The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-22 00:00:00

INDISCREE c WORDS OF AN ENGLISH

MINISTER.

We transfer to our columns an article from an
American paper, headed "Adderley's Indiscretion,"
with the object of showing the Under-Secretary for
the Colonies and other members of the Tory Go-
' vernment the harm that even a Mr. ADDERLEY
may do. These gentlemen are so little in office
that they may overlook the responsibility which
attaches to their words as members of the English
Government. Mr. ADDERLEY might address an
assembly, and few people beyond the sound of his
voice would care what he said or what he thought,
but when he speaks as a Minister the pens of re-
porters record every word, and what he utters is
read in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. The
Tory Government are responsible that a Mr. AD-
DERLEY should be found in such a position, and as
the person is wholly unknown in America —the
_lnquirer even styling him " the Honourable"—
they simply circulate his slander against their
country as the opinion of an English Tory Govern-
ment. At a Cattle Show the Under-Secretary for
the Colonies is reported to have said, that " America
" was a by-word with nations in her relations with
" foreign powers, and corrupt in her local adminis-
" trations." This is strange language from the
Minister of a friendly Government when speaking
of that nation which it is above all things important
for England to conciliate, who, from being
our natural ally, has, through the injudicious
conduct of such men, become almost our
hereditary enemy. If Mr. ADDERLEY had any
political importance as an individual, the only
thing the Government could have done would
have been to have turned him out, but his obscu-
rity shelters his indiscretion. When this gentle-
man's name first appeared in connection with the
incoming Tory Government, we, who had some
little knowledge of him, regarded the appointment
with surprise. Many years ago he appeared pro-
minently among a set of well-meaning enthusiasts,
who undertook to place at the antipodes a complete
section of English society. That a man who had
arrived at years of discretion, and who aspired to
be a statesman, could be engaged in so insane a
work shows how completely all practical experience
in England may be lost sight of in theoretical ab-
surdities. The theories on which the Canterbury
Association was founded were faultless, an a beau-
tiful exposition of what society ought to be. Fail-
ing to realise the ideal in this old country, bur-
dened with poverty, it was proposed to transplant a
section complete, from the lord to the peasant, and
to maintain that section in all its grades on a waste
track of New Zealand, then only known as
wild islands, inhabited by cannibals, and the
antipodes of Great Britain. Beautiful theories
will ever have a charm for theoretical
people ; and country gentlemen, country parsons,
cadets of good family, and labourers from the
estates, were shipped off to a wide, bare plain at
the greatest distance the w'rld can allow from
their native land, to maintain their relative positions,
to intone the services, and to found, on High
Church principles, a model colony. There is
scarcely an American from the Rio Grande to the
North Pole, of common sense and experience, who
could not have told those gentlemen what the result
would in all probability be. The labourers became
masters, and the lords became servants. Mr.
ADDERLEY might explain it by likening the result
to the earth a gold digger puts into the cradle—
the sifting process brought the dirt to the top and
sent the gold to the bottom. Thews and sinews
knocked theories on the head, and the labourer,
who could build a mud cabin, was able to offer an
asylum from starvation to his old master. A howl
of indignation, and a loud cry of " deception,"
came from the dismayed pilgrims. Many returned
sadder but wiser men, and those only remained
who were able to face the long trial and privation
that invariably attend the foundation of any society
upon a wilderness. Pure luck had directed the
location to a spot above all others best adapted for
such an experiment. It was a magnificent tract, and
the colonists had the good fortune to be presided
over by a man of sense and great ability. Ile
seized the good, and expunged the evil. lle saw
and recognised the absurdity of the whole scheme,
but he saw also that the land had a great future ;
and throwing aside all the grand ideas with which
he had embarked he adapted himself to the circum-
stances, and strenuously set to work to make the
most of things as they really were. The memory
of JOHN ROBERT GODLEY is in the province of
Canterbury held in the highest esteem ; and even
the absurdities of Mr. ADDERLEY are forgiven, and ,
almost forgotten. But this practical lesson should
have taught the Under-Secretary for the Colonies
the wild absurdity of many of his theories, and
shown him the danger of speaking of institutions
he does not understand with such venom, as well as ,
indiscretion. We have no wish to drag up words
that can but mar the good feeling which is rapidly
taking root throughout both England and America,
and as the United States will not condescend to
notice Mr. ADDERLEY'S indiscretion, it may not
be without its good in showing this Minister the
evil fruit such words must bear.—Anglo-American
7 imes.

The Hon. C. B. Adderley, who is a member of
the British Parliament, and Under-Secretary of the
Colonial Department, recently made a speech at a
cattle show in England, in which he touched upon
the subject of Reform. In doing so Mr. Adderley
ventilated his Tory prejudices in the following
language :—" If the classes who were then asking
to be represented in Parliament were not prepared
to upset the institutions of the country, to pay a
personal compliment to the Queen at the expense of
the throne, or to make elective the higher Chamber
of the Legislature, or to admit to the Lower Cham-
ber such a body as that which returned members
of Congress in America, and which had made Ame-
rica a byeword in her relations with foreign Powers,
and corrupt in her local administ rations,then the ques-
tion was a simple one. If there was a wish merely
to reform the institutions of the country, it was a
question not of principle, but of degree. Upon this
ground they need not entertain any animosity, set
classes against classes, nor claim for one class all the
wisdom and patriotism of England, and vilify
another class as if it had neither." Of course Mr.
Adderley has a right to his opinions as an indivi-
dual, and he may, even as Mr. Adderley, tell direct
falsehoods, as he did when he said that " America
was a byeword with nations in her relations with
foreign powers;" but Mr. Adderley, as a member of
the Ministry, was certainly indiscreet, and blameable
in making allusion to foreign affairs in his address.
Until his Government has made up its mind
to break the relations of amity with the United
States, his duty as one of the advisers of the
Crown was to hold his tongue, or, if he must
speak, to at least speak the truth. His attack
upon the United States was too gross even for
the English who have strict ideas of propriety in
the actions•of their servants. The London Star
observes in reference to Adderley's conduct, " A
more shameful insult was never offered by an Eng-
lish Minister to a great and friendly power. To