asked the First Lord of the Admiralty on what day the Prince landed the 46th Regiment; whether the Prince was in the port of Balaklava when the troops were landed; and whether any, and, if so, what stores were landed in the interval between the disembarkation of the troops and the loss of the vessel?

said, in answer to the questions put to him by his hon. and learned Friend, he begged leave to state to him and to the House that as yet the Government had received no official information with respect to the loss of the Prince, and that the only information which had reached them was that which was in common with what had been made known to the public by means of a letter written by one of the survivors, and which was published in the Times newspaper. He was not positive of the fact, but he had reason to believe that the troops were disembarked on the 8th of November; and that they were disembarked, not within the harbour of Balaklava, but outside of it, and his belief was that for some days before the fatal accident occurred a heavy storm came on, and the wind set into the harbour, causing a very considerable surf, which impeded the disembarkation both of the troops and the stores. The troops, he believed, were disembarked, as well as a large portion of stores, by means of smaller steamers going along inside between the Prince and the beach. Perhaps the House would permit him, since there had naturally been a strong feeling excited by reason of the loss of that vessel, to state certain facts concerning the loss of that ship. It had been said that she had before the storm lost her bower anchor and her principal cable from the latter not being sufficiently secured before she left England. Now, he was in a condition to inform the House that the fullest inquiry had been made by the Admiralty as to that point, and that they had obtained the very best evidence to enable them to negative that statement. He held in his hand a letter in which the persons who secured the cable before the vessel sailed deposed to the fact of their having so secured the cables The letter had been received from the General Steam Shipping Company, of whom the Prince was bought for the public service. The letter had been forwarded to himself, as the First Lord of the Admiralty, by the chairman of the Company, and which he would read to the House—

"General Screw Steam Shipping Company,

"27, Cannon Street, London, Dec. 8.

"Sir—As the Prince steamer was fitted for sea by the General Screw Steam Shipping Company, the board of directors think it their duty to acquaint you, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that a statement which has appeared in the public papers, that the cables on board that ship were not clinched, is incorrect. I have to annex the copy of a joint statement made to the directors this day by Mr. Isaac Cole, a rigger, and Henry Tucker, his foreman. It will be seen by this statement that Mr. Cole himself saw the cables well and properly lashed with 3½-inch rope to a large ring fitted for that purpose in the chain locker, and that Henry Tucker did the work with the assistance of other hands.

"Other points connected with the ship and her cargo require explanation or contradiction, which will be given as soon as the necessary corroborative evidence as to the facts is obtained. I have, &c.,

"J. U. ELLIS, Chairman."

To that letter was appended the following statement—

"I, Isaac Cole, am a rigger, and have superintended the fitting out of all the Screw Company's ships. I saw the cables well and properly lashed (not shackled) on board the Prince to a large ring fitted for that purpose in the chain locker, sufficiently large to take about twenty turns of a 3½-inch rope. The ends of the two bower cables were securely lashed with about eleven turns of 3½-inch new rope to this ring. Henry Tucker was the foreman employed by me to lash them, with other hands under him; and this was not done to the Prince alone, but has been the case with every one of the Company's ships, commencing with the Queen of the South. We are both quite sure and will swear the cables of the Prince were so lashed. The Prince had Lenox's capstan and Lenox's patent stoppers, and she appeared to me to be in every way most efficiently fitted. The ring came up to the top of the chain locker, so that the lashing could be cut, if necessary, to slip.

"ISAAC COLE, Rigger,

"East India Road, Poplar.

"HENRY X TUCKER.

"Given at 27, Cannon Street, City, Dec. 8.

"Witnesses to the signature of Isaac Cole, and mark of Henry Tucker.

