The Sun. — London, England, 1844-08-01 00:00:00

fourttNbition SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock. OVERLAD MAIL. INDIA AND CHINA. (From the Morning Herald.) We have just received, by Extraordinary Express, from Marseilles, our file of papers, brought by the Overland Mail. At this late hour we can do no more than give such extracts as appear to be important : (From the Bombay Monthly Overland Times.) SUMMARY. The hot and rainy months are always the newsless ones in India; field operations are never pursued then unless in eases of extreme emergency, and communications by land and sea become tardy and difficult. The rumours of the muster of a'grand army of from 60,000 to 80,000 on the Sutlej have died _away ; and though it is still understood that orders were given for the collection of 12,000 baggage camels in Sinde, and stores for 50,000 men at Ferozepore, the fur ther report must either have arisen on insufficient founda tion, or the Governor-General, as his hour of danger be came known, must have abandoned his schemes of conquest. The meeting of the Beloochec chiefs at Hyderabad on the 24th May has passed off very peaceably, with what good results remains to be seen. Sickness has not increased with the rapidity that was apprehended amongst the troops. The Mahratta city and district of Boorhampoor has been quietly taken, possession of, no obstruction having been offered. It is said to have been restored to the Mahrattas. Gwalior continuo tolerably quiet. The recent outbreak in the Pun jaub appears to have terminated for the present with the de feat and slaughter of Ittur Singh. The entrenchments at Fe rozepore have been heavily armed, but no other movement of any moment had been heard of since our last. The Bengal %flops continue sulky rod discontented in Upper Sinde. (sAng robbery has been for some time past prevalent in the Northern Concan and in some parts of the Deccan. The practice of a system of opium adulteration in Bombay, so extensive as to threaten infinite injury to the trade, has just been disclosed. Intelligence from China ex tends to the Ist of May, but it is of little interest save ;et a commercial point of view. The accounts of Lord Ellenborough's recal reached Bombay on the 6th June, and would . be received in Calcutta by express on the 15th. The determination of the Court of Directors occasioned some stir s rise—but infinite relief—to the peace-loving portion of the community. Cholera has prevailed amongst some of the Madras troops to an extent almost unprecedented. A severe storm was experienced at Calcutta on the 18th May, while anothak of lesser violence visited .Madras in Jurie. The monsoon set in at • Bombay on the 4th of June, when two inches of rain fell. No subsequent fall of any magni tude has occurred, and great inconvenience fur want of wa ter has been felt in consequence. SINDE. Our • intelligence from Sinde at the date of last month's dispatch, extended to the 16th of May, and now comes down to the 4th of June. The news of the month is much less in eeresting than we had veetered to anticipate. The meeting of the Beelooehe chiefs at Hyderabad on the 24th of May scent off very quietly : from 15,000 to 20,000, including at -• tendants, are believed to have been present : from 30,000 to 35,000 were expected. The principal object of getting them together is said to have been to warn them solemnly against persisting in the territory-appropriating prac• awes to which they have hitherto been oecasionallyaddicted ; spoliation requires to be practised on a large scale before it becomes legitimate, and our new enbjects are required to attend to the precepts, not the practice, of their conquerors. The Governor and his unruly guests are said to have parted mutually pleased with each other. Her Majesty's birthday was celebrated at Kli) spore in a manner similar to that in which it was kept at Hyderabad. The thermometer at Hy derabad ranged from 86 deg. to 110 deg. in the shade; sick nese- had not increased-this year so fearfully as last at the corresponding period. Her Majesty's 86th had lost fourteen men very lately, of whom nine had fallen victims to strokes of the sun. From Kurrachee we hove intelligence by boat to the 4th of June. Ilis Excellency the Governor had returned thither on the let, from the meet!ing at Hyderabad. Mr. John M'Leod, late of the Bombay Land Revenue Depart ment, had been appointed Collector of Sea Customs for the mouths of the Indus. The communication by sea betwixt Bombay and Kurrachee will continue closed for some months to come. Our latest letters from Sukkur are to the 31st of May, The Beelooches seem for the present to have sus pended their marauding operations around Shikarpore ; we must of course pocket the affront of the repulse at Foolajee, or be prepared for worse. The Bengal 64th were at Shikarpore, still sulky and discontented. One sepoy had lately shot another, and his comrades had refused to surrender the murderer to justice. The mutineers were detained at Sukkur. The 7th Cavalry, which had just come down from Feroiepore, had crossed the Indus from Roree, and were about to proceed to Shikarpore. General Hunter had arrived on the 7th at Sukkur, and taken command. General Simp son continued at Shikarpore. Shere Mahomed was 'said to have still a larger number of men and amount of sooney at his disposal than could have been imagined. Sir rapier was said to have solicited from Lord Ellenborough active employment in the Punjaub; and to have proposed moving a force into Mooltan simultaneously with the advance of the main army on Lahore. The recal of the Governor- General is likely to have given the death-blow, for the pre bent, to the system of general aggression and periodical war known by the name of "Peace in Asia." LAHORE. No sooner has one scene of blood and strife been con clad,ed on the theatre of this miserable country than ano ther presents itself to view. More blood has been spilt, more inserrections have taken place, more money has been squandered on the vacillating troops of the State, to se cure their services for the nonce, and each circumstance has weakened the present Government, and reduced it to a point below which it cannot well descend: In our last we mentioned that further troubles might be ex pected, and they have indeed burst on us with a violence which we did not expect. To proceed, however, with a narrative of events as best illustrating our position of the necessity of interference. It may be re membered that an influential member of the Sindhanwallati family, Ittur Single uncle of Ajeet Singh, the murderer of Maharajah Share Singh, succeeded in effecting his escape trout the Punjaub into our territory, and thus preserving a life which would have been forfeited to the oath or' Raja Heera Singh to put every member of the family who might fall into his hands to death, for the act of Ajeet Singh in murdering Dhyan Singh, and which was kept, ex ept as regarding a lad of about nine years old, who was epared at the urgent intercession of one of the Sinters. The family residence of the Sindhanwallahs, at Raja Sansee, near Urnritser, had been destroyed, and the whole of' their fended property seized or resumed. Ittur Singh continued, therefore, with a son and some nephews who had also managed to escape, to reside within the British territory, first at Patteealah, or Umbellate and lately at Thanesur, a holy city near Kernel. It is supposed, but not ascertained ter a fact, that when Sirdar Lena Singh,. one of the most powerfel and influential chiefs in the Punjaub, left the eountry oil a pilgrimage to Hurdwar (in April), he entered into communiteetieu with Sirdar Ittur Singh (probably had an interview with ii!n),and kept up the same until his return northwards from the eee•e' gathering to which he had been at • zended by a retinue of upwarue 454+60 men. On Sirdar Lena Singh leaving Hurdwar, and o u rzs . re aaything was surmised or' the movements of Ittur Singh, it w - . 7,1 g e e z ee ll y as s erted that lie had no immediate intention of' return, to Lahore — a declaration equivalent in any native state to ie utfeetien to the existing Government, and lie spent his to7 e in visiting the valley of Dhera and its neighbouring settle ineete. shortly after his arriving in the vicinity of the reeidence of Itturpeogh, it became known that that chief entertained an intention of re-crossing. the Sittlej, in the hope of creating a diversion in his favour amongst the troops, who it ie said, had, as in the case of Raja Suchet Singh, made overtures of a favour• able nature to him, and in default of any heirs to the throne, lttur Singh was the next claimant through a descent from a mutual ancestor with Runjeet Singh. He consequently assembled a nninbet" of men (about 700, chiefly horsemen), and with them (who must, we apprehend, have been a part of Lena Singh's retinue) crossed the Sutlej about the 30th of April, but where was not exactly known to us, though it must have been in the neighbourhood of Loodhenah. Indeed subsequent accounts have it that he crossed out of the terri tories of the Raja of Lodwa. It cannot farther have been for- Botten that a Sikh priest of great in fl uence, named Bhace eer Singh, had assembled a number of followers, with whom he had attended the great bathing ceremony at Um ritaer, and subsequently taken up a position on the banks of the Beeah (a tributary of the Sutlej, which it joins at or near Hurreekeputtun). This party of Bhaee Beer Singh's bad for some time past been strengthened by the coalition of the two Princes Kashmeera Singh and Peshoura Singh, illegitimate sons of Runjeet Singh, who having been driven out of Seealkot, which they had defended for some time with spirit, took refuge with the Bhaee Beer Singh as holy character, under whose protection they would be safe from the machinations of Rajah Ileera Singh. The number of followers of Bhahee Bheer Singh and of the Princes has been variously estimated at from 5,000 to 7,000. The former probably, the true number. The first step of Sirdar Ittur s 4 .