The Express. — London, England, 1853-02-16 00:00:00

IM I'EItIAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF LORI)S.—TULSDAY. Fen. 13, The Luau Cuarroxicia took his seat at t o'eleelt. Ph. I 1 [IONS PK ESEN Is ED. Tua CXONTAL PALM:X.—By the Earl of WICKLOW, from a place in Ciieneall, against the opening of the Crys tal Palace on Xlllld4ro. CONSULIDATID ANNVITILI IX plate in Wicklow against this tax. Ur tvanstre Tam.—By Lord CAMPBELL, from the PrOfTht sad Town Courted of Edinburgh ; and the Mar ask, of LANSISJWN E, from a plats in Scotland, Belfast, Amoy, and another place in Ireland, agaiost University tests. tam . PAP 114.4 —TIF Lord STANLEY of A LI) re It LE Y, and Earl W A LDEGRA E. from places not heard; and the Marquis of LANSDOWNE, from the So osety for the Diflosion of Useful Knowledge, in favour of the free distributioa of parliamentary papers. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. Lord RELIk.soALE moved the fudiwitig alteration in standing order, No. led : In line 34 of the said order, leave out " Proxy fur the ass of each proprietor," and iusert " form of prosy, with proper iustructions for the use of the same ; and the same form of prosy end the same in. etruetiasi, and none other, shall be sent to every such ',re porter ; but r.o such form of proxy stall be stamped, nor shall the funds ut the company be used for the stamping any proxies, del t the company shall at a general meeting determine tofu raise. in which ease a stamped proxy shall be sent to each proprietor, with curls instructions as afore said." Agreed to. CANADIAN CLERGY RESERVES. The Bishop of ENE CER moved for-1. Petition to ler Majesty on the stil•jsct of the clergy reserves in Canada from the Bishop of Montreali and the clergy, &c., of that diccese, in the year 1840; also, 2. The lion-reereet Oaretle of Canada, of May 8, 1849, or any other document in the Colonial-ottics, containing copy of an address to the Gover nor-General of British Norta America, from the ltomish prelates and clergy of Quebec, its the year 1849, and of the &newts- of hie excellency to that address ; also, 3. A list of the bills reamed by the Canadian parliament, whether re served or not, in the year 1819, mid a statement whether, and which of the same were disallowed by her Majssty ; and ale s, 4. Copy of any official letter from the Lord Bishop of Quebec to his Grace the Duke of New castle, one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, on the matter of rleroy reserves in Canada. He felt that Ise owed some exploitation for venturing to bring this subject before their lordships' house at the present time. It might seem otrAage that he was net content to wait for the arrival of that bill en the subject which was to be iutrodueed in the other house of parliament that evening. He thought their lordships' house had a right to express, he would not say complaint, but certainly surpriss, that the suture had not been introduced there. It ema nated from that °thee of which the noble duke below him was at the head, and they might have hoped that he would himself have brought it leeward. Their lordship were no' overburdeued with business in the early part of the session ; and in any matter in which the interests of religion were to deeply cuncerued, it might have been hoped that the bishops would have had an opportunity of expressing their opinions early; far it was very possible that their lordships might have received some instructioas on the subject from that bench. He understood that the bill did not contain any provision which could not have been considered in that house, and that there was nothing in it which interfered with the rights of the 'louse of Commons. If he might conjecture the motive for its being brought forward in the other house, it might be that it was supposed it would have a better chance of success there. But thee. were not the chief reasons why he ventured thus early to call the attention of their lordships to this subject. It was most remarkable that this bill bad been brought forward without the colonies having the slightest motion that any such measure was intended. The whole history of the measure in the colonies had induced them to believe that it was impossible that it could be intro. duced without their having had en opportunity of tepees sine their opinion upon it. Last year, her Majesty's late t returned an answer to the address of the Wee see Amustity of Omsk, saying that they could not erection the Ws which bad been introduced. They were teld that this was the resolution of the late govern meat, who wore impressed with a sense of what they owed to the best interests of the colony and of the empire. But it was soon afterwards found that the administration which had shown such readiness to do the colonies justice weeks placed. They had, however, the fullest confidence that no other course could be pursued by their successors in office, for they saw that the new government had for its head • nob!, earl w brae whole life had been engaged in upholding the proteetaat religion, and supporting the institutions of the country. After entering into the history of the question the right rev. prelate proceeded to say—by the eonstitn tional act parlismeet and the crown guaranteed to the protestant clergy that "in all time to come " those were the very words—there should be that provision for the protestant religion in the provinces of Canada. Unfortunately the provision was not sufficient to supply churches for the increasing number of inhabitants, and the natant' consequence vastest a godless population arose—a population that had ceased to have any feeling-of attach ment to the church, because there had been no means of extendisg to them the great plan of the English parochial system. The result was that an agitation sprang up; hat theft was no agitation whatever in Lower Canada till the end of the year 1849; and it was sorely too much to my that they ought to sacrifice to an sgitation of three years' dilation the claims of reason and justice, and the public faith of the country. In the Upper Province the agitation had existed a little longer; but me late as 1846 the principal leader of it declared that it was inv possible to reconsider the question, for it most be looked on as finally settled. (Hear, bear.) Were their lordships, then. prepared to accede to the prin ciple, that an agitation of four years ought to be allowed its denude? That would be rather en awkward precedent. Canada was not the only country where agitation prevailed. It was sometime to be found nearer home. He (the right reverend prelate) hoped that the government was prepared to maintain the church of Ireland; but they would awn redly acid greatly to their difficulties in doing so, if they gave this encouragement to those who were clamouring for Its destruction. (Hear, hear.) The noble duke (the Duke of Newcastle) amid that this was a question wady for the Canadian legislature to deal with; but that Ireland, being Represented in the English parliament, mut be content with the decision, of parliament. Now if he (the right rev. prelate) chanced to be an Irish Ro asanist he should exult at the prospect of the puce dent that was proposed to be set, and still more so at the radon given for it. Were any of their lordships prepared to advise their sovereign to violate her coronation oath, in which she had sworn to maintain inviolate the rights of the church of England and of the presbytery of Scotland, not only in these islands, but in all ' the dominions belonging thereto? It had been said that this oath did not bind her Majesty in her legislative cepa city ; but the truth was, if plain words were to have a plain meaning, and if they traced the history of the oath itself, they would find that that was precisely the capacity in which it did bind her. (Hear, hear.) Would they go, then, to her Majesty and recommend her to assent to a measure which would have the effect of extinguishing all the provision which had been made for the church in Ca nada? If there were no stronger reason against each a step, they would find reason enough if they only looked at the position of the Roman catholic church in that country. The whole provision made for the protestant church, at least In the upper province, was only 20,0004 a year, and there was a regulation that of that fund no clergyman should receive of it more than 1001. spear. Surely it was of the highest importance not to withdraw that small assistance Miss • poor but lacreasing church in the face of a powerful and wealthy community like the Roman catholic body. Why the estates belonging to St. finlike, lad g iven to them, too, by the British government, were worth 60,0001. Were there, then, any reasons why the possessions of the Roman catholic church should be held more sacred than those of their own ? It was quite true that, by the treaty of 1763, the faith of this country was pledged per the maintenance of the Roman catholic religion ; and he hoped that nothing, not 'even the provocation of confiscating the