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    aitdkb Hastie , ( approving of the measure ) , the bill was read a second time . PROTECTION OP WOMEN . Mr . DHjIiWYN moved for leave to bring in a bill to amend the act 16 th and 17 th Victoria , for the better prevention and ' punishment of aggravated assaults upon -women and children . It appears from returns that that act had not worked satisfactorily , and magistrates had assured him that the power to inflict corporal punishment was necessary . He believed that the kind of punishment now inflicted had a tendency to prevent offenders being brought to justice , because the wife , by the imprisonment of her husband , had to choose between starvation and the workhouse . What he proposed , _ therefore , was to repeal the act of 1853 , re-enacting its provisions except the second clause , substituting for it one "by which every person convicted of an assault upon a woman or child , would be sentenced to a Ie 3 s extent of imprisonment , but , during confinement , he once privately whipped . — After a brief discussion , leave was given .

    tiator . —Lord Palmerston declined , under existing circumstances , to answer the questions . ° THE NAPIER AND GRAHAM QUARBEI ,. Sir Charles N ~ apier brought on his motion for " a select committee to inquire into the operations of the British fleet in the Baltic in the years 1854-5 . " He said that the long and loud complaints of the inactivity of the fleeb at the commencement of the war obliged him , as a matter of justice to himself , to show that the fault was not his . He had served , at sea for fifty-six years , under four sovereigns , had commanded fleets and armies , and thought he had done his

    duty fairly and justly and in a slap-dash manner and the only slur that was thrown upon him was by the late First Lord of the Admiralty ( Sir James Graham ) . He then entered into a statement of his case , in which he simply recapitulated the assertion ^ which he has already given to the world in various forms and which have appeared so often in these columns , that they need not be here repeated . The reading of private letters he justified by saying they were necessary to his defence , and that they related to public matters . — After a short patise , Admiral Walcott remarked that , aa no member seemed ready to second the motion , he would do so as he never saw a brother officer adrift ; without throw '

    rng out a tow-rope to him . In no ungenerous spirit did he say that , whatever feeling of disappointment may be in the mind of-the gallant Admiral , or the late First Lord of the Admiralty , both had incurred it . The fleet wa 3 not sufficiently equipped for the service in . hand . Sir Charles Wood deprecated tLe reading of private letters—a practice which would have a deti'imental effect on the public service ; and , believing that no case had been made but for the appointment of a committee , he resisted the motion .

    Sir James Graham then replied . Personally , he should be very glad if the committee were appointed , as he desired the whole case to be investigated ; but he -agreed with Sir Charles Wood that the appointment would be injudicious . The reading of his private letters by Sir Charles Napier was a breach of trust ; but , having been done , it would necessitate his reading extracts from the gallant Admiral ' s replies , and it would be for the writer to object it he thought fit . [ Sir Charles Napier : " Read everything . " ] He had hesitated in appointing Sir Charles to the command of the fleet , on account of age , for the gallant Admiral had himself declared , in pamphlets , letters , evidence before committees , &c

    that an officer above sixty is unfit for the command of a fleet , and he was certainly past that age . He had spoken to the House in high terms of the captains under him in the Baltic ; but there were letters in his ( Sir James ' s ) possession , in which Sir Charles gave very decided opinions of the unfitness for command of some of them , though they were in fact first-rate officers . Sir James read a correspondence connected with the appointment of Sir Charles Napier to the commandj from which it appeared that he was distinctly advised of the means to be placed at . hia disposal , and warned that , " without good will and hearty concurrence , the Board of Admiralty and the commander of the Baltic fleet could not work well

    together . " By reference to dates , Sir James showed that , if the Admiral had made a personal reconnaissance of Sweaborg iu June , 1854 , instead of resting satisfied with secondary evidence , it might have beeu possible to have sent out the gun and mortar boats which , at the close of the season , he recommended as the result of the personal reconnaissance he made in September . It was the ab sence of this early reconnaissance which caiisod much of the ill-feeling which sprung up between t )> o gallant Admiral and the Admiralty . With regard to the attack on Bomaraund , he showed by tho Admiral ' s letters that he did ask foraforce of 10 , 000 men . The disagreement between Sir Charles and General

