The Sun. — London, England, 1851-02-05 00:00:00

as well as Bishop of Rome. He might cease to be P u r , j ,nee of Rome to-morrow, but he would .7.611 be the '" l , B .neP of Rome, the head ' of the Roman Catholic religion, from whom they derive their spiritual power, and the very essence of the Catholic reLgion, and to eIY t o the Catholics, that th e y s h a ll not h ave ~,b r i Bh i The Ps who d er i ve t h e i r power from the Pope s„ - ; ' l oin', is to s a y to t h em—you shall not have inshops to confer on you the spiritual comforts of your rel igtoe. — (Hear, hear.) I n ot h er words, it was gross Persecution. —(Hear, hear.) But he was to be met with the words— papal a aggression on her M a j es ty' s p r er og ati ve , ggression, territrial aggression. There was a hrase that had been introduced by our American d ead% it was called the table of political capital.— (Laughter.) It was an admirable speculation, with no (* Pita! at all, for the gaining of some—(Laughter)— a nd he thought the Noble Lord was obtaining political capital on the faith of this proposition.—(Hear, hear.) LThey spoke of territorial aggression. Now, he charged ae Nobl e L ord (and he always looked to him to deal 1141 1) with d ea li ng falsely on the present occasion This the peopl e of this country.—(Hear, hear.) was he new Papal aggression o f w hi c h h e now complained thing.—(Hear, hear.) He was aware of it, Ind must have been aware of it for years.—( Hear, hear.) b ° g lan d , the Noble Lord said, has been parcelled out t e e r .; i iredh a biol f ai ir i foreign day, t p e , d s w , rh—e when y the Pope of Rome; but when? this bull was introduced, and a and Dr. Wiseman declared to be an But waa that the first territorial aggres re Or .a the first partition of England? Ever since he knew England he had known Catholic bishops to be B . e re, • Tak e , t or i nstance Bishop Baynes, he was called 0;1." ofdiga; he had a district that incl u d e d th e west (e i gan, and was, in reality, Bishop of Bath. He et Roebuck) th erefore happened to know something the b h itn• Now h e d er i ve d hi s power directly from oPe. He was a bishop consecrated by the Pope. fr•o4 PeFulisr powers of a bishop he exercised directly ill the Po 0 Ile was also vicar apostolic. Now :hat 13 s °es that mean? It will appear that far from the Pope having lately acquired L' l t ter he has divested himself of power; and that co ar from this being an aggression it is a retrogress ehniii-Oear, hear.) And that so far from encroaching ke ta d w e P re rogative of her Majesty, he has given, as re- Lindlieeclesiastical matters, the Catholic people of Eng- It e m . ,„ a lue ,Posser of governing themselves.—(Hear, hear.) En Chewer change was made the Catholic Bishop in 041 e'stld was li England, leate a latera; the Pope was the ere l 13ith °P ofg the Pope was the person who aerated the Bishop, and to whom everything was re d'O se a° d, through his vicars apostolic, governed this ;IVI•trY entirely i n rel i g i ous matters so far as the 'Ll°lics were concerned.—(Hear.) Then it was said, /13 will make a hierarchy, and the bishops will be elected eerson, in England.—(An Hon. Member, " No, no.") kl e as _ l , et u Yes. th e Honourable Gentleman would find mistaken; the bishops would be elected by rroens i„ England. subject, certainly, to the Tae • were file of of the Pope; but the vicars loPe not appointed by any persons in England,. co ne Y were appointed by the Pope, they were under his Zlntrol, they were his servants—his slaves, he might say ind the power of the Pope was supreme.—(Hear, • e.) But oh, i t i s said there is much more in it than h e r. He is c a ll e d Archb i shop of Westminster. He l da e td Dr. Baines was called Bishop of Si ga i n par tib us ; but suppose he was called Bishop of Bath a;• Wells, what difference would it make, or where wellid be the aggression on her Majesty's prerogative? the great hear.) To have such an assertion made by .0 grsatest man amongst them, so far as power was I s nee s Pede was preposterous. ould it tend to violate llejesty'a prerogative Cost Dr. Wiseman should be galled Archbishop of Westminster instead of b-ing called hackedf Melipotamus? How was her prerogative k by a mere change of words, or what was the it s een g of the aggression upon it? He had read -1 he bad not read, he bad glanced over—columns (Hill'v l columns of rubbi s h a b out t h e matter ; b ut P i t n ot settl e th e po i nt. I t was one of the glorious I) ileges o f th i s House that they could bring matters to a discussion in a calm and-temperate spirit. Here they were aot a ,, `uong a roaring set of sectarians, but in this House,. .aAwever humble the individual, only let him say fairly honestly whatever he may have to state—only let a.i.es reason calmly and dispassionately —and this House listen to him.—(Hear, hear.) Therefore it was e at he was confident, not in himself, but in the simple statement of truth which ho had to make, and which he was e a , w ould make his c oun t r y, by an d b y, as h amed of the ss ," 4 lan of the persons who had stirred up this commotion. bui r-teitr, hear.) B ut h e wante cl:to know what was th e • itb- 4 hi-tig of thi s word aression? Had the law be en ri ged? Not at all. He, however, wanted to deal t r ek,' with the matter, as the Noble Lord had Ile wanted to ask what was the meaning of all ;Ltnoise? Wh ere was th e aggress i on upon her Ma. re prerogative. He wanted to know what was e r teaming of this word aggression? Had the law bean aenged ? Not at all. He wanted to deal with this mat 11' gravely, and he asked where was the aggression upon Majesty's prerogative, because Dr. Wiseman chose to " 4 ,_ 11 himself car di na l, or b ecause some person else chose tall him cardin a l, a nd h e d resse d hi mse lf i n a l arge hat, i l l Put on red stockings , and called himself Arch - *no of Westminster ? He wanted .not to tr ea t t o a ludicrous manner, but he could not ,_ cit ilettss n it without doing so.—(Hear, hear.) You 'veld not be guilty of an aggression without making an 'veld ,_ upon the existing law with a view to is but it was said that this pretended 1 44 ress s io ll n ; would interfere with the loyalty of :nit_ of our fellow•citizens. Did anybody believe that ~- -wr laid an body believe that the Catholics of this tr i ° try the Catholics of England, who were amongst .a most decent, tbe most submissive, and 11e twunt!_ld say were among the most humble of her Majesty , Iti b s t ete t could, of all people in the world, be accused of j eat I ng to make an aggression upon her Ma al / 44 prerogative, Did any one believe that, 'because Dr. Wisem en was called Car pe4i Archbi s h op o f W estmin ster? The thing was lis e P es terous. Some time ago, in the year 1849, the fr`Tourabl e B aronet opposite, the Member . for the ht iver sitY of Oxford, drew the attention of t i t - 0 - Noble L or d to t hi s very su bj ect o f t h e Roman hierarchy. By the way, the Honourable Dpilr°het was the only consistent man amongst them, ex• t ePt th e , hentleman who stood opposite to him (mean -406u 47:8elf(Loud laughter)—and he (th® - Baronet), if any one deserved it, really terited the honour of being made Archbishop Zhe WiTesttninstor, if they must have such a dig f ni y. Honourable Gentleman had been consistent ro .d m i• nning to end. From the beginning be had sat , ), tt are Wrong,you ought to have kept them down; hoe no eto make these advance f s o . 4t was the principle the Hon. Baronet laid down ddi:tieeneoltf•fe,4ot w was one, however, which the Noble hadd ; but, now, in 1851, the Noble Lord Vas tire " that he had been in error, and tae . therefore ready to become a partizan _of to th . li nn °u sable Gentleman opposite. In reply Ilse of t j". Gentleman, the Noble Lord in 1849 made tett following words:—" You must either give eibtalifinfertivantages to the Roman Catholic religion, and arnon g ° h hi the Pope certain other advantages that the Pope shall not create an • Sou must stipulate iu return, th e Y dioceses in England without the consent of ou' lteen ; or, on the other hand, you must say that ki tu i wil k l have nothing to do with arrangements of that atith --tuitt You will not consent iu any way, to give_ any t h ut,. It to the Roman Catholic religion in Engtan 1/ ts e .. ; en s i You must leave the spiritual authority of the aptii-Ch,i'rely unfettered. You cannot bind the Poe's 41 3'0 41 influence unless you have some agreement. For be r„,, wll ,,Part, I inn not disposed to think that it would agreeable'" advantage of this country, or that it would be .44 ,i tt;? the Roman Catholics, that we should have aptalutreement with the Pope, by which their religious raaa'itentelits should be regulated. .But although you islePrev ° watt b any spiritual authority from being exer la this Poe law,y Ot there is no proviiion—no 110 0. Friend could frame that would derive the mind,, ,, • t ss i te i nfluence which is merely exercised . over the here was a statement that they could not impose strew vgyPal ila or disabilities which would have the effect of ex- N Carateal any control over t h e m i n d s o f R oman C athol i cs. an; Wiseman came here powerless, without 40 iefluence except spiritual influence, wielding ottld i) se ° Z,r but the power of mind over man, an . d *Vea l , ', /3 g himself simply to those who believed in his Noble tottifluence. This aggression, and he defied . the rd te prove otherwise, consisted wholly in the the tiviAluee„„ i; of the Pope over those who believed could tizenedsed e feet api : t t t he ''h faith. Now he suspected that there 11°- be found a person less subject to strange onination than the person who now ad - .se mos - anal use.—(Laughter.) It seemed to him one phenomena with which the human '''`,.(le t s h° s un dede and for which he could not account. ateth e-r y The Catholics bowed to the Pope, the „opaiodists bowed to the Conference, and the Epis the aille t° that House, but eventually that House was 14._sonference of the kingdom, for the Queen's supr h e e • 'n3' m e % or ant the supremacy of the Minister, and t lie tt ; el nY of the Minister meant the opinion of that -40„4-e'---(Laughter.) He (Mr. Roebuck) bowed to the (h ere :* and would continne to do so, whatever its hblig e f f s- (Rear, hear.) He did not arrogate to 'troth, " the right cf judging what was the Luse' or of intruding himself on his fellow-subjects, be kp'e he differed from them; and he could tell his dis . -the'ing.brethren, whom he did not intend to join, that ‘,4should be careful, for they were not yet out of the if ts --(Laughter, and cheers.) They might find, Itcl4eY introduced this p r i nc i p l e with regard to a„,74t1, Catholics, that the whip wou ld b e applied to their pact. 'Wa s elt—(Laughter)—and he must say that if there •it 4 rY Luau who would r e j o i ce a t see i ng the infliction * as kise h* unself.—(Laughter.) Th en h e had to ask, ptaaylere no excuse for Roman Catholics on th e s ."' % R occasion ? H a d th e y d one anything which %R h, • 16 0 1,„Ikl have subjected them to insult as a reli -t-ondy?—(lleajr.) Was the Noble Lord wholly 4i, ,tfts")ratitof the Bequests Act? Ile could hardly fancy 4 111 " 8 - Certain he was that Lord Clarendon was -auorant of it; neither was the Secretary of S tate spi tq H eolonies. He might have mistaken th e s„„ h "F, o f the Act, but it was quite clear he knew . th . an Aes was i n ex i stence. N ow , a person comes to , taine!