The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-19 00:00:00

for.i.oo.Nl TITURSDAY, MAIICLI 19, 156

Lord PALKEESTON is losing his opportunity.
Nut a syllable from the Noble -Viscount yet either
as t) his Policy or as to his Principles. Not a syi_
libl..)—although his position has manifestly been,
from the first, so very anomalous. Meanwhilm, it
has not been by any means thus with the Right
Hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition.
He, at lean% has spoken out already_candidly,
we must admit, and very much 6 the Purpose'
He has issued his Political Manifesto bitime3
upon the very eve of the Dissolution. lie has
dot:e so, moreover, according to approved form,
in the shape of an Address to his Constituents.
Conspicuously placed as Mr. DisrtArmr is, how
ever, it is rather to the People of England gene-
rally that he speak=, as it were, by necessity, at
such a moment, than simply and exclusively to
the Electors of Buokixighamshire, And in the

present instance it must be allowed, to say the

least of it, that he has spoken most adroitly and
judiciously. As an electioneering demonstration
we take this pithy and sententious Address of his
to be, in its way, a political masterpiece. Mr.
DISRAELI says just the right thing—and leaves
the wrong thing uasaid. He slurs, with a dex-
terous and glossing ingenuity, over the Majority
of the Combination—and fixes upon the Cabinet
defeated by that Majority, the responsibility of
"wasting a year" by resorting to a dissolution.
He leaves altogether unassailed what is really
strong and impenetrable in the mail of his anta-
gonist. He essays a home-thrust only where that
opponent appears to be most vulnerable. His lunge
is at the chink in the armour. He cares not to
strike fire from the helmet or the breastplate—his
deadly aim is at the Heel of the ACHILLES. How
is it, for example, that Mr. DISRAELI describes
Lord PALMERSTON ? Not in that particular cha-
racter in which the Noble Viscount stands before
the country and before the world at large, as the
object of almostcunanimous admiration ! Not as
the chivalrous upholder of the dignity and honour
of his native land, in its supreme capacity as
one of the most puissant among the great Powers
of Christendom ! Mr. DISRAELI is too sagacious
a politician to direct popular attention thus un•
wisely to the character of his antagonist, lit
up by the glory of his Foreign Policy, and by the
prestige of the more undeniable evidences of his
Patriotism—a light in which the Noble Viscount
has been increasingly admired during now very
nearly half-a-century by men of all parties indis-
criminately. No—witty as well as wise in his gene-
ration—Mr. DISRAELI epigrammatically defines the
position of Lord PALMERSTON at the present
juncture—How ? Why, pointedly and stingingly
thus as—" A Tory Chief at the Head of a Radical
Cabinet !"

The poisoned shaft will stick and rankle in the
Heel of ACHILLES—unless it be at once plucked
out by his own hand, and tossed to the winds
disdainfully.
The country looks to Lord PALMERSTON for
some categorical declaration of his opinions and
principles, now that he has resolved upon appeal-
ing to the constituencies for a ♦erdict for or
against his Government. The country has
anxiously awaited the appearance of some formal
Political Manifesto of this kind from Lord PAL-
MERSTON, ever since the Noble Viscount intimated
his intention to bring about a dissolution of the
present Parliament. It requires at length more
urgently than ever the issue of this Ministerial
Pronunciamento—now that the Prime Minister
is being goaded into Candour by the taunting in-
fluence of Mr. DISA.ELI'S scarcely resistible Provo-
cation. Will Lord PALMERSTON remain any longer
silent—can Lord PALMERSTON, by any possibi-
lity, remain any longer silent ?—Held up as he is
now to general scorn and ridicule as that most
Epicene of Statesmen, as that most Hybrid of
Politicians, as that most Amphibious of Adminis-
trators—" A Tory Chief of a Radical Cabi-
net !" His own high and historical character,
the honour of the Crown, and the good of the
Country—alike demand from the Prime Minister
that ho should so speak at the present mo-
ment, that there should no longer be any
doubt whatever as to the Future Policy
or the Guiding Principles of his Government.
" Strike, but hear me 1" were the memorable
words of TIIEMISTOCLES. Let them now illustrate
anew the chivalrous and candid bearing of the
Premier. He is struck, and struck vigorously and
piercingly by the chief among his Parliamentary
antagonists. Let us now "Hear him." The
Leader of her MAJESTY'S Opposition has already
spoken to the Country at large—spoken plainly,
honestly, and frankly, through the customary me-
dium of an Address to his own constituents—the
Electors of the county of Buckingham. Lot Lord.
PALMERSTON hesitate no longer--through an Ad-
dress to his constituents, the Electors of the borough
of Tiverton—to speak, in his turn, plainly, honestly,
and frankly, to the possessors of the Elective
Franchise in the Three Kingdoms. We have
waited long enough already. We must have the
truth out at last, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth. Of that we may be quite certain.
Of that the Premier may be perfectly well satis-
fied. And he may be equally well satisfied,
let him rest assured of it, that No Minister,
however great the prestige may be of his political
career, however wide-spread his popularity in
what exclusively affects our foreign relations,
however wholly unrivalled to all appearance by
personal competitors for the Premiership—can at
any time, by any possibility, under any conjunc-
ture of circumstances, oppose himself with im-
punity, even for a comparatively brief period, to
the steady advance of the broad flood of Reform,
the strong and irresistible current of political
change, of social amelioration, of progressively
graduated, and constitutional development.

