NEWS OF THE WEEK.
Tits new Administration is completed in all its essential parts. In our second edition last week we gave a list of the appointments, according to the most authentic accounts we could then procure. We now republish it ; with a few alterations and additions. These, however, only refer to the subordinate arrangements; the list of the Cabinet Ministers having been correctly given last week.
THE CABINET.
'Viscount Mernourtrir First Lord of the Treasury.
The Marquis of LA NSDOWNE President of the Council. Lord JOHN RUSSELL Secretary of State for the Home De-
partment.
Lord PALMERSTON Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Mr. CHARLES GRANT Secretary for the Colonies.
Mr. SPRING RICE Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Sir JOHN HORHOUSF President of the Board of Control.
Mr. POULETT THOMSON President of the Board of Trade.
Lord Howicx Secretary at War.
Lord DUNGANNON Privy Seal, and Chief Commissioner of
Woods and Forests.
Lord Howorn Chancellor of the Duteby of Lancaster.
Lord AUCKLAND First Lord of the Admiralty.
NOT IN THE CABINET.
Marquis Of CONYNGHAM Postmaster- General. Sir HENRY PARNELL Paymaster of the Forces, and Treasurer
of the Navy. }Joint Secretaries of the Treasury.
Mr. ROBERT STEL ART }Lords of the Treasury.
U
Mr. W. I Oan Mr. Fox M* LE Under Secretary for the Home Depart-
ment.
Sir GEORGE GREY Under Secretary for the Colonial. De-
partment.
Lord FORDWICH Under Secretary for the Foreign De-
partment.
Mr. ROBERT GORDON IJoint Secretaries to the Board of Con- Mr. VERNON SMITH j trol. Sir RUFANE DONKIN Surveyor-General of the Ordnance. Colonel LEITH HAY Clerk of the Ordnance.
Colonel A rrsotr Storekeeper of the Ordnance.
Lord DALMENY Admiral ADAM Admiral Sir W. PARKER Captain ELLIOTT Mr. CHARLES WOOD Secretary to the Admiralty. Mr. LABOUCHERE Vice-President of the Board of Trade,
and Master of the Mint.
The idea that first suggests itself on looking over this catalogue iof names is, that in the place of a Government of impostors, we have got an unsuspected Ministry. The Country can be under no apprehensions that Lord MELBOURNE and his colleagues will secretly strive to undermine institutions and thwart the progress d principles which they openly profess to Maintain and approve Sir CHARLES PREYS Sir LANCELOT SHADWELL COMMiSSi011eril of the Great Seal.
Mr. Justice BOSANQUET Sir JOHN CAMPBELL Attorney-General. Mr. R. M. ROLFE Solicitor-General.
Mr. CUTLAB, FEROUSSON Judge Advocate.
Lord Advocate.
Solicitor-General for Scotland.
Earl of MULGRAVE Lord MORPETH Lord Pxortxerr
Mr. Sergella PERRIN Mr. MICHAEL O'LOUGHLIN
Marquis WELLESLEY Lord ALBERT CONYNGHAM Duke of ARGYLE Earl of ALBEMARLE Earl of EaaoL
Earl of GOMM)
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
..Secretary. Lord Chancellor. Attorney-General, Solicitor-General.
Lord Chamberlain. Vice-Chamberlain. Lord Steward.
Master of the Horse.
Master of the Buck Hounds. Captain of the Yeomen Guard. Mr. J. A. MURRAY
Mr. CUNNINGEIAME
Mr. FRANCIS T. RARING 3Ir. E. J. STANLEY Lord SEYMOUR
Lords of the Admiralty.
of. A feeling of confidence and security has succeeded to one of alarm and distrust. The good measures of the new Adminis- trdtion will be viewed as the honest efforts of men desirous of pro- moting the welfare of the community, not as the artifices of It faction seeking to gain selfish ends under the pretence of patriot- ism. The Ministers are indebted for the power they possess and the exalted position they occupy to the respect and confidence of the Country. They rely for support on the great body of the People : they expect active enmity at the hands of the Peers anti the Court party, and cannot look for much hearty aid from the King. They are the Ministers of the Nation, the organs of Public Opinion : this is the light in which they are regarded by the great majority of their fellow countrymen, and here lies their strength and power of usefulness. But although the Ministry as a whole may he safely affirmed to he satisfactory to the Liberals, faults have been found with the mode in which some parts of it have been constructed. It cer- tainly wears an aristocratic complexion ; and it is not to be denied that useful men, filling a considerable space in the public eye, have been passed over, to make way for others less known, less valuable as administrators, but highly connected. In a very few instances, the desire to indemnify a member of the Whig party for the toils and expense of a severe election contest, or private feelings of kind consideration and sympathy, may have turned the scale. The old system has not been entirely abandoned : to a certain extent the public good has been less regarded than the desire of providing convenient situations for scions of noble houses.
