the people ought to possess, and may they long continue to enjoy. (Loud cheers.)" It is unnecessary to recapitulate in detail the arguments by which the Bill was successfully opposed in the course of the debate, nor need we offer any of our own. The Bill had no chance of success, and was thrown out by an overwhelming majority. In a House which numbered 536 members, including those who paired, there was a majority of 56 against the measure. The result of the division was a grand triumph for the Conservative party; but the Radicals, although defeated, were at least equally elated. "We have got a leader at last!" they exclaimed; and the excitement in the lobbies and in the refreshment - room, caused by the new attitude assumed by Mr Gladstone, has not been equalled for many years. "What do you think of Mr Gladstone now? asked a member of Mr Bright. "He has gone farther than I have done," was the reply. Yet it may be doubted whether the adhesion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer brought unmingled joy to the heart of the burly member for Birming ham. When Coriolanus deserted Rome to join the ranks of her enemies, Aufidius, of all the Volscians, felt the least sensation of triumph, for he had a melancholy foreboding that the days of his leadership were numbered, and that the supreme command would ere long devolve upon the brilliant and audacious renegade. But, apart from individual interests and ambitions, there could be no doubt that the transactions of that memorable evening were of immense significance for the future. The great crisis of parties had come at last. The reign of political indifferentism, inaugurated by Lord Palmerston, had come to an end. The Whigs alone were downcast. Twenty of their members joined with the Conservatives in defeating the Bill, and in expressing their hostility to the views of Mr Gladstone. The Liberal party was broken up, severed into hostile camps; and the days of the Ministry were numbered. It is worthy of notice that all the Roman Catholic members, with the exception of Mr Hennessy, voted for the Bill. Between them and the Radicals there is a perfect community of sentiment on this subject. By lowering the franchise, the Roman Catholic element will become supreme in the constituencies of Ireland, just as the same measure would give an ascendancy to the Radical party in the constituencies of England and Scotland. Accordingly the newspapers of the Roman Catholic party are as exultant at the conversion of Mr Gladstone to democracy as are the Radicals themselves. "We, too, have got a leader!" is their cry. In fact the conversion (as they term it) of Mr Gladstone, has created a fury of enthusiasm on the part of the Radical and Catholic newspapers at least as remarkable as any of the kind which the present generation has witnessed.* Mr Gladstone has been coquetting with Radicalism for nearly four years. He is intensely ambitious. He aspires to become the * The Morning Star' exults at the accession of Mr Gladstone to the ranks of democracy in the following terms:-"He is the representative of the unrepresented. He has been converted by Mr Bright, as Sir Robert Peel was converted by Mr Cobden. In the forty or fifty minutes of yesterday afternoon during which he held the Commons under a spell of enthusiasm or of hostility, our political history passed into a new epoch. In a speech of tremendous power and courage, he proclaimed his adoption of principles that are either the most revolutionary or the most conservative the most fatal or the most salutary, according to the point of view from which they are regarded. The extremest Radical below the ministerial gangway could not wish to hear broader doctrines enunciated in a bolder spirit. Chartism itself did not assert more than the title to the franchise of every man not incapacitated by personal unfitness or political danger.' eader of a great party, in order hat he may attain the premiership; and he cares little what that party is, or how its policy may affect the best interests of the country, if he can only secure his own personal advancement. Twelve years ago, he finally broke with the Conservative party from jealousy of Mr Disraeli. He saw that if he remained, as might have been expected from his earlier career, with the Conservatives, the most that he could hope for would be a divided supremacy. But after a brief triumph during the premiership of Lord Aberdeen, the Peelite party dwindled, and became incapable of independent existence. It was subject to that law of nature which denies fertility to hybrids; and its constituent members, not possessing sufficient moral courage to reconcile themselves with the friends whom they had whilome scurvily abandoned, made common cause with the Whigs, little doubting that, by the exercise of their unscrupulous talents, they might soon supplant the legitimate leaders of that ancient but debilitated corps. Failing Dogberry and Verges, the antiquated masters of the watch, it seemed to William Ewart Gladstone a most natural thing that he should be promoted to the dignity of chief constable. Of late years, apparently, he has had misgivings that in this expectation also he should be baulked. He has no powerful connections, as the Greys, Russells, and other members of the great Whig families have; and, with a view to strengthen his position, he began to pay court to Mr Bright. He conciliated the Radicals by ever and anon introducing into his budgets