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    material which was required , but which would enable " to contribute to the furnishing . of veryexcellent weapons to our troops , and which in process of t time would render them so independent of other supplies as would enable them to command whatever might be required elsewhere on reasonable terms . « overn j ment wanted aU the arms : that could be got , * nd had already been obliged to send . to Liege and the United ^ r ^ M ^ rofced tKe reduction of the vote by 15 00 ©/<; but , on the committee dividing , theamendmESrZZm St . by a , majority of 136 ,, and the vote was agreed to .. ¦ ¦

    „ , The remaining votes were then passed after some discussion ; On the last—a . grant of 2 . 792 . 348 L for ordnance stores—Mr ; MuN < rz ; proposed to reduce the vote by 40 , 000 / ., that beingthe charge for the small arm factory at Enfield ; and , on the committee dividing , there appeared—for theameadmentj 24 ; against , 110 ; majority , 86 , The original vote was then carried :

    THECASB OF LORD LtTCAir . Lord Lucan on Tuesday night brought forward his case in the- House of Lords . He read'the letter which Lord Raglan had sent-to theiDuke of New ~ castle , and in which was contained a repetition of the charge of " misconception of orders ; ' * also a latter from the Adjutant-General , stating thatrLord Hardinge was not disposed to grant his- ( Lord Lucan ' s ) request for a court-martial ; and one from himself in reply . He moved that these letters should : be printed .. The motion was ^ agreed to .

    CONTRABAND . OTWAR . Lord ^ BEKNBBS moved for returns of lead ' and other articles contraband of . war , exported from different ports of . England and Ireland since the declaration of war ; and also for the returns , of "Russian produce imported into the United Kingdom in . neutral vessels during the same period : The motion , he said , arose out of a current report that munitions of war had been sent to Russia under the sanction of the Custom House . —Lord Granviixe , felt no difficulty in acceding to . the first part of the noble lord's motion , but referred him to the Board of Trade for an answer to the second . He said that Lord John Eussell had-received-assurances from the . Prussian Government thatj as far . as Prussia was concerned , the law of neutrality would be carried out jnore , effectually than heretofore . The motion was agreed jto .

    ROMAN CATHOLIC PROCESSIONS .. The Bishop of Exeteb . moved for copies of cases / put to the . law officers of the Crown in 1852 ; with = respect to the legality , under a certain statute , of Eoman Catholic ecclesiastics walking in procession . The law officers held that the prohibition applied : only to the regular clergy .. The bishop believed all such processions to be illegal ; but he desired to have the opinion of Lord Lyndhurst , who was chancellorat the time the act was framed . —Lord

    Ltndhurststated that differences existed among the law officers as to the interpretation of the act ; but that his . own conclusions were the same as those of the bishoptUatthe . prohibitionapplied . toalL'iprdexs ^ of . clergy , secular as well as regular—to " -orders of deacon * " as well as " orders of friars *"—Lord St . Leonards expressed a similar opinion , ^ ind the Lord Chancellor a different . opinion ; but after little further discus * sion , the motion was agreed to , with some modification .

    THE RECORDER OF BRIGHTON . In the House of : Commons , on the same day , Mr . Craufurd moved for , a . select committee to take into consideration the case of the appointment of Mr . - Edwin James , Q . C .,, to the office of Recorder of Brighton , ' Mr . James having been refused admittance , to the bench of the Inner Temple on account of his conduct in respect of certain transactions connected with the election for the borough of Horsham in 1847 . Mr . James , it was asserted , had pledged himself that ; if certain , charges of bribery were withdrawn , he would pay 1500 / ., but had not done so . — The Attorney-General , in answer , said that Mr . James had made the compromise spoken of in his

    capacity of counsel for Mr . Jervis , the candidate in the election referred to ; but that the latter gentleman , conceiving that Mr .- James had exceeded Ms powers , refused to bo bound by the engagement . An action was raised against Mr . James personally for the amount ; but the proceedings were at once stopped . The benchers had not refused to admit Mr . James ; and he hoped the House would ' not entertain the motion now submitted . —Mr . Isaac Butt , Mr . Atheiiton , and Lord Palmbrston ^ spoke in favour of Mr . James ' s charaoter . Tho motion was negatived , Mr . Craufurd being tho only voter in ita favour ; and a motion that it be not entered on tho proceedings of tho House was carried without division .

