TOPICS OF THE DAY.
CONCLUSION OF THE CHAPTER OF THE REFORM BILL.
Loan JOHN RUSSELL'S announcement of the resignation of Minis- ters on Monday evening gave occasion to an interchange of com- pliments between him and Lord STANLEY. There is a tendency in the human mind—and it is one of its best characteristics—to let go animosity when a decided victory and defeat have for a time at least rendered further strife impossible. One of the most un- equivocal signs of an advanced civilizatiot is when this sentiment becomes a fashion. There is much real shallowness in the fancied penetration of those who can see nothing but insincerity in the affectation of a brave and generous deportment, which even minds of baser metal find it necessary to assume in polished society. That very affectation is a proof that the great mass of that society can appreciate moral beauty and is ambitious of being good and great. Generous professions, however little to be relied on as gua- rantees of the character of the individual making them, are evi- dence to which no suspicion can attach of the tone which prevails in the society to which they are addressed. It is in the substitu- tion of a generous emulation for hatred as a spring of action—in the honour it pays to those who soothe and respect a fallen enemy
that the chief beauty of the chivalrous system of morals and its poetry consist ; and the same sentiments, if made habitual guides of action, cannot fail to ennoble political strife. It is nothing to the purpose to say that hollow professions, uttered with a view to self- glorification, will often be elicited in consequence : the currency of false coin proves that there is enough of good in the market to ren- der men unsuspicious.
There is another train of reflections which the interchanges of amenities between the rival statesmen is calculated to awaken. It is never in the heat of an earnest struggle that we find antagonists adopting this tone : it is only when a decisive event has for the time put one of them out of condition to persevere in the con- test. The stern civility with which Lords STANLEY and JOHN REksELL parted on Monday evening—like combatants who have done enough for honour and see that prolonging the struggle can- not materially alter their relations—is equivalent to a declaration that the contest for the reins of government is at an end ; that the Whigs have given in, and leave their opponents to use the power they have got. It is not a mere transference this of power from one association of ambitious public men to another. It is the close of an epoch in the nation's history. It is the final termination of that impassioned burst of national will, which dispersed and beat down Conservative rule in 1830, shattered so many of our old in- stitutions beyond the possibility of permanent repair, and gradu- ally becoming more cool and languid, like the lava stream as its distance from its source increases, has now ceased to flow. The Conservatives have resumed the reins of government. With what abated strength — with what increased elements of insubordi- nation to contend—with what prospects of settled permanent sway they resume them, it is for the future to declare. They are again in power ; and the next advance of 1.1e nation must begin from a new starting-post, under different auspices, -under new forms. The Reform Bill movement has spent its force. Of those who were men and took an active part in public affairs when that controversy began, many have grown tired of politics and drawn back into private life ; many have become afraid of the Frankenstein of their own creation and gone over to the Con- servatives ; many have become disgusted with their work because its results have fallen so far short of their sanguine anticipations. Above all, the lapse of ten years—a considerable portion of man's brief life—has produced a considerable change in the constitution of society. The Reform Bill, with the rapid interchange of hopes and fears which thrilled through those who took an interest in it at its first announcement, is to a large and influential portion of the thinking and acting men of 1841 what the tales of the Penin- sular war were to the men of 1830—the French Revolution to the men of 1812—the American War of Independence to the men of 1790—a thing of the past. New topics of discussion, new objects to be attained, are daily emerging, and they will be the realities of the politicians of the next ten years. Reform-Bill politicians, who make no allowance for the boys who have grown up into men, and the questions that excite their interest, will soon find themselves the Ossians of their race, telling old-world stories in the chimney-
corner.
We are placed just now between the close of one series of im- portant events and the commencement of another. The present moment is like the turning of the tide, when for a moment there is no perceptible motion of the waters in any direction. All that we know is, that the last movement has been arrested ; that the arty of the Movement is broken up ; and that it must be organ- ized anew before any further advance can be made.
