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

But now let us in onr turn ask those who talk of sup.
pressio yeti, whether a fact of no trivial weight has net been
held back in the discussion hitherto, which, when known, will
show the unfairness of attempting to ascribe the proposal to
supersede the incapable duke to personal or party motives t
Did no other member of the Cabinet write to Lord Aberdeen
to the same effect !

(From the Mornzng Herald of this day.)
Lord Derby hss declined the task which had been delegated
to him by. his Sovereign. The duty of forming a Government
at this moment, when the late Cabinet, as much by their ad-
ministration as by their retirement, have thrown all things
into confusion; is far from an agreeable task. It is not one
which any nobleman would readily undertake, except from
the most urgent considerations of duty. The late debates on
the war, consequent upon Mr. Roebuck's motion, have dis-
closed the terrible disorganisation and mismanagement which
still prevail at Scutari and at the Crimea; in the army, in
the hospital, in the commissariat--in short, in all quarters
and provinces of the war. An apprehension pretty generally
exists that worse disclosures have yet to come ; and now that
they are removed from office who were most interested in
putting a fair face upon matters, and the whole truth must
come out undisguised, the heart of this nation is doomed to
quail; and its ears to tingle, with dark and ominous annimnce-
ments—yet to come.

It cannot, then, appear surprising that Lora Derby prefers
remaining in his present exemption from the frightful fespon-
sibilities of office unless he has a power coequal with his re-
sponsibilities. It is not our part to attribute motives or
point out the obstacles which short-sighted and selfish ambi-
tion may have had in defeating designs entertained by the
Sovereign, and entrusted for their execution to this able and
energetic nobleman. It is enough that Lord Derby himself
does not see clearly how he can execute the commission
thus entrusted to him, with credit to himself, with honour
to the Queen, and with safety to all; and, therefore, he re-
turns into the hands of the Sovereign the authority with
which he had been invested.

We cannot blame him, much as we, in conjunction with a
large portion of the nation, would have been glad to see a
nobleman of Lord Derby's standing, intelligence, activity,
and chivalrous bearing, placed in that position which Lord
Aberdeen has too long occupied, with little credit to himself
and extreme detriment to the nation. We cannot blame Lord
Derby, we repeats fully as we are convinced that, had he
been placea at the head of the Administration of the country,
there would have been no repetitions of the blunders, short-
sightedness, and incredible neglect, such as characterised the
proceedings of the Coalition. His genius would soon have
extricated us from the horrors into which the war has sunk
us ; from that degradation which, as a nation, we cannot but
feel, when comparing the boast and bravadoes with which
the Cabinet and their adherents began the siege of Sebastopol,
and the humiliations, the childish cries for help to others,
which their conduct has reduced us. But a stronger
reason than any
,of these would have induced us to
welcome Lord Derby's accession to power ; and It is this—
that sooner or later the reins of Government Must fall into his
hands. Until that period comes the nation can expect no
permanent and no vigorous Administration.
For what are the alternatives before it 7 A Whig Govern-
ment or a Coalition Government. Or, to speak more cor-
rectly, a Coalition Government, in which Whiggery forms the
more predominant and more active element. A pure Whig
Administration is out of the question ; it has been tried and

failed signally. A re-construction of the old Whig party,
with fresh and youthful blood, is an impossibility, even were

i
t aCyo nhtevuos laartee
th.
ioy}p'olia•
cwo ad
itne v
thee
srit irnn: tgle 7c:errabtoires o
t e
stlsWhigsthere
any succession to supply the vacancies in their ranks which
time is daily snaking I There aro none ; no recruits to step
into the gaps of Whig oligarchy. Lord John has effectually
knocked his own party on the head ; he has sung the placebo
over Whig monopoly as effectually as ever did Sir Robert
Peel in a kindred instance.

Then as for a Coalition. What, we ask, are the hopeful
elements out of which such a piece of joinery can be con-
structed / Then Mr. Gladstone; like Garrick between tragedy
and comedy in the celebrated picture, will be subjected to the
solemn warnings and the monitorial acerbities of Lord Grey
on one side, to the jaunty, noisy Pahuerstoni anisms of youthful
seventy-three on the-other. Can ho reconcile tho two with
each other? Can he reconcile either with himself ? Lord
Grey's colonial administration, or rather mal-administration,
, defeated Lord John's Cabinet, and raised Mr. Gladstone
and his party to eminence. Mr. Lowe, lately the under secre-
tary of Mr. Gladstono's own creation, was the gadfly ex-
pressly deputed from Australia to visit this country to hum
and sting, to denounce by public speeches, and, through
the columns of the press, Lord Grey's ministerial inca-
pacity and his impraaticable temper. It is no secret
that the Times, now • unaccountably anxious to foist
Lord Grey into power, opened its files for so clever an advo-
cate of colonial independence' and so bitter an adversary of
the unpopular Lord Grey. It is no secret that the most acrid
reviews of Lord Grey's colonial policy are to bo found in the
same columns. If, after all, Lord Grey can unite with the
of lasting durasatpti:LnaidablNeootr
Peolites, then, as the Reman poet declares, there is no rea-
son why doves should not take to the water, and fish graze
in the trees ; political honesty and political consistency have
become a farce and a bye-words
people of England do not like Coaflotri::::;fnaaiew3ttaiholtminhlset•
But has not this country had sufficient experience of A
ttohenh, history
Coalition that it must needlessly " repeat the dose 9" Ilse
it not seen already Mr. Disraeli's dictum verified, that the
of this country bears testimony, clear, frequent, and forcible
rtdhpatainmoersCtooanlitsiopnopcimibety
zs 3
enough, that
judgment,ur trso ei n af averting him, yet we cannot esyueesht to combinations abili-
ties
evenwpilirascuticccaebelde.inAseninidudtettoluonulg.gh we do not wish to prejudge
Psi-
merston's abilities are more fitted for brilliant coups de Min
war and adopting a
than patient statesmanship. However conspicuous his genius
when war seemed inevitable, far
more application, to
business and all its details than Lord Palmerston possesses
will be required to extricate us from our present perilous po-
Nramigaoyio.orhoeuaEatiialoilii:oenafe:rie.gdmetioilcirtehcoe
' sition, to unravel the skein, to land us in safety from the
mbroilment and 'confusion into which a Coalition has
thrust us.
It is for these reasons, then, that we should gladly have
seen Lord Derby at that post to which his rank, abilities, and
character fit him more than any other man, and to which cir-
cumstances must drift him eventually, even without any exer-
tion on his part. He has done wisely, and ho has certainly
consulted his own dignity and ease when ho refused to mix
! up with the party squabbles, the Downing-street intrigues,
1 and the party plots out of which Lord John has just crawled
with soiled hands and a damaged reputation,