Feb. 17,] 



THE NEWSPAPER. 



The crowd 



ma nr virtues of their departed Sovereign, 

 then departed in silence.— Accounts from Berlin state that 

 the recent illness of the Queen of Prussia has interrupted 

 all the intended festivities at Court, and so dull a carni- 

 ral season has not been remembered for many years. 

 A few days since some thieves effected an entrance into 

 the Mint during the night, and succeeded in getting hold 

 of a thousand thalers, but were detected and recognised 

 as old offenders. Much attention is occasioned by this 

 event, as they are known to be connected with the work- 

 men at present employed at the Mint. The Minister of 

 the Interior has just "forwarded orders to all the police 

 authorities in the Prussian dominions to arrest the poet 

 Herwe^h, wherever he might be found in the Prussian 

 territory. A poem which he recently published is the 

 cause of this mandate. — Since the 1st of January a new 

 style of church music has been introduced into the service 

 of the Prussian churches. Chevalier Bunsen it appears 

 recently published a little work, in which he pointed out 

 that it would be far preferable to resume the ancient style 

 of beautiful church music, in which the chorus of the con- 

 gregation responded to the recitativos of the officiating 

 clergyman, and which Luther never intended to abolish, 

 although they have recently been done away with. The 

 present church music is an approximation to his proposed 

 plan, and occupies the greater portion of divine service, 

 and consequently shortens the time allowed for the ser- 

 mon. Another innovation is that the clergyman no longer 

 pronounces the benediction from the pulpit, but descends 

 to the altar for that purpose. 



Turkey.— Letters from Constantinople of the 7th inst. 

 state that the site of the Palace of England at Pera being 

 in many respects inconvenient, Sir Stratford Canning had 

 asked to be allowed to choose a more agreeable position 

 for the erection of a new Palace. The Sultan readily ac- 

 ceded to his request, and at his invitation Riza Pasha, 

 Rifaat Pasha, and Mehemet Ali Pasha, repaired to the 

 esplanade of Dolmabagtche to examine the grounds which 

 appeared to them most suitable for the purpose. The 

 Minister for Foreign Affairs immediately afterwards pro- 

 ceeded to the British Embassy, informed Sir S. Canning 

 of the result of their observation, and requested him to 

 select the site he considered most eligible. The public 

 are still much occupied with the uncourteous dismissal of 

 Sir Baldwin Walker from the Turkish service. Sir S. 

 Canning considers this step or rather the way in which it 

 was taken as an insult to his Government, who had sent 

 Sir Baldwin Walker to Turkey at the special desire of the 

 Porte. He has therefore demanded reparation, and there 

 is no doubt that he will obtain it. A conference has taken 

 place between the representatives of the five great Powers 

 h l jL e .P ur P°se of arranging some points respecting 

 the affairs of Lebanon — such as the residence of the 

 louses and Maronites, and the losses suffered by the 

 Alaronites during the war in Syria. The Emir Be- 

 chir has constantly resided at Deruel Ekamar, but 

 the Druses and Maronites each claimed this, the 

 last residence of the Patriarch of Lebanon. The 

 representatives have settled that Deruel Ekamar shall 

 henceforth be the residence of a Turkish authority At 



JEp £7 mC - g l J? 6 ambass adors regulated the amount of 

 date,? n mm o y r T i e last diligence from Erzerum was 



mmmi. eC ' •» e conf erences of the Turko-Persian 

 commiss on stl n continued but had ag vefc been aUended 



7u t K r ' mP ° r ! aDt reSU,L Mr ' Curzon was preparing to 

 q W^r 7 m t0 rCtUra t0 Constantinople. F P 

 been over,?n D J ES -- The m ^ steamer Avon, which has 

 ThursZl • rS ° me da ? s ' arrived at Southampton on 

 weather Tn^°T^; The dela y had b ^n caused by severe 

 ?£ vovaJ h * G ^ 0fMe W*hich lasted for two days. 

