applicable to nations. A man who killed another unnecessarily or unlawfully was guilty of murder; and in the same way a war which was unjust, unnecessary, or unlawful, was a crime also; and that crime was murder, and all who were the cause of it were involved in the guilt. An unnecessary war might arise from the incapacity of a statesman from whose policy it ensued, and the guilt of murder would attach to him; hence the necessity of all statesmen looking to the first principles of justice and morality. With regard to the origin of the Abyssinian war, it appeared from the blue book that Mr. Cameron had been condemned by the Foreign Office three or four times for mixing himself up with the internal affairs of Abyssinia, with which he had no business. He (the Earl of Denbigh) asked, why then the Foreign Office did not recall him? If Mr. Cameron had been at that time recalled, we should have heard no more about the matter; but he was left there, and King Theodore, rightly or wrongly, conceived that Mr. Cameron was mixing himself with internal intrigues in that country, and therefore laid hands on him. If the King was justified in doing this, then the present war was not as justifiable as it would appear at first sight. There were other causes. The noble Earl (Earl Russell) received a letter from the King for Her Majesty, and, according to Mr. Flad, the non-answering of that letter was a great cause of irritation to the King. The noble Earl, whose policy was certainly active in dealing with other States, must needs give orders to the Consul at Jerusalem to mix himself up in the intrigues of the Abyssinians and the Copts; and he (the Earl of Denbigh) was astonished when he saw that the reason given was that the Abyssinian Church was in spiritual communion with the Church of England. It was the first time that he had heard of such a thing, and when he examined the question he found that the Abyssinian Church was closely allied to Popery. Whether Mr. Rassam was or was not a proper person to send out with Her Majesty's letter to King Theodore was a question into which he would not enter. Mr. Rassam was sent out, and his capacity was such as to entitle him to respect. He seemed to have been well received. The Emperor granted his petition, and liberated the prisoners. But confusion arose in consequence of the noble Earl writing another despatch, entirely different from that which was forwarded through Mr. Flad by our Consul General at Alexandria, and when the Emperor saw a despatch written in an entirely different sense his suspicions were awakened, and he was led in consequence to imagine that he was betrayed, and seized Mr. Rassam. If this supposition were well-founded, the noble Earl was responsible for all the events of the war. He did not blame the Government for giving their assent to the expedition, which was really forced upon them, and therefore they were entitled to claim co-operation. He considered that the question as to the lawfulness of war was one that ought not to be lost sight of. The circumstances of Europe at the present time were most peculiar and critical. They saw war waged on all sides without any attention to the rules of war. He would ask the Government to act in accordance with the old and time-honoured rules of law of that International Law which had been so much violated. Not only had International Law been violated, but so had it been with laws human and divine. He had, he might add, heard it suggested that the noble Earl himself should be sent out as a messenger to King Theodore, inasmuch as he was likely to be the person most fitted to explain his own despatches. He could not help expressing his regret that the laws which had been laid down by Vattel, and which had commanded the sanction of all civilized nations, had been so much departed from. That great authority had laid down that unlawful war was as much murder as it was to execute a criminal without a warrant being drawn out. Previous to blood being shed a formal declaration of war ought to be made, and that declaration ought to be formally conveyed by the Sovereign making it to the other Powers. As a supporter of a Conservative Government, he wished to adhere to these laws and to see them carried out. LORD LYVEDEN said, he should not on that occasion enter into the question of the expediency of sending out an expedition to rescue the Abyssinian captives. Now, that it had been determined upon, he thought it was desirable that there should be no division among their Lordships as to the necessity of pursuing it with all possible energy. He assented to the proposition that what they were called upon to consider now, was first whether the expedition ought to proceed from India; and secondly, what proportion of the charge ought to be placed He would observe that it was important that Sir Robert Napier should have ample diplomatic as well as military power. He should have authority to make a treaty, and to enforce that treaty by arms. As to the question of charging a portion of the expenditure to the Indian Exchequer, he would remind their Lordships that in the case of the Persian War the Ministry then in office, of which he had the honour to be a Member, transferred a part of the charge of that expedition to English resources. Therefore, while he protested against this being called an Indian war, he thought it only fair, under the circumstances, that a part of the expenditure for it should be borne by India. On a former occasion, the noble