The Sun. — London, England, 1858-05-07 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS. _(YESTERDAY. ) The LORD CHANCHLLOR took his seat on the woolsack M five o'clock. PRIVATE BILLS. On the motion of Lord REDESDALE the following bills were read a second time :—iialedonian Railway (Dal marnoch bran-:b) ; and Symington, Biggar and Brough ton Railway. The Haelingden and Rawtenstall Water Bill was read a third time and passed. Earl GRANVILLE said in consequence of what had been stated in another place, he felt anxious, although not strictly in order, to put a question to the noble earl the President of the Board of Control. He took the liberty of asking the noble earl whether it had come to his knowledge that a right honourable gentleman, the leader of the Government in another place, had stated that the Government disapproved in tote , I of Lord Canning's proclamation which appeared in the public journals this morning. He also wished to know whether the answer of the right hon. gentleman received the concurrence of the noble earl. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said of what took, place in another place he knew nothing. No communi cation bad taken place between himself and the right hon. gentleman referred to (Mr. Disraeli) as to the terms in which the answer should be given. The right hon. gentleman was perfectly cognisant of the contents of the letter which had been written to the Governor-General on the part of the Government. Earl GRANVILLE asked if the answer given to the question in another place contained a correct description of the views of the Government in reference to the pro clamation of Lord Canning I The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said the proclama tion, together with the answer would be laid on their lord ships' table to-morrow. CUSTOMS (No. 2) BILL. On the motion of the Earl of DONOUGHXORE, this bill was read a second time. EXCISE DUTIES BILL. On the motion of the Earl of DONOUGHMORE, this bill REVISION also read a second time. OF THE LITURGY. Lord EI3 URY rose to move that an humble address be presented to her Majesty for a commission, to c3nsi der whether the Liturgy of the Church of England be not capable of such alteration as may render it more profitable than it now is for the religious instruction and edifica tion of the people. The noble earl said he understood that a feeling of great hostility to the address was enter tained, more especially by the clergy in the province of Canterbury ; but he hoped before he resumed his seat to convince the right rev. prelates that there existed no good ground of hostility to is motion. It had fre quently been observed by some of the right reve rend prelates that the services of the Church were too long and quite unsuited to the requirements of the population. In no less than 11 principal cities of the kingdom there existed associations of the clergy, established solely for the purpose of obtaining a revision of the liturgy. In the course of 200 years we had got four or five services pressed into one, and the result was constant repetition, wearied congregations, and endless length, which tended to produce feelings quite the con trary to those intended. The Archbishop of CANTERBURY opposed the motion as calculated to promote discord in the Church. He was opposed to revision, as, in consequence of the divided state of public opinion, it would do more harm than good. Any such pr)position, moreover, should proceed from Convocation. The Bishop of ST. DAVID'S though favourable to the general views of the noble lord, was opposed to the mode in -which he sought to carry them into operation. Earl GREY admitted the necessity of some dhange, but trusted the motion would not be pressed to a divi sion. The Bishop of CASHEL disapproved any change not oriainated by a properly constituted body. Toe Earl of DERBY believed the alterations that would be expected from the appointment of a Commis. sion would not be limited to the removal of trifling and casual blemishes ; it would be anticipated that the Com mission would inquire into the merits and demerits of the whole Liturgy ; and to create such an impression would be a very serious inconvenience. The alterations L ,rd Ebury recommended might satisfy the wishes of a few anxious friends of the Church, but it was not to be expected they would t atisfy the large body of Dissenters, who differed from the doctrines of the establishment. A revision of the Liturgy would inevitably become a doc trinal question ; the cleanges would be discussed accord ing to their bearing for or against particular doctrines, and the result would be differences within the Churob itself. He hoped the motion would not be pressed to a division, opposed as it was by nearly the whole of the episcopacy, the great majority of the house, and, he be lieved, the best friends of the Church throughout the coun try. Earl - GRANVILLE thought the discussion might be left to produce its effect on the public mind, but the motion could not,b• pressed with any result. After a few words from Lord ARINGIEE, the motion was withdrawn. noir lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following private bills were read a third time and passed :—Cornwall Railway, Eastern Counties Railway, London and South Western Railway, Trent Naviga tion, and Vauxhall Bridge Road. Mr. SULLIVAN presented a petition from the pa rishioners of St. Patrick, in favour of tenant right. WINDSOR NEW ROAD BILL. Mr. C. FORSTER moved that the order that the re port do lie on the table, in reference to the Windsor New Road Bill, be read, and discharged ; that the bill be re corn mated to the former committee, with leave to sit and proceed on Friday.—Agreed to. RAILWAY BILLS (GROUP ,2). Col. W. PATTEN moved that Sir 3. Rarnsien be discharged from further attendance on Group 2 of Rail way 131Ilg.—Agreed to. EXPENSES OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT. Mr. MACARTNEY asked the following question of the Secretary to the Treasury—namely, whether, in compliance with the provisions of the Act 9 and 10 Vic., o. 92, the accounts and vouchers of the expenditure for the several branches of the service in the War Department for the year ending March 31, 1857, have been sent complete for examination and audit to the office of the commissioners for auditing the public accounts, and if not, what is the cause of the do lay, and in what section of the department the accounts have not been so completed (also, whether the out- standing 'accounts for the service of the army in the Crimea during the years 1854, 1855, and 1856, have been examined, arranged, and reported upon to the Audit Office or Treasury, for which service a first-class Commissary-General has been retained upon full pay since the close of the war in the East 1 . Mr. HAMILTON said that the accounts and vouchers referred to had been sent in for audit to the audit office. With regard to the latter part of the question, the ac counts for 1854 and 1855 had been sent in, and those for 1856 and 1857 were in course of preparation. Come missary-General Adams, with one assistant, was engaged on them. TREATY OF PEACE. Mr. HADFIELD asked the following question of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (under 14th Pro tocol, p. 59 of Conferences of the Plenipotentiaries at Paris, 1858, relative to the Treaty of Peace), there has been a revision of the stipulations which regulate the commercial relations of the Porte with other Powers, or in the position of foreigners resident in Turkey, and whether (agreeably to the recorded wish of the Plenipotentiaries) a deliberation has been opened at Constantinople since the conclusion of peace, between the Porte and other powers, with the view of attaining the twofold object in such a manner as to afford satisfaction to all legitimate interests ; and, if there had been no such revision and de liberation, whether this country, in its commercial rela tions with the Porte, ranked amongst the most favoured nations as to fiscal and other duties in all commercial transactions, and the residence of the British subjects in Turkey ; and whether any beneficial change had taken place since the war ; and were negociationa in progress to'facilitate the commerce of this country with Turkey I The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said no revision had as yet taken place on the subject to which the question referred, bat it would probably soon com• nsence. (Hear.) The inhabitants of England were placed on a par with the most favoured nations as to their commercial and civil privileges. The conruissioners under the Treaty of 1834 had not been able to revise the Turkish tariffs lately on account of the late war. INDIA.—TdE GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S PRO- CLA.MATION. Mr. BRIGHT--I wish to call the attention of the Vice. President of the Beard of Control to a proclama tion of the Governor-General of India, a purported copy of which appears in the pspers of to-day. [A. copy wi I be found in another column of this journal ] Toe proclamation in question authorises the Governor General of India to reserve the lan . s of certain ryots or zemindara in consideration of their general sta bility to the English rule, but that be proposed in the proclamation to confiscate generally all the soil of the kingdom of Oude, to be disposed of hereafter as the Governor-General and the Government of India shall think fit. What I want to know is, if that particular part of the proclamation was issued in accorJance with any direction from the Government in India, or if not, whether the Home Government has sent any directions with regard to it generally, and also for the right hon. gentleman to state to the house the steps ho intends to take with regard to it. The question is of so much im portance that I thiok the right hon. gentleman will agree with me it should be fully and distinctly answered. (Ilear, hear.) Mr. - BAILLIE Three weeks since her Maj'.isty's Government received a dispatch contaning a proclama tion from the Governor-G en eral of India, which it it w was stated his intention aFi her Majesty's troops e were in possestsoionisosfuetuacskusooown. That I believe i s the proclamation r e f erre d t o, a copy o f 1 which I have s een h t agree with those i n th e -d3 V papers.