The Sun. — London, England, 1837-02-28 00:00:00

SiL4 tj 1\ 1 -7 .4 I) I I 0 7:4; UN 0.1• TI Stycn or Cluck. IMPERI A.l, PARLIAMENT, (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SITAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. GRAND CONNECTION (RAILWAY. Lord GEORGE LENNOX presented a petition from an individual in fam ur of the Grand Connection (Worcester and Wolvcrhamp on) Railway. Col. LYC. ON ,)resented a petition to the same effoct from certain oectu rs laud on the line of railway. Mr. VILLIERS preset:lA a similar petition from Wol v. rhampton. Captain WINNINGTON presented a petition to the same effect, front certain occupiers of laud in the county of Wor, cestcr. CHELSEA WATER WORKS. On the mo',ion of Mr. FINCH, the Chclsca Water Woks B II was rea•l a first time. DI:BLIN AND KILKENNY RAILWAY. Mr. 11A NI i LTON presented a petition from the Dublin al. Company against this Bid. TANIWORTH AND RUGBY RAILWAY. Sir E. WILNIOT presented a petition from the Directors of the Tarnworth and Rugby Railway, stating that, in conse quence of a misconception on their part they Irzi not included in their plan a barn, which they thought they ought not to have included; the Standing Order Committee had reported that the Standing Orders had not been complied with. The object of the petition was, without at all impugning the deci sion of the Committee, to have the case referred back to the Streiding Order Committee. Sir .IbEIN WROTTESLEY said that two years had elapsed since the decision of the Committee had been pro liounced, and there had been no appeal from it ; but he thought the better uay would be to move that the petition be printed with the Votes, and fix a future day for the consideration of thu subject. Lord' F BRING TON, having been Chairman of the Stand ing Order Committee on the occasion referred to in the peti tion, could not help expressing his hope that the Ilonourable Baionct would, in justice to the Members of that Com mittee, adopt the course thieli was recommended by his Hon. Friend (Sir John Wrottesley.) Without going into the merits of the case, perhaps he would be allowed to state the decision which was come to by the Committee was adopted without petition, and no doubt was expressed at the time as to the propriety of that decision. Sir GEORGE STRICKLAND was one of the Mem bers of the Standing Order Committee who differed from the rest, though that difference was not so strong as to induce him to divide the Committee. He did not think it was necessary that the petition should be printed with the Votes. He saw many of the Members of that Committee in the House, and lie thought they could discuss it then. The Report from the Sub-Committee was that the Standing Orders had not been complied with. His opinion then was, and it remained so, that strickly speaking the Standing Orders had been complied with, because the parties who had the conduct of the railroad, had declared it was not their intention to.take the barn, and it was necessary that they should give an enlarged plan of it. The barn stood in a small field, part of which would be tra versed by the railway. Having considered the case very at tentively, it was his opinion that the standing orders had been complied with, and he was inclined to allow 'the Bill to go on. He thought, however, it would have been better, if the Com pany had been more candid, and had given him an enlarged plan, and he hoped the prayer of the petition would be com plied with. Sir T. FREMANTLE happened to be on the Commit tee l‘hen this question was disposed of. He did not approve of the course suggested by the Member for Yorkshire. He thought it would be better to have the petition printed, anti taken into consideration on a future day.—( Hear, hear.) He did not mean to say that the Committee might not have come to a wrong decision, but ho believed the better way would be to have the quest on disposed of by the House. After a few observations from Sir E. WILMOTT and the SPRAKER, 'which did not reach the gallery, the petition was ordered to be printed, and taken into consideration on Friday next. GRAND CONNECTION RAILWAY. Mr. COOK ES presented a petition in favour of the Grand Connection Railway. EAST LONDON GAS COMPANY. Mr. \MKS presented a petition signed by 2,000 inhabi tan. householders of the Eastern part of London, praying that the Eastern Gas Company Bill, upon which the Committee bad reported that the Standing Orders had not been complied with, might be referred back to that Committee. There had been merely an informality in the posting of the notices, and he trusted that the House would not permit a great public im provement of that nature to be passed over for another year upon such slight grounds. Sir EDWARD KNATCHBULL thought the application a most extraordinary one. The petitioners appeared to be quite aware of the irregularity that had been committed, and yet they earns before the House to have the Bill referred back again. This was one of the cases in which the House should stand by its former decision, as unless some reasonable ground could be shown the House could net be asked to dispense with its Standing Orders. Lord G. SOMERSET said that the House should require some very strong and special reasons to induce it to depart from 'ILI rules which were always laid down upon such occa sio is, snd he for one should oppose the application. s; OHN WROTTESLEY did not think that this was a case in which the House ought to grant any great indul gence. He hoped the House would not adopt the suggestion of referring this Bill back to a Committee who were unani mous in their opinion. If the House were to adopt a contrary opinion to that of the Committee, they would be acting in direct opposition to every decision of the last two years. Mr. R. PALMER, having been Chairman of the Com mittee, begged to inform the House that the parties promoting this Bill bad neglected to give the regular notice on the Church doors, and that the first notice had been given on the last day of November. It was clear, that the Standing Orders had not been complied with. Mr. WIL KS did not say that the Standing Orders had been complied with—if they had, he need not have appealed to the liberality of the House. The course he meant to pur sue was to move that the petition be laid on the table. He had not heard a word to induce him to think that this was not an occasion in which great public (convenience would result from liberality on the part of the House.—( Hoar. ) It %WS his intention to move on a future day that the petition be printed, and he would then distinctly bring it under the consideration of the House.--:The subject then dropped. ELLESMERE AND CHESTER CANAL. On the motion of the Earl of DARLINGTON, this 8111 vas read a second time. GRAND CONNECTION RAILWAY. Mr. ROBINSON presented a petition from Worcester in favour of this Bill. Mr. H. TRACEY presented a similar petition. SMALL DEBTS BILL. Mr. BROTHERTON presented retitions from Market Boswell anti other places, praying to be included in e opera tion of the Small Debts Bill. On the motion of Lord FRANCIS EGERTON the South Union Railway Bill was referred to t'ie Lancaster list. Mr. GREEN brought up the Report of the Committee on the London and Greenwich Railway, reporting that th e Stand ing Orders had no t b een conTlied with. LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY. Captain A L SAGER moved that a message be sent to the Lords, requestinr• their Lordships would be pleased to com municate to the House a printed - copy of the evidence taken before a Committee of their Lordships on the London and Brirgbton Railway. GLASGOW, PAISLEY, KILMARNOCK, AND AYR RAILWAYS. Mr. WA R BURTON said it was his intention pursuant to notice, to move for the revivd Gf the Committees on the peti tions for the Bills of the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock, and Avr RAway Company, and of the Edinburgh and Glas gow Rai;way Company. aril for the re-commitment of the yeti:ions for the said Bills severally to the Committees. As to the course of proceeding.' the would recollect that in case the lit of I,:rty-two had decided that the Standing Orders were not complied with, or in rase the Committee on the Bill itself decided against it, there was an appeal to another tribunal, which. however, he was free to admit, was seldom resorted to. The case which he now brought l'cfore the House admitted only of an appeal to the decision of the House; and it was upon this that he grounded the course he was now taking. The House would recollect that upon petitions presented against the Bills by the . Earl of Blantyre and another, the Committee decided that the new" Standing Orders paised by the [louse had not been complied with ; and that the old rules had been superseded by the general Standing Orders, which applied -to private Bill.. The House would recollect that the new Standing Orders respecting railroads, which required contracts, should he de livered in before the prenntation of a petition, for the Bill did not for the first ttw require that. Originally there was a sub-. scription list and con tract required, but the contract wasnot to be , delivered in before the 2d reading of the Bill. All that was done. The new regulation was that it require I the subscription- list and contract to be delivered in before the Bill was proceeded with. There was nothing in the new regulation that super seded the delivery in of the subscription list. The question was whether the general Standing Order respecting subscription lists had been superseded, and not, whether that general Standing Order 'nut been,complicd with. The allegations in the petitions I '.'e had last night presented were that they had not been e,omplied with, and upon these grounds he proposed that the.se two Bills be referred back to the Committees. Mr. SHAW LA FE V RE had the honour- to be Chairman of the Sub-committee to which these Bills had been referred. The House would recollect that previous.to the last Session of Parliament, S:anding Orders were prepared which would apply t o Railway Bills only. and upon time report of a Com "tnittee whiCh had been aprointed, the House came to the re solution that the Standing Orders, relating to canals and navi gation should no longer apply to Railway Bills,•and a series of Standing Orders for the regulation of Railway Bills was adopted. The parties bad the opportunity of.examining the subscripOi3n list, and of informing themselves of the solvency or responsi bility of the parties, and of their capability of carrying the measure into execution. It was also obvious that a person who signed a contract rendered himself movie' 'responsible than by signing the subscription list ; still it was possible there might be fraud practised by persons signing the con tract, who were mere men of straw. It was therefore exceed ingly desirable that the public .should have all the protection that could be thrown around them. Ile regretted to say he bought some 'doubt arose from the manner in which the Standing tdll , lrk- tau been framed, becanse the difficulty that c.::tAirred in this case might occur aglin. and 11 ": , Aao, fxpedient that all parties sito-alol rtittitittly know what the ir,tent of the House waf. material question for, the (louse to consider Werether they thought th'er'e n'tinl3. a sult, , cfiptioi: lkst ac well as a 'Conti -get . ; a'ltA they were of that opinion, then whether Tt . Wit'ttid hot be desirable that that opinion should reclitie ).he sanction of the whole House ? ( Hear, MI% WA RB RTON thought that every protection should he alfcrded to the public. Lord S N DON WAS unilerstooA to tat; '';ould have no objection to amend the Stands Oeilers, so as to meet such cases as that now IturT4t. I.lle cunsideration of the House. Mr. GlSlzOlt a .\;E observed that there was aritn!iq point on which a good deal of ntisunders:and;n6 appeared to exist out doers, and it was with r;l'ect to the time at which pe titions against prirat,', Bills might presented s niaay per -3'6115 irnaneti that these petitions conch presented at any time previous to the s?cond r^_: cling of the Bill, aid parties were in this way diseri','6inted, being told that their petitions were too late her not presented within sev e n ,oys. Ile hoped ratlle regulation would be adopted to prevent misunder standing upon that point.--_( Hear, hear.) The Committee, of which he had the honour to be Chairman, considered that, by the Standing Orders relating to railroads, no such subscription list was requirrd. They had ascertained that in all the Standing Order., relating; ' to other Pri va t e Bilk, where a subscription list was required, there was appended to the Order a reference to the Standing Order, page 7, to which he had before referred; but in Standing Orders relating to Railroads, where a subscription contract was required, there was no such reference to the general Standing Order No. 4. It appeared to the Committee, that in Bills relating to railroads, the House was anxious to impose upon parties the obligation of bringing documents more binding than the original subscription list, and that therefore a con tract was substituted in lieu of the subscription list. It cer tainly had happened that in the Standing Orders relating to Canal and Navigation Bills a subscription list was required, cmtaining the names and places of abode of the - parties, and a contract was also required, which were ordered to be deposited in the Private Bill Office at separate and distinct times. The Committee considered that if it were necessary to put in a sobtription list as well as a contract, that this would hale been included in the Standin g Orders, which otity made it necessary that a cont rac t s h ou ld be depo sited in the Private Bill Office,before the petition should be presented. They considered that this General order was completely got rid of by the subsequent orders with reference to railways. The Committee, however, considered it right to look at the contract, and to ascertain whether it was such a document as would give satisfactory evidence that the parties were legally bound by the subsetiption contract to which they had attached their names, and also that they were sufficiently designated. The contract was in this form ; first, there was the name of the party subscribing, as, for instance, Hugh Millar ; then his place of re sidence, Ayr ; then his designation, a merchant ; and then the number of shares which he held, and the value thereof. This was given its five separate columns, and the Committee considered that this designation of the parties put the public and the House on their guard as to any fictitious names that could by any possibility be put upon the contract. The Committee upop the Standing Orders thought that in spirit those orders had been complied with, and that the contract which was laid before the Committee, and also in the Private Bill Office, was a sufficient contract, designating the persons subscribing, together with their names and places of abode. It was not his intention to offer any opposition to the motion, but to leave it in the hands of the House to deal with it as it might think fit. Lord JAMES STUART supported the Bill. Lord G. SOMERSET thought that before any further discussion took place it would be advisable to hear from the Chair its opinion upon the subject. The SPEAKER said that he had no difficulty in stating that he remained of the same opinion as he had expressed before.—(Hear, hear!) In the present case there was not only a subscription list, but before the second reading of the Bill there was a contract. If that contract was substituted in lieu of the subscription list, there was in fact less security to the public than there was before, and he could scarcely think it could be the intention of the Committee to have given less security than there was before. The question was, was there, or was there not, any security by having a subscription list? Mr. WARBURTON said that since he last addressed the House he had received a description of the parties to a contract from which it appeared that thirteen hundred shares wee held by persons at Manchester and Liverpool, who were merely described as gentlemen and gentlewomen —some of them were even signed for by their attorneys. Many of the parties had no designation at all, and others were described as residing in the_ United States of America or some of the British colonies. It would be a monstrous inse curity to the public if that House were to adopt the interpre tation laid down by the Noble Lord with regard to the Stand ing Orders. He had no objection to a liberal interpretation of the Standing Orders provided it was consistent with the se curity of the public. After a few words from Mr. S LEFEVERE and the SPEAKER, the subject was, as we understood, withdrawn. SEPTENNIAL ACT. Mr. D'EYN CO URT, in answer to a question of the Chan cellor of the Exchequer, said he would postpone his motion for the repeal of the Septennial Act until the 18th of April. The subject had been protracted for two years, but it was his determination to take the sense of the House on it this Session. IRISH POOR-LAW BILL. Sir ROBERT PEEL had understood that it was the intention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to move the second reading of the Irish Poor-law Bill this evening. He did not know at what hour it was intended to bring the matter on. He was prepared to vote for the second reading, but he was afraid sufficient notification had not been given to Gentle men who might wish to state their opinions. Mr. O'CONNELL said, that although he could not corn plain of want of notice, still he believed there were many gentlemen not then present who wished to state their senti ments to the House before it went into Committee on the Bill. It was a subject which ought to be approached with the greatest care and caution, and he hoped if they could not dis. cuss it at an early hour the second reading would be postponed. