5 JANUARY 1839, Page 15

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

REFORM IN PARLIAMENT.

THAT the government of this country is as much in the hands of the Opposition as of the Administration, and that, if in the old days of Tory domination the power of the Executive was too great for freedom, it is now too inconsiderable for useful beneficial exer- cise, are facts obvious and familiar. But it is also true—and, as far as the moral consequences are concerned, not familiar—that any government of a representative character must suffer a virtual di- vision of its power, though not necessarily to the extent we witness at present. Consequently, the principles and conduct of Opposi- tion become matters for public observation and control, hardly less important (at this moment, of course, in an especial degree) than those of Administration itself. We say at this moment in an espe- cial degree, not merely with a view to the precarious position of the existing Ministry, but in reference also to the character and circumstances of the existing Opposition. We have passed that period of the national existence which is marked by the struggle for predominance of tWo exclusive and nearly equivalent political elements.

There is this marked difference between the modern game of politics and the ancient,, if we may so express ourselves—that not two parties only, but several, now play: at it. And the same cause may be said to have altered the science of the game, and the laws of calculation relating to its vicissitudes and its issue. The politicians of our day are like those billiard-players who have been used to the old form of the game, with Just a white and a red ball for all strokes; but, coming to engage in the French game, are perplexed what to do with the other balls of a different colour that are added to the table. Whether our present game is the French game, we will not say—we believe the Tories are of opinion that it is; but at least it is very different from the old English one— exhibiting more colours, more positions, more science, more risk. Some Tory wag,wishing to hunt down our comparison, will perhaps go on to say, that, since the Whig system of Foreign policy, the "cannons" are different. We will only beg to add—the " pocket- ings " seem to be the same. Modern Opposition is no longer single in purpose or action :— this is the political pheenomenon to which we wish to direct the reader's attention. Not only is it no longer single, but—except for great and peculiar objects of common interest—it.is likely to be- come less, not more, united ; and even those great and peculiar objects which momentarily unite it, are likely to become less, not more, frequent. For in proportion as the various and conflicting interests of society come to receive their particular reflection in Parliament or the Press, the shades and colours of party must necessarily increase in number,—though this is not saying that they may not harmonize in combination. Toleration does not create uniformity, but the reverse. It was never advanced in favour of Liberal government that it would produce union, but that it would produce harmony • and union and harmony are two very diffbrent things. Union of opinion, or union of interest, (in the particular,) is no part of the scheme—we will not say merely of our social, but of our moral existence. But concord is a legitimate, perhaps a practicable, part of both ; and concord is not the result of such a union of parties as we have been considering—a union which has no foundation in truth or reality—which cannot be a union of opi- nion, and must therefore be a union of violence, of expedience, of aggression, of defence, or of something else equally remote from the true concord : it is not, we say, the result of union, in this (the usual) sense, but it is the result of a perfect temperament and just proportioning of the discordances of the state : it is the result of—not suppressing the powers of opposition, but balancing them—not silencing, but adjusting political differences. The con- cord musical furnishes here both simile and argument : no artificial unison is so harmonious as the conjunction of innumerable discords justly balanced.

It is for these reasons that Opposition—now no longer a plain figure, but a very polygon in our political geometry—becomes an

important, in proportion as it becomes a complex, part of the gene-

ral subject of politics. It appears to us that, supposing the country possessed of a real reform in the representative system, with an

unexceptionable House of Commons for first fruits, there would still

remain a serious bar to the progress of good legislation and good government, in what may be called the Parliamentary system of this

country. It appears to us that, whether in union or in disunion, in strength or weakness—nay, even in right or wrong political courses—there are certain perpetual time-rooted perversions of fair influence, certain practical anomalies, and certain moral defects in that system, the correction of which will be found indispensable to the purposes of any comprehensive "final" scheme of ,Parlia- mentary Reform :

" Iliacos extra muros peccatur, at infra;"

and whatever success may attend the arms of Reformers without the walls of Parliament, we suspect the war will lie ultimately Having cleared the ground, we shall return to this subject at the first opportunity, with a view to considering the propriety of a second sort of Parliamentary Reform—a reform in Parliament.