lossessions of the protestant church, would ever induce their ordship to be consenting parties to a breach of that faith. But then the faith of the men of England was no lees pledged to the loyalists of Canada, who had been obliged to ay from their country to a land where the thought they had found a home, and, what they valued more, an altar. (Hear, hear.) Ile rejoiced to point to the example which had been set us by a country which had sprung from ourselves—thet tilted States of America. They w ere not bound by the treaty of 1763 to respect the church endowments ; but they bad nevertheless regarded them as sacred. Almost the only en dowments for religious worship that were recog nised by the state were these for the members of that church, which was in communion with the Church of Eng land. In the city of New York there was an ancient en dowment by the mown of England, which was now worth 3,000,000 dollars, sad that was still enjoyed by the mem bers of the Anson= church. In the state of Vermont. there having lessis as body of churchmen, the state occupied the ludo asaw bet at length, there was one established in that Mehl . (Hear, hear.) The church immediately took prossoffisp at law to recover its rights, and the courts allowed the claim. (Hear, hear.) Why then were they to be told that England was to be the country that was to be the first to say that the property of the church should be taken away from it ? Ile thought he had made out a case which the noble duke would say was at least sufficient to Iced him to great the papers that he mend for. The Duke of NEWCASTLE was not about to complain of the coarse which the right reverend prelate had thought it his duty to take on the present occasion. At the same time, their lordships would recollect that at the present moment not only was there no measure before them, but probably at that very moment a right honourable friend of his was stating to the other Louse of parliament the details of the measure which the government was about to introduce. The right reverend prelate had througho ut his speech argued as if the measure they were about to in troduce was one, as he termed it, of confiscation. Before be went into that subject, he would notice a remark of the right reverend prelats—that the measure ought to have been first introduced int r their lordship.' house. be admitted there was no direct parliamentary requiring it, he believed precedent would have justified the cosine government had pursued; end, if he wanted • further reason, it would Le found in the attitude of the benches of that house at this period of the session, when but few of their lorileMps gave their attendance. He (the Duke of Newcastle) centei.ded that this nausure was not the consequeuce of successful agita tion, hat of the great principle that sellgoverement could act be withheld from the colonies without great detriment from • to this country. He should abstain as much as passable from going into the deeds of the measure until it came be fore their lordship., but he should then show that from Int but one course and one view bed been taken in this coontry, and that there was neither brooch of faith, ate contheation, nor sacrilege in the matter. With regard to the arm asked for he would my, in refernice to the letter of the Bishop of Montreal, that he hail read it with all the deference due to the high character of that right rev. pre late, and he found in it many assertions he could not admit, and • amounts which it would be his duty on a future occa sion to controvert. The right rev. prelate spoke of this measure as one of sacrilege. If sacrilege was not • ques tion of degree but of principle, and if this measure were one of sacrilege, what was the measure of 1840 ? This mea-ore only proposed to take the power of legislating with regard to the clergy reserves from one body and give it to another. Tie act of 1840, which the right rev. prelate supported, devoted • large portion of the reserves not merely to other purposes but to secular pur poses. Moreover, the late government proposed to sanction a redistribution, which must necessarily be adverse to the church of England. Ile said, therefore, the right reverend prelate was as guilty of sacrilege as they would be, even if they confiscated these reserves. The whole querion in volved in the measure suss, whether this was to be a colo nial or an impelial question If they gave the colony re spoesible government, was this to be an isolated measure which they were not to meddle with ? The Bishop of Mon treal said the clergy wished to re-open the act of 1840, but it could not be re-opened fur one purpose and held to be final for another. The whole question now stood on different grounds from the grounds stated by the right rev, prelate, and be felt confident their lordships would came to the conclusion with him, that this question must be settled at once, and in the way proposed by her Majesty's ministers. The right rev. prelate dwelt on the coronation oath. If this measure passed her Majesty would have precisely the same veto on the coniscation of the reserves as she had now. Then the right rev. prelate entered into a comparison of the condi tion of the church of England and the church of Rome. lie had greatly exaggerated the wealth of the Roman catholic church in Canada. It was precisely on the same footing, as regarded being dealt with by the colonial legis‘ature as the clergy reserves would be if this measure passed. The treaty which was referred to went fur little more than to protect the worship by the rites of the Roman catholic church in Canada. The right rev. prelate was mistaken in the use he had made, in his argument, of the fast that the Roman catholic church had been partially maintained in Canada by tithes. These tithes were not levied, as in England, upon the whole community, but solely upon the Roman catholic commu nity and, in fact, when a Roman catholic changed his re ligion, immediately he was entitled to refuse the further payment of tithes. And in tipper Canada, upon tithes being abolished by the legislature, the Roman catholic church received a grant out of these very clergy reserves ; and was receiving 1,6)01. n-year out of those reserves, at this moment ; so that so far, that church stood . on the same ' footing as the church of England. There had been great mystification and misrepresentation on this subject which it was to be hoped the discussions about to take place in parliament would remove ; and great as was the firmness of character distinguishing the right rev. prt late, he (the noble duke) did trust that the right rev. prolate would find reason to change, to some extent, the views be had expressed. At all events, he trust( d many of the right rev. bench would agree to look at this ques tion, not as affecting the church of England alone, but as a great national and colonial question. He did not admit the soundness of the argument which was based upon a state of things in the United States ; and at any rate he was satisfied that if men were frankly and freely left to manage affairs of that kind as being completely in their own jurls diction, they would be much more likely than if the con cession was extorted to deal fairly with prier engagements. It was clear that in such matters the British parliament could only act on the clear principle of colonial self-govern ment in all questions of internal administration; and even without reference to the result, which he did not admit would be unsatisfactory, be should be prepared to take that course which her Majesty's government were about to take in this direction. Of the importance of discussing the ques tion fairly end candidly there could be but one opinion ; and it was obvious that the issue would depend entitely upon the conciliatory tone and feeling adopted in both houses. Lord DESART regretted the unavoidable absence of Lard Derby on this occasion, that noble earl having been very anxious to make some bservations on this miner. He (Lord Desert), for his own part, begged to thank the right rev. prelate for having called attention to the question, for it was wry desirable that the publioshould be made sensible of what he could not but regard as a great blow at protein testis= in Canada. He said this, because it bad been made a secret that thew who were advocating the resump tion of the clergy reserve,, welly hatinnled to divert the fund from ecclesiastical purposes altogether; and it was on that ground that Sir John Fakington, in the despatch re. fined to, had declined to entrust the disposal of the fund to an rccidental majority in the Canadian legislature. It was generally supposed, in diecussiog the matter in this country, that a large majority of the Canadian legislature was in favour of the disturbance of the settlement of 1840; but it was overlooked that those in favour of the settiement were the members from Upper Canada; sad those were the members whose opinions should miry the most weight, for those who represented the Frank awl Raman catholic po ' polation had no interest Is dm esoilhanienes of the reserves; and it was also to be elterned dal the practical minority represented a numerically larger onnatintency than the ma jority. The returns were then ordered. THE MERCANTILE MARINE LAWS t _ _ In answer to a question pat, pursuant to notice, by Lord COLCRINITIS, whither it WY the intention of the present government to lay before the house any consolidation or amendment of the laws relating to the Mercantile Marine, such having been the intention of the late government, Lord STANLEY (of Alderlsry) replied that Mr. Card well had given notice of his intention to state to the House of Commons the view* of the government on that subject ; and therefore, for the present, he (Lord Stanley) thought it would be inexpedient to answer the question. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—TuzaDAI, FEB. lb. The Srsairm took the chair at the usual hour. Several private bills were introduced. ELECTION COMMITTEES Sir J. TROLLOPE brought up reports from the general committee of elections, nominating the committees to sit on the petitions in the came of Bridgnorth, Tavistock, Lan caster, and Canterbury; *saunas lan boos already pub lished. THE EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 16, 1853. should apt being in a bill every year. He thought it saw& better to do that than to enact a great amount of machinery at mu . which might not work, and which crested a great expense, and consequently a cry against the measure itself. Very recently, in the other house of paeliament, Lord St. Leoaardespoke against a registration of deeds. And what he wanted was not a registration of deeds, but a registra tion of titles, which was a thing totally different. They might afterwards, if thought desirable, have a registration of deeds. Lord St. Leonard' said that this question of re gistration introduced a most important social question—that it involved every question on which depended the internal prosperity and social order of the country; and that the object of these measures was to prevent family settle. meats, and preclude those dignities and distinctions which were enjoyed by the nicmhers of their lordships' hou.c. Now although it was for the public good that the members of the House of Lords should be possessed of large estates, it did not follow that because they had entailed estates, that ordinary men should follow their example and en t a il t h e i r estates likewise. His lordship said that no man could prove that • geoeral registration of deeds would shorten by a single line the conveyance of land. No; but an entry of titles on a register would shorten it because it made the title plain and undisputable, and a man could convey his land to a purchaser by a simple alteration in the register. Ile thought he had said enough to convey a Reineal idea of the bill, which he now moved for leave to bring in. HEADLAM, in seconding the motion, said that the hen. gentleman deserved the thanks of the house and the public for his unwearied perseverance in endeavouring to faci litate the sale and transfer of land and providing a registration of titles. The hon. gentleman now brought forward the sub ject uuder different circumstances from those under which he brought it forward before,and he trusted that the govern ment would take from this bill of the hon. gentleman what was good if they brought in a bill of their own on the subject. He bad the strongest possible opinion of the benefits which the country would derive from a well-con ceived scheme for facilitating the transfer of land, fur it was impossible to exaggerate the evils which occurred from the difficulty of transferring it. At present great labour and expense were incurred in ascertaining the title to land, and after all, there was uncertainty cf title. The courts of law afforded many instances of cases in which it appeared that parties had purchased estates with heavy iucum brancer, which were not known to exist. If the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed in his financial statement to put a tax on the transfer of stock, making it as difficult and ex. pensive as the transfer of real estate, every holder of stock would feel that his property was materially depreciated, and yet the practical effect of the law affecting real estates was the same as such a tax on the transfer of stock would be. He wished to impress on the house, in consequence of what had been said elsewhere, that neither this bill nor • bill for the registration of deeds, would in the slightest de gree affect the control which every owner of real estate bad over his property. There might be objections to the bill, but no objection of this description could arise. Neither did the argument as to the exposure of family affairs apply, for at the present moment, when stock was invested in the hands of trustees, and made the subject of settlements, the .deeds were concealed and the settlements were not pub lished to the world. Yet stock was a subject of easy vague fer and in the same way real estate might be transferr e d without the exposure of family affairs, and at the same time fetch its full value. He would not pretend to go into the details of the measure, but he heard enough of it to give it a hearty and warm support. He had no doubt that the object of his hon. friend could be carried out, if not by one bill, by a succession of bills. (Hear, hear.) Mr. HUdll3 said that as the bill was only permissive, it would not be of that use which otherwise it might be. The present system entailed a great loss on landed proprietors. btolieved that there was a difference of two years and a half perchese in the sale of an estate in Scotland and an estate of equal value in England. With this fact before it, it was extraordinary that a nation which boasted of its good sense had so long tolerated so vicious • system. He was present when an estate is Belgium was conveyed in five minutes. Any plan that would introduce similar facilities in the sale and transfer of land is England would confer the greatest benefit on the public, and on the owners of real property. Leave was then given to bring in the bill. THE CLEIfOY RESERVES IN CANADA. Mr. F. PEEL said he rose to ask for leave to introduce a bill which should empower the legislature of Canada to oxen's, a control over the provisions which then regulated the arrangement of the clergy reserves in that colony ; and he trusted that the house would bear is mind how impor tant that question was, and how great an interest the peo- ple of that province felt in it, if, in doing his best to pat the house in possession of the precise nature of the bill, he trespassed for some little time upon its attention. (Hear, bear.) The clergy reserves constituted a fund of no incon siderable magnitude. They took their origin from a period as far back as the year 1791. At that time the province of Canada was divided in two parts; and in the place of the single council of government which had legislated for the whole province, there were substituted two representative' legislatures, one for each province ; and in the act knows as the Constitutional Act, which made that alteration in the constitution of Canada, it was provided that wh the crown disposed of its waste lands one-seventh of the value should be reserved for the benefit of the protestant clergy. Now, under that provision land continued to be reserved for a period of fifty years, and in 1340 an act was pared which was a bar to any further reservations of land. But in the course of those fifty years a very great quantity of land was reserved, a great portion of which had no doubt been sold; and at the present time the clergy reserves con sisted partly of land, and partly of investments in the funds of this country and of Canada, which had arisen from the disposition of land originally reserved for this pupas. Now the manner in which this fund was appropriated was this. Ite revenue was applied to the payment of the stipends of ministers of different denominations. It was not the fact that those denominations participated in the fund in pro- portion to their relative numbers, or to the strength of each denomination ; for it would be found that, notwithstanding the change which took place in the year 1840, the esta blished churches of England and of Scotland de rived by far the greatest advantage from the ex istence of the fund. He would read an extract fkom a despatch of Lord Elgin, accompanying what was known as the Blue Book for the year 1851, which showed how the clergy reserves were appropriated in that year. In 18.51, it appeared, the clergy of the church of England, in the two provinces, received about 12,00 W., while the population professing their religion amounted altogether to about a quarter of a million. The church of Scotland received at the same time 6,5001., having a popu lation of 61,000. The United Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Upper Canada received 4641 ; the Roman catho lic church, 1,3691.; the Wesleyan Methodists, 6391. Now, open