° country and calls himself cardinal, and say s h e ob soll his powe r from the Po pe. Now, were Roan thol ics not led to believe that they might do this it' th ttle Y r lilted, w i thout any Act of Parliament? for that is A 0 .air way of stating th e case . By th e B eques t s • a Commission Was appo i nted un d er h er M ajesty ' s ;""'s patent, and R oman Catholic Bishops acted from se year on t h at Commission, and were acknow o stti'hged by their d i ff erent titles by the Adminie - ep i s -IL ' Ile held i n hi s hand the t hi r d return . t ert of the Commissioners, w hi c h con t a i n ed mee tingsof their meeting, and a t one o f these he found among the Membe rs assem bled the s !t,lght Ho n . psUr Mr. Ju s ti ce Keating, who occupied the chair, :tee the Lord P rimate, and his Grave the V hie W Archbishop of bubliu; then canto the name G r " the' " Lore 4.vobbiehop Daniel e 01 lc ° °d ie ilk Doi ; ~ Or e " et is wet 'Pd f° THE Murray, without mentioning Archbishop of where. Th. Roman Catholic prelater of Ireland were contieu r.lly addressed by the authorities of this country; for instance, the Archbishop of Armagh was called the Laird Archbishop. The Archbishop of Dublin was addressed by hie tide, although it was in the face of a 'mai Act of Parliament. An Honourable Member behind him bad favoured him with a paper, being an order made by her Aisjesty, showing the precedence which she was pleased to grant to parties who had the right of entrée to the Castle. The order was, first the Primate of Ireland, then the Lord Chan c,‘llor, then the Archbishop of Dublin, and then the Roman Catholic Primate, so that ho c ame before all the Protestant bishops.—(Hear, hear.) Here we had a man acknowledged by her Majesty's special order as a Boman Catholic Archbishop. Now he (Hr. Roebuck) would heg Hon. Members to mark what this proceeding on the part . of her Majesty's Go vernment was. There waa an Act of Parliament against is very thing. and yet the Queen had entirely put aside the authority of that Act. Her Majesty's Minis ters must be taken to have been aware of this order. It must have been known to the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary for Ireland, as the order must have issued from his office. Sir WILLIAM SOMERVILLE was understood that he was not aware of the fact to which the Hon. Member alluded. Mr. ROEBUCK said he could not help thinking that some one was answerable for the act. What he wished to impress upon the House with reference to this subject was, that this was a proccedin4 of the Government, and that the document relating to it was so public that it waz a most important fact. He (Mr. Roebuck) believed that the Roman Ca tholics had with the most perfect innocence and without objection on the part of any one, always excepting the Ron. Baronet the Member for the University of Ox ford, assumed these :ides. The true of this transaction was that it was history an act which had long been contemplated by the Roman Catholics. As early as the year 1847 they contemplated the assumption of these titles. He (Mr. Roebuck) held in his hand a Roman Catholic Directory of the year 1847. In that directory, under the head of the " London Directory," was the name of the Most Reverend N. Wiseman, D.D., Archbishop of Westminster. He (Mr. Roebuck) might be told that he was not Archbishop of Westmin ster. The fact was, that it was the intention of the Pope to have made him an Archbishop, but then came the revolution, and he was obliged to leave Rome; but when he came back he made him an Arch bishop, and the Directory was published in anti. cipat ion of the appointment. It could not be doubted that our Minister st Florence was aware of all this. When people talked about Acts of Parliament and prascuunire, and invading the Queen's authority, it would be well to bear in mind that Government had exposed themselves to the effects of that penal and mys terious Act of Parliament for sending a re presentative to Rome.—(Hear, hear.) In the year 1829 the late Sir Robert Peel stated that he would not interfere with Roman Catholics, or with the Wes , leyans, or any other religious body. What difference was there between the Roman Catholics and the Wes let ans with respect to their arrangements? He had a Ro man Catholic directory and a Wesleyan directory in the one he read wider the head of the " London Directory," the Most Rev. N. Wiseman, D.D., Archbishop of Westminster, and in the " Wesleyan Di rectory," the Rtv. John Mitchell, G. P. President of the Conference. If he (Mr. Roebuck) chose to call himself an archbishop, or chose to parcel out England, what harm was there in it? If he chose to call himself D.D., "Ass," or anything else, there would be no more harm done than the Ca tholics had done by assuming these titles. It must be remembered that there were 8,000,000 of Ca tholics, one third of the whole population was of hat faith, and at a time when, by lapse of time, they were forgetting their ancient prejudices and living in peace with each other, was it worthy of the Noble Lord wh• had so long been an advocate of civil and re ligious liberty to aid a feeling which had its source in religious bate ; was it worth his while for the sake of a flattering popularity, to lend his name to a movement which was nothing more than the old Puritanical bigotry breaking out in the nine teenth century. Upon the other subjects of the Address they all seemed to be of the same opinion, and bad it not been for this unfortunate dispute they would not only have passed the Address unanimously, but perhaps something more.—(Cheers.) Sir R. INGLIS said, when the Hon. and Learned Gentle man asked what was meant by Papal aggression, and when he attempted to throw ridicule upon the proceedings on the part of the people of this country for the last three months, he (Sir R. Inglis) would ask whether, it such proceedings had taken place in any other country in Europe, war would not have been the inevitable result? When the Hon. and Learned Member spoke of Papal aggression as almost beneath contempt, he would ask whether the Hon. and Learned Gentleman did not know, from history, that there was no country in Europe in which such a measure as that which the Pope had now attempted to inflict on England would not have met with universal reprobation? The partition of England by the Wesleyan Methodists admitted of no com parison with that attempted by the Pope. Did the Wes leyan Methodists, or any other religious denomination in this country, seek to usurp authority over the consciences of the people, or any other kind of jurisdiction? The Pope treated England as a country of infidels; as if she had no Crown or Church, but that the people were as heathenish as the natives of Otaheite before the missionaries had Christianized them. He bad, in fact, ignored the existence of both the Crown and the Church of England. Would such an aggres sion have been attempted in Russia? If the Pope had presumed to address such a brief to the inhabitants of that great empire, the Emperor of Russia would have said that every Russian ship in the Black Sea and in the Baltic should have ran to the port of Civita Vecchia, and within three months the Pope would have been compelled to retract every indignity and insult cast against his sove reignty and his people. With respect to the language adopted in the Royal Speech, he considered his Noble Friend's letter of the 4th of November to be the text of that Speech, and, though the text was somewhat diluted by the commentary, yet he believed that the writer of it would be found equal to the language he had himself used.—(Hear.) The amount of Protestant feeling and principle which had lain latent to an extent no one expected had been strongly aroused by the occasion, and he hoped the movement would not terminate with the people themselves, but in the action of the Government. The addresses which had been pre sented expressed something more than attachment to the Throne—they showed the attachment of the nation to the Protestant religion and to the Church Establishment. — (Hear.) The Hon. Member for Sheffield censured the Go vernment for saying too much; but he (Sir R. Inglis) cen sured them for saying too little. He hoped, however, they would not be deterred by any remarks of any Honourable Member from acting up, not only to the letter, but to the spirit, of the Noble Lord's communication to the Bishop of Durham, which had struck such a fire into the very heart of England.—(hear, hear.) From the body to which the Honourable and Learned Gentleman belonged (Mr. Roe buck) one of the most remarkable addresses to the Throne had emanated, and no class of the community, great or small, had refrained from stating their indignation at the attempt cf the Bishop of Rome, and from calling for the protection of the Government. He was surprised the Hon. Seconder (Mr. Pao) had left almost untouched that great question, for no persons could be more interested in it than the Dissenters of England. The Church had protected dis sent—her existence was essential to the religious freedom of the people. He would justify his vote for the Address on the ground that Government were held bound by the letter of the Prime Minister to give the Church that protection to which by law and custom she had been for centuries entitled. The Church was an essential element in the very constitution of England, and whatever weakened the Church, impaired that which, under God's blessing, had been the chief source of the greatness and glory of the country, and so long as that Church should be permitted to remain, so long he be lieved would England g row in all the elements of social grandeur, and continue to afford an example to all thenations in the world.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. J. O'CONNELL was happy that the party with whom he acted were not under the necessity of offering even the semblance of disrespect to the Crown by moving an amend ment to the Address. The Royal Speech claimed their alle giance and the support of the friends of religious liberty, and he would cheerfully respond to bath those claims. He denied that the Hon. Seconder was correct in his inference that prosperity was returning in Ireland. Much had been tobythtehePope a said o nagbotuhtetnheewterritorial ; a l b l our, if n t t h o e f y E l Ig k l a e n d d instru ment appointing the vicars-apostolic in 1840, they would see a precisely similar allotment. The Hon. Baronet said the bPlottp e E n would not . s h a a p v p e o v s i e a n g t u r t e h d a t o nt to that h be a t s t t r e w a a n s y i c t o u n n o t t r3 a , proud boast for England to see she was so free that she did not set restrictions of any kind on religious freedom? Would the Hon. Baronet wish England to follow the example of Russia ? But when the Hon. Baronet made that statement he forgot the case of Ireland seventy years ago, when the Pope made appointments to sees without reference to the civil power; though it was quite true, notwithstanding what English history said, that he always sought the sanc tion of that authority whenever he could obtain it. As to the conduct of the Noble Lord in the matter, he could not add anything to what had fallen from the lion. Member for Sheffield. After the letter he had written, in which he had grossly insulted the faith of his Catholic fellow -countrymen, it was expected that he might have attempted to carry out what he threatened; but, as the Noble Lord had shrunk back, he would but earn the contempt of every friend of civil and religious liberty for the gross, unwarrantable, wanton insult he had offered to the pr ac ti ces o f the religion of a large body of his fellow- subjects. Mr. A. B. HOPE said that no one could feel more in• dignant than he did at the manner in which the heads of the Roman Catholic Church had proceeded in that matter, and at the way in which their organs in the public press had spoken of the extinct see of Canterbury, and had completely ignored the existence of the English Established Church. As a member of that Church, he was ready to fight to the last against such aggression. But they were not assembled in that House as members of the Church of England; they were assembled there solely as representatives of the citizens of England—of a country pre-eminent throughout the world for the intelligence and enlightenment of its inhabitants, and above all for their enunciation