Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/432

 41 8 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1855- reliant statesman had undertaken a duty for the performance of which he was not qualified. He had, no doubt, heard it laid down in the English Cabinet that Russia was not to be driven to extremes, and that some method of saving her honour would be accepted in the final negotiations. This sentiment his lord- ship ventured to express in public, which might have been all very well if his Government were prepared to back him up in the declaration. In the same way, when certain propositions submitted to Russia were met by explanation and modification, Russell said that in his opinion the suggested change ought to be accepted, but here again his Government did not agree with him. They were bound to the Emperor of the French, who declined to accept the Russian proposals. So the nego- tiations came to nothing, and Russell, on his return, im- mediately resigned the seat in the Cabinet, which he had so recently accepted, and an influence, certainly Liberal, if not very thorough, was withdrawn from the Ministry. Imme- diately after this, on the i/th of July, Roebuck moved, as the result of the inquiries of his committee, a resolution declaring that the calamities in the Crimea were due mainly to the con- duct of the Administration, and that the House " do visit with severe reprehension every member of that Cabinet." This vote of censure, which included the Prime Minister and most of his colleagues, was lost by 289 to 182, the division being taken on the iQth of July. On the I4th of August Parliament was prorogued. When Parliament met on the 3ist of January, 1856, the Queen was able to congratulate members on the fall of Sebastopol, and on the settlement of preliminaries on which negotiations for peace might be carried on. The death of Emperor Nicholas, which took place on the 2nd of March, 1855, had made it more practicable to treat with Russia on the basis of concessions to be made by her after a great military reverse. The young Emperor was, neither by wishes nor honour, bound to continue the contest to the extent to which his father was. Arrangements had been made, therefore, for a conference to take place in Paris, at which it was almost