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    ministry- ' ( Cheers . ) Why , a year ago , upon that same hmdard was emblazoned •* Bo not trust the noble lord the member for the city . ' ( Cheers . ) Sir , we shall survive that want of confidence ; and if the only way in whidh the oble lord thinks he can make tie present government unpopular * if the only mode by which he thinks he can unset the present atfininistration is by showing to the country that it does not possess the confidence of the right hon . baronet the member for Ripon , why , then , sir , I must express my hearty confidence that at this time next year we shall still have the honour of serving her Majesty . " ( Loud cheers . ) THE MILITIA BILL IN THE " XOBDS . "

    Lord Derby moved the second reading of the Militia Bill on Tuesday . His speech was but a long and elaborate repetition , of those statements and arguments which wer © made by Ministers in the House of Commons . But we note one thing which it is desirable to register —— the Ministerial estimate of M . Bonaparte . " On the first occasion upon which I had the honour of addressing your lordships' House in the character of a Minister of the Crown , I took occasion to express the belief which I then entertained 1 —a belief which subsequent circumstances have tended still further to increase and gtrengfchon—in th « pfiTsonal pacific disposition of the present ruler of the French Bepublic . ( Heax >> If you ask

    me , therefore , whether upon any anticipation of hostile proceedings from the personal disposition of the Prince JPresidentTE am incnned to call for any additional means of defence , I answer that inquiry with the most distinct and absolute negative . If , however , you go on to iask me whether I consider that the statd of France and of the continent of Europe is so firmly estabKsheaV and so free from the liability of interruption as to render it safe and possible f or us to rely for that which may take place in that or in other countries upon the actual disposition of the existing ruler of that country , then I confess I must express with much more qualification the degree of confidence whichj with regard to the Personal disposition of the French President , Iliave no hesitation in expressing . "

    Having exonerated M . Bonaparte , he insinuated that the people of France were hostile to this country , and therefore was this bill needed . The main of his speech consisted of a description of the provisions of the bill , and criticisms of the measure of the late Government . Lord Lansdowite , on behalf of the Whig Opposition , imitated Lord Derby , and urged for the hundredth time the objections of Mr . B-ich and Lord John Russell . But the bill , thongb . inefficient as a measure of national defence , would be better than no bill . He made , however , the following important admission : —

    " J £ e thought it esppedieht that by slow degrees the people of this country should' be trailed to . the use of arms , so that they might be Jit to aid in the defence of a town , or to . occupy a garrison in case of cm emergency . " But at the same time he declared for the formation of an " army of reserve ; " in fact , " an increase of the standing army ; " as the " best and most efficient of all remedies . " The remarkable speech of the night was made by the Duke ob Wellington . He said :- — .

    " I am certainly the last man to have any hesitation of opinion as to the relative advantages of meeting an enemy with disciplined or with undisciplined or half-disciplined troops . The things are hot . to be compared at all . ( Hear , hear . ) " With ! disciplined troops you are acting with a certain degree of confidence that what they are ordered to perform they will perform . ( Hear , hear . ) With undisciplined troops you can have no such confidence : on the contrary , the chances are that they will do the very reverse of what thoy are ordered to do . ( ' Hear , hear , ' and lau gh . ) But we must look a littlo at the state in which wo stand at tho present moment . ( Hear , hoar . ) I IllO finiln ^ iin £ n * % A . **>* a . « a .. hIL i-1 * j » w » rl « nli Vttr ^ wlsi / W /* Al'lT ° . 1 TI Ub % /

    _~ . ^ yJi + Annjr jib £ JUUUU WAIjU fcllU WJMSJLU nvi «« j v »* . vj ^ - — certain parts , or on the frontiers of its own distant dominions , with which operations of war are carried on b y moans of our peace establishment . You are now providing for a peace establishment ; you are at poaco with tho wholo world ; you are providing for a peace establishment . I say that peace establishment ought to havo been effec tuall y provided for long ago . ( Chcors . ) If it had been , wo should not havo needed now to bo told , aa wo have boon b y tho noble marquis , about the number of days and woolcs it will take to train the militia recruits , of about tho futility of oxpectine anything to tho purpose from troops with their three weeks ' , or thoir six weeks , or what time it may bo , training . We havo never , up to this moment , maintained a proper poaco establishment , —that ' s tho real truth ( hear , hear ) : and wo aro now in that positio

    n in which wo find ouraolvos forced to form a peace establishment such as this country requires . ( Hoar . ) I toll you that for tho last ton years you havo novor had m your army more men than enough to roliovo tho sentries on duty of your stations in tho different parts of tho world ( hoar , hoar ); such is tho stato of your poaco establishment at tho proaont time ; such hoe boon tho state of your poaco

