The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-03 00:00:00

DI 141-111 A ME N T.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—YESTERDAY.
The SPEAKED. took the chair shortly before four o'clock.
The house was very much thronged on both sides, and
all the galleries were filled with visitors.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
The Bolton and Nightingales' Road Bill, and Wigan
and Preston Roads, North of Yarrow Bill, were read a
second time and ordered to be committed. •
VOTE OF THANKS TO SIR DE LACY EVANS.
This gallant officer came in about half-past four
o'clock. He appeared ia full military uniform, and wag
received with the most vociferous cheering, both sides of
the house rising and remaining uncovered until he had
taken his seat just below the gangway of tke Ministerial
side. When the honourable and gallant general bad
taken his seat,
The SPEAKER addressed him from the chair to the
following effect. Ile said—General Evans, I have to in-
form you that, on the 15th Dec., the house agreed
to the following resolution, nemine ontradieente,

viz. :-

"That the thanks of this house be given to Lieu
tenaiit7General Sir De Lacy Evans, Knight Ginn
mender of the Mosallonourable order of the Bath, _ and
to several other officers therein nirne,l, for their zeal,
intrepidity, and distinguished exertions in the several
actions in which her Majesty's forces have been engaged
with the enemy."
Lieut.-General Sir De Lacy Evans, it is with feelings of
pride and ratiefaction that the house welcomes the return
of ewe who has borne so conspicuous a part in the brilliant
achievements which have characterised the movements
of the British army during the present-war. (Cheers.)
At the battle of the Alma you encountered and overcame,
with admirable coolness, the almost insuperable difficul-
ties which beset the Second Division of the army.
(Hear, hear.) Your repulse of the formidable attack of
the Russians on the 26th October displayed commanding
courage, and the service which you, along with your
troops, rendered the country on that occasion, have been
honourably recognised. (Hear.) Also on the heights of
Inkerman you displayed such undaunted courage—(tre-
mendous cheers)—as to call forth the marked admiration
of your fellow-countrymen. (Renewed cheers.) When
rising from a bed of sickness you sustained amidst the
fight with your great experience the gallant officer in
temporary command of your division, and you at the
same time refused to withhold from him the honour,
while you shared with him the dangers of the en-
. . counter. (Great cheering.) Lieutenant-General Sir De
Lacy Evans your conduct throughout the whole
of this memorable campaign has been marked by the
same intrepid gallantry which had already distinguished
your early military career —(loud cheers)—and has justly
gained for you the highest honour which it is in the
-power of this house to bestow. (Continued cheers.)
It is, therefore, with feelings of unfeigned satisfaction
that I now, in the name, and by command of the Com-
mons of the United Kingdom, deliver to .you their
unanimous thanks for the zeal, energy, and ability
with'which you have discharged your onerous duties in
the several actions in which her Majesty's forces have
recently been engaged. (Loud cheers.)
Sir DE LACY EVANS rose to reply, which was
the signal for a renewed burst of cheering. In a feeble
voice, which was occasionally inaudible- in the gallery,
he said, as far as we could gather—l beg to assure you,
sir, and the house, that I appreciate most deeply the
very high honour you have bestowed on me. There is
no honour which a British subject can aspire to, or
more ardently desire, higher than that which is con-
veyed in the recognition of his public services, what-
ever they may be, by the representatives of the
Commons of England. (Loud cheers.) Sir, I hope
I shall be pardoned if I remark that while
I am fully sensible of the responsibility that recently
devolved upon me, and deeply appreciate the vete which
this house has come to, yet I certainly think I was just as
good an officer and just as deserving of the compliment
some 20 years ago as I an now. (Hear, and a laugh.)
For I really do think that I had then a much mere
difficult and intricate duty to perform, while I performed
it perhaps with far more success than that which
attended the less important service which I have re-
cently endeavoured to render the state. (Hear, hear.)
Sir, I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without ob-
serving that the kind and honourable reception which I
have this day experienced at the bands of this house is
alike due to the noble division which I had the honour
to command, from the highest officer down to the lowest
private, and I feel that it is almost exclusively attri-
butable to their devotion and exertions that I owe
the pleasure of being here at this moment.
(Sensation.) That being so, I must confess that lam
under the painful necessity of saying, that when the vote
of thanks which I am hero to-night to receive was pro-
posed, the gallantry of that division was not sufficiently
recognised ; for on reading the speech of the noble lord
who lately represented the Government in this house
when proposing the vote, I was somewhat astonished at
the official statement he made ; because it appeared to me
that he had taken a totally different view (if not wholly
overlooked) of the services of that portion of the army
which I recently had the honour to command, and which
you, sir, bare done me the honour to refer to in such
flattering terms. Sir, lam sorry to be obliged to think
that when at least one-half of the Second Division had
perished in battle or otherwise, there should still he
wanting an expression of gratitude towaris those who
