The 1861 Hansard trawl, featuring guano and the demon drink

What about this for a section heading?:

DRUNKENNESS.—(IRELAND.)

Quite direct, that.  Anyway, to the point:

MR. VINCENT SCULLY said, he would beg to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether his attention has been directed to the committals for drunkenness to local Bridewells in Ireland, under the Act of 6 and 7 Will. IV, c. 38, s. 12, and to the inconvenience of transmitting persons convicted under that Act from distant districts to the common gaol of the county, and whether Government intends to provide any remedy for such inconvenience?

MR. CARDWELL said, that his attention had beon directed to the committals for drunkenness to local Bridewells in Ireland under the Act stated by the hon. Member. He (Mr. Card well) was aware that there was an inconvenience felt of committing persons convicted under that Act from distant districts to the common gaol of the county, and it was the intention of the Government to provide a remedy for that inconvenience.

I imagine that Cardwell intended to remedy 'that inconvenience' by having more bridewells built, rather than leaving drinkers be.


Vincent 'the drinkers friend' Scully was the MP for Cork, and Edward 'not the drinkers friend' Cardwell was the MP for Oxford.  But for the predilection of that electorate, William Makepeace Thackeray would have been the MP and denied Cardwell this particular pulpit, apparently.



A particular undelightful piece of bigotry here:

MR. DENMAN said, he wished to he allowed to make an explanation in regard to a matter which was somewhat of a personal nature. On Monday last he presented a Petition from the Union of Tiverton against the appointment of Roman Catholic Chaplains and Schoolmasters in Union Workhouses. That Petition was presented in the ordinary way, but it so happened, owing no doubt, to some error, that in the Votes of the Proceedings next day that Petition was entered as one in favour of the free exercise of their religion in Workhouses by Roman Catholics. That was exactly the contrary of the prayer of the Petition, which was against the appointment of Roman Catholic Chaplains to Workhouses, and so it appeared in the newspapers.

I think he might have benefited from attending a diversity worshop.... 

Sticking with the past as a foreign country, the, ahem, Lunacy Regulation Bill:

THE MARQUESS OF WESTMEATH thought that some provision ought to be introduced in the Bill to enable some protection to be thrown round persons who, though not of sound mind, were not in such a dangerous state as to render it necessary to treat them as ordinary lunatics. He referred to the recent case of Lord Kingston, who, he said, had been more or less in the present state for the last twenty years. His mania took the form of giving away large sums as alms in indiscriminate charity, whereby he had destroyed his whole fortune.

Elsewhere, parliamentarians talking about what they know best, although normally it is the output of bulls rather than sea birds:

 MR. GREGORY said, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether any Resolution was passed by the Peruvian Congress abolishing the monopoly of consignment of Guano, and offering to sell it free on board at 30 dollars per ton; and if so, why that Resolution was not carried out? He would also beg to ask whether the noble Lord has received any copy of the new American Tariff; and if so, whether he will lay it on the Table of the House?

LORD JOHN RUSSELL  said, he had received a copy of the American Tariff, but it was not quite in such a shape as to be presented to Parliament. With respect to the question relating to Peruvian Guano all the explanation he could give was that the question was raised in the Peruvian Congress, but he was not aware of any decision being arrived at respecting it.

The 1861 Hansard trawl, featuring bad behaviour in Japan and Leicester Square

I'm in the mood for something a bit more vintage than usual, so here goes:

Infringing Japanese law:

MR. ALDERMAN SALOMONS said, he wished to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If he can inform the House of the circumstances under which a British subject has been tried at Kanagawa by a Court composed of the Vice-Consul and three Merchants as assessors; whether the Court so composed agreed in the decision come to, and if the sentenced pronounced by the Vice-Consul was fine, deportation from Japan, and three months' imprisonment at Hong Kong; and, lastly, whether the Court at Hong Kong have pronounced the imprisonment unjust and illegal, in consequence of which the British subject referred to has been discharged from imprisonment.

Come on then, what did he do?

LORD JOHN RUSSELL

said, in answer to the question of his hon. Friend, that the circumstances under which a British subject was tried at Kanagawa were briefly these:—Mr. Moss, the British subject referred to, had gone out shooting, and had killed a wild goose or some other bird. On his way home, when he arrived at Kanagawa, he met certain persons employed by the police of that district, who advanced towards him with their swords. He cocked his gun, and threatened to fire if they advanced; but some other persons behind, employed by the same authorities, took away his gun, which in the struggle went off, and inflicted serious wounds on one or two persons who tried to take it from him.  

