The Sun. — London, England, 1844-04-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY MORNING, APRIL 20, 1844, Ciw n LITERATURE. vii;CII OF ENGLAND QUARTERLY RE -41. IVO. XXX. P a i n ter, London, 1844. 1 4 ; He "History of the W a rs of the Fronde," a work te tY üblishe by the Count de St. Aulaire, French Ambassadorat th C •t of St. James's, forms the , e ou th e 'i t t of a hasty and slight, but amusing notice in present number of this journal. The Reviewer war tilly insists on the childishnes and want of faith kndsi that characterises the majority of those those ,_wno took p ar t i n th ose wars, and w ith justice ; _ k „w ere was sc arce ly a man amo ng them all who t here or cared what he'was fighting about; even the a i a nrt party, with Anne of Austria and the wily Car .„l Mazarin at their head, who might have been Posed zetai n he terribly in earnest in their efforts to at Possession o f th e i r d es p o ti c authority, were con atts„tLlY ch anging their views, shifting their ground of As i'l and givin g way t o th e i r appre h ens i ons; while, r egards the heads of the movement party, they were :ff u r ti o cic hanging sides, with unparalled expedition and lit th e e rY -- -ene day fighting in the foremost ranks of Fro ndeurs, the next offering their • ~s words r i tt) as in th e case o f t h e P rince d e onde—a sort t C i li tis P, r4 ileged tu rn - coa t, who sided with either party, en ; a s Suited his whim, his interest, or his conveni ter;:' In all the volumin o us records of ancient or ti ern history, there is no chapter so absurd, so I,l..vvith the m a t er i a l s o f the richest farce, as that th u e 'eh rel a t es to the wars o f t h e F ron d e . I n, ther,, ; 11°tic e of "Doctor Bloomfield's Thucydides ' is not much critical comment of value, but we hi zt u l,stead a biographical sketch of the great Greek everriani together with a rapid summary of his ~1 " / a man and as a writer. This summary is e spee,. "'gested in point of matter, and is full of truth, oe rta : 4 "Y the following remark , :—" Thucydides as dour ' T ied his facts correctly, and threw his own ar kidthin.to the scene by making himself an actor in it, ti nder Inkg how he should have spoken and acted ter similar circumstances. 's hi, he did without :it th e : Isif Ying history, though the words may net be of the words used on the occasion, fur the character kiiA 4a speaker, as well as the actual state of thing , s , t he results, are all scrupulously attended to. eort,s! lt eformation Unavoidable " is a difficult and i tiorr t'lleted subj ect treated wi . ll temper, and with to I.T e fairness than we should have expected. " Doc " is a notice of a relig ous novel, pub -; a few months since, and which is snore remark -441,!1. its zeal than its ability. We quote from the eith on the Fronde some amusing details connected the P r i nce d e Con de : Pi th s was characteristic enough of IV azarin t that while tlrds; I l ls in this condition, and the Parliament had sel f h eu the Princes to be :estored to fri e•lom, he him troth.aatened to H a v re , t o give liberty to Con. 6 and his ( Old ` P ' as though the boon came from the Cardinal, kin. of fro m t h e peop l e an d P a rliament. The icilyatd ister employed every means to acquire the friendship Ist operation of the man he hail betrayed ; but the 12 4 ' la d present thoughts but for hi , triumph ; he htu ri t, ed from Havre, leaving the Cardinal to seek a do t e in some one of the fortifh d towns of the king nit '„ a ,nd entering Paris like a conqueror. he rep aired ti Its % Mace, to manifest his joyful respects to the Quet. a. Kbi" la}' pale, haggard, and enraged, in bed. '1 he is;: e 4 , no les s vo l a til e than the Prince, cheered him on vi es turn to freedom, even as they had cheered when he tam e ra gged to captivity. The power of his house be- 4tieg r eater than ever. Mazann was an exile ; the The - m without influence ; and the Parliament despised. riti_aoht belonging in the triumph of the Prince, as a th,,,,h to their order ; and there is no d nibt ‘‘'lli s , tui s was the period when the suggestion was first thefeed into Condi's ear to seize upon the person of o fy o v 1 g e, who .was yet a minor, and so posse's himsel , " 1 4 t Z re 'go and supreme authority. And t;ow, too, it ta m uat the Fren c h clergy, in a body, first openly t4,7 4 ' t ised t he cause of the nobility against the Yet 1 )114 and people ; and the opposing factions were the eli t il; e a k s es and magistracy against the aristocracy and the , P esp ec u ,' The nobles, confident in their position, so little 'ki t , Led the power of the Great Chamber, that, on the to th re monstrating against the factious union opposed ra, the chiefs of the aristocracy threatened to pro in°,...the Parliament, and fling the President and his 'llth o - Vile river ! In this struggle, however, the legal Ittim„."lea remained victorious ; for Condi, after re his see '"g neutral for a time, gave them the advantages of 4 f ,'llos c ,,„ a tet ‘ 3- operation ; and out of the intrigues which xtie e „4, but which we have not time to narrate, the i t titl a „ - ',, t he Cardinal, and Conde himself, rose to power b e 7 4o rity. But it was again the fate of the last to , tet treta a Yed, and that by ,the Queen, who hated and ntil k i d na, and who did not rest till he was again a pro th L a nd flying enemy. His terror was so great, that, "tth e " L e ad of a body of armed men, he fled at.early 'N ed ",efore a corps of pursuers, which daylight re ci t i. ttil t r,, L ° be nothing but a number of old women an 'lles l.4l going to market on high trotting donkeys ! %NI Partaking for a while of the gaieties of St. Maur, 84 1 eatin g Goudi in Paris, plotting against him in per- Ves * here an air of sanctity and the society of the kiri t .! 1 1 day w ere exc h ange d by this licentious priest 4 L i tht r , 4l( en orgies and the c4mpany of his mistresses by *;t1 1 '° ll d4 took heart at length, and boldly returned notfi ea pital to overcome his enemies in general, and ~.L " I N was moving the Frondeurs and the Parlia toe%flung th a t g lbst him, in particular. These two foes met in reproaches and in , actives at each hatf after day, and excited such universal interes t, th„, ti r thousand citizens escorted the public mistress A ky C o r h Arehhi s h o p, for such Gondi now was, on her N „ear the debates that concerned her lover and the ance. He is about six feet high, and with a very upright military bearing, and altogether an exceed ingly fine looking man for his age. Behind him came two officers leading his son, the Crown Prince, who, as all the world knows and regrets, is incur ably blind. When the Prince was seated, the officers immediately disappeared. Until the Royal pair had seated themselves, the congregatian remained stand ing. The Crown Peince se-med to know the service most accurately, fir he stool, kneeled, and sat at different parts of it, with the utmost exactitude, and answered each of the responses, as did also his father, in the most pious and feeling tone. He seems, how ever, to be troubled with St. Vitus' dance, for, when ever I see him, he is continually fidgeting with his sword or buttons, and incessantly moving and throw ing his arms about in the strangest and most ludicrous manner; but really whether he has this dreadful af fection of the nerves or not, I do not know, but rather think it is merely a bad habit. At the second service, where the sacrament was to be taken, it was most sorrowful and melancholy to behold the aged and broken-down King (now the oldest sovereign in Europe, since the death of the King of Sweden) leading and guiding to and from the communion table, with care and solicitude, his blind and feeble son, who, by the natural rule, should be the prop and support of his declining years, and who, though endowed with the most striking physical beauty and strength of form. is still rendered weak and powerless as a child, by the ever-to-be-deplored loss of his eye-sight. Even the worst enemies of the King of Hanover have ever allowed him, when he was the Duke, to have been a zealous, and some have said a bi goted churchman ; but, as the King, I must say he does not deserve to retain that once-prized title, and this is principally shown by the utter dis regard he exhibits of the Sunday. Each F,e renth day are seen before the palace or castle, lights blazing and guards parading, all of which indicate that his Majesty is about to make merry with his subjects, This treating the Sunday in the same manner as another day, is a custom among all the Christians in Europe, except those of England; and Ernest Augustus cannot therefore he greatly blamed if he makes this concession to the Hanoverians on becoming their king. He should not, however, go farther than this, nor attempt to compel his own countrymen, who may still retain the prejudices of their fatherland, to do the same, as has lately been the case by his requiring the attendance of the British Ambassador at all his Sunday parties. He has only a short time since commenced giving these Sunday balls, and to the first Mr. Bligh was, as a matter of course, invited, but declined attending. A few days afterwards, so runs the story, there was a grand diplomatic dinner at the palace, at which the at tendance of his British Excellency was not requested. The affronted Ambassador inquire l the cause, but receiving no satisfactory answer, wrote to England, demanding instructions as to how he should act; but Lord Aberdeen refused interfering in such matter, and entirely left it to Mr. Bligh's own choice as to his attending the Sunday soirees or not. The end of the matter, as rumour goes, is, that his Excellency now repairs every Sunday, makes his bow to the King, and then hurries away, and drives home again as fast as possible; thus, at the same time, satisfying the King's commands, and not in the slightest disturbing the serenity of his own conscience. There is