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

~~ as sell as Bishop of Rome. He might cease to be Prince of Rome to-morrow, but he would stilt b' the B rt , io i i s i h g °ll l, of Remo, t h e h ea d of the Roman Catholic ,frons wh om t h ey derive their spiritual power, and the very essence of the Catholic religion, and to say to th e Cathodes, that th e y s h a ll not h ave " is h°P 3 who derive their power from the Pope bleb ums, is t o say to them—you shall not have - . ps to c on f er on you the spiritual comforts of your reHglona-(Hear, hear.) In other w or d s , it w a s gr o s s '.-,lPeisecution. — (Hear, hear.) But h e was t o b e m e t w ith , 110 words —ag gress i on on her Majesty's prerogative, 4 1 ) 0.1 aggression, territ or i a l aggress i on. There was a phrase that had been int ro d uce d b y our A mer i can • fr iende it was called the table of political capital.-- aisu h g -t er.) It was an admirable speculation, with no , , capital at all, for the gaining of some—(Laughter)— ca.stathe thought the Noble Lord was obtaining political Tthp.iyials tithe faith of this proposition.—(Hear, hear.) of territorial aggression. Now, he charged Ise Noble Lord (and he always looked to him to deal rt .'n,kly) with dealing falsely on the present occasion t ,tte the people of this .—(EI, hear.) was n° new Papal aggression o f which country ear he now complained . ' • thing.—(H ear , h ear .) H e was aware of it, ludroust have been aware of it for years.—( Hear, hear.) 14Pigland, the Noble Lord said, has been parcelled out ? a forei gn power—by the Pope of Rome; but when? • • The other day, when this bull was introduced, and a • 'Clirdinal created, and Dr. Wiseman declared to be an ti f ehbis h°P? But w as t h at the first territorial aggres had the first partition of England? Ever sinc e h e there4own England he had known Catholic bishops to be Take, for instance Bishop Baynes, he was called .Alliat v or Siga; he had a district that included the west iti f g`and, anti was, in reality, Bishop of Bath. He ' akblr• Ro.ebueli) therefore happened to know something the uta tth- Now he derived his power directly from Tae .9V°. He was a bi s h op consecrated by the Pope. Peculiar powers of a bishop he exercised directly 4 131 the p o r. o He was also vicar apostolic. Now Co at e " ° " 8 that mean? It will appear that 'i 1 " from the Pope having lately acquired 1 1;7" he has divested himself of power; and that hom this being ai aggression it is a retrogres -"•-- (Rear, hear.) And that so far from encroaching '. gaons_tse prerogative of her Majesty, ho has given, as re rde ecclesiastical matters, the Catholic people of Eng the power of governing themselves.—(Hear, hear.) Z n Ws change was made the Catholic Bishop in 0 i g tld.was like a legate a latera; the Pope was the Y ''' i3ll °P of England, the Pope was the person who feerieraptded tit Bishop , ano to whom everything was re , 6 11i ; t : and, through his vicars apostolic, governed this saidilyakese; en tirely in religious matters so far as the ti „ ---t ?Aioa were concerned.--(Heer.) Then it was said, • bY era make • ' a hierarchy, and the bishops will be elected 1-- o , ha in England.—(An Hon. Member, "No, no.") the Honourable Gentleman would find nhtratelf mistaken: the bishops would be elected by on . England. subject, certainly, to the 1-4"ritobation of the Pepe; but the vicars lie were . not appOinted by ' any persons in England, ere ippointed by the Pope, they wore under his 4 ° l , they were his servants—his slaves, he might say the ° power o f t h e P ope was supreme.—(Hear, that.) Ent oh, it i s sa id there i s much more in it than i E e Re i s called Archbishop of Westminster. He i, a ' fl . d e 'o ct Dr. B a i nes was called Bishop of Siga in partibus ; but suppose he was call e d Bi s h o p o f B at h " 018 9 what diff erence would i t make, or where 1 73 , 1 i1 be p t the aggression on her Majesty's prerogative? hear.) To have such an assertion made by 20_ greatest man amongst them, so far as power was eon greatest .Was preposterous. ould it tend to violate 14• her a Majesty's prerogative t'atit Dr. Wiseman should be .11ed Archbishop of Westininster instead of beingcalled - Melipotamus? How was her prerogative Ose s 7 e ` 4 by a mere ch ange o f wor d s , or w h at was t h e ~ ,46,- tr g L a the aggressio n up on i t ? H e h a d read— ie e had not re a d, he had g lanced over—columns di d et:quoins of rubbi s h a b out the matter ; but it pnot settle the point. It was one of the glorious , of this House that they could bring matters to a Dot on in a calm and temperate spirit. Here they were 11',1,sroong a roarin,, set of sectarians, but in this House, Terer humble th individual, only let him say fairly hid honestly whatever he may have to state—only let la Nese r calmly and dispassionately—and this House th ft , , l sten to him.—(Hear, hear.) Therefore it was , 0 4 - 1. 1.. e was confident, not in himself', but in the simple our vlzentof truth which he had to make, and which he was I n :, would make his country, by and by, ashamed of the . • ' ' fTr a tt of the persons who had stirred up this commotion. sesame , hear.) But he wanted:to know what was the o b - ""ing of this word aggression? Had the law been • p p ilt !ged ? Not at all. He, however, wanted to deal : e t a l'elY with the matter, as the Noble Lord had this lie wanted to ask what was the meaning of all je l i o n .°i , e? Where was the aggression upon her Ma. th 4 ,: gl Prerogative. He wanted to know what was til ° ,7 e it'ling of this word aggression? Had the law bean te:Lged? Not at all. He wanted to deal with this mat , her g i r rai 'elY, and he ask e d w h ere was th e aggress i on upon ' aiesty' s p rerogat i ve, because Dr. Wiseman chose to A t ; nitasell cardinal, or because some person else chose w e al' him cardinal, and he dressed himself in a large hat, bi' l LPttt on red stockings, and called himself Arch tlii;uP; of Westminster ? He wanted not to treat th,-„ lii a ludicrous manner, but he could not ou could it without doing so.—(Hear, hear.) . Y oot b „ I , of an aggression without making an a ttack existing law with a view to is stra t isaid that this pretended „ r •ou ; but it was sel s gres sion would interfere with the loyalty of t o Z e , of our fellovie citizens. Did anybody believe that 5,,,;;‘ bid any body believe that th e C a th o li cs o f t hi s th t rY, the C a th o li cs o f E ng l an d , w h o were amongst 1 - most decent, the moat sulornivsive, and he : 11 , 14 bay were among the most humble' of her Majesty's ".leets, could, of all people in the world, be accused of j e l i 4 t il ;ng to make . an aggression upon her Ma prerogative. Did any ono believe that, Ii dC h P,IY because Dr. Wisemen was called Car- W - "at Archbishop of Westminster? The thing was ?Posterous. Some time ago, in the year 1849, the tr °noll rable Baron e t o pp os it e , th e M em b er for the u ni versity of Oxford, drew the attention of Noble Lord to this very subject of the g ar hierarchy. By the way, the Honourable cepsh t was the only consistent man amongst them, ex . pc the gentleman who stood opposite to him (mean -1.• bo. unnaelf)—(Lond laughter)—and he (the Ho _ ntable Baronet), if any one deserved it, really ton,erited the honour of bein g ma d e A rc hbi s h op ' ne eat nainster, if they must h ave suc h a di gn i ty . j_ 'Honour a bl e G entleman had been consistent from I.7ginning to end. From the beginning he had said, • I You are wrong, you ought to have kept them down ; have no business to make these advances." hi mself, was the principle the Hon. Baronet laid down for d_ii.dtusneoltf..foiltoww;asbount,en, now, in which the Noble Lord in 1851, the Noble Lord had d wuttoovered that he had been in error, and ~,_!1 therefore ready to become a partizan t a e Honourable Gentleman opposite. In re p l y the Hon. Gentleman, the Noble Lord in 1849 rpads _se of the following words;—" You must either / give advantage s to the Roman Catholic religion, an , u ir b ao ln_ from . the Pope certain other advantages in return, tre at :Z :ll ' 4i You must stipulate that the Pope shall not the Y dioceses in England without the consent of • 14tiee n; or, on the other hand, you must say that you will have nothing to do with arrangements of that k i nd --that you will not consent in any way, to give any tothority to the Roman Catholic religion in England. itt.tty.then, you must leave the spiritual authority of the spiritual ebtirely unfettered. You cannot bind the Pope's 7lritual influence unless you have some agreement. For 12Pwn part, I aoi not disposed to think that it would 7 i or the advantage of this country, or that it would be 7an_, able to the Roman Catholics, that we should have ,;.4_ll._treement with the Pope, by which their religious 4,72ll4ertients should be regulated. But although you oisprevent- any spiritual au th or it y f rom b e i ng exer htiv...."4 1 1 , the Pope by law,y et there is no provision—no Poo, a la Pjlon- Friend could fram e t h at wou ld d epr i ve t h e Wind t i rinfluen ce which is m ere l y exerc i se d over t h e 1111 7 was a statement that th ey cou ld not i mpose arc or or disabilities which would have the effect of ex as,,t,F, ' lany control Over the minds of R oman C atho li cs. srdinta Wiseman came here 'powerles s , w i t h out noeifluenee except sp i r i tua l i n fl uence, wielding tdd r ‘ 44l l` but the' power of mind over man, and spi r i t i nIC himself simply to those who believed in his and he defied the 11 0111 4841 tn ilaenee.' ' This aggression, t i rd „,,i. to prove otherwise, apish ' ' cobsuithaeut._•Ca- Thoultinetconsisted wholly in the of the Pope over those who believed faith. Now he suspected that there that, iiat- ,° 0 found a person less subject to tisk; s d omination than the person who now ad -4'°ftsl:,-„„:"'il°o'se.—(Laughter.) It seemed to him ono at.range phenomena with which the human :tbounded, and for which he could not account. - 16 4 ( Zar•) The Catholics bowed to the Pope, the . • eookil-tdists, bowed to the Conference, and the Elms t11;71118 to that House, but eventually that House WS3 blet oft ferenee of the kingdom, for the Queeu's supre !Ng leant the supremacy of the Minister, and the tier i , ln aeY of the Minister meant the opinion of that tto 'ej:-.(Laughter.) He (Mr. Roebuck) bowed to the A eet as e es and would continue to do so, whatever its hika and would hear.) He did net arrogate to trutE e `__` the right of judging what was the t itn . or of intruding himself on his fellow-subjects, be an he differed from them; and he could tell his dis :tiZthg brethren; whom he did not intend to join, that *4 lll Itald be careful, for they wore not yet out of the if ts-Alalghter, and cheers.) They might find, aa„,,Y introduced this principle with regard to -.41.11 "Catholics , that the whip would be applied to their Nvio, " Itt.k s — (Larighter)—and he most say that if there it w a t l 3' mats who would rejoice at seeing the infliction i ttis as hi mself.—(Laughter.) Then he had to ask, pies s. bat e no excuse for Roman Catholics on the riti v .t,t occasion ? H a d th ey d one anything which gi t r a :',lq have subjected them to insult as a Teti ißon: Kl y?—(Hear.) Was the Noble Lord wholly llt} ,nt' of th e B equests Act ? H e could hardly fancy not v as. Certain he was that Lord Clarendon was for stsaio rant of it; neither was the Secretary of State r te . t,hu- Colonies. He might have mistaken the each. ' r ig •of the Act, but it was quite clear he knew Us', „Li Act "'as in existence. Now, a person comes to tal L ut t rY anti calls himself cardinal, rind says he ob t neatas-power from the Pope. Now, were Roman thltthelica not led to believe that they might do this if sa: / f 1i , 1 "4, without any Act of Parliament? for that is Aar way of stating the case. By the Bequests 'let Commission was appointed under her Majesty's 3'Patent, and Roman Catholic Bishops acted from lis ttt• to year on that Commission, and were sallow t,„„p_d year their different titles by the Adminis p,7"„,3- He held in his hand the third rashest of the Commissioners, which contained a their 4 . 