The Sun. — London, England, 1842-03-23 00:00:00

ruled by s . ; d there were , ion that subject- ,he navy should. •• was the .00 officer should He certainlp of the roan' divided theft: :he one wott, m the other. House, Lora : .‘ro was sotne•- the Board. sent out an .- which was I desire very rase ..,. linister thatthe 1 his intentions. f other even, r the conduct ot : n proof of th at ins which were Juct ofeivilians. ~ ?ral actions batt, . ;ter wes at dal led they w ould. , feet though .. e ncers , • , ' ' gar had , e . se- ,. ilian, and th . e most itnavy,severely , rd navy , to Lord SpenCer. -, lieved the lc be place f s. ken Achniralty. the rem9not stl,!ce woo ki n have a at the b eau isasters which the loss of ,quence of the In that s ea, .the l'lttii• i t of adrainistratiolk en sent : oat, • three friPtel:" Is, in °D!",; took 0010'7- ; )elieved- that u l , had been die: t that naig•htli sir on this is done, eitli b e told of ~..tv adininistradoF a ir fleet to e.+ 3fe diterrsn e .'; t was sgilo officers If , to tilt) it•iiiir, had all o t vr i, .operly man ~.e defeated m in ' P t • was not kg yep wes tt In. teen sight have 0.• L of „0, two ears re. link their .. . very o°lo sa il of t 1 :1,,,, , , ts to rear: d y Ile t7ft n i ra lty tb e , , ct ly we ll so )oss ible te.l!„,. be i' Right to ..,41 1 his wasft#l;o% ince the Pr.ego 1 adininiteooB u rea . - s an( I mot it If me' (ea , Id w l eas , in Elli Hope. forrai , bad 1 eepc otfi' woui objet' ..lati , say 1 Eon amp! n oti( h an , )o st. , id fr, been re ui whi , tart: that . had l• .11 a besYn4i, improij7oo, y t h plan---;001. ree' F 0,7:p1c e goa"' bad r he Irit_.c... sal° Inittr.e , 40i regt! 4 fP fi aiimAL, LI P- r;r:ii ' P i; )Faile. •. ~ : d rchlitge,' regf ," P i PO' Y unless , - 0 4 , ,ea to it ptgc i 1 bc tS l '7 r oisat e Pr . ' r ' e who 0001 to 4 0, to a... ~.., st,._ iayi, ft-i,ifile.; ,h 0.1.. , or 0 be r - by itotioefl . lO • first tivui . ; nine nee to,. !n coold.l7,Ao° ? Di d 6" ; , Cl toodi I, rd C.k' h . as) stmeo;cWe' flol'''l/ o .' A Its 511,00 ft Ovid, '' site • fle Ott ` t I) .'` 'd' and inilv.oiiiet; :, dice° :fif,4" were me tode°,o, 0, erelf l l ' 0 .I. ad tbs o i. e. e eficiiel .e Oao il! d . , of ' !en e i° .0 l 0 f , „ t. -bipeflib,..otif. ll h Obere litf 0. a..s. O• 0h,:5 .5. iti Mr,''', ..• --(°tlgn9°l) ,„ouieVere ... , ... en o°Pl' 6r a- 1/101 t''' 3e is .0' i so .ii# i,t aly-let „ciao. ~s the GI itijnri° sir 1 1 kosch'oeto P4:01 t here. ( p t i 1. Or ° . tat " f . ....,,,f , pd. fiCle9i,l, 0100 OW 0 , • 0 Of erSef I°tlC i t l e r i 4rs_.,. 9 ' oc e , ~ot o,; 314 1 3 ,oile,l3s—, tO i'De 'O3O tb.°oloi th':,,i Pe do ~,,, edoti,,, ?cold; ~,:i i. iid 0:: Ploglof' : s 0 • ~,,e0; •; t lift' ,e ~, 0001 to pal f • t r u—.,,bi Ot 0 i rj itetio,R• r,,, - wce i;io • * clt or Ityir— "Lo Y t Pl°Ywo l.) , (Sr ‘,;.olai. adaciotrirotts. bleb " 4 , eel day Ilibe 04'' yeare; feel' footle!! .1 ,00° y of telieS° A s 141 Sets o bM oi l' s bast ill 'lO lOlO 04 tbet lose/ • ~, 0 t ,O Rte. gk, , 100, it the iloo° ' fis iderstie%o at° no t Ica sa :oorditif.,i; 0, refs.' bs ' officer°, : t ot 1 :o stlar.:„ ba, years seTa s, , ' 0w1"c...3. a n ds O r bl i i an d tbst 'ef. r oral r!e4 , regujettot:iort thst leg re gt!' be sha:d op, °'''e ° / 00 1. P 0. 1 e ... . aistw.-0.1, ...010.0 1 .4 WO', , D e 7iiveli'Clifie Ai og e l e ,,los, Orel ° ...- foo e ' i i hokto 1;01,01 ofkiwo , . tt.Seibes:ool6 edi,,,,-... tb°, ,i e t i , tits; i - o tt , id , Op Ve t ' / r Oa t!' 1:: itr,,lotke ri;; , a fib iy.,4 OW da.oo' ,';b. od 13 ?is i4 ore ~ . ... . , Do u • , All g ° ' o f r when , *A. 4 . c h of 4 t,,, E lliot , , Pf' boi%l/ 1 ming • t ,f 1 necefl ~ per of , z .. rd„.t:y e , t ioa xl e r i o; : iaC ~ ,t till t :alfr .) r if Y t Aril: . , 0 1 ; [lai : C o other. ' 1 caPta l ''i dat Yigan zzr a N u " Yie, ipoe,,,i s . hie,' 0 ro . , c. tY P (&lt,io t ' he ~,0 .a he - f b 0 I li LAO, ,ti rel e se liun s was- to the effect, That in the appointments to the a in 0f --seel ! e r ' e A va t fa ira l e te th . e advantae ef having that Board corn- f lee e . ss , . . ers, should be constdei ed as well as that r f t-- iti l rot officer at the Board of Ordnance. The --"-- the *" the re commendation o f th e ' ..... second was, adopZViott of the estimate . .Souse that previous to re.„ froward old are -up to 1e44, a elan should be , - , e 7".aweete e e . • • -.Meritorious officers. The third was, 60htnhoeouf, ds t e h rb e vei H efiel o sl u e7 s if e , that, with a view to e co -4,11:7aa115.- te att a- o ea e rndi ui, deserving much u c n .h a a y s al p m us e s n ib. , l e that spe ck :" t ens petty officers, and seamen, according to their re eieva7::Pdaocbikht.lelt, and that a preference in filling up vacan •l'q LEY L j!fi s s e should be given to them.—( Cheers. ) %.....teBtion, n Y (landed the resolutions. having been put, l'aden.iEs GRAHAM rose arid said, that after the frank woihe7eiljtcsotot_l_pa.triotic Manner in which the Gallant Officer e , Ree se, oe : s • ,uteWn, had brought under the consideration, of Ok i, _Ls- It the most important subjects which could oe zh.iiilpeteeteclit‘iveint, it was uenecessary that he should have pre ,, o with the observations with which he ha I corn tiP4sZl'itio!ti :412:1).: t ( b ;Lh tl e on d_id ( riit ea: i , ntend to consider that as a °se or tit Party • hear.) Ihe matter was . 4 4 th e Lhc whole nati n and they, a' the representa -4%41 p ar ' 4 ,;:n n , s, frit the deepest ' interest—an interest far be _ re omlt . ,t.eratiou. While the greatness and power ,„lieS th eir jukeended so mueh upon her naval supremacy, ' _lS,h e u 2 .cden duty to attend to every suggestion which uol °tered f Os e , e ,.-• Oervie, f rom any quarter for the benefit of the o ft e7teepte e ; Pitt any recommendations coming from f r er, wi. I ? high arel so respected as that of th Gallant s.seelkie entitled to peculiar consideration.—( hear, hear. ) irfeeeiotgeOn- endeavotu• as shortly as he could to deal with ki ,,,,,t0r; Lotl!ities introduced into his speech-by the Gallant tl r Mno the ue shut" first say that he thought he owed sonic $4 40. l , "louse for addressing them on that occasion If ,sta e o r • l 7l that his former experience had put him in pos• e u o eeato_9,l4o I nformation upon the subject, he should not 'Vs th ftd to deal with such a subject. He was bound to 4t ta4taioltsthia.d.uo regard to the public service, and with a w tee of feting that no decision should be taken upon a ' lll th e , • " 2 4 vital importance which could be inconsistent ;T,,..i Interest i a et tais %.4 0 , s of the state, I.e could not coincide in the eo,llliSeil heed by the Gallant Officer. The first point eta °, de l i, %would deal was the question of the advantage 4%4 °Y the public from the exclusive services rei ,! 4 4t oni et eof at the head of the Board of Admiralty. The talZ a ii-ii.el;L l :tvi his analogy upon that point from the Com- Th;, anal:' °f the army ; but he should at once demur th e b!°oerei; ~ It was defective in one striking . particular. re ge ePd or ,_, 4 volved the whole command of tt.e navy on reeZe" e dthse;.'utoiralty, to whom the whole prerogative, as ter:. to th e "ch of the service was committed. But with Pre e l 4 hid er : t roY the reverse was the fact. The Crown did th e I'tite L° the Commander-in-Chief any portion of its 04 . !trey .„L' r oearded the army. The whole discipline of ItLeitte 4 - 'n e e under the cognizance of the Crown, and tan, th e eats of troops were guided by her tin, : e ultb her Secretary of State. With respect %int vise' however, the case was entirely different. ths2dOle7 4 l exercised no control ever naval officers and l e' WO, N us e)resi eneent of ships and everything that regarded -ego ein taw . ..it6 e hands of the Board of Admiralty. It was re tiokidit while the Gallant Officer was anxious to have the ts et 7Ose e , s ilo position analogous to that of the army, sere lele!ttalis;,,`"° were sitting on the same side, were desirous, !hi of ih e e etie and unwisely in his opinion, to adopt the ana- Or then ' army. The lion. and Gallant Officer had said Se s Ponsibility of the First Lord of the Admiralty was qft Gramponsibility, but that propo•ition he ( Sir te e , ) denied.—( Cheers.) Both constitutions ly te' taipi - .1. 'the First Lord of the Adm ratty ,isat 1 / 44 l i ble, and i n d ee d exc l us i ve ly res p ons ibl e t o Parlie.- 4 , Pest e „, t ue publi c , f or hi s managemen t o f nava l a ff a i rs . Th ere e e ke I' Proof of that, for in 178'2, before the great - oelt eo the India Bill took place, the conduct of the Ad heatraeo-,' made the subject of discussion in both Houses of Ite s i,,,,'• Mr. Fox trade a motion, which reflected the o s'osttre on the Board of Admiralty. A motion of a Neeichotere was made in the House of Lords, and Lord 1 11;1 4 a hi' s 4 h° was at the head of t he Admiralty, did not * se .. the e . "'elf under the Board, but he manfully met 4 4 1ty 4 , and took upon himself the exclusive respon sl4 . le . chargee against which he successfully contended. ag e `'s° expaess his strong opinion that the exclusive d w ° 111 (1 beretained by the person at the head of the et, eit Ad he e Nh ee I °, l falty, for the proper distribution of which he t e liOthiretY responsible. 'The- Hon. and Gallant Officer tie t 7agehnte expressions which he heard with regret, re it ei,„_,. rretnetion of two young officers in the navy, the ee ,7akk r r rt° Grey, relatives of the Noble Lord opposite (Lord . t,,, 6 % * li T hey had the greatest claims on the naval service Ct 4 s e iT nt rlf. their father being First Lord ef the Admiraly, 'O4 h e °l4 the greatest credit was due for the many improve s;')ki ~ introduced into the naval service, and who, in his old 4 14 eensole himself with the reflection of being the 'l7,.,'lt t r et eds as he (Sir James Graham) knew to be the irO 11 011 °4 Statesman which this country ever produced. Mt A ; a nd Gallant Officer had told them that a First Lord e, e ,"allvalty ought to be responsible for the promotions "ii,iil-nmended. What, be would ask, could be more re •EtOS likeY, ~_than that of a First Lord of the Admiralty, who ii. L Ali:,„' he called to account by this and the other House eri c i. et k i - lent• for the manner in which he had bestowed pro 'lletuo„tal . P. s ut bound also to state, that though . the knowledge A 410 0 ., alrs Was of the utmost importance in the head of iii tin u of Admiralty, yet when it was recollected how large ei t _ef the civil administration was connected with . that A h tts eh e7, .it would be almost impossible, admitting their that lndustry, and indefatigable zeal in the public ser tiSu it would b e b e b e t ter fill e d by a n ava l officer. 1 4 t . he permitted to say, that a knowledge of ~ al t al rs, in the office of First Lord of the A. th e Y was not of l e s s paramount importance A l_tht,e• e ctontry than a knowledge of naval matters. e t,,7,-- 4 , 1 e, then, under all the circumstances, to restrict the e iP. esi the First ' Lord to the narrow ground of the naval ee 7ot enee — There no doubt, some naval officers who were . -- 11,.. etent to a fi re ll the office ' of First Lord of the Admi- , •‘1% . 0 h was advisable that the Crown in such cases should ~ lu t ct,:ox instead of civilians ; but, he would ask, was it 1 ' '`. 4 - I •xesolution of the House, to tie up the discretion of t' e i w o, by restricting all civilians from the office , and nat .- % `lto choice officers to the few naval who might be corn -1`4'41 ‘. -' ti dischargelfS ss the office of First Lord of the Admiralty. 'l4 -6 bt,„, 41 ; 1 0t a fairly by the House if he stopped here ; tie sel'ati e Zd to state his full oiii don of the subject. The ti l ole and Gallant Officer had touched on the subject 4Or tall . otion. The distribution of promotion was an im sAithpare Of th e d u t y o f a First Lord, but he must b e per . virt ii ,Se slate his opinion, th at, w hil e a c i v ili an was Fi rst L or d ' l4 ' 'Ad ini' altY , "tit% under a sense of responsibility as to s -Ni ., trOnage Which he a d mitted attached to the office, he would . 1 * morn likely to act with strict impartiality to the whole pro- L• 140 . ; ..,3.,reu tt ,: e-e .to ttr t e h ly t a ll d a '' 171-thini - ° naval officer, upon whom political influence would k i as extensively as on a civilian, while, . 1- "'Ana Irr e ,i o • hi . ee, would always be the honest, but ' c : ' ors' '''' ' nt which'of f i p he could assure the Honourable and R Y ititi g ,..- '-''' would greatly preponderate over the ad- A-. l '`'s -- that Might be derived by the navy from having i. 3 4 e ,U Of their own profession at the head of the Admiralty. • Prie e l:T l d go :further and say, that if the opinion of the whole eaireis''eu Were taken, whether ' a naval officer should be exclu- IA da l . 0 1 s.eell at the head of the Naval Administration, it was Wi er uotetion that the strong opinion of the profession would vv, %tit 1,2 e 0 ,„ „ • He (Sir J. Graham) did not think it necessary is t --I ,lls - m `fie Hon. and Gallant Officer through all his points, .„`"„°..l, be a great deal to former Administrations; but he ' e Zirs'llei a r ° ll ltm) would allude to his remark on the communi- Zralt e t he order of the Cabinet by the First Lord of the Ad- Z a the aa :Y,losivate letter to Sir R. Stopford. Technically, this ~'u noel' have been very proper, but it was according to usage, ;Terai e ,!'eo, nsistent with constitutional practice. 