The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-09 00:00:00

GREAT YArtMOUTH ELECTION PETITION.

The following members were appointed to try_ the patinas
against the return for Great Yarmouth:—Mr. Ker Selmer,
chairman; Mr. E. Ellice, Mr. Lushington, Mr. W. H.
Plowden, and Mr. H. Stuart.
SALE OP SPIRITS IN BARRACK CANTEENS.
Col. LINDSAY uked the Secretary of War if it was in
contemplation to restrict the sale of 'pints in barrack canteens
or to propose any alteration in the existing system of letting
thebire. F. )[RULE said, that since last session this ques-
tion had been carefully considered by her Majesty's govern-
ment ; and although they were notishhlnt,inige to adopt a
plan for the abolition of the exiating- aletekii yeKikel bad
determined that, from the tile that **existing lemits might,
respectively fall in, they woo.ll ;017 IM 00OVIlum,ce o.
the system of selling spiriteinse bit heneneke. jkiest.)
tr.
:- - • •-*-1 7".
--147i,5. J.
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... i
z•\,...4 1.4.N.'"

IRIBM FRANCHISE AND REDI-ITRATION.
Mr. S. O'BRIEN asked the Secretary for Ireland whether
It was intended to introduce this session the long-promised
bells relating to the franchise and the registration of voters in
Ireland ?
Sir W. SOMERVILLE replied, that it was intended to
introduce mach bills this year.
HURON v. DENMAN.
Mr. URQUHART was understood to leek, whether the
Attorney-General bad sanctioned the appearance of Sir F.
Kelly, in a cue now pending in the courts of law ?
The ATTORNEY.GENERAL understood the question
of the hon. gentleman to refer to a cue which had excited
some attention onto( doors,and he was obliged to him for giv-
ing him an opportunity of correcting some misapprehensions
which had gone abroad relative to the position of Sir Fitzroy
Kelly. The ewe referred to wu the case of " Huron e. Den-
man, ' in which Sir F. Kelly appeared. as he believed, for
the first time, on the Mt of June, 1844, when he ar-
gued upon a demurrer to one of the defendant's
eitee. No further step in the case was taken until
November, 1546, when a motion being nude in the Court of
Exchequer, Mr. Davenport Hill appeared as leading counsel
for the Plaintiff. It happened that that learned gentleman
was senior to Sir Fitzroy Kelly, but Sir Fitzroy having in
the meantime filled the office of Solicitor-General, it was of
course impossible for him to take a brief under Mr. Hill, and
be consequently did not appear in court. When the case
came under his (the Attorney-General's) cogaisanee, he was
informed by the learned gentleman the member for Kidder-
minster, who filled the office of Judge Advocate of the fleet
and counsel to the Board of Admiralty, that Sir Fitzroy
Kelly was in the ease ; and bi ing further consulted on the
subject, he (the learned Attorney-General) advised that
be should be retained on the pert of the defendants.
That step having been taken, the circumstance led to the
presentation of a petition to that house complaining of what
had been done, and also to the appearance of articles in a
daily newspaper (the Daily News) commenting upon the
fact,. Upon seeing these article* he (the Attorney-General),
on the 14th January, wrote as follows to Sir Fitzroy Kelly :
You probably have beard of the petition presented to the Rouse of
Commons relative to the case of Buren c. Denman," and of the
article in the Daily Ares founded upon it From what 1 know
of the circumstances, I believe that you are tree from blame in
this matter; bet 1 shall be glad to receive any communication
you may have to make upon this subject, and lure only to add,
that I am willing, upon Ute part of the clown, in release you from
your engagement to the crown, should you think that under the
circionstanocs you ought to bold a brief fur the plaintiff, or to decline
to act for either party.
On the 21st he received from Sir Fitzroy the following
mtletrez, Jsz.ll.—My dear Attorney-General : I am favoured with
yaw letter on the subject of the lotions by Boron and others against
Captain Denman. The power of the crown to require the seeme of
the queen's counsel at all times is not disputed ; and min this country
every mass% counsel is known to be under an oath to plead for the
crown at Its Maxim I conceive that be accepts every retainer from
• subject un. as plainly implied a reservation that he may be with-
drawn by the crown, as that he may be incapacitated by sickness or
death. This power may Indeed, be exercised sou to do Injustice to
indivktnal moors: and the question now is, whether it has been so
exercised in this particular case. In the first place, I must exonernte
you from any responsibility. Mr. Hay's trillion seems to imply
that I had acted as counsel for the plabnaffs, except during a short
Interval, until the month of May last, and that yon then required
my services. The fact is, that 1 have not so acted in any way
sines the month of June, ISIS; and that in the following month of
July ( DM), having been appointed Bolieitor.General, I was almost
