The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-26 00:00:00

LORD P AL,IIERSTON.

(Prom the Times of this day.)
It became our duty, in consequence of intelli-
gence which had reached us, to state on Friday,
the 16th of December, that Viscount Palmerston
had tendered his resignation of the office of S:Tre-
tary of State for the Home Department, and had,
therefore ceased to form a part of her Majesty's
Government, if his resignation was accepted by the
Crown. That announcement was strictly accurate,.
and accordingly Viscount Palmerston has not at-
tended the meetings of the Cabinet which have
been held since he expressed his intentton to re-
sign. It is, however, well known that the import-
ant office of Home Secretary has not been filled up
or accepted by other member of the Government ;-
and we have now the satisfaction to learn that the
resignation of Lord Palmerston has not been defi-
nitively accepted, but is withdrawn, and that the
Secretary of State for the Hume Department will
retain—we can hardly say resume—his former posi-
tion in the present Administration. Explanations,
honourable alike to all parties concerned in this
transaction, have been exchanged, aml, as the diffi-
culties which had arisen between Lord Palmerston
and his colleagues were limited, as we have already
stated on a former occasion, to the questionoL
Parliamentary Reform as dealt with by Lord John
Russell, it has been found possible, without any
sacrifice of principle, to -place the Government
again on a united, and we hope a permanent basis.
To be candid, there had been too much precipita-
tion on all sides in this matter. Lord Paluierston
expressed his intention to resign as if some vital
principle of the constitution were in dispute and
the provisions of the new 'Reform Bill were irrevo-
cally settled, neither of which suppositions are true.
This difference of opinion, was thought to be:more
serious and more fatal to the union of the Cabinet
than it has since proved to be by thosi; members of
the Government who alone were in full possession
-of the case.

But no Cabinet Councils were sitting at the time,
and the step appears to have been taken without a
distinct communication on a question of such ex-
treme. importance, to all the Ministers of the Crown,
several of whom were 'not in London. U.' on a
fuller consideration of the whole subject, a I an
explanation of the condition in which the pr ected
of
measure of Reform now 'stands, it was found that
no imperious dictates of conscience and of duty, by
which alone such a step could be justified, did, in
this instance, require so . great a sacrifice. , The
zealous mediation of the Duke of Newcastle, the
sagacious and patriotic advice of the .Marquis of
Lansdowne, and, we must. add, the excellent tem-
per and public spirit slid-cm by the Ministers, most
nearly engaged in this discussion, have led, to this
satisfactory result ; and it would have been utterly
unworthy of the high position and motives of these
statesmen if they had hesitated for a momeht to
retrace a step taken under some misconceptipn of
the cause to which it was alone attributable. 1 .
In proportion to the regret 'which we exprened
when the retirement of Lord Palmerston from the
Ministry seemed to be inevitable, we now rejoice to
find that he has risen above a step so injurious
his own reputation and the. country. If any proof
were needed of its mischievous consequences, it
Might be found to satiety in the gross and absurd
Misrepresentations on. this subject, which !were
greedily adopted both at home and abroad in pre-
ference to . the plain truth as we ourselveS had
related it, and in the frantic exultation of the most
depraved organs of faction, who fancied they saw in
this change an event favourable to• their pasions
or to their interests. We hardly know which we
are to describe as most ridiculous and contenaritible
—the Ultra-Liberal party; who affected toi hail
With rapture Lord- Palmeriton's secession from the
Ministry, on the avowed ground that he is decidedly
opposed to their own, extreme doctrines of Parlia-
mentarY 'Reform, or the Rump of the Tory party,
who, in their utter destitution of men, of character
and ability, were eager to declare their allegiance
tart statesman who has figured for upwards qf 20
yi:iiis among their chief oppOnents. Applause from
such lips, support from such hands, tells its own
tale ; and it was alike degrading for Lord Pliner-
sten to descend from the position he deservedly
fills among Englishmen and in Europe, iu order to
head the turbulence of one faction or to gratify the
rancour of another. -

