The Sun. — London, England, 1854-07-25 00:00:00

~•~'' being in foil retreat, the siege had never been so vigor ..o as;iy esrried or,, or, as they believed, with such great 'ropes sueeess:; and it was not until the 23d June that, owing to the valour of the Turks, to whom my noble friend has • paid nothing more than ajust tribute, the siege was raised and the Russians were in full retreat. (Hear, hear.) Now at that time the treaty had not been ratified, and lam not exactly aware of the day on which it was rati fied. It was in consequence alone, however, of our not having received that ratified treaty that it has not been laid upon the table of the house, because I am perfectly ready to admit that it is a treaty of the greatest import. ance and interest to this country, and one which your lordships and the public have a right to possess as early .as practicable. (Hear.) But your lordships must be aware that until we receive from the Governments be tween whom the treaty has been made the ratification of that treaty, it would be a most unnatural course to lay it before Parliament. I repeat what my noble friend has said ; I agree with him that Austria is an independent power, and mistress to pursue her own policy in the manner that she may think best. But Austria is under solemn engagements to other countries • she has impor tant interests of her own to protect ; and unless we can suppose that she would bring disgrace upon herself by • not fulfilling her engagements, or be blind to her lost urgent, and I may say vital, interests, I think we may believe that Austria will act as we have every desire that she should act, and as we have every right to expect that she should act ; because Austria has already declared that the course which France and England have pursued in summoning Russia to evacuate the principalities, and in carrying out the refusal of Russia to its legitimate consequences, is a just and reasonable course. She has declared that the evacuation of the principalities, and the • free navigation of the Danube, affect not only her own interests, but the interests of the whole of GermanlT , She has declared with England and France that it is ne cessary to devise means of connecting Turkey with the general system and equilibrium of Europe ; which means that Turkey is to be released, not only from her oner ous engagements with Russia, but from all wrongful in terpretations of those engagements. She has herself summoned Russia to evacuate the principalities. And last, though not least, at great expense, an ex pense which she could ill afford, Austria has orga nised and equipped one of the largest and finest armies that have ever been seen in modern times in Europe. Now, as it is impossible to suppose that Russia will voluntarily submit to the demands of England and France, and to the summons which Austria has ad dressed to her—and as I think it is equally impossible to suppose that Austria, having made just and reason able demands, will ignominiously withdraw from them, or sink in the scale of nations by acknowledging the superiority of Russia, and submitting to her dictation--I think, my lords, that the time cannot be far distant when we shall have Austria co-operating with us ; and I be lieve that that co-operation would have taken place long before this, if it had not been for the difficulties which beset Austria, and which difficulties are, perhaps, net understood or appreciated in this country. Your lord ships may remember that in the course of last autumn the Austrian army was reduced by 100,000 men, and any person conversant with that subject must know, that again to raise the army to 300;000 men • is neces sarily a work of time. (Hear, hear.) Your lordships must be aware also that in the month of March last, Austria was ready to conclude a quadruple treaty with the other three powers, and that the protocol of the 9th of April was the compromise to which she was com pelled to submit. You have recently had information brought before you, by my noble and learned friend on the cross benches, with respect to a combination against Austria in the interests of Russia, which has been called the Bamberg Conference, and which up to this day has prevented the Austrian and Prussian treaty being sub mitted to the Diet. These difficulties, and others to which I do not think it right to allude under present circumstances, we should take into account, if we really would understand what has been, and what should be, the policy of Austria. I answer for none. lam inerely stating exactly what has passed, and the grounds upon which I think we may count on this co-operation. And now, my lords let me say further, that my noble friend is mistaken i n thinking that °tithe 3d of July there had been any fresh negotiations entered into by this country with Austria or with Russia. Your lordships are aware that Austria did address to Russia a summons for the evacuation in a short time of the principalities, and it was the answer of Russia to that summons which came to Vienna early in the present month. But we were no parties to the communication made by Austria to Rus sia, and no parties to the answer received by Austria from Russia. Her Majesty's Government will at all times be ready to enter into negotiations for the ob ject of the war, which is a just and an honourable peace ; but until any such terms are set before us, and until we have any reason to beiieve that they are of a bona fide character, no negotiation will be entered into by this country. (Cheers.) I have upon former occasions ad verted to the almost utter impossibility, at the commence ment of a war, of stating what would be the terms of peace. I have no wish to detain your lordships by going over the same ground again ; but I do hope that during the time it has been my duty to administer the affairs of the Foreign-office, I have not given your lordships any reason to doubt that I am insensible to the honour and the dignity of this country. I ask your lordships to believe me when I say, not only in my own name, but in the name of all my colleagues, that there is no intention of returning to the status quo—(loud and general cheering)—that there is no intention of listening to a patched-up peace, which would only be a hollow truce, and render a return to war inevitable under these circumstances. (Hear.) But if we continue to enjoy the support of Parliament and the people of England, • I can assure your lordships that we will enter into no engagement that shall not lead to a just and an honour able peace, worthy of the just and righteous cause in which we are engaged, worthy the allies with whom we have undertaken this cause, and, I hope, not unworthy , of the great and disinterested sacrifices which this coun try has so generously made. (The noble earl resumed his seat amid loud cheering.) The address was then agreed to. NATIONAL EDUCATION. Lord BROUGHAM rose to make a motion on the subject of national education. The noble and learned lord, who was at first indistinctly heard, began by calling attention to the efforts which had been already made by the State and by private bodies to promote the educa tion of the people. He regarded the existing machinery as inadequate for the proper accomplishment of that great object ; but whilst he wished the State to extend and increase its exertions in the good work, he did not desire that it should discourage or displace the efforts of individuals, but to stimulate and to supplement them. The progress that had been made in popular education, though gratifying as far as it went, was not so rapid as it should be. Having adduced statistics of the number of scholars attending public schools, private schools, in fant schools, and schools for all classes, the noble and learned lord contended that there was a serious deficiency in the means of instruction. It was only by means of public and national schools, provided by the State, that education could reach the common people, the working classes, and the poor, on whose moral, religious, and in tellectual training the well-being of society at la rge , an d the diminution o pauperism and crime, so intimately depended. The number of children for whom, after • making deductions for those who could not be at school in consequence of their parents putting them to various occupations, it was absolutely essential that instruction should be provided, was 1,800,000. We had now school ing for only 1,500,000, showing a deficiency of the means of instruction for 300,000 children. Nor were the ex isting means of instruction equally diffused over the country. In 44 towns, including all the great and a considerable number of the lesser towns, there was a deficit, as compared with the country districts, of the means of instruction for 43,000 children. In towns con taining more than 50,000 inhabitants there was a working class population of 3,900,000. In the public day schools there were 321,000 children, to which num ber he added one-sixth as representing the number of children who, though at private schools, belonged to the working classes, making a total of 352,0003 being a little less' than one-eleventh of the population. In the remainder of the country there was a working population of 10,437,000, and the number of scholars amounting to 1,134,000. The deficit in these great towns, as com pared with the rest of the country, was therefore 72,000. From the facts which he had stated to their lordships, he thought that it was quite clear that some steps ought to be taken to remedy the existing state of things. He would not trouble their lordships further, but would lay his resolutions on the table, and present the bill which he had prepared on the subject. (Hear.) Earl GRANVILLE said that almost the first act which lie performed on becoming a member of the Coun cil on Education was to refer to the speeches of his noble and . learned friend on this important subject ; and lie was sure no one could have read those speeches without acknowledging not only the spirit, and eloquence, and ability, with which his noble and learned friend had ad vocated a cause which at that time was not so popular as it was at present, but the singular sagacity with which he had suggested many of the means which had since been adopted for the improvement of the system of edu cation. With regard to the bill introduced by his noble and learned friend some time since, he was afraid that some further measures were required with regard to the abuses arising from the mismanagement of educational charities. Lord BROUGHAM—More stringent powers and a better staff. Earl GRANVILLE thought the board had worked as bard as possible. • It had obtained most useful information, and numerous applications had been made by trustees of schools to be placed in a better position. In almost every instance the commissioners had been obliged to say, " We think your case a good one—we wish your de • . sires to be complied with ; but we have not the power to help you--you must go to the Court of Chancery. , These parties, however, had no pleasure in going to the Court of Chancery, arid the schools remained without improvement. He trusted, however, that if a measure on this subject should be introduced next year, it would receive the favourable consideration of their lordships. The bill was read a first time. The Public Libraries Bill, the Parochial School masters (Scotland) Bill, t h e R eg i stra ti on of Births, &c. (Scotland) Bill, the Youthful Offenders Bill, the Usury 131, Laws 1 and a number of other bills, were severally read the second time. Other bill s were advanced a stage, after which their lordships adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS—(CESTERDAY.) SUPPLY. —THE VOTE OF CitEDIT. The house then resolved itself into a committee of sup ply. Mr. BOUVERIE in the chair. Lord J. RUSSELL moved that her Majesty's message be read. Mr. BOUVERIE reedit, as follows : " Victoria Regina.—Her Majesty, deeming it expedient to provide for any additional expense which may arise in consequence of the war in which her Majesty is now en gaged against the Emperor of Russia, anti relying on the zeal end affection of he r faithful ~......