The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-29 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS, F; D. 23.

Their L-mdsliips met at. Five o'Clock.
Lord RE 0E SD ALE presented Ft petition from Upton-
eve- Svere, in favour of Church Extens'on.
SUPPLY OF WATER TO THE METROPOLIS.

Os the motion of the Marquis of WESTMINSTER,
Lord Portmut.„was excused from attendin., in the Com-
mittee riven ILO Supply of Water to the ,Metropolis.
Lord.INSFIBURTON presanted it petition from inha-
bitants of the borough Lf Marylebone, complaining of the
present mode of supply:zg the metropolis with water. The
petiticu was referred to their Lordships' Committee on
that subject.
COSTS IN LIBEL, TRESPASS, &c.

On the motion of the Earl of SHAFTESBUR.Y, the
Ord.•r of the Day for the Committee on Lord D:nman's
Bill for limiting the costs io action for libel, slanfler, awl
trespass, was discharged, and the Bin was orde, ed to be
committed on Tursbday week.
CHURCH INTRUSION.

Tbc Duke of SUTHERLAND and other Peers pre-
sented numerous petitions against the intru,ion of incum-
bents into Scovh parishes against the wish of the parish-
ioners

CHINA.
Lord ELLENBOROUGH complained that papers for
which he had moved, in relation to the affti-s of China, had
not been returned ; and he suggested that as the delay was
°sting to the papers being re quired from different
depertments, the heads of which did not always know
where to send them ; the rule, which was adopted some
years .yo in the House cf Commons, th(de is, to send the
notice for all returns to the Treasury in the first instance,
should be adopted in this House.
Lord MELBOURNE was understood to s:y that Ie
would be fled to accede to any arrangement wei,:h w old
facilitate the return of uny papers required by their Lore-
ships.
THE COMPTROLLERSHIP OF THE EX-
CHEQUER.
The ctrl of RIPON thought it his duty to take an
early opportunity of contradicting a rumour which pre-
vailed respecting tote nen-appointment of
thea genllernar
who was nearly connected with him, tooffice of
i
Comptroller of the Exchequer, that office having been
promised to him. He understood the rumour to be that
a Neble Friend of his, who recently filled the office of
Chancellor of the Exch«tuer, and was now a member of
this Haase, stated although he would be glad to give Mr.
Ellis the appointment in consequence of his connection
with him (Leeei Ripon)' yet for other reasons he did not
thiuk he could recommend that Gentleman to the office.
Now he (Lord Ripon), could give that statement the most
positive contradiction—he could at least state that such
was not the opinion of Lord Althorn, who had as-
sured him in 13.33, of his entire approbation of
Mr. Ellia's fi•ness, and of that gentleman's claims to the
appointment hem his service in that department. Imme-
diately upon receiving Lord Althorpe's assurance, he
(Lord Ripon) wrote to Mr. Ellis, repeating the conver-
sation, and congratulating him upon his having obtained
the appointment. He did not now complain of the nen-
appointment ; but he felt that it was due to the character
of Mr. Ellis that he should take the first opportunity of
euetradieting the prejudicial and unfounded statement.
Lord MELBOURNE said it was very natural the
.Noble Earl should wash to receive some explanation, but
though lie had heard something of the circumstances, he
was not, from the office which he held at that time, in the
slightest degree cognizant of them.
The Earl of RIPON—Oh, no ; certainly not. I
merely wished to make this statement.
Lord DUNCANNON presented apetition from a Com-
pany who had expended the sum of 100,0001., for the pur.
pose of bringing water from the river Coln, by pipes, in
consequence of a Report of a Committee of the House,
praying for a Committee of Inquiry as to the practicability
of doing so, and that they might be heard by counsel be-
fore tie Committee.
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY gsve Notice that he
should, on Tuesday, or, if that day should be inconvenient,
on Thursday next present to their Lordships a petition
from Liverpool relative to the Irish Municipal Corporation
Bill, and that he should, at the same time, in consequence
of what had taken place elsewhere, ask the Noble Viscount
to give some explanation on what principles he meant to
,tsrry on the Cabinet. Ha hoped the Noble Viscount
would show some Ministerial manliness, and would think
that it bet ame him to give their Lordships some little in-
formation as to the composition of his Cabinet.
The Earl of SHAFTESBURY said the Noble Mar-
tinis could not regularly present a petition against a Bill
not before the House.
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said the petition
was not against the Bill, but the general measure.
AFRICAN TRADE.
, Viscount STRANGFORD presented a petition from
all the merchants of the City of London engaged in the
African gum trade, complaining of certain injuries to
which they had been subjected on the meet of Africa by
the French authorities there. The Noble 'Viscount said that
as he should have occasion to advert to it at length he should
now merely move it should be laid upon the table. In the
course of last Session he brought under the considera-
tion of their Lerdehips various injuries upon our
treerqliwon the western coast of America, which
had &IVe inflicted by certain French authorities there,
and the amount of loss incurred in consequence.
From the spirited conduct of the Noble Viscount opposite
on that occasion, and his assurances that the matter would be
taken up as it behoved this couatry to take it up, he (Lord
S.) hoped that the Komonstranees of ch. Government, if
they did not obtain redress fur past injuries and insults, at
least would have prevented them from being renewed and
repeated in a yet more extensive and objection-
able form. ( Hear, hear.) He entertained too
high an estimate of the assurances of a Bri-
tish Minister ever to have believed for one moment
that it would have been his lot, in the very next Session
of Parliament, to present a petition stating that not only