like wise a report that the King's English chaplain also attends, and, what is still more, dances every Sun day; but this is such an unlikely matter that I can not give any credence to it. The King, it is said, takes the greatest delight also in society, notwith standing his age, and goes hobbling about from per son to person, talking with the greatest satisfaction to himself, though in the most abominable German that ever affrighted a human tympanum. In consequence of the horror it is reported the King has for German, English has become the fashionable language, scarcely anything else being spoken at the Court. After church• time (although, indeed, his attendance is any thing hut regular), he takes a walk through the town, as, indeed, he does on most fine days, always leaning upon the arm of, and chatting with, an Adjutant. I suspect that if any person who bore the title of Majesty, was to take it into his head to walk through the streets of any large town in England, his life and reign would not, through the pressure of the mob certain to follow at his Royal heels, be of long duration ; but here, as through all Germany is the custom, the King goes about, looking into the shops and scrutinising the soldiers' uniforms, as coolly as possible, and enjoying himself like other people. But what I particularly remark is, that few persons salute him, in the usual German way, by taking off the hat, as is always done to the Crown Prince and his amiable consort. No person ever thinks of looking after the King, or turning round to stare at him, as would be the case in England ; but, on the contrary, FO little are the people excited by the presence of royalty, that I have seen some of the lower orders whistle as they have pas , ed him. One of royal blood goes about with as little attention paid to them as to other people ; and the Crown Princess walks from shop to shop, with her footman behind, greeted always by the flying off of the hat, or the low curtsey; but still by a natural politeness be longing to the Germans, she is never incommoded by being watched or stared at. The English in Hanover are, at this moment, any thing but numerous, though, when the Duke of Cambridge was here, there were a great many. The national character has suffered seriously by the dis graceful conduct of some of our countrymen, who, by bad luck, have been here. There were lately some strange transactions by a paymaster, sent by the English Goverment for the purpose of paying the pensions to the members of the German Legion, which for some time, was in England, and atter wards in the Peninsula ; and the publicity that attended them has done great harm among the lower orders to the English character. There have also been some madmen here, who, with a great pre • ponderance of money over wit, have played most unheard-of and extraordinary tracks; and the general belief among the canaille is, that every Englishman is a sort of insane Crcesus, who goes flying about , rom country to country for the sole object of being cheated. That there is some truth in the remark can not be doubted, since it would he difficult to discover for what possible purpdse Englishmen go and thrust their noses into every state, town, and village through out the civilised, and, indeed, sometimes through the uncivilised world. If it is for the purpose of being ridiculed and laughed at, their object is gained to the utmost extent, since their depth and intensity of curiosity is the laughing stock of all Europe. The manner in w hich the Germans ridicule the flock of cockneys on the Rhine, who fly from England every summer, is most laughable to hear; and the jokes and tricks said to have been played on their igno rance should give most Englishmen a perfect surfeit of travelling in such numbers together, instead of going quietly and peaceably, each, according to their tastes, without all the hurry and scrambling of an in vading army of foreigners. It is a pity that fashion, the only despot that Englishmen bow to, does not turn their carriage wheels to all the beautiful scenery of their own kingdoms; but as monied upstarts among the English are the most vulgar of mankind, so they are constantly vigorous in their efforts to be ever a la mode. lt h oYAL FAMILY of HANOVER. t k ht , (From the Liverpool Journal.) e3 itli et , 4 ll B . gentleman from Liverpool, who has been t „ d' With' for some time back at Ilanover, has furni - hed , e teese 'e following interesting particulars of the ClieiC e life of the King of Hanover and his femily, ' t et vrf i teontinuation of a paper on the same sub illttlee e e " appeared in the Journal a couple of month; o r ,' 1 t4„ 4 . 3 11 3 from Hanover—The English Church—Little h‘ betii lt e rt e2ut it—Strange observances—Diplomatic . indig- Cke O f ' Royal resentment—Appearance of the whilom .teie rt •,, .Cumberland—lnteresting particulars of the 'ether Pr ince—Affecting deportment of himself and Zie ree a_t, th e Sacrament—Laxity of the King in high , y 4' Court —Dancing and amu r s l emee a ts n o r n aa a S e un a - t r z tite, an `-, t- Popularity of . the Erie ish l e g r e r ee ,, 4 the reason of it—Little respects shown to the th e e r e Master of Oran semen—Attachment of all classes ni . - ' 4 rlee er r ewn Prince—S'carcity of English residen . ts at ? the British of John Bull, and consequent estimate ( t:B . 111 4). leritish character by the natives—Tyranny of 'Otie,„ l l l England, and the ridicule it provokes on the Vifth - "‘*--Wo r d of advice to Cockney tourists. 'ef th e 0 ,000 inhabitants of Hanover, who, mind are 4 eir business, and cang much more for their l l'e teit t ' their beer than fonthe million creeds which t f.t ir eill i e ° ,.g this poor world to tatters, there are not en"' e f r ' ll sPect for an instant, that in the heart of l a ePes . e o - r - Y , and in the palace of their king, there T i l t; th l e ll ed every Sunday, by an English chap le.g°llgii service of the Church of England. t i'i l ei to rturally open as the day, and as much ee.. teNit e e known as is possible in a country where en e e° press, yet, in speaking to a native upon jeete it is difficult to make him believe that Ad its su ch a thing as this hidden church in fals ., it s c e iew words about this mysterious institution Op bNolders, may not prove totally uninteresting. fe t e ll eet I . eet ning monarch of the realm of Hanover, Nee a gllstus did not resume the religion of his nit% ti leest ti e ,o e q , ors, the elder Electors, but retained that i tt ' feti,"er, the King's : and, accordingly, as, after e,,,tlie ',.." e s of Government, he must needs pray 11 ,''' ite e r°d old English popery-hating fashion, it r 4 b ur sary he should have a suitable place to pray h . ...-_, the small number of his country it: n o h An interesting lecture on the Currency was des. I. ll ' o llle onoured his capital with their residence, ' 1 ,4 it - 0 ;1 0, 11 ot be worth while to build a church for his vered last evening at the George Hotel, Alderma . nbuTy, 11,,,1tp wit and he was, therefore, necessitated to under the sanction of the Society for the Emancipation of Industry. The audience was composed of the highly the b. hei the same excuse for one that had been keatie4 the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at respectable traders in the neighbourhood, by whom the lecture was well received, and at . its close a conversation . V I els e I , e Royal dining-out Duke wee viceroy ; ensued which contributed to elucidate the prTciples of 'Lei y ‘ 0 order, from the Archbishop of Can- the currency, We understand the lecture is litely . to be ki ti q L - el t i d El LsPe . cial minister for his chaplain. This repeated in other places in the metropolis, and we Te tt% ifs.p a rg is, as I have already stated, in the commend our readers to attend it when au opportunity te e t ieel s a e,e- On entering, one passes by a pair of may occur. 116 singu c kos) wniskered, musketed, and moustached, in DEATH OF OLD STUART, AGED - —This on. 4 tlltl t approved Prussian manner and who con- ler being lived amongst us a relic of hoar antiquity, c . It ee l iNh e t r eat one with the greatest ' astonishment at fleeting our era with the far-off reign of George r ‘ g v 11. e as te A f .,_ , Yel e ,". t tl 4 any foreign-looking people entering_ the while, according to his own tale,unvaryingg I A e ‘ee p a - s i ,,rnee, as if for a deleuner with the King. lineal and the last surviving descendant of the Royal 04 4 ecei sti "ng these armed " aids to reflection," i t race of Stuart. He has this week paid the debt of ttli tl e , vil re' to proceed through corridor after corridor, nature. Endowed with a tenacity of life of which 'we t ._ ata Y to the church, at one moment knocking have always regarded his extraordinary feats of per sonal strength in former days, and the extreme old age it ',elk% ) greasy cook wending to the kitchen, and then to which he reached at last, as the joint confirmation, the4l4 a dravving-room, or, perhaps, tumbling into his time could scarcely yet be said to have come, in the e hel p t ; : r, whose occupant still sleeps ; but by course of nature, for his death eas the result of an in oltrt last a few hussars posted here and there, one jury in the hip joint, anxiety ocesio d by a fall on Thursday te ees e than ! et , right. The church itself is nothing last week. In ne t get out of doors, to - et; e large and rather shabby-looking dining- enjoy the recent sunny weather, ° his foot had entangled, os l 'aa t i , a4 d formerly where luscious odours used to and he was thrown down. Any iejury, however ‘ - ` l ll 4 4 te s p aa e n t l e d , toasts and songs went round with the was almest sure to have provt d fatal, and aecerdingly the utmost care and skill were unavailing. oe t lee te . to _tie re are now only heard pious responses sliirht. He expired on Thursday morning, at the a6lvanctd age k t he 1 .,, "ed "Amens." In a corner, at the head ,f 116 years, 3i months. It may be satisfactory to 4 4 4 , te e - u ee t ") there is a small pulp't for the clergy- know, now that all poor Jamie's wanderings have :►r. 