of the great doc trine of liberty of conscience. Now he could not help thinking that those who advocated measures of extreme rigour upon that subject took the Tudor and Stuart view of liberty of conscience—a view which would lead to the hurrying of Cardinal Wiseman to the fires of Smithfield, and to the cropping of the ears of the Hon. Gentleman who had seconded the Address. They had in recent times repealed the abominable Test and Corporation Act, and had passed other measures calculated to ensure to the professors of every creed the great right of religious liberty; and it would now he too late for them to adopt the practice of religious intolerance. In the recent, measure, which had been so much denounced, the Roman Catholics had strictly conformed to the very letter of the Emancipation Act of 1829, which allowed their prelates to take their titles from any town or city which did not give its name to a bishop of the Established Church. He believed that the religion which he professed was based on truth, and he did not, there fore, think that its safety could be endangered simply be cause Cardinal Wiseniau had changed his title. He looked upon the speech of the Hon. Baronet the Member for the University of Oxford as a great blow to our Church Estab lishment, and for his part he certainly did not share in the apprehensions which the Hon. Baronet had expressed for the safety of that Establishment. Let them stand on the broad ground of justice, and he should have faith in the Crown of England and in the Church of England. Mm'. ANSATY said that in cnusin ee i n g that question they should bear in mind that a g rea t diff erence ex i s ted between SUN, LONDON, the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland and the Roman ' Ca tholic Church in this country. In Ireland the Roman Ca tholic body enjoyed the advantage of a long-established system of church government, which secured the rights of the laity, and of the minor clergy; while no such system prevailed among the Roman Catholics in England. In this country there had been a continual conflict between the Re man Catholic bishops on the one hand, and the Roman Ca tholic laity and clergy of the second order on the other, the subject of contention being the unseemly and unholy assum thm of an authority on the part of the prelate which would leave their spiritual subjects without the protection of any law, and would free themselves from the restraint of any usage or canon whatever. Petitions had been sent to Rome by Roman Catholic Clergymen and laymen praying for a removal of that anomalous state of things; but by the recent bull the See of Rome had decided the question against them. 1)y the establishment of the proposed hierarchy the whole system of canon laws was expressly repealed, and the Roman Catholic bishops would be armed with irresponsible and unlimited powers. The result of that would be that the new system would become law to the Roman Catholics first, and afterwards to the courts of law in this country. Then they would have the Court of Chancery, under the administration of what was denominated the charity estates, called upon to enforce a Papal bull, by which the vested rights of English subjects would be annihilated. It the whole body of the canon law were repealed, that passage in it which enacted that the donor of a chapel was to be its patron would be done away with ; and the courts of law in this country, if appealed to, should acknowledge the validity of its abrogation. Now, what did the Address do? It recommended that subject to the consideration of Parliament. Atsd surely there could be nothing im proper or unreasonable in such a recommendation. He asked on what ground did the whole course of legislation of mortmain proceed? Was it not on the ground that "undue influence" might have been exercised? Why did they interfere betweon the factory owner and the factory child ;—between the . .master and the young persons he em ployed? On the same grounds they should interfere in this case. They ought to recollect what were the penalties attachable to Roman Catholics for disobedience to spiritual authorities in spiritual matters. They ought not to stop with the barren and idle question of title; but they ought to take into consideration matters of higher and greater ' importance. They ought to deal with things and not with names. He then repeated what he had said on a former oc casion, that it was impossible to have an Archbishop of Westminster without a hierarchy, that was, without clerical election. He thought that it was true; but events had since falsified the opinion he entertained and had expressed in that House, in reply to the Hon. Baronet the Member for Oxford, and he now regretted the deplorable change that had taken place in the political position of the Pope from what it had been in 1848. He believed that it was in the discretion of the Archbishop of Westminster whether he should return to England as archbishop or vicar-apostolic. The Cardinal had preferred the former. It was his opinion that for a Bill to be of use, it must go much farther than that which Ministers seemed to contemplate. If it did so he would vote for it ; if it did not, if it were a mere Bill atfeet ing the titles of Roman Catholic prelates, he would vote against it. He would also vote against any Bill which in connexion with such a subject as this should have relation to Ireland; because that was a country which was in a far different position from England; because it was a country that had never lost its hierarchy, never had accepted its canon law from the Pope or its delegates, but had ever re tained it from the days of St. Patrick. If a division were called for on this occasion he would support the Address. His determination was to offer his opposition to any Roman Catholic amendment. Mr. PLUMPTRE said, that during his public career he had never known, so deep, earnest, and indignant a feeling evolved as that which had been excited by the aggression of the Pope; and he must declare his opinion that this feeling had not been responded to in a sufficiently strong and pointed manner in the Speech from the Throne.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") He would not dwell further on this point, but would wait—as the Protestant people of England would —to see what sort of Bill the Government intended to intro duce. He hoped the Bill would meet the case; but, if it should not do so, he would tell the Noble Lord that the feel ing of the country would display itself with redoubled energy.—(Cheers.) The Noble Lord might depend upon this, that the Protestant people of England felt themselves placed in no ordinary position, and influenced by no ordinary feelings. They felt that their highest and holiest interests were at stake, and that they were determined, by every con stitutional means—in dependence on the aid and blessing of God—to maintain those interests. He called upon the Noble Lord faithfully to discharge his duty as Prime Minister— faithfully to adhere to the declarations made in his letter to the Bishop of Durham ; let him act thus and the country would go with him. it, as was stated, some of the Noble Lord's colleagues were not disposed to co-operate with him in pursuing the course "which be (Mr. Plumptre) recom mended, led him get rid of them.—(Cheers and laughter.) He believed that the country had no wish to get rid of the Noble Lord, but there were one or two of his colieagues whom the country would not be at all indisposed to dispense with.—( Hear, and laughter.) The Earl of ARUNDEL and SURREY said, that like the Hon. Gentleman who had preceded him, he would abstain from entering into any discussion on the important question at issue until the Bill of the Government should be before the House. He, however, was anxious to declare that should any attack—come from what quarter it might—be directed against the liberty of the Roman Catholic Church, he, in his place in Parliament, would—he trusted temperately and constitutionally—oppose it to the best of his power. If any measures of persecution—coming from any quarter — should be carried through the House—for their oppo nents were strong, and the Catholic party weak—he trusted that his co-religionists knew how to suffer with firmness and dignity.—(Cheers.) Mr. FAGAN expressed his surprise at the Honourable and Learned Member (Mr. Anstey) speaking of the English Catholic Church as„,endowed, and contrasting it in that re spect with the Catholic Church in Ireland. It was his be lief that the Catholic Church in Ireland was richer than that in England; but neither was endowed, and, on that ground, Catholics protested against any :state interference with their ecclesiastical regulations.— (Hear, hear.) One reason why the secondary clergy of the Roman Catholic Church had continued so long without the rights which the same class enjoyed in every other country was, that the bishops who presided over them were not bishops in ordi nary; but he understood that the result of the recent re script of the Pope was to make them so, and that it was only because of the great excitement which had existed during the last three months in this country that Archbishop Wise man had not called the bishops together for the purpose of promulgating those laws, the absence of which curtailed the rights of the secondary clergy. The Hon. Member who se conded the Address (Mr. Peto) had advised Roman Catholic Members not to raise any debate upon the question of the so called Papal aggression upon this occasion. He (Mr. Fagan) would have been delighted to follow the advice, had the lion. Member not, at the same time that he gave it, thrown the apple of discord among them by his own remarks (Hear, hear.) He begged to say also that, connecting the Address with the proposition of which notice had been given by the Noble Lord the First Minister of the Crown that evening, he for one regretted that the Roman Catholic Mem bers, and the advocates of religious liberty generally in that House, had not given utterance to a stronger expression of dissent than they had as yet done. He altogethor dissented from the statement in her Majesty's Speech, that the recent assumption of certain ecclesiastical titles" had been conferred by a foreign power." Ther had been conferred by the Pope as spiritual head of the church, not as Sovereign of the Ro man States.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. HUME said that a stranger would be led to suppose from the whole tenor of the discussion up to that moment that the Members were a set of ecclesiastics, met to discuss nothing but ecclesiastical affairs—(Hear, hear)—for no no tice had as yet been taken of any other matter. It appeared to him that the House was not in a position to offer any opi nion 'Ton the measure of which the Noble Lord had given notice; and, if he were to judge from her Majesty's Speech, he should conclude that there was none of that danger to be apprehended which his Hon. and Learned Friend (Mr. Roe buck) had referred to in his very able speech. He begged to say further, that he thought it a most humiliating declara tion for a Protestant to make, that, in spite of the numbers, wealth, and power of the clergy of the Established Church, Protestantism was in danger of being overturned by a rescript of the Pope of Rome.—( Hear.) But, passing from that topic with the simnle additional remark that he could not believe that the Noble Lord whom he had followed for so many years as the advocate of religious liberty would sully his character by introducing a measure which would come under the de scription of persecution, he would call attention to some other paragraphs of the Speech. He regretted to observe 'that more than one-third of the Speech was taken up with matters relating to foreign countries.