The Sun. — London, England, 1848-04-14 00:00:00

I eight being Catholic towns, whilst Protestant town:.: were exempted from the tax, it could not fail to bs looked on as a symbol of religious intolerance. T h e a mount of thi s source of income had increased aitee 1838 , and it was now about 14,0001. !N.; e -1113 urn; but one cause of that was that the municipal franchise could not be obtained in Ireland without pay ing this t ax , m i n i sters ' money; t h e m iserable municipal f ranchise could not be enjoyed without this payme nt ; a nd if a ref orm i n t h e Municipal Act took pla e during this session, and that such a reform rendered that pay aie nt unnecessary, th en it m u s t follow that the Protestan clergy would be deprived of a large amount of their in come, inasmuch as the same motive for paying it would sot exist on the part of the Catholics. The Governm en. had already settled the latter qut stion, because it had l i•wainted such an importance that it was desirable to settle it in order to avoid the shedding of blood; and W ould the G overnment re f use j u stice to the eight tow n . which p a id m i nisters ' money, because t h ose e i g ht town,. were not p ower f u l enoug h to ma k e a s i m ilar resistance to that which was made by the whole country agai nst the Pgyaient of tithes ? The grievance of paying this tsz on the part of the Catholics was very con siderable, and had been admitted by Lord Stanley an d Lord Eliot in the House of Commons ; anti feel ing that it wa s one which ought to be removed he , th (Mr ' F agan) had prepared a substitute for throe 'Mount. Th e E cc l es i a stical Commission had made „ A " ulggestions ; but the first two were in ex p edient, an d ne ther e f ore a d opte d t h e t hi r d. The Ecclesiastical t mtiraissioners in Ireland obtained their revenue from a Ea uPon the incom ot the bishops and clergy of the tablished Churc h es ; but any mode of providing a sub atitute analogo ur . to that would not be advisable. The aceond proposition of the Commissioners was equally in caPedient, an d he would there f ore su ggest that, us the re venue of the Eccl e si a stical Commissioners was ra p idl y i ncreasing by the demise of the holders of benefices and prebends which were to cease under the Church Tempo. vide Act a sufficient surplus might be obta ined to p ro " a substit ute f or t h e 13,0001. or 14,0001. at present Wai n l eo g from the ministers' money. All he asked was to bri ng i n a Bi l l on t h e su bj e ct. The present. as I well as former G overnmen t s , h a d recognised the exits ttliec_e of the gr i evance, an d h e therefore considered that he re could not be any objection to giving it a first readin e et especially as such a course would not bind the grievance would be an earnest to the people of Ireland that the British Legislature intended to devote its atten tionr. to the permanent welfare of that country. atibveir Y s IteSOMERVILLE said that he could not forbear able 'lin g"' fall to the temperate tone adopted by the Honour. ~Geniteman. He had not heard one single word b ee rope his lips calculated to give offence to any Mem s"4 the House. He was quite aware that different _e!eretaries of Ireland had been moat anxious to remove 4 " e i r cause of complaint. Lord Stanley, the Earl of St. the Ger ma ns, and Lord Lincoln were amongst the number. the (Sir Wm. Somerville) was also most anxious upon Cler g y subject. He had several communications with the u l l e a r n g i Y mo o u f 91e Established Church, who were almost d O e „i er !Y in favour of some change being adopted. One had indeed gone so far as to commurn cnaeteeetofhim the heads of a Bill for such a purpose; but factor ° the plans which they had seen proposed a satis th t y substitute for the present plan, nor did he think a the Honourable Member for Cork had been more fortunate than those who preceded him. The effect of b imm ediate aboliti o n of the present system might to m a k e a present of so muc h m oney to dewners, whil s t th e p oo r proprietors would not ourriveo the any benefit. H e h a d not abandoned the ho p e intention of effecting some remedy for this gr.i!vance. Certain returns were at present o rdered which would throw additional light upon the eubjee.t Li e Would, therefore, ask his Honourable F riend not to Perseve re in his motion ; by doing so, he would not adv ance, his c ause . Th e Honourable Member for t he University of Dublin (Mr. Hamilton) cad given notice °f a motion in the shape of an amendment ; but he (Sir W. Somervill e ) did not consider that the terms of it e ., went far en oug h. If, however, the motion of the Honourabl e Member for Dublin (Mr. R e y nolds) was agreed t O . , he would give the subject his most anxious attention Mr. HAMILTON concurred in praising the temper ate tone adopted by the Hon. Member for Cork ; he tould not, however, agree in supporting the abolition of ' this tax, from which the clergy of the Established Church drew their almost exclusive support. He ad. witted that some change was desirable, but the effect of the abolition of ministers' money would be to raise the rents of those houses which formerly paid them, thereby increasing the rents of the owners. Since the tax was first imposed property had changed Very much, and, consequently, the tax had become unequalled. He was witting to consent to the extension of the labours of the Committee, but he cou ld not con- Sent to the introduction of any words into the motion tending to the abolition of ministers money, or to that fund being supplied by the appropriation of any of the revenue of the established church of Ireland. He moved 1 .5 an amendment —That a Select Committee be ap- Pointed, to consider and report upon the state and °Peration of the laws respecting ministers' money in Ireland, and to report whether any and what amend ments in those laws would be expedient. • The question having been put, Dr, POWER thought that his Honourable Friend would have gone far enough, had be contented himself with pointing out the injustice and inequality of the impost in question, and then leaving it to Ministers to find out some substitute. As at present levied, the tax was putting the clergymen of the English Church into false position, and one from which they were most anxious to be relieved. Considering the immense re venues of the Church, it would be hard indeed unless ttoe substitute for ministers' money could be found. • Was it not hard that people who made such exertions as the Irish did to support the religion which they believed inbe the true one , s h ou ld be taxed to support a ehurct. In the doctritses of which they did not concur. England Ireland Scotl an d were f ree f rom a ny such impositions, and 4r eland ought not to stand alone in the single deformity of having to support so anomalous a burden. Viscount BERNARD doubted whether the revenues of the Catholic Church were at all of that volunta r e character which the Hon. Gentleman who had spoken last had invested them with. As to the question now - b efore the House, ho thought the proposal of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman the Member for the Uni versit y of Dublin was one likely to afford an arrangement re sPecting the subject. It was truo the valuation by which the LUX was collected was an old one , and fe ll heavil y on the poor; but were they to abolish min isters' mone y tueY would be leaving a large body of clergymen un Provided for. It was proposed to apply as a substitute aolue portion of the funds of the Established Church, • but those funds were not sufficient for the actual and Present wants of the Church.—(Loud cries of " Oh, oh.") Why the Commissioners had stated that such Wes the fact to Lord Heytesbury.—(Oh, oh.) He hoped that in place of this discussion a Committee would be appointed, before whom the subject would be fully and fairly discussed. The real grievance relating to minis tens' money was, that it was a tax necessary to be paid in order to confer the municipal franchise. He re Reated that be was ready to agree to the motion for the select Committee, on the sole and simple undentanding, th at no pledge, direct or ineirect, should be given. touching the revenues of the Irish Church. He sap ported that Church as the great prop of the union.— (" Oh. oh," from Mr. Hume) The Hon. Member for kl,.natros e might cheer, but be supported it also upon tbaigher groun d s, b ecause h e b e li eve d i n hi s consc i ence That it was the true Church, and that the object of its 9PPenente was to abolish it for the purpose of establish ing the Church of Rome in its place.—(Oh, oh.) lIUME could not at all agree with the opinions or sentiments of the Noble Lord who had just spoken. 7',° (Mr. Hume) most delibera ely declared his opinion ;mkt but f or t h e P ro t e stant Chur c h in Ir e l an d, m a i n • thatagainst the wishes of the majority of the people. __ country would not be in her present state of :Tier/ and destitution.