LORD DERBY'S SECESSION. T EE secession of Lord Derby from the
Conservative Asso- ciations of Lancashire, is received by many of our con- temporaries as a mere tardy confession of the crypto-Liberalism which has always underlain his traditional Conservatism. That explanation of the step seems to us a very mistaken one. That Lord Derby has never been a Tory of the new school, we all know. That it is of the very essence of his political character to deprecate sensational politics of all kinds ; to discourage the revival of the Prerogative of the Crown ; to look coldly on a plusquam-Palmerstonian foreign policy ; and to pursue, on the same sort of grounds on which the late Lord Aberdeen and the late Sir Robert Peel pursued, a policy tending at least towards non-intervention in foreign quarrels, though not in the abstract committed to it, is perfectly true. But if that be crypto-Liberalism, it is obvious that the most distinguished of the Conservative Prime Ministers of this century have been crypto-Liberals too. To our minds, Lord Derby is a perfectly typical Liberal-Conserva- tive, perhaps the most typical Liberal-Conservative in the country. But then we mean by a Liberal-Conservative one who, while he sees that there ought to be change, dislikes change for its own sake, and so far as his own temperament goes, would be disposed to make, and to make in good time, those changes which are necessary, rather in order to prevent any dangerous accumulation of the forces tending towards change, than because he is vehemently stirred by the con- templation of the evils which it is proposed to remedy. If that is what a Liberal-Conservative means, we believe there is no more typical Liberal-Conservative than Lord Derby. His leaning is always against haste or enthusiasm ; his scepticism is always deep as to the conleur-de-rose views of reformers. If you want to gain him over to your side, you must re- present to him not that a great revolution which will benefit vastly all those who are affected by it, is within our reach, but that if as much as this is not done, something far worse than the present condition of things may reasonably be expected. A sanguine philanthropist has never the least chance with Lord Derby. But a sensible minimiser of all the advantages of reform, who is none the less able to point out what, in the absence of that reform, we may expect in the way of degeneration, will always get his ear. Now, that is not the temperament of Liberalism proper, and therefore we say that Lord Derby has never been in any genuine sense a true Liberal. His fears have never been immoderate,—he is far too sensible for that,—but in judging of the immediate effects of events, his fears are always apt to be greater than his hopes. No more typical Conservative temperament can be imagined. You always have to show him a reason, and a strong reason, why he should act. You never need to produce a reason to prevent him from acting, for his prima fade sympathy will always be on the side of declining to act. But when you have said this, you have said that he is, in the true sense of the term, a Conservative. A Liberal is hopeful, perhaps eager. A Radical is enthusiastic and sanguine as to the pro- spects of change; but a Conservative is cautious, dubious, indeed averse to it, till you convince his judgment that sitting still will be more dangerous than moving on. This being granted, it is easy to see why Lord Derby has seceded from the Conservative Associations of the present day. He has so seceded because he is a Conservative, whereas the only object of the Conservative party organisations which are now at work, is to keep a Government in power which is the opposite of Conservative,—Tory-Democratic. Doubtless, it is true that so great a power as Lord Derby must throw his weight either into the one scale or into the other. He cannot leave the Conservatives, without either tacitly or explicitly joining the Liberals. But then it is clear that, under the circumstances of the case, Lord Derby thinks—and rightly thinks—that the most Conservative thing he can do is to strengthen the Liberals. It is the Liberals, and the Liberals only, who can prevent this Tory-Democratie re- volution ; who can do something towards extricating Eng- land from the dreadful scrapes she has got into, in every part of the world,—who can restore the authority of Parlia- Bement—who can bring refractory Viceroys and " prancing Proconsuls " again under the curb,—who can put an end to the administrative anarchy ;—and all this seems, of course, so import- ant to a statesman like Lord Derby, that even though he may fear that the Liberals will entertain other projects for the reform of our internal confusions, with which he may have little sympa- thy, he yet feels it to be the true policy of a ConservatiVe to strengthen the hands which are placing all possible obstacles in the wild career of the Democratic Tories.
The formal secession of Lord Derby from the Tories will produce great political results, not only in Lancashire, but in England at large. It will be the signal for the split which we have long foreseen between the Conservatives and the Tories,—between the party of caution and the party of brag. And by throwing the party of caution into close alliance with the Liberals, it will, of course, strengthen the hands of the Whigs, at the expense of the more advanced Liberals,—strengthen the hands of Lord Hartington, at the expense of the personal followers of Mr. Gladstone. Looked at from this point of view, we, of course, do not feel that amount of self-congratulation on the event which will perhaps be felt on the front bench of the Opposition. The prospect for some time to come now will be less a prospect of Liberal advance than of Tory defeat ; and delighted as we shall be to see a heavy blow struck at the dangerous and chaotic policy of the histrionic statesman of the day, it is impossible to rejoice at the prospect of a consider- ble interval of political torpor. Nevertheless, it was always to be expected. Reaction does not pass suddenly into healthy action. The intoxication of mischievous illu- sions must pass off, before the influence of popular truths can revive. Indeed, the absolute amount of work which will have to be done before the coach can be got out of the mire into which this mad Government of ours has plunged it, is so great, that we need not murmur much over the politi- cal inaction which an alliance between the Liberal-Conserva- tives and the Liberals promise us, so long as that alli- ance succeeds in rescuing the country,—as we believe it will,— from the power of a Government which is neither Conservative nor Liberal, but reactionary, revolutionary, and thoroughly spendthrift,—which has combined all the disreputable quali- ties of the bully, with all the disreputable qualities of the prodigal,—and which, so far from being jealous of ancient traditions, proposes to sponge on the resources of the future, in order to defray the expense of casting to the winds the sober teachings of the past. Well may a Conservative like Lord Derby separate himself publicly from a party which asks the country to continue its confidence in such a Govern- ment as this.
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