The Sun. — London, England, 1853-04-13 00:00:00

guest of a gentleman who was certainly comfortably n the world, but who certainly could not indulge iusu e o h ff en joyments if he lived in England, and he d ro ve out for a week in a different carriage every d at ay. the same time, who had was another gentleman belonging theto.(A. laugh.) There s outh of Ireland, who was staying in the house no fewer than eight carriages. (Hear.) lie did not say that people ought to keep fe s r ix th e e r m but he did say that it , eight carriages, or that they should pay was a proof that the d Everybody knew that carriages taxes for mode of taxation had led to bad results in d re t , han in England. Nothing could than that the attention of the were cheaper in E l n r g e l la a n n be more clear, theref Chancellor of the Exchequer sho f ul re d m b t e he dir h e e c n te . d m t e o hi t h hi ei s . He differed, however, subject. who had brought forward this motion, and from the coach makers themselves , on one p oint. The y proposed to re duce the duty to 31. upon every two-horse four-wheeled car riage. Now, he would recommend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to have nothing to do with horses, which were taxed by themselves, because that would He interfere weuld w ith the simplicity of the new arrangement. s uggest that a tax should be laid on every wheel, whatever its size, though he did not mean to come down so low as a wheelbarrow. (A laugh.) With the exception of carriages used for trading purposes, he thought that a tax upon each wheel would be perfectly fair. He trusted, therefore, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would that uludtakethtihs the tax into his consideration, as he must could be revised without any lo ss to the revenue, while the revision would not only be a great convenience to families, but would give a great stimulus to the coachmaking trade. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had heard with great satisfaction the concluding observations of the hon. member who had just sat down, though they only con firmed the belie; which had previously been formed in his own mind, that the intention of the honourable and gallant general who had brought forward the motion was only to promote discussion on the subject, and not to call for a decision of the house upon it. He must remark, however, that one material omission had been made in the debate. No one could doubt that one cause of the decline of this important branch of trade, and the consequent loss of re venue, was the general extension of rail way traffic. At the same time he was far from thinking that this had been the sole cause. He quite agreed, without intending by saying so to commit the Government to any course what ever, that the case of this trade was a very hard one. He admitted that the rate of duties was very high, that the regulations relating to them were exceedingly complicated, and that the provision for augmenting the charge as the number of carriages increased had b een found to be so burdensome that, as he imagined, the principle of compo sition was adopted for the purpose of neutralising it. Still more serious an evil was the multitude and extensive range of the exemptions. The hon. and gallant general admitted that the exemptions lay at the root of the matter. If, therefore, the house should be prepared to deal with this duty on carriages, they mist either make a sacrifice, which would be considerable with reference to the object in view, a namely 200,000/„ or else they must pluck up courage, strike at the root of these exemptions. ( Of course, if the house interfered at all, iti (Hear, be in the form of lowering the duty, and, therefore, theymuster getither give up 200,000/. or 300,0001. of the public money, e rid of the e xem ptions. He hoped the hon. and gallant general would excuse him for statement which he was r not going further into the subject at present. The financial about to make did not loom in the distance, but was a very near future. On Monday next he hoped that it would cease to loom at all, and that it would become—be it good, bad, o r indifferent—a matter of fact, which he hoped to make clear and intelligible to the house and to the coun try. In stating upon that occasion the course which the Government meant to pursue, he should either be able to hold out some proposition in the nature of relief to this depressed branch of industry, or else he should announce conclusive reasons why the Government would not be at present in a condition to grant it. He had given the re presentations of the coachbuilders his respectful attention, and he repeated that in his opinion their case was one of considerable hardship, but he felt sure the hon. and gallant general would not ask the house for a decision upon the question at the present moment. Mr. FRENCH gave a general denial to the accuracy of the hon member for Manchester's statements with respect to carriages in Ireland, with respect to which he was so badly informed as he was on other points relating to that country. Sir DE L. EVANS consented to withdraw his motion which was withdrawn accordingly, , PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. Mr. W. WILLIAMS moved, pursuant to notice, the fol lowing resolutions :—"That it appears, by a return ordered by this house in the present session, that an enormous amount of the public money is annually intercepted on its way from the people's pocket to the Treasury, and expended without the sanction and control of this house, and in viola tion of the constitutional principle, that no taxes shall be imposed upon the people, or the product thereof expended, without the authority of their representatives in Parliaa ment. That the said return shows the amount intercepted and expended in the year 1851, which never reached the Exchequer, was 6,072,1511, N. 9d., of which amount 5,622,2671. was deducted from the gross receipts of the taxes by the various revenue departments, and expended by the said departments for the payment of their officers, and other purposes, without the supervision and control of Parliament. That, for the security of the public moneys, and accurate keeping of the public accounts, it is indispensable th a t th e w h o l e o f th e pu b lic income should, without any deduction whatever, bo paid into her Majesty's Exchequer, and that no portion of it should be issued therefrom, on any plea or pretence, without the sanction of Parliament, as it was recommended by the commission, which consisted of members of this house, appointed by the Crown in •the year 1831." His object in bringing for ward the motion was to prevent any portion of the public money being expended without the control of the repre sentatives of the people. It was the peculiar duty of the house to control the public expenditure; but that dhty had been neglected by permitting a largo amount of money to be intercepted on its way from the people's pockets to the Exchequer. From a return. which had been presented, it appeared that upwards of 6,000,0001. of the public taxes had been so intercepted. No less than 3,936,0001. had been impounded by the officers of the revenue departments, namely, the Customs, the Excise, the Post-office, the Stamps, and the managers of the Crown estates. A very large sum had also be en d e t a i ne d f or th e purpose of repay ments and drawbacks, and no less than 560,030?. had been intercepted for other payments in one year. These "other payments" were of a most miscellaneous description. They comprised, among other things, payments towards the judi cial establishments in Scotland, pensions granted in the time of Charles the Second anti William the Third, bounties for the encouragement of British fisheries, and salaries to process-servers. He contended that whatever came out of the public purse ought to be paid into the Treasury, and that votes should be taken by estimate for these general revenue departments, in the same manner as votes were taken for the army and navy, and for the public offices. In 1806 the cost of collecting 8,000,0001. of taxes was 2 ,797,000/., or but 41 per cent. ; whilst the cost of collect ing the revenue in 1851 had risen to 7 per cent. But the cost of every article that entered into the consumption of the persons employed in the collection of the revenue was not in 1851 one-third what it was in 1806. Why, then, this enormous increase in the cost of collecting ? It could not be accounted for in any way except on the supposition that the revenue was now collected without any control whatever. Certainly, there was none by the House of Commons. Sir Robert Peel, in 1841, had appointed a com mission on this subject. That commission went to Liver pool and made a most excellent report, in which it pointed out the gross mismanagement which exi s t e d i n th e w h o l e system of collecting th revenue. The discoveries made then showed that the whole system was, rotten, corrupt, and extravagant, and he (Mr. Williams) had afterwards frequently asked Lord Granville Somerset what change had been made in consequence of those inquiries. In reply, he was at length informed by Sir Robert Peel, and in a jocular manner, that the report was banished and abolished alto gether. From the third report of the committee of finance, it appeared that evil consequences had arisen from the dis position of the authorities to favour the retirement of efficient clerks, and that the commissioners had been in formed that not a few of the persons superannuated as unfit for the public service had enjoyed their health long after, and had been enabled to employ themselves in other