The Sun. — London, England, 1856-03-14 00:00:00

:oniroversy ;o a discus 'ore them." id they de praise —the ina. " But ch you (lid le was right id been ap the Secre not treated icy had an red it was restrained In as it was not again the Queen. o command If he had ; but Low', fault unleari, conduct of his tale, and vent and of ,ta him with he attention' ❑tie with the notice. e , a brother ope. (Laugh ad to second 'elf. (Hear.) disappoint )r either of L the mem- incurred it. h the right ;ht to have Lad proper a the Bal 'cies of the' he fortifica ta ought to 6d therefore not baying Lasian forts, it the means value his is country •ed greater ut still be Eon of the as it would is. Thee. e considar- The pro. nd at Kin s had been riles of sem iour of the 01, and the Ito action, ,he British 9 proposed irbich the a the con to its itn iscussion, lace. r who had t he (Sir )plying to r that the I not laid I he had id officers Nit which century's s.) Last mited ea for Wal- (pinions much to d gentle regretted a a step ial to the o gallant upon the vould bo (Admi nber for h facts, if they og their course so adispen- to Jon). •elatit is ie Admi- o he had. eceiving rals had Id great to them, .ward in ould, be ured to, t he ad. bL e gal- an public )(I. He hether Lho gal lightest ground for the appointment of a committee to review the campaigns of the last two years. Admiral WALCOTT— I merely seconded the motion : I did net say a word as to the vote I should give. (Laughter.) Ibeg it may be clearly understood that my vote will entirely depend upon the answer the right hon. baronet the member for Carlisle may give to the gallant admiral's charges. Sir C. WOOD—I must beg to say that when a member of this house— and gallant officer, not in thh heat of debate, but in a let ter addressed to the edithr of the rtmcs, on the 10th of January in the present year, raises a substantial issue, which I should be most happy to see tried before any tri bunal. He says • I ask, were ti he Government sincere in their wish to cripple Russia , in 1854, and were they serious in 1855, for certainly no one judging by their actions can think so ? (" Hear, hear," from Sir C. Napier.) Now, that is a point fairly raised and broadly stated, and certainly nothing could be more satisfactory to me, if it were possible, than that it should be fairly exa,neiued. Again, the honourable and gallant officer has'expressed his opinion, first stated in his letter to Mr. Irousi , ies, and repeated to-night, that my correspondence with him contains proof of treasons of which I have been guilty. Amore grave accusation could not be brought twainst any man, and certainly Lam under taditticulty, the Government zefusing an inquiry as to the course which, consistently with my public duty, it is open for me to take. I think, as the matter now stands, it is an exceptional case, and, although most reluctant to read my own private letters, which I think are my own pro perty, yet, in present circumstances, I deem myself corns pelted to trouble the house with some extracts from my correspondence with the lion and gallant officer. It will be open to him to assent to my using his answers if he thinks fit. Sir C. NA.PIER—Use everything you like. (A. laugh.) Sir J. GIULIANI —But before I proceed to this point I shall refer to whit fell from the hon. and pliant officer with reepect to the evidence which ho said I gave before 'the Sebastopol Committee relative to the use of private letters. With'the permission of the house I shall read a portion of that evidence. ' There was a private letter writ tea by me on the 25th of October, 1854, to Admiral Dun das, who was then in command of the Blac!:. Sea fleet. That letter was made a public document by being referred to and qpote4 in a despatch to Admiral Derides, dated Admiralty, 28th of December, 1851, which I read before the Sebastopol Committee, at the same time stating that I should not have felt myself at liberty to use the private I tter of the 25th of October had it not, by the despatch of the 28th, been made a public document, and had I not re ceived the sanction of the noble viscount at the head of the Government. The cheirman then asked— Admiral iVALCOTT- -Oh, I did not know that that was the rule. (Order.) Mr. Speaker— Sir —I really was not !sensible that such was the case. (Laughter, and cries of order.") • Sir C. WOOD—When an hon. gentleman gets up and seconds a motion it implies that he considers the motion one that ought to be made. The gallant admiral must be ewer° that if he had not seconded the motion it would at °ace have fallen to the ground. However, I am glad to see that even the gallant admiral who seconded the motion does not approve of it. (Laughter.) Admiral WALCOTT again essayed to explain, but he was prevented by the cries of "Order," and the advice of lir. Spooner, who sat near him. Sir C. WOOD, in continuation, observed that it really did very much strengthen the opinion he entertained, that he ought to resist toe motion when he heard the only Berson the gallant admiral could find to second it—which ne did certainly in not very complimentary terms-- avow that he came forward only because be did not like to see is brother officer adrift, and that he did not, in fact,, approve of the motion. (Hear.) He agreed entirely with the gallant gentleman when he said it was not desirable tnat the men of the sword should be made subject to the luela of the pen • but ho thought likewise that it would not be desirabl e that the conduct of men of the sword should he investigaiel bye committee of thet house. (Hen , hear.) There were a great number of things which a committee of t hat house might very properly inquire into; but such a committee would not no a very convenient tribunal before Which to bring the behaviour of a gallant officer, or the Conduct of a campaign. (Hear.) If the hon. and gallant admiral would move a vote of censure on the right hon. oaronet, or would move to impeach him, as at on ',time he seemed not indisposed to do, such a course would be open to hirn ; but an investigation before a select committee I veeleld not by any means - be a necessary preliminary to such step. He (Sir C. Wood) would ask the house whether, with the exception of a correspondence which ought never to have been read at all, the gallantgenthan en had brought forward one single reason that would justify his motion? The gallant admiral had never been censured. He had been directed to haul down his flag ou his return from the 'Relic') oil which no had been sent, as other admirals had done before him, and a; Admiral Dundee had done last Tear. During the debate on the navy estimates last ass !ion the right hon. baronet (Sir J.' Graham) had expressed pretty strong terms his approbation of the conduct of the "°altic fleet ; and when honours were distributee it was nut the Government's fault that the gallauthdiniral had not received his share. (Hear.) lie (Sir C. Wood) could not sit down without saying a few words iu vindication of asgallant an officer as over stepped, and upon whom the hon. gentle num (Sir C. Napier) had made au unjustifiable attack—lie e meant General Jones. (Cheers.) If there was one person in 4 er Majest's service who be might say was mare gallant Oat% anoth y er it was that distinguished officer, who from the time when he was the leader of the forlorn'hope at Badajoz cl own to the present day, had never been wanting iu the service of his country. (Cheers.t The gallant admiral, IV- AerPiUg to the operatiena in the Baltic lastyoar, corm lamed of Admiral Dnutias for leaving part of his fleet at Cron atalt while the rest of his force was boinbardiug Swea burg. cut surely it was as necessary in 1855 to leave a strong f eree before Croustadt to . prevent the Russians sallying forth as it was in 1854. (Hear.) The gallant admiral find u nderrated the number of gun-boats at Sweaborg—there Were el.) instead of 15 ; and those were more than suffi- Vent for the destruction of Svveabore. The mischief had test in the faulty construction of the mortars. It was said t"t a mortar ought to stand 500 rounds, whereas those . which had proved the most durable were some which had b een used in the last war. Ono that had been used at 'Algiers had stood eOO rounds ; whereas mortars of more l nederrr construction had become unserviceable after being sired 100 times, or even fewer. (Hear.) He (Sir C. Woed) 11 ) 'd not agree that the honour of the British Navy had 1 • eels at all imperilled; nor did he consider that a coin leittee of the House of Commons would be necessary for arts vindicatiou ; for, although the caution — the gallant officer opposite (Admiral Walcott) said wisdom — of the ueaians had prevented it from reaping eclat, there had 1 1 1 ,ever been campaign iu which every rankiu the servicee r em the admiral down to the cabin boy, had behaved with snore gallantry. (Cheers.) Viewing, then, the 'ap reilituieut of a committee as uncalled for and even ridicti una, ha hoped the house would, by a vote as nearly unto za l amus as possible, reject the motion. (Cheers.) „ J. GRAHAM—The house must have observed the t e "lattulte; experienced by the hon. and gallant member for ' o eutiews.rk in finding a seconder for his motion. The hon. and gallant officer on the third bench (Admiral Walcott)e w ith that generosity that belongs to his profession and to hi personal character, said he could not bear to see a b rother officer adrift and not throw him out is tow-rope. ( ~Ye a r, and a laugh.) .Sir, if the hon. and gallant member ' o r Christchurch had not come to the assistance of the hon. Ittl d gallant member for Southwark, my impulse would have been to second that motion—(cheers)—for, after all th athas - passed, I am glad to meet him heie face to face. ( near, hear.) Accusations against me have been gravely Preferred, o reetfl„ the e equently repeated, made immediately on the gallant aduiiral to this house, and from day to day postponed,.nntil we have arrived at the Easter re e; and this motion, so formally announced, has never been made until this night, although upon occasion of 'notions for going into Committee of Supply it was open to the hon. and gallant officer to have brought it forward- N eves Sir, nothing would have prevented me from sup t"rting this motion except the declaration of the right c are. gentleman the First Lord of the Admiralty, made upon his offici a l responsibility, that the appointment of etja committ ee wou ld b e i ncons istent with the interests of ' public service. As far as any personal wishes and onour aro concerned, it would be the greatest possible nstisfaCtion to me that this committee should bo ap; Feinted ; that every scrap of paper I ever addressed to the hon. and"gallant admiral should be produced before the aominittee ; and that I should give evidence before the committee as well as the gallant admiral. (Hear, hear.) S ir, the hon. and gallant athriral is no doubt a very good lodge of the relative strength of fleets and their positions, but be must permit Rio to say that ho is not an equally good judge of strong language. (A laugh.) The zallaelt '.. t luairal commenced his speech by promisi n g to del i ver oinaself with temper, with moderation, and justice; and I not be wrong if I read the charges which the g allant a dmiral contained in one speech, but teat a very long 011 - The following, then, are the charges which the gallant admiral says I ant guilty ueion co wardice—(" Hear," from Sir Chidees Napier) — that I 'aye written from the Adiniralty letters so jesuitical that le other person could have put them on paper—that the etlour of an offiche net iiefe'in auy hande—thet I 'heve e eo guilty, in his opinion, of treason (Sir C. NAPIER— " I t►CV®r said so"]—that I was never in earnest in the Rus ;tat' war—that the Emperor Nicholas might have been at t he head of the Admiralty with more advantage to British Int erests th an m y se lf (Sir C. NAPIER, rose to explain, but d ing met by a cry of "Order !" resumed his seati—that I esired to make the gallant officer a victim, anti that I was VitY of conduct unworthy of a gentleman. (Hear, hear.) "ea are the charges which