In like manner the presence of the State Church in England, of the hereditary legislating peers, and of the royal family, as well as of many other ancient things of minor importance, is a stimulus to the spirit of change in radical politicians. It sounds paradoxical, but it is true, that the conservative House of Lords is an obstacle to the final establishment of a conservative spirit in the people. Great numbers of the English electors and many of their representatives are animated by the same tendency to destroy and reconstruct which used to be very active in France.
A Future of Change for Great Britain.
Instability in English Cabinets.
Division into two Parties at an End.
It does not require any special clearness of vision to perceive that, so far from having closed the era of great changes, Great Britain and Ireland have only entered upon it. Their future for many years, perhaps for an entire century, is destined to be a future of change,—of change desired eagerly by some, resisted with all the strength of self-protecting instinct by many others, admitted to be inevitable by the wise, who will be anxious only to direct and control it wisely. It will be a time of uncertainty and unrest, of new political combinations, and very probably of ephemeral cabinets. The tendency to instability in cabinets was already manifest before the coalition which enabled Lord Salisbury’s government to live.[33] The well-known difficulty in finding support for any government in France was beginning to show itself very plainly in England also. Except on a single question, the House of Commons will no longer conveniently divide itself into two parties, after the old English fashion, but splits into three or four, almost like the French Chamber.
Labouchere’s Resolution against the Hereditary Principle, 1886.
“The Writing on the Wall.”
The condition of instability which already exists in England, was strikingly illustrated in the year 1886 by a chance vote in the House of Commons. Mr. Labouchere had so powerful a minority in favour of his resolution against the hereditary principle in the other House, that a sign from Mr. Gladstone would have immediately converted it into a majority, and Mr. Gladstone’s support of the resolution was refused in terms scarcely more consolatory for hereditary legislators than those of the resolution itself. The House did not listen to Mr. Labouchere’s speech with indignation, but with amusement, and the only incident of any solemnity was the exclamation of a member who cried out “The Writing on the Wall!” when the formidable minority was made known. Now, although the English have not any written constitution, all foreigners have hitherto been accustomed to believe in the dignity and permanence of the House of Lords, and they have believed it to be a part of that great reality which was called La Constitution Anglaise. How is it possible to retain these old beliefs after such a parliamentary incident as this?
Stability of Established Churches.
Difficulty of Tolerance in a State Church.