The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-27 00:00:00

TO

MINES.

in that river which the Governor wrote to say he
would have removed, and yet Mr. Bruce ordered
the forts to be attacked, by which a loss of 400
British soldiers was sustained, and that loss
; brought on the present conflict. No doubt,
whatever skill and bravery could do would be
done; but when the war would cease no oue
knew. They had, as he already said, au expen-
diture of SO millions, and to meet that they had
only 70, so that there was a deficit of 10 millions
which must be provided for in somo way or
other. The first cause of the expenditure was the
enormous sum of 30 millions voted for the army,
whereas by referring Lack to the administration of
the late Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of Welling-
ton, that expense was as low as 11 millions. A
great cry was raised throughout the country that
they were in danger of an invasion from France,
but he believed such a thing had no foundation
whatever. Let them compare the strength of the
French army with that Of this country. It was said
to be 400,000 men, according to the Emperor's own
statement ; and what had they to meet such a force ?
Why. General Peel—no mean authority, and who'
had been Secretary at War—stated a few days ago
that they had 600,000 men under arms—including
I
250,00 in India—and taking 200,000 British sol-
diers as serving in that country and colonies—they
would have 600,000(- armed men in Great Britain,
including of course their brave Volunteers—(cheers)
—of whom Colonel Tulloh, the Inspector-General
of that body, said they were in many instances
equal to any of their regular forces. (Cheers.) He
believed the Emperor of the French never had the
least idea of invading this country. (Cheers.) He
knew them too well ; and even if' by any chance he
landed a large force he knew from their character
that not °neer his men would ever go hack. (Cheers.)
The next important question was, how were they
to raise the money which was required. They had
a war tax on tea and sugar, and in addition ten-
pence in the pound income tax, which was
exceedingly oppressive. It was peculiarly hard
on those who had only £lOO a year, and although
he used his best endeavours to keep it at £l5O
a year, and divided the house, he had only 25
to support him. (Hear.) He thought Mr. Glad-
stone the ablest financier the country had ever
produced. (Cries of " No, no.") Well, he (Mr.
Williams) :bad studied the history of their
finances for several years, and believed he was the
ablest man who had filled that high position. He
repeated again, that the income tax was a great
grievance, but the House of Commons would never
repeal it until the country demanded it in a manner
that could not be mistaken. (Hear, hear) Then,
again, they had to spend 15 millions on fortifica-
tions, which he opposed as a useless waste of public
money, but it was of no avail. They were aware
that a bill for the repeal of the paper duty passed
the House of Commons, and that it was rejected by
the House of Lords. Such a proceeding was un-
exampled, and if a determined resistance were not
made to that system the evil would become intoler-
able. For his own part, he was determined to give
it every opposition in the next session, and if the
House of Commons and the Government were
honest, they:might laugh at them. As regarded the
freedom of Italy, he had no doubt they would all
concur with the Government, and the letter of Lord
John Russell was really worthy of the country he
served. It almost openly countenanced the move-
ments of that noble-minded man, Garibaldi—
(cheers)—and if the Piedmontese Government acted
as it ought, they would find Italy as free as consti-
tutional England. (Cheers.) Ile thanked them
most cordially for their kind attendance, and for
the patience with which they listened to his obser-
vations.

Mr. GODDARD moved a vote of confidence in Mr.
Williams for his past Parliamentary conduct,
which, being seconded by Mr. STIFF, was carried
unanimously, Mr. Webber having supported the
resolution ; and thanks being returned by Mr.
Williams, the proceedings terminated.

THE ENGLISH GAPTIrEs AT PEKIN.

Mr. William Charles F. Helmuth T. de Norman,
the First Attache to the Hon. Frederick Bruce's
mission to China, who has been taken prisoner by
the Chinese, is the only son of Baroness de Norman,
and cousin of the Marquis of Nortkampton, Lady
Marianne Alford, and Lord William Compton. Mr.
de Norman was for a short period attached to the
British Legation at Washington, and was after-
wards transferred to Berlin. For a short time he
served in the 2d Royal Surrey Militia. On the
declaration of war against Russia Mr. de Norman
proceeded to the East, and .was temporarily attached
with the rank of captain, in Turkey, to the Osmanli
Horse Artillery of the Turkish Contingent; from
April to December, 1857, he was attached to Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Sima,ons, the British Commissioner
for the Turko-Persian boundary. He was after-
wards appointed as Attache at Constantinople, and
on the appointment of the lion. F. Bruce to his
mission to China, in 1858, he was appointed First
Attaché.

Mr. Harry Smith Parkes.—This energetic and
valuable servant of the Crown was employed under '
the late Sir Henry Pottinger in June, 1842, for his
proficiency in the Chinese language. He acted as
interpreter at Foo-chow-foo in 1845 and 1846; as
interpreter at Shanghai in 1848. In the succeeding ,
year he proceeded to Amoy in a similar capacity. In
1851 he was selected to proceed to Formosa to dis-
tribute rewards to the Chinese, and acquitted him-
self greatly to the satisfaction of his superiors. In
August, 1854, he was appointed British Consul at
Amoy, and the following year accompanied Sir
James Bowring to Siam on that gentleman's
special mission. He had the honour to bring the
Siamese Treaty with this country, and to return
with its ratification in January, 1856. On his re-
turn to Canton he was appointed (June, 1856)
Consul, and in September, 1858, he was transferred
to Shanghai. On the Earl of Elgin's reaching
China he was selected as principal interpreter.
Mr. Henry Brougham Loch.—This gentleman,
announced as one of the captives at Pekin, entered
the Hon. East India Company's Bengal Cavalry in
1844, and as an aide-de-camp to Lord Gough served
through the Sutiej campaign. After holding the
Adjutancy of his regiment for three years, he was
appointed second in command of Skinner's Horse
in 1851. He returned to England early
in 1854, and volunteered his services to the army
in Bulgaria. to assist in organizing the Turkish
Cavalry. He accompanied the army to the Crimea,
and was present at the Battle of The Alma. He
resigned his commission in the East India Com-
pany's service and for a time was in the Cheshire
Yeomanry. In April, 1857, he accompanied the
Earl of Elgin on his mission to China, as First
Attache, and was selected by that nobleman to
bring home the Treaty .with Japan, signed at
Jeddo in August, 1858.