How very, very small is the mouse produced by the
great mountain of Conservative Plot, whose labour was to have done such wonders ! The "New Conservative Opposition !"—What will the FEEBLES do next ?
But it is far more important to inquire, what will the Ministers do next ? They so worded the King's Speech as to preclude the FEMMES from showing beforehand the number of Lords who will vote against the Bill ; and the more crafty of the New Opposition are manifestly bent on prevent ins,- any vote of the House of Lords on Reform, until after the Bill shall have passed the House of Commons. Suppose that the Bill, having passed the Commons, should be condemned by the votes of the Lords, what is to be done then ? A creation of Peers will not siiffice, because the same measure could not be brought forward twice in one session. It would therefore be necessary to prorogue Parliament, and postpone the Reform question to another session. 'With such a course the country would be wholly dissatisfied. if Ministers should allow such a necessity to occur, they will be suspected of having courted it. The people have made up their minds on the question of Re- form, and are now longing for the fruits of their own determina- tion. Will Ministers run the risk of a great national disappoint- ment? To avoid all risk of the sort, but one thing is required— the immediate creation of that number of Peers, precisely, which would be created in case the House of Lords had thrown out the Bill. The country urges Ministers to make sure work of what they have in hand. It is almost as easy to ascertain now the pre- cise number of Peers wh9 will vote against the Bill, as it would be to count the majority who had voted against it. Are Ministers quite sure of a majority in the House of Lords ? If not, the course of their duty is plain.
Our readers will remember, that, during the debates on Reform in the last House of Commons, we never ceased urging the Minis- ters to make an opportunity of dissolving Parliament. The thing to be feared, at that time, was, that the Bill, passing the House of Commons by only a small majority, might be thrown out by the House of Lords, and by so great a majority of their Lordships as to preclude Ministers from carrying the Bill in another session by a creation of Peers. At present, the thing to be feared is—delay, in consequence of the Bill being thrown out by a small majority of their Lordships, and therefore postponed to another session, when it would be carried by a creation of Peers just sufficient in number to turn the scale. Why not turn the scale at once, and so insure the passing of the Bill this session? The only question
• Lord Rrougbain's name for the New Opposition.
with men who know the state of public opinion and feeling, better, perhaps, than Ministers, is—how many Peers is it necessary to create? We cannot but regret that the King's Speech was not so worded, concernine. Reform, as to have incited the FEEBLES to tell us precisely concerning many of them intend to vote against the- Bill.
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