The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-08 00:00:00

a division in a House (including Tellers and
Speaker) of no less than 553, a division so remark-
able that it showed the members present to be thus
perfectly balanced—

Pro
Con
The right hon. gentleman in the ehair thereupon
using his privilege as Speaker of the House of Com-
mons, by instantly casting his vote—liberal though
his own opinions and sympathies, perhaps,
indeed, because his own opinions and sympathies
are with the Liberal party, that is on the side
of the Government, out of motives at once
we believe perfectly conscientious and chivalrous,
motives rising instinctively from a refined and
elevated sense of honour and magnanimity—into
the scale of Conservative Opposition.
Those five Wednesday defeats which we have
here recalled to the general recollection are simply
what we proposed they should be—just the pick
out of the not easily numerable discomfitures of
one kind or another, brought down upon their own
heads by the Liberal members and supporters of
the present loud-speaking, nothing-doing, soi-disant
Reforming Administration.

And we have recalled to mind the fact of these
egregious and, let us say also, excessively ignomi-
nious defeats experienced by the so-called
Liberal Government on Wednesdays all through
the recent session of Parliament, because
we regard the origin a those defeats as sufficiently
obvious, and at the same time as urgently requiring
at any rate some few passing syllables by way of re-
prehension. They are quite manifestly attributable
therefore, we would say here just for once and for
all, to the great distinguishing peculiarity of the
present Government that as aßeformingGovernment
it is not the least bit in the world in earnest !
Does any one suppose, for a single moment, for
example, that Lord PALMERSTON, the popular
Chief of this Reforming Government, cares two
straws, cares one fig, cares half a doit for the
cause of Reform, the cause with the interests of which
his Government is supposed to be identified ? Why
the noble Viscount has the manliness never once to
have affected it. He cares nothing for it. He is,
in reality, a Conservative Premier, at the head of a
motley, and, for the most part, nominally reforming
Coalition. But to call the present Ministry a Ministry
of Liberal Reformers is the merest farce and the
veriest makebelieve. In testimony of which, by
the way, as a sort of proof positive—it is really
only necessary to recall for one passing moment
the plea upon which the present holders of office
replaced their predecessors in it, viz., the members
of Lord DERBY'S Government ? What was that
plea ? Why; it was literally this—that Lord
DERBY'S Reform Bill was insufficient ! We should
have had that Bill, if they had not interfered. The
Bill itself might have been improved to almost
any extent if they had only allowed it to go into
committee. And in this way the question of Re-
form might, three years ago, have been
answered, and answered satisfactorily. Instead
of manfully aiding in carrying out which
enterprise forth came Lord JOHN'S dodging
Resolutions—his Dog-in-the-Manger Resolutions.
Lord DERBY'S Reform Bill was thrown aside as
valueless. We were to have something much
better. Well--have we had it ? Lord DERBY
and his colleagues resigned. They were succeeded
by this wonderful coalition lead by that
astonishing champion of the cause of Reform,
Lord PALMERSTON. With what results we know.
With no Parliamentary reform whatever any
longer within our reach. With not the smallest
prospect of it even within our view. All which can
only tend to confirm the people of this country in
that almost instinctive political antipathy which
once upon a time originated the dictum—England
abhors a Coalition.

Brief and few, but not insignificant are the last
items of American news. The Hero of Western
Virginia has arrived to take the command of the
Federal army, supplementing the extreme age of
SCOTT by the youth of M'CLELLAN, who has only
seen considerably less than half the years of his
superior. The extremes of caution and activity are
therefore to compensate for the Southern generals
being all in the very prime of military life.
M'CLELLAN, too, has seen active service, and his
name will, we may hope, be sufficient to keep whole
regiments from running off, they know not why nor
wherefore.

That the War-office should accept all regiments
who offer themselves is but what we might expect ;
equally we expected to hear that the Federal army
was being reinforced, though we suspect it must be
found very difficult to equip the additional troops
at all quickly. When we remember our own
unreadiness during the first year of the Crimean
war, we must not be surprised if military equip-
ments of every kind are sadly wanting. Men seem
to be more plentiful than arms and stores ; nor can
this be matter of wonder ; the Americans had no
arsenals so vast as ours, and a large part of the arms
and stores they had were, by the treachery of the
BUCHANAN Government, placed in the hands of the
South. What surprises us most in the news is, that
three of the Runaway Regiments got back to New
York and met with an enthusiastic reception !
Their mothers, and sisters, and wives, and sweet-
hearts were, no doubt, glad enough to see them
safe and sound; but history does tell of mothers
whose parting admonition to their sons departing
for battle was—" with your shield or on it." Perhaps
these were the regiments who started soon enough to
bring home their knapsacks and muskets. The New
York press seems to think it was owing to the
incapacity of the Federal Cabinet that their brave
fellow-citizens turned their backs on General BEAU-
REGARD. That General appears to be thinking of
re-capturing Harper's Ferry. General PATTERSON
was there to be superseded by BANKS, the successful
Republican candidate for the Speakership during
the Kansas troubles. We have not heard that he
has any special military qualifications—and his
Republican zeal could hardly avail him against the
skill of the Southern West Point officers.

From Fort Pickens the New York papers were
informed that the British. commander, Admiral
MILNE had reported to his Government that "the
blockade is totally insufficient." That it is so we
have had evidence enough in the ease with which
privateers have got out and returned with
their prizes. It seems also to be confirmed by the
strange fact that Congress has passed an act autho-
rising the President to levy duties at sea. Whether
he will venture to do it remains to be seen ; but it
would be pregnant with danger to peace between
the Federalists and commercial states. An efficient
blockade is consistent and intelligible. Capturing
the forts and levying duties at the Custom-house,
even if the Federalists possessed the ports only,
would be consistent. But a blockade re fusing
ingress and egress to foreign and other vessels,—
then a levy of duties alongside of a frigate in-
stead of a Custom-house wharf,—then, as the
vessel which the blockade was to keep out must
surely pass after she has paid customs duties to the
blockaders, a second levy of duties by the Confe-
derates—all this is such a complication of injas-
tice and absurdities as must expose any Govern-
ment which attempts it to the contempt, if nothing
Worse, of the civilised world. England, and France