POSTSCRIPT.

SATURDAY.

From despatches in last night's Gazette letters in the journals, and the statements of the First Lord of the Admiralty in the House ofCom- mons, we obtain authentic accounts of the long rumoured naval actions against the enemy in the Gulf of Finland. The speech of Sir JAMES Gallus!, in reply to a question from Mr. HUME, described the affair in these words- " The Admiralty received today a despatch from Sir Charles Napier, dated the 23d of May, off Hango, where he was at anehor, with eight sail of the line, in the Bay of Hango, at the entrance of the Gulf of Finland. He sends an account of an exploit which, though not on a large scale, is yet a very gallant feat of arms performed by one of her Majesty's frigates and a small steamer. It appears that on the 218t of May they heard of three large mer- chantmen in an inlet about ten miles inland, and placed under the fire of a fortress of very considerable strength. The Arrogant, commanded by Cap- tain Yelverton, and a small steamer, the Heels., under the command of an officer very well known to the House and the country for his distinguished conduct in China—I mean Captain Hall, formerly better known as Captain Min Nemesis Hall,—these vessels proceeded up the inlet, which is very narrow, and the latter part of it under the fire of musketry from a considerable military force on shore. Captain Hall cut out, under the fire of the battery and within four hundred yards of it, the only one of the three merchantmen that was afloat, and brought it off, having triumphantly executed the duty imposed upon him. Sir Charles Na- pier observes that this is an exploit worthy of the British arms in the best times of our naval history : and what must be particularly satisfactory to the House, as dispelling the doubts that were entertained with regard to the manning of the Navy is this, that Captain Hall received his appointment only three months ago. His was one of the last ships commissioned ; and he manned the ship in a very short time, and with a very considerable propor- tion of what might be called landsmen. If I had been called on to mention the ship that was least perfectly manned, I should have named the Heels: yet such is the character of British seamen that the execution of this feat of arms was performed with the most brilliant courage. Sir Charles Napier adds, that on the following day, in an attack on two forts, the conduct of two others of her Majesty's ships was very distinguished ; and the whole state of the fleet was reported by Sir Charles Napier as most satisfactory. The French fleet had not joined. It was expected to join in five or aix.days from the 23d; and by this time I have no doubt the French and English fleet combined is in the Gulf of Finland, forming twenty-eight sail of the line, with frigates and other vessels in proportion." (Much cheer- ing throughout.) [To this condensed account by the First Lord of the Admiralty, we may append fuller details, derived from the published letters and despatches. It appears that the Arrogant carries 46 guns, the Meta 6. When Captain Yelverton heard that merchant-ships were at Ekenass, he was on a sounding and reconnoitering expedition. The ships were first attacked on the even- ing of the 19th May, by soldiers in ambush ; but a few shells dispersed them. In the Russian account of the affair, in the Invalide Reese, this figures as a repulse of the English with loss Next morning, at two a. so., after going slowly up the narrow channel for three hours, the ships alighted on a field-battery and fort, and infantry and cavalry drawn up on the shore. Here the combat was sharpest ; but the guns of the Heels and the broadsides of the Arrogant drove the Russians from their guns and dismounted them. The Arrogant got aground ; but fired her broadside point-blank into a fort, before any attempt was made to get her off; and the shallowness of the water obliged her to anchor. Captain Hall, however, under a galling fire, went further up, and taking a barque in tow, steamed away with her. He also landed and carried off three guns from the fort. In this exploit the Arrogant had two men killed and four wounded ; the Heels five wounded, including Captain Hall, slightly ; and Lieutenant Crewe Read, se- verely but not dangerously. Meanwhile, Admiral Napier with a strong squad- ron had arrived off Range Head ,- and when the Heels and Arrogant joined them, on the 21st, Sir Charles saluted their return with the signal—" Well done, Arrogant and Heels" ; the flag-ship manned yards, and the fleet cheered.]

In both Houses of Parliament, war matters formed the text of questions and of comments.

In reply to the Marquis of CLANItICARDE, the Duke of NEWCASTLE stated, that for the present, and for reasons he could not explain consistently with his duty, it has been determined, in conjunction with the French Govern- ment, not to blockade Archangel. Every blockade will be "effective "—there will be no "paper" blockades. Lord BEAUMONT sneered at the politeness with which the war is carried on ; Admirals giving notice that they will spare such and such parts of a city. To this the Earl of ABERDEEN replied, that "no war ever was carried on with more vigour or more determination than this will be ; without, however, acting upon such horrible notions" as those of firing upon a town or even upon hospitals.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH put a question to Lord Aberdeen with regard to the constitution of the War Department ; making many suggestions re- specting its future organization, especially as regards the employment of military men, and the entire control of the troops by the Minister. Thank- ing him for his suggestions, the Earl of ABERDEEN said that attention had been bestowed on the subject, required by the emergency of the times. When a result is arrived at—which it will be forthwith—he believed it would be satisfactory to the House and the country.

