The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-17 00:00:00

1855,,

t 1 ;ropositions which bad been made by. Russia in the
c oaf itrences. It was maintained by those who thought
t hat peace might be secured that tho propositions of
.1 IDE ;in afforded sufficient elements; upon which to
f. ',tar'.'; pacific conditions. I bad entirely differed in the
mx c ° renees with respect to the first proposition • the
s. wnn id proposition was rejected by Lord Weetmereland
w ith out discussion, as I thought, most properly, because
it ap peered to me that neither of those proportions con-
tai nt d the elements of peace, and therefore I naturally—a
anft as I think inevitably—t lok the course I did of
agree •ing with this house in supporting her Majesty in the
pros. !eution of the war. It has been said that at that time
the h ousts was not informed with respect to the proposals
of A ustria in the form in which they had been laid down
by h er, and the answer which had been given to them.
s not the party chiefly responsible fur that commu-
nie Lion not being made. Of course the Foreign Seers-
ta ris the person upon whom that duty principally de-
vs red, but I think that the Government were quite
ri ;1 it in not making the communication at that time.
P act ing aside all question of form as to the exact
pe ri od at which those discussions ceuld be said to
ha v. been formally concluded, it was clear that the
ins ee announcement of the decision of Austria not to in-
ter a re by force, not to move her armies upon thee assian
ter ri tory, but, on the contrary, to withdraw from
an: r proepect of a contest even to the extent of diminish-
in ; and reducing her forces, could not operate favour-
ab 13- to us. It was quite evident that the moment Rus-
si. L, who had been threatened—Russia, who had felt the
pi 'assure of the great increase of the Austrian army from
a small force to nearly 500,000 men—perceived that that
pi 'assure would be taken off she would immediately feel
h, irself at liberty to detach some of the best and finest of
h ir troops to the shores of the Crimea, to oppose the
as 'allies of France and Great Britain. I think that it
w ould have been quite unjustifiable for the Government
of this country to state prematurely, or before it
cc nild be known through other channels, that the im-
mediate decision of Austria was not to propose an
ultimatum, and that therefore Russia was at once
al de to send her forces to the Crimea. (Hear, hear.)
I eannot conceive a greater dereliction of duty than
th B premature declaration of such a conclusion to the
negotiations with Austria, and it appears to me that
it would have been quite unnecessary for the pur-
ist: use of informing the house upon the proposition of the
ri ;ht hon. gentlemen what course they should adopt. I
ca n well conceive that if the Government had themselves
co me forward to propose a motion in this house, they
ight then have waited, they might have delayed till the
w hole of the papers should then have been laid upon the
to ble, and perhaps about this time they might have pro-
pc sed a voteaupon their own responsibility. But the house
is well aware that such a course was not left to the Go-
ve rnmeet. On the contrary, first one right hon. gentle-
rev .o, and then another right hon. gentleman, was anxi-
ous ; to come forward and discuss the whole subject, and
the Government were forced into that discusions in the
the n state of the negotiations. But, Sir, as I have stated,
on e 25th of May there could have been no hesitation,
DO do )übt in the minds of her Majesty's Ministers as to
wh; it was the result of these negotiations. The right
bon . gentleman said that I wan the uncompromising
adv cc ate of war, and he seemed to have a notion—
who ci •, as I think, has been, as it were, adopted
wit he ut reflection by a great number of persons—that
theria are two abstract things, one peace and the other
war, and that a person must be, under all circumstances,
either for one or the other. I myself regretted that some
yearn ago the persons who put themselves forward as
fortrsn ig a peace society were at ail events and under all
circle eetances for peace. I believe that the existence of
that society and the professions they made tended to
the vs ry opposite conclusion to that of peace—(hear)—
and ia ither induced foreign Powers in a hostile position
to us; to think that we should be loth to take up arms in
our is en defence. But, Sir, to say that because we are en-
, gags al in a great war with Russia we must go on and there
mus t be no terms on which we can settle peace, would be
such a n absurdity that no man could fairly and reasonably
ado' it such a doctrine. The right hon. gentleman, how-
evern speaks of it as if it were that absolute kind of con-
clusho n. Her Majesty's Government had taken no such
vieves ; they had proposed a plan of limitation of the
Ruesi; in fleet, upon which they would have made peace.
