The Sun. — London, England, 1852-06-08 00:00:00

ti ;1 ) J 0 usual application to the Treasury to transfer an am ount to th e Poor-law Board. This was an error wh ile he (Si r J . T rolleee) would take goo d care should , not haepee strain, for the check he had put up" .'" its - , rr-nce im 141° of paying the accounts rendered , tee . pusStle. He Inuit say, however, that the offiear wh i n , transacted the business of this department was a vary . i VA valuable aerveut of the public, having been in the Plib lie BC:rViC3 for about eighteen years without ever `king a similar mistake—(clear, hear)—and he (Sir J. °II ePe) real! thought it was hardly worth while to .ronlile the Ho y . hie such a subject.—(Hear, hear.) ) I ', l t ell events h u e -e b ‘ '2 v l i ieved the House would agree with In inlet it was not a matter ahich called for the eet ' a uro of that House upon her Majesty's Govern tilettn—(Peear, and a laugh.) SirRE BRITISH AMERICAN RAILWAY. , cre. f II. VERNEY wished to ask the Coloniel ati jahreYnethether the . letter, addressed to him on Mae'. b y , r, •)te Mr. elnacks, and which was published in the Cities of l ira 31, was authentic; and, lor eX , t ? was able to give to the House any ieforzhenc . . ~ whether " n ' t ion of the circumstances under which it was Written? l! ir e 'T. PAKINGTON—I can assure the Hon Baronet i lit t re has put this question to me , tint so far from hey ,t 1 iudeb'ed g Fay objection to answer it, I feel grce l' of „_,. _ to i n niyiee te e ' l n for having efforded tae au opportunity, te e er "Plana ' t ir'n h e has requested..founded entirely upon The letter to which i- Mn,.'` Baronet has advertee is . _ ~ . ts ti t lta4 .e. I have no knowledge how tout letter h lhani ha Y into the public prints, and I . m . ust saY I t in 4 r eason to express at least surprise that such a let ter, form; . • o f aft 7 -dag part of a series correspondence, should glib °. inserte d i n the newspapers of this country ft ° ut soy of the documents that receded or followed C .- P Wear, h ear , f rom t h e Ministerial benches.) The 44 ' 4 1 result of the insertion of such a letter in the Asters, without esplanation of what preceded or 1 3 ° .. 11° wed it, has b a e n e y n, that most erroneous inferences " 0 been drawn, and that very wrong s impressions have ! ti ned currency with regard to the circumstances which r 'keded and followed the writing of . that letter. It 5p- Pears to me that the complaints against the conduct of the Governmentnlit are three in number. The first com p' is, that the deputation which came over to this 'entry from Canada on the subject of the proposed reih ilt z„ y were left for seven weeks without any answer. it' ' 8 next complained, that when en answer was given was not co m municated officially to th e gentlemen :ho ':k form e d th e deputation to thi s country, but was ob tained by them through a private channel. The third t to tsplaint is. that the gentlemen who ca me h ere as a l i etation from the proviaces of Canada and New „ r tlaswiek were not treated with that consider at i on a nd " G aadence to which their position in their own country 't itled them. N ow , if t h e H ouse will favour me with 'their attention for a few moments, I think I shall be abl 0 % to show how far these complaints are well f° ,, t4 'ed. With regard to the first complaint, that the if2etnen forming the deputation were left for seveth nitri c without an answer from the Govern i m he e k n s t, ar l_ ri -it b eg permission to refer to dates. Mr.ff on this 4. 4 in this country, as sa delegate from Canada.rectl after 1 1 . J e eti about the middle of March. 1 ,: i l arrival I had several interviews a with ' him ti e : i e to the proposed railways, and in those inter- Pip e 3 he communicated to me the views of the pro o„°,°l Canada. He also stated to me that he was one Ile-nttetati of three gentlemen, and . that the arrival w ‘ 43. • Chandler from New Brunswick, and of Mr. P e teli e e , fr ° l4 Nova Scotia, might be expected by the next 1 th: - * Under these circumstances, I considered—and la g hilt the 'louse will deem I was justified in consid aer eentuit thatt the negot i at i on was not to b e procee d e d with elfin e the was complete—(Hear, hear)—espe tvina7,,a3 Mr. Chandler and Mr. Howe were to . bring l eta t thi e t al friar° New Brunswick and Nova Scotia t . e p e had been passed upon this subject by the Legis fr - " a 0 those 1 - I made frequent inquiries from ti CU OnteS. 41:1(1 I ti la to time whether those gentlemen had arrived, bu t teas told that they had not yet reached England, S o i t h h .at they might be expected by the next packet. kr, d' h ga went on until the 20th of April, on which day had ", at ldler called at the Colonial-office. I believe he it. arrive some few days before, but I did not know here te r ' 407 ete however, had not arrived, and I ought not a - taa ution that the two Acts of the colonies did It 14 11" e p until the 28th of April. On the 26th of April In th e '` was written by Mr. Hincks to the Noble Lord f or h heed , e , , of the Government, requesting an interview i b et el l aatf and Mr. Chandler upon this subject. I think " r "irl "T r ? the House how little the Noble Lord (the °t'tll6 °- ,,i -a rhY) was disposed to underrate the importance of th e -emelitation by reading to them the memorandum Ilk :,I'.-"indwriting of the Noble Lord at the back ot ii flitch letter. It is,— ?f very lve hie 3 an early appointment. This matter is one ?.ase,e ; !_ r _ e _ a . t iroP9rtance,but I should wish, if possible, T(4111,38 mattergtzter with Mr. Hincks, the representatives in of New Biunswick and Nova Scotia." 30 te l'I°1330 Lord's secretary made an aointment for the th ese „„ ~ , the first day on which he was able to see Nter r,',"`"laen; and on that day the Noble Lord re ,(l re T V:_. Hiecks and Mr. Chandler, and at the . request s .4 4 1 - neole F r i end I was p rese nt. At that interview aerei °l ° subject was talked over, and on the very next to tviiiell'',g---the Ist of May—Mr. Hincks wrote the etter Pat a r' il e lion, Baronet has referred, and in the_ early_ li. torvielthat letter Mr. Hincks says, alluding to the i i t r the previous day— xtleei ei t his Lordshi in the confident hope that I should ) i p tju v g ; 4 , B ° Gearrle.ertti communication of the intention of her kr l i t., ll4teu then ul°n o t e's on to say that the arrival of 14 thi e "" i e could have no effect on the question of route ;'''' il, 4l ,°he raised by her Maje3ty's Government. ,e'd t h is ''' a had not then a-rived, and he did not come; l 'ha fi r . '" IC ttr of Mr Hincks, of the Ist of May, was 4'era '"° titatit' e . • d h-t the two other meca 4et the , ton receive t e - ei. a 'e e n; " (4 Petiation considered the presence of Mr. reeeeieresinportant. to the negotiation. I immediately f illa .o 1? heldpon that intimation, and at the Ca lf?' t? ttne ' l on the following Saturday, the Bth -ere i ` m % --the inatter having previously, of course, I? " "Ura t , ll ,, e t lubject of conversation among the efor, „.. --the whole question was formally brought eid ed. T (le . ." e ' l e bl "et, was fully discussed, and was finally t o r°l e th at ' '°Pe 'h. statement I have made will e g theit th t e lle r° Wa's—nopreatext whatever for say elaY f 9elt J}h4oe..Pilhhetion was left without an answer from ql‘uPlain ha Majesty's Government. It has been - eB ' . "I ' • h Cd3inet had decided the i t eo n to , atter t e IC - e t e 'aieg ' te , Pearounication was made to the gentle_m7 et - i t s — deputation, but that they learned the d eet tihnet..tue Government incidentally through a private s o u nd e ,Government owing to the great pressure of business asoNotust the House will make. allowance for the r r ei f t , l4 Pressure of business that . did occur in the ;""a j 7 ' v eich I have the honour 'to be etteched- : - -frt,,re-several days elapsed after the Cabinet Council ,Ihte at at their decision before I was at leisure to pre `eleve' u ieeetch on the subject. In consequence of thst uttie l 6 4l, l of stabseqaeut delays dfter the dispatch was ~4 e fir t ed, the dispatch was not finally written for tili4g until the 20th ti Mey. I should say that Mr. lea e ,S had previeualy timated his intention not to to o England. until the 27th of Mey, and ho did not tle e e4l is much later periorl. On the 20th ot May the of teh was sent to the Governors of the three colonies t ti weeds, New Beanawick, and Nova Scotia ; and Of the same day, by my directions, official copies hi that dispatch wor e communicated to Mr. ree rl d ?s and Mr. Chandler. In the meantime I had • N. no communication, public or private, upon k en s ubject to any party; and if either of these gentle leetirl h ael indirectly asceefained the decision of the Ga tertl9f"pt, I caueot say how they got the information. It thi 112*theg any Ott of mine. I Dope i Ulcer, hear.) A e ve, --4 ered second allegation.—( t hese (w ,,,, -° , r3 ie to the third subject of complaint—that :o to ~,Oe nt , e naen were not treated with the considerate • n ttee"4 °ll their position entitled them. I should be ex tent . 2 ? 2 u , ry if it should be thought that the Govere te, "erQ for a moment open to such an imputation. On h ilb arri val 0 , d , i Air. Hincks I had several interviews with t alite 4n s"',extended to him that courtesy and hospi, st ate which I thought were due to his distinguished Otio lt ° In hie own province. I have been told that I ta ke t 9 h ave resented hi s l e t ter . Th ere certa i nly are h4i:ol o ns.in that lette r w hi c h h ave the appearance of tap,e been written under some feelings of irritation— faet,es'ions which I think are not borne out by the 1 t a ,, 4. xpressions which I read with regret, and which tek ed. gPt elp thinking Mr. 'Locks must regret having tla a nut. Sir I must say that, looking to the fact .4 the greater part of these letters were written in tio t ; ° ° o perfectly respectful, I have no hesita if ~. in avowing to the House my feeling, that are,‘ l toonaciously and unintentionally, under the , on'hire of business, which really is sometimes almost lt t 7whelming, I had—l am sure lam not aware that I tea been guilty of any omission towards these gentle ge' I thought it more consistent with my duty to the_ te n a a, with my own office, and with the friendly rela7- ...4 . . %10„ Wa lCh I hope will always subsist between the great ""-th m l t of Canada and the mother country—(w ea.,hear) N t , I should continue to act in the same spirit of take as before, rather than go out of my way and (lle a °" . *rlee, or make any quarrel on the subject.— Posed`near.) " That was the spirit which lam dis t(tollet! act towards these gentlemen, but it should be „ ea, c ane - ‘ed that Mr. Hincks was not the only person . 40 4 C'd. It would not be correct to draw any . dteth h nc r : tied' eh etw eau Mr. Chandler and Mr. Mick', but M. tl etna He is a gen er has written no petulant letter. high thar tt h a s by great ability, a man of e P e Iv ; I r e t n e h ; 4 e d one Peattio;n'skown talent, raised" himself to the highest Nu,— in t he colony. I moot readily admit that . these t..3 e°lllltrta" Were entitled to every consideration in this /4 3' tai n t" the hands of her Majesty's Government, and aloa e v:enole is that they received it. I continued, to the th e ati :ik theie titeehaatild c: :_o_itirtesy, stay in this country, the same hospitality, with which ur intercourse com aeePly in, an I had 'reason to believe they were Poousi,7Pressod by the gracious and spontaneous con t th e „ - i 4 Ihey received at the hands of her Majesty. v ulee 4, - " 0 of their shy they called at the Colonial ter,zie tak e 1 i., cave, and wo parted on the most friendly tiOy oft'lled certainly I had no reason to believe there was j h 4euee taken ~ ave sai d w on their part.