The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-23 00:00:00

WALPOLE'S honour each came out of the ordeal
perfectly stainless and unsullied—but why there
was any necessity for an ordeal of any kind passes
to this instant our comprehension. We can't for
the life of us understand the philosophic self-mar-
tyrdom of those who having clearly before them—
well, perhaps, not quite a path of roses, but at any-
rate the QUEEN'S highway—should voluntarily go
out of the straight road before them perversely
to walk by a circumbendibus over so many
square feet of burning ploughshares ! Then
again—Mr. GLADSTONE'S mysterious expedition
to the lonian Islands in a superlatively extraordi-
nary character, as a sort of a supplementary Lord
High Commissioner—Mere, surely, to this hou r'
remains an unopened mystery of mysteries! The
copper pot has been fairly landed—it has been
dragged up high and dry on shore—we can hear
the geni rumbling within it—but the lid is still close
shut, sealed with the seal of the Great SOLIMAN I
Perhaps we shall hear the meaning of it all even-
tually.
Perhaps! Possibly—just as we may discover,
at last, the nominis umbra of " JuNius "—or learn
whose was that inscrutable face under the " Iron
Mask "—or understand the mystical konx ompax
with which the initiated were dismissed at the close
of the Eleusynian Revelations.
Consonant with all this official and exofficial re-
ticense during the lapse of 1859—have been the
breaking down, by mere anticipation, of the eluci-
datory motions announced in reference to the
affairs of Italy, or rather, it might be said, to the
affairs of Europe—motions announced in the
Commons by Lord ELCHO, and in the Lords by
Viscount STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE. It is noto-
rious of course why these were abandoned. They
could hardly have been brought forward after the
announcement of the preliminaries of peace so very
prematurely agreed to by the two Emperors at
Villafranca. Their being so brought forward at
any rate might have proved untoward in imme-
diate effect and embarrassing in ulterior conse-
quences. Therefore out of the most honourable
motives on the part of the two noble lords who had
undertaken to bring Lord MALMESBURY'S diplo-
matic correspondence under discussion in Parlia-
ment those notices of motion were dropped—some
more unsolved riddles being thus left to adorn the
already sufficiently enigmatical pages of Ransard
for 1859. Although these eagerly anticipated debates
in the Lords and Commons were thus prohibited,
by the force of circumstances, from the opportunity
of being even momentarily commenced, it is worthy
of special remembrance, at any rate in regard to
the one threatened by Lord ELCHO, that the
noble lord, in the very act of withdrawing his
motion, explained honestly and succinctly the
reasons which led to its original announcement.
" He proposed this," he said " to bring the question
directly under the consideration of the popular
branch of the Legislature" out of no spirit of hos-
tility towards the present Government, but from a
desire to do what he conceived was an act of simple
justice to the late Government. It was to do an act
of Justice, because it could not be denied that an
impression had gone abroad that the policy of the
late Government was not one of strict neutrality,
but one favourable to Austria and unfavourable
to France and Sardinia. That was stated in the
public journals; it was stated by the Opposition
in that house ; and there was no doubt that it had
materially influenced the division. He had since,
however, heard it stated that if the blue-book had
been published previous to the close of the debate
it would have made a difference of something like
twenty votes. He did not wish to enter into
any argument upon the point, but it was un-
questionable that such an impression had gone
abroad, and that when the blue book was at
last published, it produced a feeling that the
; late Government had been maligned." Announce-
ments these, which, it is worthy of remembrance,
came from the Government side of the house, and
Iwere loudly cheered on the side of the Opposi-
I tion.

In pursuance of his independent course of pro-
ceeding, we observe that the noble lord the mem-
ber for Haddingtonshire, gave notice last evening in
the House of Commons that, on going into commit-
tee of supply on Monday week, he should move the
following resolution :—" That it would be consis-
tent neither with the honour nor the dignity of this
country, which throughout the late negotiations
has preserved a strict and impartial neutrality be-
tween the contending parties, and which has used
its earnest endeavours to prevent an outbreak of
hostilities, to take part in any Conference for
settling the details of a peace, the preliminaries of
which have been arranged between the Emperors
of FRANCE and AUSTRIA." Sincerely do we hope
that this new resolution of Lord ELcHo's may not
add another " dropped notice of motion" to that
monstrous pile which stands cairn-like in the wil-
derness of HANSARD as the fitting memento of
this most barren Session of Parliament.

Australia hardly meets with the response that
might reasonably have been expected from the Im-
perial Government. The Legislature of New
South Wales, some time since, voted £50,000 for
improving the postal communication with the
mother country. The old blundering mail contract
with our antipodes, it will be remembered, was,
about a year ago, cancelled by a stroke of the pen,
at a time when a great master of the pen occupied
the post of Colonial Administrator. Sir EDWARD
LYTTON abolished at once, and for all, a contract
that had proved, from first to last, abortive in its
operation. He did so with very general concur-
rence. Australia, as we have seen, responded to
this act of vigour, of wisdom, of and promptitude by
voting £50,000 to improve the whole system
of postal communication. A double route it was
felt at the same time it would be the wisest to
establish upon the organisation of a new system—
here by the Isthmus of Suez, there by the Isthmus
of Panama. A new and a better contract was
essential. Advertisements were issued under the
authority of Government. Invitations were made
for tenders to the Admiralty—these tenders it was
announced were to be sent in by the Ist of this
present month of July. Here we are already ap-
proaching the end of July—and not unreasonably
the Marquis of CLANRTCARDE appeals now to the
occupants of the Treasury Bench for some expla-
nation as to whether anything—and, if anything,
what—has been done with a view to the satisfactory
organization of one or both lines of communication
between England and Australasia. To those in-
quiries of the noble lord several answers were last
evening vouchsafed—though none of them it must
be confessed were very satisfactory. The noble duke
at the head of the Board of Admiralty replied cate-
gorically in the first instance—his grace remark-
ing part the Admiralty had to perform
with regard to them was quite subordinate. As to
the
mail to Australia, via Panama, tenders had
been received for it by the Admiralty, and sent to
the Treasury for approval ; they were now under
the consideration of that department. As the whole
question of mail contracts had been referred to a
Committee of the House of Commons, the Trea-
sury would defer its approval of the Panama con-
tract till the decision of the committee on the sub-
ject was known. As to the contract for conveying
the mails to Australia by way of the Isthmus of