F. S. ROWE, A. BAINES."

Another statement had been made, which was quite true, namely, that the loss of the vessel was to be ascribed to the snapping of the cables during the storm. Some doubts were entertained as to the sufficient strength of these cables before the vessel sailed, and, by a happy circumstance, to prevent all doubt upon the subject, they were tested by a machine which was used to test the cables of ships of war. Now, he might stop here in his answer to the questions of the hon. and learned Gentleman, but he thought the House would agree with him that there was an act of justice due to the memory of a man who had filled what certainly was a comparatively humble situation—he meant the late master of the Prince, whose memory had been most cruelly assailed. He thought, in justice to that man, who lost his life in the calamity that befell the ship, that he was bound to make the statement which he was about to make. It was quite true that, the Prince having been employed in the Baltic, it was stated by a captain of the navy, who was on board of her on that occasion, that the master of the ship was not sufficiently competent to discharge the responsible duties required of him. The Board of Admiralty, on receiving this statement, made the most searching investigation into the competency of that officer. Inquiry was made of Mr. Ellis, the Chairman of the General Steam Shipping Company, as to what was the opinion of that Company of Mr. Goodall, the master of the Prince, in reference to his past character and capacity as a naval officer; and the Admiralty received the most satisfactory assurance and proofs that he was a most trustworthy seaman, and that the Company felt satisfied that he was fit to be continued in the command of such a vessel. Being, therefore, satisfied with the result of their inquiries, the Admiralty continued him in command of the vessel after she had been purchased. After the ship was purchased, but before she sailed to the Black Sea, it was thought fit to put on board of her, considering the value of the vessel and her cargo, and the vast importance it was to ensure the safe arrival of the troops on board at the earliest period, both an experienced commander of the navy, and also a lieutenant of the navy. Accordingly, Captain Richards, who was a member of the Board of Admiralty, recommended Commander Baynton to be put on board the Prince, to whom specific instructions were given. He might state that Commander Baynton not only shared all the danger, but that he lost his life in that melancholy storm. It so happened, however, that Commander Baynton wrote to Captain Richards from Constantinople on the 5th of November, a few days before the Prince sailed from that port for Balaklava, and he conveyed to Captain Richards his opinion of the merits of the master of the Prince. The letter itself did not now exist, but Captain Richards made a memorandum of its contents at the time of its being written. The memorandum was in these terms—

"Under an impression that the disagreement between Captain Chads and the master of the Prince had arisen from what might be considered as too much interference on the part of the former with the details of the master's duty, I particularly cautioned Commander Baynton, when placed in the ship as agent, to be careful to avoid such an error, but resolutely to maintain his authority as agent; to be closely observant of the master's proceedings, and not only to correct anything that might appear to require his interference, but also to report without fail any neglect or indifference he might observe in the master. On the arrival of the Prince at Constantinople, Commander Baynton wrote me a private note expressive of his entire satisfaction with the conduct of Mr. Goodall, the master, not only in navigating his ship, but also in the good order he had maintained on board throughout the voyage, and the contentment of the officers and men of the 46th Regiment with their treatment on board. Commander Baynton particularly mentioned a heavy gale of wind the Prince encountered in the Archipelago, which had obliged her to seek refuge twice under Negropont, and that Mr. Goodall had in that instance proved himself a careful and experienced seaman, and had given the agent the utmost satisfaction. Commander Baynton was selected for the agency of the Prince from his known ability and high character in the Royal Navy, and having just returned from the Black Sea. The note has not been preserved, but its contents were communicated by me persoually to Mr. Ellis, the Chairman of the Screw Company, previously to the tidings of the disaster of the Prince having reached this country. The note was dated on the 5th of November, and received by me on the 17th. Previously to the sailing of the Prince, Mr. Ellis informed me that he considered Mr. Goodall the most capable man in the employment of the Company, and one in whom the Company had unbounded confidence."