••;ingh, after crossing the frontier river, was to join this party, and he did pa within twee days, when the whole body moved slowly down the right bank of the Beeah in the direction of Hurreekeputtan. The intelligence of the invasion of Sirdar Ittur Singh became only known at Lahore on the afternoon of the 3d and we will give an account of the transaction at the capital from the notes of our correspondent there,w hich may be dependd,on, as we have concomitant testimony of their accuracy;—" In the evening important news arrived that fsirdar Ittur Singh had recrossed the Sutlej, and WAS on his way to-join Bhaee Bheer Singh and the Princes. Raja Ileera Skrigh.was greatly concerned on hearing this intelli gecce, acct, immediately summoned a council of those who were his friends, and having consulted them, repre sented that Ittur Singh hail no doubt crossed the Sutlej with acme bad intentions. The officers of the different battalions were summoned to the durbar, and directed 20 bring,with then two sepovs of each battalion, brigade, rissallah: They accordingly assembled, and were ad -14, Raja lleerali Singh, as follows :—"That he heard on good anthority that Ittur Singh had given to the Britieh autheritiee a promise in writing to divide the revenue the Punjanb, their share to he six annas on every rupee ; that he was now with Bhaee Beer Singh, and was doing his utmost to unite the whole of the Sikh troops, when, with the desistance Of the British, he would take possession of all the territory of the Punjaub. He, the Minister, was only ser vant of the Silica'. Khalsajee, an d was prepared to attend any otster4 the Sirkar Khalsa might communicate to him, but he ;mist askthem where they (the tro o p s ) Were to get their Pre eent high rate of pay from, if Ittur Singh s h ou l d succeettan:l annas on the rupee to th e B r i tish II "v • up give • au tho rities' • e therefore, should desire them to think over the subject, and to : their answer enable him to make such arrangements as should e, eremite all opposition. As for Bhaee Beer Singh be did not know why he was opposed to him, as he couldget every thing be required from the Sinter, and his aiding in destroy_ arty the country was wicked.' On this the officers and eepoye eaid they would take the night to consult, and give a posi tive r e ply on the following morning; they then took their leave, but Heera Singh kept the chiefs for a long while i n .consultation. Purwannalis were ordered to be addressed to the officers in charge of the ferries of Sutlej and other places, reproving them for their gross neglect of dut y , in havin g allowed Ittur Singh to cross the river and join the Bhaee. It' they wished to avoid punishment they met now do their utmost to seize hint on his flight from before the troops who 'were about to oppose him ; but should Ittur Singh escape, the officer whose ghat be should cross at might depend on being punished,. Other purwannahs to a similar effect were written to Sheikh Entamsood-doon and Nehal Singh Aloo wallah. " Mey 4.—This morning the officers and sepoys who had been present on the previous evening, again attended and informed the Minister that they were the servants of the Sirkar, and were ready to march any moment they were ordered by the Sirkar ; they would certainly punish Item. Singh, and not spare even the Gooroo if he should join the Sindanwallash. In regard to Ittur Singh being a friend to the British, and having promised them six auntie in the rupee, they did not care one bit, and if he should happen to escape and cross the Sutlej, they were fully prepared to follow him into the British territory, and never stop till they had seized him. The Minister was highly de lighted at this declaration, and praised them much. They further declared that in case of Ittur Singh crossing the Sut lej and their wishing to follow, they were in no way to be checked by the Minister. He, however, remarked that it was necessary to be very particular, as the territory on the other side the Sutlej was the property of the British and was defended by numerous troops. It was then ordered that 2,000 suwars should march in the evening, and make all haste to reach the Hurreeke Puttnn ghaut, from whence they were to spread in small detachments right and left to prevent Ittur Singh from recrossing the river. At the same time four battalions of Lauret (?) Saheb, and others were ordered to move direct on the camp of Bhaee Beer Singh to seize the Sindanwallah. Gen. Mehtab Singh was directed by letter to leave Umritser immediately, and proceed in the same direction. Two Kohistanee battalions were directed to follow. It was generally said in the town that the Princes, as well as Ittur Singh, would certainly be seized if they remained with the Bhaee. The troops which left Cashmeer in a state of mutiny have reached Lahore." The troops marched accordingly on the morning of the sth; their numbers have been variously estimated; but we believe there were about twenty-four regiments of infantry, a large body of irregular cavalry, and 120 guns, of which 24 were heavy pieces of ordnance. On the evening of ,the 6th they encountered the enemy, who, however, averse to a battle so late in the day, retreated and took up a strong position at a village named Nourangabad, some distance from the right bank of the Beeah. In the meanwhile Prince Peshora Singh 'seeing, it is supposed, the desperate state of his party, left the camp of Bhaee Bheer Singh, and reaching Lahore on the evening of the 6th, gave himself up to the Minister, and was well received by him. On the morning of the 7th the troops of the State advanced, and the insurgents being drawn out in line a cannonade was com menced, and such was the fear entertained by the troops of coming to close quarters, that they absolutely maintained the same distance during the whole conflict, mowing down the followers of the Gooroo in large numbers. The Gooroo Bheer Sing having been mortally wounded by a cannon ball, which crushed both his legs, and received besides a sabre cut across the shoulder, one of the Generals of the army of Heera Sing asked leave to go and see him. This officer, named Golab Sing, was on his way met by Ittur Singh, by whom, after an altercation, he was shot; his fol lowers immediately fell on IttnrSingh, and put him to death, and his head having been struck off, was forthwith sent to Lahore. Kashmeera Singh also fell in the conflict, having first offered to surrender, but afterwards re sented an endeavour to make a prisoner of him ; and the soldiers, being deprived of their leaders, fled. Many of them were drowned in the Beeali in attempting to cross; and two hundred women belonging to a regiment which had followed the fortunes of the Princes after the fall of Seeal kote, fell victims to their zeal in the cause. The heavy cannonade, which lasted. for upwards of three hours, was distinctly heard at the station of Ferozepore. The news of the victory, and the head of Ittur Singh, reached Lahore almost simultaneously between ten and eleven at night, and a salute was immediately ordered to be fired in commemoration of the g reat victory obtained at Nourungabad by some forty thousand men, with one hundred and twenty guns, over not seven thousand insurgents. At Lahore it was said that the loss on both sides was one thousand men killed. The wounded were not taaken into account. In the meanwhile events were occurring in the Sikh camp likely to lead to the very threatened destruction of such relations as exist between the Government of I.ahore and that of British India. The occasion of the heavy firing heard during the morning of the 7th was communicated by the political to the military authorities, and it was at the same time intimated that such was the bad feeling of the Sikh troops towards us, from the idea that we had assisted and intended following up ittur Singh's hostile views, that they had come to the determination, before they Dwitted Lahore, of crossing over, and " even of marching to elhi I" Indeed, matters had come to such a head in the Sikh camp towards the afternoon of the 9th, that it was communicated to the political :agent, on good authority, that 12,000 irregular cavalry, and 8,000 infantry were fully prepared to cross the river during the following night, with 60 guns, and bad collected a sufficient number of boats to ferry over at least halT that number, at a ghat about seven koss north of Ferozepore (probably Murree keghat). The information seems to have been of such a nature that it would have been the height of imprudence to have doubted it, and suwars were consequently sent out in all directions to procure authentic information, and all the troops in the station held in readiness to assemble on the lint sound of alarm, and which they actually did in a very few minutes, in consequence of a bugler on the right sounding without orders. The night, however, passed off quietly; and in the morning it was ascertained that a dis patch from Hera Singh (who had heard from his Vakeel at Ferozepore that we had nothing to do with Ittur Singh's mad attempt), had been received in the Sikh camp ordering. the troops to return to Lahore, there to receive the rewards he had prepared for them for their gallant behaviour against the rebel forces. The videttes , sent by Major. General Vin cent, commanding the station, during the night to see how the land lay across the river, reported that the drums of the Sikhs beat at a very early hour in the morning, and that by sunrise scarcely a vestige of the camp was to be seen. Since the above transactions, everything has been in a state of utter confusion. The troops returning to Lahore have increased in their demands, and Heera Singh, quite tired out with the proceedings of this unmanageable rabble, was actually preparing to leave the capital when the troops heard of his intention, and placed guards not only round the city to prevent his egress, but even round the Minister's house to watch his movements, while Heera Singh brought to his assistance in case of an attack on him, as many of his own particular troops as were in the neigh bourhood of Lahore, consirting chiefly of hill men. The artillery seem also inclined, heingchiefly Hindoostanees from the Company's territories, to stand by him in his emergency, being in religion opposed to the true Sikhs or Singbs, who form the great majority of the regular troops of the Lahore army. These troops are now greatly exasperated at the death of one of their most celebrated Gooroos, or religious instructors, Bhaee Bear Singh, which they lay at the door of Heera Singh, maintaining that they would never have fought against him, had the Minister not incited them to do so by representing that Ittur Singh and Beer Singh were supported in their rebellion against the Khalsa by the British. They also pretended that Hera Singh had put Peshora Singh to death when lie surrendered, and de manded that he should be given up to them. The Prince had in reality gone to his own district, and when a deputa tion of the troops waited on him to see him and request his returning to the capital, he honestly told them he feared to become the victim of their wiles, as had been the case with Suchet Singh and Ittur Singh, and after declining to ac company them be tied, it is not yet known in what direction. The troops of Goolab Singh are in a general ferment. Se veral regiments have left their posts at Cashmeer, at Peshawar, and elsewhere, and returned to Lahore and fresh disturbances have broken out in the Derajat on the western bank of the Government, leaving the anny all powerful. Sirdar Lena Singh having considered it unadvisable to return to Lahore in the present state of affairs, has proceeded on a pilgrimage to the holy shrines at Muttrs.