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ADDRESS OF THE PREMIER.

TO THE ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM.

Gentlemen,—Since I last addressed you her Majesty has been graciously pleased, upon the retirement of an illustrious statesman, to entrust to me the chief conduct of public affairs.

Having enjoyed the entire and unbroken confidence of the Earl of Derby for twenty years, during which we worked together in a harmony never interrupted, I was thoroughly acquainted with his policy, and I have pursued that policy without deviation. I may, therefore, in asking a renewal of your political support, take a general view of the conduct of affairs since the accession of the Conservative Government to office in 1866.

The question of Parliamentary Reform had then for a long series of years disquieted the country and embarrassed and enfeebled successive Administrations, which had failed to lead it to any happy conclusion. We were of opinion that this state of affairs should terminate, and by a series of measures, in the course of two years, we brought about a settlement of the question, broad in its principles, large and various in its provisions, but, as we believe, in unison with the character of the country, and calculated to animate the spirit of the community and add strength and stability to the State.

The conduct of Foreign Affairs has obtained the sympathy and confidence of the various courts and powers; the just influence of England has been established; and it has been used for the maintenance of peace and the interests of civilisation.

The legacy of insult and difficulty which had been left us in Abyssinia could only be successfully encountered by a responsibility from which we did not shrink. The result of the expedition to that country vindicated the honour of the Crown and the cause of humanity and justice, and it obtained for her Majesty's forces the admiring respect of Europe.

When we acceded to office, the state of the Navy was one which occasioned serious anxiety; the fortresses on which the late ministry had expended millions were without artillery; the British soldier was armed with inferior weapons; and the military service of the country so unpopular, that if no change had been devised, we might have been driven to the principle of a conscription. At present, it cannot be denied that the strength of the navy is materially increased, the defences of the country much advanced, the soldier admirably armed, and enlistment become so popular that not only is the voted number of our forces no longer in arrear, but many thousand veterans, who were about to claim their discharge, have remained in the army. Such great results have, of course, not been obtained without an increase of our expenditure, but the expenditure has been on objects of the first necessity; and while it has been defrayed without adding to our taxation, it has entailed no burden on posterity.

Economy does not consist in the reckless reduction of estimates. On the contrary, such a course almost necessarily tends to increased expenditure. There can be no economy where there is no efficiency. And to secure efficiency you must be vigilant in administrative improvement. Influenced by these views, her Majesty's Government, by placing in the hands of a single individual a control over the expenditure of the War Office, commenced a considerable reform during the late session in the administration of the army, which will conduce to greater economy and efficiency both in peace and war.

Great public advantage may be anticipated from this measure, and the different departments of the State will be revised in the same spirit. This revision will assist that retrenchment which the pressing exigencies of the public service have alone prevented.

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In the government of Ireland we had to encounter a dark conspiracy of foreign military adventurers, acting on the morbid imagination of a limited portion of our Irish fellow-subjects; and whose active combinations, had they been successful, would have led to general disorganisation and plunder: that conspiracy has been baffled in every instance, and in every quarter, by vigilance and firmness, which, being the consequence of conscious power and not of panic, have led to no unnecessary severity; so that even the discomfited have admitted that their treatment has not been marked by vengeance or cruelty.

Notwithstanding this untoward state of affairs, we have pursued towards Ireland that wise policy of sympathy and conciliation which has been followed by all parties in the State for the last thirty years. Justice has never in that country been administered with more impartiality; and whether with respect to the tenure of land, or the facilities for education, we will continue to give our earnest consideration to every suggestion, which is consistent with the rights of property, and with the maintenance of our Protestant institutions.

In this state of affairs we had reason to hope, and it was generally contemplated by the country, that we might have tranquilly wound up the business of the late session, and then asked, according to the provisions of the great statute which we had just passed, the public verdict on our conduct. Had it been propitious, we might, by the favour of the Sovereign, have continued to serve her Majesty, and enjoyed an opportunity of effecting those legal and social improvements which are so much required, and to the necessity of which we had proved we were not insensible. Had the verdict been adverse, we should have retired from office without a murmur' conscious that, when we had the opportunity, we had endeavoured to do our duty, and still prepared, as representing one of the great parties of the State, to co-operate with our rivals in public life for the public good.

This, the natural current of events, was to be interrupted. The Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons seized the occasion of an expiring Parliament, which had proclaimed its inadequate representation of the country, to recommend a change of the fundamental laws of the realm, and to propose a dissolution of the union between Church and State.

Her Majesty's Government offered, and will offer, to this policy an uncompromising resistance. The connection of religion with the exercise of political authority is one of the main safeguards of the civilisation of man. It instils some sense of responsibility even into the depositories of absolute power. But under any circumstances, the absence or severance of such a tie will lower the character and duties of Government, and tend to the degradation of society.

But it is urged that, in the present instance, the application of the new policy is only to be partial, and that only one portion of her Majesty's dominions—Ireland—is for the present to be submitted to the revolution; and on this plea, that in Ireland the members of the Established Church form only a minority of the population.

If this numerical test is to be accepted, its application cannot be limited to Ireland; and if, in a country of entire toleration, a local instead of an Imperial gauge be adopted, the religious integrity of the community will be soon frittered away.

Instead of Ireland being made an exception to the fundamental condition of our constitution, there are many secondary reasons why the Established Church should be maintained in that country.

Its subversion would aggravate religious hostility and party rancour; would suppress a resident class of men whose social virtues are conducive, as all agree, to the welfare of the country; and would further diminish the security of property in a land where its tenure and enjoyment are not as unquestioned as they hitherto have been in other parts of her Majesty's dominions.

But even in Great Britain the spoliation of the Church in Ireland would not be without its effect. Confiscation is contagious; and when once a community has been seduced into plunder its predatory acts have seldom been single.

There are, however, even weighter reasons why this new policy should be resisted.

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The religious liberty which all her Majesty's subjects now happily enjoy is owing to the Christian Church in this country having accepted the principles of the Reformation, and recognised the supremacy of the Sovereign as the representative of the State, not only in matters temporal, but in matters ecclesiastical. This is the stronghold of our spiritual freedom. So long as there is in this country the connection, through the medium of a Protestant Sovereign, between the State and the National Church, religious liberty is secure.

That security is now assailed by various means and on different pleas; but amidst the discordant activity of many factions there moves the supreme purpose of one power. The philosopher may flatter himself he is advancing the cause of enlightened progress; the sectarian may be roused to exertion by anticipations of the downfall of ecelesiastical systems. These are transient efforts; vain and passing aspirations. The ultimate triumph, were our Church to fall, would be to that Power which would substitute for the authority of our Sovereign the supremacy of a foreign prince; to that power with whose tradition, learning, discipline, and organisation our Church alone has hitherto been able to cope, and that, too, only when supported by a determined and devoted people.

I have the honour to remain, Gentlemen, Your obliged and faithful servant, B. DISRAELI.

Downing-street, Oct. 1, 1868.