They considered that that was a security ; it was in itself
an inn ierfect security. I never have contended it was
others ise, but I think that her Majesty's Government,
were ,erfectly right in saying that if they could obtain
such a security peace would be preferable to war. In
short, every one who considers the matter must come to
the cos eclusion that peace and war are not those abstract
things ; but that peace is not desirable at all times while I
war is desirable at many times, and that the particular
circure stances of the period must be taken into conside-
ration. For my own part, there are many instances in
the his tory of Europe in which I think that war was a
necessity for this and other countries, and in which one
cannot . but sympathise with those who were engaged in
it ; fox • instance, with the Dutch when they opposed the
don' in ton of Spain, and with the Dutch again when
they -opposed the invasion of the French in the time of
Lou is XIV. But no one would say, because war
was desirable at that time, that there were certain terms
on which peace might be always concluded. I
say this because it certainly seems to have been a
reps •oach to me that upon the Ist of May I was of
opi aion that arrangements might be made by which,
with the concert of the Emperor of the French and the
concurrence of the Emperor of Austria, there might be
terms proposed at St. Petersburg which might lead to
peace:. Undoubtedly I thought so ' • but when those
terms could not be proposed I naturally fell back into
the for mer situation iu which I had been from the corn-
menc emeeet of the war, thinking that the war must be
vigor o usly prosecuted until the time should come when
the 'preponderance of Russia should be effectually
curb ed, and the events of the war should have pre-
ecriL .ed the conditions upon which a treaty might be
base I. (Hear, hear.) Such was the essential part of
nay conduct with regard to the speech which I made
upon. the 24th of May, when the right hon. gentleman
the z number for Buckinghamshire made his motion to
this house. I then advised the house to persevere in
the rigorous prosecution of the war, and I continue in
that opinion and to give that advice still. I may say, per-
haps, -that during the week which I have mentioned—
begin.ning upcn the 30th of April, and ending, I think,
with Saturday, the sth of May—there was naturally
much consideration as to whatshould be done ; but from
that time, the part of the Government being taken, there
were no questions with regard to any fresh negotiations
whielb created any long deliberations in the Cabinet. On
the c ontrary, the Government were as united as any Go-
vern ment 1 have ever known, and were as completely
agreed as any Cabinet I have ever seen during the more
than two months which have elapsed since that period.
I come, then, to another time, and that is when the
honour able member for Radnorshire questioned me as
to a certain state paper which he had seen in the news-
papers, and when my right hon. friend the member for
Manche ‘ster made, upon what I thought a very inap-
propria to occasion, an attack upon me for my conduct.
He said that I had led the way almost in branding the
right hen. gentleman the member for the University of
Oxford as a person willing to consent to an ignominious
peace, when I myself had been willing to accept the
same terms, and was as much an advocate for that
peace as he was. I did not reply to that attack at the
time, but when the right hon. gentleman gave notice that
he would formally call the attention of the house to the
subject I thought it necessary to declare what I had
done and that which I had thought, and not to deny any
portion of my conduct. I communicated with my noble
friend at the head of the Government and with my noble
friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs as to the
part which I meant to take in that debate. I thought
that it would have been totally unworthy of my position
if I had shrunk from these qaestions, and had refused
to answer the call which was made upon nee to say whe-
ther or not I was in favour of the same proposals which
my right hon. friend the member for the University of
Oxford thought contained the elements of peace. I
pointed out that the proposals which were made by
Austria, which Count Buol had shortly given in his
circular, and which I explained at somewhat greater
length, were proposals of a totally different nature ; and
I avowed that I had been in favour of those proposals
when they were brought to this country, they having
the assent of all the ministers of France, England,
and Turkey at Vienna. Sir, Ido not know, in looking
back to that speech, however ill I may have expressed
myself, that I could have done otherwise than own the
part which I had taken. I should have been ashamed
of myself if I had denied that which I had done and that
which was my conscientious opinion, founded upon my
views of the circumstances of the times. (Cheers.) Well,
sir, the hon. baronet opposite (Sir E. B. Lytton) thinks
that that is a ground for want of confidence in the whole
Administration of which I was amernber. He is oflopinion
because I took the view that the Austrian proposals
might have been accepted in the first days of May, that
I must be ever thereafter incapable of serving her Ma-
jesty with the intention of carrying on the war. That
impression seems very generally to prevail. I myself
neither see the logic of that proposition, nor do I concur
in the justice of its conclusion. (Hear.) But I come
now, sir, having stated these matters as shortly as I could,
to that last period in which I thought it necessary
that I should tender my resignation. When my noble
friend at the head of the Treasury first occupied himself
in obeying her Majesty's commands to form a Govern-
ment, he did me the honour to ask for my assistance in
office. I declined the offer at the time, and I felt con-
vinced, with the assistance which he obtained of men of
great eminence and talent, who are now present in the
house—l mean my right hon. friend the member for
Carlisle, my right honourable friend the member for
the University of Oxford, and others—that be
would carry on the Government with great adavdainffteargeeer
the country. Unfortunately, in a few days e
loefdv
to
views was swe
pi
at hr
art respectntdo tthheo
sappointment orfeasi
offices. My noble friend again did me the honour
that
my'
asking for my assistance in office. Sir, I h
country
relations of t
acquaintance with all the h spirit which he
noble friend, from his abilities, from hhie. g committeenonedoutrh eij,
(cheers)—
I believe, 'I say, that my noble
has to maintain the honour of hisf ouutvriceed
was the fittest
with foreign Powers, from the higy_
have selected to carry
her Majesty
thorough
person that .
could
I thought
certainly pass
on a Government.
whiche , thathadm y
som some
timeexperience
and might be
in Parliament
ralisahmeenhtadaansdketdhemypeaseeiettieetrai
ai him to accomplish a task
of some assistance in
the greatest credit to have under-
taken.which I think did hine
complied with the wish
therefore
held might be of use. teoeanbier
ce ted one of the offices'
enabling
friend,
which was
noble friend, andhaecn Ipreturned from Vienna
WI
was ready to
relinquish office ; but
noble friend did not think that that would be of
my
advantage to the public. A. few days ago I again stated
• same thing, being only anxious to enable him to
tnheebnl
evfarci
eanndt .
tae
carry en the affairs of the country with advantage.
that .
(Hear.) My nobla friend again declined to accept my
proposed resignation. Put I found that the impression,
whether founded on the errors Which ban committed