*l Its provisions , with the exception received by h er Majestys Gov-rnment of one para graph, which I believe has since been cdedtoit. As so on ss the proclamation was receiv e d : , Go vernment it was taken into consideration , herl Majesty's adispatch _ wai written and forwarded to 'the Go vernor - General a n ex pressing the views and the opinions of her Ma jesty's Government in reference to it. There would be no objection to lay a copy of the proclamation on the table of the house, and also a copy of the despatch written in reference to it. The confiscation was not inserted in the proclamation of the Governor- General of India in consequence of any instructions sent cut by her M jesty's Government, but it was issued en tirely on the authority of the Government of India. Mr. BRIGHT —Perhaps the light hon. gentleman I will tell the house the tenor of the answer of her Ma jesty's Government to the proclamation, that it may go forth to the country with the question and answer al ready given. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—A copy of the despatch shall be laid on the table of the house, as stated by the right hon. gentleman the Vice ' President of the Board of Control, but I think it right to state that when we received information of this in tended proclamation, her Majesty's Government took it into their consideration, and the despatch we have sent to the Governor. General of India disapproves of his policy in thi I respect in every sense. (Loud cheers.) TENANT RIGHT (IRELAND). Mr. GREER moved for a select committee to inquire into the nature, origin, and extent of the tenant right custom in Ireland, the recent violations of it in Donegal and other northern counties, and to consider and report how far it may be practicable to protect, for the benefit of the occupying tenants, the property which had been created sender that custom. The hon. gentleman entered at great length into the history of holdings in Ireland generally. Lord NAAS could not follow the hon. gentleman over the wide field which he had travelled with reference to the tenure of land in Ireland. The hon. gentleman asked for a committee to inquire into the system of te nant right as it existed in the north of Ireland. No doubt that was a question of importance ; but there existed in the library of the house ample information on the subject. In the reports of the Devon Commission every particular of the question was stated at full length. That commission had examined landlords, tenant, la lecturers, and every class, and had obtained the fullest information from the evidence. The tenant right in the north of Ireland differed from any such that existed in England ; for where it existed in England it only went to compensation for unexhausted improvements ; but in the north of Ireland it went much further, for large sums were given for the goodwill of the occupancy of farms. Much might be said for and against the custom. It often secured the landlord against arrears of rent, and it also secured the tenant compensation for improve ments : but it also often acted prejudicially, when tenant right expended all their capital in buying up the tenant right before they entered on the occupancy, and then they were crippled in their future operations. But the custom did exist in the north of Ireland, and there was a. disposition on the part of either landlord or tenant to get rid of it, and it was likely to remain in its present form, for he had heard of no attempts on the part of land lords and tenants in the north of Ireland to shake the custom. The hon. gentleman had mentioned one or two instances, but be admitted that there was no inclination to depart from what. What he (Lord Naas) wished to show was, that as the custom existed, it was beyond the power of Parliament to deal with it in any respect. Te nant right varied in different localities—its value differed from 51. to 201. an acre. It differed according to the price of agricultural produce, the demand fit land, the amount of population, and so on. Therefore it was im possible to legislate satisfactorily on a matter so various, and of such a different character in different localities. Much information could be obtained from the results of the labours of the committee of inquiry into English tenant right which was presided over by Mr. Pusey. The opinion to which that committee eame was, it was not possible to legislate satisfactorily for tenant right in England, and bow much more difficult would it be to legislate for tenant right in Ireland, where it went so much further than in England. He did not think teal any practical end would be gained by granting a com mittee. The information before the house was full and ample, and legislation was not only impracticable, but might be mischievous ; while any attempt to legislate would tend to lower the value of tenant right as it ex isted in Ireland. He should therefore oppose the motion. Mr. MACARTNEY said the hon. member for Lon donderry having referred by name to two landlords in that county who were friends of his, he wished to say a few words. He objected strongly to the practice of in troducing the names of persons in that house who were not able to answer for themselves. (Hear.) In no county was tenant right more established than in that, and yet there were some landlords who had no tenant right on their estates. Any attempt at legislation so as to touch that system would be disadvantageous to the tenant, for while the landlords were now content t 3 let things re• main as they were, if you came to legislate, the land lords, especially in an English House of Commons, would recover many rights which they did not now pos seas, It was not worth while to discuss this subject now, when there was an adjourned debate on the ques tion now before the house ; and he thought it would be better to proceed at once to a division, and negative the motion, Mr. C. FORTESCUE appealed to his hon. fiend whether it was Worth while to preen his motion. He (Mr. Fortescue) had a strong feeling in favour of the tenant right of Ulster. There might be objections to it, but he believed it to have been one main cause of the great prosperity of the north of Ireland. It had been a check on the evil of extravagant compe.ition for land in Ireland. But in the interests of Ul-ter itself, he ob jected to the inquiry sought. Tenant right was so various, it was almost impossible to embody it in any scheme of legislation.. The probable result of the copy of inquiry, if it was obtained, would be that it would come to the same conclusion as that which inquired into tenant right in England—namely, that legislation was impossible. Mr. P. O'BRIEN advised his hon. friend to withdraw hi 4 motion, because at present tenant right, as it ex isted in the north of Ireland, was accepted, and it was not desirable to raise up any points of difference on the subject. Mr. GREER said he did not feel himself at liberty to withdraw the motion. The house divided. The numbers were— For the motion Against it COUNTY FRANCHISE (SCOTLAND). _ _ _ Mr. CAIRD, in moving for leave to bring in a bill to assimilate the county franchise of Scotland with that of England, said he did noti Beek to introduce any new 'rliTchise, but wished to emend to Scotland those privi leges and rights which were enjoyed in this country. A brief statement would suffice to show the distinction be tween England and Scotland with regard to the fran chise. Every 20 persons iu Eng'and were in some de gree represented by an elector, but in Scotland there was only one elector for 34 persons. Of the county elec tors in England four-fifths were freeholders and one-fifth only occupying tenants, whereas in the counties of Scotland two-fifths were owners, and three-fifths were occupying tenants. The occupying tenants both in Eng land and Scotland did not occupy that independent po sition with regard to the franchise which was possessed by the freeholders. In England a proprieter of land to the extent of 40s. enjoyed the franchise, and such a pro perty might be purchased at a price varying from 301. to 501. In Scotland five times that amount was necessary to attain the same object, and therefore it was Ave times mere difficult to become an elector on the north side of the Tweed than on the south. Whilst in England a property which did not confer a borough franchise con ferred a county franchise, if it exceeded 405., in Scot land there was no similar franchise. Hence the classes of voters in the two countries were very different, and the labouring and artisan population in Scotland were, to a great extent, unenfranchised. The distinction be tween the two countries was made by the Reform Bill. roe result Wee that the county constituency in Scotland was limited to the owner and occupying tenant, and at every contested election it was a recognised rule by both Whigs and Tories that the tenant should follow the course taken by the landlord. Although there was ap parently a larger number of electors than before the pas sing of the Reform Bill, practioady there had been no extension. Of the 50,000 county voters in Scotland 30,000 were tenant farmers and 20,000 landlords. The tenant farmers, who were a very intelligent class of men, possessed a considerable amount. of capital. The farm ing capital employed in Scotland was not less than 