Finally the Cabinet resolved to hold together,
except Lord John Russell.
In the debate it was declared that the condition of things at the seat
of war was exaggerated; but the speech of Mr. Stafford caused a great
sensation. He described the sufferings which he declared he had himself
witnessed. He summed up by quoting the language of a French officer, who
said: "You seem, sir, to carry on war according to the system of the
Middle Ages." The situation of the ministry was critical before, but
this speech seemed to make sure the passage of the resolutions.
It was under all these depressing circumstances that Mr. Gladstone rose
to defend himself and his colleagues. In a fine passage he thus
described what the position of the Cabinet would have been if they had
shrunk from their duty: "What sort of epitaph would have been written
over their remains? He himself would have written it thus: Here lie the
dishonored ashes of a ministry which found England at peace and left it
in war, which was content to enjoy the emoluments of office and to wield
the sceptre of power so long as no man had the courage to question their
existence. They saw the storm gathering over the country; they heard the
agonizing accounts which were almost daily received of the state of the
sick and wounded in the East.
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