NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Ministerial arrangements were completed on Wednesday; when Viscount MELBOURNE kissed hands at the Levee as First Lord of the Ti.asury. Lord ALTHORP resumes the Chancellor- ship of the Exchequer; Lord DUNCANNON takes Lord MEL- BOURNE'S office of Home Secretary, with a Peerage; and Sir JOHN HOBHOUSE is the new Commissioner of Woods and Forests, with a seat in the Cabinet, and, it is hoped, a seat in the House of Commons for Nottingham ; to which the late Member, now Baron DUNCANNON of Besborough, has of course bid adieu.
Lord MELBOURNE appears to have had little difficulty in re- constructing the Cabinet, after the King became satisfied that a Coalition Ministry was impracticable. There were, doubtless, many intrigues set on foot to embarrass his proceedings • some of them, there is reason to believe, by parties professing to be friendly. But the King, ostensibly at least, consulted Lord MELBOURNE alone. Lord BROUGHAM received no call to Windsor; and the Duke of WELLINGTON and his set were not disturbed at their Greenwich feast of white bait and turtle by the anxieties of ca- binet-making. Whatever may be the King's real wishes,—and his Majesty cannot be blamed for desiring to see men of all par- ties uniting to support his Government, —he finally anted like a man of sense, and yielded to the majority of the House of Com- mons.- The result of these changes proves the weakness of the Tory party. Their only chance lay in the disgust of the Nation with the Whigs. Every alteration in the Ministry, which tends to make it more Liberal, cuts down a portion of Conservative sup- port.
At the close of last week, it was the wish of a strong party in the House of Commons to set Lord ALTHORP at the head of a Liberal Ministry. This project failed ; but the determination of the House to have no other Leader than his Lordship, rendered him absolutely necessary to the new Premier; • and accordingly he was invited to take back his resignation. Lord ALTHORP de- clares, that in so doing he acts contrary to his private inclination, but according to the plain dictates of public duty. We certainly think that he his a fair excuse fdr returning to office. In the first place, the old Coercion Bill is abandoned in the Lords ; and a new measure, modified so as to suit the views of the " five Seceders," has been introduced into the House of Commons. Secondly, the Liberal section of the Cabinet is reinforced by the two new members. Thirdly, the tone of Government in both Houses is evidently less Conservative than it was under the Premiership of Earl GREY. The Liberal Members of the Cabinet, supported as they are by the House of Commons, and as they may be, if they act up to their principles, by the Nation, have clearly the game in their own hands. We think that they have a numerical majority in the Cabinet--certainly, if our classification be correct. The following may be reckoned Liberals—
Lord ALTHORP, Mr. SPRING RICE, Mr. ABERCROM BY, Mr. CHARLES GRANT, . Mr. ELLICE, '
Lord DUNCANNON, • Sir JOHN HOBHOUSE; And surely we may add Lord JOHN RUSSELL. Then follow the Whigs—
Lord MELBOURNE, Lord CARLISLE, Lord HOLLAND, Lord LANSDOWNE,
Lord AUCKLAND. Two still remain, who may fairly be presumed to go along with
the majority, of whatever complexion the i olicy of that majority may happen to be. They are Lord BROUGHAM, Lord PALMERSTON.
Of fifteen members, then, eight may be reckoned as Liberals. But we are unwilling to class Lords MELBOURNE and Hold-tare, or even Lord AUCKLAND, among the Obstructives. Perhaps it will appear that they have sided with Earl GREY more from per- sonal feeling than a sincere approbation of his recent policy. As for Lord CARLISLE, we presume that he is a Whig; but he never opens his mouth in Parliament, and his official acts are utterly unknown to the public, who pay for the honour of his countenance in the Cabinet. The Marquis of LAN iHOWNE leans much to Toryism; and Lords BROUGHAM and PALMERSTON are states- men who will never, if they can help it, abandon their Sovereign's service. The result, however, is, that at the worst, the Liberals, if they are true to themselves, can outvote their opponents united ; and the fact of theirs being the popular party, will always give them vast additional influence. It is plain, therefore, that Liberalism has been advanced by the late changes. The additions to the Cabinet are likewise worthy of praise. Every one speaks well of Lord DUN- CANNON. He is beloved in Ireland, and esteemed everywhere, as an upright, amiable, and clearheaded, though by no means bril- liant, person. Mr. O'CONNELL., and the Irish Members generally, are pleased with this appointment. Sir JOHN HOBHOUSE is well known as clever, accomplished, and industrious. His powers of speech will be of service in debate; and will be much needed, for the crack orators are all on the Opposition benches. Sir JOHN has now an opportunity of recovering the false step which ruined hint in Westminster : it remains to be seen whether he will make a good use of it.
The aspect of affairs has, we are inclined to hope, been consi-
derably improved. The Cabinet contains, it is true, no person of first-rate abilities, except the Lord Chancellor, who cannot be relied upon. But, on this account, they must be the more painstaking, and adhere the firmer to sound principles: the public cannot be dazzled by the brilliancy of their talents, and must be conciliated and won over to their support by the excellence of their measures. Lord MELBOURNE must bear in mind, that much was pardoned in Earl GREY, which will not be tolerated in him. The country kept constantly in its thoughts the great services of the late Pre- mier; whereas Lord MELBOURNE has scarcely any public reputa- tion. He is an untried man, and will be judged of by his actions, and rewarded or spurned accordingly. It is in his favour, that the few who do know him, speak well of his talents, steadi- ness, and decision of character. His speech on Thursday- night, in reply to the Earl of WietiLow and the Duke of WELLINGTON, confirmed this favourable opinion. He defended his abandonment of the late and promised support of the new Coercion Bill on tenable grounds,—namely, that the House of Commons would not agree to the former, and therefore another must be tried. He did not pretend, like Lord BROUGHAM, that the omitted clauses were of secondary importance. He admitted thai he should have preferred to see them retained; but then, the House of Commons would not pass the bill, and therefore they could not be retained. Lord MELBOURNE galled the Opposition by throwing in their teeth the mortifying fact, that even if they broke up his Ministry, they could not replace it. This is the right mode of dealing with the Peers. Conciliation has been tried to no purpose. Their actual position should be clearly pointed out to them on all occasions, and their power to do mischief set at defiance. A remark in the speech of Lord ALTHORP inclines us to hope that the Obstruc- tives will at last be fairly grappled with : he said that Ministers might meet with obstacles in their course of following out the Reform Act to its reasonable consequences; but lie added, " If we do meet with such obstacles, we will try to remove them." It is also a good symptom, that the rage and mortification of the Tory Peers at the open revelation of their weakness, was too bitter and violent to be kept within bounds. Like the heathen, " they furiously raged."
