Henry Parkes

“ The present is an interval of almost universal political scepticism—all our old faiths have been laughed, or jockied, or ridiculed out of us—and accordingly we are in earnest about nothing. No doubt the mood is but a transient one—trouble will soon alter it—but whilst it lasts, I fear that no great and lasting success can be achieved. ”

“ Since the outburst of the Russian war, political demineralisation has been both wider in its sweep and more rapid in its action, than in any like period of our modern history, and the principles which once had our reverence we now see daily treated with scorn without any deep feeling of indignation. ”

“ Their Liberalism extends little beyond their own order, and the secret of the working men's preference for the Conservatives is that the Conservatives really evince a more genuine feeling of fellowship for the working men, when they come in contact with them, than is to be found among the new families of opulence which have been admitted to political power by the Reform Act.
Theoretical Radicalism is beyond all doubt at a low ebb just now in England. The case in favour of an extension of the franchise, as put in Mr. Bright's letter, has a logical force almost irresistible. ”

“ On all sides activity shews itself; Titus Salt is making a magnificent fortune with his alpacas and mohairs for the French market He ought to erect a statue in honour of Mr. Cobden. At Coventry, the poor ribbon-weavers are down at starvation point; and in Lancashire, it is to be feared, many will perish of hunger during the winter. What a perversity in the management of the world that their labour cannot be transferred to where it is so much wanted—Australia! ”

“ Trade in England is very unevenly affected by what is going on in other parts of the world. The Birmingham gun trade, for instance, is overdone with orders, many of the factories working night and day. ”

“ The working of free institutions in Australia has been a fruitful subject with the English press, from the Times downwards, and it is amusing to read the ignorant and self-conceited comments of some of the country papers. ”

“ Till we have an infusion of fresh blood into the constituent body, no great good can be expected from Parliament. But I freely confess my conviction that until the people of the country are un-Palmerstonised, I do not anticipate there will be any great earnestness on the question, so far as they are concerned. ”

“ But to hear the purblind country journalist squeaking out his horror at the unhappy collision between the European gold-diggers and the Chinese, quite unconscious of the brutal outrages between gamekeepers and poachers which disfigure his own columns every morning, excites laughter where one might otherwise be inclined to weep. ”

“ But, even in politics, many of the working classes have decided leanings to Conservatism, or rather to the men of Conservative reputation, for I doubt whether their preference is for Conservatism in the abstract. This feeling, it will be remembered, distinguished many of the Chartists of by-gone years, and even now we find Ernest Jones dedicating his poems to Sir Bulwer Lytton. The shopkeepers, for the most part, are "Liberals," and so are many of the commercial classes above them; but it is the voice of these "Liberals" which is loudest in its abuse of Mr. ”

“ It will assist to keep the fire alive to better times, and, if it does not immediately succeed, will contribute important materials towards some future, and, I would fain believe, not very distant success. ”

“ Nevertheless, it is resisted with successful ridicule, and the recent Reform Conference at Leeds proves that little earnestness is felt on the subject even among the 5,000,000 unenfranchised men whose cause is so powerfully supported by Mr. ”