The Sun. — London, England, 1859-07-15 00:00:00

the late Government. He (the Duke of Newcastle) was aware that schemes had been projected for establishing railways across the continent, and he did not look on them as wholly visionary, but rather looked forward to their being actually established. He did not think, however, that any of the schemes yet proposed were of a character to be entertained. But a minor scheme had been proposed which embraced a system of postal communication across the continent by means of the lakes and roads. He was anxious to give every possible encouragement to such a scheme, but it was only fair to say that he did not contem plate being so liberal with regard to postal subsidies as the late Government had been, and this scheme involved the question of a large subsidy, which he thought objection able. At the same time he felt the great national impor tance of some such arrangement, and would give it every support. After a few words from the Earl of DONOUGHMOR; the subject dropped. ARMING COMMERCIAL STEAM VESSELS. . . _ The Earl of AIRLIE rose to ask her Majesty's Govern went whether they had taken into consideration the expe diency of entering into' arrangements with persons or com panies owning steam vessels other than those which carry the mails, for the purpose of rendering such steam vessels capable of carrying armaments of heavy guns if required. He said it was well known that steamers which re ceived Government subsidies to carry mails were under en gagement to carry armaments, and to be placed at the ser vice of Government for warlike purposes if required. There was a very prevalent impression that the contract that these steam vessels should be so constructed as to be capable of carrying armaments had not been fulfilled. As it had been arranged that certain steamers—commercial steamers—should be so fitted as to be able to carry heavy guns, why should not the same arrangement be applied to other steam vessels as well as those which carried mails ? The steamers which carried mails had a Government agent on board, but he did not know if it was his duty to see if the vessel was seaworthy ; but under the Passengers Act the Government had the power of ascer taining whether any steamer which carried passengers was seaworthy. The service of large steamers carrying mails was of great importance to the public ; it was important that the mails should be regularly transmitted, and the ser vice liable to no interruption. A strong case, therefore, ought to be made out before the Government should take these vessels for, warlike purposes. There had been lately published a pamphlet, by a gentleman whose opinion was of great weight on all matters relating to steam navigation —Me. Laird. That gentleman said that many steam vessels employed in the coasting trade of a smaller descrip tion might be used for warlike purposes, and be useful in defending the coast, and the mouths of great rivers like the Mersey, which were now unprotected. Mr. Laird had made an estimate of the cost of fitting these vessels for war like purposes. His scheme was that the vessels should be made so strong as to be capable of mounting heavy guns, and he proposed to fit out 200 of these vessels so as to serve as gunboats. Mr. Laird put the cost of building and fitting 200 gunboats at £1,200,000, and the annual charge for • keeping them he put at 10 per cent. of the cost, or £190,000. The cost of fitting vessels already in existence as gunboats would, he calculated, be £2OO each, or £40,000., and the annual charge for them at £lOO each, or £20,000. The difference between the expense of regular gunboats and the fitting of the proposed vessels for the purpose of converting them into gunboats was, that the former would cost ex actly eleven times as much as the latter. Mr. Laird, how ever, admitted that he did not expect that the vessels so fitted would be quite so well adapted as regularly built gun boats for warlike purposes. The noble earl then referred to the manner in which the large number of gunboats which had been built for the public service had bean kept in ordi nary, and stated that their condition was such that it would take six weeks to put them in order for service. It was not for him to say whether Mr. Laird's scheme was a feasible one, and if it was carried out in what manner it was to be carried out. Vessels of that description ought cer tainly to be manned in such a manner as not to interfere with the manning of the regular navy. Men might be got for that service beyond the' age when they would be re ceived into the navy for continuous service. It was quite certain that it was not possible to construct fortifications sufficient for the defence of the whole of our coasts, and if we could we should not be able to man them ; while any fortifications, if they were so situated as not to be efficient, had better not be erected at all. Some such scheme as this was therefore necessary, but it was not necessary to go to any great expense at first, but to try it on a small scale in the first instance. He would not at that late hour enter, as he might have done eaiiier in the evening, into the general subject of our national defences, but he would content him self with putting the questionof which he had given notice. The Duke of SOMERSET said that the question put to him by the noble earl was this : " Whether they had taken into consideration the expediency of entering into arrange ments with persons or companies owning steam vessels other than those which carry the mails, for the purpose of rendering such steam vessels capable of carrying armaments of heavy guns, if required." The subject to which it re ferred had been at various times under the consideration of Government. For many years it had been part of the con tract with steamers which carried mails that the vessels should be so constructed as that they could be adapted to carry armaments. About the year 1852 a committee consist ing of military and naval officers, was appointed to examine into this question, and they went into the subject with great care. They surveyed almost all the steam vessels on the coast of England, and reported what they were fit for, and the general result of the inquiry was an opinion that it was not expedient to adapt such vessels to the purposes of war, for in doing so they would be made less efficient for pacaet pur poses and very inefficient for purposes of war. In 1853, there was another inquiry, and there was some slight dif ference in the report. It was admitted that, after consider able expenditure, some steam vessels might be adapted to carry guns, but that they would not be fit to cope with yes sels of war, but would only be able to defend themselves whensearrying troops and stores. Even that committee, which was composed of professional men, who looked at the scantlings of the decks of the vessels, their capability for the erection of magazines, and all the necessary details, did not recommend that they should be adapted to' purposes of war. ,At the same time, some few of those vessels might probably, at an expense of £3,000 or £4,000 each, be made available for war purposes ; and certain steam tugs, such as those plying on the Mersey, which were built of more than ordinary strength, might be armed and rendered useful in aid of the coast defences. The Board of Admiralty, on receiving that report, gave directions to have those vessels surveyed; but, looking at former reports, which embodied the views of able professional men, who had gone into the question with great care, and seeing that out of 1,200 ves sels examined by them only 10 or 12 were found capable of being fitted for use as armed steamers, he did not expect much from the inquiry. The large steam-vessels trading between London and Scotland and London and Holland would, ho believed, be found wholly unsuited to the pur • poses of war, and to attempt to make them so would be a waste of money. Considering the arrangements now in force in our dockyards, which enabled the Government to produce vessels of war with unexampled rapidity, and fit them with the requisite machinery and armaments in a very small space of time, there was the less necessity for looking to the merchant steam navy for assistance, though as he had said it was possible that a limited number of small ves sels, such as steam tugs, might be made useful in case of emergency. Upon that point the Government had directed inquiry to be made, but they were not prepared to re-open generally the question involved in the inquiry. of 18.52-53, the result of which was before the house in the report, to which every member might refer. The Earl of HARDY ICKE was of opinion that unless some machinery wore established for regulating the con struction of merchant steamers so as to ensure their being built of sufficient strength to carry heavy guns, which would materially increase their cost and interfere with the freedom of trade, it was hopeless to expect that merchant vessels could be made available for war purposes. Nor was it ne cessary, considering the increased facilities for constructing, arming, and manning ships of war which now existed, to rely upon the merchant service as an available source. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Lords' amendments to the Carlisle and Penrith, &c., Roads Bill, and the Much Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway Bill, were considered and agreed to. The following bills were read a third time and passed : Bridport Railway ; Cowes and Newport (Isle of Wight) Railway; Droitwitch Roads; Hinckley and Melbourne Roads ; Norwich New Street ; Stokes Bay Railway and Pier ; and Swanage Tramway and Pier, changed from " Swanage Railway and Pier." Mr. FITZROY nominated the following select commit tee on. the Westminster New Bridge Bill :—Mr. Fitzroy, Sir John Shelley, Mr. William Williams, Sir H. Willoughby, Mr. H an b ur y, and Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen ; and five members to be added by t he comm he committee of selecti on . P. Several petitions were presented in favour of the aboli tion of the Duty on Paper, and of Church-rates, against the Endowed Schools Bill, &c. SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH COMPANY. - Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE said that he wished to explain a statement which he had made i n the recent debate on the Red Sea and Indian Telegraph Company's Bill. He said that in the arrangements made by the Submarine Telegraph Company that a priority was given to the French Government in the transmission of messages over the Government of this country. He had received a letter from the chairman of that company, from which it appeared that he was in error in the statement in question. JOINT STOCK COMPANIES. On the motion of Mr. FINLAY certain returns in con nection with limited joint stock companies were ordered. NEWSPAPERS, Sre. On the motion of Mr. E. CRAWFURD the following return was ordered :—The registered newspapers of the u n it e d Kingdom, and the number, if any, of the stamps at Id. issued to each for each quarter respectively fromDe ember, 1857, to the 30th of June. 1859 ; also of the stamps at 1 1 d. issu e d to any such newspape rs d ur i ng such period ; and a similar return of registered publications, and of stamps issued to them during the same period (in continua tion of Parliamentary paper No. 489 of session 1658). INDIA. Mr. W. VANSITTART asked the Secretary of State for India whether the report from the Government of India respecting compensation for losses sustained durin g the late mutiny had been received ; and, if so, whether it was his intention to lay such report on the table of the house. Sir C. WOOD said that the report alluded to had been received, but he objected to stating at present when it world, be