Monthly Supplement to "HOUSEHOLD WORDS," Conducted by CHARLES DICKENS.

BOTH Houses of Parliament re-assembled on Tuesday, the 23rd inst.

In the HOUSE OF LORDS the LORD CHANCELLOR communicated a letter from Admiral Dundas, acknowledging the resolutions of thanks to himself and the officers and men of the Black Sea Fleet.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH gave notice that on Thursday next he should move for a Return of the Number of Troops sent out to the Crimea, distinguishing the infantry, cavalry, and sailors, and also the number of killed, wounded, sick, and otherwise disabled.

Earl GREY gave notice that on Thursday next he should ask a question of Her Majesty's Government respecting the Orders sent out to the Commander-inChief at the Cape of Good Hope to send home the 12th and 91st Regiments.

[PRICE 2d.

estimate the possession of those medals most highly. Of what use is a vote of thanks by Parliament to a soldier? He might possibly read a paper signed by the Lord Chancellor, and which may do all very well so long as the man remains in his regiment, or in his ship unwounded; but when he becomes a sufferer, and goes back to his village no longer able to serve his country, what then has he to show that he was present in the action in which he has received his disabling wounds? That, then, was the object of a medal. It does what no vote of thanks can do. When the veteran warrior returns to his domestic hearth, his bosom glows with pride as he displays in his breast a token that he, too, has done some service to his country. I must also express my regret that medals are not to be given to the representatives of those who fell in action. I do not think there is any good reason for such a rule. Formerly, The Duke of RICHMOND moved for a copy of the the objection to the rule scarcely existed, because the order Granting Medals to the Army in the Crimea. He conferring of medals and rewards was so long delayed called attention to the omission of the troops engaged at that it would have been attended with great difficulty to Balaklava. When your lordships (said the Duke) consider find out the persons to whom the medals should be the terms of the despatch in which the battle of Balaklava awarded. But no such difficulty is to be encountered was commmunicated by Lord Raglan, who must be re- now. The mode of distributing the fund, supported by garded as a pretty good judge of what took place, you Her Majesty and which has done such vast credit to the must acknowledge that the conduct of the Scotch High- people of England for the manner in which they have landers in resisting the attack of a vast numerically subscribed to it, affords ample means of finding out the greater body of Russians was worthy to be deemed a representatives of those who have fallen in the Crimea. victory; and although overmatched by numbers, as they Meritorious as the raising of that fund undoubtedly is, ultimately were, it was impossible that greater bravery still I could have wished that it had been a compulsory could be displayed. Your lordships ought never to for- tax on the people at large. I wish it in justice to the get, the country can never forget, the splendid conduct good, liberal, and generous portion of that people; for of the Light Cavalry under the command of my noble it is well known that the peacemongers, be they few or friend, whom I am happy to see in his place, when be they many, have made that cry an excuse not to submaking a charge in pursuance of orders, which I scribe at all. Means, then, being found to ascertain who venture to say it was utterly impossible to carry out. are the proper recipients of the fund thus raised, the same When they found these men, hemmed in as they were means may be used to discover persons to whom should by infantry, swept from the field by a continuous dis- be given the rewards of honour and of merit. I apologise charge of grapeshot, and attacked by an overwhelming for bringing this subject before the house, but it is a subforce of cavalry, still retiring in full and complete order, ject on which I feel most deeply. I am most anxious that surely no man could say that the battle of Balaklava was justice should be done to our army in the Crimea, for not worthy of being deemed a victory. Did not the in no period of our history can any instance be quoted enemy attempt to turn your flank? Did they not where gratitude to our military force was more justly attempt to raise the siege of Sebastopol? And was it due. The bravery of our men under dangers of every not owing to the gallant bearing and heroic conduct of kind has been almost unexampled, and the privations the soldiers at the battle of Balaklava that the siege of they have had to undergo must be admitted by every Sebastopol was not raised? Would this country then, one to be of no ordinary character. Well, my lords, for when appealed to, say, that the men so engaged, though what is it, after all, that I am now making any appeal not the strongest in the conflict, were not worthy of a to Her Majesty's ministers? Were any man to come reward of merit ? I know that I must live to a very into this house at the present moment, he would suppose late period before I shall ever again have to speak of such that I was asking for a large grant of public money actions as those to which I have now alluded. I wish with which to reward those brave and heroic men whose to ask my noble friend (the Duke of Newcastle) upon cause I now plead; but, my lords, all I ask is, that what ground it is that he has not given this clasp to the those men, when they return to their country, may go men engaged at the battle of Balaklava? I wish also to to their homes and cheer their domestic hearths by ask him, whether it is not the intention of the Govern- displaying to their kindred and friends some lasting ment to give a copy of the medal to the sailors who token of a nation's gratitude for the services they have landed, and who shared in the dangers and participated rendered and the sufferings they have endured.-The in the victories of the army? I wish to know why, Duke of NEWCASTLE said, Considering the interesting when undergoing the same dangers, and discharging nature of the subject which my noble friend has brought equally onerous duties, there should be one rule ap- under the notice of your lordships, I am confident that plied to the soldier, and another to the sailor? It is not your lordships will feel that he has no need of apologising necessary for me to state the great value which both for engaging the attention of the house, but that, on the soldiers and sailors attach to the possession of medals contrary, every one must feel the greatest interest in a commemorative of the actions in which they have dis- question which involves the honourable reward of those tinguished themselves. It is admitted that they do gallant men who have fought the battles of their

