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    120 ¦GW ' :j&*9tt+ CSATbRflAY^

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    History Of Parliament. Orening Of The Fi...

    longer touched the case ; " because the real question now was * whether the Secretary of State was ^ entitled , of his own authority , to write a despatch as the organ of the Queen ' s Government , in which hurcolleagues had never concurred , and to which the Queen had never given her royal sanction ? He thought not , and he advised the Queen to dismiss the noble lord . . ' " That was on the Wednesday * . 1 think , and I Waited till Saturday in order to consider and to reconsider the matter before I fairly submitted the correspondence Jo the Crown . I think on Thursday I informed my noble friend I would be at home ( as we understood ) , thinking he miht propose some course by ^ ich a separation

    g could be avoided , but nothing of that kind took place ; and I , being fully as convinced then as I had been of what I should do , wrote on Saturday , the 20 th , to her Majesty , conveying the correspondence which had passed between my noble friend and myself , and shortly intimating my advice to her Majesty that Lord Palmerston should be required to give up the seals of the Foreign-office . Sir , in coming to a decision so painful—in coming to the decision that I must separate from a colleague with whom I had acted so long , whose abilities I had admired , and in whose policy I had agreed—I felt , whether rightly or wrongly it is not for me now to say , I was bound to take that decision alone—to consult none of my colleagues , to

    avoid anything which . might hereafter have the appearance of a cabal , but to assume the sole and entire responsibility on myself . ( Cheers . ) With respect , therefore , to the stories which my honourable friend has quoted from a Breslau paper , as regards a letter written in Vienna , I can assure him that , however curious the coincidence of that letter may be , there is no truth whatever in the stories that there was an attempt to establish fairer terms and more intimate relations with the Court of Austria , and that the affair was entirely founded on the correspondence I have stated arid on the motives I have laid before the House . ( Hear , hear . ) In two days after the Cabinet met , I read to them the correspondence —both official correspondence and private

    correspondence—which had taken place between my noble friend and myself , and I stated to them that I Was , of course , responsible for what had passed ; that if they disapproved of my conduct , then of course I must quit office ; and I left it to them to form their judgment . They decided , without any difference of opinion , that they thought I could take no other course than that I had taken . ( Hear , hear . ) I know not that I need state anything further with regard to this transaction , but I immediately proceeded to Windsor and advised her Majesty to make choice of a successor to my noble Jriend . Now , Sir , with whatever pain that separation was made , I was convinced at the time—I am convinced still—that , considering what was due to the honour of the Crown , and what was due to the character of the country , I could take no other . "

    Acquitting LoTd Palmerston of " intentional disrespect " to the Crown , Lord John Russell proceeded to make the following extraordinary revelations of his own opinions : — " It is impossible for me to make the present statement without also referring in some degree to the state of affairs which now exists on the continent of Europe . ( Hear , hear . ) I think it necessary to make this statement , because I have been necessarily led into an avowal of my opinions that we could not properly or fairly express an opinion here favourable to the conduct of the President of France on the 2 nd of December . ( Hear , hear . ) I thousht it was not our part to do what we

    heard the Russian and Austrian Ministers had done ^ -to £ o at once and congratulate the President on what he ad done—( hear , hear )—but then I am bound to say that the President of France , having all the means of information he has had , no doubt has taken that course from a consideration of the state of France , and that the course he has taken is best fitted to ensure the welfare of the country over which he rules . ( Murmurs and laughter . ) Let me state that over again—( hear , hear ) —that while I do not concur in the approbation of my noble friend , I have no reason to doubt , and everything I have heard confirms that opinion , that , in the opinion

    of the President , the putting an end tojthe constitution , the anticipating the election of 1852 , and the abolition of the Parliamentary constitution , were all tending to the happiness and essential to the welfare of France . [ Cheers and laughter . ) But I have certainly to state further , because I confess I have seen with very great regret the language which has been used by a portion of the press of this country—( loud pheers from both sides of the House)—with respect to the President of France . " He remembered how the press embittered the negotiations preceding the rupture of the Peace of Amiens . The First Consul was ignorant of the manners and constitution of this country . But , he continued : —

    " The present President of France has this advantage over his uncle , that he his perfectly aware how much liberty wo ei \ joy , how much license of discussion prevails , and that the most unmeasured invective of the press does not imply any feeling of hostility either on the part of the Government or on the part of the nation . ( Hear , hear . )" He bolieved the President was a peaceful personthere was not the least probability of war , but we

    must increase the estimates . The wish of the Houso he was sure was for poace . Looking to the history of the Continent for tho last four years , ho drew the moral that hasty change was hazardous , and that tho reaction was tho too certain consequonco of tho revolution of 1848 . lie drew a ready choer by assorting that on no account should wo abandon our ancient and hospitable policy of sheltering rofugoes ; and ho rounded his spoeoh by expressing a hope that 11 liberty will bo at length introduced and established ,

    and that with religion it shall govern the hearts of men , and produce happier days to mankind . Lord Paxmeeston rose at once , and "began by calling Sir Benjamin Hall his " honourable friend , ' juid styling Lord John Russell the " noble lord . " Wlthout preface he dashed into the midst of the question , by not only admitting the doctrine laid down lby Lord John Russell respecting the relation between the c ~~~~ 4-n- ~ rr Xf fifato + Viq Cfnton and tVift "Premier ! but Secretary of Statethe Crownand the Premierbut

