The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-02 00:00:00

eneral.
That letter completely confirW Lientenant-med the apprehGensicm" he
had frequently given expression to, that the transports
and steamers in which our troops had been conveyed to
Turkey were not provided with a sufficient number of
suitable boats for the rapid embarkation and disembarka-
tion of the soldiers. (Hear, hear.) It must be unneces-
sary to impress upon their lordships the extreme import.
ance of attaching to every vessel employed to convey
troops as many boats fitted for the embarkation and dis-
embarkation of troops as could be given consistently
with the demands of other departments of the public
service. It was impossible to say how much the success
of our operations would depend upon the rapidity with
which a large number of troops could be thrown ashore.
Suppose only a portion of a force to be landed, a sea
might arise which would render it impossible to land
more, and in that case the troops already landed would
be exposed to attack from the enemy which they would
not have strength to resist. Again, an officer, in order
to gain sufficient time for disembarkation, might be
obliged to select an unfavourable instead of a favourable
spot for that operation. This subject attracted atten-
tion eight years ago, and it was then thought expedient
that all vessels employed for the conveyance of
.troops
should be provided not only with a sufficient number of
fiat-bottomed boats, but also with one large boat with
an amount of steam power sufficient to enable it to tow
the other boats. Should this system be adopted, troops
could be disembarked with great rapidity.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE admitted the letter which
the noble earl had read to be perfectly authentic, and he
was happy to be able to assure their lordships that the
troops servinc, in the East were provided with ample
means of embarkingb and disembarking,. The noble earl
must be aware that in consequence of the necessity which
existed fur sending from this country two of the largest
fleets that ever lett our shores, it was deemed advisa'ole
that the large land force which had gone to the East
should be conveyed, not in vessels of war, but is vessels
hired for the purpose, which had been previously ere-
Ployed in commerce. These vessels, of course, had not
flat bottomed boats, which were necessary for the dis-
embarkation of troops engaged in military operations.
The French troops had been conveyed chiefly in vessels
of war, which were provided with flat-bottomed boats,
and upon the occasion referred to in General Brown's
letter the French authorities very courteously placed
some of them at our disposal. Their lordships,
however, might rely upon it that ample provision
was made for the embarkation and disembarkation
of our troops in cases of emergency in the Black
Sea. This was a matter which had been ma-
turely considered, and only this day a letter had
been received from Admiral Boxer, under whose corn
wand the transport service had been placed, stating that
every necessary provision had been made for the safe and
rapid disembarkation of troops on any given point.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said, it appeared to
be the case that the Government did not make any
arrangement with the persons to whom these transports
and steamers belonged, in order that the vessels should
have, on this particular occasion, when they were to con-
vey troops, a larger number of boats—and boats, too, of
a larger kind, than they were, accustomed to carry. In
point of fact, if the troops had depended on the boats
belonging to the transports, they could not have disem-
barked without the greatest inconvenience and delay.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE observed, that any
arrangement such as the noble earl adverted to could not
Himalaya
have been made. When such vessels as the
Himalaya and Orinoco were taken up at a fortnight or
three weeks' notice, did the noble earl suppose that the
Government were in a position to call on the parties to
whom the vessels belonged to supply flat-bottomed boats
for the embarkation and disembarkation of the troops ?
No company could have made such a preparation with-
out three months' instead of three weeks' notice. 'What
the Government did was to take care that, when the
transports arrived in the Bosphorus, sufficient means
should there be provided for disembarkation.
The Consolidated Fund (8,000,000/. No. 2) Bill was
read a second time.
The Bills of Exchange Bill was read a third time.
_ The reports of the amendments in the Railway and
Canal Traffic Regulation Bill was, after some discussion,
agreed to,
„„..s PRISONERS REMOVAL BILL.
This bill passed through committee.
LordHE TICKET OF LEAVE SYSTEM.
St. LEONARDS moved for certain returns re-
LETTE 4
lating to ti 1c.?..t! of leave.—Agreed to.
THE BALTIC AND BLACK SEA
FLEETS.
Lord BEA-13.'40NT wished, before the house rose, to
put a question to •
- his noble friend the Postmaster-Ge-
neral with regard to the transmission of letters to the
officers and seamen se v.
Baltic and the Black rselang in
the British fleets in the
the friends understood that many
letters written by
and relations of persons
who were: serving io those fleet , and Sent through the
post, had been delayed and thate
had not reached
their destination at all. This Others
degree to their being erroneously- dirbent7iin•ogr, he found
that many persons had directed theeirl Post-office of the capital or town nearest
Beets to the
Beets were supposed to be, as Copenhagen, Welleicsh the
holm, and as the postmasters at those places hater nk.
instructions to forward them on, the letters would thus
be delayed. But he understood that there was some
further delay in the distribution of letters even after
they reached the admiral's ship. He believed that
the usual course was to send all letters directed to
persons serving in the fleet to the admiral's ship, and
when they reached that vessel, and were sorted, a

