The Sun. — London, England, 1858-03-19 00:00:00

MONEY MARKET AND COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. CITY, Two o'CLooK. The Foreign and Colonial Produce Markets timing the past few days have been rather dull, although holders in most instances have demanded fully late rates. In sugar the transactions have been limited to the finer descriptions, suitable for home consumption, at about former quotations, but inferior sorts may be quoted about 6d. per cwt. cheaper. Coffee has been steady, especially good coloury sorts of plantation Ceylon, the inquiries for home use having been brisk, but the high rates demanded by holders have in some measure chocked consumption. Tea has been firm, and at public sale full prices were realised for most descriptions. In rice and rum the dealings have been moderate, and in the former article a decline of about 3d. per cwt. may be noted for the inferior descriptions. For fruit there has been a moderate inquiry, and previous prices have been fully supported for good qualities of currants. Spices have been dull, and lower rates have been accepted for all descriptions. In saltpetre and cochineal the transactions have been limited, and no change of importance can be reported in values. The sales of low East India and China and other wools which commenced on the 16th inst. terminated yesterday. About 3,000 bales were offered ; the attendance of the trade was good and prices for the East India ruled much tke same as at the last Liverpool auctions ; most of it was sold but the greater part of the other quali ties being held for higher rates were either bought in or withdrawn. Tallow has been steady. P.Y.C. on the spot is quoted 565. ; April to June de livery, 545. ; and last three months, 525. Gil. per cwt. Accounts from Liverpool mention that the Cotton Market yesterday closed quietly, and prices of all descriptions were fully id. per lb. lower. The sales amounted to 5,000 bales, 500 of which were taken by the speculators, and 500 by the exporters. In the Railway Share Market there was less animation, and values were without any material alteration. The steamer Pera, which will leave Southampton to-morrow, will take out a smaller quantity of specie than usual, and, ai the exchanges in the East are lower, it is expected that these remit tances will temporarily be made on a reduced scale. Sil►er is, therefore, in less request, and the quota lions are heavy, bars being ss. lid. per oz. standard, and dollars, ss. peroz. This will check the sup plies from the continent, and, as a consequence, the shipment of gold from this side will diminish. It is therefore expected that a larger portion of the Australian and other receipts will be taken into the Bank of England. The consignments by the above steamer are as under Ceylon (gold) £Bso • 0 Madras (gold) Calcutta (silver) Penang (silver) Singapore (silver) 4,325 0 0 Hong Kong (silver) 24,930 0 0 Shanghai (silver) Total £101,071 0 0 Very little business is in progress at the Stock Exchange, the speculators still abstaining from active dealing. A purchase of 100,0001. Consols for a discount house has given some support to the quo tations, but they do not exhibit any symptoms of buoyancy. Consols have been 961 for transfer, and 961 97 for account ; they are now 961 and 961 respectively. India Bonds are about 28s. to 295. premium. Exchequer Bills, 365. to 395. pre mium ; and India Bonds 101 to 104. In the Foreign Stock Market business is inac tive, and prices are rather depressed. Turkish 6 per Cents, are 101 to 1011, and the 4 per Cents., 1031 ; Spanish New Deferred are 26a ; Mexican 3 per Cents., 20 ; Portuguese 3 per Cents., 46 ; Dutch 4 per Cents., 101 i ; and Sardinian 5 per Cents., 91k. The following are the nominal price 3 of Foreign Stocks:-Grenada Deferred Bonds, 5i ; Mexican, 191 24; Peruvian 4} per Cents., 81 82; ditto 3 per Cents., 56 57 ; Portuguese 3 per Cents., 45 46 ; Russian 5 per Cents., 109 111 ; ditto 4i per Cents., 99 101 ; Spanish 3 per Cants, 44 441 ; ditto New Deferred, —. Messrs. D. Bell, Son, and Co., give the follow tag as the prices of American Securities : GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. Redeemable. Per Cent. Baited States C per Cents. 1861:1868..:101 103 United states 6 per Cent. Bonds 1868...101 103 STATE SECURITIES. Alabama 5 per Cont ... 78 Kentucky I per Cent. Bonds lB6B-187 2— 91 93 Maryland 6 per Cent. (Sterling Bonds)... ... 90 92 Ifseseekusetts 5 per Cent. (Sterl. Bonds). ...101 103 Mississippi 6 per Cent. Pl. Bk. Bonds lB4l-1871... Mississippi 5 per Cent. Union Bk Bonds ... Pennsylvania 5 per Cent. Stock Pennsylvania 5 per Cent. Bonds 1877... 82 83 Tennessee 6 per Cent. Bonds Virginia 8 per Cent. Bonds 1886... 82 84 Virginia 5 per Cent. (Sterling Bonds) 1888... 82 84 LOANS OF CITIES. Boston 4j per Cent. Bonds 1883... 88 90 Montreal 6 per Cent. Bonds 1856-1865... -- New Orleans 6 per Cent. Stock 1883... RAILROAD BONDS. Illinois Central 7 per Cent. Ist Mortgage, not Convertible 1875... 83 85 Illinois Central 6 per Cent 1875... 82 84 Illinois Central 7 per Cent. Freeland Bonds 1860... 80 82 Illinois Central (Shares), $3O paid 9 d 7 d Michigan Central Bp. Cent., Convert 1860... Do. do. do. 1869... 86 88 31'ew York Central 7p. Cent., Convert 1864... 92 94 Xeir York Central 6 per Cent., not Convertible 1883.- 82 84 Mew 'York and Erie 7 per Cent. 3d Mort -1883... 76 78 Y. York and Erie 7p. Cent. Convertible 1862... X. York and Erie 7 per Cent. Sinking Fund 1875... 60 65 Panama 7 per Cent., lst Mortgage 1865... 99 92 Pennsylvania Central 6p. Cent..lst Mort 1880... 88 90 The transactions in the Railway Share Market to-day have been very limited, and a further de cline of about 1 to 1i per cent. may be reported in the values of most of the principal lines. Eastern Counties, Edinburgh avid Glasgow, Brighton, South Western, North Eastern (Berwick), North Es -stern, (York), and South Eastern, have receded 10s. ; Great Northern, North Western, and Midland, 1/. ; Great Western, and Lancashire and Yorkshire, 11. iOs, ; and Caledonian, 21. The Foreign and Colonial undertakings have also been d.pressed. Paris and Lyons are 15s. lower ; • Great Luxembourg, ss. lower ; and Pernambuco, ss. lower. East Indian have receded V. ; Grand Trunk of Canada, 11. ; and Great Western of Canada, ss. In Mining Shares no business was reported, and quotations are quite nominal. For Joint Stock Bank and Miscellaneous Shares the demand was limited. National Provincial of England New Shares receded 5s ; Oriental Bank, 10s. ; Provincial of Ireland advanced ss. ; London Discount Company, North of Europe Steam, and Australian Agricultural Shares, were a shade lower. BRITISH FUNDS.—CLOSING PRICES—THIS DAY. (From the O f ficial List:) Business dons. S per Cent. Consols Annuities le ti* Rondo. .£l000 Bank Stock for Account 2251 6i Consols ter Account Exchequer Bllls. 24d. March. June. £lOOO ... 39 6 I CHO 36 40 I _ _. 8 nall. ....... ' Exchequer Bonds, 1858, 34 per Cent 1014 1 Ditto, 1859 PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS--THIS DAY. Buenos Ayres Bonds, 6 per Cent. Ditto Account Ditto Deferred, 3 per Ceut. Mexican :i per Cent 2O Ditto Account 2O Portuguese Bonds, 5 per Cent., Con. 1811 Ditto 181)3, 3 per Cent 46 Sardinian Bonds, 5 per Cent. SD nish Bowls, 3 per Cent. Ditto New Deferred, 3 per Cent. 26 ' _ Ditto Account .... Tgrkleh Bonds, 6 pr cent............ — Ditto Account Ditto Guaranteed, 4 per Cent. Dividends on the above payable in London. Dutch Exchange, 24 per Cent., 12 Guilders Do. 4 per Cent. Certificates !A titZER O'CLOCK. Consols, money . Consols for Account, (April 8) The precise amount of specie taken for the East by the mail steamer of the 20th is 105,8071., of which 4,7361. is for Alexandria, 44,9411. for India and Ceylon, and 158 ,130/. for China and the Straits. Nearly the whole 4 silver, the gold being about 6,600/. only. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS. —(YEsTERDAY.) The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at 5 o'clock. Lord LYNDHURST presented a petition from Clei ken well, praying for an equalization of the poor rates THE CAGLIARI. The NOBLE Loup then said he wished to call the atten tion of the house to a publication lately issued by the Neapolitan Government. It related to the capture cf the Cagliari steamer, and the detention of two of our fellow subjects. The law was laid down by the noble viscount lately at the dead of the Government. He stated that the captain of the Cagliari had voluntarily conducted the vessel into the Neapolitan waters, in that case he (Lord Palmerston) would not be justified in interfering in favour of the two British subjects before the case was investigated by the Neapolitan authorities. But if the vessel were taken by superior force outside the Neapolitan waters, then the British Government were entitled to demand the instant release of the two men. He (Lord Lyndhurst) had no doubt that that was the opinion of the law officers of the Crown. The document in question, which bad lately been issued by the Nea politan Government, stated that the seizure had been effected by two frigates on the high seas, and by them brought into Neapolitan waters. (Hear, hear.) Upon that statement we bad a perfect right to demand the instant liberation of our countrymen. He did not in tend to put any question to the Government on the subject, but.was perfectly willing to leave it to them to determine, owing to the time that had elapsed since the capture had been effected. He merely threw out these observations for their consideration. The Earl of MALMESBURY—My lords, before I make any remarks upon what has fallen from my noble friend, I beg the house distinctly to understand that up to the 2Gth of the last month her Majesty's Government are in no degree responsible for any steps which may have been taken either by her Majesty's Government or by the Sardinian Government with respect to the cap ture of the Cagliari. That being, as lam sure it will at once be, admitted on both sides of the house, I think it may be as well