The Sun. — London, England, 1859-03-23 00:00:00

lifaNEY MA YITY NEWS. CITY, Two O'CLOCK. The money market continues in a quiet state, but a moderate demand for accommodation is still ex perienced, and greater activity is considered pro bable, owing to commercial requirements and subscriptions towards various undertakings now before the public. The East India Railway Com pany have announced a further issue of £1,000,000 shares ; and as payments in full will be received, the effect upon the resources of the market will be immediate. At a later period the £7,000,000 loan required by the Indian Government will exercise some influence, and if an impulse should be given to enterprise in other directions, increased firmness in the rates charged for discount facilities may be confidently predicted. The Foreign Exchanges yesterday exhibited a decline in the rates on Austria, Amsterdam, and Hamburgh. At the Bank of England yesterday there were no bullion operations of importance. The gold by the Canada and the Morning Light has been taken for the continent. The bar silver brought by the last West India packet has been sold at 627 d. per oz., showing an advance of £d. compared with the price realised for the previous remittances. The Tagus has been announced this morning from the Peninsula with £1,720, and the Panther from Boulogne with £BB,OOO. In the Liverpnol Cotton Market yesterday a fair amount of business was transacted, and prices of American advanced fully Id. per lb. ; other kinds were without alteration. The sales amounted to 10,000 bales. The Railway Share Market closed with less animation, and values presented a down ward tendency. Notice has been given by the Directors of the East India Railway Company that it is their inten tion to issue additional capital to the extent of £1,000,000 sterling, in shares of £2O each, to be distributed to the present shareholders in a rateable proportion. These shares will bear a guarantee rate of interest of 5 per cent. from the Indian Go vernment, and it is estimated that this sum, in addition to that already raised, will be sufficient for the completion of the main line to Delhi, and the Jubbulpore extension. Letters will be issued on the 26th inst. to the present shareholders, and the first call of £5 per share will be payable on the 16th of April next. Payments, however, will be reee!ved in full interest accruing from the date of subscription. At the half-yearly meeting of the Ottoman Bank held to-day, Mr. Layard in the chair, a very satisfactory report was presented, showing an available balance of profit of £58,236 is. 4d., from which the directors recommended a dividend at the rate of 8 per cent. per annum, and a bonus of 12s, per share. The business of the bank was gradually expanding, and the financial position of the coun try much improving. The sum taken from the profits on this occasion would increase the reserve fund to £35,000. The report was adopted, and a Vote of thanks was passed to the directors. At the special meeting of the East India Coal Company, to-day, several alterations in the deed Were agreed to unanimously. The Stock Exchange market has not recovered from the decline reported yesterday afternoon, When the state of the foreign exchanges and other causes led to a general depreciation. Sales were pressed to a large extent, and continued heaviness is exhibited to•day. Consols which at one time were 961 I, are now 96i for money, and 961 for the account. The Government broker has only pur chased £5,000 stock for the savings banks. There is reason to believe that these operations are about to be brought to a close. Exchequer Bills are marked 355. to 38s prem., and the Bonds 100, being a decline. India ditto are flat, at 14s. prem. Business in the Foreign Stock Market is mode rately active ; prices, however, arc rather depressed. Turkish 6 per Cents. are 93 to 931 ; ditto New Loan, 791-, to 801 ; Peruvian 41 per Cents. have receded to 91 ; Brazilian 41 per Cents. (1852) to 941, and ditto (1858) to 941 I; Mexican are steady at 211 ; and Spanish Certificates at 59 ; Russian S per Cents. are firmer at 91; and Dutch 21 per Cents, at 641. The New Austrian Loan is 1 dis. to par. In the Railway Share Market the dealings have s been of a rather limited character, and prices have I been depressed by the heavy tone in the Consol s Market, the decline, compared with yesterday, being about to 1 per cent. Eastern Counties, st kanchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln, and North St - tastern (Berwick), declined ss. ; East Lancashire, St Caledonian, Great Western, Lancashire and York shire, North- Western , Midland, and North-Eastern (York), 10s. ; North British, £1 ; and Vale of si Neath, .E 1 10s. Brightons have advanced about 10s. In the Foreign market the transactions have been confined to Lombardo-Venetian shares, which have receded about ss. St • The Colonial lines are flat. Grand Tru n k o f ~ s ;, Canada have declined 10s.; East Indian, £l. st ' The Debentures of the 42 per Cent. Loan are quoted St Ito 11 prem. ; and the New Shares, toy prem. Joint-stock Bank and Miscellaneous Shares are s t l , inactive, at former quotations. iZt . BRITISH FUNDS—CLOSING PRICES. „1 per Cent. Consols Annuiti es 961 i 1 I inflia Stock Ditto Debentures 9Bi Ditto Bonds, £l,OOO Consols for Account 961 i March. June. Exchequer Bills, £l,OOO, 2d. & lid.. 35 8 j Exchequer Bonds, 1859, 31 per Cent lOO FOREIGN FUNDS—CLOSING PRICES . Brazilian 5 per Cent. -.. Ditto 1852, 41 per Cent. 94} Ditto 1858, 41. per Cent. 941 1 zuenos Ayres, 6 per Cent Ditto Account lailian, 6 per Cent Danish, 1825, 3 per Cent. Ditto 5 per Cent. lOl kexican 3 per Cent Ditto Account Perus:an 41 per Cent Ditto Account Ditto 3 per Cent. — Ditto Account Russian, 1822, L'St., 5 per Cent llll Spanish Corn. Cert. of Coup. not f un d e d 5ll 5 xurkish 6 per Cent Ditto Account Ditto New Loan Ditto Account Dividends on the above payable in London. Dutch Exchange, 12 Guil. 21 per Cent 64A THREE O'CLOCK. Consols, Money 961 Consols for Account (April 961 THE CONGRESS.--It has been proposed that the Congress shall be held at Geneva, but that place has been objected to, on account of the comparative difficulty of ao tees and the severity of the climate at this season. Aim• la. -Chapelle has also been proposed, and with more proba bility of its proving generally acceptable. It has abundant 'ecommodation, excellent hotels, and is accessible by rail 'ay from every direction. London, Brussels, and the Ilague have also boen mentioned, but we believe Aix will Intimately be selected. Her Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, accompanied by the youthful members of the royal tamily, propose, according to the present arrangements, to leav e Osborne on Tuesday next for Buckingham Palace. Dr. Hook Was installed in the Deanery of Chichester Cathedral on Saturday last. On Sunday the very Rev. Dean preached in the cathedral before an immense ongregation. Sir Charles Trevelyan's appointment to Madras is received most favourably by the Indian press. Miss Victoria Balfe has been engaged for the approaching season of the Italian opera, and will make her land at Drury-lane Theatre in "La Sonnambula," sup- Ported by the new tenor , Signor Mongini, a s El v i no. In a letter to the Bradford Advertiser, General Thompson, M.P., says he has given his assent to a sug testion that "in the event of any change of government, the friends of the ballot should persist in occupying their Present sittings, by way of demonstration that they will not march through Coventry with any government which does hot show signs of establishing the ballot." The illness of the Bishop of Rochester continues to be of the most serious character. With the single ex 4ption of the Archbishop of Armagh, the Right Rev. Dr. Murray is the oldest bishop of the episcopal bench, having been consecrated Bishop of Sodor and Man in 1813, and t ranslated to the see of Rochester in 1827. For a long time Past he has been anxious to retire from his see could a f avourably arrangement to that effect have been made with t he government, and the subject was entertained by the last ministry before they quitted office. EThe following notice was issued from the General o st-office yesterday, viz. :—Behar for the Mediterr anean LR'Ypt, and India (Bombay) m a il s , v i a S out h amp t on, of the " 5 /ling of the 26th inst. SHARE Railways. Amberg., Notting. Bost. and Eastern Jurintion Belfast and Ballvmena , Bir., Wol., and Str. Val ; Birk., Lane., and Chesil Junction !Blackburn Blyth and Tvne Bristol and t xeter Caledonian Chester and Holyhead Cork and Bandon Cork, Blkrock,&Passage Cornwall D o. A (A roves. no div Do. B until6p.c.per an hasbeen pd.toß Dublin an dßelfas t June Dun.,Perth,& Ab_..Junc East Anglian Eastern Counties Eastern Union A Stock Do. do. B Stock Do.Nw.A.(lte.E.U3ds) East Kent East Lancashire ..... East Suffolk Do Edinburg and Glasgo w f Edin.,Perth, & Dundee !Forth & Clyde Junction Furness 'Glasgow & South Westn Great North of Scotland Great Northern I Do. do. A Stock Do. do. B Stock Gt. South.& Wstn.(lreld) Great Western Do.Str.Vl.Rail Gua.Stk Irish South Eastern Lancaster and Carlisle Do. Thirds New Thirds !Lancashire & Yorkshire Do. do. F £l6 Do. do. £9 shares Do. West Riding Union Do. Southport London and Blackwall Do.Newiss.at £slosp.sh Lon.. Brighton &S.Coast London & North Westin Do. Eighths London& South-Westn , L'derry & Coleraine !I:derry & Enniskillen Man., Shef., & Lincoln !Metropolitan Midland 'Do. Birming. & Derby. Mid. Gt. West. (Ireland) Do. 4 Shares NeWtastle and Carlisle New., Aber., & Herefd Newry & Armagh (def.) I Newry, Warpt., & Ros (Norfolk North. Counties Union North British Nor.Dev.Rail.&Dk. Stk Do.A Stk.— Arec.no div until 6p.c.hasbeenpdß IDo. B Stock North-Eastn.