The Sun. — London, England, 1828-04-04 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARCHMENT. HOUSE OP LORDS, APRIL 3. The Royal Ascent was given by Commission to the Applimtio'.l in Aids Bill, and to several other Bills. The ;,orris Commis'aioners were the LORD CHAN:IELLOR, the Earl of SUAFTESBURY, and Lord ELJABoßouctt. MESSAGE FROM THE COMMONS. Sir ALEXANDER GRANT, and others from the Commons, communicated, by their desire, a copy of the report of the Selid Committee, appointed by the Commons in tbe - last Session, to consider the state of the pauper lunatics in the county of Middlesex, and of lunatic asylums, together with the minutes of the evidence talon before such Com mittee. The same Messengers communicated an abstract of the returns of the sums of money levied and ex pended for the relief of the poor in the several counties in England and. Wales, during the year ending the 25th of March, 184. The same Messenger s bro,ught up the Stamp Duties Bill, which way subserviently read a first time. LIFE ANNrJITIES. Mr. Crater, from I,he T'masury, presented a Copy of a Letter from Mr. Pinlaystan, on the. subject of Life Annuities. On the motion of Le.,d CANDOR, several Re turns were ordered,- .especting the proceedings in the Court of Ch , ar . ce .sy, and also respecting the number of causes wlll :n k.attie before the Court of the great Session in . vellef. Mr. ' Atewrisori Clarke presented office copies of P r°r .eeclings; in the ecclesiastical side of the Supreme (" Ault Of C al cutt a , as evidence in support of Sweet naan's Divorce Bill. r,:ancis Clarke. and Mr. Ellison proved the hand writing of the proper officers who attested the pro ceedings. The Earl of MALME SB URY moved that the copy of the report from the Pauper Lunatic Asylum might be printed.—Ordered. Lord HOLLAND presented a petition from cer tain friends of religious liberty residin at Tadbury, Staffordshire, praying for a repeal of the Test Act. Thi: Noble Lord also presented a pet :ioii from the Pr, )testan t Dissenters of Long Buck by Northampton -I'F re, praying for the repeal of the ; orporation and 'Pest Acts; and a similar petition from Protestant Thissenters, residing in and near the city of Glom e ester. The Noble Lord then gave notice, that on 'Thormgy, April 17, he should move the second read ing of the Corporation and Test Acts Repeal Bill, mid their Lordships were accordingly ordered to be summoned for that day. The Earl of ELDOS presented a petition from parish of St. Martin's, Leicester, against the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts. Lord CALTHORPE presented a petition from tie Vicar, Churchwardens, and other parish officers of Saint Pancras, complaining that there was no provision in the County Lunatic Asylum 13i11 for allowing parish officers to have ac cess to the asylums, for the purpose of examining, from time to time, the condition of the pauper lunatics sent from their respective parishes.—Order ed to be printed. Mr. Mason presented returns of the Salaries and Peons granted by the East India Company.— L'ild on the table. Lord STANLEY and others from the Commons, brought up the Ashton-under-Line Improvement Bill, and two other private Bills. Mr. ESTCOURT and others also brought up private Bills, which were all read a first time. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE. On the motion of the Earl of SHAFTESBURY their Lorthihips adjourned to Tuesday, the 15th of April. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Arm S. Mr. Stratford Canning took his sent, to-night, in the Hone of Commons, as Member for New Sarum. The SPEAKEIt look the Chair this day at ten Ininutes before four o'clock, and soon after the De puty Usher of the Black Rod appeared at the bar to request the attendance of this House in the Houie of Peers, to hear the Royal Assent given by Coln -mission to several Bills. The Speaker and several of the Members then present withdrew, and were absent for ten minutes. When they returned, the Speaker informed the House that his Majesty's As sent had been given by Commission to various pri vate and public Bills, (for which see Lords' report) Mr. Johnson, from the Chief Secretary's Office in Ireland, presented papers relative to Vestries in Ireland. Mr. Henderson, from the King's Remembrance'. Office, presented papers from that Office. Mr. BURRELL brought up the Report on the Horsham Roads Bill, which was read a third time and passed. Mr. Alderman WOOD presented a petition froth the inhabitants of Poplar, praying to be heard by Counsel against certain clauses in the East India Dock Bill. Lord STANLEY moved the third reading of the Ashton-tinier-Line Improvement Bill, which was ac cordingly read a third time and passed. Mr. C. PALLMER brought up the Re port of the Committee on the Surrey and Sus !•ex Roads Bill. The Committee stated that the Standing Orders of the House had been complied .with. Sir J. YORKE presented two petitions, one from Greenwich, and the other from Woolwi c h, against the Bill for employing the Oreeowich Poor /in the roads. • Lord FITZROY SOMERSET presented a pe tition from the Inhabitants of Truro, against the Re tail Brewers Bill. Mr. W. PEEL brought up returns of the num ber of Ecclesiastical Courts in the United Kingdom; also various papers relative to public accounts. Mr. W. PEEL presented returns of the fees taken by the clerks of the peace in the several coun ties of England and Wales. Sir J. GRAHAM asked if the Right Hon. Gen teman (Mr. Secretary Peel) intended to have a commission to inquire into the fees taken by Magis trates, as he had intimated in the course of last Se,ssion. Mr. Secretary PEEL said that in many instances those fees were taken under the impression that they were perfectly legal, but still they ought to be put a stop to. He had only one objection to a commis sion which was the expense, and he rather thought the Hon. Gentleman had better, in the first instance move for returns of the fees taken. Mr. LITTLETON said that the Magistrates of Stafford had agreed to a resolution, stating that they were most anxious to have such au enquiry take place. Mr. PEEL said