The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-04 00:00:00

MINISTERIAL CRISIS.

- r
SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS

TIMES,-e-There ana(people in the East, so at least
-travellers say, who for a trifling gratuity will allow
themselves to be •tlettziati- for a writ, sr a max th,sar as
long as you have patience to wait, and essbo on &leg
dug out and warmed up is' much alive as ever
they were. That is the very feat- just exhibited in
Downing-street. For the_ benefit of her Majesty and
the British public, a dozen statesmen have allowed them-
selves to be wrapped up and buried for eleven days, and
were yesterday exhumed, apparently not much the worse
for it. Where the feats are so similar it is not wonder-
ful that there should be some torrespondence in the cir-
cumstances. In the case of the Eastern performers, it
aomewhatedetracts from thel /prodigy thet,they-nerer
have been very, much, alive. It je, alter all, te.torpid,.
cold, and toad-like animation that they possess, and they
improve on the Ss attire! poverty of their constitutions by
the habit'Of holding their breath, end keeping test levies%
possible all their natural functions. Granting the feat
to be real, it is not the inhumation of a healthy and vi-
gorous man, with his lungs in full play, and his blool
leaping in his veins. Now, could the Whig Govern-
ment hare suffered an eleven ' days' trenee if it
had been enjoying healthful and vigorous vitality ?
It must have been reduced in condition, and
have been an adept at sponteneoue collapse. We
are not told, nor is it likely, that the Indian oric-
ginals come out of the grave stronger than they went in.
Can we expect more of our own conjurors? Have Lord
John Russell and his colleagues entered into a more po-
tential existence by having 'undergone the ordeal of
eleven days' annihilation? The process hag occasionally
been found a specific for preserving what life there was.
"To counterfeit dying when a man thereby liveth, is to
be no counterfeit,. but' the' truer and perfect indigo of lite
indeed" But.that islthe utmost a man can the by-shut-
ting his ;eyes and• holding his breath. When he gets up
and shakes himself he finds that he has the same aches.
and pains, the same encumbrance' of flesh and weakness
of lungs as ever he had; Whatever the extiet nature of
this mysterious interregnum—whether the Cabinet was
frightened into hysterics by Mr. Locke King—whether
it had inhaled chloroform for an operation, on the Ec-
clesiastical Titles Bill, or had been mesmerized by Mr.
Disraeli, there must be an equal absence of positive re-
sults, and the Cabinet -must be the same thing this day
that it was immediately after the division on the county
161. householders. But the public are to suspend their
judgment to next Friday? On that day it appears we
are to have an entirely new start. The world began
again after the deluge,. and the session is to begin
again after the "crisis, " which is supposed to
wash away all remembrance of the past. This is
taking life easy. The sun-dials say' tempus jizgit, but
her Majesty's Ministers flatter themselves that they, can
arrest the flight of time, and let five weeks slip away
without ankloss'of position. But in order to bring us
back really to the very point we stood at this day month;
two things are necessary—first, that the past should be
forgotten; then that all the parties concerned should re-
turn to what they were. The first condition could easily
be fulfilled by reducing the preliminary session to a sort
of antedeluvian antiquity ; Mr. Locke King must class •
with deinotheria, and Mr. Disraeli and his Irish brigade
find their places in the saurian family. A few fossils
must be all that remains of those portentous divisions
that drove Lord John to despair. Unhappily the crisis
will have no such Lethean power. The lessons-read to
us during the past month are still fresh in the memory,
and will infallibly be acted on. If Lord John Russell is
more alive to his situation than he was at the beginning
of the session, to also are the Protectionists, the Peelites,
the Papists, and the Reformers. This is the second
round of a stand-up fight, and as the Government was
beaten in the first round, its chance is so much the
worse in the second. Unless we are very much mistaken,
none of these parties think that any claim has been esta-
blished on their gratitude or forbearanee, for it is not the
habit of mankind—not, at any rate, of politicians—to lie
on the ground to be walked over by their rivals. In
Parliament, in particular, it is rare to find a morbid
taste for the Opposition aide of the House. On the
whole, then, we venture to think that the experimental
session just ended will not be forgotten, or lost upon
faction. As little can we imagine that we all are what
we were a month ago. So, although the greatest cap-
tain of his age has been employed to give the word of
command, "As you were," we fear that obedience is im-
possible. The crisis has been graced with an unusual
display of sentiment, and some of its passages have
been really affecting. Compliments and condonations
have been freely exchanged; so, of course, all parties
are now expected to help in strengthening an Adminis-
tration which it turas out, by the process of exhaustion,
is the only possible one. The disappointed candidates
for power are told, "Sir, you have had your Chance and
you could make no use of it; so be generous, and give
us that strength which you cannot use for yourselves."
