The Sun. — London, England, 1851-05-07 00:00:00

is may bond ills warehouse thee, itity\.and streq although, perbil i l be but just iporters of brae , !d, should be ' qi; indeed, wed , in order to protv y-at-War last yo, ucerned the to n at he could not Eli paid demoralized! temperance ansal from agreeing tel [lion was the suet , .e people of Se c t Sr irita they vi 0 0: He hoped Di se that the cone?. nsett l emen t of qa . y great loss 0 tn! to fraud; the" ; thq it would tdditional ouplor uli be a very jur view, by increas, pence of all these one wrong in The -( Cheers.) 1 1 ..., House resolve st, ra ti on the pres ent Arita in bold. _ he Noble Lord fo h e had brougbi: ues ti o n bad bee & Os ittee, an d of that S e report a t er again at gni wa s one question Ition of the COM' the spirit duties. before that Com' the Committee. )inted it was DO abject of inqu ir P :•e not being 0101 t the original : 11 ' th e spirit duties lona which touk, Inas evied on colo. 3 whole clues"' in the in c l ui . l7 ; xi, a Scotch ata, erso n capable et Greclga. tilleries, an , the wd to plac e era on the BP!. more WY 0 .' 4 , the di ff e rent' s ' his as correct in row subsetl eem „' t estimate ! di that 4d. w el v y ended a p.??..• bonded 8 1 ) . 1 ., 11 ,7: m the dist ip the advantoit: yirits 0 1146 .4 1 ; , f which 0 " ae producot h a d the 1 0 7 0 a, in the r i dis , lum ber 01 hid tubt then 3 that was Y manufa c t r len cy of ,o , lents; swain sac hinery 11 . 13 ,„ the qua liti t h ti e r, thougbi re In 1841 I d 5,900,000. , i 3 distil/ev e. lie or ona. t the pro d° [. But 1 0 „ the dot, °`; in Irelan° l / 1 1 3 p e tition f o l oo A. to 7,40E4 . • ; land hold m l m those 1e 51 0 9 d to Sitt 4 P" if / 10 gallon is as he at which t at iappened sere bad bee,,,, Ile qua' ay" Ist year )(ore ti ie n comapen sa lt tv ; •th whi 10 ice why ea Scotch 41 °' in posse fa 4 , -Mg bet 03 had bees irits in gor 000 ga 1101 increase ad Scot same pc 101 lonics. 1 1 find th at ' IS h t o ma, W— i f decry age e l ; ny one Ifj t ant of ina i ar.) The roduce into hers or rec -(No, no.) e cour drie s ' alone• vra!, think Ilse , ' say part/ Hier. The had de • l ivantiti C. 6 5 ,906, ,00 0 a fat liPg ion of the s had in• , fiod groul 06 of 00 gal ,lone• tiller e had s. T i - ndet of to. dig' If they Ind S notch clai an re' bat)! ly end' THE motion aaktd c S a h el'fi. ' 4 7 - amo i catiOa of the system as would mincemeat of the session they were told that certain things confer oi=the Irish and Scotch produce: the same advantages should be done as to the character of the country, and the as ur eredeeedy enjoyed by the, foreigner. Chancellor of the Exchequer gave an intimation of what he GIBSON said he had been a member of the Corn- • intended to propose. The result was that there dal not exist t_e_it.te; dinquiry into.the subject of sugar-planting and rum a single great commercial house in the country that was not and there certainly never was such a complication of evi• affected by the declaration of the Right Hon. Gentleman. deice as. that produced upon this,question. As to the evi- The question was not, therefore, a party matter; the best donee of the Chairman of the. Excise, to which reference interests as well as the character of the country were em bed been made, he must say; With every respect for the gen- corned in it; and if the House of Commons still kept them tleM an alluded to, that he was always disposed to scrutinise in that state, like Mahomet's coffin, suspended between Somewhat narrowly the evidence given by the head of any heaven and earth as regarded government, he (Mr. Roebuck) revenue department, and he was also inclined to apply the appealed to the 'Noble Lord, as the responsible person, !ame scrutiny to the statements made by individuals repre- whether he would continue to lend the authority of his name praying special interests, when th e y came to Parliament and cha r a cter to' this state of thin g s.—(Cheers.) Any :LayMg - an alteratio n o f dife eren ti a t duties. The impression Minister that regarded not only the inte r e sts of the countr y , de on his mind was , that on the whole 4d. was a fair dif- but also his own p ersonal character, would not lend him ler ence 'to meet the disadvantages under which it was said self to such a condition.—(Cries of "Oh, oh!") He (Mr. he wished laboured as compared with colonial rum. But Roebuck) recollected when the party of the Noble Lord f, . wished to call attention to the great advantages which put out the Administration of the Duke of Wellington, this spirit interest now enjoyed in the United Kingdom. The that a member of that party, now in the other House, Hon. Member talked about 'he fo-eigner, but what was the rose to ask Sir - Robert Peel whether lie was about to position of Irish spirits as compared with foreign spirits? retain the Government.— (Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord 1- 11 1 Irish spirits they had put a duty of 2s. Bd. a gallon; but lived en minorities.—(Cheers.) It was contrary to the in "lv much had they put upon foreign spirits? 15s. a gallon terests of England and the spirit of the Constitution that +( hear, hear.) He was not prepared to alter the present any Administration should m aintain itself by the difficulty of "Mem until there had been an inquiry and proper evidence its position, and should live on the sufferance of i•s enemies to show that the conclusions at which the Committee had —(Cheers)—should be daily insulted by these ✓ ceuquests— neved were erroneous, and he wou d, therefore, give his (Cheers) — and should be unable to sdvance a single one of vote against the motion of the Noble Lord. ' their own principles —(Cheers.) Therefore he (Mr. Roe- Mr. HUME sa id h e wa s o nly anxious to see the Scotch buck) asked the Noble Lor d whether, now that he had sus :l', 14111 er put upon the same footing as the rum distiller in ta mped a fourth defeat on matters intimately connected with ls ti amaic, the Dutch gin distiller, or the importer of French the taxation of the countr y , and all its mercantile concerns, he a nd)? • Some Hon. Members 0 0, his side of the House thought it were p elitic to retain possession of the Government? were now mi g htily alarmed with the bugaboo of protection. He believed it would be more satisfactory to the desires of (Hear, and laughter.) The word must not be mentioned those who wished to advance the great principles which they newin the hearing of his Hor. Friends around him. This, advocated , i f the Noble Lord would say that he would not however, was no protection queetion. The object of the me- consent any l o n g er to such a state of things. If the House tion Was to secure equality. The difference of duty c harged of Commons took upon itself the administration of affairs it en foreign spirits has been alluded to, but that was a different should also take upon itself the res p onsibility of finding a queetion. • With these views he would certainly support the Government. to rule the country. motion. Lord J. RUSSELL—The lion. Member for Sheffield has f S t ir 2 G. CLERK reminded the Hon. Member for Montrose asked me whether I intend to retain office under the present :. t ee diffieulty which existed when the Hon. Member first circumstances. He stated that he thought it would be inju iinl'ered Parliament in permitting any intercourse between rious to the country if I should do so, and that the core r e three diferent portions of the United Kingdom, with menial interests especially would suffer by that retention of reference to the trade in spirits. Intercourse was, however, office. The Hon. Member has a perfect right to put any li urnately permitted, to the great advantage of the coust'ry question of that kind—any question which affects the in !_ll general. Superadded to this a privilege was granted teres t s of t h e countr y ; but he has g iven me certain advice which had never Previously been conceded to any ar ti c les with regard to my own personal character—(Loud cheers) — chargeable with excise duties—namely, that they were which I must respectfully beg to decline.--(Cheers.) Giving enabled to Warehonse their goods for an indefinite period, the Hon. Gentleman every credit for his good intentions, I 'and were not obliged to pay the duty on them till they were will take care of my personal character myself.—(Renewed 'taken out for home consumption. It was, however, an es- cheering.) Sir, at another period—at a period when the ential art of the agreement entered into when the privi- government of this country was in abeyance, and those to l ee was p granted that the amount of du. y should be charged whom it had been offered had not resolved to undertake the l ia ,,_ttle quantity ascertained when the spirits were manufac- charge of forming a Government—the Hon. and Learned I "' ee e,u- Believing, therefore, that the arrangement made in Gentleman said in this House that he wished me to consider aG2 had been attended with very great benefit to that part that the interests of the cause of free trade were in my ee— the United Kingdom with which he was more particularly hands.—(Cheers and laughter.) What the Hon. Gentleman Vineated, he should be very sorry to disturb it, nor had he meant precisely by that observation I will not pretend to O ft ird any argument which tended to shake his conviction. say; but of this lam fully aware, that the general interests te a , these grounds, and after the best attention he could devote of the country, not of free trade only, but its general in.. •'"! he subject, he had come to the conclusion that the Scotch terests, its welfare, its tranquillity, very much depends on i:il" i Irish distillers had no fair claim to the favour which was the conduct of those who have at the moment the direc tee demanded for them, and he should therefore vote against tion of the Government.—(Cheers.) But, Sir, I have not the motion. hesitated, when I thought that the direction of affairs ought Q elonel DUNNE said it was clear that the Right Hon. to be taken out of our hands unless we succeeded in certain Gent tleman who had just addressed the House did not at o b j ects, to stake the existence of the Government on those frost •nt rep resen t a Scotch county. He (Colonel Dunne) q uestions and on those objects.- (Hear.) I did not hesitate cud : not think it fair to levy the duty on an amount of to do so when the question of the repeal of the Navigation lairi is which did not in reality exist for the manufacturer Laws was before Parliament. It was then frankly declared nn e article. It was not true that the Irish distillery tra d e that we were prepared for the consequences of the rejection 4 g prospered under the present system, for he found th at of that measure, and it was full y understood that we should 'While, the quantity of Irish spirits manufactured in 1839 retire if that measure was re j ected.—(Hear.) In the course had , amounted to 12,000,0- 1 0 of gallons, the quantity maim - of last y ear, differin g from man y who took other views with f acto; red in Ireland at present amounted to only 7,000,000 of respect to the suppression of the slave trade, I did not hesitate gall°, p g . to declare that I would not retain office one hour after any Th , e CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that the vote of the House which would be in opposition to the course t_lttest ion was whether they should change the present mode then p ursued.- ( Hear. ) But I think I have 'some right to el, eauessing the duties on spirits, which was admitted by consider with my colleagues what is the fittin g o pp ortunity all persons conversant with the subject to be the best and when I shall retain office, and when I should lay our resigns- I r k , : safest mode that could be adopted. He believed that tion before her Majesty.—(Hear.) lam speaking now in t hey were practically to re-establish that which had existed the absence of any direct question of a want of confidence, Pr eviously to the year 1825—namely, a different mode of of which the result is perfectly plain—l am speaking with . 