The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-01 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY Jilrl IN F
G EBit UARY , 1855
A ENT

THE :MINISTERIAL CRISIS;"

(Prom the Times of this day.)
The first stop taken by her Majesty in the Present critical
state of affairs was to proceed from Windsor Castle to
Buckingham: Palace at eleven o'clock yesterday morning,
the Queen leaving, doubtless, remarked the o.xtremo incon-
venience caused by the absence of the court from London
at a moment of so much politiettlesgitation and embarrass-
ment. An intimation had already been conveyed to the
Earl of,Derlay on Tuesday evening that he was summoned
to attend leer Majesty on this occesion, and at half-past U
the leader of the'.COnservative party arrived at the Palace,
and had his audience of the Queen, which lasted till one
o'clock. It may be inferred 'that Lord Derby accepted the
task of forming, _or of attempting to form, an Administra-
tion en 'conditions which-have 'not transpired ; and it is
certain that ho repaired at.onee from the Queen's presence
to Lord Palmersten's residence, where a lengthened con-
ference took place between the two ministers. Beyond
this point we have at Present no authentic. information;
lout it is believed that Lord Palmerston did not accede to
the proposals addressed to him, and her Majesty returned
to Windsor in the afternoon.
Although the course taken by the-Queen in committing
the formation Or the lieli/MheiAry to Lord Derby is not
that which had been anticipated or desired, either by the
public or'ourielies, it is impossible to deny that there arc
some constitutional -arguments in favour of that course.
The party of which L6rd Derby is the acknowledged head
censtituted.the bulk of the majority which overthrow the
Cabinet of Lord 'Aberdeen. That party is the only sec-
tion of, the Rouse or Conemens which can be said to pre-
sent ht this moment any semblance of union or discipline,
'for the supporters and members of the late Administration
aro divided not only into Whigs and Peelites—the fol-
lowers of`Lerd John Russell and the followers of Lord
Aberdeen—but also into those whe• supported and thoie
who opposed kir. Roebuck's niotion for inquiry, or again
hetes these who condlniq ;laza Agin .311,vrell'e recent? cwt.,.
Into opposition.
1111-Iset- Cent.' have had a more• disastrons effect on the
union and concert of the great Liberal party than the
• abrupt, hostile demoustration of Lord John Russell. It was
cheered-with veheMence by the Tories, because they knew
that no blow could be so fatal to the party opposed to
them as a blow struck
-by one of its chiefs at the Coalition ;
and, should Lord Derby succeed informing a Government,
it will owe its existence to the desertion of Lord John.
Whatever may be the result of this crisis, that act' ought
to remain a lasting ground of exclusion from the confidence
of the nation and the Crown. The Queen herself isknown
to have expressed to Lord John Russell, in an autograph
letter, her sense of conduct so much at variance with the
common principles of truth and honesty, and we are con-
vinced that nothing but absolute necessity will induce the
Queen to summon to the head of her councils a _taunter
who for his own selfish objects has not hesitated to betray
them.

The formation of a Cabinet by Lord Derby depends
upon the possibility of his obtaining support of a more
etticient el araot :r, especially in the House -of. Commons,
than that winch ho possesses in the ranks of his own
Party, for in the very difficult circumstances in which
we now stand—while the honour of our arms, the
issue of the war, the system of our alliance with foreign
States, and the safety of thO country are all deeply
engaged,—we cannot contemplate without apprehension
the'returnito power of such a Government as that over
which he last presided. In the not improbable event of
Lord Derby'slailure, we rely with unabated confidence on
Lord Palmerston, as the• fittest and ablest man to be
placed at the head of the Government at such a crisis, and
he would fairly be entitled to demand the support of the
Conservative party, since the only remaining alternative
would be to fling back the Adminl73tration into the hands
of the Chesham-place Whigs. We adhere to the convic-
tion that the strongest Cabinet which can'now be formed
must contain in it more than ono exclusive element, and
that it must be formed on a broader basis than the last.
To effect this object sacrifices may be required, and men
must look to some higher principle than the narrow stand-
ard of mere party connection. They must ask themselves
whether they kayo not a great public duty to perform, and
whether the country has not a right to demand their ser-
vices, if it believes in their efficiency. Depend upon it
the country will not bo ungrateful to those who serve it
well, and to men of honest and resolute purposes the
necessity of the time is the strongest incentive to action.