In this position of affairs, we can speak of the leaders of the vanquished party in Parliament and their doings as matter of his- tory. An overpowering feeling of duty obliged us to oppose that mischievous and mistaken course of policy which they adopted im- mediately upon the meeting of the first Parliament under the Reform till, and in which they have with few interruptions per- severed ever since. While engaged in the task of critical analysis, our attention was necessarily limited to the actions and argu- ments immediately under discussion, and our tone was occasionally ,sharpened by controversy. The time was not come for an historical view of their position and character, with the whole consequences of their actions ; and in attempting to take it the urgent business of the moment must have been neglected. The moment of pause which now is, presents the first opportunity for such a retrospect.
The Movement, which will take its name in history from the most prominent of its results—the Reform Bill—although its effects have fallen far short of what might have been expected, has pro- duced much unequivocal benefit. When we look at the immense means of achieving good which the national enthusiasm placed at the disposal of the Whigs—at the wanton waste of this power, and the disproportionate results—it is impossible to avoid feeling indig- nation as well as regret at their mismanagement : but it would be unjust to overlook on this account our real gains, and the real merits of those who ostensibly procured them for us. The Reform Bill has not given us a constituency so extensive as to afford se- curity from the preponderance of class-interests, or inaccessible to corrupt influences ; but it has given us a constituency more inde- pendent, less easily manageable by rulers who have only their own selfish interests in view, than that which preceded it. The Tories were supported by the old constituency, and the Tories are at present supported by a majority of the new. But the new con- stituency, with all its faults, will not support a Government acting in the spirit of the Ministry of 1819. Henceforth new and more liberal principles of action must be made the rule of its conduct, by whatever party retains the reins of government. The pretensions of the adherents of one sect to exclusive political power have been discouraged : the influence of the Roman Ca- tholics and Dissenters is and must continue to be felt in the Legislature to an extent that will make every attempt on the part of the Established Church to increase its political influence recoil against itself. Some invaluable principles of political morals, formerly little known or appreciated, have become the recognized popular creed. They are as yet so imperfectly apprehended, their practical application is so little understood, that probably for a tract of years many public men will escape by paying mere lip homage to them. But much has been gained by the mere habit of referring to such principles as tests of measures and conduct. When we hear candidates of the party supposed to be most hostile to popular principles professing from the hustings that they recognize " the greatest possible good for the greatest number" as the only legitimate aim of government, and others expatiating upon their anxiety to release commerce from all shackles not indispensable to the attainment of the higher objects of politics—when we see noble lords of strong Conservative pre- possessions seeking to earn a public character by extensive and unwearied inquiries into the state of the labouring-classes, and the agitation of measures for their relief—we cannot but feel that a wiser spirit, a higher morality, has begun to influence the political world, and that its influence must increase. The relaxations which have been made in our restrictive system of commercial policy— the improved principles begun to be acted upon in our Colonial department of state affairs—Post-office Reform—even the nibbling at National Education—are beginnings which cannot be receded from, The foundations of new institutions have been laid, new views have begun to be acted upon, new sympathies have been called into action; a spirit has been evoked which cannot be laid by any magic. Nor have we any wish, though our task latterly has been to combat the narrow- mindedness and faintheartedness of those whom accident placed at the head of the Movement, to deny what merits they have really possessed. It is no more than justice to say that they caught the contagious enthusiasm of the season, and evinced on some occasions a generous reliance on popular support, a truly catholic liberality of opinion, beyond any Government that had preceded them. We avoid details, but it is impossible to look back upon Earl GREY'S position when he developed his plan of Reform without feeling the glow of the moment come back upon us : our memory faith- fully retains the impression of public appearances of Lord Joins RUSSELL. in which he showed his power of rising with the occasion, and thankfully acknowledges the talent and good-will he has dis- played in amending the business arrangements of the Colonial and other departments : and let it be allowed us to say even of Lord STANLEY, that if he has displayed too much of the repulsive pride and self-will of a Coriolanus, so also has be shown much of the chivalrous candour, fearlessness, and freedom from malice, which more than half redeem that character. In closing the chapter of the Reform Bill Movement, therefore, we would close it in charity with every one, whatever may have been his shortcomings, who has on any occasion given proofs of a generous sympathy with humanity- .‘ Yet I'll remember thee, Gleneairn,
And a' that thou host done for me."
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