§ SIR CHARLES NAPIERsaid, he could not consent to give his support to the present Government till he had some distinct understanding that it was their intention to maintain and increase the national defences. The late Government had done a great deal to put the country in a proper state of defence, and he gave them full credit for their exertions in that direction, though they had not gone quite so far as he could have desired. Previous Governments had acted excessively wrong in allowing the navy to fall off in point of efficiency; but he was happy to say that the First Lord of the Admiralty under the late Government had done a great deal to put it in a respectable and effective position. He never could forgive their predecessors for having paid off seven sail of the line in the year 1857, an act from which the navy never recovered; and again for having reduced the workmen in the dockyards. The late Government however when they recovered their senses did what they ought to do and gave us 24 sail of the line. He was sorry to say, however, that not more than 5,000 men had availed themselves of the bounty, few of whom were able bodied seamen. We ought to be prepared for any emergency. The French were making most extraordinary progress in Italy, and that great man the Emperor—for he would call him a great man—who though not bred a soldier was performing feats worthy of the first Napoleon. There was no saying what all 482 this would lead to. When he went back to France a conqueror, having perhaps placed a king over Italy, were they sure that he would be master of his own actions? He (Sir Charles Napier) would advise hon. Members to look ahead lest in such circumstances we might have to engage France with Russia on our rear. We ought to have 40 or 50 sail of the line in this country to maintain our honour and dignity whatever might happen. It had been said, however, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was about to cut down our expenditure; but if this was so, and if the present First Lord of the Admiralty repeated the wicked action that was committed by the First Lord in 1857, he hoped the House would interfere and take the matter into its own hands. We wanted an entire change of system. We had, in truth, no system at all, but were constantly changing our plans—at one time incurring great expenditure, and at another carrying economy too far. Good seamen could not be got because they found that, when unemployed, they were turned adrift without reference either to their interests or the interests of the country. It was well known that when the noble Lord (Viscount Palmerston) was the guest of the Emperor Napoleon at Campaigned the Emperor did not conceal that it was his intention to have 50 screw sail of the line, and that he had the means of transporting 40,000 or 50,000 men at once. He had shown in Italy what he was able to do in this respect, for he suceeded, by way of Marseilles, in bringing a large army into the field before the Austrians were ready to meet him. He hoped hon. Gentlemen on the Opposition benches would insist on receiving some assurance from Government as to their intentions with regard to the navy. The right hon. Baronet (Sir John Pakington) acted as a bold First Lord of the Admiralty, for when Parliament was not sitting he issued the Proclamation offering the £10 bounty. There were people who said there was no necessity for a bounty, because the Baltic fleet was manned without it. Nobody knew better than himself how the Baltic fleet was manned, and he maintained that it afforded no argument against the offer of the bounty. He begged to state that if he did not see some energetic step taken to render the naval service more efficient he would himself bring the subject before the House.
§ MR. SPEAKERsaid, there was no Mo- 483 tion before the House, and as the hon. and gallant Admiral had not concluded with any Motion his observations were irregular.