The Sun. — London, England, 1853-12-17 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. LORD PALMERSTON'S RESIGNATION. (Front the Press of this day.) There is an enormous diplomatic conspiracy hatching att this moment, which, if successful, will prove most disastrous to the honour and the interests of Queen victoria and her realms. a Our readers ma y p er h aps remem b er th a t, three weeks Austria, we were th e fi rs t t o announce t o th e p u blic that at the unavo w ed, yet understood, instigation of Russia, had propo se d t o th e n um bined Governments of v .. _ , land and F rance t h at t h ey s h ou ld j o i n w ith h er i n teu ggesting to the belligerents an armistice for the Winter. Seven days after it was our duty also to announce that Russia had signified that further negotiations would not be listened to, that her part was taken, and that part Wes" war. The reoeipt of this declaration, so far as our Govern !llia was concerned, was denied by its principal organ, n ut in terms carefully adjusted, not to say suspiciously equivocal. At the same time there appeared to be no little inctnsistency between our second announcement And the important information of which, on the preced ing week, we had been first the means of communicat ing. Confident in the authenticity of our source, we lovaited, without apprehension, the evidence of its truth. It appears, then, m that more than a month ago Austria old make to the cobined Governments the above-named r enewal of an armistice. They, eager to secure the renewal of diplomatic co-operation with Austria, replied 'About loss of time, and favourably, to the overture, but added th a t th ey cou ld no t consen t to th e p r oposition for an armistice, unless it was considered the preliminary " a negotiation for peace. To this Austria, in time, rejoined that, as peace was the object of all Govern- Aleuts, the armistice might be considered as a prelimi nat7 to that end. In due time i was reported to Austria that the Porte had been sounded on the subject, but that the Sultan * would oansent to no negotiation of which "the instant and complete evacuation of the principalities," as pro tnised by Lord Clarendon to the British Parliament, was tot a condition precedent. Upon this a despatch (not a note, as was hurriedly and incorrectly expressed) in stantly arrived from St. Petersburg, and was read to a French Minister, who communicated its contents to his Sovereign, disclaiming negotiations, and appealing to War as the only arbiter. We will not stop now to inquire whether the same d eclaration was made by a similar process to our own Government. On this head we have much to say ; but time presses. It is the less necessary to enter into this Matter now, since our readers may depend upon the .following statement, however incredible it may seem — Vie., that Great Britain, notwithstanding the pledge of Lord Clarendon to Parliament, and all that has since occurred, consented to recommend, in the most urgent manner,an armistice to the Porte, and a consequent negotiation for peace, without making the slightest sti pulation respecting the principalities, or even alluding to the su bj ec t. W e h ave reas o n to believe that it was even agreed that an arrangement in the spirit of the forte propositions should be pressed upon the rode ; and all this upon the ground that the four Powers itad entered into a loose declaration that, in their opinion, it was expedient that the integrity of the Ottoman do- Minions should be maintained. These proceedings take place while the organ of Lord Aberdeen is assuring its credulous, or its perplexed, readers that Russia, by the return of the German Powers to diplomatic concert with the combined Governments, and by their consequent arrangements, has received " a great diplomatic check," and lost the fruits of half a cen tury of its successes ; it being an undoubted fact that the German Powers have throughout the affair been ever playing the game of St. Petersburg, and that the Cabinet of the Kremlin has suggested every move and Pulled every string. In the meantime, notwithstanding the denial of our announcement, that the sword would be the only arbi ter between Russia and Turkey, there occurs the slaugh ter of Sinope, followed up by a consequent victory of the Russians on land. Observe the facts, though they are almost incredible ; but they will not be contradicted, for we have the authority by our side. After innume rable delays and fatal procrastination, the combined fleets of England and France anchor in the Bosphorus, and immediately the Russians obtain their first success, and that on the very element on which the combined fleets could alone assist Turkey. But it is not only the English and the French fleets that are lying idle almost in sight of this " untoward" event. The Turkish and Egyptian fleet is also inert. And why? Its crews were not quaffing champagne grog. It was inert through th e influence of the English Ambassador ! Our readers are aware that the admiral of the Turkish fleet is a gallant English officer, Captain Adolphus Slade, bearing in Turkey the title of Mushoover Pacha. It being known, some little time ago, that a squadron under this officer was about to cruise in the Black Sea, Lord Stratford, our Ambassador at the Porte, sent for Captain Slade, and endeavoured to prevent the expedi tion, on the ground that, "as the Turkish Admiral was an English subject, it might tend to embroil us with Russia." The gallant Slade, as became a man of honour in the service of the Porte, treated the appeal with the contempt which it deserved. Re went, and he returned, and he recommended to the Turkish Government that the whole fleet should hamiediately repair to the Euxine. Every means were d recourse to in order to prevent this step ; and, finally Admiral Dundas—no very wise man, to be sure, but one, certainly, who would not act from his own in spiration—declared to the Turkish Government that if their fleet entered the Flack Sea he would return with the English fleet t i the Mediterranean. The Divan, with a protest, y ielded to this violence, and , under the se circumstances, the Eeglish, the French, and the Turkish fleets permitted an expedition of five thousand troops, convoyed by a few frigates, to be massacred by Russian Men-of-war. What infamy ! It is all very well to say that the retirement of Lord Palmerston from the Coalition Cabinet is not occasioned by the conduct of their foreign policy ; that the sup posed divisions of the Ministry on that subject are 'fictions ;" and that his " retirement will not in any de gree lower the tone or relax the energy on foreign affairs of the Cabinet." No doubt the withdrawal of Lord Palmerston from the Ministry is not merely, or even perhaps mainly, occasioned by the conduct of their foreign policy. It is occasioned by a general conviction that the whole bent of their administra tion is alien both to the reason and the feelings of the country, ---that they do not appreciate the character of England, and have no root in the heart of any large Portion of the community. But as for pretending that the divisions of the Ministry on our foreign policy are imaginary—this is indeed a " fiction," and a, bold one. It is true that the policy of Lord Palmerston has, in the main, been followed, but it has been always followed too late : on almost every occasion it has been adopted by Lord Ab er d een un d er the-threat of Lord Palmerston's resignation ; and on almost every occasion it has been ultimately adopted, though only supported by a minority ; for, with the exception of Lord John Russell, and the estimable Lord Lansdowne, Lord Palmerston has not counted a sincere adherent on these matters. Lord Aberdeen was, however, resolved that Lord Palmerston should not escape from theCabi eet on a foreign question ; though he had the majority, . he always, therefore, eventually succumbed, but with a delay that virtually secured his ends. Had the British fleet, for example, left Malta when Lord Palmerston re commended that course, the Pruth would never have been passed. And what will happen now ? "The tone of the Cabinet on foreien affairs," we are told, " is not to be lowered, and their energy is not to be relaxed." As for lowering the tone of the Cabinet—that we defy them to ,d,°- As to their energy, its evidence may be found in Lae Bay of Sinope. But, at present, the prospects of a sublimer spirit and increased vigour may be found in the circumstance that the Emperor of the French has just declared that a connection with Lord Aberdeen is " too humiliating," while the Emperor of Russia has just in formed Baron Brunow that, notwithstanding the provo cations he has received, he still retains his native mag nanimity, and that, when he has conquered the Turks, both by sea and land, and in both quarters of the globe, he will be prepared to accept the Vienna Note—without Modifications. ( From the Times.) We understand that the Cabinet will meet to-day to consider the steps that must be taken to supply the va. e aneY so suddenly and unexpectedly occurring 'in the ranks of the Ministry. The office which Lord Palmer ston has resigned is one which can on no account be suf fered to remain vacant for a single day longer than is obsoletely necessary. The powers of the Home Secre tary are most commonly called into action by sudden e mergencies, in which hours, and even minutes, are of ' Co nsequence. At the present time the necessity of fill ing the office immediately is particularly pressing. The Lancashire " Strikes" may pass at any moment from 8 Mouldering discontent into open riot and tumult, and t he pressure of severe winter always requires a most vigilant superintendence of the high officer to whom is intrusted the maintenance of peace and the duty of Watching over life, property, and justice. It is also es pecially necessary at this moment, when the country is called on to assume a firm and unflinching attitude in t he presence