The Sun. — London, England, 1858-03-24 00:00:00

TRE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, IVIARCTI 24, 188. - t dividual communications. Ever since 1815, u n til j u t ihat this elaborate co n t r i vance was pro d uc i ng the most , extreme inconvenience here. A p erson h a d now to ob recently, the French passport system between .England and France had been conducted on the part of the 1 tain a recommendation from a magistrate, then to go to French Government with very great liberality. There . the Foreign-office, then apply to the French Consul, and used to be different species of passports —s ome issued ! at all these stages necessary delays took place. The case by the Foreign-office and by the foreign Ambassadors, l of a young officer who arrived lately in town from the which were given to all persons of considerable import- seat of war in India would present these inconveniences mace freely. There was also, as probably most hon. : forcibly to the minds of hon. members. This gentleman members recol'ected, an office inPortland-street to which I received on a certain Thursday a letter from a stranger, on any Englishman going he was perfectly certain to re- telling him that his father was lying at Boulogne at the ceive, within 24 hours after writing down his name and point of death, and that every hour was of importance. residence, a passport without fee, by which he could He applied to the Foreign-office for a passport, but was travel to every part of France. Even this delay of 24 I told there was no resource for him, except an applica beers was excused in the case of a member of Parliament t tion to a magistrate. He was a stranger in London or magistrate, or of illneas or urgent business. There Ihe knew no magistrate, but at length a friend rernem were also delivered passports by the French Consul on bered having onco dined with a police-magistrate, and payment of a small fee. The same system continued under furnished him a letter which procured him a recommen- Charles X. and Louis Philippe. He regretted to say it i dation. He then went to the Foreign-office, which was was only in later days, when they might have hoped closed ; he got his passport the next, morning ; then he that a long period of communication had produced the had to go to the French consul : through the delay thus best feeling between the two countries, that any hind- occasioned he arrived at Folkesto ne o too . late for ranee or bar had been pl ace d on th e i ntercourse b etween 1 the boat, and o n ly go t across on th e fol lo w ing morning, England and Fra nce , th oug h it was no secret that in the ' being detained by a ll th ese frivolous regul lo a ion!s from the opiaion of the Emperor of th e French—for he had pub- dying bed of his father. (Hear.) In another i ns t ance a listed a work o n th e su bj ec t—thi s passport system was gentleman wrote to him to say that he was sum mone d one not a useful system, a n d th a t as b e t ween E ngland and lying Friday to see hi s child, who was ill at St. O mer. France at least it ought to be abolished. A French He received the telegram at half-past 2, went to the commission had been issued t o i nqu i re w h et h er it was Foreign-office just before 4, was desired t o ca ll next day possible to abolish the passport sy s t em i n F rance, b ut it at 12, lost in this way much precious ti me, an d arrived bad produced no effect. Th e p asep rid system, indeed, at St. Omer just four hours too lat e —hi s poor daughter employed an enormous num b er o f persons, who, of was dead. (He ar, htnth h ear .) Here six weeks, and th e y were had remained as they were th ere wou l d not have beenr.) were case s w hi c h h a d mune, were all interest e d i n ma i n t a i n i ng i t. If things occurred wit only the first - fru its of the se un h appy passport regu• much fault to find with th e sys t em, f or b esides other fa- lotion's. The Lord M a y or of London had declared cilities of intercourse th ere did ev i ct the habit of free that it was impossibl e f or hi m to grant all the applies lions ma by to him, an d t h at it was his determination to communication, which though no t pos i t i ve l y esta bli s h e d limit k hi s recommendatio n t o t h ose whom he person by law was sanctioned by custom, b etween the ports of ally new, or to p ersons res i dent in his district. The England and France. Th e E ng li s h people never thoug h t of obtaining passp or t s w h en they went to visit t h e ports police ma g i s t rates stated that it was impossible for them of France, and, i n d ee d , nat i ves of this country w h to go on w ith the i r ordinary duties and at the same time o resided on the F renc h coast were general l y unpro perform th e new f unctions with which they were so un - exp=:ctedly cloth e d . A s to the inconvenience felt by the vided with p assports. The communicat i on b etween the French and English coasts was so entirely free, commercial classes in this country, it was hardly to be that since the establishment of excursion trains, told. Every shipowner was in continual fear that a ship nearly 100,000 persons had gone over from this of his might be stranded on the coast of France, and that, country eve r y y ear t o en j oy themselves at Calais and when a 1 a surveyor would formerly be able to go at once Boulogne for a few days, and their visits had been a to the spot, the probability now was that the ship would source of considerable profit to the inhabitants of those be lost and the cargo destroyed long before be had any towns. Great changes had, however, taken place in the chance of reaching lit. Another disadvantage, surely passport system. On the 18th of February, 1858, the worth oinsideration, was that practically every passport following notice was issued from the Foreign -office : must now be granted in London ; because, although the authorities at the Foreign-office said they were per " Her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris having, in per- fectly ready to send a passport into the country by ance of instructions from the Earl of Clarendon, re quiredin- an of the French Government whether British sub- turn of post, on receipt of a proper recommendation, jeets will be permitted to land in France without p ass p or t s everybody ac qua i n t e d w i th the machinery of a great when they have no intention of proceeding into the inte- public office must know that it was impossible for them lion and also whether her Majesty's Consuls will have to do so. Thus, a lady wrote to him complaining that power to grant passports to each persons to proceed to she sent for a passport on the 24th and only received one Paris or elsewhere, his Excellency has been informed by on the 28th, which happened to be a Sunday, so that it the French Minister for Foreign Affairs that no person was net available until the 29tb. Such instances were whatever will be permitted to land in France without a not to be wondered at. They must c•sur every day ; passport, nor will a consul's passport given to any one who and, as he was informed that all the duties in conuec may have landed without one be recognized." tion with this system devolved on two clerks, he The effect of this proceeding was that the free comma- thought it quite impossible that the business to .be done nioation without passports between the coasts of France at the Foreign-office should be performed - even in such and England, of which multitudes of persons had availed a way as would carry out the tenour of the themselves, was at once stopped, and no British subject present regulations, illiberally as they were conceived wag permitted to land at a French port without an Eng- The question for the consideration of the house was, what fish passport. Another effect of the regulation was, description of passport should be given to an Englishman also, that British subjects resident at Boulogne and so as to enable the Government to guarantee that the other places on the French coast were deprived of the person possessing it should travel under the protection facilities which had been previously afforded them for and rsgis of this country throughout the world. The 'visiting the interior of the country. He was anxious to word " passport" was one of which it was difficult to ascertain what was the nature of the communications give a definition, but in his opinion it ougbt to be held which passed between the French and English Govern- to mean nothing more than a mark of identification, en manta previously to the issue of the notification to which titling the bolder to the protection of England. It was he had just referred. He thought Parliament was fairly absurd to think of making the passport a certificate of entitled not only to demand that those communications morality or respectability, and so far as our Government should be laid upon the table, but also to inquire whether was concerned the whole matter turned upon the point, any remonstrance against the change had been made on not whether a British subject should leave the country the part of the English Government. It was not for him ' or not, but with what privileges be should travel in to say what motives had induced the Government of the other lands. We were bound to afford protection to Emperor of the French to adopt such an important every Englishman who behaved himself with propriety change, but he could not believe that this destruct- upon the continent, and who obeyed the laws of tion of the communication between England and the nation in which he happened to sojourn. He France could in any degree tend either to the might also observe, that it was extremely desir security of the Emperor's person or to the general ad- able that the passport system should no longer vantage of France. He was rather disposed to attribute subsist in connection with our Foreign-office, inasmuch the measure to the inconsiderate zeal of subordinates, as a great deal of confusion was thereby created. Tne who with the very beat motives might commit most investigations of the committee to inquire into the con foolish and injurious acts. The restrictions placed upon railer service which had been moved for on the previous the communication between France and other countries evening would, he thought, serve to show that fac lities since that melancholy event, the attempt on the life of bad been afforded to the members of that service to lay the Emperor, had not, however, been confined merely to unnecessary fees upon English travellers. Indeed, a passports. He had heard most ludicrous stories of the case bad lately been brought under his notice in which, manner in which the Custom-house regulations were although the passport had been properly e'ised both as carried out. He had been told, for instance, that a lady regarded England and the country in which the holder was detained at Boulogne for 24 hears, in order that the happened to be travelling, yet expense had been in tooth-powder in her dressing-case might be carefully curred which need not have been entailed. Under these analysed with the view of ascertaining whether it con- circumstances, it would, he maintained, be extremely tained any fulminating matter. (Laughter.) The Eta- desirable that the Government should direct their atten peror of the French had undoubtedly, like every other tion to the question, whether the whole passport system potentate, a perfect right to make any regulations be might