14 FEBRUARY 1835, Page 11

TORY THREATS : DISSOLUTION OF PA lt LI A N

I EN T.

A DISSOLUTION of Parliament must always be an annoyance to the great majority of the Members of the House of Commons. It is a deathblow to the personal importance of man'- , who are unable to regain their seats. It is the forerunner of trouble and expense to all. The threat o :a dissolution, therefore, has generally been a powerful instrument in the hands of a Minister ; and it was to be expected that the Duke would employ it to gain votes in the coming struggle. One of his tools has said as much, in the Times of Wednesday. In a communication from a correspondent of that journal, printed in bold type and put in a conspicuous place, it is said- " If Sir R. Peel be factiously opposed and outvoted at the very opening of the session, one of two things must fidlow—either he will again appeal to tho People, in hope of gaining another 100 votes, as he has already gained 100; or he will resign, the IVIiigs will conic in arrain, and in that Case they make no secret of their intention immediately io dissolve Parliament. The only possible way, therefore, of avoiding another dissolution, is to give Sir Robert Peel that file trial which lie asks."

It is not long since the Standard let out the secret that some of the more violent of the Tories were ready to try the effect of repeated i dissolutions n breakingsdown the Liberal party. But the announce- ment raised such a storm, that our contemporary found it prudent to disavow any official authority for the suggestion, and father all its effrontery himself. It was, indeed, imprudent to speak so openly of having recourse to such a proceeding. It would have been wiser to use the threat only in private, to influence the credulous, the timid, and the unsteady. The throwing down the gauntlet to the whole nation, was too much in the fashion of CHARLES the First, LA.VD, and WENTWORTH; all of whom lost their foolish heads for daring to bully and attempting to cheat the People of England. There is no fear that the Duke and Sir ROBERT will risk their necks by any such foolhardy experiment.

But Members must make up their minds to a short lease of Parliamentary power. The Duke cannot guarantee a long life to the present House of Commons as a reward for its subserviency to him. The threat of a speedy dissolution, therefore, will lose much of its influence in his hands. It must be present to the minds of Members, that the King's life is very uncertain, and that we need not be startled by the news, some morning, that her Majesty Vieroeiss the First reigns in his place, assisted by a Liberal Regency, with the Earl of DURHAM for Prime Minister. Then what would become of those who had betrayed their constituents for the sake of preserving their seats? But supposing that no shortening of Parliaments should take place by an alteration of the law, (though the repeal of the Sep- tennial Act cannot long be postponed,) and the the present Monarch should live and reign for a considerable number of years longer, yet the constituencies have it in their power to punish the treachery of their Representatives. There are means of making a Member's seat too hot to hold him. Few men have the assurance to resist the battery of indignant remonstrance, the continual exposure of treachery, the sneers, and the derision to which lie would be obnoxious, who, elected by Reformers should rat to the Duke.

It is assumed that the Liberals, should they regain power, would immediately dissolve the Parliament ; though, as the Times correspondent admits, that is not considered quite so certain. He proceeds, however, to prove that they would, after this fashion. "3. Some, perhaps, may doubt the last position,—namely, that a new Whig Ministry would immediately dissolve the House. 1 know that thew attaches make no secret of such an intention. But the thing as unavoidable. Does any one suppose that the medley of all kinds of opinions, from Lord Stanley to Daniel O'Connell, which is now paraded in some papers, as ' the glorious ma- jority of 390 Reformers,'—does any one imagine that out of this chaos a Cabinet, founded on any definite principle, could be formed, which would unite so many of these 390 as to be able to give battle to the united Conservative phalanx of 270, with Sir Robert Peel at their head ? The thing is impossible. 4' No; if the Whigs gain office, they must, however desperate the chance, try another dissolution. Or if Sir R. Peel, keeping his ground, is met by a fac- tious opposition, he must have recourse to the same measure. Great consola- tion this to those who hold their seats by a doubtful tenure ! Let such calculate the odds, and they will find that their only chance of a five years' quiet seat is to give the 3Iinistry i fair trial."

Now, whatever their "attacUs " may report, we deny that a dissolution by the Whigs is "unavoidable." We deny the asserted inability of the Liberals to make head against Sir ROBERT PEEL and his 270 Tories. For we recollect, that in the House which carried the Reform Bill, the Tories mustered as many Members under the same leader, and yet were beaten hollow, on small as i

well as great questions. Besides, a large majority s not by any means so necessary to a Liberal as to a Tory Ministry : popularity out of doors goes for something. Therefore, if the Tory Ministers are displaced by their opponents, a dissolution, so far from being

i unavoidable, would certainly not be necessary, and probably nex pedient.

With the writer whom we have fittoted, then, we call upon every tefiecting man to "calculate the odds" for and against his reelec- tion, by remaining Liberal, or turtling Tory. As to the fire years' quiet tenure of his seat, it is out or the question. Ile must be an egregious blockhead who calet lesttes upon any such good luck for himself and injury to the country.