The Sun. — London, England, 1831-08-23 00:00:00

part whatever were thus IMO'', ght that the 11° e, great credit to ot!,, the time that tb d % as occupied at a to suppress a ;e those parties 111 , d over the evider ore attentive Per ;he evidence stros surrendered his ° . „4 trates. These Na oncerned. 1 0 rmitted to sap , • tition which be is lot be taken to " s . , had not contradic' rom his having T il ; the House, be began. He beg ti ice. It seemeil l 7 Lion in the pe° t° :ed to that situa t ' o, i 4 moidered it to be b, House. The P! Ls not expressed j 0 expected ; bu t s nof it. He wi sb re l 1 what had occur then expressed sr, r he had not herj le into those 11; cquainted ; he he depositions I ', accused in the I I : ntti in that DWI :ioners became there ; for he h s nd that he had le n the petition. Iced much more Po nstances, have V I : he had ever P, as the petitio ne ; d had been founde" ) his notice in tp e King's Attorners Unfortunately , r te bre from town, r )sitions with bin' more immediAteli and his cbarate; er had been left LI , I. It was an tics• d at the Winch ,e 1; retainer wa t s: d v i ,, every thing to er was writte n That retainer e v e , eacle's case. E i° ft 7 with a brief. od the parties. , telcle or his ar r° ' hatever with the; caving of a ren o , a Member of l id If any persons . 0 , p their re t a iners e duty in that H° t , o knowledge wh il the House 0 5 I Deacles, on w °l d 11, were disbelieT, othing of the P e t tment h a d r e tment they .ound of reasor l . pair of establis h ' , , rd of a consPir P; o ( administration le is petition was t h t Deacles but to Crates were resP ° p abjects. It ivas . „ Deacle had vas quite clear tr r , regard to the 5 . ng); but be 0.5 m. Member de ar Juld be handcu n .at cons equence ad given the or er ; vhether it was °°, ver should be c c. ; istice required tOl able ; and that r° Select Comro o° denial of the 1 1 °' ,vie Mrs. Deacle• ess to that care" ° obably have g i r o e ,, ielieved the egg, the same t r had ordered A'' ere a Member , 4 ' ,, , t!iation. Both s" plain of. n otl !tition do lie or to t the ground form, the speecheg ,ion yesterdely , the order of n contained if , t ; ie, contrary 10 those s p e ech then' the oPP:e lined in epee s ";s le House ought ht , and for on e t ie petition upon , tg as the orae r . s, ht to be enfor t t : at present 10, wonld be ro t ii ition, viz., 0° ,4, se first insO P t io to it only iu 0 , ng of the peti t i l e f the Hon. D' e t ' , der against Pe tit , I enforce 10°1 0 !ar.) He sl' °l, o i the proprietor'. 0, ngdom shoul d the Le order that iblislied.--( ge t :o; -ed severely ;, sire into the Ote, I the MagiO avour of receiril )rtantly to the er which the too , red investiOild e power exer t gilance. Th e P, n, and cero' both in pno e Hoary prove were w e r e rejected , ' ''l l table, and it S. on the I" . Ti.coo,elr hpi;jd be "";d e tl Bill as am er ' resolve itself the Chair, v o r '.a the Chance,li, which the P9w a :s • t, i (mock , . the wine utle" SAY. . e ,ty'° that hia AIaJ h o ly late inelan'' tle am-packet. rieo 'erne DeP ar" v 00 thole c° untr , r,a:acxe el citeuo"t !rigou t ' hi' a uld relleve. efor e t formal'," the e to preve n un i s li tul, and to p s way c aptain the ir strophe by w, 0 „, whi'h (,`specially called for the attention of the Government. m ediate inquiry should h e ma d e i nto t h e c i rcumstances of the melancholy wreck of the Roth.say, and that suet. in as ures would a f terwards be adopted as the case might seern to require.--(Hear, hear.) ,Tliia::e, ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE. '" l t . It. PEEL hoped, that when Ministers should have R ' their minds as to the time and the duration of the ad up they would make it known as soon as pos e'''Alth'ough- the Noble Lord opposite (Lord . Althorp) ttid not agree with him as to the period of the adjournment , --- (A laugh) —vet it was to he remarked that they had bee n sitting the're since : the 26th of November—(Hear)— anti to continue the sitting longer than was absolutely tic- Q " s ara' would be extremely inconvenient, not only on pri vate but on public grounds.—(llear, hear.) Lord A LTHORP had take n i n t o cons id erat i on a ll t h e circumstances which the Right Hon. Baronet had sug g"ted to hi m , and he was sorry that he could n o t agree t l ° ,the Ri g h t Hon. Baronet's proposition. H e did no t lnit it would b e fi tt i ng i n the present state of the busi -. ,„"'" of the House to snake any but a very short adjourn is over the day of the OF Cor THE NETHHona tion.—(eaEr. - ) C "DUCT 'OF THE KING R LANDS. L ard ELLIOTT would take that opportunity to repel thelc statem ents made by the Hon. and Learned Member for rtY ,Inrespecting the conduct of the King of the Nether tla• He did not mean to charge the Hon. Gentleman e t "'th wilful mis-statements, but that he was deceived by a uthorit y upon which he relied. —(Hear, hear.) The firs t point c re spe .t'ng which h e w ou ld correct t h e H on . "nu Learned Gentlemano:leman was, what bad been called the 4°` ' ill ing union of the Belgians with Holland. That union Wall resolved on by the Allied Powers in July, 1814, from W ,,,, 11 : i eh tirne to August, 1815, the consolidation of the -"del kingdom did not take place. In that interval there th e "'Pie time for representation and remonstrance . on (Bear Part of the Belgians against the . projected union. — C a ') The first act of the King was to appoint _ a •totnission to revise the fundamental law, and to make Ita:stleurnpatible as possible with the feelings and wishes of d : 1 ,1 :7; 1 1 : i li a : s ly — ill : g ear.) That Commission was compose c'o""cist r espectable Dutchmen and Belgians. When • those I,,,iu..isioners delivered their report to the King, he to impose upon the Belgians any law : 4 - 7ch they had not agreed. He therefore convoked T a h n e I\l a b l y of the Notables of the different provinces. th ere "'" , of that assembly were chosen in such a way that aurae w as one for every two thousand Belgians, and h e gst the Notables were several person who have since It s 4 Arend/ere of the Revolutionary Congress at Brussels. her lt ti e , tr ue, indeed, that a majority of the Belgian MFin vver were opposed to the Constitution, but these objections al reicaanfined to the two first articles, which decreed drat al l() vlugions should be equally protected, and that no . man gia ti utti he deprived of civil rights on account of his reli lbeese:ts it,ry . l3 .:: i t was also to be considered, that although b sp ''. "'cies were certainly opposed by a majority of , the t la cit f ar t t i z e e s ie f s rom the Belgian provinces, yet, as they were a the States-General, it would be absurd that should he rejected on account of their oppost tYstea, A ' to the complaints respecting the oppressive kli a ,i; of taxation adopted by the King, he . (Lord E.) t iti ' nnt take upon himself to justify the policy of t le kiaaaeenAliniste.r, which might or might not have been PteaeAde injurious. But the States-General .. hadap • did F and; and that they could have rejected it if they ths ee nnt aPprove of it, was manifest from this, that they a„, (4 titt es rejected the budgets proposed by the Ministers. ,htitv ti ,,, ear d Again, the King was bitterly censured for Belgians anrogated the trial by jury, which it was said the i'lars" Possessed in the time of Napoleon. But that Per ot . „ t oti e h several times interfered with it, and it was not hfid g • tesorted to. It was never well understood in liaa 4411 , and the jury laws submitted to the Cham ' Wer 4. ti t e rejected by them. As to what had been said l eld b e v ' ta te of dependency in which the Judges were t ' e I th e Kim' he (Lord Elliot) believed that not a i . g th e Ins-Ince could ' be adduced of the removal of a Judge li9tonetwhole fifteen years of the union. —(Hear.) The to b ent occasioned by the decree respecting the languag r e s u sed . in the Law Courts was