The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-11 00:00:00

whose members certainly support one another
with at least equal enthusiasm. But it will apply,
we fear, to a great extent, to milit :ry roen, who
habitually show to one another less mercy than

civilians shJw to their class. At military clubs, at
military messes, one of the principal social amuse-
ments appears to be the pulling down of reputations.
A civilian suddenly launched into the society is
astounded to hear how great battles have been won
by nobody in particular, how great honours have
been conferred upon the wrong men, and how great
names are associated with small things! The ensign
mind may perhaps be pardoned for forming rash
conclusions and contributing them to the harmony
of the evening. But the same conduct in senior offi-
cers is less excusable, and more especially when
they put their accusation into print. Of the latter
offence we have seldom heard of a more gross in-
stance than the accusation mado by Colonel Cal

thorpe again Lord Cardigan with regard to the
Balaklava charge. Lord Cardigan's account of the
manner in which he was cut off from his division
after entering the batteries, and had to fight his
way back as be best could, is as clear as need be. It
is supported by satisfactory testimony, even suppos-
ing the presumption to be justified that his lordship
has a natural turn for untruth, and that he must be
considered guilty until he manages to prove himself
innocent. Such a presumption we do not venture
upon in judging , the most atrocious criminals, and
it might -be supposed that in a case involving a
question of honour it would be still less applicable,
Colonel Calthorpe was well aware of the explana-
tion Lord Cardigan had to offer. He must have
known how uncertain—to say the least of it—was
the accusation which he made in point of proof. One
would have thought, then, that considering the de-
licacy of the discussion involved, the honour of
the service as represented by one of its most con-
spicuous officers, which might be considered at
stake, besides the possibility of doing an act of indi-
vidual injustice, that Col. Calthorpe would, upon
Lord Cardigan's first representation, have with-
drawn the scandalous charge. Such reparation
would not only have been consistent with
the character of a gentleman, but it may
be considered to have been demanded by

,he requirements of the case. But instead of
:aking this straightforward course, and owning

his error, Colonel ealthorpe descended to a worse
insinuation, and gave to what might have been con-

sidered an act of public duty the aspect of private
malice. This reparation might have been made in
a graceful and even magnanimous manner at the
time. It has been made at last, for Colonel Cal-
thorpe now withdraws every insinuation affecting
Lord Cardigan's personal courage ; but it has been
made too late, as far as Colonel Caithorpe is con-
cerned. The recantation, as regards both fact and

