The Sun. — London, England, 1857-07-21 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONDON, I'LTESDAY EVENING, JULY 21, 1857 IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS.—(YESTERDA.Y.) MERSEY CONSERVANCY BILL. Tne Earl of DERBY presented a petition signed by 13,000 persons in Liverpool, against the Mersey Conser vancy Bill. The Duke of NEWCASTLE presented petitions in favour of the bill. The Duke of NEWCASTLE moved the second read ing of this bill. It was not arbitrary, nor was it a viola tion of the rights of property. It was simply to form a new trust for the toll+ and the docks. Lord RAVENSWORTH opposed the billas a violent and arbitrary measure. Lord WENSLEYDALE said the bill ought to be thrown out. It ignored compensation. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE supported the bill. The Earl of DERBY strongly blamed the conduct of her Majesty's Government on this occasion. The house divided - For the second reading • Against it l5-8 The bill was then real a second time. ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY BILL. On the motion for the third reading of this bill. Lord REDESDALE drew attention to the fact that it dici not contain the usual provision enabling the G. - vernment to take possession of the line of telegraph. This could not be done, because the United States jibed in the guarantee to the company ; but he thought it would have been better if this Government had under taken the whole guarantee. Earl GRANVILLE gave some explanations, and the bill was read a third time and passed. BANKRUPTCY LAWS. Lord BROUGHAM postponed his notice on this sub ject until Thursday, when he said he should propound to the house such alterations as he deemed requisite in our commercial law. INCLOSURE ACTS AMENDMENT BILL. This bill was read a second time. LARCENY, &c., BILL. This bill, and seven others founded on the recommen dations of the Statute Law Commission, were severally read a third time and passed. The Crowded Dwellings Prevention Bill and the Turnpike Trusts Abolition (Ireland) Bill were read a third time and passed. The Constabulary Force (Ireland) Bill passed through committee. Their lordships adjourned at half-past 9 o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-(YESTERDAY.) INDIA. Mr. ROEBUCK !asked the Vice-President of the Board of Control whether the Government or the East India directors had received a telegraphic communica tion from India, 'stating that the Bombay Army bad mutinied? He was induced to put the question from the statement he bad seen in one of the daily papers. Mr. V. SMITH said that neither the Government nor the East India Company bad received any such com munication. In consequence of the great excitement that naturally prevailed in reference to Ind , an affairs, he begged to state the present means of communication be tween the two countries. There were two mail 4 a month, and as soon as they arrived at Suez, a short account of the contents of the mils were telegraphed to Trieste, and from thence to this country, in anticipation of their delivery. 'He was at a loss to conceive how it was the rumour referred to had originated. (Hear. bear.) He had no wish to interfere with the manner in which the respectable editors of the press in this country conducted their business, but he hoped after what be bad said relative to the means of communication between the two countries, that they would be cautious bow they received rumours of this kind, which necessarily caused much uneasiness to the putlic. (Hear, hear.) He did not place the least rill ance in the rumour lauded to, and his impression was —from the last account—that there was no disaffection in the Bombay and Madras armies. (Hear, hear.) THE RUSSIAN TARIFF. In answer to a question from Mr. NEWDEGA.TE, Lord PA.LNIERSTON said that be had received a communication from Lord Wodehouse, stating that the revised Russian tariff was published in the Russian language. It was the intention of the Russian Government to publish a translation of it in the French language; and as soon as it was issued he (Ix rd Wodehouse) would transmit a copy of it to this country. THE DEFENCES OF THE COUNTRY. • On the report of the Committee of Supply being brought up, Mr. BENTINCK rose, in pursuance of notice, to call the attention of the house to the state of the naval and military defences of the country. Referring to the dis cussion upon the subject on Friday last, the hon. gen tleman said the answer of the noble lord at the head of the Government was unsatisfactory, and he wished to elicit a clearer statement. He understood the right hon. baronet the First Lord of the Admiralty to have said on a previous occasion that we had not a steam lire-of battle ship fit to carry troops to the East. He inferred that the ships were not in a sufficiently advanced state to be employed at a few days' notice in the conveyance of troops, and therefore that the ships could Rot be imme diately drawn out for the purpose of national defence. The noble lord at the head of the Government told the house that he saw nothing in the present state of affairs to necessitate. or justify the calling out of the militia this year, but he did - not tell the house what course would be adopted to make good the deficiency of troops which most be created by the necessity of sending a large number to India. The noble lord, with his usual frankness, said he saw no probability of any outbreak in Europe. No man was more qualified to give an opinion on such a point, but the noble lord was not omniscient nor omnipotent. It was impossible that he or any one could say what might cccur in the next four weeks. No opinion on the probability or improbability of an outbreak in Europe was worth anything, because it could be only a speculation, upon which they would not be justified in acting. Within a few weeks we might be engaged in hostilities with one or two of the most powerful States in Europe, and there ought to be means at our command to insure the safety of the country in the event of the occurrence of such a contingency. (Hear, hear) The noble lord seemed to hold doctrines more becoming the Peace-at-any-price party. He said that " We most cut our coat according to our cloth." The SPEAKER felt obliged to remind the hon. member that these constant references to past debates were contrary to Parliamentary usage. (Hear, hear.) Mr. BENTINCK would not presume to argue with the right hon. gentleman who presided, but be sub mitted that, as be felt it his duty to call attention to the opinions expressed by the noble lord upon an imports , t subject, if he were not allowed to advert to those opi nions there would he a complete end to all freedom of debate. He understood the noble lord on a former oc casion to say-that the expenditure of the country shoe' I be regulated by its income. That was a dangerous doc trine to be laid down by the Prime Minister. It was calculated to raise strong doubts as to whether the noble lord had taken proper means for maintaining our de fences by sea and land. He trusted that the important subject which he had ventured to introduce to their no tice would, be taken up by gentlemen of more ability and influence than himself, and that at length an ex le nation would be elicited from the Government as to the measures they proposed to adopt for preserving the efficiency of our naval and military defences. Lord A. V. TEMPEST said that in deference to the feelings di the house the other evening he did not persist in his motion for poetp 'fling the vote for an increase of seamen in our navy. He submitted, however, that in the present- critical condition of India, and with hostile ties going on in Chiete, the noble lord at the head of the Government ought to have made a statement to the house with respect tq the exigencies of the country, and explained, how he proposed to meet them. In lieu ot that —when, on Friday evening, the vote for 2,000 additional seamen was handed to the chairman in Committee of Supply, not a single remark was made by the First Lerd of the Admiralty cr any other member of the Govern ment, and had he not ventured himself to address a few observations to the hotiser the . vote would have been agreed to in solemn silence, We could not disguise from ourselves the fact -that a large military force wool] be required to suppress the revolt in India, and therefore it was somewhat extraordinary that the only vote which the Government had proposed for an increase of our armaments was one for an addition of 2,000 sea men to the navy. It had been stated by the public jour nels—not by any member of the Government—teat 25,000 soldiers were about to proceed to India. He wished to know what measures the Goverment intended to take In order to replace that large force. Nothing could be more dangerous than to denude this country of the whole of its military defences, and yet, whil e the-Go vernment bad Maintained a studious silence on the sub jest of any increase to our regular army, the Prime Mi nister • had" positively declared that, in his opinion, the culling out of the militia was unnecessary. If the noble lore supeeteed that recruits oonld be obtained with little difficulty be was very much mistaken. (Hear.) The people ttad not forgotten the excessive favour shown to the soldiers of the Foreign Legion, and the rewards be stowed upon the members of the various civil corps, and they woole• not be found so ready to enlist into the artnyeas suns e pers ons seemed to expect. Moreover, it ought to be'remembered that at the close of the last war our army was 50,000 men under the estimates voted by Parliament— a fact which showed how nec t e h s e sa i ry .it was to take•intraediate m easures for replacing force about , to be sent to Indi a . With respectto the acor'ne veyance of troops, he might state that a portion of cur Crimean army was brought home in her Majesty s screw line-of-battle ehipe, although the First Lord of the Adree. rally bad previou-ly declared that no vessels belonging to the navy would be used for that pu r p ose, and he was convieced the employment of screw steamers in convey. jog troops to India cr China at the present time would be productive of both efficiency and economy. The no b le lord cc•ne,Juded by asking what was the total nnrnbtr of troops. intended to be sent to India—how they were to be eonveyed—whether the Government had considered the expediency of increasing the regular army, and