The Sun. — London, England, 1836-03-19 00:00:00

lIVIPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, Mencil 18. ROYAL ASSENT. The LORD CHANCELLOR, the Earl Of SHAFTESBURY, and Lord LYNDHURST took their seats at a few minutes after four o'clock, as Commissioners, for the purpose of giving the Royal Assent to several Bills. _ The SPEAKER, accompanied by several Members, having appeared at the Bar, the Royal Assent was given in the usual form to the following Bills :—The Slave Compensation AmenJment Bill, the Capital Punishment (letter stealing) Abolition Bill, the Reading Union Gas Bill, the Hardwick (Cambridge) Enclosure Bill, and one or two other private Bills. The House then adjourned during pleasure. The Lose CHANCELLOR took his scat on the Woolsack a few minutes before five o'clock. AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS. Lord BR A Y BRO OK presented a petition from the county of Berks, signed by 1,680 persons ; also a petition from Far ,ringdon, in the same county ; and several petitions from pa rishes in - the county of Essex, on the subject of agricultural distress. The Noble Lord expressed his cuncurrence in the prayer of the petition, and moved that it be referred to the Committee. ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS CONSOLIDATION BILL. Lord FALMOUTH presented petitions from Halston and St. Ives against the probate clause in this Bill. Lord WH A RNCL I FFE presented a petition from Knares borough, Yorkshire, on the same subject. MESSAGE TO THE COMMONS. The Marquis of L ANSDOWNE moved that a Message be sent to the House of Commons, requesting that they would be pleased to furnish their Lordships with a copy of a Report of the Committee on Railways, and the rules adopted in consequence of that Report. He (Lord Lansdowne) beg ged to recall to the minds of their Lordships a conversation which had taken place on the subject of Railways a few evenings ago, upon which occasion he stated that the capital required for the works in progress would amount to about forty millions sterling. The estimates for the works in actual operation amounted to twenty-eight millions. Now it was most important that the principle should be regulated on which this expenditure should take place, and with that view the House of Commons had taken salutary measures, and adopted certain rules, which would be found most beneficial to their Lordships. No less than 19 Committees were now engaged in investigat ing the subject. The great object of the enquiry was to as certain whether the benefit which the public was to derive from the projected works would be commensurate with the indivi dual sacrifices which must necessarily be required. It had been suggested that a deposit of a certain portion of capital should be required before bills should be entertained. This was a subject well worthy of consideration, but he thought it would be unjust to apply the ,principle to Bills at present before Parliament, as the parties had incurred heavy expenses on the faith of the Standing. Orders.--( Hear, hear.) The Earl of RIPON cordially agreed with what had fallen from his Noble Friend who bad just sat down. There were two classes of persons whom he thought the House' was bound to protect • the first was those persons who were led into schemes of this sort without knowing any thing of them, without knowing any thing of the line the Railroad was to take, and who consented to risk their money in schemes, the real valise of which they knew nothing about. The other class of persons were those to whom his Noble Friend had alluded, and who were treated with very little respect by the Railway Companies, namely, those individuals whose property they wanted, and which they said they must take in order to execute their projects. The course that the com panies took in some places was tyrannical. (Hear, hear, hear.) Individual property in some cases would have to give way to public good, but it ought to be proved that the security really existed for its destruction before the proprietor was de prived of it. The motion was then agreed to. MR. BUCKINGHAM'S CLAIMS. Lord HOLLAND presented a petition from Manchester, praying that compensation might be made to Mr. Buckingham, AFFAIRS OF SPAIN. The Earl of ABERDEEN rose to call the attention of the Noble Viscount opposite to a subject, for introducing which he thought he need not offer any apology. No man could have looked at the contest now going on in Spain, and have duly marked its progress without being moved by the impulse of those fcelirgs which were common to our nature, and every man was bound to bring the attention of the House to the matter, when lie believed that the character of the country and the honour of the King's Government were dee,ily interested.—( Hear, hear.) I was not his intention to enter into any detail of the conduct and policy of his Majesty's Government, in the course they had pursued from their relation with the Spanish Government, and their connection with the contest that , was at present going on.—( Hear, hear.) He did not enter into the discussion of the question with any feelings of partizanship ; I:e did not rise for the pur p,,Ae th:it grourd of blaming his Majesty's Ministers. He had nothing to do with Don Carlos ; he had no sympathy with his cause or party. He made no objection to the conduct of his Majesty's Government, in having recog nised the legitimacy of the Queen's Government, and in having established feelings of relationship with them.— ( Cheers.) He knew that a treaty of alliance had been con cluded with the Government; and although lie was prepared to repeat what he had before expressed, the the strongest condemnation of the policy of the treaty still he was the List man who would recommenc that any treaty ratified by the King, to which the good faith of his 31..jestv was pledged, should net be faithfully kept.—( Hear, hear.) flit reason for making this motion teas . because the country was spec ifi ca ll y and virtually participating in a cause and system of warfare which had been disgraced atrocities unheard of in any history. —(Cheers.) It was remarkable, from thq very commencement of the contest, that it had been carried on under circumstances of peculiar atrocity, and things had gone on in this way for sonic time; an attempt had been made, and most humanely, by his friend the Noble Duke ( Wellington) tt.>arrest the progress of these excesses, by establishing a regular exchange of prisoners. That attempt met with 'the bi ,, host success. But where was that convention now? It was trodden under foot, scattered to the winds, and wholly unacted upon. Ile would not trouble and distress their Lordships with any recital of the various e xcesses that had been committed during the past year ; but they had crone on increasing, until at last they appeared to have arrived at the acme of atrocity. He would only allude to an event which he had recently seen detailed in the public papers. He referred to a relation of the murder of -an unfortunate the mother of a partizan of one of these parties. It appeared that a partizan of Don Carlos, named Cabrera, had been guilty of various excesses—what they were he did not exactly know, as they were not detailed among those with which he had been furnished, but he dared to say they were bad enough. The Commandant of the province not being able to get this person into his power ordered the execution, or rather the assassination of his unfortunate mother, an old woman who was entirely helpless. The individual to whom this order was directed appeared to have had some touch of humanity in his ccmposition— rind he referred for instructions to the Captain-General of the province. Ile had accordingly referred to that quarter for his instructions—they arrived without delay—he had positive orders to put the unfortunate woman to death. It was a cir cumstance almost past belief—it was a circumstance unparal leled in the history of warfare—nay, he (the Earl of Aber deen) doubted whether any thint , quite so shocking to ever y feeling of human nature had been' perpetrated even in the horrible excesses of the French Revolution.