The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 2, ISS 8•

rbivi MUttion

SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock.

ASCOT RACES.—(This Day.)

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
CORONATION STAKES.

Sunbeam
Maledetta
Target

Three ran.
ROYAL HUNT CUP.

Hesperithusa.
Ke trel
Seribbler

Twenty-eight ran. Wen by two lengths.
BIENNIAL STAKES.]

Eclipse
Fitzßoland
Sunbeam ...

1

Six ran.
WINDSOR CASTLE STAKES.

Hepatica
King William

Two ran. Won in a canter.

FERNHILL STAKES.

Z itella
Gracila colt
Chanionesse

Seven ran.

... 3

Arrived—Warlock, Star of the East, Arsenal, and
Gildermire.

LATEST BETTING.
ASCOT CUP.
7 to 4 apt Warlock (taken freely)
3to 1 agst Fis'nernann (taker.)
5 to 1 aget Gildernaira (taken)
6to 1 agst Arsenal (taken)
50 to 1 aget Sedbury (offered)

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OP COMMONS.—(This Day.)
The SPEAKER took the chair at 12 o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The following private bilis were further considered,
and ordered to be read a third time :—North British
Railway (Consolidation, Ste.); West End of London and
Clapham and Norwood Junction Railway (Abandon-
ment).
HOVE IRPROVENIENT BILL.

Mr. C. FORSTER moved that the Hove Improve-
ment Bill be re-committed to the former committee,
with leave to sit and proceed on Friday next, if they
think fit—Three to be the quorum.—Agreed to.

RAILWAY BILLS (GROUP 9).
Colonel W. PATTEINT moved that Sir Edward Cale-
brooke be discharged from further attendance on the
committee on group 9 oftrailway bills :—That S r John
Yarde Buller be added to the commitee.—Agreed to.

tion for the committal of the bill on the Bth June was
agreed to.
MEDICAL PROFESSION AND MEDICAL
CORPORATIONS BILL. _

Mr. T. DUNCOMBE moved the second reading of
this bill.

Mr. WALPOLE thought it would be better not to
read the bill a second time. It would be better to have
one bill than two.

Mr. T. DIINCOMBE said the principle of the bill
tppeared to be approved of, and as some mischief
'night occur to the favourable progress of the
~ther bills his would then come in for further considera•
don.

Sir W. HEA.TITCOTE swgeated the postponement
)1 the second reading of the bill.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE then postponed the second
reading of his bill for three weeks.--Agreed to.

MILITARY DEPARTMENTS,

(Prom tl•e Times )

If the best institutions are not made, but grow,
then is England certainly a fortunate country. The
British Constitution is founded on the negation of
abstract rights. It has been decided many a time
that, apart from custom or positive enactment, no
principle or doctrine has a claim on the acquiescence
of the country. People seem determined to resist
the intolerable domination of logic. We have a
Chancellor of the Exchequer who is in some way
connected with the Court of that name, who
is sworn in, take his seat, and calls on counsel
to move, but whose real duties would cause
him to be styled in any other country the
Minister of Finance. We have the leading states-
men of the Cabinet merely invested with the
dignity of one of the Commissioners for executing
the di3uFed office of Lord High Treasurer, and far
lower in nominal rank than many of his own sub-
ordinates. The office of Lord High Admiral, like
that of Treasurer, is alwayi; in. commission. In
fact, as the power of the Crown has become inert,
and that of the Lords spasmodic, while the fAith-
ful Common 4, with their humble addresses, are the
strong, steady, and resolute governors of the coun-
try, so the administrative world has been revolu

tiOnised and authority has gradually fallen away
from ancient and lordly officers to men who in for-
mer days exercised functions little more important
than those of a clerk or accountant.

