The Express. — London, England, 1847-11-19 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS. Their lerdahips assembled yesterday, pursuant to the sum mons for calling a new parliament. The LORD CHANCELLOR addressed their lordships in these terms :—My Lords,—Her Majesty,'. not thinking Se present hers this day in her royal per s o n, has bees to call a commission to be issued wWer the great seal for the opening and holding this parliament. The Lords Commissioners—tamely. the Lord Chancellor. the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Marquis of Lansdowne, and the Earls of Auckland and Spencer, having taken their seats, and the Commons, headed by Mr. Ley, the chief clerk, appeared at, the bar, escorted . by the usher of the black rod, Sir Augustus Clifford, The Lord Chancellor said :—My Lords and Gentlemen of the Home of Commons,—We have it in command from her Majesty to let you know that you shall hereafter be informed of the cause of calling this parliament together ; but it being necessary that a Speaker for the House of Commons should first be chosen, you will, for that purpose, return to the place prepared for your meeting, end there be pleased to choose a Speaker, and present such person whom you shall so choose here to-morrow, fer her Majesty's royal appro bation. The Commons then withdrew. Prayers having been read, the Lord Chancellor singly first took the oaths at the table. The certificate of the sixteen peers for Scotland was read, and several peers then took the oaths, among whom woe Sir Richard Bulkeley Philipps, Bart., created Lord Milford. Their lordships having sat till 5 o'clock for the purpose of , swearing in the peers, then adjoarned to 3 o'clock this day. During the recess, two of the cartoons destined for the decoration of the house have been fined in their places—Mr. Maclise's Chivalry," and Mr. Cope's " Knighting of the Block Prince." A third cartoon is fined, but not yet uncovered. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—TRURSDAY, Nov. 18. The house began to till as early as half-past one, and by two o'clock there were at least 3-50 members cengreirated. The floor was the principal focus of assemblage, although here and there knots of old members clubbed together In close communion. Many of the newly-elected were present : amongst them were distinguishable Messrs. Jackson, G. Th.:moon, Wilson, M'Gre-or, Sir J. Walmaley, CoL Thomson, F. O'Connor, Serj. TaUourd, Sidney, W. J. Fox, &c. Amongst the forrner members pre sent there were Lords Palmerston and J. Russell, Sir R. Inglis, Mr. Goulburu, Mr. Disraeli, Lord G. Ben- Mock, Col. Peel, Messrs. Muntx, B. Cochrane, &c. The object that seemed to attract most attention during the in terval that elapsed previous to the house being sum moned to the presence of her Majesty's commissioners was the pasteboards on which the oaths of supremacy and abjuration are printed, these being, in fact, the chief con tents of the two boxes on the table which have so often as the attention of strangers. It seemed as if the spare moments of some of the hon. members were sedulously occu pied in scrutinising the nature of the test that was about to be administered to some of their heterodox emaciates. At a quarter put two o'clock Sir Augustus Clifford made his appearance at the bar, and in the customary manner walked up to the table, where he announced that the Lords Commissioners had commanded him to summon the mem bers to attend in the Chamber of Peers forthwith, for the purpose of bearing the royal commission read. Mr. Ley the clerk of the house, rose from his seat, and accompanied by a number of the members proceeded to the House of Lords. At half-past two the clerk of the house returned, and having taken his seat at the table, the house proceeded to the ELECTION OF SPEAKER. Lord SEYMOUR then rose and said,—Mr. Ley, having heard her Majesty's commission commanding this house to choose a Speaker read in another place, I take upon myself to offer a motion to the house, which lem convinced wil meet with cordial unanimity on the part of all who bear me. Those hon. gentlemen present who have formerly been members of this house have witnessed the dignity, the im partiality, and the judgment with which Mr. Shaw Lefevre has discharged the duties of Speaker, and they will all readily agree with me in thinking that no other selection for that office than the right hon. gentleman could be made, either, I may say, with advantage to the house or to the public ser vice. (Hear, hear.) Those hon. members present who have not had an opportunity of witnessing the admirable manner in which Mr. Shaw Lettere has heretofore fulfilled his arduous functions will, I think, best discharge theirdutyte themselves and to the public by unanimously consenting to place in the chair that right hon. gentleman, who in times of unexampled difficulty has maintained, unimpaired, the dignity and authority of the chair, and thereby has upheld in public estimation the character and weight of this great delibera tive assembly. (Hear, hear.) It is moreover my belief and conviction that all those honourable members to whom I refer will derive the greatest advantage from being able to have recourse to the experience end knowledge which are possessed by Mr. Shaw Lefevre on those matters connected with their duties re/meeting which they cannot as yet be intimately. acquainted. For these reasons, and actuated by the motives I have described, I beg to conclude by moving that the Right Hon. Charles Shaw Lefevre do take the ch".l. (Cheers on all 'ides I. A. rid , Mr. Ley, to second the motion of my noble friend the member for Totness, and I do so with singular satisfaction, inasmuch as it ba s seldom hap• pened to me, or to any other man in my position, to be able to reconcile in an remarkable a degree as in the pre sent instance, a public duty and a private and personal feeling. (Hear, hear.) Remarkable as have proved to be, the judgment and sagacity of the house, in selecting from amongst its members the individuals most fitted to do honour to the chair, I believe I may with confidence and safety appeal alike to those who have for merly been members of this house, and to the public at large, whether in former times there has ever eat in that chair one who better discharged his duties both in respect to themselves and to the public, than the right hon. gentleman proposed by my noble friend has done. (Hear, hear.) I do not intend to trouble the house at any length on the sub ject of the duties which the occupation of the chair requires. 'Fhis subject has °nen before been amply enlarged upon, and it would be useless, not to say presumptuous, in me now to enter upon it. I feel, also, that a due sense of the high office which is vested in our speaker is so universally settled throughout the community, that it does not moire one word fr om me in vindication of that office. But with great humility I beg leave to say one word upon another subject, namely, that whilst we witness every day and every year the character of this house rising and increasing in dignity, importance, and in general estimation, and whilst we have also witnessed most important changes made in the constitutional forms and rights of one of the most ancient of the European powers, we have also been called upon to notice equally important changes proposed to be made by another foreign power, familiar as well b name as by com mercial ties to most of us. We cannot, theaefese, bet mime to the conclusion that both constitutionsl said xspeessali tive governments are making great Europe : looking therefore to the foe egt = under these circumstances, that is dlimmier th is house and in that of the individual member who deilsocupy that chair, are to a very considerable extent lambed the peace