The Express. — 1849-06-18 (London, England)

LONDON, MONDAY, JUNE 18.  PEELISM is in a ettte of decomposition. The mrgic wherchy its heterogeneous elements were once held firmly tog« thor, begins perceptihly to fail. Tnat magic was hope, and as its vitality departs the :ong suppressed antagonisms rearp-ar, and the dell:airing clique hasten to resolve th.nvelves into .heir discoreant elements. Mr. DIMIELI used to take c edit with h;a party for having struck off its topmost and too haughty bough; with equal reason he may b mast that now he has shivered that broken branch  in pieces. The debate and division on the Canadian Losses Bill supply abundant evidence of the fact. Peeliem was heretofore looked upon as a mystery—a thing of incongruities harmuni ad, and incompatibilities made to comb ne. What quality in common, nature had c•.nferred on rigid GOULBURN and elastic GRAHAM, or what kindred sympathy could lie k pragmatic PAKINGTON to the non defiant SIDNEY HERBERT,—common-place observers vainly strove to discern. A certain unity of act and speech visibly and audibly there doubtle es seemed to he ; but how such ingredients ever camo to form what professed to be one soli 1 and specific mans,—strorg enough for the destinies of an mpire to rest on,—was a marvel and a puzzle to the uninitiated crowd of all degrees. And if all be true that we have lately heard of offers, bargains, and negotiations, it is clear that much of the exaggerated value which the Peelite party put, as a p rty, on themselves, was confessedly founded on their pre-eminent sick together-ativenese—their pride therein being so intense that they could treat upon no other bas's than that of " all or none." But the rutleess hand that severed them from the deep-rooted stem of ancient toryism has once more yeen raised against them. Did be fear their strikieF new root of their own ? Or was it to punish their obstinacy in refusing to be re-grafted on the old stock again? We know not. All we do know is chat on last Friday night, instead of mystical union there was open and varied division in the quarter in question. On the motion of Mr. HERMES, the Peelites split into no leas than three discordant sections. Sir ROBERT led a faithful few against the invaders of culonial liberty. Mr. GLADSTONE headed a like dr tachment in support of that unworthy cause; and Lord LINCOLN took the emmand of a select contingent, who, after hovering aloof during the engagement, at its conclusion decamped without exchanging shuts with either side. Hereafter when one is asked in any doubtful controversy what will the Peelites do ? the reply will r ecsssarily be—which kind of Peelites do you mean ? Is it those who say they " are for progress," or those who avow they are for retrogression, or those who have no opinion except that it would be particularly pleasant to know for certain which side was likely to win. There is the whiggish set and the toryish set, and the set that are one way three days in the week, three days the other, and neither on Sunday. As for Sir ROBERT himself, he seems to be bent on enjoying unabridged the pleasures of abdication. He has reigned supreme and is tired of sovereignty. Had he not held the fealty of political vassals inestimably lighter than the gratification of his own high sense of right, he never would have thrown away power. Between his individual case and that of the ipwcite section who have hitherto home his name, there is nothing in common. His impulse was the ambition to achieve a grew act of national justice, the cost of which was tobe thesurrender of the reins of rule ; their instinct was merely that of self-preservation which misled them into adhering to their abdicating chief; and bid them b. lieve that none but he could for three montt s govern the country. That was their mistake. He made none. And now, as the sad reality of their situation breaks in upon them, they run about wildly, as men are apt to do, in different directions, to see how taey are to get out of their false position. Some, indeed, amongst them are all for waiting to let the whigs fall to pieces, in which event they dream of being recalled as indispensable., and of quietly resuming office in a grand and dignified manner. All which would be very easy and delightful if the whigs would only do the needful and get out of the way. But the inconsiderate whigs show little tendency towards suicide. There they stick just as if they believed in their hearts that they were as fit to be there as their rivals; and a stupid country won't rise indignantly and hurl them from power, to make room for men who are out of breath, trying to prove that in respect of all essential principles they are undieinguishable from their hated substitutes. We are very much inclined to think that a dull nation does not, in fact, care three sixpences about the matter, and that it never will come to the rescue.