The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-05 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 1854.

Yesterday's accounts from Hamburg, received
in London a few hours after their transmission by
electric telegraph, and published in The Sun of
last evening, mention the important fact that, on
the 29th ultimo, the Combined Fleets were lying
in order of battle within view of Cronstadt, and
that a general attack was confidently anticipated
for the day following. It is not impossible, there-
fore, that besides the Victory of the First of June,
another victory—the Victory of the Last of June
—may henceforth be inscribed upon the warlike
calendar of England. It is not altogether un-
likely that before now the united banners of the
tricolor and the union jack may have been float-
ing in triumph over the battered walls and smoul-
dering ruins of the Ostia, or Piraeus, of St.
Petersburg. After the announcement just now
referred to, we may at any rate be permitted to
await, with more than usual eagerness, the next
intelligence from the Gulf of Finland. It may be
allowable to look forward to our next advices from
the Baltic, via Hamburg, with more than custo-
mary liveliness of anticipation.
If our readers revert to our impression of last
evening, they will observe that, significantly
enough, we ce.nnot but think, towards the close
of the communication, dated on the 24th ultimo,
from " H.M.S. —, Less Kar Island, thirty
miles from Cronstadt," the writer has remarked,
No one can say what we are likely to do :
If we had lots of troops, I could soon tell you what
would soon be done." Almost immediately after
this we receive the information, already men-
tioned, that the combined fleets had pressed on-
wards, by the 29th of June, to within view of
Cronstadt ; and that, lying off the island, on
that date, in order of battle, a general attack was
expected to be made the day afterwards. The
intelligence to this effect arrives in France and
England precisely at the very time when the two
countries are at last preparing to send out mili-
tary assistance to the Baltic, for the purpose of fur-
thering, by land, the maritime operations adventured
upon by Admirals CHARLES NAPIER and PARSE,-
VAL DESCHENES. That is to say, we hear that on
the 29th ultimo it was expected at Cronstadt
that on the day following, the 30th of June, the
combined fleets might probably make a general
attack upon those fortifications : and, while medi-
tating over this important announcement, we are
rendered conscious that only now, on this sth of
July, an English fleet is going to embark a large
body of French troops at Cherbourg, and after-
wards to convey them through the Cattegat to be
disembarked somewhere on the shores of the Gulf
of Finland, there to co-operate with the Anglo-
French navies in th • eir onslaught on the Russian
strongholds.
Comparing these dates with each other, might

we not with some show of justice complain, as we
fiti last evening, that again, in regard to one of
tl most important matters relating to the carry-
in g out of the campaign of 1854, there is evi-
de ace of the most deplorable delay on the part of
hei ! MAJESTY'S Government ? Again, Ministers
ha' 73 resolved upon doing at the very last moment
who It should have been done at the very cow-
men 'cement. As we remarked yesterday, they are
doh) tr; at the " eleventh" hour what we declared
thro t igh these columns to be imperatively requi-
site the " first." It was the same in reference
to t' o.e folly of further negotiation. It was the
same, moreover, in regard to the actual declara-
tion of war against the AUTOCRAT. Ministers
persisted in the most frivolous, because the most
futil le, efforts to bring about a diplomatic com-
pro' raise until long after the disgraceful blunder
of the Vienna Note, until Moldavia and Wallachia
hP.cl been both ravaged by their Muscovite
invaders, until the Russian forces had appeared on
the banks of the Danube and actually threatened
a march upon Constantinople. Ministers persisted
in like manner in refusing to declare war until
after that execrable massacre at Sinope, which is
still a dark blot upon the escutcheons of the allied
Governments. They are now about to send out
troops to the Baltic—after accounts have been re-
ceived of the appearance of the combined fleets off
Cronstadt on the 29th ult., and of the probability
of their making a general attack upon that insular
stronghold upon the day following !
At any rate, if all this does not betray the
most reprehensible negligence, it reveals anything
but commendable promptitude. It redounds in no
way to the credit of the Duke of NEWCASLE'S
conduct of the War Department of the Adminis-
tration. On the contrary—it cannot but be re-
membered hereafter as affording conclusive testi-

mony of his Grace's utter incapacity to preside
over the affairs of the War Office at the time
when the Home Office is presided over by
Viscount PALMERSTON.

Moreover, we do believe that it may be sur-
mised with more reason than ever that we were
right long ago in declaring that the war against
Russia had been adventured upon " without
heart" by her MAJESTY'S Government. Other-
wise, as we have already observed, more decision
and despatch would have been manifested in send-
ing military and maritime assistance to the SULTAN.
Otherwise, we may now add, troops would have been
sent out to the Baltic before the eve of a general at-
tack by the combined fleets upon Cronstadt. However
—that eve has arrived—those troops are about
to be conveyed thither : and we must rest so far
satisfied with the results of the "festina lente
policy" of a perverse and procrastinating Govern-
ment.

