The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-13 00:00:00

great—their embareasiments are mores, sing; and they might
have thought that time and fortune woe 'ld place them, some
two months later, in a more advantageou s position than that ~
they now occupy. But, having felt it to be their duty, or
having deemed it to be their interest, to take the step they
have taken, I was greatly surprised when th s honourablte
gentleman who seconded the address, the brothel • of a Cabinet
Minister, sought to impress upon the House of Commons
the expediency of silence In reference to the present state of affairs. (Hear, hear.) But that was net. all ; the rare luxury of one Cabinet Minister only has it 'been permitted
to us to enjoy in this debate ; and yet that eight hon, gate
tleman filled his speech, not only with vino icationei ,of hia
office—which, by the way, had been only very partially attacked
—but also with a discreet admonition, to the effect that the
loyalty of the House of Commons would be best proved,
and its character for wise discretion most effectively este,
by not expressing an opinion in the face of the
'country on the subject of that absent army which has suf-
fered so much,' and which, in all its deeds of high hereiti
achievement, was sustained by the conviction, that when the
hour came their wrongs would be criticised for the people of
England. It may be a clever thing for the Lord President of
the Council to be silent on this subject, and it may be discreet
of his attendant Secretaries of State ;. but I assert they hare
not acted with a full sense of duty in not seeking to obtain
an expression of feeling, which is at once the soul and life of
the House of Commons of this country. (Hear.) My right
Lon. friend the member for Droitwich has taken a course, on
this occasion which I consider is much to his credit, and one.
which will be appreciated by the country, and had this debate
terminated with his speech I should have been silent. lie has
indicated the course which it becomes a Conservative oppo-
sition, supporting the Ministry, to take. I cannot understand
how right hon, gentlemen opposite can bring themselves to
such a pitch of feeling or to rise and protest against the
opinions of Parliament on the conduct of the Governineut.
Last year I had to protest against this course. No measure
was brought forward by the Govcimment—even though men•
sures on which they were subsequently beaten—in which we
were not told to put the question to a vote of cenfidence on
the part of the House of Commons. We have been told to-
night by the War Secretary the same thing. "Do not,",he
says, " indulge in captious criticism upon our conduct, or
of
e wantr h a p so,
tlife:tGhoevernmtry,ent:b" Stir ;
coun u pro-
pststee what,avote f
had occasion last year to" notice that unconstitfitiOnal of Proceeding on the part of the Government, and tec Cho
by reference' to high authorities; to Parr eUeary' s
prat
cedents, which have great weight, how such '
a course, it
generally adopted, would strike at the root of all fieedOrn of all public discussion. (Hear, hear.) I hold fit to be the:
privilege of members of this house to canvass the conduct
of the Government, without having the eesponsibilit cast upon them.. individually of asking a ehanie
of that Government. (Hear, hear.) If I recollect aright, it
was in 1803 when this country had a Ministry which was
unpopular carrying on the war, and an Opposition supppo..
ing the policy of that war, while it disapproved of its conduct.'
Un that occasion Mr. Wyndham, no mean authority, I pm.
sume, a man of brilliant genius, qualified by large acquire-
ments and great experience, rose and said he trusted that the
unanimity of the nation onthe subject of the war would not
be mistaken for unanimity of sentiment on the conduct of the.
Ministry, and that he supported the policy of the war while
he disapproved of the conduct of the Ministry, Mr. Wynd-
ham spoke that lei a member of the Opposition. He was
followed by some of the most eminent members in the house,
and no one impugned their privilege questioning the policy
of the Government, or declared that they should be ,obliged
to test their opinions by proposing a vote of confidenee or ne
confidence to Parliament, (Hear, hear.) Yet, this repartee
of last Session is 'now again brought forward to-night; and
we are told by the Secretary at War, in speaking of minute- .
details, not adverted to by my right hon. friend the member -
for Droitwich—in answering an anonyznous accusation in the
the public press—that if there was to be a question of the
Ministeeistl conduct and policy, the sense, of the house ought
to be taken as to the question of confidence. (Hear, hear.)
