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Leader (1850-1860), 24th February 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 186

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      owa . aolMera with ' reckless ferocity ; is it meant that the / ' brought recldess-feroqity to the enemies of their country £ It was not tfceiu busineaa to punish the sotoKeara ; de * - fieieafc generalsy ^ tm sen * t » OParay to accouat for their defeettott . Tfce times ; iftKteedy tw » e excefcfcibn ^ ; , p ^ Hot conceive , ascegtafonaX iamiesf * -excegt whea € &e Whigat are ttioii in * offiee . Bixfc who * -was tfc » itemWte !? ' of the * © wmnitte © of Ptiblie S&fety ; By * vrffomy as Jffinister of "War , ; the nomination , ci- &YfeEF one of these military

      oomaaassariea of the Convention , was approve * and ^ signer Whyj Oaim *©* , Mauled dftfce Committee of Public Safetyand I ^ iiS tier of tTar during the whole "Keigia xalT Terror '' —CUbnot , : , according . to the < ifoS « r" ' p « it » period to tte-blind- and blandbfia ^ ^ irecti « ofiL of the Gomrfiittee of Public 9 &&s ! t ? ' callectiv ^ r and its emissaries . '' 'tPhe General ^ jfotntDAisp , who ,, if- we are te > trust the historical teaching of the Gle&ej ***«* & »• oii » - © f ^ the * fflosfc emphatic itt ? denying

      « tt 'bbligation : to theTPerroriat Committeemen < 53 tt ' tlte part of' the army , ? ' happens to have Seen , par vxeeUenee , the Repubiicaa General , ^»^ a « ferfj in' fattt by ? the < Committee of Public -Stefet ^; Mtt ^ hal ' de-STi ^ rK , the-G ^^^ informs tiff , feffc . Kfe testimony against the Commissariesof ( tie Convention * Xt is quite possible that Marshal de St . Cte , a moderately distin ^ 4 g « Mrhed . 9 oldie * i but not remarkable for other < quaiittesy may have insulted the Kejfublic , in his Memoirs , written during the UestoraiSoTa . Writing in the midst of a profound

      reaction , sif&err serving three regimes , the J 0 faTSJraI can hard % . be accepted as an imjm # bial'Srftiless . Besides , it is not to ^ be wbutferedfetthat jjrbfessional soldiers should viwnstitutwi ^^ l y resent the interference" of <« fvifian& , ( especially of civilians who , finding Ifc' ^ i'bpeieBB : to Contend strategically and tacti-<« fi ^ Magaiiistr yfeteiSB : troops with inexperieiMJe-d cotamanders and raw recruits , revolutionised- the whole , art of war , and oyerwttr Europe with the bayonet and the j&j&rseiilaise .

      'Ffrconclude : the ^ dexterous "Whig Jbtwtmitstt , not ttuaccuatomed to seasonable adu-Wftions ; would have- done well , to remember ^ at—it was -the-Cbmmissaries of tIie .-Conventtbn who found out - a yourrg' and ob-State © ffieeT of artillery at the siege of tC&ulon , andwhea ; that young officer oleted * b take- Toulon ill ttte- teeth of aft the inca ; - gabfes , gav » him hifer . opportunity : That young officer -waff jSTafotqeok BbtfAEAETff .

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      ^ fHKSTRAlTGfiM ^ m PAKLIAMENT . pttife rfcsptfnfeibilifcy of ' tKe Editor 1 m' regard to these oMitrlbutfonfl is limited to the . act of givipg- them ptjb » Jieityir , Uke optntaaB < estp * fes 9 « I «*» those « tf ; the writer * With / . thfei Ledekr and . »« The Stwmgter" benefit by tht freedom which is . left to his pen > and discretion . J A crowded House of OomraonB last night for the ¦ etajoyment efthene ^ criBis—fhird of the seasontm * Uwr ekeridkttu of tfrtte- session bbinjj rathfera Jfeugthpftlghtpteo ^ But'ths crowded Hou *© was not Alfwmed . Afr . VDisrwli ^ wd said thd ppewioue night thai the feejing with f which the new difficulty ia faced' U a fteung of " consternation . " But Mr . XMteraJBH'dotes tttfruw&rstaritf Lord ' PjAhterBton ; and < ttt * t Mr . IWmil ^ hintoelfwotiW call the * Treffr 4 K * uc' .

