The Sun. — London, England, 1857-02-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING; FEBRUARY 4, 1857. was for the interest of the Powers assembled at Paris that a protest. should be made against the system which pre vailed. The Government of the Emperor and the Govern ment of this country acted in concert together, and deter- • mined to present a note to the King of Naples, stating that 1 acts of grace and amnesties should be made, which would betoken a change of Government. The answer to this I note was to the effect that we were to mind our own basi- ' • nese. But still we hoped that, upon reflection, the King might be induced to alter his decision, and that he would adopt another system of policy, and more in accordance with his own interests. After the despatch was received in answer to the protest against the system which pre- ! vailed, the two missions were desired to withdraw. I think no one can say the two Governments of France and England were not acting within the limits of their legiti mate rights. No one can say that England and France could not protest against a system of Government so fraught with evil. In the change which we desired we had no wish for a change of Ministers. (Hear, hear.) There is an act of amnesty which has been communicated to all the Governments of Europe. This amnesty is in tended for all who wish to avail themselves of it, and who have promised submission to the Government of the coun try. Moreover, a convention has been signed by the King of Naples for the removal of all political prisoners, of their own freewill, who may desire to emigrate, to New South America. • I do not attach much importance to these acts : they may, or they may not, be symptoms of a better sys tem ; but what I do attach importance to is this, that I believe every one of the great Powers of Europe has ap proved of the course pursued by the Governments of her Majesty and of the Emperor, and has thought it to be the best and the most likely to be effectual. I trust the King of Naples will not continue to believe that he is not amen able to any human tribunal, and persevere in standing alone, thinking himself right, and that all the rest of the world are wron g . With respect to the negotiations be tween the if nited States and England, the noble earl was perfectly right in the observations he made. There is, I hope, no reason to doubt that the treaty will be realised, and I think your lordships will see that it entirely fulfils all those points to which your attention has been particularly directed by the noble earl. The two treaties are in noevay connected with each other. The United States treaty merely refers to the Mosquito territory. With respect to the disput e about Ruatan, which was supposed to belong to Honduras, we have mate that island over to Honduras, admitting her sovereignty in connection with the railway which is about to be made, and which, I believe, will turn out to be the really right and practical mode of connecting the two oceans. On both sides of the isthmus there are magnifi cent harbours, and all the maritime Powers of the world who avail themselves of this communication might take a fair exception to an island, almost at the entrance of it, being in the hands of any other Power. It was therefore placed under the suzerainty of Honduras, who is bound to give it up to no other Power. I believe, when these trea ties are laid before your lordships, they will fully answer the objects which both Governments have in view, and I think, from the manner in which it has been received by the United States, that it will be the means of prevent ing any future misunderstanding between the two na tions respecting that country. I agree with the noble earl opposite, that we have no interest whatever in Central America beyond what he mentioned—that is to say, for free transit across the isthmus, and I can in the future contemplate no possible reason why there should be any difference of opinion between us and the United States. With regard to Persia, before I make any observations as to the state of our relations with that country, I must beg to express my satisfaction at what fell from the noble earl in respect to the rupture of our diplomatic relations. I wish to say a very few words about what led to this rupture, and I would particularly ask your lordships, until the two or three days elapse before which the papers will not be in your hands, to dismiss from your minds much that has been said and written upon the subject, and more especially as to the supposed connection of a lady with the breaking off of our diplomatic relations—a lady who was the wife of an individual who was, and had long been, under the protec tion of the British mission, and as such was acknowledged by the Persian Government. The design of the Persian Government was to coerce the British Government into giving up their protection of this individual, and to place him in the power of his unrelenting enemies, and with that view the wife was taken away and imprisoned. Mr. Mur ray naturally protested against so very unjust and arbi trary an act ; but while the Persian Government admitted the right of the man to our protection, they at the same time claimed a right to prosecute and imprison the wife. When Mr. Murray remonstrated against such conduct he was exposed to fresh insults ; but when I tell your lord ships that I have received from Mr. Murray the most solemn assurance, given on his honour as a gentleman, that ' in the steps he took he was not actuated by any improper motive, I am sure your lordships will believe that there is not a shadow of a foundation for the accusations against him. (Loud cheers.) I felt it due to an absent servant of the Crown, who has been unjustly maligned, to take this the earliest opportunity of vindicating his character. Having waited in vain for the explanation he was led to expect, he was compelled to suspend his relations and leave Teheran. (Hear.) For this he was much blamed ; but he did perfectly right ; for if he had remained he would hare been in the position of an unprotected tra veller, and might have had to rehoist his floc , in order to demand reparation for fresh insults ; and this stop again would perhaps have led to an accumulation of other affronts. He therefore properly determined that the Queen's representative should not be exposed to this igno miny, and exercised a wise discretion in leaving Teheran ; but I beg your lordships to bear in mind that this rupture of our relations was not the cause of the war. We cer tainly effected that in the course of time, and upon reflec tion Persia would see that it was to her interest to remain on good terms with this country. She has been greatly indebted to England, and, above all, she knew we were no longer at war with Russia. We had no doubt, therefore, that there would be an honourable settlement of these dif ferences. and that we should be able to resume our friendly relations ; but the case assumed a very different aspect when we found Persia adopting acts of hostility towards us for the purp,se of carrying out her never relinquished de termination to possess herself of Herat. We made repre sentations to the Persian Government on the subject. I will react to your lordships the letter which I wrote to the suzerain on receiving information of the movement which Persia was making towards /ierat : "Foreign-office, Ja ly 11, 1856. "The undersigned, &e., ha the honour to recall to the re- collection of Sedr Azins the articles of agreement, respecting Herat, which were concluded in the month of January, 1853, between his Excellency and Lieutenant-Colonel Shiel, then her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten tiary at the Court of the Shah. "By those articles the Persian Government engaged not to send on any account troops to Herat, unless when foreign troops invaded Herat, that is, troops from the direction of Cabool or Caudahar, or other foreign country. In the event, too, of troops being sent in that case, the Persian Govern ment engaged that the said troops were not to enter the city of Herat ; and whenever the foreign troops returned to wards their own territory, the Prussian troops were imme• diately and without delay to return to the Persian soil. The Persian Government also engaged not to interfere in any way whatsoever in the internal affairs of Herat, such as in taking possession, or occupying, or assuming the sove reignty, or in governing, unless in so far as it interfered during the lifetime of Yar Mahommed Khan. The Persian Government also engaged to abandon the pretensions and demand for the coinage and the Khthek, or any other mark whatsoever of the people of Herat, being subjects or under the Government of Persia. " The British Government have been informed that since the beginning of the present year Persian troops have not only invaded the territory of Herat, but have laid siege to the city of Herat, and have interfered in the internal affairs of Herat, and that the movements of troops in different parts of Persia indicate a determination on the part of the Persian Govern ment to persist in its aggression on Herat, and in its disregard of solemn engagements contracted with the British Govern ment. " Such conduct on the part of Persia is considered by the British Government to constitute an act of open hostility against Great Britain ; and the object of the undersigned in now addressing the Sedr Azim is to make known to the Per sian Government that, unless reparation is promptly made by it for this breach of engagement and this act of hostility, and unless the Persian troops are forthwith withdrawn from the city and territory of Herat the British Government will adopt such measures as a regard for its own honour, and its own interests may prescribe, and will hold itself absolved from any responsibility for the consequences of those measures, however disastrous to Persia they may prove. " The undesigned, dze. " CLARENDON." To this letter I received an unsatisfactory answer. It did not even allude to Herat, but treated the matter as a per sonal dispute between the Persian Government and Mr. Murray, and said it would be all settled by the Persian Ambassador, who was on his way to Paris. Her Majesty's Government then thought that I should write more in detail upon the grievances we complained of, and I thou addressed a letter to the Persian Minister of Foreign Affairs [A noble lord here made a remark which vas not heard in the gallery.] The answer I received to my first communication was extremely vague—l am sorry I have not got it with me—saying the disagreement was a personal one between the Persian Government and Mr. Murray, making no allusion whatever to Herat, bat say. ing any matter of difference would be settled by the am bassador, who was going to Paris ; and on October 10 I addressed this letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs : " The undersigned, &c., had the honour to receive on the 25th of Sept. the letter which the Sedr Azim, Prime Minister of his Majesty the Shah of Persia, addressed to him on the 17th of Aug., having reference to the letter which the under signed addressed to the SedrAzira on the 11th of July on the subject of the proceedings of the Persian Government in regard to Herat, but containing no answer to that letter. " Her Majesty's Government had hoped that the letter of the undersigned would have elicited from the Pertian Govern ment a distinct assurance that the Government would at once desist from the enterprise which it had undertaken against Herat, in violation of solemn engagements entered into with the British Government is former times, and in defiance of the often expressed determination of the British Government not to tolerate any interference on the part of Persia with the States of Affghanistan, and not allow the extension of the au thority or the territory of Persia in that quarter. Her Majesty's Government had hoped that such assurance weuld have been given, and