Right - so breach of the games laws, resisting arrest and GBH.  I think he got off very lightly, frankly.

Further from Russell, smacking of something half way between the melting pot and salad bowl models of multiculturalism:

Mr. Alcock's representation was that between the question of conforming to the Japanese laws and customs on the one hand, and a certain liberty to the British subjects on the other, a line ought to be drawn; but he said that many of the British subjects in Japan thought themselves entitled to violate the laws of that country, whereby they excited on the part of the Japanese a great deal of resentment and complaint. The merchants, on the other hand, said it was absurd to suppose that all the Japanese customs, their mode of dress, and various other things were to be observed by English residents. That might be perfectly true on their part, but he must say he thought that Mr. Alcock was quite right in saying that while on the one hand a fair liberty should be allowed to British merchants and others engaged in their common pursuits, yet that to set at defiance the laws and customs of the Japanese was a course of conduct that was calculated to lead to very serious results.

The things they got up to in Leicester Square:

MR. BERKELEY said, he rose to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Dement, Whether he is aware that all the London Theatres under the jurisdiction of the Lord Chamberlain were closed on last Saturday evening out of respect to the memory of Her Royal Highness the late Duchess of Kent; whether he is, likewise, aware that all the Music Halls, Salons, Casinos, and the Alhambra in Leicester Square were open upon that day; and whether any attempt will be made by the Executive to prevent the opening of such places on the evening of the funeral of Her Royal Highness; and, if legal means are not existing to accomplish this, whether it is his intention to bring in a Bill for the better ordering of such places of amusement.

Having checked, this particular Duchess of Kent was also known as Mary Louise Victoria, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, or to the then Her Maj, Mummy dearest.  

And the response:

SIR GEORGE LEWIS said, that instructions were given by the Lord Chamberlain for closing the theatres on Saturday last, and he had no reason to doubt that those instructions were all duly complied with. As to that class of entertainments afterwards referred to in the question of his hon. Friend, he could only say that neither the Lord Chamberlain nor the police had any control over them for the purpose of closing them upon such occasions.

I am inclined to think that folk should be left to grieve, or not to grieve in their own ways, and that mourning cannot be compelled.  Somehow I  doubt that Berkeley spent the weekend in sackcloth and ashes praying for the soul of the Duchess
 

A little light 1861 Hansard trawling, featuring plunder, prisons and plugs

From 1861.  An apparent bit of 'After you Cecil...':

"MR. VINCENT SCULLY rose for the purpose of offering an explanation of a statement that fell from him in the debate of the preceding evening. He had quoted a French despatch, stating that the French General had forbidden the forces under his command to commence plundering the Summer Palace of the Chinese Emperor until the English troops had arrived. From knowledge which he had since acquired he was led to believe that the despatch was either not authentic or that its statements were incorrect; and he was ready to acknowledge the correctness of the statement made by the noble Lord on the previous evening. The remarks that he had offered had called forth comments from some of the gentlemen of the press; but he should as soon think of tilting at a windmill as of endeavouring to rebut their hostile comments".

Someone probably hasn't tried gaol food (Neither have I, but I am confident it is not Michelin star standard):

Sir George Lewis "....One day in the beginning of the present month a disturbance occurred while the convicts employed on a small island named St. Mary's, in the Medway, were at dinner. The ten convicts who were implicated in that disturbance alleged as the reason of it the poverty of the soup which was furnished for their dinner. That complaint, however, was entirely unfounded, and was merely a pretext for creating a disturbance".

Plugging one's business in the House?

GENERAL UPTON said, he would now beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, If all means were taken by the Official Director of Electric Telegraph Companies, himself one of the ex officio directors of the Red Sea Telegraph Company, to insure complete and uninterrupted insulation in the Red Sea Telegraph Cable by an efficient and continuous testing of the Cable during the process of its manufacture, as empowered by the agreement entered into with the contractors.—Chairman's Letter of the 28th day of September, 1858?

MR. PEEL said, that he was informed that proper and sufficient measures were taken to test the cable during the whole course of its manufacture. The company had servants of its own resident upon the premises of the contractors, who were exclusively engaged upon the operation of testing the cable.

I'm amazed the General did not mention the competive prices the RSTC offered.