The Sun. — London, England, 1853-04-12 00:00:00

Were they sa duties as delegated as well as themselves. tisfied that that would be the case ? Suppsose they dele gated to the Canadian Legislature the dutieantdhelysohad. , were im posed on themselves by the acts of 1791 they sure the Canadian Legislature, with with the influence pressing upon it, was capable owealing i the . question as they themselves would ? re they sure it was ca pable of adjusting all the differences that had arisen, and that would arise between the different religious bodies — b e t w een the Roman Catholics .and the Protestants, the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians—between those who advocates for secularization and those who were ad wvoecretes of religious endowments ? Unless they were satis fiedaof that they could not delegate these duties to the Ca nadian Legislature. It was the Imperial Parliament that made the settlement of 1840. By that settlement a co mpromise of rights was effected, and that comprom ise was matured, according to the opinion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer; into a distant compact. Parliament prescribed the trusts upon which this property was to be held, and guaranteed those trusts in perpetual continuance, partly by the declaration in the preamble of the statute, that the settlement was final, and partly by providing that it should not be disturbed without the concurrence of Par liament itself. It was stated by the Chancellor of the Ex chequer that the trusts would be dulyfulfilled, because he believed that the Canadian Legislature would deal with this question as the Imperial Parliament itself would, and would not secularise these reserves; but did the majority of hon. members in that house entertain that opinion ? (Hear.) And if the reserves should be secularized in what position would Parliament be placed? They were in the position of trustees, having the control over these' funds, a n d, knowing that, would they allow them to disposed of in a manner contrary to the express terms upon which they had been held ? Could they do that without making themselves gravely responsible ? They could not enable persons to do a wrong act unless they made themselves equally guilty and responsible with the persons by whom the act was done. But then arose the question, was there not such a trust as that to which he had alluded? That must be determined by reference to the statutes or charters under which the reserves were given originally, and sub sequently confirmed, to the Protestant clergy of Canada. He believed the title of these reserves was almost co eval with the cession of Canada. They were intended for endowments of the Protestant clergy, and the promo tion of the Protestant faith. At the time of the)cession Canada was peopled by French people of the Roman Catholic religion. Most properly, and wisely, th6refore, the Parliament of this country, by a bill in 1774, secured to the Roman Catholic clergy all their accnstoniad dues and rights, but, thinking it desirable to encourage Protes tant emigration to those new possessions, other dues and rights which had not been appropriated to the Roman Catholic clergy were, by the same act, reserved and isecured to the:Protestant clergy who might go out to Canada, and they were made up by Royal proclamation in 1775' which directed for the first time that one-seventh of the non-ap propriated lands should he 'applied to the purposi. The title of the Roman Catholics and the title of the IProtes tants, therefore, stood on the same footing. If they shook the title of the one they shook the title of the other, and . that title was glistinctly confirmed by the constitutional act of 1791. The Chief Commissioner of the Board of Works had rested his argument mainly on that statute, and thought it gave a less clear and permanent right theto Protestant clergy of the churches of En g land and Scot land than the act of Victoria ; but that statute showed that the lands allotted up to that time, and all thereafter to be allotted, either to the maintenance of the Protestant clergy or the promotion of the Protestant faith, were given to them in words and terms drawn up in the best way to provide for their permanency. It was said therei was a varying power in that statute which enabled the Canadian Legislature to deal with these reserves. He thought there was no such power, and that the clause which was said to be an enabling clause was but a restraining clause. The constitutional act of 1791 gave to the Canadian Legisla ture the fullest power of legislating on Canadian matters, with certain restraints, before the assent or dissent of the Crown could be expressed upon any of their acts. Those powers were contained in the statute of 1791, before they came to the 42d clause, which was the important one, and that clause, instead of being an enabling clause, was a re straining clause, which prohibited the Crown from assent ing to any law of the Canadian Legislature unless the bill had been laid before Parliament for 30 days ; and if either house refused its concurrence in the bill, and addressed the Crown on the subject within 30 days, the Crown was re strained from giving such assent. It must be remembered that when these appropriations were made all the lands were the property of the Crown, and the Crown had as much right to make these appropriations to religious bodies for the purposes of religion as to dedicate them to any other purpose. He contended that a pledge was given that the permanence of the trusts should not be altered ; and, if that were so, in what way would they displace the right ? Was the title ever disputed until quite recently ? It was true that in 1819 there was a contest as to the mode in which the reserves should be distributed, but that did not apply to the title. It was also true that in 1827, and down to 1829, the House of Assembly in Upper Canada tried to deal with these reserves, and to get th e C rown t o assen t to it ; but the Legislative Council always resisted it ; and no change was made in the statute of 1791 by Par liament or the Government of this country until 1840. And in what way were reserves dealt with in that year ? They were dealt with by the statute of Vic toria in very nearly the same way as they were dealt with in the act sent over from Canada in the previous year. In that act it was provided that the reserves should be held exclusively for religious purposes, and that the English and Scotch churches might be entitled to them in the same proportions as provided by the act of the Imperial Parliament, and the only difference between the two acts was, that by the latter statute one half of the reserves was to be distributed by the Governor and Executive Council among the different religious bodies in Canada, while by the former the reserves were to be distributed with refer ence to the proportion of each section of Christians in Ca nada. The Parliament that made that settlement con skived it final, and the Canadian Legislature, which ac cepted that settlement, considered it to be permanent, and so it continued until 1850, as far as England was con cerned. That was proved in the most conclusive manner by the noble lord the member for London. The noble lord said it would be better to settle the whole question at once, and to comprise that settlement in one statute. It was also proved by the statute itself, which declared that the settlement was intended to be final, and, as far as Canada was concerned, it was proved partly by the act of the Ca nadian Legislature to which he had referred, and partly by the declaration of some of those persons who were now moving for the repeal of that statute. Mr. Robert Bald win, late Attorney-General for Upper Canada, declared in 1846, during a debate on the reserves : " That the bill passed by the Legislature of Upper Canada in 1840 led to a final disposal of the question by the Imperial Parliament—that he called on hon. members to mark his words that, if the question were reopened, former fierce agi tation would be resumed—that so much did he dread the re newal of agitation, that he had in every instance and in tote discountenanced such a course ; and that he therefore pressed upon both sides of the house to forbear reviving the ques tion." Let him cite another opinion delivered at the same time in the same place. Again, Mr. Price, in 1846, in the same House of Assembly, declared : " That the settlement under Lord Sydenham had been con sidered final; that peace had succeeded the long and fierce conflict, and the country was settling down, inXthe hope that agitation on that subject was at an end ; and that, although three-fourths of the people believed that the arrangement was made on injustice and partiality, they quietly submitted, as the only means of restoring peace to the land ; that propor tionate to that hope would be the grief and excitement pro duced by the reopening the question." Yet the Mr. Price who in 1846 delivered this opinion was precisely the gentleman under whose auspices agitation had recommenced in Canada for the purpose of destroying the settlement which so recently he had declared to be final. (Hear, hear.) A third member of the Colonial Le gislature (Mr. Cameron) said on the same occasion : " That he was one of those who acquiesced in the settle ment, and, for the sake of peace, wished never to" hear it again ; and that he warned the house to let the act of the Imperial Pariiament take its course. Let the land be sold, and the different churches get the proceeds, in strict accord ance thereto." The question so discussed in the Colonial Legislature was referred to a committee of the house, and the report of that committee was to this effect : " That the excitement which so unhappily existed on the subject for so many years was at length set at rest by the imperial statute 3d and 4th Victoria, chap. 78 ; that it was intended to be a final settlement of the question ; that, not withstanding the inequality of the division, it was accepted by the inhabitants of the province as such ; and that no change or deviation from the system then existing should be sanctioned by the Legislature." He would ask, then, was it wise, was it decent, to ask the Imperial Parliamet to set aside a settlement which the Imperial Parliament had solemnly made, which the Cana dian Parliament and the Canadian people had solemnly