The Sun. — London, England, 1846-04-22 00:00:00

aortae nocesoary, anti that n n stairs was thrown upon Mr. Day's character ' The Hon. Member th en went on to say that M j r. Nicholls had ascribed Mr. Day' s dismissal to his not being equal to the duties of the office. The House can conceive what must have been Mr. Day's astonishment when, after hav ing received the letter calling upon him to resign witwithina fortnight of th e d a t e o f th a t l e tt er , h e h ear d f ro m Mr. Nicholls that the establishment was reduced, and that Colonel Wade had been appointe,l to succeed him in the office which he held as Assistant-Commissioner. Colonel Wade had been appointed to succeed him, and he was rather inclined to think that the prolongation of the appointment had been made to suit Colonel Wade's convenience. Mr. Day had con tinued to act as Assistant-Commissioner for nearly two months after he had received the letter requesting him to resign ; and in order to complete the inconsistency which had been dis played throughout this transaction, it would appear that, from a period extending from the 31st of March to the 18th of April, the district over which Mr. Day had presided was left with out any superintendence. The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite had stater, that no fault wag att ributaale to him, but no reason had been given for being so peremptorily called upon to resign. It could not have been that it was intended to reduce the number of the officers employed, or to reduce the establi.h meat of the Poor-law Commission ; why, there had been no reduction in the Assistant Commissioners, and the Board had, in fact, been materially increased by the appointment of a f ourt h Chi e f C omm i ss i oner. The Hon. Gentleman then read a letter which Mr. Day had addressed so the Duke of Wellington, when he found that he could not succeed in obtaining redress elsewhere. The letter complained that Mr. Day had been dismissed; but with the mere excuse—a vague generality of public service and public duty--the public would not feel that he had been dismissed without a cause, on the contrary, they would entertain suspi cions that some charge was reserved against him. The Hon. Gentleman then resumed by reading a motion, of which he had given notice, and proceeded to say there would be no im propriety in referring this subject to a Committee of Inquiry. There existed great similarity between the case of Mr. Day and the case of Mr. Parker, which had been brought before the House. With respect to Mr. Day, he had repeatedly applied to the Poor-law Commissioners without obtaining any satisfactory reply. A ss i s ti n g Commissioners had been dis missed at different times under circumstances which exposed them to the most disagreeable suspicions. There had been na disturbance about Mr. Day's case, all had been conducted with the strictest propriety, and he felt that both Mr. Day and Mr. Parker had met great injustice at the hands of the Commissioners. His belief was, that when these two cases, with all the facts connected with them, should come before the puhlie, it would be quite impossible that the House could again vote the salaries of the Poor-las Commissioners without having first investi gated an inquiry into their genes al mode of administering the poor-laws of the country. The House was probably aware of the mode in which the Rochdale board of guardians had been justified by a decision of the Court of Queen's Bench, in disobeying an order of the Poor-law Commissioners. They had been compelled, after every imaginary fencing on the part of their counsel, at last reluctantly to confess that they were in error. They were obliged to admit that the general order, addressed to the Rochdale board of guardians, was illegal, inas much that, after having been signed by one commissioner, it was carried by a messenger to Mr. Lewis, to receive a second signature. If then the Commissioners were wrong in one case, the natural inference would be that they were also wrong in other cases, which escaped the public notice. He believed that if a Committee were appointed to inquire into the general mode of administering the Poor-law Amendment Act, there would be no difficulty in proving that much mismange ment existed. It would be found that the Poor-law Commis sioners had neglected to comply with many of the provisions contained in the Poor-law Amendment Act. In the Rochdale case, for instance, where there was an order required for the signature of two Poor-law Commissioners, it had been signed by one commissioner, and then by the secretary, which ren dered the order ineffective, inasmuch as it was not complying with the express provision of the Act. The services of the secretary, as recording officer, had been in a measure entirely dispensed with. He (Mr. Christie) had always been a strong friend of the Poor-law Amendment Act, and had always voted for it. The object of his present motion was not directed against the poor-laws, but against the Poor-law Commissioners. He could not tell what would be the result of the present motion, but whatever it might be, he felt sure that the state ments he had made would go forth to-morrow to the public, and they would be the judges. They would draw this inference from the cases of Mr. Day and Mr. Parker, that no officer attached to the Poor-law Commissioners was at present safe from the arbitrary manner in which the Commissioners exerted their power. The motion was then read from the Chair, when Sir JAMES GRAHAM rose and said he could assure the s • Hon. and Learned Gentleman who had just sat down, that it • he had taken the opportunity of asking him whether or not it • • was his intention to oppose the motion before the House, he (Sir James Graham) should have inform, it him that it was not his intention to have opposed it. On a former occasion he had told the House that in his opinion it was utterly impossible for the Poor-law Commissioners properly to discharge their duties, unless they possessed the unfettered liberty of discharg ing their Assistant Commissioners, and other officers, whenever they thought praper, without being held responsible to any other power. He had come to the fixed conclusion that the case of \lr. Parker had been thoroughly inquired into, and he could nut see any distinction between that case and the case of Mr. Day. The Hou-e had decided by a majority on a former occasion, and it was not his intention to call upon the House to come to a division on the present occasion. He was willing at once to accede to the motion of the Hoe. Gentleman. The Hon. Gentleman hail animadverted upon certain circumstances which had nothirg whatever to do with this case. With respect to the Rochdale Board of Guardiaris, he believed that there had been an error in that case, but it was not his intention at present to go into that matter. The Hon. Gentleman had also said that the proceedings of the Poor-law Commissioners in the case of Mr. Parker and Mr. Day could not be justified. He had every reason to be lieve that the Commissioners had exercised their power in those cases with great discretion. It was possible that the superintendents of the districts might, in their opinion, be placed under the superintendence of a person who, on the whole, might be considered as more adequate to discharge the duties. But he (Sir James Graham) did not wish to institute any comp,aettp_rr betweetl 4 ll.lr. Day and Culonel Wae. He, for his own pirtYlitd no partiality whatever for d Colonel Wade, and, in fact, was unacquainted with him, and was also unacquainted with Mr. Day ; he could, therefore, decide with perfect indifference between them. All that he could say was, that with respect to any part which he had taken in this trans action, that he had not been guided in any way by shmete, favour and partiality to one more than anetas„ it was neces sary ttary to preshhtsi ti t'ne ser~i t 5. ^eon^Puce to particular appoi n ti ng ,-,nonie tfey pleased to the superintendence. He (Sir James Graham), for one, would consent to the produc tion of all correspondence and papers relative to this trans action. He was fully prepared to make the most ample and unreserved explanation with respect to the circumstances that had occurred in reference to the resigration of Mr. Day as Assistant Commissioner. Under these circumstances, he should not feel justified in opposing the motion of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman. The motion was then put from the Chair, and agreed to without a division. Mr. CHRISTIE said that the Right Hon. Baronet had given no explanation of his intended reduction of the number of Assistant Poor-law Commissioners, as stated in the letter written by him. Sir .1. GRAHAM' said, that when he wrote th a t l e tt er h e did contempl ate a re d uct i on of the number - of Assistant Poor law Commissioners. M AL - PRACTICES IN THE GENERAL POST OFFICE. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said, that he would ask if it was the intention of Government to accede to the motion he was about to make. He would not loog occupy the time of the House, if the G overnment intended to accede to it, but if it was their ' intention t o oppose the motion he was about to submit, he would throw hi mse lf upon the House and request it, if h e made out a case f or inquiry, to give' him its supp or t. H e could not c once i ve any public , departm en t i n thi s country that it was more n ecessary for the House to examine and inquire into than the General Post-office. At the close of last session he had brought forward this (.:,,omquestion,. but it came almost too late. He had asked for a m m e i Commission on to inquire into the manner in which that establish w asanaed. With re gard to the complaints attached to the al Post-office, he believed that there was no public office ienoutnhle:itiSbcountry, agaigst lleged. The whi c h greater cause of dissatisfaction complaints were not only outside the walls of tLat department, but they existed to an alarming and discreditableboeuxttentot t 0 00 havei within its walls. The petition to which h o e rd p ieras call the attention of the House, i n it referred to a Committee, showed all sorts of mal-administration. The public complained of this department of the public service in consequence or the delay in the delivery of letters. He could prove that, but for certain mal-practices going on in the office, the public would have their letters half-an-hour sooner in this city. There existed also a considerable amount of dissatisfaction in the office at the manner in which the officers were treated by their superiors, and also at the manner in which the carriers and sorters were remunerated. If any subordinate officer had any complaint to snake to the Postmaster-General, he had no chance of reaching the ears of that gentleman, because it had to go through certain channels, where it would be misrepresented or stopped, so that the men were afraid to make any complaint for fear of sus pension. The petition to which he would call the attention of the House was from Mr. Duncan, a gentleman of great respectability, and proprietor of the Sentinel newspaper. He had been at the trouble to examine the allegations contained in that petition, and there was not one of them he was not pre pared to support and verify on evidence. Mr. Duncan had given offence to the Post-office by some charge he had made against them, and which appeared in the Sentinel newspaper. It was alleged that those statements were libellou e and two actions had been brought by Mr. Kelly, tke superintendent of the letter-carrier department. One of the actions was brought in June last, anti the result was, that after being held in abeyance for some tittle, thinking to alarm the proprietor of the newspaper, and hinder him from persevering in his attack, the costs were paid, anti the action sees withdrawn. 