The Express.
London, England, 1855-02-24 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 24, 1855.

the public, precast checked by the intelligens sad knew
ledge of many members of this boar with refuters to the
subject matter. There would be every publidty but 0
lidty wader _check, and through the tendomed
tele ; sad, on the whole, as etereen a
commit tee and at inquiry a thr bar,cl7for,
should not hesitate to pre,* the • fit at the
bar. A oder reamittee unprecedented, w ile for at
inquiry at the bar than are precedents to be foundjalthough
air applkolate to the ease now in baud. I believe that at
AB any , la the time of William, there was an in-
quiry ler rhesus to a anal expedition, and, at a later
paned, the Welsher= inquiry took plan at the bar. But
is both direness the military eventing of the war were
not ; the war had terminated, and the generale sad
wine ammeters had been attacked were present
te defend tkaaselne. In the Welchers case, Lord Chat-
ham appeared at the hair, and had the opportunity of satin/
his case, and of being heard in his own defence; but
as matter now stand, we have the immense question
of the ceadltion of oar army in the Crimea as a subject of
inquiry, and no instructions have been given as a guide to
the select committee. I understand that there was an in-
struction which appeared in the name of the meter of the
committee, but I believe it was prepared without his autho-
rity, and that he is not prepared to move it. There is also
an instruction prepared by the honourable member for
I en, which removes any shade of doubt Si to the
conduct of our generals and army being the subject of
Inquiry. Bat, air, far be it from me to contest the power of
this hour in its largest sense. I know not of say object so
minute as to be below the notice of this hour, or so suited
or so remote as to be beyond its range and power.
I am not the person to cat down' the authority and power:of
this house; my whole public life been'spent within these
walls, and the greatest efforts of my youth and of my more
mature years—it is not as a matter of regret I mention
it—have been dented to blaming the democratic
power of this brambly. (Cheers.) Within its proper
sphere, no man rejoices more in its power, its control over
ffi the officers of state, and the ministers of the orown—its
powers co-ordinate with the Crows and the House of
Peers, and greater than those of the House of
Peers with reference to taxation, supply, and ways
and mesas. And even NI the grand Inquett of
the patios, I admit At the lateeilest sous its constitutional
Ewer, and I knew leg limit In that power, exempt when
Nat i -enemies ea W-advised mereat it shall treads on
legitimate and emetitutimel tenetions of the executive
(Beer.) Os the lest night's debate, when
his wee moved, we heard from almost every one,
at beat m the opposite side of the house, the admission
made thst the motion for this inquiry win only in-
tended ea a vote edemas» on the then existing government.
(lieu.) I remember well the speech of the noble lord
the President of the Council, who, on the whole,
did not think be was able to satisfy his own
conscience in defending the whole conduct of his colleagues
against a vote of maws by implication, but in the broadest
manner he said it was impoesible to support this committee
of inquiry, because it we incompatible, in his opinion, with
the functions of the executive. (Bear, hear.) This was
also stated by an hon. gentlemen below me. the member for
Aylesbury, who said he supported the motion bemuse there
being grave grounds of accusation against the executive, it
was the lbst.ndiamentary opportunity afforded him of, by
vote, ream ii his opinion. But he ale, if I mistake
not—and Isbeidd be sorry to misinterpret his meaning—
did not antlepte any advantage from inquiry, and only
used the motes u expressing his want of confidence in the
government Now, I was not able to be present in the house
until Talky evening, but I heard a speech which I could
have ebbed.* ben *tiered myself,—for it was much better
argued dos I meld Ism signed—l heard a speech from my
right hes. friend, the liosermy for the Home Department,
in whisk he put the selletien Is a manner which to me ap-
peared to be siamewerebie. He appealed to the how, and
said, " Lot ws semi in sin minaftadiag_ia this matter. I
cannot believe IMO yes mem s. poem Ws es a substantive
=en eely mesait to be a vote of " and that
elm stio hon. friend was rce uslsd b by loud
mseetig deem fees. the opposite side el the Woe. It
wee In abort usdnotood as a vote of ONNEIS and se re-
'Ovid by those 'be opposed, and thou who supported
It. (" Haar, km," sad some dissent.) I am sure the
house will Anti me le Mate what was my impretien
the time, and see easy to say that looking. hack at Ale
has occurred lime Wnee altered it—my unpnenius wee
that it was Imbed wpm as a vote of censure. NA is thee
owe mem& Laid Aberdeen's cabinet tweeted it es
IMO sf esernes eyed NNW ea this impresaion teak be ow
sibMinal mem ea the fallowing morning of esietime
theftwerignetbois. nee allow me to ask, if censure was
blind ta that sidle fir inquiry, how can the dum-
dum have bees altered by anything that has occurred
die If it was a win of censure then surely the
of the emunittee is a vote of omen
1111111=18:ight see 110 unbolt to that vote in January, how
INS abe sight tine* to salmi' to the nomination of the
soaaaMlM In F.brnary ? It appears to me that the grounds
Mae limns, the intentions are the same, and the objections
NO the UMW My cab regret is the novelty of the course
Alb be INNS OM ~IL Hitherto, generally, when
veto NI am" has. bee peed on government, there Sr.
settee putkresetary courses open which are well known.
A mike Si • committee of the whole house en the state