—(Hear.) The time of the Cabinet seemed to be much more occupied with the affairs of other nations than with the concerns of our own. It would surely be much better if the case were reversed. — (Hear, hear.) He could not concur in the gratification ex pressed by her Majesty respecting the fulfilment of the treaty with Denmark. On the contrary, he saw with deep regret the armed occupation of the free town of Hamburgh l i against the united protest of the inhabitants, and the liber ties of Germany placed under the iron foot of Austria, backed by the power ot Russia, and that, too, with the express con currence of the British Government.—(Hear, hear.) He trusted her Majeaty's Ministers would as speedily as possi ble lay before the House the whole correspondence that had taken place, in order that Members might be enabled to judge of the transaction.—(Hear, hear.) He could net help approving, however, of that paragraph of the Speech which referred to the expected reforms in " the administration of justice in the several departments of law and equity." He considered the expenses entailed upon the country by the Court of Chancery to be more oppressive than the ordinary taxation. The extent of the one we knew; the other was unknown.—( Hear.) He hoped that England would follow the example of the United States, and abolish the Court of Chancery altogether. He also highly approved of the pro posal " for providing for the establishment of a system of registration of deeds and instruments relating to the transfer of property." He regretted, however, that the Speech con tained nothing on the subject of the reduction of taxation. —( Hear, hear.) The country had been led to believe that we were on the verge of receiving relief from some oppres sive taxation ; but he found no hope of it held out, either in the Speech of her Majesty, or in the speeches of the mover and seconder of the Address. He trusted, nevertheless, that be might give the Noble Lord credit for the intention to re duce taxation, as well as to introduce a measure of reform. At a time when the manufacturing classes were well em ployed, although he was sorry he could not say so much for the agricultural classes.—(Hear, hear)—it appeared to him desirable to embrace so favourable an opportunity of con ferring upon that important portion of the community their constitutional rights—(Hear.) He wished to see the Noble Lord redeem the pledge he gave in 1832, to introduce such a measure of reform as would make that House really and es sentially the representatives of the people. Was that the case at present?—(Hear.) There was also the Bible mono poly, which he hoped would be abolished ; for he could not imagine anything more inconsistent than her Majesty ex pressing a hope that the whole peop l e would consult the Bible, and at the same time by royal patent granting a mo nopoly to keep up its price. —(Hear, hear.) He could also have wished to have some assurance front the Government ot a reform in our colonial system.—(Hear, hear.) Its gave the Noble Lord great credit for his able and manly peech respecting the c, donies last session; but was there one of the colonies at present less loud and just in its complaints than before?—(dear.) But, sorry as he was at these and other ()missions, he endeavoured to console himself with the con cluding paragraph of h er Majesty's keech, which he be the pbjse withcts, which she " liilivzeadbewtrials, ua capable ot including- everything he wanted. He wished her Majesty wou ld recollect what was said b y Queen said her Majesty, "are my gu ard. I look to them for sup port." Let her Majesty disband he r useless and unnecessar y hen to she repel va the s a S s p k a e n d is w h h A e r r m e w ad e a r . e armies, and trust more than she did to her people, and she would find her reward accordingly.—( Rear, hear.) Colonel SIBTHORP could not help attributing the recent Papal aggression to the conduct of the Noble Lord the First Minister of the Crown, and those who, he might say, were under his command—such as Lord Minto, Lord Clarendon, &C., who had given every encouragement in their power to the Pope to take the step he had done. He regretted that her Majesty's Speech contained nothing more than the ex pression of a" hope" with reference to the depressed state of agriculture. He had lately come from a most important WEDNESDAY EVENING, county; and what did the House think were the feelings, opinions, and sufferings of the owners and occupiers, as well as of the ill-paid labourers who tilled the soil in that quarter? If her Majesty's Ministers were to make inquiries in the great city which he had recently quitted they would learn something of the opinions entertained with respect to free trade, and something also of its effects. Then, there was this new house of glass in Hype-park; that and the Exhi bition for the purposes of which it had been erected were to be the greatest and most enduring monuments—at least in the opinion of its promoters—of the success of free trade. They might call it success, but he called it failure. He did not wish to see that building destroyed by ary acts of violence, but would to God that some hailstorm or some visitation of lightning might descend to defeat the ill-advised project. If, however, the proposed Exhibition should go forward, and multitudes of foreigners were to fill our streets, then be should say to the people of this metropolis—take care among thieves and pickpockets and whoremongers—take care of your wives and daughters—take care of your lives and property. It migh be a curious matter to ascertain how much money had already been fooled away upon this under taking. He had observed, that already notices of important motions had been given besides that of the Noble Lord at the head of the Government; but from the proposition of the Noble Lord he anticipated very little good. There could he no doubt that his policy would get the country into difficulties, and even under its most favourable aspect it would present only the appearance of advantage; it would be a mere flash in the pan. Although those who kept the Noble Lord in office were sorry to see him play ing the part of ➢linister of a great country, yet they seemed not prepared at the present moment to replace him; but the change most desired by the country would be such a change as would remove the Noble Lord from the Treasury bench ; but the Noble Lord ro doubt would endeavour to bold his place by succumbirg to a party which he could not resist. Of the Speech from the Throne he should say no more, for though he enter tained for the Sovereign the profoundest veneration, yet his feelings as to Ministers were those of the mostcontemptuous kind. ➢ir. G. C. G. F. BERKELEY rose to call tte attention of the House to that paragraph in the Speech from the Throne in which reference was made to th's " recent assumption of certain ecclesiastical titles conferred by a forign Power." This appeared to him to be the chief subject under discus sion, yet he felt indisposed just then to proceed further with that discussion, more especially when he recollected that in the next paragraph her Majesty was advised to say, " It will be for you to consider the measure which will be laid before you on this subject." Until that measurs came fairly and fully before the House, he thought it best to abstain from saying much on the subject. But he should vigilantly attend to the progress of the whole of that measure, aid he trusted that he should watch it in the spirit of a true Protestant. At the same time he had no wish that the principles of civil and religious liberty should be in any manner afected by it. But, passing by those topics, he should now come to a part of the Speech which was by no means the least important; it was that in which her Majesty was advised to say that " the state of commerce an t manufactures Was such as to afford general employment to the labouring classes." If by that it were meant to convey an impression thtt the agricul tural labourers of this country were fully employed, he begged to dissent from it altogether. He could say that in several counties of England there existed among the agricul tural classes very great distress. But in addition to the words of the Speech, they had been congrattlated by the seconder of the Address upon the prosperity of trade and of agriculture. Now, he had in his possession t letter from a high authority in Suffolk which left no doubt that there was little ground for congratulation. He regretted to observe that in the Speech from the Throne there was n) reference to the condition of the tenant farmers or to the injustice inflicted on them and on other persons similarlycircumstanced by the present apportionment of the income-tax. That was a subject which appeared to demand immediate attention. There remained one other topic which he coulc not sit down without noticing, although it had been already well handled by an Hon. Member near him—he meant the present situa tion of our colonies. There was no class of her Majesty's subjects who were suffering more severely or more patiently, than the colonists, unless it be the agriculturists, and he pro posed shortly to submit to the House one or two motions on those subjects. Mr. GRATTAN observed, that the seconder Df the Address had congraticulated the House on'the general prosperity of agriculture and manufactures. Now, in a part of Ireland with which he was acquainted, and which might be said to possess some manufactures, the only sign of prosperity which he could observe was the erection of one tall chimney, 150 feet in height, the sole effect of which would beto vitiate the atmosphere. The people of Ireland were (pitting their homes by hundreds of thousands, and in many parts of the country pauperism was increasing in as great a propor tion as he knew it to be from personal knowledge in the union of Celbridge, where the numbers had increased from 1,500 to 2,400. It was well known to the people of Ireland, as well as to the whole of the United Kingdom, that the Queen did all that could be done by the Sovereign for the improvement of Ireland; but the gracious benignity of the Monarch was rendered of little avail by the ill-judged mea sures of Ministers, in which measures, as every one could see, the true interests of Ireland were not consulted. The Hon. Member proceeded to contrast the social comfort en joyed before the recent outburst of feeling with the heart burnings and illwill which it had engendered, and declared that if he were a young man, he would rather go to America and become a citizen of the United States than continue to be insulted, as a Catholic, by such letters as those of Lord J. Russell. He should move to scratch out the words " United Kingdom" in the Bill to be brought in by the Noble L ord, and to substitute the words " England and Scotland." He hoped there would be found to be spirit and secee enough in that House, when it was seen how gross a delusion was attempted to be practised upon the country, to support and save from outrage the sentiment of civil and religious liberty. Mr. BANKES said that before the'debateiwas brought to a conclusion there were some passages in her Majesty's Speech which the representatives of the agricultural interest must think it their duty to offer a few remarks upon. It was to be expected that the question of Papal aggression would take the lead in the deliberations of Parliament, and he for one did not blame Lord J. Russell for having brought forward the subject thus prominently, and for declaring it a proper matter for early legislation. This was not a question as be tween Roman Catholics and Protestants, because some of the most eminent members of the former persuasion, such as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Deaumont, had taken the same view as he (Mr. Bankes) held, and he bad lately had the gratification of hearing another Roman Catholic noble man espouse with great eloquence the same side of the ques tion. So that if the measure proposed by the Noble Lord at the head of