and against his own Radical supporters; the Conservatives will be too weak to help him, and probably will not be inclined to help him out of his difficulty if they could. At his age his only object will be to grasp power while he lives. _Après moi le déluge_ will be his motto, and my expectation is that he will never consent to sacrifice power from scruples or upon principles, and will consent to anything that may be necessary rather than allow himself to be outbid and to see power torn from his hands. The prospect seems to me tremendous. The cry of Palmerston, and nothing but Palmerston, has done very well to go to the hustings on, but having accomplished its purpose, other cries much more serious will soon take its place, and we shall see, as the Prince said, Constitutional Government on its trial with a vengeance. _March 31st._--The elections continue to be unfavourable to the Conservatives, but the people at Brooks's, and the Government generally, are too sanguine when they call everything gain to them where a Conservative is replaced by a Liberal, for in many cases the so-called Liberal is a violent Radical, very likely to give much more trouble to the Government than the Conservative who was turned out. The gains to Government up to this time (and the borough elections are all over) are calculated at 20, making a difference of 40 votes; but the Conservatives do not admit this, and will make other calculations with different results. [Sidenote: TRIUMPH OF LORD PALMERSTON.] There is no denying the fact, however, that a strong sense has been evinced of partiality for Palmerston and resentment against the China vote. The news of the Emperor of China having ordered Yeo to make peace on any terms comes very opportunely, but nothing can be so absurd as the pretence that by so doing the Emperor himself condemns his Viceroy and justifies our conduct at Canton. It only proves that His Majesty is very much alarmed, and wishes to heal the breach as quickly as possible, and on any terms he can. I am bound to say that many people, not extravagant either, maintain that this promises to be a very good Parliament, and by no means so dangerous as my fears have pictured it to myself; still I cannot look upon it as a safe and innocent Parliament. Cardwell's defeat at Oxford proves how low the Peelites are. Frederic Peel's loss of his seat is a great inconvenience to the Government, and one does not see how it is to be repaired, for it is almost impossible in these days to treat any place (if one can be found) as a nomination borough, turn the sitting member out, and put him in instead. The serious part of it is that he has to move the Army Estimates, and nobody else can do it now.