The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-27 00:00:00

policy ? Perseverance. To accede to the proposed terms
would not only not attain the object for which the war
was undertaken, but would disgrace ourselves in the
eyes of the world. Character was power ;we should
have lowered ourselves in the sight of other nations,
whilst our rival Russia would have ascended in the
scale. She would have been considered by the
Eastern nations as possessed of supreme power • to
one would have dared to oppose her, and the in-
fluence she had acquired in the West would have in-
creased a hundredfold. The chains of the German
States would have been rivetted, and a severe
blow would have been struck at civilisation. (Hear.) He
rejoiced, therefore, that the terms proposed were not
accepted. He felt as deeply as any man could do the
arduous nature of the struggle in which we were engaged,
but he felt confident as to the result. In the seat of war
we now occupied, with the command of the sea, we could
maintain and support a much larger army than could be
brought against us, and even with equal forces he did not
doubt as to the result. But what were we to do in the
event of success ? He ventured to say, if he might give
an opinion at the risk of some little sarcasm from the
noble earl, that we must destroy Sebastopol. That for-
tress had been constructed for the subjugation of Turkey ;
for 20 years the Russian Government had been expending
enormous sums of money in order to make sure of that
object. Its destruction, therefore, would be an act of re-
tributive justice, and would be so regarded by
Turkey and by the world. A noble lord, distinguished
in that house for his clearness and sagacity of
intellect—the late Prime Minister—stated in one
of his speeches last year, that if there was one
thing more vital than another to the safety and indepen-
dence of the Turkish empire, and more fatally injurious
to the power of Russia, it was the destruction of the
fortress of Sebastopol, that this was the direct object of
the war, and that which every one must have had in
view from its commencement. If he were supposed to
hold extravagant opinions, it was at least a consolation
to him to reflect that he was sanctioned in them by the
most cool-headed members of theirlordships' house. The
Duke of Newcastle, in his evidence before the late com-
mittee, expressed himself in the same terms ; and the
tben
refoeebs
been
Sebastopol,
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ee dvo
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ap
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continu-
ance of which could only be regarded as a standing me-
nace to Turkey. He might be warned of the dangers
attending an eager pursuit of vengeance, but he could
not forget that the same doctrine would apply to inor-
dinate and unmeasured ambition. He was not deterred
by the misfortunes which assailed us during the last
campaign, because he ascribed them to the misconduct-
ing of the war by the late Government. For 50,000 men,
enfeebled by disease, the cholera raging among then:,
with a scanty supply of cavalry and a very insufficient
materiel for operations in the field, at an advanced pe-
riod of the year to make an attack on the greatest mi-
litary power in the world, with the view of laying siege
to one of its strongest fortresses, was a most injudicious
enterplise. It was well known to every man that, as far
as regarded siege defences, nothing would be stronger
than the north side ; but ;here was some vague surmise
that on the south side these defences were not complete.
A little reflection might have satisfied any man that there
could be no foundation for such a belief, since the com-
pletion of its fortifications was a favourite object with
the late Emperor. Nicholas. The design of the Govern-
ment was supposed to have been to surprise the place ; but
the Russian sovereign was not taken by surprise ; be had a
sufficient notice from the declaration made by the noble lord
then leading the other House of Parliament. Anyone who
had read the work of General Mackintosh, who had had
an opportunity of vice ing the precincts of the fortress,
must have been satisfied that there was no foundation
for the belief to which he had alluded. It was supposed,
also, that the Government were ignorant of the real
strength of the military force which Russia hal stationed
in the Crimea, though they had it in evidence from the
right honourable gentleman lately at the head of the Ad-
miralty, that a person thcroughly acquainted with the
Crimea, and with Sebastopol, informed him that it num-
bered 70,000 men, of which 40,000 formed the garrison of
that fortress. Now, it was an axiom in war that, in
order to besiege a place with success, besides a covering
army in the field, the besieging force should amount to
three times the number of the army invested. It was
hardly necessary to do more than state that proposition
in order to satisfy their lordships of the injudiciousness,
the absolute extravagance of this undertaking. He knew
he might be reproached with rashness in giving an opi-
nion on military matters, but some points were so clear
and apparent, that even a civilian might discover and ex-
pound them, and he considered this to be one. He must
say also that he had not mot with a single military man
who had not expressed the same opinion. Sir Howard
Douglas stated, while the siege was going on, that the
undertaking was hopeless, and could never succeed, and
if any person wished to know the foundation of that
opinion let him look to the excellent publication of that
gallant and distinguished officer, and the unanswerable
reasons therein stated. Having forced the entrench-
ments of the Russian army at Alma, it was found vain
to attempt to besiege the northern side of the place,
with an army inferior to the besieged in force, and our
efforts were therefore restricted to the southern face.
