Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1855-05-15
from "a Loaao4 L'.E'A'cfef q y
rpF poIITfGALs CRISIS IN ENGLAND

TIE POLITICAL CRISIS IN ENGLAND.
The Cabinet Of Lord Palmer<ton may now con-
slider itself ss at length completed 1t remains to
b. seen whether tie accession of Lord John Rus
sell 10 ts members will work any visible effect up
on the cause OF admins rative reform. The
reer of that nDb,e lord has Of late been strangely
cheekered with alternate victory and defeat. The
redoubtable vanquisher of the Aberdeen admins
trsiion who by coup detat-by the mere stroke
OF his pen nuihated the coalition under which
, the Derbyites he'd been overt"rowp, was CALAMITY
sant forth to battle with the statesmen of Russia
But TO be victor at home was very different from
icing vaBquisLer abroad. Lord John Russell Te-
turns to this country Inundated by another defeat
/ He beats at length hasty retreat from Vienna,
overwhelmed and dismayed by the legion OF eva
sions and INVESTIGATIONS called info existence asby
[ the wand Of the genii in Eastern story, through
the creative ingenuity Of Ttof and Gortschakoh.
While discomfort is spreading among all classes
| of the community, and Her Msjestys ministers
rest Indifferent or parayzed spectators active and
ambitious persons Selling the propitlous occa-
| sion to profit by coming excitement. The great
question which has attery agitated the country TO
extent establishing how profound is the nation
| ell disappointment and shame is at no very distant
date TO be mooted in the House Of Commons in a
manner too formal to permit of ministerial evasion.
When a whole nation is crying out for justice,
| the magnitude of the case reflects kind of impor
lance on almost any person who may take it in
| hand. One of the most menacng assumptions OF tt
present state of public feeling is the absence of
| rallying point A movement taken up by party
| too often shrinks to the dimensions of party. In
| that which it is to be feared is now preparing in
this country, it is difficult to say how it could be
| headed by any of the statesmen to whom the pub
| lie have been accustomed to look as the CHIEFS of
various political sections. As it has its origin in
the profound disgust Of the public at the feebleness
| with which the is conducted it can scarcely be
led by those other conference.-the sef-apponted
political representatives OF the great industrial and
| commercial COMMUNICATIVE lost their once bril-
liant position by their maudlin cry for peace
| There is but too much reason to apprehend that
men may arise, less bound to society by the host
ages of wealth and station, who will strive to push
beyond its fair limits an agitation for perfectly
legitimate object
In the absence then, of accredited leaders clever
adventures rush in to avail themselves of tempt
ing opportunity to achieve neorety and join in the
scramble for power. They have their use, how
ever if by their -regulated energy and their "pas
sion for reforming the world, they open safety
valve for public discomfort, and cause the national
opinion to be definitely pronounced Mr.. Layard
has shot up, rocket-ike into prominency too sud-
den to be permanent. BY his valuable labors at
Nineveh he earned and obtained the gratitude of
mankind. 1t is one thing, however, todig up bur-
led cities, another to aspire to share IN the gov
ernment of this country. We should be sorry to
PREJUDICE any man, yet should not be sorry to see
little less egotsm assurance, and obtrusiveness III
the public conduct of this gentleman. If the notice
of motion he gave last evening should still further
feed his evident passion for notoriety it will be
less on his account than that Of its subject. Nor
should we be surprised if it were regarded with
misrust by those who most desire to see that sub
iect grappled with and disposed of; for, judging
| nv, tba hoporabla UaptiemaOa lOinOl HIS
friends can never be sure that, the momentary i'm
pulse over be will not abandon them at the mo-
ment when perseverance mis- ht ensure success.
Mr. Layard's notice Of motion is so worded that
it may be made to the mere purposes oil par
ty or it may force q discussion on the questions at
this moment dearest to the nation. 1t may be used
"a lever to attempt the overthrow of the present
ministry, or it may be made TO raise the issue
!, whether sristocratic government has or has not
proved disastrous to the best interests of the coun
| try2 Few men will demur to the proposition, that
1.-The manner in which merit and efficiency have
been sacrificed to party and family influence, and
to blind adherence TO routine in the appointments
to the great offices of State and to posts in dplo
macy the army and other branches of the public
service is opposed to the best interests of the State
has already given rise to great misortunes threat
ems to bring discredit upon the national character,
and to involve the country In serious disasters =
Nor in the present condition of affairs will any one
deny that "this House will give its best support to
any ministry which in the present emergency shall
propose to itself its main objects the efficiency of
the public service and the vigorous prosecution of
the war as the only means Of securing an honors-
Bile and lasting peace" But when it comes to be
asked, "How will you work your REFORM or
"What ministry will you suggest as capable to meC
the demands embodied in both your propositions"
is Mr.. Layard the kind of man to be provided with
an answer, or can he point out any others who
are?
The aristocracy of this country may thank Lord
PalmerstOn for the dangerous position in ,Ohich they
likely ere long, to be placed 1t is not inconss
tent with some antecedents of Mr.. Layard that
the offence given to his vanity by the Premier s
contemptuous treatment of his questions on Thurs
day evening, may have been the immediate cause
of this notice of motion Though the mover may
have little specific weight, the motion is rendered
grave one by the peculiar temper OF the public
mind at the time ofits announcement 1t has been
by dexterous choice of ca ion that MIR. Roc
buck and Mr. Thomas Duncombe-both prominent
members of the active class in which Mr.. Lay ard
has enrolled himaelf-have, from time to tme pro-
duced parliamentary results disproportioned to
their personal influence 1t is the fault of the min
lister of the day If he permits the public affairs to
be so mismanaged that these small asplrants are
able to invest themselves with Fictitious ppor-
lance. In Lord Palmerstons case, this course
of conduct has been singularly objectionable, be-
cause the public would have been content with so
little at bis hands, bad that little been offered with
frank sympathy and hearty good will:
Mr.. Laysrd and his motion would be alike nsIg-
nifcant, were it not that the evils pointed at uL-
denab'y exist. Lord Pamerston has formed his
ministry if he were at the beginning instead Of
at the end of his career. Even this might have
been overlooked, because the people have been &C.
customed to see the arislocraCy in the high places
and the day is not yet come for that final struggle
between Saxon independence and Norman privilege
which Thierry shadows forth in his profound and
eloquent history. 1t is rather the Premier himself
who has wounded the pride of the nation, by treat
ing disaster with indifference and remonstrance
with disdain. We know well that all the chang es
demanded, not more by the public will than by
the justice Of the case, cannot be effected in day.
TTe knolU that silent bat universal revOlution IN
system acH alone meet the groring 1cants and aroused
Intelligence Of the people. We are not so unreasona-
bic as to demand all this at the outset of gigantic
war. But Lord Pamerstop, who had the ear and
the confidence of the nation, might have shaped
! out programme, to which he would have pledged
! himself and his successors; and few Instruments
especially if they had involved little selfsacrfce
| on the part of "the fames'-would have been
accepted as ample payment account. As it is,
| the Premier has incensed the public into tacit