The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-08 00:00:00

as that of the Foreign-office when the
" temporary illness " of an individual could
so far disappoint the wishes of the nation ? We
really think that there ought to be a medical cer-
tificate to show that it was not a case of "malin-
gering," of shamming sickness to avoid a disaaree-
%ble duty.

On Friday evening nothing was heard of this
unfortunate temporary illness. Lord PALMERSTON
made a long speech to show that there was no
analogy between the case adduced by Mr. DISRAELI
and that under discussion. He uttered many
pompous platitudes about the propriety of " not
shutting the door to the possibility of concluding
a just and honourable peace." These rounded
periods were all thrown away if the procrastination
was not occasioned by high political considera-
tions, but by the " temporary illness of a person in
the Foreign-office, in whose department it was to
prepare translations of the protocols." There is
in this what legal practitioners denominate a mani-
fest " departure" from the original argument.
The Noble Lord has shifted his defence, which
he can no longer believe to be tenable. We can-
not repose implicit faith in these convenient
" temporary illnesses ;" at all events, the excuse
no longer exists. Parliament will now have the
requisite data for pronouncing an opinion, and it
is alike due to our august Ally, and to our own
honour and our own interests that they should,
even at the eleventh hour, speak out distinctly
and unequivocally on this all-important topic.

Lord ELLENBOROUGH has boldly " taken the
bull by the horns"—has undertaken " to bell the
cat." The motion of which the Noble Lord has
given notice for next Monday evening is not merely
one of " want of confidence iu the Ministry." It
conveys a direct censure on the Cabinet, and dis-
tinctly and unequivocally calls for the substitution
of men better qualified for the discharge of the
onerous and important duties that devolve on
officials during the existing emergency. It is, in
fact, a demand for " Administrative Reform" as
peremptory as that which Mr. LAYARD is about
to claim from the representative branch of the Legis-
lature, and as the great City meeting of Saturday
last inducted. It developes the great principle
that will henceforward be asserted by every
true-hearted Englishman, we care not to what
party he may hitherto have belonged, that "it is
only through the selection of men for public em-
ployment, without regard to anything but the
public service, that the country can hope to pro•
secure the War successfully, and to attain its only
object—a secure and honourable peace." This
sentence deserves to be embroidered in letters of
gold on the reform standard—to be adopted as
the war-cry of the movement—to be repeated
throughout the length and breadth of the land,
until it finds an echo in every British heart, and
penetrates even to the inmost recesses of Downing-
street.

It will probably lead to a speedy change in the
Government. The resignation of M. DROUYN DE
L'IIUYS, in consequence of the disapproval by the
EMPEROR of his subserviency to Austria, renders
it almost impossible that the English adherents
to " Germanism" can retain office. But a new
"shuffling of the- cards" will not now suffice.
The family party has been regarded in all its
varied aspects, and been found wanting. The
whole pack must be discarded. The infu-
sion of new blood, which might some time
since have postponed the crisis, will now be too
'late. The country requires that the right men
should be appointed to the right places ; and it
will have them, or know the reason why.
It is the mismanagement of the War that
has so greatly excited the public indignation,
that has filled the "cup of wrath" to over-
flowing ! But an improvement in that re-
spect is not all that is required. The en-
tire system is radically wrong, and there must be
a very decided change in every department, before
the people, now thoroughly aroused, will rest con-
tentednor abandon their exertions for a decided
amelioration. It is not a party movement. It
is not put forward by Whig or Tory, Conserva-
tive or Radical, Protectionist or Free Trader. It
is a national demonstration—a demand for a
peaceful revolution, that must and shall be car-
ried. We look to measures, not men. We care
not who it is that presides over the National
Councils, provided the duties of the office are
properly discharged, and the efficiency of all the
minor departments maintained. There must be
responsibility somewhere, some one to answer for
any deficiency or mistake, to punish the de-
faulters, or to bear the odium which their mis-
conduct may occasion.
This result may not at once be attained. It
will require much labour and incessant agitation—
"Palma non sine pulvere." There is no royal
road to such a goal ; we cannot gain the prize
without toil. But the amelioration is "looming
in the future," and will come, whoever may be the
temporary occupants of office, the " warming pans"
who may keep the places for better and more effi-
cient men. Be this as it may, the present duty
of the nation is to give efficient support to the
motions of the Earl of ELLENBOROUGH in the
Lords, and of Mr. LAYARD in the Commons, and
the labours of the Administrative Reform Asso-
ciation throughout the entire country. At pre-
sent let the first step be taken, and half the battle
will already be conquered.