The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-30 00:00:00

before us. But Lord John Russell does not repeat it.
Nay, he rather negatives the whole proposal. And
his own journalist makes no secret of the reason why.
It is frankly confessed that " any such opposition as
was waged against Sir Robert Peel in 1835,"
" would involve r. certainty of failure." And the
reason assigned is, "the rivalries of various Liberal
leaders." Now this is a signal confession of failure.
In 1835 Lord John could unite " the Liberal pArtv,"
,Ind could dislodge even the great Sir Robert Peel.
Li 1352 Lord John, it is confessed, cannot dislodge
even "the incapahles who infest Downing street,"
under Lord Derby ; and thi,", because " the Liberal
party" will no longer unite under his banner. A
plainer confession of failure in a Prime Minister
could hardly he made. And what, then, is the re-
sult ? What is the valorous resolve of this (confess-
edly) disunited "Liberal party ?" It is calked " the
wiser course—the course recommended by Lord J.
Russell at Perth—the course of giving Mr. Disraeli
rope enough, and trusting that the discussion of his
measures will allow every Opposition chief abundant
opportunity of evincing his own cle.ims." This is
capital. And yet we cannot help thinking that Shake-
pere has phrased it better. In his racy style it runs
thus:—
"Why, since he has some evil practices, if thou
couldst find them out, thou hadst better let him con-
tinue, till thou discoverest what they are."
" There ! thou naughty varlet, thou hearest what
is come upon thee ! Thou art to continue ! thou
naughty varlet, thou art to continue I"
So much for the general prospects of the session. The
Peelite organ of yesterday entirely agrees with the
Whig journal, that the present Ministry must be left
where it is, for the best of all possible reasons—that
it cannot be turned out. We happen also to know,
that two well-known Whig Baronets, representing
metropolitan constituencies, have expressed the same
conviction within the last two or three days. On a
single point, however, mischief is threatened. An
idea is openly mooted, of a revival of " the Lichfield
House compact." The first leader in the Whig jour-
nal of last evening commenced with these ominous
words—" Don't be so sure that you have heard the
last of the appropriation clause." And then follows
this candid confession of the lengths to which the
political morality of Whigs and Liberals may be
stretched :
"It is not likely that more than an insignificant mi-
nority could be mustered in favour of even the most
modest application of national property for the purposes
of the Roman priesthood; and it is quite certain that
no Minister in his senses would throw such a firebrand
among the constituencies. But we cannot doubt that a
large number of Liberals will willingly co-operate in
any attack upon the Irish Church, on the speculation—
whatever we may think of its prudence—that their sub-
sequent defection will be sufficient to arrest the move-
ment before it passes from the stage of demolition to that
of reconstruction."
In a word,—in order to annoy and perhaps defeat the
Ministry,—a large number of Whigs, Radicals, and
Peelites would unite,—so says the Whig journalist,
_with the Irish Brigade in an attack on the Irish
Church. And they would do this, it is confessed,
without meaning to carry the measure which they
would thus support. They would do it on " the
speculation, that their subsequent defection would
suffice to arrest the movement. ' We are not alarmed
at such threats as these ; nor do we at all mean that
any serious
s coßnasetqwunenilceeswewfoeuelldnofoflleoawr, fwroemmasy not
hat
the less freely advert to the well-known fact, thet it
was just in this way—by helping a movement at
first, which they meant to arrest afterwards—that the
French Liberals in 1789, and various other Liberals
in other places, brought on results of a kind which
they were the first to lament, when it was too late to
undo them.
