The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-27 00:00:00

S-II

MINISTERIAL CRISIS.

not our readers imagine,however,that we too are bitten with the
mania of the crisis, and that we are now ivlulging in imagi-
nation. If they will read the Times of yesterday they will
see the sober and sad avowal put forth by our conteu, orary
himself, that he now condemns Lord John for incapacity,
because he is out of office, whom, in the -same paragraph lie
declares be would have lauded had he continued in pover.
Among other extravagances of imagination, we have had
hints from various quarters, that by some means or other,
into some combination or other of nascent administrations,
ce cher Aberdeen might possibly find his way. The Noble
Earl has indeed fluttered, like a gnome in a pantomime,
over every group of statesmen, of every shade of politics,
who have met in consultation of State, affairs within the
last few days. Who bade him come,' or how he " gat"
there, notiOdy seems to know. But' the notion that
the Government of England, or any department of it,
should be intrusted to his hands, neither the Noble Earl him-
self, nor any other man of sober judgment, has anticipated.
Still, it does seem strange, and it affords some colon* to the
dealers in speculations, to whom we have alluded, that whe-
ther
Stanley, Lord
or
3 ir. John
Gladstone, Russell,
or
is
political scene, he (the said principal figure) is sure to glide
towards a shadowy appearance in some corner or another,
Sir
the JapmrienscipGarlaha, or Lord
figurem on the
which, when carefully examined, tnrus out to be no other.
than "ce cher Aberdeen." There is something in this mysteri-,
ous and seemingly purposeless übiquity, calculated to excite
general wonder it not anxiety, and amongst the revelations of
Friday next we cannot help expecting, that the least marvel-
lous will not be that which shall let us, into the secret of a
phenomenon at present so unaccountable. Whether the un-
bidden apparition in questien for Wards or frustrates the pur-
poses of successive formers of Cabinets;'it is difficult to tell.
But some wise people, who guess in 'the latter directien,
begin to think, that the genius of Aberdeen is really benefi-
cent, and that his influence in forbidding the existence of a
Ministry at all is useful to the public. The country goes on
very well they say without a Ministry. The railway runs
its course—and so does the tax-gatherer—and the policeman
—and all the affairs of life—even when there is no Ministry
to present the consummation of stupidity, and no opposition
to present the quintessence of pertectien, We hope Lord
Aberdeen will look to this in time.
ADVERTISER.—" Wanted a hero—an uncommon want,"
is the commencement of one of Lord Byron's poems. The
commodity most wanted just now is not a hero, but a Prima
Minister. The office has gone a-begging. No one will ac-
cept it, or if some sanguine, adventurous person, like Lord
Stanley, is found to accept the situation, it is only to resign
it the next hour, or at the farthest the next day. Lord John
Russell, Lord Aberdeen, Sir James Graham, severally shrink
from the acceptance of the vacant Premiership. It would
really seem as if the Queen would, ere long, be reduced to the
humiliating necessity of advertising in the public journals
for a Prime Minister—just as a nobleman advertises for a
butler or a groom.' The extreme difficulty of getting any,
man of position in the political world to accept the
Premiership is one of the most significant signs of the
times. It is not only that the difficulty of constructing a
lasting Cabinet is great, if not insuperable—the diffi-
culty of getting any. man of mark even to under-
take the task, is of the most formidable kind. " This
betokens a very perplexing and very unpromising state of
things. It shows the perils by which we are surrounded.
It gives us a clearer view of the complications of parties,
and of the confusion which exists in the high places of
political society, than almost anything that could be ima-
gined. But still, notwithstanding all the difficulties of what
the French would call " the situation," we would have no
uneasy apprehensions as to the ultimate result, were the
people only true to themselves and: to their principles. To
our minds, by far the worst feature of the present position of
parties and of matters, is the comparative indifference which
the people apparently feel in the issue of the existing con-
fusion. We use the word apparent,' because the indifference
is more in appearance than reality. But' whether it be actual
or not, the result is substantially the same. An apparent in-
difference may be, at the present juncture, quite as disastrous
to the popular cause, as an indifference which is real. Men
judge of things by appearances. If the people at this moment-
ous crisis, demean themselves in such a way as to convey
the idea that they feel no particular interest in the issue of
the present posture of affairs, the necessary conclusion on
the part of statesmen and politicians will be, that they are
indifferent as to the ultimate results of the existing crisis.
