The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-08 00:00:00

DEBATE.

---
On the order of the day for resuming the adjourned
debate,
Mr. SCOTT said his right hon. friendthe
a noticemember so
Buckinghamshire bad placed upon the paper
plain and distinct that the country fully understood it.
After referring to the different mot•ons which had been
brought before the house in the course of the debate,tiehe_
hnn. gentleman proceeded to say that we were "W.. d
ousting identically the same question which had been
raised throughout, only under a different form to that
in which it was first introduced. Revolve it as they
would, the question was still the. same, the conduct
of the war and the management of the negotiations
for peace. The right hon. baronet opposite (Sir James
Graham), although he was theoretically and morally

in favour of the motion of the right hon. member for
Bucks, he nevertheless voted againsti his own convic-
tions on the side of the Government, n which example
he was followed by the two right hon. gentlemen who
sat beside him. This they had done, it was said, in
order not to upset the present Cabinet, but he (Mr. Scott)
would remind these right hon. gentlemen that there
was a time, and that not long ago, when they were not
so scrupulous to avoid the dislocation of the Cabinet.
After the opinions those gentlemen had expressed on
this question he should have thought it would have been
most important for them to have retained their former
positions in the Cabinet rather than to have deserted it
at a time when their opinions might have had so
beneficial an influence. There was one feature
in the debate which he could not but mention,
and that was that last night when the house was en-
gaged in one of the most iuteresting debates which could
affect the character of public men, and the welfare and
happiness of this country, there was an attempt made
by the supporters of the Government on the other
side of the house to bring the debate to a conclusion
by counting out the house, and some Cabinet Mi-
nisters who were not far off thought it not worth
their while to take any steps to prevent such a
course. Whatever opinions they might entertain, they
at all events seemed to think that what took place in
that house was of less importance than that which was
occurringin the lobby. He must also say that he was much
surprised that the noble lord at the head of the Govern-
ment should have allowed the speech of the hon. member
for Manchester to go forth to the country unanswered;
and he (Mr. Scott) regarded it as a sign of weakness, or
division in the Cabinet, that they had had only two
Cabinet Ministers, as yet, who had expressed their
opinions on the vital question before the house ; at a
time, too, when the country was looking so anxiously
to whatever they might have to say. (Hear, hear.)
Six Cabinet Ministers had seats in that house,
and this was the sixth night of the debate, but
only two of those gentlemen had as yet condescended to
express their opinions. In the present condition of the
country it became of great importance that we should
know what were the sentiments entertained by public
men. It had been said that the Opposition ought to
point out what should be done. It was not the duty, he
contended, of the Opposition to dictate to the Government;
their business was to take care that the Government did
not embarrass the country. The country and the press
had been unjustly charged with precipitating the nation
into war. The fact, on the contrary, was that both be-
lieved the Government was doing all it could to pre-
vent, in an amicable manner, the progressive encroach-
ments of Russia, but finding those aggressions still
going on, the press, as the organ of the opinions and
feelings of the country, pointed out that there was but
one course open to us, and that was to resist those ag-
gressions by force of arms. That was the reason, and
the only reason, why the country was so anxious to go
to war. Well, then, coming to the late negotiations for
peace, why was it that they had failed ? It
was because the country had trusted too confidingly to
the Cabinet, and exercised an almost culpable forbear-
ance towards it, in giving too much confidence to its
measures. The papers which had been laid upon the
table of the house, disclosed the means which were
taken to arrive at the desired end. But
whilst they enabled us to arrive at that, he
could not say that he could bring his mind to the con-
clusion that the Conferences were conducted in a way
likely to arrive at the desired result. At the'same time
he thought the selection of the noble lord who had acted
as our plenipotentiary at Vienna was the most unfortu-
nate which the noble viscount at the head of the
Government could have committed. (Hear, hear.)
He thought that they ought to have some more explicit
explanations than they at present had of the course that
had been pursued in the present negotiations. He attri-
buted the failure of the present negotiations to the noble
lord the member for the city of London, and the noble
viscount at the head of the Government. It might be
said that in making these observations he entertained a
spirit not consonant with those entertained by the noble
lord the Colonial Secretary and the noble viscount at the
head of the Government, that his views were repugnant
to them. He might do so, but still he thought that
they were far better calculated to conduct and carry on
the war than those parties who had seceded from the
present Government. The hon. member, after some
further observations, concluded by stating that be should
support the amendment of the hon. member for Kidder-
minster.

Sir F. BARING said that in bringing forward his
amendment he did it not from any opposition to the Go-
vernment, but to support it against the attack of the
right hon. gentleman the member for Buckinghamshire.
When he proposed his amendment the conferences at
-Vienna had not been closed, and he thought that unde ranch
circumstances it would have been unfair to have censured
the Government. Circumstances had since then changed,
and the important point now for the house to deal with
was the amendment of the hon. member for Kiddermin-
ster. He had been told by the noble viscount at the
head of the Government that the words of that amend-
ment were better than his. He had his own opinion
upon that point ; but still, if the house preferred it, he
would at once give way. The resolution of the hon.
member for Kidderminster was anything but sub-
stantial, because if the house carried it, the greatest
loophole would be left to escape from every undertaking
that bad been entered into. Much bad been said
.about
the preponderance of Russia in the Black Sea. Of all
the propositions he had heard, none seemed to him so
plausible for the prevention of that supremacy as the
proposition of the prosent Government. It appeared to
him that the house would not, upon the amendments
that had been proposed, come to any satisfactory con-
clusion.

(LEFT SPEAKING.)

THE LONDON GAZETTE.

(THIS EVENING.)

DOWNING-STREET, JUNE 7.

The Queen has been pleased to appoint Lieutenant-
Colonel Caine to be the senior member of the Legislative
Council of the island of Hong Kong.
Her Majesty has also been pleased to appoint James
Harris, Esq., to be a member of the Council of the island
of Montserrat.

Her Majesty has further been pleased to appoint Thomas
Warwick Brooke, Esq., to be stipendiary magistrate for
the Falkland Islands.
WHITEHALL, JUNE 8.

The Queen has been pleased to present the Reverend
William Stobbs to the church and parish of Gordon, in
tho presbytery of Lauder, and County of Berwick, vacant
by the death of the Reverend James Paterson.

CROWN-OFFICE, JUNE G.
MEMBER RETURNED TO SERVE IN THE PRESENT PARMA.

MENT.

City of Bath—W. Tite, Esq., of Lowndes-square, in the
county of Middlesex, in the room of Thomas Phinn, Esq.,
who has accepted the office of Steward of her Majesty's
Chiltern Hundreds.