of all Europe, and to make an impression as much by the vigour and unity of her councils as by the stren no and display of her armaments, that there should be ' o seat vacant among those who are called the to ad vise an d suppor t the Crown, and to maintain 4 1 ,e safety w i t h out neglecting the dignity of the empire. The ch o i ce of a successor to Lord Palmerston is also in tir ted With p ecu li ar i mpor t ance from the position which e st atesman whose services we have just lost filled in t he eyes of the country, and had so long occup ied in the cou ncils of his Sovereign. , Though we see little reason to believe th a t Lord Palmerston ever sincerely and irnalY attached himself to the principles of the Liberal ally fro m w hi ch he has now effected an abrupt an d, t o ae ,:ppearance, a final se p ara t ion , an d th oug h we have In fi_rk been a bl e t o approve his foreign policy, every on e ri.;a ` 4 cn Ladmit th a t L or d P a l merston has playe d no insig anuld tor second-rate part in o ur p u bli c t ransa ctions, untri:ght not to be succeeded by an inexperienced or _d statesman. The :Reform Bill, t o o, the very ee; lure eoiail on which h e res i gne d, re l a ti ng , as i t d oes, more y to the department of the Home Secretary, te.quires to be wa t c h e d b y a Mi n i s t er we ll acquainted the the det a il s which it must embrace, and versed in gislationnelples which lie at the foundation of all s uc h l e • , If the Mini s t r y d oe s n o t mean t o b e f orced h•"Fci ailLerkitOn'S sudden desertion into a confession of weakness, it must replace the loss by a person at least as eminent and as well known at home and abroad as Lord Palmerston himself. This it is, happily, easy to do ; and we consider it a very fortunate occurrence that we possess the means of again completing the Cabinet without in any way disturbing the existing distribution of offices, or raising any of those questions as to the re spective merits of rival candidates, so dangerous to all Governments, more especially to one founded on the principles of Coalition. Our readers will doubtless have a nticipated us when point out the circumstances which, themselves, indepen dent of any political or party predil ect i on —have clearly marked out to us Lord Palmerston's successor. It does so happen that at this present moment we have a mem ber of the Cabinet unattached to any office and perfectly well qualified to discharge the duties incident to the Home Department. Lord John Russell has already held the seals of the Colonial-office, and earned for himself, in times when the true principles of colonial management were much less perfectly understood than at present, the reputation of a wise and conciliatory administrator. He has also during the first two months of the present year presided over our Foreign Affairs ; but there is no doubt that the special bent of his mind and the nature of his favourite studies point to the Home Department as one which k,) is peculiarly qualified to fill. The position, also, of a member of the Cabinet and Leader of the House of Commons without being attached to any office has in it many embarrassments which were probably not foreseen at the time it was accepted. It seemed to want that support which office and patronage alone can give, and to do but slender justice to the powers of its occu pant. There was a certain emptiness and unsubstan tiality about it, which was neither worthy of its own dignity nor that of the statesman who occupied it. Con- pled with the office of Home Secretary, however, such a position seems to be all that ambition can desire, more especially at a time when a new Reform Bill is about to be submitted to Parliament. It is impossible, too, not to see that Lord Palmerston's resignation has in it some thing of a personal attack upon Lord John Russell, and is probably not wholly unconnected with the transactions of December, 1851. The gauntlet is thrown down, and Lord John Russell is challenged to pick it up. No re tort could be more dignified or more just than to accept the challenge, and meet Lord Palmerston's sudden and petulant abandonment of his post by a willing assump tion and careful discharge of the duties which he has thus abandoned. There is an obvious fitness in the change thus suggested. It would be for the benefit of the public to secure the services of the Minister most likely to make us forget his predecessor, most called upon to remedy his defects, and who has, indeed, been the principal cause of the present dispute. With little support from public opinion from without, and with no sympathy within the walls of Parliament, Lord John Russell introduced his Reform Bill in 1852, and he made the passing of such a measure an indispensable coalition of his joining the present Cabinet. Had it not been for his zeal in the cause, the question which has raised the present dissension might have slumbered for at least another year. If Lord John Russell has been the occasion of this disruption, it seems not unrea sonable to suggest that he should do all that in his power lies to remedy it. As a member of the Government of Lord Grey, Lord John Russell introduced the Reform Bill of 1831 ; as a member of the Government of Lord Aberdeen we trust he will propose the reform of 1853. Such a step would be an assurance to the country that there is no intention to abandon or compromise the ques tion. We look for this decision from the wisdom of the Cabinet, and we do not expect that the Minister prin cipally concerned will seriously hesitate to undertake a duty which so many and such varying considerations urge him to assume. (From the Morning Advertiser.) Those whose newspaper reading is confined to the Times, were yesterday startled by the announcement that Lord Palmerston had ceased to be a member of the Aberdeen Administration. The readers of the Morning Advertiser will not have seen that announcement with any surprise. We have, for some weeks past, prepared our readers for a break-up of the Coalition. And, what is more, we expressed our conviction that the event was to be brought about by the resignation of Lord Palmerston. We, a fortnight since, stated, in words too explicit to have escaped the remembrance of our readers, that his Lordship entered the C,abinet with the greatest reluctance—that, though he was the first who was asked to join the Coalition by Lord Aberdeen, when the latter Noble Lord received her Majesty's commands to form a new Cabinet, he was the last to consent—and that his reluctance was only overcome by an intimation of a wish, amounting to a command, from a high quar- ter, conveyed through the Marquis of Lansdowne, that he would take office under Lord Aberdeen. We added that Lord Palmerston never had been happy in his official association with the Members of the Aberdeen Cabinet, and that, had he consulted his own inclina tions, instead of the wishes of others, he would have resigned long ago: All this we said a fortnight ago. So late as Thursday, alluding to the new phase of the Eastern question, we concluded our leading article with these words :—" We are unwilling to believe that such men as Lord Palmer ston and Lord John Russell can long remain in office under Lord Aberdeen." And, yesterday, in condemning the Coalition for not preventing the crossing of the Pruth by the Russians, we expressed ourselves respect ing the former Noble Lord in the following language : "It is right we should here mention that there were persona in the Cabinet who were for pursuing the course we recommended. Lord Palmerston especially &din guished himself; in pressing that course on the adoption of the Coalition. But he laboured in vain. There were others who supported him : bat, acting under the inspi ration of the Itussianised Aberdeen, there was a decided majority against them. We say this advisedly, so far as Lord Palmerston is concerned. The only thing, therefore, for which he is to blame is that, on being thwarted in his views, he did not at once resign. He should, without an hour's delay, have ceased his official connection with a body of men who thus deliberately determined to betray Turkey, promote the aggrandising views of Rue‘ia, and stain the honour of this country. Had Lord Palmerston taken that course, he would have become by far the most popular man of the (lay ; and, before the lapse of a fortnight, would have been the Prime Minister of England." But while, in our article yesterday, we thus reproached Lord Palmerston for not having resigned, when he saw so olear a development of the Russian prepossessions and purposes on the part of the Coalition, we felt bound in justice to the noble lord to state that we were cogni sant of very peculiar, almost omnipotent, influences, which were at work to keep him in the Cabinet. Our words yesterday, on this point, were :—" We are aware of the peculiar influences which were put in operation to prevent the House Secretary from taking that step. But, however much weight he might, in ordinary cir cumstances, have allowed to those influences, he should not, where such mighty interests were at stake, have suffered them to outweigh his regard for the reputation of his country, and respect for his own personal honour. Country, and one's own character, have the first claims on every public man ; and any wishes which may be ex pressed incompatible with these, no matter how exalted niay be the quarter whence they emanate, ought to be set aside as possessing no weight whatever. Our only ground of quarrel with Lord Palmerston is, that he did not resolve at the proper time to pursue the course which his own judgment pointed out to him as the right one, and which his feelings told him was the generous curse, instead of sacrificing his convictions of right and duty to the wishes of others. And, in expressing our selves in this way, we have good reason to believe that we but give utterance to the views which are now enter tained by the noble lord himself." It