most people for nearly twenty-four hours. Indeed, the Emperor of the French himself announced it to his troops at the camp of Helfaut.

These reported successes drew from no less an authority than Mr. Gladstone a recognition of Lord Palmerston's initiative in designating the Crimea as the proper field for the allied armies. In a letter of the 4th October, he says:

My purpose is to offer you a congratulation which I feel to be especially due to you upon the great events which are taking place in the Crimea. Much as we must all rejoice on public grounds at these signal successes, and thankful as the whole nation may justly feel to a Higher Power, yet in looking back upon the instruments through which such results have come about, I for one cannot help repeating to you the thanks I offered at an earlier period for the manner in which you urged— when we were amidst many temptations to far more embarrassing and less effective proceedings-the duty of concentrating our strokes upon the true heart and centre of the war at Sebastopol.

In the month of November, 1854, Lord Palmerston went over to Paris with Lady Palmerston, mainly with the view of having an interview with the Emperor. He writes to his brother :

Yesterday Emily and I dined at St. Cloud. The dinner was very handsome, and our hosts very agreeable. The Empress was full of life, animation, and talk, and the more one looks at her the prettier one thinks her. I have found the Emperor and Drouyn de Lhuys in very good opinions on the subject of the war, and acting towards us with perfect fairness, openness, and good faith.

Meanwhile in the Crimea all was not prospering, and the disappointment of the public when they learnt that Sebastopol had not been taken, as reported, increased their impatience. A sort of Nemesis hung over Lord John Russell, and compelled him to become the spokesman of the general feeling, and to indicate Lord Palmerston, his rejected lieutenant, as the man of the

RESIGNATION OF LORD JOHN RUSSELL.

301

hour. In a letter to the Prime Minister Lord John urged the necessity of a change in the War Department, and pointed out the necessity of having in that office a man who, from experience of military details, from inherent vigour of mind, and from weight with the House of Commons, can be expected to guide the great operations of war with authority and success. There is only one person,' he continued, 'belonging to the Government who combines these advantages. My conclusion is, that before Parliament meets Lord Palmerston should be entrusted with the seals of the War Department.' Lord Aberdeen, however, declined to recommend the change to the Queen, alleging, with great fairness, that although on the first constitution of the office such an arrangement might have been best, yet that the Duke of Newcastle had discharged his duties too ably and honourably to afford any justification for his removal.

After a short winter session, in which the Foreign Enlistment Bill was passed, Parliament reassembled on the 23rd of January, 1855. Mr. Roebuck, on the first night, 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.' Lord John Russell immediately resigned. Writing to Lord Aberdeen, he said: 'I do not see how the 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.' Lord Palmerston's opinion on this event is contained in the following letter:

Piccadilly January 24, 1855.

My dear John Russell,-I received your letter of this morning with much regret, and 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 ago would have rendered it more easy for your colleagues to have taken whatever course such an announcement might have led to, either to have met your views by a new arrangement of offices, or to have given up the Government in a manner creditable to all parties concerned. 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 disorganisation among our political men at home similar to that which has prevailed among our military men abroad. My opinion is that, if you had simply renewed the proposal which you made before Christmas, such an arrangement might have been made; and there are constitutional and practical grounds on which such a motion as Roebuck's might have been resisted without violence to any opinions which you may entertain as to the past period.

The ministerial explanations which took place in the House of Commons were immediately followed by the Roebuck motion for a select committee. Left in the lurch by their recognised leader, the Aberdeen Cabinet found their best defender in the man for whom many of them had felt distrust. Lord Palmerston, coming gallantly forward to take upon himself the invidious duty of supporting an Administration over which he had little control, and which, before disaster came, had neglected his advice, said that he fully concurred 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 about to be pursued would be dangerous and inconvenient in its results abroad.

FALL OF ABERDEEN COALITION MINISTRY. 303

He hoped that when the House had determined what set of men should be entrusted 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 institutions. When the House divided there appeared for Mr. Roebuck's motion, 305; against it, 148. Majority against the Government, 157. This startling result so amazed the House that they forgot to cheer, but laughed derisively.

On the 1st of February Lord Palmerston formally announced in the Commons the resignation of the Ministry. Thus fell the Coalition Cabinet of 1852, the victim of the war which it had itself declared.

CHAPTER XI.

BECOMES PRIME MINISTER-ATTENDS TO STATE OF THE ARMYNEGOTIATIONS AT VIENNA-REFORMS FOR TURKEY-CONFERENCE BREAKS UP.

LORD DERBY was sent for to form a Government, and immediately sought the co-operation of Lord Palmerston, offering him the leadership of the House of Commons, which Mr. Disraeli was willing to waive in his favour. Offers were also made, through him, to Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Sidney Herbert. Lord Palmerston, however, in the following letter, declined the proposals, having also expressed his great unwillingness, under existing circumstances, to belong to any Government in which the management of foreign affairs did not remain in Lord Clarendon's hands :

144 Piccadilly: January 31, 1855. My dear Derby,-Having well reflected upon the proposition which you made to me this morning, I have come to the conclusion that if I were to join your Government, as proposed by you, I should not give to that Government that strength which you are good enough to think would accrue to you from my acceptance of office.

I shall, however, deem it my duty, in the present critical state of affairs, to give, out of office, my support to any Government that shall carry on the war with energy and vigour, and will, in the management of our foreign relations, sustain the dignity and interests of the country, and maintain unimpaired the alliances which have been formed.

I have conveyed to Gladstone and Sidney Herbert the communication which you wished me to make to them; but it seemed to me to be best that they should write to you themselves.