in the country, ever slow to move, and unprepared in the first onset, but persevering, tenacious, and generally victorious in the end, gradually regained their strength, and, amidst the general obloquy which their obvious incapacity brought upon the Whigs, silently resumed the ascendency over public opinion, to which their talents, their consideration, their possessions, their private virtues, and, above all, the truth of their principles, so justly entitled them. We do not say, that the Tories, as a body, have yet regained their political influence; we are quite aware that they have not as yet done so, nor have we any confident hope, that, without some modification of the Reform Bill, steady or upright principles of government ever can again come into action in this country;-what we maintain is, that Conservative principles have again become, or at least are becoming triumphant; that the language of moderation, good sense, and experience, is again occasionally uttered by Government, and generally put forth by their adherents throughout the country; that, though still styling themselves Whigs, they in reality have become more than halfTories; that their infamous alliance with the mob, to beat down the education and property of the kingdom, is, for the present at least, at an end; and that they are now more terrified at the frantic allies whom they made such efforts to bring into power, than the Conservatives, who, from the very first, foresaw and denounced them. This being the case, there is yet hope for the country; there is hope, because the great but inert mass who were carried away by the Reform mania, and supported Ministers in their Revolutionary projects, under the influence of a perfect delusion, have awakened to a sense of their danger, have broken off from the peril and the disgrace of Radical alliance, and, though still professing themselves Reformers, and swearing by the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill, are yet steadfast in their resistance to those ulterior projects of innovation to which they gladly looked forward two years ago, and unconsciously are now using the very language and arguments which they denounced,

with so much vehemence, as tyrannical and oppressive, when uttered by their opponents during that memorable struggle. What a triumph to the cause of truth! how glorious a monument to Conservative principles, to see that they have forced themselves even upon their enemies, and are regulating the thoughts of those who elevated themselves into political power by their temporary overthrow!

We know not whether it should be ranked among the subjects of congratulation, that the Whigs, as a necessary consequence of this change in public opinion, are fast sinking into obloquy and contempt, and, as a political party, will probably, after one or two general elections, be completely extinct. Every person of common observation must have anticipated this result from their success in carrying the Reform Bill; that suicidal measure, which they looked forward to, as perpetuating for a long period their political ascendency, and which is destined, to all appearance, to be the first excavation of their grave. The reason of this rapid decline is obvious, and may be observed operating, with more or less force, in every party which for selfish purposes has lent itself in any age to anarchical projects. After having achieved their first great revolutionary triumph, they must do one of two things: they must either advance, or stand still. If they do the first, they are rapidly brought into collision with all the great interests in the state; private ruin, public misery, stare them in the face; the dreadful consequence of revolutionary projects is forced upon the observation of the most inconsiderate among them. If they do the last, they are instantly denounced as changelings and deceivers by their former democratic supporters; and under the obloquy heaped on them by the classes from whom they had so long heard only the voice of flattery, they rapidly sink into contempt. The Conservatives shun them for what they have done; the Revolutionists execrate them for what they have left undone; and between the two they fall to the ground. Society is divided more clearly than ever, by the consequence of their triumph, into the

two great divisions of preservers and destroyers-the peril to all classes puts an end to a neutral body; those who are foremost in the work of the last, can never long maintain themselves at the head of the first. It is the charge of inconsistency which invariably proves their ruin; the practical illustration which their own conduct affords of the falsehood of their principles and the hollowness of their professions, which brings them into contempt; the necessity of facing about and persecuting their former allies, which exposes them to the worst imputation on public men, that of former deceit and present ingratitude.