would have been followed up by the immediate withdrawal of the Persian armies from the Affghan territ or y, and by complete reparation for the insults which h a d b een Government offered to the Briti s h in the person of the Queen's Envoy, and which have led to the withdrawal of the British Mission from Persia. I f all this had been dons, her Majesty's Govern men t wou ld have been enabled to replac e , on a:friendly footing, its rela tions with the Court oftbe Shah. " Her Majesty's Governmentbave been demandeddisappointed in atc in the these hopes and expectations. The redress communication made by the British Ambassador tinople to the Persian Charge d'Affaires in thatßerlitz:iislle. month of June last, for the insult offered to the Mis sion, has not been afforded, the reparation required in the note of the undersigned of July 11, for the disregard shown by Persia of her engagement as to Herat has not been given but instead of this, vain excuses and pretexts of delay have been put forward, and her Majesty's Government have been told to expect satisfaction from the result of a negotiation, the conduct of which the Persian Government pretends to have confided to an ambassador some time since appointed by the Shah to the Court of France. " But, in the meanwhile, the Persian Government has not been content to let the questions in dispute remain without further aggravation. The insults which occasioned the with drawal of the British mission from Teheran have, since that period, have been followed up by other insults to the British Government, which of themselves call for ample reparation. " The insults to which the undersigned here more particu larly refers are the prohibition of intercourse by subjects of the Shah with her Majesty's consul at Teheran • the violation of the engagement to pay Seyd Abd oo l a h , a British subject, an allowance which he was to receive as a commutation for a portion of his claims on the Government of Persia; the attempt on the part of the Sedr Azim to possess himself of the water long since assigned to the British Mission for its use as its summer encampment ; the interception of the supplies of water ordinarily assigned to the British Mission in Teheran ; the refusal to enforce the punishment of parties who commit ted a violent assault on one of the servants of the British Consul; the refusal to recognise the right of property of her Majesty's Government in the British Consular residence ; the expulsion from Asterabad of a person in the employment of the laritish Mission; the publication in the public paper under the con trol of the Government of Persia of injurious statements as regards the British Government ; and. lastly, the direct incen tive held out to fanaticism to irritate against British subjects the conduct pursued at a former time, when the city of Tehe ran witnessed the massacre of the representative of a foreign State by an infuriated mob. " All these transactions are publicly known throughout the Persian capital, and unless the redress demanded for them shall have been given, and shall have been made as publicly known, it will be impossible for a British Mission to reside with security, still less withhonour, at the Court of the Shah. " But even these transactions are of less account than the wanton disregard by the Persian Government of engagements to abstain from any interference in the internal affairs of He rat, and from any attempt to occupy, or take possession, or assume the sovereignty or government of that province. • There are indications, indeed, that before the British Mis sion retired front Teheran, intrigues were on foot to promote the views of aggrandisement which Persia has continually en tertained in the direction of Herat. Persian forces were col lected on the frontier of that State; and, as if more distinctly to evince the hostility of Persia towards Great Britain, even at this early stage of these transactions, the Persian Govern ment selected for the command of these forces an officer high in rank, and nearly connected with the Royal family, who had then lately rendered himself notorious by grossly indedent lan guage applied by him to the Sovereign of England at a public entertainment given to members of the Royal family by the Vizier of Teheran. " From that period the operations of the Persian forces have been pushed forward with unabated perseverance against the city and in various quarters of the territory of Herat; language of defiance against Great Britain has been openly held by the Persian Government, and the demon strations have been made of the intention of t e Persian Government rather to engage in conflict with Great Britain than to concede the just demands of the British Government, the Persian Government appearing to wish to display to the Persian people its indifference for the friendship of England, and its conviction that Persia has nothing to fear from the just resentment of Great Britain. " But the British Government can no longer passively sub mit to the insults and wrongs which it has received from the Government of Persia. An expedition, destined for Persia, is now about to leave the British territories, and whatever may result to Persia from this measure, which her Govern ment has wantonly provoked, the responsibility thereof will rest on tho evil counsellors of the Shah, who have led his Ma jesty to countenance insult and injury towards Great Britain, and to violate the solemn engagements of an international compact." Herat stands on the immediate confines of Persia and Affghanistan, and is entitled from its position to be, and has always been, considered as the key of Affghanistan. Placed as it is, in a plain of unparalleled fertility, the Shah of Persia, 14 years ago, when he was besieging the place, maintained there an army of 40,000 men, and its valueas a military station is the more apparent, as the coun try on the east and west is comparatively barren. There is also to be found here an abundance of clay of a tough de scription, which is peculiarly available for the purposes of fortification. Herat is altogether a most important plac for military'operation, and an enemy once in possession o it is completely master of the position. Every Govern ment of this country has desired that Affghanistan should be protected, and it clearly cannot be protected if Herat remains in the power of Persia. I believe the Russian Government and the whole of the Russian people are unde the belief that their destiny is to go forward, to conquer and to hold new territory ; but, I believe, as the noble lord has said, that there is no disposition whatever upon the part of the Russian Government to go to war with us on this question. Our communications with the Russian Government have been frank and friendly. I believe we will not-go to war, and that it is the interest of both that a neutral and independent country should form a division between the two territories. (Hear.) But there will not be such a country if Persia occupies Herat; because, in holding that place she will be able, perhaps, not to conquer Affghanistan by force of arms, but through the mere cupi• dity of Affghan chiefs, to t a ke possession of that Power. We are not like Russia in that part of the world ; our po sition there is entirely dependent upon our character, our prestige, our supposed resolution to defend our rights at every risk. If we induce the Persian Government to enter into solemn engagements with us, and then permit her to violate them witkimpunity, depend upon it we shall sac rifice that reputation which we have always enjoyed. And it is to support that reputation and that prestige for moral force that her Majesty's Government has been compelled to go to war with Persia, but in the full confidence that in so doing we shall deserve and obtain the support of the whole country. I have said so much as to the causes which led to the war with Persia, and though by no means able at the present moment to state what may be its issue, I may say that the Persian ambassador has within the last few days solicited an interview with Lord Cowley at Paris; and at that interview expressed the desire of his Government to re-establish peaceful relations with this Government, stated that he had full powers to negotiate, and wished to know the conditions upon which it might be done. Her Majesty's Government has not hesitated to re ceive these overtures, and if we find the powers of the Persian ambassador equal to the circumstances, I have no doubt we shall enter into them, and that they will lead to a successful issue. We have no wish whatever to be at war with Persia, or to injure her; all that we want is a sufficient guarantee that any relations we may enter into with that Power shall be fulfilled. I must express my entire dissen t from all that has fallen from the noble earl opposite (Earl of Derby) with respect to the Chinese war. I think there is not the slightest doubt that the course we have pursued has received the full assent of the country. With respect to the lorcha, I believe she was to all intents and purposes a British vessel. It is perfectly true that her registry expired four or five day s before the attack was made by the Chinese ; but, my lords, this fact does not the less render her a British vessel—it certainly con ferred no authority on the Chinese to board her. The noble earl then read the ordinance of the Colonial-office with reference to the registry of foreign ships showing, that the act of registry entitled a vessel to British rights for a year from tho date of such registry, and providing that, should the registry spire while the vessel was at sea, it was to be renewed immediately upon her return to port. The noble earl then continued—That, my lords, was just the position in which the Arrow found herself upon enter ing the port of Canton, three days after her registry expired. Earl GREY— Was that communicated to the Imperial commissioner ? £he Earl of CLARENDON--It was, and the Imperial commissioner made no objection to the fact at the time. It'could hot be said that the Arrow was a national vessel, because, in the first place, the word lorcha was not of Chinese, but of Portuguese origin ; and, in the second place, she had, in accordance with the ordinance regula tions, her name painted in large characters, Roman letters, on her port. The Earl of MALMESBUftI"---"Wh.it wss the date of the registry' The Earl of CLARENDON—The 3.1 of March, 1855. The day she was boarded she was in possession of a British register, and had the British flag flying. The Chinese went on board to claim one man out of a crew of Li, who was suspected of piracy. They carried off 12 out of the 11 to make sure of thislone. The master of this vessel, an Englishman, protested against the seizure of his crew, and immediately made it known to the consul. The consul applied to the officer who took the men off, but was threat ' ened with 'violence if he persisted. Application was next made to the Chinese commissioner, which, like every other application, was treated with contempt. lie, however, sub sequently sent the men back, but the consul very properly refused to receive them, and demanded that they should be restored to the vessel from which they were taken, because it was very well known that, if he accepted anything less than he had demanded, it would have been regarded as a triumph, and have led to fresh insults. The British au thorities were not disposed, however, to do more than was absolutely necessary. They demanded that an apology should be made —arequest which was treated with contempt. The matter was then placed in the admiral's hands, and all that he did, in order to mark his sense of the disregard of our representations and the violation of treaty rights, was to take possession of one of the war junks of the Chinese Government. Before even that course was ' adopted, he took the precaution to have the opinion of the Queen's Advocate at Hong Kong as to the legality of the proceeding. The Queen's Advocate