The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-04 00:00:00

LONDON,

phant—majority, because all those who sat on the other
side voted together against those who sat on the Ministerial
side of the House. That resolutiion affirmed that the
principles by which the foreign policy of her Majesty's
Government had been regulated were such as were calcu-
lated to maintain the honour and dignity of this country
in times of unexampled difficulty. He would call attention
to a topic raised in the debate—that there was a cabal
formed for the purpose of removing the Noble Lord from
office in this country.— (Hear, hear.) The cabal was openly
talked of prosecuting that object which had now been
achieved. There was a remarkable passage in the admir-
rable speech of the Soble Lord at the head of the Govern-
ment, in which he expressed his unqualified approval of his
colleague. Lord J. Russell said, let not any man be misled
by the notion that when Lord Palmerston was Foreign Se-
cretary this country was alwaye on the brink of war ; for
upwards of fourteen out of thirty-five years foreign affairs
had been under Lord Palmerston's direction ; and the Noble
Lord at the head of the Government referred to a presump-
tion that there was a foreign cabal at work which had.
raised unfounded suspicions, and which was endeavour-
ing to overturn the foreign policy of the Government. In
the last session her Majesty also said she continued in
relations of peace and amity with foreign powers. During
last session not one word was said about the foreign policy
of the Government. Parliament closed in August ; and
who could have supposed that when they met again the
Government of the country should have lost one of its
greatest ornaments ?—(Hear, hear.) He wished to draw
the attention of the House to some remarkable facts, and
should refrain as much as possible from comment. He
would not refer to rumours as contradictory as they were
various. His object was to put sume facts before the
House, and elicit some information respecting the real
cause which had led to a change in the Administration. On
the 24th of December the resignation of Lord Palmerston
was announced in the Times newspaper. The Ambassador
of France was either recalled or gave in his resignation; but
he (Sir Benjamin Hall) brought these facts before the House
in order that the Noble Lerd might inform the House whether
there was truth in the statement as to a cabal. He had
stated that Lord Palmerston's resignation was announced in
the Times newspaper of the 24th of December last. It was
a curious fact that a letter was written from Vienna on
Tuesday, the 23d of December, the day previous, printed in
the Breslau Gazette on the night of the 24th, and published
on the morning of the 25th, announcing, as clearly as it
could do, the intended dismissal or resignation of Lord Pal-
merston. (The Hon. Baronet read the extract.) That was
followed at Vienna by placards, put forward by the Govern-
ment—(Hear, hear)—announcing the circumstance, and it
was also followed by rumours of an extraordinary nature,
sanctioned, as he (Sir B. Hall) was informed, by the Prime
Minister of Austria. So matters stood up to this day. Her
Majesty had opened Parliament in person that day, and had
been advised to state from the throne, " I continue to enter-
tain the most friendly relations with foreign powers." The
adjective was put in the superlative degree. If friendly re-
lations continued to be maintained, why this change ? Last
year we were at peace with all foreign nations; now we
were on the same footing. The House and the country
ought not to be longer left in doubt as to the causes which
led to the dismissal or resignation of the Noble Lord. He
(Sir B. Hall) wished to put that alternative, because he did
not know anything—he did not wish to prejudge. He wished
to give the Noble Lord an opportunity of answering the
question he had put; and he was confident the Noble Lord
would do so at once.
Lord J. RUSSELL—I am quite willing to answer the
appeal made to me by my Hon. Friend. I cannot do so,
however, without entering into a good deal of statement and
of detail, both with respect to the particular occurrence to
which my Hon. Friend has alluded and with respect to the
state of parties. I hope, therefore, the House will give me