0 3 arging those duties in England, Ireland, and Scotland, respect to opinions. In the beginning of the present session ‘, ll ey would put an end to that interchange of spirits between did I show slide an anxiety for office as to make it necessary 1" e three countries which had proved so beneficial to the that the Hon. MeMber for Sheffield should be my monitor— l'. ish and Scotch distillers. He believed that the adoption (Cheers and laughter)—and should inform me when the mo ot that proposal would open the door to a very considerable relent is come when, at his bidding, I should lay my resigns amt oust of frand. Under the present system the distiller paid tion before the Crown ?—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman the duty on the quantity of spirit which he placed in the sa y s this is the fourth time we have been defeated. But eroded warehouse, and it was for his advantage that no por- there is an observation which has been used, though couched Lon, of that spirit should afterwards be abstracted. His in - in vulgar lang ua g e, b y Lord Castlereagh in this House, tercet, and the interest of the representatives of the Excise when leading the Government party, which may be appli department, were in fact identical. But if the proposal before cable here. He said, with respect to a vote to which the the House were adopted it would be the interest of the dis - House had come,to repeal a large portion of a tax , and tiller to allow as large a quantity as possible of the spirit to when we cheeredloudly — he said—" I beg Gentlemen not to be ab s t rac t e d f rom th e b o nded warehouse without the pay- halloo until they are out of the wood."—(Laughter.) Let us Theta of the duty. He believed that if that arrangement were observe now, with respect to these defeats to which the Hon. adopted it would be necessary to impose very severe restric- Gentleman has alluded, one, the first, was with respect to a tiOna on the distillers, with the view to the prevention of Bill of the Hon. Member for Surrey. After we came into frauds upon the Excise. It was true that no Irish or Scotch office that question came again before the House, and the distiller had been examined before the Committee of 1848, but decision to which it came was different, and the views which English distillers had been examined, and had given it as 1 entertained were confirmed by a large majority.—(Hear, their opinion that the proposed change would be one attended hear.) So that our first defeat was reversed by a subse 'With considerable danger to the revenue. He denied that quent division. In another case we divided with respect to any undue advantage was given by the present system to the the management of the woods and forests, and that is not colonial producer, as compared with the home:producer. In yet decided ; for it not intended to act on the decision of the order to prove that no such advantage was given, it was House. We intend to introduce a Bill on that subject a - enough to state that there had been last year an increase in miler to the one of last year, and the House will then have the consumption of Irish and Scotch spirits to the amount of a fair opportunity of deciding whether they will come or not 600,000 gallons, and a decrease in the consumption of rum to to the same decision which its majority did, or whether our the amouut of 140,000 gallons, as well as a decrease in the plan is preferable for the management of the woods and consumption of foreign brandy to the amount of 300,000 forests. So that in the present state of affairs that which I gallons. The home producer had not therefore, it was clear, said ought to be done was defeated in one case, but it appears been driven out of the market in consequence of the superior it was followed by a victory over those who had been the advantages enjoyed by his colonial competitor. The Noble opponents of Government. The second case is not yet de- Lord had told them that that was not at all a question of tided. I come now to the third case—the division which revenue. But he differed from the Noble Lord upon that took place on the motion of the Hon. Member for Montrose. point. It was perfectly obvious that if the duty were to be Ido not consider that there was anything in the nature of levied on a lesser quantity of spirits there must be a reduc- the motion of the Hon. Member as indicating that the House tion in its amount, and that the revenue would proportion- meant to say that it intended to take the Government into ately suffer. Again, he should further observe, that if they its own hands.—(Hear, hear.) All these questions of taxa were to grant t hat concession to the home-producer, they ton, and the burdens on the people, are questions on which should grant some corresponding concession to the colonial the House of Commons has a particular claim to have their producer; and there again there would be a loss to the re- opinions listened to, and the Executive Government may venue. But if the revenue were to be diminished by reduc- very fairly differ from it without any cause of resignation. tions of that description, it was clear that it would be ira- While they can maintain a sufficient revenue for the main possible to effect that change in the window-tax, or that di- tenance of the establishments which they consider necessary eninution of the income-tax, which many Honourable for the safety and honour of the country, no financial differ 'Members were so anxious to promote. The House ought ence with the House ought to influence their stability. We to remember the division on the income-tax on Friday last; now come to the fourth defeat—the motion which the Noble I end those Members who had then voted in the majority Lord has carried by thevote of this evening. To this:question (a ught to bear in mind that it would be impossible I must apply the observations to*which I referred, because to effect any diminution in the more objectionable taxes—if last year the Noble Lord was equally successful with another. laves of a less objectionable character, such as• that under I think in the' end the House will be of opinion that the their consideration, were to be reduced. He asked the House measure of the Noble Lord will not be adopted but by some wheeeher any excessive duty was paid by the Irish distiller? arrangement of colonial duties which will put him on some The English distiller paid a duty of 7s. 10d. per gallon on fair footing. This being my opinion, I shall not tell the the spirits which he produced; the Scotch distiller paid a Hon. Member for Sheffield that his request, made with that duty of Bs. 8,1. per gallon; and the Irish distiller paid a suaviter in modo—(Laughter)—for which he is celebrated duty of only 2s. Bd. per gallon. That surely was an arrange- (Hear, hear) - shall be complied with ; I will not tell him ment of which the Irish distillers could not reasonably corn- what other course I mean to pursue on the present occasion. plain. He appealed to those Members who were ready to This is a matter of grave import—the character of a Govern- :maintain the public credit, and at the same time were desi- ment ought not to be sacrificed, or even impaired, by sub rous of seeing reductions effected in the more objectionable mating to frequent defeats—(" Hear, hear," from the Oppo and unpopular items of taxation, not to assent to a motion sition) without declaring that they could no longer carry auch as that then under their consideration. on the government of the country; and at the same time, Mr. NAPIER said he believed that the vote of Friday on the other hand, no one will deny that the resignation of 'last showed that the House would not maintain a duty at the a Government, under p resent circumstances, is a very grave 4 expense of a perpetual injustice.—(Hear, hear.) It was be- matter, and involves very grave consequences.—(Cheers.) !cause he thought that motion a fair and a reasonable one Some may think the consequences of that grave matter may 'that he gave t o it his support. Much stress had been laid lead to good fortune, and seine to bad : but whether of good 'Upon the evidence of the English distillers upon that point; or bad fortune, no'one can deny that it is a very grave and but he denied that the English distillers were disinterested important movement, not merely to that question of free :Parties in the case. Those distillers made use of bonded trade to which the Honourable and Learned Member for, warehouses to a very trifling extent. It appeared that while Sheffield once alluded—(Hear, hear)— but also with regard 'the English distillers had only bonded 11,814 gallonf of dpi- to many other questions of domestic and foreign policy that Tits, the Scotch distillers had bonded 7,000,000 of gallons, might be affected by a change of Government in present cir and the Irish distillers had bonded 6,000,000 of gallons. cumstances.—(Hear.) All I can say is, that I trust that those The fact was, that the English distillers, who were only eight who have generally supported the Government, and as such in number, enjoyed a practical monopoly, and had no occa- have taken up our views with regard to public policy, will, Con to put their spirits in bond The distillers of Ireland give us credit for doing for every interest in the country felt that they were subjected to an injustice in that case, and what is required by the situation in which we are p laced they would never rest until that injustic e was removed. - (Hear)—that we are not disposed on the one baud to. Mr. A. HASTIE supported the motion. There could be allow the character of the Government to be unpaired; it • 3 10 justification for imposing on distillers the necessity of is from no sense of affront—from no irritating feeling of ;paying a duty on that quantity of spirits which was lost by pique, I should make so important a decision as the res gnua. leakage and evaporation. That quantity had been stated to tion of our offices with the view of changing the Govern• amount to not less than 21 per cent. talent of the country.—(hear, hear.) The change of a Lord J. RUSSELL said he considered that as a motion to Government is not a question to be bandied about in a chance Reduce the duty on Scotch and Irish spirits, because he debate—(Hear, hear)—and I must ask the Reuse to leave it thought it was perfectly obvious that if the duties that were to us to make that decision. Taking it as I shall do with a ( originally fixed with a view to have them ch ar g e d in the view to the general welfare of the country, I shall not have Wray in which they were at present charged, and if the to reproach my own conscience with having deserted any in tioolount of spirits on which they were raised, were diminished, te -est which I was bound to uphold.—(Cheers.) 'the duties themselves should necessarily decrease. It was The House then went into Committee, Mr. BEPSAL in the ' not true that any injustice was done to the Irish distillers in chair.' • that case, for while the Irish distillers paid a duty of A resolution was proposed by Lord NAAS, in accordance telly 2s. gd. a gallon, colonial rum in Ireland was paying a with the tenor of his speech. It was understood th A the . d uty of 35., and French brandy and Spanish rum were pay- resolution was opposed by the Government, and there were log a duty of not less - than 15s. Therefore it is obvious loud cries, which lasted several minutes, for a division. that we would, by adopting the motion, give an Mr. HUME rose to speak, but was for some time inaudi advantage to the Scotch and Irish distiller over the planter ble amid cries of "Divide, divide." He said the Noble Lord and the importer of foreign spirits. It therefore becomes had acted rightly in the reply which he gave to the question a question of revenue; and this is not, in my put to him. It would put an end to proceedings in that opinion, a time when it can be reduced. 