The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-03 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1855,

THE MINISTERIAL CRISIS.

Negotiations, it would seem, are still pending
for the formation of another Coalition Whig-
Peelite Cabinet, but it is difficult to deter-
mine whether the Premier will be a Whig Peer,
Lord Palmerston, or the late President of the

Council. Rumour gives the office to the present
Foreign Minister ; but all that can be positively
asserted is that the leaders of the two parties,
Lord John Russell included, were last night, and
still are, in close communication with each other.

Nothing has as yet been accomplished respect-
ing the formation of a Ministry. We are still
involved in doubt and difficulty on that all-im-
portant subject. In ordinary times we might feel
disposed to make every allowance for "personal"
objections—for the petty cavilling and palpable
intriguing by which men strive to enhance their
own influence, raising obstacles which they them-
selves may be the first to demolish, and which they
take especial care not to render insurmountable.
They seem to think, with some of the fairer sex,
that the difficulty of tho pursuit increases the
charm of the conquest, and that the party who
surrendered at discretion would not be sufficiently
prized after the triumph had been achieved.

But there is now no time for these coquettish
airs, which may be very pretty, but are certainly
entirely out of place under existing circumstances.
A stern monitor, in the shape of our suffering
army in the Crimea, demands more serious atten-
tion to the exigencies of our position. We can-
not suffer one hundred men per diem to perish.
We cannot risk the fate of the Allied Armies, and
the prolongation of the War to an indefinite
period, to gratify the vanity of My Lord This, or
the Right Honourable Mr. That. The old adage
bath it that, " Happy's the wooing that's not long
a doing ;" and, to compare small things with
groat, we may venture to hope that the negotia-
tions for the formation of a strong and vigorous
Administration may not bo unduly or unneces-
sarily protracted.

We are at this moment, it appears, farther than
over from the attainment of the great desidera-
tum. When the Joint-stock Administration, or
rather its inefficient and apathetic head, was con-
demned by an overwhelming majority of the po-
pular branch of the Legislature, there remained
three Noblemen, one of whom must, almost ne-
cessarily, be selected by her MAJESTY for the
onerous and important duty of forming a Govern-
ment. It is true that her MAJESTY might, as her
Grandfather once threatened to do, "go down to
Charing Cross and take the first twelve persons
passing to form a Cabinet." But the days for
these violent exertions of the prerogative have gone
by, and there is but a slight chance that our most
gracious QUEEN, who thoroughly understands the
principle of the Constitution under which she
occupies so exalted a position, would put her own
privilege to a test so onerous. She desires to
rule by love rather than by fear—with the cor-
dial and heartfelt approval, and not in despite of,
her people. She would not seek to depart from
the recognised precedents, or to act in such man-
ner as to bring herself in collision with either of
the co-ordinate branches of the Legislature.

Her choice, then, rested between Lords DERBY,
JOHN RIJSSELL, and PALMERSTON. There was no
1 other eligible party, for although the Marquis
of LANSDOWNE might naturally be consulted,
his position was analogous to that previ-
ously occupied by the " Iron Duke," who,
I without any intention of undertaking a duty, for
1 which his advanced years unfitted him, was always
ready to give the benefit of his great experience,
sound judgment, and practical common sense to
his SOVEREIGN. No subject could aspire to a
more honourable or beneficial position. It is one
for which the Noble Marquis is pre-eminently
qualified, and which we trust he may long be
spared to fill. But an attempt to re-enter the
i arena in which he formerly played a prominent
I part—as a chief actor—is ono which he himself
long since repudiated, and which it would be
deeply painful to witness.
The first name, that of Lord DERBY, was that
1 which naturally suggested itself to her MAJESTY.
He was the recognised leader of the most nume-
rous of the various parties into which the repre-
sentative branch of the Legislature was divided,
while ho had an indisputable majority in the other
House. He had previously been at the head of
a Government, and was, in fact, the natural suc-
cessor to Lord ABERDEEN. This was easily per-
ceptible, and accordingly Lord DERBY was first
sent for by his SOVEREIGN. It is understood
—although difficulties opposed his progress—that
he undertook the duty, feeling confident that he
could obtain the assistance of Lord PALMERSTON
(without whose cooperation it would, in the present
state of public feeling, be difficult for any Govern-
ment to stand). A protracted interview followed,
and it was generally understood that a satisfactory
arrangement had been made. Mr. DISRAELI, whose
previous position in, and strenuous and efficient
exertions on behalf of, the DERBY Administration,
would have given him !irresistible claims, waived
them with a disinterested devotion for which he
will one day receive full credit, and assented to
the leadership of Lord PALMERSTON in the House
of Commons.

