The Sun. — London, England, 1856-03-01 00:00:00

XMD !LE 'NTT.. C , oatus -ricv yesterday tAtt 6:,,, 98 -16 i - 61 - 100 - 80 -12 i - ... 110 1141 thi 4sl‘ a I a 1064 79 8 111 ,~ r~ IMPERIAL PA-3,LIAM-3NT. HOUSE •Oi LORDS—(YEsTnnnsy). The LORD Cff iNC3LLOR took We seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. The Earl of SIIA.FIESBURY presented several pe• itians against the opening of the Cry-tal Palace arid British Museirn on Sundays. W. Lord REDESDA LE presented Dptitiong to a similar effect from the countie4 of Warwick and Gloucester. Lord DUNGANNON gave antics that on Tuesday next he should move for certain returns relating to the magistracy of Ireland. TORTURE IN INDIA.. The Earl of ALBEVIA.RLE moved that there he laid before their lordships a report by the acting second judge of circuit of the centre division of the Madras Presidency, addressed to the Court of Fonjlaree Adayr lut, dated bept. 25, 1840, together, with the proceedings of the court held thereon, also the minute of the council of the Madras Government.founded on the report of the - circuit judge and on the proceedings of the Foujdaree Adawlut ; with returns of the number of native officers employed in the police, and the collection of revenue, the number of the officers dis missed for employing torture, or other misconduct,' in the years 1813, 1833, and 1835 ; a return of the revenues Of the Presidency in 1803, 1813, .1823, 1833, and 1853, and several other returns relating to the courts of cir cuit, land tax, &c., and despatches respecting taxation and torture. The noblelord said that he intended the returns he now moved fir to - serve for the further illustration of the return that had recently been made upon the torture employed in Madras. The tor ture, it appeared, had been practised by the Government for Government purposes—torture inflicted for the pur pose of raising revenue, and torture inflicted for compul sory labour upon the Government works. He did not mean to harrow up their feelines on the present occa- Ithp by reciting the truly horrible details that were con tained in the volume, but he would take a more favour able opportunity of entering more fully in;cothe subject, The chief evidence of the commission of these cruelties vas given by Mr. Malcolm Lewin, who had served a= a judge for many years with great fidelity in the East India Company, and had sub=equently become a judge connected with the Cuurt. of Foujdaree Adawlut. The last report was dated 1855, and it bore strong re semblance to the report of 1840, as far as the most appalling details of torture were concerned. The noble earl concluded by moving for the returns. 'Earl GRANVILLE said three years ago the question bad been settled by Parliament after full inquiry. The Government declared itself responsiole lor the admini stratinn of Indian affairs. The returns would cause great inconvenience, but he should not object to them, because the Government felt the great importance of the subject. After a few words from several of the noble lords the returns were ordered. COMMONS ENCLOSURE BILL. This bill was read a second time. JOINT-STOCK BANKS (SCOTLAND) BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YEsTEEDIT.) The SPRAKER took the chair shortly after f.ur o'clock LONDON DIOCESAN CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY BILL.. On the motion of Mr. BROTEIERtON f ,, r the second reading of this bill, Mr. HADFIELD moved, as an amendment, that it be read a second time that day six months. He looked ,Upon this bill as a public measure , and that it should nave been introduced by the Governm-nt instead of by a private member. It was one way of getting an obnoxious measure quietly through the house. Sir W. CLAY seconded the amendment. Lord R. GROSVENOR supported the bill. It dealt only with private property. After a few words from other h in. members, The house divided, when the numbers were-- For the second reading ' 135 Against it 2O Majority for second reading --115 • The bill wa4 then ready a second tine. RAILWAY, &c., BILLS. Mr. STRITTT moved that "the B iard of Trade do Present to this house a report upon the Railway and Canal Bills of this session, in conformity with the recom- Ineudation contained in the fifth report of the select sOmmittee on railway and c anal bills of the cession of 1853 ; and, that the Board of Trade do Present to this house. a report upon the Private Bills for Harbours, Docks, Navigations, in eo:nforrui t y with the practice in force with reT,ict to 441 .ilway Bills"—Agreed to. which he.then made. I must at ones say that I myself cane down to this house fully impressed with a belief that our army was suffering unheard-of misery, and I went away with my mind desabused of the impression whiett had been made upon it by the reports from abroad. I believed that "the right bon. gentleman had made out a case that the army was not suffiring —that they hart everything at their command— that they were, in fact, as an English army ought t. be, properly cared for by their ceuntre. Such wee the impression left on my . mind by the speech of the right hoc, gentleman. But, sir, very shortly after this, more stories of suffering and misery were told (rein !ley to - day, the same harrowing disclosures occurred, and very speedily the impression inede on the house and the calvary by the speech of the right hon. gentleman was at au end. Anxiety and a'arin possessed the public mini'. Such was the hret act of this horrible drama. When Parliament again met I gave no tice tha , . I should move for a cemmittee,to inquire into the state of the army before Sebastopol. The house must he aware of the effect produced by the notice then given. One effect was the di- , appearance from the ranks of the Gee/eminent of the noble lord the member for London (Lord J. Rueeeli). He, like a timid fisherman who bears the storm threatening and notes the advancing clouds, turned his boat to the shore and ran howling on the laud. Many objections were taken to the !notion ;it was said that the investigation would do injury to the army; that we were a body 3,000 miles off ; that we could not bra- with our own ears, see with our own eyes, that into which we were to inquire. It was stated that a commit. tee of this house was a means of investigation totally in adequate ; in spite of these statements, in spite of the dangers of the step, the house supported me in my mo tion. It it well known with what consequences. The first consequence was the utter disruption of Lord Aber deen's Ministry. The danger at that time was great. We were at war. We were waging a terrible war with a powerful adversary, and yet notwithstanding the danger which would result, the houeeldid not hesitate in its sup port. What was the result of our inquiry ? That every statement made by the press was verified to the letter; that every story of miscondimt, and every harrowing detail of suffering was proved before Um cemmittee. Thus, then, before two tribunals—the press the first, that house the second, was the matter investigate'', and the same result in each case followed ; it was shown that our army was melting away, that we had sent abroad a body of valiant men to undertake our defence, who were negl« cted, and left to die of cold, hunger, and disease • that the powers of England were exhau s ted i n th e hands of the imbeciles who then ruled, and were no longer able to protect her sons whom she had sent to fight her battles in a distant ' land. Such was the result of the two Inquiries. But at this tine, at the very time when the hove appointed a committee to inquire into the state of the army before Sebastopol, the Government which had succeeded Lord Atterdeen issued a cotniniesion to inquire into the state of the sa tee army. The gentlemen appointed to this pur pose were Sir J. M`Neill acd Colonel Telloch. New, I am told that both these gentlemen were reluctant to undertake the (lace, that they knew the inquiry that they were about to make would he a disagreeable Nene, and they were unveiling to put themselves in a position which would subject them to objectionable conse quences. But it was pressed upon them as a matter ei public duty. They yielded, sir ; they went to the Crimea ; they inquired and they reverted. Their first report was made in the mereh of June, 1855. What was the result of this inquiry ? I dare say`it dieappeinted those who appointed the commissioners. Tne result of the inquiry was to justify every as-ertion that bad been made by the press, as they hal been alreadt justified by he eommi tee of this h use. Certaiu persons were espe cially in, ulpated by the report. These were Loris Lucen and Cardigan, General Airey, Colonel Gordon, teed Commissary-General Filder. I beg to state unreservedly to the house that I do not intend to take upon ins self the task of justifying the accusations of the commie, i iners ; i. is not the obje a. which I have in view. These pereet a were inc I spate ', and this was ;.he'next act of the , Irama. When that report was laid before.the Government, what was the course which ou g ht to have been pursued ? I think that course a plain and clear one, and, had it been full .wed, I think it would have been sati-faccory to all parties. Tr..,Government should have considered the rep at as tee indictment of a gra le jury. It might be censidered a , an ex parte statement, if they pleettel, not ma le up .n oath, but still confirmatory of arid confirmed by previous inquiries. Government would have been jestified open t .at report, not in 4i. NEW WRIT. A new writ waq ordered on the motion of Mr. HAY TER, f• r Boston, in the room of Mr. Gilbert Heathcote, 'rho has accepted the Chiltern• Hundreds. THE ARMY. Mr. LAYARD moved for nominal return of officers, ton•oornmissioned officers, and privates mentioned or recommended for distinguished services in the reports of Generals Codrington and Markham, and in that of the Brigadiers attached to their re , :peeive divNo , s, on the Occasion of the storming of the Redan on the Bth day of Hoptembtr, 1855.—Agreed to. PERSIA. Mr. LAYARD gave notice that on the first day after the holm() going into enpo'y he shoo:d call the attention of the house to our relations with Persia. THE M'IsTEIL-TULLOCH REPORT. In reply to a question from Hr. S. WoRMSY, W , Mr. F. PEEL .aid that the reply of Lord Lucan and also that of the Earl of Cardigan were referred to the committee for their information, and a rejoinder had ,boon received from them. These documents would he "lid before the board that had just been app 'Which was considered preferable to laying them before that konie. iqr. T. DUNCOMBE asked whether Sir J. M`lCeil and Col. Tulloch would be present at that inquiry, and If they would have the power of examining and cross examining the witnesses Lord PALMERSTON sail that the proceedings of the court would be regulated by the c•iminissioners. C r tsiinly Sir John.M•Neil and Cal. Tulloch would hive a'. c lninrtunity of being present during the inquiry, like the Public. The commissioners would have fall powers t • govern their proceedings. Sir DE LACY EVAN'S asked if the pnblic were to understand by the answer of ti 3 nohlo lord that c ommission might shut their doors, and 'proceed w't!i closed doors whenever they thought proper. (Ilear.) 