'They thought that having shown this merciful consideration to Mr. Dencan he would not again molest them ; but he repeated his original assertion, and a second action was brought, which action was held over as long as it possibly could ; the costs were again paid, and it was withdrawn. If that action had been 3:i11 pend ing, it would he his duty not to make any reference to the pre to sent ; b ut as i t h ad been abandoned, he was at liberty discuss any o f th e assert i ons contained. Mr. Duncan com menced by stating that there were many abuses in the General Post -office in St. Martin' s le Grand—th a t comp l a i nts h a d b een held back— an d that practice - had continued for many years. He (Mr. Ducombe) was s in hopes that what he had said last year would have caused improvement, but they had only put on a few more hands, inefficient for their duty, and there had been some improvementit e salary of the sub -sorters but if the Post-office authorities pposed that they were satis ressed, they were mis fied, and that they were still to b su e perincipal cause of delay taken. The petition stated thaatprtOih,PeaPt post.oz un p d l e o r y t e a d kT o g i w t. ith T t h h ee in the delivery of letters was office, by some of the persons o ,s fie c i a ll y Directory,'' and undertaking was called " Kelly and he he had no hesitation in saying that it was a e was ready to prove before a Committee thagtrnZ of lucre jiPbrivate un dertaking converted a public establishment into t tire printing-office ; and so long as that undertaking remained, so long would there he discontent in the establinshgment and corruption, oppression, and tyranny, an d go long would the public be injured. The petition stated that in the compilation of this Directory the earriers and sub-sorters were engaged during the time in which they should be performing their public duties. It would not do for the Government simply to deny his assertion, or to attempt to scree n the parties, could prove that they were engaged in thi s work during the e r hr So whole year round, and the servants of the Poste e es ce beginning to prepare the '° Directory " for th e year 1 847. 8 0 much were the carriers and sorters occupied that, whe n the pressure of public business made it necessary, the authorities sent to Boswell-court, Chancery-lane, where this work was pre pared, to get them back to the Post-office ; and thus many letters were' delayed. A strong instance of this occurred the other day. 'lt was well known that this large book, for which they paid 305., came out at the commencement of the year, and there was a " Supplemental Directory," which came out in March. He knew that on the day when this supplemental carne out it was delivered to the letter-carriers and the letters were detainer' at the office half an hour for the ilelivert of this work Letters and new , papers had lain in the office fur a week and ten days in con equence of the confusion attendant on getiitig up that work. The Indian mail had came in that MOnliDg, it had been delayed by the lviv of the Great Liver- presol, and came up in the Oriental, ten' daya after. Letters and papers were thrown on one side, as the delivery of that wark aid not permit their delivery. There were papers for the North and South American Coffee-house—for the Jerusal. m Coffee-house—for Grindley and Co., Cernnill, and various others; and it appeared that all those letters were detained in censequente of that work, or job, whichever it was called. The letter-carriers had been threatelied to be reported if they did not. assist in the, delivery of the work, however attentive they might have been to their public duties. He (Mr. T. Duncombe) did not believe that the Postmaster-general was acquainted with those facts. In answer to his observations it would be said that these letter-carriers collected the informa tion for the work oat of official hours. He was happy to say that such an answer would be quite false, for the information was collected during the delivery of the letters. They might be told that these men had an interest in collecting this infor mation. They had a commission on the sale of the work—a fact very discreditable to the establishment.—( Hear, hear.) Let them have a fair remuneration for their labour, and let them no' be paid by this paltry, miserable, jobbing work. It was well known that the parties who had the least possible chance of anything like favour in she Post-office were those I w f •h t o he co le u t l t d er- sl e e a t most o rtiersdid f t n he ot collect of lI lectthe le in s f s o r i s Kelly and Co. m . atinn regnired, f o r t , l m er t m he e i n t w w e e e r k e ,s pu ea t r o n n in in gs t . hei T r h p e lac p e e s t , it a i n on d e s r o fu ni r i t i h ch er w st a a s te stopped from their week's earnings. The petitioner further stated that is in w k o , t i k ia . per vc , ri p ia e t ns t , i & gh c t ., h w ad ere the fi y ee t ly n as th usedt p foru's i t c h e s t p o u r e r i s ) , o, s e u r c o h f use the public stores ? And it was nkt stated by the petitioner that the revenue had been defrauded, by means of the sending out of the circulars for this work by the letter-cart iers, with out paying the stamp duties Would the public be satisfied with such a proceeding as this? It was a fraud on the revenue. The petitioner also stated that Mr. Frederick Kelly had in structed the letter-carriers how to evade the Hawking Act on , 1 the sale of the " Directory." The books were left at the doors of gentlemen, and if they were not at home the book was left. If the money was given for it, nothing further was said about it; but if no money was forth-coming the book was removed. He said that this was hawking. Mr. Kelly had also, on his own authority, stopped the wages of letter-carriers for debts due to Kelly and Co. by the letter-carriers on account of this Directory, and the petitioner also stated that he had witheld the resignations of letter-carriers until he had paid himself for the debts due by those carriers. He could prove cases whete the resignation of letter-carriers had been detained because the individual owed Mr. Kelly money, Mr. Kelly saying that he would not give in the resignation until he was paid ; and the letter-carrier doing no worst, let it be recollected. He said that such a proceeding was a fraud on the revenue—( Hear, hear) —and it was discreditable for the Government to sanction or protect a person of this sort. There are also 150 copies of the Directory sold for the use of the letter-carriers, and paid for out of the revenue, at the same time that the use of the work was forbidden to the letter-carriers, on the ground of its occa sioning loss of time to the person using them. The work was soil, but never used, as the looking for the address would oc cupy so much time that orders were given that they were not to be used. Let the Government not come down and say, as a defence, that these volumes were necessary as guides for the delivery of the letters. This monopoly hail been the means of ruining various parties who had attempted to get up Post-office Directories, and the public were in consequent deprived of the benefit of competi tion. He wished to know why it was that the public were to be deprived of the benefit of this competition ? The effect was that the public had to pay 30s. for the Post-office Directory, which any bookseller in Paternoster-row could, if the same advantages were given them that were given Mr. Kelly, supply for 12s. 6d. It was a just ground of complaint, that the public could have for 12s. or 15s. that for which they now paid 30s. —( Hear, hear.) Mr. Robson, who hod attempted to publish a Directory, had been ruined by the interference of the Post office authorities; and by a return which had been made to the House, it appeared that Mr. Kelly had purchased the copy right of Mr. Robson's work. Now he ( lit, Duncombe) had received a letter from a friend of Mr. Robson, which threw some light on that transaction. ( The Hon. Gentleman here read the letter in question, which was to the effect, that Mr. Robson had been driven to ruin and insanity, and his property destroyed, through the undue influence of the Pest-office authorities, and that he had in con sequence died in a workhouse. Mr. Robson applied to the Post-office authorities to place him on the same footing with Mr. Kelly, but he did not succeed in the application, and though he had gone to enormous expense in getting up his work, he was obliged to abandon it, and part with it to Mr. Kelly under most disadvantages circumstances. This letter was signed by Mr. Knapp. On the return to which he (Mr. Duncombe) had alluded, it was set forth that Mr. Kelly bought the copyright of Mr. Robson, and in the puff issued by Mr. Kelly, it was said that Mr. Robson's Directory, in 1840, contained a number c f blunders, which he explained and pointed out. But if the House would give him (Mr. Duncombe) a Committee, he would engage to prove that in the Directory of last year there were not less than 16,000 errors. —t Hear, hear. ) I his was in the Directory so much puffed, and which had now total possession of the field. All the rival Directories had failed, and were given up, and this was the only Directory in London—of course the only one that could exist under the present system, it being impossible to compete against Mr. Kelly, with the Post-office servants at his back, to assist him. In the mean time the public were suffering. But let them look at the dissatisfaction that prevailed among the servants of the establishment From 400 to 500 individuals there were almost in a state of insubordination, arising from the duties imposed on them in reference to this Directory. That alone was a fact that should show the dangerous state of the establishment. He had had several deputations of the men waiting on him, in reference to this matter, within the last fortnight ; and they in'imated that any morning they could bring 200 or 300 of them to wait on him (Mr. Duncombe) to prove the state of feeling in the establishment.—(A laugh.) This was a bad, a dangerous, and improper state of things. He had received a letter that morning, in reference to an alledged improvement of feeling that had recently taken place among the sub-sorters. It was represented that a memorial had been got up among the sub-sorters to the Lords of the Treasury, expressing thanks at the improvement made in their remu neration, and declaring that they had no participation in the ca!umnious placards and statements that had been put forth in reference to the management of affairs in the Post-office. Now the letter he had received gave the true particulars of this, and denied that this step was taken by any member of the sub sorters, but that it was got up by only a few. A few days after it was got up it was sent round for signatures, when atter the strongest representations 25 signed out of 70. This very much excited Mr. Robert Kelly, and a sob-sorter of the n ime of Roberts, was charged, in consequence, with some mal-practice. It was proved, however, that Roberts was ,oitt, of ct.s oierge, though at the time Mr. Betonell, one of the officers of the establishment, 4 .•• a dozen of -•-• tiear, hear.) Nothing would give satisfaction but the appointment of a Committee of in vestigation. There were many other subjects in relation to this topic that might be referred to, and a good deal might be said in the way of remedy. A great deal might be done in the latter respect if they did away with the whole system of fees for early delivery. According to this system, a letter-carrier went on to the establishment at 20s. a week ; then he was in creased to 235. ; and, in the course of a few years, he was re euced to 14s, the salary to be made up by the fees arising from early delivery. Now, he knew that in some districts the system of early delivery was done away with ; still it remained intact in many others, and those parties who could bet give security for the early de livery of letters had to sulsmit to a reduced salary of 14s.— ( Hear, hear.) They ought to consolidate the general and district departments of the establishment, so as to make but one department ; and as they had the power to use any of the trains on the railways for the carrying of letters, they could bring them as often as they might think fit, and they could be delivered with what was now called the district de livery, at the same time taking care that due remuneration was paid the deliverers, with a gradually increasing scale for service for the years employed. The letter-carriers ought also in due course to be allowed to take the sub-sorters' place. The whole thing should be placed on a better footing ; and if a Committee were given him, and practical men—not men interested in the prevalent abuses—examined, he had no doubt a plan by which the system could be remedied might be suggested. The early delivery, in his opinion, ought to be done away with. The Post -office was established for the be nefit of the general public, and not for a small party.--( Hear, hear.) One system should be made to work the same for all. He knew of a casein which a carrier took up the late and early delivery at the same time, going up the street, delivering the early letters for the privileged parties, and delivering the late letters as he came down. He would go up in the same house in Chancery -lane and de liver the early letters on the first and second floors, and though he had the letters of the party who was on the third floor, ad c wne a l pd r o i nn e u, ahehne ought na would oomtf e to c idt a s, r ) because he happened to be a late delivery man, the letter, street. N a n t w later this pa proceeding,tof t he day ' be enot injustice,iihoehw ies allowed. . let ters sa lary of Mrs KellyKeli said s was tahgeaignrsetaAt cetomofplPaia.nrtli,amabe:::e, all others, and that which required investigation, was, that as this was a public department . of the Government it ought not to be used for the privatein interest of parties. In the retui ns emolument and salariesnocfombe) had moved, setting forth the for which he ffi h eo c n e p r s oh s o i ts f . a h ffit e , cp eobk establishment,timrDirectory, yii n In st3,,h.6he, copyright t put ,h fa ;down at 3201. a-year , and in that return Mr, Ile purchased the which he had been large private property, and in publishing ich ,:tpiired by official resources. Mr. he had embarked a 1 Kelly said that the totailn ise4rence in the expenditure and re or I. 4 was 1,276/. 