Debates ant lamenting% in laarliament.

LORD A BINGER.

In the House of Commons, on Tuesday, Mr. THOMAS BUNCOMBE, having presented a petition from Bath, praying for inquiry into the conduct of Lord Abinger as a Judge on the Special Commissions in Lancashire and Cheshire, proceeded to call the attention of the House to the subject. He accused him of having discharged his duty in a manner partial, unconstitutional, and oppressive ; and with having shown a rancorous, malignant, and poli.ical party-spirit towards those who had been tried before him. Mr. Duncombe quoted remarks of the press—from the Times, the Morning Chronicle, the Morning Herald, and the Morning Advertiser—to prove the unanimous reprobation of Lord Abinger's charges to the Grand Juries at Chester and Lancaster. As precedents, he cited the cases of Judge Kenrick, a Welsh Judge and a Magistrate in the county of Surrey, and Baron Smith ; against which latter one of the accusations was the introduction of political matters in the charge to a Grand Jury in Ireland. He contrasted Lord Abinger's conduct with that of Sir Nicholas Tindal at Stafford; who, being told that a person had been excluded from the court because he was a Chartist, exclaimed " Throw the doors open ; we know nothing of Chartists here." They would find " Chartism " and nothing else in Lord Abinger's month. Mr. Duncombe went on to quote at considerable length from Lord Abinger's charges,—his assertion that the distress had been -exaggerated ; his attack on the " society of persons who were recognized by the title of Chartists "; his discussion of the points of the Charter ; allusion to the doctrine of debt-repudiation as a fruit of Democratic institutions in America ; assertion that large public meetings were usually held for the purpose of inflaming the passions of the people ; and in short, the several passages in Lord Abinger's charges, which were much and angrily commented on at the time. One Jury having recommended some prisoners to mercy, on the ground that they did not believe them to have been present at a disturbance, Lord Abinger said, that they ought to acquit them or find them guilty ; adding, " I have no doubt of it"—their presence : the jury convicted the men. His manner in addressing the prisoners was

brutal and most indecorous"; he held out his fist at them, and with excluded arm spoke of them as rabble and vagabonds ; his manner was described as scarcely human; and his sentences were extremely severe. Mr. Duncombe moved, that witnesses be summoned to the bar of the House, in order to ascertain Lord Abinger's exact language.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL met the motion with a direct negative. He remarked that no petition had been presented from any one who professed to have suffered from Lord Abinger's conduct, nor from any one who had been present at the trials. He agreed that politics ought Sot to be introduced into a judge's charges ; but he denied the fact. It was necessary to remember the state of the country : when from 50 to 150 mills were stopped, from 50,000 to 150,000 persons were com- pelled to desist from work, and bodies from 2,000 to 9,000 strong perambulated the manufacturing-districts for ten days or a fortnight, Stopping every species of labour—one object being to carry the Charter —it was Lord Abinger's duty to point out how nearly that conduct ap- proached the crime of high treason. To show how deeply and exten- sively the system of combination prevailed, the Attorney-General men- tioned that there was " a Committee of Public Safety," whose function it was to grant licences to perform works of necessity ; and they after- wards appealed for the sanction of the people in the market-place. He must say that he did not think it was unbecoming, on such an occasion as that on which the Liverpool charge was delivered, for one of the Judges of this kingdom to vindicate before a Grand Jury the institu- tions of his country. Sir Frederick Pollock quoted papers issued by the revolters, alluding to the " men of Birmingham, to the number of 100,000 armed with steel," " Scotland pouring forth hundreds of thou- sands of men," and " Ireland coming to the battle" ; and contended, that Lord Abinger had also alluded to that language, not?for the pur- pose of declaring public meetings illegal, but to show that the persons who had used it contemplated force, and therefore treason : what Lord Abinger meant when he asked, " Will any person in his senses say, that when a man assembles together 3,000 or 4,000 individuals, he does so to form a deliberative assembly ? " must be read by the light of the preceding remark in the same charge, that " an unlawful assembly is an assembly collected together for some illegal object." The doctrine really laid down by the learned Judge was this, that an assembly of this description, the tendency of which was to lead to alarm, terror, and disturbance of the peace, a as an unlawful assembly ; and the Attorney- General must say that he entirely concurred in this opinion. He him- self had been present in court, and he had no recollection of any part of the conduct of Lord Abinger that had excited from the prisoners and spectators those feelings which Mr. Duncombe had described ; nor could counsel have allowed case after case to go on while the Judge conducted himself with the violence imputed. The sentences attributed to Lord Abinger were the result of the joint deliberations of the three Judges, Lord Abinger, Mr. Justice Cresswell, and Mr. Baron Alder- son. He contended that Mr. Duncombe bad- established no case for inquiry, and concluded by saying—

Be was anxious to shield the noble and learned Judge, after a life of utility

from that species of dishonour which would flow from his having to be made the subject of an inquiry on imperfect grounds, and from the public suspicion which would arise from it, that he had misconducted himself on an important occasion, when his services were called for by her Majesty's Government. The motion having been supported by Mr. Ross, Mr. TIMMER op- posed to it arguments against shocking the independence of a Judge by making him constantly liable to the censure of the House of Commons : and he took occasion to deny that at the trial of Suisse Lord Abinger had spoken of the " invaluable services " of that person—hebad merely quoted from Lord Hertford's will the statement that Suisse was " an ex- cellent man." The debate was continued at considerable length, but without much advancing the question, by Sergeant MURPHY and Mr. WALLACE on the side of Mr. Duncombe, and Mr. STUART WORTLEY against him.

Mr. SCARLETT vindicated the character of his father ; and declared that he did not condemn the Chartists for their opinions, but pointed out that their offence consisted in using force to carry out their princi- ciples. Had Lord Abinger been present he would have given a distinct denial to those accusations. Out of six or seven petitions that bad been presented on the subject, five or six were identical in language ; and Mr. Scarlett quoted very exaggerated and coarse charges against Lord Abinger at a meeting to petition in Liverpool, to show from what kind of persons the petitions emanated.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL could not consider Lord Abinger blameless. But the chief fault in the charges was, that he stated political matters concurrently with legal matters ; which was apt to confound the minds of those to whom the Judge was speaking, and to lead to a passionate dealing with the cases in hand. In several parts of his charge he laid down a legal dictum, and followed it up by a political aphorism. The effect might be seen in a supposed case— Let him suppose a Chartist who supposed that the objects of the Charter were good, but that the exercise of physical force to carry out their objects was a crime. If such a man bad been brought to trial before the Special Commis- sion, would any one pretend to say that the tendency of the noble Lord's charge would not have been to prejudice a Jury against such a man ?

Still, Lord John Russell did not feel called upon to vote with Mr. Duncombe, as neither corruption, ignorance, incapacity, nor even mis- direction, was imputed to Lord Abinger.

Sir JAMES GRAHAM concurred in the general principles and practical conclusions laid down by Lord John Russell. A Government should defend the Judges of the land, unless they were fully satisfied that those Judges were corrupt, partial, and dishonest, and that badness of heart in the Judge had led to perversion of judgment. Sir James denied the strict applicability of Mr. Duncombe's precedents, and generally de- fended Lord Abinger's charges from the too critical remarks of the Members opposite. Looking back on Lord Abinger's professional career, he closed by saying- " When I reflect upon such circumstances and am called on to regard such a character, I do declare that it is hard—nay, that it is unjust and cruel on the part of those who cite some passages in this one charge open to reprobation, to seek, as they are seeking this night, to degrade such a man from his elevated po- sition by an angry party-vote like that which you are called upon to affirm.

Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD insisted that Lord Abinger's sentences were too severe. Mr. WATSON, a practitioner in Lord Abinger's Court, voted for inquiry. Mr. CARDWELL, who had been present at the trials in question, offered himself as a witness to disprove the demeanour as- cribed to Lord Abinger.

The House divided, and the motion was rejected, by 228 to 73.

POOR- LAW.

