The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-24 00:00:00

to pronouuce a funeral oration over their character.
What shall be said of the prodigious " accession" to the
Whig Ministry, which we were told was made to it when
Mr. Vernon Smith was received into the Cabinet? He
was the man who was to strengthen the basis of the
Ministry! Poor Mr. Vernon Smith! His career as a
Cabinet Minister was a short one. He had no sooner
entered Downing-street, than he was ejected from it.
-Hard, indeed, has been his fate. Brief has been his
tenure of office. A fortnight ago he was standing on
the hustings, with all his honours as a Cabinet Minister
blushing upon him, and already they have entirely
faded. They have taken to themselves wings and
flown away. The embryo Cabinet Minister of three
weeks ago, is the ex-Cabinet Minister of today.
And Mr. Fox Maule, too. Little more than a
fortnight has elapsed since, laying the flattering
unction to his soul, that the Whig Ministry wore a
charmed life, ho sought to persuade the electors of
Perth that they were " The Inevitable Ministry."
Inevitable, indeed ! Where are the Inevitables now?
Where is Mr. Fox Maule himself, as one of that very
interestin body ? Cruel echo promptly answers,
Where?" The Inevitable Ministry of a fortnight ago,
are the non-existent Ministry now. How soon is joy
turned into mourning. Mr. Vernon Smith could speak
feelingly, because experimentally, on this point. It
would be a sight worth beholding, to see Mr. Vernon
Smith and Mr. Fox Maule looking one another in the
face, while condoling with each other on the shortlived
tenure of their new offices. " Inevitable" Mr. Fox
Munk ! " Inevitable" Mr. Vernon Smith ! But leaving
the Whig Cabnet to sleep undisturbed in the grave to
which they have been consigned, and iu which they
ought to have been laid long ago, the great question now
is, Will the Derby Cabinet be able to retain office?
We unhesitatingly answer they will not, provided they
continue to adhere to the principles on which they have
come into power. A Tory Ministry is incompatible with
the spirit of the age. A Protectionist Cabinet is at
variance with the necessities and demands of the times.
If Lord Derby has any idea of presiding over the affairs
of the country, he must abjure his Toryism and throw his
Protectionism to the winds. He must become a Liberal in
his policy, whatever may be his principles. To conduct the
affairs of this country on Tory or Protectionist principles is
a potent impossibility. It would be stark, staring madness
to attempt it. If, indeed, the House of Commons should
feel so disposed, it could annihilate the Derby Ministry
on the first day of its existence. A resolution affirma-
tive of want of confidence in the Cabinet of the Noble
Protectionist Lord would be carried by a considerable
majority, and consequently necessitate the immediate
resignation of the new Cabinet, or a dissolution of Par-
liament. But the Liberals will not have recourse to this
extreme expedient. They will wait to see of what qua-
lity the Derby policy is to be; and when we have
seen a few of the Noble Lord's measures we shall berable
to decide as to the justice, or otherwise, of his claims to
the confidence of the country. In the meantime, we
entreat the country to carry its vigilance to the utter-
most in watching the political movements which may
now for some weeks be expected. We are in the midst
of a momentous crisis; and if the people are only
broad awake to what will be passing before their eyes,
they will be in a position to turn the changes which will
take place to their own advantage. Our read-
ers know full well what we believe is
destined to be the upshot of all these choppings
and changes. We can clearly discern a Palmers-
ton Ministry in the distance. Public opinion points
every succeeding hour in a more and more marked man-
ner to the " Enpelled Minister"—now in his turn the
" expeller" of those who expelled him—as the proxi-
mate Premier. We very grievously err if Lord Palmer-
ston be not the successor of Lord Derby in the Premier-
ship. The Queen cannot send again, under any circum-
stances, for Lord John Russell. That Noble Lord's
Ministerial day is over. A thousand obstacles, not to
be surmounted, would be found to stand between him
and his return to Downing-street. Let no one tell us
of prejudices existing in certain high quarters against
Lord Palmerston. It' they do exist, it is because an in-
justice to the Noble Lord has been done by his late col-
leagues, in creating or fostering prejudices which they
knew to be utterly groundless. With the departure of
the parties from high places, who were responsible for
the continuance, if not for the creation, of ungrounded
prejudices against Lord Palmerston, the prejudices
themselves will entirely vanish. When it is seen that
the national voice calls aloud for the appointment of the
Noble Lord to the Premiership, and it is found that
there is no other person to whom her Majesty can have
recourse, the country will enjoy the satisfaction of see-
ing the man of their choice become the man of the
monarch's selection and confidence; and to that con-
summation events, if we do not greatly mistake the
signs of the times, are rapidly tending.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.

:From the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons.)

MONDAY, FRB. 23.
The following Railway Bills were ordered to be brought in:
Shropshire Union Railways and Canal (Branch Canal to
connect Canal of Shropshire Union Railways, &c.)
North-Western.
Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction (Powers to
leash, &c. )
The undernamed Railway Bills were presented, read a
first, and ordered to be read a second time :
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire (No. 2).
Shropshire Union Railways and Canal ( Branch Railways, &c.)
Norfolk,
Leven.
Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Manchester and Southport.
Stockton and Darlington.
Middlesbrough and Guisbrough.
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire (No. 1).
Wolverhampton Junction.
Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and Shrewsbury and Chester
Companies Amalgamation.