It has been objected, that few of the Liberals, as distinguished from the Whig party, have found their way into the Ministry. Why, it has been asked, were not such men as GROTE, WARBUR- TON, and WARD, included in the new arrangements ? Taking the individuals named, and beginning with Mr. GROTE and Mr. WAR- BURTON, it may be doubted whether they would have accepted office, especially as, if placed in situations where their services would be most valuable, the one would feel it right to give up his banking, the other his mercantile pursuits. Have the dissatisfied ascertained that either of these gentlemen was prepared to make this sacrifice ? But Mr. WARD is not fettered by business, and it was surely a mistake not to offer him some post which he could con- veniently accept, and which would have afforded scope for the ex- ercise of his industry and ability. He has filled so prominent a place during the discussion of the great question which led to the breaking up of the Tory Government, that we are not surprised at the dissatisfaction, among some earnest Reformers, which his non- appearance in the Ministerial list has occasioned. At the same time, it must he considered that there is also an advantage in having Mr. W ARD and his Liberal coadjutors perfectly free from Ministe rial trammels. It requires little foresight todiscern that their time must come; and in the meanwhile, they will not be compromised by being parties to a less decisive policy than they would e il- lingly adopt and enforce if they had the power. This we mention as a countervailing good to the unquestionable evil of excluding Mr. WARD and other eligible members of the Liberal phalanx from an active and responsible share in the Government of the country. The Ministry will suffer in popular repute from the want of their cooperation: perhaps in the end the country will gain by their remaining in a perfectly independent position. The Tories are venting their spleen in depreciation of the new Ministers. This is very natural on their part; but is it dis- creet? Let us select a few of the leading members of the new Administration, and compare their qualifications for the per- formance of their respective duties with those of their predecessors —laying aside the grand and all-important distinction between the political principles of the two parties. First, as Premier we have Lord MELBOURNE in the place of Sir ROBERT PEEL—if indeed the latter can properly be said to have been more than the nominal head of his Administration. The fit- ness of a statesman for the office of Prime Minister may be seen at once in the judicious selection of his colleagues and bestowal of the principal offices in his gift. But even the Tory Timeseould not defend Sir ROBERT PEEL'S choice of KiviTeiteum., BARING, and STORMONT, for colleagues ; and refused to apologize for the un- becoming appointment of Lord LONDONDERRY-AOW unbecom- ing, has been newly illustrated by the Marquis himself, in pre- sence of the assembled Lords, within the last week. Wel* pitiable to see Sir ROBERT PEEL in the House of Coorneles Nor rounded by the men styled Ministers by courtesy, whom rsig scar ely trust to open their lips. Besides, it was the of
ROBERT to persuade the People that he was a sinews ; yet, not only in the making up of his Cabinet, but inlin nate appointments, he acted so as to, belie his profebisits. Ii'
- pears therefore, that during the short period he ir Priii Minister Sir ROPERT Pen. exhibited &Wino! -" meg
runt where the exercise of those qualities was first of all and most imperatively required.
Lord MELBOURNE is really at the head of his Cabinet: he is not the puppet of any nominal subordinate. His conduct as Home Secretary was both firm and conciliatory, and in the main unex- ceptionable, in very difficult times. It remains for him to have a fair trial, for as a leading Minister he is as yet untried. He has, however, shown much more discretion than his predecessor in the discharge of his first and most important duty ; and he Possesses the incalculable advantage over Sir ROBERT PEEL of inspiring all who know him with a belief in his sincerity, as well SA a high opinion of his manliness and decision of character. He never was suspected iof trickery : he is not plausible, but straightforward.
Mr. SPRING RICE is Chancellor of the Exchequer; and he must be a bold partisan of Sir ROBERT PEEL who will assert that Sir ROBERT'S qualifications for the office are superior to those of Mr. RICE. The fact is, that except one speech on the Malt-tax, which was merely a clever statement of well-known facts and old arguments! Sir ROBERT PEEL had no opportunity of displaying financial ability. Mr. SPRING RICE is not Sir ROBERT PEEL S equal as a rhetorician and mystifier ; but he is a better political economist • and in financial arguments and statements nothing is more out of place than rhetorical display, and nothing more to be desiderated than that familiarity with figures and business details which Mr. RICE has proved himself to possess. The country may congratulate itself on having exchanged the late fur the present Chancellor of the Exchequer.
It is almost ludicrous to compare the clever, conciliatory, and
accomplished Lord JOHN RUSSELL, with that most insufferable bore and blunderer Mr. GouLBURN ; who is celebrated for nothing but Orange bigotry, and a series of mistakes respecting the Sugar-duties which any merchant's clerk in Mincing Lane would have been ashamed to commit.