to state to your lordships in a very few words what the history of the capture of the Cagliari really was. That vessel started from Genoa bound for Naples ; and she had among her crew two Englishmen as engineers. It appears there were also a certain num ber of men, who had disguised themselves as passen gers, and taken their passage on board the vessel. Alter she had proceeded to sea some distance, these men rose upon the crew and overpowered them. They then proceeded to an island on which there were a number of convicts. These they liberated ; and, accompani-d by them, they proceeded to a point on the territory of Naples, where they landed with the object of raising the country against the Neapolitan Go. vernment. They afterwards permitted the captain and crew of the Cagliari to depart. It is stated that the captain wanted to go to Naples, which was his original and lawful destination ; and though there is no positive proof of it, I believe such to have been the case ;. but whether that was so or not, he was met by two Neapo litan frigates, which were, no doubt, looking out for him and he was taken into the port of Naples. The Neapo litan government laid claim to jurisdiction over the cap tain and crew, and instituted an investigation to ascer tain whether they had been parties to the acts of violence which had been committed on its territory ; or whether they were entirely innocent of those acts. It is upon this point that a great controversy has arisen. Her Majesty's late Government were for a ong time under the false impression that the vessel had been captured in Neapolitan waters ; but at length they became ac quainted with the real truth, namely, that the vessel had been captured on the high seas. On the 24th of December they consulted the law officers of the crown, and they did so again on two other subsequent occa ,, ions before the end of February. They thus con sulted the law officers three times, and those officers declared it to be their opinion that the capture had been a legal one. Under these circumstances it appeared as if her Majesty's Government did not intend to dispute the legality of the seizure ; but it has been stated by the noble viscount (Lord Palmerston) in another place that her Majesty's late Government had not made up tkeir minds upon the point. Of course I cannot answer for that ; and I wish the house distinctly to understand that it is only from this point that our responsibility begins. (Hear.) Some new facts have come out since the law officers delivered their opinion, and some new papers have been produced which we did not find in the Foreign-office. Looking at the great interest which the case naturally excites in this country, and remembering that upon its decision, one way or the other, the protracted sufferings and imprisonment of our countrymen must depend, those papers and circumstances will, I think, justify us in adopting the measure which we have determined to take, namely, to refer the case once more to the present law advisers of the crown, and to lay the papers before your lordships and the other house of Parliament. Those papers are very voluminous, and they cannot be col lected or arranged in a short time ; but I will take care that no time is lost ; and I am informed that the late prime minister has expressed his willingness that the papers should be produced. (Hear, hear.) With re gard to the opinion that my noble and learned friend h expressed upon the legality of the Cagliari's seizure, I have only to i.ay that it is not in accordance with the opinion of the law olleers, as at present given. iler Majesty's Government are as deeply interested in the case and feel as much sympathy for the sufferings of these two poor engineers as any one can do, and they will not ;use a moment in prosecuting any measures that may be taken for their benefit, or that may tend to alle viate the cruelty of their confinement. (Hear, hear.) Lord WENSLEYDALE suggested that the Govern ment should seek the opinion of a still higher authority than the law officers, namely, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which comprised many distinguished persons who were learned in the law of nations. Lord LYNDHuRsr must not be understood as hav ing given any opinion whatever upon this question. Ho Lad only referred to the law as stated by the noble vis count at the head of the late Government, and he had thought it right to call their lordships' attention to this point because the Neapolitan Government had lately published a document in which they made the case per fectly clear, for they stated that the vessel had been captured byforce, and captured out of Neapolitan waters; and if the law as stated by the nob!e lord was correct, we were entitled to insist on the liberation of our country men. (Hear, hear.) Earl - GRANVIL . LE thought the course pursued by the noble and learned lord in bringing forward a subject of this importance without notice was somewhat incon venient. (Hear, hear) He woukl refrain on the present occasion from going into the details of the case, further than to say that the statement of the no bl e earl opposite was perfectly correct, except that be believed the original destination of the Cagliari was Tunis, and not Naples. [Lord Malmesbury assented.]—An application for the restitution of the Cagliari had been made by the govern ment of Sardinia, and it was the answer of the Neapoli tan government to that application which made an open ing for further steps to be taken. (Hear, hear.) The Earl of DERBY agreed with the noble earl as to the inconvenience of bringing up the subject without notice, for he had been taken quite as much by surprise as the noble earl. He (Lord Derby ) had only to say that no such document as the answer given by the go vernment of Naples to that of Sardinia had been received by the Foreign-office. Nothing in fact had been received but a statement from our minister at Turin that the government cf Naples had refused to surrender the Cagliari to Sardinia. He (the noble earl) did not believe there was any precedent for referring any matter to the judicial committee which did not come before it on ap peal. The ordinary course was to refer questions of this kind to the law officers, who included the Queen's Ad vocate. Lord WENSLEYDALE was satisfied that more than one instance could be found in which her Majesty bad sought the advice of the judicial committee. He might refer to a question which had been submitted to it last year with respect to the appointment of Canadian bishops. Lord REDESDALE thought they ought to consider how this country would have acted under similar circum stances ; because nations as well as individuals ought to "do unto others as they would they should do unto them." If a vessel wero to laud a number of persons on our coast ; if those persons broke into a prison, let out the convicts', and then joined with them in making an insurrection, it was not probable that we should quietly submit to such an insult. (Hear.) He thought, there fore, that the Neapolitan government was justified, at least up to a certain point, in what they had done. Whether they had gone beyond that point was a matter that remained to be proved ; bet he thought they had been very unjustly blamed for ee:zing the Cagliari. Earl GREY cautioned their lordships against express• ing any premature opinions upon toe case, or expressing any opinion at all, until they bad thoroughly ex twined the papers. He thought there was much value in the suggestion of his noble friend as to taking the opinion of the Judicial Committee. The steps to be taken ought to be carefully considered ; and it did not appear to him that it would be very satisfactory in a case in a hich important national rights might be waived, to pro ceed upon the mere opinion of the law officers. (Hear, hear.) He trusted that the papers to be laid before their lordships would include not merely the communications which had passed between her Majesty's Ministers and the Neapolitan authorities, but also any communications which might have taken place with Sardinia ; so that it might be seen how far the British Government had or had not given support to the Government of Sardinia. The Earl of DERBY said that the papers would in clude every document on the subject. (Hear, hear.) Lord BROUGHAII could answer for the intentions of those by whom the bill for constituting the Judi cial Committee had been passed. No doubt it was in tended to give the fullest scope to the committee ; but very great discretion ought to be used in deciding what questions should be referred to it, because it was obvious that after it had expressed an opinion upon a subject the same subject might come before it judicially. (Rear.) Lord ORAN WORTH entirely agreed with the noble and learned lord as to the dif f iculty there would be in ap plying to the Judicial Committee. Besides, they could not after all obtain a satisfactory opinion from it, be cause the question would not be argued by adverse parties (Rear, hear.) When the question relating to the ap pointment of a Canada bishop came before it, the Crown was represented by the Attorney-General, and a legal gentleman appeared for the colonial legislature ; but that was felt to be after all a mere makeshift, and not at all THE SUN, LONDO.N, the same thing as when a case was argued by parties having adverse interests. (Hear, hear.) The subject then dropped. EAST INDIA COMPANY'S LOAN BILL. This bill passed through committee. COUNTY COUR Lord BROUGHAM, in moving for certain returns relating to county courts, said that during the first ten years after those tribunals had been established the num ber of suite brought before them was no less than 4,600,000 ; the sums claimed amounted to fourteen mil lions and a half ; the sums recovered to 7,300,0001., and the sums paid into court to another miLion. The busi ness was rapidly on the increase; the number of plaints during the year 1857 having exceeded 700,000, and the total amount sued for since the establishment of the q) stem