In the debate in the Lords on the Address, Earl
Grey made, as usual, a very powerful and slightly crotchetty speech. He could not believe it the duty of this country to sit calmly by " while this monstrous act of injustice was being perpetrated," and he thought that " in these cases the boldest policy was sometimes the best." He held that this country could send the Danes, with com- parative ease, most important assistance, and he believed that, had this course been adopted, Austria, " considering the state of Venice," would "have thought twice about attacking an English army in an entrenched position," the soundest remark made in the debate. He added an expression of deep mortification at the little attention paid by the German Governments to British remon- strances, and a total refusal to concur in the terms of the Address so far as related to Japan.