1 know no Mouse it a Minister were to resign upon every question of More proper limit to a duty upon spirits than that it should mere financial difference that might arise. He would submit not be so high as to encourage fraud and illicit distillation. to the Noble Lord, parties having left the House after the If that is not the case at present, and if, as my Hon. Friend first division, under the impression that there would be no • has stated, Irish and Scotch spirits have increased in quan- other, whether it would not be more in conformity with the tity, that is a reason, in my opinion, why I should not part dignity of his station if he would allow that resolution to be with the revenue. I cannot, therefore, agree to the motion, agreed to without another division. - (Loud cries of "Divide, sts I not prepared either to give the home manufacturer divide.") - a sin advantage over the colonial manufacturer or consumer, Lord J. RUSSELL said, in answer to the last question,: nor to give up the revenue which it involves. which the Hon. Member for Montrose had put to him, he Mr. DISRAELI —The Noble Lord admits the justice of could say that he.should leave it entirely in the hands of the the proposition, but he says it is no brought forward in a Noble Lord opposite who had made the motion. He thought, proper manner.—(Hear.) " If," said the Noble Lord, "it it was perfectly fair to take onother division on that quese. w as in detail it might be entertained ; but as it is a reduc.. tion ; and he did not think the Noble L ord c o uld im p ute te a tion of duty , we cannot tak e it. We admit there is oppres- them a desire to take'any unfair advantage, as they would not_ sion, but this is not exactly the manner of relieving it that impute it to him. But he believed that the House was fuller h ee Lo a r ra) B4 T ys his is always the official then than it was before. the English and Scotch yaroguupinreoupto.se.'l' Lord NAAS said the remark with which the Noble Lord le(lallot.ie distillers must submit to taxation, while the French and had concluded was the worst he could have said; for they • tillers should be exempt. i Spanish distillersground That duty is paid by had divided in a House in which the Members had been at ' the consumer ; but our u er. is, (chee that this is a duty that tentive listeners to the debate.—(Hear, hear.) He thought 1 presses on the prod s this —t o producer.—(Cheers.) The system which it was rather hard for the Noble Lord to ask for another divi -1 :he Government upholds i benefit the con. sion on teat question, as those Members who had recently t ;timer, and to leave the producer subject to urgent entered the House had no opportunity of hearing the debate t estriction.—(Cheers.) I thought the N o b le Lord and his on the subject. A different course was proposed then to what' (He e alleagues were opposed to thispolic i y n . 1 noble Lord lass found . a refuge —the ar, hear.) Th e had been pursued last year, for when a motion had been has increased. But, supposing • fallacy that the carried, no opposition had been offered to a resolution named ti aide in spirits that is it because the trade if is prosperous it should be putting in writing the principle to which they had agreed, prosperity and he did not think such a course would be adopted to tt L aud ?—(Cheers.) And we can h showth that stated, this . i not this ' o e d u y s e i n ,__• and I wards him. a tywing to other circ.unefutucresetf * t u be m a ut s iv a n ted u , f i a f t father argument in my Noble Lord J. RUSSELL said the circumstances of the case of, g this last year were different from the present. Last year the F ti end?—(l-lear, hear.).uTthhee handsinode e o f f th r e e H m 81 rievance is easy — public the Noble . Lord had had a majority of those who thought with, decision is of in night will, like that on Friday, hire. tall hat that the ion of the routine of the This year-he had only had his majority by the vote of -• low that the stereotyped nature Speaker, who had declared that he only voted in confor aaid he o' ices is to receive another check in the interest of the mity.with usage, to give another opportunity for consider , jug the • ei Antrv.-- (Cheers.) course, he might r adopt it.— (Cries of " Divide.") words troth The House then divided, when there appeared 7 For the motion ... ... ••• 1 5 , !lELD rose to address the House, but not .. ••• 159 • Against it • • '• ' fa moved that the Chairman should report hearing, then ordered to withdraw, but no division would divide upon the question. In Lord J. RUSSELL, The SPE A KER having, according to casto l m et , t i v u ot a e ul d ifuorertihtye prsogtrraenssgNe,eaer:::A7lrees said id heo re otion the Government were consequently o f one; the announcement of which was received with loud too LA k oftr p ed l r a a few oh .eers. on the understanding would agree to the suggestion made; brought on, the divisi t when next the question was THE MINISTRY. Mr. ROEBUCK then rose to refer to the extraordinary eu xumstances in which the Governinent was pl aced. —( He ar. ) TI ye House of Commons had now assumed to i.self —he would oc .t say without just cause—not Ohly the s u p ervision of the rvernment, but also the actual Government itself.- (Cries of " Oh," and " Hear.") He could well understand how it sh, auki be that some disappointed followers of the Govern ml sat would object to this proposition; but when he saw the ventment obliged to modify all the three modes or plans oft tatration which they had introduced, by the decision of the house of Commons, he appealed to the Noble Lord him seli as a man brought up in constitutional principles- as a ram r t educated in the idea that the House of Commons had a eup trvising power over the Government, whether he was !" 319 in a position to govern the country ?—(Great cheer ing* ) He (Mr. Roebuck) believed these were the prin es, of the Noble Lord. Was the Noble Lord, therefore, mss' io 4 - was he politic—he would say nothing as to the point of our-..t0 retain the powers of Government in his hands tangy b r such circumstances?—(Cheers.) The House should 111 44 le wand IThgt was ping 411 is the country. At the com aroug ~ Ision S h ou l d in the first i n stance take . when the question came on' aga in, it should Stand in the same place on his resolution. that position in which it now' Lord J. RUSSELL said, tiede wells t i t o h t n e o Hundersortand whether a di.: whether it was in-', stood.—(Cries of "Divide.") the Chairman report House progress?"tenTdi eied divide i (HATEI-i G d Me 'onN mould t h ae b s e qk vision was to take place on that point di v ide) lle then p ut the q uestion, and declarednot._ not._ (Hear, and the " Noes" had it. Th e Chairman then vac ated the chai r , and the 4 House' resumed. The CHAIRMAN then reported progress, and asked leave to sit rgain on Friday. ST. ALBAN'S ELECTION COMMITTEE. Mr. E. ELLICE then rose to ask leave to introduce a Bill for the appointment of Commissioners to inquire into the ex'. istence of bribery-in the borough of St. Alban's. He telt, he was bound to satisfy the House that there were grounds -~-.- SUN, LON DON, for the introduction of this measure. The case of the late election of St. Alban's was similar to the cases of Sudbury and Great Yarmouth. The mode of proceeding adopted was this—a house was taken, as it was supposed, for the purposes 'of a committee of one of the candidates. There were two means of access to the principal room in it. Tr e one was through a particular street, and the other through an alley, called by the expressive name of " Sovereign-alley." A.' number of voters, it was proved, went by the street one by one into this room, in which a person sat who, it was alleged; was the person who bribed. Each voter, as he promised this person his vote, went out by the other door. Although they had not the actual proof that this person referred to paid • money to these voters, it was satisfactorily given in evidence that the latter, upon leaving the room, went into a public , house, and there exhibited four or five sovereigns each. It • was true that those persons when examined swore they had not - received any money for their votes ; but when they swore that they were not in possession of any money, it was distinctly proved by respectable evidence that they were in possession of money. Very little doubt remained on the minds of the committee that they had received money in return for their votes. The parson who sat in the room, as described, was Edwardes, wile, however, was not examined. There was not the slightest doubt in the minds of the Committee but that bribery was committed. It was, however, necessary that further inquiry should be instituted. In 1845 an election took place at St. Alban's, and a Committee was appointed to try the merits of a petition presented against the election, when it appeared that Mr. Edwardes was the prominent per son also on that occasion. Certain proceedings having then taken place in Parliament in respect to that, as well as other elections, there was a compromise entered into and the peti tion was withdrawn. The object of the Committee was thereupon frustrated, but they made a special report of that c ise to the House. If, then, there was to be an inquiry into this matter, he submitted, upon the authority of the proceed ings taken by that House and the House of Lords in the Sudbury case, that the inquiry should proceed through a commission. There could be but one opinion entertained in respect to this subject, and that was that a system of bribery unhappily prevailed in St. Alban's to a most alarming extent. It was, then, our bounden duty to do everything in our power to put down this bribery, which tended to lower the character of that Nouse and to degrade and demoralise the parties who were immediately concerned •in it. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by asking leave to . introduce his Bill. . Mr. COBDEN . rose to move the addition of words so as to include in the motion any bribery, treating, or corruption, that might Lave taken place at the last election for the Fal kirk district of burghs. He represented on that occasion a certain portion of the constituency who had complained of these practices, and who had petitioned that the Falkirk burghs might be included in the proposed inquiry. The petitioners complained of the gross treating and demoralisa tion that had taken place, arid stated that the spirit-shops in certain localities had been opened to the inhabitants! at the expense of the sitting Member. He had to inform the House that the petition against the sitting Member had been withdrawn without the knowledge of the parties who had , signed it. In a letter which he had received from the Pro vost ot Falkirk he expressed the disappointment felt by the electors at the withdrawal of the petition, and stated that never since the Reform Bill had he witnessed such scenes of drunkenness and dissipation as at the last election. He (Mr. Cobden) had no feeling of hostility to either of the parties who were engaged in that election. He believed that both candidates were advocates of free trade, but there was so little difference between their general politics, that he bad no political leaning to one more than to the other. The Falkirk burghs were five in number, some of them as tar apart as thirty miles, and situated in different coun ties. It was difficult to understand upon what prin ciple they had been grouped together. Up to 1841 the character of these burghs, like that of most of the Scotch burghs, bad been unimpeachable in point of political mo rality. The practices complained of began in 1841 in the burgh of Airdrie, when the bre. , her of the present Member was a candidate. In 1846, when Lord Lincoln was elected in the room of Mr. Baird, who had resigned, he was op posed by Mr. Wilson, and at that election the malpractices which had been before confined to Airdrie extended to the other burghs. In 1847 Lord Lincoln stood again, and was opposed by Mr. Boyd, and since then for scenes of dissipa tion and undue influence Falkirk and Hamilton had become as bad as Airdrie. With regard to the last election he held in his hand depositions which had been taken by a legal gentleman, and which corroborated the statements in the petition as to the treating and demoralisation that had taken place. One person, Robert Binney, a grocer and spirit dealer in Grahamstown, a suburb of Falkirk, stated that he was asked to vote for Mr. Baird, and declined; that he was afterwards visited by some of Mr. Baird's friends, particularly by a Mr. ISPLaren, an active supporter of Mr. Baird-that while they were in his house several people came to the bar, when Mr. Baird's friends ordered him to give them what they wished, for Mr. Baird was rich enough to pay. This man went on to state that he considered that a sufficient order to keep open •house till the day of nomination, and accordingly •supplied these people with whisky, brandy, porter, ale, and vinegar cordial.