—(Hear, hear.) He believed that Church to ,have been the principal cause of her evils, and that no peace or order could be expected in Irel an d t ill i t h a d cease d to ex i st. That t i me, although . Might not live to see, would soon arrive. —(Hear.) They had heard statements to the effect that distresses had been made on the miserable effects of the poor, and that their very beds and blankets had been taken to pay this money. So great were these evils, that the clergy themselves objected to this rate. It was certain the people did so; and if the statement as to the clergy Were true, there was no reason why this impost should be continued, opposed as it was to the wishes of both parties. If the sentiments of the Noble Lord were to be . taken as the type of the feeling of his class in Ireland. he (Mr. Hume) would indeed despair of that country. —(Llear, hear.) This was an English and a Scotch, as well as an Irish question ; and the people would soon find out the folly and expense of sending 30,000 or 40,000 bayonets to Ireland to maintain those who thought with the Noble Lord, and to maintain the Protestant Church Establishment. Most deeply did he regret that when Government, in 1833, reformed the Church Establishment and did away with cess money, they did not remove this impost also. They were asking for measures of coercion towards Ireland ; but it would o be well to consider in how fart they were them" ve!the cause of agitation and distalebance there, by question g to remove just grounds of complaint. This el an e we had been often before the House, and more the Ministry of the day had admitted the grievances complained of. Why should they build churches for which there were no congregations? — (Hear, hear.) ne cessary, for the p l - l ie o itt ur d He did not consider a Committee was fully informed of the nature of the evils' to hear the Governmer?f—(llear, hear)—and:he trusted matter make their first t say that they would in this hear)—that they wouhreaee-offering to Ireland—(Hear, remove those evils, and declare their intention out ''noe: the surplus revenues of the Church to the educationroasne d interests of the people. Mr. REYNOLDS then nosed following occurrence, with _ MR. O'CONNOR . The SPEAKER called the attention of the House to O' the order of the day, that Mr. Conno r be ordered know o attend in his place forthwith. It was desirable to whether the order had been served on the Hon. Member.w —(Hear.) He called on tha Sergeant t o state whether the order had been served. The Sergeant at Arms informed the Home that the order had been served. Mr. Gossett. the mossenger, having been called, Mr. SPEAKER.—Have you served the order of the House on Mr. O'Connor, the Hun. Member for Not tingham ?—I have. Mr. SPEAKER —When was the order served ?—At twenty minutes before seven o'clock. Mr. SPEAKER—Did the Hon. Member express any intention to obey the order of the House ; he did not Mr. SPEAKER—Where was the order served I— the office of the Northern Star. Mr. SPEAKER—Did you iee him personally I—l w himselt • Mr. SPEAKER—When you served the order, - did he make no answer ?—He did. Sir R. IL INGLIS— What , was his answer ?—(Cries of "Order :") I believe lam entitled by the rules of the House to ask that question ?--Ile asked what would oe the consequence if he did not attend. Mr. SPEAKER—What chi you say ?—I told him th a t quite depended on the pleasure of the House. Mr. SPEAKER—You may withdraw. Sir G. GREY—In consequence of the statement just made by the messenger who served the order of the House on the Hon. Member for Nottingham; I have to move, in accordance with the invariable practice of the !louse e hen an Honourable Member is ordered to at end in his place, and declin es to com p l y with the order, That Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., Member for Notting having having attend t h the e s House order beenratihi with, b ee n duly orde servedordered t° wit having neglected to attend accordingly, be taken into custody by the Sergeant-at-Arms attending the House." Mr. HUME suggested that the lion. Member might he directed to attend to morrow.—(Cries of " No, no.") Sir G. GREY observed that two hours had elapsed since the order had been served; and, if the Hon. Mem ner for Nottingham had any intention of attending he would probably have done so. If he (Sir G. Grey) re collected aright, the statement of the messenger was, that it was not the intention of the Hon. Member to attend. When the Hon. Member was taken into cus tody it would nip -ar what was the real state of the eas?; an.), should the House then see fit to discharge him from custody, nothing would have happened to in terfere, at least, with his Parliamentary duties. The motion was then aereed to. MINISTERS' MONEY. Sir R. INGLIS then resumed the debate on the mo tion for a Committee on ministers' money in Ireland. The Hon. Member for Cork had used expressions im plying that the exaction of ministers' money made it a question whether the ministers of the Church of Ireland were ministers of Mammon or ministers of Christ. Mr. POWER had not spoken of those ministers in such terms as the Hon. Baronet supposed. What he had said was that their position had a tendency to make the people look upon them in that light. Sir R. INGLIS thought the Hon. Gentleman had used the expression historically. What was the nature of ministers' money? It was a tax upon the locality; and, whether raised from Roman Catholics or Protes tants, it was raised without reference to the respective creeds of the parties. Sir G. GREY regretted that much larger and wi , ter questions had been introduced into the discussion than the motion properly demanded. There was a practical grievance which was admitted to exist both by those who received and by those who paid ministers' money. This was not the first time the question had been brought before the House. In 1844, when the Right Hon. Gen tleman opposite was in office, a similar motion was agreed to: and it was distinctly admitted that the subject was one worthy of the attention of her Majesty's Govern ment. The then Secretary for Ireland stated that their attention had been directed to it, but that they had not yet succeeded in framing a satisfactory measure. Lord Stanley, then a Member of this House, expressed a hope that in the course of the next session they would be able to propose a remedy. The next session passed ever without a remedy being found. The present Go vernment, he was afraid, had not been more successful than their predecessors. The Hon. Member for the Uni versity of Dublin had urged inquiry on behalf of the recipients ; the Member for the city of Dublin on the part of the payers, had also sought inquiry. The Hon. Member for the University of Dublin seemed to object to that part of the motion which implied that sums ought to be taken for the purposes to which ministers' money was now applied out of the funds at the disposal of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Instead of point ing at some particular fund, he (Sir G. Grey) would pro pose that the Committee should be appointed to inquire whether any and what fund existed which might be applied to the purposes of ministers' money." Mr. REYNOLDS denied that the proposition for a Select Committee to inquire into and report the nature, amount, and appropriation of ministers' money in Ire land, with a view of ascertaining whether any other, and what fund, could be made available for that pur pose, could be called an attack upon the temporalities tiny more than upon the spiritualities of the Protestant. Church. He objected to this ministers' money for two reasons : first, because persons who professed the Roman Catholic religion, the Presbyterian religion, and other creeds into which our common Christianity was divided, were compelled by law to support a religion they dissented from.; He thought the surplus revenue in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners could be made to furnish this 12,0001. Secondly, he objected to the tax on account of its gross inequality. In the city of Dublin it operated most unjustly, because the houses in the old and decayed parts of the city, formerly of great value, were taxed high, whereas, in the modern, but more valuable parts, the houses were taxed upon a reduced scale. The former were likewise occupied by Roman Catholics (the poorer portion of the population) and the latter by Protestants, so that the injustice was doubled. He asked both sides of the House whether it was worth while to maintain an impost so small in amount, so unjust in its nature, and so insulting to those who were not in communion with the Church of Eng land. Tf.e tax had another and a more obnoxious fea ture; no man in any borough could enjoy the municipal ' :ratichise unless he paid this tax. He thought the reso lution should be withdrawn, and the proposal of the . Right Honourable Gentleman, which was consented to by the Honourable Gentleman the Member for the Uni versity of Dublin, agreed to. Mr. MONSELL hoped the Hon. Member for Cork would persevere in his motion. The injustice of the tax was admitted, and where was the necessity for inquiry ? It inquiry had been proposed into the whole ecclesiasti cal grievances of Ireland, he could have seen the pro priety of it, but inquiry into this particular grievance was not required. Mr. NAPIER said the real question was, whether a portion of the property of the Protestant Church of Ire land was to be altogether abolished.—(No, no.) He maintained that this wasvirtually an attack on the Church Establishment of the United Kingdom; but he stood upon the ground that the Protestant Church of Ireland ought to be at all hazards maintained. MR. FEARGUS O'CONNOR. Tho Sergeant-at- Arms now appeared at the table, and intimated that the Speaker's order had been ex eauted, and that Mr. Feargus O'Connor was now in custody. Sir G. GREY rose and said—Sir, I move that Mr. Feargus O'Connor be discharged out of the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms, in order that he may attend in his place in this House. The SPEAKER then put the motion, which was agreed to. Mr. O'Cormou immediately afterwards entered the House and took his seat. The SPEAKER—Mr. O'Connor, the House has been given to understand that an expression fell from you previous to your leaving this House, in the discus sion of the report of the Committee on Petitions, from which the House is bound to suppose that there was an intention on your part to take hostile proceeding, against an Hon. Member of this House, the lion. Mem ber for Cirencester, for words spoken in the heat of de bate. I hope you will be able to state to the noust. that it is not your intention to take any such proeeeii ings. It is my duty to inform you that the Hon. Mem ber for Cirencester has already expressed his regret that any language should have fallen from him calculated ,f' gave offence, and that it was not his intention to make use of any unparliamentary expressions; and, at th. same time, I feel called upon to say that, if those ex pressions had reached my ear, I should have deemed it icy duty to call upon the Hon. Member to explain at tht time. As you were not in the House when the Hon. Member for Cirencester expressed his regret, I think it is only due to you to call on him to state in your pre sence what he has stated in your absence. Mr. CRIPPS—Sir, I have just to say that I felt, as ' a member of the Committee, that my conduct was directly impugned when I heard imputed to that Com tnittee conduct of which I knew them to be wholly in capable. I have taken a deep interest in the proceed ings of the Committee, and therefore I perhaps felt the more warmly; but I deeply regret if I have exceeded the line of a Member of Parliament's duty, and the respect due from one Member of this House to another, and from one gentleman to another.