The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-17 00:00:00

1 such as to earn for him the brightest example of courage and
I daring. He (Lord Brougham) thought there was no brighter
example of courage and daring than that exhibited in an act
which had been performed under Gambier. He recollected
well the night when the thanks of the House of Commons
were voted to him, and he (Lord Brougham) then heard many
circumstances which proved his almost miraculous courage,
which had never been excelled before, and meet certainly hnd
never been since eclipsed. Lord Cochrane, for (Lord Broug-
ham) would call him by that name, instead of that with which
he signed the petition—had displayed almost incredible valour
by his act upon the coast of South America, when he cut out a
large ship of war belonging to the enemy with only, compara-
tively speaking a handful of men, and brought her in triumph
to his fleet. His merits were of the highest order, and were
fully appreciated by the Sovereigns of Europe, and in France
the effect was most marked on the Sovereign and Court
of that country when the name of Cochrane was an-
nounced. Again, the arts and manufactures of the country
were most deeply indebted to the Noble Lord for his discovery
of a most important principle in the steam engine, namely, the
application of the rotatory motion principle. That eminent
man James Watt had devoted his deep attention to this subject
but without success, and so had several other eminent men.
Upon the perfection of this invention he had expended upwards
of 16,000/. , while he had never reaped the slightest pecuniary
benefit from it. The Noble Lord at the head of the Admi-
ralty had borne testimony to the merits of this invention from
his personal inspection, and he (Lord Brougham) dare to say
that he would bear him out in his statements. Although he
thought that the 13111 of 1835 had effected much good, still he
should say that the right during seven years only would not, on
account of general prejudices, be sufficient in this case. He
was sure that their Lordships would be glad to do justice to
merit, which was so useful to mankind. The prayer of the
petition was, that Parliament should grant to Lord Dundonald
a further time of fourteen years, or some other term of years,
or that Parliament would pass an Act to enable the petitioner
to go before the Judicial Committee to obtain from them that
extension of time.
The Earl of II ADDINGTON expressed his en'ire con-
currence in what had fallen from his Noble Friend. It

was perfectly true, that instead of the late Earl of Dundonald
reaping the fruits of his exertions during his life, he was d -
pendent on the dutiful and affectionate support of his gallant
son. With respect to the character of the Earl of Dundonald,
as a naval officer, there could be but one opinion. lle was
one of the most gallant, daring, and skilful officers that ever
walked the quarter-deck of a man of war. His character was
known to every person whe had read the history of the last
war. 'I he invention to which the petition referred was likely
to turn out a most important one. in carrying that invention
out, Lord Dundonald had had the full assistance of the Admi-
ralty. It was evident that unless an extension of time were
given, that this invention would pr6ve a great loss to the pa-
tentee. It was a beantiful and promising discovery, and the
present Board of Admiralty had shown their sense of it, and
also their sense of the science of the Noble and Gallant Admi-
ral, by allowing him to build a shi;,, which was now in the
eaurse of construction, of which the Gallant Admiral had laid
down all the lines. His engines were to be put into that ship,
and it was to be called the Janus. He ( the Earl of Hadding-
ton) hoped that justice would be done to that Gallant and No-
ble Admiral, by a prolongation of the term of his patent.
The Marquis of NORMANBY said, his Noble Friend
having alluded to the professional distinction of Lord Coch-
rane, in connexion with his employment under his (the Mar-
quis of Normanby's) father, he might be permitted to state,
although at the time he was too young to form any judgment of
the matter, that he had often in after years heard his father
express his admiration of the conduct of that Gallant Officer,
and that it was on account of the great ability he had displayed,
that he had bean employed in the gallant and brilliant action at
the Basque-roads.
The petition was then laid on the table.
The Bishop of SALISBURY presented a petition agairst
the union of the two sees of St. Asaph and Bangor.
RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN IRELAND.

Earl FITZWILLIAM said he had inovecifoT:s7;e7lirn of
the number of troops in Ireland, and he understood that those
returns had not been laid on the table of the House.—( The
Lord Chancellor here intimated that they had been given out. )
—lt was important that the people should know a little about
the expensive mode by which it was necessary to gayer?, or
rather to occupy, Ireland. Their Lordships and the public at
large would soon have very good reason to consider that sub-
ject. However distasteful it might be to the public at large—
however peculiarly distasteful to their Lordships.—however
distasteful it might be to the other House of parliament—it
was a subject which must, at no very distant period,
force itself on their Lordships' attention. His Noble
Friend the President of the Giuncil had long ago dis-
cussed this subject in that House, and with reference to
the modes proposed for the settlement of the question, stated
his objections to one mode, his objections to .a second, and his
objections to a third mode. From this he (Earl Fitzwilliam)
concluded that the Government was in difficulty with respect
to every mode proposed. The conclusion he always came to
when he found persons striving to discover great difficulties in
the accornrlishment of any object, was, that they were deter-
mined that such object should not be accomplished. One of
the first objects that must press upon their consideration with
respect to Ireland, must t e the want of spiritual comfort for
the people of Ireland. No person could deny that the first
duty of Parliament was to provide for the administration of
spiritual comfort to the people of that country. The Govern-
ment of England did not provide spiritual instruction for the
people of Ireland. The Government, it was true, provided
instruction for a small portion ; they provided instruction for the
Noble Marquis opposite (Westmeath), but they did not provide
instruction for the people of Ireland. It was his ( Earl Fitz-
william's) conviction that the time had arrived when the con-
sideration of the public of this country should be turned to the
provision of spiritual comfort to the people of Ireland. As long
as there was ecclesiastical property in that country, out of that
ecclesiastical property ought to come the fund to provide that
spiritual instruction for the people. That was his belief ; and
he also believed that it would be necessary for the Govern-
ment ere long to consider this question.
The Earl of DEVON presented a petition from a poor-law
union in the county of Vevon, praying for alteration in the
bastardy clauses of the New Poor-law Bill.