convenient to lay it on the table of the house. FLOGQING IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. Mr. W. WILLIAMS moved for a return of the number of persons flogged in the British navy in the year 18.58, spec ifying the name of the ship, the offence, the sentence, and the number of lashes inflicted on each person, whether by court-martial or not (in continuation of Parliamentary paper, No. 41, of the session of 1859.) Also, for an Address for return of the number of persons flogged in the anny and militia of Great Britain aad Ireland, in the year 1858, specifying the offence, the regiments, the place or station at the time, the sentence, and the number of lashes inflicted on each person. SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH COMPANY. Sir S. NORTHCOTE moved for a copy of correspon dence between the Treasury, the Foreign-office, and Office of Woods, &c., the Admiralty, and the Submarine Tele graph Company, on the subject of the recent convention between that company and the French Government. — Ordered. SHERIFFS' COURTS IN SCOTLAND. , In reply to Lord DUNCAN, The LORD ADVOCATE said that he understood there was no item in the estimates for the present year for mak ing, a provision for the Sheriffs' Courts in Scotland, and he believed that an Act of Parliamont would be necessary in order to enable Government to do so. TRINITY HOUSE. Mr. HUGESSEN moved for returns of the annual amount of earnings returned by the Trinity House pilots resident in the towns of Dover and Deal respectively, from the year 1&54 to the Ist January, 1839. LONDON CORPORATION BILL. Sir J. SHELLEY gave notice that in the event of the house going into committee on this bill, he would move that elections in the London Corporation should be taken by ballot. The hon. baronet shortly after rose and asked if the Government did not consider it would be unadvisable to proceed further with the bill during the present session, as it would inevitably meet considerable opposition. Sir G. C. LEWIS said he understood that there would be no general opposition to the bill. His present wish was to appoint a day that would afford an opportunity for the full discussion of the bill. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. Mr. E. JAMES asked the Secretary of State' for the Home Department whether any information had reached her Majesty's Government, to the effect that more than two thirds of the provincial and local standards of weights and measures had been used more than 20 years without re verification, and that the same were defective and un just, and could not be relied on as tests of accuracy ; that such standards, nevertheless, furnish the legal means and evidence by which the integrity and accuracy of the weights and measures used by the tradesmen for commer cial purposes are ascertained and tested ; that legal convic tions take place, and penalties are enforced, for non-confor mity to such standards ; and, if so, whether her Majesty's Ministers intended to take any steps for the prevention of so great an injustice. Sir G. C. LEWIS said that during the last 20 years means had been taken for verifying local standard weights and measures with the fixed standard. Mr. WALPOLE wished to know if the right hon. baronet had any objection to introduce a bill on this subject. Sir G. C. LEWIS said that he had not, but it must first I be determined whether the expense of the reverification should be defrayed by a vote of the house or by local bodies. INDIAN FINANCE. 1 Mr. BRIGHT inquired if the right hon. baronet, the Secretary for India, would inform the house when the subject of Indian finance would be brought forward, and when any despatches on the matter would be laid on the table. Sir CHARLES WOOD was understood to say that a statement on the subject of Indian finance would be made shortly, but not till subsequent to the financial state ment of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. FINANCIAL STATEMENT. In reply to Mr. HORSFALL, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that if the army and navy estimates were gone through to-morrow evening—and he hoped if necessary the house would sit a little longer than usual for that purpose—he proposed to make his financial statement on Monday evening. (Ilear.) INDIAN ARMY. On the motion for going into Committee of Supply, Mr. H. BAILLIE called the attention of the house to the report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the organisation of the Indian army, which elicited some discussion, in which Sir C. Wood, General Peel, Lord Stanley, Colonel Sykes, Sir De Lacy Evans, and. other hon. members took part. After which the subject dropped. THE SLAVE TRADE. Mr. GRIFFITH called the attention of the house to the case of Santos v. Illidge and others, and asked the Secre tary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he thought the sth and 6th clauses of the act 6 and 7 Vic. c. 98, authoris ing the sale of slaves by British joint-stock companies, should be repealed. LAND TRANSPORT CORPS. Lord A. V. TEMPEST asked the Secretary of State for War whether any, and it so what, decision had been come to by the Treasuryonthe subject of carrying out the recommen dations of the committee of last session on the claims of the Land Transport Corps with reference to granting permanent half-pay to that class of officers who entered the corps from the militia and civil employ. Mr. LAING said there would be no objection on the part of the Treasury if the Secretary for War did not object. . THE DOVER PACKETS CONTRACT. Mr. RICH called attention to the Dover contract, but said that as the whole matter would come before the Dover election committee, as well as the committee on contracts, he would not press the matter en the house, if he could obtain from the Government an assurance that no confir mation of the contract should be made until the matter was full investigated by the committee he had referred to. Sir H. WILLOUGHBY took the opportunity of com plaining of the slovenly way in which the navy estimates had been drawn up. Nos. 8,9, and 10, upwards of three millions in amount, were composed of gross slims embody ing a number of items that were not specified.. There was nothing to show how the money was to be applied. There was no disposition to grudge any amount, bat the country wanted to know that the money was properly applied. Sir J. PAKINGTON, in reference to the question of Mr. Rich, had no objection either to the postponement of the estimate which comprised the Dover con tract, or to the matter being fully discussed at that time. Lord C. PAGET said he meant to move the vote for packets, and if Mr. Rich objected to any portion of it he might move to strike out that portion. It was the earnest desire of the present Board of Admiralty to go closely into the question of shipbuilding, and to give all the informa tion that could be supplied. When the next estimates were brought in he hoped that greater detail would be em ployed. Sir F. T. BARING said there was a general belief that the Dover contract required to be looked into, and he hoped that the Government would not ask for the vote for that con tract until the coramitee had made their report. Other wise the house would have to discuss the matter twice. Mr. WHITBREAD said the contract had been' igned and was legally binding. He was told it was subject to the approval of the house, but he found no mention of that in the contract. As, however, it was the wii da of the house that this contract should be further considered, the amount would be omitted from the estimate about to be submitted. After a few words from Mr. La GON, Mr. ROEBUCK warned the house of tho danger into. which they were likely to fall. If they canvassed all the contracts of the Government they would bring into the lobby of the house all the chicanery and contests which took place in the American Congress. He was told that there was a company which would positively be benefitted 'by this con tract being broken. Mr. WILSON said that the contract contained the words "to be paid out of the moneys voted by Parliament ;" but .this was the case with all contracts, and did not necessarily imply that the contract was subject to the approval of Par liament. Lord J. RUSSELL, replying to the question of Mr. Griffith, said that the matter was under the consideration' of the law officers of the Crown. SUPPLY.—NAVAL ESTIMATES. The house then went into Committee of Supply. Upon the motion that £368,311 be granted to defray the half-pay, reserved half-pay, and cost of retiremant of offi cers in the Navy and Royal Marines, Mr. W. S. LINDSAY called attention to the state of the active list of officers. Out of a total of 1,600 officers of all grades 260 were aged between 60 and 85. In the steamships belonging to private companies there was a large number of active and intelligent officers, who, since the passing of the Mercantile Act, u ere bound to undergo examinations quite as strict as officers in the Royal Navy ; and if an examination on gunnery were added to the course, they would form an efficient reserve, on which the country could depend in the hour of need, and thereby the large sum which the house was called on to vote annually for half-pay might gradually be very materially reduced. Mr. W. WILLIAMS said that there was a great defi ciency in the lower ranks of the navy—in mates and mid shipmen, for instance—while there was a great redundancy in the number of admirals. He thought this system ought to receive some check. Sir C. NAPIER attributed the existing state of things to the different Lords of the Admiralty. Between 1830 and 1846 there were 509 vacancies in the list, consequent upon deaths and promotions, and while, according to the regula.• tions, only one promotion ought to have taken place for every three vacancies, for these 509 removals there were 369 promotions. It was evident that if the minute of 1830 had been made in 1815, and if every First Lord of the Ad miralty had acted upon it strictly, the number of officers of the navy of all ranks would by this time have been very considerably reduced. The evils of the system of promo tion, from the age of the officers, became very great, and he suggested to the late Sir R. Peel, who was then in office, a plan for removing a certain number of officers from the top of the list with their own consent. Some years afterwards Sir R. Peel consented to give a retirement to a certain number of captains, who were allowed to take the rank of admirals at 60 years of age, and if that arrangement had not been interfered with the list would not have been in its present state. If the list were only allowed to remain un disturbed it would be easily ascertained from an actuary within what period that list would be exhausted. The fact was that the different Boards of Admiralty had promoted too many officers; utterly regardless of the regulation that only one promotion should be made for every three vacan cies. An honourable member opposite had recommended that officers in the merchant service should be alto wed to become officers in the navy; but that system would not answer, for their manners and education unfitted them for such a position. They might as well put officers ,of the navy into the merchant service. He admitted that in the event of a war, if there was a deficiency of officers in her Majesty's navy, it would be absolutely ne cessary to call in a certain number of officers from the mer chant service, upon the distinct understanding that their services were only required for a certain time. There was no. doubt that a number of very fine young men might be obtained as officers from the merchant service; but they must only be used for the time they were wanted, unless they distinguished themselves, and in that case no doubt the Board of Admiralty would be