The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-02 00:00:00

THESUN, LONDON, T URSDAY EVENING, MAY 2, 1861

cordial and enthusiastic welcome which has been
given by this great assemblyto the toast which you
have done us the honour to propose. (Cheers.) It is
among the duties and privileges of your high office,
my Lord Mayor, to confer additional honour and
distinction by your invitation to this magnificent
hospitality, upon those who fill any important posi-
tion, or who have rendered distinguished services
to their country—Ministers of the Crown, without
distinction of party—bishops and clergy of the
Established Church, judges or sages of the law, Mi-
nisters of friendly Powers, distinguished military
and naval chiefs, successful diplomatists, alike re-
ceive honour and distinction from being the
honoured guests of the Lord Mayor of London. But,
my lord, I stand here
I serve the Crown in in none of these capacities.
no apparent position. lam
not appearing before you,crownLeodrawcitlhyateheanladurselisr
which decorate the brows of
Hope Grant ; I do not
Lcoormdemgbeinpo
fno,reynouwwhoini onthythe
successful diplomacy of
are, I believe, shortly about to confer the same
mark of distinction; and when I look around me
and see so many of my own personal and political
friends, who have paid me the additional compli-
ment of surrounding me, I please myself 'with the
idea that the compliMent is intended less as a per-
sonal mark of honour to myself than as a recogni-
tion of the services of the Conservative party with
which for the last twenty-five years I have been
closely united, and which for the last twenty-five
years has honoured me with its most generous and
undeviating confidence, and which—although I need
not say that, the Lord Mayor has any political opi-
nions—l may venture to say includes among its ad-
herents more than one member of the family of the
Cubitts. (Cheers.) And, my lord, I may say that
during the long time during which I have been con-
nected with that party I have never felt a greater
pride or a higher admiration of their position and
bearing than at ;the present moment. I believe,
not since the moment of their unfortunate disrup-
tion in 1846 have they ever at any time stood
so high in the opinion of the country as they do
at the present moment. (Cheers.) What has been
called " the cold shade of opposition" has failed to
damp their zeal, or diminish their forbearance ;
on the contrary, we see them day by day -increas-
ing in numbers and energy, and every fresh election
bears testimony to the increasing hold which their
opinions have upon the country. I believe the
country is becoming awake to the sentiment, and
consider that the greatest promisers are not always
the greatest performers—(cheers)—that the great
cause of social advancement, of legal improvement,
of the much abused shibboleth of civil and reli-
, gious liberty, are at least as safe in the hands of the
Conservatives as in the hands of the great Liberal
party, and that, perhaps, the great institutions of
country and the church, and the prerogatives of
the monarchy, may be a trifle safer. (Cheers.) My
lord, it is not, however, of the growing strength
and power of the Conservative party that I feel
chiefly proud, it is of the position which they oc-
cupy at the present moment, the like of which was,
I believe, never occupied by any party, and certainly
not by any party or any one of the combined par-
ties in the State opposed to them, It is little,
though that indeed is the fact, that such a political
party can refrain from harassing by opposition a
Government in which they have no confidence, by
any vexatious division or hostile movement ; but it 1
is no slight thing when a party, for the support of
a Government to which they are opposed, sacrifices
all their personal feelings for the purpose of coming
down day after day, not to offer an entire oppo-
sition, but to give a cordial and zealous support to
the Ministers of the Crown, although the conduct
of those Ministers is such as not to inspire them
with general confidence. And yet that is the course
which day after day we have seen the great Con-
servative party pursuing. (Cheers.) It is well
known that if the Conservative party were to cease
the vigilance of their attendance in the House of
Commons for the protection of her Majesty's Go-
vernment, the noble viscount at the head of the
Government would very shortly sustain the fate of
Actaeon, and would be torn to pieces by his own fol-
loweri. (Cheers and laughter.) We know that the
elements of that Liberal party— God save the mark!