—( Hear, hear.) I never in any respect meant to impugn the word of any Hon. Member; but if I have on this occasion, by anything that I have said, left that impression. I deeply regret it. —(hear. hear.) I shall now say, that this is the first time in the whole course of my life I have been betrayed into saying a single word that was capable of injuring the feelings of any individual.—(Cheers.) Mr. O'CONNOR—Sir, I beg to exculpate you alto gether from the nonperformance of your duty; and for this reason, that the words I made use of were,—that I had three duties to pert ' orm• one to the House, the other t o th e C omm i ttee, and the third to myself; hat, as regarded the House, I hoped they would beingb iev e p r m a e c t sheadt uponcou t h h i e n m o t be a ; that, t y to o the any Committee, Inra delusion ttee, so far from casting any imputation on them, I said there was none whatever chargeable against them. I stated in words as distinct as man could use, that I had done what was my duty to the House and the Corn mittee, and without further observations I then left the House. I am proud to say that after being in this House in many tempestuous scenes, and lived a life that might have brought me into frequent collisions with others, I have never uttered a word that could give offence to any individual.—(Hear, hear.) On the contrary, I have studiously avoided doing so; but I thinktthat any Mem ber of this House, placing himself in my situation, would say I was unworthy of holding a seat here if I had not resented the words which were employed. At the same time I am ready to accept the apology which has been made for the unparliamentary language, especially after the concluding observations made by the Hon. Member. —(Hear, hear.) The excitement arising out of this matter being over, I shall entirely forget any insult I may have received. I am not capable of foster ing anitnosty or permitting any feeling of the kind to rankle in my breast ; but I have a higher duty than even that to perform to myself and the persons whom I represent here. After the ex pression of feeling I have heard this night, it is my duty to state that I will abandon my motion for to-morrow, and that I shall not found any motion on that petition, hut shall leave the question to be settled between the Government and the country, and between the Com a be with m o itt t e m e_and those who sent the petition. I had no reason tht. the statement I made to the House, nor would consent t l h L a n t i. h m ow e e m v in bee r Y r itm tised. But one thing I may state fairly and frankly, ay that any delusion should be prac presents to the 110 use, proesreu(el i t i o wc b , e the duty of every scrupulously to examine every petition he House, and the Hon. Member for ln r sb w ur h y7 signed by 3 .373 ; 000 his place, never saw tPhearstopues i w iti as laid on the floor of this n a ot p n e o ti w tit i in n the fluor. It was physically Olt until it was so laid on impossible, then, for him to see all the signatures, or be in a situation to wary the House as to the entire accuracy of that petition.— (Hear, hear.) I state this to show that I was not wil lingly a party to any delusion, and that I could not by possibility avert that with which I was charged. I am glad I did not allow myself to be led away by that ex citement which the Hon. Member presumes I was the cause of, when he says the veracity of the Committee had been impugned ; and now, as he has performed hie. duty as a gentleman and a Member of Parliament, I will per form mine, and I tell him that he is in error if he sup poses that I cast any imputation on the Committee. — (Hear, hear.) Having now shown that there was no foundation for the charge made against me, I have estab lished better grounds for the retraction of that charge. MINISTERS' MONEY. Mr. N APIER then resumed his observations in refer ence to the motion on this subject. He took his stand on the Act of Union, and asked a Protestant House of Commons not to agree to the proposition now made to it, which would have the effect of weakening the Pro testant Church in Irelarul. He asked the House where, but for the Established Church, would be the connexion between the two countries? The Protestants of Ireland did not send Members there to declaim against England or to denounce Imperial policy. He thought that any inconvenience or irregularity in the mode of levying or assessing the tax should be rectified. He had no objec tion to make it just and fair, to transfer it like the rent charge from the occupier to the owner, or to assent to any proposal for its amendment which did not involve its total abolition. _ _ Mr. SIIEIL made great allowance for the vehemence of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman who had just addressed the House, having come hot and reeking from the hustings of the University of Dublin, but the Honourable Gentleman would forgive him for telling him that many who had heard him would lament the resignution of the Right Honourable Frederick Shaw. The Honourable Gentleman was mistaken in supposing that the proposition made to-night for the abolition of ministers' money involved the abolition of any part of the Church property. It did not. It was not proposed by any man in that House to de prive a single Protestant clergyman, performing duties in the respective towns of Ireland charged with mini sters' money, of a single shilling of his revenue. Nay, more, it was not proposed that the successors of the actual incumbents should be deprived of their revenue, because the clergy in the great towns of Ireland were not sinecurists; they had real duties to perform; and he was not acquainted with a single Roman Catholic gen. tleman who held that a Protestant clergyman ought not to be paid in a manner most fully commensurate with the functions he had to discharge.—(Hear, hear.) The real question to be considered was, whether a most obnoxious tax—admitted to be so on all hands—might not be abolished consistently with the principles preferred by Hon. Members on the other side of the House. In his judgment the ecclesiastical fund in the hands of the Commissioners was fully adequate to discharge every purpose to which it had been applied, and might be used in the same way as it was employed for the pur pose of removing church-cess, an impost of the most grievous and galling kind. By the Church Tempo ralities Act it was provided that churob-cess should be abolished, yet that impost was not of so obnoxious a character as this, it being a charge at com mon law, whereas this was statutory. The Act pro vided that churches should be built, small livings aug mented, and diocesan schoolmasters supplied with the means of livelihood, and that without trenching on church property. Could it possibly be maintained that they would be alienating church property, when they proposed to apply to an ecclesiastical purpose the same fund which was used for other ecclesiastical purposes? He did not coincide with his Right Hon. Friend the 'ecetary for Ireland, when he said he did not believe the Eccesiastical fund could be used in substitution for the impost. Sir W. SOMERVILLE—I never said anything of the kind. Mr. SHEIL begged pardon, and was glad to find he was mistaken. He had the accounts before him, and they furnished this statement. The Ecclesiastical Com missioners were authorised by Act of Parliament to borrow 100,000/. from the Board of Works; that the debt had been reduced to 40,000/ ; last year they paid 10,000/. in liquidation of that debt. What, then, was it requisite to do? To leave the debt of 40,000/. standing, to pay the interest of that at five per cent., and to .bolish ministers' money until a new fund should arise. But there was a new fund as it was.. The Eccle siastical Commissioners stated in their last report that upon the death of the present Bishop of Clogher their unds would be augmented by the sum of 8,6801. a year. Why should they not pay the interest on that debt, and abolish ministers' money? On the death of the Bishop of Clogher they would come into the receipt of 8,8601. a year ; and why should they not then be able to re plenish the coffers of the Established Church ?—(Hear, hear.) If this was practicable, why should the abolition of so odious an impost be stigmatised as robbery of the Established Church? The Church Temporalities Act might be amended, and ought to be amended. Was the House, was the country, aware that by the Church Temporalities Act larger revenues were secured to the Bishops of Ireland than to the Bishops of England?— (Hear, hear.) It was understood that the Bishops of England were to receive no more than 5,0004 a year. But how were the Irish Prelates paid? Take the case of the Archbishop of Armagh. Before the enacting of ;he Act in question, his revenue was 16,0001. a year. It had been reduced by the Act, but it still amounted to as large a sum as 12,0001. That, to be sure, was the case of an Archbishop. But take the case of the Bishop of Derry. When that prelate was appointed, it was stipulated that he should acquiesce in any terms which the Government might 'link fit to propose. The condition they imposed was , hat he should pay 4,0004 a year into the ecclesiastical fund. The balance, however, was worthy of acceptance, The splendid residue amounted to 8,000/. a year, and ;hat sum was secured to him and his successor. Not ono shilling would ho (Mr. Sheil) take from that meritorious Christian bishop—(Laughter)—but he was most decidedly of opinion that the revenue of his suc cessor ought to be curtailed—(Htar, hear)—and so it should be with all the Irish bishoprics. The revenues of the Irish bishops exceeded those of the English. Was he to be told that that anomaly ought to continue? Assuredly it ought not. But to go back to the tax. there was a remarkable historical fact connected with it, which showed how obnoxious and detestable it had ever been considered. The circumstance had been already referred to by the Hon. Member for Cork; but as the House was thin at the time, he would make no apology t o e repeating the allusion. The Catholic Parliament of James 11., following the example of the ProtestantParlia• went that had gone before it, seized the whole of the Church property for Catholic purposes. The property of the Protestant Church was transferred to Catholic priests. But what was done with ministers' money? Was it too transferred to the priests? No; the Act of James 11. expressly recited that ministers' money was not recognised by the common law, that it was imposed by statute, that it was a grievous imposition, and in conformity with the wishes of all parties it was de clared to be abolished for ever.