Roebuck,
much to the surprise of many, came to the defense of the Government and
offered the following motion, which was carried: "That the principles
which have hitherto regulated the foreign policy of Her Majesty's
Government are such as were required to preserve untarnished the honor
and dignity of this country, and, in times of unexampled difficulty, the
best calculated to maintain peace between England and the various
nations of the world."
The debate which followed, and which was prolonged over four nights, was
marked on both sides by speeches of unusual oratorical power and
brilliancy. The speeches of Lord Palmerston, Sir Robert Peel, Mr.
Cockburn, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone were pronounced as
remarkable orations. Sir Robert Peel made a powerful speech against the
Ministers, which was made memorable not only for its eloquence, but
because it was his last. Lord Palmerston defended himself vigorously in
a speech of five hours' duration. "He spoke," said Mr. Gladstone, "from
the dusk of one day to the dawn of the next." He defended his policy at
every point. In every step taken he had been influenced by the sole
desire that the meanest, the poorest, even the most disreputable subject
of the English Crown should be defended by the whole might of England
against foreign oppression.
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