and tranquillity of Europe. I give my mast to the motion of my noble friend, because I feel that the duties of that chair have never been more perfectly or better fulfilled than by the right honourable gentleman. I feel not only that his impartiality is unimpeachable, but that no one ever attempted to question it. I feel also that be will in future, as he heretofore always has done, support the privileges of this house with dignity and honour, alike devoid of fear or favour—and lastly, sir, I feel that under Mr. Shaw Lefevre's superintendence and presidency will be best proved the fact that order and obedience to the chair are fhe mat essential requisites towards procuring that freedom of speech which is the inalienable privilege of this house. (Loud cheers.) Lord G. BENTINCH said : I am unwilling to let this opportunity pus without doing myself the honour of joining in the expression of opinion which the house has heard from the noble lord the member for Totems and the hon. member for Chichester—(hear) ---and I am the more anxious to do so because when the right hon. gentleman now proposed as speaker was lees known than he is at this moment, I joined in opposing his election to the chair. But the conduct of Mr. Shaw Lefevre in the chair of this home has made his election not only a subject of sou gratulation to myself, but also to every gentleman do was defeated on that occasion. (Hear.) I believe that the authority and character of this branch of the legislatme &- peed in a great measure upon the dignity with widsh duties of the chair are performed; and I am sore doss Ms. members who have witnessed the dignified dessmosr of the right hon. gentleman will join with me in easesiing to him the pre-eminence over all those illustrious end distin guished individuals who have preceded him is the high ogles of speaker. I therefore, entertaining time send runts, could not suffer this opportunity to pass without ex pressing them, and also expressing the entire satisfaction with which I give my event to the motion before the house. Sir R. INGLIS—Mr. Ley, the reasons advanced by the noble lord in favour of the present motion are in them selves quite sufficient to carry with them the opi nion of the four hundred members who were present oa the occasion to which he refers. For myself I concur cordially in all that has been said by the noble lord the member for 'rotates and the hon. member for Chichester in their expressions respecting my right hon. friend (Mr. Shaw Lefevre), and the universal approbation with whiak be will enter upon his resumption of olio kr the third time. Nor should I have troubled you on this oessoloa but for an allusion of the noble lord who brought forward this motion, and to whose observations I may make this remark, that the right hon. gentleman possess an additional claim to our gratitude for the performance of duties which are quits apart from throe which he so well ful fi ls in this plasm, bat which are entirely unseen. I allude, sir, to his attention to the private business of this house. (Hear, hear.) It is I net necessary for me to trouble the house by entering into any detail respecting the facts. It is sufficient to say that the private business of this house has so much increased that Rhos, within the last decennial period, not only exceeded the amount of the preceding 10, but also of the preceding 30 years, " --- portion of time that this increaseof private ee. Shaw Lefevre's advice has been also invaluable. (Hear.) It these facts to mind, indepen l's conduct in the chair, that I address the hones, and I now earnest and cordial assent to the he erivreMs. MAILS. The overland snails for Gibraltar, Malta, Greece, the lonian Wands U,pt,Aden, Ceylon, India, Hong-Kong, and China, eh. Southampton will be made up on the morning of the 20111 November. The overland closed mails, via Marseille., to the Mediterranean E.gypt, Aden, Ceylon, India, Hong Kong, he., will be made up on tht evening of the 24th Nov. The malls for Vigo, Oporto . , Lisboa, Madeira, Cadiz, and Gibralta , will be made up on the monug of the 27th November. The mails for New South Wales, Von Diemen's Land. and New Zentand will be made upon the evening of the 30th November. The West India Mail, including Bermuda, Nassau, Havana, Honduras, New Orleans, Vera Com, Tampico, and Porto Rico, and exelnding these for Madeira, howl, Oirthogena, Santa Martha, Chagrea, Panama, West Coat of South America, and St. Juan-de- Nicaragua, will be made up on the morning of the 2nd December. The malls for British North Ameriea, armada, sad the Ddtei States, will be made up en the evening of the 3rd December. The mails for the Brasile, the River Plate, Monte Video, Pernaan boo*, Bahia, Madeirs, and Buenos Ayres, will be made up on &e coming of the 4th December. TO CORTISIPONDEITI. •' Advent...Amu Wended Ilitr Tie Lorin tweets; pun. not bo at tl. oft*, LO. Boottene-ateeet. itT Two dela* se tbe Ow o 1,0.1..T.T. 11108 WAIN& It LONDON-311001. Two D,'—lltoralag. I aim. poor iftorpoolk,32l oth. PM I•4lpaspor—llorMag.(lo W past 03, M. Put IV. LONDON, FRIDAY, NOV. 19. THE fifteenth session of the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland, and the third called by her present Majesty, assembled yesterday for the des patch of business. The House of Lords met at two o'clock, and the House of Commons at half-past one, the new members forming a large majority of those present in the tter house, Shortly after two o'clock the Lords Commissioners took their seats, when the gentleman usher of the black rod was directed by the Lord Chancellor to summon the Commons to hear the royal commission read.—After a short interval, Mr. Ley, the chief clerk of the lower house, accompanied by a large body of members, appeared at the bar, when her Majesty's commission having been read, the LORD CHANCELLOR signified that the preliminary step necessary to be taken on the occasion of the meeting of a new parliament was, the election by the House of Commons of a Speaker, which they were to pro ceed to do forthwith t and present him this day in that house for her Majesty's approbation.—On the return of the Commons to their own house, Mr. Ley having communicated the intimation con veyed through the Lord Chancellor, Lord Ser mons. moved and Mr. J. A. SMITH seconded, in speeches highly eulogistic of the manner in which the right hon. gentleman, on two former occasions, had filled the office of Speaker, that the Right Hon. Charles Shaw Lefevre do again take the chair.— Lord G. BENvntot and Sir It. bunts having borne their testimony to the high qualifications of the right hon. gentleman, both as regarded the conducting of the public business in the house and the private busi ness, of which a large portion was necessarily done out of it, the motion was carried unanimously, and the right hen. gentleman, after delivering himself of a speech expressive of his thanks and gratitude for the confidence reposed in him, was conducted to the chair by his mover and seconder, amidst unanimous cheers.