The Sun. — London, England, 1861-02-23 00:00:00

IMPE WEAL PARLIAMENT. HOW SE OF IfSRDS.—(YESTERDAY. The LOB: o Cni , :sielLLon took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clo eke CHURCH RATES. raw , ,Qt against the abolition of church rates were pre sented by seveval peers. riARRIA.GE WITH A DECEASED WIFE'S SISTER. Lord WODEHOUSE presented petitions from a place in Norf.olk, from London, and other places, in favour of legaliP . Lng the marriage with a deceased wife's sister. SECOND READINGS. The following bills were read a second time :—Dumfries, Lochmaben, and Lockerby Junction Railway ; Dartmouth and Torbay Railway; Esk Valley Railway; Glasgow (City) Life Assurance Company; Weston-super-Mare Gas, and South Essex Water. THE TIPPERARY MILITIA ARTILLERY. The Earl of DONOUGHMORE rose to call the atten tion of the house to a proposal for forming a brigade of Royal Artillery. In bringing the subject forward he did not do so with any feeling of hostility to the Government or to the authorities at the Horse Guards, but merely with a view of setting himself right with their lord ships. Having mentioned the circumstances that led to the embodiment of the Tipperary Militia Artillery, and re marked upon the high state of discipline to which it had arrived, the noble lord proceeded to say that, in the year 18.59 a rumour got abroad that it was the intention to add considerably to the Royal Artillery; he thought it might be consid ere d hi g hly probable that a body of disciplined men might be acceptable to the Governm ent. He wrote to the authorities suggesting that the Tipperary Militia .rihould be accepted and transferred into the regular regi ments of the line. He thought then, and he still thought, that the claims, of the officers, should the proposed arrangement_ be carried into effect, oug ht not to be. overlookef He therefore proposed that a certain number of commissions be given to regiments of the line, not the Royal Artillery—(" Hear, hear," from the earl of derby)—and he wished th e i r lordship; to particularly recollect that—should b e grante d to than in consideration of the ;tnuisfor of the men. After a correspondence the arrangements failed. Subsequently he proposed to the Commander-in-Chief, at the wish of the officers, that the Government should accept the services of the officers and men together as a regiment of the Line. In the corre spondence it would be observed, that it had never been pro posed that commissions in the Royal Artillery should be given to officers , of the militia. 'After a lapse of time he heard that it was proposal to incorporate the men with the Royal Artillery, and give commissions to the officers in the same regiments. He heard with surprise of the determination ; but although he took no. active steps in the matter, he was told that the matter had been decided at the War •offiee. Up to this time he had made no public announcement of the negotiations he knew were going on, but when he Vas told that the thing was settled, he mentioned the • offer to the regiments. at was at once accepted, and preparations were made for the altering of the uniform of the men, when an order was received that the noble lord at the head of the War Department had abandoned his intention. He had never broken any promise he had made either to officers or men during the time he had had the honour to com mand the regiments, and the altered determination of the War-office placed him in a very humiliating position, and he cotid not but sincerely regret that the arrangement that had at one time been looked upon as settled had not been fully carried out. Lord HERBERT said he had certainly no cause to com plain either of the noble lord's motion or of the terms and tone of his speech. When the offer was made to convert the regiment of the Tinerary Militia into a brigade of the Royal Artillery, he frankly stated to his noble friend the difficulty in which he was placed, and which would oblige diim to abandon the scheme under consideration. He con fessed he had heard for the first time that night, that his noble friend never contemplated that his officers should belong to the Royal Artillery. He would refer him to his letter of 185 Q, which, although it might certainly admit of an interpretation consistent with his speech, that interpre tation—he said it on his honour—never before occurred to him. His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, to whom the letter was first sent, read it as he did, and was doubtful whether it would be right to give the officers artil lery commissions, lest it should 'create discontent. Of the men themselves he could speak in the highest terms of com mendation ; for, being at Chatham on one occasion, and observing how free their conduct-book was of any traces of crime, he inquired whether that arose from laxity of discipline, or from really good conduct, and he was highly gratified at being informed that it was the latter. (Hear, hear.) Circumstances rendered it necessaryto recur to the proposition, and a negociation was entered into with a view to determine the nature of the examination which the militia officers should undergo previous to entering into the artillery. There were some differences of opinion on the subject, but he felt he could not be justified in lowering the degree of the examinations, which ought necessarily to re late to artillery service and artillery duties. The proposition could not eventually be entertained, for it would have given rise to the most dangerous jealousy on the part of a talented, highly qualified and susceptible body of men, some of whom returning home after distinguished service in China, might have found themselves commanded by an officer of the Tip perary Militia. Under these circumstances he felt that they had made a blunder in going so far as they did, and they preferred to avow it rather than endanger the public service. With regard to the noble lord's suggestion, that their decision was founded on the resistance of the officers of the service, he could only say that the statement was altogether erroneous. The regiments were about to be dis embodied, and he was desirous of securing that body of men. He then referred to a letter he had received from the noble lord opposite, after which ho put himself in commu nication with the Commander-in-Chief. Ile (Lord Her bert) felt that he had injured the prospects of the officers, and he was anxious to make them any reparation in his power, and the men who wished would be received into other regiments. He had now stated the whole of the case as far as required by the noble lord opposite. (Hear, hear.) The Duke of CAMBRIDGE said he was quite ready to takehis share Of the resporisibility which fell to the Secre tary of Stift.' 'The Secretary of State communicated to him that there was hot a sufficiency of artillery at home. On, the Ist of April the•militia were to be disembodied, and he had made up his mind that if this admirable body of men could be added to the Artillery, he was satisfied it would be of great advantage to the public service. There were GOO or 70(1 men, well trained, and fit to be sent to any part of the United Kingdom. His Royal Highness then read a document from Major-General Eyre, setting forth the admirable conduct of the men of the Tipperary Artillery, and their cheerful obedience to their officers, and that it would ba a great loss if such a body of men could not be retained. Seeing, therefore, how well these men had cpnducted themselves, he was of opinion it would be a greet advantage that such a body of well-trained men could be added to the artillery service, as they were in want of batteries in several parts of tho United Kingdom. The arrangement was, however, given up, and he was ready to say that he had no desire to interfere with the practice that the officers of the Artillery should be well educated for their important duties. Still, in the case of the Tip • perary Artillery ho was very desirous of securing the ser vices of eo fine 'a body of men. Ile was bound to say that th 4 Officers'of tbiit •regi'rnent, -received the disappointment with the utmost good temper. After a few words from the Earl of DONOVGIIIIOItE in reply, the subject cliepped. CHURCH RATES. . . The Duke . of MARLBOROUGH, in rising to call the attention of the house to the law relating to church rates, said he thought their lordships would agree with him in thinking that it was now high time to endeavour to devise some plan by Which this long-vexed question might be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. (Hear, hear.) Th e committee of. their lordships' house appointed the session before lest had given great attention to the subject; and although there had been but little time for considering the evidence laid before them, and the conclusions which they had founded upon it, still it was satisfactory to know that it had, been the . means of directing a large amount fa public attention to the question. Its influence on the public mind, also, was seen in the fact that it had mate rially affected • the majority in the other house, upon the bill for the total abolition of church rates. lie might staternie'thing that Came out before the com mittee el that heuee which was that doing away with church. ti...._tes:woUld •bi a great injury to the Church. After` referring tei.other portictns -of the evidence, he said a t after the dediston their lordships had already come to his - question,-lie thought he might arrive at the con *sten that their fordshipi would not give their sanction to any bill for the entire abolition of church rates. As to th "biection entertained h"3 , the Dissenters, it was not • thiach.to the amount of the rate they objected as to the °PPramilaii i**tifting from being brought into the Eccle sititic"C"lrta•- The noble duke then referred to the evi dense et , r , j4 • ?fin-Smith before their lordships' corn to say-Alit:la:el"' 'et- niltr he read at length. He proceeded taken; on i of the vertm Prottese that the power should be the asdtical Court as regarded enforcing ferre q Y Z l :T o rLn . 