—as now composed, are kept together solely and
entirely by their apprehension and the fear of the
united power of the great Conservative party op-
posed to them, and that if for one single week we
were to re lax in vigilance, that discord which now
exists would break out into open rebellion, and the
Queen's government could not be carried on during
the present session. (Cheers.) Day after day, and
week after week, the Conservative members of the
House of Commons are going down to that house
for the purpose of assisting her Majesty's govern-
ment in their weak and half-hearted opposition to
measures of which they know the danger—support-
ing and assisting them against their allies, the great
Liberal party, and not unfrequently obtaining tri-
umphs for them—(hear, hear)—as has been the case
Wednesday after Wednesday for some time past—
protecting, not, indeed, the Ministers of the Crown,
but that which is of far more importance than any
Ministry, the great institutions of the ' country,
against the ',combined attacks of the supporters of
the Ministers, and the feeble support occasionally
given by them to the Ministry itself. (Cheers.) But
perhaps it may be asked, if you so much disapprove
of the course of the government, of the composition
of the government, and of the composition of the
supporters of the government, why take the trouble
of attending, day by day in order to keep in office a
government of which you disapprove ? My lord, I
say that this is a point on which I view with the
greatest admiration and the greatest pride the con-
duct of the Conservative party. (Hear, hear.) It
is little indeed, for ope like myself, who have ob-
tained very undeservedly the highest honour which
a public man can attain to ; it is little for those
who have held, and may again hold, distinguished
situations, to wait their time with forbearance
and patience—but there are in our ranks young
men actuated by a laudable ambition, panting
for the opportunity of distinguishing themselves,
conscious of their own
powers,
scions, too, of the power of
theira
own n d
p
and I say those who repress their personalacratonynd;
political feelings, and so give their assistance
to a Government which they distrust, show marks
of self-restraint, and evidence of such forbearance
and discipline whici only a corps like themselves,
essentially volunteers, could exhibit—a forbearance
and discipline which may well put to shame that of
veteran armies led by distinguished leaders. (Hear,
and cheers.) And depend upon it, as in war, so in
politics. Self control, forbearance, discipline,
watching for the right time, if they are not more
effective in winning battles, are certainly more
effective in winning a campaign than the most
brilliant valour and most daring enterprise. (Cheers.)
It is these qualities which I see with the deepest
admiration in that party which does me the honour
to place its confidence in me, and following my ad-
vice. But I say again—Why do we take this
course ? Why, because we are firmly convinced
that whatever our personal advantage might be, it
( is for the advantage of the country—that country
whose interests are, and I hope always will be, the
prime object of Conservative attachment—(hear)--
it is for the interests of the country that there
should not be frequent changes of the Government.
(Hear.) We desire to see a strong Government,
though I fear we have not oneseaetapinreocideneto.f
tolrmmiunsgt
a strong Government,
confess honestly that
bI dut o
that
which must prejudice
the country is a succession of weakG
embarrassment
and of perpetual change, creating
and inconvenience to the Sovereign—embarrassment
to all our foreign relations, and embarrassment and
of steadiness want
policy of the country. (Hear.) And we know, by
past experience, that if, Iy any hasty move or any
were to do that which it is
that
in
any carrying on the internal
little to say, )
over-impatience, we
might have an opportunity
the
week or any fortnight we
of oIP
party in office would lead again, to
union of the Conservati
ve
l.e doing,sent rl arncl y , to
compel the resignationGovernment
—we knew well that the
those renewed
combinations among the disorganised liberal sed party,
which would again cause another change, and again
ani
disturb the social and political arrangements of the
country. (Cheers.) It is for this reason—and I
know it to be an honest, patriotic and sound reason,
that we deem it our policy as far as we can to sup-

m
port
tsaand maintain,orinov office,
eairt
tchifugreesveenrt
eministry
advanced suppeorters, that control and that regulat-
ing power which berotg to a party so great, so nu-
merous, and so powerful as ourselves. (Cheers.) But,
me
my lord, I cannot say I look with satisfaction upon
the state of parties in this country. I look, above
all, with deep regret and deep concern upon that
once great Whig party, which, while it was
honoured by the names of such men as Grey,
Brougham, and Macintosh, I deemed it an honour
to belong to ; and I see with deep regret and
concern men of distinguished character and gifted
talent and great eminence, perhaps from an honour-
