18 DECEMBER 1852, Page 11

POSTSCRIPT.

SATURDAY.

The anticipated difficulty of finding any persona fitted to take the vacated offices disappears as soon as the necessity exists ; and the Times indicates the probable direction of the Royal choice.

" The course of events, the state of parties, and the predominant con- victions and desires of the country, point to the colleagues of the late Sir Robert Peel as the men from whom the Liberal party must now look for the most effectual assistance, in conjunction with whatever remains available of the last Whig Administration. We may add, that we have reason to believe that private communications have already taken place by which the principal obstacles to this union are removed ; and we believe that it is upon the Earl of Aberdeen that the formation of the new Cabinet will devolve, with the active cooperation, not only of his former colleagues, but of Lord John Russell and the chiefs of the Whig party. The same delicate task of bringing together for the first time men not before as- sociated by party ties might equally be intrusted to the Marquis of Lana. downe, whose experience, authority, and tact, perfectly qualify him for such a duty. But that veteran statesman has already taken a formal leave of offi- cial life; and although his counsels must ever have the greatest weight with the Liberal party, we do not anticipate that he will accept the most onerous position in the service of the Crown. Lord Aberdeen has, moreover, the ad- vantage of being less shackled than any man of equal eminence by personal and party ties. If it should be his duty to distribute the chief offices of state, we have no doubt that he will do it with singleness of purpose and with an undivided regard for the public service."

There is no doubt that Lord Aberdeen is the man whose choice would be sanctioned by the general consent. He possesses thoroughly the con- fidence of his own political friends, and the confidence in his character is shared beyond the circle of his own party. It has become better known than it was at the time, that he was not only the mainstay of Sir Robert Peel. in the best time of his statesmanship, but that he had a share in originating the enlarged course which that statesman adopted ; he has remained steady in the course then marked out, through all the distrac- tionii that have diverted other public men; and the impression created by his past conduct was fully revived by his speech last week, which showed that his clearness, his firmness, and his soundness of feeling, have been unimpaired by the, pettifogging season which.Lhas intervened since he followed his chief out of office.

The formation of a Cabinet, recruited by the best men without regard to the distinctions of clique, may not prove a task so difficult as the work- ing of such a Government will be arduous. Its principal difficulty, in- deed, will be greatest at first ; while it will have to encounter a strong Opposition, fresh: in rancourous disappointment, and the excited " inte- rests" which the leaders of that Opposition, on leaving office, have stu- diously called out for the embarrassment of their successors. Totally breaking down in its financial policy, the last act of the falling Ministry in Parliament was to throw out showers of promises, in order to call around the door of office a host of hungry claimants who shall charge their disappointment on the occupants for the time being. It would take no great time, however, by frankness and firmness, to correct any impracticable spirit that may have been fostered with such transparent purpose ; and it will be the duty of all who place the interests of their country before those of their party or their family, to ,mite in supporting the new Ministry, so long as it shall make its appeal for sup- port not to party but to the country at large. .

The special hopes excited by the fraudulent budget it will not be dif- ficult to deal with. The great unreasonable sacrifice may be revoked without exasperating any party of political importance. The minor gra- tuities may be given at the proper seasonfor dealing with budget matters ; and the only popular point in the scheme which has excited the pleasant anticipations of the public, and perhaps somewhat unsettled an important trade—the remission of the Tea-duties—might be settled at once, and perhaps in a manner still more satisfactory than that promised by the late Finance Minister.

The Morning Herald, late Ministerial organ, confesses that "the hopes" of the Conservative party "have been struck down for a moment" ; and, though the editor hastens to supply his valuable counsel " as to the course which they should pursue in this unforeseen emergency," he accompanies his naïve admissions with an assurance still more naive-

" The Ministry has fallen ; that is admitted on all hands. That it has fallen honourably, even its enemies will not deny; and we greatly doubt whether the most sanguine among them ventures to speculate on its long exclusion from power."

But that party can hardly expect an immediate return to power whose Pelopidas and Epaminondas signalized their last hour in Parliament each by an outrage. The outrage perpetrated by Mr. Disraeli in his "flurry," the last dying speech, was made in the sight of the country. Lord Derby's was not publicly so visible, though, if the current rumour is correct, not more modest. At the close of the debate yesterday morn- ing, he, who had been so indifferent to continuance in office, placed him- self, not in the body of the House of Commons, but in the part most sacred against intrusion—in the Division-lobby. There, on the very eve of the division, several Members of the Liberal Opposition were brought in, specially introduced to him, and most affectionately received. It was observed that three of them were afterwards counted in the division amongst Lord Derby's band ; and it was one of them who, after the division, replying to the impatient tap of the Premier now outside, put out his head with the announcement—" We are beaten by nineteen ! "