—(hear, hear.) The thorn was small, but it was attended with peculiar ex acerbation.—(Hear, hear.) He would advocate its entire abolition. lie was as convinced as that he was speaking ;hat moment, that unless the ecclesiastical institutions of Ireland were modified, unless Government dealt boldly and promptly with respect both to the Protestant and the Catholic Churches, wretched, paltry, and temporary neasures of amelioration might be applied; but that for he evils of Ireland they would not be able to devise an frective cure.—(Hear, hear ) Mr. CALLAGHAN supported the motion. The tax vas Mt to be a badge of servitude, and a galling injus tice; and in the name of the Irish people, he called on the House to abolish it altogether. Mr. GROGAN objected to the mode of settlement suggested by the Right lion. Gentleman the Master el the Mint. It would not do to abolish minister's money, and to substitute pay ment out of the ecclesiastical fund. that fund was already a portion of the revenues of the Church, and if it were to be applied to other purposes than those to which it was at present allecated, in order that ministers' money might be abolished, it was clear that the 12,0001. a year now received under that head would be alienated from the Church. Mr. M. J. O'CONNELL was of opinion that the tax was a grievance in principle, and that it was inflicted under circumstances which aggravated its injustice, the burden being heaviest on these towns where Catholics most abounded. Mr. J. O'CONNELL did not rise to reply to the heroics of the lion. and Learned Member for the Uni versity of Dublin (Mr. Napier), but merely to say, that if the Right lion. Gentleman the Master of the Mint intended, by anything that had fallen from him that night, to advocate the pensioning of the Catholic clergy, he for one would not give his assent to any such proposi tion. He considered the tax a gross injustice, and therefore would vote for its abolition ; but he did not want to have the revenue that was realised from it trans• ferred to the clergy of his own Church. Mr. FAGAN replied. lie belie►ed that an inquiry before a Select Committee would not satisfy the people of Ireland on this question; they would be content with nothing short of a repeal of the Act of Charles. The House then divided, when there appeared— For the motion For the amendment Majority The amendment, with the addition proposed by Sir W. SOMERVILLE, was then agreed to. STAMFORD ELECTION. Mr. WOOD postponed till after Easter his motion for a Select Committee to inquire into the allegations of cer tain petitioners, complaining of the interference of the Marquis of Exeter at the late and former elections for the borough of Stamford. LYME REGIS ELECTION. On the motion of Mr. HUME, The Clerk rea d t h e reso l ut i ons o f t h e S e l ect C om• inittee on the Lyme-Regis election petition, which charged Mr. John Attwood with bribery; and The HON. MEMBER then proceeded to say that a pe tition had been presented from the inhabitants of the borough praying that an immediate and searching in quiry be made in order proceedin gs o f M r . A ttwoo d at the late election, order to relieve the constituency from the consequences of any erroneous impressions. By the 49th George 111. c. 118, it was enacte d t h at i f any person paid, promised, or gave any sum of money to procure his return, he should for every s uc h g if t , payment, or promise, forfeit the sum of 1,0001. There was the clearest evidence of promise s i n t hi s cases. It was further enacted that if any person p rom i se d to pro cure any office or gift, in order to procure the r e t urn o f such person, he should be ineligible to sit i n P ar li a• tnent. The borough had not in this eftse been disfran chised, but all those gifts and promises had been clearly proved, and there was a standing order of the House, declaring that the . House would p rocee d ,vith the utmost activity against any person, wh e th er the Member or not, who should be guilty of those cor rupt practices. If preceslents were required, he would refer to the case of Mr. Henry Swan, for the borough of Penryn, in the year 1819, Only one case was there proved, yet the Attorney-General was ordcred to pro secuto him. Again, hi the case of Sir M. Lopez. in the borough of Barnstaple, who was similarly proceeded against. These cases, however, were nothing in com parison with the Lyme Regis case, where it appeared that upwards of 100,0001. had been laid out in the pur. chase of houses iu order to secure votes, not for Mr. Attwood only, but for any person Mr. Attwood might recommend. lie begged to move, therefore, that the Attorney-General be instructed to prosecute John Att wood, Esq., for bribery and corrupt practices at the last election for Lyme Regis. Mr. P. WOOL) seconded the motion. Mr. BANKES said the cases which the Hon. Meinber had quoted were not precedents. Mr. Swan and Sir Manasseh Lopez had both b een uns eated for bribery ; but Mr. Attwood was only coll atera lly implicated. fle did not say that a person collat era lly implicated should not be prosecuted ; but he did sa y that it was a matter which should not be hastily adopted, and he was not therefore satisfied with the meagre statement which the lion. Gentleman had made. The matter would c(r. tainly have been much better brought forwattl by the chairman of the Committee. lie was not aware that any member of the Committee ever was present, and he put it to the Hon. Gentleman whether it would not be more fair to postpone his motion to some future time. Mr. HUME said if any on e th oug ht it unfair to pr.. ceed at present he was quit e rea dy to postpone his motion. He had no personal f ee li ng , but was actuated solely by a sense of public duty. Sir GEORGE GREY su gges t e d that it would be better for the lion. Member n o t t o a djourn the motion. but to withdraw it, and to bring it on again at some future time. Mr. HUME then withdrew the motion. COUNTY COURTS. Mr. COCHRANE moved for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the law relating to the recovery of small debts in England, the 9th and 10th Victoria. He w as uf opinion that th e grossest i n j ust i ce had beenin flicted under this Act, and it was much harder upon the poor man than the sth and 6th Vie toria, which abolished imprisonment for debts under 201., and for which thi s was a substitute. It was his intention originally to have moved the entire repeal of this monstrous 8111, but he proposed now to move the insertion of two clauses. The first clause provided that no person should be imprisoned except on the debtors' side of the gaol, and that the imprisonment should be limited to three days for each instalment of debt. The second clause limited the fine for contempt of court to 21. instead of 51., or in default seven days' imprisonment, as at present Sir G. GREY said if the Hon. Gentleman had adhered to his original intention of moving the repeal of the Bill, he should certainly have opposed it, because he believed the measure had proved highly beneficial, and that the courts bad been much appreciated by those who had recourse to them. At the same time, he had been led to suppose that there might have been some abuse of the powers given by the Act. He was quite ready to admit that the subject required inquiry, and he should not, therefore, at present oppose the introduction of the Bill. Mr. G. BANKES thanked the Right Hon. Gentleman for permitting the introduction of the Bill. If the powers of the Act had been abused, the persons guilty of the abuse ought to be punished, After a short conversation, leave was given to bring in the Bill. ANNUAL INDEMNITY BILL. On the motion of bir. PARKEK, leave was given to bring in this Bill. The other orders were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at Half past Twelve until Twelve o'clock to-day, PARLIAMENTARY DIVISIONS. From the Yates and Proceedings of the House of Commons.) THURSDAY, APRIL 13. MINISTERS' MONEY (IRELAND). Motion made, and Question proposed, " That this House will, upon Tuesday next, resolve itself into a Committee, to take into consideration the Act 17 and 18 . Chas. 2, c. 7, i n _ tituled, An Act for provision of Ministers in cities and cor porate towns, and making the Church of St. Andrew's, i n the suburbs of the city cf Dublin, preservative for ever,' with the view to the repeal of so much thereof as relates to the provision of Ministers in cities and corporate towns, and to provide from the ecclesiastical revenues of Ireland a sub stitute in lieu thereof"—Amendment proposed, to leave out from the word " That" to the end of the Question, in order to add the words a Select Committee be appointed, to consider and report upon the state and operation of the Laws respecting Ministers' Money in Ireland, and to report whether any and what amendments in those Laws would be expe dient," instead thereof .