    is only nominally in ; a great many cases . There were , for instance , the last troops who were sent out to the Cape ; instead of keeping them five years at home , after their long service abroad , I was obliged to send them out after they had only been 16 months at home . ( Hear , hear . ) My lords , I tell you you ' ve never had a proper peace establishment all this time . We are still at peace with all the world ; let us , ihen , have a peace establishmentour constitutional peace establishment ; and , when you have got that , see what you will do next . The noble marquis , my noble friend , , if he will allow me so to call him , says he thinks he should prefer an army of reserve . An army of reserve t What is an army of reserve P ( Hear ,

    hear . ) Is it an army to cost less than 4 > 0 l . each man ali round . ? If he thinks that possible , I tell him that we can have no such thing . ( Hear , hear . ) But what I desireand I believe it is a desire the most moderate that can be formed—is , that you shall give us , in the first instance , the old constitutional peace establishment . ( Hear , hear . ) When we have got that , then you may do what you please . The noble marquis says , very truly , that these 50 , 000 , or 80 , 000 , or 160 , 000 militiamen worrfc be fit for service in 6 months , or 12 months , or 18 months ; but I say , they'll be fit , at all events , for some service ; and certainly they'll enable us to employ in the field others who are fit for service ( hear , hear ); and in time they will themselves

    become fit for service . Jp . the last war we had in service several regiments of English militia , and they were in as high a state of discipline , and as fit for service as any men I erw sawin . my hie . ( Hear . ) It was quite impossible to have a body of troops in higher order , or in higher discipline , or more fit for discipline than these bodies of British militia were at the commencement of the present century up to 1810 ; they were as fine corps as ever wero seen ( hear , hear ); and , I say , no doubt these bodies of 60 , 000 men or 80 , 000 men , whatever the number may be , will be so too , in the course of time . ( Hear , hear . ) Everything has its beginning , and this is a commencement . You must make a beginning here , and see that it

    will take some months before you can form reserve regiments . ( Hear , hear . ) The armies of England , who have served the country so well , are your lordships so mistaken as to suppose that they were ever composed of more than one-third of real British subjects- ^ of natives of this island ? No such thing . ( Ilear , hear . ) Look at the East Indies . JN " ot more than one-third of the soldiers there are such British subjects . Look at the Peninsula ; not one-third of the men employed there were ever British soldiers . Yet I beg your lordships to observe what services those soldiers performed . ( Hear , hear . ) They fought great battles against the finest troops in the world ; they went prepared to face everything- —ay , and to be successful against everything , or this country would not have borne with them . ( Hear , hear . ) Not one-third of those armies were British

    troops , but they were brave troops , and not merely brave —for I believe every man is brave—but well-organized troops . Take the battle of Waterloo ( hear , hear ) ; look at the number of British troops at that battle . I can tell your lordships that in that battle there were 16 battalions of Hanoverian militia , just formed , under the command of the late Hanoverian ambassador here—Count Kiehnaneegge—who behaved most admirably ( hear , hear ); and there were many other foreign troops who nobly aided us in that battle , avowedly the battle of giants ( hear , hear ) , whoso operations help ed to bring about tho victory which was followed by the peace of Europe , that has now lasted t

    for 32 or 84 years . ( Hear , hear . ) I say hat however much I admire highly-disciplined troops , and most especially British discip lined troops , I tell you you must not suppose that others cannot become so too ( hear , hear ); and no doubt , if you beg in with tho formation of corps under this Act of Parliament , they will in time become what their predecessors in the roiutia were ; and if over they do become what the former militia were , you may rely on it they will perform all the services thoy may be required to perform , ( Hoar , hear . ) I recommend you . to adopt this measure as the commencement of a completion of the peace establishment . ( Hoar , hear . ) It will givo you a constitutional force ; it will not be , at first , or for some time , ovorything we cpuld desiro , but by degrees it will become what you want—an efficient auxiliary ioroo to the regular army . ( Hoar , hear . )"

    Lord Gbey followed the lino marked out by Lord Lansdowne . But he also made one useful admission . " About tho time his noblo friend mado his proposal there was a goneral disposition throughout tho country to form rifle corps . Applications were received from many quarters for leave to do so , and it was agr eed that these rino corps should bo recognised on tho condition that thoy wore recommended by tho lord-lioutonants of tho counties to which thoy belonged , and that thoy found thoir own arms . Ho had reason to boliove that upon those forms volunteer corps would havo boon formed to a groat extent j and , while thoy would havo relieved tho counties in which thoy wore from a militia , thoy would havo added to tho safety and security of tho country . Jtiflo practice would havo become tho amusomont of young men , just liko tho uso of tho bow m this tho uld

