The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVEN LNG, APRIL 26, 1856.

of St. Martia-in-the.Fields against the Metropolis Local
Management Act.
THE NATAL REVIEW.

yards, as well as in the yards of private contractors, to
construct a large number of vessels of war, and so far as
the Admiralty were the means of calling those exertions
into action we thought we had every reason to be proud of
what was done, and were naturally anxious to exhibit to
the Legislature and the country the result of our labours.
Every precaution which we could take was adopted in order
to enable everybody who went to witness that result under
the charge of the Admiralty to see it to the greatest possible
advantage ; but I must beg hon. gentlemen to recollect that
there were two things—time and tide—over which we had
no control, and that over the arrangements with respect to
the means of conveyance from London to the point of em-
barkation our authority was but of a limited character
We did all that was in our power to provide that proper
arrangements should be adopted by the railway company
for the conveyance of the members of both Houses of Par-
liament, but it was not for us actually to carry out those
arrangements. It was at first intended, as hon. members
are aware, that the review should take place more than a
week ago. Bat we found that, from the state of the tide,
arrangements could only be adopted by commencing the
proceedings at so early an hour in the morning that per-
sons anxious to go to see them from London should leave
it shortly after midnight ; and it was accordingly resolved
that the review should be deferred until last Wednesday.
In order to meet the requirements of the tide it was ne-
cessary that a period of about six hours should be as-
signed as the limit between her Majesty's embarka-
tion and her disembarkation at Portsmouth ; and on
Wednesday last those six hours must have been the
hours between eleven and five o'clock. I will now proceed
to state what were the arrangements which we made for
the accommodation of the members of the two Houses of
Parliament upon the occasion ; and in doing so I will
THE MARS DEBATE. endeavour to answer the objections which I find I have
Mr. J. G. PHILLIMORE said it was his intention
already been made to the course which we adopted. The
first of tese obectionsis that the memers of the two
to move an amendment to the motion of the hon. mem-
ber for Enniskillen, to the effect that the disregard by
houses were sentj to Southampton and notb to Portsmouth.
Lord Stratford de Redcliffe of the directions of General
(Hear.) Well, I can only say that the simple reason which
Williams was the cause of the calamity. induced us to make that arrangement was that we believed
COMMUNICATION WITH DUBLIN. it would promote the convenience of the members them-
Mr. H. A. HERBERT asked whether there was any selves. The two ports of embarkation ware Portsmouth
prospect of the proposed arrangements for accelerating and Southampton ; and it was manifestly advisable to di-
the postal and passenger communication between London vide the visitors between them. Now we believed that
and Dublin being completed; and whether any proposals the far larger crowd would assemble at Portsmouth. That
had been made to the Government by the Leaden and was the port which the friends of the various officers of the
73etwteoruldesbeosfurehto
%select. Ido
North-Western, and the Chester and Holyhead Railway
efleeto t
icannod the
atv ee believeda
eii
ort
Companies, and the City of Dublin Steam Packet Cora-
would be the the comparative numbers embarking barwkinaet
puny, for such acceleration, or by the Government to than the fact that while we provided 23 steamers for spec-
the tutors at Portsmouth, we provided six only at the said companies for the same purpose; and also
South-
whether the Secretary to the Treasury would have any ampton. There was, thus far, less risk of being incon-
objection to lay on the table of the house copies of any venienced by-the pressure of the crowd at the latter than
memoranda, letters, or proposals that had passed be- at the former port. Then there was another consideration
tween the Treasury, the Post-office, and tae said coin- which influenced us in the choice that we made. At
panies on the subject of postal and passenger communi-
Portsmouth the distance from the railway station to the
ca-ion between London and Denim since the issuing of
wharf is at least half
a mile or three-quarters of a mile.