of the =dm is a neepleed notice to quit the cabinet, end
a vote of censure in direct terms is so us-
ambisoianks as never to be mistaken. But the =Winton*
here that a dune has bun adopted which is amb4uose
and Waits of two constraetnes, though, u I con-
tad. liege ii 'sly ow legitimate construction, the first
cps Willi the gmeramest acted—samely, that of taking
Ilea iele Stamman. Them, it may be said, has sac illie
qe.4llese to dim Ile amen of affain ? Much hes
gir
= to I"
wha teb re eeem end the
iv
vote late e m-
a, abs. The Doke of Newcastle, feeling the
no longer takes his place at the council
2.01 beard. friend the member for Tiverton sup
OW the et Lord Aberdeen; but, although he now
supplies pm he acted with us, in strict conformity u
our united eglelms sad treated the vote appointing a com-
mittee as a tele el censure, yielded tout, and retired.
Then, with the demolition of Lord Femurs and Lord Can-
sing, all the Mahon of the cabinet filling the most impor-
tant Akre of the Mate are the identical persons who were
members of Lard Aberdeen's government. (Cheers and
laughter.) And die, as, in passing, to observe that on
Friday last, wham the noble lord at the head of the govern-
ment opened the polio of the cabinet, he appeared distinctly
to recognise the existeue of this committee, if persisted in,
as a difficulty which was not to be lightly regarded, if it
could be resisted, beau, he tendered to the house and
volunteered the nudism et the executive, in lieu a the
prosecution of this inquiry. (Hear.) Bat it will
said to me, „How came you to keep *files
under the noble Mount the member for Tiverton, if
those were your impressions with respect to this com-
mittee ?" (Hear, hear.) My wish is to state the cause of
my remising with perfect frankness. (Hear, hear.) I
had the greatest difficulty when the noble lord paid me the
distinguished complimeat—an undeserved oae —of wishing
me to be a member of his administration. The house will
pardon me for saying that, being confined to my bed, I
was not in a condition to carry on a protracted correspond-
ence, or to make many inquiries ; but there was one dial-
salty which was conditional, and upon which I required
explanation. I wished to know from my noble
friend whether there was to be any cheap in
the foreign policy to which when is the Aberdeen cabinet
we gave oar suited consent, and whether, with reference to
the segodatiene pending at Vienna, there were any &Ren-
dus in the terms which in our opinion were consistent with
the attainment of a safe and honourable peace. I thought
it my duty to satisfy myself on that single pointiaan=
Roble friend, in the frankest manner, gave me exp
which were entirely eatisfactery. I, glad to be satisfied es
that point, which I. considered to, be the man oar wile
ao further difficulty, nor made any more inquiries. ' I mid
frankly, "I will do my very best, if you think my
swim useful is the maivitesesee of your germs-
meet." (Hear. hear.) Now, wham greater mattes
mien hem bami wombat by me empeatiag this
bat I was et minim, end
ustil laegy I Cresdauedlimeatt
Mat males, that two iehdelme, my dared Meads, who
W has Inked long by the mown, sad whom I believed
M be as biomass and trustworthy as any who aver served
bat Measity, Lead Aback= and the Duke of Neweesde,
leeks sugswily Warred public obloquy, and been unifies'
le the Mese et the ewatry and the pleasure of this haus
.—elset undies having Wu made, and the national opinion
Mies sweagly in favour of the noble viscount's beta; de-
meal to the post of First Minister, and Lord Future, m
mineesaut with the again of the army, baring hem male
War ithimer I did believe that changes bed hem
made whisk would be satisfactory to the hew sad
the watey. I Wight this the more toperdelly,
became aessoseemests wee coincidently made et great
admiaistestive refuses. I will not dwell ups. the depart-
ment which I see *beat to leave. ,
the novelty sad diillealty of the operatics. we weer
was seV
is, it impeesible that errors should met be comma la
the naval eery' s*. I believe that mistakes did
moor, sad Nei She weekbg et that swim was not nth-
. (Lead aim et 14 We, hear.") Bat I, swing
tallerVormy, ea my wa supeseibility applied a rewly
which I believe wal be esiliest. I have Nide the le-
wee whisk Illeleged establish a beard eepeelelly
rtirpitellamesee et list duty. Is the admielleeties et
rd=, .. lON et Ileseetriy at Wes bee bees
ad great ' sgs bass Ws amie, sr am is
pepsin, la the militapsk` dageelsewle The geared sear
wain the engines has 3ss reeelled, ea& swam
editor webbed to waist the operations of the *go
The aumtureerrisevesseers and adjutant general's depart-
ments ham bees pissed wise the erwel of the ebbe of
the Medi seilemmaires ham lees amine* tens when
Mem se Wahl gems basalt will be illevived. I Wiwi
esti very lettly thet them &mos weld kw eatheed
rea ad I wee Esti eserdeed to bad fist
gulls
- iesd wassery le Mead with tide in-
quiry. I arsalsly may her= milk Wit at
I rainy WNW le reset is t bat at the ismillillA
I art della the eight o bellies my VIM elites WO
sweet to this isguiry Is the Int plass, Nay I Wiwi
it to be em
it I as weds that the eassullive ea
veramest, pWuswelag the malliemee et ibis hew, rimes
~Wit,While them geatimes• WSW weg tr a Mii balm-
ledge wee poking, their ways beet they IWO% MOM
the ailllesse el a Dermot of the mews, the
weld le ieddiagosi while they wail C 111.M4
gie way to the emeativa, the
tail the of the grew ad
WNW trelisse
this how, would do rapidly,p, eat
Ms was to be awe. I ham metered to ill 111111*101011
' the matimplattil Yawns Is the awl Oll4
5j A ;(GI

i; ;;

btsl issit weastiturre tioneesuAi
F.774..alfsivede estil4=22:ft °pore:leas.
mid one der this eommittee unaoceseuy ; but
be* • few • r objectielts. I coodder it naps; and
thekkessegillbeer with se, I will give my reasons ter
leg that epplatoe. The eseseave government of theme's'',
armed with the authority of the crown, appoints
all the admirals, all the generals, and all the
Abu in the may and navy, to the most
zr:and on bulge smite. The servants of the ROWS
he selection, the power of coated, the
pegged end the power of removal. They Mee
also the pm., of their punishment ace/makes to
the daekias et the tribunals resegaised by the legislate,* of
this rentstry ; and I must say that I think the diem we
chosen sad so controlled, so subject to the authority of the
servants of the crown, have a correlative claim on the latter
to be defended hem any other inquiry which is to take place
behind their hegira Meer, hear.) I have said that I
think this inquiry unjust, end I have said that I think
it dangerous. I will show rat now why I eseelder
it parte:slaty dugout* Will the house permit
me, with retinue le mg us department, to revert to the
allegations made egeinet mil been the place where I now
stand on Friday last, nasal& _that I had been highly cul-
pable with regard to the Maeda In the Black ilea. I met
that accusation in my plus, mad ea the spot. I told the
house what were the circuitous which led to the delay,
for three months, of the Nag of t e expedition fromVana
to the Crimea, and explained blew during the conduct of the
expedition the whole naval forte of England and Freese
wes employed, and how impound*, therefore, it was is
execute the blockade until the end of October ; ant then,
going to the verge of what was consistent with
I my duty, I shadowed forth the danger of prosecuting say
farther inquiries respecting the blockade. The house, with
its usual prudence and intelligence, refrained from punier
me fustier, and the statement I made will, I hope, lead is
ee eau/queues. But the committee calls an 'Amt.
al it; perhaps makes that very inquiry, and does not
dhow the forbearance which war shown by the house, asking
the Main' to go into details which I shadowed forth, and
whisk the house did not ask me to explain. Under the
of the eidaet eeetaittee he is forced to disdain
all Incident, thst lead to that delay; and it depends ea
the ceedeace of six out of the eleven gentlemen whether
the is act so prosecuted. If, unhappily, produce
Amid
uwireiirMi kW it
I state it confidently, that the
it up directly to our coasedea
:rise put awl powerful ally—(hear, hear)—when it 1.
d Ilbe_ Imarimace that no misunderstanding whatever]
(rear, hear.) And I warn the house that this
Ihimptim MOM any check or control, resting only on the
ariarroalkiersdance or imprudence of six out of .eleven
MD. my fay ve this country in the meet fatal conse-
quent'. (Hear, hear.) I said that this committee was un•
neeting ; let us carry the argument a little farther. I
Owls saw W the position of Lord Raglan ; and that bears
dr ea the state of the army in the Crimea. I imagine
that the difficulties la which the most splendid human