—(Hear, hear.) I hope ' ll the 14 e nough to show that the allegation of delay We eke baet of the Government is unfounded, arid that aoe s ie° Willing to treat these gentlemen with every due he ath crate-a l. r oil ln effering this - explenation I have not , } esp ee ,n the peiir.y of her Majesty's Government with eke - to the decision ' ee arrive:. The andu. N te , at which they .. . ,I a , °ab et 8 question did not refs to that decision_, c ti itp,:, - ' 'tire the [louse will feel that the occesion of '44 - "t°g a qu ov • , • , , a. moment of re tive 13 t o Mich 0, -el n (i le n je ls cf l . l — " (li t' e w ar, lir h o e P a - r.) The answer lite 11 to the .of h 3 e gentlemen was given en the resp .. it , t Prope her AlAjegy s 1 4 r 4 , 0 Government, and whenever . the 3' a m , "'lent arrives I shall be prepared to vindicate %r le ° i ° 3r e - o:Misers.) aittle '-'•NOUREYS a:sited the Stcretary of the Ord °44l..‘l'htther any arrangement had vet been made to ttop u 7 i .the p u b lic to purchase co lee r:f tracings of the Q ui hed ti3a 2 of the borough ip towns of Ireland? "41 DULNINE replied that the Ordnance bad no THE SIIN,, LONDON, TUESDAY -EVENING, JUNE 8 the weight attaching to his name in the senate of his coma- tuents. He appealed from Philip in Buckinghamshire to try, that if we did not take care we should bring represen- Philip in that House.—(A laugh.) But he passed on to tative government itself into disrepute, and that it would , ask, where were thes3 men to be found for the militia appear that we could not transact our business, I say that I It appeared to him that the demand for 80,0!)0 would in have drawn from the session which is now closing a very two years most dangerously affect the recruiting of the different conclusion and a very opposite moral.—(Cheers. ) army, and greatly narrow the surface wnahveyn,ceantdhmesaerwinheos I would rather adduce what has been do ne i n this House and . constituted our regular for ces --our army, the manner in which it has been done—l would rather ad- —were to be derived. These militiamen were to be quartered duce it as an argument in favour of representative govern- in provincial towns, in public-houses. Would not their 2e ment, in favour, at least of the mode in which representa- a day, subject to the expenses they would necessarily • cu - , tive government is carried on in this country,' than bring be lower wages practically than those givenwthoya, before e e i t t n s h h e ir y r e it forward as an argument which should lead us to believe labourer? They would come once, perhaps, out permanent, and that the reputation of representative government is ill danger. but it would be found very difficult to catch them a r s i e n c s o ity d —(Cheers.) Sir, I will not dilate upon the fact that we time. And they were to be drilled for three weeks, and n have been enable already to pass through the House of then suffered to roam about the country. Commons 37 Government measures, 20 of which have al- could be called together again, they would have travelled ready become law ; but when I recall to the House the cir- from one end of the country to the other—perhaps hut of cumstances of the session, that a change of Government the country. They might have got good, and took place, and when I remind the House of the party feel- profitible employment at Liverpool or Manchester, or some.. ings which under such circumstances naturally revived, where iniles away. Would it not be cruel to drag them back of the great delay of business which from such circem- from that to their muster-roll for three weeks, so throwing stances must necessarily occur, and the fact that I and my them out of work and losing them their engagements? And colleagues only on the 15th of Marea were enabled to resume what would this threb weeks do for them ? Would it make our seats in this House, I think it tells very much (as I said them soldiers? • Never ; never so long as the Government before) for the good sense and good temper of the House gave them only the discipline and only the drill which by of Commons that •we have been permitted by 'their aid their Bill they were prepared to do. The Chancellor of the to carry out to nearly a conclueion so many important Exchequer himself, taking the common-sense view of the measures.—(Cheers.) Sir, I remember some years ago, question, had said on the evening of the 6th of May that it when I sat on the other side of the House, under the guid- would be madness to suppose these men capable of contend ance and advice of that distinguished man Lord George ing successfully with the armed legions of Algiers, of the Beatinck, and when I took a part in public affairss, which Caucasus: But was it not precisely agai ns t suc h di sc i p li ned I was not, but for the too great ind u l gence of my friends, cal- troops that they would have to contend ?—(llear. ) Th en culated to occupy, it became my d uty to sum up t h e resu lt s what was the use of the Measure? He had shown that these of the longest session that I believe th e H ouse o f Commons troops—these mill iamen, he would not call them trQops— ever yet experienced—a session of more than ten continuous would. be with difficulty collected, and when collected would Months, concluding in the month of September, 1848. There be tit for nothing—totally unfit, as had been confessed, to were at that time the same charges made as to the ineffi• resist a disciplined foreign invasion. These *ere the tests ciency of the House of Commons. At that time you'were to which it ought to, be applied. But there was still the told that the accumulation of business was intolerable, and argument that the militia, though not efficient for itself; was that it was proved in a manner which every one ought to so indirectly, inasmuch as it increased the efficiency of the view with alarm that a representative Government could regular' army. The whole of the regular army we could no longer deal with the affairs of a great community. Sir, make available to defend our shores was 25,000, and it was it was my duty then, after a careful analysis of all the mo • proposed to take 80,000 militiamen to ma k e th em more effi dons and all the measures of that remarkable session—it cient. He asked was it not monstrous for them to put this was my duty-then to vindicate the conduct and character of country to the expense, the harassment, and the disorgani the House of Commons.—(Hear, hear.) It was my duty sation of doing thus for the army what our present policemen also to endeavour to prove that which I gave my reasons for and pensioners, if organised, could do quite as well? He believing-;-that it was to the weakness of the Ministry, and asked o why should they not reject the measure? The neces not to the inefficiency of the House—(Hear, hear) —that this sary consequence of their doing so would be a most desirable lamentable state, of affairs was owi ng. In the present in"- one—that they should hare time for calmer re fl ec ti on . H e stance, Ido not think it necessary for toe to ascribe the pre: trusted, therefore, that Honourable Gentlemen would con sent state of public business • either, to the weakness of the eider this, and, would not fall into the silly delusion that it Ministry or to the inefficiency of the House of. Commons, be- was better to do' something , anything, no matter what, than cause I maintain that the position of public business at such not to legislate at all and at once upon the matter. It was a period, and after a session so broken up and disturbed, against such an error that he wished most especially to never was more satisfactory.—(Cheers.) I s a id t h at I c l a im guard them when he said that in their haste they might do no credit for the Ministry for this result, but I can say this such wrong' as would prevent them from doing right most sincerely for them—that we have endeavoured by sedu- hereafter.. He asked them to take time for consideration. lous attention to the business which we had to discharge—we' Out of the mists of this discussion had already loomed the have endeavoured to merit the generous support • which we plain fact that we possessed 65,000 regular troops withia have received from the Howse of -Commons, even from our thesa three kingdoms. That stood out clear from their dis opponents.—(Cheers.) - cession, and no man could deny it. Then they had 40,000 The motion for ahe dischArge of the second rea di ng o f th e in dockyard and pensioner battalions . ; -10,000 yeomanry-and Metropolitan Buildings Act was then put and agreed to. constabulary. They had a navy which had never yet been Mr. L. HEYWORTH presented a petition' from 7,595. THE MILITIA BILL. baffled or•discomfited; they had about 1,300 steam-ships young men of London, and two petitions fro Pe 'capable of bearing guns. He asked, therefore for some pause. He thought the public might sleep in peace (Hear)—and Chatham, against the Militia Bill; - m Rochester and this question be postponed for another year, and for more Mr. RICH claimed the attention of the House while he replied to the attacks made upon these Hon. Gentlemen who, baving.voted in favour of a local Militia Bill, had felt it their duty to oppose the general Militia Bill now before the House. A most unfair use had been made of the charge of inconsistency_ against those who had opposed th e Government measure. He wished to call the attention of the House to the grounds upon which this measure, had been i n t ro d uce d to the House, the'measure itself, and 'the consequencefof its adoption. The grounds upon which the m easure was in troduced were. easily dispatched. ' The Home S ecretary had referred to the imminent danger from abroad, an d said that in the event of invasion, and after providing f or the safety of our ports and arsenals, only 25,000 men Would remai4 available for the defence of the country. The discussion as - it had proceeded had dispelled both allegations. T he danger had been given up, both by words and deeds, th e number of men to be raised had been reduced in numb er, and the Government had declined to take advantage o f the offers made to them by volunteer, corps. It was said t h e marines could not be . counted as available for the d e f ence of the country, because, in the event of attack, they would b e em barked on board the fleet. . Now, the danger to be guarded against was from a sudden and unforeseen att ac k upon our shores by an enemy before we were aware of thei r i ntention to effect a landing. In such an event it would be the height of imptudencelo send our marines from Woolwich and from our arsenals. and they must therefore be included i n any estimate of our disposable force. ' The Home Se cretary had also excluded Ireland and the force in that c ou n try; but wrceelwoefrethbeouUndnitteo defend it, United Kingdom a l s re y la o n r d k and Ireland was bound to come to our d e f ence in was e re as or mMeeihddpleesretx,a and npda the event of invasion. Troops had been dispatched from Dublin to our manufacturing districts when they were in a disturbed state, and the Right Honourable Gen tleman was, therefore, bound to include Ireland, Whi c h , it should be remembered, contained 12,000 constabulary trained to the use of arms, and who were therefore available for the defence of that country. Honourable Members, in dealing with the disposability of our forces, had assumed that we were legislating with regard to 'a large and comprehen sive invasion of this country, such as would imply the com mand of the Channel fleet, and an amount of preparation on the part of the enemy which would - give us full time to make counter preparations. In such a case the allocation of 10,000 men to the Thames, 5,000 to Portsmouth, and an equal num ber to Plymouth, would be mere mystification and misleading. The attack to which we would be liable being sudden and un foreseen, there would be imbecility as well as cowardice in locking up our troopd in garrison instead of sending them to meet the enemy. It had been urged that those who opposed this Bill were reckleis of the defence of the country; but the best refutation of that imputation was to point to the various alternatives which had been proposed as substitutes for this measure. The Noble Lord the Member for 'London had sug gested a local militia, a measure more in accordance with the constitutional precedent, more comprehensive in its operation, and by which the men would be more easily found. That alternative had, however, been rejected. So had the recom mendation of the organization of volunteer corps, and the more important suggestion of those wh o p re f erre d the addition of 10,000 or 15,000 men to the regular army. The Honourable and Gallant Member for Westminster (Sir De Lacy Evans) had shown how a force of 4,000 infantry and artillery might be brought home from the colonies, and made available for the defence of the country; but the Government refused to listen to him. Certainly, when they were consulting about the best means of adding to their military defences, it did appear to him to amount to infatuation to attempt to blindly raise a body of.men who were totally incapable of doing the most important duty they were about to and which duty, indeed, they.acknowledged they would not give them time to learn ,to disehafge. whereas they might readily go to the well-disciplined and easily recruited regular army, and obtain • a m oat• efficient body, of trained soldiers. Why should they not • a n d consolidate remodel that army of reserve which th eyalready possessed, for the pension and battalion system really constitute an army of reserve? For a half- pension" of sixpence a-day, the Government might, without difficulty, raise 10000 or 15,000 men, horn • to 35 ears of age, who had all served ten or twelve '' years in the regular army, and thus obtain an efficient force of - prime soldiers before the raw levies of the int militia bad ended mastered the goose-step. The gap that would thus be OCCa sioned in the army could easily be fi lled up by recruiting. It might be said that this would be depriy" the ular army of the best men ; but the danger f ing feg _.