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

Sir J. PAKINGTON—The present state of public affairs
appears to me to be so critical and so menacing, and the
present state of the Government of this country to be so
peculiar and so unsatisfactory, and, I think I may add, so
discreditable—(hear)—that I feel very desireas to be al-
lowed to address souse observations to the house. (Hear.)
That desire I feel more strongly because I am one of those
gentlemen who have been selected to be proposed to the
house this evening as one of the members of the com-
mittee of inquiry about to be appointed, of the proceed-
ings of which we have heard so mush (hear, hear). What
is the present state of public affairs and the main ground
of the desire that now exists in the public mind for
inquiry ? The finest army that England ever sent forth
has been victorious and has perished (hear, hear). It has
perished by disease, sold, fatigue, and protracted suffering
(hear, hear, hear). Is this no cause for inquiry? Ana I
going too far when I use this expression—l fear that before
another month has passed, as the 63d Regiment has
already gone—as our noble brigade of guards has almost
gone so will the whole of that fine army have gone (hear,
hear)? How is that army to be recruited ? Have we the
means of strengthing it, and of restoring our force in the
Crimea ? It was only yesterday I got a description from a
very distinguished officer of a draft that lately left
Esgland for the Crimea. It consisted, he said, of 2,000
mea, who wore red coats and carried muskets, but were not
soldiers (hear, hear). There was not one amongst them
who had been embodied as a soldier for more than three
months, and many of them had been embodied only
for two months (hear, hear, hear). Is this fair towards
those whom they are going to assist, or to the allies with
whom we have engaged in this contest (hear, hear, hear)?
Is this fair to England (hear, hear)? And being the
state of affairs abroad, what do we find to be the state of
affairs at home ? We find divided and distracted councils
(hear, hear)—we find that the time that should be
devoted by a united Government to the most
energetic action is now consumed by the intrigues
(hear, hear) of individual ambition and the struggles
of contending parties (hear, hear). Is this no cause
for inquiry? And what is the state of feeling out
of doors in consequence of this state of affairs ? The hon.
member for Manchester has referred is the state of public
feeling with great moderation and with great truth. I be-
lieve the feeling out of doors at this moment amongst the
people is one of deep indignation. The people of this
country will demand to know what are the causes of these
misfortunes. They are looking anxiously to the proceed-
ings of this house, they expect an inquiry, and will not be
, satisfied without an inquiry. (Hear.) They expect to be
able to ascertain—and it is our duty in this house to assist
them in the inquiry—who is to blame for the misfortunes
and calamities that have occurred. I think any man is to
be censured who at a moment like this hesitates to express
his opinion on the state of affairs, and I have no hesi-
tation in expressing my distinct opinion, that the blame
for this state of affairs is to be attributed to the mis-
conduct and mismanagement of the Government of
Lord Aberdeen. (Hear.) I do not deny that great mis-
takes have been made in the Crimea, and that much that
has occurred there has led to part of the suffering that has
been endured by our army in that quarter of the world ;
but it is my deliberate opinion that it is the bad policy of
the late Ministay, and their mismanagement of affairs,
which hare. in a very large measure, conduead to the mis-
fortunes which this country has now to deplore. My belief
is that from the commencement of this unhappy war, and
the negotiations that led to it, the conduct of her Majesty's
Ministers has been marked by a series of the gravest mis-
takes and blunders. But when I use this language I beg to
say I entirely agree with those who, in the debate on the
motion of the hon. and learned member for Sheffield, alto-
gether disclaimed the intention of attacking any one indivi-
dual Minister. (Hoar, hear, hear.) Undoubtedly, I agree
in the opinion that the whole Cabinet must be held
equally responsible, and the right honourable member
for Wiltshire has broadly and fairly accepted that issue to-
night. (Hear.) I allude to this matter the more parti-
cularly, because, in one of the speeches we have heard to-
night, tie resignation of Lord Aberdeen and the Duke of
Newcastle was referred to as a sacrifice to the public ob-
loquy that had fallen on them in consequence of the dis-
asters in the Crimea. I have no hesitation in saving that
if I were called upon to name the members of the late Go-
vernment who, in my judgment, bore the heaviest share
of the responsibility of the unfortunate events that had
scourred in the Crimea, without having any political
leaning to the noble duke, I would not name him as one
of those men. (Hear.) Whatever mistakes had been com-
mitted in the Duke of Newcastle's department, I am free
to own that the mode of his retirement is more honourable
to him—(hear, hear) —than the mode in which others have
contrived to retain possession of office. (Hear, hear.) I
will not deny that if I were to name the members of the
Aberdeen Administration to whom I am disposed to attach
the greatest share of blame for the misfortunes that have
occurred, I would name the noble lord the member for the
city of London and the noble lord opposite, who is now
the Prime Minister of this country. (Hear.) lam judg-
ing now solely from the language used by the Duke of
Newcastle himself in that remarkable defence of his con-
duct to which I have already indirectly referred. (Hear.)