confined solely i to .d a s v u e ih y_ fall rortion of the upper classes in Brussels, and la d ill, 50g before the Revelution. The King was clut . r t g n e o , thtsiZttaieution of the Press. But lie imposed on I Re. 1 aa t i k t om lint the laws agreed by the Chambers.. th 't R n t g t he keepin of schools, the only restriction ;va t :, r.)aa, t-o(4l°olniasters and schoolmistresses were reqnirei he y ite t b give satisfactory evidence of their . qualifications, an '446 'Y „ e°t 'hi enter Upon that occupation. Another . a, 4P i l ciint 4 4 , - , 4 s t inst the King was, that . lie interfered in the 41 ' tha t f o rf the Roman Catholic Bishops ; .but the faet Ic l4l t he first twelve years of the union, he had arDsQaWgerh Whateverin their nomination. , About ,. three :War: e obtained a Concordat from the I ope,.who at t1, 4(1 e to PP r essed his satisfaction with the appointments aier e tv t"er that authority. It was also complaine . d, that Pklayttle_sa. great partiality in the distribution tohfeornffinesiatl partem- 'tiiit)tudentitsf,r:lTlnd that the Belgians wahre t fo f r rnm be i ng true, ti th t here „ ve _ ct ice. So far was .t a Varta lea , 'o a great many Belgians . employed in high . t Par t , a g" of the Government ; and in the Diplomatic . 4th'elltiterl;gene7 allot:0 there were at this moment three Belgian 'lre l j n * and Concluded Learned had been led into by l expressing K a hope that, as t itst r e .l the misre present• e t r ' n 'el f o o r thers, he would not he -4 to retract his mis-s a t ' t " ° tits —(Hear ) L l'tv in . ().C°NNELL \ras a ern ra e tefu ' l to the Nole rd for /Vtt.ies-uAhvecusita'ittnetriet,iniactto:opdhiimgrtunity to correct titheinac.:cu t respecting Vt`.,a, hear.) He assurede t h h l e ie N i o ' b a l l e m L • o a. r d d e uct of the King 0 t a i few evenings ti e r i kf aa 'Roted to retract v i II 11; Past,. v o s f h b! i senitdcharg ; e s b a a u g n t a , Y f lat H h ol e la s n h d o . u — ld ' i lia-statement into which lie ininststtehaadt oAffbnneianrgnha,bltehteofarnetltraectf lit4°."\atement was, that it was too mitigated.—(Hear, iota ) As lie had been again called on by the Noble 41ettile h oped the House would excuse bins if he detained Le y Y Putting the case of the Belgians in its proper light. paled, svt,cre aware that the King, or, as he was then 4w.°e Stachholder of Holland, was in military posses tbllied Bothe Provinces of Belgium, as Commissary of the L 'tt e :r ei gns, and that although the annexation of I °' ''O l' s rti ces to Holland was determined on in 1814, it 1 4 ie, ()ill "ropleted until August, 1815. But, in the mean I lit4 r i ng of Holland was in military possession of i' k ' there was in that country no magistracy, no ll '' o l it i u t i t i b r i tYs no law but the will of the Stadtholder ; , lit t ,e it very truly be said that the Belgians expressed l it tila a In gness to the union. How could they? Dare '' t 1 1 -: 6 f them, under such circumstances, throw ` lt i ti telfltt about it?—(Hear, hear.) The King in ab•Way- ? r ed the Constitution to a Committee. But 4,,:el per vatted was distinguished by the chicanery hip t had , the whole conduct of drat King. •aT t .a a t i, str eady agreed to the Constitution, and . well they 1 4 , the c ' 5 3 , had all the advantages of it on their own side; II her fonstitution was referred to a Congressof an equal i4 t i te ° l, I) titch and Belgian Notables. With respect to e 4i des ; th en, it was merely acts agere. Of 1,603 ~;ritlier-uttitnoned by the King, 1,321 attended, and of ira t a t , v,ated against the Constitution 796, and for it tltP''(ai e ttl e King declared that the 527 were a ma is, li e . s t , and a laugh)—and bow did he make this 10 I Q , t 8 ,4 11 that the reason which 126 Members had 1 , , they ..eir votes was not a good one, and that, the.re laeWntse t t nn id go for nothing, as if a vote was anything Ittlia; ''ecatise there was a reason for it.—(Hear, and iti, l , i t 11110,41114 mere—he decided that all those who were oid,%. 1,100 considered as having voted for the Con lik s ea& "us be made out a majority. As to the Noble 'le I vas , h rlati ° ,l , that the objection of the Catholic No adab;osee to the freedom of religious opinion, the lyi t 1 1 04 °4 ght to remeniber, that in that a great part 1 th t 4 ,tely, s t e h a greed with the Notables, and that, until gb iti g abi t (7.thajority of the House of . Commons ware t t , eta. ,s'oting in favour of the opinion of the 126 y ttl‘,...tites, that all religions should not be equally 11: 4 , 1t ch M e at.) But he (Air. O'Connell) differed b - t qabi -4 t t " from the Belgian Prelates and the friends k aid th ' c 'td in that House.—(Hear.) But it could Il gii,h tat, because the Di on held the PPinims of I. tilsiloalq Sse of Commo'ns on a general question, their I . ,!fai he disallowed. Nor could therehe ally more e rne :v"lenee of the force and fraud by which 'th te a s P eted than the King's making up such a 'i? kl g i, The Noble Lord considered the taxes imposed pa I'4 4'B not oppressive or unjust. What was the 111tYtael,t greatest Part of the taxation ' was collected for kti t itti, c i f the debt of tha United Provinces. But Isita,,Atist%tie union Belgium had no debt. There t ~,°f an !I'elgian dent amounting to twenty-eight t iplv ue a i i ii . css that is thirtien Millions of guilders, or itkard s a,.°° !te:ling. But the debt of Holland itself litii tl lat theul; tinily-nine millions sterling. No wonder i ir ly 1 , / . 1‘,,, h , .!'tch alaould have been so well pleased with I \i a a l t tea t 4 .,4 0 ° they were enabled to throw their debt of ki aael. s kea t ns °Pon another nation. —(Year, hear.) e t , er) here ° Which Belgium was subject in the time 14) tt)tellNth_°°lY one-third of the taxes which Hol ttli,rt7etade e 4 rn i to pay in the time of peace.—(Hear, "'ea 4 ' 41 '' `...,2 tazn Was i ^ ersi^ ever , year, he r aunt sp eed? . .. a , ''.! .P,I - s -g . , _ ~ 1 cide , .,,,,,,, . ,) nave been either h national bank ilaa, a t,,, t} .iit aa , of f n wllEi:i2ehl one K ur millions sterling tkftlttlaori the debt, ninon only was ' l t 'ili.,,n 0 1 , i; nuteh, the payment of the remainder tit,',i.e i ians• The population of Belgiu was had _ l4 t of Holland only two and a half; but " 111:10y r epresentatives in the Chambers : eo that, as all the measures of the King were in favour of Holland, be had, of course, all the Dutch Deputies on his side; and it was only necessary for him to bribe over a few of the Belgians to command a majority in the Clim bers on every question, however unjust to Belgium. Never was there a mote unjust, iniquitous, and oppressive union, unless, perhaps, the Noble Lord would remind him that there was one exception.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord said that the Trial by Jury was of no value to the Belgians under Napoleon, and that they did not care for it. But the fact was that the Dutch King, when only Com missary of the Allied Powers, issued an arret abolishing the Trial by Jury. Front the union to the time of the re volution, petition after petition was sent to the Chambers, praying for the restoration of the Jury ; and, as the people could not hold public meetings to express their complaints, a protest was circulated, reprobating the abo lition, to which it alluded in these words, " La Jure est assa.ssine dans la Belgique." As to the three codes, com pared to them the legislation of the middle ages was en lightened. On the 11th of December, 1821, the King sent a message to the Chambers, in which he declared that he would not allow the Trial by Jury—(Hear, hear)—be cause, forsooth, it was an exotic importation which never could take root in Belgium. Before the union, every wit ness in a Belgian Court was examined before the public, and every one must know the great advantage that is gained towards eliciting truth by the open examination of witnesses. But in the same arret by which the Trial by Jury was abrogated, he also ordered that witnesses should be examined in private.