The Sun. — London, England, 1856-02-13 00:00:00

properly f ramed except by some person who was acquainted with the Whole state of the law with regard to its subject matter ; but, under the present system, private members brought in. bills with some particular object, and without any knowledge of the general state of the law on the subject to which thesereferred. The Government were afraid to oppose their introduction lest they should be defeated; and the pas sing of the bills thus introduced became ultimately a sort of scramble among those who supported them. He believed that if his proposal were carried out it would be found a remedy for this state of things. As ore instance of the anomalous state in which the statute-book was at the present time, he would call thoattention of the house to one or two Irish statutes. The statute I.T and S Vic., c. 76, was passed to facilitate the transfer of la nd —a very important object, but one requiring that the law u pon it should be clearly intelligible to all. The very next session it was found necessary to amend it, and an act was passed for that purpose. The third section of this latter act was intended to me et a peculiarity of the Irish law with regard to leases and surrenders, but by one of those blunders which had driven him to tro - able the house on the present occasion, the word "release" was substituted for "lease," and thus a fruitful source of litigation was opened. Se, again, in the year 1849 a statute (Vac 26th chapter of the session) was en acted, and in the very same year, by cap. 110, the former act was suspended. Another instance occurred in the case of the Common Law Procedure Act. When the bill was going through that house, by its 101st section it extended certain sections having relation to the important subject of evidence to all courts of justice in the United Kingdom. When the measure went up to the other house variousfalterations were made, which had the effect of throwing out the original numbering of the sections. No proper alteration, however, was thereupon made in tho 101st section, and hence, as it happened, Eng land was deprived, as to the inferior courts, of ono very im portant provision, while upon Ireland there was conferred by another section, which was in the manner he had just described extended to all courts, powers which were quite unnecessary, inasmuch as they had already been possessed by the judicature of that country for a long series of years. Stich wretched mistakes as these could never occur if there were a proper department duly charged with the preparation of the statutes. No doubt there would be some little extra expense incurred by such a plan, but that ought not to be the consideration in a matter of such vital necessity. The coun try had a right to the beet talent and the best ability that could be procured. Wherever that ability and those talents were to be bad, the country ought to possess the benefit of them. (Hear.) In truth he believed that no increase of ex'- pouffe would be incurred by such a plan, for it would obviate the necessity for their perpetually recurring to acts to amend and acts to explain acts which ought never to have required amendment. Another fruitful cause of mischief and doubt was this, that acts on kindred subjects, or on subjects touch ing in some of their parts upon the same points, were prepared by different commissioners. Thus, not very long back, there were two bills brought in,, the one founded upon the report of a common law and the other of a real property commis sion. In one of these bills the limitations of actions with respect to certain claims in connection with real estate was fixed at six years, while in the other 20 years was the limit. Both bills became acts ; and there were upon the statute-book two equally binding, but yet directly conflicting laws. An other sample of the inconsistency which the present system led to occurred 'ln the year 1848. In that year he had introduced a bankrupt act for Ireland, and in that act he inserted a clause which he took from a proposed measure of Lord Brougham's. The bill, with the clause, pissed through that house without objection. Meanwhile a bill came down from the House of Lords with a clause in it similar to the one to which he had alreaely averted. This identical clause, although it had but a short time previously passed the house without a word, excited opposition upon its second appear ance to such an extent that it was iu the end withdrawn. Another evil arose from the practice of passing acts for England, and then, in the following session, passing others for Ireland, sometimes with slight verbal alterations. An example of this kind occurred in the case of the act to amend the Fines and Recoveries Act, which was passed in a late session of Parliament. Another class of acts to w'.ich he must refer were the Board of Works Acts. Those were brought in about the middle of July, when it was extremely difficult to get the attention of hon. members to any subject. At the latter end of last year a bill of this class was brought in, which was most objectionable in some of its details. He (Mr. Napier) attended in the house from day to day, morning and evening (for it was when day sittings were being eeld),in order to prevent the measure being hurried through without opposition or comment. Ultimately, finding that every day it made its appearance and was passed over, and fearing that an opportunity would occur when it might be get through, he went to the Secretary for Ireland to expostulate upon the sub ject, but was told that it was not in his department; thence he went to the Irish Solicitor-General, and got the same re ply ; in the end he " caught up" the bill in the Treasury De partment, and it was only by using the strongest expostu lations that lie succeeded in his object. Now, this was not a course to which a private member of the house anxious to do his duty ought to be subjected. Had there been a pro per responsible board of officers entrusted with the supervi sion and care of bills, to them he should have gone and stated his objections. The project which he brought before the house was not a new one, nor was there wanting to it many distinguishes advocates. Some years since Lord Brougham had stated his views upon the subject, and in ged the neces sity that existed for the organisatien of a board to superintend the drafting of the statutes, and at the head of this board his Ibrdship was of opinion that the Minister of Justice ought to be placed. " Without some such system," said Lord Brougham, " it is impossible to work out any plan of safe and efficient law reform." So also at a much more recent period the subject had again been brought under consideration by Lord Lyndhurst, who pointed out how necessary it was that the present system stiould be amended. His lordship referred to a case in which a court of law had been for many days engaged in endeavouring to put a meaning upon the word " may" in an act ofTarliament, with respect to which they ultimately came to a conclusion diametrically opposed to that at which another court had arrived. Upon that occasion the Lord Chancellor admitted that the evil called loudly for re medy. The fact was that in the framing of statutes the re. sponsibility was too much divided. (Hear.) Hon. members came into that house perhaps far half an hour only when the house was in committee and proposed off-hand important al terations disturbing the entire scope of a bill. Rightly and properly to draw up the written laws of a country like this was a great, a gigantic task. (Hear.) That was all the more reason that it should be attended to by men whose duty it should be to give their whole attettion to it. At present it was everybody's, and therefore nobody's business. (Hear.) As the matter stood, statutes came before courts of justice, they were there laughed at - the judges were in the habit of stating that they were unable to say what was the intention of the Legisla ture. On the other hand, the Legislature were sometimes in the habit of charging courts of justice with passing over and forgetting the spirit of the law in the mere verbal criticisms. Such a course was not of a character to raise in dignity our conception of the law or of those who administered it. • The plan which he advocated wouhVut an end to all this, and would have the further advantage of leaving the House of Commons free for the discussion of broad questions of prin ciple instead of its being engrossed, as was at present too often the ease, with mere petty questions of detail. Nor would this be all—the statutes would be uniform, would be classified, and, at least, would not carry upon the face of them actual contradictions. Let J i m honourable member take up a volume of the statutes, they would be found (lung together as if bound into the cover with a pitchfork. (Hear, hear.) There would also be a body who could re ceive the suggestions of practical men throughout the country, who could also take into consideration the reports of committees and commissioners. None of the existing means of information would be passed over, but a depart ment could be found able to take that information into con sideration, and turn it to practical use. There were depart ments for war; for trade, for the navy ; why should not jus tice—of ail things the most essmtial to the internal well-being of a country—have a department also I He hoped that the house now that it had got the subject fairly before it, would give him its opinion upon the proposition. lie had proposed it at the end of last session, and every hour's reflection which he had since given to the subject had confirmed him in his determination to persevere in the matter. (Hear, hear.) He called upon the bowie to unite in rescuing the law and the administration of justice from its present defective state. Much remained to bo done. The house had still to settle the jurisdiction of our different courts, to amend their pro cedure, and to lessen as much as possible the difference between England and Ireland. If they persevered in such a course, voices from the noble dead would honour them, the recollection of the noble-minded and manly wisdom of Romilly would be with them, they would have the good wishes of one who yet remained, whose eye was not dimmed, and whose natural fire was not yet decayed—he alluded to Henry Lord Brougham. (Hear.) He (Mr. Napier) did hope that the house would join in giving effect to those propositions which he should submit. He hoped by these moans that our laws 'Might be rendered consistent, rational, clear, and intelligible—worthy to be deposited in the sacred ark of the respect and a:feet:oil of our country. (Hear.) Mr. COLLIER. rose to second the motion of the right hon. gentleman. Ho thought it almost impo ssible to overrate the importance of the question before the house. It was not one which appealed to public excitement, or which called up party feeling; but it was of far greater importance than many matters which comprised Irith those characteristics. It was, so to speak, a question which concerned the general health of the body politic. Nations, like individuals, al though they were anxious enough when any sharp or sudden malady intervened, were veto be careless of their general health.. That which his right houourable friend at pre sent brought under ,the consideration of the house was a chronic malady, and such a disease one was apt to consider inevitable. The fact was, that the laws of the country were very far behind its present condition. There existed at this moment tribunals and forms of procedure as out of place at the present time as a galley of Elizabeth's time would be in a fleet of steam-ships—some courts whose procedure was so nu just that oth er courts were o bli ge d t o i n t er f ere t o res t ra i n them: not co n t en t w ith l aw an d equ it y, we h a d a thi r d se t o f trinrtn