The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-24 00:00:00

MINISTERIAL CRISIS.

SPIRIT of tile PUBLIC JOURNALS.
TIMES.—When Lord John Russell announced to
the House of Commons on Friday evening the postpone-
ment of the financial measures which stool for discus-
sion at that moment, few of those who beard him cons.
prehended at once the full purport of this intimation,
and fewer still, even of his own adherents, knew that
already, before the accustomed hour at which the pro-
ceedings of Parliament commenced, the Administration
was dissolved. Doubt, indeed, hung over the result of
the impending debate. The strength manifested by the
Opposition on a recent eceasion, the vindictive desertion
of a small band of Irish Ronsanists, the separation of
the Liberal party itself from the Ministry on the
preceding evening, were signs of an rmburrassiog
present and a menacing future. But the house
of Commons have since learnt with a degree of astonish.-
ment which still pervades the country, and which has
yet to be removed by Ministerial explanations, that in
this important political conjuncture, and on the eve of
. .

instant bathe, the Command, r-ir.-Chief had fling down
his truncheon, and was app ireetly walking eta of the
lists. We shall not presume to aetieipate the state-
ment, promised by Lord John Russell himself tor this
evening, of the causes which irresistibly led him to this
conclusion. But without atte inpting to judge a great
political act still so imperfectly understood, we shall en-
deavour to place before the public the facts which heir
most directly on this novel aud perplexing state of
affairs. Various causes affecting the general policy
of the Administration had no doubt their due weight
on the mind of Lord John Russell ; but it may be
inferred, from the answers given by his Lordship
to several questions on Thursday evening, when he
pledged himself to bring forward eiffereet'measures as
head of the Government, that, a/t the commencement of
the debate on Mr. Locke King's motion for the extension
of the franchise, Lord John did not contemplate o. spon-
taneous and immediate renunciation of power. It was
evident, in the course of that debate, that the cold re-
ception given to the tardy pledge of a revised Reform
Bill, to be introduced in the session of 1852—the with-
drawal of the Conservative phalanx from the side of
Government—and the hostile votes of 100 habitual ad-
herents of the Whig Ministry, told with surprising
effect on Lord John Russell, and that he felt the deser-
tion of so large a portion of his friends more keenly
Olin the attacks of a host of adversaries. Under the in-
fluence of those feeling he appears to have acted on the
following morning. The Cabinet was suddenly con-
voked; but so little was the momentous character
of the situation of affairs known to the other mem-
bers of the Government, that three leading peers
in the Administration—the Marquis of Lansdowne,
Lord Minto, and Lord Carlisle, were not present
on the occasion; and the course actually adopted
by tee Prime Minister was less the result of a full and
deliberate resolution by his colleagues than of the per-
sonal determination which he is understood to have ex-
pressed. That determination was necessarily unknown
to some of his Cabinet--sad those not the least consider-
able—for they were not even present; and if in such
matters rumour can collect ought of truth from external
indications of opinion, that determination was no less
warmly combated by some others who discerned the
effect, rather than the cause, of so rapid a movement.
The whole meeting of the Cabinet Ministers lasted little
more than half an hour, and at the conclusion of it Lord
John Russell proceeded to place his resignation in the
hands of her Majesty—an act tantamount to the resigna-
tion of the whole Government in the person, of its
chief. It will be for Lord John Russell to inform Par-
liament and the country this evening of the powerful
motives for his conduct which he has doubtless already
submitted to his colleaeues and to his Sovereign.