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said there were several notices on the books which it was con sidered would not take long, and if they were disposed of by nine o'clock, he had intended to move the second reading, but if that was considered inconvenient, he would on the suggestion of any Hon. Member postpone it at once for a future day. Sir R. PEEL considered that of all questions that came before the House, this was one which they cught to address themselves to with the greatest dispatch, and with the most sincere desire to bring it, to a practical conclusion.--( Hear, hear.) The observations he had made applied not so much to the lateness of the hour as to sufficient time not having been given to gentlemen to enable them to collect their ideas and refer to documents which they might wish to state to the House. MARINE POLICIES. Mr. ROBINSON gave naticetl;tVeshould, on Thurs day next, present a petition from the merchants of the City of London, praying for a. reduction of the duty on Marine Policies. The Hon. Member also gave natice that he should on that day move a resolution relating to that duty. RAILWAYS. Mr. PE ASE rose to move for a Select Committee to in quire and consider how far it might be expedient to take mea sures for securing that all public lines of railway be laid, and hereafter maintained, at one and the same standard ; and to report thereon to the House. Sir H. VERNEY moved as an amendment, that an address be presented to his Majesty, that he would be graciously pleased to appoint a Royal Commission to consider and report on all proposals for railroads or canals which might be submitted to that House. He complained that that House was often called on to adopt a line of railway without having had sufficient opportunity of ascertaining which line would be most advantageous to the public generally. When the enormous expenses of these rail ways was considered, the House ought to adopt some efficient means of protecting the public by soliciting the best line. He would not refuse his assent to the motion of his Hon. Friend ( Mr. Pease). but in his opinion the object they had both in view would be best answered by adopting his amendment. He had no wish that that House should delegate its power, hut, at the same time, he thought that it was the boun den duty of the House to attain every information in their power that could possibly be advantageous to the public. Mr. WA RBURTON did not think that the Committee moved for by the Hon. Member for Durham ( Mr. Pease) could attain the object he had in view. He would oppose both the original motion and the Amendment. Mr. GIL LON would support the amendment. Sir J. STRICKL AND was opposed to the appointment of any Royal Commission which should ride over the specula tions of private individuals in the management of their own concerns. Mr. P. THOMSON was very sorry to say that he could not agree with either proposition.--( Hear, hear.) With re gard to the amendment which had been supported by the Honouonble Member for Falkirk, he must say that .he thought that that Hon. Meml..r could not have read the Report of the Railroad Committee of last year, or at least have attached very little importance to that Report. It was well known that the subject of a general survey by a Royal Commission was very closely investigated by that Committee. Ire owned that he himself went into that Committee with a very strong desire - to see if it were not possible to introduce something of the kind ; but the examination of several engineers, who were acquainted with the subject, and the discussions which had taken place, convinced him that it was utterly im possible, with benefit, to introduce such a plan, and he con sented-with very great pleasure tothe report of that Committee, a part of which, instead of a speech, he would take the liberty of reading to the House- The Right lion. Gen tleman then read an extract from the Report of the Committee, in which they stated that they bad been led to inquire ivto the subject of a survey by a Royal Commission, for the purpose of !finding the judgment of Committees on the merits of.com peting, lines of Railway, and a close examination convinced them that it would be attended with no practical good, and they were decidedly of opinion that railways, like other undertakings, should be left to the judgment of - those who were willing to advance them capital..., In every word of that Report he concurred, and he believed that every member of that COi - nmittee concurred in that recommendation, and he sincerely hoped that the House, upon this occasion,' would set the seal of their approbation upon that Report by rejecting both the motion and the amendment. (LEFT SPEAKING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. ENGLISH CORPORATION ACT. The Atterney-General and several :Members of the House of Coutinqn Ilrell - ht Up Cerpbration Amet Act. Lord ti ions from the in haT'illants cf Brcaciway and ,Stockdale, a6ainst the abolition of (Thureh-raLs. . . . The Duke of WE LL INGTOSidircslteck the inha , )itants of parishes in 'Devon, from . 't,f4 l -..-.' l 4..niy of Sam2rset, from Walmer, and se ',7l,,asties in Kent, against the abolition of Church-rates. he Noble Duke also presented a petition from the guardians ~f the pour of the Union of the Island of ThaneA, ag,dost ttny alteration tho rltif Lord L V. ND ft URST preSented a petition trciin the' NiayOr i Aldermen, and Connell of 1116 b oro u g h of Poole, praying that h, , ,•ir Lordships *cold maintain the Church as by law esta hlislA, and also that they would maintain the privilegei of heir Lord ;hips' House. The Bishop of LONDON presented petitions from 90 iiirishes in favour of Church-rates ; in one of those parishes the total assessment was 1,9421., and of this the signatures of payers to the amount of 1,52:31. was attached to the petition, praying: that they might be allowed to continue the payment of these rates. The petitions were from parishes in Essex, llertford, Surrey, Gloucester, Wilts, and one from Suffolk ; almost every paris'a in Essex had petitioned to this effect, and twenty of them were from Gloucestershire. Lord STRAFFQRD presented petitions from East Lear mouth and Great Yarmouth, for the abolition of Church-rates. Lord AL BENIARLE presented a petition from Bury St. Edmund's, against Church-rates. A NOBLE LORD 0 - resented petitions from Danbury and Great Wickford, in favour of Church-rates. _ _ _ The Marquis of SALISBURY preiented a petition from East Barnet and Chipping Barnet against the abolition of Church-rates. The Bishop of LINCOLN presented petitions from various parishes in the county of Lincoln to the same effect. Lord BRO UG I-IAM presented a petition signed by upwards of 19,000 of the inhabitant rate-payers of Birmingham, praying that their Lordships would give their support to sonic measure for the total abolition of Church-rates as speedily as possible. Not only was this petition respectable in point of number, and in point of property, but the Noble Lord would venture to say that he was quite sure it represented the sense of the great majority of the inhabitants of that town. At the last vestry, at which the question of a Church-rate was brought into con sideration, there was a poll taken, by which it appeared, •all the 'various classes of voters having voted, that in to say, those having one, two, three, four, five, and six votes under the Vestry Act, the only classes not in the majority against the rate were classes five and six ; and their majority was' very small—the total votes being somewhere about 1,100, and those in the majority amounting to upwards of 1,000. The Noble and Learned Lord then presented petitions from Bridport, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Devonport, and several pa rishes in the county of Somerset, to the