14 , rd PA.LNIERSTON said uoiloubt,idly 'hey might. They would have discretionary plwers for regu!atint4 the proceedings of the court. The sulject then dropped. SLAVERY IN TURKEY. Mr. BIGGS ?Aced the Yr-4 Lord of the Treasnr , Whether it was the intention of her Maj, ty'- G. , vern Ment, at the present (;Inferences at Pari.. to require (1 , . the changes they mean to a 'vise in 'he Tiirki4h iop•tin t ions) the aboTion of the tralo and domestic sla very in the Sulta,o'4 do nloio 1s ? Lord PALMERSTON .s i.l that the Governmery ha , l Itied every exertion, arri • with sulcess, to prevr-n -blave trido on the Turkish shores of the Black Sea. Ti .tionnestic slavery was a que4ioa htch died not proper . y eolne within the functions of the Government. ENFIELD MILITIA. In consequence of a queAtion put by Mr. EVNLTN to the Secretary for War relative to this regiment of 'militia hot being embod:ed, Mr. LA.YARD called the attention of the hone to . what ho called a jib with re ference to this regiment, mot of the officer :being relatives of Lord Enfield, the cmninand-r. A "Pirited discussion took place, in which Lord PAL IntusroN, Mr. BYNG, and Sir E. PARRY took part, repu diating the charge of jobbery. OFFICERS' RETURNS. Sir DE LACY EVANS callea attention to the returns 1 that had been made on the motion of Mr. Layard. relative to the off i ce rs i n the Cr:mea, naming their past errvicos It so happened that for six weeks he served on the at ,(F at Chßbham, and six weeks on the staff in North Brito n . He had also served on the itaff 10 Spain and France, under the late Duke of Wellington and also in America, and to his surpri.e he found in the return alluded to that his service for Six weeks at Chobham, &c., were mentioned, hut not those abroad. (Rear, hear.) That was the way his humble services had been mentioned, and if the rest of the return was as destitute of truth as that Which referred to him it was not worth the paper on which it was printed. Major REED called attention to similar omissions ws regarded other gallant officer , . Mr. P. PEEL said he was unable then to give an ex- Planation of what had been complained of, but that he Would make inquiries respecting it. lin. ROEBUCK'S MOTION—THE M'NEIL AND TULLOCH REPORT. Cdr. ROEBUCK said—Mr. Speaker, I am perfectly aware of the danger attending the course which I intend new to pursue. At a time when peace and war hant trembling in the balance, it is of the utmost importance We should have a Government strong in itself, possessed of the confidence of the country. That consideration involves the difficulty before me. But, en the other hand, if we were to let pass without comment the proceedings to which I am about to refer, we should do an injury to the army which is our greatest defence, we should he liejust to that strong arm by which we resist npprepsion 'broad, and we;! should render inefficient one of the most assured means of our safety. Therefore I rebut entirely all responsibility accruing in consequence of the Motion which lam about to make. If the Government chooses to build a wall aninst which it chooses at the same time to thrust its own heal, lam not responsible. I will at °nee therefore proceed to state the subject of my motion. Shortly after the army appeared bef re Sebastopol there grew up from hour to hour, from day to day, whispers of suffering to which that army was subject, which whispers grew at length into a may say—roar of disapprobation expressed by the whole press of this country, At length when Parliament met, so alarmed /gel the public mind upon the subject that the Secretary at War (lir. S. Herbert) got up in his place and ma d e a defence tending to refute and answer all the ru mours Which had been received respecting the danger and s ,f. lining of our army. There was something, rir, in the Ma:unser of the r i g ht h on , gen tleman, somethi ng so ;Jai:mons and frank in hi s whole demeanour that it won E a house and the country to believe in the statement 1~ +, «• rectinz further inquiry, but in putting upon Arial the persons accused. It every person accused had been sent before a court-in -rtiat to be tried, what would have been the result ? Th- nereone aecueed would have been called upon for their eefe no harm wool.l have been done to any one, and every •...e would have had an opportunity, if pose ble. of cleating hits elf. What has Government done ? They have i-sued a commission t certain gene ral officers, to report up in the report of their own cam ivissionera. It has been taken as an objection to me that I have used tke.e words, But let anybody read the warrant placed on the table, and see if I am not jut tified. By this proceeding, the Government have done irreparable injery to the army. I went to know whether, with this proceeding staring him in the face, you can ex pect any man in future to undertake a task like that intrusted to Sir J. M'Neil and Col. Tulloch. No wan can more admire than I do the courage of these com missioners. They had told the truth. But in future, can you depend upon men to do so ? They will bear in mind the fate of Sir J .hn Nl`Neill and his coadjuter. They will so shape their report as t ► meet the views of the p rsons before whim it bas to be laid. A man in such a position could say to himself, The, truth may be dis agreeable; to tell it would be to sul.ject myself to pain and misery, anc: that is a risk I will not run.-" I ask the home: is not that human nature? But heyond ti's you are Feb st itutieg an i •efficient for au efficient inquiry. If it was an objection to the Setmetvol C di:it it eat 3 000 miles from the seat of Aar, is it not an objection tont . the board of get.e.al officers would be equ a l•y dista n t fr the ecene of affiirs ? Tne Government having sent com missioners to the seat of war, having themselves ap pointed those cumtnietsionere, having received their re port, the whole of which they have not yet predime.l t the bouse—',hey sub-t•tuce Inr that the ver, rood- f .n -fluky with which they found so much fault when I pro posed the appointrn,nt of a cenirnittee of this boils.. There is this differeece, however. I pr .posed a mode cf inquiry which the house granted, rind it placed upon the committee men of different opieions, s,. t a t r ... was likely to be elicited, 'or that which one man 1 desire to conceal an. then would wi'h to be brow h t 1 ;01t. But Aliat 1- t. c of t' is c.) ittee ? First up, r , t are some “Id ent + ne . vPio ha' e s -.n :teat •e, vic ; tor he I . 4 r(ates p• • hie re- B t I ti,irik ver hall a c , ),,,, , ,r3ati0n —me ,lights - 440 ahnu , j0d. , 0 ao.ich is appiicabl.• herr. T.• ver L i saKi:- arguments which app'if , t to cld jo•iges urn . anpli,tl t j u d g , s upon tie brni,ll oere. T,en there are es tai in the corionis,ion —men who nev .r saw a shot fire I. I want to know what is t!;eie capacity fir judging a questiou like thi= '? There is ene other g t etuan up in the list, the hon. and gallant ,iie user for titinting , din (Ganeral Peel). I can under-tand the qua of t!,...t and gallant ...ehtienvin. 01 every , eca-qn, I fi , ,d him n n the side e the prs , ns accused. [ don't Mean to 143 y that tile hot,. atl,l gallant M.lfil• b--r. in giving his opini in, his acted in .iny way r..iscre !liable to iris frank and truthful diapos.tion ; but I say that th fac! - , of his akieg suc , i a view is the great reason for his app.iintrne:it. It tie bad formed other opinions, if he tot I Tako,l another course he would not have beer. there. I would ask tills house to consider with me the c“nsecpierices of teis oroneedin;. First of all, it will weaken tie moral support of our ar.ny. We send gallant men abroad ; they go to fight our battles ; they have the idea that the m4is of E•igland is over them wherever they .say be ; they look to th:s house to protect them ; in all their dangers and distresses their regards are turned to hem What is the case of the army in the Crimea ? I can und-rivand a gallant ma-1 stricken in the field, and full of life and health made at one blow a corpse: I can under stand him dying with a full feeling in his heart that he would be attended by the good wishes of his countrymen. But the soldier in the Crimea suffere 1 a very different fate ; he suffered cold, and hunger, and thirst, and died with the feeling ths.t he was deserted by his country. Then Ivay to this house, be careful how you possess your army with the idea that you desert them in the time of thAr used. Nothing that you have done for the army has been felt so much as the anxiety which you showed iast year for its safety and comfort. Now if you tura round and take another course, you say that we were governed by party feeling, that we had no care for the army, we thought of ourselves. If you allow them to draw that conclusion woe .. )e to your army, woe be to England ; you will endanger the glory of England if you desert the army which fought for her. (Bear.) The hon. mem ber concluded by moving the following resolution : . " That the appointment of a commission of general officers to reportlupon the report of Sir J. and Col. Tulloch, is to substitute an inefficient for a very efficient mode of in quiry : and that the effect of such appointment will be to hide the misccnduct of those by whom various departments of our army have been subjected to the command of officers who have been inculpatet by the Commissioners appointed to inquire into their conduct." Mr. HADFIELD seconded the motion. Sir J. PAKINGTON found himself in tie difficult po sition of being unable to proceed with the motion of which he had given notice, on account of the interposition of the forms of Lie house. He was one who entertained a very decided opinion as to the conduct of her Majesty's Go vernment with reference to the transactions to which the hon. member (sir. Roebuck) had adverted. In conse quence of that opinion it had been his intention to ask the opinion of the house on the subject. He felt that, for various reasons, it would be better to postpone the mo tion. And within the last few days circumstances had arisen which greatly strengthened his conviction. A corn reivion had been iesned - by her Majesty, and therefore it might be seriously doubted whether the present was a fitting time for introducing the subject to the house. Ent the hon. and learned member for Sheffield had thought proper at once to re so the question, and hi s announcemen t to that erect rendered it Inver +Live that he (Sir .T. Pak ington) should at once place oa record the views thet he entertained. The noble lord, however (Palmer ston), having refuse to the hon. and learned member the opportunity of introducing the subject as a substantive mo tion, he (Sir J Pakington) was precluded from giving to his views the form of an amendment, the mode which, as he lied given notice, he had intended to have adopted. Ia saying this ho did not intend to impute any blame to the noble lord at the head of the Government, who hail never been wanting in courtesy to hon. members on that (the Opposition) side of the house, but merely to explain why hi s views could not be brceight before the house in the form of an amendment. He wisheel it to be understood that it was only because he west precluded by the fortes of the house that he abstained from moving an amendment on the pre. sent occasion. He inust also add that, while precluded from moving his own amendment, he was equally unable to sup port the motion of the hon. and learned member. It was true that within the last few days the hon. and learned member had considerably modified his proposal, but as the hon. and learned member had omitted many points which ought to be included, he (Sir J. rekingtee) felt still unable gallantry and the highest honour. Ile thought, therefore, that the general feeling would be that their position before the commission ought not to b 3 pre judiced by a preliminary discussion. He wished