„ was demanded was either real or lin or which this agina If merely imaginary, it might be at once entirely dismissed.• If real, to retain a man in England to dischara duty of a soldier, that of defending his the most importan prehension of danger, could net-by any l at i tude in the an be called Jobbing the army of that mans of language be maintained that by holding the indac an's services. .i?t nsion for half service they could the erri ent of this half most_ efficient army of reserve from thus form a large and there would be no difficulty whatever in and regular army; because the service could easily b e renderedring recruitas, dismissal from it, instead'of being.regarded so popular that be esteemed a punishment. Now, th e G as a boon, would hoped to get 30 , 000 or 40,000 militiam en i G overnment only the bounty. They would' have to resort n the fi rs t year by to the ballet, and they would find in the present temper of the that the practical evils of the ballot public mind wouldendured. He had pointed out how they could not be or 12,000 men at once for an army of obtain 10,000 _ Now there were 30;000 pensioners, obtains.— 00 18,000 of whom were of the first from 16,000 . they , could obtain from 10,000 t c ass. Of the se fifty years of age, and these o 12,000 under added to the others, would at least 24,000 young mart ldi infinitely preferable to 35,000 or 40,000 oodise _prime 50... ors, the system of half-pensions for iplined militia men. By short service they could obtain 6,000 or 8,000 more men eve ry from _ regular army, and in asfewyears in - fact the year th e could ; Y would get too many for this country. th The y . emigration e Z l ' goo ho wever, most judi ciously encourage the emigration colonies. Thisd and steady soldiers and their families to Was no .theory, it A h lr ady in practice. measure ad already was a e the Ordnance • by Y been adopted by the Master of New Zealand - whic habout 2 000 sent to , A ustr a li a, 1 soldiers were and North raise 10,000 orl2 0 America. We might would ' be ' o° , men in this man ner for the colonies, which _ . glad to re • them, and we might keep up the small pension for political MVO ) would be enabled gradually t o „ jaw reasons. Thus we nies and to disbd themraw our own troops from the colo , when they had therefore arrived in this country. lie mode by which we might establish an army of. aster out a monil_l of prime soldiers between 28 and 85 yea of age composed thought necessary to maintain a force so large; - if it was and the cost of' clothing, arming, and drillin g tb s tu la amount; exceed 150,000/. a year. That was one of the substitutes, not amongst many, which had been proposed instead ofti But the Government *Chose to adhere to the old 0 is Bill. militia force of the country, and said drat this Bill Iv a riginal in the right direction. Now, the old militia force eras a step tially local in all respects. It was raised and drilled teeseeni." rarily in each county or shire, and was never moved : j u t o t its own county unless . under exceptional ciree metano War, however, broke out, and the men were marched from county to county, and from kingdom to kitagdotn, and, .T . fact, they became substantially a second aemy-- 80 much in that in the year 1808 the Government of the a eaY formed and organised, out of the old volunteer corps of the year 1793 and 1804, a local militia, compo sed of all classes, e n d trained them round their own homes. That local militia was th e true representative of the old militia forc e of this country. brcw, what' would be the efficiency_ 'of thee proposed militia •orne-e under the command of . the H ffi e ? I n the ease o f invasion there were two methods by which the re gular troop s could be reinforced—either by additionat regular troop s , or by the subordinate co .operation of . qgula u r u ly drilled batta lions, gathered by general volunteering andd. levy ea muse. beneficial, in caseßoth measures were highly essentially of emer gency highly necessary ; but they were,actedwith h distinct. The one force joined the regular y,.. arin otner force to b it 1113taa taneously, and afforded time for the this e trained Bill was, that it and disciplined. His objection tocon founded these two resources, and - Was, like most of t heir legis lation, a most mischievous comp romise • never fur nish a body of.troope—he would not say an army. I n such essential to its a force there were several .requirements effi it. 'were these: thatshould be fit for ciency ; among which . be easily and • garrison and fieli duty—that it sho u ld certainly some connexion with the I assembled—and that it should have Now, the Chancellorhe the country. r spirit of the regular army of Exchequer had told his constituents at the hustings of the would be cheap, ) popular and efficient. that the proposed militia would the militia have in co But would this be so? What ailing but a red coat re d . mon with the regular troops? N Then, would it be a° a semblance of military discipline. the ballot it would opera tive? They were told that without r,o n ot t hi s question the very. Thee, would it be popular? I necessity for a ballot was the reply. But, to go beyond th at the petitions • which he bade Honourable Members look at had been received 4 by the House upon the subject. Of these one, there was, in favour of the measure, one; argued, as he understood, by fifteen boys in Derby; night-_1,377, there Were 1 against it—exclusive of those presented that . in number to nearly with signatures to them amounting hear') ) So much for th e h a quarter of a million.—(Bear, -6 popularity o f t h e measure, o f w hich the Chancellor of tie Exchequer bad boasted to. his Buckinghamshire 110tieti. . - ample Investigation.. At all events it ought not to be dis cussed on the eve of a dissolution, and under the auspices of a proVisional Government. The question, they must all feel, bad been sufficiently before the public to be certain to be taken up in the next Parliament. Was it not reasonable to suppose that it would be much better settled then than at present? The subject of our steam navy, and the reserved forces of our army and navy, bore most materially on this 'question. On those questions a Committee was to be moved for by his Hon. and Gallant Friend the Member for Westminster, who was most anxious for an inquiry into the condition of our steam navy and marine, and to know how "far the latter were applicable, in case of need, for purposes of war. He again asked the House to deal deliberately and not hastily with this question; to refer it from a pro visional Government to an established one, and from a dying Parliament to a living one. He concluded by moving that the Bill be read that day six months. • Mr. MACKINNON seconded the amendment. In the year .042 this very question was before the House of Com mons, and on that occasion the measure was strongly opposed by Hyde, afterwards Lord Clarendon—a man of high autho rity upon it. With regard ,to the expediency of this force, he was not aware if any benefit had arisen from calling out the militia. Was it, therefore, wise in the Government of this country to decide upon calling out a militia force of eighty thousand men, the more especially as offers had been made by men who had a stake in the country to enrol them selves as volunteers? If they looked back to the two last :revolutions in France, they would find that they had been effected principally by men who had been accustomed to the use of arms. He did not mean to say that they had any reason , to be apprehensive of such a result in this country from the embodiment of a militia; but the fact he had alluded to could not escape observation. If they really apprehended any danger of an invasion, he weals', ask them, why they should not, in preference, increase their army and navy? Suppose a force of forty thonsand men invaded their coasts, the invading force would be over half the country before a militia could be called together. Under all the circumstances, he saw no use in their proceeding with this hasty measure, and he felt that it would be more in accordance with the feel ings of the country, that the further consideration of this Bill should be postponed till, that day three months. *Lord IL VANE would vote for the third reeding. and eventually for the motion of the Hon, Member for Lam beth, to omit the compulsory clauses. He agreed with the mover and seconder of the amendment that this measure had evoked a considerable'spirit of hostility throughout the country, but that was not a sufficient reason for negativing it, if that House thought it necessary for the honour and safety of the country. Looking at the fact that the pre ceding Government were pledged to some measure of the kind, and that the present Government had introduced it. on their executive responsibility, he could not feel justified in wholly opposing the Bill, but at the same time must ex press his regret that the Government insisted on the ballot- Ling clause, which it would be his duty to oppose. Mr. MACGREGOR said that public opinion out of doors was entirely against the Bill, and therefore he wondered at the hardihood of the Government in going to the country on such a measure. In London the people had no apprehen sion when the funds were beyond par, and when enormous sums of money were leaving every day for Investment in the public works of France. He believed that there never was a period in the history of the latter country when they were so desirous of maintaining amicable relations with us, and he knew that the President felt that nothing could be so dangerous to the stability of his own power as any rupture with England. As to the other three great Powers-Russia, Austria, and Prussia—their policy, especially since the death of Prince Schwarzenberg, was one of peace, and of corn pact defence,. not against the French President, but against the eventualities of another revolution. In such a state of things, he thought , that a more impolitic Bill had 'never he would willingly consent been introduced into .that House.