In the House of Commons, on Thursday, Mr. WALTER moved a series of resolutions, of which the first ran thus-

" That in a document intituled Measures submitted by the Poor-law Com- missioners to his Majesty's Ministers,' appear the following passages— "'That at any time after the passing of this act, the Board of Control shall have power, by an order, with such exception as shall be thought necessary, to disallow the continuance of relief to the indigent, the aged, and the impotent, in any other mode than in a workhouse, regulated in such manner as by the aforesaid Board of Control shall be determined.'

" The power of the Commissioners would be to reduce allowances, but not to enlarge them.'

" After this has been accomplished, orders may be sent forth directing that after such a day all out-door relief should be given partly in kind ; after another period, it should be wholly in kind ; that after such another period it should be gradually diminished in quantity, until that mode of relief was ex- tinguished. From the first the relief should be altered in quality, coarse brown bread being substituted for fine white ; and, concurrently with these measures as to the out-door poor, a gradual reduction should be made in the diet of the in-door poor, and strict regulations enforced.' "

The other resolutions denounced these passages, and declared the document " to form the real though unavowed basis of the present system of Poor-law relief." This is the last-

" That this House think it therefore expedient, to demand such a recon- struction of the existing system as shall make it conformable to Christianity, sound policy, and the ancient constitution of this realm." Mr. Walter complained that they had destroyed the old law of Eli- zabeth, " whose object was to sustain the people against aristocratic pride and hereditary subjection "—to substitute " an invention new to history," whose object was to protect the people in the same way that the vulture protected the lamb that be was devouring. The confi- dential communication to which he referred in his resolution proved that to be the intention of the law ; audit was followed by a report conceived in a similar spirit, which proposed to fix the maximum of consumption for the poor, and to empower the local officers to diminish but not to increase it. Proceeding with the usual allegations against the administration of the Poor-law, Mr. Walter cast a slight on the au- thority of the Duke of Wellington, (however great in military mat- ters,) which he knew to be against him; and he contrasted the condi- tion of the English poor with that of the West Indian Negro, who has his gig and drinks champagne : if they could not give the poor champagne, they might at least give him the cheap, wholesome, and national beverage of beer.

Sir JAMES GRAHAM blamed Mr. Walter for making public a confi- dential communication, and explained what the document really was. The Commission of Poor-law Inquiry made a report to Government, from which, in order to present the subject in a more tangible form, certain heads were prepared by professional gentlemen, without the privity of the Commissioners, merely for the consideration of Lord

Grey's Cabinet. Of that paper only twenty copies were printed ; and one was communicated, in the strictest confidence, to a gentleman not

now living, his lifetime was in immediate connexion with Mr. Walter. *fat, however, from its being the groundwork of the Poor-law, spieific propositions which it contained, together with a further p ition for the cessation of all out-door relief thromihout

England a certain day, were rejected by that Cabinet. He insisted, that theio e t of the new Poor-law Bill was to elevate the labourer of this con•Itiad he would rest the whole question on the issue, whe- ther the I Wirers of the agricultural districts in the South of England have been elevated or not. It was assumed that the practice of the Poor-law was the universal denial of out-door relief: its practical ope- ration is, that five persons out of six obtain out-door relief. In 1842, of 1,429,000 persons relieved, only 221,000 received in-door relief ; and last year 4,249,0001., being at the rate of 5s. per head of the whole po- pulation, was spent strictly in relief. No other Christian community so well provides for its poor by law. To the first resolution he should move the previous question, to the others a direct negative.

Mr. WARLEY made a general attack on the Poor-law, and the " odi- ous, detestable, and fiend-like spirit " in which it was conceived. Mr. BORTHWICK condemned it as injurious to " the virtuous and well-con- ducted poor man." Mr. AGLIONBY would vote for the resolutions, not as agreeing with them in letter, but with a view to consider the Poor- law in order to the amendment of defects. Mr. Caters approved of the existing law. Colonel SIBTHORP would vote with Mr. Walter : " no- thing would content him but the annihilation of the Poor-law Commis- sion." Mr. STUART WORTLEY, though opposed to parts of the law, could not affirm the allegations of the resolutions. General JOHNSON cordially supported Mr. Walter.

Sir ROBERT PEEL took some pains to show that the existing law is the reverse of being more harsh thati that of Elizabeth ; which forbade the building of cottages unless the builder attached to them the fee-simple of four acres ; the cottages then existing were to be inhabited only by shepherds or game-keepers, and only by one family, which must not increase; but " parish cottages" might be filled with the aged and the impotent ; the able-bodied were set to work on flax, hemp, and iron ; the overseer, with the sanc- tion of two Justices, could take children from their parents if he thought they would become chargeable, apprentice the male children at a distance until twenty-four years of age, and detain the females until twenty-one, or marriage. The workhouse test is not new : gross abuses, in not accounting for the profits of labour, was the reason why the workhouse-test was substituted for the labour-test by the 9th, George I.; which also established the system of unions. Sir Robert twitted Mr. Aglionby for inconsistency in voting a sweeping condemna- tion of a law which he had admired. Mr. Walter complained that the Blacks of Jamaica have luxuries : why not ? are they not free labourers? do they not earn them by their exertions ? And before he gave all to the pauper, he should consider the case of the poor rate- payer, who cannot afford ale for his family and has a right to be assured that it would not be given to those paupers whom he contributed to support. He concluded by exhorting the House of Commons to pause before it established the precedent of pronouncing what is or is not con- formable to the spirit of Christianity.

The motion was supported (as to the last resolution) by Lord JOHN MANNERS, who hoped the time would come when the poor would, as of old, be supported entirely by the Church ; and by Sir WALTER JAMES. Mr. MUNTZ supported the whole. So did Mr. FERRAND, with a long speech attacking the system of home migration—the Poor-law was the root of the late insurrection ; alleging an infraction of the law at the mill of Messrs. Seed at Addliogham in Yorkshire, where young persons had been overworked ; and recurring to Mr. Ferrand's squabbles about Mr. Mott and the Keighley Union. The motion had also the concur- rence of Mr. HARDY, Mr. BLACKSTONE, and Mr. Gramm:inert ; and the opposition of Mr. MILES, Mr. Ross, and Sir CHARLES NAPIER.

Mr. WALTER withdrew all the resolutions but the last ; and on a division, that was rejected, by 126 to 58.

PERSONATION OF VOTERS.

On going into Committee on the Personation of Voters Bill, on Wednesday, Mr. LIDDELL explained some alterations which he had made in the measure ; and stated, that so much alteration would be needed to extend it to Ireland, that he had been compelled to relinquish the idea. After some conversation, in which Mr. WILLIAM WrzaaAms recommended that the bill should be incorporated with that for the re- gistration of voters, and Mr. SHAW that it should be extended to Ire- land, Sir JAMES GRAHAM made some objections to the machinery of the bill ; the chief being, that the provision for arresting fraudulent voters might give rise to great abuse, in the arrest and detention of re- spectable electors. At his suggestion, Mr. LIDDELL moved that the Chairman report progress, and sit again that day three weeks, to see if the evil could not in the mean time be remedied by a provision to be in- troduced into the Registration Bill. That was done.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

In the House of Lords, on Thursday, Lord CAMPBELL asked whether Government intended to introduce any measure with a view to settling disputes in the Church of Scotland? Lord WHARNCLIFFE said, that, pending an appeal lately made from the Court of Session to the House of Lords, on the subject of the quoad sacra parishes, it would be unadvisable to introduce any measure. Should the decision of the Court of Session be affirmed, against the right of the Church to consti- tute quoad sacra parishes, as it would interfere with the expansion of religious instruction in Acotland, Government would be disposed to legislate on that part of the subject. For their views respecting the Nouintrusion question, he referred to Sir James Graham's letter to the Moderator of the General Assembly : there was no intention to legis- late on that part of the subject. Lord BROUGHAM, the Earl of Mmero, and Lord CAMPBELL expressed their satisfaction at the declaration, as tending to remove hopes that keep up agitation in Scotland. Mr. CAMPBELL put a similar question in the House of Commons, and obtained a similar reply from Sir JAMES GRAHAM.

STATE OF THE COUNTRY.