Earl at the head of the Government declined, and, perhaps, with reason, to give an answer to the question whether our troops should at once be withdrawn if the captives, for whose rescue we are going to war, were delivered up. He thought, however, that on the present occasion it would become the noble Earl to state what were the intentions of the Government in that respect; because if our army was to insist on the release of other persons than British subjects, we might be engaged in war for years to come on account of persons with whom we had nothing to do. On this point it would be as well to bear in mind the remarks attributed to King Theodore as to missionaries from Europe being followed invariably by diplomatic agents, and these again by battalions, and his preference for beginning with battalions. on Indian revenue? His own impression explanation. was that King Theodore was not the mere savage he was represented to be, for he seemed to be as well acquainted as ourselves with the contents of every newspaper which commented on the subject. It was therefore of importance that he should see that there was no want of unanimity in the British Parliament as to proceedings which should be taken against him. With respect to those proceedings themselves, some reference had been made to the danger of transferring a part of our Indian army away from India to Abyssinia. No doubt this was a matter which required very grave consideration; because it was very possible that evil consequences might result to our own possessions. So also the question as to the proportion in which the charge of the expedition should fall upon Indian revenue. The Government had put the matter upon the old point, of the necessity of keeping up our prestige in India; and the present Secretary of State for India and his predecessor in office (Viscount Cranborne), had disputed much on that point in the other House of Parliament; while on the very important point-the most important of all the means by which the expedition was to be carried out-the noble Earl (the Earl of Ellenborough) had dwelt very strongly. One of the principal points, he might add, for the consideration of the House was, what was the real object of the war? An important paper had been laid upon their Lordships' table some days before bearing upon that point-he alluded to a letter from Lord Stanley to King Theodore, in which he stated that the only means by which the King could preserve his country from war, and his own Power from overthrow, was by delivering up to the British Commander-in-Chief "all the European prisoners." Now, it seemed to him, he must confess, somewhat strange that we should enter upon hostili ties for that purpose, and he could not but think that we should be doing quite sufficient if we were to confine our demands to the release of those persons who were British subjects. Again, some of these captives were specially recommended " to the care of the Commander-in-Chief; but although those words were familiar to him in connection with cattle shows, he could not understand why they had been used in the present instance, and they stood, he thought, in need of some THE EARL OF HARROWBY said, he was surprised at the closing observations of the noble Lord who had just sat down. Having incurred so much expense, and run such risk, to send an expedition to Abyssinia, were we to be indifferent to the fate of such European captives as were not our agents? Were the missionaries to be thrown over? If such a suggestion had come from the noble Earl (the Earl of Denbigh), who, in another place, had said he was an Englishman, but more a Catholic than an Englishman, he should not have been so much astonished at it. THE EARL OF DERBY: I believe, my Lords, from the discussion which has taken place, that there will be no difference of opinion as to acceding to my Motion; and therefore I should not have thought it necessary to offer any observations in reply, had it not been for the observations of my noble Friend (the Earl of Ellenborough), and those of the noble Baron (Lord Lyveden), who subsequently addressed your Lordships. I must, at the same time, say that between the noble Earl and the noble Baron there seems to be some contradiction of opinion. On the one hand, the noble Baron approves the expedition, but greatly regrets that we are sending troops from India. On the other hand, my noble Friend (the Earl of Ellenborough) regrets the expedition; but, at the same time, believes that if an expedition was to be sent, no other troops were available than Indian troops. My noble Friend is so far consistent; and as to his objections against the expedition, I think they have been answered by the speech of the noble Earl opposite (Earl Russell), who, adopting the very fair course taken by his Colleagues in the other House, states his opinion that the honour of this country would not have been satisfied if we had not entered into this war, from which very little credit is to be derived, but which we have been compelled to undertake, not only from feelings of humanity, but also for the purpose of maintaining the national honour. My noble Friend goes on to draw a gloomy picture of the difficulties which we shall have to encounter, and of the want of preparations. He prognosticates nothing but a series of failures and disasters. But, my Lords, I confess I cannot see any real ground for his apprehensions on the subject. From the first we were aware that if this expedition were decided