The Sun. — London, England, 1852-03-26 00:00:00

FRANCE. A descent of the officers of justice was effected on 1 Monday evening, about eight o'clock, at the Cafe du Danemarck, in the Rue St. Honore, and led to the arrest of about SO German refugees of Communist opinions. This establishment was long noted for being a place of rendezvous for the demagogical party. Eighty-four persons of the department of the Meuse, ordered for transportation to Cayenne or Lambessa, arrived in Paris on Tuesday. Amongst them are an ex-sub-prefect, three advocates, and two schoolmasters. Most of the prisoners belong to Taal, Metz, and Nancy. It is stated that the measure determined on by the Government to re-establish prison labour is already producing good results. Everywhere labour in the prisons is being most successfully organized. The Tribunal of Correctional Police has con demned a man named Campion to two months' im prisonment, for having, on the 2d of December last, been one of a group who cried on the Boule vard des Italiens " Down with Napoleon ! down with the President !" and for having declared that a captain of the staff, who happened to pass, ought to be assassinated. A man named Chollet was sentenced to forty days imprisonment, for having cried, on the 3d December, in the Quarter Bour donnais, Vive la Republique democratique et so ciale !" " Down with the President !" The tribunal also condemned a man named Lamarle to four months' imprisonment anti 100 francs fine for having, on being arrested for some offence, on the 4th inst , said to the soldiers, who were conveying him to the guardhouse, that " they were canaille: and the butchers of the President," that " the President was a canaille," and that " the army degraded itself in obeying him." A letter from Toulon states that more than 600 of the political prisoners who were in fort Lamalgue bare been set at liberty. The decree which regulates the internal organiza tion of the Council of State, the Senate, and Corps Legislatif, and their relations with the Prince Presi dent, published in the Moniteur does not elicit much observation. There is, however, a question raised by the Constitutionnel of a very serious character with respect to the powers attributed to the Senate. This body may quash any act of the Corps Legislatif which shall appear to exceed the rights conferred upon it by the Constitution. That is undoubted, but the Constitutionnel inclines to the opinion that it may equally overrule a decision of the highest legal court of appeal—that of C.lssation. " The Senate (it says in the way of,explanaticn) is the guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. Ir. is to the Senate, then, coat tn,constitutional acts are to be referred. The Senate may he seize,d of a question by a decree of tho President. But aro there any acts Which may not be sit aside by admininistrative means witnont the intervention of the Senate? We can only imagine two kinds, those of thei,lorps Legislatif and of th, judicial power. If the Corps Legislatif should exceed its att:ibutions then its acts would be referred to the Senate to be se r. 3,ide as unconzti tationtil; but are we to think that judicial decisions may t pally rOerred to the Senate, and that the Court of Gaultier% will cease to he supreme arbitrator in question 3 ef kw? We raise the qtms.ion without being able to . This would be a serious innovation indeed, for it would wake a body, the mere creature of the State, the last court of appeal wi:h revpfiet to differenses between the S: to and offending individuule. GE AMA N Y. A letter from Dinc:ban (Pruoti , ...), of the 17,:h ice. says— " A sits;:mion bridge over the Vistula is about to be emmtecc3 close to this town, and will be certainly . the moat remarkable wort; c-f the kind in Europe. This bridge, on ./hich the casletu railway will run, is to be 2,50 u feet in lei:gal acid 63 feet in breadth, and will be placed en six pillars, 500 feet apart. four of which a ill h.a placed in the bed of the river. Each pillar will be provided witit Ft defence a ; .;:air.st the fbating ;:tad as in the Vistula the breaking op of the lee is attended with considerable danger, sad would carry a'Nay any works which were not terminsted, only one pillar will he constructed a year. The cost of the bridge will be 7,600,000 f., acid a further bum of 11,400,000.'. will be terv.iretl for the works at each side, in all 19 millions." ITALY. NegotiAtimis have been opened between the Cham bers of Commerce of Vieana, Milan, Turin, and Genoa, for the prompt transmission of telegraphic dis p,tches of the public funds of Paris. A courier will carry the dispatches from Milan to Novi, whence they will ha simultaneously transmitted by telegraph to Turin and Genoa. The Count d'Aquiia, brother of the King of Naples, is expected to arrive shortly in France. The Corriere Mercantile of Genoa quotes a letter from Rome of the 15th, stating that the French Go vernment has again represented to the Papal See, that it is urgent to adopt reforms which may render the further presence of French troops useless et Rome. M. Charles Bonaparte, Prince of Canino, ar. rivtd at Civita Vecchia on the 21st, en board the Teleinaco, from Marseilles. RANGOON. We have been favoured with the following particulars from a private letter to a friend from an officer of her Majesty's ship Fox, 42 guns, Commodore Lambert, be fore Rangoon, dated the Ist ulr., which will be found highly interesting, as showing the duplicity practised in the ❑egotiations with the Commodore and the Governor of Rangoon, which was euecteded by c. renewal of hos tilities:— "The Governor of Rangoon, having obtained from the Commodore thirty days' respite for negotiations after the first display of a vigorous intention on the part of the British to demand satisfaction for aggressions committed by the Burmese, seems to have made preparations for surprising the Bri tish squadron. A new Governor having, during the thirty days' grace, arrived from the King of Ave, he sent off, with all imaginable Eastern pomp, two emblazoned letters, borne on superb gold and velvet cushions, carried in state barges, rowed by a bril liantly dressed crew, with gilt oars—one letter fur the Goveiteor-General of India, and the other for Commodore Lambert. Proclamations were speedily afterwards issued forbidding any of the natives interchanging civilities or communicating with the Fox, or even going to the beach to look at her. One native, gifted with more temerity, or may be curiosity, than his 'fellows, went and had a Peep at the British, for which he was immediately de capitated. Four hundred of the 98th (Queen's) Regi me ent and some artillery have been dispatched from Cal. utta, and other troops have been ordered to hold them selves in readiness. The 80th Regime at has been or dered d o? . H eteerday from Dinapure to Moulmein. mornina (Ist .7ete uary) arrived the netts, with feci e b Hon. c e „,, pen , t . s m- ve • ; Fire ueen from (mss!- ; instructions for Com modore Lambert,- rntn e y ‘.t .and ket to say, e somew hat the prumpt and energetic het) of proceedin. the 44.1107 t whic h ,,fs has beets hitherto pursued by a few weeks e„,er* will be remembered that insolent and audacious con duct of the Govere ee t ,mt Yeengoon caused Inc Commodore to break off ceixemmi eee t dist the forte facing ~n end t . o proclaim a blockade, the frigate compelled him to inflict ft severe punishmenao:? them, by the loss oft). large number of men from the nor.G . enani c i po li cy i . , of the Fox.. The Gover any price; but if ho wisbra t o purchase it with icdi- g a ti t ' t t , ll. l; . y . , ja he should not have sent Commodore Lambert tor. We now learn that mere mild proceedings would have answered bet ter; that the Commodore should hay, goo v:le an p d era fi o n na ll lly to confer with the Governor of Ran her Majesty's ship go off 'and, finally, Fox was ti and offer the same terms . as before. . A.t one o'clock of the tow P.M., January 31, accordingly. the fri gate up the river, on the amiable mission,. 10 the Fire Queen, and on battery passing the Silva stocked: was saluted with a shower of round shot. Tha . e the same was paid with good interest I need not say , 11? lone as her Majesty's ship Vox was within range. Again they Eyed the first shot, and again have they felt the power of a fri gate's broadside, which it would seem they had forgotten, as the indolent or servile policy of the Indian Govern d silent has received their insults unheeded, and f!llowe their misconduct, nay brutality, to English subjects to go unpunished for many a long year. I re " gret to say a tine manly y ou ng lad, John Watt, has lost his leg above the knee by a round shot. A gag of truce has now jest started with Lord Dalhousie's last attempt to patch up a short peace with these savage and treacherous people; but as the steamer is now starting, no further information is to be had. Her Majesty's brig Serpent, 16, C omm ander Luard, is blockading Cape Negrais, and the squadron is healthy." THE MAURITIUS. A dispatch from the Governor of Mauritius, with a re port on the state of the rural districts in that colony, has recently been printed, and gives a very sanguine picture of its condition and prospects. The quantity of luxuriant canes on lacle redeemed within only a few years from the forest or the rock, the increase of steam machinery, and the general improvement coupled improvement in the processes of manufac tur- an g , iadu p at ted with symptoms of activity, self-reliance, lotion, ere'rY on the part of all classes of the popula imported Coolies dwelt upon. The habits of the relations with ieshaving become better understood, their their employers are now, it is said, highly astisfactore, „i -once so niftnetourt,,compleinte on either side, which were furnishing theta wit tZe o comparatively rare. The means of howe e:atior, even in the most elemen tary shape, app ear as t,, e a r _to be " beset with such formi dable difficulties" of progress. The great admit at present of little hope cupidity between the sexes which resulted from Indian immigration want of foresight at the commencoment of the being immigration still con tinues, but is in course of neje mitigated. With re garci ice the emancipated still abstain population , i it is re marked that they . m t ost totally from plactatien labour, aid thus eel:nine grad u i s n ing all field curse which follows !slavery, of es °. exemplify the work to tie looked upon as degrading. They re- wood and charcoal. main either in the toi'VCS or in titra,,A l ea sy eubsistenee by rearing hamlets, poultry where they derive an and other stock, or by a traffic! in fire Intermarriages between Indians and Creol e , rare, lint !snore frequent than formerl y . A convicti on of are very the grout resources of the islan d i 4, it I Said, Universally entertained, and it is unque etionable tteit the present large produetion of sugar falls far short of what ma y nitiknetely be anticipated, THE PRICES of WHEAT, FLOUR, and BREAD. Annexed is a comparison of the present priee• of wheat, flour, and bread in London and Paris:— __ " The hightest price of wheat of the first quality in Paris is 30f. per 1 hectolitres, which is equal to 455. 