The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-30 00:00:00

him not humble by handcuffing some one—a
CANNON, for instance—who had half-killed an
honest man. Equally absurd is it to be tender over
the reputation and ease of a nation which, for a
century past, has been the robber and the appro-
priater of border nations, and which has gone on
to this hour converting all her spoils into the
means of plundering yet more. There is obviously
not a shadow of reason why Odessa might not have
shared the recent fate of Kertch and Yenikale last
year ; none indeed why Nicolaieff and all the
Black Sea ports might not have been reduced to
ruins. Had that been first done Sebastopol, if
not carried by a coup de main, would have been
starved out before Christmas, and the battles of
Inkertnan and Balaklava would never have been
fought ; both shores of the Danube would have
been ours, and the trade of the Principalities
would have been open to all Europe. However,
it is needless to particularise. The whole policy
would have been the very opposite of what it has
been. Poland, Finland, Bessarabia, and Circa,ssia,
would all have been used as allies. No means
would have been neglected to reduce Russia to
Russia again, and to deprive her for ever of the
means of offence against her peaceful neighbour
states.

exhibited the real feeling of an influential portion
of the late Government, and it is impossible to
say that there are other Cabinet Ministers who
do not entertain similar opinions. Lord PAL-
MERSTON declared that the change of Ministry
should lead to no change of policy. Mr. GLAD-
STONE reveals the nature of that policy, and Lord
PALMERSTON refuses to be bound against any undue
compromise or dishonourable conditions—on the
ground, forsooth, that "it would interfere with the
prerogative of the Crown ;" or, in other words, be-
cause he considered that the representative branch
of the Legislature had no right to express an
opinion respecting the terms on which peace might
be obtained. This principle will have to be de-
cided early next week. Should a majority prove
faithless to the trust confided to their charge--
should they be willing to become political cyphers
—to submit to the abrogation of their most im-
portant functions, the British Constitution will
become very different from what we have been
accustomed to consider it, and the power of the
Crown will be enormously enhanced, at the ex-
pense of the other branches of the Imperial Par-
liament. Those who assert the independence of
their order will not only have to struggle with
the entire Ministerial phalanx, but with the
peace-at-any-price men and the avowed friends
of Muscovite supremacy. It is a formidable con-
federacy, and its opponents should be supported
by the voice of public opinion, and every demon-
stration that can possibly be made.

We write thus plainly and openly because we
think the present is the very crisis fer the people
to do their part. It is plain that the debates of
last week have not been without their effect in
the Crimea. We did not cease while the Confer-
ences lasted to denounce their baneful influence
on our camp. Even a capable and energetic
general would have been loth to hazard the
lives of his troops, when the next day he
might learn that all his sacrifices were
for nothing. Vienna paralysed the besiegers of
Sebastopol. But that mischievous farce and folly
being mercifully over, and our Houses of Parlia-
ment showing themselves not a little indignant
with the paltriness of the Four Points, Ministers
now seem to have felt that stir they must. It
rests with the people to compel them to go on, to
forbid any more conferences with a marauder and
a highwayman. Let the whole nation refuse to
tolerate again this compounding with a felon.'The
task of civilisation now is to arrest Russia, to try
and to condemn her. She ought never again to
be permitted to offer terms, much less to be
asked to offer them ! She must be told the sen-
tence she is to submit to, not asked whether it
suits her ; the terms must be dictated, not offered
—enforced, not discussed. Nothing ought to be
left to her option ; she has no character which
can be a guarantee for her observance of any
treaty. She never observed any yet, except so
far as it favoured her. The only security Europe
can now take is to strip her of all her conquests
which have made her formidable, and to make
her pay the entire expenses of the War, thereby
crippling her military finances for a generation to
come.