7 , , that the power should be trans ferred t t !! In the settlement of this :merelief should be given as riOgaided Itai to Pers on Who object e d to pay. The siobM duke the'n rtfeired t(; tlis; sal* which had already been made for the settlement ort7'f'qutestion, and said he . w ou ld deal ie l i te i :l3 s t a a r x 9, first leaving the jore, no church it steed. at` power, i iplriehti f i t l o oas let e r a y- w local present time. Than, en hrtreh rate had been levied/or-Aim years , 'the ehurchwardewetly! put the question. fovtiry pariehienev whether they w narnesi iitk d beruc off :the registsi having ti r e lied 'Thei r vote hi the:ease .ot s 'church 'rate's; rand those who wis hedTight to their-namess Wonkl. exempted from thipay 'tient of church' Wes-- for the , fitihre. 'H o would' ' - PtoPose this arrangemenb in 'theetbill which he would lay on their . lOrdsuiPat tab/e, gaud kti-hopd WoriM be:x * ll:4Mo In . • 1 settling the question. lie concluded by moving that the bill should be read a first time. The motion was theß agreed to, and their for , hips ad journed. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAM took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board Bill was read a second time, and some private bills were read a first time. PETITIONS. Several petitions were presented against the unconditional abolition of church-rates, against the Highways Bill and Parochial Assessment Bill, against the bill for legalising marriage with a deceased wife's sister, &c. HIBERNIAN MILITARY SCHOOL, DUBLIN. On the motion of Mr. MAGU IRE, retttrns of the num ber of Catholic and Protestant boys in these schools, list of the officers, teachers, &c., were ordered. MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIPE'S SISTER. Mr: M. MILNES in presenting a large number of peti tions from the West Riding of Yorkshire in favour of legalising marriage with a deceased wif e ' s s i ster, said that the petitions were 374 in number, and were signed by 33,719 men and 24,931 females. METROPOLITAN TOLLS. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Majesty's Government had any measure in preparation for the abolition of the tolls within the metropolitan district ; and, if so, when it would be introduced ? Sir G. C. LEWIS said that in consequence of the report made by the commission on the subject of the metropolitan tolls, he had put himself in communication with the , Board of Road Trustees, and proposed to their to bring in a bill to enable parishes to reduce their tolls by paying a compensation for them. But his suggestion was not approved of, and the board stated that they would make a proposal of their own on the question, but they had not yet done ao. SUPPLY OP ARMS. Mr. CRAWFORD asked the Under Secretary of State ibr War whether it was true that the contractors for the supply of arms, deliverable in the course of the cur rent financial year, had been requested to postpone delivery until a later period ; while the manufacture of arms at Enfield was being proceeded with on the same scale as heretofore, and arrangements were in progress for en tending-still further the manufacture at that establish ment ? Mr. BARING said he was happy to inform the hon. member that the supply of rifles was In so satisfactory a state that it was not necessary to continue the contracts for the financial year 1861-62, on the same scale as that of the current financial year. Steps had been taken in respect to the contractors at Birmingham and elsewhere, and the re sult was most satisfactory to all parties. EAST INDIA STOCK. Colonel SYKES asked the Secretary of State for India whether the notice issued recently by the Court of Chan cery, authorising the investment of trust funds in Bank Stock and East India Stock, was confined to the Old East India Stock of the Company to be paid off at 200 in 1874, or whether it extended to all the stocks and loans contracted by the authority of the Secretary of State for India in Council P Sir C. WOOD answered in the affirmative. INDIA REGIMENTS. Lord STANLEY asked the Secretary of State for India, whether first appointments to Indian regiments would be made by open competition, or by competition among nomi nated candidates, or by simple nomination; and, in the latter case, with what department the right of recommend ing for nomination was to rest ? Sir C. WOOD explained that there were no more Indian regiments, as all regiments were now for general service, and subject to our rule in regard to appointment. With respect to the other question, it was under the con sideration of Government, and he was not in a condition to answer it at present. FRENCH TROOPS AT ROME. Mr. GRIFFITHS asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether any diplomatic communication by M. Thouvenel, expressing it to be the view or intention of the French Government to leave the French troops at Rome until a Congress had determined upon the settle ment of the affairs of Italy, had been addressed to or brought to the knowledge of her Majesty's Government ? Lord J. RUSSELL said that in the blue book, page 51, would be found despatches from Lord Cowley and M. Thouvenel, which contained all the information the hon. member required. (A laugh.) THE HERRING FISHERY. Mr. FINLAY asked the Lord Advocate if any commis. sioners of the herring fishery had been appointed in pursu. ance of the power granted to her. Majesty by the aot passed last session to nominate five additional commissioners ; and, if not, whether it was the intention of Government to re commend the appointment of any commissioners, and when? The LORD-ADVOCATE said that there had been some delay in the appointments in question, but they would be made. VESSELS BETWEEN DUBLIN AND HOLYHEAD, • Colonel DUNNE asked the Secretary to the Admiralty what had been done to give security to the large steam vessels which run between Dublin and Holyhead during the present violent gales, and whether a sufficient pier had been built for their reception at the latter port ? Lord C. PAGET said that last year they had constructed itemporary pier at Holyhead, which he believed had proved very useful. It was now proposed, however, to construct a permanent pier for the use of the vessels plying between Holyhead and Dublin. THE RIFLE CORPS. Mr. BUXTON asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether a large number of the Volunteer Rifle Corps had not remonstrated against the recent minute by which. rifles must be kept in a depot, instead of being entrusted to the members of the corps; and whether it was the intention of the Government to insist on the enforcement of that rule. He said that it had been asserted that it would not be safe to allow rifles to be in the possession of private individuals in the event of any revolutionary movement breaking out. Butte pointed to the fact that for years past there had not been a single trial for sedition :or treason, and if any such movement did take place, he believed tie Rifle Volunteers would be found at the 'side of government and order. Some objection had been taken that the arms would not be properly cleaned if left with private individuals, but that could not be practically maintained. THE CASE OF DR. R. THOMPSON, M.D. Col. SYKES asked the Under Secretary of State for War, upon what ground Dr. R. Thompson, M.D., who had satisfied the Army Medical Director General, Dr. Gibson, that he possessed the prescribed qualifications of a degree in medicine and a diploma in surgery to entitle him to be examined as a candidate for a medical commission in h; Majesty's service, and had been directed to attend on the 18th February to undergo a competitive examination, was, on the morning of that day, in a personal interview, refused permission by Dr. Gibson to appear before the board of exa miners. Mr. BARING, in reply to the last question, explained that a regulation had been made with respect to persons of caste entering the medical profession, but an inquiry was ,being instituted into the case in question; and if any grievance had been inflicted, it would be redressed. With reference to the previous question, there had been remonstrance relative to the arrangement as to having the rifles of the volunteers corps deposited in ar mories, which was made for ,the intended convenience of the volunteers themselves. However, it was found that this was practically useless in many cases, and it had not been enforced. LOSS OF LIFE 'ON THE COASTS; Mr. LIDDELL asked whether the Government had prepared any measure for encouraging or assisting the construction of har,bours of refuge on the coasts of the Unied Kingdom ; and whether it was their intention to bring the question before Parliament dur ing the present session,l in accordanoe with: a: statement to that effect made by the' First Lord of the Treasury on the 19th day .of June last? The honourable member drew attention to the numerous shipwrecks that had taken place at Hartlepool, Shields, and .elsewhere, and were ac companiet with `a great loss of life and property. He strongly advocated the construction of Harbours of Refuge, which he, contended would ultimately prove economical in Pre ' venting a vast yearly lois of life and wealth. Mr. SLANEY hoped that if Government took the ques tion of harbours of refuge into consideration, the unpro tected state of the Welsh coast would not be forgotten. Mr. A. SMITH would be satisfied if the Government in timated its intention with respect to the parts of the coast which had been alluded to by the:hon. member for North umberland. Ile could not help'calling the attention of the Government to the expediency of employing the convict labour of Portland in the construction of a harbour of re fuge on the north-eastern coast. 