—( Hear, hear.) It was the cold-blooled, deliberate act of the highest autho rity in the country—The Chief in command for the Queen — the Captain-General of the province—a man, too, who had been received on board of his Majesty's ships—those sanctua ries of courage, humanity, and true feeling—with almost re gal honours—( Hear, hear)—General Mina. He would ask their Lordships if such an act as that did not deserve to be met with an involuntary shudder of loathing and detestation of the actors ? The son of that unfortunate mother, goaded by the murder of his aged parent, resorted to retaliation. He accordingly put to death four ladies, the wives of Spanish officers in the service of the Queen, and further declared that, as the commandant had issued orders to put to death five persons for every one taken by him with arms in his hands, he should murder twenty for each individual so slain. But enough of these horrible details. He (the Earl of Aberdeen) wished to point out to the House how far this country•was concerned in these atrocities, and to what extent its character was compromised by them. There was a treaty in existence which bound this country to the performance of variods conditions—the Treaty of Quadruple Alliance. By that treaty England was hound to furnish the Spanish Govern ment vtith arms, ammunition, and ordnance stores of various descriptions. It had been executed hitherto by the country with no measured hand ; he believed that we had supplied arms for more troops than the Queen of Spain had altogether in her service ; and upwards of 400,000/. worth of various supplies had been furnished the Spanish Government. Now it never could have been intended by this country that these supplies should be furnished the Queen's forces for the pur pose of carrying on any other than the legitimate species of warfare which was known and practised among all civilized na tions ; and therefore nothing but ignorance could excuse the circumstance of their being furnished at all. If, however, his Majesty's Government had known anything of the facts of the contest—if it was aware of the sanguinary and ferocious na ture of the warfare—then it rendered itself not alone respon sible for furnishing arms to such monsters, but for the mode in which they were used by them. There was another reason besides this why this country should manifest and feel a strong degree of interest in the contest, and all the circumstances connected with its progress. A numerous band of adventurers, organized and recruited under the protection and with the countenance of the King's Government, by means of a law suspend e d especially for those purposes, had entered into the service of the Queen of Spain, and engaged themselves in the horribl e warfare carried on in that country. He did not mean to canvass the motive, which led the great majority of these men to t a k e t h at step ' . He did no t seek to divine the causes which actuated them on that occasion; it might be a love of adventure—h e b e li eved it to be so many cases—a desire• - prnikting ; but th e want of food was, he imagined, the Mestta,Ctire Ili urging them on. But it could not be forgotten that, they were our countrymen, entitled to our attention and oldassistance;-:aitAit should be remembered that they were • . , peculiar/3r deservini, of our sympathy in the horrible system of Avadaric•Wilich thetwere fighting on. I t was the duty of his majeitir , 'Qoverliment to protect, as far as it was possible for ifiern, to, do - 4 0 . 7 ,:digse unhappy individuals. Another reason whY- - ,:E4glarid 's/Nlbld interpose promptly and effectively in that fefficiaiis, qulrrel—(Hear, hear)—he should leave their Lordahips What sort of education were these men receitis r shat sanguinary army ? Was it like that which British troops usually received in foreign warfare, or was it one which would have the effect of sending them back to this country when their term of service had expired, or their assis tance was no longer wanted, brutalised to a degree which no war engaged in by this country or heard of in any other ever could have effected ? ( Hear, hear.) Unaccustomed as the people of England were to armies and armed men, it was quite obvious that whenever these persons returned to this country they would necessarily become objects of the most serious attention to its inhabitants. What was the ob• ject which induced his Majesty's Government to facilitate the engagement of these persons in that destructive war fare? Were they of such a magnitude as to warrant their so licitude ? There was absolutely nothing in connection with the subject which could at all justify his Majesty's Government in suspending the law, and taking the part they did in such an atrocious war.—( Hear, hear.) It had been said that the Go vernment were justified in permitting these persons to take part in that contest, because that there were some circum stances in the history of this country which presented an analogous case. He (the Earl of Aberdeen) in the first place denied the analogy ; and, in the second, he would assert, that even if there was it would be a precedent " more honoured in the breach than in the observance." He was most anxious to hear what the Noble Viscount opposite had done to modify the character of that contest. The House would credit him, he believed, when he saidthat it was at once in the power of the Noble Viscount and the Government to give another character altogether to it. If the Noble Viscount chose to say, " I shall revoke the Order in Councl which affords you supplies ; his Majesty will recall his subjects from your service ; and nothing shall be furnished you from this country, except what is ab solutely necessary to comply with the conditions of the Qua druple Treaty, unless you at once change your system of war fare, carry on your contest in a legitimate manner, and fight no longer like tigers and hyenas, but like human beings and civilized men"—if the Noble Viscount had made that declara tion of his intentions, would it have no effect ? It was idle to suppose for a moment that the Spanish Government would hesitate a minute in acceding to his wishes. But if such a sup position were within the compass of possibility, and that the Noble Viscount did not find it in his power to deal with such barbarity as he could desire, he had only to come out from among them—(Hear, hear, hear)—to dissolve all connection with them whatever.—( Hear, hear.) Nothing could justify a continuance of our connection with such barbarians. The Noble Earl then moved for copies or extracts of all corre spondence which had taken place between his Majesty's Government and his Majesty's Minister at Madrid, showing the endeavours which had been made by his Majesty's Gc s. vernment to mitigate the sanguinary character of the war in' the northern provinces of Spain, and the remonstrances which had been addressed to the Government of her Catholic Ma jesty on the subject. Viscount MELBOURNE entirely concurred in all the ' horror manifested by the Noble Earl on the subject of the atrocities perpetrated in the contest for the Spanish Crown, and in the reprobation which he had bestowed upon the cha racter of the struggle. But he should remind the House that in cases of horror imagination is apt to accumulate, and that exaggeration was very often a very active agent. He believed it to be so in the case of the Noble Lord ; he conceived the Noble Lord to have involuntarily exaggerated when he said the atrocities of this war had no parallel in history. He (Vis count Melbourne) believed that no war had ever been carried on in Spain which was not of a sanguinary character. The brightest pages in her annals were deeply tarnished with blood. Even the war in which the Noble Duke opposite had taken such a prominent part was marked in its commence ment with excesses—accompanied in its progress by horror. His Noble Friend had begun his speech by saying that he would not condemn his Majesty's Government for following up the Quadruple treaty ; that he would not dispute that they had acted properly on the occasion ; that he would offer no objection to the course they had taken in compliance with it ; but he (Viscount Melbourne) thought his Noble Friend had departed, from that declaration by the censure which he cast on the policy which dictated the Order in Council of last year. A whole year had been passed since that Order had been made and since it had been in active operation. The Noble Earl had stated that he was opposed to it. Why did he not bring it before their Lordships in all that time ? He (Vis count Melbourne) would say that it was not fair to the Go vernment to lay, as it were, a trap for them ; that it was not fair to the Crown, that it was not fair to the country, to let such a matter rest so long, if the Noble Earl believed the po licy which dictated it to be of such a pernicious tendency. It was the duty of the Noble Earl to come forward at once, and, by exposing it, avert the evil which he might believe it threatened. He (Viscount Melbourne) would repeat that it was not fair to the Government, fair to the Crown, or fair to the country, to wait until a measure which was believed by the Noble Earl to be bad had been tried, and then to come forward and oppose it, when it was found not to be quite successful. The most erroneous line of policy which could be adopted was better, if firmly adhered to, than the best, if it were subject to fluctuation. It was worse than the worst species of demo cracy to lie a long. time in wait for a Government to commit a fault, and then come open-mouthed on them in condemnation of it. The Noble Earl had said that an attempt had been made by the Noble Duke near him to put an end to the horrors of the system of warfare in Spain ; and that that attempt had been successful in a certain degree, and would be more so but for his Majesty's Ministers. He had charged the Government with the failure of the convention in consequence of their conduct ; • and stated that it was entirely owing. to them that it was trodden under foot. The Noble Earl, however, could have hardly meant to insinuate that the policy of his Majesty's Govern ment in permitting those people to sail from this country to Spain, engaging themselves