The Express. — London, England, 1852-07-02 00:00:00

IM PE RIAL PARLIAMENT. TILE PROROGATION. HOUSE OF I.ORDS.—TurasDAT, JULY 1. The fifth session of the third parliament of the reign of her present most gracious Majesty was closed yesterday by the Queen in person, preparatory to its dissolution. This latter cii commoner gave to the event a degree of interest which it would not otherwise have powessed, and great anxiety was manifested to obtain the distinguished favour of admission to the hotter and to the gallery leading thereto, from which a eight of the procession within the building stay be, obtained. Their lordships assembled at 12 o'clock. Lord Renee. DAL! sat Speaker. The only business transacted was the second and third reading of the Suitors in Chancery Relief Itill, for which purpose the standing orders were suspended, mid the bill having gone through the stages indicated, passed the house. About one o'clock, the peers, in their rotes, began to ar rive, and the benches in the body of the house and side galleries soon alter &virile filled with elegantly dressed sparkling with diamonds and attired in every variety of colour. Among the carlieet arrivals of peers we noticed the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of Northumberland (wearing an admiral's uniform hsnsath his robes), and the Duke of iluckineham. Al. the members of her !Majesty's govern ment who have seats in the Upper House were present. On the bench of bishops we observed the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, and the Arch bishop of Armagh. the Bishop of Salisbury, the Bishop of St. Auph, and the Bishop of Oxford. The wool sack wee occupied by the Lord Chief Baron Pollock, Mr. Baron Alderson, Mr. Baron Platt. Mr. Justice Croswell, Mr. Justice Tattooed, and Mr. Justice Williams. Mr. Ser leant Manning also availed himself of his privilege, and, ar rayed in his scarlet robe, was not the least important per sonage present. The spine. assigned to the nrrps diploma lie-, behind the bench of bishop. was tilled by the repre sentatives of foreign courts, displaying great variety of costume, and adding considerably to the brilliancy ut the scene. About a quarter past 2 o'clock, a Nourish of trumpets, with the sinsultaneene hornpipe of the perk artillery, an nounced the arrival of the Queen at her Palace of AYest spinster : and shortly after, her Majesty entered the house supported by l'riace Albert on tut left, and accom panied by the gnat officers of state. Amid the rustle of a Niemand dresses, the house rose to receive her Majesty, and presented a spectacle of surpassing splendour. The Queen immediately motioned the assembly to he merited, and Sir Augustus Clifford, the Usher of the Black Rini, was desired to summon the faithful " Commons. The Earl of I Wrhy bore the crown on a cushion, the Marquis of Winchester stood on the right of her M iinety holding the cap of maintenauce, and the Duke of Wellington, who carried the sword of state, took up his position immediately on the left of the Queen. The venerable duke seemed with difficulty to hold the ponder- Cu' 'weapon , but paid marked attention to the Queen's apeeeh, and frequently nodded his assent to different pas sages which it contained. Tho Duchess of Atholl, as DINn ss of the Robes. and a Ledy in Waiting, stood behind the Queen, They wen dressed in black, and Prince Albert. who wore a Field-Marshal's uniform, also hail an arm le It of crape, the court having been suddenly thrown into mourning, in consequence of the announcement yes terday, by electric telegraph, of the death at Vienna of Count Mensclortf l'ouilly, maternal uncle of her Majesty, and paternal uncle of Prance Albert. The Queen. who looked remarkably well, wore a beauti ful tiara of diamonds, a diamond necklace, and a dress of white striped satin and burnished gold. After the lapse 01 a few minute* the members of the lower house, {:receded by their Speaker and the Sergeant at-Arms, appeared at the bar in considerable numbers. Mr. Disraeli placed himself close to the right of the Speaker. The SI'EAKER, having made his obeisance to her Ma jesty, delivered the following address: " Most Gracious Sovereign,— We, your Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, approach your MMesty with (cellars of unfeigned respect and attachment. We acknowledge with gratitude the uninterrupted tranqstillity mil prosperity which, by the mercy of Providence, this nation has been permitted to en joy,—atfording, us it has done, a fitting opportunity of di rectuir our attention to questions of domestic policy, and of carrying into effect various social and unitary improve ments which the public interest imperatively required. The difficulty and cost of obtaining patents for inventions has long been a subject of complaint. For these evils we have endeavoured to provide an efficient remedy ; and, without imposing undue restrictions on the public, we have secured to industry and talent that just protection which they required. Availing ourselves of information afforded us by commissions appointed by your Majesty, we have made great and extensive changes in the practice and proceedings of the superior courts of law and equity ; and we confidently hope that, by curtailing and simplifying thou proceedings, which have caused so much aggravated distress and such great delay, we shall have removed a reproach which hitherto has too deservedly attached to the administration of justice in this kingdom. In obedience to your Majesty's gracious recommendation, signified to us at the commence ment of this session, we have framed a constitution for the colony of New Zealand, and we trust that the same lore of freedom, and the same loyalty to the crown, which are so conspicuous in your Majesty's dominions at home, will be the guiding principle of your Majesty's subjects in that re. mote but important dependency of the empire. We have given our most patient consideration to the state of the military defences of this kingdom. Well aware of the extraordinary demands made on the service of the army in your Majesty's distant pasaessions, we have deemed it advisuble no longer to suspend the opemtiou of the laws regulating the militia in England and Wales ; but so far to maiify their proviskna by subaituting voluntary for com pulsory enleitment,u to renderthem less onerous to the work ing classes. This course has been dictated by no unworthy motive of jealousy or distrust towards other powers; we felt it due to a great and generous people to protect them from the possibility of surprise, and, by adopting such a measure, to allay those alarms arising from a sense of inse curity. We have done much to enure the continuance of that peace which it is our anxious desire to maintain with all the world. For these, and other objects connected with the service of this extended empire, it has been the duty and privilege of your Majesty's faithful Commons duly and liberally to provide; and I have now to present to your Majesty a bill, entitled 'Au act to apply a sum out of the Consoiidated Fund to the service of the year ; and to appropriate the supplies we have granted in the present session of parliament;' and to which we humbly ask your Majesty's royal assent." The Consolidated Fund Appropriation Bill, the Patent Law Amendment Bill, the New Zealand Bill, the Suitors in Chancery Relief Bill, and other bills, then received the royal assent in the usual form. The Lord Chancellor having presented her Majesty with a copy of her speech (which was given in yesterday's Express) the Queen proceeded to rend it, in her usual dis tinct and emphatic manner, every word being distinctly heard in all parts of the house. - The Lord Chancellor having received back the speech, and been commanded so to do by her Majesty, prorogued parliament in the following terms: " It is her Majesty's rule] will and pleasure that this parliament be prorogued till Friday, the 20th day of August nest ; and this oarlia meat is accordingly prorogued till Friday, the 20thday of August next." The Queen having bowed, rose and left the lions., the procession forming as at her 'warm—the gay assemblage slowly dispersed—usi the partiamat created in 1847, with all its imperlesim as lea bardi." drew its expiring gasp. HOUSE OF COMMON3. 