stone, Nash, London. 20. Margaret, Kitto, London; London, Gunton, London. 26. Fortitude, Christmas, Ceylon; Prince Albert, Craib, London. 27. Catherine, Jamieson, Leith. 28. Lord Hungerford, Demerara; Leander, Evey, whaling.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Our notices of Literature and the Fine Arts are necessarily deferred from press of matter.

ALLEN'S INDIAN MAIL, LONDON,

FRIDAY, June 6, 1845.

AN eminent public servant should be regarded as the child of his country; and if a country like Great Britain knowingly permits such a servant to suffer from pecuniary pressure, after a long life of honourable exertion, its culpability is not less than that of a parent, revelling in wealth, who should allow a worthy and dutiful son to pine in poverty. Of the services of Sir HENRY POTTINGER it is idle to speak; his countrymen not only know, but appreciate them, as has been abundantly evidenced by the numerous marks of popular admiration showered upon him. But his countrymen did not generally know, until the appearance of the morning newspapers of Wednesday last, that, while the gallant officer had been advancing the interests of England, and of the whole civilized world, his own had not prospered in a degree at all proportionate to those of the public. This is to be remedied by the grant of a pension. Apart from all regard to his circumstances, Sir HENRY POTTINGER might well expect such a mark of national gratitude; and it is delightful to find that men of all parties rushed forward to claim it for him. Almost every one who spoke seemed indeed astonished that it was necessary to claim it. It is true there was a difficulty in the way, as the Crown cannot grant a pension for diplomatic services, except after a certain term of employment; but this might have been obviated by an application to Parliament; and we cannot but think that it would have been more graceful for the Ministry to have come to the House of Commons with such an application, than to leave it to be made by an opposition member. Party, however, was unknown on Tuesday evening during the-conversation, we suppose we must call it, on the proposed grant-discussion or debate we cannot term it, for all the members were on the same side. Mr. HUME brought forward the motion; Lord SANDON seconded it; Sir JOHN HOBHOUSE panegyrized the distinguished person who was its object; so did Sir ROBERT PEEL; and the motion, as will be seen from the parliamentary report was carried nemine contradicente. Every member seemed anxious to say something in honour of Sir HENRY POTTINGER, and in cordial approbation of the motion, and, as a justification of thus taking up time when all were unanimous, to find some special reason for coming forward. The hon. member for Belfast claimed privilege of speech, because Sir HENRY POTTINGER is a native of the town which he represents. The member for one of the divisions of Cumberland discovered that Sir HENRY was, in some manner not explained, connected with that county, and thereupon volunteered a sentence to his honour. If popularity be de

sirable, Sir HENRY ought to be a happy man, for it flows in upon him in a full tide, and, moreover, it is of the right sort. It is good, sound, honest, well-earned, well-wearing popularity. It has not been gained by inflaming the passions of a giddy mob, nor by pandering to the prejudices of any class of people. It has been won by hard, active, and valuable services; and may the winner long continue to enjoy it.

THE age in which our lot is cast is distinguished by many characteristics from any which has preceded it. The great extension of commercial relations throughout the world is one; the multiplication of facilities of communication is another; and the increase of comfort and pleasure throughout the higher and middling classes of society, resulting from the former two, constitutes a third. All these things are in themselves good. It is good that the inhabitants of different countries and climates should, by an exchange of commodities, add to the sum of their enjoyments; and even the mere intercourse occasioned by commerce is calculated to have beneficial effects. It is good that every parts of the world occupied by man should be readily accessible from every other part, and that the various divisions of the great human family should be brought as near to each other as possible. But the moralist, while he views with pleasure the great additions which a few years have made to the means of physical enjoyment and to the opportunities for social correspondence, will be desirous that those means and opportunities should be used under the guidance of a higher principle than mere worldly expediency can furnish; and, looking to the prevailing temper and tone of the times, will perhaps not be without some anxiety lest they should be perverted by being directed solely to purposes having little or no connection with the higher and better part of the nature of man.