not with advantage be transferred from the Fo pleaeed respecting the admission of foreigners within his reign -office and attached to the Home Department— territories, bat he (Mr Milnes) thought the people of (hear)—and whether the onus of refusing a passport this country were also entitled to ask why fresh reetric- should not be thrown altogether upon the shoulders of tions had been placed upon their intercourse with France. the Government of the day. The Executive might, If the French Government were as desirous as they pro- through the agency of the police, become acquainted fessed to be, and as he believed they really were, of with almost every person who could not be safely trusted maintaining friendly and intimate relations with the to bear the English name abroad, and be would have British Government,—if there was no desire on their the refusal given in the case of any such person so re part unnecessarily to annoy u',—if there was no good corded, that if the individual felt himself aggrieved he reason for preventing Englishmen from visiting France might be in a position to appeal to public opinion. on pleasure or on business as they had been accustomed (Hear.) So far as the subject of passports was connected to do,—he thought the people of this country were en- with foreign countries, it was with them entirely a ques titled to ask whether the restrictions recently adopted tion of policy, with which we Englishmen hal nothing by the French Government were friendly and neighbourly whatever to do. If the French Government, er any acts, and were likely to increase the amity of the two na- other, chose to throw obstacles in the way of their beat Hons. The effect of these regulations would undoubtedly CnEttOlikeili travailing within their dominions—if they be to subject the French themselves to considerable pecu- chose to deprive their innkeepers of the profits 'which niary loss. Although the restrictions had only been in were to be acquired by the outlay of English touris . s, force a few weeks they had been attended with most die- it was beyond all doubt in their power to carry that ob estrous consequences with regard to the communication jeer, jet° effect. It only remained to us to pursue our between the two countries. The return of the number of own course, and with the aid of that constitution and passengers between Dover and Calais daring the last six that liberty which we had the happiness to possess, to weeks, as compared with the corresponding six weeks realise the vision of the prince -like poet who, in the of last year, showed a diminution of no less than olden times of Greece, said of 1,167, and the rapid and admirably managed steamers " A certain island set apart by fate, plying between those ports were not now carrying on The sea its frontier and the shore its gate; an average more than nine passengers a day. A large Where every stranger with free foot may stand— number of persons who had left this country unprovided May time ne er shake the columns of that land." with passports, have been sent back without money and (Cheers.) The hon. member concluded by moving for without their luggage, which had been carried on into copies of correspondence between her Majesty's Govern- France. He regretted to say that many ladies and chil- merit and that of the Emperor of the French on the late dren had been sent bock in this helplees condition to alterations in the passport system, and of the several re- Dover and Folkestone. The evil was every day increas- gulations respecting passports issued by the Foreign lag, and in his opinion the subject required immediate office since 1815, with the fees charged on their delivery. action on the part of her Majesty's Government, He Mr. WALTER. said that, in rising to support the resolro had now to refer to the course which had been taken by tion which his hon. friend had just moved, he should feel the English Government; with respect to this question. it his duty to trespass for a few moments upon the indul. He was aware that just decopum would be observed by the present occup an t s o f t h e t reasury benches in criti- Bence of the house, w hil e h e b r i e fl y stated the reasons w cising the con d uct o f t h eir predecessors, and that it was which appeared to hi m t o ren d er i t expedient that her Ma quite unnecessary for him to appeal to their feelings of jesty's Government should at the present period make delicacy with regard to the disclosure of the proceedings some effort to mitigate the grievance to which his hon. of the late Government. He believed they would execute friend had called their attention. The question involved in that duty without favour to their predecessors, and as that grievance was one which, although somewhat new to conscientiously as if they had themselves been respon- the debates in that house, required no apology to be made Bible for the course that bad been pursued. Some time for its introduction to its notice, for of all those subjects ago passports issued by the Foreign-office were extremely connectedw ith our relations with foreign countries there personal corn expensive, and were generally procured by persons who hwilechichconcerenredllEnglishmen individually so wan not closely on e attled the wished to produce an impression of their personal im portance. Such passports were issued to officials, but :? fret. (H ear.) rw Hesomumsattalsion obsaeffrvecettehlaotuhe they %ere paid for at a high rate by those who wished to present moment as one which was not altogether g assume a similar character. He was not aware, from his tune for bringing a subject so important under tliien°cPoPneri-- own experience, that these pa ss p or t s were attended with deration of her Majesty's Ministers. The French Govern any peculiar advantage. He certainly remembered hear- ment had, in the first place, by their own act, abdicated ing of a gentlema n w h o t rave ll e d w i t h a Foreign-office that responsibility w hi c h th ey h ad hitherto undertake n of passport, signed by the noble member for Tiverton (Lord issuing passports to British subjects, and permitted it to Palmerston), and who on presenting the document at the u s n te d p er lea th l e , of devolve exclusively upon the department for Thatl ad inioin gate of a small t own i n th e sout h o f I taly, was immedi- tration of forei gn niately seised a n d carr i e d b e f ore the police, the captor cou rse , her Majesty's Government, and had, in hi s op i- brought the a ffai rs m matter th i s countr y. tter more immediately believing th a t h e h a d caught the redoubtable Palmerston nion, imposed upon them a corresponding respon s ibilit y as himself. (A. laugh.) Th ose passports were very sparingly to the mode in which they should fulfil the duties which issued, and were not much in demand, but the intercourse had recently been assigned to them. Fortunately for the with the continent was carried on chiefly by means of country, we had at the present moment at the head of the the ordinary French passports, The noble lord (Pal- Foreign Department a Minister who appeared to possess meretan), however, for some reason cheapened the p rice the neck of writing conciliatoryletters--(hear, and a laugh) of the Fureign-officra passports, and rendered it possible —and who, as he had been the means of removing the for almost any man to procure them at a very small cost misunderstanding which existed between England and and trouble. He had no doubt the noble Iwd had acted France, might very properly be looked to to frame such a with the beet intentions, probably thinking it rieht that despatch as would, without running the risk of creating a every Englishman should possess a guarantee of his na- fresh misunderstanding between us and our ally, have the tionality frlm his own Government. The effect of the effect of mitigating the grievance which the house was en new regulations bad been entirely to alter the system gaged in dis cuss i ng . (H ear, h ear.) The age in which we with regard to the issue o f p assports b y the Foreign- 4,anappaennyedwitliorulive to wad f ox , in was which t n th i iir ul p a r n o e p d hecy lt that , office here. It was not neces sar y to rea d to the house re- an af tra.vellin— an ae in which ca g pital d I: v i ' tl: gulations which were is e v er yb o d y ' s hands—(bear)—and scienc geo e and industry g appe ared to be associated for the put. with which the hon. gentleman who cried "Hear" was pose of rendering locomotion as great a luxury as it had of course perfectly conversant. (A laugh.) At the first formerly been a misery. We now possessed increased fa glance they appeared to be more liberally conceived than cilities for moving from one place to another, whether in the pursuit of health or business, and were enabled to ful those formerly issued. Stich pa,sports used only to be fit the . designs of Providence by the promotion of a spirit granted to persons known to the Foreign-o ffi ce or re f friendly intercourse with other countries while the commended to it by baekers, while the present regula- several n provinces of our own country were brought into tion extended the power of recommending to every closer contact with one another. (Hear, hear.) Could any mayor and every magietrate in this c iuntry. This libe- thi n g be more provoking than that at such a period as this eelity, however, was in appearance only. HOD. members the perverse ingenuity of man should be employed in throw who sited as magietrates had probably received a cam-` ing ev er y possible o b s t ac l e i n t h e way of free social inter munication desiring th a t th e i r s i gnatures and their seals , crurse ? (Hear, hear.) The house might depend upon it Should be forwarded with a vi ew t o th e id en tifi cation that so long as th e p ass p or t system continued, no matter tfiof any Person reco mmended by them to the Foreign what diplomatic alliance might subsist between this cowl beetn:doewn.fhtehedid nod coerid r this was a p ro p er u a try and France -- -no matter whether we sho u ld f or a t i me bs bound up with her in a contest against some third power tracy o' England. The unpaid magistrates were already ag —we never could realize that cordial friendship with France called upon to discharge very laborious functions, which every Englishman desired to see prevail. (Hear, end-t h e Government had no right hear.) When Englishmen want abroad they were gene to impose on them any other duti es th an tho se which rally speaking disposed to enter a foreign state in a spirit the interest of the country m.fairly demanded. It was of the utmost good feeling, and to quit it in a spirit of nog unjust to force the a gtstrates as the present eye- gratit u d e an d ki n dl y sen ti men t. H e mus t , h owever, for ability of every person w h om rem virtually did, to fe ru i sh a guara:ntee for the respect- his own part say—and in en t er t a i n i ng th a t f ee li ng h e be passport, t ith such a demand h hey e, re comomneenudoeudldu fora ot hayed he w as by no means p ecu liar—that he never set in 18 for W foot upon French soil without a sense of indignation being comply, and he believed a large body of the ~,,, obliged to submit to a system of interference which was, he magistrates were similarly di-posed. Suppose, for example -I thought, as useless as he knew it to be offensive. (Hear.) a person With the permission of the house he should for a few enkeown to him, but who had