    Jones was nothing new . It 3 iad a parallel in the quarrel which took place between Admiral Veruon and General Wentwortb , on *»© ocoasion of the Bioge of Carthagena , Lord Stanhope , speaking of Admiral Veruou , said : —¦ " He was undoubtedly a good officer , bo far . as oourage , enterprise , and exporienco , cau constitute that character ; but ho was harsh and haughty to his inferiors , untoward with his equals , mutinous and railing to all placed above him in authority . " ( Loud , laughter . ) The character given of him by Horace Walpolo is , that he waa an xmwiso , brawling Admiral , whose reputation was greater than his couskill

    rage , and whoso courage wan far greater thaw his , ( Jlcnetoed laugMer . ) Unfortunately , these quarrel .-botwGon admirals and generals were wot unfrcquont in the naval and military annata of the country . lieforring to the question of ships atbaoking stouo walls , Sir James read « omo published letters of Sir Churl oh Napier * o Lord Palmoraton , in 1888 , in which the writer says that " few know what ships can do , whon well placed ngainst etono walls . " Sir James concluded by saying : —" The hon . and gallant Admiral accuses mo of treason . If that is his opinion , thin dtaoussiou ought not to stop hero- { Hear , hear . ) 1 hiwo confronted him thia evening . I ana ready to confront him anywhere ; and I defy him to provo tho

    uoouanthearms were sent abroad for service ; and whether any steps had been taken to bring the parties by whom they -were supplied , to punishment ?—Lord Panmure admitted the accuracy of the statement , and said that the mortars -were supplied by Messrs . Grissel . In one of them , which burst , under tie test , a piece of iron had been inserted behind the breech , so skilfully screwed in that the fraud was very difficult to detect . Tins led to an examination of the other four ^ which it was found had also been pieced with iron in the same manner , or were made of very defective metal . The firm had already been erased from the list of Government contractors j but whether the Government had the power of proceeding against it by law was a point he had not yet been able to ascertain .

    AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS BILL . Lord Stanley of Alderley moved the second reading of this bill , the provisions of which are to be carried out chiefly through the organisation of the Poor Law Board . He quoted various authorities to show the necessity which exists , even in the interests of the farmers themselves , as -well of the country at large , for obtaining accurate returns of the annual account of wheat sown , of produce gathered in , &c , Such a system already exists , and has been found to work well in various continental countries , and in Scotland and Ireland ; and it bas beea tried experimentally in one or two English counties , with varying Biic 6 ess , great'oppQsition haying been offered by the farmera , who imagined that an inquisitorial attempt ^ was being made to arrive afc a knowledge of their

    : affaifs , which would be used hereafter , either by the -Government ; for the purpose of increased taxation , or * by the landlords with a view to raising rents . Butno jDersoti of sound sense could foi * a moment think that any-. ' information . obtained by Government by such ¦ means would '" be likely to lead to any such result / and the landlord who does not now possess a correct falowledge of the state of cultivation and the amount of stock tipon his farms " must either be very ignorant himself , or be very ill served by his steward . That such statistics are particularly needed in England is shown by the fact that the produce of wheat in the county ofOtforfolk ; aceordiug to Sir J . Walsham ' s estimate , is more than the Wh « at produce of the whole of Scotland , the excess being 1 , 291 , 3 iTS-.. bushels , and 3 Srorfolk possessing 202 , 971 acres of wheat , to 168 ; 216 in Scotland .

    Lord DxjiTGANiTOir , who objected to the compulsory powers given by the act , thought there had not been sufficient timer for considering- the measure .- —Lord Derby admitted the great importance of obtaining these returns— -an importance ; with which he had been . Bo much impressed that , immediately after hi 3 accession to power in 1852 , he liadconimended the subject , to the attention of the Duke of Bichmond , ; and he agreed , that compulsory powers are necessary . But he thought-the returns should ; be more simplified and

    generalised , and he doubted whether the Poor Law ¦ B oards would be found the best machinery by which the system could be worked . He should prefer the returns to be made to the petty sessions of each district .- —Lord Colchester also supported the bill , which was objected to with reference to some of its details , by the Earl of Elljestboboooh , the Earl of Hardwxoke , and Lord WYtfpoRD . No serious opposition ^ howeve r , was offered , and the bill was read a second time . - : ¦ • The Commons did not meet in sufficient numbers to form a House .

    Wednesday , March lZek . REFORMATORY SCHOOLS ( SCOTLAND ) BILL . In the House ov Commons , on the order for the second reading of this bill , some opposition was offered by Mr . MAauiRB , Mr . Bowyer , Mr . Adpbbley , Mr . Kennedy , and Sir Stafford Northootjb , on the ground that no provision was made for the separate education of Roman Catholic children , and that the schools would be used as instruments of prosolytism —^ Mr . Drvmmond was surprised at a Roman Catholic ( he alluded to Mr . Magune ) objecting to proselytism

    but he added t » ab he had » o faith in reformatories , and he thought the only successful © owae with re ^ "Bjiect to juvenile criminals would be to place them la hulks at seaports for education for the army and . navy . —Sir Geqbcie Grey , 3 tr . Black , and the Lord . Advocate defended the billy which was read a second time . MDJHCIPAIt BEF 0 BM : ( SCOTLAND ) BILL . Mr . Ewabx moved ihe second reading of thia bill , to ' whioh , the Lord-Advo-oate offered some objections , and pledged himself if the bill were withdrawn , ip bring in a measure ctyring the present session on the , flubjeot . —Mr , Ewart oonsenteci to withdraw tho