-(Laughter.) He further stated than on the day of nomination some of these people came to his house for drink as early as six o'clock, and said they had come for their "morning." Hon. Members who had been in Scotland would perhaps know what a " morning" meant.-(A laugh.) Several got drunk rapidly, and before nine o'clock seven er eight were lying quite drunk opposite the door. Binney states he gave one man two bottles of whisky to assist in taking the drunken people away.-(Laughter.) Boys of 10 and 14 got drunk in the street. women," says Binney, "were drunk in my house, except those who came to take their husbands home."-(Laughter, and:cries of " Hear.") Now he had in his hand at least a dozen of similar statements from publicans. One of the name of Waugh, a spirit-dealer, in Grahamstown, stated-" On the Monday before the nomi nation, Mr. M'Laren, Mr. Baird's friend, and a writer to the signet, his agent, came and told me to provide refreshment; M•Laren said he would be responsible. In the course of the evening 'SOO: people came and had whisky, brandy, and rum cordial.- (Hear, hear ) An order cause to let them have drink." He would now refer to the evidence of several re spectable inhabitants of these burghs. The respectable por tion of the inhabitants of such burghs would be greatly to - blame if they did not denounce the scenes of dissipa tion that they saw aronnd them. Even seven righteous men might save such a burgh from becoming a political Gomorrah. Dr. Hamilton, of Falkirk, returning home the night before the election, states-" I observed two youths lying in the middle of the road, and found both of them in a beastly state of intoxication. On addressing them, one ex claimed, "Oh, there's open house to-night at Waugh's."- (Hear.) The Revel Alexander M'Farlane, minister of the united Presbyterian Church, states-" I was coming home the night before the election from the Carron Works. I met a great manypeople, and saw so much demoralisation as to make me believe that it would neutralise all the good that might have been otherwise effected by ministers ot the Gos pel "- (Hear.) He (Mr. Cobden) might be told that these men so brutalised were not electors. If anything could make the demoralisation more demoniacal it was the very practices that had prevailed at the Falkirk election. There were some spirit-dealers whose votes it was thought desir able to have. If the candidate had invited the voters into a 'room and given each 51., it would have been virtue itself compared with what had been done, for publicans bad been ordered to admit men, women, and chil dren, and to give them as much drink as they pleased. The evil one himself could not have devised anything so black and detestable. He had in his hand the declaration of one man-a father and member of a temperance society. -(A laugh.) He could tell those Honourable Gentleman who laughed, that there was no more useful-no more ho nourable or more respectable member of society, than the man who tried by his example to rescue the working man from habits of drunkenness, however it might serve the pur poses of some to keep him in a state of degradation. This Man (Mr. Arnott) states :-" The day before the election I found my son-a boy of twelve years of age-lying on the rug in a state of intoxication. My -wife said she had picked him up in the street, and he afterwards told me that he had had whisky at Waugh's.- (Hear, hear.) My wife tells me that before the election my daughter came to tell her that her brother was Mu in the street; ' that she saw his brought home, when he vomited tremendously, and then fell asleep."•-(Hear, hear.) Such was a sample of the practices that had prevailed. The favourite mode of corrupting the constituency of Falkirk was to open the pub lic-houses to all corners, and allow them to drink what quantity they pleased of ardent spirits. Similar scenes occurred at Hamilton. He had quite a little volume describing what had taken place at Airdrie, the town in which Mr. Baird resided. The lion. Member and his brother were large employers of labour in the iron works near Airdrie. He asked what was the first duty of a suc cessful wealthy individual to the community that had grown up under Lis auspices? Undoubtedly it was the first duty of the capitalist to endeavour by his example and by their education to lead that community up in the paths of sobriety and of virtue.-(flear, hear.) He was sorry to say that such was not the case here ; that the enormous wealth possessed by the family of the Hon. Member was exercised for a totally different purpose.-(Hear, hear.)( He said that the scenes of debauchery begun in Airdrie when the brother of the Hon. Member was a candidate; and that bad as the scenes were last year, they were nothing to what they had been in 1841. There were two cases of bribery against the Provost at that time, and there was one case of abduction in Which the police were concerned.- (Hear, hear.) lie re ferred to the case of a witness, who had been then offered 201. for his vote. He bad ten cases of attempted bribery, with the then Provost implicated in two of them. It was sufficient to say of the treating that in a population of less than 15,000 there had been 41 public houses kept open, in which drink was freely given to all who , came to the election. To show this lie referred to the testi mony. of two ministers of the Gospel, the Rev. James M'Gowan and the Rev. Alexander Baron. Both corrobo rated what had been already stated, and the first testified that it was a general desire, to prevent the recurrence of each scenes, that the town should be disfranchised. He had, ip addition to this, the sums charged by the public-houses for supplying drink to all corners. The bills were of different amounts, 401., 80/., 901., 256/, 2801., 404 321. And then there was a mysterious man in this case, as in others. There Was a roan who went by the significant came " Goldy," or "the man with the bag."-(Laughter.) This man was sup posed to be a person of the name of Hallett, a writer, or a writer's clerk in Ayr; and then to ascertain the facts with respect to that person it was his wish to have a Committee appointed.-(Hear, hear,) What he had now stated with regard to Falkirk, Ayr, and Hamilton, was perfectly correct, though in a mitigated form as regarded Linlithgow and Lanark; and now, having laid these facts before the House, he asked whether he was to be debarred from inquiry by any technical rules? He said that here was a case without precedent-here was a case that was charac terised with so much injustice that an investigation was ab solutely necessary. The manner in which it was his lot now to call for it originated in an accidental reference he had ma's to Falkirk. That allusion had brought to him hosts letters-appeals made to him by the Provost of Airdrie appeals made to him from temperance societies to call for the disfranchisement of the borough. These appeals had ipduced him to submit the question to the consideration of the House.-( Hear, hear.) Were, be asked, these elections to be carried on by any such process as he had just described? -( Hear.) If they were, then he said to Hon. Members op posite, let them, beyond all others, mark the consequences; man would make their way to seats in that House by passing through a hundred gin-shops and public-houses. The ex penses of elections would be enormous. He was told that the expense of a seat to the Hon. Member for the Falkirk district was estimated as costing from 5,0001. to 15,000/. Men with hereditary Linded property had seldom an abundance of spare money in large sums. If this system were to be perpetuated, they must abandon the chance of being elec‘ed to moneyed men-to Men who would spare hard cash enough to find an entrance into that Huuse. He asked Hon. Members opposite whether they would look upon such a change ns teat as an inpr i overnent to the cha recter of that House? Under the old system it was thought that men 'had a family claim to seats in that House, and, for his own part, he declared he would rather be governed by any oligarchy than submit patiently to the rule of those who ha i entered into that House by the base means he had de scribed.- (Cheers.) Was that House, he asked, to be the only place in England where such scenes were to be de scribed, and not excite feelings of diseust?-(Hear.) He could tell them that the temperance publications-a very va luable class of papers-and temperance societies had rung with horror at the account of the murders that had been ci?mmittedsin Airdrie.-(Hear.) The - House claimed exclu sive jurisdiction in all cases referring to Parliamentary elec. rf,Y "relinfilr rt"* WEDNESDAY Cone. Let it net now defeat inquiry by a technical objec tion, but include an inquiry into the proceedings at the it district with that which was to investigate the proceed ings at St. Allein'e. He moved an amendment to that effect. Mr. ROEBUCK seconded the amendment. Mr. BAIR said that he had given no sanction to the open ing of public-houses for his election, and he did not believe that his agents lied done S 9 --(Hear.) At the same time he said that it the House desired to make any inquiry into the proceedings at the last election, he had no objection - that it should do so. - (Cheers.) That scenes of drunkenness took place there could he no douht—(llear)—for it was a com mon practice in a borough.—(Hear, hear.) It could be no wonder that there should be, scenes of drunkenness, because there was a population that received in wages 10,0001. weekly. The principals of those establishments come in to the election, and the men naturally also come into the town to snake merry.— (Hear.) But then, as to the last election. the agents of the petitioners went through the borough, and ' finding they could rot Subtantiate a case against him, the petition was withdrawn.—(Cheers.) The ATTORNEY-GENERAL hoped that there was no one iu the House that could have heard but with pain the sad details that the Hon. Member for the West Riding had given of the proceedings at the Falkirk election. No one could be told that there should be such debauchery without feeling very deep regret. Though he deemed it desirable that an inquiry into such scenes should be made, still he could not but feel the strongest objection that such an inquiry should be mixed' up with an investigation into other transactions that were totally and essentially distinct. The Bill that was now proposed had to go through another place; and they must take care to do nothing Unit, would prevent its success there. In the one case, St. Alban's, they had evidence taken before a Committee upon oath, and they had a Bill prepared by the Chairman, at the desire of the Committee by whom. the 'case had -been investigated. Such a Bill, he said, was sure of success when it went to another place; but the case mentioned by the Hon. Member for the West Riding was based not upon the evidence taken upon oath, and it would be unusual to engraft, by way of a rider, such an inquiry upon another formally proposed to the House. He suggested to the Hon. Member to make his a substantive motion, and not to endanger the Bill by com bining the two inquiries.