3 airp, o f meeting, and at one of these flighetuits he found among the Members assembled the t ,, Hon. Mr. Justice Keating, who occupied the chair, .7 1 _S_-_(.traoe the Lord Primate, and his Grace the #4o4ishop of Dublin t then came the name ' al l et" .` the Lord AjekbilhOp Daniel THE SUN, Murray, without mentioning Archbishop of where. The Roman Catholic prelates of Ireland were centitiu ally addressed by the authorities of this country; for instance, the Archbishop of Armi4h was called the Lord Archbishop. The Archbishop of Dublin was addressed by hie title, altanugh it was in the face of a peal Act of Parliament. An Honourable Member behind him had favoured him with a paper, being an order ramie by her AiajEsty, showing the precedence which she was pleased to grant to parties who had the right of entree to the Castle. The order was, first the Primate of Ireland, then the Lord Chan. cellor, then the Archbishop of Dublin, and then the Roman Catholic Primate, P o that he came before all the Protestant bishops.—(Hear, hear.) Here we had a man acknowlecipd by her Majesty's special order as a Roman Catholic Archbishop. Now he (Mr. Roebuck) would beg Hon. Members to mark what this proceeding on the part of her Majesty's Go • • vernment was. There was a❑ Act of Parliament against tl - is very thing, and yet the Queen had entirely vut aside the authority of that Act. Her Majesty's Minis ters must be taken to have been aware nt• this ord-r. It must hie bcon known to the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary for Ireland, as the order must have issued from his office. Sir WILLIANI SOMERVILLE - was understood that he was not aware of the fact to which the Hon. Memoir alluded. Mr. ROEBUCK said he could not help thinking that some one was answerable for the act. What he wished to impress upon the House with reference to this subject wa,, that this was a proceeding of the Government, land that the document relating to it was so public that it wan a most important fact. He (Mr. Roebuck) believed that the Roman Ca tholics had with the most perfect innocence and without objection on the part of any one, always excepting the Hon. Baronet the Member for the University of Ox ford, assumed these titles. The true history of this transaction was that it was an act which had long been contemplated by the Roman Catholics. As early as the year 1847 they contemplated the assumption of these titles. He (Mr. Roebuck) held in his hand a Roman Catholic Directory of the year 1847. In that directory, under the head of the " London Directory," was the name of the Most Reverend N. Wiseman, D.D., Archbishop of Westminster. Ho (Mr. Roebuck) might be told that he was not Archbishop of Westmin• ster. Tho fact was, that it was the intention of the Pope to have made him an Archbishop, but then came the revolution, and he was obliged to leave Rome; but when he came back he made him an Arch bishop, and the Directory was published in anti cipation of the appointment. It could not be doubted that our Minister st Florence was aware of all this. When reople talked about Acts of Parliament and przemunire, and invading the Queen's authority, it would be well to bear in mind that Government had exposed themselves to the effects of that penal and mys terious Act of Parliament for sending a re presentative to Rome.—(Elear, hear.) In the year 1829 the late Sir Robert Peel stated that he would not interfere with Roman Catholics, or with the Wes leyans, or any other religious body. What difference was there between the Roman Catholics and the Wes ley ens with respect to their arrangements? He had a Ro man Catholic directory and a Wesleyan directory in the one he read under the head of the "London Directory," the Most Rev. N. Wiseman, D.D., Archbishop of Westminster, and in the " Wesleyan Die rectory," the Rev. John Mitchell, G. P., President of the Conference. If he (Mr. Roebuck) chose to call himself an archbishop, or chose to parcel out England, what harm was there in it? If he chose to call himself D.D., "Ass," or anything else, there would be no more Larm done than the Ca tholics had done by assuming these titles. It must be remembered that there were 8,000,000 of Ca tholics, one third ot the whole population was of hat faith, and at a time when, by lapse of time, they were forgetting their ancient prejudices and living in peace with each other, was it worthy of the Noble Lord who had so long been an advocate of civil and re ligious liberty to aid a feeling which had its source in religious hate ; was it worth his while for the sake of a flattering popularity, to lend his name to a movement which was nothing more than the old Puritanical bigotry breaking out in the nine teenth century. Upon the other subjects of the Address they all seemed to be of the same opinion, and had it net been for this unfortunate dispute they would not only have passed the Address unanimously, but perhaps something more.—(Cheers.) Sir R. INGLIS said, when the Hon. and Learned Gentle man asked what was meant by Papal aggression, and when he attempted to throw ridicule upon the proceedings on the part of the people of this country for the last three months, he (Sir R. Inglis) would ask whether, it such proceedings had taken place in any other country in Europe, war would not have been the inevitable result? When the Hon. and Learned Member spoke of Papal aggression as almost beneath contempt, he would ask whether the Hon. and Learned Gentleman did not know, from history, that there was no country in Europe in which such a measure as that which the Pope had now attempted to inflict on England would not have met with universal reprobation ? The partition of England by the Wesleyan Methodists admitted of no com parison with that attempted by the Pope. Did the Wes leyan Methodists, or any other religious denomination in this country, seek to usurp authority over the consciences of the people, or any other kind of jurisdiction? The Pope treated England as a country of infidels; as if she had no Crown or Church, but that the people were as heathenish as the natives of Otaheite before the missionaries had Christianized them. He had, in fact, ignored the existence of both the Crown and the Church of England. Would such an aggres sion have been attempted in Russia? If the Pope had presumed to address such a brief to the inhabitants of that great empire, the Emperor of Russia would have said that every Russian ship in the Black Sea and in the Baltic should have ran to the port of Civita Vecchia, and within three months the Pope would have been compelled to retract every indignity and insult cast against his sove reignty and his people. With respect to the language adopted in the Royal Speech, he considered his Noble Friend's letter of the 4th of November to be the text of that Speech, and, though the text was somewhat diluted by the commentary, yet he believed that the writer of it would be found equal to the language he had himself used.—(Hear.) The amount of Protestant feeling and principle which had lain latent to an extent no one expected had been strongly aroused by the occasion, and he hoped the movement would not terminate with the people themselves, but in the action of the Government. The addresses which had been pre sented expressed something more than attachment to the Throne—they showed the attachment of the nation to the Protestant religion and to the Church Establishment.— (Hear.) The Hon. Member for Sheffield censured the Go vernment for saying too much ; but he (Sir R. Inglis) cen sured them for saying too little. He hoped, however, they would not be deterred by any remarks of any Honourable Member from acting up, not only to the letter, but to the spirit, of the' Noble Lord's communication to the Bishop of Durham, which had struck such a fire into the very heart of England.—(Hear, hear.) From the body to which the Honourable and Learned Gentleman belonged (Mr. Roe buck) one of the most remarkable addressee to the Throne had emanated, and no class of the community, great or small, had refrained from stating their indignation at the attempt of the Bishop of Rome, and from calling for the protection of the Government. He was surprised the Hon. Seconder (Mr. Peto) had left almost untouched that great question, for no persons could be more interested in it than the Dissenters of England. The Church had protected dis• sent—her existence was essential to the religious freedom of the people. He would justify his vote for the Address on the ground that Government were held bound by the letter of the Prime Minister to give the Church that protection to which by law and custom she had been for centuries entitled. The Church was an essential element in the very constitution of England, and whatever weakened the Church, impaired that which, under God's blessing, had been the chief source of the greatness and glory of the country, and so long as that Church should be permitted to remain, so long he be lieved would England grow in all the elements of social grandeur, and continue to afford an example to all the nations in the world.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. J. O'CONNELL was happy that the party with whom he acted were not under the necessity of offering even the semblance of disrespect to the Crown by moving an amend ment to the Address. The Royal Speech claimed their alle giance and the support of the friends of religious liberty, and he would cheerfully respond to both those claims. He denied that the Hon. Seconder was correct in his inference that prosperity was returning in Ireland. Much had been said about the territorial allotment of England by the Pope among the new bishops; but, it they looked to the instru ment appointing the vicars-apostolic in 1840, they would see a precisely similar allotment. The Hon. Baronet said the Popewo u ldnot s h u a p v p e o v si e ng ntur t e h d at on to th b at e s t t r e u p e i , n w ay i c t ou n n ot tr3 but England. a, proud last for England to see she was so free that she did not set restrictions of any kind on religious freedom ? Would the Hon. Baronet wish England to follow the example of Russia? But when the Hon. Baronet made that statement he forgot the case of Ireland seventy years ago, when the Pope made appointments to sees without reference to the civil power; though it was quite true, notwithstanding what English history said, that he always sought the sanc tion of that authority whenever he could obtain it. As to the conduct of the Noble Lord in the matter, he could not add anything to what had fallen from the Hon. Member for Sheffield. After the letter he had written, in which he had gro-sly insulted the faith of his Catholic fellow -countrymen, it was expected that he might have attempted to carry out -what he threatened; but, as the Noble Lord had shrunk back, he would but earn the contempt of every friend of civil and religious liberty for the gross, unwar rantable, and wanton insult he had offered t o t h e pract i ces o f t h e religion I of a large body of his fellow- subjects. Mr. A. B. HOPE said that no one could feel more in• dignant than he did at the manner in which the heads of the Roman Catholic Church had proceeded in that matter, and at the way in which their organs in the public press had spoken of the extinct see of Canterbury, and had completely ignored the existence of the English Established Church. As a member of that Church, be was ready to fight to the last against such aggression. But they were not assembled in that House as members of the Church of England ; they were assembled there solely as representatives of the citizens of England—of a country pre-eminent throughout the world for the