The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-07 00:00:00

committed any error at all, it was that of going into
the opposite extreme, and rightly or wrongly defend-
ing the conduct of those who acted under him." The
noble lord appropriately alluded to the language
held by Lord PALMERSTON in the House of Com-
mons respecting Sir J. BOWRING'S conduct in
China. Very strong was that passage of the noble
lord's speech, in which he showed the inconsistency
of the course pursued by the Ministers in sacrificing
one who has served his country to idle clamour.
The attack was all the stronger, because Lord
DERBY admitted there might have been a case for
inquiry. But what would justify their course in
sending for a Governor from another colony to
supersede Mr. EYRE, and place him in a false posi-
tion ? The most awkward of all the noble lord's
remarks, however, was that in -which he said he was
afraid this step was " contrary to the original in-
tention of this Government, whatever the reasons
might be which led to the alteration of this inten-
tion." As we dwell upon this observation, do we
not see rise up before us the long lines of deputa-
tions which threatened to last till the crack of doom,
and which certainly frightened the Colonial-office
out of its propriety, and hear the denunciations of
Exeter Hall and the diatribes of the Radical mem-
bers ? Who can deny that the fatal course pur-
sued by Ear] RUSSELL is what it is here called, " a
step neither just to Governor EYRE, nor likewise to be
otherwise than most unfortunate in its effect upon
the minds of both populations." Ministers have sent
out a " roving commission which will pick up
rumours, and has no real power to compel evidence
on oath to be taken." We are the more gratified
with the remarks of Lord DERBY upon the Jamaica
affair, because it rests with him and his party in
both Houses of the Legislature to take a decided
stand upon. the question, and protest against the
unwise and unfair conduct of the Government
upon the matter. It will never do for the honour
of the country and the best interests of our colonies
that public servants of the Crown shall be sacrificed
to the prejudices of factions and the clap-trap of
party schemes.

How unequal is Earl RUSSELL'S reply to Lord
DERBY'S spirited remarks ; the only sign which he
gave of appreciating the real importance of the sub-
ject was, that he addressed himself to it at the
outset of his discourse. He made an unmeaning
assertion about the necessity that there was for an
inquiry, and then went on to state that it was:quite
impossible for them to have allowed Mr. EYRE to
retain his position as Governor. The reasons he
gave for this were quite inconclusive ; but if he
really thinks them sound, he had better, for con-
sistency's sake, retire from office while the inquiry
concerning his treatment of Mr. EYRE and the
course he has pursued towards the colonial autho-
rities is proceeded with in Parliament. The noble
lord said that Mr. EYRE could not hold his autho-
rity while that authority was shaken as the inquiry
proceeded, and also that if he kept his place, "no
one would have believed that there would have been
a fair inquiry." A Prime Minister has never held
language more unfitting his high position than that
used by Lord RUSSELL last night in his place in the
House of Lords respecting the course pursued in
this Jamaica business. When the noble lord says
that "I do not think it right to say that we do not
care whether 500 persons have been put to death
without necessity, but we will support the Governor
whether he is right or wrong, and we care nothing
about these persons' lives because they happen to be
black," we must say that he is treating the matter
in quite an inappropriate style; and further, we may
retort upon him that neither is it necessary to make
unwarrantable assertions because those persons
were black. In this lay all the secret of the affair,
because it offended the feelings of some so• called
Liberals and philanthropists in this country that
their protegees should suffer, and, therefore, they
sought to turn criminals into martyrs. At any
rate, we are glad to find that the tide has
turned, and that the fanatics have had their triumph,
such as it is, and that the Government will have to
give an account for the manner in which they have
pandered to the fancies and accorded the requests
of those unscrupulous and inconsiderate parties.