alsin the eeelestastical courts. There was no need tp can. to the recollection of the house the difference between real and personal estate, nor the numerous abortive attempts which had b een made to simplify the transfer of landed pro perty., Nor was there any ne ed to advert to the defective state of legal education, throughewwhich, although we had many able practitioners, we had of E m n e l n an riii n ab i l t e ofcomprehend ing in one view the-dace jurisprudence as a s r el ation to general principle 4 of science. He needed not to call attention to the state of the stat t u i to book after what had been said by the right haonna. gen tleman—it e a m n an—it was indeed a collection without a form, darkness i as on the face of it, and one who had heretofordemeziefeated every attempt to set it right. The worst thine a bout matter was this, that it was an evil perpetually No doubt there were some who despaired of &Rale. s,- r e c as m i e n t ecause the evil was gigantic. Should it be said that the Ro man law, after having accumulated for ten centuries without any attempt to digest it, was yet reduced to order in three years—that Napoleon was able in a few years, notwithstand i k the di ffi culties of an excited political state, to codify th e law a- of France —that America had a codified set of laws for the state of New —that almost every state of Europe possessed a code, and yet England had not been able—he codify — to reduce her laws to anything like would not say system. lf they had done their best and had failed, then, in deed, there might be a cause for despondency ; but they had not done their best, or indeed had scarcely even taken a step in the light direction. The true secret of the failures was that had been nobody's b us i nes s. hitherto the reform. of the law (Hear, hear.) The law officers of the Crown were made plate to the task, simply because they had no time to attend ,to it. The Lord Chancellor, with his was &Ina , ly preolccombianedi indeed,judicial uanntdd political functions, 1 te form no part of n pied, n very lately, law reform had been consider e d his buelneem. Ldrd Eldon never considered it to be his duty to reform, but, on the contrary, gave the meat strenuous tl r op position to any attempt that m i g ht be made from ano t her quarter. As for th e Att orne y and Solicitor ie c itor General, what be tween their official business and their private practice, any assistance from them was entirely out of the question. What, then, had been the amount of extraneous aid given? Recourse bad been bad froin time to time to commissions; but as a ge neral rule they had not been attended with any satisfactory results. No doubt theCernmon Law Commission had, in so far as it went, done some geed, bat unfortunately all these com missions seemed to have been nominated on the principle of i balancing conflicting opinions, and the result was that now, in so far as any definite COUChli3lOll was concerned, the members were at a dead lock , or the result s we le the Commissio n we re melees. ' (Hear, hear.) Take, for exaraP on the Law of Partnership, which An t, r od that the ; Jaw NUS in a satisfactory state, such - ;;;;;IWeinc" subS e q uelti r "ga*; - ed by the almo st unanimous • tlacision 6f the house. (Hear.) Thea there was the Eecle- THE SUN, LON bON, WEDNESDAY EVENING FEBRUARY 13, 1856. siastical Courts Commission, in which, on one question, five of the members differed from three ; on another, two from seven ; and on another, one from all the rest. As a general rule each of the commissions seemed to take an individual journey through the statute-book, but all to return to the same point and with the same conclusion—namely, that the fortress of abuse was completely impregnable. (Hear.) It was quite clear, then, that if they meant to succeed with law reform they must turn to some means which had not as yet been adopted. What were those means to be He did not rely on the example of foreign countries, =which the expedient was a minister of justice, but at home we had a precedent in the ap pointment of a Minister of war, who had in a great degree re duced the military chaos of which the country bad some time since complained to something like eider. They . had also a poor law minister who had rendered signal service, and a minister of health, and a minister of works ; why not then a minister of justice ? (Hear, hear.) The task of consolidat ing our statute law was a great work, and would require the whole energies of the ablest man we could get. It could not be made the amusement of dilettante lawyers, or the casual occupation of busy practitioners; no, it would require the whole time and attention of a first-rate man; and he believed that Government would acquire strength by the appointment of a minister of justice with sufficient qualifications. (Hear.) Such minister of justice, whether so called or Secretary of State, should have a competent legal staff, and his office should be the repository of all the judicial statutes of the country—a point in which we were at present singularly defi cient. That office should be open to complaints of the work ing of the various courts, and suggestions of amendment, it should collect information, and from that informa tion it should be the duty of the minister to prepare measures which the Government could subseprently intro duce to the house. In addition to that, the Minister of Jus tice might superintend the current legislation of the country, not interfering with the free action of individual members, but ready when called on for a suggestion—for he believed there were few individual members who would not be glad to refer from time to time to a competent authority respecting the technical bearing of their measures. They would thus avoid the errors which were constantly creeping into acts of Parliament. A very striking instance of the imperfect man ner in which some of our statutes were framed had lately been cited by Lord Lyndhurst. It appeared that some time ago an act had been passed making it penal to forge a parish register, and the penalty was to be given, one moiety to the informer, the other to the parish. During the passage of the measure though that house an hon. member proposed to add to the pecuniary mulct, 14 years' transportation, and consequently it became the law of the land that in such cases the in former and the parish should divide the fourteen years' transportation between them. (Laughter.) He trusted that the statute-book would be cleared of these absurdities, and its contents consolidated; and, in conclusion, he begged to express his opinion that the motion of his right hon. and learned friend, indicating, as it did, a want which had before been recognised by Lords Lyndhurst, Langdale, Brougham, and the Attorney-General, and which was generally felt and acknowledged, would end in some real and energetic attempt at a remedy, He did not presume to dictate to the Govern ment what that remedy should be, but he thought the remedy proposed by his right hon. and learned friend an important attempt in the direction of law reform, and as such ho com mended it to the notice of the Government and of the house. Mr. BAINES said that the pub.ic were greatly indebted to the right bon. gentleman opposite for taking up the question, and for the temper and ability with which he bad introduced it to the house. (Loud cheers.) It would be impossible to over-rate the importance of the subject indeed he had himself long had occasion to observe and lament the state of things existing with regard to the statute law which the right bon. and learned gentleman had pointed out so clearly. He (Mr.Baines) believed that not only in that house, but generally throughout the country, there was a per fect concurrence of opinion as to the existence of great evils in the state of the law, and the necessity there was of hitting some substantial remedy. The only question left for them to consider was what the remedy should be. His right hon. and learned friend had not proposed any distinct remedy, although he had established to the satisfaction of every one that a state of things existed which loudly called for a remedy. The right hon.gentleman spoke merely of a department of public justice, differing in his views on that point from the hon. and learned member for Plymouth, who, it appeared, would cast on the proposed department functions far more extensive than were contemplated by his right hon. and learned friend. A depart ment of public justice for this country might appear easy in itself; but they must consider what the idea involved. Some persons believed that the Minister of Justice ought to be a person having high political functions He believed that that was the view of the hon. and learned member for Plymouth ; but his right hon. and learned friend had confined himself to a narrower issue—namely, whether it would be desirable to have some authority to assist in the business of legislating, and to that point only, he (Mr. Baines) should direct his observa tions. He had already stated that not only in his own opi nion, but in that of a great majority both in and out of the house, the conviction existed that the present state of our laws required a remedy, and a confirmation of the general opi nion was to be found in the report of the Statute Law Commis sion, in which not only was the existence of evils stated, but the sort of remedy necessary was shadowed forth.' The commis sion reported that nothing satisfactory could be expected, until either a beard or some body was appointed whose duty it. would be to revise all bills for Parliament. That was the report of the law commission, and was most deserving of attention, seeing that it had attached to it the names of Lerd Chancellor, Lords Lyndhurst, Brougham, and Brougham, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the Lord Chief Baron, Lord Wensleydale, Sir W. Page Wood, tte. That being their view, and the conclusion to which they had come last session, he might perhaps be allowed to call attention to what they had done during tie present, since their labours bad been re sumed. He was happy to say that most valuable suggestions had been laid before them, some by the hon. and learned member for Cambridge, others by the hon. and learned mem ber for Suffolk, and a plan had been devised which he be lieved he might say had received the sanctien of the commis sion. The end of that plan was shadowed forth in the passage he had read, which, he took it, was ideuti;al with the motion of his right hon. and learned friend. He was not, of course, permitted to state that plan in detail, but ha believed it would embody some most valuable suggestions. The question then for them to consider was whether it would not be desir able to see this plan before they pronounced a dennitive opi nion. That, he was authorised to say, was the view of the 1 .arned members for Cambridge and Suffolk ; and, being so, perhaps it would be concurred in by his right hon. and learned friend; to whom the house and the country were much indebted for the ability with which he Lad introduced the question. Mr. L. KING said that most of the evils in our laws might be traced to the military system, which had at one time been found the most convenient for the Government of this coun try, the only change being, that for the savage barbarity of the dark ages we bad substituted the more refined mischief and legal subtleties of the present time. The statute laws were now in such a condition thet they could hardly be un derstood by the lawyers themselves; but there was another branch, namely, the unwritten law, which was in a still more unsatisfactory state. The law was, in short, the decision of the judge, and remained so until some subsequent judge came to a contrary conclusion, and the remit was that a wise man would prefer submitting to injustice, rather than defend his right in a court of