10d. per quarter; and the highest price of white wheat of the first quality in London being 495. per quarter, it follows that wheat is nearly 7 per cent. dearer in London than in Paris. " The highest quotation of flour of the first quality in Paris is 37f. the 100 kilogrammes, which is equal to 378. per sack of 2801 b. English; and the highest quota tion of flour in the London market being 40s. per sack, it follows that flour is about 8 per cent. dearer in Lon don than in Paris. The highest quotation of the second quality of white flour in Paris is 34f. 40c., which is equivalent to 345. sd. per sack of 2801 n., and which, as compared with the quotation in London of 31s. for household flour, shows that this description of flour is about 11 per cent. dearer in Paris than in London. " The price of bread of the first quality in Paris is Mc. per kilogramme, which is equal to about sid. the 41b. loaf English weight; and the price of bread in London at the full-priced shops being 7d. per 41b., it follows that bread is about 33} per cent. dearer in London than in Paris. The second quality of bread is quoted at 24c. per kilogramme in Paris, which is equivalent to nearly 4id. per 41b. loaf." CHEVALIER CLAUSSEN'S FLAX COTTON. The Illustrated Exhibitor and Magazine of Art, in an article descriptive of Chevalier Clauisen's flax-works at Stepney, gives the following account of how the dis covery of flax-cotton was made by M. Claussen, and of its valuable properties. We may add that a specimen of the raw material and of the flax•cotton, prepared by the Chevalier's process, may be seen at the office of Messrs. Rennie and Gordon, here. A greater contrast than the two aubstances present can scarcely be imagined; and the beautiful quality of the cotton at once conveys an impression of the very great value which it will be found to possess as a raw material for the manufacturer:— " The Chevalier was wandering along the luxuriant banks of one of the Brazilian rivers, when his attention was attracted to a white down-like substance adhering to the branches of trees overhanging and touching the stream. On obtaining a quantity of it, he was so pleased with its character, that thinking he had dis covered some vegetable product hitherto unkown he determined to trace it, if possible, to its source, and to ascertain the plant which produced it. Pur suing his task with great ardour, he eventually found that the substance had been washed from a bed of flax straw, the produce of some of his own land, and which, long before, he had caused to be thrown, as useless, near the banks of the river. As swollen waters had occa sional access to this heap, fermentation and the decom position of a portion of the plant had taken place; and in time the influence of natural chemistry had so saturated the filaments of the flax-fibre as to give the muss a cotton-liko appearance; and some of it having been washed by the river, had been arrested by the over hanging branches. On the facts thus brought before him, M. Ciaussen proceeded carefully to reason, and the processes now to be described are, therefore, the re sult, not of mere accid en t, b ut o f i n d uct i ve re search. Tne flax, brought from the breaker,' is boiled for four hours in hot caustic soda, or steeped in a cold solution of it for twenty-four hours. It is afterwards washed in water containing one per cent. of sulphuric acid, and then in pure water, when it is dried, and subsequently treated by scutching, heckling, &c., according to the ittiv , rsal practice in the linen manufactures. Here, then, we have an immense improvement, by the long and difficult process of fermentation, which occupied six week , , being entirely avoided. Yet the process is most effective and profitable, as twenty per cent. of long flax may bo obtained instead cf seventeen, while the sub vance is far more silky and soft. It is a popular error that Clauisen's process is merely to turn flax into cAton, which people say is like turning gold into lead;' wht reas he obtains by it a much larger proportion of the brig and valuable fl.x, and render. the refuse— ordinarily considered comparatively worthless—by a process now to be explained, capable of being worked into cotton, wool, or silk fabrics. According to the mode lo , ig adopted in the linen manufacture, and immense qeantity of tJw is made, which can only be used for twine and similar coarse purposes. But the chemical process employed by M. Claussen effects a change which is hi q•hly important. A series of vats are put in requisition. The first vat holds a solution of carbonate of soda; and in this the fibres, previously boiled and washed, are saturated for a quarter of an hour. It is then removed to the next vat, in which there is five per cent. of sulphuric acid, the effervescence causing the carbonic acid gas to separate and divide the fibres, thus rendering them more flocculent, and completely altering their spe cific gravity, as they rise now to the top of the vat, while before they sank to the bottom. The next process is to place them in another vat of soda, to neutralise any re maining Reid; and this being effected, they are trans ferred to the bleaching-water of the fourth vat, composed of a solution of chloride of lime and sulphate of mag nrsia—thus forming a hyper-chlorite of magnesia. In this preparation they remain for two hours, during which they are perfectly bleached, requiring only to be transferred to a bath of diluted sulphuric acid, and then to pure water. The fibres, on being withdrawn from the vats, are dried by atmospheric or steam-heat, or but air, They are then taken to a machine similar to that used in chaff-cutting, where they are cut into lengths adapted for spinning or cotton machinery. To specify all the advantages secured by these processes would far exceed our limits. It must, therefore, suffice to observe that the following are a few out ci many : Any cloth made from flax cotton-yarn may be readily printed, dyed, and bleached by the ordinary cotton pro cesses. The flax-fibre, from its milling properties, is capable of being made into common felt hats with or without an admixture of wool. Cloth in which flax is mixed with wool is reduced in price from twenty-five to thirty per cent. Flax may be spun with silk on the existing silk machinery; and any useless flax can be converted into a first rate article for the paper-maker. The advantages thus presented are opened to our view at a critical period. Our supplies of cotton from Ame rica appear to have reached their maximum, and conse quently an efficient substitute is required; while our im portations of flax from Russia have suffered a decrease of about twenty per cent. And why, it may be asked, should we thus continue dependent on continental Europe for the flax which the United Kingdom is per fectly capable of producing? Why should not the sums we spend annually for oil-cake and flax-seed go into the pockets of the employers and the employed of our agri cultural districts?" SUN, LON DON, SUICIDE BY A GENTLEMAN. On Tuesday evening an inquest wa s h e ld at B a th, be fore Mr. English, coroner for that city, to inquire into the death of a gentleman who had committed suicide at one of the first hotels in that city on the previous even ing. It appeared that the deceased went to Bath by the down mail train on Monday afternoon, and proceeded to thi hotel, where ho took dinner, and a pint of bitter ale. About four o'clock in the afternoon, at his own request, he was shown to his bedroom by one of the chambermaids, to whom ho remarked, " What a confu- Bien the town seems in to-day." She said, " Does it, Sir; I have not been out to-day." He replied, " Yes, it it is all through this bothering election; it is a rack of nonsense." The chambermaid, about eight o'clock the same evening, tried the door, but found it locked. She took no notice of the circumstance, tuaposing the gentleman had gone out and taken the key with him. Next morning, however, as the gentleman did not make his appearauno, his door was tried and found locked, and, as no reply could be obtained from within, a police,constable was sent for and the door forced open. The unfortunate deceased was then dizcovered lying on the goor in a large pool of blood, with his throat frightfully cut, and quite dead. Upon the dressing-table was found a razor covered with blood, with which the melancholy act had neon committed. The deceased's gold watch was also found upon the dressing-table, and 11. Os. lid. in silver and copper coin upon the mantel-shelf. His coat and waistcoat were off, and in the pocket were found prescriptions, signed by Sir James Clark, so late as Saturday last, showing the deceased to have been under medical treatment. A letter, directed to " Mr. Underwood, architect, Oxford," was also found upon the unfortunate man, which is the only means by which his identification can be traced, as he was a perfect stranger to the hotel. A messenger was dispatched to Oxford as soon as the melancholy discovery was made, but as he had not returned at ten o'clock on Tuesday evening the inquest was adjourned. On Wednesday evening the inquest was resumed upon the unfortunate gentleman, when it appeared that the deceased was Mr. It u e n t vY Jones Underwood, architect, of St. John's-street, in,Z.d• ," The jury returned a verdict of " Temporary laity pr ern%" tt le SEABORNE MAILS. by the night-... !I ma the morning—dispatch.]General ils are sent frora the Post-efilee - "—:_f___°- 163, PLACBS, When made up in From what GetneralPost-offtce! port dia.. When ............____----- London: I patched. due. A m erica (by Brit. arch 26 Aerica (by 13.5. pkt.) N \A Dru .. ..Llverpool .• March 30 •• • • ,Liverpool April 1 tf.g.pkt.)1A 1 24.,,, at Africa (West cOast):: Zilt,i, of the i i ; on • • Southanipt. America (by Alexandria * ••• • " ' , "' .B ' 3 0th et t 4 PlYreolith -torn 3 .. liipaily • . ree•lDover .. March 28 Belg ium '• '. .. jif ;9th of th • • •Do e r aon .z• 1 ver .. Daily Brazil • • ' • . ~,, 9th of th e mou nt , Southarnpt. April 16 Buenos Ayrall • • • As' )32(12d k 17th or "" tnex it u*._atilamot. April 16 California(via Chace/ 741 14th of month ,'`'nthernpt. March Cape of Good Hope — I Ith 17th 27th armor' '"orttil•• April 2 G Constantinople * .• • • l'i • .., fme ,i ) over 3 .... gd & 17 th 0 n• South •• March 30 Central America .• sss Wed., &Fri. s on+ 2 4 4t. March 20 Channel Isles • • .. NIMon.• meat.. s o - -aalpt. , r,, ~... Chili .. . .. .. Mll7th of the Do u:!, pt. u •• —.sat Franca ... .. Ni 8c kriviCe daily ••f o Dover '. •, Tl: r i ‘ .. : l e l d 2 cl 7 o Greece: • • .. .. N 7th 17th 27 th oM 'London '' • ru acii ao - Hamburgh • .. .. N Tuesday lc Friday , London .. , r e . sm. Rolland .. .. .. M Wednes.,,, 4 '''.**.Thu r & Satilr._n.am . ‘,.. Honduras •• •• . II 17th of the MonthlSo '''' s' • marsh 20 Ireland .. .• Mgs N Twice' daily • • •• • ,Rolyhead.. Twie,s4 ; Ap 2 India (via Soutkamp.) 