There was thus no obstacle on Lord DERBY'S
part, or, we believe wo may add, on that of any of
his influential supporters. The impediment that
now arrests the prpgress of the State machine
prcceeds from another quarter. Lord PALMER-
STON assented, on certain conditions, to form a
new Coalition, but stipulated that some of his
colleagues should be retained. It is said that he
declined to act without the co-operation of Mr.
GLADSTONE and Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT. Lord
DERBY returned to his SOVEREIGN; under the
temporary
Surrender impression that all was arranged, but a subsequent
communication destroyoedf the hope, c
hopffico intoe,audled to leis
hands. We believe that the obstacles raised were
not by the Noble Viscount
u; that, in fact, they
may be ascribed to Mr. GLADSTONE or iMr. HER-
BERT, orboth.But Lord PA
L !id EASTON is
no less culpable for yielding, under such
circumstances, • to such objections. gis
ser-
vices are essential, or supposed to be essential, to
the honour of his country—the safety of the
Army of the Crimea. Can he refuse to bestow

them, on safe and unexceptionable conditions, with-
out sacrificing the character he has so honourably
earned, and forfeiting a portion of that popularity
which he now enjoys ?

An impressive spectacle might last night have
been witnessed at the Imperial Palace at West-
minster. A gallant and distinguished General,
who had crowned a distinguished career—ono in
which he had performed many daring exploits—
by the most brilliant achievements during the recent
campaign ; against whose zeal and efficiency not
the slightest whisper has been raised—who si-
lenced even detraction itself—attended in his
place in the House of Commons to receive the
unanimous thanks of that body, conveyed through
the SPEAKEB. Never did SPEAKER more elo-
quently or feelingly discharge the duty entrusted
to his charge, and seldom, if ever, was the tribute
of admiration conveyed to a more worthy recipient.
It was indeed a proud moment for Sir Dn LACY
EvaNs, aye, more, and for the independent and
influential constituency of which he is the chosen
representative. He reaped the just reward of his
unflinching devotion to the national cause, and
his glories were reflected on those who honoured
themselves by a selection so admirable.
What added to the compliment was the fact
that the House assembled during a Ministerial
crisis, when other matters of paramount import-
ance distracted the public mind. It was not,
however, sufficient to postpone for a single hour
the high distinction about to bo conferred on so
meritorious a recipient. The Houso assembled
to do honour to Sir Dn LACY EVANS, and
it was well that nothing should interfere
with the interesting topic -- that the well-
merited favour should be enhanced by
the crowded attendance of members who had
many other important matters to attend to, but
who relinquished every engagement for the pur-
pose of assisting in the ovation to the Hero who,
at Inkerman, rising from the bed of sickness,
hastened to assist, with his counsel and
experience, the Gallant Officer in temporary
command of the Division, who refused to
withhold from him the honour while he shared
in the danger of the encounter. By such disin-
tere'sted conduct the Gallant General established
even a stronger claim on the esteem and respect of
his country than could have been obtained by the
most brilliant exploits, unaccompanied by such
extraordinary forbearance and unselfish conside-
ration for the feelings of a worthy coadjutor.