      4 for « nnwer" of i the country ihithvwoy of Minister * . Lord ^ Fal ' mej » txm » lw&ya found fault with . \ Peel that fie liad only three courses to follow : Lord Palmerrtbnniniself Mas always hulf- ' a-dozefl . Granted'that Most of . ' Ms « MinM « mem have left ; him- and that aonQiof ^ h to oatektoeailttttnti men \ rifa join Muk H « ie « r in « Ar who would gp te thd messenger * « f tl * o £ [ ouee > -fnd i p ^ ifc them * on . the ^^ Treasury bench—and ^ veiyf attipeo ^ f tbre-lboiclitiig 1 Stlhisters would thoy niate—n mhftMrgetftto MWSielAe ; ¦ , Bfehftnaelf ' says ^ -and tH& ¦ ta » s * ktt » w th * T brfbro it o < 4 l 0 ct » d . yw * W < l « y into Mi « u « Mfnoe '> expeott ^ r to » be aonusedUUmt' he oouid ^ S ^ rjaon the ( loverniueat-with « 4 » uiid h > of slicks " - * - WlbB , mdeed / if all he is likely to got . It would MK . tt * QMwlhtfeotBpanjr- ^ -iRa Jkmmts ei trek ou quatre J * wy » l < lK *>**» ' * MarlontfMto' Mtalkwy . DMnt « # » I ^ Mv 4 aiMiad ^ Mia 8 voha « ge » 4 » . our . 'sovorw <

      Of course the sensitive English public will doubt the assertion that the House of Comtnona on such an oecfaBion-cottl * be Notfcerwiee thatt as ^ tlws public isintent , anxious , fearful . UnAmbtediyf there was much , said of syiapathy for the suffering : troopsfrost-bitten ,, starving , ill-clothed . Whvthat ' s awful . KuVtheVe are 50 , 000 English out of work , and statv-r irig , within hWiF an hour ' s Walk of Patefcc-yard . Are thwrl « ss precioHBthan the soWiers ? i-is tlie wnater here less severe ?—aod ^ wiat is done to remedy the metropolitan Salaklav *? StiU it must be admitted that the House of Commons , at one moment yesterday evening , was excited , vehement , fierce . It was whe * ia «* ufc E . Scott rose a * eight , and when members took the opporturitiy to rush to dinnetv overcrowding the dizringjTooms . For , alasil at half-past eight , there was not a potato to be had . Worse , the cutlets were underdone 1 .

      Hie Peelites' -wouldn't be Marionettes' ^—that is the cwBclusion one came to bearing Sir James Graham in his first-class counsel defence of him-• self . It was too technical to be altogether reliable . Sir Graham ^ tone was the tone of a man who had found out that he was not sufficiently consullted-in the Gabinet > aad wiio accordingly took an exoeUeat pretext- to stand on his dignity ± ~ the pretext of the Committee . He incidentally confessed that he had made the discovery by Tuesday last thtitthe Palmerston Oovternntent was just as little in poftsessiott of the House ' s confidence as the Aberdeen Government had been 5 and how natural that Sir James , foreseeing a speedy crash , should hurry" to get out of a false position and into

      a thoroughly good position ? What did his taunt , that Itord Paltoerston was the' tfeal deserter , mfeatf , but that > the Peelite party in the Cabinet did not ckoose to have » Bictatof in thei * First Minister ? Sir . Sidney Herberts vindication was in a different line-from his old fridnd ' s . It was not a special pleader's ; it was that of an intellectual man of honoar , whose main motive for his resignation arose in bis aversion to the committee . But he also innocently indicated some things not intended to be explained . His argument against the committee is that it would be " a sham . " Why , Lord Palmerstons the practtOal nwin , ^ cnow * thirt , and tlwrefore Jets the poor stugid House , have its committee . Mr . Herbert is not so practical and more logical .- But when he is older he will discover that Lord