intelligence and enlightenment of its inhabitants, and above all for their enunciation of the great doc trine of liberty of conscience. Now he could not help thinking that those who advocated measures of extreme rigour upon that subject took the Tudor and Stuart view of liberty of conscience—a view which would lead to the hurrying of Cardinal Wiseman to the fires of Smithfield, and to the cropping of the ears of the Hon. Gentleman who had seconded the Address. They had in recent times repealed the abominable Test and Corporation Act, and had passed other measures calculated to ensure to the professors of every creed the great right of religious liberty; and it would now be too late for theta to adopt the practice of religious intolerance. In the recent measure, which had been so much denounced, the Roman Catholics had strictly conformed to the very letter of the Emancipation Act of 1829, which allowed their prelates to take their titles from any town or city which did not give its name to a bishop of the Established Church. He believed that the religion which he professed was based on truth, and he did not, there fore; think that its safety could be endangered simply be cause Cardinal Wiseman had changed his title. He looked upon the speech of the Hon. Baronet the Member for the University of Oxford as a great blow to our Church Estab lishment, and for his part lie certainly did not share in the apprehensions which the Hon. Baronet had expressed for the safety of that Establishment. Let them stand on the broad ground of justice, and he should have faith in the Crown of England and in the Church of Engla nd. Mr. ANSTEY said that i n consideeing that question they . should bear in mind that a great diffeience exieted between LONDON, the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland and the Roman Ca tholic Church in this country. In Ireland the Roman Ca tholic body , enjoyed the advantage of a long-established system of church government, which secured the rights of the laity, and of the minor clergy; while no such system prevailed among the Roman Catholics in England. In this country there had been a continual conflict between the Re man Catholic bishops on the one hand, and the Roman Ca tholic laity and clergy of the second order on the other, the subject of contention being the unseemly and unholy assum tion of an authority on the part of the prelate which would leave their spiritual subjects without the protection of any law, and would free themselves from the restraint of any usage or canon whatever. Petitions had been sent to Rome by Roman Catholic Clergymen and laymen praying for a removal of that anomalous state of things; but by the recent bull the See of Rome had decided the question against them. By the establishment of the proposed hierarchy the whole system of canon laws was expressly repealed, and the Roman Catholic bishops would be armed with irresponsible and unlimited powers. The result of that would be that the new system would become law to the Roman Catholics first, and afterwards to the courts of law in this country. Then they would have the Court of Chancery, under the administration of what was denominated the charity estates, called upon to enforce a Papal bull, by which the vested rights of English subjects would be annihilates.. It the whole body of the canon law were repealed, that passage in it which enacted that the donor of a chapel was to be its patron would be done away with; and the courts of law in this country, if appealed to, should acknowledge the validity of its abrogation. Now, what did the Address do? It recommended that subject to the consideration of Parliament. And surely there could be nothing im proper or unreasonable in such a recommendation. He asked on what ground did the whole course of legislation of mortmain proceed? Was it not on the ground that "undue influence" might have been exercised? Why did they interfere betweon the factory owner and the factory child ;—between the master and the young persons he em ployed? On the same grounds they should interfere in this case. They ought to recollect what were the penalties attachable to Roman Catholics for disobedience to spiritual authorities in spiritual matters. They ought not to stop with the barren and idle question of title; but they ought to take into consideration matters of higher and greater importance. They ought to deal with things and not with names. He then repeated what he had said on a former oc casion, that it was impossible to have an Archbishop of. Westminster without a hierarchy, that wan, without clerical election. He thought that it was true; but events had since falsified the opinion he entertained and had expressed in that - House, in reply to the Hon. Baronet the Member for Oxford, and he now regretted the deplorable change that had taken place in the political position of the Pope from what it had been in 1848. He believed that it was in the discretion of the Archbishop of Westminster whether he should return to England as archbishop or vicar-apostolic. The Cardinal had preferred the former. It was his opinion that for a Bill to be of use, it must go much farther than that which Ministers seemed to contemplate. If it did so he would vote for it; if it did not, if it were a mere Bill affect ing the titles of Roman Catholic prelates, he would vote against it. He would also vote against any. Bill which in connexion with such a subject as this should have relation to Ireland; because that was a country which was in a far different position from England; because it was a country that had never lost its hierarchy, never had accepted its canon law from the Pope or its delegates, but had ever re tained it from the days of St. Patrick. If a division were called for on this occasion he would support the Address. His determination was to offer his opposition to any Roman Catholic amendment. Mr. PLUMPTRE said, that during his public career he had never known, so deep, earnest, and indignant a feeling evolved as that which had been excited by the aggression of. the Pope; and he must declare his opinion that this feeling had not been responded to in a sufficiently strong and pointed manner in the Speech from the Throne.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") He would not dwell further on this point, but would wait—as the Protestant people of England would —to see what sort of Bill the Government intended to intro duce. He hoped the Bill would meet the case; but, if it should not do so, he would tell the Noble. Lord that the feel ing of the country would display itself with redoubled energy.—(Cheers.) The Noble Lord might depend upon this, that the Protestant people of England felt themselves placed in no ordinary position, and influenced by no ordinary feelings. They felt that their highest and holiest interests were at stake, and that they were determined, by every con stitutional means—in dependence on the aid and blessing of God—to maintain those interests. He called upon the Noble Lord faithfully to discharge his duty as Prime Minister— faithfully to adhere to the declarations made in his letter to the Bishop of Durham; let him act thus and the country would go with him. If, as was stated, some of the Noble Lord's colleagues were not disposed to co-operate with him in pursuing the course which he (Mr. Plumptre) recom mended, led him get rid of them.—(Cheers and laughter.) He believed that the country had no wish to get rid of the Noble Lord, but there were one or two of his colieagues whom the country would not be at all indisposed to dispense with.—( Hear, and laughter.) The Earl of ARUNDEL and SURREY said, that like the Hon. Gentleman who had preceded him, he would abstain from entering into any discussion on the important question at issue until the Bill of the Government should be before the House. He, however, was anxious to declare that should any attack— come from what quarter it might—be directed against the liberty of the Roman Catholic Church, he, in hie place in Parliament, would—he trusted temperately and constitutionally—oppose it to the best of his power. If any measures of persecution—coming from any quarter— should be carried through the House—for their oppo nents were strong, and the Catholic party weak—he trusted that his co-religionists knew how to suffer with firmness and dignity.—(Cheers.) Mr. FAGAN expressed his surprise at the Honourable and Learned Member (Mr. Anstey) speaking of the English Catholic Church as endowed, and contrasting it in that re spect with the Catholic Church in Ireland. It was his be lief that the Catholic Church in Ireland was richer than that in England; but neither was endowed, and, on that ground, Catholics protested against any .e tate interference with their ecclesiastical regulations.— (Hear, hear.) One reason why the secondary clergy of the Roman Catholic Church had continued so long without the rights which the same class enjoyed in every other country was, that the bishops who presided over them were not bishops in ordi nary ; but he understood that the result of the recent re script of the Pope was to make them so, and that it was only because of the great excitement which had existed during the last three months in this country that Archbishop Wise man had not called the bishops together for the purpose of promulgating those laws, the absence of which curtailed the rights of the secondary clergy. The Hon. Member who se conded the Address (Mr. Peto) had advised Roman Catholic Members not to raise any debate upon the question of the so called Papal aggression upon this occasion. He (Mr. Fagan) would have been delighted to follow the advice, had the Hon. Member not, at the same time that he gave it, thrown the apple of discord among them by his own remarks (Hear, hear.) Ile begged to say also that, connecting the Address with the proposition of which notice had been given by the Noble Lord the First Minister of the Crown that evening, he for one regretted that the Roman Catholic Mem bers, and the advocates of religious liberty generally in that House, had not given utterance to a stronger expression of dissent. than they had as yet done. He altogethor dissented from the statement in her Majesty's Speech, that the recent assumption of certain ecclesiastical titles " had been conferred by a foreign power." They, had been conferred by the Pope as spiritual head of the church, not as Sovereign of the Ro man States.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. HUME said that a stranger would be led to suppose from the whole tenor of the discussion up to that moment that the Members were a set of ecclesiastics, met to discuss nothing but ecclesiastical affairs—(Hear, hear)—for no no tice had as yet been taken of any other matter. It appeared to him that the House was not in a position to offer any opi nion epon the measure of which the Noble Lore had given notice ; and, if he were to judge from her Majesty's Speech, he should conclude that there was none of that danger to be apprehended which his Hon. and Learned Friend (Mr. Roe buck) had referred to in his very able speech. He begged to say further, that he thought it a most humiliating declara tion for a Protestant to make, that, in spite of the numbers, wealth, and power of the clergy of the Established Church, Protestantism was in danger of being overturned bya rescript of the Pope of Rome.—(llear.) But, passing from that topic with the simple additional remark that he could not believe that the Noble Lord whom he had followed for so many years as the advocate of religious liberty would sully his character by introducing a measure which would come under the de scription of persecution, he would call attention to some other paragraphs of the Speech. He regretted to observe that more than one-third of the Speech was taken up with matters relating to foreign countries.