—(Hear, hear, hear.) The Noble Lord denied that the independence of Judges was interfered with. But how ' did the King manage that ? The Constitution provided that there should be a new appointment of Judges ; that the first ap pointment should be made by the King, and that all future appointments should be subject to tie approbation of the Chambers. The Constitution provided that the Judges should hold their seats for life, unless removed by an act of the Chambers. But the King having the first ap pointments made them all provisional, and so they re mained for the whole fifteen years of his reign, notwith standing the law that they should be appointed for life. The King was said to be one of the wisest of philosophers, and his mode of keeping the Judges dependent on his will in spite of the law, was one proof of his cunning if not of his wisdom. The law provided that the people should have independent Judges ; but he withheld the nomina tion. It was denied that he persecuted the Press, although on the 25th April, 1815, he issued an Ordonnance, de claring that it was a high crime for any one to publish anything tending to create di s t rus t in the' Government; and he fixed the minimum of punishment at solitary im prisonment for one year, and the maximum at—not tran sportation or banishment—but death.—(Hear, hear.) This was the law to which the Belgic Press was subject for the fifteen years of the philosophical Monarch's reign l and was it a dead letter ?--No, indeed. Not a year passed without a prosecution being instituted under these laws. In July, 1830, there were thirty-two prosecutions commenced in one day. Would the House allow him to state what were the crimes in some of those cases.—( Hear.) It was one of the provisions of the Constitution that all persons who had resided in Belgium two years before the Union of 1815, were entitled to all the privileges of native born subjects. Notwithstanding that law, the Mini ster of the Interior expelled two French gentlemen from the country, and a person who sent a memorial to the King in their behalf, and published a protest in the public papers against the illegal conduct of the Minister, was im mediately arrested and confined for several days in solitary confinement, at the end of which he was indicted for a transportable offence, but the law being clearly in his favour, he was acquitted, to the disappointment of the King and his Minister. A Catholic Priest, much respected by his parishioners, was fond of employing his leisure hours in writing of Latin verses. He one evening read some of those verses at the table of a family with whom he dined. In one of those verses there was a line to the effect that the Belgians could not bear a foreign yoke. Fur reading that line at a private table the Priest was confined for two years in solitary imprisonment.—(Hear, hear.) There was the Liberty of the Press which the wise and benevolent King bestowed upon Belgium. As to De Potter, he should pass over the case of that gentleman, as perhaps, the Noble Lord would think that the Dutch Government had treated him well enough, inasmuch as lie was a political writer. But what would the Noble Lord say to the punishment of Van der Staaten ? That gentle man published a moderate work upon the science of poli tical economy, and was arrested on the very day of its publication. In the mean time the trial of De Potter was proceeding, and one of his friends, a lawyer, holding office under the Crown, was employed to defend him. When the lawyer rose in the Court to open the eh-fence, a messenger put into his hand his dismissal from office. On the same principle the Crown proceeded towards the lawyers acting for Van Staaten. That writer applied to some of the most eminent lawyers in Belgium to draw up the pleadings for him, which were to be sent to the Judges, as the statement of his de fence. The pleadings being drawn up, were signed in the usual way by the defendant's lawyers. Every man of them was immediately sent to prison, and confined for seven weeks. When at length brought to trial, they were ac quitted, but the King forbad them to practise again in their profession.—(Hear, hear.) But in consequence of the strong remonstrances of the Belgic Bar, they were again permitted to plead, after a suspension of twelve months. it was true, indeed, as the Noble Lord assured him, that he had badly stated the case which he undertook the other night. lie had, indeed, understated the wrongs of the people whom he had attempted to defend. Who could forget the trial of the seven Bishops? Who could forget the revolution to which it gave rise ?—(Hear, hear, hear.) Oppressive as was the prosecution of these Prelates— were their Counsel sent to gaol?—(Hear, hear.) Where could the Noble Lord point out a parallel to the tyranny of that King who sent the advocate to prison for undertaking the defence of the accused ?—(Cheers.) Nor did the King monopolise the convenience of his law against the Press to his own Government; but had allowed the King of France, and even the beloved Ferdinand to avail them selves of it !—( Hear.) Some writer in a newspaper said, that the beloved Ferdinand was a very good embroiderer— (A laugh) —but he at the same time expressed some doubt that the Virgin would like her statue to be decked out in a petticoat worked by hands stained with innocent blood._.( Hear.) The man was prose: uted, and received the punishment due to so great a libeller. The Duke of Wellington was also a prosecutor of the Belgian Press. Some One said that a French colony was neglected because the Governor was a friend to the Duke of Wellington, and was desirous of forcing the colonists to throw themselves into the arms of England. The Duke laid his damages at 10,000 florins, and the Judges gave him five florins. But then the poor printer was ordered to pay the costs of both parties. He (Mr. O'Connell) would not say that the Duke threw his costs upon the poor man. lie thanked the House for the attention with which they had betted him vindicate his own statements, and he was now unwil ling to detain them longer.—(Hear, hear.) But there were one or two other points which he shonid beg per mission to notice. For example, it had teen the practice of the Dutch Monarch, in making dismissals from his service, to insert, in some few instances, the words " honourably dismissed" in the act of dismissal ; where those words were not inserted, the persons dismissed lost all their political rights. A burgomaster mimed Henniker offered some oppositiors to the imposition of a tax-lie was turned out of office, and lost all his political rights. Another public officer was dismissed for signing a petition in favour of the Jury I.aw, and he lost all his political rights. Baron Steesard, a B e l g i an by birth, was 25 years in the French service, by which he became entitled to a pension of 4,000 francs if Ire remained in France; but as he preferred hia native country, that pension was changed to 1,800 guilders, about equal to 4,000 f. He was a member of the Second Chamber, and for no other reason than that he supported a motion for taking into consideration a pe tition complaining of grievances, his political rights were also taken away. With these facts before the House, of which the moss satisfactory proof multi be given, the I,';oble LOrd thought proper to Come Upon him with charges of misrepresentation in a statement, every word of which was borne out by the facts. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman then tsent on to complain, that his observations upon this subject on a former night had not been fully re ported ; there were, the remarked portions of the public ss this country, who were intelligent enough, and who fully understood all that was calculated to promote their own objects. There was 18,000,000;. of Dutch debt,a considerable portion of which was held by persons re sident in this country; would it be thought that the fundholders Lad no influence upon a 'certain leAding jour nal ? Still he had not expected—however short their ac count of whst he seid ;night be e —to find in its reports a sneering answer to observations made by him in that House. If the editor of a newspaper thought proper to reply to him, well and good : but it was rather new that lie should receive answers from any one else. To return to the conduct of the King of Holland—it was not only offensive to all Catholics hut to ell Christiana, ife com pletely over-veaChed the Pape ; lie 'reduced the number of Bishops to two ; he perseYered in maintaining the philo sophical college established by the Emperor Joseph, where none but the professors of theology were Catholics, where young men front the age of 19 to 22 were placed under no ecclesiastical restraint, and gave, therefore,no proof of power to resist the strongest and most delicious passion. Bear- ing in mind, then, what he had said, he was sure the House would feel that he had exaggerated nothing and eon_ coaled nothing. All that remained for Belgium was to snap the chain which bound her to Holland, and he hoped the links would never be reunited. Lord ALTHORP trusted the House would feel that that was not the proper time for prolonging a discussion of that nature. Sir 11. VYVYAN said that the Hon. Gentleman had told them that the Belgians had had sufficient ground for the course they had thought proper to adopt; but surely there was no one who bad heard the remarks of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, tooth on that and on a former night, who would not admit, that what he said was more directed to another country than to that which formed the ostensible object of his two speeches. Much had been said respecting the Belgian debt. It might be true it was not so large as that of Holland ; but it was equally true that that circumstance did not justify the Belgians in casting off their allegiance. The House then resolved itself into a Committee of Supply. Mr. S. RICE moved, that a sum of 11,2761. 19s. 3d, be granted to make good the losses sustained by two indi viduals ; tie one named Lescene, and the other Escoffery, in consequence of their having been deported from Jamaica by order of the Governor. Mr, HUME could not understand how this escaped him in the civil contingencies of 1830, but he now would Oppose the grant ; for this amongst other reasons, that the people of England ought not to be taxed for the misconduct of a Colonial Government. Mr. RICE replied, that the case of those individuals had been referred to Mr. Justice Richardson first, afterwards to Mr. Baron Bosanquet; both found that the deportation of those individuals was illegal; and it was then referred to Mr. Selwyn, to ascertain the amount of damages to which they were entitled ; a sum load been paid them on account, and the present rote was merely to complete the arrangement. . Sir GEORGE MURRAY bore out the last speaker, and gave his unqualified support to the vote. Mr. WARRE, after reading all the documi nts, thought it rather hard to call on the English public to pay for the loss incurred by those gentlemen, If, therefore, he con sented to this vote, he should do it most reluctantly, and only on the ground that such a condition bad already been entered into. Lord HOWICK observed, that it had been urged that the Duke of Manchester ought to pay this compensation ; but the answer to that was, that the Duke had acted on the advice of the Assembly and the law officers of the Crown in Jamaica; and this country was, in fact, answer able for the acts of the Governor of Jamaica, if those acts were performed under the proper advice. Sir J. BURKE said, that if the Hon. Member for Middlesex wooed re-shape mseolteito.tn.ciotmsinhoiuttlede,hainvethliiiss was agai ns t th e appo i ntment of case, I r uc t Eb h eeToitfihEo serv ice. ußgE Sit a Select Committee; and, with respect to the Duke of Man chester, he did not see what course that Nobleman could have pursued but that of following the advice which the Crown afforded him through the regular officers. Mr. F. PALMER thought that these individuals had been most cruelly arid unjustly used ; and it was of no con sequence to him whether it had been done by the Duke of Manchester or the Assembly at Jamaica. After the clear statement made of these cruelties, he was bound to say that, thank God, such a case, as emanating from British Govern ment, hail never been heard of before; and he did think that this Committee was, in duty bound, to make them the best recompence within its power. Mr. Serjeant WILDE said that, in his opinion, the Committee ought immediately to confirm this act of jus tice, as the delay of seven years that had taken place looked very like a denial of it. After a few words from Mr. BURGE, Mr. O'CONNELL said their case had been most anxiously investigated by Mr. Justice Bosanquet, *hose character all parties appeared to unite to eulogize, and that learned person had decidee in their favour. Their case for compensation was therefore, in his opinion, fully made out. It was also clear to him, that in this case the Duke of Manchester was not responsible, for he had only acted under the advice of the Council and the Law Officers of Jamaica. Mr. HUNT said, that if these individuals ought to have compensation, so ought those individuals who had been imprisoned in this country tinder the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. Mr. F. PALMER said, the attack made upon him by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman (Mr. Burge) would perhaps have had more force, could he (Mr. Palmer) for get the office which that lion, and Learned Gentleman had held in Jamaica, and which must necessarily have im plicated him in the transaction in question. Mr. BURGE said, that in the opinion he had formed on the subject, he had been backed by the Council of the Assembly in Jamaica. Mr. K. DOUGLAS defended the Duke of Manchester. Mr. HUME briefly replied, and could not consent to this vote till further information was given. The Committee then divided, when there appeared— For the motion Against it l2 Majority ~ —lO5 The next vote was for the sum of 5,794/. for the Pro. testant Charity Schools, Ireland. Mr. S. RICE stated, in answer to a question from Mr. Hume, that the grant would be diminished next year, and he hoped would in a year after altogether cease.—Vote agreed to. The next vote was for 27,8241. for the Foundling Hos pital, Dublin, for 1831. Mr. S. RICE explained that this vote was in a gradual course of reduction, and be thought that the sooner the vote was departed from the better. After a short conversation the vote was agreed to. The sum of 21, 9 00/. was next voted for the House of Industry in Dublin for the year 1631. 1,. 388/ was voted for the Richmond Lunatic Asyl um, Dublin, for the year 1831. 6,323/. was also voted for the Hibernian Society for Soldiers' Children for 1831. ie l l 2 , i t/. rn i s a v n a thes Aia r n n e e x s t o v c o i t e e t3 fo r defraying ,whi,th the was expence agreed to, a of f te r a few words from Mr. Humr, complaining of the expence of the establishment, and recommending its abolition. Mr. S. RICE said it was unreasonable to expect it to be immediately abolished, but it was in a course of reduc tion, and all admissions were stopped. 1,299/. was also voted for the Female Orphan House. 2,9001. was voted for the Westmorland Lock Hospital, for 1831. 2,000/. was next voted for the Lying-in Hospital, for 183 1,5781. was also voted for Dr. Stephen's Hospital, for 831. 2 : 8601. was granted for tLe Fever Hospital, Cork-street, Dublin, fin• 1831. 