The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-20 00:00:00

much more by acts, and much less by opinions than
we were formerly. The zeal for reform in all things
which received its impetus from the great events of
1831 and 1832, led the public for a long time to
think more of theoretical changes than of psactical
administration. That has now very much gone by.
There are, indeed, great principles still on their trial,
but they refer chiefly to foreign affairs. As Sir
Roundell Palmer expresses it, the public sees in
Lord Palmerston the representative of those prin-
ciples. In illustration of this, he quotes a charac-
teristic acknowledgment of the honest heart and
clear perception of Mr. Henley. " One of the
oldest," says the Attorney-General, " one of the most
sagacious, the most experienced, and, I may add,
the most respectable members of the Opposition par-
ties, said in public that he hoped the Government
would continue to follow the wise course of policy
they had hitherto pursued, and that he had no fear
but that the honour of the country was safe in their
hands." This is an avowal from a Cabinet Minister
in both Lord Derby's Administrations which does
equal credit to his sense of justice and to his dis-
cretion. In truth, the time has now arrived for a
vindication of the I aradox of Canning, who assailed
the old principle of " men and not measures." What,
in truth, it way ba asked, can the measures be with-
out men capable of producing good ones ? This is
the more true at a time at which the responsibility
of a Minister consists much more inaction than in
theorising. The infinite complication of foreign
affairs at the present day requires not merely tne
preliminary settlement of main principles, but the
application of them to every serious event that
arises. It is just for this reason that the country
prefers Lord Palmerston to Lord Derby at the
Treasury, Lord Russell to Lord Malmesbury
at the Foreign - office, and Mr. Gladstone
to Mr. Disraeli at the Exchequer. Sir
Roundell Palmer has touched upon another
source of the popularity of the present Administra-
tion, hardly less powerful, "I think," he says, " the
country have made up their minds as to the parti-
cular merit of Lord Palmerston—and that is that, if
there ever was a man who ioved7his country, Lord
Palmerston loves Great Britain—that if ever there
was a man to whom the honour of the country was
dear, and for which he would sacrifice every perso-
nal object, that man is Lord Palmerston—and if
ever there was a man who would do anything which
he justly and rightly could, to promote the cause of
liberty througheut the world, that man is Lord Pal-
merston." These are words which come with a pe-
culiar force from a man who, perhaps, of all others
in the House of Commons, is believed never to have
strained even an expression, much less to have be-
lied an opinion, for the sake of the party to which
he belonged ; and who, until two years ago, was
thought to be rather an opponent than a supporter
of Lord Palmerston individtally: Sir Roundell
Palmer not unduly identifies the present Govern-
ment with the Liberal cause both at home and
abroad. This identification is no more than just.
But we all know with what circumspection a sup-
port of liberalism must be carried out in our foreign
relations. The doctrine of non-intervention .has now
stifled political propagandism ; and it has become
matter of the utmost nicety to determine where the
support of the Liberal cause can be recoiled with
non-intervention. Italy and Poland have presented
two remarkable instances of the delicacy of dealing
with such interests ; and if the force of our influence
shall yet be only half as successful in regard to
Poland as it has already been in regard to Italy, li-
beralism will have cause to be thankful. These
appear also to be pretty much the views of Sir Roun-
dell Palmer ; and his unqualified accession to the
cause with which the present Government is iden-
tified is the more valuable that it springs from the
conviction of maturer years, which has worn away
the ford of other predilections.