The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-27 00:00:00

compelled to do so. Why, if the law had not been
infringed, was the case a scandal, and why, if it
had, did not the Government indict.the persons who
sent out the vessel. The extraordinary manner .in
which these Ministers conduct affairs cannot be
better exposed than by the fact that the very day
on which Earl RUSSELL wrote the remarkable dis-
patch referred to, Lord PALMERSTON too stated to
the House of Commons that it was a fact that if
they had seized the Alabama they would have been
liable for heavy damages. Can anything be more
incongruous or inconsistent than this. It is time-
serving with a vengeance. In the representative
assembly of their countrymen the Ministers declare
that they will not allow any interference with
their rights, and meanwhile, in a written commu-
nication that is to traverse the seas that divide
them from the nation that calls their actions in
question, they own that their laws are a scandal,
and seek to smooth away difficulties, and soften
down irritation of feeling, by admissions totally
diverse to the spirit of the country, and directly
at variance with the general sentiments of the
community. Sir .HUGH CAIRNS made another
attack upon Earl RUSSELL, and asked why
he did not come to the House, and propose an
alteration in the laws if they were not sufficiently
stringent, instead of resting satisfied with the mere
vague expression of regret. This is a home thrust
the veracity cf which all must acknowledge. The
man charged with the responsibility of foreign
affairs is bound to notify to Parliament the errors
that he has discovered in the workings of the
law as regards his particular department. It is eer•
tainly a little strange that these memorable
words are not commented upon until nearly a year
after their utterance. Lord PALMERSTON said that
he and his colleagues had no intention of altering
the law, and yet his Foreign Secretary has several
times alluded to the idea, and entertained the sug-
gestion as reasonable, and also as one not withcut
some remote hope of fulfilment, It needs not the
hard reckoning of an opponent to declare that im-
plicit credence can never attach itself to statesmen
who have so many and such contrary opinions at
their fingers' ends, each ready to serve its turn and
to duty as occasion demands, whether the jealous
spirit of the British lion be awakened, or the wrath-
ful nature of transatlantic allies causes distrust and
disgust. Perhaps the most telling point in Sir H.
CAIRNS' admirable oration was that in which he
referred to the great inconsistency displayed by the
members of the Government in their conduct re-
specting these rams. The Attorney-General declared
distinctly that nothing must be said or done to
prejudice the case of the Government, but he and
his colleagues did all they could to prejudice the
case of the other side. On no less than three occa-
sions were adverse impressions conveyed by mem-
bers of the Cabinet when addressing public meetings
during the recess. To say the least of this, such
conduct is nu-English in the extreme, and a very
unworthy mode of taking advantage of a little brief
authority: In fact, the whole affair teems with
contradictions, and it seems almost incomprehen-
sible that the Ministers did not possess a larger
share of that common sense on which Mr. GrusoN
so prided himself. The manner in which the
Messrs. LAIRD have been treeted is most arbitrary
and unfair in the extreme. Seldom has an English
subject been exposed to such injustice and injury
by the chief authorities of the realm. As Sir
HUGH CAIRNS forcibly put the case, had the loss
fallen upon a less wealthy and stable firm utter
ruin must have been the result. This, while pre-
judging the case, is a very strange way of carrying
out the law of the country, and to take Earl RUS-
SELL'S famous definition, it is a " scandal." The
conduct is all of a piece, winding up with waiting
four months, and then dating a letter "Im-
mediate," which imparts the astounding
intelligence that a commission will be
sent abroad to collect evidence. Why wait for
four months before finding out this last act was
necessary. Information is only filed after Parlia-
ment meets, and it is evident to the meanest capa-
city that the whole proceedings are characterised
by the desire to gain time. IN hat matters it that
important commercial interests are at stake, that
international laws are violated, and that English
honour is compromised abroad, while the private
rights of subjects at home are assailed by those who
ought to protect them ? The end is gained, the
object reached, and the desire fulfilled. The Federal
Government were displeased, and their anger must
bs mollified at any coat. How many victims must
be sacrificed to appease the ruthless demands of the
Moloch that sends across the Atlantic to make these
arbitrary and overwhelming demands. The excel-
lent oration of Sir HUGH CAIRNS will long be re-
membered by all who take any interest in the grave
and weighty matters of which it treats. It is not
often that we meet with so clear and calm an expo-
sition of affairs, which are apt to excite the speaker,
and tend to exaggeration. The majesty of the law
in its fundamental principles of justice, the rights
of the subject, according to constitutional doctrines,
and the shortcomings of the Government were each
in their turn fully discussed and completely exa-
mined. It is a great satisfaction to peruse such a
spirited and sensible address, and the gratification
is enhanced by the thought that the earnest and
eloquent words will not pass away with the
evanescent excitement of the hour, but go forth in
their bold utterance, independent spirit, and lofty
tone to
,warn the recalcitrant, to encourage the
doubting, and to teach the stranger in far-off lands,
and across mighty waters, that whatever an incom-
competent Government may do to create temporary
mischief, the spirit of England is not extinguished,
but may yet terrific burn, and that the heart of
England is not dead to the claims of honour, truth,
and justice, and will ever beat in unison with the
sentiments of which they are the exponents, and
respect the exercise of that fair play which is the
chief characteristic of her people, and for the want
of which nothing can compensate.

The condition of the navy is always a matter
that is sure to attract the attention and excite the
interest of any body of Englishmen, and the debate
on the Navy Estimates seldom partakes of the dull-
ness and tedium of other statistical discussions.
The debate on Thursday evening was animated
enough for the proceedings of the Admiralty, at all
times open to criticism and censure, and this year
so remarkable as to occasion not remonstrance but
surprise. At a time when we are threatened with
a transatlantic as well as an Earopean war, when
the most sanguine of pacificators can hardly hope
that England, with all her new-found caution and
cowardice, will ba able to preserve her boasted neu-
trality and inaction, the Admiralty propose to
take the extraordinary step of reducing the number
of our seamen. At any time such a proceeding
should be reluctantly and cautiously undertaken ;
but to
-resolve upon it when no one knoWs how soon
we may be called upon to put forth our whole naval
strength is,
to say the least of it, both rash and im-
politic. It would be unwise enough were the re-
duction limited to the seamen, but it is also pro-
posed to diminish considerably the number of boys
now being trained for the sea, and also the propor-
tion of our coastguardsmen ; so that not only is the
future supply of trained seamen to be Lessened, but
the valuable reserve, always at hand in the shape
of the coastguard, will be considerably weakened.