The National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Asso- ciations held
its annual festivity this day week, in the Pavilion at
Brighton, Lord Colchester being in the chair, and the Duke of Rich- mond the Ministerial hero of the occasion. Mr. Ashbury, in pro- posing "Her Majesty's Ministers," expressed himself quite over- whelmed with gratitude for the great series of measures which the Ministry had proposed. " The Bills introduced by them in this and last Session constituted in his opinion a batch of domestic measures such as had never been submitted to Parliament within the same period of time by any Government." The Duke of Richmond in returning thanks for the toast, and for the unexpected panegyric on the Conservative legislation with which it had been .accompanied, rendered all-the glory of the Conservative triumph to Mr. Disraeli. He described the measures of the last Government as aimed at all sorts of exciting objects, but at nothing satisfying and tranquil I i Ring, so that the great object of the present Government has been to in- troduce measures of the most modest kind, measures likely to in- crease quietly and substantially the happiness of the people. Of ninety-four measures introduced in the present Session calculated for this end, thirty have already passed and received the Queen's assent, and he hoped the more important of the remainder would pass too. But what he took credit for was the very modest character of the measures in question. And modest they have been no doubt, particularly modest in eschewing any attempt to accomplish the various purposes which gave rise to them. There is a kind of modesty—and politically it is very common—which does not deserve praise, but blame, for it springs out of that excessive indifference or caution which considers it not worth while to carry through a troublesome or difficult task. Modest measures which decline to grapple with the difficulty at which they are aimed, make up, we suspect, a good many of the units as well in the thirty Bills passed as in the sixty-four which remain.
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