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

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

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