in the service of the Queen, had originated the decree of Don Carlos, which was the first viola tion of the convention. The Noble Earl had assumed that the convention was a failure ; the Noble Earl was mistaken. He ( Viscount Melbourne) could assure him that it was no such thing, that it had not failed, that it was in full force, that exchanges of prisoners were still made under its provisions, and that the atrocities which he so much condemned had not been at all committed on the theatre of warfare to which it more particularly referred, but in Catalonia. He would beg leave to say that -the convention had not failed in its object. He believed that much good bad been effected by it, and that many lives had been saved under its provisions. The Noble Earl opposite had stated, very cor rectly, the facts of the case—facts which had attracted the attention and exhibited the feeling of their Lordships in com mon with all mankind, and which the Noble Earl allowed to be the immediate cause of his motion. The Noble Earl had stated that Nogueras had directed the Governor of the city cf . Tolosa to seize the mother of Cabrera, who resided in that city. The Governor at first refused to obey the order, but re ference was made to Mina, who directed it to be carried into execution, and the unfortunate lady was shot. Cabrera, as soon as he heard of the death of his mother, directed four wives of officers serving in the Queen's army and thirty others to be shot. The moment this news was received his Noble Friend (Lord Palmerston) wrote to the Prime Minister of the Queen of Spain, expressing the utmost indignation, and de manding the most prompt inquiry and satisfaction.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. Villiers, the English Ambassador at Madrid did not wait to receive any instruction from his Government, but he at once waited upon the Prime Minister, and demanded satisfaction for these horrible atrocities. Nogueras, it had bpen ascertained, bad since been deprived of his command, and an inquiry instituted into the whole of his conduct. Some observations had been made as to the manner in which Gene ral Mina was received on board one of his Majesty's ships. He ( Viscount Melbourne) thought that the honours he re ceived were merely paid to the office he held, and it was hardly to be expected that the officers of a ship were bound to consider the character and reputation of a man who was about to come on board their ship. His Noble Friend condemned the policy of the Government in permitting British subjects to volunteer into the service of the Queen of Spain. This po licy he (Viscount Melbourne) was most decidedly prepared to support. It was unfortunate that there should be wars at all ; but wars were necessary, and if wars were being waged in other parts of the world, no obstacle he conceived should be thrown in the way of those who were desirous of engaging in war, and who were desirous of learning that which was merely a practical art. What education, he would ask, did soldiers generally receive 2—( Hear, hear.) War was a hard and cruel mistress, and those who were subject to her sway naturally partook of her character and disposition. Now, these men would only receive the education that all soldiers received, or at least would receive under similar circum stances ; and as to the apprehension entertained against their return into the bosom of the community, he conceived that to be utterly fanciful and visionary. He did not intend to say much more on this subject. It might very well be supposed, from the character of soldiers, and the acts to which they were accustomed, that their previous habits were not likely to render them very peaceful members of the community— ( Hear, hear)—but in practice this was not found to be the case • for experience proved that soldiers could return t o the habits of civil life just as readily as those who had never been engaged in warfare. He could only repeat, that no ex ertion had been wanted to discourage these horrible atrocities, which he (Viscount Melbourne) viewed with horror and de testation ; and he would say that he had no objection whatever to accede to the motion of the Noble Earl ; but at the same time he would state to the House that, as many of these pa pers had passed in private correspondence, they would not be, in all probability, as large, full, or numerous as might be ex pected. He would also assure the House that no opportunity of interfering; either generally or singly, as circumstances should require, would be omitted. In making this statement, he desired most distinctly to be understood that be did not in tend to cast any peculiar reproach upon the Spanish Govern ment, nor in any manner to imply that more of these atrocities had been committed by the one side than by the other ; but as far as he had information he believed that they had been commenced —and he did not wish to palliate them—by the partisans of Don Carlos. The massacre at Barcelona was said to have been produced by an act of the most horrible atrocity ; but as this merelythat aatobjectionfacttheire wellst Lordships red ot rh d sef o o h n upi npr r od e s dpoe founded. e t t , ri heoelin alle o shouldhfaagreed els already e n d a o pda t ays state d, t h i at t hen t ad o tp rh t ho h epe e r had e trustedHa t dy o u no s o e f maintaining m hesitation z e e t freedom heisne h andorrocon curringr s the , windepewith ndence the _ disgraced b o le f tEh SpainEarl r the world bad o s r tn l i t og l in which they were committed.ll ear, h ar ) I p i a 'fi r t aon o rd i The Duke of WELLINGTON rose and said, my e Lords,: I am one of those who have invariably objected to these subjects being brought under discussion in this House. I refrained myself from proceeding upon a notice which I gave in the last session of Parliament on the subject of this very contest. My Lords, I little expected that my Noble Friend and myself should have been reproached for having refrained from bring.. ind forward the subject—( Hear, hear) —that we should be told that we have been almost guilty of an offence" in having refrained from bringing the subject under discussion in this House.--(Hear, hear.) My Lords, I will tell your Lordships fairly why we refrained. First of all, I will say . I fully acquit the Noble Lords of any intention whatever to give any encou- THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1836. ragement to these atrocities. I believe that they dislike them as much as we do, and that they are as much as tonished at them as we are. On this ground, therefore, I say I should have continued to refrain from this discus sion were it not for the atrocious acts brought forward by my Noble Friend on this occasion, and which alone induces me now to present myself to the attention of the House. The other reason which induced me to refrain from the discussion was on account of the position of public affairs in general. It was likewise on account of the want of public feeling on this subject, and likewise because I did not wish to have it believed abroad, that there was in this country any difference of opinion between the two sides of the House in respect to the description of the manner of carrying on the war.—( Hear, hear.) My Lords, for all these reasons, I pressed upon the House last session the necessity of not proceeding with a dis cussion which had been commenced. I have since requested my Noble Friend not to bring forward the subject, and most undoubtedly I should have prevailed with my Noble Friend not to give notice of this motion had it not been to bring these acts under the attention of the House.—( Hear, hear.) My Lords, the Noble Lord accuses us of having refrained heretofore from bringing forward these matters, a nd of having brought them forward now as a charge against the Noble Lord, we having omitted to do so when we had the opportunity on a former occasion. Begging the Noble Lord's pardon, I can not accuse myself of any offence in having omitted to state my opinion on that occasion. My Lords, I must say,' the Noble Lord has placed himself and his Government in an awkward position, if he supposes that when he sent out to Spain this body of British troops, he conceived it was at all possible to do so without violating that convention which was only concluded a short time before those troops went out. My Lords, the very circumstance of sending out a body of troops the Noble Lord must know could not do otherwise than deprive us for ever of all power and influence at the Councils of that Prince —( Hear, hear)—with whom we took such pains to prevail upon to adopt the convention. One of the immediate results of sending out those troops was, that the cartel could not be carried into effect. These troops were positively not included in the cartel when they arrived out ; and if this Prince had admitted them into the cartel, he would 'nave made a conces sion for the purpose of extending to them the humane pro visions of the convention. But, my Lords, I say the most se rious feature in the case is, that by sending a body of troops to Spain, his Majesty was made a party to this war—( Hear, hear, hear)--and that by that act we lost all influence with the councils of Don Carlos, either for the purpose of humanising the character of the war, or for any other purpose for which it might be necessary for us to resort to them. This, my Lords, I say, is the most important part of the case, and the part to which the Noble Viscount gives no answer. The next point now is, with respect to the manner in which this war is car ried on. Nov, my Lords, I shall admit that it might be ne cessary to carry on the war, notwithstanding that it is carried on in an inhuman, manner, and I must admit that I was a party to sending out arms and munitions of war to this very country previous to the conclusion of the cartel.