It has frequently been asserted that " England
is not a military nation"—that the tastes and
habits of the people are not suited for great
achievements by land, or calculated to carry on
what is termed a successful campaign. This de-
preciating opinion does not apply to the conduct
of her soldiers during the actual strife. Their
deeds in the battle-field have been duly and
honourably appreciated. Their steady courage
and unflinching bravery have never been disputed,
for the simple reason that they are beyond all
question. They possess all the great requisites of
first-rate soldiers, equal, if not superior, to any
the world ever saw. It is in minor and compara-
tively trivial details that their deficiencies are
perceptible, by which serious losses are occa-
sioned, but too frequently exceeding the deaths
from the prowess of the enemy, and by
which the survivors are compelled to endure
severe privation and suffering, and are pre-
vented from turning their successes to the best
advantage. These, however, result from the de-
fects of the system, not of the men. We possess
the highest quality of the raw material, but we
do not know how to work it up properly—" to
manufacture " soldiers of the best description.
Now that we thoroughly perceive the aggres-
sive disposition of Russia, the possibility, if not
the probability, of the general tranquillity being
disturbed at any moment, that we recognise the
truth of the well-known aphorism, si vis pacem,
pan!, bellum, we should spare no exertions to pro-
vide an adequate remedy or remedies for these ad-
mitted errors. We should strive to educate soldiers
as well as officers for the positions in which they
respectively may be placed, so as to qualify them
to encounter the difficulties and overcome the ob-
stacles by which they may be opposed in the most
eligible manner.

emergency to act for themselves—to supply any
possible failure on any side. These may be really
useful lessons. Lot us hope that the golden oppor-
tunity may not be wasted or misapplied.

We feel compelled a second time to call atten-
tion to the Cardigan fisheries. As our readers
will gather from a letter which appears in another
part of our present impression, the industrious
and enterprising lessee is still left, comparatively
unprotected, to the malice, cunning, and violence
of the brutal and lawless mob infesting the neigh-
bourhood. He applies ') Lord PALMERSTON for
protection, and is referred to Sir GEORGE GREY,
who recommends him to apply to the magistrates,
who assure him of their willingness to protect
him, in which assurance we have reason to believe
they are perfectly sincere, and, after all, he is
worse off than at first. In his despair he applies
to the Admiralty, and is coolly informed St. Dag-
mell's is out of its jurisdiction. It is quite evi-
dent, therefore, that the Cardigan fisheries are
practically out of the pale of law, and that the
St. Dagmell's fishermen, of all people in the em-
pire, possess the singular privilege of doing
what they like, short, it is to be hoped, of
murder, with utter. impunity, provided they
have the decency to observe a few forms.
Is this sort of thing to last much longer ?
Are a few ignorant and drunken fishermen to be
permitted to interpose a lawless veto between a
district abounding with resources and its develop-
ment ? Are they to go on perpetuating ignorance
and brutality, with the connivance of law, to the
ruinous discouragement of industry and intelli-
gence ? We will not mince matters. The nature
of the answer will depend largely on the course
adopted by the magistrates and respectable in-
habitants. LA them but memorialise Sir GEORGE
GREY- or the Premier on the subject, using at the
same time whatever Parliamentary influence they
may possess, and Government will be shamed into
doing its duty—the fisheries will have adequate
protection for the future,a whether by the applica-
tion of the Irish Fisheries Act or other means, and
a crying scandal to the district and to the entire
country will be removed. Let them fail to do
this, and a worse state of things than exists at
present will, in all human probability, ensue.
Both humanity and patriotism appeal to them.
Shall it be in vain ?

COURT CIRCULAR.

OSBORNE, MAY 29.

Her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert,
attended by the Marchioness of Ely, the Hon. Mary
Seymour, Major-General Buckley, and Captain Du Plat,
embarked in the Fairy yesterday afternoon for Ports-
mouth. The Queen and Prince, on arriving in the har-
bour, went on board the Cormorant transport screw-
steamer, and minutely inspected the arrangements for
conveying the detachment of the 17th Lancers, under
orders to sail for the Crimea in the evening.
The Queen and Prince afterwards went on board the
new Royal yacht, and returned to Osborne about half-
past 6 o'clock.

- The Royal dinner party yesterday included her Royal
Highness the Duchess of Kent, her Serene Highness the
Princess Hohenlohe, Princess Adelaide of Hohenlohe,
Lady Anna Mark Dawson, Sir George Couper, Lieute-
nant-Colonel Jeffreys, commanding Dapot Battalion at
Parkhurst, and the Rev. George Protheroe.
The Duchess of Kent took leave of her Majesty this
morning, and left Osborne for London, attended by
Lady Anna Maria Dawson and Sir George Couper.