--Berwick Do. do. G.N.E.Purchase Do. Leeds Do. York North London N. &S.Westn.,Hampstd and City Junction North Staffordshire North- Western No. & Sou. W. Junction Oxford, Wor.,& Wolver Peebles Portsmouth Rhymney Scottish Central Scoth.N.E., Aber. Stock Do. Scottish Mid. Stock Shropshire Union Sittingbourne & Sheer South Devon South-Eastern South wales South Yorks. & Riv. Dun , Do. do Staines, Wok., & Wek.. Stockton & Darlington. Do. do. 1854 Do. do. 1855 ,Stockton & Hartlepool Taff Vale I Do. Preference, No. 1 , ThamesHavenDk&Rail ;Vale of Neath Waterford & Kilkenny I Waterford & Limerick !West Cornwall W-end Lon. & Cry. Pal ,Do.A.—Arecv.nodi v .till I 7 p.c. has been pd. t o BI ;Do. B West London I Do. Ist Class Do. 2d Class PREFERENI Share Railways. Biyttil Tyne 1( per, c. pref. (issued at 250) 1 Stk IBris. & Exet4p.ctStock; 20 'Do. do. do. Shares Stock Caledon ,elO, 44 per cent 12.10 Do. Quar. Shares, No. 2. Stock Chester &, llolyhd, 54 pc Stock Do. do. 5 p. ct. CI Cork & Bandon, 54 p. 64 Dun. Perth,& Aber.Jun. Stock E.Angn. Class A 7& spc Stock Do. do. Class B 6 pc Stock:Do. do. Class C 7 pc Stock E. Coun. Ex. 5 pct. No.l Stock Do. do N 0.2 Stock Do. New 6 per ct. Stock! Stock Eastern Union, 4 per ct. Stock East Lanc. 6 per ct 5 'E.& W. York. Jcn. fifths Stock ; Edin.&Glas. 5 pc shares Stock' F.din.Perth,& Dun. 4 pc. 3tockl Furness, 5 per cent 3tock GI as. &S West., a. spc 1 - ock Great Northern, 5 p. ct tock Do. 5 pc Redm.,lop.c.pm tocklDo. 44 p. c. do. do. 00 1D0.5p.c. Itedm.,s pc. mn 10 (Gt. Nh. of Scotld, Ist pf °c^ Gt. Sn.& W (Ireland) 41 1 p. ct. pref. Stock 1 50 Great West. (Berks and , Hants) Ext. 5 p.ct. ,ock Do. Redeemable, 44 p et. ock Do. Redeemable. 4 n. ct. ock Do. Irredeemable, do ,ock Do. sp. ot. Redeem. Pref , Do. "'Arm. Pref. Shares 10 Gt. West. Ches. 8 p.c.pf 1 shares 10 Do. do. sp. ct. pref tock Do Birming. guar. stock , 26i Do. Chester guar.shares 134D0. do. do 120 Do. do. do. ock Lan. & York 6 p.c. stock . ockLon.&l3rig.spc. gu. No.l •ock'Do. pref., 5 p. c. ...No. 2 ock;Do. New gua., 6 p. ct ,ock Do. do. 5 p. c. No. 4 ,ock Lon.& N. W.Cov. &Nun eaton, 5 p. ct. lock Lon.&S. W, 7 p.ct. stock,) late 3d shares 12A Londondy & Cole, 3 51)5 1 12 Londondy.& Ennis 4sh :ock Man.,Sh., & Lin., 6 p. ct 6 Do. E 6 'ock Do. 34 per cent. 124 Maryport & Car., 4 p.c f 24 I Do. Do. 4 per cent Lock Mid. Con. 6 p. c. Stock tock Do.Con.Bris.&Bir.6p.ct took Do. 44 p. c. pref. stock 6 Do. with option till 1860 stock Do. Leic. & Hit.pref. at. 10 N. p ew c. p r o e rt de , e A m b , e a r t ic p .p e r . e r t m .s 10 Do. Perpet, 6p. c. with option till 1866 10 Norfolk Deb. 4 p.c.sharesl Stock Do. 5 p. c. Ext.Stock,lB46 Stock Do. 54 p. c. Pref. do. 1847 Stock Do. Way.Val.Ex.Sk 1847 Stock North British, 5 per cent Stock Do. New, gua. 5 per cent Stock Nth.Dev.Rail.& Dik.Co. Stock N-East. irred. 4 p.c. Deb. Stock Do. Berwick, 4 p. c. Pref. 17 Do. do. do. 20 Do. Leeds, 6p. c. No. 1. 124 jDo. do. Quarters, 1846 25 Po. York, H. &S. Purch 20 North Staffordshire .Stockox Wr. & Wol. 6pc. Ist g Stock, Do. do. do., 2d Stock Do. 44 p.c. Db. stk.in perp 84 ;Scottish Central, new in Stock 'Scottish N.-Eastern deb Stock, Do. 34 per c. pref. stock Stock; Do.Aberdeen.gua.6 pc. S tock I Do. 7p. c. pref. stock. 10s. (South Devon, Ann. 10s. 10 I Do. Fixed 44 percent. 1.0.6.' South Eastern (Reading Ann., 1 0 6 ) Stock Do .44 per cent stock Do. Fixed 44 p.c. Ist is Stock Do. New do., 2d issue S tock,South Wales, pia. 4 p.c Stock; Do. 44 per cent 20 'S.-Yorkshire, 4 p.c. gua , 25) Stockton and Dar. 5 p.e 25 Do. 6 per cent Stock Waterford & Kilkenny, 6 per cent. Ski 98 57 59 I - - 1137 140 94 10 111 89 91 8 9 7$ DAY.) ORDINARY SHARES AND STOCKS. 6 6; ii iii 6 1 i S I ii Paid Closing Business Price. Share] 12.10 13.14 Stock Stock Stock Stock 931 3 811 62 64 11 Ili 32 85 92& 44) 84 841 5 si. 16 1 1 9 164 60 61 45 47 31 33 14 tel 92i 93, 74 71 27 27 93 94 10 104 103 104 89 91 133 134 105 106 584 59 56 58 83 87 1,) 9 96 67 69 112 113 93 96 9a 93} 38i 39 2 1d 1012 1021, 75 76 LI 12 60 62 33td 60i 61 92 6 1 13} 1 d 46 11 7 771 [O2 104 41 d 14 4} 14} 7 33 34 7 5 dl 110 112 26i 27 81 8.5 46 48 34 24 cl 38i 89 7(.1 11i 63 65 60 70 67 70 6 6i 2 3 Si 61 ARES. Pap Closing Business — I Price. Done. 49 M 95 97 1103 105 128 130 118 120 5 1 6 1 98 101 110 115 106 110 114 116 112 114 129 131 82 84 71 73 110 112 118 120 110 112 104 106 63 65 11 11i 95 97 86 es 87 89 99 101 91 16i 17 14 101 72 74 184 194 9t 94 14 144 140 142 118 120 160 165 123 125 704 M it, 1139 141 1101 303 94 96 9 10 111 111 9 94 Ini 113 97 98 I Id i d 231 2 31 123 125 117 119 99 101 ICI 10; 24 244 102 104 102 104 14 174 281 29i 33 34 50 54 974 7 LINES LEASED AT FIXED RENTALS. Bedford and Bletchleyl Buckinghamshire „ Clydesdale Junction 1 Colchester, Stour Val I E.Lincolnshire,g.6p.c , E Union,HarwichShs ' Do. Woodbridge Gls.Barr.&Neils,Drct ! Do. New Gloster& Dean Forest' Hartipool.Dck.&Rail Hull and Selby Do. Shares Do. Shares London &Greenwich Do. Preference Lon. , Tilby.&Soutend Do. Barking Shares Lowestoft, gua. 4 p. ct Do. 6 per cent Manc.,Buxtn. & Matk Midsb.& Bedcr,g.6p. c Mid.BradfordPrl. Stk Newmarkt.,BuryEx guaranteed 5 p. c. Northn.& Ea stn. 5 p.c. Do. do. 6 per cent. • Do. Fixed 5 per cent. Preston and Wyre. Do. Shares A. Rovstii.Hitch.,& Shep Shy Roth./i7G 01.g.5p.c. Shrowshry& Hereford South Staffordshire .. Wear Valley, g. 6 p. c. Do. do Wilts and Somerset dnWimbledon& Croy • all 100 100 all 100 all 100 100 Caledonia 100 , Do. all IGt. West all lYk.N.(tili all IYk.N.Md. all IDo. all ;Da. 100 S. East 100 I Do. 100 , Peto all !Do. 100 INorfollr 100 Do. 1 a aa oo l ll l ll D ( Midland ST't o Nk . &W . .. Darlt 5. 5. e. E. Counts all Do. ... all 1 & Do. all I vv &L.Yk. all Do. 100 Gt. North 18 11 0 Lan.& Yk all T Brassoy all ;111`Clean . all Stk.,t, Dar all Do. 100 t Gt. Wes I all LABrgtn Ln N.W ;Lndr N.W 'Caledon in C Gt. North. E.Counts. 98 100 ' :102 104 17 18 142 144 41 41, 1109 111 !64 66 115 120 93 94 DOCKS. Docks. 2 "! StocklCommercial Stock Do 4 per Cent .Pref. Min Stock, East and West India Stock, London Stock ISt. Katharine StockiSouthampton Stock Victoria " ;DO New I Paid Closing 1 Business Prioe. I Done. 100 - 100 - 100 - 100 - 100 - 100 - 100 102 104 18 - Railways. !P a i d Leasing I Closing Business . 1 Co.'s. Price. Done. Stock Stock Stock Stock StOck Stock Stock Stock Stock Stock) Stocki Stock! Stock Stock Stock 161 1613 41 Stock] Stock Stock Stock 124 Stock Stock 10 I Stock , Stock, Stock 50 Stock Stock Stock Stock) Stock Stock Stock, Stock Stock Stock Stock Stock Stock 10 Stock Stock. Stock Stock' Stock 2.5 , Stock Stock Share 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 3 i 100 100 1 1613 4 100 100 100 In le, 17i all all 100 all all all 22 7 161 100 100 100 100 all all all all 100 100 100 100 all THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 23, 1859. _ `4 Sharo Railways. /Paid Closing Business •1 Price. I Dons. _ 10 0 (Atlantic &St Lawrence' Leased at 6 per cent all 85 88 851 6 5 1 8 'Bom.,Baroda&Centlnd 134 d gu. 5 percent 18 Do all 171 .1 18 Do. Addit. Capital A 6 1 1 d _ 18 Do. Do. B 44 1 d 201 Buffalo and Lake Huron 61 201 Do. New lBl d /00 Bulfalo,Brant&Godrich 1 100 85 90 bds. 1 1 July, Aug., 1872 ) 100 Do. do. 1873 100 82 86 190 Do. do. 1 June, 1874 1 00 80 84 20 Clcutta.&S.Eastrn.Lim. 1. 3.0. par 4 p 20 Cape,Eastn.Prov.(Lim.) 2s. I 20 Cape Town & Dock Scrip 2s. 1 20 Central Oude (Limited) 28. 6d. -- 20 Ceylon Guaranteed 6p.c 2 171 Demerara 20 Eastern Bengal.gu.sp.c 5 f f d Stock East Indian, gu. sp. c lOO 103 1031 102 4 3 1 20 Do. C Shares all - 20 Do. E Shares Ext l5 Geelong g &Corporation c, all per cent. Bonds Stock Grand Trunk of Canada 1 00 35 37 3551 1 6 100 Do. 6 p.c. Deben.,pay.'7B all 75 77 7 6 100 I Do. 6 per cent. Pref lOO 93 94 91 31 20 I GtindiaPenin.gua.sp.c all 101 102 , 20 Do. New, gua.s per cent 4 f 41)4 20 ,Do. do - 20 j 'Gt.S.of Ind.Lim.—Scrip 2a. guaranteed 5 per cent.) -- 201 Gt. W. of Canada Shares all 151 151 151 1 204 Do. New 100 j Do. Bonds pay. '76,with } a ll 10 3 1 05 ( ept. till '6O 100 Do. do. '73 till '6O 100 Do. do. 73 without opt all 103 105 100 Do. 51 p. c. do. '77 do 20 Madras, guar., 41 p. c all 17, 18 20 Do. do. 5 per cent all 19 / 2 0 20 Do. 41 p. c. Extension l5 18-, 181 181 t 20 Do. Third Ex. gua.s.p. c . 10 d 20 Do. Fourth do. - d 41 Stock Melb. Corp. 6 p.c. Bonds 100 Newßrunswick&Canda.' 20 Ry.&Land(Lim.)g.f.pc' 10 d Class ACapitl.Share ▪ Do. do. Land do._ .. 20 Do. do. B. Capital do. 10 d ▪ Do. do. Land do • 20 Northof India Tratnroad i 28. Limited, Scrip 20 Oude (Limited) 20 Scinde -4 15 1 1 p 20 Do. 20 Do. New E 10 d plO 20 Do. Punjaub 5 id' 4 20 Do. Indus. St. Flo. brg. 10 ft d par' 20 St. Andrews & Quebec A 18 10 :Trinidad(Limiad) Scrip 1 fd par FOREIGN RAILWAYS. 10 Antwerp & Rotterdami all 5 51 20 Ardennes all p 20 Bah.&S.Fran.,Lim.7p.c 3 4 d 5 Belgian East. Junction all 1 20 Beziers to Graissessas. . all 5 Carmeaux Mine & Rail all 11 24 20 Dutch Rhenish 6 Eastern of France all 261 27} 20 Euphrates Valley 2s. p 20 Great Central of France all 20 Gt. Luxem., Con. shs all 64 10 Italian Junction 20 Lake Constance & Dale all 20 Lierre and Turnhout all 20 Lombardo Venetian 8 ft 1 p 1 20 Lucca & Pistoja, 5 p.c.pf all 20 Lyons and Geneva 331 Maria Antonia all 20 Do. do. New 20 Namur and Liege all 81 81 80 20 Do. do. 6p. c. Pref all 101 201 201 16 Northern of France 20 Do. New Shares 10 Norwegian Trunk Pref all 81 91 20 Ottom an, gua. 6 per cent 7 - 20 Paris,Lyons, and Medit. all 321 33 20 Paris and Orleans, all 51 53 2 0 Recife& S. Fran. (Peru.) ) n 1 dB 4 gua. 71D. et. (Lim.) ... 20 Rilla and Dunaburg.... 