The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-06 00:00:00

the assistance of the ALMIGHTY], combating for
our persecuted brethren, followers of the faith of
CHRIST, with one accord let all Russia exclaim—
' 0 LoRD, our Redeemer ! whom shall we fear ?
May GOD be glorified and his enemies be scat-
tered l'" Assuredly we cannot be guilty of any
extravagance in saying that seldom before have
the HOLY NA3IES been more flagrantly dragged
through the mire and blood of an infamous
conflict by the hands of a great political blas-
phemer.
It is impossible, at the same time, not to detect
through all this affected confidence, the CZAR'S
secret desire to ward off, even now, the blow im-
pending over his empire from the armaments,
both military and maritime, of the two most
powerful races of Christendom. He says, no
doubt, in his letter to the Emperor of the FRENCH
—" menaces will not induce me to recede."
But the whole tone of that communication, though
haughty at moments, cannot but be regarded, com-
ing as it does directly from the hand of this mighty
AUTOCRAT of all the Russias, as really on the whole
somewhat meek and conciliatory. Listen to him—
"lf your Majesty should frankly return to our pro-
gramme—if you should proffer me a cordial
hand, as I now offer it to you at this
last moment—l will willingly forget what has
wounded my feelings in the past : then, Sire,
but then only, we may discuss, and perhaps we
may come to an understanding." Fine words
enough—but picture to yourself, 0 unbiassed
beholder of these occurrences ! picture to
yourself the Emperor NICHOLAS, on the
Bth of February, sitting clown in his Cabinet
at St. Petersburgh, and writing about his
" wounded feelings !" As we have already but
just now remarked—after the mission of MEN-
SCHIKOFF, and the aggression of GORTSCHA KOFF, and
the massacre at Sinope, and the seizure of the two
Principalities ! Effrontery could not assuredly
surpass this—yet the effrontery of the CZAR is
altogether exceeded, as we have said, by his bias,
phemous allusions at the same time to DIVINE
PROVIDENCE.

Nothing now remains to be learnt beyond the
reply of the Emperor NICHOLAS to the final de-
mand sent to him simultaneously by the Four
Allied Governments. The nature of that
reply may be readily anticipated. It may
be the more readily anticipated now after
the appearance of this autograph espistle to
the French EMPEROR, and especially after the
appearance of this most insensate and flagitious
Proclamation. War, then, to the knife—guerre
a rotdrance—in the Black Sea, in the Baltic, on
the Danube, in the Caucasus. And then indeed
" GOD defend the Right" in that supreme junc-
ture, when France and England, side by side,
shall be fighting against Russian Barbarism the
battle of Civilisation.

We fully share the mortification of all sincere
Liberals at the postponement of the second read-
ing of the New Reform Bill, but can neither join
in unfair denunciation of its author, nor in over
sanguine hopes of what a month may bring forth.
We would not be unfair to Lord JOHN himself ;
he has every inducement to stand by his bill ;
for, although from his own confession he would
have preferred a 5/. borough franchise, all the
other parts probably are quite after his own
neart. The tables we published on Thursday,
and which we repeat to-day, more enlarged,
show what an inconsistent amount of petty
boroughs are still enfranchised, while so many
larger towns remain unrepresented. The minority
clause in the counties is specially favourable to
Whig landlords, and no future Reform Bill will
be tolerated which lets off Whigs and Tories so
easily as these two arrangements. Radicals will
insist on more, and will get it. Hence, we think,
Lord JOHN'S strong aristocratic prepossessions
guarantee his earnestness for the present bill.
Something considerable is due, also, to his man-
liness in bringing it forward while the clouds of
war were gathering very thick, and when all the
croakers and hostile at heart were calling upon
him to alter his course. He then stoutly refused
even to shorten sail ; and now that the storm is
all but ready to burst, he ought to be permitted
to lay-to, without damage to his sincerity or his
courage. We were proud of his genuine English
boldness at the time, and are willing to give him
the benefit of it how. We will not deny, also,
that the main reasons he gave for postponement were
practical and obvious ones. The Ways and Means
will occupy the time at least till thenth ; for while
there will be, we are confident, an unflinching
determination to find them, the method of doing
so may give rise to very serious and protracted
debates. Then the final message from the CZAR
will be arriving, and even we confess to a wish
not to have the Reform discussions just at that
time. Our hearts and heads will, in spite of our-
selves, be fuller of something else. If, as every
one seems to think, the answer will be war, that
will absorb us for a time, and well, if we get our
mental balance for another month. If it be that
the very apparition of NAPIER in the Baltic has
frightened the brutal bully of St. Petersburg
into concession, then, indeed, will the British
public need to watch with Argus eyes that secret
diplomacy does not present us with another blue
book, after the mischief is clone, of gulled Minis-
ters, of all our vast preparatory expenditure for
nothing, and of Russia still master of its stolen
territories ; still impudently barring two large
seas against the fleets of the most civilised nations
of Europe; and still but hybernating during the
blasts of European indignation, ready to resume
its savage activity when the sunshine of general
peace returns. The character of the bill, there-
fore, and the reasons assigned by Lord JOHN,
together with his whole bearing ou the subject,
give us hope that postponement only is meant.
On the other hand it is not easy to forget Lord
JOHN'S past. We gladly give him the benefit of
his appeal to his determined fight for the first
Reform Bill. Still we are haunted by the recol-
lection of liberal pledges abandoned, and party
plans renounced, under the pressure of anincon-
veniently large opposition. Lord JOHN's name is
too closely associated with an " Appropriation
Clause" now quite turned to dust ; with "Fina-
lity" of the first Reform Bill, renounced in due
time, and solemnly interred at the birth of the
second one, which latter was, indeed, little better
than a substitute for finality under the name of
Reform. Now, however, we have at least a sche-
dule A and a schedule B worth having, though
leaving ample scope for two more schedules quite
equal to them. Church Rates, Endowing Irish
Priests, the Eight Shilling Duty, a Durham
Letter, ending in an Ecclesiastical Titles Act ;
such things again will remind us that L)rd
JOHN can yield to the exigencies of office, and
work on pretty patiently too, Fully believing,
therefore, that he would prefer to make the last
great improvement on his own Reform Bill which
it is likely, as he may hope, to receive in his life-
time, we yet must remember that, like Hostrat's
heroes, ho can run, and run away, too, as well as
fight.
Again, if reports be true, of which probably
imagination rather than knowledge is the parent,
he has not a very unanimous or cordial Cabinet
with him. For ourselves, we see no reason why
the Bill should be at all objectionable to the vete-
ran Statesman whose name is most prominent in
these reports. It will rather benefit than injure,
in all likelihood, the party with which he has
acted so long in later years. Setting aside,
however, Cabinet difficulties, of which, except by
conjecture from character, we ought to know no-
thing, the house of Commons can hardly be
really well disposed towards such a measure. All
the members to be unseated must, to a man, in-
wardly dislike the bill. Then it would seem the
Tory county members do not relish, as we ex-
pected they would not, the thought of a RUSSELLITE
colleague. Some even of the borough members
appear to be in no small affliction at the prospect
of forming but two-thirds of the representatives of
their large constituencies; anti others, as if nothing
Would please, are angry that a third colleague is
not allotted to them. All this added to the gene-
ral antipathy of the great Conservative party to
any reform, presents a formidable array of indi-
vidual and party hostility; a large part of it, too,
being rather
ashamed to manifest
gladly ride off wader cover of
itself openly,
of a factious