TOPICS OF THE DAY.
POLITICAL CLUBS AND AGITATION : RESULTS OF TORY PREDOMINANCE.
SINCE the accession of the Duke of WELLINGTON and his col- leagues to the Ministry, the country has been in one continued ferment. There has not been a week, not a day of repase. The country, said Sir ROBERT PEEL, at the Lord Mayor's dinner in December last, is " tired of agitation—tired of the pressure frotn without—tired of that state of ciintinued excitement, the effect or whieh in pi ivate life is to withdraw men from their proper busi- ness, and in public life is to consume the energies of public men in other than their proper duties." This may have been and per- haps is perfectly true; but we assert that from the formation of the- MELBOURNE Ministry 10 the day of its dismissal, the country was tranquil, and (lid enjoy a state o-f comparative repose—repose only interrupted by such High Church and Orange bigots as patronizetl the fnebrand missionaries BorroN and 0-SULLIVAN at Liverpool and Bristol. But the country for the most part cared little for the local disturbances which those persons created; for there was a general confidence in the Government—a disposition to credit the professions put forth by Ministers of a desire to conduct public affitirs in accordance with the spirit of the age.
The dismissal of' the Liberal Cabinet altered the whole face of things. The nation at once became anxious and alarmed. A general election, conducted by the Tories on the old principles of corruption and intitnidation, inflamed political animosities. The specious assurances of Sir ReasatT PEEL were contrasted ts ith his choice of associates in the Cabinet, and augmented the deep dis- trust in which the People of England have long held this crafty The great and unexpected accession of strength to the Tories which the first division in the House Commons made manifest, by no means contributed to allay the uneasy feeling Which pervaded all classes. The Reformers were justly exas-
perated at the treachery of many Members, whose hostility to Toryism was supposed to be decided, and who nevertheless de- serted to the Tory Ministry. The Ministerialists could not but feel conscious that they had failed in getting a House of Com- mons to their mind, and muttered threats of another disso- lution. The only persons who have sincerely rejoieed in the events of the last four or five months, are the few who are hostile to Monarchy, and those who have nothing to lose.
The Me% itable consequence of this general alarm, and want of confidence in the Government, is visible in the numerous clubs and associations which are now forming throughout the kingdom. The Tories are aware that their Cabinet is unpopular, and must exist, if at all, on a principle of resistance to the mass of the nation. Knowing full well the value, and in their circumstances,. the necessity, of union and discipline, they are now making ex- tended exertions to compensute by combinatien for their deficiency in numbers. In Yorkshire, as was stated in the Courier last
week, they are actively o their forces for the next election. They are getting up clubs in various parts of that county. We lately pointed attention to an association established in Leeds, the object of which seems to be the organization of a system of bribery under the pretence of affording charitable assistance to the poor, similar to that which has been funded so effective an instru- ment of corruption in Bristol. The Birmingham Tories are fol- lowing in this track. They also have found a "Loyal and Con- stitutional Association," nominally for the support of IS our National Institutions in Church and State," but really for the purpose of unfairly influencing elections. Of this we have no doubt ; for the means they intend to adopt in order to carry the objects of the Association into effect are thus stated in a circular, dated March 5th, and signed by the Secretaries.— " To aiopt such measures as may seem most conducive to ameliorate and im- prove the condition of our fellow subjects of the Working Classes, and to ad- minister to the necessities of our more needy brethren in times of difficulty and distress or in cases of sickness, by affording them pecuniary and other reliif througli the median; of benefit societies and charity funds, to be formed under the direction of the Committee, and guaranteed by the general fund of the Association.'
If this is not a most impudent attempt to establish a bribing association, we know not what it is. The Reformers of Birming- ham are sagacious and active : we call upon them to look closely after the proceedings of these loyal and constitutional clubbists, and to take warning by what is going on at Bristol.
Another club, on apparently similar principles, and doubtless with similar purposes, is in process of formation in Wolverhamp- ton. In Gloucestershire the Tories are also on the alert ; and its Lancashire we noticed some proceedings of the same kind. In short, it will be found that in every part of the country the Tories are preparing, with more or less secrecy, to profit by any accident in the political world. They are probably all assisted with advice and encouragement, and if need be with money, from the head- quarters at the Carlton Club.house. In many places the Reformers also are making preparations; and it is absolutely necessary that this should be done. Defeat will otherwise be our portion in the next contest, and the conti- nuance of bad government for a lengthened term the result. And what do the real Conservatives, the lovers of quiet, who have no particular selfish interest to promote by the turmoil, think of all these things? Is it not to them lamentable, is it not danger- ous to the good order of society and the comforts of private life, that the country should be parcelled out into political clubs? Although
the immediate object is the organization of large bodies of men, yet unquestionably, looking at society on an extended scale, no- thing can be more disorganizing in its tendency than this system of Orangeism, which threatens to overrun the land. But, as we have before remarked, it is the inevitable consequence of distrust and dissatisfaction with the Government of the country—a fear and a consciousness that it is unable to perform its proper func- tions with vigour and wisdom.
This, then, is the blessed effect of the Tory scheme of tran- quillization. From the date of Lord MELBOURNE'S dismissal to the present hour. we have had little but turmoil ; and he must be blind indeed, who does not see the elements of future and pro- longed agitation brewing. There is only one mode of preventing the threatened evils ; and that is, the establishment of a Govern- ment that possesses the confidence of the great body of the people. A miraculous change for the worse must be wrought in the temper of Englishmen before they will again submit patiently to Tory misrule. They feel too sensibly the effects of Tory pre- dominance from 1785 to 1830, ever to tolerate it in future. Of this the selfish and unprincipled men who now cling to the Duke under the impression that he can establish a strong Government, will ere long be fully aware.
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