glad to retain them per manently in the navy. The present condition of the list of officers was attributable to the circumstance that the long war led to numerous promotions ; that successive Boards of Admiralty had sanctioned unnecessary promotions, and that when a minute was made with the object of checking promotions it was entirely disregarded. Sir J. PAKINGTON—I think it will be admitted by every man who has studied the State of the navy, that the ' question which has been touched upon by the speakers who have preceded me is one of the utmost importance as con nected with the efficiency of the naval service, and I cannot allow this vote to pass without expressing my anxious hope that the new Board of Admiralty will take into their con sideration the present stagnation of promotion in the navy, and that they will deal boldly and courageously with the anbiect. From the experience I have had for the last year and a half, I think I may say it is absolutely necessary for the efficiency of the naval service that something should be done ; and I have also seen enough to be satisfied that no thing will be done that will effect the important object in view unless the Minister who attempts to deal with the subject is resolved to do so in a bold and determined spirit, and not to be deterred from attaining his object by slight difficulties. On Monday night the hon. and gallant member for Southwark animadverted on the plan of retirement,which was arranged while I was at the head of the A dmir alty. I have tocomplain, not I think unjustly, of the gallant officer for making the subject of unfavourable comments in this house a paper which was never in any sense made public, and, therefore, of the fairness or unfairness of his remarks, relative to which hon. members, never having seen the evening the hon. member for Sunderland expressed a hope document, ni l :171:11ld takcoulde n a o n t o p p o po ss n ib un ly it ' y udge. Later on the same inconvenient thatl should enter n . a paper which has not been made ture of my plan was. Now, while I think it would be very there fore I could not hope to make intelligible he o.ipftuoebxp. detailsl , ai n nag connected w h at . the w n i tah nevertheless, I may say that th e prepared *as this, that there o f thehl. a to nd ho w n principle . ago—though not necessarily cable to all ranks in the nav al I would be required to retire, .receivin g proposal members,er h oosal I should be laid down a certain naval service , the sameage—appli- Fervice, at which o ffi cers such compulsory retireme n t a step i of pay regulated with du e regard tl i a l e as compensation for rank and an amount yearsyo th un t there should services to the country. I also proposed length of their actual be another age—of course some fixed for the compulsory retirement—at :a d ! ha o n ffi t c h e a rs t should have it in their power voluntarily to withdraw with the same advantages. That was the principle on which I framed that plan. Although it is perfectly true, as I have said, that the paper to which I h ave re ferred was never in any sense published, I have shown it to t 4h a o le hn n n u . m an b d er gan of an effi t officers, ,„ ,sz their -4 op o ini ex o preepssar on aned, e t a h ipt e hpreor q hin u e e n si ii i io o bn n, lictho an art d . admiral . th T th h e e li v o ie n. w an in o d f p g ri all va an ., r e t - , - upon offi ot c hin ers of in lei t s h o at wnran o k f . I can only h a e m . o plan m th em ers ebei to sem, _ plan which offi would bear hard', say that I should be p e of the gallant ad teoerscoenftetnhde t hi ha g t h tr d i i s stin i- ed rank also that in undertaldng difficult task of devising any miral would have the loathea.son to complain. I. admit scheme of retirement to remedy the evils now teressing on the navy from the want of .such a scheme, an 7 man would fail in his duty if he did rot show the utmost possible re spect for the high claims of sue.h ow fficerso have tee the gallant ad wh risen to their by their gallantry, miral and many others of his rank; high position by their own great sere. ces, gia 7d I am glad to have and a long and successful career in a e eoble profession. On m en who ventured the other hand, I feel with equal force, this opportunity of stating it, that any to enter upon such a work would no less failein. his duty if he limited his regard to officers who have reached the highest rank in the navy. I say the poor lieutenant is as much entitled to consideration as the a d m iral—(cheers) — and I beg to tell-the House that while I was at the Admiralty nothing was more painful to me than the casee which came crowding before me of men, who, having served the country well, had failed in the difficult race of promotion for want of interest. (Hear.) Yes, lam sorry to say it is too tree that many of these men fail through the want of that mode Of getting ad vancement which we all know has been necessary. lam not imputing blame to anybody, because we are all aware of the difficulties which a Government have to meet—that they are compelled to make selections from large bodies of men; and let them make those selections as honestly as they may, there must remain a large residuum unemployed and un promoted. Why, at this moment, there are officers who have held the rank of lieutenant for years and years till they have become old men, and who are now struggling to main tain themselves as officers and gentlemen on a pittance wholly inadequate for the purpose. (Cheers.) Any one who occupies the position which I had the honour to fill must have his feelings continually wounded by numberless cases of that description. And I say it in no spirit of disrespect, that I think it behoves those more fortunate men who have succeeded in attaining the highest distinction not to stand upon too much punctilio on their own position. They ought to show some consideration towards their less favoured brethren, and to be willing to make some sacrifice to relieve them from the hardship of their present lot. My plan ar rived at this point, that I had consulted my colleagues upon it, that it had been cordially and thoroughly adopted by the Cabinet ; and if I had remained at the Admiralty, I should have done my utmost to carry it into effect, of course with such modifications as fairness might dictate. The gallant admiral said the plan was strongly opposed by many dis tinguished officers in the service, and even by the officers of my , own board. (Hear, hear, from Sir C. Napier.) Now, I will tell the gallant member this, that so far as I know the disapprobation of that plan was mainly—l will not say exclusively—confined to a very small number of officers at the head of the list of his own rank, who took a view of it which I deeply regret, and which I think very mistaken. It is true the professional members of my board ware di vided on the subject, but this is equally true, that I did not limit my inquiries as to the plan either to members of my own board, or to the few distinguished men who stand at the head of the navy. I consulted flag officers, captains, and lieutenants, without knowing their previous bias, and solely regarding their competence to give a fair and disin terested opinion ; and the overwhelming majority, includin . g : officers of all ranks, were most hearty, and decided in their approval of the scheme, and expressed hopes that I would pursue it to a successful issue. (Hear, hear.) And as a proof that something must be done , I beg to remind the Secretary to the Admiralty that during the first 12 months when I was at the head of that board I was not able to pro mote more than five lieutenants to be commanders, and two commanders to be post-captains. Some extraordinary promotions, indeed, took place in consequence of the tran sactions in China, but that does not interfere with the accuracy of the statement I havemade as to the very limited amount of ordinary promotion which occurred between April, 1856, and April, 1859. I ask, can such a state of things be expected to produce contentment in a great profes sion like the navy ? Is it likely you can have the service provided with officers of an age suitable for the due per formance of their duties under a system of such stagnation as this ? The gallant admiral told us that no evils of the kind exist in the army, that general officers are not asked to give way at a certain age, or regarded as impeding the advancement of their younger brethren. In using that argu ment the gallant member surely forgot that the two services are governed on totally different principles. The general in the army does not stop promotion ; the admiral in the navy does. Why, every year there are numbers—l may without exaggeration sayhundreds—of officers in the army who quit their profession by selling their commissions. Who leaves the navy ? Nobody. Year after year you are pouring in young gentlemen into the navy, although not, as has been truly said, to a sufficient extent, but while you are doing so nobody goes out at the top of the list. It really seems as if our admirals were immortal. (A laugh.) They appear to be exempted from the common lot of humanity, and, unless they are carried off by a cannon shot they never die. (A laugh.) lam glad of that, but with such a state of things you need not be surprised at stagnation, and therefore I say it is necessary to adopt some plan of retirement applicable to the naval service. (Hear.) lam not the first naval Mi nister who has felt this embarrassment ; on the contrary, from the nature of things it is constantly occurring, and in point of fact various Boards of Admiralty have been com pelled to adopt retiring lists. A retiring list relieves the system for a time, but after a few years it is again choked, you again experience a dead lock, and I do not believe you will ever provide an effectual cure until you adopt some self-acting plan, which shall promote retirements at the top of the list as you pour in fresh blood at the bottom, and so enable you to have a due succession of officers capable of doing good service to the country. (Hear, hear.) It was my anxious wish, by the adoption of a simple mode of retire ment, with fair compensation for the disadvantages it created, to afford a permanent remedy for the present state of things. I left office before I could carry out a plan which, though open to correction in its details, I believe, in its leading principles was perfectly fair and sound, and which would have attained the object in view. I have left that plan to my successor. It is in the hunds of the Duke of Somerset, whom I have implored to consider it impartially as a matter deeply affecting the welfare of the British navy, and I shall be glad to hearfrom the Secretary to the Admiralty that the present Board will endeavour by some means or other, to re medy what I believe to be a great and growing evil. (Hear.) Sir C. NAPIER had hoped that the right hon. baronet would not again have found fault with him for having men tioned his plan of retirement. That plan was not furnished to him confidentially, and he appealed to the house to say whether a document which was handed round to almost every old admiral resident in London, and which farmed the subject of a petition to her Majesty could be properly called confidential. It was true the petition to which he referred was not presented to the Queen, but the reason of that was that the right hon. baronet loft office -before the requisite arrangements mild be completed. The petition, however, was signed by himself and several other admirals, and one of those who attached their names to it took the liberty of telling the right hon. baronet that an experience of 15 months at the head of the Admiralty did not seem to have taught him to respect the feelings of naval officers. (A laugh.) To press old officers to retire