the Government should take the character of an ex post facto law, he should not be deterred from supporting it by regarding it as a matter in which Protestants were ar rayed against Roman Catholics, because even in Ireland many persons might be found who were acting honourably and con scientiously with the Noble Lord. Her Majesty, for the second time in two successive years, had been advised to notice the agricultural interest as still distressed and as still deserving (as be understood it) of the earnest attention of the Govern ment. In the Queen's Speech of last year her Majesty de clared she had heard with regret the complaints of the agri cultural portion of her subjects. It was thought by some that the advice was not good or kind which had recom mended her Majesty to speak of undoubted distress in these terms; but he gave her Ministers credit for believing that this distress was only of a temporary character. Yet, when after a lapse of 12 months, Parliament again listened to a Royal Speech in which the existence of agricultural distress was adverted to, although it was not mentioned in quite such contemptuous terms, yet it was still spoken of as temporary, and as not likely to be of long endurance. Let the Noble Lord ask himself whether, when the agricul tural interest was commencing another year with difficulties still, he could be content to sit in the seat he occupied, and put off that interest with no better assurance than his hopes founded upon the condition of other classes of the com munity? No doubt the prosperity of other classes was very intimately connected with the prosperity of this; but that connexion was not of the same intimate character that it was when, under the influence of laws now abrogated, it was the inevitable consequence of the prosperity of other classes that the agricultural interest s h ou ld fl our i s h also. The prosperity of the manufacturing classes would operate upon those who supplied them with food ; and the case was al tered now if that food was to be drawn from foreign parts. —(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord must not complain of this subject being intruded upon him when he had himself intro duced it again after the lapse of 12 months, in which all the prophecies had fai ed on which he asked the agricultural in terest to rely.—(Hear.) Did the Government think it be coming to wait another twelve months to see whether the "difficulties" now acknwledged would become distresses; and if they should, to wait another twelve months to see whether the distresses would become utter ruin ?—(Hear.) The harvest had been unequal ; in the county he represented (Dorset) in some parts there were many able-bodied men in the workhouse, but happily it was not so in the greater por tion of the county. But we ought not to wait till utter ruin came. The agricultural interest were desponding and alarmed, and there was nothing in the Speech to lessen that feeling. There was not, he was satisfied, a warmer friend to them than the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell); would that he were in a position to give them a fixed duty ! But we had a surplus revenue to deal with, and one class admitted to be suffering; let it be given to that class, and perhaps we might be a uniformly happy nation.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord had an opportunity of saying what were the remedies he proposed for that class; and as the faithful guardian, in inclination, of that class as of every other,there were no hands from which a remedy would be more gratefully re ceived.—(Hear, hear.) Lord JOHN RUSSELL then rose and said—l am rejoiced to find that we are not likely to have a division upon the question of the Address, and that that Address is likely to be o i without any amendment being pro. P passed by the House , i f not unanimously, at least with very general however, endeav our to ad cl ° e s s e s d y l He consent,fa t ics which h ave b een t ouc h e d by gentlemen who have s p oke n , taking, for convenience, rather the order in. wh ich the topics are mentioned in the Queen's Speech than t he order in which they may have been r (s posed.—(Hear, rohear.) the a ena various r t u Il will,u p spoken to. My Hon. Friend (Mr. Hume) began with rather a strange complaint, that it had been thought necessary to advise her Majesty to make so much reference to foreign af fairs. With respect to the principal topic there mentioned, it cannot be unknown to the House that the hostilities between Denmark and Germany which were for some time carried on in Schleswig, were of the greatest importance, not only as threat ening danger to the peace of Europe, but also as interfering materially with the commerce of this country.—(Hear.) It cannot be matter of indiff erence to ray Ron. Friend to learn that those differences which have subsisted are in a fair course of adjustment, and that at least the da nger o f hostili ties which so long hung over us is likely to be removed.— (Hear, hear.) I cannot but rejoice myself that such should be the case; and I hope that the endeavours which were made by my Noble Friend near me (Lord Palmerston, we presume) to persuade the contending parties the one not to prolong hostilities, and the other to adopt the tone and measures of conciliation, have not been fruitless. —( Hear, hear.) But my Hon. Friend immediately went on to say that lie thought this country ought not to have permitted Austria to take certain measures which she had taken, and to occupy Hamburgh with her troops to act in a manner con trary to the freedom of Europe. Why, really that complaint is most inconsistent with the former..( Hear.) --ear. / if we had yielded to the former, no mention would have been made of Mreign politics; but, if we bad yielded to the latter, we should have been now engaged in a war with some of the principal powers of Europe.—(Hear, hear. )' Our course has not agreed with either of those views. We have used our in fluence where we thought it might tend to the peace of Eu rope; and, in other cases, however important they were to the general interests of Germany, we have not thought it our duty to interfere in any wa y, but, at the same time, we can not but think that the settlement of those affairs, and the maintenance of a great power in the centre of Europe acting in harmony, is of the utmost importance—( Hear) and we do hope that, while that great power maintains its strength, the separate branches of that great empire, the various states which form that greet confederation, may find not only those constitutions maintained which they have held now for a long period of years but that those constitutions may be made still more favcurable to liberty. —(Year.) Such ia our wish—such is our prayer for the welfare of Germany; but we do not consider ourselves bound to interfere in the con cerns of 40,000,000 of people to carry out that object. (Hear.) The next topic to which I shall advert is that to which the Hon. Gentleman who has just sat down has spoken ; but, though I agree in the sympathy which he ex- pressed, and advised her Majesty to use the expressions to which he has adverted, I am afraid I must widely differ from the conclusions to which he has come. I hold so far in common with him, but lam afraid it is but a little way. I shoald have wished that the transition with respect to the corn-laws, from an extremely rigorous and exclusive system to one of complete freedom of import, had been less abruptly made. I believe myself, that if in 1840 or 1841 this House bad adopted either the measure that I proposed then, or a measure similar to that which was adopted in 1846, either of those measures continuing for some years would have prepared the agricultural interest for that complete freedom of trade which now subsists; and I certainly feel for any difficulties or distresses of the agricultural in terest, not only as it must always be one of the main sources of the prosperity or adversity of this country, but likewise as being of peculiar interest to me from my connexion with the landed interest of the country. (So we understood the Noble Lord ; but he spoke occasionally in a low tone, and could not be distinctly heard.) But, while I say thus much, I cannot think—l should be deceiving the Hon. and Learnd Gentleman if I were to say that I think—the adoption of a fixed duty in 1840 or 1841 would have been the foundation of a system of permanent duties against the admission of corn. I believe the progress of opinion, the increase of the commercial and manufacturing classes, would have led, per haps before this time, to some such law as we now possess.— (Hear, hear.) But, be that as it may, my opinion, de cidedly is, that with respect to corn you have adopted a system which is consonant to the great interests of the country, and, let me add, to the political and moral tranquillity of the country.—(Hear, hear.) I believe that if, instead of pro posing in 1846 the abrogation of the corn-law, the Govern ment of that day had endeavoured to maintain it to the last, they would have failed in their object ; that whatever ad vantage the agricultural interest might be supposed to derive from the system which then prevailed they would have failed to retain, but that in losing it they would likewise have lost to the Government and the Parliament of this country a great portion of the affections of the nation— ( Hear. hear)—and there would not have been only a loss to the agricultural interest of the corn-laws, but a loss to the authorities of this country of much of that respect and re gard which they ought to prize.—(Hear.) I therefore cannot think that we adopted a plan at variance with the interests of the country.— (Hear, hear.) I have never pretended to say -- though others may have thought they had reason suf ficient, I certainly never thought I had to say—that a particular price would prevail in a particular time. There always seemed to me too many circumstances, too many elements to enter into that question of price, for anybody to perceive, certainly for some years to come, what the par ticular price of any article would be. I have never founded myself, therefore, upon any ;other consideration than this— that if there is a great manufacturing population, a great commercial population, in a very thriving condition, and a population accustomed to consume great quantities of food, and if they can obtain it, more especially meat, and the more costly articles of food, they who are close at hand, cul tivating the soil as the next neighbours, and in the immediate vicinity of those who make this demand, cannot fail ultimately to prosper from the continuance of that demand.—(Hear, hear.) I cannot think that the agri cultural interest is totally to depend, as I think the corn-laws induced them to suppose, upon the immediate price of wheat in a particular month or year. It may be, perhaps, that the continuance of this law induced the far mers of this country and the owners of land, especially in particular parts of it, to look too much to the wheat crop as the source of their remuneration. Great changes of laws cannot fail to be accompanied with changes of habits and manners, and there will be a corresponding adaptation of soil to circumstances. No doubt great changes will take place with respect to agriculture. But, as my Honourable Friend (Mr. Peto) showed, with a large population you have obtained much increased demand for meat, so that you find, I think in Glasgow, some 30,000 more oxen sent to the market in one year than there were a year or two before; and that as a sample will show, I think, that agricultural productions must be in increased demand, if you can, by your laws, or rather by the abolition of laws of prohibition and monopoly, obtain a satisfactory and pros perous condition of the manufacturing and commercial inte rests.