The Sun. — London, England, 1852-06-18 00:00:00

THE LONDON, late Government had passed a measure to remedy these evils. In that measure Parliament . gave great, and „ . almost extravagant, powers to the Board of Health, but great as they were they wt re insufficient for the pur pose; the act became practically inoperative, and alter two years the Board of Health, in its second report, ad 'flitted that there had not been one burial-ground closed in the metropolis, and that nothing had been done to mitigate those evils. The causes which led to the failure of the Act were two-fold. In the first place, as the money for carrying out its provisions was to be raised by loan, it was discovered by the capitalists, to whom application to that effect had been made, that the ex istence of the Board of Health was not guaranteed for a longer period than three years. This objection, no doubt, might have been surmounted by giving the security of the State, and it was therefore one of form only. But the second cause of failure was an objection of a substantial nature. It turned out that the fees to be levied, and Which the insurance company who were applied to for the loan in question had to look to for the repayment of their advances, did not necessarily go to the Board of Health. In fact there was no provision against the crea tion of extramural joint-stock cemeteries by any parties who chose, and as the cost of the cemeteries to be created by the Beard of Health would be very great in consequence of the compensation that body would have to pay for closing i ntramu ral graveyards, the probability was that a number of those joint-stock cemeteries would spring into existence. The Board of Health had ex pressed themselves to the effect that they went direct to the root of all these calculations, and that if it was not remedied, the Act would remain a dead letter. To re medy it, they proposed one of two alternatives to the Government—namely, to snake it compulsory on all per sons to bury their dead in their cemeteries; or to levy a fine equivalent to the burial fees upon all interments in cemeteries other than those of the Board of Health. The late Government, however, declined to adopt either alternative, or to accede to this propo sition. That was the state of the case when the present Government came into office; and their atten tion being at once directed to the subject, it seemed to him (Lord J. Manners) and his colleagues to be a bounden duty to endeavour, at least, to cut the Gordian knot which hampered so completely the operation of an Act of Parliament, passed, he was free to say, in his opinion, with the best intentions. They considered, therefore, that the proper remedies for the evils that ex isted was to be found, not in carrying out to such a great extent the principle of monopoly and centralization pro posed by the Board of Health, but in a more consitu tional, simple, and effective system, based upon the old Parochial system of burying the dead, which had existed from time immemorial in this country, subject of course to the supervision of the state as regarded those abuses and grievances which, it was admitted, defaced parochial mangernent in some parts of the metropolis. The Go vernment had accordingly introduced the Bill which he then asked them to read a second time, and the prin cipal provisions of which he would recite briefly. In the first place, it proposed to repeal in tote the Act of 1 850; in the second, to give power to Glee Secretary of State to close such burial grounds in the metropolitan districts as should be proved to be noxious and Unwholesome • in the third, to gi ve p ower to the parochial ' authorities to replace these burial -grounds so shut up by others out of the districts of the metropolis; and in the fourth, to reserve to the Go vernment the power of opening new burial- grounds, Where parishes were deprived of such accommodation by the shutting up of the old ground. The Bill had been already some weeks in the hands of the Zion. Members, and therefore he should forbear entering into further details of its provisions. He wished, however, to meet one objection which had been taken, and he thought taken fairly, to the constitution of parochial boards Under the Bill. It had been urged that in the city of London, where some 50 or 60 parishes might unite for One burial ground, that inasmuch as the Bill provided that not less than three members should represent each Parish in a joint burial board, it was obvious that a board of 150 or 160 members would never be able to transact business. To meet this objection, however, he (Lord John Manners) proposed to substitute in the city of London for such separate burial boards the old Machinery of corporate action which existed in 1848, and which was then found effectual for the purpose to Which it was applied. That would at once have the in tended effect, and at the same time preserve the principle of responsibility. On one important point, the Present Bill escaped the greatest difficulty of ad other schemes—namely, compensation. As it was proposed to close only such burial grounds as should be proved a Public nuisance, no compensation could be dematued, and none ought to be paid. It might be objected that as the Bill stood the Home Secretary might close grounds as nuisances which in the eye of the common ;ay were no nuisances at all. All he (Lord John Manners) could say was, that nothing was more likely than that his Right Hon. Friend the present Home Secretary would exercise that power in a manner to avoid such a difficulty; but, nevertheless, he (Lord J. Manners) should be prepared in Committee to propose a clause to meet this objection in the fullest manner. lie did not anticipate any ohjections to the Bill; he knew amendments might be proposed in Committee, and he would be ready to give them his best attention. He therefore asked the House to assent to the principle of the measure, and he committed it accord in g l y to their dispassionate and deliberate consideration, firmly be lieving that, though the Bill might not, perhaps, meet the views of those excellent but mistaken men, who sub mitted that the burials of this great community should be undertaken by a department of the State, still that it afforded a practical remedy for a practical evil, with as little alarm to the ancient constitution of the country, and as little violation to the feelings, to the rights, to the habits, and to the customs of the inhabitants of the metropolis, as was consistent with a due regard to the enforcement of public dscency. Viscount EBRINGTON would not oppose the mea sure if ho believed it to be a practical one; but he be lieved it was the contrary, and that it would excite public eZpectation higher than the former Bill, without satis fying it in the same manner. Therefore ho protested against it. He did not think the burials of the metro- Polit a n community should be made a department of the state ; but he thought that this department should be conducted on represen t a tive principles. He objected to the Bill being brought in at the close of the session, on the eve of a dissolution of Parliament, and in a thin House, to repeal the Interments Acts of last session, Which had been passed after the most mature considera tion by large majorities of the House, and with the approval of almost all parties. The Noble Lord had referred to what he called the failure of the scheme of l ast session; but it could not properly be called a failure, for bite whole scheme in its completeness had not been tried, for it had not been wholly embodied in the Act of last session. Instead of introducing the present, It would be far preferable to pass a temporary, mea- Sure, which would meet the exigencies of the case (which this Bill did not), and leave it to the new Par liament to come, with full time for due deliberation, to the consideration of a permanent and complete measure, It could not be said that there was any overwhelming pressure to proceed with this measure, for under the Act of last year the Government had got a burial-ground which, together with the unoccupied ground of the existing cemeteries, amounting to between 150 and 200 acres, would suffice until a measure of large scope was Passed. Besides, experience showed that parochial boards such as those contemplated by the Bill, would not Provide an efficient and economical management; and the re-opening of the religious que s t ion out of the este. blishment of mortuary chapels for members of the Church and of dissenting bodies, would lead to much dissension; and the disposal of the mortuary fees as Proposed was by no means satisfactory. On these grounds, then, he was strongly opposed to thus summa rily disposing of the important question of extramural in terment of the metropolitan dead. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE insisted to set himself right relative to a statement which he had made on a former occasion relative to some practices at the burial-ground of St. Clement Danes, in the Strand, as he had been Charged by the parochial authorities of that parish with having misrepresented the circumstances of a revolting ease to which he had referred on that occasion. The statement was that a young man, who had died of malig nant smallpox, had been buried in St. Clement Danes' churchyard, and that the uncle of the deceased, in pass ing three weeks after the burial, had observed the coffin Plate of his nephew exposed to view, and read the inscrip tion on it; that the sexton was at work on the grave, which had been re-opened and the coffin tossed about. This was stated to be the misrepresentation; he had made inquiry on his attention being directed to it by the paro chial authorities, and he found that it was not three Weeks, but three days after the burial of the young man that the uncle noticed the opening of the grave upon Which the sexton was at work, but that he could not buncombe) to what extent the coffi n was disturbed . He (Mr. uuncombe) had, however, received a statement relative to th e practices at that graveyard in the centre of th e Strand, from a person named Woolridge (as we under stood), who had resided close to that churchyard in the employment of a baker, and that en statemt ws corrobo rated by another person who also gave hie i name, and from their united testimonyy it appeared that t was usual on Saturdays to open the graves, after an examination • of the ground was made by means of a loeg iron rod, which was forced into the gro und for the purpose—that on the graves being opened, n triangle was fixed over th em , by means of which pails filled with decomposed to a stone Matter were drawn up, which was removed_ building at the side of the churchyard that human limbs were frequent, seen thrown carel essl y about, that the e ffl u vium which escaped from the open graves was most offensive, the graves being left open all the Saturchy With a tarpaulin only thrown over them, until Sunday Morning, when fresh bodies were interr ed in tthem— during their residence in the locality, the health of their families suffered greatly from the noxious exhalations arising from the burial ground, and that on that account they had to remove to another locality to reside. They added that they had frequently seen the grave-diggers, after being at work on the graves, scrape off the decomposed Matter from their tools. Ile might remind the House that in the evidence given before a Committee of the -douse r e l a tive to this same burial -ground of St. Cle ment Danes, it was stated by one of the gravediggers that, when engaged with others at work upon a grave he recognised the head of his own father, who had been buried there, which had been cut off from the body— that he knew it by its having o ne tooth knocked out, "d another splintered—that when he toldesist d the gra.ve diggers of the fact, and desired them to , they ° nly laughed at him. lie made the authorities of St. Clement Danes then, a presen t of the correction which 11 now gave of what they calleda misrepresentation- With respect to the Bill before the House, he could only B aY that he thanked the Governm ent for introducing it. 1 t Was by far the best measure that had y et been intro duced'e on the subject, and be also th anked them for re vealing the Act of last year. With respect to the pre- Sent measure, he would only sugges t that the closing of the be churchyards which were most o b j ectionable should compulsory. Re would advise the introductiou of a compulsory clause for that purpose which should compel the closing of the churchyards on a particular day named, and he would not throw upon the Secretary of St~ie the invidious tails of compelling them. He also hi g hly approved of their giving no compensation in the cases of those burie.l-grounds. The Government was undoubtedly in earnest on the question, and the Bill would contribure to the welfare or the meq . opolis. Lord SEYMU OR said it certainly was desirable to close the graveyards in the metropolis ai soon es pos sible.—(Hear, hear.) That was the reason the Bill of 1850 passed, which failed because the Board of Health could not raise the money required for the purpose. Moreover, the Board proposed regulations to which the Government could not acceed; as, for instance, that the families of all persons buried from London should pay a certain sum towards the expense of carrying out the measure, which was obviously inadmissible. The late Government had, therefore, prepared a new measure, which was obviously inadmissible. The late Govern ment had, therefore, prepared a new measure, repelling the present Act, and giving the Secretary of State power to prohibit metropolitan interments. So far he quite ap proved of the measure, not, perhaps, in all its details, but undoubtedly in its principie.—(Hear, hear.) Sir B. HALL concurred in thanking the Government for bringing in this Bill to repeal the Act of 1850, a nd taking the questi on out of the hands of the Board of Health.—(Hear, hear.) The Board would happily ex pire in the ensuing year, and the metropolitan Members would resist its resuscitation. He hoped the Bill would as speedily as possible pass into a law.—(Hear.) The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Monday, at twelve o'clock. ME TROPOLITAN SEWERS BILL. The House then w7rlt into Committee on this Bill. Lord EBRINGTON said several places in the neigh bourhood of the metropolis suffered from want of efficient sewerage, and he should propose a elauce to place them under the Public Health Act, exempting them from the Commissioners of Sewers, and enabling them to control their own drainage. Sir B. HALL rose to ask the Chief Commissioner of Works what is the amount of debt and liabilities due from the Commissioners at the present time, and what has been the increase of the debt and liabilities since the passing of the Act of last year; how much has been levied by rate since the last Act; and how much of the sums so raised has been expended in reducing former liabilities, and how much in new works and management; and what is the state of the Victoria sewer; and what was the total cost of that sewer? He said, on reference to the accounts, it appeared that the cost of manage ment had in one year amounted to 25 per cent. on the expenditure.—(Boar, hear.) Last year the ex pense of management had amounted to 35,000 h out of 84,0001., or about 40 per cent.!—(Hear, hear.) At the same time there was an increase of debt, as com pared with the last year, of no less than 10,0001. — (Hear, hear.) The ratepayers could not be satisfied with such a state of things, especially as the board was practically irresponsible.—(Hear. hear.) He hoped the Noble Lord would look into the matter. And next year he understood that the Noble Lord intended to consider the whole subject. For this reason he doubted whether it would be well at present to pats this partial measure. Lord J. MANNERS said the amount of present lia bilities of the Commission was 113,0001.; the increase was last year 98,0001.; the amount levied on the rates had been 57,8001.,0t which 34,0001. had been applied to the re. duction of the liabilities, and 11,000 to new works. The cost of the Victoria sewer was to cost 25,0001. He thought there were good grounds for passing the pre sent measure, on considerations of justice to the agricul tural districts. Lord R. GROSVENOR said the exemption the Bill introduced was objected to by some metropolitan parishes, and he hoped that clause would not be pressed. Lord EBBING TON said certainly some modifica tion of the law was required. He said the great pro portion of the expenditure of the Commission absorbed by expenses of management, was owing to the state of the law. Mr. MILES Said surely the metropolitan Members could not object to rating the land around the metropolis at the same rate as the town parishes.—(Hear.) Sir B. HALL did not deny that there might be reason fur some re-adjustment, but only objected to its being attempted as a temporary measure. As to the accounts, they actually showed that the expense of management exceeded the amount of work done.—(dear.) Mr. R. S TEPHENSON said that nearly the whole of the expenses beyond the original estimates for the con struction of the Victoria sewer was attributable princi pally to the Woods and Forests, in consequence of their objecting to the discharge of the sewer through Crown property. Whether the responsibility of this rested on the late Chief Commissioner (Lord Seymour) or not, he would not undertake to say. Lord SEYMOUR admitted that the Woods and Forests had objected to the discharge of the sewer through Crown property, but the reason for that was, that if they had done otherwise the effect would be greatly to dete riorate that property. The clause was brought up and added to the Bill, which was then reported to the House. The Consolidated Fund Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow. The Militia Ballots Suspension Bill was read a se cond time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow. The Militia Pay Bill was read a second time, and or dered to be committed to-morrow. NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT BILL. On the motion for reading this Bill a third time, Sir W. MOLESWORTH rose and said it was his in tention to move the omission of the whole of the land clauses, on the ground that the House was not in a po sition to decide what were the just claims of the New Zealand Company upon the land.of the colony, until an inquiry had been instituted into the conduct and affairs of that company. He should also demand an inquiry into the conduct and affairs of the company before the passing of the land clauses; because, in obtain ing their Act of 1847, the company had concealed from the Colonial-office, from the Treasury, and from Parliament, the true state of their affairs. The Can terbury Association, in a letter addressed to the Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary for the Colonies, alleged that the New Zealand Company had applied a portion • of the funds placed in their hands, in 1846 and 1347, to private purposes, and not to the legitimate purposes of the company, and this was an additional reason why a full inquiry should take place prior to the passing of the land clauses. No less than 236,0001. had been paid out of the public purse to this company, and he thought it would be unjust to saddle the colony with the expense which these clauses would entail until a full inquiry had been bad into the affairs of the company. At the pro per time he should move the omission of the land clauses from the Bill. The Bill was then read a third time. On the question that the Bill do pass, Sir W. MOLES WORTH moved the omission of the land clauses. Sir J. PAKINGTON said that the Hon. Baronet had pressed the omission of these clauses on precisely the same grounds which he had advanced in Com mittee, and which he (Sir J. Pakington) bad then combatted.