law. Rpferm might be difficult, but they must recollect that only a short time since our military was as bed as our legal system, but taught by the disasters in the East, we had already arrived at a better state of things. The right hon. gentleman who had spoken last augured great things from the report of the commission. He must confess that he had no faith whatever in that commission, for he re membered one that was established in 1830, all the members of which had since died off or been used up elsewhere, with out producing any result. The commissioner who still remained was a'persenal friend of the - LOrd Chancellor's, and it was to be regretted that his lordship should have permitted a private friend to retain as a sioecnre that which should be the most important office of the day. From the law officere of the Crown they could not expect much, so much was th«ir time o mupied with other matters; besides, Lord Lyndhurst had pointed out that in the commission there had been a want of co-operation between the law officers and the other commissioners. Neither could they expect much reform from the Government ; indeed, the First Lord of the Treasury had intimated as mush in reply to him (Mr. L. King.) Havin g quoted a short passage from Lord Campbell's " Lives or tho Lord Chancellors," the hon. member concluded by giving his cordial support of the motion. Mr. WIGRAM supported the motion, and thought that hii right hon. and learned friend had exercised a wise dis cretion in not pointing out the particular lino of reform that ought to be adopted. One point he thought should be deter mined on, namely, that the minister of justice, if appointed, should have a seat in Parliament. Su:h a minister might, initiate measures of law reform, a thing which it was hope less to expect from a Government. He did not recollect any which had been originated in that quarter since Sir R. Peel's valuable alterations in the criminal law. What they wanted was something done in the same business-like manner. He did not expect much from codification, seeing that the codifi cation of the merchant shipping acts had required a bill of 500 or 603 clauses, but the statutes might be taken up sub ject by subject, and thus practical amendments might be car ried out. At present Government did not take up the m it ter, and when a private member carried a bill through with great labour ;it was generally found to be unsatisfactory, and ultimately rejected by the House of Lords. Thinking that his right hon. friend's motion offered the nearest approxima tion to a remedy, he (Mr. Wigram) should give it hTs support. Sir G. GREY—My right hon. friend (Mr. Baines) has ex pressed, on the part of the Government, not only their sense of the importance of the subject, but their concurrence in the spirit of the resolutions moved by the right hon. and learned gentleman opposite (Mr. Napier). They agree with him, ' there are very great defects in the present statute book, and still greater defects in the mode in which acts are passed year by year through the Legislature. They agree with him that it is most important and desirable a remedy should be applied to those defects, and that, in the words of the resolution, sonic useans should be provided u for securing the skilful pre paration and proper structure of Parliamentary bills, and for promoting the progressive amendment of the laws of the United Kingdom." I hope that, having met the proposition in that spirit, the right lion, gentleman will not ask the house to pledge itself as to the mode in which the object shall be attained—viz., by the appointment of a public department, at the head of which shall be a Minister having a seat in this houie. (Hear.) I hope that he will, at least, wait until the subject has received the consideration of the eminent and learned men who constitute the Statute Law Commission to whom it has been referred, that we may have the benefit of their opinion • on some points to which the right honourable gentleman has called the attention of the house. (Hear.) The report of .that commission, having been laid before the Lord Chancellor, will be submitted to the Statute Law Commission anew, and it will afterwards be submitted to the Crown and to Parliament. We shall then have the benefit of the opinion of those eminent men. I hope - the Government will not be asked to pledge themselves to the appointment of a New Secretary of State, as he has boon Failed to-night, and who is to bo invested with functions far b 1 ,11 . c power of any i n di v id ua l , un l ess ass i s t e d by a nu merousagreslearned and hi g hl y paid staff, While I cannot but in much that has been said relative to the careless mode in which acts of Parliament are worded, Jam afraid that no Parliament abandonswsill Minister of Justice prevent many of these evils unless arrangement o r :thing of its free right of legislation of the inconvenience of wgheincitiet details which are the cause of much and its arran the right hon, gentleman com plains. The right hon. gentleman would appear to be dis posed to leave many of the detailsofthis would acts of Parliameot to be resent n e t nts are not made ni in committee, pr tire. be diffieult, if not settled out of this house i b m i p l o p s a s s iqbelse which h t h a e m in for there is hardly a many of them verbal, many important, a any proposed without notice. These amendments committee r e t a ially re-4 cause of the inaccuracies and inconvenience to 7,e:ilia:l.°, the tle right f hon. gentleman has adverted. The evil may medied by the draughts of bills being first submitted to the public department which the right hon. and learned man proposes to crea t e ; b u t th e house will regard wftret treme jealousy the p ro p osa l t o en t rus t any d e p artment of the Government with the revision of the bills of independent mem. hers, and the control over that right of making amendments in committee which is now so frequently exercised. I agree with the right hon. gentlem an i n -thi n ki ng it desirable that the house should support the :Government in objecting to the introduction of bills which have no prospect of-passing. A gre eing, also with the right honourable gentreman . upon-the gen eral question, an d re g ar ding this as a subject of great deprecate Agy hasty steps being taken - Imports I must when a c)rupetent body aKo W at L0,94-iiexine_dnt should the .subject, and, I think it unadvisabie that the - Gobvernm present asked to pledge themselves to one particular mode of effecting the object: I cannot agree with the hon. and learned gentleman the member for Cambridge when he complains of the absence of any attempt to improve the Tegislation of this country. He has alluded to the important reforms introduced by Sir R. Peel for the improvement of the criminal law, and says that nothing has beendone for the im provement of legislation since that period. I think he has scarcbly done justice to some of Sir R. Peel's successors. I cannot take any credit for myself, but when I was Secretary of State before, the valuable .and important consolidation of the criminal law, known as Jervis's Acts, was effected, and this is justly regarded as one of the greatest improvements in modern legislation. The Statute Law Commission have pro ceeded in the same course, and we shall soon, I trust, have the opportunity of passin g our op i n i on upon the labours of that commission in classifying and codifying the statute law. If you want a great deal of work done in a short time you must have a dictator, and whatever the labours of individuals may be, the bills to give effect to them must undergo a first and second reading in both houses, and that examination of the details by independent members, which renders the codi fication of the statute law a slower process iu this than in other countries which do not possess the unquestionable advantages of free institutions. The subject is one that has enga g ed the attention of the Gover nmen t, an d I h o p e we s h a ll soon be able to take a decided step upon it. I therefore hope the right hon. gentleman will not now ask the house to pass a resolution without knowing what must be the staff, what must be the expenses, and the duties which the new minister is to be ex pected to perform. Lord J. RUSSELL—I think that the house is greatly in debted to the right hen. gentleman (Mr. Napier) for having brought before us a grievance of great extent and importance and I think that he has likewise proposed with great mode ration a proper remedy. I do not think that the remedy he has proposed is open to the objection taken to it by my right lion. friend the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr. B sines) , namely, thatit is vague and indefinite. It was the duty of the right hon gentleman not to enter upon details, or to dictate to the Government in what manner the new office was to be constituted, but simply to state the principle upon which he wished it to be established. .Bat while I think the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Napier) quite justified in making his motion, I do not see how the house, aft:r :what has been stated by the Government, can proceed to adopt the resolution of the right hon. gentleman, since it appears that persons of great authority and learning are now assembled for the purpose of considering the subject, and have nearly agreed upon a report which is about to engage the serious attention of the Govern ment. But while we are bound to wait to see the recom mendation of the commission in a mature state and in its de tails, there is a great difference between the proposition of the right hoe. gentleman and that propounded by the Government. The right hon. gentleman proposes that a re sponsible Minister shall be appointed—by what name he is to be called is not very materi il—but responsible to Parliament, whose duty it shall be to propose and conduct through the House of Parliament in which he may sit—and I suppose he would have a seat in this house—all such measures of legal reform as the Government may approve. I think the ap• pointinent of such a Minister would be of great advantage and convenience, Whatever amendments to his bills may be proposed, he will either be able to defend his measures, and to show in what respect they are better than the amendments proposed, or to give way to those amendments if he sees rea son to do so, and this house will be disposed to listen with great deference to the arguments of such a Minister. It is a totally different thing to have, as it seems intended to have, certain officers under the Lord Chancellor or some other Mi nister, whose business would be to frame the details and to correct the language of acts of Parliament. Such an arrange ment would be excellent in order to avoid those gross blun ders of which an illustration has been given to-night ; but, with regard to the general principles of our legislation, officers of that kind, not having seats here, not being able to explain themselves to the house, and not knowing the wishes of Par liament, would have very little weight and authority. They would, indeed, to a certain degree, improve the language of bills brought before us, and prevent the introduction of in consistent clauses when those bills were about to pass, and so far they would be useful ;- but for the great objects which the right hon. and learned gentleman has in view their utility would, I conceive, be very.little. What I should be glad to see, and what we have wanted for many years, is a depart ment, with an officer at the head of it who should make this particular sort of reform his business, who should obtain from Government certain days to bring forward his measures, and sufficient time for their discussion, instead of having them brought on at the end of the session, and who should call the serious attention of Parliament to those measures. There are instances without end of