The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-30 00:00:00

%I) It

LONDON, FRIDAY, MARCH ?,O, 1855.

The great Merit question suggests some curious
emsiderations. Lord PALMERSTON declares against
merit; purchase and seniority are better. By
which of the three is Lord PALMERSTON Premier?
Seniority might well give him the rank, but
would he be content to take that ground ? Pur-
chase, in the vulgar sense of the term, would have
been easy with his Lordship's present wealth ; but
Premierships are not to be purchased by money—.
some brains are held to be requisite to justify such
a promotion. And purchase in the sense of
political bargaining say an engagement to
work out the wishes of Austria and the
Ceburgs how can such an insinuation
be credited for a moment ? Is not Lord PAL-
MERSTON the man of whom it was affirmed to an
applauding Senate, by our present representative
at Vienna, that he was the Minister, not of
Austria, or of any foreign power, but of England.
The conclusion seems to be that Lord PALMERSTON
has been promoted for merit—for merit real or
supposed. Her MAJESTY tried routine ; she
sent for Lord DERBY, the head of the largest
section of the House of Commons, then for Lord
Joss, commander of the next regiment in point
of numbers, but all in vain. The people de-
nounced routine-chosen Premiers ; they pro-
claimed that Lord PALMERSTON had merited the
post ; they remembered certain little wars in
which he acted very vigorously ; they believed he
would show the same qualities when tried on a
larger scale ; he was named by popular acclama-
tion to the post, and her MAJESTY gracefully
bowed to the popular voice.

Lord PALMERSTON, therefore, ridiculing pro-
motion by merit, ridicules the very reason of his
own elevation. Can it be that he anticipates
-becoming a proof of his own argument, that merit
is mere chance opinion, as likely to he wrong as
right, "a Utopia, vain to hope to see established in -
any country whatever." There were a few who,
at the time of his appointment, laughed at the
popular choice ; they roundly asserted that Lord
PA.LMBRSTON was the veriest of Tories, that he
would be as faithful to his order as pre-
ceding Dukes and Earls and Lords, and
that when it came to a real question
of standing by the assumptions of Courts or
the wishes and rights of peoples, he would soon
be unmasked. All will remember the predictions
of RicaAnD COBDEN in this vein. We trust his
lordship has no misgiving that the great Free-
trader will prove a political
prophet. Should the
rumours prove true should
present suspicious
the fortifications of Sebastopol be left standing—
should the present intolerable tenderness to Rus-
sia in the Black Sea be continued—should her
armies in the Crimea
b© suffered to outnumber
those of the Allies, while we are squandering
millions on the transport service—should we
wait on conferences, on Austria, on Russia, and
be consequently toe late again this spring as we were
last spring—then indeed will the nation own it-
self mistaken. It will allow itself to have been
an inadequate judge of merit; but it will believe,
nevertheless, that not ability, but will, through
some fatal cause, was wanting, and it will demand
another committee to ascertain what it is that
disables able Premiers. It will find out the reason
why a Premier, whom it chose to " carry on the
-War with vigour," allowed our army to be van-
quished in the Crimea, our Plenipotentiary to ba
vanquished at Vienna, and Russia to triumph in
. the impregnability of her pirate's hold.
But anent this question of merit there is a
curious illustration furnished us just now in the
Crimea. We have seen the French system placed
in contrast with our owu till, however pertinent,