—( Hear.) My Lords, I was a party to this ; but the Noble Lord sends out this body of men—for what purpose? Is it, my Lords, to aid in the operations of the war ? Why, let me ask, have they been of any use in the operations of the war ?—have they done any one thing- since they have been out ?—have they been of any use to any party whatever ?—( Hear, hear.) No, my Lords. What they have done is this : they have deprived the Go vernment of the respect it had acquired previously, and the influence it might have exercised over the councils of the two belligerent parties. My Lords, I have considered it my duty to protest against any liability or blame attaching to any party with respect to the twenty-seven Carlist prisoners, who were certainly taken under peculiar circumstances. At the same time there can be no doubt that, under the law of nations, the Queen of Spain had a right to take those persons out of the ship. Therefore, laying aside all other considerations, there could be no doubt but that those prisoners were legally in the possession of the Queen. My Lords, I know it has been said that the cartel ought to have been extended to them, and that the Noble Lord ought to have forced this on the consideration of the Queen's Govern ment. Now, my Lords, I must beg to remind those who use this argument that, in point of fact, the cartel did not extend to these prisoners. My Lords, all that I can say in addition on this subject is, that these persons ought to be fairly , tried, and dealt with accordi ng t o th e l aw o f t h e country ; but as to bringing them under the cartel, that is utterly impossible. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said that on the sub ject of the 27 Carlist prisoners, all that had transpired since the 24th of February last only contributed to confirm the ori ginal view he took of the subject. He now felt convinced that those parties would soon be restored to liberty, and he was glad to perceive that a Noble Lord's despatch, dated the 10th of 'tlarch, contained a recommendation to that effect. The motion was then agreed to, and their Lordships ad. journed. HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARcn 18. The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. LONDON GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY. Mr. HUM E presented a petition, signed by 1,700 persons, resident near London, in favour of the London Grand Junction Railway. Alderman 'WOOD presented a petition, numerously signed by merchants and others, inhabitants of London, in favour of the same Bill. GLASGOW PORT BILL. On t 1 1 ,2. motion of the LORD ADVOCATE, this Bill was read a second time. NORTH MIDLAND RAILWAY. Sir M. W. RIDLEY presented a petition from certain trustees of turnpike roads against certain clauses of the North Midland Railway Bill; also a petition from the parish of St. Pancras against the St. Pancras Consolidation Bill. LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY. Lord G. LENNOX gave notice of his intention to move that the Committee on this Bill be empowered to present certain portions of the evidence, at the expense of the parties interested. The Hon. Member also presented a petition from an individual against Rennie's line, and praying to be heard by Counsel against it. CHESTER AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY. Mr. TO presentep a tedition from Stockport against the Chester and Manchester R;ilway Bill. MESSAGE FROM THE LORDS. • Mr. Pulman, the yeoman usher of the Black Rod, appeared at the bar, and summoned the Speaker, and the House of Commons, to hear the Royal Assent given by commission to several bills. The SPEAKER, accompanied by several Members, imme diately quitted the House. Mr. TOOKE presented a petition from the Pavin g Com missioners of St. Pancras against the St. Pancras Paving Bill, and one to the same effect from the inhabitants of the Skhiners' Estate. The Sheriffs of London appeared at the Bar, and presented a petition from the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council against the London and Blackwall Railway. They also presented one from the same parties against the Commer cial Railway to Blackwall. METROPOLITAN HORSE-FERRY SUSPENSION BRIDGE. Mr. TENNYSON D'EYNCOURT moved the second reading of this Bill. Mr. TO OKE moved that the Bill be read a second time this day six months. That was the fourth time the Bill had been brought before the House; it had always either been defeated or fallen to the ground. It was wholly uncalled for, as the proposed bridge would be only 5100 yards off Vauxhall, and 800 from Westminster, Bridges. Surely the House had enough of Bills before them, without being occupied with one which was totally useless. He made his motion in mercy to the people who were ready to throw away their money, not being deterred by the state of the finances of the adjoining bridges. Mr. H UME had never before heard such a reason given for opposing a Bill as the one just advanced; the people were able enough to take care of their own pockets. By the pro posed bridge, any Hon. Member who wished to cross to any part between the two bridges, would save a mile. It ought to be remembered that a ferry had existed for ages in the place which was proposed for the bridge. It would be a great object for the people of Westminster and of Lambeth, and as it would be put up at very little cost by the greatest power we had, the power of suspension— ( Laughter)—Now that the joke was over he would proceed. Lie thought the Bill ought to go into Committee, as it held out the greatest facilities for improvements. Mr. WILKES hoped the House would not accede to the second reading of the Bill, for in his opinion a more unneces sary measure never was brought forward. It was evident to his mind that the Bill was only brought forward for the pur pose of certain individuals. Mr. HAWES should not nave said one word had he not just had a petition put into his hand from certain watermen against the Bill. He h a d no t th e slightest objection to the Bill, but at the same time he hoped the case of 'these watermen would be taken into consideration. thing . Sir THOS. FREMANTLE saw no reas on to prevent h fo ui r g th in the Bill proceeding in the usual way ; there was one favour greatly of the Bill—there would be no expen se approaches. Mr. H. HUGHES was surprised to hear it said that no reason had been urged against the necessity of th at Bill. g.) Was it not obvious that there was no necessity fo r t h e Bill, when it was considered that it was only 80 0 yards from West minster, and 900 yards from Vauxhall - bridge ?-._( Lau hter It was notorious that the latter bridge had only paid Bs. 6d. per share. Mr. E WART had heard no good reason against the Bill. In his opinion the proximity of the House of Parliament was advantageous rather than otherwise to the Bill. Mr. TENNYSON D'EYNCOURT replied. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw. The House divided, when there appeared— For the Second Reading 126 Against it 76 Majority ----50 HAYLE RAILWAY BILL. On the motion of Mr. PEN DARVE S this Bill was read a second time. MACCLESFIELD SMALL DEBTS' BILL. Lord STANLEY, in rising . to move that this Bill do pass, would do so without saying a single word that could revive the excitement which had been occasioned by this private Bill. Without, therefore, saying a single word more, he would move that the Macclesfield Small Debts' Bill do now pa ss . Mr. HUME having been one of those who objected to any further proceeding with this Bill last night, owed it to hi mse lf and to those who thought with him, to state the grounds upon which he had objected to this Bill. In the first instance, he objected to it because it violated the principle which abolished imprisonment for debt—a principle against which this House had recorded its opinion, and which lie believed it was the in tention of Ministers to carry into effect. He objected also to establishing a law in England, which did not exist in Scot land, but he principally objected to the Bill because the House had not had an opportunity of referring to the Bill, to know to what extent the clauses went. In the situation at which the Bill had now arrived, it was impossible to take any other course except to reject or affirm the Bill. Understand ing that though th e Bill v i o l a t e d the principle to which he had referred, it did so to the least possible extent, and protest ing against being compromised ; as far as it concerned him, and in submission to the general feeling of the House, he was not disposed, after what had taken place, to offer any further opposition to the passing of this Bill. Mr. AGLIONB Y had still objections to this Bill, and would support these objections, if he did not understand that it was impossible to make any alteration in the Bill. He did not intend, therefore, to take the sense of the House upon the question ; but he would concur with his friends near him in the course they had adopted.