NARRATIVE OF POLITICS

During the parliamentary recess the views of the
ministers and some leading politicians, on the subject of
the War, have been communicated through the medium
of public meetings in various parts of the country.
Lord Aberdeen, in reply to an address presented to him
by the Corporation of Aberdeen, made the following
remarks on this topic. After declaring that "the policy
of the government was a policy of peace," he proceeded:
"The moment it became necessary to declare war I then,
although I can truly say that I clung to the hope of
peace with an almost desperate tenacity—still, when
war became inevitable, I declared that, so far as I was
concerned, it should be carried on with the utmost
vigour and energy of which the government was
capable. Gentlemen, perhaps the moment is not
inopportune to ask whether that pledge has been fulfilled?
If, gentlemen, you will only consider what has been
done in the course of six short months, I think you will
admit that this country never made an exertion at all
comparable with that which she has just made. An
army has been collected, and transported from the
shores of this country, such as never left them in
preceding history—an army such as the Duke of Wellington
never commanded, and appointed in all its parts in a
manner which, humanly speaking, is calculated to
insure its success. Gentlemen, conceive what the
extent of preparation must have been, when you are
told that not fewer than seven hundred vessels were
engaged in the same operation. The difficulties
connected with it, and the time required indispensably for
such an undertaking, must strike every man of common
candour: and yet we hear people talk of delay—as if
there had been delay! I will venture to say, that such
an effort as has now been made, was never before in the
history of the world made in so short a time. Our army
has gone forth and has achieved its first great victory in
conjunction with our gallant allies; our strict concord
and union with whom have been fully established from
the very first moment, and which holds out the most
encouraging prospects to all Europe. We know not
the details of this event; but they appear to me to be
most important, and, I trust, decisive; for, although,
by the natural impatience of the public—in which I
myself partook—we were led to believe the reports
from different quarters of the consequences—the
immediate consequences of this victory, which are now found
not to be confirmed, still let us venture to hope that
what has been reported without foundation, may, in a
short time, become reality. At the very moment
in which I am now addressing you, there is no reason
not to hope that the event, which in the course of last
week was erroneously reported, now may have become a
fact. I have said that the war would be continued with
the utmost vigour and energy of which the country was
capable: but in this I do not abandon a pacific policy.
I believe that, to carry on the war in this manner,
affords the best prospect of arriving at an early and a
satisfactory conclusion. I believe that peace, although
sought by different means, is sought as effectually under
present circumstances, by this course, as it would be
by written negotiations or diplomatic discussions. Let
me observe, that in carrying on the war with this vigour
and this energy, we have, nevertheless, done something
to deprive war of its horrors, to humanise its operations,
and to mitigate those atrocities with which it is inevitably
accompanied. At the risk and at the sacrifice of
some belligerent rights, we have admitted the commerce
of neutrals; and we have, by our example, put an end
to privateering—a most dreadful relic of a barbarous
age, and which the world will now probably never see
revived. I say, then, that we have endeavoured to
mitigate the horrors of war even while carrying it on
with the utmost vigour: and in so carrying it on, I
repeat, that I for one shall never lose sight of the only
legitimate object of all war—that of arriving at a stable,
just, and honourable peace. Now, gentlemen, I will
say that war, when it ceases to be a necessity, becomes
a crime. I should consider any one who had prolonged
the horrors of war for a single day, when it was in his
power to make a just, safe, and honourable peace,
would be greatly guilty in the eyes of God and man."
At the same place, Mr. Hume on being presented with
the freedom of the City, said on the same subject. "If
there is in this assembly a man who detests war with
all its consequences, I am that man; and therefore,
when the question arose how far it was right and proper
for the government to take the course which they
determined upon, looking at the consequences likely to
result from the overgrown military despot carrying by
force his designs against Europe, I thought there was
danger to the civil liberties of Europe, and I, without
hesitation, as far as rested with me, afforded to Lord
Aberdeen's cabinet my best support. And I do not
regret it. On the contrary, the disclosures which
afterwards came out have only strengthened that opinion.
I do believe, however much the government, and
particularly Lord Aberdeen himself, has been unjustly
attacked and misrepresented, I firmly believe that
when the whole of the details connected with the policy
of the grasping and powerful despot of Russia comes to
light, it will be seen that we have been fully justified
in taking this course." Sir William Molesworth was
lately presented with the freedom of the city of
Edinburgh. In replying to the address of the corporation,
he concluded his observations on the subject of the War
by giving the public a seasonable advice, not to be over-
impatient in expecting great results. "We ought (he
said) to bear in mind, that in all wars the remarkable
events that are chronicled in history—great battles and
important sieges—have been few in number, separated
by considerable intervals of time, those intervals being
occupied by minor and less important events of which
history makes little or no mention. We must not
expect that in this respect there will be much difference
between the present war and past ones. We must not
expect because the steam-vessel and the electric
telegraph has almost annihilated distance—because in
annihilating distance they have almost annihilated time,
which is the measure of distance—that the important
events of which we now receive intelligence with the
speed of lightning will follow each other with the same
rapidity. Therefore we ought not to be unreflectingly
impatient for action, which, if rashly engaged in, may
occasion unnecessary loss of valuable life. Bear in
mind, that nothing can be or ought to be more precious
to France and England than the lives of their sons,
but that nothing is less valuable to the Czar than the
blood of his serfs. Bear in mind also, that in a
prolonged conflict, the wealth and resources of France and
England must insure our ultimate triumph over the