The Sun. — London, England, 1848-02-23 00:00:00

Tbirbi Tiatittton SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Cluck. IMP2RIAL PA iILIA MENT. (THIS DAY.) HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Twelve o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. Sir WILLIAM HEATHCOTE moved that the order of the 17th day of December, 1847, for the sus pension of Standing Order No. 145 be discharged ; that the said Standing Order be suspended, so far only as affects railway Bills ; that no railway Bill be read the first time unless it be presented not later than three clear days after the Committee on Railway Bills shall have reported thereon to the House. Motion agreed to. SECOND READINGS. The following Bills were read a second time, and ordered to be committed : Birkenhead Dock Commissioners (transfer of powers to new Commissioners, effecting arrangements with the Crown, and amendment of Acts) Bill. Birkenhead Dock Commissioners (levying additional rates, and alteration of Birkenhead Dock Rates and Liverpool Dock Rates, and amendment of Acts) Bill. Morley Gas Light Company Bill. STANDING ORDERS. Sir W. lIEATHCOTE brought up the report of the Committee on Standing Orders with respect to private Bills. RIVER DUN NAVIGATION BILL. On the motion of Mr. STRUTT, the second read ing of this Bill was postponed until this day fort night. ROMAN CATHOLIC CHARITABLE TRUSTS BILL. The Earl of ARUNDEL and SURREY pre sented 46 petitions against the further progress of this me2sure, Mr. W. PATTEN also presented a petition signe by 240 of the Roman Catholic clergy and laity to the same effect. Petitions' against the Bill were also presented by Mr. Greene from Lancaster; by Mr. Heywood from Manchester; by Mr. Villiers from Wolverhampton; by Mr. Sheil, by Mr. Scully, by Mr. Morgan, by Captain Pechell from Brighton ;',, and by Sir G. Grey from Haggerstone, in Northumberland, JEWISH DISABILITIES. Petitions against the admission of Jews into Par liament were presented by Mr. Bailey; by Sir J. Duckworth from Exeter ; by Mr. Christy from New castle-upon-Tyne, and by Mr. Adderley from a place in Staffordshire. CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL. The Earl of ARUNDEL and SURREY pre sented a petition in favour of this measure, nume rously signed by Roman Catholic clergy and laity. J E WISH. DISABILITIES. Mr. COWAN presenteA a petition from Edin burgh in favour of the admission of Jews into Par liament. REPEAL ASSOCIATION. Mr. HAMILTON presented a petition praying the House to adopt measures for putting down the Repeal Association, the petitioners being of opinion that the existing evils of Ireland were owing to the existence of a wide-spread conspiracy under the name of the Repeal Association. BANK ACT. Mr. lIASTIE presented a petition from Glasgow, praying the House to remove the restrictions imposed upon commerce by the Bank Act of 1845. SECRET SERVICE MONEY. Colonel SIBTIIORP said that he would upon an early day call the attention of the House to the sub ject of the Secret Service Money—a vote of 39,0001. being take❑ for that purpose, nobody knowing what became of that large sum of money. ROMAN CATHOLIC CHARITABLE TRUSTS point, and he now deliberately told the House that the Foreign , office was in possession of documents relating to Poland, which ought long ago to have been laid before Parliament.—(Rear, hear.) Again, in 1830, upon the accession of the Noble Lord to office by the recognition of a treaty which gave Circassia to Russia, the Noble Lord undid every thing which his predecessors, Lord Aberdeen and the Duke of Wellington, had accomplished. Subse quently the Noble Lord raised Mehemet Ali to the position of an independent Sovereign ; and by after wards assisting that ambitious Pacha in his attack upon Constantinople, the Noble Lord committed a direct act of treachery towards Turkey. He came now to one of the Noble Lord's last acts of treachery which he wished to bring under the judgment of the House. The act in question was the handing over of Turkey to Russia. And with respect to all the charges he had brought against the Noble Lord, he called upon him to defend himself from them ; and if he (Mr. Anstey) failed to prove them, he was ready to submit himself to his vengeance. [lt is right to mention that the motion on which the Hon. Member based his charges against the Secre tary of State for Foreign Affairs, which extended over several pages of the Votes a week or two ago, was not published in the Votes of to-day. The motion on which he framed his address appeared in the fol lowing terms :—" Address for papers, except such documents as have been already laid before the House.'"—Vide notices of motions, p. 71.] The Hon. and Learned Gentlemen then referred at great length to voluminous and various correspondence, on the strength of which he contended that Mr. Urquhart had been most unfairly dismissed by Lord Palmerston, to suit his own ambitious views. He charged him in express and direct terms with making false and contradictory statements to the House in regard to the treaty of Adrianople, with garbling the truth, deceiving his country, endeavour ' ing to hand over Turkey to Russia, and as being guilty of conduct in all these respects which rendered him unfit to fill the high post he now occupied. The Noble Lord had refused to lay before the House certain returns moved for by that Honourable Member, because he knew that they would be in strumental in bringing to condign punishment the Noble Lord who had thus betrayed his country. He charged the Noble Lord with having be trayed the Circassians to a foreign Power, with having deceived the House with false statements upon this subject, and with having practised the same deception upon his colleagues and his Sovereign. All the statements which he had made he undertook to prove in any Committee, whether select or secret. An action had been brought by Mr. Urquhart for a libel published in the organ of the Noble Lord (Lord Palmerston), the Morning Chronicle, and it was admitted by the counsel against the plaintiff, the present Lord Campbell, that the libel was written by Lord Ponsotiby. The rule was made absolute, but further procedings were dropped upon pay ment of the costs of the action. Mr. Fon blanque was another example of the disgraceful connexion of the Noble Lord with the public press of this country. The results of this policy did not fail to show itself. In the year 1839 another war was raging between Mehemet Ali and his Sovereign. The Sultan applied for protection to this country against Mehemet Ali, who was urged on by the Russians. The Sultan offered to place the Dardanelles in the possession of a British and French fleet, and the only answer of the Noble Lord to that application was a severe censure upon the Secretary of the then legation (Mr. Urquhart) for having sent such a proposition, and, in a dispatch to the Tuileries, he proposed that the English and French possession of the Dardanelles should not take place until after the Russians had with drawn from Constantinople. The Noble Lord appeared to have resigned himself with great facility to the occupation of Constantinople by the Russians. The French Government stated in reply, that either with or without England they were determined to prevent the Russian occupation of Constantinople. In the year 1840, the Noble Lord told the House that the French Government had refused to act with England. That statement was false; the French Government had never refused to act with England in preventing the Russian force from entering the Bosphorus. All the plans submitted to France for the prevention of the Russian occupation were transmitted to the Court of St. Peters burgh. When the discovery of this perfidy was; announced in the French Chamber, it was met with a burst of execration, and he (Mr. Anstey) was surprised that the matter ended there, and that the French Government had not refused to hold any further intercourse with so perfidious a person as the Noble Lord. When the treaty of 1840 was called for in this House, the Noble Lord said that he could not produce it, as it was not yet ratified; but he did not tell the House that, contrary to all international law, a clause was introduced into the treaty, to the effect that fulfilment should precede ratification. Since the Noble Lord had come into office this last time he had endeavoured to carry out his objects. The annexation of Cracow was in - timately connected with the question of the Spanish marriages. The question was left a perfectly easy one for him by his predecessor, the - Earl of Aberdeen, who had stipulated that he would not bring forward an English candidate for the hand of the Queen of Spain, if the French Government did not bring forward on their side any person. Upon the accession of the Noble Lord to office, he was asked if he would abide by that agreement ; a whole month was allowed to,:elapse before any answer was returned, and in the meantime efforts were being made at Madrid to bring forward a candidate from the Coburg family. The French Government, knowing full well the former duplicity of the Noble Lord, hastened their own s measures, and finally brought