—Lord J. RUSSELL songratalated not only the right hon. gentleman on his re-appointment, bat the house itself on having so able a gentleman, as past experience proved, to preside over their deliberations, and concluded by moving the adjournment. THE regulation of the medium of exchange must be the foremost topic and most important sub ject of the new Parliament's deliberation. It would be difficult to suggest any . single theme or any single difficulty in which there is more need of a calm tem per and an unbiassed spirit, or upon which there is so fair a chance for the minister of the day to establish an enduring fame for large, accurate, and matured knowledge of the real condition of the people he has been called upon to govern. Without pretending to foreknow what may be the line of policy in the contemplation of the government, it will not be useless to recount the alternatives which present themselves to its choice. In the first place, we conceive it to be perfectly clear that the zealous and active party who are so in defatigable in their opposition to the settlement of 1819 have not the remotest chance of beholding the advent of the change they so ardently desire. Of the motives and character of these gentlemen one casinot speak with too much respect. As regards the logical accuracy of their views, and the coherent nature of their arguments, we entertain a strong and not a favourable opinion. And, despite of the agitation and the perseverance, of which Birmingham is the centre, we apprehend that the stream of proselytism in the direction of that loudly-proclaimed city of refuge from all the evils which afflict the land, IS din so meagre and so intermittent se to leave a very wide space for the exercise of faith and patience. In the next place, there is the notion of a govern ment bank and a government paper which shall supersede at once both the exclusive privileges of the Bank of England and the liberty of issue pos sessed by the provincial bankers. This is a scheme which has been floating about in several elevated circles for some time, and the country must be pre pared to see it brought forward with considerable advantages of authority and partisanship. The idea is certainly plausible, but the objections are too strong and too numerous to need enumeration. Next in order, is the doctrine of what is called " free-trade in banking." The drift of this idea is the precise contrary of the plan we have last referred to. The free-trade innovators would equally sweep away the monopoly of the Bank, but so far from undertaking such a clearance of the field with a view to erect a government establishment on the vacant site, they propose to fill up:the void by ren dering the circulation of the metropolis as diversified in lorigm and character as the circulation of Yorkshire. It is their leading doctrine that the present system is pernicious, because every London banker his not the same liberty of issue and the mime privileges as the Bank of England. It is very likely that this party may ;sent a somewhat formidable front in the ap proac • conflict, and at the proper time, and in a fitting spirit, we shall not fail to examine the tenor of their allegations and the strength of their logic. and for the greater portion of time that this increassof private business has taken place, Mr. Shaw Leferre's advice has been not only molt unremitting but also invaluable. (Hear.) It is for the purpose of recalling these facts to mind, indepen- dently of my right hon. friend's conduct in the chair, that I have thought it proper to address the hones, and I now have only to (sprees my earnest and cordial assent to the motion. Mr. S. LEFEVRE rose and said—l can nature the noble lord the member for Totnees,and my hon. friend the member for Chichester, that I fully appreciate the feelings of per- ; soma! regard and kindness which have prompted them to =l,.n such terms of commendation of my conduct in the mmendation far beyond my merits. I feel also that I ewe to the home a large debt of gratitude for the gtvenrible manner in which it has always viewed my am- . • THE EXPRESS, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 19, 1847. Fairer upon the list, stands a small, and we have every reason to think by no mesas an united, group of persons, who cherish a lingering faith in the virtues and destiny of the experiment of 1844 ; as far as we can gather, there appears to be a somewhat dangerous schism among this little band of discomfited disciples. And it is another cart- ' 1 one illustration of that extreme perversity of human nature which so often creates disruption among men who apparently have the strongest motives for unanimity, that the source of disagree ment in this instance takes the most ultra form. The more numerous section are in favour of a latitudina rian prescription, which shall attempt to resuscitate the patient by giving him the power of a voluntary suspension of existence whenever it may be conve nient. The more consistent minority maintain that the entire mischief has been brought about because the regimen has hitherto sinned, not on the side of rigidity, but of relaxation. Between this domestic disagreement on the one side, and a very prevalent con viction on the other, that neither with the complement of a more complying disposition, nor with the aggrava tion of further stringency, can the scheme be any longer tolerated, we think we may safely assure our selves that to whomsoever the victory may fall, it will not again become the trophy of the currency theorists. Finally, there is a fifth party which, in many re 'poets, may be described as the Eclecticism of the preceding four. They feel the importance and the paramount nature of credit as fully as the followers of Mr. Arrwoon, but they utterly repudiate the Birmingham opinions respecting the great settlement of 1819. They admit, with the government paper , party, the desirableness of some great and central body, but they deny that it is either safe or prudent that the state should be invested with so novel and so momentous a responsibility. They con cede to the banking free traders the wisdom of a full and free competition, but they question the sagacity of a plan which appears much more likely to introduce license than liberty. They fully concur with the school of Mr. JONES LOYD, in seeking to preserve inviolate the credit and convertibility of the bank-note, bat they hesitate to admit the paradox that this end will be best attained by crippling the central authority with an absurd formality of division. They seek to temper theory with experience, to _join a foresight for emergencies with an elastic principle of safety, and to give lege heed to the glittering con trivaeces which boast that they are "the most recent improvements," than to a calm and patient disposition to disturb little, where to disturb is often the same thing as to destroy. Avrootrcit we have not yet specially noticed the concluding reports of the select committee of last ses sion on settlement and poor removal, our notices of the former reports, and our remarks on the law itself, will have put our readers in possession of the greater part of the information which they contain. The' committee has decided, after much division of opi nion, to recommend to the house the entire abolition of the power of removal, and consequently of settle ment. They further recommend the adoption of the anion as the area of chargeability; and that addi tional facilities should be given for the alteration of the limits of unions. It will at once be seen that the resolutions of the committee fall far short of supplying the mate rials for a substantial measure such as will be necessary for the government to frame. The principle on which the new adjustment of liability is to be brought into practical operation will probably be found in parliament, as was the case in the committee itself, more difficult to determine than the general question either of settlement or chargeability. The committee themselves acknowledge the incomplete ness of the result at which they have arrived, in a paragraph of the report, in which they take deserved credit for the amount of information which they have collected :—" Although your committee do not submit for the consideration of the house any specific plan for the amendment of the law, they feel confident that their labours will not prove useless, inasmuch as they have brought together a large mass of valuable information, and fixed public attention on thc,ie points which require especial consideration in any