TOPtCS OF THE DAY.
SECURITIES FOR A LIBERAL MINISTRY.
" PUT not your trust in princes," is a maxim which Liberal stateer men ought especially to keep in mind. The experience of some thousand years has shown its wisdom ; and recent events in this country must have convinced the men who are now employed in the work of constructing an Administration, that WILLIAM the Fourth is not more trustworthy than his predecessors on the throne, or than monarchs generally from the days of SOLOMON to the present. The political history of England affords no in- stance of a more thorough Machiaveliem than that which the Court faction employed, first to inveigle Lord MELBOURNE jute the conduct of the Government, and then to drive him from it. That somewhat experienced man of the world, and his colleagues, were completely duped. They trusted to outward appearances. They bad the support of a vast majority of the People's Repre- scatatives ; and all iseented smooth and satisfactory at Court. But they were the victims of treachery : and it is certain, although professions of regard may, and probably will be lavished upon them, when they again become the ostensible counsellors of the Crown, that the same arts which worked their sudden downfal in November, will be indefatigably employed to undermine their new Cabinet.
" A burnt child," they say," fears the fire ;" and " he who allows a serpent to sting him twice, deserves to die of the poison." If Lord Mesnotroare, or any Liberal Minister, is again persuaded to take office without obtaining the best practicable security against a re- petition of what he endured from the Court faction last autumn, he may be set down as less discreet than the twice-burnt child or the twice-stung peasant. There is no reason to believe that Lord MELBOURNE will act with such folly. He will not undertake the responsible duties of Prime Minister merely as a convenience to the Tory party. This is no doubt disagreeable to the Court, that seeks to cajole and to use, but will not trust him.
It is far from a bad omen that some delay has taken place in the construction of the new Ministry. This seems to prove that it is not a mere affair of the Palace, but that terms are to be made and securities required. The King's secret advisers would like exceed- ingly to patch up an Administration of complaisant placeliunters in the course of a day or two. But the temper of the Nation, and of the House of Commons, forbids tile attempt, and compels resort to statesmen of a less accommodating disposition. Doubtless every effort is made to throw difficulties in the way of such uncourtier- like persons. Hence the delay, which they who have caused it complain of.
There are no divisions in the Liberal ranks. The different sec- tions of the late Opposition act together cordially. O'CONNELL is not overbearing, neither are the leaders of the English Reformers unreasonable. As for the Whigs, it would be strange indeed if' they were dissatisfied since they will be allowed to engross nearly all the solid fruits of victory by their disinterested allies. There is therefore, it may be confidently stated, no "hitch'—no internal difficulty among the Liberals. We do not pretend to know that there is any "hitch" in any other quarter ; but we may fairly assume that Lord MELBOURNE will require a cleansing of the Household, annoying in the extreme to the minions of the Palace, and displeasing to their august patrons. It is to be expected that the control and the patronage of the Army will no longer be suf- fered to remain in the hands of the Duke's Tory lieutenant and obsequious tool. A considerable accession to the numbers of the Liberal Peerage may be an indispensable condition with Lord MELBOURNE. If we are not wide of the mark in these conjectures, we have shown reason sufficient to account for a much longer delay in the construction of the Cabinet than has yet occurred. The Whigs must be given up as imbecile and unteachable, if they do not discard the conciliatory/ system, which they pursued under Earl GREY. It is not merely from the more showy and leading offices that the Tories should be expelled: throughout the country, in every department of the Government, local or general, unfaithful and lukewarm servants must he discarded. No Mi- nistry can stand which was betrayed, like Earl Geefs, by its own subalterns. At the last election, the impolicy of promoting avowed enemies to places of profit and influence was strikingly manifest: we know of more than one Liberal Member, the loss of whose seat
is solely to be ascribed to the disgust which this practice had cre- ated in the minds of formerly zealous Liberals. As long as Toryism is so strong in the land, it would be sheer infatuation to neglect the usual and fair means of combating it. The country should swarm with Liberal as it now does with Tory employes.
When General JACKSON was elected President of the United
States, he replaced the persons he found in the numerous public offices with his own partisans ; he made a "complete sweep" of all his enemies; and so he was enabled to bid defiance to a power- ful opposition. This is the policy which the English Tories have uniformly pursued; and thus, when a struggle ensues, they find zealous and interested partisans in every place.
To say that a Liberal Ministry should rely upon mere inde- pendent support, is fine talking. Such a Ministry must, and it will, rely in a great degree upon the aid of the personally disinte- rested. But until a miraculous change is effected in human feel- ings, vast numbers in any country will go where their private interest leads them, and will help those who reward them. It is also very like hypocrisy to profess a regard for Liberal principles, while they who exert themselves in opposition to those principles are the objects of your favour and patronage. We need not pursue this subject further. The result of the "conciliatory system" has been found to be disastrous in the extreme. We may therefore conclude that it will no longer be persevered in; and that the new Ministers will not only insist upon nominating their friends to the chief offices of State—of the Army, the Navy, and the Household —but that in the disposal of the patronage of the Church, and of the minor administrative offices, the principle of rewarding their allies and discouraging their opponents will be recognized and acted on, with due attention to personal merit and fitness. As we have before intimated, there can be no doubt that the Court is reluctant to grant Lord MELBOURNE the same power and privileges which Tory Ministers always obtain. It is not in- tended, by the dismissal of the late Administration, that its sys- tem of government should be overthrown : this the Court would maintain entire, or as nearly so as possible. But the object of the Liberal majority of the House of Commons is to construct an Ad- ministration willing to act in the spirit of the Reform Act. The present opportunity of effecting this can only be lost by indis- cretion, or want of firmness on the part of the National Repre- sentatives. While they stand fast to their duty and their prin- ciples, we are safe, even though Lord MELBOURNE should fail : but let him "screw his courage to the sticking-place, and he'll not fail."
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