—(Hear, hear.) He begged to call the attention of the Noble Lord (Stanley), and he hoped he would allow him to do so with a view to have some alteration made in the Bill in another place—he wished that the duration of imprisonment should be limited to seven days. In looking at pages 20 and 21, he found words which he sup posed were to be taken in connection with subsequent parts of the enactment, and he wished the Noble Lord to take care, before the Bill finally passed elsewhere, that the words to which he referred did not interfere with the views of the Com mittee, when they introduced the limitation clause. The words in page 25 were—" except cases herein-after mentioned." Now, it wa.s clearly the intention that the power to the Com missioners should merely extend to seven days ; but on looking to pages 20 and 21, it empowered them to issue their warrant against the goods or body of the debtor, and to com mit him or her to some jail, there to remain until he or she shall hare performed such order, decree, or judgment, as the Commissioners shall make. That might be taken to refer to the performance of the order, not to the seven days after specified ; and he hoped the Noble Lord would take what he had urged into consideration, with a view to prevent any mis interpretation of the Act. After what had fallen from his Hon. Friend the Member for Middlesex, he would not press his opposition to the further progress of the Bill. Lord STANLEY had no hesitation in saying that it was intended to limit the power of the commissioners to seven days imprisonment, except in cases of fraud. He would attend to the suggestion of the Learned Member for Cockermouth. Mr. WARBURTON had no wish to persevere in his op position ; but looking at the Bill he saw a sufficient justifica tion for the course taken by Members on that side of the House last night. It appeared the commissioners were empowered, iu case of a return of nulla bona, when it was found that the debtor had no goods, the creditor might require to have him imprisoned for seven days. Now it was stated by the persons who opposed the abolition of imprisonment for debt, as their chief and indeed he might say their only argu ment, that it tended to procure the possession of the goods ; but in this Bill the principle they were called on to sanc tion was one which would take away every ground of their further arguments ; for imprisonment would only follow when it was ascertained that the debtor had no effects. They then were called on to affirm that the debtor was to be de prived of his liberty, not because of fraud, but because he had no goods. Mr. RICHARDS believed the intention was to refer to cases where there were goods, but concealed by the debtor. Mr. D. W. HARVEY thought it would be difficult to re concile the course taken by that side of the House last night with the present mode of proceeding.—(Cheers from the Op position.) If, last night, they had objected to the Bill because they had not time to inquire into its provisions, he would say that upon looking into them they would be justified in re sisting it still further ; but if they wished to get rid of the motion for the revision of the Pension List, then he thought the country would not believe them to have acted a proper part. —( Opposition cheers.) If he had not known the Member for Middlesex to be a sincere friend to the motion which he (Mr. Harvey) intended to have brought forward, he would suppose that he had received an intimation, not from the Treasury benches, for they would be amongst its most zealous supporters, but from the other side of the House, by some means or by some stratagem by which the intended motion would be deferred. He thought when they read the Bill they would find an ample justification for their anticipations last night when they found that poverty was punished as a crime. These seven days imprisonment were inflicted on the indivi dual, not because he would not, but because he could not pay. After the confession of poverty had been extorted from the miserable pauper—after they had attempted to sell his miserable chattles for St , or fire shillings which he owed and was not able to pay, they turn round upon him, and mock at him and his misery by incarcerating him for seven days. It was a most monstrous proposition, and if there was only one to stand up in that House and oppose it, he (Mr. Harvey) would singly do so. Nothing required more the attention of the House than these private Bills, for he would venture to say that more wrong was inflicted, more invasion of the rights of the poor by one inclosure act, than by all the public acts passed during the session.—( Hear, hear.) These inclosure acts were nothing else than a plunder of the rights of the poor,—( Hear, hear,)— but when it was made a club day, or a party day, no man could stand up in that House and expect to be heard against any measure when the rights of the poor were con cerned. On any ground hip protested against that Bill, and particularly he protested against the monstrous proposition that a man should be incarcerated on account of his poverty. [When the Hon. Member resumed his seat, there were loud cries of "divide" and "question." The House which had been for the last twenty minutes gradually filling, at this mo ment presented a most animated appearance ; all the benches and the space behind the Speaker's chair, and a great portion of the side galleries being, completely filled.] Mr. GORING olyerved (as we understood him) that the party could not be imprisoned until the Commissioners had made an order for the payment of costs. Mr. WARD did not think, after what had passed last night, that this matter would have been pushed any further; f l lef p sNpi oret p oaoi u e i ohlbnn a , nal tdredheehoeddaifd,u(otbroodrerne. previouslya Imprisonment n m vli, t.irea)net t tceh h erodal a egi d t iargbl, filyfi esy t boel l rl opposition tdet e chobtaDehuon elueddßbnpedtiprinciple pihot oettin ,pHdiotil oenpp, ,nypor.h o i n f teis shaecn conscience, last ltßhotAieenhl set eßfor oie n rei Trfnl i nol : thcr hyo h aee ef t :: e given any other vote than that which he had given, and o httGiAwilith n :abeacis t ntoeua he same principle he should now vote against the Bill, if the Noble Lord persisted in dividing the House. Mr. W. CAMPBELL, would certainly vote for the Bill of the Noble Lord, but be trusted the Attorney-General would, without delay, bring in a Bill to abolish Imprisonment for Debt in small as well as in large cases. Only yesterday he had seen a poor man in the prison for Westminster, confined while sick for the paltry sum of ss. Mr. BE NETT had been surprised at what had fallen from the Hon. Member who had just sat down—it was inconsistent. flow any one could support the Bill, entertaining such no ble sentiments as had fallen from the Hon. Member, with respect to imprisonment for small debts, he could not see. He thought the House had come to some very sound conclusions last night, and he for one felt it impossible to vote for the present Bill, as it would be sanctioning a principle against which he had such strong objections as against imprisonment for debt. The Gallery was then cleared ; a division took place, when there appeared-- For the motion that the Bill do pass 203 Against it 56 Majority -147 CLYDE NAVIGATION. Dr. BOWRING presented a petition against the Clyde Navigation Bill ; also one against the Glasgow Port and Navigation Bill. The Bill was one of much importance, and no time had been allowed for its consideration. He trusted the Hon. Member for Glasgow would yet give time to the parties, who w ere muc h i nterested, for consider i ng t h e de tails of a Bill which conferred inordinate power to an irre sponsible body. Mr. BARNARD presented a petition from the Directors of the London and Dover Railway, against the South-Eastern Railway; also one from the Directors of the Gravesend Rail way, to the same effect. Mr. WILKS presented a petition from the trustees of the Regent's Canal, against the Grand Junction Railway. An HON. MEMBER presented a petition from Market Har borough, against the Midland Counties' Railway Bill. GLOUCESTER AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY. Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET brought up the Re port on the Gloucester and Birmingham Railway Bill. LONDON AND BLACKWALL RAILWAY. Mr. BYNG presented a petition against the London and Blackwall Railway Bill, and praying to be heard by Counsel against it. DUNDEE AND ARBROATH RAILWAY. Sir GEORGE CLERK presented a petition against the Dundee and Arbroath Railway Bill. BRISTOL AND EXETER RAILWAY. An HON. MEMBER presented a petition against the Bristol and Exeter Railway Bill. CARLOW ELECTION. Mr. HARDY gave notice that it was his intention to call the attention of the House to the evidence taken before the Select Cemmittee appointed to inquire into the circumstances connected with the terms of an agreement be tween Daniel O'Connell and Alexander Raphael, touching the nomination of the latter gentleman for the representation of the county of Carlow.