Oprrtator August 4th, 1849
RESULTS OF THE SESSION JUST CLOSED
It is stale to repeat that Ministers have retained their posts solely because there is no one to oust them ; but the truth goes beyond that fact—the old men in Parliament have manifestly nothing further to propose, and the anticipated rising of young men who were to take the lead has not happened. Statesmanship in Parliament is quite stationary. But if the Ministry is somnolent, other parties are not less so. The Protectionists yield to the general apathy. The Manchester school has not fulfilled expectation in Parliament: Mr. Cobden's threatened demon- stration against war proved to be a compromise. And as to the " young men" whose existence in Parliament had been whispered—where are they? Certainly they have not shown themselves. Lord Lincoln, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. Adderley have done some good service in Colonial affairs ; but they have not made noise enough to awaken their great leader, and it seems that none of their party are prepared to go on without him. We descry no party of young men who are making a study of the great political questions out of doors.
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