—(Hear; hear.) If in coe-than a body of men who our marine force, and that wouldtc o r e theas e d ,additionbo force.a much' were a o sb,to,oer necessary, demenf would only• be bad soldiers and worse citizens.. With these views he felt bound to oppose the further progress of the Bill. • Mr. HEADLSIII intended to vote agaih-t the third read ing, and hoped that the House would concur with him in rejecting thnmeasure. At the 'same time he was willing to admit that the Gevernment had some excuse in the public clamour, and in the act of their predecessors, and that in their difficulty they had produced a measure as little objec tionable as possible, but it was only an argument against any measure of the description, that nothing better could be produced. His objection to the voluntary pokier' of this Bill was that it proposed to raise a regular force on the leant economical principle. He was willing' to admit that thernwits some argument for increased defence in the improvement of modern science and' the increased facilities of transit. He did not believe that there was any hostile feeling towards us on the part of' France ; and if there were, this. Bill was so 'inefficient that it was a mere waste of money. For these reasons , he should give his vote against the measure. . . Mr. EWART said it was a paramount and insurmount able objection to a Ministerial measure that it was ineffi cient; and this was so. Let the necessity fer.additional defence be proved,' end he Would consent to an increase of the regular army and of the artillery. He believed that, compared with past wars, future wars—from which Heaven defend us—would be infinitely more destructive. He con. tended that a militia force was not suited to the times we lived in. Adam Smith described it as a most barbarous force; and if the force was inapplicable to this country in his time, it was much more so now. To constitute the best military force, the piinciple of division of labour must be acted upon, which was in favour of a standing army. He was also opposed to this Bill, because it had two other Acts engrafted upon it, that of George 111. and the Mutiny Act, which would authOrise flogging in' the militia. He found that enlightened foreigners 'were disapproVing of a militia force in Prussia and Austria,' and they said that it would be found inapplicable here; but taking the opinion of military men in our own country, they were all in favour of an aug mentation of, the regular army. Considering that this •Bill would give neither a good nor an efficient force, be should , vote against it. Sir H. VERNEY said • the Bill would be tteeful as" a means of training the population to arms, which was one of the most satisfactory' measures of national• defence that could be adopted. He hoped the Secretary at War would make such regulations as would prevent the ad mission of persons of bad character into the force. He trusted encouragement would be given to the rifle corps, who would prove most valuable soldiers. It was desirable that the army should be increased by some rifle regiments. He thought the guns formerly mounted in the Martello towers ought to be replaced Ihere, and the towers manned. nit might be dond at a very trifling expense. The aug mentation in the French marines and navy was proportion d for theprotection of commerce, rines were principally used h t h d little but it should be remembered t a ce a very .1.. commerce to Protect. There were means ot defence avail- ally much greater than in our own. It was said that ma able to this country in its mercantile marine force; each might also be applied to all the liar this species of defeuee • boors on the coast. th oof he Bill to Supposing yp Heats. o t nt Government be mistaken, and that the lapt end tne prese vessel might be made to carry one or more swivel guns; and pprehensfens they entertaine,d, it -co So long as we were assailable, it was the most the country. imperative duty of the Government to bring forward such measures as they thought necessary for the safety of n il , : uld country; and to neglect to do so would expose them to _ ntetraberidgehntieidn t t h h a e t a this Bill would conduce to the safety . of t e f e n n n a t t f j • w in o ' u fa l ni d • n of national defences ought fo be submitted said the question the Govern ment or. Commission; and he hoped to a Committee The Hon. Member for the West Riding had Mr. BERNAL OSBORNE said it appear as if the Go for Bedford vernment had abandoned to the Hon. Memberassing it infamy lose sight of that suggestion. ed • the defence of this Bill, and the responsibili y p into lava—, se that had other reasons for the measure than tho ' were no then the dislike with been adduced by the llpn. Baronet, likely to regarded , . the measure was not which the country not He he'd never heard a more war (Hear hear l ) And he must add that if there to be lessened in futu ed r i e n . blander terms than that which was like speech reading of this Bill, the Hon. Gentle voting for the third Ministers to put the Martello towers man called upon the that Produce the swivel guns had been laid in order —to last war, and then they might laugh to up since the just concluedxedPrhy the . lion. Baronet. Not content with bilg Bufordef to what was said argue He had been o for want of any 'other Hon. Member for r of the measure; and, whatever objec ments in favour might have to the principle of this Bill, he would scorn a French invasion.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) tions he w a is d e i s s t tem au p a ere g d re i a m te a s - t principles of the Peace Society. But, at the views and he hoped he would never be found to under value wouldefforts aamettreeexertions or to impeach the motives of that truly confess at once that he did not found those objections on the laugh at the theories of those men ; but he benevolent body of men. It was very easy to deride the by no less a person than Plato, and raldintad Honourable Gentlemen that they thought so paying by the divine founder of our religion and corning g n i o n v a e t l i and entwerehusiastic d t h h y e so p m ra e du o e f ts th o e f men of ancient times; objection to give the maps, but they could only employ those persons who were regularly engaged,on the Irish Snteh surveys to make the tracings. Toe Ordnance were now obliged to pay alt the money they received for these maps into the Treasury, but, if they re• ceived a sum of money, for the purpose, they would be very happy to supply those maps to the country. THE CAPE. Mr. ADDERLBY rose to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the dispatches just arrived from the Cape announced the passing of the constitution ordinances, including the alterations of this frarichiee against which the Attorney-General protested; what information had been received relating to the rumoured advance .of Przelorius against the Zoolas; and whether treaties .were actually entered into with the Kefir chiefs for the termination of the war? The papers and letters just received were full of the importance of the expres sions of Lard Derby laet year, when he said in the de bate on the Cape is the louse of Lords,— " He might have hesitated to gran t eo l arge a measureof representedive government as that now proposed to be granted . to the colony, but he would say that, as such a proposal had been made on such high auteority, and as it heel obtained the sanction of the colony, and the im-• plied sanction of the Ccown, any danger or risk was to be 013COUntel'iA rather than not to fulfil those expects- tious; and he would not hate one jet of the popular is- . eitutione proposed to he coefided to the colony, however anxious he might be as to the workiug of those institu tions in the first instance." Ile wished aLio to know. if the Government intended to carry out their leeishatien on the subject this session? Sir J. TAKING lON said that the (petition of which the Hohourahle Member had given notice .embraced three points, to which he had added a fourth, and, in re- Plying, he (Sir J. Tekington) would take them seriatim. As the Honourable Member had .given notice of the question on Saturday, he- presumed the Honourable Member referred to the accounts which came over a week ago with Sir Harry Smith, and he might not be aware that a mail had arrived this morning. By the mail of a week ego he, (Sir J. Pakingion) had received a dispatch from General Cathcart, stating that he had thought it to be his duty to pass the constitution ordi nances with the alterations made by the council; and by • the mail of this..morningle had received the ordinances themselves. As to the second question, he was very happy to be able to state that the rumoured advance of Trattorias against the Zalas not only remained without foundation, but that by the mail this morning ho had re ceived the agreeable information that a convention had been agreed to between Prmtorias and her Majesty's Commissioners, and that peaceful relations had been established.—(Hear, hear.) As to the third question, whether treaties were entered into with the Kafir chiefs, - he regretted to say he had no information that they were, and he was afraid, from the dispatches received from General Cathcart, there was no reason to believe there would be. With respect to the fourth question, he did not know till a week ago that the ordinances had been sanctioned by the new Governor, and as the ordinances had only arrived this morning at the Colonial-office, he thought the Hon. Member would admit it would be ex tremely premature for him to attempt to state now what were the intentions of her Majesty's Government on this • subject.—(Hear.)_ _ _ • NAVAL RESERVE. Sir G. PECHELL wished to ask what steps had been taken to carry out the reserve of 5,000 men which had been provided for by a vote of the House? Mr: STAFFORD had to state, in reply, that no stfTs had been taken to carry out that system, and that, after much consideration end consultation among those best acquainted with the subject, it was caisidered the scheme was on the whole impracticable. PRUSSIA AND NEUFCHATEL. Lord J. RUSSELL was understood to ask whether any communications had been received by her Majesty's Government respecting a recent conference between the representatives of the great Powers of Europe, with re ference to the claims of Prussia upon Neufchatel; and, secondly, if the Noble Lord knew if there would bo any objection to lay the papers on the table of the House. Lord STANLEY (who spoke in a still lower tone than Lord John Russell, so that he was very indistinctly heard) was understood to reply that a conference had been held, and a protest signed by the representatives of the four great piwers, on the subject of the Prussian claims on Neufchatel. There was no doubt in the mind of Government, or, he believed, on the mind of any per son who had turned his attention to the subject, that Prussia had certain rights over Neufchatel, which rights had been recognised by the treaty of 1815. It might not be altogether irrelevant to observe, as it was a fact of some importance, that this was the first public act by which France, under her present ruler, bad recognised the settlement of Europe made in 1815. At the pre sent time, at all events, it would be impossibl e t o l ay t h e papers connected with this conference on the table of the House. PUBLIC BUSINESS. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then rose and said,—l promised to-day to state to the House the views of her Majesty's Government with respect to the business that is before the House, and in reference to its ex peditious dispatch. It was my intention originally to have selected this day to express these views. I thought that as soon as we sat after the holidays it would be desirable that we should come to some conclusion on this subject; but the reason why I fixed on this day was that I thought the House would be indisposed to have the explanation of the views of Government made on the first day after they met, and that it would be reasonable, instead of taking the fag- end of the week, to select the first Monday after we assembled for business. If it had not been my in tention to fix on this day, it would not have been possible for me to consider the dispatch of this duty, in consequence of the appeal and memorable spech made - by a Right Hon. Gentleman on the re-assembling of the House. That Right Hon. Gentleman is one who necessarily and justly exercises a very great influence over the opinion of this House, and though, indeed, he is listened to with great respect upon all subjects, on none is his opinion more re garded than in th. conduct of public business. The statement of that Right Honourable Gentleman was calcu lated very much to arrest public attention, and to produce a very considerable effect in the House, e , pecially among those not very familiar with the details of the subjects the Right Hon. Gentleman spoke upon. Certainly he conveyed an impres sion to the House and to the country that the state of public business was extremely unsatisfactory; that there was a vast accumulation of business, with a very slender prospect of its being disposed of, and that at the end of the present session there would be no possibility of dealing with the ac cumulation before us of business, all of which, as the Right Hon. Gentleman very truly stated, was of a highly important and pressing character. The Right Hon. Gentleman said, on that occasion, that he felt deeply on the subject, that he viewed it with great apprehension, and that it was with no ordinary feelings of apprehension and upon no ord i nary sub ject that he spoke, becauseit was not the mere reputation of this particular House which was at stake, in the opinion of the Right Hon. Gentleman—though the reputation even of this House, I think, must be dear to Lim—but it was really a fear that if we did not take care we should bring represen tative government itself into disrepute,—( Hear, hear.) And, that there may be no mistake on the matter, I will quote the words which the Right Hon. Gentleman repeated that he feared : " This assembly, which has been the great landmark of representative government and the great example of repre sentative assemblies throughout the world, will be brought into disrepute. And that it will appear we are unable to transact our own business. ' Now, Sir, it would be—it must be—a most serious state of affairs which could warrant such words from such a man. The Right Honourable. Gentleman did not confine himself on that occasion—listened to as he was with becoming attention by the House—to a mere general expression of the apprehensions under which he was suffering. He went into very great detail on the subject; he took a minute re view of the state of the business before the House; he called the attention of the House to the various subjects before them, grouping the se vera l Bill s on all-important matters in that clear and perspicuous manner which he always commands; acd lie laid down the data from which he drew the inference he communicated to us; and which, in his opinion, warranted the apprehensions he felt. Indeed, I read in a very great authority ou the day following that it was evidently au herculean twit to deal with the business before the House of Commons; and that even to form a catalogue of it, or to enumerate it in detail, required the colossal power of intellect for which we are all willing to give the Right. Hon. Gentleman credit.—(Laughter.) Under these circumstances, I' felt an unusual responsibility placed upon me in the position, for which I am every day more aware I am not calculated, I felt it was a terrible responsi bility to incur, that under the guidance which I had been able to give to the business of the House, assisted by the kindness of Honourable Members on both sides of the House, I had brought public business not only to a perilous, but to a disgraceful position.—(Hear, hear.) Well, Sir, under' that feeling I have examined, with all the assiduity the circumstances of the case required, the state of the public business before us. Feeling that I am responsible for its general position, I have' endeavoured to see if I could in some degree escape from the consequence of neglect of duty, or from the results of that incapacity with which, though the Right Honourable Gentleman was courteous enough not to charge me, he must have felt I was liable to be accused of. Under the challenge and appeal of the Right Hon. Gentle man, I will examine very briefly the business now before us, and the prospects and ultimate fate of all the Bills to which he referred. I will follow the order taken by' the Right Hon. Gentleman, because it is now familiar to the House. On the evening referred to the Right Hon. Gentleman particu larly impressed on the House the. importance of the Bills for legal reform which are before them—Bills of their kind probably inferior in importance to no business before the House. The Right Ho. , with Gentleman on Thursday, when the House assembled, said, reference to three of these Bills —first, to the Common Law Procedureii4i.mendment Bill; secondly, to the Equitable Jurisdiction and, thirdly, to the Bill for the Abolition of Masters i/1 Chancery —the Right atnottoo pursue Hon. Gentleman said, to use his own phras u his own language, " Not one step has yet been House with regard to any of th ese three Bills beyonortheir i n troduction." He expressed a h ope on T hursday that I would on Monday be able to give some information on this subject, and I have now the pleasure of reminding the Right Hon. Gentleman, that as to both of the Common Law Jad e _ diction Bills, and the Bill for the Abolition of Mastership s in Chancery, with respect to which not one step had been taken, very important ste p s time, all threw been taken by this and three have been read a second time.—(Hear, hear.) B ut there were two other Bills of legal reform beside th ose to which the Right Hon. Gentleman also alluded —the Suitors in Chancery Relief Bill, and the Bill respect. ing alterations in the . law of. making wills. As the Right Hon. Gentleman, so great an authority upon all subjects but the very highest in this on the subject of legal impossible to exaggerate reform House. said, on Thursday, it was the magnitude, difficulty, and importance of those questions. Well, on Mo n d a y, I h a ve the pleasure to inform the Right Hon. Gentlem an th a t th os e two Bille, the them having and importapc e o f w hi c h cou ld not be exceeded, have en tirely'pased through this House.—(chee rs.) (Cheer s )f. So Much for these important Bill s on legal re f orm —t w o 0 entirely passed th e H ouse of Commons, th ree of them having been read a second time, and no material opposition being anticipated to their progress, I think her Majesty's Govern ment are-not arrogant or presumptuous in saying that they would pass the Legislature and become law without at all interfering with that termination of Parliament which is now so rife in every one's mouth. Well, the Right Hon. Gentleman then proceeded, with all the clearness which cha racterizes his mature statements, to another group of Bills which were still on the table—those which he de scribed as colonial Bills. Oa Thursday last, calling en me on Monday to give an aceount of the intentions of Government, with that influence which became 144 etuat -1 19131 he reminded the House of the New Zealand Bill, the importance of which was only equalled by the number of its clauses, and said he expected that on Monday some idea would be given by Government what their inten tions were with respect to that important Bill. I agree that it is a Bill of the utmost importance, and I should deplore the circumstance that this Bill, which attempts to establish a right principle of colonial administration, under happy auspices, should be defeated by any occurrence con nected with the abrupt termination of Parliament. But, Sir, what is the bulletin of Monday night upon this subject—that night upon which i was called upon to state exactly the intentions of Goverrment with regard to public business? The New Zealand Bill has not only got into Com mittee, but has nearly got through Committee.—(Hear, hear.) In fact I may say, that out of more than 80 clauses, 72 have been disposed of, and, with the exception of some which refer to what may be almost called a private and a local subj ict, the great questions connected with this which is to give a new constitution to an interesting colony, the great questions are all settled in this House; and it is hardly possible to conceive that the state in which the New Zealand Bill is now found could at all justify her Ma jesty's Government in relinquishing the hope of speedily passing this Bill through the House.—( Hear) Then there Le another colonial measure, also referred to by the Right Honourable Gentleman—the Hereditary Casual Revenues Bill, which, to use the language of the Right Hon. Gentle man, is a measure of " primary importance." Now, perhaps, the House will allow me to remind them of the nature of this Bill. The law officers of the Crown have expressed their doubts, and more than zioubts, whether these branches of casual revenue, which now as-time very great importance in the auriferous colonies of Australia, might not be, by the s riot letter of the law, applicable to the consolidated fund, instead of being applied, as her Majesty's Government wished, to the benefitgof the colony in which. they were disco vered. No one can doubt but that this. is an object to attain which would not excite any very great party feeling, or re ceive any very great opposition; and when I mention that the Bill which is to confer this highly beneficial, and ad vantageous privilege upon the colony is composed of only two clauses, it is not a very presumptuous expectation on the part of her Majesty's Government to hope that they may be as successful with it as they have hitherto been in that foremost Bill with regard to colonial legislation relating to New Zealand.—(Hear, hear.) There are two other' Go vernment Bills which the Right Hon. Gentleman referred to as connected with the colonies, and really, with the excep tion that the word " bishop' s does ,appeer in the titles of these Bills—and I know hove unfortunate the word sometimes is in exciting debate in this House, and in calling forth the ',irre gular energy of the Hon. and Learned Member for Youghal —(A laugh)—l should hardly suppose that there would be any opposition to these two sills. Oneof them, the Bishopric of Quebec Bill, is in fact only to take care that in the diocese already divided one of the bishops should not retain the whole of the episcopal property, but should divide it with his brother bishop, and I should hardly think that this measure would be opposed, more especially as it consists only of two clauses, and has already passed the other House of Parlia ment.— ( Hear, hear.) I think, therefore, it is not rash to suppose that even that Bill may soon pass into law without at all procrastinating the conclusion of the session. There is a fourth Bill, called the Colonial Bishops Bill, and that is a mea sure which is also of very small dimensions, its only object being to relieve the Indian bishops from a disability which, in the case of the other colonial bishops, does not exist. It is, therefore, a Bill essentially just in- its provisions. It is one which I cannot say is of that urgent nature which, generally speaking, all the Bills are which her Majesty's Government have brought forward; but it is a Bill of a very important character, and yet very. slight in.its dimensions, and I hope it will receive the sanction of Parliament.—(Hear, heare) I have now gone through two of the most important groups of projected legislation to which the Right Hon. Gentleman referred, but the colossal catalogue evas not limited to these two groups. The next subject to which the Right Hon. Gen tleman alluded for those proofs of the unsatisfactory state of public business which he adduced, refers to the department which is presided over by my Noble Friend the President of the Board of Works. There are three Bills on the table of the House which have been placed ,there by. my Noble. Friend. The first of these is the Intramural Interment Bill, a Bill which, I believe, has the concurrence of a great majority in this House, and which it is the public wish, as weil as the wish of the majority of this House, should pass into law.—(Hear, hear.) lam not prepared, I confess, to re nounce the hope, not only of passing that Bill, but of passing it quickly, and with but slight opposition. There is also another Bill, the Metropolitan Water Bill; but re member that that Bill has already been referred to a Select Committee, and it comes down, therefore, to the House with the advantage of the criticism of that Select Commit tee, and the approbation of a tribunal to which the. House, always looks with great respect, and therefore I think I am warranted in believing that it can be passed without post poning the termination of this session.