about the marriage of the Queen of Spain in the manner which was already well known to the House and to the country. He was at a loss now to know how to proceed with his details, the cases of treachery he was anxious to bring against the Noble Lord were so numerous. The Noble Lord and his Government entered into a treaty with Persia to protect her against Prussia and Russia ; hut a very little time elapsed after its ratification before the Noble Lord evinced a disposition to depart from the terms of the treaty in favour of Russia. A treaty was entered into with Russia to deprive the rightful Prince of the throne of Persia, and a lengthened cor respondence took place between the Noble Lord and the British Ambassador at the Court of Teheran. upon the subject, which the Noble Lord had taken good care should never find its way to the table of that House. Sir John M'Neil, the British Ambas sador, time after time sent home for instructions, but the Noble Lord never condescended to send any out till hostilities were opened by the Persian troops against an English expedition, which the Noble Lord had sent to the assistance of Russia. What had been the consequence of this do-nothing policy ? Why, for the sake of aiding the Russian Court, which had never evinced a very friendly dis.po sition towards this country, the Noble Lord had sacri ficed the friendship of Persia. With respect to America, through the direct agency of the Foreign-office America had been induced to open hostilities with Mexico and Texas, and English interests had been sacrificed to the usurpations of America. The Noble Lord, moreover, broke up the boundary question, and jeopardized British interests in regard to that matter, and he now called upon the Noble Lord to afford the House and the country some reason or explanation of this gross violation of his duty as a Minister of the Crown. He would say nothing more upon the subject of the treaty of Washington, except to remark that here also they had an in stance of the Noble Lord's disposition to disregard his duty when he had an opportunity of doing so. With regard to the slave trade he had but little to say; Parliament in its wisdom had determined to make an effort to suppress that abominable traffic, but the manner in which the Noble Lord had carried out the wishes of Parliament was anything but satisfactory to him, and he should be glad if the Noble Lord would state faithfully and truly to the House the instructions he had given upon this subject, and at the same time put the House in possession of the exact state of his negotiations with the Government of Brazil upon the subject of the slave trade.— (Hear.) The Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth had stated that the treason of a Minister must be decided upon a different principle to that which regulated such decisions in the case of private individuals ; but he for one did not agree with that opinion. The responsibility of a Minister of the Crown ought to be decided individual, same wa y as th e res p ons ibility of a p r i va t e and he called upon the llouse to adjudge the Noble Lord upon the charges he had telt it to b e hi s d uty to b r i ng aga i nst Dirt in the same spirit. Thanking the House for the attention they had afforded him, he begged to move the resolution of w hi c h h e had given notice. Mr. URQUHART second e d the motion. Mr. S 11, sAid D un4arvan was so near Youghal that he could not help being acquainted with the view.; that the Hon. Member who had so long occupied their attention to-day addressed to the constituency of the latter place ; and the Hon. Mem ber must forgive liirn for expressing his surprise that the Honourable Member, after proving himself on the hustings at the last election to be the most truly Irishman of them all, should so soon have dis missed the country of his adoption for the trammels of foreign politics. The Hon. Member for Youghal had handed over Ireland to the tender mercies of the Hon. Member for Stafford, while the Hon. Member for Stafford, who had circumvented the entire world to make himself familiar with the subject he had given up, had handed over to the Honourable Member for Youghal this tremendous motion upon foreign politics. Now he could not help thinking that it was most unfair in the Honourable Member for Youghal, in sacrificing the Irish peop'.e and the Irish Parlia ment, to enable the Honourable Member for , StafErd to make a terrific onslaught, under an I am)ush, upon the character and reputation of the Nude Lord ra...‘ Foreign Secretary. Coning from the Honourable Member fur Youghal, the attack had lost its point, for the Honourable Member for Stafford, it was well known, had long been frying, through the agency of pamphlets and lecturers, to damage the character of his Noble Friend the Foreign Secretary in the eyes of the English people, and it would have been more in accordance with the old English principle of fair play had the Hon. Member for Stafford himself made the lengthened statement they had just heard against the Noble Lord now that he had an opportunity of meeting the Noble Lord face to face, rather than have taken advantage of the am bush the lion. Member for Youghal had afforded him. Ile had come down to the House, he admitted, to de fend the great actions of his Noble Friend—actions which would bear a prominent place in history— to contend that he had done that for his country which an - English Minister should do, and that in all his actions he had acted as a man ; he was ready to show that his hand had never soiled the great name of England, and that his policy, where ever it had extended, had been pacific in the extreme. But after he had heard the speech of the Hon. Gentleman--after he had heard him accused of fraud upon fraud, and lie after lie—after he had heard the Speaker interpose to preserve the dig nity of the House—after he had heard him wish he could call Mr. Backhouse from the grave, whom he stated Lord Palmerston had suborned to tell a lie and to commit fraud, he had come to the conclusion that the conduct of the lion. Member deserved to be treated with apathy, not, however, without commise ration.— (Hear, hear.) The counsel had been heard. let the client and the witness now come forward and substantiate their charge. His Noble Friend was free from the imputations cast so plentifully upon him.—(Cheers.) Mr. URQUHART admitted if he and his Learned Friend were in the wrong they must be madmen to bring the motion forward; but though they might not now be believed—and he begged to remind the House that there had been times when Parliament had been deluded even in the face of truth—the time would come when the charge that had been brought forward to day, which he firmly believed, would become clearly palpable. The Hon. Gentleman then went on to de fend his conduct, but admitted that after he had been recalled from Turkey, where he held the office of secretary to the legaticn, that he addressed a letter to Lord Palmerston, stating that he had no per sonal feelings of hostility against him. It was only when he found that his (Mr. Urquhart's) conduct had been misrepresented—that he had been maligned by the Noble Lord when he was not in the House to defend himself—that he felt it his duty to come forward and defend himself. The charges that had for the first time been brought forward as a whole to-day had been long whis pered in the Courts of Europe, and even in that House ; and was it not remarkable that he had never stood up in his place and defended himself ? Not long ago the Noble Lord the Member for Mary lebone (Lord D. Stuart) stated that the policy of the Noble Lord towards foreign nations was that of a bully and a coward ; that he oppressed the weak, and was a time-server, but the Noble Lord's opinion seemed now to have undergone a great change. He was prepared to substantiate this allegation—and he called upon the House to let its utmost censure fall upon him if he failed—that changes had been made by the Noble Lord (Lord Palmerston) in the stipulations of the treaty with Turkey, for the purpose of serving the interests of Prussia or Turkey. He appealed to the Speaker in his judicial capacity to see that this charge was investigated, because it was no small matter—it was an impeachment of one of the first Ministers of the Crown. He wished to God that, in this matter, he could be proved an enthusiast and a madman. (Great Laughter.) Honourable Gentlemen might laugh ; what he meant was that he wished to God the had not these things in his mind, and that he did not feel so deeply for his injured country. lie ap pealed to the Speaker not to refuse this prayer. If there was a Whig present who valued the character of that great party—if there was an honest man present—(Laughter)—who valued the alliance of Prussia as well as of France, to support this inquiry. Nay, more, he appealect to the admirers of free-trade, for it had been said with truth that the conduct of the Noble Lord prevented its proper carrying out, and made the slave trade one great cause of contention with other countries, to grant the inquiry. But he was not moving for an inquiry—(Laughter)—he was simply supporting a motion for papers as a preliminary step.