There is one feature of the age from which he would be disposed to claim material for allaying the force of his apprehensions, if he were not able thereby entirely to dispel them. A sense of the importance of education, and a desire to extend as generally as possible the blessings of knowledge as far as they are understood, are not less eminently characteristics of our day, than the love of luxury or the passion for a rapid accumulation of wealth. It is to such feelings, acting under the guidance of an enlightened under. standing and with reference to a wide experience, that we naturally look for a counterpoise to the danger which might otherwise be apprehended from an almost unlimited increase of the power of action and the power of enjoyment. But we must be careful that the education which we bestow be something worthy of the name-that it be not such an edu cation as shall be calculated to feed the evil propensities which it should counteract and banish. It may be feared that, in modern times, this has not always been sufficiently kept in view. We are, perhaps, accustomed to look too exclusively to the advantages resulting to society and to the individual from converting the rude and untaught human being merely into an educated animal. The too prevailing tone upon this subject is, that by the communication of knowledge we enable a man to push himself forward and upward in society; and if we depart for a moment from considerations merely selfish, it is to expa tiate upon the great advantages which the community are likely to derive from the extension of education among its members. Now without proscribing such a tone altogether,

it may be intimated that there is a possibility of carrying it too far. This life is not the "be all and end all,” and if it were, so noble a creation as man should not place his chief good in the gratification of the lower passions of his nature. The higher and more generous sentiments should find a place; and though we could not but mourn at the reflection that a being capable of such sentiments should be doomed to enjoy only a few brief years of existence, we should feel that even in this world the man who concentrated all his powers upon the means of self-gratification understood not his position; he would neither be a wise nor a happy man. Thus much we have thought it necessary to remark with reference to that which appears to us to be a probable source of danger and of failure to the various plans for the diffusion of education which the recently kindled desire for such diffusion continually brings forth. Most heartily do we wish success to the great cause which they are designed to promote. We are only anxious that all advances in its favour should be based upon sound principles-that "the light that is in " us should not be "darkness."

Applying the views which we entertain to India, we cannot help remarking that something more than has yet been done for the intellectual and moral advancement of its sons is imperatively required. The Government have done much for education-much more than they have generally received credit for, and probably as much as under the circumstances surrounding them they could be expected to effect. But in accordance with opinions which we have before expressed, we wish to see something done for the cultivation of the higher branches of study. The native mind seems so peculiarly adapted to the pursuit of the exact sciences, that we apprehend there would be little difficulty in leading it forward to almost any extent. The introduction and cultivation of a taste for elegant literature might be a matter of greater difficulty, but the task is one with regard to which we should not be justified in despairing of success. It might be long indeed ere, by any process of education, we produced philosophers or orators equal to those which England boasts, but we should be content to wait in patient and cheerful hope. We should not rest satisfied with giving nothing but purely elementary instruction, and saying that the people are capable of nothing more. We know not of what they are capable till we make the experiment; and it is our solemn duty, standing in the relation to them which we occupy, to afford them all the means of intellectual and moral elevation which we ourselves possess.

Let us not hear of difficulties or discouragements. Let us rather look to the brighter side of the question, and it has a bright side. We have noticed the aptitude of the native mind for scientific study, but we have not pretended that with regard to literature the prospect is equally promising. Still there is ground for hope in one circumstance at least. No one who has the slightest tincture of learning will need to be reminded of the benefits derivable from the study of a foreign language. It is not merely that the student is providing himself with a key to admit him to hidden stores of thought and feeling, but as a mere exercise for the mind the study is attended with advantages not to be secured in any other way. The people of India are in a fortunate position in this respect. Those who, in the order of Divine Providence, have become their rulers, speak a language so widely different from their own, as to render its acquisition a task of no ordinary dif