'I here were see ' toed -u{ slant Officers opposite who must well know that such 'stet tef i ntercourse between the First Lord of the Admi qait4od a c o •p_ tit (u. Commander - in-Chief , was not . uncommon. The ',eewateesecer thought that, at a critical period, the orders to a I ldire7 e , er sin-Chief, on a foreign station, should be sent only '44 lttte ' 4ll of Ce p Board of Admiralty. There could be no • le t thfreteor than this. All naval operations were carried on t llbe ete ere °t• Mode. The Board of Admiralty were not allowed , her % runt of great naval operations from time to time. - e 'efes e e expedition against Copenhagen was concerted, : 1 ! ,ar e '4,%os of the utmost importance. The Cabinet only were y t " its precise destination ; aid they thought that seereey 'tk4 ;)uld be maintained by the Board of Admiralty informing . ret n at abier that they should issue their orders through the ,705 4 - , s r Y, of State for the Home Department. This had been ;ees sa ;'ets in other cases, where secresy and dispatch were a te i„ Y; Lord Minto was not therefore fairly liable to cen . 'Ze e — , Inis instance. The Hon. and Gallant Officer said, ',(e: l liet t ' ' successes chiefly took place under the presidency of N it 3 it the Adrniralty • but history did not confirm this. I 4 '4 „ °4o re Napier aid he ' had admitted that three actions had •L'tiSsr Wined nrw[er a ' diens and two under naval officers.] ,mlll.' h l tts regard to the a'v battle of Trafalgar, it was perfectly n 'thi . ...I t that glorious victory had been gained under the A ttil ee - r t il ' h iwistrtti on of Lord Barham ; but it was equally •h i nft. ,e great preparations for that glorious victory . had ' l4 es s .'d li g , e by Lord Barham'a predecessor, Lord Melville. fole'e e e ,'"dle had quitted office only the April preceding the • 40 n ; nt which the battle had been fought, and the merit of ..,,ehrtfieParations for that great battle was due te Lord Llke,t e s naval administration. The Gallant Officer had ' E f eell f Lord Howe's glnrious action.. Now it was em - wrlxf true that at the time that action was fought, e e , — "Oasei t ,.P,Pll was First Lord of the Admiralty, but Lord Kep- ICnit, i' l lY Just before succeeded Lord Sandwich, and in that e,,...'qere T e Which he had alluded in the other House of Par -1;4 hi' Lord Sandwich had claimed the merit of that victory - t - '` ha e lf aryl his colleagues, and Lord North him z,..i„, ..I,i to the then Administration, "1t is true et t ill i ,ce gained the victory, but then you fought with )1, 1 4, ly d tr °ops." The merit of that victory d was iincon qu'le 1, e ° to the naval administration of e.or Snt wieh fel ali e was. on that subject, he would take the opportunity ' , Zat,ti" to the House one fact. He ( Sir James Graham) VOes2i•,eve it possible for any human being to hare had a le b otty - 1 7,Uug ofre g ard for the naval service than his late e e .,./'lla t Trig William the Fourth.—( Cheers.) His late Ma -44)1,4; of „tways had the strongest predilection for that profes ' 11 . ; 11 iffe e ,, - "lein even when he wore the Crown of England, he 1 14kift - 3 ' t on honour to be a member.—(Loud cheers.) .1. - ,. e otse,i e 'nes Graham) remembered that when he had had :AlL`r`fth e r °fleeieg introduced to his late Majesty on his ( Sir ,lest, i s _ , —l s) appointment as First Loid of the Admiralty, his 'e 44 % * .i.a 44 , 1 kicliessed him (Sir J. Graham), and said that he bi a :bth e ren alro) should always bear in mind two great exam ,' I t icel ee e l dministratien of naval affairs. Now, were those hh ir,/ ttruales, alluded to by his late Majesty, naval officers ? •• 1.44' 1 4 - a lsjesty had said that the two great examples to tkib..).etttleferred were Lord Sandwich and Lord Spencer ; letZlist e i ln „ l 3 l , when he (Sir J. Graham) looked at the naval au:: t ul le of Lord Spencer, and considered the great cuterls which had been performed during its conti iphi• e immense difficulties which Lord Spencer , • • -i.h h:lnotinted the invincible firmness of purpose • • d o ar he d exhibited—the confidence with which he had in -1460 eel lid tatnen, and the glorious triumphs to which that con ' utia . ., ° f I see l, ec t e e—lle could notbut consider the naval adrninistra- - e, V1......1 qencer as one of the brightest in cur . naval ire t ebtter'ear, hear.) Mr. Pitt was no mean authority on Att l'oal k ib i e merits of different naval administrations. It was 'tte' l i t ' e uvled t t te Mention the name of Lord St. Vincent without 1 ..tan ton, erg the g•atitude that was due to him from the -.elksAtt e , ord s. . r i e ,, it ,,, ~• lucent was First Lord of the Admiralty - ' • Ne e "re ed re of his naval reputation, at the period when his . tiara ' and 4 toe gave him unbounded influence over the see e,',tki . it W...Ye, looking to Lord St. Vincent's nasal administra :es, h4te: ATetropossible not to admit, that it had not been fore 'tle e . ti„,arlh„,`:„ Pitt, in the year 1804, after the experience which 1 4 4 1 / 4 -I,;: i t Of c°T the relative'merits of the different naval adnunistra ib ere he ' l ßeiptZ' St• Vincent:and of Lord Spencer, delivered the o ast s ,,. es s Zon e5...4 T on the merit of Lord St. Vincent's naval adminis eltea Nes,;`,/thae e h le (Mr. Pitt) could not be guilty of the hypocrisy 1 ; 4 iii, lNct l h it Lat departure was wise; hehad the greatest esteem for 404 ;N I ., Z;l'ites se 4 d (St. Vincent), but it was in fulfilment of his to "11' ee mllit. 1, , duty, as a Member of the British Parliament, to .14 4 ° did n 11,i*.4.:S t i p am of ,_ ot, approve of his Lordship's appointment as ' i n s . ? eh tn e Admiralty. He admired the Noble Lord s t s :sqebze , tis) t , e glorious victories he achieved ; to him (Lord St. ! . e.'4l 43 7:tbei r "co British people were indebted for shedding lustre e _.„.'' ••Itie,thnself °4 t.l Tr i .Y; htt believed that when . his Lordship took ''..? 'el'Pet teild have ° otrection of the naval affairs, the public ser s.l, i e 11:4 4 44 e. •-...... 5eu ,. derived great benefit from his skill and ex .."/ Vets I,' 4 a 4 that the Noble Lord's name was in itself th`.77tlsl a i ""rugth, but he was apt to think, that between i l l'' ,.% . drai rli c: as Commander on the seas, and as First Lord of tkic7ssfai o 'Y there was a very vast difference. As a great and •.,, ft b th t • N ! L Y, 4 , I commander, no person could hesitate to act. 411.11 9 4„ '' 4,o Lord, bat Ls (.%Ir. Pitt) would not shrink 1 --' -., ulAejels!, tering the Noble Lord when presiding at of "' aim % u Furst Lord of the Treasury.". - opinions of Mr. Pitt, and certainly they were . , applicable to the objections of the Hon. and Gallant Officer. There was another observation made by the Hon and Gallant Officer (Sir C. Napier) to which he (Sir I. Graham) could not fail to refer ; he meant the lion. and Gallant Offi cer's observation with respect to the danger of the British ships in the Mediterranean, as n matter of prudence and precaution. He (Sir J. Graham) was sorry that an officer of such distinc tion as the Hon. and Gallant Officer undoubtedly was— ( Hear, hear)—ahould have proclaimed to the world that, if the Mediterranean was attacked, our ships would have a good chance of being defeated. The Hon. and Gallant Offieer did not. do justice to himself in saying so, for, he was sure, the Hon. and Gallant Officer. and his brother officers, would have been fully able, under any circumstances, to sustain the honour of the British flag.—( Hear, hear.) The Hon. and Gallant Officer ad verted to various other points which it would be necessary for him (Sir J. Graham) to follow ; the Hon. and Gallant Officer recommended a new scheme of purchase in the navy. It was impossible that his (Sir J. Graham's) attention was not called to the subject before ; it had been already discussed and considered ; much might be said in favour of that scheme, but, upon the whole, he (Sir J. Graham) was of opinion, that it would only introduce an entirely new system which would be at variance with the wishes and interests of the British Navy. It was true that the effect of political interest with respect to prom tion could not be superseded ; but if the interest of wealth were added, it would he impossible for an unobtru•ive man to obtain promotion. But the Hon. and Gallant Officer had suggested another mode of dealing with the crowded list of captains, which was nut open to the same objection. The Hon. and Gallant Officer proposed that there should be a list of aged officers who should, e pecially in time of peace, retire from active service. He could well conci ive that there was advan tage in that proposition ; and he had not understood his Right Hon. Friend, the First Lord of the Treasury, on any occasion to state that such a plan was not worthy of the most serious at tention of the Government.. But he thought that those were questions which might safely be left in the hands of the Execu tive Government. He conceived that to press resolutions of the House of Commons on a subject of that nature was a course which, though it might relieve the Executive Government of great responsibility, would not conduce to the real interest of the service.—( Hear, hear.) Then the Hon. and Gallant Of ficer had alluded to the various measures which had from time to time been suggested with respect to the manning of the navy ; and ho had thrown out a suggestion that it might be expedient, when the Poor.law Bill was under the consideration of the House to introduce some clauses for mak ing the overseers of the poor to bind pauper boys compulsory as apprentices into the service of her Majesty. Now, he must say, that he did not think such a proposal would at all increase the popularity of the Poor-law—( Hear, hear).—nor did he think there was the slightest necessity to resort to such a step. The national taste of British peasants living on the British coast would obviate the necessity for resorting to compulsory apprenticeship ; they would, when necessary, volunteer their services.—( Hear, hear.) The Hon. and Gallant officer sat down with referring to the saying of Mr. Tierney, " Give us a well-manned Navy and a full Exchequer, and we may bid de fiance to the world—a sentiment in which he (Sir J. Graham) most cordially concurred." One oortion of it was already realised; the Hoe. and Gallant Officer admitted that the navy was well and fully manned. It would be for his Won. Friends to persevere in their endeovours, and the last. proposition also would be realised ; whatever deficiency there might be, the Exchequer would be replenished. —( Hear, hear.) They ap pealed, with cenfidence, to the wisdom of Parliament and to the good sense and patriotic feeling of the nation ; they had not the slightest doubt that the Exchequer would be replenished, and when that happy day an iced they would bid defiance to the world. With respect to the resolutions of the Hon. and Gallant Officer, there were some of them to which he (Sir J. Graham) had no objection to give an assent, stating his con viction, however, that the matters to which they referred would be better left to the Executive Government. Enter taining the highest respect for the Gallant Commodore, and for the intentions with which he had brought the present sub ject under the consideration of the House, he should feel him self, notwithstanding, bound to move the previous question. The SPEAKER having put the question, Captain BERKELEY did not wish to trespass on the House, but as this was a subject which did not involve any party question, and was one dear to naval men and to the country generally, he hoped the House would bear with him for a short time. He regretted that the Right Hon. Baronet had adverted to a topic upon which he ( Captain Berkeley) had differed with these who had been acting with him in the Admiralty—he meant the manning of the navy. The navy was nosy properly and thorougly manned, and he was in hopes that the subject would be left at rest. But in justice to I the Gallant Officer who had brought forward the present sub ject. he would mention one fact, and one only, because he did not wish to meddle with the subject at all—with respect to the circumstance of our ships being placed in jeopardy from being inefficiently manned. Four sail of the line had been placed under the command of his Gallant Friend behind him ( Sir C. Napier), in the Mediterranean, in 1840. They were short of their complement of men, and within a day and a halt's sail of them were stationed twenty Egyptian ships to relieve Bey- I rout. Had the enemy bore down upon us, and his Gallant Friend were inclined to avoid the action ( which was not likely ), he would not have had it in his power to do so, neither would he be able, manned as his ships were, to oppose the enemy. He only mentioned this as a proof that ships sailing with peace I complements might sometimes be at fault; he hoped, however, that they would never run that risk again. With regard to what the Right Hon. Baronet had said relative to a naval man being at the head of the Admiralty, he (Captain Berkeley ) must say, that. he could not understand why professional know ledge was to be a disqualification for a First Lord of the Ad miralty--at least not exactly a disqualification—but the Right Hon. Baronet said it was much better that a civilian should be at. the head of the Board than a naval man. He remembered that when his Gallant Friend (Sir C. Napier) brought forward a motion relative to bishops going to the colonies, he was told that he had much better leave the matter to those who had the manage ment of ecclesiastical affairs.