The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-02 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1855.

The House of Commons really does seem dis-
posed to show a little more interest in the nation's
business. At the division on the Loan Bill on
Monday night, the number of persons elected to
do the business of the country who contrived to
be present positively amounted to 321, nearly
half the members ! Later in the evening, when
Mr. Mums and Mr. Lows proposed to make
the Times a present (in addition to Mr. GLAD-
terorres of last year) of 1251. for every number
with a supplement, say of 375/. per week, or
about 20,0001. per annum—the house actually
mustered some 346 memberS, rather more than half
its members. A majority of 174 collected together
to express the general feeling about the shameless
proposal. Very well in its way this. A•rather
hopeful sign that 260 independent and honour-
able members dared to incur the penalty of a
black cross against their names in the Parliamen-
tary Register of the Great Implacable. If, how-
ever, they want to show their assiduity or their
courage scope will not be wanting. It is some-
thing, to be sure, to beard the Times ; but it
will be somewhat more to brave the dis-
pleasure of a Prime Minister, of a Cabi-
net, of a whole Aristocracy, their officials
and their inveterate system, of the COBURGS
and the Court. The infuriated muster against
Mr. LAYARD last Triday shows what an honest
reformer of aristocratic abuses must expect. His
firmness on that occasion does him infiuite honour.
Be seemed perfectly unmoved by the sanctimo-
nious bray around him ; and he has but to de-
velope his resolutions with equal firmness to gain
for himself a lasting reputation, and to render his
country an invaluable service. We take the scene
of that evening as a pretty fair proof of
the real quality of our present House of
Commons. It is one quite ready to swarm
together to vanquish if it could a solitary
denouncer of aristocratic misrule, and ready, too,
to exult in seizing hold of some trivial errors of
statement, and to hoot down the weightiest ques-
tion of the hour on the strength of them. Dur-
ing the whole session we have not seen the House
look so exceedingly small. While it thought to
put down Mr. LAYARD, it only compelled him to
despise its hypocrisy, and sunk itself in the eyes
of all Europe as well as of all England. Mem-
bers racked themselves to put him on the rack
Parliamentary ; but unluckily be would not even
wince. He was completely victorious. Let the
country see to it that his victory be not a barren
one.

The nation ought now to face the real difficulty
of its position. This difficulty lies at home. We
have statesmen utterly incompetent to deal with
Saxe-Coburg, Austria, and Russia combined, and
equally incompetent to deal with army and official
patronage. The politicaland the adnlinistrative diffi-
culties are both of them such as our aristocratic
Government will never willingly grapple with.
They make a show of doing something, but will
do nothing to annoy either the relatives of
our Crown, or Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S pet,
Austria; or the titled incapables who have quar-
tered themselves on the civil and military estab-
lishments of the nation. The country justly
suspects incalculable mischief from the subser-
viepcy of all our Premiers to court Germanism.
Without a tinge of disloyal feeling, we believe
there is a disposition to curse the Hanoverian
1)°143' of sustaining so rigidly the purity of the
as descent of the family which governs us.
Thar,,.. was great joy when Hanover itself
dropped
Off from the English Crown ; but
it seems only to have resulted in linking
us indissolubly to
niediatisea
l. one of the mcst com-
pletelyin fact, is
State which, Atli e states of Germany—a
Lord
Crowns. the Austrian and .tagruit an electric wire between
-worth something if
oath of secrec It would be
absolved from any ALIIERSTOIN could be
able pledge, an could be
.._
.47, or any honour-
&nee as to how far he :al ired to give evi- i
movements by the wishes or restrained. in his
wilfulness
of the
cobuegs ; or how far he felt that the interests of
f
the English Crown and people, and the efa,ien
of oar military service and operations, were co
rae3:
promised by the necessity of yielding to Ger- 1
man influence at Court. The people think that
nothing else can account for the fatuity which
waits with such fatal results on the policy of Aus-
irria' llf the nation errs in this, 'Were well it
should:l,now •
it ; if . it
(
, does not, it were even still
more important.
Here we now
has cancelledall
- l';:azt..3 'y roftisier
stand upon the commencement of
A new war. Russia
i he Four
`.... -•-• • -' -_ th ‘-;4- cardinal one. These mis•

