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2 TO 0 JIOBS TO CQBBESPONDEUSTS . We « umottmcbertake to jcetorn rejected communications . No notice can be taken of anonymous communications Whatever is intended for insertion must bo authenticated toy the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of hra good faith . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . ITheir insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communication .
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CONSERVATISM INTERPRETED . Since Mr . Disbaei-i reviewed the session to a thin and inattenbive House , various facts Lave transpired with reference to the Tory " party" which demonstrate the accuracy of the reports we have published on its state and prospects . A large number of the veritable country gentlemen no longer recognize Mr . Disraeli and the Earl of Derby as their parliamentary leaders . The Earl of Deebt has almost ceased to be a politician , and has lost influence by his neglect ; Mr . DisnAEiii , though as pretentious as ever , has fallen so
low in the estimation of Parliament , that he never commands a large audience , and seldom a general cheer . His faculties for debate appear to have been worn out by his personal conflict with Sir Eobekt Peel . He never attained the character of a statesman ; but he did reach that of a successful satirist ; and now he is still a satirist , only without the success . When he pronounced his dreary address , from notes , on the history of the session , a very small , number of members were scattered about the benches of the House of Commons . So little interest
was excited , that Lord Paimerston ' s reply was heard by scarcely forty individuals . The Whigs cheered Mr . Disraeli derisively , but scarcely one counter-cheer was given from the Tory side , except when the downcast leader ceased . He then received the cheer of habit and courtesy . In addition to this circumstance are others even more significant . Mr . Diseaem ' s leadership is distinctly and fiercely repudiated by the most influential and widely circulating Tory journals . They say that " the leaders of
the great Conservative party have ceased to inspire that confidence which is indispensable to parliamentary action . There is , consequently , a want of combination and concert which , when an important occasion arises , results in confusion , and defeat . " And these words are in the columns which once declared Mr . Dishaexi consummate as an . orator , and perfect aa a tactician ! The fact , however , is undeniable . "Who wore tho sixty members who refused to follow Mr . Diskaeli in the JCars debate ? Who were they who warned him that it would bo wiso to make no
demonstration with reference to America ? Una he not been told , plainly , since his presumptuous speech on the acts of the session , that the Conservative Opposition did t \ ot represent tho plan of policy ho had undertaken to describe p To declare that the Estnblitihod Church of England and Ireland should bo maintained , that political innovations should bo opposed , and that tho vightB of foreign governments should bo respected , ia to declare a policy ol
platitudes ; but upon evsery / definite question that haa 'been discussed this session in the Legislature , the Tories have been divided . Were they agreed on the subject of the Maynooth grant ? the Appellate Jurisdiction Bill ? the Bishops' Retirement Bill ? Irish Education ? Did they exhibit confidence in their own unity , in their own principles , or in their
leading debaters ? Were not Ministers , on frequent occasions , supported l > y some Conservatives and opposed by others ? Did not many Conservatives vote for the Government from a conviction that a change of Cabinets must lead to political confusion , and expose the disruption of the party ? Has Mr . DIsraeli been constant in his attendance ?
Has he been watchful , active , enthusiastic ? Has he been the practical leader of the Opposition , or have not some of his former colleagues been entrusted with affairs of parliamentary business once confided to him ? These are questions which probe the Tory party ; men who see the working of " private politics" in London will be able to say how far Mr . Disraeli ' s friends can satisfactorily reply to them . It is , indeed , sufficient to hear the criticisms passed in political circles to learn the true state of " Conservatism . "
The interior discussions of the party consist in reality of reproaches and recriminations . Mr . Disbaeli , from time to time , endeavours to rally his former followers , but the loss of confidence seems irreparable . The reason appears to be that some of the Tory members of the House of Commons are inclined to adopt liberal opinions . Liord Stanley is known to look with contempt upon Mr . Disrajexi ' s pretensions to he his lender . Mr . WnpoiB and Mr . Henley
have acted independently of him many times during the session . Mr . Spooneb . has been disgusted by his want of fanaticism , while others cannot see how he can be said to represent any public policy at all . The integrity of the hereditary peerage—the assertion of corporate rights—the negation of the ballot—the maintenance of the Irish Church
—^ friendly relations with America , and with the continental powers—do these items constitute a policy ? If so , they are as mujch Whig as Conservative , and the best of them are as much Liberal as Whig . Wo have other testimony in reserve to prove that the dissolution of Toryism has jegun to take place .