signal was made for the other ships to send their
boats for letters, and thus the distribution was made
through the fleet. He did not know, but itmight
be worth consideration, whether it would not
of
tsave
time, and insure a more accurate delivery
the letters, supposing them to be properly addressed,
and the name of the ship for which they were intended,
was placed upon them, were assoi ted at the Post office
here before they were sent out. The questions he wished
to put to his noble friend were, first, in what manner
the Peat-office wished, for their own convenience, the
letters to be addressed ? secondly, whether means had
been taken by the Postmaster to effect a regular trans-
mission of letters intended for the fleets ? and, third!y,
whether it was within the jurisdiction of the Post-office
to make such arrangements, or whethe transis-
sion depended entirely upon' the chanceer ofth ships going
out, or upon the admirals being able to despatch a
steamer or a boat to the port near which the fleet might
happen to be for letters He also wished to ask his
noble friend whether, He
the troops should make
any forward movement towards the seat of war, any
means had been taken for sending letters to this country.
He would suggest that it might, perhaps, be most con-
venient to send letters through Austria rather than
desnatch them via Constantinople..
'Viscount CANNING was wucij obliged to his noble

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.)
Their lordships met at five o'clock.
Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the
Trade Guardian Society, of Glasgow, in favour of the
Scotch Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill, with one or two
exceptions, which he said were now under consideration.
PARLIAMENTARY OATHS.
Lord CAMPBELL inquired of Lord Lyndhurst whe-
ther, as the Oaths bill in the other house had been re-
jected, it was his intention to re-introduce his bill of
last session for altering the oaths taken by members
of both houses of Parliament, or some other measure
on the same subject ? He was quite sure the
noble and learned lord would agree him that legislation
was indispensable in order that Jews might enjoy the
same rights and privileges as their other fellow subjects.
Lord LYNDHURST said he would re-introduce this
bill if he had any hopes whatever of carrying it through
this house, but unless he had a full assurance to that
effect, he would certainly not bring it forward. He was
quite satisfied that it would be impossible for him to pass
hrough the house this session a measure referring ex-
clusively to Jews, but he agreed with an expression re-
ported to have been used in the other house, that be-
yond all doubt the time would come when Jews would
be admitted into Parliament.
PROVISION FOR THE EMBARKATION AND
DISEMBARKATION OF TROOPS IN THE
E AST.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH rose to request from
the Government some explanation of a correspondence
which appeared in the Morning Chronicle relative to the
embarkation of our troops at Gallipoli.
The Earl of WICKLOW rose to order. The time had
arrived for reading the order of the day.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH expressed his wil-
lingness to ask his question tomorrow, but at the same
time if a peer was to be precluded from asking questions
upon matters of pressing interest by the rule to which
the noble earl adverted, it would be necessary for their
lordships to alter the rule. (Hear, and cries of" Go on.")
It being the wish of their lordships that he should pro-
ceed, he would do so. The newspaper to which he had
referred contained a letter from General Brown to Lord
Raglan, giving an account of important assistance given
by the French on the embarkation of our troops at Galli-
poli for their removal to Scutari. The letter was in the
following terms :

" Scutari, My 7, 1854.
"My Lord,—ln communicating to you then safe arrival
in this port of the 93cl Regiment, and of the second brigade
of the Rifles, I should fail altogether in my duty if I did
not inform your lordship of the prompt and efficient assist-
ance which I received for the embarkation of these troop&
from Admiral Bruat, General Csnrobert, and all the French
authorities residing at Gallipoli.
"Not having on the spot any English vessel of war, and
finding myself without any other means of establishing a
communication with the steamers or transports but the
very defective aid of the boats of the locality furnished by
the commissariat, it would have been impossible for me to
effect that embarkation without a considerable loss of time
had it not been for the aid of our allies.
"In such circumstances I did not hesitate to apply to
the French admiral and general, whose readiness to lend
assistance to the troops of her Majesty had been already
appreciated by me on previous occasions. General Can- '
robert at once placed at my orders all the flat-bottomed
boats which he could dispose of, and Admiral Bruat was
kind enough to employ all the boats of his squadron both
in towing the others and in carrying troops, until all the
men were placed on board.
" The result of this prompt and friendly co-operation
was, that the two regiments, which had already marched
eight miles from their lines at Gallipoli, of which the em-
barkation did not in consequence commence until 1 in the
afternoon, were all on board, with upwards of 100 horses,
by sunset, so that it was possible to weigh anchor before
nightfall.
" I am deeply impressed with the feeling that, owing so
much personally to these distinguished officers for the
kind co-operation which they afforded me on this occasion,
as, indeed, on many others, I should be most ungrateful
were I not to seize on the very first occasion to express
the obligations under which they have placed me from the
first moment that I have been acting in concert with
them.
" I have the honour to be, my lord, your very obedient
humble servant,