immediately called upon to advise and moist the ministers of the
crown epos certain measures f which became law under the act of the
nth and nth of Victoria, cap. 51) involving the considei ation of the
whole system of the slave trade on the oust of Africa, of the conduct
of our naval commanders there, and of our relations with the court
of Brasil. It was obvious that I could not, after communication., of
this nature, and upon these subjects, with the niinisters of the
crown, meat the plaintiffs in these causes as their leading
comae', after the defence was taken up by the gorernmeet.
It was probably this consideration that induced the then
Attorney-General to require my services, and at least restrain
me from appearing against the crown on the trial. Voa, as
Attorney-Gerseral, when the muses seemed about to be tried a few
months ago, merely abstained from interfering with the derision of
your predecessor. And as far as regards the mere lots of my ae.elet.
ance, there could be no hardship or injustice, for the whole bar was
open to the plaintiffs for the selection of a leading counsel to supply
my place. But it le urged that after having been consulted and
trusted with the case by the plaintiffs, 1 at least ought not to appear
as counsel against them. And certainly, if I possessed a knowledge
of any Wta imparted to me by the plaintiffs, which I might in •
moment of inadvertence diadem!, or the conecimisneee of which !mold
In any way affect my conduct in the came, I should feel it my duty
to request your authority, not indeed to act as counsel for the plain-
tiffs—for my communications with the crown while I was Solicitor-
General render that impossible—but to retire from the case
altogether. And as you allude to Imputations in the news-
papers, or elsewhere, of undue motives, I must be permitted to ob-
serve that if any counsel, circumstanced as I am, could he influenced
by personal emsderations at all, he would do his best to obtain the
been., of the crown to act as counsel for the plaintiffs. If actuated by
the love of fame, he would seek to be the holing counsel for the sub-
ject (generally the popular party) rather than third or fourth counsel
for the crown. If by the love of money, his Interest would equally
point the same way; for, as you and I well know, the foes pod be
the crown are always on a far lower scale than those of indivi-
dual suitor. In almeet the last case in which I was opposed to
the crown, my ices were more than nine times the amount of the
then Solicitor-General; and in these very CMs they would have
been four or fire times the amount of cren yours, as !coding
counsel for the crown. But whatever may be my own Inclinations,
tar my interest, I have no grounds upon which I can claim indul-
gence; for having only held some consultations upon the pleadings
many years ago, and argued a demurer, I think early in 1815, I
have not the slighteet recollection of a single fact communinited to
MC on the part of the orotund% upon which lan found a claim to
be excused from appearing as counsel for the crown. Whether from
the plaintiffs being foreigners, and the importance of all that be-
longs to our legal institutions being pace. beyond su-picion among
foreig• nations, you may think it right to release me from appearing
upon the trial for the crown, is a queolon entirely for your own con-
sideration, upon which I ,to not offer an opinion.. -1 remain, my dear
Attorney-General, very truly yours, FITtALOV KELLY:
This being the state of the case, he (the Attorney-0 1)
had only to add that upon the receipt of Sir Fitzroy Kelly's
letter, he ordered a communication to be made to the attor-
ney for ti e plaintiff to the effect that the crown would not
require Sir Fitzroy Kelly's assistance in the case. (Rear,
hear.)
THE GLOUCESTERSHIRE PETITIONS.
• -

Mr. UNANTLEY BERKELEY said, that with what-
ever pain to his own feelirgs, his public duty compelled him
again to request the attention of the Home Secretary to the
matter of the two petitions from Gloucestershire, complain-
ing of the conduct of the lord lieutenant of that county
which had been sent to her Majesty's Secretary of State
for presentation to tht Queen. One of these was from "the
mothers and daughters "of the county ; and he believed
nearly 1,400 of them had signed it. What he wished to in-
quire was, whether these peti ions had been received and
duly submitted to the knowledge of the crown, if a copy
had been forwarded to the lord lieutenant of the county,
and if any explanation in answer had been demanded at his
hands? . . . . .

Sir G. GREY said he had stated yesterday that these peti-
tions had been duly received. and he could only now add
that they had been put in the course which was usual with
reference to petitions intended for the personal cognisance of
the sovereign. Of course he (Sir G. Grey) was the minister
responsible for the due presentation of those petition►. With
respect to the other part of the question no copies had been
sent to the lord lieuten►nt, nor had he been called upon to
give any explanation or answer.
JAMAICA.