(From the Daily News of this day.)
Of the progress made towards the construction of a new
Ministry we can only state what is generally understood
and believed. The most probable of the stories current is
briefly as follows :—Yesteiday, a little after 11 a.m., the
Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert, arrived at Bucking-
ham Palace from Windsor; at 3 p.m. the Royal pair left
London for Windsor. Soon after her Majesty's arrival at
the Palace, Lord Derby waited upon her, and had a
lengthened audience. Immediately after its termination
Lord Derby visited Lord Palmerston, with whom he re-
mained for a conilderable time. Lord Derby then re-
turned to his own residence, where he was visited by the
Marquis of Lansdowne, and subsequently by some of his
own supporters. Before the Queen left town Lord Derby
again waited upon her Majesty, and at this audience he is
said to have accepted the charge of forming a Cabinet.
If these statements are true, the only possible inference
to be drawn from them is, that Lord Derby has accepted
office, on the understanding that Lords Lansdowne and
Paln4reton are either to take part in his admistration, or,
at least, not to go into decided opposition. Lord Derby's
party in the House of Commons, though perhaps more
numerous than any of the other sections of that body, is
not a majority in the house. That his lordship should
visit Lord Palmerston before he would definitively under-
take to farm a Ministry irresistibly points to the oonclu-
Ilion that he has not accepted office until he was secure of
the co-operation of some of the residuary Ministers and-the
neutrality of others. , The necessary inference is that we
aro to have a Coalition Government, composed of members
of the Derby party, of some of the Peelites, and of some of
the Conservative Whigs. A specious pretext will net be
wanting to justify suck a coalition to that pretty nume-
rous class of politicians who, with professions of principle
and consistency in their mouths, are at all times ready
to allow themselves to be paid with words. The country
will be told that at this moment the one great duty of
English Ministers is to concentrate all their energies
upon the vigorous prosecution of the war. It will be
told that, until the war is terminated, all other questions,
upon which the leading parties in Parliament are at
variance,
must necessarily remain in abeyance ; and that
consequently Conservative and Liberal statesmen may co-
operate for the time being to promote their common
object. It will not, however, be added—though it will be
perfectly understood—that since free trade has become
irrevocably the policy of England, thero is in reality no
material difference, in respect of political opinion and sen-
timent, between Lord Derby and Mr. Gladstone, or be-
tween Lord Derby and Lord Palmersteu, All three are
equal
nslyexhteestilieon oit
t o
ffuhr
e ffthsearrreafgoe. A
refocus of
ll,rlihK
op,eoleettlortilko
l, sy stem
and to anxi-:
ons to preserve a monopoly of the high Aloes .sif state',
their honours and emoluments, within"-the dnaireir:cifile
of the aristocracy, and the few parvenu 3 who can contrive.
by some chance or other to elbow their •wayikto the circle.'
A Cabinet of which these three statesmen should be the
leading members, won' I, in the most bland and degage
manner possible, talk Liberalism, and act Conservatism,
and appeal to the hereditary politics of Lord Derby's
house as an unanswerable proof that he itczealously at-
tached to the rights and privileges of the people.

( From the Morning Herald of this d('y.)
It is becoming daily more appal cut that Lord John
Russel!, in his very clever move of Tuesday in last week,
deceived, not only himself, but several scores of his fol-
lowers. It is, we know, believed by several of the late
Cabinet that his calculation was, that by diconnecting
himself from Lord Aberdeen's Ministry before its fall, he
would place himself in readiness to be " sent for,"
whenever that Ministry should give up the ghost. The
evident anger felt by more than one of his late colleagues
arises from a conviction that he meant to save himself by
letting them go down ; and the result is, that ho is in
universal disgrace, and not likely to be trusted or asso-
ciated with for some time to come.

But as he committed an error himself, so he seems to
have been the cause of error in others. More than eighty
Whigs took his word for it, that Mr. Roebuck's motion
could not he reasonably opposed ' • and they accordingly
voted for that motion. Some of these may have voted
from their own convictions, without caring what Lord
John Russell thought or said about the matter ; but mazy,
we believe, voted from their confidence in Lord John ;
their belief that "he know what he was about;" and their
expectation that " matters would turn up right at last."
In no other way is it easy to understand how eighty Whigs
should vote for turning out a Ministry the greater part of
which consisted of Whigs.
Their own newspapers also helped on the delusion.
They, one and all, represented that the real drift of the
motion was to get rid of the Peelites in the Cabinet, and
to reconstitute the Ministry on a more purely Whig prin-
ciple. In this supposition tho Fitz williams, Gowers, Dun-
cans, Ebringtons, voted. They got rid of Lord Lans-
downe, and Lord Clarendon, and Sir George Grey, and
brought in Lord Derby ! Was this what they meant or
expected ?
Doubtless, the cry and the expectation was, in Reform
Club circles, "Get rid of Newcastle and Herbert, and let
Lord Palmerston manage the war." But they forgot, that
for any man to be Premier it is noeesssry that he have a
large array of personal supporters in the House of Com-
mons. Now Lord John Russell, when on good terms with
his own party, may have 150 followers. Mr. Gladstone
and the Peelites may have 35. Lord Derby has more than.
25.0. But Lord Palmerston had not a dozen. His Pre-
miership, therefore, must have wholly depended on the
support of some other party—a support which might at
any moment have been withdrawn.
These Whig gentlemen, therefore, should have calcu-
lated better. They should have foreseen that whenever
that coalition of Whigs, Radicals, and Peelites' which gave
Lord Abersleon 300 votes, was broken up, the obvious
course which the Sovereign would naturally adopt would
be to call for the services of that leader 'who should have
the most numerous body of supporters in Parliament ; and
this would be, not Lord Palmerston, who, however popu-
lar, has no party of his own, but Lord Derby, the acknow-
ledged leader of the groat Conservative party—the man
who had it more in his power than any other individual to
form that which the Queen required—a strong, and united,
and efficient Administration. . . .