Well ! High Treasurer and High Admiral are
gone ; Lord Chancellor has been sadly pared of his
dignity ; their Graces the Archbishops have been
made stipendiaries. Why should not Commander-
in-Chief undergo the common fate ? Captain
Vivian's resolution, that, to promote greater effi-
ciency in the military departments, " the Horse
Guards and War-office should be placed under
the control of one responsible Minister," has been
carried against the Government, and, indeed,
against Principalities and Powers, and the rulers
of this world generally, by a majority of two.
Independent Liberalism gave the aristocratic
and military circles a heavy blow in the matter
of the admission to Woolwich, but that was
nothing to the portentous decision of last night.
It has been affirmed by the House of Commons
that it is desirable the administration of any mili-
tary affairs by a great officer responsible to the
Crown alone, and not immediately amenable to
Parliament, shall cease. It is impossible to over-
rate the importance of this decision. It strikes at
the heart of usages which have grown up and become
so entwined with our military system as to seem to
most men absolutely inseparable from it. In the
army, and perhapsin higher quarters, we shall hear of
no little alarm, indignation, anti complaint. The
diatribes against popular clamour, civilian interfe-
rence, and Parliamentary usurpation, will echo in
clubs and drawing-rooms as loudly as when the
break down at S:ba.stopol was asserted to be the
invention of " a ribald press." Surprise, vexation,
and offended pride will be the feeling excited in a
still higher and narrower circle. That every at
tempt will be made to neutralise the resolution of
the house and defeat its consequences need not
be said. such a fabric as the irresponsible
and extra-Parliamentary direction of 130,000
men, and the disposal of the most valued and
coveted social distinctions, will not be over-
thrown without a struggle. The House of Com-
mons, if it wishes to gain any solid advantage,
must follow up its hard-won victory.
Our own opinions on this important question
may be easily anticipated. Both the service we
have criticised, and the public in whose name we

h,►ve spoken, will, we presume, do us the justice to
say that in these matters we have uttered no un-
certain sound. Long snce, and not one?, but re-

peatedly, we have urged the House of Commons to
assume to itself that authority over the defences of
the country- which it has a mord right to exercise.
From no short, or cursory observation we have
been c.-Aifirnied in the belief that only by such a
course can the evils which still infest the system
b 3 driven out, and that unify, strengt}.i, and
activity induced which the critical state of Europe
demands. Now, what at pre-eut is the relation of

the house to the two services' The House of
Commons is asked yearly to vote a sum exceeding
3),002,000/. sterling for the maintenance of the
army and navy. Over both these great divisions of
the national force it is needless to say that a proper
control should be exorcised. To support them taxes
all the energies of this indomitable people, and there
are not wanting those who assert, and with no little
show of truth, that already the pressure is more
than can be safely borne. But an efficient army
and navy the country w.ll have, at any sacrifice,
and it is the duty of those who are intrusted with
power t) promote that effidency by every means.
But what authority is there in the country fit to
take the matter in hand ? The services belong
nominally to the Crown, but we know that the
Crown is but another name for the irresponsibie
action of a few professional chiefs, and will be
used to cover every delinquency of the barrack
and every intrigue of the Palace. The House of
Lords is, from its want of sympathy with re-
form, and its general unearnestness and inat-
tention to business, unfitted for the exercise of a
beneficial control. There remains but the House
of Commons, which must evidently become more
and more the practical supervisor of the national
forces. Now, at present one branch—the Navy
—is administered by a Cabinet Minister who is
generally a member of the House of Commons.