from the service was degrading, and he could never forget that the death of his own father, a captain in the navy, who had not had an op portunity of serving, was caused by his being passed over in promotion. The truth was that the,right hon. baronet did not know, and never would know, what the feelings of naval Officers were—(a laugh)—and fortunate it was that he was driven from office before he could bring forward his nefarious system of retirement. (Laughter.) It was no doubt true that the right hon. baronet obtained the assent of a number of officers to his plan, but the probability was that those officers were young men who wanted promotion ; at all events, he could state with certainty that the plan was disapproved by the senior officers. But the right hon. baronet had not told the house all. In addition to the other objectionable features of his scheme, the right hon. baronet actually wanted to take into his own hands, with the view of increasing the patronage at his disposal, the hauling down vacancies belonging to flag-officers, as well as those special vacancies which were given to the Board of Admi ralty for the purpose of rewarding officers for gallant ser vices.. (Hear, hear.) It was quite true that various boards had made retirements. That was quite right : it brought forward a sufficient number of young officers, and at the present moment there were more young admirals in the service than there were during the war. But the pro posal of the right hon. baronet went 'much further, and he could only say that he hoped the present First Lord would would find something better to do than hurting the feelings of old officers, and that the House of Commons would not vote a single shilling except for the purpose of assisting old commanders and lieutenants who had not sufficient interest to make their way in the service, (Hear, hear.) Sir J. PAKINGTON said that not a single word of what had fallen from the hon. and gallant admiral applied to the present system of retirement. The gallant admiral com • plained of the cruelty of compelling old and distinguished officers to retire. Perhaps the house would be surprised to hear that his (Sir J. Pakington.'s) plan did not compel any flag-officer to retire. (Hear, hear.) It applied to officers in junior ranks, but did not deprive any flag-officer of any privilege that he now possessed. Sir C. NAPIER- -I don't know how the rule now stands, but I know how it stood when I was employed by the Ad miralty. Sir C. WOOD, who was almost inaudible in the gallery, was supposed to speak to the following effect :—lt is very inconvenient to discuss a plan not before the house, but I think the right hon. gentleman has very much understated the effect of the plan of retirement. The consequence of the plan now in force is to reduce the period of service of post captains from 36 years to under 20 years. There are at this moment, I believe, a greater number of young admirals,. if I may use the expression, than there had previously been since Lord Howe's time. The number of admirals under 60 years of age is now 30 instead of 9, which was the number under the previous plan of retirement. I confess that I do not believe that retirementby age would bean improvement of the present system. I think that every one will admit. that Lord Lyons was one of the most efficient officers we have had for many years, and yet Lord Lyons would have been disqualified years ago if retirement at the a g e of 60had been compulsory, for Lord Lyons 1 believe was 70 when he died. [Admiral Walcott.-68.] I do not say that every man above or belOw 60, would be able to command a fleet, but I think it would be a great mistake to debar yourselves of the services of such a man as Lord Lyons because he was above 60 years of age. (Hear, hear.) I say this without any reference to the plan of the right hon. gentleman. The number of superior officers being much less than those of the inferior, officers, it is impossibleto hope that by any plan of retirement promotion can be given to all the inferior offi cers. Suppose that 1,200 lieutenants is the number required and 350 captains, and 450 commanders, it is obviously im possible that the whole number of lieutenants can be pro moted to commanders. By increasing the retired list you will remove officers whohave attained an age which renders it almost impossible for them to serve. It is to the interest of the country that the list of officers in the lower ranks should be relieved of such as are incapable of serving in that rank. I think that the present rules of retirement have answered, to a great extent, the purpose for which they were instituted. No scheme that could be invented would be agreeable to all classes of persons. Admiral WALCOTT said, if the country and the house would only exercise a little patience these gray-headed men would soon disappear from the reach of their bounty. The house had not been made acquainted with the circum stance under which the large list had been produced. It owed its origin to the war that lasted from 1792 to 1815, during which we had at one time 1,000 pendants flying. Thera were at the same time, no less than 140,000 seamen te i r t ryts. was ofT a th b h ee enemy n u n tsolely ho n rs necessary to. erprotectingohave/as tfleets'consequently eseegren b ine l o ne c rt ler ye in the service. We were at war with almost the whole eawfdoti world, g e d t e h a e n e u ja d p very large, and that was the cause as he had always said of the number of' officers on these lists. If an actuary were applied to, he would tell them that officers of the navy did not live longer than other men, but the more favourable state of the public health, of late years, accounted for the average of -life being greater. All the lists, whether of admirals, captains, commanders, or lieutenants, were crowded with old men, and they had only to exercise a little patience, and they would see them thinned by the natural effect of time. Since 1815 appointments ; promo- THE SU N, LONDON, FRIDAYT , EVENING, JULY 15, 1859. tions, and recommendations formarks of honour at the hand of the Sovereign had gone by favour. Every First Lord had his own friends to provide for, and then he probably took the advice of the First Naval Lord, who knew certain officers, with whom he had served, and naturally recom • mended them. It was impossible that there could be any confidence iu the service until the colleagues of the First Lord were made responsible with him for appointments, promotions, and rewards. During 40 years of peace the proportion of captains employed was 80 out of 600 ; and few, therefore, could rise to the rank of admiral without friends at the Admiralty. In peace a captain must have been six years, and in war four years in command of a ship before he was entitled to rise to the rank of admiral, but if he were not employed he could not rise, and if he had no interest he could not get employment. There were 99 admirals on the list. They had more young admirals than they could employ, or did employ. If an officer could not reach the ear of the First Lord he remained without employment and was put upon the reserved list. He was one of 'those who was displaced when he had a fair right and title to be employed. He never could obtain employment. Captains who had been six, nine, and ten years afloat were able to get ships, while other cap. thins could not serve the time necessary to keep on the active list. When the experienced captains died the coun try lost their services, and, in addition, the advantage of the survivors having shared the experience. Until some consideration was shown for merit the evil must continue. If it were known that the only road to promotion was by zeal, energy, and gallant good conduct, there would be a very different feeling in the service. Officers who had no influence saw First Lord after First Lord succeed to office, and just when they expected that the First Lord had pro vided for his friends and could give encouragement to merit a change came, and with the change disappointment. They had rolled the stone uphill with the greatest difficulty, when it fell and crushed them, and they had to begin over and over again. That was his case for 30 years, and hundreds of others, who had spared no effort to hard employment never could get a command. His heart had been almost broken, and he had been thrust upon the retired list when he had energy and ability to have • done his' country some service. (Hear, hear.) Men who had not used every effort to get employment were unworthy the profession and should be thrust aside, but those who offered for any station were en titled to some little consideration. He was glad that the Admiralty had promised some advantages to chaplains and surgeons, but something was equally due to masters and lieutenants. (Hear, hear.) He suggested that rank and some small pecuniary consideration would remove discon ent and afford encouragement to young officers who were just entering the service. (Hear, hear.) Sir F. BARING said, that in the year 1848 the average age of those officers whose names stood upon the admirals' list was 70, and that there were only six of them whose age was under 60, while there were at the present moment 31 admirals who were below that age. The consequence of the state of things which had formerly prevailed was that when he, being then at the head of the Admiralty, had com municated with two gallant admirals, with the view of send ing them out to take command in the East Indies, the answer ;which he had received was that they were too old to perform the service which was required at their hands, and he had eventually been obliged to appoint an officer to the command whose age was 72 years. (Hear.) There were, at the period to which he referred, about 100 officers in the captains' list who were incanable of service, and on that of the lieutenants', which embraced 2,300 names, about 1,000 in a similar position. He had, under these circum stances, found it impossible to leave matters as they were, and had therefore introduced a measure which, in conjunc tion with other measures in the same direction by which it had been followed, had caused the present efficient state of the navy list. The question of the age of naval officers was'one which had been over and over again taken into consideration at the Admiralty, but however well any scheme for dealing with it might look upon paper, to strike distinguished and historic names, such, for instance, as that of the hon. and gallant membei for Southwark, off the list was by no means a pleasant task for a First Lord of the Admiralty to discharge. