The Sun. — London, England, 1837-05-19 00:00:00

" by what process" was it that Mr. Leader was re turned at the former election ? We do not doubt that le:s purse on that occasion prevailed aaainst the forties of Mr. Broadwootl. Unquestionably Liberals as well as Tories resort to corrupt means under our present base representative system ; but there is this distinc tion, that Reformers seek to amend, and Tories to per• petuate the system. We rejoice to learn that the venal electors of Bridgewater will not escape detection and exposure, and we shall soon sec what species of " re action" obtained the return of Mr. Broadwood. Nearly two hundred electors have been bribed by the partisans of that gentleman, who will probably repent being a cat's-paw of the Carbon Club. Mr. William Holmes and his pensioned son, who graced this contest• with their presence, may he " pure as unsunned snow," and, for aught we know, may have preached honesty and purity of election to the Piano-fifiies ;* but we think at least it would have been decent and politic in the old whipper-in" to train up a child in the way he should go r and to leave him in the safe possession of his pen sion of 5001. per annum on the Civil List. Mr. Thomas Knox Holmes, the son, at present enjoys this pension for no earthly service to his country since the year 1830. In virtue of this pension Holmes, the younger, has probably received the goodly sum of 3,5001. ! Perhaps a future House of Commons, in sonic period of real re-action, will examine into the merits of the youthful pensioner. We doubt whether the civil services of the parent at Bridgewater will further justify this quartering of the son on the public purse. A Committee on that return, or perhaps on the Pension List hereafter, may have something not very acceptable to say to Holmes and Son. For further particulars on the pension of Thomas Knox Holmes, and the public character and calling of the father, we refer to the columns of the Times.— Morrting Chronicle. • The renal electors, alluding to Mr. Broadvcood'a trade of piano -forte maker, called out no pianofortes, we must have piano ; ?flies. In the number of the Times, which contained the report of Lord Morpeth's speech on introducing the resolution preliminary to the Irish Tithe Bill of this session, we stated, in no very ambiguous language, the deep condemnation which that Bill in our opinion merited, and the aggravated system of harshness and plunder which, as compared with the Tithe Bill of 1836, it promised to inflict upon the Church. We characterized the measure thus indicated by the Irish Secretary as one which, instead of recommending itself to honest men and friends of the Constitution, by an abandonment of the iniquitous appropriation clause of last year, or by showing some decent respect for the rights, and some feeling of humanity for the comforts, of the clergy, contained a version of the appropriation clause worse and more grinding than that which had formed the first Whig-Ra dical manifesto against the Established Church, and the war-cry of Lord Melbourne's Government. It was obvious that the second Bill —namely, that of which the second reading has, for reasons which the mover will not hastily 'acknowledge, been postponed to the 9th of June—bringe at once into certain and immediate action that principle of which the abstract assertion only was positive in the former Bill, and the actual operation against the Church contingent on the future existence of a surplus. The present measure does not leave the " surplus" dependent on any con tingency. It perpetrates a direct robbery on the clergy, and applies the fruits of it, without the slightest ceremony, to the benefit of those whose aim is the total destruction both of church and clergy. As is already known, this measure of Lord Morpeth cuts off' 101. from every 1001. which the commutation clauses still leave to the clergy, and diverts it to the mainte nance of a parochial school for teaching Roman Ca tholic children. But this is not all. We listened at tentively to Lord l'aforpeth's speech, and heard him distinctly, unless our ears deceived us, adduce an act of Parliament, 28th Henry VIII., as his authority for sweeping away 10 per cent. of the revenues of all ranks and orders of clergymen, for the support of a charity school in each parish. Now, at the time the truth of this matter was with us, we avow, conjecture only. We were indeed sufficiently satisfied that there could be no particle of analogy between the purpose of Henry the Eighth's Government, which was noto riously to teach the English tongue, or to imbue the native Irish with English manners, tastes, and habits, and that of any rational Administration in the present day, when the language of England is thoroughly known throughout Ireland, and the exact opposite of all English tastes and sentiments is industriously spread among the lower orders of Irishmen, by a class of teachers to whom alone, unfortunately, they listen. But that is far from being the extent to which Lord Morpeth carried his misrepresentations in the instance to which we have just referred. He not merely mis interpreted the general sc o p e o f Ki ng Henry ' s policy with regard t o te instruction of the Irish poor, but he literally perverted into a fresh pecuniary exaction from the clergy those clauses of the Act 28th of that King, which p rov id e d a pecuniary indemnification for them in re -payment of their toil as teachers. The Act of Henry enjoined the established clergy to keep ' a school " for to learn English, if any children of his parish come to him to learn the same." And the clause goes on thus--" he, the incumbent, taking" (not paying, as Lord Morpeth in his speech trans lated it, but taking) " for the keeping of the same school such convenient stipend or salary as in the said laud is accustomably used to be taken." No thing here about a tax of 10 per cent. upon the Protestant clergy of Ireland. How the O'Connell Secretary came to recite such an Act of Parliament for so queer a purpose, or to confound two things in their nature so distinguishabl e as the offices of paying mo ney and - receivin g it, can only be accounted for by that faculty of transposing the pronouns possessiv e " meant" and "Mum," which would be so natural! ) , and easily acquired under a schoolmaster like him who has lately given lessons to Lord Morpeth. Indeed, apart from all objects of party spite, we wonder little at any repugnance evinced by the O'Connell Ministers to have this hateful and dishonest measure exposed to Parliamentary discussion. It is one which must ine vitably get fractured in the handling. It is one which will not bear so much as to be looked at. It is one which no set of politicians, not either grossly ignorant of the first duties of British statesmen, or entirely reck less and desperate as to the good or evil which might result from their - undertakings, would have dared to imagine against an institution so sacred as the Church, Another triumph for the Conservative cause is soon to be achieved, and a triumph scarcely inferior in im portance to that which has just been won by the Con servatives of Westminster. A vacancy, as our readers are aware, has been created in the representation of Glasgow by Mr. Oswald, the late Ministerial Member for that city, having accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. The writ for a new election has issued, and a staunch Conservative candidate_a candidate in all respects worthy to represent the commercial capital of Scotland —is in the field, surrounded by circumstances which afford all but the abs,:lute certainty of his triumphant return. Mr. Monteith has many claims to the con fidence of the citizens of Glasgow, and we have great satisfaction in stating that his claims are generally re cognised by the clear-sighted and sober-minded inhabi tants of Scotland. It is not that the name of Mr. Monteith is associated with the commercial pro sperity of his country—it is not that he and his family occupy an elevated position in the society of that city which he aspires to represent, or that they so occupy their social position as to diffuse around it the radiance of intelligence and virtue—it is not that the father of Mr. Monteith had the honour of receiving 'under his roof Sir R. Peel nil the recen t memor ablevisit t o Gl asgow of that ('.l . 