418 PUBLIC OPINION. 



dom. This is the power which, when called into active operation, 

 becomes the guide and governor of public opinion. There is in fact no 

 man of sufficient weight connected with this political section, to claim 

 the confidence of the knowledge of the country. Hence a government 

 so constituted would be forced, in order to keep office, to be con- 

 tinually offering stimulants to the popular mind, in the shape of ex- 

 treme measures, measures which in course of time may be safely 

 carried into effect, if they are of a desirable nature ; but which cannot, 

 and which ought not to be thrust forward merely as baits to entice 

 popularity. There can be no safety with a government of this cha- 

 racter, inasmuch as it cannot be safe itself. Every day would 

 weaken its hands, till, like the late liberal Cabinet, it would crumble 

 into dust, or vanish into " thin air : " 



" Res hodie minor est heri quam fuit, atque eadem eras 

 Deteret exiguis aliquid." 



Such would be the fate of a Whig-Radical administration ; and a 

 Tory administration cannot, and will not keep pace with the pro- 

 gress of sound political knowledge. It is in the intermediate party 

 that we must look for measures fitted for the present condition of the 

 kingdom. Rash and ill-advised legislative interference with the 

 institutions of an old country must be ever dangerous to the exist- 

 ence of that country; and there is a spirit of movement abroad 

 which requires to be guided with a careful and a steady hand. The 

 stake at issue is no less than the continuance and prosperity of Great 

 Britain as a nation; and the crisis demands that public opinion 

 should be properly directed. 



