The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

THE NEW MINISTRY.
HERALD.—We are happy to satisfy the doubts with
which our contemporaries have been tormenting them-
selves for the last forty-eight hours, as we shall doubt-
less satisfy the wishes and expectations of the nation.
Lord Derby, by
special command of her Majesty, has
been instructed to form an Administration. The Noble
Lord arrived at his residence in St. James's-square
shortly before seven o'clock on Saturday, and a few mo-
ments afterwards a messenger from the Queen arrived,
commanding his attendance at Buckingham Palace at
half-past two yesterday. The Noble Lord remained
with her Majesty about three-quarters of an hour, and
with that zeal and ability for which he has always been
conspicuous, has undertaken the formation of the Cabi-
net. The names which we are enabled to prefix will, we
think, be a
sufficient guarantee that Lord Derby has set
about his task, thus imposed on him by his Sovereign,
with assiduity and earnestness; and that the arrange-
ments which he has made for conducting the govern-
last few hours
meat of the country will meet with general satisfac-
tion. The speculations which have been afloat for the
nese or exorcise the i
to certainty. ingenuity of the loungers, either
tbaeinn, ahnitl'hwiyhoainaMsianigi
3 and which served to amuse the idle-
st the clubs or at journal offices, may now give way
assumptions of learned quiduuncs with regard to
l-
listened,to oc
those hh oet smheosseel who;surmisesewuebr were e te) eh)
the principles and tho appointments of the Noble Lord.
i nto d must
t'h
thee havegra-
tuitous
Protection; he does not intend to form a coalition either
with Whigs or Peelites; he does not intend (after the
approved tashion.of the present day) to abandon those
principles to which he has long given in his adherence,
and which will form the basis of his administrative policy.
Sound protection for British industry in its several
branches is what the nation desires, and the adjustment
of those difficulties and. the amelioration of those evils
which have, imperceptibly almost, gathered round our
social system. The weekly organ of the late Ministry,
sad, like another Othello, when "his occupartion is
gone," vents his spleen by predicating that Lord Derby
is in no better condition for accepting office now than he
was last year. He is ready to stake his credit
on it ; he speculates on the chance of Lord
Derby's intent to cajole " his confiding followers."
Our contemporary's connexions have not in this re-
spect been of the most reputable kind; he has thrown
in his lot with a set of politicians to whom the
act which he would attribute to Derby Lord has become
familiar; and he judges of others by himself and his
own acquaintances. The Noble Lord will not gratify
him; and it may cure his biliousness to be told that he
is a false prophet in both his speculations; Lord Derby
will not forsake nor deceive his his party • • Administra-
tionlB
is nearly formed, and is in working trim. We ac-
cept our contemporary's cry; the Protectionists are
ready. We accept also the challenge which he would
place in the mouth of the people—so are we. We wish
nothing more than fair play and no favour; that the
people of England should weigh well the measures to be
proposed to them, and test the statesmen whom Lord
Derby has called to share in the Administration, with
those who have retired from, or with those who are can-
didates for office. It is an ungracious task to trample
on the fallen, and one for which we have not the least
inclination. Still, when the task is forced upon us,
and " progressive prosperity and peaceful success" are
claimed for the late Administration (can we believe
our eyes I) we must ask, where are the proofs?
Is this praise undeserved a satire in disguise? IS
there any party in the nation who will take up this
cry of the late Ministerial advocates, and venture
to respond to their hollow voice, which can create no
enthusiasm, no sympathy, itself devoid of both? "Peace,
prosperity, success"—they sound strange-, where are
they ? . Perhaps we are to look for them in Kafraria, or
in our colonies, and their satisfactory relations with the
mother country. Perhaps, they lurk nearer home; for
lurk they do wherever they are; unless they exist only
in the brain of the writer. Perhaps, he finds this peace
and prosperity in the condition of the agriculturists, or
in the relations now existing between masters and work-
men. Perhaps, what all others have been trembling at
as indicative of war, to him wears the aspect of peace
and prosperity. Who can account for such perversions!
Equally are we at a loss to discover the progressive
success that he boasts of. We have been labouring fer
several years past under a Ministerial incubus, dreaming
sometimes of great, sometimes of horrible things, but
realising nothing. We have scarcely vegetated—rooted
to the spot, and it is the bitterest of all sarcasms to ridi-
cule such a state of things by the name of progress.
The Ministry could scarce hold together, an unsual
activity would have shaken them to pieces, a step
more rapid than ordinary brought on a crisis. Their
progression has been to the rear; their success is
chronicled in the budgets of Sir Charles Wood and
the dispatches of Earl Grey. If such incapables can
command the admiration of our contemporaries, that ad-
miration does not require any great things to fan it into
being; and the Noble Lord who has now been called to
direct the councils of the nation, may rest perfectly sa-
tisfied of the applause of such easily-contented indivi-
duals, if, like his predecessor, he does no more than
bring in measures which he has no intention to press, or
pockets the salary of office, without being over-solicitous
about the duties. Of this, however, we have no appre-
hension. A strong and a vigorous Government is re-
quired, and such a one we shall now have; one, too,
that shall not fall into the drivelling, captious indif-
ferentism of its predecessor. The nation knows what
Lord Derby is, and what it has to expect from him.
There can be no mistake; no sailing under false colours.