He hoped the House would pardon him for occupying its attention while doing what he conceived to be an act of justice to the memory of a departed officer. He could assure the House that every possible precaution was taken by the Admiralty to secure the safety both of the ship and of the cargo.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty who was responsible for the order to the transports in Balaklava Harbour to leave that harbour and anchor upon an exposed coast and in deep water?

replied, that the officers commanding transports were subject to the authority and direction of the senior naval officer in the Queen's service in the harbour. His belief was that the transports were moved out of Balaklava Harbour on the 26th of October, when an attack of the enemy was imminent.

moved for leave to bring in a Bill to consolidate and simplify the laws relating to jurors and juries in Ireland. The Bill was mainly founded on the recommendations of the Committee which sat in 1852. It was proposed to have one jury list both for civil and criminal cases. The list would contain the names of all persons who were rated to the poor law valuation at not less than 20l. It was considered that in all the counties of Ireland that would include a sufficient number of jurors to satisfy the requirements of justice and to secure respectable and well-qualified persons to act as jurors in that country. It was proposed that special juries should be selected from those persons who possessed a qualification to the amount of 50l. With respect to the city of Dublin, it was proposed that all persons who resided within seven miles of the city and were rated at 20l. should be liable to serve on juries within the city. After stating some other provisions of the Bill, the right hon. Gentleman expressed his belief that the Bill, if passed, would not in any degree interfere with the administration of justice, or diminish the respect due to the law.

rejoiced that a measure of this kind had been introduced, and hoped that those Gentlemen who objected to the Bill which he had brought in last Session had listened attentively to the statement of the right hon. Gentleman. The Bill which ho (Mr. Whiteside) introduced last Session was carried as far as the second reading, but opposed by the very Gentleman who bad now spoken, and who had just moved for leave to bring in the same identical Bill, with this distinction, that he proposed to make the amount of qualification not 30l., but 20l. The proposal of the right hon. Gentleman that there should be but one jury panel was already the law, and therefore a Bill for that object was superfluous. As he understood a Bill was to be brought in by the Attorney General, he hoped care would be taken to assimilate the law in the two countries, so as to render future legislation for that purpose unnecessary.

said, it was very true that many of the clauses in the hon. and learned Gentleman's Bill were contained in the present Bill; but the hon. and learned Gentleman's Bill was a consolidation Bill, into which thirty-two or thirty-three clauses were introduced from the old statutes. The Bill proposed to be introduced by his right hon. Friend was also a consolidation Bill, and consequently he was obliged to copy those clauses; but he did not copy the clauses from the hon. and learned Gentleman's Bill, but from the original Acts of Parliament from which the hon. and learned Gentleman had himself taken them. If the hon. and learned Gentleman would refer to the Bill, he would find that the objections which had been raised to his Bill were not applicable to the present measure. Hon. Gentlemen would have an opportunity of considering the clauses of it, and he was sure they would give satisfaction to both sides of the House.

said, I gave notice yesterday that I should take this opportunity of making an inquiry of the noble Lord as to the intentions of Her Majesty's Government with respect to the conduct of public business. It would be extremely convenient to Gentlemen on both sides of the House if the noble Lord could give us information this evening as to the possible prospect of the progress of public business during the next week.

In answer to the right hon. Gentleman, I beg to say that there are two measures which the Government will think it necessary to bring under the consideration of the House during this period of the Session. One is the Bill which my noble Friend (Viscount Palmerston) is about to propose to the House to read a second time, concerning the militia; another is a Bill which has been introduced in the other House of Parliament, with respect to the employment of foreign troops in the service of Her Majesty. We had entertained hopes that we should be enabled to present a Bill to the House to confirm the treaty that has been lately entered into with the United States of America; but it now appears that that Bill cannot be ready during the present sitting. Of course, the length of this period a the Session will depend upon the time that will be taken in passing the two Bills I have mentioned; but I trust that time will not be long, and that by this day week we may be able to adjourn over the Christmas holidays, when the remainder of the public business will be proceeded with.

