The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-18 00:00:00

SACRIFICE OF HUMAN LIFE IN DAHOMEY.

Lord FERMOY proceeded to say he had now to call the
attention of the house to a very different subject—he meant
the notice he had placed on the paper with regard to the
very serious sacrifice of human life which was about to take
place in Africa. The noble lord then read the paragraph
which had recently appeared in the newspapers stating that
the King of Dahomey intended to celebrate the religious
rites connected with his father's death by the sacrifice of
2,000 human beings, whose blood he had resolved to trea-
sure until there was sufficient to float a canoe. He thought
that even now there would be ample time to make an effec-
tual remonstrance to the King of Dahomey, because it
would probably take six months or more for the King of
Dahomey to find out where the weak tribes were.
Mr. KINNAIRD jeined his entreaties to those of th
noble lord, that the Government would take some steps bye
ordering the officer in command off the coast of Africa to
try and put a stop to this barbarous custom.
THE SYRIAN MASSACRES.

Mr. KINNAIRD went on to ask the Secretary for Fo-
reign Affairs whether he had made any representations to
the Turkish Government, or taken any steps to influence
them to demand the restoration of the Christian women
carried off and sold by the Druses ? The hon. gentleman
said 3,000 Christian women had been sold by the Druses to
the Bedouin Arabs at the rate of 25 piastres each ; he wished
to ask if the Government had taken any steps to promote
the recovery of these women. Fuad Pasha had been sent
out with full powers to punish the guilty, especially Kur-
schid Pacha. But he (Mr. Kinnaird) had seen a gentle-
man who had just returned from Constantinople, who as-
sured him that Kurschid Pacha, who had been sent home
by Fuad Pacha in disgrace, had been received at Constan-
tinople with military honours.
Mr. C. FORTESCUE was not able to go into this ques-
tion of the slave trade in Dahomey—it was a question for
the Foreign-office. With respeet to the people of Abbeo-
kuta, with whom we maintained friendly relations, and from
whom the supply of victims for these horrid sacrifices were
principally derived, the King of Dahomey had been offi-
cially informed that the British Government would aid the
people of Abbeokuta to resist these incursions, and that
they wnuld biro hoßtilc proceedings against them.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHARITIES BILL—
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE.

