The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-16 00:00:00

( From the Daily News of this day. )
Is h tr. Roebuck to have bis committee ? Is the in-
quiry into the management of the war, voted by a ma-
jority of mere than 2tol of the House of Commons, to
go on ? These are among the first questions that the
countr y will expect to have answered by the Parliament
which reassembles this day, Either•-such inquiry is
necessi try and proper, or it is not. If it is necessary and
proper. . the House of Commons, by allowing it to drop,
betray their constituents. If it is not necessary and
proper now, it cannot have been so two weeks ago, and
the v,vl ;e which dissolved a Cabinet and has kept public
inu3ue.", in abeyance, must have been a recklessly fac-
tiot monstration. Honourable members have placed
‘ elek
theal l' -es on the horns of this dilemma—how they are
s'e
torei.v is their concern.
objection to the prosecution of inquiry which is
m 0,4 4-
,aeisted upon is, that it will be—inconvenient !
nient to whom? All culprits and delinquents,
who are i, a danger of having their misdeeds exposed to
the light tit " day, feel inquiry a very inconvenient thing;
but is their
•onvenience to be consulted, to the detri-
ment 4. of the 4*. anmon weal ? Some inconvenience to the
public there Oa v be ; but nothing in comparison to the
benefit that is C. 4 be derived from a searching investiga-
tion. It is clear .'hat our Administrative Gov.eranient,
civil and military,. ,bas got into a lamentably inefficient
condition. Refor.r is caocessary, and the only legitimate
instrument of refer to is the great Council of the Nation
—Parliament. But bow can Parliament reform our ad-
ministrative Governmant, jf it does not begin by ascer-
taining where the defects lie f To set to work to amend
the machinery- of executive gc.Ternment without previous
inquiry, would be to run. the ria,k of altering the sound
parts, and leavina the rotten untouched.
Mr, Sidney Kerbert spoke very sensibly yesterday, at
the nomination fo.r South Wilts. En congratulated the
country on the ee.,eeePi". of Lord Palmerston to the
r,aao:ership. lie oteigratuiatae !t
Laaa the
of Lord John Russell to conduct the negotiAtions, at
Vienna. Upon anothert blessing for which the country
is at least equally thankfUl Mr. Sidney Herbert forgot
to congratulate it—the removal of the Duke of New-
castle and himself from the War-office. Mr, Sidney
Herbert went on to remark that the only way to obtain
an honourable and satisfactory peace was to carry on
the war with vigour ; and that in order to do this it
would be necessary to make considerable imprevernente
in our system of military afitninietration. There is no-
thing, it is true, very novel or' etriking in such remarks,
but they are an agreeable corrective to the puling tone
in which Mr. Sampson Ilicaado—who, like his great
namesake, appears to have an eye to the gatea of the
Treasure House—addressed the electors of Wimiser.
The peace-at-any-price language cf. Mr, Ricardo was it-
deed rather ominous in the mouth of the chosen of the electors of Windsor—a borough in which the I
Court is all-powerful; and the more resolute tone of
Mr. Sidney Herbert was no more than was required to
do away with its-bad effect. The language of Mr. Sid-
ney Herbert is an apt illustration of the advantage to be
gained by bringing Ministers occasionally into contac
with large constituencies.

(From the Morning Herald of this day.)

To-night we may presume that Lord Palmerston
will give to the House of Commons a statement of
the negotiations which ended in placing him at the
head o the Aberdeen Cabinet. We may possibly
expect—and no doubt the country will expect— that
statement to throw some light upon the refusal of the
noble viscount to act with Lord Derby. The fact of the
refusal is all that the country yet knows. The motive,
and, indeed, the mode, of that refusal is left to Lord
Pearnerston himself to explain.
It is just possible that Lord Palmerston may dismiss
the `whole question in one of those brief and apparently
careless narratives in which he knows so well how to
deal lightly with unpleasant topics. Nevertheless, the
noble lord must feel that he has a step of deep responsi-
bility in assuming the
.guidande Qf the councils of Eng-
land in the present crisis, and one that demands from
him. a statement suited to its importance.
It will not, we apprehend, be very easy for the Pre-
mier to explain upon what principle a Ministry con-
demned by the House of Commons, and resigning on
the very grounl of that condemnation, iu a few days
afterwards returned to office substantially unchanged.
This is the course which Lord Palmerston has to justify.
It must never be forgotten that to-night the /louse of
Commons wilt see arrayed upon the Treasury benches
the very same Ministers whom, a fortnight ago, that
hours by an overwhelming majority condemned. The
juggle of Lord Palmerston's premiership, for it is nothing
more, has not altered the cbaracteror even improved the
composition of the Cabinet. The exclusion of Lord
John Russell has done much more to weaken the
Ministry than any changes that have been made have
improved it ; and, unhappily, the appointment of Mr.
Frederick Peel to the office into which he has been thrust
establishes beyond doubt that the old influences still
control both the Cabinet and the Premier.
When to this we add the reported rejection of Lord
Shaftesi'mry—a report, let us say, which obtains almost
universal credence—it is impossible not to see that at
present, at least, Lord Palmerston is not the master of
the Cabinet; but has simply succeeded to the place, and
with it to the policy, of Lord Aberdeen.
The first test of the noble lord will be the course he
will take upou Mr. Roebuck's motion. It he ask of the
house to rescind the rasolation appointing a committee
of inquiry it will ho in so Canny words a confession that
the Ministry now in office regard that vote as one le-
velled against themselves. It will, no doubt, make all
things plain and consistent. ft will be the acknowledg-
ment that the Aberdeen Ministry retain place in defiance
of that vote, and appeal to the House of Commons to
complete the triumph of that Ministry by retracting the
obnoxious resolution.

