The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-13 00:00:00

lA/WE/UAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

PETITIONS.
The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH presented several
petitions against the Merchant Shipping Bill.
The Earl of ALBEMARLE presented a petition from
the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, praying that both
British and foreign vessels be required, under the Pi-
lotage Act, to pay the same amount of fees for pilots.
Lord MONTEAGLE presented a petition from cer-
tain Parsee merchants, complaining of certain acts of
the Government of India ; also, a petition from the Cor-
poration of Dublin, against ministers money in Ireland.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
The Rochdale Improvement (No. 2) Bill.
The following bills were a third time and passed :
Cork and Bandon Railway (No. 2) ; Galway Improve-
ment ; Banbridge, Dublin, Newry, and Belfast Junction
Railway ; South Wales Railway (Pembroke, &c.),
South Wales Railway (Power to Purchase, &c.), South
Wales (Deviation), Galway Harbour, and Severn Rail-
way Bills.
SEIZURE OF A CHINESE JUNK AND MURDER
OF HER CREW.
The Earl of ALBEMARLE moved for copies of all
correspondence and documents in 1851 and 1852, be-
tween the local authorities of Singapore and the home
authorities, relating to an outrage in which a junk, or
Chinese ship, belonging to Singapore, was plundered
and her crew, to the number of 11, put to death
under a pretext of piracy, by the Rajah of Trin-
ganee, a Malay prince, on the coast of Malacca.
He expressed a hope that the Government would give
every facility for the purpose of having these cruel
outrages redressed.
The Earl of GRANVILLE said the Government had
no objection to the motion.
The motion was then agreed to.
RUSSIA AND TURKEY.
The Earl of MALMESBURY—My lords, in accordance
with the notice which I have placed on the minutes of the
house, I rise to move for the papers which I have there
mentioned, being the translation of two manifestoes pub-
lished in the St. Petersburg Gazette by the Emperor of
Russia, and any answers which may have been made to
those documents by my noble friend the Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs. Your lordships may easily imagine
that if I had been moved by any party feeling or factious
motives, or even by any feeling of personal vanity in wish-
ing to present myself before your lordships to discuss so
important a question as the present, I should not have
chosen this late period of the session ; I should have ap-
peared before now to ask what had been the negotiations
of the Government on the subject, and should not have
waited till within a few days of the end of the session,
when so few of my friends are in London to attend the
house. (Hear.) Having myself had the honour of being
in the position which my noble friend now holds, I
thought, and still think, that every indulgence should be
given to a Minister employed as he has been in commu-
nications upon a question of such momentous importance
to the peace of Europe. I therefore, while, as your lord-
ships well know, I have at different periods asked ques-
tions of my noble friend as to the continuance and the re-
sult of these negotiations, have always bowed to his wish
and that of the Government not to proceed to a considera-
tion of the whole matter in question, and not in any way
to embarrass the Government, inasmuch as they led us to
suppose that any premature discussion on the subject
might possibly prevent that happy result which we all so
anxiously desire. But, with respect to the papers for
which I now move, I may truly say that they are not to
be placed in the same category with negotiations and cor-
respondence carried on through the medium of despatches.
(Hear.) Judging from the little experience I had at the
Foreign-office, I can see no objection to the production of
papers that are not correspondence, but which have been
published to all Europe by the Emperor of Russia himself,
in his own language, and especially as they have appeared
in the language and in the public prints of France and
England. I cannot, for the same reason, see why we should
not have the answers which we understood the other night
had been made by noble friend opposite to these mani.
festoes of the Emperor of Russia. (Hear, hear.) Those
manifestoes contain much than ought to be answered •
they contain much that none of your lordships can assent
to ; and, inasmuch as the French Government did answer
immediately and ably those manifestoes, and inasmuch as
two out of the three powers have publicly put forward
their sentiments on the matter, I cannot understand on
what ground the Government can stand up and refuse
those documents to your lordships and the other House of
Parliament. (Hear, hear.) I was told, when I formerly
asked for these paper, that it was not the custom in this
country to publish diplomatic correspondence in this way.
