of all these editors and contributors, the teaching of a
tradition that coalitions of this kind have been generally
feeble, sometimes disastrous, and on occasions, even disgraceful.
When a man, perhaps through a long political life, has bound
himself to a certain code of opinions, how can he change that
code at a moment? And when at the same moment, together with the
change, he secures power, patronage, and pay, how shall the
public voice absolve him? But then again, men, who have by the
work of their lives grown into a certain position in the country,
and have unconsciously but not therefore less actually made
themselves indispensable either to this side of politics, or to
that, cannot free themselves altogether from the responsibility
of managing them when a period comes such as that now reached.
This also the newspapers perceived, and having, since the
commencement of the session been very loud in exposing the
disgraceful collapse of government affairs, could hardly refuse
their support to any attempt at a feasible arrangement. When it
was first known that the Duke of Omnium had consented to make the
attempt, they had both on one side and the other been loud in his
praise, going so far as to say that he was the only man in
England who could do the work. It was probably this
encouragement which had enabled the new Premier to go on with an
undertaking which was personally distasteful to him, and for
which from day to day he believed himself to be less and less
fit. But when the newspapers told him that he was the only man
for the occasion, how could he be justified in crediting himself
in preference to them?

The work in Parliament began under the new auspices with great
tranquillity. That there would soon come causes of hot blood,--