'He would take that op portunity of asking the 'noble lord the member for Hastings (Lord H. Vane) whether it 'was his intention, as chairman of the committee on miscellaneous expenditure last session, to move for the re-appointment of that committee in com- P Hance with the recommendation in their report ? Mr. BLAKE said that in the interests of humanity rather than in those of his constituents, he' must press upon the Gov‘e'rnm — ent the 'necessity of forming harbourEsnogflriesfuh ship-geo the coast of It eland. The greater portion of ping going up and down Channel passed near Waterford, hich as a hat bour of refuge would afford ample accommo dation for a large number of vessels. Many ships proceed ing from America to Liverpool were wrecked off the Water ford coast, and yet by the outlay of a sum not exceeding £O,OOO great facilities might be given to afford shelter in stormy weather at Waterford. • Mr. CL.tY deprecated this, discussion sinking into the advocdcy of any particular case. He had a strong opinion hiniselt as" to where a 'barboUr of refuge should be made, .but he would not intrude his opinion upon the house. The subject had been very ably reported upon by a committee and subsequently by a commission, and he suggested that the house should pay due regard to the recommendation as contained in the blue-book. Lord PALMERSTON—I can assure the house that her Majesty's. Government are fully sensible of the great *Aatie:nal 'importance attaching to the matter which the 1 ,I...34!leiem,berhas brought under our obsprN 4 ation s (Haar,, THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EvENING, FEBRUARY 23, 1861. hear.) We lament that so large an amount of property should be annually lost on our shores. That, however, is a toss which falls oh iiidiVichials, and they have means of in- Abbinifying themselves to a certain extent 'ay insurances and other arrangements. But we lament still more the loss of most valuable lives—(hear, hear)—the loss of some of the best seamen of the country, and that is a loss against which no insurance can be made and no compensation can be obtained, and is, therefore, a dead calamity to the coun try. (Hear, hear.) But when we say that we are sensible of the magnitude of the evil We also cannot shut out eyes to the magnitude of the remedies which are proposed to correct that evil, and that which has passed in the short discussion we have just heard shows to what extent the demand Would go. The hon. member who began the dis cussion confined his representations to the harbours of re. fuge on the north-east coast of England. Immediately afterwards another hon. friend of mine draws attention to the state of the Welsh coast. Another hon. member points out how necessary it is to have harbours of refuge for the Irish coast, and I have no doubt that my noble friend the member for Wick (Lord Bury) would be ready to insist on the extreme advantage of a harbour of refuge for the place he represents. tut those harbours of refuge would cost a very large sum of money, and T am sorry to say that her Majesty's Government are not at present prepared to pro- pose to Parliament to advance grants from the public re venue at all commensurate to the magnitude of the object in view. At the same time it is quite true that last session we did make a pledge that we would propose some measure this session, and my right hon. friend the President of the Board of Trade has a bill ready to be presented to the how e for the purpose of taking the first steps in this matter. The hon. member who spoke first urged that steps should be taken to improve Westing harbours. That is a suggestion more within the scope of our means than the construction of new works, and I agree NI ith the remark made by my hon. friend behind me with respect to the mistake which has been fallen into, of making these harbours of refuge toe small. It is quite true that they are so, and that if you are to make new hat hours care should be taken to make them large enough to meet all demands. As our shipping and eetaMerCe Increase we must look forward to new de mands, but my right hon. friend has a bill ready, I believe, to be presented, the object of which will be to enable the Exchequer bill Loan Commissioners to make advances both in England and Ireland to th6se who are willing to take money on certain conditions for the purpose of improving existing harbours. (Hear, hear.) The committee which the hon. member who spoke first referred to made a propo sition which, I am afraid, has not been at all approved of, namely, that if the Government advanced money for the creation of harbours of refuge, the interest on part of the money so advanced should be paid by passing tolls. This is a proposition which, I believe, owners of shipping are not at all ready to acquiesce in. A bill will shortly be pre sented, giving to the Exchequer Loan Commissioners very large powers, for the purpose of making advances on easy terms to those willing to draw money from that source with the object of improving existing harbours. (Hear, hear.) is the case with regard to Rotterdam, to the consulship of which I retomtnended the other day a merchant of great respectability. The committee tetommended that there should be a classification of consuls ; &stiY, of those who should be never allowed to trade ; secondly, of those who should be allowed according to circumstances to trade; thirdly, of those who should always be traders ; and fourthly, of those whose places be abolished as va cancies occurred. I have endeavoured to give effect to that recommendation. (The noble lord here specified several appointments to the diplomatic service). Some of these changes have taken plate tinder Lord Malmesbury and some under me, and they show that there is no desire in the Foreign Department of the State not to give promotion in this particular service. Since the report of the committee of 1858 alterations have been made in a great number of places; 11 consular offices hate been improved since July, 1858. In many of those cases salaries hate been given in stead of fees, and the fees have been transferred to the Treasury. This I think is the right principle which should be applied when places fall in. - in 71 cases, therefore, these improvements have been effected; in 21 the consillB have been placed on a reduced footing. The increase of salary has amounted to £1334871 the decrease by abolition is £5,600, and by reduction, £3,400, reducing the net increase to £4,457. Well, there is a recommendation by the Com mittee to which the hon. and learned gentleman seems to attach much importance. It is that with respect to consular students. But when the matter came to be considered it was thought that to appoint students to consulships would be placing young men of talent in a position in which they might remain a very long time without any chance of pro motion—a state of things disappointing to them and burden some upon the public service. We thought it better, there fore, not to adopt that part ofthe recommendation of the COM • mittee ; but, on the other hatid, there have been a great many of the lower class raised to a higher position. At the same time we cannot make an absolute rule even in this case, because vacancies fall in all parts of the world, requiring to be filled by persons possessing a special apti tude. For instance, the other day I received a deputation who wanted a consul at Abbeokuta, where a cotton etilti , vation is springing up. / believe my hon. friend the mem ber for Warwickshire was the chairman of one of the meet ings on that subject, and it is my intention to recommend the appointment of some gentleman to the Blatt in question. I think I have now stated the main points upon which the committee reported, and their recommendations, and upon the whole we hate endeavoured to keep to the spirit of those recommendations rather than follow' exactly or ser vilely any one of them. I think the recommendations of the committee will lead to great improvement in the consular service, and they have already enabled the Government to do away with trading among the consuls in some places, and in varioas other places to give then! an increase of salary. Her Majesty's Government desire not to increase the public burdens, but, at the same time, they wish to promote the efficiency of the consular or other branches of the public service. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the correspondence which the hon. member for Bradford wishes to obtain, I have to state that I shall be most willing to give it, and it will be presented on Monday next, and I may further say that that correspondence is highly honourable to our consul at Charleston. He was placed in a position of great dill • culty, not being able to acknowledge the new Government which sprang up, but at the same time he did not neglect the interests of British shipping. THE CASE OF ANDERSON, THE AMERICAN plained of. The case was one arising entirely out of a treaty concluded, not between the colony of Canada and a foreign power, but between the Imperial Government and the United States. His noble friend stated in his despatch that Anderson could not be delivered up under the extradition treaty by the mere act of the law, adding that the case was one of the greatest possible importance, and that her Ma. jesty's Government were not satisiled that the decision of the Court at Toronto was in conformity with the decisions which had guided the authorities in this country, and that in any case Anderson Was net to be given up without in structions from this country. (Ileer. hear.) No commu nication had been received from Canada since then, except the receipt of the answer to that despatch. With reference to the reddest of the hon. gentleman that the papers might be laid upon the table of the house, he might say it was undesirable to produce them in their present incomplete state. But the question was not in the hands of any I court either of this country or of Canada, but was in the hands of het Majesty's Government, and he thought they could not do better than leave it there. (Hear.) MARINE ARTILLERY VOLUNTEERS. Mr. NORTH asked the noble lord the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the Board persisted in their determine• tion to refuse Marine Artillery Volunteers having facilities for practice afloat. Lord C. PAGET, in reply, said the Admiralty were not behind hand in their admiration of the Volunteers. The matter had been under the cc dderation of the Board whe ther they should comply with the request they had received to send one or more gunboats out to sea with Volunteers on board, in order that they might have the benefit of trial proctice at the great guns. It was fully admitted that that was desirable; but the Board on consideration declined to do so, in consequence of the expense that it'would involve, which was very considerable. It would be well if gentlemen who took such a deep and creditable interest in this matter would encourage men to enter the Navy Coast Volunteers, or else the Naval Reserve. The Government had certainly no desire to discourage the Volunteer movement. BURGH SCHOOLS IN SCOTLAND. Mr. DUNLOP called the attention of the house to the position of the teachers in the burgh schools of Scotland, under the law as recently declared by the decision of the Court of Session, in the case of " The Presbytery of Elgin v. the Magistrates of Elgin ;" and asked the Lord Adyo cate, whether he intended to introduce any measure for relieving such teachers from the jurisdiction of the Church courts, to which they have been thereby declared subject, and generally to free the burgh and parochial schoolmasters from the necessity of signing the test of conformity to the Established Church. The LORD ADVOCATE admitted that the observations of his hon. friend were well-founded. In consequence of the decision of the Courts of Scotland the subject had been more than once under the notice of the house. In the pa rochial schools in Scotland, no one not belonging to the Established Church could be a master. That rule only ap plied to county schools, the burgh schoolmasters not being subject tothat test, and it was supposed with regard to them that the rule had fallen into disuse. By a recent judgment this had been found not to be the case. For three succes sive sessions measures had been brought forward to throw open the schools. On two occasions they were successful in that house, but unfortunately they were wrecked in ano ther place.: Without giving any direct pledge, he might say that he intended to propose to the Government a scheme for education in Scotland, but It would depend whether he had better success than formerly if the measure could be introduced this session. CONSULAR SERVICE. Mr. DIGBY SEYMOUR rose to call the attention of the house to the report of the Select Committee of 1858 on the Consular Service, and to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps had been taken to carry out the reccmmendations of that committee. The com mittee that sat on this subject recommended the adoption of a system of consular education and promotion, Oriental seeretaryshir a (for which they had the excellent example of Russia), and consular studentships, by means of which young men, through a preliminary system of training, might be fitted for the efficient discharge of their duties. They also recommended that no man engaged in trade should be a consul, and that fees should be abolished. They also recommended that the number of vice-consuls should be gradually diminished, and that encouragement should be given to consular students to qualify themselves for the discharge of their important functions. It was recommended and adopted, that, in lieu of notarial fees, the consuls should have a fixed salary proportioned to the scale of expenses in the country in which they resided, and that a tonnage tax of one penny should be imposed on British and foreign shipping clearing out from any port. France had adopted a similar principle, but she exacted a larger sum from our vessels. The hon. and learned gentle man referred to the minutes of the Board of Trade of 1859, and complained of the Government setting aside the recom mendation of a committee of that house in relation to the duty on shipping for consular purposes; also as regarded the privilege of consuls to trade. He would only call the attention of the house to one other point in the report of the committee, namely, that in which they recommended that young men should be taught the Oriental languages in order that they might be fitted for consular duties. CLEARANCE OF BRITISH VESSELS IN THE PORT OF CHARLESTON. Mr. W. E. FORSTER asked tho Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether he had any objection to lay upon the table of the house a copy of the recent correspondence between her Majesty's Minister at Washington and the United States' Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, relative to the clearance of British vessels in the port of Charleston, South Carolina ? Mr. MONCKTON MILNES begged to state, as chair man of the committee referred to by the hon. and learned gentleman, that it was not the intention of that committee to levy tonnage dues on shipping for consular purposes. And he must express his regret that the recommendation of the committee had been overruled by the Government, a course of proceeding which he conceived was very disre spectful to this house and detrimental to the public service. Mr. STEPHEN FITZGERALD said that, as a mem ber of the committee alluded to by the hon. g entleman, he could not allow that occasion to pass without making some remarks upon the observations of the hon. gentleman. The hon. gentleman complained that the recommendations of the committee of that house had been overruled by a sub committee. Surely it was the duty of the Executive Go vernment to attend to the organisation of the public ser vice, and he could not admit that the sub-committee, as it had been called, did overrule the decision of the committee of that house in one single item or particular. So far from over-ruling the decision of the committee of the house, the whole object of the sub-committee appointed by Lord Malmesbury was to give effect to its recommendations as far as possible. It was time the sub-committee made a re commendation on the subject of the tonnage dues. And why ? Because important evidence was brought before them on which they felt bound to recommend a plan to the Secre tary of State. He should consider a Government wanting in their duty who should not take so important a subject into their early and serious consideration. (Hear, hear.) MINISTERIAL REPLY. Lord J. RUSSELL—I quite agree with the hon. gen tleman who has just spoken, that it is the duty of the Exe cutive Government to consider the proposals made by coma mittees of the house with regard to branches of the Execu tive service of the State. Indeed, I cannot see how the Executive Government could carry into effect the recom mendations of a committee without going into them in detail, and seeing if they would harmonise with the public service. The report of the committee is a very valuable report. Several recommendations had been made, the spirit of which has been always kept in view by the Executive Government, and which had been carried into effect from time to time. At the same time, however, it would be impossible for the Executive Government,with a due regard to duty, and without going into matters of detail, to adopt at once recommendations which might im pose a considerable charge upon the public revenue. We find in consequence of the report of the committee that Lord Malmesbury very soon after the report of the commit tee stated to the Treasury that he had framed a scheme by which the condition of many of the consuls would bo improved —that in many important places the salaries of consuls were insufficient and *tight to bo increased, but he added that the increase would amount to £12,000 a year, and the noble lord yery properly thought it his duty to consider the pro position in detail in contemplation of such a large increase. When I succeeded to office I asked several official gentle men, and especially Lord Wodehouse, the Under Secretary of State, their opinion with regard to the recommendations made by the committee. Ono of those recommendations was that consuls in the Levant should be British subjects. That recommendation we have endeavoured to carry out. (Hear.) There was another recommendation which would entail a very considerable burden on the country, namely, that consuls should not trade. I admit that the objection made by the committee on this point had weight, but there are sunny places where there is very little British trade. There you can get merchants of great respectability, but if you give them £5OO, £6OO, or £7OO a year to perform consu lar duties you pay a considerable salary for very little ser vice. If, on the other hand, you offer £l5O or £2OO a year, you would not find any person of respectability to accept the terms. On the other hand you will find men engaged in trade, men of the highest respectability, and