The Sun. — London, England, 1852-05-11 00:00:00

14,800 -the, town of Liverpool, with a constituency of find boro ug h ' o f Lambeth of 13,000. I further and these three places supported the tall )wing amount °,f Popul a ti on , v i z W es tminster, 211,000; in Lam beth, 251,000 ; i u Li ve rpool, 376,000—e4e1a of these p lace s represented by two Members. There is, also, C e s `'''rY, with a constituency of 20, 000 —supported by Populati on of 323,000; Marylebone, with a conttiu neY 0 1:19 700 treed by a population of 370,000; t e e ,„ , —supp tower Hamlets, with a constituency of 23,000. i'dtlPPorted by a population. exceeding 500,000; Mid i el *X, with a Constituency of 14,600; Manchester, with ee attittiuncy of 13 900—supported by a population of 3160 - -° 0 ; South Lancashire, with a constituency of 2 1,650, w i th a population of between 500,000 and 600,000. We Must also consider that where there is a clustitu 'een"Y of oceupyirg tenants—we will say of 501.—as regards the material of a constituency they may be said to rack with the 'lO/. franchise of •• a borough. Taking, then, into Con.ideration what may be truly celled the prominent eleinents of nattenal weelth, which must not e(ented Inour inquiries upon this subject, her Ma - TY' , Gov ernmen t h a v e reso lved to recommend tho e ast to apportion the two other Members to the i▪ "thern division of the county of Lancaster.—(Sear, ear .) Sir, I have been - told' that - the votes that have eettl lost haye been lost to the towns, and that they ° tight to be given t 0 the towns. Her Majecty's Go vernment are lutlyelware that this is an objection that is easy to make, hut most difficult to sustain. Now no one more adinires the en.'rgy of the great towns than rayse!f. Ido not wish, however, to mix up either their Present proud position or their future fortunes with the degraded members . of S. Albans or Sielbury.—(dear, hear.) Sir, I cannot think the Members taken from those boroughs could either sustain their energies or add to their value. 'Let the House recollect that, in re commending the apportionment of those four seats, we are including in these two county constituencies scores of towns four times larger than either Sudbary or St. Albans.—(Hear.) If you take the surplus population of South Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, you have upwards of 1,400,000 persons who are directly or indirectly represented now by only four Members. We propose that they shall be in future represented by eight Menibers—that is our proposition.—(Cheers.) And if you look at the population of any of our greatest boroughs and constituencies brought under our conside tatictl, you will not find one of them that equals the surplus political population of the West Riding or South leencashire; and' on will not find any two, or any three, or anyifotti' of those great constituencies, eqnel to that United population to which I have referred. We propose, then, in regard to South Lancashire, for the same reasons, in order that the minority, whether it bo agricultural or ▪ manufacturing, may be truly represented, that South Lancashir e shall be also divided —(Hear, hear.) South L ancashire'consists of two hundreds—the hundred of Salford and-the hundred of West Darley (as we under stood). re the former we find the flourishing city of ! if attcheateri In the latter we find the famous port of Li re• rpool. Therefore, there is here a natural and be that line of demarcation. The resu l t will that in ' the constituency of Salford there ar e tie 42 . ° ° 0 , and in West Darley .9,500. There are some details witterespect to this divis on which I might men tiee if the House would sanction them; but I t hink the house will excuse them at present. I have thus endea 'toured VS - place before tho House the intentions of the Government; and to show the various considerations which hu4e induced her Majesty's Ministers, with the Inmost impartiality, to recommend this plan to the House. rery opinio n f oun d e d upon popu l ar su pport that has been expreasect upon this a übject has received every re. 'P e at and attention from her Majesty's Government. On the whole,' then, desirous to do that which I think will be most advantageous to the community, we have thought proper, in reference to the pledge we gave, in Pursuance to the duty which we owe to that Sovereign whose power we acknowledge, to bring the proposition before Parliament. Whatever may be the result of it, we are confident that we have only done our duty as Ministers of the Crown in submitting it to the conside ration of, this House.—(Hear, hear.) It is obviously a question 'of the greatest importance that the Constitu tional number of the House of Commons should be cone- Pleted—(ll eee, hear)—and that the continuous and sys tematic defici ency of our number, w hi c h i s per il ous t o the welfariol the' country and to the honour of this Rouse, should b e removed. If these propositions are Ib@Med, We believe that public opinion will sanction and that they will contribute to the welfare of the 1 ,7 14° ° 11 3', and tend to the increase of the strength as c 1 as the lustre of the House of Commons.—(Cheers.) Mr. GLADSTONE said that he did not feel disposed tee_i_ctlaute to her Majesty's Government acy sinister ob . ir e t in the introduction of this measure. Neither would th c harge the Right Hon. Gentleman ' with having taken b o a amimi by surprise, or with having tampered with an tl man coura ble - undertaking; because the Right Hon. Gen the h ad•leith perfect correctness, stated the terms of announcement which he made upon a former occa sion, Ile had likewise done him (Mr. Gladstone) the ( "lour Of referring t o a n o bjection which he had been trmitted to make at the first moment of the announce eheeeit of the present proposition. He did not s u gg est to s toe u°ll se that it was wrong o n the part of the Govern er:" to introduce a measure of this nature because they a we suspected o f an i ntent i on t o procrastinate the die °• What he had stated was this—that it was the teeilYto,fithe House to obtain a pledge from the Govern intted'aat no measure but one of urgency should be of p teed by the Government in the present session e een "aatnent, and that the measure of the apportion etru °F the four vacant seats, by any latitude of con seeieit!°ll, could not bo brought fairly within this de- G en T, 4 °O. He would not join issue with the Right Hon. . in respect to the merits of the proposition to man just made, but he would strictly confine himself so the Roo. question whether the subject opened by the Right 00. Gentleman to the House was one which the Rouse should consent to enter upon. Instead of meet ing the motion with a mere negative, he would suggest that the House should pass, in the usual phrase, to the order of the day. If the Right Hon. Gentleman had Succeeded question ucceeded in sh ow i ng t h at this was a of consti tutional urgency, th en the House should give leave to introduce hi e measure, but if he had fatted in proving this fact, then he (Ur. Gladsto n e) thought that the house should refuse bias the permission he asked. It w as proposed at that moment, and in what has been em- Phatically called a moribund Parliament, and by an Ad ministration which did not pl ea d t h e title of pre sent confidence and who was about to ask for tth-at• confidence by an appeal to the people, "Introduce a measure which he (Mr. Gladstone) Contended bad no plea of urgency to recommend t_t The Right Hon. Gentleman admitted that there was ° ,?.tnagic a i or cabalistic virtue in the number 658. He _aa•. w r. Gladstone) would go further, and say there was no or principle of the constitution—no solemn decision T t 'arliament, nor anything beyo n d accident and the dur ation of about f o rty y ears , w hi c h t h e Ri g ht Hon. Ge ntleman called' prescription —to recommend this num ber to th e i r especial notice. There was a popular error u pon this subject, when it was supposed that 658 re- Presented a great balance of interests, and that it was s e e duty of Parliament at once to c o m pl e t e that Whatnum they found by referring to the Acts of Par eialtent was this. By the Act of Union with Scotl a nd tme stipulation entered into by this country was that Scotland should have forty-five members, and by the Act of Union with Ireland the latter country was to have 100 cumbers. But these Acts set no limits to the total num• her of the members of the House of Commons. The Right lion. Gentleman referred to what he called the danger of remaining in this continuous and systematic deficiency. IF, then, there be a systematic and continuous de ficiency, where, he would ask, was the alleged prescrip tion? Sudbury hattnot been disfranchised very recently. It had been disfranchised since the year 1844. Since that time eight years had elapsed. They had had three Ministcies—all parties in the state had successively been in opposition, and not a single member of any of these parties in opposition, including that which now sat op posite, had' called upon the House to vindicate this sa cred peee eeiption,'or had appeal e d to this constitutional number—(Hear, hear) — or had said one single word passed through the ordeal of Upon the necessity raisingthey hdthis number to the standard, and that although . 1 Y intervening a general election in theof (Hear, hear) They had had 656 instead . 6sB Members returned to Parliament. The Right Hon. Gentleman towards the close of his speech had said t a condition 1 9f thing s lik e that was' dangerous to' ie coon rs redmenaced - t h e honour wa of the House. That the and menaced time h e h ad it 61 heard such a view, and he had heardwith regret, ex pressed of a reduction of their numbers, which wa s likewise consequent upon accident, as. the originally fixed number was likewise consequent upon aocident.