accepted ? (Hear, hear.) What were men to trust to if they were not to trust to such guarantees as these ? Surely if ever a settlement was solemnly made, if ever a guarantee was solemnly entered into, if ever a duty was imposed upon Parliament, that settlement was made, that guaran tee was entered into, that duty was imposed in the case before the House. (Hear.) If he needed a further argu ment, he found it in the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in committee. What had been the right hon. gentleman's justification on the part of the Government for withdrawing the third clause of the bill? He himself (said the right hon. gentleman), " Was a party, in 1840, with his noble friend the member for the city of London, to the arrangements which then took place on this subject ; and he really must say that it appeared to him that nothing could be more distinct than the pro visions of that act, which amounted, both in spirit and in letter, to a compact between this country and that colony. It was not merely a compact by construction, but a compact of the most distinct kind." If, then, this was a compact distinctly imposing an obliga tion upon this country, it must surely be regarded as im posing an equal obligation on the other parties. The House had been told, on a former occasion, that the compact rest ing on this country rendered it liable to pay 10,0001. per annum to the Canadian clergy, should the Canadian Legis lature be in default in this et bat the house was respe ; in formed by the noble lord opposite that if the Canadian Legislature should think fit to secularize these reserves, the mother country, in the opinion of the law officers of the Crown, given. Surelyas not bound by the guarantee which it had so solelmnl as not seriously propounded that a guarantee given was to be set of a subsequent event, not at all contempla as te i d de at b t y he re timea o reason the guarantee was to the noble lord the woe s ( which Hear, h h e e a r.)himself H e addressed would recall to the house in 1840, when describing the changes which had been made in the bill then before the house, in consequence of the communications that had t a k en place between the Arcp of Canterbury as representing the Church, the as represented by the noble lord, Government of the daK as represent and Sir R. Peel, and t e Duke of Wellington as Es in, the party of which the present chequer then formed one. The noble lord e sld " There was this further proposition—that, such e being th e r general division of the proceeds of th e clergy serves, with respect to the one-fourth which was already sold, and th proceeds of which were already partly invest e d i n the fundes of this country and standing in the names of t rustees, it was proposed, reverting to the principle which used to be adopted and was agreed to by Parliament, but which was changed in 1833, when some modification was made• by the noble lord opposite, then Secretary of State for the C o l on i es, that the whole of the proceeds now payable to the church of England and church of Scotland out of the revenue of Upper Canada should be guaranteed permanently to the church of England and the church of Scotland. The amount now paid to the ehurch of England was 7,7001., and to the church of Scotland 1,5801. It was now proposed to guarantee the pay ment permanently." Yet the noble lord now proposed to them a bill which would enable the Canadian Legislature to secularize the whole of the clergy reserves, England being, at the same time, in the opinion of her Majesty's law officers, freed from any obligation to observe the compact she had so solemnly made with her colony. On the same occasion, in accepting the measure then offered by the noble lord, Sir Robert Peel said : " I think that the propositions made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, distinguished as well for his high station as for his moderation, comes recommended by justice as well as for bearance. On the part of the Church of England, all obstacles are removed from the disposal of the whole of the reserve lands. The church seeks not to reserve to herself any of these lands. After the decision of the judges, the church of Scot land is admitted to the same right as the church of England ; and the only difference which exists is the difference arising from the number of adherents which belong to each. With this proposition, acquiesced in by the two churches, permit ting-the sale of the whole of the reserve lands, with the gua rantee in perpetuity of the present amount, with one-third of the proceeds of the future sale, that is a proposal recom mended by its intrinsic' importance as well as by its justice and moderation." Deeply to be deplored was it that the guarantee thus solemnly ratified was to be deemed no longer binding than to the noble lord seemed expedient. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had described with his wonted power the evils which he considered likely to arise from the rejection of this measure ; but, whatever those evils might be, it ap peared to him (Mr. Walpole) that those certain to arise from its adoption were infinitely greater. He had that con fidence in the integrity of many of the Canadian people that he believed they would still be willing to acquiesce in the existing settlement, if the Imperial Parliament pointed out to them that they, in common with it, were bound in good faith and honour to observe it. At all events, he would have the experiment tried. Be just, and fear not. There were three dangers which he wished to point out to the house as likely to arise from the adoption of this mea sure,—the first, that it would tend to set up the voluntary system on the destruction of the present religious establish mops ; next, that it would tend to excite great religious strife and controversy with reference to the endowments not affected ; and, thirdly, that it would shake the confi dence which our colonies ught to feel in the protection of the Imperial Parliament. (Hear.) As to the first of these objections, the noble lord, who bad admitted the futility of the voluntary system as regarded education, would scarcely I contend that it would be found valid in regard to religion. He saw everywhere in every part of the world the seeds of religious strife sown, and he for one would never do any thing to facilitate their growth. Was there any way by which these unfortunate differences could be allayed ? He believed that there was one way, and only one ; and that was to maintain with a just but a firm and vigorous hand every compact which had ever been made under the bond of a national engagement for the benefit of any religious body, so long as the purposes for which that compact had been made were not perverted. (Hear, hear.) That was the test which he thought should be applied to all these measures. Let them adhere to that position, and . be be lieved they might maintain religious peace. Take up any other, and they would provoke more than ever religious animosity, which he feared would be greatly' increased if the Imperial Parliament should withdraw its protecting hand. (Hear, hear.) Parliament had a protecting power over all the dominions of the British Crown, and that power they were bound to exercise by defending the weak against the strong, and not by siding with the strong against the weak. He should not probably have adverted to this at all but for an unfortunate expression which had fallen from the Under-Secretary for the Colonies. The phrase which he alluded to was this—that " the measure before the house would shake the confidence of the Protes tant clergy in the perpetuity of religious endowments." Let him warn the hon. gentleman that he could not shake the confidence of the Protestant clergy in religious endow ments without shaking the confidence, not only of the Protestant clergy, but of every Church in the world, in the maintenance of any endowments whatever. It was for that reason that he entreated them to pause before they passed this bill, shaking the confidence of one Church in the endowments which belonged to it, and laying the flat tering unction to their souls that the confidence of other Churches in their endowments would not be shaken. The third evil consequence which, he thought, would flow from the adoption of this measure was the loss of colonial confi dence in imperial protection. He felt this very strongly. He felt that perfect faith in the British Crown had been hitherto one of the main encouragements in promoting colonial enterprise ; and that, if they once shook that con dence, they would strike a blow at colonisation itself. He was convinced that there was only one mode in which they could properly deal with our great colonial empire —that was to treat them as if they were parts of, and one with, ourselves. In the same way, therefore, that they would give to any town within this island municipal institutions which would enable it to deal with its own affairs, so ought they to give represent a ti ve i ns tit u ti ons t o our diff eren t colonies, whereby they might be enabled to deal with their own affairs. But, as they would never allow a town to destroy the foundations of any religious or chari table institutions which existed in that town before municipal rights were given to it, so they ought not to allow any colony of the British Crown, with represen tative institutions, to destroy the religious endowments which had been made and guaranteed by Parliament as permanent endowments. (Hear, hear.) The minority in such a town and the minority in the colony had a right to expect protection. If Parliament denied it, their confidence in them would be shaken, if not utterly de stroyed. For the sake, then, of the colonies generally, for the promotion and encouragement of colonial enterprise in all parts of the world, and for the purpose of maintaining the utmost confidence in the British Crown and the British Parliament, he begged them to pause before they passed this bill. But there were other reasons, perhaps, as strong as that to which he had last alluded. There was the danger of setting race against race, and people against people. There was the duty of making religious instruction co-ex tensive and commensurate with all the efforts of human enterprise. There was the further duty of preserving in tact the rights of conscience, and the perpetual mainte nance of the