same effect. ECCLESIASTIC-AL REPORT. Earl RIPON wished to ask the Noble Lord at the head of his Msjesty'a Government if the last report of the Ecclesiasti cal Commissioners of Ireland had been received from the . Lord Lieutenant ? If it had, as he apprehendbd it ought, he certainly expected it would have hem laid on the table ere now. Lord MELBOURNE said it had been received,, and should be forthwith laid on the table. The Marquis of SALISBURY postponed his motion with respect to the Standing Orders till Monday, amid cries of " Order of the day." The Earl of WICKLOW said, before the House proceeded to the Order of the Day, he wished to present a petition of some importance relative to the subject to be discussed that night. It was a petition from a vast number of the clergy of the united Diocese of Derry and Raphoe. The meeting at which the pe tition was got up was most numerous, and all were unanimous in agreeing to it. The petition was signed by the Bishop of the Diocese on behalf of the petitioners, and the prayer of it was that the House would do what he trusted was their inten tion to do on the motion of the Noble Viscount opposite, viz :—appoint a Committee for the purpose of investi gating the mode in which the system of education in Ireland was carried on ; and that such a system of educa tion would be provided as would be agreeable to the views of all persuasions. —( Hear, hear.) A correspondence had been carried on with some of the petitioners and the clergy of -Ire land, and the petitioners set forth a valuable address to the clergy of Ireland for that purpose. Whether the proposal they made in the petition should be favourably received by the House or not,—whatever might be the impression on the minds of others, he was sure the petitioners deserved the sincere thanks of the people of Ireland for the anxious endeavours they had made to smooth the way to so desirable an object. He would not now occupy the House further upon the sub ject, as he should no doubt have an opportunity, in the course of the discussion, of more fully entering into it. The petition was then read and laid on the table. The petition having been read at length, The Bishop of EXETER said it was his misfortune to have to present a petition of a directly opposite nature, from many of the clergy of the united dioceses of Derry and Raphoe, who did not agree in the petition just laid on the table. He regretted that the petition presented by the Noble Earl ( Wicklow)_ was in that form that it could not be received in any other light than as that of the Bishop only by whom it was signed. He lamented that the Right Rev. Prelate had adopted such a course, for he had hoped his Lordship's acquaint ance with the forms of the House would enable him to know that it could not be received as the petition of the clergy on whose be half it was stated to be signed. The petition which was in his (the Bishop of Exeter's) hands, was signed by the Dean of Derry, by the Archdeacon, by the Vicar-General, and by 40 or 50 clergymen of the united dioceses, a larger body than those who concurred in that of an opposite tendency. The peti tioners did not address any violent remonstrance to that House— they simply prayed their Lordships to give to the case their earnest and best attention, and to found a system of education for the people based on the Word of God.—Tho petition was ordered to lie on the table. The Right Rev. PRELATE next presented petitions, with a similar prayer, from the Bishop of Down and Connor, from the Bishop and Clergy of the diocese of Meath, from the Bishop and Clergy of the united dioceses of Cashel and. Emly, of Waterford and Lismore, and of Cloyne and Ross. He wished to remark, that many, of the Clergy who signed the petitions had, at the first establishment of the Ncw Board, ap plied for its assistance in founding schools, and he now ad duced the fact, not from any wish to throw discredit upon them for having done so, but to show that men eager and anxious to avail themselves of the assistance of the Bo :rd, were now, after an experience of its working, desirous to withdraw from all connection with it. The petitions also prayed that the grant to the National Board of Education should in future be discontinued. ME SUN, LON-DON, TUESDAY, FEBIttJAItY 28, 1837. I.tliptiit it re t iii di COtti - se,bc thoa , ;t the staieu nis intention to renew is übtion—i then to hope that when the Right Rev. Prelate brought it fOrward, that Sate diSti*lY; Mid gi , `,- s us some. retire 130 - Ore-hand, in ciriVr %i 4, t4l brOphred tsi aniwd• the skeige cases brought forward, and to know what these cases r,e;t, because, considering what their nature was, it was perfectly impossible for us to be prepared fur them at the moment. The Noble Duke opposite objected to the course I took on that occasion. 1k said it tttts riot l'ArNiVetitztry, }lot it was a breach thd pritilegcs of Members of Parliament to ask a Ndlite Lord td Stitt° the 4rotinds be.fOreliand whieli he Meant to fotind a rat:Alain Parlifirtiet4taril; . speaiting; the Noble Unite was unquestionably right in that respect ; therefefe, cansideritT the nature of what the charges were which were brought against this system—considering their minute character, and the local character of the part of the country to which they- referred—in my opinion it is far better that the investigatim of them should be referred to a Select Commit tee, than that they should be discussed in this H ,use, which would only lead to an expression of opposite opinions, and to the bringing forward of conflicting authorities. This Board of Commissioners have made three Reports, which are before your Lordships, in which they have stated the progress they have made, the number of schools they have insti tuted, the number of schools they have given assistance to, the course ;hey mean to pursue in future ; and, above all, the'evtension which they think it is expedient your Lordships ought to give to this system. My Lords, I do not mean to pledge myself to the accuracy of the second report; but, seeing that this system is working well for the coantry, I think that is another reason, and a strong reason, if any' additional reason were wanted, to show it that the system should be gone on with, These are the grounds, My Lords, on which I found the mo •tion I have the honour of submitting to your Lordships. Moreover, if it were necessary, there is yet one ground stronger than them all, and which I am sure I need not mention—it is the grand and paramount importance of the subject.—( Hear, hear, hear)—the great and paramount importance of it to that part of the country where so many and so great difficulties to its progress—the great objects to be obtained to that part of the countryin the first place, by communicating the blessings of education to the inhabitants of that part of the country ; and if education is to be communicated to them, surely it is the duty of your Lordships to take care that that. education should be of a pure and wholesome character. My Lords, I beg to move that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the progress of the new plan of Education in Ireland, and to report thereon to the House. The Bishop of EXETER. then rose. He would not tres pass at any length on the time of their Lordships if the pre sent aas an ordinary case, Their Lordships he was sure would he aware from the motion of the Noble Viscount that he bad moved for the appointment of a similar Com mittee to that which he (the Bishop of Exeter) had moved for last vear, and on that ground it must be supposed that there was no longer any occasion for further discussion, but that the House should go immediately into the Committee, where all inquiries into the merits of the case might be gone into. It would doubtless be in the recollection of their Lordships that the case now was not so smple as it was last year. in consequence of what had occurred since. He had been most seriously attacked, and as an injured man he threw himself upon the indul gencee of the House, while he defended himself against the charges that had been brought against him. A Noble Lord it would he in the recollection of the House, had also attacked him ; besides this, upon his giving notice of his intention to bring the subject before the House upon motion, a Noble Lord had the boldness to state that he (the Bishop of Exeter) would not come forward and make the intention of which he had given notice. The case, how ever, did not remain there, for th e same N o bl e L or d had said that he had never known a case which had met with so complete an answer as that which he had brought forward against the Commissioners. He wished to let that Noble Lord see that be intended to keep his word. (LEFT SPEAKING.) THE LONDON GAZETTE THIS EVENING. DOWNING-STREET, FEB. 24, 1837. The King has been graciously pleased to nominate and appoint Admiral Sir Lawrence William Halsted, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath; to be a Knight Grand Cross of the said Order, in the room of Lord De Saumarez, deceased. DOWNING-STREET, FEB. 28. The King has been pleased to appoint Vice-Admiral Ross Don nelly to he a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, in the room of Admiral Sir Lawrence William Haisted. • His Majesty has further been pleased to appoint Rear-Admiral Francis William Austen, and Rear-Admiral George Mundy, Companions of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, to be Knights Commanders of the said Order. CROWN-OFFICE, FEB. 28, 1837. lIIEMRER RETURNED TO SERVE IN THIS PRESENT PARLIAMENT. COUNTY OF ANOLESEY.