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1855.]

THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE.

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all his movements, gave the enemy, to a certain extent, an insight into all his plans; a general who was criticised by correspondents of journals at the seat of war, and by writers in journals at home; liable to have all his proceedings openly discussed in an assembly in which the strongest party-feeling prevailed, and withheld by considerations of duty from offering any defence or explanation; could such a general, it was asked, cope on equal terms with an absolute monarch of almost boundless resources, responsible to no one, and able to wrap his movements and intentions in the most absolute concealment? It was no doubt true that the extraordinary bravery and resolution of our troops had enabled them repeatedly to repel the attacks of greatly superior numbers; but this result seemed to be due to their courage rather than to the skill with which they had been led, and certainly was still less due to those by whom the administration of the war had been so egregiously mismanaged; and now the crisis had at last arrived, which was finally to determine whether liberty and publicity could prove itself a match in war as well as in peace for despotism and secrecy. It could not be denied that during the long peace the wheels and springs of our military organisation had become rusty, and worked slowly and laboriously; and it remained to be seen whether they could now be made to work, under the system which the great Reform Bill had inaugurated, as efficiently as they had done in the old times, and could even be improved, so as to prove equal and even superior to the machinery of a despotic government.

The man whose reputation was most compromised by the mismanagement of which we have spoken was the Duke of Newcastle. He was most directly responsible for the maladministration that had been so much complained of; and even some of his colleagues were disposed to condemn him. He was accused of indolence, indifference, and incapacity. Against the two first of these charges he defended himself with vigour and spirit, and they were undoubtedly groundless; but it may be true that a man might have been found who would have carried on the war with greater vigour, and have taken care to have the army better provided with all kinds of necessaries. Yet he certainly was not an incapable man. He had been looked to by that small but able band of statesmen who

went by the name of Peelites as their future leader. But though by no means deficient in administrative ability, he was a legislator rather than an administrator. But his defects were to a great extent supplied by the zeal and diligence of his colleague, Mr. Sidney Herbert, an admirable administrator and one who laboured most diligently with him. On the whole, when we look dispassionately back on the events of that critical time, it would appear that the fault lay rather with the system and the circumstances than with the man. Lord Panmure certainly succeeded better. But the Duke of Newcastle resigned at the moment when the difficulties with which he had been obliged to contend were to a considerable extent overcome. Lord J. Russell and Lord Derby, each in turn, endeavoured to form an administration, but both of them failed, and were obliged to relinquish the attempt. The task was then undertaken by Lord Palmerston, and on the 6th of February Lord Granville announced to the House of Lords that a new ministry had been formed. It contained most of the members of the old administration. The members of the new cabinet were:

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It will be seen by an inspection of this list that the chief change that had been effected was the substitution of Viscount Palmerston for the Earl of Aberdeen at the head of the government, and the replacement of the Duke of Newcastle in the office of secretary at war by Lord Panmure. These two names indicated greater vigour in the civil department of the army, and in the general prosecution of the

1855.]

war.

LORD PALMERSTON.

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Lord Panmure, better known as Mr. Fox Maule, had already filled the office of minister of war during the six years of Lord J. Russell's administration, and had in that situation displayed a perfect mastery of the principles. which should regulate an army, as well as of all the details of its administration.

But there was much in the management of the army that no ability, however great, could at once change. The evil was not only in the system, but also in the men that it had produced. The system might be changed, though not without great difficulty; but the men could not be; it required a new generation to grow up under a new system before the inveterate evils which had been brought to light by this war could be wholly eradicated. And so the outcry that had been raised gradually merged into a general demand for administrative reform, culminating in a motion by Mr. Layard for competitive examinations, which was opposed and got rid of by the premier.

It would have been better for the reputation and the peace of mind of Lord Aberdeen if he had retired sooner, as he would have done if he had felt himself at liberty to follow his own inclinations. Dragged step by step into a war which he abhorred, he naturally did not throw into the prosecution of it all the vigour and energy with which war, if once declared, should be carried on. Lord Palmerston, on the other hand, had all along been the head of the warparty in the country. By means of his own speeches, and still more through journals over which he possessed more or less control, he had strongly stimulated the war-spirit. He therefore, beyond any other man, possessed the confidence of the war-party, which, at the moment, constituted the overwhelming majority of the nation, and was therefore the man best adapted to carry the contest, of which he may be regarded as the chief author, to a successful termination.

