POSTSCRIPT.

SATURDAY MORNING.

Although the debate last night was closed by a decision upon Mr. Disraeli's motion, the debate on the amendments stands adjourned over the recess • a result due to the combined exertions of Mr. Gibson, Sir dames Graham, and Mr. Sidney Herbert. Eight Members addressed the House—Mr. WHITESIDE, Mr. LOWE, Mr. CAYLEY, Mr. ROUNDELL PALMER, Lord STANLEY, Mr. LAYARD, Lord Psimsawrox, and Mr. DISRAELI in reply.

Mr. Warms= took up the war-cry started by Mr. Disraeli; and made a great use of Lord John Russell's "terrible description" of Rus- sian power, to show the necessity of declaring their resolution to carry on the war against a power as fraudulent as it is colossal. At much length he elaborated this point; urging upon the House that Russia keeps no treaties respects no obligations. He made a special attack upon Mr. Gladstone—" the chief of the Peace party," the moralist and philosopher, upon whom a new light had broken respecting the horrors of war.

The right honourable gentleman had pointed out the horrors of war, and had expatiated with enormous power upon the blessings of peace. But who advised the invasion of Russia?? Who made war on the territory of Russia ? —The right honourable gentleman. Who advised the attack on Sebastopol ? —The right honourable gentleman. Who plunged the country into the horrors in which it was now involved ?—The right honourable gentleman. If crimes bad been committed—if there had been an effusion of human blood, who was it that had counselled the invasion that led to these calami- ties? By whose policy, by whose advice, by whose recommendation, was that measure taken which the right honourable gentleman, now seeing the effects of his policy, was the first to deplore ?—The right honourable gentle- man and his colleagues.

Mr. Whiteside ended with a war-cry- " The Ministry is characterized by timid negotiations, feeble policy, di- vided councils ; whilst the people are enterprising, courageous, and en- thusiastic. For what are we fighting ?—For the supremacy of England, for the greatness of England. We are not fighting for the interest of com- merce, but for something nobler and grander than the advantages of any class of men. We are fighting in order to establish the authority of eternal justice, to prove that England shall not be defied to mortal combat in vain ; and to advance and promote the liberties of the world." (Cheers.) Mr. LOWE said that the Tory Opposition kept their patriotism for their speeches, and put their party-spirit into their motions. Mr. Lowe de- sired to really raise the question that ought to be discussed. Both Mr. Disraeli and Sir Francis Baring proposed a course which it would be discreditable for the House to pursue. He proposed this amendment, incorporated with Sir Francis Baring's- " That this House, having seen with regret, owing to the refusal of Russia to restrict the strength of her navy in the Black Sea, that the conferences at Vienna have not led to a termination of hostilities, feels it to be a duty to declare, that, the means of coming to an agreement on the third basis of negotiation being by that refusal exhausted, it will continue to give every support to her Majesty in the prosecution of the war, until her Majesty shall, in conjunction with her allies, obtain for this country a safe and honourable petaiw.

He called upon the House to repudiate the system of keeping up these eternal negotiations, and not to cease from war until the restriction on the power of Russia is fully carried out.

Mr. CAYLEY gave his su ...rt to these views. Mr. ROUNDELL PAL- MER, concurring with Sir " illiam Hcathcote, deprecated vainglorious notions of national honour ; put in a defence of Russian good faith ; urged the impolicy of wounding Russian honour ; ridiculed, as the wildest of chimaeras, the idea of a sudden and treacherous Russian de- scent upon Constantinople; and insisted that the present is a good oppor- tunity for making peace. Lord STANLEY expressed a hearty concurrence in Mr. Disraeli's motion ; yet argued throughout for peace. Are we fighting really to protect our ally, or for 'ulterior objects ? Do we pro-. pose to humble Russia ?—that would be most impolitic: to lower her to the level of a second-rate power ?—our means are totally, ludicrously, inadequate : to make the war a war of principle ?—but in a war of prin- ciple we must raise nationalities, and in a war of that kind we cannot be trusted. " Long before another year shall have passed over, the people of this coun- try will ask with one voice what they are fighting for, and what, save tracts of barren ground, they are to receive as compensation for the sacrifice of un- counted thousands of their sons, and for mourning and desolation carried into a hundred thousand homes." Mr. LAYARD began by informing the House that he had not abandoned his motion on Administrative Reform, and that he should bring it for- ward after Whitsuntide, on a motion for supply. In dealing with the subject before the House, he went back to the origin of the war, pointed out several "capital mistakes" in the diplomacy of the Allies—such as disclaiming territorial aggrandizement, and bringing Servia under the pro- tectorate of the Five Powers; and he struck a balance of advantages and disadvantages, to show that Austria and Russia have gained the former, and the Allies the latter. As an independent Member, be knew not which way to turn, or whom to trust. The only way out of the difficulty seemed to be that proposed by Mr. Lowe.

