The Press.
London, England, 1858-07-03 00:00:00

different view, and shall give an absolutely con-
tradictor7 answer.
We will venture to assert that Parliament and
the Government which is maintained by it have
done in this session more for their country and
for Europe, more for the steady progress of
civilization and the security of peace, than has
been effectea since 1842. At home the sagacious
course taken by the Cabinet, with the aid of the
House of Commons, has freed us from the incubus
of "Family Government;" and, fortunately for the
future proress of the country, it is conclusively
established, after many doubts and fears, and
many struggles indeed, but still conclusively
established, that Parliament can supply her
Majesty with an Administration in which there
shall be neither a Russell, nor an Elliot. nor
a Grey, nor even a Palmerston or a Cowper.
We are free from the tyranny of Family Com-
binations, under which we have groaned ever
since the disruption of the great Conservative
party, of which Sir R. PEEL was at once the con-
structor and the destroyer. The desperate attempt
made to reinstate the old order of Whigs through
the instrumentality of Mr. CARDWELL'S motion
was fortunately foiled by the good sense, or the
alarm, of the House of Commons; and we have
seen, in the manner in which the Bill for the or-
ganization of a new Government for India has
been discussed and conducted, the first fruits of
our deliverance, and of the better relations estab-
lished by it bctw.ien the Administration and the
of

House Commons. Lord PALMERSTON sought
to make India the subject of party conflict and the
instrument of party victory; and had he succeeded
in his attempts the Government of India, the policy
of India, and the patronage of India, would have
become henceforth as much party matters, dis-
cussed and contended for as such in Parliament,
as were either the Corn Laws or Parliamentary
Reform. The country has been saved, fortu-
nately, from such a discreditable and disastrous
conclusion. The Government and the house of
Commons have been able to apply themselves to
the great task of recasting the Indian Adminis-
tration, with minds free from considerations of
party ascendancy; their conclusions are embodied
in what promises to be a useful and practical
measure, and there is every ground for hoping
that under the new form of government India
may continue to be kept out of the category of
English party questions.

Abroad, the effects of our deliverance from the
PALMERSTON Cabinet have been still more
remarkable, and the influences of the change
still more important. It is unquestionable that
Lord PALMERSTON had by his demeanour and
language, if not by his policy, through a long
series of years, so profoundly wounded and irri-
tated the feelings of foreign nations, that friendly
and temperate negotiations with our neighbours,
and even with our allies, had become almost im-
possible. We were always in hot water—always
writing and receiving notes and despatches that
seemed to be thrusting us, whether we would or
no, to the very brink of hostilities, and obtaining
no other satisfaction than hearing from his friends
and admirers that the dexterity, audacity, and
Food luck with which Lord PALMERSTON had
just saved us was astonishing, and that the
expense of a Chinese war was not to be thought
of in comparison. It is remarkable that
Lord PALMERSTON never concluded a difference
peaceably without leaving a sting behind, and
sowing at the same time the seeds of future dis-
like and of new discussions. The altered footing
upon which the present Government, by their
temperate language and firm yet conciliatory
conduct, have already placed our relations with
our neighbours--with France, with Naples, with
Sardinia, and with America—and the new and
better feelings which their policy and manage-
ment have so quickly begotten, cannot but
open the eyes of the public to the fact, that it
was to Lord PALMERSTON'S personal character
that we owed a very considerable portion of our
frequent and serious differences with foreign
Governments. The Cabinet of Lord DERBY,
IBM ably represented by Lord MALMESBURY and
.N.r. SEYMOUR FITZGERALD, has materially
improved and amended our foreign position, and
while vindicating the dignity and asserting the
rights of England, has at the same time not
only established peaceful relations, but created
kindly feelings between ourselves and those
countries with whom geographical position or
commercial relations bring us in neighbourhood

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