TOPICS OF THE DAY.
DEFICIENCIES OF THE MINISTRY.
Titit state of the divisions during the week is received by many as a warning that the reign of the Duke of WELLINGTON, like that Of his Royal Master, is drawing towards • a close.* If the Duke • fall by any other means than the decree of the future Sovereign, We believe he will have himself to thank for it. He has under- valued too much-or his studies have not enabled him to select with sufficient care-the description of men which in this country is essential to the carrying on of public business smoothly. We - have a very strong dislike of orators, commonly so called-men whose highest efforts are limited to the rounding of a period, and whose highest ambition is limited to the praise of the newspapers, or the cheers of the club at St, Stephen's. But, in avoiding such men of sound and emptiness, the Duke has fallen, by accident or by taste, into an error of equal magnitude-he has got men who can neither make a speech nor a statement. There is no special deficiency of intellect in the present Cabinet, but there is a defi- ciency of tha power of rendering it available for Parliamenlary purposes. It is not sufficient that men can plan a wise measure- they must be able to demonstrate its wisdom ; and in such an assembly as the House of Commons, this must be done in a po- pular and pleasing, but, above all things, in a clear, intelligible way. • If the Lower House consisted of so many Dukes of 'WELLING- TON, it might 1)3 sufficient to enunciate the resolution or the bill, and call the votes ; but the Lower House is composed of very dif- ferent materials. A truth, however evident, must be exhibited in every possible light before it can find its way to the understandings of three-fourths of the members : a hundred idle and inconse- quential Objections, and a hundred ignorant cavils, must be met • and answered, even when the benefits of a measure are almost self- evident. And in carrying any important bill, there will always be numerous prejudices to sooth down and silence, numerous inte- rests to combat or conciliate: and he who cannot do all this at least tolerably, will not only -himself be considered as a weak Mi- nister, but the contagion of his weakness will infect the whole of his colleagues. It is true that, in the Commons, the present Cabinet has Mr. PEEL, who is an excellent speaker, and as multifarious in his ac- quirements as most men ; but Mr. PEEL cannot tilt with every Opponent, nor can he be supposed equally capable of managing every question. Sir GEORGE MURRAY is also, in his department, a clever, clear-headed speaker, of admirable modesty, and well- grounded in principles ; but he is still less equal to the task of uni- versal championship than the Home Secretary. And deducting these, who is there that can debate at all ? The breaking-down . of the Ministry has been painfully apparent to their friends on several occasions; but it was peculiarly so on Monday night, and on a question with which of all others it became them to be thoroughly conversant. Had the various members of Government
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possessed, n addition to .fitness for the duties of their office, the equally necessary talent of showing that fitness, no such triumph as was gained by Mr. H usx ISSON on that occasion could have been achieved. But if they cannot or will not let their light shine before men, they may as well creep under the bushel to keep it company. The non-appearance of the Ministerial members on Tuesday, has been construed into a fear of again encountering the Op- position without farther preparation than a day admitted of ; and one of our contemporaries would insinuate that the delay was employectin attempting to bribe the enemy whom Mr. GOULBURN despaired of subduing. This we cannot believe. At present it is hardly worth the while of Ministers to strengthen their bands. And perhaps, after all, the state of uncertainty in which the King's health places the Duke, may have led to a relaxation of his wonted vigour; and hence may have arisen those symptoms of vacillation and of weakness which are attributed to other causes. It is quite obvious now, that not one of the important bills at present in progress through either House of Parliament can be carried to its last stage. The delay which daily-expected events will cause, must prove absolutely fatal to all measures which Par- liament are disposed to contest. As a temporary arrangement, we -believe the Duke's Ministry will continue to the end of the session ; the Money Bills will be voted sub silentio, and the dissolution will then take place. The Parliament will meet again in November with the same Premier, if it so please the Sovereign ; but as-. suredly, after the experience of this year, not with the same Ca- binet. The Duke must give up his prejudice, if he have any (which we hardly believe he has), against speakers. He must surround himself with coadjutors of tongue as well as talent. And while he avoids, as we hope he will, mere " spouters of froth," he must equally avoid men who have not the power of giving utterance to their thoughts, so as to render them intelligible to the common un- derstanding of an ordinary audience. Two or three mouths will be sufficient.
* This article was written in the middle of the week.
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