The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-20 00:00:00

by the officers and men of the British navy. He trusted
that the noble lord at tha head of the Government would
consent to the appointment of the committee.
Lord PALMERSTON said he could assure his hon.
friend (Mr. Mackinnon) that be most willingly agreed to
the motion he had made. (Cheers.) ft was impossible
for any man in that house not to appreciate as highly
as his honourable friend did the great merits of Captain
M'Clure, his perseverance, his courage, and his daring,
by which he had solved the problem that for a great
length of time had engaged the intense anxiety of all
the maritime nations of the world. (Cheers.) Having
said that much, he did not wish in the least to
prejudge what might be the opinion of the committee as
to the particular claim in reference to which the commit-
tee was asked ; but he should neither do justice to his
own feelings, nor, he thought, to those of the house, if
he did not give his cordial assent to the appointment of
the committee. (Cheers.)
The motion was then agreed to by acclamation.
LANCASTER SHOT MANUFACTORY.
_ _

' hours ; there were many competent persons upon it. If
the commission should produce no result, it would of
course be necessary to apply to Parliament, but it was
of no use to harass them with resolutions like that be-
fore the house.
Mr. NAPIER agreed with the hon. gentleman, that
when money had been voted for the purpose of having
the statute law put into a satisfactory state, they had a
right to expect that some act would be brought into re-
medy the evils complained of. He thought that one of
the objects of the commission ought to be to examine
the different English and Irish statutes, and bring the
law of the two countries on an imperial basis. In his
opinion the statute law would never be placed in a sa-
tisfactory state until there was a separate department of
public justice ; the money wasted for these commissions,
and the salaries of some sinecure offices like the Chan-
cellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster, would afford suffi-
cient funds for a Minister of Justice.
Mr. MALINS said that the resolution referred to the
labours of the commission who had prepared a list of
10,047 acts. He had reason to believe that that list was
extremely inaccurate, and would require to be re-
vised again and again. It was not surprising that the
statute law was in an unsatisfactory state, when they con-
sidered the manner in which acts were passed through
that house, generally between twelve at night and two
in the morning. When they were exhausted in mind
and body, the question was put that the Speaker leave
the chair, the Chairman of Ways and Means took it,
and in a few minutes a most important measure passed
without any member in the house knowing what it was
about. He did not agree with his right hon. friend the
member for the University of Dublin as to the necessity
of a public Department of Justice. When he saw the
way in which gr•od bills, after passing that house, were
destroyed by the learned lords in another place, he did
not feel much encouraged to submit them to the revision
of any public officer. He was inclined to think that the
evil was very much exaggerated, and that the statute
law did not present any great difficulties. He was not
very sanguine as to the results of these commissions, nor
did he think much good would be derived from the house
taking up crude schemes, the result of two or three
months' labour.
Mr. MASSEY said that if they were to adopt the
opinion of the hon. and learned gentleman the house
had better abandon the attempt to work out a reform of
the statute law, and the only course for them to take
was to delegate their powers to a commission similar to
that before appointed. The labours of the commission
were delayed chiefly by their quarrels amongst them-
selves. The commission now consisted of only Mr. Ker
and his secretary. The Attorney-Genei al said that the
work of Messrs. Anstey and Rogers required revision ;
but surely the revision of the statute law of England
ought not to be delegated to one commissioner and a
secretary. If the hon. member for Surrey pressed his
motion to a division, he would divide with him.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL wished to explain the
mode in which the present commission was being worked.
The different members of the commission took up sepa-
rate branches of law, and had a staff of clerks under
them. For instance, the right hon. member for Mid-
hurst and Vice-Chancellor Stuart had under their con-
sideration the law of real property, and the Lords Chief
Justices of the Queen's Bench and the Common Pleas,
the criminal law.
Mr. M'MAHON thought that the only proper way
to consolidate the statute law was for the commissioners
to take the statutes of a particular reign, and having
struck out all that were obsolete, to re-enact the remain-
der, and then do the same with those of the succeeding
reigns. He agreed with the right hon. and learned mem-
ber for Dublin University as to the necessity for the ap-
pointment of a Minister of Justice.
Mr. HADFIELD did not think that the subject pre-
sented any such immense difficulties. The task of con-
solidating the statutes would soon be accomplished if it
was entrusted to men of talent and energy, who had
nothing else to de. It was ridiculous to expect that the
judges, who had so much to attend to, could find time
for such a task.
Mr. CRAUFURD said that the labours of Messrs. An-
stey and Rogers had received the approval of the Lord
Chancellor and the Chief Commissioner, yet these gentle-
men had been very badly treated, as they were not placed
on the last commission. One of these gentlemen had
since accepted a situation in the colonies, but he had
been obliged to leave England without obtaining a settle-
ment of his claims on the commissioners.
Mr. L. KING having replied,
The house divided.
For the resolution .
Against ....

