The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-20 00:00:00

asked the house to pass its censure upon those other mem-
bers of the Administration who concurred in the general
good administration of the three members who had been
absolved from all blame. (Cleers.) But if censure was
to be passed upon the members of the late Administra-
tion who were members of the present Government, I
must say that I think some honourable gentlemen on the
other side are not altogether likely to escape " scot free"
from the censure of the house. Because it is all very well
for the noble lord (Lord J, Manners) to say, as he has just
said, that the evidence given before the committee of in-
quiry has ulterad the state of the case with respect to the
proceedings of the late Government ; but the general facts
upon which the censure of the honourable and learned
member is founded, were facts notorious to all the world
at the time the committee was appointed. (Hear, hear.)
That committee has obtained no new information with

respect to facts. (Hear.) It has inquired into the man-
ner which these facts arose, and in which mistakes and
ini,tl-ances occurred. But the main facts of the sufferings
of the ermy, the unfortunate condition in which during
the winter months that army was unhappily placed—these
were facts perfectly known to the whole world before that
committee was appointed, and it was the knowledge of
these facts which induced the house to agree to the appoint-
ment of that committee. (Cheers.) But what did Lord
Derby do when he was called upon to form a Government?
He, knowing that the members of Lord Aberdeen's Go-
vernment had rendered themselves liable to censure, pro-
posed to nay:3elf, to the right hon. gentleman the member
for the University of Oxford, and the right hon. member
for Wilts, to become members of his Administration.
That offer, which I thought equally honourable to those
who made it, and to those to whom it was made, now
turns out, according to the arguments and conduct of
honourable members opposite, to have been accompanied
with some mental reservation, and that we were to be
merely trepanned into office. (Cheers and laughter.) I
don't believe that words such as those stated by the hon.
and learned gentleman could have been area. I have too
high an opinion of Lord Derby to credit that he would have
made an offer with such a reservation. But the house is

now called on to pass a censure on an existing Government
on account of the transactions of a Government which no
longer exists, and at the same time charges are made
against me for things which have passed in the Govern-
ment. In the first place I must say that there has been a
singular conflict of opinions among the different persons
who have addressed the house on this motion. Some con-

tend that the motion has nothing to do with the policy of
the war or with the policy of the expedition to the Crimea.
Others have dwelt greatly on the policy of the war and on
the policy of the expedition to the Crimea. But I should
like to know whether that is or is not to be an element in

the votes which hon gentlemen are about to give. (Hear,
hear.) I shall not now go into the question of the policy of
the war, on which the whole nation has made up its mind.
Nor shall I go into the reasons which led the Government
to think it was necessary to take up arms to check the am-
bitious designs of Russia. Nor shall I describe the circum-
stances which induced Russia to think that the moment
was favousAle for putting into execution its long-cherishel
designs on Turkey. Nor shall I allude to the opinion that
was entertained by Russia that there were circumstances
connected with England and France which might have
prevented a cordial union—an opinion as fallacious as it
was futile. Nor shall I advert to other circumstances in

this country which might have misled the Emperor of
Russia. But I must be allowed to say that, among the

many circumstances which led the Russian 'Government
into error, the language and conduct of the peace party
in this country tended greatly to increase it, and the
responsibility rests on them of having misled the Em-
. .

peror of Russia in this act of aggression. (Cheers.)
But the war being just and necessary, the question is how
Is that war being c trried on ? There are those who main-
tain that we should not have gone to the Crimea. But I
a-k them where else should we have gone ? Would they
have been satisfied had we merely blockaded the Russian
harbours? - Would they have our armies enter upon the
vast steppes of the Russian Empire, where victories might
possibly have been obtained, but where it would not have
been possible to have achieved ultimate success. (Hear.)
The Crimea was the place to go to—that was the place where

the blow should be struck, ns the centre of that Russian
power and dominion in the Black Sea which constituted
the danger to Turkey, to avert which we had gone to war.
_ .

It was thei efore in tlie Crimea that the policy obviously was
to attempt to strike a great and a decisive blow. No doubt
that the difficulties have turned out greater than were at
first expected, but the gallantry of the allied armies have re-
flected immortal honour on them. Their sufferings had bees
groat, but their heroism had been greater than their suffer-
ings. (Cheers.) I say, then, that if that be part of the ques-
tion to be decided to-night—if the policy of going to attack
Sebastopol be ono of the elements on which the hon. and
I,arned gentleman rusts, I am ready to take my fullest share
of the responsibility in that decision ; and whatever may be
the mischances and difficulties which have prevented suc-
cess, I am as strongly convinced to-day as when I gave that
opinion that we were right in going to the Crimea, and that
no other courso we could have adopted would have been
equally effective in attaining our object. (Hear, hear.) But
we are told that having determined on going to war we failed
in making adequate preparations for carrying it on with
vigour. I deny that charge. The Duke of Newcastle did
everything a man could do to send the army to the sent of
action. Never before did there leave these shores an army
so well equipped, or in such numerical force. Nor did my
noble friend neglect to provide reserves for the war, so far
as the establishments we had enabled the Government to
provide. (Hear, hear.) We have been told that there
was great neglect about the militia, and that for that
I was particularly responsible. The act brought in by
the right honourablo gentleman did not, under the
paiticular circumstances in which wo stood —did not
technically give us the power of embodying the militia—at
lo.tst so it was thought, because we were not actually in
danger of invasion. In former times we were always on
the breaking out of war in danger of invasion, but that
could not be said of the present war. It, there-
fare, became necessary to change the law, and we put it in