Another " innocent " has been ruthlessly sacri-
ficed. Another bill has been postponed, we sup-
pose, "in consequence of the war." Never has
there been a session of such abundant promise—
but deplorably scanty performance. All that we
have got is additional taxation—a doubled Income
Tax, and enhanced duties on Malt, Spirits, and
Sugar. There has been no lack of activity in these
matters, that could so readily have been dispensed
with. While the various fiscal financial and Par-
liamentary reforms, for which the people were so
urgent, have all been adjourned to a more conve-
nient season.
The Testamentary Jurisdiction Bill is the latest
victim. After being carried successfully through
the House of Lords, despite the opposition
offered at every stage of its progress--
after weathering the storm, so far, it has been
surrendered at the first summons, and the Mini-
sterial flag struck, without a single shot being
fired, or rather a speech delivered, in favour of
the principle decided on, not recklessly or inconsi-
derately, but after mature and attentive conside-
ration. The gentlemen of the Ecclesiastical
Courts have thus obtained a brief respite. Another
year has been given to them to set their houses in
order, and to prepare for the inevitable changes
that must speedily take place. They have ample
notice of the nature of the proposed alterations,
and cannot put forward any reasonable demand
for time to make arrangements that should be
concluded during the interval thus unexpectedly
obtained. Since the matter has thus been
put off, it is now incumbent on every zealous,
consistent, and disinterested Legal Reformer to
exert all his energies to obtain a measure as per-
fect as possible—one that will tend towards the
grand object of having every matter brought
within the jurisdiction of a single tribunal compe-
tent to administer complete relief in any case,
however complicated, and to dispense with the
necessity of an application to any other Court, or
the assistance of different legal advisers, unknown
to the suitor, and in whom he cannot possibly en-
tertain the same confidence as in those by whom
he has been habitually guided in all his affairs for
a long series of years. We should then look to
the different points in which reform is loudly de-
manded and may be regarded as indispensable,
and see how all the necessary changes may be
made at one time, without being spread over a
series cf years, and doled out by scanty instal-'
ments.

The jurisdiction now possessed by the Ecclesi-
astical Courts applies to the proof of wills, or
the granting of letters of administration in cases
of intestacy—to matrimonial differences—with
power of declaring a marriage void ab initio, al-
though not of annulling one that had at any time
been valid—of granting divorces a menset et thoro,
and fixing the amount of alimony to be paid.
Admiralty or maritime cases, including the con-
demnation of all prizes taken from the enemy.
These are the most important points ; but there
are also cases of Church discipline—so far as the
clergy, churchwardens, or brawlers in church, and
church-rate defaulters are concerned, and also an
almost obsolete power of condemning par-
ties of certain descriptions of immorality,
or of defamation, to do penance and pay
costs. Now, it is quite clear that in all
these cases the law
may be far more advantage-
ously administered by another or other trbunals,
and that it is, therefore, useless to attempt to
bolster up a system radically defective, or to en-
deavour to erect new superstructures on an un-
sound foundation, all of which must tumble down
within a few short years. Far better would it be
altogether to remove the dilapidated and tottering,
concern, and to create a substantial building, suit-
able to the wants and exigencies of the country,
on a solid and permanent basis. The Ecclesias-
tical Courts must be abolished—the evil thing
must be cut off, root and branch. Nor do we
apprehend
that, when once it is irrevocably de-
cided, the testamentary jurisdiction—the most
lucrative branch of the business—shall be re-
moved, there will be much struggle on the other
points, which would not afford a living, or make
it worth while to retain the judicial staff and all
the subordinate officers attached to the different
Courts. The practitioners may exclaim with
SHYLOCK :--.

" You take my house when you do take the prop
That doth sustain my house ; you take my life,
When you do take the means whereby I live."

Knowing, therefore, that the comfortable mono-
poly which they so long enjoyed, and by means
whereof the elder practitioners so abundantly
feathered their nests, cannot be maintained, they
will be prepared to make a complete surrender on
the best terms that can be obtained. The citadel
being taken, they will not protract an untenable
defence of the comparatively worthless outposts.
The whole jurisdiction, then, should be trans-
ferred, and there has been much discussion as to
( whether it should be to a branch of the Court of
Chancery or to a separate tribunal or tribunals,
established for the purpose. The practitioners at
Doctors' Commons are strongly in favour of the
latter course, which would, to a certain extent at
least, continue to them the monopoly they
have so long enjoyed; and which we way add;

they have so grievously abused. But for
that very reason, we dread the proposition.
We suspect the Greeks, even when bearing pre-
tended gifts or offering seeming boons. We wish
a change that will not interfere with the contem-
plated fusion of law and equity—the amalgama-
tion of all the courts into one general jurisdiction,
where complete relief can be obtained. We do
not wish for separate proofs as to real or personal
estates, or to have one Court to declare whether
a will has been duly executed, and another to in-
terpret the provisions of the very same document,
and to decree that it be carried into practical ope-
ration, and cause all the necessary accounts to be
taken. For many reasons then, in addition to
those we have thus briefly put forward, we greatly
prefer a transfer of the entire jurisdiction to a
branch of the Court of Chancery ; and we ear-
nestly hope that Lord CRANWORTH may abide by
the decision at which he arrived after abundant
and careful consideration.