—(Hear.) The time of the Cabinet seemed to be much more occupied with the affairs of other nations than with the concerns of our own. It would surely be much better if the case were reversed. — (Hear, hear.) He could not concur in the gratification ex pressed by her Majesty respecting thi fulfilment of the treaty with Denmark. On the contrary, he saw with deep regret the armed occupation of the free town of Hamburgh against the united protest of the inhabitants, and the liber ties of Germany . placed under the iron foot of Austria, backed by the power of Russia, and that, too, with the express con currence of the British Government.—(Hear, hear.) He trusted u n k now her n. (I eael dhneered. Majesty's rie:rgnstruehgh.eagenen orHfideofct subject Ministers reoutirduneehbe thecountry would as speedily as possi ble lay before the House the whole correspondence that had taken place, in order that Members might be enabled to judge of the transaction.—(Hear, bear.) He could net help approving, however, of that paragraph of the Speech which referred to the expected reforms in " the administration of justice in the several departments of law and equity." He considered the expenses entailed upon the country by the Court of Chancery to be more oppressive than the ordinary taxation. The extent of the one we knew ; the other was p rltenri sha e uvytoo d tomei enohswhhs t etfgao h i eangdp‘ta a brtrhhen t eesl idysor iheeferthatrelief establishment England pdttfelpuirenhnrocdteorelating ihvi d out, would e followhe either i n abolish ootteeofnods t osato h bomhpfe e f seeletyieCt believe o o v:hte u paeea Court of con tainedoaeon pro posale t o..rw h efeg e Chancery(pjwaesr registration pr, a aa,nee m rt fo:i rnyh a nh l oppres sive taxationhear.) itto'nahoorfgr t gote.ive3tveotil but be found the Speech of her Majesty, or in the speeches of the mover and seconder of the Address. He trusted, nevertheless, that he might give the Noble Lord credit for the intention to re duce taxation, as well as to introduce a measure of reform. At a time when the manufacturing classes were well em ployed, although he was sorry he could not sa y so muc h f or the agricultural classes—(Hear, hear)—it appeared to him desirable to embrace so favourable an opportunity of con ferring upon that important portion of the community their constitutional rights—(Hear.) He wished to see the Noble Lord redeem the pledge he gave in 1832, to introduce such a measure of reform as would make that House really and es sentially the representatives of the people. Was that the case at present?—(Hear.) There was also the Bible mono poly, which he hoped would be abolished; for he could not imagine anything more inconsistent than her Majesty ex pressing a hope that the whole people would consult the Bible, and at the same time by royal patent granting a mo nopoly to keep up its price.—(Hear, hear.) He could also have wished to have some assurance from the Government of a reform in our colonial system.—(Hear, hear.) He gave the Noble Lord great credit for his able and manly speech respecting the colonies last session; but was there one of the colonies at present less loud and just in its complaints than before?—(Hear.) But, sorry as he was at these and other omissions, he endeavoured to console himself with the con cluding paragraph of her Majesty's Si eech, which he be lieved was capable of including everything lie wanted. He wished her Majesty would recollect what was said by Queen Elizabeth, when she was asked where were the troops with which she was to repel the Spanish Armada. "My subjects," said her Majesty, "are my guard. I look to them for sup port." Let her Majesty disband her useless and unnecessary armies, and trust more than she did to her people, and she would find her reward accordingly.--(hear, hear.) Colonel SIBTHORP could not help attributing the recent Papal aggression to the conduct of the Noble Lord the First Minister of the Crown, and those who, he might say, were under his command—such as Lord Minto, Lord Clarendon, &c., who had given every encouragement in their power to the Pope to take the step he had done. He regretted that her Majesty's Speech contained nothing more tean the ex pression of a " hope" with reference to the depressed state of agriculture. He had lately come froth a most important WEDNESDAY county ; and what did the House think were the feelings, opinions, and sufferings of the owners and occupiers, as well as of the ill-paid labourers who tilled the soil in that quarter? If her Majesty's Ministers were to make inquiries in the great city which he had recently quitted they would learn something of the opinions entertainel with respect to free trade, and something also of its effects. Then, there was this new house of glass in Hype-park; that and the Exhi bition for the purposes of which it had been erected were to be the greatest and most enduring monuments—at least in. the opinion of its promoters—of the success of free trade. They might call it success, but he called it failure. He did not wish to see that building destroyed by any acts of violence, but would to God that some hailstorm or some visitation of lightning might descend to defeat the ill-advised project. If, however, the proposed Exhibition should go forward, and multitudes of foreigners were to fill our streets, then he should say to the people of this metropolis—take care among thieves and pickpockets and whoremongers—take care of your wives and daughters—take care of your lives and property. It migh be a curious matter to ascertain how much money had already been fooled away upon this under taking. He had observed, that already notices of important motions had been given besides that of the Noble Lord at the head of the Government; but from the proposition of the Noble Lord he araicipated very little good. There could be no doubt that his policy would get the country into difficulties, and even under its most favourable aspect it would present only the appearance of advantage; it would be a mere flash in the pan. Although those who kept the _Noble Lord in office were sorry to see him play ing the part of Minister of a great country, yet they seemed not prepared at the present moment to replace him; but the change most desired by tie country would be such a change as would remove the Noble Lord from the Treasury bench ; but the Noble Lord no doubt would endeavour to hold his place by succumbing to a party which he could not resist. Of the Speech from the Throne he should say no more, for though he enter tained for the Sovereign the profoundest veneration, yet his feelings as to Ministers were those of,the most contemptuous kind. Mr. G. C. G. F. BERKELEY rose to call the attention of 'the House to that paragraph in the Speech from the Throne in which reference was made to the " recent assumption of certain ecclesiastical titles conferred by a foreign Power." This appeared to him to be the chief subject under discus-. sion, yet he felt indisposed just then to proceed further with that discussion, more especially when be recollected that in the next paragraph her Majesty was advised to say, " It will be for you to consider the measure which will be laid before you on this subject." Until that treasure came fairly and fully before the House, he thought it bait to abstain from saying much on the subject. But he should vigilantly attend to the progress of the whole of that measure, and he trusted that he should watch it in the spirit of a true Protestant. At the same time he had no wish that the principles of civil and religious liberty should be in any manner affected by it. But, passing by those topics, he should now come to a part of the Speech which was by no,means the least important; it was that in which her Majesty was advised to say that. .‘ the state of commerce and manufactures was such as to afford general employment to the labouring classes." If by that it were meant to convey an impression that the agricul tural labourers of this country were fully employed, he begged to dissent from it altogether. He could say that in several counties of England there existed among the agricul tural classes very great distress. But in addition to the words of the Speech, they had been congratulated by the seconder of the Address upon the prosperity of trade and of agriculture. Now, he had in his possession a letter from a high authority in Suffolk which left no doubt that there was little ground for congratulation. He regretted to observe that in the Speech from the Throne there was no reference to the condition of the tenant farmers or, to the injustice inflicted on them and on oth er p ersons similaily circumstanced by the present apportionment of the income - tax. That was a . . subject which appeared to dencand immediate attention. There remained one other topic which he could not sit down without noticing, although it had been already well handled by an Hon. Member near him—he meant the present situa tion of our colonies. There was no class of her Majesty's subjects who were suffering more severely or more patiently than the colonists, unless it be the agriculturists, and he pro posed shortly to submit to the House one or two motions on those subjects. Mr. GRATTAN observed, that the seconder of the Address had congraticulated the House on the general prosperity of agriculture and manufactures. Now, in a part of Ireland with which he was acquainted, and which might be said to possess some manufactures, the only sign of prosperity which he could observe was the erection of one tall chimney, 150 feet in height, the sole effect of which would be to vitiate the atmosphere. The people of Ireland were quitting their homes by hundreds of thousands, and in many parts of the country pauperism was increasing in as great a propor tion as he knew it to be from personal knowledge in the union of Ceibridge, where the numbers had increased from 1,500 to 2,40 e. It was well known to the people of Ireland, as well as to the whole of the United Kingdom, that the Queen did all that could be done by the Sovereign for the improvement of, Ireland; but the gracious benignity of the Monarch was rendered of little avail by the ill-judged mea sures of Ministers, in which measures, as every one could see, the true interests of Ireland were not consulted. The Hon. Member proceeded to contrast the social comfort en joyed before the recent outburst of feeling with the heart burnings and illwill which it had engendered, and declared that if he were a young man, _he would rather go to America and become a citizen of the Milted States than continue to be insulted, as a Catholic, by such letters as those of Lord J. Russell. He should move to scratch out the words " United Kingdom" in the Bill to be brought in by the Noble Lord, and to substitute the words " England and Scotland." He hoped there would be found to be spirit and sense enough in that House, when it was seen how gross a delusion was attempted to be practised upon the country, to support and save from outrage the sentiment of civil and religious liberty. Mr. BANKES said that before the debate'was brought to a conclusion there were some passages in her Majesty's Speech which the representatives of the agricultural interest must think it their duty to offer a few remarks upon. It was to be expected that the question of Papal aggression would take the lead in the deliberations of Parliament, and he for one did not blame Lord J. Russell for having brought forward the subject thus prominently, and for declaring it a proper matter for early legislation. This was not a question as be tween Roman Catholics and Protestants, because some of the most eminent members of the former persuasion,-euck as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Beaumont, had taken the snne view as be (Mr. Bankes) held, and he had lately had the gratification of hearing another Roman Catholic noble man espouse with great eloquence the same