4s. 7d. ; he did not ceipts of the Directory say whether profit 1,276/. That statement Msr'' 11:nuntnanhewamse prerelypatemdetnotphrinnevde was untrue, and that the profits of the Directory was not less If thpery.,granted him (Mr. Duncombe) than 10,000/. a year, vet that instead of 1,2761. Mr. the Committee, he would Kelly received from 12,000/. a 15,000/. a year. This sum Wratsinn parties connected with error, and but a was received; by Mr. Kelly, or e him on the establishment. Thisc the nse public, ht and deliberate fraud to mislead this Housewilful and if they shielded the delinquency, there was no could moving for returns on any subject. He did not see, wa oenvecon sideration of honor or interests of the public, h ew t h ey avoid granting the Committee after what he had said. If Mr. Kelly was called to the bar and examined, he (Mr. Duncombe) was prepared to prove this. What use was there in asking for returns if each returns as these were made. The other night an error in the tariff was attributed to Mr. APGregor, and it was urged that a Committee of Inquiry should be granted, but it was found that the matter was a typographical error, and the matter was dropped. If returns were to be considered merely waste paper, let them say for them, but so, and he would not take any trouble in asking if they intended to act fairly and justly in this department of the public service, they ought to grant him what he sought. The great mal-practices and abuses which existed ought to be remedied, or at least inquired into. The statement he had submitted showed that tyranny, injustice, and oppression pre vailed, producing a state of great dissatisfaetion, endangering the commercial interests of the country. What state would this great commercial town be placed in if no letters were de livered for one day; and that such a step had been contemplated, and mightyet be taken if such tyranny and injustice continued; he was persuaded from information which he had received. This all arose out of what he designated a gross job, for such he con 'idered the " Pest-office Directory" to be. The whole place ought to be placed on a new footing, and if the Com mittee which he sought was appointed, he had no doubt some plan would come out of it which would satisfy the public, and satisfy all parties concerned therein.—( Hear, hear.) The Honourable Gentleman concluded by moving for a " Select Committee to inquire into the allegations of the petition of Mr. Jonathan Duncan, on the mal-adminidration of affairs in the General Post-office." Mr. WILLIAMS rose to second the motion. He knew the gentleman whose name was appended to the petition on which the Hon. Member for Finsbury had founded his motion, and he believed him to be a person of the highest honour, and quite incapable of making any statement which he did not think he was fully able to substantiate. A charge had been brou g h forward b y hi s H on. Friend, into which this House could not refuse an inquiry. It they did otherwise, they proclaimed to the country that public servants were ju,tified by Government in the commission of a fraud on public property. There was a charge that public property had been used for the private interests of this individual, and he (Mr. Williams) said that, such a charge as this could not be made, especially b y a gentle man who w as so entitled to be heard' as the petitioner, and when that petitition, too, was presented by the Hon. Member for Finsbury, who could always command the attention of the House. without the Government's acceding to the motion. He (Mr Williams) believed that there was no department con nected with the Government that required more looking after than the Post-office. There had been a time, indeed, when the Yost-office had been looked up to fur the correctness with sthich thing; had been managed in that department, but that time had now gone by. The Hon. Member for Finsbury said, that the names for the Post-office Directory were procured by the let.- ter-carriers. He could substantiate this statement. Within theist month the letter-carrier who was in the habit of leaving lett, rs at his door sent in a paper, and asked if that were his prul nr address? The letter-carrier might possibly have waited at his door a quarter of an hour—possibly' he might not; but, sup posing that he waited a quarter of an hour, and supposing aiso that he had so waited at fifty doors before he came to his, why, it would make his delivery at least an hour and a half later. Formerly, when he (Mr. Williams) was connected with the City, he used to pay the letter-carrier an extra fee, for the pur pose of getting his letters delivered shortly after nine o'clock, and he observed that his neighbours who did not pay did not receive their letters till after eleven. The Hon. Member for Finsbury had pointed out to the House the many errors seS s i e l, had found admission into the Directory, but how, he (Mr. Williams) wou'd ask, could it be otherwise when this individual had the monopoly of it? The public had no choice; they we e obliged to purchase it, for every competitor had been driven from the field. He contended that where charges of this nature 1 w re brought against any of the officers connected with any of the public departments, a Committee to inquire into the tru , h of these charges ought to be immediately granted ; and more especially when a serious charge of this character—a charge of fraud—of fraud on the public stores—was made ;he could not conceive on what ground her Majesty's Government could re fuse inquiry. Even if the Right Hon. Gentleman the Under_ Secretary for the Treasury were to attempt a reply, he would require to depend altogether for information upon the very in dividuals who were interested in the continuance of the system. He would conclude by repeating that the petitioner was inca pable of making such a charge unless ho was well aware that it was perfectly true. The Hon. Member concluded by seconding the motion. The question having been put, Mr. CARDWELL rose, and said that before he followed the Hon. Member who had brought forward that petition into the details that might be expected from him, the House would perhaps allow him to make one or two preliminary observations. And first he would assure the Hon. Member, not only on the part of the Treasury, but also on the part of the Noble Lord at the head of the Post-office Department, that no one among the Postmasters-General who preceeded him would be less ready to screen from exposure or from punishment any servant guilty of mal-practices than would the Noble Lord who at present filled that office.—( Ironical cheering from Mr. Dun corabe. ) The Hon. Member might derisively cheer him, but the Hon. Member when he did so seemed to forget two of the very statements which he had made in his own speech that evening. He forgot that, while saying that the subordinates in the Post-office were prevented by dread of the consequences from addressing their superiors, and while admitting that he himself, on being questioned as to the propriety of their sub mitting a memorial to their superiors, advised them to be cau tious in doing so, that they told him that they were ready to come in a body of two or three hundred for the purpose of ex pressing their indignation at the practices which it was alleged were embodied in this petition. Now the Hon. Member for Finsbury would excuse him for saying that when persons to the number of two or three hundreds were so ready to come for ward for the purpose of attacking their superiors, there was no reason why they should not instead have addressed themselves by a respectful memorial to the Government, or to the Noble Lord at the head of the department, stating their grievances, and expressing their confident hope that those grievances would be redressed.—( Cheers, ironical cheers, and cries o! " Oh, oh.") He was not to be put down by mere cheering from the Members opposite. He would repeat that if the subordinates in the Post-office had produced such a memorial, and if they had addressed it to the head of their department, their grievances would have been attended to. He (Mr. Card well) had the honour of receiving scores of memorials in the department to which he had the honour to belong, and if these memorials were respectfully worded, he would not dare to stand before the Hon. Member and the House, if such memorials had been overlooked or neglected by the particular department with which he was connected. He would say then, and he thought the House would believe him, that the Government were as anxious as the Hon. Member to punish mal-practices of this sort, and he could affirm that the doors of ',he Treasury were always oven through the medium of the Post-office, and if any Hon. Member of that House could prove that a memorial received in that manner, had been neglected, then indeed good ground could be shown of complaint against that department. The Hon. Gentleman towards the close of his speech, referred to subject which had afforded matter for some little centrovers) between himself, and the Hon. Member at the close of the last session of Parliament, namely, the early delivery. He perhaps ought not to refer to that matter, because it formed no part. of the allegation in the petition. He had the hononr o! stating on a former occasion, that the payment of letter-carriers by the office for the early delivery was no part of the engage- 1 ment entered into by that department. It was held by them as an ancient right, which had been continued, because a large portion of the mercantile community received a credit from the letter-carriers, which the Post-office could not give them, and which must create a little confusion if it were at once with • drawn. That was the ground on which the early delivery wa s defended during the last session of Parliament. It was not defended as a convenience to the Post-office subordinates, but as a convenience to the merchants in London. If the Hon. Member for Finsbur ; could produce an instance of any gen tleman living up three pair of stairs, in Chancery-lane, whose letters had been detained till a later period of the day, whils his neighbours upon the first and second floors had been deli vered in the morning (because they were included in the earls delivery) if the Hon. Member would produce such a case. Mr. DUNCOMBE—Give me the Committee, and I will do so. Mr. CARDWELL said that the Hon. Member seemed to infer that he asked him to withdraw his motion for a Commit tee. The Hon. Member had quite mistaken him if he enter taissed this idea for a moment. All he meant to say was, that if any gentleman had felt himself aggrieved by the system a' present pursued by the Post-office, it would give as little trou ble to send a letter to the Treasury, or to the authorities at tilt Post-office, and he (Mr. Cardwell) would undertake to sa t that the representations from such a letter would be attendee to.—(Hear, hear.) He would not stand there and say that such a case as that instanced by the Hon. Member for Fins bury had never existed ; but he would say with confidence, that the superior officers of the Government were always open to receive any communications, and ever ready to put a period to such mal-practices as those alluded to by the Hon. Member. He (M. Cardwell) acesta not eeaarsesiin now any one could rise in that House to answer matters of which they had had no previous notice, otherwise than as he had done—namely, by stating that the Government would be always found anstioui to terminate such abuses. Now, having so far disposed of the early delivers'. + n would Hldveol Member'sturet turn charge—namely, tot r ghaet—wnhaine rho o .~cmen of which formed ormed the the I ° Post-office Directory." He would explain what this "Di rectory" was, and then give a short sketch of its history. Having done so, he would proceed to meet the charges of the Hon. Member. The fact was that the metropolis was divided into a great number of wards for letter-carriers, and the House would readily admit, that an absolute necessity existed for the Post-office authorities having correct information of the names of persons whom the letter-carriers would have to serve. 