It is just possible to imagine that 'Whig, whose pride
is his bane, should reply to this friendly proposal of Radical—" Our bargain was that I should lead, and you merely follow to hold me up in ease of need. You were not to give me any active assist-
anee; and I will not accept ant. Rather than owe you my life, I will he frozen to death, or wait for the chance era thaw.'
" Thaw 1" rejoins Radical, "e In, it snows balder than ever, and the cold wind blows stronger: and if we stop here, we shall soon be buried in the drift. It t ou will not be saved by me, I must leave you to your miseralee fate, but eel not share It." " Be off!" mutters Whig, " I weal. be beholden to you ; Fin surprised at your impudence in pro using to carry me !" There is, we say, a steed' of t he imagination by which it is possible to conceive that the MELHOURNE Whigs should reject the proffered aid of these Independeot Reformers. Perhaps, in that case, the Tories would he in office ter a ti ne. Let us observe how they treat this offer of really ffective assistance to the Whigs; -thosgh, indeed, we may be sure they will call it" dictation" and " bullying," hoping thereby to irritate the false pride of the Whigs, and thus excite them, as the Examiner would say, to commit/do de se. Even in that case, however, it could not fol- low that the Tories should be able to carry on the Government, any more than the Whigs had been. The Reforming masses of England and Scotland, having leaders, like the Irish, and being thus stimulated to active exertion, would surely, with the aid of the Irish, prove more than a match for LYNDHURST, even though the mere Whigs should adopt him as their leader. But in no event can the Reformers be in a worse condition than at present,— that is, stopped, and exposed by their own past supineness to the same great danger as the W !lige. Whatever change may result from this new self-reliance of the Radical leaders, cannot but be for the better. And if the Whigs cordially accept the offer of assistance now made to them by these Radical leaders, they will presently be supported in good earnest by the whole body of Re- formers in the United Kingdom, to the end and with the certain consequence of giving to the Whig principle of Reform an early and complete victory over the principle of Toryism.
Previous page