able, but, I think, a misguided fidelity to a name,
and overlooking entirely the difference of principle
which those names conceal and cover—l say that I
deeply regret to see them allying themselves with
men from whose principles and politics they wholly
dissent, and dragged into giving reluctant support
to measures and men, of which and of whom they
do not hesitate to speak in the most disparaging
terms, and who, in return, lam bound to say, re-
ciprocate, without stint or reserve, that amount of
personal affection and friendship which is known to
subsist between the extremes of the great Liberal
party. (Cheers and laughter.) I say, my lord, that
I regret the position of the honourable and distin-
guished members of the Whig party, between
whom and the great Conservative party there is at
present little, if any, difference of principle, if they
were only allowed to act upon their own convic-
tions and opinions. (Hear, hear.) I regret, I must
say, that a gentleman with every qualification that
can charm and delight an audience—a man with
the highest power of oratory of any in England—
once a distinguished member of the great Con-
servative party, representing still one of the most
distinguished and Conservative constituencies in
the kingdom—has lent himself, his great ability,
his great power, and seductive eloquence to making
himself the coryph:eus and the mouthpiece of that
party whose policy and opinions are most repug-
nant to every constitutional lover of his
country. Of a party who, dissatisfied with that
wide and extensive liberty of speech which
we enjoy in this country, was desirous to take
a pattern for our instruction from that great
Republic, the stability of whose institutions and
whose solidity and firmness are undergoing at this
moment so melancholy a proof, and rather suggest-
ing approaching dissolution to the minds of even
their greatest admirers. If I may be permitted to
pass for a moment from persons to a state of politi-
cal affairs, I would say that there never was at any
time a moment when it was more important that
those who have to deal with public affairs in Eng-
land should exercise the greatest amount of mode-
ration of temper, of judgment, and of forbearance.
With regard to foreign potentates, I believe that is
the policy which ought to be pursued by this coun-
try. There is little, if any, differences of opinion
among Englishmen, or any class of Englishmen.
We all have a natural sympathy for compeers which
are desirous to extend their liberty and to support
their own rights. We all sympathise with their
efforts to obtain that amount of constitutional
liberty which we have long enjoyed and know how
to appreciate ; but, on the other hand, every Eng-
lishman is desirous that those rights should be won
by the countries themselves, not obtained by the
intervention of other powers—that other countries
should not be stimulating and exciting to secret in-
trigues, and fomenting discontent among the popu-
lations of countries with which they are in alliance.
(Cheers.) We have no object to pursue,—we
have nothing to gain ourselves. All we desire—and
I believe this is the universal feeling of
Englishmen with respect to our foreign policy
—is that the influence of this great coun-
try should be used for the purpose of main-
taining the peace of the world, conciliating
differences, and securing to all that peace which
is the greatest herald of that prosperity which we
ourselves know how to enjoy and value. But in
the present state of Europe we are unhappily com-
pelled by necessities of our position to incur a heavy
and grievous expenditure, to submit to oppressive
and onerous burdens of taxation, because there is
one object, and one primary object, in comparison
with which everything else sinks intoinsignificance;
and that is the maintenance of the naval, and espe-
cially of the military power of this great country.
(Cheers.) It may be desirable for other countries
to increase their naval power—it may be desirable
for them to inorease their armed force to an amount
we cannot pretend to rival—but if we then permit
any Power, or any two Powers, to be more power-
ful than ourselves at sea, from that moment the in-
dependence of the country will be in jeopardy. In
order to avoid such a calamity, if other nations are
making great warlike preparations, this country
will cheerfully submit to any sacrifice, to any
amount of taxation, to any burden for the purpose
of insuring the independence, promoting the
strength, and securing the prosperity of the coun-
try. (Cheers.) But there is one party to which I
have already referred, who desire peace at any price
—(hear, hear)—but who desire to obtain that peace
in a manner which is most certain to deztroy their
hopes and expectations—(cheers)—viz., by de-
priving the country of resources which will
enable it in case of necessity to carry on war.
That party say, " The object of this country is
peace, and we will make peace absolutely neces-
sary, because we will deprive the Ministers
of the Crown of those means and of that
amount of finance which are necessary for
keeping up the establishments of the country."
