The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-27 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEB. 27, 1864.

When affairs of a complicated character are being
discussed in all political circles, and form the topic
of conversation in public and private conferences,
it is of great importance that the most correct
estimate should be arrived at concerning their na-
ture and attributes. Anything that tends to throw
additional light on the subject ie very welcome,
and should ha duly appreciated. Far this reason
the speech of Sir HUGH CAIRNS the Other night
en the subject of the seizure of the Steam Rama,
is a fitting study for all who desire to be informed
on this very perplexing question. The hon. and
learned gentleman gave a clear review °f-facts'
and here and there enterepersed them with his
own observations; but his remarks, although very
emphatic, did not detract from the precise sum-
mary which ho presented of the chief events that
have taken place during the course of events.
The fallacious mode of procedure which has been
followed by the Government was ably exposed
by Sir 1-ItsGil CAIUNS, and he advanced arguments
which were completely unanswerable. Oue point
on which he laid great stress was the observation
of Earl ltussELL, in a despatch written last
March, that he cousidered the case of the Ala-
bama and the Oreto a scandal." A statement of
this kind, emanating from a Minister, requires
C
some explanation, and Sir
nuottCAIRNS endea-
v ;prod to elucidate the meaning of the mystery.
Either Earl RUSSELL meant it was a scar,Ll that.
we had no laws to punish such offences, and that
having laws we did not put them in f,:,ree against
them. Following up this train of thought Le put
some queries which would have sorely puzzled
the Foreign Secretary to answer had he been

