The Press.
London, England, 1853-12-24 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

WANTED-A HOME SECRETARY.

A CAHINET eorNell, was held on Thursday afternoon at the Foreigu•
office, at which ten of the Ministers were present. The Council sat.
five hours and a half. SO far the :Ministerial journals reveal the truth.
Hut, had they favoured the public with softie information as to what the
Council Was doing all this time, we should have been spared the
trouble of going to the For..ign-otliee yesterday, and demanding to see
the Minutes. However, at the present crisis we grudge no labour
Which leads to enlighten the public, and here are cxtraets from
the book :- .-

I )It:m .Tot 1,4. Dee. 11, I $33.

Poom, .1. and chir.bm, Ihp Dub.
J. Graham. U'. 3/„/,—,orth. prwa, and 3t. irr. Her/kW and (ihrit.b•hr.
tOrd Alit:111)1;FN !unveil that, it was very disagreeable weather.
Carried, aria. rim. (with all allllitiun by Mr. 61.Aos.roxE, that
we ought. to be very thankful to Providence that we had
any heather at all.)
CLAsEximoN moved that the be poked.
Carried non. eon., and that it be au instruction to Sir C.
Wood to do it, as he was sitting nearest.
The Duke of NEwc.orrix moved that he found coals deucedly clear,
on which Sir C. Wool) remarked that few people liked to carry coals
to Newcastle. The Council laughed, except the Loan CHANcEI.I.OIt.
LOl'd Aiwnor.cs moved that the plaice of Home Secretary ought to
be tilled up, as it was disgraceful to see so important au office left
open for a week. and a Ministry. aviovedly eon manding all the talent
of the country, nimble to supply it.
Carried aril. ems and Sir C. Wool) observing that nobody
had offered the place to him.
Sir J. (.; ItAIIANI moved his chair nearer the tire.

Lord A nranEEx moved that Lord .T►►hn Busmen, who held no office,
be requested to accept that of Home Secretary ; and the Noble Earl,
smiling. lead to the Council the article which he had written in 11w
Times dilating upon the courage with which it was certain that Lord
.1. 11. was about to accept the challenge of Lord Palmerston.
Sir W. Mot.EswonTn moved as an amendment that he tshould
requested to accept the °Hive. The Council divided, and the members
were—For the motion, 8 ; fix• the amendment. 1 (Sir W. M.) ; Lora J.
R. not voting.
Lord .1. Brssuu. stated that he should not accept the office. First.
he had enough to .10. secondly. he was not very strong Thirdly, he
liked domestic life. Fourthly, he thought they wanted a new 1111111.
Fifthly. he thought it was exceedingly iniind that if he vacated his
sent and went to the electors of London he should be returned, and
then where was their Reform Bill ?

The Lotto en.‘NrEti.on here burst into a hearty fit of laughter.
having just sin eeciied in comprehending Sir C. Wood's joke about
coals and Newcastle. Ile requested. for lawd 11.'s matisfacti 111 l , that
it might be entered in the MillitteS that his laughter was not at Lord
J. Ws tire points.
AI4I:RDELN moved that there was a %cry abominable smell of
.bacco about the Foreign-ottice, and that it be an instruction to lord
4 buendon nut to smoke. Slr. 4 nsIoNE seconded the motion, which
division teas lost by S to :1 kstr U. Wood by mistake voting both
A% ayo. and the majority immediately lit cigars. but put them out again
eu Mr. tiladsione opening all the windows and doors.
loot AnutDEEN then Moved that Sir James Oraliam should take
1; le vaeant otliec.

