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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . Sav&val communications unavoidably stand , over . No notice oau he taken of anonymous correspondence-Wiiateveris intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a Kuarantee of his good faitli . ^ We canuot undertake to return rejectedcommunications Wt is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter : and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quiteindependent of the merits of the communication . Ekeatum . —In the article on Lord Malmesbury , last week ' in the ninth line from the top , for " the Convention o 1848 , " read "the Convention of 1843 . "
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There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keepthings fixed when all the world is by thevery law of its creationin eternal progress . —DbAkuoid .
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THE PAMERONIANS . Should Lord Djebby recognize the impolicy of attemptiag to carry on his Government with , an avowed minority in the House of Commons , and proceed to act the threat of dissolving given by Mr . Disraeli , the only result that can reasonably be expected -will "be that he -will succeed in lengthening out the tenure of his office by so long as it will take to assemble a new House , and—as the Times pithily says—for a fortnight afterwards . But whatever course Lord Derby may elect to pursue , the duty of the Liberal partly will remain pretty much the same . There is not the smallest belief that the present Administration will be able to hold its way for anylengih . of time , and in preparation for its removal a great attempt is to he made to reinstate Lord Palmebston . Now it "behoves the Liberal party to look ¦ well to this attempt , which is represented as a great national object . The first thing to be done is to inquire closely into Lord Palmerstow ' s pretensions to the position demanded for him by his friends . What were the circumstances that placed him at the head of the late Government ? At a time of great national exigency he took his place as Minister because he best agreed with the feelings and views of the nation . " While in office , the objects for which he was appointed to the Premiership were very sucessfully attained . He was subjected to some op position on points in which his opponents did not agree with the public feeling , particularly with reference to China , on which subject practical objections to the character of the contest were made to seem as if they rested exclusively on the principles of the Peace party ; and one most distinguished statesman , who took part in the opposition , was disingenuously represented as having opposed Lord Palmebsxon in the matter of the [ Russian war . The resistance in that case was treated as the crotchet of a clique , the intrigue of a faction , and every member of the party was held up to obloquy or ridicule . "Whatever may have ibeen the opinion 03 a the -flufe JLQO ^^^^ there can be no doubt the individuals composing the minority on that occasion were treated with a gross unfairness , with a corresponding Amount of profit to the favourite of the day . Lord Palmjebston appealed to the country , and the House of Commons which we now have was elected more directly on the ground of a personal claim by the Chief of the ( Government than any that wo have had for generations .
Thus placed , the Premier appeared to be in absolute command of the position . He had a majority of the House of Commons , which was almost his private property . He possessed the public confidence , and when the present dispute arose with France , he undertook to conduct the negotiations in a ' manner that would be consistent with the public feelings of this country , but without taking the public into his confidence . " When he introduced his Conspiracy Bill , his House of Commons appeared to ratify his proceedings by a large majority ; but the number in the minority was very considerable . The public out of doors did not disagree with the general proposition of the Government , that if a defect in our laws could be distinctly pointed out it should be remedied , although the French Government might speak with some degree of indecorum ; and Mr . Milneb . Gibson brought the question very distinctly before the House in his amendment , deprecating the attempt upon the life of the Emperor , avowing willingness to legislate , but condemning the neglect of Lord Paimebston ' s Government in not answering the despatch of Count Walewsxi . That motion was affirmed by the majority of the House of Commons . Now Lord Palmebston ' s friends take the House of Commons as it was appointed at the last general election , and dissect it into three fractions : the Liberal mnjority , elected for the support of Lord Palmjsbston ; those Liberals who have dissented from him on various occasions ; and the Tories , or Conservatives . Lord Palmebston , they argue , has possession of the confidence of the Liberal party ; though some malcontents , who are jealous of his supremacy , can , if they please for factious purposes , side with the Tory minority , enlarge it for a special purpose into a majority , and so defeat the desires of the Liberal party throughout the country . Gentlemen who treat the subject in this style , however , seem never to have obtained any experience since the last general election . They overlook the fact that the majority on Mr . Milneb Gibson ' s motion evidently agrees in opinion and feeling