It was not to be expected that the first night of
the actual session would be suffered to pass over
-without some allusion to the alarming prevalence
of the cattle plague. The extent mid the severity
of the national misfortune was clearly evidenced
by the numbers of speakers in both houses who
addressed themselves to this question, and the
unanimity which they showed in condemning the
inaction of the Government was also not a little
remarkable. In the Peers and in the Commons
alike the general anxiety and regret found vent in
heartily abusing the Executive for its hesitation
and its delays, and its total incompetence to deal
with so formidable an adversary. The general
impression appeared to be that a great error was
committed in not at once stopping the traffic be-
tween London and the provinces immediately on the
outbreak of the cattle plague. If this had been
done there would certainly have been less reason
for complaint, and less cause to suppose that by our
own negligence we had fostered the evil. The ex-
cuse put forward on the Ministerial side was that,
although in continental countries the plague had
been at once stamped out by vigorous measures,
among ourselves the executive had not sufficient power
to pursue the same course,. This plea was at once
negatived by the reply that if the Government
were really unable to deal promptly and decisively
with the matter they should have called Parliament
together and obtained the necessary powers. We
can easily imagine that no course would have been
less welcome to the tottering Cabinet, not quite
clear about either its own policy or the relative
positions of its own members, than to forestall the
evil day, and bring down upon themselves the
whole shower of questions, attacks, and criticism,
which attend a regular Session. But the accusa-
tion was certainly more just than pleasant, and they
are nowlikely to sufferforhaving shrunk so long from
the inevitable danger. Their hesitation and per-
plexity have certainly contributed in no small de-
gree to the spread of the disease, since whatever
doubts or differences may arise as to the origin of
the rinderpest, or the best means of treatment, one
thing is perfectly clear—it is decidedly and dange-
rously contagious. The first thing to be done, then,
was to stop communication between infected and
non-infected places ; and as London was the great
centre and focus of the evil, the removal of
living animals from the London markets to
the provinces should have been peremptorily
arrested. It is very well to make an excuse of the
inconvenience and loss attending such a proceeding,
but what inconvenience or loss could be greater
than that occasioned by the cattle plague ? Epi-
demics will not wait for routine ; and if their pro-
gression be arrested by any barriers it will certainly
not be stopped by those made of red tape. The
weakness and want of character in our Executive
seems to be the general complaint, and justly so ;
for when Englishmen talk about self-government
they do not mean that men are to hold official
positions who have no policy of their own. The great
body of thorepresentatives of thepeople are indeed to
suggest, to control, to express their approval or dis-
approval of the Ministerial policy ; but that is a
very different thing from the Government waiting

to be told what to do, vacillating and doubting,
considering rather how to please this or that party
than to pursue a policy which shall really govern
and benefit the whole community. We have had a
little too much of this weathercock government of
late years. We do not want the vane of Downing-
street to show us the predominant cry of
the day, but the well-considered policy of aMinistry
which really governs. If it fails to satisfy the de-
liberate requirements of the majority of the people
it will not be long before it has unmistakeable evi-
dence to that effect, and its members can retreat
with dignity from a position they have filled with a
decisive and comprehensible purpose.

On several points the Ministry seem likely to be
severely criticised for their weakness and vacilla-
tion, and possibly, amid the many serious ques-
tions of foreign and domestic policy to be
discussed this session, they have not rightly
estimated the amount of censure which they
are likely to receive from Parliament for their
mismanagement concerning the cattle plague. The
number and variety of the speeches in both houses,
all directed to this one point, prove that, if the
speakers fairly represent the opinions of their
tenantry and constituents, there is, in town and
county, a very general impression that, in a most
important matter, closely concerning not only the
property, but the health, comfort, and welfare of
the people, the RUSSELL Ministry has been, to say
the least of it, mistaken and unfortunate in the
course it has pursued.

LONDON GAZETTE—Last Evening.

