Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

COBDEN AND BRIGHT OPPOSED TO THEIR CONSTITUENTS.

Mr. Roebuck gave notice that he intended to move "for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the condition of our army before Sebastopol, and into the conduct of those departments of the government whose duty it has been to minister to the wants of that army." It could not be said that the blow was unexpected; but the question was, would the ministry be able to avert it? It was just possible that at such a juncture, when it was of extreme importance to continue without a break the government of the country, the votes of the opposition might not carry the motion; but there was no opportunity of trying. At the critical moment Lord John Russell resigned his office as president of the council, and in the letter which he wrote to Lord Aberdeen virtually abandoned his colleagues to their adversaries. "Mr. Roebuck has given notice of a motion to inquire into the conduct of the war," he said. "I do not see how this motion is to be resisted; but as it involves a censure upon the war department with which some of my colleagues are connected, my only course is to tender my resignation. I therefore have to request you will lay my humble resignation of the office which I have the honour to hold before the queen, with the expression of my gratitude for her majesty's kindness for many years." There could be but one opinion on the part of Lord Aberdeen, namely, that the object of Lord John was to overthrow the ministry on the forlorn chance of a Whig government being called to power. The Duke of Newcastle, still believing that he was the person against whom much of the ill feeling and discontent had been raised, again offered to resign and to take the blame rather than that the cabinet should be broken up; but to this neither Aberdeen nor his colleagues would consent. Lord Palmerston was stanch as usual, and when he heard from Lord John that he had resigned, wrote "I feel bound in candour to say that I think your decision ill-timed. Everybody foresaw that on the meeting of parliament after Christmas some such motion as that given notice of by Roebuck was likely to be made; and if you had determined not to face such a motion your announcement of such a decision a fortnight

141

ago
would have rendered it more easy for your
colleagues to have taken whatever course such
an announcement might have led to. . . . As
it is you will have the appearance of having
remained in office, aiding in carrying on a
system of which you disapproved, until driven
out by Roebuck's announced notice, and the
government will have the appearance of self-
condemnation by flying from a discussion
which they dare not face; while, as regards
the country, the action of the executive will be
paralysed for a time, in a critical moment of a
great war, with an impending negotiation, and
we shall exhibit to the world a melancholy
spectacle of disorganization among our poli-
tical men at home, similar to that which has
prevailed among our military men abroad."

Though there was so much dissatisfaction in the country because of the blunders and mismanagement in the transport service, there was no lack of enthusiasm for prosecution of the war. Mr. Bright had already offended the people of Manchester by his refusal to support the Patriotic Fund, and it was understood that at the next election he would have some difficulty in retaining his position. Mr. Cobden was in a similar situation. He had addressed his constituents at Leeds on the subject of the war at a meeting which was to have been held at the Music Hall; but the number of those who attended was so great that it was adjourned to the yard of the Coloured Cloth Hall. Between 5000 and 6000 persons were present. The chair was taken by Mr. Alderman Carbutt, a Liberal of the West Riding, who had been the chairman of Mr. Cobden's last election committee, and he prefaced the proceedings by stating that he did not agree with their representative on the subject of the war. Mr. Cobden was received with only partial applause. With his usual fearless candour he said he had come there to explain his opinions with regard to the war, because he understood that a majority of his constituents were opposed to the views which he advocated. He quite agreed with those who said that if England was to have a war it could not be a little one. She must carry it on with vigour. That, however, required money; and then came the most important

question of all, How were the supplies to be raised? If they were determined to carry on the war with vigour they must make their up minds to pay for it, and that must either be done by a loan or by additional taxation. He was opposed to loans, because the money could be raised too easily that way. He held that the greater the difficulties in obtaining money to carry on a war, the better for the country, as it would make government all the more careful not to quarrel with other nations. As regarded the peace question, he was not in favour of peace at any price. He had been urged by the members of the Peace Society to disavow that doctrine, because, unless he did so, he should lose all influence with practical minds in the advocacy of peace principles. He then went on to discuss the policy of the war, and the way in which it had been conducted, both of which he condemned in the strongest terms.