—Question put, " That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Question." The House divided:— MINORITY-AYES, 73. Adare, Viscount King, Peter John Reynolds, John Aglionby, 11. A. Lushington, Charles Sadleir, Joke Anstey, Thomas Macnarnara, Major Salwey, Colonel Armstrong, Slr A. M'Gregor, John Scholetleld, William !Slake, M. J. Megan, W. 11. Scrope, G. P. Bright, John Meagher, Thomas Scully, Francis Brotherton, J. Martin, Samuel Smith, John 11. Callaghan, I). Montt, George Sullivan, Michael Clay, James Mousell.:William Tenison, E. K. Cobden, It. Moore, George 11. Tennent, R. J . Cowan, Charles Mowatt, Francis Thicknesse, It. A. Crawford, W. S. Munta, G. F. Thompson, Colone. Devereux, John T. Norreys, Sir D. Thompson, George Fagan, James Nugent, :..ir Percy Thornely, T. r ertescue, Chichester O'Brien, Timothy Trelawny, J. S. Gartner, Richard O'Connell, J. Walmsley, Mr J. Grace, 0. D. O'Connell, M. J. Westhead, J. P. Grattan, Henry O'Connor, Feargus Willcox, Brodie Greene, John Osborne, Ralph Williams, John Hastie, Alexander Pechell, Captain Wyld, James Henry, Alexander I'ilkington, James Yorke, H. R. ilindley, C. Pinney, William Howard, P. H. Power, Dr. • TELLERS. Jackson, William Power, Nicholas Fagan, William Keating, Robert Raphael, Alexander Hume, Joseph Kershaw, James Rawdon, Colonel Du Edwards,Pre, C. . Henry,.G. ~ ~.., I" , : au u rp,n l r f i dweerymyrayiv., Joseph. Eit e j ... E hn r . l MAJORITY—NOES, 1 4 9., Rice, Adair, R. Shafto Adderley, C. is. Alexander, Y. Ferrer, James Archdall, Captain Forester, G. c, Neeld, John Armstrong, It. 13. Forster, M. Neeld, Joseph Bagshaw, John Fuller, A. E. Newdegate, C. N. Bailey, Joseph, jun. Gaskell, J. M. Noel, Gerald J. Baines, M. T. Gladstone, W. E. Baldock, E. H. Goddard, A. L. Bankes, G. Gore, W. R. 0. Barrington, Lord Granby, Marquis et price, Graham, Sir J. Bellew, R. M. Grosvenor, Lord R. Bennet, Philip Greenall, Gilbert prime, Richard 13eutinck, Lord 11. Greene, Thomas Pugh, David Sir i r utb r i. d e Lucius rt Beresford, William Grey, Sr G. Bernard, Viscount Grogan, Edward Blackall, S. W. Boldero, 11. G. Guest, Sir J. O'Brien, Ricardo,r a ae T er i l d k, a e'sr r n TSR:LhB: Georg e'n sn Bourke, Richard S. Gwyn, Bowel Scott, F. Bremridge, Richard Hallyburton, Lord Shell, R. L. Broadley, Henry l'isisea', T. P. Shelburne, Earl or Brockman, E. D. Hamilton, G. A. Sibthorp, Colonel 1 .". Buller, Sir J. Y. H ar d eastle, J. A. Smyth, J. G. Bunbury, William H ea ld , James Somerv i l l e . Sir W. Sunbury, E. H. Henley, J. W. Burghley, Lord lle rr i es, J. C. Cabbell, B. B. Hild yard, R. C. Stafford, .Augustus Campbell, W. F. 11 o ° b b h il o ° u u s s : , TB Sir . J. 68S S PPt t aac'enua°'nrnametoerain.d, Spearman, Sir ilcili'h.. ar G jß . d.. Cardwell, Carew, W. P. Howard, C. W. Stuart, Lord D. Carter, John B. Iludsen, George Stuart, J.' Cavendish, C. C. Inglis, Sir It. H. Talbot, C. R. Cavendish, G. 11. Jones, Sir W. Tolleinache, John . Cayley, Edward S. Keogh, William Chichester, Lord J. Knightley, Sir C. Christopher, R. Y. Labouchere, Henry T N T ;e 7 r li tt Plete' S tiS i d r ir.lClja.ptam Christy, Samuel Lewis, George C. Vivian, J. E. Clements, Charles Lincoln, Earl of Wyse, B. H. Clerk Sir G. Lindsay, Colonel Walpole, Spencer Cochrane, A. Littleton, E. U. Whitmore, T. C. Colebrooke, Sir T. Lockh art, W. Williamson , Sir H. Coles, Henry B. Low t h er, Colonel Wilson, Matthevr. Colvile, C. It. Ly gon, Gen. Wood, Si r Charles Courtenay, Lord APNaghten Sir E. Wood, W. ''..P' Davies, D. A. S. • Manners, Lord C. Wortley, J. ,2 k e Dawson, T. V. Maule, Fox WYvi ll ' Marrnadu John Dick, Quintin Ali tunsell, T. E. Young, Sir Disraeli, B. Morgan, a Dod, J. W. Morpeth, Viscount TELLIES. Duff, George S. Morris,'David 11111, Lord M. Dancuft, John hlostyn, E. M. Dundas, Admiral GRAND ENTERTAINMENT TO LORD HARDING& AT THE MANSION - HOUSE.—Yesterday the Lord Mayor gave a grand dinner to Lord Hardinge after the presen tation of the freedom to the Noble Lord at the Court of Common Council. Amongst the company were the E irl of Auckland, the Bishop of Oxford, the Bishop of Ma dras', Sir John Cam Hobhouse, M.P., Viscount Castle reagh, M.P., Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, the Hon. Charles Hardinge, the Hon. A rt h ur Hardinge, the Hon. Miss Hardinge. Lieuten ant -G enera l Sir James Law L us hington, G.C.8., Sir Al exan d er Grant, Sir Walter James, Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, Lieutenant- Colonel and,Mrs. Lawrence, Lieutenant-Colonel Cuning hame, Major-General Duncan WLeod, Lieu tenant Colonel Wood, Mr. Mastermen, M.P, , Mr. W. H. Plowden. M.P., and Mrs. Plowden, Sir Felix Booth, Mr. Abel Smith and Mrs. Smith, Mr. Martin Tucker Smith. M.P., and Mrs. Smith; M. 11. St. George Tucker (late chairman of the Hon. East India Company), Mrs. and Mrs. Strait-an, Alderman Thompson , M.P., a nd M r s Thompson; Alderman fl um phery, M.P., and Mrs. S S i i r dn j e a y m , " M p oo u n k ,e' M.P., Alder Salomons, a n d m Humphery; Sir C. S. Hunter , Alderman Firebroth, • r and en Gibbs,Miss'al%rieubsrgorthoevre: Finnis; the Common-Sergeant, and Mrs. and the Misses Mirehouse; the Sheriffs and their ladies, the Chamber lain and Mrs. Brown, Sergeant Merewether, Mr. and Mrs. Beadon, the Master , and Wardens of the Merchant Tailors' Company, Sec• WESTMINSTER REFORM ASSOCIATION.—A general meeting of this society was held last evening, i n the York Hotel, Upper. Wellington street, for the purpose of " considering what steps should be taken to obtain a revision of the taxation of this country, by more fully adopting the principle of direct instead of indirect ina post." Mr. Austin was called to the chair. A resolu tion on the subject of a reduction of taxation having been moved by Mr. Front, and seconded by Mr, Wilks. a protrncted discussion took place, and an amendment to the following effect was finally carried, " That, considering the present constitution of the House of Commons, the only hope of a just reduction of taxtition depended on a large extension of the elective franchise." EAST INDIA HOUSE. —Yesterday a Court of Di rectors was held at the East India House, when the new directors elected on Wednesday last, viz., Henry Alex ander, Esq., the Hon. Willia m Henr y Leslie Melville Major James Oliphant, John Shepherd, E sq Francis , Warden, Esq., and Major-General James Caulfield, C.B. took the eath and their seats. Leutenant-General Sir James Law Lushington, Was chosen chair man, and Major-General Archibald Galloway, C. 8., deputy-chairman, for the year ensuing. In consequence of representations made by several societies connected with the employment o f females in the various branches of dressmaking and millinery, as well as a number of E n g lish ladies in terested in the welfare of their own countrywomen, in times like the present, almost all the principal milliners and dress makers at the West-end, who have hitherto employed many French at work, have agreed, in compliance with the above wishes, tor the future to employ none but. English workwomen. A French surgeon has found that the bark of the Acianmnia degitala is more efficacious in fevers than sulphate of quinine. REMOVAL OF ALIENS BILL. 1 The following are the provisions of the Bill, intituled " An Act to authorise, during a limited time, the Re moval of Aliens from the Realm :" _ [The Bill was laid on the table of the House of Lords by the Marquis of Lansdowne, on Monday night.] Whereas it is expedient that provision should be made in certain cases, and for a time to be limited, respecting aliens arriving or resident in this kingdom. Be it enacted by th e Queen's Most Excellent Majesty. by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in the present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that when and so often as one of her. Majesty's principal . Secretaries of State, or the Lord- Lieutenant or other chief governor or governors of that part of the United Kingdom called Ireland, by warrant under his or their hand or hands respectively, to be published in the London or Dublin Gazette, as the case may be, shall direct that any alien or alien; who may be within this realm, or who may hereafter arrive therein, shall depart this realm, within a time limited in such warrant, and any ;tich alien shall knowingly and wilfully refuse or neglect to pay due o b e di ence to suc h warran t, or s hall be found in this realm, or any part thereof, COi trary to such warrant, it shall be l a wful for any of her Majesty' s p r i nc i pa l Secretaries of State, or t h e L ar d- Lieutenant or other chief governor or governors of I re l an d , or his or their chief secretary, or for any justice of the peace, or for the mayor or chief magistrate of any city or place, to cause every such alien to be arrested, and to be committed to the col mon gaol of the county or place where he or she shall he so arrested, there to remain, without bail or mainP rise until he or s h e s h a l l b e taken in charge fur the purpose :f being sent out of the realm, under the authority here inafter given. And be it enacted, that every such alien so knowingly and wilfully refusing or neglecting to pay due obedience to any such warrant as aforesaid, or being found in this realm contrary to such warrant, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, a n d b e i ng convicted thereot, shall, at the discretion of the C ourt, be adjudged to suffer imprison ment for any time not exceedin a , one month for th e fir s t offence, and not exc ee di ng twelve months for the second and any subsequent offence. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for any one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, or the Lord Lieutenant or chief governor or governors of Ire land, in any case in w hi c h h e or the pay immediate obedience shallobedi apprehend that any alien will not su ch warrant as aforesaid, or i n any case e w n h ce er t e o any alien shall have been arrested or committedsu for refusal or neglect to obey any such warrant, f or shall have been convicted of or neglect, and either before or after suc h alien shall have suffered the punishment inflicted for the same - by war rant under his hand and seal, to give such alien charge to one of her Maj e sty's messengers or to any other person or persons to whom he shall think proper to direct such warrant, in order to such alien being con veyed out of the kingdom; and such alien shall be so conveyed accordingly; provided always, that where such alien (not having been convicted as aforesaid) shall allege any excuse for not complying with such first men tioned a arrant, or any reason why the same should not be enforced, or why further time should be allowed him for complying therewith, it shall be lawful for any one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, or for the Lord Lieutenant or other chief govern or or governors of I re- land, to judge of the sufficiency of such excuse or reason, and to allow or disallow the sa me either absolutely or on such condition as he or they shall think fit; and where such alien shall be in custody under such war rant of any of her Majesty's Secretaries of State or of the Lord Lieutenant or other chief governor or governors of Ireland as aforesaid, the messenger or other person in whose custody he shall be, forthwith upon its being signified to - him that such ex cuse or reason is alleged by such alien, shall make known the same to such Secretary of State, or to the Lord Lieutenant or other chief governor or gover nors of Ireland as the case may be, who upon receiv ing such notification, or in any case in which he or they shall be informed that any such excuse or reason is alleged by or on behalf of any alien to quit the realm, shall forthwith suspend the execution of such warrant until the matter can be inquired into and determined, and such alien, if in custody under any such warrant, shall remain in such custody until the determination thereon shall be made known, unless in the meantime such Secretary of State, or the Lord-Lieutenant or other chief governor or governors of Ireland, shall make order fur the release of such alien, either with or without security. Provided always, and be it enacted, that nothing in this Act contained shall affect any foreign ambassador or other public minister duly authorised nor any domes tic servant of any such foreign ambassador or public minister, registered as such according to law, or being actually attendant upon such ambassador or minister, ' nor any alien who shall have been continually residing within this realm for seven years next before the passing of this Act. ' And be it enacted, that this Act shall continue in force fur one year from the passing thereof, and until the end of the then next session of Parliament. And he it enacted, that this Act may be repealed or amended in the present session of Parliament. EMIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA. On Wednesday ameeting was held at the rooms of the Royal Society of Literature, for the purpose of forming a body to promote emigration from the United Kingdom to the Australian colonies, and that an endeavour should he made to effect this object by interesting parishes, unions, public and private bodies, landlords, country gentlemen, and others, in an undertaking so beneficial to all classes of her Majesty's subjects. The chair was taken by the Hon. F. Scott, M.P. In commencing the business of the meeting, the HoN. CuAramAN observed that the best way for him to ac quaint the assembled parties with the objects and in tentions of the proposed scheme would be to read the prospectus, which, although it was but a meagre out- ine: would still serve to show what was intended. It appeared from this prospectus that the expenses of emigration to Australia was defrayed from the pro ceeds of tie Crown lands, and that at present a con siderable emigration to the Australian colonies was being carried on under the guidance of Government, in consequence of a large sum now available in those colonies ap2licable thereto, and the anticipation of a further sum to be raised for the same purpose. The funds contributed exclusively by colonists were limited to procuring that kind of labour which would yield the speediest repayment of their capital, irrespective of other considerations not less important to the future destinies of the colonies than the present welfare of the mother country. The existing regulations restricted the class of emigrants to single young men and women, or young couples with a very small proportion of children. There were, however, many other classes who would prove most eligible emigrants, and to whom emigration would be a f a r more necessary boon—viz., agricultural and other la bourers, who were rendered ineligible by being unable to support themselves and families without parochial assist ance. Many of those who have defrayed the whole amount their passage money to the United States, carry ing thither their small capital and reproductive labour would have doubtless gone to Australia if the expenses of the voyage had been equal. In Sussex, the emigra tion which was some years ago undertaken by a society for this purpose, had been attended with most benefi cial results; for in Petworth parish the poor•rates had been reduced from 1,4001. to 3001. per annum, and in ether parishes where emigration had been encouraged. the supply of labour had not exceeded the demand It was therefore confidently believed that an assisted sys tem of emigration would materially call forth sponta neous exertions. One mode by which it was intended to effect this assisted system was, that in cases where eligible emigrants, able to pay the amount requisite to convey them to North America, should be willing to pay down that, or any other sum to be transferred to Australia, such sum being received by the department presiding over emigration, the emigrant should be carried to Australia, free of all further charge, the de ficiency being supplied fr)m the Colonial Land Fund applicable to emigration; the wants of the colonies, and the eligibility of the emigrants, being taken into consideration; the largest contributors being preferred. This would be an important step, as it would, at a smaller cost to the colony, convey thither a larger amount of labour, and would tend to assure the emigrant that there was no wish to get rid of him, tnit that it was optional for him to accept such assist ance as would enable him to resort to a healthy climate, And a country where he could at once obtain work and comfortable subsistence. The Chairman said he was sorry to see there were so few Members of Parliament present, but he had been informed that Wednesday was in unfortunate day for such meetings, as the House of Commons usually met early on that day. lie should not detain them by any address on the good that would cer• tainly arise from a more extended systein of emigres Lion. It would at once form a medium for gett►ng rid of the redundant and superfluous population of the coun try, and improve our manufactures at the various colo nies belonging to the British empire. The lion. Mr. Knoteran then rose to propose the first resolution. Previous, however, to reading it, he stated he was not much astonished to see so thin a meeting; there was an almost universal dislike to the formation of all new societies. Ho agreed with the Chairman in his statement, that emigration more fully carried out, would not merely be beneficial to the emigrant, but also to the colonies and the mother country. He would, therefore submit to them the following resolution:— " That the Australian colonies, including New Zealand, offer a large and most valuable field for emigration to the distressed and crowded population of this country, and whose emigration to these colonies would be alike a bettering to themselves, and a boon to the colony which receives them. And that to admit of this emigration being carried out to the requisite extent, it was essential that a portion of its expense should be contributed by unions, parishes, and other bodies, together with land. lords, or by emigrants themselves. Captain STUART seconded this resolution, stating that he had great pleasure in doing so, as he cordially agreed with its contents. He had resided in Australia for twenty-two years. It was a beautiful country, and presented miles and miles of rich soil ready for the plough. Mr. A. CtrxsiNottsm, in the absence of Vernon Smith, Esq., M.P., proposed the second resolution, which was to the following effect: —" That in order to carry out this great national object, the meeting should form itself into a society, to be called The Labourers' Relief Emigration Society,' for the purpose of affording such information and aid to those interested as may at 011 Ce teach them how great is the gain which each emigrat i on advantages thus to honest industry, and may guide them in steps necessary to avail themselves of the thus presented." Mr. Cunningham remailedhthicaht theh di he thought one of the most meansimportant by w future so c iety could work was the distribution of tracts and information, which might lead to the obviating of I many erroneous opinions entertained with regard to emigration. E. L. Bola), Esq., seconded the resolution. The third resolution" was proposed by Dr. LAING:— " That a number of gentleme n name d b e appointed a committee (three terming a quorum), for the purpose 01 drawing up the rules of the society appointing office bearers, calling general meetings, and arranging and managing the general business of the society, with the power of keeping up their numbers." Dr. Laing said nothing could be so important at the present time as the subject of tmigration. There were, to his knowledge,,no less than 3,000 heads of familes in Glasgow, 2,000 in Paisley, and npmbers in other parts of Scotland, who were in almost a state of starvation. He had made a tour through Ulster, now the most peaceful province in Ireland, and there he found that one person had only allotted to him one-fourth of the land which was possessed by another in Scotland or England, owing to the crowded state of the country. The most fertile soil and healthful climate were to be found in Australia ; and, as had been stated acres and acres of rich land were there waiting for th, , plough. And he was sure that if only one branch of caltivution were followed—that of cotton growing, so great an improvement would take place in our mai kets, that we should be soon able to undersell Brother Jonathan and his niggers. The resolution was seconded by ARTHUR MILLS, E:q. The fourth resolution, to the effect that the annual payment of 1/. should entitle any one to be a member of the society, was proposed by Captain HAMILT.:N, and seconded by JACKSON, Esq. All the resolutions were unanimously carried. After a vote of thanks had been passed to the Chair man. the meeting separated. UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE. PROPOSED NEW SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. CAMBRIDGE, APRIL 11. The Syndicate