attempt to legislate on a subject of such great importance to the interests of the poor, and the general well-being of the country." The difficulty which the committee has declined to solve consists in determining how the existing bodies of rate-payers are to be affected by the prepoeed aboli tion of the power of removal. As the resolutions of the committee stand, it would seem that the burden of taxation is at once to be shifted from the parishes to the unions, or, in other words, from the populous parishes which are now moat heavily burdened, to the wealthy or close perishes which are, compara tively, lightly rated. The hardships upon those who in their rents and other contracts have taken the comparative exemption from parochial taxa tion into account, if they were at once pat on a level with their neighbours, who at present are compelled to support the bulk of the poor, is too obvious to require explanatian. The sudden shifting of taxation always produces injustice; but never so much as when the tax to be re-adjusted is one levied, like parish rates, on property locally fixed. Houses, and other tenements, vary in value more directly than any other possessions, in proportion to the lighter or heavier burdens to which they are subject. The ne cessity of keeping in view the relative amounts of taxation to which parishes have hitherto been subject led Sir JAMES GRAHAM, in a bill which he brought forward two or three years ago, into the opposite error, of proposing to fix the proportions of taxation for ever, according to an average of a certain number of years before the passing of an set for abolishing or extending settlement. The committee, as might be supposed, did not fail to attend to this important question. It being that henceforth the union should maintain all agre e d tliti paupers within its bounds, the burden must be di vided among the parishes either in proportion to their past expenditure, or by equal taxation, or by some intermediate arrangement, either temporary or per manent. Several p lan s of more or less complication were submitted to their notice ; but none of them ap pear to have been able to command a majority. The division lists, however, are not uainstructive, by the means which they afford for conjecturing the future course to be adopted by parliament. It is most probable that a minority of the committee will command the support of the house. Mr. ALDAM was defeated b a large majority on • proposal that parishes should be taxed according to their former proportions, as long as the amount levied in the union did not exceed the present aver age, and that all sums above that amount should be raised by an equal anion rate. The rejection of this scheme may be considered equivalent to a decision by the committee that the rating throughout the union should at some period be equalised. A somewhat similar resolution drawn up by the chairman, Mr. C. BULLER, had previously been rejected, Sir G. GREY, however, and Sir J. GRAHAM, votinE in the minority. A resolution proposed by Mr. P. SCROPE, that the contribution of each parish should be based on past averages, and brought by a gradual approxima tion to an equal rate, shared a similar fate. The late and present Home Secretaries, however, and Mr. C. VILLIERS, were again in the minority. Without denying the difficulties of the question, we have no doubt that Mr. SCROPE'S plan is that which must be adopted. It is evidently just that poor-law taxation ought hereafter to be spread over wider areas than at present; and it is equally plain that the immediate relief of large . parishes at the expense of small ones will produce similar hardships to those which have been so universally complained of as arising from the act of 1846. Mr. BULLER'S plan would perpetuate a part of the present admitted irre gularity of taxation; but the majority of the commit tee, if it wished to introduce immediate equality, would cause mach more immediate and severer hard- shi p. Putting out of the question the unfairness of suddenly shifting the burden of taxation, the attempt to carry such a measure would expose the government to formidable—perhaps insuperable—opposition. The case of the more lightly taxed, and even of the close parishes, is not without its claims on the considera tion of parliament. In many instances, the com parative exemption from taxation is the result of • wise economy, which is entitled to ite legitimate re ward. There is no county in which a spendthrift p ar iah might not be pointed oat by the side of one which his prevented by proper precautions the undue increase of pauperism. Close parishes, though they may act harshly in preventing the poor from obtaining a settlement, are the best of all settle ments for the few poor whom they contain. Ac cording to the evidence of Mr. Fitentuars, an exten sive occupier and land-agent in Oxfordshire, the poor In the wilco workhouse come almost entirely from the' large parishes. The this* or fear farmers who pay the rates of a small parish, can easily calculate the burden to themselves of maintaining an unproductive pauper in the workhouse. They find it better to give him work, even where, as on grass lands in ' , winter, they have little real occasion for his services. Whatever may be the reasonable claims of those parishes which would be aggrieved by the immediate introduction of a system of union rating, there can be no doubt that their advocates would have it in their , power greatly to embarrass, if not entirely to prevent, the passing of any measure which contained no pro- vision to satisfy them. Parliament may be well assured that, popular as the proposed abolition of settlement may be among members of the house and the constituents who have most frequent access to them, it will require all its courage to meet, and all its ilia tiee to disarm, the opposition which will be raised to the measure when it is actually brought forward. The recital of benefit to the peer to be derived from the free circulation of the poor, sincere as it is, and in a great degree well founded, is too abstract and scientific in its terms to secure ge neral popularity for the measure which it introduces. The separation of the pauper from those on whom he had a legal local claim, the taking away of hie only property, even though a substitute is given for it,' will be urged with vehemence against the change. The measure is, as we have formerly shown, a carry ing out and extension of the poor-law bill. One of the witnesses recommends it on the ground that it will cause the workhouse test to 132 more generally adopted. from the breaking off of the local sympathies which have hitherto made rate-payers unwilling to apply it. The union regulations also for relief, if not severer, must be made more uniform, to prevent the i concourse of unsettled poor in districts which would be preferred for their lax discipline. To secure uni formity it will probably be necessary to extend the powers, or at least to multiply the interference, of the poor-law board and its inspectors. As supporters of the principle of the poor-law, we do not bring forward these suggestions as arguments against a change, but RS cautions to government not to add unnecessarily to the opposition which it will inevitably experience. We have, however, little doubt that Sir G. GRF.Y will decide on the course which he has already sup ported in committee. A limited period of taxation, according to previous averages, will prepare the way for the equitable introduction of a more equally dis tributed assessment. If, as is far from impossible, the area of taxation is, after some experience of the union rate, further enlarged, the change may be car ried out on the same principle, but with greater ease, as unions, on the average, are more equal in their cir