being no less than sixteen millions sterling. The benefit which had accrued to the country from the courts could not be measured even by these figures ; for the simple fact that there was in existence such a jurisdiction, so efficiently exercised, no doubt rendered an immense amount of litigation unnecessary. The c linty courts had tended greatly to the comfort and peace of the commtmity, for he could imagine nothing more calculated to produce wide-spread and deep-seated discontent than the manner in which justice used in former times to be practically denied. (Hear.) The relief given was represented by the number of suits brought, for coming to Westminster-hall was wildly out of the question. The great objection originally made to the act to which he had the good fortune to obtain their lordships' concurrence in 1851—au act which he had no , hesitation in saying had wrought the most beneficial change which had been effected in our law procedure in nit darn titne—was to the provision for the examination of the parties, and which should in justice be w , cribed to the late Lord Denman, for he looked upon his bill as a mere corollary to the bill of Lord Denman of 1842-3. The great objection made to the act of 1551 war; that if they allowed the parties to be exrmined they would have endless perjury. But what had been the result ? That perjury had diminished instead of increased. The num bee of commitments in the two years before the act was brought into opera ion was 136, and in the two years after they were 107. And this was not owing to any decrease iu offences generally, for the general com mitments increased in the same period from 27,000 to to 23,000. No e, he proposed to extend a little further the right to examine the parties. Atpresent it wasconfined to civil actions ; be proposed to extend it to criminal cases. He did not contend that the propriety of this was as clear as the proposition which was made in 1851, but he considered that upon the whole it was demon strably clear that this extension of the right should take place. When the bill of 1851 was sent to the other house, the then Recorder of London, Mr. Stuart Wortley, said great hardship was often inflicted, and in justice done by there being no power to examine pri soners or defendants in criminal cases, and that there were many cases in which the testimony of the parties would turn the balance either way. At present the state ment ofa prisoner or a defendant waslittle heeded, because it was not given on oath, and because it could not be tested by cross-examination. What he proposed was, that a prisoner cr a defendant might, if he chose, offer him self for examination, and have a right to be ex amined upon oath, subject to the cross-examination of the prosecuting counsel. As the law had stood since 1851, in any case of foul conspiracy, scandalous fraud, or fearful violence even, provided the case were brought into court ueder the form of an action, instead of by indict ment, the defendant might be examined just as much as the plain•iff. But it was not confined to that. Bankrupts and insolvents were examined on oath, and were not al lowed to refuse to answer en the ground that the answer might criminate themselves. He was aware that a clever malefactor would have an advantage over a simple minded prosecutor, but he was not afraid that injustice would be done thereby. Many magistrates and judges, he thought, went out of their way by warning prisoners against answering questions or making statements. He had seen repeated instances of magistrates not only tell ing prisoners that what they said might be used in evi dence against them—to which there could be no objeetion —but going further, and advising them to reserve their defence. Though no one would go further than he did in disapproval of the French system in putting a prisoner to examination, and comparing what he had said before the juge d'instruction with what he said in a higher court, yet he thought they ought not to throw an impediment in the way of a prisoner making his statement to the court. Referring to the county courts, he regretted that though Parliament had liberally given the judges 1,5001. a year, the late Government had reduced most of them to 1,200 a year. Lord CRANWQRTH said when his noble friend talked of the liberality of Parliament he should remem ber that the House of Commons had refused to give the county court judges more than 1,2001. a year. The motion of which his noble and learned friend had given notice was for the production of certain returns relative to county courts, and it was hardly to be expected that on that motion he would have gone into the important question as to whether or not criminals should be ex amined vita - cove. He agreed that we were somewhat prudish on that subject, and that we often shut out truth when, by a relaxation of the rule, it might be got at. With regard to the magistrates cautioning prisoners, his noble and learned friend should recollect that by act of Parliament they were bound to tell prisoners that what they said would be used against them. Though a prisoner was not examined on oath, yet if he told a co herent and probable story, ho had observed that it had always great weight with a jury. The motion was then put cud agreed to. Lord BROUGHAM then laid on the tables bill to enable prisoners and defendants in criminal cases to be examined on oath, and the bill was real a first time. MEDICAL REFORM. Lord TALBOT DE MALAHIDE asked what were the intentions of Government with regard to medical reform and the sale of poison , ' The Earl of DERBY sa'd no doubt the subject of medical reform was of great importance. Nevertheless, the noble lord must allow him to remind him there was a certain class of cases to which everybody was agreed that something ought to be done; but when they Came to c ►nsider what ought to be done, they disagreed as to the details. There was no better illustration of that proposition than the question of medical reform. The noble lord himself admitted that the members of the pro fession were not agreed among themselves as to what should be dens. During the 20 years he was a member of the House of Commons he recollected there was a subject on which some enthusiastic member—generally a young member—was continually bringing in bills, and that was to amend the law with regard to salmon fish eries. No one could doubt the necessity for medical re form. But the noble earl had not done justice to the acti vity of the other house in this respect, for whilst last year two bills were introduced, this year no less than three had been laid on the table by different members. He was not prepared to say that the Government were ready to enter the lists and bring forth a fourth bill on their own responsibility. The measures to which he had referred had been introduced by gentlemen well acquainted with the subject, and it was the intention of his colleagues to give their best consideration to these measures, with the view of making an amicable arrangement which should meet the views of the profession and the public. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the sale of poisons, the noble earl was aware that the late Presides t of the Council appointed a committee, which sat for a considerable time, and suggested various amendments to the bill before their lordships' house, which were inserted and reported. lie had already communicated with his right hon. friend the Secretary for the Home Department, and requested him to consult the Pharmaceutical Society, and if it should be found that any chance ex;sted of carrying a satisfactory measure, her Majesty's Government would not hesitate to introduce it. (Hear, hear.) Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTERDAY.) NEW MEMBERS. Mr. AIOWBRAY (Judge-Advocate) and Lord DUNKEL LIN took the oaths and their seats, the former for Dur ham and the latter for Galway (County). IMPROVEMENT OF THE WORKING CLASSES. Mr. SLANEY then rose to move that it was expe dient to establish a standing committee, or unpaid board or commission, to consider and report from time to time on practical suggestions likely to be beneficial to the working classes. He said that as this was a new sug gestion he felt bound to give a reasonable ground for the demand he made on the house and the Government. It would be the duty of such a tribunal or council to consider and report on any plan proposed to them, but not to do anything that would lead to unreasonable hopes or unbounded expectations. One ground on which he made this motion was that the committee to which separate matters relating to the working classes had been referred, had not worked out the advantages which might be desired from them or the causes of failure. Another 01,11 Se which ought to induce the house to take up this matter was the great change which had taken place in the circumstances of the working classes within the last half century. In that period there had been a great increase of the population in these Wands, it had nearly doubled, and showed a much greater increase than in any other country in Europe ; of course this increase had greatly altered the position of the working classes. He admitted there had been a great increase in their average length of life, and in their general com forts. There had also been a great change in the com parative situations of a large number of these people. At the beginning of the present century the rural popu lation was two to one to the numbers of the civic, but now the proportion was exactly reversed, and was two to one the other way. Every ten years the rural popu lation had increased ten per cent., but for the same periods the increase in the population of the towns was 30 per cent. A necessary result of this increase was to the working ela , ses to live in thickly populated districts; it also led to a complete separation of classes. Formerly the working classes lived with those who were their na tural protectors ; but now, in some towns, the working classes formed 40 per cent. of the