The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-07 00:00:00

quently entered official life, but his political emie
uence was in some measure due to the accident of
birth; his courtesy and kindliness, his upright prin-
ciple, and gentle heat were all hie own. It has
been said of him that he never made an enemy,
and if this 'very fact implies that he played no
leading part on the stage, it also shows the en.
lightenment and tolerance of his views, the libe-
rality and absence of all sectarianism or prejudice
in his conduct. The office which the Earl of CAR.
LISLE held during the last eight years was one
which, however supetfluoue and unpopular in
some respects, demands in no small degree the
qualities of tact, judgment, and discretion. It is
much to the credit of Lord CARLISLE, after occupy-
ing a post in which it is extremely difficult to avoid
invidious partiality, that he gave offence to none,
and that his enforced resignation of the Viceroyalty
was the cause of general regret among all classes of
Irishmen. Whatever his shortcomings or defi-
ciencies as a legislator, Lord CARLISLE was an un-
exceptionable host, and in the task of dispensing
the favours of the Castle he found a congenial
office. The late Lord Lieutenant, however, origi-
nated no great measure ; he did not leave his
mark on the time or his impress on the
people, and in deploring his loss Ireland regrets
rather a kind and enlightened nobleman than an
active and foresighted Statesman. Lord CARLISLE'S
introduction to public life was in the diplomatic
service. He was at an early age appointed an
attache to the Russian Embassy, and became very
popular in the society of the Russian capital. When
he was subsequently elected an M.P. for the family
seat of Morpeth (whose name he then bore), one of
his first speeches was in defence of the GEAR. Iu
the stirring times of 1832 he ranged himself on the
popular side, though with all his sincere desire for
Reform was mingled a little anxiety lest the popu•
lar excitement should be carried too far. His gentle
and courteous temper made him shrink from the
violence of such a contest, but he was a staunch
Reformer nevertheless. After a time he exchanged
his seat of the little borough of Morpeth for the
representation of Yorkshire, then a united county.
In Lord MELBOURNE'S Government Lord MORPETU
became Chief Secretary for Ireland under Lord
NORMANBY, and shared in the popularity which
was gained by that nobleman by his liberal admi-
nistration. 'When Yorkshire was divided into
Ridings, Lord MORPETU sat for the West Riding,
but lost his seat at the general election which ex-
changed Lord MELBOURNE'S Government for that
of Sir ROBERT PEEL. He employed his leisure in
travelling in America, and did not reenter Pare
liament until 1846. Since thet time ho has
succeeded to the Peerage, and has held
what may be termed the minor offices
of the Cabinet. His political career is, how-
ever, chiefly associated with the sister country, both
as Chief Secretary in the stormy days of O'CON-
NELL, when, as Mr. DISRAELI once said of him,
" he took a great part in the greatest debates," and
as a Lord-Lieutenant popular, prudent, and con-
ciliatory: Few men could boast of better family or
higher connections than Lord CARLISLE, but he
was not slow to remember that not " all the blood
of all the Howards" could ennoble a man un-
worthy of his rank, and his invariable regard for
the interests of the people and desire to elevate and
improve them showed the tree nobleman's spirit.
His lectures to Mechanics' Institutes on POPE and
on the United States obtained a degree of celebrity,
and he manifested some talent and a cultivated
taste in other literary productions. The Whig
party, not too rich in popular men, has, by the
death of this nobleman, lost one who at least.
never estranged their followers nor irritated the
public—one who never sowed dissensions in the
ranks nor lowered their reputatien. If not a
leading statesman, at least he never disappointed
the expectations of the country ; and, whether
from choice or accident, he was never placed in
a position for which he was incompetent. The
Earl of CARLISLE has left an example of how a
man without great talents or shining qualities
may obtain public respect and endear himself to
private affection ; and while the Liberal party
has to lament the loss of a cautious and enlightened
politician, society must regret the vacant place of
the amiable and accomplished gentleman.

Those who sneered at the prophecies which fore•
told disruption among the German Puwers will
soon find cause to withdraw their objections, and
moderate their indignation, when they peruse the
latest advices from abroad. It is long since so
important a discussion took place, or such signifi,
cant demonstrations were made, es have been wit-
nessed of late in the German territories. The
Fatherland will soon be as much a lucus non lucendo
as the United States of North America ; there is
about as much of unity on one side, as of sympathy
and congeniality of sentiment on the other. BYRON,
in his remarkable lines in the " Corsair," has illus-
trated the communion of interest among the pirates
in these lines—

"And the brief epitaph on danger's day,
When those who win at length divide the prey,"

But in this Schleswig-Holstein question it has been
found no such easy matter to divide the prey, nor
to settle the disputed territories with anything
approaching to dignity and decorum. It must
ever remain a slur on the German character that
nothing can efface, that they now stand convicted
of the lowest motifes in their attacks upon the
Duchies, and their invasion of Denmark. If there
had been, as they asserted, and their friends in this
country and elsewhere upheld, a decided purpose
in view, there could not possibly have arisen such
a disturbance as this, nor such difficulties in coming
to an arrangement. Tho fact is, that the grasping
nature of Prussia is now being revealed ; it stands
out conspicuous in the conduct of her statesmen,
even as in the time of war it shocked and amazed
the world in her generals, officers, and soldiers.
We can better appreciate the harm that has been
done by the tacit approval accorded by other na-
tions to the deep designs and treacherous course
of this country now that the fifth act of high
tragedy has commenced. Except among those
who were prescient enough to foresee something of
this from the first there must be doubtless great
surprise felt by the rapacious designs lately exhi-
bited. It is the best answer to the absurd states
ments made by our Government as to the moderate
intentions of the Allies and the certainty that
existed of their forbearance being displayed if once
their demands were acceded to, that there has been
during the last few weeks an imminent probability
of war breaking out among the conquerors of little
Denmark. It is almost a pity that such was not
the case in reality, as in perspective it would have
been a fine retribution for the fallen country to have
beheld. At all events there is this secondary source
of satisfaction in the contemplation of the affair,
that whatever fate may befall the Duchies of Schles-
wig and Holstein they have brought their
doom upon themselves, and are only reaping the
consequences of what they have sown by their
foolish demands and unworthy conduct through out
the whole of the affair. The indignation which
the minor States of Gormany have exhibited' is only
natural, and for every reason there is cause to rejoice
at its manifestation, for it is only by repeat ed and
constant opposition that we cm expect the course
of Prussian despotism to be stenunA, and the ha-