will be admitted that those were somewhat remark able terms to employ only a few hours before the an nouncement was made, that Lord Palmerston had sent in his resignation to the Queen. In our concluding sentence, which we to-day give, there will be seen to be a very especial significance. Lord Palmerston does now deeply deplore that he did not resign sooner — that he did not resign at the time that he was defeated in July last, when he • sought to induce the Cabinet to make the passage of the Pruth by the Russians a casus belli, and to act accordingly. Had that been done, the whole Eastern question would have been settled long ago, and Europe would, at this hour, have been in the enjoyment of profound peace. It is, however, some satisfaction to find that that which should have occurred nearly six months since, has taken place at last. Lord Palmerston has resigned. He is no longer a member of the Coalition. And now that he has left it, that Coalition will forthwith crumble into pieces. It cannot longer cohere. Without Lord Palmerston it is impossible it can survive ; for he was its life and soul. We have laboured long and hard to rid the country of this mongrel Ministry. Our wishes are on the eve of being gratified. But we now come to the most important matter of all, in connection with Lord Palmerston. The cue of the organs of the Coalition is already evident. They have received instructions to hunt down the noble lord ; and thatjournal which is ever ready, on receiving the Aber deen commands, to do the most ungracious and most unprincipled work, has already raised its savage yells at the heels of his lordship. Scarcely has he crossed the threshold of the Home-office, in quitting a place which he could no longer fill with honour or satisfaction to himself, than the Times follows hard after him and loads him with its own peculiar obloquy. To denounce the ungraciousness of anything which that journal may do, would be worse than useless. To speak of its inconsistency in thus falling foul of Lord Palmerston, although, within the last few weeks, it had held him up as one of the greatest statesmen of the day, would only be a waste of space which can be devoted to a better purpose ; for the. Aberdeen organ has long ceased to be consistent in anything but its inconsisten- cies. Bc it rather our task to warn the British public against the misrepresentations which the obsequious slaves of the Coalition will seek to spread abroad, re specting the circumstances under which Lord Palmer ston has ceased to be a member of the present Govern ment. Already the Aberdeen organ labours with a burning zeal to impress the minds of the British people with the notion, that the Eastern question has had no thing whatever to do with his lordship's resignation, and that he has taken that step solely because of a dif ference of opinion with his colleagues respecting the new Reform Bill. Let no one be deceived by this. The very intensity of the desire manifested by the Times to convey this impression, would, of itself, be sufficient to awaken suspicions as to the truthfulness of our contem porary's assertions. It is possible enough that the new Reform Bill; in some form or other, has had something to 'do with bringing matters to a crisis ; but we confi dently affirm, that it is not the sole or the main cause. We maintain, and future disclosures will show that we I are right, that Lord Palmerston has never been at his ease in the Cabinet since he was defeated in his efforts to prevail on his colleagues to resort to extreme measures with regard to Russia, when the Czar ordered his troops to cross the Pruth. And the miserable, imbecile, cowardly policy which the Coalition have since pursued, relative to the Eastern question, can only have made him more and more ashamed of belonging to so un- English a Ministry. The Times and the Chronicle wish the public to believe that, not only was the new Reform Bill the sole cause of his lordship's retirement, but that he has broken with his colleagues because the forthcoming measure was much too liberal for him. There is something so super latively clumsy in this, that the attempt to mislead the public will completely fail. Too liberal ! Why, there is not a Ministerial organ, from the Edinburgh Review down to the Economist, which has not prepared the public for the veriest mockery of a measure. The Times, the Chronicle, and the Globe, the recognised exponents of Ministerial views and policy, have, during the last few weeks, been daily telling us that the people do not want a liberal measure of reform, and that, consequently, the contemplated bill w:11 be a very moderate affair in deed. Why, then, should Lord Palmerston make such a measure the cause of his resignation ? He was a party to the Reform Bill of 1831, and he gave his sanction to the Reform Bill of 1852, introduced by Lord John Russell, with the concurrence of the entire Whig Cabinet. The latter measure included a 51. franchise for boroughs : the forthcoming measure, it is will understood, will contain no such provision. The qualification in towns is to be the same as at present. It is, therefore, purely an .absurdity that Lord Pal merston should have resigned solely in consequence of his opposition to the new Reform Bill, that opposition being grounded on the belief that the measure is too liberal. There must be other causes than that. With the real state of matters we shall become acquainted in a day or two. In the meantime, let no one be deceived by the clumsy and malignant misrepresentations of the organs of the Coalition. We say emphatically, and the fact will soon be patent to all, that disgust at the foreign policy of the Coalition, and not any little difference of opinion as to the new Reform Bill, is the chief cause of his lordship's retirement from office. It is now for the country to seize so favourable an opportunity of putting an end to the miserable and dis graceful course pursued by this country on the Eastern question, by such an expression of public opinion as will extinguish the Austro-Russian Cabinet of Lord Aberdeen. Let the people now call aloud in a voice of thunder for a thoroughly English Ministry. Let them, in other words, demand, in a tone and terms that cannot be disregarded, the appointment of Lord Palmerston to the Premiership, —the man of whom Lord John Russell said, in the House of Commons,i n 1851, amid the most deafening plaudits ever heard in that house, that he was not the Minister of Russia, or of Austria, or of France, but the Minister of England. Give ,us such a Minister now, and Great Britain will again pursue a course of policy worthy of herself. Let the country's motto be—" Palmerston for Premier," and, in a few weeks, he' will be the successor of Lord Aberdeen. ( Front the Morning Chronicle.) It may be desirable once more to state distinctly that Lord Palmrrston's retirement from office has been occa sioned, not by any difference of opinion with his col leagues on foreign policy, but by the objections which he entertained to the Ministerial project for reforming the representation. The statement that no other cause of disagreement had arisen in the Cabinet refers, of course, to the event which is now exciting universal in terest. At the Council Board, as well as in all other deliberative meetings, different opinions are doubtless, from time to time, advocated by the individual members of the Government. Lord Palmerston may possibly have found himself, on some occasions, opposed in judg ment to the majority of his colleagues, and it cannot be doubted that other Ministers haV'e in turn occupied a similar position ; but the only permanent and irrecon cileable ground of dissension, and the sole occasion of his lordship's resignation, had reference to the proposed Reform Bill. At the formation of the present Govern ment, it was understood that Lord Palmerston ques tioned the prudence of the pledge which had been given that the abuses of the existing electoral system should be corrected. The Ministers, however, still entertained the hope that their able colleague might reconsider, with reference to a definite measure, his general objection to constitutional changes ; and, for the purpose of obviat ing any chance of misunderstanding, it was arranged that the Home Secretary should be a member of the committee which was charged with the duty of drawing dip a scheme for the consideration of the Cabinet. It has unfortunately proved, though not unexpectedly, that the difficulties which had, from the first, been known to exist, have not been overcome by farther reflection. To the great regret of his colleagues, Lord Palmerston has conseqently determined to withdraw at once from a Government with which, on the meeting of Parliament, he would have been forced into unavoidable collision. Since the early part of the present week, the remaining members of the Cabinet have become exclusively respon sible for the conduct of public affairs. The statesmen who has resigned office is not deficient in friends or ia resources. Ha will have ample oppor tunities of vindicating his conduct, and of defining his purposes, if he should, in any respect, be dissatisfied with the statements which have already appeared ; and it is wholly unnecessary to anticipate an explanation which will be ,bundently- offered, should it be=thought necessary. The friends of Lord Palmerston will cer tainly not attempt to justify the step which he has taken, by alleging that he has from the first condemned, and been prepared to desert, the colleagues who have justly placed the most implicit confidence in his good faith and good feeling. It was understood, from the outset, that the measure of Parliamentary Reform might possibly lead to an ultimate separation between the noble lord and the other members of the Cabinet ; but, on every other question, the late Home Secretary cor dially gave the Government that aid which his position required him, and which his distinguished abilities ena bled him to render. 