in and out of the House, he has ever since been one of the most sedulous and skilful of those who have striven to lower the Government and their friends in the estimation of the country, timing his appearance with great exactness, so as to seize the moment for most effective action; striving to disguise his earnestness and anxiety beneath the mask of a jocular contempt, but ever studiously keeping himself in the foreground. When before the constituency of Carlisle on the 8th of July, he appeared to feel the necessity of diverting attention from the political wanderings of his whole life, by taking the lion's share of credit for almost all the great measures of modern times. He had, however, trans lens must decline. Then would come a fresh displacement of labour, and a fresh lowering of wages; and discontent, disturbance, and misery would prove its inevitable consequences. Little could they estimate the wretchedness which sprung from change of habit, of house, of manners, of the mode of life itself. What change more cruel could despotism itself inflict, than a change from the breezy call of incensebreathing morn,' to a painful and grievous obedience to the sad sound of the factory bell-the relinquishment of the thatched cottage, the blooming garden, and the village green, for the foul garret or the dark cellar of the crowded city-the enjoyment of the rural walk of the innocent rustic Sab-parently another object-to paint his bath, for the debauchery, the temptations, the pestilence, the sorrows, and the sins of a congregated multitude? Where were their moralists, that their voices were not raised against the fearful consequences which the proposed change brought in its train? Talk to him of sending the Poles to Siberia, or the hill coolies from the Coromandel to the Mauritius! the authors of the intended change contemplated the perpetration, within the limits of their native land, of a cruelty far more atrocious. It was the first step towards making England, the workshop of the world, dependent for its daily food upon Continental supplies. He hoped that the proposition would not be successful. Were it to succeed, he should say with his friend Lord Ashburton, that this was the last country which he should wish to inhabit."* And for these reasons he concluded by "not hesitating to give his cordial and decided opposition to the motion." Was this the Sir James Graham who, only thirteen years afterwards, could venture to scatter sarcasms over the Earl of Derby and his supporters? When Sir James presented himself, shortly after the accession of the present Government, before his present constituents, he declared himself a convert, at length, to vote by ballot; or, at all events, as in a situation to become an immediate convert! Both own portraiture upon the eyes of the * Hansard, 3d Series, vol. xlvi. col. 694-5. has crowned my past efforts." We regard this as neat, and unequalled. Such a cool bidding for power was probably never before made by a man of Sir James Graham's mark in this country. A certain Dr Lonsdale then assumed the functions of catechist of Sir James Graham, whose ears he first soothed with the dulcet assurance that "Sir James Graham was sure to hold the highest place in the next Administration!" and the venerable catechumen answered the courteous catechist very smoothly on the subject of foreign politics; but the latter concluded by saying "The right honourable gentleman has shown that he is neither a Derby-ite nor a Russellite. Then what ite are you?" Sir James replied, "It is true I am not a Derby-ite, nor a Russell-ite: Dr Lonsdale asks what 'ite' I now am. I have been a Peel-ite; but am now resolved not to bind myself in the fetters of any party, but will do my best as a private member of Parliament, OR IN ANY SITUATION WHICH IT MAY BE IN THE PLEASURE OF THE CROWN TO CALL UPON ME TO FILL." We ask again, when was this equalled? Had Sir James and the Doctor arranged this little scene beforehand? Sir James said not a word, having been kindly not asked a word, on the subject uppermost in the mind of the country-the insolent and dangerous machinations of Popery against our civil and religious liberties; but on the subject of Reform, he declared stoutly that he had been dissatisfied with the new Reform Bill introduced by the late Whig Government; " that the Reform Act of 1832 (for which he claimed a large share of credit) was marked by great imperfections," and "a revision of the measure was indispensable." The new Reform Bill ought "to disfranchise decayed boroughs, and extend the franchise to large communities not at present enjoying it." And, "with respect to cities and boroughs, it appeared to him that residence and rating should be the legitimate foundation of any future extension of the suffrage." Sir James then