The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-27 00:00:00

'1

It

be for ever degraded. He (Nlr. Hume) was _
to allow her Majesty's subjects to remain an boar long*?
er
under a govern sr of that description than was absolute
necessary. 'The sentences of the courts-martial had
not.
moreover, been confirmed by t
either Lord Torringt9n,
Colonel Drought, or General Smolt; and though nei
res woes of these courts bad been delegated first to Genf ra
Smelt, and then to Colonel Drought, and then to inferior
efficere, the sentences were carried into effect witbout a
artni. moment's delay, and the poor creatures who had bee?,
condemned were shot next morning. 'The courts-co
teat perpetrated the atrocities at Cephalonia under
the sanction of Sir H. Ward were, at all °e
regularly constituted, but those which perpetrated thef
atrocities committed at Ceylon under the santieri- e
Lord Torrington were perfectly illegal, the court befog'
rarely composed of more than three members. (de
Hume), therefore, protested against the whole prooee...
Tugs of the Government in the matter. Not only wire
the miserable inhabitants of Ceylon shot, but they 'ter!
also plundered; and it was stated that tho proclamatilsi
of outlawry and martial law were issued by CaPtileid
Wateon to certain favoured individuals, wh° tvimthose
themselves of the opportunity to rob the houses of bt,
whom they arrested, or who had sought safety in argon.
and sold the property afterwards by public 110°,,10
There was a portion of the evidence that was sougeb
of
be stifled. 11e (Me. flume) demanded, in the Dw? tete
40,00 a petitioners before the House,
, aud that
all these circumstances should take place
guilty perpetrators should not be screened by, the 15,°„
that an inquirY °be
vernmeat, and that the House should not sancnon by 1,14.
silence Lerd Grey's approval of these atrocious procee°_,,
legs- Ile was deeply grieved to be obliged to
considered
himself so strongly on the subject; but be co- °dew
that no language was too strong for the atrocities
tt.
had taken place in Ceylon. H trusted, therefore, 13...5..P
the Noble Lord in sett-defence would now product!
.1.0 e:
evidence suppressed by the majority of the CoestaitLe
and so vindicate his own character, as well as the hu-
nt L
nity and dit of the ouse.
rd J.cre RUSSELLH said tbat the House would agree.
with him, that it was quite impossible to enter
to
discussion of the affairs of Ceylon when the Commit"
had not reported the evidence. To discuss them °P °I!
the statements of the Hon. Member for Montrose ivos:
altogether out of the question, and he hoped no on
tee
would take for granted any of the statements which Wi
bad
not borne out by evidence. All that the Commitaies
done was to call the serious attention of her Majesty's
Government to the subject, and to advise the aaPe_i,aess
merit of a Commission of Inquiry into the facts, nr,nird
other steps were taken to settle the matter. face
J. Russell) could only state that the serious attentione.
her Majesty's Government had been given to the l!..",0
j( et, and that the strictest inquiry should be wade In
the conduct of all persons concerned in the elePdteerea
Ceylon. He had no doubt the Committee con
Of the
they had sufficient reason to we the suppression
.00,
evidence ; but he had reason to know that some poCui
of that evidence had still appeared in Ceylon. n° aloe,
purloined from some Hon. Member of the Comint_, in
He hoped more care would be taken in that respac!he
the future, but he could not assent to the request ot
Hon. Member.
