The Sun.
London, England, 1856-06-12 00:00:00

THE WEATHER-Sux OFFICE, JUNE 12,

THERMOMETER, TFIII SIINDE.
73—highest since noon yesterday.
55 —lowest this morning and during the night.
8T —this day at noon.
BkiteteßTSlL 23 '37----falling.
Wirm S.W.—Rather fresh, with heavy clouds an,
dull weather.

, 4,
_re • 4,

un.

LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1856.

It is more than hinted that the PIERCE-MARCY
Cabinet, while offering gross insults to Great Bri-
tain, are profuse in complimentary expressions.
At the very moment of expelling the representa-
tive of her most gracious MAJESTY, of steadfastly
refusing anything approaching to arbitration on
the differences respecting the CLAYTON-BI7LWER
Treaty, and recognising the piratical Government
of WALKER, they express their good-will and high
consideration for those whom they have so griev-
ously injured. It would appear as it', like the
Russian authorities, they present a double face--
one side only being shown to the restless spirits
whose most sweet voices are coveted by
the candidate for the Presidency ; the other to
England and the other nations of Europe, so that
the appearance of fair play and moderation may
be maintained. We cannot, however, separate
profession from practice, or repose implicit reliance
on " sayings" which are directly opposed to the
contemporaneous "doings." The manifest object
of General PIERCE is to humiliate and disgrace
the British Government and the British people,
for in the present instance their views and feel-
ings are happily identical, and no courteous lan-
guage or honeyed expressions can get rid of the
damning fact, or induce us to " swallow the leek"
which they would force on our acceptance.
What is at present required is that we should
consent to make Mr. CRAMPTON a scapegoat, that
we should brand with unmerited disgrace an effi-
cient and faithful public servant, the honourable
son of a high-minded and respectable father, that
three other victims should with him be bound to
the horns of the altar and ruthlessly sacrificed at
the shrine of the electioneering exigencies of the
Candidate President, and also that we should
acknowledge ourselves in error respecting the in-
terpretation on which we have hitherto insisted of
the CLAYTON-BM:WEB, Treaty. These little con-
cessions are all that are note
demanded. But, if
unfortunately, we suffered the introduction of
" the sharp edge of the wedge,” if we rendered
ourselves parties to an act of gross injustice,
and
acknowledged ourselves to be either knaves or
fools, for such is the dilemma, on tho
horns
whereof PIERCE, MARCY, and Co. would
anxi-
ously toss us, they would be willing for 'the
moment to let us fall softly, and give ample
assurances that they would not follow up our
concessions to their legitimate results.

But whatever be the consequences, we cannot
consent to forfeit our self-respect, an with it
the respect of other nations. If Mr. CRAMPTON
can be proved to be guilty on unexceptionable
or even credible evidence, let him be punished
by all means. We have no desire to
support any offender, high or low, bu,
we protest against the attempt of the Wash-
gton "candidates" to constitute themselves at
the same time accusers, judges, and jury, and con-
demn the representatives of a friendly State on
tainted testimony that would not suffice against a
previously convicted pickpocket. While Mr.
CLuirroN is worthy of support, he must be su
tamed at any cost. When it is shown that is
not the ease,—that he has really given cause for

the rabid hostility directed against him—we may
be prepared to fall into the views of his accusers,
but no sooner.

