EXTRACTS. OUR MINISTERS. (From the Spectator, April 7.)

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 351, 6 September 1849, Page 3

EXTRACTS. OUR MINISTERS. (From the Spectator, April 7.)

It is an exasperating tiling, it might mik« the spectator of a cricket- match turn misanthrope through contempt for his epeeies, to tee a player miss a fine ball , but to see him do it time after time, and never hit— to see all his colleagues do the sam. — pro okys a ju->t initiation against such diigiase to their kind. You cannot witness the cceneand abstain from picking to pieces the character of the phyers. Wow surely no set of men ever hid such nu innings as tin* present Ministers — such a clear field, such fine blowing weather, snch capital balls : yet every stroke is a miss. They piny a timid game, and venture only wh/n t lere is no'hing to be gain d• y it. Accord ngly you pick to pieces the character at the men— excellent men, no doubt, in the bosom of their families, but eia^perating performers on a public ground. And the review of the men quite accounts for the failure of the par y. Look at the leader, Lord John Rusiell ; a most estimable man, whose character is patent to all the world. Lord John it a model of an Engli«h gentleman—only without any John-Bullishness of contour, and therefore without many things that belong to that exterior. He is intelligent, highly educated, well versed in Engluli history— he has wiitten some firstclais exercises on that thume— -spirited, sensitive, and kiad-hear.ed. He can read you a page ia history with due emphasis and discretion, after the' most received plan, and will compose you a thewe upmit ihat would extort the highest certificates fsom the College of Preceptors. He it very proud tv find the House of Bedfoid mentioned sootten; and hs is thoroughly convinced that the country which produced the said House of Bedford must be the finest country in the world — the prize country, rewarded by its own virtue in the possession of that house. He i-> a itanch advocate of the free instiiutions which have produced the House of Bedford. He is a revolutionist on occasions, and goes along with the noble Barons who extorted the Charter from King John ; nay, with the Country Gentlemen who dictated tne Bill of R : ghts : but in matteis of revolution he draws the line at Borons and Country Gentlemen. The House of Bedford t in his person, completed the political trinity by vouchsafing the Reform Bill— event enough for this age. There he rests li is political fame. It is most disgusting to see the vulgar ingratitude which makes men impatient to get bryond that ; but the " ardor pravn jubeutium civium 'is a cUsbic text for historical thesis. Lord John is a kind man and a philosopher, and he forgives iiii fellow countryti en. Patience is the great polit cal v'utue. Let the rabble bruwl freely, and it will change iti tale ; the ebb-tide will tenure the balance disturbed by the flood. Nothing more is named. England is a glorious nation: it has produced Q, een Elizabeth, Lo:d Bacon, John M Item, and Lord William Russell ; John H imp len, and Dr. Hampden, mured by a Russell ; John Janiss Fox, and Fiantis Duke ot Bedford, whose statue ii in Russell Square: it is stayed by Queen Victoiia, and go-v-rr.ci by Lord John Riusell, assisted by Eail Grey, sow of the late Earl Gr<;y f and Sir Geoige Grey, nephew of the late Earl Grey. The English are a iree pe»ple ; and discussion, being quite free, is very animated, Ireland is very poor and turbulent: she always Ins bren so. All these fac.s are history ; it is I thus Lord John reads it. Persons who don't read history, but only the newspapers, are for goiug faster, or i^oiug back, or go.n£ 01 one side. Lord John smiles. Demagogues fa'l in with those wild ideas ; so da some statesmen. The Duke of Wellington say* that men not used to good society are not suited to hold commissions in the Army, because the unaccustomed wine at in ss gets into their heads. Laid John sees th it men who are elevated to the tank of stateimvn, without being well born, are liable to luvc their heads affected. It is a sign of plebeia 1 birth. He is nert- r so. Other men aie: thsy are not members ot the House of Bedford, or of any other "house," except the House of Commons. But he ii proud tv St*e how our free institutions enable the man of hum* Itle origin to attain the highest potts of the state, and it is with magnanimity that he encounters the consequences of that freedom which the House of Bedfoid has done so much to maintain. Lord William Russell ■suffered for it at the block, and Lord John would do the tame ; only that now-a-days we are too polite to use such filthy modes of enforcing noble responsibilities. All these troublesome incidents of statesmanship are history : it always has been to, and always ought to be. The wise statesman sits on high and moderates all . Lord John is doing so : it only requires " the application from time to tune of plans suited to the occasion ;" and there is always somebody at hand to provide a little plan when it is wanted. People blt-me him . great statesmen alwtyi arc blamed ; their country is always ungrateful : out these things do not move him, at hast not much ; he looks to posteiity (o ! do him justice, and to the future historian of the lives of British stt'esmen. That is all : there is nothing else going forward in the Wurtd, nothing extraordinary —only Hiiothsr volume of history brewiug, just like the whole set. Of course there is no moving such a man : you might as well invite Sheriff Alison to roropose a New Atlantis or a third tolume to Cosmos. Headed by Lord John, the Cabinet is set to go by the week like an eight-day clock. He has excellent lieutenants. Sir George Grey, nephew of the late Earl Grey, is a most respectable Minister, and a great speaker. lie citn pour out all the usual reasons (or any uuual measure, with sur prising flutmcy, in a very agreeable voice, with the oratory of a pet feet gentkinnn He is at once a sound Liberal — a Whig strong in language and careful in conduct, and a sound lawyer— who can imagine no depart'ne from the rule of lawyers. Sir Cbar'es Wood, son-in-law of the late Earl G ey, is Lord John's Chancellor of the Exchequer : a most useful and creditable colleague; a sterner man than Sir George, and le<» pleasing in speech ; more haid> spoken, an befits a hard- headed man ; quite up, too, in political economy and parish thni't; able to " answer" anybouy wilh a crushing commonplace, and always well informed as to the just price of stocks : quite a financier. It was edifying to see how Mr. Gobden'g sub-imaginatiVe budget was dashed to pieces as it was. borne by the stream of time against the pier-head-of Sir Charles's moveleis officialism. A life man is Sir Charles, no bolter ; though he will " dre;s up" a budget as well as any Chancellor for the House,