opinion, has been extorted from that officer not by
appeal to his chivalry and sense of justice, but by
the rough expedient of legal proceedings, and the
apparent imminency of a criminal prosecution. Col.
Calthorpe stands, therefore, in this position : he has
either made a fese charge, or he has declared to be
false a charge which was true. The admissions
which he has made through his counsel fully justify
this conclusion, to say nothing of the destruction of
the books containing the offensive matter. It re-
mains for him to clear himself with society as he
best can. With regard to Lord Cardigan's conduct
on that terrible day at Balaklava, no doubt ca
i n re-
main in unprejudiced minds. From the first t was
admitted on all hands that to have gone any way
with that brilliant advance required daring of no
common description. And even some slight short-
comings might have been pardoned in the bravest
man upon so thoroughly exceptional an occasion—
in an operation of which it has been said —e est
magnifique, mais co n'est pas la guerre. But there
was no shortcoming upon Lord Cardigan's part.
The fact is established upon evidence as upon hon-
our. It has been admitted by the accuser himself.
An impartial tribunal—nearly the highest in the
land—after carefully weighing the conflicting state-
ments, has decided that Colonel Calthorpe's charge
was " a most serious libel," and it has refused to
sanction criminal proceedings upon a technical
ground, marking, moreover, its sense of the merits
of the case by dismissing the rule without costs.
Nothing could be more clear and patiently impar-
tial than the judgment of the Chief Justice of the
Court of Queen's Bench, and the result was the
complete vinnication of the character of the accused.
He must be a bold man who ever revives the old
Balaklava scandal.
DAILY NEWS.—Moral force occupies so large a
space i▪ n the political discussions of our times, is
credited with so much efficiency, and forms so con-
siderable a part of the reliance of statesmen, that it
is exceedingly important to know whatis the nature
of the agent, and what are the conditions under
which it may be expected to succeed. We take im-
mense, tut not excessive pains to prove our new
artillery, and are not satisfied until we have ascer-
tained what strain the guns will bear, what range
they will command, and the amount of resistance
they will break down and overcome. Moral force is
one of the favourite weapons in the armoury or the
liberal statesmen of modern times; and it is very
desirable that we should know under what circum-
stances it may be depended on to do effectual ser-
vice. No one can have failed to notice that in our
ordinary discussions two very different things alike
receive the name of moral force. The first admiral
who was sent by the Emperor of the French to
Mexico with an imposing squadron was ordered to
approach with his ships and prefer his demands,
" relying entirely on the moral effect of his rank
and mission." Admiral Napier, as once described by
Lord Palmerston, toiling along under the sun dressed
like Robinson Crusoe, and taking a fortress in the
Peninsula by simply delivering a letter, was said to
succeed by moral force. In both these cases, how-
ever, material force was the efficient cause of success.
The careful abstinence from threats which a strong
Government sometimes observes fcr political reasons
makes no difference to the fact. The threat is real,
though tacit, and although more is left to the dis-
cernment and sagacity of the party than when the
menace is expressed. The same kind of in-
fluence is also exercised in different degrees
whenever one Government in any way inten-
tionally gives another Government reason for
believing that a particular course of conduct will
convert it into an enemy. And although our
fathers did not care to give a pretentious designa-
tion to influence of this kind, there is nothing
absolutely incorrect in styling such an appeal to
fear and self-love as a resort to moral force. It
is not in this semi-material sense, however, that
English statesmen are most• accustomed to under-
stand either the phrase or the thing. Theirs is a
nobler, because a more generous and far reaching, it
less immediately practical appreciation of moral
force, such as might be expected to be made in a
land of settled liberty, where no station or office is
so high as to exempt its occupant from the influence
of cultivated and freely expressed public opinion.
The theory of our leading politicians is, that of the
various objects which men pursue, there is none
which they more eagerly desire than tho, good opi-
nion of others. The hatred and contempt of the
public are supposed to be intolerable even to Czars
and Sultans, who feel extremely solicitous about the
opinions even of those by whom it is impossible that
they should ever be in the slightest degree injured
or benefited. We may suppose that it was a con-
viction of this kind which led Earl Russell, after
observing on a recent occasion that "That which is
taking place in Poland has been carried by quicker
roads of conveyance than were known in former
times to all parts of Europe, and the conscience of
Europe has been roused by seeing the religion of a
people trampled under foot, by seeing their nation-
ality despised, by seeing the arbitrary measures dis-
posing of the lives and limbs of the brave youth of
a brave and celebrated nation "—to say, " Depend
upon it that public opinion expressed at the present
time by three of the greatest and most powerful
monarchies of Europe, will be backed and sustained
by all minor powers, and in every nation where men
can read, think, and feel with regard to the woes of
Poland "—and to invite his fellow Peers to rely,
among other things, "on that public opinion of
Europe which, you may depend upon it, the Empe-
ror of Russia, autocrat as he may be, will not
neglect." There can be no doubt of either the reality
or the strength of public opinion in shaping the
course of the greatest rulers in the world. But
we greatly fear that a misconception of the cir-
cumstances which limit the operation of this force
is mi▪
sleading many Englishmen just now, and pre
paring great disappointments for our countrymen.
oflt tmhaoyophiuo
erieom,arked, by the way, that the influence
as such, of a nation so well provided
as ours with the means of speaking its mind, is not
increased by the formal representation of that
opini▪
on to the State to which it is adverse.
Although only the Government can pronounce the
national will, it is not the only or even the chief,
and not always the true, expositor of national senti-
ment. If Prince Gortchakoff, after satisfying him-
self as to what the English Government means to
do, still feels any curiosity as to what the English
people think, it is to the debates in Parliament, the
discussions of the press, and the language of meet-
ings and petitions, and Mot to the despatches of the
Foreign Secretary, that he will look for its satisfac-
tion. Now, whatever reason there may be for sup-
posing that the Russian Government takes note of
English feeling respecting Poland, there is none
whatever for imagining that a mere desire for our
good opinion forms the ground of its solicitude. If
that Government can be assured of our strict neu-
trality, it will resignitself to do without our moral
approbation for a tame. There is no instance on
record of a Government engaged in a conflict which
it regards as one necessary for self-preservation,
giving way before the public opinion of a neighbour.
The people of the free States of America have shown
themselves most anxious for our good opinion, but