The Sun. — London, England, 1832-06-05 00:00:00

many of them earned titles and metates for their servic, , He could not understand upon what principle of jus-i. , the hereditary privileges of these freemen con be taken away from them aoy more ,than . the 't Lordships' titles and estates could be taken fro, them. Many of their Lordships were still in posse s ie, of abbey lands granted to their ancestors for their services and it behoved them, therefore, to cons Per well hefor they set an example of depriving men of their hereditar:. tights. L. , rd SELKIRK presented a petition from Glasgow, praying for inquiry into the state of the W.st colonies. The Earl of WINCHILSEA presented a petition from the parish of Maiden i❑ Kent against the proposed plan of education in Ireland. The Marquess of LONDONDERRY pretentel a peti tion from Mr, Jimes Scott, of Gl4sgow, against the Re form Bill. Lord RADNOR presented s-veral petitions from Wandsworth and other places, praying to be joined with the borough near to which they were. It being now half-pa•t five o'clock, the LORD CHAN CELLOR took his seat. EDUCATION IN IRELAND. Lord MONTAGUE presented petitions from the Pres• leitery of Hamilton, against the new plan of education in Ireland. Lord BEXLEY said, that in the absence of a Noble Viscount, who would have performed the task much b-tter, he was desirous to present to tin it Lordships a petition against the propos..d plan of education in Ireland, agreed to at a public meeting at Exeter Hall. It was signed by Foirteen Peers, twenty 3lemlwrs of the House of Commons. 136 Dissenting Ministers, and between 3 000 and 4 000 of the most respectable inhabitants of London and West minster. This petition could not he said to originate in party spirit, for it was signed by men of all parties and of all religious persuasions, with the exception, perhaps, of Roman Catholics. For his own part, he wiS ready to sup port any measure of his :Majesty's qovarnment which would have the effect of pacifying Ireland ; but it was be cause be thought the adoption of the prnposed plan would have (xactly the opposite effect, that he objected to it. . . Lord WICKLOW would not troubh. the House with any observations, hut that as he was the person.uvho first brought the subject of the new plan of education in Ire land before the House, he thought that it was his duty to take the earliest opportunity of inquiring of the Noble Lords opposite (the Ministers) whether it was true, as had been stated, that a very great change had been leter. mined on by his Majest)'s Government in the arrange ments which they lately made for the education of the poor in Ireland ? At a meeting of the General Asseml ly, the Sacitor-Geveral for Scotland had stated, on the authority of repeated communications from Mr. Stanley, his Ma jesty's Secretary of State for Ireland, that it was the de termination of the Irish Government to enforce the at tendance of the Protestant children at Bible classes in the national schools ; but to excuse Catholic children from at tending to those classes. He looked upon that as a vital and most useful change of the system, as we understood ; and he thought it was due to the Government to make it known to the public, if, in compliance with the petitions which had been presented to both Houses of Parliament, they bad really determined on such a change. Lord MELBOURNE sand, that when the syst,m was first promulgated it had been stated that changes might lee from time to time introduced. And certainly there was no objection in principle to that stated by the Noble Lord ; at the same time he could not pledge himself that it was at the present moment precisely in the contempl alma of his Majesty's Government. TITHES IN IRELAND. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM asked what was the state of his Majesty's Councils upon the isn portant subject of tithes. Committees had been ap pointed, after prolonged discussions in both Houses of Rirliament, but still the grievances were unredre , sed ? Lord MELBOURNE said the Committee would, by and by, he enabled to pr.ser.t their report on the subjec. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM asked when ? To this question no reply was ziven. Lord RODEN believed that the proposition of Ministers would he hailed by the country, though it was open to many objections. Tl-e Marquess of LANSDOWNE said, that any [Tall fered support on the ground of there being any altervion of a vital principle of the Bill, he begged at once to disclaim. . . Several Noble Lads mide some observations on the saute subject. Earl RODEN presented petitions from various Orange LotLtes, and also from the Presbytery of Newcastle-upon- Tyne, against the Irish education system. The Duke of SUSSEX inquired if those petitions were from members of those lodges? Earl RODEN said they were. The Duke of SUSSEX felt it to be his duty, then, to request their Lordships only to receive the petitions as those of the individua!3 who had signed them, the 1., , ,d,Les not being legally incorporated bodies. The LORD CHANCELLOR presented several peti tions i❑ favour of tl.e Reform Bill. One of the petitions was from the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Council of the Renfrewshire Political Union. THIRD READING OF THE REFORM BILL. The " Order of the Day " h.ving been repeatedly called, Earl GREY rose, and moved the third reading of th e Reform Bill. The Earl of WINCHILSEA found it necessary to trespass for a short time once more on the attention of the House. This night would close the first act of that fatal and bloody tragedy into which this country was to be plunged.—(Loud cries of Hear, hear, from the, Opposition.) This night would terminate the existence of the House of Lords as one branch of the legislature of the British empire--at least the independence of that House, anti, without its independence, the House could no longer exist to maintain its name and character as a British House of Parliament. Those who might live to see the last scene of this dreadful political act, would have to detail the downfall of Monarchy and the overthrow of the Constitution of this country. The judgments of the Almighty had been drawn down upon the land; but, might those who had been instrumental in drawing down those judgments and bringing about the destruction of this country, live to see her insulted laws once more vindicated ! The Constitution was now to be sacrificed at the shrine of blighted political ambition. When he reflected that it was a measure which would blacken the country with every sort of crime,—leave the country without any government except military despotism, —uproot that Constitution which enabled the coun try firmly to resist all attacks which had shaken surrounding countries—what language could he nse to ex pr,ss his feelings of regret upon the occasion of the closing of such a scene ! When the Noble Earl at the head of his Majesty's Government first entered into that office, he felt proud in assuring hint that he would have his entire support, upon the presumption that the Noble Earl's previous attachment to the institutions of the country would have catered him to have been firm in sup! orting the establish• ed Constitution ; but how lamentably had he found him self mistakera! Government were to he blamed for the state in which the country had lately been placed.