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

LORD JOHN RUSSELL.

We noticed very cursorily an article in Colburn's
New Monthly Magazine for March, under the
above title. The article is rather long for a
magazine, and from its tone, ability, and character
is more fitted for a Quarterly. The author ha,:
evidently well studied the character of Lord John
Russell, and as the present aspect of political affairs
gives more 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 Torrified
Whigs

"As down thy hill romantic Ashbonrne, glides
The Derby Dilly, with its six Insides'."

EXTRACTS.
A period
a y oungelapsed since
and Intel-
lectual
aistinguished
s oc ie
nobleman,toyfomf theo r
mining
ix thaning in fortymetropolis,th andeyme aorssnt
ohbraeusfinud
for 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 what might 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 parry, 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 distinction. The circum-
stances of the time, however, were unfavourable to the
quick development oven 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,
and when debate was confined to a few loading politicians,
and second-rate men scarcely expected or desired to obtain
the ear of the House of Commons. Tierney,
Bruu6ham, Mackintosh, and Cauniva thorn held UUdic
puted sway, and their impotuous 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 It3forin Bill and his accession to power as First
Minister of the Crown in 181 b. 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. He 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-
wardin:eurea for tithe commu-
tation, and tested on the grandest scale, and to those theories
Lord unqualified adhe-
rence.ellll reform,had l"
thge given
ment of the poor-laws, and national
eaoturi doal Jt
mctuilispeaeesnse received material aid from his advocacY ;
tcl ,
ioothn hx
i, the amendment
Russell
and conducted
'fill guidance. Of
throughts
measure o f
tthh ee
llm
of 'NCI IVO: eerie' oc
if oproposed
n ns bebycye hishs
si lr
ssyke 11
fol r Ireland ho was
an unflinching advocate, audit was not tillthe necessities of a
weakened party compelled an alliance with the Irish liberals,
that the firmness which he hat manifeeted when dealing
to a policy of
proved unavailing. as a means of conciliation. The attempt
and his fall from power gave very general
party as it
subsequent election preyed in an un-
questionableaCavoi aenawn eahlyli ands his
to with
pacifyt h
compromise e do disorders oarsd
bribee
irnsi
it•ie
into
ti toohuast
tcoo
subjectionun himselftr country,
o:
insa-
tiable myrmidons is a dark blot on Lord Melbourne's
bythe Irish policy of the Government.
naTdaendener how deeply the British constituencies
satisfaction.hat Administration,beejlo
Lord John Russell, who had
laecstse:nl arseptuhteatlieuandtehr
than
nf
any
House of Commons and Secretary of State for the Home
prestige. With Lord Melbourne's
opEhPiasrcotmllaenatg'uPers°,l4aanbdiYloy the influence of his personal cha-
racter he certainly prolonged the existence of a ministry
Governmentwhich
ascendancy declined, and a temporary
removal of that party from power was at once a just pun-
ishment for the past and a warning for the future. Of Lord
John Russell it may be said, that nothing in his Ministerial
life became him like the leaving it. In a speech of great
of power il2 this country can be
dignity hdeaionnWribuliogn:elt‘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,
satisfaction unless there are means
for carrying into effect the measures which Ministers
feel essential to the welfare of the country. I do not
allude now to measures of less or minor importance, but to
accompanied
papnoiseedessiboyn
measures of great and transcendent importance. With
regard to such measures, we began in the commencement
of Lord Grey's Administration with the Reform Act, and
we ended in proposing measures for the freedom of com-
merce. With large and important measures we commenced;
„oleo large
ofand
we ow
greatobjects we triumphed ; in pursuance of
t objectsgrea* * * 4 +liwith i
uimportant measures we conclude. In pur-
L e e fallen.

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 .Englawi
attached to the interrled 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. Ile 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, made 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

themselves of
s Russia,wit a
" 0 England ! model to thine inward greatii7ss,
Like little body with a mighty heart."
Brought face to face, as they believed, with an impersona-
tion of the spirit and resolution of the British people, the
ho
er
pPe rtuhsas
ti at,
eorrmAe uushthr ieac,e could
tnhoet
character of England, or inadequate to her exertions an l
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 hal 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 England for the
great sacrifices she had inade ; 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 Minister 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 Austiian
prop= 'tions before the Cabinet, by which they were at
once rejected as wholly inadmissible.
* *

The mind of Lord John Russell is sable rather than
powerful, ingenious rather than profound, and in all the
gander qualities of human characier be is wholly an con-
spicuously deflciont. Cold in temperament, philosophierl
in his tastes, and unsocial by habit, be was eminently un-
fitted by nature to inflenca and lead a great popular assem-
bly. He has never inspired his followers with the smallest
portion of enthusiasm, and La bOOll 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
in the House of Commons, but lie 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 his 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 elose 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 ; Vice-Admiral Sir R. S. Dandas,
K.C.B , 3d ; Rear-Admiral Milne, 4th ; Captain the
Hon. J. R. Drummond, C. 8., sth ; Lord Lovaine,
M.P., 6.h ; First Secretary, the Right Hon. H. T. L,
Corry, M.P. ; Second Secretary, W. G. Romaine, Esq.,
C.B. ; Private Secretary to the First Lord, Albert
Murray, Esq.

MARCH 8, 1858--