7 -7111:18DAY. JVLT TheBeae Lig took the chair at halt-part one o'clock. PETITIONS PRESENTED. OCEAN PENNY POSTAOL—By Mr. HUDSON, from Sunderland, in favour of. Cmt:nen AND STA/I.—By Mr. 0. THOMPSON, from Pembroke, for separation of. °raw lift PREACIIINO.—By Mr. G. THOMPSON, from tke Tower Hamlets, in favour of permitting open air /mealier in Bonner'afivlds. MATNDDTH ENDOWMENT ACT.—By Mr. SPOONER, from Birmingham, for repeal of. THR STOCKPORT RIOTS. Mr. ANSTRY—Seeing my right bon. friend the Chief Secretary foe the Home Department in his place, I am de sirou of putting some questions to him in reference to the unhappy affray which occurred on Tuesday evening in the borough of Stockport. The first question I wish to ask is, whether my right hoe. friend has received any further in formation on the subject of that a ff ray than that which is furnished by the morning papers; secondly, I would ask whether he has reason to think it true that a religion pro. cession of Roman catholic§ was the original cause of the riot ; and the third question I wish to ask my right hon. friend is, whether it is the intention of her Majesty's go• 'eminent from this time forth to adept effectual measures for preventing religious processions taking place is this country, +hese, from the current of public feeling, they are eminently calculated to produce consequences injurious to the public peace? Mr. WALPOLE—In answer to the three questions put to me by my hots. and learned friend, I have to state, first, that I have received no further information on the subject of the unfortunate disturbances that have occurred at Stockport than that which the daily organs of communica tion have conveyed to the public. In answer to his second question, I think I had better read a paragraph from a letter which I have received from the Mayor of Stockport no the subject. (Hear, hear.) He say, in this letter "So far as it is at present ascertains d the disturbance appears to have arisen out of a quarrel between the English and Irish, in which I fear religious animosity has been brought into play, but the whole matter was so sudden and unexpected, and the attention of myself and brother masestestes has been so entirely required to the necessary men- suns for preemvinic the public peace, that the facts have not yet been accurately ureic lire il." I•ii•ler tees., iicetitristnncesi. I am sure the house will agree with me in the pr o priety of not expressing any opinion, at present, one way or the other as to the origin of the riot. (Hear, hear) With regard to my hon. and learned friend's third question, whether her Majesty's government intend to take 'netsurf.s for effectually preventing religious pre emie= calculated to occasion Meturbances of the public peace, I can only state, that both in England and in Ire land the government have taken every possible precaution to discourage procemions of 'character that would in any way lead to disturbances arising out of religious differences. ((Hey, hear.) We Dave done so in Ireland thin year in re lo those processions assay take play ; Shag, THE by communicating with the Lird dieelneun and tits uses gistrates, and calling upon them to present and cheek par cessions that may lead to those disturbances to the utmost of their lower; we have likewise done so in England ; and I can assure the house that her Majesty's government are desirous, above all things, it should be generally known that :my of this ostentatious parade, which rm.y lead to re ligious disputes, would be diiscourageml sad discountenanced by them, and we do hope that the country will support as in that determilation. (liver, hear.) _ THE FATE OF MR. BOYD. Mr. GOOLD inquired if any . instructions had been given to Captain Benham to inquire into the fate of Mr. Benjamin Boyd, who was supposed to have horn murdered or to be detained captive in the Solomon Islands? Captain BUNCOMBE said that particular and minute instructions had been given to inquire as to the fate of Mr. Boyd and to take measures for his release if still alive. THE VENTILATION OF THE HOUSE. Lord SEYMOUR asked what steps were intended to he taken between now and the assembling of the row parlia ment fur the ventilation of the house, and whether any thing would be done in accordance with the report of the iammittee, which had been laid on the table on the subject, or whether the whole question would be leR to be con sidered again. Lord J. MANNERS was glad his noble friend had put the question. The course he proposed to adopt was, that the recommendations of thecommittee appointed to inquire into the subject should be carried out ; and with the co operation of those gentlemen, to whose services that com mittee in their report had made complimeutary allusion, steps would be taken to ftnpmve the lighting, warming, and ventilation of the house. Ile had already communi cated with those g.ntlemen, sod they had been good enough to promise that they would, during the recess, co-operate with hint for that purpose, and he trusted that by the aiil of their services the members of the new parliament would find the house far more agreeable in those important particulars than it had been found by the members of the present parliament. (Hear, bear.) THE RAJAH BROOKE. - Mr. ILUME thanked the present government for pro ducing papers iu reference to the Borneo piracies and the conduct of Sir J. Brooke, which hail been retinoil by their predecessors. limo only object in moving for tbose papers was that the whole case might be fairly before parliament. Sir J. Brooke had warned him by name that he would de mand no inquiry. He (Mr. Hume) would be glad to know if any such demand hail been made to the government ? For himself his only wish was that full justice should be done, and that, if Sir J. Brooke had been unjustly accused, he might have full opportunity of Muting all that had been alleged against him. - . • The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was under stood to say that he hod no objection to en investigation, if demanded ; but tru.ded his boo. friend would leave the government to act on their own discretion in the matter. THE lONIAN ISLANDS.-PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. _ . Mr. HUME reminded the right hnn. baronet the Se cretary for the Colonies that on the 16th of March certain papers were ordered an reference to the lonian Islands, he (Mr. Hume) having intimated at the time his intention of moving for an inquiry. Ile wished to know why they had not been delivered, and if they would yet be laid on the table that day ? Sir J. PA KINOTON was happy to state that he had that morning laid the papers alluded to by his hon. friend on the table of the house. (Hear, hear.) Sir W. MOLESWORTII inquired if the letter expla natory of the arrangements with the New Zealand Com pany had been produced? Sir J. PAKINGTON—Yes ; that is also on the table. Mr. HUME observed that he had just been reminded by an hon. friend near him that no more papers which had been ordered by the present parliament would be delivered to members after the house separated for the dissolution. He trusted some arrangement would be made by which all that had been ordered and not yet delivered In consequence of the delay in printing would be sent during the recess to the members of the present parliament. (hear, hear.) The SPEAK Eli explained that the moment parliament was dissolved his authority ceased, as did that of the present (louse of Commons, and the usual practice was that no papers or dered by the house and remaining undelivered were de livered afterwards. He had no authority, and he appre hended such delivery could take place under the authority of the government. . Mr. lIUME hoped the government would exercise that authority. (Hear. hear.) Mr. 11. DENISON remarked that it would be much to be regretted if papers already ordered were not to be deli vered after the dissolution. Ile hoped the government would exercise their power as suggested by the Speaker. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was not aware that he had any authority in the matter; but if he gave the order to circulate among the members of the pre• sent House of Commons all papers ordered and not yet deli vered, be trusted his hon. friend (Mr. Hume) would join in an indemnity to the government in the next parliament. (Hear, and a laugh.) The better plan, however, would probably be to vote an address to the crown (for which there was yet time), and no doubt the delivery would take place. (Hear.) Mr. HUME would move then that an humble address be presented to her Majesty praying that she will be gra ciously pleased to give directions that all papers ordered by the House of Commons, and not vet printed, may be deli vered to the present members. (Hear, hear.) The question was put and agreed to nem. con. TILE PROROGATION. At a quarter put two o'clock the booming of cannon announced her Majesty's arrival, and in lire minutes afterwards, Mr. PULMAN (the Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod) en tend the house and summoned it immediately to attend her Majesty in the House of Peers. The Speaker, who was attired in hie court robes, at tended by the Serjeant-at-Arms, and followed by the Chan cellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Secretary Walpole, Secretary Sir John Pakington, Mr. Henley, as representing the mi nistry (Mr. Hume having moved, after the usual ballot for precenence, that the ministers should head the procession after the Speaker), Mr. Brotherton, Mr. Hume, and about +5O members of the house, in the order in which they had been balloted, at once obeyed her Majesty's command, and proceeded to the House of Peers. After exactly 20 minutes' absence, the house returned, and the Speaker having read her Majesty's speech at the table, around which the few members who came back with him stood uncovered the while, he shook hands with Mr. Henley, the Chancellor fa the Exchequer, and a few others of the leading members, and the business of the third parliament of Queen Victoria closed at 20 minutes to 3 o'clock. THE DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT. (FROM A SCPPL MMM N M TO THE LONDON GAIIITTI4 I BY THE QUEEN —A PROCLAMATION, For Dissolving the present Parliament and Declaim( I the Calling of another. VICTORIA, R. Whereas we have thought tit, by sad with the advice of our Privy Council, to dissolve this present par iiallietat, which was this day processed and stands pro tweed to Friday the twentieth day et August neat: We do for that end publish this our royal proclamation, sad do ►ereby dissolve the said parliament accordingly; and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, and the Commissioners for shires and burghs, of the House of Commons are discharged from their meeting and attendance on the said Friday the twentieth day of August neat : and we, being desirous and resolved, as soon as may be, to meet our people, and to have their advice in 1 arliament, do hereby make known to all our loving subjects our royal will and pleasure to call a new parliament; and do hereby further declare, that, with the advice of our Privy Council, we have given order that our Chancellor of that part of our United Kingdom called Greet Britain, and our Chencellor of Ireland, do respectively, upon notice thereof, forthwith issue out writs in due form, and according to law, for call ing a new parliament ; and we do hereby also, by this our royal proclamation under our Great Seel of our United Kingdom, require writs forthwith to be issued accordingly by our said Chancellors respectively, for causing the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, who are to serve in' the said parliament, to be duly returned to, and give their attendance in, our said parliament ; which write are to be returnable on Friday, the twentieth day of August neat. Given at our Court at Buckingham Palace, this first day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hun dred and fifty-two, and in the sizteenth year of our reign. God save the Queen. BY THE QUEEN.—A PROCLAMATION, In order to the electing and summoning the Sixteen Peers of Scotland. FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 2, 1852. and to aigo-,ettd attest 'ft* smile r % the presence M the said Mots the eleetees, and nth= such cortifleste into our High Court of Chancery of Great Britain. And we do, by this our royal proclamation, strictly Command and re quire the Provat of Edinburgh, and ell other the magis trates of the said city, to take especial care to preserve the peace thereof, during the time of the said election, and to prevent all manner of riots, tumults, disorders, and via. knee whatsoever. And we strictly charge and command that this our royal proclamation be duly published at the Market Cross at Edinburgh, and in all the county towns of Scotland, ten days, at least, before the time hereby ap pointed for the meeting of the said peers to proceed to such election. Witness ourselves at Westminster, this Ist slay of July, 1852, and in the 16th of our reign. God save the Queen. glie erairego. were taken to put an end to it. It was not till slate hour on Twa&y evening that the magistrat. s ap pear to hare interfered at all, though the fighting continued to be resumed at intervals, and even then they had to be sent for. Of the character and composition of the Stockport magistracy we knew nothing, and we speak of them, therefore, without party bias. But this we do know, that in every borough that has come under our observation, all parties are systematically actu ated in their choice of magistrates, less (if at all) by the consideration of their efficiency for the discharge of the duties of local government, than by a desire to strengthen the local parliamentary parties