— (Cheers from the Opposition benches.) lie repeated they were chargeable with all those disturbances which had lately agitated the country, in not at first putting down with the strong arm of the law those seditious meetings which had now acquired such power. The in dependence of that House,after that night, would be no more. But it grieved him much to say that it had been destroyed by one of their own body, and one who in former times had been one of its most distinguished Members. That House could never more raise up its voice as an inde pendent part of the legislature. The democratic influence which would now be poured into the other House, aided by the doctrines recently promulgated, would completely put an extinguisher on the House i❑ that character. [The Noble Lord then read some long extracts from the speeches of Mr. Canning against Reform.] His design in coming down to that House after the passing of the Catholic Bill was to support Reform to a certain extent, to such an ex - tent as lie was sure would have satisfied the country, and which at the same time would have been safe to the monarchy and t! e people. But he found that the measure introduced by the Noble Earl opposite was so very democratic that it showed him that, without very material alterations, he could not give it his support. And when he heard from the Noble Earl that he would in Committee allow no such alterations, his consistency compelled him to use every means in his power to impede the progress of that Bill. When the Noble Earl saw his country placed in state of sedition—a fate which was to follow the passing of that Bill, he would be the first to feel, and most deeply to rue, the conduct he bad pursued : his heart would be filled with remorse. He declaredAhat as long as the Noble Earl was at the head of the GovAp ment he would never again enter that House, if the Bill passed. On the Noble Earl sitting down there were loud cries of " Question," in the midst of which, The Earl of HARROWBY rose, and said the present state of affairs reminded him of an incident which oc curred in the Irish House of Commons, in which a person addressing the Government of the diy, and re ceiving no answer, said, " Are we in an Irish Senate or in the Turkish Divan ?—are we to be strang led by mutes?" The Noble Lords on the other side et the I-louse appeared to feel as though they were redue, d to something like a state of degradation by their deignirto to make no reply. He (Lord Harrowby) declared he fe the most intense disgust at the proceedings which had taker: pace; and although he had been silent on other occasions the duty which he owed to their Lordships compelled his to address them upon the condition in which they we, placed, arid the consequences of this measure. He h rl often stated. and he would not refrain from repeating the assertion, that the mere introduction of that !ensure struck the severest blow against the independence of the hereditary branch of the Legislature which it had eve, sustained. When it was a second time introduced int. the other House of Parliament, and a second time adopted, the blow came with redoubled force; but he yet entert lined a confident hop., that such amendments might have been introduced as, without trenching on the principles of the me sure, might have rendered it comparatively innoxiou -such amendments as would have enabled these who in that House str•nuously opposed it, to vote for the third reading, without inconsistency. For example, if double representatives had been given to the boroughs contained in schedule B, there would still have been left a better (thane, for the admission of men of unquestionable talent and character, who might le: unwilling to face the trouble and expense of offering themselves to large constituencies. All history had proved that the most efficient and valuable Members of the other House of Parliament were members of the class most unwilling to present themselves to popu lar places. He had further flettered himself that the places in schedule C would have been left as originally intended. He used the word intended, because lie bore in mind the expressed intentions of the promoters of the measure. And be likewise expected that schedule D might have le en altogether dispensed with, as well as that some of the metropolitan districts might have been cause lidated, so a, to give two additional Members to Middle sex, anti to give two representatives to the rarieultural districts of Lancash . re. Thus many of the painful conse quences, the beats and animosities which arose from there bring but single Members to different pl xes, might lie avoided. He had not himself at any time a very strong ebjectien to the 10/. franchise, provided the other parts of the Bill were rendered unobjectionab'e ; though the Noble Earl himself Arnim d that the amount of that franchise did by no means form a principle of the Bill. Still it might have been retained without drawing too largely on the consistency of those by whom the Bill was generally opposea, provided it were to te. regulated by the payment of taxes, the valuation for the poor-rates, and residence— thus adopting the principle of the Noble Earl himself, that of securing the most independent and respectable Indy of electors which the country could supply. lie had hoped that at least such a scheme would have been adopted or at least would have been allowed to he discussed by an independent House of Lords—(Hear, hear, from the Tories)—hut that hope had been defeated by the speech of the Noble Eat] opposite, who, when he was asked if he would permit certain alterations, replied that he would pay every attention to them, and that the decision of ttern was in the hands of their Lord. ships. He (Lord II.) now asked, was the decision in their hands? True it was, they might discuss, and they might be tattle to decid, ; but they could only decide one way, for if they decided the other tray, there was an end to their freedom.—(Heir, hear, from the Opposition.) When the Noble Earl had been accused of advising the Crown to an extraordinary exercise of the prerogative, he stated what the case was on which such necessity arose. He stated it was an evil, and justified on'y by a great case of necessity. What was that ne cessity ? It was the case of collision—of hopeless colli sion between the two Houses of Parliament, on a point in which the people supported one House against the other. There was one expression of the Noble Earl's which was to he found in that record of the proceedings, which Members of Parliament have universally resorted to whenever it became necessary to refer to former speeches, and with that record before him he hesitated not to say that the sentiments imputed to the Noble Earl were folly borne out by his words. I°, however, instead of resting upon that generally received record, he (Lord IL) I depended upon his own recollection, ho would say that it furnished him with !menage much stronver than that at tributed to the Noble Earl by the publication before him. He had a distinct remembrance of the assurance given to the House, that its independence would not be violated without a fresh aepeal to the people distinctly resting !Ton the question