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    darkness and instantaneousness , the dismissal of the Melbourne Administration , and the dictatorship of Wellington . And why ? Why ? Le Roi le veut . There is no other ., or better , solution of the mystery . There

    were none of the ordinary presages or concomitants of the downfal of a Ministry ; no emergency to which its members felt themselves unequal ; no parliamentary defeat ; no public measures for which they had to ask the royal assent against the royal will . There was nothing but the very slightest and absurdest pretext that can be imagined , for an unprecedented exercise of prerogative . We shall avail ourselves , for a description of the occasion , of Mr . L . Bulwer ' s " Letter to a late Cabinet Minister , ' * just published .

    Supposing then the King , from such evident reasons , to have resolved to get rid of his Ministers , at the first opportunity , —suddenly Lord Spencer dies , and the opportunity is afforded . There might have been a better one . Throughout the whole history of England ., since the principles of a constitutional government and of a responsible administration were established , in 1688 , there is no parallel to the combination of

    circumstances attendant upon the present change . A parallel to a part of the case there may be , —to the whole case there is none . The Cabinet assure the King of their power and willingness to carry on the government ; the House of Commons , but recently elected , supports that Cabinet by the most decided majorities ; the Premier , not forced on the King by a party , but solicited by himself to accept office ; a time of profound repose ; no resignation tendered , no defeat incurred—the

    revenue increasing *—quiet at home—peace abroad ; the political hemisphere perfectly serene : —when lo , there dies a very old man , whose death every one has been long foreseeing—not a minister , but the father of a minister , which removes , not the Premier , but the Chancellor of the Exchequer , from the House of Commons to the House of Lords ! An event so long anticipated does not confound the Cabinet . The Premier is not aghast , he cannot be taken by surprise by an event so natural and so anticipated , ( for very old men will die !) he is provided with names to

    fill up the vacant posts of Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons . He both feels and declares himself equally strong as ever ; he submits his new appointments to his Majesty . Let me imagine the reply . The King , we are informed , by the now ministerial organs , expresses the utmost satisfaction at Lord Melbourne and his Government ; he considers him the most honourable of men , and among the wisest of statesmen . Addressing him , then , after this fashion" He does not affect to dissemble hi * love , And therefore ho kicks him down stairs . "

    * My Lord , " you are an excellent man , very—but old Lord Spencerhe was a man seventy-six years old ; no one could suppose that at that age an EaTl would die ! You are an admirable minister , I am pleased with your measures ; but old Lord Spencer is no more . It is a sudden , an unforeseen event . Who could imagine he would only live to sevehty-8 ! The revenue ia prospering , the Cabinet is strong—our allies are

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    The Wellington Dictatorship . 823

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• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1834, page 823, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2640/page/5/