The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-14 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL GALLERY.

In reply to the Earl of STANHOPE,
Earl GRANVILLE said he was not aware of any cor
respondence between the Board of Works and the Roya
Academy, but if there were no doubt it would be produced
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
The following bills were read a third time and passed :
Scottish North-Eastern and Alyth Railway Company—
Scottish tNorth-Eastern and Perth Almond Valley and
Methven Railway—North British Railway—Liverpool and
London Fire and Life and Globe Insurance Company—
Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford Railway—Denburn Valley
—Scottish North-Eastern and Scottish Cent: al Railway
Companies. .

THE QUEEN'S 111ESSAGE.-PENSION TO THE

COUNTESS OF ELGIN.
Her Majesty's message upon this subject having been
read by the clerk at the table,

annum.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUH felt great pleasure in
endorsing all that had fallen from the President of the
Council in his eulogy of the late Earl of Elgin. As a
public servant the deceased nobleman had won the gratitude
of the whole nation, and it was much to be regretted that for-
tune had been so capricious. No appointment had ever been
made which had given greater satisfaction to all parties
Able, prudent, resolute, unimpassioned, he appeared to be
of all men the hest calculated to act in the true spirit of his
wise and beneficent proclamation in India. We acknow-
ledge his worth, and all that remains for us to do is, as far
as we can, to make such provision for his bereaved widow,
that anxiety for the future may not increase the poignancy
of the grief she must ever retain in contemplating the
memory and the glory of her noble husband.
The Earl of DERBY could not deny himself the pleasure
of paying a brief tribute to the memory of the late Lord
Elgin, He had watched with great interest the brilliant
career of the deceased nobleman from the time he first left
England for Jamaica. In all his subsequent actions he had
well maintained the honours he had won, and he could not
let the present occasion pass without bearing his testimony
to the excellency of his character, and his admiration of his
conduct as a public man.
The motion was then agreed to.
THE WEST RIDING ASSIZES.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE moved that an address be pre-
sented praying her Majesty that the late decision ordering
the removal of the West Riding Assizes from York to
Leeds, instead of Wakefield, be reconsidered.
Lord HOUGHTON seconded the motion. The question
was purely a provincial one, but the magistracy of York-
shire were united in favour of Wakefield, and he could
not conceive what could have induced her Majesty's Go.
vernment to act in opposition to their wishes by selecting
Leeds. He trusted that the Government would not object
to reconsider their decision.
Earl GRANII ILLE said the opinions of the magistrates
had not been overlooked, but the Privy Council did not
think that those opinions ought to be allowed to preponde-
rate in the matter. As to the selection of Leeds, there had
been no other motive except that of public convenience.
The Privy Council had carefully considered the claims
both of Leeds and Wakefield, and had come to the conclu
sion that Leeds was besi adapted for the assize town. As
to the motion, he did not think, if it were carried, that it
would lead to any practical result, and he should therefore
oppose it.
Lord BROUGHAM said he had heard the qu2stion
discussed 60 years ago, when the general opinion was in
favour of not removing the assizes from 'York at al! ; hut if
any alteration was to be made, the opinion was universally
in favour of Leeds.
Lord FAVERSHAM stated that when he canvassed
the county some years ago this very question was mooted,
and he never heard the name of Leeds mentioned at all.
lie believed that the Government had been influenced in
the matter by an hon. gentleman whom he then saw at the
bar. [Mr Baines, member for Leeds.]
Earl D E GREY and RI PON said the Privy Council had
found it impossible to resist the claim of the West Riding
of Yorkshire to have a separate ass:ry, nithouii:ll the magfi;-
trates of the county were opposed to the removal of the
.assiz2 from York, It was considered most convenient that
Leeds should be selected as the new assize town, on account
of its being the centre of the manufacturing and commercial
district of the West Riding, and because it had a population
of 270,000, while that of Wakefield was only 23,000.
The Earl of DERBY thought the great balance of
opinion both on the part of the commissioners appointed to
inquire into the subject of the magistrates who were locally
interested in the question of the inhabitants of the West
Riding, and of the surveyors who were recently sent down
by the Governmen,: to make inquiries in the district, was
strongly in favour of Wakefield as against Leeds. He ad-
vised Lord Wharncliffe to withdraw the motion, but said
that he should vote in favour of it if it were pressed.
Lord WIIARNCLIFFE declined to withdraw the motion.
After some observation from Lord CRANWORTH and
the LORD CHANCELLOR, their lordships divided, when the
numbers were—
For the motion SO
Against 54
Majority
The motion was accordingly agreed to.
The public Schools Bill passed through committee.
Reports of amendments on the Admiralty Lands and
Works Bill, and on the Court of Justiciary (Scotland) Bill,
were brought up and agreed to.
The Scottish Episcopal Clergy Disabilities Removal Bill
passed through committee.
The Insane Prisoners' Act Amendment Eill was read a
third time and passed.
Their lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF commoNs.--Last Evening.
The SPEAXED, took the chair at 4 o'clock.
The following bills were read a third time and passed :
Chat in g• cross Railway, Cheddar Valley and Yatton
Railway (changed from Somerset and Dorset Railway),
Londonderry Improvement, Somerset and Dorset Railway
(changed flora Somerset and Dorset Railway Extension to
Shepton 'Mallet"), Stamford and Resendine Railway, Weald
of Kent Railway, and Worcester, Bromyard, and Leomin-
ster Railway.
HERNE BAY, HAMPSHIRE, AND RECUL-vER
FISHERY BILL.—THE OYSTER SUPPLY.
On the motion for the second reading of this bill,
Sir E. DERING moved that the bill be read a second
time this day six months, He founded his amendment on
the fact that about an area of' nine miles, which was
directed to the supply of the public with so essential an
article of consumption as oysters, was about being absorbal
by a private company.
Sir B. BRIDGES seconded the amendment, and some
discussion followed.

