The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-22 00:00:00

ASTLEY' ROW, AMPITITHEITRE.

Les tee and 3.lona,fer, Mr. Win. Cooke.
• THIS EVh:NING,
10Gth time, the fl %TILE ot the A IMA ! to wh'ch will shortly be
added, the ltatuti of 11,03!;!awit,and of Inkerman.
Alter ',Odell, the Brilliant SCENES of EQUITATION In the

To r!orielltile With (the last weep) the Grand Comic Pantomime
clileti GULLIVER aryl the I.II,I.IPUTIANs; or, Harlequin and
lirltannta.

Oii FRID A Y, a FRY.I: BENEFIT in aid of the" Times'" Fund for
the Relief of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers.
11ex4t;fue open from Eles esi till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W
Was. ACting %ranger. sr. W. 11. Cooke. I.:gnat-ran Director
jtin.

`'•
ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
' , --•- t '
-.4 • Ira Aar the direction of Miss Rebecca Isaacs.
THIS EVENING
• • .W4l....4_'LlSislined the popular Burletta, OUR NELLY. Principal
eka'ae~Qia:p Rebecca Isaacs.
'lifer 4fikteh, a new Operatic Burlesque, entitled, ALONZO THE
clituclude with RUM LIFE BELOW STAIRS.

man WATEIR AT LONDON BRIDGE.
ma DAY —Yorning 45 min.after 5 I Evening 3 min.aft.
To-'l,loer..ow - Morning 22 min.after I Evening 43 min.aft. 6

TEE VVEATHEII.—,Suns Onlts, Feb. 22.
TrIERMODIETER, IN THE SHADE.
34 - highest since noon yesterday.
29 —lowest this morning anti during the night.
34 —this day, at noon.
Bir.ournm, 30.
WIND, Easterly and light, with fine weather.

,
(,),;12 .5k.• 4. 'L:4

LONDON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1855.

Another Ministerial crisis ! They fall upon us
" thick as leaves on Valiombrosa." The PAL-
MERSTON Administration had scarcely been inau-
gurated! in office before its dissolution has been
promulgated. Those whose adhesion to the Go-
vernment was considered indispensable a fortnight
since—one of NI, hom even went through the form
of re-election—have already resigned.
This time the blow has not been from without.
The bubble has burst, not from extraneous vio-
lence, but internal convulsion. The Coalition is
no more. The Joint-stock Administration is
numbered with the past, and there is at length
the prospect of a united Cabinet. Lord PAL-
MERSTON has a reasonable chance of serving his
country efficiently, without being hampered by
the insubordination of those nominally his ser-
vants, but practically his masters, and dispoted
to use their power without consideration or for-
bearance. A great opportunity is opened to him.
If he avails himself thereof to the full extent,
well. He will increase his former reputation, and
obtain the honest and unhesitating support of the
people. If, on the ether hand, he still persists
in the course on which ke has entered—if, in place
of availing himself of the vigorous talent, of which
there is no lack, of seeking by the infusion of new
and energetic vitality to sustain his power, he re-
sorts only t• the effete and used-up material,
not thought worthy of a place at the formation of
the ABERDREN Administration, he may as well
relinquish the attempt with a good grace, and
allow the business of the Session to be transacted,
with only one additional adjournment for the
're-election of persons accepting offices under the
Crown.

" 10. TRITIMPHE."—The Peelites are out. The
small but exacting party no longer exists. Each
man will henceforth have to act for himself. G LAD-
STON; GRAHAM, and HERBERT have completed the
task—have committed the act of political suicide
—that extinguishes their party in the House.
They still thought that the House of Commons
could be induced to rescind the resolution, carried
by such an overwhelming majority, that it would
consent to stultify itself, in order to retain the
services of the " heaven-born financier " and
those with whom he is willing to act. Lord
PALMERSTON, however, albeit, at the eleventh
hour, had his eyes opened, and clearly discerned
the magnitude of the delusion. The reception of
the "feeler," sent forth on Friday evening, was
sufficient to convince a person of far less experi-
ence, and acuteness, and judgment that
the Parliamentary inquiry could not be
avoided. Mr. GLADSTONE, however, encou-
raged by the quondam subservience of the
representative body to his crotchet—by their hu-
miliating submission on the income tax, was de-
termined to persevere. Hence tie split, which
will doubtless be announced this evening in both
Houses of Parliament.

Well, now we know the worst ; and much
will depend an the manner in which the Premier
may be disposed to act. It; in place of attempt-
ing to shirk a close and searching inquiry into
all the causes of the notorious mischances that
have occurred, he evince a disposition to float
with the stream, and, candidly admitting past
mismanagement, endeavour to provide suitable
remedies, he will receive powerful suppert—not,
perhaps, from the Tadpoles and Tapers—but from
the " PEOPLE." But the traditions of office must be
disregarded. The chosen baud—the initiated
few—must be materially enlarged. A disposition
must be shown to obtain the services of unques-
tionable talent, wheresoever it may be found, al-
though unconnected with the favoured families,
a relationship or connection wherewith was the
magical watchword—the "open. sesame "—which
caused the portals of office to expand and give
ready admission to the candidate. Why can he
not look to the PETOS and RkxToNs--to these
who, having already displayed genius and perse-
verance in every matter in which they had been
concerned, might be expected still to succeed in
their undertakings f

These are matters that must speedily be de-
cided. The question is one of no ordinary cha-
racter. The difficulty is great ; but it must be
fairly encountered, and triumphantly overcome,
in such a manner as to prove that Lord PALMER-
STON is worthy of the support of the nation—that
the suffrages by which he has been raised to his
present position have not been misapplied.