cumstances and burdens than parishes. IIIERE 111 no nuisance so great but usage will harden the senses against it, or awaken an artificial enjoyment of what to others is intolerable. The candle milker positively delights in the savour of his own melting•pots, while he is acutely sensible of the annoyance of the neighbouring nightman's yard. The nightman, for his part, is indignant that tallow melters should be tolerated. This one-sided insensibility is very common among the witnesses before the committee ap pointed to inquire into the suggested removal of Smithfield market. There is one, for ex ample, who has lived forty-six years in Smith field. He quite revels in its sights, sounds, and smells. He is is the habit of walking every evening in the market after his warehouse is shut, and con siders the effluvia from the cattle as likely to be very beneficial to his health. He uses the air thus im pregnated as a restorative. Being taken unwell during the spring, he "took his stick, got into Smith field, and was completely restored'.' He has not had a doctor for the whole forty-five years he has lived in the locality, and considers it the healthi est spot he can choose. He has not seen an instance of cruelty for fourteen or fifteen years. He has heard a mere trifle of cursing and swearing. The noise of Sundaynightnever kept him an hoar awake in his life. In the whole forty-fiveyears of his experience he never knew any more serious accident from the cattle than one lady's petticoats torn and a leg slightly lacerated. No doubt this witness is perfectly honest. He speaks his impression. He has become indurated to Smithfield experiences. In like manner Mr. GIBLETT, one of the great salesmen, who has attended the mar ket twice a week for twenty years, " has been better after attending the market than when he went." He thinks it has improved his health. Very much, no doubt, as temperance increased the durability of the reformed Chelsea pensioner's wooden legs. Of course we have the counter statements of those who do suffer, both in eye, ear, and nose, to set against these ; and very formidable grievances they parade before the committee. Something most be bated on both sides, in order to strike a fair balance of the evidence as to Smithfield nuisances, which the committee have not yet done. Our own impression is, that the objections to the market have been ex aggerated. It is in itself neither so pernicious to health, nor a source of such annoyance to the public, as to call for its removal. The accidents caused by the cattle on their road to it have been exaggerated. No doubt, the unfortunate witness is to be pitied whose nurse, walking upstairs from the kitchen, met a bullock walking down, which stepped into the kitchen, and with a perverse and wanton taste de stroyed all the china in the place, sparing, appa rently, the meaner crockery. Ivor can we refuse our commiseration to the respectable oilman who has had bullocks in his shop several times, and who is so accustomed to see sheep there, that he considers them hardly worth complaining of, it being "the bullocks we dread." These visitations are naturally an annoyance to shopkeepers whose customers are ' not connected with the market. A stationer who supplies account books to the market people can afford to talk lightly, and by the way, of a calf putting his head through the shop window. He sets off his Mondays' and Fridays' extra profits against such contingencies. No doubt, timid ladies are occa sionally frightened into fits by very harmless oxen, and timid old gentlemen driven by sudden onsets from the same on perilous leaps into shops and door ways. Bat these and similar accidents, make the most you can of them, furnish no sufficient grounds for disturbing the capital invested in and about Smithfield. Nor, on the score of health, can a good case be made out against the mere mar ket. Its uses as an open space more than counterbalance any ill effects arising from the cattle, or what they leave behind them. It is admitted, moreover, that the greatest possible cleanli ness is enforced. _ _ . We are thus careful in giving the fullest weight to all that can be said for Smithfield, because it is most desirable that, in connexion with the sanitary question, all exaggeration should be avoided. The case wants no aid from statements that can not be borne out, and grievances that will not bear investigation. If the preservation of Smithfield market meant no more than the keeping open an area in London for the sale of cattle, there is much that sanitary law may busy itself with before it lays hands on this. Those who oppose all change will take hold of our admission as an argument on their side, in the same way as they will wrest to their own favour the exaggerations of those who refuse to make such an admission. But the public must be warned that the matter in dispute is not Smithfield market, simply; but what grows out of and goes along with it. The charges we would allege against Smithfield divide themselves into two heads : under the first we place the insufficient size of its area, the consequent cruelty to the animals assem bled in it for sale, and the injury to the meat resulting from the violence rendered necessary by want of room. Under the second, we include the manifold abomina tions of the slaughter-houses round about the area of Smithfield, which cannot be got rid of while the market remains where it is. The existence and importance of these two distinct classes of evils are both, as it appears to us, proved fully by the evidence of the committee already printed. The more ample exhibition of them from the Blue Book we defer for the present. It is a curious fact that the 14th century was intolerant of some evils to which the 19th patiently submits. This practice of slaughtering, skinning, and disembowelling cattle and sheep, which is now carried on in its most revolt ing form about Warwick-lane, Cow-cross, and White chapel, was prohibited, A.D., 1361, by EDWARD lIL, in a letter addressed to the mayor and sheriffs of London, which we give, in MAITLAND'e translation of it from the original roll in the Tower : Beaton by killing of great besets, &c., from whose putre fied blood runnnut down the streets, and the bowels cast into the Thames, the air in the city is very much corrupted and infected, whence abominable and moat filthy stinks pro ceed, sicknesses and many other evils have happened to such u have abode in the said city, or have resorted is it ; and gent dangers are hared to fall out for the time to come, an lees remedy be presently made against it. We, willing to prevent such danger, and to provide as much as in us lies fur the honesty of the raid city and the safety of our people, by the consent of our council in our present parliament, have ordained that all bulls, ozen, hogs, and other gross creatures, to be slain for the sustenance of the said city, be led an far as the town of Stratford on one part of London, and the town of Knightsbridge on the other, and there, and not on this side, be slain ; and that their bowels be there cleansed, to be brought, together with the flesh, to the said city to be sold. And if any butcher shall presume anything rashly against this ordinance, let him incur forfeit ure of the flesh of the creatures which he bath caused to be slain on this side of the said towns, and the punishment of Imprisonment for one year. Thikordinance to be published, proclaimed, and held, and all butchers doing otherwise to be chastised and punished according to the form of the ordi nance aforesaid. Witness the King, at Westminster, the twenty-fifth day of February."