-William Owen Stanley, of Penrhos, in the said county of Anglesey, Esq., in the room of Sir Richard Bulkeley Williams Bulkeley, Bart., who has accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. DECLARATIONS OF INSOLVENCY. JOAN AUSTIN, builder, Hastings. JOHN HAMILTON, merchant, Liverpool. EDWARD ALL WRIGHT, eheesemonger, Little Newport street,' Newport-market. BANKRUPTCY SUPERSEDED. EDMUND DOWLING, grocer, King-street, Tower-hill. IRISII EDUCATION, Viscount MELBOURNE rose and said—My Lords, in rising to submit to your Lordships the motion of which I had given notice, in urging the propriety of the appointment of a Committee to consider the plan of education which has been established for some years in Ireland--in urging an inquiry into the whole proceedings of that system of education—into the whole manner in which the expenditure connected with it —the whole mode of education presented by the Com missioners—the manner in which they have acted, and the effects which may be expected to result from it—l api rehend that it will not be necessary for me to enter into any very lengthened detail or very extended arguments, as I consider that on the present occasion it will be better to ab. stain from all topics calculated to excite political dis cussion, and to avoid all matters which might produce that warmth of debate which on former occasions characterised the discussions both here and in the other House on this sub ject.—( Hear.) My Lords, as I shall go into a full, fair, calm, and dispassionate inquiry into the operations of this system of education, I think it better in doing so to avoid whatever may be calculated to promote that eagerness of debate, or to in flame those • passions which are so easily excited.—( Hear, hear.) In respect to the question itself, your Lordships arc perfectly well acquainted with its merits ; your Lordships are aware that at the commencement of the present Ses sion the attention of Parliament was called to the state of Ireland, and particularly to the expediency, the necessity, and the great desirableness of extending to that country the bene fits of education, which are the source of all morality, the source of all religion, the source of -all order—of good order and peace ; and your Loaships know that they have produced sueh effects in other parts of his Majesty's dominions 'Year Lordships are also aware that Commissioners had been ap pointed to inquire into this subject, and they recommend what I am ig-lad to see has been recommended in the petition pre sented by the Noble Lord on the subject ; and your Lord ship's arc also aware that Government, in pursuing the regula tions recommended by those Commissioners, whether they were right or wrong, made a grant to a society which your Lordships know then existed in Ireland—the Kildare-place society—( Hear, hear)--of their proceedings, the number of their schools, and the number of children connected with them, your Lordships arc aware, and also of the discontent which the proceeding - 3 of that society—into the causes of this, how ever, I shall not enter upon this occasion—( Hear)--but the discontent to which I have alluded was created, and existed to a great extent in the public mind as to the proceedings of the society, and the manner in which their schools were conducted —and in conssqusnee the Government, shortly after it came ;nto power, proposed to Parliament the presenr system of edu cation which is to-night to be the subject of consideration. That system was proposed in the month of November, 1831 ; it was carried by the Parliament, and a Board of Commis sioners were appointed, who proceeded to carry it into effect, under the directions contained in a letter written by my Hon. Friend ( Lord Stanley), at that time Chief Secretary to the Board. In the month of March following the Noble Earl opposite brought the matter under the consideration of this House by moving a series of resolutions inculpatory and condemnatory of that system, but these Resolutions were not acceded to by the House. It was afterwards made the subject of repeated discussions, but no direct motion was made on the subject until within the last Session, when the Right Rev. Prelate who has just now presented these petitions to the House, made a motion for a Select Committee to en quire into the subject, at the same time stating that it was not his intention to overthrow or destroy that system, and if such a motion was entertained by his Majesty's Government, he should not persevere in it, and that motion was subsequently withdrawn. My Lords, I think, considering the tine this system has been in progress, now more than six years—considering the progress it has made I think it is prudent and wise in your Lordships to institute an inquiry into the manner in which it has been carried on, and the mode in which it has operated. —( Hear, hear.) There are several reasons for this, and although I do not wish to countenance the attacks made upon the Commissioners or the system—although I do not mean to give any countenance to tisem, yet the difference of ()pillion that still continues to prevail, and the various complaints that have been made, and the quarters from . whence they com e call upon your Lordships to give it your ser i ous consideration, BANKRUPTCY ENLARGED, HENRY CHARD, merchant, Liverpool, to March 16, at oue, at the Clarendon Rooms, Liverpool. BANKRUPTS. WILLIAM O'CONNOR, tallow-chandler, Thomas-street, Dublin. JOHN SAYRE, cheosemonger, St. Paul, Shadvrell. JORN VINEY, tailor, Cornhill. DANIEL BURGESS, jeweller, Duke-street, Grosvenor-square. ROBERT WATSON WARNER, tavern-keeper, Broad-court, Drury-lane. THOMAS BROWN, fancy-waistcoat manufacture, Hulme, Lancashire. JOSF,PII ZANETTI, carver and gilder, Manchester. RALPH HARPER, coach proprietor, Heaton Norris, Lanca shire. WILLIAM HEAP, builder, Dunkinfield, Chester. GEORGE BOYS, innkeeper, Rodley, Yorkshire. SAMUEL lIILL, worsted-spinner, Leicester. WILLIAM DAMN, glass-manufacturer, Manchester. RICHARD CLTNLIFF, cotton-manufacturer, Over Darwen, Lancashire. THOMAS ELLIOTT, lacel-manufacturer, Nottingham. REES THOMAS, tailor, Chepstow, Monmouthshire. JOHN PETER BRANDSTROM, commission merchant, Kingston-upon-Hull. SAMUEL PONTIFEX and WILLIAM FARR, coppersmiths, Upper St. Martin's-lane, Middlesex. JOSEPH BALM and JOHN ROTHWELL, lace-manufac turers, Nottingham. CHARLES ROBBINS, currier, Birmingham. DAVID CROW, tanner, Sheffield. WILLIAM HENRY FLETCHER, grocer, Portsea. THOMAS PREEDY and WILLIAM PREEDY, grocers, Oxford. COURSE OF EXCH. Amsterd +ln C F 12 5 . . NGE.--ITHIS DAY.) .....—.,....... ........ Ditto, at :fight lot terdain 2 U. 12 . 51. Antwerp... ila . nburg. M.B. t1t0na..... Paris, 3 days' sight 25 55 Ditto ...... ...............2 Us 25 85 Marscillei Frankfort on Maine, Ex. M 153 Peteratuigh, ruble 3 Us. In 0 Berlin Vienna, effective fl M. 10 10 Trieste ditto lO 18 Madrid 15 14 Cad'? liillina 'is Bireclona Oibraltar Leghorn iii Genoa :26 5 Milan 31 Venice 47 Naples 4O Palermo per oz. 121 Li. bon 5214 Oporto 5:1 %. Rio Janeiro 32 Bahia 26 Buenos Ayres . . . .. Dublin, 21 days' sight Cork PRICE OF BULLION, PER Z. Portugal Gold, coin .