The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-27 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY. DECEINIBER 27. 1870.

ALTHOUGH two years only have passed since the
formation. of Mr. GLADSTONE'S Government, the
strength of the Liberal party in the House of
Commons remaining intact, the Administration
itself is very considerably modified in character since
its original organisation. Within the Cabinet itself
there have been several important changes, one or
two of them radically affecting its general aspect
The death of Lord CLARENDON, depriving the
Ministry of the most experienced statesman at the
council board of the Governinant, was followe I almost
immediately by:the rupture of the profound European
peace through the outbreak of the present disastrous
war. It was virtually, as it the more cynical and
designing of the Continental diplomatists, recognised
in the removal of the late Foreign Secretary of Eng-
land, an opportunity for themselves, that is, for the
carrying out, without another moment's loss of time,
of their own long-cherished and unscrupulous inten- ,
tions. Supposing the two events to have fol-
lowed one another thus rapidly, simply by
an accidental coincidence, the fact so fell out,
in a manner, that Count BISMARCK, for
one certainly must allow to have been a most
desirable " fortuitous concurrence or circumstances."
Persuasive and conciliatory though the noble Earl's
successor Lord GRANVILLE is, in his capacity as
Foreign Secretary, his powers of conciliation and of
persuasion have unhappily proved of no avail what
ever either in warding off the chance of the great
conflict that within a fearfully brief inter-
val after his removal to the Foreign 1
Office proved to be inevitable, or even
in:mitigating the horrors of tne deadly struggle be-
tween the French and Germanic Empires, when
once that struggle had fatally commenced. Conse-
quent upon Lord GRANVILLE'S acceptance of the
Foreign Secretaryship, in lieu of his former post as
Colonial Administrator, Lord IrIMBEELEY was
wisely nominated to the latter office instead of having
his administrative capacities virtually shelved or
cushioned by his retention in his original position
as Lord Privy Seal. That purely honorary position
in the Cabinet was to some extent more appropriately
allotted to one of the old passé Whig adminis-
trators once notorious as Sir CHARLES WOOD
latterly shrunk into political obscurity as Lord
HALIFAX. Another, changein toe Government was,
the admitting to a seat in the Cabinet of the able
Vice-President of the Council, the Right Hon. W.
E. FORSTER. Another, yet more recently announced,
has been caused by the resignation of tl e President
of the Board of Trade. Mr. BRIGHT, however,
had been so long invalided that his actual withdrawal
from the Cabinet instead of dating back only yester-
day dates back almost a whole twelvemonth. When
one comes to enumerate the alterations which have
thus taken place in the Cabinet since the Ministry
was originally formed we find that they amount to
no less than tix altogether. One a removal
by death Lord CLARENDON'S. One a re-
moval by illness Mr. BRIGHT'S. One a
distinct promotion—Mr. FOUSTER's. One, a com-
fortable reward for old services—Lord HaraFAx's.
Two, simply changes for the better—namely, Lord
GRANVILLE'S removal from the Colonial Office to
the Foreign Office, and Lord KISiBERLEY'S vacating
of the post of Privy Seal for the acceptance of
the far more responsible position of Secre-
tary of State for the Colonies. Outside
the Cabinet there have been other changes one
or two of which are remarkable enongh to be
here notified. Mr. AYKTON has long since, to no
one's satisfaction but his own, become Chief Comm.A
sioner of Parks and Palaces in place of Mr. LAYARD,
now her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador in Spain.
Lord ENFIELD, within the last few hours, again, has
succeeded Mr. OTWAY as Under Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs. Mr. BRIGHT'S successor at the
Board of Trade has yet Ito be announced, or more
probably has yet to be selected. As it is, however,
the Ministry has gradually and imperceptibly come at
Ilast to be completely transformed in its general
character.

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