The advantages to the sr rvice from this arrange-
ment have been great and numerous. The control
of the Cabinet has been more complete, and, as a
Government is for the most part composed of
independent and high-spirited men, the navy has
been rescued from improper interferences, which a
more courtier-like rule, without the fear of Parlia-
ment before its eyes, might have allowed to ope-
rate. On the other hand, the navy has always ob-
tained its full share of financial support from
having for its chief a colleague of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, and front being looked an with a
more favourable eye by the economists of Parlia-
ment. What has been done for the navy it is but
fair to demand for the army. At present the
Secretary for War is only partially in authority.
No one can define his power or his responsibility.
Tho former may be arrogated when thereds a point
to carry ; the latter may be denied when there is
a blunder to escape from. Indeed, the sys em has
all the disadvantages without any of the benefits
of a double government. Etch department may
hinder the other, or quarrel with the other, or
shift responsibility on the other; but there is
hardly a point where it can operate as an
efficient che3k. General Peel stated that he
knew his duties, and where they ended; and then
he went on to say that "the command, discipline,
and patronage of the army were controlled by
the Crown patronage
rough the Commander-in-Chief."
So that with regard to the command, discipline,
and patronage of the vast fora') which we are
creating in these islands, we are told on authority
that they are totally withdrawn from the control
of Parliament or of her Majesty's Ministers ; that
they are vested in an officer whom the Court may
appoint and continue at his post through all changes
of Administration, and who is not bound to recog-
nize the authority of the Secretary for War at
all. Is Parliament, are the public, prepared
to accept this doctrine ? Every other depart-
ment of the State has been subordinated to
those advisers whom the Queen selects as represent-
ing most closely the opinions of Parliament. The
Premier recommends Bishops and Deans for
appointment ; the Chancellor advises the Crown
as to who shall have a vacant seat in Westminster-
hall ; the Colonial Secretary is intrusted with
the selection of Governors for our dependencies,
and so on. Furthermore, in analogy wi h this rule,
the First Lord of the Admiralty dispenses the
patronage and watches over the discipline of the
Navy. All these personages are rnemtars of the
Cabinet, and directly responsible to the Parliament
in which they have seats. They may be called on
at any time to defend an act of questionable pro-
priety. But if the theory of General Peel be
accepted,—if it be true that the Crown may
appoint a Prince of the Blood, and give him the
" command, patronage, and discipline of the Army,
with complete immunity from all Parliamentary
interference, it is difficult to say in what respect
this country differs from the military monarchies
of the Continent. In old times, when there was no
standing army, or a very small one, the bounds of
prerogative might be less strictly defined, and the
Crown ke intrusted with the power which is now
arrogated. But now that the British army is
_e
a
very large and powerful force, it seems to us the
duty of the Legislature to de t
termine inorea_ccl-
rarely the position of its Chief, and to bring him
under that constitutional control to whichitt everyd
It
other functionary has in his trunsuhn
alludingl tic) im-
may be thought that
probable eventualities, buwtestiallestatesmen haVe'to
provide for improbable eventualities. The ques-
tion whether the army shzll be a force constitu-
tionally governed is one independent of indivi-
duals, and
we ought to legislate, not with the
character of any particular personage before our
eyes, but with a view to the permanent settlement
of a great question. True, then, our principle,
that the House of Commons should assert a more
immediate and active control over the national
forces, we cannot but rejoice that the resolution
of Capt. Vivian last night met with its approval.

