The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-20 00:00:00

There have been Parliaments and Sessions of so
distinct a character as to go down to posterity with

some titular addition.

There was once " the Un-

learned Parliament," more recently the " Long
Parliament" and the " Rump." But, when one
_ _

comes to think of it, no session ever deserved this

sort of honour so Much as tkat which cam• and

passed by so mysteriously before Christmas. One

might alinost flare forgotten it, among rumours
good and bad, Christmas extravaganzas, and the
continual flow of dismal tidings from the East,
were ono not reminded of the fact that Parliament

meets next Tuesday. Yes, the Session, in the
dull, working-life sense of the word, begins next
Tuesday evening. Then, what was it that we had
in December ? What did it do ? For what pur-
pose were a thousand noblemen and gentlemen
summoned from all parts of the United Kingdom,
as one further remembers, in kottliaste, before the
day formerly named pro forma ? Rumour said
that money was wanted, . and nothing was more
likely than that, when British life was poured out
I as freely as water, England might hasten to redeem
her thousands with her millions—leer dear men with

her cheap money. Of one thing we are certain, that
England would readily have consented to sacrifice
everything, whether presently or prospectively
burdensome, fur the rescue of her Sons and the
maintenance of her honour. However, that object
was instantly disavowed, as being a matter of

no urgency, and quite unworthy of the sum-
mons which had excited all this speculation. Well,

Parliament mot. All that it professed to do was
comprised in two measures ; the one an act enabling
Government to move the militia regiments abroad
with their consent ; the othor one permitting regi-

ments of foreigners to be trained in this country--
that is, virtually permitting the formation of a
foreign legion. The two measures were treated as
parts of one whole, and were discussed very seri-
ously indeed. Doubts were expressed as to the
practical value of the second measure, and some
amusement was shown when it was admitted, on

the part of the Government, that they had no idea
whence the foreigners were to come ; but no one
doubted the sincerity, the earnestness of Govern-
ment. It was supposed to be, if anything, too
desperately bent on its measure. It doated on its
one pet. It was prepared to run all sorts of risks
at home and abroad foi this one great stake. The
jealous honour of Englishmen and the nervous ter-
rors of foreign potentates were alike disregarded
in a measure which the present generation, in its
innocence, abhorred as much as the pressgang, the
slave trade, and other time-honoured institutions.
That England, the mother of heroes, the peopler
of the world, the prolific parent of the United
States and British America, of Australia, and
many other busy shores, should go about seeking
men to fight under her banners in default of
her own children, seemed so scandalous that the
first feeling of the nation was to reject the
measure without a moment's inquiry. How-
ever, a swarm of precedents and a cloud of argu-
ments were shown for it, and, when they failed,
Ministers appealed to the confidence of the nation.
This was as much as to say, " We know what we
are about. We are doing our work quietly, but
securely. Do not distrust us or disturb us. Time
will prove us in the right. Wait, and you shall
see what you shall see." The nation acquiesced
rather sulkily, with a protest. Such was the con-
fidence demanded from the nation. How has it
been justified and redeemed ?
The answer is, " Not at all." The two mea-
sures have remained a dead letter. A thousand
noblemen and gentlemen have been summoned,
and the solemn pageant of Royalty has been in-
voked to procure the engrossment of two docu-
ments, which so far, are about as valuable as a
lease and release of land from Stokes to William
Styles in the year 1500. Not a militia regiment
has been sent abroad, not a foreigner enlisted at
home. So far as regards any actual operation, the
bills might just as well be now in the hands of the
intended movers ready to be laid on the table next
Tuesday or Wednesday. Were we wrong in de-
preciating the measure, which has proved thus
abortive ? Were we rash in condemning that
which refuses to be tried ? Why, the whole has
been a leap in the dark. Up to this date,
whatever private instructions Government may
have sent to its Ministers and Consuls abroad,
all that has been done in foreign countries has
been in the nature of the most emphatic pro-
test. Even in Switzerland the Confederation has
warned recruiting agents from its territories.
Other States have done the same their own way.
From our correspondent at Kiel it appears that
Government has not ventured to do anything at
almost the only place where such extra-national
schemes could be carried out—in the free city of
Hamburg. The experiment has been tried for
them, and has failed. Au adventurer from the
famous Schleswig-Holstein army—a man who
might, perhaps, rally round him some of those war-
like spirits—hearing of the proposed Foreign,
Legion, went to Hamburg for further information,
and thinking, too, that he might even find a
British agent authorised to treat with him., All
the reply to his inquiries he got in Hamburg was
an edict, denouncing punishment and expulsion
from the territory on all whogmight bo instru-
mental in engaging recruits for the service of any
foreign State. y He returned home, and has natu-
rally (riven up all idea of serving a Government
which° has shown so little earnestness, not to say
sincerity, in its measures. The news elsewhere is
utterly blank on this subject. Sardinia, indeed,
has joined the league, and we expect a Sardinian
contingent ; but they will be allies, not mere
auxiliaries, and their services would be just as
available without the Foreign Enlistment Act as
with it. This act, then, is a complete failure so
far. Perhaps it will be said that it was only an
experiment, and, as such, not warranted against
failure. It certainly is not in the power of British
statesmen 'to make all the peoples and Governments
of Europe on a sudden chivalrous and brave. We
can enlist them in the service of European inde-
pendence if they will come, but we cannot force
them to fight a battle which is really for them-
selves.