---.........----- lingl they will make provisi on accorc y. 1 I,so .co, the pr. Commons, Lord J. RUSSELL —Mr. B o uverse, t ru sts that e to a vote of to ' 3,000,00002. in supply, usually deii pose of asking the committee ° th m ink it quite unneces dit. In performing this task I shall agree a vote of cre pt' the war in which ing out of hostilities, or to the causes wledge at all e.cknci sary to refer to the siegotiationS which preceded the break we are now engaged. IT am ready to .ui'ecl with which o f unthdiesrthaokuisnegeonc that ;rar, a., by the Ministers of the Crown. Likewise, i ll n in t g h t e ie n ss eo w e i ss t i l: 47 " hert in i m the e;l at e o acknowledge that , havi ng at I have t s jh u ee p st p wy l i ies which were asked for the commencement of these hostilities stated to the house , that it would tend grea tl y to impede the public service if questions were asked from time to time with respect to the 1 mode of carrying on ho stilities, the members of this house e have been remarkably forb earin g in reference to the ask ing of questions which might embarrass the Government in regard to the conduct of naval I and military operations. I have, therefore, in the first place, to return the thanks of the I Government to this house for the support they have re- I calved in the arduous task which they had to unclertakp ; and, in the next place, I have to state that which indeed is well known to the house, that large expeditions have been fitted out; that, with regard to the navy, the ships of her Majesty occupying the Baltic and the Black Sea, are in i disputably the masters of those seas, and that the enemy has not ventured to come out of port to encounter her Ma jesty's arms in either of those seas, which have been , hitherto considered as the peculiar domain of the Russian empire. While this circumstance is gratifying, it, no doubt, would have been more gratifying to our gallant sea ' men if they had been able, in fair battle, to measure their prowess against that of the enemy, and to reap some of hose laurels which have been so amply the share of their pry ; eenitors and of our forefathers. But, sir, I may per haps ~.e, allowed to state s, emewhat more in detail the in crease ss :hich has been made ("9 our naval force in conse quence of i2le votes of this house siinee the beginning of the year 1853. - `with regard to the firs, second, and third rates, there was, On the Ist of January, 1853, only one ; on the Ist of July, 1854, there were sever fi n' I „ ; aul speaking now of steam-vessels. With respect ~.° salLaj g line-of-battle ships, there were in January, 1853, eil .wen ; y there are now eighteen. Therefore, while the stom a vessels have increased from one to seventeen, the sailing vessels have increased from eleven to eighteen. The whole number of steam-vessels, which were then 100, are now 139, and the sailing-vessels, which were 109, are now 120 ; and the total number has been increased from 209 to 259. The seamen afloat have increased from 28,000 to 47,000, and the marines from 5,000 to 9,000 ; so that the whole number, being in January, 1853, 33,910, is now 57,200. With regard to our army likewise, we have been enabled, by the great exertions which were made, to place on the Turkish shores an army exceeding 30,000, a great part of which was lately at Varna or its neighbour hood. I shall of course not notice in this house the various criticisms that have been made with respect to the operations of our fleet aid army. As I have said, great forbearance has been displayed on this subject. The opera tions of the war are, on our parts, just commenced, and no person who is acquainted with naval and military opera tions would agree with those remarks that have been made, depreciating either the conduct of any of our admirals or that of any of our generals. But it is impossible not to notice iu this place, that while our exertions have been directed to making preparations to aid that ally whom we went to succour, the Turkish army have displayed acts of valour and of prowess which aro deserving of the highest admiration. (Loud cheers.) In the course of last year, when negotiations were in suspense, it was frequently represented that if we went to the assistance of Turkey we went to the assistance of a decaying State—that we went to raise an empire already fallen ; and, to refer to the language of the Foreign Minister of the Emperor of Russia, it was said, and said by him no later than at Olmutz, that it required but a filip to overthrow the whole Turkish em pire. •(A contemptuous laugh.) So far is it from this being the case, that the Emperor of Russia, having occu pied the Principalities at first with only a small force, and having devoted a whole year to preparations with the avowed purpose that in the month of May in the present year the operations of the carngaign would begin with the siege and capture of Silistria, the Russian army which crossed the Danube for that purpose, with a force of which the numliers have certainly not been reported with specific accuracy7but which are stated to have amounted to 80,000 men, have been driven back and repulsed from the pre cincts of that fortress ; and after a siege iu which feats of valour were performed worthy of the greatest examples of siege operations either in ancient or modern times — worthy of Saguntumor of Saragossa—the Russian army has been compelled ignominiously to abandon that citadel. That being now the position of affairs, the last incident which has taken pia,e is one of too much importance to be passed over even in a cursory statement. It was thought by many persons that, however motives of policy might induce the Governments of England and France to combine in an alliance against the aggression of Russia, yet that the wars in which the two nations had been engaged had left such feel ings of national animosity that the two countries could not easily be induced to co-operate in the field and upon sea. We have seen, however, not only the armies of the two nations combined in the neighbourhood of Constantinople with the most friendly feelings, but we have also seen within the la.stfew days aconsiderabe French military force embark on board English line-of-battle ships— (cheers)—and from all the testimony which we have received, nothing could be more cordial and friendly than the feeling displayed by the armed troops and seamen of the two nations. (Cheers.) While it is impossible not deeply to regret that peace should be broken, still I must say that the establishment of such cordial feelings between two nations which have so often en countered each other in arms, and met on the embattled field with hostile feelings—tho establishment of cordial feelings with a nation so near and so powerful as France is in itself a great security for the future maintenance of the amicable relations between the two nations which we should ever wish to see continued. (Hear, hear.) In referring now to the present state of affairs, and the necessity which exists for this vote, I shall decline altogether going into any details as to the services for which this large sum may be required. With the plan of operations undertaken in Turkey, the commissariat expenses may amount to a very considerable sum ; the ordnance expenses will also, no doubt, be much greater than they have hitherto been. There are likewise some expenses for the navy and for tran sports—especially for the later operations, which are not included in any of the present votes of Parliament. But it is quite impossible to frame anything like a clear esti mate of what those services may require, as they will greatly depend upon the nature of the operations which our admirals and our generals may think fit to undertake. It would not, therefore, be consistent with our duty to go into any particular estimates with respect to the applica tion of the sums for which I have now asked. I should think, so far as we can at present foresee, that nearly two millions will be taken up for the service to which I have alluded. But we may have other calls upon the resources of the nation, and more especially among other things a question has been raised, or rather suggestions have been made, with respect to a large body of Turkish troops which might be joined with our army and receive pay from the British Government. That is one way in which it may be thought fit to apply part of tho resources which I have named, but I avowedly ask for this vote with the view that her Majesty's Government may apply the sum they require from time to time for services rendered neces sary by the prosecution of the war. I ask the vote con fessedly without an estimate, on the ground that as the usual time of the prorogation of Parliament has nearly ar rived, we may be enabled, Parliament not sitting, to direct these resources in a manner to obtain such success as may lead to an honourable peace. I shallstouch upon two other points, and shall do so in the view I have taken of our being near the time of the prorogation of Parliament. I think it is fitting to give to this house as much information as con sistently with the public duty of the. Government I may be able to afford. In stating last year nearly at a similar period to the present that negotiations were then pro ceeding, I was above all careful not to say anything which would tend to disturb the train of negotiation, or to diminish in the least degree the chance of success. We are now more certainly at liberty in that respect, and our exertions must now be undisguisedly directed in a different manner to the attaining by the force of our arms and the strength of our alliances that just and honourable peace both for Turkey and for ourselves, which wo were unable to procure by our negotiations. (:sear.) In adverting to the present state of Europe, every one is naturally anxious to learn what part will be taken by Austria on this very interesting and important question. (Hear.) I have always maintained that whatever might be the interest of Eng land and France in defending and protecting Turkey, the interests of Austria were much greater. (Hear.) It is im possible to conceive of the Emperor of Russia succeeding in what must now be 'considered as hiseslesigns, namely, the effective control, if not acknowledged dominion, over the Principalities, and an increased and predominant influ ence in Turkey, without his having at the same time a com plete command over the Government of Austria. I cannot tfwaa main inhi fairly ic e yh d et i she e R e no u no s sw e i ida erseemst h r wee icsi t eg o . ui e re x o . u t t e i 8 o n on d f, ei her xttei sn p d n o i en w cg e e is r ts i . a in yi 3 t u h tt e c, conceive how the indep en d ence o f A us t r i a cou ld be i way b n e o ar r d i i e n n r mind the difficulties with which Austria must have to deal, now that upon more than one side of her empire the Rus sian armies can approach to no great distance from her ca pital, and that it would have been imprudent in her to commit herself to arms against Russia unless she bad been fully prepared. We must also remember that with regard to two of the kingdoms submitting to her' sway, those kingdoms have been in very recent years so greatly disturbed as to make the peril of entering into hostilities greater than it would have been had no such state of things existed. It has therefore been the policy of Austria, declaring that she concurred with us in our ob jects, to attempt as long as possible by negotiations to ob • tain a settlement of the questions in dispute. Austria has more than once declared that, although the principles which her Majesty's Government has laid down, and the objects which her Majesty had in view, inet with her full approbation, she did not despair of Russia evacuating the principalities and agreeing to terms of arrangement which would secure the maintenance of the balance of power in Europe. Very lately Austria has sent a message, which has been published in the newspapers within the last few days, asking Russia to evacuate the principalities —asking her to fix a