There was quite a " scene " in the House
of Commons on Friday week about Lord Chelmsford. Mr. Jenkins wished to know whether the Government would continue the General in com- mand, and on being told very curtly by Sir Stafford Northcote that this was intended, moved the adjournment of the House, and made a speech, drowned by the Tories in riotous cries. Its object was, apparently, to accuse the Duke of Cambridge of pro- tecting Lord Chelmsford, out of favouritism. Mr. Jenkins was
defiant, but the majority were very unfair, listening the next moment to Sir R. Peel upon the same subject without interruptions, and only stopping him when he wandered into the policy of the war. Colonel Mure, who objected to the policy of censuring Generals in the field, was heard with attention, and so was Lord Hartington, who, though rebuking the House for its treatment of Mr. Jenkins, thought a sudden attack upon Lord Chelmsford unfitting, and declined to relieve the Executive of its full responsibility for the choice of a General. That last argu- ment would be a sound one, if the responsible Ministry had chosen Lord Chelmsford ; but the belief of the public is, that the Ministry in retaining him are yielding to the irresponsible influence of the Horse Guards and the Sovereign. As matters stand, the Ministry, out of deference, defends a General it only half trusts ; and the House, out of deference to the Ministry, shouts down criticism. Meanwhile, the real interests at stake —the honour of the nation and the safety of the Army—receive little consideration.
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