The Express.
London, England, 1852-12-20 00:00:00

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LONDON. 31(iNDAT. DBCZNIZER 20.
THE task of forming a New Administration having
been jointly confided by the QUEEN to Lords LANS-
DOWNE and Antal:4l:N, and having been jointly un-
dertaken by the veteran chiefs of their respective
parties, no doubt can be entertained of their mutual
desire, at any sacrifice of minor interests and claim.,
to form what may be termed a strong government.
That there is aced of all the elements of strength
which can be concentrated in the new Cabinet can-
not be den'ed. The faction who have been recently
evicted from office, though discontented and disen-
chanted with the short-comings of their leaders while
in power. will nevertheless present a formidable
array when they come to re-occupy the benches
of opposition. It must not be forgotten that on the
late memorable division there were but four absent
from their post, and these were known to be dis-
abled from attendance by illness or other causes.
The Tory opposition will undoubtedly muster well
nigh three hundred strong, a force which, though
deficient in talent, no Administration can afford to
disparage or trifle with, for a single hour. It must
indeed be a strong government which can succeed in
resisting the attacks and baffling the resentments of
such a party during the ensuing session—for beyond
that term of parliamentary existence it would bo
waste of time just now to enter into any speculation.
A strong government is, therefore, wanted, if ten•
dencies to reaction are to be efficiently controlled,
or the hopes of tranquil progress are practically to
be realised. But the strength of a government con-
sists not merely in its prrsonnel. Administrative
talent and adroitness in debate are great qualities for
parliamentary success, but no amount or variety of
these gifts can enable their possessors to dispense
with that which is still more iir.portant,—namely,
the bthef of the people in their sincerity, and the
confidence cf the people in their fixity of purpose.
Jrn our own time, we have seen administrations poi-
selling in a singular degree all the personal qualities'
of experieree, eloquence, dexterity, and social weight,
erumole ii.to dust before the assaults of far inferior
force, because they had lost their hold on public
esteem. No government, during the present cen-
tury, contained within itself more of the elements of
social and intellectual sway than that which carried
the Itekrta Bill. Yet its career was brief, and its
fall uapiticd,because with great professions and great ,
abilities the confidence of the public had been shaken
in its consistency and earnestness. And in tbe later
instance of the administration of Sir ROBERT PEEL,

we have wituessed the equally fatal conwirencts Of
attempting to change the fundamental principles of
a U.ibmet after it has been formed, even though the
change be to right from wrong. Public opinion,
which forced Si- ROBERT PEEL to disown and to
destroy the policy on which he had taken office,
refused him its confidence at the very moment when
he had sacrificed all to win its applause. The people
do not theorise, but they instioctively. place their
trust in those who avow a rightful aim, and con-
sistently adhere to it, rather than in those who with
greater talents and pretensions are less consistent
or less candid. Our latest experience in such matters
amply attests the truth of these views. What has
Lord DEnitv gained by all the disreputable " dodges"
and deceptions of the list five weeks? What
would he not now give that he had told the simple
truth on the eleventh of November last, and
had had the courage to endure • numerical de-
feat upon his genuine principles, instead of
endeavouring, by a succession of miserable
subterfuges and evasions, to avoid the fate which after
all has overthrown him. No ship, however skilfully
manned, can refit midway in the ocean. Once out
at sea, she must pursue her course,however damaged,
or run ashore to save tho crew and cargo for another

voyage.
Whatever, therefore, be the composition of the
new Cabinet, its destifinifftle decided at the out-
set. and not afterwards. Without distinctness and
decision of purpose, its diversified abilities and high-
sounding names will avail nothing. Tho country is
prosperous and the nation contented Financial
(ours cfaat, and great social changes, are not
expected. But national security is demanded, and
educational and political progress will be looked
fur from any government which relies on the
Liberal party for support ; and without intelligible
and substantial pledges for such progress, no set of
men, be they who they may, can hope to engage or
to retain, popular confidence. Between Lord LANS-
DOWNE and Lord ABELDEEN there may be little
difference of opinion, or there may be none. Bare to
their immediate friends it may seem of small com-
parative importance, therefore, which of the two
shall assume the post of Premier. Humour assigns
it to the latter, while the former, it is said, is willing
to take a seat in the Cabinet without the responsi-
bilities or fatigues of office. The public—if its work
is to be honestly done—will trouble themselves little
with the disappointment or the epleen of those for
whom it may be impossible to find room.
The jest ascribed to Lord DERBY denotes
the real difficulty in this respect of a
Coalition Cabinet. " How many. will it hold?—four-
" and-thirty, or I suppose six-and-thirty, if re-
" quired ?" But the truth is, that clubs and coteries
can never understand how little the public thinks or
cares about their rival personal claims, if the work
of the nation is but truly carried out. The prin-
ciples of the new government are what we want to
know. If these be comprehensive and courageous,
thee, indeed, the public will ask who are the personal
pledges that those principles will be pat into execu-
tion. If real work is intended to be done by the
new machine of government, there must be real men
with real hands and hearts to do it. The hearts
of men are only to be moved by men
who themselves have hearts, and the heads
of men are only to be convinced by men who
themselves have heads. If upon the other hand
nothing broad or determinate be intended by the
new Administration, then we think it matters no-
thing whatever of what materials it is composed.
Any will-fed loyal and sober man will do as well as
another to march up and down as sentry before the
door of the British Constitution. Passers-by never
ask the sentry's name. We pay for them—expect to
sec them there—hope they will behave decently—
and that is all. But to guide and govern a great
people is something more. To develop a nation's
resources, to anticipate a nation's wants, to preserve
a nation's security, to direct a nation's aspirations,
and to utter a nation's will—these are functions
worthy of the highest and bet. minds amongst us—
these are duties which are inadequately performed
by those who arrogate to themselves an hereditary
riiht to rule.
tjr,til we see the programme of the new Cabinet,
we own our inabilty to anticipate what may be " its
mission." But we must reiterate what we have
already said, that without a programme plain and
positive, its mission, be it what it may, is certain to
remain unfulfilled. Assurances the most satisfac-
tory of its good intentions, given to this or that po-
tential personage in privets conversations or notes
marked confidential, will no longer do. The days
when parliamentary support could be secured fy
these delicate contrivances have passed away. Pub-
licity and Filain dealing have become necessaries of
political life, and the sooner the essential fact is re-
cognised the better.