Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward
Sir: After many months of continued excitement, the great measure for the extension of the suffrage in this kingdom was last night brought to the shape in which its adoption by both houses of Parliament may be regarded as secured. The manner in which this result has been arrived at is as novel in the history of the country as its general nature was unforeseen by all. Nobody pretends to be able to measure the consequences to which it may ultimately lead. The prime minister has accurately described the proceeding as a leap in the dark. Everybody anticipates a material alteration in the balance of power as it has existed heretofore, but the degree to which it will be carried and the point where the weight will hereafter preponderate present questions upon which conjectures take the place of evidence and fears prevail over reasoning.
Looking at the present character of the body politic, it does not appear to me that any vital change is likely to follow this measure immediately. The prominent public men of the country, on one side or the other, are pretty sure to remain in the direction of public affairs at least until the time when a new generation shall have sprung up—the offspring of the transition—who will show themselves competent to assume the responsibility that may devolve upon them. At the present moment it cannot be said that the agitation has brought into prominence a single leader who was not well known before it commenced. Mr. Gladstone will never be an effective advocate of change. Mr. Bright, who is undoubtedly the most distinguished figure in the struggle, is rather the type of the class brought forward by the old reform bill of 1832 than of that which is now to be introduced. His term of life is too far spent to promise great activity for many years. He may, however, continue to serve during the period of progress from the old to the new, helping, perhaps, to smooth the way for the ultimate establishment of republican institutions under the guidance of purely popular successors. That this must be the end, unless some extraordinary reactionary movement should intervene, is now pretty generally believed, even by those who do not care to say so aloud. The process may be made slow by the strong conservative influences, still powerful to delay what they cannot stop. In the mean time, efforts will be made to extend the means of education so as to embrace the greater portion of the popular body and raise it to the level of its new responsibilities. Thus, the advance will be gradual, as it should be, and productive of no sudden shock to established institutions. The church, the aristocracy, and the Crown may hence be brought in succession to yield their respective privileges without the danger of a violent and destructive contest What a contrast such a result would present to the fearful and ignorant iconoclasm [Page 123] of the French revolution, and how much it would show to the world of an advance since that day in the faculty of self-government among the intelligent portions of the human race!
It is nevertheless certain that the issue thus predicted will be liable to be effected more or less on one side or the other, according to the nature of the example which will be held forth in America. In the same degree that the breaking out of the late conflict contributed to revive the courage of the privileged classes and inspire hopes of permanent resistance to innovation, has the restoration of the Union served to quicken the great movement made visible in the adoption of the present reform. But the end is not yet. Thorough peace and domestic harmony, with public prosperity—the direct result of them—are not yet so fully secured among us as to leave our ill-wishers no ground for reasonable cavil. There is still something to be done to prove to the world that the recuperative power of the people is not wasted away in internal strife and the protracted indulgence of hostile passions. The example is necessary to Great Britain, as it is to all the continental nations which are painfully struggling towards the end of intelligent self-government, to encourage them to persevere. I trust that it may not be long before it can be brought to shine out in its fullest splendor.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.