national faith. If they forgot these things, he owned he could not. When he thought of them he was unable to assent, under the plausible plea of local self government, to abandon those rights which had existed before self-government was conceded, which had been granted at the time it was conceded, which had been made the condition of that concession and which now, lie thought, ought to be upheld on every motive, with one ex ception, of policy and expediency, and on every principle, without one exception, of justice and of honesty. (Hear.) Mr. HIT3IE was of opinion that every argument which the right hon. gentleman had used should induce the house to support, and not to oppose this bill. The local Legisla ture of Canada had declared no less than 14 times, almost unanimously, that the endowments granted to the Churches of England and Scotland should .cease, and that the pro perty awarded by the Imperial Legislature should be secu larised. They added, moreover, that until that was done there would be no peace. The alarm of the right hon. gentleman, therefore, was all moonshine ; and he must ex press his thanks to the noble lord for having introduced this measure, which he believed would remove a great source of discontent from the colonies. So far from the abolition of the system preventing colonisation, he be lieved that if the Clergy Reserves Bill had never passed, the colonisation in Canada would have doubled its present amount ; and that, if these endowments were continued, Canada would be greatly inclined to repudiate its conned'- tion with England. He would say, with the right hon. gentleman, "Be just, and fear not." Be just to the people of Canada, and fear not the consequences. If they were unjust to them—which they would be if they rejected the present bill—he had shown them what the results were likely to be. (Hear.) Mr. DRUMMOND said that although, as the debate had proceeded since its first introduction, the nature of the bill had come to be much simplified and brought more clearly within the range of what had been called "just alarms"— for the fact was that it was neither more nor less than a measure of church plunder—(cheers from the Opposition) —yet so want' extraordinary things had been enunciated during the time the measure had been before the house, that he was loath to take leave of it without giving it a parting benediction. (A laugh) When his noble friend at the head of the Government (Lord Aberdeen) first an nounced to the public the principles on which he intended that his Government should be administered, he made use of the expression " Conservative progress.' Now, that the present measure was one of progress no one could. doubt ; but he much feared that his Noble friend, in ut tering his substantive, forget his adjective, for the " Con servative" quality of the measure he (Mr. Drummond) was totally at a loss to discover, seeing that it conserved no thing, and that its " progress,» not only in the intention of its movers, but in the intention of every one of its sup porters, was towards the destruction of all religious esta blishments. Mr. SE YDIER assured the hon. gentleman that he was mistaken in supposing that every soul who supported the Government in the present measure did so with the inten tion to promote the secularisation of the clergy reserves. He assurred him also that he believed he was acting not as a Radical but as a consistent Conservative in support ing a measure which would preserve the union between Canada and the mother country. In his opinion he was the Conservative and the hon. member was the Radical— for he had pointed clearly; and at no distant period, to the loss of our colonial empire. He (Mr. Seymer) knew no greater proof of the progress of public opinion than the present state of the clergy reserves question. With these views, he would give his cordial support to the measure proposed by her Majesty's Government. Mr. LIDDELL contended that the lands in question never properly belonged to the people of Canada, but were won by the sword, and paid for with the money, of this cotintry, and therefore the Canadians had no right to deal with them. Sir E. DERING, after disputing the doctrine of finality, said that he had no desire to deprive the clergy of any thing to which they were entitled, but that his vote for this measure was given in favour of self-government, and that he believed the Canadians would deserve any confi dence we might repose in them. Mr. CHILD opposed the bill, remarking that those who were indifferent to religion might be careless about preserv ing its rites, but that there was a moral responsibility at taching to the Legislature. H e wa s f o r retaining the en dowments whi c h the wisdom and forethought of our fathers had created ; and he quoted from Malachi the re ference to those who " rob God." Mr. PEEL felt it necessary to advert to some of the arguments which the right hon. gentleman, late Secretary for the Home Department, had urged in opposition to the measure. In common with every member of the house, he entertained the greatest respect for the right hon. gen tleman, but it would appear that, with reference to this question, he had permitted his zeal to get the upper-hand of his habitual regard for candour and impartiality. The right hon. gentleman had unintentionally, no doubt, en tirely misrepresented what fell from him (Mr. Peel) in introducing the bill. What he said upon that occasion was not intended to apply to religious endowments in general, but to one particular country and to one particular description of endowment—namely, the clergy reserve fund of Canada. It ought not to be supposed that, because he pressed the adoption of this bill on the house, he wavered in any degree in his attachment to the Established Church of England. He supported the Church of England in this kingdom because he belonged to it, and because the great bulk of the people held sentiments in unison with his own on that subject. It was one thing, however, for Par liament to support for itself, and by itself, a Church Esta- ' blishment, and another to support by its authority an Establishment in Canada, possibly without the concurrence, ill violat e d a compact, and it might be even against the will, of the people of 1 that country. The right hon. gentleman argued that the that e m u n y s t p ersou perceive w h who examined to which the good faith of the Crownl n and Legislature was pledged ; but it appeared to measur mthiin:dpetshiteiepnrowviassioncitiis quite un tothetenable. rights of all exisj The bill was framed with scrupulous regard the obligation of . public faith. Were not the incumbents protected?" ( Hear, and a laugh.) fisting incumbents of whatever denomina tion, now in spiritua7charge of any district in Canada secured in the en joyment of his income du • the ' was right hon. gentleman anticipated that hi s t the in c s u u m c c b e e s n s o e y r s . enjoy a similar adyanta present incumbents would not Al te l n t u h r a e t e od c onstitute o a breach of trust . at might but the cir cumstance would not protect existing Parliament was was bon of n Th d the t, terests. The moment the Legisallt to point it was disembarrassed of all ure • passed beyond that considerations respecting endowments, and was free to travel in the open path of ' public policy alone. Viewed in that light, could it be de nied that, as a measure of public policy, the bill was en titled to the consideration of the house? (Hear, hear.) The bill would place the Church of England in Canada on the same footing, with respect to endowments, as the Ro man Catholic Church. In Lower Canada there were 500 Roman Catholic parochial clergymen, possessing, on an average, an incom e o f 2501 . each, aid this appropriation rested on the good pleasure of *he Canadian Parliament alone. It appeared to him that the provision made for the Church of England should be placed on precisely the same footing. No argument had been more reiterated in the course of this discussion than that the act of 1840 was in tended and accepted as a final settlement ; and yet, singu larly enough, every party interested in maintaining the act had taken the course best calculated to sap its foundations and render its stability precarious and uncertain. Take, first, the conduct of the people of Canada themselves. Certainly the Imperial Government would never have moved in the matter had it not been for the representations of a change of opinion on the part of the people of Canada. Three times—with a general election intervening—had the Canadian Parliament passed resolutions condemnatory of the act of 1840. Under these circumstances it might be fairly assumed that the opinion of the people of Canada was in unison with their Parliament. This being the case, he was entitled to ask those who were prepared to reject the bill what they were prepared to do ? They would be called on year after year, and session after session to repeat the vote they were about to give that night. Turning from the people of Canada to the Imperial Government, let the house con sider its position in regard to the question. In 1850 Lord Grey undertook, on the part of the Government, to bring forward a measure similar to that now before the house ; but before he could execute his intention he was succeeded in office by the right hon. baronet opposite. Now, no man had done more than the right hon. baronet to render the maintenance of the act of 1840 impracticable. The right hon. baronet took this course ; he said ho would not fulfil the pledge given by Lord Grey, but that he was prepared from time to time to reconsider it, and make a redistribution of the funds settled by it. (Hear.) The right hon. baronet's proposition, however, did not meet the requirements of the case, for what the Canadians complained of was, not so much the arrangement effected by the act of 1840 as of the power assumed by the Impe rial Legislature to take the matter out of their own con trol. It was said that the lands in question were never the property of the Canadians, but had been acquired by Bri tish blood and treasure. If that argument were worth anything, it applied equally to the whole Canadian terri tory, and ought to have estopped the legislation by which, 10 or 15 years ago, we surrendered to the Canadian Par liament all the waste lands of the Crown. (Hear, hear.) That proceeding was a precedent