50,000,000/. ; and although they constituted the ma jority, no member was returned to represent their in terests. He had no fault to find with the gentlemen re turned by the counties in Scotland, and believed them to be a most respectable class of men. But that was not the question. His object was to give the franchise to those who were at present excluded from it. As to the propriety of the 40s. franchise, be contended that if it wore safe for England it was equally safe f:r Scotland. It might be objected that such a small qualification would lead to the manufacture of fictitious votes. The answer to that objection was, if you are about to make a fiction, you might as easily make a 101. fiction as a 2/. fiction. (Hear, hear.) There was ano:her evil arising from the present system, and that was the de sire of the landlord to drive the population into the towns, in order that it might not be necessary to increase the cottage accommodation on their estates. This had become a blot on the aaricaltural management of Scot land. The system had arisen from the preference given in several agricaltural counties to the employment of un married men, because they could be lodged cheaper, re quired less lodging accommodation ; and toe proceed ings before the law courts of Scotland exhibited a state of things that all Scotland must deplore. In the year s l e fi r s ti 7 n a gi i r hs m isse s r e v r i vcea.n alsiccommodation Po d f r e fa n r ow s e h aw i s r ai e ns w , a t a nh s ua prosecuted hbi f lae o r c ,d 1 pre paredne- eition,and the medical men to whom the question was re ferred, reported that a residence in such a place n:lLitt tend to deteriorate the heal t h o f the occupier.similar case occurred a short tim e ago at Montrose. Such -tats of things ought to be an inducement in t E o n t a h l e an h d ouse to extend to Scotland a franchise, which en couraged prudent and economical habits amongst that class of the population. The next distinction between the English and Scotch systems was the right of the English county voters in respect to voters within boroughs. No suds right was enjoyed in Scotland. Oae-fifth of the whole ceunty constituency of England consisted of suck voters. He would compare the state of two Scotch couc bi with that of one English county of similar extent, i pesoca sing resources of a similar character. The • Ayr and i L h e a r n a c i f Lk e contained s a 7, p l o o t o m . l a t N i o ( n ) n t h . f , irotireies of 310,000, and the 111r11 sh i e n i t h e Eeg lie h coun o ty h the o r u e o w t. ere 13, 41 0 0 8.2 0 077 M t; :0 3 r S more electors athawu vi t he Ref eon the population ainhlutatl:Po P ulAtion of 345,000, f ‘w th o e S p e ro tc per c ty be i i e ng , the tight to ne given to boroughs to vote a-ljeteine n r g ly r a t v h e e a s p a p m r apprehensions s e i a o c n h s . were A t entertained rta i passinged of with regard t counties, and ono infieential marnhcr (ix E. Sudden) ,aid that the effect of giving freeholders and copyholders irk towns the right of votieg for counties would be that such towns as Birmingham would invariably carry the county election, add that the county members would be the repre , entatives of the political unions of Birmingham. Now, a f :er 25 yea - s ' txperience, who were the members i a North Warwickshire ! Two gentlemen who were not at all likely to endeavour to subvert the con. ertution o' the country, or to injure its Protestant establishrner,t . (llear, and laughter.) There was another point of .rim, ut,port ance,not only with regard to the extension cf thi Principle to Scotland, but also with regard to the aro ma Kits of the Chancellor of the Exchequer respecting the THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, large number of county voters as compared with that of borough voters. According to the census it appeared that a gradual change was taking place in the occupation of the people of this country, Every census since that of 1811 had shown a gradual decrease of the agricultural population as compared with other parts of the popula tion. In 1811 the agricultural population was 85 per cent., in 1821 it was 33 per cent., in 1831 it was 28 per cent., and in 1841 only 22 per cent. The census com missioners stated that the town and country populations were every year becoming more and more bound toge ther. He did not disguise the great addition which the extension of the principle he advocated would have on the county constituencies of that country. He believed it would have the effect of doubling the constituency in the neighbourhood of large towns ; but that he con tended was a great argument in its favour. In a moral point of view the advantage of giving the Scotch people an interest in the acquirement of small properties would be very great. This system had been found to encou rage prudence, sobriety, and economy. In Scotland he had no doubt the same effect would be produced. An objection might be raised that no tenure like that of the English 40s. freeholds existed in Scotland. There were small properties in Scotland, and if the principle were fully carried out the who!e property in Scotland would Le disfranchised. Having stated the object which he had in view, he would appeal with confidence to English members to support his bill, and to give to the people of Scotland a franchise similar to that which had been so long sod so advantageously enjoyed in this country. Mr. COWAN seconded the motion. He believed that some persons had endeavoured to make political capital out of this movement, and an attack had been made on the Scotch members, who were charged with being tied neck and heel to the late Lord Advocate ; and they had made other charges against them which were entirely false. There were only two objections urged to this bill. One was, that the effect of it would be to swamp the counties. He had no wish to swamp the counties, but the 40s. franchise had not that effect in England. An other objection was, that it would be likely to lead to the manufacture of fictitious votee. That was a matter which would reqeire the consideration of the house. At the time of the Anti-Corn Law agitation, be purchased, a 40s. freehold in Carlisle in order to give him a vote for East Cumberland. It was not a very profitable investment. (Laughter.) Some time afterwards he saw his name amongst others as that of a fagot voter and he felt somewhat ashamed of it. He did not think the obtaining a vote under those circumstances was jus tifiable, for he bad no connection with the county of Cumberland. He regarded with satisfaction the great improvement which had takes place in the condition and conduct of the lower classes. He remembered when the Luddites were banded together to destroy machinery. There was ❑o such feeling now, and he thought the loyalty and good conduct of the people showed they were well deserving of the franchise. He did not pledge him -5311 to the details of the bill, but he t' - ought his hon. friend ought to have leave to introduce the bill. Mr. MbNCREIF El said he was anxious to state the grounds on which he thought the proposition of the hon. gentleman ought not to be adopted by the house. Tne hop. member's motion was to assimilate the franchise of Scotland to that of England. He listened with some no- riosity to his hon. friend to learn how that was to be ac complished, but it seemed to him to savour much more of agricultural statistics than the franchise. But if he un derstood what he meant it was that he sought to intro duce into Scotland the 403. freehold franchise, with all its incidences. Now, in the first place, that was impos sible. Let him explain the difference between the tenure of land in the two countries. The freehold tenure in both countries was original y the same. The freeholder was a vassal of the Cris wn, bound to give attendance on his lord, and bound, ther.fore, to give his attendance in Par liament. Before the reign of Edward I. the superior ♦as sal was entitled to give ell his property to sub-holders, and that was the law in Scotland to this day ; but these sub-vassals never were freeholders.. In E award I.'s reign a statute was passed which enabled the superior vassals in England to alienate the fee, and in that way small free holders beeline a large body. But the franchise was li mited to freeholders who , e holding was of the annual value of 40s. The mass of property in Scotland was held by sub feuars, and thee msequence was that it was impossible to introduce the 40s. franchise in Scotland. It was a mis- take to suppose that the Reform 8.11 created the 403. freehold franchise in England. The Reform B ll left that franchise as it found it. The Reform Bill created a 101 copyhold and a leasehold franchise fur England and for Scotland, and it we.; a mistake to suppose that the two countries were dealt with differently in that respeot. What would be the effect of the hon. gentleman's pro position ? In Edinburgh there were 4,524 houses of the annual value of between 21. and 101., but it would be a great mistake to suppose that these 4,500 houses repre sented 4,500 possible constituents, because, after deduct ing the land held by corporations and other parties who could not vote, and those who were already on the list, or were entitled t) be on the list of voters, there remained only 290 to be added to the list, and even that would be reduced in various ways by 46, leaving the net increase of voters 244. Then his hon. friend said he woul assimi late the borough franchise to that of England. Why, in two respects the advantage was on the side of Scotland. In the first plat-, the smaller biroughs of Scotland were put into groups, and they together elected a member. That was not case in X gland. Another material die• tinction was this—that whereas in England the o Neer of property in a borough