The Sun. — London, England, 1851-02-22 00:00:00

......' ) IMPERIAL PARLIAMEN T. t ja ti The LORD HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 21. "1. D CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Woolsack at li ve o'clock. PETITIONS. The Earl of ERNE presented several •,• n s petl4lo.against Papal aggression. to rfiauhve e or E rm arl of ST. GERMANS presented several petitions of the Marriage Bill. a prIraosferCARLISLE presented several petitions with ainestEarl of MOUNTCASHELL presented several petitions NhPapal agg•resion, and praying that no further grants t be made to the College of Maynooth. .ss..graersal:oNnE. LSON presented several petitions againt Papal • Lor.). LANGDALE THE CO T JRT O ced a B F CHANCERY. 'p o • 14 introduill authorising the ap t4elatmenti of a ne w Vi ce -Ch ance ll or ( as we un d ers tood, but a u d i t °ble Lord spoke in so low a tone as to be nearly in -1[0). and wou ld move the second read i ng o f t h e Bill on Lord reß ROI:GUAM expressed his approbation of the The.° ~, 111 was then read a first time. Lord B ROUGHAM had, with regard to proceedings in I „had ii' e ° llll, 3, been inf orme d th a t i n m an y ca s es certioraris of tilr. ven granted b y th e super i or courts a l most as a ma tt e r • ae; notwithstandin g the directions of the Act, but hu: ola looked at the returns, he was surprised at the small ber with r cases removed by certiorari in comparison the number of cases which had been tried before latige°, 4 titY courts. Since August last, since the :ei fie „"an had been extented, there had been only eleven It es - rernoved by certiorari. This was most satisfactory, as ,awed that there was no disposition in the supreme courts writs of certiorari as matters of course. Lord CAMPBELLRR BILL: i'con a m presented several petitions from against the Marriage Bill. Scotland was that . .":' , from the new Bill, but they considered k nov '.eatore of the measure only rendered it the more 0;7 118 V they considered it as contrary to the law • obl ev . , and the exclusion of Scotland did not remove their uon s. These petitions were signed by 11,000 persons. Loi.„ CRIMINAL PROCEDURE BILL. stitm.k•AMPBELL moved the second reading of this Bill , and of that be should not then enter into any consideration ferr e dP, r ovisions, as he proposed that it should at once be re- Lo a s .T ht ir elect Committee. • lifiri e d p was then read a second time, and ordered to be AbaepLa rd a Select Committee. ee BROUGHAM stated that in consequence of the . ;tile trar'..ois Noble Friend the President of the Council bueadsPita of Lansdowne) he would postpone, until Ait t n 024, the introduction of his proposed Bill for the t o l : d sion of the Jurisdiction of County Courts. ! : 4 Ass,, CAM PBELL introduced a Bill for the Registration Th e 'fis a nces of Ti t l es i n E ng l an d an d W a l es . .1'4i 15111 was read a first time ; and r Lordships then adjourned. The s,"°USE OF COMMONS, Feb. 21. •• 7 41 0 IR took the Chair shortly before Four o'clock. B A NEW MEMBER. hit took the oaths and his seat for the Falkirk 'llia REPORTS. ' yrits t 0 rePorts that the standing orders had been complied .. li k k _ i s it e CoPper Miners of England Bill, the Manchester 7. o agb t - _ - "k Railway and several other Bills were alx ' This BABERDEEN PUBLIC RECORD BILL. as read a second time. - Ott th e DUNDEE POLICE BILL. 10 he rid e Motion of film. DUNCOMBE this Bill was ordered ' t a second on the 18th of March. o . . .1r R i . PETITIONS. Itl4 l, l a Ingli s 111 r. Duticombe, Colonel Sibthorp, Mr. Free ' listl tio 7,!. lnulhngs, and several other Members, presented k r, •••",,tßait.st Papal aggression. frot a ; ''l'lalililiTY and Dr. POWER presented petitions t ertei: Y ,2!'a, l Places praying that the House would not in ' save ' ruft the‘exercise of religious liberty in consequence the i:tacitenient which had been raised in this country by . .Ik r. I r twasuree of the Pope. int% AnWLESS presented petitions from Clonmel praying ,I e •6. abOiltiOn of mini-ters' money, and complaining that ..,.Petttion .., 7 bleh tb .;:e,rp s were compelled to support a form of faith of tilikt s : s l ( I . l u not approve. . ' r ` : ` 3I3 LN and Mr. ROZBUCNI prsel:lted o t petitionsp poor-lawr ay * tf, ti: ° rile alteration in the administration n , _ guardians of the poor-law unions. ,lat W AN. , f os t h eO e - presented a petition from Edinburgh pray r. patremission of the paper duty. "vaieti e 'initliT presented petitions from several provident 1 fit a nd other bodies to the same effect. ,1 14 ty.' °B DEN also presented petitions against the paper ... 1 41 1 ) .,Le6. 1 , , ; G,. MANNERS p resen t e d a p e tition from several ' ,fatley . , f e " i-aniblidgeshire complaining of the present; cur t il'elthers,-pwasittiansclTBrpadyinft for their alteration. presented petitions from several pa siSsi,,ti! the city of Lincoln, and from.several places in the 4 0 J ot Lin'oln, si ned ' chiefly by the, shopkeepers and tliet .t r t r zi in the differe g nt towns ® and neighbourhoods, stating " !No s 47,"?.•ere suffering great distress, and praying for a r.e nqiLi , tn'e national tariff with a view to impose such duties ti Lecr r , Ni gn ,Lialiorts, in order to relieve the burdens upon land.. e abse.,„;,„`",‘JßE presented several petitions praying that .t . o - n,„civil ito ri,d take 'no measures that woull interfere wi!la f:•: 4 04 'o f .treilgious liberty, and some of them for the ab01i ,,14. L',Lle P rotestant Established Church in Ireland. _, s 'lttib s t ti"hAr, LE SS presented a petition from 3,605 butchers j..aierottie rem oval. of Smithfield-market;' also petitionf'St :47 .talees, N c_eigried by the inhabitants of the parish o , the . a ' b tiad tit'eg i alinster, complaining of the annexation of , er Found 1. - ,••• gi 4 rnee, Park, and praying that before any_oth , ,li4°lsrvd:edtal)r-oc-ueedings. vexed, that the Commissioners of •Woods and ._ MaY eoni elled tei - make a report of their . m P He should on the next day's sitting „As thatn bthe Petition be printed with the votes. _ . '' . r ,,,, v eria d' n - r ,``Y Presented petitions from North Northum '''''' t li n t i `' 3 ''ng that the income-tax might be remitted `^llesivp-Plailt-farnierS and others in a similar position, who .' brhe'"ll,heir subsistence from the cultivation of the soil.. ',ram . 'ght lion. Baronet also presented a petition against ' 24 ; 1 '04 j4reasion, as' did also Mr. Dtincombe,j Sir.,John ''' 1' , iv', and - several other lemberS. , '; ,Ifl i ~:, ' STATE OF IRELAND. . ' tte ' l . W B ON and Sir Lucius ti'Bitime gave notice, id j ot .,• n. W. Ana , 1 11, i ii i ktr that he should, on the 6th of next month, and . \„`ielqi " -t er that he should, on an early day, draw the atten -4 .04 1 f t,d''' gi . e House to the state of Ireland, with a vie w to '. .6kfliernr9i4l6/1 of some measures to relieve the distress in n the ' - 7 and western districts of that country. '' ki. MR. ERNEST JONES. 414 1i'is!' Cs'CONNOR . wished to ask the Right H he on. Gentle ' _ isO . , eatetary for the Home Department if had re '`,4' a c ommunication from Mr. Ernest Jones complaining idttpilistraattnent while in prison, and praying Right the Ho i J* l 7- fl ut e Baronet t o i ns tit u te an inquiry into the matter ? ' 'G. PREY replied in the negative. kr, it',,,, DUBLIN PORT DUES. • i f • wis l ary ' ' 1 NOLDS ' hed to ask the Secretary of the Tree- Atr,..i it was the intention of her Dlajesty's Government to i lket` t ‘ e e , during the present session of Parliament, any mea rt. I rel ieve the merchants and traders of Dublin t f h ro e nit Vill e sixes to which they are now liable underlet Geo. ~v.., . eslfs i lof the Acts 56 Geo. 111., c. 62, and the n,,,• kr (s , h ther '''...nb ;Co 'ENV'S said the subject was und e e d r ttelaseaycownsideera )srswiri,oovernment, but he was not prepared 41 would be brought in this session. I I .',..?'sty. - , IA Ab tJIt BANCES' IN' UNION ' ." If -- "AIS wished to ask the President of the Poor• WORKHOUSES. ,distu r t ar d , 'whether he had received information of other e tarb em at ' iT ees in Union Houses in Suffolk besides those in tis :. 11 ° ‘ _ifin flo'„Ilinil; occasioned by able-bodied labourers sent to ,„ atr. B-A-I',„es„io consequence of want of employment.h Hon. r n e ntleto - st r r t- e ,S . said he had not, but no doubt the tbik4 w ork deferred to a disturbance which had taken place of t h e li e h i' a e d in the e d two contradictory county of accountsNorokr- t °llBe, c ariri e ; a the received in the Suffolk Unionlir ' "' b attle -- ' t w as not at all improbable that the affair ' . • t h e.,,,, sUbject of an official inquiry. would mkt LATAGBANCYIN THE METROPOLIS. in -- ", 11 •ES wished IN ask the the Secretary of Statellfeor th I na " e Partrnentwhether his attention has been ca d t this tileq te et n e t a i s o e of vagrancy in the metropolis, and whether 1 , ev i l ? nof the Government to propose any remedy for n th. , Sir G .- 17 '"bi . " RR Y had received no information whatever on v. -hi e !, ft-heet; but the Police Commissioners had made a return "kile e —°w ed that in 1850 vagrancy in the metropolis had Ifit4 tilitPrevalent than in any of the ten preceding years, s' il id., s tat t „„ e x, eePtion of 1816. No doubt that an increase b n.FlaTi r - Liace of late in the vagrancy of certain localities. 'is s ir, Jo - s r,b 6 ANCE IN A WORKHOUSE IN ESSEX. Lbarsl4,--`,AN TiRELL wished to ask the President of the :' mula tie w Board if be had received any information of a dis lee i , w .,.hich had t a k en p l ace i n a workhouse in Essex. 4 k ili 'l 'NF.S replied in the . COMAIUM ClTlONnegative WITH AUSTRALIAN ~,,Lord v,, COLONIES. el u ethei '''''''''AS asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer - "ward - a nY or what steps had been adopted by Government Aw n , is. establishing regular steam communication with . the pct th a t lln colonies; and also how soon the public might ex , totnwThrtistidetiresuch communication would be opened? . tile tin `IANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied that which were called for some time ago for a steam Iter, ill'aication from Singapore to the Australian colonies '' ... kstii e s ee ived two days back. He had only been enabled to s he k eren s - # 4 over them; but, as far as he could see, they • .41T% u nsatisfactory character. i ' Si ii . ' . ,!„. H OUSE-TAX AND THE FRANCHISE. _ e. Nik e isaALL said he wished to ask a question with ref ~., to th e house -tax, which had been proposed by 4 ' o.o4cellor of the Exchequer. The Noble Lord Pa yin g ,htl _Russell) was aware that by the rathee ''. Ass ess , ei of the Reform Act, it was necessary that t - g aide ss ' t a-les and poor -rate should be paid by 10/. looli e s iv e , i craned to being put on the register of voters. Now, ' 4 tv a ed -to know whether it was 'the intention of . th l' b eii r : tae ns in case the House should agree to the im . - '' 4 e . ,:,_of the house-tax, that the payment of it ‘a be Placed a necessary qualification to a person who wished L er reed on the register of voters ? Gov J • RUSSELL said it was not the intention of the t p a llk nn ta, tut to impose any new qualification by the proposed be th e aouses. By the interpretation of the law, it would s sam e T ii , as all assessed taxes. Si r IIe',INCOM&TAX AND THE FRANCHISE. . add • HALL also asked whether the Government in t that the income-tax should be considered as one of a...,,J_Eilir l iessed t ax Payments, which ought to be paid before . L e ' r e d cjeuld be placed on a register? tat „.