if es, to what extent—and whether the Government had Coll. eideredfthe.propriety of calling out some of the militia reginients 2 Mr. W. WILLIAMS said there was evidently a strong desire on the p rt of certain classes to increase the army. For many years the standing army of the country f r howl and cidonial duty amounted to 81,000. It was no w 126,000,,and be hop e d the Government, which knew the wantd.of the country much better than individual mem bers, would not be induced ty any reworks from m,m berp in that house to make an increase which they them bpi veB felt to. he unnecessary. Col. xSox rem i n d e d th e h on. member for Lambeal that OP„00Q 4WD bad been abAracted fro m th e army a t home tor service in India and China. The bon. member, however, had a hobby, which was to endeavour by every wane in his power to reduce the army to a conditiz,n in which it would be insufficient for the wants of the coun try, He (Col. Knox) hoped the noble lord would preeit by the experience gained in the last war, when, having allowed our army to be too much reduced, we were driven to great straits to procure the men who were absolutely necessary for us. Lord PALMERSTON—It is, I think, not usual for men who have at any time been anxious for the attain ment of a certain object to become less eager for it when they are placed in a position which makes them per sonally responsible for its attainment. Now, at a mo ment when the question of adequate national defences was not quite so popular as it is now, I was one of those Who out of office, as before that time when I was in office, urged upon Parliament the necessity of making more ample provision for the defences of the country. (Hear.) I retain that opinion now, and, being a mem berof the Government and more responsible for providing adequate defences, I hope hon. gentlemen will give us credit for not being neglectful in accomplishing an object which all must admit to be of paramount importance. Now, the hon. gentleman who spoke last seemed dis posed to taunt us with evincing an inclination to too much economy in onr arrangements. I have always telt and urged that Parliament ought to provide ample funds r whatever may be necessary in the way of military or naval defences. (Hear.) I can only say that the expe rience of the past leads me confidently to rely upon the fact that Parliament never will be backward in answer ing the calls of the Government, whatever that Govern. ment may be, woenever it is felt that increased exertions are necessary to enable the Government to provide adequate means for the national defences. But it is one thing to call on Parliament in a great emergency to in crease the burdens of tbe country, with a view to pro tect the country from danger ; it is another thing, in or dinary times, to call on Parliament to go beyond that amount which the Government, acting upon its own re sponsibility, has deemed to be sufficient for defence, although perhaps they might have an opinion that the amount was not quite so large as they would have desired had there been more ample means at their disposal. At the beginning of this year there was laid before Parliament a statement of the amount of military and naval force which we, who are re sponsible, considered at the time would be likely to be required. Therefore, as far as the defences of the country, are concerned, looking at the state of Europe I see no reason why we should call upon Parliament to give us a greater number of men than we asked for ori ginally. (Hear.) The hon. gentleman who commenced this discussion thinks we do not look with sufficient f re sight to events which might happen to disturb the tran quillity of Europe and might involve this country in the necessity of making greater exertions. I can only say I see no prospect at present, no question impeiding which is likely to involve us in any struggle in Europe. I trust the hand of Providecce will protect us from any of those events which may unexpectedly produce a state of con vulsion. But if such an emergency should arise, Parlia ment is sitting, to whom we could at once apply, and if Parliament were not sitting we have the power of calling it together and asking its advice and assistance. Upon these grounds I feel there is no immediate cause for us to apply to Parliament for a greater amount of force for the service of the United Kingdom than that which we asked for at the beginning of this year. But it is quite true that events unexpectedly arising in India have compelled us to send from this country a portion of that force which had been intended to remain here for the purposes of national defence or for furnishing reliefs upon those eta tions where they might be needed. We, however, took steps to fill up the gap that would be created. We at once ordered the most active recruiting to take place. The only immediate way in which a drain of this kind can be met is by enlisting fresh recruits to augment the eatablishmentnf regiments remaining at home and in other places, or for the purpose, if it becomes necessary, of raising second battalions with a view of increasing the number of corps for relief abroad ; but that operation will go on without any assistance from Parliament up to the amount which Parliament has already sanctioned for the military establishment of the country. Parliament has voted a certain number of men, and a portion of that number being sent out to India, we are able to fill up by recruitments the gap thus created, and to restore the establishment to the same amount at which it stood before these events occurred. I hope that at an early period that gap will be filled up by the ordi nary process of recruiting. If not, it will become the duty of the Government to see what other steps may be re quired. One of the methods which has been suggested, and which has been much pressed upon us by hon. mem bers on the other side of the house, is that we should have recourse to the militia. I think hon. gentlemen do not accurately picture to themselves a distinct idea of what it is they recommend. If they recommended that the militia should be called out for training and exercise for the limited period of 28 or 56 days, to which in time of peace they are confined, is that intended as a means of inducing the men of those regiments to volunteer for the line ? I dare say, if we were to call out a large body of the militia for training and exercise, many of them would volunteerinto the line, but it would be a most exoen• sive mode of raising men, because in order to recruit 100 or 200 men, you would have to pay the full establishment of the militia regiment for 28 or 66 days. Thus, the two thirds or three-fourths of the regiment who would not volunteer must be paid in order to induse the remaining oue-fourth or one-third to join the line. Other gentlemen say we ought to emeedy the militia as a permanent part of the home garrison ; bn if they looked at the Act of Parliament ttiey would see that we bays no power to do so. The law gives the Crown the power of embodying the militia in case of war with some foreign Power, or in case of insurrection or danger at home. We are not at war. I see no likelihood of our being engaged in a European war, and certainly there never was a moment when the country was less likely to see an insurrection at home. It is possible, no doubt, that events may have happened in India, of which we may receive information before Parliament rises, which will mess- sitato so large a detachment of forces from this coon try that the ordinary process of recruiting will not be likely to fill up the gap ; and I admit that, without any apprehension of particular danger at home, tr anticipating any unfavourable change of political cir cumstances in Europe, it would not be right and fit ting to leave this country, I will not say entirely destitute, but with any diminntion for any length of time of the force that is necessary for its home defence. (Hear, hear.) It might, therefore, in such a case be proper to ask Parliament to give the Crown for a limited period powers to embody a portion of the militia, though not in a state of war. I merely mention that as one of the possible events that might make a recourse to Parliament necessary, though I hope no such necessity wilt arise. T. e noble lord opposite has asked me to tell hint tbe number of troops going to India—a question which I beg to say I have already answered. The force sent out, or being sent out, is, in round numbers, 20,000, consisting partly of recruits for the European corps in the service of the Company, partly of infantry of the line, partly of cavalry, and also of artillery. There are about 1,000 artillery, c insisting of six companies of foot and 2 troops of horse artillery ; there are 3 regi ments of cavalry going, and the rest will be infantry of the line. We have sent out what we think to be suffi cient, judging from the last communications we had from India, and the amount of force sent rather exceeds that which the Governor-General in his last communica tion thought it was essential he should have. If, unfor tunately, further accounts should necessitate our send ing larger reinforcements, we shall then consider %hat steps we ought to take, and whether it may not be neces sary to have recourse to Parliament for further powers. ' Mr. W. S. LINDSAY thought the real question was whether the readiest and quickest mode of sending troops to India had been adopted by the Government. He thought it was impossible to send troops in line-ef battle ships at anything like the cost of merchant ships as the former could not, like the latter, lessen the charge by back cargoes. The question, in his opinion, lay be tween sailing and steam-ships. He found from a return he held in his hand that the average pa-maze of 22 sailing ships from this country to Calcutta was 1321 days, and that screw steamers had performed the same passage in 94 days, lees stoppages of ten days being a gain of 38 days in favour of the screw steamers. But, throwing aside stoppages, there would be a saving of 45 days by sending troops to India in screw steamers. This, he thought, was a matter of grave consideration at the present moment. The passage homeward from India showed neatly the same results, and the returns he had went to prove that in tie passage out and home by screw steamers there would be a saving of about one third in point of time. Sir C. NAPIER considered it impossible to