It is perfectly true that diplomatic communications are for
obvious reasons kept back until the Minister, in the exer-
cise of his discretion, thinks it right to place them on your
table ; but, as I said before, these papers do not come
within the category of correspondence ; and certainly there
are precedents known to your lordships that would at once
relieve my noble friend, who is anything but a pedant,
from any pedantic pressure that might be laid on him by
official custom. (Hear, hear.) In 1822, if lam not mis-
taken, when the entry of the French army took place into
Spain, Mr. Canning immediately published a paper on the
subject—l believe within 24 hours of the time when he
received his information. And, going to a much later
period, it is only a few months since Lord John Russell
published in the newspapers of the day a despatch which
he had sent in the case of the Madiai to the Court of Tus-
cany. Before I say one word more, I must observe that
this question has certainly caused more public anxiety than
anything that has occurred within the last 23 years. I
must remind my noble Iriend opposite that after 38 years
of peace, when the minds of wen have been turned so long
to peaceful employments—to commerce and the arts of ci-
vilisation, we may perhaps feel somewhat more nervous
than our forefathers, who were more accustomed to long
wars and hostile alarms. We have had all the indications
of the greatest possible apprehension in this country.
There has been a great fall in the funds, and a great rise
in certain provisions, while there has been a considerable
hindrance to trade and speculation ; and I think the Go-
vernment ought to have left no means unemployed to
allay the excitement that had been raised to so high a
pitch. I believe, however, that that excitement and ap-
prehension have been very much increased by the con-
tinued and lengthened mystery which the Government
has thrown over their operations and negotiations on
this subject. (Hear.) This state of things may be said
to have continued since the month of March; and here
let me say, it was difficult for your lordships, as it was,
indeed, for me to believe what had occurred, when you
first saw those signs of aggression on the part of Russia, on
our ancient ally—that most important country to us and
to all Europe—Turkey. It was certainly a matter of
great astonishment to every person here, who had for so
many years placed the greatest confidence not only in the,
honour of the Emperor of Russia, but also in the Conser-
vative policy on which he has long prided himself, and
Which he had so emphatically proved during the revolu-
tions of 1848. (Hear.) No one could be more astonished
than myself, for during the year 1852, when I held the
office which my noble friend now holds, it was impossible
for any sovereign or any court to show a more sincere in-
terest in the maintenance of treaties, and in those territo-
rial arrangements which have happily subsisted for so
many years in Europe, than was shown by the Emperor
of Russia. If there was one sovereign in Europe more than
another, if there was one Government more than another,
that impressed on me the importance of maintaining in-
violate these treaties, and that the present territorial ar-
rangements of Europe should remain uninfringed, it was
the Emperor of Russia and his Government. (Hear, hear.)
Not being in office I cannot follow out all the events so
closely as my noble friend who is acquainted with them
can, or enter into all their various details, but I cannot
help thinking that I can account in a degree for what has
happened. The Emperor of Russia, it appears, was deeply
irritated at the conduct of the French Government with
respect to the Holy Shrines in Palestine. That subject
had long occupied my attention and that of her Majesty'a
Government when I held the seals of office, and we left no
opportunity untried of urging the French Government to
a satisfactory and early issue of the unfortunate dispute.