(An hon. Member said it was a mile.) Well, I believe it
a Treasury minute, dated Oct. 19, 1855 ! is near a mile. But at Southampton the distance from the
Mr. WILSON said up to the present time no corn- railway station to the wharf is only 200 or 300 yards. I
munication had taken place between the Government remember that at the naval review two years ago, visitors
and the railway companies. There had been some de- experienced no inconvenience either in the railway trains
lay, but he thought the time was come for the Govern- or in the vessels, and that the only anuoyaace they had to
meat to propese a tender upon the subject to these corn- encounter was the difficulty of getting from the railway
panies. There was no correspondence on the subject to to the point of embarkation ; and any difficulty of that
produce. kind would necessarily be much less at Southampton than
at Portsmouth. The last consideration which induced us
WILLS AND ADMINISTRATION BILL. to prefer Southampton to Portsmouth for the embarka-
Mr. PHILLIMORE asked whether it was intended tion of the members of the two Houses of Parliament
to proceed with the Wills and Administration Bill this was, that it was nearer London. I must observe. that
session 1 . while we were anxious to consult as much as possible
The SOLICIT° ReGENER-A-Te said it undoubtedly the convenience of the members of the two houses, we
was their intention to proceed with the bill, and as early del not consider it part of our duty to provide them
as it was possible, with a passage from the railway station to the vessels
in which they were to embark ; but we felt that the shorter
REWARD FOR SERVICES IN THE TRENCHES, that passage was the more would it save them from being
On the motion for the adjournment of the house, incommoded. We naturally concluded, therefore, that they
Mr. 0. STANLEY asked the Under Secretary for would find Southampton, where the distance from the raia
War, if any distinguishing mark of honour or reward tvly
convenient
ot Iti eo
fwehma
embarkation
t?enal only Zia o}!:03r Ot
Portsmouth,
yards,ati a e
. moree
waste be given to those officers and men who had
the distance the railway station to the wharf was
''
been engaged in the arduous duty of the trenches, nearly a mile.
and attacks upon the enemy's works during the Col. NORTH here asked why the members of the two
siege of Sebastopol ; or if it was intended that houses were not accommodated at the Clarence Dockyard
the Crimean medal and Sebastopol clasp which at Portsmouth ?
were bestowed upon all, however employed, was Sir C. WOOD resumed—The Clarence Dockyard was
()triune who immediately accompanied her, and if that
to be the only mark of the enduring constancy displayed reserved exclusively fo: the use of her Majesty and the
had been Open to other persons, we could not
dbyangtherosseoigtahtalatnptronti?all the hardships and
dockyardP
have secured that accuracy of time for her Majesty's ember-
Mr. F. PEEL said it was intended that the Sebasto-
reancted through
siege
potion which was
pol clasp should serve this amongst other purposes, and
proposed review, absolutelywhichmes,esasesntiailiaivne caarirreyi ng out he
reward those who had contributed towards the reduc- have taken place between the hours of eleven and five
tion of thateplace, and of those none had contributed o'clock in the day time. Southampton had for all these
more to wareles% it than those officers and men who had reasons been selected as the port of embarkation for the
done duty in the trenches. members of the two Houses of Parliament; and I must hero
THE MILITIA. obsei ve, that when I informed the house on a preceding
Lord C. HAMILTON asked the Under Secretary of evening of that selection I heard no objection whatever
State for War the intentions of the Government as to made to it. I now come to the vessels we had chosen for
the constitution of the permanent staff of the militia, in conveying the members of the two Houses of Parliament.
