§ MR. WILSONhaving moved that the House, at its rising, should adjourn till Monday next.
§ MR. FRENCHsaid, he rose to put a question to the noble Lord at the head of the Government on the subject of the plans and proposals of the Earl of Dundonald, for destroying the Russian fortresses. He had twice already put questions to the noble Lord on the same subject, and although the replies were courteous they were certainly not by any means satisfactory. The noble Lord had stated that a commission of scientific gentlemen had been appointed, consisting of Professors Faraday, Playfair, and Graham. He believed he might assert, without fear of contradiction, that no meeting of those gentlemen had taken place, and as Professor Playfair was now in Paris, it was impossible that there could be one for some time. He could state, on authority, that no call had yet been made on the Earl of Dundonald to explain the alleged or supposed difficulty of carrying his plans into execution. Now he wished to state to the House and the country what the proposal of the noble Earl was. The House was aware that the period during which operations could take place in the Baltic was very short; it was certainly not more than three months. The noble Earl was prepared by the end of June, if his plans were adopted and his services were accepted, without fee or reward for the carrying them into execution, to demolish every Russian fortress in the Baltic—and that, too, at an expense to this country of less than 200,000l. The question which he had to ask the noble Lord was, whether he could state any time at which he would be prepared to give an answer to the question of the Earl of Dundonald, whether his plans and his personal services in carrying them into execution would be accepted by the Government.
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONSir, the hon. Member has misunderstood what I stated on a former occasion. I did not say 769 that the Commission of scientific men had been appointed since the present Government was formed. In point of fact the plan of Lord Dundonald was referred in the course of last summer and autumn to a Commission of military and scientific persons; and since that period I have consulted other persons on the subject. Really, as far as I have been able to form an opinion, I must say the difficulties of the plan appear to increase in proportion as the details are considered; and I am not prepared to tell my hon. Friend when I shall be able to give him an answer.