The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-13 00:00:00

made another of his great mistakes when he said
that there would be but few Conservatives in the
House if " every constituency was large enough to
be neither bribed, coerced, nor cajoled." It is
rather unfortunate that the first member who was

turned out for " bribery" after the last general
election was a relation of Mr. B RIGHT' s,
and belonged to the ranks of the regenerators of
the country. However, the wisest cannot help
making mistakes when they go to such extremes,
and resolve, come weal or woe, that they will mag-
nify their own merits and lose no opportunity, if

one presents itself, and, if not, invent one, for the
occasion of detracting from their opponents.

Among the many 'severe contests which have
marked this election, there are a few fortunate
members of the ex-Parliament whose seats no one
would dream of disturbing, and whose presence in
the new Parliament may be reckoned on with abso-
lute certainty. Foremost among these may, of
course, be ranked our venerable Premier, whose seat
for Tiverton no one would be rash enough to meddle
with, being very certain that their trouble would be
thrown away. An active contest, indeed, is going
on for the other seat for the borough, but men of
all parties unite in feeling it an honour to be re-
presented by so distinguished a man in so distin-
guished a position. The head of the Government
might always reckon a seat with tolerable secu:ity,
but Lord PALMERSTON owes as much to his personal
popularity as to his accidental dignity, and would
be equally sure of the votes of the Tiverton electors
if he exchanged the delights of office for the cold
shade of opposition. Every one must have been
gratified yesterday to see the noble lord in such
good health and spirits, so well able to undergo the
fatigue and excitement of the occasion. Lord
PALMERSTON'S address showed his usual happy tact
and readiness in adapting himself to his
audience. The noble lord was too shrewd and
sagacious to make any allusion to the future,
to give any rash pledges or inconvenient promises.
Reform was not so much as mentioned, the ballot,
the extension of the franchise, whether lateral or
otherwise, was left in peaceful oblivion ; and amid
vague generalities and mutual congratulations the
awkward subject was comfortably passed by.
On foreign affairs, however, Lord PALMERSTON
found something to say. lie took great credit to
himself for the resolute neutrality which this country
had maintained throughout the whole period of the
American war, in spite of the conviction which the
South had entertained that we would interfere on
their side to liberate the cotton, and the belief of
the North that we would espouse their cause for the
sake of abolishing slavery. As to the merits or
advantages of the policy pursued by England on this
question there may be two opinions, and certainly,
if Lord PALMERSTON plumes himself on the present
prosperity of the British Empire, we can scarcely
be equally exultant in reference to the condition of
the American dominions. With his usual quickness
Lord PALMERSTON especially dwelt upon the benefits
conferred upon the trade of this country by
the extension of our commercial relations with
the East. This is a point on which his Go-
vernment have really laboured successfully
for the public good, and the rapid increase
of our trade with China and Japan, in spite of all
drawbacks, is a matter on which the noble lord may
safely congratulate himself. In encouraging this
trade he has met with much opposition, and the
difficulties against which he has had to contend,
both at home and abroad, have been very great.
The internal disturbances of the Chinese empire
have greatly militated against the silk and other
trades, and the hatred of the Japanese to foreigners
has put an additional obstacle in the way. Never-
theless, we have the testimony of Lord PALMERSTON
that with both these countries we are now on
friendly terms, and that our trade with both is pros-
perous and increasing. So far, then, Lord PAL-
MERSTON had some right to plume himself upon the
foreign policy of his Government ; and with respect
to the French treaty, and their efforts to extend
its advantages to other countries, he was equally
correct. The prejudices of continental manufac-
turers and merchants are dying out by degrees,
and, as Lord PALMERSTON observed, "the doc-
trine of the great advantage which freedom
of exchange in production invariably be-
stows upon a nation is making its way ;" so
so that we may reasonably, hope within a compara-
tively short period to see our commercial relations
put upon a better footing, and relieved from some
of those trammels which have hitherto impeded the
efforts of our merchants.
There was one foreign question of some import-
ance, however, which Lord PALMERSTON thought
fit to pass by in the same fashion as the Reform
Bill. The Danish question occupied, one would
think, a sufficiently conspicuous place in the history
of the last six years for the Prime Minister to con-
descend to remember it. Was Lord PALiIERSTON
troubled with an inconvenient recollection of his own
denunciations of Prussian ambition, his assurances
that Denmark should not stand alone in ease of need ?
Was he afraid of some pertinent question as to his
colleague's famous German letter, the disinterested
advice of his Ministry to the Danes to surrender
first one point and then another ? Was he afraid
that even in friendly Tiverton some bold questioner
might be found who might inquire into the
particulars of the broken faith of England ;
who might ask for further enlightenment
as to the melancholy story of the " hope
deferred" which truly made the heart of Denmark
sick, of the half promises and hints which led the
Cabinet of Copenhagen to believe that the strongest
Power in the world would defend her rights, and
the sudden timidity which " forty millions of Ger-
mans" had strength to inspire in a nation that had,
with half her present force, confronted " a world in
arms." Discretion is sometimes the better part of
valour, and if ever silence was discreet, it was on
this occasion. We give Lord PALMERSTON, once
the "Minister of England," the credit for being
heartily ashamed of the part he was induced to play.
With regard to our own capacities for warfare
the noble lord spoke as usual well and sensibly.
lle dwelt upon the importance of securing an
efficient system of national defences, and said very
truly that a country which accumulated wealth and
neglected its defences was like a banker who filled
his chests with gold and left his doors unbolted and

his windows unbarred Without keeping up the
excessive standing armies which exhaust and oppress
Continental nations it is easy for England, if she
turns her insular pcsition to good account, to pre-
sent a most formidable front to the invader. With
our army and navy, militia, and volunteers, and the
fortifications now being established on our coasts we
shall avoid the error of being over-secure.
Lord PALMERSTON, in complimenting the defunct
House of Commons on the fairness with which it
had treated his Government, found it convenient to
forget the distinct understanding on which the
members of that House were returned to represent
the constituencies. Thera might never have been
such a thing as a Reform Bill mentioned in 1859
for all the allusion made to it by the head of
the great Liberal party. So much for political
professions ! But whatever the result to his fol-
lowers, Lord PALMERSTON himself will escape any
of the unpopularity due to misdeed* or omissions,