ficulty. But the difficulty is worth surmounting—a rich reward awaits the student who labours with sufficient zeal to effectually accomplish his object. The language which he has conquered, has been employed by some of the noblest poets, the deepest philosophers, and the most brilliant wits that ever existed, and if the pupil apply himself to the study of these writings in the manner in which the authors of Greece and Rome are studied in Europe, he will insensibly become accustomed to habits of sound and manly thought; he will find himself gradually imbued with the spirit of the great men with whose works he holds converse, and advancing towards an equality with them, though few may ever attain it. We know that many native young men study English, but we fear that they do not always choose the authors best calculated to improve them, and further, we apprehend, in cases where they make a wise selection, that they are too often satisfied with such a superficial acquaintance with the books which they read, as enables them just to render the words without committing any gross error-they read, but not critically. The tone of their remarks, in so far as they have come before the public, is flippant: their views, narrow and crude, like those of a school-boy, but destitute of the diffidence with which those of a school-boy would be offered. We utter not this in censure. We know that what we have pointed out is the natural consequence of imperfect study, and we are most anxious that a better system should prevail. We wish to see the people of India in possession of all the advantages which we enjoy. We believe that education will effect this result. We therefore desire that they should be educated. We believe further, that education, to be really valuable, must be sound; we therefore claim for India this qualification of the education which we trust she is destined to receive at our hands. We have derived from India a system of elementary instruction, which, by its cheapness, has enabled us to communicate to the larger part of our population some acquaintance with letters. We would repay the debt by making India a partaker of the glories of European intellect and learning, and placing her in a condition to rival them. Long the slave of ignorance and the prey of tyranny, we look forward to brighter and better days, when India, reposing in peace under a strong but mild and just government, shall become identified in mind and feeling with her rulers, and differ from them in little or nothing but the trifling and accidental circumstances of form and complexion.

FROM The Zuid-Afrikaan, we learn that Cape Town is in a ferment. We hope there is sufficient military strength on the spot to preserve the peace, should matters proceed to an extremity. Everybody has heard of "the great MOTT case" Cape Town has got a great gas-light case in hand, which, if duly nursed, may rival that most memorable subject of contest. Gas and the Polka have not as yet been naturalized in South Africa. It has been proposed to make a step in the march of civilization by introducing the former novelty, which made its debut in England, if we are not mistaken, some forty years ago. It seems that Dutchmen are generally sticklers for things as they have been; and in every part of the world, whether in Batavia (witness their pestilence-gendering canals), at New York (teste WASHINGTON IRVING), or at Cape Town (according to our South African cotemporary), they manifest the conservative spirit of that

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hood of gas establishments have of late become more in demand." It is new to us that there is any predilection for the neighbourhood of a gas manufactory; but so, on respectable authority," it is declared to be, and we submit ; observing only that in this case we certainly go from home to hear news of it." It is fair to observe, indeed, that we have authority from Holland as well as from England; it has been ascertained "from a Dutch gentleman, who has seen the gas-light establishment in Rotterdam, and who recently arrived here (at Cape Town), that a similar establishment has been erected in the direct neighbourhood of the Boompjes '-(be it observed, this is the usual walk of the beau monde) and that no particular nuisance is derived from it-less, at all events, than is effected by any common soap manufactory, or tallow chandlery." Now we cannot undertake to determine the average of the sensibility of Dutch noses, but we think the introduction of the manufacture of gas would not be thought to add any thing to the attractions of the Regent's-park or Kensingtongardens in the famous city, the name of which recals the delicate forbearance of THOMAS HOOD, they are perhaps less particular. The gaseous effluvium is not quite so bad as that of a “tallow-chandlery." This is not saying much, but it is enough to reconcile the beau monde who congregate at "the Boompjes" to inhaling breezes differing greatly from those "which waft over gardens of Gul in their bloom." It remains to be seen whether the beau monde of Cape Town are equally indulgent, and we shall look with some anxiety for further intelligence as to the progress of this most momentous controversy.

HOME INTELLIGENCE. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS..

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

THURSDAY, MAY 29.-CASE OF LIEUTENANT HOLLIS.-Mr. B. Escorr said, he would now put the question, of which he had given notice, to the hon. member for Beverley (Mr. Hogg). He wished to ask that hon. gentleman whether the Court of Directors of the East-India Company had instituted such examination into the case of Lieut. Hollis, late of the Madras service, as enabled him to give an opinion as to the legality of the proceedings of the court-martial by which that officer was dismissed? Secondly, supposing the directors were of opinion that the courtmartial was in itself an illegal court, whether the hon. gentleman did not think that some substantial compensation ought to be given to Lieut. Hollis for his illegal dismissal from the service of the Company,-a dismissal illegal, because the court by which the sentence was passed was in itself illegal? He also wished to ask whether the hon. member was not aware that, in the opinion of very competent and learned persons, the court which sentenced Lieut. Hollis was an illegal court?