— _ (Hear.) It was purely nquestion of convenience a n d policy, But setting aside any and nothing else. w hether the private opi. Mere opinion on that whether their opin Honourable ion as Gen tl e men, or h Mon of Right wn—the point he put t o t ern as Ministers of the Cre l 'as this: that the Right Hon. Gentleman was bound , in ( , ) , rde r to make good his cas e, to s h o w that there was prescription attached constitutional or pr h bad shown, on to that number. On the contrary, that that reeference to the' great Legislative instruments,h Right Hon. Gen e% did not exist in them; and the 4tluer4f/t.constitutional 7 r iul failedshow that it was the Mow,to • to the House " r ► he couldnot make any oon s e te e and t _ e eee. " - en this - having proved its being h stiteti mi , upon hand, be hoped that the ti on a a ittumber. On the other same view as that which he Gentleman who took the endeavour t; 14 . (Kr. Gladstone) was nowhumbly not n '"orartie d, would remember that they were starldi n ground of mere etiquet te or Punctili o . g - upon an He agreed with y the Right Hon. Gentleman would have been unconstitutional if the Government l i et conli ng into office had pledged itself absolutely t o t he r oduction f n numer of ad the . o any give nto dissolve Parliament. But what was measures, right and e O n atitutional to expect from them, and what they had (T e ti: as a pledg e , was, ' not the fixing a certain number o e M easures --- three, four, or any other number—the lay tng down of a principle, the entering into an engage ment which was definite, and strictly understood. He might contest the Right Honourable Gentleman's Construction of that engagement and the latitude of tte 'cope ea understood by the Right Honourable Gentle. e, - tan* He at once conceded to the Right Hon. Gentleman that there was not the slightest intention to escape from it. But the principle of the understanding was, that no nietttlires, except those of immediate urgency, should be submitted to the House of Commons.--(hear, hear.) That was variously stated on various occasions. At the a acee time it was said that none lent necessary measures were to be submitted to the judgment of the House of COMMOns. O n one occasion the Right Hon. Gentleman carried his language so high as to say that the Govern ment would not introduce any measures except those of absolute and indispensable necessity. He did not wi sh to stand by any one particular expression or another, for he felt that the substance of the understanding was clear in the mind of every Hon. Gentleman who heard him, and that he was not stating it toe strongly when he said, that the underst an di ng asked an d obtained was that no measures but those of immediate urgeee,y should bo eobmitted to Parliament, 1 , ; , illi „ did th a t uulor- THE standing rest upon a narrow ground. Oa the contrary, it was stated and obtained in vindication of a principle of the highest importance and a practical object o f t he highest moment. It was in vindication of the constitu tional principle that a Government at issue with the ex isting Parliament upon a cardinal point of its policy was bound to take one of two alternatives—either to resign office (a course which no one recommended under the cir cumstances), or else to appeal to the people. But there was another object which Parliament • had in view, and that was to discharge its solemn duty to that great prin- , ciple of commercial policy which they were bound to see well brought home to haven, and at the earliest moment.—(Hear.) It was a fallacy against which every man ought to guard, that because with the present Go vernment in power, the principles of the commercial po licy of the country tad not been altered by any potitive measure, they were to rest sa isfied. It would be uo fulfilment, but an abandonment, of th , it duty to be con tented that the matter should so remain. It bad been admitted on the o ther a id e t h a t it was a solemn duty upon them all to bring the matter to a speedy and final issue. That could bo done by an appeal to the people by dissolution; and, therefore, in risking a dissolution it was not for any party object, but it was because, if there was one duty more incumbent than another at the pre sent time upon that large majority of the Helve of Commons who had on repeated occasions testified their opinions in favour of, and given their cordial, tedll'i' w ) ,`, l to the principh sof free trade—it was that they sh o u ld not be contented, whatever might be said of, the ex istence of the Ministry, to leave these principles to exist upon sufferance—to the chapter of aecideuts, that, tt..ey should leave them es matters now stood, in the guerdiaeship ?fgeutlemen whose o we , inclinations , with. (Hear, out doubt or disguise, were opposed to them — hear)—but that they s h ou ld expedite the p rocess which the P r i me Minister h a d j ust ly a nd fairly proposed; namely, the process of obtainieg the deliberate judgment of the constituencies with reg ard to the principles of their commercial legislation; and having so obtained it, that they should then . find them in a condition, to lay down a course of policy by which they meant to be guided, and that if they found the public averse to the policy which they had hitherto pursued, then that they should (reality and finally own that state of facts, so that at length this great controversy might be at length defi nitively ended, and the machinery _of the constitution might fall into its usual course and order. 'this was a question which was not applicable to the merits of the Right Honourable Gentleman as to other pro posals, and not involving any animadversions of an acrimonious character on his conduct. It was a question strictly relating to the introduction of a Bill and to the inquiry. as to whether that Bill ought to be entertained at all. Inasmuch, then, as he bad clearly shown there was no constitutional ground or claim for the introduction of the question at the present moment, he thought it right also to point out the great inconvenience attending its introduction. It was a sound canon of Parliamentary practice, that, except under immediate urgency, the eve of a dissolution of Parliament was the worst moment,for the introdtietion of measures like this affecting the constituencies, for it was a moment at which local pertialitiea and personal interests were most alive, and at which it was most diffi cult for Members of the House of Commons to give a deliberate and dispassionate judgment. But, beyond ' that, this was a question with regard to which two essential conditions for its consideration entirely failed them. The first was, although the scale of the subject was a small one—although it might appear not a serious matter what should bo done with so insignificant a fraction of their representation as that of four seats out of 658, yet it was plain It was a question of the highest importance, and de serving the most serious consideration ; . and, above all others, it ought to be approached once for all, and then should be finally settled. Those seats ought not to bo held up to the people as a prize for every man to snatch at. The matter ought to be decided, not in a provisional and unsettled state of things like the pre sent, but when they had got an Administration in full possession of political power. The Right Hon. Gentle man had himself already seen and mentioned some in dications and dispositions of all parties unrepresented, or not sufficiently represented, to catch at the possession - of those vacant seats. These were claims which ought not to be decided haphazard, nor by accidental divisions, in consequence of parties being nearly balanced, nor in a *disorganized state of the House of Commons. But the proposal ought to be made with the authority of a strong Executive; and, once seriously entered upon, it ought not to leave the table of the House until a definitive conclusion had been arrived at. There were, moreover, great difficulties in the case which the Right Hon. Gentleman had hardly adverted to, which per haps he bad found it necessary to pass by. When they saw the multitude of parties who could make ,a plau sible claim to those seats, they were bound to consider what was due to them and to the feeling!) which they en tertained. He did not say they could' please them all, but they were bound to satisfy them all that they had had a fair hearing of their case; and he pet it to the Right Hon. Gentleman whether this moribund Perlin ment was in a position to give a fair hearing to all their different claims. The Right Hon. Gentleman had alluded • to some of them—to the u niversities—and he stated the ' case of the universities of Scotland as entitled to respect and approbation; but the upshot of the Right Honour . able Gentleman's speech was, that for want of machinery, for want of degrees, he had foregone the idea of enter taining the claims of that university. But the members of that university could say that the degrees were but the certificates of attendance, and that these could be ob tained by some other means; and that if the conditions for conferring the representation on the universities of Scotland were fixed, these conditions could be readily satisfied. He did not prejudge; but if all the parties were to be fairly heard, they could hardly sa tisfy the universities of Scotland that they should be passed by because there was no registration of degrees iu existence amongst them. Ho said the same with respect to the inns of court; and also with respect to another class of claimants—the un enfranchised towns.—(Hear, hear.) lie did not enter into the question whether the university and the inns of court, as representing the elucetion and intelligence of the country, or the unenfranchised towns or the old const it ue ncies should receive those seats. ' But this be did say, it was their duty carefully to examine and in vestigate the question—to enter upon it when they had a free choice—not to precipitate the determination of it. The late Government had proposed to bestow them upon Burnley and Birkenhead. He had never examined these particular claims; be said nothing about them; but it would bo rather hard if they passed them by, and if they legislated at a period when they could not possibly have time to entertain them. Nor could they expect that the people of Burnley or Birkenhead would be satisfied with the verdict of the House of Commons if they were determined, without any consideration of their claims, to go to an issue upon the question at a time when it was impossible they could entertain those claims. There seemed to be in the Right Hon. Gentleman's mind something which he had not stated — some secret about the constitutional number of the Meats hers of that House which he had not been able to fathom. All he could say, then, was, that, having consulted their history and the kiwi on the statute-book, it appeared to him upon the clearest evidence that there was not any constitutional virtue attaching to the number 658. Any opinion that there was such was the purest fiction that ever entered the mind of - man. It was a matter of no toriety that during . the last eight years—during three Administratious, with a general election intervening— they had fallen short of that supposed constitutional number; and such being the case, he put it to the House was it necessarily a matter of constitutional importance to proceed with this measure—while, on the other hand, he had shown it was not a constitutional practice on the eve of a dissolution to proceed with measures which were not of immediate urgency. So far, then, from the pre sent time being advisable, Wises the worst and most in convenient that could be selected for the decision of the question, while he had proved that their decision could not give satisfaction to many claimants upon the fran chise whom they were bound to hear, or to the public at large, who view with much interest the disposal' of a' question pertaining to the representative system of this country. He moved that the House do pass to the . orders of the day.