NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Ministerial Interregnum draws towards a close. The forlorn hope of the Tories, Sir ROBERT PEEL, may be expected to arrive in London on Monday or Tuesday next. Mr. HUDSON, the mes- senger from the Court, (the only Englishman who was ever despatched on a Continental tour in search of a Premier for his country,) overtook Sir ROBERT at Rome; End has returned with the intelligence that he commenced his journey hitherward on the 26th of last month.
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• But though Sir ROBERT will soon be on the spot, it by no means follows that he will undertake the office of Prime Minister. lie is too crafty and cautious to pledge himself until he is toler- ably sure of his ground. He must have better support than the ELLENBOROUGHS, MARYBOROUGHS, COWLEYS, and Mr. HENRY HUNT can afford him, before be consents to fight the battle of needy Tories and trembling Pensioners with the Reformers of England. The Duke is a bold man; but Sir ROBERT has never yet shown himself "up to a crisis." We should not be surprised I the aspect of the country at once terrified hint from the high game he will be urged to play. We do not believe he has the nerve or the folly to run the risk, which an assumption of the Premiership would involve in the present temper of the nation. Besides, has he not discernment enough to know that he is put forward as a mere tool—to bear the brunt of the battle, for the benefit of his party, not for his own honour and profit? The Duke would exercise that mastery over him which superior mental and physical intrepidity always insure. The Duke, too, would be the more ready to counsel vigorous measures, because Sir ROBERT would incur the danger of executing them; for his Grace is prudent enough to avoid unnecessary risk. In any Ministry of which he forms a part, the Duke would be the virtual leader, though Sir ROBERT might nominally preside. We can easily fancy how the Tory Aristocracy will chuckle at putting forth the plebeian Baronet into the thick of their battle. What care they should he fall in the strife, provided the victory were won? He s not of them, but an intruder, and a suspected partisan, fit to be squeezed and then thrown among the people from whom be sprung. Such reflections as these, which must occur to every body, cannot have escaped Sir ROBERT PEEL. He cannot flatter himself that he is making use of the Tory Oligarchy. No—he is the instrument. It will not be PEEL and WELLINGTON, but "WELLINGTON and his Man."
As the day approaches on which the grand question is to be keeled, the state of parties and of public feeling becomes an in- tensely interesting subject of' thought and discussion. As re- spects the position of the two opposing sections of the Oligarchy, there has not, as far as is known, been the least alteration since the dismissal of Lord MELBOURNE. It does not appear that a single Whig of mark has ratted. There is reason to believe that several have been tampered with ; but the parties most anxious to have it believed that the Duke is a Reformer, and likely to be countenanced by the Conservative Whigs, have not ventured to tanae a single nobleman or gentleman who has agreed even in that case to desert to his standard. We are therefore justified in Mutating that the Whig Aristocracy hold together. The toasts and speeches of the Tories at their dinner-parties and clubs, for they have not ventured to call public meetings, are by no means indicative of any change in the sentiments of their
Ptl.rty, or of any approximation to the principles of Reform. The limes is sadly perplexed to reconcile- the avowals of the Duke's
friends in letters, magazines, newspaper articles, and after-dinner sPeeches, with its own assumption that the new Ministry is to be it least as thoroughly a Reforming one as the last. Not a torsel of evidence can the Leading Journal scrape together in ?roof of its declaration that the Duke is a Reformer. His Grace 4ters not a word himself, and his satellites and admirers promul-
late High Tory doctrines. If, therefore, the Whigs have not joined be:fories, it is equally plain that no proof is extant of the Tories 4ving abandoned their principles to conciliate the Whigs. But the more important question to be asked and answered is, what is the state of public feeling ? Will Sir ROBERT PEEL see evidence of such a vast change, so extensive a reaction in the country, as to justify him in believing that Reform has gone too fast and too far for the public; and that small reforms will be more acceptable to the people when proffered by Tories, than those of a more sweeping character expected from and promised by the Liberals ? Sir ROBERT PEEL, and every other unprejudiced person, will see clear evidence of the very reverse. It is manifest that hatred of the Tories is as strong as ever. An extensive feud had broken out between the Whigs and the Radicals. The quarrel was avowed and bitter. Nothing, perhaps, would have made it up, except the threatened enormity of a Tory Administration. But the return of the Duke and Sir ROBERT PEEL to power was the signal for reunion. In every part of the Three Kingdoms, the Reformers have agreed to sink intestine differences and join together against the Tories. Can a more convincing proof be required of the general disgust and suspicion with which that party is rggarded ?
The expected Premier will ask for accounts of Tory meetings, but where will he find them? There has been a dinner at Ash- ford, another at Leicester, and another at Ipswich. A score of such, we suppose, could be got up in any week of the year; but a conversazione at Holland House, where Whigs do congregate, might with equal propriety be adduced as evidence of the state of public opinion. We shall be reminded of the High Church meetings at Liverpool and Bristol ; but they were determined upon before the dismissal of the Ministry, and the proceedings at them must be regarded as productive of annoyance rather than comfort to the Cabinet-making Tories. They were outbreaks of the old Anti-Catholic spirit, which in 1829 gave the Duke and his Lieutenant so much trouble. The fanatics of a party are always most perplexing to its leaders.
There is little consolation to the embryo Premier in the state of feeling out of doors : what probability is there of bribing over a majority in the House of Commons? We showed last week, that out of 648 Members, 467 might be expected to vote against a WELLINGTON and PEEL Administration. Our analysis has since been carefully scrutinized, and, although some few names may have been wrongly placed, yet the result is not affected one way or the other to the extent of more than half adozen votes. We are safe in calculating the majority on the Reform side of the House, as it stood at the close of last session, at 280. What sufficient means have been, or can be, employed to break down this powerful majority ? It seems to us, on looking over the names, and bearing in mind the constituencies who are represented in the House, that it is little less than idiocy to anticipate a change so great as to convert the majority into a minority by any means short of a dissolution.
But would the Tories gain more by a dissolution, than by recruits in the House ? That is also a matter of calculation. We admit that, by profuse expenditure and unscrupulous intimidation of electors, the Anti-Reformers might gain some votes. It is admitted also, that without a dissolution some additional strength might be obtained. But it must not be forgotten, that the Reformers elected to the next Parliament will be pledged men, or such as are known to be stanch. The bribery must consequently be done in this Parliament. The Tories must not calculate on gaining by a dissolution and by bribery too. We are of course unable to say at present on which side the balance of gain would lie—whether more votes would be obtained by new elections, or by tampering with the present Parliament. But this it is safe to believe, that to gain two hundred additional votes by either pro- cess is out of the question. It seems then to follow, that in r ei- ther the present nor any other Parliament which the Tories can bring together, will their Ministry be able to stand.
