agreed that with the lead of the House of Commons the important duties of Minister for War were wholly incompatible. I was enabled, by an act of self-abnegation and forbearance, for which I think my right hon. friend deserves the highest credit, to state, upon the part of my right hon. friend Mr. Disraeli, that, with regard to the lead in the House of Commons, with which he had been honoured upon a former occasion, in the presence of the noble Viscount he would waive all claim to that position, and would willingly act under the direction of a statesman of the noble Viscount's ability and experience. Her Majesty, pending the result of my interview, made her return to Windsor, and I informed the noble Viscount that Her Majesty would leave a messenger in waiting to receive the result of the communication which he undertook to make to Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Sidney Herbert. I left the noble Viscount shortly before two o'clock, and at half-past nine I received, with considerable surprise, a note from the noble Viscount. It certainly did surprise me to receive, after a delay of so long a time, a note merely stating that he had come to the conclusion that if he were to join my Government he could not give to it that support which I was good enough to think his presence would insure, that he had communicated with Mr. Glad stone and Mr. Sidney Herbert, but that they would write answers to me. At half-past twelve that night I received a note from Mr. Gladstone, and between seven and eight the following morning I received one from Mr. Sidney Herbert, both written in terms of which I certainly could have no reason to complain; but I was struck with this

expression in Mr. Gladstone's note, after stating that Lord Palmerston had communicated to him the wish I had expressed that he should form part of the Administration,

I also learned from him (Lord Palmerston) that he is not of opinion that he can himself render you useful service in that Administration.' It was, now, then, he continued, his only course to give to Her Majesty his advice that she should endeavour to ascertain if she could find a more efficient Administration." He concluded by defending himself both from the charge of unduly grasping at office, and from that of shrinking from responsibility with too great timidity. The last, he said, was not his failing. It was his opinion that the great Conservative party should not prematurely and rashly undertake the responsibility of administering the affairs of the country at the present portentous crisis.

The Marquis of Lansdowne said that it was his duty to explain his part in advising Her Majesty as to the best mode of putting an end to the crisis. It was natural that the Queen should summon Lord Derby in the first instance. Lord Derby failed, and the Queen then sent to him to ask his advice on the course she should pursue. As, after the party of Lord Derby, the main instrument of the crisis was Lord John Russell, he advised that he should be next applied to. Upon his failure, Lord Palmerston was requested to undertake the task, and had been urged by himself to persevere in the formation of a Ministry, at a time when the great object was to save the country from being without any Ministry at all. Had the crisis lasted longer, it would have impaired the confidence of Europe in the coun

try, and it would have been said, that, with an unexampled unanimity among the people, the means were wanting for carrying on the war. The Government would rely, not only on their party, but on their opponents, and still more on the great body of the country. He entreated all, especially the representatives of that noble institution the public press-all, in fact, in situations of influence, to say, do, and write nothing that would injure in any way the great cause. The present was a contest between despotism and free institutions, and it behoved them to take care that the unquestionable advantage of a single command did not prove itself too powerful for liberty.

The Earl of Malmesbury congratulated the House on the termination of the crisis. He entered at some length into the discussion of our military system, observing that any tendency in the alterations in that system towards the system pursued by the navy would meet with his decided opposition. He then defended the army from the charge of being exclusively aristocratic, and gave the number of the immediate relations of peers in several regiments, showing how few they really were.

Lord Panmure said that he had hesitated before accepting his difficult office, but could not refuse when told that his experience would be of service to the country. He pledged himself to appoint no man to any office that he did not believe the best qualified to fill it. He asked for that forbearance in the performance of his difficult task which was never refused to those who endeavoured honestly to perform their duty. He declared that if he found himself unequal to that task, he should

not lose a moment in confessing and abandoning it.

The House then adjourned to the 16th of February.

On the motion for going into a Committee of Supply upon that day, in the House of Commons, Lord Palmerston said that it would be expected of him to make some statement both as to the circumstances which placed him in the position he then occupied, and the future conduct of the Government. For the first he had been anticipated by statements made elsewhere. He entered into some details relating to the late negotiations for forming a Ministry, stating that he should have consented to join that of Lord John Russell if that noble Lord had been successful in his attempts to form one. After a warm eulogium on the abilities and experience of his colleagues, the noble Lord declared that the great difficulty which stared him in the face was the Committee voted by the House on Mr. Roebuck's motion. He still retained his objection to that Committee, as not in accordance with the Constitution, or efficient for its purpose. He trusted that the House would at least consent to suspend its decision. The reason he would ask it to give would be its belief that the Government would of itself do all that was possible to be done. As an English king rode up to an insurrection and offered to be its leader, so the Government offered the House of Commons to be its Committee. The object of those who voted for the Committee was, to compel the Government to such administrative improvements as would restore vigour to the service; and to show that this would be effected, he explained the arrange

ments already made. The office of Secretary-at-War would be amalgamated with that of the War Secretary of State; the discipline of the artillery and ordnance transferred to the commander-in-chief, and the civil branches of those services placed under the control of the War Minister. The Admiralty was about to establish a special board to superintend the transport service. Three civil commissioners of great experience were about to be sent to the Crimea, with ample powers to examine the sanatory condition of the hospitals, the barracks, and the ships. Lord Raglan had brought from Constantinople a body of labourers to cleanse the camp of filth, the accumulation of which would be specially disastrous in the hot season. A commission headed by Sir J. M'Neill was going out to superintend the commissariat, and a new office, that of the chief of the staff, had been created, to arrange details which now came before the commander-in-chief, and diverted his attention from greater objects. Not only was a hospital established at Smyrna, but Lord Panmure intended to remodel the medical establishments at home. He likewise proposed to introduce a bill for the enlistment of men of older age than heretofore, and for a shorter period. New arrangements had been made for the transport of the commissariat. He trusted that the House would be satisfied with what had been done in so short a time, and suspend its judgment till it had heard the details, which must be known long before the committee could make its report. The noble Lord then referred to the negotiations for peace, and the mission of Lord

John Russell, who had been sent to give solemnity to the negotiations, and take away all suspicion of pretence. Lord John Russell, in passing by Paris, would confer with the Emperor of the French, and at Berlin endeavour to understand the views of the Prussian Government. The noble Lord concluded with expressing his determination, if the war was necessary, to prosecute it with vigour, and his faith in the power of endurance and vigour of action of a free country.