—(Cheers.) After a short pause, during which no Member rose, the House divided, when there appeared-- Fur the motion For the amendment Majority The proposition of the Government was accordingly Ant. . . . , them that, then be yielded. But Government - said, "It is true we are beaten, but it is in a House of Commons thst is not ours, and that, we believe. does not properly represent the people of the country."--(Har.) To that he replied, if you pass the Bill you are shattered and shaken by your positron, you will he, unable to do that which is right in the next Parliament in consequence of your false position. The Right Hoaourtible Gentle man was hampered by his position—he was bound by one set of opinions, while he was et )j') al! he could to maintain the opinions of Gentlemen behind him. The Right Hon. Gentleman was not , at the ,present moment iu a straightforward course, and he could tell the GO vernment they could not on that account govern.; the couutry. The Right non. Gentleman may be in a ma jority on the Bill, but he was in a minority as far asahe - House was concerned; be could not, therefore, maintain . right principles—he could not govern the - country on fixed principles. Ho did not care who came :forward and told hinnGovernment were right on this question, and that they had a majority in that House—stilt it was clear Government were pleying a false gimp, their authority was sheken, and they e.Juld not ti ) ivtee: was, right. In { n a eerecitutioal poiot of view he contended _Government ought to withdraw not only this 8.11, bet every dill ex-`! ceps the Mutiny Bill and the Bills requisite for the army aid navy. services. The 11011i9 bee passed in.contidence the greater portion of those measures, and therefore the best thing th e Right Hon. Gentlem an cou ld chi for him- self and: the country was to bring the matter te'aclose-,-- to withdraw this Bitl—and then if the cenntry *as wit:- lieg•to have it, they would enable Gonernment not only to carry : that 818. but all other Bill. for supporting the peculiar views of the party to which the Right lion. Gentleman belonged. , , . • Mr. NEWDEG ATE repeated that a great number of. the eupporters of Government were shut out from the late division. <As far as the measure was c )ne.erned, he again stated that the House,, by a great mejority, had already determined . that some such ineasere of defence should pass, and be therefore.trusted her Majesty's Go vernment would persevere; for if the Han. Gentlemen had wished the session to be brought to a close, why did they not select some opportunity. before of defeating the Government? • _ , Mr. REYNOLDS thought the Hou. Member for Sheffield had explained the division sa ti s f actor ily, and had shown that 462 Members was a large portion of that House. He would account for . the opposition he in;' tended to offer to the Bill. Ile had to,aan told, if the clew: were rejected, it would endanger the Bill; th a t w as . B' strong inducement for him to endeavour to ,get that clause rejected. The Hon. and L earne d Gentleman- (Mr. Whiteside) had been very eloquent in the laudatioe of a, militia., Why, then, did the Hon. and Lea r n e d G e ntle-1 man not extend the benefit .to Iceland? Why shotild England have a militia and not Ireland? - Ha- bad' always heard, at least from cooks, that what was' sauce for the goose was sauce for the gander; but here all , the sauce was given to thogoope, an d none to the gander—(Laughter.) Ireland, however, though left out of the Bill, was included in the more important part - of it—for Ireland would have to pay her share of the burden—(Elear. hear.) The non. Gentleman hero re- - ferred to the Kafir war, and adverted to the item in the Budget of 600,0001. for the expense of that war. He had lately askei a friend who had just returned from liafirland what notions the liafirs entertained of "Chris tianity. His reply was, that one part of the Refire- con sidered Christianity meant brandy and tobacco ' for it was through the agency of brandy and tobacc o that conver sions were attempted to be made. Another part 'of the corn, Kafiri' considered that Christianity burnin gmeant stealing of cattle, abusing w omen, and slaughtering one another. Now he would ask the House, was it not time • to put, an end to all this bloodshed and expense? He contended that a Militia Bill was not . needed, and that Government were not justified in inflicting it on the country. He thought the b oun ty would be a premium on emigration to Anserica. The men were to be drilled for twenty-one days, and then to be set at liberty to go where they liked. That was called providing for the defence of the country. He might-refer the Committee to the authority of p a i ey for the reasons why that celebrated:philosopher thought a regular military force preferable to a militia for the defence of the country, • He had not heard a single ar gument from Bon. Members opposite in favour of the Bill. - If the public ,prints were to be believed, no one T .could apprehend any danger from France: .1 1 e ) presi dent seemed to be occupied in consolidating his power, in promoting schemes fur the improvement of France by railroads, drainage e d ucat i o n, and other peaceful works, and in breaking down, that terri ble band of men, the leaders of the Red Republicans. It was quite true that the present Bilf. had been supporte d b y lar g e ma j orities, but majorities were not always i n the right; and it ought not to be forgotten that- the rn,were many lieute nants of counties in that tia who wcaild have a greatHea deal of patronage under the Bill, if. it became law.. lie thought the Bill unwarranted ,'aacl. uncalled-fore , Mr. SANDARS said he bad voted for the second • reading of the Bill—:though he did not, approve of all its details—and he had done so on the ground that addi tional defences were . necessary. hits, impression had been that the beat mode Of,providing that defence would have been by an addition to the regular army and by voluntary corps; but the speech of the . Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton had convinced him .that the best mode would be the means proposed by the present mea sure. He did not at all approve of the compulsory clauses, and he had to suggest to the Right Hon. Gen tleman the Secretary for the Home Department whether it would not be advisable to get rid of these clauses. He felt satisfied that it would be impossible to carry into effect these clauses in the part of the country he came from (the West Riding), and would recommend their withdrawal. Mr. MOWATT said that without the compulsory clauses there would be no means of ensuring any force at all. He was one of those who thought that our de fences were not in a satisfactory state, and that we were not sufficiently protected against probable danger. For years he had entertained —he might almost say the conviction—that this country was exposed to the risks of aggressions of a warlike character, and that these were risks which ought not to be allowed to bang over them. In the course of the , debate many military authorities had been referred to, but ho had not heard Boy ono assert that . these militery autho ri tie h s c ould not provide for the. defen ce o f the countrY if the expenditure of the 16,000,0001., voted for military pa- - poses were left to them uncontrolled-by political consi- derations. His justification in voting against the present Bill was the manner in which our regular forces were distributed in different parts of the world. We seemed to distribute our forces at our extremities, and to leave ourselves exposed- to a home thrust at our heart. An additional reason why he, voted against the measure was his opinion that the present Government were not the persons to bring forward this measure, more WA' eially after such a defeat as they had that night -was tained. . . . . After a. few words from Mr. Crawford, Mr. Brown, and Mr. G. Thompson against the Bill, - The Committee thee divided, when there app For reporting progress B5 Against it . e . •• •.• 156 Majority against the motion . —7l On our return to the gallery we found Mr. HUME moving the omission of the clause, and complaining of the contrast which the conduct of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and of his party on that occasion presented to the course' which they ha d pursued on the Opposition benches. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the Hon. Gentleman had stated that he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had on former oceasions always been ready to oppose every p ro position for the expenditure o f public money. But that was net so; for. wherever th e c redit, the honour, and the securit y o f t h e c ountry were involved, he had never opp osed propositions for expen diture.—(Cheers.) As ho was not prepared to oppose public money t -- Pay the dividends to the publicgn creditor, so he prepared not ran ts" erepared to:oppose any disburseme nt of public money no would say nothing more for the defence of the country.