4tnont statesman, a higher or a prouder tlistriction can scarcely be ima gined : Mr. Monteith prefers a claim to the suffrages qf con.;,tryinen more indisputable and more exalted than any of these—a claim founded upon his personal zeal in the cause of Protestantism as opposed to Po pery —of religion as opposed to infidelity. The new candidate for the representation of Glasgow is an avowed, a conscientious, an intrepid, and, as he will prove, we have no doubt, a formidable, antagonist t o that unprin c ipl e d party in the State whichdares t 6 profess its • belief that politics and religion have no connection with each other ; that the Govern ment of a Christian country may, without blame, leave the religious instruction of the people to chance, to Spectrlation, or to faction ; that true liberality in the conducting of pttblic affairs con sists in havieg no r.diglOns opinions whatever, or in acting as though one had none. Mr. Monteith is the Christian and Protestant candidate fot OlitsgatV. This is the distinction between hinitelf anti any pro bable competitor upon whitth ha mainly relies in his appeal to the Snfiefages of the community of Glasgow, although other and highly honourable tO their confidence and approbation tnight txinildently be ad vanced. Who )s to be the candidate, or whether there will be any, on the Radical and Papist interests is still doubtful. Many have been named, but there is little courage left. it seems, among the aspirants to the favours of Republicanism. Westminster has frightened the brawlers for the Ballot, for the aboli tion of the House of Lords, for the Voluntary or no- Church prin c ipl e . Whoever may be the " Leader" of Glasgow, we have no fears for the result. 'line merchants of Glasgow have no more to gain by revo lution than the shopkeepers of Westminster.—Monr ing Post. One word mole—probably it will be the last—on the subject of the Westminster election. The Tory prints continue to magnify the so-called victory of their party. They could scarcely talk more bigly about it had it at once upset the Ministry, and paved the way for the immediate advent of the faction to office. The pompous nonsense with which the provincial jour nals which wear the Tory badge abound on the sub ject, is assiduously collected, and duly paraded day after thy, in the shape of a string of paragraphs, in the columns of the metropolitan Con serva ti ve p a p ers . Th e Reformers can we ll afford to laugh at this illustration of " Much ado about nothing." Some people are sur prised that the Tories should proclaim themselves such simpletons as they do by their swagger about the result of the recent election. We can see no ground for marvel in the matter. They are so unaccustomed to victories of any sort, that there can be no room for sur prise that they should make the most of one—no mat ter of what kind--when it chances to fall in their way. They care not about the means, so that their object be but attained. What the Reformers would scorn to ac cept, they greedily snatch at, and when they have ob tained it, throw themselves into ecstacies of exultation at their good fortune. What signifies it to them that in timidation, bribery, and all the other foul influ ences, were pressed into the service of the apostate Sir Francis. He was returned by a small majority, and that is enough for them. A return by the use of such base appliances, the Reformers would not only have disdained to accept, but the leaders of the party would be ashamed of their supporters could they but believe them capable of resorting to such unworthy expedients. To the Tories it would have mattered nothing had every vassal who voted for the renegade received the price of his independence before proceed ing to the poll, provided the return of the old dotard was secured. A few such victories as that of West minster will sink the Tories to the very lowest depths of degradation—if, indeed, they have not found their way thither already. On the first blush of the matter we shared in the general disappointment and regret at the return of the apostate Baronet. On maturer con sideration we are not sure that we ought not rather to rejoice at the event. The single fact of Sir Francis being returned by the base and unconstitutional means to which we have referred, is of itself an argument worthy a whole volume of the most masterly reason ings in favour of the Vote by Ballot. Until that mode of taking the suffrages of the electors be adopted, we shall never have a fair manifestation of public opinion on the great political questions of the day.--Morning Advertiser. The discussion upon Lord John Russell's Bills for the amendment of the criminal law stands for this evening, when it is understood that Mr. Ewart will move as an amendment that,, in accordanc e w ith t h e general feelin g o f th e public, the punishment of death shall be limited to the single case of wilful murder. On the second reading of the Bills our readers may recollect that Sir Robert Peel inquired of his Lordship, whether he was prepared to lay before the House any official information to show the beneficial working of the Acts recently passed, and particularly as regarded the law of forgery ? With the view of furnishing those details the Noble Lord agreed to postpone the further consideration of his Bills till the 19th of May (this day.) As we have never opposed sanguinary punish ments on the ground of mere expediency, but have always denied the right of men, in the collective capa city of a Legislature, to deal with human life as a thing placed at their absolute disposal, we might pro test against such details as Sir Robert Peel has called for being admissible evidence, to determine the question whether life is to be sacrificed or not for certain offences against the rights of property (the mitigation of our law having yet gone no further); but in truth the Par liamentary returns come in aid of the grea principle for which we contend against the barbarous system of legis• lotion which in this country has poured out blood like water only to assist the propagation of crime. Of all the crimes against property committed in this country, forgery is the o ne f or w hi c