—(Hear, hear.) The papers moved fur extended over sixteen years, and could not be disposed of in an ordinary debate. Lrrd D. STUART moved the adjournment of the debate. Lord PALMERSTON then rose amidst general cries for a division. He should not lose his temper, neither should he disgrace himself by violating the ordinary courtesies of life and the conduct usually adopted by gentlemen.—(Loud cheers.) He at once unreservedly and fully denied every one of the charges—he repelled them all. If the question were merely one between the Honourable Member and himself he did not know that he should have condesconded to reply to them—nay, he did not think he should disgrace himself by even repeitln the.n.—Loud cheers.) But, if it were the pleasure of the House to institute an inquiry, he should not object to it— nay more, he had not the slightest objection to an inquiry into his conduct from the moment he entered the public service up to the moment he was addressing them, including the inspection of every document in the Foreign-office.— (Hear, hear, and loud cheers.) The Honourable and Learned Gen tleman had so mistated facts, so jumbled them, that he considered he was perfectly justified in calling his speech not unlike a kaleidoscope out of order.— (Roars of laughter.) Mr. Backhouse was quite incapable of telling untruth for the sake of any man. The charge made against that gentleman he had never expected to hear in the House of Com mons.—(Hear.) He should not now enter into any foreign policy that took place before the llonourable and Learned Gentleman was born— (Laughter)—nor before he entered official life. He confessed he was utterly at a loss to understand how the Elonourable and Learned Gentleman could conceive that the fall cf the diffe rent nations of the world depended upon his mere caprice.—(llear, hear.) The, events spoke for themselves. England was a Russian pro vince, and annihilated as a nation. Having once made a good speech, was made a charge of treachery against him. Now no one could levy such a charge at the door of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman.—(Con tinued laughter.) Anterior to the treaty of Adrian ople, he considered, that Turkey having violated some of her treaties with Russij, had good cause to proceed against her. Unfortunately Turkey acted under the advice of bad and evil counsellors in the matter. The Noble Lord was proceeding to enter snore into detail on this matter, when The SPEAKER interrupted him, and announced that the debate must stand adjourned until to morrow, amidst some laughter. The House adjourned precisely at Six o'clock. the Bid now in progress; and in justice to the reasonable expectations of the proprietary, the directors would omit no exertion to accomplish it. The engineer's (Mr. Brunel's) report was also read. It stated generally that circumstances hail concurred materially to retard the progress of the works. Every endeavour had been made to keep down the expenditure with the least possible derangement of the equal and proportionate advance of the different portions; but in a line of such extent, and comprehending works of such varied character, some parts would unavoidaNy be in arrear, and some would be completed before they could be rendered available. Generally speaking, those works upon which the most chance of contingencies or unforeseen difficulties might be supposed, were pro ceeded with sufficiently to render their completion cer tain, and to remove any doubts of the Swansea Tunnel, about one•third had been completed, and no new diffi• culties or expenses could be anticipated. The Newport 'runnel and the adjoining works were also nearly com pleted. The works between Chepgow and Cardiff were in a state to be opened this year if desirable, and those to Swansea in the following spring. East of Chepstow, the opening of the lino raustdepend upon the completion of the Gloucester and Forest of I)ean Railway, which may be effected in the course of the summer of 1849. From Swansea to Llanelly the works might be completed in I the same time as those from Cardiff to Swansea. Be- yond Lianelly there had been more delay, but the works were in progress to a short distance beyond the junction with the Haverfordwest branch. _ The CLIATRMAN, in moving that the report be received, adopted, printed, and circulated amongst the members, observed at some lenght upon its details. He said that, as the pressure upon the mon,y market had passed away, it was time to press on the works as actively as pos- sible. With that view, the directors proposed to make a call of 51. per share, which would bring into operation the borrowing powers of the company, after which the proprietors would not be likely to have further calls made upon them. A discursive conversation then ensued upon the several topics of the report, but nothing material was elicited, except an earnest protest on the part of the Chairman (with whom the meeting cordially concurred) against any Government or legislatorial interference with the accounts or business management of the com pany. The resolution, for the adoption, &c., of the report, was unanimously agreed to. The directors retiring by rotation were re elected, and the usual routine business having been disposed of, the meeting separated. TENBY, SAUNDERSFOOT, AND SOUTH WALES RAILWAY COAPANY.- SOUTH WAILS RAILWAY. (THIS DAY.) The sixth half-yearly general meeting of the share holders ot this company was held this day, at the Pad dington station of the Great Western Railway; Mr. C. Russell i❑ the chair. _ - _ The SECRETARY (Mr. Armstrong) read the report of the directors, of which the leading points were, that during the late period of monetary pressure the board had given their most careful attention to a prudent out lay of the funds at their disposal, so as to maintain their engagements, and at the same time refrain from making heavy calls upon the proprietors. They congratulated the company upon their success to this extent, that they had been able to meet all liabilities without stoppage of the works in progress or delay of the final completion of the line. The call payable in July last furnished the means of such progress, and the directors were enabled to postpone any further call until January, and then they limited the demand to 31. per cent. The engineer's report showed in detail the course which had been adopted for these purposes, but, briefly, the directors had thought it prudent to promote the steady construction of the heaviest works, to the east of Swansea, so that the line from Gloucester, in continuation of the Great Western Railway should be finished at the earliest time. The works between Swansea and Carmarthen, and oven be yond Carmarthen, had proceeded, although somewhat slowly, with such progress as the finances of the com• piny would justify. The directors were not unmindful of the alvaii:agc which would accrue from the early completion of the line, and the proprietors might rely upoli their hei.pting that object steadily in view, whilst they felt it their duty to make the calls as little onerous as possible, especially in times of commercial embar rassment. As the time limited by the Act of Incorpo ration for the construction of the line and the com pulsory powers for the purchase of land would expire in August of: this year, ea memorial, in the form prescribed by the General Act of Parliament, pessed for the purpose of enabling railway companies to extend the period fixed for the completion of their works, had been presented to the Railway Commis sioners, praying to be alluwed the privileges of the general Act, and there was no doubt that the application N,ould be complied with. In pursuance of the assurance given by the directors lastyear,appli a c t hatitone was s et b in ei gs in ngm a libr d e eto ua r ry and arna. merit this session fur power to raise, during the con struction of the line, the rate of interest, on calls paid up, from 4to 5 per cent. This was the sole object of , THE SUN, 1,0141,014 T, riVE rINESD A. Y EVAN 1 N fi t 1E81%10'41 , 11° 1414 i week to the local agent, requestieg him to get the evilence in the case ready, but from some came or other those letters never reached their destination, and as the witnesses for the petitioners ha.l only arrived in town this morning, he hat to ask the Committee to favour him with an adjournment till to-morrow. Mr. EDWIN JAMES resisted the application, and, The COMMITTEE decided that the case ought to be gone into at once. Mr. Sergeant WRANGIIIAM then proceeded to open the case as one of bribery and eorruption. Treating also formed part of the case that the petitioners would endea vour to make out against the sitting Member. William Hartley, a freeman of Lancaster, proved that he was present at the festivities referred to by the Learned Counsel. He was brought into Lancaster on the night before the poll with a number of other freemen, who, like himself, were rather fresh, and that on the following day he received 355. from Wyse, upon the understanding that he should vote for Mr. Gregson. He voted for Mr. Gregson and Mr. Greene. John Wasey, a freeman of Lancaster, deposed