 Avon S ° geth f had been ^fortunate, and the 

 and the r"! Steamed / or 35 <%s, consumed all the coals, 

 and l0B 7^ WaS 0bli S ed to ^eak away the bulk-heads 



Mexico on ftffi tt th V Wp ' fw ***' She left 

 ^d on the ^11 "? Bermuda on the 28th of January, 



Mowine h! g day another ^le came on, the wind 



Cbarles Adam 3ne ' which contin «ed for 48 hours. Sir 

 The news th??™ at „ Jamaica > on his way to Vera Cruz. 



importance gS m the West Indies is not of much 



[1844 



parliament. 



tfwwfoy.-TheFa l ™ USE OF *-°RDS. 



H ou»e to Sir Charles K- ON moved the thanks of their Lordships' 

 of Scinde, and in * n !| • pl . er » and the armv employed in the conquest 

 we early part of f a J^ ,n & tra 5 ed th e career of the gallant General from 



ev *ry successive %t\ tr r ' m . the °P er ations commenced, through 

 ?* *here un animiS I thcir finaI clo8e > carefully avoiding, in a 

 T^^on.-Lo-J^y was desirable, any topic which might provoke 



OI w «iiixgtov HZ.i K j Ar l D seco n<leQ the motion: and the Duke 

 €Te nts of the ca'mmi i ' t hat after the fullcst consideration of the 

 general officer l,J!?? n, i ad never known an instance in which a 



■JJthe qualificationVwhi'li?" in a hi * her de * ree than Sir C ' ****** 

 ™* Peat operart™. u Here nece ^ary for enabling him to con- 

 JJtwe discretion 9 n3 ^ e P raised in equally flattering terms his 

 IS? T,ty in P^para?inn P ™ de ? ce ** the formation of his plans, his 

 X? ,pecifie d in Sir t?' and } ls zea1 ' gauntry and science in action, 



£f.? 0,t Prions P ii w" * the march upon Emaun Ghur as on * °^ 

 fading h ad i nfo ™ J&J feat ? of *Mch either hi- experience or his 



■tV , d c U*ENnn«i?" e resoi "tion was unanimously agreed 



£3? ? Spain ' enured £?' "*"»«"* information upon the present 



^England and Fran" ? 4 consideration of the general policy of 



* ?d. »ub.idi„; i n ? ™ u ^ »»Pect to that country, which was, 



rL " P u artcr o, and whilt r ron !f. c . ,vil war ' He regretted the downtal 



3S£ J* Fra ""e cen nr.Tfu dl i ,np thc charges of active interfe- 



Cdt d,t '«^^ that Government 



coulH ' by his ruin !; n« v nds of the R CRent's enemies, and pro- 



Si? 0t «»na £2? agaiD8t Which the Spanish throne 



S, R S ttndin P M ^hich ^1^%^ iU - cho » en ^r the -cot dial 



p4r, 7< n Kngland and p^ lnB ° f France had described as subsist- 



CJir! dtha tthI v should 1 1£ ° e °" Spanish offai«,and would have 



PolicvV' HeBis ffofc in ' li ™ to save ,11 that was 



ceedeH ° Wards Spain and llh IV H \ S to he the character of our future 



tS ??f S P r °curinJ ihe tr ^1 - her ^ French Government had sue 



£knS f A? nnt T«S„ S?T°l ° f ° ther candidates and the selec- 



•b iin ed husba « d 5 Queen 1 l^ ^ f the Kin S of Na P l «*», ™ the 

 ° 8Ur dity of the opinion that ? abella ? ~ Lord A "»»» exposed the 



v ^n that the spirit of hostility to Espartero which 





in the course of six weeks had pervaded every village and every regi- 

 ment in Spain was the creation of French intrigue", and attributed it 

 rather to the jealous aversion the Spaniards had always displaved to 

 foreign interference, excited by the prevalent, but erroneous,' belief 

 that the Regent was entirely under English influence. The " cordial 

 understanding" between France and England had no especial refe- 

 rence to Spam: but arose from the belief that the general interests 

 of the two countries were not antagonist but identical. Its object- 

 and he knew of no other-was, as respected Spain, ;to maintain its 

 complete independence to check, as far as possible, every species of 