—(Hear.) On the same ground he conceived that a naval man knew much more of naval mat ters than a civilian could possibly do.— ( Hear.) Besides this, he could assure the House that when a civilian visited the dockyard he had not that weight with the naval officers which a naval man would have.—( llear.) It fell to his lot once, some time ago, to be appointed to a squadron, ap pointed for a particular service. The First Lord of the Ad miralty was expected down. Every officer and man strained his utmost exertions that their several vessels should be turned out in a way fit for a Board of Admiralty to inspect. The First Lord came—he was a civilian—every officer was anxious that his own ship should be examined ; and every midshipman and lieutenant was anxious to sco the First Lord and that he should inspect every vessel. The Noble Lord visited only one ship, and went away no doubt very much tired with the labour of the investigation.—(Hear. ) He was certain that if the Gallant Admiral opposite (Sir G. Cockburn) had been at the time First Lord of the Admiralty, he world have made it a point to visit and inspect the different ships, and thus gratify the officers and men. Add to that, that it was upon those minute details, with which no civilian could be thoroughly acquainted, that the efficiency of the navy mainly depended, there was a prevailing feeling throughout the navy—he feared not contradiction when he said so—that they were neglected, and that if they had a naval officer at the head of the service, they would not at least be so frequently neglected. As he had said upon a former occasion, it was im possible that a civilian could enter into the feelings of officers like a brother-officer. With regard to the number of promo tions under Lord Minto, and the nature of those promotions, he begged leave to relate a circumstance which had come un der his immediate knowledge. At the Coronation he had recommended a young man of the best character to Lord Minto for promotion, confessing to him, however, that he was politi cally connected with the borough which he had the honour to represent ; the reply of Lord Minto was, that he would promote a person recommended by him, but it was on condition that he should be entirely unconnected with politics. He did recom mend a person of that description, who received an advance ment in the service, while the party whom he had originally recommended still remained unpromoted. He mentioned that for the purpose of showing that Lord Minto had not been influ enced in the distribution of his patronage by political motives. He had beard nothing which could induce him to think that the navy could not be governed by a naval man as well as the army was governed by a soldier. Great incon venience resul . ed from the adoptien of a different sys tem. In the case, for instance, of an equal division of votes among the Lords of the Admiralty, the subject would be decided by a man who might, however, know nothing of the matter. He also felt that there was so little patronage to be distributed in the navy, that it would be considered the greatest boon by the officers that one of their own beefy should be ap pointed to preside over the service. He could state that it was his opinion, that there was mi re difficulty in finding officers to fill situations, than in finttrig situations to give to ufficers.— (Laughter. ) There was no reward for all their toil and trouble, and he trusted that a retiring list would be made for them. He hoped that, with respect to the dockyards, all good artificers, having served a certain time in the navy, would have the first claim to situations in them. —( Hear, bet e.) It would be encouraging persons to enter the navy, and contribute to render it popular. He had one word to say with respect to the ages of Admirals. Hon. Members of that House, who were more than sixty years of age, were exempted from serving on Election Committees, and yet they sent men at sixty and seventy years of age to contend with the elements and the enemies of the country.—(Hear, hear.) Having heard nothing to show that naval officers were incapa citated from being placed at the Board of Admiralty, he should vote for the resolution of the Hon. and Gallant Officer behind him. Lord INGESTRIE said that whatever opinion may be en tertained of the discretion of the Hun. and Gallant Corn modore in bringing forward his resolutions at that time, there , could be no doubt that the navy owed him a deep debt of gratitude for the way he advocated its cause in that House.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") It may not be right in a legislative assembly to meddle in matters more immediately belonging to the Executive, but at the same time, if the navy did not take an opportunity of making its sentiments known, it would be impossible for she Executive to know the opinion of the navy on any subject. Looking to the experience and knowledge posse-sed by pro fessional men, he thought much was to he said in favour of a naval officer being placed at the head of the Board of Admi. ralty.—(Cheers.) If the resolution of the Hon. and Gallant Commodore was for a future construction of the Board, he would give his vote for it. With respect to the other t eso lutions of the Hon. and Gallant Officer, he should have no hesitation in supporting his proposition. In consequence of a protracted war, the list was too full of aged officers for the exi gencies of the country. He should not enter into any statement of the ages of those officers, but in case of a war some moans must be devised for calling younger officers into active service in every rank. He would propose some plan of retirement, as only just to those elder officers who had acted as examples to those who were coming after them. There were many civil officers connected with the navy that might be filled by naval officers as efficiently as by civilians, by which a great saving to the country might be ef fected in the half-pay. Captain PECHELL supported the resolutions, and, in proo of the good that accrued from such discussions, he would refer to the useful Naval Commissioners whose appointment ensued, no doubt, from those discussions. He thought it was paying a very poor compliment, indeed, to the services of the late Lord High Admiral, to say that a naval officer ought not to preside. With regard tai what had been said relative to the responsibility of the Board of Admiralty, he (Captain Pechell) would say that he thought the Board was a very irresponsible and secondary one, and he thought a better instance of its irresponsibility and secondary character could not have been given than that which had been stated, that when the First Lord was applied to some time ago to protect the fishermen of the coast of Kent, lie would net do so, on the ground that he could not undertake the responsibility. He thought, however just the apprehensions of the Gallant Commodore, that our fleet would n o t h ave been beaten if an i action had taken place between us and the French in the Medi terranean in 1840 ; still the manning of the ships should be kept up if it were only to avoid the great labour that must other wise fall on the men, especially in cases of sickness. With respect to the pensions of midshipmen for wounds, it should be observed that those pensions were discontinued immediately they were promoted. With respect to the manning of ships, I the Admiralty ought to be convinced of the necessity of pre serving to the service the seamen brought up to the practice ! of gunnery in the Excellent at Portsmouth, and ought not to suffer the navy . to be deprived of their valuable ' services. He hoped the time was not far distant when the pay of thck , e. men would be inereaeed, audto arrive at the rank of a petty officer would be a matter of ambition. There wts no danger be thought of the interest of the n av y belug sacrificed Those were 0 ver- THE SON, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 23, 1842. whilst there were two Gallant Admirals who, if necessary, could oppose the proposals of the First Lord. Sir R. PEEL said he must ask the House to pause before it adopted the resolutions of the Hon. and Gallant Officer. He thought it would be a bad precedent for the House of Commons, at the instance of a professional man, however emi nent, to place any restrictions on the selection of persons for the head of the naval administration. If the House should this country in choosing an officer for the head of the Admiralty. Captain BERKELEY rose to explain. He had never said that the navy in the Mediterranean was in such a state as to be likely to be defeated. What he had stated was, that if they had been pressed by eight sail of the line, they would have been placed in great jeopardy. He begged also to state, there was not a number of men wandering on shore. Captain PECHELL rose to explain. The Gallant Officer opposite had defended the appointment of Earl de Grey to the Admiralty on different grounds to what he (Captain Pechell) had. What he (Captain Pechell) had stated was, that he was fully entitled to the situation from his high station and know ledge of ship-building. Ile had also alluded to the hospitality of the Lord High Admiral. He could say nothing in that respect of the First Lord of the Admiralty, never having visited him in his life. —(Laughter.) But with respect to the Lord High Admiral, he would ..ay that there were very few officers but who were acquaintel with him, and he was there fore acquainted with the merits of the different officers. Sir H. HARDINGE said, b s f ure th e mot i on w ent to a . . _ . division, he wi,hed briefly to offer a - few — observations. Gallant Officer who had brought forward that motion, had complained that undue favour had been shown to the army in the late brevet, and stated, as his opinion, that th?re was no reason why there shenld have been so many general officers. He hardly felt inclined to go into that subject on that occasion, because he had always felt that such a union and harmony subsisted between the army and navy on every occasion. But when the Gallant Oflicer spoke of undue favour being shown to the army, it appeared to him (Sir H. Hardinge) absolutely necessary to endeavour to sh tw that no such motives influenced either the Right Hon. Baronet, or the Cabinet in that promotion. It, therekre, ap peared to him necessary to assure the House, that no such partiality took place. Now, what were the facts of the case. It would be found that from a return made, that for the last forty years there was a much larger number of officers in the army, in proportion to the navy. Note, let them take the year 1814, there were 525 general officers in the army, and 550,000 men. In the same year the number of Admirals was 233, and 550 ships, being under one-half the number of the general officers in the army. In 1830, the number of colonels, made generals, was 64, and the number of captains, made admirals, was 44. In 1836, the numbers were 4'2 in the army, and 36 in the navy. In the year 1841 the number of colonels made major-generals was 61, and the number of captains made admirals was 40 or 41: Now taking this into consideration, the Gallant Officer would find that there was no injustice done to the navy. lie took another case, he believed there were 10 or 11 admirals now, and 39 or 40 general officers employed. They would find that the number of general officers had been diminished since 1814 to the amount of 185, and the admirals only about ten. He had no wish to make comparisons of this kind, but if he were to d r so he should look to the expense of each. In 18.35 the cost of the officers in the army was 11,0001., and that of the nary 23,0001., and at the time of the last brevet the army was 13 or 14,0001. and the navy was 26,1'001. Now there was no partiality shown in this. Such was the feeling of the army towards the navy —such was their admiration and respect, that if there was to be retrexchment in the two professions they • would give the preference to the navy. In this he believed he was speaking the sentiments of the whole army. Sir C. NAPIER said he begged to assure the Gallant Offis cer, that he did not complain of undue promotion, he only com plained of the number of captains ma•ler admirals, in froport on to the general officers in the army. He could assure the Gal lant General that he did not wish to institute any unfair com parison between the army and the stacy. He could assure the lion. Gentleman behind him (Mr. C. Wood) that he did not intend to throw the slightest reflection upon the Hon. Captain Grey. He hoped the Hon. Gentleman, their relative, would allow him to ray that he had no intention to speak a word against them. The Right Hon. Baronet had said that her :Majesty delegated her power, and he ( Sir Charles Napier) was quite aware of that, but her Majesty could as well &legate her power to a Lord of the Admiralty, as the Board of Admiralty, and if she did so, she would have a rtisi.onsibla man as the head of the navy.—( Hear.) The Right Hon. Baronet ( Sir J. Graham) had not cor rectly stated what he (Sir Charles Napier) stated with refer ence to the danger in which the British navy was in the Mediterranean. Ili hat he did say was, that if the French had come out before they (the British) were in the Mediterranean, no body could say what would be the result. It was not right to tell the British navy, manned as it was at present, that they were ebb to do so much as the Right Hon. Baronet ( Sir J. Graham) had stated, in such complimentary terms, they were able to effect. Nothing was more dangerous than to inspire a false confidence.