The Express. — London, England, 1853-02-25 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT ROUSE OF LORDS.—TIWWIDAT, FEB. 24. The Loan Ctterient.tou took his seat at i o'clock. PETI nom.; PRESENTED. COAL Deter—By Lord YERULAM, from Watford and St. Album, aghast the to levied by the corporation of London on coal. SCOTCH Uttergantente.—By Lord CAMPBELL, from Edinburgh, ageism testa in Scotch universities. THI RAJAH or SATTAILA. —By Lord BEAUMONT, from his represeatatiee, praying that the private property of the late Rajah of Satter& should be given to his adopted Mir. The noble lord moved that the petition be referred to the committee sitting on Indian affairs.—Agreed to. Pests . Per FM Ily the Earle( CARLISLE, from Brighton, Morpeth, Staleybridge, Newport, in the fate ef Wight, and other places, in favour of the free dis• %libation of parliamentary papers to litany institutions. CANADA CLERGY ILESERVES.—NOTICE. The Earl of DERBY gave notice that he should on Monday present • petition relative to the Canada clergy swerves. CHANCERY SUITORS BILL. Lord ST. LEONARD'S moved the second reading of this bill. As it was to be referred tea select committee, together with several other bills of his for the amendment of the law which stood for second reading on the paper that night ; and as he had explained their objects, when he introduced them • short time ago, he ....mid not trouble their lordships with any farther cemervationn on the subject at present. The LORD CHANCELLOR would not pledge himself to the principle of this bill ; but he fully concurred in re ferring it to a select committee. Lord LT:41,11131:a and Lord BIOCUHAII expressed a similar opinion. LUNACY REGULATION BILL.—LUNATIC ASY• LUIS BILL—LUNATICS' CARE AND TREAT MENT BILL—BANKRUPTCY BILL The abut bills were, on the motion of Lord ST. Leo. HARD'S. severs ly read a kneed time, and ordered to be re• forted to select committees. CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENT BILL. Lord ST. LEONARD'S moved the second reading of this bill. Lord CAMPBELL would not oppose the second reading ; bat he hoped the bill weuld not come into operation until the criminal code was completed. The LORD CHANCELLOR said the Commissioners for the Consolidation of the ermine/ Law had made several valuable reports. The new commission had also framed a bill which included • diaut of the whole of the statute law. He thought it would be better to split the bill into different port: ens, as it would be more manageable. After • few wor ds from Lord ST. Leortaun's,wnich were inaudible, Lord BROUGHAM referred to the two bills which he bad iseroduced on the subject of the codification of the cri minal law ; and which bed been referred to select com mittees. After • short conversation, in which Lord Brougham, Lord Campbell, and Lord St. Leonard's took part, the bill wee reed • second time, sled referred to &select committee. WAR WITH AVA. The Earl of ELLESI3OEOI7OII then rose to put the failowieet questinns to her Majesty's government :—l. Whether her Majesty's government have any objection to fay before the house • letter from the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company to the Governor General of India in Council, dated in September, 18/9. giving instrietioss as to the line of operations in any future war with Ava ? 2. Whether her Majesty's govern ment are prepared to lay before the house an, papers ex planatory of the objects sof the present war with Ave. and ea estimate of the probable expense to be incurred in the current year ? The noble lord, after severely criticising the polity end concli.ct of the war, said he should like to Mar from the noble lord what view he took of our position, and in what manner he considered we might best extricate oareelyee from the lamentable dificalty in which we were at the present time. (Hear hear.) The Earl of ABERDE EN—AIthough it is by no means • anal custom to produce any despatch from the Secret Committee of the East India Company, I am not disposed he withhold this one : fur, although it may be a document poseeseing some historical interest, it is one of very little practical importance. It is • despatch written 26 years wp, upon a supposed event which might take plop, eis., the renewal of the war with Ave.. Your lordships will well gee that in the course of time many events may have hap pened which would render completely inexpedient any line of conduct prescribed in that despatch ; although it may be a matter of interest to your lordships to peewee the opinion of the illustrioua man referred to by my aide friend, expressed in the language of that noble earl. I still must consider the despatch as • mire historical cariosity, and not a matter of political nee. 'remen the govenamat were prepared to lay before lets. The paws saw on the table would show the eperstios weal the SW elf March. Thom about to be pro duced named he the oweensies of the province of Peg., sad the prepoldee lode se the Bunnies government. The wen it latest amounts that bad bees received, and enerdesill all die inforroatne which it was in the power of it pooramsat to give. The noble earl had another Man es the paper, to which he had not referred, but WWI would 01 coarse be complied with as far as it was in it power of the government to do so,--namely, a return of 'SW aspen incurred, and an estimate of the probable ex pense of the war for the year. He was not quite aware to what extent it would be possible to comply with that; but se far as it could be does it would be complied with. The sable earl had entered into a very fall and minute criticism of the objects of the war and the conduct of the operations. The preseat government were strangers to the whole of the poliey and conduct of the war up to the present time. The late 'ornament, he apprehended, had given • general appro bation of it, from which be was not disposed to dissent. He saw no reason to revoke the approval which the late go vernment had given to the acts of the Governor-General. Reference had been made to the annexation of Pegu ; and he believed a step of that kind would not betaken with- out very mature deliberation and examination. That an negation, like many other of our conquests in India, had , been reluctantly made ; it had been forced upon us from • necessity of obtaining adequate indemnity for injuries re ceived, and compensation for the large expenditure in curred. He had no doubt it had been dose reluctantly by the Governor-0 I. Ever since be had a seat in that house, every Oovernor•General who had left this country bad gone out with professions of a most peed/casters—de desire to abstain from anything like war or aggrandise ment ; and yet there had not been atingle governor-general who bad not found himself engaged in war more or lees. (Hear, bear.) In this instance the Governor-General had as doubt been led by the necessity of the cue to extend the sphere of operations of the war in which he was en gaged ; for their lordship well knew that in all ease, whatever mai t gght be the primary object with which an entsephe we. en it neamearily underwent great chows with the wane of eirommastances. The noble awl bed ushered he the military hues of General Godwin, and the Eillbeent inumants of his mousy and detachments. He %era Allemion) was whelk unable to form a judgment se he tin peepistp, er military skill displayed by the telleneinta men monmed in that war. He well knew the wallop esquilenswo et the noble seri. mil his ability to irides Awe epossiews very Ifni: there night be =lhe the ve ep with whin be led favoured the . 