some features of the Manchester school of finance. And by his stubborn, though not unyielding, opposition to the expenditure upon the military and naval establishments for the national defence, by a cheese - paring niggardliness in matters where liberality ought to have been exhibited, and by his well-known adherence to the doctrines of the Peace Party, he still further attracted their regard, and began to be looked to by them as their possible leader in the future. By gaining him, they felt they would rise greatly in public estimation,-the gulf which separated them from office would no longer remain impassable,-and with him as Premier, they might do great things, and make no end of experiments upon the existing institutions of the realm. By gaining them, again, Mr Gladstone calculated he should be able to balance the power of the great Whig families, and, aided by the reputation which he has gained rather through glibness than through soundnessmore because he is a dexterous speaker than because he is an accurate thinker-force his way to the Premiership. But the very means which he took to strengthen his position have contributed to produce the failure of his hopes, which has now led him to cast in his lot with the Democratic party. The Whigs have not relished his coquetting with Radicalism on his own particular account; though collectively, when the fit is on them, they are ready enough to interchange amorous glances with that unenticing Delilah. His notorious proclivities in that direction have, as they are well aware, made him peculiarly obnoxious to the fastidious Conservatives, whom the Whig chiefs know that they must conciliate if the rule of Whiggery is to be maintained a little longer. And it must also be allowed, despite his brilliant talents, Mr Gladstone has never shown the tact, judgment, and conciliatory manner which are requisite in the leader of a party. Taking all these things into account, it was recently determined that not Mr Gladstone, but Lord Clarendon, should be the official leader of the Whigs. We stated last month that Lord Clarendon had joined the Ministry simply with a view to succeed to the Premiership. Since then, the severe illness of Lord Pal merston has precipitated matters; and it was arranged that as soon as the session was over Lord Palmerston should resign the Premiership, and thereafter occupy a position in public affairs similar to that which Lord Lansdowne so long held. Lord Clarendon was to be the new Premier. Hence the mutiny of Mr Gladstone. He is now aware that the Whigs will not have him at the price which he, in his exorbitant self-conceit, has named as the equivalent for his adherence. His is another melancholy instance of the fate which, sooner or later, must overtake every man who abandons principle for the objects of his own ambition. Restless and intriguing, he has forfeited the right to be trusted by any political party which retains even the semblance of selfrespect; and, though his services may still be worth the purchasing -as in the middle ages it was a common thing to hire a mercenary champion-he never can expect to be a leader in that high sense of the term which the English instinct recognises as the noblest position to which a subject can legitimately aspire. Mr Gladstone's rebellion against the Whigs is a remarkable incident, but its practical effects will be much less important than is generally imagined. It symbolises a great change, but it will not produce any great change of itself. The Whig party has exhausted its last resources. For thirty years it has maintained its ascendency by means of coalitions. From 1835 to 1841 it protracted its rule by purchasing the support of O'Connell and his Tail. From 1847 to 1855 it maintained its power by forming a coalition with the Peelites. In 1859 it made a similar coalition with the Radicals. Irish party, Peelites, and Radicals, each has been absorbed in turn-all have been cajoled to lend their aid to maintain the ascendency of the Whigs. But all has been in vain. The "great Liberal party," the aggregate of so many coalitions, is on its last legs, and the devices and resources by which it has so long maintained itself are at length exhausted. There are no more coalitions to be made, for there are no more parties or sections with whom they may combine. The present Liberal party is used up, the present Ministry is on the eve of falling. Mr Gladstone, like all the world, sees this; and, wrathful at his own claims to the Premiership being passed over, he resolves to sever his fortunes from those of the Ministry, and gives it a parting kick to notify the breach of partnership to all whom it may concern. In this lies the real importance of Mr Gladstone's rebellion. It is as a symptom, rather than as an operative cause, that his recent conduct is important. It will affect the complexion of parties in the House-though even there the changes may not be so immediate as is generally expected. But on the politics of the country, Mr Gladstone's pronunciamento will not have the slightest effect. The current of English feeling will flow on, steady and conservative, as before. Englishmen don't care for, and have never acknowledged, "abstract rights" of any kind in the practical administration of affairs. Mr Gladstone may eulogise abstract rights, or "moral rights" as he calls them, as long as he pleases, and John Bull will listen with great indifference. He will reply, "I don't give a