by investing their leading . and influential members with the dignity of magisterial office. This is a sad and mischievous mistake. As liberals wo are not insensible ta tho desirableness of having in the magistracy men of liberal sentiments and enlight ened views ; but the duties of local administration are important in themselves, and appointments to the inagi,traey . ought not to be made subservient to mere electioneering tactics. Men of energetic, active cha racters and great command of temper—men who appreciate the importance of a well-administered police, protective and searching—men prepared to devote themselves to the duties they take upon them —these arc the materials to make magistrates of. It is not directly but indirectly that the exercise of the elective principle in local administration is to be made subservient to the keeping alive in the community the spirit of liberty and love of rational progress. Au improved organisa tion both of urban and rural districts with a view to the maintenance of an efficient police ;—a _ just appreciation of the nature and importance of local administration ;—a more just estimate of the true dignity and responsibility of magisterial office on the part of those who aspire to it; without these we must make up our mind to have frequent recur rences of such melancholy and disgracetul scenes as those which have just been witnessed at Stockport. The burning of the Bull-ring at Birmingham during the first Chartist movement— the affray at Birken head while tho Ecclesiastical Titles Bill was before parliament—and many other similar deplorable events, are attributable to our imperfect local police establishments, and the want of an intelligent esti mate of the functions of local administrative insti tutions. Another lesson—of less immediate urgency but of perhaps even greater permanent importance—is I afforded by the causes which gave rise to the Stockport ' riots. In their ultimate consequences they bear a resemblance to the London anti-Catholic riots of 1780, that may well make the men of 1852 blush. They had their origin in vague sectarian heats, but they went on from bad to worse, till they ended in law less destruction, plunder, and death. When the Protes tant portion of the combatants were sufficiently mad dened by the fray, lawless plunderers led them on to aid in actions from which, iu their calmer moods, they would have shrunk in disgust. Wanton, in furiated destructiveness, was doubtless at play in the wrecking of the Roman Catholic chapels and priests' dwellings, and the destruction of furniture, but it is apparent that plunderers were also at work in the mob. Attempts were made to force open a large iron safe in one of the chapels, supposed to contain articles of silver, and fragments of silver articles were found by the police, strewed on the floor, rem nants of what had been carried off as booty. The Stockport riots of 1852 resemble the London riots of 1780 in their origin as well as in their conse quences. The latter were utterly unprovoked: Sir GEORGE SAVILLeIi bill could not have promoted the propagation of Itomish doctrines; was no offensive aggression on the part of Romanist& The Stock port procession of Sunday last was nut one of those ecclesiastical displays which (whether justly or un justly, wisely or foolishly) arc prohibited by law. It was an annual procession of the pupils of the schools connected with three Roman Catholic chapels in Stockport. There seem to have been no sectarian em blems carried in the procession—no priests in robes of office took part in it. It was one of those displays of the care and attention paid to the education of the rising generation by certain associated citizens in which all sects, and man ) useeeiatious cuuuccicd by nu sectarian tic, habitually indulge. It was an expression of justifi able pride (vanity, if any one will so call it) in the tidy and intelligent appearance of the children at tending the schools. It was one of those harmless effusions of self-laudation which, having a tendency to stimulate efforts to educate all the young, are in themselves laudable and useful. It was a display which, in a free and enlightened state, Romanists, Protestants, and those who are neither (if such there be), have an equal right to make. Such displays— though transcendental philosophers may affect to despise them—by rousing the emulation of different classes of citizens, each seeking to produce the best show of healthy, tidy, intelligent scholars, tend to promote the diffusion of education, and deserve en couragement rather than repression', or outrage and insult. The Stockport riots are discreditable in their origin, dangerous in their consequences. They betray a lamentable confusion of ideas—perhaps a lack of ideas—the necessary consequence of the deficient provisions in this country tor the education of all classes. It is because our rural and urban mobs are abandoned to deplorable ignora nce and rudeness, that they cannot distinguish between superstitious processions, and exhibitions of educational zeal and activity. It is because they are abandoned to igno eases that they fancy they can promote religion by lawless and brute violence. It is because they are abandoned to ignorance that they intoxicate them selves mentally by their own violence till they become blind tools to the hands of professional plun derers. The Stockport riots are a clamorous appeal to the public, and to the legislature, to bestow upon the masses the boon of intellectual culture, in order that they may be raised above the condition in which 1 they are exposed to be thus misled. One word as to the alleged cause of these riots— protestant zeal and Roman Catholic aggression. We are neither blind to the eager propagandism which has of late animated the Roman priesthood and the mere devoted lay membersof their flocks, norw Ming to under estimate the consequences. But it is not by awakening a blind panic for Jesuits, or resuscitating old permed animosities, that the progress of Romanism is to be arrestedand driven back. Such appeals only awakes blind anger and encourage recourse to lawless violence, as at Stockport, or a relapse into penal legislation. To prohibit processions likely to provoke quarrels and violence, is necessary with our rude uneducated masses; but it would be better to educate, and thus render them superior to such provocation. Romanism has flourished, and may continue to flou rish, in defiance both of legal and illegal coercion ; but it cannot keep its ground against sound secular education. The state has a right to educate the in tellects of its citizens, and thus it can arrest the en croachments of prieatcra t of every kind. Educate the people, and you may laugh to scorn the arro gance and intrigues of ambitious and unscrupulous priests. Education is the only efficient and legiti mate weapon to use against them : tolerance, rightly understood, is due—and may safely be ex tended—even to the intolerant. TO (70R1tESPON1)ENTS, A , ecand Edition e 1 " The riprera," containing 'he same eve-Divet " lingette," la publiehed every Tueigly and Friday sight, in uwe An poet iveitiveseentathiended eir " The Eggreip," Lennon Evening raper, 11%.4 he it the tedire, ld, tio.ourieiaercet, Sy Teri, ie`aiirdi on Or de) ad publieedion. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tins D*T—Moralait. 