The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-18 00:00:00

BIRDCAGE-W ALIT.

Sir DE LACY EVANS, seeing the Noble Lord in his
place, wished to ask whether there would be any objection
to order a flag footway, or of asphalt, on one side of
the Birdwe- walk, for the convenience of foot pas-
sengers, now that her Majt,sty has been graciously
pleased to permit the uninterrupted use of this road to
the public ?
Lord MORPETH said that as the whole of the
country would have to pay the expense, and not the in-
habitants of Westminster alone, it became a matter of
consideration as to how far it should be incurred, though
there was no doubt whatever respecting the utility of
the plan. It should, however, it' possible, be carried
out.

POOR-LAW.
Sir GEORGE GREY wished to ask the Hon. Member
for Montrose (Mr. Hume) whether he intended to press
the resolutions of which he had given notice for to-
morrow. He ought to observe, that the Committee who
had sat had only made a report of the evidence, and not of
their opinion. He was not ashamed to say that he had
not as yet had time to go through the evidence, or to
digest any portion of its contents.
Mr. HUME was quite ready to allow that it was
necessary to have the whole of the evidence carefully
sifted before any decision was arrived at, for the party
who had impugned the evidence of a Committee of which
he (Mr. Hume) had been a member, had stated openly
in Committee that he bad not read a syllable of the pre-
vious evidence. He would, therefore, postpone the con'
sideration of these resolutions till to-morrow week.

SEIKH WAR.
Mr. WARBURTON, seeing the President of
the Board of Control in his place, wished to
read a statement in the Stamford Mercury,
It was a letter said to be received from private John
Lunn, by his father, in Staffordshire, and professed to
give an account of the battles in India. After describing
the engagement on the 20th December, he gives
an account of the proceedings of the army on
the subsequent days. In doing so, this passage
occurs—" Oa the following morning early we
commenced slaying and shooting the prisoners, which
kept us the whole of the day. On the 22d, we
recommenced our march." Now this was a statement so
utterly disgraceful to the British arms, that, if true, the
delinquents ought to be punished with the utmost seve.
rity, and, if false, the report ought to be met by the
most public and unequivocal contradiction.
Sir JOHN CAM 110BHOUSE quite agreed with
the Hon. Member that this a, sertion ought to have
every explanation, and he was happy to say that there
was not a single word of truth in the statement
from beginning to end. Immediately after the engage:
ment the whole of the British surgeons had devoted
all their energies to the relief of the wounded
Shikhs as wed as to their British comrades, very much to
the surprise of the former, by whom such conduct wail
altogether unexpected.
IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDSOR.