straw for your moral rights: I want the country to be well governed." France, during her first Revolution, is the only country that ever tried to apply the doctrine of abstract rights to practical government; and, short-lived as the experiment was, we need not say how frightful was the catastrophe that ensued. tainly, if men have a "moral right" to anything, they have it to the possession of life and property; but the champions of the Rights of Man, the elect of universal suffrage, held a different view, and took off heads and confiscated property at their pleasure. Mr Gladstone is too well. versed in history not to be thor Cer oughly aware of this. We shall We are not of that opinion. We believe that the difficulty might be solved and the peace of Europe preserved, if we had wiser heads to direct, and abler spirits to animate our councils; but it is possible that, through Whig imbecility, we may be drifting into a war, and that, in the despair of extrication, the present Ministry may expedite the crisis which their miserable mismanagement has provoked. not do him the injustice to suppose that his convictions are in accordance with his language. We give him credit for a higher degree of capacity and more real sense than he has chosen for the moment to display. We are content to believe that his speech was a piece of political jugglery,-a fresh example of that immorality which he affected to censure. It was a flourish to captivate the Radicals. If he can obtain their support-if he can become the leader of the Liberal party of the future, what matters it if he cannot act up to his present professions? There was another reason why Mr Gladstone should make his pronunciamento without further delay. The Conference is proving a failure. At the meeting on the 17th ult. Prussia and Austria declared that they were no longer bound by the Treaty of 1852, and maintain that Schleswig and Holstein should be indissolubly united, and either wholly separated from Denmark, or at most only linked to Denmark by a dynastic union. England, and Russia to some extent, adhered to the Treaty of 1852. France refused to express an opinion. And Denmark, while stating that she was ready to make a total cession of Holstein, declared that she would not abate one inch of her right to Schleswig as an integral part of the kingdom. In consequence of this open rupture, the Conference was adjourned for eleven days, till the 28th; but as yet there are no symptoms of a pacific settlement of the dispute. Now, it is rumoured that, if the Conference fails, the Palmerston Ministry is resolved to go to war with the German Powers. That rumour may have some foundation; for, in the the hands of Earl Russell, England has already incurred such humiliation, that men may be excused for thinking that she can hardly hope to recover her influence without putting forth her material power. This is a fresh reason for Mr Gladstone's mutiny. As a matter of personal ambition, he does not like to have Lord Clarendon put over his head as Premier; and as a question of general policy, he is opposed to the war which the Ministry have, or at least are supposed to have, in contemplation. In his view they are already doomed, whether the result be war or peace; so, with that ignoble instinct which leads the meaner animals to abandon a tottering edifice, he has already loosened his connection with them, and is preparing for an immediate escape. He has indicated, pretty clearly, the mansion to which he will next resort, but he still lingers on the premises of the Whigs. It argues ill for the confidence of the latter in the stability of their tenement that they have not had the courage at once to get rid of so dangerous an inmate. Time was when the high-spirited Palmerston would not have brooked such open defiance of his authority; but with increasing years the blood flows languidly, and the veteran becomes callous to instances of insubordination and rebellion, which once would have been speedily repressed. But this state of affairs cannot endure much longer. A crisis of parties is taking place at home-a crisis in the war is imminent abroad. The session of Parliament is far advanced, and it has been wholly wasted, but it is not likely to terminate without the occurrence of events which will make it memorable in our annals. et seq. Ahmed Khan, the rule of, in Herat, Albania, excursions from Corfu into, American banks, policy of the, during American contest, our professed neu- ANNIE AND HER MASTER, Chap. I., Antonelli, anecdote of, and Solferino, Antony, Cicero's hostility to, 562, 563. Attorney-General, the, on the steam- Autobiographies, modern, 412. Bank Act of 1844, character and influ- Bank of England, the, its monopoly, Bank of France, the, its character, &c., Bank of Scotland, establishment of the, Banks, number of, in the United King- Banking, nature of, sources of its pro- Banking system, the, in Scotland, 300 Bengal, the perpetual settlement in, 599. Bowles, W. L., at Winchester College, 82. Brody, sketches at, 94. Bruce, his account of his feelings at Brummel, anecdote of, 176. Byronism, the old affectation of, 416. Cicero, 560 et seq.-his final struggle with Pompey, 562-his murder, ib. Caithness, the Earls of, fends between, CAPITAL, THE ECONOMY OF, 300. Cavour, the harbour, &c., of Spezia Caxton, Pisistratus, the Mind and the Cazal, Noval, Napier's account of com- Cecil, Lord R., on the steam-ram ques- Cephalonia, sketches of, &c., 593. |