Mr. HoGc said, he felt some difficulty in answering the questions of the hon, member. He thought that hon. gentlemen ought not to drag under the review and discussion of that House

the proceedings of military tribunals. If it were the pleasure of the House, he (Mr. Hogg) would state the case, not in his own words, but by reading the charge preferred against Lieut. Hollis, the finding of the court-martial, and the observations of the Commander-in-Chief, without any comment; but he thought it would be the opinion of the House that he should abstain from doing so. With regard to the legality of the proceedings, he must express his astonishment that the hon. gen tleman (Mr. Escott) should suppose that he (Mr. Hogg) or the Court of Directors would take upon themselves to judge of the legality or illegality of the proceedings of a court-martial. The whole power connected with military courts-martial was vested, by warrant from the Crown, where it ought to be vested, in the Commander-in-Chief. He, and he alone, was the supreme and sole authority, without any appeal. The Court of Directors had no power to sanction, to review, to confirm, or to alter the proceedings of any military tribunal. The Mutiny Act for dissatisfaction with the decisions of such tribunals. In this country the remedy was by reference to the courts at Westminster; in India, by reference to the courts of law in this country, or to her Majesty's courts in the different presidencies. The Court of Directors had not any power, and ought not to have any power, to pass an opinion upon the legality of the finding of a court-martial. By the 51st of George III. that court had the power of restoring to the service any man suspended or dismissed by the sentence of a court-martial; but the House must observe that the power of the court, conferred upon them by statute, did not come into operation till the finding of the court-martial was looked upon as a complete and legal finding, for it was not till the man had been dismissed or suspended that the court could exercise this power. In the present case, Lieutenant Hollis had made an appeal to the Court of Directors, under the provisions of the act to which he had referred. The court had considered the case, and they thought it one of some hardship. If Lieutenant Hollis had retired from the service voluntarily, he would have received 731. a year as half-pay. The court, after considering the circumstances of the case, and believing that some infirmity of temper rendered it unadvisable to restore Lieutenant Hollis to the service, awarded to him, as a voluntary gift, a pension of 70l. a year-the half-pay to which he would have been entitled being 731. Now, to shew the house how cautious the Court of Directors had been in exercising the power vested in them by statute, of restoring to the service any officer who by the verdict of his brother-officers had been declared unfit for the service, he might state that in the course of twenty-seven years the court had only exercised this power on eight occasions; and in nearly all those instances the cases had been referred to their consideration by the local authorities, and by the Commander-in-Chief himself. The Commander-in-Chief had said,—“ In the rigorous exercise of my duty I must confirm the sentence; but in my civil capacity, as a mem-f ber of the council, I beg to recommend this case to the Court oe Directors, with a view to the restoration of the officer to th service." The present case had been inquired into most care fully and anxiously, and the directors had been influenced by a desire to do all in their power for Lieutenant Hollis, consistently with the good of the service. He (Mr. Hogg) did not appear as the organ of the Court of Directors; but he must state his own individual opinion that the court had gone as far as they could do, consistently with their duty, in granting Lieutenant Hollis a pension of 70%. a year.

Mr. Escort made a few observations in reply, and the subject dropped.

Mr. Hume's motion for papers connected with the recal of Lord Ellenborough was further postponed to Tuesday, 24th of June.

