The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-29 00:00:00

DAILY WEATHER TABLE.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 29, 1852.
State of the wind and weather at each of the following
-places at nine o'clock yesterday morning. The stations
ure arranged in order of latitude.
HASTINGS—W., gentle breeze—overcast.
FOLKESTONE—., light airs—overcast.
TUNBRIDGE—W, calm—partially .cloudy.
BASINGSTOKE—W., gentle breeze—overcast.
GREENWICH—Calm—partially cloudy.
STROOD—W., calm—overcast.
SWINDON—S.W., gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
COLCHESTER—S., gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
YARMOUTH— W., gentle breeze—cloudless.
The returns from the following places indicate the state
of the weather on Monday morning at nine o'clock
YARmourrt—S.W., heavy gale—heavy rain.
IioLYHEAD—W. by S., heavy gale—overcast.
LLANCASTER—S.W., heavy gale—scud, rain.
VlllTBY—heavy gale—overcast.
roin.atuNGToN—S. by W., heavy gale—overcast, heavy
SRA
storm—rain.

(al) vy,
A. 3 MINN,
14"17.1,-RWAPIr( •

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1852

Everything confirms us in the opinion expressed
through these columns
of the New Ministry, that
°4 the first announcement
England has seldom, if
ever, enjoyed so remarkable an opportunity of
witnessing the most eminent living statesmen
leagued together in a single
As n
their views
bninistration.
i
Whether politicians so dissimilar
can for any length of time maintain their araicabl(
relationship as ministerial colleagues -undisturbed
is altogether another question, All that can be
W del of the ABERDFIRN Government with anythinlz
like certainty at the period of its inaugiration is
taut it is almost unexampled for the ;splendour (r 1
its administrative ability. So far u 3 lc] uestionably
it Is entitled at once to the popular IT ect. So far
it must command from the very outset :the national
consideration. There is genius in it of .a very high
order—eloquence of a very high order—..experience,
practice, aptitude in all the wiles and dogmas of
statecraft. There is Sir JAMES GRAI3"A Isl, perhaps
th® very first of living administrators. There is
Lord Jorizer RUSSELL, a man who for five years was
deemed not unworthy of presidia
tinier of the em g over the des-
pire, and who now hesitiites not

""
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k- -4

to act as one of the Secretaries of State—descend-
ing from the leadership to become subordinate to
an elder chieftain. There is Lord PALMERSTON,
the most renowned, if not the most gifted, of our
public men, among the ranks of European dip-
lomatists, waiving his predominance of reputation
to conduct for once the labours of the Home
Department. There is Mr. GLADSTONE—without
any one exception the most brilliant rhetorician,
the most dignified debater, and, in several
particulars, the most elevated intellect in
the Senate of Great Britain—assuming, at this
critical juncture, the responsible post of
Chancellor of the Exchequer. There is a
young Noble of great promise named as Lord
Privy Seal—we mewl the Duke of ARGYLL.
There is the accomplished President of the Royal
Commissioners---Lord GRANvlLLE—chosen Presi-
dent of the Council of Ministers. Besides these,
there are Lord CRANWORTH, promoted to the
Woolsack, and Sir WILLIAM MOT.RSWORTH to the
Woods and Forests, and Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT to
the Secretaryship at War, and Mr. EDWARD
CARDWELL to the Board of Trade, and the Duke
of NEWCASTLE to the head of the Colonial De-
partment—men of distinguished talent, of learn-
ing, tact, and experience. Beyond all which there
are, among their more prominent supporters,
two statesmen of high celebrity, whose counte-
nance might not unreasonably be presumed to
shed lustre on any Government—one the most
revered of our patrician statesmen, the other per-
haps the most successful ruler who ever wielded
the vice-regal sceptre in Ireland, with a hid
at once so firm and yet so lenient—the Earl of
CLARENDON and the Marquis of LANSDOWNE.
Several of the minor appointments, moreover, are
of a character singularly entitled to public appro-
bation. It would be scarcely possible for us to
commend more highly than they deserve the
choice made of the new Secretary to the Admi-
ralty—namely,p Mr. BERNAL OSBORNE, the " bril-
liant and audacious" Member for Middlesex ; on
the choice of Mr. WILLIAM KEOGH, as the Irish
Solicitor-General—the eloquent and gifted Mem-
ber for Athlone. We say nothing about the
merit of Sir CHARLES WOOD'S nomination to the
Presidency of the Board of Control—because we
regard it as altogether preposterous. We might,
however, praise several of the other official promo-
tions with a warmth expressive of admiration—
such as the selection of the Hon. CHARLES VIL-
LIERS to the office of Judge Advocate-General—but
enough of 'these appointments have already been
specified to them that we are not guilty of any ex-
travagance in claiming for the new Cabinet such
pre-eminence on the score ofd, dministrative abil-
ity. It—more truly even than the Duke of PORT-
LAND'S Cabinet—might with perfect truth be de-

signated the Ministry of the Talents. For it is
indisputably replete in all directions with the most
remarkable and essential among what may be
called the raw materials of statesmanship—
genius, eloquence, astuteness, and experience.
BUT, with all these resplendent advantages, can

the ABERDEEN Cabinet be reasonably expected to
survive one or two important divisions in either
branch of the Legislature ? Can materials so dis-
similar cohere ? Can we hope that the different
parties, now for the first time united, can con-
tinue long at peace with themselves, or with each
other ? It would seem the utmost stretch of
folly to suppose so for a single instant. Why,
take any one of the important questions of the
age, and you will find there are in this wonder-
ful Cabinet, men of consummate ability pledged to
drive the settlement of the problem (whatever it
may be) in totally opposite directions. The PRIME
MINISTER told the House of Lords on Monday
evening that the different parties had combined
because their principles naturally coalesced—that
Lord JOHN RUSSELL recognised in him (the Earl
of ABERDEEN) a Liberal, and that he (the Earl of
ABERDEEN) recognised in Lord JOHN RUSSELL a
Conservative. In other words, as we indicated
yesterday, Whigs and Peelites are names
which are henceforth to be equally merged
in the twin appellation of Liberal-Conserva-
tives. Yet, surely Liberal-Conservatives cannot
be a name so miraculous in its efficacy as to dissipate
an indefinite variety of apparently insurmountable
difficulties. If this is to be the case in fact—the