upon we should have to expect many difficulties in carrying it out to a successful issue; but, at the same time, we did not believe those difficulties to be insurmountable. The noble Earl has drawn a very discouraging picture of the country of Abyssinia, of the dangers to be dreaded from the climate, and of the difficulties of transport; but there is no good reason to believe that when you have once reached the plateau the difficulties to be overcome are very greatly diminished. These are questions which have had to be investigated; and they have been investigated hitherto with every prospect of success. Only to-day my right hon. Friend Sir Stafford Northcote received a despatch from the surveying party which contains this state ment "We have just returned from a most interesting and important reconnaissance up the pass from Koomoglee to within five miles by road from Senafé, a distance of forty-one miles. There were some very bad places in one part, but the road has been made now by the Sappers easy for pas- "The troops that have landed are, I am happy to say, in excellent health and spirits. The 3rd Light Cavalry have been losing horses from fever, but to-day on my arrival here I was glad to find the effects of the sea voyage from India, and being the disease disappearing. It was clearly owing to cooped up on board ship." With regard to the climate of Abyssinia— says "An ample supply of entrenching tools is resend 300 axes, 450 bill-hooks, 750 pickaxes, and quired." And he goes on to say-"I propose to other necessary articles, which I collect will supply one third of the force with a due proportion of blasting tools." There is an answer to my noble Friend's accusation that we have allowed the ex. provide for keeping up our line of communication, for keeping open the passes, and supporting our advance. Why, we have taken the very precautions my noble Friend says we have not taken, and it is with that very object we are sending out so considerable a force. To prevent our communication from being cut off in traversing such a length of country a large force is necessary, and we have taken this point fully into consideration. I have taken no part in those details; but on behalf of the Departments concerned in them, I take leave to say that never in the case of any expedition has greater care been taken to supply everything necessary for the success of the operations and for the health and comfort of the troops. Throughout, this has been spoken of as a war. I trust it may not be a war at all. It is an expedition undertaken for the purpose of effecting an object which we believe ourselves called upon to undertake by every sense of honour and duty towards those persons, subjects of the Crown, who were sent out upon an official mission, and who are now detained in captivity. I am very sorry that the noble Lord opposite (Lord Lyveden) should raise the question as to any distinction between those who are subjects of the Crown and those who are not. I can only say that according to International Law we are entitled, strictly speaking, to demand the surrender of our own subjects, and that we are not entitled to demand the subjects of other Powers; yet that a discretionary power has been assigned to Sir Robert Napier-I would rather not distinctly specify here what those orders are-for it would be most lamentable if we were to find ourselves compelled to return with our own subjects, leaving in captivity the missionaries and others. We have only the right, as I have said, to demand, according to International Law, our own subjects; but I do trust and hope that Sir Robert Napier, acting under the instructions that we have forwarded, will find himself perfectly capable of rescuing from captivity the whole of those now detained by the Emperor Theodore. I am not aware that there are any other points in the discussion which it is necessary for me to notice. I can only express my satisfaction at your Lordships' unanimous concurrence in the Resolution adopted by the House of Commons. Motion agreed to; and a Message sent to the Commons to acquaint them therewith. INCOME TAX BILL. (The Earl of Derby.) SECOND READING. Order of the Day for the Second Reading read. THE EARL OF DERBY: I shall now state very shortly to your Lordships the course which we propose, and which we believe will provide for a very considerable part of the expenditure entailed by the military expedition to Abyssinia. We hope, undoubtedly, that this may not be protracted beyond the month of March next; in which case, according to the best calculations that we have been able to make, the utmost amount which will be required from Parliament will be a sum of about £3,500,000. We do not propose to throw any portion of this sum as a burden upon future years, but to provide, in the first instance, £2,000,000 of the money; and the Resolution by which it was proposed, towards the accomplishment of that object, to make an addition of one penny to the Income Tax was adopted without a dissentient voice in the House of Commons. A penny in the pound of Income Tax is estimated to produce about £1,450,000; but of that not more than £840,000 would come in during the present half year, leaving £610,000 ap. plicable to the service in the next half year. There remains, therefore, a sum of £1,160,000 to be provided for. In the Financial Statement for the present year a surplus of £200,000 was shown, and deducting this from the £1,160,000, a balance of £960,000 remains, which we