Lord PALMERSTON accepted the challenge of Mr. Disraeli, although the motion was not one befitting a great occasion. Before treating the main object, he expressed the pain he felt at the speech of Mr. Gladstone; which, taken as a whole, was adverse to the war, adverse to the expedi- tion to the Crimea, adverse to the terms on which it had been proposed to conclude a peace : yet Mr. Gladstone was a party to all these, and it was to be regretted that any circumstances should have occurred since he quitted the Government to have so entirely altered his opinions." As to the war, details were not necessary : the settled policy of Russia, her endeavour to weaken, crumble down, and appropriate Turkey, rendered further passiveness impossible. The object of the war was to protect Turkey and prevent Russian aggression; and we went to the Crimea, because a blow struck there would deprive Russia of the means of aggression. With regard to Austria, it was sound policy to accept her good offices; and if it has not suited her policy to declare herself our active ally, yet we have had the benefit of her neutrality, and of that disposition of her troops which obliges Russia to keep a corresponding force on the Gallician frontier. Had the Government trusted to negotiations and neglected war, they would have been open to blame; but they had done everything humanly possible to carry on the war. Mr. Gladstone's mode of disposing of the third point, by saying that we had got one-half, and were quarrelling about the other, is a convenient mode; but we have to consider far higher interests than can be expressed by arithmetical calculations. The valuable part of the third point—the ces- sation of Russian preponderance in the Black Sea—is the moiety for which we are quarrelling. The fortress of Sebastopol and its fleet are a standing menace to Turkey. It is said that if the Straits were opened the Sultan could call his allies to his assistance. "Thank you for nothing," he would say to Russia. This argument, that when the Sultan is in danger he can call for help, implies aggression on the part of Russia. "I remember some years ago, when all the armies of the Continent were swelled to an enor- mous amount, and when all Europe felt that such large forces could not be brought into the presence of each other without the danger of con- flict, a proposal was made that France, Austria, and Prussia should disarm. This was agreed to by those three Powers; but when it was proposed to Rus- sia, that Power said—' We think a general reduction of establishments a very good thing ; but it does not apply to Russia; we have only 800,000 men, which is our regular peace establishment—(Laughter)—and therefore we will have nothing to do with carrying this project into execution.' That which appeared to us, to France, and to Austria, the best security againifi danger to Turkey from Russia, was to call on Russia to renounce that local means of attack which created at all times danger to Turkey, whom she pre- tended she had no desire to injure. For her own defence a fleet in the Black Sea had been proved to be wholly unnecessary. For the defence of her coasts and her ports any amount of naval power that she has must be un- availing, and must retire from the presence of the fleets of England and France. Against Turkey she needs no defence, as respects England and France her fleet is unavailing, and therefore there is no pretence why she should not limit her power in the Black Sea." Gentlemen imagine that the four points fall short of what is required for the security of Turkey. "I think our duty is to confine ourselves to that in which we see our way—to that in which we are now engaged ; and, in spite of all the mischances that have happened, I think we have turned the point, and, with respect to the Government with whom we are contending, having refused the fair conditions which were offered it, we are now in a situation to feel confident that we can carry on the operations of the war with that fair prospect of success which England and France are and must be bound to attain. If it were otherwise, it would not be simply disappointment in a particular object ; it would be, in fact, the abdication of a proud position, and we should sink to the condition of a second-rate power. No man can be insensible to the calamities which war entails; but I say there are things worse than war. I say, dishonour to a country is worse than war ; the phy- sical evils which would come upon a country worsted in an arduous conflict would be far greater than any which the temporary calamities of the war could inflict ; and therefore I say, that that party, be they who they may, who would induce this country to abandon the contest in which it is engaged, and to make a peace on insufficient grounds, which are neither satisfactory to the honour of the country now nor as a security for the future—I say that that party, if their opinions prevailed, would exercise the most fatal effects on the best interest of the country." (Cheers.)

But the House was called upon to declare the present Government totally incompetent. " Well, who is to succeed us !" Are the Opposition more united among themselves, have they shown more administrative ability than the Government ? "I deny both the one and the other." [Here the debate was interrupted by a message from the House of Lords, to hear the Royal assent given to several bills.]