Mr. GLADSTONE agreed with the Noble Lorawas
the question could not then be discussed; but he ex,
not at all surprised, he would confess, at thee stref,gaai
pressions of the Hon. Member for Montrose. ,",ard
true that the Committee had decided, as the Noble
11
stated, against reporting the evidence; but it wto loge
true that only the very day before they bad bY a 600
majority come to an opposite decision, with the excePotid,
of the: portion of it which was personal or 006(1°,100,
In his opinion the Hon. Member for Montrose or the
no eaorao; ef
Member for Inverness would be doing
their duty in taking the first opportunity next the Goue
raising the question, both as to the conduct of eny at
vernor of Ceylon, and the conduct of the Governtnldoot
home; and last, but not least in importance, the e°
of the Committee. rec_ot7l;
Mr. J. S. WORTLEY said the:Committee
mended the evidence to the serious consid
erfLtill:cfe to
Government, but they did not report that evi e jolted
the House. How could that evidence be consmeebere of
to the Government, except through those Ineinig was
the Government who were on the Committee?
te e had
m mit
difficult to decide. In his opinion the Co
as well as s most
e
taken a most unwarrantable course,
inconsistent one. The inquiry, however, had Prevandect the d
existence of a state of things in Ceylon which don
the immediate attention of the Government. the C
his
Mr. HAWES said he was a member or ""a',, detl
mittee, and in that capacity he thought it to be "no
time toe _A
to submit the evidence laid before it from
to the Colonial Sec •etary of State. The C
also furnished the Government with a copy of the
deuce. moat
Mr. W. PATTEN submitted that this west! gore
irregular mode of proceeding on the part ef tliotise•
Member, and quite contrary to the rules of the ,
He put it to the chair if it was not informal aim
n"
proper. 'f th;
()inmate
eniSio.
The SPEAKER was understood to say tua cola
Committee reported the evidence to the House litestate
then be communicated. The Committee neig"het it
that the evidence ought not to be reported, bet tmhos lit
should be referred to her Majesty's Governmentl;tteer
was for the House to refer it, and not the C°ll3-1
who had not the power to do so the elves kcal
Mr. BRIGHT had never seen frseport. so Perrk
ridiculous, ao utterly lame, and so entirely caw° i„eolt-
its serious character, as that of the Committee. two
ing at the rumours that prevailed during the in the
years, he considered that it would be the dull.° ilc°'
House to force the Committee to report the
The Committee had been sitting two ears; anuin-g
popf
erri
iyiot.ohndblodHpforoioteuhvgs
eeedat
gravest
rysaatsytheehieseortgtpanuionabrtl
uiwcdrahoeteiietoehgnxe_
irons
fot ietttdhhYiewo
egar.l
ediena;rhe's.7do
Sae;oittbi"
as regardand be
transactions that had taken place in ceylon;
he
trusted that the House would therefore comp e'
el t
duction of the evidence taken before the Committe
On the S
The subjectPEAKERC ga then droppeind.uttin P g the question that he
should leave the chair,
RETIRED NAVAL OFFICERS. f the
Sir G. FECHELL rose to call the attentiOn Also
House to the case of the retired rear-admirals, al)„,drai'
the judicial appointments of vice-admiral and reafrretire;
real of the United Kingdom. In 1845 a Plan et it be"
meat had been proposed by the Admiralty, be other
demerit of not being compulsory. In 1846 °on 01
plancivil was issued, which threatened the deprive', from
appointments in the case of non-retiremela
e service. The Hon. and Gallant Gentlectiortr
cited several instances, among them that of sir 'Of
Inrewathediciblyheheeioengsiedoemrepdelnleadvatlooffigciveers
tilipad not leOna
pointments and to retire to make way tii°rl4:lr/51ii: .44-1
concluded by moving„ for a return of all the civil
is
pointments held by flag officers, distinguishiog
active service. TV°
Sir F. BARING could not agree to the Titurn' hole'
was no rule which prevented a naval officer 11.0 000
ing a civil appointment. There were certain regoroar
with respect to the receipt of salary, but no rul,eaiainicti
ting to a prohibition against naval offieers IL% 41 A
civil appointment. No officer holding : 'op Ofil.
appointment had been compelled to give 'CI' "etirei
to accept a retiring allowance. The privilege Of he-a
went had been offered to certain officers, and they %-
gladly accepted the offer, but it was not c0n31)°,'43, sea
them to do so. The cases referred to by the be lOW
.Gallant Gentleman had not happened while
office.