CEIRoNICE.—We have already called attention
to Lord Hardinge's more eminent qualifications for
the distinguished and highly responsible post of
Commander-in-Chief. His well-won honours in the
field, his services in India as well as in Europe, his
tried abilities as an administrator, and, above all, the
proud place which he held in the affection and esteem
of the Duke of Wellington, combine to constitute a
claim which it was impossible to deny. But there
are less obvious considerations which render his
appointment peculiarly judicious, or singularly fortu-
nate, at the present period. We allude to the imper-
fect state of our national defences, and to the growing
spirit of hostility which " looms" in the distance, in
the direction of our nearest and most formidable
neighbour. The founders and oracles of the Universal
Peace Association may be right when they point to the
commercial ties which now connect the leading coin-
munities of both hemispheres, as imposing a strong
curb on the ambition of rulers and on the restlessness
of glory-loving nations. No doubt, the consciousness
of the serious losses to be incurred, and of the
galling privations to be endured, by the most indus-
trious portion of the people which rashly provokes or
is suddenly hurried into war, will form a strong
check on the most bellicose rulers, wherever reason
and justice can make themselves heard, or wherever
some representative form of government faithfully
reflects the intelligence and well-understood interests
of the country. In France, for example, any vigilant
observer may have remarked from time to time, [du-
ring the past twenty years, an occasional outburst of
the same feeling of towards England, to which
two or three of the leading Paris journals have given
renewed and bitter expression within the last fort-
night. But whilst the Chamber of Deputies or the
National Assembly was in existence, and in the
enjoyment of its lawful privileges, we felt safe ; be-
cause we knew that the whole influence of the trad-
ing classes would be thrown into the scale of good
sense and humanity, and because the limited powers
and strict responsibility of the Executive offered
insuperable obstacles to a sudden disruption of
amicable relations, with the view to a coup de
main. The important change which has taken place
in this respect appears to have altogether escaped the
notice of those members of the British Legislature,
who, " greatly daring," dined at the Elysee, and
danced at the Tuileries, to celebrate the Prince Pre-
sident's temporary triumph over the institutions
which he had solemnly sworn to maintain. It has
obviously never occurred to them that those noisy
and disorderly sittings of the National Assembly
which are foolishly cited as decisive against Parlia-
mentary Government, were:not only the safety-valves
of French turbulence, but.the guarantees of Euro-
pean tranquillity. Threats, mutterings, and other
indications of peril, on which we laid little stress
so long as France enjoyed a constitution, have pos-
sessed far more significance since her army, her fleet,
and her revenues have been placed at the disposal
of one man, who may at no very distant period
conceive an English raid or invasion to be the best
mode of confirming and consolidating his authority.
It is notorious that the expediency of inaugu-
rating the new Empire by a military exploit of more
than ordinary daring is the constant topic of dis-
cussion amongst Louis Napoleon's partisans, and
that London, with its untold treasures in bullion
and merchandise, or one of our most valuable naval
arsenals, is familiarly proposed as the ready and
appropriate mark and reward of Gallic valour and
vindictiveness. All the workmen that can be use-
fully congregated have been set to work, night and
day, to complete the railway at Cherbourg; and the
President will soon be able, at a few hours' notice,
to embark a number of troops sufficient, if
ill-disposed
landed on the coast of Devonshire, Hampshire, or
Sussex, to inflict a vast amount of injury, if not ,
exactly to imperil our national existence. More-
over,misinformedlist has
it is confidently believed, in quarters not likely
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falsified, that ata the o
as
to render it a most inadequate index to the actual
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Let us not be misunderstood. It may be probable.
towards the English people, and that a
n yoked attack on us would not be hazarded, unpro-
voked
as the last throw of the dice. Nor have except
slightest doubt that any expedition we the
hi
lead or direct against the British isleswould meet
with the most signal discomfiture, and would simply
end by precipitating his fall. But
the
to a commercial country like En
land
iy,
ienceasl;
unsuccessful attempt at invasion, would ulndd veLee
rnavef,
;
not permanently,
injurious. The oFrencg. boaster
war-steamer
who recently spoke of a new as an arch
of a projected bridge forgot that,
over the Channel,
for every ten steamers which could be collected at
Cherbourg, twenty might easily be concentrated
at Plymouth or Spithead, and that to be
independent of the winds is at least as
great an advantage to a watching squadron as to an
attacking one. Nothing short of the grossest and
most criminal neglect on the part of the British
Government for the time being, could give the
semblance of feasibility to a scheme of invasion on
a large scale. Bat there exists a general, and,
we fear, a well-founded suspicion, that we are by
no means so secure as we might and ought to be
against that description of warfare which was espe-
cially recommended by the Prince de Joinville in his
famous pamphlet. Many worthy people, whom it
would be inaccurate to class with "old women," are
haunted by visions of a French Paul Jones off Brigh-
ton, Weymouth, or Torquay ; and they already see,
in their mind's eye, a compact body of ten or fifteen
thousand French troops quietly landed somewhere on
the west or south-west coast, and advancing into the