next to call the attention of the house to the language which had been held by the Secretary for War with regard to assum ing the full resplusibility f recent appointments, and to say that whatever fault be found with the conduct of the Government he could not extend-Ids censure to that lan guage. The noble loru had avowed in the most ,listinct man ner that,tae Government halt itself responsible for these ap pointments. Ant iu doing so ho (Sir J. Paltington) thought they had Nuopted the proper cow se. On that suoj , et, how ver, like the others. he should abstain from troubling the house at greater length. IA laugh.) It was quite right that the house should understand where the responsibility lay, but further than this passing allusion he shoul postpotte observation on the matter, conlihing himself to a repetition of his inability to sup:oA the motion of the hon. and learned member for Shetlitdd. General PEEL said that the reluctance he always felt when athlreesing the house was immeasurably inerea‘ed when he felt obliged to ask its attention while he said a few words respecting himself. ( dear.) Bat at the same time he felt bound not to sit silent under such sneers ant implic aloes as had been indulged iu by the hen. anti lietmed member for Shedield. If the house would grant him its indulgence for a few minutes he would show them that if he heti not had the good fortune to see active ser vice it was not his fault, but is - misfortune. He selected the army, not in time of peace, but in the height of the Peuiesular war. At the age of 11 he went to Smethurst,. eassed through ,dl his exeininatieee, anti three days bele' • the betels of ‘Vaterleo, when he was 1.51 years of age, he obtained his ensigucy in the 95th, now the Rifle Brigade. lie next j Ailed a regiment which was equelly distin guished, the Grenadier Guards, left it with promotion and returned to the lime After 12 years' service he was ap pointed to the celonelcy of a ieei:lent, and he thought he heti just light to aesume that Le, at the time, was deemed e ()niter to hold the appeiutteent, ter the Commander-in- Chi f appointed him to his owu regiaient. Shorty after wares he bee tine the rep esemeative in Parliament of a large constituency—that of Norwich, and as there was no ereePect of war, he devoted himself entirely to the sew , ice of his constituents. (1- 1 -ear ) When the present war broke out, circulars were sent to all officers, asking whether they were :tble and willing to serve, and he an : 'were t affirmatively in both particulars. (Cheers.) But he did inure. He wrote to the Secretary for War, stating that being blessed with more then twilit - I:try health and strength, he was reedy to serve any where and in Any capa city. Ag tin, after the battle of lekerwan, when it was reported that many officers wished to return home on ac count of their health, went to hie gallant friend, the commander-in-chief, telling him ho was ashamed to hold the rank lie did without service, awl that he was twist anxious to go out to the w,:riu any capacity. He thought it too bed that he who had always bean ready and anxious to serve glee - Lid be thus taunted oy the hou. anti learned meta leer. Then when the lion. and learned member accused him of al ways voting with the accused, he might say that the tliffe,rence between him and the lion. and learned nee ie ber was that the lion. end learned member was always ready to assume the guilt of the accused, while he (General Peel) waited until he bet heard the evidence. (Lou cheers.) He was always prepared to consider a man inno cent until he bad been proves guilty. Only two cases carne before the committee is which there were diced, accusa tions agak est indi vidu de. One was against Ad tniral Boxer for having; d&,,aitied, a transi»rt, sue dee (General Peel) at once moved that it should be reperted to the Ad miralty. The other was that of an officer accused of de taining the knapsacks of his regiment, and in that case he went to the Horse-gaards to demand a conrt martial. Hap pily the accusation was ascertained on the following day to be unfounded ; but he thought these instances went some way in controverting the hon. an i learned member's assertion. His (General Peel's) anxiety when on the com mittee had been only to elicit the truth and to further the ends of justice. (Hear, hear.) Mr. PEEL could not concur in the hon. baronet's eulo glum on his own amendment, but he could concur with him in opposing the motion of the hon. anti learned mem ber. With the instinctive feeling of English gentlemen the house would refuse to er ter into a case which was about to be submitted to a board of general officers. He was not surprised, however, that the hon. and learned member for Sheffield should bring forward this motion, for in doing so he was only following the course he had taken in the pre -ceding year. The hon. and learned member minutely de teiled the'enotiou he ha. 11113 le in the previous year in order to procure the Crimean committee, but ho altogether omitted to mention that when the report was laid on the table, he submitted a motion stigmatis:ng every member of Government who had been in office when the disasters oc curred. The answer to that motion was, that had the meta. hers of the Government known whet the hen. and learned member was about to do, they would have demanded to be themselves examined before the committee. Tho case to night was somewhat similar. A case was about to be nab mitted to a board of general offieers, and before they heti even commenced their labours the Lon. and learners mem ber so gut to take the opi 'ion of the house upon the me rits. With regard to the Government, the hon. and learned member said that Government had appointed this commis sloe to screen their own misconduct, but the house would not be isve that Government would be guilty of such solemn mocker, as to issue a • formal &eminent , creating a board merely with the object of screening their own misconduct, The hon. and learned member now complimented the Cri mean connuissioeers, but at the time of their appointment the hon. mud le a , ne t t member declared them unfit for their work, and that their mission wonitl turn out a sham. Yet all this was now forgotten, atet the commissioners were de cl tred to be the most zealous and impartial that could be se . b-cted. Then with respect to the present commission the hon. and le trned member said th a t th e government had appointed a eri mem e'en mission, and now they ate) tinted auuther to inquire into the coat) ct of th tt co el inission Now there was not a sylleble of truth in that assumption. The commis sioners went to the Crimea, not to inquire into the conduct of certain officer-, but to inquire generally into the conduct of the commissariat. That was the first intruction, and, three days after, further instructions were sent out that they should inquire into the delay in the unshipping and distribution of the goods Wh-re did the lion, and. learned member find in their instructions any directions to inquire into the conduct of the officers? Mr. ROEBUCK—I bog pardon, (Order, order, It ought to have sent out spicial instructions for dispensing with tbat regulation, or, if they (lid not, an application ought to have been made by the Quartermaster-General's department to the acting Corn:nate ter-in-Chief for a reepen sation, and if neither of these courses were available, they ought to have taken the authority upon themselves. Bat in no part of the evideuce dirt it appear that Colonel Gordon said that he was prevented from issuing the great coats by the existence of the warrant coufiuiug the issue to one great coat in three years to each man, or the diffi culty of obtaining a dispensation from that warrant. There was another reason why the Government could not adopt the report as conclusive, and why it eras no e eau to appoint a tribunal to receive evidence. It was stated by the commissioeers that the troupe remained seven or eight weeks after their landing at Eupatolia an march ing upon the Altue before they hart their kraps acks re turned to them, and that they suffered severely in conse quence from the want of ordivaty necessaries; an I that Col. Gordon, when he was asked " How do you ac punt for that delay ?" answered that, shortly after the bateau of the Alma, a circular was addressed to all the general oft cars commanding divisions inviting them to say whether they wished the neon to have their knapsack - 3 .reinreed to them, and that they all declined to receive, them. They :Laded that when they (the commissioners) returned to Bug land they inquired of the generals of division who lisp pelted to sit) 10 this country a* to the truth of this sta.e went, and that the reply of one was that 10 such offer ever was made, of another tent he had no recollection of it, and a third they had not been able to see. This ens A eta u m me which •lire:aly impugned the veracity of eel. Ger (ten, and without inquiry who could say wheel' party wee right? What (Jul. Gordon now said was, th.nt .vhen he g a ve that answer to the cornwissioaers he had in his hand the letters of throe of the gene. ale coaen velure .t. , is ) is distinctly dee: ining to receive the kir:ties:Luke, anti that another ltd explaiued to him verbally why he did not weal), to re.oi ye them, tine th it there was au entry in th official ine.norendurn beok of the Quartermaster-Geueral's department continuing this statement. Then as to the case of General Airey —would it have been fair to have condemned him upon this report, unsuppor to I by evidence? (Hear.) The charge against the Q a:tat:master-Generale , department was, that having plenty of stores ou hand they neglected to issue them. Well, Gee. Airey was at the head of that departrneut, anti was the responsible party. But when the report was looked into, it did not appear that Goo. Airy was ever called before the commissioners or exa unmet by them at all. It was true that the commissioners prepared certain written questions, and that Gan. Airey gave writte t answers to them ; hut with regard to the ilea issuing of the stores at the proper time, which was the only point on which the Quartermaster-General's depart ment was condemned in the report, it did not appear that any explanation was asked or given. Ha thought these circumstances afforded ample grounds for the appointment of tho board of general officers, to afford an opportunity to the officers whose conduct was impugned to give their own explanation of the facts. The right hoe. baronet (Sir J. Pakington) was dissatisfied with the lee vernueent for not communicating the repoit to the Bore., Guards before laying it upou the table of the house; bat that course would have occasioned delay, and in all proba bility there would have been a motion in the house, which could scarcely have been resisted, for the immediate production of the document. No inconvenience could possibly have resulted from the report not having been sent to the Horse Guards in the first instance ; it was re ceived by the War Department only a day or two after the house met, was immediately laid upon the table, and the Horse Guards were in possesion of it at as early a period almoet as it would have been had it bean sent to the Horse Guards in the first instance. As the honour :able aunt learned mearber'e resolution distinctly clam g the Government with misconduct in having appoiu.sel officers who were ineulpeted by the come:is:ic:le& report, he felt blued to enter into some explanation upon that pint. The boa. and learned member said that the officers whose connect