The Sun. — London, England, 1854-02-25 00:00:00

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She nding her itions are Dtations nare of A ly for her that her Bourtoo's is chance or O.ci% weight.. •aey WWI raw whoa ag of so IsPeothYr • [O, KAN. lie town he band e Porta egiment pton on Dff Gur uthamp- le ships ~ giving nel. It Wight my one. ;ale, yet 12, when Y. May RAILWAYS. 'SHARE MARKETS. (THIS DAY.) BRITISH RAILWAYS. ClNang Prices this day. Business done this day. Elr. In l' 00 Aberdeen 8i tunbg. Nottng. Bost • and Eastn. Rind all Belfast Sc Ballymena all Birming. Wolverh & Stour Valley 18 Birkenhd. Lam:eh & Cheshire Junct ...... 11 Do. Chesh. & Birk., £5O and £25 Cons. .81 Do., £20....-....... .. 10 Blyth &Tyne original £25 (isad. at £45) )0 Bristol and Exeter... X) Caledonian ►ll Chester & Holyhead. ill Cork and Bandon... ►ll Cork, Black, & Pass. 12 _ Cornwall . Crieff Junction Dublin&Belfa.stJunc 11 DundeePerth&Aber deep Junction Xll Do. New ...... ..•• all 00 E as t Anglian Do., (£lB E & H) E as t e rn Counties [l. Eastern W on, A Stock l l ' L Do., B. Stock.. 81t 10. New A. East Lancashire _ Edinburgh & Glasgow 5 Edinb. and Peebles 10 Edin. Prth & Dundee 1 Forth & Clyde June. Glasgow& S. Western 0 Great Northern Stk. 0 Do., A. Stock O Do., B. Stock ... . . O Gt. Sth. &West. 5t0ck..... . O Great Western 2 Irish South-Eastern 11 Lancaster & Carlisle Do., Thirds 2 Do. New Thirds o Lancash.andYorksh. 74 Do., Fifths D a., Wet. Riding Un I Leeds Northern ail &Southpt London & Blackwell 84 Loud. Tilb. &Sthand. 00 Loud. Bright & S.Gst. 90 Loud. and N. Westu. 12 Do. Fifths 1 DO.lO/. Sh.,M&B 0 24 Do. Eighths CO London and S. Westu 424 Do., £5O 34 Do., £4O all Lnndrry& Coleraine all Lndndrry. & Ennisk. .00 Manch.Shef.& Linclu 44 Do. Man. & Lin. Uu. .00 Midland .00 Do. Birmug. &Deiby 474 Midld. G. West. (Ira.) 174 Do. Halt'Sbares.. all Newcastle Vearlif 1 00 1Telri!1_"11••••111k. 6iDo. , Bn a Zirl 7i Newry ille .7A Nwpt.A . d. • n 11 Newry Warrenpoint and Rostrevor. O Norfolk 34 Northn.Counties Un O North British l 6 North Devon, No. 1 0., No. 2 11 Do., A Deferred 8 0., B Guaranteed • orth London . 4 Do. New ilO is N.&S.Wstrn. ,Hamp stead, and City Jn 74 North Staffordshire 11 North Western .0 N. &S. Westrn. June 1 Nuneaton, Hinckley, and Leicester O Oxford, Worcester, & Wolverhampton 2s Portsmouth O Scottish Central Scottish Midland 10 Shrewsbury &Bi img. /0 Do. L. &N. Western Quarante ad St cek... .0 Shrewsby. & Berefd 11 Shrewsby. & Ghestet (N. W. Min *, 11 Do. Halves,l. • 11 Do. Oswestry 4 Shropshire Union Do. A, B, Cok D,fully paid up at per cent 11 South Devon O South Eastern 11 South Wales 5 S. Yrksh. & Riv. Dun 5 Do .•• Staines, Wok &Wok 11 Stockton & Darling .65 Stockton & Hartlepl. 10 Taff Vale . 8 Do. £lO shares. Do. Pref., No. 1 0 Thames Haven Dock and Railway 7 Vale of Neatly 11 Waterfd. & Kilkenu 11 Waterford&Limerici , .4 West Cornwall 1. West End of London and Crystal Palace West London 3. Wimbledn &Croydoi YorkNewctl.&Berw. Do. Extensions Do. G.N.E. Purchase York & N. Midland 20 1' 20 al 50 al 20 1, X 0 5] St. 10 25 2 1 25 L St. 10 704 7t • 41 504 - pal li 74• c —51 ii FOR: EIGN. 10 7 Antwerp&Rotterdam `4 2; , d - 5 3 Belgian Eastn. Juuc. 1 li 20 8 Beziers to Graissessac 4i IA sq t 20 2s. Bombay, Baroda , a nd Central India,Scrip par 1 p P m a ... ... Central of Italy 20 all •Iharleroi& Erquelin ... ••• r 1n all Demerara 20 14 Dijon andßesancon ... p r 20 8 Dutch Rhenish 3l 2/d r 20 all East Indian 2l 2 /p 22 i c 20 2 Do. Extension — 5 all Gt. Indian Peninsula fi i p 20 10 3d. Junct. of France . . ._.• € . 25 7i Grd . Trunk of Canada 5 1 4 d c 100 30 Do. Debentures — ... T 100 all Do. do —•. T 20 8 Gt. Central of France. g— 2 d t 201 all Gt.WesternofCa.nada c Shares i -- i P t .. Do. Bonds (ld ir,..)'57 ... ... t:(0 15. Hamilton & Toronto —l p 1 100 - all Do. 6 per cent. 20 5 Lake Cond. Sr, lh.sle ... ... I 5 all Lucca. & Pistoja 5 p.c. a . prcf — dis 20 15 Luxembourg - 64 7 10 10 Do. (Railway) 4/ —4/ 5 2 De. Pref . - 5 3 Do. (Canal) 1 lA 10 5 Do. 6p. ct. pref 1 ild 20 8 Lyons and Geneva 20 12 Lyons & Mediterran ... ... 20 10 Madras id par 101 10. 331 331, Maria Antonia 10 all Do. do. New - ... 20 2 Melbourne Dk. & R,v. ... .. • 20 all Namur & Liege (with interest) ii 71 20 , all Do. (ex interest) — ... 16 all Northern of France 291 29/ 29i Do. 201. 3 p. c Bds 20 all (fray.B.& AIM. Shs ) ... ... 10 . all NorwegiauTrunkPref 74 8 20 10 Paris and Lyons l2/ 1. 1 /p 22 40 all Ditto Bonds 10 all Paris and Orleans.... 42 —4l 20 all Paris and Rouen 3l —36 xd 20 all Paris and Strasbourg 281 —2B 20 4 ParisCaen &Merin's% . • —pm 101 10i Quebec dr Richmond .3 _ 1 d 20 all Rouen andHavre 20 9 Royal Danish ia __ par 5 '2 Royal Swedish d 20 all s'ainbre and Meuse 8 - gi ... 6 Do. sp. cent. Pref ... ... 20 6 Southall o f France- ... — pm 20 6 St. Andrew's and Quebec (A) 81 all West Flanders 3l 41 10 all Do. 5 1 per c. Pref ••• d 20 10 Western of France... 21 ——2/ p 10 5 West. of Switzerl and ... d 20 2 Wiesbaden ............ •• • 7',1 201 15 Z'eaLl'u- I . ______ MISCELLANEOUS 5 an A.nbin Coal and Iron .... ...,; .26 171 Ludlam Aploult- 41 161 $0 14 kastralaa.Teifie.liail ... .. 10 8 knatraln. Royal Mail ... ... 10 21 • • Water Works ... l 50 381 Brit. Americas land 74 76 6 1 Brit. it Coln. Bmelte. and Reduction Co.. ... ... 100 321 Canada 75 80 8 5 Crystal Palace ll -- 11 p 6 l i 1 6 4 Do. New.......... 4 2 Crystal Pal. of France ... p 20 3 Eastern Steam __ ... 17 18xd x a 25 20 ElectritTelegraph(A) 25 all Do. (B) .. -- .... 1 1 Electric Teleg. of Ir ... ... 15 14 Gen. Steam Navigat. ... ... 20 18 General Screw Steam ... ... 20 71 Irish Beetiobt Sugar ... .. 20 10 Magdalena St. Navig. ... .., 1 all Nat. Pat. Steam Fuel ... . 10 3 Netherlands Land._ 3 2 a 2 , 1 N. S. W. Coal &Inter. Steam Navigat. Co. ..• . 1 all N. B. Australasia n ... par— I . p 1 ••• ji 10 DNrtcl.hi:ToefEwuropeSteam ... ... 5 all Peel Rr. lA. & Minrl. 1d par 411 50 all Peninsular& Oriental ... _ ... 50 30 Do. Do. ... ... 361 5 2 all Portland Iron C 0..... i 4p 100 60 Royal Mail Steam ... •... ... ' 27-- 1 all Scot. Austral:lnvest. 1.4 —li 2 3 : ) . "1..: 25 25 South Anetral.Land 35 40 38i :11 ~, 1 all Sabinar..Teleg ra p h.. Par —i P all Do. Registered. ,. id Pxd z d Am , :81 Vapisang's Lad 13 ......".! 14 31 I 21 27i al 22 1 25 3' 20A - 21 5 - 5i ••• 8 - 9 11 9 dib 17 19 6i 5Ad 95 - 55k - 153 - 13 - 97 56 16 133 25.1 a 25 18 20 at. st. 25 1 St. 10 St. W 10 St. 10 10 St. klO St. 10 St. 10 St. 10 St. 10( 12 11 50' * 1 161 1: 151. Bt. lk 50 St. 1C 16 1 16 1 io !u 20 1' 20 al 10 11 10 : at. lii 20 St. St. St. St. 10 I li 261 131 20 20 50 al 20 t 20 20 2/ 26 a] Bt. 10 Bt. 25 ~ -- ••• L 7 46 - 7i - -: _ Li - ii 66 - - 68 60 - 61 i . , :: ii go 81 86 1'29 131 99 101 83 831 92. - 95 12. - 130 12 - 13 p 63 -68 i 6i -- 13 - 14. 8i par— P ytii - 976 LO5 • 105 i. P 1 --- 82 - 10J - 22i - 641 - 36 - 55 51 i d P 5 —4; 2i 3 47 - 31 34 ... - - 74 53 4 - 55 - 5 - 8 - 34 - 35 89 91 54 - 56 55 - 60 55 -- 3 - 15 - 7i - 11 - 3i - 14 63 35 2 d 30 - :.. --- • • 2i - 151 51 - 24 - 6 - THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY 'EVENING, FRBRUARY 25, 1854, IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.) The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. The Bishop of LLANDAFF presented a petition from Glamorganshire in favour of the establishment of reforma tory schools. Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from a place in Staffordshire praying for the institution of au university in Wales. Austria and Prussia. Those two powers, grateful for the deference we have shown to their opinions, and as fully alive as we are to the aggressive and mischievous policy of Russia, are now with us. It is only this day that I have heard that 25,000 fresh troops have been ordered by Austria to the frontiers of its dominions. Then, we shall have pre pared a fleet in the Downs more powerful than has ever left the shores of England. The French Government are in precisely the same state of preparation. All this is a sign of a conviction that war is inevitable. Every effort has been exhausted whereby the evil might be averted. We have hrougbt to bear against Russia an amount of moral and material power which no nation in Europe has ever done before. This, my lords, is the result of six months' forbearance and moderation. The facts are now before the people of England, who in their judgments are always just and reasonable, and to their judgment and sense of justice we appeal. Accusations are brought against us of credulity and connivance, to the dishououring of England, but there is no echo of those accusations from the people of this country. But I now come to that part of my noble friend's speech in which he says that we are not yet in a state of war, because that declaration of war which is usually made by Government has not yet been made. My noble friend appears to labour under a feverish state of anxiety on this point, and to be apprehensive that deferring a declaration of war is an indication on the part of the Government to remain at peace. (Hear.) Now, I can relieve him to a certain extent on that subject, because, although I am just as desirous forpeace as ever, and would be just as happy as ever if that peace were attainable upon just and honest grounds, yet I must say that I see no prospect of a just and honourable peace with Ru-sia, depending as it does upon the Emperor of that em pire, who might, with honour to himself, have relieved Europe from the state of suspense and anxiety in which it has been placed, and have saved it from all the horrors and cruelties of war with which it is threatened. But ho has rejected all overtures of a pacific nature, and has added to his original unreasonable tieinaials requisitions that can not for a moment be entertained ; requisitions showing that his policy is incompatible with any termsof peace, and holding out, indeed, a challenge to the whole of Europe. My noble friend need not be under any apprehension that that challenge will not be taken up ; but your lord ships must be well aware that we are not acting alone It is not a quarrel between England and Russia alone. We aro acting with allies and for allies, and it would be of the utmost importance, if we were not to take all the precau tions which the circumstancesof the case render necessary, or if we were to be induced by any sneer or reproach to declare war, or to do anything which we did not consider the actual state of things to require. (Hear, hear.) Sure I am that your lordships will not require any statement to be made by the Government which would be prejudicial to the country ' • and your lordships will fully understand that Prussia and Austria have entitled themselves to