    , , , contending that it was a custom long before the memorandum o 1850 , read by the " noble lord . He also admitted that the Islington and Finsbury deputations took him by surprisef the addresses being read on the spot ; and that all he could do was to repudiate the offensive expressions embodied in them . Then referring to the " particular transaction to which his noble friend ( after a pause ) , the noble lord" had mentioned as the groundwork of his

    removal from office , he went on to state , " The event which is commonly called the coup d ' etat happened in Paris on the 2 nd of December . On the 3 rd , the French Ambassador , with whom I was in the habit of almost daily communication , called on me at my house to inform me of what he had received , and to talk over the events of the preceding day , and I stated conversationally the opinion I entertained of the events which had taken place . That opinion was exactly the opinion expressed in the latter part of the despatch which the noble lord has read ; and the French Ambassador , as I am informed , in a private letter , communicated the result of that conversation to his Minister . On that day , the 3 rd of December , her Majesty ' s Ambassador at Paris , wrote a despatch to ask what instructions he should

    receive for his guidance in France during the interval before the vote of the French on the question that was to be proposed to them , and whether in that interval he should infuse in the relations with the French Government any greater degree of reserve than usual . I took the opinion of the Cabinet on that question , and a draught of that opinion was prepared and sent for her Majesty ' s approbation . The answer could only _ be one in consistence with the course we had pursued since the beginning of the events alluded ' , and was such as the noble lord had read . Her Majesty ' s Ambassador was instructed to make no change in hjs relations with the French Government , and to do nothing that should wear the appearance of any interference in the internal affairs of France ! { Hear , hear . ) There was no instruction to communicate that document to the French Government : it

    simply contained instructions , not , in fact , what the English Ambassador was to" do , but what he was to abstain from doing . The noble lord ( the Marquis of Normanby ) , however , thought it right to communicate to the French Minister for Foreign Affairs the substance of that document , accompanying his communication with certain excuses for the delay , which , however , did not rest with that noble marquis , as his despatch to the English Government was dated the 3 rd of December . The French Minister stated that he had nothing to do with respect to the delay , and the less , indeed , because two days before he had received from the French Ambassador in London a statement

    which the noble lord ( Lord J . Russell ) has read , viz ., that I had entirely approved of what had been done , and thought the President of the French fully justified . That was a somewhat highly-coloured explanation of the result of the long conversation we held together . Those particular words I never used , and probably the French Ambassador never would have conceived it consistent with the dignity due to his country to ask the approval of a Foreign Secretary of State . Consequently , the approval was not given , and was not asked . When the Marquis of Normandy ' s despatch reached my noble friend ( Lord J . Russell ) , he wrote to say he trusted that I could contradict that

    report . There was , as he has stated , an interval between the ¦ receipt of the noble lord ' s letter and my answer . The noble lord ' s was dated the 14 th , and my answer the 16 th . I was at the time labouring under a heavy pressure of business , and , wishing fully to explain the opinion I expressed , it was not until the evening of the 16 th that I waB able to write my answer . The noble lord got it early next morning , on the 17 th . My answer was that the words quoted by Lord Normanby gave a high colouring to anything I could have said in the conversation with the French Ambassador : but that my opinion was—and that opinion no doubt I

    expressedthat such was the antagonism arising from time to time between the French Assembly and the President , that their long co-existence became impossible , and that it was my opinion that if one or other were to prevail , it would be better for France , and , through the interests of France , better for the interests of Europe , that the President should prevail than the Assembly , and my reason was that the Assembly had nothing to offer for the substitution of tho President unless an alternative ending obviously in civil war or anarchy ; whereas the President , on the other hand , had to offer unity of purpose and unity of authority , and that if he were inclined to do so , he might give to France internal tranquiUty with good and permanent government . "

    Lord Palmerston then mentioned the steps whioh followed in succession , nearly as detailed by Lord John Russell , Ho replied to tho noble lord ' s allegation that tho question was not whether ho approved of tho coup d'etat , but whether he was qualified in expressing any opinion on the subject , by stating the distinction , well understood among diplomatists , between official and unofficial conversation . [ At tho same time it was manifest that the unofficial con - versation was used by M . Walewelci as if it had been official !] Lord Palmerston contended that his conversation did not pledgo the Government ; and that ,

    if the Foreign Secretary might not express an opinion m " easy and familiar conversation on foreign events , " that would be a bar to friendly intercourse and an obstruction to business . * ' Now I expressed this opinion to which the noble lord has referred to the French Ambassador on the 3 rd of December ; but was I the only member of the Cabinet who did thus express an opinion on passing events ? ( Hear , hear . ) lam informed that on the evening of that very day , and tinder the same roof as I expressed my opinion , the noble lord at the head of the Government , in conversation with the same Ambassador , expressed his opinion . ( 'Hear , hear , ' and laughter . )