send the troops to India by line-of-battle snips, as they could not be fitted out in Iles than three munths from the day the ord r was given. Great difficulty, too, would be foucd in raising men, and he therefore thought the Admiralty were right in going into the market to hire vessels. He did not care what the cost was, but be thought the Go vernment ought to send out screw sh jr, and, in order to isave their coals, they Ilion' f take care to have them towed out to catch the trade winds. With respect to the defences of the country, he had almays been of opinion, and be believed that the Government themselves were of the same opinion if they would only speak but, that this country ought never to be lsft without a Channel squad ron for an emergen.y. It was no use for the Government of England to rely upon sailing ships when other nations had steam, and. instead of paying off our steam vessels, he contended that we should have paid off our sailii.g vessels, and have maintained our screw ships. Our sta tion idockehips, as they were called, were not blockehips in reality, but were only bad steamers which were of no u-e whatever. Instead of such inefficient craft, ;se ought have first-rate screw ships at every outpost, and as the Coastguard were now a well.organised corps, they would have been competent to man the ships if the ships only had been ready for their reception. He trusted the Govern. ment would recall from the outposts those bad and useless vessels, and thatthty would substitute for them the best steamers at their disposal. It wasknown that ships in corn mOssion with their full crews aboard did not wear out so fast as ships that were laid up in ordinary; nevertheless it had been the custom of this country to have the best ships laid in ordinary, while the worst ships were iu Government e'n rnn iii)n.l thne conclusion absolute n h e e ee a sti a t i y n pressedef embarking up o n theth e troops for India in screw ships. Lord C. HAXILTON, before agreeing to the recep tion of the report up :n Supply, wished to ask this pla - n and practical question—ethat was the advantage gained to this country by th e expenditure of the roerreywhich they were now asked to.sanction ? 500,001, was not the whole vote which they would be called upon to provide —it was only an instalment of a larger sum which al ready amounted to 930,0001, ; and, as it was one of the most important duties of the House of Commons to see teat the public funds were not wasted, he could not con sch ntiously consent to this vote until he had heard some explanation with respect to the value received for the outlay. He was not going to discuss the policy of the . Persian war ; but be wished to know what was the diffe rence between the terms tweed to at Paris, and those which were offered, and were within our grasp at C.mstat. tinople. As far as he understood the papers which had been submitted, be gathered that the terms which we bad accepted at Paris were not nearly so advatitageons as those which had been offered at Constantinople. At Constantinople we demanded c impensatien for certain inhabitants at Herat, and we peremptorily demanded the dismissal of the Prime Minister. Both these points were conceded at Constantinople, but they were not in• sisted upon at Paris ; while by the 12th article of the Paris treaty England gave up a right which at Constan tinople she was not asked to concede. That being so he asked how the house could be justified in ea • 'oiling the expenditure of this 500,000/. The only plea on which it could be justified was that Ferukh Khan, the Persian ambassador at Constantinople, bad not full powers. In the event of such a statement being put for ward however, be begged to remind the house that Lord Stratford de Reda*. writing to Lord Clarendon on t' e 2d Jan. said that- Wei e hie Exi °tient, accept the whole of our terms he would engage unit upon those being immediately complied with no further demands should be made." Thus showing that, in the opinion of Lord Stratford, Ferukh Khan possessed full powers. Moreover, he (Lord C. Hamilton) found that on three separate occasions Ferukh Kban himself stated that be was armed with full power. This was a commercial country, and he begged to repeat in plain terms the ques tion which lie already asked—what had this country gained by the expenditure which Parliament was now called upon to sat ction ? Sir C. WOOD thought that it would be very inexpe dient at the present moment to resuscitate the debate upon the Persian war. However, the question which tl'e noble lord had asked would be easily answered. What we had gained by the war was the exaction of a promise from Persia that she would perform the solemn engage ment which she bad broken—not again to occupy Herat, an engagement the performance of which all persons who were acquainted with the interests of India considered to be indispensable for the safety of our empire in the East. Quitting that subject, then, and referring to the questions which had been raised with respect to the transport of the troops to India and the defences of the country, he must say that be ad hered to the opinion which he had before expressed, that it was undesirable to employ Queen's ships in conveying troops, but that it was far better to employ transports for that purpose and Queen's ships in providing naval assistance in the war. The hon. gentleman who last spoke adverted again to the question of seeding troops . 13 sailing or steam ships. The average time taken in the passage to Calcutta by the fastest sailing ships, starting at this period of the year, was from 90 to 100 days. Now, he had the times occupied by auxiliary screws in that passage. They were bound by contract to perform that passage in 74 days ; but the first per formed it in 107 days ; the second, the Tynemouth, in 121 ; the third, the Robert Lowe, in 100 days ; and the fourth in 90 days. He had stated the other night that some clipper ships had been taken up for the conveyance of troops, and the owners were willing to be bound to pay heavy penalties if they did not beat the screw ships starting a'.; the same time. There fore the certain advantage of employing screw ships was not so great as had been represented. He must remind the house, too, of the exceeding difficulty of finding coal for so large a number of vessels. The Government had stores at the Cape, but they had been largely drawn on by the steam vessels proceeding to China. Large addi tional stores had been sent out ; but, taking into consi deration the two circumstances, that starting at this time sailing vessels were as quick as steam vessels, and that there was a possibility of the supply of coal falling short, he thought the East India Company had done well in determining in reference to expedition to send a por tion of the troops in sailing vessels. With respect to the question of defence, it was quite true that be admitted the other night that there were not at present in com mission sufficient line-of-battle ships fit to carry troops to India, but he did not therefore admit that there were not sufficient in commission for the defence of the coast. He agreed with the honourable member for Tynemouth that it was not likely the people of this country would awaken some morning and find their coun try invaded. War did not break out in that way, at d if the country was always to be prepared to meet the utmost amount of force that might be brought against it, where would be the possibility of attaining—what it was the aspiration of the country to accomplish—a peace establishment and peace estimates! (Hear, hear.) It was perfectly impossible and absurd to suppose that in the midst of profound peace the country should be as ready to meet an attack as it would be in a time of war. In estimating the amount of preparation necessary to be made the probable danger must be taken into account. A man might be knocked down in the streets of London, but every person would not on that account walk the streets with a revolver in his pocket. What were the circumstances et the country at the pre sent moment ! It bad lately emerged from a great continental war, and he had a suspicion that the great Powers were unwilling to involve themselves in war again. There was as litt'e danger of war between this country and any European Power as there had been at any time during the last forty years, yet the country was in a far better state of preparation than at any period during the last 40 years. Though there were not sufficient ships in commission fit to carry troops to India, still there were a considerable number of the finest screw ships in a state of forwardnes., with a view to being commissioned if needed ; there were Bailing ships in different ports, and there were, moreov e r, in commission, eight steam line-of battle ships called block ships, which the country never had before at any time. These last might not be fit to cruise in the Atlantic, but they were powerful for home , defence. The hon. and gallant admiral said that vessels kept better in commission than in ordinary. That was an entire mistake. When he was Secretary to the Ad ralty in 1836 it was thought necessary to increase the number of vessels in commission. There were then a number of vessels called "advanced ships," being ves sels in some state of preparation, and on examination it was found that the tanks of the ships bad gone to decay and that the rigging was rotten. The Government then, instead of having to commence with empty vessels and getting for them whatever was necessary, bad first of all to get the decayed things out and then start de nolo. Those ships were in some degree filled up, and decay was the consequence, for it was the free circulation of the air that preserved the ships. Therfore, if the Go vernment kept the ships in the way proposed by the hon. and gallant admiral they would only be wasting away the ships, which would not be found in time of war so serviceable as they would under the system now pursued. Of course, if war threatened it would be the duty of the Government to bring the ships into a more forward state ; and, as a few weeks were sure to elapse between a quarrel and hostilities, there would be ample time to prepare them. With respect to men, let the num ber now maintained be compared with the number during any period of the last 40 years. At one time in that period when there was the greatest apprehension of interruption of peace, the number of seamen and marines voted was 43,000 ; the number this year voted wee, together with the addition recently proposed, 50,000, being 7.000 more than were voted at a time when for the last 40 years the aperehei sion of war was the greatest. He thought neither the house nor the Government could be reproached with having neglected to provide ample means for the defence of the country. He had no doubt the house would authorise any expenditure which might be requisite in order to place the natioral defences in a state of efficiency, but he thought her Majesty's Government would not be justified in calling upon the country to make sacrifice which were not abso lutely necessary, inasmuch as such pr e p ara ti ons h a d been made as would be sufficient to meet any emergency. He had not yet adverted to the naval reserve which had been recently established—the coastguard and coast volunteers. The first of these forces had been organised by the present Government The establishment of coast volunteers had been proposed by the right hon. member for Carlisle (Sir J. Graham), but during the war the sug ge-tion had not been carried out, He.