11( would ask, how was this information to be collected, except ing by each letter. carrier within his own district? It so hap pened, and he had no doubt it would be made a feature in the debate, that the forms used in the Post-office had a heading, " The Post-office Directory." Of course it was not essential to the business of the Post-office, that there should be such a heading to the forms, but it was absolutely necessary, he con tended, that the names should he so collected by the letter carriers. There were certain officers in the Post-office, desig• nated check-takers, and there were twenty letter-carriers under each check-taker, The check-taker had to hand over to his superior the number of names handed in by each letter-carrier—that superior filling the same situation which Mr. Kelly now held. This was information which must be collected as it was now, unless they wished to destroy the existence of the " Post-office Direetory" altogether. He would now, with the permission of the House, proceed very shortly to trace the history of the publication which had been so often referred to. A Mr. Sparkes, who held a situation in the Post-office, thought that he was in possession of information to which others could not lay claim, namely, the names 01 those who were at that time in business in London. This wa , was some century ago, and Mr. Sparkes applied to the Post master-General of that day for permission to publish a Directory, which was granted. Mr. Crichett succeeded to Mr. Sparkes, and the work was published under the authority of the Postmaster-General, and so continued until the year 1836, when Mr. Critchett died, and Mr. Kelly succeeded to the office which he now held. Mr. Kelly wished to continue the publication of the Directory, but Lord Litchfield, who was then at the head of the department, thought it right to consult the Solicitor-General upon the matter, as there were some arrangements to be entered into between the widow of Mr. Critchett and his successor. After consulting with the legal officer of the Crown, an arrangement was entered into by which Mr. Kelly paid a sum of money to the widow of Mr. Critchett, and so stood in the position in which that gentleman was placed in regard to the Directory. That arrangement having been effected, a very great amount of expense was in curred in the publication. The name of Mr. Robson had been mentioned in connexion with the work, and some severe anim adversions had been made against Mr. Kelly in respect of Mr Robson's death, from the pressure of distress. He (Mr. Card well) was not aware that Mr. Kelly had been thus guilty, but that had been as far back as 1840, since which time a Committee of this House had sat on the subject of the Post-office. In the last session of Parliament an Hon. Member had moved for certain returns relative to that department, and in these returns cer tain sums of money had been entered by Mr. Kelly, as the sums received by him as the produce of the Directory. The correctness of that stun had been questioned, however, by the Hon. Member for Finsbury, who stated that he was prepared to prove that a much larger sum had been received. He (Mr. Cardwell) had instituted inquiries into the subject, and from the information furnished by Mr. Bockenham and others, he was perfectly satisfied that the correct sum had been returned, and he did not think that that sum was in any degree too large considering the capital embarked, the amount of labour required, and allowing a fair remuneration to the publisher. Now there was one other circumstance to which he would call the attention of the House, but to which he would only shortly mT 7 n d he s advert. t r ,o t ns T t. hd Gentleman iHveo delivery, w a Member htaodb es foraid mainlyt h e Finsbury,apsuerb publication a a d t i ot on thattheof the teh, ne p el l e po l y a i delay d e d t ee t ll e aa r yy - e c od a u r gt r hh i e et r s dt ' o i e ri ltia o ,k b eer t a yp i a i f n ete g h information public bl for the Directory. en predictiont l em n 0 0 Di rectory t s o u r c y h f m di a d n n w o a t. s wTrolniegHinon. hisG cular case where delay had occurredila db uh c te etfthotree Hon. e Gentlebelievedrtai n . l i y t : f we th ve e r mcaeunsetionnfedthea delay.partl- The Hon. Gentleman complained that the publication of the last Directory occasioned a delay of ten days in the deli very of the letters which came part of the way from India. by the Great Liverpool, but he (Mr. Caldwell) suggested to the Hon. Member whether it was not quite impossible this could be so. The Postmaster-General and his secretary were open to all parties who had grievances of this nature to ld have been no lack of remonstra nces taken place there would com plain of, and he was quite oontident if any , such delay h a d from the influential parties in the He happened l to be es City,o thiswho were partic i u n a t r he ca h s :b o it ermit him to do delay, a o c f q r u e " c i e n i at v ne i dd n g ifw i e tt t hh t e e r t s hHe b o y ne t r h eG e uem l n r st i tl d ea i mn a n ca n m The fact was, so, he would tell him what really did occur. the letters of the Great Liverpool were so wet that it took the s a v i o L u d p servants of the Post-office a very considerable time, indeed, in carefully separating and sorting them ; and he admitted that some delay, though by no means so much as ten days, did take place before they were ready for delivery. This explanation had been given to all parties interested in the matter, and he was not aware that any one of them had expressed himself dissatisfied with it.— ( Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman, after expressing his regret that this subject had not been fully inquired into after the discussion of last session, remarked that some slight change had been made in the situation of the sub-sorters, whose sala ries were raised on the very morning of the day when it was thought he would bring forward his motion. But he (Mr. Cardwell) assured the Hon. Gentleman that the Bcard of Treasury, in taking this step, were in no degree influenced by the anticipated motion of the Hun. Member. Another of the Hon. Gentleman's complaints was, that the communications were made to Mr. Kelly by the deliverers in official hours; and the Hon. Gentleman who seconded the motion followed this up, by declaring that collecting the required information occasioned considerable delay in the delivery of let ters. Both Honourable Gentlemen, however, were perhaps unaware of the fact that, whether Mr. Kelly's Directory were published or not, it would he impos ible to carry on the business of the Post-office without its officers collecting the information which it contained.—(Hear, hear.) Another , statement made in the petition, and one which had some colour - of truth was, that the sorters were sometimes employed upon tho Directory at the office of Mr. Kelly. This was formerly the case, but it was not so now. But even then it was optional with the sorters to perform or refuse the services, while, if they consented. they were remunerated for what they did.—( Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman ha l expressd hope that ere long the subject would come under the serious consideration of the authorities ; and. perhaps, it would be gra tifying to the Hon. Gentleman to know that the subject had already been carefully looked into by the late and present Post master-General ; and it was now optional with the sorters and deliverers to engage themselves or not in collecting informa tion for the Directory. But both the Noble Lords at the head of the department were decidedly convinced that it was a por tion of the deliverers' and sorters' duty to collect the informa tion for the purposes of the office itself. Believing, then, that the informetion of the Hon. Gentleman was erroneous, and that while the heads of the Post-office department were open directly to appeals to remedy abuses, no such appeals had been made, he thought it was a sufficient guarantee that neither the Treasury nor the Post-office authorities were deserving of censure ; and he, therefore, hoped the House would negative the motion of the lion, Gentleman. 11.10FFA TT supported the motion for an inquiry. It was a matter of fact that individuals residing in London did not receive their letters in the morning till many hours after they n ight be delivered, if there was a proper system of manage ment of the Post-office. He could not see how his Right lion. Friend opposite could have any grounds for the refusal of the Committee. He should have conceived that if the abuses complained of by his Hon Friend the Member for Finsbury did not exist, his Right Hon. Friend opposite should be anxious to have the Committee of Inquiry appointed so that the groundlessnes s of the charges might be mace manifest.—( Hem-, hear ) lie himself felt no doubt that the public would feel much satisfaction if the Committee asked for were granted. It was confidently anticipated when the great change took place in the Post-office, department that many of the glaring abuses which then existed would have been re miss ed, but after all it appeared, from the facts laid before the House by the Hon. Member for Finsbury, that the greater portion of them still existed, and that even the evils which had been removed would not have been so removed had it not been for the many complaints that had been made to the Post-office authorities, the letters that appeared in the different newspapers, &c. One of the main grounds of the restoration of the revenue represented at the time that the great change that took place in the Post-office was the great increase of facilities which would be afforded to the public in the delivery of their letters. And still, it appeared that almost the whole of the old delays existed as heretofore, and would continue to exist if the public voice was not raised in a manner too strong to be resisted by the Post-office authorities, lie found that after some of the old delays and abuses which existed in the Post-office, with re gard to the delivery of letters in the metropolis had been removed, in consequence of the loud and continued com plaints of the public there was an increase of letters delivered by the letter-carriers in London alone, in the following year of 1,800,000 ; being an increase of nearly fifty per cem. ; and there was scarcely a town where there had been increased facilities in the delivery of letters where there had not been a corresponding increase. But still there was a general com plaint throughout the kingdom that the Post-office authorities were exceedingly slow in their operations ; and, in his opinion, they had a perfect right to make such complaints. They had at present in London the old system of twopenny postage which caused a vast outlay and waste of money, and which proved anything but efficient. If the Post -office were properly managed, letters that were to be delivered in the morning, should be delivered before nine o'clock within even four miles of the Sity, whereas at present they were not delivered before half past ten. Then there was the absurd regulation as to the limitation of weight to be carried by the Post-office, the weight being at present limited to fifteen ounces, than which nothing could be more ridiculous. There were also many other abuses which might be brought to light before a Committee of the House. There was one regulatien about the superannuation of the sub-sort ers , who were com pelled to sub scr ib e t o a superannuation fund. That he be deved was also another of Mr. Kelly's regulations. No ac count was delivered to the subscribers of the sum in hand on their account. When their late treasurer died, they expected a very large sum would have been on hand, but when they ap plied to Mr. Kelly they were informed that there was no more than 701. available for the purposes for which it had been sub. scribed. The Post-office was managed in a slovenly way, and he had no doubt that if a Committee were appointed the result would be a very material improvement—(Bear, hear)—because he was quite satisfied that some of the allegations made by the Hon. Member for Finsbury were true, and capable of proof. lie could say more upon this subject, but, not wishing to detain the House, he would content himself by simply stating in con elusion that he most cordially supported the motion of the Hon. Member for Finsbury.