with the country at large . Lord Palmebston ' s mistake has been one of the many events which have assisted in breaking up parties , and in confusing the distinctions between the several sides of the House . The question raised was not a party question , and Lord Debby has accepted office on terms that constitute an absolute abandonment of his old party grounds . He takes up the same measures as Lord Palmebston , only desiring to render them more in accordance with the wishes of the nation . He even accepts Reform , which is as much as Lord Palmebston has done . We must look again , therefore , to discover any pretensions that Lord Palmebston and his immediate friends have for resuming the lead of the Liberal party . In the first place , what arc his personal pretensions ? How did he come to be at the head of the party at all ? It was through the accidental concurrence of his personal qualities with the peculiarities of a particular position . The country had somewhat suddenly plunged into war . There happened to be in office at the time a statesman whose opinion in favour off peace ^ jnpjbojjously amounted to a devoted " attachment . Tho " * most popular statesman of the day , Lord John Russell , had been placed in a diplomatic position , liad conducted his duties with great ability , but had been traversed in his course by a change of opinion at Paris , and was met on his return nome by gross misrepresentations of his conduct , which for a time effectually deceived the Parliament and the people . In the meantime Lord Pal- > < ;
mebston came forward , saying , " I'll be your leader , " and was accepted . He was known to have the whole diplomatic arrangements at his fingers' ends . He had long been ambitious of distinction for his spirited deportment . His mode of addressing the House of Commons has the appearance of being very unstudied , while he is thoroughly master of his subject , and selects his language with a perfect aptitude that is only the more ch ; mning from tiie unstudied manner . He has no prejudices—except one : a perfect hatred of America for its vulgarity . He has no superstitions—except one : an idea that the si arctrade can be put down by forcible means . He was supposed to be ambitious of distinguishing himself in his new opportunity ; was dubbed the new Chatham ; and was accepted especially because he took up the warlike fashion while the people were in a " warlike mood . But apart from these personal qualities and . accidents of position , what are Lord 1 aimebston ' s claims to be at the head of the Liberal party ? None . There is no principle which distinguishes that party from others during the present century more than that of Parliamentary Reform . The public has a general desire to see the defects of the Reform Bill of 1832 corrected ; and , although there is no popular excitement on the subject , there is 11 steadily growing conviction that the work must not be longer delayed . We look out for statesmen who have shown themselves masters of this subject , and who have earned our confidence by their consistency ; we do not attend to trifles , we do not ask what may have been their particular views on the details of the question ; but we cordially accept as friends of Reform all those men who have shown their own sincerity by constantly labouring to promote tt . Which man is the natural leader of such a party ? Is it Lord Palmekston ? Certainly not . As Mr . Disbabli says , Reform Bills have been introduced during the last seven years , and it is well understood that these bills received not the support of Lord Palmekston , but his opposition . One of the \ i > ry best proposals made in the Cabinet , it is said , met with his vehement resistance . -Uii whereas one statesman deferred for a while the motion of Reform with an emotion of regret that could not be misunderstood , the most spontaneous and marked ebullition ot feeling on Lord Palmekston ' s part was excited by a proposal for substantially extending the franchise . Is he , then , by his personal conduct , the natural leader of the Liberal party ? On what pretensions , then , can any of Ins friends claim for him the post ? Simply this . When the late Government resigned , Lord Paimkbston happoned to be tho official head of the Liberal majority . Ibis the routine when one Government goes out of office that its Premier should bo considered by courtesy the head of the Opposition ; but aB the formation of the Palmekston Cabinet was provisional , as tho circumstances which enabled a non-reformer to take the lead of a Liberal party were transitory , so those circumstances havepaBsed away , nntl we revert to the old state of things . l » e political arrangements of a Palmebston rdgime are cancelled , and we are restored to a suite ' ortmuigirbTfore'lnrt — stances of the present hour nre 00 difleront , that they have converted Lord DnnBY into ft Reformer—a more sincere Reformer , we »» assured by Mr . Disbaeh , than Lord Ikir , mmbston . Perhaps so . Who can judge between the performances of two men y » o have , as yet , only given us thoir promisee r Meanwhile , a great attempt is being wads to keep the road open for Lord PalimmWox
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SATURDAY , MARCH 13 , 1858 .
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252 THE Ij E APE It . [ No . 416 , March 13 , Ib 58 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 13, 1858, page 252, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2234/page/12/
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