was very decided upon that point, and the junk was taken. The Imperial Com missioner determined not to make any apology, and abso lutely refused to hold any direct intercourse with the ad miral, or any officer in her Majesty's service. The admiral then proceeded, not as the noble earl (Earl of Derby) says, to the destruction of Canton city, and indiscriminate slaughter of the inhabitants, relying upon the misinforma tion of which he (the Earl of Derby) has given frequent evidence in the course of his speech ; but to the taking of one fort after another, at each step still offering the Impe rial commissioner the opportunity of making an apology. There was, my lords, no indiscriminate slaughter • but, I say that the non-access to the a uth or iti e s at Canton has been the cause of the quarrel, and of our determination to enforce the observance of treaty rights, which we had suffered to remain too long in abeyance. The Chinese system not only impedes all direct transaction of business, but compels our merchants to conduct their transactions through alien and dishonest agents ; they can get no satis faction for the infraction of treaties, which are constantly occurring, and the general feeling there is that, so long as strangers are kept out of Canton, so long will all improve ment, social, political, or commercial, be impossible. The continuance of the system at Canton leads to ever-recurring riots and disturbances at the four other Chinese ports which ate open to us; and for that, if for no other reason, Canton should be placed on the same footing as the others. My lords, there is one remarkable feature connected with these transactions —namely, that although upon many other points the different representatives of other countries dis agree, they have been unanimous in their opinion that the course pursued by theßritish authorities at Canton was just and necessary, and that it, sooner or later, must have conic to this. The greatest cordiality prevails between the other nationalities at Canton, including the Commodore of the United States. I can only hope that in this, as in former instances, the assertion of our right s , an d our standing up for our Sag—which is, my lords, our on l y protect i on , in that country—will not only be successful in obtaining what we demand,. and the recognition of those rights, but a great extension of our commerce with that country. (Hear, bear.) . . . Earl GREY agreed with the noble earl opposite (the Earl Derby) as to the desirability of their lordships being una nimous in voting the Address at the beginning of the ses sion ; there were, however, occasions upon which men must act from higher matives than mere courtesy, and the pre sent, in his opinion, was one of them. He found in the Address so ably moved and seconded by his noble friends a passage relating to the Persian war, in which he felt he could not concur ; and as it was his intention to move an amendment upon it, he would confine his observations ex clusively to that point. The paragraph to which he referred virtually assumed the policy and justice of the war, and it made the house assure her Majesty that it participated in la?,r regret that the conduct of the Persian Government had led to hostilities between her Majesty and the Shah of Persia, sia, and assuming that the Shah was entirely to blame. reference Addres to that point, he could not agree with the p as ro t v o is Tr f y or in Address. He had, however, another objection. It made Inc?reference to the conduct of her Majesty's Government support ep7atr withoutadvising (Hear.) He could not re carrying just or politic. The violation the be tween this country her Majesty to the not gtrroution war, but he would ask their loarwdsal:: r and advice of her Parliament. and Persia of an agreement existing present war as being either made the ground for a thatthat an ips d whethera war would Withoutreference between nations halawdabyese be br vindicateden ? every breach of engagement, na ture of that engagement justified a war to the en tirely upon the magnitude of the interestst'depended th e possibility or otherwise of obtaining redressinvoilved' ani means. (Hear, hear.) If such were not the case, he need hardly point oat to their lordship s t hat there would be afforded a constant pret ence for the en croachment of powerful States upon th e i r weaker neighbours. Such a policy bad indeed been a sub ject of reproach against Russia, and in India a similar accusation had been preferred against this country. If Parliament was not prepared to g ive up its rights, then he would say that it was their duty to censure the conduct of the Government in this respect if they were not to set aside, as obsolete and of no avail, a century and a-half of Parliamentary Government. He said the Government, by the course they had pursued, had justly incurred the censure of Parliament. It was with these views he was now about to move an amendment to the Address. He had endeavoured to convey that censure in terms of the greatest moderation, and he would now proceed to read it. The noble earl concluded by reading his amendment as follows :—" Humbly to inform her Majesty that, while we deplore that occurrences and tranactions have led to hosti lities between her Majesty and the Shah of Persia, we also consider it our duty to state our regret that, when the ser vants of the Crown gave orders for an invasion of Persia by a British force, they did not advise her Majesty to sell her Parliament together, so that Parliament might have an opportunity of giving any advice that upon such an occa sion might be required." Earl GRANYILLE—I cannot help thinking that the plea put forward by the noble earl the mover of the Ad dress, who in his first speech has given such great promise that he will be a future ornament to this house, and by the noble earl who so ably seconded it, of not going too deeply into questions put into the Queen's Speech, is a most wise and judicious course. I cannot but think when you have gone deeply into those questions, without having had time to read the papers which, in a very short time, will belaid before your lordships, you cannot avoid conversations which can only be contradicted by the opposite party. With regard to the point urged by the noble earl (Earl Grey), as the cases belli of this expedition against Persia, thenoble earl thinks that the whole of this ca sus belli de pends upon certain engagements made between the Shah and this country. Now, I believe that, under certain cir cumstances, when any one nation breaks off engagements which it has made with another nation, that of itself would form a ensue belli. and I hold that in this case there was reasonable grounds for a military demonstration. If the noble earl had only waited for the papers he would find that not only the pre sent Government, but also that of my noble friend oppo site (the Earl of Derby), did intimate to the Persian Government that, in case the Shah persevered in his de signs upon Herat, that would be esteemed a casus elli. The noble earl objected strongly to the sort of engagement entered into by this country and the Shah, and said such engagements were perfectly inconsistent with European law. It appears to me the noble earl is quite wrong. Are there no cases in which aggression against another power is made a cases belli by the nation which has engaged to pro tect that power ? I believe one of the most approved cases of this sort is tie engagement entered into between France and England to protect Sweden from any invasion. The noble earl might not perhaps approve of that guarantee, but there was not the slightest objection to it by either Houses of Parliament, or the country. The noble earl says the first aggression against Herat was unjustifiable, but I must say that the noble earl's opinion was not shared by the noble earl the Secretary for Foreign Affairs. The noble lord has brought furward the bugbear of Russia in terfering in India. I, for one, am not inclined to attach much importance to the possibility of Russia pursuing an aggressive course at a long distance from home. I am the more justified in this opinion from recent events, and I be have it is the unanimous desire of the members of the Rus sian Government that this matter should be arranged as soon as possible. Herat, my lords, has long been consi dered a place of great importance, and the sine qua nen of a war with India. I ask, therefore, what would be the consequence if Russia were allowed to make it her strong hold ? The noble lord says that it is in its finances the In dian Government will be attacked; and I ask them if Herat is not the very place where troubles and alarms could be best fomented to disarrange the finances of India ? The noble lord next proceeded to a point on which he always speaks with great force, namely, the justice of the under taking. Now, if any war be justifiable, it is that under taken in self-defence, and if we can assume in the present war danger, either direct or indirect, to our own territo ries, that consideration will be sufficient to constitute the question one of self-defence. Who, he asks, are the aggres sors ? He says the English Government. I deny it. The Persians are the aggressors. (Cheers.) The noble lord then went on to the question of whether it was to be considered an Indian or a home war. It is in my opinion more Indian than home. The noble lord, too, complains of the illegality and unjustifiable character of the proceeding, because the war has not been regularly proclaimed ; but if he will look to other wars, the Affghan and Chinese wars for instance, undertaken while he was himself a member of the Cabinet, he will find that there was no such thing as a royal procla mation. Indeed, the best authorities upon international law mention that the proclamation is not necessary at all. It was not necessary as regarded the power of waging war, and is merely done out of courtesy to the enemy. The only persons at all interested in it are the neutrals, to whom it is a notice that they may not expose themselves to injury from either of the belligerents. I do therefore think that her Majesty's Government should rather be considered as having followed the usual course than of having adopted a new one of their own. The noble lord, too, has observed in his speech that her Majesty's Government should have summoned Parliament earlier, and submitted the whole question to their consideration. Now, my lards, with regard to the expense of hostilities, the noble lord says it will not be borne by the Indian Go vernment ; but I would remind the noble lord that the salary of our Minister b.t Teheran is in part paid by the Indian Government, so that he is as much in the Indian as in the home interest ; and I may tell the noble lord that her Majesty's Government has pledged itself that Parlia ment will contribute for the conduct of the war whatever may be fairly borne by this country. I would request, too, the noble lord to remember another fact, which is this. During the last sessionof Parliament a distinct inti mation was given by the right hon. gentleman the Presi dent of the Board of Control that such an outlay might in all probability be required. The noble lord shakes his head. It is, I admit, no reproach to him not to have read the reports of the proceedings in the other house of Parlia ment ; but if he thinks fit to bring this subject forward again to him the papers relating to it are in your lordships' hands, I shall be ready to meet him upon it. But Ido not think he is serious in pressing on this amendment before the papers are laid on the table of your lordships' house, and after the intimation he has received from the noble earl that there are negotiations on foot for the settlement of the question, which may be prejudiced by a hostile vote, The Earl of DERBY had no objection to agree to the Address, if it did not pledge the house to any opinion upon the justice of the question. Earl GRANVILLE remarked that the house in it only