The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-02 00:00:00

into indifference : and though support may be
continued, its character will he completely changed.
That]which was earnest will become perfunctory ;
and the maintenance of Lord Palmerston in power
will no longer be regarded as a primary duty or a
political obligation.
Men of high honour, 'of elevated sentiments, of '
public morality, and of deep interest in the country,
cannot de otherwise than accept this act of Lord
Palmerston as indicative of a personal recklessness
and a disregard of enlightened public opinion,
wholly unsuited to the position to which the gene-
rous feelings of the country have raised him..f They
did not see without pain the recent abuses of minor
patronage which the premier and Mr. William-
Cowper have been guilty of in the appointments of
the lion. Mr. Howard, Lord Mulgrive, and Mr.
Tollemache ; but for them some excuses and some
apologies, howeverreiserable and inadequate, could
be suggested. But in this last act they find an
occurrence for which ns exprination can reconcile:
It has deeply wounded political suseptibilities, and
most justly provoked a resentment which past ser-
vices will not remove. It is more than an indiscre-
tion ; it is a fatal error which illuminates and
• brings into strong and unmistakeable relief the true
character of the man who now governs England.
Without exaggeration, then, the public may
safely conclude that the firstgreat and serious shake
his been given to the Palmerston Cabinet ; and not
by the skill of its opponents or by the desertion of
its friends, but in the most unendurable way, by
the inherent and insuppres,ible levity of its chief.
At first the very limited field of choice-which Lord
Palmerston had for the formation of his Cabinet,
though it brought together a weak combination, so
far as political ability or administrative power were
concerned, operated with a confiding public to its
advantage. - The desertion of the Peetites rallied
the people to its support, and the impossibility of
retaining Lord John Russell gave it the co-opera-
ad
tiou of his friends. B tas Lord Palmerston his
grown itftireriingliC 'ncrea,sed. in power, he has
waxed insolent. I 1 ad -of improving his Ad-
ministration he has 3 diminished its moral force ;
instead of recruiting it, he has weakened-it. And
the - reason is plain. Lord Palmerston wants
tools and instruments, not competent and sufficient
colleagues. Such a system never lasts in England ;
and we are now witnessing the " beginning of the
end." It will fall to pieces of itself, if only rope
enough be given to it, and the game be left for Lord
Palmerston himself to play out.
And just as Lord Palmerston has in this instance
abus2d the generosity of the country, its enthusiasm,
and its ovei weeeing confidence in him, so, it is im-
possible not to perceive he means to try and abuse
the majority which the General Election gave him.
His intention to propose without inquiry a transfer
of the Home Government of India to the Political
Government of the day is announced, although
three short years ago Lord Palmerston, as a mem-
ber of the Aberdeen Cabinet, rejected that propo-
sition when it was brought under the consideration
of that Government. He means to try and take
advantage of the excited condition of the public
mind as to India, of the misery anti woe produced
by the Indian revolt, and of the alarm occasioned
by the state of India, to precipitate a-id force
through Parliament a measure which he then re-
jected, but which will inordinately augment the
power of the Crown, and wake portentous and
hazardous changes in our constitutional system. To
aid him in this serious projec', he calls in Lord
Cianricarde, a desperate politician. Concurrently,
a large increase in our military establishments will
also be proposed, to the unavoidable augmentation
of taxation and the complete disarrangement of that
financial scheme which has been deliberately adop-
ted by Parliament with a view to the ultimate
relief of the country. The situation of public
affairs, and the pi ospects of the Empire, are daily
becoming graver and graver. The hopes of secur-
ing the abolition of the Income Tax arid a reduction
of the duties on tea, sugar, and coffee two years
hence grow less and less. It is no longer possible to
t.:epara'e the consideration of India from the general
situation of the empire, its domestic policy, and its
financial condition, and how Lord Palmerston, who
has never been able t ) take a comprehensive view of
any subject affectinglhe general interest of the com-
munity, is, even with the aid of the new Lord
Privy Seal, to rise equal to this emorgency, defies
all conjec, ure.
The public ought, therefore, to look ahead in
time ; it ought to be alive to a comprehension of all
the approaching difficuties ; it ought not to believe
in the permanence of Lord Palmerston's Cabinet.
Hitherto, the present House of Commons has been
tame and characteristic enough, because all was
plain and simple enough.... .The Palmerston cry
which gave many men their seats had not ex-
hausted its influence. But in England a hot fit is
not seldom promptly followed by a cold one 1 and
nothing so chills and freezes English sympathy as
so senseless and wanton an act as that for which
Lord Palmerston has now made himself solely re-
sponsible.
There is no need of combinations, and there ought
to be an absence of all action out of which new
charges of intrigue, coalition, and conspiracy can
be fabricated, The course is clear. Let us have
the full policy of the Cabinet out ; its India Bill
for augmenting the power of the Crown, and its
Reform Bill for increasing the power of the people ;
its propositions for increasing the English and the
Indian Armies ; its Estimat e ; its financial plans ;
its account of its foreign policy ; its explanations
of why it has submitted to- the incarceration of
British subjects in foul Italian dungeons for seven
mouths without trial ; its account of what it means
to do with the Principalities ; its declaration whe-
ther it means to tolerate a revival of the African
slave-trade. When all this is laid before us, we
shall be better able to appreciate the necessity of
Lord Palmerston to England.

