120 THE LATE AND PRESENT MINISTKY. 



would take the name for the substance of reform ; this involved, of 

 necessity, a reliance on himself, a belief that his opinion was the 

 opinion of England ; mistakes multiplied in rapid succession ; the 

 blunders of the head, of course, begot others of greater magnitude in 

 the minor members of the cabinet; the confidence of the people wns 

 irrevocably forfeited ; a squabble between a silly and a crafty man 

 revealed how affairs stood; the derision of the country was provoked; 

 and, for very shame, the jumble of incongruities, lately known by 

 the name of the Grey administration, fell to pieces. 



The colleagues of his lordship do not require to be spoken of at 

 any great length by us. The Chancellor was one of the very few 

 members of the late cabinet, who though they have not added to 

 their reputation by their connexion with the government, have cer- 

 tainly not much impaired it. Though his station rendered him a pro- 

 minent, his actions did not render him a conspicuous minister. 

 With the exception of the discussions on the Reform Bill, he has 

 had but few opportunities of evincing his unquestionable pre-emi- 

 nence over all competitors in the upper house. Under the pre- 

 sent arrangements, he will, we are apprehensive, have but too 

 frequent occasions to put himself in a position that the new pre- 

 mier is totally incapable of maintaining among the " Corinthian 

 capitals/' Lord Brougham's talents must ever give him a distinguished 

 elevation under any ministerial leader ; but the present First Lord of 

 the Treasury is, by his comparative incapacity as a statesman, and un- 

 importance as an individual, merely fitted to afford additional proofs, 

 by contrast, of the Chancellor's indisputable superiority. All the 

 members of the late government, being members of that now in office, 

 with the exception of Mr. Stanley, and Sir James Graham, it is, of 

 course, unnecessary to dwell upon the circumstance of their connexion 

 with Earl Grey. With regard to the late colonial secretary, however, 

 we must be permitted to observe, that nothing so completely esta- 

 blishes our proposition, relative to the dearth of talent among public 

 men, as the fact of Mr. Stanley's being so long mistaken for the pos- 

 sessor of legislative ability. What has he ever done to entitle him to 

 be regarded as an enlightened statesman ? What has he ever said to 

 warrant the supposition of his having an enlarged or comprehensive 

 mind ? Nothing literally nothing. Look at his miserable attempts 

 at law-making for the pacification of Ireland begun but to be aban- 

 doned ; founded in rashness and ignorance, and forsaken with less 

 dignity than absurd precipitancy. In what assembly, we should be 

 glad to know, except in the present House of Commons, would the 

 utterer of the rhodomontading philippics against O'Connell have been 

 cheered at the termination of every violation of grace and logic, and 

 not unfrequently, of common sense? The agitator was especially ob- 

 noxious to the member for Lancashire, and in no great odour in St. 

 Stephen's ; therefore personality imparted a zest to the Right Honour- 

 able gentleman's harangues, and the applauders of mediocre oratory 

 lent him a confidence he could have done without, and an assurance 

 of which he already possessed too much. Who ever thought, even 

 among his warmest partizans, of recurring to Mr. Stanley's speeches, 

 a month after their delivery, for the purpose of witnessing the recog- 