The resignation of Mr. GLADSTONS affords an
opportunity for the reconsideration of the boon
about to be conferred on the Fourth Estate. Who-
ever may be the successor of the Right Honour-
able Gentleman must make up his mind not only
to follow in his footsteps, but is proceed far
more rapidly in the course on which he had en-

tered. It is not a mere illusory advantage that

will now blind the claimants, or content them
with an unsubstantial campaign ; which, while

" keeping the word of promise to the ear will
break it to the hope 1" The country is deter-
mined to get rid of all the "Taxes on Knowledge."
It has already caused the abolition of the adver-
tisement duty, a measure of unmitigated good.
It now demands the total repeal of the
paper duty, - and of the newspaper stamp
—not by means of a more onerous aid an-
noying substitute in the shape of a postal tax,
many times repeated, but a real abrogation of the
impost.

Mr. MILIan GIBsoN, to whom the Press and
the country are so deeply indebted, and whose
opinion is entitled to great weight on any topic,
more especially on sue which may be regarded as
peculiarly his own, seems, while regarding the
matter merely as an instalment, to be contented
with it for the time being. It is with great ro-
luetanee r
and some degree of misgiving, that we
feel ourselves compelled to differ from one for
whom WO cante
It is not,because we
dread
and
eaedcoui rpetegitajornd:
however,tain unfeined respect
or shrink from any amount of- rivalry that may
be offered, that us complain of the meastro
whose provisions sz:e so faintly shadowed fcri,h,
/ and viewed through so dense a •tt, We ask not
Wo depend, for pr aaotection. nd, as we have done for !
the greater part of a century, on our own ener, or, '
efficiency, and honesty of purpose. By these we
shall still be judged—by these we are prepared to
stand or fall !
But it is not because unworthy motives in ty
possibly be imputed, that we should shrink fr. mu
discussing a pending proposition, and one of 110
ordinary importance—from putt* forward o ur

eiisinterested opinions on a question in which we
have at least considerable experience to guide
and direct us. We go the full length with the
Society for Promoting the Repeal of the Taxes on
Knowledge. We feel that the paper duty is a
heavy blow and great discouragement to the
anticipated enlightenment of the people, that
"it limits the supply and enhances the price
of paper, and thus restricts the field for the
employment of capital and labour." There-
fore would we labour for its abolition—
therefore would we refuse to accept an in-
' finitesimal instalment of what we, in common
with the rest of the community, have a right
to demand. We ask for nutritious food,
and will not accept a stone as a substitute, a
matter that in its working may be found to
restrict rather than enhance circulation.
With commendable candour Mr. GIBSON has
acknowledged the existence of a job. He has
confessed to the inducement offered to the Le-
viathan, or leading metropolitan journal, which,
as we all know, " exceeds four ounces weight."
Now, this is what we object to. We want what
is fair, alike to the Press and the People—that
which will be for the benefit of all, not limited to
suit the convenience of one—what will fit the
average size, not made especially to order for a
single overgrown corporation.
It is impossible to deny that what is offered may
retard the great object. The Financial Minister
may hesitate as to relinquishing a source of re-
venue so productive as the paper duties under
existing circumstances. But we shall offer a sub-
stitute, one that, without infringing on the prin-
ciple of ROWLA.ND HILL'S great Postal Reform
Bill, will fairly and reasonably add to the
Revenue. Every one knows that under the exist-
ing regulations everything not exceeding half-an-
ounce in weight may be transmitted from one
extremity of Great Britain to the other, from
the Land's End to John o'Groat's, for
the uniform charge of ld. Throughout the entire
Continent the weight transmitted for a single rate
of postage is but a quarter of an ounce, and
much confusion is thus occasioned to the foreign
correspondence of the country. Now, if Id.
were charged for every quarter ounce, in-
creasing in proportion, and not jumping
by ounces after the first, a very large addition
might be made to the Postal Revenue, which
would be still further enhanced if a
double rate, 2d. per quarter ounce, were
charged for everything 1 beyond a certain
radius, say 20 or 25 miles. There could be no ob-
jection to this. It could not in any degree restrict
the interchange of friendly communications between
the scattered members of families. But, we ven-
ture to assert, that it would produce a fund suffi-
cient to enable the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
whoever he may be, to relinquish the paper
duties, and thus to give a real boon to
journalists in esse as well as in posse, and also to
the British people of all classes. Let him do
this, and he will indeed merit the thanks and
gratitude of the community.