11. lie he knew that the GovereePesseral was as ' =sle hoe a sae ; opinion of those mending. as his hied agyeift ; eed having ill renews es 'Ojeda , inent, be WI net feel allied he owe te egi• aim But We present rneesseeet did net hd salad urns in any owner to dhows the of a memo which bed bees takes le the Nose et its Iry year. In general torus. be seqsieleed le the 'plebs whisk the kW' vows sleet had expressed en the edgen, sad sommiested to the Onereor-General. The Earl of DERBY aid he fully niedliel that the pre sen georesseet wen set the ropewalk 'prase he the sew t n et whey polenea; be sad these wbo were *wed with him in fain woe ablinetly end directly respedide. The Mabel wren et vowel had leis plume previews to their seep nee of efaay said while the hewn Oat el wee in pewee kW belie _besides le ram el the espinethe wish die esesser-Oseseel hot his firmpesonahr^ le mahatma We emus le bad felt It • - M end is swighe r. essehnlee, See— mbe Ma how impelled le welielehe Mew eke spied the Lee et £sa—*s sewnema sweat et Ws • ido dew le British sehiele swell that we Wa l ld W minds We presage et BIM umei In • and geed esiednes hem Mere Wok ewiM s % • the hoe et Easimatingeedble aispeed of the Gwe slew Owe to pose. ale did est the osseer-Chewell wee he held the provisos that had hen aimaned, him masont the wed will of the idishissate. tlo Owswer-Goeseal id it neeernery •to resat to =we wienied epereden t Mews sneer babe lie arrange aisle week he soh r w anew their swum. (Hear.) Idea WHARNCLITTE midi he weisehrea awe wes so ielwellea ea the part of the Lain geowerwite islet ea Ones et olden ; and he that meat _most it de =AM 040 "" swiwwwwWol by 1111•Delso of Wel ls Mad to knew windier the papers to be pre game! wadi slow dieting., what had been the instruction. he Lord Dalhousie, and whet was the Informatics fernished by his WAD home geornewat. TThe Seel hBERDIIII4 was understood to reply in darentive. The media was than agreed te, sad the house adjourned et s quarto thee swim o'clock. ROUSE OF MITTUDAY, Fut. 24. The Swum took Om 4bik At the anal boar. MP:A TB BUSINESS. REGOND READINGS. mt. knowin g iciii;;;;; Jim : Stafford shire, Hall, sad Flaahester Bridge PUBLIC BUSINESS. PETITIONS PRESENTED. IIDIB. —By Sir H. MADDOCK, from the Hindoo in habitants of Fingal, Behar, and Orissa, complaining of dm not of tha Indian Conseil of 1860, by which they were in jured in their civil and religious rights, and praying for redress. Jawisn Disamt.mm.—By Mr. R. PALMER. from Berkshire ; Sir J. PAKINOTON, from •pbtas in Worces tershire; Mr. DEEDES, from Kent; K. KING. from Hereford; Mr. B. STANHOPE, from Lincoln; Col. SMYTH, from York, ',ain't the admission of the Jews to parliament.—Mr. LOCKE (2), from Hereford and flo anon, in favour of. MATNOOT 14 GRA NIT.—By Mr. HASTIE, from Poivioi Mr. SPOONER, from a place is Monmouth ; Mr. ALEX. BASTIS, from Olamow, against Pantaiinssirreny Par sew.—By Mr. HASTIE, from P a w" ; Mr. NEST, fro the Literary Institute of Wrex ham, for the distribution of. COUNTY FINANCIAL "WANDA. ^ By Mr. A. PELLATT, from Rochdale, in favour of. Taxas oN liwowLasua.—By Mr. D. SEYMOUR, ban Sunderland, against. EDUCATION.—Sr ,n Ih. MEADLAX, Ana Newcastle, is favour of urants . C Pataca.—By Mr. BPOONER (s moral), from Gloucester and other places, against the opening of, on the Sabbath. UNI% LMAITY or LONDON.—By Mr. PIIINN, from the College of Prior Park, in favour of representation for the Univvraity of London; Mr. TUILNEIL hunt St. Edward's Collets; Mr. WHITBREAD. from Bedfordshire; Mr. BAINES, from Leeds; Col. SMYTH, from York, tu suss effect. _ Lsrren BRENRIDGE.• from the let ter-carriers of Barnstaple; Mr. C. FORSTER. from the letter-earriers of Walsall; Sir J. DUCKWORTH, from the letter-carriers of Exeter, against the rule prohibiting their asking fur Chrittmas-boxes; Sir O. B. PECHELL, from the vicar and a large number of inhabitants of Brighton, for an improvement of the position of the letter carriers. Pt; xt.t c Hearse Acv.—By Mr.EVELYN, from the inha bitants of Dorking, praying for as alteration of the Public Health Act. AMENDMENT or TEI POOR-LAW.—By Mr. ESMONDE, from the Board of Guardians of tho Dangasvon Union, for an amendment of the Poor.law. Is:arse-nom or NUNNERIBS —Mr. BARRER, from Reclaim. Yorkshire, for prover inspeetiou of. DUTY.—Sir J. DUCKWORTR, from attorneys of Exeter, for the repeal of. CONSULIDATID ANNVITIP2I.—By Mr. I. BUTT, from Mayo; Mr. ESMONDE, from the Board of °amnions of the D rr on Unjust. THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 25, 1853. Iran the fact being that the emigrants kid been univer sally successfully, there had been many ewes of great set. feriog and disappointment . He need not remind the house of the very great sickness and misery which pre vailed last year on board the emigrant ships. (Hear.) In many tastiness the emigrants, on landing, had been suf. tering under grievous sickness, consequent on the iosefil- ' cient accommodation and the hardships to which they had been exposed during • long voyage. As the house was aware, it had been the fortune of the late government to hold office during the . year when the consequences of the extraordinary discoveries of gold in Australia bman to be felt, and he could astute them that nothing connected with his official duties while he was Colonial Secretary gave him more anxiety than the crisis which had thus come upon these colonies. His wish (and that wish was fully shared in by his colleagues) was that the colonies should be met by the mother country in a liberal and generous spirit —(hear, hear)--and his object in bringing this sabject be fore the house now was to state, in the first place, what the late government bad thought it their duty to adopt in re ; gara to the future government of the Australian colonies ; and secondly, in no spirit of distrust or suspicion, to call upon the present government to say whether or not they intended to contuses that policy, and if not to what extent and in what particulars they proposed to deviate from it? After a statistical statement of the pro gress •f the colonies, be went on to say, he came to the discovery of gold. So sudden and unexpected was the change in the circumstances of the colonies of Victoria and New South Wales, occasioned by the gold discoveries, that the executive governments were wholly un prepared with proper means of control; theless, throughout the whole period in which so large a proportion of the population had been diverted from their ordinary oc cupations to this new field of wealth, and so many thou sands had been attracted by these discoveries to the colonies, the conduct of the people generally both in New South Wales and in Victoria bad beeu most creditable. He did not mean to say that disorder had not taken place in any inetsuce, but as a general rule the conduct of the people engaged in this novel and exciting occupation, and the temptations to which they were exposed, had been most creditable. The sabbath was regularly observed, and divine worship was not neglected. These were features which the house would admit were most honourable to the character of the population. (Hear, hear.) But there was another circumstance which he could not avoid mentioning as being equally creditable to another portion of her Majesty's sub. jects—he meant that portion upon which the country de pended for defence in tome of war—the British army. There was at Melbourne a small body of soldiers of the line, about 60 men, who were billetted in the town, there being no barracks, and notwithstanding the temptations which the proximity of the gold fields presented to them, he had not heard of a mingle instance of desertion. (Cheers.) The house week' be aware that it became the duty of the late government, in June last, to consider the experse to which the government of Victoria was exposed in cease geese' of the gold discoveries, and they considered it only just that the revenue arising tram those discoveries should be placed at the disposal of the colony. In the despatch which he (Sir J. Pakingtoo) sent out to the colony, he intimated that assistance would be provided by the mother country in the shape of police, and that the revenue obtained from gold in whatever colony it might be found was to be left to the regulation of the colonial legis lature, and to be expended under their management, by the colonial government. (Hear.) This was the policy which the late government thought most likely to conduce to the satisfaction and welfare of to colonists, and which would be accepted by them as the most fair and liberal on the part of the mother country. Shortly after he hod sent out that despatch, there arrived in this country • petition from the legislature of New South Wales, which attracted considerable and merited notice in parliament, and bad been brought under discussion in both houses. That pe tition contained a bold and complete decl oration of what the legislature of New South Wales thought due to the colony, and stated, in strong terms, the demands they made upon the government of this country. He promised at the time that that petition should receive the best atten tion. But he believed the house was not at that time aware that the petition was merely a renewal of • declaration and remonstrance that had been sent to this country in June, 1861, by the then existing legislature of New South Wales, agreed to in their last session, and which arrived here in De cember in that year, and which had been answered by Lord Grey in January, 1852, in a demateh, wherein he dis. fleetly refused every cne of he demands made. In the fol lowing February the government of Lord John Russell went out of office, and within a week after the writing of that despatch the aew legislature of New South Wales, which had been appointed under the act of 1860, adopted the same declaration and remonstrance which they embodied word for