our con fidence, and that it is our duty to a certain extent to con sult their wishes, and that it is our interest to know what is their policy. We are also bound to consult, not only the wishes, but the dignity of the Sultan of Turkey, by in forming him of the measures which we are about to take in order to guard the independence and integrity of his em pire. We consequently have proposed to the Sultan a con vention, and until his assent has been given to it, it would neither be to consult his dignity nor his independence if we were to declare war. Therefore my noble friend need not be under any alarm as to the declaration of war not havingbeen yet announced to the two Houses of Parliament, because he must know that no time has been lost and no in jury has been inflicted by the delay. In the meantime our preparations have been carried on, and the fleets and armies of England and of France will be in that state of complete ness calculated to carry out any war into which this coun try may be embarked. My noble friend has talked much about what the object of the war should be. He has advised your lordships to confine yourselves to the conside ration of what the object of the war should be. Now, I think your lordships will consider it to be a most impru dent course—nay, an impossible course, to engage your selves in the consideration of what is to be the result of a war which has not yet been commenced. There are many things which must depend upon the contingencies and upon the proverbial uncertainties of war. There may be much that is just and desirable to be attained, but which may be utterly impracticable. It may be just and desi rable that none of the treaties now existing should be re newed. By-the-by, there has prevailed a great misappre hension about these treaties. I will take the treaty of Kainardji. What is it that the Emperor of Russia quarrels about in respect to that treaty ? He says that it does not give him what he wants, and that it is ineffectual for its purpose. It is only the 7th article on which he rests his claim, and what does he say ? He says that the Sultan promises by that-article to protect the Christian religion and all its churches throughout the Ottoman empire. I think that it is a very proper pledge for a Mahomedan Power to give to a Christian Power, but it extends no fur ther. That is marked iu the treaty. The only right of intervention possessed by Russia on behalf of the Greek church was with respect to a Greek church which was at that time being built in Constantinople. That, there fore, proves that the Emperor of Russia has no claims beyond what are equally applicable to all other Christian Powers. So much with regard to the treaty of Kainardji. I may say the same with regard to the treaty of Balta Liman in respect to the provinces. The Emperor of Russia is not in possession of the Danubian Principalities by virtue of that treaty, but in violation of the treaty. He is there Ibty mar i a g y h t b , e o d r e r s a i r t a h b e l r e b o y r the abase of the right , of vicina g e. , t just to take from Russia and resto r e to other countries different p ortions of territory which in various ways she has taken from those countries. It may a t y ak t e he an co y sdtecoti sbileioenvseovrnayr a j ;n n yb s jest and it fhdeiesssei impossibleasbul b o j e t o c t s make tha t wR withoutu sica k an nowing in what manner, with what skill, or with what success the war shall be conducted, and what will be the circumstances of the Emperor of Russia at the time of the conclusion of the war. Mr. Pitt's predilections for the French Royal family —the Bourbons—was very strong; and nobody desired more than he did, as the result of the war, that they should be restored to the throne of their ancestors; and yet Mr Pitt, notwithstanding he was constantly pressed to do so, never would say that the restoration of the Bourbons was the object of the war, or the ground on which peace was to be concluded. (Hear.) In the same way your lordships cannot come to any resolution as to how the peace should be made durable, or in what manner Turkey should become a por tion of the great European family, so as to tend to make that peace durable. For my own part, I think we are on the threshold of very momentous and important events, and it would ill become the gravity of the circumstances to adopt any resolution such as that suggested by the noble lord. (Hear.) We are approaching, or we are already em barked in, that great question which has been long fore seen, and has been long postponed by all the able and clear sighted statesmen of Europe, on account of the great em barrassments and the political and commercial dislocation which it would produce. (Hear.) But as we are forced into it, not by our own consent, I say unhesitatingly it ought to be settled once for all. (Cheers.) I again repeat that it is impossible for us at this moment to tell what the result may be ; but I can assure your lordships that it is the purpose of every man who, directly or indirectly, will take part in this war, and the purpose of her Majesty' s Government, so far as the course of-events will permit, to do that which is necessary for the future security and tran quillity of Europe—namely, to check the aggressive and ambitious power of Russia ; to maintain the integrity of the Ottoman empire; and to take solid guarantees in order that Europe may not again be deprived of the great bless ings of peace. (Cheers.) But neither this country nor other Christian Powers would properly fulfil the great duties now devolving on them, nor consult the interests of the Sultan himself, if they did not take this opportunity to se cure equal rights and equal justice to the Christian popu lation of Turkey, and to pave the way for that progress and prosperity which Christian civilisation will effect in that empire. (Loud cheers.) The Earl of MORNINGTON was understood to blame the Government for having, at one stage of the transactions placed too great confidence in the assurances of Russia, and thought that, in the face of certain notorious facts, they ought to have required from that Power more distinct and ''*i 1 positive d explsfla.tions. It was a c t e . balance a_ s Europe, to deprive Russia of that power which she exer cised, under the pretext of religions treaties, against the : Lhe el', I veey little for the position of the Cee r, :: and OF a population gouerrll7 in the Turk ish dominieno: bus the ‘7v.y to improve that population and to render them more moral was to let them see that all. Christian nations collectively in Europe were ready, should they be oppressed by the Turks, to interest themselves in their behalf for the sake of Christianity, but not for the purpose of setting one sect against another. Lord LYTTELTON entered into a lengthened review of the early circumstances of the arse, with the view of show ing that, in the first instance, Russia was not so much in the wrong as she was generally thought to be ; but she afterwards put herself in the wrong, and he could not ap prove of the claims elm now put forth. War, however, was now inevitable; it must be prosecuted vigorously, and lie rejoiced to find that the expense of it would be paid year after year, without running the country into debt. The Marquis of CLA.NRIGARDE would not trespass long upon their lordships' time, but he rose to express the satisfaction with which he had listened to the able and eloquent speech of the noble lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs. However much he might differ from the noble lord with regard to the origin of the dispute and the matk. ner in which the negotiations had been Conducted, he re in f sor a heu c i sl o s mi u tvaoen t tn h t hoe e re-t a fh s a s ecH U ti r :o a e : i clhve c ais e sts s i tteytidihe to o a r t ef herccp a e r m e te h k e l auei s t v eai i snt t te h y:ntsh t t l iGe l o o nowv i aoe i rf t r i I s eae t :vt s li a og t ,wro i ll never was a time when this country had sent out an armed expedition without some communication or message from the Crown to Parliament; but on the present occasion no such message or no such communication had been made, although, in his opinion, it might have been done without conveying one-fourth part of the information which had been given in the speech of the noble lord. The case of on being made to Parliament ; and in 1803 Mr. precedent ; but the thatad been r. prietfte rnever red tto wentas a to war without a com tlri truth was t i Addington came down to Parliament, and not only made a communication to it, but framed an address by which the sense of the house could be taken as to the expediency of to word " ce" " ." going to war. The a ddress whi ch was moved in the year 1803 the might be adopted almost verbatim Fran , at the present crßussiaisis, by merely changing That address expressed a determination to resist the spirit of encroachment, of ambition and aggression which then actuated the Government of France. He would not on the present occasion again revert to blue books, but he must say that nothing had been advanced in the discussions i which had taken place w hich p rov ed that this war mig ht not have been prevented. In the case of the political re-1 fugees a firm and decided attitude had obtained a beneficial result, but he could not help remembering that, in a debate which took place in their lordships' house in the year 1850 on the subject of the political refugees, the noble lord now at the head of the Gkwornment sneered at the appearance of the British fleet in the Levant. It was very tree that on that occasion the fleets did not appear till the matter was settled. The present case was similar to that ; and there would never have been any need for the fleets to ap proach the coast on the present occasion, if it had not been clearly understood that the Governments of England and France would have acted together to repel the aggression of Russia. He had heard with pleasure the speech of his noble friend, and he hoped that it would do much to coun teract the bad effect which it was impossible to conceal from themselves had been occasioned by the extraordinary position of the combined fleets. They heard they were in the Bosphorus, and what were they waiting for? Why, for explanations of their instructions. He had no right to ask what those instructions hail been, or what instructions were to be given to them ; but he must say that it was un fortunate that the admirals had been instructed to put forth a threat which they could not execute, so that it turned out to be nothing but a boastful menace. They sent—and nobly was it done—Captain Drummond in a steamer to Se bastopol to say that the Russian fleet would