—A.L. 1361. Nor was this a solitary instance of such interfer ence. A statute of Rich. IL, c. 13, A.D. 1388, pro vides for the punishment of those " which cause cor ruption near a city or great town to corrupt the air, by casting the dung and filth of the garbage and en trails, as well of beasts killed as of other corruptions, in ditches, rivers, waters, and elsewhere, within and nigh unto divers cities, boroughs, and towns of the realm, and the suburbs of them, so that the air is thereby greatly infect, whereby many maladies and other intolerable diseases do happen." The penalty imposed for not removing such nuisances or creating new ones was the enormous fine, for those times, of 201. It is well that we should now and then look back as well as forward in legislation. The "wisdom of our ancestors," even in their social police, is not all foolishness. Titz remonstrance we offered, on the eighth of this month, against the proposal to increase the delays of Chancery by allowing the number of taxing masters to be reduced to five, has not been unavailing. A successor has been appointed to Mr. GArry, and, what is more, that successor is a gentleman whose previous public career affords an ample guarantee that he will efficiently discharge his duties. Mr. JOSEPH PARKES has, in various capacities, proved that he possesses in a rare degree the perspicacity, indus try, and firmness of character which his new office demands. It would be gratifying were we able to add that the terms upon which the demission of his prede cessor has been accepted were equally entitled to praise. But this is impossible. Mr. Gums' is one of those " sworn clerks" whose functions were put an end to by the act of 1842. The compensation awarded to him under that act for his loss of office, was 6,000/. a year; one half of which is to be conti nued to his representatives for seven years after hie death. Yet he accepted the office of taxing-master, to add a couple of thousands more to his annual income. And now, though yet in the prime of life—at the best possible working age—he is allowed an additional retiring pension of something approaching to 1,0001. per annum for life, on resigning his late office. There was no necessity for accepting Mr. GArry'a resignation upon such terms. Ile was every way competent to the discharge of his duties, and might have been held to perform them, had he refused to cultivate " retired leisure " on the pittance of 6,000/. per annum. It is too late to indulge in the hope that this bargain can be rescinded, for it will not be easy to shame a gentleman who could ask and accept so much of the public money, into giving it up. But really it is time that some effort should be made to obtain re-organisation of oar judicial establishments, or changes in the personnel of legal functionaries at a less extravagant cost than the nation has of late been paying for them. Oar Paris despatches of Wednesday contain no news of importance. The Courrier Francais says: alt is reported as a certainty that the office of grand-admiral is to be cre ated in favour of the Prince de Joinville ; but it ap pears that the ministry has not dared to carry out this measure by a simple royal ordonnance, and that a bill is to be presented on the subject to the Chambers, which it is hoped to find docile." Pails Baran., Nov. 17.—For kloney.—Three per Conth... 76 90, Fives, 116 20; Four*, 100. Treasury Bonds, 5. Bank Shares, 3,297 50. Exchange oo London (siutt), 25 70. The Madrid mails of the 12th have arrived. The moat important news they bring is that of the appointment of General Concha to the Paris embassy, vacant since the departure of Narvaez. M. Bravo Murillo is appointed to the Ministry of Public Instruction. The deputies were ar riving, and the moderados were to have had a preliminary meeting on Saturday. It was ex pected that M. Mon would be elected president of the representative chamber. There was a report that the moderados intended to impeach M. Salamanca. General Ortega, a friend of Salamanca, has been exiled to Corunna. We learn from our own cor respondent that the Queen has refused to open in person the session of the Cortes. Her Majesty says that she will never go to a place where her authority has been ques tioned, and where a ministry which imprisoned and oppressed her has obtained votes of confidence. It was expected that some strong manifestation of her distaste for the present cabinet would suddenly take place. The Espeetador announces that an English diplo matist had arrived at Madrid on what it calls " a delicate mission ;" and it says that, in order not to create obstacles, it will for the present not state what the mission is, though it will do so hereafter. The Heralds professes to know nothing, either of the diplomatist or his mysterious mission. The Espanol states that it was positively asserted that the Bank de Foment* had offered to transfer the quicksilver contract to the representative of the house of Roths child. A French general named Corbin has left Mad rid after several days' stay. His visit excited some attention from its having been supposed by some per sons to have had a secret political object. He was treated with great distinction. The government has, it is maid, determined to take measures to prevent a scarcity of food in Madrid. The journals state that a day or two previously the horses of Queen Christina's carriage ran away, whereby the Queen was placed in great danger. Itenaro:Bous, Nov. 13.—Throe per Cents., 261 at 50 days, 263.16 1 eaah ; Five per Cents., 141 yeper, 141 sash ; Pasives, 41 paper Coupon paper of Bt. Ferdwand, 130 nab ; Bank or St. ; Labelle 124 paper. B p i ettanne on London, 46 70-100. We mentioned yesterday, in general terms, a colli sion which bad taken piece at Fivizzano between the Modenese soldiers and the inhabitants. The straggle was at its height when the mail left, and its issue is still unknown. But we have received the despatches and journals from Tuscany and Modena, which are tilled with detailed reports of great length of the events which preceded the sudden and unex pected seizure of Fivizzano by the Modenese troops. On the sth instant, at half-past one in the morning, the outposts of Fivizzano discovered the approach of a division of Modenese troops. The chief city authority received a letter from the commander of the troops, requesting to be allowed to pass his troops through the town. The alarm which the appearance of these troops first produced was thus allayed, and the latter were thrown off their guard. The troops marched in, but, to the great surprise of the inhabitants and the authorities, instead of marching out again, coolly took up their quarters, seized the posts and gate, and declared that they were come in the name of the Duke of Modena to take possession of the town. Nothing could exceed the astonishment and indignation produced by this trick. The Goa. falonieri refused to acknowledge the act, and protested against it in the name of the Tus can government. The protest was duly drawn and executed before a notary. All this took place in the morning and forenoon of the sth. On the night of the 4th, at 9 o'clock, the Tuscan government received at Florence a despatch from the Modenese govern ment, dated the 3rd, in which the latter announced that on the sth a Modenese commissioner would pre tent himself at Fivizzano, to take possession of she place, and that it would be necessary that the Grand Duke of Tuscany should take the measures necessary for its surrender. Since, however, only twelve hours intervened between the delivery of this despatch and the seizure of Fivizzano, it was evi dently impossible for the Tuscan government,whatever might be its disposition to take the required measures. The publication of these circumstances raised a most formidable commotion in the chief cities of Tuscany, and the whole population seemed about to fly to arms and march to the rescue of their fellow-subjects at Fivizzano. This excitement was partially tranquillised by the publication of a manifesto in the .Florence Gaulle on the 9th, in which the government details with circumstantial minuteness of time and place all the circumstances of which we have given the outline, and leaves it to be understood that it had no intention of submi ---- ""i ng passively to such an outrage. We announced yesterday that a collision had already taken place between the inhabitants of Firi z , nun and the troops, that those of Pict,* Soot; another populous town of Tuscany in the neighbour. hood, had risen. We have now to add that en the 9th inst. large bodies of the citizens of l'isa, and of Le e . horn had taken arms and marched for Fivizzano, that a number of Florentine youths were about to adopt !' like course, and that placards were posted through out Florence calling en the Tuscans to avenge the outrag e committed against their well-beloved sovervigo, s o d to assist their fellow-subjects of Fivizzano. Th e general place of rendezvous for those who were togo on this expedition was Pisa. PRUSSIA.