word in the petition to which he had referred. The right hon. gentleman, after describing the policy of the late government in greeting the demands of the colonists, especially in reference to the sale of lands, and the granting of a double chamber to New South Wales, said—There was another subject which had excited in the Australian colonies an interest inferior to none which he had mentioned, and that was the subject of transportation to Van Diemen's Lend. He must trespass on the house for a short time, in order to state the grounds on which the late government took the course they did. The noble lord (J. Russell) on the first night of the session told the house that the present government intended to act on the declaration of the late government on the subject of transportation ; but as far as he (Sir .1. Pakingtoo) could follow him, there was one part of his statement in which he appeared to differ from the late government if he said that it was intended that transportation should cease to all the colonies. That, however, had been explained since by the noble duke the Secretary for the Colonies in another place. That noble duke stated that, as the noble lord had stated, the late government had sent • despatch putting an end to transportation in Van Diemen's Land, and that the present government would persevere in that course ; but neither the noble duke nor the noble lord explained the rac oons why they thought that course desirable. Intim mean time a very high authority, the Lord Chief,/ stifle* of England (Lord Campbell) stated in the House of Lords his regret that the punishment of transportation should cease, and ex pressed a strong opinion in favour of that punishment as it was at present constituted. In 1847 a committee of the House of Lords sat on this question, and some of the most eminent judges were examined before it, who, in their evidence, expressed the tame opinion as Lord Campbell, and evinced the greatest desire that the punishment of transportation should be continued. It might appear pre sumption in him (Sir J. Pakington) to mention what he himself felt, after what had been said of Lord Calomel! and the judges, still he would not conceal that in the debates which took place on the subject, he was one of those who expressed an opinion in favour of transportation, as he was convinced by his experience in courts of justice, that it was valuable as a punishment. Under these cdrcumetances, he thought it necessary, being so far the organ of the late government, to explain why they had promised Van Die man's Land that transportation thither would cease. He had received • most respectable and influential deputation on the subject, headed by the right hon. baronet the Chief Commissioner of Works, and it was pressed on him that it it was what was called the determination of the Australian colonies nothing to submit to the transportation of convicts thither. He answered that he had lately heard that Western Australia was willing to receive con victs, and that • petition had been sent from Moreton Bay in New South Wales, praying to be separated from New South Wales, in order that convicts might be received there • and also that the Colonial Of fi ce in the time of Lord Grey had received a representation from 140 colonists of Van Diemen's Lend, praying that transportation to that colony might continue, on account of the benefit it derived from the labour of the ocisvicto. He (Sir J. Paking w t:d a s , however, gave a promise that the late government give their anxious attention to the representations widish had been made to them, and that they would, if they could consistently with their duty to the colonies, cause the trans portation of convicts to cease. Accordingly they advised her Majesty in the speech from the throne to hold out to Van Diemen's Land the hope that there would be no further transportation to that colony. It was true that it might be said that opinions were divided on the point ; it was true that under the present* arising from want of labour at Moreton Bay that colony was willing to receive convicts ; it was true that Western Australia was willing to receive them, and that there was a division of opinion on the subject in Van Diemen's Land; and there could be no doubt that owing to the discoveries of gold Van Diemen's Land had benefited by convict labour in conse quence of its supplying the defiMency caused by the depar ture of so many labourers to the gold diggings. Notwith standing all this the late government was not able to resist the conviction that en the whole there prevailed the deepest dislike and dread of the importation of convicts, ands strong determination to use every legitimate means to put an end to a system which the colonists maintained was the source of great evil On these principles the late govern ment had acted, and he hoped that on those principles the present government was also prepared to act. (Hear, hear.) Mr. PEEL said he entirely concurred in the opening ob servations of the right hon. gentleman, and he agreed with him that he was under no necessity of apologisuog to the house for calling their attention to the situation of the Aus tralian colonies. Those colonise constituted • group of our dependencies of which the house had jest reason to feel proud. They had displayed in • remarkable degree the ca pacity of the English race for taking root in foreign coun tries, and they were communities which in an incredibly short space of time had almost rivalled the countries of Eu rope. The right bon. gentleman had not overstated the results of British energy and enterprise in those countries ; and he (Mr. Pee)) fully endorsed the statement of the right hon. gentleman with regard to the fidelity of the troops sta tioned at Victoria, and he would say as much for the regi ment at New South Wales, from which that detachment was taken. He (Mr. Peel) considered that public advantage would result from the elaborate exposition of his sentiments on this question, on the part of the right hon. gentleman. The speech of the right hon. gentleman was interesting, and abounded in accurate and reliable information; and the (rely defect in the speech was, the want of proportion or relation between it and the practical purpose he had in view. As a vindication of the right hon. gentleman's own policy, the speech could hardly be considered necessary fur no one had impugned that policy; and no one 's :l2j be found unwilling to bear testimony in a general way to the credit which was due to the right hon. gentleman's colonial administration. With regard to that part of the speech which was interrogatory, the announcement which had been made both by the noble lord (Lord John Russell), end by the noble Duke (Newcastle), in another place, had in a great measure superseded the ne cessity of putting the questions which had been put by the right hon. gentleman. The right hon. gentleman's appre hensions that the engagements which he (Sir J. Pakington) had entered into might not be observed were perhaps not altogether unjustifiable ; for the right hon. gentleman him self had not observed those engagements which the govern ment preceding that of which the right hon. gentleman had been a member had entered into with regard to the clergy stories of Canada. (Hear, hear.) Re (Mr. Peel) would endeavour to distal these apprehensions, and in replying to the right hots. gentleman, he would address himself to the min ral points at issue contained in the petition and in the despatch in question of the right hon. gentleman. There were, in the first place, three paints of minor importance; the interference of the government of this conatry in the customs' establishment of tho colony ; the exercise . of she veto power of the crown; and the manner in which the patronage of the colonial office had been exercised. The first was no longer in the class of grievances; for, prior to the reception of the petition, the Customs' establishments bad been entirely transferred to the colony. The complaint, with regard to the exercise of the patronage of the colonial ellbe, was, he thought, very unreasonable. During Lord Grey's long tenure of office, that noble lord had as fully re cognised the claims of colonial talent as it was possible to demand. (Hear, hoar.) With very few exceptions, every nomination to office in the colony had been made by Lord Grey upon the recommendation of the executive of the isotopy. There was no doubt a suggestion that there should be a monopoly enjoyed by the inhabitants of the colony of all offices of trust and emolument within the colony ; but be believed that the establishment of any such regulation would be attended with very great inconvenience to the public service. Obviously, occasions would