' its indulgence, that if other topics may be referred to on
which any explanations are required, I shall be allowed to
offer them.—(Hear, hear.) I will new proceed to answer the
questions of my Hon. Friend. lam entirely ready to admit
that which he has stated, that in the debate of 1850, with
respect to Greek affairs, I expressed the utmost confidence in
the administration of foreign affairs by my Noble Friend.
I will say more; it is not in words only that I have shown
my sense of the energy, ability, and knowledge of the in-
terests of this country in all parts of the world, which
are pre-eminently the qualifications of ray Noble Friend
for that office.—(Hear, hear.) I have borne testimony
otherwise than in words ; and I will state that when the
Administration of 1835 was formed by Lord Melbourne, the
first proceeding of Lord Melbourne was to send for me, and
ask me to what office I should wish him to recommend me,
and added, that he supposed the office I wished to accept was
that of Foreign Secretary. My answer was, that I did not
propose to take that office—that I did not propose to take
that office unless it suited the convenience of my Noble!
Friend; that Lord Palmerston, who was then out of Parlia-f
ment, was eminently qualified for that post, and that I was
prepared to take that office if be did not. Again, when, in
December, 1845, and in July, 1846, I was called upon by *r
Majesty to submit a plan of administration for her Majesty's
sanction, I earnestly recommended to her Majesty to place
Lord Palmerston in the situation of Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, as the person best qualified to hold
that office. The House well knows that her Majesty was
pleased to appoint him, and that from that time the
Noble Lord has continued to hold that situation. It was
with deep regret that I found circumstances had occurred
such as in my mind made it impossible for me to act
any longer with my Noble Friend in that situation in
which he had shown such distinguished ability. But
before I enter into those points it is as well
that I should state what I conceive to be the position which
a Secretary of State holds as regards the Crown in the ad-
ministration of foreign affairs, and as regards the Prime
Minister of this country. With respect to the first, I should
state that when the Crown, in consequeace of a vote of the
House of Commons, places its constitutional confidence in a
Minister, that Minister is, on the other hand, bound to the
Crown to the most frank and full detail of every measure
that is taken, and is bound either to give a special case (as
we understood) or to leave to the Orown its full liberty, a
liberty which the Crown must possess, of saying that the
Minister no longer possesses its confidence. Such I hold to
be the general doctrine. But as regards the Noble Lord, it
did so happen that in August , 1850, the precise terms were
laid down in a communication on the part of her Majesty
with respect to the transaction of business betty eon the Crown
and the. Secretary of State. I became the organ of making
that communication to my Noble Friend, and thus became
responsible for the document I am about to read from. I
shall refer only to that part of the document which has re-
ference to the immediate subject :
" The Queen re jukes, first, that Lord Palmerston will
distinctly state what he proposes in a given case, in order
that the Queen may know as distinctly to what she is giving
her Royal sanction. Secondly, having once given her sanc-
tion to a measure, that it be not arbitrarily altered or modi-
fied by the Minister. Such an act she must consider as fail-
ing in sincerity towards the Crown, and justly to be visited
by the exercise of her constitutional right of dismissing that
Minister. She expects to be kept informed of what passes
between him and the Foreign Ministers before important
decisions are taken based upon that intercourse; to receive
the foreign despatches in good time; and to have the
draughts for her approval sent to her in sufficient time to
make herself acquainted with their contents before they
which the
u al de
csohrodiwn
gt hi
yi laent
dt e rr
etcoe
iLvoerdd
aP al
el mt t
eerr sint o n. "
must be sent off. The Queen thinks it best that Lord John
llthshaot
Noble Lord said,--
IRusessnet