—BERLIN.—M. Dieffenbach, one or th e most.listioguished member of the German medical faea t , died at Berlin, on the 11th instant, of apoplexy, at the y t of 53. TUE CABIBRIA.—It is intended that the C,atatei t steamer shall sail for New York on the lan of January. Ti k i, will be the precedent for the new arrangements teat been for some time in contemplation of despatching the 6, 04 every week during the summer months alternately to g qt „ and New York. Meanwhile they will continue to be di. 'patched fortnightly. dad in the chair. In all that has fallen from hoe. members on both sides of the house as to the duties of the chair I fully concur. I agree with the honourable member for Oxford in the opinion expressed by him that those duties have of late years been rendered far more arduous than they formerly were by the vast immure of private business ; the journals of the last two or three sessions exhibit a mass of legislation wholly without precedent, involving interests of the highest magnitude, which it would have been impossible satisfactorily to have proceeded with but for the great im provement made in the mode of conducting the business of this house. I cannot claim any merit on this account, for I took no great share in these improvements, but the result has been not the less satisfactory. The experience which I have acquired has taught me that the ordinary duties of pre siding over this house may be satisfactorily discharged by a strict observance of impartiality, and a fair degree of atten tion to the routine of business ; but there are other duties of a more delicate nature, arising out of new circumstances, which call for and demand a prompt and sadden action, and I confess the knowledge that such duties do exist would have discouraged as from again accepting of the honour which it is proposed to confer upon me, but for the conviction which I have acquired, that the same indulaence will be again extended to me—(hear, hear)—which I have before experienced on all sides of the house (hear, bear); and it is such a conviction that enables me again to place myself at the disposition of the house. (Cheers.) The mnion having been carried unanimously, Lord Seymour cad Mr. J. A. Smith quitted their man, and proceeded to the bench occupied by the right hon. gen tleman who had just been elected. Mr. 8. LEFEVRE rose, and was conducted by his mower and seconder (amidst cheers on all sides) to the chair, where after bowing to the house, he said—l beg to offer my moei grateful thanks to the house for the distinguished honour which has been done me. It shall be my endeavour to prove not altogether unworthy the honour which has for the third time been conferred upon me. (Cheers.) The right hon. gentleman then took his seat. Lord J. RUSSELL —Sir,—l now venture to address the house for the purpose of congratulating you, sir, and I may add the house itself. (Cheers.) That you rill maintain the privileges of the house ; that you will act impartially and justly, as well in regard to public as to private business ; that in maintaining order in our debates, you will so act as to conciliate those whom it may be your duty to reprove—are ' not surmises, but expectations of well-founded experience. (Cheers.) Sr, your previous conduct in the chair justifies me in entertaining this belief. (Cheers.) It was your fortune to succeed in your office a person of distinguished learning, of great knowledge of the constitution, of great experience in this house, and whose conduct in the chair was marked by the cordial ap probation of this house. (Cheers.) Placed at such disad vantage, you, sir, by your qualities, succeeded in establishing a character as speaker of this house, which is not a matter of envy but of congratulation ; and I trust that whilst you are long in possession of the honour conferred upon you, your reputation may increase, and that you may leave as bright a name to posterity as that of the greatest speaker who ever sat in that chair. I beg to move, sir, that this house do now adjourn. The house then adjourned at a few minut a is 3 o'clock ebe eourt. WINDSOR, THURSDAY.—The Duchess of Kent i.gld a visit to the Queen to-day, from her residence, Frogr a , house, and partook ef a dejeuner with her Majesty and e a royal circle. The Hon. Miss Murray and the Bulb, Macdonald, Maids of Honour to the Queen, left the Col a to-day. The Rev. Dr. Phelps, ViogChaneellor of c .„ . bridge, is esp. eted to arrive at the Cutle this evenin g , e a a visit to her Majesty. The royal dinner party at the C ad , this evening will include the Duchess of Kent, the Day and Ducheas of Cambridge and the Princess Mary, p Frederick of Hesse, the Marquis of Anglesey, Lady Fa aar Howard, Baroness Hammerstein, Baroness ue Speth, and Lady Ashley, the Right Hon. Sir George and 44 Grey, the Rev. Dr. Phelps (Vice-Chancellor of CsaOridgel Colonel W)lde, and Mr. Edmond Mildmay. The hand al the Royal Regiment of Liore.Guards will atten da m , dinner. The Queen's private band will aterwar,..., Etna in the Castle. r Mr. John Carr had an interview with Earl Grey yesTkh,redayulagthttheHcoonm.niria.l-moffiaciele Gibson, Vice Pre s id ent . of Despatches pa ß°4ra tehes of Trade, has were eent arri off "d yc in ste to r w d n ay ect ning f r o m the Colonial-office, for the Governor of Canada, od also for the governors of the other North American prmumes. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. Yesterday a court was held for the dearttch of hi. ness.—The LORD MAYOR, upon taking the eh jr, addressi the members, and said he was convinced that ae Sh. Add re. wive such support and assistance from them as would enable him to till the chair to the satisfaction of his fellow-ctivest THE LATE LORD MAYOR.