The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-22 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 22, 1855.

Mit. R A it. ALBET SMITHS MONT ELN°
is Now Open Every Evening,, at 8 o'clock, except Saturday.
rho Miening Reprosentat!ons take place every Trnsday, Thursday,
and tlaairday, at 3 o'clock.— Stalls can be taken at the Box-afire
every day from Eleven till Four.— ,:gyptian Hall, Piccadilly.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERDAY.)

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his scat on the woolsack
at five o'clock. '
Lord BERNERS presented several petitions praying
for the better observance of the Lord's-day, and also for
the abolition of the grant to Maynooth.
Earl BANDON presented several petitions from places
in Cork against the sale of intoxicating liquors on
Sundays.
THE NEW PUBLIC OFFICES.

Earl GRANVILLE said it would be in the recollec-
tion of the house that a question had been asked of him
relative to the offer of a certain firm to rebuild the pub-
lic offices. He did not recollect the precise words he
then used, but it was not his intention to cast the
slightest slur on any one. A gentleman well
known to your lordships, Mr. Stapleton,
however, had felt himself aggrieved at something it was
reported he bad said on the subject. He bad received
a letter from his right hon. friend the Chief Commissioner
of Public Works,,which stated that in the interview he
bad had with the proposed contractors on the
subject he did not ask for any security for the
carrying out of the scheme, but upon reflection be thought
the principle of centralisation in such contracts should
not be sanctioned by the Government, as they bad in
their own bands better security for the performance of
the works than they could have under any contractors.
The Earl of MALMESBURY thought the Chief
Commissioner of Works forgot the important considera-
tion of time. The plan proposed he thought a desirable
one, inasmuch as it fixed the limit of cost, and the time
within which the words would be completed, viz., five
years—advantages which bad certainly been wanting in
the building of the new houses of Parliament.
After a few words from the Earl of ELLRNBOROUGH,
suggesting that the whole of the roof of the new offices
should be built at one time, and a remark from Lord
BROUGHAM as to the inconvenience of carrying on the
legislative and legal business of the House of Lords in
the same chamber, the subject dropped.
THE HANGO MASSACRE.

The Earl of MALMESBURY—I rise to draw the at-
tention of her Majesty's Government, and to ask from
them information in respect to a subject which has filled
the public mind of this country, and I doubt not of the
whole of civilised Europe, with feelings of horror and
dismay. Your lordships will readily understand that
I allude to the massacre on the coast of Russia, near
Hango, of a boat's crew, with the officers in command,
belonging to her Majesty's ship Cossack. It will hardly
he necessary for me, my lords, to go into the details r f
this cruel and unjustifiable act, for your lordships will
already have read the despatch of Captain Farshawe,
of the Cossack, to Admiral Dundas, who sent the boat
whose crew were made the
-prisoners
of this wanton out-
rage to land certain Russian prisoners at their own re-
quest at Hango, and in which those details are fully
stated. (Hear, hear.) It will he sufficient, therefore,
for me to remind your lordships that the beat con-
tained Russian prisoners who were sent under a flax
of truce, and commanded by the lieutenant of the
Cossack, a surgeon, and one or two petty officers, who
had charge of the prisoners, who had been allowed
themselves to select the part of the Russian coast at
which they wished to he landed. It appaars that
when they were put on shore at the wharf at Hango,
no one was seen ; but suddenly the boat's crew and
the liberated prisoners also were attacked by a large
armed force, who fired upon them and massacred all,
with the exception of one, a man named John Brown,
who, though badly wounded, managed to escape in the
boat. According to this man's account, the officer in
command, Lieut. Genesse, was shot down while in the
act of waving the flag of truce over his head, and while
one of the Russian prisoners was explaining to the attack-
ing party the circumstances under which, and the object
for which, the landing had taken place ; and it further
appears that when the atrocity had been consummated.
the Russian soldiers went down into the boat, and
threw overboard not only the bodies of the dead, but
those also who were wounded. Such is the accourt
given by Captain Fanshawo to Admiral Dundas, upon
the authority of the man Brown. When Admiral Dun-
das was first made acquainted with these facts, he natu-
rally imagined that there had been some act of indiscre-
tion, or that some omission in displaying the flag of truce,
or some fault on the part of the lieutenant in command
of the boat had. taken place,. and_ would.be-rnede
excuse for the perpetration of this wanton violation
of all national and of human law, and acc)rdingly he
wrote to Captain Fanshawe, putting to him a number of
questions categorically, all of which being arswered sa-
tisfactorily, Admiral Dundas became convi ced that no
blame whatEmeder applied either to Captain Fanshawe, to
the officer in command of the boat, or to any of the crew.
It is, however, but fair to add, that not many hours ago
an account has reactied London, and which appears in
the second edition of a morning paper, giving the Rus-
sian version of this melancholy affair. That account
states that the whole of the boat's crew were not killed,
but that nine of the men and two of the o'neers wer.,
taken prisoners, three or four of whom are wounds', and
the rest they say were killed in resisting the Russia.,
troops who attacked them when they landed. Not a
word more is stated in this account, but I have thought
it fair to state to your lordships what is the Russian
version of the story so far as we know it. But, even
assuming that this version is correct, and that nine,
or rather 11 men including the two officers, were tak n
prisoners, though it mitigates in some degree the horr:blo
cruelty which, according to our own version, had been
perpetrated, still it in nowise exculpates the Russian
soldiers, and more especially the officer who commanded
them, from the complete and wanton breach of the law