the greatest anxiety had been expressed by the magistrates, particularly. in the counties of Stafford and Warwick, that an inquiry should be instituted into the fees received by their clerks, in order that the fees which they were war ranted in taking should be determined. The returns were then laid on the table, and or dered to be printed.. Mr. M. :FITZGERALD presented a petition from t h e Roman Catholics of Munsterhaven in favour of Catholic Emancipation: The lion. Member stated that he presented this petition in the absence of his lion. Friend the Member for Kild are. The Hon. Member presented a similar petition from the parish of Bally Longford, county of Kerry, Mr. PLAN TA brought up a return of the number of ballast ships which passed through the Sonnd frcin the Baltic during the last year. - FRIENDLY SOCIETIES' .13ILL. Mr. Alderman WOOD presented a petition from a Society called the Associated Brethren, agalOst the Bill for the regulation of Friendly Societies. A Message from the 'Lords announced their Lordships' assent to several private Bills. Mr. HUME presented petitions from different Benefit Societies in the Metropolis, against the Friendly Societies' Regulation Bill. Mr. HUME presented a petition from a Mr. Butler, praying the House to pass a Bill to prevent the impressment of seamen. The \ petitioner also * prayed the House to institute ;t.n inquiry into the laws affecting Seamen in tile Merchant Service. Mr. SPRING RICE biciught in a Bill for regu lating the xights of Executors and Testators. Sir JAMES GRAHAM said, he was about to move far some returns, to which he understood there was no objection. He wished to take this oppor tunity, however, of asking a question of a Right Hon. Gentleman, whom he saw in his place, and whose statement on the Corn Laws, the other night, was extremely satisfactory in every point but one. On that point he (Sir J. Graham) was now anxious to have some explanation. The point to which he alluded was the mode by which the averages were intended to be taken. By the former Bill the averages were to be struck weekly from the price of the week before; but the change in that respect, by the Bill of this Session, was, the averages were to be struck quarterly from the prices of the six weeks preceding the 15th of February, the 15th of May, the 15th of August, and the 15th of November in' each year. There was also a change as to the mode of striking the averages from returns made from certain towns and citiel in England and Wales, with power to his Majesty by an order in Council, to change from time to time the towns and cities, and to sub stitute cities and towns i❑ Scotland and Ireland.— The question which he wished to ask was whether it was the intention of his Majesty's Government to have the averages taken in pursuance of the Act of Parliament as it now stands, or if it was the inten don of Government to makd any alteration, what was the nature of such alteration. His motion was, that there be laid before the House a Return of the average price of British Corn and Grain.every week, front the Ist of August, 1827, to the Ist of March, 1828, distinguishing in separate columns li the averages from the cities and towns in England and Wales, made pursuant to the Act 7th and Bth Geo. IV., and also the Averages from the Returns of other cities and towns in the United Kingdom, nominated by his Majesty's Orders in Council. Mr. CHARLES GRANT said he had no objec tion to the motion of the Hon. Member, for lie thought it right that the returns called for should be laid before the House. He was happy that an opportunity had been afforded of entering into the explanation which the question put by the Honourable Member demanded. It was the in- tention of the Government to leave the whole question relating to the article of wheat just as as it stood before the clause in the last Act. That was, it was his intention to propose that the ave rages should be taken as they had been last year, every six weeks. That was the way in which the UM passed the Lords last session. This House, however, then thought it better that the averages should be taken from week to week. That clause was, however, altered in the Lords, making the average to be taken every six weeks. The conse- I quence was, that a partial Bill was pas, , ed in this House, by which it was provided, that from the Ist of July the averages should be taken every six weeks. That principle it was the intention of the Government to apply to the present Bill.—(Hear, hear.)—The Bill last session, which was lost in the Lords, was so altered there, that it provided for the taking of the averages as if under the old system. The partial average Act was in consequence passed in this House. Indeed, he could not avoid mention ing that a great deal of confusion had been the ine vitable result.—(Hear.) —The returns of the ave rages under that Act were those which were in tended to apply to the duties under the new Bill in troduced last session, but that Bill was so altered in the Lords, that the averages were made to apply -to the present prohibitory duties ; while, in the mean time, this partial average Bill was passed, and • thus considerable confusion was created. That Act must be repealed, and in the Bill which it was his (Mr. Grant's) intention to introduce, he would propose that the averages should be taken in the same manner and under the same regulations as in the warehousing Bill of last session. With ' respect to the towns and cities in which the averages are to be taken it was the intention of the Govern- ' meat to have included among the returning towns English towns only, and to exclude Scotch and Irish towns. In the resolutions submitted the other night, there was a trivial error which he wished now to correct. In his (Mr. Grant's) statement, he had said that no alteration respecting the duties upon barley and oats would be made from that proposed in the Bill of last session. The co pying clerk, however, in the first edition of the reso lutions, put the Winchester measure in the place of the Imperial measure, and the consequence was, that the duty on barley and oats, according to the pre sent resolutions, appeared to be lower than that pro posed in the resolutions of last year. He supposed there would exist no objection, although the reso lutions had been printed, to have the error correct ed, as he intended to propose only the same duty on these articles as that proposed last year. The returns were then ordered. Mr. DAWSON moved that there might be laid before the House the name of the officer in Dublin Castle, to whom, and the day of the nionth when, an abstract of the accounts of the presentments made by the Grand Juries of the county of Monaghan, and city of Dublin, under 49th Geo. 111., and 7th Geo. IV., was delivered; and ,also a similar account as to the presentments of the Grand Jury of Lon donderry, under 49th Oleo. 111. His object was to teach these gentlemen that they must not neglect those returns which were made pursuant to an Act of Parliament. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER suggested' to his Right Hon. Friend, that the de linquent may not be the officer in Dublin Castle, whose name the motion called for, but the officer in those respective places, whose duty it was to make those returns.--i'dotion agreed to. CONTESTED ELECTIONS. Mr. W. WYNN rose for the purpose of making a motion for consolidating the law for the trial of contested elections.—(Hear, hear, hear.)—He proposed in lieu of the present recognizances entered into by parties presenting - petitions, com plaining of an illegal election, the recognizances should be two sureties of 500!. each, or four sureties of 2501. each, and that the petitioner should in one day after giving notice of, his petition, leave with the clerk of the House the names of the proposed sureties. By the present laws, the Speaker gave notice of the day appointed for the trial of contested elections, and it frequently happened that on the day fixed for the trial, and after the petitioner had incurred considerable expellee, the sitting Member declined to defend his seat; he should therefore propose that the sit ting Member should within 14 days after the presenting of the petition be required to make his option whether or not he would defend his seat ; and unless he should sig nify his intention, within that period, to , abandon or defend his seat; he must be liable to the expenses. Another object of the Bill which he mow proposed to bring in was to guard against collusive petitions : he believed that where a petition charged treating against the sitting Member, it was generally alleged that the petitioner had the legal number of votes. Now it was clear that if the first part of the charge in the petition were established, the sitting Member could not defend his seat, and he having no object to disprove the other part of the allegations as to the petitioner's having the legal number of votes, the petitioner, as a matter of course, took possess Ton of the seat. He proposed that, in all such cases, ` the parties having votes at the erection, of which the validity was contested, should be at liberty to be ad tnitted as collateral parties in the suit, even after the then sitting Member had abandoned the seat, or was defeated. He also proposed to make tut- alteration in the numbers composing an Election Committee, and the mode of striking them; by the present practice, forty-nine names were drawn, of ' these thirteen were appointed, which, with two members nominated by the parties, made fifteen, which number constituted the Cow j mittee. Power was given by the presen t law to the House, to strike off upon cause assigned any of those Members so appeinted, but he thought the House ought not to be called upon to exercise this unpleasant duty, and it therefore appeared to him much better to follow the plan adopted in striking special Juries ; he should therefore propose that the number be reduced from fifteen to eleven, and three times the latter number of Members '• should be originally drawn, and that each party should be at liberty to strike off of that number 11. It was well known that in many contested Elec tions Members of that House enlisted themselves as parties in the contention, and took upon themselves the partial management of that business upon which they ought to determine. With the most rigid impartiality, the strictest 'honesty, and • highest sense of honour, many had even been known to have attended consultations, and set themselves up as judges, having feelings at the moment that exceedingly ill befitted them for their situation. The Hon. Member did not mean to make any ob servations as applicable to any particular Member, but as this was a growing evil, it was time that some step should be taken, and as there could be no doubt, that the Members of the House of Commons were infinitely better informed now than they were 60 years ago; he had 110 doubt that the House would feel the force of his observations. •The Hon. Member concluded by moving for leave to bring in a Bill to consolidate and amend the Laws relative to the trial for Contested Elections, or Re turns for Members to sit in Parliament. Mr. CROKER admitted the truth of all the Hon. Member had said, but from what he had known to take place in Ireland, he objected to the office of nomination. Sir J. MACINTOStI did not consider it ne-. cessary to abolish the office of nemineeship. He agreed entirely with the proposed reduction of the Corn mittee, as he thought it would materially lessen delay in their proceedings. Indeed, had he been bringing forward the measure he should have pro posed a larger reduction, though he did not deem it necessary to offer any amendment on the present oc casion in that. respect. Mr. BANKES entirely concurred in the pro priety of abolishing the office of nominee. He was always anxious to avoid taking that office on him, the duties were so extremely anomalous arid un pleasant. He thought the reduction of the Com=- mittee to eleven highly useful and convenient ; but he was clearly of opinion that 100 Members should be present at the ballot. Mr. Secretary PEEL thought the object of the Bill most desirable, and that the House was greatly indebted to the Right Hon. Gentleman who brought it forward. He agreed with the Right Hon. Gen tleman in the propriety of striking off the nominees, and of reducing the number from fifteen to eleven. He thought eleven a better number than fifteen ; but he had not had much experience in the matter. — He had thought of the appointment of an assessor to be agreed upon by both the parties : but he merely threw out this idea, as he had no strong opinion on the subject, and was ready to believe that the sug gestion might be open to much objection. S:r G. WARRENDER thought the appointment. of an assessor would be most desirable. In a Committee of which he was a Member, they actu ally overturned a decision of the Court of Session, which decision was afterwards confirmed by the House of Lords.