21 20th of the mon th,So utharapt. ' ver • • APri ru l a 1147 India (viaMarsailles) N'sth&24th etnionth,Do Southare , ton) Mediterranean (vi• • 31 20th of the month ; a ' 1 13ontharapt. iA p ril 2 1 Medltenanean (via 1 I April 2 Marseilles) • • .. N;Bthgs 24th ofmonth,Dover •• . Mexico • • •• .. 112d of the month.. Sotithampt. April j_ Madeira • • • • .. 21 1 9th of the month Southamp t. April 1 6 Malta* • . • • f 7th,17th,19th,27th i payer March 2 1 ( & 30th of month _2 Naples* . • • •• N bth 15th 25th ofme Dover • • Ap ril 2 Papal State s* .. .. N sth 15th 25th of mo Dover .. (April 3 Peninsular.. • • .. Mi7th 17th 17th et m o Southampt. 'April 6 Peru .. .. .. .. I Mr 17th of the month Southampt. March 20 Tuscanys .. .. N sth 15th Asth of mo , Dover .. 'April 1 West Indies .. .. M,l7th of the month I Southampt. (Marsh 21 West Indies (except Havanna & Nassau) M fld of the month .. Southarapt.lApril 3 - • The mans to those c French packet ♦i* Marsei fld of the month ountries that marl illes. ISoutharapt.;April ked (•) are coaveyed by THE BISHOP OF OXFORD AND STONE ALTARS.— We learn that the Bishop of Oxford has directed the removal of the stone altars erected in the several cemetery chapels in that city, and that in consequence they have been converted into communion tables, by being separated from the walls to which they were attached, so as to become moveable tables according to the rubrics of the Protestant Church.-0,27fr0d University Paper. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, March 25. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack at Five o'clock. On the motion of the Earl of LONSDALE, the Commons Enclosure Bill was read a second time and ordered to be committed to-morrow. COUNTY COURTS EXTENSION. Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from Dol gelly and other places in Wales, in favour of the County Courts Extension Bill. EXTENSION OF COUNTY COURTS JURISDIC TION TO BANKRUPTCY CASES. Lord BROUGHAM said he had a Bill to lay on the table, to which he besought their Lordships' attention. They must remember that the County Courts Acts, im proved as they had been by successive legislative enactments, and received with such favour by the public, applied as yet only to solvent claims, and that there was, in cases of insolvency, the same denial of justice which there had been before in all other cases.—(Hear, hear.) The consequence was, that in all the districts there were two distinct and independent local jurisdictions, that of the County Court and the Bankruptcy Court. How far it was possible to amalgamate the two jurisdictions, their Lordships had had an opportunity of consider ing last session, when he had brought before them a Bill to effect this purpose—a Bill which made considerable progress last session, but, owing to the state of the public business, was not then passed into law. The Bill to which he had now to call their atten tion, and for which he bad to ask a first reading, was of the same nature, and had for its purpose to extend the jurisdiction of County Court judges to bankruptcy oases. —The Bill was then read a first time. The NODLE LORD mentioned, in reference to the Bill which he had laid on the table the other night with regard to the shortening the time between the dissolu tion and the assembling of a new Parliament, he had heard some discontent expressed as to his having named thirty-five days as the minimum space to elapse between the two events. It appeared to him that this was the shortest apace in which a new Parliament could be got together after a dissolution. DISTRESS IN IRELAND. The Earl of GLENGALL presented a petition from the South of Tipperary praying that the House would take means to relieve the present state of distress exist ing in Ireland. The Earl of WICKLOW presented a petition from a place in the North of Ireland to the same effect. THE WAR IN AVA. The Earl of DERBY rose to ask the Noble Earl op posite (Ellenborough) to postpone a question of which he had given notice with respect to the war in Ava. It appeared to him that this question was, to say the least of it, premature, and as it appeared to him incorrect in its terms, as relating to what the Noble Earl called the war in Ave. Undoubtedly hostile collisions had taken place between her Majesty's forces and the Governor of Rangoon, but no actual war had broken out, and he was not without hope that such a misfortune might be averted. The first account of what had taken place had only reached this country by the last mail, and though accounts of a second colli sion had reached this country it had been by the medium of the Admiralty, and no account had yet reached the Board of Directors from the Governor-General, conse quently the information which the Government possessed was very imperfect, and they were not in a state to give anything but a very imperfect account of these transactions. Under these circumstances he would propose that his Noble Friend should postpone his question until the arrival of the next mail, which would probably put them in possession of what the state of affairs was at present, and what opinion the Governor-General had formed upon them. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said it was impos sible for him to refuse to postpone his question; but he hoped that he should be allowed to bring it on before the departure of the next mail. While he was upon the subject of this war he would call the attention of the Noble Duke at the head of the Admi ralty to the relations existing between the Governor- General of India and the Commodore of the blockading squadron. The Commodore was in the position of the commander of an allied squadron, and though he might receive a suggestion from the Governor-General, he was not bound to act according to his instructions. In feet, the Governor-General might advise,but could give no orders to the Commodore. This was an anomalous position, and he hoped that orders would be issued from the Admiralty to remedy it. The Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND said that Com modore Lambert bad received instructions from the Go vernor-General in Conncil, and had acted upon them strictly and carefully. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that might be, but it was in the Commodore's option to have neglected and disobeyed these orders altogether if he had chosen. That was a position of responsibility in which the Com modore ought not to be left. Lord MINTO said that he apprehended that the oom• mender on this station was placed in exactly the same position as all other commanders on foreign stations: he was obliged to act according to the instructions of the Admiralty. Lord BROUGHTON confirmed the statement of the Noble Earl behind him (Ellenborough). Shortly before he had left office he had received a letter from the Go ♦ernor-General complaining of this anomalous position, and hoping that when the East India Company's Char ter again came under the consideration of Parliament some provision would be introduced to remedy it. The Earl of DERBY said with reference to this sub ject he had to give notice that on Friday, the 2d of April, he should move for a Committee to inquire into the operations of the Act under which the East India Company held their Charter. LAW OF WILLS AMENDMENT. The LORD CHANCELLOR, in moving that this Bill be committed, said that the first clause in it was the great ob ject which he wished to carry at present. He should move in Committee that the second and third clauses should be struck out of the Bill; but he should afterwards introduce them as separate Bills, and take the sense of their Lordships upon:them. The House then went into Committee. The first clause was then read. It is in the following terms :—" That whereas, by an Act passed in the Ist year of the reign of her Majesty Queen Victoria, entitled 'An Act for the Amendment of the Laws with respect to Wills,' it is enacted that no will shall be valid unless it shall be signed at the foot or end thereof by the testator, or by souse other person in his presence, and by his direction; every will shall, so far only as regards the position of the signature of the testator, or of the person signing for him as aforesaid, be deemed to be valid within the said enact ment, as explained by this Act, if the signature shall be so placed at or after, or following, or under, or beside, or opposite to the end of the will, that it shall be apparent that the testator intended to give effect to the writing signed as his will by such his signature, although the same shall not follow or be immediately after the foot or end of the will, and although a blank space shall intervene between the con eluding word of the will and the signature, and although the signature shall be placed among the words of the testimonium clause or of the clause of attestation, or shall follow or be after or under the clause of attestation, either with or without a blank space intervening, or shall follow, or be after, or under, or beside the names, or one of the names, of the subscribing witnesses, and although the signature shall be on a side or page or other portion of the paper or papers containing the will whereon no clause or paragraph or disposing part of the will shall be written above the signature, and although there shall appear to be sufficient space on or at the bottom of the preceding side, or page, or other portion of the same paper on which the will is written, to contain the signature ; but no signature shall be operative to give effect to any disposition or direction which is underneath or follows it, nor shall it give effect to any disposition inserted after the signature shall be made in any blank space in the will." Lord CRANWORTH was afraid that this clause, as now worded, would create as many difficulties as it was intended to correct. The fault at present did not arise from the state of the law, but from the decisions of the judges upon it. As to the regulation which his Noble and Learned Friend had made for the case of persons making wills in extremis, he thought that their case should be made the exception, and not the rule. He repeated that the language of the existing law was clear. Here the Noble and Learned Lord read the following clause from the Ist of Victoria, c. 26 : " And be it further enacted, that no will shall be valid unless it shall be in writing and executed in manner here inafter mentioned ; (that is to say), it shall be signed at the foot or end thereof by the testator, or by some other person in his presence and by his direction; and such signature shall be made or acknowledged by the testator in the pre sence of two or more witnesses present at the same time, ant such witnesses shall attest and shall subscribe the will in the presence of the testator, but no form of attestation shall be necessary. " It was the judges of the ecclesiastical: courts, and not the judges of the courts of common law, who required that the signature of the testator should be at the toot of the will, and who declared that whenever a large blank was left at the foot of it the will was invalid. Perhaps they might be justified in this; but the subsequent cases had gone much further—ay, even to the length of saying that if a testator signed his name at more than