could only vote for the county in respect of property which he did occupy; in Scotland the owner could vote for property which he occupied, and the cons , quence was, there was a large ownership franchise in respect of tenements in Scotland abich did not exist in England. But passing from that and travelling into boroughs, they found extctly the same results as in the counties. The result was this, that there were no small tenements capable of receiving this franchise. He found that in the city of Edinburgh there were about 1,500 tenements, valued at 21. eacb, but he found that these 1,500 tenements were owned by 29 persons and no more. Then the houses of the value of between 21 and I'2/. were 22,000 in number, belong leg to about a thousand proprietors, the great mass of whom were already entitled to vote by that property itself. Then there were 13,000 tenements above the value of 12/., and if the English system were to be introduced the result would be that they would have an addition of 4,000 votes for the county of E linburgh. Now, he did not wish for that result. He did not think it would im prove the constituency in Scotland. The agriculturists bad interests distinct from the interests of Loroughs,and he did not think it desirable that the county Members should be chosen by town populations. They might de pend upon it the agriculturists would not submit without a etruggle; and they would inevitably succeed, and they would arrive at a state of things in which those who were opposed to progress would be predominant. He be lieved that no greater calamity could happen to Scotland than a system of creating—he would not call them ficti tious votes, because they would be real votes --but a sys tem which would give the victory in elections to the pose Bassin of the longest purse. His hon. friend seemed to think that the 40s. franchise would encourage the work ing classes to invest in 21. houses, but others would in vest in them also, and he did not hesitate to say that the acquiring of votes on that principle, whether by a society , or by individuals, w a s f o r e ign to the true spirit of repre sentative government. The franchise was given to per eons because they had an interest in the locality in whie they voted, and he did not think a person living in Ed,n burgh or in London, simply because he bad 401 or 501 to spare, should be entitled to vote in a locality in which he did not reside, and in which he lead no interest. Mr. BAITER said the number of public meetings that had been held and the petitions that had been pre sented indicated an amount of dissatisfaction with the state of the franchise in Scotland which the house ought to take into their serious consideration. At the same right • rented an-average time, h e was not quit e s ure t h at M r. C t i r d h a d hit th e principle. county Scot Scotland, d v , o t 4 e 4 r , s o t o o o ; t h andose of f o g I populationi sh of 2 borough 9 : :o() members persons t h r o e s p a r e of Ebtirginlgandu,l3 s t e h o e tl s proportion t t o o f have 83,000 county electors instead of 49,000. These figures showed that the b oroug h s o f Sc Aland were not sufficiently represented, and the proportion of county voters was much less than in England. The petitioners alleged that this deficiency was caused by the absence of the 40s. freehold franchise. He (the hon. member) would suggest that the bill should be brought in, but should not be pressed further; and that it should be re ferred to a select committee. (Hear, hear.) Mr. C. BRUCE was not at all unwilling to extend the county franchise in Scotland ; for he considered that such a measure would have rather a conservative effect than otherwise upon the constituencies. But he should oppose the present bill, because he thought it woul I have a direct tendency to promote the creation of fictitious votes, and that to an unlimited extent. He had lately been looking into the debates on the abolition cf the 40s. f,auchiee in Ireland ; and he found an anecdote narrated by Mr. Brownlo er which was well worth the considera tion of the house. A. eentleman who had been compelled to become the Lord-Lieutenaet of an Irish county took over with him 3,600 leases upon his property ; and he said, "Now, I will walk into the House of Commons with out asking a vote of this independent coneti.uency and I will make the government repent sending me here." (A laugh.) The late Lord Dunfermline, who was a lawyer of sound constitutional principles, though of very liberal opi nions, was opposed to the 40e. franchise, because he said it had the effect of altogether exela ling froin Parliament persons belonging to the middleclisses. He (Ur. Bruce) objected to bill on exactly the same grounds. (He sr.) Was it possible that Sir W. Scott ha i foreseen the mo tionlof the bon. gentleman when he wrote his well-known song— " Donald Caird's come again ; Tell the news in burgh and glen; Lock the aumrie, steek the kist, Lest the guidwife's gear he miss'd." Mr. BOWYER wished to clear away a little of the legal mystification which the hon. gentleman (Mr. Mon -, creifi) had talked about the vtatute of " Quia emptores," hnt he niight just as well have talked about the Statue i f Limitations, or the SLa'ute ( f Frauds, for it really had nothing whatever to do with the question. (Hear, Lear.) The honourable gentlenitu said there were no freeholds in Scotland ; and in a technical sense Chet might be true. The old Scotch franchise , lepended upon tenure. Those who held in capite of the Crown, the greater and the I , sser barons, sat t,:getlier in one chamber ; and there could be no doubt that the pro ceA of AiLinfeudation had had a tendency to diminish that franchise. Practi ally speaking, however, freehold in Scotland was a question not of tenure but of interest ; und tha Scc,tch feu-holder was exactly equivalent to the En glihee 611 freeholder ; but whil e t enure conferred the frau- of i :e in Scotland , interest conferred it in E ng l an d . Mr. E E LLICE (St. Andrew's), said th ere was some h a mbiguous in the expression of a 40 3 . f ree h o l d in s it would be more hone s t t o d escr ib e the t ciontgi :ad ; and i - ii,l as an attempt to reduce the exiting 101. f ranc hi se to ne of 2/. (EltN.r, Lear.) The Si 5 ng of a measure of th at 1 description was altogethe r although the hous e , , which had of at op i beenl ss, in the littl) w in advance of the country.,' rebrm, had shown itself done in the way of., (Conservative cheers.) He thought that the adoption of a moderate possession of property as the basis of a fran chise in the Scotch counties would ensure a very respect able cJnstituency. For his own part he was not afraid of the creation of fictitious votes. That could easily be guarded against both in England and Scotland by the adoption of two measures—which, indeed, he thought would be quite indispensable—namely, to forbid joint occupancy and to insist upon actual residence. (Hear.) As he did not wish to act in an offensive manner towards the promoters of the bill, he should not oppose its intro duction, but he should propose some material alterations in it at a future stage. The LORD ADVOCATE could not understand the apparently inconsistent course which Mr. Baxt?r and the last speaker had announced their intention to pur sue ; for they had both suggested excellent reasons why they should nut assent to the introduction of the bill. The measure was founded upon an entire misconception, and to allow the bill to be brought in would only tend to keep alive the delusion under which its advocates seemed to be labouring. The hon. gentleman oppo site (Mr. Bowyer) would have been far nearer the truth if, instead of saying that the county franchise depended upon tenure in Scotland and interest in in England, be had stated just the reverse. (Hear.) In both England and Scotland all the proprietors of land who had an interest of 101. a year were entitled to vote ; and that included not only freeholders, but c spyholders, leaseholders, and, in Scotland, the feuars. But in Eng land there was losg before the Reform Billa qualification which did not exist in Scotland —namely, a freehold tenure with a 403. interest. Now that was a franchise which it was impossible to create in Scotland, and wh eh he would venture to say would not have been created in England it it had not previously existed. It was, there fore, in reality a violation of the principles of the Reform Act to attempt now to extend it over a new area of re preeentation. (Hear.) He (the learned lord) objected to the bill on the ground stated by the hon. member for St. Andrews—namely, that it was an attempt to reduce the existing qualification ; and he opposed it also on a ground which the hon. member made light of, namely, on account cf the facilities it would give for the creation of votes. He did not say "fictitious votes." for the more real the votes which he was contemplating, the greater would be the mischief. (Hear, hear.) But the effect of the bill would be, as an hon. gentleman had truly said, to place the representation in the hands of those who had the longest purse. Until the fashion of fabricating votes had been established, the bill would have no practical operation at all ; but only think what a power it would place in the bands of the 900 persons who had been referred to as being the owners of 22,000 separate properties. (Hear.) Any rich man, by the expenditure ••f a small sum in conveyances, might over power those who were the legitimate possessors of the franchise. (Cheers.) Sir E. COLE BROOKE admitted that be owed his election for Lanarkshire to the good offices of the in habitants of Glasgow ; but he opposed the bill because he thought it would too much tend to destroy the line of demarcas ion b . ,t ween two interests which were dis tinct. B sides, be did not