The Sun. — London, England, 1860-08-03 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COINTAIONS.—(Tnis DAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at a quarter past twelve o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. - - The Lords' amendments to the Burnham Tidal Harbour Railways, and the London. Chatham, and Dover Railway (Metropolitan Extension) Bill were considered and agreed to, as were the following bills :—Lord de Freyne's Estate and Caithness Roads. The following bills were read a second time :—Beauchamp Almshouses Estate Bill, Domvile's Estate Bill, Earl of Longford's Estate Bill, Viscount Lorton's Estate Bill, and Giustiniani's Naturalisation Bill. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. On the motion for going in t o committee of supply, Sir J. SHELLEY said he felt bound to protest against the way in which business was brought before the house. They were now called on to vote a large sum of money without the knowledge of most of the members, Who had left the house last night before its adjournment, and the press contained no announcement in the usual form as to the business that would be proceeded with at this day's sitting. (Hear.) If the votes to which he referred had been postponed until the evening, then there would be no ground for complaint. Last year a similar course had been adopted, and an absurd vote agreed to, with reference to the filtration of the Thames, and he thought the time had arrived when a different course should be pursued. Had the e Liberal members been on the Tory side of the house tney would have been open-mouthed at the practice to Which they had recourse, in endeavouring to smuggle im portant votes through the house. (Hear, hear.) 'Under 'nose circumstances he felt bound to protest against the conduct of the Government, though his ownparty. (Hear.) THE CASE OF THE REV. L._C.P : _ FOX, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHAPLAIN. The O'DONOGHUE called the attention of the house to the dismissal of the Rev. Mr. Fox from the chaplaincy of the South Dublin Union by the Irish Poor Law Com missioners. He apologised for delaying the house in going into committee, but the subject, which he felt bound to bring forward, had created considerable sensation in Ire land, and he thought it was entitled to be inquired into by that house. Mr. Fox asserted most positively that he had done nothing more nor less than his duty, and it was for disoharging that duty that he was dismissed. It appeared that the matron of the union had received information which induced her to be lieve that some of the female paupers had stolen some of the clothes of the institution. They refused to be searched in the presence of the male officers of the union, and a row ensued while they were being searched, which led to the police being called in. The women were then taken before a magistrate, who investigated the charge, and was about to inflict severe punishment on them when the Rev. Mr. Fox interfered, and gave a different Version of the affair. The consequen ce was, that the magistrates considerably mitigated the sentence, notwithstanding that the male officers of the Union con tradicted the statement of the Rev. Mr. Fox. This took place on the 7th of April last, and on the 12th of the month the master of the Union made a report to the guardians rela tive to what had taken place before the magistrate. After con c3n.sidering that rep . ort the guardians requested the Poor Law commissioners to institute an enquiry, and accordingly that body directed a sworn investigation to take place. Mr. Fox was examined :and swore that he witnessed the most indelicate conduct of the male officers of the Union in searching the women, one of whom was thrown down and her clothes turned over her head. This statement was corroborated by some of the females, but was denied by the parties implicated. As the hon. member was proceeding, Mr. BLACK said he must protest against the time of the house being occupied with the consideration of an Irish row, when there was so much important business to be transact9d. (Cries of " Hear, hear" and " Order.") The SPEAKER said the hon. member (T he 0' D onoghue) was in possession of the house. It was a matter entirely for his discretion to what length he would occupy the at tention of the house. The O'DONOGHUE then resumed, and contended that the Rev. Mr. Fox was most unjustly dismissed, and con cluded with an earnest appeal to the house to do justice to a clergyman who had stood forward in behalf of poor young females, whom he considered were most unjustly treated. (Hear, hear.) Mr. CARDWELL said that the Poor Law Commis sioners were not responsible for what took place in a work house, the management of which was vested in the guardians, and in this case they were merely responsible iar the manner in which this inquiry was conducted. [LEFT SITTING.] THE 1111EADFUL MURDERS AT ITALTFORTIf. CORONER'S INQUEST. The following additional evidence appeared in a late edition of The Sung of last night : Samuel Wells Streeter, a farmer, raiding near Hunter's Hall, Wadhurst, said—l have seen the body of one of the persons murdered. It is that of my daughter Mary Wells Streeter, she was 27 years of age last birthday. She was an [unmarried woman. She had been living in service Until April last, when she returned home to assist her mother on account of the illness of her sister. I last saw her alive last Monday morning at my house at breakfast. Rer mother told me she was preparing for her wedding With a young man of the name of William " Goodman," or some such name as that. I recollect the name was " Young man." I saw him for the first time a fortnight ago last Sun day. He stayed at myhouse one night. I understood he had been living at a doctor's, but I had made no inquiry into his character. I know they had kept company together pre. viously, but she had not seen him for some time. My daughter had been in the service of a family which travelled is Wales last year. When they were together they ap pared on good terms with each other. My wife told me that Mary (the deceased) was going to be married. I know nothing further. I last saw my daughter on Monday morning a little before six, previous to her setting out for London. John Youngman, husband of tho deceased woman and father of the deceased children, said—l worked for my son John, who was a tailor, at his house. I resided at 16, Manor-place with my wife, Elizabeth, and two sons, Thomas and Charles. The accused is my son; his name is - William Godfrey Youngman. Ho had until within the last fortnight lived in the service of a doctor in the neighbourhood of Charing-cross, as footman. He had been in that service about six months. Last Tuesday morning I rose about five o'clock. I thought it was much later, but finding it was early I walked round about for a short time, and took some coffee out rather than go back and disturb them at home. The accused had been living with me for about a fortnight. On the Mon day evening I returned home about ten o'clock at night. I saw my son Thomas, and asked him if William and the young woman were in the front room. My wife expected the young woman was coning up from the country, and so did I through her, but I did not know she was going to sleep at my home. She never did so before. I did not see her. When I understood she was there I did not r into the room. I did not see my wife that evening. I slept that night on the shop-board, in the same room with William (the accused) and Thomas. Latterly they had always slept together. My wife and Charles slept in the front room. When I returned home on Monday I went to bed directly. I had given up my bed to William previously. I did not see my wife before I went to sleep. William came in while I was undressing. All I said to him was, "Now, William, as soon as you are ready I'll put the light out." He said, " All right, I'm ready." I never had any conversation with him about the female. I did not trouble myself about it. I never interfered with the arrangements between William and his mother. At four o'clock on Tuesday morning I woke up and saw William getting into bed. I took no notice, as I thought he got out of bed to ascertain the time. He came from the landing into the room. There is a clock in the front room, and by pushing the door open a little it could be seen from the landing. I did not get up for some time afterwards. He made no remark, nor did I to him. When I left ray bedroom William appeared to be fast asleep. My wife and Charles I thought to be the same in the font room. The reason I did not go into the f ron t room' when I returned was be cause I thought the young woman was in bed with my wife. After I got to my son John's house Iwent to work, but I was fetched home ab ou t half-past six. I then saw my wife, the young female, and my Thomasson dead upn the landing between the t wo bedrooms, and ongoingi/l e to the front room I saw th e body of Charles--itetti-il t quiteaks em ' warm. I also saw W illiam and the police. He " Father, this is all mother." Ho was take n away in ecus tody of the police. Lack the constable was called in and produced the knife. The Coroner—Have you any knowledge of that in strument Witness—Yes. William showed it to me about nine days ago, while I was at work at his brother's. He opened and shut it, and I said it was a pretty knife for the pocket. The blade was perfectly pointed. I never saw the knife in the possession of my wife. I don't know that the knife has ever teen referred to by my wife since I knew William to possess it. My wife knew that William was going to get married. She said she knew that was his intention, and I said, "Don't tell me, I'll have nothing to do with it." His mother did not oppose th e marriage- I had seen Mary Streeter two or three times before Monday last. Once at my son John's, and another time in the public street, but the latter time I did not speak. I never had any conversation with 'William about his marriage. I did not oppose it. I left him to do as he liked. I have seen the four bodies in the dead house. The body .of that elderef Mary Streeter,femaleistha t of my wife, one of th e others is h s r o e n s s eu T rc h e o s m , b as ut an h d e e C xhpae reesd. l andt e the two others th ose of nuly,s I knew nothing of my so there was money coming with th h o ese y young qu w e o s m tio a n n s . These He had no property of his own. were put at the request of thessy be n wa he rintgheurptoond here a e er inspectorne a t a future stage of the case.] He could had been any conversation about money o the May evening. The further investigation was then adjourned antil Mon day morning. —.mem THIS DAY'S namiva. LONDON', Aug. Wi n d this d a y at noon —Sout h- Westerly ; light breeze, and fi ne weather, but rather cloudy. SOUTEIMPTON, Aug. N.W.