      Palmerstpff is now quite right in dding the best he can _ on a dilettiBia ^ - ^ and keeping in . That is to say , Lord Palmerston has done the best thing he could . But at the same time- Mr . Giad " stone , without proving Lord Palmerston in the wrong , proved ^ utnself in the right : and at any rate liberals will rejoice at finding Mr . Gladstone at last in his right pwsitiqn—not merely with Sir Robert Peel ' s followers , again , isolated from both sections of the aristocracy , but now entrenched against both sections of the aristocracy amidst the intellectual middle ^ class Radicals who mean middle - class power . Not- that Mr . Gladstone indicated- any

      consciousness' of the significance -which-the House attaches to his retirement from the Treasury Bench to tlte bench from 'Which he last night'spoke : he confined hi& speech to a logical argument against the Committee . Perhaps it was a speech , which might just in it tee . But for an hour and a half the closelypacked House , piled to the back seats of the side galterie * , listened with scarcely an interruption—the interruptions- being" no more than- inultnUfa of extorted' applause ^— to the fast flow- of the exquisitely ' balanced sentences of an orator-who , in a minority of half a dozen , was convincing an audience of five hundred that the five hundred were in error . What a'rhetorical triumph-- * -whttt a tribute to ¦ geniuU !

      When the retvriug Miirfstet *! walked up the floor , turned upthegangwayv atvl tooktheia ? p |« ee 8 among the Badicals—ostentatiously , -welcomed by Mr . Bright the full House buz 2 ed its astonished comments on so significant a proceeding : Sir James ^ Graham was fall of impatient import tinae , attd- ttke House w « s etcgot to begin tlie evening .. Some foramlities were got through ; it was time . But ho Palmerston . Ifivp minutes past ; teu minu ' es ; fifteen iniuutes . ; still no Paliner « ton ; Mr . Berkeley anri Hord < MiuTgrave wef erih and out , despatchingmessengerteieMdtiitbs , and-cheered ironically by the Tories , Wh « n at intervals they turned up at tho Treasury to report to tJie bewildered o&lUtugueB' that tho Premier was mm e » U The fact : is Lord

      Palmerston , who takes all ' tliings coolly—so far a Cwia JRbbiKMW * , that' ntofc P ^ fthuB * * elephant would intimidate him *~ iiad ; not conaiderod ^ it necessary to hurry , and w ^ w ^ « 1 L the time , sauntering , in . St * James ' s Park , getting 1 U » usual exercise ! before he went to Wofk ' I He turned up , amid great laughter , at hlfcr usual- time , quite tnn ' concerned , and went to aieep before Sit J * mea had ' well got thtougH' his dxoriUOm-1 Siv Jaotw * was , p ^ riiup * , gtwtt ot ? tlvati it is easily conceivable , that he is patlieif-aftiftid oCUmiJi intellect , move crafty and more unscrupulous than his own . 8 fr JaYnes Graham ' s speech was a aurpftwvho epokto ttwrfely as to tU # pakt ) ho did not advano * a > wot ^ h *« JUdicalbM " w <* t runted on 'm to th « , fnttir ^ t «» . to mm- «» . t » aoe . After Wiu

      there should haA-e been a Minister . Every eye was on Lord PalmerstoTi , when the Speaker boomed « Bright . " Mr . Bright was going to rejoice over his new allies ? Not at all . Mr , Bright was supporting Lord Palmers ton ' s government I—^ proffering his friendship if the noble , lord would get peace . That ¦ w " aa not the most marvellous _ change in him ; he ¦ denounced the' agitation against the governing classes ; he did not like opinions expressed in passion ,, fomented amid the excitements of public meetings : —in fact , he forgot forthe moment that there was once such a thing as the Anti-Corn Law League . These were grave blunders for a man so genuinely great . But the solemn and and religious feelings