bade high for popular favour; but, as we showed in our April number,* he is neces * sarily opposed, in his attempts to unsettle the Reform Act, to some of the greatest Whig supporters of the late Government; one of whom, Earl Fitzwilliam, declared in his place in Parliament, since the accession of Lord Derby, his strong disapproval of Lord John Russell's recent Reform Billadding, "It will not do for the Government to be thus continually tampering with constitutional rights." As the English borough elections went on, notwithstanding the Ministers succeeded in a great number of instances in which they attacked Liberal seats, they appeared to have suffered no inconsiderable losses; but they displaced numerous staunch and able supporters of the late Government, as well as several of the Radical members. One of the Liberal papers (the Daily News) of the day on which we are writing, following the tristful example of the Morning Chronicle in respect of its Peelite friends, mourns over the following victims:-Mr Bernal, Mr Greene, Mr Horsman, Sir Edward Buxton, Mr Hardcastle, Lord Ebrington, Lord Duncan, Mr W. J. Fox, Mr Anstey, Sir John Romilly, Sir William Somerville, Colonel Thompson, Mr D'Eyncourt, Mr George Thompson-to which he might have added a long catalogue of others; and may now greatly increase the list-Sir George Grey being a host in himself! and thus concludes: "Still, even with these losses, our ranks are crowded; and we shall give Lord Derby battle, with no fear as to where will be the victory." This, however, was said on the 21st July, after the ranks of Lord Derby had been swollen with reinforcements from the English counties and from Ireland, without, at the same time, losing ground in Scotland. So long as the English borough returns, which came in almost all at once, or within two or three days of each other, showed a considerable numerical superiority for the opponents of Lord Derby, notwithstanding his gains, the Liberal papers, as if agreeing to close their eyes against the distant but inevitable county returns! were loud in their exultations, occasionally slipping into even truculent expressions. Page 403-" The Earl of Derby." Thus ends," says one, somewhat prematurely too, the farce of a Derby Ministry." "Will Lord Derby ven 66 แ ture to meet the new Parliament?" asked another. "The Derbyites begin now to feel the absurd appearance they make before the country which they have so long striven in vain to mystify and amuse." "How do you like the returns, my Lord Derby?"—And so forth. On the other hand, the friends of the Ministry began also to quake, and go about with downcast looks, uttering despondency; and one of their own ablest organs was forced to remind its friends that they were not to run away disheartened by the idea that they had suffered a loss on every occasion on which they had simply failed to wrest a seat from their opponents;" and its readers were assured that, all things considered, matters wore by no means an unpromising aspect." Another able journal concluded by the solemn assurance, that, great as were Lord Derby's difficulties, those of the leaders, whoever they might be, cf the heterogeneous opposition, were at least as great"-a passage quoted the next day by a triumphant Liberal contemporary, with the words "cold comfort!" prefixed. A week's time, however, began to tell startling tidings for the opponents of the Ministry. Unexpected success in Ireland, notwithstanding almost unprecedented difficulties and obstacles arising out of the demoniacal conduct of the Papal emissaries, to whom we shall presently again allude; and the counties, pouring in their contingents by threes and twos at a time, soon gave a totally different aspect to the field of battle. In almost every instance, moreover, where Lord Derby's county friends were assailed, they triumphantly maintained their ground; and in nearly every case where they were assailants, they were successful. It was amusing to note how suddenly Lord Derby's opponents in the press drew in their horns; and after the "boldest" had "held their breath for a time," they began to comfort one another by fearful tales of intimidation; of divers gross irregularities pervading the whole proceedings; of divisions among the Liberal party, VOL. LXXII.