The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-01 00:00:00

deuce I would give him every support in my power. I
trust that in so acting I have not been unfaithfal td those
principles which I have always professed. (Cheers.) It
has been well said.that constitutional Government is now
upon its trial, and that the eyes of the whole world are
now fixed upon England. It will now be seen whether a
constitutional Government will carry out that for which
it was formed ; and if public men will forgot those who
made them public men, and if every men in a
scramble for plates is to take the first plate that is offered
him, we sh ill become the laughing-stock of the world, and
and show that, after all, is constitutional Government 50
formed is bill; a sham, arid that plelle places are the re-
wai d of everything Lint public merit. (Ilear.)
Upon orili
uary occasions I shouldhave addressedyon on home sub-
jects, but at this moment; these erielsiel aside. There is one
all-absorbing question which engrosses the feelings and
senses of every man in the country, and in faveur of which
we have agreed to waive all considerations of a denuestie
nature. I will only therefore say that upou all these greak
questions, such as the ballot, church rates, cud the prinei
pies growing out of thee() questi nes, I have followed the line
which three year age, I told you I should pursue. I have
upon these cad similar questions always vote,l, I trust, to
the satisfaction of thoie who have sent mo to Parliament.
(Cheers.) If those questions should come before Parliement
this year, you will always find me on the right side of the
lobby. 'Tilt there is one subject of such importance that
to come to an understanding with you upon it has been the
chief reason why I have met you to-day. We have now
become so excited relative to the disasters that have be-
fallen us in the course of the great events which have oc-
curred in the. Crimea, that we have almost forgotten the
history and origin of this war. It is, however, most im-
portant and essential in the present phase of the question
that the great, object for which the war was undertaken
should not be forgotten or kept out of sight. There is a
party irilhis country; not large, but influential from those
who lead it, at the head of which are Mr. Bright and Mr.
Cobden. I have great sespeet,for the opinions of thee°
gentlemen upon many subjects, and men who have done
greater good to the public esirse do net exist. I wily
regret the line they have take-ti on this subject, with
which I cannot at all agree. It is not that I object to
Mr. Bright. or Mr. Cobden taking the peace line in the
discussion of this subject, but that they assume
those to be facts which are not facts, and that they
argue the question upon a false basis. From what those
gentlemen say, it would appear that in this war we are
fighting for the Turks. No doubt, to a certain extent, that
is the case, but that is not the essential part of this ques-
tion. It is very easy to excite public feeling against the
Turks, and to say that we are fighting for one despotism
with another despotism, and against a third despotism. I
am the last man to stand up and say that we ought to fight
for any despotism, and if this were purely a Turkish ques-
tion I should not take the interest in it which I have
always avowed. But there is a far greater question in-
volved in this war than any involves the Turks alone. This
war has been truly called a statesman's war, and those who
have entered into it ought to see that a great question is
involved in it, affecting not only the present but alio the
future welfare and civilisation of Europe. What are the
real grounds upon which the war is undertaken ? Ido net
speak from mere book knowledge, but from having devoted
myself for several years almost to the study of this ques-
tion alone. (Hear.) Although I was concerned in the East
in archaeological pursuits, yet I was a member of the
diplomatic profession, and was for a time attached to the
embassy at Constantinople, where I saw with my own
eyes the progress of events which have resulted in the
present war. For some years past the Turkish Govern-
ment had been making great endeavours to improve the
condition of the population under its sway, although it has
not only been able to carry out all that it professed, or all
that it wished to accomplish. It is difficult to change a
nation in a day. (Hear, hear.) The rulers of Turkey
are many of them men of no principle at all—they
look to personal considerations —they look to their
private advancement and filling their own pockets,
and they have done great harm to the cause which
the Sultan has sought to sustain. But it is impos-
sible to deny that great improvements have been made. I
have known Turkey for 15 years, and no one who knew
Turkey then, and sees what has been done during that
time, can deny the Improvement that has been made, not
among the Mussulman and Mahometan population, because
there are causes at work which will probably lead to the
destruction of the Mussulman in Turkey in Europe, but
among the Christian population of Turkey. It is not for
the Malometans we are fighting, but for the Christians.
That is a distinction which the heads of the peace party
have always kept out of view. (Hear.) Ido net say that
the Christian population have obtained all those privi-
leges which we should wish to see them possess, but they
have been gaining wealth, they are becoming more pros-
perous, - they have been intrusted with public employ-
ments of great weight and importance, which a few years
before were denied to them. The Turkish Government have
sent Christians to represent them at foreign Courts. The
Turkish Minister in England is a Christian; the Turkish
Minister in Paris was a Christian ; the Turkish Ministers
in Belgium and at Berlin are Christians. Such a thing
20 years ago as a Christian being employed by the Turkish
Government as its Minister at a foreign Court was almost
unknown. In domestic affairs they are making great progress.