It is all the more deeply to be deplbred, that the country is
silent and inactive at such a. juncihre as the present, be-
cause there never was a period within the memory of man,
when the voice of the people could. have been raised with
so powerful an effect, as it could be at this moment. The
destinies of the country are entirelj in its own hands. Lord
Stanley, or Lord anybody else, may form a Ministry to-day,
but if the people please they can, by a single breath, destroy
that Ministry to-morrow. The power of public opinion
never was so great as it is at this hour. It is omnipotent.
Its irresistible might is derivedsfsom the complication of
political interests, and the confusioaaff parties, te which we ,
have alluded. If we could only arouse the country to a
sense of its duty in this great pot al emergency, we should
care but comparatively little ho is to be the head
of the new Ministry, or who are telm its members. Be that
Minister whom he may, be the Cabinet what it will, he and
it would fail if not based on liberal principles. Their only
chance of getting on even for one brief week, would be by
proposing a course of policy in 'accordance with popular
opinion. The people can, it they only awaken out
of sleep, and acquit themselves with the energy
which the emergency required,. compel whatever set of
men may be in office, to act in
,accordance with popular
principles, and keep abreast with popular feeling. The
inactivity of the country is, we must own, altogether unin-
telligible to us. A concurrence Of...carious circumstances
such as do not happen once in a ceatury—shas brought about
a political crisis, in which all the great parties in the State
seem equally helpless. They have the greatest difficulty in
forming even the semblance of a Government. All who
make the attempt to construct a .n,sv Cabinet, or who even
entertain the idea, feel that without ateomniodating themselves
to the views and wishes of the peoplethere could not be the most
slender chance of success, And yet in this state of affairs—
a state of affairs so singularly favourable to the popular
cause— the country seems in a profound sleep. It is per-
mitting the most favourable opportunity which ever pre-
sented itself for insuring the permanent triumph of the
popular cause—to pass away unimproyed. The people were
roused to sensibility and action, a fortnight ago, when Sir
Charles Wood attempted to play of his financial jugglery at
their expense. They felt, and spoke, and acted, when he
sought to impose upon them, by legerdemain expedients, in
connexion with the window and Retie duties. Nor did they
look on in silence and with folded: hands, when the Right
Ron. Gentleman proclaimed hiesiotention of renewing the
income-tax, with all its enormitievyid iniquities, for another
period of three years. So much the inorennaccountable is the
apathy of the nation; at a time so "regnant with momentous
results to the country. The titmice-Ind seeming insensibility
of the people are to us wholly incomprehensible. But it is
not yet too late to awake out oflll'eep. It is not yet past
time to arouse themselyes front, their apparent lethargy.
Let them even now but open their eyes, and work them-
selves up to vigorous action, anetheir own triumph, with
the triumph of popular principlesSeeill yet be achieved. The
course which the country oughbaile‘the present emergency,
to adopt, is clear. Public meetings should immediately. be
held'in all parts of the country4p pass resolutions, affirming
in the most explicit and energetic:language which it is pos-
sible to employ, that no Governthent will be entitled to, and
cannot possess, the confidence,'Of the nation, which- is
not based on the three great principles of a rigid
economy in the public expenditure, an extension of
the franchise, and an abrilged duration of Parlia-
ments. We made this suggestion on Monday ;
we repeat it now. The courseiffaich it indicates, is the only
one which will meet the exigewetee of the case. All that is
wanting, we are convinced, in order to ensure its universal
adoption, is, that a beginning shestid be made. To the me-
tropolis we naturally look for k initiative. The country
will expect London to make a commencement. The move-
ment ought to have been inaugiirated before now. Thu City
should by this time haVe set thdAtitatien aping. Diary le-
bone would have followed. So would all the other metro-
politan boroughs. And all the populous towns in the pro-
vinces would have forthwith sheitated the example set by
London. It is not too late not#: ''Let the City move in the
matter, without another day's delay. Shall we appeal to it
in vain? Then we tarn to Marylebone,—the greatest bo-
rough in the world. To the men'of Marylebone, the cause of
civil and religious liberty has, on innumerable occasions,
been under the deepest obligations. It will not desert us
now. We know that our appeal to it will meet with a prompt
and hearty response.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The labours of yesterday—the sixth day since
the commencement of the Ministerial crisis—commenced
with increased activity in the Tory camp, and great was the
curiosity to watch and ascertain the movements of the bold
leader summoned to terminate this suspense of the State.