"I think," said Mr. Cobden, "that the expedition to Sebastopol was a mistake. It has, indeed, been acknowledged to be a mistake so far that it was a leap in the dark. I think the practical question for Englishmen is how you are best to get out of that mistake. If you are going to fight it out there, then I say the course hitherto pursued by our government is wholly inadequate to the object you have in view. You must raise enormous armies. You must find an immense amount of treasure; and you must carry on the war in the Crimea on a very different scale from what you have done hitherto. But I think there is another way by which your brave men may be removed from that position in which, by a mistake, they have been placed; and I think that, without consulting our own position, and without looking too much to exaggerated hopes and expectations, we are bound in all fairness to consider the position of those brave men, and we are bound not, if we can help it, to throw any obstacles in the way of restoring peace to those countries, and restoring those men to their homes. I would further have these brave men, when brought home from Sebastopol, to be received with all honour as if they had succeeded in their object, because you may depend on it they have

suffered ten times as much in their abortive effort to take that place as they would have done had they succeeded in taking it by a coup de main. Now, is there no reason to suppose that there is a possibility of effecting a safe and honourable peace? Is there not ground for supposing that, at the present moment, the governments of Europe have approximated, by their negotiations to such a state of things, as may render it possible to arrange the terms of an honourable peace? And now I would address a word to my friends behind me. They propose, I believe, to submit to this meeting a resolution calling for the vigorous prosecution of the war. I have told you frankly that if the war is to be carried on it must be carried on in a very different spirit and on a very different scale from what it has hitherto been. But I would put it to my friends around me, and I put it to this meeting, as representing so important a community, whether you may not be throwing an obstacle in the path of peace-whether you may not be frustrating the objects which the government may now have in view in order to effect a peace-by passing in the midst of this important constituency such a resolution as I understand has been prepared? My own impression, drawn from those public sources of information which are open to us all, is that attempts are now being made-which are not unlikely to prove successful, if they are not thwarted by the public opinion of this country-to arrive at an honourable peace, and I ask you to consider well before you say or do one single thing that can by possibility impede the progress of these pacific negotiations. As for destroying Sebastopol, of what use would that be? In less than ten years Russia would come to Baring Brothers in London for a loan, and would build up Sebastopol with more skill and in greater perfection." He ridiculed the fears of those who spoke of danger to England from Russian aggression. As for the increase of territory, about which so much was said, England was far more to blame than Russia. He concluded by urging them not to commit themselves to the passing of any resolutions which might hinder the negotiations for peace.

DEFEAT OF THE COALITION MINISTRY.

But this advice fell upon ears not willing to listen to it without suspicion of its wisdom, or at all events of its patriotism. The representatives of what was then called the "national policy" had a resolution ready which declared, that, in the opinion of the meeting, the war in which England and France are now engaged with Russia is a great contest forced upon them by the outrageous aggression of the latter power upon the Turkish Empire, and a spirit of aggrandizement on the part of the czar, which threatened the independence of other nations, and that the war ought to be prosecuted with the utmost vigour until safe and honourable terms of peace could be obtained.

Mr. Edward Baines seconded the resolution. He was sure, as regarded the interests of peace, that it would have no unfavourable effect upon the government. But there was another party to be consulted before they could have peace, and that was the Emperor of Russia. It was not by a resolution in favour of peace, but by a strong army being sent to the Crimea, that they could work upon the mind of the czar. The true plan was to be slow in going to war; but, once engaged in a just war, to prosecute it with such vigour to an issue that their enemy would not be likely to renew it again. He regarded this as a great and important crisis, when a league was being formed which might affect the destinies of Europe for ages to come. For the last century and a half the attitude in which Russia had presented herself to Europe was that of an ambitious, encroaching, and selfish power, while she was at the same time the most despotic, intolerant, and barbarous of European nations. Nothing was therefore, more to be deprecated; than that Russia should acquire a predominant influence among the continental powers.

The following amendment was proposed by the peace party amidst much disapproba

tion:

"That this meeting, without giving any opinion on the origin or conduct of the war, earnestly desires that the present negotiations for peace may be carried to a successful issue, and the further evils of a protracted contest

143

spared to this country, to Europe, and to the world."