an inch below the will itself that will was thereby invalidated. His Noble and Learned Friend's clause provided that, "if the signature should be se placed at or after, or following or under, or beside, or opposite to the end of the will, that it shall be ap parent that the testator intended to give effect to the writing as his will by such signature, although the same should not follow, or be immediately after the foot or end of the will," it should be deemed valid; and then followed a long string of althoughs, which the Noble and Learned Lord read, which showed that his Noble and Learned Friend on the Woolsack had carefully read through all the existing deci sions, and had framed his language to meet them. Now, was not his Noble and Learned Friend opening a door by such a profusion of-language to further difficulties? lle thought that it would be an amendment of the clause to make it stop before the first " although" (so, at least, we understood). The LORD CHANCELLOR had not expected any ob jection to this clause, especially after he had agreed to in troduce the two other clauses of this Bill as separate mea lobe correct as it stood. mea sures. His Noble and Learned Friend said that this first c l l m au:s d e o w ve o r u h ld is increase a hundred times over the present diffi culties about wills. If that were so, he (the Lord Chan cellor) must be a very bad draughtsman indeed, and ought to measure for improvement to his Noble and Learned Friend. obi ection duced, bad not But h heHe believedhad only th onean language uoabgj object of t i nthe bringingclause forward this clause, and that was, to make all wills signed with due solemnity valid. If his Noble and Learned Friend seat with this subject it, and he had car could improvethe language of the clause he should have no to mull, carefully care, his doing so. This Bill, though recently pro altered whicha got up in haste. He had been conver j:fcut all his life ; he had written a book upon impartiality, perused and reviewed endiewe dal precision the adeci sions with as srflhaourconversation, in which Lord LYNDIIIISST and assured had in Noble and Learned Friend that the claus would by no means ac he complish in view. eou After e c r om a t h e object as Lord CRANIVORTH took part, but of which the reater art was inaudible in the gallery, g p The Earl of ELLEN BOROUGH suggested that the Noble and Learned L ords should meet in Select Committee to morrow Morning, atid there settle the language of the clause. After making himself merry for some time with the multi plicity of adverbs somewhat contradictory, contained in the first part of this clause, he concluded by stating that they ought to be carefully considered, as the omission of one of them might jeopardise the inheritance of Many. EVENING, MARCH 26, 1852. gone, and why? Because, following out the principle of tree trade, the late Board of Admiralty sent their contract, not to Cork, but to Galatz, in Wallachia. He only hoped the Noble Duke at the head of the Admiralty would have the kindness to deal with Cork. —(A laugh.) People had been endeavouring to effect an impossibility, to make the poor support the poor. Almost all classes had been reduced to nearly the same level. It was said property ought to support poverty ; but property had been destroyed, and poverty was left. A manufacturer, very largely connected with the woollen trade in Ireland, had described in conversation the ruinous depression which existed, remarking that wherever his travellers went there were shops closed. The question was as much an English as it was an Irish question. Before free trade existed Ireland exported 10,000,0001. worth of produce to England, taking back between 10,000,0001. and 11,000,0001. From the statement issued by a Chamber of Commerce which was in the practice of publishing informa tion on such subjects, it appeared that there had been a falling off in exports from England to Ireland amounting nearly to 4,000,0001. Everything used in Ireland, from a steam-en gine to the commonest nail, came from England. When peo ple ran down that country, and said the state of matters was the fault of the landlords, of the farmers, of the Celts, they ought to recollect that they had themselves destroyed the English market by their new policy, and were themselves losers. It was impossible to go on in this kind of way The more Ireland was distressed the more did Parliament seem determined to tax her. The system resembled that of the celebrated Dr. Sangrado ; the more reduced the Irish were the ,:ore did bleeding seem to be thought good for them. When he reflected on the misery that prevailed, the emigra tion which was draining the country of able-bodied persons, and other subjects connected with Ireland, he could not re frain from declaring that he was quite disgusted with the state to which matters had been brought. The motion was then agreed to. THE BISHOP OF COLOMBO. . Lord TORIiINGTON said, with reference to the notice he had given of his intention to inquire whether papers had been received from Ceylon, and would be produced, relating to differences between the Bishop of Colombo and hia clergy, he had put himself in communication with the Noble Lord opposite, and he concurred in the views stated by the Noble Lord, namely, that under the present circumstances of the case it was not desirable that those papers should be laid on the table. It was undesirable also, under those circum stances, that he (Lord Torrington) should enter into the subject ; and therefore he should simply state that, believing the Noble Lord would be prepared to give the Mouse the in formation required as speedily as possible, he should with draw the notice he had given, and abstain from putting the two questions to which it referred, reserving to himself the right of subsequently calling attention to the differences that existed in Ceylon between the bishop and his clergy. The Earl of DONOUGHMORE had to express his thanks to the Noble Lord for not having asked for those papers, and also having abstained from asking whether steps had been taken by her Majesty's Government on the subject of certain unfortunate occurrences which had happened in the island of Cordon ..... .0. e. ;IN ill,mvenient to give publicity at this moment. The Noble Lord might be assured that her Majesty's Government would, with the utmost attention and zeal, proceed to apply those remedies which they thought most desirable. Their Lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, March 25. The SPEAKER took the Chair at five minutes to Four o'clock. REDUCTION OF FEES FOR PRINTED DOCU- MENTS. Mr. W. PATTEN moved to reduce the fees payable at the House of Commons for copies of papers and docu ments, from five shillings and one shilling to two shillings and sixpence and sixpence respectively.—Agreed to. METROPOLIS WATER, BILL. Lord J. MANNERS moved that it be an instruction to the Committee of Selection, that they have power to fix the Committee on the Metropolis Water Bill for Thursday, the Ist day of April next. Mr. B. COCHRANE said the House was t,aken by surprise when this Bill was read the other day a second time. He considered the Bill was very objectionable, and if he had been in the House at the time, be should have opposed the second reading. It would not remedy a single defect in the present bcid sup ply of water to the metropolis. The system of taking supplies of water from the Thames would still be per petuated, though the Board of Health bad reported that such a source was very objectionable. He hoped the Government would see the necessity of introducing a more comprehensive measure on the subject. Lord J. MANNERS said he had merely taken up the Bill which was proposed by his predecessor in office. If the House agreed to refer it to a Committee, ho hoped they would be able to devise a practical remedy for very grave and serious evils in regard to ',,he supply of water to the inhabitants of London. Lord EBRINGTON protested against a public mea sure of this kind being referred to a Select Committee until the House bad expressed an opinion upon the prin ciple involved in it. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE did not think this question would be settled as the House was now going on.— (Hear.) If the Bill were referred to a Committee, before whom the old companies might appear as opponents, no man of common sense could suppose it would come out of the Committee this session —(Hear, hear)—it was utterly impossible. Therefore it was illusory to hold out any hope that the metropolis could this year get a better supply of water. He moved to add to the resolution an amendment to the effect that the Com mittee should confine their inquiry to this Bill only. Sir J. JOHNSTON treated the Bill as an absolute confiscation of the property of the London water com panies. They only paid now 4 per cent. upon their ca pital, and if the Bill camp into operation, the sharehold ers would not get a dividend of a farthing. The SPEAKER informed Mr. Duncombe that his amendment could only be proposed as a substantive motion. _ _ _ ------ Mr. DUNCOMBE—Then I give notice that I will move it to-morrow. The motion was then carried. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following Bills were read a third time : East London Waterworks. Mansfield Gas. Patent Solid Sewage Manure Company. Scarborough Market and Approaches. Wolverhampton Gas. LONDON (WATFORD) SPRING WATER COMPANY. Mr. HOPE, in moving the second reading of this Bill, said its object was to give those parts of the metro polis now inadequately supplied with water a good and perfect supply of that important element by rendering available the water now concentrated around Watford, and which, they were assured by competent authorities, perforated by a kind of under-ground drainage into the sea, and was capable of yielding an enormous quantity. Mr. HALSEY moved that the Bill be read a second time this day six months, on the ground that it had already been rejected by the House; 2d, that it was opposed by every individual and landowner in the neighbourhood of Watford; and, lastly, because he was opposed to its principle. That the supply of water to the metropolis was defective and ought to be improved, he admitted; but it surely could not be said that the desired object was to be accomplished by infringing upon the rights of private individuals.