The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-15 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAT).—..
The LORD CIIANCELtOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

The Marquis of LANSDOW.NE presented a petition
from Belfast against the Ecclesiastical Courts (Ireland)
Bill. _ .

The Earl of CARLISLE presented several petitions
praying that Dissenters might not be excluded from ad-
ministering trust funds of endowed grammar schools.
THAMES WATERMEN AND LIGHTERMEN
BILL.
Lord EBURY, as chairman of the committee to which
this bill had been referred in the first instance, explained to
their lordships the reasons for not being in his place on
Tuesday evening last when the bill was under discussion.
Having alluded to the censure passed on the proceedings of
the committee, he proceeded to vindicate the course
adopted.
Lord CAMPBELL said he was sure no blame could
possibly be attributed to the noble lord.
SECOND READINGS.
The following bills were read a second time :—•Mersey
Docks and Harbour, and Poole Water.
THIRD READINGS,
The following bills were read a third time and passed :
Whitehaven Harbour and Town ; Liverpool New Ex
change Buildings; and East Suffolk Railway.
SANDWITH'S DIVORCE BILL.
The standing orders were dispensed with, and this bill
passed through committee.
RED SEA AND INDIAN TELEGRAPH (No. 2)
BILL.
The standing orders were again dispensed with, and this
bill was read a third time and passed.
SUPERANNUATION BILL.

This bill passed through committee.
COMBINATION OF WORKMEN BILL.
This bill passed through committee.
On the bringing up of the report,
Lord 'WENSLEYDALE moved an addition to the first
clause. This gave rise to a desultory discussion, after
which the addition was agreed to.
AFFIDAVITS BY COMMISSION BILL.
This bill was read a third time.
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS BILL.
This bill passed through committee.
THE STATE OF EUROPE.
The Earl of MALMESBURY postponed, until Monday
next, his statement relative to the state of Europe.
VOTE OF THANKS TO THE ARMY IN INDIA.

