The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-01 00:00:00

s:en to inquire into the Crimean report; and no doubt it
was intended to have sat with closed doors, but the popu-
lar feeling was so decidedly against such a course that the
noble lord came down to the house and said it was never

intended to b otheriviso than open. However, as the
proceedings of the cornwissiou were to be open, ho (Mr.
Layard) should pursue a different course to that which ho
should have taken if it had been a closed one. He had so-
ver:4l objections to the commission. One was, that it was
to inquire into and report upon a report. The warrant
stated "that an inquiry should he made by the general
officers hereinafter named into the statements contained in
thane reports, and evidence affecting our officers above re-
ferred to; cud that they aie hereby directed to summon
such persons as may be judged necessary by the said gene-
ral officers to give information upon the said matters; and
tha said general officers are hereby directed to hear and

examine such persons touching the same ; and they are fur-
ther hereby authorised, empowered, and required, after
strut examination into the matters before mentioned, to
make a report thereupon, together with their opinion whe-
ther the said officers of our army above referred to be or be
not responsible to any and what extent for the unsatisfac-
tory condition of our said army, or any portion thereof,
noticed by Sir J. M'Neil and Colonel Tulloch in their
reports, and the evidence thereunto attached." It di-
rected au inquiry into the report which had been accepted
by the Government and made by the men chosen by
the Government. The mode in which Sir John M'Neil
and Colonel Tulloch conducted the examination Was re-
markable. They did not commence by examining general
officers; but they went to the lowest is rank and took the
junior officers first, and then worked their way up to the
higher grades; for they knew that not a single mail among
the junior officers would say a word to contradict the eri-
dance of their superiors in rank. He had read the whole •
of the evidence, and though there was much of it that was
readily given, yet there was much more that many of the
o:ficers were afraid to give. The course which the Go-
vernment was now taking justified those officers iu being
afcail to give their evidence, for no one could assert that
the junior officers would dare to speak the whole truth
before the new commission. Any one who knew anything
of the Horse Guards knew that; and he would appeal to
any officers of the army or of the navy in the Louse to say
whether a junior officer would dare to give evidence to
contradict, that of his senior in rank? He would refer to
a ease which would illustrate the position he had laid
down. Seine time ago there was a rebellion in Ceylon,
aid certain proclamations were issued by a Captain Wat-
son, which were very arbitrary and violent in their lan-
guage, so much so that an inquiry into the matter wa
ordered. Two civil servants in the Madras service—judges,
and mtaa of high character—wore sent to Ceylon to inves-
tigate the subject, and they decided that on the evidence
it appeared that the proclamations were issued by Captai❑
Watson, and that he was guilty of that With which lie had
been charged. The Horse Guards, however, interfered,
and ordered a court-martial on Captain Watson, which
was a second inquiry, and which ended iu his being ac-
quitted ; and yet there was not a man in Ceylon who
knew the facts but knefi that this was all got up, and that
Captain Watson was brought to a court-martial only with
a view to exculpate him in the face of the former inquiry
He objected to the commission alto because of the mode
of inquiry which it involved. The Commander-in-Chief
had said the other evening, in another place, that the
officers in this case ought to have the same powers as the
Crimean Commission. If that was so, was the whole
of the evidence already taken to be gone over egain?—
were witnesses to be called to contradict the assertions
made by those who were mow in the Crimea, without those
persons being heard ? Another objection was, that no oath
was to be taken by the board, or by those whom it was to
examine. He objected also tothe competency of the officers
of whom the beard was composed. He regretted that the
hon. and gallant member for Huntingdon was not in his
place, because ho wished to say to him that he had misun-
derstood what his hon. and learned friend (Mr. Roebuck)
lead said. Both that hon. gentleman and himself would be
the last to say a word against the honour and gallantry of
the hon. and gallant gentleman; and all that was said was,
that the hon. and gallant gentleman had had no experience
iu the field, which the hon. gentleman himself admitted ;
though, with a degree of feeling which properly affected
the house, he had explained how that had happened, and
the efforts he had made to carry out his aesire to see
service. He (Hr. Layard) did not think the composition of
the board was such as would be received with confidence by
the country. There should have been on it such men as Sir
W. Napier and Sir G. Pollock, whe had had large experi-
ence of arms in the field, and then the board would have
created confidence in the public. again, the commission
n•as undoubtedly a reflection on Sir J. M'Neil and Colonel
Tulloch. By the terms of the warrant they were to inquire
into the statements of those gentlemen, and tL at was a re-
flection upon them. Besides all this, it was pu sible that
the proceedings of the commission might be for so long a
time delayed that the house would not be in a position to
take any steps in the matter. The house should be very
watchful on that point ; for on the pretext of sending for
witnesses to the Crimea, and so on, there might be a delay
of months, and until such time as the session was over.
He was sorry to hear the Moverntnent justify the appoint-
ment of this commission by a reference to the commission
which sat to inquire into the Convention of Cintra. Thole
were some remarkable comments made on that commis-
sion, which were illustrative of the present position
of things, and which he would take the liberty of
reading. Mr. Windham was reported to have said as fol-
lows :