siderable, that Government was disinclined to accede to
the proposal. The justice of the case was clear, but the
equity of the country was defective. He contended that
they were bound to do something indicated by the hon.
gentleman.
Lord A. PAGET had brought forward a similar mo-
tion some time ago, having in view the benefit of the
widows and orphans of officers killed in action. He did
not think anything could show it to be just or right that
the family of an officer under such circumstances should
be deprived of the value of his commission. The least
thing the country could do was to restore the sum to his
bereaved relatives. He need refer only to such cases as
that of Major Hulkitt, who had been killed in his bro-
ther's regiment, leaving a widow and three children, and
whose widow would receive but 701. a year. (Hear.)
Then there was Col. Moore, for whose commission, be-
fore he left England, 15,000/. was offered ; but having
been drowned, his widow would have received only 701.
a year had it not been for the bounty of her Majesty,
who granted an increased allowance from the privy
purse. We might still do something for those who lived
to fight our battles, and he was sure the noble lord, if he
considered the subject, might devise some means of mak-
ing a provision for the widows and orphans of officers
who lost their lives in our defence.
Colonel NORTH observed that the claims of officers
were enhanced by the fact of the enormously increased
premiums demanded for insurance in war time, and the
almost utter impossibility of effecting an insurance. He
thought that something ought to be done to meet the
hardship of this case.
After a few words from Mr. RICE,
Lord PALMERSTON said that the motion of the
hon. and learned gentleman was only part of a very
large and difficult question, because it was obviously
connected with the question whether the system of pur-
chase and sale of commissions should be continued
in the service. That question was beset with diffi-
culties, and even if the Legislature determined to
abolish that system, it was impossible that the change
could be carried out at once, or at an early period.
His ho:. and learned friend seemed throughout his
speech under a misapprehension of that system. He
argued the question as if the State were a debtor to an
officer who was killed in the sum he bad paid for his com-
mission. But when an officer bought his commission, it
was not the State but another officer who sold him that
commi,sion, and received the purchase money. The mo-
tion of his hon. and learned friend only went to this ex-
tent, that any officer who died at the seat of war should
receive the value of the commission that he might have
purchased. He was, however, at a loss to disconnect
the first part of the resolution from the last. For unless
the house aereed to make good the payment, he could not
see from what fund the Government could pay the officer
the value of his commission ; since, as he had already
said, the money paid for the purchase of commissions did
not go for them. He thought, therefore, that the first
part of the resolution would be a nullity without the last.
He was quite willing to admit that there was a great deal
in many of the considerations urged by his hon. ana
learned friend, but still he thought that the resolution as
proposed would necessarily go far beyond the point
sanctioned by the house and the country. He thought,
however, that neither the housenor the country would ob-
ject to such an arrangement as this—that an officer should
during his life make a choice whether, if he was killed
in action, his family should receive the pension and other
allowances now granted to them in that case; or whether
in lieu thereof his representatives should receive the re-
gulation value of the commission which he held and was
entitled to sell at the time of his death. There were
many cases in which it would be more advantageous to
his family to receive the value of his commission, while
in others it would be more desirable to receive the pen-
sion and other allowances. He believed, whatever might
be the amount of expense entailed upon the public by
this arrangement, that the country would cheerfully bear
it, and that the house would have no difficulty in sanc-
tioning it. Whatever regulation. was made must be a
general one, and be made applicable to all officers in all
parts of the world, and under whatever circumstances
they might fall in action in the performance of their duty.
It could not be limited in its application as was proposed
by the motion of his hon. friend. He then came to the
case of officers who died not in action. What would bethe
effect of extending the regulation to cases of this kind ?
There was no difficulty in drawing a line with respect to
officers falling in action. But if they extended it to the
case of officers dying of disease on foreign service, what
distinction could they fairly draw between officers dying
at home or abroad during a time of peace or war 1
What distinction could they draw between a disease
which might terminate the life of an officer in one part
of the world and in another ? Therefore, if they ex-
tended the operation of the regulation to cases of this
kind, it must be applied to almost any case of an officer
dying on full pay, unless it could be shown that his death
was the consequence of some malady which was consti-
tutional, and independent of the performance of his
military duty, and which it could be shown he would
have had if he had been in civil life. He must say he
thought there would be great difficulty in extending the
operation of the resolution to that extent. (Hear,
bear.) He could not quite agree in the grounds on
which this question had been very much argued.
The hon. and learned gentleman behind him had talked
very much as if this was a mere matter of commercial
speculation. He compared the annuity purchaseable by
the sum given for a commission with the pay received by
its holder. Even looking at the matter in that light, the
purchaser of a commission did not seem to be placed in
so disadvantageous a light, since his hon. friend found
that the difference between the annuity and the pay was
only that between 2271. and 2131., without taking into
consideration the pension to which an • officer's widOw
was entitled. But he altogether denied that we ought to
look on the motives that induced a man to enter into the
army or the navy as the same by which a man was
guided when he made an investment in railway shares,
in Three per Cent. Consols, or upon mortgage, or upon
any other security by which he might seek to obtain in-
terest for his money. The motives that induced an
officer to enter the service were the desire of distinc-
tion, the desire of an hon. condition in life, and of
that reputation and consideration which belonged to
the military service--(hear, hear)—and therefore the
pound to which he had referred was certainly not one
On which this question could be properly argued. (Hear,
hear.) He hoped, after the statement he had just made,
that the hon. member would leave the question in the
hands of Government with a view to their carrying out
the arrangement he bad mentioned, and which he hoped
would meet the concurrence and prove in accordance
with the feelings of the house. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. M. CHAMBERS said that he knew of no misery
equal to that of an officer being sent to a foreign station
in an unhealthy climate during time of war. He cer
tainly though that officers dying in such circumstances
should be entitled to privileges at least equal to those
dying of disease at the seat of war.
Mr. HEADLAM said that after the statement of the
noble lord at the head of the Government, which he had
heard with great satisfaction, he thought he ought nof
to press the motion.