talon"; cm be triad, lb. smemsfal onammi-of m army in

the presume ofssaperior force of the enemy is the most severe
trial. (Hear, hear.) The chance of success in that com-
nand rests mainly in the possession of undivided authority.
It has been tersely said by one of the greatest military au-
thorities of antiquity,

" Id est 'VW, et Dueis, non dime Fortuna;
rrcebenti se, et oblato case fleeter' ad
Consilium."
Now that wee the opinion of a great general; but if
pea eummander is in command beside another army
*sr are be constantly situations involving compli-
ers& gemeiderations, there must be compromises in
deshiss, sad pastimes about the distribution of
relative hewn Respecting all this there must be in.
spiry. I will not p farther. I have shadowed forth the
danger of inquiry respecting the army in front of Sebastopol ;
and without farther observation from me, there is not a
single gentleman present in this the most intelligent assem-
bly in the world who dose not feel the nature of the dangers
to which I have alluded. (Loud cries of "Hear, hear.")
But it is said that, whatever danger there may be is this in-
quiry, it is irresistible. Now I demur to that doctrine, which
is, in itself, a most dangerous one. It is irresistible only
because those whose duty it is tb confront it have not the
firmness to resist, but yielding to the danger which, if re-
sisted, would be certainly overcome, are hurried into conse-
quences, against their conscientious convictions, which are
sure to be of the moat painful nature. I know that I have
exposed myself to the most painful of all taunts.
It may be said to me, "Yon are about to leave your col-
leagues in a season of imamate difficulty, and it is in
moments of immense difficulty that the hoods of political
anion ought to be most carefully observed." But I must
be permitted to say, without offence to my friends on the
treasury bench, that I deny that I am the deserter on this
occasion. I took my position in common with them, in re-
solving to resist this inquiry. It was resisted ; the position
was takes 'sparsely. I still stand to my guns in that position ;
theynbandon it, spike the guns, and run away. (Laughter.)
Allow me still farther to observe, that I caneot believe it is
right in a minister of the crown, if be believe that any given
wares is &Lateran', to decline resistance, because resist-
ors may be unpopular, and thus refuse the house the
oppastsaity of reconsidering its decision. I know no
duty in a public man than that of acting up to what
fs entiously believes to be right, and it is in the pane-
list embargo of that duty that I have this evening sip-
=before you ; and, it would be unfair, even if my
permitted it, to detain you longer. I know nethieg
more honourable than the service of the crown, when
imbed with selleepses in whose principles and whose
measures yes essesr—(teeer, hear)—and when you
iniley Sc medideses of the people and the Sovereign.
Bus, s the Mhee hand, I know nothing more dishonour-
We, se mire painful, than assenting to measures adopted
by 1116 1111sisaity of your colleagues which you consider dan-
gerous, sad which your conscience and your judgment tell
yea are improper; and, I must add, when you have the pain-
fed conviction that the rudders of this house is nor
espeed in the gobbet of which you area member. It may
be said, what eight have Ito make the last mention ;
the navy estimates and the army estimates have
Ise bees sited. But, sir, I have been long a
mamba Kthb hews, end there are indications which are
sot to be mistaken. I should conceal the truth if I did not
Mate that, having sat on that beach only three or four even-
ings after groat changes had been made in order to conci-
liate this house, I oasis to the painful conclusion that the
administration of which, until to-day, I was a member, did
sot possess a greater degree of the confidence of the hone*
than that from which we had all retired together. (Loud
asses.) I have said that I would speak without reserve:
and, with your kind indulgence, I have executed
my say•—imperfectly, but honestly. Honied words
at with colleagues are almost nauseous,
anddeceitful, and like lovers' vows, under similar
eiseemsleseee, always unavailing and laughed to scone. I
Asa set, therefore, make any professions, but it shell be
sq esisthear to mark by my conduct my sense of the re-
I have incurred by the step I have just taken.
ith the colleagueswhom I have left I have worked for
two years ; they are my friends, and I esteem them. I value
them, bat I weld not be led by them to take a step which
my Advised and conseience disapproved of. My feeling
towards them le strong and friendly, but if it were unfortu-
nately more shores than it is, I should still feel it my duty
to give them is every possible way my humble scpport.
From anything which may interfere with the administration
of the public balsas kaliall religiously abstain, and my votes
will be in amordnese generally with the government. I
shall, sir, make se Oaths: professions, bat instead of pro-
faits* endeavour M pose by my seaduct that with me the
Whey of the state, is a memest of great emergency. is pa-
eamesat to every other seerideration. (Cheers.) I have
sow only to thank the hones for the kind patients with
which they have beard se ewer *shwa shared peobably
but by few of their somber. (The TLS's. baronet re-
sumed his seat la the =Nig of word .3
Mr. BRIGHT, silwesdos es the gravity the pending
skis. ogled ea the Mess le Shoed passel eraiderations,
est all to rescuing the 41011■07 Irma the Myer and Mimi-
Ili= it underweat during the eastissesse el the winkle-
res la merge eelyale. His egos
lasi Mussels su Oa Ws. member declared
Is se keg ss he evinessi
a Osseo desire le holm sal egossiiisle s pesos.
Mr. S. HERBERT thsvoilEsioi te solsis his own
motives for resignation, Is peat nessore eon
with those et the late Time at Sc Admiralty. Per-
sonally, he oisraseed that his essesies hestelles eat from
his late belles
• was mat paged pronging, edopted
rualannall so el duty.
The MostieiM was issilsed by Kr. Dromessi, tdr.
Gotha, the Hes. F. Scott, Kr. Lain, sod Kr. Wei-
, who Mei the seeeasity of ea inquiry, ask by Lord
Wg. Lowe, General Peel, and Mr. O. Versos,
Wirt 111111 ms grounds, objected to the appoistsant of •
eemimiles•
Sir J. !ARINGTON said the state of the public
affairs wee le critical, and the position of the genes:neat
wee so peculiar and so discreditable, that be felt very dab-
ass of offering • few observations to the hones, espeelally
as he had been selected as one of those whom it was pro-
posed to nominate as members of the committee. What,
then, was the math ground of the desire which existed is
the public Wad for inquiry ? The fluent army that Rag-
land bad ever lest forth had been victorious, and it had
perished. (Cheers.) It had perished horribly by disease,
famine, eold, fatigue, and protracted suffering; and we. not
that • case for inquiry ? (Hear, hear.) He (the right hes.
baronet) feared, before smother swath had passed, that as
the lied regiment had already gone, and as the noble
brassie of the guards had almost gone, so would the whole
dads Ise army be also pee. (Hear, hear.) had what
WIN our mass of mitering our strength is the Crimea ?
Ii wee only yesterday that he had bees told by • diet's-
phial afar who had seen the lest draft of 9.000 as seat
or km Peetemeath, that those men wore red /man and
Meted vaashots, but that they were sot soldiers; kir there
was sot one amosgstthem who had bees embodied I maths
oil many of them net two. Wee it fair to our beau troop in
SS Crimea, or to oar allies. or to England, to mad oat raw
=ta like these ? (Chews.) And what wee tee states of
at hems ? At home there wsre divided and
die-
taasted enssile ; sad the ties whisk ought tetbave bee.
bolsi to the sat emerge* ammo sees mamma is
NMI lotrasses of isilighleal ambition sad the ougglo et
essesodko parties. (Load sheen.) The Rate it, Sc
pea lean lad bad alluded to by the hem, won Abe