Already a pregnant inference might be drawn as to Lord
Stanley's opinion of his Protectionist supporters and of his
ultimate chances of success, from the tact that the first per-
son he applied to was Viscount Canning, who was invited to
join the Tory Government with the office of Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs. Lord Canning has official expe-
rience, good judgment, and high Parliamentary ability,
which fit him for a high post in the State; but he is well
known as a firm adherent to the free-trade policy of the last
Government to which he belonged, and he consequently de-
clined to accept Lord Stanley's proposal. In his first step,
therefore, the Protectionist leader dropped the cause of Pro-
tection, and held out the temptation of high office to one of
Sir Robert Peel's lieutenants. At eleven o'clock in the fore-
noon Mr. Gladstone reached London, and an interview
immediately took place between him and Lord Stanley. Al-
ready, at two o'clock, the result of this meeting had
.trana
pired, and it was known that Mr. Gladstone also declined to
join the projected Administration. From that moment the.
undertaking became more desperate, for it was not to the
obscure aspirants of the Protectionist benches that Lord
Stanley's sagacity had taught him to look for the substance
of an administration of which he should be the head. We
know not to what extent Major Beresford and Mr. Disraeli
have shared in his deliberations, but it deserves to be ob-
served that this was the first serious attempt to reconstitute
the Conservative party by a reconciliation between Lord
Stanley and some, at least, of the followers of Sir Robert
Peel; and that the attempt proved wholly unsuccessful.
If, therefore, Lord Stanley has not already abandoned
the undertaking altogether, he is at least compelled
to fall back on coadjutors whose insignificance as
politicians his own proceedings have sufficiently ad-
mitted. It chanced that the day on which the political
vane was thus turning with the unsteady breezes to each
successive point of the compass had been appointed by het
Majesty for the first levee of the season. The apartments
of St. James were crowded to excess with the leaders of
every party—the victims of the late change. or the eager
winners on another hazard, the veteran servants of the
Crown, and the disbanded militia which rival Governments
press into their service—fluctuating in all the vicissitudes of
ambition or of fear, of patriotic hope or selfish calculation.
The agitation which reigned without had collected a larger
assemblage to the Court, but the extreme diversity of politi-
cal opinions resolved itself there into a general feeling of re-
spect and interest for her Majesty. It would be difficult to point
out another moment in our Parliamentary history at which the
chief offices of Government have been'vaeated with so little ap-
parent necessity for a great change, yet withsonstachdifficulty
in supplying the wants of the public service. To the coun-
try at large, and even to the busy community of this metro-
polis, these events have come so suddenly and with so little
preparation that their full importance is even now scarcely
recognized. The good sense of the nation refuses to believe
in the possibility of a Tory Government, bound to attempt
the renewal of a Protectionist policy; and it is commonly
suspected that the whole series of these transactions is des-
tined to end in nothing more than a new distribution of offi-
cial appointments amongst men connected with the last Ad-
ministration Very probably that is the termination' to which
the crisis will at last be brought. But, in the meantime, the
uncertainty of these successive phases in the attempt to com-
pose or to reconstruct a Government is such as to induce
the acutest observers to suspend their judgment; and, even
in the presence of the Court, the elation of one party or the
dejection of another—the reluctant efforts of this or that
leader, and the invincible objections of the persons invited to
take office—were quoted as authentic indications of the di.
rection about to be given to the Government of England.