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) lie (Sir Charles Napier) was onmdefeated himself in the West Indies, and he knew what it was, and what the result of a defeat would be again, if our ships were manned as they were then ; it was impossible that the navy could be effective if it was regulated PS it Ives at present. He defied the Angel Gabriel—( Laughter)—if he was first Lord of the Admiralty, and if he was deprived of the patronage, to regulate the navy witk advantage. As it was cow regulated, every person who had no interest must wait until the Queen was married—(A laugh) —or until the Queen had a son—( Laughter)—before he was promoted, no matter what his length of service might be.— (Hear, hear.) He thought there was the most urgent neces sity for an improvement in the navy, and he would therefore press his motion. The first resolution having been negatived without adi"ision, the second resolution was put. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the House divided, when there appeared— For Sir C. Nap er's resolution 4O For Sir James Graham's amendment l3B Majority against the resolution —9B Captain PLUMRIDGE sad there was a great difference between the second and third resolutions, and be would cer tainly press it to a division.—(Hear, hear.). Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the House divided, when there appeared— For the resolution Against it 3lajority against the resolution —92 _ _ THE PHILLIPSTOWN TRAGEDY. Mr. W. SMITH O'BRIEN rose, and moved far a copy of the veroict and depositions taken by the coroner at an in quest held on the 19th day of December 1841, on the death of James Flanagan, at Clonearl, in the King's County, for copies of all communications which have taken place between the Irish Government, or the Inspector-General of Constabu lary, and the Resident Stipendiary Magistrate, or the Local Inspector or Sub-Inspector of Police, relative to the death of the said James Flanagan, and for a copy of the correspondence wkieh has taken place between Durham Dunlop, Esq., and the Irish Government, relative to the death of the said J. Flanagan. He briefly narrated the circumstances attending this case, which have already appeared in The Sun. He then con tended that the coroners jury, having found a verdict of acci dental death, a statement appeared in the Dublin lifoniter, imputing that the man Flanagen had not met with his death in an accidental manner, but that he had been sacrificed to the drunken folly of the persons assembled at Mr. Macan's house. This statement produced a great sensation throughout the country, and every one combined in calling on Government to produce the coroner's notes of the inquest, which was at length complied with. If he had any doubt previous to this occurrence, it was certainly much in creased by an examination of those notes. For bis own part, he confessed ; that the evidence was of such a character that it was impossible to say whether the unfor tunate man's death was accidental er otherwise. The people of Ireland, under these circumstances, were not content to remain in doubt, and still called on Government to institute an inquiry. On those grounds too, and that the persons whose names had been mixed up in the matter, should be cleared from any unjust imputation on their character, he now—some what unwillingly he confessed —moved for the returns, of which he had given notice. He hoped the Government would not refuse to produce those papers, and he trusted the result would be to liberate the individuals whose conduct had been itnreached. Mr. S. CRAWFORD seconded the motion. Lord ELIOT said he rose, not for the purpose of opposing the motion, but of making a few remarks ; by way of answer to the statements cf the Hon. Gentleman, so far as they affected the Government. Immediately the Government re ceived notice of the circumstances, they thought it their duty to institute inquiry. Directions were accordingly issued to the coroner to forward his notes of the inquest, and the stipendiary magistrate was directed to report to the Government the whole facts of the transaction, as far as he was cognisant of them. The stipendiary magistrate had not waited for instruc tions from the Government, but before their arrival had pro ceeded to make his report. In that report he stated that on hear ing the report as to the death of the individual in question, who, it appeared was not an idiot, but a wit or jester, he had thought it his duty to proceed to the house. On his arrival he found the coroner about to swear in the jury, which consisted of twenty one persons. He attended the whole of the proceedings of that inquest, cross 'examined the witnesses himself, and scrutinized the evidence so minutely, that the jury thought he was putting leading questions. The unanimous verdict of the juty was " Accidental death."—( Hear, hear.) The stipendiary ma gistrate had since undergone a cross-examination, conducted by the Law Officers of the Crown, and they were unanimously of opinion that the verdict was a proper one. The House would see, therefore, that the Government had adopted every means in their power of investigating the whole of the circum stances.—( Hear, hear.) He was perfectly willing that the whole of the transaction should undergo further investigation, and he did not object, therefore, t• the production of the papers; but he trusted he had said enough to induce the House to suspend their judgment until the whole of the circumstances were before them, Mr. POWELL, said he thought a coroners inquest, though ' a very competent tribunal, was not ono which precluded fur ther investigation ; and in the present case he thought there were good grounds for proceeding with the inquiry. He was convinced that when the facts were thoroughly tavestigated, the Noble Lord himself would not come to the conclusion which had been arrived at by the jury. Mr. VILLIERS STUART said he could not help stating, I that in his opinion the Government bad done their best to in- 1 vestigate all the circumstances of this transaction.—(Hear, hear.) He must also remind the Hon. Gentleman that a co roner's inquest was by far the most constitutional authority in a case of that nature ; and unless there were very strong rea sons for b:lieving that the jury had ,not performed their duty he should deprecate reopening the inquiry. Mr. WAKLEY said it was a mistak e to suppose that the verdict of the jury was final . i An indict ment m i g h t b e pre ferred before the grand jury , and fresh evidence adduced, for were accessory to the death of the deceased; if this were the fas t , not one of those parties could be called on as a witness. He mu t do the Irish Government the justice the Ai r . purpose punl op ot that at reversing allthe a o r f tie s as),ingthat the re was not hi ng i n accuse d the face of the inquisit ion or thedepositi ons t h at called for any further inquiry. H e trusted, therefo re , t h at i f Mr. Dunlop or the other parties wer e still dissatisfied, t hey would prefer a bill of indictment before the g rand jur y , a nd show what fresh evidence they had to o ffer. At the same ti me Mr. Dunlop's allegation was exceeding l y strong, that thi rteen of the Jury men were interested in n ot returnin g an impartial ve r di c t. The motion was then ag reed to. R URAL POLICE—NORFOLK . Mr. T. DUNCOMBE rose to brin g fo rward the motion of which he had given not ice, that" Co p ie s of all Letters and Communications that have passed between the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Chief Constable, or any Magistrate of the County of Norfolk or the City of Norwich, from October last to the present time, relative to the conduct of the Rural Police of that county i n the apprehension of a man of the name of Smi th, on a charge of vagrancy." He said that this motion related to the conduct, or he should rather say the misconduct of the rural police for the county of Norfolk, and lie should state as concisely as possible the circumstances of the case, and of the complaint he had to make. He thought when the House had heard what he had to state, that it would agree with him that conduct more illegal , more cruel, or more unconstitutional could not be conceived; and if it were per mitted to prevail in those counties that had alopted the rural police, the House would agree with him that the liberty of the subject, of which they were in the habit of boasting, might c-ntinue in name, but in realit y woul d cease to exist. The circumstances of the ease were these. In May last an unfor tunate and unhappy individual, without shoes or stockings, or a shirt to his back, was found wandering about the streets of Norwich with two pair of handcuffs on his wrists.—( Hear, hear.) Ten police of the city naturally enough took up this individual ; be was carried before the police magistrates of the city, and was called on to account for the appearance of the two pair of hand cuffs. The account he gave of himself was this—that on the preceding day he had been taken up by one of the rural police, between Yarmouth and Norwich , all be was goipg to a fa mer's house to sell some books and tracts in his possession. The rural policeman had stopped him, askedhim what he was about, and on receiving the above answer, asked him where his hawker's license was ? He said he had none, and, in fact, it was not likely that a man without shoes to his feet, or I shirt to his back, should have a hawker's license in his pocket. The policeman immediately apprehended him, put a pair of handcuffs on his wrists, and took him to the stable of a farmer's house, and with another pair of handcuffs chained him to the manger. The _policeman it appeared, had another warrant to execute near Yarmouth, and not having time to take the man to Norwich, secured him in this manner, by fastening him to the manger, though he had taken him up for a mere act of vagrancy. 'l'he constable also went to the wife of another constable in the neighbourhood, and desired her to go and feed the man at two o'clock, as he should not be back till six or seven. In the course of the afternoon, an individual came into the stable, supposed to be the farmer, the proprietor of the stable, and this man wrenches the ring from the manger, and set the prisoner at liberty. It was afterwards doubted, whether this was the farmer or not ; hut whoever he was, he thought he did perfectly right ; and if there had been a crowd of men who found a fellow-man in such a situation, they would have been justified in pulling down the stable. Having been carried before one of the city magistrates of Norwich, and having reported the case to the chief constable:of the rural police, the policeman, who had taken the man up, heard of it, and immediately claimed his victim. He carried him before another magistrate, who committed him for a month to the House of Cor rection and hard labour, on his own admission, that he had sold religious tracts without a license. He did not say that the magistrate could de otherwise, it being a clear case of vagrancy. Well, the magistrate reported the case to Colonel Oakes, the chief constable of Norfolk. There was nothing in the conduct of Colonel Oakes that called for any re marks from him. He believed that a more kind or amiable in dividual did not exist.. If he had committed any error it was one on the right side. He said that he would not investigate any case in which one of his own men were concerned. Ile re;erred the case to the. Rev. Mr. Vaughan, from Norfolk who possessed the advantage of a great number of clerical justices. This Rev. Gentleman had an objection to the man who apprehended the vagrant Smith, but another reverend magistrate, the rector of Blowfield, had an equally strong predilection for him, and he almost insisted that Colonel Oakes should appoint him superintendant. This same Reverend Gentleman subsequently justified the conduct of the man, stating that there was no ground for complaint against him. A Mr. Palmer, another magistrate, afterwards expressed his surprise that this rector of Blowfield should have interfered, not being one of the police committee. He, therefore, writes to a Rev. Mr. Wilson, another clerical ma gistrate, wishing him to look into the matter ; it was under stood that it was to be referred to the committee, but it went over to July, when the summer assizes took place. At these assizes the policeman Smith was examined in another case, and it came out that he was in the habit of taking the confessions of prisoners whom he apprehended. Now, when it was considered that the policeman had the power of hand-cuffing men, and locking them to a manger, he thought that any confession which :might pass between them in that position ought not to _be token as evidence in a court of justice. It appeared also that he was in the habit of hand cuffing prisoners; and, on some occasions, had left them in that state six or seven hours. A communication had been wade of the case to the Secretary of State, and an investigation was in s.ituted, bnt under whom? Why, the chairman of the inquiry was this very rector of Blowfield. He thought that on public grounds the Right Hon. Baronet ought to lay bef re' the House' a copy of any communication that had passed between him and the Norfolk magistrates. Indeed he (Mr. D.) had no doubt the Right Hon. Baronet said, the conduct of the rural police on this occasion was a rural disgrace to Norfolk. But at all events there were strong grounds for inquiry and information; and, therefore, he (Mr. D.) trusted his motion would be agreed to. The motion having been seconded, Sir JAMES GRAHAM said, that certainly some commu nication had taken place between him and the magistrates of Norfolk, respecting the conduct of the rural police on the oc casion referred to. lie asked for explanation and got it, and he had no objection to produce the documents to the House; indeed, the speech of the lion. Gentleman rendered that step necessary. for he had incidentally reflected on a large portion ' of the magistrat , s of Norfolk, who would be found undeserv ing of such censure. As for Col. Oakes he required no en comium. for it was well known that there was not a more hu - mane mart in the military profession. He (Sir J. Graham) had the more disposition to produce the documents asked for, as he was convinced they would justify the magistrates referred to.