THE NEW INDIA. SECRETARYSHIP.
(From, the Morning Herald.)
A rumour is in circulation to the effect tha,
Lord John Russell has received a communication
with reference to the new India Secretaryship.
The member for London has tried his hands at so
many different tasks, that little doubt need be en-
tertained of his undertaking, if actually invited, the
regeneration of India. Prudence is not one of his
lordship's particular characteristics, or he might be
induced to pause before he ventured, even with his
damaged reputation. to join a Cabinet tilat has of
late evinced an alacrity for sinking. Lord John
Russell's vacillations at the Vienna Conferences are
not forgotten, and assuredly the people of this coun-
try will look with suspicion upon any scheme for
the reconstruction of India which is to be carried
out under his direction. The secession from the
Palmerston Administration of L ,rd ilarrowby,
who, though not commanding much influence, was
certainly generally much respected, and the ap-
pointment to his post of the notorious Lord Clanri-
carde, have created great sensation. His lordship's
character may be gleaned from his acts as they stand
recorded in the public prints of the last few yearA.
Lord Clauricarde is, moreover, animated by the
bitterest hostility against the East India Company,
and the necessity of inviting the co-operation of
such an ally may afford the public some idea of the
sweeping nature of the measure that Ministers have
in conte Japlation. At any rate some desperate work
is in progress or Lord Palmerston would not seek
the co-operation of a nobleman whose influence
must prove detrimental. His presence at the Coun-
cil Chamber will disgust many of the Premier's
warmest friends, and that Lord John Russell can
consent to be his colleague will excite some sur-
prise. The member for London, however, has one
weakness—love of place ; and, tired of the back
benches, he may be thoughtless enough to rush back
to the old familiar spot, even at the risk of a greater
fall than that by which two years since he was pre-
cipitated from power.
Should it turn out that an alliance has actually
been effeoted between these rival politicians, the
ex-Prime Minister and the present Prernu r, one
inference may be drawn from the fact, viz., that
Lord Palmerston has decided upon a thoroughly
Democratic Reform Bill. His own feelings and
sympathies are in favour of doing nothing, and
he would gladly postpone the consideration
of reform either in Parliament, or any-
thing else, for an indefinite period. . The
impatience, however, of those who afford him a
qualified support made him commit himself, and
the hour for the performance of his pledges ap-
proaches. For some time he has wavered between
Conservative principles and Democratic illusions,,
unable to decide, not which suited him best or
which might prove most beneficial to the country,
but which would ensure for his frail venture a
longer lease of power. If hehas really induced L-_,rd
John Russell to enlist amongst his rank and file,
the character of the new reform scheme
will no
longer be a matter of speculation. Upon this point
the member for London's views are pretty well
known.
With respect to India, the determination seems
general that henceforward this mighty empire is to
be governed upon Christian principles. Without
i
embarking u a crusade against infidelity or false
systems of religion, we are to raise the Christian
standard, and not to be ashamed of the faith We