That is the party to which I before referred,
whose views and whose agents are, as I said before
most repugnant to the feelings and to the honour
of every Iran who values the institutions of this
country. (Cheers.) And I must say it has been with
the deepest regret—though no one desires a heavy
weight of taxation—no man desires unnecessary
expenditure, but I must say that it has been with
regret, not unmingled with surprise, that I have
heard a Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his place
in the House of Commons, censuring the exorbitant
amount of the expenditure of the country, and
taking on himself to blame and censure those very
estimates for which he himself is personally respon-
sible as Minister of the Crown. (Loud cheers.) I
will venture to say this, that while the Conserva-
tive party is, as it has always been, desirous to check
any unnecessary waste, there is no amount of
finance, no amount of pecuniary assistance, could
well be withheld from the Ministers of the Crown,
and which would not be cheerfully given by the
representatives of the people to support the great
national interests of the country. (Cheers.) But
then I think, upon the other hand, that we have a
right to expect that the burden of that taxation
shall be distributed in such a manner as to press
lightly upon the permanent sources of the interest
and prosperity of the country—that it should be
raised, not as some persons desire, and as it appears
to be the favourite system of finance at the present
day—pressing with all its concentrated weight, first
upon the accumulated and realised produce of suc-
cessful industry, than which I can conceive
no principle more discouraging and injurious
in a great commercial country, and next that
it should be concentrated with all its weight
upon a few articles of foreign import, but
these articles being those which enter as necessa-
ries of life in the primary and principal consump-
tion of even the humblest family in this country, I
say that to concentrate on these objects—namely,
realised property and the prime necessaries of life
—the burden of the taxation of the country is an
injurious, wasteful, and:an improvident application
of its resources. It does this—it spares that which
could afford taxation, and it falls wastefully and
extravagantly, and with an amount of taxation
difficult to be borne, en those resources of revenue
which it ought to touch lightly, except in the pre-
sence lof a great emergency, and thereby deprives
you of the greatest power which you have, when
that emergency comes, of suddenly increasing the
revenues of the country. I have ventured to touch
upon these topics, because at this moment a ques-
tion is pending in one of the Houses of Parliament
with respect to the application of the surplus of the
present year. My lord, Ido trust that the House
of Commons will carefully and diligently consider
the various modes which may be proposed to them
for the distribution of that presumed surplus—l
say, "presumed surplus," because, although I am

not satisfied with all the calculations of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer as to the probable surplus
of the year, we are compelled to accept as a matter
of confidence that the accounts will be justly, fairly,
and reasonably made up, and the question that the
House of Commons will have to consider is, not
whether there is not a surplus, but in what manner
that surplus may be best applied in diminishing the
hardships and relieving the industry of the country.
And, my lord, I have a strong opinion myself that
one portion at least of the mode in which the Govern-
ment proposes to deal with this question is not as
to the mode which financially or politically is most
desirable ; and I believe that if this country were
polled from one end to another, and I would almost
reconcile myself to that favourite nostrum, that
skulking hole of political cowardice—vote by ballot
—(cheers)—l would, I say, be almost reconciled to
the adoption of the principle if I could put before
the country for its deliberate decision this question
—Will you, for the advantage of the country, have
a million and a quarter of duty taken off paper, or a
million and a quarter off tea ? (Cheers.) That is
a question which the House of Commons will have
to decide in the course of the present week; and
without pretending to be a prophet on that subject,
I think I may venture to say that if the Govern-
ment find themselves in_a minority upon it, they
will not appeal to the sense of the country to con-
firm them in their opinion. Nothing should I like
better than for the Ministry to whom we are op-
posed to go to the country with this cry, " Down
with duty on paper, and up with the:duty on tea."
