The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-24 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1852.

We are informed by several of our morning
ntereporaries, that considerable progress has
l'een Sto made in the formation of the New ckJoint-
ministration—that,Ad in the Capel Court
dialect, the shares have all been applied for, and
are
are likely to
come out at a high premium. It is
possible that such may be the case, and that the
market may have
been so far " rigged" as to
create a factitious value in the first instance.
But will the stock
prove beneficial as a permanent
investment. Will "equal hilarity be exhibited in
three months time, when the explanations re-
tpecting the renewal of the Income Tax and
the other important questions
of
Fiscal,
Finan-
cial and Legal Reform have been duly de-
livered in the Legislature ? We fear not.
11" actor more than
On the contrary, it seems to
44 panic" may) ding to the
probable that a
extra,or-
usual course, follow the present ct
and
that the scrip may be at a discountmore
dinary than any premium it ever touched, not-
withstanding all the puffing of the great gull
jobber of the fourth estate.
It is said that Lord PALMERSTON has agreed to
stake his high name and reputation with the
" shaky concern." The announcement is made
with a flourish of trumpets by the very journal
which, even on Wednesday last, endeavoured to
depreciate the character and efficiency of the Noble
Viscount. In the leading article of the Times,
Which we transferred into our columns on that
day, we find the following remarkable state-
ment :—" In only one instance, that of a certain
great unattached, is there any reluctance to serve
her MAJESTY and the People in a United Govern-
ment. Had the Earl of CLARE ON been Foreign
Secretary in the RUSSELL Cabinet, it would, pro-

But were it even so—if Lord PALMERSTON has
indeed lent the high sanction of his name to the
heterogeneous body--would it sustain and give
permanent vitality to the new Government ? We
believe, nay more, we are certain, that it could
not do so. If any faith can be placed in the
accuracy of the statements respecting the pend-
ing Ministerial arrangements, it will at once be
seen that the Cabinet will be constructed on too
narrow a foundation to continue for any certain
period. Where are the people's party ? Where
is JOHN MACGREGOR, incomparably the first
financier on any side of the house ? Where is the
veteran HITME, the practical COBDEN, the " bril-
liant and audacious" RALPH OSBORNE, the effi-
cient MOLESWORTH ? Where is CHARLES Vinunits,
the neglected and unrequited champion of " un-
restricted competition," when it was by no means
fashionable to be a Free-trader, CHARLES
VILLIERS, who could be selected as leader of
a formidable onslaught against the former
Government, but could not be allowed to par-
ticipate in any of the substantial rewards of
the victory achieved by his own exertions, and
the powerful assistance of the party to which he
belongs? Echo answers Where?—their very exist-
ence is ignored. The One Hundred good men
and true, whose opinions they represent, and
of whose co-operation in the Representative branch
of the Legislature they may be well assured
are all forgotten. Nothing is to be given to a
single Liberal ; not even a sop to be bestowed on
those to whom the triumph really belongs, and
who must come into collision with a Goirernment
having GLADSTONE at the head of the financial
department, on the question of the renewal of the
Income and Property Taxes. Will those who
twaddle about " a strong and united Administra-
tion" tell vs how the 33 Peelites and the 160
Russellites are to command a majority in the

House of Commons ? How will they conciliate
" the Brigade ?" Will they accept the Landlord
and Tenant Bill of Serjeant SHEE, and offer
the landlords of Ireland as an acceptable sacrifice
on the altar of conciliation ? Before we can place

any confidence in the stability of the new Cabinet,
we must be well informed on these points. We
cannot recognise the alleged refusal of Sir W.
MOLESWORTH to accept the office of Secretary-at-
War, without a seat in the Cabinet, as a pro-
pitious augury. The Hon. Baronet had doubtless
considered the subject maturely, and obtained the
opinions of those with whom he had always acted,
and his refusal to connect himself with the coali-
tion Government affords a significant hint as to
what may be expected from the Liberal party
when the hour of retribution shall arrive.
It will be seen from the list furnished in an-
other part of our impression, that Sir CHARLES
WOOD has contrived to wriggle himself into place.
Fortunately, it is not the Exchequer or the Ad-
miralty that is to be placed under his control.
But is it fitting that the Anglo-Indian Govern-

went, and that at a time when the renewal of the

Company's Charter must necessarily come under
the consideration of Parliament, should be con-
signed to his tender mercies ? This appointment
will be by no means acceptable to the country, or
beneficial to the new Cabinet.