Mr. Disraeli said that the statement just made would convey a false impression of Lord Derby's motives. This was not the first time that Lord Derby had opened similar communication with the noble Viscount. Three years ago Lord Palmerston had said that he saw no difference which should prevent them from acting together, but that he could not join his Administration alone. Therefore Lord Derby, on the present occasion, anticipated the objection, and came prepared to consent to the junction of Lord Palmerston's friends-but never contemplated the contingency that Lord Palmerston should make the offer of office to his friends but at the same time withdraw his own adhesion. The noble Viscount had succeeded in forming a Government-if a strong Government, remained to be seen. One would have supposed from his eulogium on his colleagues, that they had been eminent men withdrawn for some time from public notice, yet the administrators of such political sagacity and ability were but a few days ago, in the opinion of Parliament, utterly deficient. The Premier should have dwelt on the future, and preserved a solemn silence as

to the past, of his Government. He had given a catalogue of the improvements he intended. Admitting them to be good, what was to be thought of the predecessors of that Cabinet, who, to the last hour of their existence, denied the necessity of that reform, and opposed all inquiry into abuses now so openly admitted? The mysteries of mismanagement were such that the most eminent statesman of the day had declared that he could not fathom them. The House had voted for inquiry after long consideration, and by an unexampled majority. How could it stultify itself, and rescind resolutions so solemnly arrived at? If the vote had alone produced so long a list of improvements, what might be expected from inquiry itself? For himself, he should use every means to sustain the vote already given. Inquiry, and that by Parliament, was, in his opinion, urgently necessary. As for the Opposition, it could not more cordially give its assistance in furthering the war, to any Ministry, than it had to Lord Aberdeen's, who had entered into the war with unprecedented advantages, and came out of it with a crushing majority against them. He hoped that those who, a fortnight ago, were unparalleled blunderers, might now be converted into profound statesmen. could only promise them the same support he had already given, so that if they fell by some fresh disaster, they might not attribute their fall to faction, but to the recognition by the country of their utter incapacity.

He

Mr. Roebuck said that the committee for which he had moved had already been decided upon. The only argument against it, was

the existence of a new Administration, with new views; but although they had a new Ministry, they had not new ministers. The House having decided on inquiry, the noble Lord asked it to stultify itself, and to allow the Government to do that which a short time before it had declared it incompetent to do. He could not see any antagonism between inquiry by the House and reform by the Government. He did not believe that the right reforms could be effected by official men. Nothing but the authority of the House could enable the official chief to overcome the vis inertia in the atmosphere of office. He should move his committee, as an assistance to the noble Lord in infusing new vigour into the constitution of the country, which he could not do with his unaided efforts, and because his duty to the House prevented him from withdrawing it.

Mr. Muntz said that he also should abide by his vote. What, he asked, would have been the consequence, if the House had never given that vote?

Mr. T. Duncombe said that if Mr. Roebuck did not adhere to his motion, he would greatly disappoint the country. The noble Lord had offered his own Government as a committee after the House had just condemned it. He had told them of certain reforms to be done by Lord Panmure. He believed Lord Panmure would disappoint both his colleagues and the public. His vote of inquiry was not intended as a vote of censure, but to discover where censure was due. He believed that the fault was more abroad than at home, and the proper offender should be found out and punished.

Mr. Horsman reminded the House that it stood in a very serious position. Had we, he asked, a Government which deserved the confidence of Parliament? Such a Government should have union within, and confidence without. But the present Government was not more united than the former, and the same familiar faces afforded no ground for any increase of confidence. His conclusion was, that the House could not recede from the position it had taken up three weeks ago.

Mr. E. Ball dilated on the disasters and disorders that had attended our military operations, and declared that the House was bound to prosecute the suggested inquiry. Mr. Phinn pleaded for some concession to the recognised good intentions of the new Government, and recommended the House not to abandon, but to postpone the procedure of the inquiry.

The discussion was kept up for some time by Mr. H. T. Liddell, Mr. Vansittart, Mr. Laing, Lord Ebrington, Mr. Danby Seymour, Admiral Berkeley, Lord Hotham, and Admiral Walcott.

It embraced various topics connected with the prosecution of the war, and was at last terminated by the House going into committee.

Thus terminated the crisis. The new cabinet was, in reality, the old one reconstructed with some partial changes, and redistribution of offices.

The principal personages were the following:

Lord Palmerston, First Lord of the Treasury; Lord Cranworth, Lord Chancellor; Earl Grauville, President of the Council; Duke of Argyll, Lord Privy Seal; Earl of Clarendon, Foreign Secretary; Mr. Sidney Herbert, Colonial Secretary; Sir George Grey, Home Secretary; Lord Panmure, Secretary for War; Mr. Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Sir James Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty; Sir William Molesworth, Public Works; Sir Charles Wood, President of the Board of Control; the Marquis of Lansdowne, without office; Lord Canning, Postmaster-General; Mr. Cardwell, President of the Board of Trade.