The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-24 00:00:00

CRUISERS.

r Mr. ROEBUCK rove to ask the question of which he
had given the noble lord at the head of the Government
notice. Matters were going on is the West Indian waters
materially affecting British trade. (Hear, hear.) British
ships going from one neutral port to another had been
seized by an admiral of the United States. (Hear, hear.)
He confessed that all his high mid ardent hopes that men
could govern themselves had been altogether negatived by
recent events in the disunited States. That great experi-
ment was at an end—namely, that men, under the most
favourable circumstances, were not equal to govern
themselves. (Hear, hear.) At first he had been
in favour of the North, but their whole conduct
since the rupture testified not only that they were unfit to
govern themselves, but were not fit for a place as a nation
in the civilised world. (Cheers.) He knew there were
degenerate Englishmen who took the part of the North
against their own country, and when the United States could
be contrasted advantageously with this country, never lost
ny opportunity of doing so. King Cotton had threatened,
but he had failed to make much impression. In the case of
the Trent the United States truckled. The papers in the
ship lately seized had been inspected by an hon. gentleman,
one of the members for the City, and he reported them quite
harmless, yet it was seized by an American man-of-war
and taken into an American port. Yet the American
minister here had given a permit to a ship to carry out
arms and ammunition to Mexico to be used against their
ally of France. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Adams ap-
peared to be the minister of commerce in England.
The noble lord had eves shown an anxious desire to up-
hold the honour of England. Now, had the Government
come to any determination with respect to the conduct
of Admiral Wilkes. He knew the consequences of
such an act. It might lead tc war. (Hear, hear.) He
stood there to speak for the people of England, and he
knew they were prepared for war with the United States.
(Cries of " No, no.") He trusted the Government would
chastise the insolence of this upstart race. (Hear, hear.)
Lord PALMERSTON quite agreed with his hon. and
learned fiiend that the matters referred to in his question
were of the very gravest importance. (Hear, hear.)
All, however, he could say was that the subject
was receiving due consideration on the part of her Majesty's
Government; but they were not at present prepared to
state what had been the result of their deliberations.
(Hear, hear.)
CRICKET IN BATTERSEA PARK.

In reply to Mr. Cox,
Mr. COWPER said the qdestion had arisen out of a
misapprehension. There had been no interference in Bat-
tersea.park ; but the Civil Service Cricket Club had had a
little more apace granted to them.
THE SEIZURE OF BRITISH VESSELS.

Mr. BENTINCK rose to call the attention of her Ma-
jesty's Government to a statement in the City article of the
Imes newspaper of Friday, Aprill7, referring to the seizure
of British vessels by the cruisers of the Northern States of
America, and to move for papers on the subject. The hon.
and learned gentleman had placed him (Mr. Bentinck) in a
somewhat awkward position. The hon. and learned gentle-
man must have been aware of the notice standing in his
name, but he did not seem to be aware of the courtesy of
the house which precluded a member from forestalling a
motion by bringing it on in the shape of a question. But
the hon. gentleman did not seem to be particular to preserve
a spotless character in that house.
Mr. ROE BUCK—I object to that language.
Mr. BENTINCK—I am perfectly ready to state the
grouads.

Mr. ROEBUCK—I don't want him to state the grounds.
I rise to order.

The SPEAKER— I did not hear the words the hon. and
learned member complains of.
Mr. ROEBUCK—Then I will repeat the words, "That
the hon. member has not been careful to pursue a course
which would preserve a spotless character in this house."
The SPEAKER—The hon. member wil see that the
observation "That the bon, and learned gentleman has
done something not consistent with character," is not pro-
per language for this house,

Mr. BENTINCK said he was perfectly ready to explain
to the hon. and learned member the grounds on which he
based his remarks.
Mr. ROEBUCK—I don't want to know them. (Laughter.)
Mr. BENTINCK was bound to say that probably the
hon. and learned member exercised a sound discretion in
declining to go into any explanations on the subject. (Haar,
hear.) However, he was about to say that he had been placed
in a position of some difficulty by thef hon. and learned
gentleman, who had, to some extent, orenstoabllleedltohredan:t wer
which he was anxious to obtain from thethe
hpreeapdat:ed to
of the
put
tvbemie mqueenett.ionT
toh the
The grounds
noble ol
lord
dwhieh rested he
uponwa
as
statement which appeared a sh)rt time ago in the limes
newspaper, and it appeared to him that, unless full explana-
tions were given with respect to all the details of that state-
ment, they would not be adequately prepared for the dis-
cussion of to-morrow evening. He ventured to think that
in matters of the sort more harm was done by allowing a
feeling of irritation to be kept up from day to day, for the
want, perhaps, of some explanation on the part of the Go-
vernment of the country, than risk was encountered by
making public those explanations. The hon. member then
proceeded to state he was referring to the report of an inter-
view between the noble earl at the head of the Foreign De-
partment and a deputation which waited upon him intro-
duced by the hon. member for the city of London (Mr.
Crawford), and which appeared in the Times of Friday in
last week. He believed that that statement was one of tlie
most extraordinary ever given currency to by the journals
of this country. The hon. member then gave an account of
what had occurred at the interview on the subject of the
seizure of the Peterhoff, and read Mr. Adams's letter, which
has recently been made public relative to the trade between
England and Mexico, and to the granting of certificates of
character by the American Minister to British vessels start •
ing from British ports. He demanded to know what were
the views of the Government with respect to the conduct
and language of Mr. Adams, and likewise whether the very