£0 0 0 Foreign Gold, in bars 3 17 9 New Doubloons New Dollars Silver. bars, standard 0 5 0! IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS, FirsßuAitr 27. Tho SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. BREACH OF PRIVILEGE. Mr. Sergeant JACKSON rose in the discharge of an ex ceedingly irksome, hut which lie felt an incumbent duty upon him, to call the attention of the House to a publication in the Morning Chronicle of last Friday, reflecting upon him in temp equally false and calumnious, and that in connection with the vote which he felt it his duty to give upon a question which recently came before that House, on the motion of the Hon. Bart. the Member for Cornwall (Sir W. Molesworth.) He should, without further preface, read to the House the pa ragraph of which he complained as a matter of grievous ca lumny ; and, as he submitted, involving a gross breach of the privileges of that House, in assailing a Member in such a way in connexion with tho vote which he felt it his duty t o give on a subject which was regularly brought under the consideration of the House.—[The paragraph was then read.] Then came some ribaldry reflecting on the Hon. Member for Belfast and his father, who had been in his grave for the last 20 years, and who had been always understood to be one of the most respectable merchants in the town of Belfast. Having read the paragraph to the House, he would say it involved a grievous implication on the moral character of a Member of that House. As he had stated before, it was as false as it was calumnious ; and he implored the indulgence of the House for two or three minutes, while he attempted very briefly to state a few facts and circumstances which the writer of the paragraph had in view at the time he penned it. A very short time after he ( Mr. Sergeant 'Jackson) had been called to the bar, his father died, leaving a young family. One brother was apprenticed in a manufacturing offered their assistance— one came i n t o hi s house the next morning, and laid upon his table the sum of 1,0001., desiring Ihat he ( Scrg. Jackson) should make w hat use he pleased of it. Of course he did not condescend to accept of another's money to apply it to his own purposes, but he loved his profession, and he trusted that God would bless his efforts at it. He formed the resolution never to be content or to desist from his labours while a single sl.illing remained unpaid, and he thanked Pro vidence that not only was ho enabled to purchase back his pa trimonial property, but to discharge in full all the liabi lities of the house.—( Cries of " Hear, hear, hear.") He was sorry to trespass upon the House upon a matter purely personal ; but he knew that however Hen. Gentlemen might act upon a question of gen eral policy, they never would deny to any man unjustifiably slandered its patient at tention and protection. Indeed ho did not think it was a case of a purely personal nature, because the Houso had a deep interest in the character of those who composed that . a.sis tu biy, and the country at large had au , ratertat in dia; dhartieter of thesa to whom it entrusted the sacred duty 01 tre:'eriiint„; if. in that 1-lotiae. He was happy to see the Chancetioi' 1-14,h,vef in his place, for be would be able to state that the pierldtllf til - ehit he (Mr: Jackson) had COnStilted oil the occasion referred to, wei'n of the moat respec iiiisla i`tiLtrtie'ter. Cf.ne of thedi was Mr. Samuel tiessley, a most eminent the other was also yet living, and in business ; as also the agCtlf, fo the eommission, and the clerk in the firm whose affairs were involved iti All these persons were therefore capable of refuting him if nd stated any thing that was untrue. He hoped he had sufficiently ill lie otlt a else ia ansWer to the slander, that be (Mr. Ser geant Jackson) was a bankrupt ; and uneettificated until Llirce weeks before he Waa made a Member," when the fraii si4s, that the Whole body of creditors had signed the certificate.—( War, hear.) These transactions had taken place so f..r back as IPiF. , and yet that audacious paragraph had asserted that he was an uneertifieated bankrupt until three wcehs before he was returned to that llottset: He was not anx ious to press heavily upon those who had an anitiona duty to discharge, but there was a limit beyond which the public press should not go. He admitted that these papers were very much at the mercy of those who commtinicated facts to them from the other side of the water; but it was the duty of tho Editor of that paper to have ascertained what was the character of his correspondent before he gave publicity to his com munications, which were certainly calculated to affect the character, and harrow up the feelings Of individuals. He (Mr. Jackson) felt conscious that he had never forfeited the cha racter of an upright and honest man—( Hear, hear)—and hav ing vindicated himself he was unwilling to pursue the matter, as he had not been stetstated by any harsh er vindictive feeling, but would throw himself entirely upon the good feeling of the House. He should be ready td adopt arty course the House would suggest, and begged to thank tnd !louse for the kind indulgence it had shown to him. If the paragrilph was intended to injure his character, he might safely say that tiro explanation would tend to raise him higher in the estimation of even the Honourable Members who were politically 'opposed to him —( Hear, from both sides of the Ilouse.) Dr. LEFROY would claim the indulgence of the House for a few moments, and he should not hare felt it neces sary if the character of his Honourable and Learned Friend was as well known in this cout4ry as it was in Ire land, and among the profession to which he belonged. He rose merely for the purpose of making this statement of a member of a profession to which both belonged, to every member of whom the circumstances detailed by his Learned Friend were known at the time. The whole of these circum stances came under their cognizance, and he would venture to say, that his lion. and Learned Friend did not lose, in the estimation of the profession, any more than he did in the estima tion of his friends, an atom of the high character he always held. Although the circumstances had been dragged forward with the malicious view of hurting his feelings and injuring his character in a strange country, he would venture to say that they were never remembered in Ireland, or spoken of except to his honour and credit. The members of the profession to which he belonged were anxious to give him every assist ance to extricate him from difficulty, but his Honour able and Learned Friend, from a sense of what was due to his character, disclaimed those exertions, and relied upon his own talents to extricate himself, and he was happy to say he had done so by the exercise of his profession, to which there did not exist a greater ornament. He was satis fied that the circumstances that attended the transaction had been such as to raise his character in his own profession, and with the House, now that they were apprised of the true cir cumstances of the case.—( Cheers. ) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that he was not at all aware until the circumstance had been brought forward, that any paragraph of the kind alluded to had been inserted in any paper. He concurred entirely in the condemnation that had been given to such proceedings. He thought that personal attacks upon private character for the purpose of influencing politics were unmanly and ungener ous--( Cheers)—because the party attacked must either labour under the charges made against him or do that which might be extremely hurtful to his feelings to come forward for the purpose of vindicating his character. The attack that had been made on the Learned Gentleman opposite, throwing entirely out of question the speech that he made, was most unjustifiable. If then it could be considered unjustifiable, previous to the statements of the Hon. Member, how much more so must it ap pear after the explanations which had been given on the subject. When the Hon. and Learned Member had so entirely grappled with the case, that which even if true would have been an im proper charge, became doubly unjustifiable when it was shown that it was entirely unfounded. If the Hon. and Learned Member had been longer in the House, he would perhaps have felt less warmly on the subject, because these - charges were brought every day against individuals on both sides of the House ; and he was sure that to the greater number of them those who sat on that (the Ministerial) side of the House were ex posed. He was far from justifying this statement, nor did he bring forward this as any defence on the present occa sion; but still he thought that, under the whole of the circumstances the lion. and Learned Gentleman would find, that in the eyes of the House, after the explanation which he had given, and after stating facts and circumstances which were incapable of controversy, and after having completely refuted the statement to which he had alluded, that the case did not call for any further step.