—Della Gazette Orerlaml, June 7. GWALIOII.—We noticed in our last the occupation of Boorlianpoor by detachments of Bombay troops from Mhow and Asseerghur. The particulars were as follow :—On the 17th of May, Major Morris, with a detachment of 400 men, proceeded from A sseerglnir to Booth an poor, arrangements hav ing been made by Col. Sherrill' for the evacuation of the Mah cotta troops on the approach of our detachment. The town was peacefully surrendered to us and the force sent from Mhow on the 1 - 3tli, as formerly enumerated, was countermanded when four marches from their destination. The Agra Ukbar affirms, that the city is to be returned again to the Mahrattas, it having been seized upon by mistake of the Governor-General, and the measure, which had occasioned the greatest sensation at the Gwalior Court, had been re scinded, and the troops desired to retire, upon the remon , t ran -'a of Colonel Sleeman and Sir Richmond Shakspere. t Intiigues prk.7eed amongst the Council of Regency. 6-7 1- NA• RIOT AT CANTON.—On Monday ember, 1842), L . 4t, 0t23 of those riots similar to those which, on one occasion (in b,f caused the destruction of three foreign hongs, oc,7:irred at Canton, again caused by the disorderly conduct of some sa , men, although we are - happy to say that on this occasion it was quelled without producing any such disastrous conse quences. It appears some Manilla seamen, belonging to a Swedish ship at anchor at Whainpoa, had a quarrel with the Chinese, who began to pelt thein with stones, upon which the Manilla men charged the mob, and it is said stabbed a Chinese. The mob, however, after haying been dispersed in the first instance, soon returned, and threw stones at the seamen in the Company's Garden, and the latter had to take to their boats. As usual in such cases, the mob then assembled in front of the Factories in considerable numbers, and some apprehen sions were entertained that they might proceed to violence, but a detachment of police and soldiers was cent by the authorities from the city, and the mob was dispersed soon after dark without having done any damage. Her Ma jesty's Consul had meanwhile, we understand, sent to Wham podfor assistance, and in consequence about 200 men from the ships arrived in boats early next morning, at which time, however, we are happy to say everything had returned to its wonted quiet.— Canton Press, March 16. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. Their Lordships met at Five o'clock. Lord CAMPBELL called the attention of their Lord ships to certain amendment made in the House of Com mons upon the Common Law Process Bill, and gave notice that he would move to make these amendments the subject of a conference. The Insolvent_ Debtors' Bill was read a third time and passed. THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, AUG-UST 1, 1844 were two or three amendments which he was anxious to explain to the House, as having been introduced into the Bill by her Majesty's Government. In the first place, he had to state that it was the intention of the Government to insert words in the Bill by which more than one secretrary could be appointed to the Board of Cha ritable Bequests Commission in Dublin. Considering the vast amount of Roman Catholic charities which would come under the consideration of that Board, it had been held to be expedient that more than one secretary should be appointed. Another alteration intended to be made was in the sixth clause. As that clause at present stood it contained considerable ambiguity, and it was proposed, therefore, to insert a proviso to the effect that nothing therein contained should be construed to limit the jurisdiction of any court of law with reference to these bequests. These alterations, however, were of less importance than the alteration which he intended to propose in the 13th clause. The House would recollect that on a former occasion he had stated that there was an obvious legal imperfection in the clause as sent from the House of Lords. The clause as it now stood fell short of the announced intention of her Majesty's Government, for her Ma jesty's Government had declared that it was their wish to give every facility to the voluntary endowment, not only of the dignataries cf the Church of Rome, but the parochial priests—not only those now in possession, but all others succeeding. NORTHAMPTON GAOL. Lord LILFORD asked a question respecting certain returns affecting this gaol. Lord WHARNCLIFFE said that the return was made to ascertain some irregularities alleged to have taken place in the gaol. POST-OFFICE REGULATIONS—THE MAILS. Earl FORTESCUE presented a petition from Tiver ton (of which he had given notice), complaining of the conversion of stage-coaches into mail-coaches; whereby the turnpike dues were evaded. The Earl of LONSDALE said that the grievance complained of had been occasioned by the inhabitants of Tiverton requiring two deliveries daily instead of one. OTAHEITE. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said that after what occurred in the other House last night on the sub ject of the late aggressions of the Punch Admiral in Otuheite, it was almost superfluous for him to ask, whe ther her Majesty's Government were able to inform the House that the statements which had recently appeared in the public prints were true ? Lord ABERDEEN said—lt is perfectly true that an outrage has been committed upon the person of a British subject—(Bear, hear)—but it is also perfectly true that it has taken place without the possible know ledge of the French Government, and under a state of things which has been disavowed by that Government. In September last the Queen was dethroned, and the French Admiral, Du Petit Thouars, took possession of the Island, and exercised sovereignty there. Immedi ately after that act was known in Europe, the French Government disavowed it.—(Hear, hear.) But since that time a state of things arose, which may account for many acts, which could not be accounted fur under a more regular and lawful state of affairs.—(Dear, hear.) When the French Admiral took possession of the island, the gentleman, who held the office of consul of Great' Britain, hauled down his flag, and gave to the French authorities an official announcement that he was no longer consul there, the Queen having been dethroned —(Hear, hear)—so that in point, of fact Mr. Prichard was not regarded as having an official character. Ido not mean to say, my Lords, that any such arbitrary pro ceedings as have been taken against that gentleman could be justified.—(Hear, hear.) I have said before, that all this must have taken place without the slightest encouragement or even knowledge on the part of the French Government. I believe this will be a godsend to the enemies of peace between the countries, and it will be turned by them to a good account.—(Hear, hear.) But, my Lords, 1 have every reason to believe that by the exercise of a spirit of justice and moderation, this unfortunate affair will - not lead to serious consequences. —(Hear, hear.) He had reason to believe that the French Government would take the same view of the matter that he did.—(Hear, hear.) Lord MINTO said that nothing could be more satisfactory than the statement of the Noble Earl, and it conld scarcely be supposed that these acts of aggression had taken place with the cognisance of the French Go vernment. But he wished to ask what her Majesty's Government had done, with respect to the means of pro tection to British subjects in the South Seas ? Lord ABERDEEN said that Otaheite had not been without a ship of war since the first occupation of the island, until everything appeared to be settled, and the affairs of the island to go on quietly. Other ships had recently been sent out. Lord KINNAIRD considered the English Govern ment very much to blame for allewing the French to take possession of Otaheite. The island might very reasonably have been placed under the proteetorate of England and America. The Earl of ABERDEEN said that the protectorate of the island had been repeatedly offered to England and refused. He believed that at this very moment Queen Porn are was restored to full power. (LEFT SITTING ) HOUSE OF COMMONS. MARRIAGES (IRELAND) BILL. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition.) Clauses 5 to 10 inclusive were agreed to. Clauses from 11 to 82 were agreed to, with some verbal amendments. The remaining clauses were then agreed to. The schedules were agreed to, and the House resumed. It was ordered to be reported to-morrow, and to be read a third time on Saturday. (Although the House did not formally adjourn, there was a cessation of busi ne for half an hour after the Marriages (Ireland) Bill had been disposed of.) The Speaker resumed the chair at a quarter before five o'clock. ARTS- UNION BILL. The report of the Arts-Union Bill was brought up, and the Bill was ordered to be read a third time to morrow. CHARITABLE DONATIONS (IRELAND) SILL. On the motion of Sir JAMES GRAHAM, the House resolved into Committee on the Charitable Donations and Bequests (Ireland) Bill, for the purpose of intro ducing the: money clauses. The clauses were intro duced, and the House resumed. POOR-LAW RETURNS. Captain PECHELL asked when'certain returns, for which he had moved, on the subject of out-door relief, would be ready, and also when certain returns as to the number of unions would be laid on the table. Mr. M. SUTTON replied that the Poor-law Com missioners had issued circulars to the different unions for the returns of out-door relief, but that not more than one-half of those returns had as yet been completed. With regard to the other returns he believed the same difficulty existed, and he could not state when he should be enabled to lay them on the table. Captain PECHELL could not understand how there could be any difficulty in preparing the returns relative to the number of anions. PETITIONS. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented a petition from Mr. Young, Mr. Landseer, and other artists, praying for an alteration in the Arts Union Bill ; also a petition from the prisoners for debt in the Queen's Prison in favour of the Insolvent Debtors' Bill. Captain PECHELL presented a petition from Lieute- nant Green, complaining that he had not received any remuneration from Government for certain improve ments which he had introduced into naval architecture. SOUTH SEA COMPANY'S BILL. The South Sea Company's Bill wa4 read a third time and passed. The Fisheries (Ireland) Bill was read a third time. HUSH ARMS ACT. On the Order of the Day for the second reading of this Bill, Mr. M. O'FERRALL asked if the Government in tended to persist in throwing the expense of the regis tration of arms on the counties of Ireland ? Sir J. GRAHAM said the Act did not make any alte ration in the Bill of last year, in which it was merely intended to correct a clerical error. The Bill was then read a second time. BISHOP OF LONDON'S ESTATE BILL. On the order of the day for the third reading of the Bishop of London's Estate Bill, Mr. WAKLEY objected to passing the Bill through when it had been before the House but five days. The title of the Bill gave no idea of the nature of its contents, and the public knew nothing whatever about it. Who could suppose for a moment that this Bill Ras one for regulating the property of Paddington ? Even the per sons on this property knew nothing about the Bill ; at the Great Western Railway nothing was known of it. The Bill would remove the present reservoirs of the Grand Junction Waterwork Company. and give to it a perfect monopoly of the supply of water to the buildings on the Paddington property, to the ex clusion of all the other water companies. A clause was inserted for reserving ground on which to build a church and an hospital ; but while the Bill was imperative, and compelled the building of the church, it only gave a per missive power to build the hospital. He wished at least to see the Bill apply the same power to both. He hoped the Hon. Baronet (Sir W. Clay) would consent to post pone the Bill, as it was most unfair to pass such an Act without farther consideration. Sir W. CLAY said the Bill was, strictly, a private one, and had gone through all the forms and regula tions required for private Bills in the other House. Its simple purpose was to rectify a fault in the existing Act of Parliament, by which parties were prevented from giving a valid title to the property they disposed of in Paddington. It did not give any advantage to any water company with respect to the supply of water. - Mr. GREENE, as Chairman of Committees, had care fully examined the Bill, and could see no objection to it. It was intended to regulate the property which was leased out in the last century by the then Bishop of London, at Paddington. Part of the ground was occu pied by the reservoirs of the water company, and it was now wished to apply the space to the original purpose of building. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said, though the Bill was called a private one, it applied to the property of the Church. He thought that they ought to have had this measure much sooner before the House. He trusted two or three days would be given to the Hon. Members to make in quiries on the subject. Mr. BROTHERTON said that the Bishop of London had only a peppercorn interest in the question. Mr. WAKLEY said that the Bill itself admitted that its provisions would be greatly for the interest of the Bishop of London. He only asked for the postponement till Tuesday, and unless that was consented to he should divide the House. After a few observations from Sir W. CLAY. Strangers were ordered to withdraw, but no- division took pace, Mr. Wakley withdrawing his amendment. Mr. WAKLEY then moved, as an amendment to the Bth clause, the insertion of the same compulsory pro vision with respect to the building of an hospital on the estate, as there was in the ninth clause, relative to building a church. This amendment was agreed to, and the Bill was read a third time and passed. MESSAGE FROM THE LORDS. Messengers from the Lords' brought down the Ca tholic Penal Laws, Repeal Bill, and several other Bills. ROYAL COLLEGE OE SURGEONS. Mr. MACKINNON presented a petition from the surgeons and assistant-surgeons of the different regi ments of Guards, complaining that th e y h a d b een de prived of their rights by the new Charter granted to the the College of Surgeons, and praying that the House would not confirm that Charter without giving them an opportunity of being heard by counsel against it. LORD CRANSTOUN'S ESTATE BILL. Mr. BROTHERTON brought up the report on Lord Cranstoun's Estate Bill, which was read a second time. PENETENTIARY SYSTEM. Mr. MORE O'FERRALL wished to ask, seeing that the Penetentittry system, as practised in the Pentonville Prison, had been so successful, whether it was the in tention of the Government during the recess to consider the propriety of erecting a similar institution in Dublin? Sir J. GRAHAM said that an arrangement had been made in Ireland, as well as in England, on this subject, to which he attached great importance. All persons sentenced to transportation were brought to a central prison before the sentence of transportation was carried into effect, so that an opportunity was afforded to the authorities of investigating the previous habits and cha racters of such persons, so as to enable them to decide to what settlement it would be .most proper they should be sent. Arrangements of that nature had been completed in Dublin, and in this country the arrangeinent had been effected by abolishing the penitentiary character of the prison at Millbank, and converting it into a prison for persons under sentence of transportation. His confidence in the success of :the experiment now carrying on at Pentonville was so great that as far as he was individu ally concerned he should be glad to see it extended to Ireland ; but it Would be premature in him to state what might be the intentions of the Government on that subject. It would be the _ duty of himself and his colleagues to watch the experiment, and if it turned out as he hoped and was anxious it should, he thought it would be extended to Ireland. BAPTIST MISSIONARIES. Mr. V. SMITH wished to put a question on the sub ject of the treatment which it was alleged a Baptist missionary had received in the island of Barbuda (as we understood). It had been stated that a clergyman named Davies had thought proper to disturb the congregation of this Baptist missionary, and had caused his followers to be brought before a magistrate who had committed them to prison. He wished to know if the Government had taken any step; to investigate the matter? Mr. G. H. HOPE said that as yet no authentic ac counts had been received from the colony on the subject. STEAM POWER IN THE NAVY. Mr. MORE O'FERRAL moved for a return of the amount of horse-power ordered for her Majesty's steam-vessels, between the Ist day of September, 1841, and the Ist day of July, 1844.—Ordered. CHARITABLE BEQUESTS (IRELAND) BILL. Sir JAMES GRAHAM rose to move the Order of the Day for going into Committee on the Chari table Donations and Bequests (Ireland) Bill, and said that after having so fully opened this question the other evening, he was very unwilling to trespass on the attention of the Rouse, and yet there k LEFT SPIASING.) SPIRIT Gt the PUBLIC JOURNALS. FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAY. GLOBE.—Captain Warner's wonderful invention was introduced to the notice of the House of Commons last evening by Lord Ingestre. A more complete exposure of the affair can scarcely be imagined. Not the vestige of a well-supported claim to novelty of discovery, or to an improved mode of applying an agency already known, was left to Captain Warner ; who, in nautical language, was " blown out of the water." This was affected by Sir R. Peel's straightforward, matter-of-fact explana tion ; followed up, as it was, by the narrative of Sir Howard Douglas ; who described the proceedings of Sir Byam Martin and himself, to whom Sir Robert Peel had referred the application of Captain Warner. An oppor tunity to exhibit the extraordinary discovery he had made had been afforded ; and the way in which Captain Warner bad acted in the transaction was explained. The Hon. W. Cowper, private secretary to Lord Melbourne, when Captain Warner pressed the purchase of his discovery on the . Administration of which his Lordship was the head; also supplied valuable testi mony as to the real merits of the discovery. Sir C. Napier ably exposed the absurdity of Captain Warner's claims to any new discovery in science ; or to any valuable novelty of application of a power previously known. With the bluntness of phrase and breadth of humour peculiar to the profession, the Gallant Commo dore ridiculed the whdle affair off Brighton, as wonder ful only in the eyes of persons either wholly or partially ignorant of what is generally known to nautical men. The greatest wonder of the performance, in Sir C. Napier's opinion, is, that any professional man could have been deceived into the belief that there was any thing extraordinary in the transaction. Captain War ner's pretended invention of a new explosive power — the possession of which would enable the nation that exclusively possessed it to defy the world in arms—has been extensively used for the purpose of attack upon Lord Melbourne's Government, and also of reproach to the present Ministry. Both Lord Melbourne and Sir R. Peel, it was last night shown, adopted the course which they were bound to adopt under the circumstances. They referred Capt. Warner's discovery to the scientific de partments of the Government; directed that a commission should issue, formed of the most eminent officers, by whose skill the efficiency of the discovery should be tested ; and upon their report determined to act. Instead of having treated Captain Warner, or his invention, with neglect, it clearly appears that both the late and the present govern ment acted with fairness, and even with liberality towards both : they provided him with the means, and afforded him opportunities of demonstrating the al leged powers of his invention. The only thing they would not do—but this was the very thing Captain Warner showed he was most anxious should be done was, this : they would not pur chase without proof. Captain Warner had been moet prodigal of professions—most prolific in assu rances. He had performed extraordinary feats, by means of his powerful agent, at various times and in divers places—of which, however, there were no persons ative who could verify his statements ; and no records of his doings in the public offices ; where, if the feats had been achieved, they might be expected to be found ! Captain Warner, among other representations of what his discovery had effected, stated to the Commis sioners that he had sunk two French privateers with his invisibler shell toward the end of the war. No record, however, no trace could be found of this extraordinary transaction. With his "long range," he said, he had destroyed rocks in the islands off Vigo Bay, at six miles distance. In the absence of oral or documentary evidence of these extraordinary performances, the Com missioners asked for ocular proof. They, possibly, thought that Captain Warner had, in his descriptions of the powers of his "long range," practised largely with the long bow ; and they wished to see as well as hear. This, however, was declined. As Mr. W. Cowper