cases in which such an officer would have been useful. It is a great many years ago since I heard the late Bishop of Lincoln—a very learned and able man—call the attention of that most eminent judge, Lord Stowell, in the other house, to the defects in our law with respect to the discipline of the clergy. He mentioned a case in which a clergyman had been guilty of gross and notorions immorality, to the scandal of his neighbourhood, and ho had been obliged to institute proceedings, which had then ex tended over four or five years, and had cost him 3,000/. or 4,000/., but had not arrived at a Satisfactory conclusion. Here was a gross defect in the law which did not apparently re quire any great effort of legislation to reach it, bat it had never been corrected to this day. Gross cases of immorality still occur; bishops are still obliged to institute proceedings at great expense and loss of time to themselves, and I do not know that the facility of legislation upon the subject will be increased by its having been taken into the especial care of late convocation. It appears to me that if we could get rid of the ecclesiastical notion, that ecclesiastics alone are fit to judge of such subjects, a prosecutor or attorney-general of the Church might be appointed, who Might bring cases of this kind before a tribunal which might speedily decide them, and the Church would then get rid of the scandal of having such notoriously unfit ministers, and the bishops would be relieved of an unfair claim upon them. There are other in stances of the same kind. Many years ago, at the end of a session, I took charge of a bill for the reform of the ecclesi astical courts. Sir R. Peel, who was then in office, was about to commit that massacre of bills which takes place every year, and I was obliged to give it up ; and the ques tion of the reform of the ecclesiastical courts is still waiting .r the attention of Parliament, (licar, hear.) Do not tell me that the law officers of the Crown can prevent these things ; with thtir public duties and their private practice they have already a great deal too much ou their hands. The right hon. gentleman who Spoke last seemed to think that even a new Minister of Justice would hardly have sufficient time for the important duties that would be thrown upon him ; but if a Minister, with 'no other business to occupy him, would find the task too much, how could it be undertaken by the Lord Chancellor or the law officers of the Crown ? Many cases must occur to hon, gentlemen in which measures involving no party questions have been delayed for years and years in that way through this house. When I introduced the Charitable Trusts Bill, I - mentioned that the question had been under consideration about 30 years ; the question of County Courts was under consideration about 25 years ; yet I find that, although the two Houses of Parliament are employed almost every year upon those subjects, their task is not yet completed. This house, in fact, appears to be taking a course the reverse of that which has been taken with regard to the steam-engine. When the steam-engine was first invented much of its power was wasted, a great deal of the steam produced being of very little use ; but Watt and other inventors con trivet' in time that nearly all the power generated should be applied to the purpose for which it was intended, and very little waste now takes place. But Parliament, 50 years ago, got through whatever business it bad to do, whereas now, although you, sir, very often sit in that chair from 12 to 4 o'clock in the day, and then from 6 in the evening till 2 in the morning, many bills have to bo given up at the end of every session, and all the power created by such protracted sittings does not contribute to the effect of useful and wholesome legislation. I am perfectly ready to wait, at the request of the Govern ment, until new propositions, recommended by learned authorities, shall be placed before the house ; but I have already made up my mind upon this point—that of the two propositions of the right honourable and learned gentleman opposite, on the one hand, and of appointing a certain num ber of clerks to mend the details of bills before they are passed, on the other hand— the proposition of the right hon. and learned gentleman is the most philosophical, the most prac tical, and the most conducive to that improvement in our le gislation which is one of the great übjects to which Parliament ought to direct its attention. Mr. DRUMMOND could see no possible objection to the re solution, the usefulness of which he thought was self-evident. Mr. MALINS thought that instead of regretting that so little had been done, they should rather take credit .to them selves that they had accomplished so much. With regard to the proposition of appointing a minister of justice,he thought that suck a functionary being removed from the practice of profession would soon lose the qualifications necessary to the efficient performance of his duties, and would overlook those defects in the law which every-day practice brought under the eye of the law officers of the Crown arid barristers prac tising in the courts. Mr. EWART believed that, whatever the present decision of the house, the end would be the appointment of a minister of justice. lie called attention to the advantage which had re sulted from the presence` of a minister of poor laws in that house, and expressed his 'conviction that equal benefit would follow f:•oin the appointment of a minister of justice and a minister of education. The hon. gentleman then referred to several of the valuable improvements which had been made of late years in the technical process of legislation, and urged that still greater advantages mightbe obtained by the creation of a Minister of Justice, which would supply the motive power of law reform, instead of merely perfecting the legislative machinery. , Mr. WILKINSON had' every disposition to take the word of the Government that • they would promise something, and did not advise the right hon. and learned gentleman, there fore, topersevere in his motion; but if the motion were per severed in, he should feel bound to vote for it. If the scheme which the Chancellor o 1 the. Duchy of Lancaster had hinted at was to involve the creation of a department or ministry of justice, there could be no harm in such a resolution as this having been passed ; and if not he thought It would fall short of what was wanted. Not only in framing new laws, but in the repeal of obsolete statutes, the house required such an official adviser. He would mention, as an instance, that there • was a statute of George 11., a hundred and twenty years old, which imposeda penalty of 5011. upon every man who should sell stock which he had not got in his own name. Now, if that obsolete statute were acted upon, it wouldinterfere most seriously with all the operations of the money market. It would have this effect, that eveiy man on the Stock Exchange would be asked, at once, whether he was engaged in any other business ; because then, since he must sell no stock which did not stand in his own name, all his dealings would be unhinged in case of his failing in buSiness, and therefore he could not be admitted. This was an example of the ano malies aid inconsisteneies which were allowed to remain on the statute book, and which required for their removal the assistance of such a dePartment as was proposed. Lord PALMERSTON--Sir, there can be no doubt that this subject is one of the deepest importauce, and one fully de serving the attentive consideration of the house. At the same time, however plausible the proposition may be of the ap pointment of a minister of justice, I think that many of those who have adopted the notion have perhaps not made to themselves a sufficiently clear idea of the functions which such a minister would have to perform ; and that upon more.minutely going Into it they might find greater diffi calties than at first sight present themselves to view. I do not, however, mean to say that such an appointment may not possibly be advisable, but I think it is one that oaghi to be well considered before the house comes to a resolution, affirming positively and at once that such an office should be created. Now the hon. and learned gen tleman who spoke last on the Other side (Mr. Moline) has,. I think, adverted to the difficulties which would arise in re gard to some of the functions proposed to be assigned to that office. I apprehend the objects in view are three. One would be to direct the legislatiOn of this house, while another would be to originate measures, and th e . thi r d would be to endeavour to reform and improve the existing mode of legis lation.. Now, in regard to the first two, it is very easy to say that a minister of justice would prevent Parliament from falling into errors in measures that pass through the two houses of Parliament. We have hea r d the story, which is not a very new o ne, a b ou t th e p ena lt y o f transportation, half gong one way, and half the oth er . N o doubt there are many caiCs, In w hi c h bill s pass i n t o l aw, conta i n i ng err o rs , e ith er een aieting to other existing stat u t es , or errors by which they do not m a y b e entertained W h ether the appo i n t men t o f a, not acaompli s h th e purpose. in view ; but I think much me mber of th e Governient, Whoie duty it might be more es P eei3ll Y to att en d t o those matters,' would be sufficient to, prevent altogether the OCCLUTINIV9 of such mistakes. But it is impossible that this house and the other house or Parlia ment should be called upon to abdicate their functions, and individual Members would not yield their own opinions im plicitly at the dictum of the officer in question. That member of the Government might tsay—" I think that such a, proposal a bad one; I thitik it liable to -this objection or to that ob jection if words proposed are inscribed in the bill ;' but individual members would persevere in retaining their own opinion, and the house would very often back them, and so the minister of justice might find himself, as other members of the Government sometimes do, left in a minority if a di vision should take place upon the question. Therefore you could not comb'ne the absolute power of a member of the Government to direct legislation in what he might think the proper course, with the inherent constitution of a delibera tive assembly like this. Certainly there might be some weight attached to the recommendations and the objections of such a public officer; that would depend upon the legal attainments and professional knowledge of the individual who might happen to have been selected for the office. Now, my noble friend behind me has quoted the difficulties which have been experienced, and the length of time whiCh has elapsed, in passing a great variety of important public measures; but if he will allow me to say it, I think that those difficulties and delays depend not upon the absence of each a member of the Government as that whose appointment is now under consi deration, but upon the resistanc e i n P ar li amen t arising from the variety of opinions, the resistance which always is opposed to the progress of any great system of improvement in your laws; and that resistance will always be found, let who may be the officer of the Government by whom such measures are proposed. Suggestions for the amendment of the law, andva rious matters of that sort, can only be carried through by a conjunction of the majority of the two houses of Parliament, and that conjunction may certainly be hastened by the argu ments urged by a member of tha , Government ; but the de lays which had been alluded to do notarise from the difficulty or impossibility of framing proper bills ' but from the diffi culty of persuading Parliament to adopt those bills, when properly framed and submitted to their judgment ; therefore, so far as the functions of a minister of justice could consist in assisting and directing this and the other house of Parliament in the act of new legisation, I think that somewhat of an ex aggerated view has been taken of the advantage which would arise from the creation of such an office, though I do not mean to say that there might not sometimes be conveniences resulting from it. Now, in regard to the other point, viz., the reform of the existing mode of legislation, I think that gentlemen have rather lost sight of what has been done when they represent that no considerable improvements have ben made in the direction of legal reform. It is, perhaps, rather a good tendency of the human mind to undervalue what has been done, and to fix attention mainly upon that which remains to be done ; and it is not a tendency that one would feel at all disposed in the abstract to quarrel with ; but nevertheless, when we aro endeavouring to fix in our owe minds the real stets of things, we must not forget that great progress has been made of late years in the improve ment of the law in its variousbranches, although that is rather a reason for going on, and by no means a reason for objecting or opposing any' obstacle to measures of great and further im provement to be made ! Now, my right hon. friend the Chan cellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has told the honk, that the Statute Law Commission are at the present moment engaged in considering propositions that are to be submitted for aiop tionh My hon, friend who spoke last behind me (lfr. Ewart) said that it is a question. whether the_proposal which is to be made is a proposition for continuous or Merely for a tempo rary improvement. I believe that very question is under consideration, and therefore I think that, considering that those eminent men who have been appointed to the task have at the present moment under their consideration proposals which miy eventually go far to meet the views of the right hon. gentleman opposite, and of the house at large, I think that right hon. gentleman would do well to adopt the sugges tion of my right hen, friend, that is to say to waive for the ' p . resent asking the House of Commons to agree to the resolu tion which he has proposed, reserving to himself, later in the session, if he should find that the result of the labours of the commission have not been such as the house feels entitled to expect, are not calculated to lead to any sufficiently satisfactory result, the right to renew his proposition either in its present shape or in any other shape that may appear to him to be better calculated to lead to a practical result. (Cheers.) I can only assure him and the house,that her Majesty's Government are deeply sensible of the extreme importance of this matter, and that they, so far from wishing to throwany obstacles in the way of the improvement of the law, feel that it is undoubtedly one of those matters which it is the duty of the Government to pay the greatest and most earnest attention to. I should hope, therefore, that the right hon. gentleman will not press his resolution on the house at the present moment, but wait and see what shall be the result of those deliberations in which the Statute Law Commissioners are at the present moment engaged. Mr. M'MAHON was not satisfied with the working of the statute commission, which had coot the country upwards of 100,0001. and no beneficial results had proceeded from it. He thought that great benefit would result from the appointment of a minister of public justice, for he could do the same duty that the chairman of committtees did for private bills, and he hoped the motion would be persevered in. Mr. CRAUFURD urged Mr. Napier not to press the house to a division on his motion, but to wait to see what the Go vernment intended to do. ➢ir, ROUNDELL PALMER contended that they could not appoint a minister of justice without altogether disturbing the present functions of the Lord Chancellor and the Attorney- Guneral: It would be a further inconvenience that such an officer must go in and out with the Ministry, so that they would not get any eminent lawyer to give up his practice by taking such an Office, unless they awarded him a large salary and a large retiring allowance. Mr. NAPIER replied, offering to amend his resolution by omitting the words, " securing the skilful preparation of bills," and substituting generally, " with a view to promote the better amendment of the laws of the United Kingdom." -Sir G. GREY could not ,agree to the resolution in that form, but offered to accept it if the right hon. gentleman would emit the words, " the creation of a department of public justice," and allow the resolution to stand thus:—" That in the opinion of the house provision should be made with a.view to secure the skilful structure and preparation of Parliamen tary bills, and promote the progressive amendment of the laws of the United Kingdom." Mr. NAPIER had no objection to consent to that altera tion. (A laugh and cheers.) The resolution was then put, and passed nent. con. HARBOUR OR REFUGE AT CARDIGAN. Mr. L. DAVIES rose to move for a select comuiittee to in quire into the advisability of censtructing a harbour of refuge and defence in Cardig in-bay, and whether it may not be ad vantageous also to employ convict labour in the said works ? The hon. gentleman began by urging the great importance of the subject in reference both to the preservation of human life and property, and the defence of the country from foreign in vasion. He then proceeded to bring forward a number of facts, which could be authenticated, and on which be founded his motion simply for inquiry into the matter. He stated that Cos distance between St. David's-head and Holyhead was. 92 nau tical miles, and along that whole line of coast there was not a single point in which a ship could obtain shelter, -an evil so enormous that all the shipping going up St. George's Chan nel were obliged to be insured at an advance of 33 per cent. on the premiums, although he admitted that a part of that large per tentage of insurance had reference to some difficul ties of navigation of the Mersey. Looking to the shipping tonnage that went up and clown that coast, which was in so defenceless a 'state, he thought that he had only given some few statistics to induce the house to grant tale committee he sought. It might be supposed that to mention the shipping of Cardigan as compared with that of the rest of the kingdom it would appear very small ; but still there was no less than 210 ships using that bay in the year, with a tonn ige of 11,891 ; while of strange ships - passing by it there was an average of 710 vessels, with a tonnage of 33,000. The ship ping going up and down the Channel was estimated to con vey property to the value of 20,000,0001. a year, with a tonnage of 11,00%000. The honourable gentleman then stated the numbegef vesseis lost near Cardigan Bay 1(34 year, giving their names and the number of lives lost in each, and stated the amount of tonnage known to be lost amounted to 12,000. He also stated the number lost or injured off Fishguard Bay, and mentioned that in one day in October last no less than 22 vessels were wrecked or damaged. He next read a letter from a person whom he said was an authority, who stated that if a harbour of refuge was este blished,on that coast none of the- casualties which had been described would have occurred, and 'that the cost of its con struction need not Be more than 60,0.06. ors' 80,000/. All he asked for was inquiry, in order to see if some inexpensive structure might not be erected, with a view to the saving such a sacrifice of life and property. The hon. gentleman then treated the subject with reference to the question of defence against foreign invasion, and referred to the opinion of the late Duke of Wellington with regard to the defenceless condition of this country. He also entered into a historical review of the proposed invasion of this country by Napoleon in 1797. The hon. gentleman then quoted the celebrated de claration of the late Duke of Wellington, in his letter to Sir John Burgoyne, as to the vulnerability of the south coast. and urged the importance of attending to onr coast defences generally. He should be glad to see ticket-of-leave convicts employed in useful works of this description. In Pentonville there were 412 prisoners.; the average cost Was 291. Os. 5,} d., and the average earnings a trifle over 5L In Parkhurst, where there were 514 prisoners; the loss was still greater, and the case was much the same in Millbank. In Portland, where there were 1,400 prisoners employed on productive labour, their earnings exceeded their cost, and the case was the same at Portsmouth. He hoped the noble lord at the head of the Government would grant this committee; and if it were found that the project was practicable that. it might be carried out. For the sake of humanity, some immediate attempt ought t be made to stop the present frightful loss of life from shipwreck, as well as to lessen the dangers of invasion. The hon. gen tleman then concluded by moving for a, select committee. The motion being seconded, Sir C. WOOD said ho would first dispose of those por tions of the motion which had no reference to the proposed object of the committee. Reference had been made to the threatened invasion of Bonaparte, but ho did not see that any defensive works in Cardigan Bay would have been of _much service in such a case. It was true that a descent was made on the Welch coast, some r;co or 60 years ago, but he believed, such was the bravery. of the inhabitants, that the invaders were put to flight by a bevy of Welch women in red petticoats. There already existed a large Government dockyard at Pem broke, which must be fortified, and it was not necessary to have another fortified place so near. As to the proposed em ployment of convicts, ho bad to state that a very large build ing hid been erected at Chatham, where they would undertake to employ as many convicts as were likely to be available for several years to come. On neither of these grounds was a har bour of refuge necessary -to be iormed in Cardigan Bay. It should also be remembered that since 1846, a harbour of refuge had been established in St. George's Channel. The attention of lessthe Government th had been called to the subject, -and they de cided that Holyhe id was the most - co place on the coast of Wales. A ha r b our o f re f uge h a d b een f orme d th ere, an d no the Channel fo °C; Ov r essels had ;taken refuge in it last year. On this subject h e -h a d consu lt e d the liydrographer of the Admi ralty, and hi s opinion was that it was not only unadv i sa bl e to do, this, but th at i t would b e a positive injury to t h e t ra d e o f Cardigan Bay if he could help it. The Trinity House hadne, mariner who knew his business would go into taken great pains to light that portion of the Welch coast, so that vessels might be able to avoid that bay. Lights had been Specially placed there to keep vessels clear away from that spot. It was true that thedistanca from Milford haven to Ho lyhead was about 100 miles ; but thatWae no great distance for vessels with bsgood - harlibur 'on each side. With the de cided opinion of the Hrkographer to the Admiralty that it would be dangerous to construct a harbour of refuge in Cardigan Bay, by enticing vessels there instead of keeping in n n Ctahrediogtahn tayerside of the Chants I, he was not disposed to accede t o th e motion; ' thought it would be a mere waste of publi c money to construct a harbour of refuge either or anywhere near it. On that ground he lights aia, sreferredMilford-haven Head tboetbr : a ein a g e chyt should resist th e motion. Mr. L. DAVIE S said, tha t if anything would impress him with the con v i c ti on that a nava l man ought to be at the head of the Admiralty, itwas at the speo a h o f th e r i g ht h on. b er t . To talk of v nil;refuge ignorance. t. rr after as i n sOnouround ingchaof p t o bS s e i t t . ion that it cou ld no t b e soon above 5 days in th e y ear . It was toe much that the wishes of th e i n h a bit an t s o f th e district should. be controlled by the opi n i on l o f a s i ng l e offi cial. Let the h ou S e b e war ned aga i nst relying on this by what had occ urre d i n t h e l a t e C r i mean campaign. He felt bound to press hi s mo ti on to a di v i s i on, even if he went out alone. uraingpPholtiln' e i b l ooe Mr; WYNN said had al)Plied to the' Triuity-laouse for led,Ve to erect a sea-mark add place a light ship on St. Pat rick's Causeway—a reef in Cardigan Bay, which was ex tremely dangerous to shipping. A promise was given, but nothing whatever had been done. Mr. PHILLIPS, though he shared in the anxiety of his hon. friend for the establishment of a harbour of refuge in Cardigan Bay, recommended him not to press for the appoint ment of a eommittee in the face of the unfavourable opinion which they hadjust heard from the right hon. gentleman. The holise divided— Ayes Noes • • The motion was thus lost. THE IRISH MAILS. 