The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-22 00:00:00

ration is broken up, rio other rsasou being itseige f .).
a...
t ee-„
their disagieeneeta as to the stirction ti!' knee::: 6eti.,eeei
pErsenages cf this etac:p, the evealic isi;; he
~iii,:eereei,
seck for a solution ot the riddle in ether cau:es'and-
der•per teflaences. Had the Whigs been dolt titer' on Vny
que,tiou of policy on ankh they ciatal reeigti with
honour, end defy theit- adversnlics with coefi.ferce to
e; peel to the sse.se. cf the e •netey fir a otesniadon,
their puiitien weedd be tete ef nreteet pefiularity end
ot future pewee. But to break. t;oe-a' rthreuen mere
where nt vi eakness, weeld indeed give tae Tory tarty
a fair charce ot not gaining effi.:e merely, but ot keep-
busy wi th the
ethtne.earmpweusbi
Lithii
of
,ca or
ing it. Rumour, as is her wont on snch oc-:asitn.s, i 3
who
i(3:Cliot wt}Coootninthhi''4.crhlrLi:ts'it:lnn"ds:iatinY
with hao'sie-
cvt'auritidsghewtta
among the vehtg who are likely to retain office. When
the siguificeivt phrssc, " We must elce2e cur ranks,'' fell
from the lips of Sir James Graham in a recent &bete,
. the thuuelit suggested itself to the mind of every think-
isle teen—how comes it that he who himself seems to
• have caught, if any one ha'. the mantheof Peel—should
so long have been left to tight as a volunteer in defence
of si field lie;;aided so powerfully to win? It may, indeed,
be true thttt the Member tor Ripon entertains opinions
upon certain points at variance with those, on which the
Government have recently been acting: But if these
dissentient views are in herinony with the cairn judg-
ment of the nation, it might be uo .unimportant sortaea
' to the Whigs as a party, as well as to the country at
large, if Sir James Graham's joining the Administra-
tion proved the -cause anti the occasion of a change of
measures. No additional strength which he or his
friends could bring with them, either in point of admi-
nistrative talent or numbers in a division, could do so
much to retrieve the Ll:winged position of the Whigs as
the infusion into their counsels of a more resolute end
heartily popular spirit.
LEADER.—The Ministry beaten by two to one!—that
is the event which quite eclipses the Budget in public in-
terest. It is tottering! a few more such blows and it hover!
Mr. Locke King invited the Commons to admit a Bill
extending the 101. borough franchise to counties; Lord
John objected to so sweeping a measure, and invited the
House to wait till next session. The House went with
Mr. King, and the Speaker announced a majority against
Ministers of two to one: imagine the Premier's counte-
nance at the ghastly sound. The defeat must be, will
be, followed up. All are now convinced that the Ministry
is useless, effete. It is only blocking the path against
the entrance of some better Ministry; for any would
be better than the present. Already Lord John has
ceased to be Premier: he is only the Obstacle-General;
and Policeman Public is ordering to " move on." At
last we are again in motion !
WEEKLY NEWS.—What can Lord John mean?
With a Papal measure that pleases nobody, a Budget
that dissatisfies everybody, a narrow majority of 14 on
the great Free-trade question, why should he further dis-
gust all sincere Liberals by meeting Mr. Lucke King's
sensible and moderate proposal for extending the fran-
chise to 101. occupiers iu counties, by the plaitudes of
finality and the cutsand-dried fallacies of the Bthick-
stone-and-De-Lolme school of Reformers. The it elan-
choly truth really seems to be, that the former leader of
Liberal England has fallen down a prostrate worshipper
before what Sydney Smith used to call " the paltry of
these realms." Ile did one great thing, but, '4 not
being great in mind," has remained ever since exhausted
by the preternatural effort, and now finds nothing so
congenial as the languor o' dignified inaction.