But it may here be remarked that what-
ever those motives were they did not mainly
consist in apprehnsions of the effect of the Pro-
tectionist opposition to the financial scheme of the Go-
vernment. If the First Lord of the Treasury thought
that scheme worth anything, and if he hoped to stand fairly,
with the country on those important questions of taxa-
tion which come home to the universal interests of the
community, the Budget was at least worth a night's
debate and the chances of an adverse vote, which he
realized by anticip :lion. But, in point of fact, at the
moment when this sacrifice was consummated, no such
apprehension forced itself upon his convictions. The
tone of the Protectionist meeting held on Friday at Lord
Stanley's house had been extremely moderate. The
tactics, if not the forbearance, of the Tory leaders taught
them that a successful attack on the chief financial re-
sources of the Exchequer would prove a most dangerous
approach to office; and it was known by the Government
itself, before the House of Commons met that
day, that Mr. Retries' amendment on the in-
come-tax would not assume a very formidable
shape. That specific motion, therefore, can have
had no more than an indirect effect on Lord John
Russell's resolution, though it may not unreasonably be
concluded that a Budget which every one condemned, and
an anti-Papal measure which nobody approved, were
matters to give additional impetus to the slight shock on
Mr. Locke King's motion, and that but for the general
embarrassments of Ministers that untoward incident
would not have proved fatal to their stability. Perhaps
the country may have reason to rejoice that a crowning
struggle between Lord John Russell's Administration
and its combined opponents was thus avoided, since a
Protectionist victory might have brought into power
such a Government as would convulse the nation.
Nevertheless, the first Effect of the dissolution of the
Cabinet was to induce her Majesty, by the advice of Lord
John Russell or of other counsellors, to send for Lord
Stanley with a view to the formation of a new Govern-
ment. That nobleman proceeded to obey the Queen's
commands in conjunction with Mr. Disraeli; but
before many hours had elapsed the Protectionist
leaders wets) understood to have renounced their
undertaking, either from the invincible difficulty
and peril of the task, or because the power of dissolving
Parliament was not unreservedly conceded to them by
the highest authority in the realm. It will probably be
found that the firmness and judgment of the Queen have
b-en exerted to save the country from the extreme in-
convenience and agitation of a general election at the
present time, and to avert a contest of parties which
might inflict lasting injury on ehe Constitution itself. At
a later hour on Saturday evening Sir James Graham
and Lord Aberdeen were summoned to attend her Ma-
jesty, and it was generally believed that those statesmen
would take a part in the formation of the new Adminis-
tratien. It was, however, desired that the communica-
tions at this stage of the negotiations should be made in
the presence of Lord John Russell himself; and in the
course of yesterday a protracted, and we hope a satisfac-
tory, interview between these eminent perms took
place at the residence of the late Premier. Lord Aber-
deen was again summoned to the Palace last evening, but
has not, we believe, hitherto consented to accept office.
With personal or party interests we have
nothing to do, but we express no more than
the universal conviction of those who are most
anxious for the peace, the welfare, and the security of
the nation, when we affirm that an arrangement which
should place in conjunction with a portion of the late
Government and with the Liberal party those eminent
men who most nearly represent the opinions and the
policy of the,late Sir Robert Peel, affords the only rea-
sonable prospect of a strong, t fficient, and progressive
Government. A mere att:mpt to bring back to office
the Cabinet which has just rallen to pieces under the
leadership of Lord John Russell would stamp tins whole
of this singular transaction with the character of a des-
picable intrigue, and would only render the violent de-
struction of the whole fabric at no distant period more
certain. 'The country requires an improved Admiuis-
tratiou. The country asks for men capable of giving
effect to the principles which Lord John Russell has
professed. The late Ministry bad too much of the spirit
and narrowness of a coterie to conduct the people of
England in their progress, and the executive council of
the nation requires a wider range of character and
powers than are to be found in a domestic circle. We
believe that such a Ministry can be formed if personal
pretensions and party exclusiveness do not mar the
work; and we are confident that such a Ministry, pre-
pared to do its work with public spirit and genuine
ability, would command the support of Great Britain.
