There is every appearance that.the removal of Lord George Bentinck
from the scene of worldly strife has accomplished the shelving of the residuary " Tory " party. In spite of his de- fects as a political leader, it is not easy to think of a second man in the party equally capable of the office. The hint of Lord John Manners as a successor is virtually an admission that no succes- sor can be found; for Lord John is not a man to shine in party politics, or to conduct a band of followers over the rough-hewn path of Parliamentary contest. His mission is of a different and perhaps a better kind. It has been surmised that the nominal leader might be the merely titular chief, leaving to Mr. Disraeli the function of exemplifying the paramount influence of the He- brew Caucasian race : but it is not probable that any cadet of an English family, however modest, will be found to play the cats- paw in that way. A more probable conjecture is, that the loss of their bold, high-spirited, and laborious leader, will so dishearten the party, that many will re-desert to the main body of more liberal "Conservatives," and that the mere leavings of the "Tory" faction, under the leadership of the dauntless Sib- thorp or some equally inconvertible representative of value, will fall naturally into the humble but useful post of Parliamentary butt—the Helot of legislation, or exemplar ad evitandum. "Pro- tectionist " principles will no doubt continue to hold some ground ; but they must revert to the position of a theory, more independent than they have been of party and political divisions.