I have taken a copy of this memorandum of the Queen
and will not fail to attend to the directions which it con-
tains."

I believe those directions were entirely in conformity with
the relations that exist between the Foreign Secretary and
the Crown. And now I will state what is the duty of the
Prime Minister, and I will state it not in my own words, but
in words used by Sir R. Peel, with reference to the appoint-
ment of the Official Salaries Committee. The words are—
" Take the case of the Prime Minister. You must presume
that he reads every important dispatch from every toreign
Court. He cannot consult with the Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs and exercise the influence which he ought to
have with respect to the conduct of foreign affairs, unless he
be master of everything of real importance passing in that
department "

I believe to that statement also there can be no contradic-
tion : it lays down the just principle with respect to the po-
sition of a Prime Minister, and makes him responsible for
the business. I may say, likewise, that I was informed both
by her Majesty and by Sir R. Peel that Sir R. Peel had ad-
vised her Msjesty to consult and to take my advice on all
matters relating to foreign affairs. Such, then, being the
state of the relations which I held towards the Crown and
towards my Noble Friend, and I must say that I found the
situation in which I was placed one of vary great delicacy
(as we understood). When the Noble Lord was first ap-
pointed Secretary for Foreign Affairs he was placed under
Lord Grey, a statesman of age and experience, to whom my
Noble Friend, then young in that office, would readily listen.
When Lord Melbourne was at the head of the Government,
Lord Melbourne's long intimacy and connexion with my
Noble Friend would give him also influence with my Noble
Friend. Without either of those advantages I certainly have
found from time to time that relations like those were difficult
to acquire. Sometimes I felt great responsibility. I will
now refer to events which occured in the autumn of last
year. There was a meeting of the Cabinet on the 3d of
November, and I happen to have my memory more im-
pressed with what I stated on that occasion, having in that
instance only taken a note of what my own staiements were.
—(Cries of "Speak out.") I stated that I thought the
situation of Europe was exceedingly critical ; that I
thought we were on the verge of seeing in 1852 (and there I
was mistaken) of seeing either what is called social democracy
triumphant in other countries, or of seeing absolute power,
on the other hand, prevail. I said that in either case the
situation of England would be cne of some peril; that we
could not expect that a social democratic republic in France
would observe the faith of treaties or refrain from attacking
our allies. I said, on the other hand, that if absolute power
should prevail, there was a danger, this country
_being an
exception in the form of its government from otner coun-
tries of Europe, that there might be combinations on the
subject of refugees in this country, and that demands
might be made which this country, in consistency with its
honour, could not concede. I stated that, in my own opi-
nion, in this critical situation of affairs, it was the interest of
England to observe a strict neutrality. I said that we ought
to guard most especially against giving any just cause of
offence to France—(Hear, hear)—that we ought to exert the
utmost vigilance in order to prevent any such cause of
offence. I think my colleagues generally, and my Noble
Friend in particular, entirely concurred in that opinion. No
resolution was come to by the Cabinet on the subject, but
there was a general understanding as to the desirableness of
adopting such a course. Now, it happened, as I think, very
unfortunately, a very short time after the events of the 2d
of December had taken place, and my Noble Friend had re-
ceived at the Foreign-office deputations from certain dis-
tricts of the metropolis presenting to him addresses contain-
ing terms of a most offensive nature to the Sovereigns of
Europe.—( Hear, hear.) I was fully persuaded at the time,
and I am still fully persuaded, that although my Noble
Friend had not exercised due caution in that respect—that
although he had not taken the precaution of seeing those ad-
dresses at the time they were presented to him, and although
he had not taken the further precaution when the deputations
came into his room at ;the Foreign-office of taking care that
his words were duly and accurately reported, yet I was en-
tirely persuaded that my Noble Friend had fallen into an
error that day wholly from oversight, arising from the
quantity of business with which he had to deal. I was per-
suaded, likewise, that there were great misrepresentations
with respect to the words which my Noble Friend used in
reply to those addresses. I was ready, therefore, and I de-
clared it at once, to adopt with my Noble Friend the whole
responsibility of his conduct on that occasion, although, I
could not forbear seeing that an error had been committed,
Itrdeaidtedhompee
wthiatht
tahfatetrfatirhhaetsantiye
wNhoiebhle
IFrien Friend would have
. without givingthink I was en-
titled ;—that he would take no important step—that he
would make no important communication to foreign Minis-
ters,to give an opinion upon in short, without
any steps taken,—
that full and complete communication to which Sir Robert
Peel alluded. The next transaction which occurred is that
me information, without enabling me
from which the whole of this unfortunate circumstance has
arisen. It has relation to the events which took place in
France on the 2d of December last. On the 3d of Decem-
ber a dispatch was received from the Marquis of Normanby
containing a question as to the diplomatic relations which
were to be =hit:tined by him
with the Goverment of the e