—( Hear, hear. ) Mr. PROTHEROE said that the House and the country should know more than they did at present of the operations of tlr. Kelly, who, it appeared, employed by contract the greater pottion of those engaged in the metropolitan Post-office. From :he statements made by the Hon. Gentleman opposite, it ap peared that the letter- carriers were employed twelve hours in the day, and that it was impossible for him to deliver the etters put into his charge earlier than he did. Their re inuneration, too, it appeared was exceedingly low, and they eceived remuneration from parties to whom they delivered In the better walks of the metropolis, with the sanction of the Post-office authorities ; in fact, their salaries were re tuced in consideration of those perquisites. He thought that much good would result from the inquiry which might take place before the Committees, Mr. BROTHERTON was glad to have this opportunity of publicly complaining of the gross abuses which existed in the Post-office. He found that they had sent down into Manchester a number of agricultural labourers as letter-car riers—men that could scarcely either read or write, and who further knew nothing about the streets of Manchester. The consequence was, that several mistakes had occurred in the delivery of the letters.—( Hear, hear.) This was one of the many abuses which at present existed in the Post-office, end he hoped that the House would give every facility to the carrying out of the motion of the Hon. Member for Einsbury. Mr. CHRISTIE believed that there was an impression very prevalent in the minds of the public, that there existed a most pitiful jobbery in the disposal of the Post- office patronage, and he also believed that no one could gainsay the fact that the abuses in that department were exceedingly great. If the Riseles co.thm.,, opposite really felt that there was no ;round for the allegations of the Hon. Member who had I made the motion now before the House, what objection could he have to the appointment cf the Committoe sought for? The Right Hon. Members on the Treasury benches seemed to be jealous of the Hon. Member for Finsbury ou this occasion. It appeared that the individuals employed in the Post-office had, instead of waiting upon them, presented their memorial to the Hon. Member for Finsbury, praying him to do his ut most to remove the abuses of which they complained. The lion. Member for Finsbury had made specific charges against certain parties connected with the Post-office, in reply to which the Right Hon. Gentleman said, c' lam informed that those charges are not true;" but let that Right Hon. Gentle man say who was his informant.—( Hear, hear.) During the speech of his Hon. Friend the Member for Finsbury, he (Mr. Christie) observed the Chancellor of the Exchequer leave his benches hri sti) b by the n ew privilege were m o r place very oft en , an d go down to parties who sat on the cross f . Kelly tthe the who, h for r officials al l o e Post- office.—( Hear, hear ) Now if the Post-office were carried on in so p ra i seworthy and imm , aculate a manner as had h e of ( the ltlr C . been represented, what objections could the Right Hon. Gen tlemen on the Treasury benches have to the appointment of the Committee, which would, if their statements were true, clear their friends of the Post -office from the allegations of the Honourable Member for Finsbury? The public were entitled to have a most searching inquiry insti. tuted into the truth or otherwise of the allegations. made that night against the Post-office authorities. It had been stated that such an inquiry had been instituted, but none of that evidence had been published, and how were the public to know the manner in which the parties examined were cross examined, &c. In reply to the allegation of his Hon. Friend as to the mal-practices in the delivery of letters in the neigh bourhood of Chancery-lane, the Right Hon. Gentleman oppo site said that as soon as the facts were made known to the Post-office authorities they were removed, but it was under the fostering care of the Post-office authorities themselves that those mal-practices had sprung up ; and he, therefore, conceived that the whole management of the Post-office should be in quired into and remodelled. He considered that all the letter carriers had to do was to deliver letters as they were directed. He considered that private enterpise would be sufficient to col lect the requisite informations contained in the Directory. lie could not conceive how the parties implicated in these alle gations could hold up their heads if they did not come forward and ask this House to inquire into the matter complained of. Mr. F. BARING said the real question for the consideration of the House was not the necessity of instituting an inquiry Into the general management of the Post-office, but for the tPlcointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the allegations of the petition. There was no allegation in that petition relating either to early or late delivery, or to the necessity of having two different sets of letter-carriers. .Many of the suggestions thrown out by Hon. Members were no doubt very good. He never knew any public office in which im provements might not be made, and he would be glad to see the Post-office authorities introduce any beneficial alterations. He was glad to see the improvements lately introduced in the delivery of the Brighton letters, by which the town of Brighton was brought within the range of twopenny post. From a return lately made to that House, it appeared that many considerable additions had been made in the Post-office establishment, the increased labours having rendered necessary increased assistance. With reference to the alle gations contained in the petition, he had great doubt of the expediency of leaving a work like the " Directory" in the hands of private individuals, He believed that it contained much very valuable and necessary information. If the work, however, should be taken out of Mr. Kelly's hands, he considered that gentleman was entitled to a compensation. He thought that the statement of the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Cardwell, was worthy of some consideration - ; his state ments were not merely denials; they had locked over the books of Mr. Kelly, in corroboration of his statements. The lonourable M e mb er for Coventry stated th a t the chara c t er o f the Honourable M em b er for Finsbury stood very high, but he (Mr. Baring) did not consider that, however high might be the character of any Hon. Member, he should upon that ground attack the character of gentlemen who had been for a Number of years good public servants. He saw no reason whatever from the statements of the Hon. Member for Finsbury for inquiry into the alleged charges. He thought that, even in matters of mis conduct of public servants, the inquiry would be conducted in a far better manner if left in the hands of the heads of the Go vernment, than if attempted to be inquired into by Hon. Members of that House. Mr. WAKLEY had been considering in his own mind what would be the probable course of conduct pursued by those parties who had been connected with official duties, u pon a question relati ng t o th e m isconduct of a ti public officer. against had alway s f oun d th a t w hen any complaint was brought. against a public o ffi cer , members connected with th Government, sitting u p on e ither sid e , spoke and e voted to gether. Hon. Members on his side of the Horse think that if the present inquiry was granted it might, to haps, go back to the period in which they were per- He considered it absurd to call the statement made by the the Secretaries of the Treasury a satisfactory answer; s it might be, but a refutation it certainly was not. answerlf that House failed to inquire into such allegation s as those con tained in the petition, the functions of the Parliament, a s the inquests of the people, would be immediately at an end. The people of England would not consider that their represen tatives had faithfully performed the duties devolved up on thorn if they were to rest satisfied with such a reply as they had heard from the Government. He was i n th e habit of re ceiving many thousands of letters in the course of the day, and he had scarcely to make one complaint in the course of the year. He considered the duties connected with the Post -office to be laborious, difficult, and intricate. He thought it was a wonderful, most astonishining institution, and no person could reflect upon the exactness and punctuality of the business without being struck with astonishment at the wonderful man ner in which the duties were performed. He believed the " Dtrectory" to be most invaluable to the public, lie should regret to see it discontinued, and he only regretted that any person with the publication of that w or k should bey person c implicated in so disagreeable a circumstance as that which had given rise to the present discussion.—( Hear, hear.) Charges, however, of a most serious character had been brought against the heads of the Post-office. Great numbers of the subordi nates had been to his Hon. Colleague, and had made most grievous complaints to him of tyrannical usae;e. Could the House, then, refuse to accede to the inquiry ? His Hon. Col leage had moved for a return some time since, from which it appeared that the income of a gentleman, connected with the "Directory" was 1,276!., whereas he (Air. Duncombe) had stated, that if the Committee WSS granted, lie should be able to prove that the income was not less than 10,0001. a year. The pAitioner in the present case came forward, not as a person having received private injuries, but upon purely public grounds, and states in his petition that pub:hi: property was used for private purposes. If the motion of his Hon. Colleague was not acceded to, the people would think that to serve a certain purpose connected with the Gev, rn . ment the motion had been refused. He was surprised that the Government should refuse so reasonable a motion. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that the Hon. Member who had just sat down had stated that when any Hon. Member connected with that House made a slate. I ment of misconduct of any public officer it was the duty of Parliament to inquire into the circumstances, and stated as an instance of the necessity of that inquiry that an officer in the Po s t- o ffi ce h ad stated that his income arising from the sale of the " Directory" was 1,200'. a year; and so because the Hon. Member for Finsbury had stated it to he 12,000/., there fore we should institute an inquiry into the subject. He thought the Hon. Member ( Air. Wakley) was too well acquainted with the bookselling trade not to perceive at once that if there was an exaggeration in the statement the probe. hility was that it would have been upon the side of the laraer amount. F rom hi s experience in the bookseiiing trade 'he thought such would be his conclusion. He further asked whether lion. alembers were to be content with a mere denial. The statement of his lion. Friend, the Secretary of the Treasury, was founded upon the report of te o persons who had been ap pointed to examine the bioks of Mr. Kelly, the result of that examination being that the statements of Mr. Kelly were es sentially correct. He would ask, what better course could be adopted to inquire into the truth of any statement or tran-ae tion other than had been adopted in the present ease? He. had said what was perfectly true, they executeu the most laborious duties in the most wonderful manner. But when he made that admission that it was not to-day or yesterday, but through a long period of time, when the modes of conveyance were daily changing, that these exertions were satisfactorily carried out, he considi red that the Hon. Gentleman. in his own statement, implied a contradiction of his case, that the whole department was in a state of distraction and rebellion —ready to strike—in order to prevent the delivery of letters. The Hon. Gentleman must have been convinced that the fact of the manner in which these complaints were made was an answer to the greater part of them. It was a very popular doctrine that when a complaint was made that the House of Commons were bound to inquire into it ; but they ought not to admit the doctrine in the fullest sense to which it could be strained; but that when all other means were exhausted, then it should be competent to apply to the House of Commons. The letter-carriers had a door open to them, to have their grievances redres-ed, and the facts ascer tained. It was not probable that they had been afraid to apply to Lord Lonsdale or Lord St. Germans.