the gallant admiral has pre- Ferrol against me after deliberation, and after announcing pia 4 det er i n i ne ti on t o use n o l a nguage that was not charac terised by t e mper,. by moderation, and by justice. (Hear.) t Sir,,l should like to call the attention of the house (/ the use that has been made of my private correspondence 'With the gallant officer. (Hear.) The house will remember le a nos ok exception tO the course pursued by the hon.and ember for Wallingford (Mr. Malins) in a former -es aiou with respect to this subject. I complained of the un ,elPected use made ou that occasion of public despatches .;eithheld by the Government on the ground that their pub- L leation would bo injurious to the public service, and of Private l e tt ers , written with, certainly, the utmo s t confl uence at the moment, to an officer employed in an arduous , c einnaseid—produced without consulting the writer of those letters, or obtains ag . his permission—the letters garbled also 111 the order of time, and their production open to every possible objection which could be taken to the use of pri- Irate correspondence. I have every confidence in the cor- D l etness of the view which you, Sir , take of the r ules of the " (I se and I am satisfied, atter having sat here for a long and having had much experience in dehato, that there a% beeu no such UEO in former debates of public or pri- Late despatches, and that, if an . appeal had been made "" you, Sir, any such use of private despatches end public letters would not have been' allowed. After 'll that has occurred, I think it is necessary that I should c e all the attention of the house to a further at been made of this private correspondence. Ih o ldo in 31 ,0 hand an extract from a newspaper—the Sheffield Free ' P ress —which contains a correspondence that, with the permission of the house, I will now read. Mr. Ironsides, resident in Sheffield, makes a proposition, at a public ll ' t eeting there, "that Mr. Roebuck be requested to move th e appointment of a committee to inquire into the Bahia e xpedition of last year." He proce e ded to state that he T el heard such s description of the 1 tters between Sir tt ures'Graham and Sir Charles Napier that Ire had written I am, yours very faithfully, J. R. G. GRAHAM. to Mr, G ran t, the editor of the Morn:iv Advertiser, who,' Vine-Admiral Sir C. Napier, K.C.B. . 1 110 was i n f orme d, had them in his possession , to send them Now, sir to that letter I received an answer from the gal . 1.) him. Mr. Grant replies thus to Mr. I ronsides lent admiral, which I have hero ; but it is his letter, not London, Juno 11, 1855. mine, and whether I shall reset it to the house depends Dear Sir,—l had ip my possession for six weeks the whole upon the wish of the gallant admiral. co rrespondence —not copies, hut the originals—which paesed Sir C. NAPlER—Certainly ; read it; and the letter of between Sir James Graham arid Sir Charles Napier, from tho the 24th of November also. starting of the Baltic expedition last year till its return, but I Sir J. GRAHAM continued,—l have already said that returned it to Sir Charles Napier a mouth ago. Sir *Char:es I have not that letter. I will now read the gallant adtui aPentancously placed the docUmentiein my hands—which , I ral's answer to mine of the 24th of February. It is as iced not say are of infinite importance—on the understand- ; follows Ine that I should not allow them to go out of my sig ht . I I le, Albemaeleatreet, Feb. 24, 1854 . ' l ad, however, no prohibition as to showing them to friends, l My dear Sir James,—l thought it my duty to point out to thyeoufros;lowing aed, had you chanced to call on me while they were in. my you what I thought the best way of manning the fleet, to in.- Poseession, I should have ha d much pleasure in showing them sure a great, glorious, and speedy victory over the Russians. I' ) you. I have uo hesitation in saying that, it I have any I never made difficulties when service was requited; and idea of what evidence is , these letters would suffice, with other after a long life spent in honour lam not going to make them u 1 d s consider Commissionm yse myself a o cowardeels to declinean d unworthy aly service,o f h b l d o i facts of undoubted accuracy, to convict Sir James Graham of nowl should treason. - ng Yours truly, „T eem G luier . her - Majesty it everL a r o d ( N h e a l p s e o ra n never te declined service, no more shall I, wil e,' the receipt of this letter Mr. Ironsides writes to Sir cularly n after the confidence you placed'with the Charles Napier, refers to the statements of Mr. Grant, and means y (2 d isposal, will do all I can for the honour and asks Sir Charles to let him have the letters. In reply, Sir country,' which shall not be tarnished Charles Napier sends the following letter to Mr. Ironsides : glory o,fitmmy ueen an d Merchistoun, H orn d e an, J une 17, 1855. i n my hands ; and I certainly have no apprehension of failing either in good will or hearty concurrence with the Board of ' Sir, —Mr. Graut lias told out the truth. I did not give those letters to him to publish, because I might have Admiralty. C ea IIARLES NAPIER. b een accused of giving my plans of attack to the enemy; but I am, my dear Sir James, very faithfully when it is decided not to attack the parts I pointed out, and 1 To that letter I immediately return 'emote there • e, re no danger of publication, I shall go to Lord , rep M ly ydear Sir Charles,—l do not anticipate that I shall ask - almerston, and ask him if he will give the papers.to the you to undertake any "desperate" service ; 'and hen I , house, and if he refuses, I shall then publish them, whatever i f: the consequence to myself. I have no hesitation in saying, offered you this command, I was certain that the an honour t of safely whtoh confi ded lcould place o y had I done what Sir James Graham wished me to do, plainly 0 means be xleressed in letters both public and private, I should silo tyhoeueronauptprayreanutd distrust t e nt h e st fl o a f g might tho lost her Majesty's fleet ; and I think Sir James Graha 'your disposal was the sole cause of some uneasiness on in iart serves impeachment for goading me to do in the winter what , e on at . Your note has dissipated all doubt and apprehensionoTraoind e wag advising me not to do in the summer. Roebuck was t e ,e successful with his Sebastopol Committee that he ought to shall be most happy to see you at the Admiralty e-nt t „ l 'e tie Baltic. Sir James Graham has beeu publicly ac- 11 o'clock, when we will discuss the arrangements which it at 'led by me of perverting my letters and of endangering the willbe necessary to make. eDeen's fleet, and that accusation ought not to lie dormant. , J. H. G. Gamlen. Were I am, my dear Sir Charles, yours very faithfully, lin Parliament it should not sleep for 24 hours. Ido , Itloct show it right to send you the papers, hut would be glad. i Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier, sleeve them to you had lan opportunity.—Yours truly, ! Now. Sir, I shall frankly tell the house why I hesitated CHAS. NAPIER• long before I edvised my colleagues anti her Majesty to hon. and gallant officer is the best judge of whet appoint the gallant admiral to that command. I did besi ;Mount of sleep this question may have deprived him, bet tale long, and I will tell the house the reason why. The hi s al the app ea rance of the house during the delivery of hetise will remember that on a firmer evening the gallant en ! speech I do not think his sleeplessness extended to aliniral talked very conteMptuensly of coastguardsmen, seas, hon. members present. (A- laugh.) I would Just ob- with bald heads and spectacles. (" Hear, hear," from' Sir 'r o , before proceeding further, that in the unlimited C. NAPIER.) Now, Sir, I hail the honour of some private publicationadvanced enjoy e d by th e hon. and gallanteafficer lie has acquaintance with that gallant officer very many year s a e o v r anced one charge both against myself and against he aigo, and landsman as lam and ignorant of naval affairs, as ernment with which I was connected, that, if it wee; ma y be, I had imbibed very much the opinion from ,him `O with the public interests, Ido think Might with self, that after 60 no admiral was really co efficient in time propriety beinvestigated before a committee. The latra of war as he himself might desire to be—certainly not tie You state that you would not have felt yourself at liberty to use it if it bad not been made a public document by the despatch of the 2Sth ; but is not any private document relat ing to pu.blic matters public ?—I conceive not ; I conceive that no person has a right to usa a private letter without the consent of the writer, whether that gentleman be in office or out of it. (Hear ) Is not that a private letter of your own ?—Thc letter of the '2sth of October was a private letter, written by me to Admiral Dundas, but I should not have used that letter had it not been made public by the despatch which I have just read. Nor if it related to public matters? —Certainly not ; I should not consider myself at liberty, with reference to the conduct of admirals with whom I corresponded on an occa sion like this, to make use of my private correspondence. This extract from my evidence will show the value of the statement made by the hon. and gallant °Mem that I de-' Blared before the Sebastopol Committee that private letters might be made public documents at the will of the Ad miralty. Sir C. NAPIER—You were so reported in the news papers. Sir 3. GRAHAM—So much'for the evidence before the Sebastopol Committee ; and to the principle there laid down I have already told the house it was my wish to ad here, were not the circumstances of this case very peculiar. I have shown the , houie the use already made of my pri vate correspondence, wiabout my conrout, by the hon, and gallant officer. I have told the house that I would be glad to have this question referred to any tribunal, with the whole, of the correspondence, public or privwe ; but the house had heard objections from ofliciol authority—the head of the Admiralty—to the institution of any such in quiry, and new it only remains for me in vindication of the truth, to which the hon. and gallant officer attaches so much irnpn•tance—(" Hear, hear," from Sir C. NAPIER) and to avoid that special pleading which the hon. and gallant officer is so anxious to avoid—("llear, hear," from Sr; C. N APIER) —though perhaps I should have little diffi culty in ir ,ving, were I to refer to the rep.)rt of our pro ceedings last year, that such artifices are not unknown in the debates of this house—to read, with the permission of the house two or three of my private letters addressed to the honourable and gallant admiral. (Hear.) I shall commence with the circumstance which attended the appointment of the gallant admiral to the command of the Belt;.: fleet ht the commencement of 1854. The hon./and gallant officer is most anxious that truth should be stated unreservedly in the matter. lam sorry thus early in what I have to address to the house to state that a misunder standing on a matter of fact exists between the hon. and gallant admiral and myself. If I did not misapprehend him, I think he stated that I promised him the command of the Baltic fleet in November, 1853. Am I right in so understanding the hon. an.. gallant officer? • Sir C. NAPIER—The facts aria these :—The right hon. baronet wrote lo mo in February, 1854, that he had ap pointed Admiral Fanshawe to the command of the Ameri can station, ant that it was his intention—l quote from memory—tO keep me at home lost a war might break out, and if there should be no war to send me to Sheerness. I saw the right hon. baronet the next day, and put this question to him, "Am Ito understand you to mean that I am not to go to America because, in the event of war, you intend to appoint me to a command in the Baltic. and in the event of no war to send me to Sheerness?" His reply was, " Ires." Sir J. GRAHAM continued—l have by me the copy of a letter written by myself to the hon. end gallant officer on the llth of