Mr. OOULBURN ;bee rererence to eertain
papers laid upnnthe tahle of the house yesterday, that though
they contained c irresponienca from all the other West
India colonies there was nothing in them from the island of
Jamaica. He wished to ask what was the cause of this
omission, sad if there woulit be any objection to lay upon the
table copies of the latest effici.l intelligence received from
that colony?
Mr. LABOUCHE BE. in reply, sail that the reason there
wee no " blue book," as it was called, relating to the affairs
of Jamaica was, because no such documents had been for-
warded from the colony. Lord Elgin, before leaving Jamaica,
having sent ample information to the government, relative
to the condition of that island, his successor, Sir Chas. Grey,
who had only recently gone then', was of opinion that there
was nothing material that he could judiciously add to those
reports. With regard to the latter p:srt of the quest on, al-
though there was no recent despatch giving any general ac-
count of the state of th' island, rt he found that there were
certain documinits in the Colonial-office which it was con-
sidered desirable to submit to parliament, and which should
be laid on the table se soon as possible.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE.

On the motionWlTOn.identioer;;lealTe of absence was
granted to Mr. Ludlow Bruaeg for one month, and to Mr.
Thomas Duncombe for two month., both on account of

THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

. -
Mr. HUME said he wished to ask the Speaker of the
house what he was to do with reward to certain returns
which had been presented in consequence of their order, ob-
tained at his instance, relative to tne expenses of the new
House of Commons ? He had moved for an account show-
ing what was the total amount voted, what bad been paid,
and what was owing; and, the original estimate for the
works having been shout 700.0001. he found by the return
that up to the end of 1815, 813,0001. had been expended, and
an estimate was given that about half a million more would
be required, independent of 150,0001. rot. LI last year, and
not taken into account. It would seem, therefore, that the
total expenditure was to be not 700,0001., but 1,400,0001. ;
but in this account be found that nu estimates whatever were
included as to the cost of purcha.sing the buildings on the south
side of Bridge•st reef, or as to other works and fittings, including
decorations, upholstery, the cost of restoring St. Stephen's
chapel, &c. &c., all of which, he believed, would coot half a
million more at least. (Hear, hear.) Such an account as
this seemed to him calculated very much to confuse the
house, and he thought it highly necessary that the attention
of the government, of parliament, and of the country, should
be called to it. An hon. gentleman below him, however,
had taken upon himself to insist upon moving for the ap-
pointment of a committee in this case. If he intended so to
do, then would certainly be the most convenient time for
discussing the matter; and in such case he (Mr. Hume)
would postpone his observations. What he would ask,
therefore, was when that hon. gentleman proposed, if at all,
to bring forward his motion
Sir H. H. INGLIS said that in reply to this question,
"when, if at all, he intended to bring forward his motion,"
he had only to say that although he did give notice of a
motion on the subject, somewhere about the 15th of Decem-
ber last, yet he was so far from wishing to take it upon
himself to move the appointment of such a committee, that
he should be very unwilling to do so unless with the general
concurrence of the house. Even if be was likely to carry
his motion only by a very small majority, he should not be
at all inclined to press it. It was one of no great public in-
terest--it involved no question of public principle. It would
involve a sacrifice of time on his part that he was by no
means anxious to make, and he had no personal interest in
the matter whatever to gratify. If, however, it were the
pleasure of the house to support him in the appointment of
a committee, he would bring forward the measure—he could
not say exactly upon what day—it certainly would not be
any day in the present week.
Mr. SBORNE (after a pause) said this matter assumed so
very unsatisfactory a character, that be thought he was
jtutifiel in asking the noble lord, the Fint Commissioner of
Woods and Forests, whether he would have any objection to
lap upon the table a detaild estimate, Mowing that