think there was, after all, much practical difference between the elective privileges of Englishmen and Scotchmen. A person who had a small property might make a very good voter ; but if he had to borrow money to acquire the right he was more dependent than one without property at all. It the bill went into committee he should propose to raise the amount of qualification. Colonel SYKES should vote in favour of the bill in the event of a division. This was a step towards a re form of the electoral franchise. The people of Scotland felt it a grievance that they had not the same electoral rights as the people of England. It was said there was no freeholders in Scotland—they were all feuars. But every one knew that in England wealthy men on both sides of politics were purchasing estates, and-partition ing them out to create votes ; and why should nut they do the same in Scotland? (Hear.) Mr. PEASE said it was worthy of remark that all the Scotch members admitted that the law required altera tion. Some said that the alteration now proposed was not the one required, but it was at all events an exten sion of the franchise ; and Scotland ought not to rest content until such extension was granted. (Hear, bear.) Scotchmen were as loyal and intelligent as inhabitants of other parts of the empire ; they had fought by our side in all our wars, and bore an honourable part in the labours of legislation. (Hear.) Ho hoped the house would permit the bill to be laid on the table. Mr. WHITESIDE said that if this confession were granted to Scotland, it must he extended to Ireland. (Hear.) Though an existing franchise ought not to be destroyei, it by no means followed that an entirely new franchise ought to be given. He had seen an election in Ireland carried entirely by 40s. freeholders ; they were shoeless, shirtless, and subject to the dictation of the landlords and the priests. On that account the 40s. franchise was taken away from Ireland by the Reform Act. It was f >end that it had covered the land with pauperism by the extension of mall farms. Yet it was now proposed to extend that species of franchise by giving it to Scetland. It was as injudicious and im politic a step as the advocate of liberal principles could possibly. take. What did they mean by a voter I Surely a person who hai some degree of intelligence and free dom of choice. Instead of supp, rting the proposal now made, it would be better to go a sta.) lower, and give universal suffrage at once. (Hew, hear.) Mr. CALCOTP did not believe there was any danger of Sc itch proprietors subdividing their property for the sake of creating vote,. Mr. CRA.UFIIRD said that the faot of this measure te;ng proposed by a member for an English borough was prima facie evidence that there was no great de mand for the change in Scotland. A party had taken up the question,and tried to urge it at the last election. He was asked at the hustings whether be wool] support the 40s. freehold franchise. He answered in the negative, and in justification told his bearers what took place in England with a 403. franchise. (Hear.) But, before creating a freehold franchise, they must first get their freeholders —for there was no such class at present. Still he would not re-ist the introduction of the bill, but ado the question to be fully discussed, prepared to abandon any erroneous opinion he might have formed. The real way to assimilate the franchise of England and Scotland was to extend the franchise of occupancy, and he should move an amendment in the bill to that effect. Mr. STEUART believed that the measure would be injurious to Scotland, judging from the effect which a 40s. franchise produced in Ireland. Lord ELCHO observed that many members had argued against the bill, and yet would vote for its introduction. (Hear.) It had been clearly shown by the Lord Advocate and others that the bill would be a delusion, inasmuch as it would not assimilate the two franchises. (Hear.) This being so, it would be a waste of the time of the house, and of the expense of printing, to allow the bill to be brought in. As a county member he protested against the measure, believing that it would have the effect of swamping the county franchise. Mr. BLACK would support the bill, though he did not believe it would assimilate the franchise of Scotland to that of England. (A. laugh.) He did not think that it would be any advantage to Scotland to have the same comity franchise as England had. It was desirable that the amount of qualification should be lowered in the Scotch counties ; fee there was no more desirable fran chise than that which rested upon property. If the bill were allowed to go int o committee some useful amend• meats might be introduced ; at all events the discussion would be of advantage. Mr. BLACKBURN said it appeared that of those members who would vote for the introduction of the bill only three professed to approve of it. There were only 16 petitions it its favour signed by some 900 persons. This showed ,he abortive character of the agitation that had been carried on, through the press and public meet iag,,s, for thelast 12 months. The only argument urged in favour of the measure was that it was demanded by the people of Scotland ; but of this there was no proof. Seeing the effect of the former 40s. franchise in Ireland, end the eitensive manufacture tof votes in England, if this precise were carried much further, it would lead to the evinstion of the uls, franchise in England itself. (" Oh. oa.") HN renarded this as an attempt to get in the thin end of the wedge, with a view to the adoption of universal suffrage. Mr. 1 2A [RD, in reply, said that a petition from E lin binge led been presentee last session, signed by 10,000 persons, in favour of tbia measure. It had been admitted that the Scotch franchise was not so good as that of this country. In England a 40s. freehold gave the franceise ; in Scotland it required a property of 101. Why should there be this difference 1 Look at the great diff,renee in the number of electors in the two countries. That was the practical point for the house to consider. Objection had been taken to the use of the word "assimilate," but he found JohnsonLlefined the word to mean—" to bring about a likeness, h produce a reeemblenoe." (Hear.) Tue house then divided— Ayes Nouv , 84 103 Majirity ...... WH ITECROSS-STREET PRISON. Mr. B. Sl' EII DAN moved au addrees for copy of any correTuudeuca which qua i have been between the City authoritiei antithe Home Secretary, with reference to the pi esent bye-14vs and regulations of the Debtors' Prison in Whi tecrossl. reet. Njr. WALPOLE assented to the motion, with the ad • dition cf nno,p) of any report., that might have been male to the a•mne Secretary respecting the prison. — Motion ag reed to. FISHERIES. Sir G. B. PECHELL moved an address for a copy of the order in council of April 3, 1853, approving rertaiu rules made by the Lords' Committee of Privy Council for the mote effectual observance of the convention be tween her Majestyand the Emperor of the French, con cernalg tie fisheries in the sees between the British islands all Fiance. The object ~f !ifs motion was tl in duce the Gotornm en t to use its iefluence with the Go vi rnmeni of France to oLtlin permission of the latter for English fishermen to dredge in mid channel for oysters in the month s of May and June. It was a vulgar error, h 3 sari, to kuppi u that o3sti rs lost their flavour in those months, especially those which were dr,(l,;ed for in deep water. (A. iatieh.) Mr. HENLEY agreed to the motion and suggested tha' , tie gi:lant adiinral eho' I I eubinit a few barrels of the oysters to the judgment of the house. (Lau‘hter.) Ile fared there was not much chance ref obtaining the concession sought for from the French Cr•werii meet. Mr. it EEO W supp, d the motion, and also voucbe 1 for the II ivour of toe deep sea oysters, at Midsummer. nese oysters, he said, spawned two months later than itq F e bled in sbal!ow waters.—Motion agreed to. O&SE OF 'COOPER v. SLADE.,,—TRAVELLING EXPENSES OF ELECTORS. Mr. PEA.'.;E r:oved frr a "Message to the Lords f a eppy of the opinion s lee', in the case of the Judges on the 15 th of Feb. ` Cooper v Slade.'" There w ere, he .said, hu idreds f electors who . had to travel 15 or 20 tt ilea to tote, and thus great injustice was done, he MKY 7, 185 8, made this motion for the purpose of showing the great necessity that existed for another reform bill, Mr. Serjeant DEASY thought the decision referred to bad given an interpretation of the Corrupt Practices Act which was never intended by its promoters or by Parlia ment in passing it, and referred to the proceedings and discussions on the bid to show that in respect to the travelling expenses of electors the only object was to leave the law as it stood. But in the case of Mr. Slade, because he acted upon that understanding, and paid the railway fare for certain electors who voted for him, he was proceeded against for the penalties under the Bribery Act, to which the judges held he was liable. The hon. gentleman having described the progress of the procee ings in the snit of " Cooper v. Slade," observed that as the law was now declared to be every member who paid the travelling expenses of any voter at his election wag open to an indictment hr a misdemeanour, though the practice of Parliament, as acted upon by every election eemmittee, went to legalise such payments. Such a state of things was most unsatisfactory, arid some alteration of the law was therefore necessary. It was said, he knew not with what truth, that the house must soon be dis solved ; but, whether or not, between the present time and the next session, and before any act could pass in another session, many isolated cases might arise like that which bad been alluded to. As the law stood, poor voters