 violence and to extend its prosperity and happiness. The marriage 

 of the Queen was exclusively a Spanish question, to be reserved en- 

 tirely for the Spanish Government and nation. He was a party to 

 no exclusion of any prince or family ; and whatever might be his own 

 wishes or those of others, Spain alone should decide upon a subject 

 so entirely Spanish.— Lord Clarendon professed his complete satis- 

 faction at the answers he had received, and congratulated himself 

 upon having elicited a declaration in which he so cordially agreed. 



Tuesday.— The Marquis of Normanby, in a speech of two hours, 

 brought forward a series of resolutions, pledging the House to ex- 

 amine into the causes of the prevalent discontent in Ireland. It 

 would be impossible in our limits to give a complete abstract of a 

 speech which fills nearly five columns of the Times, but it may be 

 necessary to state that his Lordship accused the Government of having 

 adopted the do-nothing policy when they should have stopped the 

 sedition in its bud, and of having taken up the active policy when 

 the sedition was about to expire of its own exhaustion. He charged 

 them with having attempted the greatest of political faults-that of 

 carrying on a government by means of a minority. He impeached 

 them for having appointed a man to the Attorney-generalship who 

 had once declared that he believed Roman Catholics had little or no 

 regard for the sanctity of an oath. He blamed them for excluding 

 from the members of the administration all persons, with the excep- 

 tion of the Duke of Wellington, who had lived out of the country the 

 greater portion of his life, who had a local knowledge of Irish wants, 

 feelings, and habits. He arraigned the conduct of the late trials^ 

 from the striking ol the panel to the charge of the Judge, including in 



his censure the law-officers, the Chief Justice, and the Government. 



Lord Wharncliffe replied, and said it had never been the opinion 

 of Government that the repeal meetings would wear themselves out, 

 but they were obliged to endure the taunts of even their own friends 

 in patience, until they obtained legal proof of the illegality of the 

 whole series of meetings, which individually could not be called ille- 

 gal. The repeal of the union was a question perfectly legal to discuss, 

 and the difficulty was to convict those who concocted them of illegal 

 and seditious designs. This had been done as soon as possible; and, 

 whatever might be said to impugn the verdict that had been obtained' 

 he was certain that universal England agreed in its justice. Of Mr! 

 Smith he had never heard until he was appointed Attorney- genera] 

 and therefore knew nothing of his speech about the Roman Catholics 

 and their oaths. He defended the appointments made by Govern- 

 ment—explained the striking of the jury — vindicated the whole pro- 

 ceedings in the state trials, and maintained that Government had 

 done everything that could be done to assert the supremacy of the 

 laws, and to restore the country to tranquillity. But now that this 

 was accomplished, he agreed with Lord Normanby that the time was 

 come to look forward, and to see what was to be done. A commission 

 had been already appointed to inquire how matters, manifestly un- 

 just between landlord and tenant, could be remedied. It was pro- 

 posed by Government to enlarge the county franchise, and, moreover, 

 to relieve borough voters from the necessity of paying many of the 

 rates to which they are now compellable before registering their votes. 