--(Hear, hey.) on the clause , which had been under discussion during two n i g hts. He believed-that declaration of opinion' what the public then re • • --(Cheers.) the vales by o f their representatives. auired was a mi ... L imo said that the honour and the interests of the country were not a t stake on th at o c cas i on . - The Ri g ht Hon. Gentleman ,had utterly failed to' . establish any such pes i t i on --(Laughter, an d dice et . -' Oh, oh") ;---and it was oa that ground that he (M r , flume) opposed Fee would b the measure. e one or the first to support any propoaal which wh s b ase d ;: on the necessi of main s the public cre dit. 13 t the measure before, hem was only a means of en dangering that a t credit.--(Dear, hear.) All profligate Governments exhausted the public Unnecessary experiditure;__ resour ces by (Laughter, and general marks of disapprobation on the: Ministerial benches.) If libu. Gentletomen opposite' went on in that way he abould be obliged., b move again that the Chair man should leave the chai r , 1,.. "'" WAS:not, to be bullied.---(Hear, hear, an d ' estrog e .! .. o )'' If he were told that he was anxious le h 1 7 . _ .. the 'public credit, he s ize. kie believe - shoald throw back thee . d he.had done man top reseree tne- e l • as much as any PA le credit— credit would. (Hear, hear) —and their: if he had- no n t -°t' Perhaps be in the state in which it was .. interferede--(A ' ' w laugh.) Those ho k n ow nettling at all about the the pardoned there. Et matter were laughing, but the Chancellor - of the _ e did not want to - quarrel with offers H o ~ w •imallequer; he wanted to keep ble matter , by le-e- asham e d o f the course pursue d in t ha t been in . the hab a t tlY Members with whom he hail long had i l agreed on thalt of voting; but Whigs and Tories . T ., . _ occasion •to a y moneY• He would divide waste the public mon ey e the Committee against the pr oposal to enrol an d tof ' er keep up 80,000 additional men as Par tho P Manent armed force of this country. . divided, when there The Committee then divi aPtiesired— . ••• ••• 169 For the clause •• 82 : ••• ••• Against it ... ;11e clause' .. "- . - 87 Majority fo r --- The clause was then orderet I to stand pp,rt of the Bill. On effete 8, which empow the ers . Queen , in Co unc il to fix the guinea in . t h e he different couutics from which the force is to be drawn, . , i n f ormat ion Mr. M. GIBSON' ask . e a or as to He understood that whoy were strictly liable to serve' ' ild • Idclaim an y one ca . Lou. ex . poor man with more than empties]. • said that cx - nietion - would Mr. WALPOLE e 111. The wor ds be 'claimed under the 423 of G2org . of this • with that Act. chose were in conformity tlemen were at all ee Mr. COBDEN doubted if g e f u thn Act in questio n. quainted with the provisions of clause provided li. Mr. WALPOLE said that .. for the enitstment not producing contingency of the Voluntary men. If , the ballot Were the requisite number ef . f a certain ages and - heim P l u t t into operation every person 0 Id b claimed . --t would e would be liable to serve, and exemp tio n fer. under the s tatute to which he rered Mr. M. GIBSON thought it would be well to post pone thi s c l ause unt il the cotn ea lsory clauses came under consideration. Mr. WALPOLE said there Ras nothing in the obtuse which made it necessary te,have the list made out before themeizorttfelsEwßourecoKoreateed ted. what was meant by " liehirty " h A t L w P oti O u L e r l e ia p b ea le te , repeated that persons of certain l apes and exempt under the n 42 e d s o-atn.M e d ' G l hr r e i n6rW l e lla r ll . T thought that unless the ballot were h a r e p c p o o u r r t d e o o t m o e i n t t w o rt d l i d s t n r i o o t t s b . e. H n c o c o a s r s g a o r d y t t h e e p w r i o t c h e d e r d o w t o al an t fi the M c e l . WALPOLE anse maintained the necessity of the quotas, to provide against the contingency to which g he bad referred. Mr. BRIGHT asked whether any deficiency in one district would have to be made up by another? . Mr. WALPOLE said, that a district which had fur- Dished its quota would be exempt. Lord SEymotia end Mr. V. SMITH suggested the post ponement of -the clause. Mr. WALPOLE, in reply to a remark from Mr. Roe buck,' said he proposed to insert in the 10th clause is ,pro vise to the effect that the volunteers should be men resi dent in the particular county in which the quota of which they formed part was raised. Mr. 0. VILLIERS did not understand why they could not dispo.so of the volunteer system in the Bill without referencet° qeotea bin WALPOLE—If it were not intended to resort to the ballot, of course there would be no necessity for q uotas.--( Hear, hear.) Is. reply to Sir G. Grey, the Right Honourable Gentleman added, thet the provi done of the Bth clause wouli be necessary only in the event of having recourse to tee ballot;. and that by the 10th clause they would.: raise a certain amount of volunteers in .each county, and probably only the proportionate number which each county ought to furnish; but he had prepared a proviso to that clause to the effect that when a county had furnished its proper number of volunteers, it should also be alloWed to fur nish a eupplemental number, with the view of raising the whole number of men required in the aggregate. Sir C. WOOD declared himself to be still at a loss to understand the meaning of the Government. Mr. WALPOLE—If the Right Hon. Gentleman 'would take the Bill in his hand and examine it he would see that there were three divisions, and that down to the end of the 9th-clause it provided that a certain number of men were to be raised as a militia force; it would fol low, therefore, as a matter of course that these men would be raised in the ordinary way that the militia had hitherto been raised under the 42d George 111., viz., by having recourse, to the ballot. For that purpose it was necessary to fix the proper quota which each county was to furnish,, giving the Queen in Council the power to alter those, quotas as might be deemed necessary. From the 10th to the end of the 15th clause it was provided that in.the operation of raising the force, the necessity for the ballot might be superseded by allowing men to volunteer. And from the Isth clause the Bill enabled the Crown to have recourse to the bal lot, after giving credit to the different counties, subdi visiOng of counties, and parishes, for the number of men they had furnished by voluntary enlistment. The pass ing of this clause would, therefore be simply to say, that if recourse were had to the ballot under the 42d of George lIL, the Crown should have the power of fixing the, quotas. Sir C. WOOD then asked if it were intended that, in the first instance, a certain number of men should be the qaota of militiamen for each county in Engtand, to be raised in that county, either by voluntary enlistment or by ballot ? Mr. WALPOLE--The intention of the Bill of was tot o raise volunteers in certain quotas from each counties in Englandeand to have recourse to the ballot where they were insufficient to fill up the quotas. In answer to an observation from Mr. ROEBUCK, The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said the object of the Bill was, first of all to raise a gross number of militia men; but that gross number was to be distribhose piuted oveo r the country in certain propo rtions to each. Tt portions must be ascertained; and the eighth section provided, therefore, that the quotas should be fixed by her Majesty in Council. But the quotas being fixed, voluntary enlistment was what they proposed to look to is the first instance to supply the required force; consequently, it was necessary that the quotas should be established as a preliminary measure to ascertain the number of militiamen who were to serve for each county. If they could get the exact number by Voluntary enlist ment everything would have been done that was neces sary; but if they did not get the exact amber, then the ballot would , come in aid to supply the deficieney—but only in that event.—(Hear, hear.) Thus it would be seen that it was absolutely necessary to begin by fixing the quota. . It was the very foundation of all their ope rations, and without it they could not proceed one step, either in the way of voluntary enlistment or the ballot. Mr. ROEBUCK —Did he understand the Right Hon. Gentleman to mean that in case the Middlesex quota, for instance, was fixed at 5,000 men, that county would not be allowed to raise more than tl:at number; so that, if it proposed to raise 8,000, 3,000 of them would be re. jested? The ATTORNEY•GENERA.L—With 'all due sub mission to my Hon. and Learned Friend, we should not reject one. —(Laughter and cheers.) Mr. M. GIBSON believed the making out of the lists and the appeals formed one of the worst features of the militia system, giving rise to a litigation which would be needless, except under a compulsory system. The Bth clause, as it stood, ought not to pass, because it in volved questions of fitness, see., which would be useless unless tne ballot were resorted to, and therefore, until it were decided that there should be a ballot, the clause ought to be postponed. He therefore moved that the clause be postponed. Sir G. GREY said he understood the 80,000 were to be raised by voluntary enlistment. But, so far as that wont, the *• fitness and liability" of the men mattered ,sot in this clause, and these words could be omitted. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the intention of the Government was that the quota should be the basis of the increase, endeavouring to supply it first by the voluntary enlistment, and then falling back on the ballot. By the clause the number would only be fixed, not the particular men. Sir C. WOOD understood the clauses as they had been explained, but he conceived it desirable that the words "fit and liable" should be omitted. The ATTORNEY GENERAL agreed in this opinion, and to strike out the words. The clause ran thus:—" It shall be lawful for her Majesty from time to time to take into consideration the number of men fit and liable to serve in the militia who are resident in the said several counties and places, and to ascertain and fix the number of militiamen who shall, until other quotas shall be fixed, in like manner serve for each such county and place, so as to apportion as near as may be the whole number of militiamen by the Act directed to be raised among all the said counties and places, accord ing to the number of men fit and liable to serve therein respectively, and the numbers so fixed shall be the quotas of the several counties and places until other quotas are appointed in like manner." Mr. GIBSON maintained that the clause should still be postponed. Mr. ROEBUCK argued that the ballot being aban doned the clause would not he required.