That Mr. Balfour will find it wise and necessary to
recon. struct his Cabinet is universally admitted. Already the resig- nations of Sir Michael Hicks Beach and Lord Cadogan are announced, and it seems certain that Lord James of Hereford and Lord Ashbourne will follow their example, and most probable that the Lord Chancellor will also choose this oppor- tunity to retire, and to recognise the popular desire for the infusion of new blood into the Administration. No doubt he has proved a most able Chancellor and has won universal praise from lawyers for his judgments, but he may very well feel that he has earned his right to rest. This would leave five posts in the Cabinet to be filled. That Sir Robert Finlay would, bectime Lord Chancellor cannot be doubted. He is the most distinguished living lawyer not on the Bench, and be would bring to the Cabinet a wise and liberal mind. The legal patronage would be sure to be admirably administered by him, and be would not fail to act as a sound and prudent adviser in all cases of doubt and difficulty,—a most impor- tant function, and one that of right belongs to the lawycr in the Cabinet.