TUESDAY, JUNE 3.- SIR H. POTTINGER.-Mг. HUME rose, pursuant to notice, to move That this house will resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, to consider the following resolution," That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, that she will be graciously pleased to grant such a pension as she shall think proper to the Right Hon. Sir Henry Pottinger, Bart., K.C.B., as a reward for his eminent public services, and especially for having, as her Majesty's Plenipotentiary in China, brought the war in that country to a conclusion by a peace alike honourable and advantageous; and to assure her Majesty that this house will make good the same." He contended that such important public services as Sir Henry Pottinger had performed ought not to go unrewarded. He was bound, however, thus at the outset to say that he had never communicated with Sir Henry on the subject, and that he never had seen him except in a public place, and Sir Henry was therefore by no means answerable for the step that he (Mr. Hume) was then about to take. With reference to this subject, the

Government had said that there was no precedent; but it appeared to him that the case of Lord Ashburton formed a perfect precedent. The merits of Sir Henry Pottinger had been acknowledged by the East-India Company, and his services had been publicly a vowed by them to be most valuable. If, therefore, his own immediate employers, and all England, Scotland, and Ireland, united in acknowledging the value of Sir H. Pottinger's distinguished efforts, and had voted by acclamation his services to have conferred important benefits upon his country, how was it that those services had hitherto passed unrewarded? If Sir H. Portinger, on his return from India, had not consented to go to China, and to act as the plenipotentiary there, he would certainly have been nominated to a governorship, or to the post of councillor at some of the presidencies; either of which posts would have been worth to him from 10,000% to 12,000l. a-year. What, let him ask, was Sir H. Pottinger's situation, and in what manner was he enabled to maintain the distinguished rank to which his services had raised him? He was a major-general in the East-India Company's service, and his retired pay was 4901. a-year, which was all that had been granted to support his rank of G.c.B., to a man by whose brilliant diplomatic services in China the sum of 21,000,000l. had been poured into the coffers of the country. If precedents for granting pensions for such services were asked for, he could refer to many such, granted in consideration of diplomatic services, compared with which those of Sir Henry Pottinger were certainly neither less successful nor less brilliant. Such were the pensions enjoyed by the late Sir Gore Ouseley and the present Sir Henry Willock, to whom he meant nothing disrerespectful in saying that Sir Henry Pottinger's services at least merited an equal testimonial of gratitude from the country. These examples showed that the House had upon former occasions acknowledged in this way the value of diplomatic services, and he hoped therefore that he had removed the objection which might be raised, that there was no precedent for such pensions. They were recognized by Parliament, and by legislation they had been respected. For extraordinary circumstances it was always competent for her Majesty's ministers to propose pensions for official and diplomatic services. Sir H. Pottinger had performed most important services, and he put it to the house whether those services had not been admitted by every individual in the country, not excepting her Majesty's ministers themselves. He would put it to the house whether Sir H. Pottinger had not concluded his negotiations in a most surprising and satisfactory manner with the most cunning and artful people on the surface of the globe? Had not those services been performed in the most meritorious manner by Sir H. Pottinger's zeal, and steady and unflinching conduct, after every preceding plenipotentiary had failed in carrying out the wishes of the Government? And was it nothing that Sir Henry Pottinger was the first man to conclude a commercial treaty with the people of China, attended with so many advantages to this country a treaty which he (Mr. Hume) contended did the greatest honour to Great Britain, extending as it did the advantages which we received ourselves to every country on the face of the civilized globe? He spoke not his own sentiments only, for he believed that there was not a man in England who appreciated the blessings of peace, but eulogized the character and conduct of Sir H. Pottinger. At a former period, when the thanks of the house were voted to the commander of the China expedition, and he (Mr. Hume) asked the right hon. baronet, why Sir H. Pottinger's name was not included in that vote, the right hon. baronet stated his high sense of the services of that distinguished man, but regretted that precedent would not allow a civilian to be included in that vote. Having been excluded from the vote of thanks, he (Mr. Hume) did trust no opposition would be made to the grant of a pension. The hon. member quoted the opinion of Napoleon upon the general subject of conferring honours upon civilians, from Allison's "History of Europe." Napoleon stated, in a council where it was proposed to confer the order of the Legion of Honour on mili. tary men only, that it was science and skill that determined the fate of nations, and if the preference belonged to any, it belonged to civilians. In the opinion expressed by the right hon. baronet with regard to the services of Sir H. Pottinger, to which he had already referred, Lord Aberdeen and Lord Stanley had fully concurred, the former in his place in Parliament, and the latter at Liverpool, on the occasion of a dinner in honour of Sir H. Pottinger. He trusted that he had fully made out the necessity for the motion which he had the honour to propose, and he should now, therefore, content himself with moving the resolution which he had read.