—(Divide.) The ATTORNEY GENERAL. said the Government could not be certain that the voluntary enlistment would succeed to the extent desired, and so the compulsory clauses were requisite, that they might fall upon the ballot. Mr. T. EGERTON thought there was no objection to the clause as it stood.—(hear, hear.) Mr. RoxaucK and Mr. MOWITT suggested that while in one county there was a deficiency, in the next there might be an overplus of men volunteering, and it would be a hardship to put the ballot in force to make up the deficiency in the former. Mr. WALPOLE said that was provided for by the discretion reposed in the Crown, and might be further provided for by a proviso (in the 10th clause) that the deficiency in such a case should not be made up by the ballot. Mr. BRIGHT considered the clause would be as ob jectionable as before, even after the Attorney• General's amendment, and pressed its poetponement. It would put people to trouble which would be useless, if the ballot were negatived. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL was willing to divide on the clause with words " fit a nd liable" retained in it, as the omission did not satisfy the Honourable Gentle man.—(Divide.) Mr. MOWATT suggested a schedule, with a list of exceptions and exemptions in the existing militia laws, which would much diminish the objections to this clause and to the Bill in general.—(Divide, divide.) Colonel THOMPSON said it was not necessary to define the number of men " fit and liable" to serve. Mr. RICA.RDO asked the Right Hon. Gentleman whether it was the intention of the Bill to raise the whole number of the 80,000 in any one county? Mr. WALPOLE was understood to say that the wordingtatiolu got tf wasth the cuse :impossibled i n h o e t warrantcould ausennotht o nn th iontperroppo.re , aition of the Hon. Member opposite (Mr. Mowatt). es The Committee then divided, when there appeared-- e s For the amendment• 9 9 ' Against it... ... ... 216 LI Majority against it ... --1 7 Mr. BRIGHT suggested the postponement of the to The A.TTOBNEY.GENERAL had no Acetic:use clause, as they would only be getting into confusioh. omit the words "fit and liable," so as to allow the to be proceeded with. was agreed to. After a lengthened conversation the claus e On clause 9 being r ead, • ndo report Mr. COBDEN m oved that the Chairma as amended regress. The motion was agree d to, again on Friday. a ) nd given to sit The Turnpike Roads (I reland Committee. , Bill as sed through &Ate p The. Belfast Custom-house, Billelavpsessed through Committee. t he Deaths, and Mar from Foreign Ships and the e amended, amen - fines Bill were considered as -BiTli,haeoAapthproeitheengsiisotrnatoifooDoe s f e r it te ir rs nights agreed to. provision for thr T o h o e gh C c om om m ol on i s tte E o n . AT TORNEY-GEN ER AL in a 13 4 1 . 1 to rs in to a the d Enclosure. Acts Extension Bill passed On the tuition of the , of o. tee perform u aleapveei.towaaosegoitroontatobibisrhintogeot ham e ee s; and for the y lynient of ti e s at nisi prius , i n the superior _ courts of common law, and at the judge s' c salar i es , and to abolish certain offices in The Bill was broug such those ffi ounerrtss. by ht in and read a first time. The House thenadjournedat Half-past Twelve o'clock. • EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY. - -This company have just introduced a new system for the convenience of families and parties of Octane, whereby, at a fixed fare to travel in private Compartments of the and fro, they maY company's carrisgot to the various watering or other places ou the hue. LITERATURE. AURELIA; or. a Bcautis Life in hay. 3 Vols. Colourn. There is the charm of novelty in these volumes to ' tempt those 'who are tired of perusing details of home life, and who weary of being repeatedly in formed how the gorgeous heti - vitt is succeeded by the brilliant ball, and in what manner the votaries of fashion carry on their pursuits in our native isle. The heroine is English, however; and although, on the whole, not a very favourable specimen of our race, she yet continues to infuse some portion of the in tritnic decorum and propriety of Albion into the reckless society and unsteady morals of the foreign coteries into which she is plunged. She drew her fate on herself, it is true, b u t nevertheleee none can refuse sympathy to the misfortunes and injuries of new so gifted and sensitive, and so misrepresented. 4er genuine affections were mistaken for a passing passion —her enthusiastic admiration of the beautiful for the affectation of display, and the pride which prompted her to conceal her miserir s was supposed to he the triumph, of her successes. One thought sag geste itself—that the author, who is laid to be three parts foreign, bas not pourtrayed to the reader a very favourable account of foreign men and manners. While we tur n with disgust from the paltry and mediocre mind of Irivulgio, and feel indignant at the base and despicable Martinergoea e ask in astonishment, can this be the true delineation of the character of modern Italy ? All that is classic and artistic is shown to surround their way ; the sublime remnants of the magnificent of old still linger in their shrines of worship, and adorn their temples of fame. The beautiful is worshipped on every altar without, but within the mind is left unruled by discipline and the heart untouched by charity. If the " garb of old Gaul" has been superseded by modern innovations, surely the " fire of old Rome" ought to be still found burning. Apart from these national reflections, great information may be derived from the various descrip tions of entertainments that take place ; also consi derable eloquence characterises the pictures given of scenery and cities in that fair country. Venice, the queen of the waters, is shadowed forth with her pa laces of yore still crowning with sublimity their pre sent ruins. Naples is entered in the majestic stillness of the twilight hour, and the effect thus produced on the beholders is ably depicted. Altogether no one can fail to be interested in the work as aierhule ; for if not reflecting life's most happy hours, it represents its most glorious scenes in its most gorgeous hues. While the adventures of the beauty in the gay scenes of life in which she moved adorn the tale, it is to be hoped that her premature and awful death may , point a moral to„Tall inexperienced and infatuated, rushing heedlessly into temptation. These descriptions con tain great beauty of style and force of language : " What pen, what pencil might hope to render even a faint idea of that scene of enchantment! The sun was sinking in a sea of crimson and gold behind the pro montory, gilding Vesuvius with his last rays, and irradiat. ing the undulating hills and cliffs of Castellemso Sorrecto and Ulassa with alternate tints of the softest lilao and rose. In the far background the distant mountains of Salerno and Amalfi towered one above the other like Golopean steps, casting their denticulated crests on the horizon in every shade, from the richest violet to the deepest purple. At their feet lay the limpid Mediter ranean, a sheet of sapphire spangled with tiny sails, like specks of snow resting upon its waters; bounded at one extremity by the circling shores of Yortici Re sins and bore del Greco, whose gardens and groves of orange and lime bathe in the very water's brink, and at the other closed in by the little island of Capri, glorying in the rich mellow hue which flooded the whole land scape, melting every outline and every traced line into one soft harmonious whole. " Rosa exclaimed in rapture that to die without see ing Naples was not to have lived; and Amelia remarked that Naples was the only place she knew in the world where the mere sensation of existence was enjoyment. " There is a tone of profound and touching melan choly which pervades much of the Italian church music, that renders it unlike all other. Alone it is gifted with the power of awakening every human sympathy, and touching every human affection; yet, in grandeur and solemnity, it cedes the palm to none. No one denies that Handel and Mendelssohn are sublime. Yet Pales trina and Maroellino are:sublimer stilt, but while the German strikes you with awe, or chills you with fear, the Italian overwhelms you with all the contending emotions of love, pity, and remorse. A single hymn of Palestrina, a single chord of Baia or Baini, nay, the simplest litany, the evening prayer of the nuns and pea santry in a convent church of Italy, thrills through one's veins and fills one's eyes with tears. Who that listens to the glorious Missa Papas Marcelli,' or the divine chant of the unrivalled Miserere' of the Sistine, that is not irresistibly forced to compare them to the lamen tations of the Seraphim, as he feels their accents and superhuman beauty, and anguish quiver through his every fibre, till they seem to rend his very heart-strings. He must be dull and unimaginative, indeed, who can eave an Italian church unmoved and unimpressed." TEE DEATH FL AG; or, The Irish Buccaneers. By Miss Crumpe. 