The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDO.N, SATURDAY EVENING, JULY 9, 1864.

if we lost the present Ministry I do not know that we
should have to record it with inconsolable regret, for I think
it might be possible to replace them. (Hear, hear, and
laughter.) Let us see how this Ministry is constitute&
Let me take the noble lord—and I would speak of him with
every respect, because a more active and able man has sel-
dom existed in this country. (Cheers.) I might say of
him that " panting Time toils after him in vain." Cer-
tainly he is facile prznceps, and he is certainly the liveliest
if not the youngest man on the Treasury bench. The
noble lord deserves great credit for his admirable manage-
ment of affairs during a long course of years. Ho has
acted with all sorts of men, and has been associated with
men holding all classes of opinions. Why, sir, he has
contrived—and it is a most extraordinary feat—to con-
ciliate both the L,w Church party and the High Tories;
the Record acknowledges his inspiration, and the hon. mem-
ver for North Warwickshire (Mr Newdegate) bows to his
infLtence. These are great feats. But what is his policy ?
His dOnestic policy seems to be to remain stationary. His
foreign policy up to this day has been pugnacious and pro-
gressive. but now he is about to achieve the most wonder-
ful feat of his life. He is about to go to the country as the
apostle and minister of peace, and will bo supported by my
hon. friend the 'member for Birmingham. That is the most
extraordinary feat of the whole. (Laughter.) Well then, sir,
as to the cabinet, it is a museum of curiosities. (Laughter.)
There at 9 some birds of rare and noble plummage both alive
and stuffed--(much laughter)—but there is a difficulty in
keeping up the breed of those sweet birds, and it was found
necessary to cross the Whig treed with the famous Peelite
breed. I will do thei2l the justice to say that they have a
very great and able mini:;t4r "mg them in the Chancellor
of the -Exchequer, and it is L',l his measures alone that they
owe the little popularity and 11
he little support they get
from this Liberal party; but it calf
not be said, either by
their enemies or friends, that their anpp:: of measures has
been prolific. Then there is my right hon. frLqud who is not
connected with the Whigs by family (Mr Gibson;. (Laugh-
ter.) He seems like a "fly in amber," and the wonder is
how he got there ; and the hon. members for Rochdale and
Birmingham must, I think, have been disappointed in this
"young man from the country." (Loud laughter,) When
he married into the family we expected some Liberal
measures from them, but the hon. gentleman seems to have
become indolent and lees quarrelsome under the guidance
of the noble lord. Well, air, what is there to be ? We
know by the traditions of the great Whig party that they
will cling to the vessel, if not like shipwrecked sailors, at

least like those tastaceous marine animals which adhere to

the bottom, thereby clogging the engines and impeding
tia3 progress. (Laughter.) Should a vote of this house dis-
place the administration, what are the Liberal party to do?
Well, sir, if I might advise the Liberal party I should say
they may be perfectly happy as to the issue of this great
duel. They are somewhat in the situation of lago when he
says, "Whethn Cassio kill,Roderigo,or Roderigo kill;Cassio,
or each kills the other," so much they gain. (Laughter.)
Nay, sir, even should this Parliament determine on termi-
nating its own existenn and that of the Government, they
will find some consolatiog in the knowledge that the fune-
ral oration will be pronounced by the hon, member for
North Warwickshire, and that a friendly hand will inscribe
on their mausoleum, " Rest, any be thankful." (Loud
cheers from both sides of the house.)
Mr WHITESIDE described the for,'ign policy of the
Government as inconsistent, capricious, and mischievous,
and declared that he had no hesitation whatever in saying
that the confusion which reigned had sprung ft•om that
policy. He held that they had no right to give adv:,^•e to
foreign powers unless they were also prepared to assist them.
He supported the resolutions of his right hon, friend, be-
cause he was jealous of the honour of his country and con-
servative of her glory and her institutions ; and because he
felt that the Foreign Minister had deeply erred, and lowered
the just influence of England throughout the nations of the
earth.
Mr MONSELL opposed the motion.

Mr B. COCHRANE supported it, urging that, were the
terms in which it was couched much stronger, they would
not have unjustly described the policy and conduct of the

Government

Lord ELCHO saw no ground for a vote of censure on
Ministers.

The O'DONOGEUE denied that there was any com-
pact among the Roman Catholic members to vote against
the Government, or that there was any truth in the rumour
that any agents of the Pontifical Government had under-
taken a mission to England to bring pressure on the Catho•
lie members. For his own part he would vote in favour of
the resolutions, because the Government had done nothing
for Ireland.

