hoped, therefore, that the speech of his | France. In Turkey, the population of the noble Friend the Foreign Secretary would capital actually broke into open insurrecgo forth to the East without delay, for tion, from discontent with their Governevery minute lost was of the greatest im- ment not taking a sufficiently energetic portance there. He believed that prompt tone. action on the part of the combined squadrons would be worth more than an army of 20,000 men on the shores of the Caucasus for if once the fleet showed that England and France were really opposed to the pretensions of Russia, the whole population of that and the adjacent countries would join the standard of the Sultan. He would appeal to the noble Lord (Lord Beaumont) not to press his Resolutions to a division, on the ground that such a proceeding would be unusual and unwise after the satisfactory declarations of his noble Friend the Foreign Secretary. EARL GRANVILLE said, that no apology was necessary on the part of the noble Lord (Lord Beaumont) for having again brought forward the present question; for his noble Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (the Earl of Clarendon) had a few nights ago expressed a strong wish, on the part of Her Majesty's Government, that the discussion upon this subject should be of the most ample kind; and he thought his noble Friend had had that wish granted, and that, by the granting of that wish, it was shown that the more the blue books had been "pottered over" and the question discussed, either in that or the other House of Parliament, the stronger and the more general had the opinion become of the wisdom, and sagacity, and ability with which his noble Friend had conducted these most difficult negotiations. The question had resolved itself into two accusations against the Government-the first, made with singular ability by a noble Earl (Lord Grey) was, that they had been too inclined to go to war, and that the reasons they had adopted for going to war were not good reasons. He need not argue now whether this opinion was well or ill founded, for the utterance of this opinion had not met with any response either in the country or in their Lordships' House. As to the other charge, it was satisfactory to know that it was the very identical charge which every Opposition in almost every country in Europe concerned in this great question had made on their Governments-namely, that they had shown weakness and vacillation. Every post confirmed the unpopularity of Count Nesselrode for the course he had pursued towards England and The same accusations were made against the Government of France as against that of England; that Government being accused of being dragged in the wake of England for a cause which did not interest France; while in this country it was said that our only acts of vigour were the consequence of the spirited action of the French; so that they had the Oppositions bringing against two Governments, which, he believed, had in an unexampled manner acted together in perfect confidence for a disinterested object, the same accusations-accusations so incompatible that they could be mathematically shown to be impossible. The noble Marquess (the Marquess of Clanricarde) had stated his case as if the Government were going to war without making any communication to Parliament upon the subject. But that was not the fact, and he held that it was a matter entirely for Government to decide when it was proper to make a declaration of war. THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE had said nothing about a declaration of war. He had spoken merely of the expedition which had just been sent out. EARL GRANVILLE was not aware that it was customary for communications to be made to Parliament every time that troops were sent to the colonies, and the troops which had recently embarked had gone to Malta. As to the reflections which had to-night been made upon the combined squadrons employed in the Bosphorus, he was sure the noble Marquess would, upon consideration, perceive that he was not justified in the statement he had put forth. There had been no squabble respecting the Admirals refusing to do a service they were called upon to perform. No want of spirit had been displayed on their part. They were perfectly prepared to do what they were required to do; but, influenced by nautical considerations (and all professional authorities in the country agreed with them), they thought it better to take possession of the Black Sea, by moving war steamers from place to place, than by exposing the men-of-war to be knocked about, or keeping them in the very position where, to use the expression of one of the gallant officers employed, Russia most wished them to be for the next two or three months. With regard to the Motion before the House, he (Earl Granville) did not know what was that the people were clamorous for a repeal of the corn laws, which the aristocracy would not grant. Now these statements were, to a great extent, true in the year 1826, when they were made. But what was the state of England at present? In consequence of the legislative measures which had been passed of late years, and which had been supported by every member of Her Majesty's Government, and which were approved of by the noble Marquess (the Marquess of Clanricarde), though not, he believed, by the noble Lord the Mover of the Resolutions (Lord Beaumont), the greatest prosperity, both as regards trade and commerce, was enjoyed by this country. Her commerce and her ma meant by it. It was either a vote of want which had been pursued by Her Majesty's of confidence (and after the declarations Government. But he remembered another that had been made by his noble Friend despatch written by Count Pozzo di Borgo the Foreign Secretary the House would six months later, and to which he would for unanimously reject it), or else it was a vote a moment direct