On the return of the Speaker, Lord Palmerston pursued the party attack ; instancing the disagreement of Sir John Pakington and Mr. Henley on edu- cation, of Mr. Whiteside and Lord Stanley on the question of peace or war ; and with respect to administrative capacity, the confession of Lord Derby, when offered office, that he had not in his party the elements of a Govern- ment suited to the exigencies of the times. But they did not censure the po- licy of the Government, they censured the capacity of its members. There was, however, another alternative before the House—that offered by Mr. Gladstone in the name of a party who would accept dishonourable conditions of peace. But " if a Government were now formed of their party, I think not one of them would be reelected to sit in this House." (Cheers and laughter.) The choice lay between the two sides of the House, and he maintained that the Government had done nothing to forfeit the good opinion formed when it was first constituted. " We were supported by the good opinion of the country, because it was thought we were going to prosecute with vigour that war which the country has unanimously declared to be just and necessary. We have adopted every possible means for that purpose ; and I confidently expect that the result will show that we have not been undeserving of that confidence with which the country hailed our advent, and that we shall be able to realize the just expectations which the nation has formed. The fate of war and of battles is in the hands of a Higher Power. It is not for men to command success ; they can only do everything in their power to obtain it. That we have done. In a cause which we consi- der to be just, necessary, and honourable, we confidently place our trust in a Higher Power. If we succeed, we shall have the satisfaction of reflecting that our success has been brought about by the perseverance with which, without proclaiming from day to day the different steps we have taken, we have laboured to achieve it ; while if, on the other hand, we should fail—a coptingency which I will not permit myself to anticipate—we shall at least hate the consciousness of feeling that our failure was not owing to any want of diligence or exertion on our part. I am persuaded that, whatever may be the decision of this night as to the relative merits of parties here—what- ever may be the decision of this House as to where the power of the Execu- tive Government shall reside—I am confident that the country is in earnest in the war in which we are engaged, and that the people of England will give their support to any Government that will honestly and with energy execute the will of the British nation, while they never will sanction any Ministry which will abandon its allies and desert that policy which has been pursued up to this moment, in deference not merely to the prin- ciples of justice, and to a sense of the national interests and ho- nour, but in accordance with the will and feelings of the country. Therefore, so far as the best interests of the country are concerned, I look with comparative indifference to the result of this motion. I feel that, in whatever hands the Government may be placed, the will of the people must and shall be obeyed. That will is! that England, having engaged in a just and necessary war, in concert with our great ally and neighbour, France, it must and shall succeed ; and I am confident that, although it may be the duty of the Government to exhaust the means of negotiation as far as they can be pursued with honour, that people will never give their support to any Administration that should, in expectation of the success of those negotiations, abandon the performance of its duty in the preparations of the means for war. We have not shrunk from that duty. I defy any man to accuse us with justice of such a dereliction of duty. I am persuaded that events at no distant period will show that, in claiming from this House and the country a vote of approbation of the manner in which we have per- formed those great duties which devolved upon us, I em not overstepping the limits of the facts, and that it is without justice we have been accused of shrinking in any degree from those exertions which the country has ex- pected at our hands." (Much cheering.)

Mr. DISRAELI, in reply, tauntingly asked, was this the Minister who on Monday prevented discussion, and evaded every inquiry ? He re- newed his personal attacks; and retorted the accusation of disunion upon the Premier and his party. Towards the close of Mr. Disraeli's speech there arose frequent cries of " Divide !"

When the division was taken, there appeared—For the resolution, 219 ; against it, 319 ; majority against Mr. Disraeli's motion, 100.

After the cheering had subsided, Mr. Lows moved his amendment upon Sir Francis Baring's, then become the motion before the House. Mr. GrasoN moved an adjournment; which Lord GODERSCH and Lord PAL-AIERSTON opposed. Sir Issas GRAHAN urged, that a decisive ma- jority having now pronounced against a change of Administration, it would be but fair that an opportunity should be given for the discussion of the point raised by Mr. Lowe and not fully debated. Lord Joan Rossmt, urged an immediate decision. Mr. DISRAELI and Mr. Smarm Emma joined in expressing a desire for adjournment. It was now extremely late—past three o'clock : Lord RuatunexoN gave way, and the debate was adjourned till Monday the 4th June.

The House of Lords also had its debate last night on the all-absorbing subject of Peace or War ; and although from its nature and conclusion it is overshadowed by the great battle in the Commons, still it neces- sarily presents points of interest. The occasion was given by Earl GREY; who, unmoved by entreaties, brought on his motion for peace. In support of it, he was for three hours and a half occupied in a review of the past, to show that the ob- jects of the war had been obtained; that the Government had grievously erred in refusing the Russian terms ; that there was great force in the arguments of Russia ; that the wrongs inflicted by Turkey upon Russia were unbearable; that Prince ifienschikoff's demands were most for- bearing; that the war had not been produced by fraud on the part of Russia; and that if Russia was wrong in invading the Principalities, we had also committed mistakes, for which we should ask indulgence. At the close of his speech, Lord Grey offered an elaborate apology for the conduct of the Emperor Nicholas ; and, referring to the touching accounts of his last hours, said he could not believe that fraud and treachery were among his faults ! "I have thought it my duty to state to your Lordships my views upon this subject, in the hope that they may have some slight effect in mitigating that bitter spirit of hostility which is manifested in this country towards our antagonist. I cannot but believe that to wage an unnecessary war, or to wage a continual war which may have been just in the outset, for one hour after the cause of that war has ceased, is the greatest sin that can be com- mitted; and in that sin I think every man, whatever his sphere of life may be, has a share, who wilfully neglects doing all that his condition in life af- fords him the opportunity to do in order to check that which is so contrary to the law of God."