This argument may be logical, but we are not
so sure that it is founded in nature. As a matter
of fact, whether creditable or not, people are not
always anxious to assist their fortunate rivals. We ex-
pect a gm:id deal of generosity of the feminine sort—
more forgiving than forgetting. Sir James Graham will
once more call Lord John Russell his " Noble Friend,"

ut he will not forget that his Noble Friend has been
reduced to ask his assistance. Lord Stanley will not
forget that Lord John Russell has been nearly beaten
by the Protectionists in the Lower House, and is stlways
at their mercy in the Upper. Mr. Locke King will not
forget, though he live ten thousand years, that he has
beaten a Government by a majority of two to one. The
Roman Catholics will not forget that they hold the ba-
lance of parties, and can defeat Ministers on almost any
question they please. The Whigs, of course, vould only
be too glad to pass an act of oblivie4i; if it could be reci-
procal, bat there are some considerable parties in the
Commons who have nothing whatever to do but to remem-
ber, and whose memories have been sharpened to a pre-
ternatural accuracy. Aristotle describes the high-
minded man and the low-minded man, and very pro-
perly ascribes to the latter a long memory for disagree-
ables. But later moralists have detected that the virtues
of his high-minded man required some assistance from
fortune, and that his low-minded man was also some-
what the creature of adverse circumstances. A man
who can avenge himself, soon makes a *an memory,
but a man who cannot is forced to keep long scores.
Shylock could relate a long list of civilities that had
doubtless escaped the recollection of the bestowers. His
memory,indeed, was somewhat painfully overcharged,
and longed for the opportunity of delivering its burden.
Lord John Russell's numerous enemies may perhaps
practise no other forbearance than that of the vindictive
Hebrew when he said—

" And for these courtesies

I'll lend you thus much monies."
How much is to be done next Friday ? All the mea-
sures for the session are to be reproduced, and the im-
provement is to be such as not only to make up for the
previous failure, but also to create a stock of character
for a falling Government. Lord John Russell is to have
sown his wild oats for the session, and is to be actually,
better for that employment of so much valuable time.
If their measures are still to be selected and elaborated,
her Majesty's Ministers have to accomplish in three
days what they have failed to do in six months. There
are things, of course, which it is easier to do quickly ,
than slowly. To get through a quickset hedge, to
storm a breach, to take a dose of castor oil, or to snuff
out a candle with one's fingers, requires precipitancy
rather than deliberation; but in the present instance
there are some other parties -concerned, who will possi-
bly not consent to be carried out of breath. When Lord.
J. Russell salts Parliament to move the quicker because
it has lost time, it will be likely enough to ask for whose
convenience this is demanded, and what it is to expect
in return for this partial surrender of its deliberative
power's. His Lordship must not expect his credit to be
increased by his late stoppage. There is no second
lease of political confidence without additional claims to
it. If the Cabinet, as it now seems, is to consist of the
same men, it must present some decided improvement of
measures; otherwise we shall soon find ourselves as we
were a week ago.
CHRONICLE.—The long Ministerial interregnum
closes with a transition or tentative Ministry. Tho
same individuals who have held office for five years with
the general toleration of the country return to power as
being the most . negative and neutral of parties, and
therefore exposed to the smallest amount of actual op-
position. Lord John Manners undertakes to promise
them the modified support of the Protectionists on all ,
indifferent questions, though, perhaps, the Government
would set a higher value on his political engagements
on behalf of the Country Party, if he bad not at the
same time constituted himself, with little modesty, and
without a shadow of reason or authority, the exponent
of " the universal feeling of gentlemen on his aide of
the House." But, be this as it may, it cannot be doubted
that the House in general will be inclined to facilitate
the operations of a Government which, for the time,
contrives to hold office
,{3y a sort of apparent
necessity. Having never wished to displace the
late Ministers, we cannot be unwilling to give therd
oven a more candid trial than their professed opponenta-
can offer them. It was in some degree bemuse they
were blindly rushing upon destruction that we so strongly
censured the anicrdal policy which wa's fOrced upon them
by their leader. Continuing steadily to denounce the
errors which we have hitherto denounced, we Shall,- as
'heretofore, abstain from any factious opposition to a
Ministry which professes many sound principles, and
which may, perhaps, intend, on some favourable °eels
sion, to carry them out in its practice. The ludicpus
termination of the crisis had been foreseen since Frlary.