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FOREIGN POLICY . N " eabi . t twenty years ago , Lord Palmerston made a declaration of foreign policy in the House of Commons . He said it was the object of his diplomacy to form and consolidate the confederacy of Western Europe , to counteract the influence of despotic opinions in the East , by the intimate union of States in tho "West governed by liberal opinions . It was for this that he forgot hie professed repugnance to interfere in the affairs of other countries , and took an active part in the civil dissensions of Spain . For this was established tho Quadruple Alliance ; for this was a Legion armed to raise the In tho
throno of Iqabeu ^ a . particular instance of Spain , Lord Palmerston ' s policy has been a molancholy failure The constitutional principles supposed to bo represented by Isabella have been suppressed in tho face of Europe , by an adventurer equally infamous in bin public and private relations . Moreover , tho intimato compact of which Lord Palmerstok boasted for aix years , was novor more- than a pretence , and has molted , at last , into tho confederacy of England with tho absolute powers to keep tho peace of Europe . There aro now no liberal governments on
the Continent thatjoaigat be ami ted in a confederacy to oppose the spread of despotic ideas . Whatever movements are in rprogrew s . are in favour of despotism . The only great power that pretends , indeed , to take an interest in the constitutional progreasof Europe , is that of England , which haa been practically subordinated to that of ITrance ^ and thus-exerts little or no influence , except for evil . Iprance and Austria are alike concerned in perpetuating the subjection of the Italian people ; France , even more than Austria , is desirous of seeing absolutist principles prevail ; France ,
as represented by its Cabinet , is in total antagonism to Lord . Paxmebston ' s old idea of counteracting the plans of despostism , for if Constitutionalism , in Spain , in Portugal , in Switzerland , in Belgium , in Sardinia , has anything to fear from one government more than from another , it is from the government of Loiris Napoleon . The first intelligence that reaches the Spaniards across the Pyrenees , as they stand disarmed before the destroyer of their laws , is to the effect that France approves the outrage . They turn to England . England will not interfere " in the domestic affairs of other countries . "
If the House of Commons were a fit assembly to be entrusted with supreme power , it would submit this principle to some analysis , and resolve in what form it should be applied . So far as we comprehend the arguments employed on this subject by various of our ministers , and by Sib . Robebt Peel
especially , they amount to this : JNon-interference with the domestic affairs of other countries , without some clear and undeniable necessity arising from circumstances affecting the condition of your own country . " To this principle , " said Lord PaIiMEBSTOn , in 1829 , " I most cordially assent . It is sound , and ought to be sacred . "
But what is non-interference ? and what is an undeniable necessity ? Does interference mean only interference by force of arms , or does it include representations , notes , remonstrances , demonstrations . If the latter , then Sir Robert Peeii , Lord Aberdeen , Lord Paimeesxon , and Lord Mai / mesbttry , all violated the principle which " sound and ought to he sacred . " The Wellington Administration meddled in every way short of actual military force in the conflict between
Miottel and the Portuguese Constitutionalists . That is to say , they " interfered" in favour of the Miguelites . Lord Palmebstok , upon assuming office , meddled more directly , and by a more positive method , yet he only " interfered" against the Miguelites . In the case of Belgium he interfered , because " that was the safest car ie ; " but in the case of Poland he refused to interfere , because " to
take that step would have been to risk a general war . " Then , as to necessity . In Spain , Portugal , Belgium , Greece , and Syria , the necessity may have been " clear" to Lord PAiiMEBSTOsr ; but it was not " undeniable , ' * since denials came from many quarters , and were urged vehemently and powerfully in the House of Commons . It is a confused story ; but tho confusion is the result of tho want of :
a guiding principle in our foreign policy . Tho Spanish Constitution has been abolished ' That is tho affair of the Spaniards . But supposo-Franco were ^ to consider it also nPrench affair , would that bo simply tho a / fair of tho French , or would it not become the affair of every politician in Europe ?
Carrying out tho suggestion , events have occurred which force ua to look upon Europe as though a coup d ' etat wore possible in any part of it . At what point , then , would a Belgian or Sardinian coup dSStat become a question of European interest ? TJpon tho principle laid down by at least four British foreign ministers in succession , external inter-
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^ V J > SATURDAY , AUGUST 9 , 1856 .
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There i 3 nothing so revolutionary , because there is no thin ef so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to "keep things fixed -when all the world is by the very law of its creation i-n eternal progress . —Db . Ahnoid . a
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 9, 1856, page 755, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2153/page/11/
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