Captain L. VERNON, pursuant to notice, moved for
copy of report of Major-General Harding, assistant in-
spector-general of fortifications, on the building erected
fur the Lancaster shot manufactory at Woolwich ; and
the report on that building forwarded to the Clerk of the
Ordnance by Sir C. Fox, of the firm of Fox and Render-
son, the contractors for its erection. He said he made
the motion in the interest of the public and also in that
of the corps of Royal Engineers, to which he had the
honour to belong. The building in question was estimated
to cost 25,0001. ; but it was not so much the amount as
the principle that was mainly in question. He complained
that in this case there was a principle adopted of work-
ing contracts irrespective of departmental supervision,
which after all was the only protection that the public
had in these matters. He should like to know why that
was, and why the firm of Messrs. Fox and Henderson
bad been relieved from supervision in this instance ?
During the 24 years in which be had served as lieutenant
of Engineers, and that, by the way, was a pretty strong
exemplification of the system of promotion by seniority
—(loud cries of " hear, hear")—he had had great ex-
perience of Government contractors, and his experience
had taught him that that contract was best executed which
was most narrowly looked after. (Hear.) The building
was to be erected at an estimated cost of 28,0001. rather
an important sum, even in the present time of necessarily
very large expenses. But it was not so much the amount
of the estimate as the principle upon which the contract
was entered into that he was anxious to bring under the
notice of the house. It was a new principle of carrying
out contracts without departmental supervision ; and this
innovation had been introduced by a department of the
Government which had more to do than any other de-
partment with public contracts. He was certainly curi-
ous to ascertain why it had been that Messrs. Fox, Hen-
derson, and Co. had been relieved from the usual super-
vision. If it was on account of their being either a large
or a highly respectable firm, he contended that that would
afford no sufficient ground for such exempt*. The
hon. and gallant member proceeded to direct the atten-
tion of the house to the fact that the corps of Royal En-
gineers, to whom was entrusted the supervision of con-
tracts of this kind, had distinguished themselves greatly
in many branches of art and science, and he considered
them to have been insulted by the course which had been
taken by the Board of Ordnance. If the house would
consent to the production of the correspondence for
which he had moved, hon. members would have an op-
portunity of judging whether the departure from the
ordinary principle had or bad not been attended with
advantage to the public. The hon. and gallant member
concluded by moving for a copy of the report.
Mr. I. BUTT moved as an amendment to add to the
motion the following words :—" Also of the letters ad-
dressed to the Board of Ordnance by Fox, Henderson,
and Co., dated respectively the 23d and 24th of April
and the sth of May, and of the report to the Board of
Ordnance of Mr. John Anderson, inspector of machinery,
dated the 11th of May, on the subject of the building for
Lancaster shells."
Mr. MONSELL had no objection to lay upon the
table of the house the correspondence referred to in the
motion of the hon. and gallant member, and the amend-
ment of the hon. and learned member for Youghal (Mr.
Butt). He stated that the Board of Ordnance had had
no intention whatever of casting any slight upon the
corps of Royal Engineers in the course which had
been taken with respect to the new Lancaster shell
manufactory. The facts were that Colonel Foster was
called upon to prepare, in conjunction with Messrs.
Fox, Henderson, and Co., a plan for the erection
of the Lancaster Foundry. Some days after the Lan-
caster Foundry had been commenced, Colonel Foster
came to him (Mr. Monsell), and said that from the light-
ness of the structure, which was being erected, he could
not be answerable for its safety. Upon the other hand
he said this was a building which required to be completed
with the least possible delay, and that Messrs. Fox and
Henderson bad stated that they could not complete it