time for that evacuation at no remote period. With this message Austria transmitted to St. Petersburg the protocol of April, agreed to at Vienna between the four powers, in which it is declared that the object of the four powers was, that Turkey should be attached to the system of Europe ; that the kingdom should form part of the general balance of power in Europe ; and that arrange ments ought to be carried into effect by the general con sent and concurrence of the other powers of Europe in order to obtain that settlement. An answer has been re ceived from the Government of Russia—an answer which, for my own part, I should hardly call evasive—but which pretended in some sort to be a compliance with the re quest of Austria. But in the first place Russia does not profess herself ready to fix any time for the evacuation of the principalities. She declares, in effect, that now war having been declared, that now that the English and French are engaged in hostilities against her, and are supe rior to her in the Black Sea and in the Baltic, where her fleets do not leave their ports, that there remains only the seat of war in the principalities and the neighbourhood of the Danube where she can hope to restore the balance, and by the success of her arms obtain a victory for herself. She therefore declines evacuating the principalities. She declares, to be sure, that she is ready to adopt the three principles contained in the protocol of Vienna of the 9th of April, those principles being plainly declared to be the eva cuation of the principalities, the granting of privileges and rights to the Christian inhabitants of the Sultan in such a manner as to ensure these rights ; and likewise that a treaty in convention should be entered into between the four Powers and Turkey assuring those rights. Now, without criticising this reply, there is this objection to it, which all those who have read the protocol will readiiy admit to ba a fair one, and that is, there is a complete orgission of that whish is iktessr4s.l-part and foundation of t e protocol ataurkdy 4 , 341 in f fon% I ;art of thin gee system of Europe. :that citrestiOn the one which is at the bottom of the difference in hich Russia and Turkey we re engaged in the last war ; it is at the foundation of the war in which we find ourselves at present engaged. Ever since the victories of the Empress Catharine, the Government of Russia has considered that Turkey could not form any alliance with other Powers ex cept with the general supervision of Russia, and that the greater part of the subjects of Turkey being Christians were to look to the Emperor of Russia asliteir protector ‘nd supporter, in spite and in contradiction, if need be, of ••• own Government. The object of the four Powers is, —Crary, that the Sultan havingthe right, which he confirming by solemn acts the privileges of i-mtid be admitted to form part of our --tatted to govern hid own which belong their on the cot. has exercised, os his Christiansnbjects, sas general system, and ehould be pa. people by the exercise of th ose Sovereign . - to sovereignty itself, and forming past pf the general sys tem. of Europe, should not lock to protection 0 91ely to Russia, but should look to the Powers of Europe, singly or united, which would maintain him, as they maintain the other States of Europe in their position. sttch, however, being the answer which Russia has given, the ()vac:lament of Austria, which has informed us of what they intended to do in each of three eases—namely, of the reply being affirmative, negative, or evasive—has considered this reply as evasive, and has asked the Governments of England and France to communicate to her what is their opinion of the proposal which has thus been made. I should have said that not only does the Emperor of Russia requite that England and France should be parties to any arrangement by which the Principalities should be evacuated, but that an armistice should be concluded by which we should not by our troops or our fleets ‘ in the Black Sea attack his troops and fleets while evacuating the Principalities. Our answer is that we cannot admit that this answer of Russia affords any grounds for peace—(eheers)—and that we must continue to obtain by the force of those armies and fleets which are already engaged in the war such conditions as we may deem necessary for a just, an honourable, and a safe peace. (Renewed cheering.) With respect to Austria and the part she may take when she knows our answer, all I can say is, that although she might be mistaken as to her policy—although I think she has been mistaken in not joining sooner and more frankly with the Western Powers —I cannot believe she will forfeit the engagements into which . she has entered. Austria has entered into engage meats not only with the Western bowers, but with Tur key. She has declared to the Western Powers, that if ;he Principalities are not evacuated by Russia, she will use for cible means in ardor to compel their evacuation. She has 'nulated, in a convention with the Sultan of Turkey, that sti r "I endeavour to secure the evacuation of these prin she wi ._ cipalities ready y n to thatf furnish a' negotiation; but if these negotiations should e would by other means, and that she will fail,be i . thenumberrom these of f tcireoeolpdeclarations t n i o e necessary sae; foral by b- that purpose. I conceive • - will be bound to take part these engagements that Austria from the unjust ag in the attempt to drive back Russia - • ,s Austria ma y gression which she has attempted. Whetna. act with that hesitation and delay which W o rise been u a ter• tunately already prolonged too long—(cheers)—Or ehuld attempt to gain from St. Petersburg some better and some more satisfactory assurances, I am unable to say. We have of course no control over the councils of the Em peror of Austria. With respect to the policy of Austria I have no doubt, neither have I any doubt that she will hon ourably fulfil her engagements, although with the difficult circumstances which surround her, with but, a poor half and-half support of the kingdom of Prussia—(hear)—she may think it necessary once more to obtain a favourable answer to her representations at St. Petersburg. I have stated this in order that the house may be in possession of the actual facts of the case so far as I can afford the infor mation. I have stated some things which have not only recently taken place, but have also stated the answer which we propose to give to 4ustria. There has been as yet no formal communication from the court of Austria on the subject of the answer of Russia. I am, therefore, only speaking of what is contemplated and intended by the Government when that answer shall have been received. The house will remember that, on a former occasion, I refused to bind the Government in any way with respect to the conditions of peace to which her Ma jesty's Government would agree, because the conditions of peace must always depend upon the state of the belligerents at the time when negotiations are entered into. I will, however, state what I think is the nature of the conditions which I think would be absolutely necessary to justify us in assenting to any treaty of peace with Rus sia. While the negotiations were going on last year, if the Sultan's Ministers had thought proper to advise him to agree to the Menschikoff note, or if at a later period they had advised him to agree to the Vienna note without alte ration or subsequent explanation, I believe the people of this country, seeing that the urkish Government was satisfied to enter into these engagements, and to take the assurances thus offered, would have been well pleased that no war should have broken out, and that the continuance of peace for a time at least should have been secured. But the Turkish Government having failed to accept those terms, and having declared that the proposed conditions threatened the independence of Turkey—having refused at all risks and at all hazards, while alliances were uncertain, and her forces were considered by no means equal to those of Russia, to yield to conditions which she thought igno minious, her position is now entirely changed. We are engaged in a war—engaged in support of Turkey, with the view of defending her from aggression, and it behoves us to see in any treaty of peace which we may make, that we do not leave Turkey in as bad a condition, or possibly even in a worse condition, than when we promised her our suc cour and assistance. (Hear.) Let the house consider for a moment what are the dangers to Turkey of a treaty of peace similar to those previously in existence. That ques tion has been elucidated by the very clear and masterly despatch of the noble lord now at the head of her Majesty's Government, written soon after the treaty of Adrianople. I intend to read but one passage from the despatch ; but it is one, however, which will exhibit those dangers in the strongest light. The despatch stated:—" The modes of do mination may be various, although all equally irrestible. The independence of a state may be overthrown, and its subjection effectually secured, without the presence of a hostile force, or the permanent occupation of its soil. Under the present treaty the territorial acquisitions of Russia are small, it must be admitted, in extent, although most important in their character. They are commanding positions far more valuable than the possession of barren provinces and depopulated towns, and better calculated to rivet the fetters by which the Sultan is bound." The de spatch goes on to show in what manner this power is se cured to Russia. For five-and-twenty years Russia was content without any increase of territory, and, without bringing her augmented influence to the arbitrement of war, to rest satisfied with the conditions of the treaty. These conditions gave great power to Russia ; and now that the position has been changed, it behoves us to con sider, not the securities into which he had entered under the treaty of Adrianople, but the securities which may be had from a power having the advantages of the treaty of Adrianople, and having moreover the will and the dispo sition to push those advantages to the utmost, and to ex tend her influence over the subjugation of Turkey. Now, I Bak we are justified in so considering the question, be cause, in the first place the occupation of the principalities by Russia was effected under the most flimsy pretences. (Hear, hear.) In the next place we know, from corre spondence which has been produced before the house, that tho Emperor of Russia had fixed ideas in his mind that the empire of Turkey was 'about to fall, and that her neighbours were justified in securing a part of the spoils to themselves. We know more particularly that the possession of those provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia by Russia, under the title of the pro tectorate with nominal chiefs, was a part of the scheme which the Emperor of Russia had formed in his own mind. We know, moreover, that after a long reign— exhibiting, I must say, great forbearance in many in stances of temptation -forbearance in interfering with the affairs of other nations in Europe—forbearance in not at tempting conquests—of the two parties in Russia known by the names of the German party and the Muscovite party, the latter has recently obtained the sway, and that it is the fixed plan and purpose of that Muscovite party to establish what is called southern Russia, and that the seat F of that empire of southern Russia is to be Constantinople —I sav, with the knowledge of such state of affairs, we ought to endeavour to ob tain valid securities against acts which has so recently taken that of aggression similar to place. I hold, therefore , that it is impossible that the a rrangements which were ma de by the treaty of be Ad rianople with respect to the principalities shall agueies which g the renewed—(loud cheers.) — arrangem ents Emperor of Russia a predominant voice in the p o l itical he affairs of Wallachia and Moldavi a—which g ave him the power of controlling in cases where he thought his