public offices, as also in more private occupations. Let them read the report of the commission of 1831, appointed by the late King, the commissioners of which consisted of the most influential members of the house and of the Go vernment. It said that the Exchequer was the great con servator of the revenues of the nation ; that it was armed with the power of denying its sanction to any demand upon it, as well as with the right of making its demands, The commissioners felt it to be of paramount importance for the security of the public money, that no portion of it should be arrested on any plea or pretence whatever, in its way to the Exchequer. (Hear, hear.) He wanted to know why so much as was expended on the public works was so without the control and authority of the House of Com mons, and whether this did not give a sufficient ground for the change of system. The late Chancellor of the Ex chequer had stated in his speech on the budget that her Majesty's Government would make it one department of their duty to have all paid into the Exchequer, as from a lecture which the right honourable gentleman had given to the house last Friday, he believed it was the right hon. gentleman's, as it was his, opinion that the House of Com mons, after imposing taxes on the people, should see that no portion of those taxes should be expended without the control and authority of that house. (Hear, hear.) After stating that such were the expressions of the right hon. gentlemen, he should not longer detain the house. Captain SCOBELL referred to the expressions of the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, in which he also had seen an intimation that it was the disposition of the late Government that the large sum spoken of by the last speaker should come under the supervision of the Renee of Commons. For those expressions he was at the time, and still continued to be, thankful to the late Chancellor of the Exchequer. He thought that in public . affairs they should use at least the same prudence that they did in private, and that the precautions they might take with their stewards in ordinary life, they should take with their officers in the business of the State. The Ministers of the day, wh oever they might be, should, in his opinion, be the first to express their willingness to throw open the public accounts, and he thanked the late Chancellor of the Ex finan chequecer for payi ng the way for this great revolution in The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the task he had to dischargve simple one, both ve itis)nr the present occasion was a Government. For himself he to himself and to the p had many years ago ex pressed to the house his opinion that all the charges for the collection of the revenue eoaurght to be brought under the control of the house. Government, he had t o state that thee ) As reg ar d e d th e . were now engage d i j at e s t w c e a ll l in considering how they eouldbels best the ho i so N p v r a ae i effect this great cha nge ; because, aware, an abstract opinion was of very in itself, he and his collea gues were now Ittl,cs consequence ing how practical effect could b ea t be giveennteatitioneeini xam : and they would not desist from th e i r endeavours till they had organised measures for bringing the - whole of these charges under the control of Parliament (Loud cheers ) He had, at the same time, to state to th e h on. gentleman' what he was, probably, already well aware of, that this muet be a work of time, and that a good deal remained to be done before a sound, good, clear, and simple system on a subject of such magnitude could be established. The hon. gentleman knew well, that in the first place, there was a large class of charges which ho had inserted in his resolution, which were included in the gross sums of the revenue, that it would be impossible to bring under the control of Parliament, because they did not properly be long to those sources of revenue which constituted the public income. All drawbacks, for instance, all sums re ceived in error, and which were, therefore, liable to be could not be said to constitute a part of the public el. gentleman would not wish to have into the public accounts of income for of seeing their repayments charged as al there was a class of charges imposed fevenua by acts of Parliament, such' as )ns, several of which were charged upon repaid, coma no I NEW % " e hoI ouch eiezuere - p se expentlitn,k - npon o re fr r p ons THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 13, 185, would remind honourable members that there never had been a time, in spite of the great diminution of the popu lation, and of the high rate of wages, when recruiting went on better in Ireland than at present, and therefore there were no grounds for saying that doing away with Kihnainham was likely to prove injurious to the recruiting service. He hoped the house would consider the facts which he had stated. He had not thought it right to dis turb an arrangement which had been adopted by one Government and confirmed by another. His own opinion was, that they must look in this case to a natural feeling certainly on the one side, but likewise on the other side to the real advantage to the service of these institutions, and to the changes operated in the state of the lower classes in this country during the last year. (Hear, hear). The question was ono which Parliament must decide ; but he (Mr. Herbert) was unwilling, unless Parliament should decide against him, to disturb an arrangement which had been adopted by one Government, and which had been confirmed by another. (Hear, hear). Mr. WHITESIDE said, if Kilmainham Hospital was to be destroyed upon such flimsy evidence of necessity, there was an end to any valid security for the institutions of England. The late Government had no alternative but to adopt the estimates of their predecessors, and were not, therefore, responsible for the attempt to abolish the insti tution. Lord SEYMOUR thought the change a beneficial one, as well for the soldiers as for the taxpayers. Mr. ELLICE said the funds of Kihnainham Hospital had been misappropriated by sinecurists and jobbers of all kinds. _ . _ Colonel LINDSEY supported the motion. The house then divided, when the numbers were— For the motion Against it l3l Majority for the motion NEW WRIT FOR HUDDERSFIELD. On the motion of Mr. HAYTER, a new writ was issued for the election of a member for the borough of Hudders field, in the room of Mr. W. R. Crompton Stansfield, un seated on petition. DECIMAL COINAGE. Mr. W. BROWN moved for a select committee to take into consideration and report to the house the practica bility and advantages or otherwise that would arise from adopting a decimal system of coinage :—Mr. W. Brown, Mr. Cardwell, Mr. J. Ball, Mr. Tufnell, Mr. Alderman Thompson, Mr. Dunlop, Mr. M. Forster, Lord Stanley, Mr. Moody, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. J. B. Smith, Sir W. Clay, the Marquis of Char dos, Sir W. Jolliffe, and Mr. Kin naird.—Agreed to. THE BOROUGH OF MALDON. On the motion of Lord R. GROSVENOR, it was or dered that no new writ be issued for the borough of Mal don before the Ist of May next. REGULATION OF PUBLIC-HOUSES. Mr. W. BROWN moved for a select committee to examine into the system under which public-houses, hotels, _beer-shops, dancing saloons, coffee-houses, theatres, tem perance hotels, and places of public entertainment, by whatever name they may be called, are sanctioned, and are now regulated, with a view of reporting to this house whether any alteration or amendment of the law can be made for the better preservation of public morals, the pro tection of the revenue, and for the proper accommodation •f the public, with power to send for persons, papers, and records, so far as they may deem it necessary.—Agreed to. COMBINATION OF WORKMEN BILL. This bill passed through committee. BURGHS (SCOTLAND) BILL. Mr. E. ELLICE, jun., moved the addition of the fol lowing clause to this bill :—" And be it enacted, that the provisions of the first before recited act, as applicable to burghs not included in schedule C annexed to said act, and also the provisions of an act passed in the fifteenth and sixteenth years of the reign of her present Majesty, intituled `An act to alter and amend certain provisions in the laws relating to the number and election of magis trates and councillors in the burghs of Scotland,' shall be and are hereby extended to the burghs contained in sche dule F of the first recited act, and so much of the said first recited act as excepts the said burghs from the said provi sions is hereby repealed ; provided always that no burgh shall be held to come within the provisions of this act where, at the time of the passing of this act,• the number of electors registered in the register of such burgh as qualified to vo;• in the election of a member of Parliament is less than thirty." He said the object of the amendment was to place under the provisions of the Borough Reform Act (Scotland) certain boroughs which were exempted at the time of the passing of that statute. After some discussion, in which Mr. Ewart, Mr. Dunlop, and the Lord Advocate took part, the various clauses of the bill as amended were agreed to. AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS BILL. The house then went into committee on this bill, and the various clauses were agreed to with certain verbal amend ments. The house adjourned at five minutes past 12 o'clock. KILMAINHAIII HOSPITAL. (From, the Times.) There was last night a little Government defeat. Whether by the neglect of the whipper-in, or by the sp apathy jraoy o o f in