CHRONICLE.—The resignation of the Ministry, al-
though tendered on Friday, and known to the world for
the first time on Saturday morning, has already faded
into the remoteness of history. The public curiosity,
which, in default of more exciting occupation, might
have busied itself with the causes of so sudden an ac•
knowledgment of defeat, finds stronger attraction in
speculating on the future than in analysing the causes of
an accomplished result. The immediate occasion of the
crisis
tr Budget,
gLe, was
)tkueo ne
rKtiihteheeg, exclusivelybevriot uh
se
ei
me universal
the
impossibility
ee ersetehlmi
litetjyo
condemnationrity obtof
ainedf
the
by
Bill for resisting Papal aggression. But the complica-
tion of difficulties in which the Ministry had involved it-
self scarcely admitted of any other solution. The sacri-
fice of Sir Charles Wood and the production of a more
popular Budget might have satisfied the House of Com-
mons for a time; but the rapid spread of the Irish re-
sistance to the Aggression Bill made the entire position
of the Cabinet untenable. The majority in favour of a
101. suffrage in counties was an expression at the same
time of the discontent of the ordinary adherents of the
Government, and of the resolution of the Protectionists
to withdraw the support which they had so often af-
forded to the Ministry. We publish in another column
a collection of the rumours which have gained more or
less credence since the commencement of the crisis. Up
to the present time it is probable that nothing is settled,
and that the leaders of parties are little better able than
their followers.toforetell the final result of the various

negotiations which may have been commenced. It is
known that .her Majesty has successively required the
advice of Lord Stanley, Lord John Russell, L )rd Aber-
deen, and Sir James Graham. Interviews have also
taken place between various leading politicians, includ-
ing the late Primo Minister. It is just possible that
Lord Stanley may attempt to form a Government with
the aid solely of the " Country Party." It is, however,
far more probable that some portion of tie Whigs will
retain office in conjunction with the representatives of
the policy of Sir Robert Peel. Whether Lord John
Russell or Lord Clarendon will represent the Whig
party in the new distribution of offices is a question on
which, in the absence of trustworthy information, vre
consider it unprofitable to speculate. In any case it
may be assumed that the supernumeraries of the Ca-
binet—the Mintos and Gyases, the Hohhouses end
Clinnthi— will make room for more efficient and influ-
ential incumbents of the offices which :hey have so long
enjoyed. The rumours of which we have spoken are
Only important as indicating the balance if parties, and
the tendency of public opinion. The wishes of the
country have already been expressed in a manner
sufii-
significant. There is no doubt that a Minis ry
torujed under the guidance of Lord Stunley, though re-
pudiated by the country at large, would be welcomed by
a single class of the community in a vague expectation of
relief. The landlords and farmers in many districts are

, still unconvinsed of the impossibility of restoring Protec-
tion. Lord Stanley and Mr. Disraeli would, for the
moment, present to their minds the imago of wheat at
565, and possibly of the reduction of the malt tax. But
even in the counsels of the party at the Carlton Club
and in St. James's-square, we believe that the political
prospects of the proposed Ministry are already bet-
ter understood. The leaders, and those of their
followers who are eager for office, are thoroughly,
aware of the necessity of . abstaining froni interfe-
rence with the tariff as it sands at present. By
reductions of expenditure, combined perhaps with some
minor financial changes, they would attempt to remove
a portion of the income-tax without subjecting the re-
venue to a deficit; and they might still form the
strongest numerical section of the House of Commons,
if their supporters would unanimously adopt their views.
But a portion of the county members, end a powerful
fraction of the majority in the House of Lords, are more
in earnest in their advocacy of protection. After the
debate of last week, L Hardwieke and Lord Malmes-
belly would be compelled to form a new Opposition
under the Duke of litcrimend, in preference to fullowino
Lord Stanley in a neural and temporizing policy. If
the Cabinet is formed on ptinciplzs which would giv., it
a chance of enduring for a month, the built of the Pro-
tectionist party must be alienated. It is, wo believe, al-
ready certain that the dilemma between headlong rash-
ness ,and open desertion of the cause has already made
the task which Lord Stenley took into consid. ration
too hopeless to be carried any farther. Amongst other
considerations, it is impossible to' forgot that
although the recent crisis offers facilities to a
Liberal Administration for dropping the impolitic and
impracticable crusade against the Roman Catholic hier-
archy, Lord Stanley is personally pledged' to advocate
a more vigorous measure of repression than the Bill in-
troduced by the feeble and divided Government which
has just fall, n to pieces. The reports which have been
circulated illustrate, as we have said, the wishes and hopes
of that preponderating section of the community which
cares greatly more for the general policy of an Adminis-
tration than for the persons of those who compose it.