 Then an additional grant for education was in contemplation, and 

 measures for the better training of schoolmasters. Besides these, 

 Government hoped to give facilities for the endowment of Roman 

 Catholic glebes, chapels, and institutions. He objected strongly to 

 any proposal which might endanger the stability of the established 

 church in Ireland, treating as chimerical the notion of placing the 

 two churches upon an equality; and concluded by explicitly declaring 

 the determination of the Ministry to preserve the union inviolate, and 

 uphold the supremacy of the law.— The Marquis of Clanricarde 

 concurred in the charges Lord Normanby had urged against the 

 Government— its exclusive reliance upon military force, its distrust of 

 the Roman Catholics, the vacillating course it had pursued upon the 

 repeal agitation, and the blunders that had marked the progress of 

 the state trials— but approved generally the intended measures which 

 Lord Wharncliffe had described.— The Earl of Rodex attributed the 

 miserable circumstances in which Ireland was placed to the conduct 

 of Lord Normanby when Lord Lieutenant, whose chief policy con- 

 sisted in a wholesale discharge of the gaols.— The Earl of Devon 

 explained the intentions of the Landlord and Tenant Commission, 

 and detailed the progress it had made in its inquiries. — The Marquis 

 of Westmeath opposed the motion. — Lord Howden, believing the 

 resolutions proposed to be ill-timed, mischievous, and effective only 

 in embarrassing the Government, could not give them his support. 

 — Lord Beaumont, considering the present, when the Government 

 stood on high ground, and that sedition was crushed, the proper time 

 to undertake conciliatory measures, gave his support to the motion. 

 He approved cf the intentions of Government as lar as they went, but 

 hoped they would carry them a little further. — On the motion of Lord 

 Campbell, the debate was adjourned. 



Thursday.— The adjourned debate on the state of Ireland was 

 renewed by Earl Fortescve, who explained the way in which 

 his appointments of stipendiary magistrates had been made, and 

 expressed his wish to have the Protestant Church Establishment 

 ill Ireland reduced to an equality with the Roman Catholic. — 

 The Earl of Haddington replied, and said that the statements 

 and propositions made by Government had been well received 

 by their Lordships* and he believed they were considered to 

 embrace the majority of the grievances which were dwelt upon 

 with the greatest force in Parliament, and alluded to with the 

 greatest virulence at the monster meetings which bad of late 

 taken place. — Lord Monteagle disapproved of the mischievous 

 agitation for the Repeal of the Union, and of the means employed 

 to enforce it. It hHd been his fate to encounter Mr. O'Cunnell 

 on that topic, and he would not shrink from it now. But though 

 he had nothing to expect or fear from Mr. O'Conneil ; though 

 he was denounced by him as the enemy of Ireland, and the 

 denunciation had been circulated by the Repeal Association 

 amongst his tenantry and friends, still he could not forget that 

 Mr. O'Conneil was venerated by millions of his fellow country- 

 men, and neither the means taken by the Government to 

 suppress the monster meetings, nor the mode pursued to 

 ensure a conviction at the trials, were calculated to give 

 peace and contentment to Ireland.— Thc Earl of Ripon replied, 

 recapitulating all the arguments already used in defence 

 of the conduct of the Government towards Ireland, and 

 in support of the measures proposed for the conciliation of the 

 Irish people. At the conclusion of his speech it was discovered 

 that the Lord Chancellor had retired from the Chamber, leaving 

 Lord Shaftesbury on the woolsack. A dead pause ensued, 

 during which it was stated that the Chancellor had left the 

 House, not intending to speak. — Lord Normanby then rose to 

 reply. In the midst of his speech the Lord Chancellor en'ered 

 the House, and being called upon for an explanation, said he had 

 no desire to speak on the question, unless some of the legal 

 authorities there questioned the legality of the proceedings of 

 Government. As they had not done so, he did not feel called 

 upon to address their Lordships. If he had done so, it should 

 merely be to defend his character from the imputations cast upon 

 it; but after the triumphant defence n.ade of him by his noble 

 friends, he was quite satisfied to rest silent.— A scene ensued 

 between Lord Broloha.m and Lord Campbell, which kept the 

 House in excitement for some time, Lord Brougham vehemently 

 defending himself from the charge of having changed his prin- 

 ciples.— At length Lord Normanby concluded his reply, and the 

 House divided; when there Were— Contents, 7S; non-contents, 

 1^6 ; majority against Lord Normanby 's resolution, 97- 



HOUSE OF COMMONS. 