was most inculpated were Lord Lucen, Lord Cardigan, General Airey, and Col. Gordon. Now ha would titre the CASA of Lord C trdi;an first. The ap pointment which had been given to that officer was In spector-General of Cavalry. Bet when was he appointed ? Shortly after the brilliant charge which L :rd Cardi;an haul heailee at Bela klava, when al the country was resounding with the praises of that noble lord's gallantry—long before the commies:ea iv. s appointed, and even before the Government by which that commis:eon had been appointed was in existence. Bow that appointment could be made a charge of misconduct on the part of the Government he could not understand. Then with regard to Lord Lacan, who had been appointed to the command of a cavalry regiment. Considering that he was one of the seven general officers who commanded a division in the Crimea, and as every other general officer who had com manded a division had been appointed to the command of a regiment, he could not conceive that there was anything wrong in that appointment, especially as it also was made before the commission had reported, and when it was not known that any accusation would be made against him in that document. Teen there was the case of Col. Gordon, who hail been appointed Deputy Quartermaster-Geueial at the Horse Guards. In Dec., 185, Lord Raglan recom mended Col. Gordon to be Queen's Aide-de-Camp and De puty Quartermaster-Geuerel of his army. That recom• ' menriation was not attended to by Lord Hardinge, and ' in May, 1855, Lord Raglan sagam recommended that he should be made a Qatien's Aide-de-Camp, and promoted to the rank of full colonel, he having been previously lieu tenant-colonel. But Colonel Gronion was not made a Queen's Aide-de-Camp, and he succeeded to the rank of colonel, nut by the influence of Lord Raglan's recommen eation, but by seniority. Then, with regard to his beiug appoint() I Deputy Quartermaster -General. \V hen Lord Raglan died, Colonel Gordon came home. He was about to return to the Crimea, when at that moment the office of Deputy Quartermaster-General at the Horse Guards be came vacant ; and it was considered that as Lord Raglan, who had hart personal experience of his abilities, had recom mended him to fill a corresponding office in the Crimea— n more fit person could not be appointed. (Hear, hear.) In this case likewise, then, he contended, there had been no misconduct on the part of the Government, the appoint ment having been made ere the commission had reported. (Hear, hear.) The argument of the right hon. baronet (Sir J. Pakington) was, that they were wrong in appointing a persons upon whose conduct an inquiry was in point of fact pending ; but, if that principle were carried out, the Government would have been debarred from availing themselves of the services of any officer who had been en, gaged in any one of the departments to which the inquiry of the commissioners extended ; and Colonel Wellesley, who, as officer in the Quartermaster -General's depattemut, was to a certain extent responsible for the issue of stores, could not have been appointed First Deputy Quarter master-General of the Turkish Contingent, and afterwards to the command of the Land Transport Corps ; for both of which appointments he had proved himself eminently qualified. He next came to the case of General Airey. General Airey was Quartermaster -General of the Army, first under Lord Raglan, and afterwards under General Simpson; and when the office of Quartermaster-General became vacant by the retirement of General Freeth, who had filled it for forty-two years, Lord Hardinge naturally availed himself of the services of an officer who had served two years is the Crimea in the very department which was then vacant, and it must have been a great advantage to Lord Panmure anti Lord Hardinge, while the war was going on, to have at their diiposal the experience of an officer who had been in such a position: , The estimate of the character and serrioen tai Gems Airey was not taken by Lord Her,lingo elene, but wee shared by the Geverurnent, for what could - otherwise nave in duced the Government to send General Airey as a mem ber of the coaference which V/3.4 heti' in Park with reg and to the future conduct of the war? They could only have looked to the fact that this country should have its weight in that conference when they selected offieere who represented this country, and G-eneral Airey wee ono of those who was sant over. There was everything to induce Lard Hardinge to believe that General Airey was capable of loin; a duty similar to that te which he had devote hirnecif for two years ; and, considering that the report of the Crimean comtnissionere had not then boon received by the Government, no inure proper apoointetent could then have boon male. He (Hr. Peel) did not know . whether 11r. Fader had been 'wiled by the hon. and learned gentlemen, bet the rigitt hon. gentleman opposite (sir J. Pakington) hail spekon of some injustice having been done to that gentleman Worm to he wets Tl' 4 , aware thet.he had bean recalled until he (Hr. Peel) had se et-itod last night, and bast:Luse he had been sent a copy of the re port, which had only been laid on the table of the halite a short time ago. He (Mr. Peel) did not use the word " recall " with any meaning that it conveyed censure, and he would state the circumstances under. which Mr. Filder retired from the office of Corniniseery-General. When Lord Pantnure came to the War office ho re ceived an impression that the performance of the duties of the Comtnieeariet in the Crimea had not been satisfac tory, as it ought to have been. The report of the com mittee over which the- hon. and learned gentleman presided strengthed that impression, and the first report of the Crimean commission could not but have tended still fur ther to strengthen it. Having also heard that the health of the Commiesary-General was failing, it was natural that Lord Panmare should take the first opportunity to relieve that officer. It was known there was every prospect that the army would pass another winter in the Crimea, and that its numbers would be lsrgely increased, anti that. greater exertions would be required to provide for the army in the winter of 1835-56 than were required in that of 1854.55, and Lord Pannaure carne to the resolution to intimate to the Commissary-General that another officer would succeed him. A despatch was sent to Gen. Simp son stating the reasons for the recall of the Commissary- General in the kindest and most considerate manner; but while that despatch was on its way to the Crimea, Mr. Filler applied for a medisal board to inquire into the state of his heelth, and in consequence of its decision he had actually quitted the Crimea bef , re the despatch arrived. He came home ; but. if had remained in the Crimea, he weuld have been made acquainted with the fact that an other officer would be appointed t succeed him. Then with regard to nosh communicating To Mr. Filler the first report of the commission. The fact wits, that when the Government received it, the Commissary-General had al ready retired, and it was not thought advisable to com rnanica.te to him a report against him, when the whole question hat been settled by that investigation. That first report eves received in June last, but it was not cernplete, and it was nmaccoinpanied by the evideice—it was simple a bare report of the commission, hut . centaine.l no account of their proceedings, for which there was no time, an it was only intentle.l to inform the Government of the de fects of the Commissariat as early as possible. The Go vernment was therefore unwilling to do anything towards Filler;' which Might be considered unkind ; but when in December last the Commissary-General applied to Lord Herdinge to recommend him for the Order of the Bath, it became necessary to state why Lord Pan inure would be unable to recommend him for that dis tinction ; and that he was nut satisfied with the way in which the duties of the Commissariat had been per formed, or that greater exertions might not have been used if the department had gone out of the beaten track, in order to obtain supplies. That communication was not made to Mr. Filler till the miedle of Januery, soon after the complete report of the Crimean commission had reached the Government. The house would observe that the statements in the report made it necessary that further opportunity of explanation sheuld be afforded to the other officers who were inculpated; anal it was thought advisable to deal with Mr. Filder in that respect as it was proposed to do with the others, and that a court should be appointed to receive the explanations of all of them. That was all that he (Mr. Peel) thought it necessary to state on that occasion. 'He could only say that when the hon and learned gentleman imputed misconduct to the Government for seine of the appointments which they had made, he was sure . that at least they might claim credit for others. The departments generally were now ad mitten' to be filled by the fittest men. The present Adju tan -General in the Crimea was an officer whose attention to the drilling of the troops :mud training them to the use of the new weapons which had been established, had con tributed to form an infantry which wont' be found in ac tionito have reecheil an effectiveness which had never been reached before. The efficerwho filled the office of Quarter master-Geeeral shown great capability, and the condi tion of the supplies of the army testified to his ability to do.his duty. With regard to the medical department, at its head was the very officer:flawed by the hon. and learned gentleman, Dr. Hall. Mr. ROEI3UCti—I did not mention his name. Mr. F. PEEL—His Impression was the hon, and learned gentleman di I n sine Dr. dell. Mr. ROEBUCK—I did not. Mr. F. PEEL—WeII, 'he officer who presided over that department in I.4rA: was the same who presided over it now. (fionicalchsers from Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Layard.) That cheer, he supposed, meant that th:at officer ought not now to be :at the nea-I of the department, but let the returns of the state of the army speak fur the fact. There were now 7 deaths in 7 days out of moo.) men, and look at that in oemparieon with last year, when, with a force on• third or one half in number, the number of deaths were 105 a week. Take any other department of the arias in the Crimea, and it would be found that men were ap pointed to fill them who were the fittest for their posts. With these remarks he would leave the questiou in tht tinsels of the house, and he had no Bought from what the ri ;lit hon. gentleman opposite (Sir J Pakingt in) had said that the holm would shrink eats taking any course which prevent the officers impliiratett from making their uexplanations-to the board of general officers who had beet, - appointed, and that it would be admitted that some credit was due to the G iverninent, who haul done their utmost to b• ing,together an army se strung in numbers, so itnbue d with martial spirit, and so eager to measure their strength with the enemy, that although every one must desire this peace would be the result of the conference now sitting. awl that every practicable means should be pursued to ob tain it, yet if _war was the only alteruative that remained, anti it was adopts by this country, there could be ne doubt as to its results Mr BEN CINCIi characterised the motion of Mr. Roe buck es ill-timed and inopportune, and taunted him with having bean, the only inetur,er who, during this session, haul