The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-29 00:00:00

THE SOUND DUES.

Mr. HUTT asked the Lord President of the Council,
whether her Majesty's Government had been informed
that tha Danish Government had made the following con-
cessions to the citizens of the United States in relation to
the Sound dues :-1. That American ships, laden with
Transatlantic produce, and their cargoes, when bound to a
Danish port to discharge them, shall be entirely free from
Sound dues, as well as from light and buoy dues. 2. That
the discount of 25 per cent., hitherto allowed to the im-
porter when residing in Denmark, shall be discontinued.
Also, whether any steps had been taken by her Majesty's
Government to secure similar privileges to British sub-
jects.

Lord J. RUSSELL said the information that her Ma-
jesty's Government had received was that it was proposed
to the Danish Government to make the concession to which
the hon. gentleman alluded, but the Danish Government
asked for an indemnity, which the Government of the
United States had not given, and the negotiation had not
come to a conclusion. That being the case, her Majesty's
Government had not taken any steps to obtain similar con-
cessions.

THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN HYDE PARKER.-
THE NAVAL OPERATIONS.

Col. BLAIR said he wished to put a question to the
First Lord of the Admiralty relating to a statement which
had appeared iu one of t e public papers, and which, in
his opinion, cast a slur on one of the most gallant officers
of the English service. He alluded to what appeared yes-
terday in a public journal, which stated that —" Captain
Parker literally threw his life away, without glory to him-
self or result to the public service. From what appears in
the report which we publish this day, he was not in any
way engaged on the business of the expedition when he
came to his untimely end. When the Sulina mouths of the
Danube were cleared, an opinion seems to have got afloat,
rather' prematurely, among our !people, that the Russians
had completely decamped. This result soon appeared to
have been somewhat anticipated, as, indeed, common pru-
dence might have suggested to an officer in Captain
Parker's position. Captain Parker, however, appears to
have considered that as soon as the rough of the work
was done, the Sulina waters were as completely open
to him as Plymouth barbaur might have been. No-
thing would serve but the organisation of a little excur-
sion for the sake of pleasure or curiosity." This whole
statement, he knew, from his own personal knowledge, was
totally devoid of truth. He therefore appealed to the
right hon. gentleman whether any despatch had beeu re-
ceived by the Admiralty that would give to the country
an authentic statement of what passed on that occasion.
Sir J. G ti.AHAM said he was extremely obliged to the
hon. and gallant member for having put to him this ques-
tion, which enabled him to give an answer which he hoped
would be satisfactory to bins and the country. The ob-
servations to which the hon. and gallant officer had re-
ferred bad he knew, inflicted the deepest pain on the sur-
viving relatives of Captain Parker. He need not inform
the house that Captain Parker's gallant and respected
father had only died within the last few weeks, and that
the bereaved widow of that gallant officer was at the last
,xtrernity of suffering, so much so that the intelligence of
the death of her son could not be communicated to her.
The comments in question ho must say had been some-
what hastily made, and with misapprehension of the facts.
The Board of Admiralty had taken the earliest opportu-
' nity of making the facts known to the public, and they
Wouldo appear in the despatch in the Gazette this evening.
batteries
8 far from this being a rash and ill-advised enterprise
on the part of Ca Captain Parker, as the house was aware,
he had, in the most
e most gallant manner, destroyed the
fore©, attended
batteries outside the Sulina passage. There were
sage for the
destroy, ifinis,oidsse.biwhich he thought it his duty to
purpose
fe and
recionn
nhoiistribnoga,t,
whenwithby other boats, he entered within the pea-
s. fire of musketry
resoonil the battery. So, without hesita-
h.eanrecae,irmveedd
lie landed and attacketvledthteo take the battery by storm.
manner. and was shot in the battery in the most gallant
he thought the English ul,:execution of that duty. Now
If bold and desperate ic was a somewhat hard task-
master.
there was some pe.rate enterprises were not under-
taken suspicion that
not to carry on the war with e orders had been given
of the officers s
was somewhat energy, and even the conduct
hard, in accordance with usauspected. If, on the other
usage the Brit'
e i feats which rivalled those of the British navy attempt-
our history, if such feats were undertteeantest celebrity in
was of an opposite nature, and it was said then the charge
needlessly risked, and the gallantry which that lives were
ed was characterised as foolhardiness. Hewas'nse re-
gretteddisvplay-
that in this case these observations had been Captain Parker was one of the most promisinr, officers
made.e
the British navy. He was the gallant son ofl. a • rill', of
father. On this occasion he acted as became his name,ga andan
he fall in discharge of his duty, a bright example to ther
otticers. (Cheers.) He (Sir James Graham) only regretted
that he feared in the navy there was no other Hyde Parker
now left. Many had fallen, and he hoped that the house
would at all events do justice to his memory, and that these
comments which had been published would produce no
impression, either on the house or the country, that this

officer-had failed in the discharge of his duty, but that his
memory would be respected as he was confident it deserved
to be. (Cheers.)
LEASES OF CROWN PROPERTY.—THE GOVERN-
MENT AND MR. DISRAELI.