arise when the bed selectiun must necessarily be made in this country, and, he certain offices, special capabilities would be called for which were not to be found within the narrow limits of seelonial opportunities. With respect to the veto he thought that the grievance was more in theory than in practice. Practically, very few colonial ordinances were ever dis allowed by the Colonial office. The legislature of New South Wales had suggested that it would be possible to make a distinction between matters of a local or municipal character only and those which were of imperial interest, and in which the prerogatives of the crown might possibly be involved; and if it should be found possible to draw seek a line of demarcation, while not restricting the exist ing power of the colonial legislature, he felt sure that there would be no disinclination on the part of the noble duke at the head of the Colonial office to consider the propriety of establishing such a system. (Hear, hear.) He would pro. owed to address himself to the more important points in the petition. The petition concluded with a proposition. The eolosial council said, "If you will give us the exclusive control, and if you will assist us in exorcising the power conferred on us by the act of 1860 to amend our constitn- Goes, we shall be prepared to bear not only all the expenses of civil government but likewise the cost of ear mili.ery protection." And, as a test of their loyalty and devotion, they proposed to undertake to vote her Majesty an ample sad adequate civil list in substitution for that civil list the amount and character of which we in this country at pre- sent determined. He admitted the justice of their repre sentations with respect to the civil list ; and that if it was in ensfermity with the letter it was not in accordance with the spirit of the act of 1778. by which parliament once fur all renounced the power of levying taxes on our colonial fellow-subjects to appropriate, as we did by the present system, for the civil list a portion of the taxes which were imposed by the colonists themselves. (Hear, hear.) In considering this question, therefore, he was inclined to believe that the preponderance of argument rested with the colonial legislature, and the present govern ment were quite prepared to accept a civil list voted by the colony in substitution for the civil list which parliament at preseut appropriated. (Hear, hear.) He was satisfied that parliament would h ave any reason to regret tusk ing that course, and ho had unbounded confidence in the good sense of the colony. Ile had very recently seen the draft of • measure to grant • civil list to her Majesty, which had been prepared by a committee of the Legislative Coun cil of New South Wales, and he found that the suns which that committee recommended exceeded the sum which par liament appropriated; the sum parliament took being 73,0001. and the sum recommended by the colonists being 80,000/. (Hear, bear.) The general reasons which urged such a change were palpable. At the distance at which we were from the colony we were not in a position to deter mine accurately what would be the necessary sums. In Victoria, for instance, we reserved the sum of 20,000/. for the chief civil departments of the government, imagining that that sum would bear some proportion to the resource of the colony, and be su ffi cient in such a continge n cy as that of the Legislative Council not voting the year's supply. Bet it now appeared that the estimated expenditure of Vic toria for the next year amounted to no less a sum than 1,760,000/. In Van Diemen'. Land, again, they had pro posed 2,0001. for the payment of the colonial so- Notary, and the clerks in his office; but in conse quence of the changed state, of things there that sum would now have to be raised to 11,0001. Clearly, therefore, we should do better by allowing them to vote their own civil list. With regard to the unappro priated waste lands there was mere difficulty. According to his view of the subject, the crown was a proprietor of those unappropriated waste lands as a trustee, not for the benefit of the inhabitants of any particular colony, but fur the good of the people of the empire at large. In that sense it was that the Colonial-office had interfered and re- f ulated in regard to this point ; and he entirely di ff ered rom the right hon. gentleman with respect to the justice of the manner in which the crown had exercised the trust. He believed that all that had been done had been greatly to the ultimate advantage of the colony. This be was quite sure of—that in the Land Sales Act, and in the crown's manages-nt of the waste lands, the two leading principles acted upon had been sound and just; first, that the land should be sold ; and next, that the price should be a fixed price. To illustrate the benefit of the system pur sued it was only necessary to refer to the opposite system pursued in British North America, where complaints bad at one time been so prevalent that, in consequence of the free grant., enormous tracts of the best land had tome into the possession of persons without capital and without any means whatever of developing the resources of the country. Let the history of Western Australia and of Victoria be compared. The first had been almost ruined by the system of free grant', and was now only just begin wog to recover. In Victoria, on the other hand, from the earliest time, the land had been sold at high prices, and her prosperity in consequence had been supreme. It was, however, nut to be forgotten that, whatever the eco nomical advantages or disadvantages, there were political considerations which were entitled the utmost attention. Public opinion in the colony was strong, and had been strongly pronounced. The right hon. gentleman had ad verted to the stipulation made, that the change in the coo. stitution of the legislature of New South Wales should precede actual concession in regard to the waste lands. If the right hon. gentleman would advert to the pe tition he would find that there were two requests— that the land fund should be conceded to the colony, aid that we should give the colony assistance in altering their *Destitution, as permitted by the act to which he had re ferred. The present government was prepared to give them that assistance. He would not revive the discussions which bed formerly taken place in that house with respect to the sstion of the advantages of two chambers over one cham ber, and of adopting the principle of nomination in the yippee chamber. A bill had been brought in in the colonial Ifilature to convert the existing single chamber into • legislature of two chambers; and in the proper time the whole subject would come under re-consideration. And while this transition was going on, it was the opinion of the government that it would be inexpedient for parliament to legislate as to the waste lands; and no measure would be brought in until they had ascertained what Was to be the permanent constitution of New South Wales. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman' bid adverted to the question of transportation ; and, in most of the remarks of the right hon. gentleman on that subject, be (Mr. Peel) entirely conearred. Mr. ADDBRLEY tulated the House of Commons es the discussion which taken place, and upon those esseeedoes being now made to colonial demands and neces sities mid& be and ether colonial reformers had been for' some yeses torgies upon successive governments. (Hear.) ' It appeared to him that they had not been dealing fairly with the colonise, because all that the colonies asked for I wale be allowed the control of the land revenues, and in slim they were prepared to maintain their own defences, sad is conduct their own administrations. That reasonable request, however, had been refused up to this hour, and the same system which bad led to the Kaffir war was still suffered to prevail in our Australian colonies. The policy of the late government in this respect was occasionally far more enlighteaed than that now proposed by their succes sors. With regard to transportation, nothing could have been more injurious to the interest or the honour: of this country, than the system of sustained prevarication which had been kept up upon this subject. Promises had been made only to be broken or evaded,and as repeatedly had the honour of this country been pledged to Van Diemen's Land that transportation to that colony should be abolished, but up to this hoar the pledge had not been redeemed. It was urged, however, that transportation tended to make honest men of our aban doned criminals, but that was the effect of the boundless space which the colonies occupied, and what he wanted the country