-But we readily believe-7-and for the honoulF of
this country and of its statesmen we dare assert—
that throughout this transaction both Lord Pal-
merston: and the colleagues .With whom he is again
united have been actuated by higher inotives of
public duty. So far is it. from the truth that turd
~Palmerston resigned on the foreign policy of the
Cabinet, that we cannot doubt' the position of, our
;foreign relations at this moment is the cause of all
others which chains him to the helm. . He 'p; a
great master of diplomatic "subjects ; he brings to
them an extraordinary amount of political expe-
rience, combined with ()Teat fertility of resources
and natural energy. He contributes to the service
of-the Crown not only the advice lie may tender in
the Cabinet, but his eloquence and popularitY in
Parliament, and the confidence lie has obtained
from the nation. We may say of him, as
Sir Robert Peel observed in a memorable
debate,- with the courtesy -due to a great an-
tagonist, that we are proud.. of him even
while we oppose his policy.. But are these forces,
are these powers, are these-energies to, be tinned
against the service of ,her Majesty's overment
when they are most needed-and most useful ? Is
this empire, at the moment when it is about to
stake its honour and its power on the hazards of
'war, and reluCtantly to takP. up
.arnis for the first
itinie these forty years against one of the greatest
States in Europe, to exhibit to mankind the weak
and pitiable spectacle of a commonwealth divided
and weakened at its very heart ? We hope not, for
unquestionably those who are so eager to paralyse
and overthrow the Administration are virtually the
allies of that foreign enemy against Whom they
launch their invective, and in order to conduct the
affairs of the country abroad 'with firmness and pru-
dence the first condition of success is Strength and
union at home. In comparison with such considera-
tions as these, which must be obvious to every per-
son of common reflection and ordinary patriotism,
the undefined provisions of this or that measui e of
legislative reform for the next session of Parliament'
assume a secondary importance, and the path of
duty lies for the present along a higher and more
rugged track. If we are about to enter on tie
state of war, of which this generation has never
known the pressure, we must prepare for the sacri-
fices it imposes alike on high- and low. It requires
of some their lives, of many their strength, of all
larger contributions to' the exigencies of the State;
but, above all, it requires the sacrifice of petty dif-
ferences, of personal motives, and of private in-
tereSts, to the paramount, rights and neces-tities of
,the country. A year will have elapsed this day
since Lord Aberdeen and his colleagues received
the seals of office from the Queen. The nation
applauded the spirit which had: brought together
men so much opposed to One• another in their for-
mer political lives, and united them at last for the
welfare of the country. But, if that union was
desirable then, it is necessary now. It is cemented
by past success. and by the immediate prospect of
far more arduous duties ; and the anniversary of
the, :foundation of the Government could not be
Celebrated in a more fitting- manner than by this
fresh proof that party intrigiies and even temporary
differences have not dissolved it • that the spirit in
which it was founded is unbrOken ; and that with
undiminished strength it is 'resolved and enabled.
to persevere. Lord Palmerston's return to office
is not the triumph of one section of . the Cabinet
over another, nor haS it been purchased by conces-
sions or arrangements which can produce any al-
teration in the course of public policy ; but it is
the triumph of union and public spirit over a par-
tial dissension, and it gives a fresh security for the
duration of a Government which is identified with
the, best interests of the country.

PERILOUS STATE OF RUSSIA.—From the Baltic to 'the
Black Sea--from the shores of the Danube to the banks
of the Phasic—extends an indissoluble bond of common
sympathy—a deep-rooted hatred of Russia, which no-
thing less than the dread of incurring the vengeance of
a despotism almost omnipotent.could have restrained so
long ; and when at last the auspicious time arrives for-
giving vent to this feeling,
.the flame will kindle wildly
in the recently acquired kingdom of Poland, for there
the revolutionary spark has' never been extinguished.
It is true that in the southern provinces of the empire
all hope of freedom has long disappeared, and terror and
oppression have reigned so long, that the inhabitants of
the• thinly-populated steppe have lost much of the
energy of their Mongolian ancestors ; but while they
may hesitate to start at once into open rebellion, they
will not fail to use measures of passive resistance as a
means of opposing the designs of Russia. Opportuni-
ties will not be wanting to insure some degree of such
cess. When the presence of the allied .fleets in the Black
'Sea denies to the Czar transport for his troops from the
porta upon its margin in any one direction, divisions of
the Russian army will often be •compelled to march
across the inhospitable steppes of the south ; and here,
dependent for food and transport upon whatever a bar-
ren and thinly-populated,country can supply, it is pro-
'bable that they will find their. wants altogether disre-
garded. The Tartars have► only to remove their fami-
lies and' their cattle out of, the line of march, to render
the onward progress of the. army a matter of the utmost
difficulty, if not altogether impossible ; and thus they
will be able to gratify at the same' time their natural
Ehatred, to the Russians, and their no less natural desire
of retaining possession of their own flocks and herds.
Even this dejected race might be stimulated to more
active measures, by the presence upon their coasts of
i
an overwhelming fleet hostile to Russia. It s impos-
sible to foretell what the result may bP of so novel a
contingency.- -Additional Chapter
.to the Second Editionof " The Russian Shore's of the Black Sea,, by Laurence !
Oliphant.