that he had charge of the voters at the Victoria Hotel, and on the day of the election he remembered hearing Hartley say to another voter, " See, I am going to vote for Greg son, and I have got this," exhibiting some gold and silver. John Capon, another freeman, proved that before and during the election, he was sumptuously entertained at Dobson's and the Victoria Hotels free of expense. He received a sovereign from some person whom he did not know before going to the poll. He voted for Mr. Greg son, and after he had polled ho received 50s. from the same party who gave him the sovereign. He also got a ticket for 55., which he afterwards exchanged for a bottle of rum. (THIS DAY.) The ordinary half-yearly meeting of the proprietors of this company was held this afternoon, at the offices, Gresham Rooms, Basinghall•street. Thomas Chadwick, Esq., occupied the chair. The report which was read stated that, from the late pressure in the money market, the .works on the South Wales Railway had not proceeded as rapidly as had been anticipated, in consequence of which the directors of this company had availed themselves of the Act passed at the commencement of the present session of Parliament, and , had obtained from the Railway Commissioners an extension of the time allowed for making the line for two years. Since the last meeting Mr. Hay, the engineer, had resurveyed the line, in order to find whether some reduction in the estimated cost of construction could not be made, and also some improvement in the gradients, and the directors were justified is stating that the capital subscribed for would be amply sufficient to complete the line, The Pem brokeshire Iron and Coal Company were proceeding very successfully in opening up the resources of their iron and coal mines, and they intended erecting blast fur naces during the ensuing summer; and as soon as the furnaces were got into working order, and the col liers properly opened, the directors believe that sufficient income would be derived from the tolls and harbour dues to balance the interest now paid by this company for the purchase of that undertaking. The directors had obtained the services of a gentlemen as Secretary, in conjunction with the Pembrokeshire Iron and Coal Company, who had consented for the present to accept a very limited salary. The directors, in consequence of the works remaining in abeyance for the present, had agreed to accept only a moiety of the sum of 5001. which was voted for their services. Some other evidence of a similar nature was put in, and the Committee then adjourned till to-morrow. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. ROUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 22. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack at Five o'clock. The statement of accounts showed the receipts to be 30,4251. Bs. Bd., and the expenditure 27,4911. 3s. 5d., leaving a balance of 2,934/. ss. 3d. After a short statement by the CHAIRMAN, the report and accounts were unanimously received and adopted. John Laurie, Esq.; Patrick Andrew, Esq., and Thomas Longbourne, Esq., were re-elected directors of the company, and Lewis Pocock, Esq., auditor. A vote of thanks was then passed to the Chairman, and the meeting separated. Lord KENYON presented sixteen petitions against the removal of Jewish disabilities. The Earl of RODEN presented several petitions praying for the extension of scrip, aral schools in Ireland ; also petitions against denunciations from the altar. were endeavouring to suppress it in another.--(Hear, hear.) In 1814, when, at the treaty of Paris, we proposed I the abolition of the slave trade, he remembered M. I Talleyrand saying that he fully believed in cur sincerity. But what would he. or any one of coalmen sense, say now? Why, either that we were the greatest hypocrites, or, if sincere, we must be mad. It was, he understood, to be proposed that an application should be male to the French to release us front the obligation we were under with them to suppress the slave-trade. lle did not envy the Minister who might propose such an application. If such a determivatioa were adopted, they west give up all hope of suppressing the slave-trade. After years of noble exertion it would be a disgrace and shame to this country; and what could be expected from every part of the civilised world but a dismal hiss of scorn and indig nation?—(Hear, hear.) He had only further to move for the returns which he had mentioned, and which would show the number of vessels captured by the dif ferent squadrons of different nations during recent years. The Earl of AUCKLAND commenced by saying that there could be no difficulty in giving the returns. He was anxious, however, to say a few words in corro. bciration of what had fallen from the Noble Lord; and he was the more desirous to do this, as it enabled him to pay a deserved tribute to the gallant officer in com mand of the squadron on the coast of Africa, and whose arrangements for the efficiency and health of the squa dron were beyond every praise. In the last letter he received from Sir Charles 4:lam, that gallant officer stated that he had now finished the first year of his command, and he should be enabled to show more prizes and fewer deaths than during any preceding similar pe riod. The per tentage of deaths had been reduced during the last year from 5 per cent. in 1845, to 2 per cent. in 1847; and the number of invalids had heen re duced in proportion. The Island of Ascension had been made a place of sanitary resort, and no vessel was now allowed to remain more than two years on the station. — (Hear, hear.) With respect to the general question, he must say that he thought it would be a great blow to civilization if they withdrew their squadron from the coast, and allowed that system to be revived which so much was nos done to check and put an end to. Lord STANLEY should not have said a word had it ' not been for a misapprehension on the part of the Noble Earl as to the opinions he had expressed upon this sub ject on a former occasion. lie thought it right to say, that the sentiments he had expressed on that former occasion were curiously identical with the opinions ex pressed to-night by the Noble Lord. He had then said, that if he had to chooie as a means of putting down the slave trade between the admission of slave-grown sugar and the continuance of the squadron on the coast of Africa, he should, as least likely to prove effective, pre fer a measure of financial prohibition to the continuance of the squadron. What he intended to say was, that he very much feared that the legislation of 1846 would be calculated to destroy all that the fleets could effect; and this was the point which the Noble Earl appeared to him to have misunderstood. With respect to the returns, he was not prepared to arrive at the conclusion that the number of captures was a test of the efficiency of the squadron. On the contrary, the more captures that were made, the stronger proof there was that the trade was flourishing and increasing. Into that part of the subject, however, he would not go any further at pre sent, as he only rose to correct a misapprehension. The Bishop of EXETER wished to express his hope that if it was the decided system of this country to promote the admission of slave-grown sugar, all checks would be taken off the free importation of slaves from Africa. It was obvious that such checks only caused additional suffering to the unhappy slaves. Earl GREY emphatically denied that it was the policy of her Majesty's Government to encourage the growth or admission of slave-grown sugar. They maintained the argnment, that if the sugars of other countries were admitted at all, it was practically im possible to exclude slave-grown-sugar. It was proved to demonstration that Cuba sugar came in as the pro duce of other countries, and that we could not avoid that consequence. It was proved also that the treaties of this country wholly precluded our checking such im portation; and, indeed, the only occasion on which he had ever known a British Minister act in diplomacy like a pettifogging attorney was when a Noble Lord tried to get over that difficulty. The general subject, however, was ore of too great importance to be discus sed on this occasion.. Lord DENMAN was not sure that he entirely under stood the Right Rev. Prelate in the same sense as the Noble Earl appeared to understand him; but certainly if the effect of the admission of slave-grown swears was such as had been depicted, he should be inclined' to agree with the Right Rev. Prelate that it would be more de sirable to the cause of humanity to withdraw the squa dron. Upon that point, however, ho was not convinced; but he was most desirous to give his thanks to the Noble Earl for bringing forward this important subject. Ile thought the thanks of the whole country were due to the Noble Earl, and he earnestly hoped his speech would weigh with the country. When he (Lord Denman) re collseted what had been done in that House on the sugar question two years ago, he earnestly wished this state• ment had then been made. The question had been brought forward for diecUssion in that house on a