The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-11-24

Was not worth their white then 20 sIt in fa15
House of Commons. 10 the next place the
restoration Of the Stusrts had nov come 20 DC
associated In the popular mind with the tie4 OF
a FreLch invasion; aud this cooled their ardor
not q little iu favor of that ldckless ca Ise.
Lastly, by the impeachment OF Bolingbroke and
Ormond aud tue general dispersion OF US leaders,
the whole Tory party we're lett like sheep with
out shepherd. They had no one ~ rect the In
the manifold iutricacies OF elecuoueeriug. They
hau no "cry:' more important point IN those
DAYS than 1t Is even 10 our o yn. IL to all these
various reasons we add the absence oil such
causes OF discomfort a. the attack on Sacheyerel
and the prolOngatiOn OF the French war; Ve
shall see tuatthere vas plenty to account lor the
general election oi l7l6 without tall NO bsck upon
the agency OF popular caprice. 10 Is remarkable,
however, aud n illustrates what we Just row
said Of the csc llauOu of public OpiDiOn d1ttug
the period IN question, that Immediately after
this eisCtiOu toe wing admiuistraIon
began 10 see the necessity OF providing agatoss
another 'rcvuision' OF opiuton 10 be appre-
hendod at the next. In February, l7l6, this
Parliament was returnedi and before The cud OF
April the ssptenntal ACT had passed both
houses. The almost equal struggle bet Reeu nc
old principles aud the new huu been inClued
one way by tue circumstance OF l1iO, and an
other by the circ1nsinu .rs OF lIl6. Nhl vas
to say that third st of ClrcuWs 'ancgs mIuut
not turn The scale once more lp ltlW
The supiOnuial Act fulfilled its object By lI22
ths wings were confirmed IN power. JtcOD'tisu
was Gtglnuiug TO ass lu,o tbat second stage
which We have described, Aud from lTlG ID
1884 one general election was Ike auotner,
no fair trial OF strength between the
two parties having occurred a. any one OF
them, Our next critical election accordingly
comes before us upon auU'ucr scene. UudrI new
conditions, WheU political parties had been shu'-
teo ana dealt ont atrvsh, aud wncn the members
OF the House OF Commons VINO hal been elected
because they we're JuCJ1jtes might have been
counted on ones tuCcrs. Not thai an extensive
JaCobite COnsplrn' " did not exist in Eugltud
durrg the Whole twenty yeas, perhaD', that
elapsed between the death ut The Regent Or
leans and the laBdjno Ot Prince Charles Eirari;
but the cause had lost its hold upon The nation,
ard no Longer In any appteciable degree intu-
CnCed elections.
In 1884 then there was au anpegl to the consti-
tuppCIes blythe Opposition and the Government
such a5 We are nov QCCus .oWed 10, upon general
questions Of policy, and without, a. lar az We
can learn, any taCit reference even 20 the eHlei
family. The OppOsIuOu was saugulue OF success,
They had two excellent cries, the Excise acneme
aud the SCpttnu al &C, winch was very uupo-
pular anu which Ministers mad refused to
repeal. but more than All thus, Government had
for the last eight wears been exposed to a species
OF warfare III wben Ministers we're at a marked
disadyautaee. Literature was on the side OF tue
Tories. The reasons why II was so are too we'll
known to be repeated And 1T the head OF the
body OF guerIlas who hara-sed the Ministry
from all sides was the yeugctul spirit and the
pieIciug pen of BUlngbrOke himself Whatever
can be done by political journalism to blacEen
the character aud dlstort the policy OF q rival
statesman, it. may be asserted, without fear Of
contradiction, that the Craftsman dld.
Wslpole, on the other hand. secure
OF the court; as unscrup pulOus in hn
means as We believe he was houest In
his euds; and relying, with just confidence, on
the benehceut character OF hs long admIuistra
ton, was not afraid OF the result, though far
too wise to Oe careless. Towards the expenses
OF the election he Is said TO have contributed
no less O sum than &60,000 out OF lis own
pocket, But the event, though disappoint-
ment 10 the Tories, was on the whole dlscoIrag-
ing TO the Minister The battle was fought out
in April Md conducted with uncommon acri-
mony IN all parts OF the Kingdom. Tue result
was to lessen the Ministerial majority
by about one-third, but to leave the
Opposition at the same time just as tar from
office as ever. Bolongbroke stopped the CrdttS-
man, and retired to the Continent. The old
Tory leaders, ShIppen, Wyudbam, Barnard, who
had borne the burden aud heat Of the day, saw
the prize Tor which they had long conteuded
81 IalChed from their grasp. With the election
OF 1884 vanished the last hauce which had
arisen siuce the death OF Queen Anne OF = pure
Tory administration. The tiue was not yet.
At the next critical election the Wings indeed
were turned out, bat the ToIies were not
brought in,
afterwards IN l74l, ana the result as all the
world knows, was the defeat aud resignation OF
Sir Robert WalpOle But, after all, this was
only the CONCLUDING act of the drama began in
Minister had lost his popularity, the resolution
/ at which the COuutry had arrived in l7lG was
still dominant in England Shortly alter the LAST
I mentioned year the o.chIauon bstween Jaco.
btIsm and 'Guelpbisn' mad begun TO subsIde,
and the public remained steady 10 Wing priucl-
pies Tor upwards, OF htIy. years. In 1874 the
Tones OF the BOlingbrOke sChoOl-a
class Of Tories disunct alike from
Jacobites, Peeltes, or Eldonites-had their
chance, fought their battle, and lost it, and
from that time forth ceased TO exist as sub
saniIye power in the State. The election of
! l74l accom- plished one-hslt of their original
! design, and overthrow Walpole; but it broug ht
| no advantage TO themselves. Within three years
of the great Opposition triumph, steady, old.
! fashioned Whig government, slightly reinforced
! by the Patriots" was again III office under
| Henry Pelham, who retained power till his
| death, eleven years afterwards aud bequeathed
it to his party for another twelve or fifteen
! years
We have now to take a considerable leap in
advance before we come to another election
which deserves the title of "criticaln After
| the death OF George IL the nation was gradually
| cOuvtr rted TO IOrYlsm by the character aod con-
duCl OF his successor woo, Whatever ne might
| appear TO those VINO had opportunities OF know
ing h'm, to the great mass OF the people was
| an object OF the slnCerest Teneratlon. Bat the
change was gradual both IN the country aud
the House OF Commons and not the result OF
any sudden "Tevulslon OF feeling" or special
| appeal TO the constituencies The general elec-
tiOn OF 1854 IS remarkable rather Tor having
| shown that although the House OF Commons had
! deserted the principles on which II was re-
turned, the people were still true to
! them. The Parliament which was dissolved
in 1884 had been elected in 1880, when it was
found, contrary to the expectations OF the Op-
position, that the country was in favor OF the
Govern nment and that Lord Norths majority
was little, If at all, diminished. In other words,
the House of Commons in which the Coalition
Ministry was formed against the Kings party,
was the very same House OF Commons which
had been elected 10 support the King. Is it u
be wondered at, therefore, that on the first
appeal 70 the peopleethe Coalition was scattered
to the winds? 1t has often seemed to US tnat
this memorable election has been good deal
mISuQdpIstOOQ.