In reply to questions put by Sir GILBERT HEATRCOTE, Colonel Drissm, and Mr. HENRY HERBERT, Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT said that steps have been taken to make the dress and accoutrements of the Army more convenient. White linen covers for helmets and shakos have been provided ; "the stock" will be abolished; Lord Raglan's attention has been drawn to the subject of "shaving," and he will be guided in the matter by experience.

The disfranchisement of the five delinquent boroughs gave rise to another debate in the House of Commons. Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved that no new writs should be issued to Canterbury, Cambridge, Barnstaple, Hull, or Maldon without seven days' previous notice being given in the Votes. The discussion turm d upon the propriety of issuing writs to these boroughs at all; at least until the Bribery Bills before the Select Committee should have been disposed of. Mr. blismsezi supported the motion, because the House ought not to be taken by surprise; but he would not pledge himself to vote for the suspension of the writs until the Bribery Bills were returned to the House. Mr. THOMAS BUNCOMBE lec- tured the House on its insincerity and inconsistency in dealing with the subjects of bribery and Parliamentary reform ; and defended the Govern- ment—averring that Lord John Russell has not abandoned his principle; and that Lord Aberdeen has made as good and stout speeches on Parlia- mentary reform as any Member of that House. In reply to Mr. OWEN STANLEY, Lord JOHN RIISORLL stated that Government have DO particu- lar measures to propose with respect to these boroughs, but they rely on the Bribery Bills. Mr. HUME and others suggested the ballot as an available remedy, now that Lord John had exhausted all his own means. To which Lord JOHN Russ*Lt replied—" My own means are not ex- hausted." Motion agreed çó.

In Committee on the'Rublic Revenue and Consolidated Fund Charges Bill, Mr. GLADSTONE gav4 a general outline of the measure, which must

be taken in conjunction with the estimate of the charges for collecting the revenue. It was a step towards uniformity and simplicity in the handling of public money. The bill contains two schedules. The one par- ticularizes sums which at present are deducted from the Customs and Excise revenues and applied to the payment of the salaries of the Scotch Judges and other purposes in Scotland these payments are to be transfer- red to the Consolidated Fund. The other schedule enumerates salaries which are now paid from the Consolidated Fund and from certain branches of the revenue, and which will henceforth be voted by Parliament. Under this arrangement comes the cost of collecting the various branches of the revenue. There are certain pensions not comprised in schedule A, which Government has arranged to buy up with advantage to the public. By bringing all these charges under the control of Parliament, an additional security will be afforded for the performance of its duty by the Executive Government.

A general approval of the plan was expressed by the House.

Two of the bills for carrying out the war budget were advanced a stage. In Committee on the Customs-duties (Sugar) Bill, Mr. MOFFAT moved,

as an amendment on the question that 12s. per hundredweight be the duty on Yellow Muscovado, the omission of the differential duty ; nega- tived by 69 to 12. On the third reading of the Excise-duties Bill, there

were two divisions. Mr. JOILN O'CONNELL moved the postponement of the third reading to that day fortnight, in order to enable Irish dis- tillers to make representations to the Government with respect to draw- back: negatived by 61 to 32. Mr. BEAMISK renewed the struggle by moving the adjournment of the debate : negatived by 71 to 23. The bill passed.

Lord PALMERSTON obtained leave to bring in a bill to render more effectual the Police in Counties and Boroughs in England and Wales ;

introducing the principle of election of Magistrates to form a Board for the management of county police, and amalgamating small towns with counties in respect of the police ; giving the Mayor and Magistrates seats at the County Board. The bill was read a first time.

Both Houses, on rising, adjourned for the Whitsun holidays ; the Lords until Friday, the Commons until Thursday next.

The Stonor Committee has presented its report to the House of Com- mons. It states that Mr. Moore positively undertook to prove that per- sons "having the ear of the Colonial Office must have been cognizant of Mr. Stonor's corrupt practices" ; and that he received the appointment not in ignorance of such practices but because of them, at the instance of Irish Members having influence with the Colonial department. The Committee unanimously resolve, that the evidence altogether fails to es- tablish the charge brought forward by Mr. Moore with reference to the motives which influenced the Duke of Newcastle ; they state that Mr. Moore has withdrawn in the fullest manner the charge of political cor- ruption against the Duke of Newcastle ; and they " regret " that on such insufficient ground so serious an accusation was preferred. At the same time, they think that the "Colonial Office" made the appointment without due caution and discrimination.