Year: 1867




By those who know anything of the spirit OF
political party warfare, the moderation and
forbearancc of the Opposition in the Debate
on the Address in reply to the speech with
which the Queen opened the present session
of the British Parliament, will be regarded
rs particularly noteworthy 1t is true that
Earl Russell, in the House of Lords, animad-
vertcd in rather severe terms on the discredIt-
able tactics by which the Tories defeated
his Reform bill of last session, and over
threw his government; but his speech
was on the whole, mild. considering the aggra-
waiting circumstances Of his recent defeat and
his bttcmeSS-suCh as it was-waS cOunterbal-
anced by the suavity Of Mr.. Gladstone, speak
ing in the Commons on the same occasion.
From the displays in both Houses, it would
really seem as if the Derby Ministry had
nothing very serious to fear from their
! opponents, and as if the vexed question
of Parliamentary Reform was destined to
meet with an amicablc settlement at an early
period But appearances are proverbally
deceptive and the present case will prove to
be no exception to the rule. The Government
have propoundcd their plan of Reform, and
already, rs we are informed by Cable dis
patch, the voice of John Bright had been raised
against it, dcnouncng the propositions OF the
Tory Ministry, and urging the people to con-
tinue the agitation for their political
rights. From this fact we are justified in
infcrrng that the plan has fallen far short of
the demands of the more advanced Liberals
and we shall not be surprised to receive intel
lgence shortly that the tug of war between
/ a.. no Of
progress has fairly commenced.


Some of the English papers are limiting at
! the probability of a compromise on the subject
of Reform; but it seems too late in the day
for such an cxpcdicnt To succeed. Were the
settlement of the question left solely in the
hands of the politicians of the hereditary ruling
class, both of the Wing and Tory school, mat
ters might be patched up easily enough. In
that case the interests of the masses would, as
a matter of course, be sacrificed to the greed OF
power. But the people now claim that their voice
shall be heard and respected seeing that they
have n vital interest in the matter; and 1t is
upon their decision that Parliament must ulti-
mately act. Party tactics may succeed III put
ting off for a time the much desired settle
mcnt but the signs in the political sky of





The position of parties in relation TO this
question of Reform furnishes subject for GU
rious speculation. The popular voice is in
favor of manhood suflragevof residential,
registered manhood suffrage as it is termed.
To this the great bulk of the Liberal members
of Parliament are unquestiOnably opposed.
Are the advanced Liberals in favor of the prn
cipleY 1t is yet to be asccrtained that they are,
for with very few exceptions, they have been al
together silent onthe point Indeed, Earl Russell,
the leader of the Liberal party i'll the House
of Lords, in his speech on the 9th of this month,
already referred to, said that he did not sup
pose that any member of either House of Par
lament approved of manhood suffrage. In
the same speech he said that he did not ask
their Lordslips to concur in the principle-an
assurance which he might have saved himself
the trouble of giving, for who would expect n
Lord to concur in anything so liberal To
whom, then, if Tory Obstinacy compel n
stand-up fight, are the people to look for
leadership There is one man to whom all
eyes would be turned, and that man is John
Bright. And to this complexion, we incline
to think, matters will come at last; before Re-
form can be carried, n new party, peoples
party, will have to be formed with Bright as
its leader The so-called Liberal party is
already in state of disintegration. The
Adullamite detection shook it to its founda-
tons, for that schism deprived it virtually of
some of its ablest members. 1t has now no
confbactness, and, in fact, no cordially accepted
leadership The younger and more advanced
of the party would accept Mr.. Gladstone, but
the old Wing section, represented by Earl
Russell, are averse to following the lead of
Commoncr. BY the aid of tie Adullam-
ties Lord Derby might be able to retain
power; but in the present temper Qf the
people il is doubtful whether Mr.. Lowe and
his following will give cordial support TO the
Tory Government Appearances, then, Indicate
n break up of present combinations, and the
formation of II new party under whose banners,
sooner or later, the principle OF manhood sui
hage will be established