Year: 1868

in the railway share speculation is also favor


able to the unusual activity in national bonds,
which are still mach lower in price, for the in
terest they pay, than any of the railway and
miscellaneous stocks, yielding an equal return,
dealt in on the Stock Exchange. People are
afraid to touch railway stocks on account of
their cliqued and inflated condition, and hence
the rush to invest their money temporarily or
permanently in the bonds of the United States.
AS sign of the times, following the impeach-
ment f0scO, this is reassuring and encouraging


Constitutional Privileges in EngIand-The
. New Revolution.


BY singular coincidence the people of Eng


land and the people of the United States find
themselves actually in the midst of revolutions.


Our citizens know how the radical faction


which has attempted to override the constitu-
ton of the country has been disposed of
thus far by the condemnation of the popular
voice. In England the accession of Mr..


Disraeli to power as Prime Minister, though
heralded with anticipations of what splendid
success he would turn out to be- has produced
state of political and public affairs very un-
usual in the constitutional history of Great
Britain. Mr.. Disraeli may be well able, and
no doubt is, to construct elegant sentences and
use telling metaphors while putting different
face on an established state of facts; but he
lacks the quality Of a genuine statesman.


Apparently unable to seize upon facts as they
arise and turn them to the advantage of the
great and intellectual party of which he is the
representative, he descends to the mean trick
of quibbling and evadng answers to the plain
est questions where candor and sincerity would
serve his purpose better. For instance, the
Irish Church Establishment is condemned by
every thoughtful and liberal-minded English
man. The public sentiment of England has
declared in the most positive and I'M
mistakable manner that that establish
ment ought not and shall not any
longer continue to exist Mr.. Disraeli
knows this WE'LL and yet he does grave in
justice to his ability by prostituting it in an
effort to raise ''No Popery" cry for the mere
purpose of keeping himself in Office. That
cry, which one would have supposed would
have never again been heard in the face of an
enlightened public sentiment, has not been
without its Result. If Mr. Disraeli had
courageous heart and an elevated purpose he
would best consult his own fame by cutting
himself off from that party which Obstinatey
thwarts in every way it can the declared con-
victions and sentiments of the English people
aof ba leo
he would say to the tory party, Gentlemen,
it is impossible for you or for me to govern
England by course of action opposed to the
will and unsuitable to the taste of the people.
We cannot get along with hostile House Of
Commons, whose majorites against us are in
creasing every day. We cannot stem the
current of cultivated thought that regards
church establishments and restricted franchises
with disfavor; and if we be wise in our genera
ton we should throw ourselves into the vast
peaceabe revolution which is now going on
around us in our country. Doing this, we can
retain those privileges which the people are
not seeking to destroy but if we doggedly
oppose the just demands made upon us we
shall probably be swept from power by force,
whereas if we concede fairly and honestly to
the popular claims, we may defeat the opposi-
ton of our antagonists and take the lead in the
movement which our opponents are availing
themselves of to drive us from office"


But instead of this what has Mr.. Disraeli
done? He has by his conduct in Parliament
brought about a dangerous state of affairs.


H. bae rey;yod a uuoetion no IN tha r;cb< of
dssolvng Parliament, which has given rise to
discussions of grave character; and he has
dragged the Sovereign, as ii were, before the
public and held her out as if she were really
opposed to the privileges and wishes of the
House of Commons II is well settled and
understood in England that when minister is
beaten on an important question by large
majority he at once resigns his Office or he
has the power of dissolving Parliament, ap-
pealing to the electors and seeking from them
reversal of the verdict of the House of Com
mons. The Crown of Great Britain has re-
served the right, or usage, of dissolving Parlia
ment at its WILL The Crown, and the Ministers,
who are the agents and servants of the Grown,
believe that in the exercise of this preroga-
tive they hold the power Of checking unjust
proceedings in Parliament. The House of
Commons is supposed to represent the will Of
the nation, and when it pronounces against
the ministry by large vote that vote is held
to be the decree of the people. pro-
nounced through Parliament, on the question
on which the ministry in power have been de- :