h t h e pun i s h ment of death used to be most inexorably inflicted, and yet forgery rapidly increased. So long as the law was capital, the number of prosecutions was not a true criterion of the number of offences, or anything like it, because that law prevented prosecutions in a great number of instances ; thus endangering the property it was meant to protect, as stated in the petition signed by upwards of 1,000 bankers in the year 1830, praying for the abolition of the capital punishment. Of the multi tudes of such unprosecuted forgeries, there is no exact record to be obtained ; but Sir Robert Peel cannot be ignorant of the fact, that under the capital law a con siderable proportion of forgeries were compromised and Pushed up. Why then does he desire to institute so unfair a comparison between the two periods of for gery ? Why should the Right Hon. Gentleman en deavour to revive the recollection of his own abortive attempts to preserve, the punishment which so re volted the feelings of jurors, that it at length be came almost wholly incapable of execution ? Can he ever expect the country would return to that state of things ? It would be as reasonable to be lieve that the Thames may be rolled back upon its source. The legislation which reason has recommended which we also believe to be consonant with Chris tianity, experience strongly confirms. Forgeries have diminished materially since the penalty of death ceased to be inflicted; nay, more, during the three years just ended, when no forgers were permitted to escape unprosecuted, even the prosecutions were , ewer than during the last three years of executions, as the following numbers show. In the three years ending with 1829, there were executed 10 ; prosecuted 213 (not to mention the forgeries hushed up). In the three years ending with 1836, there were executed none ; prosecuted 179 ; being a diminution in the three years of 34. We may add that, although it was in 1829 the penalty of death ceased to be inflicted for forgery, it was not until 1832 that the law itself was altered. No sooner, however, was that salutary change effected than the offences, which used to be compro mised, in order to save the delinquent from an ignomi nious fate, which reflected the last disgrace upon the innocent members of many a respectable family, were unsparingly prosecuted. The number of prosecutions, consequently, rose to an extent which showed that ban kers and others were no longer reluctant to bring offen ders to the liar of justice. This was an effect of the change in the law always calculated on by its advocates. That is. they anticipated that the immediate consequence of the change in the law would be to increase the number of commitments in the first instance - •' . of the certain __, mien the knowledge • ' : -..,y ur punishment w o uld h a v e i t s na t ura l . " ...rmenee in diminishing the cases of crime. So much for forgery—now as to other offences from which the capital pu n i s h ment h as b een removed, we may refer to the statements on criminal law recently prepared by the direction of the Home Secretary, In those state ments is a table of the commitments for three years preceding, and of those for three years following, the repeal of capital punishment. By a strange omission, however, two column s of the table are not brought into totals. Had this been done it would have shown the commitments for the former period to be 4,156, while period were only 2,729, showing a tho se f or t h e l atter diminution of 427, or more than ten percent. So much for the " frightful increase of crime," as falsely alleoed by one or two ignorant or Malevolent persons, in :no- nymonS CointitUnizilionS in a daily journal. It may not be Unimportant to observe, that the greatest diminution has been in the case of an offence of the most formidable character of any in the whole catalogue—that'of house breaking. Before quitting this SUbied We can hardly aVoidd nutiting another effort at 'Opposing the reform Of sanguinary legislation on the part of a county) , gentletrian —Mr. Handley, the Member for Botith ~iiicolti~ It appears antious to preserve the capital pe -I,alty for rick-burning, as if it had ever been effective, and as if, from its i,vcr Severity, _it did not continually lead to the elf:ape of Offend e rs who, .tind er a la* that dertianded not the blood of Wthild 114Ve been convicted tilid pitnihed ETo distingush, in arson, bt , :tween the different degrees of the offence, is what reason teaches and justice approves : and the efforts of Mr. Handley will not prevent so nee , ?,ssars a reform; Does that gentleman kuoW that Mit of 211 commit ments for desOn, in three years, there were but 28 t.',onvictions—a result which was mainly attributable to the existence of that punishment which Mr. Handley wishes to preserve, and which, instead of protecting property, se rv es , i n a mu l t i tu d e o f i nstances , to afford impunity to crime. It is worth remarking that during the three years in which the aggregate of crimes from which the capital penalty was removed, has diminished, the aggregate of crimes to which the capital penalty is still attached has increased. In conclusion, we have only to remind Hon. Members who take an interest in the reform of the " must bloaly and barbarous code" in Europ e , t o use t h e wor d s o f the present Attorney- General, of the necessity of being at their post to give effect to the opinions which they profess, by supporting the amendment of Mr. Ewart, restricting the penalty of death to cases of actual murder.— Morning Herald. ACCOUNT OF A MAN WHO WAS BURIED ALIVE FOR A MONTH, I have just witnessed a singular circumstance, of which had heard during our stay at this place, but said nothing about it before, the time for its accomplishment not be ing completed; this morning, however, the full month was over, and a man who had been buried all that time, on the bank of a tank near our camp, was dug out alive, in the presence of Esur Lal, one of the Ministers of the Mu harawul of Jaisulmer, on whose account this singular indi vidual was voluntarily interred a month ago. He is a youngish man, about 30 years of age, and his native village is within five kos of Kurnaul ; but he generally travels about the country to Ajmeer, Kotah, Endor, &c., and al lows himself to be buried for weeks or months, by any person who will pay him handsomely for the same. In the present instance the Rawul put this singular body in re quisition, under the hope of obtaining an heir to his throne, and whether the remedy is efficacious or not, it certainly deserves to be known. The man is said, by long practice, to have acquired the art of holding his breath by shutting the mouth, and stop ping the interior opening of the nostrils with the tongue ; he also abstains from solid food for some days previous to his interment, so that he may not be inconvenienced by the contents of his stomach, while pent up in his narrow grave ; and, moreover, he is sewn up in a bag of cloth, and the cell is lined with masonry, and floored with cloth, that the white ants and other insects may not be easily able to molest him. The place in which he was buried at Jaisulmer is a small building, about 12 feet by 8 feet, built of stone ; and in the floor was a