HOUSE OF LORDS.—April 1.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 558, 20 August 1851, Page 4

HOUSE OF LORDS.— April 1.

Lord TonßiNO jon rose to make the promised vindicntion of his conduct while Governor of _Cej lon. He divided the subject into (hree branches, viz., the financial condition of the colony under his jidininistintion, the circumstances producing and attending the late übellion, and the special allegations of cruelty and nongovernment that hid been urged against him. Upon the first point, Lord r'orrmgton detailed the measures which he had adopted for clfectinsr telrenchment on one side, and enhancing revenue ow tho oth.-r, by which lie hid succeeded in converting llio deficiency of i. 8 1,000 furnished upon the accounts of 1817, into a very sati-.-fnctorv surplus, concurrently with a large inciease of enterprise, and an expansion both of the exports and imports of the island, passing; on to the rebellion, he marked upon the special traits in the Ouental character which render (he usual principles ot" government inapplicable, compelling theii ruler* to keep incessant guard against tieacbery, and often making leniency dangerous and futile. Tracing the causes of the last rebellion, the noble lord contended that it found no just excuse in the new system of taxation, but giew out of a political agitation, fostered by unquiet spu its, and culminating in the ambitious aggression of the pretender. He dwelt upon the giavity of the crisis then developed, upon the ?alu-> of the property at stake, the peril that the British possessions in the island would be altogether sacrificed, and the atrocities committed by the insurgents; and then proceeded with an elaboi ate detail of events to show that his proclamation of martini law was not effected without clue advice anJ the justification of neces-ity, that it was not continued too long nor tuined into an instrument of tyranny on the part of the executive, l ( rom the high cliaiacter of his subordinate functionaries, he drew a presumption that they would not have nnde themselves accomplices in deeds of cruelty. La} ing down the principle that a servant of thn public was not bound to justify all his acts, but that the mats of finding and piovmg any charge of misconduct lay with his accuser, Lord Tomnglon refeired to the addresses presented by the merchants and the planters of Ceylon, after the crisis was past, as a proof that the parties best qualified to judge had expressed unnnimous'approval of the couise which he had adopted. Tinefly alluding to the proceedings of the commifee of iuquuy and the motions founded thereon by Mr. Baillie j and Mr. Hiune, the noble lord referred to the two special allegations biought against him, namely, that he Lad issued a sanguinary proclamation, and employed some unjustifiable expressions to certain private communications having reference to Sir E. Tennent and JSIr. Wodehouse, Meeting the fiist charge with a point-blank denial, he confessed himself guilty of impropriety with respect to the latter, and with tins single a.lnnssion on one point, he threw himstlf upon the judgment of his peers to decide respecting all the other counts in the indictment. Earl Gniv, in pronouncing his own sentence of acquittal in the case, observed upon the informal and unfair way in which the accusation had been got up both in Parliament and by the pres«. Out of a vast mass of evidence, much of it mvpued by a hostile spirit, and not published in England, certain garbled eUiacts had been sent to Ceylon and used to thfc flisp.iiagement of the Governor. It was a vast and altogether unprecedented case of prosecution. To siy that no abuses took place (luting the existence of courts martial, was more than any man, even tho noble Duke (Wellington) could assert. The only charge for which any foundation existed aro«e out of a private correspondence, which he wondered that any committee could have stiained their powers so far as to insist on having published. Their lordships were then leaving the house, but were recalled bv seeing The Duke of Weluvcton about to speak. His grace, in reference to the allusion made to him by Lord Grey, said, with unusual warmth and energy, that he had never been m the position of Lord Torrington, and should offer no opinion upon his conduct while there was not a single paper upon which to foim an opinion before their loid&hips. He thought also that allusion to correspondence might well have been omitted until it were in the hands "of the house. But he uould say this, that martial law was the will of the general, and was, therefoie, no law at all. It was the general's duty to lay down such rules and limits as should prevent improper conduct. lie himself had governed by martial law—that was, by his own will ; and, under these circumstances, he had alwajs felt and acted upon the conviction, that a country should be governed in accordance with its own national laws. ,\fter an explanation from Eail G key, their lordships adjourned.