for the course which Go vernment now called upon the house to adopt. The Legis lature of Canada represented a population of 2,000,000. It had been set up by ourselves for the moral and material improvement of the people, and it seemed but reasonable that it should control every agency that could aid it in the cause of good government. (Hear, hear.) If they founded in that country a provision for public worship,' it did strike him as an anomaly that the Parliament of Canada should not have the power of regulating that provision, and deciding what was the End of public intruction to be supported out of it, (Hear, hear.) They had left to the colonists every other institution to regulate and govern, and why, then, were they called upon to act as a buttress from without to a church establishment in that country ? And would they not be called upon, on the same principle, to give extraneous aid to every institution in Canada ? (Hear, hear.) He would ask gentlemen opposite on which of the two acts—that of 1791 or that of 1840—they wished to fall back on this question ? If they relied on the act of 1791, did they not in so doing impugn the act of 1840 ? The right hon. gentleman opposite said the act of 1791 was applicable to the maintenance of the Protestant clergy re serves ; but he forgot that by the act of 1840 the Roman Catholics had been admitted to share in those funds, and he must also' remind him that from 1819 down to 1840 attempts were made, from time to time, to disturb - the arrangements of that act. (Hear, hear.) Successive Legislative Assemblies in Canada attempted, session after session, to change that act, and appropriate the reserves to other purposes. (Hear, hear.) Could that grow up as a right which was daily denounced as a wrong ? Could a prescriptive right be given to the Church of Eng land in Canada when it was daily remonstrated against ? The right honourable gentleman said it was a final act, but it was . only final in the hope then entertained that the Canadian people would come to agree upon that which had proved to be a great source of dis sension. (Hear, hear.) He referred to the preamble of the act of 1840, but that preamble had reference not to a final settlement of the question, but simply to the final dis position of the land for sale. (Hear.) It was also said that the act of 1840 followed the act of the Upper Cana dian Legislature prior to the union. On the contrary, there was a material difference between them, and it was impossible to say that the act of 1840 expressed the views of the Canadian Legislature of Upper Canada. (Hear, hear.) He must be permitted to doubt, also, whether that act was accepted as a final measure by the Canadian Par liament. The right hon. gentleman bad read certain Speeches and the report of a committee, but he failed to show that the report of that committee was followed up by any resolution of the house itself. (Hear, hear.) On the whole, then, he had come to the conclusion that the de mand of the local Parliament was one that they were bound to concede. (Hear.) How they would exercise their power was a question he did not care to consider. But he would say this, that in their strict observance of constitutional decorum, during the three years they had been endeavour ing to obtain this power—(hear, hear)—in their ,not at tempting to override the British Parliament, but showing a readiness to wait the pleasure of that house—they had given a good earnest of the spirit with which they -were willing to approach the question. (Hear, hear.) The Church of England would at least derive one great ndvan tage from the passing of this bill. She would not hence forth be indebted for her endowments to a harsh ind un questionable interference of the Imperial Parliament with the property that belonged to the Canadian ipeople. (Hear, hear.) She would owe them to their spontaneous liberality or their spontaneous forbearance. (Hear; hear.) He would only add that the course they were now taking was not altogether without a precedent. There was a por tion of the history of our colonies in Australia which might be not inaptly cited on this occasion. There, as in Canada, they had determined to establish the Church of England, and there they gave that Church the right to one-seventh of all the waste lands of the colony. But they retraced their steps before it was too late ; and what had been done with these Church lands, that now yielded 4,0001. a-year ? They were reserved, not for the advantage of the ,Church of England only, but distributed in fair equal parts among the four denominations in the colony,—he believed with the active concurrence of the right hon. gentleman oppo site. (Hear, hear.) They were distributed among the Wesleyan Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Roman Ca teolics, and the Church of England, and the principle acted upon was, that they each received shares propprtioned to their numerical strength. (Hear, hear.) He hoped that Canada would continue to be a home for the Church of England. He acknowledged that, whatever might be the power which the Church derived from the consciousness of the divine mission that was intrusted to her, in a new country like Canada she could not bring home her mission to the wants of the population unless she was largely en dowed by the public. (Hear, hear.) But still the right of the Canadian Legislature to deal with these endowments was so strongly fixed in justice that it ought to be conceded, and, therefore, without believing that the passing of this bill would cloud the future or darken the fortunes of that Church, and believing that it would cement and draw more closely the ties which bound that country to this, hepressed upon them the adoption of the bill, and hoped they would pass it at its final stage with a majority as clear, and com manding, and conclusive as that which it received on the last occasion. (Hear, hear.) Mr. NAPIER denied that the object of this bill was to place the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches on a level, and declared that the former was placed lower than the latter, and deprived of a protection which was pre served to the Church of Rome. He next argued that per manence was intended when the guarantee was given, and that the settlement was designed, and represented to the Archbishop of Canterbury, as for all time, and not, merely. for existing incumbents. If the Crown were not to re serve these rights, he would ask what rights it could pre tend to keep in a colony, and he entered into a legal argu ment to show that it was proposed to interfere with vested rights and acquired interests, which the act of 1791 did not do. This was a question of property and of spoliation. He urged the case of the laity who had gone out to Canada on the faith that Parliament would abide by its own enact ment, and he dwelt upon the great increase which had taken place in the members of the Established Church, asking how their spiritual interests were to be provided for. What right had we to take their property, or to divest ourselves of our responsibility, or the chance of what the Canadian Legislature might do ? After various quotations from speeches by members of the Government, he urged that the faith of the Crown and of Parliament, and the duty of England, were absolutely pledged to the compact, and that Government ought not to ride off from it on an opinion of their law officers. Whatever it might be desirable to do towards giving the colonies self-go vernment, let England, in the first place, presehe her honour. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said that all private rights were preserved by this bill, but he cautioned the house not to confound private or Parliamentary, rights with the mere arrangement for distribution of certain sums, for the benefit of the people of Canada, created by existing legislation. He denied that any wrong was done by placing in the control of the people of Canada the carry ing out of a provision exclusively intended for their own benefit, of which they must be the best judges. Sir J. PAKINGTON was sorry to say that the proceed ings of that day had thrown a stain on the character of British statesmen. His mind was so full of the course taken by Government that he could not dwell upon com paratively unimportant topics, such as the vacillation of the Administration, and their contradictory statements. But after what had been said on former occasions by Lord J. Russell, he was as much bound as a man could be either to withdraw the bill or to introduce words for giving effect to the guarantee. It was a sad day for England when men of honour were driven to deviate, for political purposes, and as a Government, from the principles which would actuate them individually and in private. Having, in his turn, made quotations from former speeches, Sir John asked what faith could be placed in words, if the promises made of a permanent arrangement were to broken. He next animadverted upon the dispatch of the Duke of Newcastle to Lord Elgin, written, he said, as if the writer were afraid of his subject. He would not repeat the arguments which he had urged on the second reading, and which some attempts had that night been made to combat, but he denied that this question affected the Canadian people as a whole, for it did not affect the Catholics of the lower province. He charged the Govern ment with being accessory to confiscation before the fact, knowing the object of the Canadians, and yet abandoning the reserves to them. The bill could not be passed with out violating the honour of the country. When the union of the two provinces was signed, the separation of the colony from this country was settled, and it was only a question of time ; but that separation would be hastened by the deep offence this bill would give to the loyal Pro testants of Canada. Lord J. RUSSELL—I must, in the first place admit that the hon. and learned gentleman the member for the University of Dublin, and the right hon. gentleman who has just sat down, have not shrunk from stating all the magnitude and all the important consequences of this mea sure. They have not shrunk from stating that, supposing what they hardly seem to deny—that the refusal of this power to the Legislature of Canada should lead to the sepa ration of Canada from this empire, they are prepared to embrace that consequence. Now, before the