Sa- turday, and that Saturday the oth of August. It had never been properly considered. Noble Lords were required in Scotland the day after—(Great laughter) —and no one attended to discuss the question. The Bishops of London and Oxford had absolutely been un aware that the subject was coming forward. He trusted, however, that the matter would now be revived and re• opened. Free trade was not implicated. Free trade had no relation to the slave trade ; it aimed at opening a field for fair competition, but not a field for competi tion by the islave•owner against those paying for free labour. With regard to the slave trade his opinion was a strong one that that abominable traffic was piracy. Brazil and England agreed by treaty in 1820 so to treat it. In 1823 the United States offered Mr. Canning to deal with it on that basis, and it was a serious oversight on the part of that great statesman Vita he did not see the advantage to be derived from that arrangement. In the Acts abolishing the slave trade we described it as " piracy, robbery, and felony," and surely it was so de scribed because it was intended to be so considered. He must say that he felt great distress at the thought that a subjsct of a country which had abolished the slave trade should be allowed to pursue a suit in a British court of justice on account of acts done in the abolition of the traffic. That seemed to him to be an anomaly in our law deserving consideration, and he hoped attention would be directed to it. At that hour, however, he would not pursue the subject further. Lord ASHBURTON wished to remark that the offer of America, through Mr. Rush, was, that the slave trade should be dec!ared piracy by the law of nations— (Hear, hear)—and that the answer of Mr. Canning was, We have already made it piracy us affects our own subjects; do you so likewise; but we have no right to impose laws upon other nations." That argument, as it seemed to him, was founded on good reasons.—([fear.) With respect to what had been said by the Noble Lord about the admission of slave-grown sugar, he wished him to bear in mind that the mischief was done, and that without an immediate review of the law of 1846 our colonies must be inevitably ruined. If their Lord ships would go into inquiry upon the' subject, they would find that our colonies, even with a partial protection, could not compete with slave-holding countries. There was no denying the fact—no shirking the question — that after the millions laid out upon the slave trade, we were absolutely at this time stimulating and promoting it by our legislative measures. Lord DENMAN was aware of the fact the Noble Earl had stated respecting Mr. Canning; but what he felt was, that Mr. Canning had lost a great opportunity in not accepting the proposal. The Earl of ABERDEEN : wishedished only to say a word as to an allusion which the Noble Earl the Secretary of the Colonies bad made to an act in which he took part, and which he had strangely chosen to stigmatise as "pettifogging." He (Lord Aberdeen) would only say that the act alluded to received the sanction of the House, and that his own conscience had been entirely satiified respecting it. Subsequent reflection convinced him that the course he then pursued was entirely correct. Earl GREY expressed his regret that he had used the word complained of. He had no doubt that the Noble Lord had acted on this, as on all other occasions, with that high sense of honour which always influenced him. At the same time, be had been sorry to see this country placed in the position in which the Government of which the Noble Lord was a member had placed her. After a few words from the Earl of lIARROWBY, which were almost entirely inaudible, the motion was agreed to. Their Lordships adjourned at Half-past Seven. BILL. The second reading of this Bill was postponed til this day week, on the motion of Mr. C. ANSTEY. SUPPLY. On the motion of Sir G. GREY, it wai ordered that the House should go into a Committee of Supply on Friday next. WAYS AND MEANS. The Committee of Ways and Means was also postponed until Friday next. CONSOLIDATED FUND (8,000,000 l) BILL. This Bill was read a second time. IMPEACHMENT OF LORD PALMERSTON. Mr. C. ANSTEY then rose to move for a return of papers and documents upon which it was his in tention to found his charges against the Noble Lord at the head of the Foreign Department. The ex istence of the present defenceless and exposed condi tion of this country and its apprehended consequences were entirely chargeable on the Noble Lord. In the year 183.5 he allowed the Czar of Russia to maintain in the Baltic a fleet of twenty-eight ships of the line. The silence of the Noble Lord with respect to Russia was to him as significant as the plainness of his speech upon other occasions with respect to France. This motion had been called a " monster motion," hut the great neglect which had made that motion necessary was in his opinion far snore monstrous still. The Noble Lord had made it his business to deceive the Howe of Commons, to misleal the Crown and its advisers with false statements, by the suppression of papers, the mutilation of d'opatches, the entire per version of truth, and the entire substitution of falsehood.—(l-tear, hear.) These were the ma terial charges which he brought against the Noble Lord, and which he called upon the House to cause an inquiry to be made into. The Honourable Member then proceeded to review the history of the Polish nation, end the guarantees which were given to it by the treaty of Vienna, that it should be pre served from Russian influence, and that a regular system of representative government should be esta blished, before which the " budget" should be annually brought under consideration, and other measures providing for the liberty of the Poles. All these promises had, however, been disregarded, and the Noble Lord (Lord Palmerston) was mainly charge able for the present disastrous state of the Polish nation. The Noble Lord, during the period of the usurpation of Poland by Russia, refused to join in the proposal made by France to remonstrate with Russia on the subject, and in Isis communications to the Court of the Tuileries, stated that if France took any steps in the matter the good understanding be tween the two countries would be destroyed. Under invectives from the Noble Lord, Sweden discontinued the armament of her navy, which she intended to employ as a diversion in favour of Poland. Persia was also prepared to attack Russia, but was prevented from doing so by the threat of war made by the Noble Lord. Turkey was prepared to send 200,000 horse into Russia for the purpose of assisting Poland in the struggle, but through the representations of the Noble Lord, Turkey disbanded her troops. Such was the interference of the Noble Lord against Poland, and what did he do in answer to ap plications for assistance from the Poles ? He refused to do anything in the matter. There could be no doubt that deception had been practiced at the Foreign-office, and he hand a right to have the Committee he asked for. The fall of Poland was assisted by the English Foreign-office, while the freedom of Cracow was prominently violated without the Noble Lord at the head of that department doing anything more than protest against the proceeding. That was the course the Noble Lord took with regard to the aggressions of Russia, and he should be prepared to show that the Noble Lord entertained precisely the same views of n is. duty in 1831, when Austria was pur• suing an a ggress i ve po li cy t owar d s thi s coun t r y. Austria was, however, ready at a subsequent period to act with the Noble Lord in re-establishing the freedom and independence of Poland ; but the Noble Lord again wilfully neglected his duty, heeding not a the representations o f Austria; in process of time, Austria was compelled toaba nd abandon the cause of Poland, and became a party to the unholy league promoted by Prussia and Russia. Over and over again was the fate and condition of Poland brought under the consideration of the British Parliament by private Members , but the Nobl e Lord invariably succeeded in throwing such obstacles in the way of their movements as entirely to defeat their object. When the Noble L ord was in office befo re , li r. Patrick Stewart moved that a British Consul should be sent to Cracow, but upon a promise that a Consul should be sent out the motion was withdrawn. That promise had never been fulfilled; and he would ven ture to assert that the Noble Lord never in tended to fulfill it. Oss the 22d of March 1837, the Hon. Member for Marylebone reminded the Noble Lord of his promise, when the Noble Lord told th e H ouse th a t h e h a d n ot sent a Consul, because his views and opinions had been changed upon the subject. Subsequently the Noble Lord, the present Member for Marylebone, after informing the Noble Lord at the head of they Foreign Department that he intended to make a motion affecting the Noble Lord's character— Lord PALMERSTON—No such thing. Mr. ANSTEY would wave that part of his state ment relating to the Noble Lord's character, and come at once to what the Noble Lord, the Member for Marylebone, did