The Sun. — London, England, 1855-03-27 00:00:00

SP ARE MARE ETS DAY.) RAILWA YS. RAILWAYS. Closing Prices 1 yesterel v. Businecs done this day. Aberdeen ..... . knabg. Nottrig. Bost and Eastn. Belfast & Badymena. Airming, Wolverh ri 'tour Valh y Birkeultd. Lanesh & Cheshire, June Do. Chosh. & Birk., £5O and £25 Cons. Do., £2O Myth &Tyn3origina £25 (issd. at £45, Bristol and Exeter... Caledonian Carmarthen and Car digan Chester de Holyhead Cork and Bandon Cork, Back, & Pas- Cornwall Urieff Junction Dublin &BelfastJurtc Dundee Pertli&Abi deco Junction DO. New East Anglian Eastern Counties Eastern Union, A Stock ......, ...... Do., B Stock Do., New A ...... East Lancashire Edinburgh & Glasgow Edinb. and Peebles.. Eclin. Prth & Dundee %rth & Clyde Jun, Furness Do. Extension Glasgow&S. Wester/ Great Northern Do., A. Stock Do., B. Stock Gt. Sth. &West.(lre. Great Western Do. Stour Val. Rai' Gua. Stk Irish South-Eastern. Lancaster & CarHsi, Do., Thirds Do. New Thirds Laneash. andYorksh Do., Fifths Do., Wst. Riding Un Liv.Crsby.&Southpt London & Black wai Lend. Bright & S.Cst. Long, and N. We 4 ,,, 00. Fifths NON. Sh., M&B Do. Eighths l i, ondon aud S. West, Do., £5O DO., £4O r.nclnarrydi Col eraint r.ndndrry. & Enuisk , Aaneh.Slief & Line' , 90. No. 44, Mau. & Lin, Un. Vidland , o. Birmng. & Derby %did. G. West. (Ire. ) 'O. Half Shares Newcastle & Car Hal f, Nrewmkt.Bnry Exten livrpt.Aberg. & Hrfil Newry & 'awry Warrenpoint and Rostrevor Norfolk Northn.Connties Un North British North Devon, No. 1 no., No. 2 r )o.. A A Deferred .. Do., B Guaranteed N. Eastern—Ramie] Do. do. Extension Do.do. G.N.E. Pura 6 0. Leals Do. York North London O. New £lO 4 . &S. Wstrn. ,Ilamp - stead, and City Jn.. North Staffordshire.. north Western...,.. v. & S. Westrn, June. Nuneaton, Hinckley and Leicester 9 xford, Worcester, & Wolverhampton Portsmouth Scottish Central „ Scottish Midland ihrowsby. dt ierefd. i hropshire Umon ionth Devon ioath Eastern south Wales tYrksh. dt Riv. Dun o itaines,Wok. &Wok Stockton & Darlia ittlkton tit Hartlepl., raft' Vale .. Do. £lO shares. Do. Pref., No. 1 Thames Haven Doc?' and Railway.... , Vale of Heath •„ Waterf.l. & Waterf oreldiLimeri..l, West Cornwall West End of Londoi, :Ind Crystal Palace West London.... Winabledn & Croydor A ntwerp& Rotterdam Belgian Eastn. Jun, Beziers to Graissessa, Bombay, Baroda, and Central India,Seril Central of Italy Demerara Dijon and Besancon.. Dutch Rhenish Eastern of Prance Do. New East Indian Do. Ey I.ension Do. 4i pay '57, convertible Do. do. do., '59, do 9d. Tk of CanadlA is Lo. St. Lawrence & Atlantic do. 1) 0. Cert. of Deben , con. into Stk. till '63 Do. Comp. 6 p. c., do. Qt. Central of France Gt. Indian Peninsula D o• New 5 per cent great Luxembourg Constituted Shares 5 0. Obligations. Gt. Western of Canad Shares Do. lids., payable's7, with option till '55 20. do., '62, p. '56 1 ,-;o• do., '76, p. '6O uo. do., '73, without option F iamilton & Toronto Do. 6 per cent. [Ake Const. & Basle Lucca di Pistoj a 5 p. c. prof Ifions and Geneva ... 'lens & Mediterran Aadras Do. New ktaria Antonia • Do. do. New Namur do Liege (witl, interest) Do. (ex interest) Northern of France D 0.201. Slis.late Char leroi and Erquelines, guar. 3R p. c. & red.' at 221. dur. SS yrs. from 1 Jan. :554 Do. 201. 3 p. c Bde (fmy. B. & Ams. She ) N orwegianTrunkPref Paris and Lyons Ditto Bonds . ...... Paris and Orleans Paris and Rouen ParisCaen & Cherbrg. Rouen and Havre Royal Danish Royal Swedish iambre and Meuse._ Do• 6z p. cent. Prof. iouthern of France St,. Andrew's and Quebec (A) West Flanders Do 51 ; per e. Prof Western of France , West. of Switzerland Wismbaden Zealand JOINT-STOI Australasia British Colonial Bank and Loan Company British N. American e,.ha rtcl. Bank of Asia Buk. of ludia,, Australia, & China Colonial C ommercial of Lond ,11 uglish Scottish and Australian Loud. Chart. Bk. of Australia Ditto New Loudon and County Loudon Joint Stook , Loud. Westminster National Provincial of England New National of Ireland New So u th W a l e s 1 Oriental Bank of Corporationrovine . ...... l ial of Ireland , tlO . New " 0 3'4 Australn.Bkg mouth Gold Imp Co Australia trUloo of Australia Now Ulll9ll of lativa - _ 20i -21 i 4i - 4 Si -- 13i -- 12.1 16 - 17 72 - 88 - DO 64 - 642, 12 - 13 6 - 8 3i - 2i 5i- 61 11 - 15 11i - 11 28 - 30 20 - 22 72 74 57 59 2d par 20 21 70 72 83 89 72 74 123 125 91 93 65 65b 60 - 62 70 - 73 6 - 7 6 7 76 -76 i - 7,1 821 97 99 100 ?,4d 4d 1 d , 83 84 8 8 7 6i l• .... ... 24i 25 8 - 8i Gil - 70 41 - 43 10 . ••• ••• 11 - 9 1) li - 2 48 - 50 3i 3,; 29 ... 90 7 9 5 7 71 - 722 74 6i, , 3* 12i 13 49 -- 50 49 50 d par Ad 4$ 4i 6 1d ar .... ••• 29 - 30 .01 - 103 64 - 66 45 - 47 12. - 13.1 61 62 271 - 28 4 - 2 2 - 1 36 - 38 • ... • '""' • . 4} - 16* -16 i 22 - - 64 s' - 7 8 - 84 1 - ii 2i - 21 par 4 p •.• .•• - P 2 - 14 33A - 34 54 - 2 - 2 p it - 1.3 -,• - •.. 9 --8 9i 8i 49 -51 d 89 91 2 2ip iP iP 2] - 2i 2i - 3 17i - 18 96 - 98 95 - 97 100 - 102 92 • 94 19 -19 A 93 - 100 ... die 2 2h) par ip li lip 6i - 7i 34i - 348 121 -12 i 8. -9i 21i - 22 47 49 40 42 P 12 2 2 13 2 ld par 2i 8 —Bi ... - pm 3i - 4 5} - Gip iii = iii BANKS. 82 -- 84 Id ..."' ••• ld—id 3 -- 2id ' 20i -21 i d ip 32 - 34 39 - 41 37 - 39 65 - 67 14 29 au , 2B 22 in !4, k 190 40 1 0 0 O .1, %11 10' - 3i 28. 10 2 2i 11 11 ,tll 76i 6 97i 100 994 72 1i 13 12i 62i 1/ LINES LEASED AT FIXED RENTALS. RAILW.I4O. 3edford and Bletchley Buckghamsh. Clydesdale Jc Col. Stour Vy. Sud. and Hal. E. Lincoln gr. 6 per cent. Glas. Barr. & Neils.. Direct Do. New...—. Glstr.& Dn. Fr Dk. Railway - Hull & Solby Do. Shares. Do. .f Shares. Lon.& Greener Do. Preferenet Lon., Til., & S. Lowestoft rir • 4 per cent . Do. 6 per et. blanch. Bxtn and Matlecl Aiddles.bro' Redcar L:nasing (lonipaus London & N. West. L.&N.W. (laledon.. E. Un. & lostne Prices yesterday.: 5 - 97 7 - 99 t. Nrthn. clahlonian. 134 - 136 Ca. Wes Yk. New rlerw. Y.& N Do. Easten Vfidld.Bradfd got. tl ern an Easternsp.e. Do. 6 per ct. Do. Fixeds p • ?rest. & Wyr( Do. 1 Shares. Roystn.k, Hit. Slief.Roth an( Gooleg.s p.c. Staffordsh. ♦Near Valleygi 6 per cent Do Wilts&gomrst veto & Co. Yorfolk.. & Midid •3tcktou Darlingt. Aid Count Jo &N.W. Gt Northr Utucash York eh. A. MCleaL 3tockt. & Darlingt 'ltWestn. 04 - 100 124 -13 i 23 - 24 10:i - 11 2g - 2i 90 - 92 57 - 59 130 - 133 ii, = i'd 32 -32 i 89 - 91 104 easiness this day. PREFERENCE SHARES. St. 100 Aberdeen . 1101 103 st. 100 Do. N 0.2, 7p. c 90 —92 25 30 BlythandTyne 10 per ••• c. pref. (issd. at 50)) St. 100 Bris. & Ex. 4p. C. St. 92 91 20 5 Do. 4p. c. Shares St. 100 laledonian £lO 97 99 15 all Theater & Holyhead Guar. 5* per cent ,„ 93 all )0. do. Pref. No. 2 — all Do. do. Pref. No. 2 — 64 all ';ork &Randons*p.c 2 4d 64 .11 Dundee Perth &Aber leen Junction 6 .ill Eastern Counties Ex -I;ension,s p. c. No. I 3 1 i i! pm 6 'all Do. No. 2 — 1 pm 10 all Do. New 6 r . c. St. 1.2 i 134 20 all Eastern Union, Gar per cent 5 all Do. 51., 10 ner cent ... 10 all Do. 101. Delientr.Sh- St. all Do. do. 4 per cent — St. 100 East Lancash.6 p. ets — 5 all East and West York shire June. Fifths St. all Edinb Prth. &Dundee 4 per cent. St. It GltAsgow &S.Western Guar. 5 per cent._ ...xd St. 100 Great Northn. sp. c. 115 117 St. 100 Do. sp. c. Redeem., at 10 p. e. prem... 107 109 St. 100 Do. 4A p. c lOO 102 2* all Do. sp. c. Scrip, Red at sp. c. pm... * 4p 23 10 all Gt.N. of Scot. lstPref 64 100 Gt. Southn.6lWestm. (Ireland) Eighths) 20 8 Do. 4 per c. Pref. St 50 6 (It. Westn. (Berks & Hants Ex. sp. c) 6 6A St. 100 Do. con. red. 4* p.c 96 98 St. 100 Do. con. red. 4p. c B7 81 St. 100 Do. irred. 4p.c. 8 all Do. Birm. Pref. Sh lO 10. 10 all Do. Onester Bp. c.P.S l6/ 174 10 all Do. do. sp.c. do lO 10* St. 100 Do. Birm, Gua. Stk 7l —73 71* 26-V. all Do. Ches. Gua. Sh lB4 194 19 13 all Do. do. do 9 —93 9 20 all Do, do. do l4 14* 16 6 Lan. &York. F. £2O St. too Do. op. c. Stock 133 135 St. 100 London and Brighton Guaranteed 5 p. c ••• St. 100 Do. Pref., 5 p. c. St. St. 100 Do. New Guar.6 p. c. 135 St. 100 Lon.&N. W., Cov. Nuneaton 5 p. et — 114 50 5 London &S. Westerr Con. Thirds 12* all Londonderry& Color * Shares 12& all Lowly. & Ennis.*Sh — 10 all Wan., Shef., & Lin New, £lO l2. 13 6 4A Do. .£6 121 all Nfarypt • & Carl .4 p 123 all Du, 4* per cent ••• ••• 12* 10A. Do •• ••• St. 100 vlid. Consol.6 p.c.St. St. 100 Do. Consol • Bristol 6 per cent_ 133 135 131 16i 11K Do. Pref. 4,*per con 18 3d die 10 10 Norfolk Debenture . 4 —44 St.' ICtO Do. Prof. 4p. e. Stop: 5.5 —B7 St. 100 Do. sp. e. Est lO3 105 St. 100 Do. 54 per ct.prof... St. 100 Do.ll 4 ay. Val. sp. c. . St. :00 north British St. ICO NT. E. Bony, 4 p.c. P. 90 92 17 5 Do. do. do 34 20 13 Do. Leeds 6 p.c 1231 9 Do. do. Quarters 4i , 25 10 Do.Vork. & r. 4 id 20 all North Staffordshire.. „.. St. 100 /xford, Worcester, ic Wolverh..Cls, 6 n.e, 106 108 107 8i all Scot. Cent.,New Peel 25 all South Devon l3 14 10 !14 Os. fixed, 44 per een , 4d par 1.0.6' all 3. Eastern (Reading Mm.) of Cl Os. 6d. 223 234 20 all 3 Wales Gun. 4p, c. ,„ 20 all Do. (10. 44 p, c, 20 all S. Yorksh.4p.c.Guar 14 —l7 25 all Stockton and Dar lington, 5 per cent • • ... 25 ,15 Do. do. do. * lip 124' all Stockton and: Hartle pool, guar. 5 p. c. till Ist July, 1856 MINES. 1 all Agua Fria .... 1 all Anglo Austrin. Gold 108. all Anglo Californian 20 6 kustrzlian 1 —ll 1. all Australian Cordillera - 1 all Australian Freehold 1 all Ave Maria —-- 1 all Baden (Gd. Duchy of) 60 all Blainarvon Iron and • Coal 20 13.5 British Iron 4l 51 35 251 Brazilianlmp.