Manobestar In terra. el great moderation sad of peat
truth. Thera amid be no doubt that that feeling wee
one of great Indignation. The people demanded

to know the eases of those great misfortunes
which had bets/len ear army, and they would not
be satisfied without an inquiry. They expected to be
stabled to ascertain—sad it was the duty of the government
to mid them—who was to blame. For his own part, he did
not hesitate to express his opinion that the blame was to be
auxibsted. to the miseendust of the government of Lord
Aberdeen. (Cheers) He did not deny that great mistakes
might have bees made by the army Malt. There might
have huh Mei 4the conduct of the army which might
have led to a part of the sufferings which it had had to en-
d** ; bat it was his (Sir J. Pakiugton's) deliberate opinion
that it was the bad policy of the late government, and its
had management of public affairs, that had contributed most
to the disasters which had befallen the army in the East.
His belief was that in the course of this unhappy war—
unhappy in the negotiations which bad led to it, and in the
steps which had been taken when it at last broke out—his
belief was that whatever their intentions might have been,
the conduct of her Majesty's ministers had been one WTI.s
of blunders and mistakes. (Hear, hear.) He (Sir J.
Pakington) must certainly disclaim any intention of attack-
ing any individual member of the late government, or of
shifting to any one person the responsibility which rested
upon the whole cabinet. The right hon. gentleman (Mr.
Sidney Herbert) had accepted this principle of holding the
entire government responsible for its acts ; and he (Sir J.
Pakington) alluded to the subject the rather because it had
been stated by one of the right hon. gentlemen who had re-
tired, that Lord Aberdeen and the Duke of Newcastle had
been sacrificed to the public feeling which had been created
by the disasters of the Crimea. Now if he (Sir J. Pakington)
were called upon to make any distinction and to name that
one member of the late government to whom the greatest
amout of blame was due, be should certainly not name the
Duke of Newcastle. (Cheers.) The mode of the noble
duke's retirement had at all events been more honourable
to him than the mode in which others had contrived to re-
tain possession of °Moe. (Cheers.) If he (Sir J. Pakingtoa)
was called upon to specify those members of Lord Aber-
deen's government to whom he should be disposed to attach
the largess share of blame, he should same the noble lord
the member for the City of London, and the noble viscount
the present Prime Minister. (Hear.) Ho was enabled thus
to speak of the former noble lord (Lord J. Russell) from the
language used by the noble duke in the remarkable defence
which be made of his conduct in another place ; because
, when the Secretaryship of State for War and the Colonies I
was divided the noble duke strongly remonstrated upon
the incompleteness of the proposed arrangements. It might
be in the recollection of the house that when the noble lord

Russell) came down to tb. house lest session and
expleiaed the arrangements that were to be made, he (the
right hen. baronet) had taken precisely the same objection.
And now it appeared that the very objections which had
been made in this house by himself (Sir J. Pakington), and
in the House of Lords by Lord Grey, had also been made
in the cabinet by the Duke of Newcastle, and had been
overruled by the noble lord (Lord J. Hweell) on the ground
that parliament wished for the change, and that therefore,
to please the Hosea of Commons, the change must be made.
He (Sir J. Pakington) did not think that any minister,
however great his ability or his application, could have con-
ducted the war department satisfactorily so long es it existed
in so divided and conflicting a state. (Hear, hear.) The
Prime Minister he considered also to blame for his conduct

in regard to the militia. (Hear, hear.) In May last the
noble viscount stated that it was not the intention of the