remain, and I therefore may be pardoned in endeavour-
ing now to place the matter on a inure just footing than
that en which the noble lord left it. (Hear, hear.) Sir,
the noble lord, while speaking of the Battle of the Alma,
indulged in a tone which reminded me very forcibly of a
rem era once made by a late witty divine, whom we all
well knew, namely, that the noble lord had courage
enough to undertake the command of the Channel
Feet—(a laugh)—for it would seem from the speech of
the noble that he ccneidered himself a
better judge of the transactions in which the Second
Division had been engaged than even Lord Ita ;-
lin himself. (Cries of " hear, bear.") The nobly lord
overlooked the services of the Second Division, while
they had been distinctly recognised in the despatches of
Lord Raglan. Certainly, the noble lord made reference
to the First and Second Division, but he did so in a
manner which left it to be inferred that the latter was
entitled to less credit than the former. (Hear, hear.)
This was in reference to the battle of the .Alma • but,
again, the noble lord, when he went on to speak of the
lesser actions of the 25th and 2.6 th of October, he gave
all due credit and honour to the individual gallantry
which was displayed on the 24h October, but he passed
totally over the much more successful action which
took place on the succeeding day. (Hear, bear.)* That
action was mentioned in such eulogistic terms in the des-
patches of Lord Raglan as to be deemed worthy of her
Majesty's high approbation, while the despatch of the
French general referred to it in no less flattering terms,
and yet the noble lord in his official statement to the
house took no sort of notice of that action. (Hear,
hear.) Again, in reference to the battle of Inkerinan,
not the slightest mention is made by the noble lord of
the gallantry displayed by the Second Division ; but
still it suffered the most, and had for an hour
at least to bear the brunt of the charge of
50,000 men. (Loud cheers.) . In point of fact
the Second Division was the only one permanently
engaged in the three general actions of the Crimea, and
that Division, I think, has some reason to complain of
the omissions in the noble lord's official statement.
(Hear.) I beg pardon for this unpleasant reference to
the past, but I make it not on my own account, as I feel
deeply grateful for the honour you have now done me,
but because I feel it is due to the gallant spirits whom I
have left behind me, and who so nobly sustained
sue in the hour of trial. (Loud and prolonged cheer...)
Sir, I should like certainly to say a few words upon the
present aspect of affairs, as well as of the future strug-
gles in which we are likely to be engaged with Russia;
but I feel that this is not the proper occasion for doing so.
(Hear.) I hope, however, that I shall have sufficient
strength and health to take advantage of some other
opportunity which may offer for that purpose • but in
the meantime I may be allowed to say that the aspect
of the house upon the present occasion, though it is
called forth by the feeble services of the humble indivi-
d sal who now addresses you, will yet have vast influence
. in animating the courage and reviving the drooping
spirits of my fellow-ecuorades who now compose th
army of the East. (Loud cheers.)
• Lord PALMERSTON said—Sir, I rise with great
. pleasure to perform an office which I am sure will receive
the unanimous and cheerful concurrence of this house.
No function which belongs to the individual who fills
the chair which you, sir, so worthily occupy can be more
agreeable or more honourable to him than the discharge
of a duty such as you have just performed, namely, that
of Conveying the thanks of Parliament to the gallant
officer and hon. member who has so nobly served his
country. I will venture to say, that never was a speaker
who had an opportunity of being more completely the
faithful organ
house Lut ot the feelings and opinion% not only of this
Las been t
your good
country and nation at large, than it
fortune to enjoy. The eloquent
and feeling expressions
the hon. and gallantin which you have conveyed to
officer_who has just sat down the
thanks of this house ougl
others teor remain
a perpetual record
for the encouragement of
which my hon. and gallant irisentod pursue the same career
has so nobly followed,
rue J. for the satisfaction of these bravo comrades arms
whom h.,
e has so nobly headed the field of battle.
(Loud cheering.)
sir, I beg leave to
move
Therefore,
that that which has been spoken by the Speake
convey-
ing to Sir De Lacy Evans the
,thanks of this hr uttireb of the hon. goetleman s reply as referred
and
ento Lis
gratification and appreciation of that vot,3 of thanks n
ted in the votes of this house from the present ida;.
printed
(Hear, hear, r.nd chce.rs.)
in a few wends (which were scarcely
Mr. WALPOLE,
audible in the gallery), was wider: toed to express his
.entire concurrence, net only in the vote of thanks, but
also it, the motion of Lord Palmerston.
Lord PALMERSTON' again, rose and said—Sir, as
riiy hen. aid gal'ant friend has adverted to :wee topics
not in him ediate connectioe with the vote which the
house Las jest accorded to him, I should wish to
move t!.at so much only of the Lot% and galbiet gen-
tlemau reply as Lad referenCe to the vote of thanks
Should be printed. (Hear, hear.)
The niotioc was then put by The Speaker, and ap-
proved of by the house.
FISHERIES (NORTH AMERICA) BILL.
This bill passed through committee.
The house then adjourned at ri quarter before five.

VIENNA, Jan. 27. The railways are encumbered
with masses of snow. The posts aro all two days be-
hind, and the telegraph is our chief medium of commu-
nication. The ministerial crisis in England is uppermost
in the thoughts of politicians.