[Utter want of space prevented us last week from doing justice to the speeches of Mr. Cobden and Sir Robert Peel, at the close of the

debate on the state of the country : we now supply the omission with some account of those important addresses.] Mr. COBDEN objected to the motion, that it should have been one to inquire into the manufacturing and agricultural distress of the country. Were the agricultural districts in such a state as to entitle them to say that the law which is injuring the manufacturers is beneficial to the agriculturists ? He appealed personally to Mr. George Hankies for an answ er-

" There is the honourable Member for Dorsetshire, one of the most clamorous assailants of the Anti-Corn-law League ; lie may follow and answer me, and if I state one thing which is not a fact, let him show it. What is the state of his own property in Dorsetshire, which he represents? Are the labourers on his estate at this moment receiving more than 8s. per week ? I ask him to disprove what I say if he can. I state that the labourers in his neighbourhood are the worst paid, the worst fed, the worst clad, and the most illiterateportion of the population of the whole kingdom. ("Hear, hear! " and a laugh.) Yet you, with your own peasantry at your own doors living worse than paupers and felons, think yourselves entitled to come here and maintain the existing system of things for the benefit of the agriculturists."

He put the agriculturists on their defence-

" You are not agriculturists. Ail agriculturist is one who cultivates the soil : but a landowner is not an agriCalturist ; it is an abuse of the term to call him so. You are owners of the land, and you may live in London or at Paris; but the agriculturist tills the land—works with his head and his hands to make it productive. You agriculturists:—why, a shipowner might as well call himself a sailor. (Cheers and laughter.) But I deal with the agriculturist, and not with the landowner or the rent-owner ; and 1 tell you t bat you cannot show me that the labourers on your farms are so well off as the manufacturing population. I employ a number of bands; like yourselves, I employ also a number of unskilled hands, as unskilled as your own, in washing, cleansing, and preparing materials, and I pay them 12s. per week. But I have no pro- tection. There are Devonshire, and Sussex, and Wiltshire, and Oxfordshire, and every other agricultural county which sends up its squires to this House to support this infamous system, and I will show you that the worst distress prevails in each and all of them. According to the official report respecting the revenue of the kingdom and the state of pauperism throughout the country for 1840, the very year in which you were blessed with wheat at 66s. per quarter, one out of every seven persons in Dorsetshire was a pauper. If you go to Sussex and Wiltshire, and the rest of the agricultural counties who send up their Members to support the present system for the benefit of the agriculturists, we find that there is invariably found the greatest amount of pauperism."

He turned to the interest of the farmers, asserting his peculiar title to be their champion-

" The honourable gentleman, and other honourable gentlemen, are pleased to designate me the active enemy of the farmer. Sir, I have as with a right as any honourable gentleman in this House to identify myself with the order of farmers. I am a farmer's son. ("Hear, hear !") The honourable Member for Sussex has been speaking to you as the farmer's friend : I am the son of a Sussex farmer ; my ancestors were all yeomen of the class who have been suf- fering under this system ; my father suffered under it ; and I have, therefore, as good or a better right than any of you to stand up as the farmer's friend, and to represent his wrongs in this House." He called on the landowners to show that they had a right to go to their agricultural meetings and tell the farmers th3kthey would sink or swim together- " The time is coming upon you—next quarter-day—when you will be called upon to show the farmer, upon whose mind some light is now shedding, how it is be has hitherto gained any benefit from this legislative protection, and how he can possibly derive any for the future. You will have to answer these questions from intelligent farmers—' If there be more farmers than farms, then will not the competition among us for your farms raise the rent of the land? and will there not be a proportionate value of the produce to whatever value you may give it in your acts of Parliament ? ' The same intelligent farmer may tell you, ' If there were more farms than farmers, and if you raised the value of your produce, you would be bidding against each other for farms ; and then I could understand how the farmers could get some benefit in the shape of extra profit, for you would be compelled to pay him better for cultiva- ting your farms.' Now, all this has been made as clear as noonday. The honourable Member for Dorsetshire has maligned the Anti-Corn-law League as an association for disseminating not useful but disagreeable knowledge. (Laughter.) Every farmer in Dorsetshire has had a packet. Every county voter of Dorsetshire has received a little packet containing about a dozen little tracts. This has not been left to casual distribution ; it has not been intrusted to the Post-office; but special agents have gone from door to door, climbing the mountains and penetrating the vallies : there is not a freeholder in the coun- try who does not know as much about the matter as we ourselves."

He admitted the discrepancies of opinion on the Opposition side to the fullest extent ; but he did not accent them as reasons- " The party on this side is as described ; it is broken into atoms, and may never be reunited. But does that diminish the responsibility of the Government, which is strong in proportion as the Opposition is weak. Are we never to escape from this mode of evading responsibility, this bandying of accusations about Whigs, Tories, and Radicals ? Is it always to be repeated and relied on? How long, I ask, is this course to be continued ? how long is the argument to be used. If it be continued, what defence will that be for the Government? There always have been differences of opinion on both sides of the House ; but that can be no excuse for the right honourable Baronet at the head of the Government, who took the reins of power into his hands on the avowed respon- sibility of bringing forward measures to meet the exigencies of the moment."

He sneered at the Ministerial admissions of Free-trade principles "in the abstract "-

" I ask why do they not carry their principles into effect ? How am I met? The right honourable gentleman the Vice-President of the Board of Trade admits the justice of the principles of free trade. He says that he does not want monopoly; but then he applies these just principles only in the abs tract. Now 1 do not want abstractions. Every moment that we pass here which is not devoted to providing for the welfare of the community is lost time. (Cheers from both sides of the House.) I tell the honourable Member that I am a prac- tical man; I am not an abstract Member; and 1 ask what we have here to do with abstractions? The right honourable gentleman is a Free-trader only in the abstract. We have nothing, I repeat, to do with abstractions here. The right honourable gentleman used another plea; he said that the system has been continued for centuries, and cannot now be abandoned. If the Attorney- General be in the House, and I hope he is, what would he say to such a plea in an action of trover ? would he admit the plea? would he say, I know that you have right and justice on your side in the abstract, but then the unjust possession has been for so long a time continued that it cannot be at once abandoned ? ' What would be the verdict in such a case? The verdict would be one of restitution—of total and immediate restitution."

Mr. Gladstone, too, said that the law was only temporary—

Why temporary ? Just and wise laws were eternal. The laws against

murder, which were on our statute-book, they were not temporary : why then should the Corn-law be temporary? He would tell them: because they were unjust—(Protracted cheering)—because they were not for the benefit of the country—because they were neither right nor wise. He prophesied disastrous results if the present system were conti- nued— They might say that he was a prophet who would help to fulfil his own pro- phecies: but, say what they would, he would tell them this, as indeed he had told them last year, that worse things were in store ; that presently they would have things in a worse condition in the North of England; that the disturbances would not be confined to the cotton districts alone, but that they would have the agricultural population rising upon them as they had the manufacturinr," population last autumn. He would ask the right honourable Baronet at the head of the Government, what he intended to do when capital was melting away, pauperism rapidly increasing, and foreign commerce as ra- pidly declining. What was to be expected in such a condition of society but the disruption and destruction of the state ?

Sir ROBERT PEEL analysed the nature of the motion, to show that it could not be complied with. It was not a motion to inquire into the causes of the distress; but a motion that the House should resolve itself into a Committee of the whcle, Lord Howick having some pro- position for the relief of that distress to bring forward. Sir Robert did not see from the complexion of the debate that had taken place that any good would result from substituting Mr. Greene for the Speaker in the chair. And what course could Lord Howick propose? Would it be a series of measures founded upon principles of free trade ? If so, the functions of the Executive Government in regulating the finances must necessarily be suspended- " Suppose he proposes to reduce the duties on tea, on tobacco, on cotton, on sugar, on wool? Then how can any one intrusted with the financial affairs of the country stir one step, or know what course he is to pursue ? Then, again, as to the functions of Government with regard to commercial treaties: they most be superseded by such a course. Suppose the noble Lord should think it desirable to reduce the duties on wines? on fruits ? What course could the Government take in negotiations now pending? Hitherto it has been the practice of the House to give the Government some time after the commence- ment of the session, until the Estimates have been voted and a fuller review taken of the state of the finances, before they were called upon to propose to the House any measures affecting the national interests on such subjects. But now, within a fortnight of the opening of the session, the House is called upon to undertake all those duties. And at what a period, also, as respects the re- venue itself; when it is subject to peculiar uncertainty—when it is difficult to conceive what will be the product of the Income-tax !