Yet, we must hope that these unavailing efforts and abortiVe
combinations will not prove altogether without profit to the
future, and that a nearer acquaintance with' the difficulties
inherent in the present state of affairs may teaeh all parties
a lesson of forbearance. It is a circumstance of extreme
importance that Lord Stanly has been not only fully em-
powered, but urgently pressed, by the necessity, of the
case, tc form a Government ; and that if, as we are
disposed to anticipate, he fads on this occasion,
actual experience will have shown that the thing
is not to be done, either with the present House
of Commons or with the prospect of a dissolution—
that, in truth, the materials of such a Cabinet do not
exist. That would be in our opinion the most forcible ar-
gument ever addressed to the nation against the possibility
of restoring a system of protective duties ; and, if the leaders
of the Tory party are able to turn that lesson to advantage,
they will begin at last to comprehend that the consolidation
of their body, with a view to the recovery of power, must be
accomplished by means wholly different from those which
they have employed since 1846. Assuming the attempt of
Lord Stanley to be unsuccessful, we shall probably be asked
" What next ?" although at present no further steps can
have been taken. Among the various combinations which
have been attempted, that which approached most nearly to
Nccess, and which most nearly responded to the wishes of
the Mintry, was the fusion ofthe late Whig Administration,
or rather of its survivors, with some of the chief members
of the Peel party. Both in the late Cabinet and among the
followers of Sir Robert Peel there are men most qualified
for effective service; and we see no reason to doubt that either:
by a short period of common opposition to an adverse Govern.
ment, or by wider personal concessions, some of these states-
men may restore a strong Administration to the country in
conjunction with new allies.
CHRONICLE.— Our anticipations have been justified by
Mr. Gladstone's refusal to take office under the Protectionist
leader. The high feeling and the attachment to principle
which dictated his refusal have been shared by his former
colleague, Lord Canning, whose presence in the Foreign-
office would have relieved Lord Stanley from one of his prin-
cipal difficulties. In both cases, the unhesitating rejection
of high office from a Premier whose opinions were known to
be unfavourable to a liberal commercial policy will be ge-
nerally appreciated as it deserves. Lord Stanley must now
either relinquish his task, or proceed in the desperate at-
tempt td effect it without the aid of a single experienced
statesman. His position is, both personally and politically,
isolated. lie will neither find a capable colleague,
nor enjoy the couneenance of any section of Parlia-
ment except that which, in the House of Lords, has
followed his lead, ,and which, in the Commons,
has acted with Mr. Disraeli. The difficulties of his situation
are aggravated by the refusal ot.::is adherents to give up the
question of Protection. Lord Stanley would willingly have
waited, in the hope of conciliating support by incidental mea-
sures of retrenchment, accompanied by popular financial pro-
posals; but the obstinate determination of the bulk of the
party has forced the leader to hoist his true colours. The
Protectionists must assume the government of the country
with the avowed purpose of checking the free-trade system,
or they must finally renounce their . pretensions. We still
believe that the duration of the experiment will be measured
by hours rather than by weeks. Lord Stanley has hitherto
displayed no eagerness for office; nor can his attempted
negotiations with Mr. Gladstone have been dictated
by feelings of conscious power and security. Seeing
the hopelessness of permanently establishing his party in
power, he will probably once more recommend them to wait,
and will leave it to experience to teach them that the present
is their last opportunity. It may be that the confession of
failure will be veiled by some formal progress in the distri-
bution of offices, in the expectation that circumstances or
conflicting personal claims will furnish, at the last moment,
some plausible excuse for abandoning an impracticable ex,
periment. Until the Ministry is formally in office it will be
unsafe to speculate on its final establishment; and it is'pro-
bable that the crisis will yet be terminated by some arrange-
ment by which the most eminent supporters of free trade
may form a united Cabinet. The second failure of
Lord John Russell removes obstacles from negotia-
tion, to which we have on former occasions adverted.
Few other members of the late Cabinet are personally
pledged to the obnoxious parts of its recent proposals; and'
there can be no doubt that the majority of the body will re-
joice in the introduction of a more satisfactory financial
scheme, and in the final discontinuance of sectarian agitation.
Whenever the occasion occurs—and it cannot long be de-
layed—Lord John Russell may make a graceful andpatriotic
use of his personal influence with his party, by inducing
them to renounce the exclusive position of the old Whig.