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the complaints which were made by those officers who oc cupied the lower ranks in the service, he could only say that it was impossible to make every lieutenant an admiral, and that, in his opinion, the best mode of dealing with them would be to open a door which would admit of their retire ment from the service with honour and satisfaction to them selves. (Hear, hear.) So far as the question of promotion was concerned, he thought that, instead of promotion hav ing been slow, there had been a considerable flow of it for the last few years. (Hear, hear.) Sir J. ELPHINSTONE said, it had been recommended that the officers of the superior class of merchants' ships should be made available for the navy, but he should remind the committee that it would not be easy to secure the ser vices of such men. For his own part, he should not, when he had been in the East India Company's service, have thought of entering the navy, inasmuch as the former service was much preferable on the score of pay, and in consequence of the rapidity with which promotion might be obtained. Those who served in the superior classes of merchant vessels had the prospect before them of becoming partners in some mercantile house, or of settling down comfortably in some other capacity, and it was not therefore probable that many would be lured into the navy from that service. As to the manner in which the officers in the lower ranks of the navy might be provided for, he could only say that in his opinion the best mode of dealing with them would be either to raise them to the rank of commanders or buy them out, as had been done in the East India Company's service, in which a man on leaving the service received a certain sum of money, according to the rank which he filled, and a small premium. If a similar practice were adopted in the navy the lieutenants' list would soon be cleared. He might add that when a man had served as a midshipman for eight or nine years, and after wards a lieutenant for 13 or 14 years, making in all a period of from 21 to 23 years' service, he generally became, owing to the wear and tear of constitution co which he was sub jected, practically unfitted for duty as a quarter-deck officer. What, then, under these circumstances. was to b e d one with him ? He could not be made an admiral; but then he might have conferred upon him the privilege of writing Captain So and So on his door, together with a small addi tion to his pay if he remained in the service, and by that means the list might be cleared. There was at the present moment in the navy a large number of officers who were discontented, because they saw, as it were, no daylight before them, and because their youth had passed away, leaving . them to spend the rest of their days in the endea vour to live on a pittance which was a disgrace to the country. (Hear, hear.) He might also observe that the navy, instead of being a cheap was an expensive profes sion, and that as a consequence it was idle to hope that many officers from the superior classes of the merchant ser vice would be induced to enter it. As to the admirals' list. he did not think it much mattered how many names stood upon it, as long as there was a power of selection. (Hear.) Mr. LYGON said an attempt had been made to fasten on the late Government the authorship of a scheme the ten dency of which was to do violence to the feelings of many gallant officers in the naval service. They had no such intention, but believed that the system was one which would g ive to every officer his fair share of promotion with out hurting the feelings of any, while it would increase his pride in his profession. Admiral DIJNCOMBE said it was currently stated that the officers who had been consulted in this matter by the late First Lord had one and all disapproved of his plan. Admiral WALCOTT declared that the scheme had given infinite pain to many old and gallant officers, who.were the pride and ornament of the navy, and whom every young officer might look np to as an example. The hon. gentle man (Mr. Lygon) and the late First Lord had no know ledge of the profession, or they would not have 'adopted such a system. As regarded the lieutenants, whose posi tion was a perfect reproach to the country, the Admiralty might give them the rank of commander, with some little additional pay, say ls. a -day, and probably they would be satisfied. Naval officers should be encouraged to improve themselves in the various branches of their profession, and they should be made to feel that this was the only road to employment and promotion. In the case of the gunners' officers, however, no such encouragement was held out, and he thought their case was really deserving of considera tion. Sir J. PAKTNGTON, referring to the statement that all the officers whom he had consulted had disapproved of his plan, stated that he had asked the opinion of a great num ber of officers without the slightest knowledge of their pre vious bias, and an overwhelming majority had given their cordial assent to the proposal. Admiral DUNCOMBE said he had referred to the old flag officers as objecting to it. Lord C. PAGET had understood the right hon gentle tleman (Sir J. Pakington) to say, on the subect of the present rate of promotion, that he had only during one year the opportunity of promoting two commanders to be captains, and five lieutenants to be commanders. During the year 1818, when the right hon. gentleman was in office, there were nine admirals made from captains, 22 captains made from commanders, 62 commanders made from lieu tenants, and 51 lieutenants made from mates. He (Lord C. Paget) did not say that even that was sufficient promo tion, but it made up a very different figure from that which the right hon. gentleman put before the committee. Sir J. PAKINGTON said he had spoken of promotion on the active list. The vote was then agreed to, as were also votes for £243,957 for military pensions and allowances; £83,416 for civil pensions and allowances; £175,000 for ships for con veyance of troops on account of the army; and £708,337 for Post-office department (packet service). On the vote of £lOO,OOO for the payment of gratuities to seamen now serving in her Majesty's ships, who have at least five years to serve, or who engage to serve for five years if so required, Mr. W. S. LINDSAY said he wished to direct the at tention of the committee to the scale of payment of seamen in the navy. He would be the last to oppose unnecessarily an increase of that pay, for he had been a sailor himself; but he asked if that increased pay was necessary, and, if so, would it effect the object in view ? A bounty was increased pay in another form. The right hon. gentleman the late First Lord, in a time of peaces but taking alarm at rumours which had not the slightest foundation, thought it was necessary to hurry on the work of manning the navy. It was extraorJinary that, while the pay of the seaman and his position in the navy were better than in the merchant service—while his work was less severe, and that he was not only provided for in sickness, but in old age, when we wanted men to enter the navy they could not be got. There must be something wrong to a ccount f or such a state of things. (Hear, hear.) Excessive drill was alleged as one reason, and flogging as another. What a degrading position it was to strip a man and flog him before his shipmates, and that not after any trial, but from the mere impulse of the moment. (Hear.) He (Mr. Lindsay) did not advocate the doing away with corporal punishment ; it might be neces sary; but let a man, before being punished, be tried by a court-martial composed of naval officers, and then if he was held to have deserved punishment, let it be inflicted under the authority of that tribunal. The bounty of £lO, while it increased the pay of the Royal navy, ended with increas ing the pay of the merchant service from £2los. to £3 10s. per month. And yet, after saddling an important and de pressed interest with a heavy additional burden, the bounty did not effect the object that the Government had in view. The shipping interest of this country were running a great ocean race with all the countries in the world, and anything thatraised the rate of wages paid in British ships made the shipowner less able to run the race prescribed for him by the law. The £lO bounty created dissatisfaction in the British navy. The seamen asked why they should not get £lO as well a.. the men of the merchant service. Well, the Government now proposed to vote £5 to able seamen. Would that satisfy them ? Th ey wou ld sa y that if it were just to give them £5 it was equally just to give them £lO. He had do doubt it would bo necessary to vote another £lOO,OOO, and still the Government would not be. able to gain their object. He certainly thought the offer of a £lO bounty a mistake on the part of the late Government. Lord 0, PAGET said lie was now enabled to give anp ex planation of this vot e , which he was unable to do On Fri, day. At that time the order in Council was not issued, and he preferred to wait until he was in a position to propose this estimate. He wished to repeat the opinion he had be fore expressed, that nothing but the most urgent necessity could justify a rempurpo to bounties, especially to bounties of so large an ail:lona f Hear,) A system of bounties might be compared to those opium draughts which were commoninEastern countries : each dose must be stronger than the former. in like manner, if our seamen were taught to expect that at the least cloud in the west, or approach to a political difficulty, a bounty would be offered, the Admiralty would never be able to get, a seaman without a bounty. (Hear.) The wisdom of giving a bounty ought therefore to be very carefully considered by any Government before they proposed it, and the bounty ought never, in his opinion, to be adopted without the sanction of the House of Commons. The bounty offered by the late Government had certainly rapidly increased our force of seamen. But another ques tion then arose. The Government had not only to consider the position of those who entered the navy from the mer chant service, but also the position of those seamen who had been serving their country faithfully, who had learrlt in the Royal Navy the whole of the duties of a seamen, and who had come to be efficient men-of-war's-men. Now, he wished to bring this matter home to his right hon. friend (Sir J. Pakington) as a personal question. He would suppose that his right hon. friend and himself were captains of line-of battle ships, and that instead of a scarcity of seamen there was a scarcity of captains of line-of-battle ships. That had happened before, not in the English, but in the French service, for in France during the revolution the captains of merchantmen were taken out of their ships and put in ccm mend of men-of-war. They wore the uniform and enjoyed all the privileges of captains of men-of-war. Now, suppose that some respectable merchant captain, who was a very good seaman, but utterly unaquainted with the duties of captain of a man-of- - war, were put upon an equality with his right hon. friend and himself. That would be unsatis. factory ; but what would his right hon. friend and himself say if this captain of a merchantman had given to him a large sum of money in hand beyond what they had re ceived, if he obtained his epaulettes, sword, cocked hat, and all the paraphernalia of rank, all the furniture of his cabin? That was precisely the case of the seamen of the Royal Navy at the present moment. The bounty of £lO was nearly half a year's pay. He certainly thought that the seamen in the Royal Navy had no legal claim to any par ticipation in the bounty. But their position was such that the Government had to consider how they ought to be treated. He must say for these men that, so far as he was aware, they had never uttered a word of complaint. (Hear, hear.) But was that a reason for not considering their claims ? If the Government thought they had a just demand for some consideration justice ought to be done at once and spontaneously, and without waiting for complaints. (Hew.) He thought it was best that the sea men already in the service should have no cause of com plaint. Although one half of the bounty was to be given to men already in the fleet, it was upon certain conditions that a man who had less than five years to serve should enter for an extension of that period to five years, and one month after the receipt of the order in Council on board each ship should be allowed to the seamen to elect whether they would accept the gratuity or not upon those terms. Supposing that those conditions were accepted by a majo rity of the men, we should, as it were, have our fleet man ned for five years to come. Under these circumstances he submitted that the Government was justified, upon grounds of public policy and fair consideration towards the men, in asking the committee to vote this sum of money. (Hear.) Sir