The announcement that the Peel Ministry had resigned was received by us,
as we believe it was by the nation at large, with feelings of sincere
and solemn regret. We do not know that any Cabinet has existed within
our memory whose retirement was wished for by so few, and deprecated by
so many among all classes of men. We have doubted the policy of some of
its measures, and more than doubted the propriety of others. But we have
never ceased to respect the energy, the ability, and the honesty of the
great men composing it; and have always felt that in those points on
which we could not agree with them, they were entitled to a generous
forbearance, due to their responsible and arduous position, as the
ministers who have most strenuously and most successfully endeavoured to
solve the problem, how the government is to be carried on under the
Reform Bill. The disappointment of some expectations among a powerful
and prominent part of their supporters had diminished the enthusiasm,
and divided the feelings, of the party who mainly contributed to bring
them into power. But, on the other hand, it should not be forgotten,
that they equally disappointed the adverse expectations, and ultimately
gained the confidence of a large, and not unimportant, portion of the
country, who for years had been taught to believe, that the accession of
Conservatives to power would commence a new era of warfare, oppression,
profusion, and corruption. Let us look fairly at some of the practical
and palpable facts of the case--at some of the most conspicuous features
of public affairs, during their administration. AGRICULTURE has
flourished, and agricultural improvement has advanced in an
unprecedented degree. COMMERCE has plumed her wings anew, and added
other regions to her domain. PUBLIC CREDIT has been supported and
advanced, and the revenue raised from an alarming and increasing
depression. PEACE has been universally maintained abroad, and agitation
rendered powerless and contemptible at home. The POOR have been
contented and employed, and not a murmur has been heard against the
authority of the Crown, or the principles of the Constitution. These
unmistakable results have been felt by all men, and all have confessed,
in their hearts, that however they may have been offended with minor
blemishes--whether by the short-coming, or by the excess of ministerial
liberality,--the great purposes of government have been achieved by the
ministry now dissolved, and they will frankly acknowledge with
ourselves, that we shall not soon look upon its like again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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