(issued at .1.!5 pin 2 3 30 all Do. Cocaes & Cuiabi 2 21 2i 20 15 Do. St. John Delßey 29 —3l 1 1 Carsons's Crook 1 1 Clarendon Cons. Min Co. of Jamaica I ed 40 all Cobre Copper 49 51 5 1 Colonial Gold I St. all Copper Min. of Eng 43 48 25 all Do. Prof. 71 p. cent ld In 261 5 16 Copiapo ...... 20 22 5 all English and Austin. Copper Smoltg Co 1 2 lk 2 Fortuna Hd Ap 20 all General.. I4A 16. 1 all Gt.NuggetVeinßeg. >r 4 all Great Polgooth ••• ••• 1 all Liberty • . - 3 all Linares. 7i 8 5 1 Lusitaniau — Ad 1 all Aariquita 1 all New Granada 1 all New Linares Mining and Smelting Co — 1 all Nouveau Mondo 20 all Pontgibaud Silver Lead Min.& Smelt. 15 16 5 1 Port Philip * a 1 all Quartz Rock 50 all Ur - Amy Iron l9 —2l 15 all Do. New 30 111 %utiago do Cuba... 61 5k 1 all South Australian — 1 10 7A Pin Croft .. - 2 28 all United Mexican 5l 5 i 5 i 1 all Waller a 1 all West Mariposa 6 —, 1 12s. Worthing Mining of Australia 1 all irnba MISCELLANEOUS. 25 171 Australian Agricult. 301 - 311 301 20 Australsn.Pcific.Mail ••• 10 all AnsLraln. Royal Mail - ••• 10 7 Berlin Water Works 21 -24 d 50 40 Brit. American Land 55 - 60 5 1 Brit. & Coln. Smeltg. and Reduction Co - 109 321 Canada ll9 - 121 St. 100 Canada Gov. 6p. et. Jan. and July ICS - 1081 108/ 5 all Crystal Palace 34 - 3 a 3 i a 4 all Crystal Pal. of France „. 1 4 Boston Iron Ore — 20 5 Eastern Steam . 25 22 ElectricTelegraph(A) 15 16 151 1 all Electric Teleg. of Ir. 15 14 Gen. Steam Navigat. 20 all General Screw Steam 151 20 10 Irish Beetroot Sugar 20 10 Magdalena St. Navin. „ - 10 all Mediteran. Elec. Tel. 10 9 Mexicau&S. America 64 61 1 all Nat. Pat. Steam Fuel 10 5 Netherlands Land — 11 2 1 N. S. W. Coal & Inter. Steam Navigat. Co. .„ — 1 all N. B. Australasian — 1 20 12i NAIL ofEuropeSteain all Peel Rr. Ld. & Miurl. 24 3 50 all Peninsular& Oriental 57 - 59 50 all Do. Do. ... - ...p 2 all Portland Iron Co li 2 100 60 lloyal Mail Steam 1 all Scot. Mistral. Invest. 11 1 1 Ditto New A— 25 all South Austral. Land 36 67 1 all Submar. Telegraph - ' all 1).,. . - 20 5 Trust & Loan Co. of Upper Canada ..... , „.. 199 Yaa Dionosal s 1411_ 13 121 12 123 St. St. 1.0.6; THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING-, MARCH 27, 185 IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. Communication, Plymouth Great Western Docks, West Landon and Crystal Palace and Westminster Terminus Railways. lord had told the house that we went to war with a peace establishment, but whose fault was that ? (Hear.) Why, the Government of the day. The war did not come upon us suddenly—it had long been anticipated ; and in spite of negotiation the preparations should have been going on for open hostilities. A long time ago the Government of this country became aware of the private intention of the Emperor of Russia with regard to Turkey, and they ought to have taken the ad vice of the Opposition, and called out the Irish and Scotch militia at least a year before the war commenced. After war was declared the noble lord lost no means for the development of our defences, by organising the militia, and it was not until midsummer that the noble lord had recourse to these measures which, if he had ap pealed to them before, might have been at once forth coming. This showed a want of confidence in the spirit and resources of the country. (Hear, bear.) He should not at present oppose the measure of the noble lord, but he would not allow it to pass in silence ; he could not pass it by without remark, that in the first year of a war we were obliged to have recourse to foreign subsidy, simply because we had neglected the national means at our disposal. He hoped the house also would not allow it to pass in silence, and that the house would proclaim that if war was to be carried on, it ought to be with our legitimate national resources. The hon. gen tleman resumed his seat amidst cheers. Lord PALMERSTON said as the hon. gentleman who had just sat down bad expressed his intention not to oppose the measure very little would he necessary for him to say. But lie could not allow the hon. gentleman's remarks to pass unnoticed inasmuch as they dis played so little confidence in the discretion of the Government in voting so comparatively small an amount of money in order to strengthen our military resources. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman told them that when we were now engaged in war we ought to abstain from making preparations for war whilst peace negotiations were pending, on the principle that we had not done so before when we were in the height of the struggle. (Hear, hear.) With reference to the Calling out of the militia, he hoped the right honourable gentleman and the party to which he belonged would make their own defence on that point. He acknow ledged fully the merit of the Government to which the hon, gentleman belonged in re-organising the mi litia ; but could it have been embodied in a time of peace, when such a threatening operation would have appeared very ominous, and was, moreover, unnecessary ? (Hear, hear.) On the other hand, there was no power to embody the militia without a fresh legislative act ; but when war did at length manifest it self—when the Black Sea was blockaded, and a naval force had been despatched to the Baltic—then was the time for the embodiment of the militia ; and the Govern ment accordingly obtained a fresh act for its embodi ment. (Hear.) Therefore, he conceived the want of foresight was ascribable to the Government to which the hon. gentleman belonged rather than to the Administra tion with which he (Lord Palmerston) was connected. (No, no, and counter cheers.) At the same time, could it be for one moment said that the militia could have proved a proper and effective force for the purpose for which the Sardinian loan bad been proposed. They never could have been regarded as a substitute, although every cre dit was ascribable to them for their gallantry and self devotion in volunteering their services for duty abroad, and for enlistment into the regular troops. (Cheers.) Therefore he thought the charge brought forward by the hon. gentleman of want of foresight and negligence of duty must inevitably fall to the ground. (Applause.) Mr. E. DENISON regretted that if no opposition was intended to be given to the vote of this loan it should be given in any way grudgingly. (Hear.) In Sardinia, although a Roman Catholic country, they had found out the value of religious liberty, and had respected it ; and he congratulated the Minister at the head of affairs in that country for having conducted the nego tions with this country so successfully, and he trusted the union which would be cemented between the two countries by those negotiations might long con tinue, as a source of pride to this country and admira tion to the world. (Hear.) Mr. BRIGHT, in the course of a luminous address, said be did not regret that the loan was voted to Sar dinia, though he should much rather the security had been anything else than 15,0e0 men. He did not think the progress of civil and religious liberty in that country, of which the house had heard so much of late, would be materially benefitted by Sardinia embarking in a war in which she could have no possible interest. (Hear, hear.) He should not, as the hon. gentleman (Mr. Disraeli) had just said, oppose the resolution before the committee, but he could not allow the opportunity to pass without expressing his dissent to any measure which bad for its object dragging Sardinia int* a strug gle from which greater countries than she might reason ably have shrunk, when she might have been much more advantageously employed in proceeding quietly, as she had done hitherto, in the beneficial arrangement of her internal affairs. (" Oh, oh," and bear.) Mr. BOWYER bore testimony from observation of the courage and fidelity of the Sardinian army ; but he regretted that the Government should have been so hasty in concluding a treaty without first ascertaining what were the resources of that country as to repayment and security for the money. He contended that Sardinia was not in a position to afford reliable security. He could not bring forward actual statistical tables to prove the correctness of this assertion, but he maintained that the reasonable inference for what bad transpired between the two countries was ns he bad stated. (Hear.) He could, however, inform the house t'Rat there was an annual deficit of revenue in Sardinia, and the taxes—especially the income tax—were heavy. Commerce had been stimulated to the utmost, speculation was rife, and he feared was any economy being exercised the expenditure was most profligate ; and then there was a disproportionate stand ing army. His hon. friend had believed he (Mr, Bright) had alluded to the absurdity of engaging in war, especi ally under present circumstances. (Hear, hear.) Now so far was that true, that the Genoese merchants found themselves materially injured by the present war, because their trade lay chiefly in Russian ports ; and he mentioned this fact to show the want of caution in the Government in not placing beyond all doubt the question of security before inducing Sardinia to join in the war. He asked were the financial affairs of that country managed in so unexceptionable a manner as to afford the Government reasonable satisfaction that the security offered was firm and reliable ? He should not have mentioned these circumstances at another period, as we had nothinz at all to do with the internal affairs of other countries ; but when the grant of a loan from this country to another came before the house, it behoved thorn, he thought, to con sider well the security which they should have for their money. (Hear, hear.) HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.) The LORD CIANCELLOR took hie seat On the wool sack at five o'clock. PETITIONS. Mr. DUNCAN presented a petition from Dundee against the Scotch Education Bill. Mr. BROTHERTON presented a petition from Stock port, praying for the repeal of Church rates. Mr. WILCOX presented a petition from Southamp ton praying for the repeal of the newspaper stamp. Mr. HOR,SFALL presented a petition from Liver pool in favour of Mr. Gladstone's, and against the Chan cellor of the Exchequer's, Newspaper Stamp Bill. Mr. KIRK presented a petition from Belfast against the sale of intoxicating drinks on Sundays. Mr. FERGUSON presented similar petitions from Carlisle. PETITIONS. Earl GREY presented a petition from Somerset, praying the house to adopt prompt measures for the speedy restoration of peace. Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from Kingston-upon-Thames in favour of the abolition of church rates. The noble and learned lord took the opportunity of laying on the table two more resolutions he intended to move in connection with the treatment of criminals. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY presented a petition from the Wesleyan body of dissenters in favour of closing the public-houses on the Lord's-day. THE QUEEN'S MESSAGE—TREATY WITH Mr. MOWBRAY presented a petition from Durham against the Chancellor of the Exchequer's and in favour of Mr. Gladstone's Newspaper Stamp Bill. Mr. DISRAELI presented a petition from Finsbury praying for the repeal of the newspaper stamp. Mr. AI`MAIIION presented a petition from upwards of 1,500 inhabitants of two parishes in the county of Galway, complaining of certain wholesale and indis criminate evictions there ; also, a petition from Irish fishermen, complaining of distress, and praying for an amendment of the Irish Fisheries Act. Mr. R. LO WE presented a petition from 5,000 inha bitants of Sydney, South Australia, praying the house to reject the Constitution sent over for its adoption, and in favour of a Legislature consisting .of two elective chain bs.rs. Mr. H. BERKLEY presented a petition from 6,000 of the inhabitants of Bristol against church rates. NEW WRIT, On the motion of Mr. HAYTER, a new writ was ordered for the city of Gloucester, in the room of Mr. Price, who had accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. Mr. BRIGHT presented a petition from an individual whose publication had been suppressed by the Inland Revenue, praying fur the repeal of the newspaper stamp. Mr. GLADSTONE 'was anxious that the question before the house should be placed on a proper footing, and trusted that no comment in another form would place it in an unjust light. (Hear, hear.) Sardinia had peculiar claims upon our sympathy and respect. In times far more favourable to the freedom of consti tutional Government, at times when other coun tries had as it were freedom within their grasp and lost it again—when retrogression marked other nations, Sardinia, a country amongst difficulties almost insuperable, succeeded in establishing the bless ings of a free Government. He thought his hon ourable friend the member for Malton was quite jus tified in commenting upon the happy union between that country and our own, while he thought the case attempted to be set up by the hon. gentleman who had just sat down against the financial character of Sardi ala had not been by any means clearly established. He admitted that all questions of this nature ought to be regarded with jealousy by this house; but he held that the present was a loan and not a subsidy. In answer to Mr. Bowyer's calculations, .he would only ask in what instance that country bad ever failed in fulfilling its obligations ? Mr. ADDERLEY objected to the resolution, and could regard this money i n no o th er li g ht t h an as a loan. It would be much better to draw auxiliaries from our Canadian and other colonists than any foreign country whatever. Mr. KINNAIRD complained that hon. gentlemen opposite were now pursuing the very course of dispa raging foreign aid which had already ruined the forma tionof the foreign legion. Mr. DISRAELI denied that the neglect in embodying the militia was owing to the Government of which he was a member, and reiterated his former arguments, that it was owing to.the mismanagement of the Govern ment, the disregard of the militia, and the neglect of the regular army, that these foreign troops were now wanted. After some further personal explanations from Lord PALMERSTON and Mr. BowYER respecting the militia, Mr. J. BALL controverted the statements of Mr. Bowyer respecting the finances of Sardinia, and stated, from his own knowledge of the country, that though there were at present some financial difficulties they were of a purely temporary character, and were rapidly disappearing. Mr. COBDEN would yield to no one in admiration of the constitutional government of Sardinia, whose progress in civil and religious liberty he had long watched with intense interest, but he confessed he felt that her present step was not a wise one. He could not under stand why Sardinia, which was always regarded as an equipoise to Austrian power in Italy, should be dragged into the war before Austria fired a shot. But mere than all, he could not understand why this convention should have been entered into at a moment when the prelimi nary negotiations had made sueh progress that within a week we might have a certainty of peace. He wished to know whether the noble lord had taken the precaution of withholding the money if the expenditure was rendered unnecessary by the establishment of peace ? Mr. M. MILNES repeated substantially the same question, Lord PALMERSTON said this treaty was made with Sardinia on the supposition that the Sardinian contin gent would have to go to the seat of war to carry on operations in conjunction with the British army during the var. This million of money was, by the terms of the convention, to be advanced in two halves—one as soon as possible after the assent of Parliament had been given, and the other at the end of six months. Of course the Sardinian Government wanted money to meet the greater expense incurred by an army in the field as com pared with that incurred by one stationed at home. Some of this expense must have been incurred in preparing the contingent for the field. If peace should be made before the army had embarked, only a certain por tion of the expense would have been incurred ; should it reach the seat of war, a still larger portion of that expense must be met ; and so on in proportion to the time for which it serves. The only answer I can give is, therefore, that, if peace should be made earlier than the treaty contemplates there will naturally be a fresh arrangement between the two Governments, dependent on the particular moment at which peace shall be made. I cannot imagine that the Sardinian Govern racat would wish to throw on us a greater burden than SARDINIA. The Earl of CLARENDON, in rising to move that the message of her most gracious Majesty with reference to the treaty with the King of Sardinia be considered, said he felt it would he unbecoming in him to detain their lordships any length of time. Their lordships would no doubt consider any argument superfluous in support of the address which he intended to propose for their adoption. Although the treaty proposed by com mand of her Majesty to the Sardinian Government was only recently ratified, yet the treaty itself had long since received the assent of that Power. It would no doubt be agreeable to their lordships to learn that no solicitation whatever was necessary on our part to induce the Sar dinian Government to take the course which more than any other result within his recollection had been re ceived with satisfaction by all classes of her Majesty's subjects. The only merit to which the diplomacy of her Majesty's Government could lay claim to was that, they thought the time had arrived when an invitation might be given to the Sardinian Government to adhere to the treaty of the 10th April. The Sardinian Go vernment acting with that vigour of purpose and perfect good faith which bad characterised all her proceedings —which had insured her success at home and respect abroad—had agreed to those preliminaries which had terminated in so gratifying a result. Sardinia alone ad heres to what he would call that self-denying article, to which England and France had bound themselves, not to derive any territorial advantage from the war. The state, however, of her finances being inadequate to the expenses of an army abroad as well as at home, she has ap plied to England for an advance of money (2,000,0001.), the interest of which was to he paid at the rate of 4 per cent. ; 1 per cent. of which was to be applied to the Sinking Fund. She also asks that her troops might be conveyed by England to the seat of war ; and her Majesty's Gevernment,.waiting the approval of Parlia ment, had agreed to these applications, and at this moment a British fleet was on its way to Genoa to carry 15,000 of those troops to the Crimea—troops which he dared to say were inferior to none in Europe in organisation, in discipline, or in gallantry. The efforts made latterly by Sardinia to obtain national liberty were watched by this country with the greatest anxiety, and her success in the attainment of that great object was, he thought, greatly owing to the fact of her being utterly free from foreign intervention. The noble earl concluded by moving an address to her Majesty, which was but an eche of the royal message. The Earl of HARDWICKE bore testimony to the gallantry of the Sardinian troops at the battle of No vara, and also to the great ability that characterised the gallant general who bad been appointed to the command of the troops in the Crimea. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY said if ever Sardinia was called upon to defend herself from external oppres sion, he believed that any application for assistance would be met with a response from the country which had never been made before—from north to south—from John O'Groat's house to the Land's-end. The address was then agreed to. POSTAL ARRANGEMENTS WITH AUSTRALIA. The Earl of HARDWICKE rose to present a petition from the Australian Postal Association complaining of, and calling attention to, the unsatisfactory state of the postal arrangements with Australia. The noble earl said that in 1851 contracts were enters} into for the conveyance of letters to Australia by the overland route, in connection with the steamers of the Oriental Steam Navigation Com pany, and also by steamers by the Cape of Good Hope, the former roate being travelled in 60 to 65, the latter in 64 to 70 days. This arrangement continued till the commence ment of the war. The postal revenue obtained from the communication with Australia was 90,0001. a year ; the value of the exports to that country in the year 1853 was 14,506,532/. ; but at the present moment the postal com munication was stopped ; that was to say, it was carried on only by sailing vessels ; and the consequence was that the communication, which formerly occupied six weeks, now occupied four or five months. The petition which he had presented admitted that there had been a derange ment of the steam communication on this side of the Isthmus of Suez, but denied that any such arrangement had occurred on the other side of that isthmus, and assert ed that therefore so far as that part of the route was con cerned, the regularity heretofore observed might have been maintained. The petitioners stated that there existed in Australia several companies possessing ships well adapted for the conveyance of mails, and they prayed their lordships to take into consideration the injury sus tained by the general interests of the colony from the suspension of mail communication, and to address her Majesty, praying her Majesty to direct arrangements to be made for the re-establishment of that communication Whatever difficulty might exist in carrying on the postal service as it was carr i e d on b e f ore , h o thought that difficulty might be met in the same manner as it had been met with regard to other colonies, and ho saw no reason why the colonists should not be permitted to set up a postal communication of their own. (Hear.) Lord r A NNTNG- said more could be no doubt that the subject was one of great importance, both to the mercan tile interests of this country and to the interests of the colonists, and deserved every consideration. He thought, however, that the noble earl had been led into soma little error by the allez,-ations in the petition. The statement with regard to the postal communication producing 9,),0001. a year was made from an insufficient knowledge of the facts. So far from that being the produce of the postal revenue-- The Earl of RARDIVICKE observed that 90,0001. w as the gross revenue, out of which the postal service was carried on. Lord CANNING said that that statement was very far from being accurate. It appeared from a report laid on the table last session that the amount received two years ago was not half that sum. About six months ago a consider able diminution took place, in consequence of the reduc tion in the colonial postage, the reduction in the case of Australia being more than one-half, and the whole amount of postal revenue received from the Australian mails, during the last six months, was not more than at the rate of 36,0001. a year. Now with respect to the offer of the packet owners to contract. A proposal was made to him, some time ago, to enter into an engagement, or give an undertaking to a company not possessing a steam or sail ing vessel, that the Government would enter into a contract with them, on their constructing steam or sailing vessels for the purpose of carrying the mails. Now, the adoption of such a course of proceeding would not only have been rash on the part of the Government, but it would have been unfair to other companies. The principle on which the Go vernment had hitherto acted had been not to entertain pro posals from companies whose means of performing contracts were not in existence. (Hear, bear.) The reason which had led to the suppression of the Australian steam service was very evident. War was a hard taskmaster, claiming the application of every possible resource. Little more than two years ago there were in existence two lines of steam communication with Australia, but last year the require ments of the war had caused steamers to be drafted from all steam companies, and from the two Australian com p thies especially. It so happened that at that time he was in communication with the Peninsular and Oriental Cimpany, with the view of increasing their bi-monthly communication, which would have given 18 instead of 12 mails iu the course of the year ; but the demands of the fromw a ru t r e e e s e o p r urgent . tha further Australia w s ; a l e c r i n ft e c t e s t h w e e re only demanded colony which had suffered. Eight vessels had been taken from the Peninsular and Oriental Company for the transport of troops and st o re s . Tho company which carried the mails to the Cape of Good Hope had given up seven of their vessels. Cunard' s lin e h a d g iven up eight. At this mo ment there were not fewer than from 27 to .30 large postal steamers employed by the Government for the purposes of the war. Ho was far from saying that Australia had not suffered more than the other colonies ; but the Go vernment had no resources to fall back upon but the old sailing vessels. The Government were so conscious of the injuries which had been inflicted on the Australian colonies that notwithstanding the exigencies of the war, they were in communication with parties most likely to be able to supply the deficiency, and inquiries had been made of the Peninsular and Oriental Company as to the terms on which they would consent to supply certain accommodation, and the time which they would require to enable them to do so. He did not look to the existing arranzeo ment rs a permanent ono. Ire thought ,the petition had been drawn up in ignorance of what was really practicable. He did not believe there were more than one or two steamers in Australia able to take the long voyage. The noble earl had fallen into an error with regard to the dif ference of time consumed in the voyage between sailing vessels and steam vessels, stating that it now took four or five months to writ e an d rece i ve an answer b e t ween Aus tralia and England, whereas formerly not more than five or six weeks were re qu i re d. N ow there was no case o f HawAaitreDiniriwc in that time. The hthepost had travelled be tweenwhTihc he tEhheaeiltwowasof extremities remarked me ' that the voyage which was formerly performed in six weeks now took 3 months. Lord CANNING said that by the Cape line the average passage was from eighty-five to ninety days. Notwith standing the pressure on the finances of the country, it was the intention of the Government to re-establish an efficient steam communication with Australia, bat he hoped that the Australian colonies, and those persons who had influence in their councils, would manifest a little patience in the matter, and show themselves willing for a time to endure the inconvenience which they had experi enced. The Earl of HARDWICKE said he understood the dif ference between sailing and steam vessels varied from 61 days to 90 or 100 days. He believed the Australasian Steam Company was in possession of twenty steamers in Australia, many of them as large as 700 or 800 tons. subject then dropped. DESPATCH OF BUSINESS (COURT OF 'CHAN CERY) BILL. _ _ Their lordships went into committee on this bill, The bill was reported without amendments, and Their lordships adjourned at twenty-five minutes after seven o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS-YESTERDAY. The SPEAKER took the chair shortly before 4 o'clock. PRIVATE BILLS. The following bills were considered and ordered to be read a third time : Birmingham Water, Bridport Rail way, Chesterfield Water and Gas, Leeds, Bradford, and lialifa,ic Junction Railway, Monmouthshire Rail way and Canal, Plymouth and Stonehouse Gas, South- Eastern Railway (Capital), Torquay Market and Slaugh ter-houses, Torquay, Tor, and St. Mary Church Gas, and Sheffield Gas. The following bills were read a second time and ordered to be compaittvd ;-linlaud. and Ireland Lainoyed ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL gave notice that, on Friday next, he should move for leave to bring in a bill to abolish the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical and other courts in England and Wales respecting wills and the testamentary distribution of property, and to create a distinct court for granting probates and letters of admi nistration, and otherwise to amend the law relating to will and letters of administration. ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONERS. Mr. LIDDELL asked Mr. Goulburn whether there was any intention on the part of the Ecclesiastical Com missioners for England to apply any portion of the unap propriated balance of 4,2171. 10s., arising from the Maltby Fund, and described in their last report as re maining in their hands, towards the repair and improve ment of the residence of the Vicar of Newcastle ; and, whether any, and if any, what arrangements were con templated for augmenting the endowment of that vicar age, the great tithes of the parish having lately become vested in the Commissioners by virtue of an arrange ment made by them with the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle ? Mr. GOULBURN replied in the affirmative to the first question, but he could give no answer to the second. MILITIA. BILLETING. _ _ _ Mr. EWART wished to inquire of the Secretary for War whether any measures were in contemplation to re lieve certain towns in Scotland from the billeting of the militia, now complained of as severely oppressive on them 1 Mr. PEEL said the subject was now under the con sideration of the Government, and steps would shortly be taken to remove the annoyance complained of. TROOPS IN DEMERARA. Colonel WYNN asked the Under Secretary for War whether anyofficia,l information had been received by her Majesty's Government of the total destructioa of the sea wall at Georgetown, Demerara, on Feb. 17 ; whether it was the intention of her Majesty's Government to remove the troops now stationed there ; whether there would be any objection on the part of her Majesty's Government to lay on the table of the house the correspondence which had taken place between the Governor of British Guiana and the late Secretary for War, and Secretary for the Colonies, concerning the maintenance and repair of the sea wall protecting the barracks at Georgetown, Demerara ? Mr. PEEL said the Governor of British Guiana had made such a report, and if the buildings were hereafter found to be untenantable the troops would be removed. There would be no cbjection to produce the correspon dence. TROOP SHIPS. Col. HARCOURT inquired whether it was true that in November last there was an inspection of the sheeting in use in Parkhurst Barracks, when a very large quan tity was condemned, and put aside for the express purpose of being immediately forwarded to the Crimea, for use as bandages and lint, but that till very recently, if not up to that time, it remained at Parkhurst, and was not used for any purpose : —Whether it was true that Lord Methuen, the Colonel of the Wiltshire Militia, declined allowing his men to be embarked for the Mediterranean in the troop ship Resistance, in consequence of his not considering her fit fur the purpose ; whether it was not then pro posed t,) send oat the drafts of the Guards in her, who, for some cause or other, did not go out in her ; and whether drafts of the Highland Brigade, er of some other regiments, bad not been since sent in that ship ? Mr. PEEL said no part of the sheeting had been sent out, because it was not wanted. The objection to the Resistance was that it was a sailing and not a steam vessel. A portion of the Guards wore ordered to go out in it, hilt, in e,•nizaq"....... , of Oleo lama a.r.narvirnn,ifatiem required for the officers they did not go out in it, and the vessel was therefore appropriated to the Highland Brigade. BOARD OF WORKS. Mr. WISE wished to ask the Secretary of the Trea sury for an explanation of the third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs in the auditors' report, dated the 31st day of January, 1855, on the accounts of the Commissioners of Works and Public Buildings? Mr. WILSON gave the required explanation, declar ing that all the accounts were quite regular and correct. RUSSIAN PORTS. Mr. SANDARS asked the First Lord of the Admi ralty at what period it a - a, ; intended to establish a blockade of the Russian ports in the Baltic and White Seas, and if that blockade was, from the first to the last, to be an effective one ? Sir C. WOOD said it was intended, as soon as the ports were open, to establish an effective blockade from first to last. CLOTHING THE ARMY. Sir DE L. EVANS asked the Clerk of the Ordnance when it was intended to introduce any improvement in the cloth for clothing the army ? Mr. MONSELL said the clothing of the army was not yet transferred to the Ordnance, but, as soon as it wa g, the quality of the cloth would be duly considered, with a view to its improvement. BREECH-LOADING CARBI NES. Sir DE L. EVANS said it was reported that most of the principal gnnmakers in the metropolis had been invited to send in to the Ordnance specimens of their breech-loading carbines. Now, he was told by some of them that they had received no such invitation, and he should be glad to know if that were so ? Mr. MONSELL raid there would be no objection to produce a list of those who had been invited LORD DUNDONALD'S SCHEME, In reply to Mr. BELLEW . , Sir CHAS. WOOD said Lord Dundonald submitted his scheme to the late Board of Admiralty. It had since been fully inquired into, but it would be indisereet in him to publish to the world what the result was, or how the Admiralty would decide upon it. THE VIENNA. NEGOTIATIONS. Mr. LAYARD wished to know from the First Mini ster whether there would be any objection to lay before Parliament the protocol of the 2d December, which had originated the Vienna conference ? Lord PALMERSTON said it was not usual to pro duce fragmentary documents relating to a conference still going on. houseTli RD went l into a N I n A t N CONTlNGENTcommittee Thehe whole house to consider her Majesty's Messa ge on the sub ject of the Sardinian loan. THE SARDINIAN The Message having been read, Lord PALMERSTON rose to move a resolution, in reply to the Message, and, in doing so, he briefly urged the necessity which the war had created for calling in foreign aid to our assistance. Her Majesty having ex hausted the powers of the militia, bad been forced to have recourse to the assistance of a foreign ally, and Sardinia had undertaken to supply an auxiliary force of 15,000 men to co-operate with the troop s o f Eng land and France, and in return for this assistance her Majesty had undertaken that this country should advance Sardinia a loan of 1,000,000/., pay able within the next six months, upon condition that the loan should carry interest at the rate of 4 per cent., one per cent. of which to go to the Sinking Fund. The value of this assistance could not be overlooked ; be cause the valour and skill of the Sardinian soldiers were amply acknowledged in history as having been estab lished upon many a hard-fought field. It was alike for the interest of Sardinia as of England that this alliance should be entered into ; it was an alliance honourable to both parties ; and while it would afford to Austria a guarantee for the tranquillity of the northern part of Italy, on the other band it would give Sardinia some assurance for the safety and quietude of the south. He concluded by moving a resolution, in effect authorising the Commis sioners of the Treasury to issue to her Majesty for the purpose of this loan 1,000,000/. out of the Con solidated Fund immediately, and a further 1,000,0001. in the event of the war continuing beyond twelve months. Mr. DISRAELI found fault with the noble lord's statement as being exceedingly meagre and unsatisfac tory. No doubt it was gratifying to know that Sardinia was ready to assist us with her army, but still there were circumstances connected with their as sistance which the house would do well to consider. Last year they heard of loans in disguise, and it ap peared to him that this loan was a subsidy in disguise. (Elear, hear.) The system of subsidising was vexati ous in principle and pernicious in operation, and so unsatisfactory did it work during the last war that nothing but extreme necessity could jus tify a recurrence to it. Nov, was there any extreme necessity in the present case ; and if there was, what had been the cause of it ? They were told, indeed, that the country was embarked in a struggle with a great Power, but before we embarked in it we should have calculated its cost—(hear, hear)—and consequences. We had only been at war about twelve months, and yet, at this early period, Parliament was called upon ganctiou a return to at#siclioa, Who noble is proportionate to the services that their troops have been called upon to perform. (Hear, hear.) Tao vote was then agreed to, and the house resumed. NEWSPAPER STAMP BILL. Petitions iu favour of the abolition of the newspaper stamp were prosouted by Mr. Cowan, from Edinburgh ; by Sir J. Shelley, from Westminster and other parts of the metropolis ; and by Mr. Hudson, from the printers and newsvendors of Sunderland. Mr. MILNER GIBSON presented a petition from the proprietors of the Illustrated London Yews, praying that the Newspaper Stamp Bill be passed immediately; and another from the principal publishers in London, includ ing the Longmans, Murray, Hurst and Blackett, Chap man and Hall, and Bentley, praying that printed matter might be passed through the post at the rate of id. per four ounces. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved the second reading of the bill. ! Mr. DEEDES, in rising to move the amendment of which he had given notice, that the second reading of the bill be postponed till after the Chancellor of the Exche ! quer had made his financial statement, said that when the rigid hon. gentleman introduced to a committee of 1 the whole house those resolutions upon which he based this bill, he had not the good fortune to be present, and 1 bad not, therefore, the advantage of hearing the argu- I meets used by the right hen. gentleman upon that occa sion; but on referring to the usual channels of informa -1 tion to ascertain what had passed he was forcibly struck by the very slight encouragement which the right hon. gentleman obtained from those who followed him in the debate. It appeared to him as if every one who spoke had some stone to cast at the right honourable gentle man, and was exceedingly noxious to point out to him thee his proposed measure was not wanted by the country gene rally. If the right hon. gentleman had taken the advice tendered to him upon that occasion, and had abstained from interfering in the way of legislation in this matter, instead of followin g the course whi c h hi s pre d ecessor had laid dow n f or hi m he would have escap e d th e diffi cu l t and delicate ta s k w hi c h he had imposed upon himself; both that house and the country generally would have con sidered him perfectly justified in adopting that course, and he would have lived to survive any attacks which might have been made upon him from Manchester or elsewhere. The observations which the right hon. gentleman was re ported to have made at the conclusion of the debate fur nished a complete answer to the necessity or advisability of bringing forward the measure which he had now sub mitted to the consideration of the house. He based the necessity of dealing with the question upon certain resolu tions passed unanimously during the last session, at the instance of the right hon. gentleman the member for Man chester. But what did he say with regard to the financial part of the question ? His remarks upon that point were an answer to any necessity he might have felt for introduc ing the measure at the present moment. He said—"lf we had at this time a surplus revenue, and if the expenditure of the country did not greatly exceed its revenue, the newspaper stamp would have a fair claim to enter into any repeal or readjustment of taxes, and those who ob ject to it might claim that its repeal should have pre cedence in any financial scheme. This, however, is not the financial state of the country, and, if the house should decide in favour of this measure, it would be my d u ty t o • call upon them to p rov id e f or th e deficiency of the revenue by some other mode of taxation." (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman went on to say :—" It is my duty to inform the house that the estimate of persons of authority as to the loss of revenue must not be taken to be less than 200,0001. Such a loss of revenue is no doubt inconvenient at the present moment. On the other hand, the house will bear in mind that, to refuse to repeal the stamp would be to recede from the unanimous resolution which it agreed to last session, and will render necessary the passing of some measure declaratory of th e law." Now, nobody would argue that any resolution of that house should lightly be passed over; but every one must admit that there was a fitting time for dealing with important public questions, and the great objection to this bill was that it had been introduced at an improper and inopportune time. (Hear, hear.) Perhaps the terms of his amendment would indicate that his objection to the measure was entirely confined to the financial part of the question ; but he was strongly impressed with the conviction that the bill was open to far more serious objection in other respects. He considered clause 1 to be the very pith and marrow of the bill. The subsequent provisions referred to matters of detail, but clausal provided that there should be no fur ther compulsory stamp duty for any newspaper, that there should be no further compulsory registration, and that there should be no further declarations. All these were matters which had been enacted for the purpose of preventing un lair attacks being made in newspapers upon private charac ter, of raising as much as possible the character of the pub lications in question, and of offering a remedy if abuses should exist ; but now they were no longer thought to be necessary. Me confessed that he looked with considerable dread to a relaxation of the law which would enable any person so minded to pander to (he vices and prejudices of those whom he might call ignorant and uneducated, and therefore not able to discriminate between right and wrong. He had seen, within the last day or two papers and writings of the description to which he alluded, and he should be very sorry to see them multiplied in this country. (Hear.) Again, he objected entirely upon principle to taxing infor mation by the inch ; and because any one paper should have taken more trouble and gone to more expense to get information which was palatable to its readers and to the public, he saw no reason why it should be called upon to pay a heavier tax than a paper which catered less for the public amusement or instruction. Was the present sys tem so faulty as to require amendment ? If so, was it immediate amendment that was necessary, or was the amendment proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer likely to meet the evil. He was quite ready to admit that there were in the present system faults which required amendment, and that there were anomalies to which it would be desirable to put an end ; but he denied that they existed to such an extent as to render it necessary for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to devise at present a plan for the express purpose of removing them. At some future time they might well be considered ; but he did not think that the present measure was calculated to remedy those evils in a manner that would be fair and just to existing interests. He was otie of those who had frequently thought that the press of this country sometimes overstepped the and it.sd ulAdtt unfair attacks upon pri vate character ; h e Celieve,l, too, upon a recent oceasionth tt letters and statements had been sent from the seat of war which were highly coloured and extr , rerated ; but still he was convinced that, on the whole, this country was greatly indebted to the press for the exertions it had inacle to pro vi le the public with information from the Crimea; and he thought they would have reason to regret if the pre.is should not in future have the power of following their vo cation in that respect. In dealing with this que.tioa he could nut riltogetaer disregard the general subject of edu cation. There were it the present moineilt oh the table of the house two bills relating to that subject. He under stood they were to he referred for consideration to a select committee, and if, as lie suspected, the tendency of this bill woul,l bo to give rise to publications of a licentious and immoral nature, he should like to have the opinion of that committee before he ventured to consent to the pass ing of such a measure. There was another point which he considered of groat importance—the question of copyright. Here he had the valuable opinion of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer to stand him in aid. The right hon. gen tleman said upon that subject :—" There is another point which is not a matter of indifference to me— namely, the question of copyright for the protection of literary property in newspapers. I don't wonder, so far as we know anything of the plan of my right hon. friend from his explanation to-night, that he has not included in his bill any clauses upon this subject. I think, indeed, it is a matter with reference to which it would he very difficult to devise a plan. At the same time I am under the impression that the proprietors of newspapers, in many cases, entertain groat anxiety that the provisions of the law with respect to the protection of literary pro perty should undergo special consideration, and should, if practicable, receive some extension with a view to the pro tection of literary property in newspapers. Undoubtedly, so far as the article that is most strictly called "news" is concerned—for instance, the communication of facts, which may generally be comprised within a very brief space, and the language, the outward s h a p e an d f orm o f which cate be varied almost at will—l de not how you are to introduce any further provisions than the law at pre sent contains ; but I have understood from some persons who ought to be well informed on the subject that the great anxiety of those who think this question worth con sideration in the press as it stands, is not so much directed to the protection of