evening. toid John Russell was then awere that Lord
q
Stanley's failuie and his own tenacity 61.7
Dukeh bf
made any new combination impt o ft(;
Wellington's function was only thah
when the Senate ordered them to name
a dictator. They
llOman ctmsuls,
could only transfer their power to The country
e
one individual whose
name was inserted in their
ii e
nisterial interregnum wars by
would rejoice that the 3
any means at an end, if thereihweerlaetenoGt
otovoermnmucehntreis ason
to fear that the restoration of
but
meersetioeondt
of cicumstancc s
ffifrus-
the commencement of a long and chronic anarchy.
Tho comall
ofe na amore n
u
d a
Ministry was, at
doubt,th er
to fo ram at nes
greatio
extent, Crated at binatiote
npotn s
and foreseen by Lord John Russell at the moment of his
resignation. Threats had recently( been held out that a
refractory Parliament would, in case of need, be
punished by a dissolution; and the premature breaking
up of the Administration was represented, by the special
partisans of the retiring Premier, as another form of a
similar policy. Lazy supporters ware to be frightened
into activity, and uncertain adherents to be rallied into
the Whig ranks by the panic fear of losing their accus-
tomed leaders. On trial the experiment was found to
fail, although it proved, as was expected, that there was
still time to recall it. The Liberal party in the House
has had the opportunity of expressing a discontent and
distrust which have been greatly increased by the
wretched imbecility exhibited in an insincere with-
drawal from office, and by the new twist of the " Ag-
gression" policy. Out of doors not a single meetieg

has been held, and scarcely an individual opinion has
been expressed, in favour of the recall Of Lord John.
Russell. A- fortnight- ago he was encumbered by his
no-Popery pledges, and by an unpalatable Budget. Ile
has now yielded to fear what he refusid to reason, and
has mutilated' even his frivolous and inoperative Aggres-
sion Bill. ,A -better Btidget may be..contrived, Cut.it
will be clogged with the recollection that it has been.• -
forced upon- -those who propose it. dissolving party
has been-effectually shaken to pieces by theshock which,
vyes to Startle it ihto reunion. , For -eversitood purpose,. s'. os
the Ministry is weaker than-when it Was compelled to '
'resign by the forcible feebleness olits chief. An one re-
spect it is possible that it may be stronger inmere *etas, :
as a large body of the Protectionists seesifs.likelf to:supe.,,
port. it as beieg,the most helpless and seineezeablanf aneps seen
tagonista;'but suppoil fioin opponents can only be pntseei.
chased bysthe suspicion and alienation of formeisadhe-,--; os
rents. There are many Members who lessee c- foe ehiatte-otee
'Whig Government chiefly because irwah threatened by wit'
the numbers and therdnion of the'Prioteetioniste. --But eee,
• if en underAtdncling is est-al:Jibbed be the, *lemur
sides of the House, the advoeates'of pregress and et tree--
trade will feel themselves reletised from their allegiance.-
Oa the whole, we are satisfied that no aklyenteee to the
party will' have been attained by the late resignation.