And in this way, perhaps very unexpectedly, but very
naturally, the crime and the error of 1852 is avenged. By
a factious Coalition a good and strong Administration was
overthrown. That Coalition has not been expelled in its
turn by any similar manoeuvre. The Conservatives have
"bided their time." The Coalition has broken down from
sheer incompetency. Talent and experience of the highest
order constituted, they said, their title to office. They have
had a full and a fair trial, and have been dismissed most
ignominiously, as having exhibited the greatest want of
talent, and the most inconceivable amount of ignorance
and inexperience.

(From the Morning Chronicle of this clay.)

The political world was taken by surprise, and the Libe-
rals who assisted to break up Lard Aberdeen's Govern-
w,ro not a litflo
'mat, Loin A).:.'riiy 11441 been bent for" at (thee.
On reflection, however, we are inclined to think that no
othor course could have been pursued by her Majesty in
accordance with the spirit of our constitution, Although

a large proportion of the votes which helped to swell the
majority on Mr. Roebuck's motion was given rather in
favour of Lent Palmerston than againstehim, still, as Mr.
Disrae i observed in the debate, the noble viseount was
virtually responsible for the acts of his colleagues, and he
formed ono of the condemned Cabinet. If Lord Derby
fails, and gives up the delicate mid deeply responsible task
entrusted to him, then' will be the time for the popular
favourite, and (by common consent) the fitting man for the
emergency, to trytis hand.
Wo.lutee more than once recapitulated the .insnrnrount-
able objeotions to any Government that Lord Derby could
form from amongst the ranks of hie own party. It would
be fliers open than any other combination on the cards. to
the charges of inexperience and incapacity. He would have
to fill many • of the most .impeetent posts with men who
have been tried and found wanting, or who have
:never
been trial at all. Some of his most conspicuous followers
have made themselves ridiculous, end someere not producible
for more weighty reasons. To do the chivalrous earl jus-
tice he seems fully Aware of their deficiencies, and he is
said to have shown the most laudable anxiety to, get re-
cruits of a sorriewhat higher standard of talent and prin-
ciple. The, results of his applications are not yet accurately
known, but it is not expected that lie will be able to ally
himself with'any loading politician not hitherto numbered
amongst Lir professed adherents, except Lord Ellen.:
borough.
and eloquent, but erratic
rini
possibly be tempted by the
and
uatel: ehbatt,a clees
Env dashing,
hope of being able to enact the part of Chatham at the
War-office; Lord Stratford de Rodclifre, also, is 'Spoken
of as likely to lend his powerful aid to the eo-celled Con-
servetive cause. But we cannot belieee-that either Lord
Palmerston, or any other eminent member of the Liberal
or LiberabConeervative party, will join Lord Derby, ex-
cept upon a condition which we take to be utterly inade
missible—namely, the abandonment of Mr. Disraeli. The
reftteed to act with this individual is not A matter of pre-
judice, or caprice, or perSonal diilike, a' principle in
which the, hest of the. Derhyitee theeSelvds- coincide.
There, oe
an and of everything like fiv s ermacious
iutekrity if any instirnetiro and 'wet eee.atiiug.nwleo
la
of this sort can be overcome by superficial considerations
of expediency.
We remarked, a few days since, that it would be curi-
ous coineitence if Lord John Russell should be found to
hi ed nazi fatallyageh,etplayed oele
compromisingv
ragain,uneittingly, the same short-
sga,no...which
playedwhen lie gave His horse to hold to Lord Derby, who
mounted and rode away upon it. Wonderful to relate, he
has again played that game, whether lie meditated it or
not ; and we inspect that ho expected the crisis to end in
a Ministry of his own, rather than in ono of Lord Derby's
formation. But he has proved a blundering, as well as a
short-sighted, politician. His'resignation (to borrow Tal-
leyrand's well-known mot) i 3 more than a crirne--it is a
mistake. Ho neither obtains the Premiership for him-'
self, nor accomplishes the longing wishes of the peo-
ple, who have set their hearts on having Lord Palmer-
ston either as First Lord of the Treasury or War Minie-
ter. They do not much care which, but one or the other
they insist on having ; and if there were any difficulty
arising out of Whig scruples to act against or without Lord
John Russell, these might instantly be removed by Lord
Lansdowne's ..ccepiline the duty of forming a Government.
Report says that this noble lord, the Statesman sents paw
et sans nprocke, regrete and condemns Lord John Russell's
proceedings, and that both he and Lord Palmerston would
do all that in them lies to save the country from the con-
sequences of their late colleague's escap 'de. It is impos-
sible to help admiring the consnennete judgment and
sagacity with which her Majeety extritatem herself from
the trying situations into which she is too frequently
councillors hurried by the very who ought to- be her chief
reliance in her difficulties, and wo hope thatit may still
be possible for her, consistently with constitutional forms,
to comply with the wishes and co-operate with the well-
understood interests of her people, by entrusting the
formation of her Government to Lord Lensdowne or Lord
Palmerston.