—(Hear.) The Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Bankes) talks of this being the second year in which the difficulties of the landed interest have been mentioned. If lam not mistaken, in 1836 and again in 1837 there was a price as low as that which has lately prevailed, and I think on both those occa sions mention was made in the Speech, or immediately after wards, of the distress of the agricultural interest. Therefore I cannot believe that any law you can pass, any such mea sure as the Hon. Gentleman hinted at, would secure the agri culturists from occasional prices too low for remuneration. I need hardly allude to circumstances which at the present time will influence prices. It has always happened that when there has been a great dearth of any article, when you have high prices, those high prices have been followed by very increased production, and that increased production again brings cheapness, cheapness brings increased demand, and then you have high prices again. Now we all know that in 1847 we were suffering in this country, and France was likewise suffering, from the very high price of food; we all know that then, although we were not blessed with a good and equal harvest in this country, in France it was re markably propitious, and there is nothing I hear of more than the accounts of the French wheat and flour reaching this country, and the complaints of the French farmers that, notwithstanding their protective system, there is a state of unexampled depression. Bat the system we have adopted must be considered as a whole ; it must be considered as affecting very many articles of manufacture and many arti cles of agriculture ; and Parliament must be prepared to de cide, if the question should be brought before them, whether this system is founded on; sound principle or not.—( Hear.) Some quarter of a century ago, when Mr. Huskisson, was introducing practically, and therefore somewhat timidly, changes with respect to the duties on certain articles, he took the article of gloves. For a long while nothing was more frequent in this House than complaints that the manu facturers of gloves could not make them so good or cheap as the French manufacturers ; that they must go to ruin ; and we were implored to wear bad and dear gloves in order to maintain the manufacturers of Yeovil and other places. Mr. Huskisson persisted; and the arguments of the glove interest were not so powerful as to induce the House to de part from its resolution. What do you hear, after the lapse of some thirty-five years? I hear, from trustworthy sources, that the glove manufacture never was so flourishing as it is now at Yeovil—( Hear, hear)—that for eight or ten miles round the labourers and their familial are asked to take em ployment in the glove trade ; and those gloves, which we were told could not be made so cheap or good as by the French makers, are now exported to France, where they meet a ready sale.—( Hear, hear.) I certainly cannot hold out to the Hon. and Learned Gentleman any expectation that a fixed duty will be established on the proposition either of this or of any other Government. Putting aside any pre judices that may be supposed to attach to the present Go vernment, I believe that any members of a Government sitting on these benches would, when they came to investi gate the question—to inquire what was the opinion and dis position of the people—shrink from imposing any duty on the importation of grain.—(llear, hear.) I don't believe a ss. duty would be valued by the farmers who still cling to protection in any other way than as a symptom of return to the system of protection, and as an indication that a larger duty or sliding scale would hereafter be imposed.—( Hear, hear.) But that expectation on the part of the friends of protection would alarm all those who value the measures now in operation.—(Hear, hear.) Every account I hear shows that in the agricultural districts, as well as in the ma nufacturing, the great mass of the labouring people never had such a command of the necessaries of life as they have at this moment.—(Cheers.) The number of loaves they could obtain, though there may have been a change of wages, is increased Such was the general state of the labouring population. There were exceptions in certain counties— where wages may have diminished in a greater proportion; but I believe that, along with the power of obtaining a greater quantity of bread, they have a greater remainder of wages with which to purchase sugar at a diminished price, and various other articles which they could not obtain before. —( Hear, hear.) Many labouring families have fresh meat that for years had scarcely seen fresh meat. Let the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, then, consider what a Govern ment would have to do who said to the mass of the people, " You are now in the possession of more of the necessaries and comforts of life than you ever had be fore ; but the system is entirely wrong, and you must revert to the system under which the cost of your provisions will be greater."—(Cheers.) I believe that a great proportion of those who are favourable to protection, though they may think that system a wise one for the country, have come to the conclusion that it would not be wise for any Government to attempt to revert to that system. I pass now to another question, on which a great part of this debate has turned, and on which there has been much discussion and excite ment in the country for the last three months. In doing so, I must of course refer to the opinion of the Hon. and Learned Member for Sheffield (Mr. Roebuck), who began the debate, and who blamed the Government, and me more especially, for the part I have taken. The Hon. and Learned Gentle man said he approached this question with great pain • and assured the House that he did not merely use the word, but really felt great pain. Allow me to suggest to the Ho nourable and Learned Gentleman that his pain would be diminished if he would not fall into that way of supposing that some mean motives have always actuated parties and the leaders of parties; and, that although they may deer in opinion, they may have somewhat higher motives than he would ascribe to them.—(Hear, hear.) From his language it would appear that no other than those very low motives have actuated public men, and that of one party or another they have been influenced by some jealousy or hope of acquiring popularity. According to his state ment, it would appear that when Sir Robert Peel proposed to release Roman Catholics from the disabilities under which they laboured, great jealousy was felt on the part of the Op position. This is a quite gratuitous assumption on the part of the Hon. and Learned Member. We gave the utmost support to that eminent stateman, who was then taking a course we thought greatly for the benefit of the country, and he expressed a grateful sense of the support we gave him. We did not take credit for any heroic virtue. We wished the welfare of the country, and were glad to see the measure proposed. With respect to the letter I wrote to the Bishop of Durham, it was not to make political capital that I wrote it, but because I entertained the sentiments I then expressed.—(Cheers.) Whether rightly or wrongly, I could not refrain from giving expression to them, or giving publicity to those expressions. (Hear, hear.) Perhaps the Honourable and Learned Gentleman may in future save himself the trouble which attends that pain, if he will take rather a more charitable view of the conduct of others, and refrain from exposing himself to the reproach conveyed in an observation made by the great Prince of Conde, when he was reading some pamphlets written against him at the instigation of Cardinal de Retz —" These gentlemen make us act just as they would act if they were in our places."—(Cheers and laughter.) With respect to the question which has occupied public attention for the last three months in a very large degree, I cannot take the view of the lion. and Learned Member for Sheffield. Ido not doubt that he is sincere in saying that the case is one of a mere use of titles, that it is a matter of perfect indifference, and might have been left alone. On the contrary, I think that, whatever may be the opinion of Roman Catholics in different countries, the Court of Rome, properly distinguished from the Church of Rome, is for ever wishing opportunities of making aggression,— (Hear, hear,) —and not upon the spiritual consciences, but on the temporal interests of the kingdoms with which they have concern. — (Hear.) Souse of the greatest friends of liberty, Sir John Eliot, front whom the Earl of St. Germans is descended, Pym, Hampden, Lord Somers, John Locke—all these_maeani friends of liberty as they were, had great distrust of Papal assumption and Papal aggression. What was the c i o a n r d e i p ti P r o e n . of the Roman Catholics in this country? f What sented as if we Protestants, and I among tjofouritteimano.st, had all of a sudden teen seized with a rage for is the case? In 1791 Roman Catholic.s. In 1829 they plete freedom in the exercise of their_T zt e r hFi tn o ,!Peentr-e.Beaellowed corn a slit and hold all obtained complete freedom to sit jn in i g laws all f O av n o v u n r - - civil employments, with some trill rious occasions alterations were made With respect to the privileges in o e o 2 u ' r ee l P a t w i? able to the Roman Catholics• granted in 1829- this Government at least cannot be blamed whether in the Queens house hold,Catholics; for by the Roman . •itrat . ion, or on the bench of jus or in the civil a dministration, or jus tice, the talent , g (3121U1 " at 911.C4 hake been Ackum. FEBRUARY 5, 1851. ledged, and they have been admitted as fully as any Pro testants holding the opinions of the Established Church to the employments of the State. I will only take in illustra tion the fact, that of three chiefs of the courts of law in Ireland, two are Roman Catholics. We have been blamed rather for giving to Roman Catholic prelates titles to which au Honourable Gentleman has said he thinks them not entitled. An instance was quoted by the Honourable Mem ber for Sheffield, of which till lately I did not know the his tory—namely, that in the Chamberlain's department it was settled that the Roman Catholic Primate and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin should have the entrée to the Castle. That was the act of a subordinate. An announce ment was inserted hastily in the Gazette; but the proceeding was unusual. What I am arguing is, that there really was no reason on the part of Roman Catholics to complain in re gard to the free exercise of their religion, or their admission to civil privileges. It was in the midst of the occurrences to which I have alluded, that having had vicars-apostolic in this country for three hundred years, and nothing but these during the reign of James 11., when every one of the principal councillors of the king was a Roman Catholic, it pleased the Court of Rome to direct that this country should be divided into bishoprics, with an archbishopric; and the chief person who was made an archbishop—and Archbishop of Westminster, of all places—(Cheers)—immediately pro claimed to the people of this country, " We govern and shall continue to govern as ordinary thereof, the counties of Mid dlesex, Essex, and Hertford." Was this merely for bodies of Roman Catholics ? It appears to me that the whole pur port of the words is a pretension to rule this country, and put all its parts under the sole sway of these bishops.— (Hear, hear.) I might be mistaken in that ; but there was a person of great eminence in learning and talents whom we all have to deplore as having left the Pro- Protestant Church for the Roman Cotholic—l mean Mr. Newman. Mr. Newman said that there scarcely had been a single instance of a country which had renounced the Church of Rome returning to communion with it, but he was happy to see that an example had occurred in Eng land. Ile said the English people were now returning to obedience to the Holy See.