The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TITESDAY

he, therefore, gladly took advantage of the more tri-
vial matters, which he might have disregarded under
different circumstances, to avoid the ordeal which he
could not encounter.
Our anticipations up to this time have, therefore,
proved correct in every point. On Friday last we
spoke of the locus penitentice, by availing himself
whereof Lord Jour( could alone avert an ignomini-
ous defeat. A few hours after that refuge was sought
by the discomfited Premier. On Saturday we stated
that he " would enlarge the bases and founda-
tions of his Ministry, and infuse new blood
into his Cabinet;" that " his resignation would
be to that extent, and no more. lie
might tender it unconditionally, but be must
inform her MAJESTY, if asked, that it was the in-
fluence of the GREY clique' that had weakened
his power and forced him to adopt so painful an alter-
native; that it was the precious Budget that had
overturned his Administration, and that if emanci-
pated from that thraldom, he could hope to carry on
the Government vigorously and efficiently." All
these predictions have been► fully and completely veri-
fied. That the ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer will
not be included in the new Administration was,
to say the least of it, exceedingly probable, but it
may bo considered certain from the significant fact
that the Right Honourable Baronet has already
commenced preparations for his removal from the
official residence in Downing-street, and that many
articles of furniture were sent away yesterday.
The protracted interview between the ex-Secretaries
for the Home Department and for the Colonies,
and the ex-Minister of Finance, showing that they em-
barked in the same vessel, had also a portentous
appearance. It is, perhaps, possible that the advanced
age of the President of the Council may render the
Noble Marquis anxious to enjoy the otiuin cum
dignitate for the remainder of his useful and honour-
able life. The elevation of Sir Joner CAM Hon-
ROUSE to the Peerage by the title of Baron
Broughton de Gyfford, will occasion another
vacancy, and perhaps one or two more might be
spared without any very formidable deterioration
of strength and vigour. We trust the ex-
PIIEMIER may use the oppportunity wisely,
and that he may endeavour to obtain assist-
ance from each side, not merely from the followers of

the late lamented Sir ROBERT PEEL, but
from what is termed the " Liberal sec•
tion" of the House. The prolonged conferences
with Sir JAMES GRAHAM and Lord ABERDEEN indi-
cate that the assistance of the former, at least, will be
sought. Lord ABERDEEN has, we believe, been act-
ing rather as a mutual friend, who might arrange
any little differences and smooth away past asperities,
than as looking for office himself. lie could not re-
sume his position at the Foreign-office, fur the loss of
Lord PALMERSTON would excite the deepest regret
of the community, and far more than compensate
for any accession of strength that might be obtained
from other quarters. The " English policy," or the
" PALMERSTON policy," for they are identical, has
already received the stamp of public approbation, and
that feeling will not be impaired by the recent con-
cession with regard to passports from the Foreign-
office. The services of such a man as JOHN Mac-
' GREGOR should not be slighted by a Ministry whose
greatest deficiency is to be sought for in financial

matters. A more fitting successor to Sir CHARLES
WOOD could nut be discovered than the
Honourable Gentleman the Member for Glasgow.
We shall await then, anxiously, but with-
out fear, the moment that shall lift the veil,
and discover the completion of the pending arrange-
ments. A great opportunity is afforded to Lord
JOHN RUSSELL of forming a powerful Administration,
that may long continue to regulate the affairs of this
mighty empire. We trust, and believe, that it will
not be wasted or misapplied.