The people should not remain idle during the
recess. There are important questions pending,
and every independent constituency should lose
no time in instructing its representatives as to the
course to be adopted. Every line of policy is re-
presented, and although we can scarcely doubt
that the bolder councils will prevail, it is still de-
sirable that there should be popular demonstra-
tions, of such a character as to avert or neutra-
lise the mischief occasioned by the notices of
Lord GRIT, Mr. MILNER GIBSON, and Sir WIL-
LIAM HEA.TEICOTE, and the pro-Russian speeches
of the crotchetty Earl in the Lords, and the no
less crotchetty Peelite leader in the Commons.
The amendment of Sir FRANCIS BARING, which
will be put from the chair as a substantive pro-
position on Monday or Tuesday, is equivalent to
a vote of confidence in Ministers. It is virtually
a declaration that the House of Commons will
persist in that " abnegation of its functions" for
which it has become so painfully conspicuous,
that it will leave everything in the hands of the
Government, and willingly acquiesce in any deci-
sion that may be arrived at, whether for peace
or war. It is for the electors to say whether they
are contented that their representatives should
continue to display such apathetic indifference re-
specting matters in which they are so deeply in-
terested, whether secret diplomacy is still to pre-
vail, and the People have no voice in anything
save in assenting to ,the extra taxes which the
War Minister may think proper to demand.
The Oxford amendment, brought forward under
the sanction of the Peelites and the Peace party,
is virtually that of Mr. MILNER GIBSON'S. It is
in favour of an ignominious and transitory peace,
and of placing Great Britain at the feet of Russia.
There seems to be an impression amongst those
peace-mongers that if we only displayed due sub-
mission Russia would graciously accord pardon for
our past misdeeds; that she would become wearied
of striking one who bore every insult without re-
sistance or remonstrance. But those who, if
allowed to live and make calico, would patiently
ndure every indignity, are totally mistaken in
their estimates of Russian forbearance. It is
,nly in that country that the stipulated number
of blows must be inflicted, should they fall merely
on a senseless corpse. The knout will not be
-topped by the death of the victim. The sticks
will still fall on and strike a mass of bleeding
clay, from which life had departed ; and were
England at the feet of Russia, her fate would be
deplorable indeed—worse, if possible, than that
of plundered and outraged Poland.
The other issue before the public is that framed
by the Honourable Gentleman the Member for
Kidderminster, which, while it carefully avoids in
any degree damaging the Ministry, binds the-House
by a resolution which would prevent Ministers
from concluding any peace on the basis of the Russian
propositions or either of them. Mr. LOWE puts
forward a positive fact, and draws the natural
deduction therefrom. He truly ascribes the
failure of the negotiations to " the refusal of
Russia to restrict the strength of her navy in
the Black Sea," and declares that " the means of
coming to agreement on the third basis of nego-
Galion were by that refusal exhausted." it is
this latter point on which the contest will take
place—and on the result will depend the power

In order to discover the fitting remedies, we
must first trace out the causes from which these
untoward results arise. " Melius est peters
fontes quani sectari rivulos," let us discover the
very fountain and origin of the evils, rather than
be diverted by petty or trifling details which can-
not supply a radical cure. We have to improve
both officers and men. We must strive to make
both classes reasoning animals rather than mere
machines, and to enable them to meet any casu,
alties that may Arise in the best and most suitable
manner. The system of promotion by purchase--
of inducing men "to play at soldiers " rather
than to make it a profession requiring consider-
able labour before they can hope for success—is
one of these evils. We no not find amateurs in
any trade or calling as eminent as those who pur-
sue it as a business. If our liberty or property
be endangered we do not apply for advice to
one of the " great unpaid," but to an eminent
barrister ; if a limb be broken, we seek a well-
known surgeon, and, although it is said that
"at forty years old every man must be either a
fool or a physician," we do not, when health
is failing, inquire from some clever neighbour the
causes of the alarming symptoms. In like man-
ner amateur actors, amateur musicians, amateur
painters, aye, and amateur jockeys, are all in their
way inferior to their professional competitors.
And why should we suppose that it would be
otherwise in military matters, or that amateur
officers, who merely take up the service as a pas-
time, who are ready on any occasion to vote the
service a bore and threaten "to sell out " at the
most trivial annoyance, can be equal to these
who make it the business of their lives, from
which they must not merely look for distinction,
but for subsistence ? We may rest assured that
while the system of promotion by purchase, con
tinues in operation we shall always have officers,
as a body, inferior to those of other nations.
There will, of c)urse, be many and brilliant ex-
ceptions, but we are justified in laying down as a
general rule that which is in s.caordance with
comm on sense.

