The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-06 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

Ten DAT —Morning 53 min.+►fter 5 Evening 27min. art. 6
To-74( mow— Morning 58 min.af .;er 6 I Evening3l min. att. 7

rL WYIAT32III.—Sini Orlics„Tuno G.
TTERMOMETER, IN THE SRADE.
67—highest since noon yestertlay.
59—lowest this morning and during the night.
76—this day, at noon.
BAROMETER, up to 2912, now down to 29.86.
WIND, S.S.E.—Light breeze, with fine summer weather.

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Mfl

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 1855.

The debate has been again adjourned, and very
properly so. It is right that Honourable Gentle-
men should have the opportunity of explaining
the reasons by which they are actuated in giving
the votes by which their future reputations will be
materially affeQted—it is right that the several
constituencies should become thoroughly acquainted
with the views and feelings of their respective
representatives, to ascertain how far they are in
accordance with each other, and to determine on
the propriety of a renewal of the important trusts
now confided to their charge—it is right that
foreign nations should understand how fully and
completely the public opinion of England is in
favour of a vigorous and energetic management
of the War, and against any dishonourable
or premature peace. The opportunity thus
afforded has already induced Ministers to es ,uine
a very different tone. They see that the slightest
appearance of vacillation or of dissension in the
Cabinet would be the Signal for their immediate
downfall. They recognise the necessity, and
submit with a tolerably good grace to their'
new characters of "English, and not German,
Ministers." Since the auspicious day on
which the Right Honourable Gentleman the
Member for Bucks handed in his notice there
has been a complete change in the Ministerial
tone, and their doings have been- in accordance
with the new light that thus rapidly broke in on
them. Tho War has been vigorously pushed on.
Important successes have been achieved, and, better
still, the Conferences of Vienna have been finally
closed. That incubus is no longer permitted to
paralyse the national energies, or to afford hope to
Russia. Prince GORTSCHAKOFF. s new " dilatory
plea" for time to obtain instructions from St.
Petersburg was peremptorily rejected, and the ne-
gotiations having been thus broken off there is no
shadow of a pretext for asserting that the Western
Powers are still bokltiti by "the Four Points," and
not entitled, if they can do so, to curtail the ter-
ritory and diminish the power of Russia elsewhere
than in the Black Sea ! Austria must, therefore,
declare herself. Her condition cannot be one of
" expectancy." The closing of the Conference
has brought matters to a crisis. She must either
take an active part in the War or be contented to
sink into a position scarcely more respectable than
that to which Prussia has been consigned, and
from which she will find it difficult, if not impos-
sible, ever to extricate herself.
In addition to these very important results,
we find the Government now desirous, or
at least professing to be desirous, of assuming the
initiative, and taking the opinion of the House
and country on the entire negotiations. This
" dodge," however, will not now answer. It is
" too late." Like the German Powers they have
been lagging behind the progress of events, and
find that they have waited too long ; that the
course which would once have been hailed with
rapturous enthusiasm, and entitled them to the
thanks and gratitude of the people, is now re-
ceived with contempt, because they did not lead,
or even proceed pant passes, with the public
opinion, but•-waited until no alternative remained
but vigorous and energetic proceedings, or a
speedy and disgraceful expulsion from office.

The Hon. Gentleman the member for the West
Riding has completely sacrificed the scanty rem-
nant of the high character he once possessed.
His name once stood high in the opinions of the
people. The most implicit faith was reposed in
the patriotism and integrity of his motives. Now
the "gilding" kas been stripped from the quondam
idol, and the " baseness of the metal" of which it
is formed is now clearly revealed- The copper
peeps out on every side. It is not silver, nor
even " British metal," but the most worthless
mixture.
On this point there can be no
mistake.
The reputation acquired in fighting the battle
of the People against the powerful oligarchy has
been forfeited by becoming the champion of des-
potism, the advocate of injustice, the supporter of
the degradation of his country. While Mr.
Complar restricted himself to fiscal subjects,
while he strove to overthrow the monster griev-
ance that afflicted the great body of the people,
he was, indeed, a great man. His simple, un-
adorned el°1"1("lee went to the very hearts of the
people, and many were prepared -to follow In any

direction that he might lead. But his career has '
furnished another illustration of the accuracy of
the adage, "Ne sutor ultra crepidam."• He
speedily got out of his depth, and floundered
heavily in the sea of casuistry in which he em-
barked. He has totally mistaken his province.
Though unsurpassed when propounding and sup-
porting the truth, he has many superiors in the
art of " making the worse appear the better rea-
son," of " playing on words," and disappointing
the general expectation. In such respects he can
bear no comparision with his new Allies—the
Peelites ; he is not merely inferior to the great '
artist Mr. GLADSTONE, but to almost any of those
trained in his school. -
Sir JAMES GRAHAM also damaged him-
self to no trifling extent by his pro-Russian
arguments. New light was thrown on the
causes of our earlier failures during the War.
It was owing to the divisions in the Cabinet—
to the determination of those entrusted with the
control of several departments more immediately
connected with the management of hostilities.
We have heard the Chancellor of the Exchequer
and the First Lord of the Admiralty, and, we
suppose, the Secretary at War, will still be forth-
coming. But all the poison they have instilled,
or may instkl, will be neutralised by a powerful
antidote in the shape of an earnest expression of
opinion by independent members, which will not,
and cannot be mistaken by other nations—by
faithful friends—by avowed enemies—or by con-
temptible neutrals !