--( Hear, hear.) He could assure the Hon. and Learned Gent. that if he (the Chan cellor of the Exchequer) thought that any thing further than his own statement was needed for his justification, he for one would not call upon the Hon. and Learned Member to stay where he was, but having satisfied the House, as he trusted the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had—( Cries of " Hear, hear") —that no imputation whatever rested upon his character, he hoped that the Hon. and Learned Gentleman would feel that he had discharged his duty adequately, and that it was not necessary that any further step should be taken. If he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) were right, be would move the Order of the Day for renewing the adjourned debate. Mr. Serjeant JACKSON rose in consequence of what had fallen from the Hon. Gentleman. He had put himself entirely in the hands of the House, as he did not think himself justified in passing over so false and calumnious a charge. He must be allowed to say still, that he felt it to be his duty to give the newspaper, or rather its informant, an opportunity of justifying the statement, by taking legal pro ceedings.—( Hear, hear). MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL hoped that, beforo pro ceeding with the adjourned debate, the House would allow the third reading of the Municipal Corporations Act Amendment Bill to take place. It was of the greatest importance that there should be no further delay in the passing of this Bill, which was not at all a party measure. COLONIAL LEGISLATURE. Mr. HOGGVeggedtokn;;;fietiC; the Right Hon. Gen tleman opposite had received any information respecting the proceedings of the Legislature of Jamaica (we believe) by which they had taken away from British subjects the right of appeal to the King's courts from the courts of the country —he also wished to know whether this proceeding had the sanction of the Home country ? Sir JOHN H OBIIOUsh believed it was perfectly truo that a law such as that stated had lately passed, but it was passed without any reference to the Home country. LUDLOW CHARITIES. Mr. L. CHARLTON begged to present himself for one moment to the notice of the House. It was well known that in his absence a petition had been presented respecting the Ludlow Charity. He begged the House to suspend its judgment on those charges until the whole ease was before them. In the meantime ho would take the liberty of proposing that when the retort of the Committee of Privileges was laid on the table of the House, ho would draw the attention of the House to the case of the Ludlow Charities.— ( Hear, hear, hear.) He would likewise take the liberty of moving for a return of the names of all cities and boroughs in England and Wales, in which the appointment of charity trustees had devolved by order of the Lord Chancellor, or th o giving the names of the Master, and of the Trustees so ap pointed, COUNTY RATES BILL. Mr. WI LKS wished to ask the Hon. Member for Middle sex when he intended to move the second reading of the County Rates Bill. Mr. HUME said, that in consequence of communications made to him to-day by two or three gentlemen, he should postpone his motion on County Rates till Wednesday week. CHURCH-RATES. Sir R. PEEL inquired what was the course the Govern ment intended to pursue with respect to public business— whether if the debate on the Poor Laws should be concluded to-night the. Chancellor of the Exchequer meant to bring forward his proposition regarding Churc►l-rates, and, if not, on what day ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that it had been his intention to have brought on the question of Church-rates in the course of this evening. The public and the House were most anxious to know what the precise plans of his Majesty's Government were, and he would, had it been practicable, have developed those plans to-night, but the adjourned debate on the Poor laws, and the necessity of looking into them, the matter hav ing been agitated out of doors and in that House, made it ab solutely necessary that they should proceed with that debate to-night. He did not expect that the question, under any cir cumstances, would terminate so as to enable him to bring on the question of Church-rates this evening. Sir R. PEEL—Certainly not. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER thought it therefore better to fix a day when they might be certain of bringing it on, and that day was Friday next.—(Hear.) ORANGE LODGES. Mr. FINN begged to ask the Noble Secretary for Ireland, it having been stated by the Gallant Colonel who represented the county of Sligo that no Orange Societies at present existed, if he had any objection to his making a motion for copies of any communications which the Government might have received relative to the existence of Orange Lodges in Ireland. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS. Tho ATTORNEY-GENERAL moved Order of the Day for the third reading of the Municipal Corporations Act Amendment Bill. ORANGE LODGES. Colonel PERC EVA L begged to know, before the motion was put, whether the question of the Hon. Member for Kil kenny (Mr. Finn) would be answered, inasmuch a 3 it impugned the accuracy of a statement made by him (Colonel Percoral) on a former occasion ? Mr. FINN assure the Hon. Member for Sligo that he had no intention of doing so, but the Government might be in possession of information with which the Hon. and Gallant Member was unacquainted. Lord MO It PET H was not aware that the Irish Government was in possession of any such information, but he had no cb jection to the production of any document it might have received on the subject. Colonel PE IiCEVAL would state mast dstinctly that sc Car as his information went, no Orange Lodge,2:isted in Ire' ladd from the time these bodies had yielded to the advice o their friends in that and the other House of Pafiament, unti he had seen it shi - ted in a Dublin newspaper truismitted t 4 him that day, although he must admit that he wa not a bi the more disposed to believe its accuracy from se9i,v, it states in that paper. —( A laugh.) MUNICIPAL AMENDMENT ACT. In answer town observation from Mr. Scarlett, The ATTORNEY GENERAL observed that it v as hi! intention to withdraw the clause from the Municipal Amend ment Bill to which the Hon. Member referred. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said it was his inteitior to move a clause respecting the mode of election, but finlinE one on the paper of which he fully approved, he would up. port that to be moved by the Hon. Baronet the Member'm Kent. Sir E. liNATCUI3ULL then moved a clause, to ti effect that every person voting at the election of Tow Councillors or Aldermen should do so, by delivering pet sonally at the meeting to the Mayor or Chairman, a votir paper containing the name and sirname of the persons fc whom he rotes, such paper when read to be delivered by U mayor to the town clerk, and that every election of aldcrmc made before the passing of the Act should be valid, by wha' ever form made. Mr. SCARLETT opposed the clause. The clause was agreed to after a few observations in explz nation by the Attorney-General, and added to the Bill by vni of Rider. On the next clause being put, Mr. TH 0 RNEL Y rose to object to it, as he considered a clause for the extension of the privileges of freemen; an if it were persevered in he should take the sense of the How upon it. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL denied that it was clause to extend the rights of the freemen, but Inerely for ti purpC,',so of preventing litigation and expense. Mr. THORNELY could not consider the clause in an other light, and Ile should therefore take the sense of th House upon its rejection. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw. The House divided, when the numbers were— Ayes Noes 218 Majority in fatour of the clause . . . _ The SOLICITOR-GENERAL moved the insertion of clause for indemnifying - the Bank of England and other puhli bodies from liability on account:of transfer of stock standing i the name of corporate bodies.