The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-22 00:00:00

pensions that may be entertained, seem to be with-
out adequate foundation. If the Conservative
leaders have not entered into the unnatural compact,
cadtt questio. There is nothing on which to rest
the most trifling superstruction. But if, unfortu-
nately, it should be otherwise, if any of those who
go enthusiastically cheered the announcement that
"England loves not coalitions" should themselves
fall into an error similar to that once so loudly
and emphatically condemned, it is manifest that
they will not carry with them a large proportion
of the party whose continued support could alone
render them formidable to the PALMERSTON
Cabinet. Any such attempt would be the signal
for the adhesion to the Ministry of a large body
of patriotic individuals, who would readily sacri-
fice all minor differences in order to maintain the
honour and safety of their native land—who, like
Lord NAAs, would be ready, as members of Par-
liament, to give an honest support to any Go-
vernment that carries on this most important
business in a manner worthy of this great
country.

The game of " brag" has long been sedulously
cultivated in Russia. It is the policy which has
led to by far the greater portion of their acquisi-
tions. They have so loudly vaunted their irre-
sistible powers that their claims were at length
taken for granted. The ukases of the AUTooRAT
were consequently submitted to with as much
humility by quasi independent nations as by his
own serfs. None could venture to dispute the
behests of the man who held the peace of Europe
in his hands, and who could at any moment
overrun it with his barbarian hordes, and render
it, if not altogether, at least to a great degree,
" Cossack." If we were to believe these croakers
we should trust entirely to his forbearance, and
be well contented if we received the boon
accorded to evrts, and were the last to
be devoured by the dominant Power, who
was only pursuing his inevitable destiny in
claiming the universal empire which sooner
or later ha or his successor must obtain.

Much of " the gilding has, however, been
stripped off his gingerbread !" to use the vulgar
but significant expression respecting pretenders of
all classes. We have seen that in every trial the
Russians have been totally unable to withstand
the Allied forces ; that the Black Sea Fleet is no
more, and the stronghold in which it sheltered
itself has passed into the hands of the Allies ;
that Kinbourn has also fallen, and that
these "standing menaces" to Constantinople and
to Europe are no longer formidable, notwithstand-
ing the energetic and almost spasmodic efforts
made for their defence. It has been well re-
marked that almost all " the resources of Russia
have been melted in the crucible of Sebastopol,"
and that the result of the long-protracted struggle
before its walls has been much more serious to
our adversary than if it had fallen by a coup de
main immediately after the glorious day of Alma.
In that case the internal strength of Russia
would have remained unimpaired. It would
have possessed fighting men, on whom it
could have relied in any emergency. But
now the repeated levies have exhausted the re-
serve, and but few remain to till the land, or to
provide the necessaries supplied for those actually
engaged in the deadly game.
Already three-fourths of the fighting men have
been absorbed by the enormous levies that have
been made since the commencement of the War ;
levies which in Western Russia have amounted to
84 out of every thousand of the gross population.
When we consider that the adult males scarcely
number two-fifths of the whole population, or 200,
and that many exemptions ca* be claimed for
persons past the military age, or engaged in sundry
privileged occupations, we may readilyperceive that
the CZAR has reached the full length of his tether,
and that the vitality has almost departed from
the gigantic carcase.
We have then only to remain firm to insure a
success more complete than ever our wildest ima-
ginings have pictured—one that will dispose of
the Russian difficulty finally and for ever, and
will afford the most ample guarantees of perma-
nent peace to our children, and our chil-
dren's children. We have made great sacri-
fices to obtain this great desideratum, and
we should take care that the cup be not flung
from our lips at the very moment when we have
the option of draining it to the very dregs.

The Report of the Commissioners appointed to
inquire into the Conduct of the Police in Hyde-
nark on the Ist July may have grieved, bat cer
bainly has not surprised, us. Our readers will
remember the anxiety displayed by The Sun for
its early appearance, and the reasons assigned for
that anxiety. They cannot have forgotten how
earnestly we deprecated unnecessary delay, and
pointed out the all but inevitable, if undesigned,
result—viz., a failure of justice; and now that the
Report has made its appearance, we confidently
challenge a complete justification of our appre-
hensions.