• ,RUSSELL said he could not precisely answer that s'''' st inti. It would be for a legal question, whether ' --1 came under the denomination of assessed taxes. , Sir II , PUSEYISM IN THE CHURCH. eide sshi ''a ALL said he had to put another question of con -Btß:''' ikPortance, which had reference to the conduct of ‘ cit Andrew, '-".. r. who was appointed incumbent to diatri,s ,Murray,hurch- in Wells-street, Oxford-street. The 11114,,e which this' church was situated had lately been tiedce„d f,rom the other parts of the parish, for the pur taq lacilitating the ecclesiastical government ; it con 'ae t h e so %), • inhabitants, and 400 rated householders. the , r a ini4was consecrated on the 28th January, 1847, e , ectf n _ m t„ants having largely contributed towards its k•bitha..4.o.°ll a i it g zemorialwaspresented to the Bishop of liiieultente coin 1 b y more than one-third of the "lien s . P aining of the conduct of Mr. Murray._ . - ra s . be °dallies said, that since his appointment Mr. blur kOtd t g a ll to make alteraticins in the church, and though re had .. ittiforuiitiyedcwaliitehd,:dstlaiatveing promised not to make them, he in..__ Persisted until he had brought the church into what was so a table, or alt ..of Puseyite disci line. as to altar as it was called, had twice . a__ cloth, end ri c h , be approached by steps. It was covered with a :_t'9:itogether the been The raised c o m - t 0...? .approac candlesticks plaed upon it, and upon holi ‘,!aY.B kid saints -days was decorated with wreaths of flowers, la edb y e t h b a e n i c o e i l t ; r e . a , hr e eg ta a b rd le e e d f a th s e a ce sac m re m d a plac . e not ,_ Commandments ' been removed from over the altar, and though it was promised to b e choir, had to restored, had never yet been. An expensive %tro na ._ uwe.ll engaged, the Litany was intoned by the ' 411 his back to the people, the sermon was THE SUN, preached in a surplice, and neither collect nor Lord's Prayer were used before it, but only a n invocation, In the name of the Fath,r, Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The sacrament also was intoned and altogether administered in such a mode as to prevent many of the memorialists from attending it. It was signed by 450 inhabitants of the parish, and transmitted to the Bishop of London with an in timation that certain of the parishioners wished to wait on his Lordship and give hiln further information on the sub ject. The information was that the incumbent of this district had been in the habit of attending the Roman Catholic Chapel in King William-street, Strand. He (Sir B. Hall) considered this so grave a charge that he was un willing to make it unless the gentleman who had informed him consented to commit it to wr.ting, and authentieate it by his own signature, which had been done. The answer which the Bishop of London gave was, that hehad remonstrated with Mr. Murray on the subject without avail, and to a further com munication, he replied that he was about to take some general steps for the prevention of such practices, which would, however, take some time to develop. The Archbishop of Canterbury had also stated, that he had warned the clergy of another diocese ten years ago, against such practiees. The question, then, which he wised to ask' the Noble Lord was, whether the bishops and archbishops of the Church were about to take any steps for the purpose of suppressing these practices, against which, as they said, they had preached for ten years; or were they to leave it to the laity to take those step , , for the purpose of fulfilling those duties which the ecclesiastics of the Church had neglected ? Lord JOHN RUSSELL—With reference to the statement of mj Hon. Friend who has just sat down, I have to state to the abouse that I have been in communication with the Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to as certain what the facts of the case really are.—(Hear, hear.) With respect to the Bishop of London, I am enabled to state that he informed me that his attention had been drawn more than once to the manner in which the public worship in St. Andrew's Church is conducted, and that he has been fully informed of the feelings of the inhabitants.—(Hear, hear.) He informs me that he is at all times willing to give effect to the rubric, and to attend to the feelings of the inhabitants of any district, in order to regulate the habits of the clergymen who minister in their churches, and that at all times he was anxious to render the mode of worship in conformity with those feelings.—(Hear, hear.) With respect to the Archbishop of Canterbury, I am informed by his Grace that he has al ways desired, and that the Bishops have always desired, that the practice of the clergy should be at all times so arranged that the predilections of the laity shall be carefully, at least so far as reasonable, regarded. - The Archbishop states to me that he does not think that any alteration of the law is necessary, or that any interference of this House or of the Legislature is at the present moment re quisite. But the law is such, he says, that there is great difficulty in reaching cases such as those bis Hon. Friend had brought before the House. Although, however, no im mediate change may bring any advantage, some alteration is evidently necessary.—(Hear, hear.) I hope my Hon. Friend will understand that we do not contemplate any al teration of the Liturgy of the Church of England—(Loud cries of" Hear")—but what we want is some greater or better means of carrying the law into effect.—(Hear, hear.) In one case not less than 3,0001. was spent, in order to reach such a case as this, and icy Hon. Friend and the House may be assured that no efforts will be left untried to remedy the mischief.—( Hear, hear. ) Mr. A. HOPE regretted that the Noble Lord had de scended from his high position to answer a question respecting the character of a private gentleman, whose character he felt called upon to vindicate. Mr. Murray bad been accused of at tending a Roman Catholic place of worship. The fact was, that Mr. Murray had only attended the chapel five times, and then only for the purpose of controversial preaching.— ( Hear, hear.) The Hon. Baronet and the Noble Lord would be surprised to hear that their friend Dr. Cumming was pre sent at the same time.—(Loud and ironical cheers.) Mr. Hope then read a friendly letter from the Bishop of London to Mr. Murray, promising to attend to his case as soon as he had leisure. But between Feb. 20, 1850, and Feb. 21, 1851, no further communication had been received. Mr. REYNOLDS protested against the introduction of this subject, and complained of the Hon. Baronet importing into his _remarks the unca lled-for expressions of B heurnis had h e had rror and Rom,.sh practices.—(Hear, hear.) Since the honour of a seat in the House he had not only ab stained himself from mooting questions connected with the affairs of the Protestant Church, but he had induced other Roman Catholic Members to follow his example.— (Hear, hear.) It seemed to him that the Hon. Baronet wished to convert the British House of Commons into he a polemical debating club , but he hoped in future would leave the Pretestant Church to the care of its two archbishops, its 24 bishops, and 15,000 ecclesiastics, who had the guarantee of the CrOwn for maintainin Hg on. the in tegrity of their creed. - (Hear, hear.) Unless the Ba ronet did so, he was afraid the House would degenerate into a Praise-God-Barebones Parliament, and bfcome a scandal in the eyes of Europe.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. HUME said his Hon. Friend had done nothing more than introduce a complaint of the laity of Marylebone, who had complained to the Bishop about the conduct of their clergyman, but they could get no satisfaction or redress from him, although twelve months had elapsed since they first complained, and therefore they had no other alternative but to come to this House.—( Hear.) Sir R. H. INGLIS t hought Hon. Gentlemen would best con sult the interest of the Protestant Church by abstaining from bringing such questions as these before the House, which was firstly not competent to inquire into them, and even if it was it, secondly, had not the ability to decide theta. TEIE HUNGARIAN REFUGEES. Lord DUDLEY STUART rose amidst loud cries of " Ques tion, and Oh," to ask the indulgence of the House for a few minutes. He was compelled to take this course, in consequence of some other person having neglected his duty. He wished to put a question to the Noble •Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.—(Laugbter.) It would be in the recollec• tion of the House he made a motion on the 7th of February last for certain papers relating to the treatment of the Hun garian refugees.—(Hear.) He withdrew that motion in consequence of the Noble Lord having promised to produce the papers to which it referred. The session closed, and the papers were not forthcoming. He spoke to the Noble Lord again and again on the subject, and even ventured to say that it was too bad—(Laughter)—and the Noble Lord replied to me, "it is too bad."—(Continued laughter.) On a subsequent occasion, when he went to the Noble Lord and complained of the continued delay, he told him that he could not but feel angry at his conduct— and what was his answer? That if he (Lord Palmerston) were in his situation, he would be angry too.—(Great laughter.) Under these circumstances, he begged to ask the Noble Lord whether he considered this respectable treatment, not of an individual Member who was a sincere, ardent, though humble supporter of the cause of Hungary—but of the House, when he had unfulfilled his engagement to pro duce these papers ? Lord PALMERSTON said that he was quite willing to acknowledge that his Noble Friend had a claim upon him for the promise which he had made. He also was quite ready to acknowledge that which he had acknowledged to him in private, that upon their non-appearance he had a right to be angry. But if he knew how great had been the pres sure of matters which had prevented him from bringing for ward those papers he would be induced to extend to him in dulgence. However he should make a point of producing the papers on an early day in the next week. MINISTERIAL CRISIS. POSTPONEMENT OF THE BUDGET. On the motion for going into Committee of Ways and Means, Lord JOHN RUSSELL rose to move that the Committee should be postponed until Monday. He would then state the reasons for this request. Mr. BERRIES wished to know whether it was intended positively to proceed with the Committee on Monday? Lord JOHN RUSSELL said he could not state positively. On Monday night he would state the reason for the request, and the course which he meant to take. The remaining orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned. PARLIAMEN TARY BUSINESS. (From the Votes and Proceedings FEB of 2 the House of Commons.) FRIDAY, . 