The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-06 00:00:00

not one among that motley group of Statesmen
can be regarded as capable of being classed
with those individuals who are indifferent
to the allurements of power, animi nil
magnce laudis egentes, persons blind to the
glory of securing a really noble and beneficent
reputation. We rest satisfied that they cordially
accede to the truth of the old classic opinion,
that we never view praise with contempt until we
have ceased to perform actions really praise-
worthy, non pries laudes cptempsimus, quam
laudanda facere desivimus. Nevertheless, all
these "good intentions" have failed hitherto to
ripen into good performances. Perhaps, after
all, there is some reason in that facetious con-
jecture of the political writer in the current
number of Blackwood, insinuating a sort
of legislative and administrative dead-lock arising
out of the anomalous and embarrassing position of
the present Ministry as a Coalition. " Every
one of them," says the contributor to Maga,
" every one of them, knowing he cannot do what
he would, keeps his eye on his neighbour, that he
shall not stir." It is, according to his estimate
of it, precisely what Mr. PUFF calls " situation"—
" every one holds his dagger at his fellow's throat,
yet none dare strike." May not this be a fitting
retribution. Everything was sacrificed by the mem-
bers of the existing Cabinet for the delight of gain-
ing one situation—meaning "office"—and the very
realisation of this desire has been_productive of
another situation meaning the " dead-lock"
already specified. Yet to gain this enviable position
our rulers, as we have implied, sacrificed boldly
all jealousies, contentions, and predilections, to
say nothing whatever about mere consistency. It
was with a rather indelicate perception of the diffi-
culties arising out of the incongruity of the prin-
ciples cherished by the different Members of this
Coalition Cabinet that Viscount MAIDSTONE--
alluding, of course, to the Ministerial Ark floun-
dering about in the present Political Deluge—
inquired only the other day, with such comical
indecorum—

" How shall the self-denying lion pass
A friendly morning with the pert young ass ?
Or old-wife's canniest contrivance pen
Reforming REYNARD with an Oxford Hen I"
How, indeed—when the reconcilement of all these
bewildering differences (remember that !) is left
entirely and unconditionally to the judgment of
cet excellent :

" A good old man who very fondly hopes
With patent sand to manufacture ropes !"

Yet, in the midst of all these intestine wars
of the Cabinet these interior wranglings
in the Ark—we can fancy its occupants awed
into a momentary panic by that terrible cry of
" Breakers ahead !" An obstacle discoverable
by even the most purblind amongst them in the
grim approach to that inexorable and inevitable
Budget. Yes, in that direction at least, there is
some source of satisfaction. There, at least, we
can have no additional procrastination. It tempts
one to a tolerably free reading of SHAKSPERE.
The Budget, the Budget is the thing with
which we'll catch the conscience of the Govern-
ment. At any rate the financial difficulty
of the Administration can no longer be blinked.
Already we are hastening to its consideration
perceptibly, with every throb upon the dial.
The renewal of the. East India Charter may be
deferred. There may be further delays in the
reform of the general system of representation.
The problem of education may even now at the
eleventh hour be adroitly waived by some ingeni-
ous postponement. But, under any circumstances,
the country must find itself empowered to regard
the Budget as the test of the real character of the
Administration. The last financial year has just
closed. The new one has within the last
few hours commenced. Mr. GLADSTONE is
thus impelled in spite of himself to the turning-
point in the destinies of the Coalition. Will he
draw wisdom from the experience of his immedi-
ate predecessors ?—or will he, according to the
wont of one of his Ministerial colleagues (a Right
Hon. Baronet who once wore the gold robe to no
better purpose than to scatter brick-dust in the
eyes of the population), will he, according to the
wont of Sir CHARLES WOOD, speak with the
fatuity by no means peculiar to a Chancellor
of the Exchequer ? " Video meliora, proboque :
deteriora sequor." That is scarcely credible
with a statesman as gifted and astute as
the Right Hon. Gentleman the Member for
the University of Oxford—and yet to hesitate in
entertaining the mere possibility, wo should be
setting at nought the remembrance of many
grievous national disappointments. Whatever
else may dismay him in the onerous task of laying
his Financial Statement before the House of Com-
mons, Mr. GLADSTONE will be sustained at least
by one very considerable encouragement. He
will have the unlimited support of all the combined
forces of the Coalition. It was under no such inciting
auspices that Mr. DISRAELI adventured upon his
famous exposition as to the Ways and Means of the
country. Whether it were factious or not factious, an
Opposition of very formidable numbers, and of
very stubborn resolution, was arrayed from first
to last against the scheme of that Right Hon.
Gentleman. After the close of his elaborate state-
ment, he was rewarded by little beyond the honest
and hearty eulogium of that most candid of all
Protectionists, the Representative of the North
Riding of Yorkshire. It will not be thus with
his successor the present CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER. He will have marshalled against
him no such banded antagonists. He, too,
will have doubtless somewhat more ardent
and more numerous encomiasts. If the
knowledge of this do not inspire Mr. GLAD-
STONE with an over-confidence in the security of
his own position, it will be well for the fortune of
the country and for the stability of his party—if
there really be such a thing discoverable anywhere,
under the roof-tree of the Reform Club, or under
that of the Conservative. For doubts like these
will insinuate themselves upon our recognition in
the thick of all this wide-spread political confusion
—a confusion almost reducing one to the profound
Condition of unbelief expressed by Mr. MONTA GUE
TIOG when he exclaimed—" I reject the supersti-
tions of ages, and believe nothing : I don't even
believe that I don't believe—curse me if I do 1"
It thus happens that Mr. GLADSTONE enjoys the
privilege of bringing forward his Financial State-
ment precisely in the delightful crisis of this
epoch of bewilderment.

" Hit him hard, he has no friends !" The
homely adage has but too much foundation in
fact. We find not merely individuals, but
classes, occasionally ostracised, whom it is the
fashion to run down, until every puny whip-
ster thinks that he may gain character by
flinging a stone against far better men
than himself. For many years the tide has
set in steadily against Railway Directors
and railway Shareholders. The railway interest
generally appears to be the mark for every en-
venomed shaft that can be launched against it.
It would almost seem as if those to whose spirit
and enterprise we are indebted for the iron net-
work that intersects the country, affording facili-
ties for intercommunication hitherto unknown,
and which but a few short years ago
would be regarded as totally impossible,
were looked upon not as national benefactors,
the heaviest blows, the greatest possible discourage-
ment.
to
b y renderan y Directorsreasonable
This feeling was recently illustrated by
but as persons on whom it was desirable to inflict
one of the cartoons of our facetious contemporary
Punch, which represented a couple of Railway
Directors, bound " Mazeppa-like," to a loco-
motive engine, in order to encounter the
danger of the first collision ; it is also ex-
hibitedanxietynot averted
criminally responsible for any fatal accident,
although it might arise • from causes
beyond
heircontinrol, the
end
precautions. And it shone
conspicuously
in the
motion which was last night brought under the
consideration of the House of Commons,
but sub-
sequently withdrawn, as soon as the missiles had
been cast against the party
assailed.
That there have been many formidable acci-
dents it is impossible to deny. But could these
accidents be averted ? That
is one question ; and
considering the other conditions demanded--of
extraordinary speed
andnumerous trains—Are