remarked, in the course of_ his statement of what took place be tween the late Government and Captain Warner, rela tive to his invention—". Captain Warner was more desirous of corresponding with the monied than with the scientific departments of the Government—more anxious to have his discoveries bought than tested." the Prussian Government has, lit seems, been equally unjust to Captain Warner. The scientific and patriotic discoverer of this destruction-spreading agent—with a far greater affection for pelf than for country—has, it seems, been huckstering with a foreign State for the purchase of his secret. If the Government of Prussia would have entered into a blind bargain, and paid the required sum without knowing whether it had got anything in the shape of value for its money, there would have been an end of Captain Warner's applications to the Government of England to possess themselves of the wonderful invention. We might have read the sin of our incredulity by the glare of the fires kindled by means of this destructive agent in our bar hours and arsenals—if, indeed, our " tight little island" had not been blown out of the ocean, and England been numbered among the nations which now exist only in the pages of history. Sir G. Cockburn's ac count of the way in which he has reason to believe the explosion' off Brighton was effected, agrees, in all the material points, with the suggestion we ventured to to offer as to the process by which it was accomplished. Lord Ingestre seems to have been pretty consider ably laughed at in professional circles, for his gratuitous attestations in behalf of a very questionable experiment, the validity Of which be ought rather to have suspected, than affirmed. Incapable of deception in any form, Lord Ingestre, like many of his profession, is the more likely to be deceived. Had Lord Ingestre seen what the officer referred to by Sir G. Cockburn " distinctly saw," he would not have signed the certificate which bore his name, and induced the public to confide in the extra ordinary accounts of the magical, if not miraculous, per formance off Brighton. The correspondence moved for by Lord Ingestre is to be produced ; and we trust, printed. To a new and enlarged edition of " Popular , Delusions" it would contribute an interesting chapter. SUMMER ASSIZES. HOME CIRCUIT.—Lewes, July 30. CROWN COURT.--(Before Mr. Baron PARKE.) Gcorrge Marchant, a person respectably connected, and who carries on the business of a wine -merchant, at Brighton, surrendered in discharge of his recognizances to answer an indictment, alleging that he feloniously stolen a quantity of tame pheasants and partridges, the property of the Right lion. Thomas, Earl of Chichester. Mr. Johnson conducted the prosecution, and Messrs. Clarkson and Creasy appeared for the defence. From the evidence adduced it seems that the noble prosecutor had a number of young pheasants and partridges that had been reared by a hen, under the charge of his gamekeeper, at Stanmer Park, and on the 9th July, twenty-eight pheasants and fourteen partridges were missed. ShOrtly afterwards, in conse quence of some information that was received, a Brighton constable, named White, went to Marchant's premises, and the servant showed him several young pheasants and partridges. A warrant was then obtained, and the birds were taken away, and on the prisoner being asked to account for the possession of them, he said he had bought some " small stuff" of a man who came to his house, and that he gave half-a-crown for them. The prisoner, it appeared, had been originally com mtted by the Brighton magistrates for receiving the bird. feloniously, but that charge was abandoned, and ho was indicted for stealing them. The evidence of identity was, however, very weak, and there was very little testimony to support either charge. At the close of the case for the prosecution Mr. Baron PARKE contended that there was no evidence to go to the jury, and a verdict of Not Guilty was accordingly recorded. CIVIL SlDE.—(Before Mr. Baron GURNEY and a Common Jury.) PARRY V. NICHOLSON. This was an action upon a bill of exchange for 2501., accepted by the defendant. The pleas set up on behalf of the defendant were that no consideration had been given for the bill, and there were other pleas to the effect that it was a forgery. Mr. Sergeant Channel and Mr. Peacock appeared for the plaintiff ; Mr. Platt and Mr. Clarkson were for the defendant. The case in itself possessed very little matter of in terest to the public, but there were a few disclosures re lative to discounting and bill transactions which deserve notice. It did not appear that any consideration had been given to the defendant for the acceptance in question, but it was endorsed by the party who received it to the plaintiff, who is an attorney in London. There had been other bill transactions in connection with the case, and one of the witnesses said that a bill for 601., at two months, had been discounted, and 10/. more charged as interest. In cross examination by Mr. Platt, he said that it was customary in discounting transactions to take from three per cent. upwards, and that the generality of the bills that were brought to be discounted were not worth the stamp they were written on. There was some appearance presented on the face of the bill that the date had been altered as well as the amount ; and Mr. Platt, in his address to the jury, contended that, under all the circumstances, the defendant was entitled to a verdict. The jury retired to consider the case, and upon their return gave a verdict for the defendant. Mr. PLATT subsequently applied to have the bill im pounded, as it was probable other proceedings might be taken. Sergeant CITANNELL expressed his opinion that there were no grounds to justify the proceeding. There was no evidence of any forgery having been committed. Mr. Baron G URNEY sa id h e s h ou ld give no opinion upon the facts. Th e on l y quest i on wa s, whether there would be any objection to have OW bill placed in the hands of the Court to insure its production in case it should be required. His Lordship added, that there did not appear to be any imputation upon the character of the plaintiff in the present action. Mr. PLATT said he did not intend to impute any mis conduct to the plaintiff, His only object was to secure the production of the document at a future period. The attorney for the plaintiff said he had no objec tion to the bill being impounded. Mr. Baron GURNEY said as that was the case there was no difficulty, and he directed that the bill should re main in the custody of the officers of the Court. IMPEtstAt. PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS, July 31. Mr. BOUVERIE presented a petition from Wilts against agricultural protection. Mr. SPOONER presented a petition from Uppingham against certain clauses in the Insolvent Debtors Bill. CHARITABLE BEQUESTS (IRELAND) BILL. Mr. M. J. O'CONNELL gave notice that, on going into Committee on that Bill he would move several amendments. Mr. IVYSE also gave notice that, on going into Com mittee on the same Bill, he should move a proviso re specting the visitors of the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth. CAPT. WARNER'S INVENTION. Lord INGESTRE (in continuation from our Fourth Edition of yesterday evening) said he presumed that the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty, would have no objection to state whether any report had been made to him on the subject. With respect to the magnitude of the invention, he contended, that because it was extraordinary it was not to be supposed to be the result of the brain of a visionary. Thirty years ago, to talk of gas would be considered madness, and years before that the inventor of gunpowder had been looked upon as an impostor. Much reproach had been cast upon Captain Warner on the ground that he never car ried out what he proposed. The Noble Lord then pro ceeded to defend the course that had been pursued by Captain Warner during the administration of Lord Mel bourne, and observed that when the subject was re ferred to Lieutenant Webster, who made a report, it was treated with contempt at the Admiralty. He considered this was a most unwarrantable breach of confidence ; at all events, it was a most improper way of treating a confidential communication. The report of Lieutenant Webster corroborated in every particular the reports which had been made by Sir Richard Keates and Sir Thomas Hardy. That report was treated by some persons with derision, and by others it was stated that Captain Warner and Lieutenant 'Webster were in collusion. He denied that such was the case. Lieutenant Webster had made that report like an honest man, who was anxious to do his duty to his country. Then an in sinuation was made that Lieutenant Webster was insane, and the same thing was said of Sir Richard Keates. It was said that Sir Richard Keates was in his dotage, and that Sir Thomas Hardy had yielded up his opinion to that of Sir Richard Keates, on account of their long habits of personal intimacy, and from the personal re spect which he bore him. Now, who that knew the high and honourable character of Sir Thomas Hardy could for one moment imagine that he would make such a report if he did not believe it to be correct ?