Mr. DISRAELI (again we remind the Premier)
has spoken—let the country now accord a hearing
to Lord PALMERSTON. Mr. DISRAELI has spoken
frankly, we repeat, distinctly and explicitly—and
to what purport ? Why, to this—that he has
candidly epitomised his politicll Future by de-
claring " The general policy which I would
enforce at this juncture may be contained in these
words—lionourable peace, reduced taxation, and
social improvement." Let the Chief of the Cabinet
—we ask now no more—emulate, without any
wore ado, the Candour, at least, of the Leader of
the Opposition. The period has gone by for
vague generalities. We must have a distinct
Political Profession of Faith. Electors must know
precisely what it is they are voting for—not,
simply, tuho it is they are voting for ! They
must now, more than ever, subordinate the Men
to the Measures—of which latter tke former ought
to he regarded as merely the Guarantees or Itepre-
sentatives ! Mr. DISRAELI (yet again we remind
the Prime Minister) has spoken already clearly
and unmistakeably, as becomes•the Leader of her
MAJESTY'S Opposition in the popular branch of
the Legislature. Let Lord PALMERSTON speak at
last in his turn to the Country, as clearly and
as unmistakeably—as it assuredly befits the Noble
Viscount to do, in his still more responsible posi-
tion as the Leader of her Ma,rEsTY's Government.

The strong point of the PALMERSTON Govern-
ment is uuquezAionably its foreign policy. The
nation confides in '' the English Mildater" who
enunciated the manly statitnent that " England
had no cousins"—and who was and is believed to
eschew the doctrines of Germanism and of dez-
potism, and to act solely with a view to the safety,
honour, and welfare of our Sovereign Lady the
tfttlex&-N, and her dominions in all climes beneath
"nb'er sating sun." Lord PALMERSTON however, a difficult game to play. Ho is subjected
to sinister and unconstitutional influences, which
must be resisted, and which imperatively demand
that his hands should be strengthened by the
unequivocal expression of public opinion and the ,
certainty that ho will be sustained and supported
in the manly and straightforward course which 11;s
great experience and sound judgment may suggeFt,
by a good working majority. He requires that as-
sistance, not merely against avowed enemies, but
far more against professing friends, who would, if
possible, lead himfrom the proper path, into de.

vious courses from which 'extrication may be im.
possible. The impending difficulties do not
relate to " the Celestial Empire" only. There
are serious complications nearer home that call for
extraordinary courage and skill in order that
satisfactory results may be accomplished.
" The State of Italy" is perhaps of all others
that which requires the most careful consideration
—the most prompt and vigorous action. It was
brought prominently before the Conferences at
Paris, but the Austrian protests prevented the de-
cision which must have been arrived at had the
interesting question been discussed on its merits.
The " occupations," as they were euphoniously
termed, of different states, or, in other words, the
protection afforded by foreign bayonets to those
who did not think it worth their while to cultivate
the good-will of their subjects, who thought that
they should enforce submission rather than win
love, were the evils complained of—and the repre-
sentatives of France and England spoke fairly,
although in deference to Austria, nothing was
accomplished. The hopes of the oppressed and long
suffering peoples were encouraged, and there was
every reason to believe that France, at least, would
speedily remove the grievance. Nothing, literally
nothing, has however been done during the twelve
months that have since passed away. The Italian
soil is still polluted by the presence of alien troops,
and French and German are the languages spoken
in the barracks of Hesperia. There have been
no attempts at the abatement of the intolerable
nuisance—no symptoms of evacuation. Austria
has been striving to pick a quarrel, on the approved
" wolf-and-lamb" precedent, with the Government
of Piedmont, while France and England calmly
survey the ominous clouds gathering on the poli-
tical horizon, and which indicate an impending
hurricane, by which an European war, or series
of wars, may be rendered inevitable.