compe lied to do so. 1V hy, if the law had not been
infringed, was the case a scandal, and why, if it
ha 6, did not the Government indict the persons who
assnt ou t the vessel. The extraordinary manner in
which these Ministers conduct affairs cannot be
better exposed than by the fact that the very day
on which Earl RUSSELL wrote the remarkable dis-
patch z eferred to, Lerd PALMERSTON too stated to
the House of Commons that it was a fact that if
they had seized the Alabama they would have been
liable for heavy damages. Can anything be more
incongruous or inconsistent than this. It is time-
serving with a vengeance. In the representative
asserab ly of their countrymen the Ministers declare
that t hey will not allow any interference with
their rights, and meanwhile, in a wiitten commu-
nication that is to traverse the seas that divide
them from the nation that calls their actions in
question, they own that their laws are a scandal,
and seek to smooth away difficulties, and soften
down irritation of feeling, by admissions totally
diverse to the spirit of the country, and directly
at variance with the general sentiments of the
community. Sir HUGH CAIRNS made another
attack upon Earl RUSSELL, and asked why
he did not come to the House, and propose an
alteration in the laws if they were not sufficiently
stringent, instead of resting satisfied with the mere
vague expression of regret. This is a home thrust
the veracity cf which all must acknowledge. The
man charged with the responsibility of foreign
affairs is bound to notify to Parliament the errors
that he has discovered in the workings of the
law as regards his particular department. It is cer-
tainly a little strange that these memorable
words are not commented upon until nearly a year
after their utterance. Lord PALMERSTON said that
he and his colleagues had no intention of altering
the law, and yet his Foreign Secretary has several
times alluded to the idea, and entertained the sug-
gestien as reasonable, and also as one not without
some remote hope of fulfilment. It needs not the
hard reckoning of an opponent to declare that im-
plicit credence can never attach itself to statesmen
who have so many and such contrary opinions at
their fingers' ends, each ready to serve its turn and
to duty as occasion demands, whether the jealous
spirit of the British lion be awakened, or the wrath-
ful nature of transatlantic allies causes distrust and
disgust. Perhaps the most telling point in Sir H.‘
CAIRNS' admirable oration was that in which he
referred to the great inconsistency displayed by the
members of the Government in their conduct re-
specting these rams. The Attorney-General declared
distinctly that nothing must be said or done to
prejudice the case of the Government, but he and
his colleagues did all they could to prejudice the
case of the other side. On no less than three occa-
sions were adverse impressions conveyed by mem-
bers of the Cabinet when addressing public meetings
darieg the recess. To say the least of this, such
conduct is un-English in the extreme, and a very
unworthy mode of taking advantage of a little brief
authority: Ia fact, the whole affair teems with
contradictions, and it seems almost incomprehen-
sible that the Ministers did not possess a larger
share of that common sense on which Mr. GIBSON
ao prided himself. The manner in which the
Messrs. LAIRD have been treated is most arbitrary
and unfair in the extreme. Seldom has an English
subject been exposed to such injustice and injury
by the chief authorities of the realm. As Sir
HUGH CAIRNS forcibly put the case, had the loss
fallen upon a less wealthy and stable firm utter
ruin must have been the result. This, while pre-
judging the case, is a very strange way of carrying
out the law of the country, and to take Earl RUS-
SELL'S famous definition, it is a "scandal." The
conduct is all of a piece, winding up with waiting
four months, and then dating a letter "Im-
mediate," which imparts the astounding
intelligence that a commission will be
sent abroad to collect evidence. Why wait for
four months before finding out this last act was
necessary: Information is only filed after Parlia-
ment meets, and it is evident to the meanest capa-
city that the whole proceedings are characterised
by the desire to gain time. W' hat matters it that
important commercial interests are at stake, that
international laws are violated, and that English
honour is compromised abroad, while the private
rights of subjects at home are assailed by those who
ought to protect them ? The end is gained, the
object reached, and the desire fulfilled. The Federal
Government were displeased, and their anger must
bs mollified at any cost. How many victims must
be sacrificed to appease the ruthless demands of the
Moloch that sends across the Atlantic to make these
arbitrary and overwhelming demands. The excel-
lent oration of Sir HUGH CAIRNS will long be re-
membered by all who take any interest in the grave
and weighty matters of which it treats. It is not
often that we meet with so clear and calm an expo-
sition of affairs, which are apt to excite the speaker,
and tend to exaggeration. The majesty of the law
in its fundamental principles of justice, the rights
of the subject, according to constitutional doctrines,
and the shortcomings of the Government were each
in their turn fully discussed and completely exa-
mined. It is a great satisfaction to peruse such a
spirited and sensible address, and the gratification
is enhanced by the thought that the earnest and
eloquent words will not pass away with the
evanescent excitement of the hour, but go forth in
their bold utterance, independent spirit, and lofty
tone to warn the recalcitrant, to encourage the
doubting, and to teach the stranger in far-cff lands,
and across mighty waters, that whatever an incom-
competent Government may do to create temporary
mischief, the spirit of England is not extinguished,
but may yet terrific burn, and that the heart of
England is not dead to the claims of honour, truth,
and justice, and will ever beat in unison with the
sentiments of which they are the exponents, and
respect the exercise of that fair play which is the
chief characteristic of her people, and for the want
of which nothing can compensate.

The condition of the navy is always a matter
that is sure to attract the attention and excite the
interest of any body of Englishmen, and the debate
on the Navy Estimates seldom partakes of the dull-
ness and tedium of other statistical discussions.
The debate on Thursday evening was animated
enough for the proceedings of the Admiralty, at all
times open to criticism and censure, and this year
so remarkable as to occasion not remonstrance but
surprise. At a time when we are threatened with
a transatlantic as well as an European war, when
the most sanguine of pacificators can hardly hope
that England, with all her new-found caution and
cowardice, will ba able to preserve her boasted neu-
trality and inaction, the Admiralty propose to
take the extraordinary step of reducing the number
of our seaman. At any time such a proceeding
should be reluctantly and cautiously undertaken ;
but to_resolve upon it when no one knows how soon
we may be called upon to put forth our whole naval
strength is, to say the least of it, both rash and im-
politic. It would bo un wiz° enough were the re-
duction limited to the scamen, but it is also pro-
pond to diminish considerably the number of boys
now being trained for the sea, and also the Propor-
tion of our coastguardarnen ; so that not only is the
future supply of trained seamen to be lessened, bat
the valuable reserve, always at hand in the shape
of the coastguard, will be considerably weakened.

