The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-07 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, N;OVENIBER,7, 1856

Lord PALMERSTON has truly declared that " the
leisure of a Minister of the Crown, during the
recess, is not altogether such a period of tran-
quillity and repose aa. many may suppose it to be."
Experto erecle !
The Noble Lprd can certainly
speak feelingly on, the subject. At Manchester
yesterday he undwetrent labours more severe than
he would have to %iidergo during the most onerous
period of the Ri.e.iamentary campaign. , He de-
livered no less than three orationson different
matters, each ?and every one of which was distin-
peculiar • tact and felicity of ex-
guished by that,
pression for 'which he is so justly celebrated. He
wide field on which to enter, and
had necesse,rily a
it is but si,tuple justice to say that, while he touched
on and adorned so many varied suljects, he spoke
boldly, manfully, and in a manner bLfi'..ting the
Prime Minister of England on each and all—on the;

conduct of the War and the terms on which
Peace was concluded, and on which alone it can
be maintained—the domestic principles of govern-
ment on which his Administration is founded ;
and, finally, the advantages of a noble institution
fur promoting the social elevation of its members,
and qualifying them to become better citizens,
while promoting their own happiness by devoting
the so-called " hours of idleness" to their intel-
lectual and moral advancement.
Within the space necessarily devoted to an
article in a public journal, it is impossible to
attempt to give anything approaching to an out-
line of the Premier's views on these varied topics,
or to comment thereon fairly and impartially. We
can only glance at the most important of all, that
on which the public attention is rivetted for the
time being—viz., the foreign policy, past, pre-
sent, and future of the PALMERSTON Adminis-

tration.
On that all-important subject be has spoken
like the Lord PALMERSTON of former days, the
truly English Minister, untainted by Germanism,
and determined to maintain the honour and dig-
nity of Great Britain intact through every diffi-
culty. He has boldly declared, even while
expressing a fervent hope that the Peace might
be lasting, that " its duration must depend upon
the honour and fidelity with which its conditions
are fulfilled ;" emphatically adding—" I trust
that that Power which brought upon itself the
hostility, either active or moral, of all Europe,
by a forgetfulness of international rights and
duties—l trust that that Power having con-
cluded a Treaty, will observe that Treaty, and fulfil
it with faithfulness, and then, no doubt, peace
will be of long duration."
This is a significant and well-timed hint that,
under his administration, England will not suffer
hirself to be either bullied or cajoled; and that
the AUTOCRAT, if he wishes to avoid another war,
must carefully eschew the flimsy and pettifogging
pr texts by which his Ministers endeavour to
evade the performance of obligations solemnly
and deliberately contracted ; that the spirit of
the Tteaty, as well as the mere letter, must be
strictly and honourably observed ! If the policy
of his Government be strictly in accordance with
the opinions thus nobly enunciated, Lord PAL-
MERSTON will merit and obtain the confidence of
the nation, and the people will earnestly desire
for him a long continuance in place and power.
He rendered ample justice to the enthusiasm
of the entire community with respect to the just
and necessary war into which we were forced, and
to the well-tried bravery of our gallant seamen and
soldiers, when he explained how greatly they alle-
viated the "apparent " difficulties of the task on
which he entered. He well knew that no impedi-
ments would keep back, no dangers intimidate,
th( Ise who had firmly resolved to defend the cause
of truth and justice, even to the last man and the
last shilling ; that every reasonable application
would be cheerfully responded to—all that was
required being to satisfy the people that their
sacrifices should not be made in vain, but that
ample securities should be obtained from the un
conscientious aggressor against any continuance in
the reckless course to which he had been prompted
by overweening ambition and insatiable cupidity.
With such unflinching resolution on the part of
the nation he might well feel sanguine that every
difficulty would eventually be satisfactorily sur-
mounted.

Lord PALMERSTON fully vindicated himself from
the accusations that had on previous occasions
been so unsparingly hurled against him as being
" the firebrand of Europe," ready to engage his
country in hostilities on the slightest provocation,
or at least to proceed to the verge of war on in-
suficient grounds. He truly explained that "a
country like this, with great interests at stake,
and a great reputation to maintain, with our
fellow-subjects scattered over the whole face of
the globe, with our property floating upon every
ocean, with commercial transactions extending to
the remotest corners of the earth, acted wisely to
guard against the approach of insult and the very
appearance of wrong, and that it is easier to stop
the beginning of such affairs than to find a re-
medy when the evil has risen to a great magnitude,
and when great efforts may be required to check it 1"
This is, indeed, the great corollary to the whole-
some maxim—si vis pacem para bellum—you pre-
serve peace by being at all times prepared
war—you prevent wrong or insult by exhib:Atiin
at all times an unbending resolution to repel it,
and to obtain ample redress for any tF,at may be
inflicted.

We heartily congratulate Lord PIL3IERSTON
and the people on the sound ap.a far-seeing policy
thus boldly enunciated ! Let Lim carry out these
views, and he will obtaill the respect of his
S•VEREIGN, the gratitudqva his fellow-citizens, and
the unalloyed apprdoation of his own conscience
for the faithful. discharge of the arduous duties
confided to his charge, not less by the favour of
the QuEEN than the good-will of the People.

"Oh that mine enemy would write a book !"
It would have been well for Lieut.-Col. SimmoNs,
and the reputation of the General which be so
hastily and recklessly rushed forward to support,
if he had abstained from attacking, on slender
grounds, the Hero of Kars, and compelling him
to vindicatr.: the accuracy of his assertions.
The statement put forward in the letter given to
the world wai merely hypothetical. General WIL-
LIAMS, while smarting under the unmerited neglect
—or something worse—with which lie was treated,
expressed a hope that the Turkish General " would
act like a brave and resolute man ;" adding, "if
be tam not, I will mark him with my ink, in
spite of his great reputation.' Lieut.-Colonel
SIMMONS has called on General WILLIAMS to
redeem the pledge, and he has done so with a
vengeance, and in a manner that will render the
task of justifying the leader who, with such materials
at his disposal, permitted Kars to fall without any
energetic or determined effort for its protection,
one of no ordinary difficulty.

There are few who are not aware of the gallant
—we might almost say desperate—defence offered
by the English Commissioner, and which, had he
been at all supported, would have averted one of
the darkest blots respecting the conduct of the war
frcui the character of the Allies. Tt was, however,
believed in many quarters that the evil. was occa-
sioned by the extraordinary apathy and indifference
manifested in the earlier part of the si itnmer, and
that the mischief was inevitable at tl le time that
OIIER l'Acna. had brought his troops to Batouni,
within four days' journey of Kars, and but six
for the march of troops. Generea WILLIA-Ars
shows that he does not participate in this opinion.,
and that he considers OMER PACHA to be at least
et Greilte than
as deep in the mire as any of the parUes implicated
—that he was but little, if anything,ah an
better
SELIM PACHA himself. The g
tells a plain unvarnished tale in support.
of this impression, and one that will require a
clear and distinct answer from Liellt.-Colonel
SIMMONS, should he still persist in his .elf-imposed
task. Indeed he has now to defend not only
OMER PACHA, but also himself, ffora a grave pat,
tis;ipal.ion in the general apathy as ico the fate of
IVILLIALis and the brave men ha ea nobly ful-