February. The hon. and gallant officer was very instant in his'application to the for the appointment to this command. I have his letters here ; but shall not use them unless he presses me to do so. Ho urged me 'very mm-h to give him the appointment ; he held out n:any inducements why I should do so, intimating among other things that his popularity in the service was such that his appointment would lead to an early influx of sailors to the fleet; and he adduced many reasons why, both on account of public grounds and personal merit, the command was due to him. I declined upon more than one occasion an interview with the gallant admiral, and he complained of my reluctance to see him as inconsistent with the respect which I then felt for him. Upon the 11th of February. thereforo,..l wrote to him this lotter— Sit NAP rEß—Read the letter of the 24th of No vember. Sig J. GRAHAM—I have not that letter here, but the hon. and gallant officer is at perfect liberty to read it if he pleases. I will road my letter of the 11th of February in answer to the applications which he ,made to me, urging that the appointment should be given to him. It is as fol lo.rs e Admiralty, Feb. 19, 185 t. My dear Sir Charles,—The appointment to the command of the North F!ea fleet is a very serious affair, and cannot be de cided in a hurry. While the question is pending there is no use in discussing it with you; and this is the reason why I have avoided a personal interview, not intending to mark any want of respect, but desirous to prevent any needless disap pointment. War is not declared ; no fleet is yet assemb'•.ed ; and no final arrangements are at present concluded. In these circumstances it is not in my power to make any communica tion to you at this moment. Vice-Admiral Sir C. Napier, K.C.B „ So matters stood on the 11th of February. In the perform ance of my duty, however, having consulted with my col; leagues in the Cabinet, and taken her Majesty's pleasure with respect to the appointment, I notified to the gallant admiral, somewhere about the 231 of February, that he. had been selected to that high command. I had an inter view with the gallant admiral somewhere about the 231 of February, and intimated that eireatristance to him, and upon the '24th of February the impressions which were produced by that interview were conveyed to the gallant admiral in the following letter : Admiralty, Feb, 24, 1851. My dear Sir Charles,—The conversation which I had with you yesterday has loft on my mind the painful impression that the means which the Admiralty has provided for fitting out and manning the North Sea fleet are, in your opinion, insuf ficient for the occasion and unequal to au encounter with the Russians on fair terms. • _ I have done my best to provide a force which I consider adequate to the duty to be performed ; and any exertion which this board considers necessary will be made without intermission. You urged on me the propriety of offering, bounty, of transferring the seamen from the Queen's yacht to the flag-ship, and of inviting the gentlemen of England to forego their summer's amusement ou the sea and to lay up their yachts. Tneso are signs of distress, wldch I consider impolitic and unnecessary, and which I cannot sanction. If you are dissatisfied with the preparations that have been made and aro in progress, and if you have not entire confi dence in the strength of the combined forces of France and Engl md, you had better say so to me at once, and decline to accept a command which, in your opinion, would not re dound to your honour or to the safety of you country. It will be far better that • you should refuse the offer of th's c ,mmand than undertake it with any such misgivings. 1 have marked my confidence in you by offering it ; if you' decline it on account of the insufficiency of the means which will be placed at your disposal, I must endeavour to make some other arrangement as soon as possible. Without a goodwill and hearty concurrence, this board and the Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic fleet cannot work well together. THE SUN, LO DON, FRIDAy_EyENING, MARCH 14 efficient as he himself had been. If I am not mistaken, I here heard the gallant officer say in early youth that he woul I neyer think of going to sea after he was 60 years of age. That was in couversation, but when I first went to the Admiralty the hon. and gallant officer was so good as to ex tend to me his advice, I hat altno,t wild his " tuition," in the important offiee to which I' was raised unexpectedly in 18A.,.and great with the pen as well as with the swoniathe bon. and gallant officer has published frequently and largely. I hold in my hand a book waters by the gallant officer with the high . saunding title of "The Navy," which contains a series of letters written by Admiral Sir C. Napier, and e litod by the higheet literary authority, his relative, Ma jor -General Sir W. Napier, to various First Lmals f the A Imiralty, including Lsrd Melbourne, the Duke of Clal ranee, Lord Althorpe, myself— an. humble individna among such eonips,ny—tlinEarl of Minto, Lord J. Russell, the E al of Ellenborough, Lori Palmerston, Sir R. Peel, and though last,-not least, the Editcr of the 7irars. Now, this is in 1811. It i no private commuuication, no docu ment of doubtful authority, uncertain in its use, and not deliberately given to the public, but it is a letter addressed to myself on May 17, 1131, and the gallant Admiral say Rely uponit, sir, that the generality of men of 6) years of ago are net fit for captains; as admirals, there is greater scope for tho mind, and the signal for exercise will show him what ship are in order avid What are not. But most men of that age are too old for dash mid enterprise. Lord Nelson fought the battle of the Nile at 39, Copenhagen at 42, and was-killed at 47. Had he been 70, you woala probably net have heard of either one or the other. When a man's body begins to shake, • the mind follows, and he is always the last to find it out. (A. laugh.) That was written by the hon. and gallant officer in the vigour of comparative youth and. in a time of las ice ; but now time a trances, and what continues to be the opinion of the hors, and gallant officer? Here is a letter to the late Mr. Hume, dated the 23th of February, 1537 He repeats the proposition which he offered to me as to Nelson : Fought the battle of the Nile at 39, Copenhagen at 41, and was killed at 47. Had he not been an admiral till 69, I much doubt whether you would have either heard of the battle of the Nile or Copenhagen ; and the battle of rafalgar, most certainly, would not have been fought in the manner it was. (" Hoar, hear," from Sir C. Napier.) Will the hon. and gallant gentleman say. "hear, hear" to - the next passage? There i- a great difference between the command of a fleet and a seat in the House of Commons. (Laughter.) A man of 6) may talk to the house for two or three hours—(laughter)— though exposed to the wit, the sarcasm, and the yawns of his 'opponents, and still preserve his nerve and power of ora tory much beyond that ago. - (A laugh.) Then c •mes ;in allusion to trying circumstances which aro all foreseen by the hoe, and gallant officer But an admiral, in command of a fleet, has not only his enemy to look after, but he has charge of that fleet among rocks, shoals, lee-shores, storms, aid tempests; au t it re quires youth and health to support him in all his difficulties. (Hear, hoar ) But it does not stop hero. As time ad vances the hon. and gallant offical addresses his opinioaa to the Naval Commission appoinelfd in. 1339. Full of honest zeal for the.service the Duke of Wellington presided over that commission, and the hon: and gallant officer addresses a letter to the secretary. He says this of Lord Nelson— that bright example rightly cherished in the recollection of every naval otfieer and. every grateful Englishman : Lord Nelson fought the battle of the Nile at 39, Copen _ . was that signal made? It was made on the day when declaration of war arrived, and with the permission of the hon se I will read the words of the signal. 'lt ran theft : " l e ads, war is declared, with a bold and numerous enemy to meet. Should they offer us battle, you know how to dis pose of them ; should they. remain in port, we must try and get at them. Success depends on the quickness and prod sion of your. fire. Also, lads, sharpen your cutlasses, and the day's yeeir owe " Now, contrast that signal with the signal of the greet model of the navy—fto regarded by the hon. and pliant officer himself and so regarded by his fellow-countrymen ; contrast that signal with Nelson's signal on the morning of the battle of Trafalgar, " _Enel Led expects that every man will do his duty,"—that memorable signal which has become house hold words-4he exhortation of every British parent who sends forth his son into the werld.no mat ter what his avoca tion may be. Contrast that sigrkal with the signal made by the hope and gallant admiral, and then you will have the measure of the difference between Nelson and the great hero of the Baltic. I think that was a signal which led the fleet to expect a most daring enterprise—that oven skulking behind fortresses under cover of strong batteries would be of no avail to the enemy ; they were to be led to the .attack, they were to sharpen their cutlasses, end ha premised the day sheula be their own. I can only tell the hen. anti gallant officer that me , political cowardice was such that I was alarmed at his signal. I feared come very rush undertaking was a,b int to commence, and I thought it prudent to tell the gallant admiral that we did not wish or iu tend to send hint •on any deiperate service, and I thortgut it my euty to restrain his honest zeal. That was only the fcommeuce an; t of the Bettie campaign. reis b..; egs rue to the hon. and gallant officer's despatch, dated May 30, fa om Hew Read, in which ho says that he trunks, upon reference to the plans, that Sweaborg is un attackable titter by laud or sea. The hen. and gallant officer told the house to remember dates. I also beg the Iroise to rernembn r date.. Tbis report is dated May 30. Now, the house will remember the hon. and gallant officer read a part of a direction from the Admiralty in the au tumn of lest, wh.n the matter was brought in questien, in which ho was reeueste 1 to report to the Admiralty when he should have made a personal reconnaissance of Sweeborien what was the ship in whi c h it was ma de. and on eh tt 'day it was made, and what was the nature of the reconnaissance. The bon. and gallant officer did not read the answer in full, le. t he will exceee me for saying he has evaded that answer altogether. Ire admits that on the 30th of May, when Ito made that report, ho had not been neater than eight miles. Sir C. NAPIER—I had not been there at all. Sir J. GRAHA.M-- Ex , ctly cc. The hon. and gallant officer said on the 30th of May that Sweeborg was neat tackaide by sea or by land—he being within eight miles of the place, and not having gone close in to reconnoitre. Sir C. NAPIER.