The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-14 00:00:00

deal of property through the insurrection in Italy. There
was for several hours an animated debate upon the subject,
and the Government for some time firmly resisted the
claim which I and the gentlemen acting with me put for-
ward on behalf of this injured British subject, but I rejoice
to know that notwithstanding the resistance which was
made by several members of the Government, Lord Palmer-
ston, who is seldom wrong upon a question of this kind, at
length said that justice should be done. (Hear, hear, and
applause.) Therefore, gentlemen, any difference with the
Government did not last longer than the period of the
debate. (Hear, hear.) Of all the events which have oc •
curred since we last met there is none that has so great an
importance as the terrible dislocation of industry which
has been brought about in the north of England, partly, it
would seem by the failure of the supply of cotton, partly
by a loss of the accustomed markets, and partly, as T be-
lieve, by the excessive overtrading which had preceded the
existing crisis. But, gentlemen, how grandly the crisis has
been met. (Hear.) Look at the patience with which those
severe sufferings have been endured. I don't speak merely
of the bountiful supply which has been pouring in to re-
medy the disaster from every corner of the land ; but I would
speak rather of the wonderful energy, skill, and firmness
with which the country has looked this evil in the face, has
probed it, and found out its full extent, without for a mo-
ment exaggerating it. See how the press has dealt with
this subject. The organs of the press have sent their com-
missioners into the suffering districts; and these gentle-
men have ascertained exactly the amount of distress there
is in those places, and have thus saved you from the great
calamity which results from a disaster being exaggerated.
(Hear.) Gentlemen, there is one subject which must neces-
sarily be deeply interesting to all of us, and that is the
present amount of the public expenditure. (Hear.) It
appears to have been the result of those changes which
took place many years ago that a good deal of expenditure
is habitually incurred by the State for what I may call
civil purposes as distinct from military and naval pur-
poses. It has been an increase which has taken place with
the full assent, nay, more, at the earnest instance of the
people of England themselves. There are other portions of
our expenditure of a more questionable kind. I say that
until the matter has been looked into there are few matters,
on which the people of England would less like to spend
their money than upon fortifications. (Hear,) But when 'we
come to consider that which I call the home of the navy,
then it is a very different question. You all know that
our very existence depends upon our navy. We cannot be-
come a second rate Power. (Hear, and applause,) We
must be what we are, or perish out of the face of the world.
(Renewed applause.) Well, you know that ships of war
don't spring out of the ocean, but come from places called
ports and arsenals; and therefore it is necessary that these
places should be rendered perfectly secure. (Hear, hear,
and applause.) It is a mere spot you have to defend—a
few hundred acres out of all England ; but these few acres
it is absolutely necessary should be rendered perfectly se-
cure. The mass of mankind agree that that must be; and
then comes the question how they must be fortified. One
man says, "There's nothing like leather," and you have
a multiplicity of suggestions how this is to be done,
When I have heard these questions discussed in the
House of Commons I have ventured to say what
I now repeat, that where a variety of sugges-

tions come, some from artillery, some from naval, and some
from military, some from clergymen, some from all por-
tions of the community, I must have somebody to decide,
I cannot decide ; no member of Parliament can decide. I
say I must submit to the judgment of a proper man, and I
do not know any person to whose judgment I would more
confidently submit than the noble lord who happens to be
at the present moment the Prime Minister of England.
(Hear, hear, and applause.) I must admit to you that in
the expenditure for naval purposes there has been a consi-
derable misdirection of the public money— (hoar, hear)—
and I hope that I shall not be regarded as saying any-
thing paradoxical if I proceed to tell you what my opinion
is—namely, that no blame is attributable to our
public men on that account. A great transition has
taken place in naval architecture. There are, again, some
matters in which a quiet, despotic ruler can steal a march
of two or three months, and possibly of years, on a free
State, as, for instance, in the matter of invention. Compare
the situation of the Duke of Somerset, who is at present
First Lord of the Admiralty, with that of the Emperor of
the French, We will suppose that both of them see at the
same time the advantage of iron- cased vessels. Do you
imagine that they can both carry out the idea at the same
moment. The Emperor of the French has ample means, he
has an unbounded command of the public purse, he is able
to command secrecy, and he can at any time, and at once,
cause to be tried all the costly experiments of seeing
whether his invention will hold good or not. He keeps on
hand an engineer whose duty it is to be always studying how
to steal a march upon the English navy. (Hear, hear.)
Suppose the Duke of Somerset tries to do the like.
Suppose he comes down to Parliament with a new idea
that he proposes to carry out. He is met by men, each of
whom, perhaps, is practically equal to him as regards know-
ledge of the matter, and they tell him that his proposal is
merely a crotchet. The consequence is that a year or two
elapses before it is seen whether it is a valid contrivance or not.
(Hear.) Therefore, you must not be too ready to complain of
your public men for not bringing forward these contrivances
for the destruction of the human race, whioh have been more
rapidly brought to perfection in a neighbouring State.
(Hear, hear, and applause.) We are not upon an equality,
and it is best to confess it. We have not the secrecy which
they have on the other side of the water. (Hear, hear.) We
have not the pecuniary resources for testing the value of
any new contrivances. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, when
I last addressed you I had occasion to congratulate you
upon the thoroughly noble attitude in which you stood at
the time when the outrage of the Trent was suffered. (Hear,
hear, and applause.) I am now able to congratulate you
upon the result. (Applause.) Unfortunately, the state of
affairs in America has not improved since then. Our Go-
vernment has been abstaining from action in this strife. The
Government has done nothing in it, and Parliament has
been helping Government—(hear, hear, and a laugh)—as
you may say; but I think you will, upon consideration, be
induced to say that our Legislature has not been wrong in
the course which it has taken. (Hear, hear, and applause.)
If you look at what is passing in the United States of Ame-
rica, you will, I am sure, be inclined to agree with me that
the Government has not erred. (Hear.) Many, I know,
are anxious that the States of the South should be recog-
nized. (Hear.) Well, gentlemen, lam one of those who
would not refuse England's recognition of the Southern
States merely on the ground that recognition might be dis-
pleasing to the States of the North, (Hear, hear.) The
States of the South claim the whole of the State of Louis-