—(Hear, hear.) He regretted, therefore, that the Honourable Baronet should have thought it necessary again to re-open the question. He though: that the House would feel it impossible to re verse the deliberate decision it had arrived at upon Lord Grey's statement years ago. That Noble Lord went into the subject most fully—he examined it most nar rowly, and gave his deliberate decision upon it. He de clared that he thought no Government could, with pro priety, invalidate the bargain that was then made with the New Zealand Company. That bargain was ratified in the most deliberate manner. A purchase was con cluded, and under that purchase a certain sum of money was now due to the compauy. All he asked the House to do was, that which in common justice they were bound to do towards this company, namely, to take care that they were not sufferers by the change which the present measure would make in the government of the colony. He was sorry to see that the Honourable Baronet was willing to risk what he acknowledged was a great boon by proposing the postponement of this measure. He (Sir J. Pakington) attached the greatest importance to these concessions, and he appealed to the House not to reverse the decision of the Government in this matter at a time when these colonies stood in a very critical position. He appealed to t hem not to dash awayth the concessions. H e entertain re reference h i t n o n t h the e s these importanthad led them that in the petition which was p resented to the minde ind House that evening from Now South Wales, to which the Hon. Baronet attached so much importance, this question of the w aste lands was made an important feature. The SPEAKER having put the question, Mr. GLADSTONE said be cordially supported the proposition of the Hon. Baronet the Member for South wark and the frank admissions which he had made. He did not mean to find fault with the Government, but when the Right Hon. Secretary said that a postpone ment of the se concess i ons was a great evil, and would endanger the question altoeether, he must say that he (Mr. Gladston e ) h a d the most perfect faith in the success and the ascendancy of those principles upon which colo nial legislation should be conducted. He thought it muchass a b b e a t d t e o r n t e o . T postponehey oughts recollect th that eki kind they d than hadto p refused to make those amendments in a former measure ee which were so strongly u rge d upon the quence was, that the Bill wh ic h they had Ten The t out insnusceh haste to the colony was a bad o ne , and called up the resist ofitthothactolothneistms e t a h s e u m re sel o y ri es lr , iBso: al thoughanee an and o r remonstrances f a r t e r e a lac to e a s dm vhiaedw madeedin the all abstract, egations o w f a thesa great suppression boon.lloit facts His Hon. by d the end New Zealand Company, and of obtaining the Parliament in consequence, whereas, if these facts were of known, the company never would obtain this measure. If they postponed this measure f ir the purpose of having these facts inquired into, they would have the means in the next session of Parliament of doing what was right. He thought that the House would bo incurring a grave responsibility if they wilfully declined that information which was at their command. The Hon. Member for Cockermouth had himself admitted many of these state ments, (Here Mr. Aglionby denied that he had ever done so.) After the statement made by the Hon. Mem ber for Southwark, it was their bounden duty to go into the case. He (slr. Gladstone) did not admit the bar gain of 1847. Ile looked at it rather in the nature of a boon than a bargain. A very large boon had been con ferred upon the company, and nothing whatever in the nature of an equivalent had been rendered by them to the public. He considered that they would be neglect ing their duty if they now refused to examine into these facts. He cordially supported the motion of the Hon. Baronet. Mr. AGLIONBY said that the Right Hon. Gentle man had spoken un der a miseieneep;i al and a want of knowledge of the subject. The members of the com pany wer e prepared to assent to any ordeal of an inquiry that might be proposed, cut of which he was sure they Would COMO et all events as clear as the Aigiat Lion. Gen tleman or the Hon. Baronet who had moved tho amend ment. He would not then go into the subj ect.and he thought 1 is wes most unjoet to the Government and the colony to e Intieue those di-putee, which were so improperly raked up by the Hon. Baronet. It was said the company were not satisfied with the Bill. He confessed, on the part of the couipenY, that they did not receive in the Bill the full measure of justice they were entitled to. But, be lieving in the good faith and good intentions of Govern ment, he abandoned these objections. Thinking this a good opportunity to give the colonies the means of self government, be abandoned the just claims of the com pany. He was satisfied with what Government intended to do, and he loft the case where it at present was. Mr. GLADSTONE denied having made any charge against the company; he had only reasoned upon the Lion. Member's own words. Mr. AGLIONBY—I will explain that matter by and bye. You will pardon me; you do not understand a word of the subject.—(Hear, and laughter.) Mr. A. sxurri had spoken to the Hon. Baronet on the subject of the charges he had made against gentle men with whom be was personally acquainted, and with whom he had acted for so many years; and had remon strated with him for not having communicated personally with those gentlemen, and received from them an expla nation of the trumped-up charges—for trumped-up charges they were—which would have cleared the cha racter of the Hon. Gentleman who had been so unjustly attacked by the Hon. Baronet. He had offered the Hon. Baronet all the papers and letters for his perusal, but the Hon. Barcnet replied he was engaged in the Soathwark election, and he could not give his attention to the sub ject. Though the Hon. Baronet had not time to read the paper he could find to make unsupported charges. He wished the Hon. Baronet success in his election, but he also wished the Hon. Baronet in his future charges against gentlemen would ground these charges on fairness and justice.—(Hear.) Sir W. MOLES WORTH explained that he had been invited into a private room by the Hon. Member to look over the letters and papers relating to the New Zealand business. He had replied he was engaged with the Southwark election, and he could not look over the papers; in fact, he could only look to official papers pro. duced officially for information on the subject. The Hon. Member answered that Government would never produce the papers. He mentioned these matters be cause the Hon. Gentleman himself had referred to a private conversation which had passed between them. Sir J. PAKINGTON explained that pressure of pub lic business was the only reason which prevented the official papers from being produced. Mr. MANGLES wished for full inquiry into the con duct of the New Zealand Company, as the charges brought against the company were entirely unfounded. He was anxious the colonies should have the boon of self-government secured to them. The House divided, when there appeared— For the omission ... 21 Against it ... ... 99 Majority against the omission —7B Mr. AGLIONBY was proceeding to address the House in explanation of the charges, when he was interrupted by cries of " Order," " Spoke." He claimed the indul gence which the House usually extended to Members when personal matters had to be explained. He had not availed himself just now of the opportunity of replying to them, because he conceived he would have been per mitted to make a reply before the discussion closed. Most certainly if the second opinion which the company had obtained had been in accordance with the first, he should have held that the company were bound. The answer which they had sent out to the settlers at Nelson was that the company had every desire to meet their wishes. The opinion having been that the com pany had not the power to carry out the regulations which the settlers wished, he had brought in a Bill to enable them to do so, but it was thrown out by the House. Much as he disagreed with Earl Grey on many points connected with the New Zealand Company, he would always admit that Earl Grey was a man of high honour and statesmanlike views, with a firm determina tion to do what was right, and that his equal or superior was not to be found in the kingdom. Earl Grey had stated that he had gone through all the charges against the New Zealand Company, and that he had come to the conclusion that the directors were not to blame. Sir W. MOLESWORTH said he should be ready to prove the charges he had made before any Committee of Inquiry. and he challenged contradiction of them. The Bill was then passed. The Appointment of Overseers Bill was read a third time and passed. The Representative Peers Scotland Act Amendment Bill and the Holloway House of Correction Bill went through Committee. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL having moved that the House should resolve itself into a Committee on the Corrupt Practices at Elections (No. 2) Bill that day three months, Mr. ANSTEY moved as an amendment that the House should resolve itself into a Committee on the Bill this day. The House divided, when there appeared — For the motion of the Attorney-General 67 For the amendment of Mr. Ansley 24 Majority —43 ••• ••• The House having resolved itself into a Committee on the Protestant Dissenters Bill, On clause 1 having been put, Mr. ANSTEY proposed that all the words relating to registration should be omitted from the clause, and that the following words should be inserted in the place of them:—" After the passing of this Act the said recited Acts shall be repealed." The ATTORNEY-GENERAL stated that the pro vision in the clause under which the registration of chapels should be made before the registrar-general, had been adopted at the suggestion and request of the Hon. Member for Manchester. Mr. ANSTEY withdrew his opposition to the clause after that statement. The clause was then agreed to, and the Bill passed through Committee. THE COUNTY ELECTIONS POLLS BILL. Lord R. GROSVENOR having moved the third reading of this Bill, Mr. Alderman THOMPSON opposed the motion. Mr. WALPOLE said that be had supported the second reading of the Bill; but he had done so on the supposition that it could be brought into operation at the next election. As he found, however, that that could not be done without great inconvenience to the voters, he felt it to be his duty to oppose the further progress of the measure. Mr. J. STUART said be believed the Bill would operate very unfairly in many of the counties. Mr. R. PALMER also oppos ed the Bill as it then stood. He certainly thought that it ought not to come into operation until after the next election. Mr. PACKS' said he believed the Bill would disfran chise a fourth of the freeholders in the counties. Mr. FORBES opposed the Bill, and moved the ad journment of the House. Lord R. GROSVENOR said he had no objection to have the operation of the 13i11 postponed until after the next election. Mr. R. PALMER said that if the Bill were to be postponed until after the next election, he saw no reason why it should then be pressed, or why it should not bo deferred until another session. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said be thought the objection of the Hon. Member for Berkshire ( Mr. Palmer) to their then proceeding with the mea sure was unanswerable. But, at all events, he trusted that they would at once come to some decision on the subject, and that they would not continue sitting after two o'clock. The motion for the adjournment of the House was then withdrawn, and a division was taken on the ques tion that the Bill be read a third time — For the thi r d reading... ••• 39 Against it ••• ••• ••• ••. 49 Majority —lO _ijority Colonel THOMPSON moved a series of resolutions on the subject of the increasing production of the gold mines, and the duty of the Government to take care that the contract with the holders of public securities should not be practically violated in consequence of that production. The motion was negatived without any discussion, and without a division. Mr. ANSTEY moved the followipg resolution:-- " That after Mr. Speaker has taken the chair, the House shall not be counted until the doors are locked and the division bell rung, as upon a division, and that all Mem bers being at the time of such count within the House, or in the division lobbies, upper corridors, or chair lob bies thereof, shall be counted with the rest of the Mem bers present, as upon a division." The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER opposed the motion. The resolution was negatived without a division. Mr. W. PATTEN moved for copies of all correspon dence with the several departments of her Majesty's Government, from November, 1842, to June, 1852, re specting the grant of coal made to Sir James Brooke, the Governor of Labuan, and by him transferred through Mr. Wyse, to the Eastern Archipelago Company. — Agreed to. The House adjourned at a Quarter -past Two o'clock. ROUSE OF LORDS, June 17. mission, to the followino Bills: The Royal Assent was this afternoon given, S tam p Duties (Ireland) Continuance. by Com- Turnpike Roads (Ireland). Proclamation for Assembling Parliament. Law of Wills Amendment. Registration of Births , Deat hs, and Marriages. Apprehension of Deserters from Foreign Ships. Law of Evidence (Scotland). Public Works. Kennington Common, &c., Improvement. Belfast Custom House. Kelvin Bridge (Glasgow) and other Works. Somersetshire Central Railway. Newmarket Railway. Athlone Markets and Customs. Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ardrossan Railway. St. Helen's Gas Bill. Ulverston Waterworks. Abbey Tintern and Bigswear Roads. London (City) Improvements. Middlesbrough and Guisbrough Railway. Sharpies and Hoghton Roads. Shields and Morpeth Roads. Merthyr Tydfil Waterworks. Battle and Robertsbridge Road. London (City) Small Debts Extension. South Essex Estuary and Reclamation. Runcorn Improvement. Shillingcord, Wallingford, and Reading Road, and ElJl lingford Bridge. London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway. Lancaster Waterworks, Cemetery, and Gas. Portrush Harbour. Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway (No. 1). London Gas Light Company (Amendment of Acta, 64,-4'4 , 2), FRIDAY _AVENING, Stockport and Marple Road. I PAinorn and Rowley R•..)ads. Stroud and Bisley Road. MacclesflPld and Buster.' float Kirkby St , Thcn and Hawes Road. Marsden, Gisburne, and Long Preston Roads. Bury and Little Bolton Road. Bramley and Ridgewick Road. Wakefield and Depby Dale Road. Rottierbam and Pleasley Road. Leven Railway. Lancashire and Yorkshire and York and North Midland Railways. Beaconsfield and Redhill Road. Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midlands Junction Railway. Kettering and Northampton Road. Railway Passengers' Assure/I;3e Company. Greenfield and Shepley Lane Head Road. Leeds Waterworks (No. 2). Tramore Embankment. Limerick Improvement and Market. South-Eastern, and Reading, Guildf o rd, and Reigate Railways. Ipswich Dock. Tyne Improvement. South Wales Railway. • Londonderry Bridge (No. 1). Londonderry Bridge (No. 2). Ly Edinburgh oenodviolnaannddainslcdhoerGsthtlae-rsgw Railway.WToeusrtenrpnikßeaiivasyts(so. 2). EaAstnergnlianCortuaniltwieasyßs,aklewsy (Power to use the East Leek and Hassop and Middl e hil ls and Buxton R oa d. York, Neweastk4 and Ber w i c k Railway (Dev i at i o n of Bishop Auckland Branch, sc, c .) Presbyterian Ministers' Widows' and Orphans' Bowden Park Estate. Clarkson's Estate. Watson's Hospital (Edinburgh) E state. Balmoral Estate. The Lords Commissioners w ere the Lord Chancellor,tind' the Marquis of Salisbury, and Earl Fortescue. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on t h e Woolsack at Five o'clock. MR. MA.THER's C ASE. Lord BEAUMONT gave notice that be should, on Monday next, call the attention of the House to the correspondence which had been lately l a id on the table , relative to the recent assault on Mr. Mather, at Florence. The Earl of HARROWBY pre sented a petition from iverpool, praying the Chamber of Commerce at I. for an amendment in the Passengers' Act. Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition in favour o f copyhold enfranchisement. The Bishop of WINCHESTER presented a number of petitions against the Maynooth grant. ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS (CRIMINAL) JU RISDICTION BILL, Lord WODEHOUSE moved th e second reading o f this Bill. The Bishop of SALISBURY opposed the Bill. He allowed that reforms were necessary, and professed him self desirous of seeing them carri e d i nto effect, but h e did not think this Bill calculated t o b r i ng about any re form. He thought, in dealing with t h is subject in a fragmentary manner, they might tre nc h upon princ i p l es which it was desirable to maintain i ntact. The R i g ht Rev. Prelate concluded by moving that this Bill be rea d a second time this day six months. Lord CAMPBELL said that a Committee of their Lordships' House had investigated this subject, six of the members of which were prelates of the Church, long as twenty years ago, and had report e d a measure of the kind now submitted t o their Lords hi ps . The Right Rev. Prelate appeared to be in fav to th ou r of a more sweeping measure of reform in r ecclesiastical courts than the Bill now b efore the House eferenea s e o respect, o b t , u a t n this i Billd not was as standi whollyn the wa y of future legis' lation in reference to those courts. Th e object of t h e unexc eptionable in that Bill was to abolish the jurisdiction in favour of of these courts in cases of brawling in churchyards and of defamation; and the only real objection of the Right R ev. Pre l ate to the measure appeared to be that it was brou g h t f orwa rd, not by the Government, but by an independ ent M em ber of the House—an objection which was wholl y f ut il e , for it properly lay with any independent Memb er to b r ing forward a measure for so manifest a reform o f abuses as acquiesce in the this was. o o b f 1 0 0 X ao F d O L ß e D ar c b o e u d ld l o n r o d t who had just sat d v o ieT w w n hs . eoUf T tish h he e olsTp Noble and Learned Lord had misconceived the argument of hie Right Rev. Friend, whose objection was to those piecemeal attempts at refor m Which pro ceeded on no definite principle, and provided no substi tute for the existing remedies which they proposed to do away with. He (the Bishop of Oxford) admitted, with his Right R e v. Friend, that the subj ect deserve d the attention of the Legislature, and that great re f orms ought to be introduced into the ecclesiasti ca l courts o f the country. But it was because he beli eve d t h e pro ceeding with those nibbling measures was not the way to produce ref orm , b a t rather to leave r ea l diff ic ulties at present av ailable untouched, itd id away that witb he t the objected only remedy o m t e hl y s Bill, particularly as for certain great ex i s ti ng e vils, and substit ute d no o ther reremedy in its S uc h legislation a s place.that he re garded as vicious. The particular offences to which the Bill applied could not be dealt with in the ordinary courts of justice, and, therefore, if they abolished the existing remedy, they must substitute a new one. He admitted that there were many cases of defama tion which he should be glad to see not brought before these ,courts ; but in the main these courts were most effective is repressing offences of this kind, which were of frequent occurrence in the more populous parts of the country. During the three years prior to January, 1830, the number of these offences brought before the courts was 311, which showed the necessity that existed for maintaining a remedy. When , however, they had sub s tit uted a better mo d e of dealing with