'With a full knowledge of all the great questions now under the consideration of the Mi nisters, Lord Palmerston has deliberately announced that a difference of opinion in the change of the repre sentative system forms the sole reason of his retirement. Those who attribute the step which he has taken to any other motive may possibly serve some collateral pur pose of their own, but they will prove but awkward ad vocates to the statesman whose reputation they profess to exalt. The organs of the mere professional Opposition will, however, be restrained by no such scruples. In their exultation at acquiring a supposed champion for their party, it will matter little though they represent their expected leader as an intriguer or a traitor. An actual opponent of Parliamentary Reform will be welcome; but a possible adversary of the Government in the debates on the Eastern question will be still more vociferously applauded. For twelve months past it has been asserted, weekly and daily, that one of the most eminent mem bers of the Government disapproved of the entire foreign policy of his colleagues : and, notwithstanding the authoritative statements which have been made as to the true cause of his resignation, it is easy to foresee that the event which has taken place will be proclaimed as the fulfilment of the prophecy which had been so often falsified. Yet the proof that the supposed dissen sion was imaginary is furnished by the fact that, if it existed, it must have lasted for a year. As soon as a real difference of opinion arose, the dissentient Minister resigned ; and if the same cause had been in operation at an earlier period, the same step would doubtless have been taken. If an Opposition can be organised on the principle of opposing any change in the representative system, no political combination can be fairer or more intelligible. It will not even be necessary to wait for the develop ment of the Ministerial plan before commencing a gene ral rally in support of an uncompromising negative. The Government will stand or fall by a substantial and practical project; and those who wish all things to ie main as they are may at once begin their demonstrations of hostility. Yet it will be convenient, for the sake of popular discussion, to raise some plausible objections to the yet unpublished scheme ; and for this undertaking the secession of Lord Palmerston will furnish no imme diate materials. The retiring Minister will cbrtainly not take advantage of his official knowledge to gratify the curiosity of those who will eagerly seek his alliance. If alarmist are told that the disapproval of the forth coming project, expressed by one member of the com mittee of the Cabinet, indicates violent and revolution ary intentions on the part of the Government, they cannot, of course, be fully re-assured until the measure is laid before Parliament. Reasonable men, however, will probably consider that the position of affairs, the state of public feeling, and the character of the indivi dual Ministers, furnis some security against the introduc• tion of extravagantly democratic schemes. At all events, there will be time enough to protest against the bill, if it tends to unsettle the foundations of the Constitution. At present, it is only known that a measure on the sub ject of the representation is in course of preparation, and that Lord Palmerston unfortunately considers it in expedient. Specific objections to the project, on the ground either of shortcoming or of excess, are obviously premature. The more factious members of the Opposition will undoubtedly assert that the difference of opinion on Reform is an empty pretext, intending to conceal a vital dissension respecting the national policy in the East. Yet it will be prudent to remember that, up to the 14th instant,. Lord Palmerston was responsible for every de spatch of which the Cabinet approved, and that, since his resignation, no step of importance is known to have been taken. The supposed opponent of the policy of the Government approved of the delay in the Turkish declaration of war—assented, erroneously as we think, to the Vienna Note —recommended the withdrawal of the modifications proposed by the Porte—and sim ply concurred with his colleagues in the change of opinion which was produced by Count Nesselrode's Circular. During the recess, Lord Palmerston has been one of the few members of the Cabinet who have taken a share in all these transactions ; and it is understood that, in some of them, his advice and opinion exercised considerable influence. Finally, the same statesman was a party to the Protocol which forms the basis of the present negotiations. Lord Palmerston is no novice in Council or in diplomacy, that he should plead ignorance or error in justification of any disavowal of his respon sibility. Any Opposition which desires his leadership must at least waitfor his support till the Government shall have done something from which he can be dissociated. It is no secret, however, that the ex-Minister and his late colleagues part on the most friendly terms. What they have done jointly with him they will be prepared with his aid to defend—what they may do hereafter they M $ '4 (1 7A4I,PITITAB ,VIOGYO.• .C 1 • •• THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING , DECEMBER 17, 1853. will vindicate, if necessary, against his criticism ; but they have no reason to fear that they will have to defend it against his hostility. (Prom the Morning Post. ) It cannot but be a matter of deep regret that a states man who so thoroughly and deservedly enjoys the con fidence of the nation, as Lord Palmerston, should feel it to be his imperative duty to resign office at a time when the counsels of his experience, were they attended to, would prove invaluable, and when his energy and abili ties might so materially serve his country. During his short but successful administration of the Home-office, as during the series of years through which he directed, with such signal advantage, the Foreign Affairs of England, Lord Palmerston has shown that he understands as well the interests of the nation in its do mestic concerns as he does its relations with other States ; and he has proved how useful a career may be pursued, and how noble a fame may be won, by the patriotic po litician, if lie carry out the dictates of high principle with uncompromising honesty. That Lord Palmerston will be able fully to vindicate the course which he has pursued, we are well assured. It certainly met us with not a little surprise that a con temporary should, yesterday morning, suddenly an nounce the resignation of the Home Secretary before his vacation of office could be completed by her Majesty's acceptance of his tender of the seals. Yvt this an nouncement, even though a flagrant breach of etiquette, was a matter comparatively trifling when com pared with the amazing statement by which it was ac companied—a false statement, maliciously put forth, as it appears to us, solely for the purpose of prejudicing the public mind against Lord Palmerston, by misrepresent ing alike his motives and his actions. When the Times states and re-states, through two long columns, and with every enversion of phrase, that " Lord Palmerston is not a Parliamentary reformer," that " the opinion he entertains on the question of Parliamentary reform is at variance with that of a majority of the intelligent classes of Englishmen," that "he quits the public service because he cannot induce himself to support even a moderate scheme of constitu tional zeform ;" and, lastly, that " Lord Palmerston is against all Reform, and resigns his place because he will not form part of ? a reforming Ministry." When the Times states this, it asserts what is entirely untrue. On the contrary, we have good reason to believe that Lord Palmerston has been ready to agree to a very considerable measure of Reforin, though he did not choose to be a party to proposing to Parliament measures of change which, in his opinion, went beyond the neces sities of the time, and which he thought inexpedientt. Our contemporary, whose' statement is at once a tis sue of misrepresentation, and a gross violation of that which has hitherto, according to the principle and prac tice of the English Constitution, been held sacred—viz., the secrecy of Cabinet Councils, proceeds to inform us that "It seems inexplicable that having worked step by step with the committee of the Cabinet appointed to prepare the bill" (and here let us ask, by what violation of faith is the public informed, through the Times, of the appointment of Cabinet committees, and of what has passed or is pretended to have passed in them ?) "it should only have been at the conclusion of their labour that he made known his fundamental objection to any scheme of reform." This statement is again quite false. We affirm with confidence that it is untrue that Lord Palmerston's objections were not stated plainly and dis tinctly from the first moment when the measures to which they related were proposed and discus#ed. There is no doubt but that the country will attach to Lord Palmerston's resignation all the importance which the Times claims for it ; but it is a shameful and a base course which our contemporary, by whomsoever or whatsoever instigated, pursues, when he states to, and emphatically impresses on, his readers, that which is entirely false, in order to misrepresent the motives of Lord Palmerston, in order to damage his reputa tion, and do prejudice to his credit, especially when it is considered that a period of, perhaps, some weeks must elapse before Lord Palmerston will have an oppor tunity of publicly justifying his conduct to the country. It is a course of false play which, though it might have been expected from the hands of the "foreign conspirators" who again and again contrived such artful and despicable intrigues against "the Minister of England," is totally unworthy of