—Motion agreed to. THE GILBERT UNIONS. Captain PECHELL mad,, his motion on this subject as fol lows—" Return of each Parish and Township in England and Wales, in which the poor are manages! under the provisions of the Act 22 Geo. 3, c. S 3, commonly coiled Gilbert's Act ; distinguishing , whether incorporated in any union, or governed s , parately ; and stating the population of each parish or town ship, and of each union respectively, according to the last census. Also, return of each parish and township subject to the provisions of any local Act for the managemeet of its poor, with the amout.t of population, according to the last census." He ssould precede the motion by presenting a petitition from twenty-two guardians of the poor of Chichester, begging that their local Act, protecting the poor and rate-payers at the same time, might not he repealed. This he feared, however, that the Bight Hon. Baronet meant to do from his ominous silence the other evening, when he (Captain Pechell) questioned him. lie believed that the operation of the Gilbert Act had given general satisfaction ; and that was manifest from the fact that no petitions had been presented against the Gilbert Unions. The Eon. Member then referred to a pamphlet, written by Mr. 13rooker, a gentleman who resided in Sussex, who stated that Will :am Smith was reduced to such a state in one of the work houses, that he was not able to work, and that the persons who reduced him to that state were gailty of moral murder. But he (Captain Pechell) diaide dgoing into the details. He hoped no opposition would be given to the papers be moved for. It was a complete fares, to suppose that uniformity of system was now acted upon, and therefore it could not be used as an argument for the incorporation of Gilbert Unions. He hoped Hon. Gentlemen opposite would redeem the pledges they gave at the hustings, and vote against placing those unions under the controul of the Commissioners. Mr. T. DUNCONI BE seconded the motion. The motion having been put, Sir JAMES GRAHAM said he had no objection to the returns for which the lion. Gentleman moved, hut to prevent all mistake as to the number of the Gilbert unions and local Acts, he should move that the returns for the year 1831 be added. Mr. DARBY, (amidst cries of " Oh, oh,") said that he had read the pamphlet of Mr. Brooker to which the Hon. and Gallant Member referred, and he could only say of it that a greater libel wa s never published. Captain PECHELL could only say that he had received the pamphlet from a very respectable person. After a few words from Mr. DARBY, in explanation, The motion was put and agreed to. WEST INDIES—NEGRO EMANCIPATION. Lord STANLEY said that at that late hour of the night he was unwilling unnecessarily to trespass on the indulgeece of the House, but the House would perceive, that filling the situa tion which he had the honour to hold, and proposing for Com mittees on two separate subjects (on both of which he would confine his observations to a single address) it would be impos sible to ask the House to consent to an inquiry on a subject of so ranch importance without addressing a few words to the House as briefly as possible ,upon the impressions which he entertained on the subject, and upon the exis‘ing state of the great interest shish he proposed to bring under the considera tion of the House. In doing so he would not allude to any exciting topics of local character. It was a subject of immense importarce to the country generally, and considering how deeply he was involved in this question when he held nine years ago the same situation which he had now the honour to fi 1, it was but natural he should be anxious for the result of the great experiment. He was happy to say that so far tte regarded the result of that great experiment upon the whole of the population throughout the West Indian Islands, it was satisfactory beyond the most sanguine expectations of the most ardent advocates of the measure. In every island not only the physical prosperity of the labouring population had in creased to an unexpected extent, but it had been accompanied by that which was far more gratifying—namely, the continu ance of habits of industry, improvement in the social system, and improvement in the religious and moral habits. Hemight venture to state to the House that he had not exaggerated the present social condition in any of the West Indian colonies, so far as related to the labouring population, when, in an official statement, which it was his duty to draw up not long ago, in answer to representations proceeding from one of the Foreign Powers, upon the supposed failure of our great experiment of emancipating the negroes. He ventured to state in that docu ment, that since the emancipation the negroes were thriving and contended, their offences against the law had became less fre quent—their morals had become improved—marriage substi tuted for concubinage—their desire for education rapidly in creasing. Such were among the results of emancipation. They were plain and indisputable, and he had great satisfaction in laying them before the House, seeing that they consti tuted in the estimation of the Government and people of Eng land, the complete success of the emancipation of the slaves in the British colonies. He would next call the attention of the House to facts, the representation of which were made by per sons having high authority in the Wed Indies, and he would do so in preference to making any statement of his own. Al though the symptoms differed in degree, according to the various circumstance of the different islands, the new settle ments being thinly inhabited, and the old ones, on the contrary, thickly peopled, yet the general state of facts applied to every colony in the West Indies. He would exclude Mauritius, and confine himself solely to the West In dian colonies on the present occasion. particularly to Jamaica and Demerara. In the year 1840, Sir Charles Metcalfe, the Governor of Jamaica, reported that the condition of the pea santry in that island was strikingly gratifying. They enjoyed most of the comforts of life, attended divine service, were dressed in good clothes, sent their children to school, sub scribed for the erection of churches and chapels, and the mem bers of the Baptist sect supported their ministers in respecta bility. The Governor also added, that they were very free from crime, and most solicitous about the education of their children, and willing to pay the expense of that educa tion. The last report from Sir C. Metcalfe was he dated the Ist of November, 1841. That report he ( Lord Stanley) received with some regret, becaus it contained the announcement of the resignation of Sir Charles Metcalfe, who had discharged his duties with a zeal and ability worthy of the highest praise. He regretted it, too, because the Governor had been compelled to resign, in consequence of ill health. The report to which he (Lord S.) now alluded, stated that the labouring classes in Jamaica were now perfectly free, and more independent than the same class in any other country. No country had a labouring population better provided with the comforts of life, or more secure from oppression. One word more with regard to Jamaica, and he would have done with that part of the subject. What he was about to read was an extract from a stipendiary magistrate's reports dated Jane, 1841. That report stated it would appear wonderful even to those who acknowledged the physical powers of the negroes, how so much coult.l he accomplished in the making of fences, and without entailing an entire cessation of labour in the culti vation of colonies. Certainly, no such cessation had been the result. Because, since the negro was emancipated, new hopes, new desires, new responsibilities, and new sources of ambition, stimulated him in his exertions. He could now labour on his own plantation, and spare time to labour on the plantations of others. That document also showed the number of parishes in which persons were registered as householders liable to pay taxes. In one parish the number of freeholders were— -38 7 Ita 1837 ..................... 1838 ............ 393 1839 1840 ..... 1841. . ................ lie (Lord S.) felt confident, that in making these statements he was not wearying the patience of that House, through whose liberality and generoua sacritice—a sacrifice never before para lelled in any country hose poor people were so much benefited. He would now go to another colony—the colony of Demerara. In the colony of Demerara, it appeared, from the statements which he hed received from Governor Light, that an ahle bodied labourer, for working from six or seven hours a day, could earn money and wages amounting to 231. a year in addi tion to which he hada provision ground worth 13/. a year, medi cal attendance of the value of 31., and other advantages, making his yearly earnings equal to 511. sterlinl In addition to this he had the advantage of scho Is for his °Waren, at the expense of the Colony. The negroes devoted great attention to the cultivation of their provision grounds, and had acquired habits of regularity and industry, and had consequently accumulated property to a cousiderable extent. In 109, Governor Light had reported that six negroes had punt based I an abandoned sugar estate in the eastern part of the celonj, for which they had given 30,000 guilders, which was equal to 2,000/. sterling.—(Cheers.) Two-thirds of the purchase ' money had been pa..d down in hard dollars, and for the remain der they had given a note of hand, payable in three weeks. The purchase of that estate spoke volumes against those who had aspersed the negro character. It showed that the pur chasers themselves had the utmost confidence in the inch's ' trious habits of their brethren ; and it also proved that there was a preference given to the cultivated portions of the co llony over the unreclaiased portion of it, where those persons j might have purchased an estate of nearly double the size. In 1840, Governor Light reported that a company of 140 la ' bourers had established themselves on the Orange and Nassau es- ' tate, which they had purchased for $50,000, equal to 11,000/. sterling. They had offered for another estate a sum of ,cOO,OOO equal to 4,000/. sterling, but there had been some difficulty attending the sale of the estate, and therefore the purchase had not been completed. The negroes had also been in treaty for the purchase of an estate in Berbice, which, in consequence of similar difficulties, had not been completed. Now, when they considered that the greatest part of this money had been earned by the negroes since their emancipation, they could not but admit, that as far as its immediate objects were concerned, the result of the experiment of emancipation had been most gratifying. On the 30th of November Governor Light had reported that another estate had been purchased by negroes for a sum of 80,000 dollars, which was equal to 16,0001., of which 35,000 dollars had been paid down, 500 more were to be paid in a week, and the remainder at short intervals. These statements shOwed that the results of emancipation were not only that the free labourer was enabled to earn exorbitant wages, hut that he was ambitious of earning high wages, and that having said that he did not squander his money away in sensual gratification, but that he was thrifty, frugal, desirous of acquiring ropertv, and of honestly and industriously cultivat , ing the property which lie had acquired.—( Loud cheers.) He could multifv these instances, but that he was afraid of wearying the Hense.—( Cheers.) With regard to the moral condition of the labourers, Governor Light had reported on the Ist A ug.1840, that although he had not thought it necessary to make arrange ments to snake that anniversary a day of thanksgiving, yet many chapels were open, and were crowded by the negro population ; that he felt gratified with the orderly conduct of the working classes, and that, although they felt gratified with their change of condition, yet he felt convinced that the remembrance of their former state was sunk in their present enjoyment.