THE LATE AND PRESENT MINISTRY. 121 



nition of any broad and ennobling views of jurisprudence, the deve- 

 lopment of a wise system of tangible relief from the evils of bad 

 laws, or for the utterance of a philosophic or statesmanlike maxim ? 

 No one. Mr. Stanley's speeches were the emanations of an every- 

 day mind, essentially common place; and solely preserved from a 

 hasty and deserved oblivion, by the simple fact of their being the 

 siftings of the riddles of rubbish, that were nightly emptied from the 

 treasury benches. He could rattle through a pretty extensive voca- 

 bulary of demi-refined slang, with marvellous volubility ; his cut- 

 and-dried bon-mots, or what he supposed to be such, were ever ready 

 for distribution ; of pet phrases, and sayings of questionable smart- 

 ness, he had prodigious store ; of historical knowledge, when occa- 

 sion required, he could make sufficient parade to silence Mr. Croker, 

 and amaze the country gentlemen ; and, moreover, could throw his 

 heels in the air, to evince his contempt for propriety and the Irish, 

 and make the squires stare at the far-fetched elegance of the represen- 

 tative of the house of Derby. Now, all these, united to an intense 

 admiration of them, by himself, a swaggering air, and a dictatorial 

 pomposity of manner, naturally begot a deferential sort of respect 

 among the servum pecus imitatorum, who never fail to think well of a 

 man who thinks well of himself, and despises them. There are a 

 herd in the lower house, who invariably admire what they don't un- 

 derstand, and applaud it if they see any do so, whom they suppose 

 would not express approbation without reason. Lord John Russell, 

 and Sir James Graham cried " hear, hear !" to every thing their col- 

 league said ; and this was the signal for those who are above the 

 vulgarity of thinking for themselves on matters of law making. No 

 one courted an encounter with the vituperative secretary, who ac- 

 cordingly grew wanton with uncontrolled success. Lord Althorp 

 played foil, because he could do no better ; and kept pace in dulness 

 and inert amiability with the vivacious bitterness of his bustling co- 

 adjutor. Every man who attempted to dissent from the opinions of 

 the ministry was set upon by Mr. Stanley, out-clamoured by his im- 

 petuous tongue, and overborne by the shouts of the abject set, who 

 hoped to escape being victims, by applauding the termagant v;c- 

 timizer. No triumphant amazon of Billingsgate, victorious over 

 contending fish-fags, ever strutted with more self-complacency 

 through the piscatory scene of her achievements, than did the right 

 honorable secretary sit down after the demolition of an adversary's 

 arguments by torrents of abuse. His echoing compatriots in office 

 tasted his venom, when it suited his purpose to bestow it on them, 

 and no one ever made more ridiculous contortions, under the inflic- 

 tion of the same lash, than the noble financier of the Exchequer. 

 Mr. Stanley's secession from Earl Grey has enabled people to look 

 at the nine days' wonder with a little less dread than hitherto ; and 

 they are now beginning to find out, that he was great, for the same 

 reason that Gulliver was a giant in Lilliput by comparison with the 

 very little people by whom he was surrounded. 



Time will best exhibit the wisdom or the folly of regulating the 

 machinery of public affairs by abstracting the main spring, stopping 

 the wheels for a week or ten days, and then, without the slightest al- 



M.M. No. 104. R 