propose to attain by withdrawing that amount from the balances in the Bank. As these are now unusually high, that course can be adopted without inconvenience. The course which the Government propose in this respect has received the unanimous assent of the House of Commons. I trust, therefore, your Lordships will allow the Bill to be read a second time. Moved. "That the Bill be now read 2a." (The Earl of Derby.) THE EARL OF ELLENBOROUGH expressed a hope that the advances from the Indian revenue on foot of the present expedition would be promptly repaid, as there had been instances formerly where the payment was by no means rapid. THE EARL OF DERBY said, the noble Earl was perfectly right. On one occasion, he believed, they were not repaid for sixteen years. In the present instance, however, arrangements had been made with the Indian Government which, he hoped, would obviate any similar delays. Motion agreed to: Bill read 2 accordingly; Committee negatived, and Bill to be read 3 To-morrow. ITALY THE ROMAN QUESTION. EARL RUSSELL, who had given notice to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, "Whether he has any Objection to produce the Correspondence with the Government of The Emperor of the French respecting a Conference on the Affairs of Rome," and if there is any objection to produce the Correspondence "whether he will state what has passed on the Subject of any such proposed Conference?" said, the Question of which I have given notice with regard to any Correspondence which has passed on the subject of the proposed Conference I wish to ask, not from any feeling of distrust towards Her Majesty's Government, but from a feeling that, as Parliament will shortly separate, not to re-assemble till the month of February, we ought to have some information about the intentions of the Government on this important subject. We were told some time ago by foreign newspapers that it was intended on the part of the Emperor of the French to invite the Foreign Powers of Europe to a Conference on the state of affairs abroad; and since then we have heard that not only the greater Powers, but some of the smaller ones-the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt among othershave been invited and have given their concurrence. A report also has recently appeared of a speech by the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, in which he states that he has written to the Government of Italy; and the despatch sums up by saying "We have evacuated Rome. One of our divisions is recalled to France, and the French Government sincerely desires to recall the other division, which is being concentrated at Civita Vecchia. But before the evacuation can be completely effected, the security of the Holy See must be assured. The meeting of the Conference being the basis, the principal element, if it is not the unique element, of that security, the Italian Government have every interest that the Conference should come together at the earliest possible period." In another newspaper, The Times, the matter is stated thus "Before the evacuation could be completely effected, it was necessary that the security of the Holy Father should be guaranteed." Now, if the Conference is merely to meet and Father, one does not understand how that express sympathy with the Holy sympathy would give him any security at all with respect to his temporal dominions; and, on the other hand, if it is proposed that there should be a guarantee, and that the Powers of Europe should interfere by force, if necessary, in order to secure the temporal dominions of the Pope against all who may attack him-against even his own subjects, the people of the Roman territory-that is a very serious proposition, and one to which, I am sure, no English Minister could assent. I wish to ask the noble Earl, Whether any such document has been communicated to Her Majesty's Government as is said to have been communicated to the Italian Government; and, in fact, what is the position of this country with regard to accepting or declining an invitation to any Conference? THE EARL OF DERBY: I am sorry to say that I cannot give the noble Earl much information, as the negotiations for a Conference appear to have come to a pause. At all events, as far as this Government is concerned, they have not advanced any further than when I last had the honour of addressing your Lordships on this subject. The question, as far as this country is concerned, stands thus:-My noble relative (Lord Stanley) had answered the French communication to the effect that it would give us very great pleasure to lend any assistance towards putting an end to a very difficult and dangerous question; but, on the other hand, he retained the opinion that it would be useless to enter into a Conference unless before doing so some basis of discussion was brought forward and proposed for the consideration of the Conference, and unless there was also a reasonable probability that the two Powers principally concerned were willing to accept that basis. With regard to the particular despatch addressed by the French Minister to the Italian Minister, I do not believe we have received a copy of it; nor do I know precisely what was stated in any such communication between those two Powers. But the noble Earl knows perfectly well from his own experience that in the present state of the communications it would be impossible for the Government to lay the papers upon the table of the House. There are communications |