I have given notice of putting a question to the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and I will now do so. I wish to make inquiry from the right hon. Gentleman as to what course it is his intention to take with reference to the public press and the newspaper stamp. I may be putting this question at what some may think an inopportune moment; but, in fact, the war has rendered it an urgent question that cannot be delayed, and my object is to ask information from the Government, and to convey my desire, at the same time, that if the Government have a measure prepared they will proceed with it without delay. The extraordinary anxiety of persons amongst the humbler classes of society to obtain intelligence from the seat of war, of relatives, sons, and brothers, has caused to spring up in this country a considerable number of war journals, which are published without a stamp. Those war journals have obtained an extensive circulation, and the proprietors of stamped papers complain, as well they may, of an unfair competition —that they, paying stamp duty, are required to compete with others who do not pay the stamp duty, and who are conveying intelligence of universal interest throughout the country. That is the position in which we now are. The Government, unfortunately, have laid down a rule, through the Board of Inland Revenue, that papers which are confined to one subject, and only deal with one subject, are not liable to the stamp. The consequence is, that numerous papers relating to a particular subject—such as police and sporting matters—are published without stamps; and those persons assert, as they confine themselves to the one subject of war, they also are entitled to publish without stamps. There is extreme difficulty in dealing with this question, for those persons demand that they should have a fair trial in the Court of Exchequer, in order that their legal rights should be ascertained, as to whether they should be entitled to publish without a stamp or not. Therefore, I beg to be excused for intruding at the present moment, but I feel that the war itself has made this a peculiarly urgent question. The Government have threatened the par- ties with summary proceedings, and have endeavoured to protect the stamped press as best they can against this competition; but I fear that any hope of that kind to give official protection is quite vain, and that those papers, from the enormous interest that is felt in the news from the seat of war, will spring up from day to day. As the Government have go a measure prepared, as I am informed—for I was told a long time ago it was in a state of preparation—I call most emphatically upon the right hon. Gentleman to bring in the Bill, and relieve the press of the country from the competition to which they are subject from the unsatisfactory state of the law. I must remind the right hon. Gentleman that the House of Commons, last Session, by a unanimous Resolution, declared that the law was ill-defined and unequally enforced, and demanded the consideration of Parliament. If it demanded the attention of Parliament, then, in the opinion of the House, it now demands it more; and I ask respectfully the Government to lose no time in settling this important question.

What I have to say in answer to the question of the right hon. Gentleman shall be said in a very few words. The Government feel as strongly as the right hon. Gentleman can urge the obligation incumbent upon them in consequence of a Resolution which, without a division, was adopted by the House during the summer. A pledge was given by the Government, before the close of the Session, that the subject, which is one of considerable difficulty in detail, should have their best consideration. They have done their best to redeem that pledge, and have likewise thought it to be their duty to avail themselves of the powers conferred on them by the present law for the purpose of preventing infractions and violations of that law, which were likely to interfere with the collection of the revenue. I do not understand the right hon. Gentleman to object to the steps that have been taken, but that he morely refers to them as illustrative of the disadvantages and inconveniences attending the present state of things. There is no dispute between us regarding those disadvantages and inconveniences, and we are endeavouring to frame a measure to meet them in the best way we can. The right hon. Gentleman thinks that measure should be introduced at the present moment; but in that view of the right hon. Gentleman we are not prepared to concur. It is very true that Parliament has met for the performance of certain business, but it is not the intention of the Government to press upon the consideration of the House any measure of importance, with the exception of two measures, to which my noble Friend (Lord John Russell) has referred. It is obvious, with regard to a question of this kind, that we should not lay a Bill upon the table of the House until we have the prospect of being able to pass that Bill through its stages, and take the definite judgment of the House upon it. Our opinion is, that we could not do justice to any such Bill at this moment. The time the House is likely to sit will not enable us to pass the Bill under any circumstances we can contemplate as probable; and it would be inconvenient to introduce the Bill and leave it for consideration until after the recess, when Parliament shall meet after Christmas. I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that, so far as the Government is concerned, they will expect even from him an admission that they have done their best to redeem the pledge they have given.

moved the second reading of the Militia Bill.