44 118 -74 Mr. M'CANN moved for a' return, for the quarter end ing tb.e 31st day of December, 1555, of the number of let ters received in Dublin 'by the mail which leaves Euston Station at five o'clock p.m., and of the number of those letters which were forwarded by the morning mails from Dublin to the provinces ; and similar return of the letters received by the mails which leave Euston Station at 45 minutes past 8 p.m., and of those forwarded by the night mails from Dublin. Mr. WILSON would have no objection to the return were it not that the Post-office accounts (lid not contain any mate rials for making it. Colonel DUrgNE kopecl that tho Government would as sent to the re-appointment of tho committee on the Irish mails. The motion was then withdrawn. THE CURRENCY. ➢lr. MUNTZ said that as he understood the Government intended to oppose the motion of which he had given notice on this subject, he would not bring it on at that hour of the night (a quarter to 11). He would bring it on again on Tues day, the 19th inst. ADULTERATION OF FOOD, &c. Mr. SCHOLEFIELD moved for the re-appointment of the committee on the adulteration of food, drink, and drugs. —Agreed to. CONTRACTORS DISQUALIFICATION REMOVAL. Mr. T. MITCHELL moved for leave to bring in a bill to repeal the act 22 Geo. 111., di qualifying contractors from being elected to, or meeting and voting as members of the House of Commons. The act in question was of such a sweeping character that hon. gentlemen were continually being involved, quite unawares, in its meshes. Ho might refer to several instances which had Occurred within a very short period. Amongst others there was that of Sir S. M. Peto, who had been permanently disqualified from sitting in the present Parliament by simply undertaking what was really an act of kindness to - her Majesty's Government. A yet stronger case was that of Baron Rothschild last year ; and without pretending to be a lawyer, he must confess he could not see the distinction which had been drawn by the committee appointed by the house to sit upon the matter, between a contract to supply a small quantity of goods and a contract to supply sixteen millions of money. He always thought that the constitutional check upon malversation was to be sought for in the responsibility of Ministers, and not in bills of pains and penalties. Besides, the act was really quite useless to prevent that against which it had been aimed,, for it was perfectly noto rious that It could be evaded with the most perfect ease. Every 4overnment was most ready to transfer contracts to those members of firms who were not seeking to enter parliament; and that equally with respect to gentle men who were their political opponents, as with those who were inclined to give them their support. On the part of the mercantile community he must repudiate all desire to enter into collusive bargains with the members of the Government. In the Admiralty all large contracts were put up by adver tisement for public competition, and he supposed the same rule was adhered to in the other departments. The hon. gen tleman concluded by moving for leave to bring in the bill. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he had no ebjeetien to the motion of his hon. friend. The repeal he pro posed to effect would have a double operation. First, it would remove all doubt as to the liability of loan contractors under the Contractors Act.. That question came before the committee which sat last session in the case of Baron Roths child, The greatest discrepancy of opinion existed amongst the members of the committee upon the interpretation of the act with regard to these contractors, but the majority decided that they did not come under the operation. He should not venture to express an opinion on the legal question, but he had no doubt that the committee decidedly rightly in the view of expediency. There was a great difference between loan contractors in this respect, that in the case of loan con tracts, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the one hand and the parties who made the tender for the loan on the other hand, were merely negotiators and not principals—the one representing the Government and the others the subscribers to the loan. The ig,reentent made by theni was merely a pro visional one, which required the confirmation of the House of Commons, and, therefore the act which imposed penalties on persons contracting with the Commissioner of the Treasury could not be held to apply to agreements for loans. The case was different where parties entered into other contracts—as the supply of coals, for instance,to the Admiral Board or to the Commissioners of the,Treasury. f anyreasonable doubt existed as to the exemption of loan contr*ctors, he agreed with his hon. friend that that doubt should be removed, and that the Go-' vernment ought to support a bill having that object. With regard to other contracts, there was some doubt; and whilst reserving to himself the opthiou he might form as to that por tion of the bill, he should not object to its introduction. Mr. J. G. PHILLIMO RE said that he was unable to under stand the ground of the decision of the committee, because any person who read the debates when the Loau Contractors' Act was passed, could not fail. to see that it was especially directed against that very class of contractors which the com mittee by their decision declared to be exempt from its ope ration. As to the other part of the bill, ho thought the house should consider well before acceding to them. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said that if his hon. and learned friend who had just spoken with so much confidence studied the question on which he spoke, ho would see that he was in error in point of fact, for Baron Rothschild had en tered into no contract at all, If his hon. and learned friend had read the Loau Act, which, with great deference to him, he begged leave to say he had not —(laughter, and " Yes I have," from Mr. Phillimore)—he would find that it was ex prcs:ly framed in such a manner as to operate with regard to the subject matter of the act as a repeal of the Contract Act, and therefore if the penes negotiating a loan had entered into a contract, but which they could not perfect till the persons competent to do so concluded the contract, till in fact a loan act was passed, that subsequentloan act was so worded as to operate as a repeal of the contract act, and exempted the parties from coming under the penalties imposed by that act. With regard to loan contractors, therefore, the present bill was unnecessary, and with regard to the other parts of the bill he saw great danger from them on public grounds. Mr. PHILLIMORh said that he confined his observations to the object which the framers of the Contractors' Act had in view. He said nothing about the Loan Act. The house then divided — For the introduction of the bill ...... . Against Leavo was then given to bring iu the bill. .. 46 ~ 43-3 QUALIFICATION OF JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. fir. COLVILLE. moved for leave to bring is a bill to amend the liws relating to tho qualification of justices of the peace. Leave was given. _RETURNS ORDEtED. laisll Pooa LAW.—On the mothia of Mr. llonsat.m—Re turns showing thetotal number of paupers (in-door and out door) in receipt of relief on the first Saturday of January, 1855, and the first Saturday of January, 1856, in the unions of Ireland ; specifying the increase or decrease in the latter, as compared with the former period. Of the total number of paupers iu receipt of relief in • the workhouse in each pro vince in Ireland, at the closl of the first week (ending Satur day) of January, 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854, 1855, and 1854, &c. FEES ON BARONETCIES, &c.--On the motion of Mr. GUINNESS, Address for return of all fees chargeable upon baronetcies, Order of the Bath, or othor honourable distinctions confer red by her Majesty in reward of distinguished services, and of any expenses incident to such creations and distinctions. BANK NOTES. —On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, Copies of the correspondence between the Chan cellor of the Exchequer and the Governor and Deputy-Go vernor of the Bank of England,-,on the subject of issuing ad ditional Bank notes within the limit of the act 7 and S Viet., c. 32 ; and of the order in Council authorising the issue in questi.m. CHARITABLE USES BILL. This bill was read a second time. SUPPLY—NAVY ESTIMATES. Mr. FITZROY brought up the report of the committee of supply on the navy estimates. . JOINT-STOCK BANKS (SCOTLAND) BILL. On the order of the day fur the second reading of the biil, In reply to Mr. BLACKBURNII, Mr. WILSON stated it was not a continuance orally exist ing act, but almost an exact copy of a bill which had passed the house last session. • The house then adjourned at 20 minutes to 12. Naval and Military Intelligence. Portsmouth garrison presents just now the appearance of a town beleaguered from the sea and the garrison pre paring busily for its defence. A large fleet of ships and gunb•ats is at anchor in the roadstead off the town, and new batteries and quarters for soldiers are helot; constructed rapidly within the walls of the fortress. At the top of the town a large range of 4 - selliog-houses and the theatre have been pulled down to create more room for military accommodation,' while at the bottom a heavy battery of 16 63 pounder pivot guns is in course of completion, having taken the place of the old platform of 6-pounder saluting guns. In the rear of these has been erected a large shell magazine, flanked by, a. high earth mound to protect it from the shot of an enemy seaward ; new embrasures for heavy 32-pounders have been cut in the curtain of the ram parts at various points commanding Southsea, where a mud fort has been built near the old atone fortress, Southsea Castle, to strengthen that 'defence. A new double drawbridge is in course of erection in lieu of the old single one at St. James-gate "Point," where a bat tery and Royal Artillery quarters in rear have' for some time been built to protect the mouth of- the harbour on the right of the entrance. The Government are also endeavouring to negotiate for a large extent of house property in Green-row and the rear for further enlarg ing the barrack accommodation, and this to the extent (says military rumour) of 30,000 men ! It so, Ports mouth and its adjacent dependencies must become al most exclusively a citadel. The new steam-gun and despatch' boat Lapwing, 4, was put in commission on Monday by Commander Thomas Saumarez, and the new class 6.gun screw despatch boat Pioneer was lint in commission yesterday by Commander Mends. Iler Majesty's ship Blenheim, 60, Captain W. H. Hall, was undocked at Portsmouth yesterday after 'refit. B. H. Pearson, assistant-engineer, Ist class, R.N., has been appointed to her Majesty's despatch gun-vessel Sparrowhawk, in charge of the engine& Her Majesty's screw steam-;hi p Algiers, Capt. Talbot, from the Mediterranean, was off Plymouth yesterday afternoon, and, in, consequence of orders from the Port Admiral Sir William Parker, proceeded up Channel, steaming slowly. The screw steam transport Black Diamond, No. 2, was off Plymouth on Monday it noon, from the Crimea, for the eastward. The paddle-wheel steam transport Cumberland, Capt. Rivers, No. 151, from Woolwich, for the Crimea, put into Plymouth Sound, wind-bound, on Monday. Assi,tant Adjutant-Geberal Yorke, commanding the Royal Sappers. and Miners, with his official department, having been retained at 114:pol wick until the present mo ment in consequence of an insufficiency of room for their accommodation at Chatham, yesterday removed thence. Capt. Tilley's sth Company is now the only portion of that corps stationed at Woolwich. Th e gu n -boat. Forward,. 