Mr. DISRAELI said he was anxious to correct an error
which he made last evening in Committee of Supply, in
respect of tho renewal of Crown leases. In speaking on
the motion of the Government for the purchase of Bur-
lington House, he impugned their conduct because they
had renewed the lease of a house in the vicinity of the
public offices, which he thought was detrimental to the
public) service. Now, it turned out that her Majesty's
Government were exempt from all blame in that respect,
and that if any blame was attached to the renewal of the
lease, strange to say, the blame-was upon him, and that he
was responsible. (Laughter.) He hoped the house would
allow him to explain the reason that he fell into so strange
a mistake. In the summer of 1852 the question of the re-
newal of the Crown estates came to a considerable extent
under his notice, and his attention was brought especially
to the renewal of the leases of premises which were in
London, and also in the vicinity of the public offices. He
endeavoured to lay dow❑ certain principles which he
thought ought to guide them in the renewal of leases of
that sort of property, but with regard to the leases of houses
in the vicinity of public offices he did not think they ought
to be renewed. A minute was drawn up embodying his
views, and it so happened that the question of the lease of
Montague House was brought before him in the middle of
the summer, and it was refused, and last night, speaking
from recollection, lie really did believe, so far as he was
concerned, that the renewal of the lease of that house
had not taken place at the time, and he concluded that
her Majesty's present Ministers were responsible for
that act. But it so happened, vary shortly before the ter-
mination of the Government of Lord Derby, that the
question of the renewal of that particular lease was again
submitted to the consideration of the Treasury, awl it
was thought that there were certain equitable elements
which he had not taken into consideration, which rendered-
it just that the lease should be renewed. At that time
the new Parliament had just met, there was a very strong
strain on his energies, and he was unable to attend to that
particular subject. His colleagues, he was sure, gave it
the consideration it deserved; they arrived at a different
conclusion from that he had arrived at, and he had not the
slightest doubt that their decision was a just one. How-
ever, it received his sanction, and for that decision he alone
was responsible. He need not say how much he regretted
that he should have brought the charge against the Go-
vernment for having done an act for which he himself was
responsible. Perhaps the house would allow him to say,
that noth withstanding the circumstances to which he had
adverted, he was still of opinion that leases of houses in
the vicinity of public offices should not be renewed, and
that it was highly expedient that the house should support
the Government in obtaining the possession of any plots
of ground near the public offices which they had an oppor-
tunity of obtaining.
Mr. LAYARD said—l trust the house will permit me
to make one or two remarks in explanation of a personal
matter. I have learned with great regret that, in conse-
quence of a misreport of some observations which fell from
me ou Monday evening last in this house, considerable pain
has been inflicted upon many foreign gentlemen residing iu
this country, and especially upon M Kossuth, who has ad-
dressed me on the subject. My hon. friend the member for
the West Riding having stated in the course of his speech
that the liberal party iu Europe were opposed to the war,
and having particularly alluded to M. Kossuth in denounc-
ing the war as one waged in favour of the oppressors of his
country, I said, in reply, that if the liberal party, after the
generous hospitality and protection afforded by the Sultan
to all those who had taken refuge within his territories,
whether Hungarians, Poles, or Italians, sided with the
enemies of the Sultan it would be an instance of the grossest
ingratitude. I have no doubt that M. Kossuth him-
self would coincide with this sentiment, which would of
course be mine, if the liberal party were to take the course
attributed to them.

THE CREW OF THE TIGER.
Mr. OTWAY inquired whether it was true that we had
not had a sufficient number of Russian prisoners to ex-
change against the crew of the Tiger??
Sir J. GRAHAM said that the names of the officers who
hat been exchanged had appeared in the newspapers of that
morning. He believed that three lieutenants and one other
commissioned officer were still unexchanged ; and until a
sufficient number of Russian officers of equal rank should
be captured they must remain prisoners of war.