It is true that the naval reserve is looked to to
provide the additional strength required by sudden
emergencies ; but, as Sir JOHN PAKINGTON pointed
out in his straightforward and sensible speech the
other evening; the coastguard possesses one great
advantage over the naval reserve in time of war—
their superior discipline. The right hon. baronet
reminded the noble lord at the head of the Admi-
ralty and his colleague, the Secretary for India, of
their having taken credit, the one for founding the
system of the coastguard, the other for the en-
couragement he had given to the system of training
boys. By ono of those extraordinary changes of
opinion which seem to be popular in the present
Administration these Ministers now appear inclined
to discourage those very branches of the profeesion
which they were previously most anxious to culti-
vate. Well might the right hon. baronet the
member for Droitwich express his astonish-
ment that the Government should have chosen
such a year to reduce our navy, were
it only for the impression which such a course is
likely to produce on both sides of the Atlantic.
Coupling the strong language which the indignation
of Parliament has forced from the members of the
Cabinet with this singular proceeding, we may well
share Sir JOHN PAKINGTON'S apprehension that the
Governments of Europe and America will entertain
the idea that the louder we talk the less we are
disposed to act. The truth most probably is that
the Government—anxious to conciliate the public,
knowing the indignation excited by the lavish ex-
penditure of the Admiralty—chooses the readiest
and least costly mode of making a reduction, with-
out due regard to the possible exigencies of the ser-
vice. The diminution in the number of men and
boys will cause no troublesome interference with
comfortable sinecures and established abuses; but
if it be really the object to save money, a good
many effectual modes of economising might be
pointed out in our dockyards, without inter-
fering with the regular naval force. We are glad
to find that Lord C. PAGET proposes to increase the
pay of petty officers in the Royal Navy. This is
a change which has been long needed, and even
now it is not actually decided upon, since, strange
to say, this item is not included in the estimates.
there is no greater mistake than to underpay the
lower branches of the public service. No head can
work without hands, and however able or expe-
rienced may be our chief officers, the main body of
the work must naturally fall on their subordinates.
When we look at the large sums received by the
members of this and every other profession belong-
ing to the foremost rank, we need not wonder if
some discontent exists among the lower ranks. Nor
is cause for complaint wanting in the higher grades
of the navy. Sir JOHN PAKINGTON, in speaking on
this subject, remarked that more than once had he
offered ships to distinguished officers, who had been
forced to decline them because they could not afford
the expense entailed by accepting them. If we
consider the many commanders and lieutenants who
have spent the best part of their Eves in the public
service without obtaining the promotion they had a
right to look for, we shall bo very forcibly con-
vinced that there is need for more reforms than
mere reduction in the administration of our naval
affairs. Sir JOHN WaLsif wilt probably find
a good many to agree with him in the
strictures which he passed upon the general
spirit which prevails in official quarters. He
pointed out to the House that in the event of
war we should need fleets in the West Indies, in the
Pacific, in the Mediterranean, in the Indian seas,
and most especially in the Channel, and asked
where were the iron ships to come from to supply
these requirements ? As we have before stated it
is quite possible to convert some of our old wooden
vessels into a formidable fleet by putting a belt of
armour round the water line. By this means we
should have a ft:et very quickly, and cheaply ready
for service, indeed the promptness and economy of
such a proceeding might be looked upon as a dan•
gerous precedent of the Admiralty. But the
will is wanting in official quarters, and Sir JOHN
WALSH said that there existed throughout the
world a belief that England was no longer strong
enough or filled with public spirit adequate to the
repression of international outrage. The hon.
baronet in another part of his speech said with
great force that at the present crisis " it was essen-
tial that England should buckle on her armour.—
should show that while holding out the hand of
fellowship during peace, she did not always recoil
from danger when danger came, and that she was
able to support her friends, to vindicate her honour,
and to redeem her engagements." None of these
points does our present Cabinet consider essential,
in fact we may almost wonder that they build war
vessels at all, since they appear intended for no
earthly purpose but to figure in the Estimates. It
is time, however, that the serious necessities of the
case were looked to. The public will not be satisfied
with an apparent economy which deprives the
country of the double reserve of the present and of
the future ; diminishing the number of boys learn-
ing their profession, by those slow and sure stages
which make the best seamen, and weakening the
force of trained and able men, who are ready at a
moment's notice to supply any sudden need. Some-
thing else is looked for at the present juncture, and
the Government may rest assured that the cry this
year will not be for reduction, but for readiness—
not for economy, but efficiency.

