without,' from lips hitherto deemed too stately for entreaty, followed by
the Trades' Union, thirty thousand strong, parading in procession to
Downing-street; the Irish negotiations of Lord Hatherton, strange blending
of complex intrigue and almost infantile ingenuousness; the still
inexplicable resignation of Lord Althorp, hurriedly followed by his still
more mysterious resumption of power, the only result of his precipitate
movements being the fall of Lord Grey himself, attended by circumstances
which even a friendly historian could scarcely describe as honourable to
his party or dignified to himself; latterly, the extemporaneous address of
King William to the Bishops; the vagrant and grotesque apocalypse of the
Lord Chancellor; and the fierce recrimination and memorable defiance of
the Edinburgh banquet, all these impressive instances of public affairs
and public conduct had combined to create a predominant opinion that,
whatever might be the consequences, the prolonged continuance of the
present party in power was a clear impossibility.

It is evident that the suicidal career of what was then styled the Liberal
party had been occasioned and stimulated by its unnatural excess of
strength. The apoplectic plethora of 1834 was not less fatal than the
paralytic tenuity of 1841. It was not feasible to gratify so many
ambitions, or to satisfy so many expectations. Every man had his double;
the heels of every placeman were dogged by friendly rivals ready to trip
them up. There were even two cabinets; the one that met in council, and
the one that met in cabal. The consequence of destroying the legitimate
Opposition of the country was, that a moiety of the supporters of
Government had to discharge the duties of Opposition.

Herein, then, we detect the real cause of all that irregular and unsettled
carriage of public men which so perplexed the nation after the passing of
the Reform Act. No government can be long secure without a formidable