WAR-OFFICE, PALL-MALL, FE33.1,

4th Regiment of Dragoon Guards—Surgeon Jas. William
Fleming, from the 37th Foot, to be Surgeon vice Surgeon_
Major Grogan, M. 8., deceased.
4th Hussars— Gentleman Cadet Edward William, from the
Royal Military College, to be Cornet, by purchase, vice
Lawrence Hesketh Palk, promoted, by purchase, in the
Scots Fusilier Guards. •
7th Hussars—Capt. George Joy, from the 18th Foot, to be
Captain, vice Johnes, who exchanges.
Royal Artillery—Lieut. John Haughton to be Second
Captain, vice Charles Orde Brown, removed to the super-
numerary list ; Lieut. Henry Graves has been permitted
to resign his commission ; Gentleman Cadet H. Tucker
Stewart, from the Royal Military Academy, to be Lieu-
tenant, vice Haughton.
Coast Brigade—Master Gunner William Coleman to be
Lieutenant, vice George WMurray, deceased.
Grenadier Guards—Cecil John Hubbard, Gent., to be En-
sign and Lieutenant, by purchase, vice the Hon. Adelbert
Wellington Brownlow Cust, who retires.
Scots Fusileer Guards—Lieutenant and Captain Charles
Shelly to be Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel, by pur-
chase, vice Godfrey W. Beaumont, who retires; Ensign
and Lieutenant William Julius Gascoigne to be Lieuten-
ant and Captain, by purchase, vice Shelley ; Cornet
Lawrence Hesketh Palk, from the 4th Hussars, to be
Ensign and Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Gascoigne.

2d Regiment of Foot—Ensign Arthur Mills, to be Lieu-
tenant, by purchase, vice William Fermor Godfrey, who
retires ; Gentleman Cadet Justician Charles Cohen, from
the Royal Military College, to be Ensign, by purchase,
vice Mills.
7th Foot —Lieutenant George Stanley Orred, from tho 73d
Foot, to be Lieutenant, vice Langworthy, who ex-
changes.
Bth Foot—Ensign William Toke Dooner to. be Lieutenant,
by purchase, vice Arthur Holden Turner, who retires ;
Gentleman Cadet Stephen Brown, from the Royal Mili-
tary College, to be Ensign, without purchase, vice
Jenico John Preston, transferred to the Rifle Brigade ;
Gentleman Cadet Arthur Ashley Ruck, from the Royal
Military College, to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Dooner;
Lieutenant William Hunter Baillie to be Adjutant, vice
William Edward Whelan, promoted.
12th Foot—Lieutenant George Lyford Barry Thomas to
be Adjutant, vice Lieutenant Gilbert de Lacy Lacy,
promoted.

14th Foot—Lieutenant John Joseph Hill Carbery to be
Captain, by purchase, vice William Heywood, who re-
tires; Ensign Gerard Van Heythuysen to be Lieuten-
ant, by purchase, vice Carbery; Augustus Stafford
O'Brien, Gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Van
Heythuysen.
17th Foot—Paymaster, with the honorary rank of Major,
Alexis Corcoran, from half-pay, late of a depot batta-
lion, to be Paymaster, vice Paymaster, with the honorary
rank of Captain, N. G. Smith, whose services have been
dispensed with.
18th Foot -Captain Herbert Owen Johnes, from the 7th
Hussars, to be Captain, vice Joy, who exchanges.
21st Foot - Gentleman Cadet Arthur John Osborne Pol-
lock, from the Royal Military College, to be Ensign
without purchase, vice Edward Bullock Jackson, pro-
moted.

23d Foot—Ensign Arthur Edward Ward, from the 70th
Foot, to be Ensign, vice Alexander Cosby Jackson, who
retires.

24th Foot—The second Christian name of Ensign Syms is
Grenville, not Granville, as stated in the Gazette of the
26th ult.

37th Foot—Staff-Surgeon James Lewis Holloway to be
Surgeon, vice James W. Fleming, appointed to the 4th
Dragoon Guards.

43d Foot—Ensign Taverner Charles Miller to be Lieu-
tenant, by purchase, vice Frederic Simon Armfelt, who
retires ; Charles Legard, Gent., to be Ensign, by pur-
chase, vice Miller.