In reply to a question from Colonel REID,
Lord MORPETH said that the several plans made
.by_
the surveyor had been referred to the gentlest:tat:ln who
had been usually consulted by his predecessors
red.
matter. This was a large measure, and it
rbcult this
much consideration before it was decided
much he might say, that there was everyti.Pdnicr;
meet the wishes of the inhabitants of Win
noc“
DISTRESS IN IRELAND'Iising to move
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said—
Sir'
in
of the Public
committal
the order of the day fur the cons sition to
Worksoth
er m(elarseulraen land)
fBo
ri lel,
the
emit], sotu
soeb swe rhvi
which
that s
etheree
fizis
Cr;
siderable attention, and on which the Honourable Gen-
sessouneed a motion. It may be
convenient to the House that I should state the in-
tentions of her Majesty's Government on that Bill.
The Bill I allude to is the Arms (Ireland) Bill,
which stands the second on the list. That
Bill was introduced by my Right Hon. Friend near rag
(the Secretary for Ireland), on a ground, which her Ma-
jesty's Ministers agreed—that having very lately come
into office, it has given them many subjects which press
upon their attention, and therefore it was desirable
to obtain the renewal of the Bill until next spring,
in order that her Majesty's Government might Oil'
eider all its provisions, and see whether any °f
those provisions were necessary; whether the **ger°
should be altogether abandoned, or whether any other
provisions should be introduced into the B:11. It ap-
pears to me that that was a reasonable proposition to
make, considering that the systsm imposed a restricticut
upon the possession of arms in Ireland—at e
leat.s
only for the fifty years to which I referred tu
ether day—and which, has been in operatic°
►
almost ever since the revolution in Ireland. But,
when this proposition was made to the House, it aprar a
to many gentlemen that no such Bill ought to be receivei,
without going into the various provisions, and sun
dering whether or not they ought to be receive f
Many Honourable Friends of mine, I find, were fo
that opinion, and stated to the House, on !-e
-
discussion on that Bill, that they were vvi'4,l)l,;
to consider those provisions which seemed, when rip.
Bill was"last under discussion, to be most objectionauip'i
and to withdraw those provisions from the Bill svb:iie
ought not to be continued. But, Sir, on examining
provisions of the Bill, I find that when we have taken
oat the clause which relates to "branding," and have ta>t
out the clause which relates to the police going into hclisils
to search for arms, other, wants unavoidably occer to
to other provisions of the Bill, and it is impossible 0
consider certain provisions of the Bill and object to the,,
and not to be obliged to consider other provisions",
their merits or cut them out altogether. Now, Sir, ,
ought not to continue it on the ground that the Bill
bo taken as a whole, without looking into any more of
various provisions. But on looking further into it, snag
on observing the registration clause, we find that it
of
part of the measure,; one of the strongest provisions
it was introduced to make it effectual, and which is o° r
not indeed tyrannical or coercive, but inutile 10
unnecessary, and an interruption to the peace of nr
country.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.) On consulting 13:1,i
Noble Friend the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who la "f
well acquainted as any man with the usual course °J,
proceeding in Ireland, and the various wants of Irelao
he was of opinion that it was far better to 40:
pense with the Bill altogether than to conti,aorli
it as a principle with any modification.—(Cheerg,
He said that he was perfectly ready to underte.ke
government of Ireland without a continuance case,,1!
the result
measure.—(Cheers.) Now, Sir, such being the I
will not say that I feel no apprehension as t°.
I islation,
of dispensing with this system of eg 0
which has lasted so long, without taking .
longer time to consider, or without espeFla:,
consideration whether this clause relating to the oa..
tpiouruteadti,oaur oafmaremudsedinatlrleelaasntd h
, ssadpanrtotofbeotutreriebgenisnisc;.
with respect to Ireland ; but, as the er-Atte
stands at present, we have these alternatives befell;
us either to dispense altogether with the provisio%
of this Bill on the statute books of Ireland, or, oil
0
other hand, to defend clause by clause the provisions °
the Bill, with such amendments as we may think fleet'
sary. I think the former part of the alternative to
ihr";
the best, and therefore, on further consideration, it is
intention of the Government to drop the Bill.—(0"ee-rer,
Sir, in saying so, I must observe that I have had re•ii;
ence to what has recently come to my knowledge ass
respect to the state of Ireland. I feared that both
regards the trial on circuit in Ireland, and the ca
dinary administration of justice with respect to nth
sons charged with trivial offences—likewise 7.00...
regard to another circumstance—the reports of the
stabulary during the last month—the offences rephgol re_
by that body are greatly on the decrease, anclet op
turns on the past experiments are equally SatiS" parts
That encourages the hope that when Parliamepf the
altogether with these restrictions, we may, 10 air
state of the country such as to enable us finally
as
pense with them. But at the same time I sa''tbat
strongly as possible, that when you consider__ent
the responsibility of her Majesty's Gove;.°sol.
with respect to the safety of life and property
necessarY
is increased, that whatever measures it may be .
for us to demand of you for the maintenance of the aso
isting law, and for the maintenance of peace so
security in Ireland, should be alloso
d wand
far as it may be necessary to _a s
extraordinary powers in order to preserve life anitirot
perty in Ireland. Her Majesty's GovernmeoLlreu see,
shrink from the duty conferred upon them.
pesible
however, confirmed in the hope that it will be
.P.,t the
not to resort to extraordinary measures to res.9lit, ana
liberty of the subject, but that the security of
property in Ireland may be effected by other nr_rvibielt
shall conclude by moving the order of the day !Y_Ttrorla
I have given notice—the committal of the Public T'
in Ireland Bill.—(Cheers.) of her
Mr. HUME approved of the proceeding,__d and
t
Majesty's Government, and hoped that Engle; e
la w•
Ireland would in future be governed by he sam
WELLINGTON STATUE. to
Mr. CRAVEN BERKELEY had great real
to
complain
Wellington of
the
testimonial.con duct
of
to the request of the Noble Lord the Member
the joie
and the lion. Member for ShrewsPorYt t"'
Governmenthe
Noble wiiiut hrdr,,e_s
us:pcze,sedv
ot
13:15,