—I was' not within 100 codes of it. Sir J. GRAHAM- The gallant officer was distinctly asked by the Board of Admire ty whether he had been close to Swea borg on the 3 . th of May. Sir (1. NAPlER—Because I had got the gout. - Sir J. GRAHAM—Ties is what he states on the 13th of November :—" I beg to acquaint their lordships when the port and works of Sweaborg were inspected by me. I beg to inform them I anchored off Sweaborg on the 12th of June, close to the outer shoals, about eight miles eft All the bea cons were removed, and it was impossible to approach nearer. I sent in the master of the fleet and two steamers to search hageu at 41, and Trafalgar at 47 ; many men of his age would have done the same thing ; but I doubt whether Lord Nelson himself, between 64 and 7(1, would have attempted either the Nile or Copenhagen; and most efjrtainly, at that time of life, 'he would not have fought the battle of Trafalgar in the way he did. tie died at 47, leaving a for a passage. I intended to infirm myself the next day by a farther examination, but the French fleet appeared, and I proceeded to join them"—not after a personal reconnaissance, but with the plans and charts of Sweaborg in his hands. [Sir G. NAPIER,--" No such thing."] I quote the words of the _ jlon. and gallant admiral. It iifo'r liim'to contradict if lam . a e n tos a e d . mit that ? brilliant example to folio. , but which example will never be wrong in saying that he never closely reconnoitred Sweaborg followed by one man in a hundred, unless ho has youth on until the '4ll of September. ("Hear," from Sir C. Naples.) Does sir t c h . e N h A on p . i a E u n d_ga y l: e a s e . t gentleman his side." • (Cheer's) These were very solemn warnings, and from my • early acquaintance with she hon. and gallant gentleman, liado n the as 13thhoofaiJdune on , g t o h n e e 23 in d o a f nd Se ra p a t., e in a a company personal Sic J. GRAHASSI—WeII, then, if the hon. and gallant offi before the dose of the French revolutionary war, I was car aware, by contrasting his age with my own, that he had reconnaissance, passed the awful limit of 60 years, so dangerous to the pub• with General Jones, and had made in May that report to the lie service. (Laughter.) But if the doubt of what, fur Admiralty. which he did make on the 24th of Sept., it would the public service, it was prudent to do had not arisen, have been quite possible for the Admiralty in the course of there was in this very book a letter to another First Lord that summer, or before the close of the autumn, to send out of the Admiralty, having,o, personal bearing on the appoint- all the app li ances which ho Might have deemed to be requi snout of the hoe. and gallant officer. In a letter to Lord site. (Hear.) I ascribe the whole difference which has arisen Minto, dated March, 1837, he says :• between the hon. and gallant officer and the Bo ar d o f Ad m i- A man made an admiral at 40, ie constant employment, ralty to his neglect in not snaking a personal reconnaissance of with good health, good nerves, and Of an active, enterprising Sweaborg until so late a period as Sept. 24. That brings me to character, may hold good till 64 or upwards ; but a man whoanother 't. The hand gallant office h . imputeanci en said that therhas thought fit has been on shore for a considerable number of years, unac to a impu t e of motives, . has . change of views on caste:nod to cammencl, must have his nerves so much relaxed s ' v e . p. ar the Admiralty with respect to ass attack upon that it is quite impossible he can command a fleet with the by the l, caoorg w i ts caused delusive f expectations which energy thit is necessary at the commencement of a war ~ he hweelfiekle.asidsea(ties'y the General falserelo a r o t s ef the al t l of Sebastopol. Now, may do well enough in peace, but war is quite another thing, Aralt oUSept. 4, nclo e sed s without e r was receivedn officialat the and war will surprise us one day or other ; and, depend upon letter from Y the hon. andgallant admiral. comm en t in a it, my lord, if we moot with reverses, there will be such a dated August 29, the reconnaissance having taken place on the flame lit up throughout tfie country that the Lord have 23d, and the plans of attack bore date August 25. The Go mercy on the first Lord of the Admiralty for the time being. vernment had selected Sir H. Jones to go out as a military (Laughter.) I think the house will agree with me, after assistant to the hon. and gallant officer in the various opera what I have read of the solemn warnings administered to tions which were expected to take place, he being an officer myself, to the Military Commission, and to First Lords of of the highest merit and experience, and one upon whose the Admiralty in times of peace, tleet wo were justified in , opinion the utmost reliance could be placed. That gallant hesitating before we recommended' our colleagues to give officer having closely reconnoitred Sweaborg on the 29th of the hon. and gallant officer the appointment. But, sir, An . eust—a duty which the lion. and gallant gentleman op these difficulties having been ono by one overcome, I had to posits, although he was the naval commander-in-chief, ap consider, in co mart with the hon. and gallant officer, when pears up to that time to have altogether omitted—expressed appointed to the command, the objections he had taken to the strongest possible opinion that a plan which he described the manning of the fleet. The hen. and gallant officer, with in detail, but which lam sure the house will not expect me laudableforesight and prudence, thought that a Russian fleet to repeat—a plan for a combined operation of sea and laud of 28 sail of the line was a force not to be despised. Whoa forces to the extent of 5,000 men—would ho felt confident present to enter the Baltic with 12 sail of the line anal a large lead to success, and that in seven , daye. That report was re number of screws, though the Russians had no screw ships, ceivod on the 4th of September. and I regarded it as being of he more than once represented that the force was limit°. so much importance that, on the 9th of that month, after the quate. He stated that the fleet wis very ill-mauned. Now Cabinet had been consulted on the subject, I ordered it to be sir, Ido not deny that the hon. anal gallant officer praised referred to a council of war. Marshal Baraguay d'Hilliers upon me, in the interviews to which I have referred, the and General Niel, two of the most distinguished officers in propriety of issuing a proclaneetion based upon an Act of the French service, had, unlike the gallant admiral opposite, Parliam ant which I had the honour of introducing. But considered it their duty to make a close personal reconnais 7 no such proclamation could have been isuied, with offer of ance of Sweaborg, and they came to a conclusion not quite bounty on the one hand, without compulsory service on identical with that arrived at by General Jones—but to the the other, if within the time limited sailors did not come conclusion that au attack made with sufficient - boldness, by in. I was not prepared at the commencement of the war, naval means alone, without the no-operation of a military before the necessity had been demon.trated, to urge the force, could be successful, and indeed that the fortress would Government directly or. indirectly to sanction compulsory not hold out for more than two hours. That was the opinion , services. I had the assistance of my right km. and gal- of two distinguished military officers after a close reconnais lant friend the First , Naval Lord of - the A,imiralty—as- sauce, arid in the absence of any naval reconnaissance, and upon oistanee for which I can never be sufficiently grateful, and that opinion the Government, acting in perfect concert with which, I think, constitutes a debt of gratitu le on the part the Government of France, ordered the matter to be referred of the public. The exertions of my righthon. and gallant p to a council of war. It is said that the views of the Athni friend, which were unremitting, convinced me that if a ralty changed with the fluctuation of affairs in the Black fair trial ware given, without a shade of compulsion, the Sea, and were influenced by a supposed success at Sebasto fleet would be manned. I resisted the proclamation. I pal, Now, the hon. and gallant admiral likes truth, and resisted the offer of double bounty, intimately connected fortunately dates sometimes are useful in establishing the• as it was with compulsory service,: The fears of the gallant truth, ; admiral were not realised. The hopes and expectations of Sir C. NAPIER.—Yes, when they are properly stated. the Board of Admiralty were not disappointed, and my Sir J. GRAHA.M.—The opinion of Generals Baraguay right hoe. and gallant friend succeeded in manning the d'Hilliers and Niel was received on the 11th of September, British fleet in a time incredibly short. (Cheers) In pass- and on the 12th the order was sent to reconsider the whole ing, I will say that I admit the wisdom of the objections question, and the hon. and gallant admiral was reminded in which were taken early by the hon. and gallant officer to that despatch that the destruction of Sweaborg had alwaysbeen the proclamation in question, and, feeling the force of regarded by her Majesty's Government as a matter of the ' those objections, in 101 I myself proposed a modification 1 utmost importance ever since the commencement of the war. of it, to which the house was pleased to give its assent, Now, with regard to the views of the Government being and the objectionable par:ion of the law is now altered. changed by events in the Crimea. Why, Sir, as I have said, (Hear.) After the Baltic fleet was naeeed for the Baltic I this order was sent en the 12th of September, and the British service, the Royal Albert, a threenlecker, was in the yeas' army did not land in the Crimea until the 15th, and the 1851 named for service in the Black Sea. That ship Went battle of the Alma was not fought until the 20th of that out as the flag-ship pf a gallant officer in no respect info- . month. Now; let us consider the question as regards the rior, either in experience or judgment, to the hen• plan proposed by General Jones. General Jones writes : and gallant admiral opposite—(hear)—fcom Sir C. I "After a careful reconnaissance, 'the only mode which Napier) ; and I would propose tie the hon. and gallant appears to present itself with any prospect of success, is by officer whether he means to say the Royal Albert, manned a heavy bombardment from a combined operation .by laud by volunteers after the Baltic service was supplied, was and sea." (Here follows the plan,) " The above is merely unfit for the service, or unfit to be sent into battle by a , an outline of what is possible, practicable, and of easy axe. British Board of Admiralty? (Rear, hear.) So touch for cation." "Should every thing prove favourable, the opera the objections to manning the fleet. (Cheers:) The next tion ought not to occupy more than seven or eight days." point taken by the hen. and gallaut admiral was, that the " The close of the summer may, probably, be considare 1 the ships were Refit to go into action. He has read part of his best time for bombarding Sweaborg, as the winter following letters in which he made use of expressions more than close one the destruction of the public establishments and once, that there were in the fleet under his command ships buildings would precinct, the possibility of repairing or re unfit to go into notion. The Beard of Admiralty called building them during a northern winter," upon hint as a point of duty to specify those ships— "to On the 24th of September the gallant admiral was induced, specify" whatworo the words use . - I in theletter addressed t ) him. How did he meet that request? He went off about by the representation of a military officer, to examiue the mmo. quested that a report of the state of the ships shoul discipline bcine improval by exorcise. The Admiralty roe- fortress himself for the first time, and General Jones a pausing him, says, in the strongest manner, that lac— d b "Secs nothing to induce him to alter his opinion as to returned to the Admiralty, pointing out such defects 3 i the nature of an attack, with a view to the destruction •of were the subject of complaint, and he gives as an excus e) and tstablishments," for not sending home the list that it was not easily pre- the arsenal . perol. (Hear, hear.) The hon. and gallant ot reports' of general officer do not fleer talks in These repos o a n o. very acceptable to the gallant admiral, for afterwards, when respectful terms of the captains under his Comma o. C 1 3 ,1. Jones, who lied taken part in the operations against genmous as to read to the b Though I have that correepondence, I will not be's°. Li enSe and give to the public the Bomarsund, requested the gallant admiral to allow him a 1 creamer to reconnoitre Cronstadt—and a more modest re confidential comiuunications made by the gallant admire. n est could not have been made—he was peremptorily ; re really at the top of the list, in which he declared , g ivin g w ith respect to the cer:filet of several captains, some. q fused, and upon that refusal Gen. Jones asked for pormis , sion to return to England. All this, however, is merely in their names, that he thought them unfit for their com- P assing, and I wish now to say a word or two about Bomar mends, and that it was hopeless for them to try to a mend ; ' r sund. Do I rightly understand the lion, and gallant admi and in which he proposed to me that ho should be at l ibert y : ral when I believe him to say that he did not wish for the to make signal, in presence of the,whcilo fleet , " Go home! ; ' assistance of any military force in attacking Bomarsund ? You are no use to use hero." I reaisted so harsh a measure. i Sir C. NAPIER—That is what I did say. e (Cheers.) I have the letters here. I will not he so ungene i r . 