Tana, including New Orleans, which is in the possession
of the Government of the North, and there is conse-
quently a great cavity, so to speak, in the entirety of the
Southern States. The principle to govern a recognition
of the Southern States is to suppose them to be in pos-
session of the whole of the Southern States.
Then there is the question of mediation. (Hear.) That is
a question which arises to all who love peace and desire to
stop the terrible extermination of a race which is going on
on the other side of the Atlantic, but for it to be a success-
ful mediation you must have the goodwill of both the bel-
ligerent States. (Hear.) That is unfortunately what we
don't possess, but I think that is no fault of ours. (Hear.)
We have the goodwill of the Southern States, but we have
failed to gain the goodwill of the people of the Northern
States. They have been indulging in language which, had
it been used by a State in Europe, would undoubtedly have
brought about long before this an interruption of diplomatic
relation between the two Powers. (Hear, hear.) But, after
all, there is a sort of cousinship between us, which pre-
vents us from taking these things in too serious a way.
I am inclined to think that, much as we have heard of the
declaration of independence of 1777, that independence
is not complete. (Hear, hear.) I find them looking per-
petually to England. An American gentleman is conti-
nually searching through the peerage in the hope of find-
ing himself connected with some English nobleman. (A
laugh.) Other American gentlemen there are who go to
our Herald-office and trace a pedigree for themselves, and
you know that they are as partial as we are to our Royal
family. (Hear, hear.) But, on the other hand, nothing can
be more abusive than the language which they now fre-
quently employ as regards this country. But we know they
are out of humour with us, and that is the reason why we
treat them as we do. We have had in the course o: this
year a great and fortunate escape. I allude to the expedition
to Mexico. There were certain money demands which this
country, Spain, and France had against Mexico, and these
three States agreed to go there together and enforce them.
Well, gentlemen, the three States sent out together an ex-
pedition, but no sooner did that expedition arrive on the
coast of Mexico than it appeared that France had enor-
mously exaggerated her claims, and that instead of seek-
ing just money demands from the Government of Mexico,
she was intent upon establishing there a monarchy,
and setting up there a monarch of her own choice. (Hear.)
It appeared that a gentleman not high in the diplomatic
service, but, as it fortunately happened, a man of high cou-
rage and great honour, immediately detected this wicked
fraud on the part of France. Spain did the like, and the
result was that France was left alone to carry out her base
intentions. (Hear.) That was no more than justice, and
I rejoice to say that justice has had its reward, because it
seems that the terrible nature of the Mexican climate, which
had not been known before, ihiow well known to the Em-
peror of the French. I think you will agree with me that
it is a good subject for congratulation that we are now free
from everything connected with that affair. (Hear, and
applause.) There is now, I think, only one other subject
upon which I need trouble you with any observations, and
that is the proposed cession of the lonian Islands. I must
own to something like surprise when I awoke ono morning
and found that her Majesty's Government had taken steps
for ceding a part of what I will venture to call her Majes-
ty's dominions. These islanders had, at least, since 1815,
enjoyed our protection, and we had constituted for them a
sort of House of Commons. They did not like the drudgery
which we have to perform in our House of Commons, so
they each year obtained a sort of notoriety by saying they
would like to be annexed to the neighbouring state of Greece.
I don't know whether what Government has done is to be
regarded as a kind of practical joke upon these people, but
it appears that they are to have their prayer granted; and
now that it is so I think I see on their part signs of a desire
to retract the petitions which they have year by year pre-
sented to the English Crown. In the document sent to