The Commissioners broke up their sittings on
the 2d of August, and not until the 10th of No-
vember have they found time to deliver their
verdict. A Report that might have been returned
with the utmost ease and propriety in a week,
and in which not only the inhabitants of the
metropolis, but of the country generally, are
deeply interested, not forthcoming until after an
interval of between three and four months ! And
such an interval, terminating at such a time !
An interval during which events of the greatest
magnitude were likely to occur, and have
occurred, t, distract public attention and
blunt public interest a time when the
misconduct of a mob of ragamuffins in the
Park was causing a reaction among the unreflect-
ing in favour Police--a time when Parlia-
meutwasuut ofs hitttineg,
and the representatives of
the people could not for two long months express
an im-
pute opinion on thematter. we by no means
deliberately unfair practice to the Commis-
sioners, but we do say that if they had entered on
the inquiry with a settled intention of burking it
they could not have acted more judiciously, so far
as the delivery of the Report is concerned, than
they have done. _ _ .

Commissioners were so biased, at all events so
far forgot their duty to the public and the respect
owing to themselves, as to listen to an ex parte
statement after " their inquiry was closed,"
and that statement, in all probability, coming
from one or more of the parties directly impli-
cated. Another fact, hardly less significant, and
in relation to the same policeman, is to be found
in the letter addressed by order of Sir GEORGE
GREY to Sir RICHARD MAYNE, in which the latter
is instructed to have three policemen indicted,
one of whom is described as " 398 A, since ascer-
tained to be WILLIAM GEARING." Since ascer-
tained ! Why, the witness recognised him at the
outset, and there can be no more doubt that this
mystification as to his identity was intended to
lend a colouring to the "inadvertence* that
held him back as a witness than there can be
that the object of the parties -who "intimated"
the questionable apologies to the Commissioners
was to bias that body in their favour.
Nor is the above all that can be urged in
diminution of the value of the Report. If the
Commissioners, on their own admission, listened
to an ex parte statement in one instance, have not
the public fair grounds for believing that they
listened in more ; and, under such circumstances,
what value can possibly attach to the Report ?
Fancy a jury calling in a defendant to their place
of retirement, or suffering him to earwig them
there, and afterwards expecting to be credited for
having given a just verdict in his favour ! The
supposition is ridiculous. And yet the Commis-
sioners must be guilty of equal folly if they look
to have their Report respected, for earwigged they
themselves confess to have been, and it certainly
was not by the complainants. The "lame and
impotent conclusion " to which they have arrived
can, under such circumstances, excite no sur-
prise ; and Sir RICHARD MAYNE and Inspector
HUGHES may well congratulate each other on
having been brought to judgment before such a
trio of DANIELS. The matter, of course, cannot
end here. Questions of too grave an importance
are involved in it, and we look to the meeting of
Parliament for a searching investigation into the
conduct of all concerned, and an independent
verdict on the entire affair.

To dream of the thinking public, being satisfied
with the result were an absurdity. The conduct
of the Commissioners will everywhere be regarded
with dissatisfaction, and in the Report itself will
be found admissions by no means calculated to
dispel suspicion. One of these is in relation to
policeman 398 A, and his dealing with one of the
witnesses named White. This policeman was
identified by his victim, but was not subsequently
called upon to give evidence. On this the Com-
missioners remark—" It has been intimated to us
Sin"
our /*nglarlj was closed that it was owing to
accident and inadvertence that policeman 398 was
not recalled as a witness." Intimated—by whom ?
The reader will be disposed to think by parties
when ce,
deeply interested in his absenthey read
what follows. "But en the evidence as it stands
we are bound to state that there was not sufficient
ground for the apprehension of J. J. White ; and
even if there had been sufficient ground, the vio-
lence used towards him was wholly inexcusable."
Thin it is clear, on their own showing, that the

THE SUN, LOIN DON, THURS OA Y EVENING NOVEMBER 22, 1855.