—(Hear.) There is another Bill laid upon the table of the House, by my Noble Friend (Lord J. Manners),—the Metropolis Buildings Bill, and, as there seems such a keen desire to resist legislation on the part of some Hon. Gentlemen, from the fear that they may be overwhelmed with it, and, as it is necessary, in order to give Hon. Members an opportunity of making any observations in reply, that I should conclude with some motion, I am prepared .to move, at the proper time, that the order of the day for the second reading of that Bill might be discharged.-.("blea r ," and a laugh.) I have now gone through three of the great di visions which the Right Hon. Gentleman brought to our netice. All our measures of legal reform are fast arriving at that safe harbour to which I believe they are destined. — (Hear.) All our colonial Bills have elect made very great progress since the Thursday when . the attention of the coun try and of the House was called to the unprecedented posi tion of Parliamentary business; and of the two Bills which are under the charge of my Ncble Friend the President of the Board of Works, one of them has been referred to a Se lect Committee, which, as Ibefore said, will tend to make its progress through the House more rapid, and the other has received out of doors and in the Housesuch a degree of favour that I cannot doubt it will in due time pass into a law.— (Hear, hear.) Sir, there were, however, other circum stances in the state of public business on which the Right Hon. Gentleman dilated in terms of impressive solem nity, and which seemed to produce a considerable effect at the moment upon the feelings of the House. The Right Hon. Gentleman called the attention of the House of Com mans, particularly on Thursday, to the state of the Committee of Supply. He reminded the House that hitherto the expeditious way in which the Committee of Supply had been carried on, the promptitude with which we had pasted our estimates, had been, as we are all but too willing to acknowledge, the consequence of the continued forbearance of the House; but the Right lion. Gentleman gave the house to understand that even now the remaining estimates amounted to millions. On Thursday night he called the attention of the House and of the country to the important fact that there were still 200 votes which had not been passed, and that those 200 votes were to be met with 42 recorded negatives of one Hon. Member.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) That was the dreadful prospect for the Govern ment at the enttof the week, and that was one of the evi dences of the incapacity of her Mejesty's Ministry . to cond uc t that, Monday ha v ing come, I, somethe business a c o t f io t n h e to ll t o h u e s oßifoCto Commons. s G . e t t l e t a l n p perhaps a p h s h e b w e appearing to give that account which the "unprecedented'.' state of Parliamentary b us i ness vo ay tes b WAS said to call for, can say that some p lea of extenuati ng instead of 2 circumstances oo in there are, I beli eve , o nly 19. -- (Cheers.) And with eh2alle supplyged; for rem t a h in a i t hg now to on he Monday, pasee d of the Honourable Member regard to those 19 vot e s, I cannot help t hinkin g that, even w ith the determin e d spirit o ther opportunities enoug h f o r the exercise of his indefati gable powers—(A laugh)—and that perhap s when we g o Mt find for Youghal, the Hon. an d Learned Membe r ma y y into Committee of Supply again with those 19 votes we may experience even from him some little tender touch of remorse.—(Laughter.) There were some miscellaneous bills also mentioned by th e Ri g ht Hon. Gentleman. There was the Navy Pay Bill. 1 h av e endeavoured to f orm some opinion whether that measure can be passed, but I cannot gather that there is any o p pos i t i on t o it, and when the state ment is made with respect t o it by the Secretary to t he Ad miralty, I indulge in th e h ope th a t that Bill too will p ass. i here is also the Pate n t -L aw A men d men t Bill, but I may remind the House that th at Bill h as already p a ssed the House of Lords, and that we h ave referred it to a Co mmittee there ; as I have before remar k e d was t h e case with Bills so referred, it will receive a revision which will enable it to command much more readily the general attention of the House. I cannot think that lam yet called upon to say that these two laws, which I believe will be advantageous to the country, should be renounced. Now, Sir, there are some other bills, and one rather large head, to whi ch the Right Hon. Gentlema n a l so referred. There are two Bills with regard to Ireland. There is, first, the Valuation of Land Bill, and I hear from all sides that this is a good measure.—(Hear, hear.) Why, then should we g ive it up ? I cannot say th a t lam prepared to give it up, when we have had only one division upon this measure, and when the numbers, I think, were 80 to 4 in favour of the Bill — (Hear, hear)—and, believing that this is a Bill which is very much to the advantage of the people of Ireland, I certainly think the House will concur i n thi n ki ng i t s h ou ld pass. Theie is another Bill connected with Ireland—the Whiteboy Consolidation Bill. lam anxious at this moment that no Bill should pass, that we 'should proceed with no, Bill which is likely, I won't say to waste, but to occupy, the ,time of the House, unless it is of urgent necessity; and, as I agree with those who think that a Bill for the 'purposes . of con solidation can scarcely come under this head, I am prepared not to press it forward.—(bear, hear.) Then there were the continuance Bills, which is the last class of measures to which I shall refer,- The Poor-law Board. Act, which is a continuance Bill, now stands for a third reading; and then there is the Encumbered Estates . Act. That is a Bill which must be continued, and I cannot anticipate that any Honourable Gentleman in this House can wish that that Bill should not pass.—(Hear, hear.) There remains another Bill, which relates to a matter to which the Right Hon. Gentleman said the late Government attached the greatest importance and which must be renewed—l mean the Prevention of 'Crime and Outrage Act in Ireland.— (Hear.) We have bad from some Hon. Gentlemen opposite some hints as to the opposition which is to. be extended to the renewal of the Crime and Outrage Act. Sir, whatever opposition is offered to the Bill, as long as it respects Par-.' liamentary usages, and is eonducted in that courteous spirit which I believe will always distinguish this House, that op position in case of imminent necessity' I must be prepared to meet.—(Hear, hear.) It is the opinion of her Majesty's Go vernment that the Act for Preventing Crime and Outrage in Ireland should be renewed—(Hear, hear)—and, inasmuch as that Act consists of only one clause, giving Hon. Gentlemen opposite credit for as energetic patriotism as any body of men possess, even should they put in practice all the resources of their rhetoric, I cannot believe, it they should avail them selves of all the opportunities which the constitutional forms of this House provide them with, they, will be able to de feat a measure so necessary to the peace, the tranquillity, and the prosperity of Ireland.—(Cheers.) With very great respect, therefore, for the opinions held by those now, andw through practicereor u , I h am gt the s lion- Gentlemen, we shall attempt to continue that' Act, and I tell th em I am prepared for their opposition, 7nich , spirit - ohn gone e f t" thish se will whole House.—(Hear, o o fub, se thee _ (iea colossal conducted r,h accordinge catalogue arg li e have to the o w g of the Right lion. Gentleman, and I ask the House fairly to decide, is it their opinion, that the state of public business, is so e basinese, in the House of Commons, --(Hear, hear.)unsatisfactoryl a ( 7 e w l as Poiteg out on Thursday night? Government measures ethaarte'h sir, that when I examine the anxious desire to ask the have not passed, with the most do not conceive to be of Housethefimto support nothing winch I anxious desire that the labours of. first necessity, with the most be prolonged, Ido not find mys e lf is Parliament should not caption of the slight and moat in insignificant with the ex which I have referred, in recommendingagnalcant instances to any of these Bills.—( Hear, hear.)They the withdrawal of necessary, and they appear to me also to t s ) i. e pi i ) h ear to me to be a factory state ofe progress, so th a t a ll of tkiem alea m t syatis passed consistently with that termination of thea-sebse sion which we all of us anticipate.—(Hear, hear.) I claim no credit to the Government for this state of the public business, and I say that most un feignedly. It is a state of the public business, in my opinion, satisfactory, but it is due and due only to the good sense and the good temper of the House of Commons.— (Cheers.) And, Sir, when I heard the highest authority dilate upon the present state of business, and say, with all 1852. down to later times, they found that sovereigns like Henry IV. of France and our own Elizabeth had formed a plan of general pacification on the same principles; and coming down to a still later period, the Spanish statesman Alberoni declared that such a scheme was not unworthy of his consi deration. Far from deprecating the efforts .or the motives of men who not ouly preached but practised the principles of general benevolence and good-will, he concurred with them in opinion that, whoever reviewed the history of our past continental wars would come to be of opinion with a popu lar writer, that taxes had been raised not to carry on wars, but that war had been raised to carry on taxes that our greatest glory was earned by an increase of taxation, and that our most expensive luxury was a successful general.— (Hear, hear, and laughter.) But at the same time he drew a distinction between armies raised for the purpose of aggres sion, and armies for the purpose of defence; and he would submit to those Gentlemen—if there were any such—who doubted the lawfulness of defensive war, that in the Utopia •f Sir Thomas More, though he depicted a society in all the enjoyment of perennial happiness, detesting war, despising glory, and prohibiting alike lawyers and soldiers—(Laugh • ter) —neither allowing Martello towers nor briefs in Chan cery —y e t even he did not debar the natives of his happy island from the use of arms, nor from defending themselves when th ey were atta cked. Now, he could not imagine that anybody, either in that House or out of it, would be more Utopian than the Utopians themselves.—(Great laughter.) He must say, for himself, that he could not look upon the present state of the Continent of Europe with . satisfaction, filled as it and with reactionary rulers at t wit t h he armies. It might be very well,'g h i e g a a d nit o o f armies follow the Honourable Baronet thoughll Memberhe through , his medley of Martello towers,couldfor Bedford hardly poleon—(Laughter)—it might be rifie " 113 d Louis NL well for the Hon. Baronet to say that he had confidence ver in Louis Napoleon. lie (Mr. Osborne) did not wish to say anything trench upon the feelings of the most' fastidious that would but he could not say that he shared in the Baronet'slonifrehman, confidence. He thougta. it was natural that a ma'n b raised to power.by the military order should act in accordancewowas with military prejudices. And after all, what did thee Hon Gentleman say? I,have confidence in Lords Napoleon, for all that double your army increase your rifle corps but men your Martello towers—get rea d y your swivel gunsbut still I have great confidence in Louis Napoleon.