endeavoured to disturb the course which the house had been inclined t.a adopt at this juncture. The course taken by the hon. gentleman, atri the opinion he had expresstio with reared to the objects for which England had en tered on the present wear, were such as not to justify hie, (Mr. Bentinck) in haviug any confidence in the tuutiei. which he haul now brought forward. Mr. LAY ARD hoped to be allowed te address a few words to the house in com , equence of a motion in cotinecti- n with this subject which ho bad put on the paper. Without any disparagement to the motion of his hon. and learned friend, ho must say that ho thought his (Hr. Layard'e) own motion pi•eferanle to the hoe. and learned gentleman's. It was a question whether this commission ought to be the subject of discussion, and he would limit himself to that part of the subject. The right hon. gentleman opposite (Sir J. Paeington) said that the house ought not to enter into this question, and he agreed with him so far as the conduct of the officers which was impugned in the report was concerned. After whet had been done by the Govern ment, ho thought it unadvis able to take such a course, and ha had listenel with surprise to the unwise and indiscreet speech of the Under-Secretary for war. Ho would not go over the whole subject of the state of the army in the Cli mes, which was known to every man, but lie wonld remind the house that, when the motion of the hen. and learned gentleman last year was carried, and was followed by the tall of the Government, the noble lord now the First Mi nister made a very remarkable speech, amid endeavoured to take the inquiry out of the baud; of the house, using the words of a king of former times, and stating that he would be their leader, and see that inquiry was made into the al leged celpelelity and the guilty punished. Notwitbstand ing that spu-,ech the committee was appeinted, and the in quiry went on. Besides this, the noble lord chose two most unexceptionable gentlemea to make an inquiry on the spot, whieh the committee coal I not tie definitively. Ho heel sent. Sir J. al'Neill and Col. Tulloch te the spat to tuquire into the condition of the army and to report to the hoeee and the country. The appointments were unexcep tionable. Sir J. M'Neill began life as a surgeon is the army, and was therefore highly qualified in that respect for the tae he undertook ; besides which he had repro , stated the country with ability in Persia, and knew settle thing of the resources of the East ; and latterly he had held a seini-officia: sepointment in Scott and, and was habituated to dealing with evidence. Col. Tulloch also was an officer of high character anti experience. The hon. gentleman (Mr. Peel) had said that he (Mr. Layard) had criticised those appointments, because he had said that their report would be a sham. He was right, however, in saying that it world be a sham, that is, that the Government never would adopt it. The hon. gentleman had himself staid that the Government had overthrown the report, for he complained that General Airey had not been heard before the commissioners, because Sir John M'Neill had, on ac count of ill health, left the Crimea before he had au op portunity of doing so. He (Mr. Layard) had had some conversation with Sir J. M'Neill at the time that he was appointed, and that gentleman told him that his health was very delicate, and that he undertook the task with reluc tance, but that it had been pretend on him by the Govern ment, and he felt it to be his duty to consent to act. Had not the hon. gentleman (Mr. Peel) justified his (Mr. Lay wars) prognostications with regard to the way is which the Government would deal with the report ? He would not go into the report on that occasion, but it was a fact that the gentlemen appointed went to the Crimea to report on the state of things; they were to act like a judge in sum ming ap a ease ; they were to state all the facts, and give ne opinion of their own; they were to produce the evi dence given before them, and leave it to the house and the country to pass a judgment upon it ; mad surely they were as able to do that as any board of general officers. Tne Government had adopted the report and communicated it to the house; they had accepted it and endorsed it with their sanction, and he had heard the hon. gentleman's mode of dealing with it with surprise. There were two points on which he would remark. The hon, gentleman had charged Sir J. M'Neill and Col. Telleuh with want of veracity, and he referred to a part of Col. Gordon's evidence, and stated that Sir J. and Col. Tulloch had said that Colonel Gordon stated that the men's knapsacks had not been given to them because the generals of uivision had refused to re fund them, whereas, according to Sit-J. M'Neill, three generals had denied that to hire. In this instance the re port only stated these things as facts, and it did not say which was in the right. The hon. gentleman said that Col. Gordon's letters showed that he was right, but he ought not to have charged Sir J. M'Neill and Col. Tulloch with want of veracity. Mr. PEEL had never impugned the veracity of the com missieners, but all he said was that Col. Gordon had made an assertion on one side, , and the commissioners on the other, and the Government would not undertake to say which was right. Mr. LAYARD—The next point was with regard to th e . greatcoats. The hon. gentleman said tha t Sir J. M Neill and Colonel Tulloch had stated that they were not served out because Col. Gordon said that the issue of great coats was restricted by the Queen's warrant to one in . three years, and that there was no such wo rds in Col. Goidon's evidence. The usual Horse Guards' coarse was pursued here—the weak men were overthrown and the strong triumphed. The hon. geatleman'eexplanation with regard to Mr. Filder was as lame as it possibly could . be. Tho hon. gentleman said that Mr. Filder was not actually re called ; but a recall it was in the strict sense of the word, and no glossing of the bon. gentleman would make the matter different. When public opinion was loudly ex pressed on this subject the noble lord at the head of the Government, with his venal tactics, appointed a corainirt• " What the Ministers wanted was, that, as a public tri eunal, they should detersniue whether the couutry ought to acquit his Majesty's advisers. They pervert, therefore, th e whole nature of the tribunal, and have produced out of it such a strange, auomalous, and incousietent proodeo ing, as was never known in the laws of this or of any other couutry, and which cannot he waste conclesive to any pu- - oose Wet shell be at once rational and honest. his a trial slid no trial. It can neither condemn so as to inflict punish mint on the guilty, nor acquit so as to protect tee inn°. este, from prosecation. • * Tee Ministers vented to hush up the business so as to preveut that full iisclosare which a trial would bring out, -awl which might iuvolve statements net se convenient to theMselvea. Fur his purpose either no trial at all, or an inquiry in the re eater mode, with shut doors, would have been most COU vonient. But that the irepetience of the publics would not eadily acqui , ce in. To that the terrors of the newspapers .were opposed. They therefore conceived met brought forth eat monstrous production, unknown to our laws and our asege.s, an open court of inquiry, of which the - only etlect rats been to throw dust in the eyes of the people by a *hew trial without the reality." Tlmt wee prophetic of this very case. He would take next the opinion of Lord H. Petty, the present Marquis of eansdowne, who was opposed to the appointment of that ,:onewission. Lord IL Petty . said : " I am sure that in this house it will not be thought that any form of inquiry that has passed already, or anything hat has bereft the name of iaquity, has been of a natute o preclude the expediency and necessity of tLis house etking upthe inquiry itself, because, with whatever respect may view the iu lividual and military characters of the persons who composed the board of iuquiry, assembled by eis Mejesty'e command, I must sey that, constituted as that board was, and directed as its functions were, that board was a tribunal more Lcornpetent to ve satisfaction to the coup tty, more irreeoncileable with ell the known and received principtesoflew and equity in this country, than any which has ever existed. * * * I hold in my hand the opinion thlivetest by Lord Wood ossuselee out the subject of courts of inquiry. Ifs asserts that altheegh there is in the king a power inherent to convene such boar is as courts of advice, yet still that their slecisions have no binding effects on the party accused ; a el though it hee happened that persons suspected have ueen examined by them, the call was not founded in justice, nor cen persons be compelled to obey them. In this opinion Mr. Macarthur and Mr. Adey, two gentlemen who hate also written on the subject, concur. * * There is, he sbies, in our history a wemoreble instance, in which the reference to such a court was preguant with evils ; yet, be believed that this very instance, which has proved in its operation so mischierous and in its conse li quences 63 pregnant with evil, was the very idlntical pre zedent on which the servants of the Crown recommended to their Sovereign' the formation of the late court of in quiry. I allude to the case ef Sir J. Mord:mut, whose conduct was first submitted to the uoard'ot inquiry which next Beet him to a court-martial, when ho was acquitted upon the ground that the only evidence against him arose from his own answers tending to criminate himself. Such au example is of itself sufficient to satisfy the house of the inconveniences and disadvantages arising from that parti cular mode of inquiry. I therefore do think myself justi fied its assorting that a court of inquiry, held as this has been, opening its door to the public, calling npun the very liarldes to give their testimony, and drawing from them in formation by - which they were to he subjected to criminal prosecution, was a tribunal calculated rather to defeat than to nromete the ends of justice or to give satisfaction to the public. Even by the constitution of the court itself it was impossible for it to inquire into any demerits beyond those of the officers." - Upon the same occasion, Sir A. Wellesley, afterwards the great Duke of Wellington, said— " He perfectly agreed with the noble lord (Lord H. Petty) in the wish that this court of inquiry might be the last of the kind which should assemble.