4 10 Rome and Frascati .... all 20 Royal Danish all 5 Royal Swedish 4 Do. 7 per cent. Pref. 20 Sambre and Meuse all 6 7 10 Do. 54 per cent. Pref. 20 Southern of France 84 West Flanders 10 Do. 51_p. C. Preference 20 W. & N.W. of France all 23 24 20 Western of Austria 6 20 Western of Switzerland all 6 Wiesbaden - 6 8 per cent. Pref all 20 Zealand all MPERI A. 14 PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERDAY). The LORD CHANCEILOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. The Earl of RIPON presented a petition from Sheffield in favour of legalizing the marriage with a deceased wife's sister, ; and also a petition from Westminster in favour of Parliamentary Reform. The Earl of CARLISLE presented several petitions from Barnsley, Leeds, Liverpo?l, and other places, praying that Protestant dissenters might b e a ll owe d to administer trusts of grammar schools. Earl GRANVILLE presented a petition in favour of legalising the marriage with a deceased wife's sister. Lord COLVILLE, of Culross, presented a petition from Taunton against such a proposition. The Earl of ALBEMARLE presented similar petitions from Ipswich, signed by the mayor, the ex-mayor, alder men, town councillors, bankers, and other influential per sons. Lord _REDESDALE presented petitions from Leeds and other places against the Marriage Law Amendment Bill. Lord WYNFORD presented a petition against the bill. THIRD READING. The Great Northern and Western of Ireland Railway bill was read a third time and passed. MARRIAGE LAW AMENDMENT BILL. Lord WODEHOUSE, after presenting a great number of petitions in favour of legalising the marriage with a de ceased wife's sister, proposed, the second reading of this bill. He said their lordships were, no doubt, aware that the object of the bill was to legalise marriage with a deceased wife's sister. The subject had been so frequently brought before the house that he did not intend to make any lengthened observations in doing so. The noble lord having alluded to the different efforts that had been made to pass a bill with the above object for the last twenty years, went on to say that last year a bill passed the other house by a large ma jority, but was thrown out by their lordships. The objections to the bill might b e di v id e d i n t o t wo c l asses , religious and social, and when the movement was first com menced, opposition was justified on theological grounds; but that had in a great measure been abandoned. The well-known chapter in Leviticus, which was origi nally-considered to be a conclusive argument against the bill, was now looked upon as conveying an approval of the principles of the bill. The chief Rabbi of the Jews, Dr. Adler, had construed the chapter in Leviticus favourable to this bill, but notwithstanding this circum stance it might be said they ought to be governed more by the opinion of the heads of our own Church than by that of the Jewish. The Bishop of London, who, he regretted, he did not see in his place,was in favourof the bill. The Archbishop of Dublin had expressed himself that the marriage in ques tion was not in opposition to the Word of God, and the Bishop of Manchester had distinctly and explicitly expressed a similar opinion. It was quite true that - many members of the episcopal bench had expressed a con trary opinion, but he could not believe they could now look upon the marriage with a deceased wife's sister as incestuous if they had formerly thought it was not inconsistent with the Word of God. Last year only seven of the right rev. prelates had voted against the bill, so he thought the objec tion from the episcopal bench could not now be very strong. The noble lord then quoted the opinions of several eminent clergymen of the English Church, all of which were strongly in favour of the marriage with a deceased wife's sister. In nearly all other countries these marriages, as their lordships knew, were permitted. In Roman Catholic countries they were permitted by dispensations. He had no doubt in the course of the discussion many points would arise to which he should have an opportunity of reply, but he thought the divided opinion that prevailed amongst parties ought to induce their lordships to think whether the time had now arrived when they could safely read this bill a second time. (Hear.) It was an admitted fact that an immense number of those marriages now took place, and that in many cases, though the law prevented a marriage, it forced parties to live together illegally. He would not detain their lordships with hearing arguments that had so frequently been urged ; but he trusted that the bill would on this occasion share a better fate than its predecessors. He concluded by moving that the bill be now read a second time. Viscount DUNGANN ON moved that the bill be read a second time this day six months. It was his deliberate opinion that marriages with a deceased wife' s sister were decidedly o p pose d t o Scripture. The noble lord denied that there was a feeling prevalent amongst the middle and lower classes in favour of those marriages; in deed, he was of opinion that precisely the opposite was the fact. The effect of this measure, if agreed to, would be to render desolate many of the homes of England. He believed that in the higher and educated classes not one woman in fifty was in favour of the provisions of the bill. He did not think that because the House of Commons had frequently approved the proposals of the bill that that was any reason for agree ing to this measure. The Bishop of EXETER said his words must be few, for he was conscious of the infirmities of age. It had been observed that six or seven bishops had held these marriages to be lawful. He thought it would be difficult to double the number amongst all the thousands of bishops of the church of Christ since its foundation. He (the Bishop of Exeter) opposed it on religious grounds. Lord ST. LEONARDS wished to draw attention to the state of the matter as it stood before the house. The ques tion was not whether it was against the law of God for a man to marry his wife's sister, but whether, as the law of the land forbade it, the house was prepared to revoke the existing law, and allow a man to marry his wife's sister, whatever might be the law of God on the subject. In 1835 everybody admitted the force of the canon law forbidding these marriages, but according to the law these marriages were voidable, and not null and void, and persons took ad vantage of that circumstance to contract such marriages. But the act of 1835 laid it down that parties had been in duced to contract these marriages knowing that they were only voidable—and it made all past marriages good, estab lished the legitimacy of children, and the right to peerages and estates; but it contained a provision that every future marriage of this kind should be null and void. The noble and learned lord concluded by painting out the great social alteration this bill would cause in families, and the incon veniences and jealouses which would flow from their being acknowledged. Tho Bishop of ST. ASAPH opposed this ohange in the law on the ground that it would be contrary to the law of God, which no human power could alter ; and if the law of this country on this subject were altered to-morrow, the law of God would be against these marriages still. Viscount LIFFORD was understood to say that when he last voted against this change in the law, he did so on the ground that these marriages were forbidden by the Church, and by that he meant the Church of Rome, of which the Church of England was a branch. On a more attentive consideration and examination of the 'matter, he had come to the conclusion that the objection to these mar riages was invented in the dark ages of the Church, in order that dispensations for the purposes of gain might be granted. Lord CRANItORTH remarked that his opinion upon the question remained unchanged. That opinion was founded upon the social not upon the religious ground, for upon the religiose ground there was so much difference of opinion amongst those who were authorities on the sub ject, that he thought it unadvisable to proceed upon that. It was for the sake of the women of England that he op posed the bill, believing that it would be impossible for a wife to receive her sister under her roof on the same terms of intimacy with her husband as she could now, were the existing law repealed. The Bishop of CORK supported the bill on the ground that such marriages as it referred to were not contrary to God's law. The Bishop of OXFORD, who rose amid cries of " di vide," said since this matter was before their lordships last he had gone through it carefully, and the result of that examination was that he was strengthened in the convic tion that these marriages were prohibited by the law of God. The Bishop of CARLISLE thought no sufficient case had been made out to show that marriage with a deceased wife's sister was contrary to the law of God, and having seen much of the evil of the present state of the law, he had come to the conclusion that it was his duty to vote for the second reading of the bill. Lord WODEHOUSE replied, urging that it was not justifiable to put restrictions on the libei4,ies of those whose motives were not less conscientious thanlhose of the oppo nents of the bill. The house then divided, and the numbers were : Contents Non-contents . The bill was therefore lost. The Court of Chancery Accommodation Bill was read a second time The Consolidated Fund Bills were read a second time ; the County Courts Bill went through committee ; the report on the Convicts Prisons Abroad Bill was received ; the Eccle siastical Courts (Ireland) Bill was read a second time— all without discussion. Their lordships then adjourned at 20 minutes before o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. MUNICIPAL LAWS AND CUSTOMS. Colonel FORESTER brought up the reply of the Crown to the address on the subject of the municipal laws and cus toms, to the effect that her Majesty had ordered an in quiry to be instituted in accordance with the recommenda tions of the commissioners. to be held to deliberate on the affairs of Italy with refer. ence to the preservation of the peace of Europe, and whether he was able to state to the house what Powers would be the parties to the Congress ; and especially whether Sardinia would join in it. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that the Government had come to no decision on the subject. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ACT AMENDMENT BILL. Mr. J. LOCKE moved for leave to bring in a bill to amend the act of the fifth and sixth years of King William the Fourth, relating to weights and measures.—Agreed to. CHURCH -RATE ABOLITION BILL. At the request of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, Sir J. TRELAWNY consented to postpone the second read ing of this bill. REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE BILL.— ADJOURNED DEBATE. Mr. WILSON resumed the debate. He considered the measure of the Government so objectionable in principle, that he could not possibly vote for the second reading, and it was a measure which, in his opinion, was so radically bad, that it could not be so altered in committee as to meet the views of the people. The clauses relating to disfranchisement were so entirely op posed to the feelings of the people, that it could not be ex pected to receive the sanction of that house. The require ment of the commuity was that the franchise should be expanded, but the tendency of the measure was to contract. (Hear, hear.) The bill retained not only what was objectionable in the present system, but in troduced much that in itself was most reprehensible. He denied that the form in which the £lO franchise was presented was a concession, and its real effect would be to i ncrease the territorial influence, and to diminish the borough influence. The bill proposed to disfranchise no less than 100,000 freeholders in boroughs from the county franchise. If they went care fully through the bill they would find that its provisions disfranchised as many as it enfranchised. Besides it pro posed to disfranchise in the counties exactly that descrip tion of voters who were the most independent, and sub stituted for them a class the very reverse. (Hear, hear.) T e provisions of the bill would also have the effect o manufacturing fictitious vot es i n sma ll towns. The sys m proposed would be attended also with diffi cu lty a t ti,e elections. He contended that property would always exer cise an influence in a country like this greater than what the more numerical majority would possess. The effect of the Government scheme would be to abolish the present system, by which different classes were represented, and make the representation of the country worse than even that of one class. He was not opposed to the existence of small boroughs, which he believed had a function to per form, but it would not be satisfactory to the people of this country to have any system introduced that would in any degree diminish class legislation and extend that of individuals. He was opposed to the disfranchisement of small boroughs, but ho was equally opposed to the adoption of such a system as would convert them into mere nomination boroughs. He con sidered that the whole tendency of tie bill was to give influence to the landed interest and to take it away from the trading and commercial inter es t s o f th e country. He thought that the Government should have ' adopted the resolution of the noble lord the member for the City of London, and modified their bill in committee, instead of which the noble lord (Lord Stanley) said they must accept the bill as it was at present constituted. (Hear, and cries of "No, no.") He thought, therefore, that that course effectually closed the door against those who ag reed with him (Mr. Wilson) consen ti ng t o th e second reaing of the bill. There was no guarantee that, if they went into committee, they could alter the bill so as to make it acceptable to the country or the house. He regarded the question before the house as one of the most important that could be brought under their consideration, and that the present crisis was one of the gravest that could be selected for bringing such a question forward ; and he would be most happy, therefore, if the Government could settle the matter. He was therefore actuated by no further motive in offering the present bill his strenuous opposition, and supporting the resolution of the noble lord the member for the City of London. He thought that, under the present circumstances, the Government were bound, at the earliest period possible, to bring this question to a satisfactory con clusion. (Cheers.) Sir E. B. LYTTON—The hon. gentleman has vainly endeavoured, by a great variety of detail, to obscure the question so clearly put before the house by the right hon. member for Stroud (Mr. Horaman). That question is, will you take into consideration a moderate measure of Reform, which is offered by a powerful Conservative party with a large concession on their part ; or will you rather wait for that other measure which the hon. member who has just sat down says should be proposed as a satisfactory solution of this question, but which, nevertheless, is not before you, of which there was not a glimpse in the mere party amend ment of the noble lord, and with regard to which you must calculate the odds whether its provisions will be such as to satisfy those hon. gentlemen who profess what they call Radical principles, and to satisfy also those other gentle men who have spent the last six-and-twenty years in de coying Radical votes and in abjuring Radical principles ? (Cheers and laughter.) Of course, if you cannot take the mere principle of a moderate measure from us—if, as you say, the country will not accept it—then the measure passes out of the hands of Lord Derby's Government. But into whose hands will it pass ? Noble lords and hon. gentlemen who are at this moment so carefully bridging the gangway with a rope of sand (Sir W. Hayter, who was seatedin "the gangway," rose up hastily at this allusion and leftthe house amid great laughter) may by their experience patch up the quarrels of years for the division of a night. But grant that they triumph. Grant that the solemn lecture which has just been delivered to Lord Derby by the hon. gentleman (Mr. Wilson) has its effect, and that no appeal is made to the country. Grant, also, that you are in Downing-street to morrow, will not the quarrels of years show themselves in Downing -street also ? (Hear, hear.) But where will be any Reform Bill ? As my noble friend the Secretary for India justly said last night, this resolution will answer the noble lord's purpose much as the Irish Appropriation clause un der the same unrivalled destroyer of Governments did be fore; and it may then leave the English suffrage much as that famous clause left the Irish Church. (Hear.) I think it must have struck all who have listened to this debate that, however hon. gentlemen may agree in disapproval of our bill, they have shown no agreement as to any other, and some have even taken pains to imply that there ought to be no Reform Bill at all. The hon. member for Sandwich (Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen) said last night that rather than take our measure he would wait—he did not say how long. (Cheers and laughter.) The hon. member for Bir mingham has been a little more explicit, and said that in order to have a good bill he would consent to wait five years. (Hear.) Well, then, why not move an amendment which would get us all out of the dilemma, and which, I am sure, is at the bottom of the hearts of half the Reformers opposite ? Why not propose as an amendment to this bill that a good bill should be read a second time this day five years ? (Much laughter.) For my part, speaking frankly, I have no superstitious dread ofany of those questions which are raised by the more ardent Reformers opposite. Some of these questions I espoused myself many years ago. One or two of them I still favour, and if on others I have since modified the opinions I then held, I have done so with no uncharitable prejudice against those who believe now what I myself once believed. (Hear.) In arguing the case with the more advanced Liberals in this house I argue it with men whom it becomes me to respect. I argue it not with the mob leaders of 50 years ago. I argue it with gentle men of refined education, and some of whom have proved the independence of their character by the loss of their seats, rather than yield to what they held to be the mis taken judgment of their constituents. (Hear, hear.) Now, when a Government undertakes a Reform Bill it is impos sible to discard the question—what party does that Govern ment represent ? Conservatives are free as other men to undertake financial or administrative reforms ; and there may be points, both in the management of business and even of policy, in which there is more sympathy between Conservatives and advanced Liberals than there is between advanced Liberals and Whigs. But when it comes to great organic changes your own good sense and your in stinct of party honour must tell you that a Conservative ' Government could not give the same kind of reform as a Government which represents your views and is supported by your constituents. We could only deal with this ques tion as men offering a compromise, in which we tender con cessions on our side and ask concessions upon yours. What you lose in amount of reform you gain in the expedition anti ease with which some reform at least may be effected. This is not all; a violent party battle upon Parliamentary Re form, to be fought throughout the length and breadth of the kingdom, is in itself a great calamity. I remember what it was before. Long-life friendships are dissolved, families are divided. In each town or county, in each section of the community society is embittered for years; trade and credit are seriously injured. The metropolis was said to have suffered in its trade to the amount of £2,000,000 by the agitation of the great Reform Bill. All those evils in your views may bo counterbalanced by some party triumph for popular Government such as you would propose. Ali those evils are not counterbalanced by the Jesuitical amendment of the noble lord—all those evils are prevented, and some advantage even to your views is obtained, if, by passing the second reading of this bill, you will meet the spirit in which. a Conservative party offers to you the grounds for a com promise. (Cheers.) Now, I say when we undertook this measure we had two questions to determine-Ist, what could we say was the temper of public opinion ; what did it require ? 