who mix in the best society of the town, who would accept the smaller sum, Such SLAVE. Mr. HALIBURTON wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, for information as to the extradi tion of the American slave, Anderson, now in custody in Canada, and if he would lay upon the table copies of all correspondence that had passed in relation thereto between the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Governor in Canada, and for all orders issued thereupon. He wished to ask for information respecting the extradition case lately under their notice, which excited such great attention, and naturally so, from the sympathy all must have for a man in the position of Anderson. It would be in the recollection of the house that Anderson, being an inhabitant of the state of Missouri, in the United States, took the life of a white man, likewise an inhabi tant of.that country, who endeavoured to capture him. The slave, having done this, succeeded in making his escape into Canada, but the relatives of the deceased man having sought him out, apprehended him under a law of the pro , vine, in accordance with certain provisions of a treaty between this country and the United States. Under this law he was tried before the Judges of the Court in Canada ; and—that he may not be misunderstood, or in a case which • excited so much feeling, misrepresented—he desired to say that ho offered no opinion whatever on the act of Ander , son, whether it was murder, manslaughter, or justifiable homicide. Neither did he say whether the man was rightly or wrongly convicted in Canada, for in this he had nothing to say for the rights of Missouri, or Canada, but to assert that a violation of the rights of the people of Canada took place during the adjudication of the case and before its final termination. An application was made in the Court of Queen's Bench in this country to bring him out of gaol in , Canada, and have him brought to England, and the case ; regularly entered into. Now, in his opinion, there had been some singular features attending that trial in the Queen's I Bench; and here again he begged to observe that he would make no remark disrespectful or derogatory to the judges of that court, whose learning, great ability, and imparti ality, entitled them to command the respect of all. (Hear, hear.) He believed the country ought to be proud of such a court, and any remark of his to their disparagement would only recoil upon himself. But though they were men of great learning, they were not infallible, and appeals from their decisions had been made over and over again to the House of Lords, by which they were reversed. Now in the case of Anderson, they evidently thought they were adjudicating on the terms of the treaty within their own jurisdiction. If such were the case one would suppose some reference ought to have been made to the law officers of the Crown as to the nature of the applica tion, and that the Attorney-General, with that great leaning, ability, and impartiality, which he brought before every tribunal, would have been present. But instead of that, the application was made on behalf of a private party, and on the affidavit of a man with an unpronouncable name, whom ho believed to be a Pole, the case was put as a simple one of habeas corpus, and several precedents were cited, not at all applicable to the subject. This writ was issued t(”he jailor of the prison where the man was confined, as`avell as to the Governor-General of Canada He (Mr. Haliburton) believed that if the Attorney- General had made the application, the decision would not have been what it was; but at all events it was one which created the greatest consternation among the people of the province. They complained, and in his opinion they were right, of a gross violation of their constitutional rights. No doubt the Court founded their adjudication on the treaty, hut the highest authorities in Canada denied the right of this country to bind them by a treaty. They had a judicature of their own, and a Legislature. They had a Court of Appeal, and the only way to set the Judges right was by an appeal in this country from their decision to her Majesty in council. That was the lawful and constitutional mode of appealing in Canada, but the idea of scaling out a writ to take a man out of the country, and from under the jurisdiction of its courts, at the command of the Queen's Bench in this country, was preposterous. The indepen dence of the country was totally gone, and the constitu tional rights of the people invaded, He wished for his b o e w e n a u p s a e r , t t a h f e t e p r r o a c l e l c , d i i n t g s had wou ld n o been ber y e o u d n u i c b t l ed in g illegally; the officer to go out with his writ, and to receive such an answer as he would undoubtedly get. He will come home with his writ again just as he went out, and it was on that account he felt sorry for the irregular proceedings which had been adopted. The fact was, that people in this country knew there was such a place as Canada, but that was all. It was just like his knowing Guernsey and Jersey but not Sark, because ho never had been there. It was said the Duke of Newcastle, as Colonial Minister, sent out an order, but he should like to know by what authority he did so, and it was for that reason he wished to see the corre spondence laid on the table. The noble duke was in Canada last summer and saw the noble reception and heart ' felt enthusiasm with which the Prince of Wales was greeted, and he must know that such a people were not those - who:would put up with a slight or an insult. With respect to this extradition, he wished, in conclusion, to know whether the opinion of the Crown officers had been taken; and also, whether all papers and correspondence referring to it would be laid upon the table of the house ? Mr. CHICHL'STER FORTESCUE said the house would not expect him to follow the hon. and learned gen- tleman into all the subjects upon which ho had touched in his speech. With reference to the conduct of the Duke of Newcastle, in his dealings with the Orangemen, ho was glad to learn from the hon. member that an opportunity would be given to his noble friend to justify himself in another place. But the hon. gentleman had spoken to night in a tone of complaint which he trusted would not be echoed in Canada, with reference to the efforts made for procuring to the fugitive Anderson the full and fair con firmation of his rights. The hon. member alleged that two invasions of Canadian rights had taken place; but that was a mistake. He did net conceive it to be his duty on the present occasion to enter into any discussion with re ference to the propriety of the Court of Queen's Bench issuing a writ of habeas corpus ; and if they had power to do se, whether such ought to be the state of the law. The action of the Government in the matter simply amounted to this :—A despatch was sent to the acting Governor-General in Canada, instructing him to be guided in his action by his Canadian law advisers. The other alleged invasion consisted in this— that his noble friend the Duke of Newcastle, with a promp tiotnudseewwahsicihnfohremheadd doubt a n f o ewdays the country appreciated— (hear, hear)—di s p a t c h e d th ose instructions of whi c h th e h ago by the noble lord at the head of the Government, It was a mistake to suppose that the effects of the judgment in the Canadian Court was the giving up of Anderson to the United States authorities, for it only sent him back to prison. It was not within the pro vince of any court in Canada to deliver up a person to a foreign state, as Chief Justice Robinson himself admitted. Hence it was that Anderson could only be surrendered by a warrant under the hand and seal of the Governor-General, and it was with a knowledge of that fact that his noble friend had thought it necessary to send those instructions to the Governor-General of Canada which had been com • PACKET SERVICE. Mr. BAXTER, in calling the attention of the house to the state of the packet service, said ho thought it right to state that he was not connected with any party interested in the navigation of this country ; nor with any steamboat companies; but he felt it was due to his own constituency, in reference to the very large sums of money which the country paid for packet service, that the people should get full and fair value. The Cunard line of packets, for instance, entailed an expense on the country of £173,000, and the Galway line of packets, on the other hand, subjected the country to tin annual expense of £78,000 ; in round numbers, no less a snn - t than a quarter of a million sterling, for this branch of the packet service. Now, that was by no means satisfactory, and it would be different if her Majesty's Government were to act with courage and decision. Then as to the competitive manner itt which those companies performed their contracts, he did not think that the country ought to be called upon to sub sidise them. Ile Was free to admit that subsidies might be considered necessary in such service in times past; but his position was this, and he thought it unanswerable, namely, that whenever they created competition on the ocean, those subsidies ought to cease. (Hear.) After a few words from Lord Dl.7.llRElzni aid Mr. GREGORY, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that his part was a simple one. He should not enter into a die cussion of the general principles which ought to govern the conduct not only of Parliament, but of the administration with respect to this question of naval contracts. He agreed fully in the clear view of the case taken by the hon. mem ber, and on those principles the Government had acted since they came into office. He was asked what