How long did Neckar and the liberal Ministry who doubled the Tiers Etat, and convoked, on revolutionary principles, the National Assembly, continue in power after they were hailed by the unanimous transports of France, as the saviours of their country?-Not three months. How long did the Girondists maintain their ascendency, even after the period when they had 14,000 votes in Paris, and the Jacobins only 22, in the choice of a Mayor for that city? Just six months. How long did Lafitte, the author of the revolt of the Barricades, continue at the head of regenerated France? Where are now the Doctrinaires, the authors of that deplorable convulsion? Merged in the authority of Marshal Soult, converted into military despots, the aides-de-camp for carrying into effect the mandates of the war council of the Tuileries. The cause of the rapid fall of all these parties, so powerful and irresistible at the moment of their triumph, is the same, and being founded on principles of universal application, may be always calculated upon in similar convulsions. It is the practical danger of carrying their principles into execution which forces them to pause; the impossibility of maintaining their popularity, if they do so, which proves their ruin. The Whigs are not destined to prove an exception to the principle which drove Neckar into a contemptible exile at Coppet; which forced Lafayette to seek refuge from Jacobin vengeance in an Austrian dungeon; which put a price on the head of Dumourier,

the saviour of France; which brought the Girondists to the scaffold; which destroyed Bailly and the Duke of Orleans by the guillotine; which precipitated Lafitte from the height of popularity into public ruin and private insolvency; which has degraded the modern Liberals of France into the executioners of military power. As individuals they may remain in office, for God forbid that they should ever become the victims, as their French predecessors were, of the passions which they themselves had excited: but as a party pursuing its own measures, they must rapidly sink into oblivion; they must either go on and become Revolutionists, or go back and become Conservatives. Let us hope that they have yet courage and principle enough left to adopt, and go through with, the latter alternative.

III. But vain would have been all the reaction which had arisen in the public thought, fruitless would have been all the efforts of the Whigs to arrest the torrent which they themselves had let loose, if the conduct of the Conservatives had been different from what it actually has, and they had been influenced, either by the passion for power which actuated the English Whigs in 1831, or the selfish alarms which mastered the French noblesse in 1789. If they had either joined in a factious opposition to throw out the political antagonists who had inflicted such desperate evils on their country, or imitated the French emigrants who abandoned it in despair to its fate, where would now have been the English empire? Revile them as they choose-calumniate them as they may, the Whigs know, at the bottom of their hearts, that it is the courageous conduct, and disinterested patriotism of the Conservatives, which have hitherto proved the salvation of the country, and delivered them from the consequences of the frantic body, whom, by Catholic Emancipation, and the Reform Bill, they have elevated into such perilous importance. Without going farther back than the 6th May, 1834, where would the Whigs and the country have been if the Tories had simply staid away on Mr Daniel

Whittle Harvey's motion on the Pension List, and the majority of 80 against Mr Strutt's amendment had been converted, by their secession, into a majority of ten or twenty in favour of it? By their own admission, they would have been destroyed; a Radical Ministry would have been installed in power; all the great interests of the State would have been overturned, and a decided Revolution established in unbridled sovereignty.* How often, during the last and present session, have they been on the verge of dissolution, and preserved from destruction only by the efforts of the Conservatives generously supporting them in despite of all former discord? How often would they have been fairly outvoted in the House of Commons, but for such support, and driven from power by the very men whom they brought into Parliament? Not once, but twenty times. It was not without reason, therefore, that Mr Daniel Whittle Harvey said in the House, that the real government of the country was to be found in the Honourable Member for Tamworth; it is the support of the Conservatives upon all questions, where Ministers are not revolutionary in their projects, which alone upholds the rickety machine of Government, and preserves the Whigs from destruction at the hands of the very men whom they brought the nation to the verge of ruin to introduce. What a glorious tribute to Sir Robert Peel, and the whole friends of the Constitution, both in and out of Parliament; and what a memorable instance of the triumph of truth and virtue, when a minority, hardly numbering a hundred members, has, in fact, acquired, on most questions, by the mere force of public talent and private worth, a preponderating influence in an assembly convened expressly for their destruction, and under the highest possible excitement against their principles !

