The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-07 00:00:00

AFFAIRS OF SERVIA.

Lord BEAUMONT said that he wished to put •
question to the Noble Earl on the subject of the
affairs of Servia. It would be in the recollec-
tion of their Lordships that a debate had
taken place on this subject at the commencement
of the session. Since then a conspiracy had been formed
against Prince Alexander Georgeowitz, which had been
discovered, and the conspirators had been condemned.
Prince Alexander had then been given to understand
that he would be complying with the wishes of a northern
Power if he were to pardon these conspirators, and in-
flict on them only a slight imprisonment instead of the
punishment of death—it was intimated to Prince Alex-
ander that if he pardoned those conspirators there
would be no objection to the return of the two Ministers
who had been sent into exile at the desire of Russia,
but who were in high favour with the Porte. On
that understanding the pardon was granted, but
the promise of Russia had not been kept, and
the Ministers were still in exile. He wished to ask
the Noble Earl if it was in his power to communicate
any information to the House on the subject, and if he
had, as a friend to the Porte, exercised his influence to
induee a certain northern Power to consent to the resto-
ration of the two Ministers.

The Earl of ABERDEEN, in answer to the question
of the Noble Lord, wished to state that he had no know-
ledge whatever of any such engagement as that referred
to by the Noble Lord, nor had he any reason to know
or to believe that any such promise had been made as
the Noble Lord had mentioned. But though
he had no knowledge or belief of any such
engagement, it might be satisfactory to the
Noble Lord to learn, that, from recent communications
received from her Majesty's Minister at the Court of St.
Petcrburgh, the Imperial Government had no objection
whatever to the return of these two Ministers.

Lord BEAUMONT was perfectly satisfied with the
answer of the Noble Earl. Ile must have been misled
by his information.
COURT-MARTIAL ON LIEUTENANT GRAY.
The Earl of MINTO asked whether the court-martial
which had been recently held on Lieutenant Gray had
been held by the exclusive directions of the Admiralty,
or in consequence of some representations from a foreign
Power.

Lord HADDINGTON said the court-martial was
held in consequence of communications made in certain
correspondence to the Foreign-office.
The Earl of ABERDEEN wished to add to the an-
swer given by his Noble Friend, that although the court-
martial had taken place in consequence of the represen-
tations of a foreign Government, yet no foreign Govern-
ment had ever suggested any such proceedings. The
French Government complained of the violation of the
treaty and of the right of search. A French ship having
been searched without warrants, and on that being reportad
in the proper department the Admiralty had thought
proper to institute the proceedings that had taken place.
The Earl of MINT() was satisfied with the answer of
the Noble Earl as far as it went. He had no doubt
that if a grave complaint was made by a foreign Power,
the Admiralty would be justified in inquiring into it by
court-martial, but he himself did not see any such ir-
regularity in the conduct of this officer as to call for
such an inquiry.
The Duke of WELLINGTON—AII irregularities
are always tried by court-martial.
The Earl of MINTO said there was one other ques-
tion which he wished to put, whether the senior captain
at th port of Plymouth (Captain Burgoyne) was a mem-
ber of that court-martial?
The Earl of HADDINGTON said he had not read
the minutes of the court-martial. If the Noble Earl
wished to have an answer on those points, he should
have given notice of this question. On the face of the
papers referred to, the Admiralty thought there was a
case that ought to be inquired into.
CONFERENCE.
. •

A conference with the Commons on the County
Courts Bill was appointed for Thursday next.
REVIEW OF THE SESSION.
The Marquis of NORMAN BY rose to call their at-
tion to the subject of which be had given notice. Per-
haps the words "To call their attention" were erro-
neous, for even from what had passed that evening and
last night there was not one of their Lordships, who en-
tertained a conscientious feeling with regard to the dis-
charge of his duty who must not be ashamed of the man-
ner in which, for some reason or other, during the last
few days the legislative machinery of that House
had been brought into play. He was present
last night and attended in the House till one o'clock
morning, and certainly the manner in which Bills
were passed through the stage at which it was generally
supposed that they would meet with some consideration,
would hardly be imagined by those who had not seen it.
Bills of every kind and description —he counted, he be-
lieved, ten of them passed through in the manner
he had mentioned. The Noble Lord who officiated as
their Chairman, did certainly give them the necessary
information that there was a title and a preamble to
each Bid; he had been absent from the House for some
during the past week, and he was not aware but these
Bills had had their subject-matter in some degree dis-
cussed on former occasions. But on inquiring of some
of his Noble Friends he found that none of these
Bills had been explained to the House. Now he
recollected that when a Noble Friend of his
(Lord Besborough) formerly conducted the business
of the House, he used to insist on the subject-matter
being opened to the discussion of their Lordships on
the second reading. He did not complain of the manner
in which the Noble Chairman passed through these Bills.
On the contrary, if he found discussion to be impossible,
he rather honoured bim for not going through any
humbug on the subject. This rapidity might be neces-
sary; he admitted that the business of the country was
I pressing very hard on both branches of the Legislature
during the time in which they were assembled. But, in
general, there had been some reason for this. Let them
look at the Bills which had been recently pressed upon their
consideration. There had been two Bills to which their
attention had been directed during the last week—the
Poor-law Bill and the Metropolis Buildings Bill. Now
the Poor-law Bill had been introduced to their Lord-
ships' notice at eleven o'clock at night on the sth of
August, and yet they were told that it was a measure of the
utmost consequence, that it had created great excitement
throughout the country, and that great prejudices were
entertained out of doors on the subject. Now was not
that a reason why the subject should have been sub-
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said that their Lordships' House was of all others the
place best fitted for the discussion of the poor-law ques •
tion, because there were eighty chairmen of boards of
guardians Members of their Lordships' House. Now he
should like to ask how many of these Noble Lords were
present last night ? They might have acted very im•
properly in absenting themselves, but still it was the
duty of the Government to bring forward important