The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-17 00:00:00

7(1721/4nn thi Morning chronicle of :this day.)

Last night the House of Commons was inviteci ta.hear
a further chapter of Lord John Russell's " t.)xpla'mations."
As in February, the noble lord again spuiie from the
back b,enches.

' For the present we must take Lord Jo lin Russell's
1104Pce as we find it. Ile had gone totVientra with the
fixed intention of contriving the destruction. of Russian
preponderance in the Black Sea, if poaeibie, for all time
to come. , At the data of his departure he was impressed
with a persuasion that the objeck.was wor, likely to be
obtained by arms than by diplomacy. .As the practical
bearings of each point came out in-detail, he pronounced
from the first.a decided opinion against th 9 Pzoposal for
settling the question of preponderance upon the prin-
ciple of counterpoise instead of that of limitation. His
Government coincided in this view.-

Lord Clarendon sent the most invigoratiog a. espatcheß,
and the Frinch Emperor was known to be in complete
concurrence on the subject. Thus far, all was right and
straightforward. From some time in March to the
middle of April the negotiations had been con; ducted
with vigour, if not with success. • The clauses e two
points were battled over and arranged, and the term. 5 of
the third subjected to prolonged discussion, witho.lt
making any concession to the adversary, or surrendering
one of the real objects of the war..
Before his departure from Vienna, however, on one
fatal day—the 15th of April—a change came over the
mind of the noble lord. On the eve of that day, Lord
John Russell retained in all their force 'his objections- to
the principle of a counterpoise. On the morrow he
not only accepted it, but gave a pledge to Count
Buol that he would urge its adoption on the Britislu
Ministry, to whom, moreover, he despatched at the.
same time an earnest entreaty not to reject the Proposal
until they had heard his pleas in its support. His re
quest was accorded—his arguments listened td—the pro-,
position deliberately discussed and rejected. So far in
his narrative Lord John has told us nothing which we
did not know before. But here comes the pith and
substance of his vindication. He accepted the counter-
poise proposition upon the assurance—how conveyed he
did not mention—that Austria , would present it as an
ultimatum to Russia, and consider its rejection a mu.,
belli. His colleagues afterwards refused the proposal,
because they had discovered that thissupposedassurance
would never be fulfilled. This was, the solitary plea on
which he rested his defence. Sir E. B. Lytton recalled
the house to the real point in question, which Lord John
Russell had limited to merely personal considerations.
Here, he observed, was a contest on which the honour,
the treasures, the best blood and dearest interests of the
nation were staked. Hera also was a ministry entrusted
with the conduct of the struggle, and prefessing
the heartiest energy and most entire unanimity in
the cause. Yet time after time the proofs became un-
deniableethat different members of the Administration
were utterly opposed to the war, on principle and in de-
tail. When, it would be asked, was this hypocrisy to
cease ? To whom among the servants of the Crown was
the public to look as a sincere believer in the faith they
all professed, and a trustworthy agent in carrying on the
conflict in which the sympathies of the country were so
deeply engaged ? Lord Palmerston did not even at-
tempt to answer these questions. In a few sentences of
mingled bluster and rant he did his best to deserve the
character, which Mr. Disraeli afterwards assigned to
him, of being the " Patrician Bully" of the house. Ex-
pression was given to the apprehension which weighs
most heavily on the public miad by Mr. Roebuck, when
declaring his conviction that, notwithstanding the re-
moval of Lord John Russell, there were still " Traitors
in the Cabinet." The immediate issue of the debate is
necessarily a blank. Lord Palmerston's Cabinet has
escaped from the encounter maimed and victorious. But
they cannot afford to repeat the operation at a similar
price. Ode more nick victory, -and-the governinent is
undone.