(Sir C. Wood) was happy to say the enrolment of those forces had been successful beyond his warmest expectations. He had asked for 8,000 men for the coastguard, of whom 5,700 were seamen, and 2,300 civilians, who would, he hoped, be gradually replaced by seamen. He found from a return he had received to-day that the whole 8,000 men had been raised with the exception of seven. (Hear. ) He had asked the house to vote as many men as he ; thought he could obtain in the course of tne year, but men bad come in much more rapidly than had been ex pected, and three months after the vote bad been sane. tinned there was only a deficiency of seven men out of 8,000. (Hear.) During the war some 2,000 men, not in all cases the most efficient, bad been draughted from the Coast-guard into the Baltic fleet, and they had formed a solid and steady nucleus for the crews of the different ships. At this moment, howe'.er, if it were necessary, be could put on board ship 5,000 picked seamen, many of them wearing medals, clasps, and the legion of honour, most of which distinctions had been gained during the late war. With regard to the Naval Coast Volunteers, it had not been found possible in several districts to call out that force ; but up to this time more than 1,200 men had been called out and trained, and he was sure the house would be happy to bear that the greatest readi ness had been evinced to enter that branch of the public service. They had in that force a body of men who would be prepared upon any emergency to defend the shores of this country. If the crews of the block ships were transferred to sea-going ships the coast volunteers would be available for manning the block ships, and he ventured to say that so far as coast defences were con cerned the country had never at any former period been so well prepared as it was at present. (Hear.) He was glad the hon. member for Norfolk had brought this sub jest under the notice of the house, and had afforded him (Sir C. Wood) the opportunity of making a statement which be thought could not fail to be satisfactory to the hou-e and to the country. He hoped that when next year he proposed an addition to the number of the Coast guard and of the coast volunteers he should receive the support of the house in strengthening a reserve force, which was as cheap and efficient as any to which they could bare recourse. Admiral DUNCOMBE believed that the ships to be engaged in conveying troops to India would be taken up by the Ea , t India Company and examired by Admiralty inaptcters, and he wished to impress upon the Govern ment the importance of employing none] but first-class ships in this service. He had before him abet of the ships already taken up, and he found among them the Robert Lowe, of only 100 horse-power, another ship of only 150 horse-power, and sailing-ships of 600 or 700 tons. He did not think the efficiency of the troops would be promoted by embarking them in ships of such a description. Admiral WALCOTT said, the First Lord of the Ad miralty had stated that sailing ships were best ads?ted for the conveyance of troops from England to Calcutta, but, as three weeks must elapse before many of -those ships could be despatched, it was scarcely likely they would arrive at Point de Galle before the monsoon in, and if they did not do so it would take them three weeks at least to beat up to their destination, while by steamers the distance could be accomplished in a week or ten days. It was of the first importance that the strength and discipline of the troops should not be im paired when they arrive at tbeir destination, and he thought on that ground the advantages of steam vessels could not be overrated. Certainly, sailing ships of 600 or 700 tons were not calculated for the conveyance of troops to India. lie bad sailed to India at different periods of the year, and had been for three weeks in a dead calm ; but a ship which could employ steam power for 100 m lee might get into a wind which would enable her to proceed rapidly upon her voyage. The right hon. baronet had stated that the voyage to India could be made by sailing ships in 101 days. The quickest pas sage he (Admiral Walcott) had ever heard of was made by the Medusa frigate. which took out the Governor- General, and which made the passage out in 87 days, and the passage home in 89 days ; but that was an unpa ralleled circumstance. He agreed with the First Lord of the Admiralty, that it was not generally advisable to employ ships of war in the conveyance of troops, because he (Admiral Walcott) must say, without any imputation upon the soldiers, that it was almost impos sible to maintain proper discipline in a crowded vessel. He did not wish to create any alarm, but it was neces sary that they should not reord the existing crisis lightly, and if the troops were to be sent out in ships of the mercantile navy, he earnestly the Government to take care that they were efficient and properly adapted for the conveyance of soldiers. The First Lord of the Admiralty had said that the ships would be engaged under contract to land the troops within a certain time. He hoped the right bon baronet would not excite a spirit of competition among the commanders of these vessels. In the daytime all hands would be ready to shorten sail if a squall came on, but at night there would be fow bands on deck, and the system of contract to which he bad referred might induce the captains to in cur risks which sound prudence would c ondemn, by carrying a heavy press of sail during the night. He thought, therefore, that such rivalry should not be ex• cited, but that the commanders of these vessels should feel that full reliance was placed upon their ability, zeal, and promptitude for reaching their destinations at the earliest possible period, consistent with due regard for the safety and the lives of those committed to their charge. He would have been much gratified if a num ber of our screw line-of-battle ships could have been employed in the conveyance of troops. They were ships of unrivalled strength and speed, and they were com manded by officers upon whom the fullest reliance could be placed. During the voyage of such ships at this period of the year, from England to Point de Galle, there would scarcely be 9 nine days during which the lower deck ports could not be open on each side, which would give a circula.ion of air of the greatest advantage to the health of the troops. This class of ships would also afford accommodation for 900 men, and military officers aqached great importance to the shipment of large numbers of troops in the same vessel, in con sequence of the facilities afforded for the maintenance of discipline. The First Lord of the Admiralty said thatte had not screw ships sufficiently manned for the convey ance of troops. He (Admiral Walcott) held that the whole house, and not the Government alone, were responsible for the diminution of the income tax in such a manner as to render the reduction of our military and naval forces unavoidable. The hon. member for Lambeth (Mr. W. Williams) always contended for such reductions, but it was a penny wise and pound foolish system. That was proved in the case of the Crimean war, when enormous sums were expended in raising recruits and in obtaining stores and provisions. He thought that a great maritime country like this ought always to be prepared to main tain the naval superiority, and the esepense of a few more thousand soldiers or sailors would be amply returned in case any emergency arose. He therefore submitted that, though he was no advocate for keeping up a large army or navy in time of peace, we ought to be at all times pre pared for every emergency. Each of those line-of-battle ships could carry 800 men. The First Lord of the Ad miralty had stated that he bad not men at his disposal to man them all, but the right bon. baronet might remove all the seamen from the blockshipe, and put on board of them the volunteers of whom he had spoker. With 5000 iren these line-of-battle ships could be readily brought into commission, and if steamships could not be provided is time to take the troopsin question to India he thought it would be imperative on the part of the Government at once to have recourse to the screw ships. Sir J. ELPHINSTONE said he had heard it stated, with considerable surprise, that the average passage to India with steamships was beyond 100 days. As he knew something of the subject, having been 16 years in the Company's service, an 1 having made eight voyages to India and China, he was able to state that only on one occasion were they 100 clays at sea. That was in a sailing vessel. (Hear, hear, from Sir C. Wood.) Some years ago, also, be had occasion to investigate the logs of a considerable number of ships for the pur pose of assisting a friend of his who was interested in the result, and he found that, on an average of 100 voyages, with ships fitted with small auxiliary steam-en gines, the calm weather in which it would be necessary to get up steam was about 12 days. He considered our system of transports was entirely wrong. In the first place, he thought that iron transports 'were entirety a 1 mistake. It was perfectly impossible that they could touoh ground in the Indian Seas, where coral reefs abounded, without sustaining such damage as