The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-20 00:00:00

SMOOTH BORE GUNS.

Colonel LESLIE asked the Secretary to the Admiralty
whether it was true that the Royal Sovereign, cupola ship,
was to be armed with smooth-bore guns; and, it so, what
reason there was, after the decided superiority of rifled
guns had been recognised, that a smooth-bore armament
should have been decided upon.
Lord C. PAGET repeated in substance the statement he
had made on a previous occasion, which was to the effect
that the subject was under consideration, and from its im-
portance it would be inadvisable to come to any hasty con-
clusion in reference to it.
CLAIMS OF CAPTAIN GRANT.

Colonel NORTH moved that this house would, upon
Monday next, resolve itself into a committee to consider of
an humble address to be presented to her Majesty, praying
that she would be graciously pleased to consider the ser-
vices of Captain Grant, and order him some suitable reward
for his services in improving the system of cooking in the
army, and effecting a considerable saving in the public
expenditure for fuel.
The Marquis of HARTINGTON said that the committee
which had been appointed to inquire into this subject had,
after careful consideration, come to the conclusion ihat the
saving which Captain Grant alleged to have effected in
regard to the fuel consumed in the cooking for the army was
not justified by facts. The committee bad offered Captain
Grant the amount he claimed, namely, £4,000, although it
was their opinion that cireuu,stances did not justify their
paying him that claim, However, Captain Grant claimed
more than he originally required.
The house then divided, and the numbers were—
For the motion of Captain North 7O
Against
Majority --34
THE AFFAIRS IN CIIINA.
Mr, BAY I'ER drew the attention of the house to the
present position of affairs in China, and condemned the
policy which the Government of this country had pursued in
reference to interference with the domestic hostilities in
China. He considered the instructions sent out by Earl
Russell to the British representatives in China as not being
justifi-d by the circumstances of the times, and he accused
the Government of having departed from the professions of
neutrality by endeavouring to maintain the Tartar
dynasty, which was obnoxious to the Chinese people
generally. The hon. member cited the authority
of Sir Frederick Bruce in order to show that our policy was
merely calculated to promote in reality the designs of Rus-
sia. The hon. member eencluded by asking the noble lord
at the head of the Government if he propused to adopt such
a course of policy as would protect the commerce of this
country in China, and to extend it without interfering in
the domestic difference of the people of that country,
Lord PALMERSTON said that his hon. friend who had
asked him the question had stated that he had read all the
Blue Books having reference to this subject, but he must
say that he did not consider that his hon. friend had
derived any great information from his studies. (Laughter.)
There were many mistakes into which people even of
of enlarged minds were betrayed by confining themselves
to general and unqualified principles. Such was the case
of his hon. friend, who, in his anxiety to main-
tain inviolable the principle, seemed to forget there
was such things as treaty rights, which the Govern-
ment of any country were bound to maintain. He
referred to the intervention of this country in the
affairs of Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and the
war in the Crimea, and entered into a lengthened vindica-
tion of the policy of the country in regard to China.
[LEFT SPEAKING.]