thanked her Majesty for the information with respect to I the war. Earl GREY—The Address is drawn in this form—that we regret that the conduct of the Shah of Persia has led to hostilities, whereas I say it is not so—it is the conduct of her Majesty's Government which has brought them about. Earl GRANILLE—The noble lord is confounding two distinct paragraphs. Lord BROUGHAM said be hoped and trusted that it would be found, when the whole matter came before their lordships, that they—or rather, he ought to say, their agents in the East, and especially in China—had not been picking a quarrel for the sake of obtaining an advantage. (Hear, hear.) Upon no point which had occupied atten tention—he alluded to the affairs of Naples—did he think that they had done either too much or too little; but he wholly approved of the Government not having gone fur ther in the matter. He would protest, not against the conduct or the principles of the Government, but he would protest against what appeared to be a prevailing notion out of doors—a notion amongst many, who were led away by their feelings rather than by their judgments—that it was the vocation or mission of this country to interfere or meddle with the internal affairs of foreign countries, to restrain the conduct of foreign Princes, and to di rec t th e proceedings of others. H felt that it was not the vocation, or mission, or any part of the vocation, or mission, of this country to propagate constitutional government an over the world. (Hear, hear.) He might lament that the people of other countries had not the! same incalculable benefits which the people of this country enjoyed; he might lament that other countries had Princes who committed acts which all would con demn ; they might be of opinion that, even if those Go vernments abstained from such conduct, even if they granted amnesties—and in this he did not allude to the Emperor of Austria, but to a Sovereign more south in Europe—that those amnesties, though extended to vie tines of opp ress i on, wou ld signify little, so long as those lunhappy subjects did not enjoy constitutional govern ment. To remonstrate, h owever , was as f ar as th ey cou ld I go, and not one hair's breadth farther ought they to go for the purpose of procuring for those nations better insti tutions than those which they unhappily possessed. Eng land had no more right—no more vocation—to plant parliaments all over Europe, than the French Conven tion of November, 1792, le - ad to surround France with republics. Of the Speech from the Throne it could not be said, as was once said by a King's gardener, namely, "that they might look at everything and touch nothing." He would shortly refer to the excitement which now prevailed over the country in reference to the in come tax. He had been asked to preside at a meet ing, and to exert his iniluence against this tax. H e had on a former occasion done his duty in showing that this tax ought to he modified, so as to make distinctions in its assessment. It might now be said that the necessity fur this tax had not yet ceased ; but he had a full recollection of another period—that of 1816—when he bad not the honour of a seat in that house, but when he and his la mented friend Mr. Baring, afterwards Lord Ashburton, led an attack against the income tax. The estimates had been prepared at the beginning of the session in the usual way, and the Government promised the utmost economy con sistent with the public service ; but la short and decisive campaign took away between 14,000,0001. and 15,000,0001. from the supply, and subsequently the Chancellor of the Exchequer decided to take off the war malt tax, about 3,000,0001. more, making together 18,000,000/. reduction. The new estimates had to be prepared upon the principle of " cutting your coat according to your cloth." Thin never was a time when an amendment of the law was more want ing. That some change was necessary in the mode of dealing with prisoners was proved by absolute experience, and if something were not done soon, a very considerable increase of our police force would be required. He trusted their lordships would attend to the representations which bad been made by the conference on mercantile law, bece.use they were the result of experience acquired by the mercan tile classes, who suffered in .zoneequence of the defect of the existing laws. (Hear.) The LORD CHANCELLOR said he wished to detain the house a few minutes in consequence of what had fallen from his noble and learned friend, He thought their lordships and the country had a right to know what it was the Government contemplated in the nature of law reform. In her Majesty's Speech law reform was ine.icated very vaguely, and that was done intentionally, because he felt the force of what had fallen from his noble and learned friend, that great promises in the Royal Speech of numerous projected reforms were, unfortunately, too generally followed by very little per formance. In directing their attention to the measures of law reform which were most called for, it occurred to the Government, and himself in particular, that the reform of e4 w rp as he t a h r e )_ su n b o j t eet on t ly hat on de a m e a c n o d u e n d i t t h h e e ir Ec fi cl r e s s t ias a t t i te ca n l u C on o_u r(h t s of the importance of the subject itself, but because it was a question which, from whatever cause, had been taken up unsuccessfully by every successive Administration for the last 25 years, and therefore it had always been an obstacle ou the threshold of every law reform. On that day week he should call the attention of their lordships to the subject of those courts, with the view of introducing three bills—one to reform the testamentary jurisdiction; another to reform the laws of marriage and divorce ; and the third on subjects of a more ecclesiastical character, touching discipline and matters of a cognate nature. In the other House of Parliament a no tice had been put on the votes that vary evening, by his learned friend the Attorney-General, of his intention to introduce a bill altering the law with regard to gross breaches of trust, of which two or three instances of late had staggered the pub lic. Their lordships were aware that, some three or four years ago, a bill was introduced for the registration of the transfers et land. It did not meet with the approbation of the other house, but at the suggestion of the committee to which it was referred, her Majesty was advised to issue a royal commission to inquire into the whole subject. That commission had been in existence three years and had not made their report ; but he had reason to know that they would in all probability do so very speedily, and he had had communicated to him the drafts of two bills which had been prepared on the foundation of that report, the object of which was, after the manner of the Irish Incumbered Estates Court, to give a Parliamentary title to everybody. He would not pledge himself as to the feasi bility of the plan until ho saw the report in detail ; but the Attorney-General and Mr. Walpole, who had taken an active part in the commission, were very sanguine upon that point. He did lot think it right to wait proposing a reform until the report was produced, because he held that to make a re form, though it might be small, was always advantageous if in the proper direction ; and the Attorney-General, sup posing he was returned to the other house, would on an early day introduce a measure to greatly simplify the law with re gard to mortgages. He would not go through the several other Smaller matters to which the attention of the Government had been directed; but there was one other subject which had very much engrossed his attention, and was of very consi derable importance. Since 1854 there had been a commis sion for consolidating the statutes of the realm. Nobody who had not directed his attention to that subject could con ctive the practical difficulties which beset every attempt that was made towards the 'accomplishment of this object ; but they had succeeded in consolidating all the criminal statutes of the country, and it would be recollected that he laid the bills on the table on the last day of last session. It occurred to himself and several members of the commission that it would be better not to ask their lerdships to pass them until they had been submitted to the learned members of the board in Ireland, with a view to see how far other Irish statutes could be incorporated and consolidated. It had not yet been decided in what form they should be introduced. He would not say more at present than that the matter was under the consideration of the Government, and that in one form or another those bills would be shortly laid before the house, On an early day he would ask them to allow him to refer to a select committee the second report of ,the statute law com mission. At the same time, a similar motion would be made in the other house with the same object. The reference to the emmittee would be with regard to the fact that the con solidation of the statute law would be imperfect unless better means were provided than exist at present for improving the language and manner of current legislation. The difference of language in the statutes occasioned a great deal of confu sion, and to meet this and other objections, what her Ma jesty's Government would in due time propose would be the appointment of an officer whose duty it would be to report upon every bill which was introduced to alter the law—to report what the existing law was, and how far and in what respects the proposed bill would alter it ; and further, that after a bill had been through committee, it should, if the house thought proper, be referred to him, and he world state what alterations had been made in it in committee, and how far they altered the tenets of the bill. It would also be suck an officer's duty to make improvements, with a view to the improvement of the language, so that the language of the statutes would become clearer, less verbose, and more in harmony with the general language of the day—(hear, hear) —he would have to collate and classify the statutes. He (the Lord Chancellor) also had to announce that his right hon. friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department would introduce a measure on secondary punishments. (Hear.) After these announcements, he trusted that their lordships would not think the Government had been idle during the recess on those important measures. The LORD CHANCELLOR then put the Address. The house divided, and the numbers were— For the original Address Against it l2 Majority The amendment was therefore lost. Their lordships then adjourned at 11 o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS-(YESTERDAY). The house resumed shortly before 4 o'clock. There was a full attendance of members. NEW MEMBERS. The following members took the oaths and their seats : Lord Henniker, for East Suffolk ; Viscount Castlerosse, for the county of Kerry ; Mr. Bailey Cochrane, for La narkshire ; and Mr. Langworthy, for Salford. NEW WRITS. On the motion of Mr. HAYTER the following new writs were ordered to be issued :—Greenwich, in the room of Mr. P. Rolt, who has accepted the Cnil ern Hundreds ; Hertford, in the room of the Hon. Mr. F. Cooper, who has accepted the office of Vice-Pre sident of the Committee of Privy Council for Educa tion ; Limerick county, in the room of Mr. Monsen, who has accepted the office of President. of the General Board of Health ; Aylesbury, in the room of Sir R. Bethel!, appointed to be Attorney-General ; in the room of the Hon. S. Wortley, the Solicitor-Gene ral ; Southampton, in the room of Sir A. Cockburn, appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas ; Newport, in the room of Mr. W. Biggs, who has ac cepted the office of Chiltern Hundreds ; Clow:eel!, in the room of Mr. J. O'Connell, who has accepted the office of Clerk of the Crown of the Hanniper in Ireland ; and Dumfries, in the room