2d, the amount of acknowledged evil ; what is there to remedy ? Sir, I think few will deny that when we undertook the question of Parliamentary Reform public opinion was extremely apathetic. Tnie, nine out of 10 said loudly, "We must have a Reform Bill ;" but eight out of every nine whispered to each other, "Does anybody want one ?" (Cheers and laughter.) Now, is there any reason why public opinion should have changed on this subject since last year? Look to the state of Europe. During the latter part of our consideration of reform war seemed inevit able. True, it is peace to-day ; can any man say there will not be war to .morrow ? (Hear, hear.) Is it the precise mo ment suddenly to transfer political power from the middle class, with which, on the whole, it now rests, and, by which, on the whole, it has been liberally and usefully exercised, to the wider area of a class, however honest and respectable, still not yet educated up to the mark which England should require in a constituency that is to enable her to confront foreign Powers, not withthe force of numbers, but with the majesty of disciplined intellect ? (Hear, hear.) I remember that Mr. Fox once said, " What gives England her power in Europe ? It can never be numbers ; it must be always in tollect. Can England represent intellect in Europe if num bers are to make the law of representation in the House of Commons ?" And now, Sir, when I hear the Government accused of a want of earnestness and sincerity in dealing with this question, I must venture to ask if no insincerity, no want of earnestness has been shown by many eminent persons opposite ? When it was supposed out of doors that we intended to propose a sweeping and comprehensive mea sure many of those eminent pe r sons actually became anti- Reformers. Articles appeareu in Whig journals that might have been written by Mr. Crokor. Speeches were made to , w , i , t l ll hcoonpe their constituents by Whig. members that might have be en si r eg si ed de made by Lord Liverpool. I appeal to our own social expe rience. W wh er i e spe no re t gbeyntlgeentntelenmoenn on this t s h id e e o b the e your Reform Bill will be a very moderate measure; in fact, it cannot be too small for public opinion." (Cheers and laughter.) And now, Sir, because this measure is brought forward by a Government he opposes, the hon. member for Dovouport declares that it falls short of his expectations. Sir, that is very naturally the voice of party. I do not think it is the voice of public opinion, and if public opinion had a glass window to its bosom we should there see among all the better educated elasf,es, on the whole a preference to our bill, with all its shortcomings, rather than to any bill founded upon the principles which have been set forth in those public meetings in which our bill has been de nounced. (Hear, hear.) Principles as to which I say nothing. If you want to know what is to be said against triennial Parliaments and vote by ballot I refer you to the speeches of the noble lords the members for Tiverton and London. (Cheers and laughter.) Well then, I say, in an swer to the first question, what was the temper of public opinion? And when we undertook this bill what did it require ? I say the temper of public opinion was listless. I say that it either required a measure quite as moderate as we propose, or, if you tell us that public opinion has been lately represented m local public meetings, then I say it requires something which is not to be found in the amend ment of the noble lord. (Cheers.) It requires something which no Whig Government could propose, and no con ceivable Government at this time could hope to carry. (Renewed cheers.) I turn to the second question, put by the right hon. gentleman the member for Stroud—what was the amount of acknowledged evil ? What was there that asked a remedy ? Why, sir, it cannot be very large, for the right hon. baronet the member for Radnorshire, with all his scholastic acuteness, did not in addressing his constituents appear to discover any evil at all. (Hear, hear.) The evil could not be one very popularly felt, for the hon. gentlemen the member for Birmingham, with all his mas culine eloquenc e , f a il e d t o ge t up an agitation commensurate to his talents and proportionate to his zeal. (Cheers.) Still, there were these acknowled defects. First, some large con stituencies were unrepresented. Seeondly,:some large classes did not possess the franchise. We addressed ourselves at once to these. As to the first, we found that the really large towns unrepresented were extremely few. To all those with populations approaching 20,000 I believe we have given members ; if we have omitted some that should be repre sented, prove the; case, and it is a fair question of commit tee. But reject the bill on account of that amendment and you leave the towns we disfranchise still unrepresented. Secondly, there were large classes that did not possess the franchise. Now, should we really best obtain the remedy by the principle of the noble lord's amendment, the lower ing of the borough franchise ? No ; for we should then equally exclude some of the most intelligent and indepen dent person s who live in lodgings—(hear, hear)—and have no house at all. We believe we have adopted a fair rental of Bs. a-week, but that also is a question of com mittee. Reject the bill on account of that amendment and you leave those persons unrepresented. We desired to ex tend the principle of representation by admitting personal property of all kinds. We wished to bring that qualification down to a scale that may include the artisan if he has given proofs of thrift and foresight by investment in a savings bank. Have we made the amount of that investment too high ? That too is a question of committee--(cheers and laughter)—butreject the bill on account of that amendment and you reject the principle that was honestly meant to in clude the superior artisan. (Hear, hear.) It is also com plained, especially by hon. gentlemen opposite, that in counties there were many respectable persons living in towns and villages not represented, and excluded from a vote as residents in the county, these we resolved to enfran chise. We took the £lO occupier and we gave him a vote for the county. Do you object to the mode in which this is done ? do prove your case and the question becomes a fair one for settlement in coniMttee. (Cheers and laughter.) But if you reject this bill I ask you whether this £lO occu pier is to be enfranchised by the resolution of the noble lord, or whether he is to wait for that other bill which the hon. member for Devonport seems to think may speedily be passed, but which the nght hon. gentleman the memberfor Coventry has told you a Liberal Government has at present no chance of passing without the consent of the Conserva tives, and which the right hon. gentleman the member for Stroud informs you can never be carried at all. (Hear.) I will now take the most startling inaccuracy stated by the hon. member for Devonport. He is accustomed to deal with figures and practised in numerical details, yet he says one great defect of the bill is that it will create a fluctuating constituency between town and country for the next 60 years. But only allow the bill to go into com mittee, and I think we shall be able to show that there will be no such floating constituency, as a voter must select between the two. (Hear, hear.) I say these are ques tions which you cannot, and ought not, to go into now. Sir, I am willing to leave that part of the noble lord's amendment to the able defence of my noble friend who re plied to him ; but I go further, and say that, granting all the force you like to the noble lord's objections, those objec tions apply to clauses you can consider in committee, and unless you say it is nothing to enfranchise the large towns now unrepresented, nothing to improve the registration, nothing to enfranchise new classes, nothing to admit the £lO occupier to a vote in counties, you ought not to reject the second reading of the bill on account of two clauses you have a later and a fuller opportunity to discuss. I pass on to the latter part of the noble lord's amendment, which in volves a more important question—l mean the lowering of the borough franchise. The difference between us is, that he would suddenly lower the borough franchise, and we would extend the general franchise of the nation, in admit ting the principle of lodger franchise, of investments in a savings-bank, of education as it advances becoming a quali fication in itself—(hear, hear)—we do not only extend the suffrage, but we open vistas for gradual reduction, accord ing to the very views to which the most thoughtful Re formers have always inclined more than they have done to the coarse substitute of a £6 or a £5 or a :810 house qualifi cation. Surely, education and independence ought to be characteristic of a liberal suffrage ; surely, you gain much more through the educated persons who hire lodg ings than you do through the persons who are struggling with poverty in a £5 house. (Hear.) Take no very uncom mon example--a retired servant, or a broken tradesman, hires a house and lets lodgings; in those lodgings may live an artist, a banker's clerk, a man of letters, a superior arti san. The one retired servant or the broken tradesman alone has a vote • the four educated m e n w h o li ve w ith hi m have none. Will you tell me that their four votes would not be of more value to the constituency in the right choice of a member than the votes of £4 and f.:5 householders if you added them to the constituency instead ? (Cheers.) Now, sir, so far as regards the mere interest of