to risk the loss of an army at once. Moreover, they were very hot, and rolled heavily. These were faults and detects which it was difficult to remedy. The Transit, of which they bad heard so much he believed was originally an efli• cient vessel ; but with her lane, heavy forecastle and square quarters it was utterly impossible that she could be otherwise than unusuitable for carrying troops. He was able to bear out, from his own experience, what had fallen from the hon. and gallant admiral (Admiral Wal cott) as to the condition of the men on landing in India. It was requisite that they should be allowed on board of ship during the voyage much exercise, such as dancing, in orde: that they might be able to land in a condition that would enable them to carry their knapsacks for the first five miles. We bad the most perfect means of re mer:ying the existing state of things. Tnere was a class of ships in the navy whioh went by the name of " The Forty Thieves," and which would make the finest trans ports in the world. They had two tiers of ports, and en gines, which would enable them to make over 14 days of calm weather, and perform the whole passage in from 70 to 80 days. (Hear.) He would put it to the First Lord of .the Admiralty whether, in sending out these troops to India, It would not be desirable to tow all the ships round Cape Finisterre, which would have the effect of materially accelerating their speed. If 12 or 15 line of-battle ships were fitted up with auxiliary screw en gines, and were manned with 250 able seamen each, and with officers accustomed to the passage, a great result would be achieved, because tha house must hold in view that they must be in a condition to send troops to India in larger numbers and more continuously than they had ever done before. (Hear.) He had always ob served that the system of taking up ships for the trans port of troops was a commercial error, for it rai-ed the price of freiglvs, kept our own ships out of commission, and prevented us having a large additional reserve of able seamen who would be able to man them. It the boose would give him 250 men for each of those line-of• battle ships be would undertake to navigate any of them with the ereatest possible ease. (Loud cheers.) Gen. PEEL briefly impressed upon the noble lord at the head of the Governmei t the urgent necessity there was for making arrangement for the systematic relief of the large number of troops that would henceforward be permanently employed in India. Mr. G. DUNDAS said he thought the character of these auxiliary screw ships was hardly understood, for they were to all intents and purposes sailing vessels of a very high class. Ha hell in his hand a return of the number of vessels which had sailed from London to Cal cutta between the Ist of July, 1856, and Jan., 1857, from which it appeared that 98 sailing ships had per• formed the voyage during that period, the average pas sage of each being 130 days, and that seven auxiliary screw steamers had performed it on an average of 93 days, showing a difference in favour of the latter of 37 days. (Hear.) It was curious to contrast the passages made by her Majesty's steamers to the Cape of Good Hope. The Hermes made the passage in 54 days. The Vulean made the passage out in 72 days, and home in 64 days. The auxiliary screws, to which the First Lord of the Admiralty bad referred, made the passage in 38 days. It was a marked difference, and confirmed the statements which bad •been made of the advantage of employing auxiliary screw in preference to sailing ships. (Hear, hear.) The first resolution with regard to the Persian war was then agreed to. THE CHINESE WAR. On the vote of 400,000/, in aid of the naval operations in China, Sir J. PAKINGTON said he wished to ask her Ma jesty's Government for some further explanations with re• gard to the present position of this country as affected by our unfortunate quarrel with China. It was impossi ble, in his opinion, to avoid looking at the state of our affairs in that part of the world without considerable anxiety ; and he must say that the explauations of the noble Lora at the head of the Government as to his hopes of bringing the affair to a satisfactory conclusion had been anything but satisfactory. In such an emergency explanations, or at the Government had a r i g ht to expect the support of the House cf Commons ; b u t, on the other hand, the House of Commons was en titl e d toexplicit least an assura nce f rom th e G ov ernment that the put•lic interest did not permit of such e xplanations being given. He (Sir J. Pakington) could not understand the expla nations which had been given respecting the diversion of the forces intended for China, to India. He had asked the First Lord of the Admiralty distinctly whtther the bone Government had given orders for the diversion of the troops to India, and whether instructions bad been sent to Ceylon by the Governor-General of India with that object. The right hon. get tleman first said that no instructions - had been sent f r om England, nor a n y autho rity from the Governor-Ge ner al. (" No, no , " from Sir C . Wood.) Yes, it was said that orders haTnot been sent to divert the troops, but that a a )mcnuoication bad been made to Lord E'gin asking his a ansent for the diversion. He (Sir J. Pa,kington) had the,. i asked what authority action at Delhi, the noble lord Lori Elgin had to give such co nsent, and the answer was that "Flatus populi -upretnai lex" had been the prin ciplestep taken by Lord Canning He t of f a t el h is ou expressed ntry b his ad p a e u r t f h e o o r . e a e r l: la acted upon. Speaking on another subject, the had asked a third time, and the answer head of the Go vernmentrobation of the Go vernment d r i e v q e u rs ii i . o a n th o e f the troops. Now, he wished to say etnphatte': l) Y (S i `Pas a j s . that Pak t i li n g that ton) if the state of affairs in India was such. as to diversion of the tror,,,, c- oni China, be, for ono should 1 . • • ' ` ---iisht that in uch an event event the Government wire bound to state - e xplicitly the course which it was intended to take. He Could not under-tand yet whether the emergency had arisen ; if it had arisen, to what extent the Government had gone to [nett it ; and thirdly, he could not under stand whether govei mnent had authorised the diversien of the troops. It did not appear that the present lan guage of government was con►istent with their former pr iceedings, or with the papers which hid recently come home from India. He wished now to know what was the actual amount of the necessity, and what were the prospects of the government with respect to affairs in China He was not going back to the affair of the lorcha, although his opinions on that subject had not undergone the slightest alteration ; but he must say that if, as was generally reported, government had received warning re specting the volcano upon which we were standing in India, the enormity of the quarrel with China was very much aggravated. The language held by Sir M. Seymour and Consul Parkes in China had all along been the lan guage of menace and dictation. Consul Parkes said to Yeh, " I have made certain demands of you—the return of the men and an apology—and if these demands are not complied with within 24 hours, you shall feel the force of the naval power of England to compol satisfaction of my demands." He contended that only two conditions could justify the use of such language—one, that it should be held in a just cause; and the other, that the authorities using had the power to enforce it. (Hear.) He thought be should be able to show that this language hail been rashly used, that the authorities bad no power to en force it, and that the menacing demands bad never to this hour been enforced. Lord Clarendon had said in another place that the authorities could not have spared five months for reference to Eng land ; but now nine months had elapsed, and our posi tion in China was as bad as ever. In the first instance Yeh refused to comply with our demands, and the result was a bombardment—a bombardment which had been denied on a former evening ; but that bombardment only produced the ttestruction of the English factories. The next step was Adn.,iral Seymour's notification of his in tention to erect a fortification in the Factory Garden, to retain possession of Canton, and to keep the ships in the river. But shortly afterwards it was folic(' impossible to carry out these intentions, and the admiral was obliged to return to Hong Kong. (The right hon. baronet here read the admiral's despatch, the concluding words of which demanded 5,000 troops from India.) Now, he wished to ask, what had been the result of that applica tion I The noble lord had stated the number of troops at Hong Kong to be sufficient ; but he (Sir J. Peking ton) did not understand, if that were true, why addi tional forces should nos , be sent out from this country. He wished to know what had been the answer to this application for troops from India ; and if such reinforce ment had • not been sent, he wished to know how the noblelord could reconcile that fact with his assertion that the forces at Hong Kong were sufficient for all exigen cies. The noble lord told them that Lord Elgin was to carry on negotiations ; but bow was that to be reconcil ed with Lord Clarendon'a statement that the only lan guage that could efficaciously be used to the Chinese was the language of force (Hear, hear.) The noble lord had been told by an hon. member well acquainted with China, that to send out Lord Elgin to Pekin was useless, as rite E nperor would refer him back to Yeh, and it was ea-y to anticipate what Yeh's answer would be. Already all our demands and menaces had failed, and as regarded the Chinese authorities, we were at this moment actually in a defensive position. (Hear.) He could not but re gard these circumstances as most serious, and that the prestige and authority of England were c•impromised in those waters. He had condemned our Chinese policy ab initio ; he had never since modified his opinion ; but the government having once embarked in the quarrel, he held that they were bound to see at least that our honour remained unsullied, and that we were not e posed to additional disgrace in China. He felt the truth of Shakespere's saying, that " Good reasons must give place to better ;" and if there were paramount reasons for not sending the troops to China, let the house be told the truth. But if they Gould not be sent, he should like to know how we were to carry on this Chinese quarrel. Where was General Ashbureham Was he to go with the diverted troops, or were they to go, an army without a leader. Where was L rd Elgin ? Was he to nego tiate at Pekin, or Canton ; above all, was he to carry them on without the indispensable support of a military force ? He (Sir J. Pakingtor.) thought that on all those points that the house was entitled to much fuller ex planations tban had as yet been given by the govern ment. Si.. C. WOOD.