The Sun.
London, England, 1840-05-05 00:00:00

NAPLES.

Sir ROBERT PEEL wished to ask the Noble
Lord a question respecting the differences at pre.lent
subsisting between the Neapolitan Government and
this country.—(Hear.) In answer to a question
put on Friday last, he had understood the Noble
Lord stated that her Majesty's Government had issued
rders for reprisals, and that certain Neapolitan vessels
bad been actually captured. The question he wished
ta ask was, it the mediation of the French Government
fort the settlement of the existing differences between
1:1:1 country and Naples had been offered, and if it had
71 accepted by either or both parties.
ti:dord PALMERSTON said that the good offices of
French Government for the arrangement of the
of
Nerences between her Majesty's Government and that
itlitr:tples had been offered some time ago, and had been
Ft!dlately accepted by her Majesty's Government.
p the same time a similar offer had been made by the
itr fleh Government to the Government of Naples, and
fraaPkared from the latest despatches received both
I, ill Naples and Paris that that offer had been accepted
Y the G Naples.
Sir at iNap •
oir ROBERT PEEL asked if the order for repri-
tail had been constvent'y rescinded.
tl n7ord PALMERSTON said that it had been agreed
1,1-• as soon as our representative at the Court of Naples
tirild be officially informed of the arrival of any French
of Plematist charged to exercise the good offices
t the French Government, he should immediately
srlinsreit to the officers commanding her Majesty's
tir4ll3:. instructions to suspend reprisals for a certain
but from despatches received to-day he had
(3. -"ed that at the moment that the French me-
-444 un bad been accepted by the King of Naples,
wo when, wording to the agreement, the reprisals
uld have been stopped the Neapolitan Govern-
ment had laid an embargo on all British vessels in
P:Politan ports, and, consequently, the order for 'e-
els had not been suspended.

EMIGRATION.
In
answer to a question from an Hon. Member,
Lordiclt JOHN RUSSELL stated that it was not the
ye "tion of her Majesty's Government to propose this
4r any direct grant for the purposes of Emigration.

BELGIAN CLAIMS.
xi Mr. POULETT SCROPE wished to ask the
ir4
ble Lord what progress had been made in the 'sego-
t tons of the Belgian Government for compensation
ti the British merchants for the losses sustained by
":31 in
"consequence of the bombardment of Antwerp.
hi PALDURSTON said that claims had been

made by the representative of the British Government I
on the Belgian Government, at the same time
that similar claims had been made on the
Belgian Government by the representatives of
other Governments for losses sustained by their subjects
at Antwerp: These claims had bean made some time
ago. A written reply had been received by the Belgian
Government, which was at present under the considera-
tion of her Majesty's Government, with a view of re•
turning such an answer as they might think best
adapted to produce the desired results.
MEDICAL COMMITTEE.
Mr. F. FRENCH wished to ask the Hon. Under
Secretary for the Horne Department what steps woe
intended to be taken with regard to the re-appointment
of the Medical Committee ?—( Hear, hear, hear.)
He had understood, that it had been the intention of
the Hon. Member for Bridport to move for the
reappointment of that Committee immediately alter
Easter. _

Mr. FOX MAULE said that the subject was
entirely in the hands of the Hon. Member for Brid-
port, and therefore be could not answer the question.
MR. STUART'S REPORT.
Mr. FOX MAULE gave notice that to-morrow he
should move f9r a return of the report of Mr. James
Stuart, one of the Factory Commissioners.
WAR WITH CHINA.
Mr. GOULBURN said, in conformity with the
motion which had been made in that House, papers had
been laid on the table, purporting to contain the corre-
spondence between her Majesty's Government and the
East India Company, as to the arrangements
for paying the expenses of the armament
now preparing for service in China, hut that
correspondence appeared to be extremely short,
and, in fact, only stated that the expense was ulti-
mately to be borne by the Government of this country.
