The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-08 00:00:00

Tavern in 1849 he talks of crumpling up the
whole Russian empire, he scoffs at the
notion of Russia being regarded as in
any way formidable. While now, in the House
of Commons in 1855, he solemnly warns
the country against the monstrous danger and the
stupendous difficulty of venturing to oppose the
CZAR by attacking a single one among his many
strongholds? Are we not justified, we ask any
impartial observer of these inconsistencies of our
public men, are we not fully justified in turning
upon Mr. COBDEN himself the taunt he has dis-
ingenuously directed against Sir WILLIAM MOLES-
WORTH ? In saying in reference to the member
for the West Riding as he (Mr. COBDEN) said,
rather spitefully, on Tuesday evening, in regard
to the member for Southwark—" I should like
to see him stand before that table and read that
.speech from beginning to end." Mr. COBDEN
meant a speech delivered fifteen years ago—we
allude to one made no further back than 1849
a speech made, moreover, not in Yorkshire, but
in London. We should uncommonly like to see Mr.
COBDEN standing before the table of the House
of Commons—not stepping up to it as by right
from the Treasury bench close at hand, but
dragged there (of necessity) in expiation, from
his modest back bench below the gangway, there
to hear him read that speech of his (made only
seven years since) from beginning to end !
As with the foregoing, so was it with the rest
of Mr. COBDEN'S apparently shrewd, but really
shallow, and invariably disingenuous, arguments.
When he charged Ministers with having lashed
and goaded the country into a hostile attitude
against Russia, he must have remembered per-
fectly well that, so far from having done anything
like this, Ministers themselves had to be driven
into a bold and resolute policy in reference to the
AUTOCRAT by the sheer force of public impa-
tience and of popular distrust and indig-
nation. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, he says, was
the principal offender in irritating the multi-
tude at large into a warlike disposition. A
file of our own journal would of itself be
amply sufficient to prove the contrary. It
would be sufficient to show plainly enough
that the Noble Lord the member for the City of
London had himself to be driven onward with
the rest of them—the people, and the true
representatives of the people (the independent
journalists of England), being far in advance of a
hesitating, timorous, and divided Government.
Enough, however, of paltry sophisms such as these
—sophisms that can be shredded from every
branch of Mr. CoBDEN's argument, so to speak,
by the handful—fruits of inconsistency as crude
and as plentiful as summer blackberries.

The detailed accounts of the successful expedi-
tion to Kertch have just been officially published.
We have despatches from Sir E. LYONS to the
26th inst., from Vice-Admiral BRUAT to the same
date, and also from Lord RAGLAN and General
PELISSIER, in reference to the proceedings of the
Allied Armies before Sebastopol. These important
documents have, to a great extent, been forestalled
by the more rapid tidings conveyed by the sub-
marine telegraph. They will still, however, be
joyfully received, and the details of these im-
portant operations examined with aridity. We
now know that there is in the Sea of Azoff " a
powerful steam flotilla, of light draught of water,
capable of cutting off the enemy's supplies, and
harassing him at all points," and that we have
also at our disposal the means of " sending
in a vast number of gun-boats of the lighter
draught, it it should be found desirable to do so."
The gallant conduct of Lieutenant 111‘KILLor,
which has already been rewarded by well-merited
promotion, is also explained. England may well
be proud of an officer whose gallant and dashing
exploits " called forth the admiration of both
fleets," and succeeded in preventing the escape
of three of the enemy's steamers.
There is a matter referred to by Sir E. LYONS
which shows the vast importance of the prompti-
tude displayed in carrying out the objects of the
expedition. He tells us that had it " been de-
ferred but a short time longer, there would have
been many and great difficulties to overcome, for the
enemy was entirely engaged in strengthening the sea
defences, and in replacing the sunken vessels which
had been carried away by the current during the
winter months." The Russians relying on the
unfortunate procrastination so frequently dis-
played by the Allies were on this occasion " too

