The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-19 00:00:00

vent occurrences thus destructive of the liberty of
Europe and calamitous to the nations of Christen-
dom that England and France have risen in arms
together. It is to this end that they have drawn
the sword—the sword which must nut be sheathed
until after the downfall, the complete and perma-
nent downfall, of this dread design of the CZAR
shall have been accomplished. It is for this that
the gallant soldiers and sailors of France
and England have gone forth to battle, side by
side, under the blended banners of the union
jack and the tricolour.
Englishmen should carefully bear in mind the
words we have here quoted, literatim et verbatim,
the memorable words uttered on Wednesday last
from the platform at Guildhall, :words particu-
larly memorable, as uttered by Lord JOHN RUS-
SELL, not merely as the elected representative of
the metropolis, but also, and particularly in his
twofold capacity as Leader of the House of Com-
mons, and President of the Council; and, as such
(as we have already intimated) the peculiarly
authoritative organ of the sentiments of her MA-
JRSTY'S Government.
According to the reiterated avowal of Lord
Jolts, the object of the present war is not simply
peace—but Peace of a peculiar kind, a Peace hav-
ing, the three remarkable advantages of being
durable, solid, and honourable. Now it is quite
obiious that a Peace effected without the proviso
of—(borrowing a phrase from the Emperor '
NWHoLss, " I thank thee, CZAR, for teaching me
that phrase I")—some " material guarantee" of
the future good conduct of the Russian Govern-
ment could not possibly be a. durable peace, or a
solid peace, or anhonourable peaee. It could not, we
insist, be durable without that absolutely necessary
stipulation—nor could it be solid—neither, of
course, could it be honourable. An honourable
peace, a peace honourable to France and England
as the allies of Turkey could only be one securing
to the Sublime Porte and its allies the advantages
of territorial guarantees and pecuniary compen-
sation.

It is altogether idle to talk of the likelihood
of a compromise with the AUTOCRAT on the
mere understanding that his troops shall eva-
cuate the Principalities. A compromise such as
that, supposing it were possible for it to be
effected, would brand indelible infamy on the
annals of France and England. It would be,
not the vigorous destruction, but the cowardly
evasion of a great peril to the liberties of Europe
and the general well-being of Christendom. It
would merely postpone the evil day, and that,
moreover, in all human likelihood, to a time
when Russia, and not the enemies of Russia,
might behold within reach the inesti-
mable boon of a rare and priceless oppor-
tunity. Never again can circumstances be more
propitious for the champions of civilisation than
they are at the present moment. GOD knows if
they can ever be equally so at any epoch in the
hereafter ! England and France, each governed
by a brave, trustworthy, chivalrous, and
constitutional Sovereign, England and France
cordially allied, with their armies blended
and their fleets combined, with their
swords drawn and their banners unfurled in the
sacred cause of justice and humanity, and no
longer to the lawless ends of Pride and Ambition-L
England and France thus governed, thus united,
and thus gloriously in arms together may, with
GoD's blessing, decide, at once and for all, as it
were with one blow, the happy destiny of the
human race, the liberty of Europe, the peace of
Christendom, and the progress of Civilisa-
tion. Will that blow be struck 7 Or
shall the two-handed sword, raised against the
representative of Barbarism and Tyranny, be
ignobly lowered and sheathed ? . Remembering
what has already occurred, anticipating the pro-
bable future consequent upon the selection made
in that alternative—would it, we ask, be wise, to
say nothing about its being either generous or
honourable, for France and England to forego
the present glorious and unparalleled opportunity ?

Last week we pointed out some obvious objec-
tions to the Divorce and Matrimonial Clauses
Bill, showing that although it was unquestionably
a step in the right direction, it still fell far short
of the exigencies of the case, and would scarcely
be deemed worthy of acceptance, but that it might
be regarded as the introduction of " the sharp end
of the wedge"—the first attempt at anything like
general legislation on the interesting and impor-
tant subject. We did not, however, restrict our-
selves to merely indicating the defects in the
measure now before Parliament, but briefly indi-
cated the nature of the remedy which would
alone be sufficient to overcome the manifold diffi-
culties by which the question is environed, and to
afford relief at a moderate 'charge, without
in any. degree abating the vigilance and
strictness essential to prevent connivance,
and at the same time to induce parties to exercise
mutual forbearance and forgiveness, so that the
Court should indeed be one of " the last resort,"
which should not be sought until everything else
had failed, and there was no longer the slightest
hope remaining of a permanent reunion.
The contemplated tribunal would indeed sup-
ply every possible security that could be antici-
pated. But we would remind the Lord Chan-
cellor that security is not the only desideratum.
We have (although not to so great an extent as
may be supposed, as we shall presently show) that
at present. So great indeed are the precautions
taken, that ninety-nine out of a hundred of those
entitled to relief are virtually prohibited from
making even an attempt to obtain it ; while the
more wealthy man, to whom money is xo object,
may break through every difficulty. Suits are
multiplied ; but that alone is not sufficient.

There must be the decision of a Common
Law Court in an action against the alleged
adultress. There is, however, in that
proceeding this strange anomaly, that
the action being merely one for damages, which
the wife cannot be called on to pay, she has no
locus standi in Court—no position that would
entitle her to appear by Counsel, or to question
the validity of the proofs on which hang her own
fair fame and reputation—all, in fact, that ren-
ders life desirable, nor can she be examined
under any circumstances. Although the testi-
mony of the parties is now admissible in almost
every other description of action, it is still ex-
cluded in actions of crim. con., and some others
of a similar character. There is, therefore, no
opportunity of examining the wife as to her in-
noeence, or the husband as to provocation or
connivance. In the first stage of. the pro-
ceedings everything is lost sight of but
the X. s. d. view of the case, and it is practically
worthless as a precaution, although it creates
an additional, and frequently an insuperable, ob-
stacle in the way of a poor man. As a simple
illustration of its inutility, judgment may be ob-
tained by default. If the defendant omit to enter
an appearance within eight days, the judgment so
fatal to the unfortunate female may be entered,
so that she may be sacrificed through the careless-
ness or connivance of a party over whom she has
no control.

The next step in the Ecclesiastical Court may
be obtained by the connivance of the wife, as the
the oonalrruanutueditY,
foneTceasrehayh.ethisathof the alleged paramour. In the
And in neithere ut out •; in the other he is excluded.
ist there any one on the part of
o prevent that which, if impro-
perly
magnitude.
wouldoffence against
be a serious social griev-
ance--anis to be found only against society of no ordi-
naryreal safeguard then
theininp-arl final stage, the ultimate
officer to
l°
oawndatecvhetnheiament there is no public
public. It is true that proceedingsl on the part of the
the LORD CHANCELLOR
for the time being, or some othert. Law Lord, in-
stitutes a very stringent scrutiny into the evi-
dence, but the nature thereof is in a some degree
dependent on accident, on some
ualanswer,
of
which opens up a now lineexamination ;
while, on the other hand, there is the danger of
the Judge being partly merged in the Advocate,
and attaching undue weight to some point which
his acuteness has developed and magnified into
undue importance.
We have thus shown that although
,the pre-
sent system prohibits any attempt to seek rellif
by any but a wealthy sufferer, who can