of Viscount Drumlanrigg, who has succeeded to a peerage. On the motion of Mr. M. SMITH, for West Kent, in the room of Sir E. Filmer, deceased ; Brandon Brigg, in the room of Viscount Bernard, who has succeeded to a peerage. necessity of granting such reform as the advanced posi tion of the people required, remarking that it was better to concede necessary improvements rather than thwart them, and have to yield to agitation and pressure from without. After some further remarks, the bon. baronet concluded by moving the Address. Sir A. AGNEW, Bart., seconded the Address. He congratulated the house that Russia bad been unable to estrange the Emperor of France from this country in settling the disputed points of the treaty, and that those difficulties had been so amically and properly settled, that the Danube was now, what it ought to be, the great high way of commerce for the whole world. After referring to the paragraphs i❑ the Royal Speech relative to Neuchatel, Sicily, Russia. and China, the honourable baronet said that the conduct of the Government was deserving of the support of the House of Commons. (Hear, hear.) Returning to the domestic policy of the government, he said that it was satisfactory to know that the people of this country would support the government in keeping up our military and naval establishments to a❑ efficient state rather tha❑ that we should rely on a militia, a thing so die tasteful to the country, and sink thereby into a third class state. In conclusion the hon. baronet urged on the house the necessity of supporting Lord Palmerston, who in the hour of England's difficulty had come forward and placed her in her proper position amongst the nations of the world. (Hear, bear.) All that remained for the country to do was to support the policy indicated in the Royal Speech. (Hear, bear.) The SPEAKER having read the address, and put the Iquestion, Mr. DISRAELI—I confess, sir, that when I listened to the address of the hon. mover, who to-night spoke with an ability, which, from the mode in which he addressed you on a former occasion, I confess did not surprise me—(hear, hear)—l was sometimes inclined to suppose that the hon. ' gentleman had been furnished with a copy of the Queen's Speech different from that in my possession, and which until then I supposed to be an authentic document ; be cause the hon. gentleman informed us that her Majesty's Speech delivered to us by the Royal Commissioners this day contrasted very favourably withthe Addresses from the Throne which we have listened to for the last two or three years ; that this Speech conveyed to us the gratifying in timation that her Majesty had received from all the great Powers of Europe assurances of their continued friendship and goodwill. But that is not an expression which I could find to-night in the copy of the Speech placed before me. The Speech, moreover, promised to the people of this country, as I caught from his lips, a reduction of taxation. That is a promise which unfortunately has been omitted— hoar)—l am afraid, from some sinister motive, from the copy for which until this moment I was grateful to the distinguished personage by whom it was distri buted. The Speech also quoted by the hon. mover held out, as he informed us, assurances of measures of domestic amelioration, but that also is a promise which is not held out in the Speech before us. It has been said that a Queen's Speech is not on the whole so instructive and improving a document in general, as an expression of opi nions and statement of facts coming from such a quarter, and attended with such imposing circumstances, might na turally be expected to be. But, sir, when I heard the Speech read to-day by the Royal Commissioners, and of which I supposed this to be an authentic copy, it seemed to me that there was a great deal in that Speech to set the people of this country a-thinking, and to produce a very great effect upon their minds. It is hardly a year ago since we were under the idea that we had terminated a great struggle, and that the termination of that struggle had laid the foundation of a prospect of peace more fa vourable on the whole than had ever been offered to this country sincelBls. Let the house for a moment recal to its recollection, the circumstances under which the treaty of Paris was concluded. Our foe, who had been deemed so powerful, and who had actually proved himself to be so powerful, had been baffled in the projects of aggran disement he had attempted to accomplish. It is said that the late Emperor of Russia declared that he would not ac cede to terms of peace of any sort until he had lost his last man and expended his last rouble. The position of the Russian empire is in fact similar to what was conveyed by this expression. Greatly as the sinews of war of that em pire were exhausted, men were still more wanting. Yet although he was utterly discomfited and defeated, our foe retired from the contest with dignity, and without that sense of humiliation which was generally supposed to be exhibited. Many persons at last believed that circum stances were favourable to peace. Russia kad failed in the , object attempted to be carried into effect by the late Empe ror. In the tomb of the Emperor Nicholas that policy was ' interred. The death of the Emperor, and the heroic defence of Sebastopol, terminated that policy, and permitted Rus sia to see the termination of that policy with some feelings of respect. But the very fact of the termination of that struggle was conclusive to show that the policy was ,„, t humiliating to Russia —it was an additional argument that the sincerity of Russia was not to be questioned. But even in France and Austria, whilst a great war was being prose cuted, great public works were in progress, the employ ment and distribution of capital occupied the attention of Governments, and the state of the tariffs was eagerly in• quired into and discussed. But what was the condition of our own country ? Were we in a situation competent to engage in any fresh war ? We were founding an immense colonial empire, of an extent unknown in the history of mankind, of illimitable dimension, and inexhaustible re , sources. We had a career open to our fellow-citizens which exceeded even the excitement and the enterprise of war, without the calamities of that state of existence. Under these circumstances any man would have said that there ' was a more solid foundation and a more reasonable pros pect of permanent tranquillity than has ever been offered to the country since 1815. This is hardly a year ago. I want to know why we have been disappointed in our ex pectations ? If that is a sound view, the country has a right to expect that, as a consequence of such a state of affairs, her Majesty's Ministers would have weaned the minds of the people of this country from the excitement of war. I want to know how it is that, instead of a speech from the Throne holding out such a prospect, we have a speech f ull of war and rumours of war ? The whole speech consists of references and allusions to foreign transactions, with very slight exceptions, and all these are transactions of peril and calamity. There is a very curious circum stance, and I must allude to it, no t mere l y as l ea di ng to t h e result I wish to put before the house, but because it has been brought before us in a most marked manner in her Majesty's speech—uamely, that almost on the very day when the treaty was signed by our ambassador at Paris, when the ink that signed it was not dry, the seed was sown by that very negotiation of new troubles and , difficulties in Europe. Almost before our embassy had left, and after the treaty of peace was signed, the negotiators reassembled, and the English nego tiator was driven to grant the very terms which he had denied to Russia more than three years before. It is a very remarkable circumstance that this happeued only a few days after the treaty was signed. The treaty was signed on the 30th of March, and on the Ist day of April the seed was sown for the commencement of future diffi culties in our foreign relations. A prolific crop has ap peared ever since, and in two instances the result has been absolute warfare. All those circumstances are of so recent occurrence, and every gentleman is so familiar with their details, that it is quite unnecessary to enter into a weari some analysis of the affairs referred to in her Majesty's Speech. Let me recal to the recollection of the house, as succinctly as I can, what occurred in reference to our in terference in Italy. It is not necessary now to atop to in quire what were the representations of her Majesty's Go vernment by which the adhesion of Sardinia was obtained to the grand alliance. I do not stop to inquire whether her Majesty's Government engaged herself morally, if not legally, that they would terminate the then existing state of affairs in Central Italy, and which had been shown by a paper by Count Cavour, now upon the table of the house, was subversive of the equilibrium, if not fatal to the inde. pendence, of Sardinia itself. I remember that, in March, when Lord Clarendon went to Paris, Count Cavour, the distinguished Sardinian Minister, placed himself immedi ately in communication with the English Minister, and n - quested to know what steps were to be taken in order that Sardinia should receive her reward for the great and heroic efforts which she had made in the recent contest, and how the independence of Italy wen to be minuted. The peace was signed on the 30th of March, and on the Bth of April, in consequence of a statement delivered in by Count Cavour, Lord Clarendon, having induced the French Minister formslli to open the affair, made that remarkable state 7aseut which appears in the protocol, and is a re; worltletion of the State paper of the Sardi ni"llrnieter. There the noble lord points to the abnor mal of Central Italy, occasioned by its occupation by foreign troops—especially by those of Austria—to the not euly abnormal, but thoroughly exceptional, state of the kingdom of Naples, which created a condition of thing s an absolute interference with which was not only, his lordship said, out right, but our duty. (Hear.) This was in the spring; and the house will recal with vividness what the situation of this country then was. It is of the utmost im portance that they shonld do so. This country was expect ing to reap the fruits which might be expected from the termination of a successful war, and the treaty of peace then concluded. Yet, in consequence of the steps taken by her Majesty's Government, no sooner was the Turkish-Rus sian difficulty at an end but an Italian difficulty appeared, and attracted the earnest attention of this country and of Europe. (Hear.) How was it possibleft, the vrhn i the people to require the consideration of domestic subjects public mind was excited by questions ofimjpendingwar— when the Government of this country wits impressing upon the public mind of Europe that a great struggle was about to take place in Italy ; that the time had patronage of thead at length arrived when she was to be regenerated under the great Powers of Europe—when you knew that it became a question whether we should wake in the morning and find that an English fleet was in the Bay of Naples. (Cheers.) of affairs in Italy and the So serious had become the aspect temper of the public mind upon the subject, that one of the most distinguished members of this house, the noble lord the member for the City of London, felt it his duty tobring its consideration before this house, when he very properly made the protocols of the Treaty of Paris the foundation of his motion. Observe th at the agitation of the Italian diffi culty commenced in the spring, and the spring and the best put of the summer were occupied by it. It becamea question of speculation what might be the consequence of the con duct of the noble lord opposite (Lord Palmerston) and his Government in entering into the obligations imposed by the protocols