CHAPTER V.


The Tamworth Manifesto of 1834 was an attempt to construct a party without
principles; its basis therefore was necessarily Latitudinarianism; and its
inevitable consequence has been Political Infidelity.

At an epoch of political perplexity and social alarm, the confederation
was convenient, and was calculated by aggregation to encourage the timid
and confused. But when the perturbation was a little subsided, and men
began to inquire why they were banded together, the difficulty of defining
their purpose proved that the league, however respectable, was not a
party. The leaders indeed might profit by their eminent position to obtain
power for their individual gratification, but it was impossible to secure
their followers that which, after all, must be the great recompense of a
political party, the putting in practice of their opinions; for they had
none.

There was indeed a considerable shouting about what they called
Conservative principles; but the awkward question naturally arose, what
will you conserve? The prerogatives of the Crown, provided they are not
exercised; the independence of the House of Lords, provided it is not
asserted; the Ecclesiastical estate, provided it is regulated by a
commission of laymen. Everything, in short, that is established, as long
as it is a phrase and not a fact.

In the meantime, while forms and phrases are religiously cherished in
order to make the semblance of a creed, the rule of practice is to bend to
the passion or combination of the hour. Conservatism assumes in theory