their Lordships' attention. of confidence; but the Government did not In that latter document the writer stated want a vote of confidence. He considered his reasons why England could not, in his the course pursued to be very remarkable. opinion, go to war on the Eastern question. If a vote of want of confidence had been He said that England could never succeed carried, or nearly carried, against the Go- in combining with her the other European vernment, the necessity for such a Motion Powers-that her internal state was such as the present might, perhaps, have then as would prevent her from going to wararisen; but the contrary was the case, for that her commerce was in a most desperate it was a most remarkable fact, that in condition—that a Roman Catholic insurrecneither House of Parliament had the tion was on the point of breaking out in slightest attempt been made to convey a Ireland-that the revenue of this country real censure on the Government. And was diminishing from year to year-that even if the noble Lord had meant it in a we were suffering from a scarcity of food favourable sense, and the Government had accepted it, he was sure the effect would be bad, not only in this country, but throughout all Europe. There was one other point to which he wished to advert. His noble Friend who had introduced the discussion had talked of a discrepancy between the language which had been held by members of the Government in that House, who had strongly expressed their opinions as to the desirability of peace and the horrors of war, and the language which had been held by other members of the Government in the other House, who had made a patriotic appeal to the country to carry on hostilities in the spirit which became Englishmen. He (Earl Granville) as a very humble member of the Govern-nufactures were flourishing; her revenue, ment, protested against such being the instead of declining from quarter to quarter, case. Even at the present time he felt was increasing from quarter to quarter, no enthusiasm at the approach of war. and the increase in the last quarter had He had remarked that the noble Marquess amounted to 3,000,000l.; and instead of himself had carefully guarded himself the people of Ireland being in a state of against the possibility of its being supposed insurrection, the most gratifying accounts that he was anxious for hostilities, although were received of their hurrying to the Brihis noble Friend, with whom the discussion tish standard in a manner most creditable had originated, had hardly spoken in so to that brave nation. He agreed with the temperate a tone. But he (Earl Granville) noble Lord near him (Lord Lyttelton) that believed that there was not one Member of for the sake of a permanent peace, and of that House who would not be prepared to a satisfactory settlement, not only of this, express his conviction that war was a fright- but of other questions, it was necessary ful calamity, that it was pregnant with that the whole force of this country should evil and destructive of much good; but be put forward the moment it engaged in was it to be asserted on that account that war. He hoped that policy would be purthe war, when once it was undertaken, sued, and he, for one, could not have the ought not to be carried on with becoming slightest doubt of its success. There had vigour and energy. His noble Friend had been idle discussions carried on for the quoted from a despatch of Count Pozzo di purpose of deciding whether the progress Borgo. He also (Earl Granville) had read of science, as applied to war of late years, that paper, and, speaking from memory, it had been as great as the progress of science seemed to him that that despatch only in the arts of peace. Whatever might be served to prove the wisdom of the course the judgment at which people might arrive upon that point, it was quite clear that | proper time arrived further information nearly all those modern inventions which would be given. had been so useful in peace could be applied to the purposes of war; and he could not believe that this country, which possessed within itself so vast a quantity of the raw material which supplied the moving power of steam, which was almost un-in which Her Majesty's present Governknown in the rest of Europe, and which had been so extensively employed in our navigation, in our inland locomotion, and in every species of machinery-he could not believe that this country could fail in the most effective and formidable application of modern scientific discoveries to the operations of war. He felt persuaded that the freedom of our commerce, and the great extension of our trade, in recent times had not unnerved the people of the United Kingdom. He believed, on the contrary, that the expansion of our commercial enterprise, and that perfect freedom of thought and action which we enjoyed, would indefi. nitely extend our material resources. All that Her Majesty's Government asked at present from their Lordships was, a continuance of that confidence which had been placed in them on a preceding evening. They felt that they had undertaken a great responsibility; but it was a responsibility from which they would not retreat. He thought he could answer for the noble Earl at the head of the Government, that supported as he would be by his colleagues, he would do his duty, while he took as his guiding rule of conduct that principle which has been laid down as the only proper basis of English policy by the illustrious Canning and by Sir James Macintosh-the principle of respect for the faith of treaties-respect for the independence of nations-respect for that territorial arrangement of Europe which was known as the balance of power and though last, not least, respect for the honour and interest of England. THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE explained that he did not mean to cast the slightest imputation on the gallant