these offences than th e present one he should be glad to see the present mode done away with, but not before. By this piecemeal i nterference with the main tenance of the discipline of the Church of Christ —a dis cipline which was was one of its inalienable rights—by thus removing remedy after remedy for admitted abuses, without giving a substitute, they would produce, not a system of reform, but a hopeless chaos. No one knew better than he (the Bishop of Oxford) did the necessity which existed for a thorough and complete reform of the abuses of the ecclesiastical courts, and he hord the should live to see it effected ; but it must be accomplishea , not by removing, in this piecem ea l f as hion, one parti cular abuse after another exi s ti n _ g in the system of the k discipline and law of the Church, but by bringing bac to a more rational, simple, and primitive state what the abuses of modern times had corrupte d. Lord WODEHOUSE observed in reference to what had fallen from the Right Rey. prelate, that there was a remedy existing at common las e offences treated for the of in the Bill, fur they could be punished as misde meanours. He should divide the House on the second reading. Earl FITZ WILLIAM said their Lordships would be glad to know what was that Primitive state of the law which the Right Rev. Prelate (th e Bishop of Oxford) de sired they should return to. From the tone of the Right Rev. Prelate's speech it was eas y to se® what the spirit of the law would be which the i P --at Rev. Prelate would have established as a restoration of the primitive system, and he thought their Lordships miht conclude that the Rght ev. Prelate's objection to theprop o sed amendme nt of the R ecclesiastical law was, not ot that the Bill was so small, but that he thought the commencement of a reform of that law reform of those court g s whichet lead to s --eethin st ill greater, as a e , g ' - pen according - to the Right Rev. Prelate's own statement,;were a scandal to the coun try. The country, however, after the statement of the Right Rev.:Prelate, would now know where tojlook for the destruction of the abuses of those courts. The Earl of DERBY said, that after the statements of the two Right Rev. Prelate s , and after t h e declara tion which he understood h ad been made in the other House of Parliament, and vvh; eh h e had no objection to repeat in that House—viz., th e ., that the su bject of the eccle siastical law and of the pra e u e e of those courts should receive the earliest attention ot her Majesty's Govern ment, he hoped the Noble Lord would s not r press the Bill. He was fin slyer convinced that, ea, Noble Lord on Fite • • at the the cross benches (Earl_ Palliate 'N had attributed to the Right Rev. Prelate en e-xfore; na mely, that h® would be found an uncom p r omisin g oppo nent to the en a buses of the ecclesi ast ical , --,,Urtg would be shown to be the case in reality, ana not in the manner in which the Noble Lord had supposed by way of taunt and of cast ing ridicule upon the statement of the Right Rev. Pre late. Ho (the Earl of Derby) was far from saying that a question of this 6 ; - , nd ight not be brought forward by any 'ridemndent Member of Parliament in either House; but, at the same time he might venture to express his opinion, that where there was a lage question to be dealt with, of a difficult and complicated character, and involving the movalof abuses which had arisen i n process of time, and re which might be attributed principally te the ltered cir cumstances and habits of the time, the Government, a with the means and appliances at their c ommand, the assistance they could call to their a id , roah with ppor tunities, if they set about it in carne , ' t, of de a l ! ' e g e- with such a large question of legislation i n e a In ff ctive manner than it could be treated if take _e u more e e . d vidual Member of Parliament only, N: t c P bY any from lni himself, however, the difficulties of ancealing not even presuming to say . that they head', object, and before the House a satisfactory scheme be able to lay , but declaring that their attention should be devoted to . b with a view to removing those abuses the questio 9 Which were ad mitted on the part of the Right Rev. Prelates he must express a hope that the Noble Lord wile had introduced the Bill would, after that statement, and looking tothe period of the session at which they had ,arri looking consent to leave the question in the hands of her v -Go vernment, and not press the measure fuMajesty's Lord WODEHOUSE was sorry that hest. sent to the proposition of the Noble Earl, booculd not e s: _ the measure. The country expect e d it, anEdmustlpdrre Bard it as an earnest of that more extensive refo w r ell which was promised that evening. m The Marquis of CLANRICARDE • saul that that log the first time he had heard the postponement forged on the ground of the lateness of of a Bill the • on the I6th of June—(lronical cheers from th session ' ' i ' be. nehes)—particularly in the case of a Bille Ministeria. pas sed through the House of Commons, which had both sides of the House, and amended by thseurpor te ffi d officers of the Crown by the introduction of the only aw °provisoe which ho had deemed requisite in the raeasuie a Bill; too, which had been brought up to their Lordships House without one dissentient voice. If the Govern ment had not thought it a proper Bill, they y ought not to .have given it their approval in the other House. - B u t they ak`iould not, at all events, now, on the plea of the lateness of the session, seek to throw over the Dal when they had given no pledge that they would undertake the reform which was admitted to be needed for those scandalou s itbuseo. It was by no means creditable to the Govern' [ .meat OW to rejeec this proposed amendment of abases JUICE 18, I@s. without any project of reform being put forward even as "looming iu the distance."—(Hear, hear.) Lord CIiANWORTH sincerely hoped the Noble Lord would net consent to withdraw the Bill.—(" Hear, hear," from Lord Wodehouse.) lie rejoiced to hear that that was not the Noble Lord's intention. Although the meA sure proposed to deal with that which was undoubtedly a very small matter, it was nevertheless an acknow ledgPd abuse, acknowledged to be so by six Right Rev. Prelates who were upon the Commission; and the re moval of it, so far from interfering with the great reform contemplated by Government to be made hereafter would, in his (Lord Cranworth's) opinion, clear the way for and facilitate the passing of such a measure.—(Rear, hear.) But he bad a further reason why ho thought the 13111 should pass now, and it was that the arguments of th e Bishop of Oxford went to the assertion of the doctrin e that there ought to be ecclesiastical jurisdiction over lay men. Now, at a period like the present, when so much was said respecting the " encroachments" of ecclesiasti cal jurisdiction upon the civil rights of the country, he felt that he should bo guilty of a neglect of his duty if he did not rise and enter his protest against the doctrine which inevitably flowed from the words of tho Right R Reverend Prelate. For this reason, then, if for no other, he trusted his Noble Friend would persevere with the Bill.—(Cheers.) The House divided, when there appeared— For the second reading Against it ... 45 ... 80 ... -35 Majority ... The Bill was therefore lost. On the motion of the Ea' of DESART, the Passen gers' Act Amendment Bill was read a second time. ENFRANCHISEMENT OF COPYHOLDS BILL. The House having gono into Committee on this Bill, Lord LYNDHUIt'ir rose and drew attention to the circumstance that when the Bill was read a second time by their Lordships, and his Noble and Learned Friend on the woolsack proposed to refer it to a Select Commit tee, his Noble and Learned Friend opposite (Lord Campbell) expressed a doubt of the good faith with which that motion was made, and declared that his Noble and Learned Friend's object was to get rid of the Bill altogether. Now, as the Bill was originally framed, there could be no doubt that, if passed in that shape, its operation would have been most injurious alike to the lords and tenants of copyholds. But by taking the course which the Lord Chancellor did, and referring the mea sure to a Select Committee, its blemishes had been re moved, and it was likely to prove a much more useful and valuable measure than it would otherwise have been. As a member of the Committee he (Lord Lyndhurst) wished to bear his testimony to these facts, and to thank his Noble and Learned Friend for the course he had adopted.—(Hear.) Lord CAMPBELL said that if, when the Bill was read a second time, he had thought there was a bond fide intention to pass it in the present session of Parlia ment, he should not for one moment have doubted that the proper course was to refer it to a Select Committee of their Lordships House. He had always applauded that mode of proceeding in this House, particularly in refe rence to Bills which were directed to effect alterations in the law. It was the course which ho himself had uni formly pursued; and he repeated, that if he had ima gined, when the second reading of the Bill was moved, that it was the intention of his Noble and Learned Friend that it should pass daring the present session, he should not have objected to the proposal to refer it to a Select Committee. Let him remind their Lordships, however, that on that occasion his Noble and Learned Friend said that the measure was wrong both in its prin ciple and its details.—(Hear, hear.) He rejoiced that the Bill had been referred to a Select Committee, and no doubt it now came before their Lordships in a greatly improved shape.—(Hear.) The LORD CHANCELLOR had hoped that his Noble and Learned Friend would have withdrawn the censure which he had thought proper to pass upon him— namely, that, in proposing to refer the Bill to a Select Committee, he professed one thing and meant another. Now, he (the Lord Chancellor) considered that it was his duty, at all times, to tell their Lordships what were the real and sincere opinions he entertained upon any measure which might come before the House, and that he was not first to ascertain whether those opinions were popular or unpopular.