—(Hear.) Mr. ROEBUCK thought that he might be permitted to recall to the recollection of the House some remarkable cir cumstances which he had on a former occasion brought before that House. There had been six instances, after a general election, of what he had ascertained to be corrupt compromises. He had brought the circumstances on hie own personal statement before the House, and Sir Hobert Peel gave him the Committee he asked for. Not satisfied with that, they had passed a Bill' enabling parties to give evidence. He had mentioned six cases, and Mr. Charles Buller men- tioned another—Bridport; and he asked the House to en graft Bridport on his (Mr. Roebuck's) motion, and the House agreed to do so, and then all these cases were brought before the Committee of which he was chairman. Where, then, was the difference between the two cases ? The At torney-General said that the one case was established on oath. But what had been done with him referred only to his own personal statement. It rested on that alone. And now what occurred on the present occasion ? The Hon. Member for Falkirk district demanded inquiry ?—(Hear.) Who, then, were the objecting parties? Not the Hon. Gen tlemen cpposite.- (Hear, hear). Then there was the Hon: Member branded by the statement of the Hon. Member for the West Riding of Yorkshire.—(Cries of " No, no.") Let Hon Gentlemen wait until he finished. Thus was the Hon. Member branded if he did not get the opportunity which he asked for.—(Hear.) Who then stood between the Hon. Member and his exculpation ? Surely the Attorney-General would not stand between him and it. What then prevented the wish of the Hon. Member for the West Riding being ac ceded to, and thus helping the Hon. Member for the Falkirk districts to a vindication?—not because he needed it. (Hear.) Oh ! no—but because he was accused.— (Cheers.) To be accused was one thing; to be guilty was another; but the Hon. Member was accused, and no doubt he would be considered guilty if he were not allowed:to defend himself.— ( Hear.) For what would they say ? That friends who well understood the thing did, when he pretended to be ready to exculpate himself, help him by their votes with a most useful cloak, by which he might cover himself from the accusation when it had been made.—(Hear.) He asked was that a position to let the Hon. Member occupy ?—( Hear.) He assumed that the Hon. Member was —and he said this 1 with all violence to himself—innocent.—(Laughter.) Yes, in such cases as those of Bolton, and Aylesbury, and Fal kirk, he did violence to himself in supposing that persons were not guilty when they were charged with a knowledge of the practices of corruption.—(Hear, hear, and laughter. ) The Hon. Member who made the motion had talked of bribery only ; but corruption and treating must be included in the motion. Would the Hon. Gentleman say that one house, not to say forty-one houses, open for treating, could heve`been only open for purposes of patriotism? —eLaughter.) Some one with a purse ready to pay those men who presided over houses where treating of men, women, and children took place must have been there, sent there by some one.—(Hear.) It was a disgrace to that House to sit there, and the country would repudiate them, if they dealt with great cases of immo rality, and allowed guilty parties to ride off on a mere technicality raised by the Attorney-General. The tech nical objection which had been raised ought to be over ruled, and the Hon. Gentleman ought to be afforded a full opportunity of exculpating himself. This he could not do under the Bill, and therefore it was right fur the House to provide the Hon. Gentleman with the means of full exculpa tion. He begged of the House, if they desired to have a moral influence in the country, not to interfere, but to let the Hon. Gentleman have a fair trial, for the Hon. Gentleman really was on his trial—(Hear)—and to let him clear him self, as he said he could, from the charges brought against him. Of all the cases he had ever brought under the no tice of the House not one equalled in atrocity the present case, and he trusted it would be fully sifted by the House. r. ELLICE, jun., was unwilling to have anything grafted on the Bill that would jeopardize it. It was clear the other case was a matter for a commission to inquire into, and this could be done by another Bill, which, when introduced, could go on pan passu with the present Bill. He objected to the amendment, not because he wished to throw any ob stacle in the way of inquiry, but because it would obstruct the Bill.— (Hear.) Dlr. G. BANKES would say that the difficulties of the St. Alban's case were sufficient of themselves, and he therefore considered the amendment entirely inadmissible. If the Hon. Member for the West Riding wished to defeat the in quiry, he could not take a more effectual step than by this amendment. If the Act of Parliament, consequent on the movement of the Hon. Member for Sheffield, had not been thought strong enough at the time, why did the Hon. Gen tleman not make it stronger? The Act in question provided for the case of the St. Alban's Committee, and he really thought the llon. Gentleman ought not to use a tyrannical power of placing Members of that House in the position of the Hon. Member for St. Albanae Mr. ROEBUCK said the Act in question was brought in by Lord John Russell, and not by him. Mr. BANKES was quite aware of that. He thought the Hon. Gentleman ought to have bees content with the reme dies provided by that Act, rather than resort from time to time to the tyranny of ea post facto law.—(Hear.) With respect to the question before the HQUSe relating to the in troduction of a Bill by the Chairman of the Committee, he should only say, as the Bill was brought in on the recom mendation of the Committee, that it ought to have weight with that House. With reference to the Commission ' he should not be disposed t o p ar t with the control of th e House over it. He would not name the Commissioners; but he suggested whatever the number might be, that the House would keep the inquiry in their hands in order that it might be made searching and impartial. .. Mr. HUME thought his Hon. Free' Dd. ought to withdraw his motion, and proceed with the Bill % Mr. FORBES knew the Hon. Gentlaman (Mr. Baird) and his family, and could speak as to the t a t good they did in hid; neighbourhood. He b e li eve d h on. Friend had been hardly dealt with in the matte r . Pei' l had been sent all i fs over the kingdom to get tip evidenc&and the gentlemen on the other side had given all the weight' of their names and eloquence to make out the case against his Hon. Friend, they at the same time being the porta/ens of the defeated candidate. (Hear. ) Lord J. RUSSELL would only say a few words on the question. In the fiist place, the moti on of his Hon. Friend was founded on the, report f the Elect a l-le Committee, which stated that extensive bribery . had .been practised in the borough of St. Alban's at the last election. He could not conceive a more legaiMate ground for' the introduction of a Bill—(Hear)—and he bad no hesittilielo in sa -i no ; y b he should give his vote in favour of the introduction. But the Hon. Member for the West Riding had brought forward another case. He could not say that inquiry ought not to take place with respect to that case, because from the notoriety and scandal of that case it could not , be passed over by the House ; but he could not agree in the proposition for having the two cases tried by the same Commission. The cases stood on different grounds ; one of them rested on the report of the Select Committee, the other only rested on a petition presented to that House. What course the Hon. Member for the West Riding ought to take lie was not prepared to say ; but as he did not think the twd cases should be mixed together, he thought they ought to be treated separately and the Hon. Member hav e leave to withdr aw his Bill. ' Mr. FRESHFIELD could hardly trust himself to utter the sentiments of his mind at the unfounded imputations of the Hon. and Learned Member for Sheffield. That Hon. and Learned Member owed it to himself and the House to state on what his s uspicions were founded. He asserted that on the occurrence of the death of hi s H on. F r i end w h o re p res ented Boston, when h e was induced to go down there, that everything was conducted respeetably. There was no music, or anything to create entertainment provided. Mr. LOCKHART could correborate the statement; of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Forbes) with reference to the liberality, charity, and piety of his Hon. Friend Mr. Baird. After a few words from Mr. H. BERKELEY,. Mr. COBDEN said he was in the hands of the House as to the course he should take. It had been suggested to him to make a substantive Motion for a Select Committee on the matter, but the example of St. Alban's was not one to en courage an Hon. Member to hive recourse to a Select Com mittee; however, as the matter was before the Hou,se and the public, he thought it duty bf the Government - to see what ought to be done in the matter, i and he ventured to suggest that the Lord Advocate or Scotland would be the proper pereon to take charge of the matter.—( Hear.) The amendment .was then withdrawn, and the original motion agreed to. On the motion of Mr. LAEOUCHERE, the following gen tlemen were nominated a Select Committee on the Steam Navigation, &c., Bill: — M r. Laboncher e , Mr. Hume Mr. Cardwell, Admira l Berkeley, Mr. William Brown, Mr. Ander son, Mr. Alderman Thompson, Iflra..filexander Hastie, M r . obtained' caveto bring in a Bill Philip Miles, and Mr. Grogan. Sir W. SOMERVILLE .i . . • to extend the benefits of certain provisions of the General Merchant Seamen's Act relating to apprentices bound to the sea service, to apprentices bound to the sea service by boards of guardians of the poor in Ireland, and to enabl e suc h guardians to place ou t bo y a inthe naval service. Sir W. SOMERVILLE, obtained leave to bring in a Bill to amend an Act for em p o w ering grand juries in ereland to present bridges, and tolls to be paid for passing the same, in certain cases. Mr. HUME postponed till to-Marrow (this day) his motion for a Select Committee to inquire into the mode of assessing and collecting the property-tax ; and whether the injustice of levying the same rate of charge upon terminable es upon perpetual annuit ies, and -upon fluctuating and varying incomes from trades and professions as upon fixed incomes, cannot be greatly modified, pr altoreether removed. On the motion of the ATTORNEYr GENERAL for IRE LAND, the followina gentlemen were nominated a S e l ect Committee on Civil Bills, (Ireland)&c. Bill :-.