said, he would be the last Member of the House, particularly as an old soldier, who would endeavour to raise any impediment or delay to this measure; but having carefully examined the Bill introduced by the noble Lord, and having given it, he hoped, an impartial consideration, the noble Lord must pardon him for saying that, situated as he was, there were certain matters of detail in that Bill to which he thought it was his duty as commanding a regiment of militia to call the attention of the noble Lord, before he gave that sanction and approval to the measure which he desired to give to it. There might be some persons, for instance, who would object to their loss of time if they were sent to Malta or any other place for a lengthened period; and there might be also married men, with large families, who would also object to going abroad under such circum- stances. He trusted, therefore, that no imputation would be permitted to rest on these persons, if when asked to volunteer for duty at Malta or Corfu, they preferred to remain as militiamen in this country. He (Colonel Sibthorp) was prepared to do his duty as a soldier and a citizen, and he hoped the noble Lord would, in Committee, or at some other stage of the measure, direct his attention to the points to which he had referred.

said, he should not think of interposing any obstacle in the way of measures intended on behalf of the gallant army now fighting our battles in the East. He, however, entertained great objections to the present measure: and, first, he believed that immediately these militia regiments were sent abroad, the recruiting for that service would be most seriously checked. But his great objection was, that a force meant morely for the internal defence of the country would, according to the provisions of the Bill, be greatly diminished. Indeed, to such an extent was he influenced by the gravity of these considerations that it was his intention to have moved that the second reading of the Bill be postponed until that day six months. Still, if the noble Lord would give an assurance that on volunteers offering for foreign service the militia force at home would be again recruited to its proper standard by the enlistment of fresh recruits, so that the internal defence of the country would be maintained, he would be willing to allow the Bill to pass without any further opposition.

said, that according to the Bill, either whole regiments, or portions of regiments, which volunteered for service abroad would remain the militia of the counties to which they belonged, and it was not intended to raise another body of men in the respective counties equal to the number so volunteering. These militiamen would still continue part of the militia of the country, and when their services abroad ceased, and they returned, they would fall back to their condition of part of the militia. He wished to make an observation on a point raised by a noble Friend of his on a former day, who desired it to be clearly understood that officers of the militia who might not volunteer their services under the present Bill should not be liable to any imputation of a want of spirit or proper sense of the duty they owed to their country. He quite agreed with his noble Friend, and wished it to be most distinctly understood that the Government were perfectly aware that a great many persons of rank and property, who had duties of a social description to perform in this country, and whose absence from the country would on that account be a very great public inconvenience, had handsomely entered into the militia chiefly for the purposes of giving that service the countenance and support which their local influence and connections might carry with them. Those were not the description of officers whom the Government wished to see serving abroad. They were, many of them, far more usefully engaged in performing those duties which belonged to their situation in this country than they could be by mounting guard or commanding a regiment or portion of a regiment in garrison abroad; and, therefore, it could not be too distinctly understood that, while, on the one hand, no imputation whatever could be cast on officers of that class who should not volunteer their services for garrison duty under the present Bill, so, on the other hand, should any officers of such a class volunteer their services, and, on the comparison of candidates for foreign service, should their services not be accepted by the Government, they must not consider it any disparagement of themselves to see other persons in a different position preferred. He said this because there happened to be in the militia a number of men who had belonged to the Army, and had had great experience as military men. Now, these would evidently be officers most useful with respect to the services which the militia might volunteer to perform abroad; and, therefore, he entirely concurred in the hope expressed by his noble Friend that it might be clearly understood that the present Bill was not meant to extort offers of service from persons who had entered the militia with totally different views, and for purposes purely connected with their position at home. The House would see also that, with respect to privates, it was most distinctly enacted, as part of the Bill, that no man should be forced to serve abroad. If a man should serve abroad, it must be by his own free consent, and for this purpose each individual would make a fresh engagement, so that he could not, against his will, be involved in the necessity of leaving the country with his regiment, even if the greater portion of it should volunteer to serve abroad.