—(Hear, hear.) Lieutenant Webster's report had been presented to the Admiralty on the 16th of September, 1839. Lord Melbourne had frequently gone and sent to the Ad-' miralty for that report, but had never been able to ob tain it. In January, 1840, it was suggested that the Board of Ordnance should be consulted on the subject. Sir Hussey Vivian, who was at the time at the head of that Board, treated the whole matter with ridicule ; he said he was incompetent to decide on the subject, but that if he were called on to give his private opinion, he would do so. He (Lord Ingestre) had called on Sir Hussey Vivian on the subject, and it was evident that Sir Hussey Vivian thought that Capt Warner was mad, and that he (Lord Ingestre) was very little different. He himself, however, had not as yet discovered such to he the case, although be must confess he enter tained strong impressions upon this subject. He would now read to the House a letter which Captain Warner had addressed to the Hon. Member for Hertford (Mr. Cowper) on this subject, the Hon. Gentleman at that time holding the situation of private secretary to Lord Melbourne. (The Noble Lord here read the letter al luded to, which was dated Feb. 3, 1840, and in which Captain Warner, after describing the various reports which fiad been made on the subject of his invention by Sir Richard Keates, Sir Thomas Hardy, and Lieut. Webster, and stating that in his opinion the knowledge of the secret should be confined to the inventor, the Prime Minister, and the Sovereign, observed with re gard to the proposal, that the invention should be sub mitted to Sir Ilussey Vivian—that if Sir Hussey Vivian's decision was to be final, he would not object to commu nicate to him, in the presence of Lieutenant Webster, that portion of the invention which related to the land service.) Finding matters in that state, he (Lord In gestre), being convinced that the matter was worthy of investigation, had waited on Lord Melbourne on the subject, and had stated his willingness, although politi cally opposed to Lord Melbourne's Government, to afford the Government every assistance in investigating the matter, and he besought his Lordship not to suffer that which might be of great importance to be turned into ridicule. He was sure Lord Melbourne attached im portance to the matter, or he would not have allowed him (Lord Ingestre) to tease him so on the subject ; he would ' have found some means of getting rid of him, or have said that he would have nothing to do with the matter. He tried in vain to procure for Captain Warner an opportunity of testing his invention. He was re ferred from one to another until he became tired. He then suggested to Captain Warner that he should try an experiment on a small scale, and undertook to re quest the attendance of one or two officers of distinction to witness it. He requested the attendance of Lord Hardwicke, and of the Hon. and Gallant Admiral, the Member for Ripon, who was not at that time in Parlia ment. On the 28th of July, 1840, an experiment on a small scale was made at Wanstead, and no person who witnessed it could doubt its efficacy ; and Admiral Cock burn recommended Captain Warner to apply to the Go vernment, which he again did, but unsuccessfully. The invention possessed, as well as extraordinary power, great applicability. His demands on the Government were always postponed. In February, 1841, another ex periment was made at the instance of Sir Francis Bur dett, and before a large number of men of rank and station. Sir Henry Hardinge, Sir George Murray, and his. Right Hon. Friend, were present ; it, too, was per fectly successful. In September, 1841, he waited en Sir Robert Peel, who gave him a very courteous answer, and promised not to let the matter drop. It was far from his wish to attack the Government, but he thought it an unfortunate thing that questions of this sort should be frittered away in their progress from one department to another. Sir Robert Peel referred the matter to Sir George Murray, who proposed certain terms, to which Captain Warner assented. The Gallant Officer then read the document containing the views of Sir G. Murray relative to Capt. Warner's invention. There were three points to be attended to—first, its power—secondly, the degree of safety and facility with which it could be applied to useful purposes, naval and military—thirdly, the danger 'of Foreign Pow ers b ecom i ng possesse d o f the secret, in case the Government of Great Britain ne glected it. The document did full justice to the expen diture of time, money, and mental energy, on the experi ment of Captain Warner, and set forth that the Govern ment were willing to make a certain pecuniary advance. Subsequently a Commission was appointed consisting of Sir Edward Owen, Sir Howard Douglas, and Sir Byam Martin ; the latter officer, however, could not attend on the Commission, and Capt. Warner requested that Lord Ingestre or Lord Hardwicke might be appointed in his stead., It had been said that Captain Warner had asked 400,000/. for his invention, but this was a mis take. , A Gallant General (Sir Howard Douglas) said he could perform himself an experiment similar to that which Captain Warner performed at Brighton, but this he (Lord Ingestre) did not believe. The Gallant General had frequently thrown out sarcasms upon Capt. Warner's experiment, such as that he did not want to see a punt in a fish-pond, and such like taunts.—(Laughter.) He did not think it was proper that any member of the Commission should, be fore the day of trial arrived, throw out any such taunts or inuendoes. Nothing could be fairer than the pro posals made by Captain Warner. He proposed to com municate his invention provided the Premier would un dertake to obtain compensation for him from the Parlia ment ; and he declared that he would not expect or receive a farthing if his experiment did not prove en tirely successful, and every way answer the purpose for which it was designed. It was said that the experiment at Brighton had not been effected by the means Captain Warner had proposed ; but he (Lord Ingestre) thought nothing could be more complete, and there was not the slightest appearance of the explosion havin g been produced by gunpowder.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") The subject of Captain Warner's invention was subse quently referred to a second Commission. That Com mission called on Captain Warner to make out an esti mate of the probable expense of a trial of his experi ments, and he did so, estimating it at 2,5001. This sum was to purchase the hulk - of a.vessel, and to provide the use of a steamer for a period of a month. A long cor respondence then ensued between Captain Warner and the Commissioners, and the result was that Captain Warner was offered 500/. to carry out his experiments. This, of course, Captain Warner refused, and then the negotiation dropped. He (Lord Ingestre) contended that Captain Warner had never shrunk from any oppor tunity of making his experiments. Although he had originally demanded 400,000 L f or hi s two inventions, yet he afterwards consented to abide by any decision the Government might think proper to come to with respect to his remuneration. He had done all he could to have his invention fairly tested ; and he (Lord Ingestre) thought that great praise was due to Mr. Soames, the eminent ship-owner, for having afforded the means for the late trial at Brighton. That gentleman looked upon this matter as a subject of great importance to the country, and he said, " although the Government will not furnish the means of testing it, I will." He (Lord Ingestre) took that opportunity of expressing his approbation of the public spirit which had induced that gentleman to make such a sacri fice.—(Cheers.) The experiment at Brighton needed very little description from bin' (Lord Ingestre), as it had been sufficiently detailed in all the newspapers. No one could doubt the terrific explosive power that was there used. He was prepared to state that those expe riments could be repeated in every variety of form, and at all times of the tide. It had become a fashion to ridi-.J cule the importance of the invisible shell. It.was said, let us have nothing to do with the invisible shell—give us the long range. He had no doubt, if a vessel were to be placed outside of either of the harbours of Toulon or Spithead, that by means of the invisible shell it would be impossible for any ship to escape destruction coming out of either of these harbours, SuppOse we were to be at war with Prance—which God forbid—the French might send A sheet to Anchor off Brighton, Stud that town , might be laid in ashes in a few hours. Now, by this in vention of Captain Warner's, a hostile fleet could be prevented from coming within severs.' miles of any shore. He (Lord Ingestre) had only now to beg pardon of the House for having occupied their time so long, but he had felt strongly on this sub ject. He had brought it forward from a sacred sense of duty, and he trusted the House would give him cre dit for having been actuated by no other motives.— (Cheers.) The Noble Lord concjudcd by moving for the correspondence which had taken place between her Majesty's Government and Captain Warner, on the sub ject of Capt. Warner's invention. Sir R, PEEL—Sir, I rise for the purpose of seconding the motion of my Noble Friend, for I am determined at length that the public shall be in possession of the cor respondence respecting Captain Warner's invention, and they will then be enabled,to judge what were the reit sons, after that correspondence, which I hold in my hand, had taken place, that Captain Warner was not in vited to exhibit his invention before professional men calculated to judge of its merits. My Noble Friend re presents Ceptain Warner as being placed under circum stances analogous to those in which the inventor of gunpowder was placed—namely, of being treated with ridicule, and that there was a wish on the part of her Majesty's Government to deprive him of the opportunity of bringing his alleged invention to a true test. Now I wish this House and the public to be enabled to judge whether that is a correct representa tion or nor, and whether her Majesty's Government have not given to Captain Warner every opportunity which Captain Warner could expect, consistent with that pre caution which I think every one will admit that her Ma jesty's Government should observe in a matter of this kind. I will make no reference whatever to what took place between Captain Warner and her Majesty's Go vernment, previously to my accession to office, and my personal knowledge of Captain Warner's proposal ; but I am bound to say, from what I have seen of the previous correspondence, and after my experience of the proposal of Captain Warner, I do not believe, that her Majesty's late Government did treat with Captain Warner in any other manner than the present Government has treated him. Ido not believe that they refused Captain Warner the opportunity of exhibiting the effect of his invention. Those connected with that Government, however, can speak upon that point with greater confidence and autho rity than myself. I may observe, in passing, that it is totally beside the question to instance any opinion that King William might have expressed. Those who are officially responsible must judge for themselves as to the merits of a subject respecting which they would have to submit to Parliament the consideration of voting public money. My Noble Friend stated accurately that in 1841, shortly after the accession of the Government to office, Captain Warner's proposal was renewed. Captain Warner stated that he was in possession of two instru ments of most destructive power ; one called the invisi ble shell, and the other called the long range. A speci men of the power of the invisible shell was given the other day at Brighton. I had an opportunity of wit nessing an experiment on a smaller scale in a pound at Wanstead, and I admit that the destructive power of the instrument applied to the vessel I saw destroyed was most formidable. I saw nothing whatever of the pre vious preparations. I saw a vessel blown up into the air as completely as if ten barrels of gunpowder had been placed in it. That I certainly saw. I was told that it was blown up by an invisible shell brought under the bow of the vessel. I had no op7ortunity