The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-06 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 1864.

Seldom, if ever, has a debate in the House of
Commons been so evenly balanced between contest-
ing parties—we say contesting parties advisedly,
not conflicting. opinions. The supporters of the
Government, while endeavouring to etigmatise this
question
as a party move on the side of the Oppo-
sition, ars themselves avowedly viewing i': as a
party question. The speech of Mr. HonsmAN last
evening was, perhaps, one of the most glaring non•
sequiturs ever addressed to the British House of
Commons. Throughout his speech—every sentence
of which evidenced his recognition of the false
position and feeble conduct of the Government—he
was followed by n
—Pposition cheers, when, at the
conclusion, he turned completely round upon the
obvious deductions from, his owe arguments, and,
amidst unexpected applause from the Ministerial
benches, declared his intention to support the
Government, although they were, by his own show-
ing, so evidently in the wrong !
The eau.' might
be a good cause, but the price was ,
00 much to
pay for it. In like manner Mr. cott„f is
prepared to vote with Ministers, 'while he
differs entirely with their policy and denounces
their proceedings. Pitiable, indeed, is the position
of the Administration, when even its friends are
obliged to admit, in the words of Mr. COBDEN \
last evening, that " Our present diplomatic sy6tem 1
has broken down. Oar Foreign-office has lost its I
credit with foreign countries. You cannot hence-
forward approach a foreign country upon any ques-
tion of foreign policy in which you will not be
looked upon with a want of consideration, and even
with mistrust? And, to make bad worse, this
result is so evidently the fruit of our own mis-
management 1, "The great fault we commit in these
things," we quote again from Mr. CoDDEN, tilt
supporter of the Government, "always is that we
allow ourselves to be betrayed into something like
manses without duly measuring the power we
have of carrying out those menaces." No wonder 1

that these only too truthful words were drowned
'in loud cheers from the Opposition. Alluding to
these unhappy and worse than futile threats,
Lord STANLEY very happily observed during
Mon day night's debate :—" The noble lord
threatened us conditionally with a war. I try to
look at the best side of things, and am willing to
believe that he did not mean it. I believe it was
not the announcement of a future policy, but the
indulgence of an inveterate habit. One can imagine
that the noble lord may have been in favour of
fighting as. a time when fighting, however impolitic,
would have led to substantial results ; but to say
that now, after Holstein is gone and Schleswig
taken, you will fight for Copenhagen, is very much
as though 5311V3 ally of ours were to say, Ireland
may be invaded, and we won't help you; Scotland
may be invaded, end we won't help you ; England
even may be invaded, and we won't help you ; bat
let them touch the Isle of Wight, and we will at
once rush to your assistance." Equally telling and
equally unanswerable was Lord ROBERT CECIL'S
lud'crous comparison when he said yesterday that
" after our efforts daring the last nine months had
been despised—after we had failed in every attempt
to obtain pacification, and to secure the integrity
and independence of Denmark—after all this, it was
too much that the noble lord should toll us that if
Copenhagen were taken, that if the population were
slaughtered, and in case the KING were taken pri-
soner of war, her MAJESTY'S Government would be
prepared to consider such a contingency." He con-
tinued—" I do not think that since the ancient
PISTOL swallowed his leek, saying that he did it in
revenge, such an exhibition was ever made before
the world." Whatever be the result of the division
as regards the numbers voted, one fact is already
very apparent from this debate. The conduct of
the Government—so admirably typified by one of
COLLINS'S Passions which shall be nameless—the
one, we mean, who, so eager to stretch forth hie
hand,

" -- its skill to try
Amid the chords bewildered laid,
Then back recoiled, he knew not why,
Scared at the sound himself had made,"

This conduct, so recklessly threatening and so re-
creantly retreating, is not approved by the House
of Commons ! Even those members who will vote
for the Government, as a Governn2ent, denounce
their principles, as a policy.