feeling that this was a measure of the very greatest importance, and one which demanded the greatest attention, would appeal to the noble Lord to postpone the committal of the Bill until Monday, in order to allow of colonels of regiments, and others competent to form an opinion, making whatever suggestions they deemed necessary in reference to the provisions of the Bill. He confessed he himself entertained the very gravest apprehensions as to the measure, believing that it would strike a fatal blow against the existence of the militia force; for though the Government might, in the first instance, get a larger supply of men in a short space of time than they could do in the ordinary course of enlistment for the regular army, yet the result, in the long run, would be unfavourable, because it would check, or even terminate, that readiness which prevailed, on the part of the people, to enlist voluntarily into the militia, which had been so great a support to the Government. The measure of the Government, in his opinion, was at present wholly unnecessary, and could not be justified until the Government had fully exhausted the natural resources of the country. In having recourse to such a proceeding it might be said Government was expending its capital instead of its interest; and he would, therefore, earnestly hope that in Committee the Bill would be so amended and modified as might serve to mitigate the evils which he dreaded. If, therefore, the noble Lord—who, it was evident front the not very exuberant programme of public business, as announced that evening, would have ample time for the purpose—would consider the subject, and agree to postpone the further progress of the Bill until Monday, he believed the country would feel no surprise at such a result, while it would be passed in ample time. He knew it might be said that no evil could accrue under this measure, because no individual could be sent abroad except by his concurrence; but although formally and legally that might be the case, all knew that, practically, it was not so; for the appeal would be made to a great body of men, many of whom would not have the strength of mind to refuse it. Now, he knew himself that one of the greatest difficulties experienced in enlisting for the militia arose from the alarm felt by the female relatives of the peasantry at the act of enlistment—they feared that it might lead to the recruits being first carried out of the county, and then sent abroad. That alarm, however, had been in a great degree dissipated by the assurances given to them by persons of influence connected with the force, but he feared it would be revived by the present Bill, and he would venture to warn the Government that if they got the hearth of the cottage against them they would find obstacles thrown in their way that would most severely peril their future operations; and although he was not prepared to oppose any measure brought forward at an emergency like the present, he could not refrain from expressing his regret at the resolution of the Government. But, with regard to this measure for transferring the services of the militia to foreign garrisons, and also with regard to the other measure to which the noble Lord had referred—that for the enlistment of foreigners in Her Majesty's service—he must say he could not but regret that, in the first year of the war, the country should appear to be obliged to have recourse to measures which he believed ought only to be had recourse to when they had approached the last extreme of its resources. He could not think that, with the population of this country, with the high spirit by which it was animated, and with the cheerful feeling with which all classes had clustered round the Throne to support Her Majesty in the great war in which she was engaged —he could not think it was necessary as yet to have recourse to the measure they announced so soon. But, although he entertained strong feelings upon the subject, still, knowing the responsibility which every person must incur by resisting a measure of this kind, he would be content for the present with an assurance from the noble Lord that the Committee on the Bill would be postponed until Monday.

