The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-16 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERD.A.Y.)

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

VOTE OF THANKS TO THE ARMY AND NAVY

IN THE EAST.

The Duke of NEWCASTLE rose and said—My lords, I
rise for the purpose of performing a duty which, if dill •
cult, is nevertheless of a most gratifying nature—to move
that your lordships should agree to resolutions which
cannot possibly excite any discord of feeling, but which, on
the contrary, must, I am certain, for the time assuage
every feeling of party animosity, and must combine in
entire unanimity every peer on each side of this house.
(Hear.) My lords, fortunately for my performance of this
task, no eloquence is necessary to induce your lordships to
agree to them. Those resolutions I- am confident, under
existing circumstances, must appeal to the hearts and feel-
ings of all assembled within as well as without these walls.
My lords, I feel that praises and high eulogies, unless adorned
by rhetorical and chastened by the purest taste, are less
calculated to influence minds on occasions like the present
than the simple records of the deeds done and the services
for which thanks are sought to be awarded. On former
occasions, when it has been the duty of Ministers of the
Crown to move votes of thanks for the army and navy of
those which Tam about to lay before
England, similar to
your lordshlPs, it has been customary, at least generally so,
to give some lengthened details of the operations which
they had conducted, and to lay before the house a state-
ment of the services which justified that appeal. But, my
lords, on the present occasion, I feel I should be merely
trespassing on your lordships' time if I attempted to enter
into such details. The circumstances on this occasion
are different from those which existed in former
wars. In the first place, the deeds to which I am
about to refer, were performed at a time when
Parliament was not sitting. (Hear.) Now, some weeks
ago, and, moreover, at the present time, these deeds
have been recorded to us in a manner unknown to us before
—they have been recordedin terms so graphic and striking
through the means of gentlemen who, were eye-witnesses of
those great achievements, that it would be affictation in
me indeed to endeavour to say anything now, or to give
your lordship's information which, in reality, is known
within the circle of every separate cottage in this country.
(Hear, hear.) My lords, I have said that on this occasion
I believe every feeling of party will be assuaged ; let me
only add this, that if any noble lords are pleased to im-
pute any blame to the Governme4 for not having armed
Lord Raglan and his troops with sufficient means, then so
much the mere should your lordships be propared to ac-
cord praise to the army. (Hear, hear.) I will refer to
that subject no further, but I am sure your lordships will
feel that if to any extent the Government is blameable, to
a much greater extent must you praise the army now in
the Crimea. (Cheers.) It has always been considered
that a vote of thanks for the services of our gallant soldiers
and sailors is the highest reward which it is in the power of
Parliament to bestow, and it has always been looked upon
by the troops as the greatest incentive to the conduct of
the officers and the valour of the men under their com-
mand. It has been regarded not only as a proof of the
gratitude of Parliament, but as an indication of the sense
of Parliament of the army's power to perform still greater
services. It is not for me, my lords, at this moment to
discuss an aphorism which has become so trite as to be
generally accepted—viz., that England is not a military
nation ; but I think your lordships will agree with me that
military glory acquired by our army has been ever dear to
the people of England, and has ever elicited the warmest
gratitude of tiro Parliament of this country, not only from
your lordships' house, but from the representatives of the
people in the other house. But, my lords, as far as your
lordships' house is concerned, I feel we must entertain
still greater pride and pleasure when we know that he who
has the command of these forces, and has won this renown,
is a member of this house—ones whom we have been in the
habit of seeing here among us, and one of whom I am con
fident your lordships will agree with me in saying we most
ardently desire to see amongst us again on a future day
safe in health and encircled with that renown which he has
so justly earned. (Cheers.) Lord Raglan deserves the thanks
and approbation of this country, not merely for the
exhibition of his military prowess, but for the course of
conduct he has adopted from the first moment he left Eng-
land. 1 consider that the judicious arrangements which
ho made both at Constantinople and at Varna—l consider
that the preparations which he subsequently made for the
• invasion of the Crimea, are as great indications of his
talent and his conduct as even Ids military success itself.
(Hear, hear.) I believe that men of weaker minds than
Lord Raglan might,,.under the circumstances of .the mo-
ment, have hesitated to undertake that great expedition.
I believe that men of less power of mind and moral cou-
. .