Another attempt has been made to liberate the
demon of religious strife, another effort to create
an annual cause of quarrel and contention that
would excite the angry passions of the multitude,
and occasion the worst description of,
" Civil dissension, with its vip'rous tooth,
That gnaws the bowels of the commonweal."
Had Mr. SPOONER unfortunately proved success-
ful there would have been discussions every
session, embittered by all the rancour of sectarian
spleen and bigotry. Her MAJESTY'S subjects
would be arrayed in opposition to each other, and
actuated by the fiercest passions. The " compa-
rative SPOONER" or the " superlative PLUMPTRE,"
if that Hon. Gentleman should be prevailed on again
to enlighten the House with his lucubrations,
would be always prepared to denounce the reli-
gion of many millions of the people—thinking
that they rendered GOD service by cutting off the
supplies and leaving without the means of sup-
port those who were educating for the ministry
of the Roman Catholic Church. Nor would there
be wanting doughty champions on the other side,
ready and willing to carry on a guerilla warfare,
and to attack the enemy's camp on any or no
provocation. There would unquestionably be
found a Catholic Roland for the Protes-
tant Oliver. If the " Exeter Haitians"
could boast of a SPOONER, the " Ultra-Montanists"
might exult in " a Lucas." If NEWDEGATE
should be pointed to with pride on the one side,
might not MOORE or DUFFY be exalted on the
other ?

We have, indeed, escaped a very serious evil,
far more formidable to the national peace and
tranquillity of the country than the absentees—
the Hon. Gentlemen who preferred their soup and
fish, and the other agremens of the social board
to the dreary eloquence of the proposer and
seconder—could have any notion of what pledges
might be exacted from would-be legislators. How
might aspiring candidates be badgered by ultra-
Protestant voters—no man could possibly remain
neutral. No man could avoid giving offence to
those whom, although adversaries, he could not
help respecting. A week of each session should
at least be devoted to squabbles and disputes, and
the members should make up their minds to
breathe for that time the polluted atmosphere of
the House, in place of the pure air of heaven " on
mountain, lake, or sea," according to their vari-
ous pursuits and fancies. Nothing, indeed, since
the flinging of the golden apple on Mount
Ida could have so greatly promoted the cause of
" Discord" as the SPOONER amendment to the
Public Revenue and Consolidated Fund Charges
Bill, if it had not indeed proved fatal to the fur-
ther progress of that excellent measure.

It must be recollected that the object of Mr.
SPOONER was to repeal, by a side wind, a matter
that had, after protracted and angry discussion,
been deliberately sanctioned by Parliament. For
all practical purposes there might as well have
been a repeal of the Emancipation Act, and an
annual discussion on the subject of the oaths to
be sworn by Honourable Members before taking
their seats, or a blank left in the schedule of the
duties on corn, which was to be filled up in Com-
mittee of Supply during the debates on the Ways
and Means in every Session. Those who can re-
collect the universal agitation that prevailed in
every district throughout the entire country, in
1845, when Sir ROBERT PEEL, taking the bull
by the horns, determined to take the sense of the
country, and, if possible, to remove this fertile
source of disunion, will perceive the magnitude of
the danger that has been averted by a majority
of 16 only—a majority that might have been
changed into a minority had the honourable and
Learned Gentleman, the Member for Youghal,
been enabled to occupy the attention of the
House, while the Opposition whippers-in were
driving the unwilling absentees from the pleasures
of the table to the dry discussion. Fortunately,
however, the " time glass" had been turned, ani,
as according to the recent understanding, no de-
bate should be resumed after that event, the
Honourable and Learned Gentleman was obliged
unwillingly to yield, in deference to the general
feeling. Hence it was, perhaps, that we are
enabled this day to congratulate the country on
the great evil that has been averted, and to
indulge in the comfortable reflection, that Parlia-
ment will not have so dainty a dish provided for
its entertainment as that which Mr. SPOONER pro-
mised to bestow. Of one point, at least, we feel
perfectly certain, that, although there would b&
many sufferers, the chief would be the members
of the Established Church in Ireland—the most
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and the expenses of the establishment allowed by
the Bth and 9th VICTORIA, chap. 25.

THE COUNT-OUT LAST NIGHT.

Mr. J. Bell
Mr. Blackett
Mr. Bowyer
Mr. Brot herton
Mr. Cheetham
Mr. Currie
Mr. Fielden
Mr. W. J. Fox
Mr. Geach
Mr. M. Gibson
Mr. Greene
Sir J. Graham
Marquis of Granby
Mr. Greenall
Mr. Hadfield
Mr. Heywood

Mr. Hawkins
Lord Hotham
Mr. Mitchell
Mr. Pollard-Urquhart
Sir W. Molesworth
Mr. Pugh
Mr. A. Pellatt
Dr. Phillimore
Mr. J. G. Phillimore
Mr. W. P. Price
Mr. Roebuck
Lord D. Stuart
Mr. Vernon
Sir J. Walmsley
Mr. W. A. Wilkinson
Mr. Warner