The amendment was negatived without a discussion, and
the bill was accordingly read a second time.
HER MAJESTY'S SHIPS IN THE NORTH
PACIFIC.

Mr WATKIN asked the Secretary to the Admiralty
whether her Majesty's Government, bearing in mind the
existence and extension of the naval stations of the United
States near San Francisco and of Russia at Sitka, proposed
to establish any means for enabling the docking and repair
of her Majesty's ships in the North Pacific ; and if so,
whether the harbour of Esquimalt had been selected as the
site,

•
Mr CIIILDERS, in the absence of Lord C. Paget, ex-
plained that negotiations were going on on the subject, bat
he could not enter into official details at present.
THE PROPOSED NATIONAL GALLERY AT BUR-
___

LINGTON HOUSE.
Mr HIBBERT asked the First Commissioner of Works
whether, as the vote for the new National Gallery at Bur-
lington House bad been rejected, it was his intention to take
any steps to obtain possession of the rooms now occupied by
the Royal Academy in Trafalgar-square, so as to render the
same available for the exhibition of the national pictures.
Mr GREGORY also asked the right hon. gentleman
whether it was the intention of the Government to take
immediate steps to procure the buildings to the rear of the
National Gallery, inasmuch as the present structure is not
large enough properly to exhibit all the national pictures
and selections from the national drawings.
Mr CO WPER rebated the statement he had previously
made, to the effect that arrangements were made for securing
ample accommodation for the great national collection of
pictures-, which ware at present not placed in that position
to which, from their instrinsic value as a means of instruc-
tion for the public mind, they were entitled.
_ _ _

MAJOR GORDON.
Mr. LIDDELL asked the Under Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs by whose orders and under what instruc-
tions Major Gordon was appointed to the command of the
Chinese disciplined force now employed in suppressing the
rebellion in China, and empowered to conduct the present
military operations, having for their object the restoration
of Nankin to Imperial rule, inasmuch as Sir Frederick
Bruce, in the enclosure of a despatch to Earl Russell, dated
June 12, 1863, being copy of a memorandum addressed by
him to Prince Kung on June 6, 1873, states 4$ that he, Sir

Earl GRANVILLE moved that her Majesty's gracious
message be :taken into consideration. His lordship com-
menced by tracing the brilliant career of the late Earl of
Elgin from the time of his leaving Oxford until
his death in India. He eaid he had no doubt their lord-
ships would readily concur with the recommendation of her
Majesty to recognise the services of the late Earl of Elgin,
who was struck down by the fatal climate of India, by
granting Lady Elgin £l,OOO per annum. From the Indian
Fund £l,OOO had been already voted, by which arrangement
the combined pension would then amount to £2,000 per