Lord H. Lennox rose on Tuesday to move for a
Select Committee to inquire into the circumstances of the dismissal of Sir Spencer Robinson, lately Controller of the Navy. Lord H. Lennox eulogized Sir Spencer's services, which have been great, most warmly, quoted the high appreciation of his ability expressed by Mr. Gladstone in June last, declared that the real cause of Mr. Childers' desire to remove him was the loss of the Captain, for which he was not responsible, held that the Admiral's account of his interview with the First Lord during which he was said to have given in his resignation was more pro- bable than Mr. Childers', and animadverted on the Premier's refusal to state the grounds of his ultimate action. He was sup- ported by Mr. Bouverie in a weighty speech, in which he reviewed the correspondence, held that Sir Spencer Robinson was a member of the permanent civil service, and declared that the public ser- vice had been weakened by the rapid removals and withdrawals of so many first-class experts from the Admiralty. People, he hinted, who could get on very well with other administrations could not get,on with Mr. Childers.
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