The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-16 00:00:00

THE ATTACK ON THE REDAN.

In answer to a question from Mr. LAYARD,
Mr. F. PEEL stated that' Generals Codrington and
Wyndham, and other officers who took part in the attack
on the Redan, bad made a report to General Simpson, on
which he founded his report, and which it was not
thought necessary to send home with the official re-
port. The reports of the above officers to General Simp-
son had bee❑ received by the Government, but they did
not deem it advisable to publish them.

OUR AMERICAN RELATIONS.
On the motion for the house going into a committee
of supply,

Mr. ROEBUCK rose and said, that in bringing forward the
motion of which he had given notice, it was incumbent on
him to make an apology to the Imuse. It bad been stated
by the Government, through the medium of the noble lord at
its head, that the reason why the question did not appear in
the Queen's speech was, that as negotiations were going on,
they could not in fairness bring forward the whole case. On
that position the noble lord appealed to the house and said,
" Do you think in that state of things I ought to have men-
tioned it to the hOuse, and have brought forward an incor-
rect statement of the affairs in question ?" Now he (Mr.
Roebuck) quite concurred with the noble lord that to have
done so would have been wrong ; but as he believed that
silence might lead to that conclusion, he was dateniined to
break that silence. It appeared to him that before the pub-
lic of this country there was a most incorrect statement of
affairs; and he held in his hand the means in some degree of
dissipating that ignorance, and of making this country ac-
quainted with the whole state of affairs. It was his intention
to give to the nation at large a correct statement of facts.
The noble lord had said that he had done all that a man of
honour could have done in the case between us and America.
That we had apologised and expressed our sorrow for haying
trenched on the law of America. Now if the facts were so
he (Mr. Roebuck) would be the first to support the noble
lord and his View of the case, but he believed they were very
different, and he had come forward on that -occasion to en-
lighten the ignorance of the world upon the matter, an igno-
rance which had been fostered by holding back all that mili-
tated against England to show that she had right on her side.
and that, in fact, our cousins on the other side: of the water
were taking advantage of our position, and endeavouring to
force us, against our will, to make a sort of supplication to
them for peace when we were in the right. Now what wa the
state of the case ? It was this. After the passing of the act for
foreign enlistment, the Government determined to enlist in
America. Being unable to intercept the emigration from
Germany to America they went to America herself, and they
gave instructions to our authorities there to form a foreign
legion to be composed of persons enlisted iu America. The
person employed was our Minister at Washington, Mr.
Crampton, and he was one of the persons ; the Governor of
Nova Scotia and the Governor-General of Canada were the
others. All three persons received instructions. Tiie noble
lord had said that as soon as the Government had discovered
that by so doing they had given umbrage to the American
Government they gave instructions to our Minister to offer
the fullest apology. The noble lord said, "Could we do
more ?" If they had not done more, he (Mr. Roebuck) would
have answered the appeal of the noble lord, that nothing
more could be done. But they bad done more, and le would
state that Mr. Crampton went from Washington to Nova
Scotia, tnd there drew up a sort of combination, with. the
concurrence of the Governor of Nova Scotia, by which the
law of the United States would be contravened surreptitiously,
by which to obtain that which he dared not do openly. He
could. prove directly all that he ass r':,ed. He would, state to
the house the American law on the subject. It was illegal iu
the United States to enlist anybody there for a foreign state.
The parties accused had done something more than that.
Any person going to the United States, and inducing people
to leave the States foe the purpose of being enlisted, did so as
contraventors of the law. This Mr. Crampton had done. Ho
had induced people to go to Nova Scotia to be enlisted.. He
thought the American Government would not discover what
was taking pinto/but they did do so, and he issued a pro-
clamation front Nova Scotia, suggesting the means of
avoiding the law of the States, and giving the parties
whom ho employed a cipher by which to communi-
cate with him. He (Mr. Roebuck) held in his hand a curi-
ous document. It was the report of a case that was tried,
the United States being the prosecutors, against one Henry
Howes. The indictment possessed this peculiarity, it was in-
telligible. In the course of that case a statement was made
by a gentleman who was the Attorney-General for the dis-
trict, and who gave out that he was authorised to act as a
recruiting-sergeant, and that he had been to Nova Scotia, and
received from Mr. Crampton a paper which shows the decep-
tion that was practised. That paper professed to be for the
guidance of those who were to communicate.to persons in the
United States the conditions on which recruits would be re-
ceived into the British service. First, that parties who should
go to Detroit, Buffalo, or New England must carefully refrain
from anything that would be contrary to the laws of the
United States. Just as if you told a man to• put another
under the pump, but be sure to avoid committing an assault.
This, however, showed that the law of the United States was
well known, and that the ,acts proposed to be done were in
violation of it. Next, there was to be DO embodiment or or-
ganisation attempted within that jurisdiction—and yet peo-
ple were persuaded to go there. Again no contract, ver-
bal or otherwise, was to be entered into. Now, suppose we
sent over to Germany, or elsewhere, and gave out that at a
certain place a railroad was making, and men were wanted
as " navvies," but at the same time intimated that they
would receive thirty dollars bribe if they enlisted (and en-
listing iu the British army was contrary to the law of the
United States), what would be thought of that, especially
with such a proviso as this :—" Tho terms are to be stated as
matter of information only, and not as a promise of pay-
ing ?" Was that consistent with the greatness and dignity
of the British Empire ? Ought we, as honest men, to put
forward such statements as that? Again—the instructions
went ou to say—" It is essential to success that no meetings
be held at beer-houses, or places of that sort, inasmuch as the
attention of the American authorities would be inevitably
called to such proceedings, and they would be called attempts
to carry on recruiting in the United States." Again—he (Mr.
Roebuck) would ask was that a creditable display of English
honour, or in accordance with British honesty, thus to treat
the laws of a friendly power ? Further,, it was to be borne in
mind, that,legal proceedings, even if the parties eluded the
penalties, would be fatal to the whole measure of enlistment ;
a direction which clearly showed a consciousness of acting
contrary to the law. The evidence then went on—" The paper
you have just read was copied from the original in the hand-
writing of Mr. Crampton ?—Answer : It was.—And what
then ?—At this very time I received this cipher upon the sub-
ject of the recruiting business, I cannot swear whose writing
it was, but I believe it was Mr. Crampton's. I did not see
him write it, but he handed it to me." And then the cipher
was given in. Now a war between this country and the United
States would be a war between brethren, the evils of which
would surpass anything the imagination could conceive.
Should it be said that two great nations like these could not
live in the world at peace without one of them seeking to
break the laws of the other, regardless of honour, justice, or
truth 7 We had been told that through ignorance we had
committed a breach of the American law, and that we had
since made every amend that honourable men should or could
make ; but what would the world say when it was clear we
had done this thing with our eyes open, attempting ail the time
to-evade laws that we pretended to respect ? The simple ques-
tion was, were" those facts or were they not. As for the report
itself, it was a disgrace to the United States, because it
evinced throughout a violent hatred of England, and it is not
worthy of regard. But, on the other hand, it did contain
documents written by Mr. Crampton, and statements, still
uncontradicted, strongly reflecting on the British Govern-
ment. What' e (Mr. Roebuck) now wanted distinctly to know
was, what were the instructions given to Mr. Crampton. It
was there said that he was told not to break the law, and in
the same breath that he was to enlist men, which was clearly
a breach of the law; and also that in conjunction with Sir
Gaspard le Merchant, Sir E. Head, and SirJ. Howe, gentle-
men well known in Nova Scotia, a plan was laid by which
the law could be safely broken, and 30,000 dols, spent in. en-
: listing men who were afterwards discharged, which men could
, have been got elsewhere for half the money. It might be asked
what good would result from that motion 7 (Cheers from the
Government side.) lie perfectly understood that cheer, but he
wanted his question answered, and he would answer it him-
self. lle wanted such an expression of opinion from that house
as would convince the people of America that the English na-
tion wls no party to these dishonourable proceedings. (Cheers.)
To show them that we feel we are brethren, though the broad
AtlantiC divides us, that we sympathise with them in all their
generous feelings, that we are running the race of civilisation
and improvement with them, and not competing as hostile
races, that we are striving together for the general good of hu-
manity, and believe with their aid that the g; cat work may be
accomplished, and that we feel that a war with America would
retard the advancement of mankind for centuries. The hon.
and learned gentleman concluded by a wish that some member
had taken up the question who could have done more justice
to it, 'but his feeling was so strong, and his heart so largely
interested in promoting the cans: of humanity, that he could
no longer resist bringing forward what he considered at pre-
sent
as
h e
move(slightly
misconduct:af
altering
.BritishteemsGove of
fmbei t.
original H would
therefore
mo-
tion) for copies of the instructions upon this subject that had
been foiwarded to Mr. Crampton.
Mr. H ADFI ELD seconded the motion,
Lord PALIKERsToN—Sir, the hon. gentleman who has
made this motion began by reproaching and condemning her
Majesty's Government for not either having mentioned in the
Queen's speech, or laid papers upon the table of this house in
allusion to the differences between this country and the United
States upon the subject Of the foreign enlistments. Now, in
the first place, I beg to remind the house that the American
Government itself---