government to call out the Irish militia, nor did he even this
call out the English or Scotch militia, although they had
been told that a descent upon the Crimea bad been the
policy of the government from the eery first, and although
order were given for the expedition in the next
month. Yet notwithstanding that the government thus
intended to invade the enem's territory and to attack
his strongest fortress, the noble lord did not think it nem.
eery to provide the legitimate and constitutional reserve out
of which our troops might have been recruited. (Hear,
hear.) They were told to look to the noble lord as the man
who was to rescue the country from its present dilemma. For
the sake of the country, he (dir J. Pakington) devoutly
trusted that the noble lord might be able to do so ; but when
he found him displaying such a complete want of sagacity
and foresight, be felt no little misgiving, and be certainly
thought that the noble viscount was chargeable with a large
share of the disasters which bad occurred (Hear, hear.)
He (Sir J. Pakington) did not regard Mr. Roebuck's
motion as a censure upon any one member of the govern.
ment ; but he did regard it as a direct vote of
censure upon the government itself, and it had
been carried by a majority that was perfectly unparalleled.
The right boa. baronet (Sir J. Graham), who had expressed
a great dislike to the proposed inquiry, had argued that
those hon. members who voted for it bad had no inteu-
tion of pressing the committee, but had regarded the motion
simply as a vote of censure upon the government. But those
who had thus accepted it as a vote of censure had certainly
anticipated that the effect of their vote would be the
return to office of the very same men as they had condemned.
(Hear, hear.) The common sense and the right feeling of
the country had never been more outraged than when,
after such a vote, the government of Lord Aber-
deen returned to office virtually unchanged. (Loud
cheers.) A strong government was desired ; but
how had Lord Aberdeen's government been strengthened ?
Why, by the retirement of two of .the most experienced
, statesmen of the day—Lord Aberdeen, and the noble lord
the member for the City of London. (Hear, hear.) Several
other members of the government had sines retired, and he
(Sir J. Pakington) thought that they bad done so upon
ample sufficient grounds. (Cheers.) He thought that they
had retired In a manner highly honourable to them, sad
that, after the line they had hollowed with regard to the
motion of Mr. Roebuck, they had taken an honourable and
consistent part. (Hear, hear.) Entertaining this opinion,
however, be (Sir J. Pakington) thought the position of the
Prime Minister was at least a moat extraordinary one. He
wished to know whether, after the opinions the noble vis-
count had expressed last Friday night, the course the noble
lied bad taken that night was a proper or a constitutional
one ? (Hear.) He could perfectly understand how, if the
noble lord wished to form the strong government which
he had been invited to do, be might have to
assent to things te which he might entertain some
objectfons ; but he could not understood how the
noble lord could take the course he had now done after
what he had said last week, when he expressed his disap-
probation of the enquiry, and stated that it was not in ac-
cordance with the constitution of the country. (Hear,
hear.) Did the noble lord mean what he had said ? If he
did, ought a Prime Minister to set the example of taking a
course which was not in accordance with the constitution?
(Hear, hear.) He (Su J. Pakington) was quite unable to
agree with the two right hon. gentlemen (Sir J. Graham
aid Mr. S. Herbert) in the strong objections they felt to the
MMwd committee. He understood one of them (Mr. S.
to object only to the inquiry into the condition of
the army in the Crimea ; but to admit that an Inquiry into
the conduct of the government would be quite constitu-
tions!. The right ken. gentleman only objected to the
tribunal. He objected to a committee of the Hones of Com-
mas, but he did not object to a commission. Why,
tha, had there not been a commission ? (Hear, hear )
The country had been told that the house could not and
must not resist inquiry. (Hear, hear.) Why, then, had
they not had the commission recommended by Mr. Herbert ?
He admitted that it would be an inquiry into the condition
of the army; and if it did net take place soon, he doubted
whether there would be any army to inquire into. (Hear,
been and " Oh, oh," from the ministerial side.) He spoke
of bele, and fait bound to allude to them. It had been said
by gib James Graham that the inquiry was unprecedented ;
se wen the deennistances wider which it took plane. (Hear,
beer.) His name had been proposed on the committee ;
ea In wished therefore to state frankly the spirit in which
be should enter We the inquiry. His name bad been
CVthe list by a friend, not in opposition to his wish ;
e on
tend moot to serve on two distinct can-
atiene—iluitthe 'hold bz=te and searching ;
penile lease aid this; and that
with sigma le tin mad of the departsessts, they should
Imola at tin begleeng. (Hear, bum) Lord J. Russell
bed asegiallmitle evaded ty by writing a letter
in lirsemlee; but the me batty of the government bad
outman' is Jane or J y ; and if the house went into the
inquiry, they must take it from the beginning. The house
WW stepped sue of its way ; and the committee must not
ekes their eyes le the magnitude of the responsibility which
would rest apes them. Were they to inquire into the cir-
eneistanees aim which our army was mat to the Crimea
Men the wileme, without adequate means, ignorant of the
ensemeala KIM gamy ? (Hear, hear.) Ha said nothing
aow Ispedllies being undertaken at all: that might be-
OM ea inquiry at a future day. He knew that the govern-
ment bad been warned, by high military authorities, of the
great risk they incurred in this expedition, and that if they
attempted to winter there the army would be destroyed.
(Hear, hear.) Wen they to inquire into this and into
the reason why no reserve was provided ? (Hear,
hear.) Why no militia fora yet existed whence
the army might be rocraited,why the siege train was not
in readiness, sad why the huts, so essential for a winter
, were not even ordered until the third week in
Iti=r ? (Hear, hear.) Theo were subjects wholly
frivolities of the condition of the army and the conduct of
the pooh, but deeply implicating the conduct of the go.
valiant. If they dad not lapin into these things, the
what weal be a delusion and a mockery. (Hear, hear.)
ilea wee his views of the inquiry. It the bon disap-
point lbw let them not pleas him en the committee ; if
illhoteke, be would endeavour to set up to the views he
hM opeinnt (Hear, hear.) Let there be no adeunder-
elemang. He could only memo to serve on condition
=be inquiry should be full and complete, that there
be no evades, and no attar.pt to screen any one in
pun, either at home or abroad. (Haas, hut.)
GLADSTONE said—nu, house, sir, has before it
Ihls gneiss throe Oran mhos 'having recently held, nadir
dielaitswas of difficulty, te.s position of soopoosibb
ad-
vitfore of the crown, and hf.ying found themselves
eem-
plied by an abcelate Nan of duty to separate from col-
leagues wham they estesawed, and with whom they agreed,
an deacons of making e. statement of their motives. lam
On& sir, I can hardly ask for the piano of the bean, ea
it bee 'Clete ben so Wearily taxed with a series of personal
eigioreklen Poe ;my own part, I egos innately
Ice whet ha fella from my two right hos. friend', sad
I would rest Whiled with the statements they han
made erne it cost that the question which has
led te ea Milani= is ea of the deepest !parliamentary
end enneliblainal imitation Oar fate, as individuals,
1111111110110111 i i bet it Val and lip with • matter of the

greatest lows.; to the nation. As fir uI am ooncorised,
perhaps I =ay be pornittad to lack a little without Weapons-

big too mush on the honw. It has boon said that we are in
a state of something like a ohronieministazial crisb, and it is
difficult to separate the events of the last few days from
those which preceded them. I would wish, therefore, to

refer, in one or two sentences, to the commencement of the
crisis, sad the position in which my name applaud Were
the public in connexion with the early stages of it. When
Lard Derby received a commission to form an administration
an offer was made by him to my right hon. friend the member
for Wiltshire and myself to take office under him. That
offer baa been explained as having been made in very different
terms. We have received one from my noble friend who is

now Prime Minister. His account was somewhat different

from the statement afterwards made by the noble earl him•

self in another place. Another statement has sines been

made in this home by the bon. member for Buckingham-
shire, totally at variance with the other. It may not be a
point of much historical interest, but I venture to assure the

house that to this moment I am in ignorance of what wee
the offer made to me by Lord Derby. But, sir, however that
may be, I am anxious the house should be aware of the part