chievous proposals are gone, ,or ought to be gone,
for ever. The questions of Crimean and Bes-
sarabian conquest, and of Polish liberation,
are now fairly before all the parties con-
cerned. Austria may now surely be required
to fight for or against, while Prussia must
be compelled to stop Russian transit trade,
or to have her Ports blockaded. We confess we
shudder at the thought of such questions being
entrusted to the class which has long held the
helm in England, to the particular individuals
who grasp it now, and to a Court so bound up
with the miserable despots of Germany. There
are men who, at the head of our troops,
would have wintered in Sebastopol, but to
have employed them would —we blush to
I write it—have superseded old Lords and their
relatives, though it would have saved our men
and our money, and have brought Russia on her
knees before now. We could name the men who
as commanders-in-chief would have done what we
have stated ; but all the family cliquei would
have turued up their noses ate the mention of
them. They must make the nation almost mad
before they. will give way. There are men, too,
who know the political counsels which would save
the Allies and Europe, and who could giVe effect
to them, but they belong not to the governing
cliques, and if they did they must govern their
politics by German considerations, or they would
not be endured in the Cabinet. We must think
that our only hope lies in the nation's awaking to
its own imperative wants, and to its compelling
the House of Commons to do its duty, or to give
place to one which will. Good attendances for
party conflicts, and empty benches for 'the busi-
ness of the country, or for the evasion of su-
premely important motions can be tolerated no
longer.

Procrastination and mystery appear to be the
prevailing principles of the PALMERSTON Admi-
nistration. Postpone everything to the latest
moment, and then withhold any information while
it is possible to do so. These seem to be . the
chief rules of action of our present rulers, and
they are the only points in which vacillation and
infirmity of purpose are not but too plainly per-
ceptible. The telegraph has, with some trifling
breaks, been opened to Balaklava. Ample infor-
mation may be received from the seat of War
within a few hours. But the public are in no
respect wiser or better informed. The Govern-
ment has taken the example of the "Dog in the
manger," celebrated in the nursery fable,
and will neither itself use the extraordinary
means for obtaining rapid intelligence thereby
afforded, nor permit any one else to do so.
That no accident has occurred to impair its effici-
ency is certain from the facts stated by the First
Lord of the Admiialty, who admitted that tele-
graphic despatches had been received from the
Crimea, but positively declared that he had given
their substance nearly verbatim to the House ;
and further, that the Government would commu-
nicate any information they rniAt receive, and
which they considered to be interesting ! Extra-
ordinary as these assertions may appear, we are,
in the absence of conclusive evidence to the con-
trary, bound to believe them. What, then, can
be thought of the apathy and indifference of Lord
RAGLAN, who does not condescend to make the
most trifling effort to appease the public anxiety,
or to set at rest the sinister rumours which silence
at such a time, and under such circumstances,
must necessarily occasion ? What of the Ministry
who do not forthwith insist on his availing him-
self of the means at his disposal, to the extent of
sending at least a daily despatch respecting the
true state of affairs before S:;bastopoi ? All par-
ties concerned appear to be equally reprehensible
for their very extraordinary conduct in reference
to this strange and ominous taciturnity.
Sir CHARLES WOOD has also declared that the
telegraph will be entirely under the control of
Government. But he does not say that it will
be confined to their service. But is it net so ?
Who else has been permitted to transmit a mes-
sage
of any kind?? From the extraordinary bre-
vity of Lord RAGLAN'S communications, it is ob-
vious that the use of the machine for a very few
minutes in the day would amply satisfy his re-
quirements, and that it must remain idle for more
than 23 out of the 24 hours. It is impossible to
suppose that there are not many persons anxious
to transmit intelligence if they were at liberty to
do so. Although, therefore, Sir CHARLES WOOD
"does not say that it is confined to Government
use, it is obvious that it is so, and that the First
Lord of the Admiralty has evaded the question
which he professed to answer.. -

The suppressio vere is, however, scarcely more
justifiable than the suggestio falsi. If the House
and the Country are deceived or misled by a
quibble, it is just as bad as if a similar result had
been obtained by a direct falsehood. We trust,
therefore, that a more distinct and intelligible
answer may be elicited from the Right Hon.
Bart. on a point on which the public anxiety is
so greatly excited.