In another part of our impression will be found
a remarkable document, which we have extracted
from a morning contemporary, the Daily News,
together with an article showing clearly and
forcibly the magnitude of the emergency. It
purports to be a " Report on the condition and
prospects of the States of the Church, and of
Italy in general," addressed by the French Envoy
at Rome, to Count WALEwsKr. We cannot, of
course, vouch for its authenticity, respecting
which our contemporary appears to be satisfied.
There is, however, a vraisemblance that induces
us to lend it an easy credence. It
seems to have been " written to order"
—to have been prepared as an elaborate
excuse for inaction —a studied condemna-
tion of Constitutional Government for which,
according to the writer, Italy is perfectly unquali-
fied. It is dated in May, just two months after
the unexpected ventilation of the inconvenient
topic by Count °AYOUB at the Parisian Congress.
It is an apology for the Papal, and a serious in-
dictment against the Sardinian Government, an
earnest vindication of the policy that produced
and has continued the occupations. Without
secret encouragement the subordinate official
would not have dared to oppose that which his
superior declared to be his own views. Under
such circumstances we cannot repose implicit con-
fidence on the good faith and integrity of the
French Government. Many matters flash on
our minds. The crushing of Italian freedom, the
lame and impotent conclusion of the Russian war,
the hints against the inconvenient freedom of
the Press, and now this extraordinary document
indicate the vast difference between the sayings
and doings of the French Government. The
danger is great ; and there is but one mode by
which it can be averted—the clear, distinct, and
unqualified expression of public feeling on the
several hustings throughout the length and breadth
of the land. Electors must not speak of China
only, but show what they think in relation to
foreign affairs generally, so that their temper may
be clearly understood, and that those who may
be inclined to tamper with such matters may be
made cognisant of the great danger of "playing
with edged-tools."

In our " Catechism for Candidates," to which
Lord DERBY so recently directed the attention of
his brother Peers, we gave a prominent place to
" The Abolition of Purchase in the Army, and
Promotion by Merit." The vast importance of
the question cannot be controverted. It may,
indeed, be regarded as a matter of urgent neces-
sity—as the only means by which we can mate-
rially reduce the expenses, without impairing the
efficiency, of our military establishments. It has
been authoritatively declared that the British
troops in the Crimea were "an army of
Lions, led on by Asses ; " and it is
essential that our dearly-bought experience
should not be wasted or misapplied. We should
profit to the utmost by the painful but salutary
lesson, and adopt every possible precaution against
the chance of the reproach being again applied to
our English army. We see that a system of pro-
motion prevails in this country unknown in other
nations, by which the security and honour of the
United Kingdom depend on a succession of lucky
accidents—on men who are possessed of ample
funds, or commanding interest, and who are too
frequently disposed to talk slightingly of the ser-
vice—to vote it " a bore," and declare their in-
tention of " selling out,"—being actuated by
military enthusiasm, and induced to study care-
fully and painfully that which by no means im-
proves their position either at the Horse Guards
or with their brother officers.

What can be expected or hoped for while money
and influence are almost the only qualifications
sought for, and attentive and diligent study is not
only not required, but virtually discouraged by
the authorities ? When staff appointments and
other advantages are distributed to the least de-
serving applicants. Surely such a system suffi-
ciently explains the untoward events that occurred
in the Crimea, and which occasioned the tardily re-
cognised Report of Sir JOHN M'NEILL and Colonel
TuLLocir. We are told that the abolition of the
system would occasion a heavy expense to the
country . But the most unflinching economist
would scarcely hesitate at any cost which the
introduction of a more judicious and wise prac-
tice might require.

) " They manage these things better in France."
1 The importance of Military Education is there
fully appreciated as well as in all other nations
aspiring to a military position. All through the
Continent, in Franco, Prassia, Austria, and
Sardinia there are schools at which "officers
aspiring to Staff appointments must undergo
probationary exercises and examinations, and
prove themselves fully qualified for the efficient
i discharge of the duties that may bo confided
to their hands, while "Out of; 216 officers
who have received certificates at the &Allot depart-
met it of Sandhurst since 1836, only 15 were
employed on the staff in May, 1854," Ws
simple fact speaks trumpet-t)ngued as to the ne-
cessity for a total change in the administration of
In ilitAry affairs by the authoritio3 at the Horse
Guards.

A very irrpoitant Report has just been pub-
lishad by the Commissioners appointed to inquire
into the foreign systems of military education.