1 Sir J. GRAHAM—I should be sorry to read any private one as to produce them. If telid produce them they would l e tters addressed to me by the hon. and gallant gentleman create a degree of illwill ag•iinst,the hon. and gallant mem- . w ithout his permission. her such as I am sure *he could not confront. (Rear) i ' Sir O. NAPIER—You are perfectly at liberty to reed any I will not betray names. It was a confidential communica tion to me. It is very easy now to say that the captni SirJ. GRAIIAM—Very well; I will, then, read two ex were first rate officers. The private communications ' tracts from letters addressed to me by the gallant admiral. to me respecting these first rate officers bear ite an- The house will bear in mind that the gatlaut admiral now ether interpretation and I state positively that, whatever t states that he did not require the co-oporation of a laud the hots, and gallant member may now find it conversion force to say in public, those were not tho representations which at Bomarsund. Now, on the nth of Juno, 1854, he he made to me in private. (Cheers.) I stated to hi m that writes to me : . i , the Aland Islands. I would support his authority to the utmost, but I was "I have anticipate, you about Sulli not prepared to sanction the ships being sent home-- the van has made a complete survey of them, and been up to ships and crews being efficient. I stated that if he would Bomarsund, which ho . finds very strong, but requiring a gravely and specially report to the board that he thought large land force to attack it." " There is' a large harbour, certain captains should be superseded, I had so much r-- quite land locked, where the whole fleet could anchor; but Hance upon his justice and authority that his wishes shot Id there is not room alongside the batterieS for ships enough be met, but it must bo by superseding the officers and not to attack it without a laud force. If Sweden would come by sending the ships and crews home. (Cheers) Now , forward it would b e different ; or if yea can send a land sir, another point made by the hon. and gallant member force of 10,000 men it could be done." was, that there were no pilots on board the fleet'. I am (Hear.) Thnt was on the 10th of June, and the gallant ad speaking from a recollection, perhaps, not 130 perfect as of miral evidently considered the subject more deeply, and on those who have more ready access to official documents, the'l2th he again writes : but I think my right hon. and gallant friend, who was my i " Capt. Sullivan returned after having made a complete colleague, will confirm me that , great exertions were made. [ survey of Somarsund, which he reports as very stro ng . He Sir C. NAPIER —" I .4iii sail Tho best pilots, and those e was well received on the islands by the inhabitants. By all best acquainted with the navigation of the Baltic, were' acdounts the garrison consists of 2,200 men. It is a solid sought out by the Admiralty long before the war was do granite work of two tiers of guns, supported by three round dared. [Sir C. NAPIER—" I said so."] I am glad the towers, and he does not think there would be water enough hon. and gallant officer makes that admission. I thought for large ships, and not room enough for such a force as would he said there were no pilots competent to lead the fleet to be adequate to reduce it; but a land force could bo sent to its scene of action. • . • - ! great advantage, supported by the ships, and there is a secure Sir C. NAPIER — I 'said that, when we arrived at the harbour which would hold all the fleet. If 10,030 men could Gulfs, the greater part of the pilots wanted to go home, I be spared I think it might be reduced, which would be a great and did go home. There were onl y ei g ht left, and ' we I triumph, but no time should be lost." found theta good for nothing. , . I say so still. - ' (Hear.) ;stow, in consequence of that letter of the gallant ad- Sir J. GRAHAIII—The hon. and gallant officer referred miral, more than 10,000 men were sent in order to rend er to a particular ship , the Monarch. Now, en board the 1110- , success in the attack upon Bomarsund certain, as the gallant narch was a person who had made 60 voyages between Hull admiral expressed the opinion that an attack might succeed and Croustedt, and who had for four years been Master of a if supported by 10,000 troops. Now, sir, disputes like this, steamer plying between Cronstadt and Sweaborg. In adds- between British admirals and British generals with reference Von to that, in the month of F ebniar y or March, the to attacke upon forts, I am sorry to say, have taken place moment the Billie was open, a steamer of war was fitted before, and the present is not the first occasion upon which a --' el of Admiralty , and communications made out by the Doer British admiral has abused a military colleague. I will just to the Trinity-houses of London and of Hull—a preCaution read to the house a passage from modern history, which • e—and in the former history of the naval service—anal unexampledVshows what was the nature of the quarrel which took place by those about 20 most experienced masters reco m mended between Admiral Vernon V • and General Wentworth, on the oc t through Trinity-houses were sent through the Cattega , fk. casion of the siege of Carthagena. Lord Stanhope, in writing the Sound, into the Baltic, for the very purposdnoo Ta o i t t i i i g e of Admiral Vernon, 'says : themselves masters of the navigation. I for giro able "He became a great favourite with the multitude, who hon.. and gallant officer the highest credit were, like himself, impatient for peace, and prone to consider very manner in which he led a numerous fleet of ships of great draught of water through the Great Belt into the the noisiest pa triot the most sincere. On the brea k i ng out of 1 the war he wae appointed an admiral and commauder of the Baltic, a most difficult operation. I ascribe—not ex credit for West Indian squadron by the very minister whom he had as at sely, for I am disposed to give him the utmost cre a o l sailed, from the same concession of popular clamour which had his skill and ability on that occasion—but I ascribe ofatrgoe e produced the war itself. Ho was undoubtedly a good officer, portion of that success to the ability and knowledge . • 1 •• so far as courage, enterprise, and experience can constitute pilots who were placed on board his ships. Now.siro,, that character ; buti he was harsh and haughty to his inferiors, have been blamed for recommending caution to the . h . • • untoward with his equals, mutinous and railing to all placed and gallant officer, and he, rather taunts um with •having . above him in authority." restrained his ardour when he first went into the Baltic, although he also charges me with goading him on as winter • (Laughter.) The character given of him by Horace Walpole is alTroached. (" Hear," from Sir C. Napier.) Allusion 1 that be was an unwise, brawling admiral, whose reputation has been made to an important circumstance by the. his andwhose - hon. wrs greater than courage, and gallant officer who unwillingly seconded the motion— greater . than his s k i l l . Unfortunately these quarrels b e _ and Ido not know whether he withdraws his support, for two.andnot f • en admirals generals are un i e pent in the he seconded it undara misapprehension ; but he reprobates , . . . military and naval annals of the country. But leaving these the signal made by the gallant admiral to his fleet, When i hleterle. l recollections, I COMO now to A moot point —mooted - - -- again -to-night by the hon. nod gallant member for Christ church (Admiral Walcot)—of whether stone walls are or are rot really assailable by ships ? Now, the bright example of the Agamemnon , in the attack upon Fort Constantine leads me to think that, with skill and great courage, it is possible, under special circumstances, to attack stone walls - and for tresses a ith ships, though it is a perilous operation. I am left, however, in perfect uncertainty as to what is the delibe rate opinion of the hop. and gallant officer (Sir C. Napier) on this subject. Writing on the Bth of Januaryin the present year a letter to the Ti 72248, from which I have already quoted— Sir C. NAPIER—I wrote no letter of that date. Sir J. GRAHAM—The hen, and gallant officer's memory is very treacherous as to what has occurred lately. (Laughter.) This letter was written on the Bth ofJanuary,lBs6, and pub lished in the Tinto on the 10th of that month. [Sir C. NAPIER —" Oh, yes ; I remember."l The hon. and gallant officer said ho did not write a letter of that date; but a little reflec tion has taught him that ho is wrong. This letter enters fully into the question Rs to the attack on stone walls by ships, and here is the result of his long experience=not, re member, contained in a speech, but in a letter deliberately written. He says :—" I served 15 years last war, and it never was the custom for ships to approach batteries at all." That is the /assertion in the letter. Now I think my noble friend at the head of the Government is somewhat under a misap prehension with reference to the advice given by the lion. and gallant officer as to the attack on Acro. thave heard it said that successful attack was owing to the advice given by the gallant officer. Now,, on inquiry, lam assured, that the reverse is exactly true —("hear," and laughter)—that the gal lant officer counselled Admiral Stopford not to attack. Acre, and upon the very grounds 'stated in his letter to the Times that he had served 15 years .last war, " and it was never the custom for ships to approach batteries at all." (Hear.) Now, the hon, and gallant officer is a great writer. I have read seine of his letters published in a large volume, bat be has published two volumes on the Syrian war and the attack on Acre ; and in that history, vol i., p. 213—(a laugh)— where he endeavours to engross to himself n largo portion of the praise due to that gallant exploit,. I find the following passage. Will the house remember that on the Bth of January he says it was never the custom in the last war for ships to appr )ach batteries at all, and. then listen to the following ex tract ? " I had frequently been engaged with batteries last war— (laughter) —and, I believe, was the only officer in the squadron who had ever commanded a ship in action against stone walls --(renewed laughter)—and the system I followed_rYon see, he seemed to have had a regular system of attaeking stone walls with ships —" the system I followed] was the one I had always been accustomed to. It was the plan followed by the leading ship at the battle of the Nile ; and I am not aware that Lord Nelson found fault with Sir Samuel Hood for an choring abreast of the leading ship ; and if that is the tactics to be followed in attacking a line of ships, it is certainly the same that ought to be followed in attacking a line of stone walls." (Cheers and laughter.) Well, now, this is not all. I must re fer again to the volume from which I have already quoted, for a letter addressed by the hon. and gallant officer to my noble friend at the head of the Government, and in that letter the hon. and gallant officer, in the year 1838, enters with great ability upon the question of the attack of stone walls by ships. Recollect that he had declared Sweaborg to be unattackable by sea or 14nd. Now, I will read the whole letter : "My dear Lord Palmerston.