55th Foot - Staff-Assist.-Surg. Samuel Edward Walker to
be Assistant-Surgeon, vice W. J. Rendell, promoted on
the Staff.
64th Foot—The names of the gentleman appointed to an
Ensigncy by purchase on the 10th of November, 1865,
are Richard James William Dennistoun, and not as pre-
viously stated.
70th Foot—Gentleman Cadet Edward Moritz Wallerstein,
from the Royal Military College, to be Ensign by pur-
chase, vice Ward, transferred to the 23d Foot.

73d Foot—Lieutenant Vincent Upton Langworthy, from
the 7th Foot, to be Lieutenant, vice Orred, who ex-
changes.

87th Foot—Lieutenant Charles Andrew Irwin to be In-
structor in Musketry, vice Lieut. Walter Carr Mackinnon;
promoted.

Rifle Brigade—Ensign Alfred Seymour to be Lieutenant
without purchase, vice Arthur Wilson Patten, deceased;
Ensign Jenico John Preston, from the Bth Foot, to be
Ensign, vice Seymour.

DEPOT BATTALION— Captain Henry Masters Sproule, 10th
Foot, to be Instructor of Musketry, vice Captain W. H.
Paul, reappointed Adjutant.
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.—Assistant-Surgeon Wm. Jasper
Randall, from the 55th Fcot, to be Staff-Surgeon, vice J.
L. Holloway, appointed to the 37th Foot.
BREVET.

Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Crawford Fraser, 11th Hus-
sars, having completed the qualifying service in the rank
of Lieutenant-Colonel, to be Colonel, under tho Royal
Warrant of Oct. 14, 1858.

The following promotions to take place in succession to
Major-General John Napper Jackson, Colonel of the 99th
Foot, who died on Jan. 25, 1866 :

Brevet-Colonel Richard Wilbraham, C. 8., from Lieute-
nant-Colonel, unattached, to be Major-General ; Captain
and Brevet-Major Charles Edward Oldershaw, Royal Ar-
tillery, to be Lieutenant-Colonel ; Captain Henry Jervis
W. Jervis, Royal Artillery, to bo Major.
ADMIRALTY, FEB. 3.

Lieutenant Frederick Semple has been promoted to the
rank of Retired Commander in her Majesty's Fleet, with
seniority from the let inst., under the provisions of the
Orders in Council of 1860 and 1864.

l'En. 5.

The following promotions have this day been made :

Mr. Thomas William Henry Ramsay to be First Class
Assist.-Engineer to her Majesty's Fleet, with seniority of
the 2d of February, 1866.

Mr. John Murdoch to be First Class Assist.-Engineer,
with seniority of the 3d of February, 1866.

ANECDOTE OF Louis PII I LIPPE. —Dupont de I'Eure
was the Minister of Justice immediately after the
accession of Louis Philippe to the throne in 1830. He was
a man of unflinching honesty, and who preserved his in-
dependence under every circumstance. He told me that
on one occasion ho nominated a most excellent and worthy
person to a judgeship, and laid the nomination before the
King for his approval and signature. The King hesitated,
and Dupont, supposing there might be objections unknown
to himself, said he would defer the appointment, with the
view of making further inquiries. These further inquiries
confirmed the high opinion he had formed of the aptitudes
and deservings of the gentleman in question, and at the
next meeting of the council he told the King that he had
been led to a thorough reinvestigation of the claims of the
functionary, and, unless his Majesty had some valid cause
for the refusal of his sanction, he hoped there would be no
further demur. The King at last said, impatiently, "He
took a brief against me in an action at law." "And did he
succeed ?" inquired the Minister. " Yes," answered the
King, still more impatiently. "Then, sire, "your Ma-
jesty has only to choose between his appointment and my
dismissal." Louis Philippe silently signed the decree.—
Dickens's "All the lear Round."

The Atrato, with the next West India mail, is
expected to arrive on Monday next. She will bring news
from Jamaica up to the 25th ult., at which period Sir Henry
Storks will have been at Jamaica nearly three weeks, and
the Government commissioners, Messrs. Gurney and Mania,
nearly a week.