—(Hear, hear, from Mr. O'Connell.) SHIPWRECKS. Mr. BETHEL gave notice of his intention to move for a Select Committee to inquire into the cause of the frequency of shipwreck on the south-western coast. MILITARY PUNISHMENTS. Lord JOHN RUSSELL having brought up a report on the subject of military punishments, Major FANCOURT said it was his intention to move, in Committee, a resolution for the entire abolition of corporal punishments in the army. SUPPLY. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said—There being no Hou se on Wednesday, and no important business having been proceeded with yesterday, he would move that the dropped Order for a Committee of Supply be now read. Sir ROBERT PEEL thought it would be wrong to esta blish the inconvenient precedent proposed by the Noble Lord of going into a Committee of Supply without previous notice. 'Mondays and Fridays were the order days. Lord J. RUSSELL recollected several cases of dropped orders being brought on in the way which he now proposci to the House. Sir R. PEEL doubted very much if there were several cases in which dropped orders were resumed; certainly not unless by general consent. Mr. D. W. HARVEY had no wish to interfere with the business of the Government, or the arrangements they might have made for the progress of business But he had a motion fur the appointment of a Committee, and unless some arrange ment were made by the Government to enable him to bring it forward, he should the first time the Order of the Day was read, either to go into Committee of Supply, or on the Irish Corporation Bill, move as an amendment the appointment of his Committee. Lord JOHN RUSSELL was ready to meet the motion ; and as the postponement of the motion had proceeded from the cause it had, he certainly had no right to adopt the course which he had just intimated his intention to do. Should the Hon. Gentleman persist in doing so, he ( Lord John Russell) should not make any attempt to prevent the Hon. Member from proceeding with his opening statement ; but lie should feel it his duty, instead of going into the question, to move (as we understood the Noble Lord) the previous question The question was certainly not of such paramount importance as to require precedence of the tithe question and some others, or to be brought forward at this early period of the Session. And certainly the Hon. Member, after giving way upon the same question on a former occasion, need scarcely be so importunate with it now. However, he should endeavour to let the Hon. Member know, in the course of the evening, what course it would be convenient to pursue upon this question, or what day it might be possible to bring it forward. Mr. D. W. HARVEY said, in reference to what had fallen from the NoLle Lord respecting his (Mr. Harvey's) having given way upon this question before, the Noble Lord might certainly have spared the observation, had he called to mind that he had so given way at the earliest solicitation of the Government, of which that Noble Lord was then a member, and which he considered had not then struck root sufficiently deep to withstand the issue of a question upon which there might have been an inconvenient division of opinion.—(Hear, hear.) If the question were again postponed, the Noble Lord might rest assured the blame should not be attributable to him (Mr. Harvey.) REGISTRATION OF VOTERS BILL. In reply to a question from an Hon. Member, the ATTOR NEY-GEN ER AL said that he should, if possible, move the second reading of the Registration of Voters Bill that evening. POOR LAWS (IRELAND.) In reply to a question from Sir R. MUSGRAVE, Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that the report of the Irish Poor Law Commissioners had only just arrived, and he be lieved had not been as yet sent to the Home-office. He could not, therefore, in reply to the Hon. Member's question, state if any Government measure for the relief of the Poor of Ire land would be brought forward this session. But certainly it could not be brought forward before Easter. Mr. WALLACE inquired of the Lord Advocate for Scot land if anything had been done by his Majesty's Government on behalf of the eighteen unfortunate men convicted in Scot land in 1820, of what was called in those times treasonable practices, whose names were as follow :—John Barr, Wil liam Clarkson, James Clelland, Andrew Dawson, Robert Gray, Alexander Hart, Alexander Johnston, Alexander La timer, Thomas M'Cullock, Thomas M'Farlane, John M‘Millan, Benjamin Moir, Allan Murchie, Thomas Pike, William Smith, David Thomson, Andrew White, and James Wright. The LORD ADVOCATE was happy to inform the Hon. Member for Greenock, that his Majesty had been graciously pleased to pardon the whole of these men, and instructions to that effect had been sent out to New South Wales. OCCUPATION OF CRACOW. On the question beingput that the House go into a Commit tee of Supply, Sir STRATFORD CANNING rose and said, that aware as he was that the subject to which lie was about to call the atten tion of the House was one of deep interest to many Hon. Mem bers besides himself, he could not but regret the delay which had taken place in bringing it forward—a delay which had proceeded from unavoidable circumstances which had pre vented him from following up his notice. He was sensible, however, that the interval which had elapsed had brought countervailing advantages. His Noble Friend had had op portunities of receiving communications from his Majesty's representatives abroad--of having communications too with the foreign ambassadors here, and of taking the opinion of the law officers of the Crown upon those parts of the question upon which there were certainly some doubtful points.— ( Hear.) He felt confident, therefore, that his Noble Friend was prepared at all points to enter into the question—going into the real merits of the case. His only object in bringing this question forward was, to show that a free and independent State—for upon however small a scale, it was so—was the subject of a military occupation, attended with circumstances calculated to give rise to suspicion, and which certainly chal lenged inquiry. Nothing could—and he said so in perfect sincerity—give him greater pleasure than that the explana tions of the Noble Lord might be satisfactory to the House ; and that it should appear that our allies of the North had not stepped beyond the limits of a just and necessary duty. The first document to which he would refer, was the note of the plenipotentiary of the three Powers—Austria, Russia, and Prussia—to the President of the Republic of Cracow, dated 9th Feb. That note called upon the President to remove from the territory of Cracow, within eight days, all the Polish fugi tives now there. " Such of the fugitives," it said, "as can prove that one of the Governments has assented to their being admitted, will be provided with the necessary means of proceeding to their destination ; but the others" what did the House,. he should pause to ask, think was the con clusion ?—" but the others will be sent (' transported' was a more appropriate word) to America"—(Hear, hear)—a compliment, by the way, for which that country would no doubt be indebted. The note continued to say, that it would be for the President to apply to the plenipotentiaries, if he should want the support of an armed force to carry the com mand into effect. He then continued :—" So long as the present state of things continues, every subject of th e f ree c ity of Cracow who intends to pass the frontiers of one of the three neighbouring states cannot be admitted without exhibiting a regular passport, signed by the respective residents. The three protecting powers flatter themselves that the required clearin g of the territory of Cracow will, in consequence o f these facilities afforded to the Government of the Republic, be effected without further difficulty. Should they, however, be disappointed in their expectations on this subject, and should the period above fixed pass over without the entire and complete execution of the measures in question, the three Courts will feel themselves b)und to effect by their own means what the Government of Cracow may have wanted the inclination or the power to carry into execution." He should now proceed to the next document, which was the answer of the senate ; from which he should trouble the House with the following extract :—" Immediately on the receipt of the note dated this day, by which the ambassadors of the three pro tecting powers have declared that it was the will of these powers that all Polish refugees, whether military or civil, who in any manner whatever took part in the Polish revolution in 1830 and 1831, who may be within the territories of the free Republic of Cracow, should depart within eight days, and re pair to Podgorze, where they will be informed of their ulterior destination, the senate has hastened to publish the following Proclamation, in order to make known to all persons who may come under the above denomination the intentions of the high protecting powers, and have commanded them at the same time to obey these injunctions without delay, abridging the term of grace by two days. For the rest the Government will neglect no means in its power to carry into effect the will of the supreme powers." Notwithstanding this pro mise on the part of the senate, and a representation of the circumstances of unfortunate difficulty in which those were placed who had been for some years resident in Cracow, and were unable to settle their affairs in so short a period, no additional time was given, and at the expiration of the eight days the troops of the three powers marched beyond the frontier into the capital of the State. He should only direct the attention of the House to a third document, which was a proclamation of the Austrian general,. issued on the 17th of last month. There was, in addition to the giving up of 400 persons under the order of the note to which he had referred, a disbanding of the militia of the state.