The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-05 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERDAY.)

ARBITRATION LAW AMENDMENT BILL.
This bill was read a second time.
CHIMNEY-SWEEPERS' BILL.
On the motion of the Earl of SHAFTESBURY, the
Chimney Sweepers Bill was referred to a select com-
mittee, as required under standing order 175. In the
course of his observations, the noble earl stated that
children of tender age were still largely employed in the
great towns to cleanse chimneys, notwithstanding the
prohibitions of the law.

THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF SOLDIERS
ORDERED ON FOREIGN SERVICE.
Lord ST. LEONAR.DS moved for a return of the
number of the wives and children ofsoldiers on service in

the East, or ordered there. His object in bringing before
the notice of their lordships the condition of these women

and children was by no means to interfere with the
regulations against the marriage of soldiers without
leave. At the same time it might be desirable to revise

those regulations, bearing in mind the altered circum-
stances of the case. Of late years they had done much
to ameliorate the condition of their soldiers ; and inas.

much as they had shortened the period for which men
were enlisted it would be desirable to discourage marriage
as far as possible, at least during the first period of their
service, after which they were at liberty, if they chose,
to quit the army. It was, however, necessary, for ob-

vious reasons, that a certain proportion of the soldiers

should be married ; and he should be glad if the
Government would consider some means of providing

for their wives and families while they were abroad.
It was obvious that their families must be maintained in

some way, and the only question was which would be
the best plan to adopt It might be asked, why raise
this question at the present time Q His answer was that
the number ordinarily required for the colonies was not
large, and they were not taken away without due notice,
so that they eould make arrangements beforehand. In

the present case, however, the number taken away was
very considerable, and it had come upon the men suddenly.
With respect to the war in which we were embarked,
there was bat one feeling throughout the country ' • and
there was a no less general determination that the fami-
lies of the soldiers we sent forth to fight our battles
should not be neglected, otherwise the cheers which had
accompanied our armaments from our shores would have
been meaningless ; but those cheers were intended to
assure our soldiers that those who were nearest and dear-
est to them should be taken care of. (Hear.) Now there
were only three ways in which that could be done. The
first was by means of Government aid, which he hoped
would not be resorted to except it should be found abso-
lutely necessary. The second was the state in which
these poor women and children would inevitably be left
unless something was done, viz., dependence on parochial
relief. But if
.there was one thing more, odious to a
soldier than another, save only disgrace before the
enemy, it was the idea that his family might be driven
to the workhouse. The third plan was, by benevolence
properly directed. A considerable sum had already
been subscribed for this purpose ; but if it were distri-
buted in the usual way, it would only afford a temporary
assistance ; and, moreover, it might have a positively
injurious effect, by accustoming soldiers' wives to live
upon alms. Now, what he (Lord St. Leonards) pro-
posed was that the inhabitants of the parishes to which,
the women belonged should take upon themselves to re-
lieve them of the burden of maintaining some of their
children, where they had more than they could possibly
provide for themselves. He would give them an instance.
He knew a woman of excellent character, the wife of a
husband equally deserving. She was left with six
children, and it would have been perfectly impossible for
her to have maintained herself and her family. Two of
them were taken from her, and with that assistance she
was enabled to provide for herself and the rest of her
children, without recourse to the union, into which she
must otherwise have been inevitably driven. He could
narrate several other cases is which, by means of a little
assistance of this kind, women had been enabled to
avoid the workhouse ; and thus they would see that
this mode of affording relief was not only the most con-
sonant with the feelings of the soldiers, but would also
be the most effective. (Hear, hear.) The only objec-
tion that could be brought against it would be that it
would sever the ties between a mother and her children.
But that he denied, because the children that would
require a mother's care or that could maintain them-
selves, would not be removed from her. He proposed
that there should be no spoiling of these children, or
treatment of them in a manner that would unfit them
for their proper station in life ; but that they should be
so brought up 'that when their father returned he
should find them much in the same state as they would
have been had he not been ordered on foreign service.
(Hear, hear.) He hoped that their lordships and the
public would give this plan their best attention, for he
was convinced that if properly carried out it would an-
swer the end they had in view, and cheer the hearts of
our soldiers more than any other that could be devised.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH did not oppose the

