New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-12-29
DECAY or THE ENGLISH GOVERNNENT.

his sovereignty, dating from the era Of the
| gOda, should be fully set forth to the worship
| ing populace sent in the front OF the process
| sion the ancient royal chariot, closely vailed
| and covered, before which the people knclt, and
| mado the day hideous with devotion, while the
Mikado comfortably logged along and dozed
unseen in plain carriage in the rear of the
| procession John Bull hit long ago upon the
| same clever cxpedient to rid the real governing
power of the country Of both troublesome sa-
laams and fault-fnding. Hekeepsup an ancient
! system of royalty and nobility which creaks
and numbers along in front of the nation, be-
diamonded and bespansled, big and bright
enough TO draw all The worship and abuse,
while the real power lies behind in half
dozen plain men who represent the common
atty. OF late however, hints begin to
multiply on every sdo that the people
are tired of salaaming and koO- toOing before
| this ancient chariot in which, as everybody
| knows, the King j. not to be found John
| Bull begins 10 question whether this gigantic
| sham is worth its price, when that price OK
hausts the best labor and life of the people.
The member in this governing system which
| attracted most attention to its weakness dur
| ing the last year has been the House OF
| Lords. The Peers, being men of educa-
| ton and good deal of mental force, forget
sometimes that they are only part OF
State ceremonial and attempt to assume
littlo real authority, when it is ludicrOus to
observe how promptly the check-strings are
pulled, and they arc reduced to their igno-
| bio wOOdenncss again. Most noticeably was
| this tho case in the two instances
when they brought themselves in collision
with tho popular feeling, on tho questions
of the Irish Church and Land bill. NO
American collcge-boy, in his debating club,
could inveigh more bitterly against the de-
"caying arstOcracy of England" than the
leading English journals themselves. The
| House of Lords was reminded. with unmlstak-
able significance, that cOrOnets, quartcrlngs, ana
oak-eaves we're baubes pretty and rich enough
vherewith to amuse themselves and the Vul-
ror. but did by no means include the reins of
Government. The encroachment was one OF
such peculiar irritation as to betray even inc
wary Times into speaking the impolitc whole
7 truth Tho next most influential journal IN
" the fourth estaten protested against the very
existence of "a House in which the tine
&" Government was pOwerless because In 1t the
nation was entirely unrepresented. The ma
"cline cannot 90 on forever" continues tins
journal, "with the draft-horsc pulling one way
and the thoroughbred another. The waste of
"power in the working beast is becoming too
| great for endurance SO dangerous did the
outcry become against this useless Second
| Chamber, which threatened to load the working
| beast to death, that even The Saturday Rerie,r,
which is the exponent of the aristOcracy yet
| Oh IN hp A times.
endeavOrcd to reconcile the people with the
ills they have:
"The House Of Lords product % centuries OF
ntical existence No one could invent It, create IT,
reproduce it, That 10 should have so much power and
yet ttlo power. that should be so respectable aai
yet so moderate that 1t should not DO sham and yet
should know so well that II must yield when those vho
have tho real government Of the country bid YIELD Is
something very extraordinary and very accidental in tho
general history OF politics That tho present state OF
:ings should DO permanent soens confess. very
nkoy."
1t suggested as an original plan to solve
the difficulty that the House of Lords should
be kept up for the honor of the country, but
that the Lords should stay ont of it. Zone of
the easiest, quietest, and most natural modes cf
" the House of Lords dying out would be that
"no peer should think it worth while to at
"tcnd. A peer is just rs great, just as rich,
" and justas happy man whether he goes to tho
House of Lords or not" That Government
must be thoroughly dccayed at heart which is
drawn to childish tricks and shams such az
these to keep no the semblance of life. The
questions on which Peers and Commons have
been brought in contact lately were but of
transient Importance. The significant point,
to q cool spectator, was the vindictive eager
ness with which any movement toward inde-
pendent power by the Peers was met by the
demand from Commons, People, and Press that
the House of Lords be put upon final trial,
whether it shall stand or not.
The dangers Of such emergencies have been
passed over in the last year by the uncondi-
tional surrender of the Peers as in the matter
of the Church bill, or by the wholesale crea-
ton of enough new Peers to defeat tho old
ones who stood by their ordef-a Sinking
maneuver which is paltry and ludicrous in
the extreme. The plain fact IL, that the peo-
pie of England have outgrown their Govern
ment. With its childish traprings and unmean-
ing symbols, it becomes Their adult strength
intelligence and sound common sense much
as the swaddlng clothes of TIE infant would
the limbs of the full grown mar. They show
now and then with fierce impotence that
they are conscious of this. The same people
who bowed down to and wCrshiped as the
first gentleman in Europe the padded iber-
tine. George w., treat with q cOntemptuOus
indifference the dull, inefficient Queen and her
duller, sensual sons. Even the projected mar
rage of the Princess Louise with subject
who Is Ill reality a cOmmOner, which, whether
il was meant or not might have served rs