-M r . Attor ney-General for Ireland, Sir W. Somerville, Mr. French, Mr. Keogh, Mr. Napier, Mr. Whiteside, Mr. Reynolds, Mr. M'Cullagh, Mr. Austey, Mr. Grogan, Viscount Bernard, Captain Jones, Mr. Sergeant Murphy, Colonel Taylor, and Mr. Sadleir. Sir W. G. CRAIG moved for a Select Committee to con sider the state amid operation of the. Acts relating to the an nuity-tax levied in Edinburgh, Canongate, and Montrose, and to report thereon; and whether any amendment on these Acts, or re-adjustinent of the tax , wou ld be expedient; and whether any other fund may be rendered available for the purpose to which the annuity-tax is now applied. Agreed to. - The, Process "and Practice (Ireland) Bill passed through Committee. The House adjourned at Half-past One o'clock. - EVENING, M A Y 7, 1851. PARLIAMENTARY DIVISIONS. :From a e 1 7 ; tes and Proceedings of the Houle of Commons ) TUESDAY, MAY 6. • HOME-MADE SPIRITS IN BOND. Motion made, and Question proposed " That this House do resolve itself into a Committee to take into consideration the present mode of levying the Duty on Home-made Spirits in Bond." The House divided : AYES-159. Ansley, Thomas Fox, Richard 11i. Archdall, Captain Fox, S. L. Arkwright, George Fresh!leld, J. W. Baggo, William Frewen, C. H. Baillie, H. J. Fuller, A. E. Baird James Galway, Viscount Bankes, G. Gilpin, Colonel Barron, Sir H. Gooch, E. S. Barrow, W. 11. Goold, Wnydham Bateson, Thomas Gordon, Admiral Bennet, Philip Gore, W. R. 0. Bentinck, Lord H. Grace, G. D. Beresford, William Granby, Marquis of Berkeley G. F. Grattan, Henry Bernard, Viscount Greenall, G. Best, John Greene, John Blake, M. J. Grogan, Edward Blandford, Marquis PI alsoy, T. I'. Boldero, George H. Hamilton, G. A. Booth, Sir It. G. Hamilton, J. H. Brooks, Lord Barris , Captain Brooke, Sir Arthur Basile, Alexander Bruen, Colonel Hayes, Sir E. Buck, L. W. Henley, J. W. Banbury, W. Herbert, H. A. Burghley, Lord Higgins, George Burroughes, H. N. Hildyard, R. C. Campbell, W. F. Hildyard, T. B. Cayley, Edward S. Hill, Lord E. Chichester, Lord J. Hodgson, W. N. Child, Hothani, Lord Christopher, R. Jolliffe, Sir W. H. Clive, H. B. Jones, Captain Cobbold, John C. Keating, Robert Co!vile, C. R. Keogh, William Conolly,Thoinas Langton, W. H. P. Cowan, Charles Micelles, E. Crawford, W. S. Lawless, Cecil Dawson, T. V. Lennox, Lord A. Deedes, W. Lennox, Lord H. G. Devereux, John T. Lewisham, Viscount Disraeli, B. Lockhart, W. lied, J. W. Lowther, Colonel Duncan, George Macaghten, Sir E. Dunne, Colonel M'Cullagh, W. T. Edwards, H. M'Gregor, John Farrer, ames 11P.Neill, Duncan Ferguson, Sir R. Maher, N. Filmer, Sir E. Meagher, Thomas Fitzpatrick, J. W. Mandeville, Vis. Floyer, John Manners, Lord J. Forbes, W. March, Earl of Forester, G. C. Mailmen, T. P. Fortescue, Chichester Maxwell, Hon. J. P. Miles, William Moffatt, George Monsen, William Moody, C. A. Moore, G. 11. Mullings, J. R. Murphy, P. S. Napier Joseph Newdegate, N. Norreys, Sir D. O'Brien Sir ;Lucius O'Brien, Sir T. O'Connell, John O'Connell, M. J. Anthony Ossulton, Lord Pakington, Sir J. Piumptre, J. P. Power, Dr. Power, Nicholas Rawdon, Colonel Itendlesham, Lord Repton, G. W. J. Reynolds, John Roche, E. B. Sadleir, John Scott, Francis Scully, Francis Sibthorp, Colonel Somers, J. P. Somerset, Captain Spooner. R. Stuart, Lord J. Stuart, John Stuart, 11. Sullivan, Michael Talbot, J. H. Taylor, T. E. Tenison, Edward K. Tollemache, John Tyler, Sir G. Tyrell, Sir J. Venter, Sir W. Vesey, Thomas Vyse, R. 11. R. H. Waddington, IL S. Walmsley, Sir J. Walsh, Sir J. B. Whiteside, James Wodehouse, E. Wynn, H. W. - TELLZIII. Naas, Lord Hume, Joseph NOES-159. Ellice, Edward Ogle, S. C. Elliot, John E. Owen, Sir John Estcourt, J. B. Paget, Lord A. Evans, J. Paget, Lord C. Ferguson, Col. Palmerston, Vis. Fitawilliam, G. W. Parker, John Fordyce, A. D. Peel, Sir Robert Forster, Matthew Peel, Frederick Fortescue, J. W. Perfect, Robert Freesturi, Colonel Pigott, Francis Gallwey, Sir W. P. Ricardo, John L. Gibson, T. M. Rice, E. R. Grenfell, C. Pascoe Rich, Henry Grey, Sir George Robartes, T. J. A. Grey, R. W. Roebuck, J. A. Grosvenor, Lord R. Romilly, Colonel Hall, Sir B. Romilly, Sir John Hallyburton, Lord Russell, Lord John Hanmer, Sir Joh* Russell, F. C. Harris, Richard Salwey, Colonel Hatchell, John Scrope, G. P. Hawes, B. Seymour, H. D. Henry, Alexander Seymour, Lord Heywood, James Shafto, R. D. Heyworth, L. Smith, Vernon Hindley, C. Smith, John Abel Hobhouse, T. B. Somerville, Sir W. Hodges, T. L. Stanton, W. H. Howard, Lord E. Strickland, Sir G. Hutchins, E. J. Talbot, C..E. Hutt, William Tancred, H. W. Jackson, William ahicknesae, R. A. Johnstone, Sir_J. Thompson, Colonel King, P. J. Thornely, T. Labouchere, 11. Townley, R. G. Langston, J. H. Trelawny, J. S. Lawley, B. R. Trevor, Thomas Lewis, Sir T. Verney Sir H. Lewis, G. C. Vivian, J. 11. Littleton, E. R. Watkins, Colonel Lovcden, Pryse Wellesley, Lord C. M'Taggart, SlrJ. West, F. R. Mangles, R. D. Westhead, J. P. Martin, C. W. Willcox, Brodie Matheson, Sir J. Williams, John Mattle, Fox Willyams, H. Milner, W. M. Wilson, James Moncrieff, James Weod, Sir Charles Morris, David Wood, Sir W. P. Mostyn, E. M. L. Wrightson, W. B. Mowatt, Francis Wyvill, Marmaduke Mulgrave, Earl TELLEILI. Nicholl, J. Rayter, W. G. Norreys, Lord Hill, Lord Marcus Acland, Sir T. Adair, Hugh E. Adair, R. Shafto Alcock, Thomas Anderson, Arthur Anson, Colonel Armstrong, R. B. Bagshaw, John Baines, M. T. Baring, Sir F. T. Bass, M. T. Bell, Jacob Bellew, R. M. Berkeley, Admiral Berkeley, H. F. Berkeley, C. L. G. Bernal, Ralph Blitekstone, - W. S. Baird, James Blewitt, R. J. Bowles, Admiral Boyle, Colonel Bright, John Brocklehurst, J. Brockman, E. D. Brotherton, J. Bulkeley, Sir R. B. Banbury, E. H. Cardwell, Edward Carter, J. B. Cavendish, C. C. Cavendish, G. H. Cavendish, W. G Chaplin,.W. J. Clay, James Clay, Sir W. Clerk Sir G. Cobden, Richard Cockburn, Sir A. Colebrooko, Sir T. Collins, William Cowper, W. F. Craig, Sir W. G. Crowder, R. B. Currie, Rallies Dcnison,.J. E. D'Eyncourt, T. , Divett E . Douglas, Sir C. Duke, Sir James Duncan, Lord Dundas, Admiral Dundas, Sir David Ebringtou, Lord The following Members paired on Lord Naas's motion :- 70ft. AGAINST. Sturt, 11. G. Paget, Lord G. Du Pre, C. G. - Tufnell, Right Hon. H. Mundy, W. Lemon, Sir C. Stafford, A. Mitchell, T. A. Halford, Sir H. Melgund, Lord. Duncombe, Hon. A. Howard. Hon. E. G. Farnham, E. B. Evans, William. Mr. O'Flaherty paired, in favour of Mr. Hume's motion on the income-tax, with Mr. T. Duncombe, M.P. for Finsbury, against. Mr. H. B. Clive, paired, in favour of Mr. Hume's amend ment, with Mr. Slaney, against. Mr. Adderley paired all night with Mr. Sheridan. PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS. From the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons. STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE. The following Resolutions were reported from the above Committee 1. That in the case of the Cameron's Coalbrook Steam Coal and Swansea and Loughor Railway (No. 2), petition for leave to deposit a petition for a Bill, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to deposit their petition accordingly. 2. That in the case of the Manchester, Buxton, Mat lock, and Midland Junction Railway, petition for dispensing with standing order No. 121, the said standing order ought not to be dispensed with. 3. That in the case of the Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe, and West Yorkshire Railway Bill, petition for dispensing with standing orders Nos. 105 and 166, the said standing orders ought not to be dispensed with. 4. That in the case of the Midland Railway (Purchase of Leeds and Bradford Railway, and Increase of 'Capital) Bill, petition for dispensing with standing order No. 134, the said standing order ought to be dispensed with, provided a clause be inserted in the Bill, enacting, that in the event of the Act 7 and 8 Victoria, cap. 85, coming into operation as regards the Midland Railway Company, the capital of that company shall be held for the purposes of that Act to be increased only by the amount of the capital of the Leeds and Bradford Railway Company, viz., the sum of 900,0001.; and that the borrowing powers of he Midland Railway Company shall not be increased beyond the borrow ing powers now possessed by the Leeds and Bradford Railway Company. That the Committee on the Bill do report how far this order has been complied with on the Report of the Bill. First and fourth Resolutions agreed to.—Report to lie on the table. THE ROYAL ACADEMY. (PRIVATE View.) Expectations or the uro:zt lively dezeription had hem formed as to the charazter of the exhibition for the pre sent season of the Royal Acathmy. It was, conse quently, with no little inters"; and with no small degree of curiosity that we attended the private view of the col lection on Friday. Having, rather fortunately, attended upon that occasion immediately after the visit of her Majesty and the Prince Consort, we were enabled to take an almost uninterrupted survey of the paintings hung upon the walls previously to the arrival of the dis tinguished visitors, by whom the varioas apartments were subsequently crowded rather inconveniently. We were, taerefore, enabled to form a more ju dicicusly-considered estimate of the marits of the display than is usually peivaitted to the critic upon simi lar occasions. Not only most cordially, but tuosb con. scieatiously also, we find ourselves enabled to congratu late the members and associates of this great national institution of the fine arts upon the numerous and brit- liant evidences they have afforded this year of the capa city of the English school of painting throughout th e whole variety of its menifold departments. When it is considered that our artists will have their productions during the present season submitted to the contidera don of so many intelligent travellers from the continent, accustomed in their oon country to depreciate our students of the brush through ignorance of what they have actually accomplished, and educated themselves to the full appreciation of the art by being familiarised with the masterpieces collected together in the galleries of France, of Belgium, and or Italy —the more than ordinary success achieved just now by our Academicians will be a source, we feel, of very general satisfaction. It should be remembered, moreover, as & means of enhancing these pleasurable sentiments, that the testimonies of more than customary excellence here referred to have been yielded by a very great majority of the contributors, and are specimens, consequently, in almost every one of the various classes of pictorial composition. Almost each one among the number of the principal Academicians has striven appa rently to sustain the repute acquired in accumulative force during so many years by themselves and their predecessors, and two only of any very wide celebrity have refrained from participating in this elevated com petition for applause. These defaulters are no other than Turner and Mulready—for we cannot accept the little sketch painted as far back as 1809 by the latter, and numbered 168 in the catalogue, as anything at all approaching to a substantial contribution. Regretting tne absence, however, of these illustrious artists, as the public will inevitably do, it cannot but be acknowledged that they have earned for themselves by their many great achievements the privilege of reposing upon their laurels now, in the ripened season of their genius, and the autumn of their popularity. Deprived of their aid, nevertheless, the Royal Academy collection for 1651 has proved itself worthy of being viewed contemporane ously with the great Industrial Exhibition. From the miraculously executed historical pictures of Maclise to the animal paintings of Landseer, from the inimi• table landscapes of Stanfield to the fruit pieces of Lance, from the classical compositions of Dyce to the marvellous meadow scenery of Lee and Cooper, throughout the w hole diversified range of art, from its loftiezt to its lowliest department, we may discover examples sometimes of masterly skill, and sometimes of the noblest inspiration. Not that we would pretend for a moment that all of the chief con tributors have proved in this instance equally successful, or alike entitled to share in these widels•distributed ex pressions of admiration. On the contry, some, from whom better things might have been anticipated, have revealed a lamentable decline of power, or a yet more lamentable perverseness of taste. What, for example, could possibly be said by way of extenuating the derision which must necessarily descend upon the veteran head of Uwins for (No. :35) his very hideous and fantastic picture of Ulysses, with the yellow figure in the foreground? Even Maclise'a remarkable painting (No. 67) of " Caxton's Printing-officein the Almonry at Westminster," in some respects the most astonishingly finished picture in the Gallery, cannot altogether escape the blame attached to a work containing not one elevated sentiment, not