to do was to make use of that space for the occupation of the idle and dissolute before they sank into a career of crime. (Hear, hear.) What a monstrous thing it was that we first made criminals of a portion of our population before we tried the influence of a colonial life in correcting their bad habits and criminal propensities. No wonder that such a system should ultimately work its own cure, or that the colonies themselves should have ultimately assumed an attitude of defiance in demanding its immediate abolition. But perhaps what brought this matter to a crisis sooner than another was the wonderful discovery of gold which had been found in the colonies, for that had the effect of rendering our system of transportation to Australia a perfect farce. (Hear, hear.) But the time had arrived when the whole question of secondary punishments must be reconsidered ; and, without detaining the house further, he would sit down thanking the house for its attention, and expressing his firm conviction that the day was not far distant when the entire basis upon which our system of transportation rested would have to be re-organised or abolished altogether. Lord J. RUSSELL thought the right hon. baronet the late Secretary for the Colonies was perfectly justified in milling the attention of the house to the present state of those important questions relating to our Australian colo ides, and he must say that he thought the late go- Comment acted wisely, according to the circumstances of the time, in the course which they took. But, with regard to the great question of transpor tation, he thought he could hardly be called upon to deal with it at the present moment, though he must be allowed to say thus much, that the hon. gentleman opposite had not fairly represented the conduct of Earl Grey, in so far as this branch of the subject under discussion was concerned. What the noble earl proposed soon after entering office was, that persons convicted of transportable offences in this country, should continue to be sent to Van Diemen's Land, but that they should be sent, not in the character of convict., but o f exiles, and there would have been, according to that plan, the same number of persons seat out as before. So far, however, from this being an advantage to the colony, it WS found that the authorities of the colony would have less power over the criminals, than they ought to base over men who had committed serious crimes, and therefore the plan was abandoned. (Hear, hear.) That was the change which Earl Grey mule for a brief time, but there were two circumstances well worthy of notice that tended materially to militate against the su less of the experiment. The go. vernor unfortunately mistook the intentions of the punt meat, and gavo out a report that produced the erroneous impression that trat.sportatton was to be entirely abau. dotted. Another eircuuutuice that occurred to obstruct the change was the alarm which was taken at the law being as much, as it was supposed, relaxed in favour of the criminal. and a committee of the House of Lords which was cppointest to inquire into the whole subject reported that trees portation was absolutely necessary to deter crime, ar i d ensure the well•being of society. It was obvious, th ree . fore, that the change which was then proposed had net a fair trial, and now arose the great point of secondary punishments. The government were deliberati ng oonte Dually upon this important subject ; but the right hop baronet the late Secretary for the Coloni s pressed far the decision of ministers upon that point. No decision, how ever, could be taken until sufficient time had been allowei for full and ample deliberation ; but, though he could give the right holt. baronet no clue as to what that decision would ultimately be, thus much he could assure him—that no unnecessary delay should occur in settling the question in the cabinet, and as soon as possible afterwards a mea sure founded upon the decision, whatever it might be, should be brought in. (Cheers.) • Mr. HUME was extremely anxious that the house should profit by the experience it had had upon this subject. Many years had elapsed since he first attempted to impress upon parliament the great advantage to be derived from pursuing • liberal policy towards the colonies, and allowing them to manage their own affiirs without the in terference of Downing-street. Ile remembered, however, that when he advocated reform in Canada, be nail those wh• followed him were denounced as little better than rebels, but he could always bear wi:b undeserved abuse,and it was &mat ter of great gratification to him to see the house coming round to his views of colonial policy. (Hear, hear.) The great question which had been raised iu the course of the debate ' was that of transportation. Now he had been always an advocate for removing criminals from the scene of their criminality, and so far he was favourable to a system of transportation. That system he contended had not failed through any faults of its own but from the hod conduct of the government in the colonies, where there had been nothing but wavering rules and regulations which never could be properly understood and observed. (Hear, hear.) Last year he divided the house, and he was in • small mi nority, but he wished the colonists to see that there were some who supported their cause, and he was in possession of the thanks of the assembly for the course ho took. The noble lord (Lord J. Russell) we not present, but he might say of him that no one bad better expressed the prioeiples on which colonies should be governed, but his conduct had not always been consistent with his principles. Ile trusted that the hon. gentleman the Under-Secretary for the Colo nies, would consider that when one legislature after another continued to complain of the (mother country, there was something wrong. The motion was then agreed to. JEWISH DISABILITIES. Lord J. RUSSELL then rose on his motion for a com mittee of the whole house to take iuto conside ration cer tain civil disabilities affecting the Jews. lie said he trusted his hon. friend the member for the University of Oxford would not o' , ject to his going into committee. It was usual in matters of this kind to allow members bring ing forward measures to go into committee at once. Sir R. INGLIS said he had a strong objection, became he felt that it was the concession of the first step, and therefore be was not prepared to allow it. Ile was not pre pared to allow his noble friend to advance one step. Lord J. RUSSELL—The hon. gentleman the member for the University uews was a ll owed x i t f o i r i d nteo l a eb v , esa i ng necessary taken a j , e t m e t i e n d seh ot t hourda r statyee a t ht the coag na uo tu rso r ne e wt o hh f ili t c h hg e proposal that I have to make before the house resolves itself into committee. In so doing I shall state in the first place that it would have been more aereeable to me to have acted according to the view which I explained to my constituents, if I could have brought forward at this time a proposal with regard to the mode in which we take the oaths in this house, before being entitled t o s it i n this house. I have stated to my constituent* that I think chat the oath which we take ought to be one simple oath of all religionists, and that we ought not to be entangled by various provisions made for persons of ditlerent religious persuasions, that it should not be necessary for a protestant to swear one thing and a Roman catholic another, and for both to avow certain propositions with regard to a person calling himself the successor of James 11., in regard to whom we need trouble ourselves very little now. (Laugh. ter.) But, air, I am aware, and if I was not aware, I should have been convinced of the fact by the discussion of yesterday and the previous day, that I could hardly propose to alter the law with regard to Roman catholic' without raising discussions with regard to the established church of Ireland, with regard to the intentions of Roman catholic', and thus producing a great deal of heat and controversy upon a question which is not the immediate question that I propose at this time to bring before the house. That which I wish to do, that which I propose to myself by this measure, by this separate measure, is so far to complete tke edifice of religious liberty as to allow to the Jewish subjects of her Majesty the same enjoyment of the rights and privileges of British sub jects as are at present enjoyed by the protestant dissenter and by the Roman cat holies. Now, on former occasions when I have brought forward this question, I have stated that the insertion of the words, " on the true faith of a Chris tian " in the oath of abjuration, are