—(Hear, hear.) Having laid before the House the principal circumstances connected with the occupation of Cracow, lie should call attention to the situation of the state itself. Hon. Members were aware that it was perhaps the smallest upon the map—not larger than a square described on a line from this to Windsor, some four or five hundred square miles in area. For its existence as a free and independent state, he need hardly say it was indebted to treaty, concluded perhaps as a compensation for the ruin of that independence which the powers who were parties to it had failed to secure for Poland.—( Hear, hear.) First, the 6th article of the treaty of Vienna declared Cracow " a free and independent, and strictly independent city." The 9th article of that treaty guaranteed that no armed force could be introduced into the territory of Cracow on any pretext whatsoever. It was true that the same article of the treaty prohibited the city from affording an asylum to deserters, or any subjects of the three protecting powers prosecuted by law. His object in referring to the treaty was to show that the complete independence of Cracow was guaranteed by it, and that every precaution had been taken to prevent it from the invasion of a military force. But it was not alone the external protection of the republic that was guaranteed, but the protecting powers took its internal affairs under their guardianship, for they expressly declared that they would secure the constitution which had been granted to the free state of Cracow. Their protection was extended even further than this, for they promised to secure the youth of the state the advantages of liberal education. This fully proved the paternal interest which the three protecting powers manifested for this offspring of the Congress of Vienna. It would appear by the treaty that the principal powers ac knowledged in principle the re-establishment of the independ ence of the country, but on such a scale that it should not be any loss of territory to themselves. It would appear that they cheerfully entered into the more enlightened views of this country, and offered a sort of moral retribution to the people of Poland.—(Hear, hear.) It was impossible for this House to look at the situation of this small state, without feeling the deepest interest for it.—(Hear, hear.) What was the position of this state—inferior in size as it was--surrounded by three of the greatest military powers in Europe, and having in its con stitution a germ of liberty, while it was encircled with a fron tier of despotism ?—(Cheers.) It was impossible for England, in looking to the relative situation of this power and Russia, not to feel the deepest sympathy for the former.—( Hear, hear.) This was not all, but this country was a party to the treaty by which the independence of Cracow was guaranteed,' and in which We declared that it should have a permanent and separate existence.--( Hear, hear.) He was old enough to remember the state of Europe previous to this treaty being entered into, an d t h e feelings that then prevailed, and he should say that the hopes of Europe, and more especially of this country, were not sufficiently fulfilled by this treaty—. (Hear, hear.) Still, however, the House recognised the treaty, and had admittdd it as part of the engagements im posed on it ; with reference to other countries, it became the duty of the Government to see that its provisions were carried out and strictly fulfilled.—( Hear, hear.) This state was ac knowledged as really independent by this country as well as by the other European Governments, and we were bound to look at all the circumstances of the case and see whether there was any violation of the agreement between Cracow and the surrounding P owe rs, which would justify the int er f erence o f the latter.---( Hear, hear.) This country should regard atten tively the situation of Russia, and the relation we stood in ------- towards that Power. The Government and the Legislature should attenti ve ly lo o k t o the means by which we could best maintain a contest with that Power so as to be alreadY pre pared in case such an unfortunate event takes place.— (-Hear' hear.) This country should not forget attentively to look to the smaller States, which though not apparently large in the' scale of Europe, were still of great importance. In what lie was stating, he did not intend to convey any disrespect to the Government, but he wished to caution them as to their conduct in this respect, and it was only a strong sense of duty which induced him to bring the subject forward. What would other Powers say, if they saw this country neglecting the interests of the smaller States, whose independence We had guaranteed, and allow them to be invaded by their power ful neighbours ?—( Hear, hear.) What would be the feel ings of Sweden and Denmark, as well as other Powers, if this country suffered such proceedings to pass over unno ticed ?—( Hear, hear.) Were we in time of peace to ley the foundation of suspicion in those Powers ?—(Hears hear.) He was satisfied that it was by attending to these circumstances that the encroachments of the greater powers would be prevented. Let any Hon. Gentleman look at the figure Russia made in the map of Europe, extending as it did from the Baltic to the Black Sea, and from the Danube to the frontier of China, in one unbroken line of territory, and con sider of what that great empire was composed. What was the situation of that country in former times, before it was under a settled government, and when the inhabitants were a set of wild hordes, scattered over the country, and living uncomfor tably in an ungenial climate ? At that period these persons had impressed on their minds some vague notions of prophe cies, of their being able to find riches and some pleasant dwel lings in the South, and being urged by ambitious chiefs, they set out, and bore down on the different parts of Europe, de vastating all before them, and for a time checked civiliza tion.--( Hear, hear, hear.) They were then barbarians — they were now under a civilized Government ; but stilt they same national feelings prevailed which operated formerlft and induced them to seek in a more agreeable climate enjoy ments they could not obtain at home. The military events , of the last thirty years had brought the Russian troops into' the more civilized parts of Europe, where they formed habits, and became accustomed to enjoyments, which they could not obtain in their own country, and which made them less de sirous to return.—( Hear.) From what he could gather from the papers that he had seen on this subject, the three Powers justified themselves on the interpretation of the ninth article of the treaty of Vienna, in which it was declared that the state of Cracow should not afford protection to deserters from the three adjoining Powers. He had looked in vain for any cir cumstance which had taken place which would make it appear that they had taken a just view of the case. It was perfectly clear that the State of Cracow was bound to keep out of its territory deserters from the three Powers, or to give them up on demand. The question then arose whether a refusal to do, this went to the extent of allowing the military occupation el the place. He could not admit that a power of this kind should be left to the mercy of the great Powers with which it was surrounded. It had been said by the agents of these great Powers that discord was at its height in the place, but it ap peared from the Gazette published at Cracow, and no doubt more or less - under the authority of the Government, that there was no truth in the statement, and no disturbances had taken place which required the interference of the military. He did not presume that the chief Powers wished to divide the small State of Cracow, but no doubt other reasons ope rated with them. They probably found the neighbourhood a Cracow inconvenient, not from any discord or disturbance that might arise in the place, but because, firstly, the in habitants of that small country were brought into strong contrast with those of the surrounding States.