said, he did not deny the general justice of the right hon. Gentleman's observations as to a volunteer militia, and as to the proposal that men who had volunteered originally for the purpose of defending the United Kingdom should be sent abroad to keep the garrisons of any of our colonial or foreign possessions. But he thought the right hon. Gentleman wrong when he said that, although there might be an emergency which would justify the Government in calling upon them for this service, he should expect that emergency rather to occur at the latter end of the war than at the beginning. The case was directly the reverse. He would not enter into the question whether our peace establishment was too large; at all events, everybody would agree that it was a peace establishment. With that peace establishment we could not have, in the first year of the war, a very great army. It was very easy to say that we had a population of 28,000,000 or 30,000,000; but we could not immediately convert that population into soldiers. They required a certain time to be exercised, trained, and drilled, so as to be efficient soldiers. Besides that, we had not the means possessed by the great nations of the Continent of resorting to a conscription, and raising 100,000 or 150,000 men in a single year. We had a volunteer system of enlisting for the line; and although it was quite true that in the course of last summer Parliament had voted the number of men that Government asked with a readiness and a patriotism to which he had always borne willing testimony, yet it did not follow that the 40,000 extra men voted could be rendered efficient for the purposes of war in the course of a single year. On the contrary, during three or four months of summer the volunteering went on at the rate of 450 or 500 in a week; and that was not more than double the number sufficient to replace the ordinary casualties in time of peace. Therefore, it would be much easier at the end of three years of war to have a large army on foreign service, and at the same time to occupy our garrisons, than in the first year. It was in consequence of the operations that were thought necessary in the first year of the war that our army was found insufficient to perform those operations, and at the same time to furnish all our garrisons. Therefore, the emergency had occurred now. He had no doubt that at the end of no very long time we should find our army so increased that no measure of this kind would be necessary, and the regiments of militia might then return to this country. He begged the right hon. Gentleman to pay attention to this circumstance, that it really was in the first year of the war that the pressure was so great; we should have a sufficient number of men hereafter. He wished the House to remember that we were now attempting to do what we had never done in previous wars. Looking back at the two last great wars, he found that it was not until 1799 or 1800—having been at war from 1793—that we could have a regular force that was at all formidable to an enemy; and in the following war, which commenced in 1803, it was not until 1808 or 1809 that the same thing occurred. We were now attempting to do that which, in fact, had not been done in the first year of any great war. With respect to the suggestion of the right hon. Gentleman, if it was the wish of the House rather to take the Committee on Monday than to-morrow, in order to afford time for consideration, he should readily agree to that proposal, provided it were understood that when the House went into Committee and the provisions of the clauses were settled, there should be a readiness to proceed with the Bill in its future stages, so that it might speedily go to the other House.

was anxious to know whether it was the intention of Government to send the militia to far distant colonies, such as Canada, the Cape, and Australia? He thought such a step would be looked upon by the Colonies as a mark of distrust on the part of the mother country, especially by Canada, which had an efficient militia of her Own. He wished to know whether Her Majesty's Ministers had not received an assurance from the Government of Canada, that not only were the people of that colony willing to occupy their own garrisons, but likewise, that they were willing to contribute reinforcements? For if that was true, he thought the number of men required by our Government was overrated, while the resources of the country were underrated. He hoped, also, the right hon. Baronet the Secretary for the Colonies would inform the House as to the sum of 20,000l. recently voted by the Canadian Legislature in aid of the Patriotic Fund; and whether, in connection with that most encouraging and gratifying expression of the willingness of the colonists to co-operate in the present struggle of England, the still more important assurance to which he had just referred had not also been received? In the face of such an assurance, he believed it would be an insult to the people of Canada to attempt to occupy their country with English militia regiments, while they ought never to have recourse to a Foreign Enlistment Bill until it was seen what reinforcements might be sent us from the Colonies, Whose loyal attachment to the mother country was well known.

said, the hon. Gentleman had totally misapprehended the object and intent of this Bill, if he thought it was founded in the slightest doubt of the loyal feeling that existed throughout the Colonies to the British Crown, and their attachment to this country. He was happy to assure him that that loyalty to the Crown and attachment to this country and its institutions had been manifested in many of the most important British colonies, since the declaration of war with Russia, in a manner the most gratifying. He had only abstained from laying on the table of the House the information received from Canada, because it had not reached him in any official form; and, indeed, a reference to the proceedings of the Legislature of Canada showed that the Council had not yet concurred (though lie had no doubt they would do so) with the expression of opinion that had been made by the Assembly. The fact was, an Address had been agreed to by the Assembly and sent up for the concurrence of the Council, and he had no doubt he should soon hear of their concurrence, intimating their readiness to place 20,000l. at the disposal of this country, not exactly in aid of the Patriotic Fund, but for the relief of the widows and orphans of the allied forces, English and French, engaged in the war. No distinct offer had been made of men to serve in the British army; but in the course of the debates in the Assembly, an intimation was certainly made by a Member of that House, and though the time might not yet have arrived, they felt that the time might come when their desire to see the country successful in the war might induce them not to limit their offers of assistance of money, but to tender even their lives and services in our support. But no offer of that kind had yet been made. Addresses of the most loyal and gratifying character had also been recently received from Van Diemen's Land and South Australia, accompanied with 2,000l. from the former colony, to be applied to the same general objects. In South Australia the subscription, which was yet in progress, amounted to 3,900l.; and the Governor intimated that it would be transmitted as soon as it was complete. Other colonies had transmitted messages, expressing their cordial sympathy with this country in the struggle in which it was engaged, and their sincere wish to see our arms successful. With whatever latitude the Bill might be worded, it certainly was not contemplated that the services of militia regiments should be employed in Canada, or any of those distant colonies. It was intended to send them to those possessions of the Crown which might be more strictly denominated garrisons than colonies. Exigencies might arise rendering it necessary to send the militia abroad, but that was not at all in contemplation at present; and, with regard to Canada, there was no necessity at all for sending militia there, as they had taken means for raising a militia of their own, and they were as competent to do that, and to discharge the duties of troops as efficiently as any regiments of the line or militia that might be sent there. He should have great pleasure in laying on the table of the House copies of any Addresses that might be received.