The recent surrender of our unquestionable
maritime privileges is particularly unfortunate at
this moment. It will encourage the Government
of the United States in its unjust aggression.
They know that by our own folly we have sur-
rendered the most potent weapon which we for-
merly wielded, against which no defensive armour
could be available. Should war unfortunately'
be proclaimed we shall be held bound by
the ill-timed concession, and American commerce
may be carried on without let or hindrance under
neutral flags. But there will be no reciprocity.
They may still avail themselves of the clearly-
established principles of international law to cap-
ture and confiscate English goods in neutral ships,
or neutral goods in English vessels. We have
submitted to be fettered in the point, which of all
others would be likely to bring the adversary to
reason—and must enter on the contest under the
most extraordinary disadvantages.
Whatever be these restrictions, however, they
must be disregarded. War with any nation, or
under any circumstances, is a grievous calamity.
It would be peculiarly so with America.
How the despots would rejoice at seeing
the two great branches of the Anglo-
Saxon—the professed Champions of Liberty
all over the globe—engaged iu an internecine con-
flict, and the great Democratic Power entering on
a course of aggression, and adopting a traditional
policy, that might properly be compared with
that of PETER the GREAT (robber), and his suc-
cessors. Every friend of freedom might mourn in
sackcloth and ashes the untoward event. But-,
as we have already stated, the only way of
averting the impending evil is by in-
flexible resolution and unbending firmness.
A single unworthy concession would be the signal
for new and unreasonable demands. It is now
universally acknowledged that the British Go-
vernment has inflicted no wrong on that of
America, and that even had it been other-
wise an ample amende has been already made.
It is for the American people to make the next
move, to show that they reciprocate our kindly
feelings, and are desirous thl,t the ties of friend-
ship that have hitherto existed should be cemented
and perpetuated. Let them do so, and every
inauspicious omen will speedily vanish. If
not, we must only buckle on our armour
and cry, " GOD defend the right." We enter on
it with a clear conscience, knowing that we have
not given any rational grounds of offence, but
determined to defend our honour and integrity
to the last.

Peace ought surely to bring about a larger en-
couragement of Art. Yet, true to itself thus far,
this preposterous Peace so-called—a Truce in rea-
lity, and no more than a Truce—gives no practi-
cal token whatever of anything at all bearing the
merest semblance of a wider and wholesomer en-
couragement to Art and Artists in the United
Kingdom. Not the smallest—not the most
microscopic ! Take any of the Fine Arts sepa-
rately, and see whether it is so ! Architecture ?
Well—there is a "talk" about moving the Ger-
man Chapel somewhere else—about moving St.
Margaret's Church to another quarter of West-
minster—about pottering over a pile of old stones
here—and about cobbling up a pile of old stones
there—and that's pretty much about all that can
be said with truth in regard to the " improved"
prospects of Architecture. Then, again—Sculp-
ture ! What shall be said in regard to the
benignant influence of this most beneficent Peace
inisly yet
referencescarce tothedry upon
interests ofthpa
Sculpturerh
cmint7hlyio,
that already, while the ink of the Treaty of Paris
1
most distinguished sculptors of the three king-
doms have found it necessary to raise their united
voices in a dignified protest against their threat-
cued exclusion from the privilege of becoming
c3mpetitors for the design of some among the
most important of our national memorials ! Such
memorials, for example, as one to commemorate
at Scutari the gallant soldiers who have fallen by
hundreds and by thousands during the late de-
plorable Crimean conflict, or, again, as the
colossal monument intended to commemorate
upon our own shores the heroic deeds and the
protracted civistu of the late glorious ARTHUR,
Duke of WELLINGTON! The dignified pro-
test alluded to (a protest comprising among
the subscribers to it such men of genius as BAILY,
and MACDOWELL, and FOLEY, and WILLI:ill
BEHNES, and MATTHEW NOBLE, and CALDER MAR-
SHALL), being elicited in the form of a Memorial,
having manifestly direct reference to the nomina-
tion, in the snuggest and quietest way imaginable,
as the sculptor of the Soldiers' Memorial at Scutari
of a foreigner and a Court favourite—Baron
MAROCHETTI ! A man of genius too, no doubt of
it, a man in his way of the very highest genius,
but still, as neither an Englishman, an Irishman,
a Scotchinan, a Welshman, nor yet oven a Ber-
, wick-upon-Tweeder, having no claim whatever 66
be thus pitchforked over the heads of all the
sculptors of Great Britain to the honourable and
' profitable post, the post of privilege and prerog L-
tive, that appertaining to the chosen designer of
a great historic memorial at Scutari to perpetuate
the fame of the fallen heroes of the late lament-
able, because at once bloody and fruitless, struggle
against the legions of the Russian AUTOCRAT. Se
much, therefore, for the improved prospects
opened by this inestimable Peace to the Sculptors
of the United Kingdom ! About as much a feast
of the Barmecides to them it seems to give pro-
mise of proving (this " Peace !") as we have seen
it proposes to be in regard to our popular archi-
tects ! Poetry, again, as another and in some
respects the greatest of the Fine Arts—how about
Poetry as affected by the recent pacification ?
Why—even the Poet Laureate has not a word to
say fir- himself in regard to it—he is dumb in
the dread presence of the national disgrace and
disaster. We are not even solaced under the
infliction of this "Peace" by hearing some
other--