There have been in this country two kinds of primeministers. Some have been statesmen of strong and decided political convictions, who have succeeded to a great extent in impressing their opinions on their colleagues and on the country, and in proposing and carrying measures which have exercised a powerful influence on the progress of legislation and the development of events. The others

have been men of refined manners and good nature-agreeable rather than great-who have made things pleasant with the sovereign, with their colleagues, and the legislature, and by their urbanity, hospitality, good fellowship, and good sense, have kept together administrations which otherwise would have fallen to pieces. To the former of these classes belonged Earl Grey, Sir R. Peel, Lord J. Russell, Lord Derby, and Mr. Disraeli; while Lord Melbourne was the very incarnation and beau idéal of the latter. Lord Palmerston partook of the nature of both. He was not altogether destitute of statesmanlike ability and statesmanlike earnestness, especially on questions of foreign policy; but it was not so much to these qualities that he owed his long enjoyment of power, as to his bonhomie, his plausibility, his good nature, his strong common sense, his affability, his tact, his skill, the efforts he made to conciliate the principal journalists, and the manner in which he succeeded in obtaining their support or disarming their opposition. If there ever was a subject on which he felt strongly, it was that which was now being decided by an appeal to arms, of which he was the chief instigator.

The first question with which the reconstituted ministry found itself compelled to deal was that which had caused the resignation of Lord Aberdeen. Three of its ablest and most distinguished members-Sir J. Graham, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. Sidney Herbert-had offered a strenuous opposition to the appointment of Mr. Roebuck's committee, and their objections to it were still strong and decided. Lord Palmerston proposed the adoption of a middle course. He felt that a very large majority, both of the legislature and the country, were so bent on an investigation, that it would be useless to oppose it; but he hoped to save the honour of the government by substituting another committee selected by the government, whose names he thought would inspire confidence in their decisions, for that which Mr. Roebuck had proposed. Mr. Roebuck accepted the altered list; but the three gentlemen who had originally deprecated the inquiry were not satisfied with this arrangement, and gave in their resignation.

Sir James Graham was succeeded by Sir C. Wood, Mr. Gladstone by Sir Cornewall Lewis, and Mr. Sidney Herbert by Lord J. Russell, who at the moment of his appointment

1855.]

DEATH OF THE CZAR.

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was on his way to Vienna, for the purpose of assisting in negotiations which it was hoped might bring about a termination of the war. Thus almost before the new ministry was installed it underwent a most important change. Lord Aberdeen and the Duke of Newcastle had now been followed into retirement by the rest of the Peelites. The coalition ministry, or the ministry of all the talents, as it was derisively but not incorrectly termed, was now at an end, and a purely Whig ministry was once more at the head of affairs. Other important though less fundamental changes were made. Lord Panmure combined in his own person the hitherto separated functions of secretary at war and secretary for war. The control of the military discipline of the army was transferred to the commanderin-chief, and the new first lord of the Admiralty was charged with the duty of organising a special board to superintend the transport service. A commission, at the head of which were Colonel Tulloch and Sir J. M'Neill, who had taken a very active and conspicuous part in exciting the anti-Russian feeling in this country, was dispatched to the Crimea to inquire on the spot into the administration of the commissariat department and of other supplies, respecting which great complaints had been made. Other commissions were at the same time sent out to examine into the sanitary condition of the hospitals, barracks, and the camp generally. A 'chief of the staff' was also appointed to relieve Lord Raglan from a multitude of lesser duties which diverted his attention from the more important functions which belonged to him as commander-in-chief of the British army.

In the beginning of March two events were announced which it was hoped would tend to bring the Crimean war to an honourable and satisfactory termination. The first of these was the tidings of the commencement of the conferences at Vienna, to which, as has already been mentioned, Lord J. Russell had been sent. The other was the announcement of the death of the Emperor of Russia. The latter intelligence produced a profound sensation throughout the country. It was creditable to the right feeling of the nation that the news of the death of England's great adversary was received without any manifestation of public exultation. The intelligence was quite unexpected. The

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