The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-08 00:00:00

the country, and to promote and secure the welfare and
prosperity of my people in every part of my dominions."
INDIA.

Sir J. PAKINGTON gave notice that he should
to-morrow put questions to the President of the Board
of Control relative to the papers that have been
ordered with reference to India, whether they would
contain the memorial sent home from Calcutta, asking
for the withdrawal of the Governor-General, and whe-
ther the Government had any objection to lay on the
table of the house all the correspondence that had taken
place between them and the Peninsular and Oriental
Company relative to the transmission of troops to
India. He should also put a question relative to the
state of Lord Clive's fund.
JOINT STOCK BANKS.
Mr. COWAN gave notice of an amendment to the
hon. member for Newcastle, relative to the limited lia-
bility of joint-stock banks.
THE JUNO'S COURTS MARTIAL.
Mr. WARREN asked the First Lord of the Admiralty
whether his attention had been called to a recent
naval court-martial held on an offioer of her Majesty's
ship Juno, and whether any steps were contemplated
by the Government in respect thereto.
Sir C. WOOD need hardly assure the bon. and learned
gentleman that the attention of the Admiralty had been
called to the court-martial in question, and that they had
observed with the greatest pain that an officer of the
character and services of Captain Fremantle, himself the
son of one of our most distinguished officers, should have
placed himself in a position in which he had exposed him-
self to the severe and merited censure of the Board of
Admiralty. (Hear, hear.) At the same time it was
only fair that certain circumstances should be known
which had weighed with the Board of Admiralty, and
which would no doubt weigh with the House of Com-
mons in forming its opinion. When Captain Fremantle
arrived to take charge of the Australian station he
received a letter from the Admiral, complaining of the
relaxation of discipline which had taken place on that
station. It was certainly true that her Majesty's ships
were in some pans of the world so scattered about
that it was sometimes impossible to hold courts-
martial, and naval discipline was therefore with
some difficulty upheld under these circumstances.
Where it was possible the Admiralty sent out officers
of different ranks, so that courts-martial might
be held, but this was not always practicable. Cap-
tain Fremantle had reason to take a stricter view of dis-
cipline in consequence of the Admiral's letter. He was
not himself acquainted with Capt. Fremantle, but he
was assured by hon. members that it was impossible he
could have been actuated by any other motive than the
desire to act in the strict performance of his duty. He
believed that the lieutenant brought to court-martial ad-
mitted that Capt. Fremantle had been a greater sufferer
than himself from what had happened. He had had to
carry on almost all the executive duties of the ship, and
his health had broken down under it. The accounts of
the court-martial in the newspapers were substantially
correct, and hon. members must have observed that
when he appeared before the Court, Capt. Fremantle
Was quite unable to flee from the duty of a public pro-
secutor, which it was incumbent upon him to discharge.
He was not in a state either of bodily or mental health
to enable him to state the case in such a way as to give
an account either of his own conduct or that of the ofs
cer on his trial. He (Sir C. Wood) did not impugn the
verdict of the court-martial, which he thought perfectly
just and right, and he was quite of opinion that the
lieutenant was entitled to his acquittal. But it made
some difference in their view of Captain Fremantle'e
conduct, and the course which the Admiralty bad pur-
sued, when they remembered that he was an officer of
high and unblemished character, and of 33 years' ser-
vice. It would be urjust if these circumstances did not
oarry some weight. (Hear.) At the same time, if the
Juno had been remaining in commission, the Board of
Admiralty would have felt it to be their duty to super-
sede Capt. Fremantle. As she was, however, under
orders to be paid off, and as she had come home with no
officer but the captain to conduct the duty, it would
have been inconvenient to have removed him from
the ship. It was, therefore, not from any regard
or feeling towards Captain Fremantle, but simply
for the convenience of the public service, that he
was net at once superseded. What the Board
felt it to be their duty to do was to write to the
Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, desiring him to
communicate to Captain Fremantle their opinion that,
considering all the circumstances, he had been unjust
in the course which he had pursued towards those officers;
that if there had been grounds for any charge they
ought to have been examined into on the spot, and that
he ought not to have subjected them to such a length.
ened period of arrest. (Hear, hear.) Captain Fre-
mantle would have been superseded if the Juno had re-
mained longer in commission, but it was thought more
convenient to pay her off. A severe censure had been
passed. The l,t:er remained on record at the Admiralty
and at the Commander-in-Chief's office at Portsmouth
—a warning to all officers who might be placed is a si-
milar position. He thought that, taking into considera-
tion all the circumstances, and with a proper regard to
justice, the house would be satisfied it the Admiralty
took no further steps in the matter. (Hear )
THE REMOVAL OF 69TH REGIMENT FROM
PLYMOUTH TO PORTSMOUTH.
Mr. SCOTT—The 69th Regiment being quartered at
Portsmouth, asked her Majesty's Government, what was
the advantage and also the expense of moving it from
Plymouth to Portsmouth by rail, to embark there,
in order to return by sea to Plymouth before departing
for the East Indies, and by whose authority it was clonal
Sir J. RA.NISDEN said that he thought the hot).
gentleman had been misinformed of the facts of the case.
The hon. gentleman appeared to oonsider that the whole
regiment was taken from Plymouth to Portsmouth,
there to embark. The circumstances of the case were,
that three ships were taken up by the East India
Company to convey troops to Alexandria. Two
of the ships went to Plymouth and embarked
troops, but the third being a mail ship, and prevented
from going to any other port than Portsmouth, one de-
tachment of the regiment was conveyed from Plymouth
to Portsmouth for the purpose of embarkation. The
troops were sent to Portsmouth on a communication of
,he facts to the Board.
REFORMATORY SCHOOLS (IRELAND).

