The New York herald., 1871-11-23

Sir Charies Dtlke Is 10 Dc tue princlpai speahcr'
Sir Charles quite recently made . speech at
Newcastle on Tyne-a speech which, We be-
leve, in its immediate results has been quite
as surprising to himself as it has been start
ling to the world. On the occasion referred
to Sir Charles summed up the expenses of the
monarchy, piled thousands upon thousands,
and, apparently to the complete satisfaction of
his audience, proved that the British moR-
archy. things being as they now are, Is very
expensive and very useless toy. Lord By
ron tells us that he awoke one morning and,
much to his own surprise, found him.
self famous. Sir Charles Dixie Is gen.
tleman and man Of cultures In the literary
world he has acquired some reputation; bot,
unless we greatly mistake, Sir Charles must
have found himself on the morning after his
Newcastle speech very much as Lord Byron
found himself on that famous morning when his
.hroned, Mr.. Odger is nowhere; but Sir Charles
Wentworth Dixie is the acknowledged king of
English radicals. That he is not panied by
the reputation he has won, and that he takes
somewhat kindly to his new friends, is evil
dencsd BY the fact that he has consented to take
the prominent place at the Forthcoming demon
stration in London. Mirabeau, and after him
the great Napoleon, were wont to- say that
| revolutionary movement could never be fruit
| full unless 1t found great leader, himself the
! incarnation Of the dominant sentiments, SYM
pathies and forces Of his time. Have the
| British radicals found their man in Sir Charles
| w. Dllke2 We think it doubtful; but we are
willing to leave ii TO time to test the expert
| ment
| At the same time it is impossible to refuse
| to admit that the adhesion Of such man to
the revolutionary movement which notorously
exists, and which undisguisedly advances in
the direction Of the republic, is to be regarded
as one Of the signs of the times. So long as
the revolutionary movement was represented
| and advocated only by such mon as Bradlaugh
| and Odger, existing interests had little ground
| for apprehension; for the violence of the
party leaders made success impossible II has
always been SO in Great Britain 1t was so ia
the years that Immediately preceded the pass
ing of the first Reform bill. 1t was not until
the cultivated and titled orders took the
matter in hand that success began 10 be seen
in the dim distance; and the Reform bill Of
1882, which has been SO fruitful Of blessings
to the whole British people, was not
so much popular victory as triumph Of
the cultivated and liberal in.ellects Of the
time, seconded by the hereditary reformers,
as represented by such men IS Henry
Brougham, Thomas Darlington Macaulay, Lord
John Russell and Earl Grey. It was the
want of such support that made such
.fosco of the Chartist movement In 1885, Nor
would it be difficult to show that 1t was mainly
by these same forces that Mr.. Disrael found it
SO easy to carry his Reform bill in 1867. Sir
Charles Dixie is not the only man Of his order
who has revealed sympathy with this new
but as yet in-defned revolutionary move
| ment Mr.. Fawcett, the learned member for
Brighton, and John Stuart Mill are both
advanced reformers, who by tongue and pen
have long and vigorously advocated sweeping
and radical changes. It would not be difficult
mention scores Of names among the young
and rising statesmen who have openly advo-
Gated measures the adoption of which would
be destructive o. all hereditary authority.
Mr.. Disraeli's sympathies are well known;
ami it is not to be doubted that but for his
unfortunate connection with a slow, interested
and reactionary party, whom he finds it diff
cult to educate, he would be the most
advanced reformer of these times. His
Reform bill was one proof Of this his late
Hughenden speech was another. Aud what
shall we say of Mr.. Gladstone himself2 It is
his pride that in one section Of Her Majesty's
dominions he has abolished an ancient historic
Church establishment and humbled the here
ditary lords of the soil by making an end
of an old and iniquitous system of land tenure.
1t is equally his boast that he has recon-
structed the British army on basis which
knows not Crown rights nor aristocratic privi-
lcges. Vigorous and ready for a new cam
paign, he has publicly announced his deter
mination to protect the conscientious voter by
the ballot box and to reform the House of
Lords, If need be. Most certainly there is no
lack of reformers among the acknowledged
statesmen Of Great Britain. If anything were
wanted to show how deep, intense and gen.
eral is the reform sentiment, and how firmly it
has taken hold of the highest as well as of the
lowest Glasses, We might point to the recent
movement Of Mr. Scott Russell movement
which, though it failed, revealed the fact that
some Of the greatest names among the tory
aristocracy of England were not unwilling, on
a well defined platform, to meet, shake hands
and cooperate with the workingmen. Every
where in the three kingdoms Is heard the
growl Of discomfort. Ireland demands home
rule, and the Catholic clergy have gone back
upon themselves by insisting on the abolition
Of the national schools and the establishment
of denominatonal system Of education.