4651. was also voted for the Hospital for Incurables, for 1831. The CHAIRMAN was then ordered to report progress. The House resumed, and the report was ordered to he received to-morrow. WINE DUTIES, On the motion of Lord ALTJIORP, the Order of the Day for the second reading of the Wine Duties Bill wazi read ; and the question was then put, that the Bill be now read a second lime., Mr. COURTENAY, in opposing the second reading of the Bill, begged to be understood aa not personally posing the Noble Lord. In the situation in which he stood, as well as when he was in office finder the Govern ment, he had given this subject a great deal of attention, and, Le thought, embracing principles somewhat similar to those adopted by the Government, he had come to the conclusion that it was not possible to alter these duties without acting inconsistently with treaties. The Right Hon. Gentleman then read thi; llicchuen Treaty, and 'con tended chat :it was ir.tended, frCrat'its terini, to 'be perpe tual, sinles both nations agreed to put an end to it. The Noble Lord might, by putting a tortuous construction on some parts, feel himself at liberty to say, that England had the power, if she pleased to pay the penalty, ro terminate her portion of the contract; 'but he (Mr. 'COurtenziy) de nied that, in any moral point of view, the Government were justified in adopting such a course ; and fie must say, from all he had heard, that the Noble Lord ar.d hir, col- leagues, after having aciviLed a breach of - the treaty with the morality of a pettifogger, now attempted . to justify his advice with the sophis.ry of a smuggler.—(A laugh.) He admitted that this c untry might iae induced to pro pose a telaninatiou of the treaty in consequence' of re peated grievances snstinel from the portu gg es t . i b..ut he denied tliat the Howe of Comoitmr, had any knowledge of any such grievances ainoe It3la, neatly twenty years ago. If it was attempted to be said that there were other and mor e recent grievances to complain of, he would say, on the strength, of very bi 4 h authority, that they had ;been r,nd most satiaia:ctorilv redressed;' fOr the Speech from the Throne, in which those 'grievances were called insults and injuries, added at the same time that they had been redressed in a 'stunner which rendered any further measures wholly or necessary. After observing that the Government of the country was bound to preserve its faith the more tenaciously with Portugal, because its strength and power precluded Portugal from going to war to maintain her rights, the Right lion. Gentleman pro-, 7 ceetied to contend that the treaty of 1810 alluded to the Methuen Treaty as being perpetual. Mr. ROBERTSON said that the Right Hon. Gentle man bad made an extraordinary use of his statements, and he confessed he thought the opponents of the measure would not derive much advantage from his argutnents.— (Hear, and a laugh.) The Right Hon. Gentleman placed 'he whole question on the perpetual character of the Methuen Treaty; but it must be recollected that at the end of fifteen years after the signing of that treaty, either party was at liberty to put an end to it if they thought fit. Dismissing it, therefore, he meant to apply himself to the purely commercial point of the question, and on that be believed the Government had committed a very dangerous error. The Vice-President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Thomson) bad asked, with an air of triumph, if they thought that the Portuguese would deprive themselves of some of the most necessary articles of consumption, purely because this country admitted French wines on better terms? He (Mr. Robertson) would ask, however, what was to prevent the Portuguese from equalising the duties on all the articles of export from England ? According to the returns of 1830, it appeared that the exports to Portugal on official value amounted to two millions and a hal', in addition to 200 000/. worth of cod shipped from our colonies of Newfoundland. The fish which Portugal took from the fisheries of Newfoundland amounted to 300,000 kiltres. The transport employed 100 sail of vessels, and it was received at a duty of 15 per cent., while the fish brought by our great rivals, the Ameri cans and the Norwegians, paid a duty of 30 per cent. It was said, however, that British industry might .sanely be left to a competition in this supply of cod-fish. But what was the result of that competition in the case of Spain ? Twenty years ago the Norwegians and Ame ricans supplied Spain with 10,000 kiltres, and Eng land carried 80,000 kiltres. At the present mo ment the 80,000 were supplied by the Americans and the Norwegians, and the 10,000 kiltres by England. The truth was, that Portugal took more from this country than Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and France, with their population of 45,000,000. We took, he said, from several States ten times as much as we did from Portugal, and this proved that imports had nothing to do with this question, but that it entirely depended on other circum stances. He strongly protested against the project of the Noble Lord, in which he proposed to give up a certain market in Portugal, upon the speculation of obtaining a market in France—a speculation, too, which there was no reason to believe could be successful. The Noble Lord wished to reduce the duties on French wines for the pur pose of encouraging France to enter into more extensive trade with us, awl to admit our manufactures. No en couragement, he contended, was at all likely to make France do any such thing. Had we not even experience whereby to be guided on this point? In 1825, the duty on French wines had been reduced 6s. 6d. a gallon, and the result had been that our imports from France were now twice as great as at that period, and our exports only half what they had then been. Now it was only proposed to reduce the duty 2s. 9ii., and what good could they pos sibly expect from that ? It was idle for us, he contended, to endeavour to persuade other nations to join with us in adopting the principles of what was called free trade. Other nations knew as well as the Noble Lord opposite, and those who acted with him, what we meant by free trade was nothing more nor less than, by means of the great advantages we enjoyed, to get a monopoly of all their markets for our manufactures, and to prevent them, one and all, from ever becoming manufacturing nations. When this system of reciprocity and free trade had been proposed to a French Ambassador, his remark was that the plan was excellent in theory, but to make it fair in practice, it would be necessary to defer the attempt to put it in execution for half a century, until France should be on the same footing with Great Britain in marine, in manufactures, in capital, and the many other peculiar ad vantages which it now enjoyed. The policy that France acted upon was that of encouraging its native manufactures, and it was a wise policy; because, if it were freely to ad mit oar manufactures, it world be speedily reduced to the rank of an agricultural nation ; and therefore a poor na tion, as all must be that depend exclusively upon agricul ture. America, too, acted upon the same principle with France. America legislated for futurity—legislated for an increasing population. America, too, was prospering un der this system. In twenty years America would be inde pendent of England for manufactures altogether. He begged to ask the Noble Lord why it was that Govern ment, embarrassed as it was with the Reform Bill, should have brought forward the question of the Wine Duties at all this year ? What was the reason ; what the pressing ne cessity? In this measure Ministers were departing from the principle they had themselves laid down ; they were taking a tax off the wealthier and higher classes, and imposing it upon the middle and lower classes. Either considering the measure as a question of policy or fininee, it was one of the worst and most unfortunate which could possibly be submitted to the House of Commons. If they even did succeed in transferring the whole wine trade from Portugal to France, all that they would have effected was, to give advantages to a rival in a mari time and