any Englishman. We may be sure that nothing but a strong and insupe rable objection on principle to the conduct of affairs could have induced Lord Palmerston to resign the seals of office at a time when, if ever the Statesmen of England should give voice and action to the prescriptions of public opinion ; and by maintaining the obligations of international good faith, should be as one man in their determination to arrest the dangers which menace the peace of Europe. Unfortunately it has been at this very time that Lord Palmerston has found it necessary to resign; in order not to be accessory to a mischief which his sagacity showed to be inseparable from the designs in which his colleagues persisted. The question between Lord Palmerston, his late col leagues, and the country, is one which can only be fully and fairly judged on that statement which will at no distant date be laid before the only authority competent to the task—the constitutional tribunal of Parliament. ( From the Morning Herald.) Lord Palmerston has resigned. We really pity any one, at the present crisis, who has not had the good fortune to be a reader of Ariosto, as without having perused his glorious account of the confusion in the great oration of King Agramant, it will be almost impossible to realioe an idea of the fearful state of the equally in- congruous mass got together by . Lord Aberdeen, occa. sioned by the above ominous announcement. " The direful spring of woes unnumbered." The Times of yesterday morning, amidst much wailing and gnashing of teeth, came forth with this awful intel ligence, which it conveyed to its readers in two laboured articles, one evidently proceeding from a Ministerial pen —that of the "good earl" himself, the other from one of the ordinary scribes of the establishment ; both, how ever, tending to one purpose, namely, to throw as much mud as possible at the retiring statesman—a nobleman to whose enforced presence in the Cabinet had been due the twelve months of disgraceful existence obtained for it by the purchase of the Brigade, this very day now twelve months gone by. Supposing that there exists in broad England one single man sufficiently besotted to believe (after the experience of the last half-year) any possible assertion of the Times, for the sake of that man we proceed to expose the last web of sophistry and falsehood which has proceeded from the loom of our un wearied and unweariable contemporary. We certainly find it difficult to believe that even the one imaginary individual could be found who will credit the monstrous assertion of the Premier, that Lord Pal merston retired from office on the ground of the Reform Bill alone. However this may be, we will prove, before we have done, that the statement is false ; and we will further prove that the foreign question had. something to do with his retirement, and that the transactions had become so utterly disgraceful that Lord Palmerston found he could no longer, at any one's bidding, stand up under the terrible weight of ignominy and obloquy which was impending over the Coalition. The writer in the Times, however, rivalling the Irish man who is said to have turned his back upon himself, crams the falsehood down his own throat. He is, in fact, disqualitied, by abject horror at the occurrence of yesterday, from perceiving that his own statement abso lutely proves the reverse of what he wishes to have believed. The fact of Lord Palmerston being, as the writer states, a member of the Cabinet committee to consider a Reform Bill, is quite sufficient proof that he was ready to examine and approve of a measure net destructive in its nature ; bet if any one supposed that he would accede to one that was so ' of course they reckoned with out their host. That Lord Palmerston, where a manifest neces sity for alteration, even of a sweeping character, existed, would never oppose them, is self-evident from the fact, also admitted by the Times, that he was in favour of the Reform Bill of Lord Grey. Where, then, is to be found the proof that Lord Palmerston is not a reformer where reform is safe ? Surely not in his administration of the Home Office for the last twelve months. The man who has done more for the extension of real, practical, useful reform in the short period over which his power extended than all the dreamers of the Molesworth or agitators of the Russell school have done in the course of their mis chievous existence. Not a real Reformer ! The thing is too absurd even for the Times. But Lord Palmerston is inconsistent !—in his policy abroad he is a Liberal, at home a Tory. Surely it is rather too much to assume, because Lord Palmerston—the English Minister of Lord J. Russell's celebrated speech—opposed the despotism of Russia and Austria, as well as the stupid tyranny of old Spain, that he is not to sustain conservative institutions in our own constitutional Government. The attack of the Times upon him for inconsistency is only a proof of the rage and despair which his loss has occasioned to the Govern. ment. The fact—as the Times well knows—else the long polrniedty l o if o e o b hotnf likea iaLfnwiamohmariiosdtese, meeting at Argyle House were attended to no' purpose— the fact, we say, is, that from the very beginning Lord Palmerston was most unwilling to join the Coalition, and only did so at the abject entreaties of those who had in sultedenpwo ante-room eie histdTs et k, r h ein i e s l waemstreti latter, indeed, er t -down -m n i nir .Eef well-informed, English permission eea i s rtds support Aberdeen. du b wp a iep d nnn t o ho tj ; him, like Lord John Russell, or who, through a December, t s_ u t n o o come in and make his apology • but that support he would have conceded had not the influence of a far higher personage been used. That personage was anxious to conglomerate— we use the word advisedly— the Coalition ; and all well knew that without Lord Palmerston it could not exist a week. We now come to the real facts which the writer in the Times has cautiously suppressed. From the moment the Turkish question assumed a serious aspect, Lord Aberdeen and Lord Palmerston took opposite parts. The one was Russian, the other English to the back bone. The efforts of the French Emperor and Lord Palmerston to try and force the Government to adopt a manly course, and act with timely vigour, were con stantly thwarted, and we may say paralysed by Lord Aberdeen, the Peelites, and Sir W, Molesworth, assisted by Lord Granville, the agent of another anti-English influence. It is to these men we owe the infamy of seeing our armaments the passive spectators of the de struction of the fleet of the ally we were sent to protect, and which we would not allow them to protect them selves. Can this be true ? Lord Palmerston knew it was. lie knew that for this destruction we were not only morally but actually responsible—he knew that we were guilty, not of a neglect, but of a crime. He A knew that our ambassador had prevented the mai body of the Turkish fleet from entering the Blac k _ea and protecting their own transports, and that Slade was ' kept chafing and remonstrating in the Bosphorus by the threat of the English reliresentatives, that if he stirred to meet the Russians, the English fleet would quit Con stantinople ! ! This will prove, we think, to any man with a drop of Anglo-Saxon blood in his veins, that it was high time for Lord Palmeriton—who is both an Englishman and a gentleman—to come out from such a mess of infamy ? One word more, as to the Reform Bill. Let the Times deny, if it can,.that up to a very short time ago Lord Palmerston was acting in that matter cordially with his colleagues. We know it dare not ; but we can easily believe, considering the ominous names of Molesworth, Graham, and Russell, a majority of the committee, that as things advanced the bill became too bad. It may he true that Lord Palmerston would not consent to the arbitrary disfranchisement of a vast number of boroughs, against which the only complaint to be found was, that they had less than 500 voters, to which numbers might easily have been added, but which could not with justice be exterminated. Lord Palmerston may have opposed a plan which could only end in cooking (or Coppockingl up new boroughs for particular party purposes. All this may be true, but the country knows better than to believe the frantic calumnies of the Tim s, as yesterday published. History convicts that journal of falsehood in its de scription of Lord Palmerston's former life, and if we consider, in addition to all that we have, stated, the monstrous iniquity of the late transactions at Constan tinople, we feel assured that the honourable step that nobleman has now taken w►ll, in the estimation of all England, add largely to his former high reputation as a man and a statesman. We are given to understand that Lord Lansdowne has also tendered his resignation. If so, perhaps the Times will furbish us to-day with another tissue of " truth undefiled" concerning that nobleman's previous career, as it did yesterday with regard to his noble col league. (Prom the Daily News. ) Whilst the Daily News was yesterday discussing in its columns for Correspondence the last news of " an other split in the Ministry," two of its Government con temporaries were busily engaged in saying what their patrons thought it best to have published about th e resignation of Lord Palmerston. To-day " the split" is understood to be larger than it was when the Home Secretary's departure from Downing-street was made known by his colleagues to the "safe" journals. If all , that is now stated about Ministerial difficulties be true, then at the very hour when Lord Palmerston's resigna tion was being " communicated" to the papers entrusted with the news, it must have been known to those who employed the printed conduit pipes in question that the Marquis of Lansdowne also contemplated retirement from the Coalition. But it was apparently thought best to pre-occupy the