within the stipulated time unless the work were executed
in the way in which they had arranged to execute it. He
(Mr. Monsell) stated that some difficulties would arise
under these circuinstances, and he finally suggested that
Messrs. Fox and Henderson should be allowed to com-
plete the work upon their giving a guarantee that the
building would stand for 12 months. Col. Foster said
that he thought a guarantee for six months would be quite
long enough, for considering the heavy Nasmyth hammers
which would be employed in it the whole building would
certainly tumble down within a less period than that.
He considered that the arrangement made was a per-
fectly satisfactory one ; and he thought the house would
be of the same opinion when they saw the correspondence
wl•ich would be produced on the subject.
Colonel DUNNE complained of the interference of the
Board of Ordnance in making this departure from the
usual mode of supervision, and attributed many of the
disasters which had occurred in the Crimea to the con-
duct of the Board of Ordnance in interfering in matters
of which it could not possibly possess any knowledge.
The motion was then agreed to.
POSTAL COMMUNICATION WITH
WATERFORD.
On the motion of Mr. MEAGHER a select commit.
tee was appointed to inquire into the postal arrange-
ments in the city and county of Waterford, and counties
of Tipperary, Cork, and Limerick, with a view to ascer-
tain and report how they may be improved.
STATUTE LAW COMMISSION.
Mr. L. KING submitted to the house the following
resolutions :—" That, in the month of March, 1853, a
paid commission of five barristers was appointed by the
Lord Chancellor, to proceed without delay in the work
of the consolidation of the statute law' (First Report, p.
209), of which the first process wuuld be to ascertain
precisely the text of the statute law, as it then existed,
by determining what statutes had been repealed, ex-
pressly or virtually, what had expired, and what had be-
come obsolete or unnecessary in the present state of
society ; whereof a special and detailed report should be
made, and should form the groundwork of a declaratory
bill to repeal such statutes, to be introduced, if possible,
at the end of the then session' (Parliamentary paper, No.
78, of Session, 1855) ; and that, in pursuance of the said
commission, a special and detailed report, embracing
every entire act of the descriptions abovernentioned, and
containing in all ten thousand and forty-seven acts,
was prepared by Messrs. Anstey and Rogers, two
of the said commissioners, and submitted to the Lord
Chancellor in the course of the same session, under the
title of Expurgatory List, and by way of appendix to
their joint minute of the 25th day of July, 1853. That
it appears from the papers communicated to this house
by her Majesty, that no bill of which the said Expurga-
tory List is the groundwork has as yet been prepared,
although in an undated Report of 1854, made by Mr.
Brickdale, the commissioner to whom (First Report, p.
109) the task of careful revision by a fresh hand was
assigned,' by Mr. Bellenden Ker, the chief commissioner,
the list itself bag been certified to evince the great fa-
miliarity of his two colleagues with the Statute Book,'
and to cause him `to feel hardly any doubt that they had
not entered as obsolete any act which had in fact been
repealed,' and although Mr. Ker has reported it to be 'a
very laborious, useful, and valuable paper,' and to have
shown their industry and familiarity with thestatute book.'
That it is the opinion of this house that it would greatly
conduce to the improvement of the statute law of this
country if the preparation of declaratory bill, of which
the said special and detailed report shall form the ground
work,' were no longer to be delayed, and that such bill
ought to be forthwith prepared, for the purpose of being
laid before Parliament." He said that it was time Parlia-
ment should show that it was in earnest on this important
subject. Great expense had already been incurred with-
out any practical result, and it appeared to him that the
commission bad only trifled with the question which had
been committed to their charge. Taking into considera-
tion the great progress which this country had made in
other respects, it was undeniable that we were unaccoun
_ _