I protest against this policy: (Hear, hear.) I see the object
of it. (Hear, hear.) It is to stop all discussion. (Hear,
hear.) It is to degrade and destroy the House of Commons
by putting an end to that free discussion which is the element
and the atmospuere of its system, and without which itcannot
live. , There was an hon. baronet who bore anhonourable name,
who rose early in the debate, and made use of a remarkable
observation, founded on a misapprehension, which his acute
mind should have avoided. He alluded to a speech made
by me last session, in which I said, speaking of the causes of
the war, that ou this side of the house we confined our-
selves to the propriety of discussing the causes of the war,
but no capitous criticism would I hope be ever heard (I
speak from memory) on the exertions of a future Wellesley
ou the banks of the Danube, whatever were the difficulties
he might have to encounter. That was an observation
which referred to the military conduct of the war. It
meantto say that we had not the presumption or the wish to
criticise the abilities of those appointed to command, but
that we should place in them. the confidence which
the country was ready to place in those whom the Govern-
ment in their wisdoin appointed to those commands. Would
the hon. baronet the member for Tamworth deny for a
moment that it is the duty of the House of Commons
to scan and scrutinise the military expeditions that
are planned and concocted in the Cabinet of the,
Sovereign ? I suppose he will not maintain that
Walcheren expeditions are not to be criticised. He
will not for a moment maintain that such convictions as
Cintra and Saratoga are to be passed by in subdued
silence. Why are we a House of Commons at all ? What 1
confidence have we of commanding the respect of the people
if, when matters of national importance come before us, no
national feeling is to be found in this house ; thsit
we are to be mute, and a minister is to rise and
say that if you discuss such a question at a period of
difficulty to the Sovereign and the nation, we put on you
the responsibility of a change of administration ? That was
a principle dangerous to public liberty, and one which
in a f
they shouleelingd not sanction, that the House of Commons,
of patriotism, should be silent. They
were mow called on to decide if they would argee to the
Address which we have heard moved in terms echoing the
speech from the Throne, a speech in some circumstances the
most remarkable that had ever proceeded from 'that source,
inasmuch as it was the shortest we have yet heard, and con-
fined to almost one subject. Let me, however, remind the
house that it commences with an admission of great import-
ance, and one calculated to excite the attention of the whole
country. We have the announcement that the country is
engaged in a great war. This time last year, when wo were
on verge of war, when it was virtually, not formally, de-
clared, no minister would acknowledge that the war was a
great war. The Lord President was then ready to re-organise
this house, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in taking
the votes for the expedition, brought forward a meagre esti-
mate for the conveyance of 25,000 troops to Malta and back
in the course of the year, although the house was then
willidg to place in the hands of the Government as much
power as the Emperor of Russia obtained by his ukase. Sir,
the Government had the most popular war, the most power-
fill ally, the most favourable combination of circumstances,
with which any country ever had entered into war before ; •
and I now ask the house to consider—not whether there
were sufficient nurses or surgeons at Scutari—not what may
have been the amount of marmalade sent out—(a laugh.
and hear)—but what has been effected by this Ministry with
such marvellous advantages I (Hear, hear.) You designed
to attack the powerful ruler of Russia in two opposite parts
of the world—almost at the extremities of his vast dominions;
you fitted out armadas to attack him in two seas ; you sent
out an army which was to baffie him. on the banks of the
most important river in Europe; and what have you donee,
(Hear, hear.) The Secretary lief War-sneered at the notice
my right hoe, friend took of the achievements of the Baltic
fleet ; but if the ideas of the Government as to national suc-
cess are to be measured by those achievements, we have less
hope than before of a successful conduct of the war by the
present Government. (Hear, hear.) Let me reeal to mind
the strength of the fleete-greater than any that had ever
figured in our anuals—zreater than the Alliedfleets of France
and Spain which,met Nelson at. Trafalgar. Let me reeal the
circumstances under which the command of that' fleet wan
bestowed. It occasioned a debate in this house, (Hear,
hear.) The head of the Admiralty—that prudent statesman
—that experienced senator, who had so often presided over
that department—(hear, _and a laugh)- -was a guest at the
public dinner given to the commander of that great enterprise.
(Hear.) And the most experienced statesman of the country;
one who had presided so
.long,over our _foreign councils—a
department which it is supposed imparts the peculiar charac-
ter of discretion to the human conduct--(hear, hear, and
laughter)---that noble lord was present on that occasion; and
in the face of all Europe, before admiring and reckless igno-
rance=(hear)—theee statesmen—the men of whom we are
most proud.—te whom we look up with the greatest
chiefatest respect,
e sts
or even are—(a laugh) --they
were tchleure,"to h
inaugurate thegu
at the banquet, given at a political club,
captaincy of this great enterprise.
