a step was regarded as a bid for personal
power at the expense of his colleagues. It certainly placed the Cabinet
in a most embarrassing position, and it is easy to understand the
irritation which it awakened. In fact, it led those who were determined
to put the worst possible construction on Lord John's action to hint
that he wished to rid himself of responsibility and to stand clear of
his colleagues, so that when the nation grew tired of the war he might
return to office and make peace. Nothing could well have been further
from the truth.

[Sidenote: ROEBUCK'S MOTION]

Lord John's retirement was certainly inopportune; but it is almost
needless to add--now that it is possible to review his whole career, as
well as all the circumstances which marked this crisis in it--that he
was not actuated by a self-seeking spirit. Looking back in after life,
Lord John frankly admitted that he had committed an error in resigning
office under Lord Aberdeen at the time and in the manner in which he did
it. He qualified this confession, however, by declaring that he had
committed a much greater error in agreeing to serve under Lord Aberdeen
as Prime Minister: 'I had served under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne
before I became Prime Minister, and I served under Lord Palmerston after
I had been Prime Minister. In no one of these cases did I find any
difficulty in allying subordination with due counsel and co-operation.
But, as it is proverbially said, "Where there is a will there is a way,"
so in political affairs the converse is true, "Where there is no will
there is no way."' He explained his position in a personal statement in
the House of Commons on the night of Mr. Roebuck's motion. 'I had to
consider whether I could fairly and honestly say, "It is true that evils
have arisen. It is true that the brave men who fought at the Alma, at
Inkerman, and at Balaclava are perishing, many of them from neglect; it
is true that the heart of the whole of England throbs with anxiety and
sympathy on this subject; but I can tell you that such arrangements have
been made--that a man of such vigour and efficiency has taken the
conduct of the War Department, with such a consolidation of offices as
to enable him to have the entire control of the whole of the War
Offices--so that any supply may be immediately furnished, and any abuse
instantly remedied." I felt I could not honestly make such a
declaration; I therefore felt that I could come only to one