the event of that force being disembodied ? These were the Transit for the members of the House of
Lords, and the Perseverance for the members of the House
Mr. F. PEEL said the question how the permanent of Commons. An hon gentleman had asked a question with
staff should be composed, and what allowance or gra- respect to the latter ;easel, which was calculated' to create
uity should be granted to certain regimental officers of some alarm. 1 answered that question to the best of ne y
Militia, was engaging the attention of the Government. ability; and I made a statement which I think must have
As soon as their determination had been decided on, been satisfactory to the house in respect to the perfect sea-
the Lord Lieutenant and the Commanders of regiments worthiness of that ship. When a similar question was put
should be made acquainted of it, and by that means by another hon. gentleman, I made an answer which, lam
made known to the public. sorry to find, has been considered by some hon. members
to have been ueeoarteous. I certainly did not mean to
MASTERS OF THE ROYAL NAVY. have been discourteous upon the occasion, and all that I
Mr. LA.YARD called-attention to the return that stated was, that if hon. gentlemen knew one-tenth part of
had been laid on the table of the house as to the inac- the trouble to which we had been put in that matter, they
curacy of that return with reference to the promotion would make some little allowance for us, and not repeat
of the masters of the Royal navy. By that return the names questions which, as I thought, had. al-eady been fully
of two distinguished officers of that class had been answered. I hope those hon. members who were on board
omitted. He supposed they would have a supplemental the Perseverance on Wednesday last had no reason to
complain of the complete efficiency of that vessel, and that
list correcting the error, and that it would be laid on they will admit that, as far as she w•at, their comfort had
some poor clerk, who would be made the scape-goat. been provided for while on board of her. (Hear, hear.) I
Mr. B. OSBORNE expressed his regret that the hon. find from a report of Commander 111`Donnell, 'who corn-
member for Aylesbury had not accepted his explanation mended the Perseverance, that she arrived. at Southamp-
of regret at the error, but that he should have seized ton at half-past six o'clock in the evening (en Hun. Mern-
that moment when the Admiralty were a little unpopu- ber here said "Seven o'clock")—that she arrived at
lar—(loud laughter)—to make this attack on them. The Southampton at half-past six o'clock, and that every mein-
error arose not from the neglect of a clerk, but through bar had left her before seven ; and considering the 'la-
the over anxiety of a gentleman at the head of a depart- fortunate delay that had taken place in her departure,
I think it will be admitted that she was as little behind
meat to produce them as speedi.y as possible, and he
had been subject to a serious jawbation (laughter) for it. vtiemsseelasecmould have been expected on her return. The
employed fur the conveyance of the members of
THANSGIVING FOR PEACE. the House of Lords was the Transit. Now .it is
Mr. BYNG called the attention of her Majesty's Go- perfectly true that the Transit was the vessel
vernment to the statement, made on Monday night, in the boiler aof which a leakage had occurred when she was
that, while no day of thanksgiving or special form of heandypeyuitnign into 1121;rets7eipaset000stehe Metleiteorfratnheaatinleaankd
leakage.
shei
prayer has been proposed on toe restoration of peace, hoe. friend (Mr. Lindsay) seems to think that. because My
inasmuch as the conditions of the said peace have not vessel once met with an accident,. no matter how well she
as yet been formally ratified, preparations for expendi- might after wards have been repaired, she must for the fu-
ture, on a large scale, have been authorised by the See- ture be considered utterly inefficient for the performance
rotary of State for the War Department in celebration of any duty. Now, I should have theught my hon. friend
of the above event. must have known better than that. The accident had hap-
Sir G. GRE 'it was sorry his former statement had paned to the boilers of the Transit somewhere about a
been misconstrued, and explained that no such day had year ago, and ,ince that time she has undergone complete
even been named for a thanksgiving until niter the ratifi- repto.f
krhehwiaasstrepdrted perfectly fit for service on the
with the single exception that one or
cation of peace. Communication had been had with the 25th
of her. air-pumps,
_ware affected, but that circumstance
Archbishop of Canterbury respecting it, and at the ap- in no way• •
injured her boilers. The only result of it would
pointed time it would be announced to the country. bs that it would reduce her speed. (Laughter.) lam not
EMBARKATION OF TROOPS FOR CANADA. going to conceal anything—that it would reduce her speed
Mr. LAING asked the First Lord of the Treasury for from li knots to 10 knots an hour. But that matter
some explanation as to the intention of the Government had been considered of such slight importance that she
of sending troops to Canada ? was reported fit to go to the Crimea ; and she would
Lord PALMERSTON said he disclaimed any respon- have gone to the Crimea—(hear, and much laughter)— and
more than that, she will go there—(renewed laughter )
y sibility of information circulated through the newspapers) and I have not the slightest apprehension that her engines)
which he characterised as a left-handed official source. or her machinery will not be found in the most efficient
The statement that 10,000 men were going to Canada condition. It has been said that some part of her engines
was a gross exaggeration, and if they were so, he doubted or her machinery had been found defective on Wednesday
if any man could eeriousiy believe the Government con- —and this morning, after having learnt that that state-
templated an invasion of the United States. When meat was made, I telegraphed upon the subject both to
the war commenced, being on a low peace footing, it Capt. MtDougall at Southampton, and to Sir G. Seymour
was necessary to strip the colony of almost every avail- at Portsmouth, and I find from the answers I received
able man, and amongst the other places, they
from them that there is no defect in the machinery of any
'
sort or kind. That which really did happen to her on
taken from Canada and our wide-extended North were
Wednesday was, her fires were let out. (Loud laughter.)