population, in others it rose as high as 95 per cent., so that it was evident they were entirely separated from their natural guardians. These were great social changes, and he only asked to have a tribunal, or board, to consider from time to time the suggestions in favour of the working classes, ren dered necessary by them. A consequence of the change in the position of the working classes was a great er sepa ration between parents and children. The latter were ex posed to greater dangers, and deprived of the proper shields against them. He asked the house and the Go vernment to grant him a tribunal to consider any sug gestions likely to benefit these classes. The great b o d y of the pop u l a ti o n was now divided into two classes—the rural and the city : in 1810 there were great complaints of the distress amongst the peasants, especially in the southern counties ; in 1817 it still continued, and a com mittee was appointed which reported that the abuses in the administration of the poor law relief tended greatly to produce it ; in 1819 a similar report was made, but nothing was done. In 1124 another committee was ap pointed, on the motion of the noble lord the member for the City of London, on the subject of labourezV view it would, he supposed, provide two tables--one set ting forth the schemes which the commission recom mended, and the other those which it wished to deter working men from embarking in. The first result of this would be that all who were connected with the schemes denounced would band together against the commission, and, benevolent as were his hon. friend's intentions, per. haps he would not be able to roach his own office with out the a sistance of a body of police. (Laughter.) He would suppose that a working man laid out his 201. in accordance with the advice given to him. It might hap pen, notwithstanding the best arrangements beforehand, that the scheme recomeneuded and selected would be mismanaged and fail. Mr. SLANEY said his hon, friend had misunderstood him. What he said was in effect that the commission should report from time to time as to what was most likely to benefit the working classes. Mr. S. ESTCOURT feared the effect would be to en courage speculation, and to excite expectations not likely to be realised. (Hear.) Bare advice would as usual prove unpalatable, After the commission had existed for a year or two his lion. friend would advise in vain. Besides being impracticable his hon. friend's plan would, he be lieved, be mischievous, inasmuch as it would be made a substitute for the caution and intelligence which every man was bound to exercise for himself. The commission being issued on the authority of Parliament, men would be led to depend upon it rather than upon themselves, and if it led to no good result the discredit of failure would fall upon Parliament. His hon. friend need not come to Parliament in order to carry out his object. Why should he not himself be the unpaid commissioner I In uld b rzee, the prove advice nt of t o a private case the advi ce g i ven m i g ht, lik e th at of some of the wisest bare b een individual, t he boat;a n Par liament would not b e respens ibl e for the result. H e d bu p t ar ito trusted that his hon. friend would be contented with having expressed hie views and not press the motion to a division, and if he did not act upon this suggestion he should feel bound to divide against the motion. Mr. SLANEY said, after what his hon, friend had said, he should withdraw the caution. He wished, how ever, to observe in explanation that he had never eon templeted wotkinq people being advised how to lay oe their money, or prevented from relying ou their own industry, care, and forethought. Tne motet's was then withdrawn. TREATMENT OF THE SEPOYS AND INST_TR GENT6 IN INDIA. Mr. RICH then rose to call the attention of the house to the treatment of the mutinous sepoys and other in surgents iu ltalia, and to move for the following papers : —Copies of any report or despatch relative to the pro tection afforded by Maum Singh and others to fugitive Europeans at the outbreak of the sepoy mutiny. Of any instructions given to officers in command of troops as to the treatment of mutinous sepoys or deserters. And as to natives of Oude (not being sepoys) found in arms within the territory of Oude. The hon. member said he wished to call the attention of the house to the treatment which the rebellious sepoys had received, and were receiving, in India. In the earlier stages of the mutiny, and when men's minds were astounded at the atrocities committed, it was almost impossible to secure a calm discussion of that subject ; but the time had now arrived when they might look the Indian calamities fairly in the face. He hoped that in the observations he was about to make he should not be misunderstood. He loathed and detested as strongly as any man could do the atrooious crimes which had been perpetrated by the insurgent troops ; but the very fact that the nation felt so strongly made him anxious that it should stand clear of any imputation of retaliation or vengeance. As regarded the early stages of the rebellion, he would make every allowance for the feelings of those who found themselves beset with treachery and dan ger, and for the stern and resolute manner in which they stood on their defence. But at the same time he must pay his tribute of gratitude to Lord Canning for the manly fortitude with which he held the scales of jus tice, unmoved by the cruelties on one side and retalia tions on the other. The most extravagant tales had been told in this country, and had run through it like wild- fire. Some of those tales were such as made one's blood run cold. They heard of swarms of mutilated women and children coming to this country, Well, those most com petent to form a correct opinion —the committee of the society formed for the relief of those who were suffering through the outbreak in India—stated that after the most diligent inquiries, extending over six weeks or two months, they had been unable to ascertain a single case of mutilation inflicted on any one who had lauded in this country. The committee very properly remarked that such cases might exist, but they declared that they were themselves totally unable to verify one. lie thought it was but right that this statement should be repeated in that house ; for while they detested and abhorred the atrocities committed it was their duty to see that these were not exaggerated. On the other hand, be believed a very large proportion of the acts of retaliation attributed to our soldiers were not committed, and that the burning of this and that village rested only on the statement of newspapers, who meant thus to gloeSfy our army, while in reality they were inflicting upon it injury. In order to understand this question they must consider the ori gin of the mutiny. No one could read the correspon dence of Sir Charles Napier without perceiving that a factious and mutinous spirit pervaded the Bengal army at the period when it was under his command, and that it was attributed by him to a want of discipline—that discipline which was dependent on the existence of tho rough confidence between officers and men. From the report of the committee of 1852 it appeared that not more than half the officers of a regiment were ever with it at the sane time. He believed that the mutiny would never have occurred bad there not been a great neglect of discipline. Bat beyond this stood the fact that the European force was most cruelly and unjustifi ably diminished. And, moreover, what there was of it was so placed as not to hold in check the native forces. A greater portion of the European troop s were in the North-Western Provinces, and in Pegu. In the Cal cutta district there was but one regiment. This state of things gave rise to a temptation, to which, however well the natives might have behaved, they ought never to have been exposed. It should be remembered that about this time the Russian campaign was going on. Now, Lord Dalhousie had stated that the Russian war caused the worst effects in India ; indeed, his lordship had moot urgently, and it might be said particularly, alluded to the matter in connection with the smallness of the number of British troops which he had at call. Things being in this state there occurred the annexa tion of Oude. Thus all was ripe for revolt, all was re pressed discontent and ill-feeling. The last blow was given, the fire was placed to the train, by the wicked and unjust system of the greased cartridges. It might be that these cartridges were not what the natives sup pod • but would it not have been well t o respect pre judices.se , which were honest though mistaken, an d t o h ave withdrawn the obnoxious arms? Nothing of the kind was done, even though the Government decided to issue no more cartridges. Difficulties occurred at Meerut which were inefficiently and, at the same time, intemperately met. He would not go into the scenes which had followed -(" hear, hear," and they were all fresh in the minds of the house. (Divide.) But he would venture to say, that the whole of those troubles might, by due care on the part of the officers, have been put an end to. The question now came, how were those revolted subjects to be treated. They ought no doubt to be punished—a due and just punishment shou'd be meted out to them. But he trusted that the indiscriminate cry for blood which had arisen in India, Ind which had, to his surprise, been echoed in this country, would not be listened to. Ile hoped that the Government wculd see that the sepoy w h o s l ew his offioa, and who burnt down cantonments, was a very haps be a difficulty about them, and he would net press for them ; but as regarded the third set of papers relat ing to Oude, he thought there might be some papers which might be produced. General THOMPSON seconded the motion. Mr. H. J. BAILLIE was not surprised to see the motion of the hon. gentleman the member for Rich mond, or that he should hare felt it his duty to submit that motion to the