—(" Hear, hear," from Mr. Duncombe.) He believed the allegation that they were afraid was without foundation; at least there could be no fear on their part in bringing their complaints under the cog nisance of the Treasury. His Hon. Friend had stated that if any malversation had taken place in the department, that the Treasury were always open to listen to complaints. If the House granted a Committee on every complaint which was made to it, they would draw upon themselves an endless labour. The Hon. Member for Portsmouth had so fully de fended the conduct of those who were principally en gaged in the business of this department that it would not be necessary for him to add anything to it. His knowledge was more intimate than his, for lie hed never seen Mr. Bottenham, but he knew that he carried with him the respect of all that knew him, or had any dealings with him. They had a proof of it in the testimony of the lion. Gentleman. He had earned the respect of per sans coming into the department without any prepossession whatever. He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) would not enter intothe general merits of the Post-office ; he said there had been more delay than necessary in carry ing into execution the improvements decided on, but great improvements were going on from day to day, and if th ere h a d b een l a tt er ly some delay, it arose simply from the fact of the large accumulation of letters, which had rendered some large additions to the Poit offie, but those enlargements were now completed, and the de iay would consequently cease. He considered that he had said theyen oug w h ou u ld po b n e t h h a e rd nityotiinoenhubeedforteo embark baHrkouisu a n House, and he investigation tl nh t where even there was no allegation that th e p ro p er mo d e o f redress had been attempted. If the H o u se a d o pt e d th e principle of inquiring into whatever an individual mi g ht s t a t e connected with his department, without in the first place giving an opportunity to the responsible Government of the country to inquire into the subject, he could see no limit to the Committees which the House might appoint, and if there was no other reason for opposing the motion, he confessed that would be sufficient to his mind. Mr. B. ESCOTT—Reference had been made to an inquiry which had taken place at the Post-office some years ago. His recollection of what passed then was, that he never heard a more intelligent or honest witness than Mr. Bottenham. There was at that time a very strict inquiry made into the regulations of the Post-office, and so satisfied were the Cemmittee with the management, and the fair dealing of the persons connected with the different departments, that those who were most hos tile at the commencement of the inquiry, were most ready in making a favourable report. Though he honoured the Hon. Member for Finsbury for his advocacy of the injured, it did appear to him that he had nut a good cause to contend with. seeing that it was only a squabble between a newspaper editor and a conductor of a Post-office Directory, who thought proper to blame Mr. Kelly. He had no doubt that if an inquiry were granted, it would lead to no good result ; and if it were re sisted, he would vote against it, bearing in mind the result of the former one, of which he had been a member. In fine, he considered that it was unworthy the character of the House in a dispute, which, after all, was only one between a newspaper editor and the proprietor of a Post-office Directory. Mr. 'f. 8. DUNCOMBE said he had no doubt that Mr. Bottenham was a most lotolligent witness, and it was because that he considered him so that he wished eery eteeh to have him, and he should very much like to have the Hon. Member himself. examined, to state what he knew of the regulations of the Post-office ; and with respect to this being a mere equabble between a newspaper editor and the proprietor of a Directory, the Hon. Member could not have heard his statements. He could not have heard the allegation that, only for the private business of Mr. Kelly, letters would be de livered an hoar and a half earlier. It was no light matter that when returns had been ordered by that House, that they should be made false. But all that was nothing; itras all merely a Post-office squabble. If this were pesmitted, it would be perfectly childish in the House to move for such returns, when they were to be falsified. He did not wonder at the course taken by the Honourable Gentleman. Why, the first was, that it was the duty of public men, both present and past, to screen public delinquency. If they con sidered that he could not prove his charges, they would jump at the opportunity his motion afforded them to obtain praise, but it was because they felt confident that errors did exist, that they refused this inquiry. When charges were made against the Poor-law Commissioners, why did they not say to them, " Go to the offi cers, before you come to us."—(Hear, hear.) He said before what he would again repeat, that he believed that every allega tion in that petition was true. Would their slighting it satisfy the public? The Right lion. Gentleman himself admitted that he considered that a better arrangement might be effected. When the packet list was published at the Post-office, it was resolved that it should be published at the lowest possible rate, and that the profit, if any, should be carried to the revenue. This proceeding had been carried into effect. Now let the Post-office Directory" be treated in the same manner, and if it can be published at 12s. 6d., instead of thirty shillings, let the public have the benefit of it, or let it be published at the latter price, and let the amount of profit go to remunerate the poor Post-office subordinates. lie did his duty in presenting the petition, and calling the attention of the House to the subject, and he now left it to the House to decide between himself and the Right Hon. Barone whether or not the Committee should be granted. The House then divided, when the numbers were, For the motion ... ..... 49 Against it _ _ . Majority 43 IRISH RAILWAY BILLS On our re-admission to the gallery, we found Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN moving, that with a view to dimi nish the inconvenience and expense now incurred in carrying through Parliament Bills for the construction of railways in Ireland, it is expedient that, in the case of Irish Railway Bills, all such inquiries as are now conducted in London by Com mittees of both Houses of Parliament, should, after the termi nation of the present session, take place in Ireland. The ex penditure of the last and the present session, with respect to the conduct of private Bills through that House, was such as to make every one in Ireland dissatisfied with the present mode of procedure. The enormous expense, inconvenience, and delay which resulted from the system of discussing the merits of private Bills before Committees of that House, was so great as to necessitate a change like that which he proposed. The expenses incurred by bringing witnesses from every part of Ire land, engaging counsel, agents, and other persons in this country, would be entirely obviated; but it was not a question of expense merely, it was a question if convenience. He found that in the last session of Parliament the Bills which were introduced on the 10th of February did not receive the Royal Assent till the 21st of July, a period of four or five months, and the general result notwithstanding the delay was a most enormous expenditure. He should be glad if the Hon. Baronet would lay before the House the different memorials he had received on the subject. He would ask the English Members if they were satisfied with the manner in which the Railway Bills were conducted. It was impossible that so many Bills could be investigated properly. They amounted: to over seven hundred i n the present session, and the labour imposed upon Members was very great. Members of that House were taken . away from their higher duties and sent f or d ays an d wee k s to sit on Rail. way Committees, whereas they might be better employed in the discharge of more important functions. He did not be lieve that Members of that House were bound to sit on Com mittees for private Bills. There was nothing to compel them to do so more than a mere resolution of that House, and he should doubt that such a resolution was strictly binding till he should hear it so stated by some high authority in that House. He could see no difficulty in allowing the Railway Bills of Ireland to be conducted by Committees in that country, He thought th e G overnment might appoint a Commission of five gentlemen —one to be a counsel of high legal character, and the others t o b e c i v il and military engineers of acknow ledged, scientific attainments. They could report to the Go vernment, and the parties could then be entitled to an appeal to that House. If the House should adopt the principle, he would then be for including all classes of Irish private Bills in the qualification of the Commission. Mr. F. FRENCH seconded the motion. He considered that the expenditure incurred in carrying Bills for public works in Ireland should be spent in that country. It was an amount of some consequence ; for he found that the expenses of even an unopposed Bill came as high as seven or eight hundred pounds, and such expenditure was taken from Ireland ; and, at the same time, the pasties were put to great inconvenience by having to attend the carrying of the Bills through Committee in this country. The Hon. Member then went into a detailed description of the operation of the Grand Jury Act. He said, if it was de termined on that the existence of a road was necessary, the ap plication was laid before the grand jury, and then the county surveyor was called upon to decide which was the best line of road, and to lay it out, and then his plan was to be submitted to a future road sessions, and in that way the fiscal business of the country was carried on. But with regard to the fiscal business of the country generally, he begged to observe that it was carried on for the great part by Hon. Members from Ire land, who were obliged to attend their Parliamentary duties here also, and in illustration of which he would just state that, since the present session commenced, he had been obliged to cross the Channel four times ; while here, the duties were dis charged in a different manner. Well, then he would wish to call attention next to the enormous expense to which the Irish people were put in endeavouring to carry a railway ; and he felt assured he did not exaggerate when he stated that the Par liamentary expenses alone of the smallest line in Ireland could not be less than 20,000/. In the first place, the parties were put to a great deal of expense in the House of Lords that they had not to encounter in the House of Commons. In the case of standing orders alone the parties had to come over here and then go back to Ireland and come here again, and then go back agai n ; an d so on, aga i n and again, in the most unnecessary and annoying manner—and thus the ex pense was most unnecessarily increased. He knew of one in stance recently where the parties had passed the House of Commons' standing orders, and when they went up to the House of Lords they had to remain three weeks before they were heard. He contended, then, that all the difficulties had been thrown in the way by the House of Lords a and that there was -- no more real necessity for bringing the parties over here upon a railroad than there was upon a grand-jury road, for that the same parties were as capable of judging of one as of the other. He begged leave to second die motion. Sir R. PEEL said it was quite clear that the House was prepared for the discussion of the question introduced by the Hon. Member, and there were several motions already before the House upon the subject. But in reference to the railroad question, he begged to remind the Hon. Member that the mo tion he intended to make on Thursday would be to the effect that unless a certain number of scripholders agreed to the car rying on of . a railway scheme, it ought not to be carried on. —( Hear.) But the Honourable Member had remarked that certain persons in Ireland were as capable of udging then of the merits of a railroad as of the common roads; but let him remind the Hon. Member that was not the motion of the Hon. Member near him. That Hon. Member proposed that the Speaker should appoint a Commission to make inquiries in reference to railways in Ireland, which now belonged to the House of Commons to do. In a future session of Parliament, of course, there would be a much less pressure on account of railways than in the present session. The experience of the present session would enable them to determine what course they should pursue hereafter. It was quite clear that they ought not to sacrifice private property unless for some public good. He thought the House could not affirm such a proposition as that %hien had been made by the Honourable Gen tleman—(Heer, hear)—upon such a discussion as that which had taken place. The Honourable Gentleman would not of course propose to give the power to a Commission of five to legislate. lie would not, of course, give a Commission the power to take land. If he diet not propose that, Legis lation