    MASTERS AND OPERATIVES . Mr . Mackinnon called attention to tho inconvenience felt in this country from tho want of equitable tribunals ; by means of which differences between masters and operatives might be satisfactorily adjusted , and ho moved for * a : select committee to obtain information as to the Consoila des- PrwThoaunes in

    France , —Sir George Gbbt did not think it neces sary for the House to appoint a- committee for this purpose . He was . willing to lav on the table all the information on the subject which the Government possessed , but he had great doubt whether any such tribunal was suited to the mercantile habits of this country . ^ -Mr .- Mackinnox ultimately withdrew his

    motion . PUBLIC LIBRARIES . AUD . MUSEUMS BILL , The House of Commons , on Wednesday went into committee on the Public Libraries and Museums Bill , the object of which is to repeal ,, for the purpose of extending , the act of 1850 . —Clauses l , 2 ,., aod . 3 were agreed to ; but on clause 4 , 'Mr . Buck moved that , instead of reducing , the limit of the population who were to be subjected to the rate from 10 , 000 to 5000 , as proposed by the bill , the limit , should . remain at 10 , 00 aas at present ; - —Mr . Ewart replied that / this was only a permissive bill . —Mr . Henley , * Mr . Michell , Mr . Brothbrton , Lord Stanley , Mr . Cardwell , Sir S . Bignold , Mr . Baines , Mr . Lowe ,

    Mr . Erskine Perry , and Mr . Perc y , spoke m favour of the clause ; and Mr . Spooner , Mt . Henley , and Mr . Watson , opposed it on the ground that sufficient distinction is not made between the inhabitants of large towns and those of agricultural districts , who would have to journey a long way to get at the libraries . -Ultimately , Mr . Buck withr drew his amendment , and the words " five thousand ? were agreed to . —After some desultory discussion , Mr . Ewart consented to omit , Ireland , and subser quently Scotland , from the provisions of . the bill ; and several clauses were passed . —On clause 22 , Mr ,

    Ewart moved to insert the word " newspapers " after " books ; "' to which Mr . Spooner objected , on the ground that newspapers might have the effect of turning the libraries into " sedition-shops . "—On the other hand , Sir J . Shelley was surprised at the boldness of the assertion that places which took in papers were sedition-shops . After -some discussion , the insertion of the-word " newspapers" was agreed to by a . majority . of 42 . —Several other clauses were then agreed-to ; and the bill passed through conamit-r tee , and wa * ordered , to be . taken into , consideration on- Monday next .

    PUBLIC SCHOOLS . " = In the House ; of ; Commons ,,, on Thursday , ' Mr * Hisrwoorr ; moved for aselect committee to inquire into the best ; nieans of affording to the nation a full anttr equal participation in all-the advantages . not necessarily of an , ecclesiastical or spiritual charaeter in the public schools and universities of England and Ireland , and of improving , the educational system ia those- seats . ; of : learning , with a view ; to enlarge their course of instruction ,, in conformity with . the requirements-of the public service * After some preliminary , observations ,, he proceeded to indicate , the course which he thought might be profitably , taken by such a committee and . the matters which should come under their consideration ,. suggesting the abor litiou of , certain existing restrictions , and the adoption into the curriculum of study in -our universities

    and public schools of modern languages * and various branches ^ of-sciesoe-now-negleeted or excluded . ^—The motion was seconded by Mr ; Ewart . —Lord Palmerston said Mr . Hey wood ' s proposal did not hold out : any practical result . Measureshad . already been taken , to a certain extent , to introduce improvements into our seats of learning . A . bill had already been passed withrespeot to Oxford , and one was contemplated for Cambridge . The appointment of a , committee , therefore , would be waste of time . The best course was to wait and see what further improve ? ments would be needed . There was no doubt that the system prevailing , at . public schools was . capable ofi great improvements ; but . it ; was not . true that they wereJbackward in -making improvements ^—Mr . Packs having spoken ; in opposition to the motion , and Mr . Miaw * in its favour , Mr . He wood ; withdrew it .

    STOPPAGES i TROM , WAGES * Sir H . ILuufto&D moved for leave to bring in a bill to restrain stoppages from wages in the hosiery manufacture for the liiro of , machines . The bill , he said , was the same , verbally and literally ,, as-the bill of last year , its simple object being , to bring these stoppages , vwthin the provisions . of the TrnwkiActi —Sir G . Grey said , the object was impracticable , and that , the proposal for regulating by Act of Parliament tho rent paid fort frames -would be altogether illusory . Inquiry ought to pteoedo the introduction of tho : bill . —The . motion was supported by Mr . Paokjq , . Sir , J . Walmsusv , Mr . Bookjsu , Mr . W . J . ' Fox , and Mr » Newjoeoate ; and opposed by Mr . Wjxksinsoh , Mr . Gardner ,, and Mr . BAiuiow . Upom a division , it was negatived by . 96 . to . C 8 j