recently obtained nun- enviable notoriety in this country, had come to hi m n un d asked him for a recommendation. Suppose this p e rsonan had described himself as an intimate friend of Cot and other literary men. He (Mr. Milnes) shoulderidge moments call its attention to a statement of the nature of that system, and as his own feelings might lead him into the use of language which might wound the sus clilities of our neighbouts . across . the chan . nel, he have should prefer taking the desciiption . of it from writers of Si..!.ven such a perso n a passportat once, and their own. The only system in this country which was ~.._i. when it turned out to --vs. ~,,, be Mr. Alleop, it would parallel to the passport system of the continent was the'. r.coulz at ones asked at the F • fixed wilri t `" l him I" No Forei gn-office, -o ffi ce, " Who to which it had been found expedient to resort in order to ~,.,,,,,, ..,„ . yentleroan would like to be protect society against convicted criminals. He hoped the a position. .A. ~ ,,:‘ , P"`"b".tY, or to find himself in house would permit him to r , ad an extract from an article office, this perhap s sendin g one's seal to thrrF s uch , in the " Encyclopedia heads" Langage et des Sciences Pen was not every magieteZonto,zeat requirement • ' r e ' it . tiques," under the Passeports." The writer caid— He late'y read in the biogra / 41 , ,1d 'prxi n , c „,,,,,,, h , a thing. " In a fi nancial and political point of view passports are at man, who conceived that him tiZ.l& d , ,,a ? ,2 B :nish i ed literary o nce vexatious and useless- -vexatious, because the faculty of the parade of rank, that on beir . i ndev a ‘‘,l d t h , f m or ab ossos:/it , c,,,,,minttioaleacuJl travelling being one of common right, and of arms, he said he never carrte any ~,_ ni 'ea with him, that liberty ~, _oiraeg citizens ividual liberty, it is a violation of be knew, from time immetati, i ,„ . p...,,,,, „T. , , ... i f_ ra e citizens to give the description cf their for, as far as letters with their thumbs. all hie toesee to en oe ',ent). and. to inform police agents of the u e cause re --" ha PPeh to ancestors bad sealed t heir did not know whether the use ofthis those whol,ie slid iustie s -. ee going, It is useless, be .. 7 it .. ,,tr,,,,, _ require tha a tax should • t g (Mr. Milnes ) process was customary among any of , lecurity. The tai on7,%=q.c. towards thir llb give to ancient and simple uire their seals in this way was ins upomoo.. twhheortirgaovrrs ~Z,ZZtrtkerds nee sacwhendevianngtaanad the magistracy, but to re q uire of police in this coati- bonds, it is certain thawti.t,i.lapor%teripoortt,llle. 1:w, which loogk; certainly a most novel regu lation , which bad very rarely attainsits end. Per i s i onr' l : 7 r " l4 : 4 ert.' l l., "ag 2 - hat were the c.,uses without any L --- ..and try. He wished to know w for the pur- in; or livelihood, those who are within reach of ottost an tug led to the introduction of all this apparatus of idea - Cod.', k now perfectly well how to procure for the'ra.Paa mere card nen, pose of providing Englishmen with a Vacation on goi n g to the Continent. Everybo dy k new feuitlees passports, Sharpers, bankrupts, and many ()there whose occupation consists in getting into their hands other men's purses and property—all such " voyageurs forces" have never been found in want of passports (feuilles de route) which enable them to evade justice. Passports do not exist in England. There the citizen who travels has no need, in order to traverse the three kingdoms, to obtain the permission of a police magistrate. There commerce and industry are not exposed to such fimpedimenta, but are perfectly anfettered. Ihere people come, and go, and stop, as it suits them, or as it pleases them. The roads and streets are free from all police inquisition." Those were rather strong terms for a French writer to use in speaking of a domestic institution of his country, and if they had been penned by an Englishman they would pro bably have been condemned as exaggerated and unfair. But he had a still stronger passage from the works of a very eminent French writer, who was perfectlyacquainted with the subject. That writer said I "No inhabitant of Great Britain, excepting convicts, can be expelled from the United Kingdom. Any infraction of this clause (the Habeas Corpus Act) would be vis ted with severest penalties." After describing the Habeas Corpus Act, he continued : "In England those violatioes of a citizen's domicile, so common in France under the name of domiciliary visits are unkn own, In England the secrets of families are respected, and correspondence remains intact. In Englaud the first of all liberties, that of going where you please, is never dis turbed, for there no one is asked for passports—passports, the oppressive invention of the Committee of Public Safety, which are an em earrassment and obstacle to the peaceful citizens, but which are utterly powerless against these who wish to deceive the vigilance of authority." The house would doubtless wish to know who was the author of those remarks. It was no less a person than the present Emperor of the French—(hear, hear) than whom no man had had more experience of the passport system, or was better able, from personal experience to speak as to its utter inutility. Perhaps he might be allowed to make a practical suggestion that the best form of passport would be a simple card. something similar to a Crystal palace season-ticket, containing on one side the date, the signature of the bearer, with the declaration that he was a British subject; and on the other side there should be the Government stamp. All that foreign Governments had a right to require that every Eneliehinan leaving this country to travel in their territories should be marked as such; although, indeed, it might be said that Englishmen were stamped by nature and needed no Government identification. The plan he had suggested appeared to him to be the simplest and the most sensible, if any pass ports at all were necessary. He did not think that vises should be required, for it was a disgrace to England that after the Government had given a certificate of iden tity and nationality it should require the vise of any foreign Power. He submitted those suggestions to the consideration of the Government, and he would only add, in conclusion, that the Minister who succeeded in abolish ing or even in mitigating this offensive system would be more entitled to the thanks of the country time many Ministers who claimed credit for more important successes. (Hear, hear.) He cordially seconded the motion of the hon, member for Pontefract, Mr. S. FITZGERALD, who, in consequence of the low tone in which he spoke, was but very imperfectly heard, said, as the question was one of a practical character, it should receive a practical reply from the Government. He should not follow the hon. gentleman who had spoken with quotations from French writers, nor should he allude to the opinions of the Emperor of the French. He thought, as regarded the general question of the use of passports and the desirableness or otherwise of establishing a passa port system, the house ought to consider that as a matter of internal regulation on the part of the French Govern ment, with which this country had nothing to do. (Hear.) If for the convenience of travelling in France it was requ site that a British subject should have a certain authority or statement, not with reference to character, but merely that he was a British subject and entitled to the protection of the law, he thought it was to the regulations which our own Government made on that subject that the house should direct its attention. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentle man who made the motion stated, that under the present arrangements that had been made by the French Govern ment great impediments were thrown in the way of Bri tish subjects travelling in France. He must say the hon. gee Leman had made that statement without information which he might have easily acquired. He thought the house would acknowledge that the way in which this matter had been put by the French Government to her Majesty's Government, and in which they were prepared to deal with the question, was such as to show that, so far from our having any cause of complaint against them for the course they had adopted, they had met as in a friendly and generous spirit. (" Oh, oh !") Perhaps the hon. gentleman who interrupted him would do him the favour to listen to the grounds on which he had stated that opinion. The way in which the matter stood was this : The French Government were always in the habit of per mitting their consular authorities to issue passports to British subjects desiring to travel abroad. It was true that that practice had been withdrawn, but with a distinct acknowledgment on the part of the French Government that they were not only willing, but bound to admit any regulation which the British Government were prepared establish before they issued their own British passports. (Hear, hear.) So that if fault was to be found in this matter it was to be foaled with the British Government rather than with that of France. The result of the late regulation had been doubtless one of considerable incon venience, and it very early attracted the notice of her Majesty's present Government, as it had also, ho was bound to say, attracted that of the Government who preceded them. It had since been the object of her Majesty's present Government to consider how they could best deal with the practical question, and how they could give passports which the French Government would be willing to accept. In issuing passports the Government considered they were not entitled to inquire into the political or moral ante cedents of the persons who applied for them. (Hear, hear.) What they thought a passport should be was a certificate of citizenship, which would identify the person to whom it was granted as a British subject; and beyond that it had not appeared to them they were entitled to go. (Hear, hear.) But still the observance of some formalities would always be necessary with the view . to ascertain that the applicant f or a passport was a British subject ; and the departm e nt w ith which he was connected was now engaged in considering most carefully how the greatest facilities for granting passports could be given I consistently with a due regard to the necessary identifica tion. (Hear, hear.) Tt had been said that it was a new feature that passports could only be issued in London. Practically that was so before, because he had ascertained from certain rrturns on the subject that 80 or very nearly 90 per cent, of the passports issued by the French consular agents were issued in London. But he might state that it was at present in contemplation by her Majesty's Govern ment to appoint passport officers in some of the most con siderable seaport towns ; and he thought it probable that such officers would be stationed at Dover, Folkestone, Now haven, Southampton, and Liverpool; but such arrangements would be made as experience might suggest to be beat calcu lated to meet the requirements of the case. But there was another subject—that of the vise—which had been sug gested by the hon. member for Nottingham (Mr. Walter). He was bound to say that having seen statements in the public papers that British subjects had been sent back from Boulogne in