public ear with the news of the resignation of the Home Secretary alone, and to point to differences upon the question of Reform as the cause of that resign ation before any suspicion of the Marquis •f Lansdowne's contemplated departure from office was allowed to transpire. The anti-Reform leanings of Lord Palmerston would easily be believed, and less mis chief be done, by letting the news first burst upon the town with that twist in it. If a double er treble resigna tion had been made known at once, and if in the list of departures from the Cabinet the name of the Whig Mar quis of Lansdowne had been given in company with that of the bellicose Lord Palmerston, the public belief would et once have jumped to the conclusion that the Turkish Question, and not the Reform Bill was the real cause of the split. Hence apparently the general form —the two channels—the mode altogether—in which the intelligence of half the Ministerial difficulties was yes terday made known. The first mental doubt provoked by the Peelite com munications on the subject yesterday arose over the sentences in which the Ministerial journals asked im- plicit belief for the allegations that the "split" was ail about " Reform." A Cabinet crash does not usually take place about things that are virtually far off. " Re form,' though now under discussion in Downing-street, has got a couple of months yet at least before it can be put to the test of the House of Commons, whilst an other matter also on Ministerial shoulders—is urgent, pressing, vital in its immediate importance. The Ca binet are known at this moment to be on the horns of a most critical dilemma. They have muddled a great question of foreign policy. They have declared that Russia had, by crossing the Pruth, committed an . . act of war—they have declared the Turks to be our allies and in the right- they have sent English ships to the Bosphorus, and, having said and done all these things, they have allowed our fleet to be idle whilst the Sultan's vessels are being battered and sunk under their very noses. Such a — state of things cannot possibly last. When the "game of cannot-shot" is in full activity standers-by cannot for ever keep out of the mischief. Something must be done at once, yet those whose move it is are afraid to stir. If they heartily back the Turks they offend Austria and certain Court coteries — if they don't help the Turks they offend still more impor tant people. When they should act they hesitate, and whilst they hesitate they are in danger of being in volved--it may be single-handed—in a long and despe rate European war. Is not a scrape sf this sort a much more likely thing to have startled a crafty old politician like the member for Tiverton than any difficulties about Reform ? Lord Palmerston has not hitherto been very strict about niceties when patty and place have stood in the way. His career, if consistent in anything, has been very much of the Vicar of Bray school. His stick lings have not usually been about opinion, but about office. He began life as a Tory ;he has been Whig,' Peelite, and in — some things (we - say it with pride and some satisfaction) he has been a true Radical Reformer —the graveyards and the Scotch Humiliation to wit. He has almost boxed the political compass—sometimes, as we think, to the right quarter; sometimes, we are sure, to the wrong one ; but generally with great clever ness, very little principle, but almost always with suc cess—to Number One. His only real consistency has been shown in his love of power and place. His ante cedents, therefore, surely all go to show that something has influenced his resignation more serious to his mind than a pound or two higher or lower in the figure at which the suffrage-qualification should be fixed. He is not at all the man one would expect to see forsake his dearly beloved Downing-street about such trifles as a Five Pound or an Eight Pound Franchise, or even on account of the eternal upset of that useful pocket bo roßftbgtpurhheegivafaee nn h olstmussrd stii o ei aefrnfor Palmerston % ~ nohnintigwoaireen. measure r I ll s scuhi e re a oenu th tol cote's which boasts Lord Palmer ston as its member— and which the famous river Exe flows by. Reasons more cogent by far were yesterday believed, and will long be believed, to have influenced him, notwithstanding all that the Times may say to the contrary. The Turco-Russian question will assuredly bear the credit or the blame—whichsoever it may be thought by different people to be—of separating Lord Palmerston and the Aberdeen Coaltion. After the speculations about—How was It caused ! we are met by those about—What does it mean ! What will it lead to ?—and here again conjecture has already been, and will still be, busy. Many of Lord Palmerston's friends will be found to declare that it was high feeling for English honour in the Black Sea and on the Danube which led to his resignation. Others will, perhaps, be equally prompt in discovering and can vassing the probabilities of his future. They may look back and remember the way in which he was driven from Downing-street, when he held office with the Whigs— may call to mind the ingenious and masterly way in which he tripped up a ministry from which he had been ejected, and how he subsequently re-installed himself in office, despite the opposition of many of his ancient col leagues. Some of his proposed swi e esd v i lleblonys assuredly ( o hsauten s ihrn o cdieonad f wmsg a blti r iatnip a iger s htera t tena o at arnii gratify hint that courtly . distastes, or Coburg intrigues, may have had something to do with rendering his path in office at times uneven. And, then, what a possible fu ture opens up if a present hasty resignation could lead to Cabinet difficulties, and such a ministerial re-construc tion could be brought about as should give Lord Pal merston the foreign portfolio once more ? Or even— who knows ?—the Premiership itself ! What a grand revenge would that be ! and what a showy close for a long official career—the Tory ranks are broken—the .ca joled and dejected squires hurry here and there for want the he ns ee. stronger fßo s i Lord ior hisdr fdrnrbge esolNameoeronmt reform Secretaryeet n. Palmerston element o t of a sufficient leader. Earl Derby "is off the cards " with the gout. Disraeli has genius, Lord Stanley know ledge, but the "gentlemen of England " in topboots and with broad acres can see no likelihood of success by following either. Some of them, like Mr. Miles, are even now talking quite as much reform as the ex-Home soef Secretaryertrho the e advantages io would n . advocate,What h o a of Free ift h e and Tsrua advee ,andnearlyo p e castleso antrlh-dlsepo Palmerston's koa t iepi h nr ane e l, et m ehres sraetnanoceonaisw:, hopelessness tactician of the House of Commons should offer War rer against o ai p n u s t t himself at their II t alone to t h reale s h osolid show wretched wfa what a tfacts foreign policy of Lord Aberdeen, try to get up at once a Freethan But t T l‘h r ,i Trade di whilst ata C vtAhhe o nte n t sta s clu e olel r rue v oeri a rvsyy t ee i b: v ote e fse Lnes p voe a tsen i r usn t r offbeen, ffitsosmeeemtshacteLrtoarid f m m t a a h y y e Cabinet becomes y all g the re gretted) e t futureted) very many more. Indeed if anything like a w y ise and if wise resolves are at last come to on the Eastern diffi culty, the Coalition may gain more friends than it loses by the changes just announced. The admirers of Sir James Graham name him for the Home-office, a nd. would send Sidney Herbert to fill the vacancy BO wade at the Admii alt y ; others again gossip about Sir Ge o rgentr Grey as sure to be asked by Lord John Russell to enter to harness once more--which he would be do. But these speculations are probablny.° tura. The " split" may spread—beginning again Pal merston it may end with Aberdeen, anna the basis of a find a Cabinet composed avowedly such t artpy be Reform Bill at its head. Shoueadk plainly and fairly measure of reform, with one of the found in power, only let them p their s backs so large a maxi of out, and they will have at an _ d wealth-producing people the intelligent, industrioruo, s eTessive nation as will carry of this practical and p ard. War is not wanted—and them - triumphantly fo w r i v i r sake, _ aaiyhors of first and any opposition that never was for its t o d defeat. We want to keep faith with only troubles a back the Autocrat ; but this is not to be allies and.Pu.t f or war's own sake , nor by making War get up Via' War Ministry wouldmeet of a faction. " ,Yfy religion is to hate the rallying• cry Bm•and every lover of :Russia," said the expatriatede , and freedow . s ympathised with the veteran patriot . sol dier. Every Liberal hates Russia because Russia is the intensest and cruellest of existing Despotisms. But s d h o o n u e ld by en yv d ar ea of nose by any artful Russophobic cry invented for the hearty Liberals in England don't want to be led by the sake of restoring the Derbyites to power in any new combination• or under any new leader. Tue public at large can well afford to wait the result of Downing-street quarrels with great equanimity, since on such quarrels the people rather thrive than suffer. By the opposition "bids' ; of successive candidates for office the national work is gradually advanced, and re forms successively obtained. The quietude with which the news of a splitting Ministry was yesterday accepted proves that the people understand this. Ministers may squabble, but the national prosperity marches on, with scarcely an additional pulsation of that breeches-pocket interest, so truthfully represented by the price of Con sols. The resignation, which two of our contemporaries made so much of, had affected the funds at the close of the market yesterday, exactly—two-and-sixpence ! THE BRITISH FLEET. Reports having been industriously circulated to fhe effect that the,British ambassador at Constantinople had intimated to the French representative that the'British fleet was not in a condition to enter the Black Sea, in justice to the gallaPt and distinguished commander in chief, Vice-Admiral Dundas, we enumerate the ships under his command as a contradiction to so unfounded a statement. No fleet was ever collected together at any period of the history of this country so powerful and so efficient. Admiral Dundas's fleet is ready and willing, against any odds that the Russians can muster in the Black Sea, to engage, aye, and to defeat them too. In that fleet of Admiral Dundas there are the best ships, the best steamers, the best officers and the best men, that ever served under the British pendant, and we know, from the very best authority, that all and each are animated with a burning desire to meet the much vaunted Russian fleet in their very best trim. At the last telegraphic date from Constantinople the following British force was collected under as discreet and politic an admiral as ever hoisted his flag on board of a three decker : SAILING THREE-DECKERS. Guns. Men. Commanders. Britannia l2O ... 