The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-08 00:00:00

LORD JOHN .RUSSELL.

We noticed very cursorily an article in Colburm's
New Monthly Magazine for March, under the
above title. The artici.e is rather long for a
magazine, and from its tone, ability, and character
is more fitted for a Quarter/y. The author ha.,,
evidently well studied the character of Lord John
Russell, and as the present aspect of political affairs
gives mord importance to the subject, we readily
give a few extracts illustrative of the past career of
his lordship, leaving what may "loom in the,
future" to the chapter of events. Lord John has seen
many "ups and downs" in his time, and has con-
tributed to upset the cabinet coach more than once
himself. Whether his own coach may ever rattle
as Lord of Downing-street again, we leave to time
and chance to decide. We rather suspect that Lord
John is fast realising what O'Connell once jestingly
but maliciously said in a memorable debate, in allu-
sion to a party which now bids fair by liberal mea-
sures to return the compliment to the TorriJied
Whigs
"As down thy hill romantic Ashbourne, glides
The Derby Dilly, with its six Insides 1"

a young nobleman, EXTRACTS.
A period of more than forty years has elapsed since
lectual society of the metropolis, and not undistinguished
mixing in the most refined and intel-
lectual
literary talent and success, became intimately con•
nected with the leaders of the Whig party, and soon ac-
quired a character for tact, constitutional knowledge, and
general political ability, which made his admission to Par-
liament not only a suitable tribute to his merits, but an
act of expediency as well as of justice. For a scion of the
house of Bedford a seat in the House of Commons was
always in readiness, as a matter of course; but on this oc-
casion at least it could not be said that a Russell had been
" swaddled, and rocked, and dandled into a legislator ;" he
fairly earned whatmight have been considered his birthright
and fully vindicated his pretension to take a place among
the representatives of the people by an earnest and inde-
fatigable pursuit of political knowledge, and by the
liberality and even boldness of his opinions. The qualities
of his mind and character were doubtless fully appreciated
by his party, but they were not prominently displayed
immediately on his entrance into public life. A quiet
consciousness of power restrained him from any premature
attempts to acquire political distillation. The cireum-
stances of the time, however, were unfavourable to the
quick development even of political genius. It was an age
of able, we might almost say, of great men. It was a
period, too, when eloquence, like knowledge, was power,
Rini waehennecterlzzete wonasscrarn:telityed....topeacitnr
or Ltni[ll3,,Totiocilzanisz,and :,
the ear of the House of Commons. Tierney, ltoinilly,
Brougham, Mackintosh, and Canning there held undis-
puted sway, and their impetuous and brilliant oratory
awed and kept in subordination all inferior men. Dazzled
by the splendour of their genius, ordinary statesmen were
content to admire in silence, and submit to comparative
obscurity.

It is not our intention to trace in detail the career of
this statesman through the subordinate offices which he
filled during the period which elapsed between the passing
of the Reform Bill and hie accession to power as First
Minister of the Crown in 1846. His political conduct in
the long interval may be generally characterised as that of
a steady and consistent Whig, after the traditions of his
party. Flo fully sustained the character he had acquired
in the House of Commons, and his influence and importance
increased from year to year. His voice was heard on every
occasion when monopoly was assailed and abuses exposed,
and great social questions opened up and discussed. The
theories of free trade, which had been so long held by spe-
culative and thoughtful men, were now to be brought for-
ward and tested on the grandest scale, and to those theories
Lord John Russell had long given his unqualified adhe-
rence. Municipal reform, the measures for tithe commu-
tation, the amendment of the poor-laws, and national
education, all these received material aid from his ad vocacy ;
some of them were proposed by himself, and conducte i
through the House of Commons by his skilful guidance. Of
the measure of coercion found necessary for Ireland he was
an unflinching advocate, and it was not till the necessities of a
weakened party compelled an alliance with the Irish liberals,
that the firmness which he ha I manifested when dealing
with the disorders of that country, gave way to a policy of
compromise as injurious to himself and his party as it
proved
I unavailing as a means of conciliation. The attempt
to pacify or bribe into subjection O'Connell and his
tionTinsa-
tiable myrmidons is a dark blot on Lord
_Melbourne's
sAadtiwsfian'itsin.hand MI fall from power gave very general
subsequent election proved in an un-
questionabletor
a manner how deeply the British constitueucies
had been offended by the Irish policy of the Government.
Lord John Russell, who had acted as the leader of the
and by the influence of his personal cha-
racter House of Commons and Secretary of State for the Home
Department, probably suffered less in reputation than any
ascendancy deolined, and a temporary
colleagues,
prolonged the existence of a ministry
Government owflihicish bad long lost its prestige. With Lord Melbourne's
removal of that party from power was at once a just pun-
, forarfmege l
al carrying3l nedusPrs teeosu Russellit4eoiva( fie l 111 i)
great
rn
100
plea mayotit
proposing
i o:ialfrn:,
measures we began
pun-
ishment for the past and &warning for the future. Of Lord
Whig
g
be said, that nothing in his Ministerial
life became him like the leaving it. Iu a speech of great
dignity he announced the resignation of the Government.
"I do not think, he said, in addressing the House of
Commons for the last time as a Minister of the Crown,
into effect the measures which Ministers
welfare ot rwaenrs c
eo.nf
dtahnet - country.importan c
eI. do
wni
With
" the possession . p in this country can be
by satisfaction unless there are moans
for
ri n
the the f
rted
u commencemento f ccom-
merce. .
allude now to measures of less or minor importance, but to
of Lord Grey's Administration with the Reform act, and
endedmweerce. W iinth large and important measures we commenced;
with large and po
imrtant measures we conclude. In pur-
suance of great objects we triumphed ; in pursuance ol
groat objects we have fallen.