—(Hear.) He thought the House was called upon to reject a Bill when, as in this case, it committed an injury to property for which no kind of compensation could be given. Mr. B. COCHRANE said this Bill would to some extent supply the people with water, and he should sup port it. Mr. ROBERT STEPHENSON said he had been em ployed to report upon the subject of the Bill, and with out pledging himself to all the allegations of the promoters, he thought the scheme which the Bill em braced was a good one. Sir R. H. INGLIS wished to have three.questions answered: first, was it proposed to obtain this supply of water not from the source of a river, but by digging a well 60() . feet deep w hi c h would injure the district where is was sunk; secondly, had not the experiments which had been made failed ; and thirdly, whether this very Bill was not thrown out last year? Mr. B. HOPE replied in th• affirmative to the first question, but the well would not be so deep as 600 feet. In reply to the second question he denied that the ex periment had failed; while with regard to the last ques tion the Bill was not referred to a Committee last year, because the Government took the subject into their own hands. Viscount EBRINGTON opposed the Bill, and called upon the House to lay down some settled principle for the regulation of the water question. He denied that the supply of water in the metropolis was deficient; the fact was more than half the supply was wasted, and on the south side of the Thames the land was completely deluged with water. —(Hear, hear.) He blamed the late Government for not being governed in this matter by the report which Lord Carlisle prepared on the subject, and called upon the House to negative the motion for the second reading. Mr. BAILEY also opposed the Bill, on the ground that ft would inflict great injury on the locality where the water was to be drawn from. Sir R. PRICE and Mr. MACGREGOR supported the Bill. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said the Bill was only opposed by the old water companies, and as there were 68 Members of the House who had a pecuniary in t e r est in them, they ought at least to abstain f rom voting on this occasion. —(Hear, hear.) After a few words from Mr. HUME , the Rouse di vided, when there appeared— 196 ••• For the second reading ••• 65 Against it ... ••• ••• Majority ... tiroe. The Bill was then read a se o °.; gotTSE FOR ADJOURNMENT OF TO, BASTE haneellor of the Ex- Mr. HUME wished to 5: ilnitigittlCol:l to propose the chequer whether it was h is ad journment of the House n thkeno7wth, o i r n the B e t v h e n o tf of ther il to next? Ho also wis hed n the 7th, what would become of the mot i ons fixed for House adjourning o the LO st ß h? CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER sa i d, The I fi n d that last rart; and I wish, of course , to follow the precedent of las t year, if the 'louse has no ob jection—that the House adjourned on Tuesday. But I find that on Wednesday a motion is to be brought on by the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Member for Devon port (Mr. Tufnell), for the second reading of the Pro perty Qualification Bill. I should be sorry to interfere, of course, with any vested interest which the Right Hon. Gentleman has in the notice book—(A laugh)—but if he has no objection I will follow exactly the precedent of last year. Should he, however, insist on maintaining his position, I will not move the adjournment until Wednesday; otherwise I will move the adjournment of the House from Tuesday, the 6L13, until Monday, the 19th of April. Mr. HUNIE said the Right Hon. Gentleman had not mentioned what would become of the notices down for the Bth. He asked this question because he had a notice on the paper for that day.—(A laugh.) Mr. TUFNELL said if it were the wish of the House he would not press his motion for that day.—(Cheers.) He hoped, however, that he would be put in the same position on the first Wednesday after the House re assembled Mr. DEEDES said he was in the same predicament as the Right Hon. Gentleman, and if he got an early day for his motion, he hoped the same would not be refused to him. INTERNATIONAL PATENT LAW. In reply to Sir DE LACY EVANS, Mr. HENLEY stated that the subject of International Patent Law would not be lost eight of by the Govern ment, and a short Bill would be introduced speedily to continue the existing law for a period beyond the 25th of April, when it would otherwise expire. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRISONERS. Mr. REYNOLDS wished to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision had been made for the religious instruction of the Roman Catholic prisoners in the several prisons of Scotland, and if he was aware that the General 13erd of Directors of Prisons in Scotland had refused permission to the Roman Catholic clergymen of Perth to assemble the Roman Catholic prisoners confined in the prison of that town, at stated times, in the prison chapel, to receive spiritual instruction from a Roman Catholic clergyman, and whether the Roman Catholic prisoners were compelled or required to attend the prison chapel during the celebration of Protestant worship? Mr. WALPOLE said no provision was legally made for religious instruction of Roman Catholic prisoners in Scotland, but ministers of their persuasion were allowed to see them in their cells. A. refusal had been given to all religious denominations, excepting those belong ing to the Established Church of Scotland. Roman Catholics were neither compelled nor required to attend the prison chapel. THE POST- OFFICE. Mr. COWAN wished to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if there was any intention of instituting a revi sion of the scile of salaries in the inland department of the General Post-office, Edinburgh, or in any of the money-order offices in the kingdom; and in either case if by a Commission to be appointed by the Treasury or otherwise? Mr. HAMILTON said no such inquiry bad been made, nor was it intended to appoint such a Commission. THE MAYNO6 I'll GRANT. Mr. KEOGH said—Sir, I rise to put a question to the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer relating to the Maynooth grant, of which I have given him notice. It will be in the recollection of the Right Hon. Gentleman, that in the year 184 i a Bill was introduced into this House by the late Sir Robert Peel, con ferring upon the Royal College of Maynooth an ao,00c•). ) Tt earried through this House after it had received great opposi tion, conducted with his wonted ability by the Right Honourable Gentleman himself, and it was sub sequently carried through the other House of Parliament, and after it had been opposed by the Noble Lord now at the head of the Government it became law.—(Hear, hear.) Now, some members of the pre sent Administration had lately declared upon the hustings that they were favourable to the repeal of the law, and it must be known that through. out that country there is a strong opposition to that Act.--(Order, order.) Well, then, in order that some thing certain should be known of the intention of Government on the subject he begged to put his ques tion, hoping to receive as candid an answer as that which was given the other night by the Right Honour able Secretary of State for the Home Department. on the subject of ministers' money in Ireland. He wished to ask whether it was the intention of her Majesty's Government to introduce, either in this or the next ses sion of Parliament, any measure to repeal the Act con ferring the grant upon the R.wyal College of Maynooth? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Sir, in answer to the question which the Hon. and Learned Gentleman has put to me, I have no hesitation in saying that it is not the intention of the Government in the present Parliament to propose any Bill to repeal the grant to the Royal College of Maynooth, to which he has referred.—(Opposition cheers.) Gene rally speaking, I beg to observe that it appears to me that specific measures to be brought forward, for any subject whatever, in a Parliament which has not yet been elected, are not matters upon which any Govern , ment ought to be questioned.—Olinisterial cheers.) CEIURCEI ESTATE COMMISSIONERS. Mr. PORTAL asked the Right Hon. Member for the University of Cambridge, whether he had any objection to lay upon the table of the House, the particulars of all the enfranchisements which had been effected by the Church Estate Commissioners under the Act passed during the last session "to facilitate the management and improvement of Episcopal and Capitular Estates in England," and the terms upon which such enfranchise ments had been effected. Also whether he would lay upon the table of the House the particulars of all the cases in which any ecclesiastical corporation, whether episcopal or capitular, had reported to the Church Estate Commissioners that proposals or applications for enfranchisement have been made to them by the lessee, and the number of the cases in which such proposals or applications have not been entertained. Mr. GOULBURN said the annual report of the Com missioners to the Secretary of State for the Home De partment had been laid on the table, and was now, he believed, in the hands of the printers. It did not con tain accounts of transactions already concluded, as the short time which had elapsed since the Bill passed had not given the Commissioners an opportunity of bring ing any to a termination. The report concluded by stat- ink that proposals had been submitted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of London and Norwich, and that there was reason to believe that similar appli cations would shortly come before tho Commons from several other ecclesiastical corporations. CEYLON. Lord HOTHAM inquired whether the Secretary of State for the Colonies would have any objection to lay on the table the report of the proceedings of the Finance Committee of the Executive Conned of Ceylon ? Sir J. PAKINGTON said the report was now in the Colonial-office, and he had no objection to its being laid before the House. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. Mr. W. WILLIAMS presented a petition from Lam beth, signed by 1,641 persons, in favour of Mr. Hume's motion for Parliamentary reform. Mr. 'HUME then rose to move for leave to bring in a Bil to amend the national representation, by extending the elective franchise in England and Wales, so that every mat of full age, and not subject to any mental or legal disability, who shall have been the resident occupier of a house, or of part of a house as a lodger, for twelve months, and shall have been duly rated to the poor of that parish for that time, shall be registered as an elector, and be entitled to vote for a representative in Parliament. Also, by enacting that votes shall be taken by ballot, that the duration of Par liments shall not exceed three years, and that the proportion of representatives be made more consis tent with the amount of population and property. He had been placed in considerable difficulty in bringing forward motions for reform, in consequence of many Hon Members, who pretended to be reformers, objecting to vote on any abstract questions. In order to overcome those diffi culties, he now proposed to submit to the House a definite plan, and could not concur in any measure which would not embrace the points included in his motion. He considered it necessary to combine with the extension of the suffrage protection to the voter, so that, if the right of voting should be extended to him, he should be duly protected in the exer cise of that right; for, without such protection, it must be evident that the vote would not be the vote of the individual, but the vote of the party who might have power or influence over him.