The Earl of DERBY said—My lords, the subjects are
very few which a Ministry already condemned by a vote of
the House of Commons can with any propriety submit to a
Parliament on the eve of dissolution. Under such circum-
stances, which your lordships will agree with me ought to
last as short a time as the exigencies of the public service
may render possible—under such circumstances, the autho-
rity of the Ministry and of Parliament is alike weakened ;
and the strife of political parties, at least within the walls
of Parliament, is suspended, and the ordinary legislation of
the country put in abeyance, except with regard to measures
of such pressing importance that they cannot be delayed, or
those of such ordinary routine that no one can object to
them. But the motion I have to submit to your lordships is
one to which I do not anticipate any objection either on the
ground of the condition of the Ministry or that of Parlia-
ment. The motion is one that lam perfectly certain the
Government in bringing it forward represents the feeling
of this or of any Parliament that might be assembled, and
faithfully represents also the feeling of the country at large.
Not only do I not anticipate any objection to the motion but
I rely with confidence and look forward with satisfaction to
having the deficiencies—and there must be many—in the
statement I am about to make supplied, and the motion it-
self cordially supported by the illustrious duke on the cross
benches (the Duke of Cambridge) and the noble earl below
the gangway (the Earl of Ellenborough) who, from their
position and knowledge of the subject, will speak on this
question with an authority to which I can taake no preten-
sion. My lords, the military operations against the for-
midable mutiny in India having been brought to a success-
ful issue, it is peculiarly fitting that this Parliament
should not separate without recording its sense of grati-
tude, and the public estimation of those men to whom we
are indebted for the suppression of the revolt, and the
restoration of tranquillity. That revolt has extended
over a 'period longer than the existence of the present
Parliament, and it is fitting that its last act should record
the sense of public gratitude for its suppression. The
only question that can arise on this motion is whether,
in fact, we have arrived at the period when we can announce
that the revolt has been finally suppressed. I certainly
should not have delayed till the present time the payment
of the debt of gratitude to those who have laboured either
in a civil or military capacity in the service of the country,
had I not hoped that the period was not far distant when I
should be able to announce to your lordships that the rebel-
lion in India had been extinguished ; and I rejoice to believe,
not only from the intelligence which reaches us through the
Medium of the public press, but also from private sources of
information which confirm that intelligence, that that
period has arrived at which we may say the rebellion is
altogether extinguished. (Cheers.) A communication to
that effect reached his Royal Highness the Commander-in-
Chief a few days ago from Lord Clyde, and I am quite sure
that your lordships, who know that noble and gallant lord,
will be of opinion that nothing could place in stronger light
the complete success of the great undertaking in which he
has been engaged than the fact that he would not state any-
thing beyond what the circumstance warrants. (Hear.)
These are not my words, they are those of the Commander-
in-Chief of her Majesty's forces in India I am happy to
say that the tranquillity of the country is every day becom-
ing more and more restored, and the Government has every
cause for congratulation. In my experience I have never
known India to be more quiet than it now is." (Hear.) My
lords, I might add to this an evidence of fact which is still
stronger than that of words, that the Governor-General in
his discretion has felt himself justified in sending back to
this country a very considerable portion of the troops sent
out hence, including, of course, those who have served the
longest and have suffered the most in the service of
India. And :as a further proof, I might say that the
same noble and gallant lord to whom I have referred, and
who is the last man to spare himself or to shrink from
the discharge of any duty so long as the service of the
country requires it, has felt himself warranted by the
state of affairs in retiring to Simla, for the purpose of
there recruiting his health, which has been shattered
by the recent campaign in India. (Cheers.) Therefore,
my lords, I think I may assume without further preface
that the time has come when we may congratulate ourselves
upon the successful termination of this dangerous revolt,
and when we may pay the tribute of our public thanks to
those by whose exertions that happy result has been ob-
tained. And the first person to whom, as in duty bound,
we should pay that debt is he who, standing in the fore-
most position, has had thrown upon him the greatest share
of public responsibility, and who has naturally been over-
whelmed with the largest and heaviest weight of anxiety.
But, my lords, in order to appreciate the services which
have been rendered by her Majesty's Viceroy, the Gover-
nor-General, Viscount Canning, it is only right that your
lordships should bear in mind what were the circumstances
under which that noble lord assumed his present onerous
and arduous task. Immediately upon that noble lord's
arrival in India disaffection began to manifest itself in that
country. A spirit was breaking out which had for a con-
siderable time been smouldering, and perhaps overlooked
and neglected, and just at the period when the noble
lord undertook the duties of his arduous office he was
encountered by a sudden explosion. That outbreak oc-
curred at a time when he was necessarily unacquainted with
many of the circumstances of the country which he was
about to govern. That explosion took him by surprise, and
he was obliged to seek for counsel from those who had had
the greatest experience in India. It is not surprising, there•
fore, that Lord Canning on his first arrival did not fully
appreciate the magnitude of the danger by which he was
surrounded ; but from the time—and it was not long—when
he became alive to the perils with which our empire in India
was threatened, he applied in grappling with the difficulties
which he foresaw and the dangers which he encountered all
the powers of a powerful mind and all the faculties of an ac-
tive and energetic disposition. He applied himself sedulously
diligently, and earnestly to the encountering of the great
dangers by which ho found himself surrounded. (Cheers.)
It is true that the noble viscount from first to last has
pursued sagaciously, steadily, and resolutely a consistent
course, that he has never permitted his mind to be thrown
off its balance by representations of exaggerated fears on
the one hand, or by extravagant and passionate resentment
on the other. (Hear, hear.) He has carefully and steadily
watched the course of events. He has left untried nothing
which could be done by indefatigable industry, by constant
assiduity, and by a most patient attention to all the details
of business and all the means by which this great revolt
might be encountered. He has been constant in his com-
munications, and, I say it emphatically, most friendly in
his intercourse with the Commander-in-Chief of her Ma-
jesty's forces. He has had the happiness and the credit of
solving the difficult problem which had been left to him to
solve, he has brought the characteristic spirit of an English
gentleman to the sagacity of a statesman. (Hear, hear.)
I think that your lordships will agree with me that the
period at which the noble viscount has successfully brought
to an issue this great undertaking, your lordships and the
other House of Parliament ought not to grudge him the
tribute of praise and thanks which are involved in the mo-
tion which I am now submitting; and your lordships, I
think, will concur with me that her Majesty could not have
chosen a more grateful or more fitting opportunity than the
time at which the two Houses of Parliament are testifying
their gratitude for his distinguished services, for testifying
her own sense of those services by conferring upon the
noble viscount the dignity of a British earl. (Cheers.) I
hope that none of your lordships will be of opinion that
by the omission of the name of the noble lord the Gover-
nor of Madras from this vote of thanks, it is intended
in any degree to throw a slight upon that noble lord.
The fact is, my lords, I think it is of the deepest import-
ance that votes of this description should not be a mere
form—(cheers)—conferred upon persons merely because
they happen to have been in office without having taken
an active share in the events to which the votes refer.
It is no discredit to the noble lord the Governor of Madras
to state that from the circumstance of that presidency being
of itself altogether free from any taint of revolt, and of its
having contributed but slightly to the suppression of the
rebellion, although certainly some of the Madras forces
have distinguished themselves in the course of this cam-
paign, the noble lord was called upon to take but a very
slight part in the great events which have been going on.
It is on this ground that I trust your lordships will not
think that it is from any disrespect or slight to the noble
lord that his name is not found aniong those to whom the
tribute of the thanks of Parliament is about to be given.
(Hear, hear.) I will take this opportunity of referring
also to another name which is found to be omitted in the
present vote of thanks, the name not of a civilian but of a
most distinguished military officer. I have heard my
noble and gallant friend, the noble. viscount behind me,
who himself has had personal experience and knowledge
of ;service in India, express his surprise that
i in this
vote the name of Sir Patrick Grant lam not been ntrQ4