dm
After a few words from Mr. HUME an It
Dumas, which were inaudible in the gallery. oat, ter e
Sir J. DUKE referred to the case of Sir a -7 ofri
complained
had
been subjected. If there was a rule in lied
Sir H. Hart, that rule ought to have been aPP" see
similar cas. ten'
Admiral BERKELEY explained the cirelligeler- atie°
underwwmhainecthionS refusediwraH. Hart took the retirement
which "
s then negatived. The
_ REPORT OF MR. G. A'BECICETI% 001
Mr. HENLEY rose to call the attention of ten. tbee
teethe 3
part of the report of G. A'Beckett, .t 1.4004,141
torelates to Reading, in Berkshire, contained in t,r,leaa—ae
the poor-law board on laws of settlement s°,'„,n-eot,
of the poor, presented to both Houses of Part"— had 176
ca
11
command of her Majesty in the yearlBso..
stated by Mr. A'Beckett' in his report tnae . g OV
eedi
existed in Berkshire and other places, of 0-I,intee
small houses, and thus driving the occupant° et des
ing poor-house. This statement had caused "genre I
of surprise in his locality, and much correspoaoooo
existedorr e s ni
nd etnhcee H e
takenwo place on the subject.
thautldtheeownror to let him take an opportunitY Got °O4
that. if any erreorewished. Geffepeoll
Hato and corrected. A 00er
mbaettelra,idit tolgthbtebet
lain whether
PALMER said he had endeavoure7vrre
wiekw ether the statements in the report of "-hood bad
as far as his own immediate neighbont'on toaei
concthat e
r
n
e
d
,
were correct, and he had not !eel Oen;
co
objec
they had any real foundation. He had
cated with a gentleman in Oxfordshire on the testa
that I'Pbe
and the reply was that the report, as far as ,Thgt
was concerned, was at variance with facts. It aid 1101
satisfactoiy if the Right Hon. Gentleman w°-
these papers to be placed on the table. to i° ibtoo"ees
Mr. BAINES would be sorry if any state
any /Art-
y or,
reports shoUld be found to do injustice t° 81;lascl ase
With reference to the matters in question, he, requelibe
municated with Mr. A'Beckett, and he heaun.sibine
him to go down to reading and veriff+ 1e.,,P,,3! be Au th"
statements that had been made. He had .`"Thirstneo the
result to the Hon. Member, which result 0%001 the
original statements; and he now beggedet,esh
Hon. Member that he was quite ready to
papers he had on the subjeCt." vo A t ilt/
THE EXHIBITION IN HYDE...* ,0 0. .
Colonel SIBTHORP rose to draw the attel3tir to el.
House to the refusal of the Attorney-o°3°j: to ~.090
certain documents necessary to enable
•Partr;-to res-sese
for an injunction against the Commission() , el
them from erecting any building in IlYde-Pell" c°ll°rlf
(Messrs. Kelly, Rola Pan Cairns)
glad to find that the o intone
of three ernipeen°o- forte„l'a
were i°
with hie own, and that the case had been full,' arowitle
very distinguished member of the other llotinseofie
view of inducing the first law officer of the 'reee the
consider his decision. Amongst the reasons g,; seas 'O.
votet of the House of Commons. Now
Hon. and Learned Gentleman for that decislevni S.) ileo
(Colef
the Soliees
oefrtained very little respect for the opinior! be 0030 fq
Commons, and he should be very serrY t
part of his property depended on their de .ivv""jar ea!bPere
l'eeling frequently step; edein and interferon aver sae
•
and with the rights and liberties of the people, sioo hip
was a majority at the beck and call of trete tiall
whose whistle had the same effect 1113°° neoe° Do si
sound of the huntsman's horn on the pat ion be re'
--(Laughter.) Ile was borne out in the sin bee ea
formed on this case by the petition which bad oatO
sented,.namely, that the Commissioners of Lae o%
Forests had no right whatever to eglnertsbial‘ Pie
of England to anything that they 1111 g".