house rejects a bill of which 'such consequences are predicted even by its opponents, it is surely worth the while of the house to con sider whether there are any sufficient reasons in justice or in policy why that rejection should take place. The right hon. gentleman has spoken much of the opinion with which he has viewed those guarantees—those principles departed from, which, he thought, ought to have been maintained; THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 12, 1853. but before we assent to his doctrine on this subject, let us look a little as to what has been the nature of this pro tperi. In il pro perty ofthe9lMr. clergy reserves,pitt proposing an to dwhatseipseirteste Canada prese intontposi ieltwo provinces, of which the one should be French and Ro man Catholic, and the other should be English and Protes tant, proposed that, in order to maintain the Protestant clergy in respectability, one-seventh of the property of the Crown—the waste lands of the Crown—should be devoted to the maintenance of the Protestant clergy. When pressed as number n the be r inconvenience n i g e h n t c b e e of inhabitingsuc a n arrange mentthet pro vince pe open Pitt to said revisionf i fairly y; if s an i d t b ea y nth 3l draw: as candidly—" the e l r not aProtestants, arrangement his is should be found that the quantity of land is too much, that the Protestant clergy do not require so large a provision, 3lr this, like every other act of Parliament, will be subject to revision ;" and, accordingly, a power to vary and repeal that act, was inserted in the act. In 1831, Lord Goderich, with the approbation of the Crown, advised the Legislature of Upper Canada to part with the endowment altogether, and appropriate otherwise the funds arising from that en dowment. So little did Lord Goderich, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, suppose this was an inalienable endowment, with regard to which the honour of the Crown was pledged. In 1840 a bill came over from C an ada, proposing to make alterations in the distribution and proceeds of these clergy reserves. I found it was im possible to obtain the approbation of Parliament to that bill; as a Canadian bill it was liable to objection in point of law. I found also that an arrangement of a similar kind was not likely to pass through either house of Par liament, and I consented, although I did not think the arrangement an equitable one, to a division of the proceeds: I am quite ready to state that I considered this as a final arrangement of the matter; I believed that the Church of England and the Church of Scotland would divide those sums which were devoted to them by that act of Parlia ment. At the same time, it was easy to foresee, in the course of events, that the affairs of Canada must take a complexion in which it would be impossible to maintain that guarantee. And what has happened ? For many years the arrangement was disturbed.. The right hon. gentleman says the arrangement was but lately withdrawn. Was it so in JulylBso, when the Canadian Assemblyaddressed the Crown to have the power of disposing otherwise of the clergy reserves or the funds arising from them ? That was considered by the Government of the day, and Lord Grey answered that it was a matter exclusively affecting the domestic concerns of Canada, and therefore her Majesty's Government greatly regretted that the act of Parliament should be disturbed, yet they could not, according to the principles which they had held and professed, refuse to Canada the power of interfering with that arrangement, and of making a new distribution. Now, was it a matter of domestic concern for Canada or not ? Was it such a matter, that at a tim e w h en th e mem b ers o f th e Ch urch of England were one-eighth of the population of Upper Canada, they should have one-half of the proceeds of this fund ? (Hear, hear.) Was it a domestic concern _ of. Canada, or of the empire at large ? I think it cannot be denied that the Protestants interested in that arrangement were people of Canada ; but what did the right hon. gen tleman say when he was Secretary of State ? He said he was for redistribution—(hear, hear)—and now he says re distribution is entirely different from spoliation—(cheers, and counter cheers) ;—and that my right hon. friend the member for the University of Cambridge is engaged in redistribution, but in a very different process from spolia tion. What my right hon. friend is engaged in doing is transferring property which it held by the clergy of the Church of England in one portion of England to the clergy of the Church of England in another portion of England.: (Ironical cheers from the Opposition, answered by counter cheers.) Therefore, what is proposed in Canada is not a ' redistribution of those funds, but it is to give to those other Protestant subjects, and even to Roman Catholics— ironical cheers, answered again by counter cheers)—accord ing to. ther number, where the Church of England are a small proportion of the population, and they comprise seven-eighths of that population, the power to make a dis tribution of those revenues more in conformity with the demands of the country. That is totally different from the redistribution with which my right hon. friend is concerned; and if such are the doctrines which the right hon. gentleman holds, friend as he is of the Church of England, they will not apply to the Church of England in this country. I hope we shall not hear from him that any redistribution of the funds of the Church of England, of the Wesleyan Metho dists, Presbyterians, or Baptists would not be spoliation, and that is a measure which might fairly be resorted to under the modest form of religion. The right honourable baronet is himself, however, not free from this charge of proposing a different distribution of the reserves. (Hear, hear.) The point upon which the right honourable baronet had laid the greatest stress was the.Bth section of the act of the guarantee proposed from the Consolidated Fund. But he had omitted one part of the statement which I t m h a ir d d e e t l he aus o e t . her l s n t i a g t h when edt that t I proposed theseaseciue to ne leave eeflea o v u the third leaving it out would be argued in two different ways, either that the guarantee was only to be considered as contingent upon the failure of the clergy reserves to form a sufficient fund, or as an absolute guarantee, and upon that question I said that I would give no opinion whatever. All I stated was, that I thought all the benefits which could in law be de rived from that clause ought to remain with the two churches to which it was given. (Hear, hear.) The right honourable baronet has pressed me to obtain the opinion of the law officers of the Crown upon that point. I have obtained it for him---(a laugh)—and it seems to have given him that peculiar kind of satisfaction which he expresses by the word " pain." (Laughter.) In point of fact, the pleasure and pain of the right honourable baronet seem closely allied. It may have been a great object with him to obtain that opinion, but I • doubt whether in Canada those who wish these funds to be preserved in part to the Church of England will thank him for his exertions. (Hear, hear.) But the great point is that the settlement of this question is one of purely domestic concern, upon which the people of Canada ought to legislate for themselves. What did the right honourable baronet say last year ? He stated that he could not bear that a subject so sacred should be decided by accidental majorities ; upon which Mr. Hinckes replied to him that if accidental majorities were not to decide questions, what was the meaning of constitutional government, and of the many decisions which bad been come to by the Parlia ment of this country during the last century? He also argued that it would not be an accidental majority of the Canadian legislature which would decide on this subject, because the whole question had been argued fully and de liberately, and upon the justice of the question the people of Canada could have no doubt. It was certainly very mortifying, and I confess I felt myself humbled, to hear the Colonial Secretary of the Government of this county, so completely defeated in argument by a member of the colonial legislature. (Cries of " Oh, oh," and " hear, hear.") I own that it appears to me the question can be decided upon no other ground than that which has been taken from the beginning, viz., that it is a question upon which the people of Canada and their representatives alone must decide. We have never denied that the great issue to be decided is, whether or no you will give to the pro vince of Canada the power of legislating upon this subject. (Hear, hear.) And that is my answer to the hon. member for Midhurst, who told the house that the voluntary prin ciple was a very bad one, and that the principle of the Church establishment was a very good one, and leads to prosperity and happiness. All I have to say is, that that is an arrangement which I advise the honourable member to address to the Assembly of Canada. If I w ere arguing in this house with respect to the establish ments of the United Kingdom, I should say that I en tirely agree with him in the arguments which he has put forward. (Hear, hear.) But with respect to this ques tion, if the people of Canada—and I do not shrink from the consequences —say,. " We are of opinion that Church establishments are not for the benefit of Canada ; that religion will be increased by adopting the voluntary prin ciple ; and that neither the Church of England, nor the Church of Rome, nor the ministers of any other denomina tion shall have any income from the State, or any part of the clergy reserves," I say, if that is their solemn and deliberate conclusion, they must have their own will upon that subject. (Hear, hear). If, on the other hand, they should think that at least a large proportion of these clergy reserves should be distributed equally among the ministers of various religious denomination, I believe they will come to that very wise conclusion, but it is a conclu sion with respect to which I will use no force, nor compul sion, whatever in the legislature. (Hear, hear). The right honourable baronet had argued as though this were a new principle, and as though we were endeavouring to establish some principle hitherto unknown. If the house, however, will look back to the debates in 1791, they will see that upon the first introduction of the constitutional act by Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox laid down that rule which we now adopt. This, in fact, is the only principle by which we can hope to arrive a prosperity, and to maintain har mony and union between this country and the colonies. If we insist that we must have own notions carried out, and our own ideas prevail, the connection between this country and that province of Canada will be very short. If you wish to retain your colonies your legislation must be founded upon liberal principles, and if so founded, the connection will long endure, and the colonists will value your generosity and maintain their reverence of the name of " Britain." I believe such a connection would be highly honourable, both to this country and the colonies, and it is a connection which may be a , source of prosperity to both. If, on the other hand, you select to go back to the system of minute regulations in local affairs, then indeed you must bid adieu, not only to this noble colony of Canada, but to many others. These principles are not new, they are the ancient principles upon which your colonial empire was founded, and I trust you will not de part from them ; and if you confirm the third reading of this bill, I belive you will promote a long continuance of this honourable connection between this empire and its colonies. (Hear, hear). The house then divided, when there appeared— For the amendment.. 