consequence of not having the vise of the Con sul General in London, his department had asked for in formation on the subjeet, and they had been assured that if such a case had occurred, which appeared doubtful, it arose from some extreme misconception of his instructions by the authority at Boulogne. He would not deny that such a case had occurred, but if it had they had the autho rity of the French Government that it must have happened from the cause he hal just mentioned. But he would give another exemplification of the spirit in which the French Government had acted in this matter. It having been communicated to them that it was probably the in tention of her Majesty's Government to establish passport offices at some of the principal ports, they at once said they would meet her Majesty's Government half -way, and establish French consular agents at those ports, who should have the power to viler passports, and so prevent any in convenieuce which might otherwise happen. (Cheers.) One inconvenience was felt— viz., that tbe present amount charged for a Foreign-office passport was somewhat too large—(hear, hear)--that whereas before a passport from a foreign consul could be had for a small sum, passports could now only be procured from the Foreign-office at a fee which pressed severely upon artisans. He did not know what course, if any, his right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer might feel it his duty to pursue in this matter, but it was the earnest wish of the depart ment with which h e (M r. Fitzgerald) was connected to consider whether the amount now charged for a Foreign office passport could be reduced, so as to place it within the reach of every one. (Hear.) He thought he had stated all that was necessary in reference to this subject. He wished to deal with it as a practical question, and he thought the House would see that, so far from our having reason to complain of the French Government as regarded the regulations they had concocted in their own interest, they had thought to mitigate as far as possible any incon venience which that resolution might occasion. (Hear.) Mr. J. B. SMITH suggested that the mayors of such towns as Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham, and, indeed, of all other large towns, should have the power of issuing passports. Mr. KER said the only safe and dignified course for the Foreign-office to adopt was not to pretend to answer for the character of every person who obtained a passport, but to grant freely to every British subject the protection to which he was entitled. mischievoas intentions. (Cheers) I am able to state an in stance of each kind. Many years ago, not in the reign of the present Emperor, nor in the reign of Louis Philippe, but in that of Charles X., I was travelling from the north to the south of France, and one evening, when I arrived at my inn, an officer of police came to inspect my passport. Having looked at it he said , " Si r, if I did my duty I should arrest yon." " I am sorry to hear it," I replied, " but I hope you will do no such thing. Why ?" " Because your passport has not been Vise since you landed at Havre." I told him that was the fault of the French officials. But here was a harmless traveller -- (a laugh)—threatened with arrest because his passport was not in the condition required by the French regulations. (Hear.) Take the other instance. Orsini, who lately suffered for the attempt upon the life of the Emperor of the French, was actually travelling with one of my passports. He had obtained possession of a pass port which was given, not by myself, but by the officials at the Foreign-office when I WWI Secretary of State, to a Bri tish subject named Allsop. The passport was procured on the recommendation of a very respectable mercantile firm in London, and having been given to Alison was handed over to Orsini, who, although he did not carry upon his features that stamp of riationality which the hon. member for Nottingham thinks would be sufficient to identify a British subject, had nevertheless that stamp of nationality which is implied in the possession of a passport granted to a British subject by his own Government. Does not the case of Orsini show that passports are of no real use for the purpose of impeding the movements of dangerous charac ters on the continent? (H ear. ) It shows also that no regu lations which the British Foreign -office can establish for the purpose of identification can be effectual, because a pass port given to a British subject may be transferred to a fo reigner, and then all precautions fail, and the whole sys tem becomes a useless restriction on the motions of those who have no bad intentions, and who go to the continent only for the purposes of business or pleasure. But, as I said before, these are matters which foreign governments have a right to regulate according to what they may deem ne cessary for their own internal security. At the same time, if passports are required—not for British but for foreign purposes—by British subjects I quite admit th a t every facility ought to be given to British subjects for obtaining the papers necessary to enable them to travel on the con tinent. (Hear, hear.) It is quite true, as stated by the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, that inconveni ences resulting from the recent regulations were felt by the late Government. Those regulations were established experimentally and provisionally, in consequence of the French Government having forbidden their agents here to give passports to British su bj ects ; but I have no doubt that when the matter is looked into, and with the new re gulations which the Under - Secretary says the Foreign-office is about to establish, many of the inconveniences which are the necessary result of arrangements made in consequence of the action of another Government will be removed, and greater facilities will be given to British subjects wishing t e travel abroad. (Hear, hear.) I have only to say in con clusion, that if my right hon. friend the member for Pon tefract has no objection to the addition I have suggested, it will, I think, complete the case by showing the repre sentations which have been made by British consuls in the French ports of the inconvenience to individuals, and the expanse to the public, occasioned by th e f ac ili t i es wh i ch were formerly afforded by French consular agents here to tempt British workmen to go to France, when there was no real demand for their labour, and when, having nothing to do when they arrived there, they were compelled to be sent back as distressed British subjects. (Hear, hear.) , Mr. BRIGHT —I think the no bl e l or d was i n error when he stated that the right hon. gentleman the member for Pontefract had found fault with our Government for re ducing the price of passports. The right hon. gentleman, on the contrary, is one of those who think that passports should be as cheap as possible, (Hear, hear.) I have listened to the discussion to-night with great satisfaction, and lam sure the country will receive with pleasure the observations which the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs has addressed to the house. (Hear, hear.) There are two things which our Government can do. In the first place it can make friendly representations to foreign Powers for the purpose of prevailiug upon them to lessen as much as possible the difficulties which are interposed in the way of a traveller on the continent. (Haar, hear.) It can do nothing further with foreign Powers, because I take it for granted that we are bound to submit to any regulations which a f ore i gn Government may make ; but with respect to our own country, it can do almost anything. (Hear, hear.) Our Mini s t ers d o not care a straw, I presume, what E ng li s h man travels abroad, where he goes, or how long he s t ays away ; they give him a p ass p or t mere l y be cause forei gn G overnments will not admit him into their territories without one. But foreign Governments do not ask that we should charge 7s. for our passports. ("Hear, hear," and laughter.) They do not ask that we should bring men from all parts of the country to any particular city for the purpose of getting passports, nor do they re quire that poor people, who have no influential friends, who do not know a banker or a member of Parliament, should find it almost impossible, as we have recently seen proved in the newspapers, to obtain a passport at all. (Hear, hear.) The inconveniences of which so much com plaint is made are owing to the conduct of our own Go vernment and to the want of common sense in these mat ters manifested by the Foreigx-office in past times. (Hear, hear.) I agree with the hon. member for Stockport that it would be very undesirable to establish passport-offices in the various towns throughout the country. We know what a passport-office would become. First of all there would be a considerable amount of patronage. All members of Government, it is true, when they speak of patronage pro fess to care nothing whatever about it. (A laugh.) At the same time, whenever anymeasure creatingpatronage comes before Parliament, I observe that as much patronage is provided for as can be conveniently put in an Aet of Parlia ment. If you were to have passport officers in Liverpool, Hull, and other large towns, the passport-officer would not have enough; to do, for the few persons he would have to attend to would not give him more than one or two hours' employment a-day, and he must be a respectable person and have a competent salary. My hon. friend pro poses that the Mayors of the different cities should have the power to give passp or t s ; an d I h ave no doubt whatever that that would be a convenient arrangement. The Mayor has the confidence of his fellow-townsmen, a very small fee would pay the expense. What object could there bells charging for a passport more than 6 I. ? You do not want wore money than would just pay the expense, and that might be provided for by a vote of that house, or by some small feu, for we do not want to tax our country men going abroad. If it were not for foreign countries we should have no passports; and therefore, being compelled to have passports, it is the duty of the Government to make the infliction as little as possible. (Hear) Acting upon that principle, any two men in that house might sit down, an tin half an hour draw up a schema by which all the difficulties would be removed, and which would be satisfactory to the country. (Hear.) I hope the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs will not conclude from these observations that lam dissatisfied with what he said. I think that what ho has stated shows that the Government are paying attention to the subject, and I hope that as long as he occupies his present position the house may be as well satisfied with any explanation he may have to give in future as with that he had just offered. (Hear.) Mr. DUFF said that he would not detain the house for more than three minutes, but that he wished to correct one error in a matter of fact into which the hon. member who had just sat down had fallen. It was quite a mistake to suppose that foreign governments did not care from what particular office a passport was issued. The possession of a Foreign -office passport made all the difference in the world to the comfort of a traveller. He would relate wee instance of this within his personal experience. He