43
26
Majority
ARMY COMMISSIONS.

Mr. HEADLAM said the proposal he was about to
make was a simple one, and would not require any
lengthened statement on his part. He was about to ask
the house to do an act of purely simple justice to a class
of men who, he thought, in ordinary times were entitled
to the favourable consideration of the house, inasmuch
as they were in the habit of performing duties of no ordi-
nary responsibility in maintaining the character and
dignity of the country. But if that were true
under ordinary circumstances it was still more
true at the present time, when they all knew that
regimental officers in the army had been sub-
jected to dangers and exposed to privations almost
unexampled in the history of this country. They all
knew, too, from concurrent testimony that these officers
had risked the dangers and borne privations with a spirit
of gallantry and patience which had won them the admi-
ration of the world and entitled them to the lasting grati-
tude of their fellow-subjects. Under such circumstances,
he appealed rather to the justice than the generosity of
the house in their behalf. According to the regulations
of the army now in farce, if an officer died in the perform.
ance of his duty every portion of the money he had paid
either for promotion or otherwise would be absolutely
forfeited. A lieutenant-colonel's commissioncost 4,5001.,
and an ensign 4501., and it frequently happened that an
officer died long before be had received back the money
in the shape of pay, leaving, therefore, the country a
debtor to his estate. An officer, therefore, who purchased
a lieutenant-colonel's commission not only put his life
in danger, but risked his 4,5001. ; but if they looked at
the matter in a mere pecuniary sense, it would be found
that if he paid an insurance on the 4,5001., the country
would be still his debtor whether be lived or whether he
died. (Hear.) The other day an officer serving in the
Crimea was found guilty of misconduct, and allowed to
sell out, but suppose this officer had died in the trenches,
the money which he paid for his commission would have
been forfeited to the Government. This system might
be all very well in a time of peace, when there were
ample opportunities of selling out, but when war came
the fear of exciting public feeling deterred, if it did not
altogether prohibit, officers from selling out. But he
wam not going now into the general system of purchase,
as he wished his motion to be taken and considered as
perfectly distinct from that general question. (Hear.)
Officers coming back from the war unwounded would
benefit largely by the adoption of the measure he ad-
vocated, which would occasion no additional expense
to the public. The bravest of men were also the
most tender-hearted, and they might rely upon it
that there were many who felt the hardship upon
themselves, and the injustice of depriving their families
of all provision. He called upon them to adopt this
motion as an act of justice. The hon. member con-
cluded by moving " That this house do, to-morrow, re-
solve itself into a committee, to consider of an bumble
address to her Majesty, praying that she would be gra-
ciously pleased to direct alterations to be made in the
rules of the military service to the effect that the regula-
tion value of the commissions of officers in the army,
dying or having died in active service during the pre-tent
war, may be paid to their representatives and deemed
part of their personal estate, and to assure her Majesty
that this house will make good the same.
Mr. PEEL observed that there was some inconve-
nience in the form in which the subject had been
brought under their notice. If the principle of the re-
solution were a sound one, he could not understand
why it should not be made quite co-extensive with
the whole range of cases covered by it. He did not quite
understand whether the honourable gentleman meant
that officers dying in any part of the world should
be enabled to bequeath the value of their commission,
or whether the boon should be confined to officers
on active service in the Crimea. The other day there
was an officer killed i❑ the colony of Victoria, during
the insurrection of the diggers, whilst storming an en-
trenched position. He could see no reason why such a
case as this should be excluded from the operation of the
proposed measure. If it were adopted there could be no
doubt that similar claims would be addressed to them on
the part of relatives of officers who had perished in similar
wars, as that with the Kafirs. It Should be recollected
that, if the risks of the Crimean service were greater, the
opportunities of gaining distinction and acquiring honour
were also more considerable than in many other wars.
(Hear, hear.) He contended, therefore, that there was
no reason for restricting the principle, if it were a good
one, to a particular class of cases. Let the house con-
sider whether some provision were not already made
for those who most needed it, the surviving relatives of
officers who had been dependent on them for subsistence,
by a pension warrant. Pensions granted under warrants
were, to a certain extent at least, intended as compen-
sation to the families of officers for the loss of the value
of the commission. If they were to grant, besides the
pension, the regimental value of the commission, it would
ne difficult to resist a proposal to grant pensions to the
widows of private soldiers. In the case of a young per-
son it might be advantageous to receive the value of the
commission in lieu of a pension, but the present arrange-
ment was more advisable in a great number of cases.
The value of a captain's commission was 1,8001. ; and
under the hon. gentleman's plan this would be the sum
payable to his relatives in the event of his death. By
the recent pension warrant the maximum amount of the
pension to be granted to a captain was 1501., and it could
not be said that such a yearly sum as this was not a full
equivalent. If this proposition were adopted, the co►n.
missions must be sold, and could not be given away with-
out purchase, so that it would be necessary to set apart
a sum to enable Government to purchase commissions
when it was desired to reward a deserving officer. He did
not think it advisable to do what must be done if the mo-
tion were adopted, to recognise the idea of property as con-
nected with a commission. He looked upon it as a per-
sonal thing, and naturally all interest in it ceased with
the termination of the holder's life. In the course of the
last few days a warrant had been issued granting an in-
creased rate of pension to the widows, mothers, and chil-
dren of officers killed in action, as well as extending the
number of cases in which pensions were granted. He
would suggest that the hon. gentleman should examine
the warrant. with the view of seeing whether its terms
conside-
ration
the
enstulyb
jaemetpwlee.nt,Ahsefawraeasnehtisfapvreeeserenbt
Iceotnesitdhee-
Gil. DUNNE thougelantewtheercji•
objsct recommended by the hon.l:geenfhteleFabaynt.he
110 e.
at War. The truth was that the number gen-
tleman had not been
ee
rof
e Under-Secretaryffi ee r
officers
killedor dying was so large, and the amount required so con-

