The Sun.
London, England, 1852-05-20 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS
ThlES.—The morning sitting of Yesterday eon-
Seined in a small compass the, story erf the
! a tin sdoz subjects e'ere -discuesed net' session: Half-
ttizss-9 ea14.
nirpoAso
e
than to discover that the discussion was
prescription of several. 12 M
yearn has consecrated Wednesday
to opirintal affairs', and r: Bennett, aynooth, and the
Colonial Church were severally introduced, merely to be
consigned ones more to the limbo, of impracticables. For
ono reason or another the House now always reverts to
the•origionl undeNandirg that nothing was to be done
thir session except what was absolutely lleeessary. tso
far-as regards actual results, never was'an understanding
so faithfully observed. "Nothing" has this year become
a substantive quantity, a , high political, duty, a mss-
' sion, a virtue, a heroism. There is in the doke far
niente, but this is the glorious do-nothing. But
when this great ides of a do nothing session_ was first
originated, it • was imagined that a the nothing ses-
sion must necessarily be a short "one; for, as nature
abhors a vacuum, and as idienesa itself. becomes wea-
risome, a difficulty was found in conceivieg an in-
definite prolongation of nothirriess. Ean.li successive
week, howev:r, since the Lit of y has enlarged our
powers of cont.eption oat this p„tut, and it it, now be-
come quite comprebeniiblo thet Parliament might sit
for ever, and yet do nottoieg. The fact of an almost
' indefinite exteusion wa.,brought out yesterday, for it
wr,s rnentiontd, and seqaier_ced in by all parties, that
the louse of Commons would probably be still sitting
and dointi-nothing on the eighteenth of next month, or
lat. r. Supposing th It this power should be finally ex-
hausted by Midsummer-day, Parliament will then have
attained to' five-six.h, of a norEual session, and will have
consumed ttat long period in pelitiCal inanity. So re-
give a turn to inquiry.
ontoths to do nothing, how
accomplish in six months ? It is a
ail
threeta . direct. The importunes
slur:
m:Prepkahl tire
doesibitlammaintfitanuctsrtaua
lkcaaelelsrlynfirftef
of such speculations is increased by the fact
that Parliament, for particular reasons, did no-
thing last year, and for other particular reasons,
will most probably do nothing next year. It is
growing into a custom, and will soon be time out
of mind. But the British public, which " expects ever"
man to do Ms duty," and which bates, bdesPultss, sstlttli
Pees-islier4essi will take e.praotieshieli:ef tile lees-
lon—What is the nse of a Parliament that does nothing?
441341i10g-te. -be done -cannel it -be put into
better hands? J
mmeennt leftas
eoeu
this
i e
Just now the national pride is rather in-
terested in proving the value of representative govern-
ment,see states
o respectable
e s
happensbideth teoAbet
athnetico;nliyn
faeconsiderablet,theonlyspeeecii
maintained in its
bpyeeetax bt
working and Pelf-supporting
present
specimen, for Belgium IS
ful, so useful, so popular,to
is rather annoyingdespotism so generally sweet-
leernaasl
iitnisfluienbucetst.hlatt
annoyance is aggravated by the '
Eng-
land is now contributing a negative circumstance that Eng-
tendency. These despots are
argument of the same
and we are doing nothing at alli.ng4thgreat deal of good,
and granting money to new lines of railway They are
laying
out
importance; they are reclaiming vast districts, of
national
ing their capitals, originating all kinds of Useful improv-
and doing things in real Imperial style;
btterful works,
in some grave respects, considerably in
snit already
our own noble selves. Some of these great advance doings,of
we flatter ourselves, are not on the right principle,g
they nevertheless tell. Right or wrong, they give Baths-
friction, and, like many other institutions of doubtful
principle, will produce noble fruits many centuries hence.
But what right have we to criticise others when we are
doing Nothing? It is true that the most indolent are
always the most cynical. The man who has nothing to
do has plenty of eyes for his neighbour. But Europe
will care little fer the criticism of those who, talk as
they may, cannot do better. A tree is judged by its
fruits, and what is the value of a Government whose
fruits are Nothing? But this session we have been do-
ing something. We have been undoing. The little
that we have done these two or three years has been
this year taken down, pulled to pieces, and swept away,
like the building in Hyde•park. Nearly all that has
been done, or that was in the way of being done, for
draining and purifying this metropolis, for supplying
it with water, and for burying its dead
in more wholesome and sensible fashion, has
been annulled. So we go on. It used to be thought
one of the punishments of hell to roll a stone up a
monetsin, and see it roll down again, to revolve on a
wheel, and to pour water into a sieve. We have our--
selves combined these fruitless toils in the treadwheel of
our convicts, and the many forms of labour, for the
sake of labour, imposed on our paupers. Parliament is
now itself falling into the same dreary mode. The ex-
cuse for all this ;s the constitutional system, and govern-
ment by all parties. As each party arrives in succes-
sion at the helm, it is forced to consult its self-preser-
vation, not the public good, and to propose the measures
on which it happens to be pledged, or in which it may.
have a special interest, not those which have only the
general recommendation of being, like reform in Chan-
cery, for instance, great public wants. No good mea-
sures can be passed, or carried into effect,
without the creation of considerable powers ; so,
whenever any good thing is to be done the Op-
' position has always a handle in our constitutional
Jealousy of interference and of authority in general. So,
the more substantial the object, and tho more effectual
the method for obtaining it, the greater is the advantage
given to political opponents, and at the same time the
greater their inducement not to let the party in power
do a good thing. The result is that legislation, as con-
ducted in the splendid establishment at Westminster, is
a mere game in which chance, and a low description of
finesse, divide the results. Standing round a table,
first one side :and then another takes the cue, or names.
a colour. Gambling is abolished elsewhere only to be
concentrated at the head•quarters of order and of law,
and we have no lotteries except where office is the
prize, and the nation has nothing but blanks. This
certainly records with the saying that the House of
Commons is the best club in town. But how long
will this last? Will the people always be satisfied
with King Log, who, after all, is a very ex-
pensive king, for the modern King Log, if he has no
hands, has a rather wide mouth? Then we are told
with much complacency that evils cure themselves in
this country. So they do with a vengeance. A hundred
crying political evils have cured themselves in England
—by revolution. We are a tolerant and long-suffering
people, but we rise at last, and do things effectually.
Since the commencement of this century we have had a
dozen serious agitations, caused by the inertness or ob-
stinacy of Parliament, and crowned by results which
politicians of the old school did not hesitate to call "re-
volutions," "robberies," "sacrileges," and so forth.
These terms of extreme reprobation have been so often
applied of late years that they have lost their force, and
little judicious
to relish a
respectable men begin
revolution, confiscation, or impiety. Now, what
if this vicious custom of doing nothing in Parliament
should at last fare as the other abuses alluded to? What
if some sharp and sudden remedy should be found
whereby the work of the nation should be put into more.
honest and business-like hands? There is a certain peo-
ple in the world that takes the law into its own hands,
when the courts are indecisive, weak, or procrastinating;
and that people is of British race and tradition. We
may never come to such rude expedients as" committees
a vigilance," but we shall come, for we have frequently
come, to such expedients as a grand public -
demonstra-
tion that acquires the force of law, and compels Par a-
merit to register its decrees; and, though the
fashions of that process have varied f ' froth time to time,
according to the matter or the age, there can be little
doubt that the spirit which -
suggested them still sur-
vives among us.