steps had been taken by the Government to compel the Cunard Com pany to act up to their agreement. He had received a re port from the Postmaster-General that day,istating that the Cunard packet service was being performed satisfactorily. The vessels employed exceeded greatly the requirements of the contract, and they arrived and departed according to the agreement. He was not prepared to state exactly the sum of money actually paid to the Galway Company. He had been asked what were the reasons that led to the ex tension of time to the 26th of March, and if the company were prepared with a sufficient number of ships to carry out the contract at that period. He did not think the Govern ment were open to any animadversion on that point. The first official step taken in the house by the present Govern ment was to move for the appointment of a committee to in quire into the whole subject, and on the report of that com mittee the Government had acted. The Government were no parties to the original contract. They did not think it a wise or politic engagement, but after the report of the committee they thought it their duty to carry it out, and to extend, irrespective of any view of their own, every in ulgence to the company. It would not be fair on the part of the Government to exclule from their view the fact that much inconvenience had been endured by the company owing to the delay that occurred while Parliament was con sidering their case. (Hear.) On the 25th of October, the company made a proposal to the Government, that the ser vice should be only monthly until the 12th March, 1861; and that then a fortnightly service should commence. The Post master-General said he could only comply with this propo sal on certain conditions which the company, not beingin a position to fulfil, they requested, on the 7th of November, that the contract might be placed altogether in abeyance until the 2tith of March. That application was considered by her Majesty's Government, who, although they thought it to be a very large demand, felt it to be their duty to accede to it, on condition that if at that period the company were not prepared to carry out the contract, it should then cease and determine. On the 24th of January the company undertook to carry out that arrangement, and they de.. spatched a ship on the 24th of March. As to any rumours respecting the transfer of the company's contract to some other company, he was totally ignorant of any such inten tion, and believed those rumours had no foundation in fact. (Hear, hear.) The motion for the adjournment of the house until Mon day was then agreed to at 10 minutes after nine o'clock. RETURNS ORDERED. On the motion of Sir J. PAKINOTON the following re turn was ordered :—Rotura of the number of seamen and boys who deserted from the Royal navy between the Ist day of January, 1858, and the 30th day of September, 1860, inclusive. On the motion of Mr. LYGON the following return was ordered :—Copies of two letters, dated the sth of December, 1857, and the 16th of February, 1858, with any plans re ferred to therein, from Sir It. Bromley, K.C.8., to the se cretary to the Commissioners of Public Works, relative to the concentration of the public offices, and of any replies thereto. MARRIAGE LAW AMENDMENT. Mr. M. MILNE S moved to bringin a bill to legalise mar riage with a deceased wife's sister. He apologised for in troducing a question which had been six times before the house, on , the ground that it affected the happiness of thou sands of persons. He would not enter into the historical discussions connected with the measure, but would reserve them for the second reading. He would simply refer to the state in which the law was left by what was called Lord Lynd hurst's bill of 183.5 ; but it was alibel on that noble lord to call it by his name ; for the measure which he introduced was simply a bill to limit the time within which those marriages might be disputed, and the measure was of a very different character when it left the house. (Hear.) Perhaps he had as great a right as any one to introduce this measure ; for he had presented petitions from places in the county of York in favour of it, signed by no fewer than 55,434 persons—(hear, bear)—and of those, above 21,000 were of that sex who, it had been said, were to a woman opposed to the bill. (Hear, hear.) Of the petition on the other side which had been presented to the House of Lords by the Bishop of Oxford, said to be from the women of Eng land, an immense proportion of the signatures were written apparently in a man's handwriting. (Hear.) It was impos sible to deny that this was a question which affected the happiness of numbers of homes. The law had been left in a state not only contrary to the public sense of justice, but of legality. These marriages had gone on ever since the time of Henry VIII., without any doubt as to their propriety. While a marriage of an incestuous character would at once have been made the subject of a suit in the ecclesiastical courts, these marriages frequently occurred, without scan dal and without injury; and from the inquiries of the com mission in 1832 it appeared that there was hardly on record a single case in which an action had been brought in con sequence of such marriages. The inference was that there was something special in those marriages, that they were not repugnant to the reason and feelings of a Christian people, and that, whatever might be the condition of the law, it was thought that they might be contracted without any injury to society. It was impossible to determine what was the number of these marriages. That eminent divine, Dr. Adam Clarke, stated that in the Methodist body a large number of the preachers had contracted those marriages, without any scandal to their congregations. Those mar riages had been frequent, and the state of the law was not unsatisfactory until there arose that celebrated case of one noble family which brought this matter before public con sideration, while hundreds, and perhaps thousands of those marriages were taking place in other ranks of life. (Hear, hear.) The effect of the change of the law in 1832 was only to the advantage of that noble family, and a very few others, and to the disadvantage of the mass of the community. The law had begun in injustice, in that discrimination between classes which was repugnant to the sense of Englishmen, and which ho hoped would never be considered a sound basis for the laws of this or any other country. The effect of that law was to declare that per sons who had been married up to a certain day were legally married—that the children born up to a certain day were legitimate ; but that afterwards those marriages were inces tuous, snd that the children born of them were bastards. He proposed to legalise these marriages in a simple form, which he trusted would not shock the most delicate con science. The bill provided that all marriages solemnised before the registrar should be recognised by the law as a civil contract and declared legal marriages ; but that no thing in the bill should affect the dignity, title, fortune, or arrangements dependent on the present state of the law. He did not think that Scriptural objections to these mar riages weighed ranch in the minds of the English peoplQ. Twenty-one bishops admitted that there was no direct authority in Scripture against such unions, and among Ulm were 001110 who vivo hraerly the otortgeat oppoueato of the bill. The ecclesiastical part of the question, however, could be better discussed in the House of Lords than in this house. If the bill went up to the other house, backed by a large majority of the House of Commons, he thought the question would be very soon decided. It was his strong conviction that both in a natural and social point of view these marriages were some of the happiest which could be contracted. He believed that the real and only question they had to decide was whether these marriages should be legal or whether they should uphold a system of coneQ binage. (Hear.) If any uneasiness was felt among a por tion of the people with respect to such unions, surely that was not a reason why they should perpetuate an injustice. He trusted that upon general grounds Parliament would ultimately adopt the measure. Above all, he hoped it would not be made a party question. He asked the house to allay the miserable anxieties which had so long existed on the subject, and to give peace to those susceptible minds that were disturbed in consequence of the present state of the law. In a word, all that he asked them to do was, by adopting the measure, to reconcile law and conscience to the British people. (Hear.) Mr. BUXTON seconded the motion. Mr. WALPOLE said the hon. member observed that he had heard that no opposition would be offered to the intro duction of the bill. No opposition, except in one single in stance, had been made to the introduction of such a mea sure, because when a member who represented a large num ber of people desired a measure to be considered, it was felt respectful to them that it should be laid on the table, and the fullest attention given to it. For that reason, if for no other, he would not oppose the present motion, nor should he have risen at all butthat he wished to guard himself and the house from being supposed to assent to one or two pro positions which the hon. member had enunciated with per haps more latitude than he intended. He adverted to the act of that great jurist and statesman, Lord Lyndhurst; it really was not his act, but whether it was or not ho would not stop to inquire ; but he would inquire whether the hon. member's representation of that act, and the effect of it on the people of this country, was a fah representation. At