hole about three feet long, and two and a-half feet wide, and the same depth, or perhaps a yard deep, in which he was placed in a sitting posture, sewed up in his shroud, with his feet turned inwards towards the stomach, and his hands also pointed inwards towards the chest. Two heavy slabs of stone, five or six feet long, several inches thick, and broad enough to cover the mouth of the grave, so that he could not escape, were then placed over him, and I believe a little earth was plastered over the whole, so as to make the surface of the grave smooth and compact. The door of the house was also built up, and people placed out side, that no tricks might be played nor deception practised. At the expiration of a full month, that is 'to say, this morn ing, the walling up of the door was broken, and the buried man dug out of the grave, Trevlyan's moonshee only run ning there in time to see the ripping open of the bag in which the man had been enclosed. He was taken out in a perfectly senseless state, s his eyes closed, his hands cramped and powerless ; his stomach shrunk very much ; and his teeth jammed so fast together, that they were forced to open his mouth with an iron instrument to pour a little water down his throat. He gradually recovered his senses, and the use of his limbs, and when he went to see him was sitting up, supported by two men, and conversed with us in a low, gentle tone of voice, saying, " that we might bury him again for a twelvemonth if we pleased." He told Major Spiers, at Ajmeer, of his powers, and was laughed at as an impostor ; but Cornet Macnaughten put his abstinence to the test at Pokhur, by suspending hini for thirteen days, shut up in wooden chest, which he says, is better than being buried under ground, because the box, when hung from the ceiling, is open to inspection on all sides, and the white ants, &c., can be easier prevented from getting at his body while he thus remains in a state of insensibility. His powers of abstinence must be wonderful to enable him to do without food for so long a time, nor does his hair grow during the time he remains buried. I really believe that there is no imposture in the case, and that the whole proceeding is actually conducted in the way mentioned above. This letter was written by Lieut. A. H. Boileau, of the Engineers, First Assistant of the Great Trigonometrical Survey, who at that time was employed in the Survey of that part of the country, The gentlemen whose names are mentioned in the letter are Captain Trevelyan, of the Bom bay Artillery, and Cornet (now Lieutenant) Macnagliten, of the sth Regiment Light Cavalry, Assistant to the agent to the Governor-General in Rajpootanah. Some other information I obtained in the course of con versation with Lieutenant Boileau, and which 1 noted down. Lieutenant Boileau was unacquainted with the man's name or caste ; he believed that he had taken up the life of a fukeer ; he understood that the man had been buried six or seven times, but whether for any period longer than a month he knew not ; he did not hear how the man disco vered his powers, or when lie commenced to practise them. Lieutenant Boileau arrived at Jaisulmer, after the inter ment, and saw the place, described in his letter, in which the man was buried. There was a guard of four or five Chuprasces, in the employ of the muharawul, as he under stood, who were on the watch, to prevent any interference or imposition. The process of burying and of disinterring was c,ndueted in the presence of Esur Lal, one of the mi nisters of the muharawul. The day fixed for the disinter ment was known to Lieutenant Boileau, but not the exact hour. Captain Trevelyan's moonshee, who had set forth to give intelligence when operations were to be commenced, arrived only in time to see the people ripping open the cloth or shroud, in which he had been enclosed. The, moonshee immediately started a man to inform his mas ter and Lieutenant Boileau, who were in their tents, at a distance of about three furlongs. They waited a few seconds to apprise Lieutenant Macke son of the 14th Regiment of Native Infantry, British agent for the navigation of the Indus (who was disinclined to ac company them), and repaired to the spot as quickly as possible. Perhaps a quarter of an hour had elapsed since the opening of the grave before they arrived. The people had thrown a clean cloth over the man, two of them sup ported him ; he presented an appearance of extreme ema ciation and debility ; but weak as he was his spirit was good, and his confidence in his powers unabated, as in answer to Lieutenant Boileau's and Captain Trevelyan's inquiries, he said " that we might bury him again for a twelvemonth if we pleased." Lieutenant Boileau examined, and mea sured -with his walking-stick, the grave in the floor of the chamber in which the man had been buried, and also the two slabs of stone which had been used to cover the mouth of the grave. For seven or eight days preceding the burial the man lived entirely upon milk, regulating the quantity so as to sustain life, whilst nothing remained to give employment to the excretory organs. In that state he was buried. He confesses to have great dread of the white ants. Several folds of cloth were spread on the bottom of the grave, to protect him from their attacks. Oa taking nourishment after his release, he is said to be in a state of anxiety, until he has ascertained that the powers of his stomach and intestines are not impaired. Lieutenant Boileau saw nothing more of the man ; he understood that he regained his strength, and was for some time in atten dance at the durbar of the muharawul, in the hope of re-1 ceivin g his promised reward, and that, tired of waiting until sa:purse-s decamped.—il purse-strings oflleid._ the patron Gazelle.w ic ereloosened, he had s t o l en aatnel and CAUTION TO COACHMEN.—On Monday evening an accident, which had been nearly attended with fatal con sequences owing to the culpable negligence of leaving horses without some one to take care of them, took place at Kensing ton turnpike. Two spirited horses, which were in a barouche, had started off under the above circumstances, and were pro ceedint, at a tremendous rate towards Kensington turnpike from the London side. A cabriolet was stopping at the gate. I The animals, seeing their passage thus impeded, turned to the of which was brokie:ill ' ' • and cleared the post on the foot-path. The traces f leased, they mutual!) oft" snit, on!) was severely iture‘.., .. stopped, and behind, the splinter bar snapped in two, „. - - the horses found themselves re other wound was received • • instantly taken hold hut no of. The hind near ' le only a little lacerated. y either of them. The post was Fortunately, no There were ,person was hurt. some on the footpath who received timely notice geodPopbfed, and weit, .s, 1 1 111: SUN, LON DON, ritIDA_V; MAY - 10 3 1837. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, MAr 18. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wnolsaelt at Five Mr. JERviS and other Members of the I-louse of Com mons brOnght lip the Birkenhead and Chester Itailwai Bill; andannilthr . isij'il7tite Lord ItAbNOll ...., presented a petition against thtireii= rates from parishes in Wilts. The £uke of 13tJecLEUGH presented a petition in favonr of Phurch-rotea j from a parish in Northampton. Ldrd Asi-IBUit'rON presented petition fruit (lid Guardians of the Union of Colchester; praying that the fates on tenements not *OA thole than 81: u rear should be paid by the landlords. CANADA. Mr, PULMAN then announced that the Managers of the Conimnns *ere teady td fleet the Managers of their Lordships' House, on the subject of the Resolution in re= ference to Canada. On the motion of the Marquis of LANSDO WNE, the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Earl of Cattiperdown, the &shop of Ely, Lord Rosebery, Lord Strafford, and Lord Rosslyn, were appointed Managers, and retired to meet those of the Commons. On their return, the Duke of RICHMOND announced that the Managers of the Lords had met the Managers of the Commons in a Conference, which was conducted by Lord John Russell and others ; and the Managers of the Lords announced that their Lordships had concurred in certain resolutions in refereuce to the Government of Lower Canada agreed to by the Commons. The Earl of RIPON said, that on Monday he would move for a letter, addressed by the Secretary of State to Colonel Arthur in Van Diemen's Land. The Earl of H ADDINGTON said, that to-morrow he would ask the Noble Viscount opposite, what were the intentions of Ministers in reference to the report of the Commissioners of Public Instruction (Scotland)? The Bishop of WINCHESTER presented petitions in favour of Church-rates from places in South Hants and Surrey, The 13ishop of LONDON presented similar petitions from Whitehaven, and from parishes in London. Lord BROUGHAM presented petitions against Church Rates from parishes in Oxford, Gloucester, Somerset, Corn wall, Durham, Devon, and London. Lord ROLLS said that the majority of the inhabitants of Devon were adverse to the measure. PUBLIC BUSINESS. Lord BROUGHAM begged the Noble Lord's pardon —the petition was from Oxford.—( A. laugh.) He had mis taken the name. The Noble Lord then presented several petitions from Annan, and other places, in favour of the Scotch Corporation Bill. The Noble Lord then gave no tice that he would call the attention of their Lordship's to the state of public business, with a view, if possible, either in the present or some future Session to provide some re medy for the great grievance from the delay which took place in bringing on the public business till a late period of the Session.—(Cheers.) They were now very far ad vanced in the Session, and it would be impossible to say what had been done—except agreeing to the Resolu tions with respect to Canada, which he (Lord B.) con sidered rather as a mischief than otherwise.—(Hear, hear.) The House had now been sitting four months, and nothing had actually been done. He thought it might be so arranged that any measure might be introduced in one House, and another in the other, by which considerable delay would be saved. The only reason why he did not at once call the attention of their Lordships to this important subject was, that he found great difficulty in treating with it properly without infringing the rules of the House. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from the Synod of Moray and other places against the abolition of Church-rates. SUNDAY NOTICES-VESTRY MEETINGS Lord GODOLPHIN presented a petition against Church-rates from Norwich. He also prayed that some alteration might be made with respect to Sunday Notices, and Meetings of Vestries in Churches. The Bishop of LONDON said that the evil complained of by the petitioners of Norwich prevailed to a great ex tent in the Metropolis, and some means should be devised to remedy it; and that damage had been done to Churches in consequence of vestry meetings held there. He hoped the subject would meet with serious consideration. Lord ABINGER concurred that some measure of this nature was necessary ; but the difficulty was to provide a place for such meetings. Lord BROUGHAM said that the difficulty would be removed, if their Lordships would support the Church rate measure proposed by Government, as the meetings respecting Church-rates were the causes of these distur bances. The Bishop of LONDON said that the meetings for the elections of aldermen and parish officers were those at which such disturbances as he had alluded to took place. Lord BROUGHAM Stated that he had heard that the most indecent meetings bad taken place on the subject of Church-rates. Lord A BINGER said that the petition made no allu sion to Church -rates, and he would say that indecent meet ings in reference to them were very rare ; and in reference to the proposed measure he differed tot° ccelo from the Noble Lord opposite. Lord MALMESBURY looked with anxiety for some arrangement which would get rid of such disturbances as had been referred to by the Right Rev. Prelate. He thought proper places should be provided for vestry meetings. Lord GODOLPHIN moved the Order of the Day for the House going into Committee on the Sunday Notices Bill. Lord MALMESBURY bad no intention of opposing the motion of the Noble Lord, but he doubted the pro priety of legislating upon the subject. Lord GODOLPHIN then postponed the Committee till Monday week. The Duke of RUTL AND then presented petitions from Leicester and Chesterfield, against the abolition of Church rates. The Bills on the table were forwarded a stage. Lord DU NCANNON laid on the Table a copy of the correspondence between the Board of Education is Ire land and Dr. Crolly, on the subject of the complaints pre ferred by the latter. Referred to the Committee. The House then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, MAT 18. There were not a sufficient number of Members present to constitute a House till nearly three minutes past Four o'Clock, at which time the Speaker having thrice counted the number of Members, took the Chair. On the motion of Mr. JERVIS the Chester and Birken head Railway Bill was read a third time and passed. Lord G. LENNOX presented a petition iij favour of Stephenson's Line of the Brighton Railway. Mr. MILLER brought up the Report on the Darlaston Road Bill. The Fishguard Harbour Bill was read a third time and passed. Lord SANDON presented a petition from the butchers of Liverpool, against certain parts of the Liverpool Im provement Bill. Mr. CHALMERS presented a petition from the mer chants and ship-owners of Inverbervie, in favour of the Montrose Harbour Bill. Mr. BROTHERTON presented a petition from an individual named Gower, against the Ipswich Dock Bill ; also, a petition from Salford for the repeal of the duty on tobacco. Mr. SANFORD presented a petition from Bristol against the Bristol Encroachment Bill. Lord ALFORD presented petitions from Bedfordshire against the Ministerial plan for the abolition of Church rates. Mr. WILKS presented petitions from Buckinghamshire in favor of the abolition of Church-rates. Mr. GILLON presented petitions from Linlithgow for the reduction of the Soap Duties, and in favor of the Scotch Municipal Reform Bill. The Hon. Member also presented a similar petition from Falkirk, and also a petition from Stirling in favor of the Ministerial plan for the abolition of Church-rates. Mr. JERVIS presented a petition from Chester, com plaining of the misappropriation of the revenues