—( Hear, and a laugh.)—He thought that the suggestion of the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Peel) ought to be attended to. Mr. CALCRAFT had often served as nominee, and sometimes found it very necessary to satisfy those who nominated him. He could not agree with the Right Hon. Gentleman's suggestion as to the appointment of an assessor, but he agreed with his Right Honourable Friend who intro duced this measure, that the Chairman ought to be appointed by the House. • Dr. PHILLIMORE had served is nominee on the Committee to which his Hon. Friend (Sir G. Warrender) had alladed ; and so far from that Com mittee having violated the law, he was sure that the decision of the Committee was founded on the soundest principles of law. He agreed that nominees ought to be abolished; and be thought that if a Committee had the benefit of two expert Counsel, they would seldom decide wrong. Sir G. WARRENDER said, the Committee, on which his Hon. Friend (Dr. Phillimore) bad been nominee, did overturn a decision of the Court of Session, which decision having been appealed against was confirmed by the House of Lords. Dr. PHILLIMORE really could not allow this assertion of his Hon. Friend to become public un contradicted. The point which the Committee de cided did not arise in that case before the House of Lords.—(Hear, and a laugh.) Mr. S. RICE contended that the public ought to be admitted to election committees : they ought to know what was going on there. When any deci sion was come to in that House, the public were made acquainted not only with the result, but also with the reasons which influenced that result, and he could not conceive why such a course would not be equally beneficial with election committees, They were frequently liable to error from ignorance, anti he recollected one inst a nce in which the objec- tion to the return of a Member appeared - to be so frivolous that four Members of the Committee told him he need enter into no defence. He followed their advice and yet he subsequently found that the Committee, and even three or four Members also, voted that he ought to lose his seat.—(A laugh.)— lie should be glad to hear that the power was taken away from Election Committ96 of excluding the public. After a few words from Sir R. COLBORNE and Mr. WARBURTON, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that he had never been but once upon a Conunit tee, and then he was nominated by an Hon. Friend of his, with whom he had afterwards the mis fortune to differ upon the Committee—(A laugh)— hut he well recollected that on that Committee they ruled one point no less than three times, once in one way, and twice in the reverse, and this was owing to the ignorance of forms. Mr. W. NV YNN replied, and leave was given to bring up the Bill. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.- - ;SLAVES FROM THE MOREA. Mr. PEEL said, that in rising, pursuant to the notice he had given, to move that the House at its rising should adjourn to Monday, the I4th of April, he had merely to observe, that although there were many instances in which a longer adjournment had taken place, yet, when he adverted to the state of the public business, he thought it would not be right that they should adjourn now for a longer period. He had not forgotten that, the sessions would take place in the week in which he proposed that the House should re-assemble; but he did not think that that fact, though it might prevent the attend ance of many. Members, was of sufficient weight to prevent as many as could attend from applying them selves to the despatch of the public business. The Right Hon. Gentleman then moved-,-" That the House at its rising, do adjourn to Monday, the 14th of April." On the question being put, Sir R. WILSON said, he felt it to be his duty not to allow the House to separate without *jog the Right Hon. Gentleman one or two questions upon a subject of which they had already heard the most agitating details; and which affe c t e d the inte rests of persons who had the strongest claim upon the justice of the Government, and for whose pro tection we had. pledged the national honour. Ac cording to positive advices, and which, be had no doubt, were now become official, several thousand Greeks, women and children, had been carried off to Alexandria by the fleet of Ibrahim Pacha, and sold in the mark e t as s l aves . H e understood there were in the ,whole nearly seven thousand th us dragged from - their. country and their friends, with feelings aggravated by •the reflection, that this misfortune happened at the moment when, as it were, the ques tion of their future freedom had been set at rest fort ever. The Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Peel) had stated, on a former occasion, that orders were issued to prevent the removal of any portion of the Greek population. He would now ask the Right Hon. Gentleman to say how it could be explained, that, with orders of this kind to prevent the removal of the non-combatant population, some of the small .vessels, of which there were many in a state fit for service after the battle of Navarin, did not prevent the commission of this most flagrant and cruel act of piracy ? The first question he should put to the Right Hon. Gentleman was, whether there had been any official advices from the Commanders of our armaments in the