The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-04 00:00:00

ably damaged his reputation as a public man.
The more extraordinary part of the transaction is
that he has done so voluntarily, without the
slightest pressure from,' any quarter. The Noble
Secretary for the Co4ies did all in his power to
evade the untoward revelations ; but, unfortu-
nately, be was too deeply compromised to render
secrecy possible. Count Bum, had previously
" let the cat out of the bag," and even before
i.he publication of the recent papers—which the
Hon. Member for the Wick Burghs adopted as the
text for his address of last night—proved the
complicity of England's Plenipotentiary in
the hollow propositions of Austria, he was
brought to the bar of public opinion,
and unanimously convicted on irresistible
testimony. His plea of " guilty" was forced on
him under the pressure of the " pane fort et
(litre" which he could not longer sustain or pro-
crastinate under any plea of expediency.

But such was not the case with Mr. LAING—
" CuitTivs"-like, he voluntarily sprung into the
gaping gulf in which so many public characters
had previously been entombed, and gloried in the
gratuitous sacrifice ! It was his own " act and
deed," for which he was solely responsible ; and
we can only regret that one for whom, in common
with the community at large, we entertained a
-nigh respect, and looked forward to as one of the
" coming men," should so unnecessarily and reck-
lessly have abandoned the high position he had
previously occupied.
The Honourable Gentleman brought no new
light on the subject. He merely pursued the
beaten track that had previously been traversed
by GLADSTONE, GRAHAM, and HERBERT, MILNER
GIBSON, BRIGHT, and COBDEN. He might not
have proceeded at so rapid a pace, or arrived at
so advanced a stage as these Right Hon. and Hon.
Gentlemen. He does not yet applaud Russia, but
ha justifies Austria. He has not assumed the
Muscovite livery, but he has donned the Germanic
uniform, and proudly sported the Coburg badge.
We regret the star that has fallen from the poli-
tical hemisphere, that no longer is regarded with
respect and almost veneration, but is proved to
be a mere shapeless mass of worthless material.
He now comes forward to tell us that the
Western Powers have, since the publication of the
latest documents, forfeited the good opinion of
Europe ; that they are no longer regarded with
confidence and friendship by " men of business "
in other nations on account of their refusal to act
in accordance with the suggestions, or rather the
dictates, of Austria. "It was felt (he said) that
we had committed a great mistake in so doing."
The Honourable Gentleman, however, produced
no evidence in support of the assertion. It
was merely his own impressions and arguments
which he detailed to the House, and these he
urged with all the zeal of a recent convert, al-
though not powerfully enough to satisfy the fasti-
dious, and, on that point, almost fanatic, taste of
the Honourable Member for the West Riding,
who deemed it necessary to grapple with the as-
sertion that the War had over been necessary or
justifiable.

Mr. LAING'S conversion has, however, only
been since the rejection of the latest propositions
of Austria. That, according to the Honourable
Gentleman, was the first Ministerial mistake.
The Government should at once have accepted
the duty of gratuitous guardians of the Black
Sea, bound to keep watch and ward over Russia,
and to preserve Turkey from the perpetually
impending danger. In tender consideration for
the scruples of Russia, there was to be no limita-
tion on her, although the Western Powers were
to be restrained by red-tape ligaments. Slie was
to bring forward any naval force she thought pro-
per, while France and England were to he limited
to half the number ! She would make them bow
themselves beneath the yoke; and Austria, the
pretended friend of the Allies, would induce them
to do so, as if they had been the suppliants for
Russian forbearance, and desired her permis-
sion to withdraw from the contest !

It is ridiculous to call it " counterpoise,"
for the aggressor, whose only possible purpose
could be conquest and annexation, might increase
her power to any extent, while the guardians
should wait until the marauders had made the
addition to their means of attack before they
raised theirs to half the amount, sufficient, per•
Laps, to meet the victors of " Sinope" and of
" Hango " in fair fight, but not to ensure peace.
If Russia has deliberately rejected the too lenient
terms offered, Austria has put forward that which
Lord CLARENDON truly designated as "inadequate
and impracticable," and she would not even
pledge herself to enforce these terms if re-
jected, but merely hinted that some "fourth
system might arise out of the ashes of the
three systems now floating in the air." She
would not even make the refusal of her own
proposition a cases belli. Of this there is un-
questionable evidence, for Lord JOHN RUSSELL
may be regarded as an unimpeachable witness on
such a point. The debate was rather unexpec-
tedly adjourned, the House breaking up in much-
admired confusion. We earnestly hope that it
may not be renewed, for no further discussion
can be beneficial to the nation, or to the cause
which an overwhelming majority of the people
are irrevocably determined to sustain and support.

The views w hich we have repeatedly put for
ward respecting a combined attack on Sebastopol.
1)3, land and water seem to obtain additional con-
fimation every day. The extraordinary prepara-
rations at Kamiesch could not have been made
for nothing. That something was on the tapis
was palpable, but opinion was divided as to the
destination of the contemplated expedition. Some
would have it that Genitchi and the Putrid Sea
was the object of attack ; but that was merely a
matter for ship's boats and launches, not for the
vessels themselves. The larger classes could not
even find their way into the Sea of Azoff ; and
our lamented hero, Captain LYONS, had
proved that English frigates were fully com-
petent for all the work that could be cut out
for them in that quarter, and that there was,
therefore, no possible necessity or even utility for
putting men-of-war into motion for what could
be most effectually disposed of at a much less ex-
penditure of power. Odessa, and the entire course
to the Dniester, then attracted attention. We
were to bombard the chief emporium from whence
the enemy could • obtain the necessary supplies
of the personnel, materiel, and munitions of war.
The mistake of 1854 was to be rectified, and the
propriety of the question, " Why spare Odessa ?"
removed. The entire coast to the confluences of the
Dniester, theßoug, and tho Dnieper was then tobe
scoured, and even the rivers themselves might be
visited, and Nicolaieff, the Portsmouth of Southern
Russia, destroyed with all its vast stores of ship-
building materials, which, if left to itself, would
speedily replace the fleet, one portion of which
was voluntarily sunk at the entrance of the har-
bour of Sebastopol, and the residue thereof can
scarcely hope to escape unscathed from the trap
in which it is secured. •

But we fear that . Odessa is not as yet
aimed at. Iv, have not displayed still.-
eient evidence of earnestness or determination
to cripple Russia to warrant the expectation that