--(L aughter. It was better to say at once th e y h a d no confidence in Louis) Napoleon, and they had no right to have confidence in him. Lie was surprised that no Honourable .Gentleman had ever quoted in the House the revelation which was made by M. Thiers in the Chamber of Deputies, which told heavily against Louis Napoleon, and which would amply justify the Government in seeing that the defences that they had —and which he mainta,hed were amply sufficient—were put in a most efficient state. On the 17th of January, 1851, M. Thiers told the French Chamber that in an interview he had with Louis Napoleon, the President said that it was neces sary to occupy the public mind in France, and that to do that it would be necessary to undertake some enterprise abroad 'which would captivate the attention of the masses, and attach them to the Government. He thought Govern ment must be blinded indeed if, after that, they did not take every precaution to put the defences or the country in the most efficient state consistent with the large sums of money they voted for that purpose. But in granting that, he thought that Ministers. were 'bound to supply fuller and greater information as to the .state of the defences, and of the condition of the army. Had any statement of that kind been made to the House? They had from year to year enormous estimates sobmitted, and vet no satisfactory account was ever given of the manner in which the money was laid out. He was prepared to say that the sums annually voted were quite enough for national defence, without either militia, Martello towers, or riflemen.—(Hear, hear.) We might take a lesson from the way in which the French estimates were prepared in 1848, from which it would appear that in one sense one Englishman was still worth two Frenchmen, for an English soldier was just double the cost of a French soldier.—(Hear, and a laugh.) He had the French estimates in his hand, and he would read one or two extracts from them to show that our service was managed in the most extravagant and reckless way, and that we should do well if we took a leaf out of our next door neighbour's book. The English army consisted of 113,287 men, and it cost 9,337,0001., or 82/. Bs. 4d. a soldier. The French army in 1848 was composed of 338,653 men, and cost 12,138,0001., or 411. 12s. Bd. per man.—(Cheers.) But he would go fur ther. What was the number of generals in the English ser vice? We had no less than 117 generals for an army of 113,287 men, while the French army, which in 1848 was treble, and was now quadruple the amount of our force, had but eight marshals and 143 general officers. He would take also the staff of the two armies, and compare the proportion ate expenee incurred. In the English army the charge for the effective service was 3,270,0001., or about 384 per cent. upon a total expenditure of 9,337,000/, while the French staff cost but 2,260,0301., which was a charge rather under 19 per cent. on an expenditure of 12,183,000/. When, therefore, Honourable Gentlemen talked of the country not being in, a proper state of defence, he would advise them to look t little into these French estimates, and the House would bear in mind that in this comparison no account whatever was taken of the dead weight. He found also that the French soldiers, being clothed on a system of open con tracts, were clothed at 12s. a head less than our own soldiers, though their uniforms were furnished in a country which ought to be the cheapest country in the world for woollen clothing.—(Hear, hear.) Another thing which he found was this—that in the French army, trebling our own in amount, military justice was administered at a cost of 8,0001., while in the English army it cost 32,000/. There must be some thing wrong in all this. There must be some great waste somewhere. The money which the [louse of Commons voted annually for military purposes could not be laid out to the best advantage, or else why was so great a difference observable in the French estimates and our own? It was true that we spent but 22,0001. in powder, while the French outlay in that article quadrupled that amount; and the French soldiers were armed witn the Minie rifle, and equipped with every improvement suggested by modern military science, while the English soldier was only supplied with the miser able musket. 'He reneated that it was evident that some- thing wrong was going •on, and that the House ought, be fore they agreed to the third reading of the Bill, to insist on some better information being given on the subject of mili tary expenditure than had been afforded. He thought that if an intelligent foreigner had come into the House during the debate on the introduction of the Bill, be wt•uld have bean rather surprised to see the Home Secretary, who was , very skilful. no doubt, as a Chancery lawyer, coming for ward to propose that 50,000 men should be raised to form a • militia. What could the Right Honourable Gentleman know about military matters? In saying this he did not attribut any blame to the Minister of the day; what lie found fault with was the system. He thought these matters ought to be in the hands of a War Minister, who ought to be able to ex plain to the House the condition of the army and the nature and extent of our rewurces. The consequence of the present system was, that the House was about to pass a Bill in a panic, which no one in his heart believed to be of any ser vice, and which the msjority of military men, and all civi lians, with some few exceptions, believed to be inefficient for its purpose. He said, " with some few exceptions," be caused ho had perceived to-day in the papers an address from the Right Honourable Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequ er to those confiding farmers who were his con stituents in Buckinghamshire. The Right Honourable Gentlemen recounted in that address those rapid acts of statesmanship for which he wished his Government to go down to the admiration of posterity.—(Hear, hear.) Th e Right Honourable Gentleman plumed himself on one " as a measure of internal defence, which it is,believed" —the Right Hon. Gentleman did hot state his own opinion on the subject —" will soon prove both popular, economical, and efficient." He (Mr. Osborne) would take leave to parody the words of the Right Hon. Gentleman, and to assert his belief that this internal defence" would soon become an internal com plaint, which would prove neither economical nor beneficial. He was very much mistaken if even the confiding farmers of Buckinghamshire did not ask the Right Hon. Gentleman some more questions ,about the origin of this Bill. He was rather surprised to find that the Right Hon. Gentleman should have assumed the parentage of this measure, but he was prepared to prove that he was only its potative father, and that he really had nothing to do with such a miser able albortion. He could prove that the idea was taken by the Home Secretary from a pamphlet written in 184 S, by Mr. Frederick Hill, inspector of prisona, but with the omission of some useful adjuncts to the plan; an omission which wou ld remind the House of two tolerably well-known lines - Quern recites meus eat, 0 Fidelline, libellus, bed nu& cum recitas, incipit esse tuus." —(Hear, hear, and a laugh.) Every Hon. Member recol lected the proposition which the Right lion. Gentleman made to give militiamen a vote after two years' service; and they also remembered —the most sudden fit of Parlia mentary repentance on record—when the Right Hon. Gen tleman came down to the House on the following Monday, and said that he did not mean to give them a vote. There was a great variety of opinion about this movement. Some said that the tendencies of the Right. Hon. Gentleman were democratic, others that the proposal was a joke of Lord Derby's. But it was no joke at all. He believed that the Government had deliberately weighed the proposal. but it was none of their thunder . He knew where the Rig ht Hon. Gentleman stole it from. He took it from a speech of .Mr. Windham's, in 1805, w ho p ro p osed to induce soldiers to enlist by giving their sergeants a right to shoot game.— (Laughter and cheers.) This Bill bore on its face the marks of hasty compilation. It was a piece of political patchwork, not intended for the defence of the country, but for the poli- • tical exigencies of a Ministry in• its last moments. The country did not want it, it had no belief in it, and what was more, it would be of no use to the country.—(Hear, hear.) There was a perfect apathy about it out of doors, and no one out of the House talked about Martello towers. But then it was said " Let us have an army of reserve." The Right Honourable Gentleman seemed to think that it was enough' to put a man in a red coat and make him shoulder a musket, to make him a soldier. He should have supposed that he had read Mr. Windham with sufficient attention to satisfy himself that mere numbers were not a suffi cient defence of a country. The Right Hon. Gentleman proposed to raise the militia by giving a bounty, which it was clear would operate most unequally in different parts of the country. In -the rural districts it would deprive th e farmer of a great deal of labour, probably when he most wanted it, while in the manufacturing districts, where the b oun ty would be of no avail, the Government must resort to of the ( the ballot, a proceeding contrary t o the " g enius Cohfe:2 epoc h," which no state sman ought to disregard an d laughter.) With regard, however, tothi .— s my s erve, the Right Honourable G en tl eman the Secretary for the Home Department told the House with considerable aplomb and confidence, that he proposed to make them effi. cient soldiers by drilling them for twenty-one y really quite astonished at the simplicitioalfolfthhisßsl'ith7 Ike was Gentleman. Where had he been living Chancery that his briefs been so numerous in the Court arms? he knew nothing of the organization of her Majesty's Mini s t ers t h emse l ves, though he admiliteteddetfiheadt they were active recru i ts , to acquire alie knowled ge admitteda of d s h t to h hw e ai shown profession in t wenty-one d ays. the Noble Lord a t th e h ea d o f the Government much skill in p er f orm i ng a rather difficult evolution — namely, changing his front in the presence of his adversary. —(Hear, hear, and laughter.) The Chancellor of the Ex chequer was well versed in light infantry movements, and knew well how to advance and retire on a budget.— (Lqughter.) The Horne Secretary avoiding the file-firing of . was equally expert in ( lestlons•—(Laughter.) His neighbour the Right Hun. Member for North Essex (an Secretary-at-War) was an exLertienced soldier, and would avoid danger at any quarter ; not been able to get much farther th e t h A an tto traheeyrldeinteereanit: out. "goose step."—(Laughter.) But the farce which was 5 proposed to be raised an organized hypocrisy. —(Lau Bill was not worth the would he a farce, even a tempt invasion than reoelB paper, and would more titer and cheers.) The end liff five years, after 121 to be dismissed to their homen were aggression.—(Cheers .) days drill, the At I the thing but an irregular horde , be dangerous to the regular soldiers than to likely to Why, d such a force would be no- Mr. moretlier foe- - (alit'e rs • ) Pitt was a great advocate for tht militias, b u t he never contem plated such a m ili t i a as this, ; an Home e fficient en i e was that the men should be . bri ga d ed and ke. gentlemen, who resembled r s e t t a ar t e Some y. nhis enH ci amiability and general want of understandi secretary ng on these points —(Laughter)—h a d but Mr. Pitt said " h • ag to ask any proposed a 20 days' drill, th i n king maa whether it is posaible flu. a volunteer to acquire only the simplest part of a soldier's training in 20 days ?' —(Cbeers.) He (Mr. B. Osborne), too, would ask any thinking man—he would ask the Right Hon. President of the India Board, who was a man of great expe rience, and might have heard Mr. Pitt speak—(L aughter) how it was possible to mak e a man a so ldi er in 21 days?— ( Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. W a l po l e ) seemed to emulate Pompey the Great, who used to boast that he could i•aise an army by stamping the ground; but he was more likely to resemble the fabled hero of the farce, and would be obliged to say— " Begone, brave army! don't kick up a row." —(Loud laughter.) The Bill was a trumpery abortion ; but there was one clause so obnoxious that he could not refrain from making a remark upon it. He was much surprised that a Minister at the eve of an election, and therefore anxi ous, he presumed, to acquire _a little popularity, and t o consult " the genius of the epoch"—(Laughter)—should have proposed to exempt Peers from serving.