of Reform. Those were the means which the Noble Earl proposed for preventing that species of collision between the Houses of Parliament which alone was to be ara rehended, and which alone, upon the showing of the Noble Esrl himself, justified the alternative which he pro posed. He would then ask their Lordships, did not the statement and admission of the Noble Earl bind him to wait for the purpose of seeing whether she necessity would or would not arise ? It was a gross misrepresentation to say that Noble Lords had at any time contemplated alterations which would hive so altered the Rill as to make it what it was a serted it would be—a mockery if sent down to the M use of Commons in that st rte. SO far learn such a probability at all existing, the Bill would have gone down to them with a preamble not materially changed, and occupying the place which preambles usually did. They would find schedule A the first of the schedules, and not materially changed. They would find the greater part of the other schedules, occupying similar situations to those in which they were originally placed, without their character being in any great degree altered. Ia fact the Bill would not have undergone any changes beyond whet are frequent in the business of legislation in this country. It surely could be no matter of importance to the other House of Parlia ment if a motion were entertained and agreed to for the postponement of schedule A; of what importance could it possibly be to the House of Corium:Ls that one part of the Bill was discussed and arranged before another, provided the whole were returned to that House in such a condition as would sot justify the assertion that it was ess,ntially or fundami ntally altered ? He believed he should be fully borne out in the stem' nt, that net above two or three Nubile Lords in that Howe were adverse to the whole of schedule A, and, therefore, he was warranted in assuming that the Bill might have been returned to the Commons with its more important principles unimpaired. He protested with perfect sincerity that if any man had told ; im it would he viewed in any other light by the Noble Earl, he should have rejected it as a base calumny on him, and done his utmost to vindicate his character. As to what had passed since, he could scarcely express himself with decency. He did not wish to use severe phrases : he could riot call it a party manoeuvre, but lie could not but state that the opinion of the country must have been foreseen. • He did not envy the success of the Noble Eel.---(Loud cheers from the Opposition.) He did not envy a triumph obtained in such a c :use, and by such means. The Noble Earl had trampled on the Crown—(Load and continued cheers from the Opposition)—and had fostered a power that would ultimately trample on himself and his • celleagues—(Loud cheers from the Opposition)—and it was the furthest from his wish that the Noble Earl and himself should live to see the consrquences of this Bill. Unless some steps were taken to vindicate the conduct of any Government—it was not the Government of the No ble Earl in particular he alluded to,—but if they were to live subject to the despotism of Political Unions—(Loud cheer; from the Opposition benches)—if those means were not checked, which had achieved the present work, and which, if applied, might achieve any work, the Noble Lord would succeed in rendering it impossible not only for himself and his colleagues, but for any other Government whatever to carry on the con cerns of the country. He was perfectly persuaded that when the Noble Earl felt anxious to dam up the torrent which he had let loose, he would not fled workmen enough to accomplish the undertaking. By the manner in which the present Bill had been carried through, the whole individual responsibility of the evil or good resulting from it rested on his Majesty's Ministers: they it was who had brought their: into their present station, and he prayed to God that his anticipations as to the result might not be realized. When the Noble Earl and his colleagues had passed all their Bills, he trusted they would give their attention to the means by which the tranquillity of the country might be insured. But he looked much more to the people than to the Ministers ; he relied on the elastic power of that great good sense which had carried the people of England through so many dangers. Let the Government, however, beware ! They had administered poison, no doubt, to a strong stomach ; but however strong that stomach might be, if it were administered day by day, and hour by hour, it was nu t in humanity to resist its noxious power. Be the results, however, what they might, the opponents of the Bill heti the satisfaction of feeling they had done their .duty.—(Cheers.) Earl GREY—" My Lords, after the speech of the Noble Earl (Herrowby), it is impossible for me to sit silent—(hear, hear)-1 speech made for the purpose, is it should seem, not so much of vindicating himsell as of making an attack on the conduct of his Ma jesty's Government.—(Hear, hear, hear.) My Lords, I am willing to bear all the attacks which that Noble Lord has made upon me on this occasion. I will answer him as I can—(Hear, hear)—and 1 trust I shall be acquitted in the opinion of the present generation—(Cheers)—and of that posterity, to which the Noble Earl appeals—(Lours t:lieers)—from any indirect motive—from any sinister view of an ill-regulated ambition—from any design what ,Ner unconnected with a sense of duty and a sincere desire to promote the interests of my country, in the line if conduct whi h I have hitherto pursued.—(Cheers.)— I say, my Lords, that I trust to that posterity for a vin dication of the motives that have induced me to ben t I forward a measure which, in my conscience, I believe to b. founded on principles consistent with the ancient institu• tiona of the country—necessary for the removal of thee abuses by which that Constitution has been impaired, am above all, necessary for the prevailing sentiments of the public mind, which, without it, had alienated the confident of the people from the Government of the country.— (Cheer-.) That necessity, my Lords, I did not create— (Cheers) —and whether in the conduct of the• oleo sure there has hen any thing of indiscretion of of a skilful party manoeuvre, I leave to those to judge who . have witnessed the cou rse o f proc e edings.—(Hear, hear, hear.) My Lords, alth oug h t he commencement et the Noble Lord's attack was the most extraordinary, I tee!, I confess, the least anxiety about it. Ht complained of us on this side of the House as a parcel of mut es , w h o w ith ou t say i ng a word were dis posed to strangle the Constitution. My Lords, cnn- . siderin e th e speec h o f t h e N o bl e E a l as one of deelai nation, if I did not take notice of it at Ali I should subject myself to the appell ition of a mute—(Hear, hear)—l should rather consider it oe cootary to apolorize for having troubled your Lorilehips too often, anti at too great length on former occasions.