affairs were not conducted to his satisfaction , and which, by the destruction of all the Turkish fortresses, gave him facilities at any moment for occupying with his army the two provinces, containing four millions of inhabitants. I say that the integrity of Turkey and the balance of power in Europe could not be secured by returning to the status quo ante bellum, which would confirm such arrange ments as regards Russia and Turkey. (Hear, hear.) But there is another mode in which the position of Russia is menacing to the independence and integrity of Turkey. The establishment of a great fortress prepared with all the combination of art and science, made as impregnable as it is possible for art and science to make it, and containing within its port every large fleet of line-of-battle ships, ready at any moment to come down with a favourable wind to the Bosphorus—that I consider is a position so menacing to Turkey, that no treaty of peace could be considered safe which left the Emperor of Russia in that same menacing position with respect to Turkey. (Loud and prolonged cheers). I have thought it right to state not particularly, but the general view of the Government with respect to the secu rities which we ought to obtain. What these special se curities should be, in what manner they should be gained, and how they should be affirmed, is not a subject upon which I think I can go further than I have already done. I believe we shall be ready —we have been ready to com municate with the Government of France on this subject. I have every reason to believe that the views of the Govern ment of the Emperor of France coincide with our own upon this subject. We shall be d rea y to communicate with the Government of Austria when it wishes to know our opinion with resp ec t t o such a settlement as in our opinion would be alone se cure, honourable, and just. I must say that ts ti with regard t o th ose sec Emperor of R uss i a at es, I see no symptom of the present being disposed, I will not say to grant conditions such as I have hinted at, or to give securities such as I have said —I cannot say th a t he is disposed to depart in every res pect from those demands which, made by Prince Menschi koff were indignantly rejected acquisitions which have beenmade by Turkey. In the great by Russia from the time of the Empress Catharinet formly been pursued. It was Catharine, adoptioneamo course has mai d policy which at every treaty of e of this course increased territory. The treaty p f aa secured to Russia I will not say "secured," but stipulated9Kainardji independ encesecured— of the Crimea. The following the treaty and the follow ing war made the Crimea a Russian province. Bessa ruble, added lately, combined with the command Danube in such a manner that Russia has been aobflotheo impede and obstruct tho navigation of that great and t im portant river, followed the treaty of Ad • mop e. At each step she has weakened Turkey ; she has kept Turkey in that situation iu which, without givi ng immediate alarm to Europe, she could dictate to Constantinople. Late years have changed considerably the government of Turkey. I will not say that change has extended to all the interior, or to all the pachas and governors, but the Government of Turkey has seen that there are new and improved modes of government, consisting in dispensieg equal justice to all her subjects whatever might be their religion, which might make Turkey stronger as a power than she had ever been while her power rested upon the ascendancy of the Maho medan race, and the subjection and degradation of every other race. (Hear.) These great improvements in Turkey have excited the jealousy and apprehension of Russia, and you will see that in no case hasthe Government of Russia, which has always pretended to be anxious for the exten sion of the privileges and the promotion of the good of the Christian subjects of Turkey, been favourable to those amendments and enlightened reforms which the Govern ment of Turkey has carried out. On the contrary, the il l aLnugskneaygemotifst P,f4:iitissuianieb:sshaZnyesienb97 ,Ar 'unseal. her aneirit Mahbmeilart- iiiavfni4 - 4etl&pt in l'orec—, r t k h a e t e P i otl language ua r n between il lo:Rt vigour —Turkey the t h r e o m rt i e d popula tions is duly preserved and strengthened." Such being who can doubt what is the ultimate ta t hhn thead subjugationrnwhichChristianiacl6 morigphs perhaps b hfn j ato e ri c s t s before o f object of that power ? Going from step to step, aug usraaTiiTemurekdeayrt must a nd t : a- f e l l a ' 'IIITDIIu Christianenriltdl a e e s nr s stYh:eltsetsmepai fall 8- menting territories, increasing her influence, alienating e e i l r a st allegiance, century, her final and ultimate object—which was commenced about ebeotctarretniaend o etn ut p f i o fd r ro r e le so a mo n m f d tt e hh t t h i m e e a — bse m r u p s t t ie b n e of a great Hart el it in her ovrn dominions, while other por tions, whieh would remain nominally independent, would in effect depend upon her influence and hbr authority. Such a state of things would be so dangerous to Europe that we on our side should not stop till we obtained some security against such h e ronsummation being reached. r Hear. hear.) She, on aid Tl. - ^, A. cave no doubt, will not stop till she is assured by the events and by the calami tips of war, by such repuls es as s h e lately iiia With 4 Silistiia, aiid kiy other adel more f or Mid a ble obstacles, tnat _ the great project of her ambition cannot be executed with the consent of Europe. It i s i n t hi s grea t con t es t that Europe is engaged; and I thi n k I 84414 b 0 4POW4iii this house if £ were to tell them that,' engaged - with svici an enemy, with a Sovereign of immense power, of mat in , flnence, and of great talents, we might hope for 4 speedy termination to such a contest. Of thi s l am sure , that if we were to shrink such that'Contest—:if we were to patch_ up a peace, which would be hollow and insecure—par, hear)—we shoUld lose our allies, we should 100 the confi dence and respect of i . ircipe--.(hes,r, hear) —and Russia would be placed, not is the position which she held Fn. vions to the breaking out;of hostilities, not in the positical which she held from 182 P to 1.83, but in such a Positiwa that the Emperor of linssta would then justly be called . that which by some of his courtiers an d ilattererfi he has been already cannel.—the arbiter of_the destiaiesof Europe. (Hear, hear.) It is our business to prevent thatoonanrn nr.tion. (Hear, hear.) To prevent that consummatica this hou4o h , S willingly and almost unanimously not only voted immense supplies, but hai consented tc, forego those blessings of peace which were w.yar, more rightly called blessings titan. 44ring the laSt few (Hear, hear.) 09,11. • • We are willing to forego - -,Y many advantages to our com merce, and many political and social improvements which may be delayed'; but at all events let us secure this ob ject, and leans see that, While we can trust with implicit confidence kr the gallantry qf a,ose men who are pl at * a t the head of our fleets andarmies, n o wea k n es s i n th e coun cils of this kingdom sh a ll prove that these councils are unworthy of the soldiers and soliitirs whom we have sent t o fight the battles of thei r oonntry on remote fields and on (iistant seas. (Cheers.) Si r , I h ave one word more to say . with regard to the vote which I shall put into your hands. I have been informed since I came into the house that it is the intention of au Lou. member to propose in some form or other—,for I care not what form —some restriction upon the authority of the Crown with regard to the prorogation and the naeetingofrarlia,ment. Sir, it is better to say at on ce that while the right hon. gentleman opposite, the member for Buckinghamshire, might be entitled to say that lie ex pected an autumn session, and while it might be the advice which should he given by the Ministers of the Crown that Parliament ehmil4 naiiinieet in the course of the autumn, still the advisers of the Crown cannot accept any restric tion to their freedfin4 In giving such advice as th e y ma y think proper upon - that subject. (Hear, hear.) Circum stances may make it very advisable to meet Parliament again seen, looking to the state of Europe or to new al liances that we may form ; hut, on the other hand, there may be circumstancet iu public affairs which would induce the Cabinet to think such a meeting inexpedient. We must be at full liberty to give such advice as the circum stances of the times, at the time, may seem from us to de mand. At the commencement of the century the Coalition Ministry of Lord Granville and Lord Grey were asked by the Sovereign to bind themselves as to the advice which they might give him with regard to a particular measure to which Its felt the strongest repugnance. Lords Granville and. Grey said that it would he unbecoming in thorn, as the ad- visers of the Crown, to bind and fetter themselves by any such engagement. (Hear.) The engagement which that Ministry to enter refusedtry into v to en t er theteirinto House witht of Commons.heerown,we We must refuse confidence of this house—if we are to be merit at all the t m e ust , the a c s I re w h n av a e s said, we eia maybe af t h t ihnkll proper liberty t at o give thet u i 9a s e c . h advice v i we c e a negotiate with l ' war r esources of t th t i e s with the powers of Europe, we must be unfetteredttt take the the time at which we may advise her alajes y o a entrusted with country—if are th e advice of Parliament. There can be no unwillingness on to di dVe s c al t t o li f is t g h r e ea v t as w t our part to call for that advice, because we have expe rienced the support and the strength which during this session we have derived i n th e f ac e of Europe from the unanimous—the nearly unanimous—opinion of the repre sentatives of th e p eop l e. (H ea r, h ear .) A n ythi ng that happened •or w as sa id b e fore th e m ee ti ng o f Parliament might have been represented, and not unnatu rally represented, as the impulse of a single meeting, or the opinion of a s i ng l e i nd i v i dua l ; b u t th e vo i ce o f Par liament could not b e m i s t a k en. Th a t vo i ce h as p ronounce d that we are engaged in a just and necessary war, and I am sure it will equally declare that that war is not to be concluded but by a just and honourable peace. (Cheers.) Mr. ALCOCK said that, though the votes for the war had been granted, the majority of the country considered that the war had not been efficiently carried on, and ha advocated most vigorous measures in the Crimea, and aid to the Circassians. Mr. G. BANKES had heard with surprise that a sub sidy to our Turkish allies was meditated, and, while con sidering that such a course ought not to be adopted with out the immediate sanction of Parliament, he suggested that the vacillating conduct of Austria might mean that she was also waiting for a subsidy. He should be very much disposed to accede to a proposition for an autumnal sitting, provided such proposal were fittingly made, as discontent might arise among the people, now so heavily taxed, unless their representatives were assembled to.. an swer for their conduct. The people, he added, were much dissatisfied with the new arrangement as to the War Minister. He admitted that the sentiments of LOI d John Russell as to the peace were those of the country, but he dwelt upon the discordance between Lord John's views and those of Lord Aberdeen, and urged that as this differ ence 'left the country no guarantee for an honourable peace, here was another reason for an autumnal session. Mr. HUM E understood the noble lord (Lord J. Russell) to speak in the nano of hie colleagues, and not t o g i ve h is . "dual opinion. (Hear, hear, from Lord J. Russell) It would, therefore, be a pity that on so import an t an occa sionown in (l it should go to the public that a difference existed in the Cabinet, and that the leader of the House of Commons said the opposite of what was said by the leader of the House of Lords. (Hear, hear.) As