The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-28 00:00:00

The day of humiliation and prayer has been
generally observed throughout the country. In
every church and chapel, not merely those belong-
ing to the Anglican Church, but of every sect and
denomination, supplications have been addressed
to the CREATOR and PRESERVER of Mankind for his
aid and protection throughout the contest in which
we have reluctantly been involved. The nation
has prostrated itself before the ALMIGHTY ; and
whatever differences of substance or of form might
exist in other respects, the tenour and effect of the
general prayer was the same—for His omnipotent
lrelp and assistance so long as we had truth and
justice on our side.
It was a great and solemn observance I—one
deserving of the highest praise, or of unmitigated
censure. It was truly laudable, if as a nation we
were resolved to use all earthly means to bring
the war to a speedy and honourable termination,
and to remove the causes by which it has been
occasioned. But if otherwise—if we neglect the
obvious precautions demanded by the existing cir-
cumstances—it has been but a hypocritical mock-
ery, which had far better been omitted. The
admirable letter of Lord PALMERSTON, in
which he pointed out the necessity of cleansing
and purifying our towns—of removing the pre-
disposing causes of cholera—before we ventured
on a day of national humiliation and prayer for
the purpose of imploring the Dais to avert a
scourge which we had reason to believe was to a
great degree, if not altogether, under our own
' power and control, is peculiarly applicable to, and
might have been written for, the occasion now
referred to.

Let us profit by the instructive lesson ! Let
us look to the original causes of the hostilities in
which we are now engaged, and see whether we
are indeed giving proofs of our sincerity by striving
to remove or mitigate these causes. Have we as yet
exhibited the energy and activity necessary to
convince the AUTOCRAT that we are really in ear-
nest, and that ample retribution will be exacted
for the evils occasioned by his overweening ambi-
tion and grasping cupidity? Do we not still tolerate
at the head of our Administration the AUTOCRAT'S
" friend of forty years standing," the man with
whom " he could settle everything in ten minutes'
conversation ?" How can we, while Lord ABER-
DEEN is Premier, guiding the helm of the vessel of
State, dare to ask the interposition of the GOD-
IitBAD ? While the real power rests in the hands
of the popular representatives, and while the voice
of public opinion so loudly and unequivocally pro-
claims the true state of the national feeling, we
do nothing to remove the •incubus that has para-
lysed our efforts, and rendered war inevitable.
It is absurd to say that a change in the Cabinet
would prove prejudicial to the interests of the
British empire, or of our faithful and deeply-
injured ally, the SULTAN. Has not Lord ABER-
DP.EN, ever since the declaration of war on the
part of England, declared, in his place in the
House of Peers, that he considered that " the
apprehensions of the Emperor (NicuoLas) were
well founded ?" Has he not, in his very last
official speech, announced that, like the ancient
Covenanter, he would, even while buckling on
his armour, continue to murmur " Peace, peace !"
What will be the effect on NICHOLAS when read-
ing these "sayings," which are so totally different
from our " doings ?" Unfortunately for himself,
and the myriads of serfs who humble themselves
before his footstool, he does not understand the
power of " the pressure from without," and the
irresistible influence of the popular feeling. He
conceives the Minister of the day all-powerful ;
an,l, when he sees that we still maintain our mo-
netary code with unabated stringency, and lay
down the principle that, while we do so, we will
not only compel the present generation to bear
the entire expenses of the war, but even make
them liquidate the debts contracted in a past cen-
tury, he must think that the advisers of the
Crown are only practising the deception in which
he is himself so skilful an adept. The war has
been occasioned by the vacillation and timidity of
Lora ABERDEEN—the war will be protracted, and
its horrors aggravated, by the same causes ; and
if we would avert these evils and deserve the
Divine aid, which we have so earnestly implored,
we should with equal unanimity demand the re-
moval of Lord ABERDEEN- .from the place for
which he is disqualified by his Russian predilec-
tions.

If we remember right, it was the Times itself
which, after doing its best to force Lord JOHN
RUSSELL to give up his Reform Bill, kindly ad-
vised him to adopt all such particular reforms as
might be carried in virtue of their individual
merits, or which at least were not of a nature to
imperil the existence of a Cabinet. Our contem-
porary was not always of this opinion. He was
is
wonted
accustomedjoaN, to bid working reformers wait Lord
will ursgteiiintewith h
. Now he has
adopted
andw we hope
pertinacity
For ourselves it has
always vigour.h e
0 her
to be
creed, that
any good reform proposal ought eavigerously
sustained by all honest reformers ;
in our own judgment, tested the an we have,_
sincerity of libe-
ral professions verymuch by the contempt of those
who made them for the customary shuffles by
which the double-faced endeavour to vote with the
Tories, and to call themselves Liberals. The At-
torney-General is now at work upon a useful topical
reform, useful if the means be at all commensurate
with the object, the reform of the constituencies
which have been probed by the Commissioners.
Frona one of these, Cambridge, he has just re-

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