of Irisbims t e e n r a, a l o i s a t s o p , e r r b s y i m t epo,lyby Ministers a w e l l b - ka have pn e t been beaten, and that rather considerably, on a very small subject. Mr. Butt carried, last night, by a division of 198 against 131, a motion for an address to the Crown in favour of retaining Kilmainham Hospital, which has stood condemned for some years. Its condemnation was simply a matter of economy. It is the Chelsea of Ireland, on very much the same footing. The sys tem of out-door pensioners has latterly been substituted so much for that of in-door pensioners,— very wisely, as we are disposed to think,—and Chelsea has become so thoroughly adequate to the reception of disabled soldiers, that it was found Kilmainham could be dispensed with, and the expense of the establishment saved. How ever, Irish pride has been touched ; here and there an Irish pensioner has been found who would rather die. on Irish soil than in the county of Middlesex ; the Conservative chief saw the opening, and behold the result—a majority of three to two against the measure, or rather for its reversal, for it is two years old. It is unnecessary to go into the merits of the question, which probably weighed very little with the bulk of those who voted. We can easily conceive a member thinking the measure unnecessary, or, at least, hardly worth the annoyance. On the other, we have been doing nothing but simplifying our establishments and institutions for several years, and if two military asylums really were not wanted, it seemed a matter of course to dispense with the smaller one. But, we re peat, the merits of the question are about the last thing that have been considered in this inst;:,nce. The defeat, however, is a very considerable one for so mere a trifle. That old Repealers and old Protectionists, ultra-Papists, and ultra-Protestants, should muster 198 partisans on a good opportunity, is intelligible enough, but that Go vernment should only muster 131 names is not so easily explained. Where were they all ? Did the absentees know what was going on ? If the flock was simply astray, where was the shepherd ? We presume that, after all, it is not very likely this address will come to anything. The Committee on the Army and Navy Estimates, whose authority is con sidered conclusive on such matters, recommend the con solidation of the two hospitals ; and though Mr. Butt argues, with Hibernian logic, that the report of that committee came out before Mr. Fox Maule's letter to the Governors of Kilmainham Hospital, and therefore was not the ground of that letter, it is much more to the purpose to observe that the report of the committee was out before Mr. Butt's present motion saw light, and certainly condemns by anticipation the address in favour of retaining both hospitals. But if Mr. Fox Maule had not that recommendation to proceed upon, he had the same materials as the committee that made it ; and those materials are now before us in the estimates for 1850-1, 1851-2. Here is the mere staff of the hospital, the inmates of which are only about 200, including the whole of the staff itself—master, joint deputy-master, two officers, four resident captains, non-resident captain, adjutant, chaplain, physician and surgeon, providore, chamberlain and overseer of works, secretary, registrar and treasurer, clerk to ditto, clerk to providore, chapel clerk, gardener, matron, seven nurses, four assistant nurses, infirmary sergeant, ditto orderly, two cooks, two assistant-cooks, two barbers, hall-keeper, two lodge keepers, messenger, policeman and armourer, porter to dispensary, person in charge o f ga ll er i es , ditt o o f hypo caust, ditto of burial ground, with s a l ar i es amoun ti ng t o 2,893/. This, besides the pay and tobacco money, ol the in-pensioners, the keep of everbody, clothing, furni ture, coals, candles, washing, medicines, &c., swelling the tctal to 8,6571. The total number of inmates, aftbt all, is that of a common provincial infirmary, so every body may judge for himself whethe r th e h os pit a l wou ld stand on its own merits in these days of retrenchment. A much graver question remains—How are such poli tical surprises as that of last night to be dealt with ? They are, to say the least, very inconvenient. They bring neither credit nor favour to any party, and only weaken Government and stop the business of the nation PORTLAND BREAKWATER. — The breakwater work now being made in this _island is progressing very expedi tiously and satisfactorily. The distance from the shore already attained is 2,970 feet, the 99th bay having been laid down, the distance between each bay being 30 feet ; the breadth of the breakwater is 126 feet. The fortifi cations on the Vern is being rapidly proceeded with by convicts. A new wing has been completed for the fur ther reception of convicts, the number already being 925, and another new wing is in contemplation. A new quarry, called "Chain," at the southern extremity of the island, has been opened for supplying the breakwater with stone. _ _ The Cherbourg breakwater progresses, and in four or five years Cherbourg will have a railway from Paris. FURTHER AGITATION FOR ADVANCED WAGES —The plasterers at Manchester have been seeking an advance of wages, by which their average earnings would be raised from 265. per week to 28s. ; and most of the em ployers find it desirable to comply with their request. The trade is rather brisk, besides which emigration has somewhat affected numbers. The bricklayers are fol lowing the example of their brethren of the trowel ; and as joiners are likely to join them, their demands will fall heavily on builders—especially those having con tracts. Several large builders have felt a difficulty in taking up new contracts in the present disturbed state of the trade, and have for that reason declined to tender. The wages of masons are ss. and ss. 6d. per day, and they contemplate asking 6s, and upwards per day. EXECUTION or DoßsoN.—The execution of this cri minal, who was convicted on the clearest evidence of the murder of Catherine Sheridan, a young woman with whom he had cohabited, at Wakefield, on the 18th of February last, took place at York on Saturday last, at 12 o'clock, in the presence of between 2,000 and 3,000 spectators, who manifested no feeling except that of sorrow at the melancholy spectacle. It is satisfactory , to learn that the guilty man was brought, by the spiri tual instructions of the chaplain duffing the time he was in the prison, to a proper sense of his situation, and that he died penitent. NEW EXTRA-MURAL CEIIETRY.— On Monday the burial board for the parish of St. Pancras ratified an agreement entered into between the Rev. Edward Philip Cooper, of Little Dalby, Leicester, and the burial board, for the purchase of 87 acres of freehold land at Finchley, for the purposes of a cemetery for the parish. The purchase price was 2001. per acre. • different branches of the public revenue. He did not think it would be of any advantage to subject these hereditary pensions to an annual vote of the house. The way to deal w of i t c h he o u t rse s these t m questions ust b e would avol un t b a e r y t o a proposend optional an arrangement,arrangement, with the holders of those pensions—to offer them reasonable terms of compromise, and so to discharge them from tho public revenue. (Cheers.) Then there hardlywerecesray Parliament certain branches of the public service which he could in its wisdom had imposed • upon various departments of the revenue. For instance, the Scotch judicial establish ment was charged to the Excise. It was plain that such arrangements as these were perfectly indefensible, and ought to be altered. Everything that properly belonged to the public service and expenditure ought to be under the control of Parliament, and they would never attain to a perfectly sound and right system till they had brought the whole under the control of Parliament. (Cheers.) He must say, however, he was not so sanguine as the last speaker as to the savings which this change would effect. The hon. member for Lambeth said that the charges for collecting the income of the country, including the Post office packets; amounted to 81 per cent. of the gross amount. (Hear.) He spoke of the Post-office packets as a portion of the machinery for collecting the revenue of the country. He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was of a different opinion ; he looked upon the Post-office packets as a means of scattering and squandering the re venue of the country. (Laughter and cheers.) But whether they were a means of collecting or squandering the revenue, they were at least directly under the control of this house; and he was sorry to say that, in that particular case, the control of the house was w orse th an not hi ng. (Hear, hear.) He was bound to express his conscientious belief that, if they had been exclusively under the control of the Govern ment department, the expenditure would have been con ducted with much greater economy. However, the hon. gentleman might be assured that whatever measures could be taken were taken to improve every branch of the public expenditure. (Cheers.) But he should be sorry if hon. gentlemen supposed it was his intention to imply any censure upon those who administered the present sys tem. He could not agree in the terms of the motion as it stood. The terms, indeed, were such as he would not be disposed to find fault with if they were con sidered merely as a vigorous expressio n of the v ie w s and opinions of the honourable ge ntleman ; but if the w if oul th d ey co w nv e e r y e atocebnesuiree ,thaneyd c h o o r u