NAVAL IN TELLIGEN CE.
.—The officer
LEVEE OF HIS GRACE
—Bear-Admiral BeigaND
raatl thseirlev
THE DUKE OF NORTHlTM-
yesterday, were; John
higiGnoraiairce:
Vice-Admiral
Sir Charles John
Vlco-Ada.iral Lz,r4 W. Fitzroy,Ogle, Rear-Admiral Carter,
Bear-Admiral Fisher, Vice-Admiral Hawker,
Commander E. Vice-Admiral Sykes.
Admiralty agent K. Barnard has been appointed
first of in char of
ge the mails on board the
the contract
The Herald, Australian Steam Company's vessels.
Torch, Lieut. C Captain Denham, and her tender, the
Margtite Rea& himm°'
anchored yesterday morning in
A GRATIFYING"TRIBUTE.—The pupils of the late
~..
...RIBUTE.—The elder
head master (E. Riddell, Esq.) of the Nautical School,
at Greenwich Hospital, intend to morrow, with the per-
mission of the governor, Admiral Sir Charles Adam, to
present him with a bast of himself, executed by one of
the first artists of the day.
BORTSAIOGTEI, WEDNESDAY.—The Commandnr-in-
Chief, Admiral Sir Thomas Briggs, Captain Chads, and
Captain Martin, proceeded to Spithead this morning in
the Sprightly steamer, to muster and inspect the Win-
chester, 50, Captain G. G. Loch. The Admiral was
saluted with 17 guns. Tr is supposed the Winchester
will receive final orders and sail to-morrow for the
East Indies. She is remarkably well manned, and,
considering the short time in commission, in very ex-
cellent order.
The Queen, 110, Captain Wise, bent sails in dock to-
day. She will come out of dock to-morrow, and, so soon
as ready, will .
proceed to Plymouth to be paid down.
when her men will have a fortnight's leave of absence.
She appears to be in a most excellent state of discipline,
and her officers and crew behaved with the greatest
d energy
as land alacrity at the fire in the dockyard on Mon-
Theay l.
Edinburgh, tender to the Excellent, is getting her
sea-service stores on board. She is already rigged, and
will bend sails and leave the steam-basin shortly.
The Highflyer, 21, Captain Matson, returned to Spit-
head after her trial cruise yesterday. She answered ex-
ceedingly well upon all points, was very weatherly, dry,
and stiff.
The Conflict, 14 (screw), Acting-Commander Jenner,
is ordered to have her detects made good at this port.
The Tiger, new steam-frigate, 16, has been docked
to•day to be fitted for commission. It is reported the
officers and crew of the Dragon will be turned over
to her.

APPOINTMENTS,
Commander Henry Phelps (1849), to command the
Ferret, 8, sloop, commissioned this day at Portsmouth.

PROMOTION.
to the rank of Lieutenant.
u
EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH SEAS.
WllaotoeL-ETw. Mace,
lE,M MAY 19.—The Herald, 28, Captain
Henry Mangles Denham, and the Torch steam-vessel,
her tender, commanded by Lieutenant Chimmo, left
Greenhithe early this morning for P!3 mouth, where
they expect to remain about a week, and then proceed
to the South Seas; Captain Denham as surveyor, and
Lieutenant Chimmo as assistant-surveyor. Several of
the officers have previously served under Captain
Denham.

-- --
DEPARTURE OF THE ARCTIC STEAM-SlllP.—Yes-
terday forenoon, at eleveit o'clock, the United States mail
steam, ship Arctic (Collins' line), Captain Luce, sailed
from
the river Mersey for-New York,
with nearly a hundred. pas.
sengers, the mails for the United States and British America,
1 and a full cargo of general merchandise.