of nations which they have committed. (Hear, hear.)
The killing even of one man, or much les-' the t g
even of a single man prisoner, while under the sar, guar 1
of a flag of truce, is an infraction of the law of nations
and of the law of honourable warfare, as taken from the
ancient code of the Middle Ages, for the purpose of re-
straining men's passions when not engaged in actual
conflict, and which is adopted by every civilise] nation.
A flag of truce has been always honoured and held
sacred—in every age and by every nation—it is ne-
cessary for the interests of humanity, and for the
protection of the soldiers themselves—and I scarssly
know of an instance of its having been viol. t.d.
(Hear, hear.) I believe if you trace history through
out you will not find a parallel either in ancient or
modern times to this atrocious act. (Loud cheers.)
My lords, it is not so much for the purpose of drawing
your lordships' attention to what has barite !ed that I
have risen on this occasion to ask her Majesty's Govern-
ment what course they intend to pursue under the cir.
cumstances ? (Hear, hear.) It appears to me to be the
interest, not only of the government of th's country,
but of every Government in the world, to take notice of
such an act—and certainly it is the interest of every
Sovereign in Europe, as it is the inteie:t of every officer
and of every soldier of every army in Europe, to de-
mand that it should be noticed, and t'e perpetrators of
it visited with condign punishment, in order that that
sense of honour and of humanity which is inherent in
every man's breast may be upheld in the wars of civi-
lised nations. (Cheers.) How this is to be done--how
punishment is to follow this violation of the sniffed lax
of nations, I wish to know from her Majesty's Govern-
ment. It is not for me to suggest the means, but lam
sure her Majesty's Government will not think me out of
place in making these remarks, and inquiring of my
noble friend opposite, the President of the Council, what
course they intend to pursue ? (Cheers )
The Earl of CLARENDON— My lords, although the
question put by my noble friend has been addressed to
my noble friend the President of the Council, I am, per-
haps, in a better position to answer, and, with the per-
mission of your lordships, I will do so. (Rear.) My
noble friend has accurately stated all the facts of the case,
and the manner in which this atrocity was carried into
effect, and he has most properly characterised it. (Hear.)
It is an outrage so horrible and infamous, so utterly at va-
riance with the usages of war and the customs of civilised
nations, that we are compelled to believe that the perpe-
trators of it cannot have acted upon the instructions or
with the approval of their superiors. (Hear.) I think it
only reasonable to suppose in the first instance, till we have
further information, that such was the case, and I say this
the more, because it does appear that it must have been
the brutal act of some unauthorised subordinate, for
I see in Captain Fanshawe's despatch that the person
who directed the force and gave the orders to fire did
not appear to be an officer. On receiving information
of the transaction I lost not a moment in addressing the
papers detailing the circumstances to her Majesty's Mi-
nister at Copenhagen, instructing him to request the
Danish Government to send instructions to the Danish
Minister at St. Petersburg, of whose friendly zeal on
behalf of British subjects and British interssts it is im-
possible to speak too highly. requesting him to bring the
matter to the notice of the Russian Government, and to
state that her Majesty's Government waited with ex-
treme anxiety to learn what steps they had taken, or in-
tended to take, to mark their sense of this unnecessary
and brutal outrage—au outrage which might possibly
have happened in some one of the savage islands of the
South Sea without exciting any great degree of surprise,
hut which was not to be expected in civilised Europe,
and which, if not amply punished, would demand severe
reprisals. Under these circumstances, my noble friend
will see that it is not until we know what steps the
Russian Government intend to take in the matter that
we can state what course it may become her Majesty's
Government to adopt. (Rear, hear.)
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH observed that the
Admiral in command of the British fleet would, in all
probability, acting upon his own discretion, demand an
explanation from the Russian authorities on the spot, and
he suggested that the communication from the Govern-
ment to our minister at Copenhagen should go through
Admiral Dundee.