—Arrived— Sultan, steamer, from Lisbon; Cubana, steamer, from Havannah. PLYMOUTH, Aug. 2.—Wind N.— jesty's steamer Hima la y a, from Portsmo u th. NEWPORT, Ma- N E W P ORT, Aug. 2.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Ferdi nand and Louis, from Amsterdam for Singapore ; Neloda, from Bristol St. Thomas. Sailed — National, for Ja maica. OE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) SOUTHAMPTON, Friday Morning. Wind W. Arrived,'Aug. 3—South Western, steamer, from 3' 9/ley. Sailed, Aug. 3—Courier, steamer , for Jer s e y ; Shannon, steamer, for St. Thomas. (BY SUBMARINE AND BRITISH TELEGRAPH.) GRAVESEND, Friday Morning. Wind N.W. ; tide low water ; weather cloudy. Arrived, Aug. 3—Hope, from Santander; Ino, from Ibrail. DNAL, Friday Morning. Wind W.N.W. ; moderate. Passed—Anna, from Hong Kong for London ; Aran, for Quebec. Sailed—All the outward bounds amines' Done. --............ TIES. _, BIRIGRTON CLUB RACES.—(This Day.) LEY P,LECTRIC TELEGRAPH.] SECOND BIENNIAL STAKES. Mimic OO •• Conqueror . Blisworth Five ran. CLUB STAKES. Worcester Wild Bird 1 2 Five ran. Entry for £6O Plate. Three yrs, 9st 101 b ; four, lOst 101 b; five and upwards, llst.—lndependence, Speaker, Prince of Orange, Claire, Lady Peel, Tyrant, White Pose, Fractious, and Flitch—all here. Entry for Club Plate. Half-a-mile.—Mountebank, 2 yrs (£100), Bayard, 2 yrs (£5O), Boabdil, 2 yrs (£5O), For tuna filly, 3 yrs (£5O), Forager, 3 yrs (150), Queen of May, 3 yrs (£5O), Apollo, 3 yrs (£5O), Rattlesnake, 3 yrs (£5O), Parole, 2 yrs (£5O), Lord Milton, 3 yrs (£5O), and Athens 3 yrs (£5O). SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. BRIGHTON RACES—THunspAy. - The Pavilion Plate of 100 soya (Handicap); certain winners extra. One mile. Mr. H. J. Smith's Fitz Avon, 3 yrs, ist 71b . (W Bottom) 1 Mr. S. Jacob's Ipswich, 3 yrs, Gat (J. Adams) 2 Mr. Nichol's Bel Esperanza, 6 yrs, 7st 121b....(8u110ck) 3 The following also ran :—Ambush,Wild Bird, Fortuna f, Teacher, and Lady Peel. Betting-7 to 4 agst Bel Esperanza, sto 1. each agst Lady Peel and Ipswich, 10 to 1 each agst Fitz Avon and Ambush 100 to 15 agst Wild Bird. Bel Esperanza made play, with Fitz Avon next, Ipswich taking the lead at the three.quar• ter mile post. Entering the straight Lady Peel took up the running, with Ambush, Fitz Avon, and Teacher next, in the order named. At the distance the Fortuna filly ran out, and Ipswich came on with the lead ; nearing the stand he was collared by Fitz Avon, and the two ran a good race home, the latter winning cleverly by a length ; a bad third. The Sussex Stakes of 5 sous each, with 30 added. Optional selling weights, &c. Half a mile. (4 subs.) Mr. Hughes's Fractious, aged (L4O), 7st 111 b (car. 7st 121 b) Mr. W. Day's Parole, 2 yrs (£6O), sst 111 b .. (J. Adams) 2 Mr. Hodgman's Royal Oak, 3 yrs (L4O) 7st 31b (Grimshaw) 3 Betting-5 to 4on Fractious, 7to 4 agst Parole. Frac tious waited upon Parole to the half distance, when he came out and won easily by half a length ; three lengths between the second and third. The winner was not sold. Mr. Hughes claimed Parole. The Grand Stand Plate of 50 sous (Handicap). One mile. Mr. Hodgman's Wild Bird, 3 yrs, 6st 91b (H. Grimehaw) 1 Mr. Saxon's White Rose, 3 yrs, 7st 101 b.. (L. Snowden) 2 Mrs. Osbaldeston's St. Clarence, 4 yrs, B st (G. Ferdham) 3 The Rover and Australian Maid also ran. Betting-6 to 4 agst White Rose, 4to 1 agst Wild Bird sto 1 agst Australian Maid, 10 to 1 agst The Rover. On the flag falling Australian Maid got off with the others, but almost immediately swerving round was pulled up and took no part in the race. White Rose made the running, fol lowed by the Rover and Wild Bird, St. Clarence last White Rose remained in front until half-way up the dis tance, when Wild Bird went to the front and ran home an easy winner by two lengths ; a bad third. The Champagne Stakes of 5 sous each, with 100 added ; for 3-yr-olds, 7st 61b ; four, Bst 71b ; five and upwards, Bst 121 b. Certain' penalties and allowances. The winner to give six dozen of champagne to the Brighton Race Din ner. One mile. 16 subs. Mr. Copperthwaite's Twilight, 4 yrs, Bst 31b (Custance) 1 Mr. Ten Broeck's Satellite, 4 yrs, Bst 111 b (Wells) 2 Mr. Godding's Pastime, 3 yrs, 7st 21b (Perry) 3 The following also ran :—Weatherbaund, Seclusion, Crater, Blue Jacket, and Jack Spring. Betting-5 to 2 agst Crater, 3to 1 agst Blue Jacket, 9 to 2 agst Satellite, 5 to 1 agst Jack Spring, 8 to 1 agst Twilight, 100 to 7 agst Seclusion. Seclusion made the running, Crater lying second, and Jack Spring third, Blue Jacket and Weatherbaund being some lengths in the rear. Entering the straight Satellite took second place with Twi light at his quarters to the half-way up the distance. Se clusion was beaten, and Twilight run home the winner by three lengths, a length and a half between the second and third, two lengths between the third and fourth. The Brighton Cup of 100 sous in specie (Handicap.) Old course, about two miles. Mr. Rigby's Tournament, 6 yrs, lOst 31b (G. Fordham) 1 Mr. Hughes's Winkfield, aged, 7st 101 b (carried 7st 121 b) (D. Hughe) 3 Mr Land's Lord Milton, 3 yrs, sst 121 b (J. Daley) 3 The following alsolran :—Lucknow, Simla, Brunette, and Australian Maid. Betting-5 to 2 agst Brunette, 4to 1 agst Simla, sto 1 agst Tournament, 6 to 1 each agst Winkfield and Lord Milton, 100 to 15 agst Lucknow. Australian Maid led, with Winkfield and Lord Milton second and third, Tour nament lying off with Lucknow a long way in the rear. At the Bristol Mile Post Winkfield took up the running, with Lord Milton next, Tournament going up to his horses. Going down the hill Tournament went to the front, was never afterwards headed, and won by four lengths; a vArY bad third. The others straggled in at wide intervals. The Ninth Brighton Biennial Stakes of 10 soya eech, with 100 added, for 2-yr-olds : colts, Bst 71b ; fillies, Bst 41b. Winners extra. 16 subs. Duke of Bedford's Cowley , B st 71b (S Rogers) 1 Lord Ailesbury's Bribery filly, Bst 41b.... (L. Snowden) 2 Betting-7 to 2on Cowley. Won by four lengths. HARTLEPOOL RACES.—TUESDAY. The Jackson Nursery Plate Handicap of 4 sovs each, with 25 added, for two-yr-olds. T.Y.C. Mr. Naylor's Fast Runner , 7st 61b Mr. Gill's Lily, ist 111 b Mr. Osborne's Camphor The West Hartlepool Plate, a free handicap, of 20 sovs. About a mile and a-half. Mr. Osborne's Honeymoon,3 yrs, 6st 61b Mr. Johnson nd Peggy Taft, 5 yrs, Bst 71b 2 Mr. Gill's Surprise, 4 yrs , 7 st 91b 3 The n's Platelet f 4 soya o eac, with added; two yr-olds,; three, 9st h . T.Y.C. 20 Mr. Gill's Lilly, 2 yrs Mr. Osborne's Hope filly 2 Mr. Richmond's Stockton, 3 yrs The Innkeepers' Plate, a free handicap of 30 sovs. About a mile and a quarter. Mr. Dawson's Malpas 3 yrs, 7st Ilb Mr. Byrne's Desmond, ' 3 yrs, 7st 61b 2 Mr. Ryder's Punch, 4 yrs, Bst llb 3 The Mariner's Stakes of 2 sovs each, with 20 added ; two yr-olds, sst 101 b ; three, 7st 71b; four, Bst 101 b ; five, 9st 31b ; six and aged, 9st 61b. Heats, about one mile. Mr. Silverlock's Jeremiah Moderate, 3 yrs w.o. THIS DAY'S MARKETS. CORN EXCHANGE. There was a very poor show of English wheat on the stands this morning. Although the demand, owing to a further large influx of foreign produce, was by no means active, factors were very firm, and Monday's prices were supported. Nearly 50,000 quarters of foreign wheat have come to hand this week. The importers, however, showed no dis position to accept lower rates ; but the business done was somewhat restricted. Floating cargoes commanded previous rates, with a moderate inquiry. Most descriptions of barley were in fair request, at full quotations. The malt trade was in a sluggish state, on former terms. Rather large parcels of oats were taken off at full quo tations. Beans, peas, and flour changed hands slowly. Prices, however, were supported. ARRIVALS TUIS WEEK. Wheat. Barley. Malt. Oats. Flour. 1,280 — 1,550 ( 150 50 1,270 Irish. - i 49,910 11,1' 00 51,430 I 40 sack , 11,380 brie. NEWGATE AND LEADENHALL. Prime meat, the supply of which is limited, moves off steadily, at full quotations. All other kinds are a dull in quiry, a t late rates. - - _ Per Blbs by the carcase. s. d. s. d. Inferior beef 3 0 3 6 Middling do 3 8 4 4 Prime large do 4 6 4 8 Do. small do 4 8 4 10 Large pork 4 0 4 6 Inferior mutton 3 6 4 0 Middling mutton 4 2 4 6 Prime do 4 8 5 2 Veal Small pork 4 8 5 2 t amb.... BOROUGH HOP. The accounts from the plantations being still unfavour• able, the demand for all kinds of hops is active, and prices still continue to advance. The duty is called £90,000. Mid and East Kent pockets.... 