and stability of the democratic element of the
Constitution. The Premier is willing to concede
that it was owing to the refusal of Russia to re-
strict the strength of her navy in the Black Sea
" that the Conferences of Vienna have not led to
the termination of hostilities." He therefore
acknowledges that Russia has violated the pledge
and refused her assent to that to which she
expressly bound herself so late as January
last. But he shrinks from the legitimate
conclusion. He will not say that " the
means of coming to agreement were, by that
refusal, exhausted." He thus holds out the hope
to Russia that she will be permitted to evade the
solemn obligation into which she deliberately en-
tered ; that she may
still tnereace Constantinople,
and increase her ships-of-war to any extent she
may think proper. This would be a fatal admis-
sion; it would induce
Russia to hold out against
every bona fide engagement, to cling to her ag-
gressive policy to the laid
Mr. GLADSTONE has
shown the danger to which the
country was ex-
' posed under the ABERDEEN cabinet. Re has

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, attended
by Lady Anna Maria Dawson and Sir George CoupPr,
left Osborne yesterday morning, crossed from Cowes to
Southampton in the Fairy Royal steam-yacht, travelled
to London by the South-Western Railway, and arrived
at her residence, Clarence-house, St. James's, at half-
past 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
The Turkish Minister had an interview with the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer yesterday. Sir Alexander
Spearman bad also an interview with the right hon.
baronet at his official residence in Downing-street.
Despatches were received at the Colonial-office yester-
day from the Governor of New Zealand.

As to the soldiers, they excel in the field be-
cause we only educate them for the hour of con-
flict. If the Commissariat be defective, they are
unable to supply their most pressing exigencies,
and even if rations be supplied, they are ignorant
of the mode of cooking them properly, and half of
that they obtain is literally wasted from not know-
ing what to do with it when obtained. If deprived
of covering, they endure bravely, it is true, the
pelting of the storm, but are not apt to provide a
substitute. Contrast the sufferings of the French
and English soldiers in the Crimea. How quickly
did the former avail themselves of every oppor-
tunity that arose, and how great were the suffer-
ings ? how fearful the privations? how serious the
losses of our men, arising from the absence of
what our light-hearted Allies term the savoir vivre?
An academy on a large scale is about to be
opened to teach our men this much-required
knowledge. Yes ; the Camp at • Aldershott will
be simply a military ;school, from which, if pro-
per instruction be afforded, the most beneficial re-
sults must follow. The earliest experiment at
Chobham was not as successful as it ought to
have been ; but still many advantages accrued
from the trial. But at Aldershott we may cor-
rect any deficiencies in the former attempt ; we
may apply instruction in the points where it is
most urgently required.
It is not, as we have stated, merely the
management of the men in the battle-field—the
accustoming them to act together in large masses,
or even to teach the officers how to manoeuvre
brigades, but to make them know how to render
themselves as comfortable as possible in a bivouac,
to cook their rations properly, and to find if even
"green coffee" were served out that it might be
converted into a wholesome and palatable beverage ;
to improve the transport, and commissariat, and
medical departments, and enable the men in any j

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING MAY 30 1855.

LAW INTELLIGENCE (THIS DAY).

COURT OF CHANCERY.
MEYNELL V. SURTEES.

The further arguments in this part-heard appeal oc-
cupied the Lord Chancellor the whole day. We have
already given the facts of the case shortly.
(Before the Vice-Chancellor Stuart.)