'ley- Mr. Wilkinson and close to it a small ceased, that the fund, which the kindness of a few vets inniediately before the altar are placed three munificent ineividuals (including our gracious Sovereign, 4 g°l4alelY adorned chairs, which ore understands and several of the leading names in the land) had 4 "e• Il ee have been Ivi,„ OPr have set there for the Kin the placed at the disposal of Mr. Jaffrey, bookseller, el ) tll, , b vv " ... ‘'el and the Crown ?eineesat the latter g of in Berwick, and ourselves, has amply sufficed to ke.,°%lies e'er, but seldom attends from the fact of smooth_ the last asperities in his path ; and the old man lately bestowed his be sling on e ff lr. Jaffray, and said li . 4 th' a member of the Lutheran church. Be ilti h e ro yal five six f • of 3 r oyal seats are or chairs for the The.. that he hadna been e a this hander . year." most vigilant means were adopted of administering L tr tile elti l" 9 assador, the Hon. Mr. Bligh, and the rest to hint the comforts best suited to his peculiar case. fe re qindi s as s,Y; and behind these again are gaunt-And it must be t-tat, d that his wife, who is his junior by how 4 p art erl ,,ninatO chairs for all who mav desire to a whole generated), tended and kept him with a care ana cev ee, ki n! the congregation, the whole of whom , ae&duity truly exemplary.—Berwici and Kelso Warder. 44 1 fifty ~11 , g ,and canaille, never amount to more EMIGRATION.—Vast numbers of emigrants, from On last Christmas-day, when the till parts of the empire are now . flocking to this . port, on k te ttl i t t i lli e b e te ll i n t w e i: s a o e s P a g i t e e i . ven, the sight was most interesting. their way to Canada and the United States, with a smaller d for some time, I heard a clatter of number for other colonies. So numerous are they at ti i t'Y t one n the folding-doors, all speaking in an present that passages are . difficult to obtain. The ma oite,,oetinu'ilailen t far above them all was heard raging ity of the Scotch emigrants are for Upper Canada, r those of this country and Ireland are for the k it a I eve _ squeak of one of the most unmusical A t whis pe ,,f,"eard in my life, which some one near whilst United States. The Irish emigrants in number fully teigils„. h is ''` u. was the pi - operty of his Majesty, Ernest amount to that . of the English, Scotch, and Welsh united, !tt e kirig:i n S, his all ceastd, and in w anted the met they me generally po• r people cleared off the estates r o e ,.see teie _ lie usual undress hussar uniform, his t._e,tee,ti,singly red and broiling with anger, which, . a of the Irish landlords. During the winter months, there e more English emigrants sailing from this port than , (N ye . is, his snow-white whiskers and mous meets . 4$ with ir e i r sh, but from some causes, perhaps a little revival in I trade, their numbers have lately diminish . ed.—,Lperpoo/ his P h y sio gnomy a most odd appear- i . - Mercury. TAX ON THE TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, April 19. Their Lordships met at the usual hour. Several Bills from the Commons were brought up and read a first time. We bespeak the best attention of our readers to the following article, which is in course of circula tion, by a writer who signs " Justus." It exposes one of the grossest robberies ever committed upon the nation, even by our class legislators : The Premier having succeeded in imposing an in come-tax, for the purpose of meeting the deficiency in the revenue, and the acknowledged inequality of such a tax being almost universal, while its inquisitorial operation renders it odious to a large portion of the public—the commercial and trading classes especially —it can scarcely be necessary to offer an apology for suggesting measures which, if adopted, would entirely obviate the necessity for so objectionable an enact ment, and render its immediate repeal practicable. In the year 1798, Mr. Pitt brought into Parlia ment two Bills, one for imposing a probate and legacy duty on personal property, the other for levying similar duties on real property. The first-named Bill passed into a law, and for forty-six years large sums have been raised by its operation ; but the second Bill was abandoned, and from that time the owners of real property have been exempt from those contributions to the exigencies of the State which their less for tunate fellow-subjects have been burdened with. May it not be said with perfect truth, this is great injustice ? And may it not be fearlessly asserted that now, when the deficiency in the revenue requires extraordinary supplies, that such an enactment of duty on real property ought at once to be resorted to ? Let the amount, principal and interest, for forty-six years, be calculated which such a duty would have produced, and it will be found that a sum of three hundred million pounds has been retained in the cof fers of the landed interest. Is it not, then, high time that such a measure should be insisted on, and ought not the country loudly to proclaim its sense of the injustice of such partial taxation ? Surely, on every principle of equity and good faith, the Government is called upon to avail themselves of this resource, which, it is clear, would furnish so large a supply of revenue as to render an income-tax wholly unnecessary. Startling as these assertions may appear, a re ference to figures, it is believed, will satisfy the most incredulous. The amount of the whole property in England, or, rather, Great Bri tain, has been estimated at 3,600,000,0001.; now, assuming the w hole of it to pay duty once in every thirty-three years, the annual amount deriv able therefrom would be 4,454,0001., and as the yearly produce of the duty on personal property is about 1,869,0001., it follows that real property, which is chiefly in the hands of the nobility and rich common ers, is exempted from an annual payment of about 2,585,000/., which in thirty-three years, would amount to the enormous sum of 77,564,0001. How long is such a state of things to exist? Within a few weeks several of our most wealthy Peers have been removed by death, and their enormous landed possessions and houses have passed to their families without one shilling being levied on the transfer, for the use of the country; and yet who could complain if such duties were levied ? Certainly not the dead, and surely not the survivors, with any semblance of justice ; for to satisfy selfishness is no part of the duty of society, or of governments. The less fortunate holders of personal estate are daily and hourly contributing of their substance, while those of them engaged in trade and commerce, are, from dire necessity compelled to retain in per sonals the whole or greater part of their property, or their operations in business would at once come to an end ; but the landowner may add, year after year, to his estate, and yet be exonerated from all charge when that estate shall pass from him to his sur viving relatives. If our Legislators can be imbued with these sentiments—if the British public speak out, and demand, in firm and energetic language, the adoption of a probate and legacy duty on real pro perty, then may England hope tobe relieved from the continuance of that most hateful and oppressive im post, the income-tax. In calculating the real property of Great Britain, it must not be forgotten to include all houses that are not leasehold ; and also growing timber. The above calculation was made about thirty years ago ; since which period a great increase has taken place in the value of real property, and if an estimate were now taken, the amount would surprise all but those who possess it. Sir Robert Peel says, that neither William Pitt in the plenitude of his power, nor any minister since, has ever been able to tax real property with the legacy and probate duty. The reason is obvious, that both Whigs and Tories are equally interested in opposing such a tax. Mr. Pitt did carry two Bills through the Commons, one for taxing real property, and the other personal property ; the former was carried by one vote, viz., the Speaker's. However, it never passed into a law, and it asserted that the landed proprietors went to William Pitt, as was ascertained from his secretary, and said, " If you pass this law, you will be no longer Prime Minister." P.S.—ln the year 1812, Mr. Colquhoun estimated the property of Great Britain and Ireland, at 4,000 millions sterling. In the year 1832 Mr. Macqueen estimated the same at 6,186 millions sterling. If, upon this amount of property, the duty was properly levied to any amount, a person might pos sess, and not allowed to stop short at one million, as is now the case,—it being well known that very many of our Nobles, and some rich Commoners who have lately died, and many now living, are in possession of property from three to ten mil lions,—these amounts would bear a duty upon a sliding scale up Nerds, namely, as the property in creased, the duties increase; and the Minister would then have more than he wanted. This would give him an opportunity of relieving the country of the taxes that oppress the poor, and, of course, the ex pense of the tax-gatherers, Custom-house officers, preventive service men, and other officers now em ployed in collecting the taxes, too numerous to men tion. If a scale was enacted on all property, and not on Sir Robert Peel's sliding favourite, it would then produce from twelve to fifteen millions annually, and only do justice between man and man; but it should not begin too low, as it does now.