Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/97

 IN THE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA. G7 after tlK3 cutastroplie of Sinope, it Lecamc liardly chap. possible to doubt that war was at hand, the con- ^^^' tinning responsibility of these good men seemed ^ly^j^,"^ to dispense the most anxious lovers of peace from [h^'^^rtf the duty of further questioning ; for if Lord Aber- ^.'i,o'^f,),ed deen continued to head the Ministry which was a^war"*^"' leading the country into war, people Ihought he must have attained a bitter certainty that war was needed: and, on the other hand, it was clear that ]Ir Gladstone, remaining in office, and taking it upon his conscience to prepare funds for the bloody strife, was giving to the public a sure guarantee that the enterprise in which he helped to engage the country Avas blameless at the very least, and even perhaps pure and hoi}-. It was thus that the conscience of the people got quieted. It was a hard task to have to argue that peace could be honestly and wisely maintained M'heu Lord Aberdeen was levying war. Kone but a bold man could say that the war was needless or wicked whilst jNfr Gladstone was feeding it with his own hand. It was thus that, by the course which Lord Aberdeen and Mr Gladstone had been taking, the efforts of those who loved peace were parah'sed. No doubt a cold retrospect, carried on with the light of the past, may enable a political critic to fix upon more than one occasion when, holding the opinions which they did, these two jNIinisters might have resolved to make a stand for peace ; and it is believed that, long before his death. Lord Aberdeen saw this and grieved : but if any man