The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-22 00:00:00

not, of course, be expected to acquiesce altogether in the
view which the gallant admiral takes of the transaction
in question, but that view was so temperately
expressed, and it was so natural that he should desire to
place before the public his own version of the affair, that if
his statement had stood alone I should not have thought it
my duty to take any notice of it whatever. But I must
say I read with some feeling of surprise the observations
which fell from a right hon. baronet, the late First Lord of
the Admiralty, who referred to a verdict which he stated
had been pronounced upon the unfortunate misunderstand-
ing which arose'betwsen the gallant admiral and myself—
a verdict which I have never seen, anctthe grounds of which
Ido not know. It does seem to me to be a most unusual
proceeding, when differences have occurred between two
persons in any position of life, that a verdict should be given
in favour of one of the parties without the other being in-
formed either of the result which has been arrived at or of
the grounds upon which it' is based. (Hear.) I presume
I shall know with the rest of your lordships what the
verdict is when the papers now moved for have been placed
in your hands. Of course Ido not intend to enter into the
question now. I shall only say that I think when those
papers are laid on the table your lordships will see that I
was placed in a position of very great difficulty at the com-
mencement of 1858, with the forces at my disposal reduced
by the demands of India and the requirements of the Canton
garrison, with instructions directing me to obtain from the
Chinese Government concessions which amounted to an
entire subversion of the traditional policy of that great
empire, and with orders to prosecute my mission in com-
bination not only with the representatives of France, with
whom I had always acted, but also with the representa-
tives of two other Powers, Russia and America, who were
still in the position of neutrals, and from whom, if we were
forced into acts of hostility, we must entirely have broken
off. I think you will gather from these papers that I had
some good reason for believing that prompt,'direct, and
energetic action in the shape of a demonetration in the
neighbourhood of the Court of Pekin was the only expedi-
ent which seemed to afford any hope of our being able to
bring to an early close, and without bloodshed, the war in
which we were then engaged with China upon conditions
consistent both with my instructions and with what I be-
lieved to be required by the honour and interests of this
country. (Hear.) I can assure yonrlord ships that when I pro-
ceeded to the north I went in t he firm belief that the gallant
Admiral was entirely cognisant of the policy I intended to
pursue in that quarter, that he thoroughly sympathised
with that policy, and that I might &ant upon his ready and
energetic support. Ido not refer to private communica-
tions which passed between us, and of which no record is
kept, but I had in my possession at the time a despatch, to
which I may now refer, because it is before your lordships—
a despatch written by the gallant admiral in answer .to my
applications for gunboats, not stating that he did not know
the object for which I wanted them, or that the monsoon or
any other difficulty would prevent him from supplying
thorn, but, on the contrary, stating most distinctly that the
subject had been under his consideration for a long time,
that one of the gunboats had already started, and that pre-
parations were being made for others to follow. (Hear,
hear.) The best proof I could give of the entire confidence
which I reposed in the gallant admiral is the fact that I
went to the north, because it would have been an act of
absolute insanity to do so had I not been supported by
him when I arrived there. The admiral arrived and
informed me, on the 21th of April, that so far from
the gunboats being at hand, very few of them had
been ordered to leave Hong Kong, and that those few
would not leave until a period long after that at
which I had been led to understand they were to arrive in
the north. I confess that information filled mo with the
greatest possible disappointment, and it is very probable
that the despatches which I wrote at that time bore the
reflex of my feelings. My disappointment arose from the
fear which I entertained, not only that the policy I was en-
gaged in carrying out in that qUarter would be compromised
by non-arrival of the gunboats, but that the commer-
cial interests, and even the lives of Europeans in the diffe-
rent open ports of China would also be placed in jeopardy ;
because I apprehended that if we made an abortive attempt
of that kind in the north the Emperor would be very likely
to send down word to the authorities in the different pro-
vinces to attack the Europeans in the open ports. Our ap-
prehensions on that head were entirely borne out by what
actually occurred. The Emperor did send down such a
message as I anticipated to the provinces, but it took effect
only at Canton. There the war was revived, and in con-
sequence we were so urgently entreated to send back from
the north the forces we had collected there, on our advance
to Tien-tsin, that we were obliged, as soon as the treaty of
Tien-tsin was signed, to return to Canton. I had, there-
fore, to abandon the intention I always entertained of pro-
ceeding to Pekin myself, in order to deliver to the Emperor
the letter of credence I was charged with. I believe that
to that unfortunate omission the whole of our present dis-
asters are due, because I believe, if I had been able to de-
liver that letter of credence to the Emperor, I should have
been able to have made such arrangements with the Impe-
rial Court as would have disposed of the delicate ques-
tion of the personal reception of the British Minister, and
then none of the difficulties we are now involved in would
have occurred. There is another point I must refer to, be-
cause the misconstruction repeatedly put on it in various
quarters has created, very naturally, a strong prejudice
against me. It has been observed that the despatches to
which I havereferred, which were written home at the time,
were not shown by me to the gallant admiral. That is per-
fectly true. I have been for 17 years employed in the public
service, and I do not think I ever showed a despatch to any
one but the Secretary of State. I am quite sure I never
saw any despatch written to the head of a department in
which my own conduct was commented upon. I have
always regarded a despatch as a confidential communication
which the Secretary of State alone was at liberty to relieve
from the condition of secrecy. But I must solemnly say
that when Admiral Seymour made to me the communication
I have referred to, I stated to the gallant admiral that it
was absolutely necessary, not only for my own vindication,
but also in order that her Majesty's Government might be
in possession of the facts of the case, that I should report in
the fullest manner to the Government the extent to which, in
my opinion, our prospects in the north were compromised
by the failure on his part to furnish me with the armament
on which I had relied. I added that if he had any counter
statement to make, if he thought anything in my conduct,
either in the way of omission or commission, was the cause
of his failure, I begged of him to make a corresponding re-
port to the Admiralty, in order that the whole case might
be before her Majesty's Government. My lords, I state this
on my honour as a peer, and am quite ready to repeat it in
any other more solemn form in which an asseveration can
be made. I ought to add, and it is the only sentence in the
whole of this address which I have any satisfaction in ut -
tering, that, apart from the unfortunate misunderstanding
I have alluded to, and which the looseness and forgetful-
ness pertaining to verbal communications may, perhaps,
explain, nothing could be more loyal, more cordial, more
generous, or more gallant than the support which I received
from the navy dumg the whole course-of my service in the
East. -I must say I think there wara pavfnrrnane..4 the
British navy during that period of a most remarkable cha-
racter. I think the manner in which we visited many parts
of the coast of Japan and the expedition for 600 miles up an
unknown river, without pilot or chart, accomplished both
in going and returning with perfect safety and good order,
were transactions reflecting the highest credit on the gallant
officers who were engaged in them. In alluding more parti-
cularly to these circumstances, I wish to say at the same time
that an equal degree of gallantry and skill was shown by the
whole fleet in all the operations which occurred, whether
belligerent or otherwise ; and I have only to repeat what
I have more than once said in private and official communi-
cations, that to the happy audacity of my gallant friend
Captain Osborne, on board of whose ship I was for 16
months, I was much indebted for the success of my mil-
' sion. (Hear, hear.)
Lord COLCHESTER said that an imputation of the ut •
most gravity had been cast upon the conduct of the gallant
admiral who commanded in China at the time the events
referred to by the noble earl took place. He would not then
go into the question which had been raised ; but he begged
their lordships to suspend their judgment on the matter
until all the papers bearing upon it were before them.
The motion was then agreed to; and their lordships then
adjourned.