Mr. R. M. Milnes, M.P., supported the resolution. He hoped that no sham peace would be made, but one of permanent character, so that the expense of keeping up a large standing army for fear of war breaking out might be avoided, and such a peace would be best procured by showing a firm confidence in the justice of the war in which this country had engaged. The amendment was urged by Major-general Thompson, who condemned the way in which the government had commenced and carried on the war; but on the question being put to the meeting the original resolution was carried, only a very few hands being held up against it.

The war fever had not yet abated; but the government which had reluctantly declared the war was itself to fall a victim to it. There were many who asserted that the ministry had brought defeat on themselves, and who, though they entirely disapproved of the action of Lord John Russell, had agreed with him when, in recommending the substitution of Lord Palmerston for the Duke of Newcastle, he said that the head of the government must be the moving spirit of the machine, or the minister of war be strong enough by himself to control every department connected with the military operations-neither of which conditions were to be found under the existing arrangement.

On the second night of the debate on Mr. Roebuck's motion for a committee of inquiry the discussion grew high, and it was evident that the fate of the ministry would be decided on that question. To propose such an inquiry while the war was at a critical point was so extreme a test that it could be regarded only as another method of compelling a vote of want of confidence or the reverse, and ministers felt that they could not honourably meet such a motion by offering to reconstruct the cabinet, though the Duke of Newcastle was still anxious to retire, and so relieve the government by making room for Lord Palmerston. The whole cabinet would have resigned, but at that juncture a dissolution of parliament

would have been a serious thing, and the queen's request that ministers would retain office decided them to await the result of the motion for a select committee.

Palmerston with his wonted courage declared that he fully concurred in the decision that the responsibility for the conduct of the war fell not on the Duke of Newcastle alone, but on the whole cabinet. He did not deny that there had been something calamitous in the condition of our army, but he traced it to the inexperience arising from a long peace. If the house thought the government not deserving of confidence, the direct and manly course would have been to affirm that proposition. The course to be pursued would be dangerous and inconvenient in its results abroad. He hoped that when the house had determined what set of men should be intrusted with public affairs, they would give their support to that government, and not show to Europe that a nation could only meet a great crisis when it was deprived of representative insti

tutions.

Mr. Sidney Herbert declared that the reports of the condition of things in the Crimea had been grossly exaggerated and that great improvements had taken place; but a speech from Mr. Stafford, who supported the motion for inquiry, produced some sensation, as he said his only claim to attention was that he would tell the house what he himself had seen. One radical defect of the hospitals both at Scutari and at Abydos was the unhealthiness of the sites. That objection applied to all the district between the two seas, and therefore he was rejoiced to hear that the government were about to open a new hospital at Smyrna. Other defects in the hospital at Scutari were pointed out by him. But matters were much worse at the Balaklava hospital,' where the bed-clothes had never been washed, and where men sick of one disease, had caught another disease by being put into the place where a man had just died before of fever. In one room he found fourteen, in another nine, men lying on the floor, while in the passage between them were excellent bedsteads which might have been put up on an average of three minutes each. The honourable member went at great!

length and minuteness into specific cases of neglect and consequent misery endured by the soldiers, the general effect of which may be summed up in the words addressed by a French officer to himself: "You seem, sir," said he, "to carry on war according to the system of the middle ages; and,” he added, “our regret for your backwardness is increased because we see the noble lives you are losing." From the general censure he excepted Miss Nightingale and her nurses, he also spoke of the attachment of the soldiers to their officers, and especially to the Duke of Cambridge.

We have already seen that subsequently considerable improvements took place at Scutari, and Miss Nightingale and some of her nurses afterwards visited the hospital at Balaklava much to its advantage.