—(Cheer&) He thought that that was a great slur upon. the British aristocracy, and he believed that they felt it as an insult ; for, whatever the faults of the aristocracy, they had never shrank from taking) their share in the dangers and difficulties of the public defence.—(Cheers.) He had said that it was impossible to make the militia an army of reserve. An Hon. Gentleman beside him bad alluded to the militia in America; but Washington bad always spoken of it with the greatest contempt. In 1776, after the battle of Brooklyn, where the militiamen were repulsed with igno miny, Washington den sunced them in the strongest terms, and said, that the depressed state in which the American cause then stood arose from "short enlistments, short drill, and placing too great dependence on the mi. esia."—( Hear, hear.) Reference bad also been made to the National Guard of France, but nothing could be more unfortunate. When a motion was made in the French Chamber for the re-organization of the National Guard, General de Gremmont stated—and he begged the attention of the "lion. Gentleman the Member for Glasgow (Mr. Macgregor) to this, far he was fond of statistics— Gen. de Grammont stated, that on the 2sth June, 1848, although the National Guard 01 Paris numbered 237,000, they could only prevail on 8,000 to come oat from their homes.--(Laugb. ter.) He (Ur. B. Osborne) had on a recent occasion voted with a Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Gladstone) against the proposal of the Ministers for re-allotting the vacant seats, on the ground that this was merely a provisional Government; but, if it was not right to legislate for the purpose of giving Members to constituencies, he thought they ought not to pass this Bill, which, in his conscience, he believed would be of no use, at the instigation of Hon. Gentlemen who had none of the confidence of that (the Opposition) sid e o f the H ouse , an d ver y little of the other. (Ministerial cries of "Oh 1" and counter -cheering.) If they wanted any army r eserve at all, be believed the true policy of this cou e t f ry to look to their wooden power could compete walls, to have an overpowering force such as no other of a statesman with, and to give full scopeto teer rifle corps, if rifles they caught by a fear of invasionwi House in the words t o Ministry, not pass a more , not to be measure n a t n o t epndtrh.oo.ewp snareo ß sne u od t h e boy c al aa l e n on g a Ministry t i h n e g piring P arliament.—(CheerS.) •-• Gallant Member, in his The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said, that somewhat humorous speech, had. uoted the authority of many persons, the Hon. and from Washington to )entthought that if they l e oo xa k i ed liti to aHue (t Pitt he s a o g l i a c i i n t s o t r. tuheenpe Solicitor-General) a e pres ent Proposal of raising a niilitja. He (the So l icitor-General thteooosin' ; t on in its favour thorities on the subject, the present Bill he w - would not stand head of the without support, and instanced of the of the-very eminent soldier who s army, and the distinguished officer at the head Board of Ordnance. The Government of the late Sir Robert Peel had given instructions for prepai the establishment of a militia, and th e fate'ilj.ovaernßill for had brought forward a proposal somewh a t similar tomtraet now before the House. It was not, theref ore , to be con tended that the authorities were all on the one s id e , neither.' could it be maintained that the time had not a rr i ved when it had become the bounden duty of a Government to bring forward such a measure as the present.—(U ser . hear.) An increase in the regular army had been ree, ore _ mended by those who were opposed to the present measure, and strangely enough this recommendation had proceeded from the party which boasted of being the Whigs of 1688. - (Hear, hear.) If, however, such a proposal as that of pee -1 maneutly increasing the standing army had been brought forward by the Government, he could imagine the burst of opposition with which it would have been encountered by the same Hon. Members.—(Hear, hear.) The militia which it was proposed tQraise had been characterised as a perfectly inefficient body. He did not concur in that opinion, and wished the House to remember that the force proposed to be raised was intended to aid, and not to supersede, the regular tooops. He believed that in the present state of • affairs the proposed force was the best adapted to meet the , requirements of the case, and the best calculated to afford a guarantee for the continuance of peace.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. PETO considered the increased facilities of commu nication by telegraph and other means as the best guarantee for peace, and as the most efficient security against hostile invasion. The present measure, while it was calculated to disturb the whole industry of the country, would merely produce a force which it was generally believed would be exceedingly ineffective. There existed throughout the country an intensity of feeling against the measure, of which the Government appeared to be but little conscious, and he thought that the better course would be to increase the standing army rather than have recourse to a measure such as this.--(blear.) The House then divided, when the numbers were— For the amendment ... ... 143 Against it ss „ 220 Majority The Dill was therefore read a third time. Mr. ThIORNELY then moved the addition of the fol lowing proviso to the end of clause 18:—"Nosmember of the senate of the University of London, nor any examiner, professor, tutor, or lecturer of the said university, or of any college, schoOl, or institution connected with the said uni versity, under the provisions of any charter thereof, nor any student of any such college, school, or institution, duly ma triculated in the said university, and actually receiving education in any of the said colleges, schools, or institutions, nor any resident member of the University of Durham shall be liable to serve or provide a substitute for the militia." Mr. WALPOLE pried ssed to include within the exemp tion contemplated by the proviso the members of St. David's Col ege, Lampeter. Mr. BRIGHT thought that Owen's College, Manchester, which was in many respects a kindred institution to those which it was sought to exempt from the operation of the clause, ought also 10 be inaluded within the exemption. There was alz:0 a large college in the neighbourhood of . . Manchester, intended for the education of ministers of the Independent- body of Nonconformists, as well as several others in different parts of the kingdom. He could not dis cover any reason why those colleges embraced in the proviso of the Hon. Member (Mr. Thornely) should be exempted, and why other colleges of much the same character should be differently treated, especially thoso where young men were being trained to the Christian ministry. Mr. EWART thought the College of St. Bees stood in the same category with reference to the claim of exemption. Mr. WALPOLE said St. Bees was a school, and not a college. After a remark from Mr. HEYWOOD, The proviso was added to the clAuse. Mr. W. WILLIAMS, amid cries of " Oh, oh," and some laughter, moved the omission of clause 18, which he consi dered to be one of the most objectionable in the whole Bill, as establishing a system of conscription. Mr. WALPOLE said the clause having been so fully dis cussed in Committee, and the whole Bill having been con sidered both on the second and third readings as one recog nizing the necessity, in some cases, of having recourse to the ballot, he woul I put it to the Hon. Gentlernan whether it was worth while dividing the louse. In that clause there was nothing of a nature which compelled the Executive Go vernment to put the ballot in force in case the volunteers should fail; but it was a permissive clause, enabling the Crown to put the ballot in operation in case it should be necessary.-- (Laughter.) And if they left out the clause they must also leave out the kiroviso at the end of another clause, which restrained the Government from putting i n t o execution the statute of George 111., unless they failed in raising the volunteers. The House then divided, when the result was For cNonottwaiintehdstainndainnlgAowanc_itny:-f For the omission of the clause ..... . ..... 142 Against ........- lB7 Majority On the motion of Sir DE LACY EVANS, the fol s i"ceorntteadinaeade,rtchjeaup'reov3i4sio—ns" c o la in u g se herein w a the 44th year of King George 111., n„ 54, intituled to' consolidate and amend the provisions of " An Act the relating to corps of yeomanry and volunteersseveral Acts Britain, and to make regulations relating of Great tinue in force, so far as the same applies thereto shall con corps of yeomanry and volunteers to the enrolment of which such corpsure entitled b 1 and the exemptions to Act." y virtue of the last-mentioned effect that a of DE clauselA 3 C s l: t E o V t A h e N of u actual r.. war or 9 im 6 imminent it shall not be lawful to by r y d l e i : rfr t . h w e AA b n L a s l tp l e o vo t , La tEOpipr t o. isi:ne:Et i t m yhn e e.eo. endd Sir proviso at the danger of war. Mr. GOUCBURN said th end of clause 35 would b e eff P: t v o is f o t , h w e hi am ch e zas me a n n t pp a o t rte th d e The House divided, 'when ;he t : a Cornwall from the ballot, would be liable.—(Laughter.) ot) whilst all other classes Majorit pexpeearmepLthe miners in For the proviso B2 . The BAigllai:asta y against the proviso ••• THE LAW BILLS. The CHANCELLOR of the E xcErEQUER announced that (Com mittee), and the Im that he proposed to take the Common Law proce d u re (Com (Committee), the Masters ' i n Chancery Abolition. . itthen passed. ." ... .:: 178 . provement Bill (Committee) on Friday next. , NAVY PAY BlL.m d ie Navy Pay Bill. The House went into Committee an know if it were Sir GEORGE PEOHELL desired of the urisdiction of Equity to . in tended by this Bill to leave three months' pay in arrear in stead of six months? Mr. STAFFORD—Yes. f or any Mr. S. HERBERT— Der does the present sy s t em alteration? In what man W'here i s the necess ity work ill ? present gy stem is unpopular Mr. STAFFORD—The usethe system appears unfavourable amongst the men, b t e gprietiee in the merchant service. The in comparison w— t he as a precaution against de • present practice wa: found unnecessary. The whole tone of better that it is not necessary to continue stehretinoanv, navy but s i to much lincoh. the disqualificatiea WART expressed his approval of the Bill. Id be very acceptable to the navy, and He thoug make the service popular. Although they would tend to . give up the right of impressment, he hoped to gi AdmiralhStTitE „ma Ou ght n ever never have occasion to use it. they l e r,,; n n t.would make the navy popular. He wished to „viluidsCOßELL concurred in thinking the Bill, as far as " ' w La ry of the Admiralty whether it affected ask the Secre seame n of foreign stations, because most of our navy served abroad? Mr. I T ER' ' 'SON SMITH also inquired whether it would the ex pense of the country? adaid to r. ST AFFORD replied that it would not occasion one f ar thing's additional expense ; s and that the measure would to &mere on foreign stations. Th e various clauses were apply -6 then agreed to, and the Bill passed through Committee. ORD r.R OF BUSIN ESS. Mr. WALPOLE, in stating the order of public business, said that the Goye.nment intended on Thursday to take Supply at twelve o'clock, and afterwards to go ou with the New Zealand Bill. On Friday they proposed to begin with the Colonial Bishops Bill, then to go on with the law Bills, and to end with the Interment MI. --(L aug h ter.) POOR-LAW BOARD CONTINUANcE (IRELAND) BILL. This Bill passed through Committee. PASSENGERS ACT AMENDMENT The third reading of this Bill having been moved, Mr. MACGREGOR said that the shipping interest were se much opposed to thia measure, which had taken them by surprise, that he hoped the Government would npt pe,t5 02 2n 3 51 with it during the present session. If, however, the 'um" /Win WM Poled 04 the ptimA 9ceit op t he 490 WM '