The motion was then withdrawn.
The Justices of Peace Qualification Bill passed through
committee.

The house then adjourned at half-past ten o'clock.

ably behind hand in the simplification and arrangement
of our law. It was true that the laws were now

written in the English language, but taken as a whole
they were as in the old time, when they were written
in bad Latin and bad French. It was impo.sible,

with the vast amount of obsolete acts which still eucum

bered our statute-book, for even a man bred to the law
to know what the law really was ; they were such an
undigested mass of enactments—some repealed, some ob-
solete, and some irreconcilable with subsequent acts.
Within the last century the number of public acts had
increased enormously. In the reign of George I. there
were 377 public acts passed ; in the reign of George 11.,
1,547 acts ; in the reign of George 111. there were 6,953;
in the reign of George IV., 1,066; during William
IV.'s reign, 678 were passed ; and in the present reign,
1,864 had already been passed. The opinions of great
lawyers
wyers and statesmen in times past were favourable to
.h consolidation, arrangement, and digest of the sta-
n:jtutes,u.-
ina' and
the removal of all that were sleeping or
force ; and Lord Lyndhurst had testified to the
vast quantity of useless rubbish which encumbered the
statute b^ok, and which he thought should be swept
away. We had the example of the -great Code Napoleon,
which showed what could be done in consolidating the
law—a code which had been adopted
inin aßy!at part
of the world, and which was takeneumworsdo
bodily, that they had even omitted to change 411
Francais de Belgique. He had in his hanafnywde
thaic-nchhoepawypnenorfntnhlye
French Code, a small volume, the coat
a franc, and he understood there was
edi-
tion published at 75 centimes. When other countries
had done so much it was disgraceful for England to be
so many centuries behind had in a matter of such, great
importance as the intelligibility and compilation of our
statute law. The commissioners who had been appointed
had only trifled with the subject, and had never at-
tempted to do anything practical, and there was not the
least prospect of seeing the Declaratory Bill brought in,
which had been prorni.4ed in 1853.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL quite agreed with the
h°ll- gentleman that the statute book of this country re-
qthne
irect most careful revision ; but regretted to state that
factor expurgatory list was at present in such an unsatis
y condition that it was impossible to make any
Practical use of it. He thought the best course for the i
resent was to leave the commission to pursue its 13* g