what authority was this distribution m ade ? It was Mile on the authority of an act of parliament passed in the year 1840; and as that act, and the circumstances which preceded and led to the passing of it, were considered to have a very important bearing on the conclusion which ought to be arrived at in the present day, ho would give a short summary of the proceedings. (Hear, hear.) The great bulk of the clergy reserves were in the province of Upper Canada. In consequence of a term used in the Constitutional Act of 1791—the term " rotestaat clergy"— the church of England advanced, and succeeded in este blushing down to the year 1810, an exclusive claim to the advantages of that fund. Now, the majority of the popu lation of Upper Canada professed a religion which wu not that of the church of England ; and it was not surprising, lihseefore that the monopoly of that church gave rise to seasiderible jealousy and agitation in the legisl f the province. The house would find that from about the year 1823, when the reserves first began to be of value, and were ant sold, down to the year 1840, there were continual pro longing' in the legislature of Upper Canada. They would Mad 'notions, addresses, resolutions, bills, passing through the House of Assembly ; at one time urging the admission of other denominations to • participation in the ad- vantages of this religious endOwnstnit, at another time proposing that the reserves should be applied to secular purposes. The legislative council of the province never concurred in the views of the House of Assembly. The two branches of the legislature were continually at vari ance, they could not be brought to acquiesce even in any compromise on the question; and in the year 1835, the legislative council, despairing of coming to any terms with the House of Assembly, proposed that the whole question should be referred to this country, and that the imperial parliament should put an end to the difference. Now it was important to notice the words In which Lord Glenelg, who at that tines wax the colonial minister, answered this application. This was an extract from his dexpatch, in the Parliamentary Papers of the year 1840, No. 200 The chief practical question is, whether her Majesty should be advised to recommend to parliament the assump tion to itself of the office of deciding on the future appropriation of these lands. There are two distinct reasons both of which appear to me conclusively to forbid that course of proceeding ; first of all, that parliamentary legislation, on any subject of exclusively internal concern, in any British colony possessing a representative assembly, is, as a general rule, unconstitutional." (Hear, hear.) He gave another reason, which was, that the constitutional act of 1791 had previously left this subject to be dealt with by the local legislature of the province. That was the im pression which prevailed at that time, and down to the year 1810; and he would show immediately that it arose from an erroneous construction of the act of 1791. Well, the legislature of Canada being thus prompted by the colo nial minister, again entered upon the discussion of the question. lie found that between 1835 and 1839 bills again passed through the House of Assembly, to which the legislative council refused its assent ; and that in the year 1839, both houses con curred in a measure vesting these lands, free from any conditions, he thought, in the crown, and at all events re ferring the question to the Imperial Parliament. At that time the noble lord the leader of the house was the colo nial minister, and this ens the language in which he replied to the proposal: " I cannot admit," he said, " that there exists in this country greater facilities than in Upper Ca nr.da for the adjustment of this controversy; on the con trary,tbe provincial legislature will bring to the decision of it an extent of accurate information upon the wants and gene. cal opinions of society iu that country in which parliament is unavoidably deficient." Thus, a second time the colonial minister refused to advise parliament to deal with this question and referred it back to the colonial legislature. , He found that upon receiving this second invitation the ' twolhouses did succeed is agreeing to a measure, owing is I a great degree to the tact and parliamentary management Of Lord Sedenham ; and the bill, which passed the Rouse of Assembly by a narrow majority, gave the House of Atteem bly much more favourable terms than could have been ex pected from the previous action of that house in referent* ito the subject. That bill came to th 6 country, and in ac cordunce with the constitution it had to he on the table of both housis 30 days before receiving the royal sanction. It was objeeted by the Bishop of Exeter that the legislature of Upper Canada had exceeded its powers in dealing with this question, the Constitutional Act of 1791 giving them RAILWAY AMALGAMATIONS. Mr. CARDWELL moved—" That no railway bills con taining any powers of amalgamation, lease, working arrange ment*, or other combination of interests between different companies, be read • second time before the 14th day of March next." Re said it was the object of the committee now sitting on the subject of railway amalgamations to ensure to the house the greatest possible bene fit from the inquiry they had been appointed to conduct, and at the suss time to inflict on them per sons whose bills would, in consequence of their inquiry, be delayed for • short time, the smallest possible amount of inconvenience. For alit purpose, they had summoned be fore them two exptrieseed parliamentary agents—the chair man and late chairman of that body—and bad examined them as to the inconvenient* which might arise from any such resolution as this. Upon the malt of that examine tion the committee had come to the cosselusion that, if they permitted the promoters to read their bills a second time before Easter SO keg before SS to allow time for presenting petitions ag ainst them also before the Easter recess, the in convenience would be limited to the smallest possible amount; and, as regarded the proceedings of that house, it would be scarcely appreciable at all. Another source of inconvenience had been anticipated, bat that was not a ma terial consideration. The committee felt that they had no alternative but to ask for some limited postponement of the second readings of the bills, and that the proposal now made was the smallest amount of inconvenience that could be inflicted on the par ties promoting the bills. This wen the unanimous deci sion of the committee. Since coming into the house he bad been requested to add some words to the motion, whioh he thought might be safely done. Some bills con tained clauses for amalgamation in conjunction with other clauses, which formed by far the most important portion of the bills; and the promoters would be willing to abandon the amalgamation clauses rather than incur any risk as to the more saleable part of the bills. He thought it would be right to permit them to do so. It hail a'so been stag nated that there was the possibility of a technical distinc tion being made as to bills including both canals and rail ways. He would, therefore, propose the motion in the following form That no railway or canal bills containing any powers of amalgamation, lease, work ing arrangement, or other combination of in terest between different companies be read a second time before the lith day of March next ; unless the parties in terested in promoting such bills shall elect to proceed with the tame upon the terms of striking out all such elutes as contain any powers of amalgamation, lease, working arrangement, or combination of interests as afore sad." Mr. F. MACKENZIE asked whether this resolution would apply t, bills brought in to form new companies —as, where a rompany was formed to establish a branch line, which was afterwards to be amalgamated with some other line. Mr. CARDWELL said it was intended so to apply. Mr. J. WOREGOR expressed his entire concurrence in what had fallen tram Mr. Cardwell, and his belief that the greatest benefit would result to the railway Interest from the labours of the proposed committee. That interest had now become so complicated, that it could only be dealt with by imperial legislation. After a conversation the motion was agreed to. PUBLIC BUSINESS. PETITIONS PRESENTED. PARLIAMENTARY PAPIRS.—By Sir JAS. ANDERSON, from the memben of the Stirling School of Art 4; Mr. MUNDY, from the Ashburn. Literary Im'itution; Mr. LOCKE KING, from the Readiag-rooms of Norwood; Mr. 0 LYN, from the London and North Western Reilway Association; praying for the distribution of parliamentary reports and pipers. eatrr Counrs IN SCOTLAND.—By Sir JAMES AN DERSON, from the Town Council of Queensferry, praying for reforms in. CRYSTAL PALACE.