Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 7.djvu/363

THE DEMEANOUR OF ENGLAND. 319 sure should be considered, they evidently wel- chap corned the judgment which set them free to ___L_ speak. For they knew that their deliverance from obloquy or unjust criticism would be likely to fail, if information, surmised to be material, should from any cause be held back ; and on the other hand, the Committee, with no less wisdom than boldness, leaned always in the direction of free disclosure. It was too late to imitate the prudence observed in common times. Our whole executive system had so lost moral weight that it no longer drew support from the accustomed presumption in favour of what ' Gov- ' ernment ' does ; and it seemed that every ser- vant of State, more especially if concerned in war business, might, any day, have ' to show ' cause ' why he should not be condemned as a fool. To restore the shaken confidence of our people, it was not only necessary to get at the truth, but to get at the truth by a road so open, so broad, so direct, that the public would be able to follow. With this leaning on all sides towards open disclosure, the examination of the witnesses, whether civil or naval or military, went on in a way with which hardly a fault could be found. They were all of them apparently questioned in becoming terms ; and although there were some who gave evidence under very strong bias, no one seems to have marred his evidence by a visible want of candour. The scrutiny was applied to a vast multi- plicity of transactions extending over no little