ight Hon. Baronet the Member for Carlisle need

taunt no one henceforth with the skill of a
Bottle Conjuror. Supposing it were possible that
the trick could, as would seem to be intimated by
Tor 1. ABERDEEN'S abounding confidence in his
( vermnent, be performed to universal astonish-
men t and admiration—then, indeed, we might
hope in earnest to realise the blessings
certain to accrue from the adoption of
the Ballot as an effectual shield against
Bribery—the completion of legal reforms—the
organisation of a scheme of national education—
the development of sanitary innovations—the
equalisation of the electoral districts—the exten-
sion of our scheme of representation—the rege-
neration of Ireland—in fact, all the grand boons
of improvement, to the attainment of which the
people of these islands have hitherto looked for-
ward, in vain, with so much eagerness ! But if
anything at all approaching accord can come out
of the contradictions of this heterogeneous Admi-
nistration, why, we shall look forward the next
day for the dawn of the Millennium.

A. word, in fine, about one of the elements of
the new Cabinet, a word about the Whigs, a
word about Lord JOHN RUSSELL. It was said
by a French critic, when speaking of the Abbe
MAIMBOURG, that he occupied, among historians,
the position Momus occupied among the Pagan
divinities—that he existed only to make agree-
able little histories (historiettes), and pleasant
little fables (contes) to sleep upon. It is precisely
thus with the OX-PREMIER. His somnolent influ-
ence as a politician has become something to be
really dreaded in its effects upon even the most wake-
ful and vigilant Administration. For his five or six
years' term of office have sufficiently proved him
to be the SOMNUS among English statesmen, the
Abbe MAIMBOURG among the rulers entrusted with
the conduct of the affairs of the British Govern-
ment.

Among other things referred to by the new

PREMIER, in his Ministerial explanation, on Mon-
day evening, is that which will constitute the
great difficulty of his Administration—the re-
newal of the Property and Income Tax. We
have already frequently explained the tendency of
public opinion on that all-important question, and
the imperative necessity of acting fairly and justly

in the matter. No refinement of casuistry can
satisfy the community, more especially the suffer-
ers under the gross and palpable injustice by
which they have so long been victimised of their
property, of the propriety of assessing at
the same permanent and precarious in-
comes. The common sense of the people re-
volted at the transparent humbug that was
attempted to be forced down their throats.
The distinction recognised even at the eleventh
hour by the late Ministry, although by no means
sufficiently extensive, was so far satisfactory, that
it proved that the monstrous anomaly could never
be re-enacted without considerable modification
T

'o Mr. DISRAELI and his colleagues, the honour
of this tardy recognition—an honour that should
have been appropriated by the Whigs—is unques-
tionably due. It is one of the many advantages that

accrued to the country from their brief sojourn in
Downing-street. The views put forward by Mr.
GLA DSTONE during the late financial debate naturally
created considerable alarm, and many who were,
resolved that the grievous injustice should no
longer be perpetrated, had already assumed their
weapons for the purpose of resisting to the utter-
most the renewal of the iniquitous impost. There
is, however, reason to hope that the Right Hon.
Gentleman has already reviewed his obnoxious
opinions, and is prepared t• sanction a more
equitable arrangement of the subject. The
air of Downing-street, however, frequently
works miracles on such points, and even the
prospect of
that promised haven has often had
wonderful efficiency in the most obstinate disorders.
ft is more than probable that such may have been
the ease with the new CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER.
From what fell from Lord ABERDEEN it would ap-
pear Ron. Gentleman no longer
considers that
th
at a between certain and
t he Right
fluctuating receipts would be a breach of national

faith, or that industrial income is as valuable
as that arising from accumulated and realised
property. The Noble PREMIER said, "In our
financial system a difficulty—a crisis I would
almost say will necessarily arise by the cessa-
tion of a very large branch of revenue.
That must necessarily be supplied, and
doubtless it will tax the ingenuity of all
those who are concerned in this undertaking, to
accomplish that great work on the principles of jus-
tice and equity." These terms would scarcely
have been used if Mr. GLADSTONE had not made
up his mind as to the necessity of yielding on the
point. Should he do so, he may as well do it
gracefully and ' efficiently. The question will
naturally arise, what will be in accordance with
the principles of justice and equity ? Not a dif-
ference of one quarter, or lid. in the pound.
It might have been received from those who
evinced a desire to discriminate between the dif-
ferent species of incomes, but it is palpably not
sufficient. If the objections to any alteration be
removed, there can be none remaining to approxi-
mate as nearly to justice as practicable. We shall,
therefore, hope that Mr. GLADSTONE having
abandoned—or, rather, found that he had misap-
plied—the authority of WILLIAM PITT, may be
induced to make further progress in the path of
fiscal reform. We assure him, and with him his
fellow Ministers, as we assured their predecessors
in office—that it is mainly on the fiscal policy
about to be adopted, and the gradual substitution
for indirect imposts unduly pressing on industry,
of a judicious, well-devised, and, above all, an
equitable system of direct taxation—that the sta-
bility and permanence of any Cabinet must' chiefly
depend. Let them look to it—while there is yet
time—if they desire to be cordially accepted by
the British nation.