— (Hear, hear.) I wished to address myself to the measure before the House ; but that measure has been so long before you, so repeatedly discussed in all its principles, on the grounds on which it rests, and the motive which prompt e d it s introduction into this House, in all its views and bearings, that really it is unnecessary to trouble your Lordships with the particular merits of it. But the N able Earl has made a personal remark, charging toe with some degree of inconsistency as a Member of this House and a servant of the King. The Noble Earl who opened the debate seemed to regret that I had forsaken the principles and opinions of the Order to which I belting. I may, my Lords, have mistaken my course. I may have misjudged the means of eff e cting the objects which I had in view; but I solemnly declare before your Lordships and my country, and I expect some credit with the public in this declaration, that in the measure before your Lordships the importance of the Constitution of the country his been acknowledged, and that I, sincerely attached to it, have endeavoured to support it to the ut most of my power.—(Loud cheers ) But these are times and seasons, my Lord-, when something more is required than a mere declaration of admiration in the insti ores and attachment to the different branches of the Legislature as they now stand.—(Loud cheers.) My Lord II icon says--" time is the parent of abuses, and time is perpetually making changes ;" and int! Lords, my opinion is, that the Constitution of our country, beautiful as it was in theory, beneficial as it was in practice, had buffeted corruptions and abuses which the public felt in a degree pet-ha l s even beyond their real extent, and the time was come when that remedy could no longer be withlield.—(Loud cheers.) This, my Lords, was the situation in which I found mys'tlf placed when his Majesty was most graciously pleased to call fur my services. M ) opinions were known—(hear) I had frequently avowed thetn.—(Cheere)--sand with these opinions sincerely fixed in my heart—(Cheers) — with these opinions receroly declared and confirmed by all that I knew of the state of the country, was it not for me, when called into his Majesty's Councils, to think of making them the foundation of my continued public course of con duct?.-(Cheers.) I stated these principles to my Sovereign as the conoition on which I took office—they were accepted. But it is said I have proposed a Reform much too extensive. My Lords, I have exercised my faculties according to the reason which God has given me—(Cheers)—and the ne cessity of a Reform being admitted, its extent was to be determined; and here I must again beg leave to state that the principle on which I acted was this, that the making a measure of 11 •forin our great object was that it should give general satisfaction, that it should set at rest public opinion, arid prevent tiny further agitation on the subject. —(Cheers.) But the Noble Earl has been pleased to characterise this as the first act of a bloody tragedy in which, thank God, no blosd has yet been shed.—(Cheers.) It is a little too much for the Noble Earl, differing from me only in degree, to pronounite every censure, as lie has done, against this measure. My Lards, a Bill was intro dueed list Session, and which unfortunately, was not car ried. I say unfortunately, bee ruse I think it that objec tion had not been male, it is possible the question might have been settled long since on satisfactory grounds, and the country relieved from that dangerous suspense and agita tion, which it has been subjected to.—(Lowl cheers.) It was then for us to consider whether we should attempt to bring forward another measure of the same sort, or aban don office. I can assure your Lordships that a desire to retain office was not in the minds of any of my colleagues. I am sure it formed no one particle of consideration with tne—(Hear)—and we thought it our duty, whilst a hope remained—a hope which I certainly thought a proper hope, from the deepest conviction, which my country has confirmed, that an opinion universal throughout the king dom could not long exist without being pirticipated in by this House—it was under these circumstances that we felt we nitut endeavour to bring forward and carry another measure, as I stated before, not less efficient than the last. Such a measure was introduced, altered in many material pointe, with a view to conciliate those who had objected to the firmer Bill. On discussion it passed a second reading by a very small majority. It was carried into C o mmittee, and here begins the charge of the Noble Earl which he attempts to fasten on us, first of having departed from the principles I had professed, and secondly of having taken up a point i n its e lf of no material consequence. My Lords, the way in which the Noble Earl accuses me of having departed from the statements I had made, if I understood hint rightly, is that on one discussion that took place on the usefulness of his Ala jesty's prerogative of making Peers, I had stated that a large creation for the purpose of carrying any particular mea sure was in itself an evil, and not to he resorted to, but in a case of great emergency. . And that th it emergency to which I addr e ssed myself would be a collision betweenthis House and the Commons. It is certainly difficult to recollect on all occasions all that one states, but what I believe I said was flak that if the House of Commons persevered in maintaining its opinion upon an important question in op position to this House, and after an appe ii to the people there should not appear any likelihood that the conduct of that House would be changed, the emergency would then arise. —(Hear, hear.) That appeal bad been made—the emergency hail taken place upon an appeal di s tinctly and that grountl—(immense cheers)—and I think there is no man with common candour who would admit that it a dissolution at that time had taken place, it would have had the effect of producing a House of Commons still more favourable to Reform than that which before existed Well then, the emergency arose, and, accord ing to the best writers, the prerogative might be resorted to by the Crown. The Noble Earl will recollect that on the first Regency Bill this Prerogative was much discussed, arid that it was then contended by the greatest constitu tional authorities in the Ilouse of Commons that it was agreeable to the constitution of the country that the Crown should exert its prerogative to prevent the House of Lords from trampling on the Constitution and on the country.—(Cheers.) My Lords, this then, was no new doctrine, hut the emergency which had arisen was new. But is it prudent—is it conduct to be expected, still less is it to be exacted from a public man, that he is to wait till actual change arises before he acts ?--(Cheers.) Why, if I raw danger approaching, prudence, discretion, and every duty that is sacred and imposed on the character of public servant, would cause me to adopt the best means I could think of for preventing its approach.—(Loud cheers.) And, seeing as I dtd the course of public events—the state of public feeling—it appeared to me that there was no other line of conduct left for me to adopt, than that of tendering my resignation, unless means could .be afforded to me of preventing that result which seemed to be the inevitable consequence of tee fate of this measure being similar to that of the former Bill."