1. S'IANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE. The following Resolutions were reported from the above Committee :- 1. That in the case of' the Derby and Ashborne Roads petition, the standing orders ought ro be dispensed Bill, That the parties be permitted to proceed with their pro vided the same be presented not later than three clear days after the presentation of this report. 2. That in the case of the Ulverston and Lancaster Rail way petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with : I hat the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill, provided the same be presented not later than three clear days after the presentation of this report. 3. That in the case of the Clerkenwell Improvement petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with : That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill, provided the same be presented not later than three clear days after the presentation of this Report. 4. That in the case of the Smithfield Enlargement peti tion, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with : That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill, pro- vided the same be presented not later than three clear days alter the presentation of this report. 5. That in the case of the Lancaster and Yorkshire Rail way (Fifth Shares) petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill, with the exception of the Clause affecting the mortgages, provided the same be presented not later than three clear days after the presentation of this report. 6. That in the case of the Mayfield Railway pe tition, the standing orders ought to b e dispensed with :-- - -That the par ties be permitted to proceed with their Bill, provided the same be presented not later than three clear days after the presentation of this report. 7. That in the case of the Dundee Police petition, for ex tending the time for the second reading of the Bill, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with • That the time for the second reading of the Bill be extended to Friday, the 28th instant.—Resolutions agreed to. The Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway Bill was to be brought in. NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL OFFICE. The undernamed Bills are appointed to be read a second time on Monday, Feb. 24 Bala Pool. Briton Ferry, Docks, and Railway. Buckingham's Compensation. Cameron's Coalbrook Steam Coal and Swansea and Loughor Railway. Christchurch (Southwark) Parish. European and American Printing Telegraph Company, &c. Great Western Railway (Arrangements with reference to the Purchase, &c., of the Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth Railways). Killarney and Valencia Railway. London and Blackwall Railway (from London and Blackwall Extension Railway to Tilbury, &c.) Manchester Waterworks. Manchester Improvement. Maryport and Carlisle Railway. Metropolitan Cattle Market. Midland Railway (Purchase of Leeds and Bradford Railway and Increase of Capital). Richmond and Lancaster Turnpike Road (Western District) Continuation of Term, &c. Sheffield and Glossop Road. Sub- m urine Telegraph Company between England and France. Tenterden and IVoodchurch Roads. Wiveliscombe Turnpike Roads. FALL IN TilE PRICE OF BREAD.—Ye3terday the bakers throughout the metropolis reduced the price of the 41b. loaf one halfpenny. The best bread is now charged 6id. to 7d. ; second quality 51d. per loaf; Whitechapel, the" Cut, an d o th er p o p u lous districts, o;VY charged &L, weighed on delivery. so me, however, in LONDON,. THE PRECIOUS BUDGET. MINISTERIAL CRISIS. SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—Lord John Russell has tendered his resig nation to her Majesty, and only holds office till another Government can be formed. The extensive loss of Par liamentary confidence, or rather of Parliamentary sym pathy, which his Lordship and his colleagues have evi dently suffered of late has probably prepared most of our readers for this result. In the face of so much resolute opposition from so many different quarters, and with so much irresolate support—in the face of such divisions as those of yesterday week and last Thursday, Lord John Russell could not expect that the present Cebinet would safely ride through the many delicate questions pressing upon the attention of Parliament. The Budget, it, meet be confessed, has satisfied no party, and it seemed only too probable that any possible modification of it would purchase lukewarm thanks at the expense of strenuous objections. It is proverbially difficult to please everybody, even under the most favourable circum stances, and that difficulty becomes an impossibility when there is a predisposition not to be pleased. The interest of the public, which far an unusu ally long period has been attracted to questions of the past, will be immediately directed to the future. What sort of Government are we to have? A new one alto gether, or a reconstruction? So far as regards the political principles and the personal characters of the men, there is no reason why a Cabinet should not be formed with Lord John still for a leader, but with seve ral new members, including two or three from Sir Robert Peel's Administration. Lard John could not have better colleagues than those who have proved such steady, though disinterested allies. But, whether for good or for ill, the Whig school is- generally averse to coalition. It is too much of an oligarchy, almost too much 'of a family, to endure the introduction of new elements, especially when tsere is anything to be for given or forgot. The Whigs come in and go out toge ther, and much as the public will undoubtedly lose by the sacrifice of the whole Cabinet, we can scarcely hope to see any part of it in new combination. Besides what has hitherto been the Ministerial sec tion of Parliament, the Protectionists are the most numerous body professing a common creed. What may they expect out of the present crisis ? It is sufficient to say that they are still Protectionists, and to all political purposes might just as well be French men or rigid Mahowetans. Suppose them summoned to her Majesty's Councils and compelled to dissolve Par liament, which they correctly avow to be their solitary chance—for they would not get a sixpence of the public money from the present House—what sort of account would they give of themselves to our popular constitu encies? They can only pledge themselves to enhance the price of bread and all other food, and to throw away the legislation of the last five, or rather 'of the last nine—nay of the last twenty years. We are not saying what the Protectionists might have done. Had they but followed their leaders—had they taken common sense, instead -of passion for their guide, they might now have been in a position to govern this country. But they have wasted five years in one long fit of sullen indignation, and have c n st g i 00 nn t ofi free e te o o f r ot r e ae r dv the ied ae nn dtt public hu et yh o but their authors. 0. uT lwould incessant nl only fateesms e ns n e at t mi generaloawle d n i c o t n e t e i Parliament to be beaten on the Address—to leave public affairs in the greatest confusion—perhaps to lose the year 1851 altogether for the, purposes of legisla tion—perhaps to incur the necessity of another general election—perhaps to throw the Government ultimately into the bands of the politicians with whom they feel much less sympathy then they do either for the friends of Lord John Russell or for the admirers of Sir Robert Peel. Undoubtedly there exist abundant materials for the formation of an entirely new Government, bound to that commercial policy which Lord John Russell in herited from his predecessor. This is not the time either to revert to the errors of the retiring Cabinet, or to in quire very critically into the personal merits of this or that probable member of the new one. It is rather the time to view things as a whole, and we have little doubt that from the numerous independent, statesmen of our day a Government could be formed that would deserve, and generally receive, the cordial support of those who are for the present in power. Whatever is done, is is most desirable, above all, that there should be union, and therefore some degree of generosity and mutual for• bearance, among the various sections that stand by free trade. The progress of sound legislation, the peace ot the country, and the stability of our institutions abso lutely require that all should combine to prevent even a momentary success of the Protectionist imposture. For the sake of the country gentlemen, for the sake of the House of Lords, for the sake of that representative sys tem which still gives considerable weight to the owners and occupiers of the soil, the question of free trade ought not to come again before the people of this country. It is too serious and too sore a point to be re-opened, espe cially by the rough process of a general election. All wise men should combine to avert that peril, and all wise men should, therefore, combine to give a fair chance—that, of course, is al! that is asked—to what ever body of liberal statesmen her Majesty may summon to her Councils. As we long since prophesied, Lord John Russell and his colleagues have at length felt the odium consequent upon their. determination to maintain the direct taxation of the country in it present form. We have never missed an opportunity during the last nine years of making the most earnest remonstrance against the absurd and iniquitous assessment of the income-tax. Nor were our remonstrances confined to a solitary warning on each occasion. Fix weeks—we may almost without exaggeration say for months—at intervals of three years since 1842—we have endeavoured to re present the condition of public feeling on the subject whenever the renewal of the obnoxious method of assessment was proposed in Parliament. It was all in vain. Might makes right. As long as the Ministry for the time being found a House of Commons prepared to vote the renewal of the tax as it stood for yet another period of three years, so long did they stop their ears to all remonstrance. It was an easier, it was a safer thing to take the money in the accustomed form. There was leis risk of a deficit when the year's accounts were closed if the usual balance under the head of " Income-tax" could be carried forward to the credit of the nation. Account was taken of figures, but no ac count was taken of the feelings of a people quick enough to discover