The Press.
London, England, 1857-07-25 00:00:00

understood to be favourable

HOUSE OF LORDS.

MONUMENT TO LORD RAGLAN.

Earl FORTEFICUE inquired whether her Majesty's
Ministers intended to:propose the erection of a monu-
ment to the memory of the late Lord Raglan.
Lord PANMURE stated that the final decision of the
Government was not yet arrived at. As a question
of precedent, he remarked that the honour of a public
monument was reserved for officers who had per-
formed great and signal achievements, and who had
died either on the field of battle or from wounds
received in action.
Lord BROUGHAM and the Earl of DERBY bore elo-
quent testimony to the eminent talents and lifelong
devotion exhibited by Lord Raglan both in a military
and civil capacity in the service of his country.
The subject then dropped.
GUIANA.

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE, in presenting a
petition, commented upon the great deficiency of
labour now experienced in the British colony of

Guiana.
Some bills on the table were advanced a stage,
and their lordships adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
EARLY SITTING.

The house held an early sitting, the Speaker taking
the chair at twelve o'clock.
Mr. CARDWELL took the oaths and his seat for
Oxford City.
The Lunatics (Scotland) Bill was reported with
the amendments; and the Police (Scotland) Bill
was considered in committee. _ _ _

At four o'clock the sitting was suspended for two
hours.

THE INDIAN DEBATE.

Lord PALMERSTON wished to put a question to Mr.
Disraeli. The next mail from India was not ex-
pected to arrive until acme time on Monday next.
He asked, therefore, whether Mr. Disraeli would
prefer to delay his motion on the subject of India
until some later day, which of course the Government
would give him.
Mr. DISRAELI said that he saw no reason to post.
pone the debate, and he should therefore bring it on
upon Monday as originally appointed.

SHIPS FOR INDIA AND CHINA.
Sir C. NAPIER having expressed his pleasure at
seeing, by the newspapers, that the Government had
engaged five steamers to convey troops to India,
inquired " how many ships had sailed for India and
China, and if any ships of war were commissioned
for carrying troops."
Sir C. WOOD said that the Government bad already
despatched 4,800 troops; what number the East
India Company had sent out he was not able to
state. The Government did not intend to commission
any vessels of war to take troops to India. The
present emergency could not have been foreseen.
The Government kept on each station such an
amount of stores as they thought would be required;
they did not send out what they believed were not
likely to be wanted.
Mr. BENTINCK at a subsequent period of the evening
reverted to the subject, and submitted that the
expression " an unforeseen emergency " should not
fall from the lips of a Minister, because it was the
business of the Government to exercise foresight.

PUBLIC OFFICES.

Replying to Mr. B. Hope,
The CHANCELLOP. of the EXCHEQUER stated that no
estimate for the proposed new public offices would
bo laid before Parliament during the present session.

COMMODORE KEPPEL.

Lord CLARANCE PAGET inquired of the First Lord
of the Admiralty whether there was any foundation
for the report that Commodore Keppel had been
called from his post in the China Sea.
Sir G. GREY regretted that the First Lord of the
Admiralty was unable to answer tho question, having
already spoken upon the subject. He did not know
upon what gr'und the noble lord assumed that it
was intended to disgrace a gallant officer in the
eulogium upon whose character the Government
fully concurred. It was a wholesome rule that, in
the case of the 10S3 of a ship, the commodore should
always be tried Iby a court-martial, and he knew that
Commodore Keppel would not shrink from appearing
before such a tribunal.

Sir W. CODRINGTON observed that the comphsint
was that the commander-in-chief at a foreign station
had no power to transfer an officer under cuch cir-
cumstances to another ship, whatever his abilities,
and however faultless his conduct might have been.
Admiral WALCOTT would not allude to the conduct
of Captain Keppel, but was convinced that if he were
recalled, there were other brave officers in the China
service competent to take his p!ace.
Sir J. ELrHissrox referred to the report of Sir
John Baring, who surveyed the Rowing Rock upon
which the Raleigh was lost, to show that there was
no case against Commodore Keppel.
The motion for the adjournment of the house to
Monday was agreed to.

LAW OF DIVORCE.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved the second reading
of the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Bill.

Mr. HENLEY advocated the postponement .of the
measure to another session. In the presence of
many risks and evils, on which he enlarged in detail,
he contended that it was essentially necessary to
avoid hasty legislation. He moved as an amend.
ment that the second reading should be adjourned
for a month.

Sir G. GREY hoped that the house would consent
to discuss the bill upon its merits. There was no
reason for postponing the consideration of the prin-
ciple of the measure.
Mr. GLADSTONE thought the extreme importance
of that principle warranted the request for postpone-
ment. He remarked, also, that delay could occasion
no disadvantage, since no Divorce Bill could he pre-
sented during the recess. It was better to abstain
from legislating on the subject for another year than
to pass an imperfect and ill constructed bill in the
present session. The feelings of the country, exhi-
bited by the petitions presented to Parliament,
afforded, in his opinion, a sufficient reason why they
should not pass a hasty and slovenly measure upon
this important subject. In making a change in a
law of this antiquity, he wanted to know what
prospect of stability was afforded to them by the new
system. He thought they should avoid perpetual
meddling and tampering with the law of marriage,
and that they should not worry a subject of the kind
with perpetual change. After alluding to the various
points in the bill which would have to be considered
in committee, the right hon. gentleman implored the
house not to undo for womankind, in the nineteenth
century, that which Christianity had done for them,
and declared that lie would sternly and stoutly resist
this the first attempt at the degradation of woman.
The discussion, which turned chiefly upon the
question of postponement, with occasional references
to the details of the bill, was pursued at much length.
Mr. BOWYER and Mr. NAPIER spoke in favour of
delay ; the SOLICITOR-GENERAL, Lord J. MANNERS,
and Lord STANLEY recommended immediate pro-
cedure with the bill.

The ATTORNEY•GENERAL urged the house to begin
discussing the bill itself. Nearly as much time, he
observed, had been wasted in merely debating about
postponement as would have sufficed for a deliberate
discussion on its principle.
Mr. MALINS supported the motion for adjournment,
observing that the hour was too late and the eession
too far advanced to afford a possibility of discussing
the measure properly.
Lord PALMERSTON stigmatised the proposal for
delay as a shallow pretext for throwing out a bill
which its opponents did not venture fairly to meet.
The proceeding was almost unprecedented, and he
hoped that it would not be persisted in, significantly
alluding to the possible consequences of such a step
in the indefinite prolongation of the session.
The house then divided—
For adjourning the motion
Against

-87

When the numbers had been declared, Lord PAL-
MERSTON remarked that the night was too far ad-
vanced (quarter-past eleven) to proceed with the bill,
and he should therefore fix it for Thursday next.

ILTICIT DISTILLATION.

The house then went into committee on the Illicit
Distillation Bill, and made some progress in discuss-
ing clauses of that measure.
After disposing of the remaining orders of the day,
the house adjourned at two o'clock.