It is this circumstance which constitutes the important and leading distinction between the situation of

England after the passing of the Reform Bill, and France after the convocation of the States-General. Vain would have been all the efforts of the friends of order in this country in the popular party, if the Conservatives here had done as the men of property did in France, and emigrated, or retired in despair from public affairs, and left the management of the State to the Whigs and their Radical allies, who had elevated them to power. The moment that Government endeavoured to arrest the movement,-the instant that the obvious danger of their measures to all the great interests in the State had displayed itself, and forced them to put a bridle on the march of Revolution, that instant their power was gone, and they would have been reduced to a minority in the Legislature which they themselves had created. If the small but redoubtable and consistent band of the Tories had not existed as a reserve, on whom they could, on all occasions, fall back in the Legislature; if the numerous, wealthy, highly educated, and respectable Conservative party, had not remained under all the obloquy with which they were assailed, as a rallying force for the friends of order in the country, the reins of power must, in three months after the meeting of the Reformed Parliament, have fallen into the hands of the Destructive party; the timid majority of wavering Whigs would have gone along with the ruling power, and a complete subversion of all the great interests of society must ere this have ensued.

There is not a Whig throughout the land, who is not secretly conscious that this is the case; there is not a liberal or candid man of that party, who will not admit that it is true, and that,but for the support of the Tories, they and the nation must ere this have been destroyed. It is impossible, therefore, to over-estimate the benefit the Conservatives have conferred upon their country, by simply remaining at their post; disseminating, by the force of their talents,

and the weight of their characters, the principles on which the welfare of society depends; and replying by deeds of public utility and private beneficence, to the load of falsehood and calumny with which they were assailed by the political adversaries whom they have since so often saved from destruction. To measure the extent of these benefits, we have only to look to France, where, from the flight of the emigrants, the leaders of the Revolution were, from the first, left to struggle in defence of order with the Revolutionists whom they had elevated to power; or conceive what this country would be, if Mr O'Connell, Mr Roebuck, and Mr Daniel Whittle Harvey, were at the head of the Government, the land was prostrated, by the abolition of the Corn Laws, the monied interest by the spoliation of the Funds, the Church by the confiscation of its possessions. If these calamities have hitherto been averted; if the Reformers can still lay their heads on their pillows in peace; if the Whig estates have been saved from spoliation, it is to no efforts of their own that they are indebted for their salvation, to no moderation of their supporters that they owe their safety, but solely to the generous conduct and courageous patriotism of their adversaries that their escape from destruction has been owing.

Every Government that does not, like that of Louis Philippe, rest upon absolute force, must depend either on the support of the property and intelligence of the nation, or on the fleeting fervour of popular favour, or the influence acquired by extensive civil patronage. Their revolutionary conduct on occasion of the Reform Bill, has lost the Whigs the first; their incipient and vacillating attempts to contradict themselves, and become Conservative, has forfeited, or is forfeiting them the support of the second; they are driven, therefore, by absolute necessity, to the last; and hence the numerous, unnecessary, and useless commissions with which they have overspread the land; and hence the real end of almost all their legislative changes. Centralization is the great object; the concentration of all official emolument and influence under

their own hand in the Metropolis, and the gradual reduction of every species of local authority or power in every other part of the country. Nothing is too high for them to aim at, nothing too low for them to stoop to, in the prosecution of this design. While, on the one hand, they bring in the General Registry Bill, the object of which was to concentrate all the deeds of the kingdom, and ultimately of the empire, in London, which the good sense of Parliament has just thrown out; on the other, they condescend to grasp at the appointment of Procurators-Fiscal in the several counties of Scotland; and deem the stripping of the Sheriffs of Scotland of their trifling patronage, necessary to the maintenance of the boasted popularity of the Whig Administration. While they stoop with one hand to pick up the appointment of collectors of assessed taxes in North Britain, and take them from the Commissioners of Supply for the several counties, on the other hand, they entertain the gigantic projects of concentrating the whole roads and poor's rates of the kingdom in Government Boards, and vesting in irresponsible Commissioners of their own appointment, powers in the administration of the immense revenues and interests of the poor, greater than are enjoyed even by the Judges of Westminster Hall. The object of all these seemingly multifarious and contradictory, but really uniform and consistent attempts, is the same; viz. to vest the whole patronage of the empire in the hands of Government, and supply, by the attractions and the subservience of office, the want of support from either the Conservative or Movement parties in the kingdom. It is, in short, a design to spread a Whig India Bill over Great Britain, and barter away the liberties and privileges of Englishmen, for seats at Boards, and salaries in commissions.