to the cry about the Coalition Government, he (Mr. Hume) wished to know how a Government could be formed Os carried on without a co alition? (Hear, hear.) He was surry to hear the slow progress of the war criticised as it had been by his hon. friend (Mr. Alcock); but if they turned to the page of his tory they would find much more was done at present in the way of forwarding troops and armaments than had ever been acsomplished on any previous occasion. (Hear, hear.) He should acknowledge that when Sir C. Napier was appointed to command he was rather afraid the ope rations of the gallant admiral would be too rapid; but it now appeared that he could wait and consider until the time came to act with effect. (Hear, hear.) One word as to the subsidy. During the revolutionary war we had ad vanced 66 ,000,000/. in subsides, every pound of which was misapplied. They did, not assist or facilitate the purposes for which they were intended, but, on the contrary, re tarded and paralysed them. The Turks had so far acted without our assistance—(hear, hear) —they had done so with honour a n d without money, and there was less ne cessity for money now than heretofore. (Hear, hear.) Therefore, he s h ou ld be sorry to see a subsidy agreed to unless sanctioned b y that house. (Hear, hear.) In his opinion the h o p e o f a subsidy should not even be held out to them. (Hear, hear.) He hoped there would be no difference of opinion, but that the vote would be cordi ally agreed to. Mr. KNIGHT suggested that the Circassians, who were born with a hatred to Russia, should be drilled under Turkish officers, an d placed under the rule of a Turkish pacha, in which case they sistance. Mr. BLACKETT complained of the ignorance in which the country was kept i n regard to the diplomat i c act i on which guided th e w ar. He urged that a most mischievous would afford most valuable as delay had occurred in the fulfilment of the engagements strtia,owohhaoisoesobojfe jacterwoaws,obymeisvgeoryvemrneeadnsprinovhieuroopso. M power,. o to f Au rivet r. h COBDEN said that the speech of the noble lord (Russell) had in som e d egree converted the discussion into a council of war; for he had done what was generally con sidered to be very bad strategy on the part of a general— he had disclosed the co nduct of th e cam paign, and the pur pose for which the war w as undertaken. Therefore, if he sa id anything to discourage the course which the noble lord and the Cabinet seemed to have determined on taking, • that which he shoul dotherwisethought a very doing indiscreet thing—alway s supposing that they were not now discussing the question of oscupying the Crimea after the he could only plead the example set by the noble lord in ' work ; had been done. (FT • —e ar, hear.) The noble lord knew best what orders had been sent out, and if at that time the expedition had actually gone to the Crimea and captured Sebastopol, it ear. was c lear they could do no harm by discussing it. ( ) He had never been afraid of the aggressive power of Russia, but had always drawn a distinction between its agg ressive and its defensive Hear, h power. No ono would now o b trude the old argument against a mere outwork of a ahyo Turkish empire. Why had Huns and Goths. This o verrunning Europe and that u e v g i e v there t r hw h e aa invasion i s d m a n , sv b r l oo l f tt w hu u es s is au overspread the continent, Russia failed, —why had she 19 a d e suc h an important de arm y from her southern cam Mo scow, she had to go nearly 1,000 miles before she came to the scene of operation, through a coun de had third-rate been s h p a r k o e v n i province try where there was scarcely a mile of civi- , It lised road, and no railways. . was a three monthsjour neyonet nth f s p r t from her most southern capital to the scene of the war. these enormous That accounted for armies on paper being dissipated and vanishing awaybefore they came into action. Any one who had been if i t i Russia and had studied be we aware that, however t wa • a be her armies s utterly imp 'hi tl e, mighty ms,ht that a country so thinly populated, those armies could ever be concentrated on one point. Look at the battle of Boro dino. Napoleon gave more than 12 months' notice of his invasion of Russia; ho marched 600,000 troops, an d h a d all the force of Europe to back him. Russia could not bring more than 100,000 men into action at Borodino, and most of them were clad as peasant s and armed with scythes. He had said again and again and been very much ridiculed for it, that Russia could not snake a cam paign across her own borders without coming to Western Europe for a loan ; and she had not finished this first campaign without being compelled to come to Amsterdam to sue in forma pauperis for a loan. After that, no panic need be entertained, nor need it be thrown in the teeth of those who wished to look the subject in the face, that they were the friends of Russia. But we were not now content with going to war to restore Turkey to what she was, but we were to take possession of some portion of the Russian territory. (Hear, hoar.) He presumed that what the cabinet meant was this—not to take Sebastopol and come away again, that would be nothing ; but to occupy the Crimea. (Hear, hear.) And he heldw tell the noble lord, that unless the thing was done had committed a great indiscretion that night, because he had given notice to the enemy, and no prudent general would have done that, because if the point of attack was known it would be the point of defence. (Hear, hear.) From the quality of the English and French troops now ) at Varna, ana from the emulation of the two nations, there was scarce an' thing human beings could do that they would not accom plish in the field of .battle—(hear, hear)—but against fevers the strongest men and the greatest courage were as impotent as the child er the invalid—nay, were more likely to be attacked by the disease. (Hear, hear.) He hoped this was an element of the difficulty of the enterprise which had been entertained by the noble lord, As to the feeling and disposition of the population, , f iiksah_....hewl?ltehertF3htta6tfitt:khea: t a h n e c r i h ri a . LarctrcgT,eno.,,e, riaoti„toa,pkfainrgopro•sysserbs: s w io: a o n f the - Crimeaimportant fh H oal e ldo wishedwsGreece;aei followed bahybe about uol was t t taht t ah o e ens r u a ko consideration n a n d l c : seneegtsands kingdom discussionnhe - I i . of Greece th de fenal had t oKsanguine been itnh p ge h ° l 1 . k f t o i h hn u g n d e o n e rm d i thei of ministers, or the Queen of Greece. He readily admitted that all that the noble lord, Mr. Wise, or any y bodvelse justice. But if the creation of that monarchy had not been of thirty years ago expeited, that was not attributable to the Greek people. (Hear, hear.) He was w illing to admit that there had been a complete failure of the Greek h monarc y, no failure but he mai n t a i ne d t h at there had been in the Greek race. The Duke of Wellington was in power when the Greek monarchy was founded, and, being no friend to revolutions, he was anxious to take as little territory as he could from Turkey. He drew a lino, which left to Turkey those portions of Greece which were the very cradle of the revolution and of the Hellenic race. The moment the war broke out between RusSia and Turkey, th found h ey t e op poi:tin:lay, aided by their 00-religionists, • • tof • • in gloms s, rising rebellion, and they would have done the same if Turkey was at , war with any other power. There were letters from Lord 4tratford de Bedcliffe t an,. A communication s from our owr colisuls, all of whict predicted this rebellion of the Ckris4 ' a population of Turkey ; and Lord Clarendon hip- -".tan Writin g to Lord Westmoreland ild June last pm- -'self, in hiry would rise, not to aid Russia, but to - -r; said that , Lord Clarendon and other ministers b- - .0. , I themselves. agai.ra that one great object of tb.• --d stated again and rights of the Christian populs' • -,, war was to secure the due to them that the b-- -tam in Turkey ; and it was justice h nld. see done to the race, Expediency -"lse '°— also required it. The population of Turkey in En- • at least 4 .1_ .ope was not Mahomedan, but Christian -aree-fourths of them • and though the Turks aloro might now be fighting the ' battle behind their stone walla at Silistria, when peace was restored the interests of the mass of the people would have to be considered. They could not p ermanen tly ma i n t a i n th e ascen d anc y of the Mahomedan race over three quarters of the populations. The Christians were the sole progressive race in Turkey. It might be said, " See how the Turks have fought." They had always fought well; he found no fault with their military prowess, but there was an absence of civil and social organisation. Three-fourths of the popula tion were most progressive, because they were Christians —(hear, hear)—for Mahomedan institutions were not pro gressive or expansive, as Christian institutions were. He wanted to know, once for all, whether in the war in which we were engaged we were allied with the sovereignties against the nationalities. (Hear, hear.) He might ask that with perfect fairness, because he would not interfere either for one or the other. (Hear.) Were they going to carry out that policy of non-interference with respect to other countries ? He maintained that the Hungarians and the Italians had no grievance to complain of as compared with the Greeks, because the Greeks were not only de prived of all liberty, but of all law. (Hear.) His hon. friend (Mr. Layard) shook his head, but would his hon. friend deny that a Greek could not be made a magistrate ? Could he be made a cadi ? The Turkish law was adminis tered under the Koran, and thereforo no Christian could administer it. But what was to be their policy with re gard to other nationalities? There was a great delusion amongst the people as to the object of the war, and there was a row of hon. gentlemen below him who shared in it. (Laughter.) He knew their sentiment's, They sympathised with the Italians and the Hungarians. Those who were once called " Young India"—(laughter) —represented the delusion of the multitude out of doors on this subject. They were under the impression that this war was carried on in the interest of Italy and Hungary. What was the fact? They lately heard the language of the leader of the Hungarians addressed to sympathising multitudes of the people of England, and more powerful or beautiful lan guage was never given utterance to, though it came from a foreigner. (Hear.) And what did he say? He said this was not a war in the interest of Hungary, but to put down Hungary—that it was a war in the interest of the oppressors of Hungary. Was that true, or was it not ? The Hungarian chief was, he supposed, as good a judge of what was done in the interest of the Hungarian people as any one else; yet he said that the origin and purpose of the war was to increase the power of the op pressors of Hungary, and to rivet more firmly the chains by which she was bound in the grasp of Austria. Those honourable and deluded gentlemen below him—(laughter) resorted to a deiice which was not founded in logic or reason. They said the present Government were not car rying on the war as they ought to do. They wanted some body else in the war department, they wanted some one else at the head of the Government. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) They called for Lord Pahnerston. (Hear, hear.) Well, what said the chiefs of the down-trodden nationalities to that ? The two chiefs of the Italian party and the Huagarian party said that when tbanoble lord, on whom they were told to found their aspirations, was asked to give a merely moral support to them in their contest, he did not so much as lift a finger in their favour. (Hear, and laughter.) If there was any one on whom they had less reliance than another, it was, and he spoke advisedly, that noble lord, whom those honourable and deluded gen tlemen wished to hold the helm, in order that the war might be carried on, not in the interest of Austria, but of Hungary and Italy. He did not say this to disparage the noble lord, because he never asked him to go to war in defence of nations, and he must do the noble lord the jus tice to say that he was not himself the author of that great imposture which had been practised in his name. He (Mr. Cobden) never encouraged the idea that this war was undertaken - for the independence of the Hungarians and Italians. To think of an alliance between Lord Aber deen, Napoleon 111 and the Grand Turk„in favour of the independence of nations, was the most surprising of all public hallucinations. (Hear, hear.) But the noble lord made a plunge to-night. It was a long time coming cer tainly. (Hear.) He said he found it necessary to state what the object of the war was, and he used some lan guage about Turkey which was calculated rather to dis courage those who thought that the oppressed peoples of Europe had an interest in the matter. The noble lord said that they were going to war for the sovereign rights of the Sultan ; but he fancied the people of this country would not long continue to bear a heavy pressure of taxation merely to maintain the sovereign rights of the Sultan of Turkey. (Hear, hear.) But he would not pursue the subject any further. There would be ample opportu nities for discussing it hereafter. But if the noble lord bad truly stated the opinion of the C a binet a s t o th e ob _ . jest of the war, he would only say that it appeared to him just as likely that they would be able to take a slioe of ter ritory from the United States and keep it permanently as they were to take it from Russia. If they were not'con tent with driving the Russians out of the Turkish terri• tory, and establishing the Turkish Government, but thought it better to involve the country in a protracted war, which one or two additional sc r e ws o f th e i ncome t ax would not be likely to put an end to, they would have to put on a heavier amount of taxation, with which the people of this country would be soon dialatisfied. The noble lord .was a great reader of history, and be was surprised he did not bear in mind what Mr. Grenville wrote on the 28th of April, 1797, in a letter to be found in the Stowe papers : " Indeed Lord Granville declares that a blind and unrea soning eagerness to go to war is ono of our most fixed na tional characteristics. In a letter to the Marquis of Buck ingham, dated April 28, 1797, published in The Courts and Cabinets of George 111.,' he says, 'lt is a curious speculation in history to see how often the good people of England have played this game over and over again, and how incorrigible they are in it. To desire war without reflection, to be unreasonably elated with success, to be still more unreasonably depressed by difficulties, and to call out for peace with an impatience which makes suit able terms unattainable, are the established maxims and the regular progress of the popular mind in this country." Mr. LAYARD said, that after the opinions he ventured to express on former occasions on this subject, it would not be expected that he would throw any difficulty in the way of the Government obtaining those additional supplies which were necessary for the conduct of the war. There was, however, one thing which be believed to be absolutely , necessary, and in which he believed the house would con cur with him in a great degree, and that was, that before they granted the estimates, they should receive a distinct and satisfactory assurance from the Government as to their object in carrying on the war, and the ends they had in view. He wished, however, in the first place to say a few words in reply to his hon. and deluded friend behind him —(laughter)---if his hon. friend would permit him to return the compliment he paid to others. He believed that his hon. friend laboured under a still greater delusion than he and his friends around him. Before he personally knew his hon. friend he read his speeches with great admiration, but those *ere speeches on a subject with which he was well acquainted (Hear, and laughter.) But on the present occasion he heard his hon. friend indulge in such incon sistencies as surprised him in a man of his acuteness. His hon. friend referred to'the strength of Russia, the state of the Christian population in Turkey, and the revo lutionary element in Europe. His hon. friend compared Russia to a wave which was broken into spray on the first rock it dashed against. But was not that the very reason that it should be resisted now lest it should go on again in greater force, and with a better opportunity ? (Hear.) Surely while the power of Russia was not yet fully developed it would be more easy to settle the question at issue. It would not do to wait until they absorbed the Greeks as they had absorbed the Tartars of the Crimea. The Turks had always shown the greatest readiness to shelter Polish, Hungarian, and Italian refugees, and had protected M. Kossuth although threatened at the time with the ven geance of two powerful empires. He believedthat his hon. friend the member for the West Riding wrote at the time to the Turkish Minister, promising that if Kossuth were protected Turkey should henceforth have the benefit of his (Mr. Cobden's) countenance and support. (Laughter.) The Turks had acted in a similar way towards all refugees, and in return had received the greatest ingratitude. He trusted that he should hoar no more about the Greeks in these discussions. The time had come when terms might be made with the Turks to respect their privileges, but that to a considerable extent had been done already. The hon., gentleman, after alluding to the badness of the com missariat, said, another point to which allusion had been made in another place was the enormous expense of the transport service, that item being set down at three millions, a sum that would buy all the transports in the country. He believed that to the Himalaya alone 50,0001. had been paid as demurrage. It had also been observed that the number of accidents in our transport service was great, while the French did not meet with a single acci dent. Another point to which exception had been taken was that we had not sent out any officer to ascertain the real strength of the Turkish army. Had we done so, all the ridiculous fears about the Russians matching in a week to Constantinople might h ave been avoided. We had not sent them English officers, a thing which would have been of the greatest advantage, as was_provetih lin the gallant defence of Capt ains Butler and Nss Ty . Silistria. (Hear, hear.) He believed that bad it not been for those two officers the place could hneowt officeli held out. (Hear, hear.) With respect to ! , 11 of War Minister, it could not be denfie(tlhethatthe country hid fixed upon one member beingo appointed Govern ment for the office, and that his not was taken as an evidence that the G o vernmeltwerenot as • decided in the prosecution of the , war as the serious or people wished them to be. The noble lord (I almerston) was identified with a known policy, and hence the country had looked to him as the man who would prosecute the war with the best effe ct. In some of his (fir. Layard's) letters from the East, he been aske w did not the Government carry o n thiswar by contdrh y act.(Laughter.) Really there was some sense in this question, and from it a practical inference might be drawn as , to the cou rse th e G o vernment ough t to have pursued. It the hon. member for the Wick district (Mr. Laing) were about to construct another crystal palace, would not he cast his eye around him for the best assistants that he could find? Surely he would not choose one engineer bec ause b e was averse to anot h er . The Government ought to have acted on the plan w hi c h the hon. gentleman would have followed, and have advised her Majesty accordingly. Reference had been made in that debate to the case of Persia. That, indee d, was anoth er instance of the mistake n . course which had been followed in this matter. (Hear.) Although the noble lord the President o f th e C ounc il h ad made a speech which was highly satisfactory in many parts, it should be borne in mind that he was not the Prime Minister of this country. Some time ago he (Mr. Lay ari.l).though t t..h= s uty-to bring to thernotiee-of thelouse a speeen,inade anotner place by the Prime Minister, a speech which, at - the time, every one thought called for notice. \V"Wit was the history of that speech? A noble and learned lord thought it his duty to bring forward in another place the question of tine conduct of the war, and was Answered by the nobl e ear l, th e S ecre t ary o f St a t e for Foreign Affairs, in a highly satisfactory statement, setting, forth the true policy of F.,,ngland. Notwithstanding this, Lord Aberdeen made a speech directly contrary in its ef fect. The very aaxae thing might occur at any time—might occur, indeed, at that ve r y momen t. After all,_ Lord Aberdeen was the head of the Government, and the house knew very well, from what had occurred during the last few months, th a t a Minister might he dismissed without having a word of nOtice. e (Hear, Lear.) Why during the temporary suspens i on c would now tak e the conaiitutional machine, which the President Pksce in a short ti me , the noble lord bf •the Council,. or the Secretary of St ts a - e —r the nome Department, might be told that their k P r „n a t e e, - ,vas no longer required. (Cheers.) The house t r o r: .saat last year during the recess most important goes ,' .s connected with the negotiations then going on were secided by two or three members of the Cabinet. Another ' circumstance to which he thought it right to refer was a passage which occurred in a despatch of Lord J. Russell to Sir H. Seymour in February last. His lordship —notwith standing that he must have known the past policy of the Russian Government—stated that " her Majesty's Govern ment were persuaded that no course could be followed more wise than that which his Imperial Majesty had so long pursued." It would thus appear that Lord Aber deen took but a limited view of the object of the war. In his (Mr. Layard's) opinion, it was only on the understanding that the war was necessary- for the liberty of Europe that it ought to have been entered upon. (Hear.) It was either necessary to enter into the war for the pre servation of the balance of power in Europe, or it was ad visable to allow Russia to acquire a certain influence iu Turkey. But the Government appeared to take a half and-half view of measures. (Hear, hear.) After Russia crossing the Pruth, instead of taking up the position we ought to have done, we threw ourselves in the arms of Aus tria—a power which could have but one object in vice the restoration of the status quo ante bellunt. (Hear,' hear.) From the very first he thought it a fatal mistake to allow the conferences which had taken place to be held at Vienna. Lord Aberdeen had indeed himself stated that he considered France as of greater weight than Russia and Austria united. If so, why burden this country with the compelled, the unwilling alliance of Aus tria ? The effect of our policy showed itself in the fact that our troops were now at Varna, leaving the Turks to fight their battles by themselves. (Hear, hear.) Although the Turks had successfully defended Silistria, the house must not suppose that they were able to beat the Russians in the open plain. (Hear, hear.) Behind walls the Turks fought like a man who had something to de fend, ,but in thaplain the case was altogether different; and as long as Austria maintained her present neutrality, this country could not undertake any of those attempts to' which the noble lord had alluded that evening. It was, therefore, of the utrnost importance that the Government should make up its mind as to the true position of Austria. On that point he must say the noble lord's speech was very unsatisfactory. With regard to the objects of the war, he had heard a good deal about the questionable scheme of opening the Dardanelles. That could never be done as long as Russia held Sebastopol, and had a fleet there. Did any man believe that, if the Dardanelles had been open a twelvemonth ago, Russia would not have sent her fleet into the Bosphorus ? (Hear, hear.) -The Dardanelles being closed, the appearance of the Russian fleet at-the mouth of the Bosphorus would have constituted an act of war; and they had to consider well what they had to lose as well as to gain by the opening of those straits. It was part of the strategy of Russia to keep her fleet at Sebastopol. He was not in a hurry for victo ries, and should be the last person to engage in a clamour on the subject; but after what had occurred, the country expected that something would be done before the close of the year. (Hear, hear.) Never had finer fleets been sent from this country ; never had there been an opportunity of doing greater things. , He would not oppose the vote, but, on the contrary, would vote for anything which could be turned to good and useful account. Lord D. STUART had not the least desire to interfere with the vote proposed. On the contrary, he wished to afford every assistance to the Government in carrying on with vigour the war in which the country was engaged. The noble lord the menber for the city of London had re ferred in his speech to the wish of some members who de sired that the house should re-assemble in autumn. 