it is rejected as an argument by our routinists,
like a sovereign the lighter for wear, although of
sterling gold, when presented at the Bank. But
just now there are two Generals and two armies
of Englishmen at work together before Sebastopol
and Balaklava. One General has made all his
appointments by near relation to himself, by
seniority, by purchase, and a few by merit ;
the other General has made his appoint-
meats exclusively by merit. He would have
told his own brothers, nephews, or cousins—
" Gentlemen, you will not do for me ; I intrust
my work to capacity and integrity only ; if you
are needy it would be cheaper to me to pension
you than employ you." We need not say that
the Generals are Lord RAGLAN and Sir SAMUEL
MORTON PETO, and their armies respectively com-
posed of soldiers and navvies. But what is the
result of the two systems ? Why, that the French
themselves are enthusiastic in their admiration
of the organisation, good management, and
effectiveness of our navvies. On the other
hand, while they generously applauded the
c,Airage of our soldiers, they feelingly deplored
the utter want of all which they admire in the
navvies, and which, by their own practice, they
are so well able to appreciate.
Indeed, even here at home, the contrast strikes
every reader. We have not heard of a single
thing wanted except a few more horses, which,
moreover, were on the way before information of
the want arrived. The toots of every man are
equal to their work, huts, food, clothing, medi-
cines, all are there when called for. We hardly
indeed, heard of the commencement of the road
before we heard of its having reached half-way to
the camp, and next of its having got there ! and
its branches diverging to the French lines, and to
the other side of Balaklava harbour ! Muddy
brooks, quaggy or rocky soil, steep inclines, no-
thing was suffered to stop its onward march.
Everything was foreseen and provi led for each
euergency. Nothing was left to chance. With
our eyes on Sebastopol and Balakiava we can but
exclaim osi sic omitia ! Had all things, indeed,
been managed thus long ere now Sebastopol would
have been ours, and we should have been talking of the
Baltic and Poland, while Russia would have been
begging us to take the Crimea, and Bessarabia
and Circassia too, and keep them, so that we did
but leave her Poland.

We all must seo that the sad difference is re-
ferable to one cause alone. Lord RAGLAN and his
-successors here promote by purchase, seniority, or
f tV0111"----Sir MORTON PETO promotes by merit.
The former administers every thing by an office-
creating, time-wasting system of checks and counter-
checks; the latter by finding men whom he
can trust to work in the shortest way. The Ge-
neral of the Army cannot tell who is responsible
for any miscarriage, and no one knows to whom
to apply to get anything done. The General of
the Navvies could find out and dismiss at once
the culpable author of any mishap—he would do
it too, and every man knows where and to whom
to apply for all that is needed. One fact is, we
repeat, the key to all this—every man under Sir
MORTON PETO is thoroughly assured that the bet-
ter be does his work the more certain he is to bet-
ter his condition. If only a labourer, he is sure
of better work ; if a man of education and capa-
city, he may become a contractor, perhaps a PETO.

All eyes are now anxiously turned towards
Vienna. Public attention is concentrated on the
proceedings of the Conference now pending in the
Austrian capital. On the results depend the wel-
fare and prosperity and permanent tranquillity of
Europe and an important district in Asia. Even
the safety of the Anglo-Indian empire trembles in
the balance ; for so long as the Russian supre-
macy is maintained in the Euxine—so long as
there is the slightest possibility of the Cuossus
of the North opening a road for his predatory
hordes into Hindostan, or even of influencing
native Princes--so long must every true-hearted
Englishman feel that a struggle for life er death
is impending, and that the country may at any
moment be compelled to encounter the most for-
midable perils and to sustain the most onerous
burdens.

England did not lightly or unnecessarily enter
on the contest in which she is now engaged. In
fact, the absurd hesitation of the then Prime
Minister, the good and excellent ABERDEEN, was
the chief cause of the War, by inducing NICHOLAS
to more than doubt the sincerity of his opposition.
The AUTOCRAT well knew that the English Premier
could not be deceived by his professions of mode-
ration. He had, as he thought, completely re-
moved any possibility of such a result by his very
candid admission to the British Ambassador. So
far as Sir HAMLITON SEYMOUR was concerned, the
mask had been cast aside. Not only was the
rapidly approaching dissolution of the " sick man"
distinctly and unequivocally alluded to, but the
probable distribution of his assets was openly can-
vassed, and the share which England might hope
to obtain as the price of her connivance clearly
expressed. Candia and Egypt were the tempting
bribes by which our acquiescence in the iniquitous
scheme was to be purchased. He was fully aware
that he could do as he pleased with Austria and
Prussia, and the active co-operation, or at least
the neutrality of these three Powers being secured,
he fondly imagined that he could either cajole or
bully France. When he found that after these
revelations we contented ourselves with still pro-
testing—that even the passage of the Pruth and
the seizure of the Principalities was made,
not a casus belli, but an excuse for fresh
negotiations, which Lord ABERDEEN well knew,
or ought to have known, must prove
abortive. What could he have imagined but
that England was acting with duplicity similar to
his own, that she only desired to save appear-
ances by a decent show of resistance, and that
she would have eventually, even while
" Whispering I will ne'er consent, consented."