was travelling in Hung ar y b e f or e the effect s o f the Revolutionary War Ho arrived i n S em li n simultaneously witlla young Englishman who was going to Bucharest on commercial bu s i ness of great importance. much ch qu e i x t a e sppearsasetedd away, and England and when th e authorities wore against He hod a Foreign-office passport, signed by the noble lord the member for Tiverton, and to this the Austrian mili tary authorities paid the greatest possible respect, while they treated as little better th an a mere nullity the per fectly regular passport granted t o th e young Englishman by Col. Hodge, our then representative at Hamburg. He (Mr. Duff) was offered every facility for the prosecution of his journey, wills) the bearer of Colonel Eledge'e passport was forbidden to proceed to Bucharest, at which place, for all he (Hr Duff) knew to the contrary, he may not yet have arrived. (Hear, and laughter.) The CHANCE 15f.40 et of the EXCHEQUER -- It appears to me that the observations of the hon. member for Bir mingham are well entitled to the consideration of the passports among The office with w hi c h has thi s su bj ect under con the dist r ib u ti on o f n, if po ss ibl e, of accomplishing sm t i r d y ye e rh a ao s ti y i, 0. anf:r with t h ih e i a t : h ) .ce connected ee e nc a tte r i those two objects ; and without pledging the Government to any particular mode, I can assure the house that we wish the distribution of passports to be easy in all the principal ports of the country. The • have been some difficulties started by the municip dauthoricies with regard to this point, but I feel, after the discussion which has taken place, that those difficulties may be overcome. (Hear, hear.) The great object we have in view, and which I think the house will desire to sea attained, is that in future any Englishman who wishes to leave his country should find the process of obtaining a passport not expen sive nor troublesome, but one which might be gone through without the difficulty and cost an artisan might fear to encounter. (Hear, hear.) The addition proposed by the noble lord appears to, be one to which there can be no obj,!etion. Mr. el. MILNES, in reply, thanked the Under-Seora' ary for Foreign Affairs for his statement, in which there was but one point omitted, and that was the consideration of people wh o h a d b een i n the habit o t t he frequentin; the u r nuneberofports of France without any passports whatever. The an keen abolition of that privilege de served the attention of the Foreign-office. After the papers he now moved for were produced, he should again, if neces cry, call the attention of the house to the subject. The motion was then agreed to, with the addition pro posed by Lord Palmerston. MARRIAGE LAW AMENDMENT. Lord BURY rose to move for leave to introduce a bill to legalise marriage with a deceased wife's sister, and in doing so he said he felt he ought to make an apology, be cause this subject, which had employed the talents of a dis tinguished member of that house, had now fallen into his hands. In his opinion there ought to be uo ambiguity in the law on this subject, but its provision and prohibitions should bo clearly an d distinctly declared. The law in its present state was, h owever, open to very considerable doubt. He need hardly refer to the ease of " Brook v. Brook," by which the question of the validity of these marriages between British subjects abroad had been raised. In the absence of any parallel case Mr. Justice Cress well's opinion upon that trial must be regarded as the authori tative declaration o f the existing law of England. That de cision hid not b een arrived at without very laborious and state of etxhaemlian,avtion, wass analintownia s e a therefore a e n v ( r i d seantti sfa thatty he. c Indeed he had been told th a t other dist i nguished judges bad, upon precisely t h e same evidence, arrived at diamet rically opposite con c l us i ons. That house had on three se parate occasions e xpressed its delibsrate opinion that the present law on this su bj ect should be reversed, and that principle had been affirmed upon no less than 30 div's'ons. o t r Upwards of 5,000 petitions, with hundreds of thousands of signatures, had b een presented to both Houses of Par liament in favour of the change in the law which would be effected by the bill he asked leave to introduce. The law as it stood was, he believed, at variance with the feelings of a large majority of the community, and it was therefore fitting to inquire how that law had been established. The Roman law, which coincided almost exactly with the Mo saic law in this respect, contained no prohibition of these marriages; an I subsequently they were not forbidden by the statute or the canon law, which depended almost (sr o'u,ively upon Scriptural law. The question to be deter mined seemed, therefore, to be reduced to these narrow points—whether the alleged Scriptural prohibition really existed; and, whether, failing such prehibitien, Lord PA.LMERSTON.—As far as the late Government are concerned they have no objection to the production of the papers in the way in which the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs has agreed to them, but I would suggest an addition to the motion of my right hon. friend the member for Pontefract, viz.—copies or extracts of any correspond ence that may have been received at the Foreign-office from British consuls on the coast of France, say within the last two years, on the subject of the inconvenience caused by British workmen arriving in France furnished with pass ports given to them by French consular agents in Great Britain. It has often happened that British workmen have been induced to go to France by Weans of pass ports granted by French consular agents in this country, tempted to proceed thither when there was no real demand for their labour, and they have frequently been exposed to great inconvenience, while the public has incurred considerable expense, by their return as distressed British subjects unable to procure their own means of transport. The addition which I have suggeetel will complete the view which my right hon. frioad wishes to lay before the house with respect to the passport system. I quite agree with the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs that the passport system is an internal and domestiq regu lation of the French Government with which the British Parliament has really no right to interfere ; and I quite differ ;rem my right hon. friend themernber for Pontefract in the opinion which he expressed, that the late Govern ment, by enlarging the facilities for getting passports, established a passport system in this country. They di.l no such thing. The passport issued from the Foreign office had nothing whatever to du with any internal regu lation here, but was merely given to a British subject for the purpose of enebling him to travel ith ioterruption on the continent. My right hon friend blamed the Go vernment for reducing the price of passports, but he ought to have recollected that the reduction from 2/. Gs to 78 6d was made incompliance with the expressed wishes of this houae. (Hear.) It was not at all a spontaveous act on the part of the Government, on the contrary, it was attended with a good deal of departmental inconvenience, and was resolved upon in deference to the wish of Parliament that Eritish subjects should be enabled to obtain at a small cost that sanction of their own Government which would egnsfiet.theunitefarro.m) ol u es i t w at a io r n ee wh w e i n th tt t a h v o e s l e lin w g h o o n ho tt t c h o a n t - The , re :pit em 1, truth of very little value. (Hear.) ter... ta Y tio,c l qfe e ct of it is to embarrass innocent travel pwriport . 11 in g 4 he proceedings of tliose who go about with these marriages were so inexpedient that it was necessary they should be forbidden upon other grourels. It could scarcely be supposed the Almighty had left such an im portant subject unregulated, and the Scriptural argument seemed to lie within a very narrow compass. Either these marriages were prohibited by Scripture or they were not. If they were so prohibited he called upon those who ob jected to them to point to the passages containing the pro hibition. If they were not prohibited by Scripture he con tended that the provisions of the statute law ought t he brought into conformity with that Divine law upon which they professed to be founded. The 18th verse of the 18th chapter of Leviticus was the only passage in Scripture which referred directly to marriage with a deceased wife's sister, but he believed the opponents of such marriages did not rest their Scriptural objections upon that passage. They relied upon the 16th verse, in which a man was pro• hibited from marrying his brother's widow, and they argued that as the relationship was the came in both cases, the law which forbade one marriage equally forbade the ( Vier. He thought the answer to this argument was that all the prohibitions contained in Leviticus were amplifica tions of the prohibition in the 6th verse of the chapter as to marriage with near kindred ; but ho sister of a man's wife was not near of kin to him. It appeared, however, by analogy that marriage with a deceased wife's sister was sanctioned, for although the 16th verso of Leviticus prohi bited a man from marrying his brother's widow, and by the 18th verse be was forbidden to marry his wife's sister in her lifetime, in the 25th of Deterouomy men were com manded, under circumstances which must often have oc curred, to marry their brothers' widows, fhe Church of England did not claim infallibility for its canon law, and Lord Lyndhurst'e Act totally subverted a canon, by de claring absolutely void marriages which, according to the canon law, were only voidable. It was true that marriages of this nature were prohibited by two of the early councils, but they were not oecumenical or general councils, and the prohibition extended only to the dioceses of the bishop by whom the councils were at tended. A similar prohibition was also contained in the Reformatio Legun, commenced in the reign of Henry VIII., and continued in that of Edward VI., but as it never received the assent of Parliament, Barns, in his Ecclesiastical Law, declared that it could not be regarded as having the force of law. In 150, Queen Eliz ibeth, wishing to establish her legitimacy on morn definite grounds, requested Archbishop Parker to draw up a table of degrees within which marriage was prohibited. In this table the prejudices of the Queen who employed him were naturally regarded. A brother's wife was declared to be one of the prohibited degrees, because on the nullity of Henry the Vllre marriage with Catherine of Arragon de pended her legitimacy. And it was said that a deceased's wife's sister was also declared a prohibited degree in order that Elizabeth might be enabled to say to Philip of Spain, who wished to propose for her on the death of her sister Mary, that the feeling in England was 'o great and general ag rinet such a ma.rriege that she dare not accept him. Be that as it might, Archbishop Parker only called his work an admonition suited to the requirements of the times, and he was so careful not to assert for it air authority which it di i not possess that he noted on the fly leaf the names of certain e ' , Meat divines who differed from him upon this point. There was no absolute statutable