of the Congress at Paris. Sorra found fault withthe noble lord for his apparent rashness, whilst others gave him credit for the liberal spirit he displayed with re gard to Italy, and especially to the occupation of Central Italy by the Austrian troops. It then became a ques tion whether war might not again occur on a great scale, and whether the Austrian army which had not been ex hausted in the Crimea could successfully contend with the armies of France, exhausted as they were by their heroic struggles in the recent contest, in which they had gained so m any triumphs and so many laurels. (Cheers.) We expected that the King of Naples was to be coerced into submission and the adoption of measures of concession— we expected to see a French army and an English fleet occupying the centre of Italy. But will it be believed that all this time —nay, that at the very period when Lord Clarendon was listening to the representations of Count, Cavour, in which he impeached the very existence of Aus trian rule—that when he was unable to extricate himself r from some fatal engagement made to Sardinia when the treaty of peace was signed—will it be believed that at that very time a second treaty was in existence, guaranteeing to Awitria the whole of her Italian dominions ? (Opposition cbebre.) I do not say this as any slur upon Austrian skill. I admire the admirable adroitness, I may say the skilful • wisdom, with which she managed, throughout the whole of the late struggle, to conduct her affairs and secure her position in Italy without entering into the contest. Lord PALMERSTON—With what Power has that treaty been entered into? Mr. DISRAELI—The noble lord asks me with what Power it was entered into. With the only Power which Austria dreads ; for a guarantee was g i ven f rom F rance to Austria that her Italian possessions should be gu rr it-- teed, and that guarantee was not only sanctioned by the noble lord, but was made by the advice and at the special instance of his Government. (Cheer s. ) Thie secret treaty is not denied, though mentioned now for the first time. " What Power ?" said the noble lord. It is not the Power of England that crosses the Alps, that threatens Austria in Italy. It is that Power which, according to the noble lord and his Minister, was to be his main support in the great plan for the emancipation of Italy. (Chet re.) Read the protocol in which Lord Clarendon made the memo rable statement about Italian rights, now that I h eve given you the key note. You will then und. r-tand the haughty contempt with which Count Buol listened to the noble lord, and the scoffing deriwon of Baron Hubner in listening to the representations of the English Ambassador. When the Austrian 'Ministers had a guarantee of all the Italian dominions of their Sovereign in their pockets, what did they care for tbe representations brought forward with so much pomp in the House of Commons, and on account of which the noble lord claimed the support of the Liberal party of this country? Now, what has happened in conse quence of this imposture upon the credulity of the country? What have you done for the benefit of hely ? I remember urging upon the Government of this country not to inter fere at all unless it interfered actively. (Hear.) We have had protocols, State papers, acid speeches in Parliament, but what have we done ? what has happened in Italy ? fruitless assassinations, unsuccessful insurrections, and the death of many excellent and some brave and distinguished men ; the aggravation of every former evil, and the exagge ration of all former misgovernment. (Hear, hear.) You denounced and you threatened the King of Naples, and the King of Naples treated you with contempt; because, when menaced by such a Power as England, he naturally turned to his friendly neighbour Austria, to whom he no doubt said, "I regard the friendship of Austria, and I can not bring you into a dangerous collision with the great Western Powers, who are determined to bring about a re volution in Italy by all possible means. If we are to have a French .army cussing the Alps, and English fleets in Italian waters, I do not wish to bring you into any serious difficulty. But my independence as a Sovereign is threatened. What am I to do?" Said Austria—" Ease your wind of any embarrassment, for se French array will cross the Alps, except to maintain my authority and to guarantee my do minions. (Laughter.) You will have no French troops or English fleets here. They are my best friends, and have, given me the title-deeds of my estate. You, there fore, as an independ en t S overe i gn , v i n di ca t e your rights." (Hear, hear.) The King of Naples followed that advice, and how far the policy of the noble lord op posite has benefitted the interests of the Liberal party in Italy, or tended to the amelioration of Italian society, I will now leave the house to judge, It is often said that the noble lord (Lord Palmerston) is remarkable for getting the country out of difficulties, but it always in reality happens that those difficulties are created by himself. His conduct on these occasions resembles the Rhine, which never reaches the ocean, but vanishes in a mud bank. (A laugh.) It is in this way that he extricates himself from difficulties of which he himself is the creator. Well, at the end of the summer it was thought that her Majesty's Government, taking advantage of the peace just terminated, w sold have taken steps to reduce the military expenditure of the coun try ; that they would be in a condition, when Parliament met, at once to enter into the great struggle for economi cal and administrative reform with spirit and vigour, and which hail been ushered in with so much promise. I awoke one morning and found that, although the Turkish diffi culty was settled, and the Italian difficulty was settled or had disappeared suddenly, we nevertheless had not been at peace, but had simply enjoyed an armed truce, and that we were about to be involved iu a great war—a war on a grand scale—under circumstances of great disadvantage. and without that generous and disinterested ally who had hitherto acted with us. When Parliament was prorogued I left our usual place of meeting with the idea that the French alliance was the great foundation of the policy of the noble lord at the head of the Government, and that on that alliance we were to rest. But I found about the let 1 of Sept. that there never had been a real peace ; there had only been an armed truce, and welwere going to war with Russia again without the assistance of our ally—(hear)— to encounter Russian diplomacy awl French perfidy, and that the contest would be of a very alarming character. Here was asain another difficulty, a Russian difficulty; but on this point it is quite unnecessary for me to enter into any details, because honourable gentlemen are per fectly familiar with them I may say that I wish there may be no misconception as to what I consioer, and the house will consider, to have been the legitimate object of the late war with Russia. When the subject was first discussed in 1854, I then said I thought no peacp would be satisfactory to the country which did not secure the inde pendence of the Black Sea and the freedom of the Danube. (Hear, hear.) Two years afterwards, when the wildest no• tions on the subject of the war and on the terms of peace were afloat, when you were told nothing but the dismem berment of the immense empire of Russia would satisfy , Europe, I took the liberty of laying down the far more moderate terms upon which peace might be, in my opinion, and ought to be, secured; and they involved these two great points—the independence of the Black Sea and the freedom of the Danube. (Hear, hear.) And I say frankly and freely to the noble lord that if he found in the month orSeptember the country was to be deprived of one of the prime objects for which it had made such enormous and costly sacrifices of blood and treasure, it was the duty of the noble lord—never mind what was the cause—oven at the risk of another war, to obtain his object. (Hear, hear.) I do not see how he could have faced this house or the country, unless with a view of announcing that his object had been accomplished. The noble lord, however, had to communicate to us that ono of the most important objects of the war was lost to us. I give the noble lord full credit for his intentions ' • but then the q ues ti on natura ll y ar i ses — Why were we on the point of losing the fruits we so richly deserved ? I hear a great deal of Russian maps and Rus sian duplicity, and of French maps and French duplicity ; but I hear nothing of English maps and English know ledge of the subject. Nobody denies now that this town of Bolgrad was unfortunately left in the possession of the Russians. Never mind what was the spirit of the treaty; so far as England was concerned, she was determined to have the freedom of the Danube secured, and Russia pos sessing Bolgrad, that freedom was not secured. Why, then, was it retained ? I am told that the Russian Minister be haved very ill—wicked Baron Br unow had taken care of his own country—(laughter)—ungrateful Baron Brunow had thus acted after all the hospitality he had received in Eng land—(l aughter)—and had not done for Lord Clarendon that which Lord Clarendonought to have done for himself. (Renewed laughter.) Now, that is the real state of the case. When it is a blunder of our own negotiator which has occasioned the whole confusion, I don't see the advan tage of turning round upon our late foe and present ally, and 4.. teasing one of duplieity, and the other of breach of faith. Lord Clarendon was not pressed for time in the negotiation of the treaty, because he found time to recom mend interference in the affairs of the kingdom of Naples, and he also found time to interfere with the liberty of the press throughout Europe. Lord Clarendon went to Paris to obtain the independence of the Black Sea and the free dom of the Danube, and he omiteed to obtain one of those important objects for which he was so sent. Was it from want of information? That is the most charitable cou clueion. With regard to want of information, we have an Ambassador at Constantinople who may have his fail ings, but nobody will deny that he is e man of great ability and great experience, and he is surrounded by a diplomatic staff possibly the most able that surrounds any Minister. In addition to this we have consul it establishments throughout all the provinces of the Turkish empire, and throughout the Principalities in question. One would therefore suppose thet our diplomatic and consular sources of information would have furnished Lord Clarendon with sufficient knowledge, at least t o h ave o b ta i ned that wh i ch was the object of the war and the object of negotiation. Lord elarenion had also all the archives of the Foreign office in Downing-street, which be ought to have found prepared for him before he went to Paris. But it is a per feet libel on the diplomatic service of the country to sup pose that if information had been sought it would have failed. All the insorma.tion might have been obtained by means of railways and the telegraph. Was it not worth their while to avail themselves of those means of informa tion ? The freedom of the Danube was no slight point it was the very pith and essence of the whole negotiation, the cause of the quarrel, and the cause of the treaty — (hear, he: , r)—and yet out of this condition of affairs -out of this almost unprecedented blunder of our own plenipotentiary, an excitement is got up, so that the people of Engiand, who in the spring or the summer expected they were going to war about Italy, now thought theyi were going to war again with Russia; and yet we are told this was enjoying the blessings of peace. In this way the spring, the summer, and the aut umn h a d b een occup i e d. A greatlidunde made by the chi e f h ea d o f ou r diplomacy himself. (Hear.) throw ) It is not ma d e b y any p oo r devil whomio ni v eprr,oapne improperly y sa p y r promoted atecdtabdywaiftohromuterinmstruscttfonYs°u,uoo(ri hw can had been kept iu his po s ition out of good feeling. Yo in u i de i t y e ' rrained that the chief of our dionaatists—one of the principal Ministers se of the Queen—one of the leading membersa ure that which you are of the ''abinet, should go to Paris in order to determined to achieve. this • He commits that awful mistak e ; but it is not discovered , e and he returns to country, and with laurels. The blunder is at len gth discovered in s crownedthemo most natural way possible ; but instead of our turn ing round and saying—" Let us u nd er st and each other ; give us that which is the spirit of the agreement," in the most conciliatory manner ; instead of that, every means are used to lash up the passions of the people of England. You would suppose that instead of one of the Ministers making a great blunder, our late foe and present ally were trying to deprive us of the fruits of our victories. The noble lord (Viscount Palmerston) goes down himself to the groat capital of industry and peace, amongst many of the most eminent members of the Peace Society —the absence of one of whose members (Mr. Bright) in this house I sin cerely deplore--(hear)—and the noble lord excites them to that pitch of enthusiasm, that even the Peace Society half draws its sword ; and he then says, " see what a people I have to govern—backed by their opinion, I am resolved that I will have this treaty executed." (Hear, hear.) If it had been executed, we should have lost everything for which wo were struggling. (Laughter.) The noble lord excited the passions o f the people until the whole of the country were prepared to go to war with Russia again ; and you might have had an income tax of 20 per cent.