Mr. NE WDE GATE complained that the Roman Catho-
lie Charities Bill had been on the paper since the 17th of
May last. This session had been remarkable for the exces-
sive wear and tear of the health of the members of that
house, and on every Government night members had been
kept waiting for this bill to come on, sometimes till four
o'clock in the morning, and he thought it was highly
desirable that some alteration should be made in the
forms of the house in this respect. He strongly ob-
jected to any attempt by a minority to force a bill through
the house by placing it last on the orders, or to place the
house in a dead lock by turning round, when the majo-
rity were in favour of a measure, and resisting its pro-
gress on mere matters of form. There appeared to be cer-
tain hon. members in the house who did not understand
that the majority were to prevail; and he was afraid, if
these exhibitions were to be repeated, that it was possible
for the shadow of the house to legislate in a manner en-
tirely repugnant to the wishes of the main body. The
course which had been pursued was unworthy of the House
of the Commons, and he wished to know from the right
hon. member for Gateshead what part he had taken in it.
Mr. HUTT said he should be happy to give any infor-
mation in his power in reference to the bill. It was in no
sense of the word a Government bill. Certainly the hon.
member for Dundalk (Sir G. Bowyer) who introduced it
had placed his (Mr. Hutt's) name upon the back of it, but
it was done not only without his consent, but in opposition
to a direct request which he had made to the hon. baronet.
(Hear, hear.) He was consequently in no way responsible
for the progress of the measure, but if the hon. baronet
would resign the bill into his guardianship he would en-
deavour to pass it as speedily as possible, and the hon•
member for North Warwickshire should have no reason to
complain of further inroads upon his patience. (Hear.)
THE ACCIDENT AT DOVER.
Mr. H. B. SHERIDAN asked the Secretary for War
whether the gun which so recently burst at Dover had been
inspected by a Government officer with a view of ascertain-
ing whether there were imperfections in the metal sufficient
to account for the explosion which took place; whether
the Government had any means of knowing how often the
gun had been previously fired during the long period it
seemed to have been in use ; whether it was the intention
I of Government to make any investigation, with the view of
deciding, on scientific grounds, how often guns 'of similar
calibre might with safety be fired ; whether Government
supplied to each volunteer artillery corps an efficient officer
at the Government expense capable of superintending and
instructing the volunteers in artillery practice; and whether
it was the intention of Government to aid in the efforts of
the local authorities to compensate the representatives of
the unfortunate persons who had thus lost their lives in
their endeavour to serve their country, relying upon the
supervision of the Government with reference to the mate-
rial supplied.
Mr. S. HERBERT said that as soon as he heard of the
melancholyaccident at Dover he sent down Captain Harvey,
of the Royal Artillery, and the Commander-in-Chief also
sent down an inspector, to make a thorough inquiry into the
matter. Captain Harvey inspected the pieces of the gun,
with the view of ascertaining whether the accident had
arisen from any flaw in the material of which the gun was
composed. Nothing could be more healthy than the ap-
pearance of the various pieces of metal, and there was,
therefore, no reason to suppose that there had been any-
thing so defective in the construction of the gun as to lead
to the belief that it was owing to a flaw in the cannon itself
that the accident arose. With regard to the second point
he might state that the gun was sent from Woolwich a few
months ago for the practice of the Royal Artillery at Dover.
The Royal Artillery had constantly used it, but not to
such an extent as to injure it or to endanger the lives
of those who used it, inasmuch as the number of rounds
fired from it only amounted to 200. A register was kept
of the number of rounds fired from every gun, and,
therefore, it was always known what degree of strain was
placed upon it, and after a certain number of rounds were
fired the gun was put aside as unserviceable. With re-
gard to the fourth part of the question, an officer of the
Royal Artillery was appointed to attend all the volun-
teer corps, and he was not only present on the occasion, but
another officer of the Royal Artillery was also present,
whose duty it was to see that no ball practice commenced
until the volunteers arrived at a proper state of efficiency.
Lastly, with respect to the question as to what the Govern-
ment intended to do in reference to awarding compensation
to the representatives of the unfortunate persons who had
lost their lives, he had inquired into the matter, and if it
should turn out that the family or widow of one of the de-
ceased persons required assistance he had no doubt that the
ease would receive the most favourable consideration at the
hands of the Government. (Hear, hear.)
e SYRIA.
Mr. MONSELL said he wished to learn from the noble
lord at the head of the Government what instructions had
been given to Lord Dnfferin, her Majesty's Commissioner to
Syria, and whether those instructions would be laid on the
table of the house ? Within the last few days a new set of
papers had been distributed among hon. members with
regard to the recent lamentable occurrences in Syria, and
amongst these was a remarkable and able letter from Mr.
Cyril Graham, who had been requ,ested by the representa-
tives of all the European powers to travel through the Le-
banon in order to ascertain what were the real facts of the
case, The scene 4 Mr. Graham described wore each as
er;uld never !awe entered the minds of any hon. member.
The atrocities which had taken place were utterly abomin-
able ; and Mr. Graham stated, in the most clear and dis-
tinct manner, that the Turkish authorities were actually
accomplices in. the perpetration of most of the worst of
them. Whether it might have been possible to prevent
these occurrences, if more attention had been paid to the
circular letter written by Prince Gert-chakoff, in April, he
would not stop to inquire; nor 'whether the negotiations
with France had prevented that Power from interfering in
time to arrest the evil. But it did certainly appear to him
—considering the history of the last twenty years—that
this country was deeply responsible for What had taken
place. (Hear, hear.) What was it that we had done ?
We found Imaum Pacha, Its representative of the
greatest family in the diatrict, governing the country, if
not well, at all events ih such a way as to have prevented
these terrible and horrible scenes. We, in opposition, cer-
tainly to France, and, he believed, to some of the other
European powers, recommended a different system of govern-
ment, namely, that there should be a chief over the Druses,
and a chief over the Maronites, and a Turkish pacha over all.
We were warned by M. Guizot and M. Thiers, who was then
Prime Minister of France, what the effect of this must be,
chtuarging suzeraintyinto sovereignty; and he recollected the
"-teed s-o
lamentable a re
gallant admiral below him (Sir C. Napier), who took 'lot
in the proceedings of 1840, stating at a meeting
in In 1845 that he felt it a disgrhaaede t.sotaactek:otwhla: a b
ahs.
n ure:
)1: of this country in 1840. gLword
-age ItVll, :taken
part in a transaction which had prod
vMernonmseelln
warnin
Aberdeen; in 1844, rifistinctly recognised our responsibility,
and in 1845 and 1847 scenes on a smaller scale, but still
gsulivet.n toliteh(eMGre.
terrible scenes, took place in Syria, the Turkish pacha being
undoubtedly an accomplice. What he (Mr. Monsen) now had
is ask +le noble lord at the head of her Majesty's Govern-
IT;lnt was, whether, it having been found that the system
then adopted mainly through the influence of this country
had utterly and completely failed, the commissioners who
were iow sent from the different powers of Europe had
among their instructions any direction to reconsider this
question, and to see whether Syria could not be placed in
a position more free from the tyranny of the pacha, and
more in that position which it occupied in 1840. (Hear.)
Sir C. NAPIER observed that what the right hon.
gentleman had stated was quite true. He had stated at a
meeting in Edinburgh, and subsequently in the House of
Commons, that he felt ashamed at the part he had taken in
Syria. They were sent there, and they performed the duty
imposed upon them. He was instructed to hold out induce-