* * 1
And no statesman certainly could have been selected for
this important mission more likely to impress the Congress
with a due sense of the importance which England
attached to the intended Conferences than the one who
had so recently filled the high office of Prime Minister. His
recent errors and short-comings were scarcely, or not at all,
known on the continent of Europe, where the cabals and
personal rivalries of our public men excite very little in-
terest or discussion. He bore a name, too, which every
foreign statesman would honour, and possessed a reputa-
tion which was co-extensive with Europe. The quiet re-
pose of his deportment, the firmness of his character, and
the courage which
popular opinion had always associated
with it, male him, in the eyes of his diplomatic colleagues,
a not unsuitable representative of the country that had
confided her interests to his care. The very simplicity of
his appearance was calculated to command. respect. No
gaudy ribbon gave him a factitious dignity, no star spar-
kled on his undecorated breast;
been thought, not inaptly, to typify the island which he
represented— and his person might have

" 0 England ! model to thine inward greatness,
Like little body with a mighty heart."
Brought face to face, as they believed, with an impersona-
tion of the spirit ani resolution of the British people, the
representatives of Russia, or Prussia, or Austria, could not
natter themselves with a hope that terms unbecoming the
character of England, or inadequate to her exertions an
sacrifices, would be listened to for a moment. Never were
the anticipations more strikingly falsified. It seemed as if
all the qualities for which Lord John Russell had hitherto
received credit had suddenly and completely deserted him.
The Russian proposition, made through the medium of
Austria, for the neutralisation of the Black Sea, would
have been but a temporary solution of the political prob-
lem, and a most inadequate equivalent to En,glaud for the
great sacrifices she had made ; but to that unworthy pro-
position the British Minister gave, on the part of his
country, his ready adherence, and pledged himself to do
everything in his power to procure for it the assent of his
Government. The French Miuister for Foreign Affairs
unaccountably took the same view of the situation, but
was instantly recalled and dismissed by his master. On his
return to England, Lord John Russell laid the Austrian
propositions before the Cabinet, by which they were at
once rejected as wholly inadmissible.
4,

The mind of Lord John Russell is subtle rather than
powerful, ingenious rather than profound, and in all the
grander qualities of human character he is wholly an,l con-
spicuously deficient. Cold in temperament, philosophical
in his tastes, and unsocial by habit, lie was eminently un-
fitted by nature to infience and load a great popular assem-
bly. He has never inspired his followers with the smallest
porti9l4 91 enthusiasm, and, has Won accepted by them as

a leader only as a political necessity. His accumulated
knowledge, his great experience, and his illustrious name,
pointed him out as the natural successor to Lord Althorp
is the House cf Commons, but he possesses few of the qua-
lities of that nobleman, which gave him such unbounded
influence with his party, and attracted towards him such
general esteem. Although superior in political ability, he
fell greatly below him both as a leader of party and as a
Minister. Without imagination to adorn hie style, or en-
thusiasm to elevate it, he has never made any pretence to
oratory, and his speeches in Parliament are simply clear
and cold statements of policy, relieved occasionally, per-
haps, by a happy metaphor, or aided by an ingenious
illustration. Unlike Sir Robert Peel, however, he knows
the true range of his intellect, and has never, as that emi-
nent statesman sometimes did, attempted to soar into
regions where it was unable to support him, and, aspiring
to sublimity, fallen into absurdity.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

The Right Hon. Sir Charles Wood's Board of Admi-
ralty will close their official business at Whitehall to-
day, and to-morrow the new board, under the presidency
of the Right Hon. Sir John Pakington, will take their
seats. Sir John Pakington, M.P., Ist ; Vice-Admiral
W. F. Martin, 2d i • Vice-Admiral Sir R. S. Dundas,
1C.C.8 , 3d ; Rear-Admiral Milne, 4th ; Captain the
Hon. J. R. Drummond, C. 8., sth ; Lord Lovaine,
M.P., 6,h ; First S-cretary, the Right Hon. H. T. L
Corry, M.P. ; Second S,-c:etary, W. G. Romaine, Esq.,
C.B. ; Private Secretary to the First Lord, Albert
Murray, Esq.