'lt was his opinion that the house, in voting the money, and in consenting to place the vote of credit in the hands of the Government, should endeavour to obtain from the Go vernment such an assurance as had been referred to. Her Majesty should be asked not to exercise her power of pro roguing Parliament, but to re-assemble shortly after the recess. Such an assurance would give satisfaction to the house and to the country. They were in a position of critical character, having entered into a struggle of civi lisation against barbarism. The people had come forward ready to submit to any sacrifices that were necessary. (Hear, hear.) They did so because they felt that Govern ment should be supported in what they took each an in terest in. While making sacrifices, they wished to see corresponding energies on the part of the Ministers. (Hear, hear.) They were anxious that these sacrifices should not be made without obtaining equivalent advantages. The people of the country looked to the conduct of the war with a jealous eye, and, he might safely add, with feelings of apprehension, and with a certain degree of suspicion. (Hear, hear.) Their apprehensions were not aroused as regarded the enemy, much less as to the prowess of their naval and land forces ; but the suspicion was, that some of those who were in power had not their hearts in the war, and were not honest in their intentions to prosecute it with vigour. (Cheers.) He had no, doubt that this was the general opinion of the country. Men of all patties concurred in opinion that the Minister now at the head of the Government was not the man who ought to be in power during the continuation of a.war like the present. He repeated that this was the general opinion ; and however placemen and Peelites might flatter themselves that it was not so, he assured them they would-find it out'if they would only go among the people. 1 It was his firm belief that if a meetin g were to b e h e l d i n Drury-lane Theatre, in order to express the opinion of the public upon the mode of proceeding adopted by the Prime Minister, the place would be full from the gallery to the pit, and that it would be unanimous in condemning him. The people were ready to give their money to carry on the war ; but they wanted to have value for it. When they saw vast armaments proceeding from this country arma ments as great and as grand as any we had ever sent forth, and that nothing was accomplished by them, they could not help being possed with suspicions that, somehow or other, orders had been given to their gallant commanders which prevented them from using the power at their dis posal. (Hear.)' They could not help believing that direc tions had been given to carry on the war against the great " gentleman " of Russia in a gentlemanlik way, and not to press him too far. (Hear.) The people of England also saw that those who had been most engaged in resisting him diplomatically, who had most exposed the designs and pretensions of the emperor of Russia, and who had done most to present him to the world in his true colours, had not, when they returned to their own country, been received with any marks of special favour. (Hear, hear.) Sir Hamilton Seymour, who had con ducted the important mission of which he had charge in a manner that did infinite credit to his temper, ability, and capacity, came home lately, and it was supposed that hardly any reward would have been too great for him. (Hear, hear.) But what reward had Sir Hamilton Se ymour received? What mark of royal favour had her Ma jesty been advised by her responsible Ministers to confer upon him? Yet we saw at the same time Russian noble men visiting this country during the war, and treated as the favoured guests of Cabinet Ministers. (Hear, and " Oh.") All these were things which made an impression upon the people of this country, and inspired them with distrust of the Government, or at least of its head. To be sure, , the house had to-night heard a very spirited, an able, and a noble speech from the noble lord the leader of the house; and he (Lord D. Stuart) could not help, whilst listening to that discourse, without experiencing the com mon feeling of three-fourths of the house, what a pity it was that such a statesman, who could utter such sound, noble, and truly British views, should only occupy a com paratively subordinate situation in the councils of the country. (Hear, hear.) The distrust entertained of the Government in the country was general, but it was con fined to the Prime Minister. Nor could any one be sur prised at it, for, at the very moment when the noble lord (Lord J. Russell) was, in such eloquent sentences, expound ing the policy of the country, Lord Aberdeen was, in another-place, uttering a speech of a different description, a speech which he had been told deserved the reproaches of the country Tor its lukewarmuess and faintheartedness. What was the use of the noble lord the leader of that house making vigorous declarations so long as they were counte racted by another Minister, more powerful, in another place ? There was only one thing which could dispel the distrust in the Government. that had so long existed, and hich had grown more and more till it had reached the highest pitch. Ile believed, if the Ministry had thought proper to advise her Majesty to appoint a certain Mini ster as Secretary-at-War, the country might have been reconciled to the Government of Lord Aberdeen. He be lieved that if his noble friend the Home Secretary had been appointed to that office, his name would have been a gua rantee to the people for the war being carried on with vigour and energy. There was no doubt that the very name of Palmerston carried with it an amount of moral force e q ual to a whole army. (Hear.) His noble friend's name was known in war as well as in peace ; and wherever it was known it was both loved and feared, for it was synonymous with the power and the strength of England. It was ru moured, however, that the Prime Minister had declared, or had been heard to say, that so long as he was in power Lord Palmerston should never have the conduct of the war. (Hear.) The opinions he had expressed he firmly e n e r e ct were the general opinions of the country. L et the house consider whether they were founded m truth.' T o f f ou t z e ia gr tio e n ai If they were only senseless clamour, it was the duty of the o f Commons to show that ha i d t s h po ad ke House armaments lord (Lord Russell) sent cut fresh this country, G rand armaments they were; butup to this time th e y had produced little or no effect. H e gave every credit to those at th e h ead of de partments for the extraordinary promptitude with w hi c h they had equipped and sent them forth ; but he must ob serve that they ought to have been prepared much sooner. The army ought to have been sent to the neighbourhood of Turkey before war w as d ec l ared, in order that it might w have acted at once. In war, promptitude No one knew that bett er th an his noblefrieansdevtehritShiecurge-. tary of-State for thirtiome Department. (Hear.) He had always shown great promptitude. Look at his conduct With regard to portugal. When he had made up his mind action immedi a t e l y followed: The same occurred with re spect to Greece. But in the present case, though the army was sent out with great promptitude and in admirable order, did it go out to fight the enemy? No, it first went to eat oranges at M a lt a, then to Gallipoli, and then to Scutari. At length it got to Varna and at Varna it has since re mained, unable to move, because there had not been the forethought to prepare proper means for its advance ; the commissariat was not ready. That department had not provided horses or mules, or beasts of burden of any kind. The army, therefore was yet at Varna—very well as a de monstration, but unfit for action. Somewhat similar ob servations might be made as to the navy. What was wanted, both in the Black Sea and in the Baltic, was vessels of small draught. No operation on the Danube could be undertaken without them. An officer in the eic. tt fleet when in the, Bo s ph o rus whom be knew pooh-poohed the idea of our goi ng t o war, " because," said do e little' we have no vessels of shallow draught, and we can or nothing without them." Nor yet in the Baltic ie , w ere there any vessels of shallow draught. He wascth w oi h n formed that we had no steam-vessel in the Baltic drew less than 11 feet, but what was requireds inrathvaintgsesa was not vessels drawing 11 feet, but Stearaer a and 3 feet. Many weeks ago a naval o ffi cer, why not go to a command mentioned this. He was n a ked, now holding to the Admiralty " Oh," be said, " I should only be i innlabed: 4 -4 3 heroifieer took tare not-to go to the Admiralty and therefore he waynot snubbed, but he got a command. He believed it would be possible to procure steamers of 200 tons drawing only three feet, which would cs,rry en. or two heavy guns. Vessels of this kind he was told were built in. America fit to navigate any sea in the world. There was, however, nothing of the sort in the Bahia fleet. Sir J. GRAHAM —That is a mistake, Lord D. STUART said if the .statement was made is mistake he was happy., to be corrected ; but such state meats had been made, and if the right hon. baronet wan incredulous, he could . give him re f erences . At all events, a great many useful 1 4 1 49 might be taken in this resp ec t from our brethren on , the -other , side of the Atlantic- It was perfeetly evident that the war in the Baltic must be carried on by means Of bombardment, if at all. To do that was informed that in the t E h a e l r t e ic m fl u ee st t, be th m eve ort v ls ; no b enutetuaing as mortar, He had been assured that when Admiral Plunixidge went to Svea berg, he found there seven ships of the line and threes others moored in the ice. Why were they not attacked ? The .supposition was th a t th ere were It would have been easy to attack thein, but why were they Russia • too hard. • Cronst a dt no doubt erdere fio n t n a t t te tac p k ve ed ee ? was a very formidable place, but he was assured it was accessible on the north side to vessels of a very cons i der.. able size, i and that if twenty vessels were sent there with mortars, towed by steamerertlie place might be bomb ar d e d and the, fleet destroyed. But there were no mortars in the fleet. Heavy guns it certainly had, but no mortars. The castles in the Mores were taken by means of mortars . Something of the same sort might easily have been done against Crone's*. Cronstadt might by, this time have been laid *ruins; and he had this opinion of ilia gallant. officer who commanded the fleet that he would have don it, if he had been supplied by the Government with the requisite means, and if he had not received orders to bold his hands. (Hear, hear.) When