American provinces. The war being over, it was the I perfectly agreethose who h
with think that that could only
intention to replace the number that had been taken have occurredthrough soreerotssin
negligence
on the part
from them, and it was proposed to send back of the persona in charge of the vessel; but I believe the
about 4,000 men to be scattered over that wide ex- house will see that it would be impossible to expect that
tent of territory—(hear, hear)—for the protection of the the Board of Admiralty should have issued any order for
inhabitants. He thought there was no cause of alarm, preventing such a casualty. (Hear.) It is only fair to the
and that none ought to be raised, at the Government commander of the Transit that I should here state what is
doing that which was the duty of a prudent Government the character he has acquired. The hon. gentleman the
to do to protect its colonies. If there had been a re- member for Northamptonshire (Mr A. Stafford) spoke the
port circulated that the Government was about to send
other night in terms of high praise of Commander M'Don-
-10,000 men to Costa Rica to suppert Gen. Walker, as the nell, wth-e---
wasin
Tamtzand of the Perseverance ; andd r olf cante
hon. gentleman had stated, he (Lord Palmerston) had assure
Transit, i s
ant
house
officer of aapstiiiJohhnsohn, thiz3croamsmaniee
any the Ber-
net seen it, and so far from its being true he authorised vice. He served in the most istaineguaristd manner underan
the hon. gentleman to contradict it in his (Lord Pal- hon. and gallant member of that house (Sir C. Napier, we
merston's) name. (Hear.) - believe) in the Syrian campaign ;he commanded a ste alter
THE PEACE. in the Pacific for three years, where he had greatly distin-
guished himself by his good conduct, and where he notonly
Lord LOVAINE complained that the country should met with the approbation of the Admiralty, butreeeived the
be called on to celebrate the conclusion of peace by a thanks of the British merchants trading along the coast of
wasteful expenditure of the public money in a die- California, and of the London Lloyd's. He was selected by
play of fire works before the house and the a private company to command a large steamer, and he
country were aware of the terms of that peace, and he continued in that position during the first year of the war;
proposed to submit a motion thereon, which was ruled after which, being anxious to return to the Queen's service,
by the house to be out of order, when the noble lord his request upon the subject was acemted, and he wee ap-
moved, as an amendment, that the house did not ap- fohosinterto th
ise command of the fraensit. I did
en; believe
an officer of highe har act er i the whole
prove of the means adopted for celebrating peace pre- e-
navy. Of course, however, the fires of the Transit could
vious to a day of general thanksgiving. only have been let out, on Wednesday last, by a gross piece
The SPEAKER ruled the noble lord was out of negligence; of
and I have sent down an order toelay by
order, telegraph, that an inquiry should beinstituted into the case.
Lord LOVAINE then gave notice that he would But there was no defect whatever in the machinery of the
move it on another day. vessel. It was essentially necessary for the accommodation
Colonel NORTH said that the opinion of the noble of the members of the two Houses of Parliament that they
lord was in accordance with that of the majority of the should have large vessels at their disposal. The review of
members of that hou-e. (Hear.) He thought there 1854 had been held in the summer, and the Admiralty
should be a day of general thanksgiving before any had not thought it necessary upon that occasion to make
public rejoicings for the restoration of peace. any provision against bad weather; bat we felt that for a
review to be held in the month of April such a provision
THE NAVAL REVIEW. ()right to be adopted. We therefore procured vessels in
which the visitors would find ample accommodation below
Mr. LINDSAY asked the right hon. baronet (Sir the decks if they s uld be driveu there by wet weather.
Charles Wi.od) fur an explanation of the mismanage- than, again, atthhee review of 1 -54, the number of tickets
ment at the naval review. He wished to know if the issued omembers of the House of Lords was 150;
Transit, put at the disposal of the members of the other on the present occasion the number was 400. In
house, was the vessel that broke down some short time 1854 the number of tickets issued to members of the
since, and had to put into Plymouth ; then afterwards House of Commons was 220; on the present occasion
broke down, and bad to put into Brest ; and after that the number was 450. In point of fact tickets were issued
broke down, and had to put into Gibraltar? (Laughter.) to every member who applied for them. It was, therefore,
:provide laiger vessels than those
Sir C. WOOD—I waited, sir, until the last moment e s essentially necessary to
employedi
in
til3
year
1851.