prohibition in this country on the subject of these marriages. The judges had, however, once or twicoint erpre t e d t h e l aw i n another sense ; and the present bill would simply be an explana tory ono, declaring that, whatever decisions might have bsen given in the Court of Queen's Bench or elsewhere, marriage with a deceased wife's sister should be no longer void or voidable, but should be just and honourable in every respect whatever. (Hear ) There were some hon. gentlemen who did not found their objections to these mar riages either on the canonical or statute law or on Scrip tural grounds, but who urged the argument of social ex pediency. He was now merely asking leave to introduce a bill, and this, therefore, was not the time to e.n'er at length into this point. He could only answer such objec tions, vague and shadowy as they were, by asserting against them the broad principle that every man should be free to do what seemed good in his own eyes, provided it did not interfere with the rights of his fellow-men. He thought the advocates of these marriages might fairly claim th a t th e scruples of their opponents should not be trust upon them, seeing that they believed no Scriptural prohibition existed. If such a prohibition could be pointed out they would at once give up their advocacy of this measure; but if that was not the case, the present law certainly abridged the liberty which belonged of right to Englishmen. Reserving for another occasion any refe rence to the argument of expediency, ho should now sim ply ask leave to introduce this bill, and he trusted that Parliament would not refuse their permission. (Hear.) Mr. DIVETT complimented the noble lord upon the modesty with which ho had introduced the motion, but totally dissented from the arguments. Whatever might be his (Mr. Divett's) views as to the scriptural authority, he entertained no doubt as to the social evils to which the proposed change would give rise. He contended that the statutory prohibition had been most distinctly declared, and could only believe that the noble lord appeared as the org .n of the Marriage Law Reform Association. That association had taken great pains to affirm the legality of marriage of our country people abroad, and the conse quence had been that many unfortunate women, acting upon this dictum, had been married abroad. He believed that there was no more validity in such marriages than is the broomstick marriage of a gipey's camp. (Oh, oh). Why, many w omen w h o had b een so married had subse quently lost their property in this country. He should oppose the introduction of the bill, believing that it would open the door to considerable social evil. Only that morn ing a pamphlet had been put into his hands, emanating from the above association, he believed, stating that the noble lard the late First Minister of the Crown had de clared that the moral feeling of the community was not in consonance with the present law, and that he should be happy to vote for its repeal. Ile (Mr. Divett) shoald like to know whether the noble lord really entertained that sentiment. The pamphlet gave authorities, legal and otherwise, but it was well known that cases could be so put to counsel that opinions could be almost had to order. (Hear, hear, and a laugh,) He should oppose the bill at every stags, believing that it was fraught with moral and social evils. (Hear, hear.) Mr. MA.LINS rose to correct an error which had been made with respect to the case of Brook v. Brook, which had recently been heard in Chancery. Mr. Brook was a gentleman or weal:h and good position, living at Hudders field, and having lost his first wife, he marrie i her sister in Denmark, in a country where it was known that such marriages were held to be lawful. Several children were born of the second marriage, and some years, after, whilst Mr. Brook and his wife were travelling in Switzerland, Mrs. Brook was taken ill of cholera at Basle, and was taken to Frankfort where she died on a Monday. Ilufor tunatelv, symptoms of the same complaint appeared in her husband, and he was induced to go down to Cologne, where be also died on the Wednesday after. Mr.' Brook had previously made a will, providing for some of hie children—the result of these ley the second marriage being considered illegitimate by the English law; but whilst at Cologne he was induced to make another will, by which he give all of them absolute interest in his real and personal estate. One of these children of the second marriage died shortly after, and the question then arose whether there was any legal heir or any legal next of kin of this child with respect to the estate. The question came to be argued before Vice-Chan cellor Sir J. Stuart, who, considering the importance of the case, called in the ail of Sir C. Creswell to assist him. Sir C. Creswell gave au opinion upon the case about a month after, in which he stated that, in his judgment, the second marriage was illegal and the children illegitimate ; but this was only an opinion for the assi truce of the judge (the Vice-Chancellor) who had not yet•given his judgment. It was intended that the question when decided should go by appeal to the House of Lords; but at prese n t it mus t be considered as s u bj u li ee, and there was no decision upon it. It must, however-, be confessed that the law as it stood was couched in very indistinct terms. No doubt the law stated that such marriages should be void, but then it was understood that a similar expression was contained in Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act, and it was always interpreted to mean that such marriages were not void, but voidable. Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act declared that marriages under age, without consent of parents, were void ; but Gretna Green marriages, when young ladies were married without consent of their parents, were well known not t o void. The l aw , th erefore, called' for some alteration. If there really was a personal disability attaching to a per son, it was absurd to suppose it did not attach by his simply going across the water to live in Denmark. There had now been two divisions on this question, and on both occasions he (Mr. Means) had voted against any alteration in the law. Great social evils might possibly arise from legalis ing these marriages ; but from the close attention which he (Mr. Malins) has given to the subject, he was compelled to say he could not concur in the conclusion of his hon. friend the member for Exeter (Mr. Divett). He agreed that the Scripture argument fell to the ground; it was re duced therefore to a question of social expediency, of social propriety, of social edvautages, and if it was found impos sible to prohibit the desire to contract these marriages, if they could not prohibit .attempts to evade the law, they had better alter the law. In spite of this opposition these marriages continued to be solemuisad ; wives on their death beds, as appeared from the report, expressed their desire that if their husbands married again it should be to their sisters ; and under that state of things it behoved the house to consider whether they should continue to make illegal what they were incapable of prohibiting. At any rate, he 'Mr. Malins) should vote in favour of the introduction of EQUALISATION OF POOR RATES. Mr. AYRTON moved for leave to introduce a bill to provide a rewe fy for the inequality in the rates for the relief of the poor in the metropolis. Those poor were not, as in the country districts, descended from ancestors who had long lived in the locality ; they were importations accidentally placed in a particular parish, which ought not to be called upon to bear separately a charge which be longed to the whole metropolis. A metropolitan parish was not, as in the country, divided amongst the rich and the poor ; but one parish was the abode of wealth, while another was the abode of poverty. He entered at some length into the details of the bill, which proposed to establish a board of guardians for the whole metropolis, to be chosen from the Justices, and who should levy a uni form rate for the relief of the poor. Mr. WILLIAMS seconded the motion. Mr S. ESTCOURT said that it was due to the temper in which the bill was introduced, and the grievance alleged, to permit the bill t o b e i ntro d uced. But he reserved his opinion as to the merits of the bill, of which he doubted both the expediency and the practicability. If the bill I was good for the metropolis, it would be equally good for the country parishes. The difference between the two cases was very slight. Mr. J. LOCKE asserted that there was no similarity be tween parishes in the country and those in the metropolis. The present system caused the overcrowded state of poor dwellings, and many evils which would be removed by equalising the rates. Mr. ROEBUCK opposed the bill. It was unjust that different properties which had ben bought subject to I different rates, should be now rated equally. He regretted that the Government had not met the introduction of the bill by a direct negative. Mr. COX objected to the principle of the bill, though he would not oppose its introduction. Mr. BOUVERIE strongly objected to this mischievous bill, which would offer a temptation to extravagant expen diture, and destroy all motive to economy. He wished that the Government had shown more courage and refused its assent to the introduction of the bill. Mr. COBBETT was glad that the bill was introduced. He thought that rates in aid ought to be made in times of distress, though he woull not go to the length of a com plete equalisation of poor rates. Mr. TO WNSE YD supported the bill. Mr. AYRTON replied, and leave was given to bring in the bill. MEDICAL PRA.CTITIONERS. Mr. COWPER moved for leave to bring in a bill to re gulate the qualifications of practitioners in medicine and surgery. He said there were many jealousies and differ ences amongst members of the medical profession on the subject of reform, and when he was President of the Board of Health he was solicited to devise a plan which would meet the views of reformers and not trench upon the privileges of the old corporations. Ho was very strongly of opinion that persons who practised medicine should be duly qualified by education and training, and that those upon whom they practised should be able to have access to a register, in order to ascertain whether the persons he proposed to employ were properly qualified. While ho thought, that every person should have full liberty to choose any one he pleased to operate upon or to drug yet that no person should bo able to enjoy any public ap pointment who did not possess a proper legal qualification. He had reason to believe that, notwithstanding the fact that no practical result had yet been attained, the various discussions on the subject had not been fruitless. The pre sent legal qualification was partial in its application and in its jurisdiction, and anomalies existed with regard to the practice of the art which it was most desirable to re move. The first step, he thought, would be to establish a better minimum of qualification, but he considered it would be best tot to change the constitution of the , examining body, but to leave it to the council to determine what the particular examination should be. The present licensing bodies he would leave untouched, but ho proposed to leave the mode of registeri❑g the various