Entirely as our views are opposed to those of
Mr. M. GIBSON on the great question of the re-
sumed debate, we must confess our agreement
with him on one constitutional and practical
point of the highest importance. Mr. GrßsoN
maintained, citing names as authorities, of quite
equal weight at least to those of our present
nisters, or all who differed from him, the consti-
tutional power of the House of Commons to advise
the Crown. The authority of Fox and SHERIDAN
cannot well be sneered at by a pure Whig Cabi-
net. They must pardon all whose opinions are
more swayed by names than by arguments
for thinking these mighty dead as likely
to be right as their living representatives. Lord
PALMERSTON will surely not be remembered so
long as " SHERRY," nor Lord JOHN RUSSELL as-
pire to equality with Fox.
Let, however, the question be settled by rea-
son, especially as enlightened by recent facts.
Mr. BAXTER, the new man of the people from the
far north, and Sir E. L. BIIIWER, the intellectual
and elegant Conservative of the south, both ob.
jected to the House of Commons prescribing any
line of policy for her MAJESTY'S Government.
The arguments appear to psolve themselves into
two. One is that, by so doing, the House would
entrench on the prerogatives of the Crown ;
the other, that by detracting from the
responsibility of Ministers, it would relax their
diligence and caution in the discharge of their
duty. •

In regard to the first, it is, if honestly exa-
mined, a fiction and nothing better. The prero-
gative of the Cro►vn is to act as advised by its
Ministers. Those Ministers are responsible to
the House of Commons for the advice they give
her MAJESTY. Now, as a person must be the
servant chiefly and principally of those who can
call him to account, and who can even compel his
dismissal, or if he be dismissed in opposition to
their will can compel his reinstatement, it
seems -clear that in a constitutional sense
our Ministers are servants of the House
as well as of the Crown. If it be techni-
cally true that to make war• and peace are
prerogatives of the Crown, it is yet true that the
Crown must be advised to one or the other, by
those whom the House tacitly or avowedly confides
in. Such being the relation between these estates
of the realm, why should it be thought invading
the prerogative of the Crown for the House to
declare the advice which it requires those whom
it holds responsible to offer to her MAJESTY ?
They can resign if opposed to the advice, and
her MAJESTY can dissolve ,Parliament if she
does not relish it, or thinks the nation differs
from the House of Commons. The Crown is
now, in truth, but the head of an Executive for
carrying out government by the nation. The Crown
only reigns, the nation governs ; and it seems
mere red-tapery, and routine, and system run to
seed, to deny to the House of the governing
people, the right, on important occasions at least,
to advise the Crown directly, and thus to pre-
clude the possibility of the QUEEN'S responsible
advisers injuring, it may be irremediably, those
to whom they are responsible. If Ministers or
the QuEmr do not like the advice, they have, as
we have already observed, their constitutional re-
medy. No occupation, for instance, would be so
superlatively delightful to Lord JOHN RUSSELL as
to return an answer, contained in a single line, to
an unwelcome address to the Throne, and to an-
nounce immediately after that her MAJESTY
awaited the attendance of Honourable Members
in another place to bo forthwith sent back to the
places whence they came.
The other objection, of diminishing too much
the sense of responsibility under which Ministers
act, is a question purely of fact. We of the
Press have just experienced that Ministers held
themselves responsible for giving effect, not to an
address to the Crown, but to a mere resolution
of the House. They pleaded their responsibility
for doing it ; they showed themselves, however,
in no way hampered by it. They appeared to
think the task of carrying out their directions
quite responsibility enough. In the same way it
would be surely a task sufficient for any set of
men to carry out in details the general duty pre-
scribed to them by the House. Into what are
properly details no popular assembly would
ever venture. We have, indeed, a modern ex-
ample to our hand in the Senate of America,
which more nearly answers to our House of Com-
mons than the House of Representatives does.
No treaty can be ratified without its approbation,
and it does not hesitate to indicate its views of
foreign and general policy, yet it never foolishly
descends to the subordinate matters which pro-
perly belong to the Executive ; nor have des-
potic States been backward to maintain diploma-
tic relations with the free-speaking Republic.
We must think, however, that the late crisis
goes far to settle the whole question. The Houses
of Parliament (Earl GREY, with the Manchester
and GLADSTONE school, excepted) seem now
to participate in the amazement and thank-
fulness with which we look back to our
escape from the infamous Vienna Confer-
ences and the Four Points. Russia, not our
Ministry, has saved us from a humiliation we re-
volt from contemplating, and from an armed peace
whose cost and dangers we shudder to think of.
All our waste of blood and treasure were to have
been really thrown away ; not one word was
spoken of
herself never
Austria in he
the brave Cire •
Alanders, pecuniary indemnity, a thing Russia
forgot to exact from Turkey or from
somreuonfri:teous wars ; not a word of
has dragged across - 11
assians, or even of the unfortunate
Not a word, of course, of th
Russia, this very winter,
the 'Baltic ice to Siberia
e destruction of the

fortifications of Sebastopol ; not a word of any-
thing that Russia cared about, except the limita-
tion of her navy. That was confessed to be most
easily evaded ; all the rest consisted entirely in
drafts on Russian honour, frankness, and since-
rity ! The Conference at Vienna has convinced
us that secret diplomacy can never more be
trusted, that Plenipotentiaries need instructions
from the House of Commons, and that no treaty
ought to be ratified without consent of Parlia-
ment. '