that concession should have heen deferred until another
duke moves for the production of the General Orders to
this house, and draws public attention to it; nor is it
well that the medal for great services at the Cape of
Good Hope should also have been deferred, and that
until the noble duke again and again asked a question
upon the subject, the communication of the concession
of that medal should have been withheld from
parliament. Still more strange is it that, although the
intention of conferring a medal was known months ago,
it was not made public until the death of Sir G. Cathcart.
I will say no more upon this subject than that it
has pained me deeply, and I trust that, for the future,
Her Majesty's ministers will look into the circumstances
of every action at the moment it takes place,
that they will form their opinion upon a calm and
deliberate consideration of the facts, and grant at
once the honours which they may think it deserves.
—The Duke of RICHMOND, with reference to what had
fallen from the Earl of Hardwicke, said that he certainly
did not wish that any medal should ever be given
to a man unless he is engaged in active warfare against
the enemy, but he thought the seamen at Balaklava
ought to have a medal as well as the soldiers. I have
never advocated (said the Duke) that medals should be
given in the way in which they were given for the
battle of Waterloo. Your lordships are well aware that
a body of troops—15,000 in number, composing a portion
of the Duke of Wellington's army, were detached on a
particular duty, and that body of 15,000 men never
knew of the battle of Waterloo until the next morning;
and yet those men have all got the Waterloo medal, in
consequence, I suppose, of their being in position against
the enemy. It won't do to draw the line too tight, and
so at Balaklava I think the men who were actually
participating in the operations are entitled. Not only do I
not advocate an indiscriminate distribution, but I am
quite prepared to go further, and, if my noble friend
will allow me, I will state to him what occurred to my
own knowledge in one regiment at the battle of
Waterloo. A very distinguished officer, now dead, who
commanded a battalion at Waterloo, found that at the
end of the action a number of the men were glad to go
away with the wounded, but, having taken them to the
rear, instead of returning to their duty, they amused
themselves with breaking open and pilfering from the
baggage, upon which the officer instituted a court of
inquiry, the consequence of which was that 16 or 17 of
the men were reported for their bad conduct and lost
their medal. But, in the instance of Balaklava, it is
self-evident that every man has done his duty and
deserves the honour. I will, therefore, after what has
fallen from the noble duke, either withdraw my motion
or take any other course which he may think fit. The
motion will simply be for the production of the General
Order, issued at the Horse Guards on the 15th of
December, 1854, and also for any order of a similar
character which may have been issued by the Board of
Admiralty.—The Duke of NEWCASTLE suggested the
postponement for the present of the motion, and it
was postponed accordingly.

On Thursday January 25th Lord LYNDHURST gave
notice that on the 2nd of February he would move the
following resolution:—"That in the opinion of this
house the Expedition to the Crimea was undertaken by
Her Majesty's government with very inadequate means,
and without due caution or sufficient inquiry into the
nature and extent of the resistance to be expected from
the enemy; and that the neglect and mismanagement
of the government in the conduct of the enterprise
have led to the most disastrous results."

The LORD CHANCELLOR read a Letter from Lord
Raglan acknowledging the vote of thanks to the army,
and enclosing a letter from General Canrobert of similar
import. The letters were ordered to be inserted in
the journals of the house.

The Duke of NEWCASTLE communicated the
Resignation of Lord John Russell. The duke said; My lords,
a communication has been made, within this hour, to
the other house of parliament that the noble lord the
leader of the government in that house—Lord J. Russell
—has tendered to Her Majesty the resignation of the
office which he holds as President of the Council, and
that Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to accept
that resignation. Under these circumstances, upon the
motion of the government, the house of commons has
consented to adjourn until to-morrow. My noble friend at
the head of Her Majesty's government has in consequence
of the resignation of Lord J. Russell, gone down
to Windsor, and I believe it will be in accordance with
precedent, and will also be for the convenience of the
house, if your lordships will follow the example of the
house of commons in this instance, and will consent
also to adjourn until to-morrow, should my noble friend
whom I see opposite (the Earl of Winchilsea) and my
noble friend on this side the house (Earl Grey) have no
objection to postpone until to-morrow the motions of which
they have given notice. I therefore venture to move,
under the circumstances, that this house do now adjourn.
—Earl FITZWILLIAM said that the house had been
informed of Lord John Russell's resignation by another
member of the government, without any explanation.
He apprehended that changes of this kind ought not to
be made in the constitution of the government without
the houses of parliament being informed of the causes
which have led to them.—The Duke of NEWCASTLE—
Will my noble friend permit me to interrupt him? I
know it is irregular to do so, but I wish to represent to
him that the noble lord to whom I have referred has
not made any statement in his place in the house of
commons, but I have every reason to believe that he
will make such statement to-morrow. Under these
circumstances, I think the noble earl will feel that any
attempt to anticipate the explanation of the causes of
the noble lord's resignation would not be fair, and I
appeal to him whether he will not think it right to
abstain from entering into the subject on the present
occasion.—Earl FITZWILLIAM— If those who can give
information on the subject think that it is not desirable
to afford such information, of course I cannot elicit it
from them. Yet I cannot but think that an event of
this kind ought not to be communicated, either to the
other house of parliament—in which the person alluded
to sits—or to your lordships, without some information
being afforded as to the ground upon which office has
been resigned. It does appear to me a subject upon
which information ought to be given to the two houses
at the very same time when the fact of resignation is
communicated. The mere fact of the resignation is of
little importance in comparison with the grounds upon
which such a course has been taken, because, give me
leave to say, it is no light matter in these days either
for the government en masse to resign, or for one of the
most important members of that government to say that
he severs himself from all connection with the administration.
—The Marquis of LANSDOWNE observed that it
belonged, of course, to the noble lord who had resigned
to state the grounds of his resignation. He had reason
to believe that it was the intention of the noble lord
(Lord J. Russell) to state those grounds to-morrow, and
it could not be maintained that it was incumbent upon
Her Majesty's government to make that explanation for
the noble lord which he alone was competent to make
for himself.—The motion for adjournment was then
agreed to.

On Friday, January 26th, the Earl of ABERDEEN
gave some explanations respecting the Resignation of
Lord John Russell. I am not, he said, fully possessed
of the motives which may have induced my noble
friend to adopt this course; but I cannot do better than
read the letter in which he offered his resignation, and
which I received from him on Tuesday last:—

"Chesham-place, Jan. 23, 1855.

"My dear Lord Aberdeen,—Mr. Roebuck has given
notice of a motion to inquire into the conduct of
the war. I do not see how this motion is to be
resisted; but, as it involves a censure upon the War
Departments, with which some of my colleagues are
connected, my only course is to tender my resignation.
I therefore have to request you will lay my humble
resignation of the office which I have the honour to
hold before the Queen, with the expression of my
gratitude for her Majesty's kindness for many years.
—I remain, my dear Lord Aberdeen, yours very truly,

"J. RUSSELL."