Lord SANDON seconded the resolution. After passing a lengthened eulogium upon the civil and military services of Sir H. Pottinger, the noble lord, admitting the difficulty of dealing

with motions of this description, declared himself prepared, in consideration of those great services, not merely to the British nation, but to the cause of Christianity, to take this case out of the ordinary rule of civil routine. His opinion of the gallant officer was fully confirmed, not only by distinguished and competent authorities upon the matter, but by the commercial prosperity which followed upon his eminent and successful services. In conclusion, the noble lord begged to say, that this motion was in no degree intended as a reproach to her Majesty's Government. (Hear, hear.)

Sir J. C. HOBHOUSE also considered that this was an especial case (hear, hear), which there was little danger would be drawn into a precedent, and for this reason, that ages might roll over before such services as it was now proposed to reward could again occur. (Hear.) He thought it no exaggeration to say that he considered it impossible for such services to be rendered by any other individual in a manner similar to that in which they had been performed by Sir H. Pottinger. (Hear.) After taking a brief biographical review of the gallant officer, the right honourable baronet stated that the only stipulation which Sir H. Pottinger made previous to the expedition to China was, that he should be exclusively responsible, and that the orders of the Government should be precise. He stipulated for no honours (hear, hear), and for no reward; which, considering how general was such a course, was highly honourable to him. (Hear, hear.) He said that he was sensible of the difficulties he was about to encounter, but that with a Government that would support him, and with intentions which he felt to be just, he did not at all despair of performing his duty, not only to the satisfaction of the then existing Government, but to the country at large. (Hear.) That anticipation having been fully borne out by the result, he (Sir J. C. Hobhouse) hoped the house would not forget, in considering the present motion, that before Sir H. Pottinger went to China he had strong expectations of obtaining a lucrative situation in consequence of his former services in India, and through which he might have realized what was called an Indian fortune. (Hear, hear.) Sir Henry had more than one opportunity of making an Indian fortune; he regretted to say that in his service to his country he had brought only a name which was an honour to the British nation. If he were refused the reward now asked the result would be this-he was only a lieutenantcolonel, although he had the brevet of major-general, and he would be obliged to leave England; he could not live here. (Cheers.) Was this fitting, that a gentleman who had opened a third of the whole world, not only for us but for other nations, who were not slow of availing themselves of the opportunity, should not only be unable to live in England, but unable also to keep that society in which he was an ornament? (Cheers.) The right hon. gentleman next referred in detail to the seventeen several addresses presented to Sir Henry from all classes in England, including 14,000 workmen of Manchester, who in nine hours signed an address attributing to his exertions the revival of trade; and, in addition, Sir Henry bad received an intimation that the freedom of the city of London would be conferred on him at a public entertainment. The right hon. gentleman quoted also at length the speech and eulogy of Lord Aberdeen, at the dinner given by the merchants of London to Sir H. Pottinger. He did not know that he could use greater praise or more appropriate expressions than those of the Lord Provost of Glasgow, when he said that Sir Henry had done British merchants great good, and they thanked him for it. All classes of the country had done justice to Sir Henry, and he hoped the House of Commons would not think it against their duty as guardians of the public purse to reward extraordinary exertions with some extraordinary favour. (Cheers.)

Sir R. PEEL said, the speeh of the right hon. gentleman was a conclusive answer to that of the hon. mover. It might have been inferred from the speech of the hon. gentleman, and from his unjust and uncalled-for observations, that there was a disposition on the part of her Majesty's Government to underrate the exertions and the merits of Sir Henry Pottinger. The house, however, would recollect that there had not been an opportunity afforded in that house on which he had not freely admitted those exertions and merits. (Hear, hear.) He did, however, state that he had not included the name of Sir H. Pottinger in the vote to Sir Hugh Gough and to Sir W. Parker, because it was so rare that the thanks of the house had been voted for civil or diplomatic services, and because there were often political considerations mixed up with diplomatic services; and he did not propose to vote the thanks of the house also to Sir Henry Pottinger, rather on account of the danger of establishing, or rather of continuing a precedent set by the hon. gentleman himself, than from a desire to underrate the eminent services of this honourable man. (Cheers.) He would put aside for the present the question of the pecuniary reward, though the hon. gentleman