THE LATE CAPT. SIR W. PEEL.—On Monday muffled
pella were rung at the parish church of Bury, on the
tidinz; rbaching that town of the death of Capt. Sir W.
Peel, who died on the 27th April at Cawr.pore, of small-
pox,

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—(YESTERDAY.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at 5 o'clock.

LORD CANNING.
Earl GRANVILLE said it would no doubt be in
recollection that in the debate on the Onde pro-
clamation, the noble earl at the head of her Ma-
jesty's Government expressed with great warmth bits '
respect for Lord Canning. Their lordships were doubtless
aware that, at the end of a protracted debate in another
place, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, amidst loud
cheers, made the announcement that a telegraphic de-
spatch had been sent to Lord Canning expressing that,
in the present state of difficulties, he would receive the
support of the Government. Language had also been
used during the debate by other members of the Govern-
ment, though not members of the Cabinet, which created
the impression that Lord Canning would not receive
much support. Ile might complain of the language of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer in a post-prandial speeob,
which would form the subject of discussion that evening;
but he congratulated the noble earl on the choice he had
made in the successor to the noble earl who had lately
retired from the Board of Control. (Dear, hear.)
Ue (Earl Granville) thought it but lair, if such
promise of support to Lord Canning bad been despatched
it should at least be made public. It would be of the
greatest importance that such an intimation was made
known in India. The question which he wished to ask
war, whether there wouldibe any objection to produce
the communication alluded to by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and also whether there would be any objec-
tion to produce at the same time copies cf the votes of
confidence agreed to by the Court of Directors of the
East India Company on the policy of Lord Canning
The Earl of DERBY said, with regard to the tendered
support of the Government to Lord Canning, it had not
been offered for the first time oh the occasion spoken to
by the noble earl. If the noble earl would refer to the
despatch sent to India on the 24th March, he would find
it laid down distinctly that in the event of Lord Can-
ning pursuing the course of policy then entered upon,
he should receive the support of her Majesty's Govern-
rn.-nt. (Clear, hear, hear.) The proclamation of Lord
Canning was disapproved of iby the Government
because it was thought to be in opposition
to his former policy. The only communication which
had taken place with reference to the promised support
of the Gover: merit was contained in a telegraphic mes-
sage which be (Lord Derby) had despatched as a per-
sonal communication, on the resignation of the
noble earl (Earl of Ellenborough), which was
sent off on the 12th, to overtake the mail of the
10th of last month. As the communication was
of a private character, be did not think it would be pos-
sible to lay it before their lordships, but with respect to
the production of the votes of confidenee of the Court
of Directors to Lord Canning be had not the slightest
objection, and that document had been laid on the table
of the other house last night.
SECOND READINGS.
On the motion of Lord REDESDALE the following
bills were read a second time :—Stearnes Charities
Nlaidstone Gas ; Esrl of Fife's Estate
,-Manchester,
Hyde, and Motteratn Roads ; Metropolitan Board of
Works; Liverpool Approaches ; Beeselsleigh Road, and
Ware, Hadham, and Buntii gford Railway.
THIRD READINGS.
On the motion of the came noble lord, the following
belts were read a third time and passed :—Vauxhall-
bridge Road, Staffordshire Potteries Gas, Sufferance
Wharves, Stoke Fenton and Longton Gas.
THE EARLDOM OF SHREWSBURY.
Lord REDESDALE brought up the report of the
Committee of Privi!eges' who had come to the conclu-
sion :that Henry John Clic:twill, Earl of Talbot, had
n ale out bis title to the Earldom of Shrewsbury
(Hear, bear.)
Lord CAMPBELL said he en' irely agreed with the
result the committee had arrived at. (Hear, hear.)
The report was ordered to be laid upon the table.
MR. DISRAELI'S SPEECH. •

