The Sun.
London, England, 1870-07-23 00:00:00

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MORNING EDITION.

LONDON, SA7 URDAY, JULY 23, 1870.

ENGLAND, we may rest assured, will upon the
instant acquit both Mr. GLADSTONE and Mr. CARD•
WELL from the charge of servility most rashly pre-
ferred against them both yesterday by our leading
contemporary. Servility is not in the nature of either.
A disposition to servility is about the very last that,
as a rule, could be looked for among English statesmen.
In the instance of Mr. GLADSTONE, we had hardly
thought that anyone, even the most virulent among
his political traducers, would ever have ventured
upon a statement so eminently ridiculous as that of
imputing servility to one; the fault of whose tempera-
ment is rather that it has been, upon various
occasions before now, so repellant and unconcilia-
tory, in the House of Commons, for example, that it
notoriously led, more than anything else, to the
break up, for the time being, of the great Liberal
party, very soon after the death of Lord
PALMERSTON, and to their temporary expulsion
from office at the close of Lord RUSSELL'S
last and briefest administration. Again, as to Mr.
CARDWELL, the charge of sycophancy or of subservi-
ency towards anyone is about the very last that any
individual would dream of directing against him
with the smallest hope of its sticking like a burr of a
splash of mud. The unlikeliest thing of all about
this extravagant accusation, hurled with the right
hand and with the left simultaneously against the
Prime Minister and the War Minister of England, is
that it is a charge of servility—so says the great self-

appointed Public Prosecutor who arraigns them thus
arrogantly at the bar of Public Opinion—evidenced
towards one of the two formidable potentates. one
of the two belligerent sovereigns, whu, armed to I,lle
teeth, is now mustering his forces along the Northttin
frontiers of his dominions, and threatening, by the
complication and expansion of the war, to set all
Europe in a flame. Everything considered, it is
surely the most unlikely time for an English states-
man to evidence servility towards any foreign Power
upon earth, even supposing for one instant,
what we absolutely deny, that it were in keeping
with any one of his antecedents, that he would
under any conceivable circumstances, display syco-
phancy to any foreign sovereign. The imputation
directed against both the eminent statesmen referred
to, against Mr. GLADSTONE and against Mr. CARD-
WELL, is, in one word, simply outrageous.
It originated—this daring charge of servility
towards the EMPEROR of the FRENCH, as evidenced,
it was said, both by the SECRETARY of WAR and by
the FIRST LORD of the TREASITRY-11l the
decision arrived at, not in the Cabinet Council
tbut simply at the War Office, not by the Ministers
collectively, but by one of them individually, that
no British officer, either on full pay or on half pay,
should be allowed to go to the seat of war in the
capacity of a newspaper correspondent. The decision
arrived at in this matter by the SECRETARY for
WAR, in concert with H.R.H., the COMMANDER-
IN-CHIEF, was dictated purely and solely by
considerations of discipline. It was conceived by
our military authorities—and not very extra-
vagantly conceived by them— that under existing
circumstances it might be just as well if there were no
hazard at either camp, in the Prussian Camp, or in the
French Camp, of having any premature disclosures
during the progress of the war, attributed to this or
that officer of a nation proclaiming from
the outset that its position was one of the strictest
neutrality. Added to which considerations it

seemed incompatible with the position of officers
and gentlemen in receipt from the Exchequer of pay
in that two-fold capacity (it matters little whether
full pay or half pay), it seemed incompatible to
our military authorities that those officers and gentle-
men should, in any other capacity, be employ-
ing their time and abilities for pay else-
where at a juncture in the affairs of Europe so
doubtful and so critical, that it is, to say the least of
it, certainly within the limits of possibility that Eng-
land may find her neutral position no longer tenable, and
that she may be compelled to choose her side between
the two great belligerents. It is a matter of regret,
no doubt, to the public at large that Captain
HOSIERS abilities can no longer be applied to the
Times as war correspondent, but the exigencies of
the service have to be regarded as well as the exi-
gencies of journalism. But, in ally case, it is surely
wide of the mark, directing a disgraceful charge
of servility, because of this, against Ministers of

State as high-minded and as fully alive to the dignity
of their position as such, as the Secretary for War
and the Prime Minister of England.

The question, " Where shall we go this summer,"
always puzzling to answer, will offer special diffi-
culties this year. One favourite theatre of operations
will be positively forbidden to tourists. The valley
of the Rhine, and all the region round about
the frontier of Germany which adjoins France,
is already in the possession of hostile
armies, and all idea must be abandoned of resting
from the labours of the year in a district which will
be a prey to the horrors and discomforts of a cam-
paign. This prohibition will extend to many
favoured places. All down the Rhine from above
Cologne to the Swiss frontier will be closed. Nancy,
Metz, and Strasburg stand in the midst of debate-
able ground. The seductions of Homburg, Baden,
and the many kindred places on German territory
will tempt no more. In short, West Germany
and East France must be struck off the list
of possible exploration grounds. Still, there
remains an excellent selection. Italy, of

cour4c, is open. Spain will not fight, and
therefore the adventurous traveller who fears not
brigands and the discomforts of indifferent hotel-fare
may try an experiment upon the romantic scenery of
the Ebro valley. There ought to be no difficulty
in entering Switzerland by way of Geneva:
indeed, the little Republic is likely to be a gainer
to some extent by the contest, and the idea of its
embroiling itself in war without any pr3vocation—as
one of our contemporaries imagines—is so much the
more improbable. Possibly a few more travellers
may make up their minds to examine "Free Russia."
Moreover, as it is so easy now to cross an ocean and
a continent or two, it is not at all unlikely
that m any will turn their attention to the
United States, with a view to a run across the
Rocky Mountains, a flying visit to Salt Lake, and
glance at the finest scenery in the world in the
Yosemite Valley. We are sorry to report a grievous
drawback to the realisation of this project. After the
Pacific Railway was opened, its, fearful journey of
seven or eight days was rendered tolerable only by
special accommodation in the shape of the Pollman
carriage, a remarkably elegant and commodious
structure, fitted up with every convenience for sleep-
ing, &0., and more nearly resembling the cabin of a
fine liner than any ordinary railway carriage. The
use of this vehicle has been discontinued. Of course
such a deprivation must materially lessen the comfort
and safety of travellers across the American Conti-
nent. Indeed, the journey is one of such great ,
length that some special provision of this

kind is indispensable. It would be absurd to
attempt such an enterprise for mere pleasure.
Before the American railroad is utilised to its full

extent, the Pollrnan carriage, or something of the
same kind, must be tried again ; and in the mean-
while tourists must be content with their diminished
facilities in Europe. They might do worse than turn
their attention northwards—either to Norway or the
British Isles themselves.

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