(Laughter and cheers.) I mention this subject be-
cause it is one not only of immediate urgency, but
one of great political as well as financial considera-
tion. It is the turning point of the financial policy
of this country. It is one on which turns the
question whether the House of Commons will
sanction a larger increase of direct and a greater
remission of indirect taxation, or whether in a
time of peace they should apply themselves at
once, or as soon as circumstances will permit, to
the reduction, not the abolition, of those duties
which,'by reduction, might increase the revenue,
and which were imposed only to meet the extraor-
dinary emergency of war. I have said this is a
question for the House of Commons to consider, and
I say emphatically for the House of Commons, be-
cause no one can be more ready than myself to say
that to the House of Commons belongs exclusively
imposition of taxes and the regulation of the taxation
of the country ; and that when a surplus had been
established to the satisfaction of the house, and
they have formed the judgment with respect to the
best mode of dealing with that surplus, they need
not apprehend what some persons pretend to appre-
hend—any collision upon such a judgment between
the two houses of Parliament. (Loud cheers.) It
is quite true that last year when circumstances
altered—when the Chancellor of the Exchequer was
coming forward with an amended Budget, entirely
falsifying the calculations which had been previously
brought before the House of Commons, it is quite
true that, under those circumstances when the
figures of the Chancellor of the Exchequer showed
a manifest deficit of the revenue, the House of Lords
did feel it their duty, and did exercise an excep-
tional, but at the same time a perfectly constitu-
tional right. (Hear.) They did interpose to diminish
the amount of the deficit, and succeeded in diminish-
ing the amount of that deficit by a million and a
quarter ; and although the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer was very angry with his colleagues for not
resenting what he considered an innovation, he yet
with the greatest complacency pocketed the affront
'and the million and a quarter—(laughter)--and at
the end of the year found himself in a much more
advantageous position than he would have been had
not the House of Lords exercised that salutary
supervision, and which I believe has obtained for
them the universal sanction of the country at
large. There being a surplus, it is for the House
of Commons to decide how that surplus. should .be
applied, and if there should be any persons who
imagine that upon such a subject there can be any
collision between the two Houses of Parliament,
they little know the spirit which actuates the
House of Lords, or the moderation which is pre-
scribed by the Constitution, and which I am sure
will be exercised by that branch of the Legislature.
(Cheers.) The House of Lords are too well aware
of their own dignity, they have too much respect
for themselves and for the great interests which
are confidedto them, to think for a single moment
of resenting from petty pique the deliberate action
of the House of Commons. I must apologise for
detaining you so long, but I was anxious that the
motives which influence the Conservative party
with reference to the question awaiting the decision
of the House of Commons should be broadly and
distinctly brought to the knowledge of their fel-
low-countrymen. We have no secrets to conceal ;
we have no desire to spring a masked battery upon
our political opponents. We venture to believe
that the purity of our motives and the patriotism
of our conduct will be appreciated, and, in due
time, rewarded by the country. (Cheers.) In my
own name, and in the name of that great party
which has so long honoured me with its confidence,
I earnestly thank you for the reception which you
have given us this day, and I venture again, on
their part and upon mine, to say that the senti-
mentsgratitudeb and
kindness,
nwe
shsi: will noth have
been of
inspired y your
lordship's
be soon obliterated from my heart, nor, I believe,
from the hearts of my political friends. (Cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR then proposed " the House of
Lords," which was responded to by the Duke of
RUTLAND.
The Earl of DERBY then proposed " the health of
the Lord Mayor," and said that of the many occu-
pants of the chair by the first magistrate of the city
of London, none was more respected or more hon-
oured than his esteemed friend who now filled the
office of L'ord Mayor of that city. He trusted that
his right hon. friend, while attending strictly to
his duties as Lord Mayor, would not forget that he
had still great and important duties to perform in
connection with the House of Commons, and that
he would be as heretofore as constant an attendant
in that assembly to see that the interests of the
country were carefully attended to. (Hear.)
The LORD MAYOR having briefly expressed his
acknowledgments for the compliment conferred
upon him, proposed " The House of Commons,"
coupling with it the name of Mr. Disraeli—a name
that had obtained a world-wide reputation for com-
manding eloquence and sagacious statesmanship.
Mr. DISRAELI said the toast which had been pro-
posed could not but be one of great interest in that
assembly, coming as it did from the head of one of
the oldest municipal corporations in the country,
and recognising as it did one of the most ancient
institutions in the country. (Hear.) One of the
great qualities of the House of Commons was, that
it was not disposed to interfere with co-ordinate
instituticns in the country. He thought it was wise
in adopting this course ; for to adopt a different
course would be, in his mind, not only prejudicial
to the interests of the country, but injurious to the
House of Commons itself. (Cheers.) Although at
present there was nothing going forward in the
House of Commons of a prominently exciting cha-
racter, and consequently the public mind was not
much directed to what was going forward in that
assembly, assaults were being constantly made upon
the Churl, the State, the law, and other matters of
great consequence, which required a faithful and
watchful body of men in that assembly to prevent
these assaults from being effective. These sub-
jects, although not brought forward by the Go-
vernment, were frequently supported by them,
and it required all the vigilance of a watchful Op-
position to see that measures such as those to which
he had referred were not successful in the House
of ,Commons. Such was the case he was happy to
say, that day. (Hear, hear.) The Conservative
party would be ever found to be the opponents of
measures such as those to which he had referred,
and he should ever feel honoured by being asso-
ciated with that body. (Hear, hear.)