do on the occasion to which he was referring. The Noble Lord brought forward his motion, but the Noble Lord the Foreign Secre tary took care not to be present; and ulti mately, by aid of his friends, the Noble Lord at the head of the Foreign-office defeated the motion by securing a "count out" of the House. In the sime year the Noble Lord the Member for Mary lebone lost his seat in that House, and since then the Noble Lord had not found an opportunity of bringing the matter again before the House. He the subject at thi s Anstey), however, _had. taken up LATEST FROM PARIS. Shortly after five o'clock a collision took place in the Rue St. Honor& A squadron of dragoons charged the people sword in hand and a great slaughter took place. The conflict was going on at the time the last accounts left. Several wounded had been taken to the hospitals. There is a large park of artillery in the Champ de Mars, in front of the Ecole Militaire, with officers and men in attendance ready for action. _ All the money securities, &c. of the Bank of France have been removed to the caves of that Establishment, so as to be in safety in the event of the building being destroyed. In several of the gas manufactories, the workmen have declared that they will not suffer any gas to be lighted during the night. This is a rww and most important element in the conduct of popular insurrections, and may lead to most unlooked for results. Throughout Paris the feeling is bitter against M. Guizot ! A bas Guizot ! Las tetede Guizot ! A vingt cinq Francs la tete deGuizot lure the popular cries The movement is not confined to the merely poor and. destitute. The opponents of the troops are for the most port composed of tradesmen and the batter son of mechanics, and in many instances masters have shn up their establishments, in order to afford their men an cpportunity of taking part in this manifestation. At half past six when the last accounts left, the people had obtained possession of the Rue de Rivoli, (close to the Tuileries), and were unpaving it,usingthe paving-stones to form barricades. The hotel of M. Guizot was filled with soldiers. It had been repeat edly attacked. ELECTION COMMITTEES. (THIS DAY.) PEEBLESHIRE. The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the allegations contained in the petition presented again st the return of Mr. Forbes Mackenzie, met for the first time this morning; Lord Robert Grosvenor in the cha ir. Mr. Andrews, Q.C., with whom was Mr. Forsyth, ap peared for the petitioners, and Mr. Sergeant Wrangham fur the sitting Member. Mr. ANDREWS opened the case for the petitioner, Mr. Carmichael. This ease was principally one of scrutiny, and the evidence which the petitioners was prepared to put in would prove that Mr. Mackenzie's majority of seventy-seven was made up of faggot end fictitious votes. The Learned Gentleman was proceeding to call a witness named Scott, who voted at the election, to prove that his vote was bad, but he was interrupted by Mr. Sergeant Witartmum, who objected to the exami nation of the witness on the ground that his vote was not challenged in the Sheriff's Court, or when it was tendered at the election. Election Committees, he said, in cases of scrutiny, stood in the position of a court of appeal, and no testimony could be: admitted which had not been tendered and rejected in the inferior court. The decision of this point was adjourned till to morrow. LYME REGIS. This Committee re-assembled at the usual hour this morning ; Lord Ashley in the chair. The CHAIRMAN informed the parties that the Com mittee thought the proceedings had• been unnecessarily protracted ; and they, therefore, hoped counsel would bring the case to a conclusion as early as possible. Mr. Sergeant KINGLAKR was engaged the whole of the morning in bumming up the case for the sitting Member. The Committee adjourned, without coming to any decision, till to-morrow. KINSALE. This Committee re-assembled at the usual hour this morning; Mr. Bouverie in the chair. Dr. Edward Jago, the gentleman so often referred to by the witnesses for the petitioners, stated that he was a ❑ative of Kinsale. The constituency of the borough consisted of 216, of whom 115 promised him to vote for Mr. Guinness. The 4,0001. lodged at the bank was not used for the purposes of bribery, but it was deposited as a guarantee against the insinuations of the opposite party, who wanted to make out that Mr. Guinness was a needy ad venturer. To show that the 4,0001. was not intended to be applied to illegal purposes, he might mention that the banker in whose hands it was placed was a warm sup porter of Mr. Watson. After the election he received two sums of 5001. and 2001. from Mr. Guinness, 3501. of which was paid away in the legal expenses of the elec tion. The evidence of the woman Ryan relative to his having been at Sisk's public-house during the shaving •scene was false. He was not in the house till very late on the day of the election, and he denied k;ving ever paid the shaving bill. The Committee adjourned at two o'clock. to enable Members to be present at the debate on Mr. C. Austey's motion. LANCASTER. The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the allegations contained in the petition presented against the return of Mr. Gregson met for the first time this morning; Mr. Deedes in the chair. Mr. Sergeant Wrangham and Mr. Wordsworth ap peared for the petitioners, and Mr. Edwiu James for the sitting Member. Mr. Sergeant WRINGIIAM said that some unforeseen cirtumstances had arisen within the last few days to prevent his being prepared to go sit once into the case of the petitioners. Letters were sent down liwt TURNPIKE TRUSTS. The Earl of RADNOR presented a petition pray ing for the consolidation of turnpike trusts, and for the introduction of a measure regulating parish highways. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said the subject was under the consideration of the Government, and that a measure would be introduced for the regula tion of parish highways. CRIME AND OUTRAGES (IRELAND) ACT. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE, in moving for a return of all arms delivered up or seized under the provisions of the recent Act in Ireland, stated that the operation of the Act had been satisfactory, and that a great number of arms had been delivered up to the authorities. REGISTRATION OF MORTGAGES (IRELAND). • The NOBLE MARQUIS then moved for certain returns of the incumbrances registered on landed property in Ireland. The Earl of ELLENBOROIJGII thought it would be desirable to have an accurate return of the various sums advanced on the security of landed pro perty in Ireland, and of the amounts at present remaining unpaid of such advances. Earl F ITZ WILLIAM complained of the expenses incurred by these encumbered estates getting into the Court of Chancery. The LORD CHANCELLOR reminded the Noble Earl that it was in consequence of the faults of the landlords of Ireland that the estates got into Chancery. They burdened their estates, neglected to pay up the interest, and got their properties into such a state that they could not manage them themselves, and that the incumbrancers were, in self-defence, obliged to apply to the Court of Chancery. After a few words from the Marquis of Clanricarde, Earl Fitzwilliam, and Lord Campbell, the motion was agreed to. COMMITTEE ON COMMERCIAL DISTRESS. The Marquis of LAN SDO WNE moved that a message be sent to the House of Commons, requesting the House to permit certain Members to be examined before the Committee on Commercial Distress. HEALTH OF THE AFRICAN SQUADRON. The Earl of ABERDEEN, in allusion to the re turns of deaths in the squadron stationed on the coast of Africa to suppress the slave trade, com plained that that squadron had been much misrepre sented. He regretted to see that, in consequence of the recent commercial changes, a partial change had taken place in the public mind on the subject of the slave trade. He regretted to find that suggestions were made by persons supposed to be in the confidence of the Government which would not some years since have been listened to, and therefore he thought it most advisable that some declaration should be elicited from the Government. His Noble Friend below him had ms the first night of the session been represented to have said that so great were the horrors of the mid dle passage, and so numerous the deaths in our squadron, that he would willingly see that squadron withdrawn from the African coast. There could be no doubt that the sufferings of the saves were augmented in consequence of the necessity of concealment, but they might, he thought, hope that in a short time the trade would be put an end to. The mortality in the squadron had been greatly ex• aggerated. With these precautions, the climate of the coast of Africa was not more injurious than any other tropical climate. Its unhealthiness had been greatly exaggerated. No doubt there was a very lamentable loss of life in that squadron, but it was not such as to induce us to give up our efforts and to withdraw our squadron from the west coast of Africa. The injurious effects of the climate might be diminished by due pre