Broken down, every public " question " and " cry
" spoiled by them- selves for their own use, Ministers are relieved by being definitively beaten, and slink out at the first welcome sound of dismissal But it was not Palmerston alone that did it-
" There is," says the Times, " scarcely a political incident, great or small, of the last six months, that has not had a share in it. There is the Palmer- ston rupture ; there is the French coup d'etat ; there is the invasion panic, and the question of national defences ; there is the Irish Orange fund and the Irish Papist quarrel ; there is the Protectionist with the two other Opposi- tiona ; and last, but not least, there is the fatal dinner-hour, which, to judge from the numbers on the division, must have told on the result. • • * * It can scarcely be imagined that all who voted against Government last night, still leas all who staved away, were prepared for the consequence of their non-support. Possibly, as has frequently happened before, the Minister has stooped to avoid a fatal blow. The little cloud that was ulti- mately to blacken the heavens has long been over the horizon. Need we mention the Caffre war, to be brought home at last to the Colonial Secretary by Mr. Adderley's motion next Tuesday night ?"
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