The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-26 00:00:00

~ j[.
\~ ~ ~
i~y~
~..;~

LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1855.

Never was there a majority composed of more
heterogeneous and conflicting materials than that
by which Mr. DISRAELI'S motion was rejected
last night, or rather this morning. It exhibited

every shade and variety of political opinion, from
the ultra-Liberal to the ultra-Tory, from the advo-
cate of peace at any price and on any conditions
to the most strenuous supporter of the War.
" The lion, indeed, lay down by the lamb," for
did not Mr. LAYARD walk into the same lobby
with Mr. BRIGHT, and Mr. Lows record his vote
with that of Mr. M. GlnsoN? The Marquis of GRA NBY,
as the representative of the collective " Dukery,"
cast his weight into the Ministerial scale along
with Mr. GLADSTONE and the Peelites, and Mr.
COBDEN and the Manchester School. It was not
that the Most Noble Marquis found himself by
any means at home in the strange company with
which, perhaps for the first time, he found him-
self associated. It was. not that he loved the
Peelites, Whigs, or Radicals, but he was willing
to endure the pain of co-operation in order to
serve Russia and the great cause of oligarchical
rule. It is almost needless to state the result of
such a combination. The extraordinary coali-
tion succeeded in defeating the resolution by
a large majority. Three hundred and nineteen
Noble Lords and Right Honourable and Honour-
able Gentlemen agreed together for the purpose
of rejecting the proposed resolution, which was
supported by two hundred and nineteen members.
But there was no principle of cohesion to, cement
and bind together the parties to the ill-assorted
union, whose tones and language were as diverse
as those of the plundered nationalities which con-
stitute the monster power, whose further aggres-
sions England and France liave deemed it essential
to resist.

But although the original proposition has
been. disposed of, the various amendments
arising therefrom still remain for discussion.
There is the amendment of Sir FRANCIS BARING,
" the shabby amendment " which Mr. DISRAELI
justly said had been " cribbed from his thoughts
and clothed in his stolen language I" There is
that of Sir W. HEATHCOTE pointing towards
peace, and also that of Mr. LOWE indicating a de-
termination to terminate the abortive negotia-
tions, and to carry on the War with vigour and
energy, and in which, so far as relates to the ori-
ginal resolution, there is " a distinction without a
difference." When along with these the sub-
stantial motion of the Right Honourable
Member for Manchester is taken into con-
sideration, we may safely affirm that there is a
tolerably fair amount of work already provided
for Honourable Gentlemen when they return after
their Whitsun holidays—work in which the tem-
porary truce patched up between the different
parties that voted with the Government will be
completely dissolved, and an internecine war will
be carried on between the strangely-assorted

auxiliaries.
But the debate has already been productive
of the most beneficial results. It has elicited dis-
tinct and positive declarations from Ministers, 1
and exhibited the Peelites in their true colours.
We can now understand how it was the nation
was suffered to " drift " into the War, and why
that War was "starved." We have obtained a
clue to the strange financial policy that
led to the draining of the Exchequer, and the ex-
haustion of the Government balances, in that
"valuable financial demonstration "—the pay-
ment of more than eight millions sterling of
the outstanding debt, and the obstinate refusal to
negotiate a loan for the purpose of carrying on
the contest in which we so tardily engaged—
all these matters are now placed in a very clear
point of view, and the people can appreciate the
advantages arising from the fortunate overthrow
of the ABERDEEN Cabinet, and the secession of
the Peelite clique from office.
The value of the Ministerial declarations may
be duly estimated from the manner in which
" the unsuccessful Plenipotentiary" after the divi-
sion,
endeavoured to shale out of what he had
said while
the fate of the Government remained
undecided. The official reserve of Lord PALMER-
STON has also l-,
been dissipated.
before spoken as distinctly and intelligibly—bad
he thus clearly indicated the Ministerial policy at
an earlier stage of the pro •
ceedings, the " dark
suspicions " to which Mr. DISRAELI so fel' I
alluded in his opening speech mightnotha:c'tously
But, unfortunately, there was not only the ref sa
eni
toaffordany information as to the future intentions
of the English Government, but there were
ominous hints to the effect that the means
of
peace were not exhausted—that the Russian pro-
_ position contained "elements" from which a
g safisiactiikyrY understanding
..._ , might eventually be
-`
::: '-airtikVict. ~
-. F#..... % The speeches of Lord PALMERSTON
44 -41:1; 'RUSSELL have now clearly shown
(
(*e•iiiiiiii4,..,
, -of ' further negotiations, or of any
lOner-- ‘,,.4iiiiii_4,
-),:th4 h.t...._,
.. W for Austria. They have shown
. , geetettlega of inducing that Power to- ad
f -,! au honest incl straightf • - • orwata part; have-adduced