caution, and they had a right to expect that those precautions should be used rather than that the squadron should be withdrawn. In 1842 he had indulged in sanguine hopes of the suppression of the slave-trade. At that time ho f 4oT r e6s e hrh: m egae General Valdez was Governor of Cuba, and, in consequence of his exertions, the importation of slaves had been diminished from 13,000 to 3,000 per annum. General Valdez was removed, and succeeded by General O'Donnell, under whose go vernment the import increased to 8,000 in 1843, and to 10,000 in 1844. At the same time the im port of slaves into the Brazils was increased. At that time Captain Denman proposed a plan for the destruction of the slave trade which he had, when in office, adopted, and which consisted in maintaining such a blockade as should stop all exportation of slaves from the coast of Africa. This plan had been acted on in 1845, and the consequence was that not more than six cargoes of slaves, amounting to 1,300 in number, had arrived in Cuba. This proved the benefit that had been derived from the employment of the squadron on the coast of Africa. In 1846, the Commissioners of the Havannah wrote on October 7, after having in their monthly reports stated that no ship had arrived from the coast of Africa with cpac theaol nr a seno r esst t e shi ro : dea , fderf f i t ri; c,ne a , ptg t ataone t ntrhrdhtdet importation thereyht added, eo d dyrn i do d efisi dnaa n t it,p o dto.po t ,tec h ltbal h e euer e a rbe erdat derivedwr o aine f dnor a e any slave dealers enter ing . into engagements, and were much surprised at it, ifynote t sr h eobh : fea t secv r enoi aenndamotei seems n been eui singlene l p ng n . Commissioners reduced to a low amount i n 1845 et , n8tt went on to suggest reasons why there might be a renewal of the trade, but our own legislation had tended to dimi nish it. With respect to Porto Rico, there had been no dealing in slaves in 1846, and that was owing in a great measure to the praiseworthy conduct of the Governor. The British Consul there wrote to him in June, 184 G, and said there had been no slave transactions since his arrival there. In July, 1846, he wrote again, and said he trusted he (Lord Aberdeen) would be satisfied that there would be no longer any dealings in slaves whilst the present Governor remained there. In Brazil, in 1845, the number of slaves imported was 16,000, but from 1835 to 1840 the average number amounted to nearly 100,000 a year; and he was much inclined to think that a considerable number of the 16,000 were imported from the east coast of Africa, where the squadron had not been effectually employed; but, perhaps, one or two' more vessels on the Mozambique coast would suppress that traffic. He had stated enough to show that our efforts had been attended with gratify ing results in 11845 and 1846: what might be stated during the last year he trembled to think of. Of course the Government were in possession of information on the subject before now. Independent:of our exertions, there were other circumstances of the most promising nature; for after years of remonstrance, the Portuguese Go vernment had changed its policy and discouraged the slave trade. They had employed, under the late treaty, a squadron to co-operate with ours; and in 1845 they had taken 11 or 12 slave vessels. He did not know . what they had done in 1846, but ho int e n ded moving for a return applying to that year. The chief officers employed in that squadron were entitled to our respect for the zeal they had manifested. S o again, the United States squadron captured six vessels in 1845. Ho should also move for a more correct return of what they had done since. And during the last few years we had had a French squadron of equal amount with our own acting with us. He considered this a roost valuable and im portant change. Instead of that system of search which had led to so much dissatisfaction we had now a squa dron aiding our efforts to suppress the trade. Altogether it presented an example of a most encouraging chit ratter.—(Hear, hear.) A valuable 'part of the French convention was the condition which enabled us to destroy the slave factories on the coast, for, by making treaties with the chiefs we Were able to destroy those settle ments, and he believed forty-three were already done away with.—(Hear, hear.) The French had a black corps in Senegal, seasoned to the climate, who were em ployed in this work. He had bean a little disappointed since he left office, a year and a half ago, at not knowing any further results of this co-operation of the French; and he should also move for returns of what had been done by the French squad ron. He did not think our intentions, or the measures we adopted on the coast, had had fair play.—(Hear, hear.) We were now encouraging the slate-trade in one hemisphere while we HOUSE OF CO,ll MONS, Feb. 22. SECRET COMMITTEES OF INQUIRY INTO THE ARMY AND NAVY AND REVENUE EXPENDITURE OF THE COUNTRY. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then rose to propose the appointment of two Committees ; the first to inquire into the expenditure on account of the army, navy, and ordnance ; and the second into the micellaneous expenditure of the country, and to report their observations thereon to the House. lie said he had deemed it advisable to make both of the motions together, and to preface all the observations he had to make with respect to them into one address-- the one he now rose to make. It had been usual on the part of the House to appoint Committees of inquiry into the income and expenditure of the company, with a view to amendment. In the present circumstances of the country the Go vernment had deemed it expedient to pro pose these inquiries. He confessed that he had not seen the increased expenditure of the country without much uneasiness, and as blame might be attributed to the Government, it was due he thought to them and to the country to institute such an in quiry. The lion. Gentleman the Member for Mon trose, who had always taken an active part in the discussions on these subjects, had expressed himself in favour of the appointment of these Committees, adding that the circumstances required such an hives titration. The expenditure of the country , from 1835 to 1847, had increased from 11,700,000 1 . to 17,300,0001. The increase in the army during that time had been small ; in the navy it had been nearly 3,500,0001., and in the ordnance more than double the cost of that department in 1835. These facts formed, he thought, a fit subject for inquiry. Ile had no doubt but this increased expen diture had been called for by the wants of the country, end it should be borne in mind that the expenditure that had taken place had received the sanction of the House. The expenditure that had taken place had re received the sanction of the various sessions of Parlia ment. No division, he believed, had taken piace on any material vote proposed by the Oovernment ; nay, more, 4 very considerable portion of the increased expenditure had been pressed upon the different Governments by individual and inde• pendent Members of the House. He recollected when he was Secretary to the Admiralty that the insuffi• ciency of the armaments was complained of, and augmentations strongly recommended. He did not consider either the past or present Govern mtea ts were to blame for the increased ex' peryiiture that had taken place.—(Hear, hear.) The lion. Member for Montrose suggested that it would be more important to appoint a Finance Com" mittec to go into the whole question of the expendi' ture. The Government, however, thought that in so wide an inquiry, no such beneficial result could be obtained as could be obtained by limiting the inquiry. It was also suggested that a Committee, should be appointed to inquire into the collection et the revenue and the whole financial condition of the country. The Government, at the commencement of the session, thought that it would be better to postpone an inquiry of this extent as there were some very imporiant Committees to be appointed to in' quire into other matters. Her Majesty's tern were now of opinion that the time bed arrived for the appointment of the Committees of which he had given notice, and to refer to those Committees the estimates which had been laid upon the table of the House by bar Ms' jesty's Government. It was desirable that the House should know that the increase in the estimates did not arise from an actual increase in the numbers of the army or navy, but arose from the increased pay to the petty officers and seamen, and for providing better accommodation for the men themselves. The distribution of the forces had also been commented upon by some Hon. Members, and it was not desir able that this subject should also be considered 11 the Committee to be appointed. He did not think it would be wise to follow too closely the precedent! of former times with respect to the appointment of these Committees. He did not think that the or pointment of these Committees would show any, thing like a desire, on the part of her Majesty'' , Government, to throw the responsibility of the estimates upon the Committee. The