living at a distance must either be disfranchised or the candidate incur the responsibility of violating the Cor rupt Practises Act. There were but two remedies—either they must alter the polling places, or pass a declaratory act legalising the payment of bona fide travelling ex penses. Mr. WALPOLE did not intend to oppose the mo tion ; on the contrary he thought it quite right that the opinions of the judges should be i❑ the hands of mem bers. So far as he under,tood the law, there was no danger of any member being proceeded against for penal ties under the Corrupt Practices Act in connection with any past election, and as to indictment for misdemea nour no Attorney-General would recommend that. With regard to the future the subject was under consi deration, and he hoped, in proposing to renew the Cor rupt Practices Act, to submit such amendments as would remedy the existing defects. With regard to tra velling expenses, unless they were paid with a corrupt motive, he thought it reasonable that they should be allowed. At all events, the question was one that ought to be settled. Mr. J. D. FITZGERALD was glad the subject was to be taken into consideration of the Government. He believed the decision of the courts had been given upon the principle that the liability only existed where the travelling expenses were given with the corrupt motive of inducing the elector to vote, and not upon the prin ciple upon which th e H ouse of Lords had proceeded. Mr. Y. SMITH suggested that it would be well, if the law to be altered as proposed, that the bill for that purpose should be introduced as early as possible, inas much as elections might take place and election petitions be presented in the interim• He thought it advisible if any alteration in the Bribery Act was to be made that some provision should be introduced applicable to muni cipal elections, and to prevent their being made the means of bribery and corruption. After a few words from Mr. CROSS, the motion was agreed to. THE CAGLIARI. Mr. KINGLAKE intimated that in order that he might have time to make himself acqua;uted with the papers hid on the table upon this subject, he should postpone the motion of which he had given notice till Tuesday week. (Hear.) Mr. HUTT—Is it intended to lay on the table the papers referred to by the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the debate on Tuesday night in reference to the negotiations relative to the Danubian provinces The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—It would be most inconvenient, and more than incon venient, to lay papers on the table relative to negotia tions that are still going on. My hon. friend spoke of the documents in question in illustration of an argument during a debate, and thinking that the information won d be interesting to the house ; but to present them at present would be incnsistent with our duty. (Hear.) Mr. LYGON withdrew his motion for a bill to alter and amend the law of church rates, explaining that his only object was that some plan of compromise should be devised in which all sides would concur. In the hope that thissession or the next an amicable settlement would be arranged, he begged to take the notice from the paper. GOVERNMENT 01? INDIA BILL. Lord PALMERSTON postponed this measure (the late Government's) to this day fortnight. DURHAM. COUNT PALATINE JURISDICTION BILL. On the motion for the second reading of this bill, Mr. A. SMITH called attention to the clause of this bill which affected the rights of the Crown to the fore shore. He thought that the clause was objectionable, in asmuch as it represented this shore as the actual pro perty of the Crown. Now, although the right to the shore was in the Crown, still it was a right subject to the duty of exercising it for the public good. He also noticed that two-thirds of the produce of the sale of any rights of the Crown were to go to the Treasury, and the remaining third to the Eccle-iastical Commissioners. He considered that this was reserving ten great a benefit to the Crown. Mr HAMILTON said that the object of the bill was merely to carry out an agreement for settling doubts which arose under the acc passed in the last reign for transferring jury regalia within the county of Durham to the Crown. Mr. ATHERTON thought the bill was one which it was very desirable should be passed. The doubt resting on the statute of William IV. was very inconvenient in many ways. After a few words from Mr. INGHAM, the bill was read a second time. PROPERTY QUALIFICATION BILL, I Mr. L. KING, in - moving the second reading of this would detain the house a very few moments. He did not seek to alter a very ancient law. The present act was based on a statute passed in the reign of Anne, followed by another in the reign of George 11. ,Under those acts, coupled with a statute of the present reign, members were required to qualify before they could take their seats in that house. Out of this had grown up the practice of giving false declarations, i. e., of gentlemen represent ing themselves as owners of property in whioh they had really no beneficial interest. Some persons were allowed to take their seats without qualifying, and there was no reason why that should not be the case with all. The law, too, was full of anomalies. The member for Liver pool, for instance, need only qualify to the extent of 3001. a-year, while the member for Rutland must qualify fir 6001. The law in fact was but the relic of an attempt to keep persons professing certain opinions out of the house. Without going into the question he might re mind them that many persons held that extreme opinions ought to be represented there if only by way of safety valve. He trusted that the measure would not be opposed, by the government, as he could not but think that all must feel that the time had come when the anomalies of the present system should endure no longer. Mr. BENTINCK said he would not at that hour, and in the then state of the house a' tempt to oppose the mea sure. But he could not let some remarks of the hon. member pass without observation. The hon. ri7e'mber told them that the original object of the enactraelit in question was to exclude all persons from that house except landed proprietors. II any proof to the con trary was wanting, it would be found in the fact that there was a broad distinction drawn between borough a nd county members, the latter requiring double the qualification of the former. Mr. L. KING —They were both in land. Mr. BENTINCK—The original object was, he thought, a sound and rational one. It was, that there should not be in the house men whose financial position was such as that they could not devote themselves exclusively to the business of the house without prejudicing their own affairs, or without subjecting then to temptations which were said, however un fairly, to beset members of that house. If the repeal of this law was carried it would be likely to introduce into the house a number o f p ers ons whose financial position would not allow them to devote themselves exclusively to their public duties. The hon. gentleman had quoted exceptions, but they only proved the rule that he (Mr. Beetinck) had laid down, namely, that the original ob ject of the enactment was to exclude persons such as he had described. He wouli not go into the question of the advisability of introducing into the house persons of extreme opinions, to which be was inclined to agree— for he thought that house a great safety-valve, and that persons who out of doors were distinguished by extreme opinions, when they came into the house very soon modified those opinions. (Elear.) If there was to be no property q ialification for seats in that house, tak ing human nature as it was, and knowing that in certain eircumstances men were open to temptation, you ought to ensure purity of patriotism by doing away with salaries for public offices, an I so let members of that house be placed above temptation. When that was done this mea sure might be extremely beneficial. How that state of things would be received on either side of the house he could not say—(hear, hear, and laughter) —but you ought to place members by some such means beyond tempta tion. Mr. MILES said that as the hon. member for Norfolk with his finances could not of course accept any office, it would be useless to go on with the argument with him. (Hear.) Bit at present 300/ a year enabled a man to stand for a borough. Did any one suppose that because a man had 2001. a year h e was p l aced beyonl the reach of temptatisn 7 (Hear, hear.) Had not the house been long acting on a falsehood, for had every member really the necessary qualification ? (Cheers.) He believed net. (Hoar.) If so, let them not mix this subject up with the reform question, whi c h was only an external reform a tl?eir own house. If a 101. householder chose to represent him a person of ability who had not 3001. a year, he ought to have the power of sending him to that hrmae. (Hear, He looked to Scotland. (Cheers.) Mon',ers for that country had no qualification, and he was sure the house bad no reason to be ashamed of those tnembe:s who represented Scottieh constituencies. (Cheers.) Last year he (Mr. Miles) had supported a Go vernment which promised a Reform Bill, and he voted against the proposition of the hcn. member for Surrey ; but now he was atliberty to express his opinion. (Hear.) This was not a question to be introduced into a Reform Bill, but it was a question whether a gentleman who had not 3001. a-year, should - or should not represent a con stituency. (Hear, hear.) He had not the slightest diffi culty in assenting to the motion—(loud cheere)—and he hoped and trusted that among the millionaires whom the hon. member for Norfolk wished to introduce into Parlia ment they should have men of humble means but great