We learn from the speech of the Dnke of Newcastle that
at the time when the Secretaryship for the Colonies was
divided from the Secretaryship for War, and the new
Secretaryship for War was created, the Duke of Newcastle
strongly remonstrated•upon the incompleteness of the ar-
rangement. (Hear.) When the noble lord the member for
the city of London explained last session the arrangements
that had been made, I took exception to the imperfection
of those arrangements, and stated it was impossible to con-
duct the administration of the army on such principles.
(Hear.) I said that they could not hope to conduct the
affairs of the army satisfactory, unless a consolidation took
place of the various and conflicting departments by which
the army had been hitherto governed. The right hon.
gentleman the member for Wiltshire then said that my
objections were groundless, but now we find that at
the
very time I raised this objection in the House of Commons
the Duke of Newcastle had urged and urged again the same
objection, and was overruled by the nobl lord and the Ca.
binet. (Hear.) When the noble lord urged that he could
not discharge his duties as Secretary of War under this
imperfect arrangement, he was overruled by the noble lord
on the ground that Parliament demanded the change, and
to please Parliament the change was made. (Hear.) That
is a grave charge against the noble lord and all his col-
leagues, except the Duke of Newcastle. (Hear.) Whatever
may be the talent, ability, or capacity of the Duke of New-
castle, I do not believe that any minister could have con-
ducted the war satisfactorily as Secretary of State with the
depariment left in that divided, cenflicting, and unsatis-
factory state that has lasted nearly up to this time. (Hear.)
The consolidation that now takes place was urged by me
last session ; it was also urged with consummate ability by
Earl Grey in another plane ' • and it appears that the Duke
of Newcastle urged it upon the Cabinet, bat he was over-
ruled by the rest of the Cabinet, because they thought mere
of what would be acceptable for the moment to the House
of Commons than what would be beneficial to the country
and conducive to the prosecution of the war. (Haar.) What
I have quoted from the speech of the noble duke shows
that one of the persons most responsible is the noble lord
the member for Loudon. (Hear.) I have alluded to the
noble lord the Prime Minister in consequence of his con-
nection with the militia, and I think one of .the greatest
errors of the late Government was their neglect of the mi-
litia. (Hear.) The noble vieceunt, in answer to a question
put to him by the hon. member for Dublin last solution,
said that it was not then intended to organise and enrol
the Irish militia, because it was not desirable to incur any
large expense if the public service did not require it, but
what might be done in !mother year was a matter for
future consideration. We were told at the commencement
of the war that the Government contemplated an attack
upon the Crimea. In the month of June the order for
the attack on the Crimea issued, and yet the noble lord,
in his answer, said the Irish militia was not then to be
enrolled and embodied. (Hear.) Were the English or
Scotch militia embodied at a proper time, or was any one
step taken to insure the Government that legitimate and
constitutional reserve from which our army ought to be
recruited ? (Hear.) We are told to look upon the noble
viscount as the man to lead us out of our difficulties. I
wish he may, and no person will be more ready to give him
credit for it than I shall if he succeed; but what am I to
think when I find him holding this language in May last,
and exhibiting suck a complete absence of the sagacity and
foresight that ought to distinguish a minister of this coun-
try at such a moment when it was clear to every one who
considered the state of affairs that we were about to embark
not only in a serious war, but to make that war an aggres-
Tssaehriciiouths.layt
sive war by invading the soil of our enemy ? (Hear.) The
first duty of the Government on the outbreak of the war
was to take every step in their power to embody and enrol
the militia, and to secure to the country that legitimate
and constitutional reserve. Phave therefore a right to im-
pute to the noble lord a large share of the misfortunes that
occurred. (Hear, hear.) Ido not regard the motion of
the honourable member for Sheffield, and the division
and as such the
upon that motion, as a vota of censure upon any indivi-
dual member of the late Government ; bat I regard it as
motion did tilit not intend
.
"vote was accepted by the noble viscount
avete of censure iviion the conduct of the Government,
m .sr for Carlsle
opposite (he- r, hear).
.e right honourable gentleman
the me
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1...nt let ime only intended to censure the Government ;
vote of cenrs
eammind him that those who assented to it as a
not anticipate that as such give their support to it, did
NM to be the re,_ he immediate consequence of that vote
wrn to ogles of the very ramp 311.911 who