    BIR OHARLBS NAPIBIi AND THE' BALTIO' FtiBET . Mr . Maxims called attention to naval operations in tho Baltic under Vice-Admiral Sir C . Napier , and moved , for copies of any correspondence botween tho Board of Admiralty or any member of her Majesty ' s Government and Sir-C . Napier since tho 20 th day of Hecembor last . After-alluding to tho . glowing oiilogips passed upon Sir Charles Napier at tho celebrated Reform Club dinner , by several morabors of

    the then Government , but- move , especially hj Sir James Graham , he asked whether ? any one could ( have expected that on his ¦ return- Sir ? - Charles would' meet with contempt and contumely ; , and'be dismissed from his-command ) He showed , by extracts-which he read from letters addressed by'Sir James Graham to Sir Charles Napier , that downto the end of August the latter , received the full conn fidence of the Government . In one of these , letters ; the Admiral was advised to pause long andcoasider well before attempting to meet the Russians-in their strongholds ,- aadtthe right hon . baronet expressed his fears that , the Russians would be much : toa caution * to come out . Had the fleet beea weaker-they might

    have done so ; but ,, as iti was , they would probably wait and watch an opportunity , in the . hope . that th © Admiral would . seriously cripple his foree by knocks ing , his head against . their forts , when-they might take him at a serious disadvantage and inflict a fatal blow . After the end of August , a correspondence ensued respecting certain plans for attacking Sweabbrg . ; but on the 19 th of September the French fleet retired from the Baltic , and a council of British admirals unanimously agreed that the season was too far advanced , to justify such an operation .. Sit Charles , on the 25 th of September , reported to the Admiralty to that effect , namely , that the . season , was past , and that the weather could not be depended

    upon for two hours . This , Malins observed , was the point of diflfference . between . them , and to the discretion of the Admiral in ., this matter , he said ,, the . country bweda . deep debt of gratitude . On the 2 nd of October the Government received intelligence that Sebastopol had , fallen ,. and . nothing would do but that some fortress inrthe . Baltic . should fall too . In a letter dated the 4 th " . of October they directed that operations should be commenced at- the end of October ; but Sir Charles t on the IOth , wrote to decline undertaking an operation which he believed must fail , offering , if he had lost the confidence of the Government , to return . The correspondence ended on . the 10 th of November , but on the 31 st of October

    the Admiralty expressed their disapprobation of the conduct of Sir Charles before the 25 th of August , up to which date they had been " more than , satisfied with all his proceedings . " With respect to the letter of the 4 th of October , directing that operations should be commenced , Mr . Malins-observed that the Government had lost an army by their mismanagement , and that there was good-reason-to apprehend that , if their advice had been followed , they would have lost our navy too . In that - case , there was- nothing to prevent" the Russian fleet from , desoending upon- our- shores . Howevery . the Govern * ment ; believing-that Sebastopol" had fallen * nothing would do but that Cronstadt-must fall too . No doubt

    they felt that if Sebastopol and Cronstadt had both fallen , they could have come before Parliament with a story of success so unparalleled , that the country would be perfectly satisfied that such a Ministry never existed before . ( "Hear , hear" andlaughter . ) What could be said of such men being entrusted with the affairs of the nation ? What would the House say if it were found that the Secretary for-War had written to Lord- Raglan-to- desire that- he would take ^ ebastopol on the 1 st of April ? (" Hear" and laughter . ) Mr . Malins then continued his ¦ narrative of facts subsequent to the arrival of Sir Charles in England on the

    17 th of December , stating that his reception by Sit James Graham had been all but insulting , and that on the 22 nd he had been ordered , in very affronting terms , to s tike his flag and come on shore . He insisted that this was a summary dismissal , and that it was unworthy treatment of a great public officer , who had ' brought back a large fleet in safety , aud in a state of improved discipline . Sir-Charles had therefore , he contended , been dismissed and censured ; and he ( Mrc Malins ) thought the manner in which this distinguished public servant-had been treated by the Government was unworthy of a great nation , and ought to be brought before the notice of Parliament .

    The motion was seconded by Mr . T . Herbert . Sir James Graham said he had not come down to the House to read extracts from public despatches , or garbled citations from private and confidential letters . ( "Hear , hear . " ) Still less would he enter into the details of private conversations . Ho denied that , either in the . Baltic , or tho Black Son , or tho Crimea , tho honour of this country had boon lost , aa Mr . Malins had asserted , since we had never met tho enemy , in- any one instance in which our arms had not been victorious . He proceeded : — commented

    " Tho hon . nnd learned gentleman has upon : an expression that was used by my nobJo friond , now at tho head of tho Government , on an occasion to which he cloliffht * in reforring—namely , that tno greatest proof of sagacity is exhibited in soeintf Hovcral moves before . Well , I must certainly plead tfudty to a grcnt mint of this sagacity , because the moves that have boon taken by tho hon . and learned gentleman on . this occasion wore not foreseen by mo I did not anticipato that ho would have thought it consent with his . duty to road : extracts from despatches which he « ays ho . hw ' conned over —that they lmvo been ' Hubinitted . to . WnV . —tliaUwia 'in possession' of them—public despatches , bo it od-

    Untitled Article

    Mabch 10 , 1855 . ] TUB : IE A DEB ; 219

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1855, page 219, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2081/page/3/