the words, and the only words, which prevent a Jew from sitting in this house, and that those words were inserted with no such purpose, and with a view to no such consequences—(hear)—but that they were introduced for the purpose of excluding certain Roman catholic', who at that time it was thought necessary to dis tinguish from other Roman catholics,—one portion of them being bent ou dethroning the sovereign —on dethroning Elizabeth or James 1., and the other portion being loyal to the crown, and to the institutions of the country. (Hear, hear, hear.) This is the mere apparent be cause in the time of the commonwealth an oath was in troduced wherein persons declared their adherence to the Old and New Testaments, and they declared themselves Christians, and I believe they renounced popery and pre lacy by that declaration. They made a declaration that they were Christians. That was intended by the common wealth to be a religious oath and a rest of faith. But on the restoration of monarchy that oath was not persisted in, that oath was entirely disused and laid aside, and from that time to the present time no oath has been introduced with a view to make the profession of religious faith aground for exclusion from parliament. I contend that it was in 1830, for the first time, that this special ground of religious faith was urged, that the principle of religious persecution was employed in parliament, alter two centuries in which it had been abandoned. Those who had seen the disabili ties of the Roman catholic. and the protestant dissenters I removed naturally thought that the time was come for re moving the disabilities of the Jews ; and in April, 1830, Mr. Robert Grant introduced this question to the house, and he based it on the great principle that religious doctrine was not a sufficient ground fur depriving a man of the privileges of a British subject. (Cheers.) And th at, sir, is the question to argue. All those temporal disqualifications, founded upon special ground', of Roman catholic" and of dissenters, have been swept away. With regard to the Jews, no such dangers, no such ineonveniencee, no such obstacles can ever be pretended. (Cheers.) It is on the broad ground that men on account of their religious faith are to be disqualified—that because men believe in the Old Testament, and do not believe its the New, that their disqualifications are to be now main tained. (Cheers.) That is the question. For what we believe to be the error of their faith we are to deprive men of political power and of civil privileges. (Hear.) It is said that Jews are not British subjects like ourselves, that they are a separate nation, and that as such we canaot admit them to the privileges of British subjects. But what is the fact ? It is that they could take their seats in this house as British subjects by the very force of the proposition. Being British subjects, they perform all the duties of British sub jects, and the term " alien " is in no way applicable to them. If you say they are descended from persons settled I in ether nations, and that therefore they are no attached to this country, why you say that which would apply to many persona whom you admit without scruple . One question of national character I may say that there are many families in this country descended from those who were driven over from France at the time of the revocation of the edict of Nantes and at other periods of religious persecution from other countries, and whose descendants enjoy all the privileges of British subjects. We have had arguments with regard to the Roman catholic' and the protestant dissenters, intended to show that they would not fulfil all the duties which you desired they would perform in maintaining the constitution in church and state; but with regard to the Jews, hardly anybody will venture upon that. In the first place, their numbers would be so exceedingly few as to make it very unwise in them to attempt to injure our constitution. But i then it is well known that the Jews are perfectly satisfied I to maintain their faith, without attempting to convert ' others, or to acquire any supremacy in the legislation. (Hear, hear.) It is well known that, retaining most rigidly their religion, they do not attempt to make that religion prevail, and that the last thing they would think of would be ; to enter into any eaeal or combination for the purpose of injuring your Med and religious liberty. (Cheers.) With respect, then, to that last question no man can deny that although the Jews are not many amongst us—some 30,000 or 40,000, in fact—yet they are known in their social relations as men of great charity, as men always ready to help when any act of charity Is to be performed ; and it is well known that there are no people that have more quietly and unostentatiously performed their civil duties to the state. I have always said it is no matter of indifference whether a Christian character should ; or should not preval in the houses of parlia ment. I have always said that religion has no business apart from the business of life—certainly not apart or sepa rate from the business of the legislature—but when I say this, I mean that spirit to which I have alluded. But when, instead of that spirit of unity, you have nothing but diver sity of religious opinion—when, instead of the bond of peace, you have nothing but contention—when, instead of righteousness of lite ' you have such men es Wilkes intro duced into this house—l say, what is the benefit of this oath, and in what way does that oath secure the Christian character of your legislature ? (Loud cheers.) Let us, then, not attempt to found our Christianity upon so flimsy and so worthleas a security. (Hear, hear.) If, as I trust is the case, the Christian character prevails more now than it did a century efus if it prevails more in the nation and more in the legate tore—it is not because you maintain this oath, but it has been brought about by a greater attention to our religious duties and by a better inculcation of Christian doctrines. against. SUUTHAItIPTON ELECTION COMMITTEE. Mr. H. A. HERBERT appeared at the bat with a re port from the Southampton Election Committee, which mated that the attendance of a material witness could not be procured at present The committee therefore requested leave to adjourn till Saturday, the sth of March, which was agreed to. NORWICH ELECTION PETITION. Colonel BOLDER() having presented • petition on the subject of the withdrawal of the Norwich election petition, Mr. L. KING moved that the petition be read by the clerk at the table, which was accordingly done. The peti. tioners (electors of Norwich) stated that they had presented two petitions on the 22nd of November, one against the , bejt return of Messrs. Peto and W , the sluing mem rs, and the other against the return of Mr. Warner alone, on the ground of corruption and other illegal practices; that the said petition was referred to the general committee on elections, and that the petitioners were engaged in the preparation of the proofs to substantiate the charges alleged in the petition against one of, if not against both, the sit ting members, when, to their surprise, they learned that the said petition bad been withdrawn. The petitioners begged to assure the house that such withdrawal took plate without their knowledge or consent, and that they were aggrieved thereby. They submitted that justice amid not be done unless such petition was reinstated on the list of election petitions now before the house, and they prayed the house accordingly. Mr. L. KING then moved that the petition be printed with the votes to-morrow. As lion M Dom the hon. member mean to make any motion thereupon ? (Bear, hear.) Mr. L. ICING intended to more that it be referred to a select committee. ii;.117516./imoND—lf the boo. gentleman does not mean to pursue it, I beg leave to give notice that I will. (Hear, bees.) BLACKBURN ELECTION PETITION. Mr. DEEDES brought up the report of the committee on this petition, which Mated that Wm. Reeks Esq., was not duly returned at the beet eheries, end t hat the last election as far as rework hie wee • void election. The committee aim eme to the neehdies that the said Wm. Emirs was, by hie neer% milli at bribery at the said electron. That O athwee bribed by the promise of an smithy of 51. ( ft= bum& alas ma John, the keeper f the Bird-in-Hand beeirkeusia—(nusbter)—tbat other electors were likewise bribed—that It was not proved dud such bribery was committed with the knowledge or consent of the said Wm. Eccles. The report also declared that treating to some extent was practised by the agents and friends of the said Wm. Eccles, bat it was not proved that It was with his cognisance. DARTMOU Hi, TAUNTON. AND ELECTION PETITIONS. ______-. - --------- Sir J. TROLLOPS brought op reports from the Genera] Committee of Election. mambo; the Select Committee ap pointed to try the merits of thew petitions. NOTICES OF MOTIONS. Poarcotaa• CLAINI.