The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-26 00:00:00

1J- trtnintt

ezzs,
LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1850.

During:an interval of nearly five hours' continuance
Lord PALMERSTON was last night vindicating his

foreign policy from the charges levelled against it by
his political antagonists in both Houses of Parliament.
An oratiodmore comprehensive in its character, more
lucid in its arrangement, more explicit in its expla-
nations, more noble and magnanimous in its candour,
has never been delivered within the walla of the Im-

perial Legislature. It is a perfect masterpiece for its
logical acumen, and in some sort also for its subdued
yet persuasive eloquence. The Noble Viscount, her
MAJesry's Foreign Secretary, appeared throughout
to be conscious of the enormous responsibilities de-

volving upon himself individually in reference to the
tendency of the discussion. He manifested in every
syllable of that elaborate and remarkable harangue
his profound appreciation of the circumstances ex•
pressly alluded to by him in its exordium—the fact
that the question at issue was a question conceining
not merely the tenure of office by one individual,
or the tenure of office by a Government, but

a question, moreover, involving principles of
national policy, involving the deepest interests

as well as the honour and dignity of the em

pire. Having avowed so much by way of emphatic
preliminary, the illustrious statesman reminded the
representatives of the English people that they were
about to decide upon a proposition of a national
policy, " which," said he, " I consider to be totally in-
compatible with the rights, with the honour, with the
dignity of the country, and with the practice not
only of this country, but of all other coun-

tries." It is this reflection which imparts
such supreme importance to the debate now
proceeding in the popular assembly at Westminster ;
it is this which concentrates at this moment upon the
British House of Commons the deep and breathless
attention of the multitude ; it is this which yesterday
invested the speech of the Noble Viscount at the head
of the Foreign Department of the Administration
with that interest which alone belongs to utterances
destined to resound through the voice of history
through many remote generations.
Whether the oration pronounced yesterday by the
lips of Lord PALMERSTON be scanned analytically or
synthetically, it will be impossible for any uupre-

udiced man to withhold from it those eulogiurns

which are due to, the exquisitely sequential symmetry
of its arguments, and to its surprising and laborious
completeness. Supposing any one to have previ-
ously acquired only a most incoherent knowledge of
the imputations cast by a miserable faction of political
intriguers upon the foreign policy of the Government,
an absolute familiarity with every individual accusation
levelled against the Cabinet in regard to the proceed-
ings of Lord PALMERSTON might be obtained from the
very speech in which that great diplomatist has ad-
ventured upon his ministerial vindication. One by
one the incidents of his career as an Administrator
are there plainly and severally specified ; one by one
his achievements as a statesman are there recounted,

together with their respective justifications ; one
by one the charges burled against him
with such virulent and dastardly vituperations, or,
still worse, with so many detestable and mendacious
inuendoes, are there exposed in all their insincerity,
baseness, and atrocity.. It was with a haughty and
withering scorn that the noble orator, at the very
outset of his remarks, deprecated the indecent mirth
with which matters of such enormous gravity had
been brought under discussion by the Protectionists.
The flippant absurdities
.in which those per.
sons have not been ashamed to indulge, in
allusion to questions involving the vital and
fundamental principles of international jurispru-
dence, he declared to have been of a character unbe-
coming alike the individuals by whom, of whom,
and before whom those questions were brought under
examination,. As if to enforce this consideration yet
more emphatically by means of that remarkable con-
trast, the Noble Viscount reminded these political
triflers of another truth of commensurate importance,
the truth " that men who aspire to govern mankind
ought to bring to that task generous sentiments,
compassionate sympathies, and noble and elevated
views." Than that no language could have been
employed more bitterly sarcastic towards men whose
views, sympathies, and sentiments have shown them-
selves throughout the whole question notoriously
devoid of magnanimity. After such premonitory
observations, the Foreign Secretary entered upon the
successive refutation of all the assertions made anta-
gonistic to the policy of his administration. He
divulged with scrupulous and punctilious
particularity every iota of the Greek negotia-
tions. He disclosed the justice and moderation
of our demands upon the Greek Government, and
the cordiality and truthfulness with which his diplo-
matic agents had responded to the offer of French
mediation. Alluding to the assertion that our
maritime strength was ungenerously employed
against a state so weak and diminutive,
Lord PALMERSTON indignantly demanded if the
magnitude of its ill acts are diminished by the
smallness of a country ? He enlarged, moreover,
on the fact that France had required, on
the 17th of Msy, 1848, from Naples, the
reparation, within two hours, cf iojuties
similar to those prior to the compensation of
which Greece obtained from our leniency a
lull of some fourteen years' duration. In ad-
dition to all which the Noble Lord observed,
that not only had the French Plenipotentiary
twice written to the English Ambassador saying, " I
have withdrawn from the negotiation," but that Sir
WILLIAM PARKER, although thereby empowered to
recommence hostilities, had delayed from the
22d to the 24th, and from the 24th to the
25th before resuming any coercive measures. All
these particulars, however, had already been divulged
through the medium of the Parliamentary documents,
and it only remained for the distinguished statesman
whose genius and integrity were therein implicated
to recapitulate truths previously revealed, in a manner
the simplicity and explicitness of which would remain
for ever afterwards unanswerable. Besides ac-
complishing thus much by his masterly ora-
tion a last evening, Lord PALMERSTON explained
'With justifiable self gratulation the patriotism, the
manliness,
and the consistency of his policy towards
the rest of the nations of Christendom. He reverted
with proud satisfaction to the manner in which,
under his _ auspices, Belgium had acquired
her independence ; Portugal had escaped from the
yoke of Dom klnanee, the Absolutist; Spain had
Iseaseeee ; Switzerland
ac-
quired, instead of the despotic rule of Dort CARLOS,
policy had secured the
Republic,
the liberal constitution of
had expelled the Jesuits and disbanded the Sonderbund :
showing, moreover,
Frenchhow his
recognition of the the assuagement
of Italian calamities, and the preservation of the
unfortunate and expatriated Hungarians. Ad-
mirably and felicitously were those magnani-
mous achievements cf Lord PALMERSTON mentioned
as the criminal features of his policy by the witty and
brilliant representative of Middlesex, one of the most
humorous and effective orators, as he is most certainly
one of the most liberal and independent Members, in
the House of Commons. It was after the careful
enumeration of these his great deeds as a patriotic
statesman that Viscount PALMERSTON last night
closed his oration by boldly challenging the favour-
able verdict of Parliament. That favourable verdict
is already secured to him as the crowning victory of
his political life—the reward of a policy more national,
a character more elevated, a genius more masculine, a
courage more impressive, and a career more illus-
trious, than have ever before distinguished a Foreign
Secretary in the annals of British statesmanship.

Lord ASULBT and his squad should be denominated
patrons of the desecration of the Sabbath. In order to