41i. Ma. AftelooDa, Hi. 3Pm. loatoasow—Montag, St.. la .A6ernoca. U. Diu. LONDON, FRIDAY, JULY 2. Tux Ministerial speech, which her MAJESTY was yesterday graciously ple ased to repeat on tho pro rogation of Parliament, has no harm and little of anything else in it. For a coup tromai of the literary member of the Cabinet, it is not amiss. His colleagues exercised their right of critical ex cision, and. consequently, it contains none of those indecorous attempts to represent her Nl.i.m.sry as canvassing for her Ministers, which were so offen sively prominent in the addresses to the electors of Bucks. Like all royal speeches, that which was spoken yesterday consists of three sections. The first, after Melly intimating that parliament, for "considera tions of public policy , has been released from ' its labours at an unusually early period, treats exclusively of foreign relations. It is worthy of Lord MADIEsKURY. Parliament is congratulated on the amicable dispositions of the principal European states—by what un worthy truckling purchased is but too well known. The great affairs which have more especially engaged the attention of the mighty mind of the FOREIGN SECRETARY are then enumerated—and they arc worthy of him; the settlement of poor little Schles wig-Holstein ; the termination of the discussion be tween the Sublime Porte and the l'acha of Egypt ; the successful attack upon Rangoon ; and the treaties concluded with the mighty chiefs of Western Africa. The extradition convention with France is judi ciously passed over in silence ; but the Militia Bill is eulogised with an emphasis worthy of the minister whose mind can attach importance to such trifles as we have enumerated, and neglect our relations to really important states—such as the great North American republic. The second section is, as usual, more especially addressed to the gentlemen of the house of Com mons. It tells them in stereotyped phrase that her MAJESTY is gratified for the liberal supplies they have voted, and will use them with strict economy. It also intimates that steps have been taken to miti gate the temporary disturbance of society in Austra lia consequent on the discovery of the gold fields. This is news indeed; it is the first time that the public has been told that any steps have been taken for that purpose, and excites curiosity to know what they are. The concluding section is principally occupied in congratulations on the passing of the law reform measures, the Metropolis Water Administration and the Extramural Interments Rills, and tho act confer ring a constitution on New Zealand. Not a word is said of the mutilated bill fur facilitating tho convic tion and punishment of corrupt constituencies. That was too sore a subject for the coneoctors of the speech. A paragraph invoking divine direction for the electors in their choice of representatives closes the document. And so the drop scene has fallen on the parlia mentary drama—and ministers " go to the country ", uon....what principles or policy nobody can tell. hout the four mortal months that have elapsed since &eir accession to office, they have kept this secret with a success that—as in the case of another great mystical association—suggests a suspicion that they have no secret they could let out. The grounds upon which ministers claim the confidence and sup port of the nation can only be guessed at. Gentlemen electors are called upon to return sup porters of the ministry which undertook to support Mr. MATHER'S claim for redress, but acted ae the agent of the offending power in beating down his demands and seeking to throw discredit on his statements ; the Protectionist ministers who profess a &ire to uphold free-trade ; the Protestant minis ters who refuse to assert the rights of the Protestant missionaries harshly and illegally driven from Hun gary ; the Colonial-reform ministers who screen the jugglers who have deprived the Cape colonists of the reality of a constitution while enacting the form of one ; the law-reform ministers who sought to burke or mutilate the Copyholds Enfranchisement Bill after pledging themselves to support it. Not one principle or opinion has been professed by minis ters to which some of their acts have not given the lie ; not ono action have they performed which has not carried on its forehead marks of duplicity, reluctance, or dishonour. In a brief career of four months they have evinced more inca pacity and dishonesty—have "eaten more dirt," as the Orientals say—have sounded the bass string of a lower degradation—than any preceding English ministry ever contrived to do even in as many years. The fate of these detected pretenders is now in the hands of the electors of England, with whom it lies to determine whether, and for how long, the powers of the country are to be paralysed by such a politics night-mare. Tux practical lesson, of most immediate and urgent importance, taught by the Stockport Riots, is the need of reform in local police arrangements through out the country. Stockport is a startling example of the scandalous neglect which in this respect seems almost every where prevalent. Stockport has up wards of 60,000 inhabitants. The Irish population of the borough amounts to not less than 14,000, and consists mainly of poor and needy immigrants, who have brought with them the keen and turbulent party spirit of their class in their own country. There is also a numerous population of English, equally un cultivated, less excitable perhaps, but, if possible, more resolute, vigorous, and relentless when roused. Amid this rude mass of conflicting ingredients, drunken brawls are habitual on Saturday nights and Sundays, yet for the preservation of the peace, and for the re pression of the professional crime-class which skulks and seeks concealment in the crowd, the only provi sion made in Stockport consists of a chief constable, with ten constables under him, and at most some half -doyen assistants. Such a force is palpably in adequate to meet even the average calls for police interference in such a community, and of course VICTORIA, It. utterly useless in any of those sudden outbursts of Whereas, we have in our council thought fit to declare violence which may there be expected to recur at in our pleasure for summoning and holding • parliament of tervals. Stockport is in this respect but the type of our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on a great number of our towns and boroughs. Friday, the twentieth day of August next ensuing the date Now, in a country like England, centralisation of wou ld hereof ; order, therefore, to the electing and summoning t h e lice administration is out of the question. It the sixteen peers of Scotland, who are to sit in the House would not be tolerated by Englishmen, and, even of Peers in the said parliament, we do, by the advice of our could it be tolerated, would be of little value. What Privy Council, issue forth this our ro y a l proclamation, is wanted is general legislation, to ensure the organ strictly charging and commanding all the Peers of Stet- illation in every district of an adequate local police land to assemble and meet at Rolyrood-hoagie, in I force—promoted by the efforts of the local public. Edinburgh, on Thursday, the fifteenth day of July To get this it is necessary to impress the community, instant, between