injustice and powerful enough to defeat it in the long run. If we are not mistaken, the course pursued by the educated classes of English so ciety under the imposition and re-imposition of this unequal fiscal burden will be remembered as yet another instance of the exemplary patience of Englishmen under circumstances of political trial. Three times since the re-introduction of the income-tax by the late Sir Robert Peel has a locus prnitentice with regard to its assessment been offered to the Cabinet of the day; and now, upon the third occasion, unless extraordinary means had been used, we were as far removed as ever from a fair reconsideration of the measure. It is not matter of astonishment that Lord John Russell and his colleagues have at length stumbled upon an insurmount able obstacle. The wonder rather is that they and their predecessors should have succeeded so tang in playing off one class against the other, and in gaining currency for the merest and most transparent sophisms as the inspira tions of profound political sagacity. The explanation ot this phenomenon must be sought for in a succession of causes. In the year 1842, when the re-imposition of the tax was proposed, we had lost a whole army in the Cau bul Pass—we were engaged in war with China—we were involved in the difficulties of a failing budget. It wait natural enough that men should rather ac cept the means of safety than canvass the abstract merits of the system by which it was to be obtained. Three years elapsed, and we were intent up- n the im panding revolutiou iu the commercial policy of the ceun try. All objects sank into unimportance in the p resence of the one absorbing question of the day. T.hree years more elapsed. The Irish famine bad rendered an enor mous loan necessary, the system of free trade had been inaugurated, and the feeling of the country was against endangering the recent settlement by inendving its re. sults with the possible effects of other changes uncoa uect, d with its operation. The injustice wits felt as keenly then as it is at the present moment. Remon strances were utrered as loudly then as now; but there Was a fixed determination nut t o drive matters to an ex tremity. For three years longer the professional and trading classes of England made abnegation of 'their rights. It was hoped that, in the interval that must elapse before the Chancellor of the Exchequer was compelled once more to ask for the renewal of the tax, his pertinacity might be softened or his error removed. Well, then, we have arrived at the end of that period. Again, the Minister of Finance has come down to the House of Commons, and has asked for a vote of renewal without any proposition for an amended assessment of the tax. Have we not had patience? Is there now any shadow of political necessity to justify the further imposition of so unequal a burden upon a particular class, and that one—we use the term advisedly—the most laborious, the most struggling class of English society? Our proposi• tion is briefly this—that any system which treats a per manent and a transitory income as identical quantities for fiscal purposes is an act of public dishonesty of the grossest kind. If a confusion of this kind be inseparable from the nature of an income-tax, then let us hear no more of any such impost. Its very name should be sy nonymous with injustice and impolicy. Whatever it may be in terms, an income-tax so levied is in reality nothing less than one of those expedie nt s f or the fiscal relief - of certain privileged classes at the expense of others which mainly led to the French revolution of 1789. Let us see for a moment how the matter stands as a question of figures, and we will venture once more to employ an illustration which we used bat the other day. The income of one man de rived from the interest of 1001. sterling is—say 5/. per annum; the income of his neighbour is—say 51. per an num, as the wages for the sweat of his brow or the labour of his brain. At the end of the year one man is possessed of 1051. in money ; the other of 5L The Chancellor of the Exchequer then, upon a system which professes to be on e of direct taxation, takes exactly two shillings and elevenpence from each of these persons. That is to say, he leaves the 1001. altogether untouched. He ignores this sum altogether ; or if he admits its existence upon the one side, he assumes it upon the other, where it has no existence at all. This is direct taxation ! This is the system vaunted by statesman and economic writers, es the most just and philosophi cal method of dividi n g the public burdens ! The in come of realized property is taxed at a given rate ; transitory income IA taxed at the same rate. Omitting for the moment all appeals ad migericordiam, is this a method of taxation' which it was seriously pro posed to fasten in perpetuity upon the people of this country? For it, m ust not ba forgotte n that those per sons whose incomes depend upon the vicissitudes of trade, or upon the still more sorrowful vicissitudes of health and sickness—of life and death, contribute also their fair share to the revenue in all other respects. The raimenp , they and their families wear, the food they consume, the SAT U R DAY EVENING FEBRUARY 221 dwellings they inhabit, are affected in various wheys be the levies of the Customs and Excise, just 23 though their incomes were but the interest on realized capita They pay for their light, they pay for their servants and their carriages, if they have them, and duly meet ell their assessed taxes—just as though they were capitalists. They live in towns and pay heavy contributions for the maintenance of the poor, nut according to their reel, but their apparent means. In what retpect, then. do they enjoy any pechlier exemp tiois which should justify the imposition upon thorn of any peculiar burden? It it be said that the iecornt-tax was an expedient for the reformation of the fiscal sys tem et the country, and that the trading and professioual classes have received great benefits from , the system of free imports, the answer is obvious indeed: The physi cian or haberdasher who eats a cheaper loaf and washes it down with cheaper coffee, sweetened with cheaper sugar taken frtm a cheaper basin, is in no respect more benefited than the peer, the squire, the thindholder, the life annuitant. What, then, is the reason or the justice of tying him to the horns of the altar as a fiscal sacrifice for the sake of his fellow-country men? Not only considered morally is this a pro• found injustice, but politically speaking it is a grievous blunder, as the event has shown. Wd will not here speak of the extrusion from office of a Ministry which a week since might have looked forward reasonably to a long and pro: erous existence, or of the public confusion inseparable from such an event. But of all the causes that ever led to the dissolution of a powerful Ministry, this refusal of Lord John Russell and his colleagues to reconsider the assessment of the income-tax is the most irrational upon record. Whatever maybe the political turmoil incident upon a change in the Cabinet, at least one of its consequences will be that the direct taxation of the country will henceforth be placed upon a more equitable basis. CHRONICLE.—The House of Commons has seldom met in a more curious and excited condition of mind than that which urged its Members yesterday to crowd every portion of the House. On ordinary occasions, when the Budget has once been opened, the popular in terest in financial questions is blunted and satisfied. The representatives of special interests continue, per haps, to press their claims, in the hope that the exemp tions which they severally seek may find some nook or corner in the system which, in its general outline, is completed and final; financiers by profession express their opinions in detail, and endeavour to mould the more pliable portions of the scheme into accordance with their own fiscal theories; but the House in general is content to leave the responsibility of balancing the revenue and the expenditure to any' Ministry which possesses its confidence. Sir Charles Wood, however, is a financier of peculiar qualification. His budgets have more than once been brought forward in apparent confidence of success, to be withdrawn in defe rence to univereal disapprobation, and remo delled in their general outline, even when some of the details have been retained. Thus it was with the pro posal to increase the income-tax in 1848, and with two or three editions of the new Stamp Bill of 1850. Even if his skill in the theory of finance were greater than the dissatisfied critics of the City are willing to allow, the Chancellor of the Exohequer has undoubtedly shown a singular incapacity to anticipate the verdict of public opinion on his project. The general' impression which was left by his statement on Monday night was com prised in two well-founded conclusions—that the Budget comprised as many blunders as proposals, and that, good or bad, it would never be adopted by Parliament. His financial explanation only stimulated curiosity—as the propounding, and not the explanation, of a mystery. The unapplied surplus of a million, .aucl the reduced window-tax, were rather eliminated from the finan cial problem than seriously offered as a solution. Whatever the system finally adopted may prove to be, the first Budget is as unlikely to correspond with the last, as the first tentative vote of the Conclave of cardinals with the final election of a Pope. The univer sal disapprobation Of the press, expressing, for the mat part in milder language, the criticisms which were uni versally uttered in all popular and commercial circles, had, in four days, converted the original scepticism with which Sir Charles Wood's communications were re ceived into a confirmed and unhesitaring disbelief. Nor was the position of the Government without its effect in increasing the general mystification.' The Aggression measure had become stale and ridiculous, without ceas ing to be dangerous to its promoters. Although post poned, it still loomed in the distance, and must tie dealt with in a Parliament whose temper might not be sweet ened by a previous exhibition of the financial incapacity of the Ministers. Rumours of a dissolution began to creep abroad, probably not without 'the sanction of the Government; and, as if for an election placard, Lord Joins Ruseell's motion respecting the Jews suddenly appeared in the paper of notices. A fortnight aeo the claims of the Jews were to be postponed entil the Papal Aggression wasi dealt with. The determination to bring forward the question on Monday next, while the Aggression Bill stood f he subsequent Friday, might seenesignificant of an in tention to dissolve, or might enlorceehe threat of disso tution. Mr. Locke King's success en Thursday showed still more clearly the anarchy into which the Ministerial party had been brought by the errors of their leaders. Phe Premier's extorted