3 Vols. Shoberl. Miss Crumpe does not appear for the first time among the female writers who have enriched our lite rature during the last half century. We may regret that the works of one whose advent is, in plural senses, " like angels visits," are not more fr«ittent ; notwithstanding that deliberation, in Miss Crumpe'a cafe, has been for the advantage of those who may avail themselves of the extensive researches in foreign archives, by which she hus been enabled to enrich her romantic narrative of the latter adventures of Prince Charles Stusrt. " The Death Flag " takes up the history of the ill-fated prince at the. point where former narrators leave him, and makes us acquainted with facts, in connexion with the wild heroes who inhabited the southern coasts of Ireland in the middle of the last century, with which we were totally un acquainted. Added to the painfully interesting events in the life of " the Pretender," after his defeat at Culloden, the author's pictures of rock and rural scenery,' of ocean life and dangers, and of Irish pro vincial character, are among the most exciting or amusing traits of her vivid genius. None but one most intimate with the peculiarities of the lliherno- Alilesian inhabitants of the far south could give such graphic d e li neat i on s, as in her portraitures of the " O'Sullivan Beare," and his retainer " Dan Con nell," and none but an acute and refined geniue have drawn the pathetic seems of. domestic vicissitude which sustain the anxiety, whilst inducing the sym pathy, of the reader for the amiable and lovely heroine of her story, the youthful " Edith." In short, " The Death Flag" is a felicitous addition to our his toric novel library. The dramatic structure is per fect, as the public will soon have an opportunity of judging; for we believe " The Death Flag" is about to be dramatised and performed on the stage. The scenery and incidents change with a rapidity that prevents weariness, and with a harmony that pre serves in the mind the unity of the subject. The local descriptions are chastely beautiful and true. Grand in their simplicity, the charms of rocks, hills, and ocean, of calm and tempest, as described by the accomplished author, are in the strictest accuracy of delineation ; and her personal characters are suffi ciently varied, without the least of that exaggeration or caricature which spoils half the dramatis persona of the historico-romantic echool, and from whiob, i t h h h e according to the opinions of some, the works of Magician of the North are not alway s exemp t TANCE S ' ciRCUMS 7HE FORCE OF In every phase of life we tracpeastltienls'o, r e n e n d o f na Ci r r r c y a m u s s stances; they come and s weep ourselves insensibly altered along with them ; we fi nd The y oung girl who and changed by their ipflaence. pleaded and loyed an ideal picture is not the same that sits brooding over !b past, counting its moments with as mire's venerlition t e is the tde mon k nf hi p beads abneandesa!ini. No; Wshhaet, too, is altered b y the back over' the past, has w hat wife, looking mother, or ' found her future carv ed o ut? Some there are who, having centred their hearts' requirement on love, have f o und it answered more a thousandfold than they could h a ve hoped or expected. But how often in our transi t g throu h the world — i n our ex p erie nce—have we not beard s ketched the sunny picture which a woman has drawn of her youth, and the bitter contrast presented eve nts. Young, eager, and enth us i ast i c; f u ll by actual I spirit of joy which th e consc i ousness of : othe' Wild young life impar ts, before w e have lived through tee trying ex p e rience of others, before we have tasted either o f deep b cysief or immeasurable joy, she givearber h eart , an d she thinks she has done all! Ana - what sacrifice more can she make? What has a woman to giVe more precious to man than the love o f a young, confiding, and unsuspecting heart? Full of life—impressed with a consciousness of her own purity and devotion—she pours forth all the treasures of her thought at man's feet; she lets him into all the little weaknesses of her nature; she unfolds her unmeasurable love; she plans a happy future; she fancies she hears the joyous tones of infant voices, in the distant horizen of her life, sweep past like the tone of a distant bell ; s h e places h er ' little joys in them—the happiness they must afford her. In fancy she rears them to brilliant positions; she makes them all like herself—good and pure; she gives them her thoughts, she inspires them with her own elevated sentiments, and the husband of her choice with undying love and tenderness! How often—we will hope that it is not always thus—how often, we say, are these dreams disappointed! She watches the dying out of love, of 'kindness; she has her children; as lung as they are young, her pictures still continuo true; they are her happiness and her joy ; sh e l oves them nil, watches over them tenderly, and cherishes each early indication of goodness and talent. Time, however, dissipates her il lusions; circumstances turn out d:fferently from what she anticipated; the children of reality are not ideal children; they are human being i s—someood, others bad—the fates are d e t erm i ne d b y the Force of Creu g stances, which wo r k s out qu i et l y a km" ler each, but which, which, howev er b r illi ant it may b e , i s not what s planned! —.Eli:a Cook's Journal. ROY AL Pum: TECIIIIIC INSTITUION.---iiis High ness the Rajah of K oorg , a ttended by . Colon el Drummond and a large s u it e o f gen tl emen a nd ladies , v isited this insti t talon yesterday, to see the oxy-hydrogen microscope, .and the experiments under water by the 'liver of the establish ment, who exhibited the process of blowing up sunken ri sels• The diving bell (that old favourite of the public) also made several sub-marine trips, much t 9 the amusement 1 of his highness. , • SUN, The Llouse then w T e H n E t i a li t cl I L C l o T m l m A i . t t ee on the Militia Bill, re sumi ng lir.no . m , , at elause 7. the Bill, -'' said this clause contained the essence of whi c h Bo - Was the ,000 men. Believing creation of a reserved force of he moved that that the money would be waste d, and he hoped the Chairman should th e n report progres s; question should be ouae would agree with him that this ' Mr ' ALp referred' . w orz 5 to a new Parliament. • reasonable. The Bill t a d the proposition was not very= hoped therefore the dee . .4 been repeatedly affirmed He the guide to -lawn on one case * another. would not be Mr. HUME would, u nd - , the sense of the House Mr. BRIGHT said, t he two state e the cl ause . Tents made the other n ight by the Homo Secretary and the Chancellor of th e E xc hequer, respecting these 80,000 al tered the circumstances of the case. rae ,p altogether had just taken place was not unexpecte d, i Clivisi°n that lieved, unsought by the Government. I , le nor, he be. ''' to a division w ith one s p eech on each side Such . °u" cattle circumstance was unprecedented. A . majority c) f 9 4 had pronounc ed a g ainst the Government. .This p r oy e a that the Governm ent did not enjoy the confidence of ti e - ') House of Comm ons. The Right Hon. Home Secretary said this was a different qUeSIAOO, and that majorities 6f.. the House had expressed their assent to the principle. It was a different question, but he denied that the majo rities were on the principle of the Bill. A question of such great importance, involving an expenditure of three-quarters of a million of money, and 80,000 men, for martial purlieus, with the ballot in perspective, should I not be decided in a dislocated Parliament like the pre- Beet- Referring to the speech of Lor ons d ide Derby it alto at the Mansion-house, he (Mr. Bright) C red gether a peace speech; and the speech of the French Ambassador, speaking not only for hie own Govern ment, but for the whole corps diplomatigue, toes a most satisfactory assurance that not only was there no queer ttonin dispute with F rance an d other countri es, but there was, in fact, perfect amity. If those distingui shed men could be beli e v e d, what should be t h oug ht of the Government for urging fo rward such a measure a s this —a measure of a more dangerous character than any that had been proposed since taking by the Government wa s 1815. The course now to produce the result which t h eyone the best calculated One of the Ministers of the Fre nc h professed to avoid. to an English gentleman in Par is President had stated that nothing was more calculated to excite ill-feeling in France than the dis etagQll3 UGYVY ping Qa inVarlianient 40 in gab country LONDON, on the subject of this Bill. The same Minister had pre vented by his own power the insertion-a- extracts from stole speeches, for the purpose of preventing heat in the mind of the French peop le on the subject. Under these circumstances he thought the Cu it after should not be asked to divide ea t he clanee; - tat; the division to-night, the Bill should at least bo postponed for a few days until it should be • reconsidered by the Cabinet, if it was not postponed until the assembling of the new Parliament. Mr. J. BELL agreed with the Hon. Member. that the circumstances of the case had changed since ve the intro duction of this Bill. Th e re had been posi evidence since then of the fallncy of the fears that had prevailed. If the French Presidentedesired t/ invade this country, ho would have taken 'advantage of the period whenehis country was left without a Government. He hoped, the *House would accede -to the proposition of Mr. FOX'said t here was one'remerkahle change since t t h h e er e e e f e o n re ., , Member for 'Manc hester. the introduction or the Bill. It bed been stated that two successive Govertinients had given their assent to the m easure, loading to the inference that they were in. 'possession of pri - vs.te information; but the Noble Lord a t the head of th e late Government had declared conviction that there was no immediate or urgent ,tien ger-n(" Hear" froni Lerd J. Ras sell)—while the pre , sent Government had postponed the urgent principle of the Billa:-namely, the ballot—to the close of the erk ar. The inevitable conclusion was, therefore; that no data gor existed, and that there could be no public wrong in postponing the measure until the next Parliament.