Levant, explaining the reason why these vessels thus loaded had obtained the freedom to pass unmolested from the Bay of Navarin ? and, secondly, whether any measures had been taken, either with or without the consent of the Allies, to effect the redemption of those unhappy persons, who had been thus dragged from their country by the basest and most execrable piracy ? This repara tion was the least that Greece had a right to claim, not only from England, but from every nation of Europe that had any pretensions to civilization. = (Hear, hear.) Mr. Secretary PEEL begged the Hon. Gentle man to recollect he had stated before, that in the year 1826, previous to the signing of the Treaty of the 6th of July, and previous to the signing of the Protocol, it was intimated, indirectly, to his Ma jesty's Government, that there existed an intention to carry away a part of the population of the Morea, for the purpose of consigning them to slavery in Egypt. Before, however, any measures were taken to carry that intention into effect, and before, he begged to repeat, any treaties existed upon the sub ject of the Greeks, his Majesty's Government de sired it to be distinctly declared, that they could not suffer such a proceeding, which must be regarded as an exercise of the most extreme rights of war; and that if the intention, was attempted to be carried into execution, they were determined to resist it by force. No measure of the kind threatened was then attempted, and therefore it became unnecessary to resort to the employment of force. He believed, however, that the Hon. Gentleman was correctly in formed, when he said that some portion of the pepu lation of the Morea had been sent into slavery by Ibrahim, on board of those vessels which escaped from the Bay of Navarin after the battle. Instruc tions had been sent out to the Admiral to prevent. the removal of any portion of the combined Turkish and Egyptian fleets, both before and after the time of the baille, if by that removal they meditated a re newal of hostilities against the Greeks; but of course, if they intended to remove their forces from the Bay of Nayarit', either to Alexandria or to Con stantinople, every facility would have been afforded them for that purpose. It is unnecessary to say, that by that removal the forces only were meant, and not any portion of the Greek population. On the 27th or 28th December, a part, however, of the fleet, to the number of 45 sail,including 17 sail, which arrived in the Port after the battle, set sail for Alexandria, having on board the disabled, and sick and wounded soldiers, together with some women and children. What the number of these captives was he could not pre tend to say; and, indeed, the accounts varied so much, he did not think he ought to attempt to state anything upon the subject, until they had some better information. The Hon. Gentleman, how ever, said he believed them to be 7,000. He might, however, state that he had heard, and as he thought upon very good and even high authority, that the number did not exceed 600 women and children. When his Majesty's Government , re ceived an account of this escape of the remnant of the fleet, having on board these captives, they made a communication to the Admiral, and instituted a full inquiry into the whole transaction. He might, indeed, say that the whole subject was now under the consideration of his Majesty's Government, al though, from the present state of that enquiry, he thought it better to abstain at this moment from any further explanation. It was, be thought, sufficient to assure the Hoa. Gentleman that the attention of his Majesty's Government had been directed to the subject, although he felt that at the present moment he could not state the results of their enquiries with out prejudice to the public service. Sir F. BURDETT felt the subject to be most interesting, not only on account of the sufferers, but on account of the extent to which it involved the national honour. Without following the statement of the Right Hon. Gentleman, or going into any of the details, he might say, that what the Right Hon. Gentleman stated to the House must be considered us very satisfactory to the country, because it would perceive that the misfortune which the Greeks suf fered did not proceed from any want of feeling or of sympathy on the part of the Government, and that it had not ceased to take those steps which were necessary to repair the evil, and retrieve what we had lost. He thought that the thanks of the House were due to his Hon. Friend (Sir R. Wilson), for bringing the subject under the notice of the House, and that they were doubly due for the explanations which his questions had afforded the Right Hon. Gentleman an opportunity of offer ing to the country. Be the number of the captives what it might, he hoped the Government would not relax in its exertions to procure some remedy for their misfortunes. He Was slow to suppose that this evil had happened from the effect of any lukewarmness shown on their part in support of the Treaty. That Treaty, he was prepared to maintain, had originated in a policy as wise as it is honourable —a policy too, upon which the very existence of the cguntry may be said to depend. The Honour able Baronet concluded by expressing a hope that there would be no departure from "that line of con duct which had been wisely and most honourably adopted. Sir R. WILSON begged to know if lie under stood the Right Hon. Gentleman right, when he said there were forty-seven sail of vessels sent by Ibrahim to Alexandria? Mr. Secretary HUSKISSON said, he believed there were, altogether, about forty-five sail. Fifteen or sixteen of these arrived in the Bay of Navarin after the battle with the Allied Squadrons, and about thirty remained i►► the Port. There we►e in all, about forty-five or forty-seven. lie did not exactly know what the lion. Baronet (Sir F. Burdett) meant by the expression, lukewarniness ; but if he intended it to be inferred that any of these events proceeded from any expression of lukewarmness on the part of the Government, or from any thing which had been said in ,this country upon the Battle of Navarin, he would beg the lion. Baronet to call to his recollection, that this escape of the vessels hap pened on the 27th or 28th of December, and that therefore, even supposing such an effect could have been produced, any impression produced by the battle in England was totally unknown. Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH said, it was well known to all Europe, that a project was for a long time entertained by the Grand Turk and the Pacha of Egypt, to remove the Christian population from the Morea, and reople it with Arabs. He knew that such an intention was made known, not only at the conferences at St. Petersburgh, but even as early as the year 1825, and that nothing but the threat that ►such a proceeding must be regarded as one which must be visited with the most extreme rigour of hostility against all the parties, prevented the fulfilment of that intention, and saved us from seeing the Christian population of Greece carried ►nto slavery, and a barbarous predatory horde of Arabs planted as Colonists in the very centre of Europe. The scheme now carried into execution by Ibrahim seemed to him to be a kind of remnant of that most atrociouspreject which was then in contemplation; and he contended that, not only on account of the faith which we have pledged to the Greeks, but still further on account of the audacious insult offered by Ibrahim Pacha to this and all other European States, in the removal of the Greek captives after it lied been notified to him that such an act must call down the interference of force, our honour was doubly engaged to the demand of the utmost and severest reparation. First by the faith which we pledged to Greece, and next for the vin- ' dication Of our dignity, insulted as it had been so openly by this atrocious barbarian, he thought we were bound to demand immediate satisfaction.. He must, indeed, suppose that his Majesty's Government were engaged in considering the means of repairing the evil to Greece, for he could not conceive that the circumstances under which the outrage was perpe trated left this country the power either to protest or disclaim. Our duty was plain to every man; it was to revenge or to repair. With respect to the other great questions which lay as it were in the neighbourhood, of the wrong done to Greece, it was his intention to abstain from saying any thing at present. He and, others preserved that silence as much from a sense of the awful importance of the subject as from a conviction that such matters, in their very nature, required considerable deliberation, and therefore involved a great deal of delay. How long it was possible for him to adhere to this state of silence, which might perchance be liable to mis construction, -he could not, at that moment, deter mine. But it seemed to him a little extraordinary, that while every Power of importance in Europe, had made public the principles upon which it acted, and caused its policy to be made known, the Government of this country made no declara tion of its sentiments. The French Govern ment, at the very commencement of the Ses sion, in the political exposition of M. Peyronnet, left nothing to be desired, as to the course of policy they intended to pursue. The Russian Government, in a way not exactly official, but at the same time, in a way which every one knows to be substantially of ficial, have detailed all the reasons arid motives of that system of policy which they are now beginning to carry into execution. Even the Turkish Go vernment, in a Hatti-Scheriff, had shown riot the course of its policy, for it had been disgraceful to call it by such a name, but that course of atrocious fraud, and falsehood, and delusion, which it had practised upon every State of Europe, and which it had at last the shameless audacity to avow in the face of its most powerful enemies. He could not but say, that if he heard no intention intimated of putting the House in possession of the ulterior measures contemplated by his Majesty's Govern ment, in order, to carry into execution that just, lawful, and wise Treaty, he should, although his situation might be a painful one, call for some ex planation, not, he begged it to be observed, with any desire of requiring the House to pass judgment on the policy which might have been pursued, but to give an occasion to those who were interested in the honour and character of the country to state the sentiments which they entertained upon this question, and at the same time to afford to his Majesty's Go vernment all opportunity of laying open the prin ciples on which they acted, and which, in his opinion, ought long since to have been made public. Mr. BRIGHT said, that he was anxious for ex planation from Government. He trusted that the House would not be led away by their feelings, and that Government would look back, and be able to lay before Parliament such an account of their con duct as would satisfy their own consciences, and jus tify them in the eyes of the country. He adverted to the late Treaty of London, the policy of which, in his opinion, was not such as deserved general and decided approbation ; and, in conclusion, he be sought Government to beware how, by indiscreet treaties, it precipitated this country into a war Isith other countries, the extent and • duration of which could nut be easily calculated. Mr. Secretary PEEL observed, that the House, he was sure, would agreein opinion with him, that it would be extremely improper in him to enter into a detailed explanation, on the part of Government, of the several points adverted to in the speech of the Right Hon. Gentleman (Sir J. Macintosh); at the same time, while he felt the propriety of abstaining from a formal declaration of the intentions of Go vernment, he wished to protect himself from the con struction which the Right Hon. Gentleman (Sir J. Macintosh) had put upon the few words which bad fallen from him on a former occasion, respecting the removal of the Greeks from the Morea. The Right Hon. Gent. seemed disposed to consider that when he (Mr. Peel) spoke of inquiry having been insti tuted, he had intimated that the