not be allowed to assail the Turkish coast, or to endanger the safety of the Turkish fleet. Had they carried out this threat ? There might have been professional reasons for the course that was taken, but he must say that it was unfortunate to have made a threat, and that—so susceptible as the nations of the East are—they should see the combined fleets retire and the Russian fleet come out and bombard the port which the Turks held. He trusted the speech of his noble friend would go forth and counteract the effect of this. Every moment lost was of great importance, for ho considered that decided action on the part of the fleet would have produced a greater effect than the landing of 20 , 000 men on the coast. Earl GItANVILLE said that no apology was necessary on the part of the noble lord for having again entered into the present question, for the Secretary of State, some nights ago, expressed that it was the desire of her Majesty's Government that the discussion on this subject should be of the most ample kind. He thought his noble friend had had this wish gratified, as it had been shown that the more the "the blue books were pottered over," and the question discussed, the stronger and more general had the opinion become of the wisdom, sagacity, and ability with which his noble friend had conducted these difficult nego . . . tiations. (Cheers.) The question had resolved itself into these two accusations against the Government —that they had been too inclined to go into war, and adopt reasons for war which were no reasons for such a line of policy. He would not argue now as to whether this was right or wrong, but, whichever it might be, it found no response either in this or the other house. As to the second ac^,n• sation, it was the very identical attack which every Oppo sition in every country of Europe concerned in this ques tion had made on their Governments —that they had shown weakness and vascillation. Every post confirmed the un- popularity of Count Nesse?rode for the course he had pur sued towards England and Fraece. The seine accusatioes were male against the Government of France as against that of England ; so that they had the Oppositions bring ing against two Governments, which, he believel, had in an unexampled manner acted together in perfect confidence for a disinterested object, the same accusation—some assert ing that they had been too eager to enter into war, and others that they were too much inclined for peace, weak and vascillating—lines of, policy so opposite that they could be mathematically shown to be impossible. The noble earl, after saying that he did not consider the remarks made by the Marquis of Clanricarde, as to the Govern ment having made no communication of their intentions, justified by the facts of the case, regretted the charge that the noble marquis had made reflecting on the character of the navy employed in the Bosphorus, and felt that it was one which, on reflection, the noble marquis would feel that he was not justified in making. There was no refusal on their part to do services recinirecl. There was no want of spirit on their part and they were prepared to do all that might be demanded of them. (Hear, from the Marquis of Clanricarde.) They had deemed it advisable, and all professional men in this country agreed with them, that it would be better to take possession of the Black Sea by sending steamers from place to place, than by exposing men-of-war to that which would, to use the expression of one on board the fleet, place them exactly where the Emperor of Russia would wish them to be for the next two months. With reference to the present motion, the noble earl said that it was either a vote of want of confidence in the Government which, if it were he was sure the house would unanimously reject, or it was a vote of confidence which the Government did not want. He considered the course pursued remarkable; there might have been a rea son for it if a vote of want of confidence.had been carried or nearly so, but the contrary was the case, for neither in this nor in the P other house had any proposition been made which conveyed a real censure of the Government. If the noble lord had intended his motion in a favourable sense, he (Earl Granville) was sure it would not produce such an effect either iu this country or throughout the whole of Europe. The noble lord had talked of the discrepancy of language, and the contrasts afforded by the two houses, because, he said, in this strong opinions prevailed on peace and war, while in the other patriotic appeals were being made to carry on the war with spirit. He, as a very humble member of the Government, protested against such being the case. He felt no enthusiasm about the coming war, and he was sure that there was no peer in that house who would state that war was not a frightful calamity, pregnant with evil and destructive of much good. But was it meant to be asserted that when war began they were not to appeal to the country to carry it on with becoming spirit and energy ? The noble lord had quoted Pozzo di Borgo. He had also read the paper re ferred to, and, speaking from recollection, would say that it proved the wisdom and policy pursued by the English Government. He had also read another despatch in which Pozzo di Borgo gave the reasons why England could not go to war on the Eastern question. He said that England would never succeed in combining with the other European Powers, that her internal state was such as not to admit of it ; her trade and commerce were in a despair ing condition, that a Roman Catholic insurrection was about to break out in Ireland ; and that her people were clamouring for the repeal of the corn laws, which the landlords and farmers would not grant. But what was the state of England now ? Owing to a course of legisla tion approved by the noble marquis, but he believed not by the noble mover of the resolution, the result had been one of the greatest prosperity both to the trade and com merce of this country. The revenue, instead of declining quarter after quarter, had increased, and in last quarter had amounted to 3,000,000 f. With respect to the instead of breaking out into insurrection, they were re ceiving the most gratifying accounts of their rushing to join the British standard in a manner highly creditable to them. He felt, moreover, as had been said by the noble earl (of Aberdeen), that for the sake of pi emoting peace, not only in this country, but in other parts of the world, the whole force) of the country should be put forth, and he for one would not have the slightest doubt of success. A great deal of discussion had taken place as to whether science had made as great progress in its application to warlike instru ments as it had in the peaceful arts—he would not attempt to decide thisnow—but it was very clear that all those in ventions which had been so useful in the peaceful arts would be brought to bear in a state of war. He could not believe, while this country possessed within itself so vast a quan tity of the raw material which supplied the moving power of steam, and that, having succeeded in applying it to na vigation, locomotion, and those manufactures by which everything was made, from a pin to the most dangerous implement of war, they would fail to avail themselves of it in a time of war. All that the Goverament required was to have given to them that confidence which was declared on a previous evening to be placed in them. Their re sponsibility would be great, but they would not shrink from it, and he could answer for the noble earl, that, sup ported by his colleagues in prosecuting war, or in endeavour ing to procure peace, he would do so oulhe basis laid down by that illustrious man Canning, and by Sir James Mackin tosh—upon the principles of respeci . , for the faith of trea ties, respect for the faith of naiione, respect for the balance of power, and, though last, not least, for the honour and interest of this country. The Marquis of CL ANRICARDE explained that he had not thrown out the slightest insinuation as to the character of the navy, but merely stated that the fleets were waiting in the Bosphorus for explanations of their instructions. Earl FITZWILLIAM assured his noble friend that he was not one who blamed the Government for their endea vours to procure peace, but rather because their endeavours to obtain it had, judging from the result, been unsucessful and misdirected. Without entering into any examination of the blue-books, lie would remind their lordships that some sort of insinuation had been now and then thrown out, either • in that or the other House of Parliament, that at the com mencement, when the Russian ambassador appeared at Constantinople there was not quite a sufficient degree of prudence exercised by the gentleman who filled the office of Charge d'Affaires of this country at Constan tinople. Prince Menschikoff arrived at Constantinople about the 7th of March. In consequence of his arri val, and, at the instance of the Grand Vizier, Colonel Rose sent to the fleets to go to Vourla Bay. The re sult of that being known at the Russian Legation pro duced a total change in the character and conduct of Prince Men.schikoff, who before that had behaved in a most in sulting manner to the Porte ; but the change o:k the part of the Russian Legation was so marked as to produce an impreesion upon some of the Ministers of the Sultan that it a 9 not their intention to act in end other than a friendly mariner. Whet hcppenecl, however, when it become known that the order to the fleet had been countermanded? Then came bael: the insulting tone, the menace, and the frown. Tho charge to which he thought the Government, was ob noxious was, that they had failed in energy, not at the termination but at the commencement of the negotiations. With respect to the particular motion before the house, he confessed that he entertained to a certain degree the objec tion which had been offered to it by the noble lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and upon that ac count he proposed to move an amendment to the latter part of the resolution. He agreed wit the Government that it would not be expedient to point in detail to the particulars at which they might think it desirable to arrive ; but he did not admit that they should 'conceal from Parliament what were the objects which they pro posed to themselves in allowing the country to be drawn into a war. He wanted to know what we were going to war for, and he wished to warn the Government against their suffering to be infused into the minds of foreign nations suspicions of what the objects of England were. He was far more afraid of the wiles of Russia than of her