The Chartist diversion is almost over. We do not mean
that the political principles of Chartism are, or are likely to be, extinct. But the brief career of violence draws towards its close. The hot-headed, or false-hearted leaders, by whose cowardly councils it was instigated, have evidently little hold on the great body of working men, or Ultra- Radical politicians. Ministers have obtained whatever they asked from Parliament for the preservation of the public peace. So far as that purpose was concerned, their hands have been strengthened by all parties. Nor have they been thwarted by juries : every material con- viction which they sought for they have obtained. They have been strong enough and wise enough to blend mercy with justice. Some local outbreaks may yet exhibit the struggles of the expiring spirit of delusion, but substantially it is quelled. And this hums been accomplished by the repression of violence, not the suppression of political opinion. The condition of Chartism oilers no excuse for postponing the mention of political or social reforms. It presents every inducement for a Government to display its purposes, and to prepare itself for their realization.—Morning Chronicle.
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