ability returned by such constituencies-as selected them. Mr. GRIFFITH sa i d if th i s b i ll passe d, to whion be -a w no obj,ction— (bear, hear) —he hoped that the house would recommend sae unfortunate gentleman, now in pi icon f or an offence against the law requiring a property qualificatio n f or mem b ers o f th a t house, to the considera tion of the Home Secretary,,,with a view to the commu tation of his sentenee. Mani - members of that house were not duly qualified, and something ought to be done in the matter. Major EDWARDS said if this bill passed he should be placed in a peculiar position with regard to the gentle man who had been just referred to ; and he could only say that no effort of his should be wanting to second the wishes of the hon, gentleman who had just spoken, and to induce the Home Secretary to commute the sentence in question. WALPOLE said this question had often been be fore the house, but he was not aware that its merits had of late years been much discussed. Last year the post ponement of the measure was urged on the ground that it ought to form part of a larger measure of reform, and that all questions of reform ought to be put off till next session. It now earns on, and the question to be consi dered was whether the property qualification which was originally introduced in the reign of Queen Anne, and which was modified in the reign of the present Queen, by making personal as well as real estate the subject of tee qualtficatian, was or was not advisable. There were two reasons, which t ) his mind seemed the strongest in favour of the present law. The first was, that by requiring a man to have a certain income as a test of his eligibility to sit in that houie, you received a greater amount of independence in members. The second reason was, that it would prevent speculative candidates from coming forward at the time of elections, and put ting their opponent+ to unneces.ary expense. With re gard to the first reason, the securing the independence of memb rs, he doubted if that could be secured by the mere fact that a man possessed 3001. or 6001. a year. (Hear.) It would certainly not make hi .so indepen dent as to place him above any temptation which was calculated to shake his independence. (Hear ) But one great reason against the present law wa+ that there was such an inconsistency in requiring members from one part of the country to have a property qualification, and members from other parts none, that he thought it wa , a principle utterly indefensible—(hear, hear)—and in order to maintain it Scotch members ought to have a property qtalification as well as others. (Hear.) But the other argument against the law was, that they did not know that it was evaded—(hear, he tr)—that qu li fications were given to members to enaole teem to take their seats; and therefore it ill became the house to main tain that which was a great sham. (" Hear, hear," and cheers.) The other argument in favour of the law way, that it prevented speculative candidates from putting bona fide candidates to expense at elections. There was no doubt somethinqu that argument ; but you might set against it that now every candidate was obliged to contribute to the expenses of the election auditor and the hustings. If by operation of law you prevented able men with, perhaps, large professional incomes, which did not legally realise 3001 a year, from entering Parlia ment, you deprived the house of a great advantage. (Hear.) Fer these reasons he thought that the law could not be maintained as it stood—T• hear," a n d cheeray— and thinking that course could be gained by leaving constituencies to choose whom they would to represent them, he had arrived at the conclusion that the bill of the hon. member was much more allowable than any of the arguments used against it could gainsay. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) _ _ The bill was then read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Tuesday nest. The Franchise of Prisons Bill, as amended, was con sidered. The house adjourned at twenty minutes past 11. BANK RETURNS. An Account, pursuant to the Act seventh and eighth Victoria, cap. 32, of the Average Amount of Bank Notes of the several Banks of Issue in England and Wales, in Circulation during the Week ending Satur day, the 24th day of April, 1858 : Average Amount. PRIVATE BANKS. Andover Bank, Andover—Heath and Co. Ashford Bank, Ashford—Jemmitt Pomfret,and Co Aylesbury Old Bank, Aylesbury—Z. D Hunt 20,628 Baldock Bank and Baldock and Biggles - Wade Bank, Baldock—Wells, Hogge, and Co Barnstaple Bank, Barnsta,nle—Marshall and Co Basingstoke and Odiham Bank, Basingstoke— Seymour, Lamb, and Co. Bedford Bank. Bedford—Barnard and Co. ... Bewdley Bank, Bewdley Nichols, Baker, and Co Bicester and Oxfordshire Bank and Oxford Bank, Bicester-11. M. and G. Tubb Birmingham Bank, Birmingham -Attwoods, Spooner, and Co Birmingham and Warwickshire Bank, Bir mingham —J. L. Moilliet and Sons Blandford Bank, Blandford—Oak and Co. Boston Bank, Boston—Clavpons and Co. Boston Bank, Boston—T. Gee and Co. Bridgwater Bank, Bridgwater—•J. and J. L. Sealey Bristol Bank. Bristol—Miles, Miles, and C 0... Broseley and - Bridgnorth and Bridgnorth and Broseley Bank, Broseley—Pritchards, Boy cott, and Co. Buckingham Bank, Buckingham—Bartlett, Par rott, and Co. Bury and Suffolk Bank, Sudbury Bank, and Stowmarket Bank, . Bury St. Edmunds— Oakes, Bevan, and Co Banbury Bank, Banbury O. and A Gillett Banbury Old Bank, Banbury —Cobb and Son Bedfordshire Leighton Buzzard Bank, Leighton Buzzard—Bassett, Son, and Co. Birmingham Bank, Birmingham—Lloyds & Co. Bradford Old Bank, Bradford, Yorkshire —H. A. and W. M. Harris and Co. Brecon Old Bank, Brecon—Wilkins and C 0.... Brighton Union Bank, Brighton—Hall, West, and Co. Burlington and Driffield Bank, Burlington— Harding, Smith, and Co Bury St. Edmunds Bank, Bury St. Edmunds— Worlledge and Co Cambridge Bank, Cambridge—Mortlock & Co Cambridge and Cambridgeshire Bank, Cam bridge—Messrs. Fosters Canterbury Bank, Canterbury—Hammond and 8,693 26,839 8,652 21,090 33,705 8,874 14,469 23,025 76,460 14,175 .. 7,55 31,45 15,304 23,329 58,171 32,502 26,048 34,876 23,160 12,161 34,329 17,985 11,475 2,420 12,442 44,030 31 39 ; Co Carmarthen Bank, Carmarthen—David Morris and Sons Chertsey Bank, Chertsey—La Coste and Son Colchester Bank, Colchester—Round, Green, and Co. • 6 ••• ••• Colchester and Essex Bank, and Witham and Essex Bank, and Hadleigh, Suffolk, Bank, Ccdchester—Mills, Bawtree, and Co Cornish Bank, Truro—Tweedy and Co Coventry Bank, Coventry—Little & Woodcock City Bank, Exeter—Milford and Co Craven Bank, Settle—Alcocks, Birkbecks, and Co Chepstow Old Bank, Chepstow Bank, Mon mouth Old Bank, Monmouth Bank, Brecon Bank, and Ross and Herefordshire Bank, Chepstow—Bromage, Snead, and Co Derby Bank, Derby—W. and S. Evans & Co Derby Bank, Derby—Samuel Smith and Co Derby Old Bank and Scarsdale and High Peak Bank, Derby—Crompton, Newton, and Co Devizes and Wiltshire Bank, Devizes—Locke and Co Diss Bank, Diss—Fincham, and Co Doncaster Bank and Retford Bank, Doncaster —Cooke and Co Darlington Bank, Durham Bank, and Stockton on-Tees Bank, Darlington--Backhouse & Co Hevonport Bank. Devonport— Hodge and Co Dorchester Old Bank and Dorsetshire Bank, Dorchester—R. and H. Williams East Cornwall Bank, Liskeard—Robins, Fos ter' and Co East Riding Bank, Beverley—Bower and Co Essex Bank and Bishop's Stortford Bank Chelmsford---Sparrow, Round, and Co Exeter Bank, Exeter—Sanders and Co Farringdon Bank and Bank of Wantage, Far ringdon—Barnes, Medley, and Co Farnham Bank, Farnham—Messrs Knight Faversham Bank, Faversham—Hilton and Co Godalming Bank, Godalming—Mellersh and Keen Guildford Bank, Guildford—Messrs. Haydon Grantham Bank, Grantham—Hardy and Co Hereford City and County Bank, Hereford— Matthews and Co. Hull Bank and Kingston -upon-Hull Bank, Hull, Smith, Brothers, and Co. Huntingdon Town and County Bank, Hunting don—Veasey and Co Harwich Bank; Harwich—Cox, Cobbold, and Co. Hertfordshire, Hitchin Bank, Hitchin Sharpies, and Co. Hereford, Ross and Archenfield Bank, and Ross and Archenfield Bank, Ross Morgan and Co Ipswich Bank, Ipswich—Bacon and Co. Ipswich and Needham Market Bank, Suffolk, Hadleigh Bank, Manningtree and Mistley Bank, and Woodbridge Bank, Ipswich—. Alexan dere and Co. Kentish Bank, Maidstone—Mercer, Randall, and Co. Kington and Radnorshire Bank, Kington— Daviesand Co. Knaresborough Old Bank and Ripon Old Bank, Knaresborough—Harrison and Co Kendal Bank, Kendal—Wakefield, Crewdson and Co. .................... Lane End Staffordshire Bank, Lane End—C Harvey and Son Leeds Bank, Leeds--Beckett and C 0......... Leeds Union Bank, Leeds—W. Williams, Brown and Co. Leicester Bank, Leicester—T. &T. T. Paget Lewes Old Bank, Lewes—Whitfield and Co ! Lincoln E,nk, Lincoln—Smith, Ellison, and Co Llandovery Bank, Lampeter Bank, and Lian dilo Bank, Llandovery—D. Jones and C 0... Loughborough Bank, Loughborough—Middle ton and Cradock .......................... Lymington Bank, Lymington—S, and G. F. St. Barba ...................... . ...... Lynn Regis and Lincolnshire Bank, L Regis.—Gurneys and Co. ..... 82 430 . Lynne Rgis and Norfolk Bank,ynn ..Re .... Jarvis and C 0...,,,,,, ....... s Macclesfield B an k , Macclesfield—Brocklehu.;i 10,773 and Co. ................................ ........... 13,479 Manningtree Bank, Manningtree--Nunn and Co. Marlborough Bank, Marlborough and Wilts Old Bank, Marlborough Old Bank, Marl borough Old Bank and liungerf9rd Bank, 15,590 2,966 16,59 34,921 40,315 5,285 17,070 .. 