With one remark made by General EVANS to
the Westminster deputation, on Thursday, we
entirely coincide, or rather, we may say, we aro
gratified to find the views we have so often ex-
pressed backed by a soldier of so much military,
political, and continental experience. It is, he
thinks, "our duty, and our policy, to look to a
prolonged contest." This, he continued, "is one
of those great epochs of which we read in his-
tory, where a great Power endeavours to master
and put down the liberties of other nations ; and
it is indispensable to those who value liberty,
national independence, and the progress of human
society, that the contest should be pursued, what-
ever the sacrifices may be, to a 'victorious end."
In these remarks the General expressed the
universal sentiment of his country, and, we may
confidently presume, the sentiments of those also
who are making by far the greatest snorifices; the
views of those who freeze and sicken, as well as
fight in the trenches, accord entirely with those
of their countrymen at home. They wish to con-
sider themselves as engaged in a prolonged con-
test ; as warriors, occupied not in a petty or brief
quarrel, hut in determining the character of an
epoch. It must indeed be the reflection of the
' most illiterate private, when he witnesses the vast
resources of the arsenal at Sebastopol, that the
accumulation of such things there could never
have been for any honest purpose. No closet full
of picklocks and crowbars could better betray the
character of its possessor than the military stores
of Sebastopol the nefarious designs of Russia.
She has nothing special to protect in the Crimea.
She could only have been plotting the mastery of
the East. Constantinople was to become a second
Warsaw, and the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus
a yet more splendid and threatening Sebastopol---
threatening the entire Mediterranean, as Sebas-
topol does the Euxine.

With such a Power the contest now begun is
not one which ought to be ended by the conces-
sion merely of the Four Points. That might be
obtained, perhaps, shortly. If the great fortress
be taken, Russia could no longer hope to regain
the dominion of the Black Sea—the Principalities
are already rescued from her, though not from
Austria—and she might be but too thankful to
be admitted into a joint protectorate of the Greek
Church in Turkey. A scandalous piece of folly,
we may observe in passing, for surely her vil-
lanous abuse of such a position hitherto ought
to exclude her for ever from the least share in
such a privilege. Most sternly should the
slightest right of interference, founded on treaty,
be refused to such a convicted conspirator and
violater of treaties as Russia. The addition of
the other Powers to the protectorate would be

but a poor safeguard against the machinations of
such a faithless, unscrupulous, and close-at-hand
Government as that of the Czan.

Lord ABERDEEN and all of his clique are for
ever ringing in our ears their determination to
secure and be satisfied with an honourable peace.
General EVANS aims at a " victorious end" after
a " prolonged contest." To our apprehension
the difference between the two is practically vast,
and of as vast importance. The Peelites would
call it an honourable peace if the provinces were
cleared
_of Russians, and if Russian ninety-gun
ships no longer threatened the SULTAN'S palace.
The victorious result of a prolonged contest is a
widely different thing. The former would still
leave the Muscovites the seven hundred miles of
stolen territory which they have enslaved to Russia
proper ; the latter would see Europe and
Turkey iu Asia delivered from this ever-
lasting aggressor and ever-watchful plotter.
This ought to be the issue of the present War.
The sword ought not to be sheathed till, from
Persia to Circassia, from the Crimea to Poland,
and from thence to Finland, the nations be re-
stored to their rights and Russia reduced to hen,
self.

We intreat our 'readers to recall to mind the
use Russia has made of her conquests. She has
founded but one commercial port, and even that
was founded to rob, by fraud and treaty-breaking,
the Danube of its trade, thus to injure Turkey
and enrich the CZAR. For tke rest, all has been
made subservient to conquest. Fortifications and
guns everywhere, trade quite secondary. She
robs Circassia of its sea-coast—and, forthwith,
fortresses and guns line its entire length. She
seizes the Crimea—cannon and batteries, and
ninety-gun ships again, to what an almost fabulous
extent we now all know too well ; she absorbs
Poland in violation of the Holy Alliance Treaty,
and immediately four strong fortresses, and
Warsaw especially, bristle with innumer-
able
artillery on the frontiers of yet un-ab-
sorbed. Europe, Crontadt, liel*ingfors, and