e both Whigs and Tories, but the
result was confusion and the experiment was abandoned. Except during
the ascendancy of Walpole, the cabinets of the eighteenth century very
generally embraced men of more or less diverse political affiliations,
but gradually the conviction took root that in the interest of unity
and efficiency the political solidarity of the cabinet group is
indispensable. The last occasion upon which it was proposed to make up
a cabinet from utterly diverse political elements was in 1812. The
scheme was rejected, and from that day to this cabinets have been
composed regularly, not necessarily of men identified with a common
political party, but at least of men who are in substantial agreement
upon the larger questions of policy and who have expressed their
willingness to co-operate in the carrying out of a given programme of
action. The fundamental requisite is unity. A Liberal Unionist may
occupy a post in a Conservative cabinet and a Laborite in a Liberal
administration, but he may not oppose the Government upon any
important question and expect to continue a member of it, save by the
express permission of the premier. It is the obligation of every
cabinet member to agree, or to appear to agree, with his colleagues.
If he is unable to do this, no course is open to him save resignation.

*73. Other Considerations Determining Appointment.*--In the selection of
his colleagues the premier works under still other practical
restrictions. One of them is the well-established rule that surviving
members of the last cabinet of the party, in so far as they are in
active public life and desirous of appointment, shall be given prior
consideration. Members of the party, furthermore, who have come into
special prominence and influence in Parliament must usually be
included. In truth, as Bagehot points out, the premier's independent
choice is apt to find scope not so much in the determination of the
cabinet's personnel as in the distribution of offices among the
members selected; and even here he will often be obliged to
subordinate his wishes to the inclinations, susceptibilities, and
capacities of his prospective colleagues. In the expressive simile of
Lowell, the premier's task is "like that of constructing a figure out
of blocks which are too numerous for the purpose, and which are not of
shapes to fit perfectly together."[96]

[Footnote 96: Government of England, I., 57. See