side of the ques tion. So that if the measure proposed by the Noble Lord at the head of the Government should take the character of an ex post facto law, he should not be deterred from supporting it by regarding it as a matter in which Protestants were ar rayed against Roman Catholics, because even in Ireland many persons might be found who were acting honourably and con scientiously with the Noble Lord. Her Majesty, for the second time in two successive years, had been aavised to notice the agricultural interest as still distressed and as still deserving (as he understood it) of the earnest attention of the Govern ment. In the Queen's Speech of last year her Majesty de Glared she had heard with regret the complaints of the agri cultural portion of her subjects. It was thought by some that the advice was not good or kind which had recom mended her Majesty to speak of undoubted distress in these terms; but he gave her Ministers credit for believing that this distress was only of a temporary character. Yet, when after a lapse of 12 months, Parliament again listened to a Royal Speech in which the existence of agricultural distress was adverted to, although it was not mentioned in quite such contemptuous terms, yet it was still spoken of as temporary, and as not likely to be cf long endurance. Let the Noble Lord ask himself 'whether, when the agricul tural interest was commencing another year with difficulties still, he could be content to sit in the seat he occupied, and put off that interest with no better assurance than his hopes founded upon the condition of other classes of the com munity? No doubt the prosperity of other classes was very intimately connected with the prosperity of this; but that connexion was not of the same intimate character that it was when, under the influence of laws now abrogated, it was the inevitable consequence of the prosperity of other classes that the agricultural interest should flourish also. The prosperity of the manufacturing classes would operate upon those who supplied them with food; and the case was al tered now if that food was to be drawn from foreign parts. —(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord must not complain of this subject being intruded upon him when he had himself intro duced it again after the lapse of 12 months, in which all the prophecies had fai ed on which he asked the agricultural in terest to rely.—( Hear.) Did the Government think it be coming to wait another twelve months to see whether the "difficulties" now acknwledged would become distresses; and if they should, to wait another twelve months to see whether the distresses would become utter ruin ?—(Hear. ) The ; in the county he represented were many able-bodied men in (p o (Dorset) harvest et ) in n some had been p a it sunequal there the Workhouse, but happily it was not so in the greater por tion of the county. But we ought not to wait till utter ruin came. The agricultural interest were desponding and alarmed, and there was nothing in the Speech to lessen that r h d e ( W L a o s rd J. Russ e ll) ; would that he satisfied, a warmer friend to were in a position to give them a fixed duty But we had t h h e e r e Noble was n L ot, o a surplus revenue to deal with, and one class admitted to be su ff er ing; let it be given to that dais, and perhaps we might feeling. m ing than T be a uniformly happy nation.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord had an opportunity of saying what were the remedies he proposed for that class; and as the faithful guardian, in inclination, of that class as of every other, there were no hands from which a remedy would be more gratefully re ceived.—(Hear, hear.) Lord JOHN RUSSELL then rose and said—l am rejoiced to find that we are not likely to have a division upon the question of the Address, and that that Address is likely to be passed by the House, if not unanimously, at least with very general consent, and without any amendment being pro posed.—(Hear, hear.) I will , however, endeavour to id dress myself to the.various topics which have been touched by gentlemen who have spoken, taking, for convenience, rather the order in which the topics are mentioned in the Queen's Speech than the order in which they may have been spoken to. My Hon. Friend (Mr. Hume) began with rather a strange complaint, that it had been thought necessary to advise her Majesty to make so much reference to foreign af fairs. With respect to the principal topic there mentioned, it cannot be unknown to the House that the hostilities between Denmark and Germany which were for some time carriedon in Schleswig, were of the greatest importance, not only as threat ening danger to the peace of Europe, but a l so as interfering materially with the commerce of this co untry.—(Hear.) It cannot be matter of indifference to my Li m Friend to learn that those differences which have subsisted are in a fair course of adjustment, and that at least the danger of hostili ties which so long hung over us is likely to be removed.— (Hear, hear.) I 'cannot but rejoice myself that such should be the case; and I hope that the endeavours which were made by my Noble Friend near me (Lord Palmerston, we presume) to persuade the contending parties-the one not to prolong hostilities, and the other to adopt the tone and measures of conciliation, have not been fruitless..—a Hear, hear.) But my Hon. Friend immediately went on to say that he thought this country ought not to have permitted Austria to take certain measures which she had taken, and to occupy Hamhurgh with her troops to act in a manner con trary to the freedom of Europe. Why, really that complaint is most inconsistent with the former.— (hear.) If we had yielded to the former, no mention would have been made of foreign politics; but, if we had yielded to the latter, we should have been now engaged in a war with some of the principal powers of Europe.—(Hear, lwar. ) Our course has not agreed with either of those views. We have used our in fluence where we thought it might tend to the peace of Eu rope; and, in other cases, however important they were to the general interests of Germany, we have not thought hour duty to interfere in any wa y, but, at the same time, we can- I not but think that the settlement of those affairs, and the maintenance of a great power in the centre of Europe acting in harmony, is of the utmost importance—( Hear) - and we do hope that, while that great power maintains its strength, the separate branches of that great empire, the various states which form that great confederation, may find not' only those I constitutions maintained which they have held now fora long period of years, but that those constitutions may be made still more favourable to liberty.-([[ear.) Such is our wish—such is our prayer for the welfare of Germany; but we do not consider oureelvee bonnd.to interfere in the con- EVENING, earns of 40,000,000 of people to carry out that object.— , (Hear.) The next topic to which I shall advert is that to which the Hon. Gentleman who has just sat down has spoken; but, though I agree in the sympathy which he ex- Pressed, and advised her Majesty to use the expressions to which he has adverted, I am afraid I must widely differ from the conclusions to which he has come. I hold so far in common with him, but, Igm afraid it is but a little way. I should have wished that the transition with respect to the corn-laws, from an extremely rigorous and exclusive system to one of complete freedom of import, had been less abruptly made. I believe myself, that if in 1840 or 1841 this House had adopted either the measure that I proposed then, or a measure similar to that which was adopted in 1846, either of those measures continuing for some years would I have prepared the agricultural interest for that complete freedom of trade which now subsists; and I certainly feel for any difficulties or distresses of the agricultural in terest, not only as it must always he one of the main sources of the prosperity or adversity of this country, but likewise as being of peculiar interest to me from my connexion with the landed interest of the country. (So we understood the Noble Lord; but he spoke occasionally in a low tone, and could not be distinc'ly heard.) But, while I say thus much, I cannot think—l should be deceiving the Hon. and Learnd Gentlema❑ if I were to say that I think—the adoption of a fixed duty in 1840 or 1841 would have been the foundation of a system of permanent duties against the admission of corn. I believe the progress of opinion, the increase of the commercial and manufacturing classes, would have led, per haps before this time, to some such law as we now possess.— (Hear, hear.) But, be that as it may, my opinion, de cidedly is, that with respect to corn you have adopted a system which is consonant to the great interests of the country, and, let me add, to the political and mural tranquillity of the country.—(Hear, hear.) I believe that if, instead of pro posing in 1846 the abrogation of the corn-law. the Govern ment of that day bad endeavoured to maintain it to the last. they would have failed in their object; that whatever ad vantage the agricultural interest might be supposed to derive from the system which then prevailed they would have failed to retain, but that in losing it they would likewise have lost to the Government and the Parliament of this country a great portion of the affections of the nation— ( Hear. hear)—and there would not have been only a loss to the agricultural interest of the corn-laws, but a loss to the authorities of this country of much of that respect and re gard which they ought to prize.—(Hear.) I therefore cannot think that we adopted a plan at variance with the interests of the country.— (Hear, hear.) I have never pretended to say though others may have thought they had reason suf ficient, I certainly never thought I had to say—that a particular price would prevail in a particular time. There always seemed to me too many circumstances, too many elements to enter into that question of price, for anybody to perceive, certainly for some years to come, what the par ticular price of any article would be. I have never founded myself, therefore, upon any other consideration than this— that if there is a great manufacturing population, a great commercial population, in a very thriving condition, and a population accustomed to consume great quantities of food, and if they can obtain it, more especially meat, and the more costly articles of food, they who are close at hand, cul tivating the soil as the next neighbours, and in the immediate vicinity of those who make this demand, cannot fail ultimately to prosper from the continuance of that demand.—(Hear, hear.) I cannot think that the agri cultural interest is totally to depend, as I think the corn-laws induced them to suppose, upon the immediate price of wheat in a particular month or year. It may be, perhaps, that the continuance of this law induced the far . mers of this country and the owners of land, especially in particular parts of it, to look too much to the wheat crop as the *source of their remuneration. Great changes of laws cannot fail to be accompanied with changes of habits and manners, and there will be a corresponding adaptation of soil to circumstances. No doubt great changes will take place with respect to agriculture. But, as my Honourable Friend (Mr. Peto) showed, with a large population you have obtained much increased demand for meat, so that you find, I think in Glasgow, some 30,000 more oxen sent to the market in one year than there were a year or two before; and that as a sample will show, I think, that agricultural productions must be in increased demand, if you can, by your laws, or rather by the abolition of laws of prohibition and monopoly, obtain a satisfactory and pros perous condition of the manufacturing and commercial inte rests.