- It was note court b e fore which any officer would (lusiro to be! tried. (Hear, hear ) A general impression had gone abroad that this court had been instituted by his noble friend (Lord Castlereagh) out of friendship to him. It was rather hard upan him to be subjected to such a reflection ; as, if he had been tied in any other manner, ho must have been acquitted. As far as he was concerned, ho must say, without meaning to blame any of the ineinlm . s, that this court had been a source of injustice, and he therefore hoped it would be the last court of the kind to which the investigation of the conduct of officers should be submitted." Thtse were the opinions of three of the highest authorities upon such a question, and yet the Gover.iment professed now to rest their determination to ppoiut the court upon the course which had been pursued on former occasions. and upon the commission of inquiry ii.to the Conv,etion of Cintra (dear.) Now, it really. did appear to hitn that, upon this occasion, the Horse Guards had brought these censures entirely upon themselves. They had virtually bid defiance to the country. _Notwithstanding the complaints and the indignation of the country they had said, " you way prove what you can against the otficersconcerned, you may prove them to be utterly incapable, but we will exercise the authority we have, and appoint r promote them in spite of you." It had been said ;hat Sir Itichant Air ey was appoiutedin Se p tember ; hut as he (51r.Layarci) believed, l ie ~as appointed on the 26th December, which made a very great difference. It was true that Lord Pau mure had stated be never saw the printed report until it was submitted to the house but had Lord Pannaure never seen the written report? If so, he watt almost the only min in any position in the country who did not see it ; for m know it was seen b; many before the e nd he (Hr. Lay anil of the mouth of September. mr.PEEL observed that the report w hi c h h a d reference t o Lords Lu not:;en prisettte.. eau and Cardigan had b at that time. Mr. LAYARD replied that the hon. gentleman had goae out of his way to defend LordsLucan and Cardigan, whose case had not even been alluded to by the preceding speak ers. The fact was that the 'non. gentleman had prepared a speech in answer to the speech which he supposed would be made by himself (Mr. Layard) in bringing forward the motion of which he had given notice, and which, for rea sons of hie own, he had postponed to a more favourable opportunity. The hon. gentleman would be able, no doubt, to defend Lord Lncan and Lord Cardigan when they were attacked. The hon. gentleman had al=o gone out of his way to deal with the case of Dr. Hall. Now, if there was any ore ease more gross than another, it was the case of Dr. Hall. The Sebastopol Committee had re- Nrted against him ; the evidence of Lord Harding° and the evidence of Dr. kndrew Smith was against him ; and the only man whom Sir John 51`Neil and Col. Tulloch directly censured, and almost charged with a want of ♦era city, was Dr. Hall ; and in spite of that, only three weeks ago, on the Gth Feb., Dr. Hall was gazetted to a K.C..13. Now there could not be the excuse, in that ease,-that the Government had not seen the reports against Dr. Hall be fore they conferred this distinction upon him. This was an example of the manner in which the home and the " Is your Royal Highness aware at all of what was the reason of this great delay in the restoration of the knapsaelts . after tLey hail been taken away I—The reason was simply' this, that, instead of each Alip, after coming round to Bile klava,, entering the harbour and discharging its cargo ci,! knapsacks, ant care being taken that the resin:mats were informed at the time that such would be the case, "amortof circular was sent ruuud that a ship was outside or inside the harbour, and the chance was taken of getting the knapsacks out. It occurred once or twice, on sending down for them, that theship had sailed in the meantime to Constantinople or Marseilles upon another service, and the knapsacks were gone. Is the fact within your Royal Highness'. knowledge, that ships laden with those knapsacks went two or three times backwards and forwards acrnakthe Black Sea with env latiding ?—I think that that is true. Does not that imply great neglect in some - gusrters?—l think it a very bat arra egemeet." Thus, the Royal duke, who was ready to receive the knapsack, did ntt get them any . more than the four foolish old generals who refused them. Then, again, what does his Hoye! Highness say futtber— " Would it tn.t have been possible, after the flank search was determined ilium, to have all the knapsacks collected together out of the different ships into one, and to hire sent them round to Balskl..va ? —I have no doubt ths4lavme err ingemeni of the sort might have been made at the titne,, (Rear.) Of course at sea it is nut, perhaps, a very easy mat tic to shift knapsaelsa from one ship to another. I eppre nand the simplest course would ha.ve been to have landed the knapsacks of each regiment at Balaklava, and then to have made the sliips available at once for any other ditty." If the hon. gentle min iu his study of blue-books--a study t which I believe lie is much addieted—the.ir, hear, and laughter)—would only refer to General Bentinck's evi dence he would find that gallant otliCer fully corroboratve his Roynl Highness, and that he could not get the knap sacks, notwithstanding the wonderful alacrity of Col. Gor don. Then what does Col. Wilson, of the Guards, tell us? He was asked— " You at ted that the men had no change before you came away ; had they not got their knapsacks?—Before I came away I do not think ZO of our English soldiers had their knapsacks except the two companies of the regiment' which had been place,' on board the Bellerophon, under Lord Frederick Paulet, and Lord Frederick brought those mon on shore with their knapsacks, and those, 1 believe, were the only men that had their knapsacks out of the whole brigade." And, again,— " Do you know what steps were taken on the part of the alms to obtain their baggage while encamped before •So bastopol?—l know that time officers repeatedly sent down their servants to Balaklava to endeavour to discover the ships in which they had sailesl to the Crimes kr the pur pose of getting their bsigglge. I did so myself, and em ems occasion the Terming, the ship in which I before said I sailed to the Ciiinea, iii t arri.e, auA I sent my servant down, and they told him that they had been ordered at Constantinople to disgoi l m all the , blg4age, and to put it into store there, so that I got unthinr." That was the excelleat ate angerreut which Cul. Gordon made for the Guards. Ido net wish to trouble tee house with a variety of evidence ripen this subject, but perhaps nee. members are not aware why it is that.the subject of the knapsack is dwelt upon so muds. I' must remind them that it was state t by the medical officers that in cote sequence of the troops not having a change of clothes their sufferings were aggravated, arid I know the sick and wound ed went down to Sexual i with their shirts sticking to their hacks, in the most deplotable couditioe. Ito provimion at all being made for them at Belekls.ve. (Hear.) Se much for the willingness of the Duke of Cambridge to receive the knapsacks. Now, Six, as awn as I heard of this, I obtained a document from General Pennefather, who commanded ono of the brigades under my orders, and from Colonel Armstrong (Gederal Adams, who commanded the other brigade, having unfortunately been killed), in which those officers said they sent down to Baleklava wheueser they heard of a shipcoming into harbour with baggage, but they invariably foiled the knapsacks lied been sent on to Con •tautinople or some other place. The bon. gentleman the Under-Secretary quotes Col. Gordon, without knowing whether what Col. Gordon says is sound or not, and complain that he has not candidly avowed he was not aware of the evil consequences which have resulted from the knapsacks having been withheld and sent about from place to place except to that place where they were re quire i. I admit that perhaps sonic confusion v: as inevi table, but I do not think that such efforts were meths or arrangements, concluded an prudence would haeo dictateel. I complain, also, of the readiness which I discever from the evi :once Col. Gordon displ ys to shift the blame which might tie attrioute : to hint upon the shoulders of other persons. The five Generals of Division were all absent, one of them unhappily having perished, and thee Col. Gorden says, %NlA:isle except his Royal Highness, those generals caused all the difficulty by their refusals to ro cpt the knapsacks. The bun. gentleman the Under-Secre tary of War, not appreciating the t itezreet observations of the right hole bar onet (Sir J. Pakington), goes int , the why le question, and chadenees the opinion of Parliament upon the whole question. (Hear.) At one time he says a commission is about to be appointed, a trial is peeding, and therefore it would be unfair to snake any remarks, but the moment after he commences an attack upon everybody. (Hear.) The hoc gentleman says this motion is unfair, because the commissioners are somewhat assailed by thin proceeding, but immediately afterwards he does not heed tete to commence an attack upon the commissioners. Surely threes commissioners are equally entitled to fair play as the officers who are said to he reflected upon by their report. (Heat, hear.) And, sir, after all, those commis sioners were officers appointed and selected by the War Department, and now down comes the War Department and complains of them. (Hear, hear.) It seers to be in tended to lay down a rule that everything may be said about any one except as to those officers who have a-con nexion with the Court. I cannot help saying that I be lieve the public imagine different justice is administered by the Government to noble lords antlhon. and genatl,emfreinenfa voured at Court than that awa rded to humble less individuals. (Hear, hear.) I confess, toe, I did not like the announcement of the noble viscouut (Palmerston) that this Board or Commission is to close its doors coca sio' aly whenever its members may decide to do so. L t e us understand whether evidence is to be heard while these doors are closed. (Hear, hear.) I have also heard it said, and am not sure that there is nu foundation for the 'state went, that one of the modes by which these gentlemen who consider themselves inculpated intend to escape from censure is to cant all the blame upon the late Lord Raglan. Sir, Lord Raglan and the eldjutent-Geuerei can no longer . defend thcrwelves, end I would advice the friends of the late Lord Raglan, of whom there mutt he many in this house, to be upou their guard against ray attempt on the part of cerSain individuals to exonerate themselves at the expense of the late Cornmabder-in-Chief. (Hear, hear.) Why ii there to be any secrecy at all' Tell us that. A distinction has bees drawn between the Cciermission or Board and that which eat after the Coneentica of Cintra. Upon that occasion there was merle reeiun fur caution and even for secrecy— there wore great strategical poijts to be l &Am*. I Myself bare beau placid in a Wee position in THE s - LON DON ) SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 1. lt,t6. to give it his support. He feared that the words .of the motion were atleulated to prejwige the question, which was still open, and with regard to which the cooduct of the otlicers mentiono.i was about to be made the subject. of investigation. The words either bare that construction, or else they censured the military"department for what the hon. and learue 1 member calla misconduct, and which wont], be no inislonduot at all in the case of a complete acquittal. Under these circumstances, he (Sir J. Peking toe) could not support the hen. and learned member's motion, and Viereforo the course be was about to pursue w , mld he to abstain altogether from taking part in the present divi , ion, reeerviiig to himself the right to bring forwent his own views when, io his opinion, the fitting opportunity had arrived. At the same time ho felt bound to state that, in his opinion, the conduct of the Govern ment with regard to these transactions had been open to the gravest ceusure, and whenever he brought the subject before the house, he should certainly ethyl's to the extra ordinary omission, on this part of the Uovernmeut, to communicate the report of the cominissiouors to the Com mander-in Chief. He believed