the home of twelve and two in and local leaders of public opinion, with a due sense Use afternoon, to nominate and choose the sixteen peers, to of the importance o f having a sufficient local police shard vote in the Howie of Peers in the said matting Par- kept on foot. In the rural districts there to no Bement, by open election and plurality of voices of the adequate local machinery for establishing and main- Pere that shall be then present, and of the proxies of ouch Mining a sufficient police : Then, again, our magic. as shall be absent (such proxies being peer*, end producing y terial system is defective. We may see from a iss n (tate in writing, duly signed before witnesses, and I Stockport what many borough magistrates are. bath the constituent and proxy being qualified according to Every Saturday night has its drunken brawls, which law), and the Lord Clerk Register, or such two of the appear to be tolerated as a constitutional privilege — principal clerks of the session as shall be appointed by him a warranted amusement of the brawlers. Wo to officiate in his name, are hereby respectively required to are told that when it was reported at tho Stock attend such meeting, and to administer the oaths required por t police o ffi ce, on Monday evening, that a num by law to be taken there by the said peers, and to take their of English and Irish were fighting in the votes; and immediately after such election made and duly street, it was regarded as .‘ a mere drunken row," ezaaimid,to certify the sums of the gate= pests ve elided, and that I coasaderablo tune elapsed bergs° any stops THE DIGGLNGS. Tho amount of gold brought by the Admiral from root Philip is 30,840 ounces, valued at nearly 120,0001. The captain of this vessel states that at the time of his departure the difficulty of getting a crew was undiminished. lle was to have sailed on the 31st of March, but was detained in the bay till the 3rd of April, from the necessity of sending on shore to get gold to pay his men before they would weigh anchor. The rate of wages thus required to he paid in ad vance was 451. for the run. There were about 50 sail in port deserted by their crews. The number of persons ar riving at Port Philip was about a thousand a week. A piece of pure gold weighing 'Lilts., recently brought into Melbourne, had been shipped fur Englund by the Posthu mous. The statement that the average production at Mount Alexander was upwards of 12,000 ounces per week (or at the rate of about 2,500,11001. a year) is confirmed. At Syd• ney the quantities obtained were probably as large. The accounts of the current scale of wages, however. are less unsatisfactory than m.ght have been anticipated. Build ing, which had ceased at Melbourne, was recommencing, workmen being obtainable at from UM. to 15s. per day. tiltepht rds weir also being engaged .st (ram Xi/. to 401. per annum, with rations, and many of those who had deserted were returning. NATIONAL SHIPWRECK INSTITUTION.—A special general meeting of the friends and subscribers was held yesterday at the offices of the institution, 20, John-street, Adelphi. Mr. T. Wilson in the chair. The business con sisted of the confirmation of alterations in the rules and regulations, which were proposed and adopted at a nicest extraordinary meeting ; and after this had been done, the proceedings tersilasted. FRANCE. PARIS, THIJIGIDAT EVENING. To-day I have to communicate an important piece of intelligence, which reaches me from a good source. The police have been at work all night, and the bureau of political police has been sitting en perma nent* since yesterday evening. It appears that while the capital was hushed in dead repose, at three or lour this morning, forty persons were arrested. The motive of this proceeding is the discovery of a conspiracy against tho person of the Prince-Presi dent. I have not been able to discover to what class of society, nor to what political opinion, the persons seized belong. 1 hear, however, that one of those arrested is an advocate, but his name has not trans . pired. Nothing is yet known of the results of the summary examination, which has followed the ar rests; but various surmises are afloat, which I men tion with all reserve, as the versions of this attiiir current in the lobbies of the raisin de Justice. It is stated that the object of the conspirators was to blow up the Elys:Y. Another, and more probable supposition is,that they wanted to destroy the Prince by means of an infernal machine. The police, according to the last report, have long had their eyes upon the mechanics charged with the execution of this machine. Ono day some agents of the policy apprised him that they knew he was preparing such I and torch arms, which had been ordered. The smith replied that all that was true, and that he made no mystery of the work ordered, which was quite com mon, and in the ordinary course of his craft. The agents then said that the arms which he mentioned as common gun-barrels were in fact parts of an infernal machine. The gunsmith replied that if they were intend...d fur any . such purpose, he would have nothing more to do with the business. The agents then assurred him that, on the contrary, he must proceed with his work; but they charged him, as he valued his life, to inform them when it was on the point of being completed. The upshot of the affair was the arrest last night, en masse, of all the persons connected in any way with the conspiracy. Such are the only details I have yet been able to learn about this matter. You ate alretnly aware that one of the chief argu ments alleged by the French government in favour of their plan of (fetting up a 90-gun ship of war to Constantinople, in the teeth of treaties, is that each ambassador is allowed an armed vessel for his service. This is true; but so great has been the jealousy dis played on this subject by the Turkish government that these armed vessels at the service of ambassa dors arc only steamers, mounted with two or three guns, and never men•of-war. Not along ago a shot was tired by the Turkish garrison of the castle of the Dardanelles at a little steamer which conveyed Sir Stratford Canning to Constantinople, and she would certainly have been destroyed if she had not brought to. The French government have bullied the Porte into letting a French man-of-war of 90 guns come up into the Golden Horn, under pretence of her carrying out the French ambassador, M. de Lavalette. it is clearly the duty of the other great powers to protest against this overbearing feat of French diplomacy. M. de Lacour, the French ambassador to Austria, who has been on a visit to Paris left yesterday for Vienna. The new 31oniteur has appeared to-day. The characteristics of the reformed official journal are its low price, •tofr. per annum, and the presence of lead ing articles. Otherwise the physiognomy of the paper exhibits no alteration. It is the same narrow sheet as before, with three spare columns of smallish print. The leading article of to-day is suspected pretty generally of having been composed by the President himself. It is not signed, althought but two or three days ago the iloniteur contained a ruin niuniqu,' insisting on the necessity of signing lead ing articles. The articles in question is a retrospee ' tive view of the session of the Corps Legislatif, and a sort