In the last sentence of his speech the Chancellor of the Exchequer had "respectfully reserved to himself the freedom of acting in such a way as should appear to offer any hope of success in giving effect by a practical measure to the principle contained in the first resolution." And it was, probably, an exemplification of the power of which he thus bespoke the use that he the next year struck out a scheme for insuring the repeal of the paper-duties, including it in one bill with all his other financial propositions, instead of dividing them in the ordinary way in several distinct bills. It was a manoeuvre which too much resembled the system of "tacking," which had been so justly denounced as one of the most unseemly manoeuvres of faction in the previous century.[316] But, as some of the principal reasons which in the preceding year had led the Lords to condemn the repeal had ceased to exist, and the deficiency of the revenue had been converted into a surplus, they thought it wiser to prove their superiority of wisdom to the House of Commons by showing a more conciliatory spirit, and passed the bill; though the course adopted, which had the effect of depriving the Lords of that power of examination of the details of the financial scheme of the government which they had hitherto enjoyed without any question or dispute, was strongly protested against in both Houses, and by some members who were not generally unfriendly to the administration.
A hundred years had now elapsed since George III. ascended the throne. It had been a period full of transactions of great importance, developing the constitution in such a manner and to such an extent as to make a change in its character but little inferior to those which had been produced by the contests of the preceding century. One principal result of the Revolution of 1688 has been described as having been the placing of the political power of the state chiefly in the hands of the aristocracy. The Reform Bill of 1832, which has been sometimes called a "second Revolution," transferred that power to the middle classes.[317] And what may be called the logical sequence of the later measures is the contrary of that which was designed to flow from the earlier ones. The changes which were effected in 1688 were intended to promote, and were believed to have insured, stability; to have established institutions of a permanent character, as far as human affairs can be invested with permanency. And down to the death of George II. the policy of succeeding ministers, of whom Walpole may be taken as the type, as he was unquestionably the most able, aimed chiefly at keeping things as they were. Quieta non movere. The Peerage Bill, proposed by a Prime-minister thirty years after the Revolution, was but an exaggerated instance of the perseverance with which that object was kept in view. But the Reform Bill of 1832, like the Emancipation Act which preceded it, on the contrary, contained in itself, in its very principle, the seeds and elements of farther change.
The Emancipation Act, following and combined with the repeal of the Test Act, rendered it almost inevitable that religious toleration would in time be extended to all persuasions, even to those adverse to Christianity. And the Reform Bill, as has been already pointed out, by the principles on which it based its limitations of the franchise, laid the foundation for farther and repeated revision and modification.[318] The consequence is, that the aim of statesmen of the present day differs from that which was pursued by their predecessors. The statesman of the present day can no longer hope to avoid farther changes, and must, therefore, be content to direct his energies to the more difficult task of making them moderate and safe, consistent with the preservation of that balance of powers to which the country owes the liberty and happiness which it has hitherto enjoyed.
It is in this point of view that the diffusion of education, beyond the blessing which it confers on the individual, is of especial importance to the state. Political theorists affirm that all men have an equal right to political power-to that amount, at least, of political power which is conferred by a vote at elections. Men of practical common-sense affirm that no one has a right to power of any kind, unless he can be trusted to forbear employing it to the injury of his fellow-creatures or of himself. And the only safeguard and security for the proper exercise of political power is sound and enlightened education. It is unnecessary to dwell on this point, because our statesmen of both parties (to their honor) give constant proof of their deep conviction of its importance.
But, in closing our remarks, it may be allowable to point out the political lesson which, above all others, the teachers of the masses should seek to inculcate on their pupils. The art of government, and each measure of government, is, above all other things, the two-sided shield. There are so many plausible arguments which may be advanced on each side of almost every question of policy, that no candid man will severely condemn him who in such disputable matters forms an opinion different from his own. Age and experience are worse than valueless if they do not teach a man to think better of his kind; and the history of the period which we have been considering teaches no lesson more forcibly than this, that the great majority of educated men, and especially of our leading statesmen, are actuated by honest and patriotic motives. And we would presume to urge that more important than a correct estimate of any one transaction of the past, or even of any one measure to influence the future, is the habit of putting a candid, and therefore a favorable, construction on the characters and intentions of those to whom from time to time the conduct of the affairs of the nation is intrusted.
Notes:
[Footnote 276: "Life of Palmerston," vol. i., c. vii.]
[Footnote 277: "Life of the Prince Consort," ii, 303.]
[Footnote 278: Ibid., p. 412.]
[Footnote 279: Amos, "Fifty Years of the English Constitution," p. 289.]
[Footnote 280: "Past Gleanings," i., 242.]
[Footnote 281: "Life of the Prince Consort," iv., 458.]
[Footnote 282: 219 to 210.]
[Footnote 283: "Life of the Prince Consort," v., 100.]
[Footnote 284: Ibid., p. 148.]
[Footnote 285: "Life of Pitt," by Earl Stanhope, iii., 210.]
[Footnote 286: "Life of the Prince Consort," iv., 329.]
[Footnote 287: Ibid., p. 366.]
[Footnote 288: "Constitutional History," iii., 319, 3d edition.]
[Footnote 289: It should be added that, on a subsequent occasion, Mr. Roundell Palmer, member for Plymouth (now Lord Chancellor Selborne, and even then in the enjoyment of the highest professional reputation), declared his opinion to be in favor of the legality and constitutional propriety of the proceeding.]
[Footnote 290: To illustrate this position, Lord Lyndhurst said: "The sovereign may by his prerogative, if he thinks proper, create a hundred peers with descendible qualities in the course of a day. That would be consistent with the prerogative, and would be perfectly legal; but everybody must feel, and everybody must know, that such an exercise of the undoubted prerogative of the crown would be a flagrant violation of the principles of the constitution. In the same manner the sovereign might place the Great Seal in the hands of a layman wholly unacquainted with the laws of the country. That also would be a flagrant violation of the constitution of this country."-Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, cxl., February 7, 1856. In the same debate Lord Derby defined "prerogative" as "the power of doing that which is beside the law." Hallam, in discussing the prosecution of Sir Edward Hales, fully recognizes the principle contended for by Lord Lyndhurst, saying that "it is by no means evident that the decision of the judges" in that case "was against law," but proceeding to show that "the unadvised assertion in a court of law" of such an exercise of the prerogative "may be said to have sealed the condemnation of the house of Stuart."- Constitutional History, vol. iii., c. xiv., p. 86.]