 Saturday.— Sir J. Graham stated the alterations he intended 

 to propose in his bill for the amendment of the Poor Law. As 



there was considerable difference cf opinion on the abolition of 

 the Gilbert Unions he wouid not now propose to abolish them, 

 but would move on another day for a select committee toinquire 

 into their operation. The bastardy law in its present shape had 

 occasioned great dissatisfaction in Wales and in the north of 

 England, and he had introduced into this bill a provision br 

 which, on application being made within 40 days from the birth 

 of the child, there should be power given to two magistrates to 

 make an order of maintenance on the putative father, operating 

 not only against his goods but against his person. This order- 

 would proceed upon the oath of the mother fortified by some 

 corroborative evidence. It would be binding on the father till 

 the child had reached the age of 13. He had selected the age of 

 13 because in the laws regulating the hours of labour in our 

 factories that age was considered as the line of demarcation 

 between the child and the young person. The child was then 

 considered to be to a certain extent emancipated from parental 

 control, and he therefore thought that 13 was the proper age at 

 which the putative father.should be emancipated from the charge 

 of its support. He proposed that the maximum for maintenance 

 should be fixed at 4s. a week. He proposed that the mode of 

 remedy should be subject to an appeal to the quarter-sessions, 

 and that the order then made should be binding not only upon 

 the goods but also upon the person of the putative father. He 

 proceeded in the next place to point out another important defect 

 in the existing administration of the law. Recent experience in 

 the large towns, but more especially in the metropolis, had 

 proved that cruel hardship was often suffered by the destitute 

 portion of the population while the question of their settlement 

 was pending. In consequence of this evil the poor and indigent 

 suffered greatly in being driven from police-office to police- 

 office, from workhouse to workhouse, before they could obtain 

 relief; and he believed that even in thc midst of this inclement 

 season numbers were iorced in the metropolis to sleep in the 

 parks and under the porticos of public building*, and in other 

 large towns to seek shelter under arches and gateways, exposed 

 to want and mis-cry, and suffering privation to an extent which 

 was not consistent with the safety of human life. He thought 

 that for such a state of things it was the duty of Government to 

 provide an immediate remedy. With respect to the law of set- 

 tlement as it affected the children in the workhouse schools he 

 intended no alteration. He retained that portion of the old bill 

 which provided a district school for the metropolitan parishes, 

 and for other large towns ; but he intended to add this regulation 

 to it beside— he proposed to establish district asylums in the me- 

 tropolitan parishes, and he intended that these asylums under 

 certain regulations should be open for the reception for one night 

 of every destitute or sick person. He proposed that in case of 

 sickness the destitute person so received should be maintained at 

 the common cost of the districts; that lodging and food for one 

 night should be granted to all who applied for it, and that all 

 should be at liberty to depart in the morning, subject to some 

 task- work or other for four hours. This would be an important 

 change ; for parties were often refused admission into the work- 

 house until the question about their settlement was decided. He 

 proposed that if the patty relieved applied a second night, relief 

 should be allowed on the same terms as before ; but if he applied 

 beyond a second night, the question of settlement would arise, 

 and also the question whether he should not be proceeded against 

 under the vagrancy laws.— Captain Pechell signified his satis- 

 faction at the course proposed with respect to the Gilbert Unions. 

 —Mr. T. Duncombe expressed himself to the same effect, not 

 only on the subject of the Gilbert Unions but also on that of the 

 bastardy enactments and that of asylums for the destitute.— Mr. 

 Beckett Denison, Sir W. James, and other gentlemen, inti- 

 mated their gratification at the proposed improvements.— Sir J. 

 Graham gave explanations in answer to several questions, and 

 after a few words on the subject of prison ciscipline, the bill was 

 brought in and read a first time. 



Monday. — The Factory Bill was read a second time, and the 

 Metropolitan Improvements Bill was read a third time. On the 

 motion that the Bill do pass, Mr. Hume moved that the words 

 empowering the Governor and Company of the Bank of England 

 to lend money for metropolitan improvements be struck out. — 

 Mr. Masterman supported this amendment.— Mr. C. Wood 

 suggested that the sum to be lent should be limited.— Sir R. 