—(Hear, hear.) On the second reading of this Bill, his Noble and Learned Friend said that he did not object to its being referred to a Select Committee ; but what he objectod to was, that the motion for so referring it was made indi rectly for the purpose of defeating the measure. That his Noble and Learned Friend repeated over and over again. Now, helbegged to say that he had never changed his opinion with regard to this measure. He looked upon it simply as a choice of evils. Public opinion had called for a remedy for an evil which no one denied; and he contended that Parliament could not pass a mea sure upon the subject without inflicting considerable injury upon a large class of persons. He was prepared, however, so far as it lay in his power, to render this as good a measure as it could be made, and to lessen the evils which were inevitable under any circumstances: but take what care they might in passing this measure they would not be able to prevent a great mass of abso lute evil and distress falling upon a great number of persons. The members of the Committee had but one object in view, and that was to make the Bill as perfect as possible. In the endeavour to accomplish that ob ject, they had adopted several additional clauses, and made alterations in almost every one of the original provisions; and they had been most anxious to protect, as far as they could, the poorer class of copyhold te nants.—(Hear.) The Earl of STRADBROKE said it would have been perfectly impossible to pass the Bill in the shape in which it originally came from the House of Commons; and he was confident that, in proposing that it should be referred to a Select Committee, it was never the in tention of the Lord Chancellor to throw out the Bill. Lord BEAUMONT bore his testimony to the pains taken by the Noble and Learned Lords to make the Bill of a practicable shape. A more difficult question to deal with it was scarcely possible to imagine; but he believed the Committee had completely succeeded, and that the Bill was now in a state to do the least harm and the most good of any Bill that could be framed. Lord CRANWORTH said from the first moment the Committee met until the last, when the Bill assumed the shape in which it was now presented to their Lordships, there bad been the most unremitting and impartial en deavours on the part of the members to do justice be tween the parties whose interests were affected that he had ever seen in the whole course of his life; and, not withstanding he thought he saw sometimes an almost ridiculous sensitiveness respecting the rights of the tenants, he believed that the interests on both sides had been as fairly arranged as possible.—(Hear, hear.) The Bill was then passed through Committee. On the motion of Lord CRAN WORTH, the Trus tees' Act Extension Bill was read a second time. present on a former occasion when the Bill was dis cussed, he wished to make one remark in answer to the observation of the Noble Marquis opposite, that 56 days' ' training would not make efficient soldiers. If the Noble Marquis meant that it would not make them es efficient as the Guards or soldiers of the line, he agreed with him, but he should feel ashamed of any regiment if after 56 days' drill they were not fit for fighting behind stone walls at Portsmouth. The Bill permitted colonels to en list not merely raw recruits, but men who had served, and there were many in the country who had been in the army for four or five years, and who would no doubt gladly enlist into the militia. He was glad to find that officers who had been in the army and iu the India ser vice were to be permitted to be captains and major 3 of militia. There could be no doubt that recruits would more willingly follow such leaders than they would coun try gentlemen. To a certain extent the present Bill would answer. It was a step in the right direction, though it did no t go so far as he could wish. If he bad to face the Chasseurs do Vincennes in Sussex, ho would cer tainly Prefe r b e i ng at t h e head of a regiment of the would give of th e li ne, f or he felt pretty sure that they give as good .account of them as our Infantry assvurs of the In whatever way the - of the militia was be- Lieutenant. He bed received would patronage stowed, ho hoped t' did of the Cil 6n Imperial Guard at Waterloo. fantry regiment, an o ffi e , for the office of the ura_Feived about seventy applications__ give none of it to Lords cl.letant of the Sussex Light Iti would in n e vacant at present. Viscount HARDINGE, ' which was unfortunately said that the drillincy the line, who would' return g of av t e he sa m ti i s l f it a i c a ti w o a n s to ov t e h r e . m an a e n w ag er ed to b a y I%i te ° r b g l e e an L t ' s )r o d i In case the line alter the drilling to go back to the militia re.iinerhe every facility would be given them 1:' militia regiment, col one l e o Ty Of these sergeants wareuired. He Horse Gusrdi thought, however, that after the militia t ldbe w a er g e r a e l a w t ay d s is t c o ou b r e ag se e l m ec e t n e t d tfprom men if the if ul embodied, it sergeants wnn ( t ) 11 therefore, after the militia were drilled and e line, and, the appointment of sergeants would embodied, rest with the colonels. The clause (6) as amended was then agreed to. Clauses up to 25 were agreed to, with verbal _a men d_ meats. On clause 26, The Marquis of SALISBURY proposed an amend ment to the Effect that the Queen should be empowered to keep the militia in the field for training and drill for a period not exceeding fifty-six days, and not less than three days, each year. Viscount HARDINGE (in reply, as we supposed, to some remarks of the Earl of Stradbroke) said, that in early life he had been engaged in training Portuguese soldiers, and thirty days were found sufficient to fit a recruit for the ranks. He had consulted with a friend of his, now a commanding officer in the Guards, and who had served during the whole of l a st war , and his statement was, that after thirty-five days' drill recruits were sent into the ranks. At present, during peace, recruits were drilled sixty-five days; but the reason of that was that there was time to spare, and because it was not thought right to the recruit to place him noon responsible and important guards before he was tho roughly disciplined. A recruit might be perfectly well trained for infantry purposes in thirty-five days. A NOBLE LORD having, as we understood, suggested a more extended drill than that provided for in the Bill, The Earl of DERBY remarked that other considera- tions were involved in the clause than the comparative efficiency of the recruits. There was the amount of the expense, and the pressure on the population, to be con sidered; and as the House of Commons had agreed to the clause, after having maturely considered those points, he was inclined to agree to it as it stood, with reference to the period of twenty-one days. The clause was then agreed to. The remaining clauses of the Bill were then agreed to without alteration, after which the House resumed. The General Board of Health Bill was read a third time, and passed. The Turnpike Trusts Arrangement Bill went through Committee. The Scutch Mills for Flax (Ireland) Bill went through Committee. ..PENINSULAR AND WATERLOO LIEUTENANTS, The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from 200 officers, lieutenants of the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns, the greater number of whom were wounded and suffering severely. They were on the retired list, and did not wish to put the country . to any additional ex pense; but certainly their services entitled them to the boon which they now sought, which was that they should be gazetted to the rank of brevet captains. The petition was ordered to lie on the table; and their Lordships then adjourned. LITERATURE. THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS. By Miss Pardoe. 3 Vols. Colburn. Miss Pardoe has already distinguished herself by her lively delineation of men and manners, by her descriptive pictures of "cities," and her vivid por traits of individuals. Having some time back given us an account of " Louis XIV. and the Court of France during the Seventeeth Century," she has now selected for her theme the court of the same country during the preceding reigns, and for her heroine the Queen of Henry IV., and the mother of Louis XIII. Than the life of Marie of Medicis few fitter subjects for a biography could have been selected. _ _ " All the existing records of European royalty," ob serves the authoress in her preface, " do not, probably, comprise the annals of a life of greater vicissitude than that which has been chosen as the subject of the present work. We find numerous examples in history of queens who have suffered exile, imprisonment, and death, but we believe that the unfortunate Marie de Medicis is the only authenticated instance of a total abandonment on the part alike of her family and friends, which terminated almost in starvation. Certain it is that after having occupied the throne of France, presided over its councils, and given birth to the ancestor of a long line of princes, she was ultimately indebted to the sympathy and at tachment of a foreign artist (Rubens), of whom she had once been the zealous patron, for a roof under which to terminate her miserable existence !" Hence the very interesting and varied character of this work may be surmised. In the first volume we obtain a glimpse of the court of Henri of Navarre, a glimpse which throws no agreeable light upon the character of that Monarch in his domestic life. After his separation from the unworthy Marguerite of Va lois, and after the death of his favourite, Gabrielle, we find the Monarch yielding to the