— ( Cheers. ) With regard to Essequibo, Governor Light had visited that colony in the year 1838, and again in 1840. In 1838, there were hardly any houses in the colony except those immediately connected with the estates. In 1840 there were several houses erected, attached to which were grounds of from half an acre to an acre. These grounds were well cultivated—the dwellings which had been erected were most convenient. The late Governor had founded a vil lsge in the colony, to which he had given the name of Wila liamstown, in hanour of his late Majesty ; that village now con tained many respectable dwellings ; there were shops in she village, and an Episcopal chapel, which was regularly attended by upwards of 400 persons ; trade was flourishing there, and a new settlement had been formed towards the river Essequibo. The congregations attending public worship were numerous, were moat attentive, and were all exceedingly well dressed. As far as the colonies of Jamaica and Demerara were concerned, the experiment of emancipation had fully succeeded, not only in securing the physical enjoyment of the negro population, but it had developed their amoral character in such a manner as to prove that they were fully entitled to the high character which had been always given of them by their friends and sup parters —( Loud cheers.) lie was enabled to show, from the increased amount of exports to the West Indies, that although the production of sugar in those colonies might have diminished, yet that the general prosperity of those colonies, as far as the consumption of exportable commodities was concerned, had materially increased. The annual average amount of the declared value of exports to the West Indies during the six years preceding emancipation was 2,783,000/., during the period of the apprenticeship it was 3,575,0001. During the roar 1810 it had risen to 4,002,4651. —( Cheers)—and although during the last year there had been a slight. diminution, as compared with the preceding one, yet in 1841, the declared value of the exports to the West Indies had amounted to 3,492,734/. 'fhe colonies of Jamaica and Demerara might be taken as fair specimens of the working of the Emancipation Act in the other colonies, and, as far as the negro pepula:ion were concerned, nothing could be more gra tifying or successful than the experiment of the emancipation. But while the main and principal object of the great measure, the passing of which r;flected so much honourupon this coentr• - • a measure of which he could never think without feeling thank ful that he had been the humble instrument in proposing it— while the main and principal object of that great measure had been attained by the elevation of the negro race in the social scale, and by the increased physical comforts, yet he could not conceal from himself, he would not concealfrom the House, that the planters in the West India colonies had suffered serion.flus.:, serious injury, and were sufferinm serious disadvantages and dis tress. It would be his duty to ask the House to take into their con sideration what was the possible cause, and to ascertain what measures should be resorted to for the modification of that distress. Now it could not be denied that the prosperity of the planters must mainly depend on the amount of produce. When tie looked to the quan i, y of sugar exported from the West Indies in the course of tfie years to which he had alluded, he found that, during six years preceding the apprenticeship, the aver age produce was 3,905,000 cwt. Tne year before the appren ticeship it was 3,456,000 cwt. In the first year of freedom, in 1839, it fell to 2,1e24,000 cwt.. In 1840, it fell still further, from 3.905,000 cwt. clown to 2,210,000 cwt. Now, it was fair ho should state the cause, and he would state it fairly, and not attempt to produce false impressions either one way or the other. It was quite true that this falling off was attempted to be made up by increased prices. In the six years preceding the apprenticeship, the value of the produce was 5,820,0001., and the four following years it was 6,219,000/. In the first year of freedom, it was 5,530,0001. In the second Jean, it was 5,424,000/. In this year no doubt the large reduc tion was owing to the prices in the home market ; but so far as the amount produced, the planters had found in the latter year a considerable diminution in their income. They had h sustained a ruinous diminution in their incomes on account of the scarcity of labour, owing to the abstraction of labour, in consequence of the labourers becoming possessors of the land instead of cultivators of the soil. They had been compelled to give exorbitant wages, and such was the expense of the cultivation of the soil, that unless some remedy was ap plied, it would be impossible that a large portion of the estates could be kept up. He would state that this would be for the investigation of the Committee, and they would have an op portunity of cross-examining witnesses, which v. wild be more satisfactory than a written statement. Ile had received a report from the Island of Trinidad of a Committee af planters upon this subjeot, but he would not. trouble the House with it; but another Committee, which had sat at Demerara, had reported,and from that Report it appeared that it was impossible that the present expenses of cultivation could go on. This was a Report from 62 sugar planters, and it appeared that from the 31st of January to the 30th of October, 1841, the total expenses on these estates were 1,095,000 dollars, being an increase of 1+74,000 dollars. From November, 1840, to December, 1841, the same Committee stated, that the total expenses were 1,295,W0 dollars, and since that time they had been 3,012,000 dollars, being an increase, and consequently a loss of 983.000 dollars. He did not pretend to vouch for the precise accuracy of this Report, but it was the Report of a Committee that had investigated the subject, and those gentlemen were successful planters. But the Governor of Trinid.d, who was an advocate of the slaves, and who could not be complained of as being unduly prejudiced in favour of the planting interest, was satis fied with the investigation of that Committee. He wrote to him (Lord Stanley), with a statement made by a gentleman whose name he did not wish to mention. This statement com plained of the ruinous expenses of cultivation, and all the estates on foe island were suffering from this expense. This statement was not quite so bad as the statement received from the colony of Demerara. According to the judgment of the gentleman whose name he (Lord S.) did not know, but upon whose opinion the Governor stated reliance could be placed, that in three estates there was altogether an excess of expen diture over revenue of 5,891 dollars, being a difference be tween 54,000 and 49,000 dollars, and that the actual loss on one of the estates was 1,100 dollars. In point of fact, on many of three estates which were formerly in prosperity, the produce did not exceed the expenses of cultivation. These were statements deserving the attention of a Committee of the House of Commons. It was a question of vast importance, and he hoped the House would consider it calmly and dispassion ately. The planters were naturally extremely envious that re medy should be applied, and it was quite clear that there were but two remedies, and only two by which cultivation of these estates could be carried on, namely, one, the reduetien of the expenses by a better mode of manage ment ; and the other, which . would be a special subject of inquiry before the Committee, the possibility of increasing the amount of the population by a large amount of im migration, and thereby diminishing the price of wages, and thus reducing cultivation to a reasonable rate.—( Hear.) He thought it very well worth the atfention of the Committee to ascertain whether it would not be practicable to introduce some system of employment amongst the poorer classes, more approaching to the English system than it was at present in those colonies—such a system of employment es would give the lab Auer an interest in the soil, and in the extension of its produce. He knew there might be practical difficulties—there might be difficulties to introduce machinery, for instance ; but those were practical difficulties which he should wish to see in vestigated by persons conversant with matters of that descrip tion.—( Hear.) Then as to emigration, it had been carried on with great success. Whether persons emigrated from the United States of America or from Africa, he (Lord Stanley) was bound to say the effect had been most satisfactory : there was very little disease or suffering; the persons who had emigrated were very much improved and satisfied, He wished he could say the same with regard to European emigration, but he was bound to say that emigra tion from any part of Europe to Jamaica or Demerara had been accompanied with most fatal effects, and so sensible were the people of those colonies of the amount of distress and suffering, and the extent of mortality amongst European emigrants, that even much as labourers were desired, a re solution was passed by the House of Assembly in Jamafca to the effect that no emigration from Europe or from British colonies should take place in future, at least, at the expense of that colony. Those European emigrants who had got over the first violent attacks of fever were very industrious, and had been occupied in keeping shops, but they were not able to work. Mortality, it appeared, was from seven to ten per cent. of the whole number of persons who had emigrated. Having ascertained those facts lie thought it right to lay the whole subject before the Portuguese Go vernment, and he might say, in passing, that in Demerara, the accounts of the Hill Coolies, who, next to the Europeans, had suffered most, and that the accounts of the ex tent of mortality there was much more favourable than they had been. With respect to the emigration from Africa he felt it would not be dealing fairly with the House or with the coun try if he did not candidly say that he saw great difficulty and very great objection in the way of increasing emigration from the continent of Africa. He thought it would be dangerous, although he believed that a perfectly free emigration from Africa to the West Indian colonies would put the labourers upon a better footing than they were in their own country ; if a regular stream of emigration could be kept up, he believed no thing would be more conducive to the interests and the exten sion of the civilization of the tribes themselves upon the coasts of Africa, but it was a question which should be considered with very great caution ; for those reasons he moved for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the state of those colonies, exclusive of the settlements of Sierra Leone and Ganhia. The House were aware that there were many parts of Africa, surrounding those settlements, over which this coun try exercised control, but where the laws were administered ra ther anomalously. The people in those places were now go verned by merchants, who administered what were called Bri tish laws, though they were not administered by judges or juries. Yet it was of the greatest possible importance to consider the precise legal relation between our colonies and those surrounding tribes; it appeared the British laws were administered against those people without any authority what ever delegated from this country. Under those laws, so admi nistered offenders were tried, sentences were passed, and debts were recovered. All the ceremonies of the law were gone through, but then it must be recollected that it was an evil, though a necessary one, perhaps, to the tribes themselves-- that no limit was fixed for those who took upon themselves the administration of those laws, except their own discretion. Now, if these settlements, each occupying, perhaps, not more than one square mile, were made, the ports from which emigra tion was to be conducted from Africa to the West Indies, one of two things would happen. I n the nei g h bo uri ng tribes do mestic slavery ex isted to a great extent ; it was true there were a few tribes where there were no slaves, and he should like to snake it part of the enquiry is ascertain what tribes really were think fit to sanction such a restriction, let them do it in a de finite and intelligible manner, but not by such resolutions as these. The first resolution was to the effect that in t'.e opinion of the House, the advantage of having the Naval Board composed of naval ,officers ought to be fully considered. He did not doubt. taken assn abstract proposition, the propriety of that advantage being contidered; butlet that considerwion be left to the same power whict selected the head of the army. The resolution went to affirm that the whole Board ought to be composed of naval men, and that civilians ought to he ex cluded entirely from it. If that was the proposition of the Gallant Officer, he must dissent fro it. Experience, long usage, and the practice 0f,.a1l Gosier 'ents, showed that civi lians should not be so exedasded. If j t t.was only intendel that the head of the Admiralty'stiiiuld beriiival man, the proposi tion was injurious. Supposing he (Sii: R. Peel) had brought forward such a proposal when Lord Mint() was First L rd— could he have continued:to 4.lirselia.kge: its duties satisfactorily ? If the House said that the naval serv:ce should at a future time be a 12iliva,%;4i; surely it was very in consistent that for the present,i4d7;i4eNrary period, that officer should be a civilian;—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") The Gallant Officer said he did not wish to cast any reflection on either Lord !pinto or Lord Haddington. 