promise to n troduce a change in the suffrage next year made it e mbarrassing for his adherents to vote against his principles for the sake of supporting his actual policy. It was clear that the alle giance of the majority was shaken; and the certainty that the Budget would bo found to be untenable shook the confidence even of the most favoured organs of Governinent. Yesterday morning it was evident that the journal which had most constantly enjoyed the con fidence of Downing-street was preparing, in the pro bable crash of the party, to leave a falling house. The more faithful evening supporter e f the Ministers en deavours to bluster out a desperate 'Case by making the most of the threat of dissolution. In answer to the re mark that no question is at presant at stake which renders an appeal to the constituencies proper or necessary, we are informed that Lord John Russell is prepared to go to the country On a threefold s' cry , " which would exceed in audacity any device of the Tadpoles and Tapers whom the author of " Sybil" has celebrated. The ill-used Minister, it seems, is to appeal to the electors as a Protestant, as tie intended author of a new Reform Bill, and above all es the patron of free trade, The Protestant claim may,,perhaps, not be suffi cient with Church of England men, who see penalties provided against the unoffending representatives of their communion in Scotland; nor, perhaps, will the Irish con stituencies require any pledge of their members, except that they shall do their best to driie from power the au thor of the Durham letter and of the Aggression Bill. With these exceptions, we ad - nit the claim of the Mi nister on prejudiced constituencies who may uot be able to find a more sincere or consistent advocate of No - Popery views. But it is a happy device to appal to the country on the franchise after the answer which was given to Sir Joshua Walmsley, and the vote against Mr. Locke King's motion; nor will Free-traders fail to recognize the claims of a Government which dis solves in the middle of a session, and in prefer ence to proposing any serious relief to trade and industry. When we are told that the dissolu tion is, after all, only a throat to secure the votes of nlembers who bold liberal opinions, we reply that the Government might have united them, without menace of compulsion, by a liberal and comprehensive policy. If the loyalty," as it is cable I, of the friends of progress is confined to the persons of the hereditary Whigs, they ought at least to abstain from tempting it by measures of religious persecution, and by ill-digested and imprac ticable protects of finance. The excitement which we have described was raised to its height by the Protec tionist meeting summoned by Lord Stanley to hear the decision of the leaders of the party immediately before the meeting of the. House. We are of course not in the secret of the consultations which took place in St. James's square ; but it is said that Lord Stanley's language was studiously moderate, and that the less cautious Protec tionists were entreated for the present to forget or suspend their pursuit of Protection. Me:Harries, as the financier of the party, wasentrusted with an amendment, to be m seed ou the Budget. The resolution was, we believe. to the effect that the results of the incom ntax had, in nine years, been accomplished. The House was at the same time to be invited to pledge i tse lf to ma intain public credit, and to commence the diminution of the income - iax with a view to its eventual and proxitnate abolition. 'Phi great part , dexterity d i splayed by the Protectionist lead: rs will be genet ally aduaLted, although variously judged. Their o nl y chance of a triumph depended on t h e eappeessieg of the peculiar opinions of their party —in which, indeed , i t is wel l known that neither Lord Stanley nor Mr. Disrael i participate. The country would not tett - . the open triumph of Protection, but many would rejoice in the Abolition of the income-tax; and, once in office, there would be time to consider the policy which might tend to secure it. It was well known that Mr. Humo and other advanced Liberals, not unaccompanied by a sprinkling of moderate Whig s, , would s uPPert the Protectionist motion, either on its own merits, or for the purpose of giving a warning to Government. A mirjarity was within reach, and the spit of the victory seemed likely to remain with the pasty nillieh hni brought the largest mass of forces into the fi e le . The result of Lord Stanley's meeting was scarcely known in the House w h en t h e time for commencing the financial debate arrived. The impatience of all parties to be relieved gave v i go ur to the from suspense applause with which successive protests against r eli gious discussions in Per liament were received during the conversation which Sir Benjamin hall co:nmencod. Mn Hope's contradic tion of a charge brought „ against a clergyman by' some anonymous s'gentlemen—wocse statements were as correct as those of anonymous gentlemen usually are-- WAS listened to with a patience Which was exc h an ged for amused in lignation on the production of a letter from the Bishop of London, which illustrated the idioayncracy of that active prelate in a manner almost incredible, and yet highly characteristic. Lord Dudley Stuart's com plaints of Lord Palmerston, though they produced re peated laughter, were trouts(' as an untimely interrup tion. At last the clerk read the order of the day, and Lord John Russell rise, instead of his colleague, to an nounce that the further progress of the Budget was ad journed to Monday. In a few minutes the astonished crowd had dispersed, and the whole of London was full of conjectures. No portion of the cemmunit y ., was more surprised and puzzled than the five hundred gentlemen who heard the Minister's announcement. We believe that its meaning was utterly unknow n, except to those possessing official information- Tile Caine of this sudden resolution of the Government, and its result, will shortly he known. At present the general op i nion inclines to the belief' that a dissolution will result from the Minis terial embarrassment —although, Perhaps, the fact that the Premier, during the brief interval between the termination of the Chhinet c ounc il an d the meeting of the House, proceeded to Bucking' ham Palace and bad an andience of her Ma jesty, renders it at least c it euthiY probable that either the resignation or re-adjustment of the Cabinet may be the immediate course adopted. A new .13.udget, to be brought forward by the present holders of office, pt'esents a third alternative; but before the Liberal p)rt:, cis be reunited, the foolish anti-Aggression Wunder must be abandoned. With sectarian disputes quc ted, and an improved financial policy, there is no saying but that the Whig Ministry might even yet weather the storm. We scarcely think it necessary to conternplst the contingency of the reins of Government lxing assumed by Lord Stanley; for the mere supposition r:t once :.agizests difficulties which, in the estimation of the principal porsenage concerned, are, we doubt not, regardid as insuperable. While partisans are deviAlg " cries " fir the hustings, and including freo trade in their advertising catalogue, they may b., well assured that the country is resolved, sod will not even allow it to be discussed as an open question. Even if Lord Stauley could retain officJ he must aban don his party, or persuitcle them to compromise all their favourite doctrines. His pledges to support a vigorous policy against the Roman Catholics must aho be re emsilered, and left uufulfflled. In our own criticisms of the policy of the present Government, we have ever sought rather to urge upon it the adoption of sound principles, than to involve it in party difficulties. With pledges given to toleration, to free trade, and to pro • gross, it is perhaps not impossible that the Administra tion which has so long enjoyed the indulgence of Par liament and of the country might yet redeem its credit, though it is certainly difficult to hope anything for states men who have contrived to be wrecked by deliberately steering on a shoal, with calm weather and sea-room at command. HERALD.—Last evening the House of Commons was taken by surprise when, in a full House, anxiously expecting the resumption of the adjourned debate upon the income-tax, Lord John Russell rose, and, without assigning any reason, moved that the deba!e should be adjourned until Monday, promising that on that day he would state his reasons for the request. That the re quest has originated in some Ministerial crisis is evident. At three o'clock yesterday a Cabinet Council was held. It lasted three-quarters of an hour, and from that Ca binet Council the Premier proceeded to her Majesty. After an audience of the Queen he came down tai the House of Commons and postponed until Monday the de bats supon the Budget, stating that he could not pledge himself that even, then he would bring it on, but pro mising that on that day he would state his rea sons for the request of postponement. It would be, perhaps, useless to repeat the rumours to which this proceeding naturally gave rise. It was said with confidence that Ministers at the Council had resolved on tendering their resignation—that Lord John Russell had proceeded to the Palace for that purpose— and that nothing but the shortness of the interval pre vented the announcement of their resignation from being formally made to the House. Our readers will under stand the grounds upon which this rumour resteel, when we place before them the paragraphs from the Court Circular and the Parliamentary report, which give the authentic account of Ministerial movements yesterday. The Court Circular informs us that—"A Cabinet Coun cil was held at the Foreign-office, at three o'clock, the summonses for the Council having beenissued in the fore noon. The Members present were Lord John Rus sell, the Lord Chancellor, Sir George Grey, vis count Palmerston, Earl Grey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Francis Baring, Sir John Hehhouse, Right Hon. H. Labouchere, the Mar quis of Clanricarde, and the Right lion. Fox Mettle." The same authority informs us that—" The Council sat three-quarters of an hour. After the Council Lord John Russell went to Buckingham Palace to have an audience of the Queen." What is the course which the Noble Lord proposes to take is the question which is in everybody's lips. For the rumour that the resignation of Ministere has been actually resolved on, abundant confirmation is to be found in the circumstances. The hasty summoning of the Cabinet Council—the full at 'eedance of its members—the shortness of its delihera- tions. nod the immediate proceeding of the Premier to the Queen, all seem clearly to indicate such a conclu sion. It was but anticipating the inevitable result of the es euing's debate, and escaping a damaging exposure of the inefficiency of their financial scheme. Other