by that House would still he necessery. Mr. S. O'BRIEN said he proposed that the matter should be determed by a local board—the county board for instance. He would also suggest that the Commission should re port to the House. Sir R. PEEL said, the Commission would merely have to make certain preliminary inquiries. Now, the Honourable Gentleman should conside r, that to this proposition, to make it effective, they must have the sanction of the House of would be no Lords. Supposing th e C ommission to be appointed, there saving of expense, because the parties if they were not satisfied with the decision o f th e Commission might appeal to the House and have the whole matter again investigated by the House of Commons. Con sidering that the House was not prepared for this discussion. he hoped the Hon. Gentleman would withdraw the motion, and not put the House to the necessity of expressing an opinion upon it. It was quite clear that it could not be assented to. All the Government could assent to was the consideration of the question whether certain inquiries now committed to the flame of Commons might not be transferred to a tribunal ap. pointed by the House and under the control of the House, but reserving all legislation to the House of Commons. Mr. S. O'BRIEN thought the House was in a position to consider the motion, and he should therefore press it. Mr. C. PO WE LL thought Isis Hon. Friend was warranted in pressing the motion. Mr. WAKLEY said that there were so many drains upon the resources of Ireland, that if the Hon. Gentleman should press the motion he (Mr. \llkley) should support it. Ile, however, thought it would be better to postpone the motion for the present, and bring it forward at a time when the House would be better prepared to express an opinion upon it. He had the greatest objection to entrusting these matters to the consideration of local boards, because such bodies must have great local interests and prejudices. He must say that he could not see how the principle advocated by the Hon. Gentleman was to be carried into effect, but certainly, considering the ex penditure that took place in Ireland, and also in this country, a stop ought to be put to the exhaustion of Ireland by ab senteeism. Lord CLAUDE HAMILTON said that after the observa tions made by the Hon. Gentleman the Member for Limerick, and seconded by the Hon. Member for Roscommon, and agree ing as he did with their views. he thought himself bound to vote for his motion. He thought that some regulation should be made to avoid many of the expenses incidental to the manner in which the Irish railways were bronght forward in London. A great number of witnesses were brought forward, and the proposed arrangement would be of great ad. vantage in diminishing the expense. He must, however, ask the Hon. Gentleman, whether he meant the proposition to apply to those railway schemes now before Parliament, or to such as might be undertaken in future, because he appre hended that very few of the Irish railways which had come before Parliament this session were in a condition to avail themselves of the proposition of the Hon. Gentleman if it were carried. He thought that the House should clearly un derstand, whether the proposal was intended for the advantage of future railway companies, or for those at present before the House. He did not think that at the present late period of the session any extensive change in the manner of bringing forward these Bills could be of advantage. Colonel CONOLLY said he was not disposed to raise any objection to a course which had already been found to be bene ficial, but the Hon. Member for Limerick had overlooked a very po im • rtant consideration, viz., that the greater portion of the money invested in Ireland and Irish railways came from England ; and as the introduction of English capital in Ire land was a very d , sirable consideration, he would be very sorry to acquiesce in any proposal which ofered any impediment to such introduction. With respect to the course suggested by the Hon. Member for Roscommon, he thought that such a course would be the tone most calculated to encourage discord and trouble in Ireland. Mr. F. FRENCH said that his Hon. Friend had misun derstood the statement he had made. Colonel CONOLLY said that he should be very sorry to misrepresent any of his countrymen—(Laughter)--or any Hon. Member in that House. The House had already found it necessary to separate all parties, all locally interested, from the consideration of the railway scheme in which they might be concerned ; and how could it descend from that high ground, to leave these matters for the consideration of a small district, with the possibility of very material difference of opinion on the subject. Mr. M. O'CONNELL said that he thought that, on refe rence to the list of the shareholders in Irish railways, it would be found that a considerable portion of the capital sub=cribed was from Ireland, while there were a large number of English names, which were merely samples of that zoological anomaly called the stag. There was such a thing as a precedent of a Commission in Ireland, and all that was asked for was, that instead of taking people over from the remote parts of Ireland, such as Donegal, Galway, and Kerry, they should constitute a series of Commissions, which would hear all the evidence, and prepare a report of it for the Parliamentary Committees. It had been calculated that every railway I3ill which had come before the House had cost, on an average, 3,0 - JO/. for prelimi nary expenses ; and if they multiplied that amount by the number of Irish railway Bills say twenty or thirty Bills—what an amount that would give. —(Hear. ) All he asked simply was, to consider whether they would, by commission or otherwise, endeavour to get rid of the incon vernence of bringing people over here at the busy time of the year —many of them men of business—and thus expending the money out of the country. In doing this he would be benefit ing all classes, from the day-labourers throughout every business and trade. It was doing great injustice to Ireland the bringing away the money of the country to swell the overgrown gains of this great capital. He would support the motion of his Hon. Friend, as he considered it a just and proper proposition. Mr. NVILL JAMS hoped, after the explanation of the Right Hon. Baronet, that the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. S. O'Brien) would not press his motion. The Right Hon. Baronet had expressed himself willing in any future press of railway business to consider the propriety of taking evidence, not only in Ireland but in other parts of the empire. That information would suffice at present. He was anxious as any one to sup port measures for the benefit of Ireland, but he objected to do so on the present occasion, because the object would be better carried out if left to the Government, after the declaration which the Right Hon. Baronet had made. If the Right Hon. Baronet omitted to take up the question, the Hon. Gentleman would bring it forward at another time with better chance of success. After a few words from Mr. FREWEN, against the motion, Mr. ROCHE hoped his Hon. Friend would not be induced by the Hon. Member for Coventry from abstaining from di viding the House. It was plain on the whole, it was never the right time to do justice to Ireland. Whenever any pro position was made to benefit Ireland, some doctrine of politi cal economy was dug up, to show that it was not the right time for adopting it: He could not see how it was that the Right Honourable Baronet had not acceded to the motion, as every one who aceeeded to it admitted that some interference was necessary. Much Irish money was spent in this country, and men of business were delayed most inconveniently in consequence of the present system. He called upon the Government to do something in the matter. He protested against the putting off of the question ; against the demand for a long day for Ireland. He said, that when a question of this kind was brought forward, when all classes in Ireland had united in memorialising the Right Hon. Baronet, it was not right or just to say that the mode in which they wished to carry it out was not the proper one, and he thought the onus lay with the Right Hon. Baronet to prove that it was natural. fhe CHANCELLOR of the EX CHEQUER was under stood to say that he did not wish to prolong the discussion, but he could not help thinking that the Hon. Member seemed to suppose that a resolution of that House would be binding upon the House of Lords. Such could not be the case, and he thought it better that the Hon. Member for Limerick should defer his motion. was C n o o l o t n s e i i i fa t ei i e W . t D y l understood, and perhaps he might be ON said it appeared to him that the motion per mitted therefore to read the motion as it appeared upon the The motion was, " That, with a v i ew to diminish the ap inconvenience er and expense now incurred in carrying through Parliament Bills for the con s t ruc ti on o f Railways inlreland, it is expedient that, in the ease of Irish Railway Bills, all such inquiries as are now conducted in London, by Committees of both Houses of Parliament, should, after the termination of the present session, take place in Ireland." Now when the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer appeared to think that by this motion railway Legislation in Ireland would be taken away from both Houses, he was mistaken. He was informed by an Hon. Member beside him that in one instance not less than thirty-three witnesses had been kept in town entirely, at a great expence and inconvenience, and he thought that when evidence might be taken in Dublin the sooner it was done the better. After a few words from Mr. F. FRENCH in explanation, Mr. DILLON BROWNE said that it was a must impor tant matter that in the present distress some understanding should be come to on the subject. The gallery was then cleared. The House then divided, when there appeared, For the moti on . Against it . Alajority against it... _44 POLING PLACES (IRELAND) BILL. The House went into Committee on this Bill. The report was ordered to be brought up this day (Wednesday). COMMONS INCLOSURE BILL. The House went into Committee, and the report was or dered to be brought up this day. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at half-past twelve o'clock. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —DEAFNESS AND DEFECTIVE. VISION RELIZVXD, SS), ALIBRMARLIFITAINT, PICCADILLY.—NewIy invented acoustic tubes, for relief of extreme deafness, and when inserted in the ear cannot be perceived by the nearest observer— they are entirely different from all others, and are the smallest hear ing instruments construeted —measuring only a quarter of an inch in their widest part; they may be securely adjusted in the ears unob served, and removed therefrom with as great ease and facility. Per sons are enabled to join in general conversation, and to hear most distinctly in a place of worship, &c., and what should be greatly considered, a natural expansion of the cavity of the ear is preserved —a thickening or contraction of which ii many instances is par tially the cause of deafness—and by their use the unpleasant sen sation of singing noises in the ears is entirely obviated. Also im proved hearing trumpets of every description. Immediately the newly - invented spectacle lenses ar e pl ace d b e f ore i mper f ec t vision, either by day or candlelight, that mist and dullness wbieh appear before the eyes is at once removed, every o bj ect b ecomes clear an d distinet, so that th e most aged defect i ve s i ght b eeo mes bright a n d brilliant, and is brought to its youthful, natural, and original sta t e. Also the most powerful achromatic telescopes, opera gl asses. and microscopes. Caution—Messrs. 3. and B. Solomon , opticians, are not in any way connec t e d w i t h a person of the same name in their immediate neighbourhood. nor in any part of the country. To prevent mistakes, be cautious, and observe —only to be had a 139, Albermarle street, Piccadilly, opposite the Tor Hotel., BRIGHTON, APRIL 21.—The Marquis of Douro, Col. Pringle, and John Wood, EQq., Chairman of the Board of Excise, arrived here yesterday afternoon by the General Stearn Navigation Company's packet Magnet, from Dieppe. THE WELSH PRESS. -- On Triesday evening a dinner was given at Doll's Coffee* house, PeNtenios ter-rove, by several gentlemen connected with. the prlncileality of Wales, to Mr. James Rees, the proprietct and publisleer of the Carnarron and Denllfle Herald, to re -cerd their sense of the talented and judicious manner In which that journal has been conducted during - the period or his management. The chair was taken by John Williams, Esl., of Oxford-. street, supported in the vice-chair by William Jones, .55%4 solicitor, of Greenwich. The cloth having been removed, and due honour haying been done to the usual loyal toasts, The CHAIRMAN rose to propose the toast of the evening, " Health to 31r.. Rees, and s uccess to the CvrnArron an& Denbigh Herald," and observed, that having narrowly the pri nc i p l es on w hi ch that paper had- been con- , ducted since its establishment, and always feeling a deep interest in the welfare of North Wales, he had with eueorth nary pleasure sought the acquaintance and friendship of Mr. Rees, as of a patriot and a benefactor of his country. 