rage might have been deterred by the disease which existed
in the army, and the various events which might have
almost justified him in exercising that discretion which, of
course, no Government could hesitate to place in the com-
mander of an army, and might have declined to enter
upon this important expedition. I said, my lords, on a
former occasion that I considered it would bo almost an
insult to 'a mai like Lord Raglan to speak of his courage ;
but I say, if there is any one point in regard to which we
are justified in blaming Lord Raglan, it is that he carried on
both occasions his indifference to his personal position to
perhaps an improper length. Tne way in which he was
exposed on both occasions in the midst of a storm of fire—
in the midst of the hottest of the fight—was a proof of his
calm courage and resolute bravery which might, perhaps,
have lost us his valuable and important services. What,
my
-lords, is the great secret of Lord Raglan's success, I
believe to be the generous reliance whice he has always
placed in his officers and colleagues in arms—and, let me
add, on the valour of the soldiers. I think I may say,
without any disrespect to himself, a circumstance which
has been mentioned to me—but certainly not by Lord
Raglan, proving that, if there is one characteristic of that
remarkable man which stands out more boldly than an-
other, it is his singular modesty and avoidance of every
topic that could attract fame and admiration for himself-
-I have heard from others that at tho battle of Alma, there
was a critical moment at which if it had not been for Lord
Raglan's prescience and skill the result of this moment-
ous event might almost have been turned. On examining
the position of the Russians minutely, he despatched with
the greatest alacrity two guns to a spot at which they were
enabled to scatter the reserve of the enemy, and prevent
them attacking us on our left, which they might have suc-
ceeded in doing if the English forces had not been in the
hands of so skilful a general, and therefore produced the
most disastrous results. I say that the modesty and disin-
terestedness evinced by Lord Raglan in his published des-
patches show that he is a worthy disciple of the illustrious
general who occupies so distinguished a place in the records
of history. I say that it is not merely the greatness of his
military success which entitles him to the thanks of Par-
liament, but in no less degree his generous and noble spirit,
and the moral courage which he has exhibited at all times,
whether in the fight or in the camp ; and I say, moreover,
that tenderness to the officers and men under his command
which characterise invariably a great and distinguished
general. My lords, if I say nothing further in reference to
Lord Raglan, I trust your lordships will attribute it to
reasons I have suggested, and that you will believe eulogy
to be just as useless on my lips as in your lordships ears.
Following out, my lords, the precedent of former occasions,
I shall ask your lordships to veto thanks to the generals
and officers under Lord Raglan's command, naming as
usual all the generals—not merely the veterans Sir John
Burgoyne and Sir George Brown, two men who, we must
all feel, have advanced to a period of life which Scripture
informs us is the term of most of us—who, indeed, Ima y
say, have passed that period of life, and who, most unques-
tionably, are entitled to the repose from labours which
that age generally absolutely requires—for their distin-
guished services. I ask yen, then, to give them your thanks.
In the next place, I ask your lordships to vote your thanks
to anillustrious prince, also a member of this house, who
has on this occasion endeared, if that were possible, still
more to the people of this country the family to which he
belongs,and who has proved that the ancient valour of his
race has not degenerated at this day. (Cheers.) My lords,
I am confident you will rejoice, as I know her Majesty
doss, that a member of that house has been enabled to
share in the toils, difficulties, and the privations, as well

as in the glory of the British -
army. (Cheers.) My lords,
I will ask you further to vote your thanks to Sir De Lacy
Evans—(cheers)—and here, I fear, I cannot adequately
eulogise what every one must feel to be one of the noblest
acts of gallantry that ever distinguished a veteran general.
(Cheers.) My lords, he was obliged to retire from the
field, end was on board ship in the harbour of Balaklava
when the battle of Inkerman commenced. Your lordships
know how unexpectedly that battle arose. At the sound
of artillery Sir De Lacy Evans hastened on shore, and,
although hardly able to sit upon his horse, he arrived at
the scene of action, and there found the brigadier-general
who had, hitherto served under him
troops of his division, and most nobly anYgmarnntling the
acting, as it were, asahisya'dlid he
assist him by his advice,
camp, never for one moment setting him aside, or itialfinei;
his place at the head of his d
division, en reaping the '
wards and honours of the day. (Cheers.
) My lords,
think you will agree with me that this is one of the most
honourable traits which ever distinguished a general in
any army. (Hear, hear.) 1 shall further ask your lord•
ships to vote your thanks to all the other generals and offi-
cers, from the highest to the lowest—from the general at
the lead of a division, down to the noble youths who, not
yet arrived at the years of discretion, stepped forward,
one after another, to seize the colours, riddled with shot,
from the hands of a brother' ensign, and .carried them
triumphantly to the heights of Alma, (Cheers.) Your
lordships' house will, I am sure, with equal unanimity
accord a vote of thanks to the non-commissioned offi-
cers and soldiers—(hear, hear)—of that gallant army.
I alluded the other night •to that encouragement, by
means of promotion, which it is intended to hold out
to the soldier, and your lordships, at the time, seemed'
to signify your approval of that course; but we know
how dillicult it is to reward the private soldiers of the
l'rem3r, who, on the present occasion, have deseived to
e. warmly greeted with our thanks. Actions more en-
titled
to the consideration and the thanks of Parliament
than those
of this occasion are not to be found in our his-
tory, The
hearin- the gag,cuient of Inkerman has been called in my
was wion
ii
t:oldiers' battle. That was an action which
one of those .etirtnel)b ; it was got by sheer bravery ; it was
one of the battle:l-land-to-hand encounters which remind
an action. in
which the bravery, courage, and discipline of
each individual soldievei Nivlasor brought to the' test, and right
well v.-as their duty
en a e d .
the
so m whether,eri , my
ry lords,tho
c 0 yon
look at the individnal br
tics discipline whiCh theayvierAn:isited, or to that power of.
the expression,
mind over matter, if
which
enabled every man to overcor4 use
1.
nan lying—
almost every human feeling, all isienusiae seeinselfo,ftrathldicredat(iltyof
at what-
death which is natural to every ,
Mymloarndsiwithoia ifru:possible not to
ever aspect orit you look,
admire and honour every
(Cheers.) Whether you consider the stormingugktthat day.
heights of Alma, or the defence of Inkerman, two of the
eamritheir
as remarkably contrasted to each other as p 03371 battles
must admit, my lords, that theseasmtchne, fnroebsitefrce' You
conn try, the greater part of when),
the other night, haul never heard a shot fired in au,,,,srail 1
you must admit that no troops, however practised or inured
to arms, ever fought better, or ever more signalised their
bravery ; and let me say, my lords, that this is no despi.
cable enemy; for undoubtedly, from whatever cause it
might arise, whether they were excited by fanaticism, or
other considerations,' no foe ever fought with greater despe-
ration. The British troops never had to contend against
greater odds than those which they overcame. I trust
I may be pardoned, in the absence of a noble earl who
has - just left the house, if I express my regret that he
should, the other evening, rather have demurred to the
opinion expressed as to the altered and improved con-
duct of the British troops. Upon this point I will say
no more, but repeat, in emphatic terms, the general
sense of the praise which is due to their improved con•