The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-09 00:00:00

THE tTN 1.40-NDON', TUESDAY E VEN I NG, MARCH 9, 1858

second only in importance to those of the PRE-
MIER ; and, indeed, they may be regarded as
those of Lord DERBY himself, for whatever might
be the reticence towards the less prominent mem-
bers of the Government, there can be no doubt
that the person on whom the burden of the con-
test will fall in the forthcoming Parliamentary
campaign, is thoroughly acquainted with the inten-
tions of the head of the Government.
As might easily have been anticipated, the great
question, which led to a change in the Ministry
was clearly explained by th•; Chancellor of the
Exchequer. He proved that it was by no factious
vote that Lord Palmerston and his coadj eters
were driven from office, and he had therefore the
greater reason to demand the reasonable forbear-
ance—and we will add " fair play "—that should
be afforded to men who had very unexpectedly
been called to the discharge of arduous duties,
without any previous notice. They might be fully
competent to examine a new measure, all the
details whereof were cautiously concealed, until
the last moment, without having one on the
subject, " ready cut and dry, " to be
brought forward without delay or postponement.
As we have referred to the Conspiracy to Murder
Bill in another part of this days' impression, we
shall not further allude to it here, but proceed at
once to the interesting questions respecting India
and Reform.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer shows that,
in 1853, he was desirous of postponing the
renewal of the Company's Charter, until the pend-
ing inquiry had been terminated, and which might
have induced Parliament to come to a different
conclusion from that at which it arrived, and
led to the termination of the double Government,
and perhaps averted the deplorable catastrophe
that occasioned the expenditure of so much blood
and treasure—all parties now concur in the pru-
dence of that course. Mr. DISRAELI declares the
reason why he opposed immediate legislation be-
fore the restoration of complete tranquillity in the
Anglo-Indian Empire. But the vote of the
House of Commons has removed that reason.
The prestige that belonged to the Company has
been totally dissipated by the adverse vote of the
Commons. The Directors are in a moribund con-
dition. The glory has departed from their house,
and the sooner the last struggle is over,
and they have been decently and respect-
ably interred, the better for all parties con-
cerned ; or, as Mr. DISRA.ELI suggested, that
their political " burial should be consummated in
the most decorous, and even splendid manner."
That a bill will be forthwith introduced by the
Government for that purpose, and we must
patiently await the promised explanations as to its
details.

As to the Reform Bill the Right Honourable
Gentleman clearly exposed the mode in which the
public were bamboozled during the last seven or
eight years. Every pretext for procrastination
was eagerly seized on. There could be no reform
while war was pending. The nation had
not sufficiently recovered its equanimity
after that war had been concluded, and
a Ministerial defeat on the Chinese question and
an appeal to the country was the excuse for fur-
ther procrastination. The Times and Post again
wanted delay, but the feeling of the country could
not be trifled with, and therefore something was
promised ; of which as yet nothing is known.
Can it be supposed that if Lord PALMERSTON were
reinstated in once, that the anticipated bill
would be brougint forward during the present
session? Most certainly not. There would be an
adequate excuse, which would be eagerly seized
on, and therefore we may as well see what Lord
DERBY offers, and how much better will be the
biddings of his opponents.
Mr. DISRAELI eanphatically repudiates a Go-
vernment on sufferance, and he has proved his
title to do so. His views on this point, if pro-
perly regarded, may prove useful to his political
opponents.

It is said on good authority that the Govern-
ment have, at all events for the time being,
abandoned the " Conspiracy to Murder Bill,"
and that the resolution has already been announced
to the Cabinet of the Tuileries. This is as it
should be. This is, indeed, listening to the voice
of public opinion, and showing that " deference
to the feeling of the country" that ought to be
exacted from every constitutional administration.
We are not now yielding to untenable demands
or blustering menaces. It will be distinctly and
unequivocally ascertaiked, before another month
has elapsed, whether the existing law is,
as declared by the highest legal authorities in the
House of Lords, adequate to punish such abuse of
the hospitality supplied to every claimant, or
whether there is a deficiency that would reason-

ably require amendment, not on account of urgen

demands, but for the sake of public justice.
As we have repeatedly explained, the contem-
plated change in the law which led to the over-
throw of the PALMERSTON Government could not,
in the slightest degree, conduce to the security of
the EMPBROX, the great object desired by the
French Government. Men who " have set their
lives upon a cast," and are prepared to " stand
the hazard of the die," will not be deterred
by substituting transportation or penal servitude
for a protracted imprisonment. The plottings
will still continue whenever political fanatics have
worked themselves up to the requisite degree of

excitement. If they can be so wrong-minded as
to consider that assassination could be justified
under any possible circumstances, they would
persevere although the code were rendered far
more sanguinary, and the penalty were life itself
in place of exile. As we have repeatedly stated,
it is not the severity, but the certainty of punish-

ment that proves effectual. The most Dra-
con ic regulations frequently defeat them-
selves. Juries will refuse to convict, points
of law will be conceded in favorem
vit,e, and still worse, parties relying on the pro-
tection supposed to be afforded, will neglect suit-
able precautions to avert the impending dangers.
As a morning contemporary justly declares that
Loris NAPOLEON and his advisers scorned the
Conspiracy Bill and never attached any value to
it, save so far as it indicated that "its authors
were squeezable, and afforded grounds for hope
that persevering pressure might extort still
greater concessions from them." The precedent,
too, was useful, inasmuch as it might be made a
pot ent weapon of coercion against minor states. How
could Sardinia or Switzerland hold on, when even
azsleaat
mighty England truckled to the irresistible Em-
edlticotiai.ailoln;tsTlehgeitFimreantceh Government ha s
oa and. surrendered her most cherished trod:-
s
ft
et".„
il::::htsiasespa,lo passport te m farpomwoerres.
stringent I t has
ile professing to afford an
the sacred
taken care that no
frosarelisoil 'Without a cert.
. apeyris'ounn sti°lall touch
withhvrsiaao: t Gov erinneLt.
ficate of character
Nor is it contented
done in
France, but it has more than invited thas
ration of other Governments, so that it map not
°t.
stand alone is the stringency of its regulations.
Should England succumb, other nations must
also yield, so that there would not be a really free
country on this side of the Atlantic, It is, there-