—(Hear.) The Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Bankes) talks of this being the second year in which the difficulties of the landed interest have been mentioned. If lam not mistaken, in 1836 and again in 1837 there was a price as low as that which has lately prevailed, and I think on both those occa sions mention was made in the Speech, or immediately after wards, of the distress of the agricultural interest. Therefore I cannot believe that any law you can pass, any such mea sure as the Hon. Gentleman hinted at, would secure the agri culturists from occasional prices too low for remuneration. I need hardly allude to ci t uumstances which at the present time will influence prices. It has always happened that when there has been a great dearth of any article, when you have high prices, those high prices have been followed by very increased production, and that increased production again brings cheapness, cheapness brings increased demand, and then you have high prices again. Now we all know that in 1847 we were suffering in this country, and France was likewise suffering, from the very high price of food; we all know that then, although we were not blessed with a good and equal harvest in this country, in France it was re markably propitious, and there is nothing I hear of more than the accounts of the French wheat and flour reaching this country, and the complaints of the French farmers that, notwithstanding their protective system, there is a state of unexampled depression. Bat the system we have adopted must be considered as a whole; it must be considered as affecting very many articles of manufacture and many arti cles of agriculture; and Parliament must be prepared to de cide, if the question should be brought before them, whether this system is founded on, sound principle or not.—( Hear.) Some quarter of a century ago. when Mr. Huskisson, was introducing practically, and therefore ,somewhat timidly, changes with respect to the duties on certain articles, he took the article of gloves. For a long while nothing was more frequent in this House than complaints that the manu facturers of gloves could not make them so good or cheap as the French manufacturers; that they must go to ruin; and we were implored to wear bad and dear gloves in order to maintain the manufacturers of Yeovil and other places. Mr. Huskisson persisted ; and the arguments of the glove interest were not so powerful as to induce the House to de part from its resolution. What do you hear, after the lapse of some thirty-five years? I hear, from trustworthy sources, that the glove manufacture never was so flourishing as it is now at Yeovil—( Hear, hear)—that for eight or ten miles round the labourers and their families are asked to take em ployment in the glove trade; and those gloves, which we were told could not be made so cheap or good as by the French makers, are now exported to France, where they meet a ready sale.—(Hear, hear.) I certainly cannot hold out to the Hon. and Learned Gentleman any expectation that a fixed duty will be established on the proposition either of this or of any other Government. Putting aside any pre judices that mey be supposed to attach to the present Go vernment, I believe that any members of a Government sitting on these benches would, when they came to investi gate the question—to inquire what was the opinion and dis position of the people—shrink from imposing any duty on the importation of grain.—(Hear, hear.) I don't believe a ss. duty would be valued by the farmers who still cling to protection in any other way than as a symptom of return to the system of protection, and as an indication that a larger duty or sliding scale would hereafter ba imposed.—( Hear, hear.) But that expectation on the part of the friends of protection would alarm all those who value the measures now in operation.—(Hear, hear.) Every account I hear shows that in the agricultural districts, as well as in the ma nufacturing, the great mass of the labouring people never had such a command of the necessaries of life as they have at this moment.—(Cheers.) The number of loaves they could obtain, though there may have been a change of wages, is increased Such was the general state of the labouring population. There were exceptions in certain counties— where wages may have diminished in a greater proportion ; but I believe that, along with the power of obtaining a greater quantity of bread, they have a greater remainder of wages with which to purchase sugar at a diminished price, and various other articles which they could not obtain before. —( Hear, hear.) Many labouring families have fresh meat that for years had scarcely seen fresh meat. Let the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, then, consider what a Govern ment would have to do who said to the mass of the people, " You are now in the possession of more of the necessaries and comforts of life than you ever had be fore ; but the system is entirely wrong, and you must revert to the system under which the cost of your provisions will be greater."•—(Cheers.) I believe that a great proportion of those who are favourable to protection, though they may think that system a wise one for the country, leave come to the conclusion that it would not be wise for any Government to attempt to revert to that system. I pass now to another question, on which a great part of this debate has turned, and on which there has been much discussion and excite ment in the country for the last three months. In doing so, I must of course refer to the opinion of the Hon. and Learned Member for Sheffield (Mr. Roebuck), who began the debate, and who blamed the Government, and me more especially, for the part I have taken. The Hon. and Learned Gentle man said he approached this question with great pain • and assured the House that he did not merely use the word, but really felt great pain. Allow me to suggest to the Ho nourable and Learned Gentleman that his pain would be diminished if he would not fall into that way of supposing that some mean motives have always actuated parties and the leaders of parties; and, that although they may differ in opinion, they may have somewhat higher motives than he would ascribe to them.--(Hear, bear.) From his language it would appear that no other than those very low motives have actuated public men, and that of one party or another they have been influenced by some jealousy or hope of acquiring popularity. According to his state ment, it would appear that when Sir Robert Peel proposed to release Roman Catholics from the disabilities under which they laboured, great jealousy was felt on the part of the Op position. This is a quite gratuitous assumption on the part of the Hon. and Learned Member. We gave the utmost support to that eminent stateman, who was then taking a course we thought greatly for the benefit of the country, anflie expressed a grateful sense of the support we gave him. We did not take credit for any heroic virtue. We wished the welfare of the country, and were glad to see the measure proposed. With respect to the letter I wrote to the Bishop of Durham, it was not to make political capital that I wrote it, but because I entertained the sentiments I then expressed.—(Cheers.) Whether rightly or wrongly, I could not refrain from giving expression to them, or giving publicity to those expressions.— (Hear, - hear.) Perhaps the Honourable and Learned Gentleman may in future save himself the trouble which attends that pain, if he will take rather a more charitable view of the conduct of others, and refrain from exposing himself to the reproach conveyed in an observation made by the great Prince of Conde, when he was reading some pamphlets written against him at the instigation of Cardinal de Retz —" These gentlemen make us act just aSI they would act if they were in our places."—(Cheers and laughter.) With respect to the question which has occupied public attention for the last three months in a very large degree, I cannot take the view of the Hon. and Learned Member for Sheffield. Ido not doubt that he is sincere in saying that the case is one of a mere use of titles, that it is a matter of perfect indifference, and might have been left alone. On the contrary, I think that, whatever may be the opinion of Roman Catholics in different countries, the Court of Rome, properly distinguished from t he Church of Rome, is for ever • wishing opportunities of making aggression,— (Hear, hear,) —and not upon the spiritual consciences, but on the temporal interests of the kingdoms with which they have concern.— (Hear.) Some of the g reatest friends of liberty, Sir John Eliot, from whom the Earl of St. Germans is descended, Pym, Hampden, Lord Somers, John Locke—all these men, friends of liberty as they were, had great distrust of Papal assumption and Papal aggression. What was the condition of the Roman Catholics in this country? For it is repre sented as if we Protestants, and I among the foreamet, ba d all of a sudden teen seized with a rage for persecut i on. What is the case? In 1791 Roma Catholics were allowed com plete freedom in the exercise of their religion. In 1829 they obtained complete freedom to sit in Parliament and hold all exceptions civil employments, with some tri flin g va rious occasions alterations were m ade in oexcelaws. On all favour able to the Roman Catholics. With respect to the privileges granted in 1829, this Government at least cannot be blamed by the Roman Catholics; for whet h er rci(Nanaigviele=l=lll74e=j3g: FEBRUARY 1851. ledged, and they have been admitted as fully as any Pro- 1 that point that he had mainly risen; but he would, with testants holding the opinions of the Established Church to I the permission of the House, make one observation u p on the employments of the State. I will only ta ke in illustra- that inte resting subject with which the Noble Lord had tion the fact, that of three chiefs of the courts of law in ; closed. The Noble Lord had made that night what he (Mr. Ireland, two are Roman Catholics. We have been blamed Disraeli) would. though not in vulgar language, call an rather for giving to Roman Catholic prelates titles to which apology for that lett er , a copy o f w hi c h h e an d a lmost e v ery au Honourable Gentleman has said he thinks them not I Member, no doubt, possessed. He (Mr. Disraeli) con entitled. An instance was quoted by the Honourable Mem- fessed that the observations of the Noble Lord did not ber for Sheffield, of which till lately I did not know the his- seem entirely consistent with what had transpired. That tory - namely, that in the Chamberlain's department it was letter he (Mr. Disraeli) considered as the manifesto of the settled that the Roman Catholic Primate and the Roman Cabinet.