It is not often in real life that we meet with those
strange scenes and atrikieg warnings which make
novels famous and impert,a vitality to the represen-
tations of the drama. The current of events gene-
rally flows on more evenly, and is marked wilts im-
pressive warnings, but of a more subdued character.
Tue other evening, however, brought a truth home
to the hearts of Ministers which they must have telt,
however carefully and cleverly they concealed their
conviction from the vulgar gaze and prying inspec-
tion of the crowds without and within the wails of
Parliament. This is not the first time that Lord
PALMERSTON has failed when he appeared under
such flattering auspices as the Premier of England.
Once before he came back from his appeal to the
country with the ranks of his supporters swelled by
the results of the election that had just taken place.
But his " hundred majority," of famous memory,
did not avail him. He was ignominiously expelled
from power. Still, in comparison with the present
excitement, this affair of the Conspiracy Bill was
as nothing. When the eyes of experienced states.
men surveyed the scene at St. Stephen's on Monday
they must have foreseen the vast importance of the
significant spectacle before them. Not since the
days of the Reform Bill has such excitement been
manifested. Those who can remember the vivid
demonstration of feeling, and the eager expression
of opinions that then took place, must go back to
the memory of that time for a precedent, but those
who are not able to recollect that stormy epoch can
imagine no counterpart to the scene, and will, there-
fore, consider this as an event in their lives. No
vote of censure or triumphant majority at the elec-
tions for their opponents could possibly speak more
emphatically to the Government in condemnation
of their policy than did the appearance of public
feeling among all classes on Mondry. It was the
handwriting on the wall which spoke in a double
capacity to them as to the monarch of antiquity.
It told of the pact, and it presaged of the future,
for while it reconciled their errors, it foretold the
approaching doom that those ernes had occasioned
To make the lesson complete, we must call to
mind the circumstances under which the present
Ministers took office. It was pre-eminently by a
subterfuge--'' a dodge" it has been called, and cor-
rectly thus defined. Earl RUSSELL then over-
shadowed his career by his mean and unworthy
conduct respecting the Reform Bill, and his sub-
sequent course at the Foreign-office has put the
seal to the transaction. Deceit indeed has been the
watchword of this Administration from the first
when they took office en the plea of bringing in
a better Reform Bill than their predecessors. They
have deceived the house, their supporters, the
country, and the world during their tenure of
office since 1859. The next year witnessed the
conclusion of the 'abortive attempts at Reform.
1 his was the first exemplification at falsity, and
then followed by degr.es that coerce of foreign
policy alike so disgraceful and so disastrous in its
effects and consequences. The English people bear
a great deal for the sake of peace and order, but
there are times when things go too far for endur-
ance, and the conduct of our Ministers has now
reached that pitch. Seldom has a public man ad-
dressed a more numerous or brilliant auditory
than did Mr. DISRAELI on Monday evening. The
right hon. gentleman the Leader of the Opposition
occupied a proud position that evening. He stool;
forth as the exponent of the principles and
the representative of the spirit of the people
of this country. He stood on a vantage
ground,
which his opponents must have bitterly begrudged
to him. The reception he met with from the crowds
outside, and the welcome he received from his
supporters in the House, were significant witnesses
to the truth of the cause, in which he was engaged.
It is not upon orators, however brilliant, or
upon tactics, however clever, that the chief as-
sistance may be reckoned upon, or from which the
chief danger will be apprehended in this under-
taking. A stronger sentiment urges on the actors
in this fitful drama. It is the conviction of the
distrust of the people that paralyses the efforts of
the Government, and the consciousness of the ap-
proval of the country that inspires and animater-
the opposition. It is only putting off the evil day,
fir the Ministers to affirm that they are sure and
confident of success. A victory gained in defiance
of public opinion is a very dangerous triumph, and
One that the pages of all history can testify to be
a unwise one. The numbers who struggled to
obtain tickets of admission, the early hour of their
arrival, the eager demand for an impossible
entrance, anti
the patient endcrance of long hours
of waiting, were all proofs
said that Lord PatzrEßeToN must be too wise not to
the tokens.
see the signs and recognise hi
His career
in the political world has bees an unusually long
one; many of his contemporaries have vanished from
the scene of strife, while he still fights on with
freshness and vigour, but he must know that in the
lonizest life a men does not witness 1% scene like that
of Monday more than onoa or twice. It is not pro-
bable that he i3unaw3ro of hi position, end the