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 20, 1855,

the Brevet rank converted into Substantive rank of Major
in conformity with the memorandum dated War-office -Ist
May, 1855.

STAFF.
Thomas Baldwin Snmmerfield, Esq., to be Paymaster
for Army Services.

BREVET.
Thomas Rhys, Esq., to have the local rank of staff-
Surgeon of the First Class in Turkey, while attached to the
Turkish contingent.

Dr. Richard Sarell, attached to the Turkish Contingent,
to have the local rank of extra Staff-Assistant-Surgeon in
Turkey.

Lieutenant and Captain and Brevet-Major William Gor-
don Cameron, of the Grenadier Guards, being attached to
the Foreign German Legion, to have the substantive rank
of Major while so employed.
MEMORANDUM.—The name of the Lieutenant of the
Royal Engineers, who was gazetted on the Bth instant to
have the local rank of Captain in Turkey, is John Popham
Maquay and not Magnay as previously stated.
ADMIRALTY, JuNs 18.
The following promotions, dated the 6th inst., have this
day taken place consequent on the decease, on the sth
inst., of Rear-Admiral of the White Edward Boxer, C.B. :
Rear-Admiral of the Blue Lord Adolphus Fitzclareuce,
G.C.H., t 9 be Rear-Admiral of the White.
Captain Peter Richards, C. 8., to be Rear-Admiral of
the Blue.

COMMISSIONS SIGNED BY LORD-LIETTTENANTS.
Northamptonshire Regiment of Militia—Captain Chas.
Hill to be Major, vice Quintus Vivian, who has resigned,
retaining his rank.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCA'.

The Chapman sailing transport, No. 118, has been
brought alongside the dockyard jetty at Portsmouth to
embark and convey to Corfu the Oxford Regiment of
Militia, now quartered in Portsmouth Garrison. The
baggage is being shipped, and the regiment will embark
to-morrow. Considerable preparation has been already
made for further converting the Royal Sovereign, 120,
from a sailing to a screw-ship.
The Britannia, 120, fitted as a floating hospital for
military invalids, was officially inspected by a board of
medical officers on Saturday at Portsmouth, and will be
ready for the reception of inmates in a few days. She
will accommodate 300 patients very comfortably. It
will be satisfactory to the friends of those gallant suf-
ferers now patients in the General Military Hospital,
Portsea, to hear that they are all doing well—many far
better than coald have been expected under the many
drawbacks of treatment they have experienced. Dr.
Burgess has been unremittingly attentive, and has pro-
duced most gratifying results ; but it is astonishing what
great good may be totally prevented by stolid adherence
to routine. Major-General Sir Frederick Smith, R.E.,
is about to erect an hospital at the camp at Alderebott,
which will be as perfect in every detail as any establish-
ment of the kind can possibly be made by skilled con-
ception, labour, and money. This, we believe, is the
Queen's order. S►r Frederick and Lady Smith went
over the Portsmouth Military Hospital again yesterday,
and distributed extra comforts and necessaries in shirts,
flannel and cotton drawers, cholera belts, comforters,
and nourishing confections to the patients, who, strange
to say, have never been supplied by any other agency
with the necessary article of a pocket-handkerchief.
The Perseverance steam-transport, belonging to the
Peninsularand Oriental Navigation Company, in command
of Capt. H. Harris, commenced on Monday to embark at
Sheerness three companies of the Royal Artillery, and
two companies from Shoeburyness ; the latter were
brought by the steam-vessels Alban and Myrtle. Each
company consists of 120 men, 14 non-commissioned
officers, and 1 trumpeter—making a total of 675, exclu-
sive of officers. The names of the officers embarked are
—Lieutenant-Col. N. E. Harison (in command), Cap-
tains A. C. L. Fitzroy, Ciifford, Lennox, Newton, Mil-
ward, Curtis, Sievwright, and Adjutant Boyle ; also
Subalterns Heberden, Smith, Brown, Tyler, Still, Wor-
tham, Marshall, De Moleyns, Hill, and Pearce. In addi-
tion to the surgeon of the ship, Staff•surgeons Dr. J.
Rimner and Dr. Betts go out in medical charge. The
Rev. S. East proceeds in her as ship's chaplain. It was
an animating sight when the embarkation took place.
Col. England and Capt. Cannon had the 3 companies as-
sembled early on parade. The parade and approaches to
the place of embarkation were crowded with the inhabi-
tants and also a large assemblage of naval officers, by
whom the different companies were cheered on leaving the
parade, which was loudly responded to by them. On
passing each of the line-of-battle ships Powerful and
Calcutta an animated spectacle was presented. The
troops manning the rigging of the African steam-vessel
cheered heartily, and were responded to by the officers
and crews in all parts of the ships, the brass bands play-
ing " Cheer, boys, cheer," and " The Red, White, and
Blue." Excellent arrangements were made for the re-
ception of the troops on board by Captain Henry Harris,
While the officers are well accommodated the troops are
all conveniently and spaciouslyiberthed. The Perseve-
rance left Sheerness harbour yesterday afternoon amid
the cheers of all afloat within hearing.
The Devastation, 6, paddle steam-sloop, of 401-horse
power, Commander Algernon F. R. de Horsey, arrived
at Woolwich on Monday, from the North America and
West India station. This vessel has been in commission
ever since May, 1851.