In literature they are making a great stride, and in Turkey,
at this moment, I know that liberal opinions both in
politics and religien" are gaining ground. The Emperor of
Russia saw the pm ogress ma'eing by the Christien population,
and this very progress was the groundwork of his Interfer-
ence. The object of Prince Menschikoff's mission to Con-
stantinople was to check the growing spirit of liberty
among the Christian population of Turkey. The Enip:ror
knew perfectly well that if the Christians of Turkey should
render themselves capable of self-government and tit them-
selves to take the place of the Sultan and the Mussulman
population, all his hopes of having Constantinople and
possessing those magnificent provinces which would make
him the most powerful potentate in the world would have
been disappointed and destroyed. I am perfectly well
aware that he has been arming with this object. lie did
so in 1820 ; he did so at the Treaty of Adrianople ; but
for setae years ho has not had the opportunity of carrying
his views icto effect. Lord Aberdeen became Prime Mi-
nister, and apparently at the head of a liberal Government,
which I shall always regret, for Lord Aberdeen has done
more to destroy the Liberal party than any man who ever
lived (Hear, hear.) When Lord Aberdeen came to power,
with his known views upon foreign policy, the Emperor of
Russia thought it a good opportunity of pressing his views
and aiming at the conquest of Turkey. On that account
he sent Prince Menschikoff to Constantinople. I do not
accuse Lord Aberdeen of connivance, as some have done,
but it is impossible to deny that his opinions on public
affairs encouraged the Emperor of Russia to hope that now
was the time to carry out his ambitious schemes. At the
time of Prince Menschikofre arrival at Constantinople I
was there, and from what I saw it wail my conviction,and
I still entertain it, that if the Government had shown a
bold front—if the Emperor had been told that England
would go to war rather than acknowledge the pretensions
of Russia, Prince Menschikoff would not have pushed his
views, but would have been satisfied with the first thing
offered to him. (Cheers.) But we did not take this
course, and hence the origin of all these misfortunes.
The Government at this time was composed of the
Liberal party, and a party with few followers cad not
popular in England—l mean the Peelites. They held
distinctly opposite opinions as to the danger of Russian
predominance in Europe to those of Lord John
Russell, Lord Palmerston, the Marquis of Lansdowne,
and the other Liberals. It is all very well in quiet times
to have a divided Government, but it is impossible to carry
on great national affairs when you have a divided Cabinet.
(Cheers) In great matters half-and-half politics will not
I do. What was the result ? Instead of telling the Em-
peror what they thought of his ambitious schemes he was
patted on the back. The Government never showed a
bold front, and the Emperor pushed his claims to the ut-
most, thinking that the English Government would never
oppose him. All he wanted was the right of direct inter-
ference, not over the Greek but the Christian subjects of
Turkey, which would have given him authority over
11,000,000 of the Sultan's subjects. Tho Emperor crossed
the Pruth, and then I, for the first time, rose and besought
the Government not to allow the Emperor to cross the
Pruth without a declaration of ever. I did not want war
—no man does—but I knew that if the Government were
afraid of war then that war was inevitable, and that no-
thing on earth could save us from war. (Cheers) This is
an opinion which I have consistently expressed in the
House of Commons from the moment that I had the honour
of representing you. The next mistake of the Government
was in placing the negotiations in the hands of Austria,
which had an interest in keeping us back and in maintain-
ing peace under every sacrifice. I protested against the
Vienna Conferences. I said, " Hold your conferences at
Constantinople,
or anywhere rather than submit the nego-
tiations to the direct interference of Austria." Well, we
went to Vienna, and there, to use a popular phrase, we
were " humbugged." (A laugh.) The Vienna
note could
not have been supposed to settle the question if we had
entered upon the war with a firm conviction of the great
interests and great principles at stake. Who had we to
settle that question for us at Vienna? Was it a man in-
timately acquainted with the Eastern question, and with
powers of mind equal to the crisis? ar
0 ; we never had
the courage to put the right man in the right place, and
the Government never would sacrifice their private party,
personal, and family considerations, to the good of the üb-
lic We "drifted into the war, according to the expres-
sion
of Lord Clarendon, and Lord J. Russell declared that
we had no territorial changes or personal objects to attain.
moment to tell Russia that we
Bat that was not the mme
should not insist upon territorial changes. It was holding
out a premium to Russia to say so. It was telling her that
we might lose everything, while she could lose nothing by
the war. (Cheers.)
Well, war broke out, and we sent our
troops to Gallipoli. No provision was made for them
there, and if it had not been for the French they might
have starved. They wereVarna, next sent to I was then
the want was felt
in constant communiithatiinogn theof
filich
G overnment, and
there was scarcely an
afterwards of which I did not acquaint the Government.
I told them that the troops were going to a most unhealthy
place, and that they
would inevitably suffer from iiiease
that it was a pestiferous ch..
They were warned by
mate, and yet, in despitetho these warningsy the men were
of
sf
sent to Varna, where in a short time they lost an incredi-
ble number of men, and were almost demoralised. The
hon. member proceeded with great power to trace the sub-
sequent landing of the troops in the Crimea, the events of
and Balaklava, and the h orri o lsl s- •mi
Alma, Inkerman,
management of which our brave troops have been the vic-
tims before Sebastopol, and of which he had been the eye-
witness. The Times had opened a subscription for the
'relief of the sick and wounded. In a few clays 10,0001.
were received, and that amount
incompetent
ount
man to administer
it, because he had a might have been doubled.
Did the editor send out an
or an uncle who wished to go ?
c
No, he looked about ;oat the best man to do the work, and
the result was that those. 10,000/. had saved the lives of
thousands of our brave fellow-countrymen. (Cheers.)
Now, if private individuals and firms could de these things,
why should not the Government.h (Cheers.) If the Govern-
ment departments would not do their work as it ought to
be done, the sooner they were differently constituted the
were appointed as heads of depart-
better. (Hear.) Men
ments who had no title to theiref sraiidtuaotfiornes from their
epeheihihtyterit
ands
or knowledge—they
the
etility of sending out thel-administration and winked
they too often connivewdea_rte
u
at neglect. He doubted
1
areddu been
ced
Commissioners of Inquiry. Anparr
;ye couldr
h be
e
from 54,000 to 15, 000 in
paid to them. Themen
if
conclusion at which he arrived was,
that we had officers in the Crimea who were incompetent
to carry out the matters intrusted to them, and who ought,