—Liverpool Mer cury. Petitions against the Dissenters' Chapels Bill were presented by the Earl of Rosebery from Berwick-on ['weed ; by the Marquis of Normanby from a place in Ireland ; and petitions in favour of the Bill were pre sented by the Earl of Sefton from a congregation in Renshaw-street, Lverpool ; by the Earl of Radnor, the Marquis of Normanby, Lord Sudely, and Lord Beaumont. Lord MONTEAGLE postponed the second reading of the Bill for preventing the forestalling of markets in Ireland till Tuesday next, for the purpose of amending the Bill, so as to apply to Scotland as well as Ireland. Lord CAMPBELL presented a petition from several places in Ireland, praying that their Lordships would legalise the Presbyterian marriages. The Duke of BUCCLEUCH presented a petition against the union of the sees of St. Asaph and Bangor. After a few words from Lord CAMPBELL and the LORD CHANCELLOR, the Dissenters' Chapels Bill was postponed till this day week. Lord WIIARNCLIFFE presented a petition praying for the alteration of certain clauses in the Poor-laws. The Bishop of EXETER presented petitions from several parts of the United Kingdom against the Dis senters' Chapels Bill. He said that the petitioners felt confident that the interests of religion were involved in this measure, and prayed their Lordships not to sanction it. This Bill, for the reasons he had stated, would theiefore receive his opposition, and he gave his full support to the prayer of the petition. In presenting these petitions he would state to their Lordships that there was an irre gularity with respect to them, inasmuch as they were headed as coming from members of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Now, there was no such church either in England or Ireland. Had the petitions come from Scotland, of course he would not have made this observation ; but in England and Ireland no church was recognised except the Church of England, and there was an express canon of the Church against any persons calling themselves the members of any church not the Church of England. Lord CAMPBELL wished to know the date of such canon. The Bishop of EXETER was perfectly ready to give the Noble Lord an answer. The canon was established in England in the year 1603, and in Ireland about thirty years later. The Marquis of DOWNSHIRE presented several pe titions in favour of the Bill. PUBLIC WORKS (IRELAND.) Lord GOSFORD gave notice that he should, on an early day, call the attention of the House to the subject of public works in Ireland. GWALIOR. The Marquis of NORM ANBY gave notice that he should, on Monday, put a question to the Government relative to certain omissions in the papers which had been laid on their Lordships' table relating to Gwalior. Their Lordships then adjourned. - THE ITALIAN OPERA.—The following are the names of the past managers of the Italian Opera House:- 1729, Handel; 1740 (when the new theatre was opened), Heidegger ; 1752, Dr. Croza ; 1756, Vanese hi ; 1757, Giardini an Mingotti ; 1762, Mattei ; 1764, Gordon, Crowford, and Vincent ; then, for a short period, the Hon. Mr. Hobart ; 1772, Milliro and Sacchini ; 1775, Mrs. Yates and Mrs. Brooks; 1786, Sir John Gallini and Mr. Taylor ; 1789, the theatre was destroyed by fire; 1791 (when the new theatre was erected), Mr. Goold ; 1818, Mr. Waters ; then an interval, during which Mr. Chambers, unfortunately for himself, was lessee ; 1822, Mr. Ebers, following whom came Mr. Monck Mason ; then Mr. Laporte; and in 1842 Mr. Lumley became, and has continued, the manager, whom few of his prede cessors have equalled in spirit, tact, and success.—Dra matic and Musical Review. A ROBIN'S NEST IN A GREAT COAT.—A re markable instance of the tameness of the robin, and its confidence in man, is now to be seen on the premises of Mr. George Watson, butcher, Dunmow. On a beam in a shed adjoining the slaughter-house, the apprentice, some five or six weeks since, threw an old drab great coat, and upon it an old saddle; they remained in that position a few days, when it was discovered that a robin was building her nest in the arm-hole of the coat-sleeve, and, being allowed to complete her work, she proceeded to lay her eggs, and has now a hopeful progeny of five young ones in this novel and warm situation. What renders the ,occurrence still more singular, is the fact that the top of the cart-wheel, when run into the shed (which is continually the case) approaches close to the nest, thus causing the greatest facility for a cat or other predatory animal to pounce upon the little unfledged innocents. Nothing daunted, however, the old bird flies in and out while the lads are chopping wood immediately under her domicile, and when cattle are being slaughtered and dressed, picks up the little pieces of suet and offal with Out showing the least fear.—Chelmsford Chronicle. ST. CLEMENT DANES.—This church has just been adorned with three splendidly-painted glass windows, erected in the eastern section of the edifice, and casting a " dim religious light" around the communion table.— Standard. _ _ --- THE COLLIERS.—We are informed that most of the Nottinghaii,shire, and several of the Derbyshire col lieries are doing very little work, as great numbers of the colliers firmly continue in the union. Of the col lieries in the neighbourhood of Derby, we hear Shipley has resumed work—the colliers having with drawn from the union—that Denby is working pretty well, and at Kilburne there has been no strike or stop page whatever. At Matehay very little is doing ; Morley Park somewhat unsettled ; and at West Hal lum going on well, having no men in the union. We understand there has been a large meeting of the most influential coal-masters in the counties of Derby, Not tingham, end Leicester, with those connected with the North Midland Railways, at which it was determined not to employ any colliers in the union, and to put it down previous to entertaining the question of any regulation in wages or prices of coals. Meetings of the colliers con tinue to be held in several parts of the county, but nothing has taken place during the past week worthy of public record.—Nottingham Review. EXTRAORDINARY EXHUMATION ON THE COAST or ArnicA.—The ship Britannia, Captain E. Wylie, left Icho boe, on the west coast of Africa, whither she had been for guano, on the 7th February, and arrived at this port on Sun day last with a cargo of that article. The captain reports that on the 15th of January a " mummy" was dug out of the guano, and close upon it there was a common oak stave with the inscription " Columbus Delano, 1791, cut appa rently with an ordinary scribe for marking wood. It was found only four feet below the surface, and no idea could be formed of the depth at which it had originally been buried; so that supposing it to have been merely covered under the then level, the accumulation of the guano over the long in termediate period of 53 years, could not have much exceeded 2 13 ic willrft pe rf e c t feet.p refur n is h s e materials v l aa t ttei i ro s ina r jo e sa m fno a ar r k ce oci a n b u j l ae e l cl t yt l u ri so t oet wasthe body o cht ehme was canvasis an idn druggists.i a n s t whicha t e it was enclos e d, b e i ng perfectly fresh and strong. The fact --Liverpool Standard, Privy Council, containing any provision or regulation with reference to the terms, conditions, or circum stances under which aid should be granted to schools in Scotland, whether in connexion or not in connexion with the Established Church of Scotland, or with the National School Society, or the British and Foreign School So ciety.—Agreed to. PRESBYTERIAN MARRIAGES—(IRELAND.) Mr. ROSS said that the Right lion. Gentleman oppo site was doubtless aware that great excitement had been occasioned in Ireland by certain recent decisions of the Courts of Law and the House of Lords on the subject of Presbyterian marriages. He wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman if it was the intention of the Govern ment to introduce any measure to legalise marriages celebrated by clergymen of the Presbyterian persuasion —marriages which had been for the last two centuries supposed to be perfectly legal ? Sir JAMES GRAHAM said that the present state of the law on the subject had recently attracted the at tention of the House of Lords ; a Committee of that House had been appointed to investigate the subject, and he had every reason to believe that a Bill on the subject, emanating from the Committee, would very shortly be laid upon the table of the other House of Parliament. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. Sir JAMES GRAHAM wished to remind the House that, in consequence of the postponement of the Irish Registration Bill, he had given notice that it was his intention that evening to move the second reading of the County Courts Bill as the first Order of the Day. He had, however, omitted to give formal notice of his inten tion, and the consequence was that the Order of the Day for the Committee of Supply stood as the Order of the Day to be first taken after the Irish Registration Bill. He wished that no Hon. Member should be taken by surprise, and therefore he would leave it to the House to determine whether he should proceed with the County Courts Bill—(Hear, hear)—or whether the Committee of Supply should taken. It was entirely an error of his own that proper notice had not been given. Mr. J. JERVIS had given notice of an amendment on the County Courts Bill. He had to thank the Right Hon. Gentleman for his courtesy in informing him that . . it was his intention to proceed •%;:ith the Bill that even ing. He (Mr. Jervis) was perfectly prepared to go on, but he knew several Hon. Members who had gone away under the impression that the County Courts Bill would not come on; and, under those circumstances, he thought it would be better, that the County Courts Bill should be postponed. Mr. WATSON expressed a hope that the discussion on the County Courts Bill would be deferred until some other evening. Sir JAMES GRAHAM thought it would perhaps be best to take the business of the evening as it stood upon changes which had taken place in the government of that colony. Lord STANLEY would have no objection to lay be fore the