Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 7.djvu/351

 THE DEMEANOUR OF ENGLAND. 307 performance of the special and important duties chap. which Lord Eaglan from time to time entrusted to him ; but he never at all marred the value of his decisive report by hankering after the exercise of those extended powers which a less magnanimous officer might have been tempted to claim if appointed to be ' Chief of the Staff.' With tliis judgment to chasten his errors, Lord Pan. our War Minister, as may well be supposed, no XptLn longer sought to make changes in Lord Eaglan's report Headquarter Staff; and indeed before long, he ^,','g'**' thus frankly wrote to Lord Raglan : ' You shall I^J.^J^'^w ' hear no more from me as to your StafT. I ^"• ' have told my colleagues that I acquiesce in ' your reasons for not submitting to a change, ' and that I will press it no further. '(^^) Thus truth in the end prevailed against angry, The dangei railing multitudes with the Government of the leilgth Queen at their head ; but whoever has read tliese pages will see that by the firmness of Lord Eaglan, supported by Lord Hardinge at home, and with no better aid than I have shown from any other statesmen in England, our army was saved from the truly formidable danger of having its central staff broken up in the midst of the strife — the close strife — maintained day and night with the enemy. vrL The four ' Peelite ' Ministers — namely, Sir Secession James Graham, Mr Gladstone, Mr Sidney Her- 'Peeiite- bert, and Mr Cardwell continued to hold office