Her Majesty immediately sent for Lord Salisbury, who at once
accepted the task of forming a Ministry charged with the duty of dissolving Parliament. A delay of a few hours occurred, apparently caused by some accident ; but on Tuesday a few appointments were officially an- nounced. Lord Salisbury had, it was known, kissed hands as Premier and Foreign Secretary, and the Duke of Devonshire had agreed to be President in Council and Chairman of a Committee intended to act as a bond between the War Office and the Admiralty, and to reorganise the former department on the plan approved by the Hartington Commission. Mr. Balfour has of course become First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the Lower House. Mr. Goschen returns to the Admiralty ; Mr. Chamberlain accepts the Colonial Office, a post he has always desired ; Lord Halsbury resumes his seat as Lord Chancellor, and Sir Michael Hicks-Beach is to be appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. These nominations are officially reported, and indicate that the Conservatives and the Liberal Unionists have coalesced, a matter made still more clear by the appoint- ment of Mr. Akers-Douglas as Whip of both the allied parties. It is understood that Sir H. James is to be Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster ; and that Lord Cadogan will be Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, with a seat in the Cabinet. Many more appointments will be known to-day, but of course, in the case of the majority, special elections will be avoided. The new Ministry, upon which we have commented else- where, will be unusually strong in men of first-rate ability, and has been received everywhere by Unionists with some- thing of enthusiasm.
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