motion, but he should be glad to hear some ni&mber of
the Government express sentiments on the subject.
For his own part, he thought that any plan, whether
adopted by the Government or by individuals, which
should induce women more freely to marry soldiers,
would be the most unkind thing that could possibly be
done to them. The noble aad learned lord bad not suf-
ficiently considered the fact that in the hue regiments
the soldiers, after reinainiug at home for five years,
must necessarily go abroad for 15 or sometimes 20
years. If, then, women married soldiers they did not
marry them for life like other men ; but, practically
speaking, they married them for five years at Lthe
most. And in most cs.ses it was better for the women
that they should be separated from their husbands than
they should go with them. If she had young children
—and it she had children at all, they must he under
five years of age—they were sure to die ; for more than
half the troops and all the young children that went
either to India or the West Indies, must necessarily
fall victims to the climate. If any'new system respect-
ine, soldiers' wives and children were to be adopted, he
thought it would be a hardship if it were specially con-
fined to the families of the troops ordered on the Turkish
expedition ; because the only peculiarity in the case of
those troops was that they were ordered abroad a little
sooner than they would have been if war had not broken
out. He understood that it was proposed to remove
the depots of all the regiments ordered abroad to the
Isle of Wight ; but ho thought that that would give
rise to much inconvenience, and would cause the wo-
men and children left behind much misery and distress.
Those women earned. their living chiefly by washing,
and though wheo.the ,regiment was ordered away they
lost a great part of their customers, they were not entirely
deprived of the means of subsistence. Ho thought that
the best they could do would be to make the town
from which each regiment was removed to go abroad
its home until it returned again, and he ended as he be-
gan, by deprecating anything that would hold out any
further inducements to women to marry soldiers.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE agreed with what had
fallen from the Earl of Ellenborough as to the undesir-
abieness of holding out any undue encouragement to
women to marry soldiers ; but he thought it had hardly
been justified by anything that had been said by the noble
and learned lord, who had carried out in his private
capacity the recommendations ho had offered to the
house. He thanked the noble and learned lord for
bringing the subject before the house. He could assure
him that the subject had not been neglected by the Go-
vernment, who took the subject into consideration when
it was determined to send troops to the East.
The Earl of DERBY said he had heard a rumour that
a regiment which had recently returned from Canada
had been ordered to the East. A considerable number
of the men had married in Canada, and their wives, who
were ignorant of our language, were left behind. He
inquired if this was true.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE said the matter had not
been brought to his attention, but he thought it very
possible that such a circumstance had occurred. If it
had it was an exceptional case, and he should feel it his
duty to inquire into it.
Earl PO WIS suggested that the wives of soldiers who
went abroad for garrison duty should be allowed to go
out with their husbands in greater numbers.
The returns were then ordered, and their lordships
hen adjourned.

,••

HOUSE OF COMMONS—(YESTERDAY.)
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY.
Mr. FAGAN rose to move for leave to bring in a
bill to make provision for the better government of the
University of Dublin ; for the establishment and main.
tenance of a -second college. therein, with co-ordinate
authority, and, as near as may be, equivalent income,
with Trinity College, to be called, in pursuance to the
act 14 and 1 Charles 2, c. 2, the Queen's College ; and
further for the extension, in pursuance to the act 33
G-eo. 3, c. 21, to students of all religious denominations,
of the honours, degrees, benefits, emoluments, and
offices, iu the Queen's College. The honourable
member said he regretted to have to state that while
the Dublin University was the most richly en-
dowed educational establishment in the world, it gave
less contributions to literature or science. The Dublin
University was endowed with the enormous property of
200,000 acres of land, which was valued at 93,000/. a-
year ; and though in point of fact that land at
present did not produce above 64,0001. a•Year,
the University was still as it would be seen
by what he had just stated, most richly endowed.
The Provost of that iTJniversity received ann Finual
stipend of 3,5001., while the heads of houses in Oxford
and Cambridge had not quite 8001.: the seven Senior
vonellaonwsavienraTgrei.nit2,T- Cheollfief2
class of
hjaudniolr,Bolo4,(e);Jseaine
the Dublin University, six in number, had POO?. e.year.
The second class Fellows, also sie.; in number, had 6001.
s
ac,4-pear;
a y
bridgeet hate' hadh' not third
ltecul taphso n JuniorFe
thelr3l' averageellv oew 'sn
above number,f2s/ Oxford
a hadea an rd.
The ill success of the Dublin University as a national
establishment he attributed to the strictly exclusive
character of the system, by which the scholarships, and
all ty, are confined to persons
of tthhee
the systematic exclusion
ppreoizte ess
to:a
t the
religion,
e University,
and
of Roman Catholics, by which the great body of
the people of Ireland avoided that University
altogether as a seat of learning. (Remy; heaV
Mr. G. H. MOORE seconded the motion.
Mr G. A. HAMILTON rose to give the 1404',4..,E, '`,
the hon. member for Cork his most _decided 0pp05141146
This was the first time in his life that he b 0 -ever „
heard that the
,llublin University, hid been- eatablzehed-:-:
for the benefit. of Roman 0.4th9ti0,. (4ears
Was it retsugale was it naval to. tunsiltS thit