I took in that matter, mid u my communication remains in
writing and Ina been alluded to here and in another place,
I may, parbsps, be allowed to read the short letter I ad-
dressed to Lord Derby in answer to the message I received
from him. In that letter I ventured to express my
opinion that the best thing that could have happened for
the country would have been that Lord Derby could have
succeeded in forming a government out of his own political
friends and adherents. I entertained that, both as te-

girded the wishes of the country and as regarded the great
question of peace and war ; and if, in an independent

on in this house, I could have given a support to Lord
Derby when the occasion demanded, I think it would
have been more constitutional, and more satisfactory
to parliament and the people. My letter runs thus:
" Downing-street, Jan. 31.—My dear Lord Derby.—Lord

Palmerston has informed me that you were good enough to
express a wish that Sidney Herbert end I should become
members of your administration ; he also informed me that
he did not think he could render you useful service as a mem-
ber of your government, and Intended so to inform you."
It was not at that moment, but at a subsequent period, that
my noble friend intimated to me his own intentions.
"It only remains for me to reply in similar terms. I think
it will be for the public advantage that you should form a
government from your own adherents. I trust you will
form one to obtain adequate parliamentary support."
That is the close as well as the htqinning of my communi-
cation with Lord Derby. lam so far agreed with my right
hon. friend the member for Midhurst in dislike to coalitions,

that I believe the best that could have happened for the
country is the situation at which parliament had arrived
would have been, first that a government should have been
formed by Lord Derby from his own adherents, or if not,
lexeusively from those on this side of the house who have
all their life been accustomed to act together. lam bound
to say that events, as far as they have since gone, have
tended strongly to confirm that impression. With regard,
sir, to the intermediate proceedings in the formation of the
government of the noble lord, my right hon. friend, the
member for Carlisle, has adverted to what was the sole
question of discussion, on which alone there was any stipu-
lation or understanding, that is to say, u to the parlia-
mentary prospects of the government. There was no
ground of public difference between the noble lord and
myself. I bad learned to respect and regard him from my
connexion with him, and I had been acting in hearty co-
operation with him for two eventful years. I felt I should
have been wanting in my duty to my country if I refused
the offer he was so good as to make me. There was a matter'
of a painful character to me involved in the whole transla-
tion ; no act of my public life has been to me the
source of more deep pain, or more suffering, than to be
severed from my noble friend Lord Aberdeen. Sir, I lis-
tened with patience to the attacks made from various
quarters on his name and conduct while I was in office;
then I was, perhaps, bound to do so. Now that my noble
friend hen been dismissed, by the blows tints rudely made
from official life, and that I myself have followed, I hope I
may be permitted testate my feelings with respect to Lord
Aberdeen. Sir, Lord Aberdeen is a man who has been
much misunderstood. Twenty years have elapsed since I
heard him described in this house, by a noble lord one
of the most honest statesmen of the age, as
a person holding principles that made him the
enemy of mankind. That noble lord has since learned to
honour Lord Aberdeen, to act with, and deeply to regret the
attack he had made on him. After that, Lord Aberdeen lived
to become the trusted colleague, the admired colleague, the
eulogised colleague, of Sir Robert Peel—his faithful ally
and colleague in giving effect to all his measures for the
benefit of the people. As the calumnies of twenty years
ago have been dispelled, so the errors and prejudices of to-
day will be dissipated hereafter; and Lord Aberdeen will
leave a name, I venture to predict, enshrined in the grate-
ful recollections of his country. (Cheers, and some marks
of dissent.) B.r, the hon. member for Aylesbury is incre-
dulous. I thought he would have been content with the
latitude of vituperation which this house allows him. I
believe he belongs to a liberal party. While Chancellor of
the Exchequer, I bore with him. Surely, now that he has
purged the government from the evil elements can-
tamed in my own person, it may be permitted
me to express an opinion I conscientiously enter
Min. (Cheers.) I know it is shared by every man who
has been the :riend or colleague of Lord Aberdeen.
Sir, it wu with regret and indignation that I have
to-night heard the attack on Lord Aberdeen—his retire-
ment was not sufficient to mitigate the wrath of some gen-
tlemen, because he retired with a mark of his Sovereign's
regard, that he had earned by half a century of service.
(Cheers.) I thank the how for having permitted this
allusion—l now pass to the question before us, and the
circumstances under which I quitted her Majesty's govern-
ment, because that government, placed in circumstances of
great difficulty, and having two alternatives before them,
made, what I consider, a fatal choice. The hon. member
for Devonshire said he heard to-night for the first time in
this debate, that those who retained office were deserters,
while those who quitted it were faithful. The hon. gentle-
man entertains a different opinion ; he thinks those who
retain office and change their intentions are faithful,
bat thou who retain their intentions and quit
office are deserters. I confess I was surprised to find the
hon. gentleman of that opinion. I recollect a cue in point,
which I recommend to his meditation. In the end of 1819
this country was placed in circumstances of great difficulty.
famine wu impending. Sir R. Peel adhered to office, and
changed his intentions ; Lord Derby adhered to his inten-
tions, and quitted office. lam afraid that, under these
circumstances, it was Sir R. Peel who was faithful, and Lord
Derby a deserter; but I certainly never ventured to
apply that term to Lord Derby. Undoubtedly I do
not lonian to pronounce censure of any kind on
the course taken by m right hon. friends who have
remained is office. I y know and feel from experience
the didlesity of arriving at a decision to guide my own con-
duct in weighty passages of public affairs and I would net
mouse to find fault with thee, who have conscientiously
followed a different course. I have not changed my inten-
tions. lam doing nothing but repeating on the 23rd of
February the expression I used on the 29th of January. It
would be impossible for me to denounce to-night the pro.
Ipriety of proceeding with the nomination of a select commit-
tee to inquire into thejreat military operations that are still
going on in more violent language than I used when it wee
first proposed. Next to eating a man's own words, I know
not anything eo disagreeable as reading our own words—
(laughter)--ond at times like these especially, when a man
is so apt to forget his feelings of yesterday. I have looked
back to the expresaion I then used with respect to the ap-
pointment of this committee. On the 29th of 1•=,..
1
said: "For my own part, I believe that mode of
to be worse than useless, as for u regards tr..e army m
the Crimea Your inquiry will never take place as a
real inquiry. If it did, it would load to nothing but con-
fusion, paralysis, increased disaster, shame at home, week-
noes abroad. It would carry no consolation to those whom
you seek to aid—it would carry malignant joy to the hearts
of the enemies of England. And, for my part, I shall ever
rejoice, if this measure is carried, that my lust words as a
member of the government of Lord Aberdeen were words
of solemn and earnest protest against a proceeding which
has no foundation either in the constitution or in the
pcnotice and proceedings of parliament ; which is useless
and mischievous for the purpose that it appears to con-
template, and which is, in my judgment, full of danger to
the Ci:::the dignity, and the usefulness of the Commons
et land." A man, sir, who used those words
no the of January, need them perhaps in error and
darkness, but that they came from the motion requires but
Utsie ability to prove in the face of the Commons of
ad' when he resigns °Sea rather than be a party
to tie ke so denounced. Ido not make light of my
el caret; it was painful to me to part from the
=ga g clime at this moment ; it was painful to me to
part been my colleagues; and it was painful to me
to part from the public servants with whom I had
boon amodated in the Treasury and Be departments.
The line of conduct I have followed may have bees erro-
aeon', but ay convictions were !deliberately entertained,
and expressed with all the faros of language I could caw
mend. Now, sir, I wish to call the attention of the house
strictly and distinctly to the matter at issue. The sniped
is one of such importance that I am deeply anxious that
there should be no misunderstandings. With respect to
what fell from the hon. member for Droitwich, I listened
with very greet pleasure. I thank him for his generous
appreciation of our motives, but I listened with more satis-
faction, on public grounds, to his views on the subject of
the committee. He stated that this in the main was an
inquiry into the conduct of the government; he intimated
that if the alternative was put to him he would prefer the
inquiry should be carried on by a commission nominated by
the crown in lieu of a parliamentary committee, and
would have gladly accepted such a proposition. I
repeat hie sennal, not to criticise, but to show my
agreement. Let ft be elsuly understood what the•poiats of
inquiry are—emisareue are made to draw them from the
wear= of the hew; tit are two-fold, Ant, with rested
to the state eats may la as to the eon-
dam of the aseminarisi As to the latter, I
befEedisttit:Rl:trigitiabit;il:ll.l"l:B=mit Uit iliblishipeadhimpshitelli that'el coats
to ar;biottrilitCParthswoaluiLibtedd.
and I think the slate of the many fe set a fit eabjeot for this

