who had the administration of the details; but these
mistakes had not been confined to the British, troops;
he had pretty good ground for asserting that the sick
and wounded in the camp of the Russians amounted to
35,000 men. These sufferings arose from physical causes
in the power of no man to control. After a brief reply
to some parts of Mr. Layard's speech, Lord Palmerston
added that he was satisfied that the people of this
country looked more deeply into those things than that
gentleman supposed, and that when they saw a government
established in consequence of the failure of two
attempts, they would feel that men who undertook the
conduct of affairs in such circumstances from a sense of
public duty, and from honourable motives, were entitled
to the credit of being actuated by a desire to perform a
public duty, and that they would give their support to
such men, not forcing themselves upon the country, but
coming forward at an emergency. The government
threw themselves upon the generosity of parliament and
the country, and he was convinced that, with their
support, in spite of trifling reverses, they would carry the
contest to a successful issue, and, whether by an honourable
peace now, or by force of arms hereafter, place the
country upon a proud footing of security.

After some remarks by Mr. J. Phillimore, Mr.
Warner, and Major Reid, the house went into
committee of supply upon the Army Estimates.—Mr. F.
PEEL prefaced the details of the estimates by remarking
that they differed from the estimates of the current
year—first, in the increased number of men—namely,
178,645 (exclusive of the troops in India, of the foreign
corps, and the embodied militia) which exceeded the
vote of last year by 35,869 men; secondly, in the large
augmentation of many of the services heretofore included
in the estimates, and in the creation of new departments,
such as the land transport corps. He then stated
the manner in which the increase was distributed over
the entire army, and explained the various items. The
charge for the effective land forces was £7,353.000—an
excess over the charge of last year of £2,630,000. The
charge for the embodied militia was £3,813,000. The
total amount for effective and non–effective services was
£13,721,000. The total strength of the army for the
coming year, exclusive of artillery, engineers, and the
troops in India, was 193,595 of all ranks, of which
number 14,950 would consist of foreigners; and this
formed the first vote submitted to the committee, the
discussion of which, embracing various matters
connected with the prosecution of the war, occupied the
rest of the evening.—Lord PALMERSTON, in the course
of a general reply to objections, vindicated the policy of
the government in the conduct of hostilities, their main
object being, he observed, to cripple the Russian power
in the Black Sea, where alone an effectual blow could
be struck, leaving the land frontier of Turkey to the
protection of Austria. He stated likewise, as the reason
why the government had not hitherto succeeded in
putting the foreign enlistment act in operation, that the
language used in the debates in parliament had created
such a feeling of indignation throughout the continent,
that persons who had been prepared to take letters of
service in Germany had thrown them up, declaring that
they were unable to raise a man. With regard to the
deficiencies of the army, he added, they arose not from
want of supplies, but from want of arrangements for
conveying to the men and horses the things sent out for
them; these deficiencies would be remedied by the
government.—Mr. WILSON gave explanations respecting
the coffee sent, to the Crimea, in reply to some severe
remarks by Colonel North.—This vote, and the next,
for the sum of £7,353,804, having been agreed to, the
chairman was ordered to report progress.

The house then went into committee on the Newspaper,
&c, Postage and Stamp Duties, when the
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved the following
resolutions:—"That it is expedient To Repeal the
Exemption of Newspapers from Postage Duty, and to
charge on newspapers and printed books and papers
transmitted by post rates of postage not exceeding 1d.
for every four ounces in weight, and for any fractional
part of four ounces;" and "That it is expedient To
Alter and Amend the Laws Relating to the Stamp
Duties on Newspapers, the printing and publishing of
newspapers, and registration and giving securities in
connection therewith, and the regulation of the duties
of postage on printed papers," which were agreed to.—
The report of the committee of supply was brought up
and agreed to.

The Consolidated Fund Bill was read a second time.

On Tuesday, February 20, Mr. Sergeant SHEE
obtained leave to bring in a bill to Provide Compensation
for Improving Tenants, and to Consolidate and Amend
the Laws relating to Leasing Powers in Ireland.

Mr. DUNLOP obtained leave to bring in a bill to
facilitate the Erection of Dwelling Houses for the
Working Classes in Scotland.

Mr. J. PHILLIMORE moved for leave to bring in a
bill for the Appointment of Public Prosecutors. After a
short discussion, leave was given to bring in the bill.

Mr. COLLIER called attention to the state of our Trade
with Russia, and moved for certain returns. He
adverted to the peculiarity of our trade with Russia. The
landed proprietors of that empire drew their revenues
from the products of the soil, for which we were the
greatest customers, and those products were raised by
the advance of capital by British merchants, the cutting
off of which resource would sap the foundation of the
Russian power. At the outbreak of the war the rouble,
the pulse of Russian commerce, declined from 38d. to
32d., and was still expected to fall much lower; the ruin
of the landed proprietors was anticipated, and the
bankruptcy of the Czar. But if we failed in our military
operations in the Crimea, the failure of our operations
against the commerce of Russia had been greater. So
far from the principal Russian ports in the East having
been blockaded, their exports had been greater than
before. The commerce of Russia had suffered no injury;
£10,000,000 had gone from this country to Russia in the
present year, and the rouble had risen to par. Most
effect had been expected from the blockade of the Black
Sea ports, and those in the Sea of Azoff, and he
contrasted the answers given to the question put in that
house to Sir J. Graham with the facts. We had blockaded
the mouths of the Danube, which ought not to
have been blockaded, and we had not blockaded the
ports in the Sea of Azoff, which should have been closed;
the consequence of which had been that British merchants,
who had made arrangements for opening up new
markets for produce hitherto supplied by Russia, had
sustained enormous loss, the only parties benefiting
being the Greek merchants. Some explanation upon
this subject, he considered, was due to the public, who
were entitled to know the causes of this failure and the
parties in fault. With respect to the blockade of the
Baltic, that had been evaded by the system of land
carriage which, with the connivance of Prussia the Emperor
of Russia had organised and brought to perfection.
He suggested that Prussia had been thereby guilty of
a breach of neutrality which would furnish a ground of
remonstrance; that we might enforce a right of search;
or we might prohibit the importation of Russian produce
into this country. The objections to this policy were
two–fold—one, that it would be ineffectual; the other,
that it would injure ourselves. He denied the former, and,
admitting the latter, he insisted that we must be prepared
to submit to the necessary sacrifices of war.—
Mr. MITCHELL supported the views of Mr. Collier.—
Mr. CARDWELL said, when, at the expiration of a peace
of forty years, we found ourselves involved in a
European conflict, it became necessary to consider what
ought to be the commercial policy of this country, and
to regard the course to be pursued with reference to the
enemy with whom we were about to contend, to our
allies, and to neutral powers. The declaration of war
was accompanied by a declaration of policy on our part,
not waiving our belligerent rights, but suspending a
portion of them. Mr. Collier had alleged that the
course adopted had been wholly ineffective; but he
(Mr. Cardwell) would show that it had been far from
ineffective. Mr. Collier had indicated the peculiarity
of the Russian trade which was sustained in peace by
British capital employed in raising the produce of
Russia. The natural corollary was that time should be
allowed for British subjects to bring that produce home,
Time had therefore been given in the Baltic and in the
White Sea. With regard to the Black Sea, the