posts within two kilometres of . the place, oceupitcllW
neighbouring villages, and established their head-quarters
at Oraz, where they still remain. On the 17th they burnt
the village of Beynac, near the sea, whence the poorer
classes of Tartar population were in the habit of supplying '
themselves with grain, wood, and straw. The next day
the Russians attempted to carry off the cattle which were
grazing beyond the range of the guns of the ramparts, but
the garrison, 1;200 strong, consisting 'of 330
,French, 380
English, and SJO Turks or Egyptians, sallied out and drove
them back with loss.

_
"On the 3d of November the Russians renewed the
attempt, but were again repulsed- by the French com-
mander, at the head of a detachthent of infantry arid some
.mounted Tartars. The cattle seized upon by the enemy
e -o recaptured. On that day A po thn of the wheat fd'und
in the town at the time of its occupation ,NV:IK distributed
among the Tartars: On tbeith a new attack of the Rus-
sians was similarly repulsed by General Osniont, although,
the assailants advanced under the protection of 2,000 Rus-
sian infantry and four pieces 'of cannon. The French had
seven wounded. The commander's horse was killed under
him. The loss of the Russians was greater than ours.
"On the 14th November,during the frightful hurricane
which occasioned so many disasters in the Black sea, bat.
particularly in the Bay 'of Ettpatoria, a body o! 7,000 Rus-
sian troops, with 11 pieces of artillery, attacked the place,
but wore beaten back with the utmost confusion, alter a
sharp engagement, whieli lasted upwards of an hour. On
the 211, a captain ofengincers.wessenttodirecitheWorks.
in progress, which have been carried on. ever since with
c:msidstable*activity. On the 25th and 25th; two Tnrkish
battalions arrived from Kamiesh and Balaklave, to rein-
force the garrison. 'On the 6th December the Russians
made a last fruitless attack, and since then they have not
reappeared. The place is riow in a perfect state of defence.
"On the 9th of December tho first Turkish troops of
Omer Paeha's army began to arrive. The. movement has
since centinuol, and to-day (the 9th of ./arruary), the first,
corps, snider the command of lfehemet Fe:ik Pacha,goP4
ral of division, is quar'iered in the town, which, iudepen-
dently of the 25,000 Tartar refugees, can shelter 15,000
men and upwards of 1,200 horses. The remainder of the
Ottoman army, which, it is said, will consist of 50,000
men, is to encamp outside this-town in very g.iod positions.
The place is perfectly fortified and, able to resist any at-
tack: Our men are now completing a nurnb,r of closed
and isolated redoubts on the line of hills above men_
tioned ; and I may venture to say that Eupatoria will soon
be one of the strongest and most useful towns to the
Allies in the Crimea."

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

Her Majesty's steam sloop Hecla, Commander Ha wkes,
went on shore on the eastern beach, off Gibraltar, on the
morning of the 23d ult. Her ma-t 4 were cut away, the
sea beating over her. No lives were lost.
DEVONPORT, Wednesday.—The Dragon, 6, paddle,
Captain Willcox, arrived at this port yesterday from
Portsmouth. _ _ _

In the Sound.—Caesar, 91, screw ; and Calcutta, 84 ;
Dragon, 6, paddle ; and Stsg, convict-ship.
In Barbour.—lmpregnable, R9yal William, Exmouth,
Nile, Euryalus, Magicienne, Belleisle, Sylph, Avon,
Nautilus, Resistance, store-ship ; Confiance, Tortoise,
Caine], and Devon, lighters.