It was to the sterling honesty and unbending
firmness of the peoples of Franc© and England,
as well as of the French EMPEROR, that the de-
feat of the deep-laid scheme may be attributed.
But it has been only postponed, not abandoned.
" The snake is scotched, not killed," for
ALEXANDER still professes the policy laid down in
the will of PETER, and sedulously pursued by all
subsequent rulers of Russia, more especially by
CATHERINE, ALEXANDER 1., and NICHOLAS. With
that end the Crimea, a geographical fortress of
immense natural strength, was taken possession of,
and all the resources of Russia, its men, its
money, and the engineering art of foreigners,
more skilful than any natives that could
be found,
del
and
to make
and
it were lavished
arsenal, Seb
" the standing menace
impregnable--
{o its cita-
of Europe
Plenipotentiary, who, it is now
Asia,t, as it Was felicitously termed
sb:ylidt,hies willing British
to sanction its retention with un-
diminished
exhibited When
dinlivineishreepdepaot power byin
~, .
hispered. We again
. Can the Wesiern
the sinister rumour was.Rteurfir°'4sicfataw
Powers—the chivalrous ask, can this be possible f
peoples
of Franc. <:na
this deep humilia-
tEha'an their
lanwillzoonwou7L-dSusbacmirifiteteo their
lives
rather

tion—this serious and permanent injury ? Are
they prepared to become the laughing-stock of
Europe—the jest of Clicquot—who will be en-
abled to vaunt his policy by comparison with that
of the 'Western Powers, who, it will be said, wore

right glad to get " bock again " from an enter-
prise beyond their strength, or, what is tanta-
mount thereto, for the accomplishment whereof
they were not prepared to make the necessary sa-
crifices ? The blood of the veriest coward would
be accelerated in its action—he would assume, at
least, the appearance, if he could not display the
reality, of true courage—before he would incur
such deep disgrace, and bear so foul a blot on his
escutcheon—which would render him what the
ancient Greeks termed "Atinios," and our Saxon
forefathers called "nidering."
The tenacity with which the Russians have re-
sisted the dismantling of their stronghold proves
the extraordinary value they attach to its pos-
session. " Fas est ab hoste Aare." We may
learn a valuable lesson from our opponents as to
the vital importance of the position. Any
merely verbal promises, any personal recogni-
sauces to keep the peace, will, as we have lately
proved, be worse than useless—for they will only
be observed until a favourable opportunity occurs
for their violation. An adequate material gua-
rantee is required, and none can prove satisfactory
but the surrender or destruction of Sebastopol. We
must not withdraw from the work, already
half accomplished, until the end and object
of the War is achieved. When a hornet's nest is
discovered, men are not satisfied with driving
away some of the vencmous insects. The nest
itself will be destroyed, so that there may be no
possibility of their return in increased numbers.
The evil will be at once grappled with—the nui-
sance completely and entirely abated. So shoUld
we act towards Sebastopol. While it remains we
can never hope for a lasting peace. It would cost
at least seven or eight millions per annum to the
British exchequer—be equivalent to an addition
of 25 per cent, to the National Debt. Let the
universal declaration be, " Sebastopol est delenda."
The voice of public opinion will be re-echoed in
Parliament, and find its way into the inmost re-
cesses of Downing-street, so that the greatest
truckler to Germanism may know what he will
have to encounter should he recklessly dare to set
it at defiance—to resist the strong pressure from
without.