[ate." It is only surprising that they were so,

for, generally speaking, they never lost time,
and the terrific losses to the besiegers of Sebasto-
pol have but too painfully illustrated the deplor-
able consequences of wasting or misapplying the
golden opportunitifs that may be afforded. Had
the troops dashed .at Sebastopol before the panic
occasioned by tin brilliant successes of the Alma
had subsided it is more than probable that
a decisive result wcuild have been achieved, that
Sebastopol would have fallen into our hands, and
the chief objects of khe campaign been accomplished.
The caution of ova- generals, the prudence of Lord
RAGLAN however, interposed an obstacle, and
hence we have sustained far more serious losses
than could have occurred during the most san-
guinary escalade... We were, however, " waiting
for Austria," Iv( :re relying on the moderation of
Russia. The Peelites, with whose real sentiments
we have at len gt.h become acquainted, occupied
the chief places in the Cabinet, monopolised all the
departments connected with the conduct of the
War. With Lord ABERDEEN as Premier, Mr.
GLADSTONE Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir J.
GRAHAM first Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. SIDNEY
HERBERT Secretary at War, and the Duke of
NEWCASTLE (though we believe him to be far the
best of the lot) Secretary for War, we have rea-
son to be thankful that matters were not still
worse, and that the nation did not sustain irre-
parable calamities through the vacillation, or
worse. than vacillation, of those who ignored the
constitutional cautrol of Parliament, and desired
to retain the entire management of affairs in their
own hands.

We have abio tho graphic account of General
PELISSIER of the brilliant actions of`the nights of
the 22(1 and 23d May, which inflicted such serious
blows against the defences of the Russian strong-
hold, and occasioned such formidable losses to the
enemy. The new Commander-in-Chief perceived
at a glance the dangerous character of the works
in course of (7,onstruction by the enemy. He saw
how, by timely action, they might be turned
against themselves, and promptly and vigorously
carried his views into execution. As the gallant
officer truly stated, "the development of the Hums
was immense; two successive phases were to be

expected in the action--one of battle and one of
labour." The first act in the sanguinary drama
took place on the night of the 22d, the second,
which completed that which had been so vigo-
rously commenced, on the 23d.
The victory was, indeed, decisive. The Rus-
sians, who were thoroughly aware of the impor-
tance of the position, defended it in immense
force. But nothing could resist the impetuosity
of the attack. The enem
allantr y, who displayed great
gy, were driven back on every point, and
our brave Allies remained masters of the hardly-
contested.: field. These are, indeed, glorious re-

cords, of which our people will be as proud as
their faithful friends at the other side of the
Channel.

The debate has again been adjourned ! For
the reasons already specified we ar© not disposed
to object to the postponement on a question, or,
rather, a series of questions, on which it is pecu-
liarly desirable that the House and the country
should be fully informed respecting the views and
feelings of the different parties. The anticipated
Ministerial proposition has not as yet been made !
That is probably reserved as the trump card to be
played at the last moment—to catch doubtful
votes—and bring matters round to the point de-
sired by the Government. It may be produced
this evening, as the division can scarcely be
longer delayed, and in such a form as to afford
Honourable Gentlemen a means of escape from
the unpleasant dilemma of voting either for
Ministers, or of exposing themselves to the anger
of their constituents.

It is to be regretted that Mr. ROEBUCK'S health
prevented him from extending his remarks. His
views were those of the great majority of the people,
such as a true-hearted Englishman might promulgate
without a blush of shame, or feeling that he was
taking part with the greedy and unscrupulous
enemy of his country. He administered a sound
and well-merited castigation to the ex-First Lord
of the Admiralty, clearly exposing the gross and
palpable inconsistency of which the Right Hon.
Baronet had been guilty. The celebrated
speeches at the Reform Club and the Mansion
House were indeed strangely,at variance with that
more recently delivered by the political " JIM
CROW." While in office, Sir JAMES GRAHAM
thought it essential to the safety of Europe " that
Russia should be crippled and her power of
offence taken away." "It was not Turkey simply
that we were called on to protect, but Europe,
civilisation, and the liberties of mankind." What,
then, has since occurred to change so completely
the views of the Right Honourable Gentleman
and those with whom he was then acting—the
Peelite party—of whom he was an influential
member ? Simply this : he has abandoned office
because he dared not meet the inquiry into the
conduct of the War—an inquiry which would
bring to light the extraordinary discrepancy be-
tween his " sayings and doings," and prove,
beyond the possibility of doubt, that he had by
no means acted in accordance with his profes-
sions.