wished to know if the officers of militia regiments thus sent out of the country were to have army rank?

said, the Bill did not give army rank to militia officers. The militia regiments certainly deserved all the praise that could be given them for the mariner in which they had behaved since they had been embodied; and he was glad to take that opportunity of expressing its thanks to their colonels, who had in the most liberal manner given every assistance to the Government to promote the recruiting of the Army from their ranks. And those who had been in the command of regiments, knowing the trouble which it took to bring men to a state of efficiency, could estimate the sacrifice thus made. But in estimating the services of the militia regiments they must take care not to depreciate those of the regular army. If they were to confer army rank upon all the officers of those militia regiments who might be sent to the Mediterranean, for instance—a service which could not be put in comparison with that at the seat of war—they would be putting militia officers over the heads of those in the regular army—a proceeding which would lead to very great dissatisfaction, founded upon a considerable amount of injustice. He spoke not of what the country might do in a last struggle in order to get men, when an emergency might justify almost any course; but, in the service contemplated by this Bill, it would not be just to the officers of the Army to allow the officers of the militia to obtain rank over their heads. With regard to pensions, by the Bill as at present drawn all officers of militia receiving wounds would receive pensions. The widow of any officer who was killed would also receive a pension, but it would be better to omit any provision to that effect from the Bill; not, however, in order to deprive the widows of militia officers of their security for their pensions, but simply because the same object could be attained by means of a Queen's warrant. In the Army the pensions were given by warrant, and not by Act of Parliament, and, therefore, to grant pensions in the case of the militia by the machinery of an Act of Parliament would be to give militia officers a vested right in their pensions, which was denied to the Army. The case stood thus:—The widow of an officer in the Army received a pension, but she received it subject to the condition of good conduct; and the widow of an officer who had been repudiated by her husband of gross misconduct during his lifetime would not, under the army regulations, be entitled to a pension. In other ways also pensions were forfeited by misconduct. Now, if such pensions were to be given by Act of Parliament, and not by Queen's warrant, those who received them would enjoy them as a kind of freehold over which no control could be exercised. It would, therefore, be better that militia pensions should be given by Queen's warrant, and not by Act of Parliament. Of course, length of service carried a pension with it in the militia as well as in the regular army, but half-pay followed army rank, and was not given excepting after twenty-one years' service; and, therefore, he thought that the question of half-pay for militia officers could not be entertained.

said, he did not mean to say a word upon the question now put, because he thought it would be more proper to discuss it in Committee. But still, as the question was raised in reference to the rank proposed to be given to militia officers, and as the right hon. Gentleman had given an answer to it, he (Lord Hotham) gave notice when the Bill went into Committee, that he would ask the noble Lord the Secretary for the Home Department or the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary at War, to state how it was proposed to deal with the case of militia officers now on half-pay sent into large garrisons abroad. He would ask, in the case of officers of militia regiments, what rank Government intended to give to such when placed in the position to which he had referred?