The Duke of WELLINGTON has the merit of having continued
in the line of foreign policy chalked out by Lord Pasmeasrox. How long he would have held the same course, is problematical. We are not disposed to deny the Duke's industry or capacity for the management of the Foreign Office; but we do not believe tt
him to be Lord Paemeerox's superior. It is a high complitnent to Lord PALMERSTON'S former conduct of our affairs with foreign nations, that there is a universal outcry against his return to Downing Street from Continental as well as domestic Tories; who have not forgotten, that during his Ministry, Liberal opinions gained ground in Spain, Portugal, and Belgium. We confesa that he did not appear to us to deserve so much of this Tory hatred by the conduct of his department. He seemed frequently to lean to Tory policy ; and there was, moreover, one part of Lord PAL- MERSTON s practice which cannot be too strongly reprobated, and which he must correct—we allude to his employment of Tory envoys and ambassadors. In this way he disgusted the friends of the Liberal cause abroad, and did himself and his colleagues material injury at home. The bitter reviling to which he has been subject from the Tories must have convinced him that they have net been conciliated by such conduct; and he most be mean- spirited indeed if he now perseveres in it with that view. It is unworthy of a man, who, we now understand, from the day of his joining Lord GREY'S Cabinet acted in other respects as a true and steadfast Reformer.
Mr. CHARLES GRANT'S determined and regular support of Liberal measures in the Cabinet must also be allowed to weigh against his faults as an official; the principal of which is indolence. Extensive knowledge and superior abilities no one denies to Mr. GRANT; but that he is sluggish and procrastinating—that he too frequently neglects business details—is generally asserted, and has not been contradicted. Making a large allowance for this failing, be is still immeasurably superior to METTERNICH'S pupil, Lind ABERDEEN; a person whose very existence seems to escape recolleclion the day after he has quitted office. As he came so he depot t4, like an automaton whose wires are pulled by the mighty Duke.
Of Sir JOHN Honnouse's qualifications for the Presidentship of the Board of Control, we can say, for we know, nothing. We are told that this appointment is popular at the India House, and among the India merchants. Sir JOHN at all events enjoys the advantage of succeeding the chattering sinecurist Lord ELLEN- BO-SOUGH, remarkable for nothing but conceit and indiscretion.
The appointment of Mr. Poueerr Tn omSON is one of the very best that Lord MELBOURNE Las made. The knowledge and ex- perience of the President of the Board of Trade are universally admitted. He is, moreover, an undoubted Liberal, and a sound political economist. He can certainly have no reason to fear a comparison with Lord ASHBURTON ; whose inability to hold to any set of' opinions on any public question was proverbial, and whose recent exhibitions in the Commons must have convinced his friends that the House of Incurables was the proper one for We can also give unqualified praise to the choice of Lord Mut:- GRAY/I for the Irish Viceroyalty. This popular nobleman has proved himself the possessor of that species of ability which is calculated to render him exceedingly useful in his new office. He will act cordially with his Secretary, Loid MORPETH, his Law Officers. and the British Home Secretary ; all of whom are as liberal as himself' in politics, and as desirous of administering _equal justice to the turbulent and misused people they are called on to govern. There really does appear at last to be some chance of an united Administration in Ireland. We cannot say that Lord Peuxuarr niH make as good a judge as Sir EDWARD SUGDEN ; but Lord MORPETH is infinitely preferable to Sir HENRY Ilse- ni NOR. if Ireland is to be governed on teneffiatery, not on Orange principles. The appoint ment of that truculent officer to the post of Irish Secretary was in itself a threat of fire and sword; while the mild and intelligent Lord MOEPETH must be regarded as a minis- ter of peace and good-will to the Sister Isle.
Of those Ministers who are not in the Cabinet, Sir HENRY PARNELL is the most distinguished. To speak of Sir HExev in the same sentence with Sir EDWARD KNATCHBULL, might, unexplained, look like an insult to the former. It appears a strange accident that has brought the two names in juxtaposition. Sir HENRY PARNELL needed no foil, and poor Sir EDWARD'S imbecility was already sufficiently marked. Was there not a little sly 'malice in Lord MELBOURNE'S selection of a man of Sir HENRY'S temperate vigour and practical skill to reptace the violent but feeble Kentish Wronghead? It has been remarked, by the way, that Sir HENRY PARNELL ought to have been in the Cabinet. Perhaps, however, his time is not yet come. He is known to be a rather uncompromising stickler for thoroughgoing measures; and as we have before intimated, the present Ministry must deal more leniently with certain abuses, than that which in the course of a few years, and in another re4n, will have the conduct of public affairs.
So much for the comparative merits of the leading members of the present and the late Ministry : we think it must be allowed that Lord MELBOURNE and his colleagues do not lose by the com- parison. In fact, it is advantageous fir them to be placed by the side of their predecessors. But standing alone, they form a very respectable Ministry in point of talent and character. It is in- deed substantially the same as that which was dismissed in No- vember last, and which the Country at that time was disposed io regard favourably. After months of agitation and turmoil and political animosity, the King and the Tories have been reduced to sue for terms to the triumphant Liberals. It is acknowledged that the Prerogative has suffered and Democracy gained by the attempt to exalt the one and depress the other. But the King and his secret advisers would have it so. The King would have his whistle, and dearly has he made the Country pay for it. Will he now rest satisfied, or try the same tune over again?