house, but he had been somewhat surprised that on the terms of that motion he should on the present occasion have gone into a genes-al dis cussion of the origin and cause of the Indian mutiny, and into the question of the annexation of Oude. (Hear.) He (Mr. Baillie) ought to be the last person to complain of this latter subject being brought before the house, for not many weeks ago he had occupied, he feared, a considerable time in dealing with that question, and he could not trespass again on the house by entering into it on the present occasion. The hon. gentleman had commence I his speech by referring to the excesses committed by the English soldiers in India. It might bo perfectly true, when first the hor rible atrocities which were committed at Cawnpore and other stations were known, there was some feeling of exasperation on the part of our soldiers manifested ; but he (Mr. Baillie) believed that time had passed, and that there were few persons who were not of the same ()pi nion 39 the lion. gentleman, and who did not think that very little good would be gair,ed by carrying out what perhaps might be deemed the principle of stern justice. The fact was, the offenders were so numerous that some other mode of punishment than that hitherto adopted must be devised, for it was impossible to treat all the different classes of offenders in the same way. The hon. gentleman had asked what the instructions were which were sent out to the Indian Government in re'ation to the carrying out of martial law. The boa. genaernan was aware that the question of martial law was a very delicate one ; and when it was resolved to establish mar tial law, the practice was to leave its execution to those whose duty it was to carry it out. No special instruc tions bad been sent out, nor was it the practice to send out instructions of that uaturi to the GovernoleGeneral. If the English officers had received any instructions on this subject, it must have been from the Commander in-Chief. The Commander-in-Chief, however, was aware of the opinions of the Governor-General on this subject, because the Governor-General and his council had issued e,rtain rules and instruction., with regard to it. The boo. gentleman had read certain resolutions of the Go vernor-General in council, dated in Sept., 1857. which laid down rules for the treatment of each class of offenders some of which expressly referred to persons in the situa tion of the people of Oude. The Bth resolution was to the effect that the Governor General was anxious that no measures of severity should be carried to excess for acts of rebellion committed by persons who were not directly in arms against us. That applied to the people of Omit , . There were many other rules laid down which showed what were the sentiments of the Governor-Ge neral in this matter, and it could not be supposed that the Commander-in-Chief would not feel it to be his duty to act in accordance with those sentiments; and he (Mr. Baillie) had little fear that any of the excesses to which the bon. gentleman had referred would take pace. No doubt there were accounts in the newspapers of things which bad taken place which were too terrible to be be lieved, and he agreed with the hon. gentleman that they must be exaggerations. The hon. gentleman had re ferred to Oude, and he (Mr. Baillie) could not think that the people of that country who were assembled under the ba n n ers o f th e i r c hi e f s and f i ght i ng f or their independence could be placed in the same category as mutinous Sepoys who bad murdered their officers. On that subject he had no doubt that proper instruc tions would he given. With respect to Maun Singh, when he (Mr. Baillie) came into the house he was pre pared to say th a t h e h a d no i n f ormat i on t o g i ve ; b u t since he came into the house some despatches had been sent to him, in which he found some statements relating to Mann Singh. They were to the effect that Mann Singh, at the commencement of the rebellion, declared for the British Government, and took under protection a number of women and officers ; but he (Mr. Baillie) was afraid that afterwards he changed his opinion, and marched at the bead of a large force to Lucknow. Any information that was to be found with regard to him would be given. As to the other papers he had no infor mation to give, and he hoped the hon. gentleman would withdraw those two portions of his motion, and the other papers referred to would be granted. Mr. W. VANSITTART hoped that the house would not be led away by the opinion expressed by the hon. gentleman opposite. In this country and in India very different opinions were entertained. When an act was passed in India to enable the government to brand the mutineers, great alarm was felt, as it was thought that it showed a disposition on the part of the government to look to transportation only as a punishment. He had alway s th oug h t t h at t h e pun i s h men t for mutiny went beyond transportation, and surely the severest punishment was required for the outrages which had been committed in India, where, as it regarded every mutineer, and participator in the mutiny, it was expected that strict justice would be done. Another order of the Government of India had given groat dissatisfaction. He alluded to the order that in the case of sepoys who were on furlough who belonged to mutinous regi ments, on their return to head-quarters they were to be paid and discharged. Another order also stated that any Sepoys who could prove that they bad taken no part in the mutiny were to be received again into the ranks of the army. In an English mutiny, if a soldier did not do his best to suppress it, he was guilty of telony. In his opinion the course pursued by Lurd Canning towards the committers and abettors of the crimes which had been committed, was too conciliatory and inadequate to the occasion. Mr. C. BUXTON said that no one who had considered the events of the last few months in India would do any thing to discourage the men who had done their duty so well, but he thought that an expression of opinion from that house would strengthen the Indian government in carrying out the manly and conciliatory policy of Lord Canning. It would be difficult for him to keep his sub ordinates within bounds, and he needed some backing up from Parliament. No doubt if we in England had been in India, and had seen what bad been done there —if we had seen our wives and little ones butchered—if we had looked into the well at Cawnpore, we might have been carried away by our feelings of indignation. still we, who were in a position to reflect, ought not to be influenced by the excitement which was excusable in them, and we ought to support Lord Canning, not in excusing the guilty, but against those who confounded the guilty with the guiltless. The frightful reports that we had heard of the violation of wives under the eyes of their husbands, and the torture of children under the eyes of their mothers, had caused strong feelings of indignation ; but those tales, if not wholly groundless, were much exaggerated, and some of them were without any foundation ; and Sir John Lawrence and others had so stated distinctly in their despatches. If so, those statements ought to have no weight in our minds ; for though no one could exonerate the sepoy from the charge of having committed the most abominable wickedness, yet it was unjust to conclude that all the nat ivf India were unmitigated scoundrels, without touch es ofo goodness about them. Mr. MANGLES said that in h!sr opinion the w ij hol d e ly left in the hands of or of this matter might be safely Canning, who had throug hou i t th e whole of thismelan choly affair shown great firmness and moderation n deal ing pith the subject. The noble lord had by his conduct incurred a vast amount of unpopularity from his fellow countrymen in India, but he had gained the applause of his fellow -countrymen at home. In a private letter which he had received from Lord Canning, he told him that although he had been charged with undue leniency by _ ' wages, but nothing was done on their-report ;in 1825 _ s -------, , r ' . . different pelage him who, through fear and dismay, E— eiropeans in India, he feared that in future tim es it he (Mr. Slanes) obtained a com m ittee on the wages of fled his colours, an d u n ti me ly b ecame m i xe d np with relight be said o f hi m - that be had not shown sufficient the insurgents. H e h o p e d t h a t some genera l i nstruo - forbearance. It was because he held those opinions that able-bodied labourers ; from th e i nq uiries it appeared that in 182 1 3 great distress revelled and the mode in thins had be en i ss u e d f or th e gu id ance o f tb ose in lee (Mr. Ma ng l es ) h a d on a ll occas i ons supporter th e Go which the poor law relief was a d m i n i s t ere d had a great India. Th a t some thi ng was requ i re d to b e d one i n this vernwent of Lord Canning. He mint, however, sat' t e ndency to lower the w ages o f th e a bl e -b o di e d. The re- direction was plain from the ver y l as t t e l egram w hi c h t h at he thought the hon. gentleman who had brought port of the committee" was di s ti nc tly i n favour of some had reached E ng l an d. F rom t hi s i t appeared that 1,200 i this questi on f orwar d had made excuses for the sep , ye great change, hut the evil con tin ue d t o i n crease, until men had bean cut down by our t roops, w i t h t h e loss of l for which they were not entitled. (Hear.) He had in some counties the poor rate amounted to 7s. in the but three men on our part. It was clear, therefore. that I spoil en of the grea - e d cartr i dges—which no dou b t was pound. It was not tiillB34 theta reme d y was provided. . no resistance was made by the i nsurgen t s, an d it was I the snatch which fi re d t h e m i ne—as if they had b een Since that time there had b een a cons id era ble improve. unworthy of England and of the Englishsoldier, th a t I issued to every r eg i ment in the service. But the fact such a state of things—little