1:Ie said it would be impossible to select a civilian, who, in the short time he hal filled the office, had given so much satisfaction as the present First Lord of the Admiralty. if he had so conducted himself as to extort this not reluctant praise from the Gallant Officer, the House ought not to throw a difficulty in the way of his discharging his duties satisfactorily, by aprearing divided in op nion as to the person who should hold the office That would be a most injurious precedent. and a stretch of the powers of that House. The Gallant Officer had himself admitted that the late Noble Lord at the head of the Admi ralty, as well as his predecessor, had discharged the duties of their office as well a's could have been possibly anticipated from ar.y unprofessional men. It would not follow, either, that if the House adopted the resolutions of the Gallant Officer, parties would still be satisfied with the administration of the Board of Admiralty. The House of Commons had formerly worried Lord Keppel, and afterwards Lord Howe, with their resolu tions, but no general satisfaction was still given by the administration of affairs at the Admiralty.—( Hear, hear. ) Lord Howe was, indeed, worried out by motions.—( Laughter.) lie made a motion on the subject, but it was negatived by a majority of, he believed, 50. He was worried out of the House of Commons—(Laughter)—he was worried out of the office of First Lord of the Admiralty—(Laughter)—but he was net so far worn out that he was not able to fight, and fight well, the action of the Ist of June, 1794.—(Cheers. ) Would the Gallant Officer allow him to say, that he'did not see any use, or any public advantage, in speculating in hypothetical ques tions as to the power they possesseii. He heard speculations as to the result of a naval action with France; but while they may be proud of their own power, why should they be stirting up ill-will—: Cheers)—by any speculations whether France on ihe one hand, would defeat them, or, on the other, whether they would defeat France?—•( Cheers.) He would enter into no speculation of the kind.—( Hear.) Theywere now at peace with France. The misunderstanding which had subsisted betwe, n them had ceased, and why, then, should they go back to trans actions on the coast of Spain and Syria, or speculate on the results of an action with France ?—(Cheers. ) While he had the greatest confidence in the navy of the country he did not think it wise to make any reference to such a subject.— ( ) He hoped the House would pause before it gave its assent to the motion of the Hon. and Gallant Commodore. He (Sir R. Peel) had laid down no rule with respect to the ex clusion of naval officers—( Hear, hear)—but he did not want to purchace the abandonment of the motion by the expression of any hope on the subject. The subject was reserved for the Crown, and he deprecated the House of Commons interposing any restriction on the exercise of the prerogatives of the Crown.—( Hear, hear.) Where were they to stop in imposing such restrictions, if they began once ? ( Hear, hear.) His Right Hon. Friend near him moved the previous question, and he hoped the Hon. and Gallant Commodore would, when he considered the relation in which he himself, the relation in which the navy, and the relation in which the country stood with respect to the Crown, deem it the wiser plan to leave the Crown to consider what course was best to be adopted. Mr. CHARLES WOOD trusted that the situation which he had formerly held at the Admiralty would justify him in offering a few observations to the House, and they should be a very few ; in fact, had it not been that his Hon. and Gal lant iriend, who had brought forward the motion had, in Being so, cast imputations on the character of his Noble Friend (Earl Minto) formerly at the head of tho Admiralty, h- (Mr. C. W.) would not have troubled the House at all on the question. With regard to the general terms of the motion, he entirely concurred in all that had fallen from the Right Hon. 3aronet, the Secre tary for the Home Department, and, from the Right lion. Baronet who had just sat down.—( Hear, hear.) He perfectly agreed with them in opinion, that the present constitution of the Board of Admiralty was the one, on the whole, most cal culated to be beneficial to the service. Like those Right lion. Gentlemen, he had no wish to exclude naval officers trom the situation of First Lord of the Admiralty, but he thought it wrong and inexpedient to attempt, by a resolution of that House, to fetter the discretion of the Crown. He also agreed with the Right Hen. Baronet that it was better not to go back to consider what might have been the result of a collision in the Mediterranean two years since. He thought some considera tion was due to the opinion of his Hon. and Gallant Friends— ( Hear, hear) --although, he thought that, perhaps, they would have acted more wisely had they abstained from giving that opi nion. He fe.t assured, how•ever,that the honour of the British navy could have been placed in no hands more safely than in theirs, and that in their hands the honour of the British' flag would never have been tarnished.—(Cheers. ). Perhaps it might be thought that from the situation which he (Mr. C. Wood) had held at the Admiralty, under Lord Minto, that he could not be an impartial witness. On the contrary, however, he contended that he (Mr C. Wood) had been in a situation to form an im partial judgment, for, from the moment he had accepted office, he had laid down a rule for his own conduct, to which he had rigidly adhered, and that was, never to interfere in any manner, or to offer any opinion, upon any question relating to the pro motion of officers.—(Cheers.) He took no credit to himself on that account, as he considered he had only been doing his duty ; but to that rule he had ever constantly adhered, there fore, with regard to all such questions, he was merely a looker on, and he felt hound to declare, as an impar tial witness, that if ever there was a First Lord of the Admiralty who, in the promotion of naval officers, had looked solely to the merits and professional claims of the officers, who had taken infinite pains to acquire a knowledge of those claims, and who had been anxious only to do his duty to the claims of those officers, uninfluenced by personal considera tions, that man was Lord Minto—(Cheers)—and when his Gallant Friend had alluded to an officer bearing the same name as his Noble Friend, to an officer of the llama of Elliot, he (Mr. C. Wood) thought his Gallant Friend must have been aware that that gentleman was no relative or connexion of the Noble Earl's.—( Hear, hear.) The merits of that gentleman had been admitted on a former occasion by the Right lion. Baronet when discussing the naval estimates, and he (Mr. C. Wood) could assure his Gallant Friend, that if he adduced that gentleman's promotion as an instance of the exercise of personal patronage on the part of his Noble Friend, he (Sir C. Napier) did that Noble Earl (hlinto) great injustice. That gentleman was wally unconnected with the Noble Lord, and had distinguished claims on the [coun try, and whatever might have been the appointment which he had received from the late Board, or whatever might he the event of that favourable consideration of his services which he (Mr. C. Wood) understood had been promised him by the present Board, he owed it all solely to his distinguished services, and not to any personal or political connexion what ever. He thought he should be trespassing on the time of the House if he was to attempt to go over the points of the discus sion, which had obtained a desultory character, and which could be productive of but little good. He confessed that he did not agree with what had been stated by many Hon. Gentlemen on that side of the House, with respst to the naval service, for he believed that all those matters of detail were infinitely better left to the Executive department. He would only remind his Gallant Friend, when he laid claim to the motion that the Noble Lord to whom he had alluded had withdrawn a motion of which he had given notice on his (Mr. W.'s) assurance that the subject would come under the consideration of the Board of Admi ralty, althoug'a it was true that on a subsequent occasion a Committee was appointed in consequence of that motiou, and when that Committee came to investieate the marine service, they found that the Board of Admralty had left them but little to do. Sir T. TROUBRIDGE said he hoped the House would indulge him fur a few minutes, while he alluded to one or two points in the debate on this subject. The first point was with respect to the Board of Admiralty as it was at present consti tuted. He did not believe that the present system could be changed to advantage.—.( Hear, hear.) He thought that the First Lord of the Admiralty was one of the most important of the Cabinet Ministers, and he thought he should be borne out in this. His opinion was, wherever there was a man of high character and standing in the country, wherever that man could be found, that was the man most fit ting for the First Lord of the Admiralty. In saying this, he did not exclude naval officers ; a naval man of high standing in the country was as fitted for the station as any other. If he were to give his opinion as to that man, he should probably name Lord de Grey, not fo r th e ' same reason as th e H on . an d 'Gallant Officer behind him (Captain Pechell) did, but for his high standing and position, for his talent and rank. He thought, where an officer of this description could be found, he was the man to be First Lord of the Admiralty, in order that he might be a guarantee to the public that the duties of the office would be properly performed. The second point was one with which he was rather more intimately connected, that was, that a naval officer should form one of the Board of Ordnance. When he happened to be Secretary to the Admi ralty, that department was under his control ; therefore he spoke confidently, and he believed that great advantage would arise from a communication between the Board of Ord nance and the Board of Admiralty. He formed this opinion upoa experience. Now with respect to the situations at the head of the dockyards being filled by naval men, he thought that this was a subject which ought not to be brought before the House. The next point was with respect to the retirement of officers, and he had no hesitation in saying that he should bo glad to see officers retiring if there was a probability of increasing their allowance. But at the acme time, he thought it was not to be lost sight of, that many of the Hon. Gentlemen whe supported tl,at motion came into that House pledged. He had had the honour of coming into that House, many years ago, pledged to unflinching economy. If there was any money to spare, he did not hesi tate in giving his opinion that there was another class of the navy which deserved increased pay, and that was the petty officers. He should say, that the best mode of remedying the inconvenience attendant upon manning the navy, would be to increase the pay of the petty officers ; and he should, there fore, rather give any surplus money for that purpose, than to the allowance of retiring officers. This was his opinion, and he gave it with perfect confidence to the House. Now, the next subject to which he would allude, was the state of the Mediterranean fleet. He thought a great deal too much had been said on this subject, but he felt called upon to say a few words. The Gallant Officer had said that from the men being ashore, and the inefficient state of the fleet, if the Egyptian fleet had come down upon them they would have been overpowered. Be (Sir T. Troubridge) would say that when the ships came home, and he would mention the Asia, several Members went down to view her. They told him themselves that they were delighted with the regularity of the discipline, and more particularly the gunnery of that ship. He would also mention the Rodney, which was a brilliant sample of what a man of war ought to be. There was the Princess Charlotte, and he would mention the Thunderer. Well, here were four line of battle ships, all of which had the highest encomiums passed upon their discipline and gunnery ; how then was it possible, with su ch ships, they could be captured by the Egyptian fleet? With respect to patronage, he was afraid he was on delicate ground, for it had been, in all Admiralties and in all Govern ments, but he ventured to say that with respect to private pa tronage he knew nothing of it, nor was he responsible for it ; but when they came to the coronation, or general promotion, his friends, Admiral Adams and Admiral Parker, had a great deal of trouble in looking over the lists, in order to do justice to all parties, and they ought not to have been so attacked in that House. No set of men could have taken more trouble, or have shown more anxiety than those gentlemen. Once more, he begged to sate that he thought the Boatd of Admiralty cou ld not be changed with advantage, and he thought that great responsibility was thrown OA the Prime Minister of free ; but in the great majority slavery prevailed. One of tw o things, however, would occur, either the emigration would consist of run-away slaves, who had lost their masters, with whose manners and institutions we had no right to interfere, and had taken refuge- in our settlements ; and in this event it must be evident that we incurred a risk of bringing down on neav us the jealousy of those neighbouring t r ib es, w i t h whom at present we were on the hest possible f oo ti ng. Or, on the other hand, under the name of licen se to emigration, to the colonies for the purpose of obtaining free co l on i es , t h ey would begin to enter into free traffic with their chi e f s , an d stray suspiaions would attach that we were attempting a w sle trade on the coast of Africa. These obstacles might perhaps be surmounted ; but he ( Lord St anley) was sure that they would not be surmounted unless the whole of the facts were entered into ; and if they could summit them, as it was thetr duty to prevent a new slave trade, as it was their duty to de clare to the world the mode in which they proposed to accom plish it ; if they could surmount these obstacles, then they might be justified in holding out the prospects of a free emigre firm from certain parts on the coast of Afr,ca ; and be (Lord s S tr ta n n e l e e s y) such did an D O e t m e gr s a l t t o t e n fay, b t e ha a t tte u n ix. d: o d r wthitohsegreciractube.na nefits to the individuals who were subject to that ernigratien, with great benefit to the interests of humanity : . and to the pro motion of Christianity throughout the continent of Africa. He sincerely thanked the House for the courtesy with which the !louse had listened to him—( Hear, hear)—ane for the atten tion with which they had heard an address on a subject which might be dry.