§ LORD WILLIAM GRAHAMsaid, he rose to ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether the land sold at Portsmouth for £8,000, and re-purchased for £28,000, was originally purchased under an Act of the 8th of Queen Anne, which recited that the land was specially to be bought for the use and purposes of the defence of Ports- 189 mouth; and further declared, "that all and singular the premises shall be and are enacted and declared to be unalienable from the Crown?" One would think that if there were any value in words, such land could not have been sold. The money had been granted by the House of Commons for a special purpose, in a special Act of Parliament. He was aware that in the 1st and 2nd George IV., an Act was passed, transferring this and other land to the Ordnance Department, and that this Act had been confirmed by an Act of William IV. He had, however, been informed that these Acts, being General Acts, could not override the Act of Anne, which was worded in a special manner. Under these circumstances, he thought they ought to have the legal opinions of the law officers of the Crown whether such sale was legal; and if not, the House ought to mark the transaction with their reprobation, for this was a most remarkable instance of that penny-wise and pound-foolish economy, which so often actuated the Government of this country. Nor was this the only instance of the kind. Land had been sold at Harwich, at Chatham, at Milford Haven and other places, which, if required again by Government, will have to be repurchased at an exorbitant price. He would now put the Question of which he had given notice:—"Whether the land sold at Portsmouth for £8,000, and repurchased for £28,000, was originally purchased under an Act passed in the 8th year of Queen Anne, which Act recited that the land was specially to be bought for the use and purposes of the Defence of Portsmouth; and further declared, 'that all and singular the premises shall be, and are enacted and declared to be, unalienable from the Crown;' and, if so, what legal power was vested in the Master General of the Ordnance to authorize the sale of such lands; and whether he will lay upon the Table of the House any Papers, or Correspondence, or Legal Opinion which may exist in the Ordnance Department with reference to such sale?"