• 'He (Mr. Fox) was of opinion that thiseneesure was .the prelude of a change of policy as respected the foreign relations of this country; and for making it more of a military' power. It was, therefore, a measure - which should not be entertained by a inoribunal Parliament. The country would regard as an ominous conjunction the revival of protection and of a military force, in the nature of an army of reserve. Oa grounds of prudence her Majesty's Government - would do well to have this Bill postponed.. - •• - Mr. WALPOLE declined to enter on the general ar gument,' not from any disrespect to the lion. Member for Manchester;but because the principle of the mea- • ture.bad been frequently discussed. The clause before . the Committee had been debated during two nights, and there bad been more than one division upon it. Under, these circumstances, he thought the Committee could take no other course than that-of proceeding with it;. and the Hon. Member for Montrose would see that there was no ground, therefore, for his • motion. The lion, Member for Oldham would, however, remember . that the urgency, of the measure was declared by him (Mr. Walpole) not to'' be the ballot, but voluntary en listment. He hoped the House would, therefore, go on with the clause, whioh had heen twice before discussed, andosn whieh there. had been; three' divisions. • Mr...RUME only 'Wished that Parliament would not enter on such a large expenditure - as 80;000 men in.,- volved at the present moment, but defer it until after the general election. • -' • •• Mr. FOR BBS notild not see -what' an addition to the. Parliamentary representation had t© do with the de fence of the country. He might. be wrong as to the nature - of the danger, but he certainly did tbink there was all the less of it when the country was prepared. He could not under stand the objection of 'Hon. Gentle- • men opposite to the militia, when he considered.their antagonism to standing armies. The militia was con stituted on a fat better footing thanehe National Guard of France, or the militia of America. Ho (Mr, Forbes) would rather' pay taxes than have contributions levied on him, either directly by foreign bayonets, or indi rectly in the form of a forced loan. He would not be a party to defeating the Bill in any shape whatever, be cause he believed it to be ab solutely necessar y. Mr. WAKLEY thought the discussion of this Bill should be persisted in until her Majesty's Government were convinced of its inappropriateness. 'The vote of that night had changed the . circumstances; the Govern, mant had sustained - a' defeat on a strictly Government treasure. In a House of 382 Members the Government were absolutely in a minority of 86. He would ask every const i tut i o nal Member whether an instance existed of .a Governmen t who so completely wanted the confidence of the House being entrusted - -with the : conduct of such an important Bill. Ho would ask the Chancellor of. the Ex- Checpier if ho could put his finger on any constitutional precedent? lie denied that the precedent could be found. Well, then, in that case it was• the duty of the people's representatives - to discuss. the principle of the Bill. -The Bill was dreaded and abhorred by the people. charged with aing with a Wanit a Bill which the minority ought to, allow to-pass? this measure; be. was satis• flianetidnuida p n a o r t ty ca i r n e a n b b o ar u r t u b et e r i n n g g find -with-the consciousness of meauing to do bin duty Lel his country honestly and fairly. When the Bill was first introduced by the Noble Lord - (Lord J. Rus sell), be had implored the Noble Lord to show any suffi cient reason for such a Bill. He. had heard no reason , stated. Th e Right- Hon. Gentleman opposite had also assigned no reason why this Bill was more needed in 1852 than iii 1842.-• He was for peace all over the world; but it appeared to be the wish of She supporters and framers of the Bill to produce as many provocatives to' war as possible. As far as France was'concerned, be sa w 00 symptoms of a warlike character.'. The French had had enough of disturbance; they apparently wanted nothing now but peace, and he believed the present ge neration el French people would not be anxious to go to war. Such a Bill as the one before the House ought to be obstructed, and defeated if possible, by every mode which the forms of the House would admit of. The Government ought not to press forward the Bill this session; but if they did force the Bill through Parlia ment by the aid of a tyrannical majority, then, he be lieved, they could not vary much like what would be said at the hustings of their conduct. Mr. W ALPOLE—The Hon. Gentleman had com menced his speech by saying that Government were in a minority, and a Government in a minority ought not to advise the Crown to raise 50,000 men for defensive pur poses; and he concluded his speech by telling Govern meat they ought not to go on with a tyrannical majority against the wishes of the people, who, he believed, were decidedly against the B ill. Now, if it be a fact that Go vernment were in a majority, and that the House, by a majority, had confirmed the principle of the Bill, was it not right that the Bill should be , proceeded with?-e. (Hear, hear.) pie of the Bill; `arid 'they were new-called upon to con- The House were agreed upon the princi sidpr the details. The lion. Member might show that the' principle of the Bill 'was bad, but ,that principle , "having been affirmed, he would not discuss it then. If - the Ron. Member was right in his argument, the.proper time would be to diecUse the principle at the third reading. - Mr. B. ELLIS well knew the effect that the former Militia Bill had on the rural population.. He wad satis fied the proposed "army of rese rve" would produce simi, lar effects 'when the -term of enrolment expired. They WOuld - retnrn tonheir homes and former occupations to deprave and demoralise the population. vernment. The persons, he believed, w ho were most NEWDEGATE said the Hon.:. Member (Mr. Wekley) had-spoken of the division against the Go surprised at that division were those who supported the amendment. A great number of Mem bers had left the House, not anticating a division. It was with the greatest difficulty ho got into the House in tine° to give his vote, and there were several'Membera in the lobby He deeply lamented inn state of 'consternation because they couldue get in. tion of Government was perfectly fair and liberal, and be would tell Hon. Members who had professed liberal the division. lie thought po liticspropene that they could not have taken a more unpopular made than that of voting against the Government mea sure. - It was said by Ilan. Gentlemen opposite that they must not pass measures of importance in a mode bund Parliament, but by their acts they desired to pro vide an incomplete Parliament to carry important mea sures. Hon. Members opposite argued-that the votes, of Members_ representing large constituencies ought to tell for more titan one vote, each. All their argument turned against them—because bye the recent division they declared that the representation should not be more rqually distributed.—(Hear, hear.) • Now with re spect to the militia measure, the ;Honourable. Memb er (Mr. Ellis) said he objected to it because of the grievous moral effects it • would produce on the population. The Hen. Member said he remembered tbe_ consequences which resulted from Abe last local militia. This Bill, however, was not intended to be a local Militia Bill. But it appeared eller° were special oircumstances which made the Hon: Member abhor both'a militia or an army. Those reasons were doubtless very creditable to tlao Hon. Gentleman;;' he - deprecates a resort to arms,he deprecates military power altogether, and of content he deprecates a,, 'militia. But WraCCollllt of those , special reasons the Hon. Member was not at liberty to give, an unbiassed , 'opinien, -The Hon. Member came to tbodiscuseion with a foregone conclusion. Amid though the Ilene Member was justly entitled to give an opinion, still that opinion must stand singly.--(Bear, hear.) With respect to. dividing -the- House, he trusted 'they would , not have another snap division—(Hear, bear)—like what had just taken place. He trusted' the House would not permit ilinprineiple of • the Bill to be mutilated in Committee, - which they had already sanctioned. , The principle bad Inver and over again been confirmed to it was vain, there ' fore, to expect to defeat _the measure—it could only be uselessly obstructed. • Mr.. ROEBUCK would just look at 'the recent divi •sion so that the House might unde rstand the fact. The numbersl were 234 for, 184: against; the pairs were 80— and these together made a total of 462 Members. Now, 462 was a large portion of that House, . though it had , been said many went away, not,expeoting a division; 'tbat argument might operate on both sides.'—so that there twas an end of the Hon. Gentleman's snap division. 'The tact was, 'that the Hon. Gentleman knew the ma -3.lohbritaittt yt question.' presenta ttihosnt,,i.i The ee Governmentowpiansi 0 t p a o ifungte ought arnap,naasaesuntdth ;is, 'that • • Ameasures neeessar for the d y goo - government of the ` 6 enittrY; to-defer etth th e Gove rnment simplye° VW: all other measures, and to bring the Parliament t the Militia /311111 n end. -He readily acknowledged that on a majority of the House was against him. But he understood Lion which pd how that was. First, the Administra a Similar. Bill, and od the prwent Government introduced was bound by th• a large portion of their supporters Lord had since brlvotes they gave. But the Noble etood), and was m loose from his fetters (we under- Militia Bill. agains tTeaa,, militia; Bill, or at least this representing a -large s v i i o l n arge portion of the House, the were strongly against all Mtlitersofia* population, who addressing Government in con ills. They were now vote, by which their minority wa T ilien "' of the recent to view. And they said, " Why notretenarkably brought tended to do? Do just enough to carryon what you in business until you can go fairly before the the public and when you get another Parliament, do what stitutional Government ought to do."