—(Loud cheers.) He would now come to the:Noble Earl's notice of the first point on which the House had divided in Committee. it was asserted that was no ques tion of principle. To decide between those who held this opinion and the contrary, he would leave to all im partial observers. This, however, must be acknowledged, that if they had conceded the point then demanded, they must have resigned to the enemies of the measure the whole conduct of the Bill. That, he felt, was inconsistent with every principle be had ever professed, and he was resolved at all hazards to resist it. He did this from no vain pride, front no morbid sense of personal dignity. The Noble Etta then enlarged on the injurious consequences of rotten boroughs ; he denied that the House of Cognition! worked well iii practice—that it failed in producing confidence b e tween itself and the people, the representativ e s and the represented ; contending . that th e main principle of the Bill was the disfranchisement of rott e n b oroug h s , f rom which no consideration could induce him to swerve. Neither could he ever consent to any change in the order of proceeding which hat for its object to limit the die franchisement. The first motion Unit made in the Com. mittee was made without any previous communication to him, and when its purport was stated to hint for the first time in that House, he f e lt i nstant l y t h at i t was a proposition which, if agreed to, must prove fatal to t h e Bill. This motion was brought forward by those who were shocked and indignant at the notion of t party trick.—(Hear, hear.) He imputed nothing to this; he only sought to defend himself; and he owned that, to his mind, no other course presented itself except ing that he bad pursued. Under these circumstances, he ~. had only two courses open to him—to resign, or to offer the advice against which the Noble Earl inveighed. Tha advice he humbly tendered, and as it was not adopted, he, with the utmost gratitude for past favours, entreated his Majesty to accept his resignation. Was that trampline on the Crown or the House of Lords ? Was it not, on the contrary, abiding by that principle even dearer to Imrri than his heart's blood, for he believed it necessary to the security of the country? Noble Lords had charged him with a determin &on to force the Bill without any altera tion ; he could assure them, that so far from such a wish, he had been throughout willing to attend to all objection• in the Committee, which would not affect the principles or the efficiency of the Bill. He then proceeded to defend the metropolitan clause, the 101. franchise, and to express a confident hope, that when the Bill should have been read a third time, public repose and general satisfaction would b' its sure consequences. Should it be necessary to say more in its defence, he would leave it in the hands of those whose strength was less impaired than his, and he , would respass no more on their Lordships. What might be the result of the Reform Bill it was not for man to decide, hut in the present state of the country, they might be web assured it was impossible to avoid Reform. If Re form did not come in due time from within, it would come with a vengeance from without. The public mind had been so long bent upon it, that he believed there was no Noble Lord in that House who could conscientiously say there was not the greatest dancer in delaying it. He con • tended, that although the nomination boroughs were de stroyed, the great interests of the country would all be adequately represented ; the agricultural, the commercial, the manufacturing, and the colonial interests. It had been over and over agan said, that much excitement pre vailed; but be would appeal to the House whether he or his friends had been guilty , of creating that excitement. He hoped the time was at hand when repose would suc ceed to that excitem. nt : he hoped that a new era was at hand, and he anticipated that the Nimble Earl opposite would ire amongst the first to rejoice at the falsification of his own gloomy forebodings. Amongst the advantages which he anticipettel from the spe dy adoption of the measure, was that Political Unions would no longer exist. He felt as fully as any Noble Lord in that House that they could not cc-exist with any well regulated or efficient Government ; but he did not look to the sante me ins for putting an end to them which seemed to he in the c ntemplation of some Members of that House. The Noble Earl on the other side probably remembered the associations which were formed in this country at the close of the American war; he could not fail to remember that they transacted busi ness by means of delegates, and that they were in constant correspondence with each other ; and that when the ex citing cause was removed, the societies disappeared at the same time. So lie expected it would be with the Asso ciations to which the necessity for Reform had given rise. One of the results of the Reform Bill would be, to ex tinguish those societies. He then proceeded to defend himself from the imputation of any feeling but that of the most disinterested desire for the public good ; at his 'time of life, he could feel no personal interest; and he believed there could be no !man in the country aware of his own relation to society at I rrge, who could feel otherwise than anxious for the public ; the humblest mechanic in the land had the seine ioterest in its well-being that he had, and he made no doubt that every class of the community would see the expediency of instantly returning to that peace and good order, without which they could riot hope to enjoy' that prosperity which, he trusted, would soon, and her a period of long duration, fall to our lot. He wou'd then say that the measure of Reform, so far from being revolutionary, was, in the highest degree, conservative. Lord WHARNCLIFFE gave the Noble Earl full credit for the uprightness of his intentioua and the purity of his motives, but yet accused his policy as tending wantonly to put the public affairs in jeopardy. He complained that that House had been deprived of its independence. He contended, that if the sense of tire country could now once more be taken upon the subject, it would be found that the great body of the property, the intelligence, and the character of the country, were opposed to it. He denied the interpretation put upon his own former speech by the Noble Earl at the head of his Majesty's Government, and contended for that of his Noble Friend (Lord Harrowby); and he strenuously maintained, that no collision had arisen between the two Houses of Parliament. The Noble Earl had said that the intention of making the motion which his Noble and Learned Friend had male in the Committee was a secret to hint. On his (Lord Wharneliffe's) part he could say, that nothing which be had previously heard had induced him to believe that the Noble Earl would consider the success of that motion to he conclusive with respect to his continuance in office. Whatever else might be a secret to the Noble Earl, the feelings which he (Lord WhJrneriffe) and his Noble friends entertained with respect to the Bill could be no secret to him. What could they do other than that which they had done ? From the time at which the Noble Earl declared in his speech on the second reading of the Bill that the Bill was in the hands of their Lordship., he