of the Welch Church. Lord MILTON presented a petition, praying the House to pass the measure introduced by his Majesty's Govern ment relative to the Church-rates. Sir G. CAREW presented petitions against the Minis terial plan. Mr. ALSTON presented petitions from Stratford and other places in favour of it. Colonel TYNTE presented similar petitions from various places in Somersetshire. Mr. D. W. HARVEY presented similar petitions from Alston, Braintree, and other places in Essex. The Hon. ,Member also presented petitions from Caine, in Lanca shire, and a Radical Association in Northampton, pray inc, for the total repeal of the Corn Laws ; from the In habitants of St. Ciement's Danes, for the total repeal of the Window Tax ; from St. Mary Newington and Chelmsford, for the extension of the elective franchise ; from the Edinburgh Radical Association for equal repre sentation, and from the working classes of the Borough of Southwark, and two places in Essex, for universal suffrage. Mr. BARLOW HOY presented a petition from the Wesleyan Methodists of Southampton, in favour of Sir A. Agnew's Bill for the better observance of the Sabbath. Dr. .NICHOL presented a petition from Merthyr, .; , rned by 1,900 persons, and petitions from other places in the Ministerial plan respecting Church Valeil, au. ,ates. -.44,n from a Mr. Phillips, a practical dngitieer and saiveyor, praying the House to revise the new Poor-law bill, The Hon. Mem. her also presented a petition from several placeB in Sussex ; praying for an alteration in the mode of levying the County-. rates. Sir A. AGNEW presented several 'petitions in favour of the clause in his 13i11 prohibiting Sunday travelling. Mr. I4UME presented a petition from St. Andrew's, lioiliden d complaining of the inequality of the land-tax ; also a petition from 600 householders of the same parish in favour of the Ministerial plan for the abolition of Church rates ; and petitions to the same effect from Littleport, in the Island of Ely, from Barnet, and from places in Oxford and itssei. . . Sir G. CLERK presented a petition Crum the Corpora- Musselburgh against certain clauses in the Scotch Municipal Amendifittit Mr. YOUNG presented a pet itiun from Newcastle-upon- Tyne in favour of the better observance of the Sabbilth. GLASGOW AND AYR RAILWAY. Mt. DUNLOP moved the third reading of the Glasgow and Ayr Railway Dills Mr. HUISIE objected to the third reading of the Bill, as it contained a very impoftent clause, pro hihiting travelling on Sundays. He wished that some of his Majesty's Ministers were present in order to ask them it question upon the subject.--(Mr. P. Thom son here entered the House, and this being intimated to the Hon. Member, he exclaimed, " Oh ! he is not the leader of the House of Commons.")—(Much laughter.) If that clause were to be introduced into one Railway Bill, why should it not be introduced into all ? Mr. DUNLOP had no objection to postpone the Bill till to-morrow. Mr. P. THOMSON observed that the matter had been fully considered yesterday. Mr. HUME said that was the very point to which he objected, because it was quite evident, from the state of the House on that occasion, that the decisioa come to could not . be considered a fair criterion of the sense of the House. The SPEAKER suggested that the Hon. Member for Ayrshire could fix the third reading of the Bill as an Order of the Day for to-morrow. Mr. PRYME said it was important that the House should know that the promoters of the Bill were favourable to the clause in question. The third reading of the Bill was then postponed till to- ITIOrrOW. CHURCH-RATES. Mr. BARNARD presented a petition from the town of Deptford in favour of the Ministerial plan for the abo lition of Chtireli.rates, Mr. LAMBTON pregenfigd a petition to the same effect from the county of Durham USURY LAWS. Dr. BOWRING gave notice, that on Tuesday, the 4th of July, he would move for leave to bring in a Bill to repeal the Usury Laws. Sir J. WROTTESLEY presented a petition from a parish in Staffordshire, in favour of the Government mea sure for the abolition of Church-rates. Mr. PEASE gave notice, that on the motion for the third reading of the County Bridges Bill, lie would move that it be read a third time that day six months. Lord W. BENTINCK presented a petition from the Synod of the Relief Persuasion in Scotland, representing sixty thousand persons, in favour of the plan for the aboli tion of Church-rates then before the House. They qua lified their 'approbation of the measure by saying, that a forced provision for any Church was against the Scriptures. Sir ANDREW L. HAY presented two petitions, one from Newton Stewart, and the other from Macduff, in favour of the Borough Barony Bill. LAW OF LANDLORD AND TENANT. Mr. AGLIONBY presented a petition from the Tower- Hamlets, complaining of the state of the law with respect to landlord and tenant. He would take that opportunity of stating, that he did not believe the public were generally aware of the great difficulty that private individuals ex perienced in their endeavours to carry a measure through that House. He had some time ago introduced a Bill for the amendment of the law of landlord and tenant. Every exertion on his part had been used, in order to faci litate the proceeding of that measure, but those exertions bad proved altogether unavailing, and he believed would remain so, as long as the business of the House was con ducted in the manner in which it at present was. TURNPIKE TRUSTS COMMITTEE. Mr. C. BULLER said be bad a petition to present of a rather peculiar nature. When first the petition was put into his hands, it appeared to him to involve serious charges against the Members of a Committee of that House ; but, upon speaking to the Chairman, he thought that the matter might be very easily explained as regarded the Committee, Nevertheless he considered it necessary to call the attention of the House to the petition, as great injustice had been done to an individual by the proceedings adopted by the Committee. The Committee to which he alluded was that upon Turnpike Trusts, of which the Hon. Member opposite (Mr. Mac kinnon) was Chairman. Before that Committee, a surveyor, of the name of Wyngrove, appeared, who had adopted a plan of road making, which was considered as a rival to that adopted by Sir William Macadam. That gentleman had given in before the Committee certain testimonials on the understanding that they were to be printed with the evidence. When the report was printed he found the documents were altogether omitted, and that the answers he had given were so altered as that the pub lic should not be struck with the omission of the testimonials. He (Mr. Buller) felt convinced that the Committee had not intended to commit any hardship on the witness ; but he did not know whether the House would give him the remedy he sought. He had at first intended to move that the petition, with the documents, should be given in a sup plement to the Votes ; but he was afraid, from the rule the Speaker had laid down the other night, that that would not he regular, and as he did not intend to found any motion upon it, he would leave the matter in the hands of the House. Jwlr. MACKINNON, as Chairman of the Committee, was glad that an opportunity was afforded