one suggestive incident, not one veritable manifestation of character, not one countenance with any thing like a genuine fleeh• tint, nut one line of vigorous expression thrown into the features of even the principal person ages represented. Edward the Fourth himself might stand for the effigy of a great lubberly boy, and Caxton be nothing nobler than a very cadave rous old gentleman, but that their intended identity is marked in black and white upon the seventh page of the catalogue, Failures of this description are scarcely com pensated. we imagine, by the most amazing evidence of ingenuity in the details, by the depicting of rusty nails, and damp letter-press, and deal frameworks so strangely actual in their semblance as to reveal even the grain of the wood and the influence of dry-rot on its particles. Dyce, unlike Maclise, has contributed a really splendid production, also in its subject relating to our national literature—a work of daring simplicity in design, of surprising energy in conception, and of the most satisfactory finish in re gard to the mere manipulation of the painting, devoid at once of unnecessary minuteness and unpardonable affectation. We allude, of course, to (No. 77) his " King Lear and the Fool in the Storm," a work in which, with a true Shulesperian eye to contrast, he has blended together the grotesque and the pathetic, the fantastic and the sublime, placing in the midst of a tu multuous agitation of the atmosphere the old mad King, crowned as with a diadem of calamities, and that strange comrade of his—the most mar vellous of all the marvellous Fools of the most wonderful of all wonderful Dramatists. In Lear the artist has proved his extraordinary powers, among other things, by a rather uncommon and adven turous achievement, namely by depicting him fore shortened with flowing draperies, a labour of ingenuity almost miraculous in its accomplishment. In the Fool he has effected yet more, ho has demonstrated a wild and subtle imagination, whether we look upon that face gross and almost bestial in its lack of "speculation," yet delicate and almost beautiful in the tenderness of its half-awakened solicitude, or regard that attitude so en tirely expressive of carelessness in the negligent tossing up of the feet as Motley lies full length upon his chest along the heath. Standing in front of the picture we can fancy to ourselves the weird and howling sough of the wind blowing among the silver tresses of Lear and jangling the tawdry bells of the Fool in the midst of the roar ing of the thunder and of the hurricane. Landseer,not less than Dyce, surpasses himself this season by a brilliant and admirable illustration of Shakspere. His theme is (No. 157) the love scene between " Bottom and Titanic"—the weaver with a head so astoundingly asinine, and the enamoured queen of the flip with a face and figure so exquisitely suggestive of Feify land ! Even to the little bronze-complexioned elf in the foreground, standing with his tiny muscular legs astraddle in front of the clownish victim of the metamorphosis, daring him with all the pluck of a microscopic audacity, to the other and daintier elves swarming about the rest of the green wood, dangling from the branches, shaking down the dewdrops, or riding on those visionary rabbits with eyes as pink as any shade of mother-o'-pearl, and wool as fleecy as eider dawn. The production is a dclightfcl example of those rare powers which have recently gained this master his knighthood. Leslie, etriving equally with the foregoing to realize the dreams of the same inarrior -tal poet, hakendeqvuured to depict (No. 140) " Falstaff aipersonating t ahe ,Kitege" but neither the P. ince, nor the rascally old wit, his companion, can be regarded as in any respect successful performances. The hostess, on the other hand, is the most sniggering of fun-tickled housewives, Francis the most dapper and complaisant of tapsters, and Bardolph, with his red bulbous nose and his drooping eyelids, the most self-possessed and self satisfied of tope's. Webster might be said almost as truthfully as Turner and Mulready to have refrained from sharing iu the present reason ' s competition ; for we can scarcely be tempted to accept as tokens of his ability the three trifling studies (Nos . 106, 108, and 173) he has this 3-ear contributed to the Exhibition. Not so Withering ton, whose sylvan representation of (No. 179) " Midsummer " is a masterpiece of rare and fascinating excellence. To the very robin feeding its young upon the foot trail through the copse, the artist's labours in this charming picture have been grateful in every par ticular. Stanfield's (No. 196) " Battle of Roveredo," one of his large war-scenes, ill which a con fused assemblage of fighting-men, is introduced in a vast and mountainous landscape, painted as Stanfield alone can paint it, will be viewed, we doubt not, with universal pleasure as a fine example of the manner of this di tinguished artist in his very happiest mo ments. Throughout the picture has been " worked up" with an extraordinary regard to its com pleteness, whether it be, for instance, in the faintest veil of clouds on the Alpine ridges, or in the smouldering beam of wood tumbled among the ru i ns i n the valley. Poole's noble painting of (No. 344) " The Goths in Italy"—the only work from his hand in the collection, but one which cannot fail to elevate and en hance his reputation very remarkably —arrests the at tention of the visitor as one of the most successfal pro ductions in the exhibition, and this, moreover, in the very highest school of art. Tne subj ect s to have been suggested by the following agor geousppear passage from Gibbon's " Decline and Fall'. " And the principal warriors insulted the hills and gardens once inhabited by Lucullus and Cicero, along Their the beauteous coasts of Campania. trembling captives, the sons and daughters of Roman senators, presented, in goblets of gold and gems, large draughts of Falernian wine, to th e haughty victors, who stretched their huge limbs under t'' e shade of plane trees, artificially dieposed to exclude the scorching rays, and to admit the genial warmt h of the sou. These deli , lit; were enhanced by the m en , ory of past hard;hips: the coinparis, n of their native soil, the bleak and barren hills of Scythia, and the frozen banks of the Elbe and Danube, added new c harms to the felicity of the Italian climate." Taking his inspiration from this paragraph, golden has, with t h e powerful hand of a master , in a composi tion of m he) arvalleus beauty, real.zed t t h e artist and vo luptuous :uncles of the annalist. To these, moreo ve r,t he has added the fruits of his own poetical Per,c_eT iviY and of a sensuous and abounding imagination., group ing the work is everywhere immeasurably superior while to in colouring, also, of Poole's previous produetione,fl triumphant over also, we cannot but re g ard itas 4 1 '1 7 impracticable every difficulty. What would be vt most men he has fully accomplished—imparting im artieg towhitihs flesh-tints in the open air alt tto glowing . P warmth of figure to a w n a a r t t n t ie n a e l e p en ro tr p e or i t s io b n •u s r ; vitality. The naked of is the handmaid in chequered prieingly perfect in isito. episode to the and the bending form light and shade, is toter an n o e n x e q u- Iv° 'nay take occasion to main composition. TO THE SECRETARY OF THE BRADFOR REFORM ASSOCIATION. (EVERY MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY.) Sir,—On Monday the Mb, considerable interest attached to the declaration of the Government as to its future proceedings on the subject of the Income Tax. The Minister declared with frankness, that the Govern ment bowed to the decision of the House whereby the Income Tax was only given fcr one year; but he an nounced with equal clearness, that the arranged system of taxation, inctuding removal of Window Tax and alteration of Coffee and Timber duties, could not go ors unless the House agreed that there should be no more changes. On Thestlay'it Rtholution ivaiinoved in Committee of the whole House, for proceeding to lighten the charges on the agriculturists, by substituting an equalized Poor's Rate in England and Wales. This is the first appearance noted in the House, of an idea which has been several times met with out of doors. Surely if an invention were wanted for increasing the expense of maintaining paupers, nothing could be discovered like determiniug that one set of men should everywhere spend, and another should pay. There appeared to be considerable unanimity in this persuasion; and the motion was con sequently withdrawn. A Motion followed by Lord Naas, for a Committee to take into consideration the present mode of levying the duty on home-made spirits in bond. The Govern ment resisted it, on the ground so strongly put forward on former occasions, of the necessity for maintaining the duties it is least desirable to alter, as the means of al tering those it is most. The motion resulted in a vote of 159 against 159; and the Speaker, according to some rule existing on such occasions, gave his casting vote for the motion, which was consequently carried. The Member for Sheffield proceeded to what in pulpit phrase is called " improve the occasion," by asking the Minister it he did not thereupon intend to resign. 'rho Minister replied with firmness, that ho should take his own counsel. There appeared some probability of a second division, on the question being proposed in the Com mittee; bat it finally ended in reporting progress, and the question is to come on again on Friday. The theory of all this is clear. The Protectionists are so strong, that whoever chuses to joie with them, as in the actual case the representatives of the Irish and Scotch distillers, may show a powerful front. Thus at the present moment, the fates of Europe and the world perhaps hang upon whiskey. I am, Sir, yours very sincerely, AN OLD REFORMER. London, 7 May, 1851. THE HoN. MRS.•NORTON'S NEW NOVEL, "STUART OF DUNLEATE."—The Examiner, in its notice of this charm ing story, says :—" Like the crystal fountain among the fountains of the Crystal Palace, this novel shines among the new novels of the year pre-eminent and peerless. No prose work of equal power has yet come from the pen of Mrs. Norton, and we are glad to announce her return tea field of composition which she has already so successfully cultivate:l, by a notice of the present contribution of her genius to the vast wilderness of novelty, instruction, and delight which May has opened to our metropolis. Stuart of Dunleath' is a very beautiful and touching story. While Eleanor and Margaret are each, in their Eeveral ways, among the most lovely creations that ever graced a romance or a home, the subordinate c haracters are likewise remarkable for the mas terly touch and bold individuality with which they are drawn." [ADVERTISEMENT.]--Belr 8 Life in London, of May 4, veva over three columns of cricketing, including a column of the opening dinner at Grillon's Hotel—names of the thirty-five new members —the All-England Matches to come, sze.—and also five columns of the four days' doings at Chester, &c., &c. The average sale of Bell's Life excee's t hi r ty thousand. Bells Li f e is re g ularl y p ublished at fouri o'clock on Saturday morning, in time for all the morning Gen oi T gives mails and railways. Turin and an N a o c v . i o to o 3 f 6 ta t , l h i e receipts amounted The borriere Mercantile of xp T en h s e es a t v o er l a ac count oafdtdhuarrizitpht:;telxBpseon.diTtuhre: If. ; thus leaving an 66 d 1,2 th 5 e 51! 