branches of the profession to the council. The council he proposed should consist of persons nominated by the licensing bodies, six being nominated by the Crown. This arrangement w ould, he thought, relieve the council from the imputation of being a mere delegation. The rules of the council would be confirmed by order in council. One result of this p ►rticular form of government would be that the profession would have the benefit of ' organisation. He hoped the bill would be received as a contribution in the interest both of the public and of the profession. Lord PALMERSTON seconded the motion. Mr. WALPOLE said it appeared to him that this was the best proposition which had yet been made. (Hear, hear.) He should reserve his opinion, however, with re gard to the details of the measure. Lord ELCHO contended that the present proposal con • tained the pri❑ciple of the bill which he (Lord Elchoj submitted in 1856, and that the went of novelty could not be claimed for it. After a few words from Mr. HATCHELL, leave was given to bring in the bill. The report on the Customs Acts wai received, and the house adjourned at a quarter to t we've o'clock. the bill, in order that the whole subject alight undergo re consideration. (Haar, hear.) Mr. W. J. FOX thought 'the house ought to feel itself indebted to the hou. and learned member for his frank declaration that he now thought Parliament should Wee this import nt subject under consideration. (Hear, hear.) This was a question on which he thought a liberty of interpretation should be permitted, and on which it ought not to be held that authority was not explicit. (Hear.) The dissenting body had expressed an opinion in favour of legisla ion, but it was not right, to set up the views of one class of men against another class. The scriptural prohibi tion, then, was open to interpretation. He was a staunch advocate for liberty of conscience, and was quite opposed to enforcing the dictates of his own conscience on that of other people. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) The scriptural prohibition clearly related to the state of polygamy which existed at the time. But were the argument drawn from Leviticus still stronger, ho should doubt its force. Tee only question was, whether they would oppose the law of the country to the law of nature. For this reason he should cheerfully suppert the measure. Mr. J. B. HOPE, referring to Lord Hardwicke's act, found that the marriages there spoken of were declared absolutely null and void. This was a question which agi tated deeply all classes of society. The agitation in this matter had been fostered by a paid agency. Those who had broken the law had sent round their age uts. The Royal Commission which had been issued on the subject had made a report, which was simply a husk of the pro ceedings by the paid agents. No care was taken before that commission to bring those persons whose peace would be destroyed by an an alteration of the law. He meant the women of the country. In Scotland the feeling was una nimous on this subject. It hid been slid that there was a holy feeling between the chil , ran, and the sister of the mother. It was in the interest of that feeling that he op posed this measure. That holy feeling would cease, and come in competition with other feelings, if the wife's sister became the wife. It was said that England was the only country in th e wor l d i n which a man could not marry his wife's sister, but it must, be borne in mind that England was the only country in which a man could not marry his blood niece or his blood aunt. If they were to allow a man to marry his wife's sister, why should they not allow him to marry an aunt or niece. Mr. WHITBRED supported the bill in the interest mainly of the poorer classes. He was ex !cedingly unwil ling to argue the question upon any isolated texts of Scripture, w hi c h no doubt might be produced upon both sides of the case; and he reminded the house that souse 3,000 or 4,000 years ago no great blame was excited by a mare's marrying two sisters during the lifetime of them both. The arguments of the hon. and learned member opposite might do very well for those rich persons who were able to cunsalt lawyers upon the subject, bat if h e were to add ress t h em to a poor man in the manufacturing districts he would probably be told, "Sir, while my wife was alive I loved and had every reason to respect hlr. Now that she is removed from me Providence has in His good- MR. SMITH O'BRIES 'S r ADDRESS TO THE kind fit to allow t o my helpless c h D ro p a guardian as kind and as good. I see her moving about my cottage en- TRISH PEOPLE. mod in all the offices of a mother to my children. .1 love ~—.........._. her for my former wife's sake, and she Is willing to marry me for my child ren ' s sa k e. W e h ave s t u di e d t h e Bible; we Mr. Smith O'B r i en h as put out an address to t h e ' see no pr o hibiti on , an d we h ave no qua l ms on the mat- people of Irel an d respect i ng the line of policy they ter." Whit right bad Parliament to interfere and to say ought to adopt under the circumstances in which * that in such a case such a marriage should not take change of G ivernmsnt has placed them. Ireland, he place? There might, no doubt, be some who would be is as fully convinced now as he was in 1844, ought seedy to transfer their worthless affection from the wife to to be sati fled with nothing less than the restoration the sister-in-law; but with such persons would the inti- of its domestic legislature, and government. He is elle macy of the sister-in-law b e sa f e new e (a eao , hear.) They of those who think " that if the people of Ireland were were told that the whole fabric of society and the very animated by a truly patriotic spirit, this country would existence of the people were built upon the Purity of the be able to maintain its independe nce under guarantees marriage institution, and the close knitting of family ties. of security much ore effective than those which He believed that ; but he hoped that they rested upon are enjoyed by Rolland, Bavaria, Wurtem something a little clearer to every intelligence, and a little berg, the TwoSicilies, the Bilgium,kingdom of Sardinia, Den more comprehensive to the conscience, than the prohibi and Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, or tion which was the subject of consideration. (Hear, hear.) mark, Nor way Mr. MEIMOR, believirg the law to be clear on this sub- Greece." He avows himself to be one of those who ject, thought the bill ought to be introduced, and that it think that many occasions have occured in past times ought to be passed. These marriages wero of const a nt re- when .the Irish - people would have been fully jnstified in petition amongst the lower classes. It was on that ground seeking to obtain by force of arms the independence of that he believed the law ought to be altered. the.r country. But he is not prepared to contend that Mr. GILPIN said it was a distasteful thing to have it is expedient at ad times to inctir the hazards of 'rebel theology dragged into the discussions of that house. No lion in an attempt to secure the national independence question ever required less re'erence to theol o gy th a n this. ,of Ireland. If h e were an i n h ab i tant of A estralia Some hon. gen tl emen i n every question went back for argu- or of Canada he should be content with the meats under the shadow of old Arrarat. Most of the quo tations, to o , were very un h appy. Robert Southey said this system of self since was an abomi na bl e re li c o f ecclesiastical tyranny. Luther it . Is capable o f f u t ure d evelopment to a exists in tho s e p rov i nces "more especiallymore said the sam e thi ng i n ot h er words. Archbishop Whately , was in favour o f th e proposed measure, and so was the re- perfect state of i n d epen d ence, " and as an Irishman ceutly appointed Bishop of C ar li s l e . D r . Ch a l mers an d D r. he would b e satisfied to uphold an international con- Eddie were both in favour of this measure, and s o was th e is ct on b-treen Great Britain and Ireland, provided that Rev. Dr. Bunting. He trust e d th a t th e measure wou l d b e t h ey could enjoy, under an Irish Parliament and an Irish passed into law. I ministry, the practical advantages of self-government. Mr. BIGG knew from experience as a magistrate tint ' lie must remind those whom he is addressing that in the measure was absolutely necessary. 1843, 1844 and 1845 a large majorty of the Irish people Mr. LYGON could not see if a men were permitted to ' ,!edged themselves to a policy, of which the right cf the marry his wife's sister, why he should be prevented from Irish nation to enjoy domestic legislation was the basis. marrying a wife's daughter by a former marriage. He de- Circumstances have induced them to suspend this precated theological discussion i n th a t house, because he c/ ices, but " the course of events may hereafter lead believed that tho members of that house did not rise from to it revival " At great length Mr. O'Brien then theological discussion either better or wiser. He should e: urscusses what ought to be the temporary and second not, therefore, deal with this as a theological subject. It ary policy of the people of Ire land, . and be finally comes should be argued upon natural alai pure grow ds, and he ' to the conclusion that they ' ought to look on as im believed the proposed measure would violate both the law of nature a n d o f G o d. , part al sp ec t ators o f th e combat of English parties, with ci.'terirnr ate n to avail th emse l ves o f f uture contingen- Loid GODERICH sa id no one ventured to maintain a ' c that in the ey es o f th e pu bli c th i s was not eminently a iee in s uch a manner as s h a l l best promote the special social question. It was true that it might be said that intereete of Ireland and the general interests of man some of the rich might be benefited by this bill, but was hind." The following is the conclusion of his address : that a reason why it should be rejected? They ought t o —" ro me and to you it matters little whether, in rela look upon this question practically. This measure, nr,tead ton to the past, the Whigs are or are not more deserving of lowering the morality of the working classes, would be of condemnation then the conservatives. Let us en a great means of elevating it. Speaking on b3half of his deavour to ones ide for the future rather than repine over own constituents, this was a question on which existed a the past. Tee p r now submitted for solut:o is, strong opinion in the inanufecturing districts. There was "What are t ie measures which the Irish people ough t to nothing mote dangerous than attempting to force legisla demand from Parliament ?' To the party which shall pro tint] which was not in accordance with public opinioe, and cure file enactment of such measures,. your members may as public opinion was sunnily in favour of this measure it ' was the duty of the Legislature to adopt it.lf ri n g be J g not indiscriminate support, Mr. PULLER sa id th e l aw o f E ngland professed to be but forbearanc e from ii y t sterna io o pposition. Know - icg well how powerl ess i s t h e action of Irish opinion based on the Divin e l aw , an d as t hi s measure was opposed to the Divine l aw h o cou ld not support it This house u p on th e British Parliament, I feel much indisposed to was not the proper place to discuss the