THE PROTESTANTS IN FRANCE.
(From the Times.)
The Protestants of France are in rather a sad
case. They are a small minority scattered over
the count' y, and overwhelmed every where in -num-
ber by their rivals, who compose the- great mass
of the population. It is not worth the Govern-
ment's while to be civil to them, or even to be fair
to them. Such justice will only offend, one large
portion of the majority, have no merit in the eyes
of aurther portion, and will positively please only
a small circle of candid and just men who look to
principle, and whose principle is state impartiality
in religious matters. It is not worth a Govern-
ment's while to please a small sect and still smaller
circle of -Dsictrinaires, as Oey will he called,,et.th'e
cost' of offending the mass—though whin we speak -t
of the mass we are speaking teAllyof the pric,t--
hood—that compact body which represents and at
the same time misrepresents the mass. The mass of
the French people, Roman CathAic as it is by pro-
fession, would not be disposed of itself to buliy a
small Prot,ettnt minority ; it is only the priest-
hood- which does this. But the pr;esthocel is a
poWerful, compact ph al +tax, aging with unanimity,
and wielding a large int-Inoue though-its influence
is formidable rather for the area over which it
spreads than for the quality of the intelligence
which it controls. In thisstae of tkngs it would,
we suppose, be Quixetry in a French Government
to be insisting on puncti:lous justice to the 'Protes-
tants—a significant mark of the great difference
between French public opinion and Enailsh. Here
it would be Quixotry in a Government to favour the
largest and most orthodox denomination or to spite
the smalle.st or most eccentric one. Here it is in-
justice ; in France it isjustice—that is, Quixotry.'
The least act of unfairness to the meanest sect in
this country would raise a cry from millions, a,,d
bang Governmr-mt to its senses in the course of a
morning. We might not care two straws for the
doctrine of the seat, btr, the principle of State im-
partiality is so rooted in our soil, and has taken
such hold. of the English mind, hat any violation
of it would be immediately set doWn as a violation
of a fundamental law:

The French Protestants are not, it would seem,
allowed sr hools enough to carry on the education
of the young members of the communion. The
French law proVides nominally the amplest liberty
on this point; but, as a writer in the Journal des
Debuts observes, French laws take away in one part
the liberties which they allow in another. The law
of 1850 on primary instruction provides that every
French citizen of 21 years of age, and furnished
with a regular diploma testifying his capacity, can
open a school after formally announcing his inten-
tion to do so. Thi., is the gift, but now comes the
drawback. The Rector of. the Academic Council
of the Department of the Prefect filling the same
functions may object on the ground of " pubiioy
morals." This proviso is, of course, only legally
directed against a bad 'character in the schoolmas-
ter; but, once inserted in the law, it is interpreted
to apply to any had consequence whatever which
may be supposed likely to follow the erection of a-
Protestant school. It is voted a danger to "public
morals" if the Roman Catholic part of a district
dislike Co) erection of this new school, and if there
fore discord and itritation can be apprehended. If
the priesthood of the district communicate their
apprehension of tbis result to the authorities of the
commune, the authorities of the commune decide
against the erection of the school, and the refusal
is confirmed by the Academic Council. If the Min-
ister of Public Instruction is appealed to, be dis-
owns any power in the matter, and pronounces the
decision of the Academic Council final. Of course,
such a rule of interpretation is simply to say that
whatever displeafes tne priesthood is opposed to pub-
lic morals. But not only aro the Protestants denied
schools, but even places of worship. Churches
raised by private subscription, and ready for use,
remain uuoccup;ed in many places, for want of the
necessary authorisation. The Protestants, after
building their church, come to the Mayor for this
final legal form, and are told, to their astonish-
ment, that there are no Protestants in the place, o
not enough to make a congregation. What is to
be done In one case of this kind the village crier
was sent round to beat up the members of the
communion by " tuck of drum ;" they appeared
personally before the Mayor, who being a liberal
geniiman, did not deny the evidence of visible
ariihmelic, and granted the authorisatioc.
Here is an inwance of petty grinding persecution
from a body which only a doz on years ago fillet!
Europe with its protests against what they called
persecution in their own case, and on the very same
subject. What limit was there to the complaints
on the part of the French priesthood against the
old law of public instruction, which the law aof 1850
superseded? What,,utcries were there against the
tyranny of the Institute, and the interference of
the State with the liberty of instruction, and with
the right of Raman Ca'holics as cameos '1 What a
watchword was that hardly t-n years ago—liberty
of instruction I But then it was the Roman Catho-
lics whose liberty was curtailed. Now these very
men, after protesting so fiercely and vociferously
for their own "liberty of instruction," ate denying
the same liberty to the Protestants. They gain
this result by the grossest and most palpable mis-
interpretation and distortion of the law—by a
gloss which would be considered in this country
an impudent outrage upon law and justice, and
which no judge, in no court, high or low, dare
sanction. Yet, with their faces fresh branded with
disgrace by such acts as these, these men have the
brazen effrontery to simulate surprise that English
Protestants should imagine for a moment that
Roman Ca holic authorities countenanced persecu-
tion I " W hat ! persecute? Impossible. That was an
error of a dark age, which we have long unlearnt ;
that was the fault of the age—not of the religion."
Yet, with these words on their lips for the benefit
of the English public, Roman Catholic authorities
are now actually preventing the Protestants of
France from educating their own children l They
deprive them not only of the privileges of citizens,
but of the rights of men.
What are the Protestants of France to do under
the circumstances t What are they to do amid a
tyrannising majority, which it is not worth the
Government's while to check ? We wish we could
give them better hopes,*but we know the obstinatet
selfishness of numerical strength, adopt it is ntoe
checked by the principle of justice,adopted
public
country at large, and incorporated with P
opinion. Probably they are not much
emigrate, to
difficulty
emigrate, which was the solutio
adopted in the 17th century. The have, more-
fGorairhetm's'.
over, a powerful pen on their sideyM.
which ought to be able to do something
One pen has before
now shakeentiumhanayveashomugeepfttobwreicr
of injustice. Exposure may
even in France. One ruling mind in that country,
at any rate, kis wider sympathies and a more libe-
ral code than this crooked and grinding tyranny of
a large sect over a small one represents. It is im-
possible that Louis Napoleon can sympathise with
such a narrow, petty policy ; he has larger ideas ;
he has a respect for enlightened public opinion.
One stroke of his pen would chain this monstrous
spirit of oppression in France and keep down these
displays.

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The long lingering proree of•wPiliing-44#
unwieldy -vessel towzirde the wiiter. A1'1)&4
reco.onacuced for the. -Sixth thine eitfle..r to:
on .Monday. During- the lobg inter-rid wide.
'fhb "e'fg,rts were given up; in cc',
_quence of that Mayialmosc: be termed the to,
destructi in of the apparatus` tt ed iu ford. ,o;:ti'VaS;Mo.g.iit
her dovrn. the watts, an' immense, nunaher of
Ilarger and- ritr•-nlgeX'
_hydraulic nrei,es ,have Fem.. -
fixed in place of tlitic broktn and 1.111 st
"final" attetaPts. -Now no lesi tl.an 11 presses
are fixed agiinst the af cradle, i.na 10 a,g,,iins' the
forward one. Among t. .e fernier is a monster
ram—one of the two bpecially mad, for hiiistinglhe
Britannia. Bridge—and perhapi the largest ever
cast in this or any other country. It is, indeed, a
mot ponderous machine, the cylinder weighing 15
tons 760113.• the frame, 9 tons ; piston, 3 tons
1,1321 b.; and the bolt, 3311h.-38 tons in all. The
.diameter of the piston is 20 inches, and
.the thick-
ness of the lion of the cylinder 10 inches. In raising
the Britannia Bridge au h3draulic ram of exactly
the same size and strength as this was.ripped from
top to bottom—in fact, the one now at Millwall was
cast to supply the place .of that broken at Menai.
There Seems scarcely any possibility of an accident
'happening to this, for the base of piles on which it
rests is calculated to resist a pressure of 200 tons,
and more than that, therefore, cannot be exettad
by the ram itself. All the other new presses are
supported on bases of piles of adequate strength,
the piles being driven down between the beams of
the launching ways where the Leviathan herself
formerly rested. It was intended to have com-
menced pushing her down in the Course of yes.erday
afternoon, but the " leathers" of some of the pistons
of the-rams were misfitted, and required such alter-
ations as c writ be completed before to-day (Satur-
day), and may very possibly compel a still further
postponement till Monday. The chsies by which
the stern and stern of the Leviathan are dragged
towards the river have been immensely strength-
ened, and are secured, at the fore part of the vessel,
to Trotman's anchors and to sunken piles, and the
'stern to piles driven deep in the river bed on the
Deptford side. With till these aids to progress
very little doubt seems to be entertained that the
launching on this occasion will be commenced
" positively for the last time." We sincerely hope
it may.