The question he now wished to ask was whether it
was the intention of the government to lay before
the House any estimate of the amount which
would be required for that service. It should
be remembered that the service was undertaken on or-
ders from home ; the Government, therefore, must be
aware of the nature of the expedition, and could cal-
culate pretty nearly the expenditure which it would re-
quire, and it certainly was not correct with regard to
the House of Commons that an expense of this nature
should be gone into with no other assurance than that
ultimately at some definite period the expense was to be
borne by this country, without any previous communica-
tion as to the extent of the expense.—( Hear, hear.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—
It is not my wish to enter into any detailed statement,
but it is the intention of the Government to bring the
subject before Parliament previous to the close of the
Session, and to ask a vote upon it.
DR. BO WRING'S REPORT.

In answer to Colonel SIBTHORP,
Mr. R. GORDON said they would shortly lay be-
fore the House a return of the expenses attending
Dr. Bowring's mission.
Mr. HUME said, in reference to a notice which he
had on the paper, to move for the immediate production.
of Dr. Bowring's Report with regard to our commercial
relations with Egypt and Syria, he wished to know from
the Noble Lord the Foreign Secretary -whether that
Report would soon be laid before the House ?
Lord PALMERSTON said considerable, part of
Dr. Bowring's report referred to political subjects, and
would not therefore be proper to lay before the House,
but that part which referred to our commercial rela-
tions would shortly be produced.
Mr. lIUME then said he would withdraw his motion.
SUPPLY.
The House then resolved itself into a Committee
of Supply, Mr. BERNAL in the Chair.
Mr. GORDON said that the first vote he had to
move was that 88,629/. should be granted to the Com-
missioners of the Board of Works for the purposes of
public works and buildings.
Mr. HUME wished, before the vote was carried.
to have some explanation with respect to some parts of
Hampton-Court Palace that were excluded from the
public, as he understood Lady Sarah Bailey occupied
no less than fifteen rooms, all of which were excluded
from the public. He did not think this was altogether
correct, as he did not see why any part of
a public palace should be excluded from the public.
He had addressed a letter to Lord Duncannon, in the
hope that he would have been able to have obtained some
trifling concession for the public ; but he was sorry to say
that application had been refused. He also wished to hear
what the Hon. Gentleman was disposed to Ido with
respect to the old chapel. Although Hampton
Palace was a royal palace, at the disposal of her Ma-
jesty, yet, when the House was called upon for so
much public money, he submitted they had a right to
obtain as much benefit as possible for the community.
Mr. R. GORDON was not aware of the circum-
stances, but would institute inquiries upon the subject.
Mr. HAWES said before the question was put
he was anxious to call the attentioa of the House
to the state of some of the public parks, parti-
cularly to that of the pleasure gardens attached
to the palace at Kew. Those gardens were
open to the public only two days in the week,
from Midsummer to Michaelmas. Now they were
situated at a distance from the palace, and might be
made available to the public upon every day during the
fine weather in summer. Again, he saw no reason
why private carriages should be excluded from Rich-
mond Park any more than they should he from Hamp-
ton Park, and other public places. It would be a
great benefit to many families, and, in his opinion,
would do no harm whatever. He hoped that his Hon.
Friend below him would be enabled to give some
pledge to the House that the subject would be taken
up by the Government of affording to the public that
recreation in public places which was their due.
Mr. GORDON said, the Noble Lord at the head
of that Department was most anxious to make these
parks as available as possible, and his attention
should be called to the subject.
Mr. GOULBU RN said, there was an item of 8,9001.
for defraying the expenses of works necessary upon her
Majesty's taking possession of Buckingham Palace.
An estimate was laid upon the table in 1838 for the
GUM of 3,4001., and now it turned out that the sum
required was 12,000/. ; he wished to know why, in
the course of last year, Parliament was not wade
aware of the additional expense that had been incurred.