officers commanding the fleets in the Black Sea; he had merely said they were detained in the Bosphorus for explanation of their instructions. He knew, if they were told to go out and fight the Russians, they would make short work of them. EARL GRANVILLE would not argue the point. The Queen's Speech had informed the House that warlike preparations were being made, the present destination of the troops was known, and when the EARL FITZWILLIAM said, he believed that was the first time in the history of this country in which some communication had not been made to Parliament by the Ministry of such portentous proceedings as those ment had become engaged. He would, however, assure his noble Friend that he was not one who blamed the Government for their endeavours to procure peace, but rather because their endeavours to obtain it had, judging from the result, been unsuccessful and misdirected. He could not help thinking that if they had pursued a more vigorous policy at the commencement of these proceedings a different result might have been arrived at. Without entering into any examination of the blue books, he would remind their Lordships that some sort of insinuation had been now and then thrown out, either in that or the other House of Parliament, that at the commencement, when the Russian Ambassador appeared at Constantinople, there was not quite a sufficient degree of prudence exercised by the gentleman who filled the office of Chargé d'Affaires of this country at Constantinople. Prince Menchikoff arrived at Constantinople about the 7th of March. In consequence of his arrival, and, at the instance of the Grand Vizier, Colonel Rose sent to the fleets to go to Vourla Bay. The result of that being known at the Russian Legation produced a total change in the character and conduct of Prince Menchikoff, who before that had behaved in a most insulting manner to the Porte; but the change on the part of the Russian Legation was so marked as to produce an impression upon some of the Ministers of the Sultan that it was not their intention to act in any other than a friendly manner. What happened, however, when it became known that the order to the fleet had been countermanded? Then came back the insulting tone, the menace, and the frown. The charge to which he thought the Government was obnoxious was, that they had failed in energy, not at the termination, but at the commencement of the negotiations. With respect to the particular Motion before the House, he confessed that he entertained, to a certain degree, the objection which had been offered to it by the noble Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and upon that account he proposed to move an Amendment to the latter part of the Resolution. He agreed with the Government that it would not be the duration of the war, and to teach them expedient to point in detail to the particu- that they must not repine at the sacrifice lars at which they might think it desirable of pleasure or of life, but that the greater to arrive; but he did not admit that they the early sacrifice, the more sure would be should conceal from Parliament what were the speedy and successful termination to the objects which they proposed to them- the war. selves in allowing the country to be drawn into a war. Ile wanted to know what we were going to war for, and he wished to warn the Government against their suffering to be infused into the minds of foreign nations suspicions of what the objects of England were. He was far more afraid of the wiles of Russia than of her power; and he wished it to be stated as the opinion of one individual member of their Lordships' House what the object ought to be for which we were going to war. The common law of Europe declared that no State should be allowed to encroach upon the territories of a neighbour. It was that common law which protected the weak from the strong; it was that common law which had been invaded by the Emperor of Russia, and it was that invasion of the common law of Europe which he thought it desirable that that House should mark with its reprobation. When they were about to engage in war, they should declare what was the cause which justified that war, and he should propose to substitute for the end of the Resolution words in which it would be impossible to suggest even the trace of any selfish motive upon the part of England. The Amendment which he proposed was as follows :— That it is, therefore, the opinion of the House that the time has arrived when immediate and effectual steps ought to be taken to vindicate the public law of Europe by repelling the unprovoked aggression of Russia upon the territory of the Sultan, and to obtain a durable and secure peace." The duty of England was a great one. He hoped that, single-handed, England could contend with all the nations of the earth. Her Navy ought to be able to cope with all the navies of the world, and, combined with France, she ought to be able to crush them all. But, when he saw that the other Powers were combined with England, and were acting with her with a cordiality which, perhaps, was not to have been expected, he could entertain no doubt about the conclusion of the war. It must be conducted, however, upon a great scale; they must make no little war; they must task the energies of this country to the utmost. It was the duty of the Government to make the people understand what was the character and what might be VOL. CXXX. [THIRD SERIES.] LORD BEAUMONT, in reply, said, that the noble Earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs had, on this occasion, made a speech of quite an unusual character. Presuming him to speak the sentiments of the Cabinet, he (Lord Beaumont) had obtained from that Cabinet an assurance equivalent entirely to that which was proposed to be obtained by the Motion; for if he understood the noble Earl at all, he agreed that effectual means must be taken