the Conser vative party in this house, I have always said, and I still think, that the lowering of the borough franchise would be no disadvantage to us, and would indirectly be of advan tage. No disadvantage, because I take it for granted that the disposition of all the larger towns will return candidates of the opposite party. Whther those candidates are re turned by a £lO or a £5 constituency could therefore in no way affect the balance of party in this house. Indirectly it would be an advantage to us that gentlomenopposite should be chosen by a£s constituency rather than a £lO. And why ? Because a party does not depend; on its numbers alone; it depends on the dignity, the independence, the education, and on the whole the moderate good sense of its representatives. I believe you gain all those qualities better under a £lO constituency than under a £5. I believe the worst enemy anupright Reformer can have is not a Con servative gentleman ; it is a demagogic adventurer. Once adopt a very low suffrage in your towns, and my belief is that in the present state of popular education the upright Reformer would be too often displaced by the demagogic adventurer. (Cheers.) That would be your loss ; indirectly it would be our gain. Our gain, because you would no longer be the same formidable candidate for power. Vio lent politicians may make a troublesome and unscrupulous Opposition, but they could never unite to form the Queen's Government. (Cheers.) If we wanted to destroy the moral power of your party, we would give you the lowest suffrage you liked to ask ; because, lower the franchise be neath £lO in counties, lower it to £5, and you would in stantly place 'numbers under the influence of property. That would be our gain. Lower the franchise in towns, and the lower you go the more you place numbers under the control of ignorance and passion. That would be your loss. Now, far from wishing to destroy your party, I con sider it essential to freedom that the Liberal party in this house should be always strong, and if I ask you to pause before you lower too much the borough franchise, it is be cause I am convinced you cannot be always strong if you create a constituency that does not secure to liberal mem bers the same high standard of integrity and culture. But do not let gentlemen who represent the smaller boroughs credulously believe that you can by any political logic lower the franchise in boroughs without also destroy ing the smaller boroughs—the two principles must go to gether. For why lower the franchise in boroughs except to take !population more into account, and except to enfran chise a larger number of the superior part of the working class ? You cannot, therefore, by your principle preserve the smaller towns to the exclusion of the larger; you can not pass the artisans'of larger towns, where intelligence is most diffused, to enfranchise the artisans of smaller boroughs with a less rate of wages, and probably a less degree of education. Therefore you cannot separate the two, as the noble lord's amendment does, in order to entice your votes. To lower the borough franchise is to annihilate the smaller boroughs. Are there any such members, any such boroughs so guileless and tomblike as to be caught by the noble lord's ensnaring amendment and seductive tongue ? Yes, Sir, there is one, the member for Sandwich— " Pleased to the last he crops his flowery food, And licks the hand just raised to shed his blood." But when those smaller boroughs are de3troyed, what then? To what constituencies will they be transferred ? Do not think we do not carefully examine that subject. We might have given what is called a more comprehensive, and might have been a more popular measure. We might have swept away 80, 90, 100, or 120 borou g h s . B u t, h a d we d one so , it appeared clear to us, as it does to my noble friend who spoke so well last light, that the majority of the seats taken from the boroughs ought to be given to the counties. The noble lord in his last Reform Bill arrived at the same conclusion. If we had done this you would have said, " We undertook a Reform Bill in order to serve our party." (Cheers.) We did not do this. We would not, in the present state of Europe, provoke that town and county quarrel which renders always so difficult, and at this time so dan gerous, the question of any large redistribution of seats. Having resolved that our measure should be moderate, we resolved that, as been between party and party, it should be just.. (Cheers.) But whenever you open that question of a large redistribution, then on every ground of justice the counties will ask a larger proportion of seats than they now possess. (Cheers.) But grant that you put aside our pre tensions ; grant you got the kind of Reform Bill you re quire, and that this house is swayed and this country go- verned by a large preponderance of urban populations with a very low franchise. Sir, let us face that question fairly. It is one far more important than the party battle we are now fighting, and it is one of the deepest interest to us all, as well educated men equally anxious for the dignity of our councils and the power of the House of Commons. Sir, first let us see what the House of Commons really is. It is not merely a popular assembly, it is a deliberative assembly. It arrogates inquiry and decision upon all the most t complicated ques tions of policy both at home and abrond. It is this in which it strikingly differs from our free colonies, to which we may accord the most popular suffrage. A colonial legislature is little more than a vestry on a great scale. It does not provide even for its own military defence. It does not touch upon foreign affairs, all those matters belong to the Imperial Government. It is this, too, in which the Houso of Commons differs from the popular Assembly of America. In that Assembly foreign affairs are seldom discussed, ex cept when they relate to tariffs or the disposition of public money. Foreign affairs belong by right to the Senate, which in discussing the ratification of treaties and public appointments become an executive body, excludes reporters and sits with closed doors. Even in domestic matters the debates in the American popular Assembly never excite the same interest nor carry with them the same weight as the debates in the Senate do. The guiding intellect of America is in her oligarchical Senate, not in her popular Chamber. (Cheers.) And why ? Because the American Chamber is what you would make this House of Commons—so popular in its eonstitutents elements—so brought down to the level of the masses, that even the masses have small respect for its wisdom, and it is to the Senate that the Republic looks for deliberate judgment upon the graver matters which in volve its honour and affect its national interests. It is not so as yet in England. The brain and the heart of England are still in the House of Commons. The wisest of our own people have still an interest in our debates; the greatest potenates of Europe have still some respect for our deci sions. (Cheers.) Once Americanise the House of Com mons and you would lose more in the intellectual attribute that create your real power than you could obtain by all the popular. vigour you could get through manhood su ffr a ge and electoral districts. (Cheers.) I say that one reason for the moderation and dignity which per vade our councils is to be found iu the fact that we have not as yet on the whole lowered our suffrage beyond the fair standard of education which ought to be required from an English voter., I grant that in all the very large towns, even under the present franchise, th e su ffrage is practically so low that democracy may be said to prevail. But it is the retention of those small boroughs where the franchise, though apparently the same, is really higher, which gives us that calm wisdom and fair intelligence which interposes, as the hon. gentleman has well said, between rival interests —between the agricultural classes, on the one hand, and the great urban populations, on the other. (Cheers.) Ido not say that this or any other argument would avail to save those smaller boroughs in proportion as the larger towns grew up in wealth and importance. I feel that I must leave the small boroughs at present to the able defence of the hon. gentleman opposite. What I say is, that in the meanwhile you need not be in a hurry to get rid of a ma chinery which adds to the power of this house by insuring the varied accomplishments of its members and increasing the number of competitors for the government of the country. (Cheers.) This advantage I do not think is to be counterbalanced merely by transferring the seats taken from smaller boroughs either to counties or to towns already represented, and thus diminishing the number of members who have nothing but the business of the State to think of. (Cheers.) And Ido fear that when ever that transfer is effected, whenever the smaller boroughs wholly vanish out of our system, you will realise the same evil of which America complains, of which our free colonies, such as Canada and Australia, com plain already —viz, that when only very popular con stituencies exist members become rather delegates than representatives; men of large property, of refined education of independent character, decline to enter into political life, and the popular Assembly ceases to represent, what this house now does, the highest and noblest elements of the general community. (Cheers.) Sir, in the curious corre spondence between Mirabeau and the Count de la Marck, in which the Count was engaged in obtaining Mirabeates aid to save the monarchy, I forget his exact words, but they are to this effect; Mirabeau said,—" I am afraid it is too late. In destroying an aristocracy of land you have made an aris tocracy of money, which of all aristocracies is the most timid ; you have made a democracy of large towns which, of all democracies, is the most fickle. I