ARRIVAL OF M. DROUYN L'HUYS

IN ENGLAND.

The French Minister of Foreign Affairs arrived last
nif,,,hr, at 10 o'clock, at the residence of the Amba isador
of France.

We believe that M. Drouyn de l'Huys, whose object
in visiting this country.is to confer with Count Walewski,
and, with him, to consult with our Government on the
important questions which are now before Europe, will
not prolong his stay in London beyond one day.

THE SUNS LONDON, FRIDAY EV_ENING MAileil 00 1855,

LATEST NEWS.

PARIS, FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 8.30 A.M.
A new Belgian Ministry has been formed, as

follows :

Viscount Vilain, XIV., Foreign Affairs.
M. de Decker, Interior.

M. de Nothomb, Justice.
General Greiudl, War.
M Damon, Public Works.
M. Mercier, Finances. •

A despatch from Madrid of the 29th instant
announces that Espartero has resisted the demand
for a modification of the Ministry in a democratic
sense, made by different leaders of the Militia,
who assembled in the night.
These attempts at disorder have failed.
Madrid is tranquil.

THE VIENNA CONFERENCE.
VIENNA, THURSDAY, MAncli 29.
The Conference took the fourth point into con-

sideration to-day.
The third point is left aside for the present.
On Monday Prince Gortschakoff moved for the
admission of Prussia.

Powers is to take part in the attack on Sebostopol.
The Greeks here still continue to man:fest the
reatest animosity towards the English and French.
TNo days back, some 4 Greek sailors murdered two
French soldiers at Bouyukdere. Several English
steamers have left thiS place for Genoa, to take on
board the Piedmontese forces."

FRANCE.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Another letter of the same date says :

PARIS, THURSDAY EVENING.

Tho Paris journals continue with the same com-
parative absence of political discussion and quies-
cent attitude expectant of cventA. The Constitu-
tionnel introduces to notice, with some brief anim-
adversions, the appeal of the Most Holy Synod
of St. Petersburg the supreme head of the Russian
Church, to;all the faithful and pious children of the
Russian orthodox children, what I have already
sent you. The document is introduced by that
journal with the following remarks :
"One of the last acts of the Emperor Nieholal was
to order a levy en, .masse. The Emperor Alexander 11.
has not confined himself to the confirmation of this
measure of his father ; he has addressed himself to
the religious passions of his people, and the supreme
authority of the Muscovite Church. The Holy Synod,
has been charged to preach a real crusade against
the West. Never, since the middle ages, has there been
seen a document more adapted to inflame the fanatictsm
of the people. A govern smut which cm thus appeal to
the most ardent passions cannot seriously aspire to peace,
for there is no assurance of its possessing sufficient
strength to control at its will the tempest it has let loose.
Of all the measures taken by the Russian Government
this is without contradiction the gravest and most
significant."