Or would Lord Howick take the only alternative, and, instead of in- troducing some specific measure, make some general proposition ?-

"Will the noble Lord seek to avoid the difficulty by moving some general resolution, as 'Resolved, that the principles on which the measures of last ses- sion were founded be carried out to a further extent ? ' I appeal to the House whether there could be any thing devised at the present moment so certain to produce doubt, and to derange, disturb, and paralyze commerce—any thing so calculated to suspend all commercial speculation as the moving of some general indeterminate resolution, leaving every man uncertain as to what specific mea- sures might be produced. The country is not yet recovered from the effect of the Tariff, and the discussions which preceded it."

Sir Robert remarked that Mr. Milner Gibson had, against Sir James Graham, referred to Mr. Horner's report on the factory districts for the month of October, whereas the subsequent one for January last was much more favourable. He recapitulated the grounds on which, last year, in the face of an alarming deficiency in the revenue, and the prospect of a still further reduction, he had undertaken to introduce a relaxation into the commercial code : but he quoted Mr. Huskisson's authority for the necessity of taking into consideration in such a pro- cess all the commercial circumstances of the country, and Adam Smith's for saying that commercial agriculture should not be the sub- ject of sudden changes-

" Humanity," said that writer, "may in this case require that the freedom of trade should be restored only by slow gradations, and with a good deal of re- serve and circumspection. Were those high duties and prohibitions taken away all at once, cheaper foreign goods of the same kind might be poured so fast into the home-market as to deprive all at once many thousands of our people of their ordinary employment and means of subsistence." He reviewed what had been effected by the Tariff, upon which so little value was now set— The duties had been reduced 5 per cent on raw materials, 10 or 12 per cent on half-manufactured materials, and 20 per cent on manufactures. The ex- ceptions in the two first classes were mainly on account of the revenue, as in the case of cotton-wool. In the second class, the exceptions were in favour of the weak, unprotected interests, as the cork-cutters and straw-plat-makers. Other exceptions were made on the ground of pending treaties. " The general rule was this—that when the articles were the elements of our own manufac- ture, or there was a risk from smuggling, we derived immediate advantage ourselves, and did not continue impolitic duties for the purpose of getting cor- responding advantage from other countries. But there were certain articles, such as wine, on which we did not make any reduction, in order that we might induce other countries to give us some advantage in case that reduction should take place hereafter; and in the case of an article of luxury, such as wine, I do think, as I presume the Government who preceded us thought also, that it would be wise, before you consented to or promised a reduction in French wines, that you should attempt to prevail on France to permit your hard-ware and cutlery from Sheffield to enter France at a greater advantage than at present ; and I believe it would not be satisfactory to this country if you were at once to reduce the duty on an article like wine—a luxury consumed by the rich, without making an attempt to procure from the country which is the grower of that wine some corresponding advantage in the introduction of your native produce. We reserved sugar 'from the operation of the tariff, partly because we wished to use it as an instrument to obtain a reduction of duty upon our own produce into other countries, but more upon this distinct ground, that we did not think it right to give the free and unlimited admis- sicsis6augar without reference to the consideration of its being the produce of free du 014 k,‘ "Sir ii.cdsartsaue-soa several figures to show the working of the Tariff in rancing The price, of timber. Mr. Cobden, however, said that trey had-reducet The -,price of timber 'just when no one was building faCtoriesr., " With`it stems is- hin,, else but the building of factories satisfies the batiottableg

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an;,,IL laugh.) I am far from undervaluing the import- (' ies are not the only great buildings in this country ; t extremely difficult to induce the whole community have bridges to build, and piers to build, and houses to

but derived no advantage from the reduction in the price of timber because a few more factories have not been built. The honourable

Member's argument, and his earnestness upon it, only seem to indicate that he considers that the commercial prosperity of England, and the prosperity and happiness of mankind in general, are dependent upon the increase of cotton- mills. (Cheers and laughter.) The words of Mr. Deacon Hume were, 'Make coal cheap, and iron cheap, and then make timber cheap, and you will have free trade!' You now have timber cheap."

He now came to articles of provision. On cattle and meat the pro- hibition had been altogether removed, and a totally unobjectionable moderate fixed duty imposed-

" Cattle and meat can now be brought freely into this country ; and yet you cry out that the Tariff has afforded no practical advantage to the country— that it is all a mockery and a delusion. And when I hear such language held with regard to the chief articles of subsistence, I am compelled to think that you may also overrate the advantages you expect to derive from that free trade in corn of which you are now the advocate."

Mr. Baring had said that Government owed their majority in remov- ing those prohibitions to the forbearance of the Opposition— What the right honourable gentleman said might very possibly be true; but could a greater proof be afforded of the desire of the Government to do what lay in their power for the public interests, and rather to run the risk of losing their own supporters than not remove those prohibitions? It was said that the new Corn-law would not lower prices: but prices had been lowered- " It is very difficult to say to what cause the reduction is to be attributed; but at all events they cannot deny the fact of there havin" been a great fall in the price of corn. To what this is to he attributed I will not say : the main cause, no doubt, is the productive harvest which it has pleased God to send us, and which we have publicly acknowledged. But the price is reduced. I will compare the prices during six years. On the 2d January 1836, wheat was 59s. the quarter ; on the same day in 1838, it was 52s. 4d; in 1839, it was 78s. 2d ; in 1840, 66s. 5d. ; in 1841, 61s. 8d. ; in 1842, 63s. Id. ; and in 1843, it is 46s. 11d. It is now said that this reduction is no benefit at all to the consumer. But let us compare that argument with the arguments for- merly used in favour of a change in the law. You then argued, that the cause of the distress was the high price of provisions, whereas you now contend that the price of food, which is low, has nothing to do with it. (" No, no ! ") Yes, but your argument bears that interpretation, or none. When the price of food was high, you attributed national distress to that cause; now that the price is low, you say that our distress will not be relieved till the Corn-laws are re- pealed."

Sir Robert repeated his declaration respecting the alteration of the

present Corn-law. The Opposition taunted Ministers with not adhering permanently to the present Corn-law : but he reminded the House of the vacillating conduct of the late Ministers, who proposed a fixed duty on corn, and even before the bill came before the House totally changed the details of their measure. And would a fixed duty "settle" the question ? He objected to it because it would press with peculiar seve- rity when corn was high ; because it could not be maintained, even for revenue purposes, for two months; and if imposed merely for revenue purposes, and not for protection, it ought to be imposed equally on home-grown corn. He replied to the taunt that they had unsettled every thing and settled nothing, by comparing the course of the late Government in 1840 with that of the present Government in 1843-

