great principle which is the foundation of the reserve systemthe principle of short service-is one which I have had the honour to support. Well, my lords, it is in consequence of that reform in our military system, and the institution of short service, that we are obliged to recommend Her Majesty to call out our reserves. Under the new military system it was laid down that a battalion in time of war or on active service should consist of not less than 1,000 men. A battalion in time of peace consists of only 500 men, and therefore the machinery of reserves, the arrangement introduced by the noble lord opposite, that there should be with this short service a means by which when men passed through their short service and left their colours they might become, under another title, the soldiers of Her Majesty, was the only means by which you could convert our battalions of 500 men, in case of emergency, into battalions of 1,000 men, who should not be mere raw recruits.

Now, unfortunately, the name for this force is not a very felicitous one; it is called the Reserve Force, and it is called the Militia Reserve Force, and the world associates with the word 'reserves' some resource that is left to the last, that is only to be appealed to in great emergency, and is to be the ultimate means by which you can effect your purpose. But this is exactly the reverse of what the reserve force instituted by the noble lord opposite is. It is not the last resource, but it is the first resource under our system. At this moment you really cannot put a corps d'armée into the field in a manner which would satisfy the country, unless Her Majesty was advised that the circumstances justified such a message to the House from the Crown as I brought up the other day. Well, my lords, if it was necessary in this state of Europe that Her Majesty should have a sufficient naval and military force, we could take no step but that which we advised the Crown to adopt. And what was the consequence of this step? Her Majesty will be able in a very brief space of time to possess an army of 70,000 men fairly and even completely disciplined. It is double the force of Englishmen that Marlborough or Wellington ever commanded; but it is not a force sufficient to

carry on a great war. If England is involved in a great war our military resources are much more considerable than those you may put in motion by this statute; but it is the only way in which you can place at the disposal of the Crown a considerable and adequate force when the circumstances of the country indicate an emergency.

The noble lord the leader of the Opposition the other night, in his lively and satisfactory answer to one of his own supporters, admitted and approved the satisfactory state in which the country was with regard to defence. He said :'We happen to know from the Secretary of State that he has a corps d'armée ready, and that in a short time he can have another.' These make up the 70,000 men of whom I speak, and therefore the noble lord admitted it was not an unreasonable amount of force we were calling upon Parliament to grant. The question, therefore, between us and the noble lord is thisI will not say between the noble lord and us, but between us and any who differ from the policy of the Government in this respect-are the circumstances that exist in the East of Europe at this moment--do the circumstances that prevail in the Mediterranean constitute an emergency which justifies the demands that Her Majesty shall not only have a powerful navy in these waters, but shall command, if necessary, not a very considerable, but an adequate and an efficient army? Now, my lords, I would say that this is a question which comes home to every man's bosom. I cannot conceive myself that in the position in which this country now finds itself, when an immense revolution in an important portion of the world has occurred a revolution which involves the consideration of some of the most important interests of this country, and, I may say, even the freedom of Europe--I say I cannot conceive that any person who feels a sense of responsibility in the conduct of affairs could for a moment pretend that, when all are armed, England alone should be disarmed.

I am sure my noble friend,' whose loss I so much deplore, would never uphold that doctrine, or he would not have added the sanction of his authority to the meeting of Parliament and

1 Lord Derby.

the appeal we made to Parliament immediately for funds adequate to the occasion of peril which we believed to exist. No, I do not think such things of him; and to the individual of whom I did I should say, Naviget Anticyram; only I trust, for heaven's sake, that his lunacy would not imperil the British Empire. I have ever considered that Her Majesty's Government, of whatever party formed, are the trustees of that Empire. That Empire was formed by the enterprise and energy of your ancestors, my lords; and it is one of a very peculiar character. I know no example of it, either in ancient or modern history. No Cæsar or Charlemagne ever presided over a dominion so peculiar. Its flag floats on many waters; it has provinces in every zone, they are inhabited by persons of different races, different religion, different laws, manners, customs. Some of these are bound to us by the ties of liberty, fully conscious that without their connection with the metropolis they have no security for public freedom and self-government; others are bound to us by flesh and blood and by material as well as moral considerations. There are millions who are bound to us by our military sway, and they bow to that sway because they know that they are indebted to it for order and justice. All these communities agree in recognising the commanding spirit of these islands that has formed and fashioned in such a manner so great a portion of the globe. My lords, that Empire is no mean heritage; but it is not a heritage that can only be enjoyed; it must be maintained, and it can only be maintained by the same qualities that created it -by courage, by discipline, by patience, by determination, and by a reverence for public law and respect for national rights. My lords, in the East of Europe at this moment some securities of that Empire are imperilled. I never can believe that at such a moment it is the Peers of England who will be wanting to uphold the cause of this country. I will not believe for a moment but that you will unanimously vote the address in answer to the message which I now move. The motion was as follows: :

'That an humble address be presented to Her Majesty,

thanking Her Majesty for her most gracious message, communicating to this House Her Majesty's intention to cause the Reserve Force and the Militia Reserve Force, or such part thereof as Her Majesty should think necessary, to be forthwith called out for permanent service.'

179

BERLIN TREATY.

Speech in House of Lords July 18, 1878, after the return from Berlin.

on

[The calling out of the Reserves in the month of April had been followed by the still more vigorous step of bringing up to Malta a division of our Indian army. The right of the Crown to employ Indian troops on this service had given rise to the most animated debates of the session in both Houses, in which, however, Lord Beacons field took only a subordinate part. But, right or wrong constitutional grounds, the measure seems to have been eminently successful on diplomatic ones. Russia at once began to lower her pretensions, and agreed eventually to the demands of England that the treaty of San Stefano should be entrusted to a European Congress. Early in June Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Salisbury went out as the English plenipotentiaries to the Congress of Berlin. They arrived in London on their return on July 15, and were greeted with an ovation which has not many parallels in our history. Three days afterwards Lord Beaconsfield delivered the following speech in the House of Lords, which was crowded before five o'clock to listen to the great orator and successful diplomatist. The galleries were thronged with princesses and peeresses, the Princess of Wales being among the number; and everything denoted a degree of interest and enthusiasm which neither the people nor the aristocracy of this country are in the habit of exhibiting. Lord Beaconsfield's contention was that by the Treaty of Berlin we had so modified the treaty of San Stefano, concluded between Russia and Turkey under protest from this country, that we had restored the independence of the Turkish Empire. 'Turkey exists once more!' was the exclamation of Prince Bismarck when the line of the Balkans was secured for her. He further maintained that by the occupation of Cyprus and the superintendence of Asia Minor we had diminished, not increased, our responsibilities. We must, under any circumstances, have resisted a Russian invasion of Asia Minor; and by removing all pretext for such a movement we had in reality reduced the chance of being forced into hostilities in