PARLIAMENT AND ITS MASTER.
The personal ascendancy of Mr. Gladstone is the absorbing topic of the parliamentary day. There has been nothing like it in the House of Commons since the death of Mr. Canning. Like that distinguished man, the present Chancellor of the Exchequer owes his pre-eminence solely and emphatically to his own great talents, and to his unwearied diligence in their cultivation. Like him he owes little to fortune or family connection. Like him the opening of his public career was heralded by the eclat of university distinction, and marked by early success in debate. Like him his attachment to the Tory party was early suspected of wavering,' and his consequent position was long doubtful and disputable. Historic memories and political idealisms jarred in the minds of both with the dogmatism of modern democracy, and the political quakerism of the Utilitarian pary. The large element of benevolence, and the high ambition of both naturally lead them to expouse an industrial policy widely liberal and nationally popular j but whenever questions of political or ecclesiastical power were at stakes, Mr. Canning relapsed into the old tradition of Conservatism, and up to the present time Mr. Gladstone has shown no disposition to discard them. As a rare implement for the disintegration and damage of a rival faction, the Whigs in general have always been ready to praise and promote the matchless orator of our day, just as they were to hatter and even to follow the unrivalled rhetorician of the times of George IV.: but then as now, the more fastidious and more exacting members of the congregation worshipping at Brook sullenly refused to acknowledge the* orthodoxy of the borrowed minister, and were ready whenever occasion served to dispute his authority, and impugn the sincerity of his professions. Tire greedy and garrulous crowd of politicians of all kinds worship success; and Mr. Canning’s oratorical ascendancy in the House of Commons for many years was so indisputable, that the fine ladies of the Whigs could no more resist the temptation of his society, than the coarser-minded men of the party could deny themselves the benefits they hoped to derive from supporting his measures. A certain section of Conservatives, chiefly consisting of men of rank and refinement, adhered, to him with anxious but often embarrassed fidelity. They de-
lighted in his popularity, and still more delighted in the delight he showed that he took in being delightful. But they were never entirely free from the fear of his getting politically tipsy with the effervescence of the cup he continually filled afresh. He ruled over men by the power of fascination. Others were as wise and well informed on economic subjects, and more consistently liberal on political ones; but nobody could make the right cause win as he could, when he took it up earnestly. The earnestness might be temporary, but it was sure to be triumphant. The Gowers, and Cavendishes, Carlisles and Lansdownes made him the idol of their adulation ; while the Burdetts and Broughams boasted their readiness. in. parliaments to stick their knees into his back;” but the Harrowbysand Bristols, the Bentincks and the Binnings were as frequently afraid that he would turn downright Whig, as the Greys and Hobhouses ; were fond of prophesying liis return to the old ways of Toryism. And so it is with Mr. Gladstone at the present hour. He poises himself with inimitable dexterity on a slackrope swung between Carlton and tbe Reform. He holds in bis own hand the wand of enchantment, and so long as he can dance forward imposingly and then dance backward gracefully, all the world will clap its hands: and as none, can help him, few feel disposed to dispute his perilous pre-eminence, for few have the vanity to imagine themselves fitted to take his place. But it is impossible to dismiss tbe consciousness, that the position, however dazzling and exalted, is necessarily one of imminent instability. Its exigencies are inexorable : they forbid any long cessation from hazardous efforts; the unequal dancer must dance or die. The French proverb of “ reculer pour le mieux sauter ” has its converts on the political slackrope; and accordingly, whenever the unrivalled artist has accomplished some splendid movement forward, we know that he must begin a corresponding movement in a retrograde direction, or, grasping one or other of the poles between which he has hitherto played his surprising part, he must prepare to descend. Mr. Gladstone is undisputed master of the position in parliament at the present moment.. He has made . that position for himself by his own unaided genius and indefatigable industry; and as a man of the people we rejoice heartly in his success, and look not without wonder at his singular position. But let us not mistake what that position is. It is not that of the leader of a great party, for the only party to whom he ever professed to belong distrust and defame him,, while the party whom he at present serves rather than leads, daily refuse to follow his bidding or obey his call, Adopting their views, and anticipating their wishes in finance, he has brought forward and virtually carried a marvellous Budget: this is the move forward. But the move backward is about to come, or rather it has comealready. The new Reform Bill not only retains in existence every rotten borough in the kingdom, but Mr. Gladstone has actually persuaded Lord John Russell, who sentenced scores of them to execution in 1852, to adopt his Conservative doctrines on the subject, and to try to rehabilitate tbe Tory principle of mevnominal representation. We have got a slice of financial improvement from Mr. Gladstone, and now he is about to make us pay the political price of it. And so also it will be, we fear, in other matters. On the Italian question he moves onwards dashingly with the popularparty ; but on Church Rate Abolition he is dead against us. The Manchester School sanguinely reckon, indeed, upon being able to count upon him hereafter as their leader in all things; and the readiness with which Mr. Bright has renounced liis Birmingham programme of Reform betrays their eagerness to close a bargain, from which they hope for official in exchange for demagogic power. It is hard to say, indeed, whether Mr. Gladstone has conceded move to Mr. Bright, or Mr. Bright more to Mr. Gladstone; but the “entente cordiale” seems to be complete, and no doubt there is an understanding between tbe high contracting parties, that the vote hitherto exercised upon the admission of the member for Birminghan to the Cabinet shall be presently withdrawn. What effect the further infusion of calico principles into the Government will have on its stability we shall consider by and by. —The Leader.
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Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 23, 9 June 1860, Page 4
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1,129PARLIAMENT AND ITS MASTER. Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 23, 9 June 1860, Page 4
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