NEWS OF THE WEEK.
" LORD PALMERSTON has ceased to be a member of . her Majesty's Government:: For this announcement- he public were in some measure *Oared, by the rumours of dissensions in the Cabinet that haiie.been current for a few weeks. There is no great mystery about the rupture. ' The story which Would fasten it upon the 1per7 sonal animosity of the Colonial Secretary meets with little cre- dence... What with the broken health of the Home Secretary, the Proved ineompetdnee .bf the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the unpopular waywardness: f"the Earl himself, the Greys have enough to do to keep their own_ ground. :The-cause of quarrel has this explanation. The Foreign Secre- 'Cary had coraetedndUlge his peculiarities to such an extent that his colleagues could no longer get on with him. Lord Palmerston: has: always been one of those men who engage in politics, as
ortsmen follow the fox, more for the excitement of- the chase
from earnest desire to attain the object in pursuit. As Foreign Minister;- he delighted in keepingrcontroversies open, gra- tifying himself with the exercise -and display of his own adroit-' ness and resources. He had an unlucky turn for making his dis- putes with foreign ministers personal quarrels. Though it is not desirable that this country should be entangled in alliances with despotie-pciviers,.oar necessary intercourse with all foreign govern- iiients-shotild at least be civil and free from insult. Lord Palmer- ston sometimes forgot this rule. He repelled or discouraged any ihterference aids colleagues in his particular department ; he re- fused- to submit his Policy to the discussion of the Cabinet, and enforced- the vaunted secrecy of diplomacy-shiest as rigidly againat the statesmen_with :whom he was acting as the general public. To be held responsible for every eccentricity of the Foreign Secre- tary7-4.6 be obliged to approve and defend measures respecting which they had neither been forewarned nor consulted—was more than could be reasonably expected from his associates. Bad habits gain strength proverbially as men advance in years ; and the com- plaint of collerigfies;that Lord Palmerston's wilfulness had become of-late quite ungovernable, has at least a semblance of probability. The secession of the Foreign Secretary from office cannot fail; however, to be productive of grave consequences. With respect to domestic affairs,: it, is scarcely credible that the Changes in-the Ad-' ministration can stop there. Lord Palmerston is not the man to acquiesce quietly in a relegation. to private life. He is emi- nently qualifidd -to 'act the part of a Parliamentary frondeur. There is no reason to believe that he has the powers required to strike out a useful line Of poliey, combine a' party for its support, and form a strong-Government; but he has formidable abilities for attacking and annoying an inceinpact Ministry. As a watchful, acute, and relentless mitia,'Aiis familiarity; with the practical de- tails of business will render him a dangerous occupant of the Oppo- sition belches. His antecedents, when last out of plow, war- rant the belief that he will not be scrupulous with , regard . to the weapons he -employs: The nnpatriotic eagerness with which he sought to thwart or embarrass the - negotiations by which Lord:Ashburton brought to a close . that hurtful and protracted controversy with the United States, which Lord Palmerston him- self 4a3pana so extremely coinPliewited and threatening, and which he rendered still worse, is well remembered : the never-ending die- paragenient" the Ashburton capitislatioo," and similar epithets of abilieivith Which he assailed it; to crown all; the unprecedent- ed identification of himself with those attacks by attending a din- ner of the contributors to the newspaper which was 'for the time his obedient organ. Nor is-Lord Palmerston likely to lack follow- ers. His pleasing manners, and his adroitness inleading Men th be- hove him zealous in a cause without committinghiraself by-definite Pledgos;-fit him to become the rallying-point of the most dissitnilar
and incongruous discontents. He. is exactly the man to " ride in the whirlwind and direct the storm" of aimless agitation.
With respect to foreign. affairs, their present critical aspect is sufficient to cause uneasiness on account of the uncertainty which must necessarily prevail, respecting the. competence and the -ten- dencies of his successor, even to those who are well enough pleaied to have got rid of Lord Palmerston. The comparatively little that is known of Lord Granville is favourable and promising. - The
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misgivings expressed on account of his political inexperience, and his newness to the Foreign department, are . not without some countervailing suggestions. It has been too much the elm.; tom to talk and" think, of diplomacy as a mystery, is' trick of trade, that can only be understood by the initiated:- At the commencement of the American war of independence, the Deanses and Carrnichaels, who were selected from among their fellow-citizens to negotiate with the powers of Europe, shoWed that common sense, distinct notions of what they.would be at, and an earnest determination to accomplish their sincere aims, were quite enough to enable them 'to cope with the most veteran diplo- matists. Indeed it may be suspected, that the intimate acquaint-' wince with the tracassenes and petty.howiehold intrigues of foreign) states, which tempts to interference in :affair-s; is the' reverse of a qualification for a good ForeignMinister. If the-appoint-I meat of a statesman rather deficient in this branch of knowledge— more curious than useful,--could have .the effect of bringing our meddling with; shabby foreign squabbles 'within narrower limits, the consummation would be one devoutly to be wished. - Still,. tha
extended sway of military despotism in Europe, and the natural: and with which England, as an asylum for-politicall
refugees of all opinioris, is regarded by the great. Cofitinan*P powers, "crave wary watching:" The'FOreign Office requireatgus_ time a Minister of rare singleness oftEurpose and caution's ness ; for, however sound in theory the doctrine that a -Preinier ought to assert a preponderating voice in all departments of - go- vernment, the personal disposition and habits of Lord John.Rns- sell hardly warrant a' sanguine expectation that he will do so.