—(Hear.) If such a tear was only visionary he should be the last man to propose such a measure, but having witnessed the painful consequences of the influence exercised by men in power, and by masters over their workmen, he did not think it possible that anything like a fair representation of the people could take place without such protection being afforded. The object of his motion was twofold. In the first place, he wished to extend the right of voting, for it was a right, and not a favour, or a privilege ; and as it was de sirable that it should not rest with the voter himself to re gister his vote, he proposed to make it the duty of some public officer to enrol every man who had been resident in a house, or a portion of a house, as a lodger. He was of opi nion that some of the most valuable and intelligent men in the country were lodgers, and must continue to be so, and the Bill would contain a provision by which not only every householder resident for twelve m o n t h s , b u t every lodger re sident ,for the same period, and rated and lia ble to pay all the assessments to the parish, should be placed en the regis ter. Another object of the B ill was to limit the durati r o e ie n nce f Parliaments. He had in the course of a long e ex s p erves at observed how differently Members conducted tehntm. Instead the commencement and at the end of a Yarn of giving a Member years, in order . that trust should only be granted for three or control over his co it electors might possess some checkll or by mistake, forfeit duct, in case he should intentionally, r the principal objects of a lease of seven years, 139 thought the the pledges he had given. A because o s n a safely brought,subject, bat he had brought forward an an on the present occasiotn might his Bill, and he thought no rflieonourable Members could object 1 ight be too little or too much; but street proposition. of the country. He forward circumstances did not in the present bring forward any motion it was as complete the pledge of the I t he imagined, fro ma poltanionalsasctouyldearbe a e lsovernme t. would have introduced some la 11 ' that theyP n which satisfactory would have been to the country. disappointed and But he h sappyn ea , the country had also been h d nted ;and . e was sorry to say that, inste d a of ful filling their promises, the late Government were too ready to recede from reform. One part of their cer tainly have effected an ezten • late plan would would not have been effectual, 91011 of the suffrage, but it ballot. He had recently as it did not include the every one of whom received deputations from 145 dis tricts,great extension of the said they should regret to see any suffrage • dis tribution of Members without a more equal andprotection to the electors. He was particularly anxious that the House should express an opinion on t h e ' subject of reform, in conse quence of a declaration recently made by the Noble Lord now at the head of the Government. He deeply regretted the course taken by that Noble Lord, who was once such an excellent Reformer. He considered the Noble Lord at one time the best Church Reformer he had ever met with, for at one fell swoop he levelled ten bishoprics. The Noble Lord, after supporting Reform for nineteen years, was not only re ceding from his former principles, but abusing those who had not changed their principles as he had done. When he found any man having recourse to abuse, and making use of nick names instead of resorting to reason, it weakened his belief in that man's intellects and his henesty.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) The Noble Lord had done him and some of his Honourable Friends near him a great injustice by calling them " demagogues." On looking into Johnson he found the definition of a demagogue to be " the ringleader of a rabble." He treated such an appellation with perfect contempt. He had often been at the head of large numbers of people, but never at the head of a rabble, and never would be; on the contrary, he bad done everything in his power to pacify men who had sometimes met in gr ea t num b ers smarting under a sense of great injustice. His Honourable Friends the Members for Manchester were in the same category as himself, and no doubt would answer for them selves. For himself he would throw back the imputation on the Noble Lord, and say it was unworthy of him, when alluding to the meeting in Chesham- place, to say that it was attended by nothing but demagogues. He now wished par ticularly to direct too attention of the Right lionouraide Gentleman opposite to some of the observations or the Noble Lord, which were very alarming. The Noble Lord asked, ~ Will you support a Government which will exert itself, i do not hesitate to say, to afford some opposition, to oppose some barrier, against that recurrence 01 that continuously encroaching democratic influence in this country which is bent on throwing the whole authority of the country norni nalle into the haves of the masses, practically into the hands of demagogues and republicans, who exercise an influence over those unthinking masses? Will you support a Go vermin:n which is determiued to resist that thing, runs and obnoxious influence, to preserve the influence and prerogative of toe Crown, tee rights of your Lord ships House, and the liuerties of a freely-elected House of Commune ?" Now, how any man of common sense could say the House of Commons was freely elected, and fairly repres rated the opinion of the people, he c uld not imagine. Toe fact was the very reverse. The Noble Lord went on to say—" These are the questions on which, when I go to the country to make my appeal on behalf sit myself and my colleague, I claim to use the words which the worst !elute who stands in the prisoner's dock has a right to em ploy, but which I do not deem unworthy of the First eli- Mater of the Crown of the first nation iu the world, and to say I elect to be tried by God and my country." He would tell the Noble Lord that he (Mr. Hume) was not one who wished to put down the institutions of the country. He had too often stated the estimation in which he bed. those institutions, and was convinced that if properly acted upun.they would carry out the great object of good govern ment— the happiness of the greatest number. What were the institutions of which the country was so proud? First, there was the Queen, the head of the Executive ; then there WAS the House of Lords, standing perhaps between the impetuosity of the people, and, it might be, the tyranny et the Crown. He considered that body to be wisely c,n stituted for the benefit of the community at large, and a barrier against that hasty and inconsiderate legislation which might be carried on by means of popular agitation, He did not wish to infringe upon their great and just privileges; but he wished to confrere the Peers to their legitimate privileges , and did not like to see them interfere witu the other legisla tive chamber. The House of Commons belonged to the people, but he would ask if there was one man in the House who would say that. it was a full and fair representation o f the mass of the people? If nu man had the courage to do that, teen he would say let the s 3 stem be condemned. BY the law every man in this country was entitled to election , but they were not allowed to elect any persons but those pos sessing landed estates. In Scotland, however, no such quali ficatiou was required, and he aid not see why the same rule should not be applied to the other parts of the kingdom', He complained et the interference of men of wealth, of Peers, with the election of Members of the House of Com mons—he complained that the mass of the community were nut represented, and asked the House to remedy the grounds u o s f t." minds ati c complaint knt.hatdbeb ewhichepneni made excited uled. present anomalous state of things, and to remove those e onl iseo himselfmenun cil considered da dissatisfaction d those thatw who i3O veryt,li which ie t h hueu :revailed. Wise nien ought in times of wished to prevent any °anger arising from the discontent peace and %wetness to remove the causes of discontent ev eict e,, T;g t e that no one knew when a storm might arise. Should such a teeing arise as that which existed in 1842 and 1843, when a million of artisans were out of employment, much stronger claims would be brought forward, and the most serious con sequences might ensue. He found that in 1792, Lurd Grey —the then Lurd Grey, nut the present—(A la gh)—wee commissioned by the so-called Association of the k needs of the People, consisting of some of the must distinguished Peers and many of the most estimable men in society, to present a petition in which the Legislature was asked to grant several reforms, namely, an extension of the suffrage to all house holders, limitation of Parliaments to three years, and an alteration iu the qualification of Members. The Pe' titioners stated that at that day the House of Coin mous did not fully and fairly represent the people el England in a manner consistently with what they believed to be the rights of the people. They complained that the electoral franchise was so unequally distributed, and in so many instances ceratnitted to bodies of men of ve i l limited numbers, that the majority of the House of Com mons was elected by less than io,ooo electors. Now, such was the nature of the complaints that were made at that day, and if Hon. Members would refer to the debates they would find that the very same objections which were alleged at that time against granting reform were those that were now urged in certain quarters, and therefore he was very anxious that the opinions of such men as the Duke of Richmond and Mr. Lsurbton, which were there stated, should not now b e overlooked. The Duke of Mainland stated that one of the securities of the House of Commons was that it should be a representative body freely chosen by the PeeP le themselves, independent of the Crown and of the aristo cracy, and amenable at short i n t erva l s to t h e judgment Of e the constituents. Mr. Lambt on sa id : " Th e example and situation situation of another kingd om are h el d out to d e t e r us f' e'' ; unovations of any kind. We sa y th at t h e re f orms which we in view are not inn ovations our intention is not le, destroy but to restore; not t o displace but to reinstate, VII" Constitution on its true b as i s aria legitimate grounds.' another occasion the Earl of Chatham declared in the Hen s° of Lords that what he meant by his advocacy of reform was , to infuse new life into the Con s tit u ti on; th a t his reasons i . favour of Parliamentary reform were grounded on an ex P e o e rience of twenty-six years, which, whether in or 0w... _ office, bad convinced him th a t the improvement of ,t tF . .. House of Commons by the restoration ot the rights oftiee people was the only remedy for that system of corrup w'' ...., which had brought the nation to disgrace and pove rt Y • (Hear.) In his (Mr. Hume'e) humble opinion the only means of enabling this country to b ear the cornPeli ti ere which would come upon it ere long fr om va rious quart _ot WAS by making that House fully and fairly to represir, the mass of the people, in order that the eeinunroe7- at large might acquire an interest in our nationa l P were perity by having those rights given to them which 1 - at now withheld.