts during his sots :
diluvian career from 1913 to 1880; bussr inuh :
as they were, they were not sincere, and he sN
not he state 10 retreat sTom them whene thy
clsshei with the attainment OF retentiea ~
place.
Since 1867 the Whigs hsd pined in vsis' s,~
bite at the rich cherry of official ssssry
and plunder, when in ls27 the formatiOa 81
CanniDg's cabinet, with whom they preteEs.d
to sgree on the subject of commerce. ard
of foreign policy, seemed to afford them the
long-sought-for opportunity. Russell at that
time had gwen notice of oae Of bs tom-tis Par
lismentary reform motions. Bat uPOa CAnniogs
stern detla5a alton that be should oppose Par
liaments,y rci.rm 70 the end of his life, up
rose Lor,. Jesn ia great haste aud withdrew
his otor, declaring taat Parliamentary
"re,o:m wssa question on which there was u
"er,at diversity of opinion among those who
." advocated it, and to which the leaders OF the
"Whss were always unwilling to be pledgedss Us
"to party question. 1t was now for the tasf
"hmc that he brought forward this question.
"The people no longer wished for reform"
While sitting at CanniDs's back, he, who had
made a merit of his noisy opposition to Castle
resgh's six ssgsing acts, RETAINED from voting on
Mr.. Hume's motion for the repeal Of one of
those six acts which made a man liable to ban
ishment for life for u.tering in print. anything
which had even tendency" to bring either
house of Parliament into contempt. Thus, ut
the conclusion Of the frst period Of his PArlis-
mentary life we find him fully cOneuTring with
tDt OplulOu VI bAaS w SiS HA~h"esPNt
Walpole that popular bills are never really
proposed but as an engine of party, and not as
ga pledge for the realization Of any such extra
"yagant ideas" 1t wac, then, BY no means
Lord J. Russelrs fault that the motion for Par
liam, mary reform, instead of being brought for
ward for the last " time in 1927. wGs to make
its temperance four years later, on March lat.
1881, in the shape Of the famous blL This bill,
which he still exhibits as his great claim to the
admiration Of the world in general, and the graft
tude of the EDglish nation in particular, he had
| not oven the merit of being the author Of. In
| its principal features-the breaking up Of the
nomination bOrOughs, the addition Of county
members, the enfranchisement Of copy holders,
ltase-holjers, and some of the chief commercial
townr-it was copied from the ReiJrm bill which
Lord Grey Che chief of the Reform Ministry in
| le3l) had moved in the House of Commons as
! f5r back as the year l797, and which no had
taken good care to drop when member of the
Fox cabinet in 1896. II was the Identical bill,
slightly modified.
The election Of Wellington from Office, be-
cause he had declared against Reform; the
French Revolution Of July; the threatening
political unions formed by the mlddling and
working classes at Birmingham, Manches-
| ter London, and elsewhere; the rural
war; the bonGres" all over the most fer
tile counties Of England-(" Out of the fres
"c5me the Reform" says celebrated writer)--
all these circumstances absolutely compelled
the Wings to propose some measure Of Reform.
L. was their only means of rushing into Office.
They gave way grudgingly, slowly, and after
Vainly reiterated efforts at one time to shaflo
ont of the only liberal clauses Of their own
measure, ard again to albanian it altogether.
aud TO keep their places BY compromise with
the Tories. They were prevented by the formi-
dsble attitude OF the people, aDd tho uncOm-
promising opposition Of the Tories. Hardly,
however, had the Refo IN bill become law, aud
begun to worb, when, 10 quote Mr.. Bright's
words, "the people began to feel that they had
been cheated Never, perhaps, bad migaty,
ard, 10 oil appearances, successful popular
movement been turned into such mock result.
Not only were the working classes altogether
excluded from any political influence, bu. tho
middle classes them,elSes discovered that Lord
AltboTpe, he soul Of the Reform cabinet, had
lot used rhetorical figure when telling bis Tory
adycrsaIies that the Reform bill vas the mOst
" aristoelaiic act ever offered 20 The nation"
Tie new county Representation still largely
pE-ponderated over that Of the tOwrs. Tho
franchise Of the tenants s--Sil occupying at an
annual value Of $50, rendered the counties, ,tiil
more eicie ntly than before tie tools Of the aris-