—Deputy EVANS trose to MN a vote of thanks to Sir G. Carroll, the late lord mayor,* his conduct during his year of office. Ile felt that the late lord mayor had done great credit to the corporativa by a t whole of the proceedings during his mayor..;ty; bat he vu not a stranger to the effort* which had been made to murder. set the motion of thanks to be proposed for the considerstice of the court, as due to a gentleman for whom they ought all to entertain the highest!' respect. He regretted, fur toe noun of the court, that he had grounds for making the ohms. ration ; but he trusted that he should find them 'inanition in their determination to do justice to the late worthy am The a-•••••- excellent chief magistrate. _ deputy then moved— That the lamas of this court be presented to the Right Ilea. Mr George evrroll, Knight, late Lord Mayor, for tho efficient mamma which he discharged the various and Important dtitiC6 of chief morns trate ; for the uprightneas of conduct and u ivaried assiduity with which be performed the greatly inereated labours of his oldie Lathe administration of justice ; foe the liberal support which he eschew. fully extended to the charitable institutions which alum the metre. polls ; and especially fur the sympaths whie4 he manifeated tansies the distressed Irish and Scotch duruag the late famine, by AIM* Sc funds e f the British amociation, and by feting as the chairman oft* committee ; for hie successful efforts to protect the trade 01 this,* :asainvt fraud and dishonesty; for the manner in which he upheld the ancient reputation of his corporation, for hospitality, sod for la mullet...a of acceas,and courteous conduct to all cla,ses of his kilos. citizens. Mr. GALIN wended the vote of thanks in af. w wee expressive of the strong feeling of respect and admired= which he entertained towards the late Lord Mayor. Mr. W. LAWRENCE could not ainw such a motion tote put without making a few observations. It had pleased the late Lord Mayor's friends who had drawn up the vote el thanks, to say but little of that to which the attention of the court ought to be moat particularly directed—the conduct If Sir George Carroll to the members of that court as the re eft...matins of the great constituency of the City of London. In the vote of thanks many things had been well said of ass of whom it could not be denied that he pow esed ohs qualities of a perfect gentleman ; but these were mattes with which the court had, in considering the claim of a Lord Mayor to a vote of thanks from the corpora. ties, nothing at all to do. They were to consider whether he had, in presiding over that court, taken care to uphold its privileges, to support its character end to protect the rights of his fellow-citizens, or whether he had not on the contrary, when a question connected with thee rights arose, thrown himself into the arms of a gentle man who was not the legal adviser of the court, and abandoned all those interests upon an authority which was well known to be adverse to their views r (Hear, hear.) Mr. Lawrence then detailed the proceedings adopted by the court at the commencement of the late mayoralty relatinto the bill which formed the theme of dispute between the two branches of the corporation. The City had undergoes of late years many alterations and it had been found nem naryfor some of the most wealthy and respectable of the inhabitants ter reside out of town with their families at the same time that they kept their we:chorus and shops in the City, and contributed largely to the support of its independence. It was objected that the elective franchise was forfeited by that movement, and th e Court of Common Council, in which nobody doubted the power to remedy the evil, appointed a committee to bring et a bill with that object. The proceedings on the bill had gone on without interruption up to the third reading, when the Court of Aldermen suddenly objected, by the advised the Recorder, to the further prossesution of it as illegal, in asmuch as it had not originated in their court. The Lord Mayor at once adopted a course is direct hostility to the views of the Court of Common Council, refused to allow the bill to be proceeded with, and subsequently acted in oppe sition to every effort of the court to correct the existing evil by means of conciliation. (Hear, bear.) If the eourtwoald allow a vote of thanks to a Lord Mayor who thus trampled upon their rights:and tyrannised over them as a body, they would deserve, in deed, to he scouted and reviled by those wbe appointed them as the protectors of their privileges. (Hear.) A good deal of tact had been exhibited at the minimum of the late mayoralty, for the purpose of stemming through the difficulty occasioned by the obstinate perseverance in so offensive a course. It had been often said that the neared way to a corporator's heart was through his stomach — (laughter)—and the project of catching the vote el thanks by a bell to the wives and daughters of the common councilmen, was adopted. The system adopted towards the Court of Aldermen bad proved effective. The late Lord Mayor had, by some means, emitted to give to his brethren what was called the alderincn'scomh order dinner—a piece of negligence which was very senouily felt ; and it was intimated to him that if be meant to confirm that omission, a vote of thanks for his conduct during the year should certainly stick in the court ; but if the feast were given, the very authority from whom he received the latioll - would himself move *resolution not to besurpassed for the vigour and elegance of its phraseology. (Laughter.) The coach-order dinner, to which every alderman was citified to take four visitors, was given, and the alderman who ha used the threat, for the sake of the entertainment, was as good as his word, and moved a vote of thanks full of the most exquisite praise, which was carried unanimously. (Loud laughter.) Presuming upon the lumen of the pre natation upon the Court of Aldermen, the friends of theism Lord Mayor determined to try the project No. 2 upon the Court of Common Council, by giving a dance to the wires and daughters of the members. If the court would pass a vote of thanks to a Lord Mayor who had so comple tely denied their rights., they would give the most intelligible invitation to all other lord mayors " to go and do likewise." The vote of thanks spoke of the exercise of hospitality b 7 the late Lord Mayor. W h y, what was paid for that hospitality? The least a lord mayor ever received was 7,000/. Some times the amount was 8,0001. For what was that sum given i Why, for the exercise of hominid, to be sure. And would the court so deeply into idiocy u to give glowing to the indivi dual who received that money for the manner in which he s t r a n t t h t e h:t o r try, aft ir powererha.vindg privileges e all ges in in his ut ti r w co n . to te.s lie regretted the opposition he felt bound to give to the me tics, as he had a real respect for Sir G. Carroll as a private gentleman ; but he could not conscientiously sit down witk out moving the previous question. Mr. Bowe' seconded the amendment. He wished the members of the court to stand well with their rimers, by defending the privileges confided to them. They came into the court expecting that they had the right to express in if their feelings and opinions upon matters important to the constituency, and they were authoritatively stopped by dm ' late Lord Mayor. What could be said if the Court of Com mon Council passed the vote of thanks to a chief msgiettoOf who had given such decided opposition to them ? wea it not be an acknowledgment that the Court of Commie Council were in the wrong, and that the late Lord Mayer was perfectly justified in refusing to listen to them? Mr. HARRISON could not let the subject pass without sty Mg a few words. It would be recollected that th , Court el Common Council having gone to parliament upon the Theme Conservancy, the late Lord Mayor went with a few other to the Lords of the Admiralty, and assured their lordships tbst the committee deputed to act upon the occasion were not at all authorised. By that course the corporation had sustsionl some injury. Mr. UOIXION WAR sorry toMe so much ingenuity exercised in so bed a cause u the opposition to the vote of thanks the man who had deserved Go well from his fellow-citizens, sa concluded by calling upon the court to carry the vote vial acclamations. The court then divided, and the " previous question " ere carried by a majority of 40 ; the numbers being, for there vious question, 81 ' • against it, 41. Eight aldermen (all Per sent) voted against the previous question. CITY IMPROYEMENTE.—The court passed an act for chat ing.the sum of 300,0001. upon certain of the estates and nee