§ MR. R. N. FOWLERrose to call attention to the Report of General Adye and Colonel Gordon, that had been issued with regard to the condition of British cemeteries in the Crimea. It appeared that the French cemetery at Scutari was placed in the charge of a serjeant of Royal Engineers, who resided in a cottage in the vicinity. He (Mr. R. N. Fowler) thought that a similar appointment should be made by Her Majesty's Government in the Crimea, in order to protect the cemeteries of Sebastopol, which had suffered considerable damages from the cattle that were allowed to browse over them, and still more from the wind and weather. His own observation, when recently at Sebastopol, where he was most kindly taken over the cemeteries and battlefields by Colonel Himmelman, the Chief Engineer there, led him to confirm the statements of the Report, that the monuments had suffered rather from time and weather than from the desecrations of the Tartar population, though he was sorry to learn from a letter which had been given him since he came into the House that the grave of General Strang-ways had been opened by robbers. He would give the House some extracts from the Report of General Adye and Colonel Gordon, showing the gradual destruction of the British monuments. The Russians had built a magnificent church in connection with the cemetery where their soldiers were buried, the French had collected their remains in one cemetery, and the Report had recommended that a monument should be constructed in England and sent out for erection on Cathcart's Hill, there being every reason to believe that the Russian Government would offer every facility.
§ Notice taken, that 40 Members were not present; House counted, and 40 Members being found present,
§ MR. R. N. FOWLER,in continuation, said, he very much regretted that more interest was not shown in the subject by hon. and gallant Gentlemen who had fought in the Crimea, and by the House at large. He had only called attention to this subject because no Gentleman who had served in the Crimea had 1762 done so. He would impress upon them the contrast between the way the Russians and the French provided for the protection of the monuments and graves of their gallant dead, and that in which the British Government had acted towards the cemeteries of their fallen heroes in the Crimea. Some expense must, of course, be incurred in the matter, but neither the House nor the country would begrudge a small sum to be expended in putting the graves of those whose memories were dear to many in the land in a proper condition.
§ MR. BAXTERsaid, that the Government fully recognized the importance of the subject, and the interest attached to it by the nation, and especially by the families of those who fell in the Crimea. The Report had been carefully considered—first by the War Office, and then by the Treasury—and the Government would speedily come to a decision upon it. The matter, however, was not free from difficulty, for the preservation of the monuments must be secured, as well as their repair in the meantime; and the conflicting proposals made would require some little time for consideration. At that moment, moreover, Correspondence was going on between the Foreign Office and the Russian Government, until the close of which a decision would be premature; but he hoped that decision would shortly be announced.
§ COLONEL LEARMONTHsaid, he was as anxious that as little delay as possible should occur in carrying out the recommendations of the Report, since the cemeteries were falling into great dilapidation. The proposed monument on Cathcart's Hill would be a graceful act on the part of the Government, and would be grateful to the Army and to the friends of those who fell, over some of whom he read the Burial Service under circumstances of such pressure that it was impossible to raise any monument.
§ MR. MONTAGU CHAMBERSexpressed a hope that while, in concert with Russia, we took steps to commemorate the magnificent services of our Army in the Crimea, the state of the monuments erected at Landguard Fort, in Harwich, to record the services of our officers and soldiers in former days would not be neglected.