-NO. CCCCXLII. letting in the common enemy; the defective state of the registries; and the still more defective and unsatisfactory condition of the franchise! Having, however, heard what Lord Shelburne, Lord John Russell, Lord Palmerston, and Sir James Graham thought proper to address, concerning their opinions and purposes, to their respective constituencies, let us hasten on to a very eager, bustling, and ambitious personage, making his appearance much later in the field as a candidate for re-election for a county-we mean Mr Richard Cobden; who, on Saturday the 17th July, presented himself on the hustings at Wakefield, to go through the pleasant ceremony of an unopposed re-election. He was accompanied by-Sir Charles Wood, Lord John Russell's late Chancellor of the Exchequer, and then chairman of Mr Cobden's committee, of which he had taken pains to show himself a conspicuous and active member. Several points of the former gentleman's appearance on this occasion challenge particular observation; chiefly as indicative of his intense vanity and egotism; his virulent hatred of the Ministerial party, especially of the brilliant Chancellor of the Exchequer, under whose knout he had so frequently writhed; his absorbed one-ideadness; his consciousness of the palsied condition of the "Liberal" party, and the necessity of powerful stimulants to revive it; and the absence of any, even the slightest indication of triumph at the state of the elections. Before the electors, at the hustings, he was content to appear in his capacity as a Free-Trader only, reserving the other more special matters for a subsequent occasion, when sure of a safe and favourable reception from his own supporters only, under the auspices of Sir Charles Wood. On the former occasion he deliberately glorified himself on account of "his name being so prominently connected with Free Trade,” and “having the honour, privilege, and glory to see himself individualising, as it were, a great and permanent principle!" He proceeded to charge the Ministerial party with "undisguised selfishness in advocating a change of taxation for the benefit of particular interests;" "transferring the taxation now paid by the land, to the shoulders of those who have no land at all"—which was "protection in a new form, ten thousand times less tenable than in its former aspect." He hoped "that forty-eight hours would not elapse after the meeting of Parliament before the present Government, and the party that belongs to it, are brought fairly to issue upon the question of Free Trade or Protection." This sort of worn-out dreary drivel was all that he thought it prudent to say upon the hustings before the electors of the West Riding; but it was far otherwise afterwards, at the "luncheon" at the Corn Exchange, presided over by Sir Charles Wood, and given to Mr Cobden by his "friends and supporters." He there ventured to launch out into general politics; "and as Parliament was likely to meet in November," he said it would be as well to calculate beforehand what the state of parties would be." He immediately betrayed his fears of returning to the condition of a political cipher, in the absence of Free Trade agitation. "The subject of Free Trade being disposed of, the state of parties would be found exceedingly embarrassing to the old political leaders! The House would not answer the helm; and the question was, how they should take a new tack!"-"I do not think there is anything in the temper of the country which should precipitate any decision on the point" -he had seen the then rapidlyaltered aspect of the election returns! "for with the exception of the feeling as regards [sic] Free Trade, I do not think there is much political feeling in the country on any question! There will be, in the House of Commons, no party so strong as to be able to form a Government which can be bargained [!] to stand for three months, if the old rule is to be acted on as to Government majorities. The question then is, how are parties to be reconstituted? functionary class must take counsel to themselves, and SEE WHAT IS TO แ BE DONE IN ORDER TO INSPIRE SOME FRESH ENTHUSIASM, BY AND BY, IN THE COUNTRY, ON BEHALF OF THE OLD LIBERAL PARTY!" This was the same gentleman who, on attempting to reorganise the League, upon Lord Derby's accession to power, unwittingly acknowledged, in terms, the extreme difficulty of "keeping up the excitement of the people, on the subject of Free Trade, for more than a few weeks!" Mr Cobden then favoured his company with a few of his luminous notions on the subject of "Parliamentary Reform;" being pleased to intimate that as far as the suffrage was concerned, Lord John Russell had proposed a fivepound rating claim;" but Mr Cobden "would rather have a fivepound renting clause- a franchise which would go, he thought, almost as far as any gentleman in that room practically expected or probably wished—at present." Mr Cobden concluded with coarse and insolent invective against the Chancellor of the Exchequer. "If there is a man in this country-a politician who has suddenly jumped to an elevation which I predict he will not sustainwho may be called a dangerous revolutionist, if he have the opportunityit is he! The strangest revolution I have seen, was when I found the great territorial party declaring intellectual