appointed to consider whethr r it is expedient to afford greater encouragement to the pursuit of those studies for the cultivation of which professor ships bare been founded in the University, and if so, by what means that object may be best accomplishsd, hart made and this day circulated the following report: — The Syndicate, admitting the superiority of the stud) of mathematics and classics over all others as the basic of general education, and acknowledging therefore the wisdom of adhering to our present system in its mail, features, are nevertheless of opinion that much g o would result from affording greater encouragement t:• the pursuit of various other branches of science and learning which are daily acquiring more importance and a higher estimation in the world, and for the teact,ing of which the University already possessos the accessary means. In accordance with this view the Syndicate recom mend as follows: A. That, at the beginning of each academical year, the Vice Chancellor shall issue a programme of the subjects, places, and times, of the several professors' lectures for the year then to ensue. That all students, who, being candidates for the de gree of 8.A., or for the honorary degree of M.A. are not candidate s for honours, shall, in addition to what is ta n h( o lem w it r t e e q d uired of the m , h ave atten d ed, b e f ore t h ey b e to examin a ti on f or t h e i r respective degrees. lectures delivered during one term at least by one or more of the following professors:—Regius Professor of I L 'h a i w lo s ; ophY, ProfessTro o r f of Ph) sic, Professor of Moral Professor of Modern Ch History, al i Chemistry , Professor Professor of of B Ana tomy,tan I,V o o d of rd Naturalia n and Professo rEjeafrwi ental Philosophy, Down n3 G s G eology, Jacksonian Pro fessorp r 0 of f.:us sdor England , o of Mineralogy,D to wn i ng i p n r g ofe P a r s o or fess o o f r o l f ied t i h ci e ne, ;shall have obtained Professor of Political Economl- o having pa w sa ht e lectures th examina t ioney have sat i sfact o rycho chose n a t o c o e n rt e i fiociattheoo professorsf to attend. Ti at all students who, being candidates for the de g ree o" 8.C.L., do no t pas s ihe examinations tor th e first class in that faculty , shall , in ad dition to what is n ow : required of them, have attended, before they be allowed to keep their act, the lectures deliverkd during one term at least, by one or more of the following professors : Regius Professor of Physic, Professor of Moral Philo sophy, Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Anatomy, Professor of Modern History, Professor of Botany, Woodwardian Professor of Geology, Jacksonian Profes sor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, Downinz Professor of Medicine, Professor of Mineralogy, Profes sor of Political Economy; and shall have obtained a certificate of having passed an examination satisfactory to one of the professors whose lectures they have chosen to attend. That this regulation shall apply to all students answering the above description who shall commence their academical residence in or after the Michaelmas term of the p ar 1849. That a New Honour Tripos be established, to be called the Moral Sciences Tripos, the places in which shall be determined by an examination in the following subjects:—Moral Philosophy, Political Economy, Mo dern History, General Jurisprudence, the Laws of England. That the examiners for the Moral Sciences Tripos be :he Regius Professor of Laws, the Professor of Moral Philosophy, the Professor of Modern History, the Downing Professor of the Laws of England, the Pro fessor of Political Economy, together with one additional examiner to be nominated by the Vice-Chancellor and appointed by grace of the Senate ; and in c'sse any of the abive-mentioned pro`essors be prevented from ex amining in any year, deputies to examine instead of them shall be nominated by the Vice-Chancellor aad appointed by grace of the Senate. That the examination for the Moral Sciences Tripos shall commence on the second Monday after the general admission ad respondendum quctstioni, and shall continue four days. That all students who shall have passed the examina tions and kept the exercises required for the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law, or of Bachelor of Physic, or who shall have passed the examinations entitling to admis sion ad respondendum questioni, may be candidates for honours in the Moral Sciences Tripos next succeeding such examinations. That the candidates for honours in the Moral Sciences Tripos whom the examiner shall deem worthy of an honour shall be arranged by them in three classes, the places being determined by estimating the aggregate merits of each candidate in all the subjects of the exa mination. And that in these classes marks of distinction shall be affixed to the names of such of the candidates as have shown eminent proficiency in particular subjects. That the first examination for the Moral Sciences Tripos, under the regulations now proposed, shall take place in the year 1851. That a New Honour Tripos be established, to be called the Natural Sciences Tripos, the places i❑ which than he determined by an examinAtion in the following subjects:— Anatomy, Com para tire Anatomy,Physiology, Chemistry, Botany, Geology. That the examiners for the Natural Sciences Tripoc be the Regius Pr.hfessor. of Physic, the Professor of Che mistry, the Professor of Anatomy, the Professor of Botany, the Woodwardian Professor of Geology, together with one additional examiner to be nominated by the Vice-Chancellor and appointed by grace of the S.-nate; and in case any of the above-mentioned professors be prevented from examining in any year, deputies to exa mine instead of 'hem shall be nominated by the Vic,- Chancellor and appointed by grace of the Senate. That the examination for the Natural Sciences Tripos shall commence on the 6th Monday after the general ad mission ad respondendum yucestioni, and shall continue four days. That all students who shall have passed the examina tions and kept the exercises required for the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law or of Bachelor of Physic, or who shall have passed the examinations entitling to admission ad respondendum quastioni may be candidates for honour' in the Natural Sciences Tripos next succeeding such examinations. . -- That the candidates for honours in the Natural Sci ences Tripos whom the examiners shall deem worthy of an honour shall be arranged by them in three classes, the places being determined by estimating the aggr ega t e merits of each candidate in all the subjects of the exa mination. And that in these classes marks of distinc tion shall be affixed to the names of such of the candi dates as have shown emtneat profici ency in particular subjects. That the first examination for the Natural Sciences Tripos, under the regulations now proposed shall take place in the year 1851. D. That with a view to encourage attendance at the lectures of the mathematical professors, and to secure a correspondence between those lectures and the mathe matical examinations of the university; and also as means of communicating to the students themselves, from a body of experienced examiners and lecturers, correct views of the nature and objects of our mathema tical examinations: the Lucasian Professor of Mathe matics, the Plumiau Professor of Astronomy, the Lunn dean Professor of Geometry and Astronomy, and the Jacksonian Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, together with the moderators and examiner , for mathematical honuurs for the time being, as well as those of the two years immediately preceding, be consti tuted a Board of Mathematical Studies; whose duties it . shall be to consult together from time to time on . all matters relating to the actual state of mat d he n m o atica l studies and examinations in the University; pre pare annually, and lay before the Vice-Cha ncellor, a report, to be by him published to the Univer sity Lent or Easter term of each year. The Syndicate, having respect to of the study of theology, and with the vie m end: — for the promotion of it, further reco the increased efficiency to the regulationsm already established b required to pro of the Senate, May 11,. 1842 , attended the lectures de duco a certificate of having least, rr h a a t t the all persons theological wh who xparmienna present i t o h n ° , m e e a s e t a l v b e l s i fhoerd examina tionby g ea c by two of the three livered during one term, a t fessor of Divinity, and the Nor rfgesasroerts,pyr 0: a the Regius Professor of Di. theologicalß ,theity Margaret risisn Professor examination in the Michael of Divinity. Th a t the regulat i on now proposed shall first comeinto o peration at t he theological m as term of the year 1850. (Signed) 1 Robt. Phelps, Vice-Chancellor. W. Hopkins.Henriiland. John Graham. NV. Whewell. J. J. Smith. ii. Philpott. C. Merirale. Alfred 011ivant. J. Mills. Henry S. Maine. W. H. Thompson. John Raviland. Edward Warter. James Challis. The Vice-Chancellor has given notice that separat. graces for adopting the regalations proposed in tht parts, A, B, C, D, E, respectively, of the above report, Nil' be offered to the Senate early in the liichliaot Term of the present year. THE CHARTIST PETITION. IA . ItEPORP PIZOII THE SELECT COMMITTEE - UPON PETITIONS. • • . 4 41 The Commi'..teetfpon Public Petitious, iu conf o t with-th-e-instructions of the House on the 26th of Nord*:-.7,'; vcinher last, in all cases to set forth the number of viiti-k1:44.A natures to each petition; and also having regard. to poAer at the same time delegated to them, to repo49!