y',,)

inquiry. Such an inquiry would paralyse the actin-171st the
departments of the government. For myself, I believe my.
self and my friends will render the noble lord's government
better service out of office than in office. He can easily dal
men to supply our place amongst the.. near whom I now sit,
and with whom I hope to cultivate amicable relations of
friendly neighbourhood, and who will join him now that
they have rid the ministry of such incongruous material.
But I must confess that I appreciate the desire for an
quiry as a fact, even apart from the reasons for it. I grant
that you have a state of feeling in the country which re.
quires that you should deal with the subject with adequate
'ration and circumspection. I grant you that the vote of
' • •

this house, where any effect can be given Wit vithom
serious detriment to the public intermits, has a solemn claim
to the obedience of every public matt. I must confeu that
under these circumstances, although I believe some
•- ' " • •

venience would have been the result, I should hare been
prepared to submit, even to a committee of the house, an
inquiry into the conduct of government department,. Bat
the question which was trought forward,—t'se question
which has begun by disturbing the councils of the country,
bet which has not yet run its course or reached its end; the
larger question is whether a select committee shall be sp.
pointed to inquire into the state of the army in the East.
Now what is the principle on which we ought to proceed?
lean conceive nothing more simple in my own view am to
draw a general sketch of the duty of the house. The house,
I admit, cannot but view with pain and horror the suffer-
ings to which our forces have been exposed, but I hope that
it will not adopt that strain of exaggeration in
reference to those sufferings which I am sorry to see creep-
ing, unconsciously perhaps to them, into the speeches of
bon. members. (No.) I can assure that hon. gentleman
that if he had sat through this debate, instead of disention
from he would have been compelled to adopt the view which
I have expressed. (Laughter.) I have heard bon. members
speaking of the army as destroyed, annihilated, pose,
pirishod. I have heard this from gentlemen, many althea
are of high abilities and diepas.ionate judgments. I hope
that the house generally will not fall into these exaggera-
tions, they are both dangerous and mischievous. (Hear.)
Still, sir, I admit that oar opinion of the sufferings of the army
dims and subdues the joy with which we contemplated its
brilliant exploits. I admit as fully as my right bon. friend
whom I follow, that there are no limitsto be pat to the obli-
gallons of this house to ascertain the cause of those suffer-
ings. But bow ? And when ? If you are to examine into
these sufferings with a view to call to account the ministry,
as we are no longer in it you may deal with us at once.
But if you are to examine into them with a view of calling
to account those in command in the Crimea, I protest
against it with all the power lam able. (Cheers.) If, on
the other band, your object is not at present to call to
account any of these persons, but you reserve your right to
call them to account at a proper time, you ought now to
consider, not whether this one or that one ought to be
blamed, but simply and solely in what mode remedies may
be applied in the most effectual and most expeditions way.
But this cannot be the principle on which many hon. mem-
bers are inclined to act, because, if it is, I think it would not
be difficult to slow that those who adopt it ought to count
with us in oar protestation and resistance to this measure.
But I came down to the house with the strongest deter-
mination in my own mind upon this question, but with an
impression also that I should hear a great deal said in the
course of the evening with which I could not agree, arid said
with energy and force, in favour of the appointment of
the committee. I have teen on interested listener ever
since five o'clock to the course of the debate, and I must
say that if it were possible for me to entertain sentiments
of malevolence towards any abstract proposition like that of