question, nor yid encourage my fellow countrymen to look to that quatter he feel competent to argue it; but he did hold very for useful legislation ; but however much we may regret strongly the opinion that the passage in Leviticus did for- the absence of a domestic legislature, and however much bid such marriages, and nothing he had heard to-night we may di- truet the British Parliament, the public voice had tended to alter his opinion, of this country ought not to be wholly silenced by the The house then divided, when the numbers were : iefluence of these s gitiments. We ought rather prove For the introduction of the bill lO5 our capacity for self-government by submitting, from Against Mejority —43 calculated to promote the well-being of our own country The result was received with loud cheers by the and of mankind. I reserve for a future address an sue majority. meration of some measures w hi c h appear to deserve your Leave was then g i ven t o L or d B ury, Mr. Schneider, and Mr. Mon c kt on Mil nes t o b r i ng i n the bill. immediate attention. Country Markets. LIVERPOOL, MARCIE 23. Our market this morning was well attended. Wheat met a slow sale, at a decline of 1 d per 701bs on the prices of last market day. Tho lower grades of American flour inquired for at a reduction of 6d per barrel; whilst better kinds were neglecte I. Oats and oatmeal quiet, and a shade lower. Barley, beans and peas firm. Indian corn was in limited reque4t, at a decline of 6d per qr on mixed and yellow, and is on white. We quote American new yellow 345, old mixed 34s 6d, Black Sew 318 9d, and white Ameri• can 33s 94:1 to 34. LEEDS—MARCH 23. There is a good show of wheat fresh up this morning, which meets a slow sale at 18 below late rates. Barley is also very plentiful, and best sorts difficult of sale, while inferior are neglected. Beans slow. Other articles nn• changed. : Ages for the week Wheat, 46s 2i vera d I Oats, 25s 111(1 1 Peas, 39s 9.N. Barley, 37s 9id I Beans, 39s sid Rye, —a Od. NEWCASTLE—MARCH 23. English wheat a slow sale, and th• prices of last market day barely obtained. In foreign little offering, and almost neglected. Holders not disposed to accept lower Niue& Flour heavy, and former prices scarcely obtained. Barley not quite so brisk. Oats steady at full rates. Beans and peas unchanged. HULL— MARCa 23. The weather very warm, and fine. Only a moderato attendamo, with a small supply. Wheat from is to 2s lower. Spring corn scarcely a sample on market, and prices nominal. Wheat, English red, 4-2. to 46s ; white 46s to 50s; oats, 24s to 28s ; barley, 32s to 363 ; Indian corn, 31s; linseed cakes, Hull, V/ 17s 6d to —? Os ; ditto, foreign, 81 Cs to 8/ lOs ; rape cakes, 5/ 15s Od to 61 Os ; guano, —1 to ; bones, 6 / 1 55.; flour, —s to -s; tares, —s to —s. NORWICH--21A.RcH 20. At our corn market to-day there was a good supply of wheat, which met a slow sale at is under the last week's prices. Scarcely any other grain offering. White wheat, 48s to 503; red, 42s to 46s ; barley, 390 to 415.; flour, 29s 6d per sack; beans, 40s to 445; peas, 423 to 435; oats, 28s to 303. COURSE OF EXCHANGE.—YZSTERDAY. tansterclam • 11 15 Gibraltar .. ••••• • • • Ditto, three months 11 174 Leghorn .... 29 674 itotterdans ............ • 11 174 Genoa ....... 25 574 Antwerp .............. 25 P 5 Milan ...... •• .. •• arussels .... 25 35 Venice • liamburgh ............ 13 6k Naplep ••••••••• . 41% A ltona .• • • • • Palermo .... •• •• Paris • • ...... • • ... 25 124 Messina . Do. three months ••25 40 Lisbo •n ..• ... • •••• 51% Maneilles •• •••••••• 25 40 Oporto .. •• •• •••••• • •• 51% Bourdeaux •••• • • Rio Janeiro..... .• • Frankfort-on-Maine 118% Buenos Ayres.....• .... Berlin .• •• •• •• •• ••• • •• • • New York,6o daya' sight -- Vienna - ..•• •• •• •• •• •• •• .. 10 34 ,Philadelphia •• •• •••• • • Trieste.. •• •• •• •• •• •• 10 35 PRICES OP BULLION, PER OZ: eetersburg 35 4 Foreign Gold In Bars £3 17 9 • ....„... 49 Portugal Gold Coin .. 0 0 0 Cadiz ......... •• 49% /Mexican Dollars .... 05 0 Barcelona .......• .. New Dollars ...... 0 0 0 Seville... ..• .• Silver ill bars 0 5 1% ILLICIT DISTILLATION.--FATAL CONFLICT.—OnThum day last, the 18th inst., two policemen of the Artielava constabulary station, near Coleraine, whilst in pursuit of an illicit still in the parish of Magilligan, were resisted by a man named Edward M'Callion and his son. A conflict ensued, when the elder M'Callion was stabbed to the heart by one of the policemen, and fell dead ; his son also received a bayonet thrust. M'Callion had been more than once fined for making illicit whisky. A DVE iTISBAINNT. - SIGHT AND HEARING - SrEctsciais— POWERFUL TELESCOPES OPERA, RACE, AND PZILSPECITIVG GLASSES. -S. and B. Solortions, opticians, 39, Albemarle street, Piccadilly. Observe—opposite the York Hotel, W. By her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent for valuable and ex traordinary improvements in the most powerful and brilliant Telescopes, Camp, Race-course, Opera, and Perspective Glasses, to know the aistances. These Telescopes possess such extraordinary power that some, three and a-half inches, with an extra eye-piece will show distinctly Jupiter's moons, Saturn's ring, and the double stars ; with the same telescope can be seen a person's countenance three-and-a-half miles distant and an object from 16 to 20 miles. For waist coat-pocket, and are of larger, and all si z es, with increasing powers accordingly. The Royal Exhibition, 18 51. —A valu able, newly-invented, very small, powerful, Waistcoat-pocket Glass, the size of a walnut, by which a person can bo seen and known one and a-half mile distant, They answer every pur pose on the Race-course and at the Opera-houses. Country scenery and ships are clearly seen at 12 to 14 miles, They ,are invaluable for shooting, deer -stalking, yachting, to sportsmen, gentlemen, gamekeepers, and tourists. Opera, Camp, Perspective, and Race-c , arse Glasses, with wonderful powers. invaluable preserving Spectacle Lenses of the gr • test transparent pwwer. The great advantage derived from this invention is, that vision impaired becomes pre served and strengtkened and very aged persons are enabled to employ their sight at the most minute occupation —can see with those lenses of a much loss magnify ing power—and they do not require the frequent changes to the clan. geroas effects of further powerful assistance. Persons can be suited at the mos , remote part of the world by send. in: ono of the glasses out at their spectacles in a letter, and stating the dist 'ilea from the eye they can read small print with in, and those who have not made use of spectacles by swing their age. Deafness. —New Discovery. —The Ozganio Vibrator, as extraordi, ari:y powerful, small, newly-invented instrument for deafness, entirely different from all otners, surpassing anything of the kind that has been, or probably can be, produced. Being of the same colour as the skin, is not perceptible. It enables deaf persons to hear distinct lyai church and at t üblie assemblies ; the unpleasant sensation of singing noises in the 'ears is entirely removed, and it affords all the assistance that possibly could be desired.-34. Albe marle-street; Piccadilly —Opposite the York flotel.W PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION. HOUSE OF COMMONS-1%1,nm 23. MARRIAGE LAW AMENDMENT. Motion made, and question put, " That leave bo given to bring in a Bill to legalise Marriage with a deceased Wife's Sister." The house divided-- Ayes 105, Noes 02. AYES—IOS. Adeane, H. Gard, R. Philips, R. Agnew, Sir A. Gibson, Milner Potter, Sir J. A Icock, T. Gilpin, C. Ramsdell, Si r J. Ayrton, A. Glyn, G. Itaynnam, Viscount Bagwell, John Goderich, Viscount Baines, Rt. Hon. M. G reene , J o h n Baring, Sir F. G rosvenor, Earl Biggs, John Gurney, J. H. Ricardo, l l t. -' o i c b a a r r a i t s, j 6 i. Black, Adam B rtiliain-Car ter, s ltt he ub l eP le lL .y tl7 ,; llV ;; l J. J. i ll i a a i m o i u l Hamilton, Slane.; , It. Bright, John Harcourt, G. G. Smith, J. B. Briscoe, J. Harris, J. D. R L o o b r e d rt Cland lirocklehurst, J. Headlam. T. Smith, A. Browne, Lord John Rolland, E. Spooner, R. Bruce, H. A. Hutt, W. Stapleton, John I Butler, C. S. Ingham, R. Thqinpson, General Caird, J. Jackson, W. Thornely, T. Campbell, it. J. It. Jervoise, Sir J. Townsherid, J. Cheethain, John King, L. Trelawny, Sir J. Clay, James Kinglake, A. Truman, C. Collier, R. P. Knatchbull-llaguessen Turner, J. A. Coningliam, W. Lindsay, W. Vivian, J. C. Coote, Sir C. IL Locke, JW,n WegnelinT. Crook, J. Luce, T. We , thead, Joshua Crossley, F. AI alins, Richard Whitbread, S. Dalglish, R. Mangles, R. D. White, lames Davey, it. Alangies, C . Wickhaxm. Dillwyn, L. L. M e ll or, J ohn Willco, IL Duncan, Viscount Mill s , T . B. Elphinstone, Sir J. M Williams, W.ilnes, R. Wiln, J. Evans, T. W. M orris, D. Wood so , Sir C. Fenw.ek, 11. N apier, Sir C. Wood, W. Ferguson, sir Robert _Nicoll, D. Young, A. Fitzgerald, W. R. S. Pa get, C. TELLER S . Forster, Charles Palmerston, Viscount Bury, Viscount f ox, W. J. Pease, Henry Schneider, Henry NOES-62. Aderle Adams, W. 11. Hamilton, G. A. North, Col. J. yc B , C. B. Hanmer, sir John Ogilvy, Sir J. Bernard, T. Packs, C. Barrow, W. 8 8 8 r o e , t e t i:l i je l l' t i e t ... , 1, (- 1:l o . 0 0 t r h e . j . . P . Kendall,l II o caa t i tll h .eic le a tY l e' n 'I G. 1 , j i N r j.. ..: Lord Pugh, D. Bridges, Sir B. Puller, Christopher Rusbout, ('apt. G. Smith, Sir ‘:'. King, J. Steuart, A. Cecil, Lora 11,, Kinnaird, A. Staliwan, Michael Clark, J. Langton, W. 0. Tottenham, C. Cox, Collins, T. Lennox, Lord IL G. Trellis's, C. W, Walcott, Admi ra l . L De Vere, S. E, L yall, George ygon, Hon. F. Waldron, L aurence Disraeli, B. Lytton, Sir E. Walpole, S. Dunbar Sir IV. Mackie, J. Whiteside, J. Esmoilie, J. M'Clintock, John Whitmore. ii. Esteoart, T. 31ainwaring, r . Wigratn, Loftus T. Fellows, E. Manners, Lord J. Wynne, W. Finlay. A. Monsell, W. Garnett, William Mowbray, J. R. T F.LLER.S. Gladstone, W. Naas, Lord Blvd t, E. Grecuall, Gilbert Newport, Viscount llo . pc, Alexander BIRTHS, ADAIR -On the 19th inst., at Heatherton-park, near Taunton, the wife of Hugh Edward Adair, Esq., M.P., of a son. DarsuALE-0 the 21st inst., at 52, Cleveland-square, Hyde-park, the wife of Joseph Cockfield Dimsdale, of a son. HOARE On the 22d inst., at Hampstead, Mrs. F. Hoare, of a daughter. STOKES--On the 22d inst., Mrs. Henry Graham Stokes, of a son. MARRIAGES. M I LLER — SEARLE—Oa the IBth inst., at St. Mark's, Ken nington, D an i e l J ames Miller, Esq., of 21, Cannon street w es t, so li c i tor, to Miss Marian Searle, n i ece o f W. Webb, E sq ., o f I psw i c h . W ALKER — DUNCE—Oa the 23d inst.. at St. Sepulchre's,George W a lk er , b u ild er, to Eliza Dunce, only surviving (laughter of Richa r d D unce, o f 03dalining, Surrey. DEATH S. akVI3ON—On the 21st ins'., at Brompton, Jas. Davison, Esq., formezly of St ran d- o n•the-Green, aged 69. LACY— On the 19th inst., Jane, wife of NV. Lacy, Esq. - - s SADD —On the 20th inst., Mr. James Sadd, Poplar, agad 79. STAPLETON—On the 2Gth inst., at Gray's court, Oxford shire, Miss Stapleton, aged 91, daughter of the late Sir Thomas Stapleton, Bart. STODDS —On the 22d inst., Mr. John Henry Stobbs, of West Strand, aged 69. ONDON Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Th,e Sun Office, No 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the connlY o f mi c ialcsax, Wednesday, March 24, 1t358.