We are neither for Whig nor Tory—for RUS-
SELL nor DERBy—nor the hybrid springing from
both. It is for the people that we emphatically
declare ourselves. Our motto is, " The greatest
good for the greatest number ;" and in promot-
ing that great object, we look "to measures,
not men." We shall accept that which is good in
itself, and likely to promote the comfort
and happiness of " the many," from any
quarter ; and we shall resist that which
is objectionable, although the fate of any
coalition or any party hung on its adoption. That
is. our political creed. We require Parliamentary,
fiscal-financial, and legal, educational, and sani-
tary, and ecclesiastical reforms ; and we shall
never relax our exertions until we have achieved
our objects in each and every one of those im-
portant particulars.

Recurring for a moment to a raagni fi ro-
ject, to which, the other evening,
we calledthe
particularise a few more of the many advan-
we would
liesepreecial attention of the Community,

bably, have survived to this day. We can only
regard, therefore, the introduction of his name,
and the omission of 'another, as by no means an
unfavourable omen." Now it is impossible to
hesitate for a single moment as to the party
alluded to in the foregoing paragraph. It was
Lord PALMERSTON, the late Foreign Secretary, who
caused his country to be respected in every
European Court ; who professed a bold and
manly policy, refusing to truckle to the behests
of every petty despot of the Continent that
was meant, and thus seriously depreciated. We
will, however, remind our contemporary,
that so long as he remained in office,
he sustained the Administration of which
he was a member. That the backslidings of his
colleagues were tolerated in consequence of the
admiration and confidence which his very name
inspired in every British heart. When he was
dismissed with contumely, when Lord JOHN
RUSSELL dared to cut away the prop that sustain-
ed his tottering Cabinet, we prophesied its speedy
downfall; and its signal defeat, within three weeks
from the commencement of the ensuing session,
verified the accuracy of our predictions. We will,
then, venture to paraphrase the foregoing passage,
and say, " Had Lord PALMERSTON continued
Foreign Secretary in the Russim, Cabinet, it
would probably have survived to this day." '
The wind, however, now blows from ano-
ther quarter in Printing-house-square. The
vane is directed to a totally different point
of the compass. The very same journal
DOW announces that " Lord PALMERSTON
takes the Home Office" (! !) and adds, "It
is impossible to overstate the value of his Lord-
ship's adhesion, and his implied testimony
to the prospects of the new Administration ;
still less is it possible to deny the universality of
his genius, and that tact which is the first
requisite for the successful discharge of any
public office. As Home Secretary, too, it must
not be forgotten his Lordship will have the man-
agement of that Militia in the constitution of
which he has performed so prominent a part.
These two names" (i. e. Lord JOHN RUSSELL and
Lord PALMERSTON) " are in themselves a sufficient
guarantee for the support of the whole Whig
party."
What new light has broken in on our con-
temporary ? Can it possibly be the same
" leader of public opinion" that thus spoke of the
distinguished statesman whom on Wednesday it
sneered at, and undervalued as " a certain great
unattached," and " the omission of whose name"
it regarded as "by no means an unfavourable
omen" for the new Ministry, merely because he
then refused to sacrifice his consistency and
character as a public man, by holding office under
that " excellent" ABERDEEN, to whose foreign
policy he was ever most strenuously opposed, and
as a colleague to the same Lord JOHN RUSSELL,
by whom he was treated but little more than 12
months since with such scant ceremony and gross
contumely. We have known many strange instances
of tergiversation, of sudden and almost miraculous
conversions—but the foregoing will constitute one
of the most memorable cases on record, to be
considered for the benefit of all future generations.
But is the statement true ? Has Lord PAL-
MERSTON, indeed, agreed to this strange associa-
tion ? Not being members of that distinguished
corps, celebrated as well for its credulity as its un-
questionable gallantry, we must be permitted to ex-
press our scepticism on this point, at least until the
situation has been finally accepted by the Noble
Viscount. What Lord PALMERSTON as Home
Secretary, with Lord JOHN RUSSELL filling the office
formerly occupied by himself, and taking his in-
structions from the " dear" Earl, whose conduct
on the Spanish marriages, and other questions of
Continental policy, were so deeply and deservedly
censured at the time, by every true-hearted Eng-
lishman, and probably led to the overthrow of the
ORLEANS Dynasty. We will not—we cannot be-
lieve it, until we see "the lion, indeed, lying
down by the lamb," and the removal of all those
natural antipathies existing between different
genera formerly most strongly opposed to each
other.