1,400,000/. would be all that wwild be required ? He would
also auk tithe Woods and Forests held themselves responsible
for all that wee ordered ?
Viscount MORPETH.—The amount mentioned by the
hoc. gentleman is the amount of the architect's e.timate, and
I can only say I hope he will be able to bear it out. (Loud
laniuteTr.)
soothes pause,
Mr. OSBORNE mid: Really, after this answer, and con-
sidering that we ham a deficient end a sinking remelts, I
think I am entitled to put a question to the First Lord of the
Treasury, and I beg to ask that noble lord if he .-is prepared
to eke* this 011101,11066 expense, and if he will give this
Items lead the country some &entrance that no more than
the 1,400,0001., specified in the estimate, shall be spent ?
(Cries of " Hear, hear.")
Lord J. RUSSELL—It is imporeible for me to my mere
1122_31 te.7 noble friend has said. (Oh.) I must decline to be
ble for my anti:MeV!' emissive. (Laughter.)
=OSBORNE—Then, sir, I will call attention to the
sabject upon the first order of the day. (" Hear, hear," and
cheering.)
BODMIN ELECTION PETITION.
Mr. J. CLAY moved, to refer the two petitions of Henry
Charles Lacy, Esq., relative to the Bodmin election (pre-
sented Feb. 7), to the committee on the Cheltenham Elm
Lion petition.—Ordered.
CARLOW (BOROUGH) ELECTION PETITION.
Mr. SCULLY moved, to refer the petition of John Bad-
leir, Esq., M.P. (presented Dec. 20), to the select committee
on the petition of Sir Willoughby Jones, relating to the
Cheltenham electioa.-7Ordered.