100 a to 150 s per cwt. Weald of Kent Sussex COLONIAL. TEA. The market continues very inactive, and prices have undergone no material alteration SUGAR.—There has been r a th er More animation, and prices have been firmly supported fo s r the better qualities. In the refined market more business c as been transacted, lies of plantation Ceron owcincgFFtoEEaLedpucertitohne of b e g u d e . r t g o u fi al d i dried goods. there has been more inquiry, and at public sal shown an upward tendency. Other descripti e e s ns prl ha e v es e been ave in mo d era te request, at about previous quotations. RICE,—The inquiries for East India have been rather extensive a nd at public sale full prices were obtained. A f e w lots A superior Carolina sold at high rates. SA.LTPETRE.—No public sales have been entered into, but the private market continues steady, no change of importance being apparent in quotations. TALLOW. —The market has been rather inactive, but more buoyancy has been apparent this morning. The cur rent quotations are--P.Y.C. on the spot, 535. ; and last th ree months, 5 2 5. 9d. pertt. ______ THE ROYAL ROYAL BANK, LIVERPOOL. —We are grati fied t o learn that a deputation has been sent down by the i v t ;: — th t letter it ear. London Joint Stock Bank, the Lon a d cc o o n u c n o t r s re o s f po t n h d e ents of the Royal Bank, to investigate the latter, and that the result is that the former are thoroughly re assured.—Liverpool lifereury. uyoßnEaNnTlounEceXsP uEnDdleTrlrOeNserTNO,e however, o Y w R e AdL-2iral Bonet, recently promoted to that grade, will be concurred appointed to the command of the fleet which is to transport fro T r o li T E o the army to Syria. The same letter, dated June 29, states also that all the orders . that had arrived up, to that date in enjoining that the troops, materiel, and trans port fleet should be kept in a state of readiness to get off at twellty-£oy boars' {notice, THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVEN N(4, AUGITSf 3, 1860, IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS--(YESTERDAY•) The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. JUDICIAL STATISTICS. Lord BROUGHAM said it was known to most of their lordships that a great international Congress had been held in this country, presided over by the Prince Consort. He (Lord Brougham) had had the honour to preside over one of the sections, that of Judicial Statistics ; and as he thought mitch information was embodied in the report of the section, he begged to mova that a copy of that report be laid on the table of the house. The motion was agreed to. MINES REGULATION AND INSPECTION BILL (AMENDMENT). On the motion for the third reading of this bill, Lord KINNAIRD said he had given notice of cer tain amendments to propose in this bill. The amend - ments had been submitted to those having charge of the measure, and he did not think they would offer any objec tion to them. The first amendment related to what was ' called the educational clause. By the bill it was enacted that all children between 10 and 12 years of age, before they were employed in mines, had to produce a certificate that they could read, or else that they would have to attend after they were so employed a given number of hours during the week certain schools to complete their education. An amendment had been made making such a proceeding compulsory. He thought it was much more humane, taking the tender age of the children into consideration, not to make such a regulation compulsory. The inspectors of mines and most of the coal owners approved of his amendment. Lord STANLEY of A.LDERLE Y thought the amend ment would injure rather than improve the condition of the children employed in mines. The Duke of SOMERSET opposed the amendment, and thought the provision in the bill was a very proper one. The amendment was agreed to. Lord KINNAIRD said the next amendment related to an alteration that had been made in that house. By that amendment ironstone mines had been exempted from the action of the bill. His present proposition was to bring those mines within the limits of the bill, as thoy were more dangerous than coal mines. The noble lord then read certain portions of the report of Mr. Mackworth, to prove the great danger that attached to the working in iron mines. Lord WYNFORD said two noble lords most extensively interested in this bill had left town, but they had requested him to express their opinion that the danger of working in iron mines was merely matter of opinion. They did not think them greater than working in coal mines. The Duke of SOMERSET deprecated the mode of pro ceeding with this bill. He looked upon it as a re-commit ment of the bill. The amendment was withdrawn. The bill, as amended, then passed. TENURE AND IMPROVEMENT OF LAND (IRELAND) BILL. On the motion that the house go into committee on this bill, Viscount DUNGANNON moved that it be referred to a select committee, for the purpose of amending several most important clauses. Earl GRANVILLE said the subject on which the bill proposed to legislate had ' , heady undergone much inquiry in both houses of Parliament, and he hoped, therefore, no further delay would be given to the measure. The Marquis of 'WESTMEATH protested against a bill of this nature, which unwarrantably assumed that Irish men did not know how to manage their properties. The Earl of DONOUGHMORE supported the motion for going into committee. He had nothing more at heart than to see this bill metier en efficient measure, and that it should be passed this session, but he thought it ought to be referred to a select committee. Lord MONTEAGLE said it would be impossible to go into committee and deal satisfactorily w;th the clauses in this bill. That being the case he thought the bill should be sent to a select committee. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said it was his opi nion that this bill should pass, though he did not think it would do much good. In point of fact, it was an honest bill, and he believed it was a harmless one ; and as it had been much considered in the other house he thought they should accept it and not send it back. Earl GRANVILLE said that considering the short period of the session that remained, the bill should not be now sent to a select committee. He thought that such a bill could be as well discussed in a committee of the whole house as before a select committee, and he hoped therefore the amendment would not bo pressed. The question was then put on the original motiop, and their lordships divided, when the numbers were-- Contents 34 Non-contents Majority The house then went into committee, and the clauses up to 6 inclusive were agreed to. Clauses from 7 to 22 were agreed to with verbal amend ments. On clause 23, The Marquis of BATII moved to omit the words " wear and tear ," the meaning of which he did not understand. After some discussion, Earl GRANVILLE said he had no objection to the amendment, and the clause, as amended, was ordered to stand part of the bill. Clause 24 was agreed to. Clauses to 33 inclusive were agreed to. On clause 34, The Marquis of BATH proposed to substitute the words "occupying tenant" for "tenant at will." After a few words from Earl GRANVILLE, The amendment was withdrawn. Clauses to 39 inclusive were agreed to. On clause 40, which provided that the tenant should serve notice on the landlord, or his agent, of the proposed improvements, The Marquis of BATH moved as an amendment that the improvements should not be made unless the owner or his agent should give notice in writing to the tenant that those improvements were necessary. Lord CHELMSFORD supported the amendment, as he thought the clause as it stood would place the landlord in an invidious position. Lord DONOUGHMORE also supported the amend- meat. Earl GRANVILLE said that under the clause a land lord was asked to give notice of his withholding his assent to proposed improvements to the clerk of the peace within three months, and it, might be assumed that i , if a landlor had no d took no notice of the matter wit hin that perod, he objection to the improvements proposed. After some further discussion, in which several noble lords took part, The clause, as amended, was agreed to. The clauses up to 54 inclusive were agreed to. The remaining clauses were agreed to, and their lordships resumed. CONJUGAL RIGHTS (SCOTLAND) BILL. Their lordships went into committee on this bill. The LORD CHANCELLOR said the object of this bill was to render sentences of divorce pronounced by the Scot tish Courts valid all over the Empire, and he proposed that the operation of the act should be limited to parties born or domiciled in that country. The bill passed through committee, and was reported without amendments to the house. COAST OF AFRICA, &c., ACT AMENDMENT BILL. This bill passed through committee. CROWN DEBTS AND JUDGMENTS BILL. The amendments of this bill were considered and agreed • to. MILITIA ACT AMENDMENT BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. DEBTORS AND CREDITORS ACT AMENDMENT the following bills :—Prisons (Scotland) Bill, Police and Towns IMprovement (Scotland) Act Amendment Bill, and County Coroners Bill. The Industrial Museum (Scotland) Eill passed through committee, and the house adjourned at ton minutes to 12 o' clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS.--(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Lords' amendments to the Highbridge Markets and Gas Bill was considered and agreed to. STANDING ORDERS. Colonel WILSON PATTEN moved the following reso lutions, which, at this period of the session, are of a usual and formal character : " That standing orders 109, 127, and 128 be repealed, and in lieu thereof—that, it shall he competent to the com mitteeon any private bill to admit petitioners, being the municipal authorities of any town, or the inhabitants of any town or district alleged to be injuriously affected by a bill, to be heard against such bill, if they shall think fit. Where the level of any road shall be altered in making any rail way, the ascent of any turnpike road, or of any road in Ireland, so defined in the Railway Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, shall not be more than one foot in 30 feet, andif any other public carriage road not more than one foot in 20 feet, unless a report thereupon from some officer of the Board of Trade shall be laid before the committee on the bill, and unless the committee, after considering such report, if they shall disagree with the said report, shall recommend steeper ascents, with the reasons and facts upon which their opinion is founded; also, a good and sufficient fence, of four feet high at the least, shall be made on each side of every bridge which shall be erected. No railway whereon carriages are propelled by steam, or by atmospheric agency, or drawn by ropes in connexion with a stationary steam engine, shall be made across any turnpike road or other pub lic carriage way on the level, unless a report there upon from some officer of the Board of Trade shall be laid before the committee on the bill, and unless the committee, after considering such report, if they shall dis agree with the said report, shall recommend such level crossing, with the reasons and facts upon which their opi nion is founded ; and in every clause authorising a level crossing, the number of lines of rails authorised to be made at such crossing shall be specified. That the said orders be standing orders of this house." The hon. and gallant member said he did not think it necessary, as on previous occasions, to move for a committee in reference to private business, as no special report was requisite in regard to the alterations proposed, Lord PALMERSTON said he could bear his personal testimony, with others, to the merits of the hon. members who devoted their time during a considerable portion of are session to private bills. By the public generally much that was done by these gentlemen was unknown, and they obtained neither public credit nor approbation, and yet he believed there was no department of the public service where so much practical business was done as in those com mittees. Until within the last few years canals, railways, and other works of public importance were referred to different committees, and the consequence was there was no security or confidence with reference to the decision or view taken by any particular committee. Two years ago, however, it was arranged that there should be a panel for permanent members of committees, and the result of that arrangement had been more satisfactory in the permanent principle that had been laid down, and no improvement that had taken place with reference to private business had been of so much importance. (Hear.) The gentlemen engaged on these committees had sacrificed their private engagements, and devoted themselves to the discharge of their public duties. During the present session Mr. Adair had sat for 63 days as chairman; Mr. Ridley, 55 days ; Mr. Ingham, 45 days ; Mr. Scholefield, 33 days ; Mr. Mowbray, 22 days ; and Mr. Hardy, 13 days ; and he considered that those gentlemen were entitled to public thanks for the services they had rendered. (Hear, hear.) EAST INDIA (MALT LIQUOR). Mr. W. EWART moved an address for returns of the quantity (hogsheads or gallons) of malt liquor sent to India for the use of the European troops, under contract to Government during the years 1856, 1857, 1858, and 1859 ; and of the invoice cost of the same for each year re spectively ; and of the amount, if any, of pecuniary allow ance made, or of loss borne by Government to admit of the supply being issued to the troops at a low rate.—Ordered. return to his own country. Now he was not going to dis cuss with the hon. gentleman what would be the number of men with which it would be possible to invade this country, because upon that his opinion would be worth no more than that of any other member who was not an authority on mi litary mat ters—he would only say that the views of the hon. gen ,email were not those more than once expressed by a great master of the art of invasion, who had long contem plated the possibility of an invasion of England. M. Thiers told them that the Emperor Napoleon said in reference to this subject, "If I made an attack on England I should have to throw 60,000 men upon the English coast ; to con quer England, and subject the English people would be a chimerical idea; but with such a force I would make a de scent upon her coasts, occasion her great mischief, destroy an enormous mass of property, and strike a panic through a country which depends upon its safety and security as the means of carrying on its industrial pursuits, and for such an object it might be worth while to make the attempt." What might be the ultimate fate of the 60,000 men who com posed the invading army he did not know; but the opinion of Napoleon was that the attempt, if made, would succeed in causing so much mischief and loss to this country that under certain circumstances an enemy would be justifiedin making it. But, said the hon. gentleman, " we should in the meanwhile be revolutionising France." He (Mr. S. Her bertj would not go into the question how far it might be possible to succeed in that object; he would only remind the hon. gentleman that the present Emperor of France was firmly seated upon his throne ; that he perfectly under stood the people he ruled—few sovereigns indeed so well; and he would also remind the hon. gentleman that we tried in the last war to revolutionise France when it was dis turbed by hostile factions and conflicting chains, and that we miserably failed in the attempt. (Hear.) Then the hon. gentleman said the navy was the true defence of England. Who doubted it ? Was it proposed in supplementing it by defences on land to abandon that main and chief line of de fence? Not at all. Every man of sense knew that we had an hereditary prestige on the seas, and we kept pp an enor mous and powerful navy to maintain that prestige, aid that naval superiority which must always be our chief and first line of defence ; but that was no reason why it should not be supported by defences on shore. The hon. gentleman gave it as his opinion that the introduction of steam, and its application to the purposes of navigation, was rather an advantage to the invaded than the invader. In opposition to that view he took the opinion of naval officers of high authority with whom he had conversed, and they told him that the introduction of steam had to a great extent deprived us of the power of blockade. In former times, so long as the wind blew from a particular quarter, we know we might sleep safe in our beds, for the enemy's fleet could not come out, while a blockading squadron could always be main tained to keep their ships in port, but now all that was changed. The steam might be got up in the night, and the invading fleet be off our coasts, and perhaps a landing ef fected, before the blockading squadron knew that they had sailed. The hon. gentleman, alluding to a document which within the last few days had appeared in the public prints, said, " but the Emperor of France has written a letter ex pressing anxiety to maintain the most friendly relations with this country, and speaking of his army and navy as not being of a size calculated to create alarm on the part of any foreign nation;" and the hon. gentleman added that he firmly believed the Emperor of France was in earnest in wishing to maintain peace with this country. He (Mr. S. Herbert) was not prepared to offer any denial to that state ment; but the hon. gentleman should remember that cir cumstances were sometimes stronger than men. (Hear, hear.) But if the Emperor of France was anxious for peace, he had almost got peace in his own hands. No nation would attack France, least of all England. (Hear, hear.) England would engage in no European war unless she was herself attacked. The whole of our prosperity de pended upon the maintenance of peace; and he believed there existed generally in this country a feeling that war, unless forced upon us and in self-defence, was a crying sin. (Hear.) He did not believe that in the whole of England there was a man who wished for war, and that there were very few who did not pray that such a terrible calamity might be averted. Then what was the conduct of the Em peror of the French, with which, under the circumstances he described, he (Mr. S. Herbert) had no cause of com plaint ? He was at this moment, and had been for a long time past, strengthening the fortifications of Cherbourg, L'Orient, Rochefort, and Brest. Of that we had no right to complain. We had no right to complain of any sove reign putting his own coasts in a state of defence. Nor, on the other hand, had any foreign power a right to complain of our putting ourselves in a state of defence. (Hear.) But we had even a batter right to do so than France in this re spect, that the fortifications and defences of our dockyards and arsenals were much weaker than those of France ; and secondly, that a navy was an arm more vital to us than to any country in the world. The hon. gentleman had quoted the authority of a French officer. He (Mr. S. Herbert) re membered a great French authority, whom he saw some years ago when he was here with Louis Philippe, saying, " You have the finest fleet in the world, and a large amount of important property in your dockyards and ar senals, yet you make no effort to protect it from attack." Since then no doubt great improvements had been made, and there bad been considerable progress during the last ten years, especially in strengthening the works and forti fications of the dockyards end on our coasts. Let it not, then, be said, as had been two or three times repeated, "Have nothing to do with this newfangled idea of fortifi cations—Portsmouth was fortified, Chatham was fortified, and Plymouth was fortified." Mr. H. BERKELEY—I said fortifications to stand a siege. Mr. S. HERBERT—Then his gallant friend meant not that there should be no fortifications, but that we should have no fortifications that would stand a siege. (Hear.) But that was precisely what they wanted to prevent. (Hear, hear.) They desired not only that we should be secure against a coup de main, but that we should be protected against any attempt to destroy our dockyards and ships by a regular siege. (Hear.) He need hardly quote authorities at this time of day to show that fortifications were useful. This was sufficiently proved in the last great continental war—when frequently small bodies of troops operating behind fortifications were enabled to resist powerful armies. It was the same at Silistria and at Kars. But it had been said fortifying your coasts is needless, your fleet is your defence ; and if by accident an enemy's squadron did make a descent on our coast, his ships would never get back. But what happened at the commencement of the last war ? In 1796, notwithstanding our blockade of the French ports, a French fleet of seven sail of the line with transports and frigates, sailed out and entered Bantry ' Bay, landing a force under General Roche. The expedition was defeated and dispersed, but the ships all got back. In 1798 a French fleet of nine sail, with troops, reached Ire land, but was defeated by Sir J. Warren. In the same year there was mother expedition reached Killain Bay. Again, in 1797 four French frigates entered Bristol, and destroyed several ships and much merchandise, afterwards landing a body of troops at Fishguard, which was, in the end, compelled, it was true, to capitulate. But the troops arrived, and landed on our coast, and had they been more numerous would have done infinitely more mischief, and this at the time when the French ports were blockaded by our fleets, and our navy was flushed with the successes of St. Vincent and the Nile. This showed that it was not impos sible for a hostile fleet to assail our coasts under circum stances of greater difficulty than now existed. The value of earthworks was mentioned the other night in connexion with the siege of Sebastopol ; but it was a mistake to suppose that mere earthworks were sufficient, or that the defences erected on the instant on the south side of Sebastopol would have been any sufficient protection if the more important defences in the north had not existed ? Napoleon 1., in reply to the question, what was the use of fortifying a camp? asked, how was it possible for troops to manoeuvre without such protection ? Then, what did they see on all sides? Not only France, but Russia, Prussia, Austria, and all continental nations were strengthening their defences by fortifying their coasts and frontiers. If there was any country which more than another was dependent on fortifi cations whenever her sea line was broken it was England. Our regular army was small, and we should be compelled to depend upon raw levies. The hon. gentleman said raw levies were sufficient, and he (Mr. S. Herbert) believed that raw levies of Englishmen had performed great achievments. The objection, don't adopt fortifications because it was a new-fangled idea, might bo urged with far more force against the Armstrong gun, the Enfield rifle, or any modern im provement. He (Mr. S. Herbert) would ask, taking the question in the lowest point of view—that of pounds, shil lings, and pence—what was the cost of fortifications as com pared with the cost of soldiers and the sacrifice of human life ? But was it any reason that they should sacrifice their men because some hon. gentlemen had a contempt for what they called such " new-fangled things" as fortifications, which, by the way, we had had for upwards of 300 years ? (Hear.) He supposed he was not quite justified in alluding to the motion on the table of the hon. member for Birming• ham, which differed in some respects from that of the hon. gentleman who moved another resolution, but it seemed to him (Mr. S. Herbert) that, always supposing they were not acting like lunatics, which the hon. member for Birming ham seemed to think, they could not accede to his motion. The hon. member for Birmingham was a great believer in the " Vox populi vox Dei" maxim, and therefore he ought to be aware that the whole country was sentient of alarm on this subject, and that there well might be in the minds of an immense majority of the people some cause for alarm, and that therefore the Government ought to deal with the whole of this question as soon as they could. He (Mr. S. Herbert) did not think we should be wise in neglect ing any details which in their opinion were necessary, and they had arrived at the conclusion that we were not in that state of defence which so great, and powerful, and rich a nation ought to be. (Hear, hear.) One great means of maintaining peace, no doubt, was a prudent and pacific policy. (Hear.) We ought, in our foreign relations, to show an appreciation for the rights and feelings of other people. If all nations did that, there would be no danger of war ; but at the same time, knowing that we must com port ourselves pacifically to other nations, we must also deprive other nations of the temptation of attacking us (Hear, hear.) With that view the Government had ap pointed a commission, whose report now lay on the table. He remembered that last year a motion was made by an hon. member to the effect, that they should no longer deal with this question by voting year after year small sums, but that they should by some well-oonsielered compre- BILL. Lord BROUGHAM moved, " That as regards the Debtors and Creditors Act Amendment Bill, inasmuch as persons in actual custody, who were to be released by the Bankruptcy Bill lately withdrawn, had relied upon that bill being proceeded with, and had not considered any amendment of the Debtors and Creditors Act was required, the circumstances which required legislation on the subject matter of the said bill are of such urgency as to render the immediate consideration of the same necessary." The motion having been agreed to, Lord BROUGHAM then moved that the bill be read a second time, which was also agreed to. METROPOLITAN POLICE FORCE DOCKYARDS L. This bill was read a third time and passed. HERITABLE SECURITIES, &c. (SCOTLAND) BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. TURNPIKE ACTS CONTINUANCE BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. MAYNOOTH COLLEGE BILL. On the motion for the third reading of this bill, Lord REDESDALE protested against what he con sidered a very unjust provision of it, which created a charge of £650 per annum for some time upon the students of the college. The e bill was •f t l h r e e n len re d ad ßi a ll t a h n ir d d t t h im e l e v a e n i d passed. The The Duke of LEINSTER defendei the bill. Measures ' (Ireland) d)Bill were severally read a third time. The Sheriff Court-houses (Scotland) Bill was read a f third time and passed. THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT (1858) AMEND MENT BILL. The report of amendment on this bill was brought up and agreed to. The Common Law Procedure (Ireland) Act Bill, Copy hold and Enclosure Commissions Bill, and Turnpike. Trusts Arrangements Bill were severally read a third time and passed. RAILWAYS ACT (IRELAND) AMENDMENT BILL. The report of an amendment on this bill was brought up aid received. The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act Amendmenl Bill was read a third time and passed. MILITIA BALLOT BILL. This bill passed through committee. SMITHFIELD MARKETS, STREETS, AND IMPROVEMENTS BILL. TWA bill was read a third time and passed, as were PIO ISLE OF MAN. Sir E. GROGAN moved an address for copy of any cor respondence between the Secretary of State for the Home Department and the Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man, relative to the removal of the official residence of the latter from Castletown to Douglas.