The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-26 00:00:00

and ignominiously expelled from the ranks of the
Government—he has now, in the December of
1853, with exemplary meekness, eaten humble
pie, by his fluctuating and timorous proceedings in
regard to the Coalition, by throwing up office in a
pet and by resuming it with an utterly incon-
sistent promptitude.
The remarkable incident which has just been
completed by the return of Lord PALMERSTON to
the Coalition, or rather by his continuance in it (for
the proffered resignation of the Home Secretary
was never accepted by his Sovereign), has at any
rate been so far useful that it has revealed yet more
clearly the utter absence of principle in this
strange jumble of a Government. Elsewhere will
be found, placed side by side in parallel columns,
the estimate of the Home Secretary, exactly as it
has been given to the public, first on the 16th of
December, and then on the 26th of December, in
the official organ of the Administration. And a
worthy organ has the Times proved itself to be of
this notable ABERDEEN Coalition worthy in
chivalrous and high-principled consistency ! A
glance at those two comments on the character
of the Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton will
sufficiently indicates the union prevailing in the
Councils of the Administration—thus blowing
almost in the same breath hot and cold through
the mouthpiece of the olla podrida Government.
Speaking of Lord PALMERSTON'S proffered resigna-
tion, the official organ of to-day remarks that it
has been found " that no imperious dictates of
conscience or of thity, by which alone such a step
could be justified, did, in this instance, require so
great a sacrifice." In that case, so much the
more heinous, therefore, the culpability of the
Noble Viscount in carrying disorder into the
Councils of his Sovereign by so ill-advised and un-
necessary a step at a period of such critical and
momentous emergency. But the truth of all this
is, as was observed by one of our weekly con-
temporaries on Saturday, that " the present
Ministry resolves itself into a clique of
doctrinaires attempting to govern a great
country by COURT favour." It is the truth
—a truth mast bitter and undeniable. And
among these men must now be numbered in
seemingly indissoluble combination, " for better,
for worse," one who has thrown away political
self-respect, and an enviable popularity for the
satisfaction of entering once more into the bosom
of a timorous, hesitating, unpatriotic, and—there
is but one word for it—Germanised Government.

We greatly fear that the present will not prove
to be by any means a merry Christmas to the
thousands and tens of thousands of persons who,
at Preston and other manufacturing districts, are
eating the bread of idleness, in place of earning
their own subsistence by their own honest indus-
try. Nor are the auguries as to the happiness of
the approaching new year by any means more
propitious. Those who have been " playing"
without cessation for three or four months, who have
spent their entire time in listless idleness, cannot
enjoy their holiday with so keen a zest as their
more energetic brethren who are actively engaged
during the working days, and have therefore
merited the enjoyment and repose incidental to
the great festival. The roast beef and plum-
pudding which have been paid for from the fairly-
acquired wages have a flavour not appertaining to
the produce of mendicancy, and the supply whereof
had abridged the comforts that might otherwise
have appeared on the tables of other working
men. 808 CRA TCHITI s Goose—that inimitable
bird on which TINY TIM and his brethren exulted
with such exceeding joy—would not have excited
such extraordinary demonstrations of delight but
for the knowledge that it had been fairly and
laboriously acquired, and that no reproach of CAII-
- no secret whisper from " the still small
voice," could mar the enjoyment of those assem-
bled round the family board to partake of the
universal feast.

It would be fortunate for those engaged in the
internecine contest between masters and opera-
tives if they would devote a small portion of their
abundant leisure to considering the nature and
probable consequences of the present dispute. If
they would think for themselves, calmly and dis-
passionately, in place of accepting all the absur-
dities uttered by Messrs. CowELL and Co., they
would clearly perceive the suicidal folly of the
course adopted, and the ruinous results that must
follow a continuance in the same path. Hitherto
they have viewed the matter through a distorted
medium—they have suffered themselves to be de-
luded by interested delegates, who acknowledge
that they are receiving 2/. per week each for doing
nothing, except occasionally spouting at meetings,
or eating and drinking at " jerry shops," being
about double the amount that they could obtain
by their labour, even if paid according to the
scale of prices for which they are contending.
Let them henceforth think and act for themselves,
without thinking themselves bound to render a
servile and unreasoning obedience to the despotic
mandates of any man or body of men, more espe-
cially of persons respecting whose motives so
many grave suspicions may be entertained.
Let those, then, who are invited to join in the
onslaught against "capital " seriously inquire
what that "capital" is which they seek to destroy,
and also how or by what means it is that they
themselves and their fathers have received better
wages, and consequently enjoyed a greater com-
mand over the " comforts" of life than persons
of a similar status in other old countries. We
say " old ' countries, because it is manifest that
no fair comparison can be instituted with "new"
territories where the population, in place of being
in excess, is palpably deficient. Accurate answers
to these interrogatories will enable them to arrive
at a sound conclusion on the general points at
issue between themselves and their quondam mas-
ters. ' " Capital" then is neither more nor less
than " hoarded labour "—the accumulations and
savings of persons who by the exertion of skill and
intelligence, industry, and economy, have been
enabled to improve their positions in life, and
achieve a higher point in the social scale. Every
energetic and well-disposed man—every one who
feels that he possesses superior qualities to the
majority of those by whom he is surrounded,
would deeply regret the downfall of "capital." If
it were possible that such should be the case,
there would be no motive to stimulate exertions,
or to induce parties to engage in laudable enter-
prises. The people would spend their lives in a
state of apathetic indifference, and their condition
Full and
would speedily become truly deplorable.
perfect "equality" is absolutely impossible. Even
if everything were thrown into a general fund,
and that " Communism" were practicable, we
should speedily find some persons elevating them-
selves above, and others sinking below, the general
level. A single day would dispel the visions that
had been indulged in. No well-disposed person,
no man conscious of possessing qualities beyond
those of the myriads by whom he was surrounded,
would consent to do away with the legitimate re-
wards for superiority in any department, or, in
other words, to the overthrow of "capital."
But it is the use of this very "capital" that
has improved the position of the working men in
in this country beyond those of their fel-
lows in other lands. It is because the
use or interest of money is cheaper in Eng-
land than abroad—because our master manu-
facturers possess greater monetary facilities than
their competitors, that the produce of our looms
are to be found in every country. It is that
which creates the demand for labour, and enables
the English operative to enjoy comforts utterly
unknown to, or far beyond, the hopes of his less
fortunate brethren. But that cheapness of money
arises from its security, and if that " security" be
taken away, the " cheapness " and facilities will
follow, and, England will, be outstripped in the
race by nations where the many have less freedom
and cannot enter into the injurious combinations
here tolerated. The increase of wages beyond
the ware which the masters could afford to pay