of examining any part of the vessel. I had no doubt that the vessel was destroyed in the manner stated. The invisible shell however always appeared to me to be a matter of much less importance than the long range. I think Captain Warner professed to be in possession of a pro jectile which possessed great power, which would enable him to destroy fleets and' towns at any distance varying from one mile to six. lam glad that my Noble Friend has relieved me from all reserve on this subject. My Noble Friend has appeared as the advocate of Captain Warner, and I have no objection whatever to the pro 7 duction of these documents. He moved for the corre spondence, and I will give him as much of the corre spondence as will fully establish the relations between Captain Warner and the Government. My Noble Friend felt himself justified in referring to the correspondence of Captain Warner, and I will avail myself of the same ad vantage ; referring, however, to nothing which it is not my intention to produce. ••• I mean to withhold nothing which will enable this House to judge of the course which her Majesty's Government has pursued. Captain Warner stated that he wasin possession of this projectile called the long range. I will give his own account of it. He said, "It has a most destructive power, and its operation can be carried on with rapidity. I could bring it to bear on Gibraltar. and in a few hours not a man should be left alive. I could in the highest sea, with my long range, destroy a large fleet. I could demolish Algiers—instead of damaging it only, as Lord Exmouth did with his splendid fleet—with a single vessel ; and after having demolished Algiers, I could, with a com paratively trifling refit, undertake to destroy Toulon." Now a person in possession of such wonderful powers, ought not, on account of the apparent impossibility of the thing, to be set aside. I will treat Captain Warner on an assumption that all he says is true ; but this I will not do—l will not undertake to pledge myself to the pay ment of a large sum of money, on account of certain things having been done. I will do this—l will appoint the most efficient professional men the country can fur nish, two or three from each department. I will not require Capt. Warner to reveal his secret, but *lily to satisfy those gentlemen of its mode of operation ; they .must be per fectly satisfied that all this can be done, and they must then make a report to the Government, or to me per sonally, if Captain Warner does not wish his plan to go further. This report must be on the following points: first as to the means of applying the inventions under adverse circumstances, both of wind and tide ; then as to possi bility of making use of it with safety and' security by those who are possessed of it ; then, as to how long it is probable the Government would remain in possession of it after purchasing it. Having received a communica tion of this kind on these points, from these authorities, I shall reserve to myself the power of determining finally on the question. I do not want to know the secret, but I want to be assured as to how far it can be used with safety, and as to how long the Government could retain it, having purchased it, either for the pur pose of applying it, or suppressing it altogether. All this I want to kpow, but I will not enter into a blind engagement of the kind wished by my Noble Friend, that supposing a ship is blown up off the pier at Brighton, Captain Warner is to receive several thousand pounds for effecting it. I will do no such thing, and whatever debates may take place' in this House on the subject I will not agree to it. On receiving this communication from my Noble Friend, I wrote to the Master-General of the Ordnance.; and desired him to communicate with the Admiralty Board as to the selection of two gentlemen from their respec tive departments for the purpose of forming a commis sion. Two officers of high professional character and personal honour were selected, Sir Thos. Hastings and Colonel Pasley. Captain Warner objected to both of them. I said, " Very good, I think`the objection an un reasonable one, but that shall not prevent a fair trial of the experiment." Two other gentlemen were then se lected, Sir Howard Douglas and Sir Edward Owen. Sir Edward Owen was shortly afterwards appointed to a command in the Mediterranean, and Sir .yam Martin was chosen to fill his place, and to act with Sir Howard Douglas. Now, I ask whether it would lave been pos sible to commit the experiment to two authorities more competent to investigate and decide upon it ? I will read to the House the first communication these gentlemen made to Captain Warner, and I ask whether it was possible to enter into an inquiry with fairer justice or more liberal spirit. The Right Hon. Gentleman then read the letter, in which the Commissioners stated that they were required, in the first instance, to ascer tain the expense of making the experiment ; that they proposed to take first the experiment of the powers of the long range, and then of the practical effect of the invisible shell ; that, in both instances, the materials would be prepared on the scale that would be necessary for real service ; that they proposed to repeat the trial of the long range six times, and that of the invisible shell three times ; they requested to know what cannon or artillery he would require from the Board of Ord nance, and if he should want the assistance of any men. In order to ensure greater secresy, they offered to let him select his own locality, in the most unfrequented part of the country, that Would present facilities for forwarding the experiment. The House will see that I departed _ from the rule generally observed in these cases—that those who have professed to have made discoveries of this kind shall try them in the first instance at their own expense. If 'that rule was not enforced, why, the establishment of the Board of Ord nance would not be sufficient to attend to the demands that would be made on it. This very day 'I have received no less than four proposals, invited probably by the dis cussion which has taken place on that of Capt. Warner's —four persons who have invented instruments each at least as destruCtive as Capt. Warner's.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) The inventors ask for no remuneration, but only that the experiment should be performed at the public expense. But after the speeches that had been made in this House on the subject, and an exhibi tion by Captain Warner, I must admit of considerable power, I thought I would deprive him of ., any opportu nity of saying I treated the invention with any disre spect or ridicule; I therefore offered to bear the ex penses of the experiment within reasonable limits. Captain Warner in his reply said, he did not want any artillery or cannon, as he effected his object by means -distinct from any of the weapons of war. But with re gard to the reversal of the order of' the experiment s , b y taking the long range first, he did not think it r i g h t to depart from the original plan. But he submitted to the Commissioners whether all e x p ense i n the matter might not be avoided, as he could refer f or t h e success'of his experiment to the high authority of the Secretary of the Admiralty, the First Lord of the Treasury, to the Master-General o f t h e Ordnance, and to his Noble Friend Lord Ingestre. Why, I never saw any experiment with the long range. I only saw the one experiment at Wanstead, and what is the use of referring at all to first Lords of the Treasury ? I pro pose myself to be quite incapable of judging on the sub ject, and what I want is the opinion and j u d gmen t o f professional men. In reply to this letter of Captain Warner's, the Commissioners returned a very proper communication, stating that-they were not appointed tube referred to the opinions of others, but to judge for them selves. Then, as to the point of the expense of purchasing the invention, in case it succeeded. The Noble Lord says, made a great min;-statement last year in asserting that Captain Warner asked 400,0001. for his secret. I hold in nly.hand a letter from Captain Warner to Lord Hard "wicke, in which he demands for the purchase of his in visible shells, 200,0001., and 200,000/. for his long range also. That was the proposal made by Captain Warner on the 2d of November, 1841, itnmeclietely after the proposal for the appointment of a Commi ss i on , an d hi s consent to the nomination of Sir Byatn Martin. The Commissioners asked Capt. Warner to proceed with the experiments, and they received a reply on the 20th of April, 1842. In this letter Cap. Warner acknoiv ledgealht communication of the commissioners of the 16th, but states that as they said they had no authority. to fix the amount of his remuneration in case he suc ceeded, and as this was the basis o f his cngagensent, lie could not proceed further till they r e ceived authority t 0 _ promise him, on the p ar t o f th e G ove rnment, a proper,, amount of remuneration. He said further, that he mig ht save them any unnecessary trouble in entering on any other part of the subje c t till this obstacle, was re moved. Thus it is evid en t th a t t h e £l.llll of 400,000/. was required, upon which the Cobruissioners informed him that there was an end of the Commission, since they_ had no authority to pro m i se an y suc h MIT, or any oth er sum beforehand ; that thi s mus t ke: left entirely to I.er Majesty's Government, and they closed the Commission. After these gentlemen had thrown up the Commission, Captain Captain Warner said he sho u ld b e con t en t w ith any re muneration the First Lord of th e T reasu ry might ° him beforeli‘and. He did also submit to some exarnisna tion by ' these Commis s i o n ers , an d h e th oug ht a refe rence to statue of the q u e st io ns p u t to C a ptain Warner ' and the answers given to them would satisfy the Howethat caution on every point was not m i s pl ac ed. The following questions were put to Captain Warner t- 41 : 1 ", long is it since you sati s fi e d y ourse lf o f t h e powers of your long range, and your inv i s ibl e s h e ll s ? Warner repties—Twelve years ago with respect to the o long range, and twe n ty- seven y ears ago w i t h r egard t the invisible shells, as he sun k t wo F renc h pr i va teers _ the end of the war, one off Folkestone, and the other 1 . 