—Ordered. THE NEW FOREIGN-OFFICE. Mr. C. BENTINCK asked the First Commissioner of Works whether there would be any objection to exhibit photographs of the Ca. Yendramin-Calergi, the Scuola S. Marco, and the Church of S. Zaccaria, at Venice, in order to show good examples of the style of architecture which Mr. Scott now proposes to adopt for the New Foreign office. _ . . Mr. COWPER said that it would be inconvenient to exhibit the photographs in question at present. GARIBALDI. Sir G. BOWYER asked the Secretary of State for Fo reign Affairs whether Govemment had received any information that the inhabitants of Melazzo resisted the attack of the revolutionary movement, and that Garibaldi, having taken possession of the town, punished Lliirty-übie inhabitants for having fought against him in defence of their Sovereign. Lord J. RUSSELL said he had no official information on the subject. PUBLIC BUSINESS. Lord PALMERSTON moved that the standing order of the 25th of June, 1852, relative to orders of the day, be read and repealed, and, in lieu thereof, moved that, unless the house should otherwise direct, all orders of the day set down in the Order-book for Mondays, Wednes days, and Thursdays should be disposed of before the house proceeded upon any motions of which notices had been given. That the said resolution be a standing order of this house. The noble lord said that he did not know whether the practice which had been resorted to lately was in accordance with the spirit and principle of the constitution of the house, namely, of bringing forward a variety of questions on the motion on Friday for the adjournment to Monday. He thought the privilege which hon. members enjoyed in regard to this mattor had been carried a little too far. (Hear, hear.) After some conversation the motion was agreed to. FORTIFICATIONS AND WORKS. The house again went into committee on the vote for £2,000,000 for fortifications and works moved by Lord Palmerston. Mr. LINDSAY moved the following amendment : " That, as the main defence of Great Britain against ag gression depends on an efficient navy, it is not expedient to enter into a large expenditure on permanent land fortifica tions." The hon. member said that if they adopted the re- - - commendation of the Defence Committee it would involve the country in a much larger expenditure than was gene rally understood. These expenses for military defences would be increased to £17,000,000, and that amount, if capitalised, would at the end of a certain time amount to £50,000,000. Re denied that the arguments adduced in behalf of the increased expenditure proposed was satisfactory. The noble lord (Palmerston) had stated that there were circumstances in the present position of France that justified that expenditure. The hon. member then quoted extracts from the speech of Lord Palmerston relative to the increase in the military and naval preparations of the Emperor of France, which the noble lord contended were not necessary for the defence of France. Against that statement he would place the letter addressed by the Emperor of the French, to his Minister in England, in which he asserted that he had every desire to preserve the most friendly relations with all his allies, particularly England, and disclaimed any aggressive designs in his military and naval preparations. Now, he (Mr. Lindsay) believed that statement—(oh, oh)—and that the army of the Emperor of the French was not larger than what he considered necessary for the protection of Franco. The hon. member denounced the proposed increase in very strong terms. Mr. H. BERKELEY seconded the amendment in a humorous speech. Mr. S. HERBERT, who, in consequence of his fre quently turning his back to the reporters and speaking to the members behind him, Was very indistinctly heard in the gallery, observed that the two speeches in which the amendment had been moved and supported, required som e notice from him. In the first place, he thought his gallant friend behind him was somewhat too credulous as to the state of preparation in which this country was, and espe cially as to the present condition of the ordnance, when he depended upon the statements of a French officer. His gallant friend said that he had met a French officer who told him that all our ships were about to be armed with smooth bored guns. while France had 600 rifled guns in her fleet. Now, that statement he (Mr. S. Herbert) could meet with a direct denial. In the first place, he did not believe that France had got 600 rifled guns on board her ships. They had, he knew, rifled a considerable number of cast iron guns, and it happened to them as it happened to us, that whenever those guns came to be tested as guns ought to be tested that wero intended for real service, they failed. (Hear, hear.) The consequence of such failure was that France had now taken a different course, and no doubt, would, in the end, succeed in making excellent rifled guns. Then said his gallant friend, this French officer asked where was Sir W. Armstrong and his guns ? and his gallant friend added, quoting the opinion of the right hon, and gallant officer op posite (General Peel), as to the excellence of the Armstrong gun, that they would shortly be produced in such numbers that they would very soon altogether displace the existing armaments. " Great is Armstrong, and Peel, is his pro phet." Now he (Mr. S. Herbert) could inform his gallant friend that the Armstrong had been delivered at the rate of 12 guns a week. [An HoN. M EMBER , " Wh a t s ize ?"l 45. [Sir C. NA.PrhR -" 'What weight ?"] He could not tell the weight, but they would soon have 80-pounders. Besides these they had now 12 batteries of rifled cannon manned and horsed complete, numbering 71 guns. (Hear, hear.) Ile ment'oned these facts to dispel misapprehensions that b i g abroad that the Ordnance department we a r s e in g° an inefficient state, and that we were was to lose the advantages which these great scientific in ventions in the art of gunnery were calculated to give. (Hear.) The hon. gentleman (Mr. Linds a y) s aid that inva sion was imposs ibl e —that it would be useless for less than 100,000 men to eorae, if they came at all ; and that if they s ucceeded in effecting ; a landing, not one of them would ever hensive effort attempt to do that which would put them in a state of security at once. That motion was discussed in that house, and he was certain that if the Government had not given it to b 3 understood that they intended seriously to con ider this matter, that motion would have been carried. Well, that commission had brought for ward a very masterly report, which declared that it was our duty to defend ourselves by the best means which science and art could afford us. (Hear, hear.) That report was now before the house, and he would not, therefore, go into any details upon it; but if the house should be of opinion that the whole of this supposed weakness of our dockyards and arsenals was purely imaginary, and that fortifications was not the way to defend them, but, on the Spartan principle, that we should trust to flesh and blood, that house would reject the resolution of the noble lord, and it would be for the Government to say what they would do under the pres sure of a responsibility so heavy. But his belief was that that house fully represented the feelings of the country on this subject. (Hear, hear.) They might have discussions as to the how and the when and the where, but he believed it was the unanimous opinion of the country that they ought not to allow those great depositories of their naval strength to lie at the mercy of any one. (Wear, hear.) Ho had heard it said by some we ought to increase our standing army; but there were 15 battalions now due to us—three on the sea coming from India, three more promised by India and nine in China. But with a large force of volun teers they must take measures to release from garrison duty as large an amount of the regular army as they could spare for duty in the field. His hon. friend (Mr. H. Berkeley) quoted a gallant officer, Sir M. Berkeley, who told them not to spend anything on fortifications. He (Mr. S. Herbert) had been told by seamen to trust to ships, and ships alone ; he was told by artillerymen to trust to trained gunners ; he had been told by officers of the line to trust to the military only—in fact it was the old story of " Nothing like leather." (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) The Government had appointed a commission which surveyed the whole of the neighbour hood of London, and the whole coasts of England, Ireland, and Scotland, and by means of that commission the house had got together an enormous amount of informationwhich in case of hostilities would be invaluable to officers in com mand. (Hear.) He believed the amount of stores collected was very great. He heard a gallant officer say that our great fortresses had only 150 rounds of artillery ; but he (Mr. S. Herbert) had got a return which showed that those fortresses had got, some of them 350 rounds, and some of them as much as 1,000 rounds, and he did not believe those fortresseswere ever better stocked than they were at present. He had stated now to the house that he believed the country saw the necessity and believed in the wisdom of the measure which Government proposed. The Government had not put themselves blindfold into the hands of engineers, or of ar tillery or naval officers—they had taken counsel from all as to the best means of putting the country in a proper state of defence. The Government did not pretend to say that those works would prevent invasion. No works, no navy, no army would do that. Invasion—meaning thereby the landing of troops—would be always a possibility ; but let them make these chief points invulnerable, and when they had made Portsmouth and Plymouth safe, they might concentrate their forces elsewhere. He believed that years hence, if these works were executed, gentlemen would be found who would say that they always predicted nobody would ever land at these places, and would exclaim " See how you have wasted our money." But he (Mr. S. Herbert) would not be disturbed by those predictions. He should look upon an investment of money in defending those places as the best safeguard against the landing of an enemy. (Hear.) He hoped therefore the house would agree with him in thinking that the Government were only asking to hasten the completion of that system of works which the house had already one by one sanctioned. With these opi nions, and with the greatest confidence as to the result, he left the measure in the hands of the house, trusting to