2, Lieutenant Commander Nelson, has arrived off Woolwich Arsenal from Deptford, to receive her ammunition, &c.,, preparatory to joining the squadron. The pontoon •mortar. raft has returned to Woolwich from Shoeburyness, having gone through the second series of experiments with Colonel Ci.ahners' 10 inch howitzer gun. Since the pontoon metal has been strengthened all the experiments have turned out satis factorily, consequently th"c-raft has been pronounced in perfect service condition. A curious experiment was on Monday tried in the Arsenal marshes at Woolwich with a new description of shell, being the invention of a Mr. Stevens. A piece of wood fitting the bore of the gun was attached to a shell, aecordinc , o to the inventor's contrivance, to accelerate its flight, which ho expected would be a very long one. Several of the shells were then fired from a 6-pounder gun, and in each instance the wood was shattered in pieces, and the shelf rolled to a distance of about 200 yards. In fact, the experiment completely fade.% The following promotions and appointments were made yesterday at the Admiralty Tne - Rev. W. W. Campbell, Chaplain to the Dragon; J. G. Barnes, Paymaster to the Archer ; A. _Rowe, C. W. Harris, T. J.'Ley, T. C. H. Shears, H. Gilpin, A. Ocey, A. T. M. Roberts ; and B. Lusmore, Assistant- Paymasters, promoted to the rank of Paymasters. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per of raid. Price. Annum. Share. , X s. d. £ s. d. British •• •• •• •• •• •• •• —. i Ditto Provincial .. .. 71. 120 0 0 20 0 0 24% Brighton —••..• • • • ~ 5/. 20 0 0 20 0 0 13 City of London .. •• •• 41. Os. [lOO 0 0 1:,0 8 0 Continental (4th Cap.) . 50 0 0 20 . 0 0 Equitable.. •• •• .. •• •• 2/. 10s. [5O 0 0 all I as% Great Central ....... al per cent. ,10 0 0 all 11 1 A Imperial ............101k bonus. 50 0 0 all 85 Independent ......... 51. i 40 0 0 •• I ...... London•• •• .. ••••• • •• .- 50 0 0 •• . .-.. Do., Parl. Preference 61. per cent. ' 25 0 0 phce nix . ............ 41. per cent. ;60 0 0 52 ' Ci 0 j Rateliff .• •• • ...• •• • 51. .100 0 0 16 0 0 16 United General ...... 21. 10s. 50 0 0 all 10X Westmitister Chartered 4,1 per cent. 50 0 0 Of 55 Ditto, New ........ i5O 0 0 10 0 0 10 Do., Path Preference ph ( enix .•• •• •• •• •• Ratcliff •• • • • .. •• •• . United General ...... Westminster Chartered Ditto, New ........ Name of Company. WATER-WORKS. Dividend per Annum. East London Grand Junction .... • • , 4 . per mt. Kent Lamhett .........• New River Company 2l. 10s. Southwark & Vauxhall Si. per ent. West Middlesex • • • • Name of Company. I Amount Share. s. d. Stock. !SO 0 0 100 0 0 100 0 0 100 0 0 161 0 0 BRIDGES. Dividend Amount per of Annum. Paid. Share. £ s. d. 100 all Price. Paid. Price. . . .£ s. d. £ B. d. Hungcrford....•• ..•• 12 Southwark ......•• .. 110 0 0 Ditto New of 7% p.c. 1/. per cent. ZO 0 0 Waterlo , .. ..... 100 0 0 Ditto Old inn. of 8/. 11. 14s. Bd. CO 0 0 ___ Ditto NW ditto of'7l.- 11. 10s. 40. 40 0 0 25 Vauxhall .......... •• - 98 s. 70 10 3 20 ,1 4 DOCKS. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per of Paid. Price. Annum. Share. --- --- X s. d. .£ s. d. Commercial ...• ...... 51. pr cent. Stock. Stock. . East and West *lndia.. , 6'. pr cent. stock. 119% East C•untry• • .. ...... 20s. per sh. London ... • ... •• : 3/. pr cent. Stock. 100 , Ditto Bonds •• .. •• ••1 41. per cer.t. at. Katnarino •• .• •• .• 4 per cent. Stock. , 84 • onthampton .• —.••• , 3'. Os per c. 50 0 0' 50 0 9 , Victoria .. •• •• -•! .... 1 51. per cent. '2O 0 0i 10 0 0 173. JOINT-STOCK BANKS. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per of Annum. share. Australasia. • • British NorthAmorican Commercial of London. Colonial .. • • • • • • • • • • • • lonian.... • • • • Loud. Char. Bk. of Ans. London and County • • Londn and Westininstr London •loint•Stock . • • Frovinetal of Ireland.. Ditto, New. • • . . • • • • Natiour.l of Ireland.— Nat. Provincial Of Ping. Ditto, New •• •• • • Orlentui Bank Corpora. South Australia • • . • .. Union of A ustralia • ,• • Paid. 1 201. per cent. l Si. per cent. 10/.per cent. 51. per cent. 161. per cent. N. d. 40 0 0 50 0 0 100 0 0 100 0 0 25 0 0 X2O II 0 50 0 0 100 0 0 50 0 0 100 0 0 10 0 0 50 0 0 100 0 0 20 0 0 25 0 0 25 0 0 25 0 0 Z a. d. all 10/. per cent. IV. percent. 12/ per cent. 81. per cent. 8/.per cent. 61. per cent. 81, per cent. Si. per 'cent. p. ct.&bs. !IC p.et.&bs. 30!. per cent. 301. per cent. '2O!, per cent. 20 0 0 25 0 0 25 0 0 Price, Union 1:f London ..... Union of Madrid ..r .. ail 0 20 0 0 20 0 0 10 0 0 25 0 0 811 22 10 0 35 0 0 10 0 0 INSURANCE COMPANIES. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per, of Paid. Price. Annuin. Share. Xs. d. X s. d. Albion. .... ••••- .• .. 3/. 10s. 1 500 0 0 50 0 0 83 Alliance M:. end For. 71. 14s. 6d.bs.'loo 0 0 11 • 0 - 1 ntto Marine ... .... 61. p.c. & bs. 1100 0 0 25 0 0 40% Anchor .... • . •....... 6 per cent. I 5 .0 I 6 0 - Atlas argue life ......... • • 41. per cent. 100 0 0 25 0 0 - British Commercial .. 7i. iOs. 50 0 0 5 0 0 6 ClericLaied.& Gen. Life spr ct. & bs. 100 0 0 10 0 0 21% County .... ... •••••• • • 4/. 100 0 0 1 10 0 0 120 Crown .... ...• ...... 17s. 0d 50 0 0 50 0 18% Eagle Equity and Law...... 4% per cent. 'lOO 0 0 5 0 0 53/ European Life l/. 20 0 0 , all 18% General .......... .. .• 61. 5 0 0 .• 5% Globe ~ 104% Guardi/.n ............ 51. per c en t. ,100 0 0 47 5 0 51% Imperial Fire......... 12/. per cent.lsoo 0 0 50 0 0 , 340 Impalal Life Indemnity Marine-. 1 1 .33 & 3/. 100 0 0 , 20 0 0 I 77 Law Fire .......... •• 25.& 2s. be. 100 0 0 210 0 - Law L.ite............. - 100 0 s 10 0 0 61 Legal and General Life - 50 0 0 2 0 0 b I,ondon ' . ... London : - ..4hip.... - 1tfarine......... • . •... 18.i.per share 100 0 0 28 0 0 40 Med. - fel - lid& Gen. Life 4% /..per ct. 50 • 0 2 0 0 3 % 51inerva ........ •• .. sp. et. & bs. 20 0 0 2 • 0 6 Monarch. - .... •• •.• - 5 0 0 1 0 0 - National Loan Fund.. 51. per cent. 20 0 0 210 n - 1 Palladium Life". 45% 51. per cent. 50 0 0 2 _lO 0 3% Pelican ............... - - 178 Phoenix - - - • Profess:enal Life."... 5/. per cont. b 0 010 0 Provident Life.- ..'.. IL ss. & be. 10 0 0 0 10 0 0 38% Rock Life ........ •• • • 75* 5 3 0 010 0 8 % all 228 Royal Exchange ....•. 10/. Sun Fire .. .. per cent. Stock. 6/. 10s. - ,IP 248 Ditto Life .• • •• It 14s. - - United Xingdem '•• •• H. p et. & bs. 20 0 0 47/ 0 4N Universal Life ....... • . 51. per cent.s 1 . per cent. 100 0 0 10 0 0 - Victoria Life ..... . . - 412 6 531 . - MISCELLANEOUS. ______---, .............- Dividend Amount Name of Comps.i.y. I per of Paid. P r i ce. Annum. Share. ~........____ ___ X a. d. X s. d. Assam lea •••• •• •• •• M. 50 0 0 20 0 0 , •• .. 2% per cent.' 50 0 0 ' Auction Man..• •• Australian Aarlculturl li. Is. 100 0 0 17 10 0 2i3' A us t ra lian Trust ... • 4. 8/. pet cent. - 25 0 0 - . Austrajtan Royal Mail Si. 10 0 0 all 4 Anglo-Maxicare Mint.. 11. 10s. 10 0 0 a ll - British American Land 15s. - 40 0 0 Canada • • • ...• •• •• •• 61 . per cent.,, 100 0 0j32 10 0 131 Do. 5 per cent Bonds 5/. per cent. - _ - Ditto, 6 per cent. • • 61. per cent. - -1077 i City N4vigation Bonds - _ - Electric Telegraph . 6 per cent. ,25 0 0 24 0 0 20 Ditto .. •••.•• •• • • - 1 ' 1 - - - E qu itable Tteverslonry 71 pr. cent. ;100 0 0 'lOO 0 0 - 'Atte New ...,....• - 1 50 00,17 10 0 - Gen. Revers. & Invest. 5 P.C. & bs, 100 0 0 100 0 0 -- en.SteamNigation 10,p et. i l5 0 0 14 0 0 27% Hudson'a Bay. ay ...... - 1 Stock. 1 - - flungerford - ...• ••,• 21. ss. 'lOO 00 - ,100 0 0 - London Institution .•• 1 - - Lo ndonßeve rsionary 5/per cent. 15 00 I - all Russell institution.. ..• - ll 10 0 - Pricc'g Patenteand.Co 101. percent. 20 - 0 0 ; 17 10 Reversionary Int. Soc. 14%/. pr cent. ] 100 0 0 100 0 1 90 Royal Mail Steam.... - 1 41. p. where, 100 0 0 60 0 0 ' 78% South Australian Land 6/. pet cent.l 25 00 I a ll Trust and Loan Cemp. , ....' Upper Canada .... - j2OOO j 5 0 0 - ----------- LIST Oft SCOTTISEI. COMPANIES' PRICES. Name of Company. 1 Dividend Amount per of Paid. Price. Annum. Share. ..—..---. , . a. d. £ 15 . d• Bank pf Scotland :. •• 7/. per cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 ,184/ 0 British Linen Company 81. p e r cen t. 100 0 0 100 0 0 '220/5s Caledonian Bank ....• . 8/. per cent 10 0 0 210 • 0 3/. Ifs City of t-;laszow Bark ti. per cent. 10 0 0 10 u 0 11/145 elycleSdnle Bank .... 51. V. p cent., 20 0 0 10 0 0 12 , 14 s C , mmercial Bank .. 71. per cent. [5 O O 0 0 . 00 0 0 223/0s Eastern Bank .. .'. e/. per cent. 25 0 0 10 001 1 3s F.dinb. & Glasgow...; 3xl. p cent. 5 0 0 5 0 0 4/.lBs Exchange Bnk of Scot.. -- •••• National Bank ...... 5% per cent. 1 100 0 0 10 0 0 17110 s North of Scotland Bank 5/.par cent 20 0 0 210 0 11. 17s Royal Bank of S cotl. .. Si. per cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 132110 Union Bank of Scot. 81. per cent. 100 0 0 50 0 0 921 5s Westerr. Bank •....... 71. per cent. 50 0 0 1 50 0 0 751 Os Alliance Fire and Lwe.. 0% 1 . Pr cont. 100 0 0 i 11 0 0 181105 British Guarantee . .. 4/. per cent. II 0 0 1 2 0 0 I/. lOs Caledonian Fire Incur. 10‘. per cent. 100 0 0 110 0 0 25110 s City of Glasgow Lite , el. per cent. 0 0 2 0 0 11. 8s Co ordal Li .......... 5 1 •Per•cent. 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 51. 75 I, _; , llnl)urgil Min Insur; 61. percent. 100 0 0 15 0 0 27110 s En , f. & Scot, Lav• Life 51„Icr cent. 50 0 0 3 5 0 4/. 8s Liu; Ass, , e. e 14cei,and Gl.per cent. 10 0 0 1 10 0 5/ 105 Nations . / Fire and Life 61. per cent. 10 0 0 1 0 0 21. Os North British ;mar... 71. per cent. 200 0 0 20 0 0 321 !Os Scottish Union Insnic. NI. precut. 20 0 0 1 0 0 'l/. 10s Standard Life •• •• ..•• 51. per, cent. 50 0 0 7 0 0 201108 United Doi , A. 4 oUraUge li. Pez,' cent. 10 0 0 1 a 0 • Country Markets. LIVERPOOL-FEB. 12. - - - --- A good attendance of millers and dealers to-day. At the beginning of the market holders of wheat required an advance over Friday of ld to 2d per bushel, which checked business, and only a moderate one wan effected. American red wheat sold at 103, 103 3d, to 103 6d per 701 be. In flour no change. Indian corn declined 6d per qr., and in slow demand„ No alteration in the value of other articles of the trade. LEEDS—FEB. 12. The show of wheat is only moderate, and in consequence of the damp weather the condition generally is defective. For best dry wheats there is a fair sale at rather over Fri day's rates ; other descriptions move slowly at former prices. The supply of south barley is rather beyond the demand, and the ♦alue recedes. Oats and beans, with other articles, without material alteration. 