The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-30 00:00:00

the Government should have prevented, but did
not, Earl RUSSELL has another charge to bring
against them. They have not declared their policy
on church rates, on education, on Ireland, and on the
universities, and they ought to lay down a specific
programme of their intentions. But it did not
seem to occur to Earl RUSSELL that they have not
been allowed the opportunity fur doing so. The
President of the Council, indeed, introduced au
Education Bill, which the state of the public busi-
ness has obliged him to withdraw ; but the whole of
the session has been monopolised by what
the Americans call strictly party votes
and speeches. The Opposition being perhaps
annoyed at the compendious programme
which the Conservatives boasted of last year have
resolut..lly prevented them from undertaking any-
thing fresh, while they have as yet effectually hin-
dered them from completing what was begun. " I
think," says Lord RUSSELL with the most perfect
sang froid, " we are entitled to ask the Government
that the Scotch and Irish Reform Bills and the
Boundary Bill shall be proceeded with without any
further loss of time." The Government, changing
a ward, might very well say the same thing. Loss
of time is the very charge which is brought by in-
dependent members against the Opposition. Mr.
GRAVES, the other night, ran over the long list
of bills and questions in which his constituents
were . interested, and asked where they were to
come in the midst of these perpetual party
struggles. But the real head and front of
the offending is that the Ministry have not
resigned their seats at the first whisper
of the storm, leaving the immediate direction of
affairs to Mr. GLADSTONE, and the unofficial dignity
of counsellor and referee to Earl RUSSELL. The
present state of affairs, according to the Parlia-
mentary Historicus, is one without precedent since
the accession of the House of Hanover. But it
did not oceur to him to ask what course Earl GREY'S
Government would have pursued if the Tories had
succeeded in thrusting forward another great ques-
tion before the details of the Reform Bill had been
completed and the opinions of the new constituencies
c)uld have been secured. With the country con-
vulsed from one end to the other by its eager parti-
zanship for reform, the GREY Ministry was certainly
on a memorable occasion in a Parliamentary mino-
rity without Earl GREY finding his way to the
block, Lord ALTrIORP being banished, or the
Paymaster of the Forces being imprisoned after the
fashion of the historical precedents whom Earl
RUSSELL was pleased to bring forward to impress
DISRAELI. If the conduct of the Ministry
wants a precedent, so also does that of the Opposi-
tion. If Mr. DISRAELI had followed the example
set by Mr. GLADSTONE and Earl RUSSELL, and
hastily resigned his office because of an adverse
vote on what her MAJESTY rightly called " a matter
of detail," he would no doubt have given greater
satisfaction to his adversaries ; but he would neither
have done justice to himself, to his followers, nor to
the public. He has been so short a time in office, and
the attacks made upon him have been SO constant
and so merciless, that he has not had time or
opportunity to submit his policy to the country.
His real claim for support lies in the successful
conduct of a liberal Reform Bill, and on that ground
he feels that he may with confidence appeal to the
country. On that important question the Govern-
ment is in the majority, while in their conduct of
foreign affairs they have undoubtedly the confi-
dence of the House and the country. They are not,
therefore, in so pitiable a condition as Earl RUS-
SELL would represent, while the political anomaly
which endangers the safety of the Constitution, in
his mind, has not been produced by them,
but by the Opposition, who were perfectly
well aware that the Government was
hampered by the position of Parliament
when they challenged a ministerial crisis. Any in-
convenience that may result from the present situa,
tion can only be temporary, because it is an openly
acknowledged thing that the days of the existing
House are numbered. The historical tragedies to
which Earl RUSSELL refers all took place under
very different circumstances. A specific time is
fixed for testing the opinion of the country, and
there is no more inconsistency in matters going on
ad interim. as they are now doing, than in a Minis-
ter who has resigned holding the seals of his office
until his successor is appointed. In fact, it
is absolutely necessary to wait for some
such test before we can decide who has
the confidence of Parliament. Earl RUSSELL
and Mr. GLADSTONE, judging by past ex-
perience, do not possess it, and it must be doubted
whether a less ingeniously framed motion would
have brought so many members under any one
standard. The present house is " a thing of shreds
and patches," in which every man wishes to be
leader, and consequently the followers are few, and
nothing short of a thorough reformation will read-
just the political balance.

LATEST INTELL MENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.

NEW YOR,K May 29.
The Inman steamer, City of Limerick, arrived
out to-day.