unifying the party.rn”A conservative government is an organized hypocrisy.” Disraeli’srndefinition was directed originally against Sir RobertrnPeel’s repeal of the Corn Laws. A few weeks earlier he had remarkedrnthat Peel had “caught the Whigs bathing, and walkedrnaway with their clothes,” meaning that Sir Robert was determinedrnto hold power at the expense of his party’s principles,rnjust as Disraeli was to do later, when he reformed the franchise;rnas Churchill and Macmillan and Heath were to do, when theyrnallowed Britain to turn socialist; and as Ronald Reagan andrnGeorge Bush were to do in abandoning the white middle class.rnPeel’s “accomplishment” was a self-inflicted wound on a partyrnwhose great principles were its defense of the Crown, thernchurch, and the land. One by one the Tories, in becomingrn”conservative,” abandoned their principles (although I discoverrnwith pleasure that Charles Moore, a Catholic convert, opposesrndisestablishment on good Tory grounds). Over the years thernConservatives stole the clothes of the Whigs, the imperialists,rnthe Liberals, and the socialists. In returning the party to its liberalrnphase, Mrs. Thatcher did her party and her country a greatrnservice, but classical liberalism, perhaps even more than socialism,rnis an internationalist ideology, and the Tories—if they arernto be anything—must be the national party, the party thatrnstands for the real England, the historic England, the Englandrnfor its own sake. Even if European Union were the best thingrnfor ever’one in the world, it should not be the achievement ofrna Tory government.rnUnwilling as I am to admit it, Mr. Major has many finernpoints. He has a shrewd mind, and he is willing to stick to hisrnguns, but—speaking with the recklessness of an outsider whorndoes not have a right to an opinion—I really hope that hisrngovernment falls and leaves it to Mr. Blair to tie the knot withrnEurope. The Conservatives have grown too fat in their years ofrnplenty, and it will be a good thing for them to go out into thernwilderness of opposition. (American conservatives, too, needrnto be disciplined by at least four more years of Democratic misrulernuntil they can learn not to get in bed with the gentiles.) Ifrnthe Conservative Party is to belong to Mr. Major and Mr. Heseltine,rnthen it is of no more use to Britain than the RepublicanrnParty is to the United States.rnWhether any of my English friends will agree with me, I dornnot know, but the conservative embrace of Europe has donernnothing to endear the party to the voters. While I was there inrnthe spring, the Tories lost control of all the local councils inrnScotland. Hearing that I am on my way to Scotland, Bill Cashrnjokes over dinner: “Tell me if you see any conservatives in Scotland.”rnI did, and he told me he was voting for the ScottishrnNational Party, but that is another story. crnLie Down and Diernby Peter RussellrnI never visited my Father’s grave,rnI never visited my Mother’s.rnI tliought it better (time’s to save)—rnAnd left it to the others.rnWell, you may say that I was right—rnWhat’s in a dusty gravernBut clay-stopped cars, eyes without sightrnBack to the soil they gave?rnThe putrid flesh, the dried out bone.rnFeatures once loved, but not enough;rnLoveless, unloved and housed alonernThe soul grows taciturn and gruff.rnLarval appearances, forgotten voice,rnStage entrances, oneiric scenes—rnLife goes on, a buzzing noise,rnA crass idolatry of meansrnWorld without end, in saeculorumrnSaecula,—life without ends,rnAsk of the sacred quorum,—rnWhat ends? And what amends?rnAniens, Amens, Amens!rnOCTOBER 1995/13rnrnrn