the appointment of • parliamentary committee, that bad
feeling would have been gratified to the utmost by the mode
is which hon. members have supported the appointment in
the course of to-night. (Hear. hear.) I have seen with
delight that predominancy of English good sense in this
house, which, notwithstanding ell we have heard about the
determination of the people to have an inquiry, as moved
for by the hon. and learned gentleman (Mr. Roebuck), has
gone clearly and directly to the point, at issue. I thick,
sir, you have called in the course of the evening upon about
twenty speakers, and I may ask who are those among them
who have supported this inquiry ? (lipar, hear.) My right
hon. friend (Mr. Walpole) defended on the around of several
precedents, but he defended it upon not one single principle.
To the many able speeches which were made against the
proposed committee, no arguments were urged except argu-
ments in favour of an inquiry. I am not going to vote
against inquiry. I say, give us the best and most searching
inquiry, but do not give us that which will prove I
fear both mischievous and abortive. I will not go
through the names of those hon. members who
poke with the intention of supporting the committee.
I will but refer to my hun. friend below me, the member
for West Surrey (Mr. Drummond), who made a speech, en-
tertaining and forcible as his speeches always are, and who
imagined, I doubt not, that he made a speech in favour of a
committee. (" Hear," and laughter.) All minds are sub-
ject to error—sometimes even the greatest are led astray.
(Laughter.) What said my hon. friend He said that
there was great danger in the committee, and that he could
not go into it with a clear conscience unless it were limited
to one course of examination. It is nut for me to construe
the speech of my hen. friend ; but I cannot understand
what else he means than that a code of questions should
be drawn up for the committee, out of which they ilea
not traverse. Then there was the noble lord the member
for Tana (Lord Seymour), whom the house had looked
upon as the chairman of the proposed committee ; he spoke
still more strongly and deliberately upon the matter. My
memory is too weak to follow the points of the noble lord's
speech ; but I think there was no objection which had been
urged which the noble lord did not endorse, and to them he
added a number of goodly objections of hii own. We may
form, too, some idea of the general feeling of the house upon
a committee from the difficulty whieh is found in getting the
requisite hands for it. So long as it is a mere general proposi-
tion many will, to some extent without thought, vote for it.
But when the names are selected, the responsibility comes
home to hon members, and they are obliged to weigh more
considerately the reasons affecting the question. There is
• statement of Mr. Burke, founded, as most of his observa-
tions were, upon actual experience, that you ought not to
commit the management of an engine to the hands of those
who were unfavourable to its formation. Let us try the
proposed committee by that rule. It consists of eleven
members—of the opinions of four of whom no possible
doubt can be entertained, since they voted in the
first instance against its appointment. The next name
is that of my hon. friend Sir G. Lewis. He may
be said to stand in the position of a neutral, but I think I
should not be far wrong if I were to hazard a conjecture sa
to his opinion, and to say that that opinioa was unfavourable
to the proposed course. We have next the name of my hon.
friend the member for West Surrey (Mr. Drummond), to
whose statement that a course of inquiry ought to be
marked out I have already adverted. Then there is the hon.
member for Aylesbury (Mr. Layard),who in the mod manly
meaner has never concealed the opinions which he enter-
adasd about this committee, and who objected to it in strong
terms upon the first night of the debate. I cannot seywhether
he
Hen,
his opposition in the second debate or not.
HON. then, was • majority in the committee, even leaving
out of view the hon. member for West Surrey, who were
opposed *to to very existence. Of three other members I
cannot but venter. to express a doubt, although it may be
impertinent in me to do so, whether they, is their unbiused
judgment, approve of the committee in which it is proposed
they should sit. In fins. sir, although I, for one, certainly
object to the ballot, yet I cannot help thinkiog
that if the house sheer to vote upon the
subject of this committes by ballot—(cteers)—
I have not the least disposition is conceal the vote which
I should give myself—that the negats.es would at least form
a most respectable minority if they did not find themselves
a majority. (Hear, hear.) Ws have been told
by an hon. member to-night that we must nave this com-
mittee, that the people had derided that it should be so,
and that all our debating and arguing was useless I think
better of the people than that hon. gentleman—l ha,e more
faith in them. (Cheers.) I believe that the very debate of
to-night, that the argument& which have been brouiht
forward, and that the signal absence of reply which has
been so noticeable a feature in this evening's proceedings,
will have their effect out of doors, and convince the public
of the wisdom of foregoing the proposed committee. There
is • topic connected with this subject to which I cannot help
alluding, although it is rather a personal one, end cannot
effect the house at large. For me, I frankly own, it would
have been most difficult to convince myself that I was
acting in a manner conformable to the laws et personal
honour, if, being one of those who appointed Lord Rae"
to his dangerous task—one of those who stood by while
all the appointments in the Crimea were made—and while
he was still engaged in that task, and we had not
thought fit to recall him—l had declined to act as his de-
fender, but had handed over his character to the good or ill
conduct of a parliamentary committee. (Hear, hear.) I
hold that no person being a defender of the Crown, has a
right to pursue such a course. They appoint men to get,
the ends of the earth, to fulfil the most difficult tasks which
can fell to the lot of any one—these men go forward to that
perilous task, they know quite well that, ,5
In all matters in which the heart of the pima Is
engaged, many sharp and painful things, many lusty,
sad precipitate, aid coarse things will be said; they
know that the mouths of members of this house cannot es
stopped, that many things will even here be said of which
theme who have said them will afterwards bitterly repent.
Surely these are hard circumstances for our generals and
others commanding in the Crimea. Have they no one
defender whose duty it is either to support or renal them ?
Blr I say there is one body of men upon whom they have a
right to rely, so long as they continue to manifest confidence
is them by continuing them In the exercise of those dudes
which nought but confidence can justify. (Cheep)l admit
that this is not a reason binding the house ; but I think
it
ealy my duty to state • reason,which weighs deeply with me.
The house has, of course, a right to judge unfettered h 1
feelings such as these. But does the house intend this to
be a crommittee of punishment, surely no one can support
It this ground. No one has attempted, and no ens
mes
er I believe, attempt to take that line of argument. Bat
eaminittee of remedy will it fulfil its object. It should, to
de es, be speedy In its action, end in its result.
Malvin litbe so ? eecolleot myself once milting on a mar
mittee which had to inquire into facts which happened et a
distance. It was the committee which sat to inquire into
the rebellion at Cen. I remember—end the house will
bear me out in the hot—that that committee sat through
two sessions of parliament; and I remember, moreover,
how
abortive and objectless the report of that committee taw
maid turned out to be. I admit that for many ptirreta a
ttee of this house is most useful,—that it is el•
tzentely well adapted for inquiry into minute details.
Bat it Is also fitted for loading the inquiry with unimportaaa,
matter. Your committee, whatever it mayy be, can remeg
nothing, the more especially as its power is limited to "