2OB Against the amendment 2BB y ee e r g d ai in n g s l t y th r e ead am a en th dm ird en t t ime and passed. —BO. REDEMPTION ACTS . CO Th N e SO bill L 3l l w D aja A osri TED FUND AND NATIONAL DEBT act The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in moving that the report of the committee of the whole house on these acts be considered, said that on the 6th resolution, which provided that if the South Sea Company should on or before "the 3d of June" signify their assent to com mute their stock, he should propose to substit u t e th e words " th e I s t of July," because it had been represented to him that the South Sea Company would require to give three months' previous notice before the business connected with such commutation could be transacted. In resolution 15, which provided that the trustees, &c., converting South Sea Stock should be indemnified, he proposed to insert the words, " as well as in respect of other stock." The several resolutions were then read, and as amended were agreed to. In answer to a question from Mr. WALPOLE, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, jhat the notices required by the resolutions were quite optiffnal. The only notice to which the law had reference was in the case where the redemption was in money. The right hon. gentleman then moved an address to her Majesty that she would be pleased to direct the necessary notices required to be given by an act passed in the 12th year of King George 1., entitled " An Act for granting to his Majesty the sum of 1,000,000/. to be raised by way of lottery," be issued.—Agreed to. COPYHOLDS BILL. The bill was read a second time and ordered to be com mitted on Monday nest• SHERIFF AND COMMISSARY COURTS' (BER- WICKSHIRE) BILL. This bill went through committee. PLACES OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP REGISTRA TION BILL. - - This bill was read a second time, to be committed pro forind on Thursday next, when amendments will be in troduced. LAW OF EVIDENCE (SCOTLAND) BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed, and, the other business on the paper having been disposed of, the house adjourned at a quarter to 1 o'clock• TO BE SOLD, in One Lot, pursuant to an Order of the High Court of Chancery, made in a cause of " Bray v. Aubry," with the approbation of Joseph Humphry, Esq., one of the Masters of the said Court, at the Auction Mart, in the City of London, some time in the month of May next, of which due notice will be given, a LEASEHOLD DWELLING, HOUSE and FREIE' iES, situate and being No. 18, Queen-square, Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex, late the property of John James Hopwood. deceased. Parttcular4 and Conditions of Sale may shortly be had Gratis, at the said Master's Chambers, in Southampton -buildings, Chancery-lace, London ; of Mr. Henry Thomas, No. 35, Lincoln's-inn-flelds, Solici tor ;of Mr. Shuttleworth, No. 3, South-square, Gray's-inn, Solicitor; of Mr. Bray, Auctioneer, 259, High Holborn, London; and at the Mart. THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Under the Management of Mr. Buckstone. TIIS ETENING, APRIL 12, Will be performed ELOPE M ENTS IN HIGH LIFE. By Messrs. B. Sullivan, Chippendale, Howe, W. Farren, Buckstone, and Comp ton ; Mesdames Fitzwilliam, Reynolds, L. S. Buckingham, &c. After which MR. BUCKSTONE'S ASCENT OF IHOU.N T PAR NASSUS. To conclude with POPPING rHE QUESTION. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET. Under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean. THIS EVENING, APRIL 12, Will be performed the new and original Comedy, in three acts, by Douglas Jerrold, entitled ST. CUPID ; or, Dorothy's FOrtalle. Principal characters by Messrs. W right, W. Lacy, Harley, J. Vin ing, Terry, F. Cooke, Everett, and Chester; Mrs. W. Lacy and Miss Murray. After which will be performed the new Drama, adapted from the che French of Mons. Scribe, by Mr. Palgrave Simpson, called MARCO SPADA. ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. Under the Management of Madame Vestris. THIS EVENING, APRIL 12, Will be performe I THE GAME OF SPECULATION. Charac. ters by Messrs. C. Mathews, F. Matthews, R. Booby, Baker, Suter, and Butler ; Mrs. Horn, and Miss M. Oliver. After which, LITTLE TODDLEICINS. To conclude with A HOUSE OUT OF WINDOWS. THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHL Proprietor, Mr. B. Webster. — Directress, Madame Celeste. THIS EVENING, APRIL 11, • Will be presented WEBS MR AT HOME, AN ADELPHI FARE OF THREE REMoVE 4 I AND A DESSERT. Characters by Messrs. R. Webster, L. Murray, Keeley, &c.; Miss F. Haskell and Mrs. L. Murray, Esc. After which, never acted, A ,DESPERATE GAME. With TO PARENTs AND GUARDIANS. THE PRETTY GIRLS OF sTILBERG. PEPINO THE DUMB BOY, AND PUG, HIS MONKEY, ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE. Lessee and Manager, Mr. Farren. THIS EVENING, Aram_l2, Will be presented SALVATORI ; or, the Bandit's Daughter. Characters by Messrs. H. Marston, Robson, Diddear, Morgan; and Bender; Mesdames Anderton and H. Gordon. To conclude with LIFE IN AIRTRALIA. Supp , rted by Messrs. IL Marston, Robson, Diddear, Shalders, G. Cooke, Morgan, and Bender; Mesdames A. Phillips, Anderton, H. Gordon, E. Turner, and Bartlett. ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. W. Cooke. Unprecedented success of the New Spectacle, which nightly in-: creases in popularity and attraction.—The novel and wondrous. Feats of the Horses, the Passage of the Bureing Forest, the Leap through Fire, and the terrific spring of Amakosa's Steed from the fearful Heights over the Falls of the Umtata are nightly hailed with perfect enthusiasm. Mr. Cooke has been for months training the Horses for the astonishing Feats. THIS EVENING, APRIL 12, AnS during the Week, the Performances will commence with the maghificent spectacle entitled AMA KOSA ; or, Scenes of Kafir N.rfare ; with new and brilliant scenery, costumes, and appoint ments. To be followed by an entire change in the ever-popular Scen'es in the CIRCLE, introducing the most accomplished Equestrian and Gymnastic Artistes of the day. To conclude with a Laughable FARCE. B n-odice open daily from ICeven to Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W. West. DAILY WEATHER TABLE. TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 1853. State of the wind and weather at each of the following places at nine o'clock yesterday morning. The stations are arranged in order of latitude. HASTINGS—N., gentle breeze—cloudless. SOUTHAMPTON- - N.W., gentle breeze—foggy. FOLKESTONE--W., light breeze—partially cloudy. TUNBRIDGE—N.W., gentle breeze—cloudless. BASINGSTOKE—N.W., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. GREENWICH—N.W., gentle breeze—overcast. STROOD—W., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. SWINDON.—N.W., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. YARMOUTH—W., gentle breeze—cloudless. The returns from the following places indicate the state of the weather on Saturday morning at nine o'clock HOLYHEAD—W., gentle breeze—fine. LANCASTER—S., calm—cloudless. DARLINGTON—N,W., gentle breeze—cloudless—frost. SNAP—N.; calm—partially cloudy—hard frost. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAY —3 , loruiag 6 miu. after 4 Evening 22 min.aft. 4 14-IVlonuow—lforning 35 min. after 4 I Evening 50 min.aft. 4 THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, APRIL 12. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 59—highest since noon yesterday. 46—lowest this morning and during the night. 56 this day at noon. BAROMETER, 30'06. WIND, N. to N.N.W.Light breeze, and cloudy, with occasional sunshine. .