HONOUR AND DUTY.—Some etymologists, if we
mistake not, says a writer in the Saturday Review,
tell us that the word "Honor" or " Honos" is really the
same as the word " Onus ;" honours, in the sense of offices,
being burdens as well as honours. Or rather perhaps the
original common meaning would be charge or duty, some-
thing laid upon one; and us such charge or duty may
be looked on either as an honour or as a burden, the two
kindred words have run off into quite different meanings
on different sides. The derivation seems far-fetched. and we
are not going to decide whether it be right or not, But
if it be right, it shows an approach to a cycle in the mean-
ing of words. When we say " You do me honour by say-
ing so," and when we say " My sense of honour makes me
do so and so," we use the word "honour" in two quite dif-
ferent senses. In the former phrase there is no reference
to right and wrong at all ; in the latter, though the sense
of honour and the sense of duty aro not exactly the same
thing, yet the notion of right and wrong begins to come
in. So far as that notion does come in, we get, in this last
and newest and most artificial sense of the word "honour,"
a slight approach to what, according to the etymology, was
the original meaning. In both there is some notion of duty,
or at least of something approaching to the idea of duty—
an idea which is wholly absent from the intermediate senses
of the word.

A limpu DESCRIPTION OF NATURAL SCENERY
enchanting is the scene before U 9.
.This
sylvan lake, and its adjoining grove of fruit and flowering
trees form a delicious retreat in the midst of so wild a
country.• llow came they here ? Is this the resort of gods
or nymphs? Observe, ever the limpid water of this mag-
nificent lake, float the white, the red, and the blue lotus.
On the velvet leaves of the tender lily the water-drops
glisten like so many brilliants. Their slender stems rise
above the water-level, bearing aloft many a peaked bud and
full-blown blossom ; while hovering over them wild bees,
drunk with honey or drowning in love, chase their mates in
ceaseless revolutions. Nor is the bank less gorgeous.
'rho majestic bamboo, with its fluted stem, yellow as if
bathed in saffron water, and rich in feathery foliage, leans
over the lake. The banana is there, heavy with its golden
tinted fruit. Up shoots the tall and tender areca, its eme-
rald tufts waving to the winds, its delicate stem entwined
by the betel creeper. The champac and the milieu—flowers,
indeed, of all hues and forms, redolent with rich perfumes--
scent the atmosphere. The clouds emit a gentle shower;
bright look the trees. Add as genial zephyrs blow the out-
stretched branches rustle with tremulous motion, their
radiant leaves throwing off the moisture in a profusion of
early drops. B7rd:, sing. How sweet is their melody
How handsome the peacocks I Parrots, mainas, and gresn
doves flit from bough to bough. How joyous they seem I
even the noonday sun can make itself felt within tl.O
bower,—Anicltqrlara.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

LREITTER'S TELEGRAMS.]

DENMARK.

COPENHAGEN, FEB. 26, 7.40 P.M.
The Minister of War has proposed to the King
to dismiss General de Meza from the army.
The enemy was yesterday at Kolding, and his
outposts in a more northerly direction.
It has been noticed here that the F/cnsburger
Zeitung publishes its Copenhagen news under the
head of foreign intelligence.

The address to the King has just lien adopted
almost unanimously by both Houses of the Rigs•
dog. It ,concludes as follows :

" Our consolation in this most serious time is that
the King will uphold our liberty and independence,
and not allow Denmark to be weakened by dis-
solving our union with Schleswig. The people
reckon on the declaration of the Government that
the war shall be energetically prosecuted, and they
trust that the King will convince the nations of
Europe that the Danes aro willing to make any
sacrifice to preserve their nationality and their
right to govern themselves."