The injury to the country produced by this barren agiee
ration is sufficiently serious and evident. The freshness
of- the session has already been wasted without' any real
eoiernencement of business, The Budget, flnd the
promised reforms of the law, are still to be produced, if
not to be prepared. It was sufficiently vexatious that
the foolish Aggression disturbance should interrupt and
anticipate the business of • the country; but, thanks to •
Lord John Russell's manovment, even the /Co-Popery
Chimera has still to be' hewn into the eliepeswhich•it is •
fleetly to assume. The egg, predestined tb be addled, is'
not even yet deposited. Lord Stanley's plau, for shelving •
•tho 'whole question in a Committeeemay perhaps, after- •
all; be adopted, as a, pledge Of the mew alliance. That it '
is more statesmanlike than the blustering of the Durham
letter, and'not 'more dishonest than the retractation-of
the pledges which were contained in that memorable
doetiment, and which were virtually broken by the intro-
eduction of The sham Aggression Bill, will be adinitted
with little difficulty. But it wilf'be well for Parliament •
cautiously to consider the consequences of suclea mode
.of escaping from a false positibie. As the blunder must,
sooner or 'later; be acknowledged 'and,abandoned, it is
unadvisable to prolong the agitation bY's process`hcvhich,
after all that has taken place, must necessarilf assume an
irritating and controversial character. 'lnquiry might
bave been practicable before the Durham agitation; but, '
after the appeals which have been made on both sides to
sectarian animosity, it could not possibly lead to profits-
ble results. Lord John Russell's characteristic inten-
tion of ascertaining frain Archbishop Murray. the maxi-
mum of persecution to which he is prepared to sisbniit,
is fortunately not the only alternative. If 'a prudent
statesman could by possibility find himself involved in
the difficultiVs which Ldrd John Russell has contrived to
accumulate, it is by no means easy to say what course
he would adopt to relieve himself. Bat, at least, it may
be asserted that he would endeavour, if possible,
to bring the discussion on Papal Aggression
to' a close; nor, even if penal legislation was '
altogether unavoidable, would he consult the
destined victims of his measure on its terms.
While we admit and applaud Archbishop Murray's
habitual `loyalty and moderation, we can by no means'
'allow that his virtues should be considered in legislating •
for the body to which he belongs. If he has been
threatened 'with injustice, the Bill would have been
equally unjust in its bearing on his turbulent colleague
of Tuam. Some surprise has been expressed at the
opinion declared, both by Sir James Graham and by
Lord Aberdeen, that although the proceedings connected
with the new hierarchy were offensive and insulting,
they ought not to be met by legislative action. Yet it
is scarcely the custom of England to reply to insolent
language by Acts of Parliament; nor will Lord John
Russell's mutilation of his Bill, in deference to
the objections of a favoured individual, meet
with the approval of sober-minded politi-
cians. Loyal subjects are entitled to no more
than justice, and troublesome brawlers to no less. It is
not difficult to perceive that the policy of the more am-
bitious portion of the hierarchy at present exactly cor-
responds with that of their most indignant opponents.
The wish of zealots to persecute scarcely outruns the
desire of their adversaries to be persecuted. In either
case the object will be attained by concentrating the
attention of Parliament and of the political world on
subjects alien from their proper occupations.
Since the return of the Ministry to office, Lord
John Russell has already made a false step in his
Aggression policy. - The second reading of the Bill
is to be proposed on Friday, in the form in which it
was originally laid on tho table. But, as this is
one of those measures, the entire rinciple of which
is involved in its so-called " details," and as the most
material of these are confessedly otjectionable, there is
an obvious impropriety in asking the House to suffer it
to pass through so important a stage, even with a pro-
mise that its provisions shall be altered in Committee.
The second and third clauses, as they stand at present,
are repreiented by their responsible author, however in-
accurately, as acts of gross oppression and persecution.
In consenting to vote for the second reading the House evil[
be affirming propositions which have been already aban-
doned by the Minister as unjustifiable. It would have
been better to introduce an amended Bill than to make
this new and unnecessary demand on the confidence of
an insulted and impatient Legislature. But it seems
fated Oat every step in this labyrinth of blundering
should ;end to its own separate error. _ _

HERALD.—It is recorded in the annals of the French
Empire, that when, about noon of that day atne wards
fromor:alised by the victory of Marengo, the .Austrian
columns bad penetrated to the centre cf their position,
end defeat seemed well nigh inevitable, Nepole,n, asking
orAc of his most trusted Ihutcnents " whet he thought of
the batik?" received for answer, ".The battle is wready
lost; but there is time to win another before night."
History tells us how prophetic were the words of
General Desaix, and the anecdote has been preserved,
not so much, we imagine, on account of its importance
in itself, as because it strikingly illustrates that general
lew, applicable alike to politics and to war, to the con-
flict of arms and to the conflict of opinions, which tells
us that despondency in failure, or security in success, are
equally misplaced where accident and fortune so often
interfere to bring to pass the most unforeseen events,
and to disconcert the profoundest calculations. "Ce
qui arrive toujours c'est l'imprevu," and the last
ten days have furnished no exception to the rule.