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord tat tl e ) tna the head of her Majesty's Government had stated other night that he should continue to support the o exten sion of the suffrage to all men who were wertee t b et e fit to exercise it. His (Mr. Hume's) answer at the ~e e had been that he would not accept as a favour what be rig mended as a tight, because he considered it to be the ett se of every free born Englishman to be represented ileseete, House, and he only drew the line of distinction where ! : y e . absolutely required it. The Noble Lord had very candies re admitted that no injurious results had followed from t _ no forms which had already taken place, and that all nien:' ere would give the question a moment's consideration must :t... rive at the conclusion that those reforms had been of !L e ry most advantage to the country during the extracte: 6 1 f changes that had been going on upon the continentad Europe. He (Mr. Hume) did not believe that BugleOUld would have remained quiet, or that the public peace been have been maintained, if the state of the country h ad th e the such in 1848 as the Noble L or d f oun d it in 183 1 . had, i n contrary, the change s i n t ro d uce d b y th e R e form Bill and that his opinion, checked the lawless march of democracy The law _ democratic progress could only be evil when it F less, since the people had as good a claim to ratted rights as any other class of the community. He reg ee _ ilia that the Noble Lord at the head of the Government . should have by have concluded his able speech on a recent occasione__,e saying that no progress could be made by the slavery towards obtaining their rights without deuger to other to every man that he was not prepared to give the suffrage were fit man who had a right to it, but only to those who worms et . to exercise it. He (Mr. Hume) would quote the ma of a very high authority with respect to what the right® the people were. Blackstone said that uponseek a for their the true cone and genuine principles of liberty every member o to have a man who was supposed to be a free agent ought eopie. munity, however poor, should have a vote, and that every voice in the election of the representatives of the poop Earl in 1831, and it had received the support of several that he Earl Grey and Lord John Russell ha: quoted that authority in distinguished names. It was upon such grounds_ t . If a (Mr. Hume) asked the House to eenceoe those rights. sense of inustice existed, how could any man rest one while the , injustice lasted; and he said that every fair to all ought to be ready to extent what was just. a tion end dis classes of the people, and thus prevent disaffection Member!, content.—( Hear, hear.) In the year .846, by 1e1 ,492 forming a majority in that House, were elected er Alernber. electors, giving an average of 450 electors for ev ete y ed -1- voters, Thus, one-filth part of the whole of the then registered nio.ority in_ amounting to 956,000 in number, might elect e J II would not the House of Commons.— Hear, hear. rest satisfied e would say but b quality between Scotland and England, him to be so • did seem to that the state of the representation with regard to electors trouble the House by referring to the lists to show the lee" w t top roperty, that a with e ee P e F • t Honourable and population, but also and he did intrea great injustice was committed,l unequal and so inconsistent, not only desire to carry out the remove the impediments and to institutions of this country, him in supporting his measure. to its prosperity, to t manufacturing country which was not Members, if they had the There was not in order to obtain the competitors, II ee for the manufacture of the best possible marcoduced.that House was the tax articles which p n ., of it country, through which every man ree in g naechi tribuion to the general stock tin order vying with its I mated his eon e t , ... on industry might be wisely managed, I t h a t those drntia4, the best possible machines, according to they ought t e all other ma nufacturers—(Hear)—and that the example 0 man done by removing the present inequalities. If only given their rights,andprotected in the men were were exercise of those rights, he would venture to say that they would exercise them properly. The industrious classes bore a tenfold proportion of taxation to that borne by the other ' classes of the community, and, therefore, in order to reform that House, and to enable it to perform its duty to the coun try, so as to make the laws and taxation just anuitable! could only be . they ought to give the people a share in electing bont and independent Members. Would any man tell him (M r ' Hume), looking at the exposure which had recently taken ' who had declared that, if he were put on a ille mittee of Inquiry, he would declare himself Pe a candidate become a Member of that liconusmes. gaily elected, that the representation of the t. P ex. was, in any degree, fair or just? After did that posure of St. Albans, and knowing as they lightest pre he could not conceive how any one, having the s he present the same system existed in at least ninety other boroughs' tence to be a reformer, could be satisfied with the an ex stat things.—(Hear hear.) Unless they mined o f the tension of the suffrage ;hey would leave on the treated, end people a conviction that they were unjustly inB 7 l p. , when times of danger came they would not jointheunjust' and unless the ballot were also given there would ht be t he port of those institutions which they believed to be tection for voters.—(Hear, hear.) Whatever tn, satisfied result of the division that evening, he was firmly xation of that before long, when they came to revise the ta w, ,en the the country, and to show the unjnst position in . n _ l a, Hole 1 1 :no Pee industrious classes were placed, they would appear in old be better state than that of serfs, and that then there Wv" a do to been en. n reason to regret that more attempts had not ~e crow + reform the House of Commons. As a friend to the to to the Peers, and to the House of Commons, ne e fit of and to pen reform. His wish was to remove injustice, see all classes of this country participate in the be e rs` e et of a excitement. those evils which might arise in times which he Wad by moving fur leave to bring in the B give, notice. begged to the motion, begg (Hear, hear, and cheers.) The Hon.illellnefmber concluded Sir J. WALINISLEY, in seconding down the congratulate congratulate his Hon. Friend w ho had j ust sat course' even earnestness with which he h ad p ursued his not enlY ' and on the evident progress whi c h he had made, heite)e -ece in the country, but in that blouse—( Heariready voted hundred and twenty Members of which had a did n nt in favour of his motion. He (Sir J. Walmsley) eatly in doubt that that number would very shortly be g . time—(Hear) —for the motion itself was founded frequentlyue had so Y The corrupt state of the representation creased, and he believed it to be merely seem to be A - been the subject of discussion that it would of __ eetie e most unnecessary to offer a word in suppor . t , of .Pe'eyee the evils of such a e , calculated to amend or to mitigate been ursued 'ttki tem. But the course which had P w eee the measures od ieterence to that question, and Noble Le' had been recently introduced by the , e . l , je .tua the Member for London, induced him (Si to t hose Walmsley) to offer some observations as . eby th e a qurest!on. :co:. tee' Noble Lord intro. great When the oleo great majority of the people. I had taken the opp e , uced his Bill, he (Sir J. Willene eY) world not haVe tee reforms which be believed to be earnest] desired . nity to state :Let lie belie -, ee that Subsequent quent events le!: support and confidence of the people. and he wA s c t l . to some extent justified that observation,_ . .. ea k i s w i _ glad to And that the li0 10 " 1 " 2 " 4 12*4 1132114 FRIDAY The LORD CHANCELLOR again repeated that he did not expect such an opposition as this to the present clause, especially as the view which he had taken of the existing law was perfectly accurate. Lord BROUGHAM objected to sending the Bill to a Se lect Committee, as he doubted if that proceeding would be productive of any benefit. The Bill then passed through Committee. THE EAST INDIA CO%IPANY'S CHARTER. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH inquired if the Noble Lord at the head of her Majesty's Government was prepared to fix a day for the consideration of the East India Com- pany's charter? The Earl of DERBY replied, that he had already stated he proposed to take the subject into consideration on Friday, April 2. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said, he had observed in one report, and in one only, of the remake in another place of the Right Hen. Gentlemen the President of the Board of Control, that it was his intention to state his views on the subject of the East India charter on proposing the Committee of Inquiry. He could hardly think his Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Hari's), who had been so short a time in office, could come to any final decision on so important a matter in such a limited period. It would be a great satisfaction to him to hear that his Noble Friend at the head of the Govern- ment was not prepared to commit himself to any specific arrangement or to the details of any measure in reference to the East India Government without full inquiry. The Earl of DERBY said he would state in general terms the course her Majesty's Government thought it expedient to take when he brought the subject before their Lordships, but that he would not feel justified in entering into details on that occasion, and that his observations would certainly be of a very general character. He was anxious that the Government should be guided in their final determination by the information which was to be derived from the labours of the Committees of Inquiry. THE IRISH DEBT. Lord MONTEAGLE moved for a Select Committee to which shall be referred the Treasury minutes providing for the debts due from the counties and unions in Ireland by the imposition of a consolidated annuity for a period not exceed ing forty years. He did not mean to find fault with the generosity or the prudence displayed by this country, and the Parliament of this country, with reference to the noble aid they had extended to Ireland, to enable her to meet the most distressing calamity that had ever befallen any country; but the subsequent arrangements which had been come to with reference to the re-payment of advances to Ireland itad been productive of great, if not permanent, inconvenience. One of the mistakes most often heard in discussion and met with in print was the assertion that money advanced to Ireland was to be regarded as a gift for the repayment of which it was useless to look ; whereas the fact really was, that of the various sums advanced to Ireland, under the Acts passed for the purpose within the last few years, and which sums it had been asserted were not vesy likely to be repaid, no less an amount than 6,065,879/. had been repaid. And since the poor. law had been introduced into Ireland, nOtwithcannA;ng th. npou ,Liu country, sums amount ing in the whole to upwards of 7,000,000/. sterling had been raised by Ireland out of her own resources for the relief of the distress afflicting her people. Owing to the peculiar circumstances of Ireland, and her being almost wholly an agricultural country, the agricultural calamity of a failure of crops had fallen on her with excessive hardship. The value of land between 1841 and 1851 in Ireland had exhibited a considerable decline. In the former year it was set down at 13,076,000/. ; in 1851 it had fallen to 11,580,000/.