accounts, or rather, we should say, other speculations, inform us that the Cabinet Council euding in an open difference between the two secttoos of the Cabinet, Lord John Russell has taken until Monday to endeavour to reconcile those differences and prevent the Cabinet being broken up. It is, we believe, useless to speculate beyond the facts which we find in the authentic record of the Court Circular and in the Parliamentary report. We may have on Tuesday to congratulate our readers upon the downfall or a Mi nistry that has betrayed all the best interests of the country. We may, perhaps, have to tell of some 'of those miserable devices by which the Whig. Cabinet may continue to prolong for a very brief period its doomed existence. To the great cause of the country it matters very little. Their existenee as a Cabinet is doomed. That Lord John Russell should on Monday evening announce the resignation of Ministers will, no doubt, give something of character to their closing scene. Toey elennot affect to be ignorant that they have lost, irretrievably lost, the confidence both of the House of Commons and the country. If, in spite of that know dge they make an attempt by patching up their dif ferences, or even by appealing to new assistance, still to hold office, the attempt may bring disgrace upoa themselves, but cannot really injure, or even record, the triumph of the national cause. The Protestant people of England repose with perfect confidence on the convic tion that no Ministry that will mock the Protestant spirit of the country can govern it—that both the Sovereign abd her subjects will demand from her counsellors an honest, a firm, and uncompromising course—and that neither device nor artifice can prolong the existence of any Cabinet which has forfeited, and justly forfeited, the confidence of the nation. Whatever be the course which, on Monday evening, Lord John Russell will propose to take, of one thing we may be assured—that his Cabinet is virtually this day at an end. ADVERTISER.—There is all the difference in the world between theory and practice. It is one thing to lay down sound principles, and another to art up to them. If saying a thing and doing it were synonomous terms, Lord John Russell would be one of the best Mi nisters which modern times have produced. Unfortu notely, however, the actions of the Noble Lord do not correspond with his words. He lays down principles, but never turns them to practical account. Having laid them down, he suffers them to go to sleep; and never, if left to himself, would he disturb their slumbers till the crack of doom. A remarkable exemplification of the difference there is between the Premier's theories and practice is now before the c - eintry. For the last four or five years the Noble Lord, when hard driven by the in dependent Members of the House of Commons, has ad mitted the great defects Which exist in the Reform Bill, and recognized the propriety of farther progress in the pathway of Parliamentary reform. Time after time, during the last four years, has the Premier confessed that the electoral qualification ought to be extended to large masses of the population, quite as deserving of it, and as likely to exercise it honestly and efficiently, as the better class of the existing constituency. But it somehow or other has happened that Lord John Russell has never, during all these years, taken a single step to carry out his views on the necessity of further representative reform. When pressed on this subject, hoehas always, tinder one pretext or other, put off the time for commencing the work of Parliamentary amendment. And not only does he refuse to do anything tiinaself, he will not, if he can help it, allow any one else to move in the matter. Every proposal for legislative reform is met by the Noble Lord, under some pretext or other, with the most strenuous opposition which Govern ment can offer it. When household suffrage is proposed, the motion is opposed on the ground that it is too vague. When two or three measures are proposed at once, they are re isted on the ground that they ought to be sub mitted to the House in detail, or rather that each pro pesition ought to be brought before the House singly. Tree pretext fur the opposition Is, that more than one proposition in favour of popular progress cannot be ad veetsgeously considered at a time. If measures of reform are brought in after the middle of the session, the pretext for refusing them a hearing is, that is thou too late in the session to admit of their being carried. A discussion on the quesiion would he a mere waste of the time of Parliament, when no preaa tical result can follow. It some popular representative sexes time by the forelock, end does not allow more thee a fortnight of the session to elapse, without intro ducing a measure of legislative reform, Lord John Rus sell, inexhaustible in his resources for evading his own virtu it promises, pleads hard as a reason why the motion ought to he negatived, that the Ministers have other bu siness chalked out for the House, which will fully occupy the kessioa. This was the shift to which the Noble Lord resorted on Thursday, when opposing the motion of Mr. Locke King for the extension of the ten-pound qualifica tion to the counties. It is pitiable to sec the Prime Minister of a great country like England capable of timing recourse to such discreditable expedients. It lowers the national character in the eyes of foreigners; for the poople are, unhappily, always iden tified by other nations with the Government. It would bo infinitely more manly on the part of the Noble Lord to say at once, that he is hostile to all farther reforms. But he has not the candour or cour age to do that. He still endeavours to sustain the cha racter of reformer, though not having the slightest pretensions to it. He has not a single yearning after popular progress in his little Whiggish heart. Secretly, he abhors real reform. He is called the Mi nister of Finality. We verily believe ho would, if he dare, show by his conduct that he is the Minister of Retrogression. Under his Administration the country, is, indeed, retrograding. Every succeeding year sees ‘he constituencies of boroughs diminishing in large numbers. We have the prospect before us, unless some thing be done to arrest the process of retrogression, of seeing some of our populous towns so many no mination burougha. Lord John Russell and his Whig colleagues are practising a gross deception on the country. They profess attachment to the cause of popular progress, but they cherish none. They are hostile to any further advancement on the road to representative reform. The Premier will not only never move an inch in an onward course, but he will, if he can, drive the country back to the state of things which existed prior to 1832. He is the Miaister of false pretences. As such, his Cabinet has been tolerated too long. The people have borne with him and his Government, because they were unwilling to come to the conclusion that he was deceiving them. This is the result of the generosity of the national cha racter. Bat there are limits to generosity. However disposed we may be to take the most generous view of the Premier's political character, there are facts and evi dence so utterly conclusive against him, that we can not, if we would, resist their force. We are compelled to believe that he has abused the confidence, and taken an unworthy advantage of the generosity of an unsuspiciousNoble people. 'rhe great and invariable sins of the Lord has been to retain Office with the least possible amount of concession to the' popular demand. If he ever brought forward a really libe ral measure, it was wrung from him by circumstances. It was not the fruit of any aff e ction for • popular •prineiples; •it was extorted from hits by conaiderations of expediency. Re hay 1851. yielded to the popuirr wish, because he saw that con cession was absolutely necessary to the P;``1 -'7p Goveenment. His refusal to acquiesce, ou Thursday, in the motion of Mr. Locke King, for the extension of th:, 10!. qualification to counties, was accorripanicl by the use of language whicia the nation must resent as an in sult. Tee Noble Lord repeatedly and qxCitnzly au mitted, in the course or his spetch, that the principle of Mr. Locke King's motion was in it.a!!f une:tceptiw.:ablo, and that the extension of the 104 !ranchise: to the CCL:I.I - would confer the electoral qualification on tif4 gent and honest a body of men as any whose names are to be found on the existing registries, either for towns or counties. But then lord John 'Russell went on to say, that the representation was very well as it now existed. Does the Premier then imagine that Englishmen are a nation of dolts ? Does he suppose that they have no understanding? Does he take it for granted, that they can discern no inconsistency in his oft repeated admis sions, in the course of the last four years, that the re presentation needed amendment, and his assertion on Tnursday, that it is all that ceuld be wished? But this was not all. As it to render• his inconsistencies as glaring as it is poisible for inconsistencies to be made, the Noble Lord went on, in the same breath, to state that he would be prepared next session, if in office—a very prudent and necessary proviso —to bring forward a measure for the extension of the franchise. Is it net melancholy to see the First Minister of the Crown, thus in two successive sentences, uttering things so entirely incompatible? If the state of the representation of the country be so excelient as he'seys it his, why propose to alter and amend it next session? Why not let well alone? It is impossible for the country to respect a Minister who can thus so flatly contradict himself. Any little prestige that 'attached to the name of the Noble Lord has been completely done away by his lament able exhibition of Thursday night. POST.