0 , 703 circulation was 700 t a o n l e , t 6:i p S ro l fi 6 t i o f. f , pa:angers per day. particularize other works of incontestable rnerit fit:nw the hands of other contributors t o t h e Royal REstwOrTA.73ll/41:1' dcmy exhibition. Among. these the delicious fivictfv-itiih;-t, produced by Lee and Cooper, ocen - FY - cuspicucas position ; together with the eh ar thi ng • mythological picturqs of Frost and Pickersgili,' thd Willtie-like productions of Gs , oclall, and the bu tno re us paintings of Frith, of Egg, and of Solcaums..; Never before, perhaps, were the rooms of the Academy so alarmingly crowded with portraits, but, fortunately, they represent this year so many of our eminent contemporaries, that they are in some measure invested with Interest and redeemed from monotony. During tee private view of Friday we observed an untitnal attendance of notabilities, and on the following day the annual dinner given by the Academicians and the associates passed off with a success in the highest de gree satisfactory. 4 . ri NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT. (rßom ouR. OWN CORRESPONDENT.) REPRESENTATION 01? THE ISLE OF +NIGHT. Tn" reiignation of Mr. C. Ceveodish Clifford caused great r:joicings in the Tory cacao yesterday, but gloom came with the morrow in the shape of the undermel - address, from Edward Dawes, Esq., of St. Helen's, a Protestant, a Liberal, a .Free Trader, and a Reformer. He solicits the suffrages of the electors, and a 1 1&, "It is my firm intention to go to the poll!" " Oh, dery says the Tories, " then we cannot." He has canvassed Ryde, and obtained a great majority of the votes. Re - addresses the Newpert electors this even ing:-- " TO TIKE ELECTORS OF TIIE COUNTY OF THE ISLE OF " Gentlemen,—n av i ng been solicited by a respectable body of the electors to allow myself to be proposed as a candidate for the representation of the Isle of Wight, I have consented, in consequence of the retirement of Mr. Clifford, to the application. " Possessing property in land, I am deeply interested in the prosperity 05 the agricultural classes; but I am thoroughly satisfied that the free-trade policy of the present day has produced a higher degree of happiness and con tentment amongst the people, and greater prosperity to the kingdom at large, than would hare been obtained under the pretence for a f s s o r e but it has hostility old system of corn-laws and high duties upon the general tecel of the population. In my opinion, fre e t ra d e has not every o d u isar ly i m n e increased d e d t d h i e sa c ff o Government, and probably saved the country from con f us i on and ruin. At the same time, I deeply lament that the tran sition from protection to free trade has entailed any amount of distress on the agriculturists; and i I thinkt due t o th at valuable class of the community, that Parliament should in vestigate their complaints, and give them_ every possible relief, short of taxing the food of the people. I believe, however, that, while Parliament may devise some remedy, the landlords themselves must do much in the re-adjust ment of rents to the actual state of things; more especially as they th emse l ves participate in the genera l prosperity of the country consequent on the reduction of taxation and the cheapening of all the necessaries, and many of the com forts of life. " With respect to Papal Aggression, I would resist every pretension of Popery which is inconsistent with the dignity of this country, and with our civil and religious rights; and especially I would support any measure for placing conven tual establishments under salutary inspection, and for regu lating bequests devised for religious or charitable uses. I would restrict the Church of Rome to the same amount of religious liberty, and the same means for its propagation, as are enjoyed by other religious denominations. " As a member of the Church of England, I am mortified to perceive that the aggressions of the Papacy have been en couraged by a party within the Establishment. My own ar dent desire is to see that Church administered according to the intentions of our noble Reformers. I should wish to see its internal administration reformed, and its revenues more equally distributed, so as to render them subservient to the happiness and usefulness of the great body of the clergy. With regard to the Dissenting bodies, I cheerfully admit the immense services they have rendered to the cause of Chris tianity in every part of the British empire, and I shall al ways be ready, as far as I can, to aid in maintaining their rights and privileges. I am prepared" to consent to a well-considered measure for the extension of the suffrage, so as to keep pace with the increasing education and influence d the people, believin g that in proportion as th e f oundat i ons of our constitution can be safely enlarged, the fabric itself is strengthened. " In conclusion, I have only to say that, so far as depends on me, the canvass for your suffrage shall be carried on in a spirit of fairness and candour towards those electors who differ from me, and that, if elected as your representative, I shall endeavour to serve you faithfully. " It is my firm intention to go to the p o ll . " Should the shortness of time or other circumstances pre vent a personal canvass, I trust that this pl a i n statement of my principles will be deemed satisfactory by the great body of the electors. " I have the hononr to be, gentlemen, your obedient servant. " DIVAS]) DANES. " St Hclen's House, St. Helen's, Isle of Wight, May 6, 1851." CO URT CIRCULAR. Her Royal Highness the fouclres;ofßl;;,attended by the Baroness de Speth, went to Frogmore yesterday morning. Her Ruyal Highness returned to Clarence House in the after noon. His Royal Highness Prince Frederick William of Prussia, attended by Colonel Fischer and Lieutenant Von Heinz, visited and inspected the British Museum yesteiday morning. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent visited her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, on Monday, at elouces ter House. A deputation from Marylebone, Paddington, Kensington, Bayswater, &c., against the proposed ride in Kensington gardens, headed by Lord Robert Grosvenor, Archdeacon Siucl-ir, and Mr. J. Evans, M.P., had an interview yester day with Lord S - ymour, at the office of her Majesty's Com missioners of Woods and Forests, in Whitehall-place. The deputation consisted of Colonel Barlow, Major Willock, Major Grafton, Major Thew, Captain Deacon, R.N., Rev. Dr. Hessey (Head Master cf the Grammar School), Rev. J. D. Howlett, Rev. J. S. Sperling, Mr. Vincent (Deputy Remem brancer of the Exchequer), Mr. Shaw, Mr. Malcolmson, Mr. Henry Burslem (churchwarden of the parish of Paddington). Mr. John Sperling (Kensington Palace-gardens), :Mr. W. P. Richards (Kensington), Mr. Alex. Boetefeur (Bayswater), Dr. Bayford, Dr, Waddilove, Messrs. Clarke, Revell Phillips, •T. Goodeve, M. E. Conan, W. IL A. Boyle, and Moreton Phillips (barristers); Messrs. J. E. Walters, G. Lefroy, and J. W ilkins (solicitors); Mr. Merriman (surgeon), Mr. Rougemont, Mr. C. Cope, ILA , Mr. Redgrave, R.A., Mr. E. Prentis, Messrs. Stephens, Laurence, Dickinson, Churchill, Coleman, Smith Williams, Danford, and J. E. Gray. The Earl of Lovelace and Colonel Brown bad an interview with Earl Grey yesterday at the Colonial-office. Dr. Ryer.. son bad also an interview Iv ith the Noble Earl. Mr. Arthur Sleigh, Deputy Chairman of the Canada, New Brunswick, and - Nova Scotia Railway Company, accom panied by Mr. Andrew Clarke and Mr. James Davidson, had an interview yesterday with Earl Grey at the Golonial office. A deputation, consisting of Lard Robert Grosvenor, M.P., Mr. Wm. Tylee, Mr. John Pearson, Mr. John Bar re tt, an d Mr. James Lloyd, had an interview yesterday with Lord Seymour on the proposed park for Finsbury. Idessrs. Harrison Watson, Edmund Leahy, and Matthew Leahy, had an interview with Earl Grey yesterday at the Colonial-oftice. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. Vengeance, 84, Captain Lord Edward Russell, took in her powder on Monday. There are no orders at Portsmouth to fill her crew. Victoria and Albert, royal yacht, Captain Lord A. Fitz• Clarence, was t a k en out of dock at Portsmouth on Monday, and remains in the basin, where she will be masted, coaled, and prepared further for summer service. .Seagull ; 6, packet, Lieutenant-Commander Sm all, and Spider, 6, Lieutenant-Commander Tomlinson, have both been inuslered, inspected, and exercised at DerouPort by Captam Lowe, of the lag-ship Impregnable; and in the afternoon f Monday both sailed into harbour to be paid off. Died on Monday, in King-street, Southsea, after a short illness, Mr. John M. E. Sadler , so n of Captain Sadler, R.N. princip i l clerk in the master - att endant's office in Portsmouth dockyard. I3ULTrE INTELLIGENCE. L UGH-STREET. JiAlt—BO R 0 Pousu Szukzewski, secr e t ary to the suoCiation of the Fri e nd s o f P oland, in m oral character of th e P o li s h refugees, by ‘, justice to e od y they are distingui s h e d, an d to prevent soy ura l u e prejudice in the p u bli c m i nd, wishes to Literary sa th bRAEeF s c tht hat the purport of his remark s to Mr. Hard wick, in the caso of Joseph Mierzejewski, France sent from to England by the French authorities, was somewhat misunderstood. His meaning was, that the French authorities acted generally with severity to wards Polish refugees, and that the French Govern ment was not scrupulous about sending Poles over to this country, not only on account of their poll.. tical conduct, but on account of other offences not political, which the law of France could reach if put in force. The inference likely to be drawn from the report of the conversation with Mr. Hardwick, that all the Bo °_ Pules were men o f di sreputable character, Was not o . rect. For tho ug h some were, no doubt, persons worthy of con s i derat i on, the general body were of od _ character, an d deserving of sympathy from th 1r rnts fortunes. e__r_ RA Ts 'ILWAY SHARE MARma BRISTOL, MAY 6* was fiat to-day y transact ion a STOCK EXCHAIIGE.—The share market and prices h a d a d ownwar d t en d enc y. sh al ares, onl WA—Smith reported were—Great Western, Origin Eastern and Dover, 28'. a n r g ket continues in a 14 11-16-- di downwards. The 6 Y 3 e,London and. North -West- STOCK EXCHANGIL very depressed stat i e l , V w E it il h P ;; ; M :C f al 6 ed . ._Caledonian Lancr.shire and Yorkshire, .....kridland, 631 / 2 —Ditto, Halves. transactions to-day were as ern, New Quarters, 5 . 5 _ 11 _ and Dover, 27%—York, Newcastle, —The sli s arls o m. 12Y R dis.—tiouth-E ter.' " york and North Blidiand, 26%—Ditto, and Berwick, WA -- Preference, 1% di s. m pNCIIESTER, MAY 6. o ,The market h as b een very inanimate S TOCK EXCHAS , further decline took plat The e in prices. to-day, and a re as follow :—Eastern Counties, 7 3 4—Great transactions were Lanciabire and Yorkshire, 63—Manchester, Northern, 1 61 h d Lincolnshire, New 61• P • reference, 9-16 c. p.— Sheffield, " n • North Bliti , SIRMIINGIIAM, MAT 6. , ,„,,, ExcuaricE. • The market was firm to-day, but ° I.1 " - t!) e -1 -.. . busines:. do ing 5 ..s S 1 ight. Th e transact i ons were as fia iow:—London aid NortlOVestern, New Quarters, •5; 3 1 I' l ' S O Uth Stallbrclshire, 2 dis. i'ORK, MAY 5. were as STOOK EXCRA NGE.—The transactions to-day follow :—Caledoniati, 15—North British, Preference, bl. s 3d. —Ycrk and NOltil Midland, 27. informn.t len we can rely upon, THE LATE FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT..a7FrOM the sufferers only two persons (Mr. Hurry i t would Air. Happier) a a i i ) n p ? e u r ands offered by the had availed themselves of the advantages not one of Lailway Passengers Assurance those who were killed had taken C° eiFt o ri p a2 re ' aution. The i g _information of this di rectors of that company, upon Mr. Barnard Holt, of sad calamity, dispatched their to render render every tvsistance in the Westminster Hospital, his power, and thus endeavouri to render efficient and imme to carry out as far as possible their compact with the nu MONTFORH.—The morta re- THE LATE LORD diate aid in all cases of emergen c y . 4 ented nobleman will be final' re mains of this much-Jun posited at the Catacombs , Kemal-green Cemetery. k ,ord's y the to one ;tion ; notch case e up ire ril, ad AU oh ^n I