—(Hear, hear.) And secondly, because there was a strong contrast between the situation of the population of this small fragment of Po land and the wretchei condition of the inhabitants, conjoined with the hardships they had to endure, of the neighbouring districts.—( Hear.) He did not wish to indulge in the use d strong language on this or any other occasion, but it was not possible to refrain from doing so on the present occasion.- -- ( Hear.) At a very early period of the proceeding, 400 per sons were marched from Cracow, and given up at the Prussian frontier. Surely all these did not come within the meaning of the provisions of the treaty of Vienna? A great many of them had married citizens of Cracow—had establishments in trade there—or were in the service of the state. It was 'tat to be supposed that such as these were likely persons to con spire against the peace of that or any other country. These were not desert ers or f ug i t i ves assem bl e d f or t h e pur pose °f sowing seditious dissension. But there was another point ° to be considered. A gr ea t man y o f t h e expe ll e d were t o be se outright to America. How was it known that many of these were not our own countrymen ? In such a case as this, t il l question of interposition was not a mere matter of a bstfac sympathy, but they had a right to our protection. Further!: there was reason to believe that these proceedings were not got up at the moment, but were the result of an engagemen t entered into between the three powers so far back as 1833 i; It was upon a matured plan that the late military occupati on of Cracow was founded.—( Hear, hear.) Was notice of th is r pre-determined proceeding officially given to the republic .o to this country ; and if not, what was the reason of the omis sion? As a sincere lover of peace, he wished this matter not to be lost sight of. Nothing was farther from his intention than any desire to embarrass the Ministry in bringing forwar d this subject ; he did so only from a feeling that it was a q ues' tion of very great general importance, and one which naturally presented itself to the attention of Parliament.—( Hear.) Lord PAL ME RSTO N said the independence of Cracow being secured by a treaty to which England was an influential party, any real or aarent violation of that indepe ndence was undoubt e dl y a matter deserving of the grave conside ration the Briti s h Parliament.—( Hear, hear) He might, in tII first pl ace , state that his Majesty's Government ha d no t a s ) , , e l received, from any of the three powers in question, any efil e i l v a „ explanati on o f t h e c i rcumstances of the i r m i l i tary oc enP! tt . of Cracow, or the motives which they considered as autho rising f them to it. Th e y h a d not , i n f act , received any account o f it, except w h at t h ey h a d h a d represented to themby the 1‘ 11 ,_;, 0 ters abroad, and th ose f ac t s w hi c h h a d aeared in the c?L'" to journals. The Ri g ht H on . G ent l eman had called upon bim bo state to the House the views which the Government took upon subject, according to th e i n f ormat i on i t at presen t poss underu The House would see th at as a Mi n i ster o f t h e Crown,,o the circumstances he had stated, his situation in re ferenee i ,; the Right Hon. Me m b er ' s appea l , was one o f cons id era ble cl . l:_ 1 .., culty. Had he b een f urn i s h e d officially from the th powers with such ex pl anat i ons as they thought fit to put fc ward, as to the m ot i ves upon wh i ch they had acte d, h e s hould have been able to state to the House what that explanation.. was, and to have g i ven th e op i n i on of the Eng li s h Goya it ment as to its sufficiency or insufficiency.—( Hear, hear.) , at was quite true, as the Right Hon. Gentleman had said, tu t _ the treaty of Vi enna st i pu l ate d t h at upon no preten ce wg, e he ever should foreign troops enter the state of Cracow. ate treaty also con t a i ne d a rec i proca l con di t i on t h at t hat s' .. 5 should no t h ar b our any persons (of whom the descr iption 11 '; given in the treaty), or should, upon application, give either of the thr ee p owers suc h persons . I t was wider v_ l ., assigned ter ms o f t hi s treaty t h at t h e t h ree res id en t s at Cr!__ cow founded th e i r d eman d f or the expulsion of the Polish ru;;" fugees. Th e d eman d was not that the parties involved i " should be given up to the respective powers, but that tlleie should be expell e d f rom t h e territory of Cracow. Now s i h , question was, wh e th er t h e statement given out as a i ll ti o ut fication of th e extreme v i olence used was fully borne o a by the facts o f th e case.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") It 1 7 0 r been represented th at t h ere were assembled at C rac ow some time previous a number of persons, natives of Poland, vi ii `i; by means of commun i cat i ons systematically kept up wit h ! r . Poles in R uss i a an d Prussian Poland, had been endeact - so ing to excite sedition, and to disturb the peace of t" e ow countries. N ow , un d ou b tedly if such were the case s Crse was not justifi e d in giving shelter to such " seditious dese rtvo and ref ugees ." But though the three powers might be .ie s, to titled in ca lli ng upon the Republic to order those person! ;it depot, it did no t f o ll ow t h at these powers were j us tified e iy g recourse to the v i o l ence o f m ilit ary occu p a tion, in er t be on account of the short delay which transpired betwee n demand being ma d e an d its being carried into effect. --- (" ea t bo Though it would be difficult to deny the strict right of powers, under th e c i rcumstances assume d, to requ i r e that Ice; sons so offendi ng s h ou ld b e d epr i ve d o f t h e s h e l te r of made fa r cow, he should sa y th a t as it appeare d, t h e d eman d illa e to te s exceeded the t erms o f th e t rea t y .—( H ear , h ear .) The f ire of Cracow was or d ere d t o expe l a very great num ber t he dividuals,_ many of who m were k nown to h ave se ttled in fa .. city, to have become the husbands of its citizens, to hav e 0 .- willies there, to have acquired property in it, or to h ave a es, tered into the service of the state ,• under these circurnstan th 4 l' the extent of the demand certainly appeared far greater to necessity required.—( Hear, hear.) It was, however, th i t e b e ir the powers to say that the original sweeping extent of stye sequently had since been mitigated. In the communication:to sequently made to the senate, he had observed that under to treaty of Vienna he thought the three powers were entitled be require that certain persons—supposing those persons named, and their offence shown—should be sent from re . existed, cow. Even if no suc h t reaty if one state r e r o bo serited to another that there were in its territory pers° 4 ! an d availed themselves of its shelter to plot sedition ag la i n ' the subversion of the peace of the Government of the comp log ing State, he thought that by th e ordinary i n ternatio nal o d, of Europe, and by the obligati ons o f good neighbour froul that State should take meas ures f or rescuing the other l 00 the danger with which it was threatened.—( Hear, hear.) lieu tification however, thought that in this case no sufficl e oa teu tification had been offered for the violent measures It„ s l o ns towards the State of Cracow. Supposing just appreb; ss ia, of the Poles in Cracow to have existed in the minds of l oti ld Prussia, and Austria, every species of friendly have been exhausted to procure their removal, before re' n p at means % t oe was had to the violent military dictation which had be e _e_ t in force. Under any circumstances, seeing that Grl vu ght tain was a party to the treaty of Vienna, he certainly. they it had been the duty of the three Powers, made the demand upon Cracow, and before they had e r% et of to its military occupation, to have communicated th_ t ' ry, to' cwitnoris.ug their future intentions to the Government of this at the tiol_u_ our se. gather with the grounds which they looked upon as au was their proceedings. The Right Hon. Member, howe_v b e e ' twe e? mistaken in supposing that there was any conventio fo n _ nt i e d," l the three Powers, upon which this proceeding was " i n the be ; 1833 ; there was something of the kind entered into . was ginning of the present year, regulating the c ourse wm u obse rvi to be taken.—( Hear, hear.) He could not help o f ing, that the selection of Austrian troops foßrutshseia,P u e or der' occupying Cracow in preference to those of ing all that had passed between the troops discret iol :h o at Poles, was an instance of much good feeling and state • be the part of the three Powers. He would eget tten to t he had wri upon learning what had taken place, the subject. al! English Ministers abroad for information on bulk 01 the e b e a en was only within the few last days that the had ro t - be swers had been received, and consequently he 14 thoug ht upon the subject. .-e b . 00' enabled to take any steps duty u said as much as was consistent with his P of Russia an