The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER, 21, 1863.

clothing spare some of their last winter's garments
for these. The fashion of our day forbids a lady to
be seen in scanty or shabby attire. Nevertheless,
as quaint, old JEREMY TAYLOR justly remarks, one
man may be made richly fine and warm by what
another is ashamed to walk in. On this principle,
with little cost or care, the bare limbs of the Lan-
cashire little ones may be warmly and safely clad,
and the Lancashire mothers who, as the statistical
reports, as well as all human nature have told us,
are the
ng
added
d greatestde d tow a sufferers,nt and
dy
ceasrcea.p e the distress of
cold beld

Mr. CAVE, M.P. for Shoreham, has made a very
amusing speech at Bristol, and contrived to elicit
mirth and point a moral from some striking cir-
cumstances that have occurred in the policy of his
political opponents. It must be confessed that the
Liberal cause does net escape scatheless from the
hon. member for Shoreham. At all events the Con-
! servatives may claim the credit of having the best
of the argument, when consistency in conduct or
fixedness of purpose is discussed in assemblies. The
shuffling policy and scrambling for power which
have of late years so characterised the chiefs of the
Liberals, and been referred to by them in exulta-
tion afterwards as proofs of their popularity and
trophies of their success, has in reality undermined
their influence most considerably. It is a question
if it be not more dignified to remain in retirement
than to court publicity after this fashion. At all
'events, it has been the lot of the present adminis-
tration pretty frequently to fall under the
censure of some critical adversaries, and to be
subjected to the sarcasm of one or more ruth-
less observers. In the instance referred to wemeet
with a most entertaining summary of the clap-trap
and double-dealing which rules most frequently
the game of expediency which is being played out
in high quarters. Mr. CAVE denounced with just
indignation the tricks of policy which obtained
among his opponents in 1859. He asked with
scorn where was the measure of reform which was
declared to be so much needed, and so incomparably
superior to that of Lord DERBY. The present Go-
vernment assumed power for two reasons—to
amend the state of the representation and to adopt
a better policy in the direction of foreign affairs.
How have they fulfilled their self-imposed duties,
may well be asked, and considering the vehement
denunciation of their adversaries, and the loud self-
gratulation that accompanied their advent to power,
the inquiry ought to be strictly instituted, and the
verdict an impartial one. Considering the present
prospect of affairs it can hardly be expected that
any but the most devoted adherent or exclusive
partisan will cite their foreign policy as a triumph-
ant refutation of the charges of inefficiency and
groundless boasting that have been brought against
the last coalition Ministry. As Mr. CAVE truly
remarked, " Have we not heard of a certain Secre-
tary of State who passes the week in writing little
homilies to Sardinia, to Denmark, to Russia, and
other Powers, and has he not been met each time
with something like a slap in the face for imperti-
nent meddling." Nothing can be too severe to ex-
press in adequate terms the folly and mischief of
the missive which the Foreign Secretary forwarded
in relation to Schleswig-Holstein. In a great mea-
sure he is to blame for much of the evil that has
already occurred, and also far the still greater con-
fusion that will most probably ensue henceforth in
regard to this vexed question. Then with respect
to America, how apt is the definition of Mr. CAVE
that " infirmity of purpose" makes it appear as if
we were afraid of the Federals. Certainly with one
thing and another, England is fast losing the proud
position that she once held of being in a great mea-
sure the arbiter of the destinies, and the referee in
the 'vital questions that refer to the Government of
other States. Who can deny the correctness of Mr.
CAVE'S assertion that at any period of political
anxiety, or any season of particular excite-
ment and interest in public affairs, every one
asks " What line the French EMPEROR will
take ?" This is scarcely the correct thing
to take place, and it must be confessed
that with all the criticism and the hard sayings
that abound in that direction the Emperor NAP 0-
LEO.N has succeeded in gaining a prestige for his
foreign policy that our Cabinet miserably failed to
obtain. 'Whatever be his errors, he has something
bold to do or to say, while we seem content with
vague despatches ; and what energy survives un-
crushed from the influence of the peace-at-any-
price party in the Cabinet is expended in the seizure
and prosecution of the property of English subjects
who offend powerful and honoured allies. Still
more cutting were Mr. CAVE'S home-thrusts at the
renegade home policy of Government which has
disgusted the great Liberal party whose cause they
avow they adopt, and whose interests they declare
that they serve. Hz mentioned two remarkable
instances of would-be reformers at home and abroad
who were caught in the toils of the official dodgers,
and now abjured their former zealous notions. One
was the Junior Lord of the Admiralty, who was
foremost in denouncing the insufficiency of Minis-
terial measures until he was induced to join the
ranks of those whose errors he saw so plainly at a
distance. The other example was a more notable
one. Night after night he vehemently denounced
the policy
of Ministers in their supineness regard-
ing the annexation of Savoy. There was eloquence
in his language and soundness in his views; but
after a short time a change came over the spirit of
his dream. To use tho descriptive language of the
hon. member for Shoreham, " a string is pulled
somewhere, the impassioned orator sinks through
a political trap-door, and rises Chief Secretary for
Ireland." There is sober truth as well as
amusing simile in these entertaining sketches,
and perhaps they contain the secret of the great
decadence that has taken place of late in what is
called by courtesy the Liberal party. The reason
why these mixed up Governments, composed of in-
congruous elements, obtain so firm a hold among a
party that professes to discard them is because both
sides look to selfish ends first, and then attempt to
servo their cause and their country afterwards.
Members consider the Ministers .as the dispensers
of patronage, and not as the trustees of the nation's
honour, the guardians of the people's rights, and the
adjustors of the liberties of a mighty empire. So
long as the most violent and vehement reformers
will, like Mr. BRIGHT, become mute because parties
change sides in the House, not because measures
are meted out to the country, it is quite idle for the
wise and the learned to discuss the dangers of a
Conservative Administration, and the fearful fate
that would then await the country. Suppose the
Cabinet of Lord DERBY had remained in power,
they could hardly have done less than nothing,
which is all that the most devoted adherent to
the present Government can claim as their per-
formances. Mr. CAvE concluded by a lively
made during the
asile:atettheanrelgogarindainhgantdh,ealbtoaglleotth,ere,vhtihcoh
hon,
mmeomre.
consisted in its erci
ber natty e
o congratulated on having delivered
One of tt,
his animate
the most brilliant addresses that have been
recess. The force of his satire
iu
isenibance, and there was much
animated discourse to afford food for the
who notes the events
philosopher to
while the sober observer,
day, might well
of
, and reality began
wonder where romance ended
in the series of life sketches Qua the
political notabilities put before Portraits of
hlto in so brilliant
a style and dashing a manner,