power, and lie wished it to be stated as the opinion of one indivi dual member of their lordships' house what the object ought to be for which we had gone to war. The common law of Europe declared that no State should be allowed to encroach upon the territories of a neighbour. It was that Common law which protected the weak from the strong, it was that common law which had been invaded by the Emperor of Russia, and it was that invasion of the com mon law of Europe which he thought it desirable that that house should mark with its reprobation. (Hear, hear.) When they were about to engage in war, they should de clare what was the cause which justified that war, and he should propose to substitute for the end of the resolution words in which it would be impossible to suggest oven the trace of any selfish motive upon the part of England. The amendment which he proposed w Ls as follows : " That it is, therefore, the opinion of the house that the time has arrived when immediate and effectual steps ought to betaken to vindicate thepublic law of Europe byrepelliug the unprovoked aggression of Russia upon the territory of the Sultan, and to obtain II durable and secure peace. The duty of England was a great one. He hoped that, single-handed, England could contend with all the nations of the earth. Her nary ought to be able to cope with all the navies of the world, and, combined with France, she ought to be able to crush them all. But when he saw that the other Powers were combined with England, and were acting with her with a cordiality which, perhaps, was not to have been expec ted, he could entertain no doubt about the conclusion of the war. It must be conducted, however, upon a great scale ; they must make no little war; they must task the energies of this country to the utmost. It was the duty of the Go vernment to make the people understand what was the character and what might be the duration of the war, and to teach them that they must not repine at the sacrifice of pleasure or of life, but that the greater the early sa crifice the more sure would be the speedy and successful termina tion to the war." (Hear, hear.) Lord BEAUMONT was quite satisfied with the result of his motion, for it had elicited a ver y different speech from his noble friend the Secretary for Foreign Affairs from those which he had heard lately in that hou resolutionse. The object which he had proposed to himself by his had thus been attained, and he saw no necessity f of or thpreeir !- sing it upon th e house. With the permission lordships, therefore, he begged to withdraw his motion. Earl FITZWILLIAM objected to the withdrawal of the motion, as he wished his amendment to be put. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said, the moon could not be withdrawn if any one of their lordships objected to the withdrawal. The Earl of CLARENDON said, the sense of the house must then be taken on the original resolution. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that if the motion wore put for the purpose of enabling the noble earl to move his amendment in order that the amendment might be ne gatived, the result that would be arrived at would be most undesirable, for the house would then almost unanimously declare that its object was not to have a durable peace. Earl GREY . suggested that the Roble earl amid cement to the withdrawal of., the motion, for he could not under stand why the noble earl should wish his amendment to be placed on the journals as having been moved, and then not perseverad in. Earl FITZWILLIAII consented to adopt this sugges tion. The original motion was accordingly withdrawn by . Lord BEAUMONT, and their lordships then adjourned at 25 minutes to 10 o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS-{YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair shortly before four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a second time and ordered to be committed :—Australian Royal Mail Steam Naviga tion Company; Horsmonden and Marden Roads; Llynvi Valley Railway ; York, Newcastle, and Berwick, York and North Midland and Leeds Northern Railway Com panies Amalgamation. WAR WITH RUSSIA. Sir J.WALSH roso for the purpose of calling the atten tion of the house to the inadequacy of the military esta blishments of the country to meet the exigencies of the war into which we were about to enter. He regretted being obligati to oppose the motion fur going int 3 committee of supply, but he feared the Government had scarcely take!) .ni(i Consideration the exigencies of the service for which they were now called upon to provide funds. Considering _ the magnitude of the subject and the ability of the speeches a certain degree of languor appeared to pervade the debate on the Eastern question, as if they had been discus4ing a fait accompli. The conduct of the Government had bee.. passed over, and all seemed to join in a consideration of what should be their future tone of conduct. Although even the hon. member for the West Riding disapproved of the war, and thought we might have taken a different course, yet he found i t difficult to say—seeing that they had pledged themselves by a treaty with Turkey t • support her —that they were not bound in honour to go through with the struggle in which they were engaged, and try, if pos sible, to bring it to a fortunate teimmation. They ought, he thought, to endeavour in the first instance to. measure the proportions of the contest in which they were about to enter, and to estimate the means they were about to em ploy to insure success. Let them not underrate the im pertance of the contest. He had heard it said by some hon. gentlemen that the power of Russia was exaggerated —that her army existed only on paper—that her misman aged commissariat annihilated her power in the field — that corruption demoralised her in every rank of society, and that she was a sort of ideal adversary. That was not the opinion of the Emperor Napoleon when he wa s in the zenith of his power—he said that Russia was one of the first order of powers in Europe, and the only coun try whose people by being converted into soldiers were raised up in the social scale. What the seas surround ing England were to her the steppes and vast plains of Russia, her ice-bound coasts and her rigorous climate, were to her. (Hear hear.) As regarded her interior, Russia was perfectly safe from foreign invasion. The greatest empire in the world was shipwrecked and dis organised in a vain attempt to cope with her. The war in which they were about to embark was likely to be of the most embarrassing character, and would change the politi cal complexion of whole of Europe, in consequence of the war which had supervened upon the original one. In surrections had taken place among the Greek subjects of the Ottoman Porte, and what direction or what extent that insurrection might be carried to was involved in obscurity. But not only was the Greek population of Turkey in Europe engaged in this insurrection, but a considerable portion of Christian population of Syria were also in movement. These people had been often defeated and put down, but they were turbulent, warlike, and capable of occasioning great additional embarrassment. The natu ral tendency of these unhappy wars was to extend, and it was utterly impossible to measure their extent or the direction that in a short time they might take. The policy of England for the last 15 or 20 years had been based upon the assumption that war would never again exist in the world, but that it would become tranquil lised by the enlightenment and progress of the age. Even Mr. Sturge must admit that all those ideas must be swept away. It was likelythat for some time to come war would be the normal condition of Europe. The moment a Euro pean war took place England must be the first to engage in it. They were placed iu an important position, and ought not to be taken by surprise. It was, in his opinion, a matter of necessity that England should not only be a great naval, but a great military power, and she had every re quisite for becoming both. (Hear, hear.) Napoleon had said, " With your 40,009 troops, you will never become a great continental power." But why was that? Had they not a population of upwards of 27,000,000, and all the requisites for organising a large military force ? It appeared to him that they might become a great military power, with a smaller number of troops, comparatively, than any other nation on the face of e globe. They ought to be able to transfer a military force wherever our flag waved, and wherever a landing could be effected they would form a base for military operations. The army of Great Britain was not larger than that of Belgium. Its strength was not greater than that of a proper peace establishment for this country. In 1817-8 the num ber of men was 103,000 ; in 1818-9, 113.030; and the number now to be voted was only the same ; yet, in 1848-9, we were at peace, and now we were entering upon war. In 1852 the Duke of Wellington uttered these warning words :--" You have never, my lords, had more than enough of mete in your army during the last 10 years than would suffice to relieve the sentries on duty at their stations. Such has been your peace establishment for the last ten years, during which you have been carrying on war in all parts of the globe with a peace establishment hardly sufficient to relieve your sentries. And after ser vices abroad of 25 or 20 years —never less that 10 —your soldiers have had to serve at home live years. We have never, in fact, my lords, had a proper peace establishment —that is the real truth 1" Mr. ALCOCK contended that the command of the Black Sea would be decisive of the relations between this coun try, Russia, and Turkey. If once England should have the ascendancy in the Euxine, there would be little diffi culty in compelling Russia to come to terms. It was much to be regretted that the fleets of France and England had not entered the Black Sea immediately after the slaughter at Sinope. Sir DE LACY EVANS impressed upon the Govern ment the necessity of diminishing the force of 47,033 of all arms now in the colonies as involving an expenditure and dissemination of the military strength of the country, especially inopportune at a moment of impending war. Mr. FRENCH thought the power of Russia was greatly overrated. She would never be found so formidable in the field as she made herself to appear on paper. He feared the pliability of the Earl of Aberdeen unfitted him to con duct the affairs of,the country in such a crisis, and said that the whole country should hail with joy the restora tion of Lord Palmerston to the Foreign-office in a Govern ment of which Lord John Russell should also be a member. Mr. HADWELL could not agree with Mr. French that Government should have taken a bolder course. They ought, as they had done, to have exhausted every chance of preserving peace before plunging the country into war. Lord J. RUSSELL intimated that, by delaying the house from going into supply, hon. members were causing additional delay in the preparations for more energetic measures. The house then went into committee of supply. THE ARMY ESTIMATE. Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT said—l am sure the gallant officer who addressed tho house a short time ago, making some observations on the distribution of troops, before the house went into committee of supply, and the hon, baronet who sat near him ,and who objected to the amount of increased cost in the present estimate, will not think me guilty of any disrespect towards them in having waited until the house had gone into committee before noticing the observa tions which they made. Before Idoso I will state—and I will endeavour to do so as shortly as I can—the changes which are embraced in the present estimate, stating at the outset that the present estimate must not be looked to as the whole estimate for the year. (Hear, hear.) The Go vernment thought it more consonant with their duty to allow the house to discuss their policy, being, a policy on which any large increase of cstima,te would lee =wearily founded, before laying any such large increase before the house This, therefore, must be looked onus an estimate formed in time of peace, but in anticipation of events which' might follow. (Hear, hear.) Now, it will be seen that the proposed increase of men amounts, speaking in round numbers, to 10,600 ; but the increase really is rather larger than that, owing to the reductions which have taken place in some of the colonial corps, and particularly in the Ceylon corps, in which a large reduction has been effected, because it was found that in the course of years the re cruiting ground of the Ceylon Rifles did not afford a suffi ciently large population to recruit the regiment up to its then establishment. Allowing for these reductions, we may consider that the increase of British troops—guards anti infantry of the line—amount in round numbers to 11,000 men, and that the increase of co* will be 300,0001. The increase in the whole estimate, however, will be balanced by very considerable reductions in the non-effective departments of the service. (Hear, bear.) There are some items of increase over which I can have no control, as in the case of the Military Asylum, the Hibernian School, and the hospitals at Chel sea, and Kilmainam, where the increase in the price of provisions has of course bad considerable effect. By the constant application and vigilance of the military authori ties, there is a reduction of something like 33,000/. The attention of the Government has for some time past been systematically turned to the staff, and the reductions in consequence have been considerable ; but in spite of that, there has again this year been a reduction at Canada, the . Cape, Hong Kong, Nova Scotia, and the We3t es, amounting to about 5,0001. Before I state the degree to which the concentration of troops has increased the effec• five power of the army, I should like to mention what changes have been made during the year in its interior or ganisation. (Hear, bear.) Upon the subject of education in the army, very considerable changes have been made this year. (Cheeri o In the first place, the pay of the schoolmasters has been put on an entirely different footing from that on which it was heretofore. Hitherto the school masters have been paid a very small fixed stipend, and have had to trust for the rest of their receipts to what they c ould get by fees from the men, their scholars. It was thought, as it turned out erroneously, that the effect of that system would be, that, their pay depending on their activity and their exertions, they would from motives of interest keep up the numbers of their scholars. But it w as on experience that this was not so. It was found that the popularity of the schoolmaster, and the number of men attending the school, depended far more on the interest taken in it by the officers than on the degree of efficiency in the schoolmaster; for of his efficiency the great majo. rity of the men were not able to judge, whilst if they found the officers of their regiment taking an interest in the school, they were immediately stimulated into attendance. The result was, that we had some of the very best schoolmasters receiving the lowest rates of remuneration, and, on the other hand, some of the worst , . receiving the highest; and there were constant complaints from those who considered themselves ill off, and requests from them to be removed to better regiments, to regiments where the attendance was better. Under these circum stances I proposed to Lord LI ardinge that the system, not answering, should be changed, and that instead of the faulty mode of payment then existing, there should be three fixed rates of pay, into which the fees should be merged, applicable to three classes of schoolmasters. I suggested this change, and at the same time proposed that Cbtrb Vtittion4 SUN OFFICE, Six o'Clock. EXPRESS FROM PARIS. PARIS, FRIDAY EVENING. The note published by the Journal des liebats this morning confirms the news as to the improved state of feeling between the Austrian Government and the English and French Cabinets. The intelli gence of the change of feeling m anifested by Austria reached the Cabinet of the Tuileries by despatches from M. de Bourqueney, which arrived here on the 18th and 19th inst. It remains, however, to be seen whether Austria will confine her disapprobation of the Czar's proceedings merely to private remonstrances, or whether she will agree to take active measures against the aggresSor in conjunction with the Allied Powers. It appears certain that Austria has re ceived guarantees for the safety of her Hungarian and Italian possessions from France and England. The levy of 80,000 men announce 1 in the .Me niteur of to-day, together with the previous levies, makes in all an addition to the French army of upwards of 200,000 men within the last two months. This is the anniversary of the revolution of 1848. Great bodies of soldiers and police are con sequently on foot, and considerable crowds have assembled at the Place de la Bastille, but no dis turbances have taken place. All the efforts of the Government, and of the heads of the manufacturing establishments have not been able to prevent a very considerable num ber of working men from feting to-day (the 24th of February), the anniversary of the revolution of 1848, by abstaining from all kinds of work, and walking about in the Place de la, Bastille. From ten in the morning a vast number of blouses con tinued to flock to the spot, some with crowns of everlasting in their hands, and others merely walking about. No military force was to be seen, but a large posse of police agents in plain clothes prevented any one from ap proaching the column of July. Every person who thought fit to come forward with a crown in his hand was arrested, and every one uttering a cry or making a gesture that appeared to the police liable to objection was sure to be taken into custody. The persons arrested were taken to the little guard-house on the Place between the column and the canal. When the small building was full, a picket of gendarmes took them off to some other large place of confinement. Hisses were generally uttered when any one was arrested. The troops, it is said, are held in readiness to act should there be the slightest appearance of dis . turbauce. DEPARTURE OF THE BIM iLA.YA. (BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) SOUTHAMPTON, SATURDAY. The Himalaya left the dock this morning at half-past seven, and proceeds direct to Plymouth, which place she will no doubt reach some time this evening. STATE OF TRADE. (From the Manchester Guardian of this day.) MANCHESTER, Feb. 24.—The spirit of our market ap pears to be in some degree impaired by that actual ap proach of war which has become certain in the present week. Goods are more affected than yarns, and print in.. cloths more than other descriptions ; fabrics specially adapted' for home consumption more than such as are suitable for forei g n markets. The lower qualities of shirting's, madapollams, and ja,cconets, which have been bought up by the Eastern houses, remain quite stiff ; and, for the same reason, such is the case also with cer tain counts of twist. The American advices tend to di minish the firmness of prices, as they report a decline of g to 6c. per lb. in the value of cotton at New Orleans. In Liverpool there is scarcely a quotable change since Friday last ; but the buyer has the advantage of a greater choice. BRADFORD, Feb. 23.—Wool—The disposition to sell wool is increasing, but the condition of the spinning trade is so discouraging that no one will buy wool, ex cept on the narrowest possible scale. Confidence is felt that the small clip must tell on the stock at the ap proaching one. Yarns—The demand for spools is limited, and for shipping the business is very inactive. Pieces — The manufacturers are all complaining of the dull state of trade ; the inquiries arc almost entirely political, and sales are neglected. LEICESTER, Feb. 23.—Manufacturers are producing worsted goods with great caution, and the fancy hosiery demand is very quiet, the shipping orders not being yet given out. The cotton demand is employing a large number of workmen, and is every year becoming a more important branch of our trade. Worsted spinners are still working short time, and though yarns may be quoted a halfpenny per lb. lower, no amount of sales can be made without a further sacrifice. Skin wools are in demand, but fleece sorts and farmers' lots are prr chasing on easier terms. THE WOOLLEN TRADE. (From (he Leeds Mercury of this day. ) LEEDS, Feb. 24.—80th on Saturday and on Tuesday the Cloth-halls presented a flat appearance. There was an indifferent attendance of merchants, and very little animation ; hence the business transactions were few, and limited in extent. Prices are without change. Stocks are within a moderate compass. The trade in the warehouses continues without any material aitera tion. There is a moderate business doing by the ship ping houses, hut the demand for the home market con tinues languid and dull. HUDDEIiSFIELD, Feb. 21.—Our market continues very quiet, and there is even less doing in the warehouses than in the Cloth•hall. Stocks are not heavy, however, and wools, at the sales, are still very well maintained. ROCHDALE, Feb. 20.