Miss Poole sang in a charming manner " The
Mermaid's song." Mr. Young and Mr. Hatton
were also much admired for the manner in which
they respectively sang Nelson's ballads, "I saw
not her face," and the " Harmonious Blacksmith."
The banquet was in every respect highly credit-
able to Messrs. Ring and Brymer, by whom it was
supplied.

THE 7.trAYY.

A garrison police, corrlposed of non-commissioned
officers and men selected from the amalgamated
corps of military ane, marines stationed in Wool-
wich, has been saiactioned by the War-office, to
supersede the pr esent arrangement of provosts
doing duty about the garrison. They will be dis-
tinguished by the letters " M. P." (Military Police)
attached to their uniforms, and will be organized
on the principle established with good effect at
Aldershott. The new force is intended principally
to put a permanent check to the alluring facilities,
a short time since on the increase, to tempt- the
young recruit to dispose of his newly-acquired out-
fit, and desert from his engagement after having
pocketed the Royal bounty. This species of crime
practised by certain dishonest traders about the
garrison of Woolwich during the 12 months pre-
ceding the month of April just terminated,
according to the returns rendered to the
authorities, was punished with various fines,
amounting to a total of £3OO, and during
the last month it is satisfactory to remark
that the rigid measures necessarily adopted by
Gen. Dacres to put an end to the growing evil have
been highly successful. The number of the courts-
martial for the trial of deserters during the month
of April 'at Woolwich were in consequence very
, few.

The screw steam sloop Eclipse and the gun
vessel Snipe were yesterday taken out of basin at
Woolwich. The steam sloop Lily was taken out of
No. I dock, and the paddlewheel steam-vessel Spit-
fire was docked in her stead.
The merchant steamer Rowen, having been char-
tered by the Admiralty as a temporary transport,
wus yesterday taken into the basin at Woolwich
for the purpose of shipping steam machinery for
the Defence at Jarrow, Newcastle-on-Tyne. The
newly-converted screw steam storeship Wye yes-
terday left Woolwich to ship naval stores at Dept-
ford for Rio and Ascension. The Wye, having
been fitted with a magazine by mechanics from the
Royal arsenal, will also ship powder and ammu-
nition.

Her Majesty's steam gun-vessel Griper, 2, 60
horse power, attached to the steam reserve in the
Medway, left Chatham for Sheerness yesterday,
after landing at the Ordnance-wharf her large 68-
pounder 95cwt. pivot gun, as well as most of her
shot and stores. The large 68-pounder swivel guns
furnished to the various gunboats having been
found to be altogether too large for that description
of vessel, it is intended to have the whole of them
removed and returned into store, and one of the
long-range Armstrong guns furnished to each gun-
boat instead. The 68-pounder gun was landed at
Chatham by means of one of the steam cranes
recently erected on the Ordnance-wharf.
The steam gunboat Louisa, 2, 60-horsepower, Lieut
Commander H. N. Knox, tender to the Edinburgh,
60, screw steamer, at Leith, was taken off the
gridiron, at Chatham yesterday, the examination
having resulted in her hull being found in a very
sound state.
The boilers and the heavy portion of the machi-
nery for the line-of-battle screw steamer Bombay,
in the fourth dock at Chatham, have arrived at the
dockyard from Messrs. Humphreys, Tennant, and
Co., the contractors ; but, owing to the want of
more powerful cranes and lifts at Chatham for re-
moving unusually heavy machinery, the boilers
have not yet been landed at the dockyard, the ves-
sel in which they arrived being moored alongside
the sheer-bulk. In consequence of this the boilers
and the larger portion of the machinery will not be
placed in the Bombay until she has been floated out
of dock, when they will be put on beard from the
sheer-hulk.
The chartered transport Isabella, Capt. Newby,
drew alongside the landing wharf at Chatham
Dockyard yesterday, and during the day landed
900 fathoms of the heaviest chain cable from the
factory of Messrs. Brown, Lennox, and Co., Cardiff,
together with three large anchors, manufactured
by the same firm.