thought that propositions for amending the Bill in the Committee would he dispassionately received and considered. And ire had also thought the Noble Lords opposite were disposed to go a great way with them in amending the Bill. What he and his Noble Friends had been trying to do was to make the Bill sater and more satisfactory to the majority of the community. But as his Noble Friend had justly said, the Noble Earl had made use of the result of the motion of his Noble and Learned Friend with great skilfulness, as if the destruc tion of the Bill had been previously concerted. No such concert had, however, existed. With respect to the re cent proceedings in the Committee, he (Lord Wharncliffe) having voted for the second reading of the Bill on the ground that it was susceptible of beneficial alteration in the Committee, had felt it his duty to attend in the Com mittee, and endeavour to improve the Bill as much as possible. They all knew the result, and the determina tion evinced by the Noble Lords opposite riot to give up a single point of tire measure. Looking back at the whol a of the proceedings, he could not take to himself any blame for the share which he haul had in them. Before the debate on his Noble and Learned Friend's motion in the Committee, he had told a Noble Duke, a member of his Majesty's Government, his Noble and Learned Friends intention. But if the Commit tee bad not decided in favour of Lis Noble and Learned Friend's motion, it was po-silile that they would have decided against his Majesty's Ministers on schedule B ; and that would have brought their Lordships into still greater collision with the Howie of Commons. Every thing proved that whatever might have been the nature of any amendment proposed in the Committee, the proposition would have been in vain. He hoped, however, that when the Bill was passed, the Noble . Lords opposite would really turn their attention to the state of the country.— The Noble Earl had admitted that the systematic operation of Political Unions would he inconsistent with the good Government of the country. Ile (Lord Wharncliffe), however, very much doubted whether the settlement of this question would have the effect of putting an end to the Political Unions. When the Catholic Bill was going through the House, one of the great arguments in its fa your was, that it would put an end to the agitation which existed in Ireland ; yet, frotn the period of the passing of Ova measure, Ireland haul been in constant agitation.— Having become conscious of their power, he doubted whe ther the Political Unions would be disposed to relinquish it, or to break up th it machinery which had proved ao effective in the attainment of their object. On the con trary, he looked to see a House of Commons elected under the influence of the Political Unions, and of the press.-- Nothing, however, was so dangerous as political prophecy ; and he would, therefore, express his earnest hope with the Noble Earl, that after the heats and animosities which the discussion of this measure had occasioned had subsided, beneficial consequences might be the result. He could not but confess that he looked with great apprehension to what he conceived was the danger of lodging a prepon derant power in the bands of one part of the community ; but he trusted that his fears would prove groundless, and that the measure would be productive of all the public ad vantage which the Noble Earl anticipated from it. Th e question " That the Bill be now read a third t i me " was then put front the Woolsack. The Lord Chan cellor declared that he thought the contents had it ; but a -N o bl e Lord (we believe the Earl of Roden) stating t h at time not-contents had it, strangers were ordered to withdraw. Although there could be no rational doubt as to the re sult of the division, yet considerable agitation prevailed among the excluded strangers, until they were informed that the nutnbera (no Proxies we understood having been presented) were, as follows : Contents Not-contents Majority As soon as the decision of their Lordships was commu nicated to the people assembled in Palace-yard, they rent the air with shouts, which were distinctly heard in the House. . . . On our re-admission, we found the LORD CHAP• CELLOR proposing several verbal amendment in the Bill, which, after• a brief conversation, were adopted. The questiln " that this Bill do pass," was then put and agreed to. A number of Noble Lords immediately surrounded Ell I G re y, and appeared to be congratulating him on the suc cessful termination of his arduous labours. The Bills on the table were then forwarded in their respective stages ; and at a few minutes after ten &clod their Lordships adjourned. THE EARL OF CARNARVON'S PROTEST The Ea! of Carnarvon r sterday entered the follotviny protest on the Lords' Joorn I. again.' receiving the report of the Committee on the R+•t:+r+n Bill (Engi nd) : DISSENTIENT. First—Because this Bill will effect a change in the constitution of Parliament to an extent uncalled for and full of danger, inca pable of producing much practical good, but likely to prove is its operation subversive of the ancient and settled Constitution of the country. Secondly—Because by a uniform and I w rate of qualification in the towns, the greatest share of power will be given to the smallest portion of property, which will tend to make every description of property, whether mercantile, colonial, real, or personal, equally insecure. Thirdly—Because it is in its character not remedial but reyo. lutionary ; in practice, equally injurious to the poor and to the rich, depriving the Government of the strength which it requires, and property of its due influence ; endangering as well the stabi. lity of the Throne, as of every civil and religious establishment under which, in this country, commerce, prosperity, and free dom, have attained an elevation envied, but as yet unrivalled, by all the nations of Europe. (Signed) CARNAItVON. The following Peers afterwards signed this protest:— Ernest (Cumberland) Gage Kenyon Jersey Buckingham and Chandos Selkirk Redesdale Rutland Penshurst Orford Grantley Northumberland Abingdon Beverley Doncaster Brooke and Warwick. Winchilsea and Nottingham DIVISION. In the House of Lords on the Third Reading of the R form Bill. Majority lO3 Minority 22 MINORITY. DUKES Powis Carrington Newcastle Dartmouth Ellenborough Gordon Powlctt Monson EARLS VISCOUNT Delamere Westmorland Gage Carteret Guilford BARONS Willoughby de Broke Roden Rolle Grantlev Malmesbury Doneraile Strathalien. Mansfield Bexley MAGAZINES. TA IT S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. The political tone of this spirited magazine is better, far better than its literary one, such at least is the case with this month's number. The best article of the latter complexion, is the analysis of Miss Edgeworth's voluminous works of fiction, which exhibits considerable critical acumen, and perfect impartiality. Of the poli tical papers, that entitled " Our three Days," is decidedly the best. BRITISH MAGAZINE. The original papers are few, and though few, not remarkable for thought, feeling, or know ledge. They are just passable, nothing more. The sketch of Hodnet Church and its antiqui ties, may be interesting to antiquaries, but we could have