—By Mr. MUNDY, from Edlaston, Derbyshire, against the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sunday. POOR DEBTORS IN THE QCZEN'S PRISON. By Mr. I'UGII, from Montroastryshire Quarter Sessions, praying to ha relieved from the payment of money for the relict of poor debtors in the Queen's Prison. CARRIAOR Durx.By Mr. BLACKETT, from the inmehmaken of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for the repeelof. MATROOTH Gmaxx.—By Mr. S. WADDINOTON, from Clare, Suffolk, against. ATTORNEYS' CERTIPICATI DUEL—By Mr. P. BEN NET, from Stowmarket, against. EDWARD blunttax.—By Lord D STUART, two from inhabitants of Marylebone, praying for government inter• fereneo on behalf of Edward Murray, condemned to the galleys for life by the government of the Pope. SOAP DUTT.—By Mr. TURNER, from Liverpool, for a repeal of this duty. Larrsit-Cauatens.—By Mr. T. DUNCOMBE, from 232 places, complaining of the letter-carriers being re stricted from soliciting Christmas•boxes. Captain SCO BELL, from Bath, and Mr. MOFFATT, front two places, with the same prayer. INTIRCOLONIAL ParcT POSTAOR.—By Mr. G. HAD FIELD, from Sheffield; Mr. BRIGHT, from a place in Wiltshire, in favour of the above object. Ractotous EQUALITT.—By Sir E. DERING, from a place in Kent, praying that every religious body should support its own institutions. TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE —By Mr. HADFIELD, from Sheffield, for the repeal of these taxes. TRW COLONIAL Cuuncrt.—By the Marquis of BLAND FORD, from inhabitants of the Cape, arrair.st a septvation of the church in the colonies from the mother church. COUNTY RATES.—By Mr. W. DROWN, from the poor law guardians of Prestwich, (or control over the levying and expenditure of the county rates. Amin., or TVREET.—By Lord D. STUART, from Marylebone, for the interference of the government in the affairsof Turkey and Montenegro. CORN AVIRAOES.—By Sir G. PECIIELL, from a mar ket town in Sussex, complaining of the present mode of taking the corn averages. NOTICES OF MOTION. LEOACT AND PROBATE DUTT.-Mr. W. WILLIAMS, on the Ist of Much, to call the attention of the houw to the injustice of exempting real property from paying pro bate and legacy duty, while those duties aro paid by per sonal property; and to move that, in the opinion et the house, real property should be made to ply the same amount of those duties as is now levied on personal pro perty. (Hear, hear.) ELECTION PETITIONS.-Mr. L. KING, to move that a select committee be nominated by the General Committee of Elections, to inquire into every ease in which an elec tion petition is withdrawn, on what ground it was pre sented, and on what ground it was withdrawn, and to re. port thereon to the house. (Cheers ) Sumps Ow THE NOVELLO.-261r. MUNI Z, on the lit of March, to move for • select committee to impure into the seizure of the Novelle. Mr. G. MOORE, on the 3rd of March, to bring forward the motion now standing in his name on the notice book. Lxruut-Cannisna.—Mr. T. DUNCOMBE, on the 3rd of Much, to call attention to the grievances of the letter curlers of Gre►t Btjtsin and Ireland, and to move a resolu tion declaring that their salaries are insufficient. ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS.—Mr. COLLIER, let Much, to move for a select committee to inquire whether the eccle siastical courts may net be advantageously abolished, their jurisdiction over all matters not purely eccletiutical trans ferred to other tribunals, and new courts esta►lished to deal with matters pure:y ecclesiastical ; also, whether the juris diction of the Admiralty Court may not be advantageously transferred to local tribunals. ANTT•MILITIA PLACARDIL—Mr. lIINDLEY, to ask whether the government intends to proceed with the prose cution commenced against certain parties for exhibiting pla cards animadverting on the Militia Bill. APPAIRE OP TURILY, ITC.—Lord D. STUART, on Ist March, to call attention to the affairs of Turkey, and the war going on in Montenegro. Tits Bums.' Wan..—Mr. HUME, on Thursday, to ask for papers about the Burmese war. LAW OF SETTLEMENT. Mr. P. SCROP E asked t meant to in troduce any measure this session for the alteration or aboli tion of the law of settlement? Viscount PALMERSTON said the subject was one of great importance to which the attention of the government would be anxiously directed ; but he could not say whether they should be prepared to legislate on it this season or not. THE INCOME TAX. Mr. HUME said be wished to ask what were the real intentions of the government as to the income tax. The 1 reports in the public papers as to what was said by the noble lord (Russell) en Thursday night differed ; and he there fore wished the noble lord would state whether the govern ment meant to postpone the question of the income to altogether, by simply re-enacting it for a year, or whether they meant to continue it with some alterations. Lord J. RUSSELL said he was very glad to have the opportunity of explaining what he really did say on that occasion. It bad been supposed that he had stated that it was the intention of the government to propose the renewal of the income tax without alteration. What he had said was, that if the government were to introdace a reform bill In the course of the present year, in that event it would be necessary to propose the continuance of the income tax without any alteration for a short period. Dot as they had not taken that course, he stated that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would, immediately after Easter, on laying before the house the financial statement for the year, state what were the intentions of the government with respect to the income tax and the budget of the year. (Rear, hear.) Until the Chancellor of the Exchequer made that statement it was not the intention of the government to gin any further information on the subject. (" Hear, hear," and laughter.) Mr. HUME said, as that wee the ease, he should take the opportunity on Friday of asking whether them would be any objection to the renewal of the committee on the income tax. THE SPANISH DECREE. Lord J. RUSSELL brought up the correspondence with the minister at Madrid on the nteject of the decree against professing any but the Roman catholic religion in Spats. Sir R. INOLlB—Perhaps the noble lord will more that those parers be printed. The motion was made and agreed to. SALE AND PURCHASE OF LAND. Mr. H. DRUMMOND, in moving for leave to introduce a bill to facilitate the sale and purchase of land, said that everyone agreed uto the importance of this subject; the only question was as to the means by which the desired object could be effected. Until the owners of land agreed upon this, it would be impossible to place them upon the same footing as the holden of other property. Oman= must remember what was the origin of tonne. It was derived from times when the of land involved with it military service. k°Zllli llls sie q uesca of military tenure was, that there were meg trees in which estates were left in the hands of wanon, who were not allowed to marry without the consent of the Brown; and in the case of landed proprietors they tMild not, it they wanted money, obtain it, because they mild not give ts land as security for the money bor. sawed. But the lawyers stepped in to their relief, and aid them that though they could not give the land as se. wait ht they could give every blade of grass or ear of corn it grew, or, as it was called, the usufruct of the Lad. This state of things continued after the circumstances eat of which it arose ceased to exist, and it must be obvious that a system of landed tenure such as he had described alrast be wholly_ luspylisahle to the present state of society ; sal eaimattlis tale e =stess osassated to make some shame they fan{ seam the evil oossequences of so vicious a spasm Al present, It the owner of a cer tain quantity of laud allied to dispose of it, he had to peeve hie title sue, Agee that a purchaser came forward, whisk was a angst d great trouble and expense. By the ti which lie 111141 prspeeed it was provided that when the litle of an estate was once examined bye competent tribu• ask, that title should be good for ever. (Hear, hear.) He Phll ass act in this matter from any fancy or imagination dlia own, for it was declared by a resolution of the House elks& that they were convinced that the market valve end property was diminished by the tedious and expert. aleajeinese attending the transfer of land, and they im panel ea the keen Ike aeseesity of reconsidering the whole saline a the ammayeess of land, and were of opinion that a registrades if Mee was seismal to the success of any attempt at simplifying the system of conveyances." The real property semmissionen made the earns recom mendation. All that be asked the bow* to do now sou allow him to bring in a bill, in compliance with the resoln• lion of the House of Lords, backed by the real property commission, for the registration of titles. He had already described how the Brat tenure of land arose. That system began to give way about the time of Henry V 111.. when there was an enrolment of deeds. This was repeated in the time of Elisabeth and James. In 1703 the enactment for Yorkshire was made ; is 1708 