Within that space a Government, feeble indeed
and disunited, nor possessing in any degree the
confidence of the country, but to which the
differences of its opponents and the general disorganiza-
tion of partici appeared likely to ensure a somewhat
longer duration, of existence, has fallen in consequence
of no assault from without, but by an act of political
suicide. Within that space a statesman possessing un-
measured influence over the House of Lords, in the
Commons supported by a convect band of more than
250 followers, and backed up by all the weight and
power of the great agricultural interest, has been com-
pelled, after a struggle brief in point of time, but con-
ducted with ability and prudence, to which unwilling
justice has been done by his most determined oppo-
nents, to abandon for the present the attempt to form an
Administration. Not less mortifying, though far more
easily accounted for, was the failure of that third party,
the " trimmers" of our age, who during five years have
arrogated to themselves, and undoubtedly have at
times possessed, the power of deciding the fate of
doubtful questions in the Lower House of Parlia-
ment. When permitted to try their hands at the
work of Cabinetmaking, they found themselves un-
able to command the assistance of a single indi-
vidual beyond the very narrow circle of their own
personal supporters. Nor is the last stage of this
" strange, eventful history" out of keeping with the
singularity of all that went before. In the dearth of
advisers, and amidst the chaos of parties, there has re-.
appeared the came of one illustrious person, whose
actions in former clays are inseparably connected
with the .history of his country, but who now
to the public at large seemed as much
permanently removed from the political arena
as though the gates of Westminster Abbey had already
opened to receive the remains of the greatest of modern
generals. It was well worthy of that genuine and dis-
piterested patriotism, which, even more than hie military
glories, has distinguished the career of Wellington, that,
at an age far more advanced than that of any other man
now engaged in public life, and with a reputation which
well entitled him to say,
" Non indecenter vita, quod relinquum eaf, petit,
Gum fame, quod sails est, habet,"
hs eo v e
re should Sovereign
t h note
benefits
e n
fia
tv
se hesitatedof a ntunrivalled,
n rnbiunequalled
ie
ga)
ue
amiss
Undertso:si
eseactoes frudo.t
ocene
hrxes
ipTedscextern:rr
cal
considered
hie
:of abilities once confessedtilyjno
first point
.but little impaired by
stances, however, it may
hitherto been enabled t
more carefully than
which
position
ttbhwe:'oj fna hive
tre: ysloi Conservative
bc
a uses which,
i this The
party,
do, the
deg
ree actualto
future
attention prospects.
which seems worthyremarkable
episode of politics
is
for
both sides, have been assigned. temporary
Notwithstanding the
that
tt a
reconcileAi
Government t nis t e Ministerial a l
it
to
i like
ke disclaimersthat
(which, have affected their
f
in-
deed, however emphatically delivered, hardly amount to
ease:lt:inn presided was, or could be, driven,
reasonhatoorrecromwhmieenh
Tw'ajeoodnr:wd:iijltalooinhbOnewtlißseeavuey from power, but from office, ither 13
even
friends.by thew itmhorreespseereitoutso athtteacfikrsot,f
the accidental minority on Mr. Locke King'smotion, ory
oftenand
rhisre-
marked marked that the number ofthose iMt
has a s been Disraeli
who demanded an ex-
tension of the franchise had
not, in any the slightest de-
gree, increased since last
year; that, therefore, the move-
ment in itself was not one whit more formidable than
before, and that the real author of the Whig defeat was
the Prime Minister himself, who virtually gave in his
adherence to the principle which he prolessed for the
moment to resist. It is not wonderful that the steediest
supporters of his Government should have preferred go-
ing quietly home to their dinners rather than listening
to speeches of no particular interest, followed up by a
division which meant, and which decided, nothing. It
have objected
seems to us very natural that many should
to record their votes at the bidding of the Premier
against that very motion which, as be had told them,
they were next year to be summoned up to support and
carry through. Still more flimsy is the pretext put
forward in the second place—to the effect that a majo-
rity of fourteen was not sufficient to enable Ministers to
conduct the business of the country with success. For
it is notorious that out of the large number of Members
who went out into the Protectionist lobby, some, at
least, were influenced in their vote—not by anyconside-
ration founded on the merits of the questioreberfore them,
but purely by a desire to retaliate upon the Cabinet for
their conduct on the Anti-Papal Bill. The Permier
himself seemed conscious of the weakness of his ex-
cuse ; for ho more than once repeated, that though
neither the one event nor theAher.would separately have