It is now certain that nosatisfactory result can he
anticipated from negotiations, and that any honour-
able Peace, likely to be permanent, must, as we
have repeatedly declared, be "conquered." Al-
though other elements mayspeedily be added to thu
calculation, the venue for the time is laid before
Sebastopol. We know that Russia—who has not
been idle or slothful during the time•wasted in the
Conferences atVi eu na, has concentrated an enormous
force in the vicinity &f the Allied lines, and it is
more than probable that a fierce attack, similar
to that of Inkerman, will be made on the French
and English armies, seconded by a sortie from the
beleaguered fortress. Should such a conflict take
place, it will indeed be one for life or death.
Few of the Western warriors will be spared should
the Russian attack prove successful. They are
not men to quit their posts, or abandon the posi-
tions which they have assumed, while the faintest
hope remains ; and yet, at such a time, and under
such circumstances, the Government will neither
supply the required information themselves, nor
allow us to obtain it from independent sources !
This is assuredly too bad, and it will be the fault
of both Houses of Parliament if such an untoward
state of affairs should be suffered to prevail much

longer.

Again, the most serious doubts are entertained
as to the course to be pursued by Austria. :Lord
JOHN, who can alone dispel the mystery, returned
on Sunday, and on Monday evening appeared iu
his place in Parliament. An influential Cabinet
Minister, one who is generally supposed to have
more weight in the National Councils than even
the nominal Premier, has admitted that " it is of
infinite importance that the earliest possible infor-
mation should be given to the House and the
our doubts
country tegpecting the result of the negotiations."
And
spectful to the L
Yet 1.1,3 time is ime is specified, no day named when
and anxieties shall be set at rest.
represei t
This
Parliament
13
"t fair to tie community, nor re-
is, egrslature. The authority of
the hereditary a if possible, to be set at nought,
either House are t'lc,ll4t, lati:v-eitilmceomntbuenarselyo,f
appreciate thy, 11111
richly merit.
which, if they slam'. It treatedt,the
If they so lightly
tha cloy ar own dignity or
4%47 e t•
ztind* Alto

memories of those who owe their positions to the
suffrages of independent constituencies may be
very unpleasantly jogged. The dreaded appeal
to the country may come sooner than they antici-
pate, and if they hope to pass unscathed through
that ordeal they must shake off their insouceonce,
and display; even at the eleventh hour, qualities
befitting the chosen representatives of the British
People.

WEST INDIA MAILS.
(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPII.)

SOUTHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY, 11.30 A.M.

The Royal Mail Company's steam-ship Atrato,
Captain Woolley, has just arrived with the West
India, Mexican, and Pacific mails.

THE QUEEN'S COURT AND PRIVY

COUNCIL.

KNIGHTHOOD OF THE SHERIFFS &e.

The Queen held, a Court and Privy Council, at three
o'clock yesterday afternoon, at Buckingham Palace.

At the Court Senor D,44-Francisco de Ribero had his
fir-t audience of her Majesty, and presented his creden-
tial-4 as Iklinister Resident from the Republic of Peru.
His Excellency was introduced by the Earl of Claren-
don, the Queen's Principal. Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, and conducted by Major-General the
Hon. Sir Edward Cast, K.C.H., her Majesty's Master
of the Ceremonies.

Mr. Alderman Henry Muggeridge and Mr: Charles
Decimus Crosley, the Sheriffs of London arid Middle-
sex, were presented to the Queen at an audience, by Sir
George Grey, G.C.B , her Majesty's Principal Secretary
of State for the Home Department, when the Queen
was graciously pleased to confer the honour of knight-
hood upon both sheriffs.