HOUSE OF COTTONS—(YESTERDAY,
The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The following bills. were read a second time :—London
and North Western Railway (No. 2) ; London Railway
Depot and Storehouses ; Moy I:Aver Navigation : Conway,
Llanrwst, and Bettws y Coed Railway; Denbigh, Ituthin,
and Corwen. Railway ; and Ulster Railway and Corpora-
tion of B:lfast.

presentation
of ETITIONS.
The
portionspetitoir
thee chiefly in favour of and
against differentanChcellor of the Ex-
chequer's
Budget, occupied nearly
THE BUDGET. hour.
Sir W. MILES said that he intended t ot;nmove the omis-
sion of the 16th and lith elo.uqes of theedgret,i and that
the sum 10d. should be reduced to 9d. (lia
TROOPS ENGAGED IN THE PERSIAN hear.)
TROOPS
Mr. ADAM asked the Secretary of State for India ifA he
R.
would state the substance of any communication which h
had lately received from the Government of India, regard-
ing the payment of extra batta to the troops engaged in the
Persian war; and, whether her Majesty's Government
were prepared now to recommend the payment of such
batta ?
Sir C. WOOD said thnt the Government of India had
recommended her Majesty's Government to allow six
months' donation. If Parliament acceded to that proposi-
tion, no time would be lost in baking a financial vote on the
subject.

OFFICERS OF THE ARTILLERY.
Lord BURGHLEY asked the Secretary of State for
War when the field allowance claimed by the officers of
artillery and of the line, who were sent in the year 1857 to
the attack of Canton, in lieu of the consolidated allowance
which they were ordered in 'April, 1850, to refund, was to
be repaid.
Mr. S. HERBERT said that the allowance in ques-
tion had been granted to some of the officers, and would be
paid to others who might apply for it.
THE VOLUNTEER CORPS.
Col. NORTH asked the Secretary of State for War, if
the fees to be paid by officers of the volunteer cerps for their
commissions will be the same in all counties ; and: if so,
what amount they will be called on to pay.
Mr. S. HERBERT said he had no authority to adjudi •
cate on the question as to what amount of fees should be
paid, but it was intended to pursue the precedent laid down
by his predecessor in office.
ITALY.

Mr. PALK asked the Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs whether a communication, made to her Majesty's
Ambassador, was to the effect that, in the case of annexa-
tion of Central Italy to Sardinia, the French Government
was of opiniun that it would be necessary for France to
have some increase of territory on the side of Savoy : whe-
ther the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs will lay this
despatch and communication upon the table of the house ?
Lord J. RUSSELL said that it would not be convenient
to supply the information required at presext, but he would
do so that day fortnight.
THE ALLEGED BRIBERY AT NORWICH.
Mr. E. JAMES inquired of the Attorney-General
whether his attention had been called to certain proceedings
at Norwich, with reference to the alleged bribery of one
Joel Fox ; and to the refusal of a witness, a magistrate of
the said city, to answer certain quest:es'', on the' ground
that the answers thereto might tend tioolics- criminate himself ;
and to the conduct of certain other ma4lsit
for the adjournment of a charge in which they wserionalvoletginegd
to be implicated.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said he did not think it
necessary to prefer any criminal indictment in the case al-
luded to.
REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, &c. (IRELAND).
Lord D UNKELLIN affired the Chief Secretary
Ire-
land whether her Majesty's- Government proposed to take
any steps towards the promotion of a general system of
registration of births, deaths, and marriages in Ireland
during this session of Parliament.
Mr. CARD WELL said it was intended by Government
to take such steps Odall early day.._
COMMISSION ON ED.UCATION.
Sir J, PAKINGTOX asked the Vice-Frosideut of Cora-