The Press. — London, England, 1854-08-05 00:00:00

MP L - 1 M 734 the cover of the coal-cellar. on the pathway suddenly moved, and the face of a dwarf very dirty and begrimed was popped up through the hole. "Is the time come ?" asked the dwarf of the Old Man of the North. The Old Man did not reply, except by saying, '' Have you stolen, as you promised, the key of the area-gate?" " Why," said the Dwarf, " did you suppose that merely getting into the house was of any use without g ettin g the occu p iers out ? Hear what I did. I went out into the streets, and drew together all that were houseless and desperate, and said, Behold a snug shelter and comfortable provision for you!' Then several of the waiters-on• Prov idence, and political crossing-sweepers, cried, ' What the Dwarf says is good, so we will even go and do as he has said.' So I gathered toge ther a large body of those who had no habitations, and of those who came from the Flower of the Earth, by the Great Salt Sea, and I came before the house and cried, Help ! help ! Behold one is robbing the public treasury, and is stealing the malt tax Whereupon those within came out to answer the charge, and, as my followers were the more nume rous, we crowded into the house, and slammed the door. Wherefore, Old Man, I am here to give you admittance, on certain conditions ; and so, take off your shoes and come down gently !" So the Old Man took off his shoes, and directed the porter to do the same and follow him, and the porter, very much marvelling and sore affrighted, obeyed his commands. When the Old Man and the porter reached the area the Dwarf appeared at the washhouse window and said, " Remember, I must not appear in this business : I shall be without office' iu the establishment, at least for a time, or I will not open the door." " Agreed !" said the Old Man of the North, and thereupon the door was opened by the small person, who demanded of the Old Man of the North why he had brought such a fellow there ; " for," said he, " the entire number are waiting for you, and each anxious to tell his tale." Then the porter ascended, as he was bid, by a back stairs, and in a room looking out upon the opposite side of the way he was directed to put down his burden. In this room was a large assemblage of various persons, who, when they saw the Old Man enter, began to rejoice heartily, saying, " Oh ! day of favourable for tune ! Oh ! day of agreeable surprise ! Who could have dreamed that we should have met here ? Blessed be Chancemedley, our only pro phet !" When the porter had turned out his basket, " This speech is yours !" cried one, and " This denial is yours!" said another, whereat each waxed angry and enraged, until a great tumult and disturbance was the result, and the porter fell into despair, for he remarked that the Old Man of the North sat down and wrung his hands, and cried, " Ochone! Ochone ! we canna' stay here if ye rampage at this gate !" TERMS OF SII] Z 1) c FOR Per Annum .. Half• Yearly .. Quarterly Prezo: .. Ll 6 0 .. 0 19 0 .. 0 8 0 Payable in advance. Subscribers are requested to send their Orders through their News Agent; if direct to the Otlice, accompanied by a Remit tance. Money Orders to be made payable to Mr. ALFRED 11/2, 110, Strand, London. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—FRIDAY. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL (CANADA) BILL. At the early sitting of the Commons the second reading of this bill was moved by Mr. PEEL, who ex plained its object. The measure was designed to enable the Canadian Legislature to alter the consti tution of the Legislative Council, or Upper House, of the colony. The nature of the alteration was not prescribed, but the intention was that the Council should be made elective. Similar powers had been granted to all the other principal colonies belonging to the British empire. Sir J. PAKINOTON opposed the bill, declaring that it tended to convert the Canadian system of govern ment into a democracy. The session, he argued, was too far advanced to afford time for the proper discussion of so important a measure. The bill was supported by Mr. Adderley, Mr. Hume, Sir G. Grey, Mr. V. Smith, and Lord J. Rus sell : it was opposed by Mr. Henley. The debate was then adjourned until the evening sitting. The Public Revenue and Consolidated Fund Charges Bill was read a third time and passed. The Appropriation Bill was brought in by Mr. Wlmos, and read a first time. The house adjourned at four and resumed at six o'clock. At the evening sitting, in answer to a question from Mr. Bright, Sir C. WOOD said that he should make a statement respecting the financial affairs of India on Thursday next. The debate on the Canada Legislative Council Bill, adjourned from the morning, was resumed by Mr. SCOTT, who opposed the bill, and questioned the authority of the Legislature in Canada, who had sanctioned it. After a few words from Mr. Btoos, in support of the bill, it was read a second time. On the motion for going into committee on the Usury Bill, Mr. CAYLEY opposed the bill, and quoted at great length instances from the monetary history of the country, to prove the danger of the artificial scarcity of money which would result from an unrestricted rate of interest. Mr. HttmE admitted the danger of commercial panics, but did not think that a repeal of the usury laws would tend to produce them. He wanted free dom of dealing in every transaction, and in this amongst others. Mr. W. A. WILKINSON ridiculed the antiquated no tion that restriction on the rate of intereet would ex tend commercial operations. - c-itt It)rogi• LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 1854. POSTSCRIPT. HOUSE OF LORDS.