It was somewhat extraordinary that after the lapse of a
year, a claim should be now made for four times the
original amount.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
perfectly agreed with the Right Hon. Gentleman that
there was neglect in not bringing forward the estimate
last year. It was intended to bring the estimate forward,
but in consequence of certain circumstances with
which he was not entirely acquainted, the estimate
had been postponed, and it was decided to in-
clude it in the first vote of the present year. He
must take his share of the blame in not having
brought it forward, but he could assure the Right
Honourable Gentleman that the sum expended
had beer, absolutely necessary to put the palace in re-
pair for the actual accommodation of her Majesty.
Mr. GOULBURN did not wish a detail of the ex-
penses incurred, but where so large an additional expense
had taken place he thought that Parliament should
have been made aware of it on the first occasion.
Sir R. PEEL saw in the votes a charge for Carlton-
house stables, and he wished to know whether it was in-
tended to keep up those stables permanently, because they
would be a great ornament if completed, whereas they
were a great deformity in their present state.
Mr. GORDON'S answer was inaudible.
Colonel SIBTHOR I' said that they might to have
fair and candid statements on these subjects, and not
such shuffling answers as had been given that night.
Mr. HUME wished to have some explanation re-
specting the Botanical Gardens at Kew. Some time
since an alarm Has created in the public mind in
consequence of a report that the Gardens were to
be sold, that report turned out to have no foundation,
and what he wished to know was, whether there would
be any objection to laying on the table of the House the
report of Dr. Lindley, pointing out bow far those gar-
dens might be made useful to the country. 10,0001.
a year was granted out of the Civil List for the support
of these gardens, and it was but right that they should
be made as u•eful as possible to the public.
Mr. GORDON said that there would be no diffi-
cu!ty in laying on the table of the House the Report to
which the Hon. Gentleman had referred ; he thought
when it was produced that it would be seen that the
gardens had been appropriated to a much better purpose
than was imagined.
Mr. HUME said there was a charge of 8001. a year
for apartments for her Royal Highness the Princess
Sophia until her own apartments were repaired. He
wished to know what had been done with the apart-
ments of the Duchess of Kent.
Mr. GORDON said that the apartments of the
Duchess of Kent were at her own disposal—with respect
to the apartments of the Princess Sophia, he believed
that they were now ready for her Royal Highness.
Mr. HUME said it was stated that Carlton-house
stables were kept up as a depository of records : he
wished to know what records were deposited there, as it
was necessary to know that, considering what had
become of many of them.—(Hear, hear, hear.)
He wished to know whether any measures had been
taken to protect the remaining records.
Sir ROBERT PEEL observed that the Hon. Gen-
tleman had stated old furniture was kept there. He
hoped there would not be the same objection to get-
ting quit of the old furniture that there was to the
records.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL replied that the Govern-
ment were not responsible for those records. They
were lost through neglect.
Mr. HUME said that was what be complained of.
The. records were part of the public property, and it
was the duty of the Government to take care of every
thing that belonged to the public.
Mr WILLIAMS (Coventry) saw in the estimates
a charge for stables belonging to Windsor Castle. He
wished to know whether that charge was in addition to
the sum of 70,0001. voted last year for the new stables ?
Mr. GORDON said the charge was for ordinary
repairs.

In answer to a question from Mr. GOULBURN,
Lord J. RUSSELL stated the records in general
were now placed under the care of Lord Langdale, the
Master of the Rolls, and the Deputy Keeper, Sir
Francis Pa!grave. '1 y were perfectly competent to
do their duty, and his (Lord J. Russell's) recommen-
dation to them had been that both time and money
would be much better applied in takin; proper care of
the existing records thhn iu the publication of expen-
sive works. That opinion was perfectly concurred in
both by the Master of the Rolls and Sir Fs Palgrave.
