NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE Downing Street journalists have this week been engaged in the almost daily performance of a very arduous duty—that of THE Downing Street journalists have this week been engaged in the almost daily performance of a very arduous duty—that of
endeavouring to persuade their readers that" all is right" at Downing Street ; that the pother of the last three months is to
sink into a pleasant lull, a sweet unison, as the 31st of January approaches ; that we Reformers are all of one mind, with the exception of about half-a-dozen crotchety Radicals ; and that when the Session opens, the Treasury side of the House of Colu- mns will be occupied, as usual, with fortunate Whig holders of office, and subservient Representatives of the People, afraid to speak or move, from the dread of' pushing Lord MELBOURNE and his colleagues off their stools.
Were the truth known, it might be found that these gentlemen are not so valorous as they pretend to be. Like the boy in the churchyard, they whistle till almost broken-winded to keep up their courage; but meanwhile they are pale-faced and trembling. Scant, indeed, and shallow is their source of confidence. They keep ex- claiming in concert, " Nobody condemns the Ministers but Sir WILLI AM MOLESWORTH and Mr. ROEBUCK there is no echo to the Bath meeting speeches; a Whig paper in Manchester dislikes the London Review ; ditto in Dublin, ditto in Aberdeen ; Mr. Gsonns PnintIPS has been spouting pure old Whiggery at Kidderminster; and Mt. RICHARD POTTER iS unwilling to turn out Lord MEL- BOURNE." True—it is not pleasant to the Reformers to think ill or hear ill of their Whig " leaders." Surely they do not wish to see the Whigs "out" and the Tories "in." But neither was time Bath dinner got up with that view, nor such the main scope of the speeches there delivered. The assault upon the Whigs was a mere incident—a digression from the main object of the meet- ing. By selecting certain passages and sinking others, it could easily, and more fairly, be made to appear that the design of Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH and his friends was to keep out the Tories at all hazards; for did not Sir WILLIAM declare that it was the duty of Reformers to support the Whigs against the Tories as long as the former were "one iota" better than their opponents? The true end and aim of the Bath demonstration was to excite the Reformers to an independent course of action, without reference to the party prospects of either Whigs or Tories. Will it be pretended that such a policy has been repudiated by any suction of the Radical party ? On the contrary, it has been approved of expressly by some of those who will not join in attacks upon the Ministry. To those who give out that the self-reliance policy will lack adherents—that no body of men in the Honse of Commons can be got to act together independently of both Whigs and Tories—it is sufficient at present to reply, that this is the very thing about to be tried; and we need not waste words upon mere hop s or fears that will be put to the proof in a fortnight. But let not the Ministers place implicit trust in deceitful muster-rolls, or flatter themselves that a plan of action is impracticable which any two determined Members of Parliament can execute, and in which we know that many more are ready to join. It is to be remembered that nothing like direct hostility to these Ministers is purposed. No addresses of censure and want of confidence will be moved ; no .wanton vituperation, or unnecessary showing-up of Minis- terial blunders, will be indulged in. The Government w ill receive side-blows only when it opposes itself to popular measures. Now, will it be pretended, that only " half-a-duzen " Members would be found to support motions by Mr. GROTE for a Ballot Bill, by Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH to repeal the Septennial Act, by Mr. LEADER to sweep away those foul blots of the Reform Act the Rate-paying, clauses, by Mr. IlowAan EL Pll NSTONE for improv- ing the Registration system, by Mr. HUME for popularizing the Magistracy, by Mr. CLAY for repealing the Corn-laws, by Mr. EWART for equalizing and reducing the Sugar-duties, by Mr. Hurr for equalizing and reducing the Timber-duties, by Mr.•WARD fur inquiring into the management of the Colonial Office?
FLATFIrr V n.1evu —would a series of motions of this description, we ask, be sup- ported by a few straggling votes ? 'Would not, on the contrary, the great body of professing Liberals be compelled by their own principles, their sense of justice, and by the fear of losing their seats, to vote for such motions ?
Oh, but, says the Morning Post, this is the old plan : last session there was no scarcity of Radical motions, and they were easily dis-: posed of. Softly,sweet Post. The plan is not that of last or any previ- ous session. It has hitherto been the practice of the Radicals to yield every thing to "time convenience of Ministers," and to spare them the disgrace and mortification of dividing frequently with Tories against their own friends. Important subjects have been cushioned, and motions have been negatived without divisions. It is pro- posed next session that the importance of the measure, nut the convenience of Ministers, shall be consulted. The divisions will be as numerous as the points of difference. Even Mr. Hums will refuse to vote " black, white." The passing of the Supplies will be no holyday work. Sir ANDREW HAY, how skilful soever in the tactics of his department, will not be allowed to drive through the Ordnance Estimates in twenty minutes. Neither will it be a very easy matter for Lord Howicx to get all the money Lord HILL wanti for the Army. All the Estimates will be scanned, and numerous will be the motions for reduction. The Irish Poor-law question will not be postponed to the end of the session in expectation of a bill from Lord Mogen's; nor will the abolition of Irish Tithes be made to give way to the Appropriation-clause of Ministers. Sir JOHN HOBHOUSE, Sir HENRY PARNELL, and Mr. POULETT THOMSON, Will be put in the unhappy predicament of misrepresenting their constituents, till perhaps they may became ashamed of the figure they cut. And the Tories will not appear to much advantage before the country, when, instead of milk-and-water measures, which might safely be rejected because interesting to few and scarcely deemed worth contending for, they are called upon to deal with those which must deserve and will obtain national approval and sup- port. Hence their evident alarm at the new policy of the Inde- pendent Reformers, and, on this point, their " wonderful unani- mity " with the Whigs.
As against these consequences, it will little serve the purpose of either Whig or Tory to exaggerate and harp upon some rather highly-charged expressions of individuals in the Radical ranks. All but fools know that abusive language is like scum, whiell rises to the top and is blown away : the pure liquor remains untouched. The strength and flavour of the Radical brewage will be better known before Easter.