J. PAKINGTON was sorry to say that what had fallen from the noble lord had not affected in the least de gree the opinion he had expressed upon a former evening. He had heard nothing which he could call a reason for the extraordinary course proposed, which was a deviation from all precedent in the past, and establishing an embarrassing and inconvenient example for the future. He could only hope that by the immediate adoption of a better system of reserves we might escape being placed in the critical posi tion in which the late Government were placed when they were compelled to resort to the system of a bounty. (Hear.) The hon. member for Sunderland and the noble lord had both touched upon the general policy of a bounty, but that question was not now before the committee, and, indeed, it was settled last week, when the house voted the sum necessary for that bounty. All he would say as to the general policy of the bounty was that a great national object was at stake, and that object was accomplished by it. (Hear.) The question before the committee was a different one—whether, because Parliament had voted £31,000 to get seamen, it was right to spend £lOO,OOO more in making a voluntary gift to men who were already in the navy. He thought nothing could justify such wanton ex penditure but the most urgent necessity. If there had been any great exhibition of dissatisfaction in the fleet, that might have been an excuse for such a proposal, but nothing of the kind existed upon the noble lord's own admission. The whole case of the Government turned onthe possibility that there might be dissatisfaction amongst those men. He had said the other evening that if there were discontent upon that ground, it was a case in which the Government were bound for high reasons of high policy to take a bold attitude and declare- the demand unreasonable. But, to the honour of the sailers it must be said, they manifestly saw the unreasonableness of the demand. The committee must remember what had been done'for those men recently. In the supplementary estimates they were now considering, in the first vote were three items to which he called their attention. The first was to meet the increase of extra pay allowed te seamen gunners, £13,000 ; the next was to pro vide for good conduct pay to petty officers for badges awarded to them after promotion to that rank, £7,657 ; and the third was for gratuitous issues of bedding and clothing to seamen and boys, £38,000. Thosewerebonuses just given for the first time, and it was unreasonable that a bounty which was only granted upon an emergency to induce sailors to enter the Royal navy who would otherwise have re mained in the merchant service should be extended to all the men who were already in the service. Considering the increased pay and advantages enjoyed by men engaged for continuous service, there never was a moment when there was less excuse for dissatisfaction. Nothing had fallen from the noble lord which would not have been applicable to the three former occasions upon which bounties had been granted, and which were not paid to men already serving. At some future time, notwithstanding all improvements, a day might come when the Government of this country would be embarrassed by this unreasonable proposal to throw away £lOO,OOO just now, when, as the Chan• cellor of the Exchequer would probably soon tell the house, the finances were not in a condition to justify any wanton or wasteful expenditure of the kind. He (Sir J. Paking ton) believed that there was no amount of money which the house would not vote and their constituents sanction if that money was to be judiciously and properly expended to secure our national defences, (Hear.) But, on the other band, it ought to condemn and would condemn any gratui tous, unnecessary expenditure of the kind now proposed, which was not justified by past precedent nor existing facts, and which must prove most embarrassing and inconvenient for future Administrations. However, approval of the pro posal was one thing, and opposing it when proposed was another. (Hear.) Now there might be dissatisfaction, but two months ago there was none. The late Government attained their objeet, got the men they wanted, and there was not a whisper of discontent heard. The noble lord had talkgd about the policy of treating the British sailor with gengrosity and so he should be, but the fact was that never was the sailor treated with so much generosity and consi deration as at the present time. (Hear.) Now, for some mo tive which had not yet been explained hefound the Govern ment at a moment of financial difficulty embarking in this most unnecessary expenditure. (Hear.) Having protested against it on these grounds of public policy, he must leave the Government to take the course they thought proper, for they had embarrassed the question and placed it on a totally different footing from that on which it stood before. (Hear.) Mr. WHITBREAD asked the house to consider, as the right hon. baronet said the present Government had adopted an inconvenient precedent, whether it was not the late Government who adopted an inconvenient precedent in giving a bounty to seamen on enlisting. (Hear.) The right hon. baronet referred to the success of the bounty in ob taining a certain number of men, and said that a great na tional object was to be gained by it. So likewise it might be said of the recent act of the present Government, that a great national object was to be gained by it; and he thought that object would be accomplished in the prevention of any discontent arising among the seamen, as well as in secur ing the services of the flower of the fleet for many years to come. (Hear.) He believed, notwithstanding what had fallen from an hon. member, that this gratuity would sa tisfy the seamen, for they knew that they had no legal claim to it, and they would be pleased and gratified by hav,-. it ing it offered to th em on a pr i nc i p l e o f j us ti ce . (Hoar.) was maintained by the right hon. baronet that, as no dis content had been heard of hitherto, none was ever likely to arise, even if this gratuity had not been offere d ; but di l . content did not arise in a m oment. The men whom ths question affected lived not like other peopl e in the midst of society composed of all sorts of professions, but entirely it in the company of persons like themselves. All their inte rests and feelings ran in one way ; an d was not certain, when the propriety of the late Government's act was ques tioned in such an assembly as that house that it would be questioned by them ? It was impossible to conceive, un less the present propositions we re acceded to, that the sea men would not think that, having made a bargain with the country, the country had got the best of it, and was deter mined to keep it. (Hear, hear.) He thought it might safely be maintained that by the step now taken the Ge l' ment had not only secured to this country the services of the most efficient body of men for the fleet for five years to come, but he had also impressed on the minds of those men—and -this was a result of far more value than the money at present asked for—the conviction that they were dealing with a just and generous country. (Hear, hear.) Sir C. NAPIER approved of the bounty which had been given, inasmuch as it had obtained for the fleet a consider able number of men ; and what could the country have done without them ? The noble lord said that ameliora tions had taken place in the service. He knew that that was the case, but he did not thank the Admiralty for it, because. had it net been for the motions brought forward by himself, none of these ameliorations would have taken place. Corporal punishment had been alluded to, but he did not think that the men generally were averse to that, as they knew that the discipline of the navy could not be carried on without it. He should like, however, to see th e men brought to a court-martial before punishment was inflicted. Such a course would give great satisfaction to the seamen and and would not d es t ro y th e di scipline of- the navy one la. He gave the First Lord of the Admiralty the greatest credit for offering the bounty, and he did not see that the present Government or any one else had a right to find fault with that measure, since it had r p ove d successful. He b e li eve d th e men would feel grateful - for this gratuity. They knew they were not legally entitled to it, and they would receive it all the more gratefully on that account. The late First Lord of the Admiralty said holed heard of no discontent among the men; but he (Sir C. Napier) was often atiPortsmouth, and heard loud ex pressions of discontent. 'When an experienced sailor got a gratuity of £5, and a man who had not experience equal to him got the bounty of £lO, was there not likely to be discontent? (Hear.) Would the House like to see the fleet lying at Spithead in the present state of Europe with out hands to man it ? (Hear, hear.) The war was said to be finished, but was it really finished ? (Hear, hear.) In the present position of affairs no effort should be spared to place the country in a state of safety. (Hear, hear.) There was not a man in another place who did not hear with pleasure the speech of Lord Lyndhurst the other evening. He should like to see the same spirit that he displayed ex hibited in that house. Let gentlemen forget for a time that they had constituents—(a la:e.ghl—eand let them boldly ap prove all that could be done for the defence of the country, so that they might be able to point to the British fleet, and say " Thereis our fleet, ready to do all it ever did in former days." (Hear, hear.) Sir J, GRAHAM—I am very unwilling to prolong this discussion, as it is desirable that we should get through the navy estimates as soon as possibls ; but like the hon. and gallant admiral who has just sat down, I have for a long period taken a deep interest in the question of manning the navy, and em therefore desirous of saying a very, few words. I will not discuss questions that are not before the com m ittee—gnestions of peace or war, and of the state of Europe, the subject of corporal punishment, and other topics that have been introduced. The question of a gratuity con sequent on ,the bounty that has been granted is the matter now in hand, and to that I shall address a few observations. On a fernier occasion I expressed at some length my decided opinion against a bounty in time of peace. (Hear.) I then stated my objections to it in detail, and to those objections I still adhere. I think they are conclusive against the pre cedent set for the first time by the late Board of Admiralty of offering a botinty in time of peace. I think that that ought to be the last resource of a Government in the last ex tremity of war, or when war is immediately pending (hear), and I fear that to have had resort to this last resource now will be found to have established a precedent that will add to our difficulties in manning the navy in future in time of peace. (Hear, hear.) But it is needless to argue that ques tion at any length on this occasion, because the bounty has received the sanction of Parliament, and I assume, there.