" You say we have made allusion in her Majesty's Speech to the distress,

and yet have done nothing to alleviate it. You did the same. On the 16th January 1840, her Majesty was advised thus to address .Parliament—' My Lords and Gentlemen, I learn with great sorrow that the commercial embar- rassments which have taken place in this and other countries are subjecting many of the manufacturing districts to severe distress ;' words not very far from those her Majesty made use of in 1943. Now what great measure of commer- cial relief is there that you brought forward in 1840? You, who taunt us with abandoning our principles and not pushing our principles to their legitimate extent, what was your course in 1840 ? You, who say to us, ' You don't deal with the Sugar question, you refuse to permit the importation of foreign sugar,' what course did you take with respect to sugar in 1840? A motion was made on the subject ; and then it appeared, no doubt, that you were straining every nerve and making every sacrifice to obtain a free importation of sugar. You were ten years in office, and during all that time you were deeply convinced of the principles of free trade ; but notwithstanding this conviction, you did not think that 1840 was the time to carry them out. Even in that great ar- ticle of consumption, sugar, you still continued to leave the mind of the country unsettled. Every one of those who now advocated the principles of free trade was opposed to the motion ; and the reasons which they gave for voting in the majority was, that foreign sugar was the produce of slave-labour. You charge U3 with keeping the public mind in a state of uncertainty with respect to the Corn-laws; and you do it in a manner as if for the last seven or eight years you hal been its manly, constant, and consistent supporters—as if you bad held it out as a panacea for all our political evils. When the question was debated in the House of Lords in 1840, what was the course adopted by Government ? was it one calculated to remove uncertainty ? The Corn-laws were made an open question." Replying to the question, what they had done to relieve the dis- tresses of the country, Sir Robert reviewed what Ministers had effected during the sixteen months they had been in office— They had succeeded in terminating two wars. The forthcoming Estimates on the three great branches of Naval, Military, and Civil service, would show a reduction of 850,000/. ; the first he hoped of a series of reductions. " We have been enabled to reduce the military force in Canada about 4,000 men, and we trust that peace has been established in that colony. We are delighted with the prospect of establishing a perfect amity with France. We have diminished the duties upon Colonial produce in every case where it entered into competi- tion with our own ; and we have thus made some advance towards the system of treating our Colonies as integral parts of the empire. We have laboured to effect, and I trust successfully, an adjustment of those differences with the United States which had continued for forty years, which have only been ex- asperated by delays, and which were the main causes for apprehending the disturbances of our peaceful relations with that country. We tried to settle those differences without any compromise of British honour, and, on the other hand, without exciting such is feeling of hostility towards this country as ap- pears to exist in some portions of the French nation. For the origin of that hostility we are not responsible. These two countries, however, now present a most remarkable spectacle to the civilized world. It is a remarkable thing to see two men who hold the most conspicuous offices in the Government of their respective countries—the most distinguished in each for their military achievements and military character—men who have learned the art and miseries of war on the fields of Toulouse and Waterloo, and who have been op- posed to each other on the field of battle- • Ststimns tela aspera contra, Centulimtisque mantis:' it is a remarkable thing to see those two men exerting all their influence in each country—they being the best judges of the sacrifices which war imposes—to inculcate the lessons of peace; it is a glorious occupation for their declining years. The life of each has been continued beyond the ordinary period of human existence; and I sincerely hope that the life of each may long continue, in order that theymay be spared to exhort their countrymen to lay aside their national jealousies, and to enter into the rivalry of honourable competition for increasing huoian happiness. When I compare the position, the example, and the efforts of these men, who have seen the morning sun shine on the living masses of embattled hosts that were to be low in the grave before the sun was set—wheti I see them inculcating those lessons of peace, and using their salutary influentiefispectively to discourage their countrymen from war—I do trust, that upon each side, those anonymous and irresponsible writers in journals, who are doniticalt:they can to exasperate the public mind—C Great cheering)—to misrepresent' every action between the Governments which are desirous of cultivating peace, representing to France that the Minister of France is the tool of England. and representing to England that the Ministry of England are sacrificing the honour of England through fear of France-1 do trust that those persons will profit by the example of two such illustrious warriors, and that that example will neutralize the influence of efforts such as those to which I have referred—efforts not directed by zeal for the honour of the country, but for the base purpose of encouraging national animosities or promoting some party or personal interest."

He closed with an exhortation-

" You may approve of our foreign policy; you may think that we have laid the foundation of peace in Canada ; you may hear with satisfaction that the public expenditure will be diminished; you may hope, that although all dif- ferences with the United States may not be adjusted, yet that those differen- ces which were the principal cause of apprehension have been satisfactorily and honourably arranged : but if, while you feel disposed to acknowledge those services and approve of this conduct, you nevertheless believe that the adoption of this motion will have the effect of relieving the public distress, let no con- sideration, I say it with perfect sincerity to those who sit on this as well as the other side of the House—let no consideration of party interest, no attachment to party, no predilection to particular men, interfere for an instant with your vote, or prevent you from supporting the motion, if you conscientiously believe

i that it s calculated to diminish the distress, to lessen privation, and lay the foundation of commercial prosperity and the permanent welfare of the state."

THANKS TO LORD ELLENBOROUGH AND THE ARMIES IN AFGHANISTAN.

In the House of Commons, on Monday, Sir ROBERT PEEL rose to move the following resolutions-

" That the thanks of this House be given to the Right Honourable Lord Ellenborough, Governor-General of the British Possessions in the East Indies, for the ability and judgment with which the resources of the British empire in India have been applied in the support of the military operations in Af- ghanistan.

" net the thanks of this House be given to Major-General Sir George Pollock, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath; to Major-General Sir William Nett, G.C.B.•' to Major-General Sir John M'Caskill, K.C.B.; to Major-General Sir Robert Henry Sale, G.C.B.; to Major-General Richard England, and the other officers of the Army, both European and Native, for the intrepidity, skill, and perseverance, displayed by them in the military operations in Afghanistan, and for their indefatigable zeal and exertions throughout the late campaign.

" That this House do highly approve and acknowledge the valour and pa- tient perseverance displayed by the non-commissioned officers and private soldiers, both European and Native, employed in Afghanistan; and that the same be signified to them by the commanders of the several corps, who are de- sired to thank them for their gallant behaviour."

Sir Robert studiously abstained from reference to merely political matters ; and he made a preliminary apology, should he do so by inadvertence. After a graphic description of the romantic nature of the operations and events in that wild region, he gave a brief history of the last campaign in Afghanistan, beginning with the outbreak of the general insurrection in October 1841— Sir Robert Sale, sent to force the passes between Cobol and Gundamuk, was unable to return to Cabul, and therefore occupied Jellalabad. Captain Woodburn and 108 invalids were cut off in Kohistan ; Sir Alexander Burnes and his brother were assassinated at Cabul. It became necessary that Lord Auckland should consider the steps to be taken : he recommended the con- centration of a force of 10,000 or 12,000 men between the Sntlej and the Jumna; and writing on the 3d December, before lie knew of the final dis- asters at Cobol, he said—" It would be vain to speculate upon the issue of the contest at Cobol; but in the extreme event of the military possession of that city and the surrounding territory having been entirely lost, it is not our in- tention to direct new and extensive operations for the reestablishment of our supremacy throughout Afghanistan. On the 19th February, after hearing of General Wild's failure to force the Khyber Pass for the relief of General Sale, Lord Auckland thus expressed himself—" Since we have heard of the mis- fortunes in the Khyber Pass, and have become convinced, that with the diffi- culties at present opposed to us, and in the actual state of our preparations, we could not expect, at least in this year, to maintain a position in the Jellalabad districts for any effective purpose, we have made our directions in regard to withdrawal from Jellalabad clear and positive ; and we shall rejoice to learn that Major-General Pollock will have anticipated these more express orders by confining his efforts to the same object." He said at the same time, to show that he was not regardless of the state of the prisoners at Cabal, " The painful situation of the officers' families, and European and native soldiers, who are prisoners in Afghanistan, engages our most anxious thought ; and any measures which we can adopt with fair and honourable prospect of advantage for their comfort or release will be eagerly adopted by us." On the 10th February, Lord Auckland gave orders to General Nott, at Candahar, to "act solely so as may best, in your judgment, secure the paramount object of the safety of the troops placed under your orders, and may uphold, at the same time, the honour of the British arms.' In an interview with Mr. Clerk, who bad been resident at Lahore, and who recommended the recovery of Cobol, Sir Jasper Nicolls, the Commander-in-Chief, expressed a doubt whether the British had " either army or funds sufficient to renew this contest.