The Earl of CLARENDON—The Government will
communicate to Admiral Dundas the steps which have
been taken, but I know of no other means of communi-
cation with the Russian Government except through the
Danish ambassador.
The Earl of ELLENBOROVGII considered that

Admiral Dundas having received Captain Fanshawe's
explanation would have immediately sent in a flag of
truce to the officer highest in authority on the spot—
probably to the Russian Lord High Admiral—stating
the facts and calling for explanation, and for that reason
he thought it would have been prudent not to enter
into any correspondence with the Danish Government
until it was known whether Admiral Dundas bad taken
that step, and what had been the result.
Earl GRANVILLE intimated that Admiral Dundas
had given no intimation of any intention to take the
course suggested by the noble earl—but he did not think
any great inconvenience would arise if a communication
were made by our admiral upon the subject, as well as
by the Danish Minister at St. Petersburg.
In reply to a question from the Earl of Sri/MEM:TRY,
The Earl of CLARENDON said he did not know
whether the Russians who committed the outrage were
regular troops or not ; but it appeared that the man who
gave the orders had a musket in his hand, and for that
reason was supposed not to have been an officer.
Lord COLCHESTER believed it was the practice
both in the army and navy, when any violation of the
usages of war was committed by the enemy, for the officer
in command to demand an explanation without waiting
for instructions from home. He hoped that the Russian
Government would not only disclaim the act, but en-
deavour to find out and punish the perpetrators of it.
Lord .BROUGHAM felt convinced that they would
disown and disclaim the act, but they must go further,
and punish those by whom it had been committed.
The Earl of MALMESBURY had nos ebjeotiem to
make to the course the Government had indicated ; on
the contrary, be thought under the circumstances, it was
the most judicious that could be adopted ; but if the ex-
planation should not be satisfactory, he trusted the go-
vernment would not hesitate to take such further steps
as the justice of the ca4e required. His noble friend had
used the word reprisals—but nothing in the shape of re-
prisals could be satisfactory—and if by reprisals the noble
esrl meant aggressive acts against Russian subjects of the
same nature as that which had been perpetrated upon our
unfortunate countrymen, it would bring dishonour upon
the British nation. (Cheers.) What he would like to
see his noble friend do was to bring the force of public
opinion in Europe to bear against the act by ap-
plying to every Government in alliance with her Ma-
je4ty, end to every civilised people, and every civilised
sovereign to unite in a protest against the conduct of
the cabinet of St. Petersburg, should it venture to up-
hold or defend so atr )cious an act. (Hear.) Depend
upon it the force of opinion so brought to bear upon that
cabinet would be too strong for it to resist. He hoped
if his noble friend failed in obtaining the satisfaction he
bad so properly demanded that he would bring the matter
before a jury of nations in the way he had suggested.
Earl GRANVILLE referred to the remarkable
general order issued by the D Ike of York, in reply to
the sanguinary decree issued by the French convention,
the effect of which had been that the French soldiers
refused to obey that decree, but instead to follow the
generous example of the British army. He believed that
the same course would be followed by a like result in
the case of the Russian soldiers. (=Tear.)
MEASUREMENT OF MERCHANT STEAMERS

I all. That was an additional reason why they should
know the actual capacity of the vessel, instead of rely-
ing upon the tonnage. Ile had ventured to put in the
bill a clause that would be of great value to passengers,
forbidding that any vessel loaded with passengers should
be allowed to put her deck water line under water. The
noble earl strongly urged upon the Government the de-
sirability of permitting the second reading of his bill, in-
stead of relying upon an obsolete and effete system of
routine.
Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY said it was quite
impossible for him to argue the question upon its
merits, but he knew sufficient of the matter to say that
the government must decline to assent to the second
reading of the bill. The subject had been brought fully
before the Government, opinions had been expressed, and
plans considered from persons in different parts of the
kingdom. The plan that was recommended for adop-
tion was that by Mr. Moorsom. It was submitted to
all the local marine boards, to Lloyd's to the Trinity-
house. to the Admiralty—in short to all the authorities
—and without one dissentient voice they unanimously
recommended the adoption of the measure. The only
persons who at all objected to it were one assistant-sur-
veyor and one master shipwright in her Majesty's ser-
vice. He had also submitted the noble lord's scheme
to the Surveyor of the Navy, the Assistant Surveyor of
the Navy, and the Chief Engineer, by all of whom it had,.
been declared impracticable. Of course upon a matte"
like this he could give no decided opinion of his own.
He had, however, taken every opportunity to ascertain
the opinion of those qualified to judge, and, guided by
those opinions, he felt justified in asking their lordships
to reject this bill.
Lord COLCHESTER thought that their lordships
ought to be much obliged to his noble friend (the Earl of
Hardwicke) for having called their attention to this im-
portant subject. He thought that the bill which had
been proposed adopted those scientific improvements
which the reports of various commissions justified, and
he hoped therefore that their lordships would give it a
second reading.

The Earl of HARDWICKE replied. He thought
that the noble lord (Lord Stanley) had overlooked one
fact entirely, via., that no system of tonnage registration
existed. That which was now called the tonnage was,
in fact, the roomage of a ship. He would illnatrate the
nature of the present mode of measurement by an ex-
ample. A ship might be filled—all her so-called ton-
nage entirely occupied—by ladies' bonnets, and yet she
would not draw one foot more water than she did when
emptyl; while, on the other band, she might be laden
with cannon balls which would barely cover one of her
decks to the depth of one foot, and yet bring her down
below her water line. To put the matter on a more sa-
tisfactory footing, land to give every one the means of
knowing the real capabilities of vessels, was the object
of this bill.
The house divided—