commercial point of view, and to take advantages away from a nation which could never compete with us, either as a maritime, commercial, or manufacturing country. As a question of policy, therefore, the measure was bad; as a question of finance he had shewn it was bad. It would do great injury to the wine trade in this country, and withal be of no benefit to that class of indi viduals who could afford to drink Champagne, Burgundy, and Claret. The quantity of French wines, of the first growth, actually produced, was so small, that the import could not lie increased ; and with French wines of :ha se cond and third growth, the people of thin country never would he satisfied. He contended that the policy pursued by all statesmen was to encourage the connection with the friendly country which afforded us the market, in prefe rence to the riv a l State which withheld it. Even Air. iluskisson, w h e n America raised her tariff, d ec l ared, that if this li ne o f policy was persevered in, perhaps England might, in se lf-defence, raise the duties i n h er turn, and olte since r world,ce countriestl'e peaceand wellani g h monopo of t h e world had. i France, G ermany,; take cott ons f ro m Brazil, and so show A mer i ca we could do wi t h out h er . During the war, h e remarked, we were America, carriers e h sm e riites aa n f t i i i r the ai whole commerce; the butl other proceed e d u p on the principle of enco urag i ng and protect ing native manufactures. England alone, iay depart• ing front this policy, had injured h er trade end difficulty m a eree, a was indobitahly acce l erating that dis tr which would h ereafter assail us. If the aystem of establishing low prices for manufac tures were continued—if the price of agriculsatra; produce were to be lowered by the repeal of the protecting corn laws (which would be t i ne next thing called for) if we were to have all our corn from Poland —our ;ilk and all the oth er com modities we wanted f rom other countries, it was t rue the consumers—that i s t h e few —would be beri efittetdo asked the Noble Lord, wh o was to pay the, but the many would be ruin e d ; and then, be begg e d taxes ? After the corn laws, the next thing meddled with would be the Funds. It was impasaih/e the funded sys• And the result of all th ese a l terations would tern could be continued titular such a n i ncreas i ng cry for low pric es . he, to place the country in the worst of all eitalationa— namely, that of having only two classes, the extremely wealthy and the extremely peer, Ile should, therefore, under these circ . umstanees move, as auamendment, th e resolutions of which he had given notice. He w,-,s ready o foreign y u i t n y c s o , , on French e N n V c h h a t w l i i n e es o a bj l e y c h t i e l d e to was, iv t s h o i 7 ed o 4 f s t t l i i o e fe h n, o o a f t ut g y o e n the Noble L or d the adval 4 ,P.g3 of t h e i ncreased d there at the same time an inq•ea,;. of the du ty on t h e Portugal wines, I 'C Pau - a. Member- then read his reso lution, which stated the amount of exports and import s as b e tween this country ' and Tortuga}, al ' and as t . ,eteen this co untry and France, contrastint• theta with a view of showing that, as rag - ard c• • q populatzon, the imports fram France, as compared l o the 'exports to t • castutry, were m uch larger than as lest t ) .• . een taaa country and Port i a a l, much to tha advant age of Fran He begged to add no w, that since the re d uction of theed.ut the exports to that cou n t ry had been f y , en French wines 11fr. COI RTENAI7, i t ex courtesy, said that he had been accused, oi a Nyant of of which he thought that in the whole of I • • its Parliamentary life be bad never been gutly.—(Hear.) Mr. H. ylt 4 , l p ir4 b had been the first person to call f i he. a",tention of the iieuese to this tr a d e , m i g ht now be permitted to addr ess the s ubject. He should not 1 p 1 7 1 . 1k a few oba erga ti ons upon t h e it requisite t o f o ll ow t h e had just addressed to lion. Gentleman in' the discursive speech tlat he fhe ) The liberal which the r• • po,.cy - proposed to pursue was objected to not Only on its account, but on account of the manner in which it was proposed th to he carried into effect. He was much surprised that the Member for Totness, si,ct l e Right Herr. Centleman, re construe reg"ilient which had li a la ( r.attnlpted to • h been so often intro duced, and which had been as often which ' answered, The ar gument to he alluded was that the of tapou su Jet. the Methuen Treaty, lie believed that the Government would ba faliy abie to show that they treaty c I p . u , t upon that t i r t ea h , the canoe construction as that which Mr. Pitt. The treaty of 18 0 only in N t a r -l ol u e s ed ul t ) h o e n neces sity sity of giving notice in the event of a proposition for the alteration of any of the stipulations in the treaty. Both these treaties were now in full force. No alteration was attempted to be made in any of the matters respects , ing which a notice of alteration was required. The &dining state of Portugal—the necessity of seek ing for fresh markets for our produce and marm factures—the change that had taken place in the policy of Europe since the Methuen treaty was entered into—and, above all, the necessity of strengthening the bonds of good-will between this country and France; these all-important elements of consideration deserved the fullest attention, and they had received nothing more than their just and proper weight in the Bill now before the House. This country had long been in an unwise po sition with regard to France, and he feared that the blame of the error lay chiefly, if not entirely, with ourselves. It arose from the undue preference which for 150 years we had chosen to give to Portugal. In that preference we were wrong; and he hoped that it was now beginning to he understood that strict commercial amity and alliance with France ought to be the chiefest care of Statesmen ivho desired to preserve the peace of Europe, and who wished their country to pursue a career of prosperity and honour. In his opinion, an independent legislation, and an active diplomacy founded upon the knowledge of the internal wants of the French people (a know 'edge but too little cultivated hitherto, but which might be easily acquired), would give us a party in France always favourable to our commercial inte i eats ; and which, if its good will had been properly culti vated, would before now have opened all the ports of the country to our productions. For what was this great ad vantage to be sacrificed ? For an object which he thought lie might call the key of the Hon. Gentleman's argument— he meant the trade in Newfoundland fish. Were the people of this country to inflict on themselves the evil of losing the good-will of France, lest by accident—for he denied that there was any necessary connection between the two things—lest by accident the Portuguese Government should lay upon the importation of Newfoundland fish a rate of duty not at present imposed upon it. He was happy to say that the inhabitants of Newfoundland themselves did not seem affected by the same fear. Another fear was in , deed not a little ridiculous—it was perfectly unfounded. 