Commons Sitting of 25 January 1855

MINUTES.
NEW MEMBERS SWORN.—For Canterbury, Charles Manners Lushington, esq.
THE ARMY IN THE CRIMEA—MOTION FOR SELECT COMMITTEE POSTPONED.
MR. ROEBUCK: I beg to postpone until to-morrow the notice of Motion which stands in my name for this day, for a Select Committee to inquire into the condition of our army before Sebastopol, and into the conduct of those departments of the Government whose duty it has been to minister to the wants of that army.

THE WAR—ADDRESSES FROM THE COLONIES.
SIR G. GREY,having laid certain papers on the table of the House, said: In accordance with the promise I made to the hon. and learned Member for North Staffordshire (Mr. Adderley) before the recess, I now lay these papers on the table, and I will take the opportunity of briefly explaining to him of what they consist. They are addresses and resolutions passed by the legislatures and public bodies in various British colonies in reference to the subject of the war in which this country is now engaged. In all the addresses which have been received, the House will be gratified to find an expression of feeling of the most devoted loyalty and attachment to Her Majesty, and also a feeling of the most ardent and earnest sympathy towards this country in reference to the war that is now being waged against Russia. Some of the addresses will be found to contain more substantial proofs of that attachment, by the great liberality evinced by those from whom they proceed, in contributing to the wants of the widows and orphans left destitute by the loss of their husbands and parents in the course of the war. Among them is a joint address from the Council and Legislative Assembly of Canada, tendering their congratulations to Her Majesty on the glorious successes which have attended Her army in the East, and expressing their readiness to contribute to the relief of the widows and

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children of the soldiers of the allied armies of England and France who have fallen during the war. I have the satisfaction to state. that this address was entrusted to Lord Elgin, who brought it to this country from Canada on his leaving the administration of that colony, and that it constituted one of the last acts of his Government. I have since received from Sir Edmund Head, the present Governor General of Canada, two draughts of 10,000 l. each, being the sum of 20,000 l. appropriated by the Legislature of Canada for that purpose.
MR. ADDERLEYbegged to ask the right hon. Baronet whether, as there had been such a strong expression of sympathy on the part of the representatives of the people of Canada towards this country in regard to the present war, he had any intention of proposing any acknowledgment on the part of the Imperial Parliament, of the high sense they entertained of such a feeling being expressed by the legislative body of a colony which constituted one of the most important and most essential resources of this country.
SIR G. GREYbegged to remind the hon. and learned Gentleman that these addresses were to Her Majesty; and he need hardly say that he had received Her Majesty's commands to express to those parties from whom they proceeded, her sentiments respecting them. With respect to the question put to him by the hon. and learned Gentleman as to the course which might be pursued by that House, he would take the opportunity of answering it on some future occasion.

RESIGNATION OF LORD JOHN RUSSELL.
MR. HAYTER: Sir, I have been requested by the noble Lord the Member for the City of London to state, that he has considered it consistent with his public duty respectfully to tender to Her Majesty his resignation of the office which he held as President of the Council, which resignation Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to accept. The noble Lord will take an early occasion of stating the grounds upon which he has been induced to come to that resolution.
VISCOUNT PALMERSTON: Sir, after the exceedingly important announcement which has just been made by my hon. Friend, I trust the House will not think that Her Majesty's Government are trespassing too much upon its indulgence if I
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ask the House to adjourn until to-morrow. There are obvious reasons, I think, for acceding to the proposal which I now venture to make. I should hope, therefore, that those Gentlemen who have Motions standing for to-day, will have the goodness to postpone them until to-morrow, at which time they will stand in the same position as they otherwise would have stood in to-night. I beg, then, Sir, to move that this House do now adjourn until to-morrow.
MR. DRUMMOND: I really must say, with all deference to the noble Lord, that he is under some misapprehension as to the rule of notices postponed until to-morrow, which certainly will not stand in the same position as they do to-day. Of course, knowing what the feeling of the House is. I do not wish to bring on the question which I have raised this evening; at the same time, I cannot consent to any postponement in its regard unless the noble Lord will agree to give precedence for to-morrow to the Motion of my hon. and learned Friend near me (Mr. Roebuck). And if the noble Lord will but agree to do so, I, on my part, will promise to condense my observations relative to the notice which I have given as much as possible, but which I shall persist in, in order that the returns for which I shall call may go before my hon. and learned Friend's Committee. But if these Motions are to have precedence, it must be done by order of the House.
SIR J. PAKINGTON: Sir, as the Motion of which I have given notice on the subject of national education stands first for this evening, I wish to state that, after the appeal which has just been made, I at once accede to the request of the noble Viscount, and will postpone the Motion until this day week. On looking, however, to the state of the notice paper, I find it is extremely uncertain whether I can bring it forward on that day; under these circumstances, therefore, I hope I may venture to trust that Her Majesty's Government will take care that hereafter I shall not be in a worse position relative to that Motion than I stand in at present.
VISCOUNT PALMERSTON: Sir, in answer to what has fallen from my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey (Mr. Drummond), I may observe that the hon. Member for Sheffield (Mr. Roebuck) has already postponed his Motion until tomorrow, and therefore it will take precedence. And it is the wish and intention

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of Her Majesty's Government that no impediment should be thrown in the way of such an arrangement.
MR. ROEBUCK: I believe it is the wish of the House that my Motion shall have precedence of the Orders of the Day to-morrow. Therefore, if the noble Lord consents to my Motion coming on first to-morrow, I at once accede to the proposal for an adjournment.
VISCOUNT PALIV1ERSTON: There are no Orders of the Day to-morrow.
House adjourned at a quarter before Five o'clock.