    I cannot tell what that opinion was , but from what has just now fallen from the noble lord this evening , it may be assumed that that opinion was not very different even from the reported opinion which I am supposed to have expressed . ( Cheers . ) Was that all ? On the Friday , and in the noble lord ' s own house , I have been informed that the French Ambassador met the noble lord the President of the Council and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . ( Loud cries of ¦ ' Hear . ' ) The noble lord again expressed an opinion ( hear % hear ) , and the President of the Council and the Chancellor of the Exchequer also expressed an opinion ( laughter ); and be it remembered , that the charge was not the nature of the opinion , for

    the noble lord distinctly told me ,. •* You mistake the question between us ; it is not whether the President was justified or not , but whether you were justified in expressing an opinion on the matter at all . " ( Hear , hear . ) I believe that the noble lord the Secretary of State for the Colonies did also , in those few days , express an opinion on those events , and I have been informed also that the then Vice-President of the Board of Trade , and now the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs , also expressed his opinion . ( Cheers and laughter . ) Then it follows that every member of the Cabinet , whatsoever

    his political avocations may have been—however much his attention may have been devoted to other mattersis at liberty to express an opinion on passing events abroad , but the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs , whose peculiar duty it is to watch those events—who is unfit for his office if he has not an opinion on them—is the only man not permitted to express an opinion ( ' hear , ' and laughter ) ; and when a Foreign Minister comes and tells him that he has news , he is to remain silent , like a speechless dolt , or the mute of some Eastern Pasha ; ( Cheers and laughter , )

    Now he was told " it is not your conversation with M . Walewski that is complained of , but your despatch to the Marquis of Normanby . " " But what was the despatch from the Marquis of Normanby , and what was my answer ? Lord Normanby , in his despatch of the 6 th , had said that the French Minister had reported that I used certain expressions which Lord Normanby represents as inconsistent with the instructions not to interfere in the internal affairs of France . Now , if those expressions had been used , I do not see that they are inconsistent with the instructions , not to make any alteration in our relations with the French Government . But what does Lord Normanby

    proceed to state ? He says , that after making that communication to-M . Turgot to which the noble lord has alluded , to do nothing which should have the appearance of interfering in any way in the internal affairs of France , he added that he was quite sure that if the Government had known the events of Paris on the Thursday and Friday they would have joined their congratulations to his . That was a greater apparent interference in the internal affairs of the French nation than any conversation of mine with M . Walewski . However , Lord Nor * manby having reported the expressions of the French Minister to me , I did not think it necessary to go into any argument on the subject , but ten days afterwards ,

    on the 15 th of December , the , Ambassador at Pans , rather inverting , I think , the positions of Ambassador and Secretary of State—( l Hear , ' and a laugh )—calls on the Secretary of State to give him an explanation as to the language the Secretary of State was supposed to have used to M . Walewski . In my despatch in answer I repeated that neither the Secretary of State nor the Ambassador at Paris was entitled to pronounce judgment on the affairs of France ; but I stated the nature of the opinions I expressed on the 3 rd of December . Therefore it is a misrepresentation of the facts of the case to say

    that , in answering Lord Normanby ' a letter , I was giving instructions inconsistent with the relations of our general intercourse with the French Government . It was no instruction . I did " not give tho opinion of the Government or of England . It was my own opinion ; and , whether right or wrong , it was shared by numbers in France . Therefore- the charge which the noble lord ( Lord J . Russell ) has brought against me , found on a despatch , has no foundation in justice or in fact . ( Hear , hear . ) That is the state of the case as between the noble lord and myself . "

    The remainder of Lord Polmeraton ' s speech consisted of a glorification of his own policy , preached on the text that ho had found tho foreign relations of the country embroiled , and he had left them in tho " most friendly" state . Austria was the only exception ; but that arose from her preference for the despotio system and our love of constitutional government . Yet even Austria and England . could cooperate , as in 1840 and 1841 , when tho interests of each coincided . " Sir , having conducted tho affairs of this country through periods of considerable difficulty , it was my good fortune to be tho instrument of peace , and to combine therewith tho not unsuccessful assertion of the interests of England . ( Hoar , hear . ) And I think I may say , that in quitting office I have handed over tho forteign relations of tho country to my auooeoaor with the honour and dignity of England unsullied , and leaving

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    120 ¦ GW ' : j &* 9 tt + CSATbRflAY ^

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 7, 1852, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07021852/page/4/