THE NEW SPLIT IN THE TORY RANKS.
TT was very natural that Lord Salisbury and Sir Stafford Northcote should endeavour to make up their quarrel with Lord Randolph Churchill ; but we question if it was wise. They found, as they might have expected, that the borough Tories, of whom Mr. Forwood, of Liverpool, is the best-known representative, and the more ardent Tories for whom Mr. Gorst Ends brains, were not inclined to give up Lord Randolph ; and that if the quarrel continued, much of the inclination to fight would go out of their followers' hearts. They therefore came to terms, readmitted Lord Randolph, suffered his re-election to the Chairmanship of the United Conservative Associations, and were rewarded with his speech of the 13th inst. and the following division. The advantage thus gained, however, was but temporary. Lord Randolph Churchill intends to lead, not to be led ; he does not at heart either respect, or like any of his leaders in the Commons, patronises Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, pardons Sir Stafford with an irritable grin, openly mocks those "bourgeois chiefs" Sir R. Cross and Mr. W. H. Smith, and intends to take his own course. He took it on Tuesday, with a vengeance. If there is an idea to which the Tories are committed, it is that the inclusion of Ireland in the Reform Bill is dangerous and bad. It will, they .allege, directly reinforce a party which is seeking the dis- memberment of the Empire, and the destruction of property in land. Whatever else is right, that must be wrong; and -they call upon all good Whigs to help them in resisting such treasonably democratic projects. The Ulster Tories, -who fear, with reason, for their seats, are especially violent ; `hut all Tories, from Lord Salisbury downwards, including Lord Randolph Churchill himself, have joined from time to time in the same cry. Lord Randolph, however, believes that 'he is the future leader of the Tory Democracy ; he is also a -candidate for Birmingham ; and in either capacity he wants the Irish Extremist vote. On Tuesday night, therefore, when speaking on Mr. Brodrick's motion to leave Ireland out of the Franchise Bill, he coolly announced that he had been converted by the debates, pronounced the proposal of the Government to include Ireland " wise" and righteous, and called upon all good Tories to support it. Eleven Tories did so; the Tory leaders, except Lord Randolph's two "bourgeois" friends, walked out of the House ; and the Government, upon a crucial question upon which their failure had once been regarded as certain, obtained a majority of 195, and a vote of two to one. The Tory Irish, of course, are furious ; and so are much more important people, the old Conservatives, who are , Tories because they want to maintain narrow suffrages, the ascendency of the land, the influence of property, ancient tradition, and all the rest of the high respectabilities. They do not see what they are to fight for if the party is to become democratic, and are inclined to say that either they will retire from active fighting, or Lord Randolph Churchill shall. The Standard, which, when it is Tory at all, represents this Toryism, openly demands Lord Randolph's expulsion, and tells the leaders in unmistakeable English that in allow- ing him to go his own way they are reducing their army to a mob.
How is this "little rift in the lute" to be soldered up I But for the past history of the party, and its long discipline of suffering, we should scarcely think reconciliation possible. Clearly, if the old leaders follow the Standard's advice, Lord Randolph Churchill will raise his own banner, declare openly that Toryism must become democratic or die, and carry away with him probably one-third of the host of heaven. The Tory boroughs will be his, and when the franchise is reduced much of the Tory mob. The Tory Party will be reduced in the House of Commons to compara- tive nothingness, and the dominant majority will, so long as it can hold together, enjoy an unchecked dictatorship. There will be no alternative Government to take the reins. On the other hand, if the Tories treat Lord Randolph as another Mr. Disraeli, concede the lead to him, however reluctantly, and rearrange themselves in rank behind him, sending Sir Stafford Northcote incidentally to the Pynes, and the two " bourgeois " leaders to Coventry, how long will they be strong? They are wonderfully teachable, and, except when Mr. Gladstone is speaking, wonderfully meek ; but at heart they cannot care about the new programme. What is Toryism if Tories are to vote for democratic suffrages, equal distribution, the reign of Pamellitea in Ireland, and measures in England con- ceived in the spirit of Lord Randolph's proposal to expro- priate all leasehold houses and vest the freeholds in their occupying tenants That is American democracy, not Toryism ; and if it is Conservative, it is not a Conservatism that members of the Carlton either recognise or care about. They want to be personages, not units ; aristocrats, not democrats ; privileged people, not men lost in a rushing crowd which in all but direction is indistinguishable from the swollen Radical mob. They will feel themselves more at home with the Whigs—who do not, at all events, blaspheme the Red Book—than with the Tory democrats, and will be inclined either to lag behind till the party cannot move, or to declare the world incurable, step out of it altogether, and become, like Earl Grey, members of that great Chorus which once a month wails meloliously, if tediously, over the coming fate of the British Troy. Ulti- mately, as Toryism has its roots deep in human nature, and especially in human nature as developed on this island, they
and the Whigs will coalesce and form a powerful party. But intermediately what is to be done ? If they, the infinitely re- spectable old Conservatives, " acred up to their lips, consolled up to their chins," repudiate Lord Randolph, he will upset the coach altogether • while if they follow him, they will sacrifice all that makes life worth having, merely in order to live.
Beaconsfield was bad enough, but he had a redeeming love for fine upholstery which kept him fairly straight in the ways of the rich ; but this horrid young mutineer has not even that.
He does not even eschew Mr. Gladstone when Mr. Gladstone is on the Irish side. We confess all our sympathies are with the old men ; and we heartily wish them well out of their trouble, but we see at present no road. They have cultivated unscrupulousness in order to be avenged on Mr. Gladstone's virtue, and lo ! a man who is as ,really unscrupulous as they only seem to be, takes power out of their hands.
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