FEES ON SUITORS IN CHANCERY.
Mr. AGLIONI3Y moved, that all petitions which have
been presented to the house, praying for inquiry into the
feat imposed upon the suitors of the High Court of Chancey
be England, in pursuance of the powers contained in the
set 6 and 6 Viet., c. 103, be referred to the Committee on
Fete and Salerno in Courts of Law and Equity.—Ordered.
ORDER OF BUSINESS—MR. ANSI El 'S MOTION.
Tuesday being a day on which notices of mutioa hays pre-
cedence of orders of the day, the debate upon the Jewish
Disabilities Bill could not, in regular course. come on until
after the motions had been disposed of. There were several
" notice of motion" on the paper, the first being that of Mr.
Chi-holm Anstey, relative to the foreign policy of the go-
virninent. The time having arrived for the paper to be
regularly gone through,
Mr. HUME rose to submit to the hon. member for
Youghal whether, consigering that en important debate on
a national question had been adjourned to that night, it wee
prudent in him to bring forward a motion, containing forty
articles, every one of which would give rise to an ordinary
day's debate, to the interruption of the adjourned debate.
He did not make this request with the view of ahirkieg the
Ruestions likely to be raised by the hon. gentleman's mo-
tion, because he was moat anxious that they should be de-
bated, but the house having heed brought together on a
matter of so much public interest as the question awaiting
discussion, he would urge upon the hon. gentleman not to
persevere in bringing forward another question. Seeing
how anxious all parties were to proceed with the adjourned
debate, he treated the hon. member would take the hint, and
await a more favourable opportunity for discussion.
Mr. A. STAFFORD, as mover of the amendment under
discussion, wished, before the hon. member rose, to assure
him that it was the universal wish of members on that side
of the house to close the debate that evening. If, therefore,
the hon. member did proceed, it would be against the sense
of the whole body of the bowie.
Mr. C. ANSTEY begged to assure the hoe. gentleman
who had last spoken that if anything personal could have
induced him to postpone this motion it would he his request;
hut he must put it to the house that he was not fairly treated
in this matter,—that he was very unfairly dealt with. An ap-
peal had been made to him in private, and he had given a satis-
factory answer to it, and that answer he had now to repeat.
It wee simply this. Last night he had been pressed by ve-
rities eeMaben to state distinctly and definitively if he would
goon to night. lie replied that at ell hazards he should exer-
efte his right. lie had pledged his honour that he would do
es, and he thought he should beet consult his own views Of
propriety by adhering to that pledge. The hen. member
wee about to proceed when
Lord J. RUSSELL rose and said : If the hon. member
does proceed he must clearly understand that he does so er
direct opposition to the express wilt of the house. I shall
ask nothing for myself, but it is right that I should call des
attention of the hon. member, who is lege acquainted, plea
haps, the others are, with our usages, to the fact that ft Is
generally considered for the public convenience that a debate
which has once been begun should be permitted to proceed. '
Mr. C. ANSTEY said be was perfectly aware of the rules
of the house ; but he thought he should be able to show the
noble lord before he sat down that he had goon ground for
considering this case an exception to their ordinary customs.
He was about to ask for more than papers. His present
motion was merely preliminary to another of a much graver
kind; and when he said that that motion would perhaps
affect the entire government, as well as the noble Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, he was sure that the noble lord at the
head of the treasury would be the last person to press for a
postponement. He did not undervalue or deny the import-
ance of the measure before the house, but he would under-
take to satisfy them before he sat down that his motion woe
one of infinitely greater importance. The subject he had to
bring before them was, foreign aggressinn from abroad and
internal treason at borne. ( A laugh.) He could net
conceive but that the government would be most anxious for
him to press these questions. One of their own members, the
present Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, had declared that " be
who nromoted discussions oa foreign affairs in that house
did good service to the state, for it was lamentable how much
indifference was manifested by all classes in England to our
foreign relations and foreign policy." The question, how-
ever, lay in a nutshell. He denied that there was anything
personal in the motion which he sought to bring forward.
He proceeded entirely upon a principle of public duty, invin-
dication of a great nation, whose happiness, whose pros-
perity, whose very existence, was imperilled by the conduct
of the noble member for Tiverton. He was prepared to es-
tablish that the designs of our natural enemy, the Czar of
Remit, had been, from 1830 to the present time, so pro-
moted by the policy of the noble lord, that they were now on
the point of being realised, unit se the house, by a vigorous
decision on the p.esent occasion, stepped in to stay the Auto
crat's further progress. In Peliand the Czar had acquired a
ti rritory as large as Austria in'furkey in Europe, &territory
as large as Prussia without the Rh, 'lid' provinces ; in Turkey
in Asia, a territory as large as all Germany and the
Rhenish provinces. He had extended his frontier a thousand
miles nearer towards Calcutta, a thousaud nearer towards
Lahore, and 850 nearer towards the capitals of southern
Europe. He referred to the steady determination with
which Russia had, during the past century, been using every
possible means, by fraud, and force, to extend her power •
and then intimated his intention of tracing, step by step, the
progress of the noble lord's most mischievous policy, prepared,
unless he prosecuted the noble lord to conviction, hy the
adduction of the direct proofs of the noble lord's guilt, to
undergo the castigation he should then most justly deserve.
He commenced with the year 1829, when the government of
this country was conducted by the Duke of Wellington, -Lord
Aberdeen being Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the energies
of the government being directed to repress the aggressions
of Russia, and to maintain the treaty of London. At that
time the noble viscount, from the opposition benches, ea-
sailed the government for not making concessions melee
faveurable to Russia, end a despatch from the Russian
minister at the time spoke in the most eulogistic language of
the noble lord's support of the Russian cause, as against the
liberties both of Europe and of Asia. The hon. gentleman
quoted a speech of Lord Palmerston in 1829, wherein the
noble viscount urged the propriety of Turkey's making
" timely concessions to the just demands of Russia," the
concessions demanded by Russia being ti rritorial aggran-
disemeote, wholly at variance with the treaty of London.
Another despatch from Prince Lieven, at about the same
period, also referred to the noble lord as a distinguished sup-
, porter of Russian policy. In 1830, the noble lord came into
allele In the meantime the French revolution of July had
broken out, and there was a strong excitement in this coun-
try for parliamentary re'orm, and for a warm friendship
with France, in assertion of the liberties of the world
against all absolutist powers, rind more especially
against Russia. The noble lord, on coming to
office, found it inconvenient to oppose the national
feeling, or to give utterance to his sympathy with
Russia; so that for a while he remained altogether
silent on the subject of Russia. Meantime the p licy which
the noble lord had attempted out of office, but which he
feared publicly to prosecute, WAS silently promoted by the
noble lord in every pert of the world where Russian interests
were in agitation ; and it became him here to mention that
the treaty of Adrisaople hail been distinctly protested
against both by the Duke of Wellington and by Lerd Aber-
deen, as appeared (roved ieuments left by them in the Foreign-
office. In the year 1833 Turkey found herself involved in
a war with the Pacha of Egypt, whose army, under Ibrahim
Pacha, invaded the Turkish provinces. He would not stop
to pint out how cr in what manner Ibrahim had been
pushed on by one of the European powers to menace
Constantinople in the year 1833. The Porte, however,
found it diffieult to resist the progress of the Egyptian forces
without calling in the aid of its allies ; and England, then
under the guidance of the noble lord, in so far as its foreign
affairs were concerned, was invoked to come to the assist-
ance of the Sultan, and to guarantee the integrity of his
dominions. England, acting through the medium of the
noble lord, refused to do what the Porte had requested, and
Russia then tendered her assistance, which was proffered
upon such terms as were at first rejected by the Porte, but
which ultimately led to the treaty of Unkiar Skelesei,
whereby the guardianship of the person of the Sultan was
entrusted to Russia. The hon. member was proceeding to
develop the immediate results of this treaty, when he was
interrupted by a motion from some hon. member (whose
name was not known in the gallery) that the house be
counted, whereupon the gallery was cleared, and, forty
members not being present, the house adjourned at a quarter
past eight.