88 THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 



ain ill a war with France and Russia. The French 

 Embassador retired from London to Paris for the 

 purpose of personal communication on the subject 

 with his Government. Count Nesselrode on behalf 

 of Russia remonstrated in a dispatch, which the Lon- 

 don Times characterized as rejiroachful, irrefutable, 

 and just, and as profoundly affecting the peace of Eu- 

 rope and the dignity of Great Britain, The united 

 voice of Europe and America has condemned the con- 

 duct of Great Britain in this afliiir. The House of 

 Lords closed an historic debate by a vote of censure 

 of the Government. In the Commons, the last words 

 of Sir Robert Peel were raised in protest against this 

 outrage on the rights of other nations ; the morn- 

 ing dawned on a protracted session of the House 

 before he recorded his vote of condemnation ; in the 

 afternoon of the same day he met with the accident 

 which closed his honorable life. Mr. Gladstone in the 

 same debate said that the claim was "on the very face 

 of it an outrageous fraud and falsehood;" that "it 

 was mere falsehood and imposture," and that " a great- 

 er iniquity had rarely been transacted under the face 

 of the sun." 



Sir Alexander Cockburn was then without pai-lia- 

 mentary^ distinction or political advancement. With 

 the devotion of a Dalgetty, he placed his lance at 

 the service of a chief, retrardless of the merits of the 

 cause. He was soon rewarded for his services by 

 appointment to the office of Solicitor-General, from 

 which he was promoted step by step, with unexam- 

 pled celerity, to liis present position. 