that for Middlesex ; in 1728 the bill for Surrey was broujiht in. In 1739 the House of Lords dirtcted the Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench to bring in a Registration Bill. That bill passed both Houses of Parliament, and it was lost simply in consequence of a prorogation. It was that bill of 1739 that he was now seine upon. That same bill was brought in u soon as the next parliament aseambled, and it was lost in the House of Commons merely by a majority of one. Nothing was done slam that period till 1813, when Sir S. Romilly took up the subject. In 1830 it was again t iken up by Lord Campbell, and repeated is 1831, 1833, 1834, aid 1845, when Lord Campbell again introduced a bill into the House of Lords on the subject. It might be considered presumptuous in him to criticise a bill on such a subject prepared by Lord Campbell. Yet he doubted whether the hone did not act wisely in rejecting his bill; because although it made an alteration in the present practice, it was only a substitution of one cumbrous machinery for another, and would saddle thou with a still greater expense. He believed that t h e mrest fault of the bill was, that it endeavoured beforehaa to provide all the machinery which would he necessary to work it ; whereas, in matters of this kind, the simpler the bill the better, and then the machinery could be gradually aitapted to it, as experience pointed out its necessity. It did not follow that because a man was a great lawyer, that he mast best know the means of arriving at • certain result, even in matters of this kind. In illustration of this, he could mention an anecdote of the late Lord Eldon. Ho (Mr. Drummond) pointed out to the late Sir R. Peel a clause in a certain bill which was nonsense. Sir IL Peel desired him to ',nation it to Lord Yarborough (as we un derstood) who had charge of the measure. This he did ; and he was then told, that " Old Eldon had taken the matter into his own hands, had prepared the bill, and made non. sense of it." (Hear, hear, and laughter.) The bill of 1739 enacted that the Master of the Rolls should be the registrar. But as the Master of the Roils of the pre.ent day had too much to do, he was of opinion that they must conetituto a new officer for that purpose. He was to have the decision of all points connected with the sutject, and would provide the necessary machinery for carrying it out. Even if this bill passed, it would he necessary to come to , parliament again. He saw no reason why they no authority for that purpose. Upon that, the question was referred to the judges, who replied in these words: " We are all of opinion that the effect of the 410th section of the Act of 1791 •is prospective, and that the power thereby vested in the legislative council and House of Assembly of either province cannot be ex tended to effect lands which have already been appropriated." Well, under those circumstances nothing of course remained but to bring into parliament a bill em bodying the principle of the bill passed through the legis lature of Canada at the instigation of the colonial minister. That bill was brought in. It was a period in the history of Canada when it was of the utmost importance that there should be as much unanimity as possible with regard to all measures affecting Canada; and, therefore, the bill under went considerable modification, and as finally passed it was much more favourable to the churches of England and Scotland than even the bill assented to by the colonial legislature. Now, at that time it was hoped that the act of 1810 might be regarded as bevies finally disposed of this troublesome question. He himself thought it would have been better to have anticipated what had occurred. They might have foreseen that differences of opinion, based on principle, could not possibly be prevented from bursting out merely through being kept down by the weight of an act of parliament. Now, let them observe the state of things in Canada. Since 1840 twelve years had passed by, and events had been crowded in a new country which might have occupied en age in an old one. In that time the population had nearly doubled; the different religious denominations had been now going ahead, now falling inte the rear, in proportion as immigration brought an accession to one creed or another; and surely nothing could be more natural than that a desire should be entertained for a readjustment of the arrangement made so far back as 1840. Take the case of the presbyterians. in connexion with the national church of Scotland. Why, they had lost more than half their numbers since 1340. Be tween 1840 and 18.50 a schism took place in that church, and extended to the colonies ; and he found that the free church of Scotland had now more followers in Canada than t- e national church. It was very natural, too, that the Wesleyan body, having 100,000 members in communion, should wish to share in the reserves to a greater extent. There had also been desires expressed for the secularisation of these reserves. But, be the force of public opinion in the colony what it might, the legislature had no means of ex pressing that opinion ; there was an insuperable obstacle in the act of 1840, mid the object of this bill was to remove that bar. lie was anxious to obtain precisely what was the object of the bill. They (the government) did not intend by it in any way to alter the present condition of things. They left the different denominations in the colony not certainly on the same footing on which they hail hitherto stood, but in the same relations which they had hitherto borne to each other. All that they proposed to do was to vest in the legislature of Canada the power of altering the existing arrangement. It would, be thought, be precipitate to anticipate that the clergy reserves would of necessity, in consequeuce of this concession, he alienated from religious purposes, and secularised by the legislature of Canada. There were in that country people who thought,as he did, that in a new colony, perhaps even more than in an old one, it was of the greatest importance to have a public provision ap plicable to the payment of the stipends of ministers of reli in. gi lt was only where there was a provision of that kind that they could secure the presence of clergymen and the ministration of public worship in every community, however poor, however remote from the seat of government. And they ought not to forget that the clergy and laity of the church of England and of other denominations in that country, who were interested is the maintenance of these reserves for religious purposes, composed by no means an inconsiderable minority. The following very just remark was made by Lord Elgin in one of his despatches :—" There is this evil in the present gement. Those who are in communion with the churches particularly benefited by this fund, instead of trying to influence the public mind in this colony, are continually looking to opinion iu the other country, and are content to take shelter under the shadow of the act of parliament." (Hear, hear.) There were good grounds for anticipating that if left to themselves they would be able to make their own opinions shared in by ethers. He perceived that at the last general election, in December, 18.51, by putting forth their strength they sue , seeded in carrying no less than 9 of the elections, displacing "rem the legislature some of those who had taken a most prominent and active part in advocating the secularisation of the reserves. (Hear, hear.) And therefore he was not altogether without hope that the party who was interested N the existing appropriation of this fund would be able to bend the colonial legislature into taking the direction which they thought the interest of the country required. But, be that as it might, he contended that the subject was solely and exclusively one for the consideration of the colonial legislature. (Cheers.) It was not en imperial, but a local, concern. That was the ground on which the govern ment brought forward and advocated this bill ; and they held that in introducing it they were carrying out the prin ciple which had guided our policy towards the colony of late pars. It was a liberal, but at the same time, as he be lieved, a just and well-founded confidence in the good mime and loyalty of the inhabitants of the colony, which prompted the government to extend to them an almost un limited power of self-government. (Hear, hear.) They bad now a legislature the popular branch of which was freely chosen by themselves ; they voted their own civil list; they had the exclusive control of the land fund and its proceeds; the customs department had been surrendered to them; the levying of imperial duties had been discon tinued; since the repeal of the navigation laws every re striction had been removed ; they had now an executive which followed the policy approved by the House of Assem bly; and he could not ate why there should be any dis tinction made—why parliament should not place at their disposal this portion ot