The union of the most vigorous and progressive section
of tho Whigs with the Free-trade portion of the late
Opposition forms the obvious solution of the difficulty
into which the forced resignation of the Ministry has
plunged the business of the country. I: is probable that
many difficulties may be found in arranging the terms of
a union which would be generally acceptable to all
really liberal politicians. If we judge rightly of the indi-
vidual interests of the statemen who are likely to form
any combination of the kind to a bich we refer,
their personal wishes would have been entirely op-
posed to the precipitate dissolution of the late Govern-
ment. The country perhaps is yet scarcely convinced
of the helplessness which characterized every act of
Lord John Russell's Administration from the time when
he unhappily lost his great rival and generous protector.
Every fresh oscillation between rashness and timidity
lost him the allegiance of some accustomed supporter,
and alienated even colleagues who had long adhered to
the recognised representative of the hereditary league.
The position of those statesmen who may now or here-
after unite with the Liberal portion of the Whigs would
have been better defined, and more independent, if time
had been afforded for entirely loosening the old ties of
party attachment. It is doubtful whether Lord John
Russell has been influenced by the motives to which a
faithful adherent ascribes his resignation; but if, as the
only Whig journalist asserts, he has thrown the busi-
ness of the country into temporary confusion on consi-
derations exclusively factious and personal, it can-
not be denied that a melancholy ingenuity may have
been exhibited even in so petty
.a feat of legerdemain.
It is for his successors, whoever they may be, to take
care not to imitate the cunning which :party journalists
ascribe, perhaps unjustly, to incapable leaders. If a
Government can be formed which, with a prospect of
sufficient support in the House of Commons, will agree
on a large liberal policy, no party considerations ought
to stand in the way of a result almost unanimously de-
sired by the country. The policy of the new or re-
modelled Cabinet can at present only be defined by nega-
tives. A new and entirely differentsßudget must be
produced; and it would be inexpedient to criticise by
anticipation a financial policy which :Cam scarcely fail
to form an advantageous contrast with the project for
which it will be a substitute. Even if Lord John Russell
retains his seat, ho will probably take as little share as for-
merly in the fiscal arrangements of the Government.
Whoever may be Chancellor of the Exchequer, he will
at least not propose the imposition of Sir Charles
Wood's commuted window-tax. The anti-Papal agita-
tion must also be abandoned by any Ministry which
hopes for permanence. The present Bill, with its
virulent frivolity, has incurred both the contempt
of the ' zealots whom it was meant to satisfy, and
the indignation of the outraged Roman Catholics
whom its authors hoped to cajole. The new Go-
vernment will, we doubt not, commence its career
with a determination to direct its legislative influence as
well as its administrative energies into the channel into
which they naturally flow. The firmocial interests of
the country, though not the object 4, their exclusive
care, will occupy their earnest and constant attention.
The rivalries and reciprocal encroachments of religious
bodies will, we hope, be watched with. a wise impartia-
lity, in the certainty that the State can never interfere
in matters of faith without a violation of religious liberty
and a compromise in turn of political iedepeedence.

HERALD.—We were right in our conjecture on
Saturday that Lord John Russell and his Cabinet bad
resigned. They have resigned; and her Majesty, on
Saturday, sent for Lord Stanley. his Lordship waited
on the Qum at three o'clock, and had a long interview
with her Majesty, who asked his Lordship if he was
ready to undertake the formation of anew Administra-
tion. Lord Stanley undertook the duty, and although
very many rumours were yesterday sfloat as to rival
coalitions, &c., the tfact is, that at the hour at which we
write the cf,mmission to form a Ministry remains in
Lord Stanley's hands. Lord Stanley,returning from the
Palace, did not reach his house until six o'clock on
Saturday eveninp, and was occupied ,1237 necessary cor-
respondence until a late hour of thellight. There is,
therefore, no truth whatever in the rtumour that a meet-
ing of the adherents of Lord Stanley tojk place on Sa-
turday at his house, and ti at a difference of opinion there
occurred which induced his Lordshipio decline the duty
which he had previously undertaken. No such meeting
took place. These are the simple facts in connexion
with this important crisis, so far asqtlie leader of the
country and Protestant party is ceneerned. We hope
we shall be enabled to publish the, result of the nego-
tiation between the Sovereign and Lord Stanley in a

late edition.
ADVERTISER. The intelligence of Saturday
morning verified the report of the reeignatiOn of Minis-
ters, to which we alluded in our impression of that day,
as being in circulation on the previchis evening. So the
Whig Cabinet has at last fairly stranded. It was visible
to all that it was among the breakers ever since the in-
troduction of the Premier's unfortePate Bill for repel-
ling Popish aggression and punishing Popish audacity.