object of that in quiry was the restoration of the captives who had been removed. Now he disclaimed the construction which the Right Hon. Gentleman had put upon his language, as the inquiry of which he spoke was only directed to the circumstances under which that re moval had taken place, and did not contain such a declaration for - its object as the Right Honour able Gentleman imputed to Government. Never theless he would say, that if the orders of Go vernment had been strictly acted upon, the removal from the Morea would not have taken place. In saying this, however, he wished that it might be distinctly understood he did not mean to convey any imputation of blame on our forces engaged in the Mediterranean. The truth was, that after the battle of ;N:avarin our naval force in the Mediterranean be came greatly impaired; many of our vessels were sent to undergo necessary repairs, and they could not enter upon the blockade, as was accordant with the wishes of Government, but which duty, from their disabled state, could not be expected to be undertaken. The vessels which reached Alexandria consisted of four frigates, 18 brigs, eight corvettes, and 15 transports. Re• specting those who were removed, accounts had reached the Government differing from the informa tion which the Right Hon. Gentleman appeared to have received. From the account which reached Government, it appeared that two thousand con sisted of sick and wounded, and that six hundred were sold as slaves. Forty-eight hours after the information of their being removed as slaves was received, an inquiry was set on foot as to the cir cumstances attendant on their removal; but as many of those persons were probably afterwards re-sold as slaves, it was not a very practicable course to insti tute an inquiry for the restoration of those slaves who, by being re-sold, may have become the pro perty of individuals. If these . ships, with the cap tives on board had, on their passage hem Nayarit! to Alexandria, been captured at sea, the case would have been very different from what it now was ; but as these persons had been landed, and, as he had stated, probably re-sold, it was difficult, the House must perceive, for Government to become account.: able for those who may since have become indivi dual property. Sir JOSEPH YORKE bore testimony to the disabled state of our vessels • after the battle of Na varin ; and was happy to hear that whatever may have been the causes which led to the removal of the Greeks from the Morea, that no blame or neg ligence whatsoever was imputable to our Officers engaged in the gallant action of Nayarit'. The question of Adjournment to Monday, the 11th of April, was then put and carried. ARREST FOR DEBT 'IN SCOTLAND. On the motion of Mr. HUME, a series of Re turns was ordered to be laid before the House, re lating to the extent of arrest and imprisonment for debt in Scotland, during the last five years. Elections of Members returned to serve in Polio' ment.—Read a first time, and ordered to be read o second time on Monday the 14th of April, and to be printed. SALMON FISHERIES' BILL. Mr. HOME DRUMMOND having, in reply to a question from Mr. Fergusson, stated that it was his intention to propose in the Committee, that the " dose time" should begin on the Ist of September, and end on the Ist of February, the Salmon Fishe• ries' Regulation (Scotland) Bill was read a s econd time, and ordered to be committed on the 2d of May, CARDS AND DICE. The Report of the Committee on the Acts relat ing to the Stamps on Cards and Dice was brought up; the Resolutions were agreed to, and a Bill was ordered to be brought in accordingly. The other Orders of the Day were then disposes of, and the House Adjourned to Monday the 14th of April. I I LITERATURE. STORER'S HISTORY OF CLERKENWELL. London, 1823. Few people would• suppose that so homely el neighbourhood as the modern Clerkenwell—a place which it would be beneath the dignity of IV le' Croker to, mention in decent society—abounds je historical and even classical associations. But the ; author of the present agreeable piece of antiquit)l proves that it was once a spot consecrated to leant' ing„ genius, and valour—graced by the presence of el Burnett—a Virolsey ; and even, we believe, of 0' Henry ; and what will make it more acceptable toe large portion of the London community, once thi fashionable quarter of the metropolis. To increases the attractions of his volume, Mr. Storer hag illustrated it with- numerous wood-cuts ;in w hich; monasteries, episcopal palaces, " and all that," cut a very venerable figure. Of these engravings we would point out for especial praise, the represents' tion of the New River Head as it appeared year! since. It is intended to display a large piece of water, with an old gentleman in a punt fishing, but is of so perplexing a quality, that which is the ~id gentleman, and which the punt, we have not yet been able to ascertain. This, however, upon the good old adage, onme ignotum pro magnXco, is an es° ceeding recommendation to the work. PARISH OF ST. MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS It is well known that this respectable and port' lous parish has been for a great number of years governed by a select vestry; and it will also be ill the recollection of our readers, that a portion of the inhabitants have been for some time engaged in struggle with " the powers that be," having for its object the establishing of an open vestry, which , they contend, is the indisputable right of the pa' risliioners. 