the people saw 'these things it was not surprising that they were disntisfied, and that they should imagine that some perron having preponderating influence in the Government, should not be in earnest in this war. Though!the coreridtteeMight be ready to vote the money required for the 'w a r, he thought it would not be desirable for Parliamv a t to separate with out having some assurance as to the + ,:ime of its being re assembled, because there was a fe, - ar that, when members were away, the head of the Ca oinet would be most desi rous of bringing the war to b, conclusion, no matter how ; and that negotiations result in an ignominie, i f . s n t igt her o n n a ° l wrJuld be entered into which would us, an impolitic, and an nnlasting peac n o t .. (Hear.) D would be, he .believed, perfectly con tint(P-imithogmueove6arn ad pav dr ii ets e s. to her Majesty, pray ment. He had come down to the house t d firm and o- ayfirmly resolved to make such motion; x • „ nd he had consulted the Speaker upon the sub lee tue right bongentlemen b • being always ready kindly to give adv i ce_'• is to an hon. member who asked it. He could not, he .benev make' into committee, such a motion upon going , nor could he oppose the Speaker leaving the chair, because it would not be respectful to her Ma- jesty to have so interfered with her most gracious message. He then supposed it would be open to him in committee of supply to move an, amendment to the same effect; but Mr. Speaker had informed him that, according to the forms of the house, it was not competent for him to make such a motion. He was, therefore, unable to make the motion to-night. If he had the opportunity he would tell hon. gentlemen what was the motion he intended to snake —(a laugh)—and if her had the opportunity he would make it still. It was exactly like one made at the beginning of the present century by a great statesman, who ought to be venerated by the Government bench—Mr. Charles Grey, afterwards Earl Grey. It was this—" That an address be presented to her Majesty humbly to pray her Majesty to be graciously pleased not to prorogue her Parliament until she should • have been, enabled to afford to this house more full information with regard to her relations with foreign powers, and to her, views and propects in the contest in which her Majesty is engaged." (Hear.) Such was the motion: He could not make it now ; but if he could devise any means of doing so without violating the technical forms of the house, he certainly would. His idea was not that they should be sitting de lie in diem all through August and September. That would be taxing the patience of hon. members too much. But supposing the motion should be made, that it should fi n d f avour with the house, and that it should be the Queen's pleasure to.consent to the wishes of the i hituee, Parliament, i ns t ea d of being pro rogued, might . be, adjourned from time to , time. Mr. DISRAELI--I have listened for nearly six hours to a series of epeedhes delivered by some of the principal sup porters ()flier Majesty's Ministers, which have been pretty , . well divided into criticisms upon some of the most im portant members of that administration, and upon the policy which they have of late been pursuing. Sir, I do not know that I should have been tempted to appeal to 'you at all. upon this occasion had it not appeared in some de gree that to an observation and a suggestion 'thrown out by myself we are indebted for a great, portion of this de bate. It is true that when the noble lord and his colleagues gave notice of their intention to ask for this vote of credit, I did express my hope that the noble lord would be able on this occasion to assure the house that it would have an opportunity of meeting at the latter end of the year, in order to be well acquainted with the state of affairs, and that it might exercise that control which is often so desir able and salutary over the conduct of the Minister, or to do that which the House of Commons by its sittings can often do to the advantage of a Minister, namely, aid a ld, if need be, stimulate him in his course in the moment of trial and exigency. I was not aware that that was a very unreasonable or unprecedented suggestion ; and I did hope that the noble lord might have found it conve nient to tell Its that he and his colleagues would feel it their duty to recommend her Majesty to call Parliament together probably in the month of November for that purpose. The noble lord, however,bas not felt it his duty to follow that suggestion 4 But I think that the commit. tee will feel that it is not in any way an unreasonable pro position ; and I do not see how its advisability can be bet ter tested than by calling back our recollection to the posi tion of this house, or of the country rather, during the course of last autumn. Everybody can remember the great ambiguity with which the course of public affairs last au tumn was involved, the dissatisfaction, the doubt, the un certainty, the hesitation which seemed to characterise the conduct of all public men, and the course of public policy. I don't know .that there was a more general feeling through out the country at the end of last autumn, than the wish that Parliament was assembled to elicit some distinct ex pression of policy on the part of the Government, and to encourage the Government if their policy was found deser ving of support. Well, Parliament did not assemble ; but whist did occur ? No one can forget the unfortunate ca tastrophe of Sinop°, whichhappened at the end of autumn; and does anybody suppose, for example, that had Parlia ment been sitting some weeks before that unfortunate affair occurred, if, in consequence of the representations of Parliament, and expressions of feeling elicited by its sit tings, the British fleet had entered the Black Sea three weeks earlier than it did, who does not feel that the affair of Sinope ' in all prob a bilit y, wou ld poss ib ly not have oc curred? (Hear, hear.) I imagine that to be the opinion not prevalent only, but universal. Why, one of the greatest mistakes in all our course has been the delay that took place in the entry of the British fleet into the Black Sea. (Hear, hear.) It was a delay that has led to the greater part of the difficulties with which we are now surrounded, and which we are still labouring to overcome. Therefore, in my opinion nothing could be more reasonable than when a country is involved in a war, and a war of this character, at a moment of exigency like the present, that Parliament should assemble, and by its presence exercise that control over the Minister, or give to him that support which the state of affairs may require. Sir, it appears that the noble lord who has last addressed us is also of the same opinion, for he meditated a much atronger step than I did myself, as is evident from the details he has just given us. I do not myself exactly understand „why the Government should have been so alarmed by the notice which reached them of the intention of the noble lord (Lord D. Stuart), because as the house had gone into committee, and the Lord President had moved the vote, it was not open to the noble lord the member for Marylebone to make a motion of the kind that he has just referred to. Therefore, sir,although we may not have been able to-night much to advance towards the attainment of that object, of which I believe the country generally highly approves,viz., areassembling of Parliament e near the end of autumn ; still I think this will not i l t iav become an insignificant night in our deliberations, as h as t - on been one pregnant with most important decla v ra o il s li ew, the part of her Majesty's Minister. (Loud f ch l e the noble sir, though we have not had a promise fro m his colleagues lord the leader of this house that he and er will recommend her Majesty to summon h the Parli ament noble lord at an.earlier period than usual —althoug h sir,has not been successf u l in who has just addressed you, himself — w e h ave had to-night, from the organ of her Majesty's Governm en t i n • ects this house, a distinct a nnouncemen t of the definite obj • which we are now engaged. and purposes of the war in which before in h this house discus (Hear, hear.) We have discus sions upon the cause of the war. I shall not dwell upon that subject. I have expressed my opinion upon it. I am not ashamed to say that I still adhere to that opinion, I think that the cause of this war is the discordant ma terials of which the Government is composed. I think the war.has been caused by a coalition Government—(hear, hear)—and I believe there is no opinion more generally ac cepted than that. (Oh !) I know very well that you may say that the war h as b een produced by the ambition and by the aggressive action of Russia ; but the ambition of Russia might have been checked without war—its aggres sive action might have been restrained without war . Yon might have had recourse to the same means to which Ton had successful recourse before, and obtained without involving , the count in this your object ry great conflict I am this not stating as my individual op inion—l state it as an answer to those who would maintain that it is not the Policy of the Government, nor the individual elements of ,which the Government is constituted, that have occasioned this war. I am sure that I have ever 'refrained from alluding to the conduct of the war. "As long as the Go vernment appealed, to the confidence-. of Parliament to conduct that war, in which they had recommended their Sovereign to engage, I felt it to be our duty t o ex tend on , that subject to the Government no niggard confidence. I have felt it to be my duty to agree to every vote for which they have asked, and to avoid any criticism upon any p ar t of their co n d uc t w i t h respect to the war which might easily have been provoked. I hardly know of any 00 9° from which the House of Commons should more rierc' u i Y refrain than f rom th a t o f eagerly cr i t i c i s i ng t he Con duct of the comm an d e r s o f expe diti ons . (Hear. hear.) I know very well that, unde r a ny l subject to a commencement of a great war like this must a 3 circums tances, the many accidents which the g r e a t es t foresig ht the amplest of resources, and th e grea t es t prudence after sitting here six an d discretion could not prevent ; and I am sure that months objecting to the cause of the war , which I think we had a legitimate right to do, no o no can accuse any of obtruding himself upon gen tleman on this side of the hoes© the house with criticisms upon. the conduct of the war. e lves the right of forming an opinion with regard to We, of course, reserved to o that s ubject ; even if we did 'not express it, we reserved toou rselves the right when the fit not being precluded from such a n expression of our opinion ting occasion arrive( 1 )i °f _ en by being reminded that at th e make of any contrary observation s . I on l y as sert the privileges time we did not members in making this remark, b u t certainly so far as affairs have at present p rocee d e d no word has escaped my lips, y have escaped do I recolle c t th at the ave escaped t h o se of any other hon. member o n thi s s i de of the i ue , which could throw any impedime n t i n t h e way of the pr osecution of the war in which we are engaged, or which could allow any Administration to say, in case the cons equences might be of a disastrous kind, that it was the captious criticisms of the Oppositi on w hi c h prevented them obtaining that support from the people, and from in spiring that spirit into our commanders, which are so ne cessary in such an emergency. (Hear, hear.) But, sir, the though we have our opinion as to the or i g i n an d cause of , and though we have abstained from expressing any opinion upon its conduct, I must say that I have lis tened to-sight with some degree—l will not say merely of surprise, but of consternation—to the announcement which the noble lord has made this evening of the complete ea THE SUN, LONPON, TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 25, 1854. ;+