—l em very glad that it is your intention to communicate my letter to your colleagues ; since writing it, I observe the French are greatly strengthen ing their squadron in the Gulf of Mexico, and, from the nature of their armament, there cannot be a doubt but they intend attacking St. John do Ulloa. If they merely meant to block ade the Mexican ports, a Irigato and small craft are by far the best description of force for that purpose ; but line-of-battle ships and bombs [there is not much about gnn-boats herel plainly indicate their inclination of attacking tho castle and defences of Vera Cruz. during peace,- ha only two.thirls of their complement, on this occasion the ships were fully manned. He most dis tinctly charged the lion, and gallant adthiral (Sir C. Napicr) with hiving ' through want of firmness an I want of decision, caused the delay in the attack on Croustadt. Acre,had been referred.to ; but all the facts of the case showed that the whole glory of that' trausactiou was due, not to the hon. aura gallant admiral, but to an hon. and gallant admiral deceased —Admiral StopfOrd. Bdt if anything could tend more to lower the character of Sir Charles Napier (sic) —as a British officer, it was this, that out of spite to the then First Lord of the Admiralty and the Board of Admiralty, he had during a war with Russia, and for the purpose of gaining a little popu larity with the multitude, stated that the Admiralty had -de prived the men of their just pay, and of all those indulgences to which they were entitled. Such conduct was not only unbecoming, but it was so bad, that if the hon. and gallant admiral himself were in power, ho would have struck any man off the list who 'had been guilty of it. The man who) could so misconduct himself was not fit to govern others, nor was any man fit to command'a fleet who did not know how to obey those whose duty it was to command him. (Hear.) Capt. SCOBELL cowed not sit to hear a man oppressed by the three-deckers of the Admiralty, without, simple tender as lie was, opening A gun in his defence. The gal lant officer had been taunte.:d with not bringing forward his motion quickly. New lie had used all the diligence nossible according to the forms of the house—he had• been unfortu nate in his ballotting, and was unable to bring forward his motion earlier. He had been charged with reading private letters, but the late First Lord had read really private letters, while the gallant admiral had only read the letters of the First Lord of the Aamiralty himself. The gallant admiral had to that clay had his honour unquestioned ; it was not his fault that ho was old ; if he was defiCient in nerve or limb why did the Admiralty appoint him? (Cheers.) It quite stirred him to find ail the life of such a man raked up and thus subjected to scrutiny. As for the speech of the right hon. gentleman below him (Sir C. Wood) it was taken up with the reasons why he came to appoint the gallant admiral; it had nothing to do with Sweaborg or Cronstadt. He did not find that the army officers were criticised in the same way ; on the con trary, they were sheltered; army officers were defen led by the Government, who did not shrink from falling foal of ono of the most distinguished officers of the navy. ° The amount of the insinnatioas thrown out was that Sweaborg was not taken in 1854. If so, why was it not taken in 1855, when the force was neech larger ? Mort irs, guns, and, above all, screw steamers were furnished in abundance, and yet seartely a shot was fired, and not one from the large ships. Tho Admiralty had sent out in 1855 one of their own men, cognisant of their own plans, and yet he had done far less than had bean done in 1854. The gal lant officer had been most unfairly treated. He had ar rived at the close of his career when every man's fame was dear to him, and so his speech, of which the fault was being too clever, and which drew attention too much away from the point at issue, had been perverted and abused. He would s my that the fleet in 1854, badly manned, as all new fleets must be, had done more than thefle st in 1855. This bad manning of the fleet was owing to the insufficient bounty, and he (Capt. Scrawl') could not see why the same rule was not applied to the blue jacicets that was applied to the red. As to the men" of sft. 8, why these were not the men for the navy. Were pressed men ever sft. 8 ? And ho should like to see which would execute the best manceuvres—the long-legged sailors or the short-legged ones. The question was, whether they would examine the conduct of the fleet in 1854 and 1855, and he hoped that, when peace was arrived, the committee would. he granted, and that the gallant gentleman would leave the house as an honourable untarnished Englishman. Mr. MUNTZ remembered to have heard from the right hon., gentleman below him (Sir C. Wood) that everything had been going on in the Baltic as well as it was possible to go oh, and that everything had been done that it was possible to do. But now it appeared that the gallant admiral wee charged with neglecting his duty. He left it to the house and the right hon. gentleman to reconcile his first opinion with the charges he now brought forward. Mr. LINDSAY said that the charge was that, on the order of the 4th October, the gallant admiral had neglected to attack Sweaborg. Now, it was precisely on the 4th of October that the false intelligence of tno fall of Sebastopol reached this country, and he could conceive that the Ad miralty, flushed with the supposed success, had issued orders which, if the gallant admiral had followed, would have been at the loss of every ship under his command. Had the gal lant admiral acted on those orders he would in all probability have destroyed the English fleet. The right hon. baronet in making these attacks on the gallant admiral's conduct in the Baltic appeared to forget that in censuring him he also cen sured our -Allies. It occurred to him (Mr. Lindsay) there was something wrong in the administration of Milan at the Admiralty, as exemplified by the contrary orders issued with reference to the gallant admiral's leaving Hinge Sound. Mr. MALINS felt great pain at the course adopted by the " I have been twice there, and am quite certain, if they attack with [with what? why, with] bolinees, they will take it. Many naval officers will disagree with me, but few know what ships can do, whoa well placed, against stone walls— (laughter)—Algiers for example. " Nobody though+ the French would have forced the Tagus because Sir Charles Cotton did not do it after the battle of Vimeira— they did, and succeeded. " St. John de Ulloa is not so strong as St. Jdlian, and a ship can nearly touch the walls [it being proved that at Sweaborg there is deep water close to the walls themselves], and the Mexican soldiers are not fire eaters. (" Hear, heir," from S'r C. Napier.) " I know the admiral —he is young and enterprising ; if he take St. John de Ulina, Vera Crete will be at his mercy, and they may pi obably make a second Algiers of it. " I write this to your lordship, because the castle is gene rally supposed to be [What I like Sweaborg—tho very words] unattackable by sea, and thinking se, your lordship might be lead astray." Just as the Board of Admiralty were " led astray" by the reports of the 30th of May. (Cheers, and laughter.) I now have to thank the house for the patience with which they have heard me. Into this discussion I have been dr awn most reluctantly. It is not of my seeking. Had it not boon for the particular circumstances of tho c so, I should not have done what I have done to-night, in reading private letters. I am scrupulonsly fearful that I have transgressed in reading those letters, but the house in judging my conduct on that point will remember that the circumstances were very peeee ing. (Hear, hear.) Before doing so I took counsel with the house respecting the propriety of this proceeding, and I myself did not see how such a course was well to be avoided. Sir, this house is always a friend of truth ; it dislikes special pleading ; and I think I have stated to the house openly and ' fairly what are the real facts of this case. (Heir.) One point only remains for me to touch upon. I am, it seems, the friend of Russia. The Emperor Nicholas himself, had be been at the head of the Board of Admiralty, could not have done more than I did to promote the interest of Russia Well, there aro many witnesses upon the bench below me. (Cheers.) I will defy any one in this house to say that any effort was omitted by me. (Cheers.) Neither in the Black Sea nor in the Baltic may we have been successful as we de sired ; but in my conscience I can say that, whatever may have been our failures, they have not proceeded from want of exertion on the part of the Board of Admiralty. (Cheers.) With respect to preparations, I say distinctly that, if we had received the hon. and gallant officer's report of what was necesssary; in his opinion, for the attack of Sweaborg by naval means only in the beginning of June, it` was quite 'in the power of the Admiralty to have sent out such a quantity of mortars as would either have stir ficed to plant on the islands occupied in the attack in 1855, or, placed in mortar vessels, would have aided the operations of the fleet in the manner recommended by the hon. and gallant officer, before even in his view the season would have prevented the attack. Be that as it may, how ever, was I negligent in the intervening time ? In concert with my colleagues I prepared in the autumn of 1854, to be ready to sail with the fleet in the spring of 1855, 21? gun boats, 22 mortar vessels, and five floating batteries, all built and ready for sea in April, 1855. By an agreement with the French Government an equal force of gun-boats, mortar ves sels, and floating batteries heel been prepared and built by France ; and, in addition to four screw line-of-line ships, commonly. called block-ships, we fitted five other line-of battle ships with high-pressure engines ; so that there were ready for attack in the Baltic in the spring of 1855, nine sail of the line, 24 gun-boats, 22 mortar vessels, and five floating batteries : this number of gun-boats, mortar vessels, and floating batteries, being doubled by the arrangement made with France. The hon. and gallant officer says that there is treason in it. If that is his opinion this discussion ought not to stop here. ' (Hear, hear.) I. have confronted the hon. and gallant officer this evening. lam ready to confront him anywhere ; and I defy him to prove the accusations which he has this night scattered with so much recklessness about him. (Hear.) - Admiral BERKELEY said he was sure the house would hear it with surprise when he stated a fact which had happened that evening, and which had ;curt him more than lie could possibly express, He had been in communication privately with the bon. and gallant admiral when he first went to the Baltic ; but when he (Sir C. Napier) thought proper to enter into a public controversy with the Board of Admiralty, he (Admiral Berkeley) had thought it only proper to cease to Write to him. Upon gilt the hon. and gallant officer wrote to-him in these terms :—" My dear Berkeley,—Your letters are such a comfort to me, I miss them, pray continue to write." He (Admiral Berkeley) wrote back, " Dear Sir Charles,— I will continue say correspoudomee on the clear and distioct understanding that neither now nor hereafter, you will ever make a letter of mine public. (Hear.) The house, then might suppo , e that lie was not a little astonished to hear ono of those private letters read after such au agreement. (hear.) But the hon. and gallant admiral produced a second letter, and took credit to himself for not reading to the house, because he said he (Admiral Berkeley) had committed him self. Now he would tell the hon. and gallant admired that fighting was net the only quality that was required of a Bri tish admiral. He must be a man of the world,—a man of an doubted honour ; and he must not do that which the world