The Press. — London, England, 1858-05-01 00:00:00

dO r A /4- 9 • ( , 7 rts3l, i LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1858. No. 261.—V0L. VI. STAMPED SIXPENCE. UNSTAMPET)..FIVEPENCE. "PEOPLE WHOM IT IS HARD TO that Lord JOHN RUSSELL, or any fourth party,. could have formed a stronger Government than was formed by Lord DERBY. The new Administration, then, comes legitimately into power. And all fair and candid men naturally feel bound to grant it a reasonable trial. But, as we have already said, there are certain persons whom it is almost impossible to please. We never yet heard of a bridegroom who was so fortunate as to gain the approval of a re jected suitor ; or of a forsaken damsel who could impartially admit the merits and the charms of the happy brid?.. Accordingly, when, endessourins.r, to take a lesson from the errors and the failure of Lord PALMERSTON, the leaders of the present Go vernment show an anxiety to please, that very anxiety is laid to their charge! A whole article lies before us, which is devoted to up _ __ • immense merits and advantages. It offers an admirable basis ; and, were his Lordship more happy in rearing up a superstructure of courtesy and consideration, it would make him a leader of almost unparalleled power. There is no man in the House of Commons who may not study with advantage the strong side of Lord JoHN's:character ; avoiding, at the same time, that which renders him far weaker than either Lord PALMERSTON or Lord DERRY—his disregard of the smaller courte sies of life, and the pride which keeps him from even attempting to gather round him any personal or attached adherents. The present Government, it is admitted on all hands, occupies a position which is nipnibr PLEASE." THERE are many persons, and many sorts of persons, who fall under this description; but probably there is no more distinctly-marked member of the class than a possessor of office, or an expectant, under the last Government — who now, with his fortunes injured, or his hopes blighted, takes a pen in his hand, and finds the columns of a newspaper open to him, in which to dilate ou the faults or shortcomings of the new and " intrusive " Government. For the present occupants of the Treasury benches to succeed in doing anything that ought to be done, in the eyes of such a person as this, would be as near an approach to a miracle as could well be conceived. new. But that position is not of ing, or of its own making. The Yet the tone of this class of persons, within the last few days, is singularly oblivious of the past. Lord PALMERSTON lost his hold of his pledged majority in the House of Commonalty* fall, by his One IMMO to him of any The case was, as decidedly as any case ever appeared to be, that of " a haughty spirit going before a fall." Some of his own sup porters among the journalists made no secret of their consciousness of this peril. The Times, in particular, more than once or twice, admitted that his decline and fall were the inevitable results of his own faults and failures. It 'was not asserted, then, by any party, (that he still retained his hold on the majority. No one denied, or doubted, that his ejection from office was a reality, and " no mistake." In fact, it is quite clear that if the defeated Minister had felt any doubt of the real temper of the House; if he had even sus pected that the majority against him was accidental, or a snatched majority, his first and highest duty would have been to have called upon the House for a calm, deliberate vote. The displacement of a whole Adminis tration, and the appointment and re-election of another, is not an operation of that light and trifling kind which should be hazarded upon a guess or a perchance. We have a right to argue that the late Premier, in submitting to the verdict of the 19th of February, was satisfied that the vote of the House had been deliberately given, and that the proper moment had arrived for his withdrawal from power. We have, then, a new Administration, rightly and fairly installed in office. No one has said —no one, we believe, imagines—that on Lord PALMERSTON'S retirement there was any other person for whom the Queen might more pru dently have sent, than for Lord DERBY. No one has even ventured to express an opinion, LATEST EDITION. no one's lue. on both these questions. LOCKE and his motion had much to do with Lord Jout-; RUSSELL'S resignation in 1852. As to the Church-irate wrangle of Wednesday week, it was carried on by independent Whigs and Conservatives—Mr. PACKS, Mr. PULLER, &C &C.—and involved the Ministry in neither praise nor blame. But, after what we have seen of Church-rate Repeal, and of Mr. LOCKE KING'S motion, during the last seven years, it required the deliberate ill-humour of a " des tituted " inFtn—to borrow a phrase from our neighbours—to bring serious charges against the present Government, ;based on either of these questions. While, however, we can smile at the criti cisms of a man who has lost his place, we have no difficulty in admitting most frankly the immense advantages of a bold and fearless demeanour. We know, full well—who does not know ?—that one half of the stock in trade of Lord JOHN RUSSELL consists in his "pluck." It is constitutional, and has both its good and its bad points of view. We smile at SYDNEY SMITH'S never-to-be•forgotten description of ths man who would, at an hour's notice, undertake the command of the Channel fleet, or perform an operation for the stone. We smile, again, at the well-known fact, that although, in 1855, his Lordship walked about town for a whole (Iv without finding a man who would embark in his proposed Adminis tration, he was not the less ready, on the 20th of February last, to sally forth, and to try, once more, to find a few present able colleagues. This indomitable self-reliance has its absurd and its ludicrous points ; but it has also some --- 4 '. Who has got a MERSTON? No. No. Then why insist upon that being pro duced which does not exist ? There is no majority, at this moment, for any Ministry. So soon as any man can find 330 members of the House of Commons prepared to follow him, he will, in less than a week, take his seat as Prime Minister. But until that has taken place ; until some man can rally at least one half of the House of Commons, we must con tent ourselves with the best Government we can get—a Government chosen and appointed by the Queen, and to which the two Houses offer no objection. As to the personal conduct of men in high office, it is not our duty, or our inclination, to offer any counsel. No doubt, all patriots, all lovers of their country, would delight to discover some phcsnix of a Minister, com bining the most opposite qualities—the courage and self-reliance of a RUSSELL, with the courtesy, the judgment, and the general acceptability of a WALPOLE ; the wit, and polished eloquence of a CANNING, with the laboriously-acquired knowledge of a H.csxissom or a PEEL. But such wonders are not granted to us. We must be glad and thankful to accept the services of men who are richly endowed, even though they shoe under the sun." titans of some ment " have no ad dilates for offic twice or thrice led he has lost his J , odd not posse- 0 . • irtue And, vit. , ...11.rAi.' . 'V' <!>.weirien‘q rho expeotecfb . 7 . . . 7 .. . tdvantage4r l / 4 1 . .. I wuth aS• I , ee. Lorci;4 , ‘.; . • ;..L: , .44.. A- r'r )d the Ho. ..., ' ... I .. . • • t , .- . pre-eminta cl _ ... t _.., N v -we. ,