The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-08 00:00:00

Tii 6 WAATIIER.--Bus 0171C1). Feb. 8.

TtaltlfQtrETZß, IN VIII SHADE.
40 highest since noon yesterday:
33 —lowest this morning and during the night.
31—this day, at noon.

BM:MMUS/1, 29.86,
Wrztro. N.E. to E.N.E.—Fresh breeze, blowing a snow
storm. It commenced freezing sharply last evening, and
during the night a storm a snow set in which still con-
tinues.

-4- 4-
!_,•.,,

LONDON, TIURSDAY, FEBRUARY a, 1806,

Well I the pack has been shuffled and dealt,
and Lord PANMURB has turned up the trump
card. The country has at length, after an inter-
val of ten days, obtained a Government !—not
as yet a perfect one, for a hiatus valde de-
fend/a must occur in the proceedings of Parlia-
ment until the elections of Tiverton and South
Wilts have been brought to a conclusion, and the
new Premier and Home Secretary are once more
entitled to participate in the proceedings of the
representative branch of the Legislature. It is
unnecessary to expatiate on' the evils necessarily
arising from this untoward and useless delay.
That the acceptance of office under the Crown
should vacate the seat of the appoint6e—that he
should, when a placeman, be required again
to appeal to his constituents to ask a renewal
of the confidence which they reposed in
him as an independent member—is, under
ordinary circumstances, very beneficial. It
affords some species of protection against any
possible venality or tergiversation of the nouns
holm), and may, in fact, be regarded as a species
of protection against the protracted tenure which
may give a party a seven years' lease of his posi-
tion.

But we must now look at the other side of the
picture. The nation must patiently await the
elections for Tiverton and South Wilts before
it can receive the explanations so urgently re-
quired and anxiously looked for. There can be
but little doubt as to the result of the approach-
ing elections. It is scarcely probable that Tiver-
ton, which unanimously and enthusiastically
elected Lord PALMERSTON, the Home Secretary,
will reject him when he has been elevated
to the rank of Premier, or that Mr. SID-,
11E7 HERBERT, the Secretary of State for the
Home Department, be less eligible in
the sight of the good men of South Wilts than he
had been when occupying the station of Secretary
at War. It is known that in each case the elec-
tions will be nothinv but a mere matter of form
—a mere walk over—without opposi Lion ot diffi-
culty beyond the expenditure of a few hund'reds
for legitimate expenses, and possibly some trifling
violation of teetotal principles on the part of
some of her MAJESTY'S liege subjects in these
favoured districts. But the consequences of the
delay may possibly prove highly prejudicial to
the best interests of the nation. It may, there-
fore, be a question whether the House should not,
under peculiar circumstances, be enabled to delay
the vacation of the seat for a certain limited time
—say one, two, or even three months. This would
not afford any excuse for the postponement of the
necessary explanations, while it would insure
equal control by the several constituencies, which
would have ample opportunities of avenging any
breach of faith or dereliction of principle.

4s to the new Government, we must bide our
time before we can say very much. We can
make every allowance for Lord PALMERSTON. He
had many difficulties to encounter, and had
scarcely sufficient strength as yet to break through
the red-tapist fetters by which every Minister is
restricted. He has not acted as energetically as
we expected ; but still his complete an 1 thorough
repudiation of Lord ABERDEEN, his unflinching
determination to rid the Cabinet of that in-
tolerable incubus, affords an auspicious augury
for his future energy and determination. It is
known that the Peelite c/ique made a stre-
nuous effort to retain the services of the " CZAR'S
friend of forty years' standing "—to break his
fall from the highest point, by pitchforking
him into the soft and comfortable chair allotted to
the President of the Council. For this GLAD-
STONB, and HERBERT, and GRAHAM earnestly
struggled ; but, to their astonishment, the new
Premier was inflexible. He would not have the
" dear and excellent " at any price. Even the
powers of " the financial phenomenon " could not
induce him to swallow the bitter draught ; and,
therefore, have we the greater hope in his ultimate
success, in consequence of the decided " taste of
his quality" thus given.
At present we must await further information
before we pronounce decidedly. The name of
Lord PALMERSTON is alone a tower of strength.
It is that for which we have been calling since the
display of Germanism in 1851. But the Noble
Lord must be careful lost he abandon the princi-
ples which conferred his popularity. His Govern-
ment at present is too largely leavened with. Peel-
ism to suit our taste. We really think that the
best of the lot was the Duke of NEWCASTLB, who
has been so unfairly sacrificed to atone for the
shortcomings of his late colleagues. It is possi-
ble that the rigours of the now whip may con-
trol these unruly subordinates, and curb their
vicious propensities. If any one can do it Lord
PALMERSTON is the man. But we must abide the
event of the experiment before we can speak con-
fidently, and again must follow suit with the shade
of
pDaUtillzeD, aANniTc shufflee, a
en
conrds.ce, more, exclaims,

The great Ministerial elumg
Occupied ten e which has already
pi
an e qual time before' itda is brought into bar-
!impious operation, has Duly resulted
hi the resig-
nation of three, and the appointment and may occupy
Minister. The Duke of NEWCASTLE, otfhenEeaT:f
ABERDEEN, and Lord JOHN RUSSELL, are
longer connected with the Government. LOIrC;
PANMURE has undertaken to supply all their
places by the aid of a little legerdemain
distribution of the parts_ among the different

°dormers. Whether this will be altogether suffi-
cient to restore the general confidence, the absence
of widch led to the recent crisis, is a subject not
as yet decided ; and although we entertain a very
high respect for the new War Minister, we can-
not a 2; yet venture to pronounce a decided opinion.
It is true that a great source of weakness is re-
moved by the secession of Lord ABERDEEN, and
the supposed abeyance of " Germanism." But
whether that be sufficient to turn the torrent of
public Indignation into a new channel, and to
save the chief actors in the drama which was so
decisively And unequivocally condemned, is an-
other questi on, on which we shall as yet reserve
, our judgment..
There is, hoorever, one indisputable amelioration
—the Secretar7ship at War has been abolished !
There will no lorrger be the bandying about of
matters of vital importance to the welfare of our
troops from department to department, from the
office of Secretary for War to that of Secretary at
War, and vice versa i the grave officials being
apparently engaged in the old schoolboy game of
"You're none of my child," which would really
be exceedingly amusing, if its consequences did
not prove so extremely prejudicial to the
best interests of the country. Many of
,the
deplorable events to which public attention has
been so powerfully directed has been owing to the
" conflict of jurisdictions," to the readiness with
which subordinate officials were prepared to shake
off all responsibility, and " to wash their hands"
from matters of the most pressing exigency.

That there was no common head to which all
were responsible—that, the underlings could in-
volve their different chiefs in a dispute, and thus
evade the performance of their own duties, was a
iamentabie that could uut be controverted or
denied. We have seen the deplorable results
at Balaklava. It is that which has led to
the condemnation of the late Ministry, and
the disgrace of the ex-Premier. It is
that which has caused so much suffering to our
gallant soldiers, and much of the mortality that
has occurred, and which is not accounted for by
blunders in generalship. By all means let there
be the different departments. A division of labour
conduces to its efficient application ; but let
them be under one control, that the different
powers may not neutralise each other, or lead
to the total neglect of matters of vital conse-
quences.

On this point we would refer to an excellent
communication from an esteemed correspondent,
who writes under the title of "Arnicus," and
whose suggestions will be found well worthy of
attentive consideration.