•v.. b,i-,---..1 7 :* Mt, LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 1853. There is no principle better recognised, or which commands more universal assent, than that no addition should be made to the national liabi lities unless under urgent pressure. War has been almost the only cause that could justify the imposition of a heavy burden on posterity. A calamity similar to the Irish famine of 184'7 may be placed in the same category. We may, as a general proposition, say, that no fresh charge should be created, no responsibility incurred, un less under unusual and extraordinary circum stances, such as the existing generation is unable to cope with, and also where the ex penditure will be, to a certain extent, beneficial to our descendants. Many persons consider that a nation anxious to meet its obliga tions justly and fairly should not be contented even to remain stationary, but that vigorous mea sures should be taken to reduce the capital of the debt, and to provide for its gradual extinction. Many suggestions have from time to time been put forward with this aim and object. The most feasible, however, consisted of a substitution for the present Three per Cent. Stock, either of ter minable annuities bearing a higher rate of inter est for the time being, or of a new stock at a higher rate of interest, but lower nominal capital irredeemable for a fixed period. Either of these plans, without materially increasing the existing burdens, would greatly benefit future generations. If our ancestors had acted generally on either of these principles, we should now be comparatively free from debt ; or, at least, could look forward to an early abolition of indirect taxation, until even tually the national property became sufficient to maintain the national establishments —there being no national liabilities to be liquidated. Had we been blessed with prudent and judicious Financial Ministers, who, when there was a necessity for contracting debts, looked to the future welfare of the country rather than present convenience, we should have been in a very different and far more satisfactory position from that in which we are now placed. With few but honourable exceptions, unfortunately, however, like festive wine-bibbers, they thought rather of the enjoyment of the moment than the long bill and the terrible reaction of the morning ; they squandered their means, and earned for themselves the merited. execrations of those who were the sufferers for their folly or dishonesty. Mr. GLADSTONE offers no exception to the general rule. Let us not be misunderstood. We do not mean to accuse the Right Hon. Gen tleman of political turpitude, nor of want of ability. We willingly acknowledge his un blemished personal reputation, accompanied by a high degree of administrative talent. But, we perceive and deplore the error into which he has fallen. He has been misled by bad precedents. He has perhaps prejudices, which he has, no doubt, unconsciously, permitted to bias his judgment, and to hurry him into what we believe to be an exceedingly dangerous, if not an uncon stitutional, course ; and our regret is increased from the respect which on other matters we enter tain for his many high qualities. He has, how ever, offered to the fundholders a bargain so very improvident, so much beyond what they had any right to expect, and so very prejudicial to our children and our childxens' children, that persons l es s acquainted with his character might mo tives which we would be the last to impute. One branch at least of the alternative is so unwise, so unstatesmanlike, so impolitic, that it is difficult to conceive how it can for a moment be defended, or what can be said in favour of placing an additional charge on our children. The part that we complain of is the second branch of the alternative, which creates a new 2i per Cent. Stock, and offers the fund holder 1101. in it, for every 1001. in the 3 per Cents. This is, practically, neither more nor - less than a permanent addition to the debt of 10 per cent. for a present advantage to ourselves. It is as wrong as if we borrowed a considerable sum payable by way of deferred annuity, giving pre sent ease at the expense of future suffering. It is as bad as the conduct of the spendthrift, who borrows money on bills at exorbitant interest, letting the future take care of itself. Mr. WILSON, generally sharp enough in other matters, and capable of detecting any sophisms in the assertions of others, coolly puts forward some of the most transparent fallacies ever enun ciated before a deliberative assembly. Keen and clear-sighted enough to spy out the mote in his brother's eye, he seems to think that his own " beam " can escape observation. He gravely declares that it is only the amount of the interest we are to look to ; that the nominal capi tal is not worthy of the slightest considera tion. Is he not aware that the very same principle has already cost the nation no less than 170,000,000/. sterling ? Can he not con demn those who in the last century put forward such ridiculous arguments as he now indulges in ? Can he not form some possible conjecture as to the probable results of the recent discoveries in Australia and California ? Is it then nothing to anticipate the advantages that may arise from the vast augmentation of the precious metals that may fairly be anticipated —to deprive our children of even the chance of escaping from their burdens, and that without any correspond ing advantage to ourselves. If an opponent had put forward such a project, Mr. WILSON would have been the first to expose its defects. It is lamentable to see such a man lending his aid to promote a system so objectionable in every re spect. And if objectionable, the limitation of amount cannot remove the feeling against its adop tion. If good for 30,000,0001., it would also be beneficial for 500,000,000/. ; and if injurious as to the larger amount, it cannot be rendered bene ficial in the smaller. The principle is the same in either Case. A beautiful possibility has recently been shadowed forth in the pages of the Westminster. It has reference to the negro-race, and occurs towards the close of a remarkable and elaborate paper on Jamaica Distress, with especial regard to the influences exercised throughout the West Indies by British Philanthropy. According to the idea cherished by the reviewer, the time may yet come " when," to employ his own language, " from Jamaica and her kindred isles, the voice of a negro community, prosperous, educated, civilised, Christian, shall speak to republican despots, and their victims words which both will hear, and which the former will not be able to disregard." The time may come ! A happy thought for HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. The hour may yet strike when from Jamaica will resound the signal of universal emancipa tion. It is the vision of a humane dreamer in the Westminster. But then, he him self candidly acknowledges that " before the prophecy can be fulfilled," there remains " much work" to be accomplished. Much work 1 Yes, in truth, work so considerable in extent and variety as 'almost to impel the most sanguine• amongst us to shrink from regarding the more propitious views of the future, through dread of finding ourselves contemned more and more justly with the advance of time as mere visionaries. Much work ! Yes, before that voice can be in any way audible—" the voice of a negro community, prosperous, educated, civilised, Chris tian." We are not depreciating the advances already made in the islands of the West India Archipelago towards the amelioration of the exist ence of the black population. We agree cordi ally with the opinions here expressed by the' reviewer. We exult with him in the rapidity of that progress which has been made of late years on a soil " where coloured men not only may be, but are, legislators, lawyers, phy sicians, ministers, planters, editors, and mer chants, as well as labourers." That, doubtless, is a very wonderful advancement. But it is un happily very exceptional. Proportionately with the numbers of the aggregate community, the ex tension of this enlightenment among the Africans is not by any means as considerable as might from the foregoing remarks be understood. Compara tively few have attained that state, of social eleva tion. Comparatively few have risen to the dignity of legislators, or have penetrated to the arenas of the learned professions. Comparatively few are otherwise than drudges, " servants," accord ing to the English, " helps," according to the Americans. The schoolmaster has been amongst them, no doubt, and so also has the missionary. But how much still remains to be done to win the mass of the coloured race in those islands over to the charms of knowledge and the graces of Christianity ? Bas the onward move ment been so encouraged hitherto, that we can speak of them altogether as " a negro community, prosperous, educated, civilised, Christian ?" They have improved, without question. But have they attained the requisite degree of improvement ? Such improvement as would enable them to speak to republican despots and their victims with a voice in any way authoritative 1 Alas ! very far, indeed, from this—although the progress actually made is something extraordinary. Nay—even the benevolent dreamer of the Westminster appears to confess plainly enough that the time he speaks of is yet very far, indeed, from having actually arrived. He speaks of so influencing the negro brain by our teachings as to " exorcise those fiends of sensuality, sloth, and falsehood which slavery has left to haunt him"— meaning the African, of whom he has just said, " the negro is no controversialist." Qualities those, which, prevalent as they are among certain classes of the black 'population, militate against the probability of their becoming very speedily " a community prosperous, educated, civilised, Christian." " Much work," in fact, remains to be done towards the enhancement of their pro sperity. " Much work" remains to be done in the way of spreading amongst th em th e bles sings o f education. Even now, successfully a s we have pressed forward in the labour of softening their manners, and imparting to them the Divine consolation of religion —we are still, as it were, but at the commencement of the toil, which, if perseveringly sustained, must arm them at least, as a great nation, with the sword of civilisation and the shield of Christianity. .... Those are the labours that have to be effected before the prophecy already mentioned can be reasonably fulfilled. That is the kind of work that has to be accomplished—much more than the reduction of the public debt of Jamaica, amount ing to 750,000/. —more than the diminution of the amount of its annual expenditure of 350,000/. s u pon its public and parochial instituti ons. It s upon ou i s nt is from his manly recognition ofßeviewer this paramount insists necessity the that th fo e r Wmaenshily yearn t o come (p. 361) er of " a continuous immigration of English Ministers and Schoolmasters." Until we evince more devo tion in the support of this sacred cause ofen lightenment--enlig 11+ ennient by education anal by religion—we may look in vain for the entire abolition of slavery—for of the whites from slave-owning ‘` the complete emancipa tionrig habits, feelings, and p re j udices. " Example before pre cept. Let us en courage th i s k i nd o f " co ntinuous immigration," and th en, b u t no t before then, let us look for the app earanc e of that negro commu nity whose voice shall be rendered authoritative by the united influences of prosperity, education, civilisation, and Christianity. A deputation on the subject of the proposed alteration of the road at Kennington-common, consisting of Mr. Charles Few, of Streatham -hill ; Mr. John Bradbury, of Streatham ; and Mr. James Henry Sears, of Bankside, had an interview with Sir William Molesworth, yester day, at the office of Works and Public Buildings, in Whitehall-place. THE RECENT EARTHQUAKE. — The shock of the earth quake of the 2nd inst. was felt in the Isle of Wight. A private letter, received in Southampton from St. Servan, in France, states that the shock was most alarmin g there, and that people remained up all night through fear. It appears from the collected accounts, that the earthquake was limited, at least so far as it was percep tible to the senses, to a portion of the English channel comprehended between about 100 miles of the South Western coast of England and France, the superficial area of which is about 20,000 square miles. MONEY MARKET AND COMMERCIA L INTELLIGENCE-(THIS DAY.) CITY, TWO O'CLOCK' The sales of cotton at Liverpool yesterday r e i estimated at from 7,000 t o 8,000 b a l es , of Wil l 500 American and 500 S ura t were t a k e n for es, port, and 1,000 on specul a ti on . Th e ma rket o _ . „" e j firm, and closed tightly. The sales eonaPrk' s/ 6,000 American, 300 Pe rnam an d Mara.nban l ,,,,' 6d. to 71d., 100 Bahia a t 60. to 6id., 400 ggfr o tian at 61d. to Is., 1,000 Surat and Madra s 4 d, 3d. to 4d., and 60 Sea Isl an d a t l s . 