The bombardment opened, and at the expiration of the
very first day it was seen that a protracted siege must
be looked for. Then commenced that series of suffer-
ings, painful, horrible, heartrending, which no language
could exaggerate or even adequately describe. Strange
to say, a Government composed of enlightened
men expected to hear from day to day of the sur-
render of Sebastopol, and the noble lord then at the
head of the Government, in an address delivered to the
people of Aberdeen, said he thought it not improbable
that at that very moment the city might actually have
fallen. The country saw with horror the indifference
manifested by the Government during the last autumn,
when, instead of every man remaining at his post to
watch over an enterprise on which the result of the war
depended, which involved the character of the Govern.
ment and the safety of our army, the members of the
Administration, with oat, or two exceptions, spread
themselves in all directions, Borne going to the High-
lands, some to their rural retreats, and a noble lord, to
whom he had more than once alluded, lecturing upon
history to the agricultural audience of Bedford, and
amusing with philosophical speculations the industrious
inhabitants of Bristol. He could not be surprised at
the indignation felt by the country, or at that me-
morable outburst of aggrieved feeling which overthrew
the late Administration. As the ancient Romans
elected a dictator in the crisis of their destinies, so
the people looked out for some eminent state-man
to repair our disasters and restore our fortunes,
and the public voice was in favour of the noble vis-
count. How far the wishes and expectations which had
led to the noble lord's elevation had been satisfied he
would not say. But he begged to remind the noble vis-
count that those who depended on popular favour rested
on an unstable basis, and that the people were apt, after
a certain interval, like children, to break their favourite
toys. In a inon.ent of indignation they had been I.n ,wn
to destroy the idols on which they rested for sup-
port and defence, and the hierophants who ei.gaged to
perform a miracle were greeteJ, when it failed, with
hoots and groans by the impatient ppulac..
The Earl of CLARENDO.N thought his noble and
learned friend, during three-fourths of the highly eloquent
speech he had just delivered, had deviated so far front
the subject of the motion of which ho had given
notice, that he was warranted in calling the attention
of their lordships to this contradiction. Fee noble
and learned friend in the early part of his speech
made, as he was sure to do, a most able and lucid
statement, thoughle was not aware of the practical utility
of the course pursued, nor had his noble and learned
friend offered any suggestions, or made any particular
inquiries. His noble and learned friend had, however,
adopted a tone in speaking of the late negotiations, and
of our relations with foreign powers, of which he highly
approved. It was a very different tone from one that
had been too frequently held during the last few years,
both in speeches made in that house and in writings out
of it, and on which it had been more than once his duty
to animadvert. He was sorry to say that the course pur-
sued by heated and over-ardent partisans in this country
had done us much injury abroad, and especially in Ger-
many. When this war began we had with us the warm
sympathies and good-wishes of four-fifths of the Germaa
people. They were exasperated by the thraldom in which
their Governments were held by Russia, whose influence
they well knew was directed to overawe Germany, to
repress progress, and to extinguish freedom in every
form. There was, therefore, at first, a feeling almost of
shame amongst the Germans that England and France
should be left alone in this contest. But he was sorry to
say that this feeling had greatly changed, in conse-
quence of the tone that had been adopted here towards
foreign countries, and Germany particularly. There had
been so little cordiality on the one hand or discrimina-
tion on the other, so little care to distinguish between
our friends and our enemies, so great a proneness to consi-
der all those who were not entirely with us as being with
our enemies, that a feeling of resentment had been en-
gendered against us, and extreme industry had been
used, especially since the termination of the late confer-
ences, to spread abroad whatever could be injurious to
this country. He rejoiced to perceive that his noble and
learned friend did not add to these difficulties and embar-
rassments
speak
under by
adeep
the tone s
sense
hens
eofadopted.
resp 0 n For
ho hit
he
my_
strict
hl
iaanbrse7 must
minhathede pthoasittihoe w
position he
ulhadtt go beyondhehonou thertofi
duty, and he would rather expose himself to the
censures
of
of their lordships for undue reserve than for indiscreet
loquacity. (Hear.) In the few observations he was now
about to address to their lordships, he would neither
be the apologist of Austria nor her accuser. He
said
would so
haveo u various
better
consulted thateragreed with his noble and learned friend, and he had
with respect both to Russia and Germany, if she had
from the first adopted a firmer tone and assumed a more
elevated position. He believed that she would have
di house,gnity that Austria,
and interest,
greatly promoted, nay, that she would have secured, the
restoration of peace, and would have prevented
and
submis-
sions those
Russian intrigues and German compliances
abmist-
sions which we had witnessed. B
although
_he.ustwe wasla
might lamentgre a
that her line of policy should
and independent power,
reason to abuse her on
that account. Like ourselves, own, we had no right andl noves, she
was guided by regard
and
alt
note identical with our
g
for inducing
that which she did not think her own
her to do
was
to her own interests, and we had no means of
interest. But, engaged as we were in a great war
with the sovereign
only were accessible to us, it was of
of a vast territory,
totothea extreme
eoe
points of
power whose interests were identical with our own,
a
the utmost importance us secure the
whose territory was contiguous to that of our enemy, and
which had tae means, and 411210tukced the intention, of