d s e e d were e a to publica e assent t e o u ta t h e n e t m , upon those who administe red the p resent s y stem which not deserve , and which the house those gentlemen really did an . enoous s of money was annually expended , that . p ro b a bly would not desire to. convey. The hon. gentleman declared, in his first resolution, of the constitutional rights of this prin ciple, and in defiance in violation of public already stated, in the broadest possible manner , that he country. Now he (the Chancellor of the Excheque r ) ha d wished to bring all the charges connected with the collec tion of the public revenue under Parliamentary control; but he would be loth to say that any constitutional principle was violated by the practice that now obtained, and the reason was, that that practice had been the uniform system adopted in this country in all periods and under all systems of Government, and because he believed that this arose from the fact that the expenditure connected with the collection of the revenue had always been considered a part of the old prerogative of the Crown. (Hear.) He was not stickling for the retention of this prerogative—he believed it would be far better to part with it; but he could not agree to cen sure those who were engaged in the working of the system. He was convinced not only of the perfect integrity but of the enlightened economy that prevailed among the heads of the great public departments. At the same time he did not mean to say that no saving could be effected. His own opinion was, that to bring the expenditure of the different departments under the control of Parliament could greatly strengthen the hands of Government, and would tend upon the whole to a good deal of retrenchment. All he wished was, that he should not be understood as looking for a saving of millions, or that he was i nsens ibl e t o th e serv i ces o f suc h men as Mr. Wood of the Board of Inland Revenue, or Sir Thomas Fremantle of the Customs Department—men who, he was quite satisfied, would second and sympathise with the spirit of this house in effecting in every way that was in their power economy and retrenchment. He would not discourage --he would not supersede these men ; but he would rather strengthen their hands. That was the spirit in which he proposed to deal with this question. He had already acquainted the hon. member for Lambeth that they were investigating the conditions of thedifferentdepartment s one after another, in order to consider how they could best carry into effect the principles he had now admitted. With respect to the Board of Inland Revenue, which, as the hon. gentleman had said, collected three-fifths of the revenue of the country, it was in a state of considerable advancement. At present they were examining the Post office, that great department which, as the hon. gentleman knew, was not a mere machine for the collection of revenue, but was an immense contrivance for the distribution of letters, which it would be very difficult to place in all its details before Parliament as clearly as they could wish. After these explanations, which he trusted would be satis factory to the hon. gentleman and to the house, he would conclude with the hope that the hon. gentleman would not call 'upon the house to affirm his resolutions. (Cheers.) Mr. WILLIAMS said the right hon. gentleman had met the question in the fairest possible manner. Ho felt uncommon gratification at the off-hand manner in which the right hon. gentleman had expressed himself, and, wishing to leave the question in his hands, with the fullest confidence in his integrity and ability, he would not press his motion. (Cheers.) The resolutions were then withdrawn. KILMAINHAM HOSPITAL. Mr. GROGAN and Mr. VANCE presented several peti tions from various places in Ireland against the closing of this hospital. Mr. BUTT then rose to move the following resolution:— " That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, re presenting to her Majesty that, in the opinion of this house, it is expedient and right to maintain for the Irish soldier, in his age or infirmity, the asylum which the Royal Hospital of King Charles 11. for ancient and maimed soldiers, at Kil mainham, near Dublin, has long afforded to those for whose benefit it was orignally instituted and endowed ' • that the abolition of this an c i en t Irish institution would be opposed to the feelings of the Irish nation, and injurious to the honour and interests of her Majesty's service • and praying that her Majesty will b e grac i ous ly pleased adopt such measures as may to her wisdom, seem expedient for removing any obstructions which may now exist to the fulfilment of the objects for which this institution is established, in consequence of any directions heretofore issued to the governors by her Majesty's Secretary-at-War, prohibiting the further admission of maimed and worn-out soldiers." He said, though this was an Irish question, yet, he was happy to say, it was unconnected with those divi• sions in politics and religion which too much distracted Ireland. Kilmainham Hospital was as old as Chelsea, having been founded by Charles 11. in 1664, for the wounded and infirm of the Irish army. A charter was ;ranted constituting it a corporation, and it was supported out of the pay of the Irish army on an assessment of 63. in the pound. This continued for more than a century, till, in 1794, the Irish Parliament took the support of the hospital on itself. At the Union that charge was transferred to the Imperial Parliament. So matters continued until a dis patch was written by Mr. Fox Maule, now Lord Panmure, when Secretary-at-War, in 1831, intimating to the gover nors of the hospital that no admission was to be made to the hospital, and no vacancy to be filled up, after the lit of April in that year, as her Majesty's Government con sidered it expedient to close the hospital. Now, whether the measure was right or wrong in itself, he thought the step ought not to have been taken by the Secretary-at-War on his own authority, and without the sanction of Parlia ment. (Hear.) This was the more incumbent upon him, because in 1833 an attempt was made by Mr. Ellice, then Secretary -at-War, to close the hospital ; but the present Lord Derby, who was then Secretary for Ireland, the Mar quis of Anglesea, who was Lord-Lieutenant, and Sir Hus sey Vivian, who was Commander of the Forces, all pro tested against it on' political and military grounds, and the proposal was abandoned. Still more, to meet the objec tions raised against the institution, Sir Hussey Vivian pro posed a reduced scale of the hospital, which should in future consist only of 6 captains and 2CO in-pensioners, and this scheme received the sanction of her present MajestyinlB-15, and had ever since been acted on. He thought, therefore, that this settlement ought to be held as a final one. It was true that in 1830 the committee which then sat on military affairs gave a hesitating recommendation in favour of con solidating the two establishments of Kilmainham and Chelsea. But the whole evidence on which that recom mendation was grounded was the evidence of Mr. Fox Maule himself, and Lieutenant-Colonel Tulloch, who was at the head of the out-pensioners. Mr- Fox Maul° stated in his evidence that there would be a saving if they closed Kilmainham ; but when he was asked whether he would doze Chelsea, he said that as to the abstract necessity of having in-pensioners, he could not say much in favour of them, but that Chelsea was erected in the time of Charles 11. as a retreat for the old soldiers— (cheers)—it was looked upon as one of the national establishments of the country—(cheers)—and that it would be against the feeling of the public and of the army if such an establishment were abolished. (Loud cheers.) Now, he said, that if they substituted Kilmainham for Chelsea this argument would equally apply. (Cheers.) Then came the evidence of Lieutenant-Colonel Tulloch, who was no doubt a very respectable gentleman, but his evidence would hardly go for much. The first question put to him on the subject was—" Do you know anything of Kilmainham Hospital ?" and his answer was, "I do not know anything in regard to Kilmainham." (Laughter.) After this promising an swer the right hon. baronet opposite [Sir James Graham, as was understood] proceeded to examine the witness, by asking him whether he thought the in-pensioners would have any reason to complain if they were made out-pen sioners—(laughter)—and he said he (lid not think they would. (Great laughter r) This - was not fiction, it was down in the evidence ; and it was upon such answers as these that the report was founded, and that was held to justify this answer to the people of Ireland. The witness was asked, "Do you think there would be any feeling against coming from Ireland to Chelsea instead of being sent to Kilmainham ?" The answer was, " Certainly not ;" and that was the answer given to almost every question put to him. (Laughter.) The witness went on to say that soldiers are the last persons to care about the distance they have to go. The right hon. gentleman opposite, the pre sent Secretary -at-War, was not very successful in his cross examination of the witness. The right hon. gentleman asked, " Is there any difference in the price of whisky at Chelsea and at Kilmainham?" (Loud laughter.) The witness, who knew nothing about Kilmainham, replied, "I dare say there is." (C on ti nue d laughter.) He was asked, " Would not that be an element in the consider ation of the pensioners ?" and he returned this most philo sophical answer, " I think that with e i g ht o ffi cers to super - intend 600 men there ought to be no whisky at all drank at Kilmainham." (Laughter.) He was again asked, "Is there general sobriety now at Chelsea Hospital ?" His reply was, " I cannot say as to that. Some time ago it was said the out-pensioners were seducing the in-ones into drunkenness." (Laughter.) Now it was principally upon the evidence of these two witnesses that the committee had grounded their recommendation to the house, which was to override the charter, destroy an institution which had been maintained for a century and a half, and to subvert the royal warrant of her present Majesty, (Hear, hear.) Cenhue,lesea Hospital, One witness, on being asked whether the out-pensioners were disposed to give up their pensions and come into hPwiel3rteh:pea;enpsnle,iozmtoeabnes replied, " I cannot say they would, be ll h it. they surrender their pensions with that view they the slightest hardship'oolbncoirteitnighteo Chelsea. If p l r f ep a are p d e l r t s o on pa a y t And yet it was said that it would - not be against the hospital gentleman svhether'sauncili Ireland. Now that really was the whole case (Bear.) 