—Professors of landscape gardening tell us, that the chiefest object of the science is the production of unexpectedness. If this be equally true of political strategy, then is Lord John Russell unquestionably the most successful man of the day. Never was unexpect edness more perfectly presented to the House of Com mons than when, last night, one the order of the day for the Committee of Ways and Means being read, the Prime Minister moved the postponement of the order till Monday next; and in reply to a question across the table from Mr. Herries, stated, that he could not even positively say whether he would then proceed with the Committee or no. It was evident from the manner of the Minister, that it was on no trifling grounds that he had taken this step, and speculation was instantly in fullactivity, endeavouring to divine their nature. We shall be content to wait patiently, though not without some anxiety, till five o'clock on Monday, and shall leave to the wise men of the Clubs the task of weighing the innu merable reports from good authority and the latest intel ligence, which will flood the political world for the next two days. The results of the meeting of the House, how ever, have not been entirely of a negative character, and we hare before us at least one tangible and positive pro duction. Mr. Herries has placed upon the notice-book the terms of the resolution which he hal intended to have moved in Committee as an amendment to Sir Charles Wood's proposition, had the consideration of the Budget been proceeded with, but which, under the circumstances, he has now, as a matter of course, post. ported till Monday. Mr. Herries will then submit to the Committee the following resolution:—" That it is the opinion of this Committee that the respective duties in Great Britain on profits arising from property, profes sions, trades, and offices, and the stamp duties in Ireland, granted by two Acts passed in the sixth year of her present Majesty, and which have brea eontinnei and amended by several subsequent Acts, were granted for limited periods, and to meet temporary exigencies. That it is highly expedient to adhere to the deck red inten tions of Parliament, when these dudes were granted and continued, and in order to secure their speediest practicable cessation, to limit the rem wal of any portion of them to such an amount as may be sufficient, in the existing state of the public revenue, to provide for the expenditure sanctioned by Parlia ment, and for the due maintenance of public credit." It is gsnerall held that the duty of en Opposition does not extend beyond finding fault with the measures that emanate from the Treasuy bench. We are glad that Mr. Herries has taken a more liberal view of the sphere of action, and has not withheld from the country the ad vantages which they may derive from his eminent finan cial knowledge and experience. We rejoice that ho has not waited to be called in before he pre:cribed. As re gards the scheme itself, it is perfectly simple and easy of comprehension. Above all, it contains e. positive, die duct, and intelligible principle; and, without endanger ing the revenue, or risking the et eetion of a deficiency, it will check our-advance in our present most alarming path—a, path that, if persevered in, will one day lead the country to the inevitable necessity of adopting a system, hot merely of proportional direct taxation—that indeed, cc the history of every Country that has tried it pro claims, is a system under which no nation has ever con- tinued to flourish—hut some such ruinous scheme as teat proposed by tha%wi!eacre Mr. Macgregor, based on the principle of progressive exactions, or rather confis cations of property, graduated according to an arbitrarily supposed ability. Rely upon it we are not exaggerating the moment of the present crisis. Now is the great turn ing-point in the fortunes of the country; low - profits will never bear heavy direct taxation; follow the lead of Sir Charles Wood, adopt his expedients, without principle and object as they are, restrict your area of taxation — and the moment the tide of manufacturing prosperity begins tot bb you . will have a catastrophe that will shake your organization to the very centre. There is another consideration not less important than those which e have now pointed out. Parliament, should it adopt Mr. Hurries proposition, will be keeping faith with the nation, and will be scatheless of the offence and disgrace of having abused the'confidenee reposed in it, and of having obtained, under false pretences, supplies from en energetic, self-denying, and trusting people. It will be an earnest that Parliament may be depended upon for the redemption of its pledges; and the sense of security, and the feeling of confideece, that such a step will en •gender,. especially ;among the commercial and trading classes, will be of ten times more value to the country than the modification, or even abolition of any tax or taxes that' could be selected. We have not gone into any mi nute calculation of the precise amount of the income-tax which it would be practicable to remit, but from a rough consideration of our ways and means, we imagine that it would certainly not .be less for the present year than twopence in the pound, or within a fraction of a third. DAILY NEWS.—The announc.Ement of Lord John Russell that 'he was not prepared to proceed arty further with the financial measures of the Government watil Monday next, and that he could not state whether he Would be then prepared to do so—or until then the reasons why such an abrupt postponement had been ren dered unavoidable—will create throughout the country, as it did in Parliament, more anxiety than surprise. It was clear to allintelligent observers of the public mind that the Whig Budget was a failure past repair; and at the meeting of the House of Commons yesterday the only suiject of curiosity or disculeion was upon which of its ill-omened features the weight of condemnation was first likely to descend. The infatuation of its rash and shal lOw author would have led his colleagues to inevitable defeat; Lord John's better judgment discerned the true nature of the position, and pointed out the only sale and wanly course that could furnish a way of exit icatiou and escape—namely, to place the seals of the Exchequer in other hands. Sir Charles Wood refusing to play the part of Jonah, and the crew refusing to fling him overboard against his will, all thoughts of going into action became impossible; and the only question now retraining is, can the ship by any means refit and be partially remanned in the interval lit the next two days, or must it actually founder ? When comment ing upon the tenor of her Majesty's Speech on the sth of the present month, we observed that neither its pro mises, nor the programme which the then Ministerial 'limes bad chalked for the session, of doing nothing, save merely registering the income-tax, wools: suffice. Our words Were:—" We may surely say that this won't do. Even if it did do for the present, and tett the session was thus got through with a non-result, the exact upon the country would ee a disgust aed a reaction, not like the reaction of '49 and '5O, but resembling and far eat stripping the onward carper of 1830 and 1831. It is seid 'that we are in lull;' in other words, the tide is full out, and the moment is corning whru it turas. Public opinion is tbis tide. It has ebbed for the last three years in a conservative and cairn direction. But we repeat, it is on the turn; and a Government that idly slumbers or unwisely resists will infailibly be aarried away." These remarks have been verified in a surprisingly brief lapse of time. One day the Ministry is left in a minority on an important free-trade division by the de sertion of several of its staunchest followers; the next, it is compelled to make up for the omission of all men tion or promise of progressive reform. And, finally, aid ;Omission is made that the Budget is too unpopular to be proceeded with. The unpardonable fault of Sir Chinks 'Wood's ill-starred Budget was, that it did no thieg, led to nothing, and amounted, in fact, to no thing. It dealt with a lerge surplus of revenue 'only to squander it. It trifled with the reduction of the rational debt in a manner calculated to render the very idea of gradual liquidation ludicrous. It failed to amend the income-tax in any one particular, and, with no other ex cuse than an off-hand sic vole, it demanded an extension of its term for three years more. It pretended to abolish the house-tax estimated by the number of windows, only,. to substitute another to be measured by the number ot_ pounds paid in annual rent. It mocked the demands of the agriculturists by a species of &cal t a sub by way of compensation for the loss_ -1 d o uty, on the stantial profit, secured by a differeatiat mit,esiuni fruits of the field, offered the farmebresed. inn With long remission of charge upon clovn. _y badinage; and, d ventures any sentences in favour of what 7 ' (it such h o still be) trade— the Chancellor of the Exchequer s eg ut c ter inability to du any longer to dispute, the abstractuprrhaciple of free proved is denionstrationiu illustrate, or strengthen the - thing calculated to e. 'she uni versal voice of public opinion h and spending. orthe et P' great principle. has pronounced against dd A lie s g an wt a th m o i v a t u s e e , tt u li p n r g i , ght, practical working and tha t* plain work, we have no gen t wan with . doubt that Sir his wit h s e c u li t e scheme mending. :a g e . might fill credit Charlesmany positions requiring less grasp of intellect or originality of view. But in the department of finance the country has unmistakably said—" Never more be officer of mine." What then? Does the existence of . a Minist r y th a t h as survived do mestic calamities almost unparalleled, and surrounding convulsions wholly without example, depend upon the efficial adherence of one minor mm? Or is the country disposed to suffer an entire change in its policy be cause the Member for Halifax has committed a comical and somewhat coxcemiend concatenation of blunders? There is not surely such a dearth of available ability and experience in Parliament us to render it a matter of any great difficulty to supply his place, or that of others whose exodus from office would excite still less or sym pathy. It will he vain for Lord John to endeavour to persuade the world that his Cabinet could not spare such man as - flobbouse, Minto, or Wood; BA if the Adminis- ration is broken up, rio other rsasou being itseige f .). a ... t ee-„ their dis agieeneet a as to the stirction ti!' knee::: 6e t i.,eeei pErsenages cf this etac:p, the evealic isi;; h e ~iii,:eereei, seck for a solution ot the riddle in ether cau:es'and der•per teflaences. Had the Whigs been dolt titer' on Vny que,tiou of policy on ankh they ciatal reeigti with honour, end defy theit- adversnlics with coefi.ferce to e ; peel to the sse.se. cf the e •netey fir a otesniadon, their puiitien weedd be tete ef nreteet pefiularity end ot future pewee. But to break. t;oe - a' rthreuen mere where nt vi eakness, weeld indeed give tae Tory tarty a fair charce ot not gaining effi.:e merely, but ot keep busy wi th the etht n e.e a r m pw e u s bi Li t h i i o f ,c a o r ing it. Rumour, as is her wont on snch oc-:asitn.s, i 3 who i (3 :C l io t wt} C oo otn int h hi''4 . c r h l rL i:t s' i t : l n n"ds :i a t inY with hao'sie cvt'auritidsghewtta among the vehtg who are lik e ly to retain office. When the siguificeivt phrssc, " We must elce2e cur ranks,'' fell from the lips of Sir James Graham in a recent &bete, . the thuuelit suggested itself to the mind of every think isle teen—how comes it that he who himself seems to • have caught, if any one ha'. the mantheof Peel—should so long have been left to tight as a volunteer in defence of si field lie;;aided so powerfully to win? It may, indeed, be true thttt the Member tor Ripon entertains opinions upon certain points at variance with those, on which the Government have recently been acting: But if these dissentient views are in herinony with the cairn judg ment of the nation, it might be uo .unimportant sorta ea ' to the Whigs as a party, as well as to the country at large, if Sir James Graham's joining the Administra tion proved the - cause anti the occasion of a change of measures. No additional strength which he or his friends could bring with them, either in point of admi nistrative talent or numbers in a division, could do so much to retrieve the Ll:winged position of the Whigs as the infusion into their counsels of a more resolute end heartily popular spirit. LEADER.