the time it passed these marriages were what were called void able marriages, that was to say, that down to a certain time if no person attempted to set aside these marriages, they were not void, but that it was within the power of interested persons as well as others, by applying to the court, to get them set aside and declared void, notwithstanding theparties had cohabited, and children been born. Now Lord Lynd hurst's act made this change in the law. It provided a re medy in those cases where marriage had been contracted, so as to prevent the bastardy of the children born after such marriage ; but instead of leaving the law in an uncertain state—which, with regard to marriages, is the worst state in which the law can be—it laid down a rule conformably with that which had been the rule of law and the rule of the Christian Church, that such marriages were not in fact sanc tioned by the law of God. But his hon. friend complained, by an argumenturn ad invidiant, that the law made a dis • tinction between the rich and the poor—that it was a law in favour of a great duke. (Hear, hear.) He saw by those cheers that the distinction was felt to be sound. But was it so ? The law retrospectively declared that these mar riages should only be set aside down to a certain period, but not marriages contracted by a duke or peer, or any particular class of persons. (Hoar.) These marriages were all placed on the same footing. Whether the law was good or not was not the question ; but he contended, without fear of contradiction, that it did not make a distinction between the rich and the poor. There was another point upon which the hon. member was not so guarded as he should have been. He said the bill was simply one to enable persons to contract marriages before the registrar. He laid down the proposition in the most general manner, saying that any person might contract marriage with any other, and that, provided the contract was made before the registrar, the marriage was good. Did i,the hon. member not assent to that version of what he stated ? Mr. M. MILNES—I propose to confine the bill solely to marriages with a deceased wife's sister. Mr. WALPOLE was glad to hear the explanation; but the proposition of the hon. member applied to marriages generally. He used the phrase that persons ought to have liberty in this matter as well as in others ; and he ought not to have argued for general freedom unless he was pre pared to give a general power. (Hear.) If you made a spe cial exception in favour of a special class, and grounded it on reason and morality, you might substantiate a good case, but if you proceeded on the popular notion that there was to be no restraint on personal liberty in these matters, and that provided the contract was a civil contract a man was at liberty to marry what person he pleased, with the limita tion, of course, that there was no consanguinity between the parties to prohibit it, then see what a flood of immo rality you would immediately launch upon the people of this country. (Hear, hear.) He entreated the hon. member to consider the consequences of his measure, and to see who ther, if it had passed, the Legislature would not be bound to admit other marriages within the same arrangement. He should not argue against the bill on theory, still less on ecclesiastical grounds. The basis of his argument was this—that the last thing the nation ought to do was to alter the law of marriage, which was known to the country where it prevailed, especially when a moral and religious sanction, and therefore the best of all sanctions, had been given to it by the usages of the country, by the feeling of the people, and by the high moral state to which it had raised society. (Hear.) He should still more depre cate any alteration in this law unless they were certain they could take their stand upon some intelligible principle,which should prevent them from extending the matter further thereafter. His firm belief was that they could not do this. His firm belief was that if the people of this country were fairly represented with reference to this question, they would say—" Keep the law as it is, give the greatest freedom you can, but protect the more provident who do not break through those obligations which, in point of fact, have con tributed more than anything else to the high moral position in which the whole country has been placed. Do not them by imaginary notions of a general freedom to be given in these matters, unless you can prove upon grounds of mo rality that such freedom will not deteriorate the moral con dition of the people of England." (Cheers.) Mr. MILNES said ho thought he had satisfied himself that ho had strictly confined his remarks to the case of mar riage with a deceased wife's sister. That was the subject to which, Ulm% ing the usage of the house, he had endea voured to restrict himself, and he had no apprehension that the provisions of the bill would be extended to any other relation of life. He wished for no change whatever that was not required by some large body of public opinion in the country. (Hear, hear.) Mr. V. SCULLY said ho thought this was eminently a question for the consideration of the hon. member's coun trymen, and still more of his countrywomen. He thought it was a woman's question, and that the house ought to be guided exclusively in the matter by the feelings of the women of the country. He had done all that lay in his power to ascertain what , i7ere the feelings of his own countrywomen on the subject. (Laughter.) They were unrepresented in that house, and he entirely surrendered his judgment to what he might consider to be their feel ings and instincts, for of course whenever a measure was passed in England it was likely to be extended to Ireland, and he had always found that they revolted against such a law. lie had not descended into the lower classes of the community to ascertain what their feelings were—(a laugh)--but he should certainly take an opportunity of consulting the humbler classes of his countrywomen as to whether they did not still more strongly revolt against such a measure. But he should not presume to form an opinion on this subject contrary to the feelings and in stincts of his countrywomen. (Latghter.) Leave was then given to introduce the bill. METROPOLITAN LOCAL TAXATION. Mr. AYRTON, in rising to move that a committee be appointed to inquire into the subject of the local taxation and government of the metropolis, said he merely desired to explain the grounds on which he asked for a committee. He feared the house had been lately so troubled with metro politan subjects, that they were not now desirous to have much of their time occupied with them. (Hear.) The house it would be also borne in mind had been troubled with another bill on the subject of local government and taxation in the metropolis, which was equally perplexing, and the question became more and more embarrassing. There was, for instance, great difficulty about the gas question and the supply of water, and about the state of the Thames ; and the Board of Trade had invited the house to take some steps in order to prevent the metropolis from becoming em barrassed in every direction by the operations of railway companies. It was desirable, therefore, there should be some properly constituted authority in reference to those questions. They had railway companies now creating ob structions in the navigation of the Thames. There were tolls imposed for crossing bridges, while they found that bridges crossing the river were being broken down. The Metropo litan Board of Works presented them with a schedule amounting to no less a sum than £15,000,000 of taxation and expenditure. Now, that was ono of the great blird ens which he was desirous to have a committee to inquire into. There was another point which he was desirous should be inquired into, namely, the question of local administration and juris diction. There wa-, fcr instance, ono system of govern ment on one side of Temple - bar , and a totally different one on the other side. (Hear, hear.) He was desirous to see whether all those systems might not be so dealt with as to be brought into harmony. (Ifear.) There was another great grievance as to the manner in which juries were summoned to serve. Ono man, for instance, living and carrying on business on one side of the bridge in London was dragged down to Guildford to serve on juries, and another, living on the other side of the bridge, was dragged into Kent also to serve on juries. He thought it desirable that these persons who lived in London should only be called upon to servo on London juries. There were other matters which related to direct and indirect taxation, which were levied in London, and whi c h it was-desirablea com mittee should inquire into. The City of London levied Xw6hoa, what authority t o h r o f t o y , O t o h o e a variousyear in taxestaxation, w er od. He and levi e no one knew b shouldby move that it be one of Cue instructions to the committee to inquire by what authority these taxes were levied, and it was necessary also that th e h ouse should know by: whom those taxes were collected, for what purpose they were col lected, and to what objects they were to be applied. This he must say, that no one had a right to levy indirect or personal taxes Upo n any b ody when the parties were not nat . hoW they Were to be applied, Ito wished to have the whole matter sifted to the bottom, and to ultimate ob ject which he had in view was that they 6 hould have an efficient local administration, and, above all,. :that a city like that of London should be represented fairly . He was de sirous to see an efficient representative schenli3 adopted, and with that view he begged to conclude by prop