1 ! St. Vallery Bay. What was th e name o f t h e v e s sel you were on board of ? The Nautilus. Such an extraordi" l er t" nary circumstance was, of cou r se , reported -co the A ratty ? No ;it was not r e p or t e d -we were not tu. the Admiralty. Then, who w as the Nautilus hired by It was hired by the Secretary of State, and employed 11 Lord Castlereagh in landing spies on the coast of Franc o• the destruction of th ese t wo vesse l s reporte d to P . Secretary of State ? It mi g ht h ave b een , b ut Ido 00: know. Was it recorded in the log-book of the Nautilus? We did not keep a lug-book. Were any of the erew present when the destruction took place ? No one kne w of it but myself and another. In answer to other goe s ; tions, Captain Warner s t a t e d th a t no h ead - mone y Wag claimed for the crew destroyed, and that his father wa s the owner of the Nautilus. The Commissioners sent to the Admiralty to inquire if a ny recor d w h atever e xistet_ or correspondence, relatin g t o th e d estruct i on o f the! two French privateers, and none mould be found. The same inquiries were then ma d e a t th e F ore i g n-office, but no record of any such fact existed. The Commissioner' then asked where was the long range tried ? The all' swer was, upon some trees, at the distance of three, ' miles in Hainault forest, i n th e p rese nce °I Sir Edward Keats. Now, if this were the; case, why should not Captain Warner nag,'" the Commissioners as to the mode in which it was fo* complished? The Commissioners also say, You have Par titularly spoken of the desolating power of your log range ; if so, how did you obt a i n a p roo f o f i t ? car tain arner in reply, stated that he had tried it la Hainault forest. and on the Blom islands, where there , were no buildings, but where the power of the instru ment shivered several tons of rock. Now other p e rsons could produce as great effects as this. There were meet chemical compounds that produced the most violent et" fects, yet might be handled with perfect safety ; but the question was, whether it could be applied under diflietl' i : circumstances, and wheth er they cou ld b e app li e d wit t safety by the 'persons using them. We therefore do he see such advantage in blowing a vessel into t he air, others can do th a t. S o muc h •f or t h e in visible shell. But, above all, they had a curiosity to see the effects of the long range—a projectile able 10 destroy fort and towns. If they attached a shell to the tail of a kite, or to a balloon, that would be of no ininer; tance—there was no ingenuity in that. If they propose' to convey it in this manner, and drop it into a fortress s..'that would be useless, for it would be impossible so te do. But could th e y p ro j ec t i t to t h e same distance ? Les them show that that was possible. However the exper ments came to an untimely end, and before he closed the :Commission, his Gallant Friend (Sir Byam Martin), ea" pressed a wish that he might never be asked to try sul d, more experiments, and that if he were asked he shot'. "positively decline. A debate subsequently took place la that House, and Captain Warner published a letter on the subject, not very complimentary to the Governmen t or to the Committee. But that was no reason why be should not have a fair opportanity of trying his expert" meats. On hearing, th ere f ore , t h at Captain Warnerr, wr, dissatisfied with th e course ta k en, I wrote again to S' George Murray, stating that I understood Captain War, ner was really desirous that the experiment should fairly tried, and requesting him to confer with the Fir s Lord of the Admiralty as to the selection of two other officers, not of equal rank with Sir Byam Martin and Sir Howard Douglas, but o f un bl em i s h e d character, e.u., having every qualification to enable them to judge. Out ,°' Commission Captain Wa r n er w i s h e d to h ave a no mine e of his own placed, b u t thi s th e G overnment dec l i ne°. The Commission, on the other hand, wrote to Capta in Warner that the Government were willing to bear LI expense, but proposed th a t one o f t h e C ommiss i on s h o uld be on board the steam-boat employed by Capta in Warner; but to this Captain W arner pos i t i ve ly ev jected. They said they could not form a satisfacto r f t judgment unless th e y were on b oar d t h e steamer; buo• still they would wai ve th a t o bj ect i on, an d they cal l e d °/ him for an estimate of the expense to be incurred. said before I would not enter into a blind engagement to .. pay hundreds of tho usan d s o f poun d s; a ll we we pt . was, that the Commi ss i oners s h ou ld watc h the mode '1- which Captain Warner proceeded, and to report there' suit of their observations to the Government. 130118 ~, the first instance, we w a nt e d t o h ave an est i mate o f expense necessary for the exp e ri men t, an d a l etter i'/'" .„, written to Captain Warner for an estimate of the ex pense. Captain W arner replied that he would WO' 2,6371. for the invisible 'shell, and 2,4701. for the long range, making a sum of 5,1071 altogether. Our wish was to see the experiment with the long range, and w e , said we did not mind th e i nv i s ibl e shell, but we wishe`: to have the long ra n g e t r i e d, a f ter what had been state;; as having been done at St. Vallery Bay, Hainau: forest; and the, Mom Island. We pr o p ose d to him 6001 in the first instance, and then to watch the i progress of the ex p er i ment . C apta i n Warner o bj e cts, to this, saying that 5001. was not enoug h but still P a would consent to try the experiment for' that sum, a n try to make up the remaining sum, which would be O; cessary, from amongst his friends. After a certai n period, he intimated that it was impossible to aim ti the experiment, a s h e cou ld not find friends who 'Wew d bear . the remaining expense. Thus the matter close without any experimen t , and the relation s b etwee n.tb , a j Government and Capt a i n W arner ceased. We depee'rtf; from the ordinary rule in this instance of advareciiiru't'L public the lon money to try thi s experiment. :I!4;e,wzorteo have g range tried first ; a n d I do not think 'f would be consistent with the dusty imposed on ,u s _ () guarding the public p uree l i ga i nst all unneccessarl,' n- e ,. pense, we were to enter into enga gements f or advtw, - ; in; a con s id era bl e sum—l will not say 400,0004 200,0001. or 30 0,000/.—depending upon a contingeal which could not be foreseen.—(Hear, hear.) Laa t e , opinion that the T reasury, and all the other dept pe-L, ments, have acted w ith t h e greatest fairness and li`co rality towards Captain Warner ; and I hope the flit will be of the same op i n i on. I must say that notb,"'l „ will induce me , f rom t h e experience which I have ha with regard to inventors, and in respect to Capt. Walt er to consent to enter into an engagement to pay 400,0001., or 100,000/., u p on a certa i n - vessel being ".1, stoyed.—(Hear, h ear .) I will first know the mode,l which it is destroyed. I will know the value of the dig covey) , by which it is destroyed, and the power of P" venting the use of it by others—all these effects I W , know before I co nsen t, on t h e part of the public, thavis large 'sum of m one y b e a d vanced ; and I hope that House will not sanction a departure from that prineiP t „ seeing the importance which every inventor attachesAs his own invention, and that on every hand densa_ a % would be made on th e pu bli c money on similar groev-0 (Hear, hear.) B e f ore I s i t d own I must refer to ees' additional *eviden ce i n this matter. In answer to a queer Lion which h a d b een put to Capt. Warner as to whe"'-we ordinary ships would answer his purpose, or whether i d would require a c er t a i n 'd escr i pt i on of vessels, he se that ther e s h ou ld b e vessels fitted for • purpose in every fleet." They said, " T : o e" you prop ose to i nstruct persons in the r ° ,„*" ke rials you p ropose to employ ? • This will L _ w - b e the secret know n ; an d h ow many persons will i n s c ha t necessary to empl o y i n eac h fleet?" He said " one man in the fleet should be in the secret." Thus - 0 Government would lose the secret unless they ges 400,000/. to every p erson w h o b ecame acquainted rot it, unless Captain Warner could Suggest some neoe n ir keeping it.secret which did not occur to the Corate er , sioners. This had been signified to Captain Wa ru t se and he replied that no person need know it but ex ,) Prime Minister an d one manufacturer.—(Laug h Now I protest agai ns t b e i ng i n t h e secret with set is —(Laughter.) I don't think the secret could If it worse hands than in those of the Prime Minister. be became necessary to prevent other Powers frote coming aware of it, and converting it to hostile P o r o t poses, and th a t it was a sine qua non that the s en at should be entrusted to somebody, he the n : y ea that that respon s ibili ty ought not to be tbribat on the Prime Minister. To the objection to rer another would di vu l ge the secret, Captain "-Of said he did not think any Englishman would ( Ito* such thing. Th ey repl i ed. " You are an .English' and you want t o se ll i t ." Ile said. " I want to niToble the secret t o m y c o untry. " I am sorry that let jot° Friend has imposed on me the necessity of entering / or. ' these details, I think we have not treated Captaia r, haff ner's discovery w ith out d ue respect and regard. 4044 entered into all th ese d eta il s for the purpose of su i butio that the Hous e o f C ommons i s not the proper tr for trying this matter, and that it should not be ev o ut. tuted into a court o f appeal from the Govern` with Captain Warner or hi s o ff ers h ave not b een treated or disrespect, and I t hi n k t h e H ouse will see, from bee respondence which has p asse d, t h at Captain' Weriliebretiug had the fullest opp or t un i ty g i ven to h i m o f ell CO I ' • his " invisibl e s h e ll" an d " long range, " and of the Warner has failed to do so, it is not the feu' t ot b e Government or of the Commission—the fault to ot4 ascribed to Capt. Warner, who failed to perfora l ' he had undertaken.—(Heate hear.) o ureb l : Mr. COWPER sa id t h at the Right 11 ° b ,s th Gentleman had clearly sho wn t o t h e House t h at re' present Government had performed its duty_rooeu* gard to this matter.--(Hear, hear.) The Go vern s the had done all that lay in their power in ord! r w i s eed t ° experiment might be fairly tried. He ou l i o f any" say that the late Government were not guilty °f rs glect on their part, for that when Captain WrNohi Via' his proposition to Lord Melbourne, the .iian ought r count said it was not a matter in which a ei vt 4 l Warn e to be called to decide, and he referred Caet o . to 0 0 ",,,." to Adtniral Sir W. Parker, who was unwil_t P ,:i se iour. mine into the question himself, and he got V_..e inqu b ' e .. l " have another Lord of the Admiralty with ' l e i l l6, o ° °l ' into the matter. Captain Warner required cos epe_ . , fore he proceeded with his test, and ( o .' l l T e easo r i remarked, Capt. Warner preferred going to tLlu rds , rather than to the Admiralty or Ordnance . ues tio_uf e that he always treated the subject mo re as ter. money than as gciglitific