'Now to bring pensioners from any part of et le est:bli he would appeal to the right hon. evidenceahm establishment justified nta ri ap rho p en d d a i g s e c o t n: r i n o ante of this instant' ai y Vivian a n c d on i ns considered alecroul nttite;:lnai 1 3 :e o I f r ( e il l Ireland, if h e a a n r y . monarchial Sir il umienY irtecklessl t s h ti e t y ut s i h o o n u s ld ex n is o t t e b d e , the greatest importance that And he might be Permitted to taken away. (Hear, hear.) 1 jesty visited Ireland, she had ra°lllallr' that when her M a .. palace at Kilmainham of , which she might justly be proud. (Hear. hear.) He would trouble the house with another authority of a very recent date, which had just been placed in his hands, and he regriAttd that he was not allowed to give the name of the writer, because, if he were able to do so, it would carry authority equal to that of Sir Hussey Vivian and the Mar quis of Anglesea. The writer said, " Instead of the esta blishment being retained for the benefit of old veterans, it was already shut up against their entry, and ho thinks it a shame that such an establishment should be lost sight of for a paltry saving." (Cheers.) He wished to know whether the present Government or Mr. Fox Maule had ascertained the opinion of the present commander of the forces in Ire land, and would venture to say that the opinion which that distinguished officer would give them would not be very diffe rent from the sentiments which he had just read. (Cheers and %tighter.) How many Irish members who were not I placemen would be found voting against the present motion (Hear.) This was a grant coming to this country from the Irish Parliament. He did not mean to say that the house was bound to maintain all votes granted by the Irish Par liament, but he must be permitted to say that if there was one grant which the Irish Parliament would have con tinued it was this grant, because the Irish members who spoke the sense of the Irish people were unanimously in its favour. (Hear, hear.) Now, what would be the real sav ing to the country if the reductions should be carried out ? By the Queen's royal warrant the establishment had been reduced to 6 captains and 200 privates. The charg,e this year was little more than 6,0001. Bat even if the establish ment could be maintained at 10,0001. a year, that would not bo all lost to the public; for every captain and soldier, on enter ing the hospital, was obliged to give up his pension, and he estimated those pensions at 2,5C01. a year. But there were other reductions to be taken into consideration. The commander of the forces, who was master of the hos pital by virtue of his office, received 3001. a year in the s'aape of perquisite.;, which must be provided for in some other manner, in the event of the institution being abolished ; and a similar amount was provided for two other high officials under the Queen's warrant, which must also b 3 matter of compensation. He be lieved the expenses of the hospital did not. cost the nation 5,0001. a year, and he asked, would the house, for the sake of 'effecting this paltry saving, commit an act of injustice to the military service of the Queen, and an act offensive to the feelings of the Irish people.. (Hear, hear.) He considered this a question for the British sol dier. It so happened that an assault was now made on the Irish soldiery ; but the question really was, did the Go vernment mean to maintain Chelsea Hospital and destroy Kilmainham, or was the destruction of Kilmainham to be the prelude to the destruction of Chelsea? (Hear, hear.) He trusted the house would not sanction a paltry saving, the effect of which would be greatly to weaken the confi dence of the army. (Cheers.) Lord G. PAGET considered it a duty which he owed to his profession to second the motion. A very strong feeling existed amongst the Irish soldiery on this point, and Lord Vivian was of opinion that the removal of the hospital or the doing away with it altogether, would create a consider able sensation in the country, and would, he feared, be pre judicial to the service. Whilst the English soldier had Chelsea to retire to, the Irish soldier had a fair claim to Kilmainham. (Hear.) When the subject was before the Irish Government in 1833, it was proposed to make the in pensioners out-pensioners. In some cases that plan might have been acceptable ' • but it should not be for go tt en th a t many old soldiers had no homes or families to go to. (Hear, hear.) At'that time the chief reason f or th removal of the institution was that the military required barrack ac commodation in Dublin, but since then large and commo dious barracks had been erected in Dublin, and therefore that reason no longer existed. (Hear, hear.) Sir J. FITZGERALD supported the motion, expressing a hope that Parliament would not allow the institution to be broken up. (Hear, hear.) Mr. VANCE said the ostensible reason for abolishing the hospital was economy. But why should not this economy commence at home ? He had no doubt it would be very economical to abolish Greenwich Hos pital, and dispose of the site for villas, or to destroy the efficiency of Chelsea Hospital, by dismissing the inmates and converting the building into model lodg ing -houses. Undoubtedly the inmates could be more cheaply supported elsewhere ; but that was not the object which influenced our ancestors in building a palace for seamen, and establishing Chelsea and Kilmainham for soldiers. (Hear, hear.) The people of Dublin felt as great an interest in Kilmainham as did the Parisians in the Invalides. It was the constant resort of the inhabitants of Dublin, and a great stimulus to parties to enter the service of the country, and he trusted the house would not sanc tion the destruction of such an old establishment without some stronger reasons than those which had hitherto been brought forward. (Hear, hear.) Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT said he had nothing to com plain of in the speech of the hon. and learned gentleman who had opened the discussion, who had stated the case with perfect fairness and great good humour—(hear, hear)— and he could not help joining in the mirth which the hon. and learned gentleman had produced, even at his own expense, in the quotations which he had read from the cross-examination of the witnesses before the committee, but still he could not help thinking that the questions cited had reference to considerations which, in the case of old soldiers, had considerable weight. (Hear, hear.) The question which the house was now called upon to decide was this—would they reverse the policy which they had three times approved of, and which had been carried out successfully by two Governments? (Hear, hear.) It was quite true that the letter of his predecessor but one in the office which he had now the honour to hold did close the portals of Kilmainham to future admissions. The arguments that had been used to-night, not only by the hon. and learned gentleman, but by his noble and gallant friend (Lord G. Paget), referred rather to the plan proposed by previous secretaries-at-war twenty years ago, and which, after much consideration, were abandoned, than to any plan now in existence. At that time it was pro posed, not at once to close Kilmainham to all future appli cants for admission, but to divert it from the purpose for which it had been originally instituted, and to give the then pensioners either an increased out-pension or transfer them to Chelsea, with the exception of some few who were too old and infirm to be removed, and who might be allowed to remain in Kilmainham for the remainder of their days. No such proposal had since been made ; and the house must not consider that We question on which they were called to decide. The question for the house to decide was simply this—would they, under the circum stances which he was about to describe, think it wise to re-open Kilmainham, and re-establish it to the extent of the establishment twenty years ago? It had been said there was a just claim for themaintenance of Kilmainham, because it had been built and maintained by stoppages from the soldiers. Now, the fact was that it was not built by stoppages from soldiers, but by stoppages from that por tion of their pay which went to the colonels of the regi ments, which went to diminish the profits of the colonels. 