The Minister of Marine has directed the Mari-
time Prefects to ascertain what merchant captains,
young and vigorous men, now in France may be
willing to take service in the Imperial Navy as
auxiliary enseignes.
Orders have been sent by the French Govern-
ment to M. Guibert, ship-builder of Nantes, to
urge on as rapidly as possible the building of the
gun-boats which he has received instructions to fur-
nish. In order to enable him to execute these or-
ders without delay, between 500 ant 600 workmen
have been placed at his disposal from the other
shipyards in the port.
A. letter from before Sebastopol of the 17th in
the Semaphore of Marseilles, says :
, "We are in daily, nay, almost momentary, ex-
pectation of a regular attack on the vast place
before us. General Canrobert yesterday passed in
review the regiment of Z ;naves of the imperial guard,
formed by his care, and at the end of the proceedings,
presented their colours to the new regiment with a few
animated remarks, which were received with shouts of
enthusiasm. On the morning of the 12th Omer Pacha
arrived at Kamiescb, and shortly after came up to the
quarters of the French general-in-chief, accompanied by
Admirals Bruat and Lyons. Lord Raglan, on learning
the arrival of the Turkish general, at once proceeded
to General Canrobert's residence, and a council of
war was held there. It commenced at half-past
twelve, and lasted until half-past six. What was
decided at that important meeting I No one can
say ; and yet every man in the camp is on the
utmost stretch of expectation to learn when the at-
tack is to be ordered. It will come only too soon for
some of them, poor fellows ; for beyond all doubt, the
resistance wilt be most obstinate, and the slaughter
fearful. Omer Pacha, took his departure the same
evening for Eupatoria, the officers who had been at
the council accompanying him thr)ugh the French
camp. The soldiers all spontaneously formed in line
as he passed, and cheered him loudly. He seemed
much gratified at this mark of feeling. The news of
the reappearance of typhus fever at the ambulance
of the first division (French), is, I regret to say, con-
firmed, General Canrobert has prescribed the most
rigorous measures to confine the disease within narrow
limits, and hitherto it has not spread beyond the
ambulance ; and, even there, it has not committed any
great ravages. With the exception of that single inci-
dent, the sanitary state of the army (French) is most
satisfactory. The news of the death of the Emperor
Nicholas was received with the most perfect indifference
by the French army. Such is the soldier's life when in
camp; the greatest event produces no effect on him.
All he wants is his rations and his little comforts, with a
prospect of a dash at the enemy at no great distance.
From Eupatoria we have received the intelligence that
the son-in-law of Prince Paskewitch was killed in the
last affair there."

" I announced to you the death of Skender Bey, but
the report is now contradicted. -An English officer, who
arrived two days ago from Eupatoria, informs us that
he was in a fair way of recovery, and that he did not
appear to be in the slightest degree alarmed by his
wounds. Every one is delighted that the news is false,
as Skender Bey is one of the best officers of the Ott,-
man army. You are aware that the news of the death
of the Grand Dusts Michael was also circulated. On
inquiring into its truth I learn, from good authority, the
event in which it originated. It appears that Omer
Pasha, walking through the fortifications of Eupatoria,
saw at a distance in the plain a carriage drawn by six
horses. He at once sent for the chief of his gunners,
and asked if among his men there were any skilful
enough to send a ball into that carriage. Excellency,'
said the man, with the hull) of God, and your en-
couragement, I think I could reach it.' He pointed
his piece at the spot inHeated, and in the twinkling of
au eye the carriage was seen smashed to picr-tes ; but it
could not be ascertained if they who were inside were
killed or wounded."

The following private telegraphic despatches have
been received here to-day :--
"ALEXANDRIA, 23d. A thousand English
lancers from India have reached this city from
Suez. The Duke of Brabant has arrived here.
The last news from Bagdad comes down to the 19th
Feb. The rebel Kurds, from 20,000 to 30,000 in
number, keep up an energetic resistance in the
north of Mesopotamia. Advises from Hong Kong
state that the Chinese insurgents who are besieging
Canton have taken the Tiger fort and pillaged the
neighbouring villages."
" MADRID, 28th.—The Court left the capital for
Aranjuez at 4 o'clock this afternoon. The Govern-
ment has presented a bill to the Cortes prohibiting
political manifestations. Theorgauisawtiionooft the
slightestnational gduisaorrdde.
is proceeding regularly without the

BOURSE, MAUCH 29.—CLOSING PRICES.
Cash, fr. c. End of Month.
4i per Cents 95 z-. 94f. 953.
3 per Cents 7O 20 70f. 250.
Credit Mobilier
Credit Fonder...... Austrian
Belgian Fives ..... ... 94 Spanish Threes _
Piedmontese ......... 86 Home Debt 32
RAILWAYS—ZOIt CASH.
fr. c. fr. c
Orleans
Western.... ....... .... 660 Rouen
Cette
Mediterranean ...... 992 50 Havre 570
Northern