their 'news' strictly so called, which, in point of fact, it would be very difficult to protect, as to the protection of what may more fairly be called their lite rary compositions, for example, the leading articles in their newspapers, and especially as regards the London press, the communications of their foreign correspondents. Now, I for one am very anxious that, either in the plan of my right hon, friend, or in some other effective form, this question should be brought to a settlement." If the right honourable gentleman were in his place he would ap peal to him to say whether the question of copyright was dealt with in the bill before the house. There was no protection whatever to newspaper proprietors in that mea sure. The words with which the late Chancellor of the Exchequer concluded this part of his speech were so strong that he could not resist quoting them. They were :—" I do not venture to prejudge this question, but I would ven ture to express a hope that, in endeavouring to carry out the principle of the freedom of the press, my right hon. friend will not be indisposed to take into his favourable consideration any reasonable proposition which may be made to him for the improvement of the law of copyright, in order that we may not run any risk of breaking down that system under which the highest talent in the country is largely applied and advantageously devoted to supplying the public with intelligence, and to the discussion of that intelligence. I must confess that I should regard the de destruction of that system as a public misfortune—a mis fortune which I am the less .disposed to incur, because I do not look upon it as a natural or necessary consequence of the important measure of emancipation which is now contemplated by her Majesty's Government." In looking over the present bill he was compelled to conclude that the misfortune which the late Chancellor of the Exchequer de precated was likely to occur. A great improvement had taken place in the general tone adopted by the press ; and for that reason, among others, he thought it ought to be protected. He remembered when day after day, and week after week, prosecntions were instituted by the Attor ney-General, on the part of the Crown against publica tionseu that were a disgrace to the country; and he revived. be exceedingly sorry to see those publications He believed that the country at large was the law as it now stood, and therefore t submittedhe e ces the existing unless under very favourable circumstances, satisfied with that, might be asked . distu s rbe n d. Entertaining why arrangements ought not t t o he be bill, he these general objections to not move the rejection of the measure altogether. I g d is il answer to that was, that he did not wish to embarrass the Government at the present moment, when one of its most distinguished members was engaged at Vienna in conferences of vital importance to the world. H e came now to the more immediate subject of his amendment— the financial view of the question. Hero he must say that he was at a loss to imagine on wheA ground his proposition could be opposed. He had already asked the opinion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself as to the present condition of the finances of the country, and the impossibility of abolishing the newspaper stamp witl - out calling upon the people to make up the deficiency by some other mode of taxation. The right hon. baronet the member for Portsmouth, who had also filled the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, estimated the probable loss to the revenue at a quar t er of a million, and remar k e d , "Th e Chancellor of the Exchequer has fairly told you that if you pass this measure he must of necessity propose some other taxation to compensate for the sum it is proposed should be lost. Well, then, let us know what is the taxa t i on which the right hon, gentleman will propose in lieu." Surely that was a fair and reasonable proposition. These were not ti mes in which large sums of money should be thrown away without the house being told how the deficiency was to be made up. The right hon. baronet then proceeded to Speak of the details of the measure, and he said :—" I will not now enter further into dotaile of the plan which the Chancellor of the Exchequer has explained so clearly and candidly to the house, but if he proposes, after bri ng i ng i n his bill, t o p ass it before his financial statement, I am afraid that he will find me prepared, even if I should find myself in a minority of one, to vote for the postponement of the measure." He therefore claimed the right hon. ba ronet as No. 2in favour of his amendment. Following the course of the debate he found several other hon. members speaking in the same strain, and although he could not say that from the speeches of the hon. member for Manchester he derived much hope of upport, still he was thankful for the little he could get. Whe n th e r i g ht h on. gent l eman th e member for Manchester said, " I quite agree with the right hon. gentleman that we must be careful in times like these in not abandoning sources of revenue, he strengthened to some extent the case against the bill, or at all events pointed out the danger of interfering with therevenue at the present time. His hon. colleague in the representation of Manchester almost seemed to have anticipated something like an appli cation for postponement. He did not consider the present measure so good as that of the late Chancellor of the Exche quer ; denied that the question was one of revenue ; urged the Chancellor of the Exchequer to pass his bill as soon as possible, and deprecated delay. The hon. member was enable man ; his speeches were admirable ; but he could not agree with him upon the present occasion. In conclusion, he might be allowed to say that he did not think the bill had been sufficiently long before the house to allow all its details to be understood. For that and the other reasons he had stated he begged to move as an amendment that the second reading of the bill be postponed till after the Chancellor of no Exchequer had made his financial statement. (Hear.) Sir E. B. LYTTON differed from his hon. friend and from other hon. friends on this subject with great concern. He was glad, however, to see that his hon. friend had not narrowed the debate so as to reduce to a question of pounds, shillings, and pence as important a principle as any that the House of Commons could entertain. (Hear.) He (Sir E. B. Lytton) was one of the first to introduce the principle to that house in a motion for the repeal of the taxes on knowledge ; and when his hon. and learned friend said that the question was not long enough before Parlia ment, he begged to inform his hon. friend that it was brought forward by him (Sir E. B. Lytton) twenty years ago. He was then a young man, but the opinions he enter tained on the question at that period he entertained at the present moment, and had seen no reason whatever to alter them since. A great advance had, undoubtedly, been made in the general intelligence of the country since that time, and the dangers which then threatened had, it was admitted, decreased. But why ? It was because during the last twenty years cheap publications had abounded, and because the public had had the wisdom to choose the best of these publications and reject the worst. He (Sir E. B. Lytton) had heard the arguments now employed by his hon. and learned friend, in respect to newspapers, not unfrequently urged on former occasions against all cheap publications whatsoever, as if to adapt the book market to the poor man's pocket was to corrupt the public taste. But what was the fact? Why there was such a profusion of good books published that the bad books totally disappeared. (Hear.) At the present moment the books to be found in the hands of the artisan were either elementary scientific works, or works of entertain ment of a superior character. And now, when the danger had disappeared, he would ask, had they a right to listen to what newspaper proprietors would have them put faith in, that any publication cheaper than their own was an appeal to the passions of the public. Was it the cheapness of the newspaper that was to corrupt the artisan, or the vileness of the artisan that was to corrupt the newspaper ? All those suppositions, however, were refuted by the evi dence of facts. Thousands of cheap publications had brought to the cottage of the labourer, not the degrading literature that was anticipated, but the most elevating de scription of knowledge. He (Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton) there fore entreated the house not to separate this important prin ciple from its consideration of the bill. He agreed that the details required attention , and he thought it was not only absolut e jus ti ce , but sound policy, to give an effective and simple copyright law to newspapers, something similar to Sir J. Emerson-Tenneut's act for the protection of designs and manufactures, which he believed would not be difficult. As far as regarded the weight and size of newspapers he thought the paper of the largest circulation should be taken—the one in which the public felt the deep est interest. He was given to understand that the Chan cellor of the Exchequer meant to return to the principle of weight. It did seem to him, however, that this would