dispensed with any further eulogium of Bishop Heber, who has been praised usque ad nausea ii. Dr. Heber was an accomplished scholar and exemplary divine, but he was not a man of surpassing genius, nor was he, as a poet, above respectable mediocrity, though his ad mirers have for years past done their best to make him out a model of intellectual excel lence. ASIATIC JOURNAL. There are many useful practical papers in this periodical, such, fir instance, as the East India Question ; on the Law and Constitutio❑ of India, which displays very varied informa tion ; Regeneration of Egypt, and (more espe cially) medical advice to invalid officers of the Indian Army. Independently of this, there are some clever critical notices on the more po pular works of the month, and a tale or rather anecdote, of deep dramatic interest, entitled " The Clepht; a Tale of the Morea." MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. Among the original communications in the present number is an account of the habits and peculiarities of a male and female Borneo Ourang Outang, which were exhibited last year at the Egyptian Hall. The account is very minute, and replete with curious facts, all tending to prove the sagacity and half-human character of this most striking specimen of the simia genus. The remaining articles are chiefly entomological. IA BELLE 4SSEMBLEE Improves rapidly under the new regime. The prose displays more spirit, and the poetry more feeling and eloquence. But we miss the fair Editor among the contributors. She should contribute at least to the poetical department, which should form one of the principal features of a magazine of this character. The portrait of the Hon. Mrs. Irby is very beautifully en graved by Cochran. THE WORLD OF FASHION Deserves a word of commendation if only for the striking likeness it has given of the late Prime Minister of France, M. Casimir Perier. The embellishments of fashion are not so good as usual, but the literary depar►_ ment is better got up this month than it has yet been. LADIES MAGAZINE ; A very entertaining number, full of piquant, well-written tales of fancy and sentiment, and not destitute of pretty snatches of verse. The embellishments are numerous, and, for the most part, well executed. CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER. The design of this work is excellent, and the spirit in which it is executed deserving of consi derable praise. There is no fanaticism about it, the original essays are temperately and ably written, and inculcate principles of true christian charity. Having said thus much, we have said, we conceive, quite enough to recommend this useful miscellany to the kind notice of all who love religion divested of cant or bigotry. UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL Contains, this month, articles of unusual interest and variety. The narrative of the escape of the Polish hero Skyrznecki from Warsaw, during the period when the Clubbists had gained the ascendency, and the Russians w ere beleaguer ing the town, is oneof the most effective narratives we have read since the publication of Home's History of the Rebellion, and his particulars of the flight of Prince Charles Edward from Cul loden. The details, we understand, have been drawn up by a gentleman who was travelling in Austria at the time, and who met with the Polish hero in disguise, at a miserable post house, where he had lived strictly secluded for upwards of two months, and received the parti culars of his flight from his own lips. As this is incomparably the most interesting article in the number, we subjoin it entire, notwithstand ing its great length:— " Arrived at the post-house at Linz, in Austria, my first care was to ascertain whether the authorities at the Po!ice. office would render our passports available for Berlin, without the necessity of Pending them on to Vienna for tilt countersignature of the Prussian minister, But it ap )eared that no arrangement of the kind could be accom. dished. We were therefore constrained to make up our n inds to remain at Linz until the return of the passports 'rom Vienna, whiflo•r they were accordingly sent without lelay. As s ion as this business had been despatched we •moved from the Post-h .us to the Hotel Goldenen Ldtcen ,`Go'den Lion), w ere, as a f e ll ow -t rave ll er f rom B rannan lad apprised us, the celebrated Polish chief, Sky:znecki, was residing incog. Nast many minutes after we had been installed in our new domicile, nay companion promised hat we should send up our names to the General, and solicit permission to pay our respects, a proposition so con sonant to my own wishes, that I did not hesitate a moment to acquiesce. The garcon warned us that there was little chance of our suit being granted, inasmuch as Skyiznrcki ad been for two months and a half a tenant of his apart ment, a nd invariably declined all visits; hut we entertained a oresentment, pardonable enough if the acknowledged in fluence of the Engl'sla name on the continent be considered, that our application would not be rejected. The garcon left as, and shortly afterwards returned with a look of surprise Ind good humour, saying, that the General would be most happy to receive ' the two Englishmen." Our emotions may easily be conceived. My venerable companion had resided for many years in Russia ; he had been witness to the system of government prevalent in that empire ; he had formed many valuable fri,mdships amongst the Poles, and though deprived by the rigidity of Russian regulations of those means of becoming acquainted with the course of public events which are available in freer countries, he hail nevertheless contrived to learn as much of the pro• press of the affairs of Poland, as sufficed to identify Skyrznecki in bis mind with every thing that was brave, honourable, patriotic, and skilful. For my own part, shut out as I had been tram almost a'l intercourse with civilized society for the previous eight months, and necessarily un acquainted as I was with all but the unhappy results of the Polish revolution, I did not anticipate a higher degree of bliss than that of seeing and conversing with a soldier and a patriot of good repute. " Th 33 hour fixed upon by the General for our visit ar rived; we went up to his room, knocked at the door, and were instantly inlanitted. Had we been utter strangers to the name and character of our new acquaintance, our de meanour might possibly have been more assured ; hut it is quite impossible that we could have felt the less respect for the individual who n3w rose to receive us. There was an air of majesty in his port, blended with the most perfect grace, that irresistibly attracted the homage of meaner mortals. Had I met him in the street, I should involun tarily have taken off my hat, or at least lave turned to con template his ' noble pro settee.' In stature he might have been about six feet high, perhaps more ; in carriage he WAS erect, without possessing a shadow of the ordinary stiffness of the militairea of the continent; his countenance pale and somewhat wan (evidently the result of confine ment, inactivity, and distress of mind)—but his eye ! and kis forehead !