fear it is too late, and the monarchy is gone." (Cheers.) The monarchy went. What went with it ? Did not liberty go ? Monarchy in one shape or other was soon restored ; monarchy reigns still. Has liberty been restored as well ? What killed liberty ? The democracy of large towns, and the terror which democracy itself had of its own excess. For democracy in France still exists—a democracy of universal suffrage and vote by ballot. Pardon me if I prefer the freedom of which this house, with its tempered suffrage, is still the guardian —a freedom safe, because education controls and property does not fear it. Hon. gentlemen ask, " Are you afraid of the working man ?" Certainly not; I am proud of the English workman, whether he be the simple village peasant, with his homely virtues, or that more agitated but, with all his faults, that noble human being, the skilled mechanic of our manufacturing towns, with his thirst for knowledge and his dreams of some poli tical Utopia, quite as rational as Plato himself had dreamed. But it is one thing to admire the individual, and respect the class he belongs to, it is another thing to say that to that class you will intrust all the destinies of England. I would intrust the destinies of England to no single class whatever ; but if you admit the working men, as a body, their numbers alone give them a large majority in every constituency, and thus all the education and property of the other classes must be borne down by that class in which education is of necessity the least diffused, and by which the laws that affect property must be the most imperfectly understcod. (Cheers.) And here, sir, Ido complain of the dangerous want of candour with which hon. gentlemen opposite have made their appeal to the working class—the noble lord the member for London and the right hon. bart. the member for Halifax both say that the fault of the bill is that it does not admit the working class; they dwell on this objection; they inflame the working men with the be lief that they shall come into the franchise not by threes and fours, but by hundreds and thousands, and then in the same breath they declare that they have no idea of admit ting the numbers whose expectations they so cruelly excite. (Cheers.) No, you do not admit the :numbers, but you lay down the principle by which they must be either admitted or deceived. You would lower the suffrage on the express principle that it ought to include the working class. Does it do so by the mysterious franchise which the noble lord would give but declines to divulge, then the evil is accom plished. Does it not do so, then you have equally conceded the principle that must accomplish the evil ; for the work men excluded by the suffrage will never rest till they are admitted by the principle you allow. And I venture to pre dict, when you talk of releasing the elements of democracy-- and upon this subject I have heard some of the most deplo rable rubbish that ever was talked by educated men—that whenever the noble lord and the member for Halifax bring forward their measure, and the workmen as a class find that they do not pour in their formidable multitudes through the door those gentlemen will keep ajar with a chain across it, there will be among them one cry of angry disappointment. (Cheers.) But I may be asked,Would you never lower the borough franchise at all, or do you mean to say that the working class are to be everlastingly excluded ? To both these questions I answer, No. With regard to the borough franchise, I can but place before you in no hostile spirit the reasons why . I think you should pause before you insist on any great reduction; but I do say it is your duty to tell us to what extent you would go. Show us the numbers below the present £lO constituency which your franchise would give, and then clearly ascertain whether your constituen cies desire you to swamp them. As to the future admission of the working class, I believe in my own heart that I go further than the noble lord ; I go further than most of the great republican writers, ancient :.nd modern ; I go in theory as far as Mr. John Mill, and I would not object to the widest possible suffrage, if you can effect a contrivance by which intelligence shall still prevail over numbers. (Cheers.) If that be impossible, then I say, at least, the first step towards anything that approaches to universal suffrage should be something that approaches to universal education. But this I will say, that when you invite the agitation of the working class against this measure, youshould not only tell us what you refuse from us, yo'd Fhould make it clear to the country what you•wenhigif.a;id then let the count r y decide between the two. (Clieera—: ir, Lord Plunkett, in one of his great forensic eppecies, said, " Time is repre sented with the hour-glass as well as the scythe." True, with the scythe he mows down—by the aid of the hour glass he reconstructs. You would borrow from Time the scythe ; have you consulted his hour-glass ? You would mow down this Government and this Reform Bill. Be it so ; have you consulted the hour-glass ? What Govern ment and what Reform Bill will you reconstruct ? So far as this Government is concerned I will not defend at this moment its alleged faults—l will not at this moment ask if it has no merits ; nor will I, even now, when gentlemen opposite are arrayed against it, ungrate fully forget the patriotic countenance it has received amidst the earlier but not the greater difficulties it has had to encounter. All I would say is, our intentions in this bill, amidst the general state of England and of Europe, are not such as to merit the censure of any upright and high minded Libe:al. (Hear, hear.) I grant the bill is not one which gentlemen below the gangway would give if it were their task to make one; but, sp far as the Government is concerned, I ask you, as men of honour, if Lord Derby's Government had have a bill according to you r mo d e l s , though you wonld have accepted the bill, would you not have despised its authors ? (Hear, hear.) Should we not have been traitors to the loyal gentlemen -we represent ? We should have come into your camp, not as now, with a fair flag of truce and overtures of mutual compromise, but with standards trailed in the dust, and offering up the keys of every fortress which the loyalty of our followers had con fided to our charge. No ! If a Reform Bill such as you desire must be carried, it is for you to propose it ; it is not for us. But, before you raise the scythe to mow us down, look again at the hour-glass ! What is the next Govern ment ? Can it last if the member for Birmingham and the noble Viscount, if the member for Sheffield and the member for London, do not sit on the same Treasury bench ? Can it last if they do ? Ineither ease the sand in the hourglass will be violently shaken. Now, one moment more, as to this bill. It is said not to be final. Ro Reform Bill can be. The fault you allege is its merit. It is its merit if it meets some of the requirements of the day present, and does not give to-clay what you may regret to-morrow, that you can not restore. Democracy is like the grave ; it perpetually cries " Give, give," and like the grave it never returns what it has once taken. But you live under a constitutional monarchy, which has all the vigour of health and all the energy of movement. Do not surrender to democracy that which is not yet ripe for the grave. Gentlemen employ much sarcastic cavil in the dispute as to what is the main principle of this bill. I say, as Lord Macaulay said in the debate on the old Reform Bill, I care little for technical de finitions on that score. I should not like to base the de fence of this or of any Reform Bill upon an abstract doc trine on which special pleaders may differ. I would take that which was our main object for the back bone and life spring of the bill. That main object, so admirably stated by my noble friend the Secretary for India, was, irrespec tively of party interests, to confirm and extend to the middle class the political power which during the last twenty years they have exercised, so as to render liberty progressive and institutions safe, but, at the same time, to widen the fran chise the middle class now enjoys so that it may includ e a ll belonging to the class who are now without a vote, and, ins::ead of bringing the middle-class franchise down to the level of the workman, lift into that franchise the artisan who may have risen above the daily necessities of the manual labourer by the exercise of economy and fore thought. The bill, therefore, I own it, is emphatically a bill for the middle-class. The bill is theirs; it is not the cause of the aristocrat ; it is not the cause of the Con servative county gentleman who, of all parties concerned, has made the largest concession. The cause is that of the middle class down to the verge at which the influence of that class would melt away amidst the necessities of manual labour and the turbulence of concentered numbers. If they of the middle class like to abandon that cause they abdicate their own power, and with it all which has hitherto made the resources of England unshaken amidst the vicis situdes of commerce and the calamities of war. If they honestly think the time has come when it is safe to accept the counter principle which you advance—viz., that poli tical power should begin to descend to the working class— not knowing where that principle, once adopted, can atop till it reaches manhood suffrage, then I say with the mid dle class the responsibility must rest. Meanwhile, you in this house will determine whether it is your duty thus abruptly to sign away the influence of that class of which you are still the representatives and trustees—whether you really secure the title deeds of their commerce, and take solid guarantees for the safety of their old English free dom, by accepting an amendment which commit s you to a pledge to the