 Pkkl acceded to this suggestion; but Mr. Hume pressed his 

 amendment to a division, when there were— For the amendment, 

 70; against it, 145; majority ;5. The Bill was finally passed 

 with an amendment, limiting the sum to 250,00u/.— Sir R. Pekl 

 moved the thanks of the House to Sir C. Napier, and thc Officers 

 and men participating in the late Military operations in Scinde. 

 The chief glory in that war where all were glorious was due to 

 the Commander— one of three cousins who had ingrafted on the 

 stem of an ancient family the distinction of personal nobility. 

 Throughout the Peninsular war there were no Officers more 

 prodigal of their blood than those cousins ; and if we perused 

 the records of one of the most recent and brilliant of naval 

 achievements, which had changed the dynasty of the king- 

 dom of Portugal and revived the glories of St. Vincent, we 

 should find that its leader also bore the name of Napier. " Ready, 

 aye ready," as it was the motto ot that family, was also their 

 character. The achievements of Sir C. Napier might seem des- 

 perate, and so they would have been if undertaken by ordinary 

 persons ; but when conducted by such a leader they were recon- 

 cilable with the calmest piudence. It was difficult to conjec- 

 ture what result might have followed from a more backward 

 and cautious generalship; his own conviction was, that the 

 worst consequences would have ensued if Sir C. Napier had 

 not advanced, and that he had no alternative but to confront 

 the danger as he did. Sir R. Peel illustrated the value of Sir C. 

 Napier's success by examples of the active and perfidious cha- 

 racter of the Amur-, and by the operations of Sir J. Keane 

 against those formidable chiefs. The military skill of Sir C. Napier 

 was not his highest praise; stiil greater applause was due 

 to the moral courage with which he had acted on his own judg- 

 ment against urgent advice, and hazarded his own life and 

 reputation. For such exploits he thought the House would be 

 unanimous in their thanks. — Lord J. Kussell seconded the 

 motion, applauding the moral courage with which Sir C. Napier 

 bad extricated himself from his difficulties, and congratulating 

 the country on the more than v outhful vigour which in advanced 

 years that brave man still evinced.— Lord Howick assented to 

 all the praises bestowed upon Sir C. Napier as a General, but he 

 teltit a duty, as Sir C. Napier was not merely a General, to with- 

 hold any concurrence in the proposed vote of thanks. Every step 

 politically taken against the deposed Princes was substantially- 

 determined by Sir C. Napier, through whose eyes alone Lord 

 tllenborough saw at the distance at which he was placed. He 

 referred to the battle of Navarinoas a precedent, and objected to 

 the vote, because war had not been regularly declared against 

 Scinde, and because the whole series of brilliant achievements 

 had only occurred by accident. He would not, however, divide 

 the House.— Mr. VkknonSmith supported Lord Howick's views 

 in which Mr. Hawks, Mr. Mangles, and Mr. C. Wood also con- 

 curred.— Sir H. Hardinge and Sir H. Douglas spoke in favour 

 of the vote, and denounced the application of any technical 

 objection to a vote of thanks for such splendid services. — Com- 

 modore Napifr thanked Sir R. Peel for his complimentary allu- 

 sion to his own exploits, and then gave a sketch of the " feats of 

 arms" of his distinguished relative, of a considerable portion of 

 which he had been a witness. At Corunna, in bis first field, he 

 was covered with w< unds, and had fallen into the hands of Marshal 

 Soult, who nursed him, and sent him home without exchange 

 to his friends, and from that period up to his last extraordinary 

 exploits ra Scinde, he had evinced throughout unbroken energy, 

 military courage and skill. He also approved as much of the 

 policy he had pursued as ot his •« fighting propensities." Scinde 

 was n:t like Europe or England; the climate would cut up an 

 aimy in a few days; and nothing but promptitude saved his 

 gallant relative ireni being surrounded ,by some sixty thousand 