Mr. BAG WELL asked the Chief Secretary for Ire•
land, if it was the intention of her Majesty's Govern.
ment to introduce a bill for reformatory schools in
Ireland this session I

Mr. H. HERBERT said that during the recess Go.
verninent would give the'r consideration to the subject,
and he hoped, after that, to be able to propose something
to the house on the subject that would be eatisiactory to
all parties. (Hear, hear.)

THE SUPPLY OF GUANO.
CAIRD asked the Secretary of State for the
Colonies whether any obstruction on the part of the
British Commandant at Aden had been offered to the
employment, by the guano expedition to the Kooria
Mooria Islands, of Arab and other labourers not natives
of India, and whether Government had taken steps to
remove such obstruction.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said that labourers had been
obtained from various ports, but with regard to Aden,
he had been informed that through some mistake the
labourers of that pla.e had been prevented going to the
Kooria Ilooria Islands, but he had taken care to call the
attention of the East India Board to the circumstance.
The Board ha•i the subject under thsir consideration

•
THE BRITISII ENGINEERS AT NAPLES.
Mr. M. MILNES called the attention of the noble
ord (Palmerston) to the state of the British engineers
at Naples, having been informed that the Government
had received additional information relative to their
condition.

Lord PALMERSTON said that since he addressed
tho house on Friday night a communication had been
received from Acting Consul Parkes, and from it he
found that the Rev. Mr. Pugh's statement did not give
a correct statement of the condition of these un-
fortunate men. The contradictory statement arose
from the man not knowing the rev, gentleman, and he
thought hon. members would fully comprehend the pri-
soners not being so communicative to a stranger as to the
acting consul, in the presence of the father of one of the
prisoners. What they complained of, he was afraid, was no
exceptional case, because it was well known that the
Neapolitan prisons were really a disgrace to a civilised

country—(hear)—and that the treatment prioners were
there subjected to were more fitting a barbarous age than
the present time. However, the inquiry showed that the

prieonershad not experienced anything like torture except

,he unnecessary suffering of being handcuffed a;cl

strapped in the manner known to the public. The re-
maining part of the noble lord's statement was similar

to the narrative published in The Sun of Saturday.
Lord J. RUSSELL asked if the noble lord would lay
the despatch on the table of the house.
Lord PALMERSTON said he thought there was no
objection to that course. He reserved to himself the
right of expunging anything of a confidential nature.

CONYNGHA NI asked whether any steps were
ikely to be taken t 3 set the matter to rights ? He

wished to know if the lives and liberties of Englishmen
were to be trifled within this manner. (Cries of "Order.")
Lord PALMERSTON said that at present these men
were confined on a charge of having violated the
Neapolitan law. The Neapolitan government was

entitled to inquire into that charge, and alt this country
could do was to Res that the men were brought to a
speedy trial—that it was considered fairly—and that
they had the host legal advice that could ba obtained in

that c)untry. (gear, hear.)
The subject then dropped.

PENSION TO GEN. HAVELOCK, K
Lord PALMERSTON brought up a message from
her Majesty recommending that a pension of 1,0001.
year should be settled on Gmeral Havelock for his dis-

inguithed servicai in India. (Loud cheer?.) He moved

;bat it be taken into consideration to-morrow. (Cheers.)
—Agreed to.

SUPPLY.
Mr. WILSON moved that the house should to-mor-
row go into supply.
Agreed to.