250 THE MINISTRY, THE ARISTOCRACY, AND THE PEOPLE. 



the support and confidence of the independent and intelligent part of 

 the country. They must now be sensible, that no sacrifices on their 

 part, however great, can propitiate that portion of the aristocracy 

 which has been all along opposed to their government and their 

 policy; and surely they will never again be guilty of the folly of 

 casting away the affections of a noble and confiding people, in order 

 to purchase, not the friendship scarcely the temporary forbearance, 

 of their old and bitter enemies. 



It must never be forgotten, however, that ministers so far as re- 

 spects the aristocracy, are placed in a peculiarly difficult and delicate 

 situation, and there is no doubt that a great part of their present un- 

 popularity has resulted from their anxiety to frame their measures in 

 such a manner, as to secure their favourable reception in the House 

 of Lords, without whose consent they could not pass into a law. 

 But while ministers were undoubtedly actuated by conscientious mo- 

 tives, in their endeavours to preserve harmony between the House of 

 Lords and the Representatives of the People, it cannot be denied that 

 those endeavours have been signally unsuccessful; and have not only 

 encreased the danger of an ultimate collision, but also rendered the 

 people still more hostile to the unrestrained power, which the consti- 

 tution vests in the hereditary branch of the legislature. The history 

 of the present session has clearly established the fact, that the House 

 of Lords contains, a great majority unalterably opposed to the present 

 administration, and determined to seize the first favourable opportu- 

 nity of effecting its overthrow; and it is equally evident that all the 

 past concessions of ministers have had no effect in diminishing the 

 numbers and resolution of this majority. The vote in regard to the 

 affairs of Portugal, and the rejection of the Local Courts Bill, suffi- 

 ciently proved the spirit which actuated the conservative opposition, 

 and there is no doubt, that the Irish Church Bill would have been 

 thrown out by a large majority, had not the leaders of the Tory 

 party, alarmed at the prospect of the resignation of ministers, thought 

 fit to allow that bill to pass. Surely no one will pretend to assert, 

 that such a state of things can or ought to continue; and it is becom- 

 ing every day more obvious, that ministers can only secure the confi- 

 dence of their friends, and the respect of their enemies, by firmly 

 pursuing a policy compatible with their own views of justice and 

 expediency, leaving to the House of Lords the responsibility of sanc- 

 tioning or condemning that policy. This would certainly call upon 

 ministers to come to some decision, as to the course which they would 

 adopt, in the event of the House of Lords refusing to support those 

 measures, which they regard as necessary to the welfare of the coun- 

 try; and it must be admitted that either a large creation of peers, or 

 a resignation may be attended with many and serious difficulties; if 

 creation of peers, besides being a direct violation of the spirit of the 

 constitution, would be liable to many other objections, and could not 

 be justly, or safely resorted to, until the resignation of ministers had 

 proved to the conviction of every impartial man, the inability of the 

 Tories to carry on the government according to their own principles. 

 The resignation of the present ministry might be attended with many 

 formidable evils, but great as these evils may be, they are less to be 