—The flannel market has been more than usually quiet. The prospect of war has begun to have an effect upon merchants, and they purchase more sparingly. Wool keeps up its price, and the de mand continues steady, but the manufacturers purchase only for present use.. HALIFAX, Feb. 18.—Business transactions in piece goods have been on only a very limited scale to-day,' nor can we report anything more favourable than last week's record of the yarn trade. The long wool market gene rally is dull, and staplers evince increasing disposition to sell, which they can do only slowly at a decided re duction from the rates which were current some two or three weeks ago. The prices are about 15d. to 151 d. per lb. for ortiloary middle hors and • wethorrz, and for ckw - nnion Ilona and 19,701.1.'9 about 1;1 4 ,),..cy have I)3coine scarce. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. BRISTOL AND EXETER.. promotion from one class to another should be by merit, and by merit alone. (Hear, hear.) I had no doubt that this would keep up a high state of efficiency, the hope of appreciation and reward being in this, as in other profes sions, the best stimulus to exertion. (Hear, hear.) I need not say that the result of this school system has as yet been extremely good, and that the army has derived great advantage from its introduction. The house will perhaps recollect—in reference to the education of officers, to which I propose now to advert—that some few years ago the late Duke of Wellington issued an order that no candidate for a commission in the army should receive one, unless he had passed a certain standard examination. (Hear.) The Duke of Wellington also stated that it was his wish that no offi cer of the army should be promoted from a subaltirn rank to a company, unless be had passed an examination proving him fit for the transition. The duke then said, that in the first examination all you need wish to obtain was the know ledge that the young man had had the education of a gentle man, and that he possessed the abilities to take full advan tage of that education. But of the second examination his grace spoke differently ; and he said that it should show not merely that the candidate had had a liberal education, but that he had applied it by turning his mind to military studies, and to an acquaintance with the theory of his pro fession. The present examination for the first commission is conducted at Sendhurst ; and about it I do not wish to enter into details ; but my impression is that the edu cation there is too limited, and within its limits too severe. It is too narrow, because certain text books only al e pub lished, a certain prescribed course only required, and the young man who has not the best memory but the quickest memory is most successful ; the consequence of which is, that young men are sometimes rejected for not knowing things which it is almost ridiculoue to expect them to know. (Hear.) My own impression is, that that is not a fair or a desirable system, and that it might be thus im proved : By allowing a young man who had had a fair liberal education to be examined in what is stated he had learned, by making that the test of his fitness as regarded sufficiency of instruction, and by on y considering further his ability to take advantage of the education, the liberal education, which he had received. This is all you want in the first examination. In the second it is different. You then want a professional examination ; you want to know that, in addition to his gentlemanly education, your officer has applied his mind to mathematical and strategetical studies, to such studies as will render him efficient as an. officer. I know there is an objection, which I consider fal lacious, to this examination, that, by it, you will get men who are book-worms instead of getting the active spirits you require. There is this answer to that, that if the officer who has studied his profession is the worse for his studies, then you must admit that the whole body of the Artillery and Engineei s are unfit fur their profession ; and that I am sure you will not do. (Hear.) There remains, how ever, this difficulty—a more reasonable one, to my mind — that the means of study given to different officers would not be the same, and that th e y wou ld, on th e con t rar y, vary extremely with the localities in which they wore quartered. For instance, the officer quartered in England had 'access to all the best and newest books, while he who is quar tered in the backwoods of Canada, or elsewhere, was, of course, isolated from all access of the kind. It is proposed, by way of removing this difference of opportunities, to establish at the head-quarters of certain districts an officer whom you may call " Captain of Instruction," or what you please, who will be known as professor of military studies in that district ; and on whom it will be arranged that every subaltern officer shall get leave to attend. Thus every such officer would be able to go through a course of instruction before he became a lieutenant, and through a course of instruction before he became a captain. It is intended that there shall le an examination on both these occasions; but, of course, great care must be taken,, and will he taken, at first, not to make these examinations too high. With regard to the instruction and education of the men, I need only say that one proof of the degree to which that insti uction is popular among them is shown in the increasing number of volumes which they use. The number of books, 5,000 when the libraries were established, is now 118,000, and the number of men subscribing is be tween 15,000 and 16,000. (Hear.) It was suggested by the gallant officer (General Evans) that there is not at pre sent any sufficient means of education for the post of army surgeon. (Hear.) With especial reference to this ques tion, I have made inquiries both at Paris and Vienna as to the training provided for those who are candidates for employment in their armies as medical officers. At Paris I find they have gone into an extreme which works very ill. They take medical students and educate them exclu sively for military surgeons, entirely forgetting that in nine cases out of ten a military surgeon's duties differed in no way from those of an ordinary surgeon. (Hear, hear.) On the other hand, here, except at Edinburgh, it is impossible to get instruction of the peculiar charac ter necessary to make a complete military surgeon. Now, what we propose is not to diminish by any means the general studies of young men wishing to be come military surgeons, but to superadd to those general studies a course of lectures on military surgery • these to be given in Edinburgh, Dublin, and London. (Rear.) The house will be aware that no army in the world requires this so much as our own. Last year, for instance, in Bar badoes, which must be supposed to be most free from it, the yellow fever broke out, and, notwithstanding all that the doctors there could do, it did not abate. At last we were obliged to send out inedicel men from England ; but what were they? Men who had studied every disease but this, which they had had no means of studying in Eng hoot. It is most necessary that before young men become army surgeons they should have the opportunity of becom ing acquainted with the diseases of tropical climates, as well as the peculiar diseases incident to the soldi life. (Hear, hear.) Under these circumstances, and such being our opinions, we are going to extend professorships to Dub lin and Edinburgh, and we hope to makearrangements for a course of lectures there by next autumn. These lectures, I believe, will be attended with a doable advantage. Not only will they be of the greatest value to students- 7 a great number of army surgeons also will gladly have recourse to them for the purpose of adding to the Stock of knowledge they already possess. (Hear, heer.) Now, sir, let me say in passing from this subject, let me remark that with this system I have spoken of —consequent upon it, I believe — of the education of the soldiers, there has been a very re makable improvemeut in their conduct. It was the cus tom for many years to govern in the army almost entirely by the fear of punishment - it has been the custom, for some years, to govern it by the hope of reward. (Hear, hear.) The difference, I say, has been very remarkable. Under the former system the man entered for life, at least for twenty-one years, during all which time the best he could hope was not to bqlogged, not to be imprisoned, and so on. Under the present system he has not this only motive of the dread of punishment—he has the immediate hope of reward, by the increase of his pee, and he has the assurance that ultimately, in the case of long service, he will obtain an increase of his pension, supposing his merits to entitle him, Lately, too, we have made a difference with regard to men who have given years of good service. The oractice was to give them a media after their discharge ; but that, however &ratifying to them, had, for the purposes of example, but little effect. We have changed that practice, and now we give this medal after 18 years, and he who has earned it Wears it from that time till the time of his discharge. We have likewise made changes with regard to the accommodation of troops on board ship. We have made arrangements witie contract packets, and the effect of all these changes has been most marked in tee conduct of the men, the excellence of which increases every year. This year, I may Mention, if anything were wanting to prove the greater than ordinary frugality of the men, that there has been an immense augmentation in the amount they have inve steel in the savings banks.. (Hear, hear.) In 1844 the number of depositors was 1,890, the amount de posited 14,849/. ; in 1853 the number of depositors was 10,723, the amount deposited 124,600/. As to offences, the number of persons in military prisons is diminishing, but on this point I will read an extract from the governor of the prison in Limerick :—" From a force comprising so many men as that which sends its delinquents to this pri son; only 172 have been received during the last year, a fact which, it is my privilege to say, exhibits a decrease in the per centage admitted in former years. That this gra tifying result is to be attributed exclusively, or even chiefly, to the dread of military prisons, would not, I think, be a correct conclusion. Mere punishment, however rigorous and severe, will not deter the soldier from offending I can not, therefore, but regard the decrease of military offences as in a groat mesa-a:re the haw consequence of that eyetem of education =di revs