The Express.
London, England, 1855-01-26 00:00:00

YESTERDAY'S RUMOURS.

YESTERDAY was the high festival of Rumour.
In the afternoon—some time before Mr. HAT-
TER made an official announcement of the fact
in the House of Commons—it had become tolerably
well known that Lord JOHN RUSSELL no longer
held office in the Cabinet of Lord ABERDEEN. The
public expected to hear that Government had been
defeated in an attempt to oppose Mr. RORMICK's
motion for a committee of inquiry into the
conduct of the war,; and they were obliged
to be content, at least for a few hours, with the
sacrifice of one Minister. And, after all, it was neither
the Duke of NEWCASTLE nor Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT,
but Lord JOHN Ream, who had offered himself as
the victim to public indignation. Were matters to
remain thus, the Pulite. would be undisturbed in the
honours and emoluments of office, and the Whig
sestion of the Cabinet alone would be made to feel
that " England does not like a Coalition." But can
the movement stop here? Or are we to hear of fresh
re4gnations ? Is one Minister after the other to
flinch from inquiry until Lord ABERDEEN is left, in
solitary and unenviable grandeur, to look upon the
desolation he has caused ? Or is Lord JoaN RUssELL
the only one who has the honesty to confess that, in
almost every respect, the Crimean expedition has
been shamefully mismanaged; that the best thing is to
make a clean breast of it, and to give up the task into
the hands of men better qualified to meet a great
emergency P To none of these questions can any
reliable answer be returned, beyond what will be
found stated in the preceding article.
While waiting till Lord Joao shall tell his own
tale in Parliament, it may be interesting to give,
DISRUPTION. in as few words as possible, the passing rumours of
yesterday. In some quarters it was believed, early
We understand tbat, on the evening of the 23rd
in the forenoon, that the whole Ministry had resolved
instant, Lord foam Russell. wrote to the Earl of
ABERDEEN, intimating that Mr. Minium had given upen res
ll
igning' The "deal' it wee said' was isn severe'
Do what they would, it was equay impossible to
to
co
of a motion for the appointment of a commit- the facts, and to withstand the sarcasm of
tee to inquire into the conduct of the war. Lord
Mr. ROEBUCK. The time had gone by for promises
Joao stated that he did not see how the motion
could be resisted. And he added, that uit involved and equivocations. The British nation wanted to
know what had become of the thousands of brave
a censure upon the War Department, with which his
man who had lately left these shores in the pride of
colleagues were connected, he thought his only course
was to tender his resignation. This resignation life and strength. From every lip, in every palace
was carried to Windsor by Lord ABERDEEN on and every cottage, the stern inquiry had come. It was
Wednesday, and has been accepted by her MAJESTY. a terrible thing to face the organ of a nation, roused
beyond endurance by the spectacle of calamities
We were right, therefore, when we yesterday pre-
w
dieted that Mr. RoEßucK's motion would lead to which might have been avoided. It might be that
a ministerial „jai,. But the progress of events other men would have been quite as inexperienoed,
lies been even more rapid than we expected.
The quite as unprepared for war, quite as unable to over-
heeeh-up of the Ministry has preceded, not followed, come the enormous difficulties of the crisis. But be
that as it might, Ministers could not but know that
the debate on Mr. ROEBUCK'S motion. We say the
break-up of the Ministry—for the resignation of Lord they at least had failed, and the only possible course
lonx Russ= is the drawing of the linch-pin out of
was to resign.
the coalition coach; it is impossible that the crazy
Another rumour soon succeeded—that two members
vehicle can continue to trundle on. Lord JOHN only were to be sacrificed. The Duke of NEWCASTLE
RUSSELL having tendered his resignation, on the and Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT were responsible, in the
pros ground that he thought the national demand eyes of the public, for the confessed mismanagement
Aar inquiry into the conduct of the war ought to be of the Crimean expedition. Why should the whole
complied with, Lord ABERDEEN, by advising his Cabinet suffer for the wins of two men ? Why not
Sovereign to accept the resignation, has declared his ding away the leaven which went far to corrupt the
resehtdon to resist all inquiry. It is impossible, whole mass P This was no time to think of private
with so many gross instances of mismanagement friendship and family connexions. Public men must
staring the public in the face, and with such manifest rise above such petty considerations. How has that