Sir Robert did not blame Lord Auckland ; though, sitting in that comfortable chamber, with a knowledge of the event, it was easy to be military critics. But Lord Auckland's first duty was to provide for the safety of the empire intrusted to his charge, and to watch in- dications of hostility from without ; as at that time was the case with respect to Burmah. And what was the position of the armies of Cabal and Candahar ?—

" Communication was intercepted. The army at Candahar, under General Nott, was 549 miles from the Indus—from Bukkur on the Indus. But be- tween the army and that point there was also interposed the Bolan Pass. The army of Cabal was 540 miles from Ferozepore, the nearest town of Bri- tish India. In order to afford aid to the force at Cabul, the whole Punjaub would have bad to be crossed, and this too at a time when, it must be well known to many honourable gentlemen, a feeling and a spirit prevailed among the Sikh troops not the most favourable to such a movement. . Do honourable gentlemen remember that between Ferozepore and Cobol there is the Khyber Pass—that for 193 miles out of 540 the country is of a nature, as regards military communication, exceeding in difficulty any other country in the globe ? I say that Lord Auckland, viewing the then state of India, acted, in my opinion, most wisely in collecting the forces in British India, and taking time to deliberate what course of policy he should pursue." In accordance with that conviction, though differing as to the original policy of the war, Sir Robert Peel had joined in voting thanks to Lord Auckland for the zeal he had manifested in directing the resources of India in aid of the military operations. Such was the condition of affairs when Lord Ellenborough assumed the Government, on the 28th February. The first letter that be wrote on the subject of the course to be pursued was dated the 15th March: from this Sir Robert read a long extract— Lord Ellenbormigh says—" Whatever course we may hereafter take must rest solely upon military considerations, and have, in the first instance, regard to the safety of the detached bodies of our troops at Jellalabad, at Ghuznee, at Khelat-i-Ghilzie, and Candahar; to the security of our troops now in the field from all unnecessary risk ; and, finally, to the reestablishment of our military reputation, by the infliction of some signal and decisive blow upon the Afghans, which may make it appear to them, to our own subjects, and to our allies, that we have the power of inflicting punishment upon those who com- mit atrocities and violate their faith, and that we withdraw ultimately from Afghanistan, not from any deficiency of means to maintain our position, but because we are satisfied that the King we have set up has not, as we were, erroneously led to imagine, the support of the nation over which he has been placed." [Lord Ellenborough objects to the suggestion of Major Rawlinson, to make over Candahar to Kamram, the nominal ruler of Herat, an incapable sovereign known only by the fame of his vices; and expresses an opinion, that it is erroneous to suppose that the maintaining a forward position in Upper Afghanistan would have the effect of controling the Sikhs, the Belochees, or Scindians : the knowledge that we possess in India a strong army, ready to advance, would be a much more effectual means of control.] " We would, therefore, strongly impress upon the commanders of the forces employed in Afghanistan and Scinde, the importance of incurring no unnecessary risk, and of bringing their troops into action under circumstances which may afford full scope to the superiority they derive from their discipline. At the same time, we are aware that no great object can be accomplished without incurring some risk ; and we should consider that the object of striking a decisive blow at the Afghans, more especially, if such blow could be struck in combination with measures fur the reliefof Ghuznee—a blow which might reestablish our military character beyond the Indus, and leave a deep impression of our power, and of the vigour with which it would be applied to punish an atrocious enemy—would be one for which risk might be justifiably incurred, all due and possible precaution being taken to diminish such necessary risk, and to secure decisive success. The commanders of the forces in Upper and Lower Afghanistan will, in all the ope- rations they may design, bear in mind these general views and opinions of the Government of India. They will in the first instance endeavour to relieve all the garrisons in Afghanistan which are now surrounded by the enemy. The relief of these garrisons is a point deeply affecting the military character of the army, and deeply interesting the feelings of their country ; but to make a rash at- tempt to effect such relief, in any case, without a reasonable prospect of suc- cess, would be to afford no real aid to the brave men who are surrounded, and fruitlessly to sacrifice other good soldiers, whose preservation is equally dear to the Government they serve. To effect the release of the prisoners taken at Cabul, is an object likewise deeply interesting in point of feeling and of honour. That object can, probably, only be accomplished by taking hostages from such part of the country as may be in or may come into our possession ; and, with reference to this objeit, and to that of the relief of Ghuznee, it may possibly become a question, in the event of Major-General Pollock's effecting a junc- tion with Sir Robert Sale, whether the united force shall return to the country below the Khyber Pass, or to take a forward position near Jellalabad, or even advance to Cabul. We are fully sensible of the advantages which would be derived from the reoccupation of Cabul, the scene of our great disaster and of so much crime, even for a week—of the means which it might afford of recover- ing the prisoners, of the gratification which it would give to the army, and of the effect which it would have upon our enemies. Our withdrawal might then be made to rest upon an official declaration of the grounds upon which we re- tired, as solemn as that which accompanied our advance; and we should retire as a conquering, not as a defeated power. But we cannot sanction the occupa- tion of an advanced position beyond the Khyber Pass by Major-General Pol- lock, unless that General should be satisfied that he can, without depending upon the forbearance of the tribes near the Pass, which, obtained only by pur- chase, must under all circumstances be precarious, and without depending upon the fidelity of the Sikh chiefs, or upon the power of those chiefs to re- strain their troops—upon neither of which can any reliance be safely placed— feel assured that he can, by his own strength, overawe and overcome all who dispute the Pass, and keep up at all times his communication with Peshawur and the Indus."

This letter made it evident, that on the 15th March Lord Ellen- borough's main objects were, to relieve the garrisons, to rescue the prisoners, and to reestablish the military supremacy of the British arms, if even only for a time, in Cabal and Afghanistan ; but that he did not contemplate a permanent occupation of Afghanistan. Those objects have been accomplished, and the policy has practically been carried out. On the 19th April be issued an order to General Nott to withdraw from Candahar ; but under what circumstances? with recent news of several reverses— He had just received intelligence of the fall of Ghuznee; that Colonel Palmer, finding it impossible to maintain the place, had surrendered Ghuznee to the force which then assailed it At the same time, he also received intel- ligence of the failure of General England in his attempt to advance through the Bolan Pass, for the purpose of assisting General Nett at Candahar. On the same day also, he received intimation of two signal failures in the attempt to relieve General Wild : that four regiments had been driven back from the Khyber Pass, [to aid Pollock,] while General England, with a considerable force, had failed to force his way through the Bolan Pass," [to aid Nett.] Ia farther justification, Sir Robert Peel referred to a letter by Gene- ral Pollock, dated Jellalabad, April 20th, in which the General said that he had no confidence in Afghan support, and that he saw too many difficulties to warrant an advance on Cabul " but," he added, " to withdraw from this place at the present moment, would enable the enemy to concentrate all their strength in the vicinity of Candahar ; which, until the junction of Brigadier England, would embarrass Major- General Nott." General Nott, writing on the 18th April, stated that, in the event of field-operations, he should be in want of men, ammuni- tion, carriage, and money. These two letters, written almost on the same day, completely justified the order of the 19th April ; and on another occasion, Lord Ellenborough said, most justly- " True it is that I might conciliate public favour by directing an advance : but if by an act of precipitation of that kind, if by the want of true courage to recede when recession was for the public interest, I compromised the safety of India, I never during my existence should cease to upbraid myself." Lord Ellenborough, however, took steps towards the provision of the armies and providing them with carriage ; saying, in a despatch of the 16th September, that General Pollock's and General Notes armies must be supplied, cost what it might ; and that it was better to have a thou- sand camels too many than one hundred too few. How the field for supply had been exhausted, might be understood from the fact that the loss between November 1838 and November 1839 was not less than 32,000 beasts of burden ; yet 16,500 were collected. Ultimately, Lord Ellenborough had the satisfaction of seeing that army, a portion of which was once dispirited, retire behind the Sutlej, full of spirit, full of joy, and in a state of the greatest efficiency. Lord John Russell had commented the other night on Lord Ellenborough's conduct to a public servant of the East India Company, Mr. Amos, who was said to have been insulted : as a caution against acting on erroneous statements and impressions, Sir Robert Peel read a letter from Mrs. Amos, addressed to a friend, and dated " St. Ibbs, Hitchin, 12th February 1843 ;" contain- ing this statement- " You probably may have noticed in Lord John Russell's speech on Thurs- day last, that lie asserted that Mr. Amos resigned his appointment in Cal- cutta, in consequence of having been insulted by Lord Ellenborough. Now, as there is not a word of truth in this statement, I think it right to contradict it, at least among Mr. Amos's old and valued friends. When he went out to India five years ago, Mr. Amos always intended to resign in 1843 ; and I am sure nothing would induce him to remain at Calcutta another year, now that all his family arc here, his children just springing into manhood, and requiring all a father's care and example. As to Lord Ellenborough's conduct, it has been one of unvaried politeness and civility. I believe they were mutually pleased with each other ; and when Mr. Amos wrote to Lord Ellenborough in the autumn, when he was up the country, saying it was his intention to re- sign, Lord Ellenborough replied, that he was extremely sorry to lose so very agreeable a colleague." Sir Robert then briefly recounted the particular achievements of the several Generals—