1 It was actually ridiculous to suppose that the Portuguese would lay a duty on the small quantity of our woollen ma nufactures so as to exclude them, while we continued to indulge the same taste for Portugal wine which we at pre sent manifested. If Portugal were so unwise as to do so, ruinous possessed inousreta in our hands h iiation_a retaliationte meanswhich of a Portugal and le woulda not venture to expose herself to. The Honourable Mem ber was mistaken as to his idea of imports and exports. The imports from France were not the imports of French manufactures, but consisted chiefly of half-manufactured silks, which were brought through France, but which in fact came from Italy. In the same manner a large proportion of our export trade to France, being a smug gling trade, did not appear in the official returns, and could not therefore be opposed to the official imports all of which were accurately known. These were the facts of the Hon. Member ; they were unfortunate for him, for they by no means made out his case. His arguments a ere equally infelicitous ; for the complaint he made being that our trade with France was languishing under restrictions, the remedy he proposed was to continue, if not to increase, the amount of the existing restrictions. Mr. SADLER said, that the system eulogized by the Hon, Gentleman opposite was one which tended to create great distress among the agricultural and manufacturing classes. These two classes were now suffering from distress almost unexampled.—(No, no.) There was one point of view in which the proposed free intercourse system might be economical, for if it were fully established, he thought, the Board of Trade might fairly be dispensed with.— (Hear and laughter,) He would tell those gentlemen who recommended this experiment, that it had already been tried, and it had not answered. Were we to favour the French manufacturer at the expense of Portugal, at the lexpence of the destruction of a power with which we had been so long united, and which had been so faithful to all her engagements.—(Oh, -oh.) He concluded by declaring his concurrence with the resolution proposed by the Host. Member for Worcester. Lord ALTHORP said, that as an Hon. Gentleman had read the whole of the Methuen Treaty through, every gentleman in the House must now be satisfied that it provides the alternative that Portugal shall continue to give our manufactures a preference, so bug as we impose a less duty on her wines than on those of France ; or that she may refuse our woollens, should we place the French wines on the same footing with the Portuguese. The fact so much relied on in their arguments by Hon. Gentlemen, that our trade with Franca was of less value than with any other country, seemed to him to be a strong proof that our commercial policy hitherto towards that country hail been extremely injudicious. The extent of our trade with Portugal was not occasioned by any su perior commercial advantages accruing from it to us; but from this circumstance, that the wines of that country were better suited to the taste of the people of this country than to the taste of any other people in Eorope. The agricultural and commercial distress fur some time pre vailing in this country had not been occasioned by free trade, but by the expensive wars in which we had been so long engaged. He had heard no argument which should induce the House to reject the measure which had been agreed to in Committee. After a few words from Mr. Alderman TiroatrsoN and Mr. HERR.I , I s , Mr. P. THOMSON said he would make but a few observations. The Right Hon. Gentleman said that Mr. Pitt had entered into negociations with reference to the Methuen Treaty. Ilut how different were the circum stances of the two periods ? At that period Mr. Pitt hoped to be able to induce Portugal to alter her system, and to return to the observance of good faith. But his elfors were fruitless; and ail subsequent efforts of the same kind had proved fruitless. What had been the re sult of the aegociations of 1812? Coming, as they did, so soon after the treaty of 1810, it might have been hoped that they would be successful. If, however, the strong re presentations which we made to Portugal at that time were not attended ta, what could we expect from a renewal of negociation at the present moment, but to continua , ticn of the conduct which Portugal bad pursued for se ventythesituation, years ? SA.ie A win t io,e t r r rt i i n efo g yr) of resol ut i ons h ad been proposed by Mr. S. WOR TLEY felt himself in rather a difficult N w V a o s r c o e p s p t e o r s , , d i t t i hostility o tii e B ill ; t o b u t h t e i t was quite a quite a different thing to be opposed to the Bill, and to support the Hon. Member's resolutiona. To the substance of those resolutions he strongly objected. With al! deference to the Hon. Gen . ..lc-man by whom they had been proposed, he !twat say that he had never seen any re solutions comprehending more misrepresentations, or so many allagations, not borne out by tbs.. facts. Whenever the discussion on the Bill should come forward, he would oppose the measure ; but not on the grounds stated by the Hon. Member for Worcester. Mr. HVAJE rose merely to say, that the Bill was di vided into two parts ; and that he would, on the motion for the Speaker's leaving the Chzir, state his objections to that part of the Bill which related to the Cape of Good Hope. It would be totally ruinous to that colony; and was in, every way contrary to sound paliey. If ever a case called for condetnnation ias was this measure ; and he believed there never 'aad been a proposition of equal atrocity. Mr. 11,;TtIGE. also characterise k i, :hi , measure as a viola t;on of all the principles by witch our colonial policy ought to be guided. iik; would, therefore, take a similar oppor tunity of stating his objections to the Bill in detail. Mi. ROBINSON (in the midst of loud cries of spoke! spoke !) declared that his arguments remained taanswered. The resolutk..za were then negatived without a division ; and the bill was read a second shoe, and ordered to be committed on Monday n.;,...xt. The other ;'orders of the Day were then disposed of, and at Two o'clock this morning the House adjourned. LUST OF THE MINORITX On t 1 e: Akotion for the Grant to Lesmi' pah•Kl Escoffery. Blarnire, W. Gordon, R. James, W. Burke, Sir J. Guim Sit W. B I Williams, Sir J. H. Dick, Quintin God,io - 11 R. Dixon, J. Hodgson , John Gillon, W, Hunt, H. TELLER. flume, Joseph On Wednesday a bronze statue was erected in Hanover-square, to the memory of the late Right Hon. WILLIAM PITT, 011 a pedestal composed of the; best Scotch granite, sixteen feet in height, exclusive of the statue, which is ten feet high, and weighs upwards of iour tons. Mr. CHANTRY is the sculptor. Woiken commenced on Thursday morning in taking clown the iron railing of the square, for the pur-xise of enlarging the squar e , eight feet on eo.ch side. A number of shrubberies a,e to be planted and gravel walks !aid out in se;pentine and various other directions, with some seats and arbours for 4 .14- accommo dation cf c.otapany. The iron railini eactosing the square -Rill be entirely new and is to ';.,e six feet in height, 'The rats, which feed on the 1 - Ise flesh at one of tYy " .Abattoirs" of Paris, Lee so numerous that the " Council, of Health" tin which we suppose the jurisdic ' tion in such cases is vested) have deter rained that the offal should be removed to a greater distance from the city, les a countless host of those destructive quadruped, may make an incursion on the good people of Jew:is. Some idea can be formed of the number, by the fact, that on one occasion 6,000 were killed by some men and dogs, in a very fen hours. - ~/ ~ . / 1 h 1L...