and speak as Liberal a speech at public dinner or hustings as Mr. Coppock or Mr. Prout, Eari Grey — ay, there's the rub. Earl Grey, ion of 'lie tate Hlarl Grey, must be in the Ministry, and he is. Ie is one of the fami'y party, he is a very constitutional man, although he does tnlk Liberalism, or has talked it, with the best. His temper, indeed, is infirm ; but that seems to be a constitutional imhrruity —in the medical, not the political sejine of " t onititutionnl." Lord Grey is by some accounted an ogant ; but then he is Earl Grey of Howick. Occasionally he has extravagant projects ; but be ulwuys retrpcts ihetn. He looks very iin practicable, but he is much more neiratjTe than he loots; yet 'le speaks bvld-ly, and t > could ill be spared in the HoU'.e of Lyrds. if it were only to be pitted against L <rd Stanley. And Lord Stanley's high 'j ry j olitics are truly useful to Lord Grey, especially in Colonial topics ; they enable liim to seem still quite Liber al. Some inconvenience arises when the head of an active department is confined to th- House of Lords, an he is then obliged to have a f)«olie«nnn in thschttaib-r where public business ii chiefly transacted : d'-quali-ficd for admission to the Omroons, Loid Guy nauit have his p >xy there; and the increased exi^»Cies of. Colonial affairs have dngj>ed that j.roxy Mto unexpected promiumc^. Mr. Hawes was a lendior \ n r habiiant of Lambeth; then Member for his native I lace, and rather formidable to in* 1 < Whig Ministers from a certain Dissenting turn, wl.uh gave lmn mflu nee : he was invited lo take oil! c, ami has fallen m well with established modes, lie huu taken a very intelligent view oi the understanding on which he was invited, and knows all the diflei once "between being; Member and Minister : Lamb"th wanted certaia things, nnd he supplied then? ; Lord Grey wants otfte* things, and Mr. Hawes supplies theni. He suiU his inLTchandis<! to hi» market, he knows better than to go to a brick chapel among the factories of Lambeth, and to court in the same costume. He ia Lord Grey's Under Semtary ; and Lor.l Grey is well pleased with, him on the who's, though 1 c does bully him now and then. It is an awkwuid circumstance, that whin it it necessary for the Hoire of Commons to believe what Mr. Hawes says, it has to be repeated by Sir George Guy: but M<. Hawes is a veiy honourable man. though not ot any " house," except a commercial boiibe in Lawhetb ; and he » alwajs faithful to his trust. The country may not trust him, but Lord G ey do s. Lord Palmerston's position is peculiar — it is merely ' personal. 1 hat he i 3 the ablest diplomatist in Europe, is proved by the (act that he always putt the affairs with which he has to deal in the same st< to. it is like that popularly called " a sta'e of hot wuier" — a sort of simmeiing ferm- nr, threatening an explosion* His is a temperament which likes to balance on th« edge of a prec pice —to enjoy a reposs spiced by the surprise in the countenances around ; his chosen bed is a tight-rope, he expatiates "stuns pede in uno" amid the flish of rockets ; he sets one Mate against . ano'her, pl»ys with revolution, dallies \\Mi treason, and brings Europe about his ears ; and when you chink that he is lost in the crash, hey presto ! like Herr Cline alter a st uggle *ith the attraction of gravitation, be s nnds beiore you in an attidude of graceful and oitentatious aplomb. He would not play these tricks, he would not tamper with the aff.urs of nations, if he gravely cared for the weal of his kind and country : tut they are life to him. As tight-rope dancers can only get along whi'e the band makes a uoisi?, so he cannot manoeuvre unless there is a stir. It is hia way. 1c keeps Lord Grey in a fidget ; and Lord Grey, who is a man of old traditions— for hia own crotchets are a mere morbid twitching, which passes oft— cannot see the necessity for admitting tho noble adventurer to the family party. But Loid Pal« meraion is too adioit to be spared. The Marquis of Lansdowae's po3itiou is still more peculiar. As principal Minister in the House of Lords, it falls to hia lot to »n»wer for Lord Palmerston, and the venerable Marquis it a man of still older and more stedfast traditions than Earl Gr-y. Besides, hehas antiquated ideas as to the dignity of statesmanship. Accordingly, he cannot frame bis lips to talk Lord. PulmerstonisuQs in his capacity of extra Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs ; and so the incohebive state of the Cabinet otten appears through Loid Lansdowne's candour. Lord Lwdowne uneasily remembers the. days of strong Ministries, and cannot conceal hi* present discomfoit. Political death would certainly be a happy release to him ; but he has not the heart to shut the door against the sons of old fiiends who u>ed to enjoy the hospitalities of Lati'downe House ; although the young fellows do sometime! bring strange newcompanion . The Government is formed of these and the like incongruous material*. The analysis of the personnel explain! the history of its administration : uncon•tiuJted itself, but only pieced together, it cannot con-truct. It brings in '• b'lU," according to form, but they are enly the simulacra of bi'ls ; there is no power in the engine to form a measure of substance. A review of the personnel is a review of the session (hut far, as it hat been of former sessions, and will be of the rest of the session, and of future sessions : for the Ministry will last for ever, ■ *