—Mr. OLIVEIRA, on Tuesday nest, to move fur a return of the claims on the Portuguese government, made by Sir H. Seymour, at the instance of the noble lord (Palenentoa), stating the nature and amount of the mid claims, and the principle on which they were decided or arranged. FACTORY Acr.—Lord J. MANNERS, on Monday, to present a petition complaining of stations of the Factory Act, and to put • questMa to the government on the subject. 01171111.—Mr A. PELLATT, ea this day fortnight, to move for a select committee to inquire into the expediency of administering alirmations, instead of oaths in courts of law. Mr. H. SE'lligiCviisli;ii;its;;;Fri;as the government whether it was their intention to take any steps, with • view to *afore* the due and more punctual performance of the ezining contract, for the conveyance of the mails to Australia era the C►pe ? Sir J. GRAHAM said he was sorry to say that the per of the contract was not so punctual as it was desirable; and it was the intention of the government, if necessary, to enforos the penalties for the nen-performance of the sostraete. .BALE OF THE GREEK SUIT OF ARMOUR. Mr. C. BBBSBLBY wished te knowireT.tic:6;i of the Ordnance, whether it was true or not that a suit of armour, which might have been bought for 501., cost the public 250/. at a public auction, In consequence of two agents from different public departments bidding the one organ the other, in utter ignorance of each other ; and whether some means would not in future be taken to put a stop to such ridiculous and absurd waste of the public money ? (Hear, hear.) Mr. MONSELL said the statement to which the boa. geatleman referred was quite incorrect It was tame that a suit of Greek armour of great value and antiquity bad been purchased for the Armoury at the Tower, the esti mated value of which was 3001. At the auction not two, but three, brokers were bidding for the armour, one of them being the broker of the British Museum. The fund from which the purchase was made was not strictly a public fund, it arisiag out of a surphas of about 3001. a year which accrued from the payments for visiting the Tower af.er meeting the expenses. He thought that the Tower was the proper place for the reception of each an article. He quite greed that it was the duty of one publics department to give the other aotiee that they were Being to make a pur chase ; sad he had ao doubt that the authorities of the British Museum would aet permit smelt ea clairioa to ow= again. COFFER AND CHICORY. Mr. HMIS wished to know what decision the gown sman had come to relative to the laising of chicory with Mae ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that when the present government added to odes, they found thamttles of the mixture of shiesey end cedes in this A minute, dated July, 1862, had been issued g the ermine ( T IMd down regulations for L ek sTe ti :f th two months had been given to the deren e to red of their addle et the mixed artier, then the naiads was not to late Wiest till the Std of Nowiabre. Sobseguestly M Mk herder, the parties d hoti& had an holoniew with the lele First Lord of the Maim sad eadannications were gate on at the web jed whir the preeint gemmed dim ist• power. Up to diet time them bed bus so poesseolks with a der de dr eslbreement d Me aim* mod no desseree bed bola telies to give it the IhE epeollut et law. The parties, therefort, madded Asir ogoilsolled to hiss he a resew gionlisa st w Iminnins ma - order Ae eireuertreses it mil le Ma to be his doll to dossidier the waded oh es the Wrote led seed due bee fall sad unless easel. The suedes woo ore of t MOW% but thatallinlty wagoners& sod to a certain Wort ia essesquene• albs parties. amens to the raise* siding that they did net desire to fall book on the former system whisk prevailed begin the peerage( the minute—the* sey, they reguested not that di sestristiou Co the m a le shard be resseeed, but that they should be permitted to edl the mixture under klub and distinctly melted. After fully hedettgalieg the en and Deering the etemeesuts side Isuilese, the Ceylon mad after the intsmole el the reverse, le Omagh& Ad, under the Or eiseembrosek he ward best emend the public interest by eestiag to the reedit of the parties who wished for the moillleation of the present system, is far u to be allowed to sell chicory mined with coffee, pro vided it wu distinedy denaribed se such on the labels at tached._ Mr. - DIERAELI whiled to know if the right his. gen tleman intended to convey that the late government autho rised the suspension of the urinate ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER sold he did set soy they did authorise the suspension beyond the three maths which were given for investigation. As HON. MEMBER asked if the relative quantities were to bs wombed ea the labels ? The CHANCELLOR of as EXCHEQUER said that they were to be tliatiactly marked thee, Mixture of Chi cory and Coffee.' lir. T. BARING asked if the now minute would mote into operation immediately ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER saw no lesson for delay. Mr. HASTIE asked the right lea. gentles= if be would allow pepper to be sold in the same way ? (Hear, hear.) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the eitenaletances were different. If the bon. gentleesaa lama to ask bin whether rice was to be allowed to be mined with pepper, he should say certainly not, for that would be an adulteration and deterioration of pepper, whereas the =ileum of chicory with coffee was not an adulteration or deterioration. (Oh, oh.) 10ET_IJRN3 ORDERED. - - On the motion of Mr. ()Twos, a variety of papers WWI ordered relating to the CMS of Col. Outruns. On the motion of Mr. Hums, the following return was ordered:—Copies of the reports of the several swamis !goners on public works at Binge), Madras, and Bombay, is the year 1851.2, together with copies of the minutes of the members of the government thereon, and of any orders of despatches of the Cost of Directors relating thereto. CONSOLIDATION OF THE STATUTE LAW. Mr. KEA.TINO, in pursuance of Imhof, asked the Se cretin of State foe the Home Deparlaiim4 whether the plan Mmanced by government, for the Offgagenient and consolidation of the statute law, is hs ndle. fo comprehend any measures for ensuring 'Fester unlwemity , elearnew, and comisensas in the framag of hums acts of wha mmy. Lord J. RUSSELL, who spoke very low,was understood to reply in the affirmative. LORD JOHN RUSSELL AND THE FOREIGN- OFFICE. Mr. CAYLEY wished to ',ern from the noble lord the avail:see fur the City of London if it were true, u had been reported, first, that he no longer held the sea ls of the Fo reign-office, and secondly, that he held no situation in the government at present to which a salary was attached. Lord J. RUSSELL said, in answer to the first question, he begged to state that ho had resigned the °Mee of &ere tary of State for Foreign Affairs, which her Majesty had been pleased to confer on Lord Clarendon ; and in answer to the second question, he begged to say that he did not at Fermat hold any clam to which a salary was attached. Mr. CAYLEY then gave notice that on the first fitting opportunity he would move that, considering the great in crease of public business of late years, and the eorresponding increase of responsibility which devolved upon the leader of that house, it was just and expedient that a salary should be attached to the leadership of the Rouse of Commons. THE PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL STEAM PACKET COMPANY AND THE GOVERNMENT .