11IILITIA. The Ist Regiment of Somerset Militia has left Taunton for Aldershott camp. The Royal Cornwall Rangers' Militia Regiment, not being able to recruit its htraogth up to 400 men by the time appointed, has been dissolved, but many of the men have entered regiments of the line. PRICES OF SHARES IN BANKS, ASSURANCE, AND OTHER COM PANIES' STOCK. From the Official List. PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY EVENING LONDON, TUESDAY, FEB. 12, 1856. GAS-LIGHT AND COKE COMPANIES. 2 10 0 to 0 0 h 0 0 0 40 0 0 CANALS. .____ • • I . Names of 4 Dli Mend pri ,, Names of ,u ° ' Dividend Colnpanies. A per " e Companies. !;1. per 4 Price. „..- rf, Annum. , ri) Annum. - ! ,t shtn a - .oldli s 93 71. p. ct. 145 Macclesfield. 100 2/. 10,. hl Barnsley.... 160. Neatli .. •• •• tOO 161. BrkiikestAtirg 150 41. Oxford.. •• •• 108 Birmingham , 40' 41. 91% Peak Forest. 78 W. Os. 76 Coventry.... 1100 251. Regent's .• •• 39 it 14% Derby • •...',loo' 6'. 15s. 81 Rochdale.... 85 11. 10s. 76 EllsinrekChs , 69 2% p. ct. Somrset Coal 140; GrandJunctit 100 3 pr. ct.' 36 Do. Lk Fd St 121 Do., 6 pr. Ct. 10 61. pr. et.. 11% Stftril &Won: 140' 281. 420 Grand :Surrey' 100 it. ! - -Sbrewsbury..,l2s Grand Union 100 11.0 s. ' Stonrbridg...l j4 s 121. 290 Kennt &. Avn' 39 6s. Od. 6%;Severn and 11 • 21. Lancaster .. 100' I Wye Ratl. 26 Leeds &Livrp 101:1 251. 470, !Warwick & nn 21. 26 Leicester.... 'lOOl 5/. 49%! Birming. 5 im , Leicstr &Nth 83' Warwick & j 1 1 V. II Loughisirozh 142 701 550 Napton.. 100 , Atoninouthsh 100: •Worcstr &/ 78' 2/. 21 Mittgmerysh 100 , Binning. 1 Mel tniMwbry 100, •-•-• . Wilts & Brks 1 10s. Od. IPSWICH-FEB. 12. The supply of wheat was not large, but the trade was fine. Best samples sold at a trifling advance upon last week's prices, whilst the damp and ill-conditioned samples were neglected. Barley in less supply, and tho best quali ties sold readily at ISs and 19s per coomb. Beans and peas hut few at market and heavy to sell. PER QUARTER. L - PER QUARTEF. Wheat, red (old) 64s to TOe Barley, grinding ass to Vs Ditto (new) Ditto, white 72s to 7 6 sPeas Ditto (old) Barley, malting ... 36s to 38E,Flour, per sack AVRRAORS FOR TOR WEER RNDINO FEB. 9, 1856, Wheat Oats Peaty Barley Bears HULL-FEB. 12. A moderate supply of English wheat, and condition go' norally indifferent. For dry samples Is to 2s mere money had to be paid. In Foreign nothing doing. Barley dull. Beans 1.3 lower. Oats ;without change. Linseed and its products dull, but a better demand for cakes. In bones there are no transactions. 81 Wheat, English, red 6 to Ditto white 74 to 76 Dantzic and Konigs berg Pomeranian and Ham- Peas, grey and black to ,Linseed, Black Sea... 6G to ro Ditto Petersburgh 63 to 64 Ditto Riga and Arch- burgh Danish, Holstein, and 74 to 7 1 Friesland GB to 72 Russian and Odessa 64 to 68 Oats, English Ditto Danish Ditto Friesland Ditto Russian , 26 to 30 Barley, malting Ditto grinding 36' to 38 Beans Ditto foreign Peas, white and yel 5B to 60, 1 angel ;Ditto Konigsberg and Memel 60 to 63 58 to 6, Per Tor• Line. c., Hull 010 t to 111151 Ditto fine for. 10115 s 11/ 0. Od Ditto inf. for. 0/ Os Od to 010 s Rapeseed..... 001 Os to 001 Os Rape cakes —s Od to 135 s Od Tares, English —s to ---$ Ditto foreign Guano OO2 Os Si tol2/ lb* Bones Rye Meal D ÜBLIN. This day the supply of lion Factors hold for higher at trifling extent. The general 1 cept for Indian corn, in whicl trifling, at late currency. COI7RSE OF EX' Amsterdam 11 18 Ditto, three months .. 12 OW Rotterdam •••••• •• • • • • 12 01,4 Antwerp .............. 60 Brussels 25 60 Elambargh 13 10% /Rona • • •• •• • • •• •• •• •• Paris •••• •• • •••• •• 25 40 Ditto,'three months 25 80 Marseilles . • • . .. 25 82:A., Bourdcaux . • Frankfort-on Maine 120% Berlin •• •• •• •• •• •• •• Vienna •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• 10 45 Trieste•• •• •• •• •. •• .• •• 10 47 Petersburg 36% Madrid •••••••• • •„ .• •• 49 Cad Liz • •• •• •• •• . • •• 50 Barcelona • • •• • • •.• ••• Seville.. • • •• •• •• •• • ... -FEB. 12. me growth continues small. tes, which were realised to tone of the market firm, el' h the business done was on!) :ANGLE.-YESTERDAT Gibraltar Leghorn .. .. 22% Genoa 4l r Milan ...... • • • Naples 441 IPalermo ..... 133 is Messina .. • 133% List.° .. • • Oporto ................ ba% Rio Janeiro ..... .• .• '— Buenos Ayrea...• [New York,6o days' sight -- Philadelphia .......... PRICES OF SIMI ICIN, ?IS OP• Foreign Gold in Bars £3 17 . 9 Portugal Gold Coin .. 0 0• 0 . Mexican Dollars .... 0 0 0 New, Dollars Silver in tars 0 5 1 A SBABORNE MAILS. (I.l* signifies that the malls are sent from the General Post of/ 104 ay the night—and M by the morning—despatch.) Day :when made ni From ~ ,c. a ;a• I ire'''.,l COUNTRLEb. in General Post- P o n du ' -' 7, Office, London.. Disp,,t e l,, , En' t ..s '• America(byßrit.pack)N Every Frldat .- • Liverpoc' , Feb. 14 America (by United Sts. packet) ..........N ....• —— • - Liverpo.,! Feb. 11 America (by U. States packet) ..........N - •• '' •• . • Southam ot Feb. 21 Australia (via South ampton) .........M, 'a ••• •-•— - • Southampt.) ,, Ditto (via Marseilles) Ni Ditto (via Cape of Good, Hope) ............N I . • ,Unoertal Africa (West Coast);.N , 73d of the month.. plymoutii . Mar. 6 A1exandria..........N!8, 9, 74,& 30 of in. Dover .... Alexandria ..........m 4th & 20th of anon . l southamptt,.. r Bahamas ...........M 17th of the 'tawny I Sonthamptor ( Belgium ~.. ...... —NI pallY ••••••• • • • • • Dover ..... , Daily • Brazil ...... • ... ....M, 9 th of the month.. Southampt r: Feb 16. Buenos Ayres •••• •• ..M 9th of the month.. gouthani to- Feb 16 Cape of Good Hope ..N Various port iUucert.ar Cape of Good Hope .. N Cape de Verde ......N 9th of the month Bouthampt.,• Feb, lb Ceylon (see India) Ceylon ..............N Channel Isles .... (....N fAron.,Wo 4 .,&Frk. Southampm Tu.Tb.'s Chi1i................ M. ld & 17th of month Southampto' ; China .... . Constantinople .....,N18,13,18,23,&zs oi is Dover .. COnstantinople l 4th & 20th of moo ISouthempto. Cont. of Europe M & N Twice daily ..., -.Dover .. „ . Terll 4 / 1 111 ) Egypt (see India) France ........ M & NTwice daily ..... . Do ver .......Twfv. , .. -- 411 / Gibraltar ..........311 4 , 7 9 17,'111.27 ••frh Southampton Greece (see India) 12nd &17th of mon ISouthamptca Hamburgh ..........N,Tucsday & Frida)lLondon ..... aavannah •• ...... Ai 12nd of the month ISouthanapto, :Feb. 1 6 . Holland ............ IdlDal IY •••••• .• • • • •IDover ..... pal! .. 17ta tithe month . lsouthatnpto , lionduras ..........141' India (viaSouthampt.)mi4th lc 20th Of mon.! Plymouth .. '4 & 20 M e India (via Marseilles) Di i9th& 26th of mon thlDover .... I lonian Isles (see india) l7 , 17. & 27 of mon Dover.. ~.. , Awl Ireland ........M & N 'Twice daily • . •... Hot.. head ... ) 1 1`1 1 1 16 ., !Ifithottn, - Li5b0n.............. 31 !7. 9. 17, & 27 of m. Southamptot , Feb. 1. Madeira ............Nl9th of the month ISouthamptor i Madeira ...........Nl23d of month .... ;Liverpool ... I • Malta (see India) .. ., I I • Malta ..............N 8,18, &28 of mon.lD ov e r .......„ 1 4 & 20 m Mauritius (see India) I ! Mauritius ..........N 14th of the month 1 M ex i co ............ulnd of the month. ISouthampten Feb. 16 Napi e ,,..............N •hthlso2stbormon.lDover ...... New Granada .. .. ..N1 24 & 17th of Month l Southamptohi New Zealand.. ~...... lily private slip .. Va r i ous port rutseert in Papal States ........N sth Isth2sthotmon. Dover ...... Peninsula .... .... .. TA Ithl7th27thoflnon. Southamptor Pen , .............. N 3d & 27th of mon.lsouthampton Port Natal ......N By private shin..., Various ports Uncerto Sicily ~............N 501151125th01m, ID ° , . ... Tuscany ............ ,,t sth 1 r itb 26 tholmon:lDover ...... Venczuelr .... .... .. Al i2d& 17th of month Southampton 1 & 16 10 Van Dietnen's Land (se: Australia) .......... Welt Indies .... .... I , :2d,& 17th of monl.l - 'Southampton:l & 16 MO tloutbwrpten', ' 1 P 416 rOn When any of those dater f a ll on a Sunday, the +nails will if de• spatched on the following day, with the exception of the Incite (.7,4 eouthampton), and the Malta, both of w hi ch will be deaefitcro 4 preceding day. [ADVERTISEMENT.' Siour AND HEARING, SPEDVACO S ' POWERFUL TELESCOPES, OPERA, RACE AND PERSPECTIVE GLA$5l lO * —Messrs. S. and .13. Solomone, opticians, 39, Albemarle" street, Piccadilly. Observe o pp os it e th e York 110°Id By her Majesty's Royal L e tt ers P a t en t f or va l ua bl e extraordinary imprivemeuts in the most powerful and brilliant Telescopes, Camp, Racecourse, Opera, and Per' spective Glasses, to know the distances of objects viewed through them—of great importance to the army, Wit and others. These telescopes possess such extraordinary powers that sonic three and a-half inches, with an extra eye' piece, will show distinctly Jupiter's moons, Saturn's ring, and the double stars; with the same telescope can be sees a person's countenance three miles and a half distant, and an object from 16 to 20 miles. They are of larger and sizes, with increasing powers accordingly ; while their vary' ing from 4 to 6 inches enable us to discover more than the above, and the Georgian- "with his 6 eat e llit es, & c.— Th e R e ySl Exhibition, Mi.—Valuable, newly-invented, very small, powerful waistcoat-pocket glass,the size of a walnut, by which a person can be seen and known 13 miles distant; they answer every purpose on the race-course, and at the opera housetor country scenery, and ships are clearly seen at 8 to 10 miles. They are invaluable for shooting, deer-stalking, yachting, to sportsmen, gentlemen, gamekeepers, and tourists. .oPer*, race - course, camp, and perspective glasses, with wonderful power. Newly-constructed Spectacle Lenses of the greet' est transparent power. The \ valuable advantage derive/ from this invention is, that vision becoming impaired is preserved and strengthened, and very aged persons are enabled to employ their sight at the most minute occu pation• can see with these lenses of a much less znaguirr ing power—and they do not require the frequent - change to the dangerous effects of further powerful assistance. Deafness—New Discovery.--The Organic Vibrator, an ex' traordinary powerful, small, newly-invented instrument for deafness, entirely different from all others, to surpass aill" e thin of the kind that has been, • or p ro b a bly ever lan be, produced. b Being of the same colour as the skin, is not per' ceptible ; it enables deaf persons to hear distinctly at church and at public assemblies; the unpleasant sensation of singing noises in the ears ie entirely removed ; and it affords all the assistance that possibly could be desired,—.3g, Albemarle street, Piccadilly. Observe— °molts the York Hotel. BIRTHS. OF A SON. On the 12th inst., at 7, Glocester-place, Greenwich, Mrs. Henry Graham Stokes. On the Bth inst., at Bath, the wife of Captain E. Joseph Thackwell. op A DAUGHTER. On the 11th inst., at the Deanery, Carlisle, the wife of the Very Rev. the Dean of Carlisle. On the 9th inst., at INwich-common, the wife of Ed ward Homer, E2q. MARRIED. ' On the 7th inst., ntNorthrepps, Philip Hammond, Egg., of Annesley Park, Notts, to Richenda, daughter of the late Sir T. Fowell Buxton, Bart., of Northreppa Hall, Norfolk. DIED. On the Nth inst., at Leamington, Graco, Countess of Farnham, aged 1,)0. , - On the llth inst., at Newport, Isle of Wight, Thomas Moorman, aged 85. On the 9th inst., at Richmond, Alfred Henry, only child of Alfred Keen, Esq., of the War Department, Horse Guards. On the ith inst., at Stanford, near Worcester, Anna bella 50 06, youngest daughter of Sir T. E. Winnington, Bart., M.P. On the 7th iUst., William Edwards, Esq., of Bethnal green, late of St. Sepulchre without, and of Yetrainster, Dorset, aged 85. LONDON : Printed and Published by 211jR,Do YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sum Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the county of Middlesex, WednetidAYl rebruarY 13,1856., . I ~ ~ T 2 1 11 t' :~ Poi it 1 ith ' Int 110 k •t 4 a It. vve ' WI , ft....' ha, Le Vi ~. of St : lit w It 1:4 • 4, • ai t~ 1 • . 'de ;41