VOL. VI.

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country in the Crimea. I am sure there is no one who
is more sensible than my noble friend of the difficulties
that attend the dispensation of such honours as those to
which he has referred. He will admit that it would
not be right, in the case of a protracted war, or even of
a long campaign, that clasps of honour should be granted
to the gallantry of our soldiers in engagements un-
believe, there-
attended with any important results.
fore, that, although no general rule has been laid down,
yet it is recognised as a principle that clasps should not
be granted for general actions except when those general
actions have led to victory. I do not think it can be
said that the battle of Balaklava was one of those
actions, although there can be no doubt that every man
engaged in that battle was as fully entitled to a mark
of merit as any man engaged either at the battle of
Alma or of Inkermann, which unquestionably came
under that category. There might, I think, be some
doubt, at least, on that point; but, in such a case, the
benefit of the doubt ought to be given to the party
most interested, and therefore I beg to inform your
lordships that Her Majesty has directed that a clasp
shall be given for the action of Balaklava. I trust
it may not be considered by our military authorities
that we are departing from the rules of the army in
granting these clasps to the army engaged in the battle
of Balaklava, but I do think, after the comments made
upon that action, it would be in the highest degree
unjust to withhold a mark of honour from those gallant
men. My lords, I must say, with all deference to those
who have been engaged in other battles, that there
cannot be adduced from the annals of warfare, ancient
or modern, instances of greater gallantry, or of greater
self-devotion, than were shown, both by officers and
men, at the battle of Balaklava. Having disposed of
this point, I come to the second topic to which the noble
duke has referred-namely, the defective distribution
of the Crimean medal. Undoubtedly, it was not
intended that the medal should be confined to the
soldiers only who were engaged in the battles of Alma
and Inkermann; nor was it intended to be confined to
the sailors; but, in giving the Crimean medal, it was
not only granted to the soldiers engaged in those actions,
but also to the sailors, who were as highly entitled to it
as the soldiers, they having rendered most valuable
assistance to the troops. From the very first-it was
intended so to dispense the medals, and, if there has
beg to
been any misapprehension on the subject,
repeat that it has always been intended that the Crimean
medal should be given not only to all the officers and
soldiers of the army, but to all the members of the
navy engaged in that part of the world. I now come to
the third point, namely, the granting of medals to the
representatives of those who have fallen in battle.
I agree with my noble friend, that if the family of
those who have fallen in these engagements can derive
any consolation from the possession of that medal which
would have been given to the member of their family if
he had survived, it is right that the country should
confer it. My noble friend has correctly observed, that
the difficulty which heretofore existed in that respect in
consequence of the medals being granted so long after
the services for which they were conferred, did no longer
exist; and that if a new precedent were set on this
occasion, and a retrospective character were given to it,
my noble friend would not be unwilling to aid in
carrying it out, unless there existed an utter impossi-
bility of doing so. I may, therefore, inform my noble
friend and your lordships, that it is proposed by Her
Majesty's government that medals shall be given, not
only to all the survivors engaged in, but also to the
representatives of all the officers and soldiers who fell in
the various actions in the Crimea. My noble friend
will, of course, see, that in order to render this boon of
any value, it is absolutely necessary that the name of
the individual should be engraved upon the medal.
When first the medal was proposed, it was thought it
might be of great advantage to send it out at an early
period to the brave men who had earned it by their
valour; but in granting the medal in the manner it is
now proposed to do, some three or four months must
necessarily elapse before it can be completed, and I hope
this period of delay will not be attributed to neglect on