held to be a culpable thing, namely, exposing private COlTOS ponienee without the permission of the writer. The hen. and gallant admiral had so mixed up his private with his public letters that it wa ; almost impossible to follow him, but he would go straightforward, and tell the , hon. and gallant admiral and the country, putting aside the whole of the cor respondence which had been read, that he (Admiral Berkeley) as the first naval adviser of the First Lord of the Admiralty, did not wish, bad not advised, and would not have been a party to allowing his flag to be again hoisted in the Baltic while ho had a seat 'at that board. (Hear, hear.) Ho would tell him why—because he was totally physically unfit. (Hear, hear.) His nerves were completely gone. (Hear, hear ) Now, don't let the gallant admiral or the house mistake him. Ho did not mean to say one word against the undoubted cou rage of the gallant admiral. He did not mean to say that an old man would not stand to be shot at as well as any younger man, but the gallaut admiral's own letters, which had been read by the right hon. member for Carlisle (Sir J. Graham) proved that he was himself of the same opinion. But he thanked God they had one bright example which was an excep tion to the rule in the Commander-in-Chief in the Black Sea. (Cheers.) Well, for the first time, soon after the hon. and gallant admiral got to the Great Belt it was evident from his public correspondence to the Admiralty, that he had a very great disinclination to enter the Gulf of Finland, and that when ho got into the Gulf of Finland ho had a very great in clination to get out of it. (Laughter.) It was very true that fogs did come on, and that the fleet was in some danger after leaving Elfsuabben, and that the admiral was separated from his ships. But when the ships joined him the hon. and gallant admiral was heard to say with more force of truth than dignity of expression, " What a-- old fool I was to come up into this infernal hole, if I ever get out of it I will never come back again." The hon. and gallant admiral soon lost the confidence of his own officers, nor did he succeed in gaining the confidence of our allies. (Hear.) Squihs and caricatureswero flung about the fleets, and every one wishe I themselves in the Black Sea instead of in the Baltic. It was true, and he would do the hon. and gallant admiral the justice to say that he had this from the officers of his fleet, and if he had said one word of what did not take place, those officers were in this country, the greater part of them at Spithead, or at Devonport. They would see the report of these proceedings to-morrow, and if he had said any single thing damaging to the gallant admiral, that was not borne out by facts, the greatest favour that any EADVIRTISMINT.)— A few more of the extraordinary cures of those officers could confer on him (Admiral Berkeley), was without Medicine of Indigos tion (Dyspepsia), Flatulency, to write and say that he had done so, and the hon. and gal. Constipation, Nervous, Bilious, and Liver complaints, Corgi', lant admiral should have the most ample reparation. (Heir.) Asthma, Consumption, and Debility effected by Du Barry's Among other things, the hon. and gallant admiral had said delicious health-restoring Revaleuta Arabica Food, arc that he had not bad efficient pilots, or rather that he had had here given : Cure 52,422. Bridgehouse, Frimley, 3d extremely bad ones. Now on that subject, he begged to say April, 18 5 4 .—Thirty-three years' diseased lungs, spitting that every exertion had been made to provide proper pilots ; of blood, liver derangement, deafness, singing in the ears, that the master of the Thai y-house had been consulted on constipation, debility, shoetuess of breath, and cough, have the subject, and that by his recommendation persons bad been removed by your Revalenta, Arabica. My lungs, liver, been obtained, who, he believed were fully competent to the stomach, head, and ears are all right, my bearing perfect, and duty. Again, the hon. and gallant admiral had found fault my recovery is a marvel to all my acquaintances.—Jamrs with the charts ; but not only had he been provided withthe ROBERTS, Wood Merchant. —From the Venerable Aich- Admiralty charts, but he also had supplied him thebest Danish, , deacon of Ross,—No. 32,8313. —Three years' excessive Swedish, and Russian charts of the Baltic Sea ; and he might nervousness, with pains in my neck and left arm , and mention that the captains of the blockading squadron who had general debility, which rendered my life very misera ble, \ gone to the Baltic before the ice had broken up, and re- has been radically removed by Du Barry's health - rest orin g mined there loag after the fleet had left, explori ng F oo d . —A LEXANDEn S TUART , Archdeacon of Ross, Skibereen. every creek and harbour, had expressed their admiration In canisters, 511 es. Ils.; 121b5., 225. The 121bs. carriage at the minute correctness of those charts. The honourable free, on receip t of post-office *eater. Barry du Barry and and gallant admiral bad stated that the ships were Co. 77, Regent-street, London ; Fortnum, Ma son, and Co., badly manned, badly disciplined, and not ready to go into Purveyors to her Majesty, Piccadilly; also at 60, G . ra_f_e• , action. Now the contrary was the case ; the men were five church-street ; 33,) and 451, Strand; 4; Cheapside ti, t feet eight inches in height, and all volunteers, no impressm en t 1 Cornhill • 49, Bishopsgate-street ; 55, Charing - cress ; 54, having been resorted to; and although is former times ships, Vpper )3aker-street ; 6 3 and so , Oxign 1411 "• __. right hon. baronet in collecting materials that night against the gallant admiral which should have incapacitated him from being put in command of the Baltic fleet in 1854. The right lion. baronet at the Reform dinner took credit for hav ing selected the gallant admiral as the best to whom he could entrust the command of this fleet, and if the right hon. ba ronet's conduct in that respect was culpable, what could be said of the conduct of the naval lord (Admiral Berkeley) who had evinced such personal ill-feeling towards the gallant ad miral (Sir C. Napier) ? If he knew at the time of the gallant admiral's appointment what he had stated that night of the gal.aut admiral's conduct at Acre ' why did he .conenr in his appointment to the B a lti c fl ee t? The right hon. baronet by his speech had dexterously endeavoured to draw the house from the real question before them. He suggested to the gal lant admiral the propriety of his withdrawing this motion, and to rest the vindication of his character on the generosity of the English people, who would ultimately do him. justice. Mr. OSBORNE said that this discussion was most unfortu. nate, and not altogether creditable to the house. But who was the cause of it The late First Lord of the Admiralty had been charged with political cowardice, and as d traitor to the cause of his country. He know his great exertions in the cause of his country; and was he to sit there and make no reply ? Then, again, he (Admiral Napier) had said that the gallant Naval Lord of the Admiralty (Admiral Berkeley) bad been charged as unfit to sit at that board. Was he also to sit quiet under this charge ? The hon.member for Tynemouth had spoken as if the order to attack Sweaborg had been pe remptory, but it was no such thing. The attack was ex pressly forbidden if found to be desperate, according to the ordinary chances of war. The matter was left entirely to the judgment of the gallant admiral. The attack upon Acre was a question of naval science, and was that to unfit him for the command of a fleet ? But the command of the fleet was a Cabinet question, and the gallant naval lord had nothing to do with it. The question was, had a reconnaissauce been made of Sweaborg in sufficient time ? It had not. Had it been made in May there would have been time to have sent out mortars or anything else that was necessary. He thought it was an error of judgment to bring this subject before the house, and he thought that in resorting to that stop it would have been better if he had had hiS eye less upon Marylebono and more upon Sweaborg. (A laugh.) Sir C. NAPIER rose to reply. Tho gallant admiral de fended the course which be had adopted at Sidon and Acre. The right hon. baronet had not answered a single accusation that ho (Sir C. Napier) had brought against him. Every one knew that the right hon. gentleman was a special pleader of the first ability, and he had prepared his case with great skill, but he had not given any satisfactory reply to the charges made against him. The right hon. baronet had said that if he (Sir C. Napier) had reconnoitred Sweaborg in May, all the appliances could have been sent out to him in time to attack Sweaborg that summer; but how could he have clone this when he was not at Hauge till the 2d of June ? The right hon. baronet charged him with being unwilling to enter the Gulf of Finland, but how could this bo so when, although with 12 sail of the line under his command, he only went in with seven ships in order to tempt the Russians out to fight him ? On the 30th of May, when it was said that he had shown unwillingness to attack Sweaborg, he had never seen the place, and all he knew of it was from a plan which he had obtained from a Swedish officer of engiueers. He was off Sireaborg on the 12th of June, and, having anchored about seven or eight miles from the place, he prepared a report con taining a clear and accurate account of the manner in which the place ought to he attacked. On the 30th of the month lie sent another and fuller report to Cie Admiralty, but they had never published it. The months of July and August were the only periods in the year when operations could be carried on in the Baltic with gun-boats and mortar vessels, and how could those have been supplied to him by the Government even if they had resolved in Juue to forward them Tho right hon. baronet had charged him with having repeatedly applied .to him for employment, but he had no recollection of having done so, and the right hon. baronet shonld have produced his letters if he had intended to make the charge. The right lion. baronet had endeavoured to turn him into ridicule, and had expressed his regret that such letters had ever been written him. But when an offi cer's character was attacked and a court-martial refused hiM, where was he to look for redrass-unless he availed him self of all the documentary evidence in his possession ? He thought the right hon, baronet bad much more to answer for ou the score of letters than ho had, as he had read prlvato letters of his (Sir C. Napier's) alluding to officers serving in the Baltic fleet, whose names, although not givqn, were re ferred to in such d manner that many officers might suppose they wore the parties refereed to. Trite it was that ho had made signals to the sailors on the declaration of war that they should sharpen their cutlasses ; but that was no reason why he should go and recklessly throw away the fleet. Nel son never went into harbours to attack stone walls ; Corn wallis never did, nor Howe, nor Sir James Saurnarez ; and certain lie was that Sweaborg, never would have been attacked by either of them—the look of it would have been enough. The right hon. gentleman knew as well as he did that the motion had been put off only because there had been no op portunity to bring it on. The fact, however, was, that the Admiralty said ho was turbulent and insubordinate, and therefore he was not sent back to the Baltic, so that if be had not been turbulent and insubordinate he would not have been unfit to command the fleet. He said he carried out his fleet into a sea never before navigated by ships of such a size, without a pilot that knew anything of these waters, and the charts were exceedingly imperfect. In short, the right hon. gentleman had failed to answer any one of the points which he had put to him, and ho had perverted his letters in order to damage him, or rather to cover his own mistakes at the Admiralty. Stich was the conduct of a public officer. He thanked