—Agreed to. Mr. HARVEY then rose to move the insertion of the fol lowing clause, " That no person holding a judicial appointmer shall hereafter be eligible to a seat in Parliament." would divide the House on this clause. The clause having been read, The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said if he had been awat that his motion would have led to a protracted discussion this kind he should not have ventured to postpone the ad journed debate on the Poor Law Amendment Act. He wo willing to admit that the clause proposed by the Hon. Meer ber for Southwark was an important one—so important, it deed, that he should wish to see it made the subject of a sept rate Bill. It went, however, beyond the scope of the preset Bill, which was confined to England, while the Hon. Gentle man intended his clause to extend to Ireland. He was ni prepared to say that Recorders should be excluded from sea in that House, nor could he think that there was any analog between their case and that of the Judges. The Recorde were seldom occupied in the exercise of their judicial funs tions more than four days in the year, and, therefore, as the duties in no way interfered with their discharging the duti of Members of that House he must give the proposition of tl Hon. Member for Southwark his most decided opposition. 4r. O'CONNELL supported the clause, and said I should vote for it if the Hon. Member for Southwark press( it to a division. He thought all persons exercising judici functions should be excluded from that House. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL opposed the clause, sr said that, as the remuneration of recorders did not amount 1 more than perhaps 201. a year, it was absurd to suppose thl they were highly paid. For the most part the office merely honorary. Mr. GROTE spoke in favour of the clause, and thougl that those who held judicial offices should be obliged to di vote their whole time to the business of those offices. He w 1 an advocate for local Courts. Mr. SCAR LETT denied that the nominal salaries attache to these really honorary offices could influence the votes of th parties holding them in that House. Mr. HARVEY said that if he thought the law officers the Crown were sincere he would not press his motion. 1 1 did not, however-( A laugh)—and, consequently, he mu persevere. It was said that the Recorders were not high] paid. Why, had not the Recorder of London 2,5001. a-yea and were not the duties of that Hon. and Learned GentLeine considered so onerous that there was some intention of givir him another 1,000/. ? There was another Recorder who, he were not mistaken, was also well paid, and had cot siderable business connected with his office to attend ti Let them sec how the system worked at present under th Bill. Any corporate town might have a Judge appointed t it, and the Government of the time would have the appoin ment of all those parties at disposal. He had had it for son] time in contemplation to move for a return of the gentletn e of the Bar, with a statement of any place or office held by eac individual ; and ho certainly thought it would be difficult t 1 find, throughout the entire list of the Bar, the name of an man of five years' standing who was not either in possession t a place, or in expectation of some appointment or other.- ( A laugh.) He was well aware that their superior moral lit bits and stricter education enabled the gentlemen of the 1 3 ' to make a stronger struggle against this system of seductio than other men would, but his object was to protect them fro] that system of seduction altogether, and to preserve them in stale of forensic purity.—(A laugh.) If he thought the La' Officers of the Crown were sincere in the recommendation thi they had given, and that they would promise to support him i bringing forward a Bill for this purpose, he would willingly 11 , so ; but unless he got an assurance of their support he vioui persevere in pressing his motion to a division. The House then divided, and the numbers were— For the clause Against it Mority 0000000 —56 Mr. LEADE R said that at municipal elecdnns at Bristo and he understood in several other places, a pracdre had pre veiled to a great extent of persons who had voted in one War afterwards corning forward to vote a second time in anott 4 ward.; He wished to introduce a clause into the present Bill t prevent persons from voting in more than one ward at the sate election. However, he should not think it necessary to pre s this clause if the Attorney-General was of opinion that person who came forward to vote a second time at the same electiol were liable to an indictment for perjury. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that the clause ics quite unnecessary, as parties so acting were clearly liable to b indicted for perjury, for before voting it was necessary that party tendering his vote should swear that he had not, vote before at that election. Mr. LEADER would not press the clause. Mr. SCARLETT was anxious to propose a clause (as tc , understood) to prevent persons voting in wards in whLei though they occupied tenements, they did not reside. "( understood that a practice prevailed of persons taking ten t ment in a ward, in order to enable them to be registered, an to vote at the election. Tho object of his amendment was t ' prevent municipal electors from voting, unless in the wa r where they resided. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL trusted that his MI Friend would not persevere with his clause. The rove d would be worse in many cases than the evil it was intended remove. The effect of the clause would be to disfranchise large number of the present electors, for many persons wi ll had shops and warehouses in one ward resided in a differes ward, where they had no qualification. Mr. SCARLETT withdrew the clause. He was satisfic that the evil was acknowledged, and trusted that some ve x ' would be found to remedy it. The Bill was then read a third time, and passed. POOR-LAWS AMENDMENT ACT—ADJOURNgf DEBATE. On the Order of the Day being moved for resuming the e d . journed debate on this subject, Mr. CURTEIS presented a petition from a parls ll ,. ii Sussex, in favour of the present law. Mr. D. W. HARVEY presented three petitions, pal' for inquiry into the operation of the Poor-law Act—ono P . n. Llandillo, in Montgomeryshire, signed by 1,200 person; another from Kettering, in Northamptonshire, signed o ' 4 2,000 persons ; and the third from Maldon, in Essex, sig n by 3,000 persons. s' Mr. BROTH ERTON said that when this Bill was P a o ing through that House he had voted against many e fa provisions. He then considered that the powers propose b i be given to the Commissioners were such as ought not t(iP is , conferred on them, and that they were in themselves a 1 ' o b. tion of the principles of self-government. He had always itic jected to the Bill as unnecessar y an d i na ppli ca ble in marl ti turing districts, b ecause h e b e li eve d th e State was boon boik provide for the p oor . Th e St a t e was su pp or t e d by the 19 _04 of the poor, but ow i ng t o th e fl uc t ua ti on o f t r ade the poor 70 thrown out of employment, not from any fault of their % ie . and it therefore became the duty of the State in such circ o e. stances to provide for them proper support, in place of re s ing them to the revel o f cr i m i na l s . Th e pr o fessed ohie nt • t ior the Bill were to reduc e th e ra t es an d i m prove the coo d J u i e li of the poor.—( Hear, hear.) He was inclined told ;or that it would reduce the rates, but he doubted if it wom tes , 0 prove the condition of the poor. One object the mlven a re the measure had in view was to throw the poor on their ovro sources. Now ho admitted it was a good principle l o g tt courage idleness, and to do induce mankind to do every be re' their power to provide for their own wants; but it mus t te ring membered that most of the evils which betel the manta ° floe' classes arose, not from any fault of theirs, but from the anc tuations of trade, from the caprice of the money mar ke d t, thei l cr e d trom the speculations of t ra d ers , who rather considoo ll self-interests than the public good.— (Hear.") ft ry a° to s el to defend the po or among th e r i c h, b u t h e should' l ikn o t bos ( some other system adopted. He should like to scid teas' laws repealed which pressed on the lower classes, 8.1 tion in general equalised. One. part of thelaw he e r 'l c li a os e l objected to—that, namely, which prevented*the g" er ty r e' the poor from granting relief while any little 13; eLtienari maincd ; and he should be glad to see more diEC" power . given to that body. Mr. CRIPPS said—lt appeared from returns P un the Commissioners that there had been a. saving to i tbel : c a lici s eci n l: l of between two and three millions a year, and tRo that a great good ?—( Cries of " No, no r) nc arlf rates increased year after year, till they, reached„ coo millions, and threatened to eat up the vitals of g ob a' try. Was it not the duty of the Legislature to see