The " talismanic" words uttered by the Hon.
and Learned Gentleman, in his brief but excel-
lent address, would, indeed, have speedily brought
Austria to a sense of her real position, and pre-
vented her from playing " fast and loose" with
the Western Powers, from exhibiting such paltry
vacillation, or scandalous duplicity in her deal-
ings with the Allies. "Poland," "Hungary,"
" Italy" are, indeed, words of almost magical
power, which will, before the termination of the
contest, not be merely whispered, but boldly and
loudly proclaimed throughout Europe, and which
will become the watchwords of freedom, the fore-
runners of good government. The seed thus
sown will not, we trust, be choked up by Minis-
terial tares, but will be suffered to produce their
fruit in due season.

The speech of Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT was exactly
in accordance with that which we should have
expected from a semi-Russian, the nephew of
Count WoßoNzow, and affords additional grounds
of satisfaction at the split in the PALMERSTON
Cabinet which led to the resignation of the Peelite
Members. He attempted to defend the Right
Hon. Baronet the Member for Carlisle, but sig-
nally failed in the effort. He endeavoured to
vindicate himself and his quondam colleagues, but
was equally unfortunate in that respect also.
There were admitted facts which no amount of
sophistry or special pleading could get rid of or
distort. There was the circumstance that the
seceding members of the ABERDEEN Govern-
inent had concurred in the Four Points, which
were put forward as the bases on which
negotiations could alone be conducted. The third
and most important of these points related to the
"limitation," of the naval power of Russia in the
Euxine. How, then, could he venture to assert that
" limitation was the child of after growth," not
contemplated in the objects for which we origi-
nally entered on hostilities. It is true that
before the sword was unsheathed, before the public
proclamation of War, we might have been con-
tented with " the abrogation of that network of
treaties by which Russia held Turkey in her
grasp, thee abolition of that exclusive claim to a
protectorate of the Christians, which would have
given therm a right of interference dangerous to
Turkey, wad the establishment of the freedom of
the Danube l" We might have suffered the atro-
cious act of" brigandage—we thank Mr. HERBERT
for teaching us the word—of which Russia had
previously been guilty, to remain unpunished.
But when its nefarious designs have been so
clearly revealed, when it is seen that she still
maintains the aggressive policy, so loudly and so
generally complained of, when France and
England lave declared the destruction of Sebas-
topol, the, standing menace to Europe, or at least
a limitation of the fleet that might be collected
under filo, shelter of its fortresses, indispensable
to the safety of Constantinople and the peace of
the world, it would, indeed, have been an act
alike unwise and dishonourable to abandon these
just demands, and to show that wo had yielded
to the supreme authority of the universal

AUTACR.A.T.
The Right Honourable Gantleman also touched
on a point with which his ctwn name has been
greatly mixed up. It was hoped that an explicit
answer would have bean returue d to the interro-
gatory, so generally asked twelve' mouths ago,
that we should have known why ." Odessa was
spared ? " Unfortunately, howev6r,, be wholly
ignored the proceedings of the spring, and only
touched on matters commencing in October. The
blame from that period is oast on the Generals—
French and English-,-who, it is said, were, " for
strategic reasons," unwilling that a bombardment
should then take place. Nothing, however, has
explained the causes of our extraordinary con-
duct in reference thereto at the e,%rlier period ;
and the silence of the party on whom: the respon-
sibity has been attached goes far to confirm the
accuracy of, or at least to show that the 're has been
some foundation for, the sinister rumo ars in cir-
culation.

The other speeches were of little iL nportance.
Mr. BRIGHT, a's might have been a aticipated,
made a long speech, better suited t o a Peace
Society Conf.°, :ence than the British Parliament ;
but such ur ight have been expected from his
pecular viewf ; while Sergeant SHEE, who also took
the Peace St )ciety view, thinned the house so con-
siderably th at a "count-out" was nearly -the result.
We trust the it the debate this evening
may make
some am .ends for the inanity of last night, and
that we pia,y hear bald and spirited co unsels, be-
coming t,b e chosen representatives of tl oo English
people.

Ttt CAMP AT ALDERSHOT.--WO hear that her Ma;
jesty will inspe, :t, to-morrow, the four regiments now
stattoned at the Aldershot camp.

_. >._..