'Hear, hear.) But even if that had been so, he maintained that it was of no importance now, because as the poundage on which the contributions were made ceased in 1794, there was no soldier now in existence who contributed towards the maintenance of Kilmainham. No vested interest, therefore, could be disturbed. (Hear, hear.) But let the house bear in mind the origin and intention of Kilmain ham. At the time of the establishment of the hospitals of Chelsea and Kilmainham the Irish army amounted to 7,000 men. It was calculated that Kilmainham would hold the whole of the incapacitated men from the Irish army, averaging about 300. There was no out-pew ion. If Kilmainham had not been established it would have been necessary to maintain the invalids in towns at a greater expense. The charter of Charles 11. specified that those only should be admitted who had been incapacitated by wounds from serving in the ranks. Of course, as the army augmented these two hospitals were incapable of taking the larger number that might be required to be taken. Since the foundation of the establishment the out-pensions had greatly augmented, and it was no mere matter of specu lation that men preferred living with their families to enter ing the hospital, especially at a time when prices were low. 1 t was the most natural thing in the world that these old men should prefer going home and living with their fami lies to being secluded in a sort of monastic establishment such as these institutions were, and being obliged to sub mit to discipline and restraint. Take the case of a man badly wounded. He could not live in one of these hospi tals in the same comfort and receive the same attention as he could at home, at the hands of a wife or a daughter. And the result was found to be that at Chelsea, men who were almost incapacitated from helping themselves would not go into the hospital, but preferred taking their pen sions ; and it was natural they should do so. He (Mr. Herbert) wanted to show the house what were the advan tages to the soldiers of the two systems, and he must say that he thought public opinion amongst soldiers was at present in favour of out-pensions. (Hear, hear.) At the time when it was first proposed to close Kilmainhan there were 207 pensioners in the establishment. Of these, 139 were under 51 years of age, 60 were under 41 years of and the remainder under 31; 32 of those were militiamen and four were from the yeomanry. What he wanted to show was, that it was not men of long service who came to Chelsea and Kilmainhan. He did not mean to say that they would find no instances of that kind in those estab lishments, but taking the average it was not the case, and for this reason—the men of the best conduct and the largest service had the largest pensions, and men with the largest pensions would not of course go into Chelsea or Kilmainhan, but it was the men who had small pensions for short service who were anxious to be admitted to those institutions—(hear, hear)—where they received more than the worth of their pensions. The house might see that the practical effect of these establishments was not the same now as it had been formerly. It was quite hue that there was a charter for Kilmainhan, and it might be said that you must not depart from the intention of the founder. But he (Mr. Herbert) would ask, did we now adhere strictly to the intentions of the founder ? (Hear, hear. Of late, the _blaster of Kilrnainhan had been the Corn mander-in-Chief in Ireland. According to the intentions of the founder the Master of Kilmainhan was to be an old officer who had received wounds ; he was to have been ten years a captain ; he was not to be married; and if he held another command he was instantly to give it up. Now, could, could it be said of Sir E. Blakeney, the present Master of Kilmainhan, that he ful filled all of these conditions? He (Mr. Herbert) was sure that any one who had partaken, as he had done, of the cordial and frank hospitality of that gallant officer must be aware that he did not fulfil one at least of the conditions, namely, which required that he should be a bachelor. (Laughter.) The original rules of the hospital had also been departed from in reference to the deputy masters. He did not say that that departure from the orig,ihal regulations was wrong—on the contrary it had proved of great advantage to the public service ; but no person could say that the charter had been strictly adhered to when in the most important office connected with the institution it had been entirely departed from both in letter and in spirit. Under these circumstances, the in clination of the soldier to enter into these hospitals being greatlydiminished, both as regarded Chelsea and Kilmain ham, his (Mr. Herbert's) predecessor had thought it better to decide that though Kilmainham should not be diverted from its original purposes, yet, with the view of affordinc , time to consider what was the best course that could be taken, that no more pensioners should be admitted into the establishment. It was quite true that the letter in which this decision was announced had been written with- out the sanction of Parliament but Parliament had hitherto marked its approbation of the proceeding by voting for the estimate according to the plan which had been decided upon by Lord . ' Panmure: He (Ali. Herbert) had found the question in that state. (Hear, hear.) His immediate predecessor, the honourable mem ber for Es.lex (Major Beresford), bad brought forward his estimate with the same intention as Lord - Panmure and during last year no attempt was made to disturb the ex isting arrangement. They might call this a cheese-paring economy—(loud cries of "hear" from Irish members) — but it was only by this individual saving of unnecessary expenditure that general economy in the finances was to be effected. (Hoar, hear): It was a question that must le decided, no t on ly w ith a v i ew t o econom y, b u t w ith refer ence also to the gen era l f ee li ng o f P ar li amen t. (H ear , hear). R must be recollected also, when you came to dis cuss the qu es ti on o f the effect of the proposed alteration upon I re l an d , t h at every sixpence saved to the country by this plan would be expended in some part of Ireland by the pensioners ; and as to the recruiting service, h THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET, Under the Management of Mr. Buckstone. THIS EVENING, APRIL 13 Will be performed ELOPEMENTS IN HIGH LIFE. By Messrs, B. Sullivan, Chippendale, Howe, W. Farren, Buckstone, and Camp ton ; Mesdames Fitzwilliam, Reynol,:e, L. S. Buckingham, &c, After which MR. BUCKSTONE'S ASCENT OF MOUNT PAIL• NASSUS. To conclude with MAKE TOUR vriLLs. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATR:E, OXFORD-STREET. Under the Management of fir. Charles Kean. THIS EVENING, ,APAIL 13, Will be performed the Tragedy of MACBETH. Principal charac ters by Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean. Aftcr which will be performed the new Drama, adapted from the the French of Mons. Scribe, by I Ir. Pa'.grave Simpson, called MARCO SPADA. ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. 'Under the Management of: At adame Vestris. THIS EVENING, Aram 13, Will be performe 1 THE GAME OW SPECULATION'. Charac. ters by Messrs. C. Mathews, F. Mat, hews, R. Mosby, Baker, Suter, and Butler ; Mrs. Horn, and Miss M_ ' , liver. After which, LITTLE TODDLER S. To cone udo wilh A HOUSE OUT' OF 'WINDOWS. TEIEATRE ROYAL ADk ;T.I'III. Pro;rietor, Mr. B. Webster. —D'eg:tre‘s, Madame Celetite, MIS EVENING, APRIL 13, Will Lc performed A DESPERATK OA?,E. Af:er which, MA:.. , AS A D FACKS ; or, Before and rehird tl e Curtain —by me,sra. 11 Webster, L. Micray, Honey, P. Bedford, and 0. Smith ; Mesdames Celeste, Woolgstr„ &c. To be followed by BETSY B %KE 1— by Mr. and Mrs. Keeley. To conclude INith PEPIN° THE DI MB BOY, AND PUG, HIS MONKEY. ROYAL OLYMPUT THEATRE. Lessee and Manager. Mr. Farren. THIS EVENIXG, APRIL 13, Will be presented SALVATORr - or, the Bandit's D aug ht er . Characters by Messrs. H. Marston, i'obson, Diddear, Morgan, and Bender; Mesdames Anderton and IL Gordon. To conclude with LIFE IN AIRTIL ILIA. Supp - rted by Messrs. II Marston, Robson, Diddear, Sltald srs, G. Cooke, Morgan, and Bender; Mesdames A. Phillips, Aside ton, 11. Gordon, E. Turner, and Bartlett. ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPIaITIIEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manager, .Mr. W. Cooke. Unprecedented success of the New Spectacle, which nightly in creases in popularity and attraction.— The nove , and wondrous F. es of the Horses, the Passage of the 1 turning Forest, the Leap through Fire, and 'he terrific spring of fii.:nakosa's steed from the fearful Heights over the Falls of the Umtata are nightly hailed with perfect enthusiasm. Mr. Cooke has Ise, :n tor months training the Horses for the +t , tont,hing Feats THIS EVENING, APRIL 13, - - - - - AnS dur'ng the Week, the Performances will commence with the magniticent spectacle entitled AMAKOSA; or , Scenes of Kafir w..rfare ; with new and brilliant scenery, costumes, and appoint ments. To be followed by an entire change in the ever popular tcenes in the CIRCLE, introducing the most accomplished Equestrian and Gymnastic Artistes of the day. 'lO conclude with a Laughable FARCE. 8 , .-omee open daily from Eleven to Four. Stage .Manager, Mr. W. West. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tats DAY —Morning 35 min. after 4 I Evening 50 mia.aft. 4 To-Monnow—Morning 7 min. aft er 5 Evening 24 min.aft. 5 THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, APRIL 13. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 57—highest since noon yesterday. 41—lowest this morning and during the night. 47 this day at noon. BAROMETER, 29'98. WIND, N.N.E.