The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-19 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1864.

Whenever the Government have been pressed very
hard by the Opposition, of late, they have yielded.
In order to induce them to yield, however, the pres-
sure has required to be exceedingly hard indeed.
So hard that it has been at moments painful merely
to contemplate. Very recently, for example, no less
than three members'of the Administration—what
one at least among those ex-colleagues of Lord
PALMERSTON would speak of with a sort of MICAW-
BER hesitation of ostentatious modesty as—a-hem !
—" Ministers of the Crown," in point of fact—no
less than three of these Ministers of the Crown have
very recently been driven so hard by the Opposi-
tion as, very reluctantly on their own part and on
the part of their more important colleagues, to be
ousted from any share whatever in the Govern-
ment. There is no getting over the fact that it is so.
And, equally, there is no denying the force of the
deduction consequent upon its being so—that it is a
sign of extreme weakness on the part of the
Government. It is all nonsense, at the same
time, in regard to any one of these occur-
rences, to talk, as politicians have been
accustomed to talk hitherto, at similar party
crises about these things being simply attes-
tations of the spitefulness of a factious Opposition.
Look at any one of the three resignations or office
here referred to, and say whet! er anything of the
kind can be really and seriously insisted upon as
the true explanation.
Mr. STANSFELD'S withdrawal to a back bench
' from that front bench where he occupied a
position of such disproportionate prominence
as to kit actually side by side with the Prime
Minister of England Mr. STANSFELD'S with-
drawal at last very reluctantly to that back
bench, was a concession made at the eleventh
hour not to the Opposition, but to the Public
Opinion which he had been so flagrantly outraging.
There can be no question whatever about that. For,
otherwise, what upon earth could have induced the
Prime Minister, and so chivalrous a Prime Minister
too, as Lord PALMERSTON, to accept to-day, the very
resignation of his subordinate, he had so peremp-
torily declined to accept only yesterday ? Had he,
not previously intimated, as much, with a hae..ghty
frankness of manner that won cheers from his
support3rs—so grandly it sounded at the time
when he talked about taking ',,be entire responsi-
bility of the proceeding ;pen himself! That, it will
be remembered, was immediately before the Easter
Vacation. Af:Lerwards a few trifling additional
Particultrie, documents, and so forth [Ah ! that
wrettl'eed truth about litera scripta manet .1] had
'some out during the recess, again, as it oddly hap-
pened,in one of the imperial law courts in Paris—and
so—and so—what was not to be thought of imme-
diately before the Vacation was announced as
having been done immediately after the Vaca-
tion. Mr. STANSFELD had tendered his resig-
nation, and Lord PALMERSTON had accepted
it. Now, it is only fair and right to remem-
ber, in regard to the Opposition in this matter--
to remember of the factious Opposition that is
charged with the responsibility of .having brought
it all about—that bet weea the two incidents referred
to, that is to say between Lord PALMERSTON 8
ostentatiously taking upon himself the responsi-
bility of retaining his colleague (M. Mazzien's in-
timate friend and injudicious letter-receiver)
and Lord PALMERSTON'S subsequently ac-
ceptance of Mr. STANSFELD'S tardy, but
by that time, inevitable resignation—the
Opposition had really and truly not raided
a finger—the Opposition had not breathed one
single syllable. They were evidently going to, if
you like. But they hadn't done so—nay, for that
matter, they hadn't had the opportunity of doing
so. The intervening between the two incidents of
the Easter holidays, precluded them from doing so,
for the very simple but sufficient reason that Par-
liament was not then sitting. Directly Parliament
was going to resume its sittings, immediately after
the Vacation, they evidently were going to move,
and that, too, rather decidedly, in the matter,
Hence—from a knowledge of this —Mr. STANS-
FELD'S anticipatory resignation. Hence—for the
self same reason—Lord PALMERSTON'S acceptance
of it, on second thoughts ! Concessions, these—not
to the Opposition, but to that Public Opinion
which it was felt certain by Lord PALMERSTON,
by Mr. STANSFELD, by every member of the Go-
vernment, big or little, would infallibly be pro-
nounced against them as the consequence of any
adverse movement in this matter taken by
the Opposition, For, what, in point of fact,
would have been those certain consequences ?
The defeat of Ministers upon any new division
(after such very ugly supplementary documents
had been brought to light in Paris daring the
holidays) the certain defeat of Ministers upon
any new division in the House of Commons in
re-
gard to M. MAZZINI'S intimate personal friend, must
inevitably have led, thereupon, to the dissolution
of Parliament. And a nice cry, certainly, it would
have been to go to the country upon.—." MAZZ:NI,