would, by the time of their expulsion from office, have rendered the condition of the country utterly desperate—­for very nearly desperate it assuredly was.  Their vacillating, inconsistent, wild, and extravagant conduct during these ten years, had generated an universal sense of insecurity and want of confidence among all the great interests of the country, which locked up capital—­palsied enterprise.  Trade and commerce drooped daily, and the revenue melted away rapidly every year.  Great things were justly expected from the practical skill and experience possessed by the new Government; but time is requisite for the development of a policy which had, and still has, to contend against such numerous and formidable obstacles.  Confidence, especially mercantile confidence, is a delicate flower, of slow growth, and very difficult to rear.  A breath may blight it.  It will bloom only in a tranquil and temperate air.  If ever there was a man entitled to speak, however, with authority upon this subject, it was Mr Baring, the late candidate, and unquestionably the future member, for the city of London—­a man constantly engaged in vast mercantile transactions in all parts of the globe, and whose ability equals his experience.  In the presence of a great number of gentlemen, representing two-thirds of the wealth and intelligence of the city of London, thus spoke Mr Baring, on the 6th October 1843:—­“I rejoice that Sir Robert Peel did not hold out to the country the fallacious hope, that, by any particular measure, he could restore prosperity, or cure sufferings which were beyond the reach of legislation, and that he patiently relied upon the resources and energies of the country to set trade and commerce right.  That expectation is already beginning to be realized.  That calm reliance is already justified.  I am speaking in the presence of those who are as much as, if not more conversant with business than, myself, and they will contradict me if I am not right when I say, that great symptoms of improvement in the trade and industry of the country have manifested themselves; which symptoms are of such a nature, that they do not appear to be the result of momentary excitement produced by some fallacious experiment, but of the paramount re-establishment of commerce, and of a fresh era in the prosperity of the empire.  I am asked what have the Government done?  Why, they have restored CONFIDENCE to the country!  They have terminated wars, they have restored confidence at home, and commanded respect abroad.”

Now, however, for the DOINGS of the Government; and of those we shall take no more detailed or extended notice than is requisite, in our opinion, to exhibit the general system and plan of their procedure, and show its complete consistency with the declaration of opinions made by Sir Robert Peel previous to the general election of 1841.