the public lands of the colony. He had seen a statement in a pamphlet by Archdeacon Bethune on this subject, which appeared to him founded in error. He said the colonial legislature claimed to have the disposition of lands, but those lands were bought with the money of the British legislature, and they still paid salaries and pen• pions to Indiana for having taken their lands from them. Reference was here made of course to the fact that 13,0001. was paid every year to the Indians ; but that sum was paid not in respect of leads, but in respect of services ren dered to us In war. Under these circumstances he was sure the house would be disposed to pay great respect to the wishes and representations of the colonial legislature. (Hear. hear.) Now how stood the question in that point of view ? In the month of June, 18.50, the House of Assem bly passed several resolutions and an address to her Ma jesty praying that the power which it was now proposed to confer upon them might be given. In a despatch in reply, dated June, 1851, Lord Grey, who was then colonial minister, said that the question was in hie opinion entirely one of local, concern, and that be was prepared, therefore, to recommend parliament to adopt the proposed measure. When that despatch was re ceived in Caudle, both houses passed addresses of thanks to her Majesty for sending it. Later in the same year, Lard Grey announced to Lord Elgin that, in consequence cif the pressure of business in that session, it would be int- Clialim him to bring forward the measure that year, e . undertook to introdziee it early in the session of 1852. He used scarcely say that they had not proceeded very far kith' session of 1852 when Lord Grey and his colleagues retired from the administration. Hie lordship was sac seeded in his department by the right hon. gentleman whom he saw opposite (Sir .7. l'akington). That right hon. gentleman no doubt gave to the subject all the consideration which it demanded ; but he came to the conclusion that be could not advise the introduction of the bill. He (Mr. F. Peel) now came to some resolutions which were passed by the Legislature of Cued*, so late as the month of November, on the receipt of the right hon. gentleman's despatch, announcing his views. The right hon. gentle man alleged that the elections indicated a change of opinions in the assembly, and observed that it appeared most uncertain what were the views of the new assembly in reference to the clergy reserves. There could not now be the slightest doubt what the views of the present assembly really were. They had passed resolutions remonstrating in strong terms against the decision of the colonial minister ; and the most material point to be observed was that those resolutions were carried on the motion of Mr. Hincks, the head of the administration. Therefore they had the House of Assembly, the Legislative Council, and the ad ministration of the colony, all concurring in pressing the measure on the adoption of parliament. The right hon. gentleman said that these resolutions did not express fairly the opinion of the colony, inasmuch as the division list in cluded 30 or 40 Roman catholic members from Lower Ca nada, while the question was one which exclusively con cerned the upper province. He differed from the right bon. gentleman on that point. (Hear, hear.) He thought ' that Roman catholic members had • just claim to take part in the divisions. Let the house bear in mind this material point, that there had bees no proposition for the secularise- ton of the revenues since 1840 ; and all that the Romance tholics did in supporting the resolutions was to declare that they thought the question ought to be left to be dealt with by the provincial parliament, and that they wished to put the protestant endowment in Upper Canada on pre cisely the same footing as was the endowment in Lower Canada. He would show the house that the endowment of the Roman catholics in Lower Canada might be dealt with by the legislature if they thought proper to deal with it. By the terms of the capitulation of Quebec the Roman ca tholic clergy were secured in their accustomed tithes and dues from members of their own communion. He believed that, as a general rule, the terms of a capitulation re mained in force until a general peace, and the usual course was to embody them then in a legislative enactment ; and he found that an act was passed on the estab lishment of peace confirming the terms of the treaty. The 3ath section of the act of 1791 began by reciting the declaration of the treaty which he had men tioned ; and it then said " that it should continue and re main in force, except in so far as the said declaratioa or any part thereof shall be expressly varied or repealed by any act or acts which may be passed by the Legislative As sembly." Therefore the tithes and dues secured to the Roman catholic clergy might be abolished by the colonial legislature ; and, inasmuch as all that was wanted was to place the protestant endowment on precisely the same footing, he could not sec why the Roman catholics should not take part in the divisions. (Hear, hear.) On these grounds, then, he begged leave to introduce this bill. On the part of the government he disclaimed its being brought in in an unfriendly spirit towards the church of England. No doubt the concession which they proposed to make did shake the confidence which was now felt in the perpetuity of the endowment for religious pur poses. (Opposition cheers.) But regarding the church of England, as represented by a body of individuol clergy in the colony, they had Own ample guarantees for their con tinued enjoyment of the stipends now allotted to them; and in doing 83 they had, fortunately, the full concurrence 'of the legislature and executive of Canada. There was in scribed in the bill a clause which would render it impos sible for the clergy to be deprived of th. it emoluments during their lite. It would indeed have been im- possible for the government to assent to any other arrangement. The clergy went out to the coleav in reliance on on act of parliament, and good faith and tionour required that their rights should he respected. (Hear, hear.) But, looking at the church of England, not as a collection of individual clergy, but as Cu establishment and as au incorporated institution, if they were asked to maintain a church establishment in Upper Canada against the wishes of the people of that mien'', he tor one would shrink from acceding to such an attempt, and if they en. gaged in it be felt confident that they would never issuefrom it with credit or success. (Cheers.) lie was convinced that the government were taking the right course, even in the interest of the church of England itself. lie believed that if a church had to encounter a spirit of anta gonism and jealousy, raised by a feeling that undue partiality and favour were shown to it, it was weighted with a burden for which no endowment could possibly compensate. (Hear, hear.) The church of Eng land, he doubted not, would win its way in Canada as it had done in the United States. Assuming that it were de prived of the existing provision made for it cut of the pub lic funds, it would derive its strength, not from the libe rality of the public, but, as it had done in the United States, from the purity of its doctrines, from the sonnduess of its teaching, and from the virtues which were illustrated in the actions of its clergy. (Cheers.) With these obser vations he begged leave to introduce the bill. Sir J. PAh.INGTON said it was not his intention to oppose the present motion, and therefore it would not be necessary for him to follow the previous speaker at any great length. He had heard that gentleman's speech with regret, but certainly nut with surptise, seeing that it only embodied sentiments which since the opening of the pre sent session had been already expressed by the noble lord the member for London, as the organ of the govern ment in that house. lie (Sir J. Pakington) looked ueon the bill now sought to be introduced as a means of commit ting a breach of the national faith, and of depriving the pre testants ot Canada of property with which they had been most solemnly endowed. (Hear, hear.) The hon. mover admitted that in the recent elections in Upper Canada, tho district maialy affected by this bill, the party who wished to retain the clergy reserves for their present uses had gained several seats, and that the gains had taken place among the largtet constituencies in the province. These were important facts, in addition to which it should be borne in mind that even previous to that election the re preseutatives of Upper Canada were equally divided on the question. (Hear, bear.) The lion. Under-Secretary, in alluding to the Itoman catholic endowments of Lower Ca -1 nada, had said they were secured at the conquest. True, they were, and the guarantees then given had been rigidly respected. And why,then, should nut the guarantee, quite as solemn, given in 'MO by the British parliament, be looked upon