    tho days of our ancestors ; and by moans y wo havo liad a very effective description of forco indeed , with whom tho moro mercenaries to bo raised undor tho prosont Militia Bill could not for a momont bo compared . ( Hoar . ) By tho electric telegraph and railroads thoy could havo in tho course of forty-oight hours after invaHion a vory largo proportion of those voluntoors collected ; and though thoy might not bo able to exoeuto compact manoeuvres , or-stand tho shock of battlo boforo tho disciplined troopa of , Franco or Russia , yot BUiroly those young mon of England , Hupporting such regular troops and artillery aa thoy had at thendisposal , would bo a formidable forco in a caao of emergency . ( Hoar , hoar . ) Tho Government , ho boliovod , had rolUHud tho Bdrvico of volunteers lost thoy should interfere with tho voluntary enlistment of mon for tho mihtiaj but ho must say that that view was founded on an < mtiro misconception . Thoy could not concoivo that mon ablo to find thoir own arms would volunteer into tho militia forfivo yoara

    pormarient service . They might be able to form their . mihtia without the ballot , but it would be by persons very different from these , and he believed , therefore , they had committed a great error by refusing the volunteer corps . " He woundup by objecting to the Bill , that it would leave the country in a worse state of defence than if no Bill had been passed . Lord Ellesmebe supported the bill , and it was . read a second time without a division or . a hostile motion . . . , . . The bill went quietly through committee on Thursday ,

    LOBD MALMESBtTBY ABANDONS HIS BONAPABTISr CONVENTION BILL . Lord Brougham ( who had previously attempted , but without success , to bring this subject before the house on Monday ) said , their lordships would have saved some three quarters of an hour by permitting his question to have been put and answered with a simple " yea" or " nay . " He referred to the state of the French law , and . repeated that it was as he had stated it to be last week . He implored his noble friends opposite , before the next stage of the bill , to reconsider the propriety , which he would strongly urge upon

    them , of withdrawing the measure . ( Hear , hear . ) They had the best possible opportunity of doing so , on account of the total change in the law of France which had taken place upon the very subject of extradition since the convention was entered into . ( Hear , hear . ) The Earl of Malmesbury said , he had come down to the House intending to inform their lordships at the proper moment that the Government had thought fit , at present , to withdraw this bill . ( Cheers . ) After what the noble and learned lord had said , he scarcely need refer to his own statement oh Friday night , as to the law of France . That statement had originated in

    an error of the person who wrote the despatch on this subject—an error which our ambassador at Paris had requested him to explain in the way he had done . Before leaving the subject he wished to state that it would be extremely dangerous to continue the act of Parliament under the new law which had been passed in France . ( Hear , hear . ) In the first place , they could not properly understand the full bearing of that measure . As far as he understood it at present , the French Government meant to claim any criminal in . any part of the world wherever he had committed an offence , even if that offence were not committed on French

    ground . Lord Brougham—And though the party be not a Frenchman ? Lord MAxjtesbttry— - Just so . Lord Brougham—An Englishman , in London even , would be liable under it . Lord MaI / MESBTJBy wished to avoid any discussion on the provisions of the French law ; but he had meant to take the earliest opportunity of informing their lordships that the Government intended to withdraw the bill .

    Lord Brou&ham said , that nothing could be more satisfactory than this course , and nothing could be more complete than the justification of the noblo earl for so acting . He could do no other , after finding that ho had been misinformed as to tho actual stato of the French law . The now law was , that an Englishman , for aa offence committed in London , or alleged to be so committed , might be brought to trial in France , and

    dealt with by the French authorities . ( Hoar , hear . ) It was not for the first time that a law of this sort wns propounded in Franco ; it was in a great measure tlie same under the Emporor Napoleon , in 1808 , when France , England , and Europe wero in totally different oircumstances . Sinco then , owing to that diversity of circumstances , the law had been a dead lettor ; but St was now revived , and with a very material oxtonsion , having reference to misdemeanours aa well aa other

    . Lord Lyndiiurst said , that by tho oxinting French law , supposing tho bill before the House to have been carried , an Englishman might have boon apprehended hero after ho had been in Paris . ( Hear , hoar . )

    OORRUrT PRACTICES AT ELECTIONS BILL . In tho House of Lohds this bill was vory much damaged by lninfotorial nmcndmontn . There was n smart dincussion on Monday boforo tho Houso wont into committee , on tho motion of Lord Lansdownk . Lord Dkbdy proposed a » an amendment to tho first claiiBc , that tho words , " Address of tho Houso of Commons , " should bo omitted ; nnd tho words , " A Joint Address of both Houaos of Parliament , " bo . substituted ; an amondmont which would prevent tho House of Commons from proceeding ^ inquire into any alloged corrupt prncticcs at elections without tho consent of tho Upper Houho . Tho amendment wan vigorounly opposed , but on a division it wftH carried by 78 to 34 .

    On clauHO 0 , which guvo tho eommibHioners power to inquire whether thoro had been corrupt practices at elections "for such a period rctroHjpectivoly aa thoy

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    jpire 19 ^ 1852 . ] ^ ^ y ^ 577

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 19, 1852, page 577, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1940/page/5/