short of butchery —should was that the greased cartridges had not been issued to a moot, but children and old people were still subjected to occur. He also found that one of the contingents had single regiment in the service as a regiment. It was great hardships in workhouses, and their condition re occur. most harshly dealt With. These contingents, it true, they had been issued in the Affghan and other should be remembered, owed but a qualified allegiance to frontier districts for a long time, and still used without quired constant attention. He now turned from the rural i this country. They were the soldiers of princes in al- remor istrance ; but with regard to the regiments of the to the ctvio population. For a considerable period great i 1 fiance with us. Now in the case to which he referred 150 line, t bey had not been issued to a single regiment, but misery prevailed among those who were employed in !men of a contingent were huddled together shot and only to the military schools in which the men wore in factories, more especially among children and young per sons, and it was not till after the evil had continued for bayoneted in a body, in the dusk of the evening. No struct ed in the use of the Miele rifle. He warned the at least 25 years that a remedy was applied at the in proper trial and calm inquiry appeared to have taken hon, gentleman who spoke last how he attached credit stance of a noble lord in another place. He thought it was the duty of the legislat ure t o see if some thi ng more place. Again, in many ;letters from India the killin g o f to the, Indian newspapers, for the very prints which bad could not be done to i mprove t h e con diti on o f thi s sepoys was spoken of in the most flippant manner. It attae - ized Lord Canning, and endeavoured to throw o di um useful class of persons. Again, notwithstanding the was stated that they were hung up as soon as caught, upon. bins, and if any natives harboured them they were themselves sit e di rection. With regard to the alleged mut:lations and children in India, it was said that there vast increase of the civic pop u l a ti on, it was no t till 1830 hung up. He could not believe this, but he thought of women that any one thought of ma ki ng proper prov i s i on forhad used similar exaggerations in the oppo the health of the people. I n 1840 a comm i t t ee repor t e d that it ought to be publicly disavowed by the Govern. wer e many cases of such a nature, but he confessed that that there were 30,000 child ren li v i ng i n c l ose narrow meet, as otherwisean unjustidea would prevail through- he had not b een able to ascertain the existence of a courts with no outlet a n d no f ac i lities for the a d m i ss i en out the length and breadth of the continent. How diffe- singl e aut h enticated case. He believed that in the ma of an adequate supply of fresh air, the remedying of this rent to this was the course taken by Gen. Calton in Ca- Jot ity of cases there was no proof whatever of any such evil also having been d e l aye d f or very many years be- nada, shortly after the death of Gen. Wolfe. That gene- outra ge h av i ng been committed. There might have cause there was no counc il to consider the matter. It ral bad a due regard to the honour of the British name, been i so l a t e d cases of the sort, but he believed the state and he issued a manifesto holding out the hope of mercy meat with regard t o t h e wholesale mutilations was tion of 3,000,000, 47 o f w hi ch had a deficient water also appeared that ther e were 50 towns, w i th a papule to those misguid e d wre t c hes who had fled to the woods, devoid o f t ru th . H e had seen Captain Low, an aide supply, while 48 had no p roper system of cleansing and He did not say th a t th e ca es o f I n di a and Ca n ad a were d e - camp o f G eneral Barnard, who had been present draining. Ultimately th e H ealth of Towns Bill was parallel in all res p ec t s . H e wou ld, h owev e r , n o w come at th e s i ege o f D e lhi , and all through the campaign, and passed ; but it had not b een universally adopted, and to a case which was no t w id e ly diff eren t f rom th e case o f th a t gen tl eman had assured himthat, whe n th e B r iti s h there were still great evils prevailing which such a tri- America. He alluded to the annexation of Oude. In forces took possession of the city, every endeavour was basal as he proposed to e s t a bli s h might be the means o f that case intrig ue was fi rs t t r i e d ; fi rs t one grea t person - ma d e t o ascerta i n t h e truth o. these reports, but that removing. There wer e th ousands of persons devoted to age and th en anot h er was soug h t a f ter to he su b orne d . t h ey h a d not been able to obtain any evidence to show the improvemeet of the working classes who would be Those attempts failed, and then the country was seized that they were found,d on truth. (Rear, hear.) Teen prepared to make the mos t useful suggestions i f t h ey by a coup d'et a t. It was eo doubt n ec e ss a ry n o w h a t there wa s th e ca - e o f Mi ss J enn i ngs, who was said to knew how to do so w ith effect and on behalf of tee our peeidon in Oude sh o uld b e ma i n t a i ns t, b u t we were h ave b een put, to death after havin g surf red many i n _ corking classes, who had d one so ; much to benefit the not justified in tr ea ti ng th e nat i ves o f O ude as re b els, dignit i es ; but, from all tney has bee r . a bl e t o ascerraor, rest of the community, b e as k e d f or a b oar d —an unpai d area treating them a e revo lt e d so ldi ers. Il e ti said this e- there was no reaeon to believe that she had bee n p ut to board if the house plea se d— to consider suggest i ons made cause he saw in th e C a l cu tt a papers d eman d s that Oude d eath in the way de-cribed. Most bon. gentlemieu had from time to time for thei r b ene fi t. The mo d e i n w hi ch should be made o ne grea t s l aug ht er - tiouse. (Hear, read the letters which appeared in the public p.. pets. proper amusements and r creations might be prov id e d hear.) He r e grett e d to h e ar ;b e t c h eer; b e h a d h oped Th e wr i ter of these conatnunicatiees hAd b een a t D e l h i would form a very p ro p er sub j ect for cons id erat i on. that no bun. member w o uld h e f oun d t o euppert such a when he heard ef the mss acre at Catvepore, and hoe- Fairs having been aboli s h e d , th e poor were ent i t l e d to view. He had hoped that here at. least some r e g ar d wou ld t one d th ere i mme di ate l y ; b ut they were after wards said some substitute. He felt c onv i nced that i f t h e b oon h e he shown to those who were fiehting in beh a lf o f a cas t t o h ave b een comm i tte d at I , elhi. Now, with regaid asked for the working cl asses were concede d i t wou ld down country. L e t th e h on . mem b er w h o cheered re. to the iesceiptions found on the walls of the prism.] where secure the gratitude of thos e w h o b y their con d uc t h ad member what even the sepoys h a d gone th roug h—l et hi m the u. fertunate people were confi ne d a t C awrpore, b e so richly deserved the care of P ar li ament, remember how often they had b een tr i e d an d not f ound was assured by an officer who was one of the first who Mr. En'TCOUar said no m an cou ld h ave li s t ene d t o wanting—let him co ns id er w h e th er h e h imse l f would entered the town that they were not there when he saw the speech of the hon. gen tl eman w ith out respect i ng th e have proved a s fi rm as th ey under :similar privation s a n d it. They roust then have be en w r itt en by sone one w h o motives by which h e was ac t uate d , b ut h av i ng li s t ene d temptations, and let him no t, un t i l th en, venture to cheer w i s h e d to record scenes of horror, but who certainly bad very attentively to w h a t h a d f a ll en f rom hi m, he cou ld the sentiment th a t w ith ou t mercy — nay, w i thout trial— exaggerated them. The hon. gentleman who brought not, he confess e d, u n d ers t an d w h e t practical measure h e these men should be consigne d t o a bl oo d y grave. And forward the motion spoke of the mutiny as being general, was desirous of havi ng carr i e d ou t. Hi s hon. friend wou ld in the instance of O u d e , l et th e hon. inemb,r he ar i n an d o f it s b e i ng occas i one d b y the a b horred dominion of perhaps permit him to put ti ns ma t ter at once to a test. mind that it was the cas e of a p eop l e s t rugg li ng f or its the East India Company. But that was not. so. for the He would propose that the moti on was acceded to, t h at independence ; a peopl e , th ere f ore , t o b e treate d as an great body of the people remained faithful. At present no the commission was issue , a n d th at his hon. frien d enemy, but not as revolted s ubj ec t s . Th e h on. gent l eman d nibt they had nat a sin g le mag ist rate i n th e w h o l e o f t h e himself was, as he very properly wou ld b e, placed at the concluded by saying that h e h o p e d th at. stern, resolute territory of Oude, nor did they occupy a single inch of head of it. He was quite at a l oss t o conceive what justice was done on th ese m i screan t s w h o h ad been guilty ground except the A lumbagh where Sir J Outram was eta was likely to be the lint step of the commission. Per- of atrocities, yet that moderation would be used towards tioned, but that did not prove that the entire population the great mass of leas notorious offenders. With regard was opposed to British rule. He did not believe that the haps his lion, friend would desire to afford facilities, by to the papers for which be wi ,, hed to move, he had people of India knew or understood what patriotism means of that commission, to the labouring classes for ascertaining how they might best l a y out their money. learned, by the courte s y o f th e S ecretary to the Beard of Was as understood in England ; and it was a most re- His hon. friend gave a nod of assent. If t h e commission Control s that those which re l a t e d t o M ann Si ng h m i g h t mar