~._- _~.._. THE NEW BEER THU. The clamour, chiefly of the church, against cheap , wer, has produced alterations of the late Beer Act, as to the licensing and the powers of the police. In the discussion of the subject in the Upper House, on Monday week, the feeling towards the poor was unequivocally manifested. The Duke of Wellington 'vas for shutting up the houses after the hours of .cork, at four o'clock in winter, and six in summer. He did not think it necessary or desirable that the !abourer should refresh himself after labour. Oh ! beer lat i cellarsiz.aar Lazarus after t lo s 1 hoursck u ofph Duke's send and eode him to the pump to slake his thirst I Lord Tenterdsn thought the labourer should have time to refresh himself after toil ; but, on Lord Melbourne's ob serving that great complaints bad been made that he houses were shut at unnecessarily early hours, he appeared to repent him of his mercy, and said, " he hoped the cause of complaint would be in creased." That's right, my Lord, right aristocratic —more groans, and more cause for them. Grind the faces of the poor, pinch them, squeeze them, oil them, cross them, deny them. Should they he used as well as your horses, which drink when they are cool, after work ? Oh I no, certainly not. But are not these things scored in the hearts of the poor % Is there not kept a reckoning for a day that has come to others, and may come to us, when the 4 hard man will be all meekness, and have all the 4, Christian claims in his mouth for himself, that he has denied to his humble fellow -man ? The Bishops, as usual, argued that the Beer Act was bad for the Sabbath; meaning thereby, disap proved by clerical magistrates. When the turn of Lazarus comes in heaven, he will see Dives, under a rigorous licensing act, in Tartarus; and Dives will, we think, have a mitre on his head; and he will ask for boiling justice juice to quench his fiery thirst, and be told that it is forbidden between the eternities. The discussion on the Beer Act was renewed on Thursday, when the Bishop of London uplifted his voice against the enormity of skittle -grounds; and declared, that if he stood alone, he would move a clause imposing penalties on the retailers of beer who kept skittle-grounds. The pretended objection is, the annoyance to the owners of neighbouring land; th e rea l one, t h at skittles is an amusement of the poor. The Bishop may make his mind easy about skittles; he, and such men as he, are going the right way to set the people at another game of bowls. The only measure of our time, that has had for object the comfort of the poor, has been this Beer Act ; and see how it has provoked the malevolent spleen of the aristocrats, who feel as if their autho rity had received a shock whenever the poor are seen in possession of an enjoyment. Lord Mel bourne's heart is not in the defence of the existing law. He is very lamb-like in his triode of treating absurd and vexatious propositions. At first he ob jected to such ridiculously minute legislation as that desired by out Right Reverend Father in God, touching skittle-grounds. But, on the Bishop's per sisting, he said the suggestion should be considered. His Lordships seems quite imbecile in the hands of the zealots. The rich are constantly pretending to apprehend the invasions of the poor. Let us suppose the poor legislating for the rich, in the spirit i❑ which the rich legislate for the poor—that is, in utter reckless ness of the comforts and conveniences appropriate to particular coadit►ons—and of their value to the possessors, Full liberty of skittles would be granted ; but Almack's would be prohibited, as annoying, by the noise and confusion, to King's-place and the vicinity. Routs would be prohibited; and the case of Lord Londonderry's parties would be mentioned as example of the nuisance, rendering, as they do, Park-lane im passable. Club-houses would be closed during divine ser vice hours on Sundays, and by • four o'clock in winter, and six in summer. Cards and dice for bidden under heavy penalties. The path-stopping Act would be repealed, and, in lieu of it, a Bill would be passed, enabling certain authorized persons to cut off the parks and pleasure grounds of great houses, 'and turn them to pasture of tillage, for the benefit of the poor of the district. —Examiner. BEER ACT AMENDMENT BILL. Lord Melbourne, on Tuesday last, presented to the House of Lords hie Bill to amend the Beer Act. It is entitled—" A Bill to amend an Act passed in the Fit at Year of his present Majesty's Reign, entitled an Act to permit the general Sale of Beer and Cider by retail in England." The preamble sets forth that, " Whereas an Act was passed in the first year of the reign of his present Majesty, entitled ' An Act to permit the general Sale of Beer and Cider by retail in England,' and whereas the said recited Act requires to be amended, be it therefore enacted," &c. Its clauses provide...." I. That no licences to retail beer be granted to any constable or other peace officer. " 2. That in case of any licensed person being elected constable, tithing-man, or headborough, on production of pis licence, and proof of actually carrying on the business. :0 be discharged from office. • 3. That licence is not to be granted to any person* who shall not be the real resident occupier of the house : and assessed in respect thereof for six months to the poor's rates, or who shall not have paid the rates due, or who shall have received parochial relief. " 4. That in extra-parochial places a licence may be granted to the resident occupier of a house assessed to the inhabited house duty, if not otherwise disqualified. " 5. Repeals 1. W. IV. c. 64. sec. 4. relating to bond to be entered into by licensed victuallers. " 6. That a bond be entered into by licensed! retailers. " 7. That no person be received as a surety who is not cimself qualified to be licensed; and in case of a surety healing to be qualified, a new surety to be provided, or the licence to be void, 4• 8. That persons applying to be licensed produce a certificate from the overseer of the poor, and in extra- parochial places from the collector of taxes, of their being " assessed, and having paid their rates. Y' "9. That the overseer of the poor or tax-collector wil- - lr fully omitting or ceasing to rate any person, or wader -rating him, to prevent his obtaining a licence, or refusing a rer tifteate, to forfeit SO?. 10. Regulates the transfer of licences. " 11. Provides that it shall be lawful to any Justice or , J • l ' 7,:" Justices of th e P eace of the town, division, or place in which the house and premises of any person licensed under r ' w the provisions of the said recited Act are situate, ou coin- 7 plaint on oath that there is rioting or disturbance in such house, or that peraans are drinking or remaining therein at times or hours when such house is by law prohibited to be open, to issue his or their warrant commanding any ..- constable or other peace officer of the place to enter into such house ; and every such constable and other peace . 5 officer is hereby empowered and required to remove and ' L L put out all persons who shall be found in any such house concerned in any riot or disturbance, or drinking or re maining therein at times or hours when such house is by law prohibited to be open ; and every person who shall assault, or resist, or obstruct any constable or ether peace officer in the execution of such duty shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding ten pounds ; and any con stab'e or peace officer so assaulted, resisted, or oh structed, may immediately arrest and detain the party so offendina, and convey him before one or more Justice ar Justice of the Peace ; and the Justice or Justices before whom such person shall be brought shall, on proof of the offence, convict the person so brought before him in the penalty aforesaid ; and in case the said penalty shall not forthwith be paid, the said Justice or Justices is and are hereby required to commit the party who shall be so convicted to the gaol or house of correction for any time not exceeding three calendar months ; and if the person convicted of such offence be the licensed occupier of the house, such Justice or Justices may further adjudge and declare his licence to be forfeited, and the same shall ti ere upon become void. " 12. That in case any info oot thehe r housereac f any person e officer, after having demanded ad mi ttance licensed to retail beer or cider und er t h e said Act, and having declared his name and office at th e d oor or entrance cr. window of such !louse, anti th a t h e h is a. m ag istrate's warrant to mare, shall n o t b e admitted into such house, such li cense d person shall forfeit and p y the Ruch constable le sum of not less than 205., nor more than 10/. 13. Provides that persons licensed to retail beer alai ww, *excd