Royal South Gloucester Light Infantry Regiment of
Militia—Ensign Charles Gurney to be Lieutenant, vice
Stansbury, resigned.

Royal -Monmouthshire Light Infantry—Charles Hum-
fray, Gent., to be Lieutenant ; James Browne, Gent., to
be Ensign ; GeorgA Bowerbank Daunt, Gent., to be Ensign.
Ist Somerset Regiment of Militia—Ensign Thomas
Warry to be Lieutenant, vice Stevens, resigned ; Coventry
Carew, Gent., to be Ensign, vice Newbolt, resigned.
Hampshire Militia Artillery—Frederick Moffit, Gent.,
late of the European Bengal Fusiliers, to be First Lieu-
tenant.

Ist or Royal East Middlesex Regiment of Militia.—
Donald Noble, Gent., to be Ensign, vice Copplestone, pro-
moted.
sth or Royal Elthorne Light Tnfantry Regiment of Mid-
dlesex Militia.—William Mayon, Gent., to be Ensign, vice
Jaquet, promoted.

Light Infantry Battalion of the Royal Sussex Militia.—
Lieutenant Joseph Fiennes Blake to be Captain, vice
Dickins, resigned; Charles Henry Thomas Newington,
Gent., to be Assistant-Surgeon.
6th Regiment of Royal Lancashire Militia.—William
Middleton Moore, Esq., late Lieutenant 15th Foot, to be
Captain; Lieutenant Edward Fleetwood Hesketh to be
Captain, vice Netterville, resigned ; Ensign Roger For-
rest to be Lieutenant, vice Hesketh, promoted.
7th Regiment of Royal Lancashire Militia—John Hamil-
ton, Gent., to be Lieutenant John Lomax, Gent., to be
Lieutenant ; Frank Muckleston Allen, Gent., to be Lieu-
tenant ; Francis Berry Fetherstonhaugh, Gent., to be En-
sign ; Charles Henry Webster, Gent. to be Ensign.
East Kent Regiment of Militia—Ensign Robert Fraser
to be Lieutenant, vice Leith, resigned.
Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Cavalry- Lieutenant Chas.
James Thomas Conolly to be Captain, vice Penruddocke,
resigned • Cornet Jon Whittaker Bush to be Lieutenant,
vice Conolly,' promoted.

.
Ayrshire Yeomanry Cavalry—Cornet Sir Thomas Fer-
gusson, Bart., to bo Lieutenant, vice Robert Robertson
Glasgow, promoted ; Cornet Hugh Hamilton to be Li3u-
tenant, vice George Montgomery Cuninghame, resigned;
Cornet William Long to be Lieutenant, vice George James
Campbell, resigned.
West Essex Militia—Ensign Henry William Clifford to
be Lieutenant, vice Weaver, resigned.