to repel the aggression of Russia-that the power of this country should be exerted to place the relations of the Sublime Porte and the rest of Europe on a foundation calculated to secure a durable peace. The noble Earl stated more. He stated that affairs were really advancing to that end, and that an agreement was now being entered into with the Porte and France which had for its object the supporting of the dignity and integrity of the Ottoman empire. He could not in such circumstances press his Motion, and he, therefore, begged leave to withdraw it. EARL FITZWILLIAM objected to the withdrawal of the Motion, as he wished his Amendment to be put. THE EARL OF ELLENBOROUGH said, the Motion could not be withdrawn, if any one of their Lordships objected to the withdrawal. After a short discussion, EARL FITZWILLIAM said, he would his Amendment. not press Motion, by leave of the House, withdrawn. House adjourned to Monday next. HOUSE OF COMMONS, PUBLIC BILLS. -1° Bribery, &c.; 2° Towns Improvement (Ireland); Improve- COPPER COINAGE FOR THE COLONIES. MR. THORNELY said, the hon. Secretary to the Treasury having stated on a previous evening that a contract had been 2 S entered into with a house in Birmingham' for the supply of coin for this country and Ireland, he (Mr. Thornely) wished to ask the hon. Secretary whether the Government had taken into consideration the necessity of supplying copper coin to the Colonies, and especially to the colony of Australia? He (Mr. Thornely) had that morning received information that so great was the scarcity of copper coin in Australia, and so little experienced were the people in preparing a supply of it, that they had to obtain supplies from the continent of Europe and from America. He wished to ask whether the Government had taken any measures to supply the Colonies of this country, and especially the colony of Australia, with copper coin? MR. WILSON said, the contract to which the hon. Member alluded was entered into, not only for the purpose of meeting the requirements of Ireland, Scotland, and this country, but also of our Colonies, and more particularly North America and Australia. Of the 500 tons of copper coin only 19,000l. had as yet been issued; but he had the pleasure to state that the daily delivery now amounted to 80,000 pieces, so that, the wants of Ireland having been relieved, he had no doubt that the Master of the Mint being aware of the pressure in Australia, to which the hon. Member had so properly called the attention of the House, would take measures to see it speedily relieved. SEIZURE OF GUNPOWDER. MR. OTWAY said, he wished to call the attention of the hon. Secretary to the Treasury to the following paragraph which appeared in that day's Times: "The public will rejoice to hear that, under the operation of the order which recently appeared, a quantity of gunpowder, intended for exportation and for delivery to the enemies of England, has been seized. Two large operations of this kind have been happily disconcerted, and it is hoped that many others will meet with the same fate. This result has been obtained by an anonymous communication made to the authorities, and, although we are no friends to anonymous communications in most instances, still, when the lives of our gallant soldiers and sailors are at stake, we cannot afford to be over sensitive." He wished to know whether there would be any objection to state to the House the names of those traders whose gunpowder and munitions of war had been seized under the recent proclamation? question, he must inform the hon. Gentleman that that was a matter which came entirely under the supervision of the Treasury; and he had to state to the House all that he knew of the steps which they had taken to carry out the present Order in Council. The fact was, that the day after the proclamation appeared the authorities at the Treasury had an intimation from certain persons that led them to suppose that a large quantity of gunpowder was about to be shipped to Syra, for the use of the Greek insurgents, and that a portion of it was intended for employment by Russia. The gunpowder was stopped, as well as other munitions which had also been prepared for the same market. He should not feel justified in stating the names of the persons who had been engaged in these transactions, because it did not at all follow that the persons who were engaged in shipping the gunpowder for Syra were informed of the quarter for which it was destined; and as the Treasury proceeded on information which was in a great measure confidential, he did not think he should be justified in stating more than the general circumstance. The authorities at the Treasury were quite aware of the great difficulty with which they were surrounded in attempting to stop this illicit trade. The means to which they had resorted, and which might prove of some importance, was, that they had caused an account to be made out of the quantity of gunpowder that each market had been usually supplied with, monthly, for the last two or three years; and whenever they now found that an unusual supply was about to be shipped to any country, they should probably feel themselves justified, unless the circumstance was fully and satisfactorily explained, in stopping the shipment of such unusual quantity. Of course, the authorities at the Treasury were very much in the hands of the public. They had received very considerable assistance by confidential communications made to the several departments, and they should be much obliged to any person who would aid them in carrying out the object they had in view. TRANSPORT OF CAVALRY HORSES. GENERAL WYNDHAM said, he wished to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty or the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary at War, why the horses of the cavalry and MR. J. WILSON said, in answer to the horse artillery are to be embarked in sail |