-FIUDLY. Lord MONTEAGLE, in moving for returns, ex pressed his anxiety that education in India should receive greater attention, with which opinion Earl Granville expressed his full concurrence. Lord Sr. LEONARD'S called the attention of the house to the present system of tickets of leave which, he contended, had turned out a perfect failure. All offers of mercy to convicted criminals would be thrown away unless some fixed employ ment was furnished them after the expiration of the sentence. Unless something was done, he should move next session for a committee of inquiry. The Duke of NEWCASTLE admitted that in many respects the system had not answered, but thought it deserved a further trial. He deprecated all re newed attempts to re establish transportation in its former extent. Lord CAMPBELL said that no punishment was so effective in terrifying offenders as transportation. Lord BROUGHAM resumed an adjourned debate on national education, advocating secular as distinct from religious instruction. He, however, did not press his resolutions, and after a few words from Earl Granville the subject dropped. The Commons' amendment to the Oxford Bill was agreed to. The Bribery and Stamp Duties Bill went through committee. • Adjourned at half-past eight. THE PRESS. SATURDAY; Upon this the Dwarf came forward and said, " Hearken to me. I have told the Old Man of the North that the only hope of escape from the danger he s in, and the only hope of remaining here, is to gather round him tho e that are here. When he tells his story you will know it all!" Then the Old Man of the North turned to the porter, and told him that he would receive him into his service, and pay him from the public treasury, while he might work or be idle as he pleased, and invent jokes to be spoken on the spur of the moment, as he lay in the sun. To which the porter answered, "Oh ! happy day ! Oh ! day of agree able surprise and joy !" " But," said the porter, " I am oppressed with much doubt, and an eager curiosity. I pray you to resolve me the meaning of all this." The Old Man of the North replied, " Porter, I do not say that thou art an honest fellow, for I know not that thou art ; but the work of carrying all this trash deserves a requital. What do you wish to know ?' Th I have carried all en said the porter, " I pray you to tell why these things, and who you are that require it ?" The Old Man of the North answered the porter thus :—" Open your eyes and attend with your ears, which are sufficiently long, and make no remark upon anything which you may see. But first tell me your tale and who you are." " Sir," said the porter, "my history is simple, and the occa• sion of my coming here, so that what I have to say will be very short. You called me this morning when I was regarding the palace named the Admiralty, where I fain would earn my bread from any master who would employ me, whether he was one of the Faithful or a dog of a Frank. I followed you to a dealer in rhetorical mysteries; then to the house of a cunning wizard who is skilled in the art of raising and quelling political storms (for I have heard of him in Spain and Ireland); then to the house of a dealer in church furniture and red-tape ; then to the house of a professor of sleight-of-hand, a Wizard of the North, who is learned in the art of turning himself into all shapes and colours; then to the residence of the Dwarf of Progress, whom I believe to be him that came out of the Coal-hole, and whom I have seen when I have plied at Guildhall and the House of Commons, give miles of yarns out of his mouth, and immediately swallow the same again ; then I followed you to various other places of a like condition, until I have come hither, where you have had the goodness to suffer me to continue till now—a favour I shall never forget. This, sir, is my history." " Then," said the Dwarf to the porter, " you may go." " Nay, not so," replied the porter. " These gentlemen have heard my history, and I desire the satisfaction to hear theirs." Mr. MALINB urged the inconsistency of the present system in the difference it established between money transactions in commerce and those in land. He thought the bill would be of great advantage to the landed interest. Mr. SPOONER thought the bill ill-timed and im politic. After a few words from Mr. HENLEY, the opposi tion was withdrawn, and the bill went through com mittee. The house then went into committee on the Public Health Bill, when Sir W. 11iOLE8WORTII ex plained the constitution of the new board. The consideration in committee of the Bills of Exchange (No. 2) Bill was resumed, but the further progress of the measure was opposed by Mr. Digby Seymour and other members, until Sir E. Perry, who had charge of the bill, consented to withdraw it for the session. The Bankruptcy Bill went through committee. The Customs Bill was read a second time. Adjourned at a quarter past twelve o'clock. SPAIN. Madrid advices of the 81st have arrived by tele graphic despatch in Paris. They state that on the evening of the 29th General O'Donnell arrived at Madrid, and proceeded immediately to the residence of Espartero. The two generals then presented themselves on the balcony, whence Espartero ad dressed the multitude. He then embraced O'Don nell. Afterwards they both went to the palace, where Espartero took the oaths as President of the Council, in the presence of the Queen. Madrid was tranquil, but the barricades remained, and the people spoke of maintain in g them until Espartero had formed his Ministry. General Dulce was advancing upon Madrid with the troops which had followed O'Donnell. General Blaser and Vista Hermosa were said to have taken refuge at Gibraltar. Queen Christina was still at Madrid, but it was believed that she would set out for Portugal. Despatches from Vienna, dated on Thursday, and. nounce that the Austrian army of the south bad not crossed the frontier at any point, nor had it been joined by its commander-in-chief, who was in the capital. Bucharest advices report, on the other hand, that the Archduke Albert has removed his head quarters from Herrnanstadt to Bisoritz, and that the Austrian troops are marching uninterruptedly into the Bukowina. Forremainder of Latest Foreign intelligence HO 2) • 731.