Eventually, and that at no distant day, it must have
perished amidst the storm of public indignation which
the temporising measures of Lord John Russell had
evoked in the country; but the moment Sir Charles
Wood's Budget was ushered into existence we foresaw,
and the very next morning, as our readers will remember,
we foretold, the immediate dissolution of the Whig Go-
vernment. Our prediction now stands fulfilled. The
Russell Administration has ceased to live. It heaved its
expiring groan on Friday afterneoi.: Never did Ministry
more richly deserve the fate which has befallen it. It
was a Ministry of false pretences. It professed to be a Re-
form Ministry—an Administrationwhich identified its ex-
istence with popular progress. Itseyery act belied its pro-
fessions. Its deeds were at irreconeileable variance with
its words. From the first hour of ;its existence till the
last, it was engaged in warring with those very prin-
ciples, to the promotion of which every one of its mem-
bers bad previously pledged himself, and on the faith of
which they severally, for a seasop, enjoyed the confi-
dence of the public. It is a remarkable circumstance
that the very last act of Lord Jobiesßussell's Ministerial
life was that of strenuously opposiug the extension of
the elective franchise, though admitting that the.mea-
sure of electoral enlargement proposed was, abstractedly,
just and reasonable. It was " the ruling passion strong
in death." Such a Ministry, with such a head, could nut
fail to lose all character. Its continued existence was a
perpetual outrageon
notions
of moral rectitude,
or even of conventional propriety. In such a Govern-
ment the nation could have no confidence. Its dissolu-
tion was a thing which the country had latterly come to
all our
regard as a consummation devoutly to be wished.
occurred, no ene is
fAounndd ntoow thdat a t
tear event has
over the demise of the Whig
he
she
Cabinet. No one regrets ts departure, except such
i
as had a personal interest n as continued existence.
These persons will,doubtless, lament its decease, but they
are not the class of men to strew flowers over its grave.
In vain, would we look for the roan who regards with
reverential feelings the memory of the Ministry which
last.
closed its career on Friday The public mind, as
might be expected, is now filled with profound anxiety,
as to who is to be the successor of the Noble Lord.
Opinions vary on the pAlla. In many instances the
wish is tether to the thought. Lord Stanley is thought
in most quarters to be the embryo Premier. Lord
Clarendon is named by sTne. Sir James Graham by
others. Just now the thing is ell speculation. Nothing
certain is known as to who will
.be the. future Premier.
The revelations in Parliament this evening, will probably
throw some light on the subject.
,In the meantime,
were we to follow the example almost universally set us,
and to indulge in conjectures, we should hazard the pre-
diction that Lord John Russell will be his own successor.
The expression may sound very much like an Irishism,
but that matters little. We are strongly
impressed with
the belief, that the Noble Lord sustains just now the
somewhat contradictory character of being at one and the
same moment the past and proximate Premier. A very
little time will suffice to show whether we are right.
Let us not be misunderstood. We are not ignorant of
the fact, that Lord Stanley was sent for by her Majesty
on Saturday. Nor do we deem itimpossible that the
Noble Lord will be rash euouge to undertake the con
struction of a new Cabinet. But we have no idea that
a Stanley Administration could last..
i A month or two
probably less, would be the limits of its existence. We
can hardly think that Lurd Stanley himself could be weak
or vain enough to suppose that a Government firmed by
him could exist fur auy length of time. If formed, it eau
only live to die. It can only come into the world to go
out of it agnin. It can but breathe to expire. In such
circumstances, we should expect
.to see Lord John
Russell re-called to the councils of his Sovereign. It we
are correctin the assumption, that Lord John Russell is
destine'? to return to office, the nation have s right to
demand that he shall give them some guarantee that he
will pursue a very different course from that which he
has hitherto done. Sir Charles Wood will not return to
power. That, doubtless, will be one happy riddance; for,
in addition to' his having betrayed all those Liberal poli-
tical principle's which he previously professed to enter-
, tats, he has proved himself to bo the miss income
potent financier that ever made any
pretensions
to a knowledge of figures. His own coachman would