London, August 3. The day before yesterday The Morning Post, 
in obviously embarrassed phraseology, informed the British public 
that General Simpson will soon resign his command under the 
pretext of weakened health and will have no successor.* In other 
words: the English army is to be placed under French general command. 
In this way the Government would shift the responsibility for the 
conduct of the war from itself onto “our great and glorious ally”. 
Parliament forfeits the last semblance of control. At the same time 
an infallible means for transforming the alliance between England 
and France into the most acrimonious dissension between the two 
nations has been discovered. We see the same master hand at 
work in whose all too robust grasp the Entente Cordiale **! broke 
into pieces in 1839. 

Parliament concludes its present session in a fitting manner— 
with scandals.” First scandal: the withdrawal of the Bill for limited 
liability in private (not joint-stock) commercial companies at the 
bidding of the big capitalists before whose frowns even the 
Olympian Palmerston trembles. Second scandal: the adjournment in 
infinitum of the Bills regulating lease-hold tenure in Ireland, 
which have been moving to and fro in both Houses of Parliament 
for 4 years—a cowardly compromise in which the House of 
Commons has consented to take back its own work, the Cabinet to 
break its word and the Irish Brigade *” to hold the question open 

“ “The Command of the Army in the East”, The Morning Post, No. 25455, 
August 2, 1855.— Ed. 

The reference is to the sittings of the House of Commons of July 24, July 30 

and August 2. The Times, No. 22115, July 25; No. 22120, July 31 and No. 22123, 
August 3, 1855.— Ed. 

General Simpson’s Resignation 47) 

for exploitation on the hustings.* Final scandal: Major Reed’s 
motion obliging the Cabinet to recall Parliament in the event of 
peace being concluded during the recess. Reed is a buffoon, 
notoriously in Palmerston’s pay. His aim was to deceive the House 
into passing a vote of confidence as a result of his “distrustful 
motion”. But the House laughed his motion down, laughed 
Palmerston down and laughed itself down. It has reached the 
stage where “laughter” remains the last recourse for depravity to 
repudiate itself. 

Marked with the sign X