—and why? Because Lord Clarendon made that blunder. (Laughter.) Now, see in what an absurd posi tion a man must be placed who is wrong. What was the end of all this blundering? Understand that from the first Russia was never in a position to struggle. Russia would never have consented to a peace if she had not been in that state which rendered the continuance of the straggle impossible. The noble lord tells the people of Manchester to have co n fid ence i n him, and he uses a ll those arts of ex citement of which h e i s a gr e a ter master than any Minister since the d a y s o f L ord B o li ng b r oke, He will have the , treaty, and there s h a ll b e no conference. At last it oozes , because he had were held, and they out that there are to be conferences at Paris ' • but not to be presided over by the Minister France been perfidious. Well, conference s terof France. (Laughter.) were presided over by the Mionly in stead of that they were obliged to meet and agree that it The conferen ce was to ne nis a matter of form; but was not the desire nor the wish of the English Minister s o expressed. Russia said, " We that the treaty • August, when the difficulty was offered you a conference in n s hoild be first discovered, and before it was known to the world. As OU, it could only be rearranged by conference ;" and says, " Let us have compensation for giving up Bolgrad. the treaty was against .y in 'ow, if Bolgrad did not belon g to Russia, why give " Russia any compensation ? Alth o u gii s ummer, and autu mn , you (Hear.) During h peacto,owseparrioegnot rea,eing the fruits of ileac . but difficulties in your foreign affors. in a period of have had nothing All those diffi cu lties were created b 1 her Majesty's Minis ters' who have ex tricated us somehow or other from them ; and because they have done so they consider they are en titled to our co nfidence, as the onl y men who understand how to manag e foreign politics. But eight months have thus been wasted. (Meer, hear.) There was a chance of yr American difficulty before Parliament was prorogued. Fortunately Parliament was sitting, and the House if Commons got hold of that difficulty, and it was put out of the way. Then we had the Italian difficulty, then the Russian difficulty, and the whole year was wasted. However there was still time. with energy, with great -xertions, and with great ability, for the Government to have put their house in or ler, and the House of Commons ,eera prepared and desirous ta reap the fruits of the late atnaggle and to enjoy the blessings of peace. But no sooner was Bolgrad safely in the possession of the noble lord, no sooner was the Isle of Serpents relieved from the presence of the few unfortunate Russian riflemen who were on it, than there was another difficulty, and one of a most menac ing character. A German prince, at the head of a great only, is going-to-invade neutral Switzerland. The Em rieror of France, although his motto on ascending the throne vas, " the empire is peace," ant that he had maintained hat principle throughout, had a right, under such circum lances, to march a French army to the Rhine. Here was difficulty to which all the others seemed of inferior im portance. Well, what were the Swiss doing? I believe that originally a more simple difficulty never existed, or one that _could be more easily ariansed. What was the conduct of Prussia? The King believed that his honour was grievously offended, and every men is the best judge of his own honour. What rrid he do under the circum st-mces? He did what every private gentleman does in a similar case. Instead of taking a hostile or bullying posi tion the King puts his affairs in the hands of a friend, and the friend he solicits is one who be believes, from his character and position, will have great influence with the swiss people. That appeal I highly approve of, and for that course I think the King of Prussia is entitled to the respect and esteem of society. The Emperor of the French responded to the appeal in a spirit worthy of the occasion, and was entirely successful. Instead of seizing the oppor tunity, and permitting the King of Prussia to invade Swit zerland, the Emperor of the Freech used all the influence he popsessed to terminate the dissension, and did it in a way which vindicated the honour of the King of Prussia and removed the difficulty in the political system of Europe. The circumstances happening at a dead time of the year the quiestion of Neuchatel would never have become a great public question had it not been for the Government of the noble lord. From the moment the Swiss authorities con sented to adopt the course recommended by Fiance, the English authorities counselled a different course. They said, this is not a case in which you can take a conciliatory . course. The eyes of Europe are upon you, and you have a ereat duty to perform. The King of Prussia is taking a course which Europe cannot approve of or view without dis satisfaction. Reject his proposals and raise your standard, round which all Europe can assemble. The Swiss authori ties followed that friendly and conciliatory advice, and all Europe was convulsed. We wire on the eve of seeing an army of perhaps 100,000 men in vatting Switzerland in con sequence of the conduct of the English Government, and it might have led to consequences with regard to France which the house could easily foresee. But fortunately, although the Swi , s are celebrated for patriotism, they are equally remarkable for prudence ; and, when we come to the last moment—before the first gun is fired—the prudent feelings of the Swiss prevail, and they are determined to ascertain from the Government of the noble lord what is the nature of the assistance upon which they can rely. They had perhaps heard of the Neapolitan assassinations, the Sicilian insurrection, and they had perhaps heard of the Paris pro tocols, and of speeches made in the House of Commons, sympathising with free nations and with the liberal cause. They therefore naturally said—what are you going to do for us, now that a moment of trial is about to commence? We do not expect you to send her Majesty's Guards to Basle, as you did to Gallipoli, but there are other means of assisting us besides sending troops. We are not very rich; we are a republican people, and, if you leave us alone, sa tisfied with very little ; but England is very rich. Eminent as your people are for their valour, they are still more ce lebrated for their wealth. You have at this moment ex traordinary resources at command ; gelden galleons from Australia crowd your ports, and you have also the advan tage of a war taxation at a time of peace. (Laughter.) Let a few et Limbs fall from the rich man's table. (A. laugh.) The n ble lard was the. friend and pupil of Canning, and be had au admirable councillor and friend on the occasion. I give you sixpence, saiu the noble lord • I—, and the house knows the rest. (Laughter.) We live in the age of telegraphs. The Swiss telegraphed to Paris and accepted the terms offered them by the Emperor ; there was thus of end of the Swiss difficulty, and that was our Christmas box. (Laughter.) The whole year during which we had enjoyed those blessings which have been enumerated, and which fully justified the exhibition of fireworks in the parks —during the whole year of peace we have had nothing but rumours of war, and a conviction on the part of the people of this country that we were on the verge of great struggles in Italy, on the Danube, and on the Rhine, and that those scenes where the utmost human valour and skill were dis played were on the point of being renewed. Under such circums:,ances it was very natural to hear it said, what was education, or what were secondary punishments, compared with the struggles which were impending, and the slaugh ter which might follow. During these moments of tran quillity in Europe, which a wise Government would have seized to develop the commerce and assist the energies of a nation —in the midst of circumstances which held out a promise of peace such as has never been exceeded in the present century, at such a time as that the energetic, com mercial, and over-taxed people of England, diverted from their own affairs, and distracted by the rumours which pre vailed, are reconciled to this condition, and actually became enthusiastic admirers of the noble lord (A. laugh.) Because iu the midst of these dangers, and in the perilous state of Europe, the noble lord was the man who could save them. It made one admire the tact, and skill, and daring of the noble lord, to see him foster these difficulties upto a certain point, and still avoid explosion. He believed thenoble lord understood Europe well. had he been sent to Paris to nego tiate the treaty, he would not have fallen into the Bolgrad blunder, for he had had more official intercourse with Europe than any man living. So adroitly had he managed all these difficulties, that he converted them to his OW° Praise, and actually made them the basis of a claim to th e gratitude, and au appeal to the people of England, "In Parliament," says the noble lord, they may corns and ask me what lam 'going to do about Parliamentary reform ; shall refer them to a late noble colleague of mine on that subject." (Great laughter.) They will get up a question about Administrative reform. The noble lord will answer them, as Richard 11. answered Wat Tyler, " What do you want? lam an Administrative reformer." The noble lord haveersian twhaer.gretautetsatrediwffieccuoltmye will have no difficulty in admitting what we desire, but we shall duty of the Hone of Commons to in itn q o But, unfortunately, Canton blazes, and we are committed to the e t, o ) h f r ethbeusret deferrin g h e difficulties stitihe t hat tn i sothl consideration iaet up o n p e anor of ou r utihraetwl h extorting (a)what is s a r y t tz r oe e t s r u teh l a t .. . e ffect sous for these perpetually resulting di ffi culties ? The necessity alea people.i ti d under om es t e f For myself, cannot understand why we should go to war with Persia-- that vast, weak empire, which stands between us and another European Power, which is predoMinant in that part of Asia, end which we cannot destroy