___ MAILS. Mr. H. BERKELEY wished to ask the right hon. gentle man the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, according to a report alluded to in the Ci y article of the rinses of the 22nd inst., the Peninsular and Oriental Steam-packet Company had made an application to the government to be permitted to •Trop part of the contract entered into by them last year, for an additional mail service, and if they had, whether it was the intention of the government to acmde to such a proposition ? Sir J. GRAHAM said it was true the Peninsular and Oriental Company had presented to the Board of Admiralty a memorial prayieg that on certain conditions (as was un derstood) which were stated, there might be some relax ation of the existing contract; the memorialists stating that the present demand for British shipping was altogether in consistent with its completion. Her Majesty's government having thought it espedient to appoint a committee over which the Postmaster-General presided, to that committee the whole matter had been referred. The report had not yet been received ; and it was of course impossible for him to state what recommendations it would contain. In reply to questions from Lord J. MANNIRA, Lord J. RUSSELL stated that the government intended to take the army estimator on the following (this) day, and the ordnance estimates on Monday. THE NORWICH ELECTION PETITION. Mr. T. BUNCOMBE said, before proceeding to call the attention of the house to the subject of which he had given notice, he had a petition to present from Colonel Dickson, • candidate for the representation of Norwich. He would move that it be read by the clerk. The petition of Colonel Dickson was then read. It com pleased of the injustice which the petitioner bad suffered by the unauthorised withdrawal of the petition by Mr. Henry Brown, the parliamentary agent, and concluded with is prayer that the petitioner might be heard at the bar of the house. The HON. MEMBER said this subject appeared to him one demanding the most serious attention ot that house, not only as affecting the order of their proceedings, but also as involving a breach of privileges, and an infringement of the sacred right of the people to petition the house with regard to any grievance which they might have sustained; and it was his intention to conclude with a motion that cer tain parties should he summoned to the bar, in order that it might be proved that • breach of the privileges and con tempt of that house had been perpetrated. Mr. W. I'ATTEN said he rose to order. He wished to know whether this was a question which affected the privi leges of the house ? (Hear, hear.) Mr. T. BUNCOMBE said he too roes to order. It was totally impossible for the house, until they had heard hies, to say whether or not a breach of privilege had been com mitted. (Hear, hear.) He knew perfectly well beforehand that an attempt would be made to strangle hie motion; but he could not allow the chairman to use his "ways and means" so as to prevent him from stating the case. (Laughter.) He really believed that a breach of privilege had been com mitted, sad if he heard nothing front the Speaker he should prooted. The SPEAKER skid if the boo. member had any th ing to state beyond what was stated in the petition read by the clerk, there could be us objection to his proceeding ; other wise, it was Impassible to deeds whether or not the privi legniet efie Meru bad ban infringed. At present it did not appear that a Womb at privilege bad been committed. although the agent might have acted most improperly with reference to the petition. Mr. BUNCOMBE said his case was not confined to the petition, which was only handed to him en hoar or two before. His attention was first drawn to the spot by an advertisement which sp in the Tints.. Knowing that in electioneering matters as were often practised, he put himself in communica tion with Colonel Dickson, who assured him that it was no hoax, and declared that he was ready to prove at the bar of the hones that a breach of privilege had been perpetrated by the parliamentary agent. He knew very well that tho withdrawal of petitions took place under the 17th section of the Controverted Elections Act; but the act stated that the withdrawal must be under the signature either of the petitioners or of their agent, and he maintained that Mr. Brown was no agent at all in the matter. It would be proved on investigation that Brown boasted that he had done a good turn to the members for West Norfolk by the withdrawal of the election petition from Norwich, and had thrown over Dickson. Would it be denied that a fraud had been committed, if Brown had acted without authority, either from the local agent or from the peti tioners themselves; or that there had been no breach of the priviliges of that house ? It was his intention to move that both Col. Dielvon and Mr. Brown should be sum moned to the bar of the house, to explain the whole pro ceeding. He would first move that Col. Dickson do attend I at the bar. Mr. HUME said he entirely agreed with his hon. friend that Mr. Brown wu responsible for hie conduct; but he would suggest to him that he should follow the usage in each cans, by moving that the petition be read, and bring forward the subject on the following day. (lieu, hear.) 1 Mr. W. PATTEN said he entirely concurred in the sag pWon of the hon. member for Montrose. He should not have risen, however, but for the accusation of the hon. member that he was attempting to swamp the petition. The reverse was the fact ; be wished to prevent the petition from being swamped by the adoption of a wrong course. (Hear, bear.) He must say, however, that this was clearly not a case of privilege. Lord J. RUSSELL thought the best course that could be pursued was that suggested by the hon. member for Montrose, to let the petition be printed and leave it to the house to consider whether it would deal with the petition itself or refer the matter to a committee. He declined to give any opinion on the subject. Mr. BUNCOMBE said he begged to move that Colonel Dickson be ordered to attend at thebar. The motion having bees ci;d7" The SPEAK ER said it oagbt first to be decided whether the question was one of privilege or not; otherwise the might establish a very inconvenient precedent. By the Bth maim 11 & 12 Victoria, petitions might be withthawn by the reties or their agents. Of course, therefore, the parties to the petition woaldappear to ha bound by the sat of their = red *Gogh it might be very proper to inquire the spot had acts ti d ni, Fily or not, he did not co nsilm *et any privilege was to have been inter fered with as the ease then s So far the case did not seem to b one cloprivilege. Aber a few words from Mr. Hamm, which were inau dible. Still GREY thought that after the Speaker had de deed that the lama= was not one of privilege ' the only course open to the his. member was that of m oving that the petition should be printed. (Hear, hear.) _ _ Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said the 'gentian wa's, bad or had not a hard been oommitted upon that houss—(" no, so ") Pe —by a party representing himself as an agent of certain re Mr. WALPOLE said, by ths net of parliament - agent had power to withdraw a petition, and, radar rush etrestinstaaoss, the question before the hones, though it might be a very proper ens for inquiry, wee clearly rot ton of privilege. Yr. T. MINCOMBE maid as the Speaker thought his motion premature, he would not press it, but would move at ones that the petition be printed with the elites. The first motion was then withdrawn, and the petition ordered to be printed. THE NEW ELECTION PETITION. LASCELLEE presented the report of the select com mittee in rateremes to this petition ; which was that Wil liam 11 h, hail bees dely elected. The committee added a oiscabWast des deg, that harlot examleed the trots as honk sides, the daes contained in the petition dadnot sprier to theta to call " for any special remark. THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. Sir J. PARINGTON rose to cell the attention of the hews to the mate of the Animallea enksaiss, and the Rues ties of Iseesjpertatist sad to mews he espies of the dis till& hem filr J. Pakhgtea to the revermin of New South Wales, Vleteria, and South Australia, dated 15'h Demm her, 1602, sad his dispatch le the Lied-Governor of Van Dismea's Lead, dated 14th December, 1862. His object was to plat out the policy which he thought ought to be adopted by the imperial government towards those (eeks in the extraordinary and unexpected circum stances in which they were placed. There bad of late yeses bees • growing inclination on the part of that boas' to asterisk sslraial questions ; and no colonies had excited puss, keseem theft those of Australia. No longer ago that het mks that hoes. devoted considerable attention to Ile abbe of die gamy of New Zealand ; and within a mime prima a eonedtation was framed for the Australian 00{0111111r he foal weaseiousuese of the fact that im portant lloookofes were then impending. The discoveries of geld bed dialated the prosperity of the colonies to e sat ezlesseassry extent, and had led to a vast increase of populates. There were, ha believed, no statistics wale would enable them to determine what amount of gold had been collected, but he certainly would net in over-rating it if he estimated it at 10,000 . within the first year. Of course such important discoveries bad tended greatly to increase the material prosperity of the colonies. He wished, however, to guard himself against a charge of exaggeration on that subject. He thought it desirable that it should be generally known that so far