11 .) considered that the successful es t a bli s h ment of a -li.`ierab paper at Carnarvon was one of the greateet ben,'Jit4 that one m an could confer upon that district flf the principality tending to elevate society, anf IA) give the public mind an onward direction. Mr. nee,' tiad conducted his paper with great spirit end he" was a man determined to serve the cause of the advocating those measures which tend to einancipe from the influences of ignorance and oppression. IVlictl the subject of the endowed schools of Wales was tb - St inuotcai the Herald rendered its assistauce to. expose many Instances of the shameful abuse of their funds. Much mote might be done were the efforts of the Herald seconded by the landed proprietary of Wales ; but he regretted to sar that the Weleh gentry, as a body, were lamentably indifferent to the improvement of the lower -classes. Indeed if the Welsh population were lower in the scale of civilisation than their fellow-subjects in other parts of the empire, most of the fault lay- at the door of th e W e l s h gen t r y. Mr.. Williams then adverted at considerable length to the Herald's abk. advocacy of the Reform Bill in its original integrity. the extension of the suffrage, the right of the -industrious and ip!c by thern poor to relief, its opposition to an irresponsible rural police force, and the support of those great measures now under discussion by the Legislature, when free-trade principles w much less fashi ona bl e. He also adverted to the publica by Mr. Rees of the Arnaethydd, a monthly guppleme given with the Herald, containing information in the Welsh language on agricultural subjects The toast was received with great applause. Mr.,REEI said, I hardly know how to express to you the pleasurable and grateful feelings which on have excited. I am sincer e l y grateful for the kind wayy in which you have introduced me to the friends around, and the flattering man ner in whi c h I have been received • and lexperienceheart felt pleasure t o l earn that my .humble but sincere exertions to make the Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald useful and bene ficial to the principality- are appreciated. It is true, that it has ever been my pride and study to make the Herald inde pendent ; but I must not take the whole credit of its conduct to myself ; I am associated with a gentleman to whom L have entrusted the political and literary department of the paper, and who has, I am bound to say, after some years' ex perience, discharged the trust reposed in him honestly and, honourably. When the Herald was first announced i j i the year 1830, the proprietors then promised that it should con tain early and full reports of all public meetings and occur rences which might happen in the district. Since I have be come the proprietor I have spared neither trouble nor expense to fulfil that promise. The paper was also promised to unmask every abuse; to the best of my ability I have fearlessly performed the task, however irksome at times the task might be. Indeed there is nothing that my means will permit, and the support I receive will warrant, that I will not do, not only to maintain the proud position I occupy as a journalist in North Wales, but to make the paper equal to any journal in the kingdom. It would hardly :become me to enumerate the benefits which I may conceive have accrued to the principality by the establish ment of the Herald; but there are, I flatter myself, some amongst the company who may recal to mind many instances in which abuses have been exposed, am,lthe rights of the subject vindicated. I shall now merely say, that yourappro bation of the coursa I have hitherto pursued will be a sti mulus to me to continue in the straightfmward path I have marked out; and that at no very distant day the Herald will be, in size as well as in talent and independence, equal to any contemporary print. I again thank you most sin cerely for the kind and generous manner in which you have testified your approval of my public conduct. On the health of those patriotic gentlemen, Dr. Lewis and Mr. Hugh Owen, being proposed, they animadverted at considerable length on the merits of the different systems of education in Wales, but we regret that space will not permit us to publish their interesting remarks. Several other gentlemen, including Messrs. W. Thomas, 0. W. Thomas, J. James, 'and 0. Rowland, addressed the company on subjects of interests, chiefly that of the ednea tion of the lower classes of their countiTmen. We may remark, that - it was unanimously resolved tin revive the Gwyneddigion Society. After various toasncluding th e h ea l t h of the Editor of the Carnarron Her e , the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, Mr. Davis of Wigmore-street, &c. &c., the company separated. A Supplement to the- London Gazette was published last Evening, containing the following extract of a Dis patch received by the Secret Committee of the East In dia Company : INDIA BOARD, APRIL 20, 1846, The Secret Committee of the East India Company has this day received, from the Governor-General of India, dispatch, of which the following is an extract : " The Governor-General of India to the Secret Committee. " Camp, Lahore, Mh 4, 1846. " On the 20th, the wh o l e army marched to arc Lahore, four teen miles, and encamped on the Parade -ground, about two and a half miles from the city gates. " In the afternoon of the 20:h, the young Maharaja Da eep Sing was restored to the Palace of the Rulers of Lahore, a charge of the Chief Secretary of the Government, F. Cur ie, EN., escorted by British officers and troops, in the men or described in the papers enclosed " I considered it right - to mark, in this public manner, *he ibmission of the Lahore Goverwnent to the British Power; id to show that the restoration of the young- Maharaja to s capital was the spontaneous act of the Di - Trish GOvern ent. "On the 21st, the Chief Engineer and other officers in spected the citadel and gates of the town to select positions for the British troops, by which I had determined that La hore should be occupied till further orders. " Early on the morning of the 22d, a brigade of British troops took formal possession of the citadel of Lahore, the Badshashee Musjeed, and the Huzsooree Bagh. " On receiving the report of his Excellency the Common der-in-Chief, 1 issued the General Order, bearing date the 2201 ultimo. I considered the occupation of Lahore, and the close of active operations in the field, a proper opportunity for marking, by substantial reward, the gratitude of the British Government to its faithful and brave Army, which had fought so gloriously and so successfully; and I was glad at being able thus to bring into prominent contrast the just reward of discipline and obedience with the certain penalty of insubordination and violence, as exemplified in the fate of the two armies which had been so long the objects of mutual observation, the one victorio u s i n th e fi e ld , and honoured and bountifully rewarded by its Government; the other, in spite of its exceeding numbers and advantageous positions, vanquished in every battle, abandoned by a Government it had coerced, and, with its shattered remains, left, but for the interce,sion of its conquerors, to disperse with no provision of any kind, and seek a precarious subsistence by rapine and crime. "On the 17th ultimo, the force under Brigadier Wheeler crossed the Suttlej, a few miles below Loodianah, and occu pied the strong fort of Philor, which was abandoned on the approach of the troops. Having left a garrison at Philor, Brigadier Wheeler advanced to the banks of the Beas ; and the presence of his disciplined force has given confidence of protection to the inhabitants of the 1)ooab, who are stated to be well satisfied with their change of rulers. The Supplement to the Gazette, contains many other official documents relating to the recent events in the Punjaub, the whole of which have already appeared in The Sun. COURT CIRCULAR, The Queen and Prince Albert walked early yesterday, the royal gardens of Buckingham Palace. yesterday,inavvWaiting. Royaltng attended Highness y PrinceLi euten an t -Alberte o rodeo e l Seymour, oLt en horseback Equerryet . h ee T rp h cis e r i ie r n; Riy ste a irt l do ll 3,..ya ig ,i, h i nn andes theetsgh the hrred Princess i oc n fe e s se the oAf Palace. al took kPri theirnea u Alfred, su a Her Majesty and Prince Albert, attended by Lady Pert man, Hon. Miss Murray, Hon. Miss Napier, Lord Byron, Iron. Colonel Grey, and Lieutenant-Colonel Seymour, honoured the Italian Opera with their presence 3 esterday * Portman has succeeded th e M arc hi oness of Douro, as c t e h e v e e Le d n L a e id d n a j dy g Viscountiann N d S Waiting s t diynmdg Drummond,inr e to ayi, thea Sirs Queen. t ßobert as eo bteLhr oter Lord doutrwin ooa r ayl ß v yr ihania o t nn Wa s iting hasto succeeded s c et - ro Colonel Alaies t3' Berkeley ; herHleir uaj aj e . sty es . ty the Queen D owager took an airing yesterday in a carriage, attended by the lion. Miss Hudson and the llon. Miss Mitchell. Her Majesty visited her Royal High ness the Duchess of Kent, at Clarence House, St. James's. Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Gloucester and the Duchess of Cambridge visited her Majesty the Queen Dowager yesterday at Marlborough -house. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent arrived al her residence, Clarence-house, Si. James's, at two o'clock yester day afternoon, from Frogmore-house, Windsor. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cam bridge visited the Duchess of Gloucester yesterday at Glou cester-house. His:Serene Highness the Hereditary Prince of Saxe Meinin gen, attended by Sir Andrew Barnard, Captain Taylor, and Mr. Feilding, left Marlborough House yesterday morning in a carriage and four for the Regent Dock-yard, Woolwich. His Serene Highness returned to town in the afternoon. The Danish Minister transacted business yesterday at the Foreign-office. The Commissioners of the Metropolitan Termitt had a meeting on Monday. There were present Viscount Can ning, the Right Hon. J. C. Herries, Sir Frederick Smith, and the Lord Mayor. The Commissioners held another meeting yesterday. Mr. Mayers, agent for Barbadoes, had an interview with Mr. Secretary Gladstone yesterday at the Colonial-office. Mr. Edmund Nugent, agent for Antigua, had also an inter view with the Right Hon. Gentleman. view Mr. with John th e W c o h o d a n , official residence in Dowing- street. c C 11 13 Chairman h e o f E t x h c e h e .F 4 x u e c r i s e y , e s l t i e a r d d a a y n a i n t t s. - LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND, VOL. I. By which wi ll E s e prove . " a This grea i t s tthhaet firstaddition p volume rtoomE inngenlitsuh o n f mhd a eiesr s series o T f n wO li r As ks w R No better supplement to our fn an nfa n r a e ls onß c dt o uh u tt e l o d t bold oe e l dasupopu.ltireuidetohfana well-written biographies of our kings and queens. In our since et the c histories,onqu Conquest, d c o ha n n o g t es fi w n h ed ich society has progress of of itirhie edosteiwlrlyue-elssltr;caoitnnioddnees.ecde, e d fic we i o e think til n d o b b t e ll e t e t d e e r vised means th o a f n s übpy ppvPwle:rio:tlipeinuclgdlehi faoettnrilfneosiasorsiculicibegojthteyetldtaidnns historical a thing adn t p h a e ss l e iv d e o s ve o r f inthseilemnocne ' mils of E y ngland. Each age, by this means, might find its fitting illustration in the person of s i o t7 . Easngmlaunedh,' light t sh u o po wi n t Miss Strickland her' Lives of sovereign. Mr. Roscoe, in his ' Lives of w the h th ow e political this in ide , ,awclni character doubtless be the e e o a Q u rr r u i carried out. a nnals, as at a former period the personal character of the sovereign had everything to do with the aspect of his times. From various sources Mr. Roscoe has drawn facts which have never yet appeared in relation to the life of William the Conqueror. If the succeeding volumes should prove as interesting: as this one of the great Norman, we can imagine Chronicle. no more successful series of books."-7Vaki.y t iznim i. v.~ y VCI W fkj J CI) _ a. , EVENING. APRIL 22, 1848. wyl., 87TM, - LONDON, WEDNESDAY ~.,