The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-15 00:00:00

this duty we are not to be deterred by example or

by anv consideration whatever.
Two indiviJna's of hi :411 and of un-
-1,1 emi .41,d rep: c-t.i.m in their private c alai
who tve wie'd-dl vast powers in the service of the
State, and have haen more cnirt,-_1 and flitteie,d
than most of their contempor tries, have just now
made their appearance before the public as lecturers.
The subjects with which they dealt are of great im-
portance, and could not readily have been commit-
ted to abler hands, or men who, bycommon consent,
were better prepared to do them justice. Lord
Joui RUSSELL on " The Obstacles which have
retarded Moral and Political Progress," and Mr.
GLADSTONE on " The Colonies," were sure to
be regarded bythe great majority as worth hearing.
Nor, so far as you can separate their lectures
from other considerations, did they wholly fail to
satisfy the expectations of the eager listeners.
Passing over an exceptionable bias in each, and
apart from the object we conceive the distinguished
speakers had in view, the lectures were cal-
culated to enlighten the public and promote the
cause of liberty and of progress. What exception,
then, it may be asked, can be taken to them ?
Surely they were well timed, having regard to
the present state of society and the recent loss
of the greatest Colonial Minister we had ? Well-
timed from any other men, we reply, their aim
being single, but timed also with ample conside-
ration for the meeting of Parliament.
It has, doubtless, fallen to the lot of the reader
to have been deeply impressed with the eloquence,
grace, and pathos of some promising divine ; to
have listened with the deepest satisfaction to
lessons of charity, to warnings and reproofs, de-
livered with an unction indicative of the soul of
goodness. You made inquiry, and everything
was satisfactory. He had been a little lethargic
and out of favour with his congregation, had
awhile back become suddenly repentant, and
from that period had gone on improving up to
the present time. Your curiosity led you, per-
haps, to inquire whether he was married or
single, and you found he was about to be united
to a charming heiress, who a short time ago be-
came a member of his congregation. We
know you are not censorious, and cannot blame
you if, putting this and that together, you fancied
you had found the key to the conscientious di-
vine's sudden accession to repentance, fascination,
and other good works.
The recent history of the lecturers—their mis-
conduct in relation to the War and their ejection
from office—will at once occur to your recollec-
tion, and in their present zeal for the public good
you will doubtless recognise, as we do, a
motive as interested as that which stimu_
lated the worthy divine. They have what
will correspond with the heiress in view. Both
are in quest of power, and neither very scrupu-
lous how they get it. Both have conned the
pages of history, and, as Mr. GLADSTONE could
not refrain from intimating, have come to
the conclusion that the popularity of
the present War is certain to cease,
and that they have only to play the pilot well to
be wafted tziumphantly into power under the sails
of a negotiation for peace. Hence their appear-
ance as lecturers—their sudden accession to pa-
triotism—their zeal for progress—their interest
in the welfare of their fellow-subjects. That they
are out in their calculation we potently believe ;
still it may be of service to the public interest to
unmask their hypocrisy, and point out the hollow-
ness of their professions. Men who have acted
as they have done—who have committed a great
nation to a great War, and then washed their
hands of it, and for their selfish ends counselled
an inglorious peace—can only prove mischievous
in a character to which they have no title.