without finding ourselves face to face with our late antagonist, Russia. Indeed I believe it is Russia in the disguise of a Persian, with a long, black Per sian cip on, that we are now at war with—our late invete rate, inexhaustible foe, whom we so entirely destroyed and baffled in the achievement on the Black Sea, and who did not attempt to conceal his exhaustion. As to that exhausted foe, we now find all at once that he is powerful and possessed of treasures unknown, ou the side of Persia. I remember the invasion of Affghan. (Hear, hear.) I took a part in the debates of that time, and I remember with great familiarity the documents which were laid on our table on that oc casion. All that we have heard about the papers now Is from the mover or the Address, but in the Royal Speech r find no promise of then,. If we are favoured with the Papers connected with this war, I shall examine them with considerable suspicion and care, and if I see that certain papers are not produced which ought to be produced , I will move that they be referred to a select committee, to take evidence on those points which ought to be elucidated. If it shall turn out, as I believe it will turn oat, that Russia is more anxious for peace between Persia and England than England is for war between herself an.i Persia—if it turn out that Russia has spared no efforts to bring about peace, and has even counselled Persia to surrender that great and long' coveted prize, the city of Herat, I shall then be tempted to think that it is your policy and expediency to have that third campaign in Persia which was not prosecuted in the Crimea, and which, on that account, I have often heard deplored bi the pupils of the noble lord's school, If that be the case, I would have you consider the position in which the noble lord will place this country, and the effect such a proceeding ors his par t may have upon the commerce and taxation of this country, and the posit.on which it will occupy in Europe. From what I see, I think it possible that the Persian difficult/ will be settled ; but it will be settled by the agency of that ver y Power against which every means has been taken throughout to convey a false impression • but it will be found that Russia was the friend of peace, rath er war. The Chinese difficulty remains, rather than the cause et but upon it I will make but one observation. The question of China appears'to me t ° be iu the same catalogue with Persia. You cannot avoid the conviction that what has taken place in China has not beet' the consequence of the alleged pretexts laid before us ; it le the result of what has been received from home—and that, too, from home some time ago. If that be so, is it not the duty of the house to consider whether there be any means of controlling the system which is being pursued, and which is fraught with so much danger to the country Are we to be always in difficulties in our foreign relations? There is a great complaint at the present moment of the burthens of taxation; and one particular tax which ie being levied at present, and that peculiar tax is intimately' connected with the subject to which I have been calling the attention of the house. Ido not wonder that the p e ople should object to a war taxation in the time of peace : but I am told that it is necessary to submit because our foreign relations are in a state of Bush extreme difficulty and embar rassment. I answer, that those are the very circumstances under which to make an abatement from our present taxa tion, for in a time of peace, if a sacrifice were necessary to free us from the consequences of an old struggle, although that struggle had been carried on in a spirit of extravagance , I should in that case move for a financial committee—l s hould m have explanatory accounts submitted to that financial corn" ittee—l should have that extravagance and lavished misuse of the public funds exposed—l should consider what it is that the public wants, and then take the course which circura" stances justified. But when I find a time of pease conterue poraneous with a state of semi-war, with the fitting out of expe ditions and the sending of fleets to different quarters of the globe, then I am obliged to consider whether this war taxation is root required for circumstances very different front those of a time of peace. I think we ought to look into th e consequences of the blunder made by Lord Clarendon when fleets were, sent to the Black Sea; it could be easily es ti ; mated, and it would be very instructive to see in a conyeni o form what the consequences were of a want of geography o ' the part of a Secretary of State. (Laughter.) My own opi nion is, that the ti me i s arr i ved when it would be we ll prevent, curb, and control the power of the Minister who 3 1, pursuing a policy such as I have sketched to-night, and In c . as I believe to b e very d angerous to the interests o f tb' , country. But we have a still graver question to consid er ; touching the eight or n i ne millions which the Governin el ' are new levyin g , f or t h ere is an agitation throughout t hi, country in whi c h points have been raised of a grave and ee . during importance. They are questioning the very na ttre . of the tax; the principles on which it is founded; the co n f sequences upon our interests and property of this specios a % taxation ; and the exemptions, if any, and to what deg a r l ° o they ought to be made in levying this tax. These are grav e questions, which the right hon. member for the Univere.,lo of Canabri 'ge introducel his act in 1853 in order to s ett le for ever. That was no insulated financial measure, but '4 important part of the financial scheme which he then breour, forward. There were at that time too parties in the b o ns each su ffi ciently powerful to have greatly embarrassed fir st tear, and both united, to have defeated him, In t?!' et iao pace, there were those who thought there was no ser iou s solution of the difference between capitalised and pl'e .i a l fes e. incomes. No doubt that opposition was founded in tt b y ings of human nature. Opposition, however, was silence d . 1 the explanations afforded by the right hon. gentleman, aThe consider that a compact was entered into. (Ghteer dht supporters of that opinion were the supporters o_f the as ' c 't,.. hon, gentleman on that occasion, and, as far as ! o f the cerned, I offered as little opposition to the proposit ion m othe r i s also right hon, gentleman as possible. But there BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. Mr. HAYTER said that, for the convenience of the house, he would state some measures it was the intention of her Majesty's Government to introduce. (Hear, hear.) On Thursday next the Secretary of State for the Colonies would move for a ,elect committee to consider the state of those British possessions in North America which were under the ad ' 'ministration of the Hudson's Bay Company, or over which that company possessed licences to trade ; and at the same time he would ask for leave to introduce a bill to enable her Majesty's subjects of the lonian Isles 'to bold naval and military commissions under the Cro wn ; and another bill to alter the existing provisions relating to the Ecclesiastical Government of Norfolk Island. (Laughter.) On Friday the Chancellor of the Ex chequer would move for a select committee to inquire into the operations of the Bank Act of 1844, and of the Bank Acts of Ireland and Scot land of 1848, and also to inquire into the laws relating; to joint-stock banks. On Monday the Home Secretary would ask for leave to introduce a bill to amend the act of the ltith and lith Victoria, chap. 99, entitled "Au act to substitute in certain cases other punishment in lieu of transportation"— (hear, hear) —and, on the same day, to ask leave to introduce a bill to facilitate the establishment of Reformatory Schools in England. (Hear, hear.) EXPIJLSION OF JAMES SADLEIR. The —ATTTORNEY•GENERA.L for IRELAND gave notice that, on the 16th host., he should move the expulsion of James Sadleir from the house, SECONDARY PUNISHMENT. Mr. ROEBUCK gave notice that he should at an early day submit a motion to the house in reference to secondary puui4hments. CHURCH RATES. Sir W. CLAY gave notice that on an early day he ehonld introduce a bill on the subject of Church rates. EDUCATION. Sir J. PAKINGTON gave notice that on Tuesday, the 14tb, he s hould submit a motion to the house on education. THE COUNTY FRANCHISE. Mr: LOCKE KING gave notice that on an early day he shoul , l move for leave to bring in a bill to equalise the franchise in counties and boroughs. THE ADDRESS. The SPEAKER having read her Majesty's speech, Sir J. RAMSDEN moved an Address to her Ma jesty saying the spe ec h strong l y contraste d i n the information it gave t o t h at o f f ormer speeches, and added that he could no t h e l p congratulat ing the house on the probability of an unanimous address being agreed to to her Majesty. (Hear, hear.) After referring to the termination of the war and the prosper ous state of the country, from the blessings of peace ena bling the people to turn their attention to the spread of commerce and the increase of trade, he said that during the recess he heard with surprise that difficulties and doubts had arisen as to the terms of the treaty ; above all, with a feeling almost of dismay, that a second Con ference would be required for the settlement of what he considered had been settled long ago, and for which they had illuminated and rejoiced, but h" -was happy to find that the difficulties to which he ad alluded had, by the ability and firmness the Govern ment, been overcome. With regard to Sicily, it w as n o t because the monarchy of Nar: Les was feeble, or that the Persian and Chinese dif F ,,eulties might not be difficult of being settled, it did sot follow that important g ees . tios&s e d were not invol /, and in the absence of informa tion he declined‘ entering into a discussion of the question, bat would wait until those papers were laid on the table of the house. (Hear, hear.) Refer:jag to our do mes ti c pos iti o n, he com men d ed the patience, spirit, and patriotism of the people in cheer fully bearing the burthen of the late war, and said that a relief from war generally gave a relief from taxation, how -1 ever inconvenient it might be to a Chancellor of the Ex chequer to do so. Relief in some manner or other was, however, inevitable —(hear, hear)—but when it devolved on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to devise how that relief should be apportioned, he (Sir J. Ramsden) ad mitted it was not a cheering prospect for him, for he doubted which was the most enviable position for a Chancellor of Exchequer to be placed in—that of having a surplus to deal with or a deficiency to make up. So far as the former was concerned a Chancellor of Exchequer appeared much in the same position as that of a prize ox in a cattle show, and like him, after being admired, must expect to be cut up. (Hear and laughter.) Every Englishman must admit that it was necessary for this country that its army and navy should be kept up in an efficient state, for being pre pared for war was the surest guarantee for peace—(near) —and ho felt certain that there would be no desire on the part of the House of Commons to demur to any expenditure to make our military and naval estab lishments, with the money well spent, model establish ! ments, and by opening the rewards to talent, to induce ambitious and aspiring young men to enter them. The hon. baronet alluded to an omission in the Royal Speech, with reference to our convict and criminal population, respecting which the public feeling had been much and justly roused, and he urged the necessity of a remedy of a state of things as di screditable to t h e L e gislature as it was grievous to the community. (Hear, hear.) The prosperous state of the country was a subject of con gratulation, and he urged on the Government the .St ~:ix~ ~..?:i:ir ~i