      with which Mr . Bright regards the war , must explain and excuse not only these points , but the singular bad taste characterising his intrusion on the House of Commons of 1855 of a Puritan sermon which would scarcely have toM in the days of Sir Harry Vane . As to his " Angel of Death , " it was an Angel of the Poultry ; and its wings , on which Mr . Bright sailed in a passage scarcely worthy of Henry Vincent , must be pronounced remarkably heavy wings—very rhetorical " property" wings . Well , then , somebody should have answered Mr . " Bright ' s appeal as to Peace : it was business-like , earnest , emphaticit startled the idle House , into a new conception of the actual position . But , no : Mr . Sidney Herbert

      rose to proffer his defence ; and he startled again by an episodical innovation' on his- ordinary styleproving an unsuspected quality of wit , as in his mots , that Mr . Disraeli ' s support of the Government was a " vituperative support , " arid that Lord Palmerston was " a strong man taking a weak course " —this last being a peculiar happy analysis of the man and the position . Then , another surprise ; a Mr . Gaskell , whom nobody had ever heard before , rose from the back benches of the Tories , and made a capital party speech—well constructed , happily delivered . Next : Mr . Drunttnond * nade a speech , without one good thing in it , and in which he virtually gave up the case for the committee by admitconvinced him

      ting that Mr . Sidney Herbert had the powers of the committee ought to be limited . Next , Lord Seymour , of whom one 4 >* d been talking . all day as a new Secretary of Sjate , ; spoke—in a better manner than he ever spoke before , that is to say , with , tact as well as talent—strongly against the comtnittee ^—thus arresting a considerable set of rumours . Then M ¥ . Lowe , of whom one has been hearing as a gen ^ Teinan given to Gambyses' veinj made a speech , mild in manner , and quiet in tone , satirical as to the Times' tone ^ and logically destructive to the proj ^ osition of a Committee : the quidnuncs accordingly aba-ndoning the notion that Palmerston had secured hitn . At thi * point the debate ought to have closed —it was eight o ' clock ,. and the House ' of Commons must dine . But small men got up and the House

      emptied , and very few had the opportunity of hearing the admirable exposition' of the political position , delivered by a man hitherto as unknown as Mr . Gaskell— 'Mr . Vemon ; For a long time there was no surprise . SirJohnPakingtonboredlevery ^ oneparticulary Mr . Disraeli—as he always does . Mr . Warpole was sententiously silly , as he always is . But Lord Paltnterston ' s speech was a climax of surprise . He did not affect any concern ; he restated the old facts as ; to how and why he had formed a Government ; he rather incidentally mentioned that he was rather sorry he had lost the Peelites—not very , but rather ; and he as incidentally referred to the circuiMstaHce that he had not the least intention to go out . But as to the new Government—the novr men—not a word . As to Mr . Bright , a worJ or two . As to the wonderful argument of Mr .

      GHadst 6 ne , not a syllable . As to his policy , not a sentence : Aa t 6 the appointment' of Mr . Rawlinson- — -who is tho committee , sent to the Crimea to supersede all tho epaulettes—not one remark . He spoke ten minutes ; sat down ; and went to sleep again I MV . Disraeli did- not wake him . Mr . Disraeli had only to say tho Government could not bo very strong , and that it would be rather courteous if Lord Palmerston had mentioned who was tho Government . Not splendid opposition ; and the speech was a blunder from beginning to end . Mr . Disraeli even missed the point that Mr . Gladstbno had ridinot

      culed Mr . Walpoie ' s argument as to precedents , - withstanding , that Mr . Gladstone had himself said in a formor speech , quoted by himself , that " precedent meant wisdom . " Lord l « umerstfbn Had certainly astonished his friendsand he istiUU further astonished them by leaving the Houbo to loiter into confusion on tho several nominations to the committee , by a , " lend" of tho Houso utterly unequal to tlie occasion , and pecwllarly offensive to tho House . But Mr . Disraeli did noein the * least demonstrate the error of tho latterlydeepening impression—that his Parliamentary skill i « somewhat fulling off , A " ( lay of humiliation" has been appointed . J- no country will probably consider this the day—when a House of Commons breakB up before an insolent Mtaifltor sublimely asleep to the national affairs . tl SraANosa . "

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      • ttttr UlffiSlr IiE . ABBBi . [ SATPirBaiacg ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 24, 1855, page 186, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2079/page/18/