The Express.
London, England, 1868-07-03 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

he first business witiich occupied tho attention
of both bowels of potcliament last evening was the
agreeable task of voting the thanks of the oonntry
to Sir It. Napier srel the officers and men of the force
receutl y eneagei in the Abyssinian expedition. The
proposal was made first in the Mouse of Commons,
and the proceedings in that house, although less
:1,-itracted, were far more appropriate to such an
than was the lengthy discussion in the
Ilu.:se Lords. Thero could be no doubt as to
the interest which the occasion excited. When
Mr. Diradi rose, about half-past four o'clock,
every seat was occupied, many members,
unable to find accommodation on the benches,
bad taken refuge in the galleries,
ban
geth her
d a
not inconsiderable crowd were gathe
at the bar. The Speiiker's and Strangers' galleries
red
were crowded with spectators. Among the occu-
pants of the peers' seats were a group efsenn, half
tureen officers of the Abyssinian forces, and promi-
nent in the front vrw were the bronzed features of
Colonel Millwarli, the bearer of one of the earlier
despatches, in which Sir R. Napier informed the
government of the success of his operations. The
speeds of the Frime Minister was distinguished by
the merits, and ehartuterised by Dome of the faults
which seem in from Mr. Disraeli's cere-
monial and feudatory efforts. Not wanting in
dignity and elevation of style, it bore the marks
of a wam•what too careful study and too elaborate
a priTaration ; while one or two sentences, which
were evidently intended to produce the strongest
effects, narrowly escaped, if, indeed, they did
escape, being ridiculous. It was with a justi-
fiable pride that the right hon. gentleman de-
scribed the Abyssinian • expedition as one of the
most remarkable military enterprises of the
century, and characterised the march of our troops
into the interior of the country as piercing a road
through a wall of mountains. There was aptness
and justice in attributing to the fortress of Mag-
dala so great a natural strength that, had it been
defended by the man who assailed it, it would
Lave resisted the attacks of the whole world :
and 'the reference to the fact that this
was the third time that Sir B. Napier
had received the thanks of his countrymen was
felicitous and appropriate. But the statement
delivered in high sounding tones—that the " ele-
phants of Asia" had borne " the artillery of Eu-
ropeover African passes which might have startled
the trapper"—" of America" must have been acci-
dentally omitted—and the hunter of the Alps"
approached very closely to the borders of the
ludicrous; and when in still more lofty language
the house was congratulated upon the circum-
stance that " the standard of St. George bad
been planted npon the mountains of Rasselas,"
honourable members with difficulty netraintsl their
laughter, and even the speaker himself appeared
for a moment to lose his self-possession. To this
circumstance it was attributable, no doubt, that the
sentences in which the right honourable gen-
tleman acknowledged the services rendered to
the expedition by the navy, and especially
by the rocket brigade, were somewhat ragged in
their construction. But the practised orator
speedily recovered himself ; and there was no fault
to be found with the well balanced terms in which
he conuueutled the patience, endurance, and good
temper, us well as the gentleness and docility elf
the troops. and after a not altogether novel allusion
to the selfishness of the age, declared that the re-
sult of the Abyssinian expedition would add lustre
to the name of England, and beneficially influence
the history of the world. The speech in which
Mr. Gladstone seconded the vote of thanks offers
less opportunity for description on criticism. The
terms in which the leader of the opposition spoke
of the services of Sir Robert Napier, and of the
officers and soldiers under his command, were those
of hearty and unmingled admiration ; and he was
scarcely less niggard of the praise which he be-
stowed upon the government—with an especial
reference to Sir B. Northcote—for their wise
choice of a commander, the unbounded confidence
which they had reposed in him, and the unsparing
liberality with winch they had supplied the wants
of the expedition. The sympathies of the audience
went with the speaker alike when he rejoieed at
our " almost tearless victory," or deplored the
death of-Colonel Dunne, who, after escaping the
dangers of the Balaclava charge, had found a
grave in Abyssinia. The cheers which had greeted
the remarks of both the mover and seconder of the
vote of thanks showed how entirely it commanded
the approval of the house ; and the " ayes" with
which each resolution was sanctioned as it was
read by the speaker was only the necessary con-
firmation of.a foregone conclusion.
Although the benches of the House of Lords
were not so crowded as were those of the other
house, there was a large attendance of peers ; the
space before the throne and the strangers' gallery
were filled, and there were twenty or thirty ladies
in the peeress's gallery. Lord Malmeebury's ad-
dress was much longer than that of his chief, but
was far leas to the purpose. The most successful
point was the statement that within a year from
the time at which the government resolved to
undertake hostilities, the power of Theodore was
broken, and the chief himself lay dead beneath the
walls of Idagdals; and that the advance to and
capture of that fortress occupied only 100 days
from the date of the first landing. The remarks of
Lord Rusaell were more condensed, and leas ob-
scured by references to matters of detail, than was
the speech of the Lord Privy Seal. He, like Mr.
Gladstone, experssed entire approval of the expe-
dition to Abyssinia, and while attributing its em-
cees in the first degree to the skill and capacity of
Sir R. Napier, and to the valour, discipline, and
endurance of the troops under his command, did
not refuse a measure of praise to the govermnent
and to the Commander-in-Chief for the assistance
which they had rendered to the force. The Duke
of Cambridge expressed, in plain and soldierly
terms, his estimation of the service which had been
performed by Sir R. Napier and the troops under
Lis command. and vindicated, on military grounds,
the culture and destruction of Magdala after the
prisoners had been surrendered. The debate was
continued by Lord Longford and Lord
Ellenborough, and closed by Lord Derby.
The principal object of the Under-Secretary
for War appeared to be to claim for
the military departnients at home some share of
the credit of this successful enterprise ; and Lord
Ellenborough sifter pointing out how fully his
antieipttions of difficulties had been borne out
by the experience of the troops, congratulated
their lordships and the country that European
and Indian troops had acted together in such per-
fect harmony and with such complete success, and
declared that the cheer with which the 4th Regi-
ment of the line applauded the achievements of the
ilelooebees sounded the death knell of the memo
of the Indian mutiny. It was, perhaps, naturalr
that Lord Derby should take care that his late
colleagues lost none of the credit which is due to
them for the part they had in directing and
organising the expedition ; but it was certainly
not necessary. and jerhaps hardly in good taste,
that be should avail himself of such an oP -
tunity as this to run a tilt against Lord C arr-
von for a supposed difference of opinion as to the
nuniler of troops required. It it; almost unneces-