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

,

The interest of the Ministerial and personal explanations
delivered last night in the House of Lords was so surpassingly
great that it threw into• the shade even the momentous politi-
cal events of the hour ; the fall of one Cabinet and the failure
of another agitated the Parliament of England less vehe-
aently than the manly defence of the Duke of Newcastle,
eel the overwhelming refutation which he hurled at the head
of hie late colleague arm accuser. Nor is the interest in such
gaiters unreasonable or misplaced; we may have difficulties
to surmount, we may have omissions and iniscarriaees to re-
Or, but no crisis in public affairs can be so formidable as to
ioduce the British Parliament to suspend an inquiry which
affects the honour of its debates, er to delay an act ofjustice
to one of its members. The Duke of Newcastle's explanation
has, according to all ordinary rules, irregular,- it intervened
between the two statements of Lord Aberdeen and Lord
Derby • it was a direct reply to a speech delivered in the
other house of Parlianient, and it disclosed to an unusual ex-
tent the confidential transactions and correspondence of the
late-Cabinet. Her Majesty had, however, been pleased to
isleaso the Duke of Newcastle from the obligation of secrecy,
or the expresseenrpose of making this vindication of his own
character, and, under the circumstances of the case, such an
elplanation was indispensable.
If it be put to any impartial man to say, after having read
the Particulars of this transaction, whether he had rather stand
before the people of England and the judgment of history
as the Duke of Newcastle or as Lord John Russell,
not ono man he a hundred would hesitate to choose the fate
of a Minister who has fallen at his post, surrounded by his
colleagues, rather than that of a politician who has terminated
his official eareer by flight, mil sheltered that flight under a
misrepresentation. The one may have been unfortunate in
the selection of his instruments, but the 'other has been fis-
sil:ere in his dealings with his friends. The Duke may have
carried his candour and disinterestedness to a fault, but that
is a fault of which Lord John Russell can never be accused.
The Duke of Newcastle has been unsuccessful in the task of
restoring order and efficiency to military and administrative
departments so rotten and faulty as ours have turned out to
be; but no one has impugned his zealous industry in the
pablie service,- his generosity, or his honour: When we took
the liberty in the autumn to advert to the prolonged absence
from town of the Court and the majority of the Ministers, it
was because we know that the Duke of Newcastle and Lord
claret:dela were left almost alone to bear the whole burden of
war, though it now turns out that Lord John 'Russell was
still evincing his profound solicitUde for the success of the
army by despatching from Mints or from Scarborough a few
impracticable snggestions or qaernlous complaints. Lord
Derby indulged last night in one of his accustomed sallies
oe the domestic felicity enjoyed by such a Cabinet, and on
the effect of such disclosures as' these ; but, in truth, if the
history of Lord Aberdeen's Administration be ever faithfully
recorded, it will be found that the disunion of the Cabinet
was duo to one cause only—the petty but incessant attempts
of Lord J. Russell to supplant the chief minister and to ob-
tain a position over his colleagues. Mr. Roebuck's motion
appeared to him a favourable opportunity to strike the blow
which was to restore him to tee Premiership ; but the blow
was a foul one, and, though it chattered the Cabinet, it has
inflicted a far deeper wound on Lord John Russell's fame.
The existence of the late Administration was in his eyes no
more than a period of transition, which was to restore him to
the position he had already forfeited, and to that object ho
has sacrificed without hesitatioi his fidelity to his colleagues
aud his duty to the country..
The facts distinctly proved last night by the Duke of New-
castle from authentic cormsponience or competent witnesses
contradict in many important particulars the statement of
Lord J. Russell, and it seems incredible that such a statement
should have been made in thi presence of at least half-a-
dozen persons able, ou the fret occasion, to demonstrate
its inaccuracy. It appearsiin,iceci himself i the first
eiithel
place,tyhattnuptohne
the separation of the War and Colonial Departments
the Duke of Newcastle 1
hands of his colleagues, deelating his readiness to retain
either or neither office, and tint it was by their unanimous