—a fall of 1,500,0001., or 10 per cent. on the whole. This decline in value had been experienced princi pally in Connaught and Munster, where, in a valuation of 5,199,0001., the fall was 1,026,0001. In like manner the population had greatly decreased. In the period between 1641 and 1851 it had decreased 20 per cent., or 1,600,000 souls. Emigration had no - doubt con tributed to that result; but the emigration was of a pre judicial character, for the persons emigrating carried away out of the country a greater amount of capital in pro portion to the capital of the whole country, than the number of persons emigrating bore to the whole population of the country. The consequence of this state of things was that the country felt most severely the amount of rate and local taxation, and that pressure was likely to be felt in augmented degree under the operation of the Treasury minute. The powers given to the Treasury were extravagant in their nature. The Act did not provide for any Parliamentary revision on the subject, and though objections were taken by certain Noble Lords, and himself amongst the number, they were precluded from proposing any amendment by the fact of its being a money Bill. The Act was passed on the 17th of May, and the first minute was issued on the 4th of June. That minute pointed out the mode in which the money was to be repaid, as well as established the machinery for its distribution ; and although the Treasury made the ad vances, and no account had been rendered the board of guardians, yet when these bodies, upon repayment being de manded, begged vespectfully to be informed of what the items consisted, the imputation was thrown out against them that they refused to pay their just debts. The Noble Lord then referred to the Labour-rate A.et, under which, he said, a debt was contracted to the extent of more than 2,000,0001.; but that debt was so excessive that no indi vidual in his senses could by possibility have dreamt that they would have the power of enforcing it. The ex penditure was not administered by any local authority whatever, but by officers of the Government, appointed by the Government, responsible to the Government, and acting under the direction and control of the Government; and there were some Noble Lords now present who well knew that, when the gentry, landowners, and occupiers felt it ne cessary occasionally to call the attention of Government to the abuses which were prevailing under the public-works system, so far were they from receiving any of their state ments with candour or courtesy, that they were directed to mind their own business.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) He granted that where there was such an army as 75,000 per sons employed, under the authority of 1,500 engineers and officers, abuses would arise! but he made no imputatioa on the gentlemen at the head of the Board of Public Works on that account, for the operations were, undoubtedly, beyond their management and control. Having observed that his object in proposing an inquiry was to ascertain whether the claims advanced were just claims, and in the next place in what manner the 4,000,0001. sterling had been expended, the Noble Lord concluded by moving the appointment of a Committee. The Earl of DERBY said, with regard to the proposition for the appointment of a Select Committee to consider the subject which his Noble Friend had brought under their Lordships' consideration, he (the Earl of Derby) had no ob jection whatever to make. His Noble Friend had stated very fairly the various charges which he had made against the powers conferred by the Act of Parliament on the Trea sury for carrying on public works in Ireland. In some of those charges he (the Earl o f D erby) was ready to agree. In the first place his Noble Frie nd had laid good ground for, at all events, questioning the propriety of th a t p or ti on of the Act which gave encouragement to an extraordinary expen diture on the part of the unions, the effect of which would enable those unions to evade the just repayment of their debt to the Treasury, n o me ant that provision of the Act which declared that the p a yment of the annuity should cease whenever the rates, not only in th e un i on , b u t i n an y particular division of the union, should reach to a certain amount. That was a point which deserved consideration. Another point was also deserving of consideration, namely, whether there might not be some allowance made in those cases where there had been a considerable and unavoidable waste of money, and where the works themselves had not been of a beneficial character, nor under the control of any local authority; though, at the same time, they were works undertaken to give employmen t to and to keep alive large portions of the population , who, if such works had not been undertaken, would have been left unemployed and in a state of utter deetitution. He (the Earl of Derby) also concurred with his Noble Friend in the opinion that it was but right, when charges were made by the Government against any particular unions fur the repayment of advances, that a full account of the particulars of those charges should be furnished. What should be deemed a satisfactory account would be matter of consideration for the Committee. No doubt the Commit tee would fairly examine into the case of each union, and weigh the facts deliberately, both on one side and the other. He was glad to hear his Noble Friend state that there was no intention on the part of Ireland to alrseklatoordaforerjustly due from the people of Lad actually received valise. On the other hand, he (the Earl of Derby) could assure his the hic h debtthe they a Noble Friend that the Government was quite prepared to give full consideration to the nature of the claims arising oat of charges over which the population of Ireland had net m th iss at io f n or of w been able to exercise any controul ; and to make all due al lowance for any abuses which had prevailed in the expendi ture of the money which had been advanced to meet those charges. At the same time, he must beg their Lordships to bear in mind that, if there had been abuses in the expenditure of those advances, there had, on the other hand, been very large sums expended which had produced great good to the people of Ireland. This fact ought to be set against any misapplication of moneys which might in other instances have occurred. It was not because they might prove that in certain parts of Ireland abuses had prevailed, that, there fore, there existed a claim on the part of the whole of Ireland for a remission of those advances. To the extent of the abuses he admitted there existed a claim to consideration, but, on the other side, equal fairness demanded that where great aid had been supplied to the people of Ireland in their utmost need, on those portions of the country the Govern ment had claims for repayment which neither justice nor equity could resist. It would be the duty of the Committee to be appointed to examine and sift these accounts, and strike a balance fairly and justly between the parties. Having done so, it would then be their duty to report to their Lordships the result, with a view to some further Par liamentary provision being made on the subject. The Noble Earl concluded by saying he had no opposition to make to the present motion. The Earl of GLENGALL thought the appointment of a Committee would be regarded with satisfaction in Ireland. 'There was a debt of 4,500,0004 to be paid by the Irish peo ple; but 7,500,0001. were claimed, including interest—inte rest at rather a Jewish rate. It was morally impossible for Ireland to sustain the enormous load of taxation imposed on her. There were counties where 55., 65., or 7s. in the pound were charged. 58., 65., or 75., in the pound ! Why, where was the pound? The pound was not there. Whole tracts of land were left without a beast upon them, or without a blade of corn. He spoke of counties in the west of Ireland espe cially. They could not support their poor, though they levied as much as possible off the face of the earth. Nobody would buy in those counties. An Encumbered Estates Act was in vented for the purpose of bringing new settlers to those parts. Those were the very parts to which new settlers had not gone. A plantation must have been established consist ing of new people, and no difficulty in carrying out the un ertaking would now arise from the necessity of supplanting the old population, for the whole population were either gone to America or were dead. The rates levied were no test of the wants and requirements of the poor. Last year there were 780,000 persons in the workhouses, a greater number absolutely than in 1848. Pauperism might be said to be increasing. Nobody wanted labourers, because the cultivation of grain had been given up. The people were therefore compelled to go into the workhouses, where they died exactly at the rate of a thousand a-week. And no wonder; for they got one meal of that nasty filth called Indian corn," which produced dysentery. That was what was called supporting the poor through the system of Mr. Nichols, which had been so lauded as an admirable system. The existing state of matters was attributable, he repeated, to the want of employment— to that " displacement of la bour " to which Sir R. Peel alluded when he said he did not believe so large a number of persons could be reduced to _ indigence and destitution by any cause as "by a au dea d displacement of so large an amount of labour were em ployed in the cultivation of wheat." There and 139,000 acres under wheat cultivation in Ire f 1 300,0001. less in 1850 than in 1847, involving a valu e o From 1841 to 1845 there were transported frosal6rel an d to to England 14,600,000 quarters of grain ; frost 184 uarlterBso there were exported in like manner 7,b00, 000 cireceding e xactly one-half of the quantity exported in the .1845,p was period. The deport of flour from I reland, in C o ming to 775,0•0 quarters; in 1850, 168,000 quarters. the great trade in bacon, the House woulds find, only that, 09,000. in 1847, I Ireland exported 480 , 000 pigs ; and, in 150 01 or 4,000,0(91. . The loss might be estimated at 3 ° l)o° i nh had involved annually. In the salt provision trad e, wh. St contracts were hundreds of thousands of pounds , t ie gre