Ord rea:ch is now co beneficially ope rating upon the soldier, and teaching him to realise the importance and advantage of respectability and faithful ness. The excellent conduct of the troops serving in this district is additionally gratifying and observable, since during the past year drunkenness has, I reset to say, very lamentably increased among the lower orders in this part of the United Kingdom." Now, sir, having gone through these heads, let me say that the military authorities, while paying this attention to the individual comforts of our sol diers, and.to the means by which the character of the men could be formed, have not neglected to take measures for securing the general efficiency of the forces. (Hear, hear.) Last year I took from the estimates a sum for the purpose of completing au establishment at Hythe, where we could obtain—wh,tt it was very difficult to obtain— a sufficiently long range for pi a:lice in shooting. Before ti .e completion of that establishment the practice of the musket had been extremely neglected, and in some regiments there was scarcely any ball-cartridge used in the course of the year. (Hear, hear.) That state of things is now.remedie d To that establishment a certain numbe r of privates and non commissioned officers go from each regiment in their turn ; there they obtain practice and insrucietierre;etand those en they co back to their regiments, able to whom they left behind them. The consequence is that there is hardly a regiment now not thoroughly masters 'of what lately WAS so generally neglected. A gentleman, a compel emit, judge, came to me the other day, haVing spent a day a t Hythe, where, he told me, he had seen almost more than be could believe. He saw 77 shots out of 100 put into a target eight feet high, representing cavalry, at 800 yards. He saw inen skirmishing, merely guessing their distances, and not knowing them beforehand at all, and these men put in 40 out of 50. (Hear.) And now, sir, I come to the point which was men ti one d by the gallant officer who asked what are the Government's intentions—first, with regard to the troops to be allotted to the colonies ; and secondly, with regard to promotions in the army. I agree entirely with what he said as to the distribution of troops in the colonies, but I must call his attention to the fact that the return he has quoted is a misleading return. The return of the Ist April, 1853, really gives the force existing in 1852. The next which appears will give the gallant officer the right figures for 1853, and by it he will find that the number of troops in the colonies has been very considerably diminished since the present Govern ment came into office. (Hear.) Five thousand men, I think, have been withdrawn from' the Cape, North Ame rica and the West Indies. But you have to put against these the augmentation that has been made in the garri sons of the Mediterranean. During the last year, whilst reductions have been taking place in Canada, the West Indies, and the Cape, an addition has been made of up ' wards of 1,800 men at Malta, Gibraltar, and the lonian -Islands ; and it is obvious that at the present moment these three garrisons form the basis of our operations in the East (Hear , hear.) I agree with the gallant gentle man that the Government were right in withdrawing troops from the West Indies. There have been complaints of that, though ; but there always are complaints if you remove troops from any colony. Since the gold discoveries Australia has maintained a regiment of its own—a regi ment which is given only on that condition ; and if they want any further troops, they will be sent to them on the same terms, and on the same terms only. In s hort, th e Government have made considerable reductions so far as re gards the gallant officer's first inquiry. been called With regard to clieee;egeinin_gto the per his second question, as to the age] of our general the advancement, c T e i m go e u n r t . , officers, the attention of the Government. has. to that, and the Government have decided on issuing a commission, with a view to its any measures can be taken tirement of aged officers, . oand f will I e t s h , i activity n L nk ord Hard occording to fitness, of men The names of that commission _, , inspire confidence. Two great inge and Lord Raglan; two general .ffi_ Lieutenant-General General Cath mila auoth_ecne'ti cart and Lord Seaton ; two colonel: Lieutenant-General • Buller, and Lieutenant -General Knowles, of the Rifles ; two ex-Secretaries of State, Earl Grey and Sir J. Faking ton, two ex-Secretaries -at-War, Lord Pananure and Mr. L. UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. The half-yearly general meeting of this company was held on Thursday at Bristol; Mr. J. W. Buller in the chair. The SECRETARY read the report, which stated— " The gross traffic receipts upon the Bristol and Exeter Railway, from the Ist of July to the 31st of December, 1853 (including the sum of 2,1681. 3s. received on the Exeter and Crediton Railway, and due to the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company), amount to the sum of 145,6361.145. 9d., which is 15,8151.125. 4d. more than in the corresponding half of the year 1852, although the mail service was then estimated at 9371. 4s. 10d. more than under the new award, is receivable for the last half-year. Late in the year 1849 notice was received from the Post master-General that he required a new arbitration, and subsequently, after repeated endeavours to agree with the arbitrator, Lord James Stuart was appointed umpire. The ' decision falls considerably short of the amount which this company claimed, though it exceols by some thousands the sum that was estimated by the representative of the Postmaster-General. The working expenses during the last half-year (including those of the Exeter and Crediton Railway, and part of those of the Yeovil branch from the Ist of October) amount to 61,9141. 13s. 11d., or 42.51 per cent. on the gross receipts, and 5521. 16s. ld. per mile ou 112 miles of railway. While, th q-efore, the gross receipts have increased upwards of 15,0001., the propor tion of working expenses has diminished. The disposable balance of the revenue account, including 1,185/. 17s. 2d., brought over from the former half-year, is 52,112/. 2s. ld., and the directors recommend a dividend of 4 per cent. per annum, or 21 per cent. for the half-year, on the 2,000,0001. of consolidated stock. This will l'ave a surplus of 7,112/. 2s. id. to be carried forward in aid of the next half-year. In reliance upon shareholders sanctioning this course, the dividend wan - ants are printed, and will be issued very early in March. The preliminaries of an agree ment have been settled with Mr. Thomas Brassey, the contractor for and lessee of the North Devon Railway (contingent upon the Exeter and Crediton line continuing to be worked by the Bristol and Exeter Company), to furnish him with locomotive power and rolling stock for one year, on fair and reasonable conditions. A re solution to sanction this arrangement will be submit ted. Tenders for making the railway from Salt ash to Liskesrd (a distance of 14 out of 64 miles, and the only portion of the line not yet contracted for) are under consideration, and it is very important that these and the other works should be prosecuted with vigour. The directors of the company, finding it necessary to adopt some strong financial measure for the purpose of accom plishing that object, have resolved to propose the re-issue of 18,000 of the forfeited and nnallotted shares at a dis count of 50 per cent., and the proper proportions will be offered to the three railway companies that have subscribed towards the capital. The CHAIRMAN having explained the principal points in the report, moved that it be adopted. The motion having been seconded, Mr. MELVILLE rose to move an amendment, that the seventh paragraph, which stated that the dividend war rants had been prepared, should be struck out. He thought the amount of dividend to be declared was in the hands of the shareholders, the property being theirs ; and it was really impudent to insert such a paragraph. If he carried this amendment, he should move that the dividend be after the rate of 5 per cent. per annum. Mr. BEVAN having seconded the amendment, it was negatived, and the report adopted. The necessary resolutions declaring a dividend of 21. per cent. for the half-year, re-electing the retiring direc tors, &c., having been carried, Thanks were voted to the chairman, and the business , terminated. In reply to the Earl of DERBY, The Earl of ABERDEEN was understood to say that he would have no obje,:tion to lay before the house the correspondence which had taken place between the Govern ment and the authorities of the University of Oxford. RUSSIA AND TURKEY. Lord BEA.UMONT then rose to move the following resolution :—" That it appears from the documents which her Majesty has been graciously pleased to communicate to this house, that the efforts of her Majesty and her allies to establish, without recourse to arms, amicable relations between the Sublime Porte and his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia, have been unremitting; that it ap pears also, that those efforts have failed to produce the desired effect, and that the Emperor of Russia continues to hold by force of arms two important provinces of the Ottoman Empire ; that it is, therefore, the opinion of this house, that the best interests of this country require that immediate and effectual means be taken to repel the unjustifiable aggression of Russia on the territory of the Sultan—(hear, hear)--and that the power and influence of this country should be exerted to place the relations of the Sublime Porte with the rest of Europe on such foundations as shall appear best calculated to secure a durable peace, and afford the Ottoman empire a fair opportunity of developing its natural resources, and of proceeding with its administrative reforms." Having in timated that it was not his intention to resume the dis cussion which had recently taken place in that hotise on the subject, he observed that though the Government had very ably defended themselves against the attacks made upon them, there were two or three charges affecting their conduct which still remained unexplained. The accusa tion as to their incredulity in not believing in tke real in tentions of the Czar—incredulity carried to a point of weakness had been altogether uncontradieted. With respect to this allegation the noble lord reviewed the policy of Russia for a number of years before the ex isting rupture with Turkey, and read documents to show that she had violated treaties in order to carry