Admiral Borton bas addressed the following to
a contemporary _
r; _ilaxi•
mrj, papers been
• - ..
recently filled tke most ffAt.actous notion:, as lop •'
the best mode of launching the Leviathan; I should
not have troubled you with the following observa-
tiou

"In the Times of the 29th inst., a gentleman
who signs himself An Engineer,' attributs the
great obstacle to her being launched to the increa,f.d
friction of corroded metqs, and another corresp, n-
demt, who signs hirnsta " Naiiticns." recomme,.,
the doing away with the tackling altogether which
is attachod. to th anchors in the fit, ._!r for heaving
the 'monster off. _ _

On the 34 of November, the first day the trial
was made for launching the Leviathan, I was pi e-
sent during the operations, and expressed my sur-
prise to Mr. Hope, the chairman of the committee
of management, that the tackling was attached to
some barges moored in the river, as it was quite
rnanifeit to me, that however securely they may
have been moored their scantling was totally ina-
dequate to bear the great strain to which they
would be subject. The result was, as I anticipated,
their eritrais were torn out, and thus ended the
first day's trial. At the same time I made the above
ob,ervatione to Mr. Hope, I recomm.nded that
large anchors should be embedded in toe river to
which the tackling should be applied, and in case
LI ey came home in consequence cf the gnat strain
'hat would be applied to them to b tck them, which
would mos, effectually prevent their moving, how-
ever great the strain might be. All this has bceu
done, and the next time I saw Mr. Hope be told
me that he had mentioned my valuable suggestions
to Mr. Brunel, who, in reply, said I ought to be on
the committee of management.
" Now, sir, the only thing that is required to
make tho above plans perfect, in addition to the
hydraulicrams, and to ensure the undoubted success
of he operations, is that which I also suggested,
and which is, to moor three larger bulky head and
stern iu a line abut 30 yards from the extremity of
the ways on which the Leviathan is to be launched,
and pass a powerful chain through the mid ship port
of each hulk, which must be supported with timbers
underneath each midship port • one end of each of
these chains will be fastened IO the rings of each
anchor, and to the extremity of the other end just
clear of the bulks nearest the Leviathan will be
attached the tackling for heaving the ship off. By
this means there wilt be au elevation of from 5 to 6
degrees ft om a horizontal line from the Leviathan's
bottom, for the propelling power of heaving the
ship off, which will tend to raise and thereby enor-
mously alleviate the friction of the ways, be they
corroded or not. Whereas there is now a depression
of four or five degrees below the horizontal line in
the power employed, which pulls the enormous
weight of the monster on the ways, and cone-
, sequently increases the vis inertia and the friction
to an incredible amount.
"In addition to the tackling attached to the
anchors, the capstans on board the hulks could be

made use of for employing additional power in
heaving the Leviathan off the ways.
" The great desideratum in alt mechanical in-
ventions consists in its simplicity, and therefore the
minimum of friction."

THE MERSEY DOCKS AND CoNSER-

VANOY BOARD.