—The Ministry beaten by two to one!—that is the event which quite eclipses the Budget in public in terest. It is tottering! a few more such blows and it hover! Mr. Locke King invited the Commons to admit a Bill extending the 101. borough franchise to counties; Lord John objected to so sweeping a measure, and invited the House to wait till next session. The House went with Mr. King, and the Speaker announced a majority against Ministers of two to one: imagine the Premier's counte nance at the ghastly sound. The defeat must be, will be, followed up. All are now convinced that the Ministry is useless, effete. It is only blocking the path against the entrance of some better Ministry; for any would be better than the present. Already Lord John has ceased to be Premier: he is only the Obstacle-General; and Policeman Public is ordering to " move on." At last we are again in motion ! WEEKLY NEWS.—What can Lord John mean? With a Papal measure that pleases nobody, a Budget that dissatisfies everybody, a narrow majority of 14 on the great Free-trade question, why should he further dis gust all sincere Liberals by meeting Mr. Lucke King's sensible and moderate proposal for extending the fran chise to 101. occupiers iu counties, by the plaitudes of finality and the cutsand-dried fallacies of the Bthick stone-and-De-Lolme school of Reformers. The it elan choly truth really seems to be, that the former leader of Liberal England has fallen down a prostrate worshipper before what Sydney Smith used to call " the paltry of these realms." Ile did one great thing, but, ' 4 not being great in mind," has remained ever since exhausted by the preternatural effort, and now finds nothing so congenial as the languor o' dignified inaction. COURT CIRCULAR. The Quen and Prince Alb_rt walked yesterday morning in the garden o Buckingham Palace. L , )rd John Russell had an audience of her MaSesty yesterday. Ilia R +yal Highness Prince Albert rode our, on horse back yesterday morning, aitinded by Lieut. Colonel the Hon. 21!exander Gordon. Their Royal highnesses the Duke find Duc Lees de Nemours visited her Maj:sty yesterday. Their Royal Highnesses eterwards went to Clarence House, St. .briues's, and paid a visit to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent. The Royal Family took their accustomed norm snd waltzing exircise yesterday, in the garden of the Ptdrce. The Queen had a dinner party yesterday. at Bucking ham Palau. The cc,mpany included her Royal High ness the Duchess of Kent, hia Excellency Mons. Tri coupi and Madame Tricoupi, the Marquis of Donegal, Laety Fanny Howard, Baroness do Speth. Lord and Lady Stanley, Lord Fitvoy S:)merset, the Right Hon. Sj - tri.trht and Lady Caroline La,icelles, Viet - Admiral Sir George and Lady Seymour, and Colonel _ _ . Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent vi,ited her R9yal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester yesterday - , at Gloucester house. A Cabinet Ciuncil was held yesterday, at three o'clock in the afternoon, at the Foreign-office, the summonses for the meeting having been issued in the forenoon. The Ministers present were Lord John Russell, the Lord Cnaccellor, Sir George Grey, Viscount Palmer ston, Earl Grey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Francis Baring, Sir John Hobhouse, the Bight Hon. Henry Labouchere. the Marquis of Clanricarde, and the Right Hon. Fox Maule. The Council eat three-quarters of an hour. After the Connell Lord John Russell went to Buckingham Palace, to have an audience of her Maj.. - ity. Mr. Scholefield, M.P., and Dr. Birt Davies, Coroner for BirruiLgliam, had an interview with Sir George Grey yesterday, at the Home-office. Mr. M'Gill, from Canada, had an interview with Earl Grey yesterday, at the Colonial-office. Dispatches were received yesterday at the Colonial office from the, Governors of West Australia, the Mau ritius, and Malta, and from the Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat yes• terday. Present, the Master of the Rolls, the Chan cellor of the Duchy of Cornwall, the Judge of the Ad miralty Court, and Sir Edward Ryan. An appeal frina Bengal, "Baboo Sheodass Narain v. Mussurnat Khawal has Kooer" (part heard) was resumed; Mr. Turner, QC., and Mr. Forsyth; and Messrs. Wigram and Lloyd, Q.C., appeared for the respective parties. CALEDONIAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. The anniversary ball of this patriotic and national in stitution took place on Thursday evening last, at the Hanover-equare Rooms, where the members and !heir friende gathered in great numbers. This society is now in its twelfth year, and its pretensions are "social friendship, and chority." These are carried out, in the true acceptation, and with a thorough regard of the se virtues, by its committee of management; always re membering that to do them well, must needs be to do them gracefully, and in this way they apply the surplus of their annual balances between the Scottish Hospital and the Caledonian Asylum, worthy objects of their pa tronage. The ball la:it evening was for the double pur pose of the society's objects, giving an opportunity for friends to meet in one common hall of friendship, to pa a the night in mirth and glee, which the rastives of Cale donia never forget to do on such merry occasions. There was present last evening u;wards of th ee hundred persons, and their varied and handseme dresses had a fine effect; the rooms were tastefully dsco rate!l with heraldic emblems, shit:lds, ripai.a, and national flags, the whole draneried with various clans' tartans. Supper was served in the spacious hall below, where ev,:rything that was of good cheer was to be had, the stewards ever active in their attention to thas„conitorts of the company. This festivity over, d a nci n g was returned end maintained with unabated vigour till au early hour. The moth rn dances of every description had due places on the programme card, also strahspeys and re els, toge ther with the country-d ance , an d the goold old aivourite Roger de Coverley, which should ever sat as the rear dance of a British ball. The music was of the choice2t, and Mc. Mackay, her Majesty's piper, assisted by Mr. Mtobeth and the Marquis of Douglat , 's piper. attended to play the martial music of the North. It was a happy and pleasant assembly. and those *lst partook of that enjoyment owe it to the excellent arrangements of the management unit the indeiatigable secretary, Mr. Gray, to whow, as a matter of course, belongs the major part of the labour attending the getiing up such a meeting. ANTIDOTE AGAINST POlSON.—Hundreds of lives might have been saved by a knowledge of this simple recipe —a large teaspoonful of made mustard mixed in a tumbler of warm water, and stvallowed as soon as possible; it acts as an instant emetic, sufficiently powerful to remove all that is lodged in the stomach. rd , XYbINSIVE ROBBERY ON A RAILWAY.--On Thurc. day evening, as a gentleman name i Alford, residing hi Man chester, was waiting the arrival of the train at the Bolton Railway station, Sew Bailey-street , Sa lford, some adroit thieves contrived to abstract a red morocco pocket-book containing 800 S, from his person. The Sunderland Herald say s that the sailors' strike take i t i h i that e e np,ort one afterisvirt u an a lolet-haetr,atno end, employment. a s stern necessity is driving AT dowse. S 0 D r" BUBS, An Irishman swe arin g the peace against Hs three sons, concluded his affidavit thus: —" And th e d eponent further, s aith, that th e onl y one ot his ch ildren who showed him any real affection was his y oun g e st , Larry, for lie nev A er y s , tr E u G yk E p hin P l O w it h S en oN h l e NuG. as NEAß BRISTOL. —The little town of SoSbury has been placed • state of considerable excitement in consequence f.AI iii a state way, the wife of a person keepingsmallrs. Jane I ath a public-house, having died somewhat suddenly under suspicious circum stances. An inquest upon the body has been commenced. The deceased was se i ze d w i th her last after illness ha s ing partaken of some anion broth given her by her husband. Afterart ' p alung of it she was seized with the symptoms which usually follow the administration of arsenic. No sur geon was called in, and she died. It appears that her bus basd and herself had lived a we upon unhappy terms. It is also alleged that during her lifetime her person had frequently exhibited marks ot violence caused by her husband. The contents of the stomach and viscera have been submitted to Mr. Herapath, the analytical chemist, and the inquest has been adjourned to await his examination of their coutents. "NORM CAROLINA COAL.—A spsce of fifteen miles in laugth, by four to five miles in width, situated in Moore and Chatham counties, North Carolina, has been lately ex plored, and unmistakeable signs found of a deposit. of the best kinds of bituminous, semi-bituminous, and anthracite coal. The deposits extend a distance of thirty mile' by four or live miles in width, embracing a space of about 150 square miles. They reach a depth of seven feet two inches. • ATTEMPT TO OVERTHROW A RAILWAY TRAIN...— James Prior, a labourer, was yesterday convicted at the Aylesbury Quarter Sessions, of having attempted to upset the express train of tee North-Western Railway Company, from Liverpool to London, on the 19th November last, by piscine. e . A large piece of iron - r ail, and sev eral chains, on the rails. He was sentenced to two years' iniptisonment, the highest measure of punishment allowed by law. PREsENTs TO THE SULTAN.—A Turkish officer, named Itassim Effendi, serving on board her Majesty's ship Arab, has landed at Portsmouth soma pickages containing curiosities from China, which are intended to be immediately forwarded to Constantinople as presents to Mehemet Pasha; and Sir Godfrey Webster, who has been appointed by the Admiralty to attend on the Turkish officers during their so journ in this country. has made arrangements for them to be shipped on boat d the Turkish frigate Maritz Zater, now lying in Portsmouth harbour, for transmission to their dee tination. . ~` 4 the re ie l ouse r lb; A bel ; 3ittOr 3 14 5 Per [ 00 . ; Deoll, Oi; 5. 1 A '5- r 411' tor Oil PO. l ie; loticl' v.) 00 oss' d e r tb° B aer' ouA for , i OP _„ m ob , og' Bi ° ~ :irt s° nib er ' pf t bd ber )art-030 the ) . L 4 to , oe e i ler" ell' lfil; Oo d bel' t o be i 6