The Privy Cquncii was attended by his Royal High-
ness Prince Albert, Viscount Palmerton, F►rst Lord of
the Treasury ; Sir George Grey, Secretary of State for
the Home Department ; the Earl of Clarendon, Secre-
tary of State'for Foreign AffAirs ; Sir Charles Wood,
First Lord of the Admiralty ; the Right Hon. R. Vernon
Smith, President of the Board of Control ; Viscount
Canning, Postmaster-General; Earl Spencer, Lord
Steward ; the Duke of Well neton, Master of the Horse;
and Lord Ernest Bruce, Vice Chamberlain (officiating
for the Lord Chamberlain).
The Queen having been pleased to appoint the Right
Hon. Lord John Russell to he one of her Majesty's
Principal Secretaries of. State, his lordship, by command
of the Queen, was sworn into that office at the Council,
and received the seals of office from her Majesty. •

The Hon. William Bathurst was the Clerk of the
Council in Waiting.
The Queen gave audiences to the Earl of Clarendon,
Viscount Palmerston, and Lord John Russell.
Her Majesty was attended by Viscount Combermere,
Gold Stick in Waiting ; the Earl of Mulgrave, Treasurer
of the Household ; Lord Dufferin, Lord in Waiting ;
and Mr. R. Ormesby Gore, Groom in Waiting.
Major-General Buckley and Captain Du Plat have re-
lieved Lord Charles Fitzroy and Colonel Seymour in
their duties as the Equerries in Waiting to the Queen
and the Prince.

BIRTHDAY OF. PRINCE ARTHUR.

JUVENILE BALL.

Yesterday was the birthday of his Royal Highness
Prince Arthur. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of
Rent paid a visit of congratulation to the Queen and
Prince Albert early in the forenoon. Her Majesty gave
a ball in the evening at Buckingham Palace to the juve-
nile nobility and gentry.
About 240 invitations had been issued. The juveniles
began to arrive at the Palace soon after eight o'clock,
accompanied by their parents, and were ushered to the
Reception-room. •
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent arrived at
half-past eight o'clock, attended by Lady Anna Maria
Dawson and Baroness•de Speth.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge
and the Princess Mary and his Royal Highness the
Duke of Catubridge arrived at a quarter before nine
o'clock.

Her Majesty the Queen and his Royal Highness
Prince Albert lett the White Drawing-room at ten
minutes before nine o'clock, and passed into the Throne-
room, accompanied by the Prince of Wales, the Prin-
cess Royal, Prince Alfred, Prince Arthur, the Princesses
Alice, Helena, ard Louisa, the Duchess of Kent, the
Duchess of Cambridge, and the Princess Mary, the Duke
of Cambridge, the Princess of
_Hohenlolie LAngenburg,
the Princesses Adelaide and Feodore of Hohenlohe, and
Prince Victor of Hotienbilie.

The Princess Royal and the other .Royal Prince3ses
wore dresFes of light blue tulle, over a blue silk glace
slip, trimmed with ruches of white blonde and. ribbon.
A. bouquet of white hyacinths.
Their Royal Highnesses each wore a wreath of white
hyacinths.
The Princess Mary of Cambridge wore a dress with
three skirts c.f tulle over a rich pink glace silk pet-
ticoat, looped up with bunches of apple-blossoms and
green ciape leave?.

Her Royal Highness wore a wreath of apple-blossoms
'an I green crape leaves.
The Princesses Adelaide and Feodore of Hohenlohe
Langen burg wore flounced dr,sses of white tarletan,
trimmed with white silk fringe. The Princess Adelaide
wore a garland of pink roses and white lilac; the Prin-
cess Feodore, a t'arland of pink roses.
The Prince of Wares and Prince Alfred appeared in
the Highland dress, which costume was also worn by the
sons of the Duke of Ar4yll and other young Scottish
nobles Tresert.

The queen's bawl was in attendance in the Throne-
room ; and soon after the entrance of her Majesty and
the Royal circle, dancing commenced. A quadrille was
formad, which included the juvenile members of the
R•Jyal family.