But the English middle class was naturally Conservative. It was
orderly, it was rich, it was sensitive to social influence, it
was devout and serious in a stiff, unbending way. Some reforms
certainly it required; an effective administration for the great
towns where it lived and traded; the amendment of a poor law
which shocked all its economic maxims; the abolition of negro
slavery which revolted its religion; the abolition of laws which,
pressing hardly upon non-conformists, revolted its sense of
justice. It had not yet declared for free trade, although it
might be expected to do so. The ameliorations which the middle
class at this time desired, Peel was ready to approve, and these
ameliorations once granted, the middle class would tend to be
Conservative. But theirs would not be the conservatism of squires
and rectors. They would incline to a conservatism of their own,
and they would want a leader of their own to formulate it and to
organize them. They would want a statesman who was bone of their
bone, and flesh of their flesh; a good man of business, cautious,
but open to practical suggestions, one who would satisfy their
ideal of industry and economy; one who would always be grave and
decorous, never puzzle them with epigrams or alarm them with
rhetoric; in short, such a great man as they could conceive.
Pages:
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153