that that house had never felt greater astouishma,nt than when, on a former evening, the Secretary for War mule the.faltering statement, that the first intimation Lord H irdinge received coucernieg these repot ts was when he received a copy in his capacity of peer of Parliament. When the proper time arrived ho (Sir J.Pakington) meant to draw attention to the inference which ho could not fail to deduce from this fact, namely, that there was not that harmony subsisting between the Commander-in-Chiefs department and that of tho Secre tary of State which the exttencies of the country's service required, and further to the great injustice which had been inflicted on the officers whose conduct was impugned. As an illustratiod of this iujastice, he should allude to the C 330 of Mr. Commissary-General Filder. He begged to say that he had no acquaintance with that gentleman, nor was he his advocate ; but as he stood in a somewhat less elevated position than the other officers accused, there was all the greater necessity that he should have an ample measure of justice at the hands of Government. Ho had, on the previous day, iu con=equeucce of a letter he re ceived from Mr. Filder, requested the Government to lay on the table the letter which that gentleman had addressed to Lord Paninure, and while snaking that application he stated, on the authority of Mr. Filder, the extraordipary fact that, although ho was the officer most deeply incul pated in the rep art, its contents had never been communi cated to him, so that the first intimation he had of the charges against him was the appearance of the report in the pu die pipers. In his (Sir J. Pakingtou's) opinion that was au injustice which neither the country nor the army ought to tolerate. The house would recollect that when the Under-Secretary for War answered the qUeA. tien respecting Mr. Fil her, he went out of his way to a. - vert to a sui.ject of which the house knew nothing, stat ing tea , at the proper time he should be prepared to yin isicete the re.e.ii of elr. Filder. Perhaps the house mould be nurpruse to hear that be (Sir J. Pakington) ha l that teeming received auo,eier letier hone sir. Filder, iu which he stated that until he saw the report of the question and answer in the newspapers he had not, been aware that he was recalled at ail. (Hear.) lie should not trouble the house by reading the letter, he merely mentioned it as an illustration of the manner in which the public business was conducted. (Hear.) Mr. Fader stated that he left the Crimea on the let of August, under the direction of a medical board, end naiads the raced crossed him on the voyage he had no notion that any recal had beau issued. He should not, however, permit himself to be drawn fur ther into the discussi us, reserving himself fur a future day and a fitter opportunity ; but there was one portion of the subject to which he attached so much interest that he trusted the house would allow him to make one or two oh servetious respecting it. What he wished toßeyin themoet emphatic manner was, that in giving his notice he had not the slightest inteution of prejudging the case, or of doing the slightest, injustice to the officers whose conduct was im- puenei. He could not minim) anything more unfair than (lA, at the moment when their conduct was about to unde-go a searchiug investigation, he should open in that house a preliminary discussion concerning thetr conduct. They were undoubtedly entitled to the greatest forbearance from the Government, but be thought that if the words of his dnendwent were referred to it would be seen that it was the conduct of the Government, n)t of the officers, wh:ch was impugned. On that point his opinion remained the 113.1110, and be wished explicitly to mark the distinction be drew between the conduct of the Government in sanc tioning the promotion of these officers and the conduct of the officers themselves, as about to be investigated by the comiuis,ion. The cominivion was instructed, first, to in quire into the c dises which had led to the delay to the issue of clothing. New, as that delay must have origiueted in the giuteterinaster-Ueneral's depaituient, the house would feel that G.wernu3ent were not justified in taking action respect ing that officer until the cowinissien had made its report ; • d 'le also th eight the Government had been guilty of intiis a teen end a want of due care in promoting to ap p me ,t.. f trust t hoineotherodicers against whose con duct inquiry was els. direc,ed. He did not mean to say w..:* l as r .eae•teil the conduct of those officers, who, he hoped, w add establish their innocencs iu a triumplAnt, r bef .re tee co ninission, i t which Case his com plaint Against the Gov..rninent weuld remain precisely the ~ ."me. What he complained of, and the country would co "plain of it, was, that pending the inquiry the Govern• me it pr ;judged the case by proinoiin. , these officers, al thoaei. h thought that these officers had suffered great atic . in being compelled to bubinit to a new inquiry. truste t, however, that they would not suffer from the conduct of the Government. Ho believed that the errors h of been exegi,erated, although they had lad to the gravest consequenc s. It must be recollected that they were com mitted under circumstances of extraordinary difficulty ; aid wha - ever m ght have been their errors, eery one would admit that they were men of undoubted way ha convenient that, I should explain. The hon. gen- Canaan has entirely misanderstol.l the objectof my ;notion, is to blame the iniscondua of tuose by whose ne glect or incoupetancy various departments of thearmy have aeon placed under the command of offisors whose conduct has been inculpated by the report of the catniniesion ap pointed by the Government. Mr. PEEL remarked that the hon. And learned member had altered his motion so often that it was semewkat di M. cult to understand ex tctly what be di.l mean. When he was told that the inquiry was to sit with closed doors, the hon. and learned gentleman still the object ofthe Govern ment was to shelter incompets lice • that they desired to screen the officers against whose conduct imputations been cast lathe report, but the moment he was informed that the board of general officare was to ho an open trikm nal, then the hon. and learned member turned round and said the objectof the Government W 43 not to shelter the officers who were to appear before it, but to hide th.dr own misconduct. Mr. ROEBUCK—Hear, hoar. (Cheers.) Mr. PEEL would undertake to say that the impression of the commissioners themselves was that they were not to inquire into the conduct of any particular officers ; and this the hon. and learned member would see, if he turned to those parts of the report containing the copy of the letter addreeeel by them to L wit Raglan any' of their cominnuications to the Quartermaster-General's depart ment. Again, it, seemed to bo the impression that the commissioners who went out to the Crimea carried on their itiqatiry in an open manner. But that was not the case. It was esseuti ally a closed co a rt. No other person was present before thane when they were taking evidence than the witness actually under examination, and ne one witness knew anything of what was said by any other; but surely had the commissioners gone out to inquire into the misconduct of the otficers in the Quarter. master-General's and Ceinmisseria.t departments, they would have had those officers before them from time to time, and have taken evidence as to their conduct. (Hear.) The concluding proposition of the resolution, that the commission was appointed to inquire into the conduct of certain officers, was not then correct. Then the hon. and learned member said that the Government, having recei red the report of the commission, issued another commission to report upon that report. As he understood the hoe. and learned member, he contended that the Government ought to have appointed a cone-mu -tint, and summoned the office s nculpated by the report to appear before thew, and the reasqp he gave was, that the board of general officers was composed entirely of military men. He said that, "in the trhunal over which I presided last year, I toil{ care to into mingle civilians with military men." Mr. ROEBUCK—I said nothiug of the kind. (Order.) Mr. F. PEEL—The hon, anti learned gentleman cer tainly said, " I object to this board of general officers, be cause it is composed of military Oen." Mr. ROEBUCK—Military of one opinion. ; (Hear.) Mr. PEEL—Just so ; and the hon. and learned member added that it was -composed of men advanced in years. But had the hon. and Warned gentleman made inquiry he would have found that he was in error in supposing that these officers were s a advonaitt its years as he intimated. But the priecipai objection of the hou. and learned member was, that the board was to sit in England to review the proceedings of a commission that made their inquiry upon the spot. The objection that the inquiry was to be con duetted in England did not weigh with the hon, and learned, member when he appointed his own committee, an t re fused to adopt the suggestion of -his noble friend (Lord ealinerston) that a cotniniasien should proceed to the ed. mea to inquire jute the conduct of those who were respon sible there for supplying the troops with stores and pro visions, while the committee sat here to inquire into the management of the authorities at home. The speech of the bouourable and learned member would lead to the sup position that he had faded to make himself acquain'el with the coati-nts of the repo. t. Ho (Mr. Peel) had made himself &cc:tenanted with the contents of, that document, and could not deny that the officers against whom charges were therein imputed had a right to demised further inquiry and investig Aim' into the matter. The first point to inquire into was whether the report was in all respects founded upon evidence. It was plain that thole were passages in the report inculpatingcert tin officers wh served in the Crimea, but he refused to give his adhesieu to these statements, unless be found that, they had nothing to advance in their defence. One of the gravest charges against Col. Gordon was that he had neglected to issue greatcoats and blankets at the proper time, and the troops suffered severely in conseqeence. That was a serious charge against the quartermaster-general's department, seeing th it they had the articles in store. Acci,riting ,to the commis sioner; one of the reasons :Alleged by Cel.f.irordoe why h d.:i not issue the coats was that there was a regulation in he army under which great c.nats could only be servo I out to the wets once in three years. It was hardly possible to accept statement so improbable without examining the evidence. But when they turned to the evi lone, they looks i in vain for any passage iu which Culonel Gordon assigned that as a reason. The commissioners then said that the Government a:on to inquire into the Crime m report ; and no doubt it ems intended to hive sat with closed doors, but the popu lar feeling , was so decidedly•against such a course that the noble lord came down to the house and said it Was never intended to b.: otherwise than open. However, as the proceedings of the commission wore to be opou, he (Mr. Laytrd) should pursue a diflcront course to that which he should have taken if it had been a closei ono. He had se veral objections to the commission. One was, that it was to inquire into and report upon a report. The warrant stated "that an inquiry should bn made by the general officers