So much for the reasons whic
previous to your putting the question in order that those influenced the Admiralty in selecting Southampton as the
hon. gentlemen who desired to make any explanation upon port of embarkation for the members of the two Houses of
this subject might do so before I rose to offer any explana- Parliament on Wednesday last, and in selecting the Per-
severance and Transit for conveying them. If the house
me, I real tothemthe or lets which
tissue in connection with it to thehouse. I from the first will bear with will
intended to make such explanation, and I am glad that the , the Admiralty issued fur the purpose of providing proper
opportunity for doingso has presented itself this evening.- I i accommodation for the Lords and Commons on Wedues-
trust hon. members, then, will afford me their attention I day last, and I think these orders will show that we were
guilty of no negligence in the matter. These were the
while I enter at some length • to a defence of the board of '
in orders which we forwarded to Sir G. Seymour, the corn-
which I have the honour to be a member, and into a state- - naand • -Portsmouth eron-in at :—
meet which I feel to be necessary for the satisfaction of the i
1 " Her Majesty's steamer Transit will embark the House
house, in relation to the occurrence which took place on , of Peers, and the Perseverance the House of Commons, at •
Wednesday. Butl can assure hon. members that no one can ' Southampton, at nine o'clock a. m on the 23d inst. Both
more deeply regret those occurrences than the Board of I ships to be there early on the 22d, or on the previous day.
1 The commanders of these vessels are to direct the military,
Admiralty, inasmuch as no persons had so great an interest
' stewards to provide breakfast, and also a cold collation
dur-
in the general success of the splendid demonstrations which I ing the day, to include sherry, beer, and soda water, for the
we had been mainly instrumental iu callinginto existence. following number of persons, and at the exl arise of the Ad.
We should regret those occurrences the more if we had not , miralty—Trausit, 400 persons ; Perseverance, 450. The ne-
taken every means in our power to cause everything con- ; cessary plates, ere., must bo hired for the occasicn. The spare
spars, &e., are to be landed from these vessels to afford more
nected with that review to pass off as well as possible; and
space, and tables are to be on the main decks also platforms
I think, at all events succeeded in ', we have
the count u
ry eas good reason to be proud of that display of be on hoard, Sir G. Seymour to give the necessary orders,
her naval strength which on Wednesday was exhibited, and my lords trust the commanders of these vessels will give
Great exertions were matte in her Majesty's natal building every assistance in their power to carry out the proposed ar-

Mr. PALS wished to a-k the Secretary of the Ad-
miralty whether he would state to the house the number
of tickets issued to the clerks of the Admiralty, and
whether those tickets were transferable ?
Mr. B. OSBORNE said the First Lord of the Admi-
ralty would be in his place shortly, when he would give
an explanation on the subject.
ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION.
Lord J. RUSSELL brought up the report of the
Committee on the Ecclesiastical Commission.
THE NATIONAL GALLERY.
- -

Mr. WELLS asked whether the Government had
come, or was about to come to any decision as to
the removal of the National Gallery of Pictures from
Trafalgar-square to the site recently purchased at
Brompton, in accordance with the recommendation of
the committee of 1854 ; and whether any, and, if so,
what opportunity would be afforded to the house of ex-
pressing its opinion on the subject of that recommenda-
tion?

Lord PALMERSTON—The matter has been for four
months under consideration of a committee of this house,
and the result arrived at by that committee was that the
present site was injurious to the pictures. The recommenda-
tion of the committee was that the collection of pictures
ought not to remain open to such injury. The commit-
tee also recommeeded that the gallery should be trans-
ferred to the site purchased at Knightsbridge as soon as
it was possible. The Government intended to abide by
that recommendation. It was therefore the intention of
the Government to obtain plans and estimates for the
erection of a suitable building. As the house would
have to vote the necessary funds, the whole subject
would therefore be brought under the consideration o"
the house.