66,534 7,934 12,948 40,860 26,88 7,782 10,079 53,791 85,538 9,215 43,329 79,988 53,003 39,494 25,802 7,207 10,035 6,120 4,980 13.283 30,543 12,981 21,021 44,981 4,066 31,550 18,918 20,491 61,326 9,681 22,329 19,510 43,838 5,240 51,635 36,520 27,261 21,922 80,611 17,229 6,954 3,938 2,381 and Hunprford Bank, Marlborough —Tan ner and Co Merionethshire Bank, Dolgelly—Williams and Son Miners' Bank, Truro—Willyams and Co Monmouthshire Agricultural and Commercial Bank, Aberga,venny—Bailey and Co .. Monmouth Cld Bank, Monmouth Bank; Bre con Bank, Chepstow Bank, Chepstow Old Bank, and Ross and Herefordshire Bank, Monmouth—Bromage, Snead, and C 0...... 10,844 Newark Bank, Newark—Godfrey and Riddell 19,940 Newark and gleaford Bank, and Sleaford and - Newark Bank, Sleaford—Handley, Peacock, and Co 52,573 Newbury Bank, Newbury—Bunny & Slocock 17,840 Newmark 't Bank, Newmarket--Eaton, Ham mond, and Co j 15,993 Norwich Crown Bank and Norfolk and Suffolk Bank, Norwich—Harveys and Hudsons 49,825 Norwich and Norfolk Bank, Norwich—Gur neys and Birkbecks 12,819 Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Bank, Not tingham, Hart, Fellows, and Co 8,971 Nuneaton Bank, Nuneaton—Craddock and Co 3,020 Naval Bank, Plymouth, Plymouth—Harris and Co. New Sarum Bank, Sarum—Everett and Co Nottingham Bank, Nottingham—Samuel Smith and Co. Oswestry Bank and Oswestry Old Bank, Os westry—Croxon and Co Oxford Old Bank, Oxford—Parsons and Co. OH Bank, Tonbridge, Tonbridge and Ton bridge Wells Old Bank, Tonbridge and Ton. bridge Wells and Sevenoaks Bank, Ton bridge—T. H. and S. Beeching Oxfordshire Witney Bank, Witney—J. W. Clinch and Sons Pease's Old Bank, Hull, the Hull Old Bank and Beverlay, Bank, Hull—Pease and Co 43,905 Penzance Bank; Penzance—Batten and Co. Peterborough Bank and Oundle Bank, Peter borough—D. Yorke and Co. Pembrokeshire Bank, Haverfordweet—J. and W. Walters 6,817 Reading Bank, Reading—Simonds and Co 25,062 Reading Bank, Reading—Stephens, Blandy, and Co. 27,498 Richmond Bank, Richmond—Roper and Co. 5,646 Rochdale Bank, Rochdale—Clement, Royds, and Co. 3,175 Rochester, Chatham, and Strood Bank, Roches ter—Day and Nicholson Royston Bank, Royston—Fordham and Sons Rugby Bank, Rugby—A. Butlin and Son Rye Bank, Rye—R. C. Pomfret, &Co }toss Old Bank, Heredfordshire, Ross Allaway and Macdougal Saffron Walden and Noah Essex Bank, Saf fron Walden—Gibsons and Co. Salop Bank .Shrewsbury--Burton, Lloyd, and Ca. Scarborough Old Bank, Scarborough —Wood all and Co Shrewsbury Old Bank and Shrewsbury and Ludlow Bank, Shrewsbury— Rocke, Ey tons, and Co. Sittingbourne and Milton Bank, Sittingbourne —Valia nce and Co. Southampton Town and County Bank, South arupton—Maddißon and Pearce Sentaweil Bank, gothwell—Wykle and C 0... Mentlikalapten and liampshire Bank, Sontharap ton—A.therley, Fall, and Co. Stafford Old Bank, S taaord—Stevenson and CJ. Stamford and Rutland C 0.............. Stamford —Eaton, Cayley and Co. ................... Shrewsbury and Welshpool Bank, Shrewsbury —Beck, Downward, and Co. ............... Taunton Bank, Taunton—H. an d R. Badceek Tavistock Bank, Tavistock—Gill and Rundle Thornbury Bank, Thornbury—Rolph and Co. Tiverton and Devonshire Bank, Tiverton.— Dunsford and Co. Thrapston and Kettering Bank, Northampton shire—Thrapston, Yorke and Eland Tring Bank and Chesham Bank, Tring—But cher and Son Towcester Old Bank, Towcester—Percival and Co Town and County of Poole Bank and Ring wood and Poole Bank, Poole—G. W. Led gard and Sons Union Bank, Cornwall, Helston—Vivian and Co Uxbridge Old Bank, Uxbridge—Hull, Smith, and Co Wallingford Bank, Wallingford—Hedges, Wells, and Co. Warwick and Warwickshire Bank, Warwick— GreAves and Co. Wellington Somerset Bank, Wellington—Fox, Brothers, and Co West Riding Bank, Wakefield, and Pontefract Bank, Wakefield— Leatham, Tew, and C 0... Whitby Old Bank, Whitby—Simpson, Chap man, and Co Winchester, Alresford, and Alt on B an k, Win cheiter—ulpett and Co Winchester and Hampshire Bank, Winchester —Wickham and Co Weymouth Old Bank and Dorchester Bank, Weymouth—Eliott and Pearce Wirksworth and Ashbourne Derbyshire Bank, Wirksworth—Arkwright and Co. 12,356 26,212 20,251 8,818 32,372 8,738 32,344 7,376 10,088 7,056 13,615 9,446 11,835 4,409 27,561 11,789 22,620 34,374 2,292 11,559 11,635 2,921 12,317 26,747 21,445 22,966 8,798 9,506 10,332 11,470 13,986 6,885 8,431 15,083 11,881 6,233 21,506 2,406 40,267 13,519 16,332 12,296 36,080 Country Markets. MANCHESTER-MAY 6. There was a moderate attendance of millers and dealers to-day. The general business was inactive, there being only a limited demand for either wheat or flour • previous prices, however, fi rm ly d eman d e d . O ats i n good demand at an improvement of ld per 451bs, and oatmeal 6d per load more m one y. B eans a l so td to is higher. In other articles no material change. LOUTH-MAY 4. At our corn market to-day there was a fair attend ance, and wheat and oats met a limited sale, at scarcely last week's rates. Barley as before. Oats and beans realised an advance of is per qr. Wheat, red, 41s to 43s ; mixed, 45s ; white, 495; barley 343 to 375; oat , 24s to 30s ; beans, 38s to 455. BOSTON —MAY 4. At to-day's market very little wheat changed hands. Prices about the same as last week. Oats and beans each Is per qr. dearer. Prices :—Wheat, red, 38s Od to 45s Od; new, —s to —a ; white, 43s Od to 46 s Od, extra, 48s. Barley, 28s Od to 33s 01. Oats 18s to 265. Peas, 40 to 45s Od. Beans, 39i Od. to 43s Od per qr. NEWARK—MAT 4. We had a good attendance of buyers to-day, and a fair supply of grain of all sorts. Wheat met a slow sale, at 2s advance. Spring corn in demand, and prices fully sup ported. Wheat, white 45s to 475, red 40s to 465; barley, malting 40s to 425, grinding 34s to 365; oats, 12st. 304 to 325, 114. 2:;s to ;-0i ; beans, 40s to 46s ; malt, 70s to 72s ; peas, 404 to 42s ; tares, —s to --s per qr. EDINBURGH GRAIN.—MAY 4. A good supply of grain to-day. Wheat and barley a shade better, while oats and beans stood at last week's rates. Sales heavy. Wheat, on the top, 3s Od up, and on the average 04 10d up. Barley, is Od down on the top, and Os 6d up on the average. Oats on the top were Os 6d up, and on the average Os ld up. Beans on the top 2s Od down, and on the average Os id down. AVERAGES PER IMPERIAL QUARTER. Wheat £2 3 3 9-12th. Do. new -12ths. Barley ll4 9 10-12ths. Oats 1 8 6 1-12ths. Beans -12ths. Total Supply and Sales. Wheat 1222 qrs ...............so l d 9!0 qrs Barley Bl9 qrs .. sold 385 qrs Oats 1357 qrs ...............sold 991 qrs Beans 296 qrs sold 176 qrs DERBY SMITHFIELD.—MAY 4. Our supply of fat beasts to-day was considerably less, consequently higher prices were obtained and most of the animals were sold. The number of sheep was about the average, and better sold. The supply of pigs was small, but equal to the demand. The following were tho quotations :—Beef, 50 to fied; mutton, 61 to 6id ; lamb, —d to Od ; veal, 511 tc 614 per lb. ; pork, sid to 5d per lb ; rough fat, 5s 0 to Os per 141 b. ; hides, 2/d to aid per lb ; calf-skins, 4d to 5 1 per lb. BIRTHS. BROCKELBANIC—On the sth inst., at 127, Aldersgate street, the wife of Mr. L. Brockelbank, of a eon. GORDON —On the 19th March, at Calcutta, the wifir of Lieut.-Colonel S. E. Gordon, R.A., of a 11012. LATIMER—On the 6th lust ,at Camberwell-grove, the wife of George Latimer, Esq., of a son. THORBURN—On the 4th inst., at 15, Bayswater-terrace, Mrs. Thotburn, of a son. .MARRIAGES. RIISIII3ROOK— JOHNSON —On the sth inst., at the parish church, Milton, Kent. Mr. 11. G. Rushbrook, of Cam• borwell, to Marian Bertrand, eldest daughter of Mr. T. Johnson, of Priory-road, Wandsworth-road. TuFNELL-BLANDY- On the sth inst., at St. Giles's Church, Reading, the Rev. Charles Tuffnell, vicar of Stourpaine, Dorset, to Catherine Jane, second daughter of Wm. Blandy, Esq., of Reading. DEATHS. DEBAC On the 21st ult., at Radford House, near Bath, Hester Ruth Debac, aged 25. EDWARDS —Oa the sth just , at 8, Howley-place, Maids hill, Dr. Edgecutnbe Windeatt Edwards, late Physician General, Bombay Army. FOWLER --At Weston-super-Mare, Charles Fowler, Esq., late of Cheltenham. FREWIN—Ou the 14th inst., at 28, Dorchester-place , Blaudford-s ivare, James Frewin, Esq., aged 63. TriAcKwELL—Killed by the enemy at Lucknow, on the 'Loth March, aged 22, Lieut. Osbert D'Abltot Thank" well, 15th 8.N.1., Artillery Divisional Staff, third eon► of Lieut.-General Sir Joseph Thackwell, G.C.8., 16th Lancers. The officers of the 15th having been deserted by their men at Neemuch, Thackwell applied for leave to join Sir Colin Campbell's force going to Lucknow. LONDON: Printed•and Published by MURDO YOUNG.. of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Th e S un Office, No. IV, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the (sonar 4 of Aiiddleacz, Friday, May 7, 1864 lb and ; ducted Yalenl [Mate Cult Traria and Is 1 at the Market ' wrEE Silver number • Short Siting Two, s perform continu notice. Adml Reserve Boxes I Mr. Mi 10 a.m, are con Penny e horses' i Perth the Plat May be The L Form Islace, L loan on N.B. atlisured, Of grace, NT T _l_ Sc itsbed 18: has been policies c earring annual p the deatl Of grace, TH ZMPoorei Wm. Panniel John E F.R.I _'_;~.. Z.l Messrs. The he' Way, 186 Policy taken •lit in, The foil Dational The So Two-411 ..ve y ear Its snb: Its inv to one hu Its any The In About Since 1 01 three t For pr( %lan, 142 142, St ...., TUE sz Just put SEL on arid on tons viol to Manhi nage in remarks ranterie 14- Illorye PMPlain Ilatrten ]Yetnb AT;c7l; The e 4 ermenet Which hi hood, an other ell rnrtlcul/ their ph' the held t Out bleu need the any be and how that thei derange' PUbliE 11Iiy be Ocrdon, eonsulte Bedford. The Calcutta Ctreul at 01 AirAh %IINV patent ( TRIE devoid c Bold In 1 ValPeau TR] eniiing t i too lone strength now in I What eve XI &GE ffectua eradlcal forms, ( thine, CoDaly' tain of Pri ce 13 i? Plnion, fb redim e dreadf, benefiU I sertna :enses 4 n th e . j iknq tro at 8 of tb seen N Mr. even Adin at tl Cram 74E3 Ctrct admi Intro( aurae corm! Back, 5,000 mend the I/ Mon 1] Thu Office Exi LECT qua DR. 1 1838 1841 1845 1848 ibtl