—(Hear, hear.) If the Queen came down to Parliament as Queeni Mary did, and said the time was come when the nation should return to obedience to the See of Rome, and the Houses of Lords and Commons had conferred with her Majesty and passed an Act to that effect, there could hardly be a de claration going further than that to which I have alluded. The usual organs in this country and in France of the Roman Catholics—not the Roman Catholic party, but the Ultramontane Roman Catholics—maintained that this was an act of great significance, that it did not only mean that the archbishop and the 12 bishops were to be created, but that they were to take the places of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and all the prelates of the Church of England.—(Hear, hear.) It did appear to me that we could not pass over in silence such an assumption. —(Hear, hear.) I ask the Hon. and Learned Member for Sheffield, if it had been passed over in silence by the people of England, does he not think we should have had some step following up what bad been done ? I believe that the opi nion which has been given so generally (nearly AO universally) in England, on the part of the Church of .gland and the great majority of Protestant Dissenters, will have convinced not only the Roman Catholics in England, who, I really believe, wished no such steps taken, but will also con vince the Court of Rome that this country of England is really not a Roman Catholic but a Protestant country, and that the great body of the people are Protestant.—(Cheers.) If this be the case, and such the effect of the addresses and resolutions which have been passed, by that national decla ration of itself, we shall have saved ourselves from many at tempts on the part of the Pope of Rome to interfere in our affairs.—(Hear, hear.) I believe the Roman Catholics did not generally wish this measure. Looking front the Papal document I find the vicars-apostolic wished to he bishops with titles of sees in this country, and that certain advan tages and privileges which do not belong to vicars-apostolic would have belonged to them if they could establish them selves as bishops of such sees. A very good reason why vicars-apostolic should wish to claim those titles; but, ge nerally speaking, I believe the lay Roman Catholics of this country—though when the measure was taken they could hardly repudiate it—neither wished it nor approved of it .at present.—(Hear.) I am assured by Roman Catholics and Roman Catholic priests, that such is their feeling, and I believe we shall now be placed in the position, at all events, in which we can take measures which shall not only be sa tisfactory to Protestants, but satisfactory to loyal Roman Catholics who wish to preserve their allegiance to the Crown unimpeached and unimpaired, and who dread the prevalence of those Ultramontane doctrines which, in every country of Europe, have proved formidable to every Roman Catholic who had a regard for freedom of opinion.—( Loud cheers.) Such, then, is the cause, as I think, of the strong indig nation excited in this country, and such the present opinion of Protestants as well as Roman Catholics. This Hon. Member for Kent has informed me that, in dealink with this subject, I should beware of the very strong sentiment entertained upon it, and that I should not fall short of the expectationo of the people. Now, I may say that I shall propose a measure as strong as my own convictions shall lead me to propose, and not more so. I cannot yield to any one on that point. I shall not take any part which I think is wrong, nor shall I introduce measures that I think go beyond the occasion, or which will in any way trench on that which I think due to the religious liberty of all classes of her Majesty's subjects.—(Hear, hear.) My belief is that the authority of Parliament will be suffi cient to make those provisions that are nec,essary to the settlement of this question, and that the voice which has been uttered in no uncertain manner from the people of this country will tend to the maintenance of har mony among the different classes of the community ; but I cannot attempt to go beyond that point which the occasion seems to require. —(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member for Limerick said I had grossly insulted the faith of my Roman Catholic fellow-subjects, I beg to deny that I have ever insulted the Roman Catholics. I made sorra', ob servations I thought justified with respect to a party in the Church to which I belong.—(Cheers.) I do not think, whether those observations were right or wrong, that I am to be precluded from making any remarks I think just with respect to a part of my own Church because Roman Catholics may say those observations are applicable to them. (Hear, hear.) It is for them to decide whether they think those ob servations are applicable. It is sufficient for me to say that I applied them to those that belong to my own Church, and that I did so not in words stronger than the bishop of the diocese in which I reside.—( Hear, hear.) In respect to this whole matter I shall on Friday state what is the present state of the question, and what is the remedy I shall have the honour to propose. I may state that it will be a mea sure extending to the whole of the United Kingdom. — (Cheers.) I know there have been some rumours that this was not intended, but there never has been any variation of intention on the subject.—(Hear.) It was always intended to make the measure apply to the whole of theUnitedKingdow. Ido not think it necessary now to enter upon the subject. I do trust that in the future course of our legislation, as well as in the past course of our legislation, we may be able to maintain those principles of religious liberty that are so happily established among us; and I believe that if there is anything by which we can have displeased Rome it is that very fact of the civil and religious liberty of this country.—(Cheers - ) It is that of which they disapprove — it is that which they most loathe and abhor.—(Hear, hear.) I confess I was at a loss why, in the position of the Roman Catholics in this country, the Court of Rome should have taken this course. I should be the last person to attribute it to any personal ill will on the part of the Pope towards this country. When I was speaking last year of the revolution by which his government was overthrown, I lamented that a man of so benevolent intentions should have had the afflic tion of seeing his Minister assassinated as he was going to the council, and that he himself should have been obliged to leave the seat of government. I really had compassion for him, and I do not believe he entertains any illwill to this country. But that which I had been unable to understand is somewhat solved by a letter addressed to me by a person fully calculated to speak on this subject, I mean Lord Shrewsbury.—(Hear, hear.) He states that there is a party at Rome who are the enemies of England, and that party is prevalent at the Court of Rome. if that is the case, and Lord Shrewsbury is a good evidence of the fact, it goes far to explain the measure that has been taken.—(Hear ) I trust better councils will prevail ; but, whatever may be the case in that respect, and however much we may have reason to complain of the conduct which has been followed at Rome— although we might think it right to state that we have been wronged in this matter, I do not think it would be desirable for the Ministers of this country to endeavour to make any treaty of the nature of a concordat with Rome.—(Cheers.) I am persuaded that we have sufficient means within our selves by oar own ability, by our own customs and habits of discussion, and by the authority of our own Parliament, to provide against the dangers of any aggression or any assumption which may be attempted.—(Cheers.) Sir, after all, as I have stated in the letter which has been so much objected to, what I look with confidence and reliance to is, the freedom of this country and our civil and religious liberties. To that cause and to those principles the people of this country are deeply attached, and so long as they are so I have confidence in their being proof against the aggressions of any foreign powers, or the assumptions of any spiritual j urisd iction. —( Loud cheers.) Mr. DISRAELI, lest his silence should be construed into acquiescence in the views taken by the Noble Lord, felt it his duty to address a few observations to the House. Like the Noble Lord, he would address himself to the principal topics of the Speech. He thought the Government was fully au thorised in calling upon the House to congratulate the Crown on the operations in Germany—not merely because peace had been maintained and our commerce benefited, but be cause we were bound by treaty to interfere in the affairs of Denmark, and, by so doing, had probably prevented conse quences of a very dangerous character. When the Noble Lord admitted the extreme difficulties under which the agri cultural body were labouring, he seemed to be offering almost an apology to the House for not proposing that fixed duty which his Hon. Friend near him had somewhat unexpectedly introduced into the discussion. But, while the Noble Lord deplored the distress, he (Mr. Disraeli) was astonished that it bad not occurred to him nor his colleagues to make in quiry how it was that a body of men, distinguished by so much industry, energy, and enterprise as the British farmer, should be experiencing this constant and continuous depres sion while other classes were prosperous and flourishing.— ( Hear, hear.) There must be some deep cause in the system of this country to produce such exceptional and particular results. The Noble Lord should remember that in England we had a financial system that was built up on the energy and resources of one class of the community in particular , and and that that class permitted its energies and resources to taxed because it was thought fit by an artificial.syastveragoe. legislation to secure to it a market with a came, that that system of finance, when the advaptages that had oc return ; and he wondered it did not occur to the .iloerelewLiothrd drawn, must have occasioned the depression llet ap i h n s iste in r eras authorised year h a ea ft r e . r ) y H ea e r di ta d a toi o n t aa th t ink pa a v n agr y ropase ag r agricultural depression, an inquiry into the Queen's Speech with reference when he was not prepared s ;P w an evil of an causes of of that depression. it sr would bo o mers the duty of the r p r : u i es c . e edual o ty f , urai penal importance then . such paragraphs, but to confine could not isfaTtdeulation,hs o t n the t y he he g h e e n v e e r d al ti p ie r y osperity of uvin ss eir :s ‘‘ no a t placing the question on the t G h o e v n e u r e n i T e e s nt ta n c o o t alpg t ass o r (11 " a r Wi c i e whatever. What he intended next W al l e y to ask the House to consider the position of the rteheamcdoyun_try, and nterest with reference to the whole of our systeml of tax ation, to inquire wh e th er t h ey b ad not gradu ally established in this country a sy s t em , fi sca l an d other• w i se , which had raised an immense revenue, mainly from the energies and resources of one class of the productive popula tion; whether that class had not been able to endure that burden, because by artificial means they bad been supported in the struggle; whether they had not rashly, precipitately, and without due consideration and preparation, destroyed that artificial system, and left the artificial burdens (Hear, hear.) He was not then speaking of local bur -1 dens only ; he should view the question in its complete and comprehensive aspect, and if he did not succeed in dis covering what was the cause of that mysterious and con tinued depression of agricultural industry which was ad mitted to exist, and if he did not indicate the remedies which were the natural results of that investigation which he proposed to make, remedies demanded by justice, and counselled by policy, then he would never again attempt to support the interest to which he was indebted for the seat rhich he held in that Ilvtise.