—I hope the house will allow me to repeat some of the statements which I made the other night, but which it is necessary I should do in order to reconcile those inconsistencies and won derful contradictions which the right hon. gentleman has conjured up. I must say Ido not unierstand the object of a considerable portion of the right hon. gentleman's observations. He said he was unwilling to revive the discussiou of which we had had so much in the preceding Parliament, but, nevertheless, he con trived to indulge in a few strong epithets of the injustice of our cause and the cruelty of our conduct, Another observation, too, I think he would have done well to withoid until he bad read the papers which my right hon. friend the President of the 133ard of Control has just hid upon the table. The right hon. baronet attri buted great blame to the Government for undertaking the war, having been warned of the volcano on which we were standing in India. If he had waited fur the papers be would have found that his.sueposition was wrong, and that no such warning was ever given. How. ever, to take the right hon. gentleman's complaints in chronological order. He fir,t complains that threats wire used by Mr. Con , ul Parkes which were never en forced. It is quite true that Yeh was not brought to reason by the coercion employed. It is quite true that. Sir J. Bowring and persons more experienced in China than he were mistaken in their estimate of the effect which our operations would have upon the Chinese authorities. They believed that each successive step would have its effect in enforcing compliance with our demands, and such was the universal opinion of the au thorities of Hongkong, which was to some extentju,ti fied bye preceding case, when Captain bl•Dougal with a much less force obtained all that was required. If lam called upon to say to what I attribute the non-compli ance of the Chinese with our demands on the present occasion, it is the liberal course we have pursued, and the anxious 'care we have displayed to spare life and property, which have led the Chinese, l►ke most barba rous nations, to attribute our forbearance to a sense cf weakness. I will just now say a few words in reply to the tirade we have heard about the bombarlinEnt of 6ant;;: - The hon. member for Plymouth (Mr. White) the other night gave a very correct account of what wai done there and what was not.cione. The public buildings were bombarded, as were also buildings in which troops were seen, and magazines were exploded, but none of the habitations of the peaceful portion of the people—the inhabitants who took no part in the warlike proceedings. It was not an indiscriminate bombardment, by w h ic h the dwellings of the peaceful inhabitant& of Canton were destroyed. I deny that such was the case. The only passage in the Canton papers upon which such a state ment could be based is at pep 139, where Sir M. Sey mour says, "I am now shelling the city horn the Duch Folly." (Hear.) The question is, what is the me an i ng of these words Do they mean that the admi ra l was shelling what the hon. member for Plymouth called truly the peaceable portion of the city o f Canton —that part wherein were situated the dwellings of the people wh o took no part in offensive operations against us ; or do they mean e bat is expressed in another page of the papers, wherein Sir M. Seymour Pus, "A. tee shells were thrown into the city yesterday from the Dutch Folly, in the direction of the Government buildi ngs ?t , Laird C. HAMILTON—That was on the 14th of De cember. Sir C. WOOD—The question is whether the words of Sir M. Seymour mean that or more. D. they m ean that he wantonly bombarded the city ? It has been my duty most carefully to read all the despatches of Sir M. Seymour, and, referring to what he has done on former occasions as evidence to guide us in reading these dee patches, I think it is utterly impossible that be could have done that which is attributed to him, which is totally contrary to the spirit in which he conducted other operations. Ho says in a despatch, which will be found at page 97, " I resumed operations on the following day (October 28) from the Dutch Folly. . I had previously given the fullest warning to the inhabitants in the vicinity to remove their persons and property (Copt. Hail having landed twice for that purpose), in which operation they were engaged during the whole of the night. Before the landing took place I assembled the officers and urgently impressed upon them (as I had previously done by writ ten order) the necessity of restraining the men from me. lesting the persons and property of the inhabitants, eon fining warlike operations against the troops only ; and I have pleasure in beam,: testimony to the iornearance and good conduct of the seamen and marines, N u strageling took place, and when the orders were given to re-embark, the men returned to their boats with regu larity and despatch." Thus, when the course of military operations rendered it necessary for him to attack these buildings, he sent his flag-lieutenant twice on shore to induce the inhabitants to quit with their property, and delayed his attack to give them time to do so. With this view of the character of his proceedings it is parfectly impossible to believe he should upon an after occasion have done that which is so contrary to the spirit of hie instructions, so contrary to the feeling; of an Englishman, and so contrary to the character of an officer who is designated even by those who differ from the Government as one of the best and most humane of men. (Hear, hear.) I said in ooe of the discussions which took place upon the tun;ect, that hon. gentlemen were not justified in placing the construction which they did upon these words of Ad miral Seymour. I said I was convinced that what he did mean was, that he simply bombarded the public buildings and places where troops were al-enabled. I wrote to Sir M. Seymour to ask him whether the con struction which I placed upon the words was the correct one. I can truly say that there was not the slightest feeling in my mind with reference to the contradiction whica I had received as to the right interpretation of the passage to which I have referred, but when I a'luded to the matter the othe r n i g ht I cer t a ibly thought that those who had denounced a gallant officer for his inhumanity would have received with pride and satisfaction the con tradiction that wiped away such an imputation from the character not only of that gallant officer, but of the nation to which be belonged. (Hear.) I was astonished at the attempt to throw discredit on the statement then made, seeing it was one put forward to remove an imputation cast on the nation as well as on the character of one of one of our most gallant officers. (Hear.) As I have already said, I wrote to Sir M. Seymour with reference to the I.lleged bombardment of Canton, and from him I received an answer, in which occurs the following pas. sage : "I must nut omit to thank you for the caution you are kind enough to give me in the instance (p. 139), where I inform Sir J. B. Oa% '1 ant now sheding the town,' which, it is scarcely necessary for me to say, in correctly conveye I more than the reality. Tue wit lat home w li by and by learn that there has been no indi3• criminate c , estruction of Chinese per- ons or prop: ry at any period of our operations, and how studiou-ly I have avoided ouch a repugnant course, notwithstanding the roost urgent advice for a very different proceeding from classes many and various.'" (Hear, hear.) Since I came down to the house I have had put into my hands confirmatiqn of this statement from an independent quarter—viz., from the Belgian Consul at Shanghai. In a letter written by that gentle man, and dated " Hong Kcn.g, May 9, 1857," he says : " Admiral Seymour has conducted all his operations in the most humane and mildest ma. - aner. I can, as an eye-witne s, guarantee that the so-called bombardment of Canton was so conducted as to inflict as little injury as pose We on the inhabitants, while punishing the au thoriti.s.' (Hear, hear.) I hope after these statements from the gallant admiral himself, and from an eye-witness in the Belgian Consul, that the imputation cast on us as a na tion and on that gallant officer will not be repeated in this house, and that in future a more generous view will be taken of the conduct of officers discharging re sponsible duties in distant parts of the world. (Hear.) So much for the alleged bombardment of Canton. It is true, as the right hon. baronet sates, that the measures then taken had.not the effect of inducing Cstnimissioner Yell and the authorities at Canton to come to terms upon the subject in dispute. After an attack on Canton the vessels were withdrawn and moored at intervals on the river, from Bird s-nest Fort to Hong Kong, as it was thought necessary to have a check on the war junks and keep open the communication. It is true, also, that the Governor-General of India was requested to send a body of troops to assist in making an attack on C unmissioner Yeh, and that he declined to send them ; but it appears that afterwards two regimen's were sent from Madras to take up their position in Honkong. Such was the state of •wat , ers wben last we received intelli gence from China. My noble when this question was first before the house annotieced—aud the announce ment was received with the greatest satisfaction iiy the house that Lcrd Elgin had be en • • t to negotiate with the Imperial government of Cni;es, to endeavour to get the present dispute brought to asettlernent, and to place mat ters on a sounder foundation for the future. My noble friend (Lord Palmerston) repeated that announcement two or three nigh•s ago; and therefore I had hardly understood what the right hon. gentleman meant when he asked what were the views with which