representations of his wisest of counsellors and truest of friends, Sully, and consenting to espouse the Florentine Princess. Welcomed with the most magnificent festivities by the nation over which she was to reign, and naturally indulging in her own heart many dreams of happi ness, Marie de Medicis entered France. Henri has toned to meet her on her way, and received her with affection ; nevertheless, even at that time and for years afterwards, Madame de Verneuil rained her empire over the heart of the Monarch, and divided with the Queen the homage of the court. If the, at times, indignant and austere deportment of Marie embittered the happiness of her wedded life, there is, according to Miss Pardoe's showing, no cause for astonishment and little room for repre hension. Surrounded by her Italian friends, who felt themselves wronged in the wrongs of their mis tress, and who lost no opportunity of aggravating her wounded feelings, by expatiating upon her indig ties, Marie of Medicis was certainly placed in a most cruel and trying position. The embarrassments of Sully, the would-be peace-maker between the King and queen in their many disagreements, were of a most perplexing nature, but to the last he retained his power with the King, who often heard from his lips censures and counsels such as are seldom ad dressed to royalty. The character of Henry of Na varre, notwithstanding his very reprehensible con duct in his domestic relations, is in many respects most fascinating, and the narrative of his death, and especially of its preliminary presentiments, as here re corded, is singularly affecting. The Queen had just been crowned prior to assuming the dignity of re gent during the King's absence at the seat of war. Public rejoicings celebrated the ceremony, but in the midst of it all the Monarch was sad, and spoke of death to his familiar companions, who, remonstrating with him, reminded him of the many blessings which he possessed. " True," replied Henry, " but I must resign them all." A few hours aft erwar d s t h e knif of Ravillac verified those words, plunged France into grief for a monarch who, with a ll hi s faults, was th e darling of his people, and pl ac i ng a crown upau infant brow of Louis XIII , elevated the d es an Me dicis to the perilous position . of regent. A A. compli cated the re • ' web of intrigues for place and power, unhappy of plots and counter-plots, of M riv a .. r a i l e el heartburnings and enmities occupies part, if not the whole, of the greater solumes. Unhappy as a wife, mauling To hold Florentine e a sovereign, Marie de Medicis was most unha ppy as as a mother, which circumstance induces" us to be lieve her not entirely faultless. h ha ea v r e t b o e f en a K in in t g ne ac p c n u w st e o r m b e f d tthoecaptive the adulation, might not whose marriage had necessarily Princess, state policy, and not of affection, been a matter of untroubled rule amid such elements surrounded her path as regent, ' csh ile to preserve powers of a Napoleon ; but preserve the confidence to, would have tasked then of discord as one might reasonably imagine, -r own son, was a task'___ fall the , city of any w o f h ,,, win the affection a "man having within the . c e g a p r 4 t, facttiltehat bitterness f_ a4 7 mpathise with Marie doubledin her byodealwt the blow, we cannot but think th ~a son's hand . i c e's exercise of maternal affection d a, e a more judicious exercise of maternal affection during his earlY dsys might have uring his early altered the character / and ameliorated the position of of Louis X t 'I .cliiposition of the young King ay hise mother. The to have been un amiable, and thep appears however,brdination early ma nifested itself spirit of insubord ination when the Regent (having some hours On one occ i a I. ie ordered him for some previous Ja severe punishment) neglect of duty to of t° King, making the cus entered the tomary presence soulded by etiquette, " I should prefer, M obeisanced,,desmaid the offended Sovereign, Madame," " fewer fi o a find fewer c ourtesies." Full of anec dotes of alrfingdss, grope and gay, lively and severe, be attractive to the " general these volumes n will readers," who read to be entertained as well as 1 hle manuscript , to b e i nforme d. A VA.LIEW LUNATICS BILL. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY moved the second reading of this Bill. The Noble Earl said that a late event had drawn public attention to the necessity of a measure of this kind—that necessity had increased ten fold since the last session. The Bill was founded mainly upon the report of the Commissioners of Lunacy, who were appointed to inquire into the subject in 1848. Several instances had occurred recently of dangerous lunatics roaming about the country, who could not be taken charge of in consequence of the defect in the law, unless they had committed some overt act of outrage. The Bill before the House merely provided that if any person of this description was observed going about, any person would have the power to go before a magistrate, and having made a deposition upon oath of the danger ous character of the individual, the magistrate was re quired to order him to be brought before him, and then to have the alleged lunatic submitted to the examination of two medical men, who were to report upon his case. If they reported him to be sane, the person would of course be discharged from custody, but if they reported him to be insane, the magistrate was thereupon re quired to order him to be transmitted to a lunatic asylum. The Duke of RICHMOND wished to know what pro vision the Noble Earl made for the expenses attending the maintenance of these lunatics? The LORD CHANCELLOR agreed fully to the prin ciple of the Bill, but as it was one of the greatest import ance ho would ask the Noble Earl to postpone the second reading of it until the next session, which would be soon, and when they would have ample time to consider it in all its details. The measure, in its present shape, was open to some objections, which, if ample time were al lowed for its consideration, could be removed without detriment to its principle. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY consented to adopt the suggestion of the Noble and Learned Lord. The Bill was accordingly withdrawn. SUITORS IN CHANCERY RELIEF BILL. Toe LORD CHANCELLOR, in moving the second reading of this Bill, said it was framed upon the report of the Commission appointed to inquire into the sub ject. The measure had come up from the other House, and he believed that the general principle of it was ad mitted. It might be truly called a Bill for the re lief of suitors in Chancery. Although they would be relieved from a great amount of the burden that had hitherto attached to . them, .he was, however, sorry to say that t h e ee mpensa . tion which it would be necessary to give for the abolishe offices would exhaust a reat p rtion ofpm the . money d that would be saved by the g pro p.- Osed re ulations. It must, therefore, be full benefit a considerab of le t ime before the . suitors could have the t h a t relief which the Bill was calculated to giv® them. The measure proposed to abolish fees and copy money, a nd, in lieu thereof, to substitute stamps. It would p l ac e upon the Consolidated Fuad the salaries of the Chancery judges, amounting altogether to 28,0001. It would abolish a considerable number of offices, and re duce the salaries of those which it would be necessary to con tinue. A great saving of the public money would thus be effected. There was an important proviso in the Bill, under which the poor man who had become a lu natic would be treated differently to the rich man who had become a lunatic. The expense to the former would be considerably less than that to which the latter would be subject. Such expense would b . e regulated by a per centage upon the property of the individual. He hoped that no impediments would be thrown in the way of the Bill, but that it would be allowed to pass without amendment. Lord LYNDHURST said he fully agreed in the prin ciple of the measure, but in Committee he intended to move two or three amendments, to prevent any injustice b e ing done to the parties under the Bill. Lord CR ANWORTH said that the Bill proposed to give compensation to certain clerks, who had been trans ferred from the Court of Exchequer to the Court of Chancery, such compensation to be calculated only for the time they have been in Chancery. H e suggeste d t hat the compensation should be calculated from the period they had been in the Court of Exchequer. The Bill was then read a second time. MILITIA BILL. Their Lordships then went into Committee upon the )itilitia Bill, when clauses up to 5 were agreed to. The Duke of liICHMOND said that 145 no was not by a M. de nambure, gentleman bedchamber under Henri TV., Louis Louis XIV,, a manuscript of mai pages, writteu fur the benefit of the tives, and the pu'olicaiiou of which was bidden lest it might injure any member has been entrusted to Miss Pardon by its sessor, in the belief, that after the lapsf years its publicity cannot be detrimental rests of any one living. From this man Pardoe has gleaned many anecdotes and formation, hitherto unpublished, a fact which neces sarily increases the value of her work. Portraits of Marie de Medicis, of Louis XIII., and of Cardinal Richelieu, adorn these volumes, which also contain facsimilies of autograph letters of the Queen, of the King, of Richelieu, and of Marshal Schumberg. LIVES OF TILE PRINCESSES OF ENG LAND. By Mrs. Everett Green. Vol. IV. Colburn. The fourth volume of these interesting memoir's will be welcomed by all the readers of the previous biographies. The authoress apologises for the long delay in its publication, which has been partly occa sioned by the necessity for personal examination of the Scottish records bearing noon the life of Margaret Tudor, eldest daughter of Henry the Seventh. The long and troubled reign of this Queen occupies the greatest part of the present volume. Though she does not appear to very great advantage in the stormy records of plots and factions, the authoress defends her by asserting that the position in which s'le was placed gave full scope to her faults, while her virtues had no opportunity 1;or display. There are also the lives of Anne, fifth daughter of Edward the Fourth, and Catherine and Bridget, her sisters. The work will be concluded in one, or at most two vo lumes, which will comprise memoirs of the Queen of Bohemia and the daughters of Charles the First. The series will form a great acquisition to all interested in the details of history, especially as they afford such complete information on subjects so important, though so little known, as the lives of the PrincEssss of England. THE ---EBELS OF GLENFAU. A Ro mance of the Lest Century. 