The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-08 00:00:00

hope of patriotism among all parties in the House
and out of the House—Whigs and Tories, Radicals
and Peelites, Liberals and Conservatives—the hope
above all and beyond all, that come what may
out of the division, which, at the close of either
Thursday or Friday's sittings, must terminate the
discussion now adjourned to the former evening,
England may at least and at last obtain a strong
Government.

In writing thus we are perfectly aware that the
new House of Commons is, if possible, yet more

equally balanced than its immediate pre-
decessor. We cannot, therefore, in reason,

anticipate, in any eventuality, any consi-
derable majority—whether to the side of the
Opposition, or to the side of the Government. We
believe that the division will be very close, and
more than this that it will—in spite of Lord PAL-
MERSTON'S bumptious confidence--run, in this
manner, in favour of the existing Administration.
But what we would urgently insist upon in either
case is this—that result, however the division
may—to the confirmation of power in the hands of
Lord DERBY and his colleagues, or to the
transference of power to a new and compre-
hensive coalition of hitherto dissentient sec-

tions from the side of the Opposition—the House
of Commons should at once accept that division as
decisive, should regard it, at any rate for some time
to come as final, should award a patriotic support
to whatever Ministry it may result in ! That Par-
liament in fine should, by a patriotic postponement
of merely party struggles, after this for one
rational interval—however that interval may
eventually come to be restricted by at
present unforeseen circumstances strengthen
the power of the Executive, and enable the Govern-
ment (whether Derbyite or Anythingite), to carry
on the business of the country for some time to
come with a due regard to the interests of the
country, with a proper consideration for the dig-
nity of the Crown, and a reasonable prospect of so
resuming the unembarrassed exercise of the na-
tional influence in the councils of Europe,
that, through that influence, so exercised under
the blessing of GOD, peace may be happily
restored to Christendom. These are the earnest
hopes we do in our heart—we do from our con-
science—believe to be the most dearly cherished at
this moment (upon the eve of this momentous divi-
sion in the House of Commons) by all ranks and
classes of patriotic Englishmen. The " ulterior"
results of that division in strengthening some Go-
vernment—be it the Government of Lord DERBY
or be it the Government of Lord DERBY'S successor
—are looked to by the country at large with far
more solicitude by all right-minded and loyal
Englishmen than the " immediate" effects of that
division in deciding the alternative between this or
that Administration.
Meanwhile, there are significant intimations we
cannot but recognise, affording some reasonable
grounds of conjecture as to the character and bear-
ing of that immediate result of the amendment
upon the Address, moved from the side of the
Opposition. Several of those significant in-
dications may be enumerated briefly and cate-
gorically. To begin with, as we all know,
perfectly well by this time—Government, strong in
the last House by reason of its compactness and
unity, as compared with the division of its antago-
nists of the Opposition, resumes its place in the
new House with the ranks of its avowed supporters
considerably strengthened. Government, in other
words, to be plain, had 277 supporters in the
last House" of Commons. It has 303 supporters
in the present House of Commons. It has
gained, otherwise to express it, twenty-six seats
in consequence of its frank and manly appeal to
the Country upon this very question now coming
directly before the House itself, the simple and
perfectly comprehensible question of Confidence,
or No Confidence.
Those twenty-six seats being consequently ab-
stracted from the opponents of the Government
count in favour of the latter exactly double upon a
division, namely, in all, just fifty-two. The " In-
dependents," even before the giving those fifty-two
direct votes to Ministers—the " Independents," even
when lured by the specious and illusory, and most
Insidious, become simply vague and factious reso-
lutions of Lord JOIIN RUSSELL—the "Indepen-
dents," even in the last House of Commons. under
those far more advantageous circumstances for the
chances of the Opposition—so divided among
themselves that the Opposition, even then,
only contrived to secure a clear majority
of thirty-nine in a House of 626 members !
And the chiefs among those " Independents" now
—what tokens do they already give of the course
they are about to pursue under circumstances, as
already seen, far more auspicious for Her MAJESTY'S
Government ? Mr. ROEBUCK is dead against Lord
PALMERSTON, and those who would co-operate with
Lord PALMERSIFON in striving by every means and
by every sacrifice of principle to turn out the existin g
Administration. Mr. HORSMAN is as man-
fully opposed as ever to any mere party
move, contrived alone for the especial advan-
tage of what Mr. DISRAELI, with his poignant
wit, dubbed, last night, by a sneer of sub-
lime derision, the educated section ! Even Mr.
BRIGHT don't half like taking up for good and all
—or for bad and all, as the case may be—with that
tEolus of Europe, my Lord PALMERSTON !
We don't count much, of course, upon the
Independence of Mr. BRIGHT now—after all
his " soft sawder " to the champions of the
Great Families, and after all his base and insolent
ingratitude to the very Press that helped him to
his own reputation. There is a fascination even,
we dare say, to a Quaker with- a stand-up collar
and a broad-brim to his hat, in the title of
—Right Honourable. ' But even—through all
this—even Mr. BRIGHT is faintly waver-
ing. We know well enough from our
past experience of his conduct and character how
he will inevitably n in the end—but even he at
this eleventh hour is actually given to a pretence
of wavering. While Mr. ROEBUCK, however, is
vindicating to the last his undimmed repute as a
Tribune of the People—while Mr. HORSMAN and
others are signally evidencing their right to
the proud title of " Independent"—are there
not already among the new Liberal members
just returned to Parliament supplementary indica-
tions of the result of the coming division—indica-
tions full of encouragement to the more golden
hopes of the present Government ? As if -in
answer to this—did not the House of Commons
hear last night and cheer last night the bold,
frank, unhesitating avowal made by Mr. DIGBY
SEYMOUR, the honourable and learned gentleman
who so gallantly conquered by a coup de main even
a high and mighty City magnate like th!Gh Governor
of England— van ms e Mr.
W°f EGthlreELlamnkoreover, not as a Derbylte, but as an
Independent Liberal and a thoroughgoinc, Re-
former, down at the great Liberal
however. The
boTrhoeupg
at the last be but small; but inhclaenaorf
Southamptoncase , majorityan d r ainayevery case, the House of Commons
must see after wards that it is decisive—namely,
giving us for some time to. come whatesrwonmmeeelniaA
certainly not beeniveaulloasweadnteoffipcoisesnetssGfoovr
past, a strong as

The details of the battle of Magenta are still
wanting. The French and Austrians give very
different accounts of the -transaction. According
to the former, a treat and decisive victory was
gained on Saturday, which ought to have
enabled the allies to enter Milan, which
had been evacuated by the enemy, with
the exception of a garrison left in the citadel.
But they have not advanced, and there seems to be
no doubt that the battle was renewed on Sunday,
and that the result is not yet known. There were
an enormous body of soldiers engaged on both
sides. The French state that there were 180,000
Austrians, and 120,000 of the Allied troops.
We must, however, receive these statements
with some degree of reserve, and also those relating
to the killed, wounded, and prisoners. If 20,000
Austrians were placed hors de combat, and 7,000
taken prisoners, the slaughter would have equalled,
if it did not exceed any of the great and decisive
battles recorded in history. There was not greater
bloodshed at Waterloo, or at Austerlitz. or *liked
at any of the memorable contests during the middle
ages. •

The second day's combat must have been equally
sanguinary, although wt know nothing of the