House such papers as were calculated to throw a light on the transaction to which the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had alluded, but he thought it better th a t _ _ ley should wait until all the papers could be laid before them, so that they might consider the transaction as a whole. Mr. ROEBUCK did not want the papers to raise any dispute on the subject, but merely for information. IRISH POOR•LAW COMMISSIONERS. Mr. F. FRENCH, in reference to the postponed reso lutions in the. Committee of Supply, wished to know when it was likely that the vote for the salary of the Poor-law Commissioner in Ireland would be proposed, as he intended to oppose it ? Sir G. CLERIC'S answer was inaudible in the gallery. EDUCATION IN IRELAND. Captain BERNAL wished to know when the estimates for public education in Ireland would be proposed ? Sir GEORGE CLERK said that the pressure of pub lic business was such, that it was impossible at present to fix the day. SUPPLY OF TIMBER TO THE NAVY. Sir C. NAPIEIt rose, agreeably to notice, to put a question to the Secretary to the Admiralty, on the sub ject of the supply of timber to the navy. It appeared that two ships had recently required a good deal of re pair, in consequence of the badness of the timber which had been used in their construction. He had had an opportunity of examining returns of the quantity of timber supplied to the dockyards for the year 1840 to the year 1841, and it appeared that 274,131 loads of timber had been received into the dock-yards during that period by private coutract, and and 56,035 loads by public competition. Sometime ago ho found that it was usual for the Government when timber wns received into the dockyards to have it examined by the surveying officer, and he un derstood that when timber had been rejected by him as unfit for service, it had been ordered by the storekeeper to be received at reduced prices. Now, under such a system, it was impossible that the dock- - - yards could be properly supplied with timber. They had heard the other night from the Secretary to the Admiralty that no inferior officer was permitted to sign an order in his own name, but that all orders must be signed by the Secretary to the Admiralty. He, therefore, asked by what right the storekeeper took upon himself to sign an order for admitting in ferior timber into the dockyards, at a reduced price ? Formerly it was the custom to ascertain from the con . tractors - where and when the timber furnished to the Go vernment for ship-building was grown. That practice had been discontinued about 10 or 12 years since, and at the present day the surveying officer knew nothing about where or when the timber was cut down. The Hon. and Gallant officer here recounted the various stations, the paper Mr. LABOUCHERE did not object to the arrange ments entered into yesterday ; but he must observe that, strictly speaking, it was better not to allow that course to be established as a precedent. By saying that, he did not mean to throw any obstacle in the way of the arrangements that had been made. Lord ASHLEY wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentle man in the Chair, whether the same objection applied to the instructions to the Committee, of which notice had just been given by the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath, as the Right Hon. Gentleman had stated, applied to his (Lord Ashley's) instructions ? The SPEAKER said that the same objection to the motion which the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath proposed to make did not (as we understood) apply, as in the case of the motion of the Noble Lord the other day. The rule of the House was this—that no person could instruct the Committee to do that which the Com mittee could do without them. If the proposition of the Hon. and Learned Member was within the scope of the Bill, it was quite competent to the Committee to deal with it without any instruction to them. But, if it were not, the Hon. and Learned Member could move his instructions. Mr. ROEBUCK said—perhaps the House would allow him to state that he, too, had considered the point of form, and he took the rule of the House to be this— that no instruction could affirm the powers of a Com mittee, but that it might restrict or extend those powers. His (Mr. Roebuck's) purpose was to restrict, and he, therefore, thought that it was competent for him to move his instruction. Mr. HUME said he was altogether against the prin ciple of interfering with manual labour ; but as he was in favour of several clauses of the Bill, he could not con cur with the Hon. and Learned Member's proposal, lest he should be found acting in opposition to the whole measure. Sir J. GRAHAM said, that as a point of order he thought notice should he given before they discussed this question. He would submit that the object of an instruction to the Committee was not that that Commit tee should do anything, or omit to do anything, but only to give the Committee power to do something, which otherwise they would not be competent to do.—(Hear, hear.) If it were competent to them to do anything, or to omit to do anything, without an instruction, then he submitted that the instruction not being necessary, was unparliamentary. The single question was, whether the object, sought by the Hon. Member for Bath, could be attained without an instruction ?—(Hear, hear.) If it could be, he would submit that the instruction was un necessary and unparliamentary. Mr. ROEBUCK said he certainly could not attain his object without an instruction. His object was to pre vent the Committee from entertaining the question. The SPEAKER said it would not be for the con venience of the House that this matter should be debated upon a mere hypothetical case. The proper time for debating the question would be when it arose upon a point of order. He had endeavoured to explain to the House what he conceived to be the rule ; at the same time he thought the question should be discussed when the Hon. and Learned Member moved the instruction. Mr. WARD said he thought the Hon. and Learned Member would fully attain his object, by moving the omission of the 32d clause, and that would raise the whole point. He had himself come down to the House with the intention of giving notice that he would move the omission of that clause. _ _ and ships of war at each, which France had throughout the world, and pointed out that, as our navy was circum stanced at present, we were not in a position to compete with the French. While the French had a large squadron of observation, we had not a single ship ready for sea. He wished also to point out another subject to the con sideration of the Government—he meant harbours of refuge. It was but a few years ago since the French Government granted 170 millions of francs for the purpose of forming harbours of refuge, and they had this year added fuur millions more for the same purpose. He concluded by moving for a return of the quantity of timber that for the last ten years had been presented at the different dockyards and rejected by the officer, and of the quantities received by order of the storekeeper-general; also for a list of all orders in the public service signed by the subordinate officers. The question having been put, Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT said that the Hon. and Gallant Gentleman who had preceded him was per fectly well aware of the practice pursued in her Majesty's dockyards, timber not being of the size specified in the contract was rejected, un less it could be made useful for the public service. Both the present Admiralty and the last had done all they could to break down the monopoly which existed in the timber market, and had endeavoured to establish a fair competition,' but they had been hitherto unsuccessful. When he (Mr. S. Herbert) came into office, Earl Minto told him that there was one timber-merchant in the market, whose influence was so great that no other merchant was able to compete with him. The Hon. and Gallant Officer had spoken of some reductions which he said were contemplated in our naval force, and had re ferred to what foreign Powers were doing, and to the ex tent of their forces. Now he (Mr. S. Herbert) knew no subject more mischievous to be introduced into discus sion in that House, than the relative strength of th e forces of this and other countries. Such discussions only tended to create alarms for which there was, in fact, no substantial foundation. He was very certain that, if occasion should ever arise, and it should be ne cessary for the Government to ask for assistance, that House would never be backward with its assistance.— (Hear, hear.) He did not feel himself justified in giving the returns asked for by the Hon. and Gallant Officer, but any information which with propriety be could give, he should have great pleasure in communicating to him. After a few words from Mr. FOSTER and Sir CIL&RLES NAPIER, Mr. BARNARD said he was glad that some altera tion was about being effected in the mode in which those contracts were made. ...... The Order of the Day for the second reading of the Irish Registration Bill was read for the purpose of being postponed. CHARITABLE PAWN SOCIETIES BILL. In answer to a question from Mr. GISBORNE, Mr. GLADSTUNE was understood to say that the Government did not intend to interfere with this Bill. BANK CHARTER BILL. Sir J. GRAHAM stated, that as the Budget was fixed for the 29th, and generally took precedence of other business, it would be taken on that evening, before the discussion on: he Bank Charter Bill. Lord J. RUSSELL said the Budget was at all times a matter of interest, and would this year be particularly so ; they could not, therefore, be sure that the discussion on it would last but a short time. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE thought the Bank Charter might as well be postponed at once till the 6th of May. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS (IRELAND). On the motion of Lord ELIOT the Municipal Cor porations (Ireland) Bill was read a second time, without opposition, and ordered to be committed on the 29th. COUNTY COURTS. In answer to a question from Mr. JERVIS. Sir J. GRAHAM fixed the Committee on the County Courts Bill for Monday next. MESSAGE FROM THE LORDS. Mr. HUME also animadverted in strong terms upon the manner in which the contracts had been made. Sir GEORGE COCKBURN thought that the mode in which those contracts had been completed in times past was open to reprehension, but the Admiralty at the present time were doing all in their power to render the fulfilment of those contracts as beneficial as possible to the public. After a few words from Mr. HUME, the amendment was negatived, without a division. STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATES (IRELAND). Mr. BELLEW, in rising to draw the attention of the House to the appointment of stipendiary magistrates in Ireland, had no intention to make any observations on the debate which had taken place the other night, except to express his regret that the cause of that debate should have arisen from the dismissal of ten magistrates who had been appointed by the last Government. Those dismissals were not worth much on the score of eco nomy, and in every other point of view they had better not have taken place. The Noble Lord had observed that it was extraordinary that the late Government, at the very time they were boasting of the increased tran quility of Ireland, should have thought it necessary to increase the number of stipendiary magistrates. Now, it appeared to him that the increase in the num ber of stipendiary magistrates might be considered as one of the causes of the increased tranquillity. He was not opposed to the system of appoint ing additional stipendiary magistrates. He thought there ought to be one attending every petty ses sion. They understood their business better than the local magistrates did; they were not actuated by local pre judices, and they acted under the immediate supervision of the Executive. In England, public opinion was so strong, and there in general existed such feelings of mutual goodwill between the country gentlemen and their neighbours, that the local magistrates formed perhaps the best possible arbitrators for the settlement of local dis putes. In Ireland, however, the case was different, and so strongly was this felt that, even so far back as the Government of the Marquis of Wellesley, stipendiary magistrates had been appointed. Their appointment had been always opposed by the local magistrates, and as these latter were almost all Tories, the number of sti pendiaries had not been greatly increased until the Go vernment of the Marquis of Normanby, when the namber was increased to forty. At present there were about sixty of them, and he was happy to hear that it was the intention of the Government to keep up the number. What could be more absurd than that the administration of justice should be left to the caprice of country gentlemen ? The machinery for the administra tion of justice in the counties of Ireland was more com plete than it was in England. In Ireland they had a public prosecutor in every court of quarter sessions. They had also the assistant barristers, which they had not in this country. They were men of some standing at the bar, and were an excellent body of men ; and then they had the stipendiary magistrates. He wished to call the attention of the Right Hon. Ba ronet at the head of the Government to the cases of Messrs. Brereton and O'Brien, who had been appointed stipendiary magistrates by the present Government. It was well known that in the county of Tipperary, in par ticular, the people were not remarkable for confidence in the administration of justice, and it was, therefore, the more necessary to make unexceptionable appointments in that county. In general the people and the prisoner were on the one side—the police, the Crown prose cutor, and the magistracy on the other. A verdict of acquittal was hailed by the people as a triutnph—by the other side it was regarded with dismay ; a verdict of guilty was received in the manner of a party victory by those who should only desire to promote the ends of justice — the humbler classes were grieved and disappoiunstedt be e t it. by The Noble Lord the Secretary for Ireland must en this time aware of the conduct of Mr. Breretonh cAonssciezrens: ing a prisoner who was tried at the Nag and of the manner in which th at functionaryu ge took down the depositions of the witnessesnot only on neg lected the trial felt it his duty to say that Dip. the Government was strong language fr om a jud ge , T Brereton he j his duty , bu t had violated d g e could not pass over such gross culpability. and ability. Regarding Mr. O'Brien, it was well known that a short time a g o he was a violent Repealer—a member of the Repeal Asso ciation—one of its most active members too. He car ried his enthusiasm so far in the Repeal cause that he refused to drink the health of Lord Ebrington, the then Lord Lieutenant, at a public dinner in the town of Bal linasloe. One year he eulogised Mr. O'Connell in the most ardent and even bombastic manner, declaring he w as worthy of the eternal gratit u d e o f his countrymen— his praise was so gross th a t i t must have been fulsome to the most warm admirers of Mr. O'Connell; the next year he denounced him in the most werenaltand in temperate language ; he said theeo drilled by an old lawyer, instead of a soldier—a l3p monster who was only fit to grace a gibbet. (The Hon. Member read several extracts from Mr. O'Brien's letters, which were received by Hon. Members on both side of the House with visible marks of disgust.) Yet:that was the person whom the Government had appointed to the office of stipendiary magistrate, a post which required the great est prudence, and the most untainted character.—(Hear, hear.) Such an appointment was highly objectionable, on the ground of lowering the standard of public principle and public morals, as well as shaking the confidence of the Irish people in the administration of justice. The only ground that he could see upon which the appointment of this man could be justified was his gross and filthy abuse of Mr. O'Connell.—(Hear, hear.) In fact, it was a premium held out to abuse Mr. O'Connell. Some years ago, Mr. Blake, a stipendiary magistrate, was dis missed by Lord Normanby, the then Lord Lieutenant, because it was ascertained that Mr. Blake had been dis missed by a Wilt-martial 24 years before, even although A messenger from the Lords brought up several Bills. EXPENDITURE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS. On Sir J. GRAHAM moving the Order of the Day for going into Committee of Supply, Mr. HUME said he had on several occasions, during past years, submitted to the House the - propriety of hav ing before it an account of the expenditure of the House of Lords, which this House was called on to pay, and which they had voted, notwithstanding considerable op position. What he wished to ask was this, whether he should be able to call for any copy of a report of the House of Lords, purporting to recemmend an addi tional expenditure of 1,0001. If the House of Lords thought fit to create a new office, or increase the salary of an existing one, he wished to know what means this House had of possefiling the grounds on which that change took place, because he had been told flatly that it could not be given. If an officer who had no duty to perform was paid 50/. a year, he might be paid very amply ; and if the House of Lords chose to increase his salary to 1,550 L he wished to know what means the Commons of England had of informing them selves of the grounds of that increase? Lord STANLEY'S reply was inaudible in the gallery. Mr. HUME said he had received no answer to the question he had put. Lord STANLEY said he apprehended it was in the Hon. Gentleman's power to move for any information he might require. Mr. HUME then gave notice that he should move that the vote he had objected to should be deferred till Monday or Tuesday, when he would make a motion on the subject. BOROUGH OF HORSHAM. Mr. TUFNELL wished to know from the Hon. Gen tleman opposite (Sir T. Fremantle) why the writ for Horsham had not been moved, when writs for the other vacancies had been so? A vacancy in the representa tion ought always to be filled up without delay. Sir T. FREMANTLE said he was not called upon to explain why the vacancy for this borough had not been filled up. He presumed, however, that the writ of summons to the House of Lords not having been issued, the Hon. Gentleman indirectly referred to had not ceased to be a Member of that House. The House of Commons could not, of course, issue a writ for a Member until an actual vacancy occurred. Lord J. RUSSELL said the Hon. Gentleman who had last spoken asserted that he had no know ledge on this subject, and he was not answerable for what the Government took no particular interest in. The Government ought to feel an interest wherever in jury was done,_ and there was no greater i n j ur y to the public than when a borough was left without its repre sentative.—(Hear, hear.) It was notorious that no one could sit as a Member there when be had become a Mem ber of the other House. The non-issuing of the writ in question might occur from some delay or neglect, but, if continued, then he (Lord John, Russell) should consider it necessary to bring the subject formally under the consideration of the House, in order to the application of a remedy.