hod those representations and remonstrances been un-
availing as respected the past, but so entirely disregarded
as to Lil in restraining France from making fresh at-
tempts to ruin our commerce and humble our flag. The
petition which he had presented a few moments ago em-
bodied the proof of his assertion, and he would merely ask
their Itaielehips what state of things that must be
when the subjects of the Queen of England, smarting
nader injury, and hopeless of redress, approached that
House with such a prayer as he would proceed to read :
" However deeply your petitioners may feel the importance
of duly protecting and maintaining those settlements (in
Africa), as weil with the view to commerce as for the ex-
tirtetiou of the slave trade—however anxious we may he
to maintain them, as opening up fresh markets for
British enterprise, at a time when new openings for our
1 manufactures are so much required ; yet the neglect of our
own Government, and the losses we have experienced,
and the insults which we have so long suffered from the
French, without any prospect of redress, constrain your
pivitis.ners to pray that a negotiation may be opened
for selling those possessions to that power which appears so
much to court them—a negotiation under which your pe-
titioners may withdraw their property, be indemnified for
lit, or that your petitioners niay oc allowed to remain in
those possesasons under a Government disposed to protect
therm." Now he would as their Lordships what state of
things that could be, when the subjects of the Queen of
England saw no other escape from ruin than by transfer-
ring those possessions to other and more powerful hands
than those to which they at !present below ? The yeti.
tiouers further stated that the French had' possessions on
that coast, of which Senegal and Goree were the most im-
portant, they having been taken from her in time of war,
and reetored on the peace. The petitioners then referred
to the treatment of the ship Highlander by a French force,
which, Ai Is the other insults and injuries the settlers there
ha 1 received, they Attributed to tee want of naval protec
tion. While upwards of twenty ships of war were employ, ei
on the coast, the settlernent oe the River Gambia was fre-
quently left for six months together without a ship of war.
It was througe the inltence of the seitlereent at Gam-
bia that slavery had been put down on that coast, but the
petitioners regretted to find that, accordieg to the last ac-
counts received from that colony, the French authorities
, were throwing es-cry obstacle in their power in the
way of the suppression of the trade—( LI( ar, hear)
—that the trade with the British was of great advantage to
the natives, who received our products ditty free ; whilst
1 the French did every thing to injure the trade, usurping
1 privileges which they refused any tither nation to partici. j
pate in. All that was but part of the series of aggressions
which commenced at Portendhine six years ago, and
which he then t ,ok th- liberty of bringing before the
Eloise. But, bad as were the circumstances ettendire,
i. the eggreseiteae 4t that time, those to which he had ad_
verte.l at present 'were. invested wah a more offensive (-ha
ratter. The port no more bel ,need to the French than
to us—it indisputably belonged to Portu„eril—to a once
prized, once beloved, once ancient ally—as we were wont
to term her, 'in th ese da)a when an insult or a violation of
her territory or indepsnd nee would have e died forth
first, ietdignant remonstrance, and it that failed
h
our prompt and certain veneeence. The French laden
tskea foscible possession of the territory ; becausep
get was a weak and helpless State, and .a(2.)rtud.
ing to the morals and logic of mightier Powers
could he wronged and oppressed with impunity, what
was chivalrous England doing all this time?—( A laueli )
Yes, that was the language of the Noble Vis.touot offset
site, who gave the name of chivalry to the soul luet of his
Government tow-LT.ls Portugal. But the chivalry was the
same as we had displayed towards Brazil, when a portion
of the territory of agnit weak state was ueltrped by France.
When he (Lord &trangford) took the liberty of calling
the attention of the House to that usurp:Hon, the Noble
r.scousit l'aughed outright, and said that he ( Lord Strang_
ford) was obliged to go to very outlandish places for his
rivanees, and took very extraordinary views of the sub_
''cis which he brought before the House. The Noble
iee.ount assured the House that the territory which the
French occupied was extremely small, and was not worth I
talking of. Thst reminded him of the Young lady who,
upon being told that her sister had had a little baby, geld it
was perfectly true, hut that the baby was a very little one in-
deed, such a puny little thing as not to be worth talking of. But the! Noble Viscount's Government would find, like
the young ladies, that the having many of such babies was '
inconvenient, and not reputable: They had. het another
little baby in Mexico, and another in AV ' 1
twins upon the coast of Africa, and A bia"bnyrceal—evetin'e)Yehaar's
of age is Algiers, where his educetnien was now pretty
forward. The Noble Viscount did
fie r' to all this, which showed that lii:sitosriedovlitd7cuir)nm'ootosnk.ra,(,l;iivvy:
was rather relaxed. He (Lord Stran
whether complaints had been made to her A)I
subject of Gambia, nor whether her Majesty }itcitlnswered 1
v had evidenzo
them or net. But this he knew, because l
nioe,
Was,essel of any
of the fact, that no British ship of war,
sort or kind, bearing her Majesty's pennant
those transactions, sent to that place, for the purposeduring
ring
watching over British interests, and protecting airt British
subjects engaged there in lawful commerce. The conts'e_
quence was, that the French had everything their owe
way, recognizing no law but the law of the strongest,
trampling on the rights of Portugal and Britain. And
every nation trading with those settlements. These
things were done in times of perfect peace, which was
more