-(Hear, hear.) He took the paragraph in the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin should have the entrée to the Queen's He could notn'sSpeechinco d nn o ex ot i h on erw wi i t s h e, t b h eem is ao l su e t t s t e e eh r me ; ifne a e n un d teo he pnov loo sinci ke ueo ; Castle. That was the act of a subordinate. .An announce- upon it as the manifesto-th e matured manifesto-of the Ca meat levity, meat was inserted hastily in the Gazette; but , the proceeding b was unusual. What I am arguing is, that there...really : wile that no individual occupying the and gn f such no reason on the part of Roman Catholics to complaiu;ni re- in this country could, in a gard to the f ree exerc i s e of their religion, or their admission na me to a document of su ch surpassing to civil privileges. It was in the midst of the occurrences awful responsibility. The Noble Lord was of course per to which I have alluded, that having had vicar s-a p ostolic fectl y ac q uainted with the feelin gs and opinions of all his in this country for th ree hundred years, and nothing but colleagues upon this great subject, even if they were not at these during the reign of James 11., when every one of the his elbow when he signed his name to the l e tt er . H e (M r. principal councill ors o f th e ki ng wa s a Roman Catholic, it Disraeli) said " this great subject," because he could not pleased the Court of Rome to direct that this country should bring hi mse lf, he would not say to believe, but to compre be divided into bishop r i cs , w ith an a rchbishopric; and the hend that the appoint ment of 'Dr. Wise man to a pseudo ()r - chief person who was ma d e an arc hbi s hop -and Archbishop titular archbishopric of E n g land coul d have produced th e of Westminster, of all places-(Cheers)-immediately pro- convulsion which that letter occasioned. He said that be claimed to the people of this country, "We govern and shall cause he remembered that not at a very remote period the continue to govern as ordinary thereof, the counties of Mid- i Noble Lord gratuitously and uncalled for informed Parlia dlesex, Essex, and Hertford." Was this merely for bodies ment that he, for the life of him, saw no reason why a of Roman Catholics ? It appears to me that the whole pur- Roman Catholic priest should not be called by an episcopal port of the words is a pretension to rule this country, and title taken from any city or town in the kingdom. M a e, of put all its parts under the sole away of these bishops.- course, was a matured opinion. He could not imagine that (Hear, hear.) I might be mistaken in that ; but there the Noble Lord would have made a haphazard statement was a person of great eminence in learning and talents upon such a topic without the subject having previously en whom we all have to deplore as having left the Pro- gaged a long, full, and matured consideration. That opinion Protestant Church for the Roman Cotholic-I mean Mr. was declared two years ago ; he (Mr. Disraeli) could not, Newman. Mr. Newman said that there scarcely had been therefore, bring himself to contemplate how the appoint a single instance of a country which had renounced the talent of Dr. Wiseman to a titular archbishopric could have Church of Rome returning to communion with it, but he been the sole cause for that letter. The letter stated that was happy to see that an example; had occurred in Eng- the late aggression of the Pope was insolent and insidiOns. land. He said the English people were - sow returning to Now, he (Mr. Disraeli) was bound to state, as he had rated obedience to the Holy See.-(Hear, hear.) If. the Queen . elsewhere, that he did not think the aggression of the Pope came down to Parliament as Queen Mary did, and was at any rate insidious. He thought it was a frank ag said the time was come when the nation should return greseion - frank almost to indiscretion.-(Laughter.) He to obedience to the See of Rome, and the Houses of never knew a proceeding more free from any appearance of Lords and Commons had conferred with her Majesty and subtlety or covin. Every step which the Pope took was passed an Act to that effect, there could hardly be a de- daily expected. He (Mr. Disraeli) did not, therefore, think claration going further than that to which I have alluded, it was either insolent or insidious for the Pope to do that The usual organs in this country and in France of the which the First Minister of the Crown had only a little Roman Catholics-not the Roman Catholic party, but while before said he saw no harm in the Pope's doing. When the Ultramontane Roman Catholics-maintained that this the Noble Lord wrote that letter, he (Mr. uisraeli) thought was an act of great significance, that it did not only mean that the Noble Lord meant a great deal more, and meant to that the archbishop and the 12 bishops were to be created, do a great deal more, than merely prevent Dr. Wiseman but that they were to take the places of the Archbishop of from being called Archbishop of Westminster. For this Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and all the prelates of was the tone pad these were the terms in which the Noble the Church of England.-(Hear, hear.) It did appear to me Lord described what had occurred or was occurring in that we could not pass over in silence such an assumption. this country through the agency of the Court of Rome :- -(Hear, hear.) I ask the Hon. and Learned Member far "There is an assumption of power in all the documents Sheffield, if it had been passed over in silence by the people which have come from Rome, a pretension to supremacy of of England, does he not think we should have had some the realm of England, and a claim to sole and undivided step following up what had been done? I believe that the opi- sway, which is inconsistent with the Queen's supremacy, nion which has been given so generally (nearly so universally) with the rights of our bishops and clergy and with in England, on the part of the Church•of England and the the spiritual independence of the natilid:'! That was a great majority of Protestant Dissenters, will have convinced great subject to deal with ; and he (Mr. Disriteli)'did not not only the Roman Catholics in England, who, I really believe that when the Noble Lord had to • deal with any believe, wished no such steps taken, but will also con- thing so important as that he was merely thinking of a Ro vince the Court of Rome that this country of England is man Catholic priest, who in England did that -which Roman really not a Roman Catholic but a Protestant country, and Catholic priests were daily doing in Ireland with the consent that the great body of the people are Protestant.-(Cheers.) and with the honours paid to them by the Government of If this be the case, and such the effect of the addresses and the Noble Lord himself. No ; the Noble Lord thought that resolutions which have been passed, by that national decla- the time had arrived, from information which no doubt had ration of itself, we shall have saved ourselves from many at- reaehed his ear-a thought which had long occupied his tempts on the part of the Pope of Rome to interfere in our mind-that a very great change was perhaps taking place affairs.-(Hear, hear.) I believe the Roman Catholics did between the relations which must hereafter subsist between not generally wish this measure. Looking from the Papal the Crown of England and the Court of Rome; and the document I land the vicars-apostolic wished to be bishops Noble Lord took advantage (he used the word with perfect with titles of sees in this country, and that, certain advan- courtesy)-he took occasion of this last drop in the cup to tages and privileges which do not belong to vicars-apostolic adopt the policy which he had probably long medidated. would have belonged to them if they could establish them- The Noble Lord had proposed to solve the most difficult of selves as bishops of such sees. A very good reason why political problems. He and his Government were going to vicars-apostolic should wish to claim those titles ; but, ge- reconcile a due observance of the civil and religious liberties nerally speaking, I believe the lay Roman Catholics of this of the Roman Catholic subjects of the Queen, which civil country-though when the measure was taken they could and religious liberties he (Mr. Disraeli), for one, trusted hardly repudiate it-neither wished it nor approved of it at would not be impugned ; the Noble Lord was about to present.-(Hear.) I am assured by Roman Catholics and solve this problem, whether as a statesman he could Roman Catholic priests, that such is their feeling, and I reconcile a due observance and respect of those civil believe we shall now be placed in the position, at all events, and religious liberties with the Queen's supremacy, with the in which we can take measures which shall not only be sa- rights of our bishops and clergy, and with the spiritual tisfactory to Protestants, but satisfactory to loyal Roman independence of the nation ;-a problem, perhaps, which Catholics who wish to preserve their allegiance to the Crown might not be incapable of solution, but which would tax unimpeached and unimpaired, and who dread the prevalence the Noble Lord's power of statesmanship to the utmost.- of those Ultramontane. doctrines which, in every country ( Hear, hear.) Less than that he could not suppose the of Europe, have proved formidable to every Roman Catholic Noble Lord contemplated. The Noble Lord could not be who had a regard for freedom of opinion.-(Loud cheers.) about to bring in a Bill merely to prevent a Roman Such, then, is the cause, as I think, of the strong in di g - Cat h o lic p riest st y lin g himself a b i s h op or archbishop of any nation excited in this country, and such the present town or city in England.-(Hear, hear.) He could not be opinion of Protestants as well as Roman Catholics. The about to bring in only such a measure, because then the Hon. Member for Kent has informed me that, in dealing Noble Lord would not have been justified in stirring up with this subject, I should beware of the very strong the passions of a mighty people, in exciting their highest sentiment entertained upon it, and that I should not and holiest feelings, and in raising in this country an fall short of the expectationo of the people. Now, I angry controversy, and polemical disputes which 'recalled may say that I shall propose a measure as strong as my the days of the Stuarts, and of which none of those own convictions shall lead me to propose, and not more he was then addressing might live to witness the termi so. I cannot yield to any one on that point. I shall not nation. The Noble Lord, as a wise and sagacious man, take any part which I think is wrong. nor shall I introduce had no doubt weighed the consequences of his intended measures that I think go beyond the occasion, or which will measure as one likely to be productive of good against the in any way trench on that which I think due to the religious vast evils which it was intended to remove, and which his liberty of all classes of her Majesty's subjects.-(Hear, hear.) own course had hitherto alone produced. Such was the My belief is that the authority of Parliament will be suffi- kind of measure which he (Mr. Disraeli), for one, expected cient to make those provisions that are necessary to the the Noble Lord to introduce. If the Noble Lord was going settlement of this question, and that the voice which has to produce merely such an insignificant project as that to been uttered in no uncertain manner from the people which he (Mr. Disraeli) had referred, then he would say of this country will tend to the maintenance of bar- that it would be better to do nothing-(Hear, hear)-and mony among the different classes of the community ; even at this last hour to endeavour, by doing nothing, to do but I cannot attempt to go beyond that point which something to appease the excitement existing in the the occasion seems to require. -(Hear, hear.) The Hon. country.-(Hear, hear.) But if the Noble Lord was pre- Member for Limerick said I had grossly insulted the faith pared to do a great deal; if he was prepared to solve of my Roman Catholic fellow-subjects, I beg to deny that I that great political problem which might not be incapable have ever insulted the Roman Catholics. I made some ob- of solution, but which no Minister had yet suc servations I thought justified with respect to a party in the ceeded in solving, then, indeed, he might be justified in Church to which I belong.--(Cheers.) I do not think, the course he had taken; then, indeed, he might lay whether those observations were right or wrong, that lam claim to the reputation and character of a great Mi to be precluded from making any remarks I think just with nister. But such was the measure which he must bring in respect to a part of my own Church because Roman Catholics to authorise the course he had taken. Such was the measure may say those observations are applicable to them.