Sir S. NORTHCOTE observed that the Opposition did
not wish to rest their case upon any particular despatch or
any particular act of the Government, but that they charged
a general want of sagacity and of statesmanship in the whole
course of negotiations. The indictment was, not that the
conduct of the Government had humiliated the country, but
that she had lost a portion of her just influence in Europe.
Mr CLAY was of opinion that if the policy advocated by
hon. gentlemen opposite were adopted we should have been
landed in a European war six months ago.
Mr WALPOLE did npt believe the allegation that the
population of Schleswig and Holstein were the cause of the
troubles that had broken out in the North of Europe. On
the contrary, the disturbing causes were an importation
from a foreign land, fomented, encouraged, and
excited by a revolutionary spirit under the guise
of patriotism. He believed that her Majesty's
Ministers had adopted a feeble, inconsistent, and hesitating
policy which had led Dennisrk to believe that even at the
eleventh hour England would give her material assistance.
As in the case of the Crimean war, " too late" was written
on every act of the Government-. So i. had proved in re-
ference to the Dano-German question. In the former in-
stance they went'on drifting and drilling until they drifted
into war. In the present case they had drifted into shame
and disgrace, They had been too late in applying to other
Powers for co-operation; too late in not protecting Den-
mark before the Eider was crossed ; too late in protect-
ing the islands before they were taken ; and they would be
too late in protecting Copenhagen ; for it appeared that all
they intended to do was to reconsider their decision in the
event of the city being taken and the King made a prisoner
of war. It was therefore the duty of the house to speak out,
and throw the responsibility on the shoulders to which it
belonged. This was tha constitutional course to adopt, and
as he considered the resolutions of Mr. Disraeli were framed
with that view ho would support them.
Lord PALMERSTON then rose, and was received with
most enthusiastic cheering, which lasted several minutes.
When it had subsided, the noble lord said—Mr Speaker, if
any doubt could have existed when the notice of this mo-
tion was first made as to its object and importance that
doubt must have been fully dispelled by the debate which
had ensued upon it, for We are now told, fairly and plainly,
that, although the words imply simply a censure upon one
act of the Government, yet it is intended as a vote of " no
confidence"—(hear, hear)—and that the issue which the
house is called upon to determine if, whether gentlemen on
this side, or gentlemen on that. side, should be charged
with the conduct of the affairs of the country. (Cheers.;
Now, sir, I object to much that has passed in this debate,
but to two things mainty—first of all, to the attempt to se-
parate turnoble friend at the head of the Foreign-office—
(cheers)—from the rest of his colleagues - a most unconsti-
tutional attempt, a most unfair attempt, an attempt which
ought to have been reprobated by those who, having been
in office, know the joist responsibility of the members of the
Cabinet. (Renewed cheering.) Sir, I declare on the part of
my hon. colleagues, that we are all equally responsible for
what the noble lord has done—(loud cheers)—and, there-
fore, I trust we shall not hear any more of these personal
attacks upon Lord Russell, but that whatever censure any
man may wish to cast on the conduct of the Government
may be aimed at the Government itself, and not at any in-
dividual member of it. (Cheers.) Now, sir, I also regret
deeply for my country the pains which have been taken by
many of those who have taken part in this debate to vilify
and degrade—(cheers and counter-cheers)—that country.
(Cries of " No, no," from the Opposition.). Not content 1
with blaming the Government, which they were entitled
to do, and endeavouring to prove that we were wrong in
every step of these transactions, they have maintained
that England is ;degraded—(Opposition cheers)—and
that she has sunk in the estimation of foreign
countries, And when ? and since when ? Since the ter-
mination of the Conferences—(No, no, from the Opposition)
—which only closed a few days ago. Now, sir, I deny, on
the part of the country, the statements which have been
made. (Ministerial cheers.) I say that England stands
as high as she ever did—(cheers and counter cheers)—and
that those who think that she has fallen in the estimation
of the world are not the men to whom the honour and
dignity of England ought to be confided. (Loud cheers.)
Well, sir, this bill of indictment was most singularly
brought in by the right hon. gentleman who proposed the
motion, because in the early part of his speech, step by
step, he expressed his approyal of what Government had
done. He-began by admitting that the treaty of 1852 was,
when it was concluded, a wise and good arrangement.
He could not deny that all the Governments who were
parties to that treaty had congratulated each other upon
having made what they then thought—and there were
grounds for the opinion—was a settlement that would en-
sure the peace of .Europe. And when we have been told
that the Prussian Minister of that day, the Chevalier de
Bunsen, refused to put his name to a certain protocol, I
think I am right in saying that so eager was the Prussian
Government for that treaty, that the draft *as sent from
Berlin to London with a special order to the Chevalier de
Bunsen that he was to sign it such as he received it, and
not to make any objection of his own. Well, then, what-
ever may have been the feelings of the Chevalier de Bunsen,
who was known to be a very enthusiastic champion of Ger-
man unity at that time, I say those feelings were not shared
by his Government—and it is a misrepresentation to infer,
that because of the objections he may have felt, Prussia
was not sincere in concluding that treaty. Saxony was
equally pleased with the arrangement that was then made.
That arrangement violated no rights. It simply was
that the Danish Government should be invited to change
the law of succession legally, which they did—that the
King, by his prerogative, should be empowered to name
his successor, which he did—and that that suc-
cessor should be acknowledged by the contracting
powers as heir to the Danish crown ; and that the States
which were then and had been for a long time under the
sway of the King of Dearaari4 should, as far as the object