him for offering an explanation, and thanked the Honourable Member for Liskeard (Mr. Charles Buller) for the courteous manner in which he had brought forward the petition. There were many other Hon. Members who had prepared themselves for a seat in that House by their speeches at the bar ; but the Hon. Member opposite might be said to have prepared himself for the bar by his speeches in that House —(Hear, and a laugh) a sample of which the Hon. Member had just favoured them with, and he (Mr. Mackinnon) must say the Hon. Memlar had introduced the subject in a very loyaglike manner. Mr. Wyngrove was the surveyor of roads between Bath and Bristol, and the Committee had given him leave to put in certain papers which lie considered additional evidence, and those papers were printed and distributed with the Evidence. When he (Mr. Mackinnon) came to draw up his report, and saw the irrelevant tendency of the papers which had been so put in, he thought it his duty, as Chairman of the Committee, to strike out the irrelevant part of the evidence, which he did with the sanction of the Committee, and only to put into the Report that part of the evidence which appeared to bear on the subject. There were a great many testimonials which the witness had ob- tained as to his talent, and so forth, which he thought had nothing to do with the inquiry before the Committee ; and he was sure that no Honourable Member in hat House would say that all papers that came be fore the Committee ought to be inserted in the report. The Hon. Member then read another portion of the ex cluded evidence, which purported to be a testimonial of the witness's qualifications from the Magistrates of the Isle of Wight. Now, that he submitted was nothing more than a mere puff upon the witness, and if Committees had not the power to exclude what was idle, absurd, and irrele vant, there would be no end to their labours. If he had a gain the honour to be placed in a similar situation, he should act in precisely a similar manner.—(Hear.) Mr. BULLER explained. . Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET was glad the Hon. Member behind him (Mr. Mackinnon) had set so excellent an example to the Chairmen of other Committees, by ex cluding the documents alluded to. After a few words from Mr. ORMSBY GORE, the petition was laid on the table. CONFERENCE WITH THE LORDS. On the motion of Lord J. RUSSELL a Conference was agreed to with the Lords on the subject of the Canada Resolutions, and the Managers appointed on the part of the Commons immediately afterwards left the House. Lord J. RUSSELL, and the other Managers, appeared at the bar, and stated that they had had the Conference, which was managed on the part of the Lords by the Duke of Richmond, who reported that the Lords had agreed to the Canada Resolutions without any amendment. The Noble Lord then said, in consequence of that agreement, he would move that a Bill be brought into the House founded upon and in pursuance of these Resolutions. PUBLIC BUSINESS. Mr. ROEBUCK did not rise to object to the motion made by the Noble Lord, but he wag most anxious to ask a question of his Majesty's Government. - It was well known to all, that in the present state of the public business nothing at all was done. He wanted to have some arrangement made, so that the public business might be gone on with—in fact that something might be done for the country. The burden was generally thrown on the Radical section of that House, which was stated to bring forward motions, and so detain the House from other business ; he for one denied the charge, and thought that the evil lay at the door of the Government themselves. He (Mr. Roebuck) would propose to give the Government thorough and complete control of the House, so that they might not have any excuse for postponing the Bills they themselves brought in. He would propose to the Noble ures—fbr instance, the Irish y Tithe Bill, the Irish Lord (Lord J. Russell) an of the three greet 1,70 s : u ld law Bill, or the Church rates Bill—that one n $ the be named. Then was the Noble Lord prepared that ~,„ Government would go on de die in diem with the P . ; so hy i n v a h m ic e h d th u:;i l4 l .o it uf w d 7 r be seen whether they themselves introduced, or whether they iv i ri toy at them. Hear, hear.) If the Noble Lord would g were e n t s a e li n e G x d i Government' e s r tnToni carryt. wtluhti:ll3bil the' his such an assurance, he for one would promise thr the duce a single motion until all the Bills were i g v o c ti re e lord JOHN RUSSELL said the charges 01 T o Hun, Member for Bath were rather extraordinary. .ft, Hon. Member had made a proposition, on his own.l3Zo that he would not bring on any motion, if he (Lord J• 1 1 , /, would consent to proceed with certain measures before n " ot the Hon. Gentleman could hardly undertake .o House. lie ( Lord J. R.) wished nothing better. P . 1., C part of the House that they would give DP their I Ti t If the House did consent to take that c ourse, it w°t - n divi' very different froth that which had been pursued hY b l iem oo dual Members up to the present time. The Hon. Ge n ' it insl not tooug.. seemed to think that he (Lord J. R.) had made ace u t,eo against certain radical Members of the House to business goieg on ; but he must say that he had an! sea any imputati,m of the sort. The only imputation he the made, he made generally, upon motions c oming fr opposite side of the House, and wh h very i° traygio, pains last week to proceed with the Irish P oor La Kerr') and had found great difficulty in doing so.—( 11 " r 11 ,0 About a week ago he proposed to take the Crigu na g o ece Bill on Friday the 19th inst., beinc , anxious the 4 . 0 e; would fix a time to consider a Bill of so great iropOrt. Lic b but he found among the notices for to-morrow one .e v : to had been given by an Hon. Member opposite, rel l s . i : i bops the duty on fire insurances. —(Hear, hear.) " 1 0 013 that the course which had hitherto been insist ed on ore be discontinued, and that for the future Bills the i f regularly before the House would be allowed to 1 we ceeded with.—( Hear, hear.) „ al Mr. AGLIONBY said it seemed to be adm itten o f sides, that the present mode of transacting' the hn sine d le t the House was very unsatisfactory. He b e g ge r iosl u ask the Noble Lord whether the Governmen t „f the sanction any plan for arranging the business " House ? The Noble Lord might appoint a Co"to ° ,, of by which something might be done in th e fi t i aj ° e e ' modelling and arranging the business of the 're,si.o because nothing could be so unsatisfactory and oPP-c the to Members as the mode in which the business °irbe House was at present transacted. He begged to ° in bit Noble Lord whether he would take the matter in consideration, if an arrangement were made for t he oPr ment of a Committee. Lo af ° Lord JOHN RUSSELL could have no ohie? -i ilo ol the consideration of such a proposition, becau se 1( 01 0 Members felt the inconvenience of the present OW Majesty's Ministers must feel it still more, efe r Mr. HUME did not think the Noble Lcrd h au wh an ed the question of the Hon. Member for Bath. $ O ll l wished to know was if the Hon. Members, rfh°,l l o e supported the Government on his (Mr. Hume's) siuliobl° House, would lay aside their motions, would the 0 . fIY Lord go .on steadily with the business of the co unt*" ~„tllO Noble Lord had, as he understood him, intimated t' could not acceede to the proposition. Lord JOHN RUSSELL had merely stated, teisel could not advance the Bills which had been elr egul for particular days. After a few words from Mr. ROEBUCK, Mr. WARBURTON observed, that if such a ns-$ll ll O ment were made, a reciprocal duty would devolve °obi/ Government, because, if they afforded every facilitY Majesty's Ministers to carry their measures, they n'slibusi' entitled to give their attendance and support when thiet,6lo ness of individual Members was brought forwilrd.