The Earl of CLARENDON then rose to call the at-
tention t f their lordships to the speech recently delivered
by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at Slough. He
should not have felt constrained to take notice of this
speech if it merely contained the opinions of the right
hon. gentleman, expressed at a meeting for the amuse-
ment s f some holiday friends ; but grave charges were
contained in that speech, which ought to receive elooi-
deti• n, and there were observations in it which ought to
be cleared up. He should confine himself to Mr.
Disraeli's observations upon our foreign policy. The first
remark of the right bun. gentleman had reference to the
imminence of war when the late Government went out
of office. There was not a particle of truth in the state-
ment, and he (Lord Clarendon) in his place in Parlia-
ment gave it a flat contradiction. (Hear.) The right
hoe. gentleman was in possession of official documents
which must have made him cognisant of the real facts
of the case. It was due to his late colleague to deny the
allegation of Mr. Disraeli; it was equally due to the
Emperor a the French to rebut them. (Hear, hear.)
Up to the moment when the late Government left office
our relations with Fiance were of the most intimate and
confidential kind. (Hear.) On leaving office, he;(Lord
Clarendon) had placed every paper in his possession in
the hand, of the Earl of Malmesbury. He was careless
what the right lion. gentleman might say in London,
but had certainly been curious to know what effect his
observations in the country might have on the public
mind. It appeased, however, that after his speech at
Slough neither had prices risen, nor had there been a
panic. (Oh, and a laugh.)
The Earl of DERBY...You mean that prices had not
falh n. (Hear, hear.)
The Earl ofiCLARENDON—Yes. (Hear, hear, and
laughter.) On Friday night Mr. Disraeli repeated his in-
sinuation with regard to the imputed imminence of war,
when he said that if Lord J. Russell had consulted Lord
Palmerston and not Lord Clarendon, he world have bad
light thrown upon the subject. (Hear.) Mr. Direaeli also
asserted that shortly before the late Government went
nut the French ambassador had ominously left this coun-
try. (Hear) The fact was that M. Persigny bad for some
time had leave of absence, but had not availed himself of
the cove until the last moment. Bat he (Lord Claren-
don) was not quite sure that when Count Pereigby did
leave he bad not received assurances from the new Go-
vernment, which had not subsequently been fulfilled.
These statements of Mr. Disraeli were made in the ab-
sence of Lord Palmerston. Last night Lard Palmerston
attended in his Mace, when Mr. Disraeli admitted that
when the late Government went out, war was not immi-
nent. (Hear, and a laugh.) The Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer spoke of the " base and treckliog policy " of
the lase Government with regard to France, and although
he (Lord Clarendon) was desirous to let bygones be by-
genes, he could not allow this aspersion to go forth un-
coutradicted. But he would first emphatically deny
the'. the Conspiracy Bill had been bronghtin in obedience
to foreign dictation. (Hear) On the very first night of
the se: sion the Earl of Derby had alluded to the neces-
sity of some measure for checking the hatching of con-
spiracies to assassination. The bill brought in by the
Government fell short rather than exceeded the strin-
gency of the measure suggested by the noble earl. (Hear.)
It curbed no liberties, and in no way trenched upon the
rights of asylum. Moreover, it received the support of
Mr. Disraeli. Besides, the Emperor of the Preach had
distinctly stated that no offence was intended by Count
Walewskes despatch, and it could not therefore be said
that we acted under dictation. Count Cavour, who bad
been referred to by some newspapers in this country sup-
porting thu present Government, as a more liberal Minis-
ter that, himself (Lord ClarendonN,took precisely the same
view of the necessity of replying to the despatch as the
late Government, and had made a verbal reply to the
circular sent to the Sardinian Government. (Hear.) The
vote which had turned out the late Government might
really have been charged upon a " cabal," but it was ac-
cepted by the late Government as the decision of the
House of Commons. Mr. Disraeli had spoken in terms
of exultation for the promptitude with which the present
Government had procured the release of the two engi-
neers, Watt and Park. He (Lord Clarendon) did not
wish at all to detract from the merits of the present Ad-
ministrat.cn in that relect, but it should to remembered
that the new Government had a status from which to
remonstrate, which the late Administration bad not,
owing to the true facts of the case not baying transpired
before the change of Government. He entirely denied,
however, that these men, although not released, had
been neglected. (Hear.) Had the matter been so ar-
ranged that we could go with impunity into the Nea-
politan waters ? •
The Earl of MALMESBURY—With perfect safety.
(Hear.)
The Earl of CLARENDON—But the song of triumph
of Mr. Disraeli ought to have been postponed, however,
uLtil it hadbeen
arbitrationascertained that
proposed.th
the Sing of Naples
consented to
were those been
unable to find, from any source,wh
ofothe
right bon.o
4g
(Lordent wcelarreenndotn
romance like
intriguers referred to in th p
ch
the
gen-
tleman at andSlougbr,estof
hieifstpheaeetech, h statement
)
called upon the noble lard opposite to state who those
intriguers were that her Majesty's late Government bad
been and-still were in league with to inconvenience her
present Government. (Hear.) The most *e-
MajestY's Englishmanthat -
pegnant to every and generous and
gentlemanly spirit that should animate every servant of
the Queen, was the manner in which the right hon. gen-
tleman bad spoken of Lord Canning's policy in India—
(hear)—as one always of massacre and confiscation, in
opposition to discriminate amnesty, and in which the
right hon. gentleman led the people of England to sup-
pose that it was left to her Majesty's present Govern-
ment to propose and enforce a discriminating amnesty
with reference to the people of India, and that within
four days after the receipt of Lord Canning's explana-
tory despatch, the right honourable gentleman expressed
confidence in him in the House of Commons. In the
whole annals of history he knew of no instance to
re
publications
to
,thine
compare with it. (Hear, hear,) He (Lord Clarendon)
considered
pease
o f
Indiath er e
than was nothingthese
morem
constant
various editions and in a worse form, of the unfortunate
secret despatch, which, so far from going out to India
as a message of peace and conciliation, could only have
the contrary effect in every part of India. The noble-
lord then referred to that part of the speech of the right
hon. gentleman which stated that the policy of the Go-
vernment had met with the approval of the people of
England and the admiration of Europe ; and, in the
course of his remarks, took occasion to dissent from
the statement, and passed on to that part of the speech
which stated that for the first time since the days of
Charles I. there existed a cabal which had nootherobject
but to upset her Majesty's Government, and to obtain
their ends in a manner the most reckless and deter-
mined. (Hear, hear.) He (the Earl of Clarendon) cone
sidered it a most astounding statement, and
Jest it migl t
be supposed to refer to him, be stated to the house that
h. had obtained, his information by the most constitu•
tional means, and whenever he had received aay.letter