Lord Elgin was going to China. (Hear, bear.) Surely the right hon. gentleman could not have mi•understoud the state ment made by my noble friend only two or three nights ago, and yet he has asked for what purpose Lord Elgin has gone out to China. It was former stated that the Government had sent out 5,000 men to China, that it was not thought desirable they should arrive before autumn as the climate of China was such as to renuer it impossible for European troops to act darirg the hot weather. It was. expected they would arrive at the time when Lord Elgin reached the north after com pleting his negotiations at Pekin, when, if his efforts bad been successful, and all questions were satisfactorily settled, they would be again sent home. If, on the other hand, his negotiations failed, then the troops would just have arrived there at a time when their services were most desirable. Up to the present mo went eo vessel with troops bad arrived in China, but seven or eight gunboat= which were sent out to assist in putting down piracy—alike hateful to the Chinese authorities and to ourselves—are in those waiters, and will be of great advantage in following the junks up the waters. Meanwhile the state of Canton is one of extreme distress from want of provisions, while the authorities are at their wits' end for money. At all other places in China with which we have communication the greatest harmony prevails between us and the Chinese authorities; and piracy has to a great extent been put down. (Hear.) But the right hon. baronet asks why we do not take efficient means for prosecuting hostilities with China ; though he has been informed time after time that it is Lep eisible our troops can act in China till the autumn, and they would be there when Lord Elgin returned from Pekin. Teen the right hon. gentleman with a grave face asked what were the circumstances that induced 'he Governor-General to divert the troops en their way to Caine,. I was certainly astonished to hear that ques tion, as I thought it was obvious enough what those circumstances were, and that they were a perfect justi fication of the course which the Governor-General h id taken (Hear, hear.) I should like to know what the right hon. gentlemen means by saying we are not pro• secutitig the war in Chins with vigour. The right boo. gentleman asked me last Friday week a Nether any orders had been given to Lord Elgie by the Government to for• ward aey po-tion of the tr ops then on their way to China to India. I replied that no such orders bad been given. He then a-kel if Lord Canning had sent any orders to divert the troops from Ceylo n, and I stated that, so far as I was aware, no such orders had been sent. He then asked whe'her Lord Elgin had authority, in case of re ceiving an application from Lord Canniue, to divert the troops. My answer was that when Lerd Elgin left this country we had no idea that such a need would arise in India, and therefore no authority had been given bin on the subject. That was then the exact state of the eerie ; but on Saturday morning a different stale of things arose. A telegraphic message was then received from India, and the first measure which we took upon its receipt was to atop the India mail which left here on Friday night, and to send out orders to Singapore to stop all the troops who had not passel there, aed to divert them at once to India. At the some time we received ieteliigence that though Lord Canning's letter had net reached Lord El;in at Ceylon it had over taken him at Singapore, and tbat Lord Elgin, acting upon a most proper estimate of the emergency of the case, had taken upon himself to divert all the troops ori ginally destined for China to the graver need which had arisen in India. That was the step which Lord Elgin took, acting upon the principle sales populi supretna lex, and the measure has met with the perfect approval of the Government. I believe that the whole of the troops sent from this country and inteeded for China will neces-arily touch at Singapore, and that they will th-re be diverted to meet the greater need in India. With respect to the state of the Chinese hostilities, according to the last ac counts Sir M. Seymour held his own in the river of Can ton. Lord Elgin was at Singapore waiting the arrival of the Shannon frigate to take him on to Canton. He will, when he reaches China, open negotiations with toe Em peror, and, acting very much on his own responsibility, he will be guided in what he does by the necessities of the case, and he will have ample naval force there for his purpose. Probably before he arrives the wor junks in the river will have been destroyed, and no further opera tions will be undertaken in his absence. He goes with full powers to negotiate, and he will act upon his own responsibility and with that judgment, have no doubt, for which every one gives him credit ; so that it would not be wise, I think, to attempt to fetter his discretion by too positive instructions from home. The house is aware that a large quantity of gunboats have been sent out in addition to the force originally despatched. A number of marines have also been sent out, so that we shell be able to exercise even a more severe pressure than at present upon Canton, and shall be in a better po sition to hold the river until further measures be deter mined upon. My belief is that there will be no interrup tion of peaceful relations with any part of Caine, with the exception of Canton, because never have the authori tids from ether parts of the empire evinced such friendly relations towards us as they have done since our operations have been commenced at Canton. They are grateful for the assistance which we have rendered in putting down piracy on the seaboard, and I believe that I am perfectly justified in stating that hostilities will be confined to Canton alone. (Hear, hear.) Lord C. HAMILTON felt deeply that England was . , compromising her honour and her high character in en tering upon these hostilities with China, and he protes ted against the right hon. gentleman who had just sat down endeavouring 0 cast upon those who differed from him the invidious imputation that they condemned the gallant admiral whose misfortune it was to be obliged to be engaged in these discreditable proceedings. As Sir M. Seymour was a gallant admiral, he must from his inmost soul detest the task which was entrusted to him, and must feel di gradation and humiliation in pouring shot and shell and fireballs jut° a city full of a peaceable commercial population. Because he (Lord C Hamilton) was obliged to condemn the conduct of the Government, then let it net be supposed that he blamed the gallant admiral. The right hon. gentleman, who began his speech by asking the ll , •use to I,ok into the blue-book which contained a narrative of three events, fell into a strange err o. in quoting them by disregarding the dates of the different dispatches, and treating them as if they were arranged in the hoe's according to their dates. In this manner the right hon. gentlenas was in error as to the period at which the admiral wrote that he was shel ling the city from the Dutch Folly, and he appeared to be in error also as to the period at which the inhabitants were said to have been warned previ usly to the shelling the city from the Dutch Fell. The right hon. gentLe man had e ndeavoured to meet a public statement by a private letter, eut his vindication entirely rested on 'a confusion of dates. It was said that the object of the admiral in the Cuinese seas was to prevent the destruc tion of private propeity. He had no doutt of the ad miral's desire, but it, was impossible, if the admiral acted in conformity with his instructions, but there must have been an enormous destruction of private property. And what possible effect c tuld s b ta a t v,e ei n th p e ro / d 'i u i c e e nd i b o v f tbeqs cruelties, occasioned, as China, by a " terrific and continued cannonade ter five hours," and by "a tremendous coefi , graiion," as men tioned in another account ? Toe sufferings of the inhabi tants of Canton could not force Commissioner Yeh, who was acting under orders from the Emperor, into compli ance, and therefore the idle:thin of those sufferings was wanton and cruel. But when the house heard so much about moderation it was right that the house should know that the admiral rather discountenanced modera tion, for it would be seen in the blue-13)ok that ho said, "compulsion is the only argument to convince the Ch i nese," and " moderation is considered but another envaemefer, want of means to enforce compliance." now rp the admiral was not to blame for acting on his instructions ; but the right hon. gentleman had com pletely fail e d in his attempt to prove by a private letter that the impressions borne out by these public de snatches was not correct. The noble lord the other night sail that the public had approved the proceedings at China, but, if that were the case, why did not the noble lord propose to wipe from the journals of the house the resolution adopted in the last Parliament ? If the noble lord made such a. proposition he would find that the house would come to a similar decision, for not a single person representing a large constituency had de clared that he would concur in an approval of the pro ceedings at Canton. The noble lord knew very w e ll that other circumstances besides approval of what had occurred in China affected the decision at the hustings, and indeed some of the noble lord's colleagues had been ~ obliged, in order to please their Constituents, to state in 'their add.e.Ees that they did not like the whole of the proceeding there, but that they should have been want in libtrality if they bad not supported a distant public frvant. Sir C. NAPIER did net know what the noble lord meant when he said that the admiral in the China seas h +.