that patriotism which they had always displayed in every mat ter in which the national safety and the national honour were involved. (Loud cheers from both sides of the house.) Mr. BRIGIIT said he had given notice of an amendment to the resolution of the noble lord, but his hon. friend the member for Sunderland was before him with an amendment not exactly of the same character, but which still, if earried, would have the same effect upon the resolution of the noble lord. It was not therefore his (Mr. Bright's) intention to move the amendment of which he had given notice, but he would take that opportunity of making some observations upon the present stage at which they now found themselves. He wished to point out to the committee that the resolution of the noble lord, though it was of a simple character, and merely asked the house to vote a sum of money towards the defences of our dockyards and arsenals, and Dover and Portland, besides a central arsenal, of nearly £2,000,000, the right hon. gentleman (Mr. S. Herbert) said it was something like £5,000,000 they were going to divide upon. o thought the committee would deceive themselves if they imagined they were now discussing a question of £2,000,000 only, or £5,000,000 only ; because they knew that the noble lord at the head of the Government had adopted almost in their entirety the propositions contained in the report of the Defence Commission, and he (Mr. Bright) thought he was wars anted in saying from experience that whenever the Government undertook any great work or any small work the estimates were never adhered to, but, on the contrary, in some cases were doubled before the works were completed. Ho had no doubt, judging from the past, that if they voted what the notle turd risked them to do, they would vote what would turn out to be an expenditure of at least £20,000,000 sterling. (Hear.) Let the com mittee remember that what the noble lord asked for did not include a central arsenal at Cannock Chase at all. Bud even that was not all, because there were countless millions more involved in the report of the Defence Com mission, and they expressed almost an unanimous opinion that we should have to largely increase our standing army, and that those very works which the noble lord asked them to vote for would be valueless unless they had some 70,000 men to man and defend them. (Hear, hear.) Now he thought the noble lord at the head of the Government did the committee great injustice the other night when he brought forward this motion without any notice, or without giving an opportunity for discussing it. He (Mr. Bright) should like to ask the gentlemen who sat on that front bench (the Treasury bench) whether they were unanimous as to this expenditure, and whether they came before the house as a united Cabinet—(hear)—or whether this was a compromise to get over a quicksand which was in their midst. He did not believe that the Government did come before the house with unanimity on this great question. Tho late Sir R. Peel in 1851 discussed the value of military evidence. (The hon. member here read a passage in which Sir R. Peel warned the house against embarking in enor mous expense, on the authority of military officers). He (Mr. Bright) said the right hon. gentleman (Mr. S. Her bert) admitted he had taken the advice of naval and mili tary officers in this matter, and ho (Mr. Bright) believed if the house adopted these resolutions they would absorb the whole industry of the country. (Hoar, hear.) He had no doubt that many members of the house had had showers of military opinions brought to them by every post for some months past. He had not expected the discussion to come on this session, or he would have made a collection of them, and have extracted a few passages to show the house what kind of things were recommended for their adoption. One, and by no means an irrational man, proposed that as we had a standing army we should have also a standing navy —that we should have a force of 30,000 always on board the ships, and some 10,000 always in the marine barracks—that they should all be in a position to march on board at five minutes' notice; and he added, that then we should have the country admirably defended. (A laugh.) Another gentle man, Lieut.-Colonel Valentine Baker, of the 10th Hussars, had published a pamphlet, in which he recommended the establishment of a militia of 180,000 framed on the census and chosen by ballot, and the formation of a sort of national guard consisting of 500,000 men, who should be mustered for one day each year. (Laughter.) Ho (Mr. Bright) was not one of those who thought that, considering ourmeans of defence. it might not be very advantageous to have a large volunteer force instead of an enormous standing army. He found that in Switzerland and in the United States—countries one of which was surrounded or partly encompassed by a perilous enemy, and the other a nation which marched with a high hand among the powers of the globe—there was no standing army, but the whole defence was committed to a volunteer force. If the house would only have the common sense to get rid of the noble lord the member for the City—not as member for the City, but as Foreign Minister—together with the Foreign-office and its delusions, policy, supersti tions, and absurdities, he thought it not at all unlikely that we might save three-fourths of all the expenditure now involved in the maintenance of that foreign policy, and whatever was required for the defence of a country, united and populous like this, might be had at comparatively no expense by the volunteer service of young men below middle age. (Hear, hear.) But Colonel Valentine Baker said that we must have contracts for earthworks all round London capable of being completed in a fort night, and that a small annual sum should be paid to the contractor as a compensation for his holding the contract, se that whenever the enemies, who had been so long ex pected but had never come, were fairly on their way, in a single fortnight the contractors were to build earthwork fortifications all round London. Colonel Baker also recom mended that 20,000 metropolitan police should be armed and equipped, that there should be a volunteer force of 200,000, that there should be an entrenched camp at Alder shott and on Epsom Downs for 40,000 men each. Accord ing to Colonel Baker's scheme there would be a force of 1,072,000, the whole of which would not cost so much as the present plan of the Government. Then, again, proposals had been made by Colonel Jebb—a gentleman whom 20 years ago he (Mr. Bright) considered a very sensible man. (Laughter.) Colonel Jebb had published a pamphlet from which it appeared that he was in a state of great alarm as to the necessity of defending London. H e p ro r sed to begin at Tunbridge-Wells, to go on t o Rei g a te, Guildford, Reading, and Henley, and probably he also included Colchester in his line of defence. Yet the gallant f officer quoted with apparent approbalt;itionitoamn expression no land - Gen. Lewis, " It may be conside red ing could successfully be effected i n the presen ce of 2,?00 men well prepared." If he ( Mr. Bright) had said anything of that kind he would have been treated as a person utterly ignorant and foolish in the matter. Surely, with railways all around the coast and telegraphs as frequent as railways it would not be difficult at any time to assemble 2,000 men at any g i ven point. Next came Lieut. Gen. Mackintosh, who referred to a pamphlet receatly publisbed r g is, Dad said that Ireland and that part of the kingdom should not be left with less than 30,000 infantry. These gentlemen might know something about military matters, but everybody did not know that a great number of the pamphlets published in France in reference to this country were pamphlets pub lished by a certain party who believed that the best mode of overturning the present dynasty was to beget first dis trust and afterwards war between France and England. Probably many gentlemen who then heard him beli eve d that the French Emperor by the present law could prevent any of these pamphlets being published, but the fact was that it was only by outstepping the law that that Govern ment could interfere with a pamphlet before it had been published. It was not so with newspapers. A newspaper could be warned, and, after three warnings, suppressed, but there was no such law with regard to pamphlets; and the miserable pamphlets issued from the Paris press, and quoted as proofs of the hostility of the French Government to Eng land, were the productions not of persons in favour of the French Government, but of those who were anxious, as he had jest remarked, to create first distrust and then war be tween France and England, with a view of overturning the present dynasty and setting upon the throne some member of the two branches of that family now in exile. Colonel Mackintosh said there must be a fort at, the north of London, covering Hampstead and High gate, and he added, what might be consolatory to the Is Dll. member for Lambeth if he happened to live on the or her side of the water, that the north could be much r.iorc readily defended than the south, inasmuch as the bridges could be broken down and the river rendered impassable. (A laugh.) He did not find in the proposition made by th e noble lord at the head of the Government that these recom mendations were adopted, and therefore as the noble lord himself was not a great military authority, and in politics was very frequently mistaken and in error--(laughter)—he must beg leave to form his own opinion upon a question in. reference to which there were so many