But what is to be said for the Militia Act, of
which the whole operation is British ? Why, Go-
vernment has not sent a single regiment to the
Mediterranean, and we hear only to-day that one
is to be sent. Might not that one have waited
until after Tuesday next ?
If a sitting so abortive, so visionary, and unprac-
tical deserves to be remembered at all, let it be
called the Crimean Session. It partakes of the same
character as all the operations of this horrid war.
There is bluster, preparation, schemes, promises,
and everything but one thing, and that is perform-
ance. The December meeting has ended as it be-
gan, just as the siege of Sebastopol leaves us where
it found us on the 28th of September last. Like a
bad tenant, our General promised us Sebastopol
first at Michaelmas, then on Christmas-day, and
we shall think ourselves very lucky if we get a re-
spectable instalment of the city by Lady-day. As
with the whole, so with all the parts and details.
The vastest preparations that ever were made all
eid in a haze of impossibility. Seven miles of had
road interpose between all the resources of the Bri-
tish empire and the salvation of her grand army.
Never was there such a satire on ships and steam,
on hearts of oak, and all that we aro proud of. Wo
see them all end in nothing, fairly stuck in the mud,
floundering in bilge water and in harbour filth,
dying in the ditch, sinking into a literal Slough of
Despond.
Such, too, as if by a law of fate, was the charac-
ter of the December sitting. It has come to no
more than shiploads of winter clothing, huts, and
railways seat to the Crimea. There it lies, a
wreck on the bleak shore of the past. Not a plank
remains of the two bills, which only two months
ago Ministers were ready to die for. A mysterious
cause vitiates our measures and stultifies our
counsels. Both at home and abroad they come to
nothing. Instead of the thrilling words and glow-
ing deeds of working life, we see dreams, chintter as,
fantasies, impossibilities looming big upon us in a
mist of threats and promises, but evading our grasp,
and finally disappearing from our view. Some-
thing is wanted to release us from this unprofitable
circle, this perpetual retracing of our steps, that
only leaves us whore we began. Something must
be done to disenchant Government, Parliament,
the army, the nation, of this Cimmerian obscurity
' of vision and inanity of performance. Such is not
the usual character of the British people ; so in
' that people, we have no doubt, the remedy is to
E be discovered. The way to reach it is too large a
question to be despatched in a day.—Times.

SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY.—Last evening the mem-
bers of this society favoured the public with the Judas
11Iaccabcns of the divine Handel. A more appropriate
oratorio could not be selected in these warlike times,
abounding, as it does, in so many patriotic sentiments
and touching and spirit-stirring allusions to the hazards
and vicissitudes of war and the blessings of liberty and
peace. This sacred drama was evidently produced with
great care, nothing being omitted necessary to an effec-
tual interpretation of the great composer. The orchestra,
consisting of nearly 700 (including 16 double basses),
under the able direction of Mr. Costa, performed their
parts with unerring precision, and, notwithstanding a
request that the audience might give no interruption by
applause or encores, elicited repeated marks of approba-
tion. The principal vocalists were Mademoiselle Ruders-
dorff (the Israelitish Woman), Miss Messent, Mrs.
Luckey, Mr. Sims Reeves (Judas), Mr. Weiss (Simon),
and Mr. T. E. Williams. There was an overflowing
audience, and hearty and repeated acknowledgments
were made to the musical powers of the vocalists, parti-
cularly those of Mdlle. Rudersdorff and Mr. Sims Reeves,
who achieved waxy triumphs during the evening.