decision, not by his choice, that he took the seals of the new
Department for War. It is shove that down to the Bth Oct.,
and consequently during the wiolo of Lord John Russell's
autumnal recreations, he continued to write to the Duke—
" You have done all that could to done, and I am sanguine of
success." On the 17th November, when Lord J. Russell first
urged a furthe s change iu the War Departments, the Duke
and Mr. Sidney Herbert placed their offices entirely at Lord
Aberdeen's disposal, and. urged him to do what ho thought
best for the public service. On the 16th of December Lord
J. Russell informed the Prime Minister that he had changed
his views and abandoned his farmer plan. 'At the Cabinet
held on Saturday, the 20th ofJaeuary, three days before Par-
liament reassembled,. Lord J. Pafsell himself brought forward
for the re-organise.
another planfioa of the military depart-
multi, more nearly resembling the scheme of Lord Grey.
This plan was agreed to by the Duke of Newcastle aud adopted
by the other members of the GOVerDlnellt, with the exception
of one or two insignificant details, on which Lord John had
made a blunder. Yet, to the astonishment of his colleagues,
Lord Joins has since asserted that he had no reason to suppose
that the reforms which had been under consideration would
prevail, and that he was enable to assure the House of Com-
mons that arrangements were being made to remedy the
state of Use army—the fact being, that Lord John's own plan
had at that very time been aereed to, and that the Duke of
Newcastle had already announced to Lord Aberdeen his ab-
solute determination to resign office altogether, on account
of the unpopularity attached to his administration of the War
Department. Under these circumstances, the sudden an-
nouncement of Lord John's flight from the Treasury beach
excited the unfeigned amazement of all who knew the facts
of the case, and we must add that these facts are wholly
irreconcileable with the motives he thought proper to assign
for his resignation. The truth is, that of all the proposals
connected with the war Lord John Russell has made to his
colleagues none have been rejected, and of the objections ho
has started none have been overruled. The causes which led
him to destroy the Government at this difficult and perilous
crisis iu the affairs of Europe must therefore bo sought alto-
gether in his own personal ambition. 4111ing the assembled
Peers of England to witness, and in tie presence of all the
late Ministers of the Crown, who have personal knowledge of
all these accurrenees_theeDnke.of .Newcastle proved to de-
monstration that most of the alleetatiotus
of Commons by Lord John Russolrorrecnrs---Subject are at
variance with the truth, and that the obloquy arising from-
this transaction does not remain where ho attempted to
cast it.
It has been our painful duty, in commenting on the ac,
counts received from the army,"to animadvert as forcibly as.
we eould on the numerous instances of mismanagement,
whit. have
.exposed our troops to dreadful hardships and
losses, lowered our military reputation abroad, and compro-
mised the success of the Crimean elpedition. But we have
never said one word which could be construed into a personal
imputation on the Duke of Newcastle more than on the othor
members of the Government and the chiefs of the army. On
the contrary, we knew with what indefatigable energy ho has
worked while other members of the Government were not
even within reach of London ; and we could not but draw,
and have ever drawn, a favourable contrast between his
laborious zeal in the public service aud their supercilious in-
difference.
Great mistakes have been committed in the choice of the
men selected to carry on this war, both at home and abroad ;
and the Government has been justly blamed for not reorgan-
ising the administration of the army, embodying the militia,
forming a reserve, and proceeding to place our military estas
blishmeets at once upon a full war footing. - But on all these
points Lord John Russell must be content to share the cen-
sure which his colleagues have incurred, and it is because
these evils and omissions were not more promptly remedied
that the task became impracticable. The Duke of Newcastle
has failed, but it was the system as much as the Minister
which broke down ; and no Minister will succeed in guiding
this country to the glorious termination of a successful war
until the military establishments have been thoroughly re-
formed. We think, therefore, that the Duke of Newcastle
overstates the accusations which aro or can be preferred
against himself ; aud we arc confident that no man will read
his manly aud becoming defence without sympathy and re-
spect.