—Light breeze, with cloudy weather, rain, hail, and sunshine occasionally. THE PUBLICATION OF " THE SUN" COMMENCES EVERY AFTERNOON AT THREE O'CLOCK, AND THE LATE OR THIRD EDITION, CONTAINING THE DEBATES IN PARLIAMENT THE SAME EVENING, With all other News arriving up to the hour of Post, AT SEVEN O'CLOCK. EXPRESS EDITIONS will be forwarded after the Post is closed by the Latest Trains. e • th 1311 x LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1853. Several admirable results have already sprung from the nomination of Lord PALMERSTON as Home Secretary. It would appear, indeed, that the Noble Viscount resumed his labours as an administrator in an entirely new capacity, with the motive of proving to the country his aptitude to conduct other toils no less energetically than he had so long and so frequently conducted those of the Foreign Department. Of this the com munity might have felt assured from the com mencement. PALMERSTON'S reputation as a statesman is not of yesterday. It extends over the principal portion of the first half of the nine teenth century. It is associated with the suc cesses of more than one memorable Government. It has been celebrated already by more than one eminent historian. It is conspicuous among the political recollections of the present generation. But, hitherto, the ministerial abilities of the Noble Lord have been almost entirely restricted to the guidance of the intricate mechanism of diplomacy. It was reserved for the Earl of ABER DEEN to afford his illustrious rival another oppor tunity of revealing his wisdom as one of the ad visers of his august SOVEREIGN. That opportunity seems not likely to be thrown aside or neglected. As Home Secretary, Viscount PALMERSTON pro mises—so far as we may calculate upon his avowed intentions—very considerably to enhance the po pularity he had long since acquired in his repeat edly renewed position as Foreign Secretary. This is well. It is peculiarly so, when it is remembered that in the existing situation of affairs, the skilful direction of the duties of that particular depart ment is, perhaps of all, at this moment the most proMinent necessity—visible even I to the least reflective member of the population. f no thing else could incite the people to look with anything at all like complacency up on the future destinies of the Coalition, thi s infusion of energy into the operations of the dif ferent officials acting under the Home Secretary might most unquestionably. It were sca rce l y possible, indeed, to regard this movement with apathy or indifference. For that matter we are altogether too deeply interested in its immediate consequences. We have too much depend ence upon the development of the policy in augurated by Lord PALMERSTON not to w a t c h the various indications of its progress with a most eager and vigilant solicitude. It in volves, among other things, the better organisa tion of the national defences, and the onward or retrograde course of the sanitary movement--for the quieta non movere principle cannot, here, be viewed as in any way applicable. Those two great questions—questions of such especial ur _ _ cy t g h e e n resel a v nd importance—would esteindueet be sufficient more n g negligent of observers in the three kingdoms to consider atten tively the results of the remarkable enterprise already evinced by her MAJESTY'S principal Secre tary of State for the Home Department. Bearing in mind the circumstance that another of the most eminent administrators of our time has been appointed by the Leader of the Coalition Ministry to preside over the Board of our maritime Lords Commissioners, and remembering the comprehen sive improvements, in reference at once to the manning of our fleets, and the management of our dockyards, recently announced by the Hon. and Gallant Gentleman, the representative.of the county of Middlesex, we may, with some show of reason, acknowledge ourselves to have become somewhat more sanguine as to the probability of seeing these islands more effectually guarded, before very long, from the perils of invasion, even though that invasion were suddenly conducted by the most lawless depredator in Christendom. It is hardly extravagant to think thus hopefully when we have the Admiralty under Sir JAMES GRAHAM, and the Home Office under Viscount P —LMERSTON. Naturally, of course, we should have witnessed with more complacency the selection of some dis- tiny ished Sea Captain as the chief admini s t ra t or of the affairs of our marine and peculiarly na tional profession. Under ordinary contingencies, h o wever, that choice seems to be scarcely capable o f attainment. England appears to be doomed to find her gallant sailors commanded by some black-coated civilian instead f o by some flag-of f icer wearing the blue cloth and the epaulettes associated with so many glo rious achievements. Red -coated officials are deemed indispensable enough at the Horse Guards, the military service very reasonably re quiring for its Commander-in-Chief some one who J has I tad a good sword (and no mere court-foil) chinl ling at his thigh, if he has never on the f 01; ghten field" led on the charge and snuffed th e ." sulphury siroch" of gunpowder. Not so with the Royal Navy of Great Britain. It is considered fortunate in the acquisition of some merely political skipper as First Lord of the Adrriralty—some one so entirely innocent ofnautical information as to resemble that excellent old lady mentioned in COOPER'S romance, who expatiated on the delight of sailing over the blue-green of the deep when " the ship was cutting the waves with, her taffrail." Happily, such being the des tiny of the maritime profession, it has at any rate secured, for this while at least, the great administrative powers of a no less eminent states man than the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Carlisle. Under his auspices, let us hope that the defences of the country may at length bo more judiciously organised, more .confi dently, seeing that Sir JAMES GRAHAM will in this matter have to co-operate with Viscount PALMERSTON as Home Secretary. Uncertainty, it must be admitted, still continues nevertheless to darken our prospect of efficient defence for England in the shape •of apparently warlike but really (in their ulterior • purpose) pacific preparations. It is otherwise, we rejoice to think, in regard to the probable advance of the sanitary movement. There it is, more obviously than in reference to any other question, that we recognise the happy fruits of Lord PALMERSTON'S nomination to the Home Department. Since the names of himself and his colleagues were first published in the columns of the Gazette, as another Cabinet of All -the-Talents, that energetic Statesman has given repeated evi dence of his determination not to allow the sani tary question to stagnate in. the deplorable man ner tolerated by all his predecessors. As conclusive testimony of this, his conduct in relation to the London graveyards is more particularly entitled to popular consideration. In the House of Com mons, as recently as the sitting of the Bth inst., the Noble Lord took occasion to announce that he had instructed competent medical officers to make an inspection of all the graveyards in the metropolis. " These inspections;" said the HOME SECRETARY, " are going :on as fast as circum stances will admit of, and I believe the result will be as in other cases, where I have had to apply for an Order in Council to shut up grave yards. I think the probability is that the same course will be followed with regard to nearly all the graveyards in the metropolis." Nearly -all ! Why not all without exception ? Ultimately we shall arrive at the recognition of the entire principle. Here; at least, are the preparatory measures lead ing, we doubt not, inevitably to that grand and comprehensive improvement. Hitherto we have been subjected upon this matter to disappoint ment after disappointment, simply because we have relied exclusively upon vamped-up Bills hurried in a slovenly way through the Imperial Legislature. It is barely rational to rely upon sources of help of that description in cases, like this, of real emergency. Nil picas timidus navita puppibus fidit. Viscount PALMERSTON is evidently conscious of the truth, otherwise we should never have seen him resorting to Orders in Council for aid in a difficulty which had baffled so 'often the devices of Parliament. From energetic proceed ings such as these we feel disposed, therefore, to augur well for the future progress of the sanitary movement. An augury for which the country has reason to be thankful to the wise resolution of the noble Lord, now fortunately Chief Secretary for the 'Roane Department. It is time that " the Dead-man's Question" should be finally disposed of—that further agita tion. on this interesting and important subject should be for ever set at rest. That agitation can never cease while intramural interments are tolerated within the limits of the metropolis, or a single corpse can be added to the festering remains that have so long polluted the atmo sphere of the modern Babylon, endangering, and seriously deteriorating the health of its inhabi tants. • Thanks to the exertions of Mr. G. A. WALKER and other sanitary reformers, the atrocious system of burying the dead at the very thresholds of their surviving friends and relatives was clearly and kmequivocally exposed in all its enormity. It is unnecessary to enter at any length into the revolting details. Suffice it to say, that a full knowledge of the subject produced an unparalleled concurrence, and brought the voice of public