. . hoarse Fi!zgeraid bawl,
Ilia creaking couplets in a tavern hall"—

some modern representative of the " Small Beer
Poet," as h© was ludicrously termed by COBBETT,
the ridiculous poetaster who could so rave forth
his loyalty--

css
" In all the rapt rabidity of rhyme,"
as to caroll thus lustily (according to the inimit-
at ejected Addresse:.s") :
Long every Irian possessed of °wilt to give I
Lon.. • ' '
God bless the Ta alley Wellesley L,ng Pole live !
bless their coats of scarlet !
•Jivaing-Arietgh
God bless the nays'
Gu,,rLb.eiss the Princess Caarlotte !
pigtl;.llZattgh
hworste;l Gallia scoff! ,
God bless the
thely re now cut off .
God bless their
Eoglanti's Priine MiaiAer, thse:ub,`,BOi ltdheNbck revel,:
And oh ! in D
Mr. TENNYSON quite silent and "clop-fallen"
chop-fallen"
about the Peace, we have not even the comfort of
listening to the babble of another FITZGERALD.
So much for its influence upon Poets and Poet-
asters t . Then as to Painting ? Well, really
the less that is said about the encouragement of
Painting consequent upon the close of the Ras_
sian War—perhaps the better ! There is tita
wonderful big daub the 2,000/. PAULO VERONESE
telling us, in tolerably round numbers, and with
what the Yankees mig,lit call a pretty loud glare

of paint, how we can encourage Painting just at
the advent of this delightful Pacification ! Re-
minding us, too, how immensely beholden we are
to foreigners for doing—just for the smallest
" consideration" in the world—what might after
all be done much better by Englishmen. Get-
ting an ingenious German like Herr OTTO MUND-
LER to travel about the Continent in search of
about the ugliest pictures procurable for love or
money--precisely according to the same perverse
system which has installed an Italian (a very clever
man, no doubt, but still an Italian)—where ?
Why, of all places in the world, at the head of
the Library of—the British Museum ! Again,
as to Painting under the "encouraging" in-
fluence of Peace, we have Mr. VERNON'S noble
Collection poked away in the dingy old rooms of
Marlborough House—and not even dingy old
rooms like those provided for the inestimable
works of art bequeathed to the nation by our
great TURNER ! Added to all which the National
Gallery still remains an eye-sore up9n the "finest
site in Europe"—and there is a " talk" (0 these
talks !) about building another National Gallery,
a bran new one—where, in the name of con-
science ? Upon the low, damp, swampy waste,
until lately sacred from the vulgar tread, as the
Market gardens lying between Brompton and
Kensington ! There actually down in that hole !
A hole that has already swallowed up the entire
surplus funds of the Great International Exhibi-
tion of 1851 ! A stupendous Job And into this
dreadful hole (as OURTIUS jumped into the awful
abyss of the Forum, armed cap-a-pie, a knight
in all his panoply, upon horseback) they—the
great state bunglers who literally " do" every-
thing and everybody !—are going (in hopes of
course of filling the hole up) to throw neck and
heels, anyhow, the long-cherished and magnificent
project of a grand new National Gallery—a Na-
tional Gallery worthy of its designation ! Against
this abominable scheme we shall not cease to
to raise our voice in earnest and indignant Pro-
testation

