Year: 1873

Recent Changes I'm the English MINI


Power Lastf


Rumors of further changes in the British
Ministry were current in London yester-
day. The way in which these rumors
take shape is curious enough. The Lon
don Daily Telegraph is Mr.. Gladstone's
favorite organ. Its large circulation enables
him to appeal in its columns to that large,
rough-and-ready, litte-reasoning, impulsive
community which is more dear to him than
the less accessible aristocratic or commercial
circles, and its powers of hero worship are
gratifying to his vanity When, therefore, we
read in it q paragraph to the effect that sit is
stated-and, we believe, with truth--that
change in the Postmaster Generalship will
shortly be made we know that the Premier
has once more shufled his hand, and that Mr..
Monsell is doomed. His successor is, as yet,
unnamed; but as the other more important
appointments are completed they can now be
judged on their merits.


Of Mr.. Gladstone's exceptional capacity for
the discharge Of the duties of Chancellor of
the Exchequer there can be no question, for it
has been proved in trying times and admitted
even BY his stanchest antagonists. That he
was born fnancier, like the late Sir F.
Barring, or even like the late Lord Wolverton
(Mr. Glyn), whom he was in the habit of
consulting on fiscal matters, cannot, perhaps,
be said; but it is certain that his budgets,
when serving under Lord Palmerston, have
been the most popular, and at the same time
the most financially successful, of late years.
But how will Mr.. Gladstone be able to tripli-
cate the characters of First Lord of the Treas
ury, Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader
of the House Of Commons This last addi-
tional position has been thrust upon him. He
did not seek it; he did not, like Nick Bottom,
cry, "Let me play the lion |" He was already
overworked and tasked beyond his strength;
but his colleagues saw that unless a
little more of the burden were shifted on to
his back the whole affair must collapse and
topple over, and, knowing the desperate te-
nacity with which their leader clings to Office,
they represented this to him and he con-
sented. More than once during the past ses-
sion the Premier has been absent from his
place in the House, owing to illness, and those
who watch him closely have noticed that his
always attenuated physique has become more
gaunt, his cheeks more hollow and wan. Mr..
Gladstone is approaching the age mentioned by
the Psalmist as the span of life; and, though his
predecessor, Palmerston, led the House of
Commons and rode down to the Derby when
an octogenarian, it is not given to the present
Premier to follow in the footsteps of the joe
und Irish viscount. It was because he rode
down to the Derby, because he took interest
in field sports and aznusements Of all kinds,
because he had been blessed by nature with
remarkably equable temper and never
lost any opportunity of enjoying himself, that
Lord Palmerston retained his mental vigor
and bodily elasticity so long. Mr.. Gladstone
is by nature impetuous and irritable. We
question whether he knows racer from
clothes horse, or whether he has ever stumped
stubble or breasted mountain brae with
gun in his hand. During such little leisure
as he can snatch from political toll he devotes
himself to other work. Like Charles Lambs
"Susan Battle he ''relaxes his mind over a
book" and exchanges the gas of st. Stephens
for the midnight oil of the scholar. Such
pursuits do not tend to longevity. The man
is already too hard worked and too much
harassed without this heavy extra RESPONSE
bility, and it is probable that what will with
very little doubt happen next year, the expul-
sion of himself and his party from Office will
be the lengthening of his life and the saving
of his brain.


With the exception Of Mr.. Bruce all the
other shifted members of the Cabinet present
the appearance Of round men in square holes.
The Office of Lord President Of the Council,
which Lord Ripon vacates, and to which Mr..
Bruce called to the peerage under the title Of
Lord Aberavon) succeeds is q sinecure. Mr..
Bruce's peerage was probably bestowed upon
him as some amends for the unlimited badger
ing which he has received from the Pail Mall
Gazette and the Saturday Review during his
whole tenure of the Home Secretaryship He
is rich man, with enough to support the
cost of coronet, and in his new berth
he will have nothing to do, and will do
IL very WELL DuI Wnat Snhu Do Sulu OF
his successor in the Home Office, Mr.,
Lowe? Of all ill-judged appointments this
is unquestionably the worst Mr.. loves
removal from the Chancellorship of the Ex-
chequer was necessitated not merely by
the fact that he was great failure rs =
financier, but because, when speaking
as the mouthpiece Of the government
he let his bitter temper get the better of
him, and on more than one occasion uttered
objectionable rpdenesses to members Of the
House who had addressed him with questions,
as well as to the public, who had waited on him
in deputations. 1t is allowed on all sides that
his temper is ungovernable and those bitter
words not to be restrained Why, then, is the
man who is afflicted with them placed in the