‘)l4l opinion and observations thereupon to the ilotikei/Wv",414 agreed to the following SPECIAL REPORT. • t rAa. That on the 10th - day of April instant, a petition for universal suffrage, of the inhabitants of the British Isles and subjects of the British Crown, was presented to the Houso. - Your Committee strongly feel the ♦alue of the right of petition; consider the exercise of it one of the most im• portant privileges of the subjects of the realm, and feel the necessity of preserving the exercise of such privileges from abuse; and also having a due regard to the im portance of a very numerously signed petition, forming , he subject of the present report, they feel bound to re present to the House-- That in the matter of signatures there has been in their opinion a very gross abuse of that privilege. The Honourable Member for Nottingham stated, OR presenting the petition in question to the House, that ',706,000 signatures were attached to it. Upon a most careful examination of the number of , ignatures in the Committee-room, in which examination thirteen law stationers' clerks were engaged f o r upwards of seventeen hours, with the person ordinarily employed .0 counting the signatures appended to petitions, under the superintenderce of the clerk of your Committee, The number of signatures has been ascertained to be 1,975.496. It is further evident to your Committee, that on ,unierous consecutive sheets the signatures are in one ..nd the same handwriting. Your Committee have also observed the names of .!isLinguished individuals attached to the petition, who ,:,%tinot be supposed to have concurred in its prayer, and as little to have subvcribed it. Amongst such others, the name of her Majesty in one ilaxe as Victoria Rez, April the First, the Duke of Wellington, K.G., Sir R Peel, &e., &c. In addition to this species of abuse, your Committee nave observed another, equally in derogation of the just value of petition—namely, The in;ertion of names which are obviously altogether fietititms, such as " Nu Cheese," " Pug•nose," " Flat nose," &c. There are other words and phrases which, although written in the form of signatures, and included in the 'lumber reported, your Committee will not hazard offending the House, and the dignity and decency of iheir proceedings by reporting ; although it may be :dried, that they are obviously signatures belonging to no human being. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SlR,—Your paper of yesterday states good reasons for doubting the truth of the number said to have signed the Chartist petition. But there are other reasons for doubting it. If the signatures are on skins or parchment as large as t.h• broadside of your paper, and like it divided into seven. columns, and the signatures are written so close together as three to an inch, each skin will contain 525 signatures, and consequently the petition must have 10,857 skins to contain 5,700,137 names. It must be four miles and 499 yards in length, and the weight must be two or three tons. AS I read of the petition having been carried in a cab, I have some doubts of this enormous magnitude. Perhaps some of those who have see❑ it are better abl to judge than April 13, 1848. A COUNTRYMAN. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR,--As the affair of Monday has passed over quietly, :Ind the Government is rather strengthened than other wise by the demonstration, I would beg to suggest the propriety of the special constables meeting in a body, arid expressing themselves in something like the follow ing terms We, the special constables of London, who have willingly and promptly come to the assistance of Govern ment for the maintenance of peace and order, are anxious to impress upon the Government that in so doing we have no wish to express any hostility towards the lower classes; on the contrary, we would beg the Government to consider their claims favourably, and concede so much of them as mny be conceded with safety." I enclose my card, and shall be most happy to co operate with any gentleman feeling as I do upon the subject. I am, Sir, &c., A SPECIAL TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sul,—The inhabitants of this metropolis having proved to the world on Monday last their loyalty to the Throne, and abhorrence of all violent means to obtain a reform in the laws of this country, are Low doubly bound to come forward, and in legal and constitutional meet ings show to the Government that it must not stand still —that while the Government are passing Coercion Bills for England and Ireland, it must at the same time intro duce such measures as the growing wants of the commu nity require, in order that, with God's blessing, such Coercion Bills may not have to be put in force. The iuiddle classes are much in favour of a reduction in the expenditure, equaliz ttion of the taxation, alterations in the currency system, extension of the franchise, vote by ballot, &c., and other things too numerous to mention; and therefore behoves a Government to put its shoul der to the wheel, to grapple with the monster nuisances, and thoroughly cleanse the Augean stable, so that the Mitchells, O'Briens, and others, may cease to agitate and inflame the people, by having no real grievances to talk about. This, therefore. is the time that the middle classes must be up and doing. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, A COMMISSION MERCHANT'S CLERK. 4, Liverpool terrace, Liverpool-road, April 13, 1848. RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS. LIVERPOOL, ArraL 13. STOCK ExcriaNcia.—The sales are—Aberdeen, 22—Great Northern, 10 dis.—Great Western, 171. Shares, die.— Lancashire and Yorkshire, Fifths (late West Ridi ng Union), 3% dis.—Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle Junction, dis —London and North-Western, 125 c.—Ditto, New Quarters, 1% p.—Ditto, Fifths, 5 p.—Ditto, Quarters (A and 11), 1 1 4 p.—uitto (C), 2 1 4 p.—Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, Quarters, No. 2, 15--Ditto, Preference, 1 2 4 dis. 95—Ditto, Halves, 6 1 ,( 11 dis.--Ditto, Consoli dated Birmingham and Derby, 75—Newcastle and Carlisle, 100—North Staffordshire, 3}i 3 dis.—Shrewsbury, Osweetry, and Chester, Preference. 2 p.—South-Eastern and Dover.T2 —Ditto, No. 3, 11 dis.—Ditto, No. 4, Thirds, 735. 9d. dis.— lurk, Newcastle, and Berwick, Extensions (N. and B.), So. 2, 1 /, dis.—Ditto, G. N. E. Purchase, 4 die. MANCHESTER. APRIL 13. STOCK EXCIIANGE.—The sales are—Birkenhead, Lanca shire, and Cheshire Junction, 67 dis.—East Lancashire. New, 8 dis.—Lancashire and Yorkshire (West Riding Union), 3 3 c. dis.—Ditto, Preston and Wyre, Halves (A), 2 7-16 p. —Leeds and Thirsk, Preferential, 2 dis.— London and North- Western (Manchester and Birmingham),Quarters (A and B), 1 p.—Ditto, ditto (C), 2 1 , 2 p.—Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire (Grimsby), 12/. 10s. Shares, 4% dis.—North British, Thirds, 2 dis.—North staffordshire, 3 dis.—Sonth- Eastern and Dover, No 4, 3 11-16 dia.—York and North Mid land, 62. _ _ BIRMINGHAM, APRIL 13. STOCK ExCIIANGE.—The sales are—London and North- Western, 126 Ditto, New Quarters, p.—Ambergate, Nottingham, and Boston, 565. 3d. dts.— Birmingham, Wol verhampton, and Stour Valley, 8 dis.—Nurth Staffordshire, 61s. 3d. dis.—Shrewsbury and Birmingham (B), 3! 4 dis. LEEDS, APRIL 12. STOCK Excitmgcm—Rather more business leas been done to-day than yesterday, at the following prices:—East Lan cashire, New, 8 dis.— uitto, Quarters, Vs. dis.—Great North ern, 9, 1 / 4 dis.—L ancas hi re an d Yorkshire (West Riding Union 745. dis —Leeds and Thirsk, 22'4 dis.—Ditto, New, 20 3 4 die. —North British, Thirds, 395. 6d. dis.—North Staffordshire, dis.—York, Newcastle, and Berwick, No. 2 (New Ber wicks), 10s. Ditto, Preference, 103. dis. BULL, Aran: 13. STOCK EXCHANGE —The sales are—Ambergats, Notting ham. and Boston, sp —North British, Extension (scrip), 3s• —Ditto, Thirds, 233. O EXCHANOKY.—The Ar itL 12. STORK t following were the quotations to- day Great Northern, 3S— Ipswich and Bury St. Ed munds, 3 3 / 4 —North British, Thirds, 235.—York, Newcastle, and Berwick (Original), 27k—Ditto, No. 2 (late New tier wicks), 9 3 / 4 —Ditto (G. N. E. Purchase). 74. EDINBURGH, APBIL 12. STOCK EXCITANOK.—The sales are —Edinburgh, Leith, and Branton, 91. 10s.—Edinburgh and Northern (Newrt), 51. 2s. 6d.— Great Northern, 3—North British, Q po uartern, 7 3s. 6d.—Ditto, Thirds, 225. GLASGOW, Aram 12. STOCK EXCITANOK.—The sales are--Caledonian , New, ss. - Dundee and Perth, 26 ►41 —Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr. 691.—Ditto, Halves, No. 1, 35,—G1asgow and Greenock, Preference, s—North British, Thirds, 225. Gd. Bures, in Suffolk, there is left the Sundayni tseoloate Miss Sarah Johnson Garrad, of by the °t Prayer-book, or some other 1; ; re..g,ous SMALL ACCEPTABIL:t BROUESTS.—TO every child the Hey. Arthur 000 k, to be purchased- given to the children at his discretion ; 11anbury, and . the be laid out in purchase o cloth cloak, a l so 101. to by the ♦icar, for the children of the Sunday school ; the testatrix has also directed the executors to pay over to the vicar 251., that parish, a Bibe, wich, under his superintendence, is to be given in sums o t 51. to the treasurers of the undermentioned societies : The Bares National School, the Bures Parochial Lend ing Library, the Bures Friendly Society, the Society for l'romoting Christian Knowledge, and the Church Mis sionary Society. Yesterday their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess ot Cambridge, with Princess Mary, accompanied by the Baroness Bose, the lion. Miss Mitford, and Cap tain Midway, honoured the New Society of Painters in Water Colours by viewing the fourteenth annual exhibi tion of their pictures, at their Gallery, 53, Pall-mall, previously to its being opened to the public. They es pre!sed themselves much gratified at the great progress the Society has made since the last year, as well in the increased number and excellence of their works. THE PRINCE OF PRUSIIIA.—His Royal Highness the Prince of Prussia was entertained at dinner on Wed nrsday evening by his Excellency the Prussian Minister, at his mansion on Carlton-house Terrace. Sir Robert bled to meet his Royal Highness. Yesterdaye en g . Peel, Sir James Graham, and a select circle were assem bled Excellency the Prussian Minister gave . a grand tique, in tertainment to a circle of the corps eft Prince P of Prussia. b e o r u e r wereo f his ass e lt m o b y l a e l d Highness the Austrian A r, iin a i n s d teL t e h ts e . Bbarvgae ian Minister, the Swedish Minister, the Wthur Charge A t m he bas i s i a a d n o o r ;er t i h a e n H to ig m hn e e e s t s hi t s he ßoya. another grand banquet. B:giniaisnte d'Affaires. To•morrow evening his Excellency mil hay. THE II N,