--(Hear, hear.) SUPPLY. Sir GEORGE CLERK thought that as some discus sion was likely to take place before going into Commit tee of Supply, it was as well that he should state what estimates he intended to proceed with. He did not in tend to proceed with the estimates in class four, be cause some of them were not yet printed; but he s h ou ld proceed with class five, the Colonial Estimates; with class six, and with class seven. CANADIAN MINISTRY. Mr. ROEBUCK wished to ask the Noble Lord, the Secretary for the Colonies, if he would have any objec tion to lay before the House copies of any communica tions which had passed between the Governor-General of Canada and his Dlinistry on the aubject of the late tl l6 av ;# 10 1 d)% gell ife a Ow' HOUSE OF COMMONS, April 19. The &TAXER took the Chair at Four o'clock. Mr. WARD presented ten petitions from certain per. sons connected with the Colchester and Ipswich Rail way, stating that two railway Bills were then before the House, namely, the Eastern Union line, and the Har wich and Colchester line, which had been treated as competing lines, and had in consequence been referred to the same Committee. The petitioners prayed that the Colchester and Ipswich Railway Bill might be referred to the same Committee, as that was a competing line also. Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET thought it was too late to refer the petitions to the Select Committee. After a short conversation, the petitions were ordered to lie on the table. Sir ANDREW L. HAY presented a petition from Banff, complaining of the laws which regulate prisons. Lord ASHLEY presented several petitions in favour of an Eleven Hours' Factory Bill. Mr. CHRISTOPHER presented petitions from twenty seven parishes in the neighbourhood of Horncastle, in Lincolnshire, in favour of protection to agriculture. Mr. BROADLEY presente d simi lar petitions from Yorkshire. Mr. BECKETT presented a petition from the letter press printers of Leeds, against the Masters and Servants Bill. Mr. WILSON PATTEN presented a petition from Stockdale, against the Small Debts Bill. Mr. ROSS presented a petition from a Presbyterian congregation in Scotland, praying that Presbyterian marriages in Ireland might be legalised. Mr. FERRAND presented a petition, agreed to at a public meeting of nearly 20,000 inhabitants of Bradford, against the Masters and Servants Bill ; also, from Leeds and other places, to the same effect. Sir. G. STRICKLAND presented a petition from the boot and shoemakers of Preston, in Lancashire, against the Masters and Servants Bill. . . _ Mr. WARD presented a petition from owners and occupiers of land on the Trent line of railway against the Eastern Union Railway. Mr. JERVIS presented a petition against the Holy head and Chester Railway Bill. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented thirty-six petitions including petitions from Manchester, Birmingham Bolton, Norwich, Halifax, Nottingham, Rochdale, and Warrington, against the Masters and Servants Bill, which the petitioners considered unconstitutional and degrading to the rights of nations ; also a petition from Charles Price and Henry Thompson (on behalf of the Hon. Member for Warwick), complaining that they had been summoned before the magistrates for the non-p_ay ment of church -rates, and that one of them, Mr. Greenaway, said the magistrates did not come there to be made fools of, but to enforce the payment of the rates. Mr. DUNCOMBE presented a petition, complaining that in several instances, where paupers had been found dead in bed, no inquest had been held on them. The Hon. Member moved that the petition be referred to the Select Committee on Medical Relief. SUGAR DUTIES. Mr. M. GIBSON presented a petition against the sugar monopoly. MASTERS AND SERVANTS BILL. Mr. SCOTT presented a petition from Horsham, against the Masters and Servants Bill, stating that, in the opinion of the petitioners, it would give too much power into the hands of magistrates. CORN-LAWS. Mr. LIDDELL presented a petition from a parish in Durham, from agriculturists' farming property rated at 4,600/. a year (the whole parish being rated at 6,000/.), praying for protection to agriculture. TOBACCO DUTIES. Mr. HUME presented eight petitions from North ampton and Willenborough, against the high duties on tobacco and snuff. CHARITABLE PAWN SOCIETIES BILL. Mr. VILLIERS presented a petition from the pawn brokers of Wolverhampton, against the Charitable Pawn Societies Bill. NOTICES OF MOTIONS. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE gave notice that, on Tuesday . next, he should move fo r a return o f a ll moneys v at(' by the Government on a ccount o f M r . O'Connell 's tria' since the close of it. FACTORY LABOUR. Mr. T. DUNCOAIBE gave notice that, on the second reading of the Factories Bill (No. 2), he would move for a Select Committee to consider the limitation of labour of young persons under ten years of age employed in factories. NEWSPAPER STAMP RETURNS. Dr. BOWRING said, as he understood there was some little dissatisfaction with the way in which the newspaper returr.s were made out, he thought it fair to give notice that on Tuesday next he should move for the continuation of the return. IRISH JURIES. Mr. F. FRENCH gave notice of a motion for a future day for certain returns of jury lists. CIVIL CONTINGENCIES Mr. HUME gave notice of a motion for returns ex planatory of certain items in the Civil Contingencies. THE RECENT CAPITAL CONVICTION. Mr. BRIGHT said, seeing the Right Hon. Secretary for the Home Department in his place, he wished to call his attention to the recent conviction of a female under very peculiar circumstances at the Central Criminal Court. He had no wish whatever to extract any pledge or even a distinct answer from the Right Hon. Gentleman, but merely to call his attention to what struck his (Mr. Bright's) mind as one of the most ex= traordinary cases that had ever occurred. It appeared that this poor creature had thrown herself and her baby into the water, being at the time in circumstances of the utmost destitution. Apparently her intention was to commit suicide, and not to leave her child alive in the world behind her. Her life was preserved but her child perished. The unhappy woman had for her crime been sentenced to death, and one of the newspaper reports stated that the judge gave her no hope whatever that mercy might be extended to her. Such a statement required no Comment.—(llear, hear.) He repeated, he wished no positive answer from the Right Hon. Gentleman —he merely wished to be satisfied that his attention had been called to so distressing a case. Sir J. GRAHAM said the House would feel that it was not consistent with his duty to enter into a discus sion upon this subject.—(Hear, hear.) In point of fact, however, his attention had not been called to the matter until the present moment. In the very delicate duty which would devolve upon him (Sir J. Graham), the Hon. Gentleman might rest assured he would do his best to exercise a sound and dispassionate judgment ; but beyond this he could not then say anything, as the House must be aware of the inconvenience attending such discussions.—(Hear, hear.) FACTORIES BILL. Mr. ROEBUCK gave notice that, on the motion that the House do resolve itself into Committee on the Fac tories Bill, he should move that it be an instruction to the Committee that they should not entertain any pro position for limiting the hours of labour of persons above eighteen years of age. EDUCATION IN SCOTLAND. Mr. RUTHERFORD moved for the following re turns :—Return of the number and locality of schools in Scotland to which aid has been granted by the Edu cational Committee of the Privy Council ; distinguish ing the schools required by the constitution or title-deeds of the school to be in connection with the Established Church of Scotland ; those required to be in connection with the National School Society, or the British and Foreign School Society ; and those not required to be in connection with either of those Societies, or with the Established Church of Scotland. Return of the application for aid to the Education Northern Districts School, and the correspondence and communi cations relative to that application between the Educa tional Committee of the Privy Council, or their secre tary, and the Committee of the Association for the erectionpf the said school, or their secretary. Return ofany minute or minutes of the gdunti9l26l Committee of the Mr. Blake was a magistrate of the county for 12 years preceding his dismissal. He once more entreated the Government to consider that which he had brought under their notice, with a hope that they would direct the necessary inquiries to be made, and if the facts were such as he represented, that they would no longer conti nue to; retain these gentlemen in the Commission of the peaee.—(Hear, hear.) Lord ELIOT did not complain of the tone or manner of the Hon. Gentleman, who had just sat down. in bringing forward this motion. The Hon. Gentleman was not, however, quite correct in his statement of the facts. There were only seven stipendiary magistrates struck off by the present Government; and there were yet as many stipendiary magistrates in Ireland as there were during the last three years of the late Government. The House should recollect that the stipendiary magistracy were paid out of the Consoli dated Fund, and appointments should not be made un less necessity required them. With regard to Mr. Brereton, that gentleman had been long a magistrate, and on his appointment had received addresses from the magistrates of petty sessions with whom he sat, of dif ferent religious and political opinions, and from 106 in habitants of the town of Nenagh, which were couched in terms the most complimentary. One of the ad dresses was signed by two Peers—Lord Dunally, and Lord Lismore. In fact, up to the time of the occur rence at the Nenagh assizes, mentioned by the Hon. Gentleman, the manner in which Mr. Brereton charged his duty was most satisfactory, as he (Lord Eliot) was informed by men of all parties. The Irish Government was in possession of all the facts regarding the affair at the Nenagh assizes, and the Judge's re marks, and all the papers had been handed over to the Lord Chancellor for his advice.