'I he first opportunity which has occur' red for a practical trial of this question arose y es ter• day, which, being the Thursday before Easter, i 5 the day appointed by the local Act of Parliamens for the nomination of fit and proper persons to serve the offices of churchwardens, sidesmen, &c. The ceremony of nomination has been always performed by the select vestry of 17, but.in consequence of the recent decision of the Conn of .King's Bench, the' advocates for an open vestry determined to insis t upon having a share in the nomination. As the eld approached, the open vestry party were active in ell' deavouring to rouse their fellow-parishioners to take a determined part in seconding their views, and cif' culated a spirited placard, addressed to the inhabi' tants, calling them to come forward and assert their rights. One o'clock yesterday was the time appointed far, the holding of the Petty Sessions, and Si r Richer ° Birnie, an 4 Mr. Beckett, a County Magistrate, tool‘ their seats in the vestry-room attached to the church and were attended by the majority of the " select, who were admitted by the door on the northern sid e of the church. Meanwhile, a number of the Or° vestrymen had assembled in .Lancaster-court, int ° which the public entrance to the vestry-room opened, but they found the entrance barricadoed, and a strong party of beadles and constables stationed within, in a sort of yard, armed with their truncheonf , and evidently prepared to resist any attempt to pass them. Mr. FENN was at the head of the parishioners outside, and a consultation took place between the persons assembled, the result of which was, that it was determined to attempt, at any risk; to obtain admission. One of the "select" applying to be, admitted at this door, an opportunity was afford ed of trying the experiment, and at a given signal,: 0 grand rush was made at the door. The constables; as was anticipated, disputed the entrance With sly their might, and sundry heavy blows fell upon the heads of the besieging party, some of whom retreat' ed, others were forced back, and eventually the gate was closed, leaving three gentlemen inside—narnelP Mr. Fenn, Mr. Akeman, of Chandos-stieet, paper merchant, and Mr. Geesin, an • old and respect' able inhabitant. They endeavoured to gain ad' mission into the vestry-room itself, but this wire refused ; and, finally, they were ejected from the yard by the civil power. A great deal of Wig' nation was expressed by the assembled crowd, en d they were several times on the point of meeting in a body to force down the barrier. Various o pinions were expressed, some being for forcing their way into the sanctum sanctOunt at all hazards, whi le others were- for pursuing measures of a milder, bu t, , as they averred, quite as e ff ectua l a ki n d— nara eq' either to make an application to the sitting M 4" strate at Bow-street,for warrants against the o fficer s for assaulting the parishioners, or to go to the ge r sions and prefer bills of indictment. At length, Mr. FENN placed himself upon the cistern, ate tached to the pump, in the church-yard, and ad' dressing the assembly, said he had already done Il i great deal to endeavour to establish the rights his fellow parishioners, and he was now willing, 1 he received their support, to do more. If those sell y felt interested in the matter would subscribe the' mites so as to protect him from pecuniary loss, h e would pledge himself to proceed against the .partirs by whom the outrage of that day had been corn', witted.—(Cheers, and c ries of "We will 01 ' subscribe.") Mr. Fenn then entered - into a length' ened detail of the proceedings in the parish, and in the Court of King's Bench (fully reported in our columns at the time), in which he was engaged, and which, he said, had cost him several hundred p o unds' He animadverted in very strong terms upon the ) which had 0' manner in which the parish affairs had been nor, naged, and the abuses (as he . alleged isted so many years ; and said, that even Sir Richard Birnie himself, the presiding Magistrate of their petty sessions, and one of the ablest of their vestry' men, had admitted to him (Mr. Fenn), in a receat communication, that the parish affairs had of late got into the hands of a junta, who seemed t o mo w matters very strangely. (A laugh, and cries of "It is iterating his proposition to take proceedings at law, enough.") Mr. Fenn concluded by re' P indemnified from pecuniary loss, a n r d svodsure exhorting elc ie iiilo was his fellow-parishioners to attend ill o ver‘vhelining numbers to assert their rights on Mon day next, when the election of parochial officers takes place. SEAMEN'S WAGES. .On the motion of Mr. HUME, an account was ordered to be laid before the House of the sums de ducted from the wages of seamen in the Merchants' Service, for Greenwich Hospital. PENRYN WITNESSES' INDEMNITY BILL. On the motion of Dr. PHILLIMORE, and after a few observations from Mr. BRIGHT and Mr. WYNN, the Penryn Witnesses' Indemnity Bill was read a second time, and went through a Com mittee; the Report of which was received and agreed to, and the Bill was read a third time and 407. a year, is now let for 121. We doubt not many per' passed. Such has been the depreciation of property at ROMAN CATHOLIC LAND-TAX BILL . sons would again like to have a war.—Brighton Gazette. Portsmouth since the war, that a house which then let for fi of n t e h r is pre e pa ar iati on . for their seedness than the e committed, m r. i tGte.d,L Catholic and n M di, Ba severaln d-T brought axneß u wi p i I the ;I auTs ß eh se e Report were f i‘ t vn h at e rs o ß dr u o e -: . , , A GRICULTURE --The barley growers never cod ; after which the Report was again brought up, March and ordered to he taken- into further consideration has given them, and doubtles s . its effe seen at h arvest The frosts and cold winds hao' was ordered to be printed. on Monday, 14th April ; and the Bill as amended , li i, : f l u l t be ah } h . given to wheat a very unhealthy appearance (especiallf CONTROVERTED ELECTIONS. • upon cold lands); gen i a l weat h er would be very desirair Mr. WYNN brought in a Bill to consolidate and a t this moment. Beans do not come up kindly./ amend the Laws relating to the trial of Controverted Woressler Journal. 1 The meeting then separated, the nomination hay' ing, in the meanwhile, gone on very quietly in the vestry-room. It is p lo b a bl e that Monday next will be a very remarkable day in the annals of the pro. ceedings of the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Pan Con ~~ Ma TO Al the I Spat Hay Hot men will UP S may Wan not bay th a sad wit La th e tire the ov, wj] laii Cr .11,111 Ittt 0 '4:1 CIL trp, suit Yet ' ext me .th e bel by thi