thought that no recognition of public services would be complete without a pecuniary reward. When the present Government succeeded to office Sir H. Pottinger was not personally known to them, but he was known by name and repute, and they wrote out to assure him that he should have the same full and unbounded confidence from them as he had had from their prede. cessors. The hon. gentleman the member for Montrose drew an invidious distinction between Sir Henry Pottinger and Mr. Davis. The hon. gentleman said, that Sir H. Pottinger had only an allowance of 6,000l. a year, and that he had been distinguished for his military services, and that the same remuneration was given to Mr. Davis; but it was not because they gave a particular salary that they distinguished the individual; the salary was attached to the office, and not given to the man. Why, then, did the hon. gentleman draw the distinction between the merits of Sir H. Pottinger and Mr. Davis? ["I drew no distinction," from Mr. Hume.] When the Government heard that Sir H. Pottinger wished to retire, they did not seek the patronage of the appointment; they besought him to remain. The health, however, of Sir H. Pottinger obliged him at length to retire, after a service in India alone of forty years. The Government were then bound to appoint a successor, and in that appointment they were influenced by no improper motives. They thought it important to select a man having personal experience of the country, and of the character of its inhabitants, and if the honourable baronet the member for Portsmouth (Sir G. Staunton) were in his place he would admit that no improper motives had influenced the choice. (Cheers.) In the course of his duty Sir H. Pottinger had shewn the greatest discretion and moderation; the Government gave him the most ample credit for that exhibition of justice and moderation, which had obtained for him the complete confidence of those who would not otherwise have dealt with the "barbarians," as they called us; they gave him equal credit for the discretion and forbearance with which he treated some of his own countrymen, and they knew not which to praise the most, his moderation towards the Chinese or his firmness towards his own countrymen. With respect to the hon. gentleman's remarks on the admission of other countries to the benefits of the improved intercourse with China, no doubt Sir H. Pottinger was desirous of extending those benefits to all nations, but it was due to his noble friend Lord Aberdeen, and to the noble lord whom he succeeded, to say that one of the first acts of the present Government was to send out a despatch, dated 4th of November, 1841, to the same effect as a previous despatch of the noble lord opposite, in which the Government said, "To secure a well-regulated trade is all we desire with China;" and further, "We seek no exclusive advantage; we demand nothing we will not willingly see enjoyed by the subjects of other states." No doubt Sir H. Pottinger, without those instructions, would have acted upon their spirit. I believe, however, that those instructions were conformable to the previous instructions of the noble lord opposite. Let it be said, therefore, to the credit of the whole country and of all parties, that there was no wish, that there was not, on the part of any one, a desire to secure for ourselves in our intercourse with China any peculiar or exclusive privileges. One desire was manifested by the noble lord as the representative of the late Government, by his noble friend as the representative of the present Government, and by Sir Henry Pottinger himself. Let it be known, then, throughout Europe and the world, that there was no party, that there was no man in the country who wished, on the termination of hostilities in China, to secure any narrow advantage, or one in which all nations should not participate. (Cheers.) It would be inferred from the speech of the hon. gentleman, that the Government had withheld from Sir Henry Pottinger something which they had it in their power to confer. He (Sir R Peel) had not stated that Sir H. Pottinger had had the dignity of a baronet conferred upon him on account of his services in Chinathat dignity was conferred for his long services in India; but, for his services in China, the Crown had conferred upon him the highest and the most honourable distinction in its gift— except the Garter, which it could not bestow-when it created him Grand Cross of the Bath. The hon. gentleman might think this an inadequate reward, but the value which Sir Henry attached to it was because it was a proof of the approbation and the favour of a gracious sovereign. Again, Sir Henry was made a privy councillor. The hon. gentleman said that this honour was useless unless it was accompanied by a grant of money; but he believed that Sir H. Pottinger was proud of it, not from any personal vanity, but as an additional mark of his sovereign's approval. Further, when from the state of his health Sir Henry was about to return home, the most marked and significant terms were used to convey to him the grateful acknowledgments