The Premier. — We have learnt, as we think, from the beat authority, because in fuct we hay; always found it to be so, that the condition of the Whig ministry has now become exceedingly crt'-al, and that it is now almost a matter of certainty that Lord J. Itus<i?ll will give in his own voluntary rtesignation within a very few weeks from the present time. It is the coucurrcnt opinion of hi< medical friends, and has been no declared to him, that hit strength and health are unequal to sustain much longer the bmden of bis office ; and if we- may express ourselves in the courtly language employed iv these higlur spheres, that Ins loidship must be prepared to make hu choice, whether it will not be preferable to live for his country, instead oE to die for it. At all .events, we belitve the fact which the rep >rt i8 intended to eouvty.-~tfeJ/'« Mcistngtr r April 16.

Mr. Macaulay. — Mr. Maoaulay announced on tha occasion of his being presented with the freedom of Glasgow, that he has withdrawn from political life.— Illustrated I ondon News, March 31.

Tub j.ate Rev. Thomas M'Guirb.— -Most of our readers have heard of the celebrated " Father Tom" whose controversial abilities were so prominently brought into pay in his celebrated ducussions witli the Rev. Mesien. Pope and Gregg. His death by poison is also well known, the following sequel to which appears in a letc Dublin paper: — Two person* named Hugh Ciuinn and Mary Rejnolds, servants in the priest's house, were apprehended and committed for trial for his murder at well as his brother, Mr. Terence M' Guire, who was poisoned at the safnstitne. Their trial, which excited the derpest interest, came on «t the Leitrim assizes on the 6th March, when they were acquitted on the charge of ' murdering the priest ; hut, on the following day, Were arraigned, found guilty, and sentenced to b<j executed, for the murder of the brother. Though legally guilt less of tile murder of the clergyman, trom the eridencc there can exist but liUle moral doubt as to their guilt.