On the part of the French Government and the French
Emperor we were met with assurances that .they were
equally anxious to bring the dispute to an end, and that
they would make no unreasonable demands, and just be-
fore my noble friend then at the head of the Government
left office, the French Ambassador at Constantinople was
changed, and a man of a singularly mild and conciliatory
character succeeded to his place. But it appears that in
the Emperor of Russia's mind what had passed had not
been effaced. Although when M. Lacour bad repaired to
Constantinople the question relating to these Holy Places
was finally and satisfactorily settled, and although
this took place before Prince Menschikoff arrived at Con-
stantinople, still it appeared that the impression on the
Russian Government remained unaltered—that they were
dissatisfied with the settlement of the question, and still
suspected, or pretended to suspect, the Turkish Govern-
ment of wishing again to impose upon them conditions
which they bad no right to impose. It is not for mortal
to read the human mind ; but your lordships are aware of
the traditional policy imputed to Russia, and therefore it
is impossible to divest oneself of the idea that the Russian
Government might have conceived the moment had arrived
which a large portion of the Russian population has for
many generations looked forward to as a predestined epoch,
at which they were to march upon and obtain posseasion
of the capital which their Sovereigns have long coveted.
If that' feeling was shared by the Emperor of Russia and
the members of his Cabinet, I think it was because they
were not restrained from yielding to the fatal temptation
presented by the course of events which had previously oc-
curred. When the Queen's late Government was in office,
s our policy was much canvassed and criticised on many,
points, but there was one point, one against which an un-
remitted shower of censure was directed by that portion
' of the press which represented, or appeared to represent,
the opinions of the late Opposition. The Opposition news-
' papers of the day especially assailed the foreign policy of
Lord Derby's Government during the whole time of their
continuance in office—l mean that part of our foreign
METROPOLITAN COMMISSION OF SEWERS.—Yesterday, policy which related to France. If there was one news-
a return to Parliament, obtained by Sir John Shelley, paper which exceeded another in constant abuse of the
M.P , was printed of the names of the officers and per. policy which prompted ire to maintain a close and candid
sons .now employed by the Metropolitan Commissioners alliance with France, it was a newspaper supposed by the
public—l know not with justice—to be peculiarly con-
of Sewers, the offices they have held and now hold, the
11ectedtnd
which
iately associatedbwith that part of the
thanthen
its and was;
has
sre
steceratedforaits talents
salaries
discharged, now paanidd,
attendancethe datesof appointment oe inner ent
Commissioneran d t he duties
of!Opposition
Sewers, at each meeting of the commission from the Istformed most important
portion of numbers,the present Administration. That newspaper
of January, 1852, to the 7th ult. The return extends and others continually taunted us with what they called
to 14 folio pages. The secretary has 8001. and 1001. in our subservient and cringing policy to the French Empe-
lieu of apartments vacated by him. There are fourteen ! ror. I, personally, was assailed with constant abuse, and
commissioners and only one is paid. There are a great esyneunaVebttlidrTil on this point ;thatd, it was broadly in-
trust, thrTl.her: liewsers I was unfaithful to
and
many persons in the employ of the commissioners, and i
blindedes the feelings of an Enk,lishman, and
was altogether
their names are set forth, with the amount of salaries.
personally moved by such oirserurvealaettkanrsd,initarywopuealvdretibtaelsitsylo;atfivosr.
ACCIDENT AT THE PRINCESS'S THEATRE.—Last even- a foreign nation and aby my
ing, during the representation of " Sardanapalus," in
factory to me to observe that subsequentlf I could have been
the grand opening procession, in which the King makes
his entrée drawn by a pair of cream-coloured horses, the proved that the policy the late o•,nment pursuedn iu
leg of one went down through a trap on the stage, and cementing a close alliance with the new dynasty in France
Mr. Kean narrowly escaped being thrown out of the was of the utmost importance to this country. I have had
chariot. In the confusion caused by the horses' plunging the satisfaction of seeing the opponents of our policy—the
upwards of 100 persons being on the stage, one of the nowepapers—declaring an intimate alliance with France to
ladies of the ballet fell through' the opening, butt for- be not only paramount i most useful, but of mportance—
' tunatel escaped with a few slight bruises. The piece 1 the only alliance which is of any consequence to England.
then pryceeded
As far as I am personally concerned, I have the satisfaction
o