(l received instructions to c mirnit horrible cruelties. Toe admiral only received orders from the Admiralty, and if he had received orders to commit horrible cruelties he woul I not have obeyed the orders. (Elear.) He bad himself received a communication fr an Admiral Sey mour, in which that admiral said that they did cot call it war in China, but only the punishment of some people for insulting the British flag ; and that they threw a -shed into the town occasionally. He believed that was quite right—(a laugh)—for it wal the only way to bring the war to an end. (Hear, bear.) Under present cir cumstances at Canton weapons mu.t be used at a dis tance, and nothing else was to be done tot to throw a shill in now and then in moderation. (A. laugh ) To hear the noble lord one might supp)se that Admiral Seymour was burning; the whole Cnine.e3 at Canton, but he underst9od from that gallant admiral that he thought it hard that he should be abused by persons who were thousands of miles from the scene of action and who knew nothing of what occurred. (Hear, bear.) General TUOUPSON bel eyed that the transactions at China arose out of what was called a trade falsehood, which was not regarded with all the dislike which other falsehoods created. There was evidence of a foregone conc'usion to quarrel with the Chinese, and a wretched and dishonourable subterfuge was got up about a miser able boat and some men who were taken from it. The resolution was then saved to, as were the remain ing votes of the Comm:ttee of Supply. FINSBURY ELECTION. The SPEAKER acquainted the House that he had received a letter from the petitioners who complained of an unclip) election and return for the borough of Fins bury, statinz that it was not .their intention. to proceed with the petition. The order for referring the petition to a committee was accordingly discharged. PROBATES AND LET PERS OF A DMINISTRA.- TION BILT. On the orrler of the day being read for going into corn mittee on this bill, Lerd J. RUSELL presented a petition signed by 101 out of 116 proctors of Doctors' Commons, repre senting that as the bill now stood their occupation would be altogether destroyed, and that they had invested large burns in qualifying themselves for their offices, and praying the house to grant them just compensation. Sr J. TROLLOPE presented a petition from bankers, soicitor , , and others of Li - ncolo, against any limitation with regard to the amount of property for which probate might be granted in the district courts. The house i hen went into committee. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL proposed four new clauses, the first providing that the Court of Probate may cause questions of fact to be tried by a jury before itself, or direct an issue to a court of law ; the second defining the powers of the court for the trial of questions by a jury ; the third providing that the question shal be reduced into writing, and that the judge shall have the same authority as a judge at Nisi Prius ; and the fourth enabling the court to direct issues to try any fact. The clauses were agreed to, and added to the bill. Tae ATTORNEY-GENERAL then moved a clause providing that district registrars should not grant pro. hate or adininistation where the deceased is entitled to Government stock, or other stock or shares transferable in the metropolitan district. This clause was opposed by Sir J. TROLLOPE, as at variance with the understanding on a former occasion, when the limitation clause was negatived ; and, atter a long and obstinate debate, in which the , pinion of the committee seemed decidedly adverse to this restriction upon country probates, notwithstanding warnings of the ATTORNEY-GENERAL and suggestions by him as to the incompetency of the district courts, it was abandoned by On the motion of the ATTORNEY-GENERAL, a clause allowing an appeal from the County Court to the Court of Probate, and another giving compensation to Sir John Dodson in case he be not appointed Judge o the Court of Probate, were agreed to. Sir F. KELLY moved a clause requiring all probate; granted by district registrars, so far as they relate to stock transferable at the Bank of England or the East India House, to be sealed by the registrar of the Court of Probate in London. Mr. MALINS opposed the clause as virtually con tinuing the evil of a double probate. It was ultimately negatived. The Chatrman was then ordered to report progress. The Reformatory Schools Bill was read a third time an l passed. after a protest against it by Mr. ALcoms and Mr. HUGESSEN, The Clerks of Petty Sessions (Ireland) Bill was read a second time. The Loan Societies Bill, the Commons Enclosure Bill, and the B mndaries of Land (Ireland) Bill passed through corn mitten. The Police (Scotland) Bill was read a second time. CHELSEA. NEW BRIDGE BILL. On the motion for the second reading of this bill, Mr. ALCOCK said this was a miserable compromise. Tue bill propoied to abolish the foot-toll, but to retain the carriage tolls. lie should in committee move that both tolis be abolished. Sir H. WILLOUGHBY wished to know upon whom the burden would fall. Sir B HALL said there was property to the extent _ of 95 acres of land which would be greatly improved by opening the bridge. Sir J. MANNERS opposed the proposition for taking off the tolls on the metropolitan bridges. Mr. MALINS advocated the imposition of a toll on Chelsea-bridge, on the ground that there were tolls upon Vauxhall and Battersea bridges. Sir DENHAM NORREYS alio supported the ins• pootion of a toll. Mr. MAGUIRE supported the imposition of a toll on Chelsea bridge, as the Government had refused to assist the biiildiog of a bridge in Cork. (Laughter.) Mr. CROSSLEY thought it was wrung to vote money for building these bridges. Whatever was done in the cmntry the dis'ricts paid for. Lord PALNIERSTON said the land on the other side of the bridge would pay the whole expense of the bridge. (Rear, hear.) The county had made a park for the poorer classes, and to impose a toll on a bridge leading to the park would be to defeat the very object for which the park was made, and would be a mockery. Mr. BENTINCK moved that the bill be read a second time that day six months. Mr. O'BRIEN supported the amendment. Sir JAMES ELPHINSTONE thought the bill ought to be referred to a select committee. Lord CLAUD HAMILTON opposed the abolition of the toll, as the bridge bad been built with the under standing that a tell should be imposed. Mr. HENLEY advocated the proposition for refer. ring the bill to a select committee. Mr. WYLD said the course of legislation bad been of lste years to drive the labouring population to the south side of the river, and yet it was proposed to erect a barrier between the north and the south. He strongly advocated the abolition of the toll. Mr. HUDSON thought the inhabitants ought to sub scribe to pay for the bridge. Tue house then divided— For the second reading Against it 74 Majority in favour of the bill —2o The bill was then read a second time. Sir J. ELPIIINSTONE moved that the bill be re ferred to a select committee, which was agreed to. The other orders were then disposed of, and the house adjourned at a quarter to two o'clock. WROTHAM. —Our hop plantations present a good appearance generally, but some grounds are full of vermin, which follow the bine with great activity, and unless there is a favourable change, we expect to hear of a blight. [a DVERTUERENT.] —Holloway's Pills.—Famed for the cure of liver complaints and derangement of the sto mach, the liver being justly esteemed 'the noblest part of the body and fountain of life; thus it is when the springs become poisoned, life itself is threatened and the suffer ing patient is in the most imminent danger, but thou swims hove borne willing testimony to the power of this potent remedy, cleansing the blood from all impurities, strengthening the stomach, discharging the bile, remov ing ail obstructions, and eradicating disease without leaving a trace behind.— Sold by all medicine venders throughout the world ;at Professor Holloway's Estab lishments, 244, Strand, London, and 80, Maiden-lane, New York ; by A. Stampa, Constantinople ; A. Guidicy, Smyrna ; and E. Muir, Malta. BIRTHS. OP A BON. On the 19th inst. , at 13, Porehester-terrace, He-park,, yd the wife of StalioSomerville, Big. On the 2Jth inst., at Atkin's-road, Clapham-park, the ife of John Bedale, Esq. OF A DA t On the 20th in t., at üße d s raet, Rus se ll- square , Bernard-street, the wife of Mr. Louis Lu mle y . On David thel tw tit A n ii i i n o s a t_., at Alison—twins. Hampstead, Middlesex, Mrs. MARRIED. On the 18th inst., at Forest-hill, Kent, T. W Pitcher, Esq.. of Rome, to Sophia, daughter of the late Macleod. Robinson, Esq., of tho Surveyor-Ganeral's Department, Tower.. On the 18th inst. at St. Pancras Church, Wm. Edward Essex, Esq., of 3, Belling Villas, Kentish-town, to Fanny, eldest daughter of the late T. W. Morley, Esq., of 16, Harley-street. DIED. On the 19th Inst., at Richmond-hill, Surrey, John T. Alston, Esq., aged 78. On the 19th inst., at 4, Heath-mount, Hampstead, Mr. Thomas Ayres, late of Jack Straw's Castle, aged 59. Ou the 18th inst. at Weymouth, Mary Frances Colette, Dowager Lady Steele, aged 72. On tit, 18th inst., William Henry Cox, son of Mr. B. Cox, of Swallow-place, Regent-street, aged 27. On the 18th inst., at Tunbridge-wells, Sam. J. Lidgett, 8.A., th e thi r d son o f J o h n Lidgett, sq., of 9, Billiter street, and Tunbridge wells, aged 2t. On the 18th inst., at Ladbroke-square, Notting-hill, Captain W. J. T. Hood, R.N., aged 64. On the 18:h inst., at 11, Upper St. Martin's-lane Mr. Edward Latchford, aged 81. L )NDON : Printed and Published by NIUItDO YOUNG, of No, 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No: 112, Strand, in the Ireolna of the Savoy, in the ()minty of Iliddlesex, Tuea . tla3, Juiy 21, 1857. Is the I , Isthef render ( ►ell de public fn one) Tvv e , exPlang In thi alter ill A Lec en Negl PR: SOLD se coral dla ar e aver for the o t tl tdv of .uoAt fa, bUildingt it, b ean to which and eons the rrtetr ICetisi ngt , FOR 2/ - "allteeal 1% .1 : rt6, l `; at Aeri e 'L 11 th e 1 7 re d e :ritin a Th it Y , aria b.." u 'etho en ° - ati on k a :nt4 hil ea Z7B it ;aged 4 tueeteeth2*--452. -------:....___ I ' ROW 1I:t 4 4 1) , 1 :ZZIl t 113orT'at?.:t1:811 tit.; fair, ao tin.l', ng th c to 'C l E „, , n 'iViedg, eA lattote.• hod the ~. Sold pft~ela at 6 1 :,,ERRy, s I'll 7 diseases llA:seases ErVtr, 43, P ,,.• Watts , tt; 4 trarch Il'e r ,, t ; Hal te,„ - “itt, 4 , ic e r e .7: 1 . SE C a w aist 6 11 P - ] 1%4 °n th( t fro o viciousthe ti M anhood, re, o ° in ita ta a nts o or tt ettes rt to or. tUpi ati cal ts, l ia-tri k etnate aber , 7 as t h etai a Nae ass et) blebnees have Attuand 131 At tu class ( thei e ldtirly ! "title he e - "titlm '4l It 1 ,7. ~_l ' rhie7„4 l3B o vat 1, 1 ,."ea teelirri of t he h 4 44 ty nuti ta ct h e erm,„•_ , eta ka l'bbl7 ll l" et . 3. -°ll O ed ZLlig ! n ;la at r t eS td .,.'eqk work %kit? 0 Ce Dr. 1 ;: del 1.1