1000 Capt. Carter (flag.ship). Trafalgar l2O ... 970 Capt. Greville. Queen SAILING TWO-DECKERS. Albion 9O ... 820 Capt. Lushington. Rodney 9O ... 820 Capt. Graham, C.B. London 9O ... 820 Capt. C. Eden. Vengeance Bellerophon 7B ... 650 Capt. Jones. SCREW TWO-DECKERS. Guns. Men. H. P. Commanders. Xgamemnon 9l ... 850 ... 600 Capt. Mends (flag). Sanspareil 7l ... 626 ... 350 Capt. Dacres. Here is a force of ten sail of the line, more powerful, better equipped, and thrice as efficient as any fleet that ever engaged an enemy. The Queen, London, and Aga dmemnon it is true left England under-manned, every body who knows the Mediterranean is well aware, that as the men-of-war touch at Gibraltar or Malta they have little difficulty in completing their crews. But take the fleet generally, they are all better manned than either the Navarino fleet or the Syrian fleet in 1840-41, for they have few " Miuto sailors," and they were not compelled, in order to make up the ships' com panies, to break up a battalion of marines and distribute them through the fleet. Having said so much of the ships and the men, we may give our readers some idea of their terrific arma ments by singling out the three-decker Queen, the screw 91-gun ship Agamemnon, and the two-decker London. QUEEN, 116 GUNS. No. Ddscription. Length. Lower Deck Middle Deck 3O 32-pounder 56 cwt. 9 ft. 6 in. Main Deck Quarter Deck And Forecastle AGAMEMNON, 91 GUNS. Lower Deck Main Deck Quarter Deck And Forecastle LONDON, 90 GUNS. Lower Deck 14 32-pounder 56 cwt. 9 ft. 6 in. 6 8-inch 65 cwt. 9 ft. 28 32-pounder 56 cwt. 9 ft. 6 in. Quarter Deck 2 8-inch 65 cwt. 9 ft. And Forecastle It will thus be seen that the modern screw 91-gun ship and the latest built sailing three-decker in this fleet, throw about the same weight of shot in a single broadside (namely, about 2,3001 b.), whereas the 91-gun sailing ship's broadside is about 2,0001 b. These are specimens of a fleet whose effective fire has never yet been tested against an enemy, for the only ship in the above list that has used her shotted guns in action is the least powerful of the lot, the Bellerophon. This is the heavy force of the British fleet ; the lighter force is comprised in the following sailing frigates and steamers : Main Deck BAILING FRIGATES. Guns. Men. Leander . 5O ... 500 Capt. King. Arethusa 5O ... 500 Capt. Symonds. PADDLE STEAM FRIGATES. Terrible .... 21 ... 300 ... 800 Capt. O'Callaghan Retribution 22 ... 300 ... 400 Capt. Drummond. Tiger l6 ... 220 ... 400 Capt. Gifford. Furious 200 ... 400 Capt. Losing-- - Firebrand 6 ... 220 ... 400 Capt. H. Parker. Sampson 6 ... 200 ... 467 Capt. -- PADDLE-SLOOPS, &C. Inflexible... 6 ... 160 ... 373 Coin. Popplewell. Fury ..... 6 ... 160 ... 515 Com. Tatham. SCREWS, &c. Highflyer 21 ... 233 ... 250 Capt. Moore. Niger l3 ... 170 ... 400 Coin. Heath. Wasp l4 ... 170 ... 100 Com. Ld. J. Hay. With the:lo line-of-battle ships, manned and commanded as they are, the Russian fleet in the Black Sea would have just as much chance as the transports of the poor Turks ; and, accompanied by the dashing frigates and sloops, it might well be said that the `•impregnable" Sebas topol would not save the Russians from utter destruction, but that Sebastopol would become another Sinope, with this difference, that the Russians, superior in numbers as they are, would have to encounter a foe more worthy of their prowess, and our gallant seamen and marines, as they are wont to do, would not retire from the port until they had planted their pennants on its ramparts. It is idle, then, to delude the French or the English with any statement to the effect that the British fleet is not in a condition to enter the Black Sea. It is not the fact. Admiral Dundas's fleet is ready for any ser vice on any sea. METROPOLITAN SEWERS COMMISSION A special Court was held yesterday at the Sessions house, Newington-causeway---Mr. R. Jebb in the chair. The Secretary read the financial statement, which showed that the available balance on the 10th instant was 47,321/. Os. Bd. Estimates fur rates of 6d. in the pound were received for the following districts :--Western division of West minster, Spitalfields, Wapping and Nightingale-lane level, Hackney-brook level, Lower Wapping level, Poplar and Blackwhll district, and Holborn division. The Court was mainly called for the purpose of dis posing of summonses issued to persons in the Surrey and Kent districts, to show cause why they should not pay certain arrears of sewers rates. . The proceedings were much of the same character as have been repeatedly reported in this journal, the parties summoned complaining that they were charged a large amount in sewer-rates, without having the slightest benefit in the shape of drainage. One gentleman, a Mr. Watson, of the Clapham-road, said that there was no drainage from his house but there was to his house, inasmuch as a sewer which was intended for surface drainage only had most offensive matter passed into it, which found its way on an overflow into his cellar, and the stench from it was most intolerable. The Commis sionersbut had done some works in the neighbourhood, . ht they had only aggravated the evil. The nuisan a c d e e m r i ,h e be removed by passing a connecting. drraoiLl! Effra River into a sewer in the Old n Ke . considertion. The Chairman said that plan was und er He thought it right to mention that but 45,6001. the sewer rates of the Rent and Surrey districts producedare miles. per annum for a district of 2 The defendant said was sharply rebuked 1 it they got relief; he did 1136iosthgecuare if it cost 145,0001., by the Chairman, who °Wats o n denied that his demea upon awildlichis conduct was disrespect ful to the Court: nour was at all disresMrPe.. tful, when he was cut short by the Chairman ig_ tat the matter was disposed of, and he must p 8 : 11 7 , I t tn e d e 7te ; neon this he left the court t . n were anything b b e at P f i Zer oases of a similar deserip do A num- t o r - "mining parties being told they must h ear d, the o ° ln n av the the. so as to put the Commissioners in poss.es deficient in sewerage ;(:„ o f funri_Er to do what was required in the district, which they knew to be lamentably works. MINING (FENCE. (From the Mining Journal of this day.) A very large business has been transacted this week in non-divider • lines, especially in such as have been found to cont.. gold in the gossans. Reports have been received in town of a great discovery of copper near Tavistock, at a new mine, called Sortridge Console, only just opened, and from which 15 tons of ri c h co pp e have been broken this week. At the Keswick meeting a proposition was brought forward for dividing the four mines belonging to the company into three distinct con terns ; but it was overruled, and then determined to increase the shares to 6000, by multiplying the present number by five ; and a call of 4s. per share (6,000 th) was made. As Cumberland in general, and Keswick in particular, has long been known to be productive of gold, and prille of, gold having been found by Mr. Calvert in a stream in one of the company's mines, it was agreed to have up 5 cwts. of gossan, &c., to be tried by Berdan's machine. In the Bullion Market,--Mexican and South Ameri can dollars, ss. Old. per oz. Bar silver containing gold, all gold above 5 grs. in the pound to be paid for ss. ltd. per oz. standard. Bar silver without gold, ss. lid, per oz. standard. Bar gold, 775. 9d. per oz. standard. Spanish doubloons, 78s. 6d. per oz. Columbian doub lonns, 775. to 775. 3d. per oz. Fine English silver, ss. 61d, per oz. fee Gold Mining Share Market this week has been extremely quiet, these securities being quite neglected ; bargains have not varied materially, but, on the whole, the tendency has been rather in the direction of lower prices.' The discovery of gold in several of our home ?nines, as tested by Berdan's 'machine, has caused some excitement. but owing to the complicated ; etate of the political horizon, but little business has been done ; and although at the early part dthe week there appeared a disposition to speculate, yet this -feeling' has not been maintained, and it may be generally remarked in this branch of speculation that the market is quiescent. Notwithstanding the deficient accounts from both Aus tralia and California of the operations of the several companies, it appears that individual diggers are success ful. On Monday, owing to the vague reports circu lated of the non-success of operations in gold mining by the companies in Australia, there was a downward ap pearance in this description of stock. On Tuesday, Lake Bathurst shares, on which 1 /. was paid, were dealt in freely at ss. per share ; and up to the close of the mar ket, yesterday evening, there -appeared no perceptible Improvement ; and it can be positively stated that in many instances the directors themselves do not antici pate that any amelioration in the price of gold mining shares will take place until they receive more definite information and positive results from the local agents. In Iron and Coal Companies, during the week, busi ness has been done at the following prices :—British Iron, 8 to 10 ; Rhymney Iron, s 2; Rhymney New, 9 Charcoal Iron and Steel, par to Prem. ; to 10 ; Blaenavon Iron and Coal, 12 to 10 ; Rhenish Coal,Mount Carbon to i dis. ; Coal, - Australasian C to dam- ;New South Wales Coat, to dis In Mis ce ll aneous Shares .th market has been quiet, and devoid of feature. THE WAGES MOVEMENT. WIGAN, THURSDAY EVENING.