woring class—a pledge which you can never redeem to their satisfaction until you have placed capital and knowledge at the command of impatient poverty and uninstructed numbers. (Great cheering.) Mr. BYNG was opposed to the bill both in principle and in detail. He regretted the Government had let pass the golden opportunity of introducing a bill which might have settled the question on some regular principle which might have commanded the all but universal support of the house. The bill proposed to introduce uniformity of suffrage: from that principle he must express his dissent. The bill was not founded on general justice, nor would it give universal satisfaction : it was easy for the Government to disclaini any party motive, but it so happened that in South Lulea shire, West Yorkshire, and Middlesex, where the liberal interest was most powerful, the effect would be rather to reduce the constituency. In regard to what were called the fancy franchises, he was highly in favour of the extension of the franchise to depositors in savings banks and lodgers too. With reg ard to the other, which gave vo t es to graduates, minis ters, and schoolmasters, the effect would he unimportant, as the greater number of these possessed the right of voting in respect of other qualifications. The right hon. gentleman drew a vivid and fearful picture of a period when, ruin having spread all around, the working classes would be battering at the doors of that house for the boon which was now denied. He hoped and trusted that that picture would never be realised ; but the best way of pre venting that was to affirm a resolution which would Trove to the working classes that there was a party in that house who were not neglectful of their interests. (Hear, hear.) There was, in his opinion, a wide distinction betwe e n Americanising their institutionsi and giving the working classes that share in the representation to which they were entitled ; and he believed that by affirming the latter part of the resolution of the noble lord they would do mere to promote the interests of the country, aye, and to harmo nise not merely the middle and the working classes, but also the upper, the middle, and the lower classes, than by supporting a ball which he believed could never be carried in its present shape, and which, if carried, would be only a BRITISH MINES. Sharel Mines. Paid. Closing Business Price. Done. Alfred Consols (Philack) 2.11.10 I 0 7 21) ipritish Iron iCondurrow (Camborne) •2O 10 Devon G. Cons. (Tavist.) 1 465 475 East Bassett (Mogan). 30 225 235 Great South Tolgus l7s 13 14 G.WhealAlfd.(Phillack) 11.18.8 24 34 G. Wheal Vor(Helston) 94 4 4 Lady Bertha North Frances (Illogan) 84 7 8 North Wheal Crofty 7.9.4 94 1O N.Wh'l Basset (Illogan) nil. 11 12 Par Consols (St. Blaxy) 14 14 15 Porkellis Unit. (Wend.)! 9 Sortridge Cons. Min. Co. 66 SouthCaradon (St.Cleer) 24 46. —• Sorth C. Brea( Illogan). 2 24 24 S Wheal Fran. (Illogan) 18.18.9205 215 6 Tamar Silver and Lead Mining Co 44 14 2 10 Tin Croft 9 34 4 UnitedMines(Gwennap) 40 - Vale of Towev (Carm ) 12s 6d West Basset (Illogan) l4 21 23 W. Cara don (Liskeard) 2O 75 80 Wheal Basset (Illogan) 54 200 195 'Wheal Buller (Redruth) 5 125 135 Wheal Edward (Cals.) 54 24 31 Wheal Kit;y(U. Lelant) 1.7.2 11 12 • WWI Mary Ann (Menhe) 8 47 49 Wh'l Trelawney (Lisk.) 44 31 33 FOREIGN MINES 20 Australian 1 Bon AccordCopper,Li m lO s p 35 Brazil. Imp. (is. at £sp.) 27 1 1 4 20 Do.St.Jolindelßey,Lim. t 15 11 12 Do. Land and Mining Co. all 14 24 1 Clarendon Consols Min ing Co. of Jamaica d 40 Cobra Copper all 36 38 Copiapo l6 10 12 1 DunMoun.Cop.Ming.Co all 1 1 2 Fortuna 20 General all 23 24 . 3 Linares all 94 104 5 Lusitanian 1 Mariquita all 1 New Granada all 1 N.RhineCop.of S.Aus.L 10 4 p 20 Pontgibaud Silver, Lead Mining and Smelt all 4 5 5 Port Philip 1 30 Santiago de Cuba 164 1 1 28.2.811 United Mexican all 124 21i 24 COLONIAL GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. Share Securities. Paid. Closing Business Prices. Done. - Can.Gov.6p.c.Ja. &July 100 115 116 114 4 16 Do. 6p.c.Fb.&Aug. 100 113 114 Do. 6 p.c.Mr. & Sep. 100 113 114 N.8.G0v.6p.c. Ja. &July 100 1114 1124 -- Do. 6p.c.Ap. it Oct. 100 - N. S.W. Gov. Sp. c. Deb. 100 1024 1034 1034 1 NovaScoUrGov.6 p.c. St. Deb. redeemable, 1875 100 111 f 1124 S.Aus.Gt.6pc.Jan&july 100 111 k 1124 Vict•Gov.6p.c.Jan&July 100 JOINT-STOCK BANKS. Share; Joint-Stock Banks. Paid. i Cloning I Business I Price. Done. 100 Agra&UnitedServiceßk 50 68 70 40 Australasia all 93 25 Bank of Egypt all 241 241 254 100 Bank of London 5O 45 47 40 Brit. Col. Bk. & LoanCo all 90 British North American all 20 Chtd. Bank of India, dm 10 If 1 d 100 City 100 Colonial 20.11 Corn. Bark of Canada all 100 Commercial of London 2O 20 Enrr., Scat., & Aus. Ch all 16 161 20 Gen. 13k. of Switzerland all 20 Lon.Char.Bk.otAustral. all 231 241 24 50 London and County 20 50 London Joint Stock 100 London & Westminster 2O 50 100 Nat. Prov. of England 35 20 Do. new lO 50 National Bank 25 2 0 New South Wales - 25 Orient. Bk. Corporation all 41 401 20 Ottoman Bank all 211 22 Provincial of Ireland 10 Do. New all - 25 South Australia 25 Do. New 2 5 Union of Australia all 531 25 Do. New 2O 50 Union of London lO 241 100 Unity Mutual 55 100 Western Bk of London 50 211 200 MISCELLANEOUS. - Miscellaneous. Miami 1 paiA.l Closin g Business dons P a i d Price.. 10 Anglo-Mexican Mint 1000 Atlantic Tel. (Limited) all 220 250 25 Australian Agricultural 19 33 34 10 Australian Royal Mail . all 1 10 Berlin Water Works 10 Do New, issued at £5 dis 3 50 British American Land 40 50 Brit. &Irish MagTel.A. all 361 381 20 Do. 13, 7p. c. till 1862 all 19 21 20 Do. C 100 Canada Land 321 128 133 10 Chan.lslands Tel.(Lim.) all 9 10 Stock Cop.Min.ofEng.&Smltg all 25 Do. Preference 71 per ct all 24 25 5 5 Crystal Palace. Do. Preference 20 Eastern Steam all Stock Electric Telegraph lOO 103 105 1031 5 Eng. & Amt. Cop.St.Co ; all s 1 p 10 Europ. & Ind.Junct.Tel ! 10s. I d 9 Europ.&Ain.Stm.(Lini.) all 0 20 Gl.lron ScrewCol.(Lim all 15 Gen. Steam Navigation. 14 20 London Discount 5 11 11 d 4 Lond.Gen. Omnibus Co all 11 2 10 Mediter. Electric Teleg all 10 Med. Exten. Tel. (Lim.) all 5 6 25 National Discount Co 5 , d4l 10 Netherlands Land 6 10 Do do all 1 2 5 Do 8 p.e.Pref.,iste.at hits all 1 14 100 N.Ar.&NovaScittiaLand 80 1 N. B. Australasian (Lim.) all 4 9 20 North of Europe Steam all 1 Oriental Gas dim 1 1 Do. New Shares lss. par 75 Peel River Land & Min all 21 3 50 Pen. & Oriental Steam all 84 85 50 Do. New lO 12/ 131 p 274 20 Red Sea & Ind. Telegr lO 1 t i P 50 Rhymney Iron 15 Do. New all 6% 7% 7 100 Royal Mail Steam 6O 62 64 631 1 Scot.Austrln.lny.(Lim ) all 1121 123 25 South Australian Land, all 36 37 1 Submarine Teleg. Scrip, all 1 1 Do. do Registered all 1 20 Tr.& Ln.Co.of Upr. Can 5 100 ,Van Diemen'e Land PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a third time and passed : Great Northern Railway ; Sunderland and South Shields Water; Vale of Llangollen Railway; and Wirral Water. The following bills were considered, and ordered for third reading :—Tavistock Markets, Streets, and Im_provement ; Warrington and Stockport Railway ; and Whitehaven Harbour and Town. The Commercial Docks Acts Amendment Bill and the Victoria (London) Docks Bill were read a second time, and ordered to be committed. PETITIONS. Several petitions were presented praying for the rejection of the Government Reform Bill, as an imiult to common sense, and at variance with the " wants and wishes" of the coramunitiy ; against the disfranchising clauses of the bill; in favour of the adoption of a compre hensive measure of reform ; from various bodies of Dissenters in favour of being admitted to the same footing as members of the Church of England, in reference to endowed charities ; and in favour of Lord J. Russell's Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill. DESPATCHES TO LORD CANNING. Mr. SALISBURY asked the Secretary of State for India if the despatch No. 5, 1858, dated Dec. 9, had been submit ted to the Indian Council for consideration before its transmission to Lord Canning, and had met with the sanc tion and approval of that body, or otherwise. Lord STANLEY said he stated yesterday that the de • spatch in question was in the Secret Deparment, and was sent on the authority of the Secretary of State alone. No opinion was offered on the despatch in the council. - Sir GEORGE LEWIS asked the Secretary of State for India if his despatch to the Governor-General of India, dated the 9th day of December, 1858 (which has lately been presented to the house), was sent under the twenty. seventh section of the Act for the better Government of India (21 and 22 Vict. c. 106), by which the power of the Secret Committee is continued ? _ _ _ Lord STANLEY said the despatch itiluded to was sent out from the secret department. INLAND BOOK POST. Mr. KINAIRD asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether any alteration had been made in the charges or other arrangements of the Inland Book Post ; and w h en the alteration would take place by which an additional penny would be charged for the transit through Egypt of newspapers sent via Southampton or India or Australia. Sir S. NORTHCOTE said that there had not bee n an y alteration such as that alluded to. Withregard to the second part of the question, the change to which it referred would be carried out. AFFAIRS OF ITALY. Mr. BOWYER asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether it was true that a Congress wasabout 60i 1 WI 93 24 1031 89i 591 81 9 81 91 95} I 113 I 121 251 1 61 381 4 1024 lt 60 59 60J, 94 21 3 d 34 31 104 91 1181 130 40 104 24 I 4, m Isi atro ?sent 'able en it the be 1 the ENT this r the ould The great Hans epeal cer land. rence mild, blow spect vern ed to fends 's ; if r had lions by of iught :..ould sub night n for ng a LITER Eiteen o the Ana ;lose, Bag e, Sir Sey and .. 1 .. 2 .. 1 .. 2 ... 2 ~. 3 rLL. (The omit r six stion • 39 ; Man- lder- En- ount hey r) our- •--)