NEWS OF THE WEEK.
TRW. rumours about the Cabinet do not take a much more definite shape. The only office ostensibly vacant is the Duchyof Lancaster, and " the favourite" for that is Mr. Chichester For- fescue. It would be far better to let him have the Secretaryship for Ireland, with a seat in the Cabinet, as Mr. Cardwell had while he was Irish Secretary. Whatever Lord Russell's Ministry may be able to effect, it is quite certain it must encounter bitter un- popularity in Ireland, if the originator of the Ecclesiastical Titles Act insists on retaining as his Irish Secretary a harebrained man whom the Irish almost despise. Mr. Chichester Fortescue is popular in Ireland, and is a man of strong sense and judgment, who would be lost in the Duchy of Lancaster, for he is not much of a show-politician, nor a telling speaker, though a sensible administrator. For the rest, no further changes are yet talked of, though of course the Under-Secretaryship for the Colonies must be filled up if Mr. Chichester Fortescue is to be elevated. We think Lord Russell will be wise, however, not to rest content with that infinitesimal change. When the meet- ing of Parliament approaches, and there is less time to get up a contested election before the Speaker's writs are issued, we shall surely hear of recruits being taken in from among the abler men below the gangway, if Lord Russell does not wish to begin with a disunited party but half inclined to repel the incessant charges of the bold irregulars of the. Opposition.