And what were the ex-
pectationsto h •
speeches
led the .country cherish We c
their
are at this time necessarily and
neutrally engrossed in the all-
important affairs
that have taken place in the
Black Sea ; for
more than two months the, feelinas of every heart have been
absorbed in Sebastopol. But, sir,. at that time no one thought
of Sebastopol or the Black Sea. (Hear) Those were minor
matters in comparison with the vast enormous armada
waftedfrom
our shores under the blessing and the benison
of our most experienced statesmen, and which had the ad-
vantage of being commanded by "true reformer." (Laugh •
ter.) Well, the Secretary-at-War pretends that the cepl'are
of Bomarsund was all that was anticipated, or was , ea( n
thought of, at the time when the noble lord (Palmerstoo)
and his experienced colleague (Sir J. Graham) lent their great
names and illustrious reputations to the inauguration of that
great enterprise. (Hear.) I will not say that the noble lord
had never heard of Bomarsund—he is such a well-informed
gentleman that doubtless he knew all about it—(a laugh)—
and;incleed, I have an idea that it was settled that the forti-
fications of Bomarsund were to be destroyed before our fleet
entered the Baltic. (Hear, hear.) Now, I hardly think it
was worth while to send for a Marshal of France and.
10,000 French troops to destroy a place which a few ia
Tines would have destroyed in a few hours.
(Hearvas't hear.)Certainly that was a sorry catastrophe for
that
enter-
prise in which the noble lord and
wise colleague so
occasion.
deeply interested themselves on
that
memorable
(Hear, hear.) Well, then, the expedition to the Baltic was
commensurate
with the
not one which obtained results at all
If it were
Ministry themselves.
e epectato es created by the
otherwise, noble lord (J. Russell) give no-
ticese, why
did not the
d • and officers
thanks to the admirals a
to-night of a vote
• of
engaged in the trans:deo us in the Baltic ? (Hear, hear.) If
he had ventured to do so we mightlhave made some inquiries
and gained some eel now come to the
ighteumout. Sir, I
second of the twogreat expeditions which this Government
entered upon with advantages which no Ministry ever en-
loved before, andwhich never can recur in the history of
this country. What did you do with that army you sent
to the vicinity of the Danube I Yon explain your conduct
'
their course, but your explanations cannot change the
and
cannot deny that you accomplished nothing—
result ;
you. nd that your plans have proved barren and.
(hear, hear)—and
) You toll us that you werewatch
ing
all (Hear, •
that time the course of events;
for
the inactivity of such of your forces as escaped the pest,
which it appears had not entered into your calculations al-
though it is au habitual tenant of that accursed soil. Yoa
tell us that they would have acted at the right time, but
that their presence influenced the Conduct of the Russian.
armies. But you have never told us that, had it been neces-
sary for our army to have advanced on the Danube, you had
provided the means by which that advance could be accom-
plished. (Loud cries of " hear, hear.") No minister has yet
dared to meet that accusation. (Hear, hear.) It has been
alluded to by the hon, member for Aylesbury (Mr. Layard),
who has stated that you had no means, whatever might have
been-the fate of Silistria, or the position of the Turkedi troops
upon the `Danube, that you had no means to move your army
there.
(Hear, hear.) And you never dared to declare that
you had. (Hear, hear.) But whether you made prepara-
tions or not, this you cannot deny, that, as on the Baltic, so
on the Danube, you effected nothing. (Hear, hear.) And.
what did you effect in the third, now the most important
division of your designs ? Late in the autumn, with a force,
as far as wo were concerned, of 20,0e0 or 25,000 troops, you.
invaded Russia. You beleaguered a fortress as strong as
Gibraltar, and perhaps better provided. Under what cir-
cumstances did you undertake the enterprise ? The Secretary
at War told us that he did not desire to blink the policy of
at the power
of Russia in the Crimea.
the enterprise, and that it was to strike a blow_
you
attacka
Brave words But
place at the wrong time, and with inadequate means, the
lan will be no apology for your
general policy of your P. , 6_l4hos mewl the
hoar.)
hour,
conduct. (Etear 6