(said Sir James) he is now a broken–hearted man, who
may not live to be tried." With reference to the question
of the insufficiency of means for removing the sick
and wounded, the committee would bear in mind the
melancholy fact—one almost unexampled—that out of
an army so limited in number as the British army,
13,800 men had been removed, sick or wounded,
between the 3rd of December and the 17th of February;
a number hardly possible to provide for. Asked whether
his opinion concurred with the statement, that when
the expedition departed for the Crimea, the government
had no accurate information as to the force of the
enemy, Sir James said, "Instead of opinion, I will give
you fact. In the last week of July, I saw a Crimean
authority (who, of course, must be nameless) who left
the Crimea in the month of June. I saw him at the
admiralty. I myself examined him; and an officer of
the admiralty was in attendance upon me, who took
down his statement in writing. It was most circumstantial,
and gave a complete account of the Crimea, its
locality, its harbours, its roads, productions, supply of
water, &c.; and, what was more, of the force, which
was estimated by him at 70,000 men, 8000 of whom were
cavalry, 40,000 in garrison in Sebastopol, and the
remainder dispersed throughout the Crimea. I sent
that information to Admiral Dundas on the 29th of
July, and I directed a copy to be sent to Lord Raglan.
It must have been received by Admiral Dundas before
the expedition sailed from Varna. I had the most
implicit reliance on the statement, and subsequent
events have proved its correctness."

The Earl of Aberdeen was examined on Tuesday the
15th. In reply to questions, he said that preparations
for war were commenced about three months before war
was declared. There were differences of opinion as to
the imminence of the war. "Perhaps he was more
sanguine than any other member of the government as
to the possibility of maintaining peace; but it was
matter of opinion." All matters of importance were
submitted to the cabinet, and they sat continually until
parliament was prorogued. After the prorogation, the
various members dispersed, but he remained in town
the whole year, except once when he went to Balmoral.
When the cabinet dispersed, it was upon the understanding
that it might be called together in forty–eight
hours. Any cabinet minister might summon a council.
Examined as to the time in November when the state of
the army was brought under the notice of the cabinet,
he said—"It was very late. I believe a great deal of
the distress and difficulties existed before we had any
official notice of it. We had information from private
sources and from the public papers before we had any
official information of it."—"In your opinion, should
the cabinet have been furnished with that information?"
"Certainly; anything which required a remedy from
this country."—"To whom does your lordship attribute
the neglect of not having furnished that information?"
"The authorities on the spot must of course be the
persons whose duty it was to complain of anything that
was amiss, and to endeavour to remedy it if necessary
from home."—"About what period was the cabinet
informed officially of the state of things in the East?"
"It was very gradually at first: as we did not receive
any official information, the statements were naturally
more or less discredited; but they gradually became
confirmed, and then we arrived at a knowledge of the
real state of the army. We were in ignorance longer
than we ought to have been of the state of the army in
the East."—The Duke of Newcastle might have, in
general terms, expressed his dissatisfaction with all the
great departments; but he made no particular
representation on the subject. The only reason why the
commissariat was not transferred to him before the
22nd December was, that the duke declined to assume
the responsibility until the business of the commissariat
could be conducted under the roof of his own office.
Respecting that measure the earl had some doubts,
because the Duke of Wellington, in a minute written
shortly before his death, strongly advised that the
commissariat should never be separated from the
Treasury.

At the end of Lord Aberdeen's examination it was
announced that the taking of evidence had closed. It
now only remains for the committee to draw up their
report, containing a summary of the evidence, and the
conclusions which they deduce from it.

A GREAT meeting was held at the London Tavern on
the 5th instant, for the purpose of forming an association
to promote a thorough Administrative Reform in the
various departments of the state. The great room, was
filled with above 1500 gentlemen connected with the
trade and commerce of the city; and a supplemental
meeting, consisting of those unable to obtain admission,
was held at Guildhall. On and about the platform at
the London Tavern were Messrs. J. I. Travers, J. D.
Powles, S. Morley, J. P. Gassiot, W. Tite, W. J. Hall,
James Hutchinson, W. S. Lindsay, M.P., Norman
Wilkinson, F. Bennoch, S. Baker, G. Bishop, jun , J.
Neale, and the following members of parliament: Capt.
Scobell, Mr. Otway, Col. Reed, Messrs. F. French,
Maguire, Murrough, Swift, Duffy, Oliveira, &c. Mr.
Samuel Morley was voted to the chair, and introduced
the subject of the meeting in an able speech. The other
speakers, who moved and supported the resolutions,
were Mr. Travers, Mr. Gassiot, Mr. Powles, Mr. Lindsay,
Mr. Baker, Mr. Bennoch, Mr. Neale, Mr. Tite,
Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. G. Bishop. The following
resolutions were carried unanimously:—1. "That the
disasters to which the country has been subjected in the
conduct of the present war are attributable to the
inefficient and practically irresponsible management of the
various departments of the state, and urgently demand
a thorough change in the administrative system."
2. "That the true remedy for the system of maladministration
which has caused so lamentable a sacrifice of
labour, money, and human life, is to be sought in the
introduction of enlarged experience and practical ability
into the service of the state; that the exclusion from
office of those who possess in a high degree the practical
qualities necessary for the direction of affairs in a great
commercial country is a reflection upon its intelligence
and a betrayal of its interests; that while we disclaim
every desire of excluding the aristocratic classes from
participation in the councils of the crown, we feel it our
duty to protest against the pretensions of any section of
the community to monopolise the functions of
administration." 3. "That an association be now formed to
promote, by all constitutional means, the attainment of
administrative reform. That the association be called
the Administrative Reform Association, and that the
following gentlemen, with power to add to their
number, be appointed the committee, to collect funds,
to prepare an address to the constituencies of the
united kingdom, and generally to carry out the
objects of the association:—Messrs. F. Bennoch, G.
Bishop, jun., R. Crawfurd, J. B. Gassiot, J. Hutchinson,
W. J. Hall, M'Gregor Laird, S. Laing, W. S.
Lindsay, W. T. M'Cullogh, S. Morley, R. B. Moore,
H. L. Morgan, W. L. Ogilvy, J. D. Powles, J. I.
Travers, N. Wilkinson, J. G. Frith, S. Amory, W.
Lister, W. Tite, D. Nicoll, J. Collett, S. Baker, B.
Smith, jun., and B. Oliveira." Mr. Oliveira, M.P.,
who had just returned from the second meeting (over
which he had presided) at the Guildhall, said that the
resolutions adopted there were the same as they were
now discussing, with the exception that a rider was
added to the first one, to the effect that, in order to
effect administrative reform, it was necessary to have an
enlarged constituency. This resolution was then put,
and carried nem. con. The chairman announced, as a
proof of the earnest and sincere character of the
movement, that twenty–five gentlemen in the room had
already put down their names for a subscription of £100
each. The announcement was received with loud
cheering. A meeting of the committee was held on the
9th instant. Mr. S. Morley was chosen chairman;
Messrs. Tite and Bennoch, deputy–chairmen; Mr.
Travers, treasurer. The finance committee consists of
Messrs. Gassiot, Travers, and Bishop. Messrs. Raikes,
Currie & Co. are bankers to the association. Meetings
of a similar description have been held in Finsbury,
Norwich, Birmingham, Lincoln, Canterbury, Gloucester,
and other places; and many other meetings are
in preparation.