- fore, that such a bounty was necessary. But if that be the case, I can have no doubt whatever with respect to the vote now before the house. (Hear.) I think this gratuity is the inevitable consequence of thebounty whichwe have granted. (Hear, hear.) The late First Lord of the Admiralty says there has been no discontent on the part of the men now serving in the Royal navy. There are two important occa sions on which a bounty has been offered in this Country. One of these was in 1793, at the commencement of the re volutionary war. We had then only about 14,000 seamen, and just one-half of the amount now offered in time of peace was offered as bounty by the Government. The effect was that in six months the number of men rose from 14,000 to 60,000. The other occasion was in 1803, at the commence ment of the second French war. A bounty was then offered exactly half the amount of that now offered in time of peace. At that time there were about 20,000 men serving in the navy, and the effect of the bounty in six months was to raise • the number again to 60,000. (Hear, hear.) Now what is the case on this occasion? If I mis take not, there are 30,000 men now serving; but besides that a new system has .been adopted—viz., that of continuous service. (Hear.) I believe that is a system which ought to be cherished as the foundation of a continual supply, and as one likely to ensure the service of disciplined men. It is a system which, either in peace or war, promises to be of the greatest benefit to the service. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman says there is ne discontent; but let my right hon. friend reflect on what is the inevitable effect of this bounty. Supposing a ship arrives in port from a foreign station to be paid off. There are five continuous service men on board and five non-continuous service men. The five continuous service men go to the flagship in order to be employed in some other ship. The non-continuous service men can the next day take the bounty of £lO and enter into service in another ship, but the continuous ser vice men, though of equal merit in every respect, are bound' to serve ive years longer without any bounty whatever. (Hear.) But the advantage to the non-continuous service man does not end there—he gets a suit of clothes complete, worth £6, while the continuous service man, gets nothing. Sir J. PAKINGTON—The continuous service man has more than an equivalent for the loss of bounty. Sir J. GRAHAM—He will at the end of ten years have received an equivalent, but it will be doled out to him in small driblets, at each monthly pay ; while the non-con tinuance man gets £lO in hand and £6 worth in clothes. Sir J. PAKINGTON—The non-continuance man will receive £4O. Sir J. GRAHAM—At the end of ten years he will have received £4O I admit; but still, when one man receives £lO in hand and clothes worth £6, and another gets £4O in small sums at the expiration of ten years, I appeal to the house whether there is not likely to be discontent ? (Hear, hear.) Then the right hon. gentleman says no demand has been made for this gratuity. But can any doctrine be more dangerous than that? (Hear, hear.) What was the cause of the mutiny at the Nore ? The men mado demands, but no attention was paid them till those demands assumed a most dangerous and formidable shape. Then concessions were made in a manner most dangerous and that produced no salutary effect. (Hear, hear.) It is said that this is great generosity on the part of the State. Let there be such generosity, I think the wisest possible course at the pre sent moment is to treat our sailors with kindness, gene rosity, and consideration. (Cheers.) The hon. and gallant admiral (Sir C. Napier) takes to himself exclusively the merit of everything that has been done in favour of the sailor for the last 30 years—(a laugh)—but, setting aside that claim, it has been the object of Governments for the last 30 years to improve the condition of our sailors, and the concessions of the late Government, founded as they were upon l justice, seem to me to have been founded upon sound policy. I think the question is not one of generosity, of discontent, or contentment, but of justice. The hen. and gallant admiral referred to a measure which I intro duced in 1832, when I had the advantage of the advice of the late Sir Thomas Hardy, who was better acquainted with the feelings, the habits, and the prejudices of' sailors, and the motives by which they are actuated, than any officer I have ever known. With the view of averting the necessity of im pressment I introduced a measure giving her Majesty, at the commencement of a war, or when war was imminent, or when invasion was expected, the power of issuing a pro clamation calling for the services of seafaring men within a short period-6 or 12 days—and of offering to all men who volunteered within that limited time double bounty. By the advice of Sir T. Hardy I included in that bill a provision which, after debate, received the sanction of this house, that a bounty being given to new corners, an equal bounty should be given to all men then serving . in the fleet. Th 4 hon. and gallant member for Southwark, in a pamphlet published in 1840, referred to the circumstances which had occurred in the Mediterranean, and pointed out what appeared to him the disadvantages of the enactment. I thought, upon ma ture consideration, that the objections were well founded, and in 1853 I introduced a measure materially altering the act of 1832, and enabling the Queen to issue a proclamation not to all seafaring men, but to classes between certain ages, and leaving the question of the gratuity to the advisers of the Crown. So the law now stands, but lam bound to say that upon every principle of equity, and upon every consi deration of policy, I am convinced in the first place that no proclamation for compulsory service can be issued without the concomitant offer of a bounty, though I think the offer of a bounty ought to be reserved for that great emergency ; and secondly, that whenever a bounty is offered to new re emits a gratuity must be given, not perhaps of an equal amount, but of a considerable amount, to all men serving in the fleet. I think you cannot avoid the risk of serious dis content without taking that step, and in my opinion it is de manded by strict equity. Now it is so, that it is impossible to man the fleet quickly without a bounty. On this occasion a bounty has been offeredin a time of peace. It was my duty to man a fleet in time of war without a bounty, and I suc ceeded in doing it—not I, but an officer o f th e hi g h est merit who was associated with Sir M. Berkeley —who was entirely opposed to a bounty, and who, in the extremity of war and amid all the difficulties of manning the fleet at that time, steadily resisted the offer o f a bounty. Now, the gallant officer says that the fleet was manned by tinkers, tailors, and butcher boys. (Hear, hear, from Sir Charles Napier.) Well, sir, there may have been tinkers, and there may have been tailors, in every ship on the station, but there were captains in that fleet who, satisfied with their crews, were ready to lead their men into any action and into any danger in which the gallant admiral was prepared to require their services. (Cheers and a laugh.) I can ap peal to Sir Henry Keppel, who commanded the St. Jean d'Acre—to Admiral Elliot, who commanded a screw line of-battle ship, and to the present Secretaryto the Admiralty (Lord C. Paget), who commanded the Princess Royal, and I would ask them whether these " tinkers and tailors" were not men in whom they placed such confidence that they were ready to encounter any fleet that might have engaged them. So much; then, for the experience of manning the fleet without a bounty in time of war. I say again, that in time of peace I consider the bounty to have been an inexpedient measure. I hold the gratuity to be an inevitable concomi tant to the offer of the bounty ; and if the result should be to render future Governments more cautious in offering a bounty in time of peace, with reference to the inevitabl e -e'x penditure occasioned in the shape of a gratuity, Without which gratuity they would run the risk of creating discon tent in the fleet, I for one shall be extremely glad that that salutary effect has been p r o duced. The bounty having beeno, given, I cannot object to the necessity and prudence of vot ing the sum now demanded. Sir C. NAPIER—The right hon. baronet says I took credit for all that has been done for Li u 9 durin. , the tiurghter ) I say b so last 30 years. I did no such thing. distinctly. (A laugh.> it is untrue. rt - Order.") the committee which was the ree e: l of doing much that What. I took credit for was obtainin the in o appointment of good fl e e t. he service. The right an th n e ed the He man the fleet I hob. has lately har 0 baronet l says done he for in knoilw.weivefey Prettily the fleet was manned was a fleet sent to sea in (Laughter.) There never ' such a disgraceful state as theoAfad Admiral s a a li c eeet Elliot.. s to Sir H. Keppel and to well as I do, and every does he not refer to other Pracef 11 how the ships were manned as grace to the British navy, shamefully and dis officer ay: ir c i that fleet knows that it was a l n nei l t T el h i e tt e e et ri7g a h s t a hon.di s baronet further that if he will allow me to produce his own letters, and Sir Maurice Berkeley's private letters to me, referring to the way in which that fleet was manned, the • house will be astonished. lam not sure that lam doing my duty in not producing those letters ; and I ask the right hon, baronet now to let me come down to. the house with them on another day, and they will show how the fleet was manned. Sir J. GRAHAM—The gallant admiral has already taken that liberty by producing my private letters. (Laughter.) Sir C. NAPIER—Not all of them. Will the right hon. baronet allow me to produce the rest of the letters ? Mr. WILLIAMS explained that though the noble lord the Secretary of the Admiralty commanded the Princess Royal in the Baltic he was not captain of that ship when the abominable flogging of which he had complained took place. The vote, which was the last in the nary estimates, was then agreed to. THE ARMY ESTIMATES. Mr. S. HERBERT then rose to bring forward the sup plementary estimates for the army. It was not necessary to go into the whole question of the army estimates, as only this portion remained to be brought under the con.4ideration of the house. It had been correctly stated by the right hon. and gallant gentleman opposite (General Peel) that the army at home amounted to 110,000 men. Of this number the embodied militia ranked at 23,000. He agreed with an hon. member opposite, that in times of peace the embodied militia ought not to form a portion of our home army, but this branch of the service was very properly called out to meet the circumstance of tbenon-return of Indian regiments wh o were detained in that country owing to the mutiny in the local In dian army. Still, when these regiments did return to Europe, and another battalion from Canada, they would then have a fair regular army at home; but until the return of these regiments, it would not be desirable to disembody the militia. The right hon. gentleman then referred to the artillery, which was in a most efficient state, and was to be attributed to the zeal and effective administration of the right hon. and gallant member opposite (General Peel.) (Hear, hear.) He would now refer to the camp at Alder shot. Previous to the establishment of that camp the British army was badly off in respect to its commissariat, to military traine, and also as regarded the medical staff. The consequence of the establishment of the camp at Aldershot was that a great improvement had taken place in all these particulars. From a communication which he had received in respect to the camp, he found that the engineers were engaged in making fascines. The artillery were actively employed in their military duties. Slaughter-houses were established, and in fact, all the business of the camp, as in times of war, was carried out with promptitude and effi ciency. He had also to observe that crime had greatly di minished in the camp within the last three months. De sertion had also diminished, and he had to add that The health of the army in the camp was very good. The next vote would have relation to wages , but under this head 'would be included