of supplement to the President's message. It is as follows: The country has just witnessed the first trial of the new einstitutiun. The results have responded to the expecta tion of France and of her chief. The trial of any new ma chinery is always a delicate and difficult matter, and the proof of its being so will be found in all our preceding in stitutions. In the present cans the experiment has been made without any scrams difficulty. The remembrance of the evils produced by our political agitations, the universal want of peace and security, the formal mission given to the deputies to juin energetically the chief whom France has given herself; all these causes, joined to the spirit of pru dence and moderation which presided over the relations of th.. government with the great bodies of the state, have aided in the SUCCCS3 of this solemn trial. The best constitutions are powerless without good-will on the part of those who are carrying them out. The mission of the deputies at the Legislative Body was not, as in 1848, to save France, for the vigorous act of Dec. 2 bad taken place. Nor wire they either charged with the task of providing, by energetic measures, for great poli tical or social necessities; in that respect the four months' dictatorial powers of the Prince had left but little to be done; they had still km for object to renew the old conters 'of the tribune. Yet the session has not been the less fruit ful in results. In place of passionate diecumione, always iodise where not absolutely injurious, we have had serious labours, useful laws voted with calm and maturity. During the three short mouths which the session lasted, the govern ' meet presented to the Legislative Body 84 Bills, of which only two could not be discussed; consequently 82 were voted. Amongst those bills, 25 are of general interest, and 68 of local interest. One alone concerns a matter of private interest. This number of bills, destined to satisfy local interests, proves what importance the government attaches to the wants of the departments and of the communes. lu the bills of general interest several merit to be named— each as that on the re-coinage of the copper money ; the convict rehabilitation bill ; the bills for settling the accounts of the years 1848 and 1849 ; that for calling out 80,000 men; the bill to prolong the monopoly of tobacco; that for renewing integrally the councils-general, municipal, and of arrondissement; that to effect the modification of three articles of the code of criminal instruction relative toolfences in foreign countries; the bill concerning the interdiction to reside in the department of the Seine and the Lyons district; the bills relating to the concessions of the Cherbourg and Bordeaux to Cette lines; that authorising the amalgamation of the Lyons to Avignon, the Avignon to Marseilles, and the Marseilles to Toulon railways ; and lastly, the budget of receipts and expenses of 1853. Some of these bills were not adopted without having undergone modifications agreed to, as the constitution demands, be tween the Legislative ody and the Council of State. All were voted by immense majorities; and that on the bu.lget, which, as was natural, led to the greatest amount of pro found discussion, obtained unanimity minus one vote. The Chamber could not prove in a more striking manner its confidence in the government. The bills of local interest lime for object to mislay real interests. Fifteen of these bills relate to additional imposts in the departments of the Charente, Corsica, Cotes-du-Nord, Crouse, Huute-Garanne, Mayenoc, Landes, Meuse, Morbi ban, Pas-de-Calais, and the Bas.Rhin. Foureen authorise loans in the departments of the Cotes-du-Nord, Doubs, Gironde, Lot- et-Oaronne and Ilautes-Pyren&s, snit in the towns of Beauvais, Besancon, Bordeaux, Dunkirk, Montauban, St. Omer, and Verdun ; and twenty-four relate to changes in the limits of communes. To these hills must be added that which authorises the cession of the Bois de Boulogne to the city of Paris, and that which has for object the amelioration of the Sologne. Local interests have been satisfied in 33 departments, in 5 chief towns of departments, and in 23 chief towns of arrondissements. An Assembly, which in spite of the uncertainty and ilifficultiee of a first attempt tit carrying out a system, has gat through such an amount of work in se short a time, may present itself before the persons who elected it with the consciousness of bevies properly performed its duty. The general inspection of the army throughout France commences this day.. The reviews fur the divisions of the army of Par is will take place in the Champ de Mars. Fight or ten etyjs and wine shops were closed at Marseille on Saturday last, by order of the prefect. Among them are three well known places of resort, the Cale de Jeune-Anarcharsis, the Can des Voy ageurs, and the Cali! du Grand Jardin. The pro prietor of the last-mentioned establishment was seized with such a tit of despair on receiving the warrant which deprived him of his means of living, that he attempted suicide. He stabbed himself with a poignard, and now lies in a dangerous condition. The Mon deur publishes the returns of the price of wheat in the different markets of France, which fix the rate of the export and iniport duties. The ave rage is 171 i. per hectolitre. The lowest price is for Nantes, 151'r. Sc., and the highest for Strasbourg, 10fr. 85c. At the Bourse the Four-and-a-Half per Cents. fell 20c., closing at 101.75; the Three per Cents. fell 23c., and chased at 70.30. Bank of France shares fell 10. The Rouen and Havre Railways fell 12.30 each; Orleans, 7.30 ; Bordeaux and Teste, 2.50 ; Dieppe robe 0.25; Struhbourg, 3.75; Northern, 2.30. The submarine telegraph brings the intelligence that the i'derie of this (Friday) morning, alluding to the subject with which our correspondent commences his letter, as "a plot against the state," says: "Thirteen individuals have been arrested in a detached house in the ltue Reim) Blanche. The eonjup's, who are in correspondence with the London refugees, were busy malting an infernal machine. Many other arrests took place daring the night." SPAIN. The Madrid Gazette, of the 2Gth ult., contains a royal decree approving of the adjudication of 360,unig. sterling made to NI. Vincente Huy°, for the sinking fund of the debt to England, recognised by the treaty of the 28th October, 1828. The fiazellealsocwitain s a detailed account of the expenses of the treasury foe the present month; they arc estimated at 17.5,:ita;,164 male, and the half-years dividend on the public debt figures in them for 73,983,688 real& It had bees decided that all the ministers are to accompany the Queen to La Granja. The differentes winch had arisen between two of them, Generals Pavia and Lara, had entirely ceased. GERMANY. PRUSSIA. The Berliner Nachricliten states that there is a good prospect of an agreement between Austria and Prussia on the German commercial question. Prussia has named, but in a friendly manner, the .Ith urJuly as the date after which she will not discuss her dif ferences with the Darmstadt coalition. The mem bers of the latter hold frequent meetings. HAMBURG. The senate of this "free city" has reeti‘td a monition from the !hind, calling upon it to del:. beralise the Hamburg constitution. In case or re. fusal, the Bond may