king his mo tion for a select committee in an amended fern 1. Lord ENFIELD seconded the motion. Sir G. C. LEWIS said with respect to the Corporation of London, he might say that it was a subject which had been fully investigated by the commission, and though he w culd not say it might not be possible to propose fresh c hat,j,es in the constitution of the Corporation, ho doubted verb' much whether any addition could be made to the facts already' in the possession of the house. To that extent, then, he N - Fas ready to assent to the motion, and to anticipate useful resui,'s from it; but he did not understand that the committee was to hang up every measure of useful reform in the present year, ej,necially one with reference to the coal ditties, as to which legi,lation this session had become a matter of absolute necessity. Mr. LIDDELL said he should have been glad to hear from the right hon. gentleman something like a promise that he would not listen . to any deputations which might present themselves to him relative to the metropolitan coal tax until the whole quest ion had been gone into and sifted by the committee. That tax was a most odious and unjust one, both to the consumers and the producers of coal in the north, to whose body he belcoged. He had heard some un pleasant rumours abroad as to two parties who were very much interested in the tax. The corporation of the City of London and the Metropolitan Board of Works were strongly interested in the continuance of the tax. At the latest the liabilities to this tax would expire in 1868, and the house ought to be extremely jealous of any undue influence by which the isix might be renewed. The motion was .then agreed to. CLARE'kS IRON VESSEL PATENTS. Mr. P. HENNES.S Y moved an address for copies of cor respondence which has passed since Nov., 185 g, to the pre sent time between John Clare and the Board of Admiralty , and the Surveyor of the N , iv y , on the sub j ect of Mr. Clare's patents and plans for build ing iron vessels for the Royal :. Navy; and of similar cor:reCpondence with the Board of Trade and with the Treasury. Mr. Clare alleged that his plans of 1853, which he had pate nted, were those plans on Is were built, and that which the Warrior and other vesok. the Government had not given him any compensation or fair play. He understood that the Firm: Lord of the Admi ralty would object to the return, on th, l ground that the correspondence was very voluminous, and that it related to the gubject of iron vessels generally. if that were the case, he should be willing to modify the terms of the motion, so that would it oomprise a return of the es'sence only of Mr. Clltre's original plans, and of the decision of the Govern ment with respk.‘ct to them. Lord C. PAGET conceived it to be his duty to refuse the return. There were rho less than 80 letters from Mr. Clare ; and in the opinion not only of the Admiralty, but of the comptroller and solicitor of the navy, there was not the least foundation for Mr. Clare's claim. Mr. BENTINCK regretted that the return had been re fused, as this was not the first time that charges of a simi lar nature were made against the present and previous Boards of Admiralty. Without offering any opinion on the merits of the case, he thought there ought to be no objection on. the part of the Admirall'y to grant the return in the modi fied form which the hon, member had stated would satisfy him. Mr. JACKSON said this Was a special case, and in jus tice both to Mr. Clare and the iNdmiralty the essential part of the correspondence ought not to be withheld. If Mr. Clare's plans had been used, then he was entitled to com pensation, but if his claims were Without foundation it would be seen that his schemes were n ot worthy of consi deration. He would not say what would be the effect on the minds of the public by the return, but he thought the return should be made. Sir J. PAKINGTON expressed a hope that the noble lord would ace,ede to the motion in a modified shaVe. Lord C. PAGET said he would agree to the pr t oduction of a portion of the return. Agreed to. POOR RELIEF (IRELAND). Mr. CARDWELL moved for a select committee to in quire into the administration of the relief of the poor in. Ireland, which was agreed to. METROPOLIS LOCAL MANAGEMENT ACTS AMENDMENT. Mr. TITE obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend the tietropolis Local Management Acts. He said that the bill wa s a imilar to that brought in last year, but last year it was objected to by a committee of the house on the ground that it contained a clause which gave the Metropolitan Board the power of Luaking provision for debts to which the board was liable. POOR RELIEF. Mr. VILLIERS moved for a select committee on poor relief, to consist of Mr. Sotheron Estcourt, Mr. Bazley, Mr. Ayrton, Lord Fermoy, Mr. Villiers, Mr. Walpole, Mr. Edward Pleydell Bouverie, Sir Arthur Buller, Mr. Keke wich, Col. Pennant, Lord Stanley, Lord R. Cecil, Sir W. Jolliffe, Mr. Lowe, Sir John Anton, Lord E. Howard, Sir G. Bowyer, Mr. Caird, Mr. Alderman Sydney, Mr. Lyall, and Mr. M. Milnes ; power to send for persons, papers, and. iccorda y five to hA the quorum. Sir J. PAKINGTON complained of so large a number being on the committee, and the inconveiiienee in Conse quence which would follow to the public business. Mr. VILLIERS said he only followed a precedent, and, in point of fact, so menjt requests were made to him by hon. members that he could Dot aveid appointing so large a number. The motion was then agreed to. UNIVERSITY ELECTIONS BILL. This bill was read a second time, and the house adjourned at a quarter past 12 o'clock. COUNTRY MARKETS. LIVERPOOL-FEB. 22. There was an average attendance of town and country trade at this morning's market, and we h a d a limited sale d k e r cl w in h e on ay's eat,Twuheiscdhmay be quoted at ld t o 2d per cental rates. Flour was aleo a slow sale, at 6d per sack and barrel lower. Indian corn was in moderate request, at 375 0d per 4801bs for best mixed American, and 38s 6d to 39s for wi2ite. Oats and oatmeal were dull of sale, and tho latter 3d per load lower. Barley, beans, and peas at about the currencies of last market day. WAKEFIELD-•FEB• 22. The supplies of grain here this week were moderate. To-day it is still difficult to make progcess in sales, except for fine old English wheat. For barley tie demand is not active, and at former values. In beans, oats, and shelling there is no alteration to note. Averages for the week : Wheat . 875 qrs., at 69s 31d Rye — —s —d Peas •—•— —s Od Beans B4 — 42 s lid Barley.-- • • ( 530 I 425.: lid Oats — —s Od EXETER-FEB. 22. A fair businees was done in the corn market to-day, at about late prices : Wheat, white.. 6s 9d to 8s 6d Barley.. 4s 3d to 5s 9d Ditto red Os Od to Os Od I Oats 2s 9a le 3a Od Flour, fine, 38s to s ; seconds, 36s to —s per sack. CATTLE. There was a small supply of cattle driven in, and sales were at about last week's currenctO. Fat beef,p score, los to 10s6d Ewes, per lb ....6P to 71c1 Pork carcases,do lOs to 1 lsOd Wethers, 40...... 7d to 8d Sheep, per lb. Od to —d Fat calves, doe... 6d to 6i i Rough fat, 4d per lb. BRISTOL SUGAR-FEB. 22. Tho market has been more quiet this week, chiefly from the fact of consumers having purchased freely last week• There have been some sales of rum on a small scale r at prices about the same as those of this day se'nnight. [ADVERTISMENT.] —Holloway' s Pills.—Good Appetite. —Excellent Digestion.—ln the majority of persons loss of appetite is the first indication of departing health—and should at once receive attention or actual disease will follow. For the cure of disordered digestion and liver complaints, Holloway's excellent Pills are probably Un rivalled, certainly unsurpassed. The invalid will never experience disappointment or failure in the removal of his ailment by means of these purifying Pills. On reaching the stomach they immediately correct heartburn, flatu lency, and undue acidity they secure the secretion of perfect bile, and passing into the intestinal canal they gently arouse it to its natural activity without producing pain, irritation, or exhaustion. Eor these reasons Hollo way's Pills aro peculiarly well adapted for a family aperient. BIRTHS. CoLvILLE.--On the 21st inst., at 42, Eaton-place, Lady Colville, of Culross, of a son. CtilllTT.—On the 21st inst., at 25, Eccleston-squarc, S.W., the wife of George Cubitt, Esq., M.P., of a daughter. PAYNE.—On the 20th inst, at 10, Cleveland-terrace, Hyde park, the wife of T. 13. Payne, Esq., of a son. MAR,RIAGES. -- --- -- - -- • AR INTRONG—DENNE.-011 the 21st inst., at the parish church of Lit tlebourne, Kent, Colonel J. W. Armstrong, C. 8., to Laura daughter of Denne Denne, Esq., El bridge H ouse, kent. MUSPRATT—BAINES.—On the 21st inst., at Wandsworth parish church, Edmund K. Muspratt, Esq., fourth son of James Muspratt, Esq., of Seaforth Hall, Liverpool, to Frances Jane, eldest daughter of Thomas Baines, Esq., of London. DEATHS. CASTLEMAN.—On the 21st inst,, at Chettle, Dorset, Edw. Castleman, Esq., dep.-lieut., aged 60. nthe.2lst 8 inst 9: ., , at Morden, Surrey, Lance -IstCAmCnhEaßms b — e - r?, .Esq., aged DAUTREY,—On the 14th inst., at Islingt on , Willi am C ox Dautrey, Esq., aged 77. DYSON.—On the 20th inst., at 5, Lower Berkeley street, Portman-square, General Dyson, Colonel 18th Bombay N. I. LAzAurs.—On the 20th inst., at 35, Norfolk-st., Strand, Benj. W. Lazarus, Esq., of Calcutta, aged 52. SMITHERS.—On the 19th inst,, at Greenwich, theßev. Dr. W. C. Smithers, aged 65. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, at No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TUE Sun Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the COUnty of Middlesex, SAturcifiyi February-33,