—(Hear, hear.) Re garding Mr. O'Brien, it ought to be remembered that at the time that foolish letter of his, quoted by the Hon. Member, was written, be was only 24 years of age. He was a gentleman of property and education. He certainly had been at one time a most ardent Repealer, being a member of the National Repeal As sociation, but seeing the manner in which that body was soliciting foreign assistance and obtaining money from America and other places, - he began to suspect their design, and finally resigned and denounced Mr. O'Con nell. He wrote a letter to Mr. Sharman Crawford, stating to him that his (Mr. O'Brien's) firm conviction was, that a repeal of the union was impracticable. It was not until November, in the year 1843, that Mr. O'Brien was recommended to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as a fit person to be appointed as a stipendiary magistrate. That recommendation was made by persons who were well acquainted with Mr. O'Brien's integrity and high honour, and upon that recommendation he was appointed a stipendiary magistrate. His con tinuance in that office would, of course, depend en tirely upon his own conduct. If a precedent were wanting of a person being appointed to office who had severed himself from the ranks of repeal, he (Lord Eliot) need only point to the case of Mr. Fitzsimmond which was a perfectly similar case to that of Mr. O'Brien. He believed that Mr. O'Brien was a person of high honour and character, and every way calculated for the situation to which he had been appointed. Captain BERNAL was willing to admit that the ex planation of the Noble Lord, as far as it went, was satisfactory. He knew, however, that Mr. Breretoa was looked upon in Ireland as a partisan, and therefore his appointment had been looked at with suspicion. Mr. O'Brien's appointment, however, was still more unsatis factory to the people of Ireland than even that of Mr. Brereton. The Noble Lord said that it was four years ago since Mr. O'Brien wrote such violent letters re specting repeal, but the Noble Lord seemed to forget that although Mr. O'Brien had arrived at the mature age of twenty-eight, he still wrote violent letters. But these letters were different to those of four years ago—they were now on the other side of the question.—(Hear hear, and laughter.) When Mr. O'Connell was Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr. O'Brien was summoned before that Right Hon. and Learned Gentleman because ho had not the wherewithal to pay his servant. Mr. O'Brien disputed the jurisdiction of the Court, as he lived in Kerry, but notwithstanding this the Lord Mayor de cided against him. From that time the eyes of Mr. O'Brien became more open with respect to the question of repeal, and he then all at once found out that he ought to write as much against repeal as he had before written in its favour.—(Laughter.) Now he (Capt. Bernal) was ready to admit that he believed that the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of the Government wished to do justice to Ireland. It was, however, impossible for him to do so while, as was truly remarked by the Hon. Mem ber for Bath some time ago, the present subordinates remained in power to hamper him.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Baronet might rest assured that those subor dinates would ultimately sink his Government in Ire land.—(Hear, hear.) He (Capt. Bernal) well recollected being at the dinner in Ballinasloe, at which Mr. O'Brien was present, and he recollected that at dinner Mr. O'Brien struck out the name of Lord Ebrington from the list of toasts because that Noble Lord was not fa vourable to repeal. He would ask the Noble Lord (Lord Eliot) whether he believed that Mr. O'Brien was a person calculated to administer justice with impar tiality, with coolness, and with temper ?—(Hear, hear.) If such appointments as these were made by the Irish Government he (Captain Bernal) thought that Government ought to be subjected to supervision with respect to all appointments they might hereafter make. It was generally believed in Ireland that the ap pointments which were made by Lord de Grey were very much influenced by marriage connections. ie (Captain Bernal) stated this fearlessly in that House, for he knew it to be the fact. In consequence of this, great disappointment and dissatisfaction was felt in Ireland. He (Captain Bernal), in conclusion, must say that the appointment of Mr. O'Brien appeared to him, to use the mildest term, a most unwise proceeding. Lord ELIOT said, he had had the statement dis tinctly from Mr. O'Brien himself that the name of Lord Ebrington was not in the list of toasts at the Ballinasloe dinner. After a few words from Mr. F. FRENCH, the subject dropped. SUPPLY. On the Order of the Day for going into Committee of Supply being read, Mr. HUME rose and said, he wished, before they went into Committee, to make a few observations with respect to the vote of 397,0001. for Colmial purposes, which was the first on the estimates. Some years ago, when he used to call the atten tion of the House to the large estimates which were voted for colonial purposes, with a view to their reduction, he was always told that, owing to the slave establishment in our colonies, and owing to the peculiar circumstances under which the colonies were placed, it was impossible to reduce the estimates. Now, the slave establishments in the colonies, and the peculiar circumstances under which the colonies used to be placed were abolished, and he thought, therefore, that it was high time that some reduction should be made in this large estimate for colonial purposes. He did not wish at all to injuriously restrict the public expenditure, but still he thought that this vote was one which required inquiry. There was no country in the world which could compete with England in manufacturing enterprise, but then that was completely shackl e d by th e var i ous pro hibi tory duties which were e xac t e d f or th e protect i on o f c l ass interests. Lord STANLEY could assure the House and the Hon. Member for Montrose that the Government were most anxious to observe the strictest economy with re spect to the expenses of the colonies. He was also anxious to take the present opportunity of stating to the House that all the grievances under which the colonies were alleged to be labouring, would be most carefully in vestigated by the Government, the Secretary of State for the Colonies at the same time reserving to himself the right of placing the Governor of the particular colony in a position to render any explanation in his power. It was likely that the subject of the colony of New Zealand would be brought before the House, when the Government would afford every information in their power. Mr. AGLIONBY said that the New Zealand Com pany had sent out 10,000 emigrants to the colony, 4 . 1 ' 1 he agreed with the Hon. Member for Montrose. t hst a i i t the New Zealan was a subject which required a thorough and sears parliamentarinuir.and full inquiry yniyn into oethe was particularsmot d esirousentered easee means could that upon, because he felt sure that by n a l so a colony of that im portance suffer by it. It was also attention, for in portance which should demand no less than 175,0004 had one year oil to the value Pithl o r e t the eratatoffesharcouldinbeg of port of Wellington alone. been shipped from the said Lord STANLEY again s he was ready to render which was ava ilable to the Government. any information Mr. ROEBUCK was strongly in favour of a P e rli s . m entary Committee of Inquiry, because he thou g ht th at when the interests of so many persons were concerned it was right to see whether any fraud existed. Sir R. ].EEL protested that the Government were quite as anxious as the Hon. Member for Montrose to observe the strictest economy in the expenditure upon 1 the colonies. Mr. griev ancAelsAiNntGhLe E co S lon tl i l e o s u , g a l ro tt se tl f t r a o t m m t a h n e y iav o is f h t c h x e pe l n oc th al .. t h u a r d e r jr o u. f sN t tv h si e aLt r L e d N io - An n ss Tagreedhderivedy werefrom. w it m hr et t ue e H.o d n io M p e a m y b 4 e 9 r ,7 w 0 1 0 12 for magistrates for the West India colonies. On what ground were they charged with that item ? He wished that the labourers of this country required as few magis trates to administer justice as the negro population. With respect to education, there was no branch of ex , penditure to which he would have less objection, but considering the condition of the negroes he thought the item on that account, totally unnecessary. 11,000/. was asked for the clergy of Canada, notwithstanding that the Crown had surrendered to them a large proportion of its land resources. This item also was open to great , objection. The House then went into Committee. 3,480/. was voted for the civil establishments in the Bahama Islands. 4001. was voted for the civil establishment of Sable Island, Nova Scotia. 13,6801. was proposed to be granted for the civil esta. blishments of the western coast of Africa. to de granted fray O thentheci N v -o i t l e ch th a a rg t e t s he of su s m t. H of el l e 3 n ,s a, ooZ be i Ii r. HOME objected to the charge as being excessive, and beyond the worth of the colony. Sir G. CLERK defended the grant. The duties of civil officers were far more onerous and important than Hon. Gentlemen opposite were aware of. Sir C. NAPIER could not help referring with some feeling of ridicule to the appointment of a harbour ' master to such a place as the port at St. Helena. Mr. HUME concurred with the Gallant Commodore, in thinking that it was very absurd to appoint a harbour master for such a port. Mr. WILLIAMS also opposed the vote. Mr. lIUME said he must insist on the vote being postponed until some further information WM giTen to the liouee upon it. I . IC. der in. ter' 110 ,3 to ,. OS' thit tate ad s' lag' tbe ,ord [Ara . f tiye idea' „. a, Pr 'fie 3 a ol° n 0 I r.c~w