Nothing is yet known of Lord Beaconsfield's successor, but time
and the Land Bill alike press, and lie will probably be indicated next week. Conservatives have occasionally stepped out of the routine, but on this occasion they have no young noble or able adventurer who would do, and their choice is prac- tically limited to four men, the Duke of Richmond, the Mar- quis of Salisbury, Earl Cairns, and Sir Stafford Northcote. We should prefer the last, disliking to see the leader of either party in the Peers, where debate is so unreal, and only a mirage of power is present ; but the party think Sir Stafford too good- natured. They are, therefore, driven back on the graeclees, for they have no other Commoner with a claim or a pretensiou ; and they cannot get the chief who would serve them best, Sir William Harcourt. If they select Lord Cairns, they will choose a man of great ability and great eloquence, but who is cursed, like every other Orangeman, with incurable narrowness of soul. If they choose Lord Salisbury, they accept a bold and bitter guerrilla, who will give any rancour they may feel full solace, but who will excite a hostility to their party such as has never been felt since the boroughmougering days, and who may in par- ticular wreck the House of Lords. There remains the Duke of Richmond, a solidly sensible country gentleman, with both moderation and nerve, who would lead well on the old lines, but who would burn no 'Welfare to light their way. Delibera- tions are doubtless going on now, but nothing will be settled until after Lord Beaconsfield's funeral.
