The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-21 00:00:00

enough, Lord PALMERSTON, on behalf of himself
and his colleagues, almost scornfully rejected the
necessity for any such alternative, as eluci-
dative of their past negotiations repudiat-
ing, haughtily and indignantly repudiating,
both the " weakness" of Credulity and the
"infamy" of Connivance. Nevertheless, the
people at large, with these unfortunate blue-books
under their thumbs, still to potter over at
pleasure whenever they feel so inclined, will not fail
to draw their own conclusions from the diplomatic
evidence thus accumulated against themselves in
judgment by the members and agents of her MA-
JESTY'S Government. Right Hon. Gentlemen like
the First Lord of the Admiralty may amuse them-
selves, time and again, with the pleasant pastime of
roasting Emperors ad libitum—roasting them to
a turn, as Mr. DrsnAßra reminded the House was
done once upon a time in regard to Dr. SACHEVE-
RELL. Noble Lords like the Secretary of State
for the Home Department may coolly insist—
though not even Colonel SrETHORP or Mr. DRUM-
MOND had ventured in all their eccentricities of
speech to whisper to the contrary—that the Coalition
through all this time had never once evinced any-
thing bearing a resemblance to precipitation !
Imagine—to precipitation ! But with all these
evasive pleasantries gravely uttered by one or
other of the Cabinet Ministers—with all the per-
verse entreaties that have been made by some
among them for a direct vote of a want of
confidenoe--with all that has been declaimed
from before the Treasury benches about the un-
reasonableness of the complaints of the Opposi-
tion—it is most certain that the majority of the
public regard the past conduct of the Coalition as
at once mistaken and blameworthy, as assuredly,
indeed, as they regard the present policy of Minis-
ters as deserving of approval and encouragement.

The Naval, Military, and Ordnance Estimates are
now before the country. The amount to be applied
to the maintenance of our fleets and armies—at all
times a matter of vast importance—has assumed
a fourfold interest now that the country is vir-
tually at war with a first-rate Power, and that it
is called upon not only to vindicate its ancient
reputation, and to hand down unblemished to
posterity the glory so painfully acquired in by-
gone years, but also to fight the battle of free-
dom, to prevent the spread of despotism, and
to lay the foundations of a permanent, because
an honourable, peace. Under such circumstances
a large addition to the ordinary expenditure of
the country was naturally anticipated. But there
was no objection thereto—no reluctance to bear
the burdens that might thereby be rendered indis-
pensable. We believe that, with the exception of
a few wrong-headed members of the Peace So-
ciety, there never was greater enthusiasm mani-
fested or greater " anxiety" (the term "willing-
ness" does not at all express the feeling) to dis-
pense liberally the required supplies. The only
fear was that the Government might not demand
sufficient for the vigorous and energetic carrying
on of hostilities—that it might still suffer itself
to be influenced by the " ABERDEEN" delusion,
that " war is not even yet inevitable." The
publication of the figures that must unequivocally
disclose the real intentions of the Cabinet, was,
therefore, looked for with no ordinary impa-
tience; and now that they have appeared, the less-
experienced are very desirous of receiving the
clues that will enable them to explore without
difficulty the labyrinths of numerals that lie invit-
ingly open, but which still may lead astray and
deceive the uninitiated.

The Navy Estimates have not only the priority
in date, but in interest. It is by British seamen
that the honour and safety of the country is to be
maintained, at least in the first instance, and the
publication of the item which explained the con-
templated accession to our marine force was
therefore most anxiously looked for. We shall
endeavour to allay this very natural curiosity by
stating that an addition of 13,000 men to our
Fleet is about to be provided for, of which
10,000 will be sailors, properly so called, and
3,000 marines.