bankruptcy and proclaiming political suicide, by naming Mr Benjamin Disraeli as their chief! And if it were not for the steadying, ballasting principle of the Manchester school, which would prevent jugglers, and mountebanks, and unscrupulous incendiary adventurers from playing tricks in this country, [] there is no man so dangerous, because none who seemed less unwilling, at all times, to bend anything like the profession of principle to his own personal and sinister objects, than the present Chancellor 11 * Consequently of the Exchequer! Without condescending to characterise the tone our friends of the statesman and * In a similar strain ventured to speak a certain Mr Serjeant Murphy at Cork. "Who is their Chancellor of the Exchequer? I'll tell you what he is. He is a political adventurer, who speculates on politics as a black-leg on the turn of the dice and the and style of this attack upon an absent gentleman, let us see how he was being spoken of elsewhere, at the very same moment, by a gentleman-one of the most able, accomplished, and high-minded members of the House of Commons, Mr Drummond, the member for West Surrey. "It appears to me that our taxes have been laid on upon no general principle, as money was wanted, and that they are not in the satisfactory state they ought to be. Let the Minister be who he may, this must be put in a better state; and I believe that Mr Disraeli is more likely, and the persons now in office are more likely, to do this than others.-I must be permitted to say, that I think Mr Disraeli a man of very great genius. He has risen by his own merits alone; and never having been tried in office, he is not a man who ought to be sneered at by persons who pretend that they wish to extend the basis of the Administration!'" This dignified rebuke might have been uttered by the speaker on listening to Mr Cobden's gross vituperation on the occasion to which we are referring. Such was Mr Cobden-in Yorkshire; such will not be Mr Cobden -in the House of Commons, when standing face to face before that same formidable Chancellor of Exchequer, behind whose back he has spoken offensively with such virulent vulgarity and presumption. Pass ing over these smaller matters, however, it is impossible not to note the recently lowered tone of Mr Cobden, whilom so loud and confident on the subject of a "Protectionist Ministry" as a thing to be only "laughed at," and which would "fly like chaff before the wind before a General Election." On the ensuing day, the Times, in commenting on Mr Cobden's speech, pronounced to be "not wholly worthy of his theme "- and in a "tone hardly elevated enough for the occasion" "recommended to the consideration of the future Parliament the advice of Mr Cobden with reference to the manner in which Ministers should be dealt with.""It is only fair and wise to hear from them the principles on which they intend to act, and the measures which they mean to bring forward. By precipitating matters, we are quite sure either to prevent the Ministry from showing conclusively the hollowness of their abandonment of Free Trade, or from bestowing upon us a great public benefit. It is much easier to turn out a Government than to form its successor; and the besetting sin to which heterogeneous Oppositions are liable is, that they are apt to place themselves in a situation in which they may be called upon to act in concert, when concert, except against the common enemy, is impossible; and thus, by the exertion of their strength, to render their weakness more apparent and more fatal." These were prudent counsels, and probably influenced by the same causes which had emboldened the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a few days previously,* thus to speak out concerning the position and prospects of the Government: "It is my firm conviction that the Government of Lord Derby will meet Parliament in the autumn with an absolute majority. To me that is not a subject of doubt." Two days afterwards-the election returns, during the brief interval, abundantly justifying himMr Disraeli thus deliberately and confidently addressed the constituency of Buckinghamshire from the hustings: "I express my firm and solemn conviction, in the face of the county of Buckingham, after witnessing the present temper of the public mind, and scanning-I am sure with no prejudice-the results of the general election, that the Ministry will be permitted to bring forward their measures; that no manœuvres fluctuating chance of the turf-a political trader!" And the refined and complimentary Milesian proceeds to utter a supposed bon-mot concerning Mr Disraeli's speech on the Budget, which, he says, he himself heard, "while sitting near the Duke of Cambridge, with whom I have the honour of being acquainted!" * Wednesday, 14th July 1852. |