We are the part of Her Majesty's government. anxiously waiting to complete them, and 1 am sure that the country will approve of what I have now announced. -The Earl of HARDWICKE said that nothing could be more satisfactory or more liberal than the announcement which the house had just heard. At the same time, he must remark that such rewards might be made too cheap, and, so far as the service with which he was was concerned, he was sure that, if the connected medals were indiscriminately given, they would be dessaid that the question raised by Lord Having pised, instead of being prized.-The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH Hardwicke was one of great importance. distributed some 60,000 medals, he was in a position to pronounce an opinion, and he was sure that there was only one rule to be adhered to, and that was to give no medal except for distinguished services under fire. He rejoiced to hear that such rewards were about to be given to the cavalry who were engaged at Balaklava; he rejoiced also that the seamen were to share in that reward; but he hoped that the medal would be given not to all the seamen serving in the Black Sea, but only to such as were actually engaged on shore or in the attack on the 17th of October. He regretted that there should have been any hesitation on the part of the government, for what gallant men, whether they were soldiers or sailors, especially valued was promptitude; and did not such acts of heroism deserve speedy recognition? What soldiers and sailors love (said Lord Ellenborough) is promptitude in the acknowledgment of their gallantry and of the value of their services. They are, of all men in the world, the most sensitive. Honour to them is life; and life without honour is worthless. The thing which most of all others they desire is personal distinction; it is for that that they rush into action, braving wounds and death; and do you think that the men who at Balaklava enacted deeds of heroism to which you can hardly find a parallel, are not deserving of such an acknowledgment as I have named? I can find a parallel to the deeds of Alma, great as those deeds were; I can were still more remarkable than the deeds enacted on find a parallel to the deeds of Inkermann, though they Cavalry has the heights of Alma, but I do not know where I can find a parallel to the deeds of Balaklava. charged artillery before, cavalry has charged infantry on many occasions, and cavalry has charged cavalry, but I know not the instance, although it may exist, in which cavalry has before charged the cavalry, infantry, and artillery belonging to a powerful army in position. I have never heard of such a thing and I do not believe it has existed. How is it, then, that it did not at once leap into the noble duke's mind that it was due to the feelings of our army that they should be rewarded at once as they ought to be rewarded? The medals for Balaklava should have been instantly struck; not a moment's delay ought to have taken place. When Curtius threw himself armed into the gulf in order by the sacrifice of himself to promote the future welfare of his country, he did not do a deed of more desperate fidelity, he did not do an act of more absolute selfdevotion than that done by our cavalry in that memor-the 93rd-under its gallant commander Brigadierable charge. And let me not forget that noble regiment General Campbell, one of the very first officers we have an officer in whom the troops felt a just confidence, and who had the entire confidence of the late Sir C. Napier for more than ten years, and by whom he was designated, on the death-bed of that able general, as one fitted for the command of the army, which I trust he will hold; for I do say that his troops have the fullest confidence in that officer, he had the fullest confidence in them, and it was that mutual confidence which enabled them successfully to resist the charge of that mass of the enemy's cavalry in one single red line, and with that firmness and immovability which has so often secured to us the victory. Let them then, with I assure your lordships I cannot the cavalry, have that medal, for they deserve it. My lords, I say no more. express to you the regret with which I have witnessed the delay in the issuing of this medal, or that there should ever have existed a doubt upon the subject. It does not look well that, there having been a concession of this honour, so justly deserved, the communication of