find it necessary to make the required alterations by its own act. DENMARK. The Danish constitution, as settled in Isis, has been committed to four ministers—Count lte‘eatlow Criminil, Count C. :Moltke, and MM. Bang and Scheele—for revision. The ostensible reason fur this proposed change is the necessity of adapting it to the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, %Inch were in a state of revolution when the present fun damental law was introduced. It is, however, cx• pected by the entire liberal party in Denmark that the government is only seeking an occasion to eliminate the democratic elements which were intro duced into the ecthstitution in the excited perind referred to. EGYPT. The Constattteonnel states that by advises of the lath ult. from Alexandria the government of Abbe, Pasha had just terminated the MLitt of the settle ment of the inheritance of Mehemet Ali. The pri vate domain of Mehemet Ali had to be divided between kis three sons, Said I'asha, Halim Pasha, and Mehemet Ali Bey and his two daughters. The heirs of the old viceroy demanded at first an exorbitant sum, amounting to about four mil lions sterling. Fund Effendi was charged to mediate in this affair, and succeeded beltire his return to Constantinople in settling it. The sum now agreed on between the contending par. ties is 4,500,000 talaris, about 920,000/. Half a mil lion talaris are to be paid immediately; a million of talaris are to be given in jewels; and the throe remaining millions arc to be paid at intervals of six months, within one year and a half. Several houses of Alexandria have offered, it is said, to undertake the payments in question ; but the Government is expected to be able to effect the disbursement with out having recourse to such assistance. The last accounts from Alexandria, of the Itch, state that Mr. Murray, the English consul, who re cently lost his wife, had left for England to settle some thruily affairs. M. de Huber, Baron de Pans, and M. de Fork, the Austrian, Russian, and Pru-sian consuls-general, bad arrived at Alexandria intrit Cairo. M. Lemoyne, the French consul general, W,IS daily expected. It appears that the expense of the establishment of the railway from that city to Cairo will only cost 4, , i00,011f1fr., and that the works will be completed in three years. As this money is only required to be furnished as the works proceed, it mill cause no embarrassment to the finances of the country. AMERICA. The United States' Mail steam ship Hermann, Lieutenant I I iggins, United States' Navy, commander, arrived off Cowes last evening, after a passage of twelve days from New York, and having landed the English and French mails and passengers proceeded on her voyage to Bremen. The llerniann ' left New York on the 19th ult., and brings time days' later news than the last Liverpool steamer. She brings 92 pmengers and a small quantity of specie for Havre. The principal political news of iinerrst by this arrival are the full details of the WhigNa tionalConvention,which was in session. At Baltimore 31 ballotings had been held up t-) the time of the steamer's sailing, but there was appa rently no chance of a choice. The latest telegraphic despatches come down to 2 p.m. of the 19th, when the numbers were as fol lows : _ General Scott Fillmore Webster A correspondent says: The Fillmore men will hold on to their candidate so long as a possible chance offers for his nomination, but as eon as his ,prospects begin to darken they will very gent rally go over to Mr. Webster. The friends of Mr. Webster, ia order to defeat the nomination of Scott, should they ling Mr. Webster's nomination out of the quession, will join the Fillmore ranks. There is at present a better prospect sl the nomination of either Fillmore or Webster than them is of General Scott's, though the latter's friends, counting con fidently on help front Tenessee and Kentucky, say that he will be chosen. The course pursued by Mr. Bolls with re• gard to the private letters from General Scott is kokcd upon as hurting Scott's prospects considerably. It a rumoured that, should General Scott lose the 110MinatiOnt when it could have been secure had there been (I more fair representation from New York than that 'lie dele gation will strongly protest against the noonu dams and as not in any way binding. The Webster men he ld the balacce of power, and would ultimately cast their stl'ngth into the Fillmore scale, in which case Fillmore would be sure to obtain the nomination. The Temperance conventions are about to enter the political arena openly. The compensation to'Collius is likely to pa's the Senate. An arrival from lronduras brought news that the island of Ruatan, as well as five other islands de pendent on Honduras Buy, bad refused to acknow ledge British authority, and claimed the protection of the independent state of Honduras, shkh had been accorded to them. Everything is represented as being in a state of rebellion, and serious conse quences were anticipated. Advises from Belize state that the mahogany crop would be about 12,000,000 feet. The screw steam-ship City of Glasgow arrived at Philadelphia on the 18th ult. The Europa arrived out on the 19th ult. COMMERCIAL. NEW YORK, FitititY Niour, Jusir IS. The transactions at the Stock Exchange to-day were to a limited extent, without any material change in rates. Foreign exchange was firm, although the demnn•l was limited. London, 180 to 110} ; Paris, 5.161 to 5.15; Frank fort, 404 to 40a ; Amsterdam, 40+ to 41; Hamburg, MI to 361; Bremen, 79+ to 79+. Corros.—The market continues very dull, but without any decline in price —indeed the better grades are held rather more firmly. The saks for the past three days were 2,700 bales. other Atlantic. Florida. do;' Foto. Inferior Owl. low to teed 71 to M 11 t. Mid. low to good Mid. fair to fair Fullrfairtogooddo to Goad and tine ria.—Flour . For a day or two pan there has been more dilwisition to sell without any change of Unroll' once in the rates. The export demand is less vial:ye, It 'ring difficult to obtain freight fur immediate itilivery. We quote common to good State brands at I dot, 121 e.. to 4 dolt . ; favourite to fancy, dols.lSte. to I do 1.. 2w.: common to good Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, 3 12 1. c• to 4 dol.. 311 e. Canadian is dull, at 4 duly. 121 c. in bond. Southern, with a light stock, is firm, at 4 dole. 13;,... to 4 dots. 62ie. for Frederiektown, Alexandria, Ilialtitn.ire, and and Oi.orgetown. ltye flour sell. at 3 ..1014. 3 do's. 21e. Corn Meal is steady, at 3 dol.. U.:lc. 1 , 3 dots. 25r. for Jersey. ti HAIN.—For export there ir a demand for good red ana mixed wheat, but a temporary scarcity of freight checks the operations. Sales of 5,418.1 bushels Men...we, 90e. fur red, and 113 c. to 11 lc. for prime white; 1 3 , 0 " bushels Canadian, in bond, about 101 e. At the aim,. 04 receipts were large and the market heavy. Red mut mixed Ohio is held at 100 c. to 101 c. Rye rennin! SCOW. Ma o ' l sells at 73c. Barley is out of season and nominal. osu . are somewhat better in price, good state selling at 43c. to Vie. Corn is more plentful, and under the e ffect of wars weather is doll for the inferior qualities, closing at ‘.le. 610., and prima at 620, to tik. Too export Croat thin pod from wiles con' (WI bow , .01.1 -6 is. '2 toy' Ita' 2U3. 3s. Men Is. /1