9d. to 25. 4 per lb. Railway s h ares were fl a t a t ra th er 1 °" prices. The Metal markets of the United States air sympathising with our own, and there is a s increase of production in consequence of ill e .„: 0 ( vance in prices. I n a - commun i ca ti on from York, it is stated that :-- "The recent rise in the market value of iron 1 give a great impetus to its production, and we ha le ip doubt the returns for 1853 will show an important crease. In this country an impulse of some consequ has been given to the business. In Essex coal*, this State, particularly, the manufacturers are 'l"' active. The fires which have for several years beel l tinguished in the furnaces and rolling-mills, have rekindled. There is a brisk demand for ore and beds, and high prices have been demanded for fa" locations. A report of the Committee on Mining_, Smelting was recently made to the Wisconsin Legisl P from which we find that the average amount. of , raised annually, for eleven years, from 1841 to 1 85 u elusive, was 41,727,023 pounds, according to the OP' ing figures : No. of pounds Value dollars. 1841 1844 1847 1852 ...... 36,547,700 "In the mining counties, with a population of 1, 45,229, and with a taxable property valued at little, than four millions o f d o ll ap the lead product ot, year 1851 was valued a t $1,380,015, while the 81 °:; lead product for the last twelve years in the saranr e i ties has been $1,669,080. Should the present'r lead continue through 1853, the amount received' product will far exceed that of any previous year.„. .0 report concludes with a recommendation for the pointment of a State Geologist." A private meeting t a k es p l ace t hi s day, o ' l , ( 11 Committee of Turkish Bondholders, to CO IISI 0 the proposition of th e Ott oman G overnmen t, now specifies that the scrip is to be on Adelaide Chambers, Gracechurch-street, for ment. It is probable that the committee commend the holders to accept the proffered which amount to about 2 per cent. bonus, 70 per cent. interest. M any o f th e h o ld ers "of , f scrip bought at 7 and 8 premium, and com' themselves fairly entitled on that ground to t i t ; cipate in any new loa n th a t may be broug . ll lb ward. It will rest, i n a grea t measure, lot/3 ' e contractors, whoever th e y ma y b e , we presuPdo carry this out ; but the special agents of the 0 man Government, if so instructed, would hac power to afford relief. _ . v The grand proje c t b roug ht f orwar d unde r t) auspices of the Government at M a d r id, c all 11 " North of Spain Railw a y," i s exc iti ng mu c h tention, and some controversy. Th e obje' te view is to afford accommodation to the great to from Bayon ne t o th e me t ropo li s ; an d th e cad required is rather over six millions sterling. length of the line, including the branch t c) , port of Bilb oa , i s 427 m il es , an d t h e conce sel oo for 99 years. The caution money has heel:1.01;i) and the Spa n i s h G overnment guarantees a mi o „ interest of 7 per cent., including 1 per c ent..f a i applied to a s i n ki ng f und. The great feats{ that the provinces and communes traversed b 1 railway, as well as the contiguous provinces/ 4 1 agreed to share with the Government the rli sibility of this guarantee. The contracts hav e pti already arranged, and will be under the sti} amount, leaving about 10 per cent. capital 1 :; $ . 1 hands of the 'directors to meet the general co;r : ,ii of the undertaking, and to pay interest at the i f o r 5 per cent, per ann um t o th e s h are h o ld er s " e the course of construction. This railwai o verses the most important industrial distrie i ii eluding Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Alava, asni other parts celebrated for their wool, wineyi grain. If Spain had always respected her 0 , tions, railways wo u ld l ong s i nce h ave treS t y these parts. The cost of the line will be less in England or Fra nce , a n d th e ra il s and e°o, will be allowed to be imported free of duty, V the returns are expected to be much largey cause the present m eans o f communication 0 1 !, i , defective. Even if the charges for travelii - Ipo' comparatively very high, they will be muc h „ c e those payabl e by o th er mo d es o f converl Obi* ilf Spain. The lin es a l rea dy formed in Spa' yielding remarkably well, and far exceed the 1 . 0 0 nal estimate. In the present case, the net roe after deducting 45 per cent. for working eg is calculated at 10 per cent. and ci i s n a et h a e ti a e vi n :r a m re ar i l t ie d t o for . public .there i Parliamentary decision upon the proposils of Chancellor of the Exchequer, it may be e l rli that a lull will be felt in the market, - and it ti thin that the lapse of ti me an d th e further 02 sion upon the matter, have only served to c°':"o the previous impression that the principle i$ t j , j e rently vicious which seeks a present gain in in 1 0 1 at the expense of a futu re a dditi on to c‘lik Even as an experiment, such a thi ng h as 11 ° 0 to be tried, because its success would have i deplored if it led to a larger conversion on ti , _g eo , terms. ,Consols have bee n 1001. The l'i A Ut per Cents, bring 103# to i ; an d the 3 per y° 99/ i. Bank Stock is steady at 2251. BO t; stock has been quoted 260 i. Exchequer 1 3 only 2s. to 3s. premi um . India Bonds hrive to 455. premium. 1. g` In the F ore i gn M ar k e t th ere h as been 3,10' deal doing. Spanish Stock is lower on aCC°: O tl the apprehend e d oppos i t i on i n the Cortes "V. scheme of the new loa n . Th e C ert ifi ca tes il dropped to 6 and 6k. The New Deferred also lower, being 24*, and since 23i. Portl°ol Four per Cents. have been at of to i. 9 A 4 - Ayres Stock is at 61 to 62. Equador Bov"'. at 5i and Grenada Deferred at 11* 1 • Me i j have ' been firm at 27k .3-, and Peruvian' 13 00 1 have risen to 65. Russian, Dutch, and l Bonds have been higher. hit The Market for Railway s h ares con ti nu es t and prices are again rather lower. The 10 '0 done has not been extensive, but sales 5 °20 made in Leeds-Northern, North-Wester°, South-Western, So u th-E as t ern , an d Y o r) tl', North Midland. The North Stafford ~,c e , Ambergate have been d e p resse d, in conseque' if tj, , the determination of Parli amen t no t t o au ° 1: amalgamation bills to proceed at present. t 0 French Lines are very quiet, and at ab° ll previous rates. - . _ 0 The Gold Mines are very inactive, but the fornian. Companies continue steady. In the Australian Land Companies. ther'p i f further decline, while the British American- te are up again 3/. to 51. It is still ass er ted the gold discovered upon this company's properth prove valuable ; but it s h ou ld b e remarke d the present supply of shares is said to c ow° • holders in Canada,—not a very encouraging cation. The Australian Bank Shares are generally at prices, but with little doing. BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY. ( From the Official List.) Bank Stock 3 per Cent. R e d uce d A nnu iti es 3 per Cent. C onso l s A nnu iti es ...... 241 4$ di 1002 6 i I New 34 per Ce n t. A nnu iti e s New 5 per Cent. Annuities .. . .......... .. . 128 1 Long Annufties, Expire sth Jan., 1860 India Stock India Bonds, £lOOO ............................ Ditto. under £lOOO ........................... 40 5 ' Consols for Account ........................... 100 l 4 Exchequer Bills lid. June. 0 t £lOOO.. ...................... 3 1 £SOO Small ..................... 9 PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DA Buenos Ayres Bonds, 6 per Cent 6l 2 Chilian Bonds, 3 per Cent B2 Danish 5 per Cent. Equador Bohds 5i 6 Grenada Deferred lll Mexican 3 per C en t . Peruvian Defer re d 3 per Cent. 65 4 6 1, Portuguese 4 per Cent. Russian Bonds, 5 p er C en t. Ditto 4i per Cent Sardinian Bonds, 5 per Cent. ..... .... Spanish Bonds, 3 per Cent. .* . ... . ' Ditto New Deferred, 3 per Cent . . ... . . i .. Spanish Committee Cert. of Coup. n o t f un 6 i 4 p Turkish Loan, 6 per Cent., 1852 Venezuela Bords 31 per Cent. D u t c h E xc h ange 2i per Cent 66 Q 6 ,, Ditto 4 per Cent. Certificates... 0 e" THREE O'a" i 100 i ; 1001 ' Consols.... ...... ..... Ditto April Account THE CONFESSION OF MURDER AT MARYLEBOI 9.4 COURT.—The p o li ce i n Edinburgh have been illifolvky gable in thei r e ff orts to find some corroborative c , stances of the con f ess i on of murder made bat'es9 magistrate at Ma r yl e b one P o li ce - o ffi ce on We°''toe last. All th e i r exert i ons have, however, failed of the slightest trace of the alleged deed, or, in filet , 111) existance o f any suc h locality as was described• of t i is no " Blair's close " in the Canongate, was N O O . O 00 1 by the perso n i n custody ; and though a place 'of that name in the Castle-hill, all the inquirie 9 ,itlO police have b een i ne ff ectual i n connect i ng it statement of th e p ar t y i n L on d on, w h o is bal.' Edinburgh to be insane.