an amount for shot and shells, and other materials for our ships and fortifications at Malta and Gib raltar, and other places. Perhaps the house would like to know the position we were in with respect to the manufac ture of our improved guns. He had to state that at the end of the year 100 guns would be ready, and 200 additional would be completed by the end of the financial year, and after that time the delivery of these guns would be in the same ratio every year. No. 9 vote would have relation to the expense of clothing the militia. The vote No. 11, which related to warlike stores, included many h eavy items, amongst which Nfoillci be £225,000 for miscel laneous stores. Then came a larger and important vote, namely, ' that . relating, to fortifications. The right honourable gentleman then referred to the forts at Devon port, Alderney, Portsmouth, and Portland, and said it was desirable that all the forts at these several places should be completed as rapidly as possible. At Portland they had the finest harbour in the world, but which was wholly undefended. If an enemy once mounted the heights there he could be dislodged with difficulty. It was pro posed to erect a citadel at Portland, and with the materials excavated an admirable breakwater could be formed in the harbour. With respect to Portsniouth he had to observe, that there were no defensive arrangements for the entrance to the harbour at Spithead. Experiments, however, were now being made to see how far defences could be satisfac torily erected in the neighbourhood of Spithead. The next item had relation to civil buildings, and after referring to an item of £12,000 for the erection of a substantial magazine for keeping powder at Woolwich, the right hon. gentleman referred to the vote for the medical schools at Chatham, and in doing so said an improved system of medical exami' nation had been suggested, similar to that in the Indian service. In vote 14 there was an item of £14,000 for a new rifle range at Chatham, the Admiralty having taken away the one they had had hitherto. He had now gone through those estimates, and had only to say that the items of which they consisted represedted expenditure which had become necessary before he came into office. The right hon. gentle man concluded by moving a vote of £410,000 for the em bodied militia of England and Ireland. Gen. PEEL said that so far from his having, anything to complain of in the manner in which he had brought for ward these estimates, he had heard his statement with great satisfaction. Col. GILPIN bore testimony to the great ability of the commandant at Aldershot, and the rapidity with which the militia regiments had been converted into efficient soldiers. He had no hesitation in saying that a more perfect corps d' armee was not to be found in Europe than at Aldershot. He had to complain that the officers received too small an allowance for the keep of their horses. • General PEEL said as to the allowance of keep. for horses, the officers who had stables for them still received 2s. But it had been representen that the allowance for forage was increased to office rs w h o h a d no s t a bl es , 25 per cent., ° so that they received 2s. 4d. instead of ls. 6d. for a single horse. Colonel GILPIN said he had taken a fair average, and that was ls. 9d. Captain L. VERNON rose amid cries of " Divide, divide," to ask a question. They were about to vote twelve millions of money for the army, and out of that large sun' only three went for the fighting men, so that nearly one twenty-seventh of the sum so voted went to support the staff, which was enormously expensfve. He hoped th ° right hon. gentleman would take 'that into consideration , , and see if it be possible to reduce the expenses of the stag. (Hear, hear.) £180,375 to defray the expenses of wages for artificers; £300,000 for clothing, and othernecessaries ; and 193,106 for provisions, f orage , f ue l, an d light were then agreed to, and the house resumed. CRIMINAL JUSTICE (ASSISTANT-JUDGE) MIDDLESEX BILL. On the order of the day for going into committee on thi s bill, Mr. CRAUFURD moved that the house resolve itse lf into a committee on the bill that day three months. , The motion was not se con d e d, an d th e h ouse wen t into committee. On clause 1, which provides that the additional £3OO year be paid out of the county rates, The Hon. Mr. BYNG moved its rejection. The rate' were already quite heavy er ough, and if the remuneratio n were paid it should be contributed by the Consolidate d Fund. Sir G. C. LEWIS said that Mr. Bodkin had accept the office on a promise made by the late Government that 11, he gave up his private practice he should be paid a sa lary °f £1,500 per annum. Mr. CRAUFURD said th a t was th e reason h e oppo se' the bill. The contract had been made without the san°' tiOn of the house. The house then divided-- For the clause Against it Majority —l34 The clause wag then agreed to. The remaining clauses having been agreed to, the has p resumed. POOR LAW BOARDS (PAYMENT OF DEBTS) 811 4 . 1 4 The further proceeding with this bill was postponed Thursday. The reniaining-orders having been disposed of, the how adjourned at ten minutes past two o'clock. COUNTRY MARKETS. MANCHESTER—JULY 14. This morning's market was thinly attended, and holde l4 of wheat and flour being unwilling to make concessit, equal to those required by buyers, only a retail business w to curred at a reduction of 2s to 3s per qr on wheat and is 1 2s per sack on flour. Other articles sold slowly at bar e ' previous rates. BIRMINGHAM—JULY 14. At this day's market there was a very short suppg.o wbeat, but more th an was requ i re d b y b uyers, and Plep gave way is to 2s per qr. A fair retail demand for bar at 6d per qr. reduction. Oats held firmly for previous rencies. Beans is per qr. cheaper. Peas were the tw" cheaper. LOUTH—Jury 13. A small attendance to-day at the corn-exchange ) r , 4 very limited business transacted. The only sales we of were a few of wheat, at a reduction of 2s to 35 per for red and mixed 42s to 45s per qr. BOSTON—JULY 13. O There was quite a panic in the wheat tradel A o-dal, o te the business done so trifling that it is impossible to cl u a prices with any degree of correctness. The little Spr i corn on offer sold at drooping prices. ' (219 Wheat .38s to 42s Oats.... 224 t° 4 0 White do .42s to 44s I Beans 463 t o 4 /0 Barley .28s to 32s Peas • .. 403 to Averages for the week : Wheat 1,537 qrs., at 45 s 6d Beans 8ar1ey......... —9, —B Od Peas .... If -s Od EDINBURGH GRAIN—JutY 13. Sales were heavy to-day. Wheat on the top 3s Od downaverage Barley on the top Os 6d up averag 3s average 0s 4d 7d d a ° 00, 47 :9. Oats on the top Us 6d up. Beans on the top is Od up average Os 3d tiP• Averages per Imperial quarter. Wheat.... Barley 1 12 11 13-12ths Oats . 1 6 8 0-12thS Beans Total Supply and SaleS. Wheat ..... ...1199 qrs Sold 766 qrs 8ar1ey..,..... 298 qrs ....... Sold 144 qrs Oats :1535 qr5.'..:.... Sold 628 qrs Beans • 63 qrs Sold 42. qrs DERBY SMITHFIELD-3uLr 12. jr The supply of fat beasts td-day was better, but W ire d bland for the best quality was flat, and prices were 04 high. Sheep and lambs were in in very good supplif ro s* prices no higher than last week. Pigs rather uu Calves plentiful, but saves heavy.. Beef bid to 7d Veal 6 d t° 63 41 Mutton .. Gid to 7d Pork Lamb 7id t o 8d R oug h f a t, 6 s Od per 1 Hides, 3id to 51d; calf skins, 6d to bid. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway's Pills and Oinuol ts• Longevity.—ln these two medicaments will be foull . aila antidote to disease ; inasmuch as disease cannot exist ;: o pti' the blood remains pure, and this purity Holloway's P rations produce. In averting all ailment s th ese nobleast medies not only ensure health and happi ness , but el tt c.n those who use . them vigour through their life o at green old age. They prolong our years, and preserr 3 off faculties to enjoy the wished longevity. They wr - c tir e disorders arising from within or without, fever from 11 * e e' blood and wounds from violence. In all possible dersl3l7o, ments in the human body, sufferers may rely with C u t ile f deuce on Holloway's medicines, which at once cheel c io ro erring functions and qu i c kl y res t ore every organ ' s 0" action. r ° [ADVERTISEMENT.]—It is ever a pleasing due /V ce d c i o journalist to int r od uce t o hi s rea d ers some di scover y lated to benefit th a t vas t p or ti on o f ou r fellow crew tom. which has the strongest claims upon our sympathies. with this feeling that we call the attention of invrA to the following extracts from Du Barry's interes; o pepsia), flatulency, 6 report of cures without medicine of indigestion o'o constipation, nervous, bilious, 0( 1 liver complaints, cough, asthma, consumption, debility by Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica F0 0 ; 6 64. Cure No. 52,4 22— Bridgehouse, Frimley, 3d April, 1 I have suffered these 33 year s continually from dis • r lungs, spitting of blood, liver d erangement, d ea f nes s, ing in the ears, constipation, debility, shortness of breatlli c o• cough, which have been remove d b y your Revalenta My lungs, liver, stomach, head, and e ars are a ll righ t ' hearing perfect, and my recover y i s a marve l to 6 7,0t' acquaintances. James . Roberts, timber raereo. l In tins, at I s . 6d . ; 11b ., 3 s. ; 21 b ., ss. 9d. ; 51b., 125.; list' 265. The 101 b. and 121 b. tins carriage free, on rece ipt of 2: 1 0. office order. Du Barry and Co., 77, Regent-street, Loa 60, Fortnum, Mason, and Co., 182, Piccadilly; Abbis_ 4 ./ 0 0 , Gracechurch-street ; 4, Cheapside ; 63, an d 150, Omoote street; 330 and 451, Strand • 49 and 60, Bishols510! street ; 85, .Tottenham-court-road. Also at D col Bewley and Draper ; at Edinburgh, Rai mes and 00 at Liverpool, Nixon and Thew ; at Manchester, shall'', Scott; at York, Raimes, Blanchard, an d Co. ; at ampton, Randall and Son. BIRTHS. ARDITI.—On thell3th in s t., a t 54 , Regent-street, the of Signor Arditi, of a daughter. of (0 BARROW.—On the 11th inst., at Richmond, the Wallace Barrow, Esq., late Captain 17th Lancer* daughter. ' HORTON.—On the 12th inst., at Wellow, Mrs. George Horton, of a so n . ictlacV MART . — On the 14th i ns t., a t 3 , Morden-road, str . 2 heath-park, the w if e o f J. K. Martin, Esq of a a $- ter. MARRIAGES. OKEO VER — CAVENDIS7I.--On the 12th inst., at Do'resoll Haughton Ch ar l es Ok eover, E sq., of Okeover Staffordshire, to the Hon. Eli z a A nne Cavendis h, e'id ee " daughter of Lord Waterpark. g el4' E. HALF O D—DIT.LoN.—On th e 13th inst., at St. a a - o ~fole4 Hanover-square, Charles A. Nuke, only son of clire , D. Halford, Esq., of Grosvenor-square, and of ele Lodge, Suffolk, t o th e H on. Geraldine F. L. Dill_, youngest daughter of Viscount Dillon. DEATHS. 00 BRIGHTON.—On th e 13th i nst., George, son of Mr. - Brighton, of Tooley .street, Southwark, aged 17. , ‘ ,bett CARBONELL.—On th e 12 th i n st., at Cheltenham, lb" Warren Carbonell, Esq., aged 49. or CASSAIGNE.—On th e 13 t h inst ., at 7, St. James's-W in s - or Camden - town, John George Cassaigne, Esq., wine - chant, late of Salisbury-street, Strand, aged 57. " GonnAnn.—On th e 12 th inst., at Blake House, Bow, go Wei frey Goddard, E sq.; of 101, Wood-street, Cheq " , solicitor, aged 62. .keror Gnoom.--On the 11th i ns t . , a t 16 , Grafton-street, F it ' square, Samuel Robert Groom, Esq., of 10, Clareo l " place, Bath, aged 63. late °I PRATT.—On th e 10th i nst., James Pratt, Esq. , the Island of Ascension, aged 65. RAWLINSON..--011 the 11th inst:, Thomas A. Ravi's - Esq.,- barrister-at -law, aged 43. LONDON : Printed and Publish e d b y WEIRDO YO' Of .of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sue Office, NO' tir Strand, in the Precinct of th e S avoy, in the 0,?1.111,7 Middlesex, Friday, July 15, 1859. ,