The debate was continued with considerable spirit, one of the most damaging speeches to the government being that of Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, who was then in the zenith of his parliamentary career. It was during his remarks on this occasion that, in a passage which has become famous, he said: “Looking through our modern history, I find that most of our powerful, even popular administrations, have been coalitions. Both the administrations of Mr. Pitt were coalitions, and the last was very remarkable, for he first turned out the Addington government, and then coalesced with six of its members. Nay, he was not contented till he had netted the expelled prime minister himself and made him lord president of the council. But then there is one indisputable element of a coalition, and that is, that its members should coalesce.” He argued that the justification of the motion was to be found in the extremity of the case. The noble lord the member for London had left his colleagues rather than resist it, notwithstanding the pain which such an abandonment must have given to so gallant a mind; and he gave the noble lord the more credit for his pain because of the more than Spartan fortitude with which he had concealed the fact. The expedition to the Crimea had been undertaken in utter ignorance of the country they were to invade, the forces they were to encounter, and the supplies which they might

GLADSTONE AND DISRAELI ON THE CRIMEAN INQUIRY.

expect; and it was this ignorance, and not the petty collateral causes which the secretary of war had cited, to which the disasters were to be attributed. It was stated that the people were equally ignorant. That might be, but the ignorance which was excusable in a people was a crime in a ministry. But the people did not deserve this censure.

The people looked

to triumphs on the sea rather than on the land; but when nearly the whole Black Sea lay defenceless before them, the fleet contented themselves with an ineffectual bombardment of Odessa, for which-in consequence, he was sure, of private instruction— the admiral afterwards made an apology. It was said that the destruction of Odessa would have been an act of inhumanity. Why, Odessa was the feeder of Sebastopol, and to spare it was the grossest inhumanity to our soldiers. The whole campaign was mismanaged. Of the whole year the government had chosen the two unhealthiest months to encamp the army at Varna, and they had chosen the winter as the time to attack the Gibraltar of the East. He did not blame the government because the army had been exposed to wind, and rain, and mud; but he did blame them for not taking those precautions against the Crimean winter which any traveller could have told them were necessary. He traced many of the evils to the fact of a coalition government, in which everybody's principles agreed with nobody's opinions. It was said that the noble lord the member for Tiverton was likely to be advanced in position as the result of these disputes. He regarded that noble lord with feelings of the greatest admiration, and he believed his greatest danger would arise from the armed neutrality of his unsuccessful advocate and friend the noble member for London.

There is something in this speech which may well remind us of Disraeli, for it has the touch of one who may be called a professional satirist. In the speeches of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton his literary faculty was obvious, and the same but in a less prominent degree may often be said of Disraeli.

Mr. Gladstone stood up not only to defend the government but to protest against the proposal for a committee of inquiry, or, if such

VOL. III.

145

a committee were proposed to declare that the ministry was bound to abide by its own acts, and not to seek an uncertain tenure of office by a compromise, or an effort at reorganization which might pacify adverse opinion. He pointed out that Lord John Russell had not urged his remonstrances from November up to the time of his resignation, and in November there were no complaints against the war office. In October Lord John had actually written to the Duke of Newcastle, stating his belief that he had done in his office all that man could do. More than that, the Earl of Aberdeen being doubtful of the intentions of the president of the council asked him on the 16th of December whether he still adhered to his intention of pressing changes in the war department; and the noble lord stated in reply, that, on the advice of a friend of his own, he had abandoned the views he pressed in November. Therefore, up to the night when the noble lord sent in his resignation, his colleagues did not know that he was dissatisfied, or that he meant to press his former views as to the reorganization of the war department; and it might be thought that, after losing the services of the noble lord, the government ought not to have met the house, or at least not to have met them without some reorganization. But he felt it was not for them either to attempt to make terms with the house by a reorganization or to shrink from the judg ment of the house upon their past acts. If they had shrunk, what sort of epitaph would have been placed over their remains? He himself would have thus written it :-Here lie the dishonoured ashes of a ministry which found England at peace and left it at war-which was content to enjoy the emoluments of office, and to wield the sceptre of power, so long as no man had the courage to question their existence. They saw the storm gathering over the country; they heard the agonizing accounts which were almost daily received of the state of the sick and wounded in the East. These things did not move them. But so soon as the honourable member for Sheffield raised his hand to point the thunderbolt they became conscience-stricken with a sense of guilt, and, hoping to escape punishment, they ran away

52

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »