The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-27 00:00:00

hel ipeaewsr
tvia
same
ofe
time
tiiti,
immediate
germi
they
geywc,riaioei
will
naawl
ttsbnouce:
statement
re.
nu:el:I.:lay:.
tnoyji
oppose
poschoitoi
noi(csuHfigseCceeihee
andsreo.
Ministers
ins:. huen.
(Hoar.)
inquiry—who
y takingi -3
3—sp
ul Jan.anwtcyheat,otcha
case
23, 1855.
" My dear Lord Aberdeen,—Mr. Roebuck has given notice
of a motion to inquire into the conduct of the war. Ido not
see how this motion is to be resisted ; hut, as it involves a
censure upon the War departments, with which some of my
colleagues are connected, my only course is to tender my re-
signation. I therefore have to request you will lay my humble
resignation of the office which I -have the honour to hold
before the Queen, with the expression of my gratitude for
Her Majesty's kindness for many years. .
" I remain, my dear Lord Aberdeen, yours very truly,
.
"./. RUSSELL."
To that note I received no answer; but on the following
evening my noble friend informed ice that he bad been to
Windsor with my resignation, and that her Majesty had
been pleased to accept it, with
itniTiieshtgei
sr;asctihwoonhoso, expression
thhoai
this
eththraetsit)heecyt
are right in respect to what has been done and what is do-
let one,
te letter—namely,
that the
md y, arrangement
of
placing which
th Ie proposedseals
ofthine.
object-
ing to the proposed committee. I should have been out of
place in such comp
teter of the 17th of November, or rather in my
must say that I have heard that there is a rumour, and I
subsequenthi
noyp e
first a t rl ue
War Department in the handed the noble lord, the Home
Secretary, has been made. (Hear, hesn)= ,kshall greatly
rejoice if that is the cane, -for I believe it will be of great
benefit to the country that my noble friend (Lord
Palmerston) should hold that office. (Hear, hear.) I
EstStaimatetefso'r a shall be glad to think that my retirement from office has
in any way' contributed to that change, and I believe it
must in someway have contributed to it—(" Hearrand
laughter)—for. otherwise I have no doubt that my noble
friend, Lord 'Aberdeen, with the fairness ' and candour
honestly i n
r e
c respect
mme nchanged,
to
the
Queen.tha t that
11
in a t
which belong to him, and which I always 'found in him,
~ your proposal being founded on the supposed impro- would have answered the letter I have just read, by saying
ie
eteeyitoyf Herbertof
consequent
Wndarthbeeinginthe w
thhaitchcirehe
circumstances
dneneet s had
House of Commons, renders the removal of the Duke of November he had thought necess iry at the inner& time—
Newcastle from his present office unavoidable. But, although (" Hear" and laughter)—end that therefore my difficulty
you would regard this as the inevitable result of an official in opposing the motion of inquiry might be in some degree
arrangement, it is not to be supposed that it would be con- lessened, if not entirely removed. (Hear.) That cannot
opereth e smeeoNrientagry the
of
sidered in this light by the public, or, indeed, by any im- have been the case. This must have been the subsequent
partial person. The dislocation of the Government would arrangement, and I shall be very glad if my retirement
be so great, and the reason assigned for it apparently so in- from the less important office, in the present conjuncture'
adequate, that it could only be considered as a mode of of President of the Council could have led to the appoint-
substituting one man for another. Although you may be ment to the War Department of my noble friend the
far from entertaining any such desire, the transaction could Home Secretary, of whom I cannot speak in higher
receive no other interpretation. In justice to the duke, Ido terms than I have already used in one of my letters* , (Hear,
Having
not think that his colleagues, without very strong grounds, hear.)
stated thus much with respect to my peal.
would wish to place him iu such a position."
tion and the position of the Government,
I have not regu-
In the other part of his letter Lord Aberdeen stated larly any right to go further, but as perhaps I shall
take a
that he did not think any man would undertake the duties part in the debate on the motion of the
hon. and learned.
which I proposed should be undertaken by one person— member for Sheffield, and as it is not intention even to
viz. those of Secretary of State for the War Department, give a vote on the question, I may be perinitted to say
and, at the same time, Secretary at War. He considered it somewhat mole in reference to the present state of public
to be necessary that a Priry Councillor's office should be affairs. (Hear.) I should state, in the first place, that I be-
maintained, and that that office should beheld in connexion hove that all partiesin this house, without distinction—for
with the finances of the army, independently of the I will make no distinction whatever, are anxious that the
Secretary of State for the War Department. He stated war should be carried on, as the meeting at Leeds declared
also—a consideration well deserving of attention—that it by the most vigorous, measures, until we can obtain a just
might be desirable that hereafter some military chief, who and honourable peace (cheers) ; and I repeat my opinion
was in the House of Lords, should have the office, and, that those measures which are the most rigorous for the
therefore, it could not be always held by a member of the prosecution of the war, and those tame of peace, which aro
House of Commons. I considered the various objections most decidedly and unquestionably just and honourable,
of Lord Aberdeen, and on the 28th of November I wrote ,will meet with the most favour from all parties in this
as follows : house. (Cheers.) I thorougly believe that if any triumph"
I come, therefore, having cleared the ground of all these attends her INT • ' he are 'fit opposition
ajesty s arms, those wto
olistrueiiabs, to ~;.e seal ciuestion; what are t' :e requirements Lord Aberdeen's Governmeut will as heartily rejoice at
of the great war in which we are engaged ? Setting aside all that triumph as the Government themselves. (Hear.)
historical references, both on your rant and mine, I think it This at least gives great facilities at present for carrying

others, justifiable in the separate heads of departments, must
be forced to yield to the paramount necessity of carrying on
the war with efficiency of each service, and completeness of
means to the end in view. (Cheers.) . . If, therefore,
the first considerations hero presented lead to the conclusion
that the Secretary of State for the War Department must be
in the House of Commons, the latter considerations point to
the necessity of having in that office a man who, from expe-
rience of military details, from inherent vigour of mind, and
from weight with the House of Commons, can be expected to
guide the great operations of war with authority and success.
(Hear, hear.) There is only one person belonging to the Go-
vernment who combines these advantages—my conclusion is
that before Parliament meets Lord Palmerston should be in-
trusted with the seals of the War Department."
(Cheers.) That is the opinion I gave, confidentially, to the
Earl of Aberdeen. Before I read the Earl of Aberdeen's
answer, I have to say that, the Earl of Aberdeen having
requested some days to consider a matter of such impor-
tance, I wrote to him again on the 18th of November,
stating that I concurred in that delay, adding—
" I wish, however, that before you decide you should show
my letter to the Duke of Newcastle. It was my intention in
—nomtisasteacituiniegsce
in
the
writing the letter to avoid throwing any blame upon him,
exer-
tions he has made. But he has not had the authority requi-
site for so great a sphere, and has not been able to do all
that might have been done with larger powers of control."
Indeed, I think he deserves very great credit for the
my pro-
proposal I had made. On the 21st of November he writes
pToosimtiyonl7tlteinruLsotrdeayA_bethrdacet
thus : nhe"cpoluieldd
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