Several vessels with troops and stores bound for Kazatch
and Kamiesh Bays, on the north side of Cape Chersonese,
having been stranded, or endangered, by striking upon the
shoals extending off the coast, through incautiously ap-
proaching the shore, and owing to neglect of the existing
charts and sailing directions, the following temporary
notice is published for the guidance of the mariner :
In rounding Cape Khersonese from the southward keep
- Vllll, upon of a itearer
and lower bluff, until the lighthouse on the cape bears E.
by S. S., or Fort Constantine is seen open of the north
coast of the peninsula. Then an E.N.E. N. course will
round the cape and all the shoal water off the points, none
of the rocky ledges extending more than 23 cables off
sh ore.

Dv~
insia (Double), or Kazatch (Cossack),to theeastward
and Kamiesh
of theYe)a Bp
ea.ys,Tfhoerrme tishealrhstralargge in Large
openingfrom 15 to 20 fathoms,
anstuad
d muddy
sdistanceand efjh milewhere
stranger
atnhges
re nsthroaurilced
bring a bottom of
ng up or lie to,
until communicated with by the guard-boat.
In entering Kazatch or Kamiesh Bays the N.W. point,
and the middle point which separates them (wh(which
now be recognised by an earth battery upon it), should not
be approached nearer than 2 cables' lengths. And no
vessel should run up the western or Kazatch Bay without
a pilot, for this double bay, which looks clear and wide
from outside, has a reef of sunken rocks, extending three
cables' distance in a north direction from the tongue of
land which divides the head of the bay into two parts.
The channel on either side of this sunken reef is only
from to aof a cable's length wide ; has a depth of from
7 to 9 fathoms, with a bottom of stiff sandy mud ; as also
in the upper part of Kamiesh Bay. In the outer part o
these bays the ground is less tenacious, being a muddy
sand with gravel and shells ; and no anchor will hold in a
less depth than 7 fathoms.
As a general rule none of the points on the North side of
the Chersonese Peninsula should be approached nearer
than 2i cables' distance.
The south coast of the peninsula is steep too ; Cape
Feolent is a high perpendicular cliff, black at its lower
part, but capped by a white calcareous stratum that in-
clines gradually to Cape Cherson, which is low, the base
of the lighthouse at its extremity being only a few feet
feet above the sea level.
The light now shown at Cape Chersonese is a fixed pale
light, instead of revolving as formerly ; it stands at an
elevation of 116 feet above the sea, but is not visible
beyond a distance of about seven miles.
All courses and bearings are magnetic.

WHILE'S-BACK LIGHTS, ENTRANCE TO PORTSMOUTH, N.H.
Portland Maine, Dec. 20, 1854.
On or about the let day of June next (1855), the present
lower light, exhibited from the Whale's-back Lighthouse
at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour, N.H., will be dis-
continued, and there will be substituted at the same time
for the present upper fixed light, a fixed light, varied by
flashes, of the fourth order of the system of Fresnel.

LIGHTS AT CAPE ELIZAMETH, MAINE.

Portland Maine, Dec. 20, 1854.

On or about the Ist of June next (1855), the present
fixed light and the present revolving light at Cape Eliza-
beth, Maine, will be discontinued, and at the time of the
discontinuing of the two lights, fixed light, varied by
flashes, of the third order of the system of Fresnel, will be
exhibited from the tower from which the present fixed
light is exhibited.
The tower of the revolving light will not be removed,
but the two towers will be left standing as at present, to
serve as a distinguishing mark of the locality by day.

- THE MUSEUM OF ORNAMENTAL ART AT MARL
BOROUGH HOUSE. The numbers attending, &c., during
the month.of January, were as follows :-8,706 persons
en the, public days, and admitted free ; 251 persons on
the students' days, and admitted as students on the pay-
ment of 6d. each, besides the registered students of the
classes and schools. The museum is new open, free,
on Saturdays, for the convenience of schools, &c.
A FALSE ALaum.—Yesterday, at neon, the most in-
tense excitement was created in the City, in consequence
of the report of what appeared to be several successive
discharges of artillery, and it was imagined that the guns
at the Tower were being fired for some glorious victory.
All were anxious to know the cause, and it being too
early for the second editions of the morning papers, mes-
sengers were despatched to the Tower to ascertain what
joyous event was being celebrated ; the result of their
inquiries turned out to be that in consequence of there
being a large number of rifles and other small erne
to prove, several were discharged simultaneously and
successively.
The first division of the 94th Regiment marched from
Chatham garrison yesterday morning to the terminus of
the North Kent railway, and proceeded by rail at 8
a.m. en route for Windsor. The division comprised eight
companies, under the command of Captain W. H. pore,
with Captain Bruce and Captain Marne, Lieutenants
Malthus and G. L. Hedley, and Assistant-Surgeon
Stoney. The head-quarters of this regiment leave
Chatham for Windsor this day, under the commend of
Colonel -Dennis, with Captain Pratt, Lieutenant Lewis,
Lieutenant Buchanan, Lieutenant Gaskell, Ensign Har-
ris, and Surgeon Patrick Gammil, with the whole of
the staff. The bead-quarters will consist of five com-
panies.
NEW GOVERNMENT MUSKET FACTORT.—The Govern-
ment having resolved to be the manufacturers of their
own small arms, an extensive factory is now in progress
of erection at Enfield Lock, Middlesex. It will contain
the following arrangement of departments : Smithery,
brass foundry, picking-room, annealing-room, desiccating-
room, metal-room, engine, and boiler-house, packing-
room, and packing-case department, storekeeper's offices,
browning-room, grinding and polishing-room, casehard-
ening-room, and tool-making department. The contract
for the same is taken by James Haywood, of Derby,
who has recently completed the New Manchester Mar-
ket. The contractor is bou*d to the completion in six
months. The. process of setting out the ground has
commenced. -
The railway train which left St. Etienne on Sunday
morning, for Lyons, went off the rails not far from the
station of Vernaison, Eleven carriages broke their axle-
trees, but as the train was going rather gently at the
moment, from the line running in a curve at the spot,
no further inconvenience was caused than a delay of
about two hours, whilst other carriages were brought
up. The cause of the accident is said to be the breaking
of one of the rails, which was too weak to bear the great
weight in the carriage, i