—His keen grey eye, which at one glance uttered a thousand sentiments —that at once spoke a con sciousness of rectitude, a capacity to command, a sense of its owner's adverse condition, a feeling of good will to all men, and a welcome to his immediate visitors,—his vast expanse of forehead, that encased a pure and noble mind— these features could only belong to one of gentle blood, ac customed to a space in the world's thought,' and ' do minion over his fellow men.' He was plainly attired in an olive frock and black trousers, and had apparently been reading, for on rising he laid down a book. We apolo• gised for the liberty, See. but were speedily reassured, and in a few minutes had gone over various interesting sub jects of discussion. On taking leave of the General, we were invited to drink tea with him that evening a la mode Angloise, an invitation which we gladly accepted; and we returned to our apartments, in excellent humour with the accident that had thus brought us acquainted with one of the best and great, st men of the age. My worthy fellow- traveller did not understand a syllable of French, but so animated and expressive were Skyrznecki's gesti cut *thins, that he declared himself almost as much de lighted with the interview as if he had interchanged senti ments with the hero, or had comprehended every word he uttered. In the evening we were, as may be supposed, true to our appointment. The conversation, naturally enough, referred to the affairs of Poland; and such pro gress had we made in one anothea's confidence in the course of an hour, th at on my expressing my ignorance of many of the most important and interesting features in the history of the recent revolution, Skyrznecki volunteered an account of the whole business, from its commencement down to the capture of Warsaw. I endeavoured, on re• tiring to my chamber, to commit to paper a'l that I had thus heard, with a view to its subsequent publication, but on submitting the manuscript to my illustrious friend, he seemed to think that the dignity of the theme demanded something beyond a mere narrative; that it was of consequence enough of itself to fortn the subject of an entire volume, upon which I destroyed my memo randa, lest I might be tempted hereafter to make use of the meagre materials at the expense of a serious and im portant cause. I the less regret the step because No. 20 of the admirable ' Cabinet Cyclopedia' of Dr. Lardner contains a History of the Insurrection, which in spirit and in phrase corresponds, as far as my memory serves me, almost entirely with the description given me by the G " As a pendant, however, to that ' History,' I am tempt,d to offer a narrative which, I am persuaded, will be read with interest by all who sympathise with the for tunes of so ex Belted a character and brave a soldier as Skyrzuecki. It is a relation communicated by himself of his flight from Warsaw to Cracow, after he had been de prived of the command of the Polish army, and General Krukovinski had assumed the general direction of affairs. The narrative may not possibly be fraught with so many striking events as the description I have somewhere read of the Pretender's flight after the battle of Culloden, but I venture to hope, that it will at least be found as attrac- tive as the sketch given in Dr. Lardner's book of Stanis laus's escape. NARRATIVE OF SKYRZNECKI'S ESCAPE FROM WARSAW. " Krukovinski's preponderance, the rage and intrigues of the clubbists or Jacobins, and the danger to his liberty which the expected success of the Russians threatened, suggested to Skyrznecki an immediate retreat from Warsaw. The hope, however, of a favourable change in political sentiment, added to affairs of a private nature, dictated a prolonged stay, provided it could be accomplished without exposing him to personal injury. With this view, an honest citizen, on whom Skyrznecki could rely, was con sulted, concealment hazard awithin ti n ,e d t r o e w ifu n e . stec r i n t i o e m a n s a s n ist eo l m iis pi t ie ez t o h r o a u r g y was great, and immediately assigned an apartment in his own house to the General's use, and supplied him with every comfort he could desire. Skyrznecki's wife in the mean time continued to reside in their own house, but all communication between them was purposely avoided. Ac customed to an active life, tee rigid confinement to which Skyrznecki was now subject, ill assorted with his inclina tion or his health ; he was therefore induced, after a time, to take occasional walks at nightfall, and on one of these occasions determined on a visit to his wife. He paid it, and the people of the house betrayed him to the existing Government ! The consequence was, that the police were instantly on the alert to ascert,in his retreat and to arrest him, while the clubbists anxiously sought to assassinate fu iuneshtionEedverrYegafrrtileinndg ltihe6rbacdonull;ilaincelrisl of visited, closely q his movements and situation, but their replies kept the interrogators still in the dark. Skyrznecki, however, found that it was nowt high time to heat a retreat from Warsaw, and the only question was, how to effect it ? His host, in con j unct i o n with his wife, concerted the mean s , an d at l enet h i nduce d •he son of an old servant of Sk yrznec ki' s stepmother, w h o iesetubled Skyrznecki in stature and complexion, to apply for passports to enable him, as it were, to leave War saw on his own account. The passports being obtained, they were delivered to Skyrznecki, and a night fixed for his departure. Disguised as a valet, Skyrznecki repaired at the time appointed to a neighbouring street, where a car riage and his own horses waited to receive him. He jumped up and started off at a hard pace, successfully passed the barrier, where his person was compared with the ils•scription given in the passport, and succeeded in reaching an inn not far from the next town. While he remained at the inn, two gendarmes came in, and de mended his l.essports, which having been shown, accom panied by a rouble, they left the place. The innkeepers a Pole, perceiving loovever that his guest was a more distinguished individual than his papers set forth, earnestly counselled him not to pass through the town, For you must know, Sir,' said he, ' the coin- inandant of the place is accustomed to sit at his win" low, to watch all travellers, to stop and question them; and b lieve me, Sir,' he added, you will ne ver , pass the scruti n y, f or you d o no t l oo k lik e a serva nt. Skyrznecki deemed it prudent to act on this dis interested counsel, and after refreshing his horses, set forth on ate ther route, or rather plunged into a f o rest (whose m .zes were unknown to all but the peasants of the country, who warmly assisted the flight of their superiors)' and drove on until he reached the precincts of a tosva9 where a priest to whom he was known, and•who was a" tached to him, resided. He consulted with this priest the weans of advance while his hums were feeding ; and ct""i teer priest having been called in, it was agreed he g houl' again alter his route, since the river Felica, which" it w ag necessary to cioss, offered an impediment to his progte a :' nasmuch as all the bridges hail been destroyed during ta e campaign by Skyrznecki's own orders, to prevent the Russians from harassing his rear. Being ignorant of the newly-proposed route, a peasant was engaged, fur a trail"