THE 



MONTHLY MAGAZINE 



OF 



POLITICS, LITERATURE, AND THE BELLES LETTRES. 

 VOL. XL] MAY, 1831. [No. 65. 



THE DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. 



THE King has put an end, in person, to one of the briefest parlia- 

 ments within the last hundred years. We acknowledge, with due re- 

 spect for the throne, that such is its prerogative ; that the King has the 

 power to call a parliament once a week, and to dissolve it on the next 

 day ; that he may proceed in this style as long as he lives, and that no 

 man has a right to ask his reason for it. We admit all this, for such is 

 the prerogative. 



But by the law of the land the King's ministers have no prerogative. 

 They are responsible for the conduct of the government. They may 

 not control the actions of the sovereign, but if they dislike the respon- 

 sibility they may at all times wash their hands clean of crime by resign- 

 ing. If they do not resign, the fact is legal and sufficient proof of their 

 approval of the proceeding. They bring the sole responsibility on 

 themselves, and stand forward exposed to the full penalties of the law. 



Why Lord Grey, a man advanced in years, and who for many a 

 year had declared himself voluntarily withdrawn from political life, 

 should be aiding and abetting a Bill of direct and undeniable revo- 

 lution, is beyond our power to conjecture; Lord Grey who, four years 

 ago, in 1827, declared that his old passion for " Reform" had passed 

 away, and that he did not see any harm in opinions to the direct con- 

 trary of Reform, or in his own words, 



' ' The question of Reform had not been so uniformly supported, nor had it at 

 present the public opinion so strongly in its favour, as that it should be made a 

 sine qua non in joining an administration. It was not then because of the right 

 hon. gentleman's opposition to Reform, that he objected to him as one opposed to 

 civil liberty " 



followed by a piece of sentimentality, which in its day satisfied every 

 body that Lord Grey was quite a philosopher. 



" Those," said his lordship, " who had done him the honour to attach any 

 importance to his opinions, were aware that he had. for some years been with- 

 drawing himself more and more from a direct interference with the politics of 

 the country. To take a more active part in public life was quite out of Ids inten- 

 tions. NON EADEM EST ^ETAS, NON MENS ! 



Why, after all this, his Lordship has not merely reintroduced himself 

 into public life, but has made his commencement by the most outrageous 

 M. M. New Series. VOL. XL No. 65. 3 P 