LIVERPOOL, JAIL 1.
The new BOA/ d was elected to-day under the
powers of the Mersey Conservancy and Docks Act,
20th and 21st of Victoria. It consists of 21 mem-
bers, of whom 18, called the " elective members"
of the PrOlisional Board, have been chosen by the
clock ratepayers ; the remaining three, called " no-
minee members," being app)inted by the Conser-
vancy Commissioner. The gentlemen selected by
.he Conservancy Commissioners are Mr..j. Laird,
shipbuilder, Birkenhead ; Mr. T. M. Mackay, of
Liverpool ; and Mr. Christopher Bushell, of Liver-
pool. Mr. Laird has distinguished himself as a
most untiring and successful advocate for the con-
struction of docks at Birkenhead, and the develop-
ment of the resources of thri -Cheshire side of the
Mersey, as opposed to the schemes for carrying out
the plans of dock extension on the Liverpool side,
until at least the Birkenhead Docks are completed.
He is chairman of the Birkenhead commission rs,
and the acknowl« dged chief of the Birkenhead party
Mr. T. M. Mackay is an active partner in the firm
of Messrs. James Baines and Co., owners of the
Liverpool and Australian " Black Ball" line of
clipper ships: and Mr. Christopher Bushell is Vice-
President of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce,
and the gentleman who, in his official capacity,
enunciated those views upon the commercial state of
the country, caused partlybythe effects of overtradine
The 18 elective members of the, Provisional Board
are as fellow ; those gentlemen whose names are
distinguished by an asterisk having been members
of the defunct committee :—Mesers. Ralph Brockle-
bank,* Liverpool, merchant ; James Aspinall
Tobin, Liverp-01, merchant ' • Joseph Hubbaok,*
Liverpool, merchant ; Robert Rankin,* Liverpool,
merchant ; Samuel Robert Graves, Liverpool, mer-
chant (chairman of the Liverpool Shipowners' As-
sociation); John Kirby Rounthwaite,* Liverpool,
steam-packet agent ; Charles Turner, .Liver_peol,
merchant, chairman of the defunct committee ; Thos.
Darnley PAnderson,* Liverpool, merchant ; Wm.
Inman, Liverpool, merchant; W. Rathbone, jun.,*
Liverpool, merchant ; James Smith,** Livtrpool,
timber merchant ; Joseph Mondell,Liverpool,
shipowner ; Robertson Gladstone,* Liverpool, mer-
chant ; Eyre Evans,* Liverpool, merchant ;Francis
Shand, Liverpool, merchant •; Tho. Bold,*Liverpools
merchant ; John Lockett,* Liverpool, merchant ;
and S. J. Arnold, Liverpool, merchant. The poll
closed at 4 o'clock, but it was not until about 20
minutes to 5 that the numbers were announced by

the returning officer, Mr. Recorder Henderson.
Admiral Evans, acting conservator of the river and
hart)? ur, announced the names of the Government
nominees.
The property to be transferred to the new board
comprises the Birkenhead Docks, the Liverpool
Docks, the new landing-stage, with power to pur-
chase the Liverpool observatory, to impose and
collect the town dues, to exercise jurisdiction over
the navigation, or in aspect of the conservancy of
the river Mersey, hitherto vested in the corporation,
&c. The new board is to repay to the Liverpool
corporation all such moneys as may have been ex-
pended up to this day, or which the corporation
may hereafter be compelled to pay in respect of
bonds or works executed by them upon the Birk-
enhead Docki, pr any of the property thus trans-
ferred to the bard. In consideration for the loss
of the town dues, and the transfer of the landing-
stage and observaoty, the b0.r4:1 is to pay t% the
Live! poo! Corporation the sum of 1,500,000/. in 15
equal haif-yearly payments on the first day. of July
and January in each year, the first payment to be
made in July next, these payments to be a charge
upon the general revenues of the board, which is to
render to Parliament a yearly account of its receipts.

DEATH OF LIEUT. W. T. STRETTELL —We have to
announc • the death of Lieut. William Thomaß Strettell,
second son of the late Edward &retell, Es q., Advos..a:
General to the East India Company at Calcutt. wn
officer entered the navy in gay, 1806.