The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-08 00:00:00

vindicate the public men of our day from the charge
of always allowing judgment to go by default, and
not troubling themselves to care if the existing
state of things is disturbed or not. So ;many aspero
sions are cast on the Conservative party that it is
incumbent upon some of its members to come for-
ward now and then to disprove them, and to show
the animus that calls them forth and suggests their

malicious insinuations. It is the sure sign of the
waning strength of a party when it can stoop to

make use of slander as a weapon against its adver-
saries, and it must be confessed that the Liberal
set and Ministerial clique are over apt to detract
from the fair fame and honest intentions of their

opponents, without paying much regard to truth,
or being overs-crupulous as to justf.ce. Besides
these more particular matters, it is a great mistake
for any party to allow one set of politicians to usurp

all the privileges to themselves. It must be some

check oa existing po veers, and some benefit in the
way of enlightening the minds of their bearers,

when decided and determined speeches are uttered,

such as those of the Duke of BEAUFORT and Mr.

ROLT, and, therefore, they will be perused with
satisfaction by all those who do not wish the affairs
of last session to be passed over in silence. The
Duke very properly expl hued the state of the case
as regarded the position of the Conservative party
during the trying period of the last sessicn. Many
persons have exclaimed against their proceedings,
and stated that they held back too long, and did
not make any attempt to check Ministers until too
late in the year; but there are two sides to this, as
every other question. As the Duke of BEAUFORT
said, they were prevented from doing anything by
the information that negotiations were going for-
ward, and that they would disturb them by any
premature act on their part. This plea was urged
again and again, and it seemed to be the only cons
stitutional course to acquiesce in the arrangement.
It must now be considered, however, that this
notion of negotiations, and this plea of a Conference,
were nothing but subterfuges, and an adroit ma-
nceavre designed for the purpose of putting people
off their guard, and giving a better colour to the
affair in the eyes of those who looked on with dis-
trust and misgivings. In a Parliamentary view of
the matter, the leaders of the Conservatives were,
doubtless, right i❑ abstaining from pressing for•
ward their inquiries ; but, as things have turned
out, it is almost to be regretted that
they treated their opponents with a considera-
tion they did not deserve, and to which they
were not entitled on public or private grounds.
As the Duke observed, it is very much to be
doubted if, under the same circumstances, they
would have met with similar reticence at the hands
of those who demanded their forbearance. "If
they had been in office the hands of the Whigs
would not have been tied but for the sake of up-
setting their party, they would, without hesitation,
have put embarrassing questions, and made motions
in both Houses of Parliament." It is not easy to
predicate what course will be pursued by such and
such a person or party under the pressure of events,
neither is it less difficult to take a retrospective
glance, and declare what would have been done
under the same circumstances by different persons ;
but, it may be mentioned, that the present Liberal
party have not shared any consideration or courtesy
in their conduct when in Opposition. It would
seem as if they cast all the claims of such influences
to the winds in their eager endeavours to regain
their lost Eden of office, and deferred the practice
of honest and honourable principles until a more
convenient opportunity_ Their most zealous parti-
sans cannot say that they share in adversity, for a
more ignoble opposition has not been witnessed in
the annals of our history than that which contracted
the DERBY Government on its last accession to power.
It is certain that the bias of political predilections)
and the exaggeration of style often witnessed at
local meetings can rot be exercised in too strong
terms, when the conduct of the would-be Reformers
who took office with Earl RUSSELL is criticised.
Unworthily as the noble lord acted on that occa-
sion, however, it has since been proved that he is
more inimical to the interests of his country as a
Foreign Minister than he was in the domestic de-
partment, and it was indeed an evil day for England
when he accepted the office of Foreign Secretary.
The Duke of BEAUFORT, i❑ his off-hand way, de-
scribed the course of his proceedings as "checking
both parties," and the result inseparable from such
a line of action, of course,has been that they treated
him with contempt. His glace truly observed that
the question vas virtually settled before the matter
was discussed in Parliament, and by the time the
Conservatives came into power, it would have been
useless to go to war. It is all very fine for the
partisans of Lord PALMERSTON to declare that the
Opposition never put forth a policy ; that
is an idle subterfuge which cannot de.
ceive many, and most be exposed in time.
Mr. ROLT, in his few remarks, ably summed up the
whole state of the case as regarded the Dano-Ger-
man question. Many will agree with the hon.
member when he said that, having looked through
the papers, he could not imagine anything more
humiliating than the disclosures made in them.
" Our boasting braggadocio, leaving Denmark at
the last alone, was one of the mast humiliating
things this country had suffered." Well might the
Ministers have withheld the production of the
papers till the last moment possible, for they thus
exposed their own truckling conduct, and published
to the wo►ld their incompetency to fill their high
position,

The interest which has been excited by Colonel
GORDON'S career in China has been so great, his
ability and success as a military commander have
been so conspicuous, and the results of his services
have been so important to the cause of the Imperi•

alists, that the abrupt termination of that career is
in some sense a matter of regret. Nevertheless the
reversal of the order in council, which permitted a
British officer to take part in the Chinese war, is
wise and right in every sense. It is unquestion-
ably no more than the Chinese have merited by
the treachery of the Futai of Socchow and
by the subsequent encouragement bestowed upon
him by his rulers. If it were once to be imagined
that Englishmen would tolerate perfidy and breach
of faith half our hopes of civilising China would be
gone. It is above all things important in our
dealings with those Eastern nations with whom
falsehood and treachery are mere venial offences or
no offences at all, to preserve intact that code of
national honour which we fellow in our dealings
with Europeans. If they find that we rigidly
insist upon the maintenance of an oath or a
pledge, and resent as an injury any deviation from
it, they may learn in time to remodel their own
conduct in public transactions at all events. There
was another reason, too, which might well have
exercised considerable influence on the decision of
the Home Government, and that was the desire to
avoid being entangled in the wars of the Chinese.
The fact of an officer in the British service taking
SO active a part in the prosecution of the war, natu-
rally implicated his Government in some degree as
countenancing the proceedings of the Chinese autho-
rities. This was especially the case with Colonel,
then Major GORDON, since he was in direct com-
munication with the Commander-in• Chief, and with
the Bri;ieh Eavoy, Sir F. BRUCE. The Hem of