councilors. He had in his possession two or three more extracts similar to those from which he had already quoted, 'and as they were from the writings of persons important as military men h e thought he was entitled to ask the Government who was the authority they followed, how far they went, and how much they would expend in the impossible object they had in. view? Gen. Sir R. Gardner, an officer well acquainted wait fortifications and who was only the other day Governor 'of Gibraltar, though he certainly had not shone with 'any lustre as a statesman and a governor, said in a pacasahlet which he had sent about most industriously, that an ex penditure of twenty millions would not be sufficient for the additional fortification required. Lieutenant-General Ken nedy, in a new edition of his pamphlet, proposed to fortify London by surrounding it with a line of forts, each armed with 40 guns and with 500 men, extending in a circumfer ence through Hammersmith, Wormwood Scrubs, Willes den- green, Hampstead, Tottenham, over the River Lea, to Deptford, Norwood, Streatham, and Wandsworth. A writer in the United Service Magazine, who he presuroed combined the authority of the army and navy, said in a late number, " The steam navy alone required should consist of no less than 1,056 vessels of all sorts of which we are at present deficient ; 101 screw line-of-battle ships, 6 block ships, 74 steam frigates, 67 steam corvettes and sloops, 7 floating batteries or rams, 266 gunboats, and 86 mortar ves sels." Now that was published in the United Service Magazine, a periodical read in military circles, and pre-. sumed by the editor not to be absolute idiotey, or else it would not have been published. (Laughter.) Another writer in a pamphlet headed, " Invasion rendered impossible, by a member of the Royal Naval and Military Institution," proposed to place permanently along th .e open beaches, at the mouth of the rivers, all round our great road steads, and in front of all our sea-coast towns, long 32 pounder guns, at a distance of 30 yards apart. (Laughter.) No doubt, if the noble lord at the head of the Government had proposed something like this for a long extent of coast, many men who now laughed would have thought the pro positions the height of wisdom. (Laughter.) The scheme would give sixty guns to every mile, and each 'gun was to be manned by one captain and ten men, the men to consist of paid volunteers from the towns and villages on the coast and a few miles inland. Assuming that there were 300 miles of coast line in Great Britain that needed defending, 18,000 guns would be required, with 18,000 captains, and 180,000 men. M. Brialmont, who published a History o 1 the Battle of Waterloo ; or, a Life of the Duke of 'Welling.. ton, whose father was a great authority, and supposed to be the eldest officer in Europe, said there must be an enor mous increase of the fortifications of Chatham, a new, f or . tress at Guildford, and a great depot, with a vast (Alt enched • camp at Croydon, adding that these works, wi.ch the re-or ganisation of the English army on the basis of the con scription, would render England invincible at home. M. Brialrnont's plan also involved the augmentation of the standing army, and the erection of a grand strategical pivot in the south, in the neighbourhood of London. He now came to the proposition of the commission. The cora missioners said very early in their report that " having carefully weighed certain foregoing considerations, we aro led to the opinion that neither our fleet, nor our standing army, nor our volunteer force, nor even the three combined, *an be relied on as sufficient in themselves for the se curity of the kingdom against foreign invasion." Their report proceeded upon a desponding principle through out. They assumed that there would be scene grand combination of all the maritime nations, of the earth against .England, but if we pursued a policy of justice and courtesy in dealing with foreign na tions he (Mr. Bright) believed that a combination of the great maritime powers against this country was absolutely impossible. The commissioners talked of a a sudden naval combination, but there could bo none. How long did it take to negotiate the smallest and most inconsiderable matter ? We learned here by every day's post, and sometimes before the hand of the clock had marked hero what it had marked eastward, the negotiations, and plots, and conspiracies which were being hatched in the courts of Europe, and yet these seven men talked about a sudden naval combination among the maritime nations. The right hon. gentleman who had just addressed the house said nothing could be more carefully drawn and better considered than this report, and yet he (Mr. Bright) 'Aeclared without the slightest hesita tion that he had never read anything of an official cha racter so 'utterly incoherent, illogical, and absurd.. (Laughter and cheers.) They said that with the powers of concentration steam now afforded, a force could be assembled before daylight upon any point sole cted for an attempt and thrown upon the shores in two or three hours. That was just the sort of twaddle, just the sort of stuff which filled up the columns of the .Morning Advar tiser. (Great laughter.) He could scarcely conceive how seven gentlemen—major-generals, admirals, captains, F.R.S.'s, and everything else, could. offer to the Queen and. Parliament a report containing such monstrous absurdities. (Laughter.) They went on to say that 'without secure forts behind which the fleet could find refuge in case of disas ters, certain things must occur. The whole report pro ceeded upon the assumption that nothing was to be met with but disaster. We might for 300 years have had nothing but naval disaster in our history to justify the tone these gentlemen took. (Hear, hear.) They said, with an attempt at fairness which made the thing much worse, " Doubtless the defence would be somewhat aided by the railways and telegraphs." When they wanted to say what France could do they related the powers of her steam boats, railways and telegraphs, but when they wished to say what we could do, they simply said, " doubtless the defence would be somewhat aided by railways and tele graphs." The whole thing was a foregone conclusion, and the commissioners need not have stepped beyond the threshold of their own office to have considered their re port. On the contrary, they might have gathered all - these absurd paragraphs from any newspaper in London, without any scientific inquiry at all. (Hear, hear.) The noble lord had inserted in the resolution " works to protect th e harbours of Dover and Portland." But the commissioners said the defences of Dover were worth very little, and if they did not happen to be there, they did not know that they would recommend any expenditure at Dover at all. Consequently we had fortifications which did n.ot defend any one, and for which there was no necessity:, and we were to be put to an expense of £350,000 in, adding to them. (Hear, hear.) It was said now that Dover was to be made a harbour of refuge, it was more necessary to have these defences, but why should harbours of refuge be de fended as if ships entered them for the purpose of making them their permanent abode ? With regard to Portland, the commissioners said there was no naval establish ment there, and that so far as they were aware, it was not intended to form one ; and yet they proposed to expend £630,000 in the defence of the roadstead and harbour of Portland. He wished that some gentleman accurately in formed upon military matters could have gone through the evidence given before the commission, so as to have given to the house a picture of its gross and ludicrous inconsistencies. A Colonel Bingham was examined, who said the Government would require for these works 72,000 trained and 108,000 untrained men, making 180,000 alto" gether. He further said that there were re defence of the dockyards, towns, and batteries time more than 3,000 guns, but he told them thea oient to work the same!qsairedon thefo fo r the that at present there were notmen Admiral Sir T. Maitland, 1,000 now existing. Then again d them that no forts could on destroying an arn 1. Captain Sullivan, and othersl prevent iron-plated ships g oing ena Sir J. Burgoyne, frankness, a man o f great ability and of un d oubted honesty said that in th e p resent state of gunnery it would be impossible to def en d P ortsmouth without l i nes ranging f from 30 to 40 m il es ; and that he would r ather trust to an army in the fi e ld. H e (M r . Bright was talking the other day to a gentleman who did. not seem to be much in favour 'with the Secretary for War, but who was for all that the greatest machinist in England, Mr. 'Whitworth, of Manchester. (Hear, hear.) That gen tleman told him that he would undertake to throw a 701 b. shell filled with molten iron six miles. (Murmurs.) The statement seemed to startle hon. members ; Mr. Whitworth said he believed ho could accomplish seven miles, but he would guarantee six. The whole system of warfare was in short, ab ou t t o un d ergo a change as great probably as that which took place when gartpowder first begax' to b used. (Hear, hear.) And yet they had a Gover a nr i _ to its fussy activity—(laughter and cheers) — n ot d day nto an tell the people the truth, but rushing ever that twelve extravagant expenditure, though they knew rig g nt in of no effect., Yet, months all they . now did would be was for the it Iterest of patriots, and told. 'people forsooth, they claimed to be great; that they alone knew trade. Of course he Pi whatfight) did not k A m, ty, 7 -7, 7 „ 2 11 I 9 1 oil -~