3 Vols. S hoberl. This book h lines—" Fierce wars s wars and faithful loves, and truths severe, by fairy fiction ." and truly does it fulfil its promise for it dressea., for its motto . the following graphic chron cles of all conflicts, a:natio" the most citizens citizens. agat . nst itself, le, principal characters is as fr armed against fellow. hand, certainly the record of on the other the against dreadful of the attachment of overshadowed by danger as any with sorrow legend of old romance,. or any tale of the days of sa a y e re lates to the revolutionary se.- • The narrative the close of the last spirit of Ireland at stirring time is very ably described. an d the d by v ig w oll as r an by old baron, the Lorinoe Roche, and as escribed. The chief person in the plot, be, who most harsh hishs influence, energy , his intellect, importanceandg"re it life by whe, being a Catholic, had endured the and cruel treatment on all sides, was betray e d son, driven away from his ancestral halls and forced to to fly to the continent. Tne hero . was his grandfather who returned with his relative in disguise at the c am : mencement of the story, and was then introduced un der a fictitious name to the family of Amy, th e f a i r heroine. Gerald found his position very trying. Honour forbade him from proposing to her to leave a home of affluence to follow the fortunes of a proscribed wanderer, while on the other hand, all the feelings of his nature and the spirit of his race were aroused to indignation at the thought of relinquishing her to some petty suitor, un mindful of her worth and regardless of her supe riority. He exclaimed to himself, in the bitterness of his thoughts, some carpet knight of the saloons who has never seen fire will step in between us, and off her who should realize the glory of a poet soldier's home. But melancholy reflections like these carry had no foundations, for Amy could judge for herself, and discriminate merit, though under a veil, and distin guish talent even through poverty. Meanwhile the stern summons of war soon sounded its trumpet in the ears of the young enthusiast, and compelled him to relinquish the smiles of love for the frowns of fate, the dreams of fancy for the saddest of truth's realities. The scenes in which the conspirators held their assemblies, and carry on their plans, are very powerfully sketched, particularly the one at the close of the second volume, when they are arranging the final coup. Altogether, there is great originality in many parts of the work, the difficult plan proposed in its construction is well carried out, the characters, from the high officials of Government to the lowly smith, and mill-oWner, admirably delineated, and from the whole the reader may gain a fair insight into the " days that are o'er." The genera tion that is past affords many a theme for the scholar, the sage, and the poet ; but it is to be questioned if any page of its annals is more entitled to consideration than the one which records the his tory of Ireland. Misfortune, mystery, and misma nagement are found there; hence it is not to be won. dered at the novelist is successful when fixing on, as a theatre for the acts of rebellion and ty ranny, as an arena for the display of life's most high wrought passions, the country, which the poet has immortalised as the " island of sorrow" which a dis tinguished Minister declared to be " his difficulty." " I know not how to commence. Could you conceive a youth wayward and restless, though bred in a cloister's retirement, loved and taught by one deeply learned in %hatever is beautiful in the literature, or valuable in the lore of times new or old? Could you conceive this youth taught by such a friend for kindred love at first drinking in, with greedy ear, the lessons of his gifted teacher's mind, then, as years advanced, in dreary reverie, endeavouring to figure forth the heroes of whom ho read, the fair beings they had loved to give a local habitation to, the bright creations of the poet's teeming mind, anon awaking from these visions of boyish fancy, and as the oral recital of the deeds of his kin dred, long bygone, mingled in his daily con verse with news of the great whirlwind which shakes the nations, wishing vaguely to do as his fathers had done before him—to buckle on a sword and cut his way to future? Could you, then, imagine this aspirant cast with all his young ambition into the troubled waters of the great revolution, buffetting with little guidance the waves and difficulties opposing him —now avoiding the allurements of pleasure and dissipa.. tion, now, in spite of many struggles, yielding for a space to their infiuence; . at last becoming a so ldi er, first indeed in theory, and afterwards, perhaps, somewhat in praci ice, where the gentle waters of Adda ran red with the blood of the brave who fell at Lodi?' . • -- gazed with enthusiasti c d e li ght on the w Heaven!' he cried at last,' I th ank thee that I thane prospect!o morebehold this dear, d ear scene of home, here where, as dreaming youth, as lo v i ng man, as outraged father I dread the wrixth of heaven. litre on thi s soil— oh, boy, fertile as Arcadia, yo ur f at h ers trod as lords — look round you and b e h ol d the strongholds of your i4ci---llne Oh,c o l d man warrior sires! Behold their castles and their parks-- all lost for sake of old fidelity. See where old religion fostered by their wealth, their devotion, their love long To flourished, yielding to men f a i t h , hope and charitT; the rich a livin g illustrati on of " pleasure upon earth !—t o t h e poor benevolence yre t he and kindre spathy. Oh, ho w often in e _ far plains of the new world has fancy d f e f" a f gh fi i r e, called this scene. How eften by the fa--°- t he dying when the bivouac slept, have I traced in t view! embers some fancied outline of this besid e° in s g proudly " ' Oh Gerald,' he said, once i the round him, ' it is a land to fi,. , ,ht loves and man destroys. Here 'n "hericeie6s, on her primeval hills lie mineral treasures. r P an . a mechanical plains and in her streams are fertil i t y and industry and encouragement to evoke thew. power profuse, and wanting but hu man her children exists land g az bosom that at of n thewatu r e u. every noble trait, if uncivilizing fnio . r . o9 , , i g"rance perverted tbernnf___.......--"" v depression and fostered TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sing-There was a time when The Sun lent its aid to correct the abases of the navy. Trusting your opinions are not altered I propose, by our fav!pur, calling the . The junior offic . ers of the navy attention of the First Lord of t he Admiralty to some of the many naval grievances, 4 which the enclosed is, I noneeive, paramount • are men of fair education, orten of considerable scientific . knowledge; the men are now well-behaved and reasonable beings—not what they were; but great discontent exists. you redreA7.-1 3, ir l yours, &c., To the press alone can we hope for an alleviation, and through C HIP OF THE OLD BLOCK. London, Jane 16. TO g is GRACE THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND. My Lord Duke,—ln addressing your Grace through medium of a public journal, I feel no apology neces the ry The neglect shown by your predecessors to naval ilris.prudence remains with you to remedy. The Articles ' o f war are at present what they wore when you were last afloat. Read over that sanguinary code, and con sider if they are suited to the times or people of the present day. I maintain the law is not clear to all, or clear to any, or accurately defined as it should be. The consequence is that the awful brutality of the first and general termination of the maritime code defeats its ob ject by torturous severity, and offenders escape the mis called justice of a naval court-martial. The sentences of naval courts-martial are not looked on by the service or the public, as are those of civil courts, with respect and resignation. The sentences of the former are some times those of expediency, often of ignorance, and fre quently caprice. The law is bad, and the judges and code,you r Grace more willsuitable am e amend to the the san guinary eh h:gaog san ofd disgraceful administrators often ignorant of their. power—justice is consequently an accident, and a rare one. W gr e ac h eu o f p l e Norfolk llsland than to Le the pivot of di sc i p l ine of the British navy. The public gives your Grace the credit of uhdertak.. ing the onerous office you hold for the benefit, not of yourself or your friends, but the service of the country. You can do nothing more accept Able to the navy than striking at the root cf all evil—bad laws and injustice. Jane 16 . r Grace's A CHIP am, my Lord Duke, mistoHbiepdioenrt THEand humble servant, BLOCK, Her Royal Royal Highness the D uc h e ss of Gloucester visited her Duchess of Cambridge yoterclAy at het highness the residence, St. JAmee 4 rAlace. tan of thik - N T s Xlll6 an ink.tho• ;mo d v- -- - gl i k .... ,a.: ' - 4:---sz. , •• • v aut.Af iev ,•,,, st .7"1 :,,. 1 ,-- -p r of r ' ) . 3` .'*--.. • 0 E l P o ' t • " ''''' Wl' 1 f ~,,, , -...•:fri,... .0 t. vci,„,,. - CI uscri . 0, L __ Ar pieces . -re '''