Ile dwelt on General Pollock's humane attention to the soldiers under his command, and his skill in cheering the dispirited Sepoys ; which he likened to Alexander's exhortation to the Macedonian phalanx, when, terrified at the

aspect of the passes in those very rearions, " demissis capitibus tacere perse- verarent." On the 4th July, Lord Ellenborough offered to General Nott the option of advancing ; stating to him at the same time the difficulties be must encounter in such a movement : and after fully considering all the advantages and disadvantages of an advance, the General stated that he had made up his mind to incur the responsibility of such a measure, and to make a decisive at- tempt to reestablish the British name and authority in Afghanistan. He also said to Lord Ellenborough, " I am most anxious, notwithstanding the conduct of the Afghan chiefs, that our army should leave a deep impression on the people of this country of our character for forbearance and humanity." Sir Robert also related the exploits of Sir Robert Sale, so well known. He quoted the letter of Lady Sale, whose name and her husband's would long be familiar words in the mouths of the people of this country ; spoke with due honour of Colonel Dennie and Lieutenant Sturt (both dead); and of Lieutenant Mein and Sergeant Deane, who once rescued Sturt.

Sir Robert concluded, amid cheering loud and long, by expressing a bopetbat the decisive proofs which we have given that our energies and our military virtues are unabated, will constitute a great additional guarantee of continued peace. Lord Joan RUSSELL concurred in the vote of thanks for the military operations ; to the conductors of which he paid some further compli- ments: but the question occurred, whether Lord Ellenborough was the director of those operations ? Much of what Sir Robert Peel had said was due to Lord Auckland, who, on hearing of the misfortunes of Cabul, bad ordered two bodies of troops to be collected, one under General Pollock, the other under General England; and the body which was the first finally to take the field was that under General England. At this distance, he did not blame the order of the 19th April, repeated in the orders of 15th May and 1st June, all of which contemplated General Pollock's retreat by the shortest route ; but was the Governor- General entitled to thanks?—

The degree of praise he might claim amounted to this, that arriving in India at a time when great disasters had befallen our troops, he took a sound and rational view of the actual situation of affairs, and used every means and all the diligence in his power to forward supplies to the troops. Beyond this Lord John found it impossible to go. He did not think that the order given in July to General Nott, to advance if he thought fit, did give the Governor- General claims to the thanks of the House of Commons.

Still, he must also say, that the motion to give thanks to the Governor- General having been made, and the motion being according to prece- dent, he did not wish to take upon himself the responsibility of giving it a negative. He had heard, on what he considered good authority, a story that, at a durbar, Lord Ellenborough had, without notice, ordered Mr. Amos to leave the room : but that was disproved by Mrs.Amos's letter.

Mr. GEORGE &krauts supported the motion.

Mr. Hurl., who concurred in the praise accorded to the valour of the troops and to l/ird Ellenborough's zeal, took exception to the excesses committed by the troops during the war- Ghuznee was a strong town, with a population of nearly 10,000 inhabitants. It was formerly the seat of Mahometan empire, and Mr. Elphinstone described it as exhibiting many signs of former magnificence. Ghuznee was taken and destroyed, the work of destruction going on for three days and three nights. It extended for three miles round the city. The temple which contained the tomb of the Sultan Mahmoud, which was looked upon with peculiar sanctity, and had for 800 years escaped the ravages of native warfare, was utterly de- stroyed ; and it was boasted in a despatch that the razed temple and tomb of Mabmoud looked down upon the blackened ruins of Ghuznee. • • • Istaliff, after a brilliant action, fell into the hands of General M'Caskill. The next day, the General, writing to head-quarters, said, "I directed the town to be set on fire in several places, after taking out various supplies which might be useful to our troops ; and the work of demolition is still proceeding, under the direction of Major Saunders, of the Engineers." This place was, according to the despatch, occupied by no less than 15,000 persons. The forts, heights, and suburbs, were successively won ; and, as the despatch described it, those per- sons, including women and children, were driven from their homes up into the snowy mountains. • • • At Cabul, the grand bazaar and the Feringhi mosque were demolished. The principal sufferers in the destruc- tion of Cabul were the Hindoo merchants, who relied confidently upon us for protection, and had nothing whatever to do with the murder of Sir William M'Naghten. Not only was Cabul itself destroyed, but all the cultivated ground around it was ravaged. The orchards, which were so much praised in Oriental literature, were laid waste, and village after village was destroyed

in the surrounding district. • Jellalabad was a considerable city, containing little less than a population of 10,000 persons: it was one of the most beautiful cities in Central Asia when it was entered by our troops ; they left it a heap of ruins. Though not given in the book which hal been laid upon the table, the history of' the destruction of Jellalabad was but too well known. There were few cities which had so much to recommend them as Jellalabad when it was entered by our troops; but when they left it, it was one scene of blackness, of ashes, and of ruin.

What was the result of our conduct ? We had infuriated the people of Afghanistan, and must abandon all hopes of succeeding in our com- mercial views and speculations in that quarter.

Sir HENRY HARDINGE was convinced that many of these reports were wholly untrue. Such had been the case before— Same months previously, when it became necessary for General Nott, with a view to the safety of the troops at Caudahar, to turn out a considerable num- ber of the inhabitants, the Indian press indulged in the most libellous attacks upon the gallant officer, and accused him of having committed the most ex- travagant excesses and cruelties upon the unfortunate inhabitants of that town. Now, the reports which had since been received from General Notes army proved distinctly that there was not a word of truth iu that accusation. To the reports now current there had not been time for those impli- cated to reply. It must be observed, that when a victorious army was marching over a country wherein its policy was to destroy the fortifica- tions, it was very difficult to distinguish between what might be fortifi- cations and what private property, more particularly in a country where so many of the houses contained loopholes and bore so much the appearance of fortresses. He had occasion to know, however, that the facts respecting Istalif had been perverted- lstalif did not contain so many inhabitants : there were not only the usual inhabitants of the town, but a great number of other persons collected around it. When it was thought necessary to order General M'Caskill to march to and attack Istalif, it was well known that the chiefs of Ghilzie, one of whom was implicated in the murder of Sir Alexander Burnes, were there. There was also there a large military force, consisting of 14,000 or 15,000 men, and not, as the honourable Member described, that number of peaceful inhabitants. A great number of persons who had fled to Istalif from Cabul and other places, confiding in the strength of the town, took refuge, in the midst of the attack, in its strongest points. He had therefore no hesitation in saying, that it would neither have been prudent nor wise on the part of our troops, numbering as they did but 4,000, and opposed as they were to a force of 14,000, to have ceased firing upon getting into the town. Indeed, many of our troops, and among them Lieutenant Evans, had been killed in the town. The honourable Member spoke of the cruelty of turning out the women in the snow—at a time when there was no snow : but setting that aside, there were at the period. of this attack at the end of the town 500 women, a large portion of whom had come from Cabul, and who were completely at the mercy of our troops: we had it not only from General M'Caskill's report, but from the libellers of the Indian press themselves, that the conduct a our trocps on that occasion was most exemplary, and that not a single woman had been either hurt or insulted by them. Now, when he recollected that among the Afghans there was no such thing as capitulation, and that they never took or gave quarter, he did not think General M'Caskill had acted improperly in allowing the troops to destroy the town.

Strict orders had been given on the 15th November not to interfere with the inhabitants of Cabul, nor to injure the city itself; and the fact that the people had returned to their usual occupations by the 21st, and that "abundance reigned in the camp," confirmed the supposition that those orders had been obeyed. General Pollock had, in fact, confined himself to the narrowest limits of retaliation—the destruction of the mosque fitted up with plunder from our army, and of the bazaar where the remains of Sir William M`Naghten were treated with indignity.

