The Press.
London, England, 1854-12-16 00:00:00

1178

by the self-inculpation of the culprits. Sen-
tence may be passed at any moment. But,
for the time, this is a small triumph. Who can
exult over the despair and fall of a wretched
Coalition at a time when the onour of
England is in question? . The Onfi i 'on have
I
admitted that they hays hrought a to nwo
tional disaster, and ttinitt 4 their awl ct od
national fortunes are, inhy be, pn the eve of
some yet more terribli) datastroplta. We have
scant time to think of thissi—whal til to be
done for England?
They are maundering over a Militia Bill.
They knew when despatching the ill-starred
expedition, that it was the advice and opinion
of the highest military authOrity in the king-
dom that a reserve of at least 10,000 men
should be kept in the Levant or at Varna, and
that a reserve of 30,000 men should have been
held in hand at home ready for embarkation
at need. This counsel they rejected or neg-
lected, and instead of calling out the Militia
in the spring, by which means a disciplined
and seasoned force would have been at their
command in this hour of need, they are calling
it out now, when, like all their other opera-
tions, the process is " too late."
Wretched, indeed, is the commentary af-
forded by Thursday's debate upon that of Tues-
day. The prepared devices, affectations, and
sham pleas, of the first night having been all
flung away, the naked case had to be stated in
all its deformity. T.,ord I)ALMERSTON'S Wednes
day clap-trap about our " reserve" being " the
spirit of the country" was pitifully followed
by the Puke of NEWCASTLE'S Thursday avowal
that we oould not raise men in England, and
must organise a foreign legion. If it were
possible to add to the humiliation to
which the assembling of Parliament has
compelled the Coalition formally to sub mit,
that object would be effected by the exhibi-
tions of the Home Secretary on Wednesday,
and of the War Secretary on Thursday. But
who cares to count the mud-blotches on the
Coalition banner, while the standard of En-
gland may be in momentous peril?

THE AUSTRIAN TREATY.
For some fon; months and more the Opposi.
tion, in and out of Parliament, has been un-
ceasingly charged with factiousness in every
form by the organs of the Coalition,--our
criticisms were captious, and our facts fables ;
only let the first day of the session come, and—
we shall see.
The day luticome, and every solitary charge
we made is admitted to be true with an almost
ludicrous simplicity of confession. Not a
syllable in the Queen's Speech claims for the
achievements of her Majesty's Ministers any-
thing beyond a charitable forgetfulness.
But one redeeming point is urged one
great card is played, the Austrian alliance.
And this sentence in the Speech was fated
very early to acquire a somewhat unexpected
notoriety.
Lord DERBY, in the happiest phrase of a
singularly happy speech, disposed of our con-
tinental politics at once. " Austria is doubt-
" fully neutral, Prussia is doubhe tfully hostiad-
le."
Lord ABERDEER, acting on t judicious
vice, " When you have nnthing to say, say
" nothing," refrained front making a speech,
and contented himself with " saying a few
" words in answer to the observations of the
" Noble Earl," which, as the Noble Earl turned
out to be Lord GREY, and not Lord DERBY, was
a very innocent operation. Lord DERBY s '
virtual amendment to the Address, declining
to pledge the House to an approval of a treaty
it had not seen, thanks to the unmerited for-
bearance of the Opposition, was carried, and
such of her Majesty's Ministers as are mem-
bers of the Upper House, Went to bed nothing
worse than "humble and civil." We much
regret that, in one instance, at least, a Noble
Duke has already " returned to his bad habits"
again.
In the other House the same amount of
" factious" forbearance and goodnature ani-
mated Sir JOHN PAKINOTON'S speech, and sub-
mitted to BOW 11QUX8 of Mr. SWEET HERBERT'S