appointment of similar Committees upon previous occasions bl other Governments did not show in them any desire to shrink from responsibility; nether was it I °, in the present case. Her Majesty's Ministers hel proposed such estimates as they thought proper, and by them they were prepared to stand. The Com' mittee in 1817 reported upon the disposition of the forces in the colonies and other parts of the empire. and made several valuable suggestions upon the sub• ject. He believed that only one witness was els" mined before the Committee upon that occasion. That Committee thought it proper to commence their labours with the consideration of the estimates for the army and the navy, and Government wished to do no more than appoint a Committee that should pursue a similar course of inquiry now. It could not be said, then, that there was no precedent for the motioa he was proposing to the House, and he could not see what possible objection the House could have upon that score against adopting it. He did not know that he need detain the House further except to make one or two remarks upon what he meant the other night. in speaking of a Secret Committee. At that time be laboured under the impression that the Committees to which he bad already referred were of a secret cbarsc• ter, but he had since ascertained that this impression was an erroneous one. True, these Committees had the power of excluding parties from the room in which they met, and of occasionally suppressing evidence if they thought it expedient to do so, and he proposed that the Committee he was now asking for should be appointed with in.tructions to carry on its inquiries upon the same principle; and therefore without any longer detaining the House, he would move the appointment of the Select Committee of which he had already given notice. --• • Lord G. BENTINCK was gl a d th a t h e r M a jesty Government had felt the expediency of changing the nature of this Committee, by making it, a Select instead of a S e cr e t C omm itt ee , stna assured Government and the House that, had 00 Right lion. Baronet persevered in the intention which he announced last night, of moving for s Secret Committee, he should have continued his oppo' sition to such a proposal, because he thought that nothing could be more injurious than that questions con' nocted with the national defences, and with the regula tion of the army and navy should be submitted to Committee of that House, and above all, to a Secret Committee. He presumed that the questions submitted to the Committee would bo connected with the possible diminution of our expenditure, but he trusted that bill Noble Friend did not mean to relieve himself from the responsibility of coming down to the House with what he thought necessary for the defences of the country. and standing by his recommendation. Former Cow mittees had been Finance Committees, and had been Appointed with a view of retrenchment, but he believed there was no precedent for a Committee to inquire whether the national defences should be increased, or additions made to the army, miry, or ordoanee, lie believed that in 1786 the question of the fortification of Portsmouth came under the consideration of Mr. Pitt's Government, but that was not referred to a Select Committee, but to a commission comprising, in the words of Mr. Pitt, all that was resp-ctable in both services. Making his protest against the appointment of the Committee as an encroachment on the privileges of the Crown, and the functions of the Executive, be should not further object to the proposition of his Noble Friend. Mr. DISRAELI said he had on the previous evening asserted that no precedent could be found fur the pro ceeding of the Government, but he had not laid it down that Government ought always to be hampered by strict attention to precedent. But, when a Minister came for ward to recommend a particular course, and wished to establish the propriety of that course by elaborate and alino,t pedantic references to precedent, and when he (Mr. Disraeli) found that those precedents did not plc' cede that course, he thought he was fully justified in commenting as he had dune.—(hear, hear.) They had been told on a previous night by a high authority (sir R. Peel) that Committees like the present had been de cennially appointed from 1765 to 1828. If the Ministers felt bound by precedents they would find many to sup port them; and, on the other hand, it they despised pre cedents, they would also be well supported. But if the/ came forward as the respecters of precedents one night* and on the next disclaimed them when they did not suit their case, claiming credit for their creative faculty in striking out new courses, be thought that that was not a coarse worthy the approbation of the House. He entirely disagreed with the Government on the question of precedent, which, in most cases, might be defined as a custom ern• balming a principle. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had that night told the House that he referred the esti' mates to a Committee in the hope that a considerable reduction might be effected. But in tho message from the Throne, on the commencement of the session, these words were addressed to the House of Commons:—" Fier Majesty has directed that the estimates for the next year shall be prepared for the purpose of being laid before you. They will be prepared with a careful regard to the exigencies of the public service."—(Hear, hear.) But these estimates had been framed a fortnight, and yet the Chancellor of the Exchequer could not take upon him self to say that considerable reductions might not be made in them.—(Dear, hear.) He found that all the Finance Committees which had been mentioned bad been appointed to inquire into the revenue and expendi ture of the country generally. The naval and military establishments were merely mentioned inter alia, and there was not one of them which had not been pre viously announced in the speech from the Throne.-- (Hear, hear.) In the case of the Committee of 1828 the speech from the Throne bad previously recommended " early attention to the state of the revenue and expen diture of the country." He asked, was there any ana logy in those instances and the one before the House' A sacrifice was required from the general body of Mem bers of their right to criticise and examine the estimates, and they had had no fair warning of what was to be re quired from them. A motion was made for a Com mittee of Supply, when the Chancellor of the Exchequer suddenly rote up to stop all criticisms, by stating that he was going to send the estimates to a Committee upstairs. What reasons had he given ? Noise ; but he hail given precedents and now he acknowled ge d th a t th ose pre cedents did not apply.—(Hear.) The Committee of 182.8, had been proposed for the purpcso of effecting re form, but the present was suggested for a totally dif ferent purpose, to get increased establishments, and, con sequently, increased taxation.—(Hear, hear.) Well then, if precedent did not bear out the Government, let the House look to the principle involved. It was neither more nor less than shifting the responsibility of the the Government on a Committee of the House of Commons.—(Cries of "Hear, hear.") If they wore to have a Committee to prepare the estimates, why not also have one to ascertain the means by which those estimates were to be paid for ?—(Hear, hear.) As far as he could judge of the temper of the House, it would ne very convenient if, in addition, the income-tax could he referred to a Committee up stairs. —(A laugh.) He thought that the Government had made a great mis take; but they were happy men —even their blunders only proved the anxiety of their opponents to assist them.—(Laughter.) The Noble Lord at their head had made a warlike speech, which showed that if war should occur we were wholly unprepared to meet it. He believed that a great majority of the country attri buted the deficiency to the new fortifications. But all this might have passed off quietly if the Noble Lord had announced in the first instance that he was not going to increase the military or naval votes. And with reference to the militia, too, he (Mr. Disraeli) found that there was a Militia Committee appointed every year; and, surely, that Committee might have taken a portion of the labours of the Noble Lord. He (Ws Disraeli) should follow the example of the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn, and not oppose the Government preposition ; but still he could not allow it to ass with: out entering his protest against the course w p hich ha been taken ; it was in his mind unauthorised by the ractice of Parliament, and would prove but little con ducive to the dignity of her Majesty's Government. - 1 - 1 it had been regularly introduced in the speech from the Throne, the House :might have accepted it as dignus vindice nodus ; but to be brought forward without prepa ration in Committee of Supply, Government comult down one night to do one thing and the next night to !Jo another, was a course not calculated to elevate the character either of public men or of Parliament.: ii&WDEGATE concurred with the Lion. Mew