The accession of Mr. ROEBUCK to the Presi-
dency of the Administrative Reform Association is
an event which we are prepared to accept as an
augury of some usefulness on the part of that body
for the future. The good intentions of the leader
of the movement we have never for one moment
disputed. The necessity for Administrative Re-
form we have invariably urged, and in taking
exception to the procedure of the Association our
only ground has been its inefficiency. Under
these circumstances it affords us satisfaction to
find that the justice of our complaint is not only
recognised by the new President, but also that
such a renovation is proposed as Mr. ROEBUCK
conceives to be necessary for the removal of our
ground of complaint.
Mr. ROEBUCK unhesitatingly, in his inaugural
address, pronounces the Association a failure,
and attributes its want of success mainly to two
causes—first, that Administrative Reformers did
not belong to the governing class, and next, that
they resolved to work out of doors and not in the
House of Commons, thereby placing themselves
in antagonism to the de facto sovereign power,
against which it is impossible for a rival delibe-
rative body to stand. This statement of the
causes of their non-success points, in his judg-
ment, to the remedy, and suggests the course that
ought to be pursued. That course is not to set
themselves up as rivals of the House of Commons,
but to adopt a mode of proceeding that will give
Administrative Reformers power ire it, so that
working with it the contemptuous opposition of
the governing class will be overcome, and the
cause of Administrative Reform will acquire ad-
ditionAl weight and influence from the Associa-

Hon.
The inquiry next arises—how the Parliamen-
tary power is to be obtained ? In reply, Mr.
ROEBUCK proposes a new constitution—the for-
mation of a governing body, a ministry composed
of the following officials : —1, A Chairman ;
2, a Finance Secretary ; 3, a Corresponding
Secretary ; 4, a Statistical Secretary ; and,
5, a General Secretary ; all of whom shall be
responsible to the whole body of the subscribers,
acting by moans of the General Committee, the
constitution of which shall remain as it existl,
and in possession of its present powers. The
chief great end of the labours of the executive
body, Mr. ROEBUCK proposes, shall be the forma-
tien of an efficient Parliamentary party ; the
means to be employed being, Ist, to obtain in-
fluence with the separate constituencies ; 2J, to
eorrespond and act with such Representatives of
the people as may be willing to act with them ;
and, 3d, to employ the powers of the Association
in gathering together such information as may be
useful to those friendly and co-operating Repre-
sentatives.
The duties of the Chairman, it is proposed,
shall be these of general supervision. The plan
of proceeding and line of policy to be adopted by
each department shall be determined by him, and
on his shoulders shall rest the responsibility of
success or failure. The duties of the correspond-
ing secretary will be to ascertain, by means of
an organised plan, and record whatever informa
tion has, or may be supposed to have, power in
the election of a member, and to put it into shape
that will render it available at a moment's notice
—in a word, to become the medium of commu-
nication between the country and the association,
so as to bring to bear on the constituencies
the organisation and knowledge of the assoc:a
Lion as promptly and efficiently as possible. The
duties of the statistical secretary, it is proposed,
shall be by an organised plan to collect informa-
tion respecting the various subjects and depart-
ments sought to be investigated and reformed.
The duties of the two remaining secretaries are
sufficiently obvious to need any explanation. The
reader has now a rough outline of the constitu-
tion proposed. The gentlemen nominated to the
respective offices, we may add, are—Mr. TRAVERS,
finance secretary ; Mr. MORLEY, corresponding
secretary ; Mr. GASSIOT, statistical secretary ;
and Mr. REVANS, general secretary.
We shall not indulge iu much comment on the
scheme, but imperfectly developed, and not yet
accepted, though we have little doubt it will be.
We are inclined to fear Mr. ROEBUCK places too
much confidence both in the Hause of Commons
and the constituencies. Experience has con-
vinced us that both need a stimulus from without
before any great scheme of reform can be accom-
plished. It is true the constituencies as they now
exist have in the main no personal interests to
stand in the way of Administrative Reform ; and
t'te machinery proposed will accommodate itself
at all times to the means the association may pos-
e ms. Safe is something, but speed is also wanted
and we are afraid the progress of the associa-
tion will prove but slow, and in that case it will not
long carry public interest with it. The
base of the movement, we apprehend, needs
enlargement, at all events the influence of popular
opini )1), as it appears to us, is more needed
than is contemplated, to insure much success.
Mr. ROEBUCK, however, is a host in him-
self; and whatever successes may be achieved
the way of Administrative Reform will, we I
doubt not, lie
mainly owing to his energy

and good management. The task he has set before
him is one which will elicit much sympathy, and
his well-known probity and determination will
smooth the way. At worst_ his scheme will leave
a valuable organisatiOn and much needful infor-
mation for the use of any subsequent, not to say
more comprehensive, movement of a like nature.
He has our best wishes ; and what aid we can
lend, consistently with our views, will not be
withheld.