(From the Daily News of this day.)

po
fo sas
subject.ei e
The instinctive love and veneration with which Englishmen
cling to their Sovekeign was much weakened during the reigns
of the Third and Fourth Georges, by the knowledge that the
Personal likings and dislikings of , these monarchs influenced
the' too much in their choice of Ministers. The Monarch of
a free state, like England, ought to be above personal pre-
. He ceases to bo Kin
By indulging them he lowers himself to the rank
„
merely th. leader of a party. Fogr ofth
--axles in a matter of such vital
selection of his rfosponsible Ministers, is to de-
. ....oyres Othe peoples .and weaken its
eapeolSovereignlimportance andtb eteoo indulgenit
he a
grade the Crow ill the e
a subject to endeavour to represent
elations to the people.
and mingling in their cabals, is little
lenders,ming
%this- with the personal animosities
asmuch as it may possibly place the
taking
lceigi.otimaitneaaluitatlig
personalSo
tf
atcertainas l
party
the
oSuerievai
agieir ass authority.
L that these remarks
have been suggested
:S" the indecent attempt
short of treason ; .I,rceive.
at
one
.
and unmanly
_n...
tines to represent the Qteea
hibig:line r.
°au active part in, the personal.sent
n% arising out of the , pie
Ministerial crisis. " The 4:76,1, .
says the TiMes, "is
madesci yesterday
knownmiuxae bdb
le with,
hwaainvt has ,
expressedari
to
0 L
ner s 0 l f , , ,
°l'd John Russell her sense of:
conduct so much at variance with
the common principles of
truth and honesty." We beneve this statement to be un-
true. The unscrupulous character of tbe Times is so nuiver-
°Wit the
t,
o'reatmajority of the
opinion, They will not
believe that their Queen can have so far
i:anost beyond conception..
eraelol ypleo f known,El4 itanh that
willwe hcaovnec
urn o
idn.
this
forgotten what she
to stoop to write'a scold-
ing letter to an ex-Minister, on. the f ex parts
statements Made by the colleagues with- h strength
o
w om .he had quar-
relled, without stopping to. hear his version of the story.
herselfa
c ity o fa and
the
falsehood
sceohuonotary
The people will judge of the conduct Of Lord John Russelland-
his lato colleagues for themsel
oTwhees:
eSs upon the evidence laid
before them; they cannot helpdoing so if they would. It is
possible—it is almost certain—that they will decide in favour
of Lord John. Tho hot haste Of the Times to throw the
Queen's name into the scale against him shows 1
--
.how much it
fears that the popular verdict will
-,, in his ,iavour. This
being the case, it is clear that, in order to subsorve their own
party purposes, the managers and inspirers of the Times have
not scrupled to expose their Sovereign to the risk of incur-
ring popular odium, without any fault on .her part. Such
conduct is traitorous towards a Queeu_is base and dastardly
in men towards a woman.
There. is, however, this advantage
to be gained from the
indecent and unmanly outrage offered to tho Queen in the
Times. It shows to what lengths the aristocratic factions
who strive to monopolise the high offices of state—to convert
the houses of Parliament into political "hells," where the
tables at which the clerks sit are rouge et noir tables, and
Ministerial appointments the stakes--
and their tools in the
press will go in order to traduce and vilify a political rival.
If they display their malignity and mendacity thus shame-'
Jessly in public, to what extent will they not indulge them in
the obscure shades of clandestine intrigue.? If the 'public
could for a moment believe that the Queen had written such
a letter as the Times describes, they would say, it is because
his late colleagues have been so eager to pre-occupy the Royal
mind with impressions unfavourable to Lord John Russell, in
order to prevent his having an unprejudiced hearing from his
Royal Mistress. This would corroborate the suspicions which
have gone abroad that the Conservative section of the late
Coalition have kept themselves aloof from their Liberal col-
leagues as au organised faction in the Cabinet, and have
laboured assiduously and unscrupulously to enlist the Court
on their side by every art of sycophancy and misrepresenta-
tion. It would serve as an additional motive to the indepen-
dent and intelligent classes to make their voice heard through
that hedge which usurping and selfish aristocratic factions
have interposed between the Crown and the people.
Ono thing is Certain ; and it is here stated not for the; in-
formation of the Soverign, who, there can be no doubt, has
been grossly belied by the Times, but for the information of
all paltry, courtly intriguers, who imagine that the people
will servilely model their opinions of any statesman upon
those attributed to the Throne. The people now judge of
public men by their actions, and will not submit to have cut-
and-dry judgments prescribed to them by authority. If the
people have reason to believe of any statesman that he is wise,
honest, and patriotic, they will insist upon their ropiesen-

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 2, 1855