—(llear, hear.) it WM on that point that he had mainly risen; bat he would, with the permission of the House, make one observation upon that interesting subject with which the Noble Lord bad closed. The Noble Lord had made that night what he (Mr. Disraeli) would, though not in vulgar language, call an apology for that letter, a copy of which he and almost every Member, no doubt, possessed. He (Mr. Disraeli) con fessed that the observations of the Noble Lord did not seem entirely consistent with what had transpired. That letter he (Mr. Disraeli) considered as the manifesto of the Cabinet.—( Hear, hear.) He took the paragraph in the Queen's Speech in connexion with this letter ; and b e looked upon it as the manifesto—the matured manifesto—of the Ca binet. He could not do otherwise, because he felt convinced that no individual occupying the most eminent position in this country could, in a moment Of levity, sign his name to a document of such surpassing interest, and of such awful responsibility. The Noble Lord was of coarse per fectly acquainted with the feelings and opinions of all his colleagues upon this great subject, even if they were not at his elbow when he signed his name to the letter. He (Mr. Disraeli) said" this great subject," because he could not bring himself, he would not say to believe, but to compre hend that the appointment of Dr. Wiseman to a pseudo or titular archbishopric of England could have p ro d uce d t h e convulsion which that letter occasioned. He said th at be cause he remembered that not at a very remote p er i o d t h e Noble Lord gratuitously and uncalled for informed Parlia ment that he, for the life of him, saw no reason w h y a Roman Catholic priest should not be called by an episcopal title taken from any city or town in the kingdom. That, of course, was a matured opinion. He could not imagine that the Noble Lord would have made a haphazard statement upon such a topic without the subject having previously en gaged a long, full, and matured consideration. That opinion was declared two years ago; he (Mr. Disraeli) could not, therefore, bring himself to contemplate how the appoint ment of Dr. Wiseman to a titular archbishopric could have been the sole cause for that letter. The letter stated that the late aggression of the Pope was insolent and insidious. Now, he (Mr. Disraeli) was bound to state, as he had stated elsewhere, that he did not think the aggression of the Pope was at any rate insidious. He thought it was a frank ag gression— frank almost to indiscretion.—(Laughter.) He never knew a proceeding more free from any appearance of subtlety or covin. Every step which the Pope took was daily expected. He (Mr. Disraeli) did not, therefore, think it was either insolent or insidious for the Pope to do that which the First Minister of the Crown had only a little while before said he saw no harm in the Pope's doing. When the Noble Lord wrote that letter, he (Mr. Disraeli) thought that the Noble Lord meant a great deal more, and meant to do a great deal more, than merely prevent Dr. Wiseman from being called Archbishop of Westminster. For this was the tone and these were the terms in which the Noble Lord described what had occurred or was occurring in this country through the agency of the Court of Rome:— " There is an assumption of power in all the documents which have come from Rome, a pretension to supremacy of the realm of England, and a claim to sole and undivided sway, which is inconsistent with the Queen's supremacy, with the rights of our bishops and def'', and with the spiritual independence of the nation . " That was a great subject to deal with; and he (Mr. Disraeli) did not believe that when the Noble Lord had to deal with any thing so important as that he was merely thinking of a Ro man Catholic priest, who in England did that which Roman Catholic priests were daily doing in Ireland with the consent and with the honours paid to them by the Government of the Noble Lord himself. Ne ; the Noble Lord thought that the time had arrived, from information which no doubt had reaehed his ear—a thought which had long occupied his mind—that a very great change was perhaps taking place between the relations which must hereafter subsist between the Crown of England and the Court of Rome; and the Noble Lord took advantage (he used the word with perfect courtesy)—he took occasion of this last drop in the cup to adopt the policy which he had probably long medidated. Tha Noble Lord had proposed to solve the most difficult of political problems. He and his Government were going to reconcile a due observance of the civil and religious liberties of the Roman Catholic subjects of the Queen, which civil and religious liberties he (Mr. Disraeli), for one, trusted would not be impugned ; the Noble Lord was about to solve this problem, whether as a statesman he could reconcile a due observance and respect of those civil and religious liberties with the Queen's supremacy, with the rights of our bishops and clergy, and with the spiritual independence of the nation ; a problem, perhaps, which / night not be incapable of solution, but which would tax the Noble Lord's power of statesmanship to the utmost.— ( Hem, hear.) Less than that he could not suppose the Noble Lord contemplated. The Noble Lord could not be about to bring in a Bill merely to prevent a Roman Catholig priest styling himself a bishop or archbishop of any town or city in England.—(Hear, hear.) He could not be about to bring in only such a measure, because then the Noble Lord would not have been justified in stirring up the passions of a mighty people, in exciting their highest and holiest feelings, and in raising in this country an angry controversy, and polemical disputes which recalled the days of the Stuarts, and of which none of those he was then addressing might live to witness the termi nation. The Noble Lord, as a wise and sagacious man, had no doubt weighed the consequences of his intended measure as one likely to be productive of good against the vast evils which it was intended to remove, and which his own course had hitherto alone produced. Such was the kind of measure which he (Mr. Disraeli), for one, expected the Noble Lord to introduce. If the Noble Lord was going to produce merely such an insignificant project as that to which he (Mr. Disraeli) bad reterrcd, then he would say that it would be better to do nothing—(Hear, hear)—and even at this last hour to endeavour, by doing nothing, to do something to appease the excitement existing in the country.—(Hear, hear.) But if the Noble Lord was pre pared to do a great deal; if he was prepared to solve that great political problem which might not be incapable of solution, but which no Minister had yet suc ceeded in solving, then, indeed, he might be justi fi ed i n the course he bad t aken; then, indeed, he might lay claim to the reputation and character of a great Mi nister. But such was the measure which he must bring its to authorise the course he had taken. Such was the measure which he (Mr. Disraeli), for one, would humbly support; and such, he believed, was the measure which the country expected ; and if the country did not receive it he believed that the verdict, both of Protestants and Roman Catholics, would be upon one point unanimous —that the conduct of the Noble Lord could not be justified.— ( Hear hear.) The motion tbat an humble Address be presented to her Majesty was then agreed to, and a Committee was appointed to prepare the Address. A new writ was ordered for the election of a Member for the borough of Dungannon, in the room of Lord Northland, who has accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. The House adjourned at 12 o'clock, until 4 o'clock this day (Wednesday). HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 4. Their Lordships resumed shortly after Five o'clock. REGULATION OF SELECT VESTRIES BILL. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved that this Bill be read a first time.—Agreed to. THE ADDRESS. The LORD CHANCELLOR then read her Majesty's Speech, as follows: " Mr LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, " It is with great satisfaction that I again meet my Parliament, and resort to your advice and as sistance in the consideration of measures which affect the welfare of our country. " I continue to maintain the relations of Peace and Amity with Foreign Powers. It has been my endeavour to induce the States of Germany to carry into full effect the provisions of the Treaty with Denmark, which was concluded at Berlin in the month of July of last year. I am much gratified in being able to inform yon that the German Coufe deration and the Government of Denmark are now engaged in fulfilling the stipulations of that Treaty, and thereby putting an end to hostilities which at one time appeared full of danger to the peace of Europe. " I trust that the affairs of Germany may be ar ranged by mutual agreement, in such a manner as to pre6erve the strength of the Confederation and to maintain the freedom of its separate States. " I have concluded with the King of Sardinia Articles Additional to the Treaty of September, 1841, and I have directed that those Articles shall be laid before you. "The Government of Brazil has taken new, and I hope efficient measures for the suppression of the atrocious traffic in slaves. " GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OP COMMONS, " I have directed the estimates of the year to be prepared and laid before you without delay. They have been framed with a due regard to economy, and to the necessitiei of the public service. " MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, " Notwithstanding the large reductions of taxa tion which have been effected in late years, the re ceipts of the revenue have be en sati sf ac t ory. " The state of the C ommerce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom has been such as to afford general employment to the Labouring Classes. have to lament, however, the difficulties which are still felt by that important body among my peop l e who are Owners and Occupiers of Land. „ But it is my confident hope, that the pros perous condition of other classes of my subjects will have a favourable effect in diminishing those diffi culties, and promoting the interests of agriculture. " The recent assumption of certain Ecclesiastical Titles conferred by a Foreign Power has excited strong feelings in this country, and large bodies of my sub jects have presented addresses to me expressing at tachment to the Throne, and praying that such as sumptions should be resisted. I ha'e assured them of my resolution to maintain the rights of my Crown, and the independence of the nation, against all encroachment, from whatever quarter it may proceed. I have, at the same time, expressed my ear nest desire and firm determination, under God's blessing, to maintain unimpaired the Religious Liberty which is so justly prized by the people of this country. "It will he for you to consider the measure which will be laid before you en this subject. " The administration of justice in the civil depart ments of law and equity, will no doubt receive the serious attention of Parliament ; and I feel confident that the measures which may be submitted with a v i ew of improving that administration, will ba discussed with that mature deliberation which impor tant c hanges in the highest Courts of Judicature in the Kingdom imperatively demand. " A measure will be laid before you providing for - the establishment of a system of Registration of Deeds and Instruments relating to the Transfer of