k a b le fact that while ancient Greece and Rome, and be found, and would b e p ro d uce d . With regar d to t h ose mo d ern Europe in more recent times, made the greatest were appointed its practical business wou ld b e to enable ;he working classes to improve their i ncome. With this relating to the instructions to offic e r s , th ere might per- exertions to obt a i n a popu l ar G overnment or monarchy - - in Asia it was always a succession of despotic Gnvern ments. The only change which occurred among them wag, that one tyrannical Government wag pulled down and another set up in its place. He believed, therefore, that the annexation of Oude had nothing whatever to do with the mutiny, for the people there absolutely knew nothing of what could be termed in this country a national cause. It was said that 50,000 er 100,000raen were now assembled at Lucknow, but it must be recol lected that the population of Oude amounted to five millions, and that the force thus congregated, taking it at its highest figure was cemposed entirely of disbanded soldiers and retainers of the Rajah's. He believed that the measures taken with regard to Oude were wise and just ; that those whom they affected were not the real proprietors of the soil, and that the people generally were much benefited by the changes made on the occasion. For his own part he had no objection whatever to the production of the papers called for, because he believed the moderation, humanity, and right feeling displayed by Lord Canning, who he hoped would remain at the head of the Government of India, was an answer to the charges made of indiscriminate daughter and cruelty. He believed that during his administration justice would be tempered with mercy, and that Lord Canning was not the man to countenance or permit the atrocities which had been referred to during the debate. Captain SCOTT observed that the family to whom he referred had mot with the fate ho had described. A bro ther and sister had fled from Luckuow into Oude, where the brother was blown from a gun, and he feared the sister was reserved for a worse fete. Mr. ADAMS regretted that throughout the discussion there was not more of justice dealt out to those officers who had been engaged in suppressing the mutiny. (Hear, hear.) The hon. member for Richmond alluded to a case where 300 natives lost their lives, and only one European ; and to another where 250 were destroyed with a similar loss. But surely that did not show indis criminate slaughter. (Hear.) It evinced great military strategy and skill ; and surely a British army would not be justified in allowing these rebels to get to a safe dis tance, and then return to attack them with grater farce. (Hear.) When mercy was asked for rebels, they ought not to forget the, justice was done to their o u ceuntry men. (Hear ) Colonel SVIiES sail that no doubt >tied might he done, but, as he had formerly -tate t, it must be justice with discriminating mercy. The truth wa., no greased cartridges had been issued to the troops, but, unluckily, an alteration had taken place, and anew paper was used. The effect cif that was, that a.though the troops which first mutinied knew they were not greased cartridges, yet they entreated the authorities that they might not be campelled to use them, because their comrades elsewhere would not believe otherwise than that they were greased cartridges, and they would be subjected to unp'easant con sequences as the result. Aa to the natives of India having been subj ected to despotism at all times, the history of that country would prove the reverse. Mr. O'BRIEN thought that all they did in India they should temper justice with mercy, and not wage an exterminating war. When the natives were again humble it was a statesmanlike view to disabuse their minds of the idea that they intended to take vengeance upon them. (Hear, hear.) Sir H. RA.WLINSON thought they were indebted to the loon. member for bringing this question before the house, as the opinions it would elicit would have great effect in India. Some of the military punishments were more severe than was necessary. The house, indeed, should recollect that fur ten months, and after fifty different combats, there was not a prisoner of war in their hands. That was a grave feet, and the inference they must draw from it was that quarter was not given, and he believed that such was the understanding in the army. He did not bring any charge against the troops, but the extreme severities exercised arose from the state of feeling in that country which being re-echoed from this country had produced these severities. This dis cussion would produce a beneficial influence, and he trusted that after this debate the proceeding of giving no quarter would find no favour in their sight. The practice was nob only unchristian but impolitic. English men were naturally brave, and brave men did not naturally delight in blood and cruelty. They could not govern India without native assistance, and to obtain that they should use every means of conciliation in the.r power. Mr. RICH, in reply, said he Isere testimony to the noble conduct of the troops in India. He rejoiced at the result of this discussion, and at the declaration elicited from Government that due discrimination would be used in the infliction of punishment. They were told there were no papers in this country such as he had moved for. He therefore would withdraw that portion of the motion, and he hoped that in regrard to the other papers they would have them in due course. In that hope he would withdraw the motion. The motion was then withdrawn. GALWAY FREEMEN DISFRANCHISENIENT. Mr. G. CLIVE moved for leave to bring in a bill to disfranchise the freemen of the county of the town of Galway. This proceeding the hon. member justified by appealing to the evidence lately presented before the Galway Election Commissioners, showing the existence of extensive corruption among the freemen class of the constituency of that borough. Sir I'. BURKE seconded the motion, in the assur aaee that the election for Galway, in which he had taken an active share, could be shown to be an ex ceptional instance of purity. He vindicated especially the course pursued by Lord Clanricarde on that occasion. Lord LOVAINE approved of the introduction of the measure. Colonel FRENCH remarked on the iejustice of de priving 489 electors of the franchise without proof of any offence. At a future step he intended to offer strenuous opposition to the bill. Mr. MAGUIRE characterised the measure as a one sided proceeding. Far worse than the poor bribed elector were the rich bribers, some of whom the hon. member mentioned by name, and relayed incidents touching th,ir conduct at recent elections for Galway. After some discussion, in which Mr. V. Seymour , Mr. B. H o p e , M r. A yr t un , an d Mr. Fitzgerald partici pated. a ydvised i Mr. WALPOLE said the question was one of very great impor tance, but h he the house to agree to the introduction o f the bill. What ever grave and serious questions involved, usntrdoenrgdscassion the measure f it would yet be the duty of the house not to strike at the low whilst they . avoided aiming at the high. (Hear.) Any of their legislation which was not founded upon equal justice to all ra nks, would not be con s i s t en t with the satisfacti on with the dignity of the house, n orrwhich occurred to him of the country. The only matte as important in the rep ort to present was that the mass of GI notice at the electors in since the away Re form Bill was of Liberal politics, and the candidates at elections were, with one single exception, also Liberal. There were, t herefore, no party considerations which could affect the question before the house, and he could n ot see w hy the house should not immediately ent er upon the inquiry. The only doubts which he had as t o the propriety of the measure—whilst he strongly recom mended its introduction—were simply these. They were proposing to disfranchise the innocent along with the guilty. (Hear.) They had, upon the face of the report, a distinct intimation that many of these electors were sol vent and respectable men fr • or the class of life in which they moved. Therefore it did not behove the house to consider whether they should strike at those persons who were not guilty while they struck at those who were. lle also learnt by the statement of the hon. and gallant colonel opposite that 128 freemen had since been placed upon the roll. This, therefore, would be most e 't o nary legisl a ti on if i t di s f ranc hi sed those against whom a tittle of evid ence b a d b een p ro d uce d. There were per. N G, ,M A RC LI ltg, 111 A IT V E eons also scheduled in the report who were found not guilty, and the question was whether they coal deal with them al egg with the rest. There was, however, one statement in t e report, in answer to question 1 421, which revealed such a state of things as be (Mr. Wel pol-) thought the hon. baronet (Sir Thomas Burke) must consider could not be overlooked by the house. Tne passage was to the followingeffect : -The witness stated that op the Sunday when Col. French arrived, he went to Lord Dunkellin's committee, when he heard that Col, French had arrived at 4 o'clock aieVhecorilltninicoa totting up the list and found that be should r,qu:re a certain number of votes, for which he paid the sum of 2501. Now, these matters had been fully inquired into, and he (Mr. Walpole) considered that the house was. able to . deaf with the question unprejudiced in any way. Tney had already di-franchised Sumiburyand St. Alban's, and had dealt, as be thought, unfairly with Great Yar mouth by disfranchising a particular class of freemen. He should support the introduction of the bill, and on the second reading and in committee, the points to which he had adverted, could be fully considered. Leave was then given to bring in the bill. • • ROYAL BRITISH ZANX.. - Mr. BRADY rose to move for an address for a return of the expenses attendant on. the prosecution of the Royal British Bank