The western division of the Channel fleet, com-
prising the Donegal, 101, screw, Capt. H. Broad-
head ; the Hero, 91, screw, Capt. A. P. Ryder ; the
Conqueror, 101, screw, Capt. E. S. Sotheby, C. 8.;
the Centurion, 80, screw, Capt. H. D. Rogers,
C. 8.; and the Aboukir, 91, screw, Capt. F. A.
Shadwell, C. 8., arrived at Portland on Tuesday
afternoon, working into the Roads under all plain
sail, and took up their berths in good order and dis-
tance, making a running moor with open hawse to
the W.N.W. A Prussian corvette arrived in the
Roads the same morning.
The Cruiser, 17, screw, Commander Bythesea,
V.C., was paid off yesterday morning alongside
Portsmouth Dockyard, in a very quiet and speedy
manner. The report of the inspecting officers on
the state and cleanliness of the ship and the con-
dition of her machinery will be of a highly favour-
able nature. Her" engines and boilers, although re-
quiring very extensive repairs, are in a state reflect-
ing the greatest credit on the engineers who have
had them in charge. The Cruiser was commissioned
by Commander Fellowes, the present Flag-captain
to the Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet, in
July, 1856, and convoyed three gunboats out to
China. On arrival out in China she went up the
Canton River, and shared in the affair at Fatshan
and the bombardment and capture of Canton. She
was afterwards despatched to the north of China
where she was employed during the first attack on,
the Peiho Forts. Capt. Fellowes, being posted out
of the ship about this time, was succeeded in the
command by Commander Bythesea, V.C., under
whom she accompanied Lord Elgin up the Yank-
tze-kiang to Hangkow, and afterwards to Japan.
She afterwards returned to the north of China,
where her boats were actively employed in com-
pleting the survey of the Gulf of Leao-tong. She
was also engaged in surveying the Gulf of Pecheli
from the Great Wall of China down to 20 deg. south,
But one officer has returned to England in the
Cruiser out of her original complement, and barely
half her crew, many having invalided on the station
or been appointed to other vessels. Only three
deaths have occurred from sickness during the
whale period of the ship's commission.
The Adventure, screw troopship, Commander
Edward Lacy, arrived at Spithead yesterday after-
noon, from China, with the head-quarters of the
Royal Marine battalion on board, under the command
of Lieut.-Col. John H. Gaseoigne, consisting of 24
officers and 500 non-commissioned officers and men,
lately attached to the North China Expedition.
The Adventure sailed from Hong Kong on the
20th of January ; Singapore, 30th; Cape of Good
Hope, March 9 ; Ascension, March 27 ; St. Vin-
cent, April 8. Arrived at Madeira on the 16th,
and sailed again on the 17th ; arrived at Vigo on
the 25th, and sailed again on the 27th. Her Ma-
jesty's steamer Argus was lying at Madeira, wait-
ing to accompany her Majesty's royal yachts Vic-
toria and Albert, Capt. the Hon. Joseph Denman,
and Osborne, Master-Commander Geo. K. Bower,
on the Empress of Austria embarking on board the
former on her return to Vienna from her sojourn at
Madeira. The same morning the Adventure left
Madeira she met the royal yachts steaming in, the
Osborne about three hours ahead of the Victoria
and Albert, and, as the Empress was in readiness
to embark on their arrival, it was expected they
would leave again almost immediately for the Medi-
terranean, whither it was said her Majesty would
proceed and probably disembark at Trieste. A mail
was brought to England by the Adventure from
the Empress, and also from the island and her Ma-
jesty's steamer Argus. The weather to Madeira
from China had been generally fine, but off the coast
of Portugal strong north-east winds were fallen in
with, compelling the ship to put into Vigo for fuel
and provisions. Three deaths only have occurred
during the voyage home. The Adventure, with
the Assistance, lately lost in China, was built by
Mr. Laird, shipbuilder, of Birkenhead, and previ-
ous to hoisting the pendant had, together with her
sister ship, rendered very essential service to the
Government in the conveyance of troops and invalids
between the Black Sea and Spithead. Nothing
was seen by the Adventure of any of the expected
troopships from China during the latter portion of
her voltage.
The paddle-wheel steam survey tender Bann, 3,
Mr, Wells Master, having had defects made good