    . '" h " ,: ¦ " •' . ;/ ., BXwKRtXOTlOY ( SCOTLAND ) BILL . , ^© Lord AbvoOa . 'Bje ; in . moving the eoooncl road-W ^ P ^^ meaavtre , stated "that ita object was to con-^^ Jfttf" ? ^ W ^ E ^ ylaw in Scotland , not to import l ?^^ yi c ^^ ^ o eeneml principle of tho Mng-TOW ^ ;?>«> y ^ w >» B > erb Hkewiao made , whioh , ho ± ™] $$ ' W ™ & ^ fc * BOqueatration muoh more l » atiBfi « ptory : ~' Atfc 6 r :, : » ' fewwojrda from tytyr .

    Alex-Thursday , March lSt / i . TORTURE IN INDIA . In the House of Lords , the Earl of Albermarle laid on the table the resolutions he intends to move on the 14 th of April , relating to the practice of torture by the native officers of revenue and police in the presidency pf Madras . THE TAKING OF KARS . In answer to certain inquiries made by Lord Exlenborqtjgb on a previous evening , and repeated by him on Thursday , Lord WobEHOUSE said that there was no letter from Lord Panmure stating that General Williams ought to have the direction of the supplies of the Turkish army , the word " Panmure" in the

    blue book beiag very probably a mistake for "Clarendon . " General Williams guaranteed the payment for supplies , referred to on Monday night by Lord Ellenbbrough , on his o > vn responsibility ; no authority having been given to him to guarante e funds or supplies . The payiaent spoken of by the noble earl was made by Tahir Pacha , as appeared from , an enclosure in : the same despatch * The return of the time and manner of payment of the Turkish loan had been laid before the House of Coniaiong , and could , of course , be laid before the House of Lords if required . The correspondenc e with regard to Sehanayl , alluded to in the question of Lord Ellenborbugh , stood thus : - ^ -Lord Stratford had written privately to General

    Williams requesting him to endeavour to obtain the release of the Russian ladies taken prisoners by Schamyl : to a letter written in consequence of this communication ^ Schainyl replied that before he had received the general ? s letter he had already set the ladies at liberty . There had been a correspondence with a view generally to obtain the co-operation of the Circassians in the war , but the Government was not in . a position to produce it , as thereby individuals might be compromised . —After some further observations by Lord Ellenborotjgh : ( who objected to the Qoverximent ' a disinclhiation to state the number of troops recency employed against Sebastopol ) , the subject dropped .

    MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIFE ' S SISTER . The Earl of St . Germans laid on the table a bill on marriage with a deceased wife ' s sister , explaining that it differed in an important point from , the bill on the same subject he had introduced in 1852 . b" The Mutiny Bill , the Marine Mutiny Bill , the ' Consolidated Fund Bill , and the Drainage Act Advancement Bill , woi'e read a third time and passed . Lord Brougham moved four new resolutions , in addition to those he submitted last week , on judicial statistics : and they were laid on the table .

    EDUCATION BILL . In answer to the Earl of Shaptesbury , Earl Granvilles stated that ; tho G-overnment would , not for the present press ifca Education Bill , aa it was desirable to afford time for the consideration of tho resolutions recently moved by Lord John Russell on the subjeot . The House then adjourned .

    ATTACK ON THE REDAN . In the House op Commons , Mr . JPrrnkiix gave notice for Friday to ask whether any official inquiry had been ordered as to the oauaes whioh had led to tho failure of our troops in the attack on tho Redan on tho 8 th of September last . METROPOLIS LOCAL MANAGEMENT AOT . A conversation of some interest nroao upon a question pub by Lord Chelsea , whether the Attobnby-General had not given it as his opinion that , under the Metropolis Local Management Act , all oxisting vestries are superseded , and their powers transferred to tho vostrios constituted under that act . —Tho Attorney-General admitted that such was hia opinion ; but ho added that grave doubts oxlafc upon tho question .

    mpSSIA AND THJ 2 OONFEUUUNOJCa . Mr . DisHAXUu put a question to Lord Palmhbston as to whether it wns true that Prussia had been invitodUto join tho Conferences at Paris ; th « t tho invitation had beon accepted ; and that the Prime Minister of Prussia was about to aseumo the duty of nogo-

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    244 THE LEADER . [ No . 312 , Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 15, 1856, page 244, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2132/page/4/