—There is no doubt that the strike of colliers in this district has at length terminated. There yet remain out about seventy miners belonging to Walthen House Colliery (Messrs. W. H. Brancker and Co.'s) and 40 to Gidlow and Swinley Col liers (the executors of the late J. Rylands) ; but the turn-outs at Coppull Colliery, near Chorley, have re sumed work at the old rate of wages, and the men yet on strike are now manifesting a disposition to give way shortly. This morning the adjourned meeting of the coal pro prietors and their representatives was held at the Roya Hotel, Wigan, .Mr. W. Pearce, manager of the collieries of the Earl of Cranford and Balcarrect, in the chair. After a brief deliberation s it was. Unanimously 're solved : "That in consequence of the continued disposition of the men at the collieries still on partial strike to resume work at the old rate of wages, the resolution passed at the last meeting be confirmed and adhered to, and that this meeting stand adjourned to this day fortnight, at the same place, at eleven o'clock.—Liverpool Tunes. SOUTH AUSTRALIAN COPPER MINING COMPANT.—In part of our impression of yesterday the extracts from Mr. Basset's .desimitch bore no date. The Pwages quoted should have been dated ft Adelaide, 28th Sept., 1853." MARKET NEWS-{THIS DAY.) COVENT GARDEN. To-day's market was well supplied with both fruit and vegetables for the time of year. The demand ruled steady, and prices were well supported. FBUIT.—Pine apples, English, 3s Od to 6s Od each ; ditto colonial, is Od to is 3d each ; hot-house grapes, 2s Od to ss; foreign ditto, 8d to is 6d per lb apples 4s to 8s per bush ; pears, is to 3s per dozen ; l emons, is Od to 2s ; oranges. 4s Od to Os per 100 ; a l mon d s, 2 ; to 3s perlb. ; Barcelona nuts, 20s per bush.; cob-nuts, 95s to 110 s per 1001bs. ; chesnuts, 8s to 208 per bushel ; filberts, 90s to 105 s per 100 lbs ; walnuts, 84 to ls 6d per 100 - peaches, is to 5s ; nectarines, 2s to 7s ; apricots, 1 11 38 per dozen ; figs, is to 2s per dozen ; damsons, 2s 6d t o 3s 6d per half sieve ; melons, is to 3s Od each. VEGETABLES.—Cabbages, is to is 4d ; Brussels sprouts, Is 6d to 2s Od per half sieve ; cauliflowers, 6d to &I each ; greens, 2s 6d to 38 9d per doz. bunches; red cabbages, 2s to 5s Od per dozen ; potatoes, 80s to 160 s per ton ; turnips, 2s 6d to 4s Oct ; carrots, 4s Od to 6s Od per dozen bunches ; cucumbers, Os 2d to Os 6d each ; celery, 9d to is 6d per bundle ; spinach, 2s 6d to 3s Od per sieve ; onions, 6s Od to lOs Od per bushel ; Spanish ditto, is to 3s per doz. ; leeks, id to 2d per bunch ; shallots, 6d to &I ; garlic, 6d to 8d per lb ; endive, 2s 2d to 38 Od per score ; small salad, 2d to 34erpunnet; horse-raddish, 2s Od to 4s Od per bundle ; mushrooms, Os 9d to is 6d per pottle; parsley, 3s Od to 3s 6d per dozen bunches ; beet, is Od to is 6d per dozen ; cabbage lettuces, 6d to 8d per score ; hands ; artichokes, 3s to 5s per dozen ; sorrel, 6d to is per half sieve. NE WGATE AND LEADENHALL. Turkeys, 4s 6d to 99 6d; Geese, 4s 6d to 7s 6d each ; Ducks 2s Oct to 2s 9d; tame Rabbits, 8d to is 6d ; wild ditto, 8d to is 6d ; Pigeons, 5d to 8d each; roasting Pigs, Os to Os Od each; Surrey Fowls, 5s Od to 9s Od ; ditto Chickens, Os Od to Os Od; barn-door Fowls, is 9ci to 2s 9d per couple; Capons, 3s to 4s 6d : Chickens, is 6d to 2s 3d per couple ; Pheasants, 3s Od to 3s 9d; Partridges, is 3d to is 9d; Hares, 2s 6d to 3s 6d; Leverets, Os Od to Os Od; Woodcocks, 2s 6d to 3s 6d; Grouse, 2s Od to 286 d; Snipes, 9d to 18 6cl; - Teal, 6d to 9d; wild Ducks, is 3d to 2s Od ; Widgeons, 9d to Is Od; and Plovers, 6d to is each. English Eggs, 9s Od to 12s Od; French ditto, 8s Od. to 9s Od per 120 ; Ostend fresh butter lis 6d to 12s 6d, and English lls 6d to 14s Od per dozen lbs. BILLINGSGATE. Turbots, 3s Od to 15s ; Brills, is Od to 5s each; Salmon Trout, is to is 4d per lb; Cod Fi.th, 6s 61 to 12s Od ; Soles, 6a to 2s Oa per pair ; Eels, Sd to is per lb ; Lobsters, 6d to Is 6d ; Crabs, 6 d to 2s 3d ; Whitings, is to 5s Ocl per doz.; Doreys, is Od to ss; Mullets, Is to 2s Gd each ; Common Oysters, 10s Od to 16s Od; Natives, 40s Od to 50s Od per bsh; Mackerel, SOs to 00s per 100; Smelts, ls Ckl to 3s pr doz.; Skate, 6d to Od pe.r lb; Shrimps, le 6d to 2s 6dpergallon; Bloaters, 8s 6d. to 10s . 6d per 100 ; Fresh Herrings, 5s Od to .0, al per 100 ; Ir su ldocks, 3s to 7. per doz. ; Plaice, Id to is each ; Carp, 'cl? Od per brace 2s 04 to. Os Oct per brace ; Gurnets, 4cl to ls Od each;Halibut, lid per lb. • Salt Fish. 2d to &1 per lb. ; Prawns, 2s Od to 4s CIA per lb. • Flounders, is to is 6d per dozen ; Sturgeon, 6d per lb.; Pike 6d per lb. BREAD. The prices of wheaten bread in the metropolis are front 10Ad to 11d; of household ditto, 93d to 10d per 41b loaf. NEWPORT. Beef from 3s 4d to 4s 4d ; mutton, 3a 6d to 4s 8d ; veal, 4s Od to 5s Od ; pork, 3s 10d to 5s Od. per Sibs. WHITECHAPEL. Beef, from 3s Oct to 4s 2d ; Mutton, 3s 6d to 4s 8d ; Veal, 3s 10d to 4s 10d.; Pork, 38 6d to 4s 10d per 81bs. by the carcase. HIDES AND SKINS. Market hides, 561 b to 641 b, 2id to lid; 641 b to 721 b, to Od; 721 b to 801 b, lid to 3d ; 801 b to 881 b, 3d to nd. ; 881 b to 961 b, aid to 31d; 961 b to 1041 b, 30. to 3 d ; 1041 1 ) to 1121 b 3d to4fd. horse hides, 6s 6d to Os Od; calf skins, light, 2s Od to 3s Od; ditto, full, 6s Od to Os Od; polled sheep, 6s 9d to 8s 3d; Kents, 5a 6d to 6s 6d; Half-breds, 5s 9d to 6s 6d ; Downs, 4s 3d to 5a 3d. HAY MARKETS. SMITHFIELD. Meadow hay, 5s to 5/ 12s ; clover ditto, 4/ Os to 6/ lOs ; and straw, 11 17s to 2/ 4s per load. A short supply, and a steady trade. CIIMBERLIND.—Meadow hay, 31 lOs to 5/ 15s ; clover ditto, 415 a to Cl 6s ; and straw, 1/ 18s to 21 5s pert Trade firm, with a limited supply on offer. WHITECHATEL.—Meadow hay, 3/ 8s 'to Si lOs; clover ditto, 41 5s to Cl lOs ; and straw, 1/ 17s to 2/ 3s per load. Supply short, and prices on the advance. LLOYD'S SHIPPING.-'('HIS DAY.) LONDON, Dec. 17.—Wind this da at Noon, moderate breeze.—The Prompt (screw y steamer), from Leith, arrived in the river last night after an extremely rough and perilous voyage She left Leith on Tuesday morning , . and encountered a very severe gale on the following day, which continued during Thursday with unabated violence. The sea made a complete breach over her fore and aft, but she proved a remarkably fine sea-boat ; and though often expected to fro wn " t commander, who is the brother of the ell-k town " go:Rant Captain Hall," of the Name_ sis, brought her safely into tbe port of London; with loss of a set of new sails, blown to threads, and some damage to her bulwarks, &c. MARGATE, Dec. 16.—The Robert and Henry (schooner), of Love. hasDec.en on the Hook of Margate Sand. SHIELDS, D 16 . —The Sylph (collier), of this port, drove on the Black Middens, and broke up; crew and part o. stores saved. BELFAST (Port Fairy), Sept. 16.—The Freedom (sch.) , of Jersey , was wrecked at Warnambool during a gale from S.E., on the 11th of July. OFF CALSHOT CASTLV,--Great Western (s). Brazils. CARDIFF, Dec. 16.—Wind, W.N.W. Sailed—Gentoo, for Sierra Leone ; Neptune, do. WATERFORT, Dec. 15.—Arrived—Thomas, from Liver pool, for Cork, leaky. MADRAS, Dec. s.—The Zion, Corringa to London, which put in here on the 21st Se p t. leaky, has re -shipped her cargo, and sailed for Calcutta to repair, and on the Vd w re as peT c rh a te u ed ll Tit e h d a , t s i t Oct. was run on shore a few miles N. of Tranquebar, in a sinking state, and has been sold. f Banshee, MANILLA, Sept. 28.—The David Clarke sailed hence o n the 7th of September, for London, but put back on ti n , sla2itlhedleaagkayi,nfreonm tsheeve2re3dweaHtheerr.maSstheer cargo had sustained no damage whatever. — China to Sydney, N.S.W., which struck on a r durin ia g e t e ce ga — le d F e r r a o nc l i s s la ß n a d r , c f a u y l , y w l h B i , eh h w as ae b e e t e ra n esodehat hereat that ree f off M Th% of the 16th July, was got off on the Ist paired, and is loading for Sydney. Sept., had re. (BY ELECTRIC TELEGRA.PFL) LIVERPOOL, BA.TURDA.Y, 10 A.m. Wind, N.N.N., moderate, and foggy. Arrived—Christiana, from Cronstadt. QUEENSTOWN, Dec. 15. Wind, N.N.E., moderate. Arrived—Olin.da, from the Brazils, with 7,7261. on freight. Sailed—D awsons and Esperanza, for - I-lavre 3 Conquest, for Poole. (BY SUBMARINE AND EUROPEAN TELVORAPH.) GRAVESEND, SATURDAY, 10 A.M. CUSTOMS RETURN. Wild, W.N.W., cloudy ; first hour's flood. Arrived-16th—Peter Bang, from Cronstad6 ; Nord lydet, from Gottenherg ; Leon, Gravelines Arrived-17th—Mercautile, from Moss ; Adelaide, Bus terseil. Sailed—Belgium, for Ostend. ; Triton Calais. DEAL, SATURDAY, 9.23 A.M. Wind, W.N.W., light and close. Anchored—Clio, from Demerara, for London ; Joshua Bates, from New York, for London. A schooner, reported to be French, laden with wheat, from London, for Dunkirk, is on shore near Shingle-end Wsteh house. Further particulars unknown. AUSTRALIAN SHIPPING. Arrived at Sydney—Sept. 1. Antelope, (a.) from Liver. pool; 4th, Atalanta, Liverpool ; sth, Annette Gilbert and the Kehrwieder, Liverpool ; 14th, the Kinnear, barque. P Shanghai (a), Singapore ; 17th, Singapore, London; ; ; Btratfovd, London ; 18th, Telegraph, Liverpool. Sailed- Sept. 2, H.M.S. Herald, for the South Seas; 6th, Countess of Leicester, London ; 17th, the Mohawk, London; Victoria (a), England. £-' -✓- ~;