League, for the purpose of serving their country on larger
and more liberal principles. Unwilling as we are to antici-
pate even the momentary success of Lord Stanley's untoward
experiment, it is necessary to consider the results to which
the immediate triumph of the retrograde party may lead.
Ambition, and shame, and half-desperate hope may induce
Lord Stanley to accept the vacant helm, against his own bet-
terjudgment. If heshould venture to meet Parliament as Minis-
ter, his difficulties will commence with the first debate. It will
be necessary to avow the general policy which his party hag
forced upon him; and although he may probably abstain
from specific measures against free trade, the preponderating
majority of the community will accept his defiance without
waiting to receive his attack. From the first moment, his
Government will be in a minority— a minority not to be.mea-
sured by the numbers of the temporary coalition which took
the opportunity of Mr. Disraeli's motion to express its gene-
ral dissatisfaction with the late Government. Itwill be well
for Lord Stanley that the determination of the House of Com-
mons to reject his policy should be marked and decisive. It
is only confidence in Parliament which can moderate the
agitation which might possibly, under other circumstances,
convulse the country. We have little doubt that, on all
questions affecting the duration of the Ministry, the Opposi-
tion would have a steady majority of not, less than forty
votes. It is in vain that the Protectionists repeat, for
their own consolation, the well-known fact that the
late Whig Government also held office in the face of a
permanent majority. The difference between the cases is to
be found in the wishes of the late, as contrasted with those of
the future Opposition. Up to the last moment, both sections
of the majority which sat on the Speaker's left wished to
keep the Ministry in office. The Free-traders would, alike
from duty and inclination, drive the Protectionist Govern-
ment from power before it had time W do permanent injury
to the country. From Mr. Cobden to the most Conservative
of the friends of the late Sir Robert Peel, a common desire
would prevail to secure the cause of commercial freedom
and at the same time to preclude a dangerous agitation
In estimating the balance of parties, it must be remembered
that the Irish Roman Catholic Members swelled the late
Protectionist majority, exclusively on grounds of their own.
The new leader of the House of Commons woad be com-
pelled to explain his intentions with respect to the Anti-
papal proceedings in favour of which Lord Stanley
has expressed himself so strongly. If he promises action, he
loses the support of the section which so strongly resented
Lord John Russell's attack on the Irish hierarchy. A refusal
to proceed with No-Popery measures would alienate Lord,
Ashley and Sir Robert Inglis, and would be an avowed
abandonment of principle. The late Ministry has left a fatal
inheritance to successors who are compelled to wear its cast-
off garments. In speaking of Lord Stanley's Parliamentary
embarrassments we have not forgotten the possible resort of
a dissolution ; but it is fortunate that so desperate an alter-
native can scarcely be adopted without a considerable delay.
The public business will compel the new Ministry to face a
hostile majority for some weeks, and to undergo the criti-
cism which will await its policy from every states-
man in either House of Parliament. With a da-
rssaged reputation, and amid associations of defeat,
it must appeal to the country, if at all; nor will it
offer any question for solution to the constituencies
of the cozultry, except that on which the balance of the
constitutions, forces has finally been proved and known.
The counties haV° nearly done their best and their worst.
They may still re:;?rif, here or there, a Protectionist in
but the numerical strength
place of a more liberal Biett7be.r;
of parties will not be material) chilOged in England ; and
y"'
in Ireland the balance will be ent.:4ely opposed to a retro-
grade policy. Lord Stanley can no ,?core shaka off the
No-Popery prejudices of a portion of his sup ',Sorters thap he
can dispense with the Protectionist fallacies of the bulk of
the party. The great town and the inainsfacturing and
commercial districts may not, perhaps, add greatly to
the present number of tithe free-trade represeAtatives ;
but an election will give them an opportunity
for agitation by which they will not be slow to
profit. The new majority of the House of Commons
will represent the same doctrines which prevailed at the.elec-
tiou of 1847 ; but it will be the organ of very different feel-
ings, and of passions far more deeply excited. Mr. Cobden,
with a mission to perform and an opponent too vercome, will
be a more formidable antagonist than he may ppear to those

LONDON, THURSDAY -E-VENING, FEBRUARY 27,