impulses, on the part of the nation to know the powerful Coalition Ministry earned nothing but con-
whole troth, as a preliminary to improved manage, tempt, inspiring no confidence, declining in repute-
msat, that any Ministry can make a stood cm such tion, bat bemuse two out of the whole number had
untenable ground. shown themselves unequal to their task P There
The truth is, that „may and concealment can could be no doubt about the matter. The sinning
only tend to a perpetuation of imbecile formalism in members must be cut off. In other words, the Duke
the conduct of the war. They can only Doreen that of NEWCASTLE and Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT must
sowardise which has occasioned all the delay and resign'
Notecion under which the army in the Crimea is At lest these rumours evaporated, and the real
sawing; cowardice, not of oar armaments in the truth came out that Lord Joao RUSSELL alone had
field, but of people at home, who have never dared to resigned, and that political oracles had been con-
masons appointment for merit alone, nor to mean stilted in vain. But the question remained, how the
OM individual for incapacity or neglect. Under a event came to pass According to some accounts, the
system of seamy no encouragement is held out to an wholeproesediog is a conspiracy, Pot up by Lord Joux
English Ministry to make good appointments; on the RUSSELL and Lord PALMER TON, for the entire
contrary, it ensures immunity from punishment destruction of the Peelites. It was all very well,
for making bad appointments, and is nothing short so long as the Whip were weak, to coalesce
of a motional misfortune. It encourages a Minister with the followers of Sir ROBERT PEEL, but what
to make bad appointments, inasmuch as it enable, was the cue now? It was the Peelites who had
him to make a show of vindicating himself by at drawn down upon the Cabinet the indignation of the
any time throwing the blame upon some subordi. public, and they must perish in the storm which their
nate, and sacrificing the unfortunate to appease public own conduct had raised. Besides, the whole force of
indignation. This wretched Briton, we have good public opinion pointed in that &motion. It was
reason to believe, has been systematically acted upon Lord GREY who had pointed out the necessity for a
by some of the Ministate, who have given =lnto. War Minister, and no one was so well fitted as he
nines to the attacks upon Lord RAGLAN, from the was to undertake the arduous duties of that post-
ignoble motive of averting such attacks from them-With Lord Jona Mune as Premier, Lord Pair
selves. NERISToN as leader of the House of Common, and
Against this dastardly policy—against the Lord GREY as War Minister, the whole aspect of
system of mystification and concealment which affairs would presently be changed. The wand of
has rendered its practice possible—Lad Imre the magician would wave over the snow-clad steppes
Russell. has solemnly protested by withdraw• of the Crimea, Sebastopol would fall, and the mir-
ing, from the Cabinet. Lord ABERDEENand mory of the dread and sorrowful past would quickly
his more immediate retainers in the Minis, fads away-
I try, by their earnest preparations to resist Mr. I But this was not the only form that busy rumour
Roznuex's motion, have declared their fixed deter took. Lord JOHN Reuset's esoteric reams fee
mination to shroud their conduct in mystery, in warming the position he did were revealed by certain'

BRUSSELS, 3.45. 24.

Letters received to-day from the German capitals
bear witness to the uneasy feeling caused throughout
Germany by the refusal of the Prussian Court to act
cordially, or indeed at all, with Austria in the present
crisis of continental affairs. The last despatch of
Count Buol, which has reached us simultaneously
from Germany and England, has brought this oppo-
sition into strong relief. We hear, on good autho-
rity, that there is a further despatch, addressed im-
mediately to the Prussian Court, renewing the
demand of mobilisation. We are also told that
Austria has signified her resolution, in case she should
not carry with her the majority in the Diet at
Frankfort, to accept such alliances u she can find in
Germany, leaving the non-active members of the
Confederation to take the consequences. This is bold
language, supposing it to have been held. The
realisation of such a threat would expose the worth-
lessness of the Germanic Confederation as an expres-
sion and instrument of German unity ia a most
instructive and useful manner. We are assured by
the Trursburg Galette that Hanover, Brunswick,
Baden, and the two Hemet have declared for Austria.
Saxony and Wurtemberg are against mobilisation;
and Bavaria is undecided.—Doily News.