hereinafter named into the statements contained in these reports, and evidence affecting, our °aims above re• ferred to; and that they are hereby directed to summon such persons as may be judged necessary by the said got;e rat °dicers to give information upon the said matters; ass'? the seul general officers are hereby directed to hear and examine such persons touching the same aad they are fur ther hereby authorised, empowered, and required, after strict examination into the matters before mentioned, to make a report thereupon, together with their opinion whe ther the said officers of oar army above referred to be or be not responsible to auy and what extent for the unsatisfac tory condition of our said army, or any portion thereof. noticed by Sir J. M‘Nuil and C donel Tulloch in their reports, and the evidence thereunto attache 1." It di rected an inquiry into the report which had been accepted by the Government and made by the men chosen by the Government. The mode in which Sir Johu M'Neil and Colonel Tulloch condneted the examination eves re markable. They aid not counneece by examining general officers; but they went to the lowest in rank and took the Junior officers first, and then worked their way up to the high r grades; for they knew that not a single teal among the junior officers would say a ward to contradict the evi 'knee of their superiors in rank. He had read the whole , Jf the evidence, and though there was much of it that was readily given, yet there wits much more that many of the officers were afraid te give. Thu course which the Go vernment was now t thing jurtitied those officers in being eft ai I to give their evidence, fur no one could assert that the junior officers would dare to speak the whole trall before the new commission. Any one who knew anything of the Horse Guards knew that; and he would appeal to any officers of the army or of the navy in the house to soy whether a junior officer would dare to give evidence to contradict that of bin senior iu rank? He would refer to case which would illustrate the position he had laid down. S )me time ago there was a rebellion in Ceylon, and certain proclatu itions were issued by a Captain Wat eon, which were very aibitraty and violent in their lan aeiege, so much so that an inquiry into the iliAtter wa ordered. Two civil servants in the Madras service—judges, avid ne n of high cherecter—were sent te Ceylon to itives- Ligate the subject, and they decided that on the evidence it appeared that the proclamations were issued by Captain Wats m ' an I that lie was guilty of that with which he had been charged. The Horse - Gourds; h owe vere - interferfed, and ordered a court-intsiti .1 on C tptain Watson, wbioli was a second inquiry, ant .which ended in his being au auitted ; and yet there was nut a man in Ceylon who knew the facts but know that this was all got up, and that Cent tin Watson was brought to a court-martial only with a view to exculpate him iu the face ce the former inquire . tie objected to the commission also because of the mode of inquiry which it involved. The Commander-in-Chief bad said the other evening, in another place, that the officers in this case ought to have the same powers as the (erienean Cow mission. If that was so, was the whole of the evidence already taken to be gone over again!— were witnesses to be called to contradict the assertions made by those who were now in the Crimea, without tho.o portent; being heard ? Another objection was, that no oath was to be taken by the board, or by those whom it was to examine. He objected also to thtt cotnpetuacy of the officers of whom the board was composed. He regretted thst the hon. and gallant member for Huntingdon was not in his place, because be wished to say to him that he had misun eerstood what his hon. and learned friend (Mr. Roebuck) had said. Both that hon. gentleman and himself would be he last to say a word against the honour and gallantry of the hon. and gallant gentleman; and all that was said was, that the hoe. and gallant gentleman had had no experience in the field, which the hon. gentleman himself admitted ; though, with a degree of feeling which properly affected the house, he had explain° l how that had happened, and the efforts he hail made to carry out his desire te see service. lie (iir. Layard) did not think the composition of the board was such as would be received with con fideuce by the country. There shou'd have been on it such men as Sir ',V. Napier anti Sir G. Pollock, who had had large experi ence of arms in the field, and then the board wunl I have created confidence in the public. Again, the commission gas undoubtedly a reflection on Sir J. M 4 Neil and Colonel Culloeh. By the terms of the warrant they were to inquire into the stateeieuts of those gentlemen, and tint was a re flection upon them. Besides ell this, it was pe sible that he proceedings of the comtnitetion might bo for so long a - .kw delayed that the house would nut be in a position to ;Ake any stops in the matter. The house should be very watchful ou that point ; for on the pretext of rending for witnesses to the Crimea, anti so on, there might be a delay ~f months, anti until such time as the session was over. He Was sorry to hear the Movernment justify ti:e eppoint ment of this commission by a reference to the coinihiseion which at to inquire into the Convention of Cnitra. Theis were some remarkable comments made on thut comini.- atm, hich were illustrative of the present ptdti, n of things, and which he would take the liberty of easding. Mr. Windham was reported to have :laid as fol lows : country were treated. It was tbna th a t we were get into disgrace, not only at borne, but abroad. Only two 1 or three days ago, ill Paris, he heard some remarks ma t lupon the fact that General Airey, whose conduct was im pugned, was amongst the perFoni selected for' honours and rewards. He (Mr. Layartl) did not mean to say that Gen. Airey was not innocent, for he would not now prejudge him ; hut ho might not to have been recommended to the place which be now bold under such circumstances. The Hors. Guards had jollied issue with Parliament and the country upon this wetter, by promoting these men a nd despising publi c o pi n i on . H e b e li eve d the . 00nistry was ready to accept the issue, and if the Horse Gniirds were de feated there could be but one result. The people would no Longer endure such a system as that by which dur best inte rests were sacrifieed. He %wild now go no farther with the subject. He had state.( his ~ t .jecti,, n s to this Commission. He did think that, when the time bhoeld come for the hone, to take up the inquiry, and pronounce its verdietou the offi cars concerned, the bons, would act up to its duty and dojus tice by those ache hal fa!leu, not by the tam( of the enemy, but by the incompetence or negligence •of those I whom the country had sent forth to take care of thetia.. Col. NORTH observed that the hoe. member for Ayles bury had wade a sort of crusade against the Officers of the army, el., and young; and it was owing to hiin that gallant veterans h a d b een spoken of, and written of, in a manner very painful to their feelings. '!'he GoYernmint ought to have come forward to defend them, and to have vindicated Lord Raglan in his lifetime. It was quite understood, from the answer given by the noble lord at the head of the Government to a question which was asked of him last session, that the report of the commissioners would not be laid on the table of the house at all, but used merely for the information of Government. With regard to his gal bar' t fri.rl, Sir R. Airey, he (Col. North) felt confident that he would be satisfactorily cleared of the charges against bite, It Wag extraordinary that the report had not been communicated to Lord Hardiuge, even if it were only as a mere matter of courtesy. .. • General Sir DE LACY EVANS—I should have been very glad, air, to have remained silent on this occasion, but after what has taken place it is impossible for me to re• frain from troubling the house with a few observations. - - entirely concur with the hon. and ,gallant gentleman who spoke last in the eulogies he has passed on my brother offi cers; but the remark which he made, to the effect that 99 out of every 100 persons in the country will refuse tcieredit any report which the proposed Government Commission might draw up, could hardy have been agreeable to this (the Ministerial) side of the house. . For myself, I regret that, owing to the blenders and inconsistencies of the Government, such a result as the hon. and gallant gentle man anticipates is not at all unlikely to be realised. I am also exceedingly sorry that the Under-Secretary for War did not act upon the , -uggesiion offered by the right hon. baronet opposite (Sir J. Pakiugtou), who said he re garded this discussion as entirely premature, and promised to bring forward a substartive motion on the. same sub. ject hereafter, if the question were for the present'post poned. The hon. gentleman (Mr. Peel), however, having evidently gut out his speech by heart, could not be pre veiled upon to reserve himself for the future and more legitimate opportunity thus proffered to him by. the right hon. b tronet, but must launch 'stably at all hazards forth on tie pre, ant occasion, and level his pent-np accusations right :Aid lett on every band . , And, first, he must need's fall foul of the generals of division. It is perfectly. tru. i that Colonel Gordon alleged as an excuse for the knapsaeaa not being delivered tower to the regiments that all the generals of division declined to receive them=all, at least, save the Duke of Cambridge. And here I must say that 1 could Lot but admire the judicious amicourtier-like excep tion in favour of the Royal dtue thus made by Colonel Gordon. (Laughter.) But I put s ig - tutlaa house whether it is probable that his Royal Highness, who. never saw an enemy before, would know best of all what was needful t o be done, while the four older generals of greater exPerience were entirely and stupidly igooraut on the matter. ("Hear, hear," and a laugh.) Ot course, my bare assertion is not more valuable than that of Colonel Gordon or the Under- Secretary for War. I don't arrogate to myself a monopoly of the truth ; I only ask the house to look to what aro the probabilities of the case ; and I challenge the hon. gentle man (Mr. Peel) to adduce any proof that the four senior general officers really did refuse to receive the knapsacks. (Hear, hoar.) But, after what Colonel Gordon has stated, we must, of course, assume that the Duke of Oatublidge's division actually got their knapsacks. Now, it so hap pened that at the very time when Colonel Gordon was giv ing this evidence iu the, Crimea the Duke of Cambridge was also giving his evideace eonutiy. Well, does his Royal Highness corroborate theetitement ou this point era m the boo. gentleman (Ma. Peel) haimpet gratuitously and imprudently ventured to make here to-night? And let 1120 ask (exelaimed the gallant general with. ;owe warm h)—let me ask. what, right has the it gentle Man, to inibilv in these rash and inculpatory assertions? Is it.. b .cruse tie happens to be the Under;Seaketary of State far ‘‘ , "*.ir th tt he presumes in this utanuer to level hie unpro voked accusations against tits four older generals of divi sion? (Hear.) What did his Royal Highness state when tam:lined betore the Sebastopol Committee in the month cf March, 1855 : _ _ 4i . 13 23; 1.07 i -- 94 - ... .. ... - 'l7 • 103 - 103 1124 5 90} 1 3 i I li pm 63 2i 1: 2 ;t, 246 1126 102 f