—(Hear, hear.) He thought, however, that the matter required the consideration of the House, and he only hoped that he had not said anything which could lead to an offensive feeling towards the planters on the one hand, or the supporters of entire abolition on the other. Ho had endeavoured to state the ease without either prejudice or exaggeration, and he hoped that the House, if a discussion should ensue, would in the course of that discussion speak also without prejudice or exaggeration ; as that if the matter were referred to Conamitte the two im portant questions would be duly considered.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord concluded by moving for a Select Committee, to inquire into the state of the British Possessions on the West Coast of Africa, more especially with reference to their present relations with the neighbouring Native Tribes. Major C. BRUCE seconded the motion. Dr. BOWRING said he had listened with great pleasure to the speech of the Noble Lord. He hoped the enquiry would be extended to the Niger. In Africa the blacks were many, and the whites were few ; and he could net but think that they were entitled to be considered, and though he was anxious that the interests of the planters should not be neg lected, he desired the House to look to the multitude among the negroes and not the minority among the whites. Mr. V. SMITH said he thought the Committees proposed by the Noble Lord would experience great difficulty in prose cuting these inquiries, having to inquire into the existing re lations between employers and labourers, the rate of wage s , and the expense of provisions. With regard to the first Com mittee, he thought their energies must be very limited. The Noble Lord had not sufficiently pointed out what was to be the course of examination, especially with reference to the crust of Africa. It seemed that the Committee was framed for the purpose of making that inquiry here which the Niger expedition was intended to prosecute on the coast of Africa, with of course much amp:er means of obtaining the pro posed end. So far as the cause of the failure of the Niger expedition was conoerned he hoped the Noble Lord would not persevere in his proposal, bat confine the inquiry to the state and relations of the various tribes en the African coast. He trusted also that the Report of Dr. Madden, who had taken so distinguished a part in the sup pression of slavery all over the world, would be submitted to the consideration of the Committee. With respect to ,the Committee, he quite approved of an inquiry into the manage ment of the estates in the West Indies, and he felt convinced that much good would result from that inquiry. An Hoe. MEMBER, whose name we could not learn, sug gested an alteration in the words of the motion, but Lord STANLEY thought the words as they stood were quite enough to cover everything. Mr. WAKLEY said he did not think that the Noble Lord expected to get much information from. the proceedings of this night, but a report will be useful. The Noble Lords speech exhibited such a happy state of things among the negro population, that it was most undesirable any interference should take place. Yet it seemed there was to he a Committee to inquire into the matters mentioned in the raotion. He was apprehensive that this interference was not one of favour to the emancipated labourers. Twenty mil lions had already been paid to the proprietors of the soil in the Nt est Indies, as a compensation for their less be the emancipation of the negroes. The Noble Lord showed that the negroes themselves were undergoing - th change and improvement which he had anticipated in his able addtess on the subject in 1833.—( Hear, hear.) But what could they expect from this movement ? Many per sons would be apprehensive that these labourers, in their improved condition would be completely swamped be the tide of emigration from Africa to the West Indies. Se was ap prehensive that the free labourers would be reduced to a state of privation and distress, by the competition of the immi grants who would work for less wages. Analogous results had taken ;place in England, only from the change from the I oath to the North of England. He feared that every obstacle would be thrown in the way of emigrants returning to Africa if they wished it. He was really appre hensive that in this matter a pressure had been put on the Noble Lord by the planters ; he hoped, however, be would rather look to the condition of the emancipated negroes, than to the interests of the planters who had already been paid twenty millions. Mr. H UTT said he was glad a motion of this kind had been brought forward, and ho should have much satisfaction in supporting it. /11r. DICKENSON said that the change in the system of slavery had been attended with considerable loss to the planters of Demerara, and on their behalf he expressed his approval of the motion. The motion was then agreed to. WINDOW TAX. Cap'. I'ECHELL moved for returns of the assessed taxes en windows iu the twelve larged towns in England.—Agreed to EASTER HOLIDAYS. On the motion that, the House go into Committee on the Corn Importation Bill, Sir K. PEEL said he was afraid that if he were to get his resolution agreed to on Wednesday night, he could not carry it up to the Lords, and as nothing stood on the paper for Thurs day, he thought it better to adopt the usual practice, and move to-morrow (this day) that the House adjourn for the Easter holidays. He begged to state, therefore, that he swell move the adjournment en Wednesday (this day). INCOME TAX. Mr. HAWES hoped the Hon. Baronet would put off his re solution respecting the income tax uutil after Easter, in order to give the public an opportunity c f considering the measure, which as yet they had not had. Sir R. PEEL said that he had no chanee of having the resolution with respect to the income tax reported till after Easter ; and it would then be competent to any Hon. Mem ber, on the bringing up of the Report, to move any amendment upon the resolution. But as the tax in question was to be the basis of all our financial legislation, and as other most important interests were involved in the matter, he would feel it his duty to submit the resolution to the House on to morrow, with a hope that it would be immediately assented to. The amendments of Hon. Members might be moved on the bringing up of the Report ; but the resolution should first pass through Committee. Dr. BOATING observed that the adoption of the resolution would greatly prejudice the cause of those who were opposed to it upon principle. Sir R. PEEL said that it was his wish, no doubt, that the principle of the measure should be affirmed by the House. Colonel Sllo'llolll' would move for certain returns relative to the amoulit of duty paid upon fire insurances.-- Agreed to. The House then adjourned at a Quarter past One o'Clock. COURT CIRCULAR. W2NDSOR, TCESDAY.—IIer Majesty and Prince Albert, tie Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, and the Lassies and Gentlemen of the Royal Suite, arrived at the Castle from town at half-past five o'clock this afternoon, escorted by a party of the Royal Horse Guards, under the command of Lieutenant Bastard. The Royal party occupied five carriages and four. The Royal Standard was hoisted en the Round Tower on her Majesty's arrival. The Queen and Prince Albert left town yesterday afternoon, at half-past three o'clock, in a carriage and four, escorted by a party of Hussars, for Windsor Castle. Her Majesty and his Royal Highnes's were conducted to their carriage by the Lord Chamberlain, the Master of the Horse, the Vice-Chamberlain, acd Lord Colville, Lord is Waiting on the Prince. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, and the Princess Royal, and their attendants, occupied another carriage and four. The Equerries in Waiting, Colonel Bncklev and Sir Ed ward Bowater, were in a chariot and four. The Royal Suite, consisting, of the Countess of Charlernont, Lady Carolina Cocks, Hon. Mims Cavendish, Barons Lehzen, Viscount Hawarden. and Sir Frederick Stavin, followed in two car ) iages and four. The Royal dinner party at 'Windsor Castle, yesterday e'en ing, included Mr. George Edward, and the Hon. Mrs. Anson. The Queen and Prince Albert, attended by Colonel Buck ley and Sir Edward Bowater, the Equerries in Waiting on her Majesty and his Royal Highness, visited her Majesty the Queen Dowager yesterday, at Marlborough House, and re mained an hour with her Majesty, and afterwards returned to Buckingham Palace. Sir Robert Peel had an audience of her Majesty yesterday. Prince George of Cambridge visited his Royal Highness Prince Albert yesterday, at Buckingham Palace. The Duchess of Gloucester visited her Majesty the Queers Dowager at Marlborough-house, on Monday. A Deputation of the Wood Trade of Loudon, consisting of Dir. Joseph Doe son, Chairman ; Messrs. Churchill, Simson, Gough, Wallen, Rott, Robinson, Byron, Browning. Cosset., Galariel, and Peache ; and Mr. J. C. Sim, their Seoretery, accompanied by Mr. John Igasterman, M.P., had an interview with Sir Robert Peel yesterday, at his official residence in Downing street. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent took an airing yesterday, in a carriage. The Countess of Munster and her daughter re moved on Monday to Albemarle street. Ia the evening a courser was despatched to the Earl Munster, who is now in Belgium. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke of Cam bridge, and Prince George paid a visit to Lord Adolphus Fite clarence on Monday, in St. James's Palace, and their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Sussex sent to make inquiry after his Lordship and the Countess Munster, on their bereavement. Yesterday the Queen and Prince Albert sent to make inquiry, and Lord Adolphus Fitz clarence went to attend her Majesty at Bnakingham Palace. Her Majesty the Queen Dowager also sent yesterday to learn the state of the Countess and his Lordship. Among the Nobility and Gentry who paid visits of condolence yesterday and on Monday, were his Excellency Count Kielmaasegge, the Earl and Countess of Uxbridge, Earl Howe, Earl of Denbigh, Countess of Jersey. Earl of Pembroke, Earl of March, Earl of Wiltshire, Lady Charleville, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Lord Arthur Lennox, Lord Somerton, Colonel and Baroness North, Sir George Seymour, Sir J. and Lady Whatley, Sir A. Grant, Sir David Davies, Hon. Colonel Dawson Darner, Sir Audrey Barnard, Sir Horace Seymour, Sir Au eustus d'Este, Sir John Shelley, Sir W. Bulkeley , Sir Robert Wilson, Mr. H. Baring, Colonel Paget, Colonel Alon'ague, &c. 'the Russian Minister transacted business yesterday at the Foreign-office. CORN-LAWS.--No fewer than 3,436 petitions hare been presented during the present session (to March 9 ) to the House of Commons, on the subject of the Corn-laws, signed by 1,615,906 pe , -sorks. Of these. 719, with 484,196 signatures pray for the " repeal of the Corn-laws ;" 444, with 268, 150 signatures, pray for the "repeal of the Corn-laws, and for freedom of trade;" 2,042, with 776,328 signatures. PTV for the "repeal of the corn and provision laws ;" signed by 317 persons, pray "against repeal of the Corn-laws ;" Tuesday. andtsix only, with 687 signatures, pray for "the prop red a. sure ;" while 142, with ti 3,007 signatures, three only, Y, agam . st `m be proposed." The other 79 petitions pray f o r or against the ute, and lately various minor details of Sir R. Peel's Sill. lolteit•huebicanin,seArvaremtolivrerdoefAlubseiqui,n,sted on Director of He was director of this establishment from its creation until within a short time of his death. H is Irani' have been em . baled by DI. Gana.