SATURDAY,

Sir J. GRAnAm stated that he should do nothing of the kind. Ho
Wil) safe enough at Carlisle, no doubt. but he had made such a mess of
speechmaking that he intended to 1101(1 his tongue most severely
until they met Parliament. He moved that Mr. Herbert should
take it.
Mr. HERBERT begged to deline, without troubling the Council with
Mstwills.
1.0111 ABERDEEN said that there was nobody else present who could
be applied to. The Home Secretary must be a member of the House
of Commons, as the Duke of Argyll knew, or he would have attended
and taken the office. What were they to do'
Sir C. Wood here stood up on a chair, and pointed to himself, but,
no notice being taken of this pantomime. the Right Hon. Baronet got
down again.
Lord J. RussEEE stated that it was very unlucky. Lord Pamnure
and Sir 6. Grey both pleaded ill health. Lord Canning did not like
changing his place. Bernal Osborne --
Sir .1. 6RAHANI stated that he could not spare Bernal Osborne. Ho
eas getting that intelligent but impetuous young person into very
good training, and was happy to assure the Council that the Secretary
to the Admiralty had not made a joke for three days.
Lord t. I,IRENDDN moved, ,Mr. EAesTONE seconded, and it was carried
firm. rim., that the thanks of her Majesty's Ministers should be pre-
sented to Sir J. Graham for this most salutary reform.
Lord ABERDEEN moved that their situation was most embarrassing.
The country was laughing at them—important business was at a
stand still—and they were going to pieces. Ile wished that Lord
Pelmerston could be persuaded to come back. It would damage them
to modify the Reform Bill, but it would damage them more to have to
go out.
Lord J. Ressw.stated that he should not modify his Reform
mid that he was not desirous of seeing Lord Palmerston back. But
inasmuch us, from the time of a Coalition, Lord Palmerston had been
in a perpetual state of wartiire with the Noble Earl on foreign poliey,
it was idle to suppose that anything short of the Noble Earl's yielding
could satisfy the Noble Viscount. Was the Noble Earl prepared to
burn Sebastopol, as, if so, he (Lord .1. Russell) might consider the pro-
priety of modifying his Reform Bill, and then it would be time enough
to think of asking Lord Palmerston to return.
Lord ABEnDEEN moved, Sir J. GRAHAM seconded, and it was carried
by 7 to 4 (Sir C. Wood, by mistake, voting both ways), that a message
lie sent to Lord Palmerston offering to surrender everything if he
would, by returning to office, save the Coalition Ministry from its in-
evitable doom. The Council then rose.

A NEW CHRISTMAS SONG.
TO IIE SUNO WITH AX ACCOMPANIMENT OF CHRISTMAS BILLS.
Sure matters are come to the worst,
In spite of our Ministers clever,—
The free-trade bubble has burst,
And things arc dearer than ever.
The butchers are charging double,
There's no " big loaf" at the baker's,
But the summit of all our trouble
Is the smash of the Cabinet-makers.
The shop was pronounced so good,
The state of the trade so cheering,
There was plenty of old split wood
Done up with a new veneering ;
There were " talents" for every work,
Each job had its undertakers ;
The deuce take that terrible Turk,
He's ruined our Cabinet-makers !
Sure never was firm enrolled
With surer or better adviees ;
The old stock in tonic was sold
At " alarming sacrifices."
They tickled the daily press
Till the " fourth estate " wiseacres
Declared that a world's distress
Would be cured by the Cabinet-makers.
Old tables and chairs they broke.
Old customers vowed to abolish,
And they swore that the old British oak
Would never endure French polish.
So they laid in a stock of deal
That grew upon Russian acres,
And they promised the world should feel
There were never such Cabinet-makers.
They had poppy-heads* carved awry,
lii the style that the Guardian pleases;
Ohl wig-blocks hard and dry,
And plenty of tire-amid-Basics ;
Graven images made for the l'ocE,
Plain furniture suited to Quakers,
And a putter renowned for "soap"
To lather the Cabinet-makers.
Their funds have begun to go down.
Their goods are considered suspicious.
And they've done their best friends brown
In a way that was scarce judicious.
Their ventures are out of luck,
Their vessel among the breakers.
And their cleverest workman's ,truck,"—
Ail s up with the Cabinet-makers !
QnerY? leVll,l-hPatlg.--Pr;nler'r

DECEMBER 24, 1853.