as of equal value? Ile should wait, however, until he saw the bill, and what means were taken to pro tect the interests of the church, which must he ample in deed to escape the charge of a flagrant breach of faith. Before he sat down he would implore the noble lord, the member for London, to look at the act of 1810, of which he himself was the author. Let him recollect the peculiar circumstances under which that act was passed, and how all the statesmen of the day concuired in its adoption. It was then laid down and admitted that before uttempting a union of the two provintes all questions of religion should be settled— a point to which the late Duke of Wellington particularly alluded in his memorable pro test. Let the noble lord recollect the words of the preamble to his bill, declaring the expediency of finally settling the question of the clergy reserves, and their appro priation to the maintenance of religion, and let him then reflect whether he, of all men, was not bound to respect the rights of the church of England in Canada. With these observations he should consent to the passing of the present stage of the bill. Mr. V. SMITH complained that the right hon. gentleman had acted rather unconstitutionally in quoting the opinions of any portion of the people of Canada against the regularly constituted Assembly of that country. But—seeing lie was member for Droitwich—he had acted still more strangely in relying on the comparative populousness of a constituency as a gauge of its political value. He (Mr. V. Smith) hoped that when the question of parliamentary reform came on fur discussion, they should have the valuable co-operation 'of the right hon. gentleman. (Cheers and laughter.) To say that an act of parliament was irreversible was to saddle hie noble friend below him with a new finality, besides which the right hon. gentleman completely invaded the rights of the Canadians to legislate for themselves. The act of 1840 had procured ten years of tranquillity, but now he believed that the people of Canada were in favour of the secularisation of the reserves, and his opinion was that the great principles of self-government demandial that the question should be left to their decision. Sir It. INGLIS was, not like his right hon. friend, in clined to wait for future stages of the bill, seeing that the principle had already been clearly announced. They knew that the measure before them was one enabling the Canadian legislature to deal not with a religious prin ciple, but with property, the property of tho clergy. The word " clergy ' was one of plain signification as regarded the disposal of these reserves, and could not be misunder stood by the most ignorant and radical member of that house. (A laugh.) The learned Solicitor-General who was slumbering on the Treasury bench could tell his colleagues that the word meant clergy of the established church. (No, no.) Being of that opiate's, and hostile to the alienation of their property, he hoped he should receive general support in opposing the present stage of the bill. Lord J. RUSSELL said that if parliamentary grants were to be irrevocable, then was the act of 1840 an unjusti fiable interference with the act of 1791. But the right boo. gentleman, the member for Droitwich, went further, and had laid down in a despatch that if the irrevocable act of 1810 was not found satisfactory, it should be superseded by another irrevocable act is 1853. The question was not one as to whether endowments made by parliament should last for ever, but whether parliament should adopt the rule that all questions of local concern should be left to the local parliament of Canada. (Cheers.) Now, on that question her Majesty's government had no doubt whatever. (Cheers.) They thought that they ought to allow the Canadian par liament to legislate on this and every other local subject. (Hear, hear.) For his own part he should he glad it' the parliament of Canada were contented with the settlement of 1840, which was considered satisfactory at the time, and which even now he thought might as well he lett undis turbed. The Canadian parliament might find that in dis turbing the settlement they were opening up new grounds of animosity; bat, however that might be, he did not think they were justified in opposing the will of the local parlia ment, who seemed determined to deal with this subject. Look at the history of our legislation in Canadian affairs. He could not think that parliament made a wise provi sion in 1791 in dividing the two provinces. (Hear, hear.) By that measure the tree commerce of the two provinces was prevented, and the differences of race, of religion, and of prejudices, engendered such conflict+ between the two parliaments, that Earl Bathurst was obliged to take the re venues of the colony, and distribute them without reference to other legislation. The union, however, had remedied many of these evils of a former time. Both parties had yielded up obstacles to their mutual prosperity, and since then Canada had made more rapid progress not only than any of our own colonies, but than any part of the United States. (Hear, hear.) They had exerted themselves har moniously, because they felt that tney had been dealt with honestly by the imperial parliament, and he trusted that the present bill would be an additional proof to them that such mode of dealing was to be persevered in. (Cheers.) Mr. HUME. begged to thank the government for the course they had taken in reference to this question. They were by this measure about to complete that system of sell government which alone could secure permanent peace and tranquillity to Canada, and to ensure the continuance of that prosperity which, as the noble lord had truly said, commenced from the hour when responsible government was first conceded to that important colony. (Hear, hear.) He begged also to thank the hon. gentleman the Under Secretary for the Colonies (Mr. F. Peel) far the candour be had displayed in the very able speech with which he had introduced the motion. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentle man might be assured that the sentiments he had expressed in that speech would be received with great satisfaction by . the people of Canada, as the enunciation by the moister of the crown of principles under which alone the colony could continue to prosper, and which he (Mr. Hume) trusted would be speedily extended to all our colonies. (Hear.) . He hoped his hon. friend the member for Oxford University (Sir R. Inglis) would divide against the motion aa he had intimated, in order that the feeling of the house might be at once ascertained on that which was the main principle of the bill—that of allowing the people of Canada to deal as they pleased with this question of clergy re ' serves ' and with which he for one had no doubt that when ' they had the power they would so deal as to produce peace and contentment to all parties in the colony. The motion was then put and agreed to, Sir R. INGLIS declining to divide, but contenting himself with meeting the question with a formal " no." NEW_ BILLS. Sir J. YOUNG obtiind leave, and afterwards laid on the table, a bill to renew the provisions relating to the col lection of grand jury cese in Ireland, contained in the ca p red act of 14 4t 15 Vic., c. 65. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL brought in his bill to re gulate the office of examiners in Chancery. Mr. 11. DRUMMOND also introduced his measure to facilitate the sale and purchase of land. All these bills were read a first time. The Transfer of Aids Bill was considered as amended, and the report agreed to. The resolution passed by the committee of the whole house on the metropolitan improvements, authorising re payments out of the Consolidat, d Fund, was brought up and astreed to, and a bill founded thereon ordered to be brought in. The house adjourned at half-past 7 o'clock. SUBURBAN POST-OFFICES.—Amongst the new Post office gements to come into operation early neat month is one of considerable importance to residents in the suburbs of the metropolis. It has hitherto been the custom to collect the ►etters posted at the , :ifferent branch offices in the suburbs after five, p.m., early the neat morning, to be in readiness for the first mail-carts ; but Mr. Rowland Hill, it appears, has determined, and given dir. etions, that these suburban letters shall be collected and forwarded to the General Post-office, St. Martin's•le-Grand, by special mail carts, at 10 p.m., on the evening of the day of posting. This plan will, of course, greatly advance and facilitate the delivery of letters posted within the limits of what is termed the town-post districts after five and up to ten o'clock at night. TILE PINT BOTTLE QUESTlON.—Yesterday the magistrates of Sunbury heard two informations, laid by an inspector of weights and measures, against pub:icans of Hampton Court, for selling beer in bottles purporting to be pints and quarts, but not holding the full measure. Each party was convicted in a fine of 10s. and coats.