the house for the kindness with which they had lis tened to him. He would withdi:aw his motion, feeling satis fied that the country would read his speech, and see that he had been unjustly, unfairly, and improperly treated. The motion was withdrawn. DRAFTS ON BANKERS BILL. On the order of the day for the second reading, Mr. A. PELLATT said as this bill involved a matter o great importance, ho suggested that the second reading should be postponed until the 2d of April. Mr. MASTERMAN also urged the postponement of the measure. After a few words from Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Hankey, the bill was postponed to the 2d of April. The house then adjourned at half-past twelve o'clock. TALBOT'S DIVORCE BILL. HOUSE OF LORDS, MARCH 13. The house mtt at half•past 10 this day to hear farther evicknce in support of - the petition of Mr. Jno. Talbot for a divorce from his wife, Marianne. There were pre- sent—The Lord Chaticellor, Lord Brougha,m, Lord St. Leonard's, and Lord Monteagle. Mr. Talbot was represented by Mr. Serjeant Byles acid Mr. froneyinßn, and they were opposed by Mr. Serjeant Wrargbam, Mr. Edwin James, and Dr. DAll ; but Mr. See cant Mercwether, who is to watch the bill on th part of some of Mrs. Talbot's relatives, did not appear. To understand the position of the parties, it is neces sery to repeat that the opposition proceeds mainly from Mr. and Mrs. Pegett, the brother-in-law and sister of Mrs. Talbot, who are prepared to cont-nd that she is a victim of a foul conspiracy, which drove her to ins: nity. When the inquiry was resumed, the Lord Chancellor expressed a desire that the housemaid slicaild be recalled. This witness had proved that she carried wine to Mal ian, the g,room, at the express desire of Mrs. T,ilhot, and that she ,13W Mella.n and Mrs. Talb, - it, arid that she saw Minlan and Mrs. Talbot on the bed in Mr. end Mrs. Talbot's room in a position that left no doubt of the 12%- 1 turn of their intinxacy. Maria Money, the hnusernaid in que , tion, was, there fore, again placed at the bar, and examined b 7 the L•iril Chane;llor and Lord St. Leonard's. Ste said—l broke t vo of the four bottles of wine. No one saw me. I don't know what kind of wine it was by the smell. threw the br iken glass into the privy or water-closet outride the house, and wiped up the wine with my apron, and threw that also into the witsr-closet.. My mistress of it th I next scorning. I was on go a l terms with th lady's maid, but we n. ver sat together. She set in ti e housekeeper's room. I never mentioned to her Vie sup posed familiarities hi-tween Mullins an i my miFtresii ; but I once spoke to her of some shirts I got u for Mel len. They were my master's shirts, with new collars and wristbanls for Mullen. When I saw Mullen and my mistress I s yid nothing., but drew back out of the room as quickly as I could. I was on good terms, the best terns with Malian. I can't say that they saw me. My mistress quarrelled with me the next morning., s ni t salt! if I did not do her work in the way she liked I must go, and I s sid. " Very well, Ma'am, I will go." Cross-examined by Mr. E. James—l never lisd any conversation witli Thomas Quirk, a shoemake r at K e ll y ' s bear-shop, al , otit it. I have often said to p'.ople who asked me tl at the-e was nothing in it. I never offered tot e sworn upon a one-polind nets that there was no truth about the reports of Mrs. Talbot ; but I did men tion it to some persons after the first proceedings. The witness was then directed to be kept apart from others ti l witnesses were called to contradict her. The Rey. Mr. Collis, examined by Mr. Serjeant Bytes —T a•n a clergyman of the Church of England, residing zt Fermoy House, in the county of C.irk. I ',new the Williamses intimately. Iu consequence of what I heard from them and my own wife on these matters I commu nicated with Mr. Crosbie, the elder brother of Mrs. Tal bot, and with Mr. 111`Ca,usland, the father of Mrs. Talbot; but that was altogether kept secret from Mr. Ta be The evidence of these transactions was ohj , cted to, and postponed, as not at present having reference to the charge of adultery, although it might be very im portant afterwards to rebut any case made for the de- The witness was, therefore, ordered to with 'ray. Bridget Queeney, the wife of a labon .T at Mount Talbot, examined by Mr. Sergeant Bvles—l was Isun drymaid for half-a-year at Mount Talbot. Mu lan silent over the laundry. I have twice seen rry rnistress cro to Mullan's room, and have heard them alk and laugh together. The child went there for any hing I inex. I was sent to the carpenter's ebrp by Mrs. Talbot., a nd she sent the child with me, Mullen being then i the room with her. This was only once. I left there there. I washed Mullan's shirts My mistress asked me by I did not do up M&lan's shirts as well as any master's, and made mo wash them over attain. My mistress came twice in one clay to s-e about it. Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant Wrangham—l never know my mistress to mind any servant but Mullen. She nevi r saw the kitchen-boy do his room up or look to its cleanliness. A Surveyor was here examined to show that the wit ness could not have heard the laughing and talking she decribed in consequence cf the position of the rooms in the laundry, but he admitted that voices could be heard. The probable accuracy of the statements of the wit• ❑ess appeared to be carefully tested by the Lori Mon tea,gle with little slips of paper used on a plan at the table of the house. The cross-examination of Bridget Queenev was resumed I did not leave my place ; I was . dismissed. I told my mistress I hoped it was not any. thing wrong, and she said Mr. Talbot did not like my butter ; for I was dairymaid as,well as lanndrymaid. I never heard that I was charged with taking things to my relations in the village. I swear that. Patrick Carr.—ln July, 1851. I was a top sawyer at Mount Talbot. I know Mullan. In conlequecce of some thing I looked through a window and saw Mnllan sed mistress lying down on some straw on the back stall ; Doogan was with me. I went back and said nothing. Cross-examined by Mr. E. James—l was not exa mined before this. I gave this statement first t i Mr. Smith, an attorney's clerk, who came down to Mom t Talbot about three or four years ago. I gave it after wards in Dublin at the office of Mr. Adair, an attn.. ey. Mr. Finnerty, the steward of Mr. Talbot, paid for my going there. Smith was the first person I told it to. I am a married man, but I never told it to my wife, or any of the servants at Mount Talbout. Smith, I swear, was the first person I toll it to. I heard of the &sa'ge against Mrs. Talbot in 1852. I can give no aecoant of dates. I never told Finnerty about it or anybody else till I told smith. Mr. Talbot was present when I told Smith. Doogan gave a statement at the same tim'. Talbot bad a riding horse kept in the grand stable. What I saw was between 2 and 3 o'clock. I saw her first go into the grand stable, but I do not know if her horse was there. Mrs. Talbot wore a dark dress and a dark I shawl. She had no riding dress on. I never saw her ride, but the horse was called hers. Mullan went into the hack stable first. I did not go to the window between the ash-pit and the stable until I saw mistress go into the hack stable after Malian. I went to the ash-pit to put a coal on my pipe, and then to the window of the stable. The coal was a pretence. There are stalls for six horses. Ido not know how long Mullen and my mistress stayed in the stable, for I went away at once that I might not be noticed. When Mrs. Talbot went away I heard that she had been charged with adni tery. I have not worked constantly for Mr. Talbot, but I work for him when he wants me. I have not done all his sawing. I was his tenant at the time this happened, but lam not his tenant now. I keep no ac count of dates, times, or days, and cannot say when I first told it to Smith. Re-examined--I have been in America, and returned in November last. I vent there after I gave my evi dence to Smith. I went to America about a month after I saw Smith. Was iu Am erica about two years. I did not tell Smith I was ving to America when he cam.- mim d me. Patrick Doogan—l rxrember being with Patrick Carr at the stable. I Faw Mullan go to the hack stable, alui then I F , aw Talborl go to the grand stable, and - follow Mulian to the hack ~ t ablc. I put a coal in my pipe, and then went to the window of the hack stable, and :taw Malan and Mrs. Talbot lying. They were to• gether. I did not see them for more than a very short time, for I went to the carpent Ws shop. I was not be fore examined in the ecclesiasti•nl court. Cross-examined by Mr. E. J - ; Jr es—There were two or three of the wooden bars of the windows broken, so that I cmlld see through. The space. was between eight and nine inches. You could see two stalls. I swear the , ' were lying down in a stal'. There were two windows; I e )uld see through both. Ido not know how Mrs. Talbot was dressed, but she 'aad a shawl and bonnet when she passed to the grand: stable. Carr first said that we should go. Carr saki he understood Mrs. Tal bot was on that design, and ac e said we would go and see. Ido not think I told my wife. I think I first told it to Halloran. He knocked it out of rue after the first trial, in the yard of Mount Talbot. I wag a tenant ~f Mr. Talbot's at the time. I wv.9 after that examined by Ir. Smith. Carr was present. Halloran said ho should not wonder they knew something about it, and then he said he would go and tell Mr. Talbot we k new something about Men. Talbot's conduct. Ho gave me nothing to drink. I know Martin Carrick, and have had some talk with him about it, but cannot say that I told him I had given a statement in Dublin that I could not swear to. I never told him, as a tenant of Mr. Talbot, I was a f ra id of being turned out. (Paper produced.) That is not my handwriting. I swear it. I did not sign a paper to Mr. Carrick. I read writing badly. I never read or saw the paper now in my hand. I signed a paper for Mr. Talbot, but not for Carrick. (The wit ness repeated his denial that he never saw the paper be fore, and he then wrt.te his name twice and at interval, on the dasire of Lord St. Leonardo and of Lard Brougham. The signatures and the paper will pre served for future production.) I never signed with a mark. Ido not keep my own accounts. I never had a paper read over to me by Carrick. I never mentioned it to any one but Carr, but we talked it over sure fifty times or more. Re-examined by Mr. Sergeant Bvles—l have known Carrick for five or six months. lie is an under-agent, who had something to dia• with getting up the evidence. He once gave inc sometbing,to4rink in a whisky-shop. If there was any paper exhiBlE4 to me at ( 9m whisky shop—if there was anything signed I was d uti e do not recollect it ; nor do I re c o llect that he told me my evidence would not be of any u . so to co uld swear that I saw Mulian lying with Mrs. unless .I Tat. hot. He never promised me any thin g for my evidence. I swear that. To Lor t St, Lconards—l was not top-sawyer, but I saw Mrs. Talbot go to the stable over the sill of the saw. pit. I could see her quite p lain. The sawing place was not a pit sunk in the groun d, but su pp orted by beams of wood. As it was near two o'clock the further proceeding was adjourned till to-morrow, in consequence of their lord. ship's attendance on the jurisdiction committee. It is understood that their lordships will not allow the case for the defence to be opened till some time after Easter, of which due notice will be given to counsel. The next sitting will be devoted solely to the bearing of evilance in support of the petition. A NEW TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.—The list of pe titions to Parliament just published includes one front a respectable congregation of Christian s at Newington green, praying for an improved version of the Bible, on account of the inaccuracies and errors with which the authorised version abounds. The petition was pre seated by Ilr. Lleywood, M.P. I 8 5 6. ,~