Mr..ROEBUGK—I beg tho noble lord not to misappre-
hend me. I found no fault \with the Government, I merely
said they had not done it.
Lord PALMERSTON—I am very glad to hear that the hon.
member draws a distinction between an assertion of what the
Government has not done and an animadversion upon what
the Government has done. As he is very much in the habit
of animadverting upon what the Government does not do, I
trust the house will understand in future that the-hon. gen-
tleman does not mean any census* by so doing. (Hear.) But
to continue what I was about to state to the house—the
American Government themselves did not think fit to lay
before Congress the correspondence relative to, this ques-
tion, and the same reasons that actuated the American
Government have induced her Majesty's Government to
withhold this correspondence. - Her Majesty's Government,
as I stated before, did think a few (lays before Parliament
met that they would have been in a position to lay it
before the house, but a few days preceding the Tneeting of
Parliament the American Minister came to my noble friend
at the Foreign-office with a long despatch, containing a great
variety of statements and assertions touching the conduct of
her Majesty's Minister at Washington, and the consuls in
various parts of the United States, which assertions it was
impossible to reply to without referring to the persons con-
cerned to know if they were true. That made it impossible
to answer the despatch, and until that despatch was answered
it was impossible, on the one hand, to present to Parliament
unanswered statements, and, on the other, to present cor-
respondence omitting that important despatch. Sir, that was
the reason why her Dfrkiesty's Government could not lay
these papers before the house, and that was why I declined
to enter into a detailed discussion of the matter before Par-
liament were in possession of the necessary data. That state
of things, sir, stilliremains, and we are not yet in a position
to reply to that note. It would be unbecoming of her Ma-
jesty's Government to answer such a note one way or other
y ascertained what 'foundation there
wasunt ilfotrhetyhehsacdcha:ic.gnersa.tel
The same reason which made it our
Papers would make it our duty to re-
fusemeal in the way the hon. gentleman
proposes.
I trust that a very short time will elapse before
do ottsoo e
sFiiste h htohl
them
t h e
piece
we shall be in a position to lay the whole correspondence be-
fore the house, and then the house will see whether what her
majesty's Government, or her representatives in the United
States, have done entitles them to censure or support. I