be unfair, as it would separate a paper from its supplement. Far from having any grudge against the existing news papers, he (Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton) agreed that the press was an honour to this country, for ability in its composi tion, for the integrity of the men in whom its duties were vested, and, always making an allowance for anonymous power, for its freedom from calumny. (Hear, hear.) And if he were called upon for a monument of our civilisation he should point, not to our docks, nor to our public build. logs but to a file of our ne ws p a p ers . H e cou ld fi n d no thi ng to cling to except an Attorney-General who had not the courage to prosecute, and a jury who would refuse to con vict. His hon. friend spoke in commendation of the tone of the existing press ; but he would remind his hon. friend that it was not the newspapers that formed the tone of the public mind, but the public who gave the tone to news papers. And if the press was an honcur to the country', it must be recollected that it was because it reflected the masculine honesty, the vigorous good sense, and the civil ised humanity of the popular mind. They had been told that this proposed change would have a tendency to degrade the press to the level of the American press. They had been told that the American press was in the hands of penniless, illiterate adventurers, and that to this was to be attributed its alleged low tone. Whereas the real fact was, the American press abounded with the highest intel lectual characters of the country. There was scarcely a n author of eminence, or a statesman of fame, or a man of liberal opinions and sufficient merit, who was not a con tributor to the American press. They found the whole of the literary talent and character engaged on the American press, and therefore, if the press was inferior, it must be owing to the less civilised character of the country (we understood). It showed that the good or bad character of the press did not depend on fiscal arrangements, but on the standard of civilisation of a nation. lie would now come to the main principle of the bill, and ho would venture to place that in din principle on a higher and broader ground than that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. That right hon. gentleman seemed to regard the bill rather with the toleration of a step-father than with the glowing love of a parent. He took the pi inciple to be this, that in a free country they ought not to I.y a tax on the expression of public opinion, or tax the diffusion of information on pub lie affairs--that information, according to the constitution being the common interest and concern of every subject of the state. Still less, they ought not, by means of a tax, to create ariiticially by capit 11 a virtual monopoly of the right to publish information on questions in which the whole tribic had an equal and a common interest. That was the principle of the bill and was the question before the house; and they could not get rid of the fact that no man, what ever might be his talents, whatever his honesty anti know ledge, however sound his opinions, could publish his opinions o n th e events and affairs of? the day iu a daily journal without an enormous capital, or in a weekly journal without several thousand pounds ; and that this narrowed the liberty of publishing quite as much as if the state sold for a sum of money the right to a monopoly of the market for public information. (Cheers.) One result was, to narrow the represeeation of public opinion. There was either a large section of public opinion not represented or repres sated inadequately. - He very much doubted whether there were ten though ful men on either side of tho house who, on great and important questions, could find a single paper with which they could cordially agree in opinion. Now, if they took the great Conservative party, it wo u ld be found in the counties that the party had a large majority, and in the towns they had a large and influential minority. With respect to its comparative strength, not its numbers, but its wealth and intelligence must be regarded. Let the house consider how large a share it had of the cultivated classes, the learned profess sions, the clergy, and the gentry. Well, if they turned to , the metropolitan press, would they tell him that the Con servative papers' circulation was in proportion to the num bers and weight of the party, or adequately represented its intellectual eminence and wealth ? (we understood.) There were two ways of representing public opinion—one through Parliament, the other through the press. His hon. friend below him (Mr. Deedes) would tell him that the Conservative party was the largest integral body in Parliament, and yet in the press there was no sub-division of opinion so sparingly represented. If they looked to the press generally and the number of copies circulated by the various journals, they would be startled at the dis parity which existed between the influence in the country of the Conservative party and their represen tatives in the press. (Hear, hear.) If the stamp duty were removed, and if able men among the party pos sessed the power to defend their cause, could any one doubt that all that talent, and knowledge, and intellect could do would find its channel of representa tion ? No doubt that paper was the best which had the largest command of capital, but then it was not always the best newspaper that presented the best opinions. Some took one course, some another • one paper was supported on account of tho v ar i e ty o f its news, another because of its political opinions. Twenty years ago he had convinced himself that with respect to the Liberal press, there were many safe and sound thinkers who would hold it to be their duty to come to resist and counteract any revolu tionary or socialist doctrines ; and on the Conservative side were they so indifferent as to be unable to defend, or indifferent to the increase of their opinions ? He was per suaded if the duty was taken off, that many able writers— gentlemen and scholars on their side—would come forward to remove prejudices, and to enlighten the public mind as to Conservative opinions and views, about whichthey_werf just now very much left in the dark. He was conv i n cedm if the duty were removed, that many —many eminent men of letters— would come . forward w the publish cheap journals—not, however, vr g n stamped Times, but works which would convey opini o ns egn could connected exalt avowed name. He with the responsibility of the authors' would not was convinced that this cheap comp etition eminent public and lower, but would rather elevate the moral character of the With g a. e n n y t t l h e i m n so c i a l position, it would be doing away with the anony npreewssspaanpda newspaper the li tera soci al mous character of public writers (we understood). He tur p e o ; si f t o io r n if a nythin g w illingly admitted that no snore able and accomplished gentlemen could be found than those who contributedte the political department of the leading journals ; but, then, it w as in vain to deny that mo s t persons felt an uneasiness at their presence, and in holding social intercourse with men who, in the exercise of their talents, must make secrecy a necessary law. On e na t urally feared that t h e newspaper contributor with wh om h o associated t o -d a y might, in the discharge of his professional duty, sting him darkly and to the quick to - morrow. Mr. Fox told an anecdote of a man who was giving evidence in a court of law, who said he got hi s i nformation from a g h os t. "Well," said th e judge, " I k now o f no o bj e ction against taking the evidence of a ghost ; let him be brought into court.' (Laughter.) Anonymous Newspapers were a kind of ghosts—he had no objection to their evidence, but at the same time he should like to have them brought into court. (Laughter.) The hon. gentleman (Mr. Deedes) app eare d to argue the case too much as if it wa s a question between the press and the tax collector. He could not help smiling to hoar the hon, gentleman say that the proprietors of newspapers slid not complain of the tax, and why then should it be altered? But what corporate body ever did complain of a tax which restricted competition in their department, and. secured monopoly to it? HeXwas amused to see journals which formerly were warmest in their advocacy [of free trade doctrines, now arming themselves with all the most anti quated arguments in favour of protective duties amounting to absolute prohibition, which had been used so success ful:y during the last 10 years of the corn laws—arguments which even the farmers would not have been beguiled by. (Hear, and laughter.) The question was this—whether it was not now high time to enforce the good principle of the constitution, a p r i nc i ple consonant to liberty and com mon sense—that opinion should be free, and should not be suppressed or fettered by fiscal arrangements, through which liberty was filched and stolen away, but that it should only be'subject to the laws of the country directed against treason, blasphemy, and slander? Here he would say one word on b e h a lf o f a c lass who were-the chief sups porters of cheap p u blications—it was, that no claw in, the 1 :el the ea er, 03 0 are Lral ~~ ~ all :1 ail 651 ff 11,E i 5 1 i 1001 89 8 261 i~ I