The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-03 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

THE public mind has been occupied almost exclusively with political
considerations this week. Tho Aberdeen Ministry resigned on Tues-
_

day. Lord DERBY was sent for, and found it impracticable to form a
strong Government, in the parliamentary sense, and Lord LANSDOWNE
has been called in, and yesterday afternoon had a conference with
Lord PALMERSTON; and the town is now placarded with bills " PAL-
MERSTON for Premier." Some of his most attached adherents, however,
considering that his Lordship is only now in his 71st year, intimate
that his time has not yet come.

A remarkable change took place in the political world, between
the commencement of the debate on Mr. ROEBUCK'S motion on Friday
evening, and its close on Monday night. When Mr. ROEBUCK rose
there were many who doubted whether his motion would be carried.
The retirement of Lord JOHN RUSSELL alone hardly seemed sufficient
to break up the Ministry. But an impression of the mismanagement of
the war had become so strong and general, that the bulk of the Liberal
party were really glad to sever the connection between themselves and
the Ministry, and hence upon the division, on Monday, the Govern-
ment were beaten, on what they themselves insisted was a vote of want
of confidence, by a majority of more than two to one. In fact, deduct-
ing placemen, and the immediate connections of the Ministers, they
found themselves completely destitute of a party—and thus the much
vaunted Coalition, which, by its talents and parliamentary influence,
was to form the strongest Government of modern times, came to the
most ignominious end of any Ministry recorded in our political annals.
Elsewhere the events which followed this memorable division are cor-
rectly stated.
The debate of Monday was chiefly remarkable for the brilliant
speech of Sir BULwER Lrrrox. Many passages of it flashed with the
rarest wit. That part of it was peculiarly happy in which, alluding
to Lord Joint RossELL's reference to his joining the Coalition with his
party as an answer to the charge that the Whigs required all power
for themselves, the Honourable Baronet observed that the vindication
of the Noble Lord amounted to this—" that his party not being able to
" get exclusive possession of all power, they reluctantly consented to
" accept half." The desperate condition of the Ministry was at once
evident, when Mr:PERNAL OSBORNE raised his hoofs to give it a parting
kick; and the expiring Ministers, as they heard him declaiming on the
lamentable and disgraceful way in which the war had been conducted,
must have been reminded of the reading of their boyish days :

" Te nature) dedecus
Quod ferre oogor, certe bis videor mori."

With the prospect of being restored to the Opposition benches, all the
Hon. Member's audacity was restored, and his tongue wagged against
the official superiors before whom he had been accustomed to prostrate
himself, with all its native insolence. " I have been told that it is not
" proper for a person in my position to speak," he said, " but in my
" mind the safety of our whole army is at stake." What a pity he
never thought of this before. " A bad workman always finds fault
" with his tools," says the proverb ; and the only defence set up by
the Government was that our system was in fault, as if the system
had never been known or never been tried before. When the
result of the division was announced, there was first dead silence,
and then a derisive laugh, and in that laugh the Coalition expired.
On the same evening there was a debate in the Peers, and Lord
GREY endeavoured to exalt himself into importance by a speech on the
evils of the existing War Administration. He had crammed himself
for the effort, but it was feeble and out of place, and the lengthy
harangue was extinguished by the few weiglity words in which Lord
ELLENBOROIIGH drew attention to the present state of affairs, and the
impolicy of passing such a resolution at the present time.
The House of Peers was crowded on Thursday to hear the Minis
terial explanations. It was known, also, that the Duke of NEWCASTLE
intended to reply to Lord Jens Russxu.'s statement of the previous
Friday, for his Grace gave his friends due notice of his valorous inten-
tion. Lord ABERDEEN, faithful to his character, could in his "last
" dying speech " profess reliance only on the negotiations at Vienna.
He warned the country against expecting that it could ever gain any
decided success over Russia, and intimated that the only wise course
would be to patch up the quarrel as quickly as we could. In fact, ac-
cording to his Lordship, the fighting in the Crimea meant nothing ; the
terms of peace were arranged, and our army was warring and wasting
only that the negotiators might have time to arrange the etiquette to
be established at their meeting. This we know has been the view of
his Lordship throughout—on this view he has acted; but the people
think differently; and the question is whether they will permit the
author of this mischief to escape with impunity.