Mr. GOULBURN said, thatif the records were in
the actual keeping of Lord Langdale and Sir F. Pal-
grave, he had no doubt they were properly kept ; but
he wished to know whether they were actually, or only
nominally, in their charge %
Mr. H AWES thought that the record* which had
been sold had not been under the charge of the Re-
cord Commission ; he should say, from having seen
some of those records, that they could be perfectly
restored ; he had seen one of the time of
Edward tire Sixth which was so restored, the only
difference being that they were now in private hands
instead of the public.
Mr. HUME thought that some inquiry ought to he
instituted. He wished to ask the Chancellor of the
Exchequer if he had given any orders relative
to the Jewel-office, concerning which they had
some conversation in discussing the Ordnance Es-
timates, when he was happy to see a disposition mani-
fested to improve the nasty, shabby, disgraceful place
in which the jewels were now kept.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER re-
plied, but in such an indistinct tone that it was impos-
sible to catch even the purport of his answer.
Mr. HUME said that he saw a small item of 2,000/.
for Holyrood, Linlithgow, and other palaces in Scotland.
He was happy to say that he held in his hand
a letter from the Duke of Hamilton, stating thst orders
had been given for the opening of Holyrood Palace
free of charge to the public. He considered that every
opening of a public place free of charge which took
place was of great benefit to the people.
Mr. WAKLEY asked if there was any chance of
Mr. Babbage's calculating machine ever being of any
use to any of the public departments ; at present it
seemed to be of no further use than calculating the
public money to be paid for it in the way of rent.
Sir It. PEEL said the machine had better be put
to calculate the time when it would be of use.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
was afraid he could not say when the machine would
be perfected.
Captain PECHELL was afraid that the answer re-
specting the apartments at Hampton Court had not
been understood ; great inconvenience was felt by the
public in consequence of the existence of a gallery which
impeded the view of a fine collection of pictures. The
space was only about five or six feet, and he was
sure that if proper application were made to the Gal-
lant Officer occupying that department, and it were
stated to bim that. the public were inconvenienced in
consequence, he would at once give it up. It was im-
possible for any one to visit the Gardens and Palace
of Hampton Court without feeling thankful. for the
great indulgence which had been given to'the public ;
and lie had every, reason to believe that this kindness
was duly appreciated, and he trusted that, in con-
tinuance of the good work, the Hon. Secretary would
say that the inconvenience complained of ,could be im-
mediately remedied.
Mr. EWART said there was a very beautiful chapel
at Hampton Court, which had been built by Wolsey,
and was called Wolsey's Chapel. He saw no reason
why the public should be excluded from it.
Captain PECHELL said the reason why it had
been shut up was, that for many years it had bees
under repair.
Mr. HUME understood, then, that the Government
would use all their influence in order to obtain access to
these places for the public.
The vote was then agreed to.
9,1261. was then voted for the works in the Chapel
Royal, and other parts of St. James's Palace, upon the
occasion of the Royal marriage.
10,000/. was also voted for the works and repairs of
the Kingstown harbour.
On the vote for Liverpool and Holyhead roads
(5,3451.),
Colonel SIBTHORP thought the expense should he
discontinued.
Mr. EW ART said these roads had been:very unfor-
tunate. No sooner had they been completed, than a
railway superseded them.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. R. GORDON explained briefly and unintel-
ligibly.
Lord G. SOMERSET put a question, which was
inaudible, to which
Mr. R. GORDON replied equally unintelligibly,
but on which
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said every one must admit
t would be most unfortunate if that magnificent work,
he Menai-bridge, should be allowed to go to ruin—
Hear, hear)—and considerable sums had been laid out
in repairing it.—(Hear, hear.)
The vote was then agreed to.
25,2591. was proposed for defraying the expenses of
the new buildings in the British Museum.
Colonel SIBTHORP thought the Chancellor o
the Exchequer ought to have laid his Budget before
the House previous to their being called upon to vote
away such large sums of money. He would very much
like to know where the 25,0001. was to come from. All
these grants ought to have been postponed until they
knew the state of the finances of the country.
Mr. HUME thought the money ought to be
granted, considering the state in which the Museum
was at the present moment. He trusted the thavern-
ment would make such arrangements as would enable
the building to be completed in the next five years.