out her ob ject of seizing Constantinople. He particularly condemned her conduct with regard to the treaty of Adrianople ; and read a IW - ter or despatch. written soon after that event by Count Nesselrode, to the effect that it was desirable, by indirect means, to acquire an overwhelming influence over the Porte. He contended that the history of this period, which the Government must have been perfectly acquain ted with, ought to have led them to place little reliance on the assurances of Russia. He did not, however, regret the efforts they had made for the preservation of peace, bacause they had enabled them to ascertain the feelings of the people on the aggressions of Russia, and at last to act upon them with vigour. The second charge which the Government had not satisfactorily answered was, that they had not availed themselves of the information at their disposal to ascertain the relative positions of the empires of Turkey and Russia. They had attempted at the commencement to run down and bully Turkey, unaware of its real character and resources, anti had used language in relation to its independence and in tegrity which had had a very injurious effect in encouraging th aggressions of Russia. There was, however, great differ ence in the language used on these subjects by Ministers in their lordships house, and those of Lord J. Russell and Lord Palmerston in the other house. That used by the First Minister had been such that he felt it necessary to bring on the motion with which he intended to conclude, for lie had said he had misgivings as to whether we were right, in going to war, that it was for the Government to resist the feelings which the people had shown, and that it was their duty to encourage them into pacific views. He denie with indignation the morality of these doctrines under the circumstances'in which the country was placed. Lord Palmerston's tone had been totally different. His mo tion, however, was founded upon what had taken place since the meeting of Parliament. The Queen's Speech told their lordships the state of relations between the Porte and Russia, and said that the papers should be laid on the table. About that time Russia had rejected the note founded upon the protocol of Vienna, the alternative of which was war ; and he naturally expected when it was rejected, that the next step would be either a declaration of war or a message from the Crown. But no information whatever had been given to Parliament since that period, and the absence of it justified him in stating that their lordships were in a state of ignorance as to the proceed ings and the intentio s of the Government. Describing th inconvenience which thus arose, he expressed a fear that the Government might be considering the note which resulted from the protocol of Vienna as still before the Emperor of Russia; and that, if the Emperor accepted that note, her Majesty's Government would feel them selves justified in accepting peace. He protested against eauy such conclusion after the sacrifices which this country had made. That note, indeed, would place Russia in a better position than she was before, and he was sure that the people of England would never sub mit to such a result. We had now an opportunity of erecting a barrier against the insidious attempts of Russia to obtain authority iu the Ottoman empire, and England would never be satisfied if the sole issue of all our preparations were the Vienna note. The independence of the Ottoman empire must now be firmly established, and Russia be confined within her own territories, He wished, therefore, to see the treaty of 1841 re-enacted, the spirit of which raised barriers against any infraction of the territory of Turkey or any other Power. Alluding to the argument of Earl Grey in the last debate, he contended, from his own personal knowledge, that in no portion of the world, not excepting England itself, was there such complete religious toleration for different sects as in Tur key. The intolerance was on the side of the Greeks and Latins, and not on that of the Mahornetans; while in all disturbances between the contending sects the Turks inva riably took the side of order. He wished, indeed, that a portion of the toleration afforded to the Greeks were cur tailed, because the clergy exercised it to the detriment of the laity. In all other respects the administration of Tur key had made great progress. After some lengthened ob servations on these and other topics, the noble lord con cluded by moving the resolution. The Earl of CLARENDON—I have listened with great attention to the long and able discursive speech of my noble friend, but I have listened in vain for any argument in support of the resolutions with which he has concluded his speech. There are parts of those resolutions which are certainly unobjectionable, but it appears to me that it is perfectly useless for your lordships to affirm by a positive resolution any facts that were contained in the speech from the Throne, and that it would be highly objectionable for your lordships to adopt a resolution with reference to a war which has not yet commenced, in order to give scope and development to Turkish administrative reforms. I hope that my noble friend, having had the opportunity of mak ing his speech, will not press his resolutions. I am not about to follow my noble friend, even if I were able to do so, through the various points to which he has referred. I shall not call your lordships' attention to the speeches which have been made on this subject, nor to the articles in the Times, nor to the Turkish or Russian iniquities to which my noble friend has referred. Nor should I have troubled your lordships at all to-night, if it hail not beien that ray noble friend referred to that unqualified opposi /Liar which eee have 'oessa reeb:sea'seCa and if he lesel 21!, as atheist have dour. of ssiestl kiiov' is 110 . 6 Lie cue has;ing exhibited vacillation and Nit...l:i; of eaergy during the negotiations on this question. But;aftor all, the only matter on which I feel bound to offer any explana tion, or, indeed, concerning which any explanation either to your lordships or the country is necessary, is in respect to that part of my noble friend's speech which refers, not to past events, but to the condition in which we now stand and to the prospects that are before us. My noble friend has referred to our ready credence of what was stated to us by Russia, and has alluded to my having said that, up to the time of Prince Menschikofi's mission, we believed that it would have been impossible for any government not to give credit to those frequent, solemn, and, on many oc casions, unsolicited assurances which were given to us by Russia. lam sure he would have done the same. About two months after that began a change, and as as soon as we found what was the course of policy being pursued by Russia we never felt one moment's hesitation as to the course we should adopt. We declared our determina tion to maintain the independence of the empire of Turkey, and we advised the Sultan not to assent to anything contrary to his dignity or independence. We assured him, and we told him, that if terms consistent with his dignity and independence were refused to be ac cepted by Russia he might securely rely on our active sup port ; but, at the same time, we strenuously and sincerely laboured in the cause of peace. If my noble friend would put himself in our place, as we were situated eight months ago, he would find that at that time it was our interest and the interest of our allies, and even of Turkey itself, not to rush into a war. The state of things at that period was this :—Turkey was wholly unprepared to defend herself ; there was no Baltic fleet ; our own fleet was cut off, and so was that of the French, while Austria and Prussia were entreating us not to resort to hostile measures, notwith standing the occupation of the principalities by Russia, as they hoped that they could intercede with Russia, but that if their representations to the Emperor of Russia should be ineffectual, then they assured us they would act in concert with us. No sooner had the Russian troops entered the principalities than the Emperor of Russia accepted the me diation of Austria, the object of which was to get him out of those provinces. Your lordships need not be told that at that time there was no desire for war, there was no one who would listen to war, and nobody believed in the pos sibility of war. But now my noble friend says that the use of strong language on our part would have controlled Russia and have prevented war. My lords, strong language means menace, and menace mesas war. I say, my lords, that you have no right—my noble friend has no right—to say that the Emperor of Russia, or any man, would have feared a menace. When we are talking of Russia we are dealing with a very great nation, but we are also dealing with a single man holding despotic power, and irresponsible for the exercise of it, over many millions of people; and I should like to know why he should yield to menace, even if the English and French fleets had occupied the Black Sea. If we had gone to war, what would have been the conse quence ? My noble friend has said that on account of the great military preparations which Russia had made, there was nothing to prevent her from crossing the Danube and going to Constantinople. Now, I believe that Russia could not cross the Danube. But, what would have been the state of the Turks if that had taken place? Turkey was unarmed, unprepared, and unable to resist a hostile Power, and the consequence must have been, that Russia would have been able to extort from the fears and weakness of Turkey whatever she desired. Turkey might then have fairly said that we had disregarded her interests, and the people of this country would have been highly indignant that no attempt had been made to save Turkey from those disas trous consequences. But, my lords, we acted otherwise ; we acted as any men of sense, conscious of what the law of nations required, and of the weighty responsibility which attached to their ewn acts, wouldshave acted. W hat has been the consequence? Even my noble friend admits that a powerful army has been raised in Turkey with a ra pidity perfectly wonderful—an army which has done great serv i ce , animated by a spirit wholly apart from any fanati cal spirit, and which inspires the utmost confidence in the vigour and vitality of that country, Well ; thou there is 55; 6 4} g 13g 4 964 5i 7i 61 86 4 5 7 5 130 i 82 3i 4 94 63 7h 81 i i 86 fi I 84 91 7 1051 4i 11 FI #d 83 8d 23i 3 65 4k 5 41 35 10 34i 31 41[4 lri i i 84 13 3fit 16 64 86 par 5 151 15 64 36 41 3 35 6 2a i - • ti~;~•a !, t.•