There can be no hypocrisy or deceit with respect to the
principles of the Noble Lord, or of those who are asso-
ciated with him. The nation will recognise in the names
of more than one of them men of talent, long expe-
rience, and well-earned reputation; men, also, to
whose temper, firmness, and prudence, those re-
forms may be entrusted which have been so long
and so vainly desired. Unquestionably Lord Derby
has a hard task before him; he has to repair the
evils and correct the errors of his predecessors in more
than one department of and evils
the State—errors
which have taken deep root, and will not very easily be
eradicated. Ho will have t 0 retrace false steps, com-
mitted by men who will h responsibility
escaped the
of their misdeeds. He
will
vigour where
before there was nothing I have to diffuse
and
incapacity ;
but weakness
he will have to grapple with difficulties, which have be-
come more perplexed in consequence of the inefficiency
tampered with thesedifficulties.
of those who have nseguence o
At
the same time he has the carrying out these
various functions with abilitysleans for
___a
B will be
supported by colleagues wie and enerogy.
e at all events,
is as great as that of any o their competitors for office
—with the exception of Sir J %Thaw;
reen,leise,
who are neither doctrinaires James
crude theorists. But
nor .
more than-all, he will be supported Judgment and
by the
good sense of the nation; which •
lon; which notwithstanding occa-
sional aberrations, has always shown itself favourable
0 have
to those of its servants who have been earnest in their
duty, and has always been willing both to hear and to
judge with candour.
TIMES.—The consequences of the vote on Friday
night have been much morn rapid and decisive than
those which followed a similar strange to say, on
the very same day, Februar event,
ear
On Satur-
day afternoon, after a
meeting, 20, last
Cabinet,y Lord John
Rossell proceeded to the Palace 'lsf the
and laid before the
Queen the resignation for
whicha ace,
he had prepared her
Majesty by a note the previous - ht. Yesterday, at
halt-past two o'clock, Lord night.
Derby had an audience of
the Queen, and accepted the taskr of forming an Admi-
nistration. For that he was fully prepared, though of
course open to such modifications
particular as the
cir-
cumstances under which he
From the Palace he proceeded require.
took office might
to the residence of Mr.
Disraeli, and afterwards,
vote of Friday night, he ee might be expected
from the
vote Lorde
Palmerston, from 'which, had an interview with
We may add, that the distinguished resulted.
however, nothing
). h .
whom ho hoped to obtain as
financialll ;Authority
whom
Exchequer is, it
is understood, hisunwillingcoguatolgivethe
up for that anxious and ood,
.as
post his
present honours and ecario
emoluments as the head
of one of the first commercial •
houses in the
world. Rumour has been n• the
names
of the new Cabinet, and has laced
thearrandging
Duke of
Northumberland at the Admiralty and Lord Malmes-
bury at the Foreign-office, besides y,
legal a -
the obvious-.p
• tmente A' few houre; h
porn •
whole Cabinet, which is will give us the
?wever,
will present the list to her alreadyma.iee formed. Lord Derby
'afternoon, and kiss hands anJ
ty at half-past two this
Thus three days, including a his Saturday and
to office.
will settle the question, by handuireuey and a Sunday,
from a Whig to a Conservative Cabinet.over the country
,weeks since her Majesty opened the lt is not three
was rather more anxiety than usual session, and there
work of that session was to be, Heatiodekenow what the
express pledges were approaching maturity,that several
decided accumulation of arrears, and abi there was a
common character. The address from also crisis of no
the Ministerial announcements came in the. Throne and
and, though critioized, wor received with
husck succession,
Legislature soon rush dine ere leas res, and respect. The
since we were, deep in Chancery and Militia-'
a few hours
served meats and ventilation ; in itia;' in pre-
of all . sorts and qualifications. That is
a,, past.electors
the , merest touch of his Wand a • beiells With
quin has changed the whole scene, and "
, rated harle-
bakers and butchers, contractors, and variiinstead of cheap
formersoye find eurselyes in green fields aarnentary re-
with sturdy yeomen and hobnailed labourers farmyards,
on the scene, as. if they had always been theronce more
old original harlequin has been snubbed es his If the
r is politics,
he has his revenge in the freaks of our stet esmen and
the pantomimhanges of St. Stepheo,„
The result,
if that be a reiult which is nothing
.at all, is that, after
a false start, the session begin! again. It is no" longer
'the Queen's Speech, but Lord Derby'sthat 'we are
gaping for. How will he open Parliament? But first
let us inter the dead with decent solemnity. There have
descended to the tomb 9£ all the Capulets the now Res
forin Bill, the impending Kafir debate, and, half a dozen
ether Ministerial encumbrances. What a vast
1 amount
of research, what cleverness, what stationery, is ren-
dered worthless in a moment _by the little vote' of
Friday ! Here are the Sunday
the Patters, full of
of •sv k
clever leaders on the topics ee ,—all now
out of date. Besides heaps of letters, besides remon-
strances of. boroughs unequally yoked, and
our own
" illustrations" of the new Reform Bill;—besides Mr.
Wylcl's borough map of England, there lies before us the
prettiest blue book that ever was printed at the cost of
the nation, with maps of every county,. and therein the
'boundaries 'of every borough, and the changes to be
made. All these, with the valuable lucubrations of all
the country papers on the same subject, are now waste
pittier. Nobody who thinks five minutes worth rescuing
from time will read one line of them. They aro as
thoroughly ',gone to the bottom as the contents of the
Amazon. The Cape question, it is true, is not so easily
set at rest. The Kafirs will go on fighting, and we shall
goon paying, and every now and then Lord Grey will
be evil spoken againate but:he can no longer be culled to
account for the mischief, After a change of servants