for his services to his country. Except the particular reward which the hon. gentleman advocated, there were no rewards and no honours which were withheld. The hon. gentleman said that they might have conferred a peerage; but he was not quite sure that hereditary honours were always a suitable reward for services in such a case as this. He then came to the question of the pecuniary reward. It would be inferred from the speech of the hon. gentleman, that the Crown had the power of granting a pension to Sir H. Pottinger, and that this power had not been exercised. Such was not the fact. If the Crown had the power of granting a pension, he would not have hesitated to advise the Crown to confer it, and he would have been tenfold more ready to do so after the disclosure by the right hon. gentleman of the facts which the modesty and forbearance of Sir H. Pottinger had hitherto concealed from the Government. (Cheers.) The Crown had the power to grant the pensions to Sir Gore Ouseley, and in the other cases referred to, but it had not the power in this case. It was all very well for the House of Commons to say that the Crown was niggardly, but who imposed those limitations on the Crown? Why, the House of Commons and the hon. gentleman. (Cheers.) The Crown could not grant a diplomatic pension to any one, whatever might be his merits or services, unless he had been in the diplomatic service for fifteen years, and had actually served for ten years, nor could the Crown appropriate more than 2,000l. for any such pension. Now, what was the power of the Crown to grant pensions on the civil list? For claims on the royal beneficence, for personal services to the Crown, for eminent public services, and for useful discoveries in science, her Majesty was limited to grants amounting to 1,2001. per annum in the whole. But it was asked, why had not the Government come down to the house and asked for a special grant of an additional pension? Why, there was not a week in which a similar and really meritorious claim could not be made. Take the case of the family of Sir W. Nott, who, after an exhibition of constancy, and valour, and success, which entitled him to reward, returned broken in health, and unable even to receive the expression of public gratitude, or to be presented to his sovereign; who left two daughters, to whom the East-India Company had granted 100l, a year each; what a case might be made out for him! (Cheers.) Or, again, the daughter of an eminent professor who died the other day in the execution of his public duty at the Royal Society. (Hear, hear.) The house must admit these claims; but it had not given the Crown the power of meeting them, and there were numbers of unobtrusive cases, not so marked as Sir H. Pottinger's, but highly deserving, -men, for instance, who devoted the best years of their lives, not to the acquirement of money, but the perfection of mechanical science,-and left their families in distress. Was the minister to be always coming down to the house for a special grant? A period might come when the Legislature might extend the discretion of the Crown; but meanwhile he (Sir R. Peel) was unwilling to establish a precedent capable of so extensive an application. (Hear, hear.) The general rule was, that while public servants remained in health pensions should not be granted, the Crown having offices to bestow, implying great trust and confidence, and carrying a proportionate reward. Sir W. Parker, for instance, was still retained in the service of the Crown; and at the first opportunity for the employment of Sir H Pottinger, he (Sir R. Peel) should think no man better qualified for a mark of the fovour of the Crown, and no one fitter to be intrusted with the public service. (Cheers.) The question now was, whether the house was to make a precedent of a special grant, usurping the prerogative of the Crown to reward public servants. On the whole, however, considering what appeared to be the general feeling of the house (hear, hear, from both sides)-considering that Sir H. Pottinger was withdrawn from India, and thereby lost the advantage of continued service in a diplomatic capacity,-considering that the grace and favour of the House of Commons ought not to be impeded by the servants of the Crown,-believing that they had done their duty in opposing their own personal wishes, which must be in favour of the liberal reward of a public man, he (Sir R. Peel) should be sorry there should be any division of opinion on the subject, and therefore he should not oppose a compliance with the wishes of the house. (Cheers.) He should take upon himself to advise her Majesty to make a provision for Sir H. Pottinger, as a reward for his eminent public services. (Renewed cheers.)

Lord J. RUSSELL said, he was rejoiced to hear this determination; and he would at once say, that so far from casting any blame or reproach upon the Government, he thought they had ever been forward to recognize the merits of Sir H. Pottinger. The House of Commons, however, having imposed the restrictions on pensions which had been referred to, might properly express its opinion, that eminent services for a period not long