An ABERDEEN Administration is, to all intents and
purposes, as impracticable as a Protectionist Adminis-
tration. No larger amount of unpopularity could be
secured to a Cabinet by any statesman than would
inevitably be insured by the advent to power of 4" cet ex-
cellent ABERDEEN !" His antecedents are altogether
too notoriously beyond the reach of extenuation to
admit of his being elevated to the leadership of a
Ministry without the announcement eliciting from
the people a loud and general expression of indigna-
tion. Indeed, it has been long conspicuous to the
whole country that not only has the Palmerstonian
policy been a wholesome leaven to the late Govern-
ment, but that it has been one conducive to the best
interests cf the cmpire—that it is not only to be
endured as tolerable, but to be actually desiderated
as necessary. The retirement from office at this
moment of the Noble Lord, her MAJESTY'S principal
Foreign Secretary, would in truth be nothing short of a
national calamity. The maintenance of his vigorous and
chivalric system in that important department of the
Administration is bound up inextricably with the
well-being of the British nation, and with the dig-
nity of the British Government. Especially should
we be disposed to lament the withdrawal of his abili-
ties from the service of his SOVEREIGN at this particular
juncture, when sojourners from the four quarters of
the globe will be scrutinizing the extent of our civi-
lization and the progress of our social advancement.
Therefore it is, among a veriety of other reasons,
that we aro peculiarly reluctant to credit any rumour
which goes the length of asserting the retirement of
Lotd PALMERSTON to be in any way probable.
Contrast the feeble and un-English policy carried
out by the Earl of ABERDEEN, when at the head of
the Foreign Department, with the bold and
patriotic policy enforced throughout the world
by Viscount PALMERSTON when conducting the same
mechanism, in his successor—and there can no longer
be experienced any surprise whatever at the prefer-
ence accorded to the latter by the majority of the
population. As Under• Secretary to M. Gum; the
Foreign Minister of the Peel Cabinet subordinated
the interests of his own country to the smiles and
eulogiums capable of being extorted from a foreign
potentate ; whereas the Noble Lord the representa-
tive of the borough of Tiverton has shown himself
ready on all occasions to provoke the personal ani-
mosity of all the great powers of Christendom rather
than abandon the cause of one solitary subject of his
QUEEN, no matter how obscure his position or how re-
mote his place of residence. The result of which has
been, that an Englishman may travel " the wide
world o'er," and yet feel himself still protected under
the aegis of his Government. As Lord PALMERSTON
himself intimated should be the case, in the perora-
tion of his oratorical masterpiece during the present
session, the citizen of England can exclaim now-a-
days as exultantly as the citizen of Rome cried of old,
Civis Romanus sum— Civis Britannicus sum! It
matters not whether his residence for the time be any
one of the free states of America, the perilous land
of Austria, or the iron-ruled dominions of the AUTO-
CRAT, the Englishman can rejoice in a sense of übi-
quitous security flowing perpetually from the Mini-
sterial stronghold in Downing-street--and all this,
be it remembered, thanks to Lord PALMERSTON
Had his predecessor unhappily remained in office at
the time Sir ROBERT PEEL retired with so
much glory from the rank of Prime Minister,
what might not —we had almost said, what
must not have been the diastrous conse-
quences to the United Kingdom ? Pledged as Lord
ABERDEEN was to the schemes of the Orleanist
SOVEREIGN, bound up as he had long been with the
fortunes of that royal house, concurring as he had
done in the ever-execrable Spanish conspiracy, what
would not have been the calamitous results of all this
to the fortunes of Great Britain at the period of the
Revolution of February ? Instead of assuming, as she
did, an attitude of serene neutrality, England might
have been involved in a ruinous complicity with the
exiled monarch, and have embroiled the whole of the
European continent in warfare, by assuming a posi-
tion hostile to the newly-created Republic. Happily,
however, for the cause of democracy, ter the inte-
rests of France, for the interests of England,
and, generally speaking, also for the in-
terests of the entire of Christendom, the faineant
sinister was succeeded by a statesman ca-
pable of combining extraordinary aptitude
for administration with a brilliant arid daring pa.
triotism. When, therefore, it is doubted for an in-
stant whether or not Lord ABERDEEN i• to be called
to resume his post at the head of the Foreign Depart-
ment, we must naturally experience feelings very far
indeed from those of genuine exultation. To express
ourselves plainly upon the aubjeet, we cannot view
the chance of any such misfortune to Our country