— ( atr er :t r ! a con u , hear.) Suppos ing Government wore in a m ajority on this Bi ' they would still be crippled; for they who were in a mi nority would turn round and sea, " Any Government n aa t e u as you a re, as a constitutional Government, ou ght to resign." It was clear Government could not escape from the diffieulty, except on the principle that they would appeal to the country. If Government told TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 11, 1852. LUMLEY v. WAGNER. The decision of the Vice-Chancellor in the case of " Lumley r. Wagner" will have more interest for a cer tain Jlase of our re Mere than many more important discussions with which our columes ere daily filled. The prominent situation which operetie performers fill in the public eye gives a hind of spurious importance to tlair squabbien end litigation. There are, certainly, a good many men in the west end of London who would ba sadly puzzled to write down a correct list of th e junior Lords of the Admiralty or Treasury. There are few, com2.iretively speaking, who are not familiar with the names even of tee second•rate Lingers at the rival Opera-houses. So great was the interest displayed by tho public in the course of the present dispute that du• ring the three day: the trial proceeded the court was crammed wieh secceetors, and when the Vice-Chancellor delivered his judgment yesterday it was impossible to get even "squeeeteg" room. Independently of the in terest which naturally :attaches to an operatic squabble, some little indienation had been excited by an expres sion ehich was found in one of Mr. Wagner's letters. This worthy. as it would appear, only consider the English in the light of geese wtio lay golden eggs for the benefit of Wagner; and such like folk. Before he bee dune wet!: us Mr. Wagner may discover that he has scarcely formed a just idea of English pavers of appre (ration. Per scene perefe, we have money and. admire thee; for others money and contsinnt. Tee whole story may be condensed into a few para graphs if it he regarded as a mere narrative of facts, and not as a thefite for the ingenuity of counsel. The de cision has gone, as ain etier ecurse, in Mr. Lumley's favour. That it collie not do otherwise will at once ap pear trona the following brief recapitulation of the facts: —ln the autumn et' LOG year Dr. Becher, a friend of the family, w?.s occupied in procuring engagements for Medlle. Wagner in London and Paris. He naturally came into contact with Mr. Lumley, and received from that gentleman a formal paper containing his usual sti pulations upon engaging the services of a performer. This paper contained a prohibitory clause which forbade the appearance of Madlle Wagner at any private con certs, &c., while her engagement with Mr. Lumley should subsist. When the document was shown to the Wagners, they objected to this clause, and drew up another paper similar—we believe—to it in other re spects, save that this prohibitory clause was omitted. To this paper the Wugners affixed their signatures, and it was conveyed by Bucher to Mr. Lumley. In such a shape the manager would have nothing to do with it, and insisted up on the restoration of the veto. To this Becher assented—added theelause 7 and signed it ea agent to the Wa gner! . point the question throughSoout far as it turns upon this mpleon fo e r o t f h a e g vv en s c g y : Had Dr. Becher the ri g ht to s i gn as agent Wag ners; sot or o did their theown, Wa adapt gners by , any subsequent conduct or en agreement h. which might not in the first instance have been binding mcling t a h u e th a o r r s i t ty 7 point, I t because will oo dwellfor defect upon them it uaiptepenanrsnetcheastsathrye upon p n f in a very complete Wagners did subsequently acknowledge agent, and make it their own,the act of their tells as that manner. In the first place, Dr. Becher when he had added the clause he forwarded to Madile. Wagner, and it we, by her acknowelellapl the in a letter bearing date one day of November l ast. Then we tind all parties engaged in a correspendence on the subject—Mr. Lumley—M. Albert Wagner, father—Madlle. Joanna —Mr. Lumley Dr. Becher, and all of them assuming that there was a contract subsisting between the manager and the singer. " Now," as the Vice-Chancellor shrewdly enough re marked, " there had been no contract signed without this clause, therefore this is the contract concerning which the parties were in correspondence." What the Wagners say is, that when the paper was sent back to them they objected to the clause, and only received the document upon Dr. Bacher's assurance that when they arrived in London the little matter should be set right. Nov, we cannot forget that they must have been per fectly aware that they would not be permitted to pass slipshod over this clause of the contract. Mr. Lumley insisted upon it with so much earnestness that he refused to affix his signature to the agreement until the clause which he had originally introduced, but which had been struck out by the \Vaguer*, had been replaced. Was it probable ho would sutler himself to be duped out of so capital a proviso by Dr. Bacher's little diplomacy, when he had in the first instance refused to complete the contract without it? Is it possible that M. and Madlle. Wagner could even for a moment have entertained so preposterous an ides*? Such, however, is the only reason assigned by the Wagners against the validity of the contract — namely, a vague hope on their own part that, when they arrived iu London, Mr. Lumley would be induced to give up the advantages for which he had negotiated with so much earnestness. As many of our readers as have patience to wade through the evidence will find that another point was raised in favour of the Wagners. It was on their aide alleged that money was not paid by Mr. Lumley on a particular day when it should have been paid. It is re plied, in the first place, that Dr. Becher bad money of Mr. Lumley's in his hands, and that, even had it been otherwise, all deficiencies in this respect were excused by the conduct of the Wagners on and sifter the sth of March, and by a subsequent tender of the money on the 15th of April. It was on the sth of March that the Wavers, who had so bound themselves to Mr. Lumley, were foutd at Hamburgh quietly entering into a resh contract with Mr. 13 ye, from which they hoped to derive larger pecuniary advantages. More than this, on the let.n of March, Dr. :Becher wrote to Madlle.Wegner, asking where he should pay the money he had reedy for her, end received from her father the following rcp!y:—" If you send the bill to Berlin, be good cuough le referees it eaner at this time to Ber lin, or from (iris) the :23 of April to Htnahurgh, to and to Ferdinand Hirt, whore we shall remain some time longer with our daughter." However this may be, it is quite clear that on Mr. Lumley's part there was no diainciination or ivability to pay the money when ricedvd. The paltry subterfuge was furbished up et the lest moment t serve the turn of thoac who %,, 4 14 taut hcni; and could ss.: - .4r,:ely evade the terms of an *a r ca ne/Int int. which they bed entered of their own ' f tee will. The simple truth of this long trial is that Madlle. Joanna Wegner and her excellent parent thOugbt that the second bargain was better than the first, and ther efore endeavoured to repudiate their o no act. It is ft shabby business, and th , for Madlie. Wagn er's sake, it is forgotten, the e sooner, .At the same time, it is clear enou g h that the fault he:, not with the you n g girl, but w ith the sordid circle huckster her profitable market without regard talents about the most T. around her, who were endcavouring to . to any consideration but these of Imes. ,A,qvuerilea received by COUR'r CIRCULAR. The queen gave a concert last evening at Bucking. ham Palace. the Duchess of Kent a b r y riv L ed aa a: , Her Rlyal Highness the Palace at half-past nine o'clock , Fanny Howard and Colonel Sir George Cooper. Suffield Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess Mary were attended by and Major Baron linesebcelt. His Royal Highness tim Duke of Cambridge !qr ., at. tended by arrived His Roylialorlii igl4ll InielmistiEnntulh:e3culbcoetinorte a tm 0,e10c,,i, at attended t b h y e e l il'ackvacciei:rt Ftwoeignotyr-i. Draw iit nab the waiting,:rAlboeoa r m des ::a bf b e n i e r d i r g : un w t :e u t r t l r e h'e l n e l i t a d n o j d y e b i l s ay t l ee h d r e e Ur e t Family e O r i :t e h ai d e i hertn Yel low Equerries the .rive soon after nine gouts. grand staircase, and illustrious o the,Pieture Gallery. Too geeeral com a el w o i e n k g )per -rc°lll l 1'1,12Y began i to a t - - o'clock, and were rsnercu up i cloajtodsutyctaeldbyhitsheßLooyrdal throughsilora the Seemly b Green ore 1 () D o r , Highness Prince Albert wer Saloon, which was fitted up au for , the Concert, with rows ing-room to the Chamberlain from the `fellow of seats of crimson Royal Highness were ace° Draw gold. Duchess of P ir-Iliel by nesses the Roy their Royal High- Her Majesty and his Cam bridge, the Princess Diary,s_ent, the Duchess of Cam- Duke of Cambridge. the Count d'Aquila, and the The assembled visitors the Salooe. lie,. Majesty followed the royal circle into guished guests Cein Majesty and her Royal and distin f seated, the Concert commen ced at five minutes before 10 o'clock. R s efreshmrnt ' were served to the company in the Green D w" ra ing-room during the evening, and after the concert a sniper was served in the State D inin g -room. The Queen held a Court at three o'clock yesterday afternoon at Buckingham Palace. Their Royal Highnesses the Count and Countess d'Aquila had an audience of her Majesty to take leave. Their Royal Highnesses were introeuced by the Earl of Malmesbury, the Queen's principal Secretary o f State for VOreign Affairs, and conducted by her Majesty's Maater of the Ceremonies. The Queen was attended by the Countess of Cherie. moot, Lady in Waiting, the Hen. Matilda Paget, Maid of Honour in Waiting, Lord Polwarth, Lord in Waiting, and Sir Edward Bowater, Groom in Waiting. The Count and Countess were attended by the Princess de Villa and the Cnevalier Folgori. The Earl of Malnacstury had an audience of her Ma jesty. h Their Roysl Hignesses the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the younger members o f the oyal Family, took their usual exercise yeaterday in the gar dens of Buckingham Palace. The Archhisnop of York had an interview. with ; Earl of Dar b y y esterda y at his official resid genvege ad h in D o wning-street. Adm ir a l G ordon and Mr. Be also interviews with the Noble Earl. Viscount Barrington had au interview with Mr. Secretary Walpole yeaterday at the llanie-o,ffice. M A deputation headed by Mr. Wilson Paten t _,_ I'.. and Mr. Heywood, M.P., bad an interview with •ha Right liou. J. W. tile„ lev and food Colchester, on ba turciay, at the Board of Trade. . , ; an interview with Mr. Chandler, from Canada, bad ~n. Sir. John Pal; ingtoo ye:,tertluy at the C o l o nist• o p. Mr. John Wke•fi, Chairman of the I.• , arei of Inland P • ,had an interview yesterday- with the Earl of Lel en_ -- heron (rown.Clerl‘cvoafip'Noliteincylensttet,?.rra)syhtt:t interview with Zit t akin Dieptche:s WCTC reedy( d thy ' P yeq. ttriday from the Governora of the North AmericanrO vinocs. OffiCIAL ArroiNTMENTS has appointed Mr. John S —The Lord Chancellor of Lincoln's Irn, bar rister-at-law Qion of Mr. John S tuar t. Q.C., Member for• New,irk), to be his Secretar , ,•-in-Cnief, in the place of M F.• situtanns. Colonci Ilabe.rlv has anointed Mr. Alan (711 " -IbT6 t ' ) b( ' b ig privatesecretary at the Post-office. 111 plaeo of Mr. Joint Ilali, reigned. ne Royal Agricultural - Society of England are to .11914 heir heir Cnat7 illt%ing, 0 1 165 a, at Q.l9uclater.