The other speakers in the debate were the Earl of CLansztnox, the Earl of Mararessuay, Lord LYTTELTON, the Bishop of OXFORD, the Duke of NEWCASTLE, and the Earl of DERBY. Among these, Lord Lrr- TEL-rex alone avowed opinions in accordance with those of Earl Grey,— the opinions, he felt, of a minority in that House, and unpopular out of doors. The Bishop of OXFORD could not agree with Earl Grey, but he prayed their Lordships not to allow any language to pass unrebuked that would make a just and honourable peace more difficult of England's at- tainment.

The Duke of NEWCASTLE observed, with feelings of sincere pain, that Earl Grey's motion and speech will irritate the people of this country, lower us in the estimation of our allies and our enemy ; and postpone the conclusion of peace far more effectually than the most violent decla- mation of the friends of war, by helping to raise a war-cry in the country that no Government can resist. In the Duke's estimation, the great objects for which we entered the contest have not been attained; and the counter-propositions of Russia give no assurance of security.

" My Lords, I. think when this nation is embarked in war, it is your bounden duty, to yourselves, to your country, but above all to posterity, not to allow that war to close in such a manner as that you will be exposed at an early day to its renewal—at a time, too, when you may not be able so well to thwart these endeavours, as I sincerely hope you may now be enabled to do." (Cheers.)

The Earl of DERRY said there was not a syllable in the speech of the Duke of Newcastle from which he could dissent. He maintained that it would be humiliation to withdraw from the contest baffled before the fortress of Sebastopol.

The Earl of CLARENDON, who spoke next after Lord Grey, met him with a close and pointed reply. The following passage is of the greatest interest- " We now know what were the vast military resources of Russia, bow stealthily they had been accumulated, and bow readily they could be made available. We now know something of the almost incredible amount of warlike stores which had been accumulated in Sebastopol, where Russia had no commerce to protect ; and we are also aware of the gigantic fortifica- tions which were contemplated at Bomarsund. Europe was really standing upon a mine without being aware of it ; while the influence of Rus- sia was so skilfully exercised as to paralyze both governments and people, to render them unconscious of the danger to which they were exposed, and to diminish their ability to meet that danger. For this state of things every Government in Europe has been partly to blame; for, during the last thirty-five years, Russia has been allowed to interfere, to meddle, and to bribe, in different countries, without check. The encroach- ments of Russia were unheeded, although her designs had been suspected and denounced ; but it was nobody's business to interfere, and no one wished to disturb the general peace, until the mine which had been silently and slowly prepared was exploded by the rashness of Prince Idenschikoff. Long before this war began, the Russian Government ordered a large increase of their steam-fleet, to the number of sixteen or seventeen ships of the largest size. Orders had been given for converting all the Russian men of war and ships of the line into screw-steamers ; and the Russian Government were also actively employed, and had been fora considerable time before the commence- ment of the war, in completing a slattern of railways. It is, I think no exag- geration to say that the army of Russia—be it 800,000 men or upwards—would thus have been doubled in respect of efficiency by the rapidity with which it could have been removed to any point within or without the Russian territory ; and, with Constantinople and the Bosphorus in the bands of Russia, what would have been the fate of Europe—to say nothing of the countries border- ing on the Black Sea, whether in Asia Minor or Europe, which, with the European provinces of Turkey, must have become as much dependencies of Russia as the Crimea itself,—what, I say, would have been the fate of Europe, when the Russian fleet was no longer locked up in the Black Sea, when Russia was in full possession of the Sound, and her Northern fleets were no longer ice-bound for six months in the year ? Why all Europe would have fallen into the arms of this colossus.' The policy of Russia has undergone no change since the days of Catherine. " It is now precisely what it was twenty-five years ago, when it was most eloquently described by a noble member of your Lordships House in these words= Let it be re- membered, that the Emperor of Russia only the other day proposed to place himself at the head of 800,000 men to give peace to Europe. Peace ! What peace? The peace of the grave—the silence of death.' That was the lan- guage of the late Earl Grey." Earl GREY declined to divide the House, especially as more than one noble Lord who would have voted for his motion was unavoidably ab- sent. The motion was negatived without a division.

Before the debate on Earl Grey's motion closed, Earl GRANVILLE an- nounced, that at this very moment proposals had been received from Austria, accompanied with modifications, which were at present under the consideration of the two Governments of France and England. But there was very little chance—indeed, he might say there was no chance —of a favourable conclusion.