directors..." He said he thought it high time that the directors of public companies should be made to feel that the public watched their proceed ings with the greatest attention, and that all defaulters connected with them and men who violated the laws of the country would he punished with the greatest severity. One reason for desiring the return he moved for was because he deemed the penal law as it stood to be in a most unsatisfactory state, and he was of opinion that it must necessarily come under the consideration of the house in a very short time. The hon. gentleman con cluded by moving an address for a return of the expense' etterelant upon the prosecutiou (1 the directors of the Royal British Bank. Mr. HAMILTON =aid that the information which the boo. geetletnau ask ,d for was not yet in the posy - sinn t the Trea.ury. Wien that it f rmation wee fur nished to the Trsasury he di t not think that there would be any objection to furnishing toe return moved foci Mr. CRAWFORD rose fir the purpose. of celltrsz the attention of hsr Majethy's Government to the inadequate sums which had been p to witnesses for their atten dance. In many cases witnesses had actualy been nut of pocket by the trial, and f a system which led to such a result were continued it would tend to obstruct the ad. ministration of justice. Mr. WALPOLE said that since his appointment to the Hume-sffice his attention had been directed ts three or four cases in which the new scale of fees to witnesses in criminal prosecutions was do-proportionately low, and he had therefore directed the attention of toe gentlemen who had settled that scale to revise it, and see whether a more liberal one could not be adopted. (Hear, hear.) The case to which the hon. gentleman had alluded was brought to his attention on the preceding evening, and as he did not think that the scale applied to a came of ea Oak) information, he gave instructions that a more liberal allowance should be given. (bear, hear.) Mr. J. WILSON hoped that his right hon. friend would take care that those abuses in the payment of witnesses' costs to which the attention of the Govern ment had been directed during the last four or five years would be avoided in any new scale that might be adopted. The Government found that in some parts of the country a great portion of the rates were applied to the payment of policemen's costs in giving evidence at the assizes. Mr. HENLEY was quite sure that his right hon. friend nould earnestly direct his attention to the re meiying of those abuses. These payments to police wit nesses were, no doubt, crying abuses—(hear, hear) — but the l'ste Home Secretary, with a view of putting an end to them, adopted a scale so low as absolutely to de feat the ends of justice. (Hear, hear.) The allowance to witnesses belonging to the class of mechanics abso lutely put them out of pocket. (Hear, hear.) Au Hon. MEMBER hoped that the allowance to those - gentlemen who prepared the cases for prosecution would be increased. Mr. FITZGERALD, having been on the Public Pro secution Committee which sat some years ago, begged to dieert the attention of the bonze to the evidence given before it as being of a very valuable nature, and such as to' throw great light upon several abuses. He recol lected that one of the cases brought before the committee was that of 1/. a day being allowed to a witness. It turned out that the witness who received that allowance was tae gaoler of the town in which the assize' wire helden. (A laugh.) 'The motion was then withdrawn. CONTRACTS (PUBLIC DEPART MENTS). On the motion of Colonel BOLDERO, the following gentlemen were constituted a select committee on con tracts (public department-) ; Colonel Boldero, Mr. Baring, General Codrington, Viscount Duncan, Colonel Gilpin, Lord Claud Hamilton, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Lid dell, Lord Lovaine, Mr. Moneell, Sir Charles Napier, Mr. Newdegate, L)rl Clarence Paget, Mr. Westhead. and Sir John Ramsden. LONDON CORPORATION REGULATION BILL. Mr. WALPOLE, in moving the appointment of the select committee on this bill, said that some of its clauses Would require great consideration if not alteration ; but he should be sorry to intimate any opinion of his o upon them. With respec to the eaten-ion of the area of the corporate jurisd , ction, he tb aught that queettoa ought to he deal with b, a separate Bill. Tl.e right hon. g,entl”man concluded by moving that the com mittee consist of the following gentlemen :--Lard J. Russell, Sir G. Gr,%y, Mr. Secretary Walp ile, Mr. Tnomaa Baring, Mr. Alderman Cubitt, air J. Duke, Sir John Shelley, Mr. Baines, Mr. M. Gibson, Sir W. lielthcote. Mr. Hankoy, Mr. E. Egerton, Mr. K. seymer, Mr. Lyall, and Mr. G. Clive. Mr. AYRTON thought the committee was not con< stituted in such a warner as rendered it likely to deal fairly with the question of an extenision of the corporate joriediction to the metropolitan districts ; for, while it included two representatives of the City of London, two . aldermen of London, and several bon. m em b ers con nected with the city, he found upon it the name of only one member for Westinisister, who was the sole repre sentative of the interest of the western portion of the metropolis. On a future occasion he would ask the house to consider whether the wards for the election of Common Councilmen ought not to embrace the whole metropolitan district. (Hear, hear.) The motion was then agreed to. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. Lord RAYNLIAM obtained leave to bring in a Bill to amend the Act 17th and 18th of Victoria, cap. 80, for the more effectual prevention of cruelty to animals. The . Bill was brought iu and read a first time. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY MILTRIOULATION AND DEGREES BILL, This Bill was read a second time. MARINE MUTINY BILL. This Bill went through committee. MUTINY BILL. The house went into committee on this Bill, when Mr. ALCOCK said that, although he had to thank the Secretary for War for the explanation he had given on a previous occasion respecting the clothing supplied to British troops in In ha, great misconceotion still existed on the subject. The right hon. and gallant mem ber (General Peel) lira expressed his belief that clothing adapted to the climate of India was supplied to her Majesty's troops in that country at the cost of the East India Company, but it appeared that such was not the case. The men were obliged to pay for the extra cloth ing, and also half the expense of their bedding. The cost was 21. to each soldier, and as there were Low 92,000 Queen's troops in India, they were saddled with a charge of 180,0001. He hoped the right hon. gentle. man would cause this subject to be investigated. He might also state that soldiers on embarkation for India were charged rather more than 21. each for what was called their " sea kit." He had received letters from two soldiers, who informed him that the articles in this kit were charged 50 per cent, more than they could he obtained for elsewhere, and that many of theta were totally useless. Each man for a voyage of two er three months was supplied with nine cakes of pipeclay,fwbiok were said to be sufficient to last fur 12 mouths ; and they had also three boxes of blacking eau!), and two smock frocks which wore never worn at sea. The two charge. to which he had referred, amounting together to 41, awmeroeundtsedd to ucted tw b o y . t h irds of his year's stoppag es f f rom ther income. sold er Be b 's pay, an a l observed placards at the Horse Guards, offering bounties of 3/. and 61. to recruits, but these inducements were calculated to mislead men who enlisted, and who were subjected to such deductions as he had mentioned. The right hos. member for Wilti.hir , had some tires age argued in the country that, al•hough the nom pd ina in l ci p ti a l y ri : s if a soldier was only 13 a-day, it was practically almoet double that amount ; but he ( \in Alcoa) believed that it was not more than one-third. G e neral PEEL ai that se h w e w la teo a r edthsiel:brtjei subjected ec immediately after the question bad been put to him by the bon. ruetuner, and representations had been ma ;e to d tilm On ei th t e i rr e S t i o r p C p ens Campbellto whi c which i s t o h l soldiers arrival in India. The Commons Encl osure Bill B th i r l c l m a g n h d ei, t rn he tni The bill then passed thro ug h committee. Continuance Bill also Militiattee. Act The Consolida t ed Fund (10,000,0000 Bill and the Consolidated Fund (500,0000 Bill were read a second time. The house adjourned at half-past 12 o'clock. DR. LIVINGSTONE AND HIS PUBLISHEIL—Dr. Living stone, we are told, first met Mr. Murray on the deck of a steamer in the Meiiterranean, and the latter was SO charmed with the traveller and his story, that he at ODOO made a bargain with him for lAA book, agreeing to give 2,000 guineas, half of which was paid the author before written, t which,en, and t na h nc e do remainder e obeforethe publication. unprecedented ia a it dd w i a t s io w n success of the work, the worthy Doctor has lance re ceived a large SUM, e ninny authors, professes hinieelf quite satisfied with the liberality of his publisher. —The Bookseller. IN It T l E s of E t it ie Tii 2rth A t E lt. thGealt r fiCE.— a A letter from Gazette, says :-- "At the same time that Corinth " :A9 destroyed, the nei;hbouring villages of Ku:amachi, Ewald* and Kortesa were completely thrown to the ground. T. principal part of Corinth, now so severely visited, wee only built in 1832 ; the former town was destroyed during the wars of independence. It is not :situated near the sea, but on a hill at some distance. The old port is almost filled up with sand, and is only accesaibl• for small craft. The number of persons who, in addi tion to the thirty killed, we re b yr t ab at o jh u e.i t itu 10 1 47 ' "Two of the pieces of cannon taken at Canton," s a y . Atbar Rural, the Pays, "are to be deposited in the Museum of Ar tillery at Paris. They were oast in of Nankin, then directed rc~ - 404