Sensible of the obloquy to which they are exposed on the part of their Radical supporters, on account of the necessary contradiction which their present attempts to restrain the Movement afford to their former efforts to forward it, numbers of the Ministerial supporters have long resorted to the discreditable and cowardly expedient of slinking

off when a vote was approaching in which they were to abandon their former professions, and throwing upon the Conservatives the burden of rejecting, by their junction with Ministers, those anarchical measures which were generally felt to be ruinous, but few of the Movement party had the courage openly to resist. We rejoice to find that the Tories have at length put an end to this disgraceful shuffling; and by making it a condition of their support of Government upon the Pension List, and some other questions where a narrow division was expected, that the Ministerial supporters should stand by their side in the contest, fairly brought to light the insincerity of the claptraps which they threw out to delude the people, and shewn them up in their true character, that of professors of doctrines, for selfish purposes, at one time, which they know to be so perilous, that they are compelled to resist their being car ried into effect at another.

The country is every day more rapidly dividing into parties, and two only-the Conservatives and the Revolutionists. The juste milieu of the Whigs is destined to be as shortlived as the reign of Lafitte and the authors of the Revolution of the Barricades, on the other side of the water, has been. The pirate is every where hoisting his true colours; the red flag of Revolution is generally unfurled by the Movement party. The Dissenters have, by the mouth of four hundred representatives of their body in London, declared that nothing will satisfy them but a complete separation of Church and State; in other words, a complete separation of the Church from the Church property, and confiscation of the tithes to the consolidated fund. The manufacturing operatives make no secret of their designs; they consist in a forced and most unreasonable elevation of their own wages by means of Trades' Unions, and a total depression of the whole agricultural body by means of the entire abolition of the Corn Laws. How long the Funds, the House of Peers, the Monarchy, will survive such sweeping changes, must be obvious to the most superficial observer. The peril being thus instant and undisguised, half measures will no longer do. Every

man must be prepared to go the whole length of the Destructives, or join with the Conservatives, whether Whigs or Tories, in resisting them. Nothing else will, do; the old idea of going a certain length in Reform, and no farther, will no longer answer either the purposes of patriotism or selfishness.

As nothing can be clearer than that the country is already divided, or is rapidly dividing, into these two great parties, and as the slightest attention to what is passing in the other States of Europe must be sufficient to shew that these, and these only, are the classes into which society is permanently severed, it deserves the serious consideration of every upright and patriotic man, of whatever party, which of them he should now join. If he thinks that all which has hitherto been found to constitute the strength of nations and the safety of individuals can be dispensed with; that the Christian Church can safely be abandoned, and the precedent of spoliation be without danger established in the religious instructors of the poor; if he is satisfied that tumultuous masses of the lower orders are the proper bodies to discuss the intricate subjects of political science, and can safely be intrusted with the power of chaining down their representatives to a particular course on every important subject; if he is without apprehension as to the consequences of ruining our landed proprietors, and all the numerous classes who depend on the cultivation of the soil, by the unlimited importation of foreign grain, and the reduction of its price to forty shillings the quarter; if he can calmly contemplate a reduction of the public creditors, and spoliation of the great Savings Bank of the poor, under the name of an equitable adjustment; without doubt he will give his support in every instance to the Radical or Destructive candidate, and endeavour, by all the means in his power, to advance the march of revolution. But if the reverse of this is the view which is now forced upon his conviction by experience; if he knows that the religious instruction of the poor is the basis of the welfare not only of individuals but nations, and is satisfied, that without a National