- (Hear, which he (Mr. Disraeli), for one, would humbly support; hear.) It is for them to decide whether they think those ob- and such, he believed, was the measure which the country serrations are applicable. It is sufficient for me to say that expected; and if the country did not receive it he believed I applied them to those that belong to my own Church, and that the verdict, both of Protestants and Roman Catholics, that I did so not in words stronger than the bishop of the would be upon one point unanimous- that the conduct of the diocese in which I reside.-( Hear, hear.) In respect to this Noble Lord could not be justified.- (Hear, hear.) whole matter I shall on Friday state what is the present The motion that an humble Address be presented to her state of the question, and what is the remedy I shall have Majesty was then agreed to, and a Committee was appointed the honour to propose. I may state that it will be a mea- to prepare the Address. sure extending to the whole of the United Kingdom.-- A new writ was ordered for the election of a Member for (Cheers.) I know there have been some rumours that this the borough of Dungannon, in the room of Lord Northland, was not intended, but there never has been any variation of who has accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. intention on the subject.- (Hear.) It was always intended The House adjourned at 12 o'clock, until 4 o'clock this to make the measure apply to the whole of theUnitedKingdom. day (Wednesday)._ Ido not think it necessary now to enter upon the sub j ect. I - do trust that in the future course of our legislation, as well as in the past course of our legislation, we may be able to maintain those principles of religious liberty that are so happily established among us; and I believe that if there is anything by which we can have displeased Rome it is that very fact of the civil and religious liberty of this country.-(Cheers9 It is that of which they disapprove it is that which they most loathe and abhor.-(Hear, hear.) I confess I was at a loss why, in the position or the Roman Catholics in this country, the Court of Rome should have taken this course. I should be the last person to attribute it to any personal ill will on the part of the Pope towards this country. When I was speaking last year of the revolution by which his government was overthrown, I lamented that a man of so benevolent intentions should have had the afflic tion of seeing his Minister assassinated as he was going to the council, and that he himself should have been obliged to leave the seat of government. I really had compassion for him, and I do not believe he entertains any illwill to this country. But that which I had been unable to understand is somewhat solved by a letter addressed to me by a person fully calculated to speak on this subject, I mean Lord Shrewsbury.-(Hear, hear.) He states that teere is a party at Rome who are the enemies of England, and that party is of the fact, it goes far prevalent at the Court of Rome. if t hat is the case, and Lord Shrewsbury is a good evidence to explain the measure that has been taken.-(Hear.) I trust better councils will prevail ; but, whatever may be the case in that respect, and however much we may have reason to complain of the conduct which has been followed at Rome although we might think it right to state that we have been wronged in this matter, I do not think it would be desirable for the Minieters of this country to endeavour to make any treaty of the nature of a concordat with Rome.-(Cheers.) I am persuaded that we have sufficient means within our selves by our own ability, by our own customs and habits of discussion, and by the authority of our own Parliament, to provide against the dangers of any aggression or any assumption which may be attempted.-(Cheers.) Sir, after all, as I have stated in the letter which has been so much objected to, what I look with confidence and reliance to is, the freedom of this country and our civil and religious liberties. To that cause and to those principles the people of this country are deeply attached, and so long as they are so I have confidence in their being proof against the aggressions of any foreign powers, or the assumptions of any spiritual j urisdiction.-( Loud cheers.) Mr. DISRAELI, lest his silence should be construed into acquiescence in the views taken by the Noble Lord, felt it his duty to address a few observations to the House. Like the Noble Lord, he would address himself to the principal topies of the Speech. He thought the Government was fulleaau thorised in calling upon the House to congratulate the Crovitt on the operations in Germany-not merely became *peitCre had been maintained and our commerce benefited, ;lea *be cause we were bound by treaty to interfere in the affairs of Denmark, and, by so doing, had probably prevented conse quences of a very dangerous character. When the Noble Lord admitted the extreme difficulties under which the agri cultural body were labouring, lie seemed to be offering almost an apology to the House for not proposing that fixed duty which his Hon. Friend near him had somewhat unexpectedly introduced into the discussion. But, while the Noble Lord deplored the distress, he (Mr. Disraeli) was astonished that it had not occurred to him nor his colleagues to make in quiry bow it was that a body of men, distinguished by so much industry, energy, and enterprise as the British farmer, should be experiencing this constant and continuous depres sion while other classes were prosperous' and flourishing.- (Hear, hear.) There must be some deep cause in the system of this country to produce such exceptional and particular results. The Noble Lord should remember that in England we had a financial system that was built up on the energy and resources of one class of the community in particular, and that that class permitted its energies and resources to be taxed because it was thought fit by an artificial system of legislation to secure to it a market with a certain aveer return ; and he wondered it did not occur to the Noble tr . that that system of finance, when the advantagr a r e l a T ere drawn, must have occasioned the depression teaa n te_ _ as curred.-(Hear, hear.) He did not thinkaarnyrma 4 °w' ^ tags depression, in the authorised year after year to insert . o P e ita - ral depression, Queen's Speech with reference to g n e n inquiry into the when he was not prepared to p wasN n 9 :t an evil of an ime causes of that depression. general prosperity of perial importance then it wool Government not to admit such vs o . it p d a r b a g e r ampohrse, the t d u fo r confine at the ■ th y believed they could not not placing the question on the remedy -alear.) ide ll whatever. What he intended next price of any the themselves country, t and n e er pass ga o e u el w a e r t :w h with reference the to whole of our Tuesday was to ask the House to consider the position of the taxation, to inquire whether they had not gradu allysystem of this country established in a system, fiscal and other agricultural w i se , which had raised an immense revenue, mainly from the interest energies and resources of one class of the productive popula tion • w h e ther that class had no t b een a bl e to endure that b u rden, because by artificial means they had been supported in the struggle; whether they had not rashly, precipitately, and without . due consideration and prepare; ion, destroyed question speaking i that artificial system, and left the artificial burdens - ( d l e l n e s a r e , nl h ) e , hear.) h . sh li o e ul w d a y s ie n w ot thtielenpbluerte of its local and comprehensive aspect, and if he did not succeed in dis covering what was the cause of that mysterious and con tinued depression of agricultural industry which was ad" mitted to exist, and if he did not indicate which were the natural results of that investigation which he proposed Co make, remedies demanded by justice, and reureeeilect by policy, then he ; would never again attempt to support the interest to which he was indebted for the seat Tfhicla be bald ba that lipie.—(Hear, bear.) It rim 032 HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 4. Their Lordships resumed] shortly after Fiv© o'clock. REGULATION OF SELECT YES FRIES BILL. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved that this Bill be read a first time.—Agreed to. THE ADDRESS. The LORD CHANCELLOR then read her Majesty's Speech, as follows: " Mr LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, " It is with great satisfaction that I again meet my Parliament, and resort to your advice and as sistance in the consideration of measures which affect the welfare of our country. " I continue to maintain the relations of Peace and Amity with Foreign Powers. It has been my endeavour to induce the States of Germany to carry into full effect the provisions of the Treaty with Denmark, which was concluded at Berlin in the month of July of last year. I am much gratified in being able to inform yon that the German Confe.. deration and the Government of Denmark are now engaged in fulfilling the stipulations of that Treaty, and thereby putting an end to hostilities which at one time appeared full of danger to the peace of Europe. " I trust that the affairs of Germany may be ar ranged by mutual agreement, in such a manner as to preserve the strength of the Confederation and to maintain the freedom of its separate States. " I have concluded with the King of Sardinia Articles Additional to the Treaty of September, 1841, and I have directed that those Articles shall be laid before you. "The Government of Brazil has taken new, and I hope efficient measures for the suppression of the atrocious traffic in slaves. " GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, " I have directed the estimates of the year to be prepared and laid before you without delay. They have been framed with a due regard to economy, and to the necessities of the public service. " My LORDS AND GENTLE MEN , " Notwithstanding the large reductions of taxa tion which have been effected in late years, the re ceipts of the revenue have been satisfactory. " The state of the Commerce! and Manufactures of the United Kingdom his 'been such as to afford general employment to the Labourin g Classes. "I' have to lam ent, p owever, the difficultie s which are still felt by th at im p ortant bod y amon g my People who a re Owners a z d y Cl e c o c n u fi p d ie e r t s it ofLanl "But hope, that the pros a favourable effect in di m i n i s hi ng those diffi of agriculture. perous co ndition of other classe s o f my subjects will cu l t ies, and promoting the interests • culture. The recent assumpti on of certain Ecclesiastical itis Titles conferred by a Foreign Power has excited strong feelings in thi s country, and ha v e large bodies of my sub jects have presented addresses to me expressing at tachment to the Throne, and praying that such as sumptions should be resisted. I hale assured them of my resolution to maintain the rights of my Crown, and the independence of the nation, against all encroachment, from whatever quarter it may proceed. I have, at the same time, expressed my earnest desire and firm determination, under God's blessing, to maintain unimpaired the Religious Liberty which is so justly prized by the people of this country. "It will he for you to eonsider the measure which will be laid before you on this subject. " The administration of justice in the civil depart ments of law and equity, will no doubt receive the serious attention of Parliament; and I feel confident that the measures which may be subinitted with a view of improving that administration, will be discussed with that mature deliberation which impor tant changes in the highest Courts of Judicature in the Kingdom imperatively demand. measure will be laid before you providing fo.*,64,4blisbraent , of, a system of /iegistnition -oft peeds and instruments relating to the Transfer o