Sir J. COLEBROOKE and Sir ROBERT Noma having spoken in favour of the motion, Mr. HUME, imputing much of the mischief to Lord El- lenborough's journey Northward away from the advice of his Council, desired further information ; and moved, by way of amendment on the first resolution, that the thanks of the House to Lord Ellenborough be deferred until certain documents should should be produced. Mr. BINGHAM BARING explained, that the documents already had been pro- duced, for they were in the Blue Book.

In the course of further debating, Lord EBRINGTON said, he had no objection to award Lord Ellenborough thanks as a good Commissary- General : and the motion was supported by Mr. Ham, Colonel WOOD, Captain BERNAL, Sir HOWARD DOUGLAS, Mr. CHARLES WOOD, Mr. AUGUSTUS STAFFORD O'BRIEN.

Mr. HUME eventually withdrew his amendment ; the first resolution was carried ; and the remainder passed unanimously. The Speaker was ordered to transmit them to the Governor-General of India, to be communicated to the officers named.

On the same day, the Duke of WELLINGTON moved the same resolu- tion in the House of Lords ; supported by a statement similar to that by Sir Robert Peel, only briefer, and from the Duke's manner very in- teresting to those who heard it delivered He dwelt more on the in- fluences—the successive failures, the dissensions, and the inaction which enervated the Cabal army, and destroyed confidence in its officers and its discipline, before the disasters of October 1841; but reserved opinions on the causes of those disasters, in consideration of the pending inquiry in India. He highly commended the instructions of the 4th July re- ceived by General Nott: " he had read many documents of that cha ratter, and seen none more deserving of eulogy."

Lord AUCKLAND seconded the motion ; acknowledging " the most temperate, judicious, and impressive manner in which the noble Duke had brought the subject before their Lordships." On his own part, he explained, that the Government of India were advised that the force at Cabal was more than amply sufficient for every emergency which called for it ; and he had even been pressed to reduce a part of the force there. He had sent home his resignation three or four months before the outbreak at Cabul, when tranquillity reigned there : when intelli- gence reached India of the disasters, he would gladly have remained to grapple with them ; but his successor was already on the sea, and all that be could do was to provide the means of meeting the difficulties. [The chief provisions are explained by Sir Robert Peel above.] The want of carriage was mainly caused by the desertion of the camel- drivers ; but Major Outram had already exerted himself in collecting camels and stores, and 3,000 were sent to General Nott. On what may be supposed to be questionable points he said nothing: but, by the order of the 4th July he thought his successor became a partner in the expe- dition from Candahar to Cabul, and in the combined operations ; the consequence of which had been the wiping off the stain upon our mili- tary honour, and the conferring an immense benefit upon India.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE concurred in the limited expression of thanks. ha alluded to the " extreme caution " displayed by Lord

Ellenborough ; not for the purpose of casting any censure upon any one, but in order to do full justice to those officers who took the responsibi- lity upon themselves of advancing, as they did, in the most perilous circumstances, as Sir Jasper Nichols said, " loaded with cautions."

Lord FITZGERALD and VESEY replied to this point of extreme cau- tion," that even the Generals themselves were fully conscious of the caution which ought to be exercised, circumstanced as they were, in making any movement in advance. On the 20th April, for instance, General Pollock said, " My situation at the present moment is a diffi- cult one ; and much as I deprecate any retrograde movement, such a step is by no means improbable, as I have not yet been able to get sup- plies in sufficient quantities to warrant my remaining here." He related an anecdote of a hero's mother— The Adjutant-General of the army, acting by the command of Lord Ellen- borough, transmitted to the aged mother of Colonel Dennie that medal which her son would have worn had he happily survived. In replying to the letter which accompanied this token, Mrs. Dennie beautifully said, that " she ac- cepted it with pleasure and with pride, for she bad a right to feel a pride in her son's life, and," she added, " in his death." The Marquis of CLANRICARDE took some of the standing exceptions to Lord Ellenborough's conduct—that he had obstructed the advance on Cabul, and had contemplated the abandonment of the prisoners ; quoting passages from the Blue Book in support of his construction. Even with respect to the order of July 4th, any person reading that order, accord- ing to the simple meaning of the words, would say that it was a permis- sion to advance, but an instruction to retreat. He would not say any thing as to the taking away the famous gates of Somnath. Lord BROUGHAM vindicated Lord Ellenborough from charges of va- cillation and infirmity of purpose. " ' Extreme caution ! ' I ask, in these circumstances and conditions could any caution be deemed extreme ? He was cautious ; he did reflect did he hesitate ? " And Lord Brougham read the despatch of 15th March, to show that Lord Ellenborough's de- termination was taken from the first. He contrasted the language used by the Opposition in that House and out of doors- " My noble friends here speak smoothly, speak softly, on the subject. One may say of them as was said by no inspired poet of others, ' The words of their mouths are soft as butter, having war in their hearts '—(Loud cries of "Hear, hear !" and laughter)—' Their words are smoother than ail, yet be they very swords.' (Continued laughter.) But those who elsewhere have dealt with the conduct of the Governor General show or wage the war that is in their hearts '; they brandish 'the very swords,' be they more or less sharp—(A laugh)—more or less trenchant, with which they are by nature endowed : but they omit the butter and the oil. I protest that in three long months of uninterrupted abuse and calumny, no phrase has been used more gentle than the base," un-English," reckless,' `dastardly,' cowardly' con- duct of the Governor-General. 1 speak literally ; these were the expressions ; the last, the foulest and the coarsest of the whole, being only the most fre- quently repeated ; being one the most congenial to the nature of those who just showed the venom they had—like superannuated vipers, showing they had the bag of venom, but not possessing the perforated tooth through which to squirt it." (" Hear, hear I" and laughter.)

Lord Brougham also alluded to the Somnath gates proclamation, and the order for conveying the gates-

" Something has been said about a proclamation and about a despatch; and I heartily agree with those who lament that the Governor-General in one of those despatches suffered himself for a moment to be led away in alluding to the conduct of his predecessor, which remarks I think he ought to have spared. But that is not what they are harping at out of doors and elsewhere; it is at the language, the style of the proclamation. This language was open to ob- servation : but the style of a proclamation or a speech is a matter of trifling importance ; I am looking at the deeds of the Governor-General." The Marquis of LANSDOWNE explained, that he did not condemn the "extreme caution," but only spoke of it as enhancing the responsibility of the Generals, and therefore their merits.

Lord Brougham's vindication of the Somnath proclamation brought out the Bishop of SALISBURY and the Bishop of CHICHESTER; who dif- fered widely with his excuse of it. Lord BROUGHAM assured the Pre- lates, that there was no more pious Christian than Lord Ellenborough ; the proclamation being strictly political. Lord MINTO guarded himself against being supposed to concur in the more extensive construction which had been put on the vote of thanks to Lord Ellenborough.

The resolutions were carried unanimously.

MISCELLANEOUS.

FORGED EXCHEQUER BILLS. When the Forged Exchequer Bills Bill was read a third time, on Wednesday, the CHANCELLOR of the Ex- CHEQUER explained to Mr. WILLIAM WILLIAMS and Mr. EDWARD Rums, that a renewal of the fraud would be almost impossible under the act passed last session : even without the newly-adopted checks, the very peculiar case of Beaumont Smith was without parallel, and there had not been such a thing as a forged Exchequer Bill for fifty years. He admitted the hardship in the case of Mr. Inglis, who had deposited 6,0001., his whole means, in good Exchequer Bills, with Morgan, who had shifted that security : but, though the claim was good against Morgan, he could not regard it as good against Government ; for they could make no distinction between the several forged bills actually in Morgan's possession. The bill was passed. NATIONAL ECONOMY. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD has given notice, that, on going into Committee on the Army Estimates, he shall move, that in consequence of the national distress, they be postponed until all the estimates of expenditure and ways and means be completed. FURTHER REFORM. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD has deferred his bill to secure a full representation of the people and shorten the duration of Parliaments, until the 9th March. THE GATES OF SOMNATH. Mr. VERNON SMITH has given notice of a resolution, to be moved on the 9th of March, respecting Lord Ellen- borough's proclamation addressed to the princes and chiefs of India.