Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/444

 402 APPENDIX. ' The members of the Cabinet separated for tbe summer, ' and the time was not very favourable for personal com- ' munications. Most unfortunately, the Eastern negotia- ' tions were renewed ; and, as they became more and more ' complicated, we found ourselves, before the meeting of ' Parliament, on the very eve of war. I recollect having ' an explanation with Lord John at the time, and telling ' him that it was impossible for me at such a moment to ' think of running away. In this opinion I thought he ' appeared entirely to acquiesce. After the war had fairly ' commenced I do not think that the subject was ever prac- ' tically discussed between us. . . . ' You say that Lord John thinks he committed an error ' in leaving the Government in the way he did. It is 1 certain that a different course might more probably have ' led to the result at which we both wished to arrive. ' Had he supported us against Roebuck's motion, or en- ' abled us in some mode to meet it with success, this might ' have been the case. Clarendon and I had already spoken ' about the possibility of Lord John going to Vienna to ' negotiate on the "Four Points;" and if 1 had remained 1 at the head of the Government, I can have little doubt ' that peace would have been made. Had the peace been ' confirmed, I might then have irresistibly pressed my pro- ' posed retirement in his favour ; or if the peace had been ' censured, the Government would at least have fallen in a ' cause of which I should have felt proud to the end of my ' days. Instead of this euthanasia, however, I was igno- ' miniously overthrown in consequence of Lord John's ■ decision. ' Although I do not deny that I may have felt some ' reason to complain, this step was much more warmly ' resented by my friends than by myself; for in truth it '■ niado little or no change in my feelings towards Lord ' John. Knowing what he did, it seemed to me not un-