From Mr. Roebuck the country will also expect
to-
nightihe
avowal that he intends to redeem the pledge
which he has given, that he would really prosecute the
inquiry to which he has irretrievably committed the
honour and dignity of th'e Efouse of Commons. We do
not doubt the courage and integrity of the member for
Sheffield ; and therefore we feel Confident that he will
to-night fix an early day for the nomination of his com-
mittee. It will then be seen whether Lord Palmerston
is so bound up with the Aberdeen faction that he will
attempt to screen them from justice by asking the House
of Commons to abandon an inquiry which they have
already voted to be necessary for the public safety.
A few hours must tell us all this. It is, in truth, use-
less to anticipate the interest of the proceedings of this
evening by speculation which twelve hours hence may
be proved erroneous. We shall, we confess, await with
anxiety the inauguration of Lord Palmerston in his new
position as Premier; and from the proceedings of this '
evening'we shall, we doubt not, be able to augur much,
both as to the character of his Administration and the
probable chances of its perrnanecue and success.

THE OCTOGENARIANS OF THE ARMY.
(From the Tines of this clay.)
All that we of know of our present Government be-
yond its personnel, which bears so striking a resemblance
to the last, is that it is pledged above all things to cal-
duet the war with vigour, and to neglect no measures
likely to coarliaite to its success. For the announce-
ment of its measures we must wait until this evening ;
but, ho those measures what they may, their vigour di-
pends upon the men to whom they are intrusted, and
those men we have now before us. Strong measures in
weak hands are like the club of Hercules in the hand of
Oniphale, less terrible than ridiculous, and vigour re-
quires vigorous men as well as valiant intention. The
attention of the public has been lately roused to the
meaner in which Governments are formed. A nation
inexpressibly anxious for the existence of its only army
is watching the way, while the privileged few who have
a voice in such things put together the machine of Go-
vernment. On the present experiment more is undoubt-
edly at stake than the mere formation of a Ministry. All
of those who make government their business are on their
trial. Oversights and errors might on other occasions he
mercifully dealt with, but now no excuse will he listened
to for neglecting to put the best man into the highest
office, and regarding the claims of wealth orfamily above
those of merit or capacity. Closely following on the ill-
advised and unpopular appointment of Mr. Peel to
the Under-Secretaryship of War, we have to notice the
elevation of Sir Francis Baring to the Chancellorship
of the Duchy of Lancaster. We ought not to be un-
grateful to Sir Francis, for to the chronic deficit in which
he contrived to involve us we owe the advent of Sir
Robert Peel to power, and the consequent triumph of
Free Trade. Yet even this service did nct prevent him
from being set aside when the most distinguished men
of the Free Trade party formed a coalition in 1852, and
the country cannot but regard his return to office as a
proof that the intellectual standard of the present Go-
vernment falls below that even of the last.
If we turn from the appointments of Mr. Peel and Sir
Francis Baring to matters more immediately relating to
the war, we find equal reason for complaint. As we find
in civil appointments a certain leaning to feebleness and
mediocrity, so in military commands we find an equal
tendency to a most extravagant appreciation of senility.
On the 9th of May, 1854, her Majesty issued a commis-
sion to Lord Harding, Lord Grey, Lord Panmin re,
Lord Seaton, Mr. Sidney Herbert, and others, reciting
that she thought it expedient, looking at the advanced
age of the great majority of the officers now in the
upper ranks of her army, to inquire into the modes
of promotion and retirement, with a view to the greater
efficiency of the service. We find in the report Lord
Raglan stating that, with the exception of Lord Lyne-
doch and Sir Thomas Picton, we bail no General officers
in command in the late war above 40 years of age. The
Duke of Wellington was a Major-General at 33, the
Marquis of Anglesey at 34, Lord Dalhousie at 38,
Lord Strafford at 30, Lord Hill at 33, Lord Beresfora
at 39, Sir George Murray at 40, Lord Comberniere et
31, Lord Londonderry at 32. We have not space to
insert the arguments by which the commission proved
the necessity of choosing commanders from an age
in which mental or bodily vigour are not yet entire.
The commissioners state the principle. Let the ap-
pointment of Lord Seaton, one of these very commis-
sioners, to the command of the army in Ireland in his
eightieth year, show how those three of them who are
members of the Government—Lord Panrnure, Lord
Hardinge, and Mr. Sidney Herbert—apply it. Our
army is reduced to a mere skeletos ; we have but a fee:
• 4:tri,r,o- in Trolluti. .;(1 raw and
hive I,e,,ides called out the Irish
Militia., and sir the training of 'these local and regular
forces the most ceaseless care and activity are required.
To discharge these onerous duties, at a tipo, too, when

the c 'difficulty" ,'difficulty" which ensued upon the resignation of
Lori-ilberdeen, we shall not be surprised if an attempt
is i4d, aby dportion of the majority who affirmed Mr.
Itoebti A.'s motion to induce upon the house an impres-
sion th at tilt), are committed to the immediate pursuit
of the ; nquiry, and that they are bound by the vote
which they have recorded to fit up and set to work,
withou t a moment's delay, the unmanageable and slowly
revolyr ag machinery of a committee.