--osf the Mr. HUME begged to ask the Under Scott Colonies, whether his Majesty's Government - had P:01$ 1 assent to a Bill which had passed the House of A' e n 'i d id of Upper Canada, for preventing the dissolution ' House of Assembly in case of the demise of the g l° ,:le Sir GEORGE GREY said the acts of the Se sst° ' not yet been received by his Majesty's G o vernmen t ' A 0 10 The dropped Orders of yesterday were then ali e n for the purpose of being placed on the books. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION. f'll ll Mr. GILLON then rose to call the attention ° th°, House to the legislative policy adopted in regard t ° o o internal communication, and especially to the us li i rates of taxation on the different modes of travelling. considered the question as one of much importance, e b to cially as the power of steam was now coming so M u° 0 0 use. Steam as a motive power, whether on rails j e er) rivers, or on the sea, was totally untaxed. (Hei r ', - /10 1 What was the case as regarded other modes of ee„,,110/ passengers to different parts of the country? s"- af ,4; the case with respect to stage coaches ? While the ; 4 401 coach was altogether untaxed, the stage-coach, 00" •tre •a the high roads, was subjected to the payment of 1/i or nual licence-duty of 51. The conductor of the r e a d 0 coach paid no duty ; the driver of the stage-coach b,,,-011 pay annually a duty of 11. ss. Again, the mileage passengers by the stage-coach was one farthing 1 3° 0 0 on the number of passengers the coach is licensed t° 04 1 ' while the railway-coaches only paid a duty of 007 co of a penny for each passenger actually carried , e n additional advantage offered them of the power t ° pound, while the stage-coaches were not allowed , t° 40 06 pound. The Dalkeith Railway Company, for Jn d s " rat e compounded last year for 2001., while, had the roP, o e' been levied of one-eighth on each passenger, the CIL.I O I/ ceived would have been 800/.—( Hear, hear, hearq,' n eo all horses drawing burdens, the duty was 10s. 6d. 8 0 , 0 '0' and this was made applicable to horses drawing cana l- 0 1° On each post-chaise kept, though the party can 0011,0 one at a time, the duty was 11.55. In the year enclir : 0 0 January, 1835, the duty on poSt.horses was 228, 7 91 - stage.coaches, 487,8241.—being a total of 716, 5 ' 4 3 1836, the duty on post-horses was 041,165/. ; (3 ? coaches, .198,497/.—bein7 a total of 739,60' or! enormous tax on animal power, from which railroa ds alle exempt, was most injurious to a large class of persoolyel most inconvenient to the public, and had great i n fluene •i ftli°, ducing wild speculations in railways. The Chancello r 0 0 '0 0 Exchequer could not do a more popular act, or one th at - tlo ° be more beneficial to the poorer classes of s ocietl' th e to remove the duty which at present existed uPtes o , means of internal communication. The Hon. G eotr: iota concluded by moving that a Select Committee be sPe l eor to consider, whether the present amount of taxatil e a.ll lected on internal communication might not be lev a more equitable mode. Mr. HORSMAN seconded the motion. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEarir'tbriel eral rise for the purpose of throwing any obstacle in 'e of the motion. Being prepared to acquiesce in t-b bum pointment of a Committee, it would ill bec ome sa k i argue any of the questions that were about to be mitted to it. The proper time for discussi on 5 0 1 be when the evidence taken before that Committeeerri laid before the House ; at the same time he shoul d he "otioo if it went abroad that the object of the present ° l o pe was for the purpose of checking any mode of inv estiq j sof tel. The great object of finance should be, to av el o s o A l mproper encouragement or improper discourgan c l e i t rl he" legitimate mode for investing capital. His Hon. said that these parties would have applied t o the r - e ca; , sooner, but when they did so they had not been enen u t . e on: when the fact was, that the Honourable Gen be r e al own speech was evidence to the fact.—(Hear' resee d Upon no subject had that House been mote l ;. , r ietiw than on one of the subjects noticed by his Bon', 001 namely, the great injustice of collecting the Fos" bear.) Duties under the system of farming.—(g eae n'nce fie ,.: He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had at "- a ceeded to the prayers of the petitioners, e n o at; had admitted that the system was a barbarous °°e; bs gave rise to undefined oppression. The given them the very remedy they had applie d .; 0 0 ba d yet the Honourable Member on the present ocea%o stated that their petition had not been attended ` O3 l die that they were subjected to more oppression system, officers of Excise than under the farming t Y5 lO lll , ° (Hear, hear.) These parties had been c ursed O f r ear" their prayer acceded to, and if they now wished for a . , 11 for to the old system, they were quite at liberty to einif a s it. Instead of th e i r ma ki ng i so lated statemethe.io ell-grounded compl a i n t aga i ns t an Officer of shs _wof forwarded to the Tre a sury, he (the Chancellor Aiyolls quer) could assure th e Hon. Member that that is would be at once removed. C°°' The motion was then agreed to, and the follow 1,,00,00, mittee appointed :—Mr. Gillen, Mr• Poulett ""%, Or: Sir Henry Parnell, Mr. Dugdale, HarrY g /r e e i r y n ti e ll ie ;: Foster, Mr. Loch, Sir George Sinclair, Mr. -v vrelle ark son, Mr. Parker, Mr. Handley Sir Thom/Is l a" In °- Mr. Mackinnon, Mr. William Miles, sad Philips. LAW OF COPYRIGHT. o° ll9° Mr. Sergeant TALFOURD then a ddressed t he O P ' .o the following effect :—ln venturing invit e tl aivs af filf t s : I° of p ti r o o n pe o r f ty th o e f H m o e u n sc or to le t t lr ers st a at d e of e the . and labour, I fee n l - th o it - t the re. ° Ot e •.1 to pry I their talent #lO O their case as c ' or!cisely as its nature will permit• i d e rs-, i believe that their claims to some share in the cone A . 0 ti . , of appeal the Legislature will not be denied, I am awar e :usliar g ; to feelings far different from those which 11 ,, r " t OIL' excited by the political conflicts of this place; t" - • b "" 1 a it r . t i i s st rn s9; n auty _ who . A scbl e ot tcrests of their case is not of that stirring ki°44 n th e Are longs to the present, but th a t i t re flects back ,°- forto!.l. the passions which are now s il en t, a nd stretch --10 P f into the visionary future ; an d t h a t the circuel'tlnees il lo 7 o a impede their efforts are but appreciated in the Glij