The Ministerial question continues to occupy all minds to the
exclusion of every other. The Queen, feeling deeply the evils of the
present unsettled state, is most anxious that a Government should be
formed without delay. After all,it appears likely that a Derby Ministry
will be found a necessity, from the impossibility which exists, in the
present state of parties, of forming any other. Any attempt to patch
up a Cabinet from the minority would be attended with great difficul-
ties. The name of PALMERSTON is all that a Government, of which he
was the nominal or virtual head, would have to support it. Miserably
weak in parliamentary power, it would be still weaker in administrative
capacity. It is notorious that his Lordship is now totally unfit for
business; at best he is but a parade Minister, to joke and bluster in
the house. He has never had character sufficient to rally a party round
him ; and the first business of his Cabinet, when he had formed one,
would be to get rid of their chief. As for Lord JOHN RUSSELL, his last
" dodge " has been somewhat too cunning. He is in the position of one
of those Spartan youths who had not cleverness enough to conceal
their roguery, and who were punished, not for their offences, but for
being found out in them. In short, the divisions among that party
which until lately was presumed to constitute a majority of the house,
remind one of the old country song, in which maid and men servants
are all at cross-purposes—" Harry loving Dolly, and Dolly James, and
." James Sally, and Sally Tom,"—though in this case there must be a
correction beyond that required by the names, and for love we mast
read hate.

The Sardinian treaty, which figures in Lord ABERDEEN'S " last
speech," is now before the public. Sardinia, with generous ardour for
freedom, will send a legion of 15,000 men to the Crimea, but, as in the
alliances of times past, England is to pay the piper. A sum of
1,000,0001. is to be advanced in the first instance, and a year later a
second million is to be furnished. The money is to bear interest at 4
per cent., 1 per cent. being laid by to provide a sinking fund for the
redemption of the capital sum. The liquidation will be a slow pro-
cess at this rate. The loan will then bear interest at 3 per cent., a
less rate than our Ministry must now pay for money for its own use.
It is only fair to say, however, that Sardinia engages to pay and sub-
sist this force, and to maintain it at its full strength. The force is to
he under Lord RAGLAN, and will be a welcome addition to his strength.
But it strikes one that the two millions required are rather a dispro-
portionate sum for the contingent—as it gives about 1401 as the
expense of each man. But even at this rate should the " loan " turn
out unproductive, the. soldiers might be cheaper than those of the
proposed Foreign Lerion. The number*of the latter intended to be
raised at present is we hear 10,000, and it is stated that an agent, or
agents, have been appointed who will receive fifteen guineas for every
recruit landed safe and sound on our shores.

The last accounts from the Crimea are gloomy enough ; but still,
on the whole, rather more cheering than those which have preceded
them. The snow lay deeply on the ground, and while that weather
lasted an assault would be impracticable. The French commander
declined to receive more soldiers into the camp at present, and the
reinforcements still arriving would therefore go to form an army of
reserve. Unfortunately, our force is still miserably inadequate to the
labour required from it. There seems little chance of getting up the
huts before winter is over, and the camp is still unsupplied with the
necessaries of life. The hope of deriving any effective assistance from
the Turks must be faint, if it be true that OMER PACHA has resigned
his command. The preparations in the allied camps for a terrible
bombardment of Sebastopol continued to progress, though slowly.
When the fire opened in earnest it was conceived that it would suffice
to destroy the town. The Russians continued to be actively employed
in strengthening their defences and raising new batteries, and it was
stated that they had received large reinforcements. Stubborn sorties
continue to be made on the French and English lines, sufficient to
show that the enemy are bent on fighting, and evidently desperate
work must be antici, 'ted when, after this lull, the storm of battli.
again breaks forth.