Mr. EWART deprecated the want of a public
library. He thought money might be well expended
on such a subject.
Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN concurred in what had
fallen from the Hon. Member for Wigan. He thought
the want of a public library was greatly felt.
Sir R. PEEL believed that 10 or 15 per.cent. would
be saved by finishing the work in two years instead of
five, and he therefore did not see why a larger vote
should not be made. He thought the nation would
have more works of art presented to it if had a receptacle
for them.
Mr. HUME said in the way they were going on the
work would not be finished in fifty years.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
would prefer postponing the vote altogether, to making
an increased vote. All that he had taken a vote for
was, for works going on and not those in contemplation.
Mr. BRISCOE thought the Government had acted
with the soundest wisdom and discretion.
Mr. HUME said it had been stated in Committee
that 50,000/. for five years would finish the work.
The vote was then ageed to.
The next was 18,5931. for the expenses of temporary
accommodation to both Houses of Parliament.
Mr. HUME hoped these expenses would shortly be
put an end to. They had been most enormous.
Mr. E WART remarked an item of 1,100/, for taking
up and altering floor cloths.—(Hear.)
The vote then passed.
The next vote was 30,000/. for the new Houses of
Parliament.
Mr. EWART expressed a hope that if 2,000,0001,
were to be expended in rendering the exterior of the
new Houses worthy of the nation, the interior would
equally be adorned by the sister arts of painting and
sculpture, as on the Continent.
Mr. HUME said what he had stated three years ago
had been borne out by the result ; 200,0001. had been
voted for the foundation, 30,0001. more now. It was
to have been finished in three years. The first stone
had scarcely been laid. It would be better to leave all
that was done, and go to another spot. The situation
was disadvantageous—damp, dreary, dark, and dirty.
Whereas, -.had the site been chosen in the neighbour-
hood of the Green Park, the Houses might have had
" daylight all day" (to use a country phrase), and the
edifice would have been infinitely better situated in
every respect. Moreover, he disapproved of the plan
for the interior. The Commissioners for Woods and
Forests had not sufficiently attended to it. It was far
too decorative and ornamental. The building would,
he was assured, be completed five years sooner were
another site selected, and this dark spot on the bank of
the river abandoned.
Mr. BRISCOE hoped the expense would not reach
2,000,0001. The estimate had been 730,000/., and,
subsequently, 1,000,0001. He was not unfriendly to
the arts of sculpture and painting ; but he trusted the
Government were not prepared to go to the extent of
two millions for such a decorative plan as that proposed
by the Hon. Member for Wigan. Might not provi-
sion be made in the new building for • the reception of
gifts in sculpture and painting from the people.
Mr. R. GORDON had no reason to suppose that
the estimates would be exceeded.
Lord G. SOMERSET said it would be pleasant
to hear for how many more years the Houses were to
remain in the present uncomfortable situation.
Mr. GOULBURN wished to know how it was a
little monumental' looking pyramid of Irish stone had
been erected in the College Gardens adjoining_( Hear,
hear)—a rather unfair advantage to the friends of that
species of stone—( A laugh)—which ought justly to be
extended to others.—( Hear.)
Mr. S. O'BRIEN begged to say that this stone
was much better suited for the purpose than that about
to be employed.
Mr. G. KNIGHT said the stone to be used was a
good and durable material ; and one piece of ornamen-
tal arthitecture existed, which had been erected in that
stone, and was of the date of the reign of Williamßufus ;
the decorative parts were yet in beautiful preservation.
—( Hear, hear.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said the Government had adopted the report ot scien-
tifica men, and that should be final—(Hear, hear,)—as
to the little model- -(A laugh)—he really did not
know anything, about it.—(A laugh.)
Mr. HUME remarked that the first contract in the
works was to have been completed in eight months, but
had not been finished for sixteen months. There should
be an annual report of the progress of the works.