opinion so strongly to bear on the subject, that further neglect or apathy was no longer practicable—the Ministerial attention being imperatively drawn to the subject. Unfortunately, however, the matter was not dealt with in an enlarged and comprehensive spirit. The Board of Health interfered, and a course of jobbery was attempted highly prejudicial to the felicitous solution of the interesting pro blem. Much of this, we regret to say, was ascrib able to clerical influence, exerted to insure a tax on the body of every person dying within the limits of the metropolis, although removed for interment to a considerable distance beyond its limits. " Let us retain our graveyards !" "Let us opposer with al] our energies, every plan for the establishment of Extra-mural Cemeteries unless we are authorised to levy toll, ay, and good heavy toll, too, on every burial. We want a perinanent tax of Gs. 2d. on each body. The bereaved relatives will not at such moments think of complaining of a little pecuniary extortion. Many will not have energy sufficient to contest our demands, which will be paid, and that is all we require. The disgust and indignation that may be excited when the matter is considered at greater leisure is of comparatively trivial importance. "Non, old numus.". The money will be as useful as if it had been obtained in the most legitimate and praiseworthy manner." Other parties, too, were anxious to obtain their share of the spoil, like human vultures, to prey upon the dead for their subsistence. In place of one general and well devised scheme, calculated to meet the wants of the entire metropolitan districts—the organisation of the burial arrangements were left to the dis cretion and judgment of the different parish boards the BUMBLES, and other " porochal" au thorities, wishing to be permitted to intermed dle in every subject in any way connected with their respective districts, no matter how totally dis qualified they might be for the duties they desired to have confided to their hands. We had thus no fewer than 176 different bodies all desirous of carrying out their own privat e v i ews, no matter at what degree of inconvenience and expense to the community; and _each having existing preju dices and powerful influences in full operation to control their decisions. What was however left undone by the Govern ment and the Legislature was in a great degree supplied by private enterprise. A large extent of land was purchased at Woking-eommon, " amply sufficient," as Lord PALMERSTON last week justly remarked in the House of Comm ons, ` meet all demands of th e metropolis for a good time time to come." A very good time, indeed, inas much as it appears from the excellent letter of Sir RICHARD BROWN--Which another part o f t h is which is well worthy day's l iin ill pr b es e si foonu,ndanidn of perusal—that there is an " existing virgin grave accommodation in our eight cemeteries and one necropolis, for upwards of six millions and a-half of bodies—a space which it would take upwards of 100 years to cover with one layer of corpses at seven feet deep, burying yearly from 60, 000 to 70, 000 ; 200 years to cover with a second layer at six feet deep ; and 300 years to cover with a third layer at . five'feet deep." When we consider the spaces that have hitherto been available for these purposes, we must be satisfied that there can be no necessity for addi tional cemeteries for several centuries, and that, therefore, the parochial interference is worse than useless, whether we regard the matter in a sani- tary point of view or as connected with the re- speetful interment of the dead, or merely as a matter of s. d., the existing accommodation, as set forth in the very able andconclusive document o which we have referred, abundantly fulfils the public requirements in every particular. Any trifling departures from the original scheme will, we have no doubt, be repaired, so as to establish the project in all its integrity, and give the ful advantages originally contemplated to the eel' munity. Let us hope, then, that some' thing will be done, and that speedily, to have the matter placed upon a satisfactory basis• We believe that Lord PALMERSTON is fully aware of its importance, and that his views are perfectly correct. We would only urge expedition; The great evil to be averted is " procrastinatioi 2 . What is to be done should be done quickly.. THE COURT. HEALTH OF HER MAJESTY. c The following Bulletin of her Majesty's health ll ° issued this morning :-- • "Buckingham Palace, April 13, 1551 " Nine o'clock, a.m. " The Queen is convalescent. " The infant Prince continues well. " JAMES CLARK, M.P. - " CHARLES LOCOOK, " ROET. FERGUSON, M.P. " Her Majesty's recovery is so far advanced that no f other• bulletins will be issued.' Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent visitect:bB Majesty yesterday at Buckingham Palace. His Royal Highness Prince Albert rode out on hor se ' yeSterday, a tt en d e d b y Lieut.-Colonel F. H. t3J,' mour. Toe Viscountess Canning has succeeded the CouOr; of Gainshorough in her duties as the Lady in Wait ll3 ' to the Queen. __- Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent visited 11 1 Royal Highn ess th e D uchess of Gloucester yesterday a Gloucester House, Piccadilly. A deputation from the Epidemiological Society, all the subject of o f th e V acc i nation Extension Bill, had a o interview with E ar l G ranville yesterday at the _ f Council-office. The deputation consisted of Dr. Babi r a ton, Mr. Grainger, Dr. Wailer Lewis, and Dr. Seatoo. ii A deputation f rom R y d e, cons i sting of Dr. J. 13e Salter and Mr. B. Barrow, had an interview yes day with the General Board of Health at their 00 ' 4 Whitehall. A deputation from the Directors of the Eastern Step Navigation Company had an interview with Mr. W at the Treasury, y es t er d ay. The deputation consist ] of Mr. H. T. H ope (C ha i rman), Mr. E. L. Betts, Alr. ~ ,1 . George Burke, M r . R o b ert M ` Cahnort, Mr. R. J. Campbell, Mr. P.W. S. Mil es, Mr. J. K. Brunel, 03 Air. Yates (S ecre t ary ) . 4 ,1 Mr. J. Caird had an interview with the Duke of New castle yesterday at the Colomal-Office. 1, of A deputation from th e R atepayers of the Boroug.l4 Plymouth had an interview yesterday with the Gene, Board of Health a t their office, Whiteh a ll. The clePd. tation consist e d o f M essrs. Gill , Stephens, Mortimer) 3 Elworthy. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon the Foreign-office, Downing -street. The Ministers 1 3 / 1 sent were—the Earl of Aberdeen, Lo r d J o h n R u ss' Earl Granville, the Duke of Argyll, the Marqin 9 Lansdowne, Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of Clar e : don, the Duke of N ewcas tl e, t h e. C haneellor of the c; , chequer, Sir J ames G ra h am, Si r Charles Wood, Right Hono ura bl e Sid ney H erbert, and Sir NO' ,,t 0 , Molesworth. The Council sat two hours and thr c quarters. ELECTION COMMITTEES.-(THIS DAY.) LEICESTER. At the sitting of the committee this morning, cross-examination of John Holyoake was continue s Knew Mr. No rman N orman h a d told him that tlief . election was a pure one. Had replied, that woul u , seen before th e comm itt ee. H ad said that he kne!oi several cases of b r ib ery. H a d mentioned a repo r o p Sir Joshu a W a l ms l ey g i v i ng one man a new hArl another six mon th s ' work ; also of his having left It'°. on the table after a.supper at a h ouse i n M oun t Co fr, This witness was still under examination when our port left. TAUNTON. The committ ee resume d t hi s morning at 11 o'cl°c:,; The room was immediately cleared for the ooni° lit g .., to deliberate u p on th e f uture conduct of the proceeclivo Upon the readmission of the parties, the chailo announced that the committ ee h a d reso l ve d that te) counsel for the sitting members should be at liberlej call witnesses to rebut the charges of distinct 151 1 which had been made, and it was the wish of the c, y mittee that Robert F armer an d J o h n S uch s h o uld called with that view. a t Robert Farmer v o t e d f or Mill s and Colebrooke 3, oot last electio n . K new th e A rcade in Taunton. Di"A ,lt know John S uc h. W as not un d er the Arcade i"fil,4 John Such the ni g ht b e f ore t h e nomination. frau.7l been promised 10i. for a vote. Had not been prora' re money by any one to vote for Mills. Had never °0 ceived any mon e y f or hi s vote. Did not ever' '•,. /l et l John Such by s i g ht . Thi s w i tness was cross-exol.blit at considerable length by Mr. Sergeant Kinglake , without materially shaking his evidence. Il tit John Such—Did no t'k now R o b ert F armer. W 7 .3 under the Arcade with Farmer. Did not offer IV to any cne in that _place to vote for Mr. Mills. 1 05. never offer e d R o b er t F armer money to vote for ' n t. This wit ness ent i re l y corroborated Farmer ' s statened The cross-examination of Mr. Sergeant amino elicited no- discrepancy. T . TY.NEMOTJTI's .1. .' o he committee f or investigatin,, into the petitlo 'dr?' r seated againA the return of Mr. Taylor sat this r ll° ' ing at 11 o'clock ; Sir B. Hall in the chair. Mr. Sergeant Kingiake, Mr. E. James, and 3fl a' Power appeared for the petitioners ; and Mr. Slade itdr. Hardy for the sitting member. Mr. Sergeant Kingi:ike opened the case for the V iv i tioners. The allegatio ns aga i ns t th e sitting rile%rf were that his return had been secured by °poi bilY v o and extensive treating. Extensive orders had been gl i o t,,; to all the public-h ouse k ee p ers t o supp l y refres ha ty and tickets had been i ssue d i n di scr i m i nately to all el sitting member's voters. There was also a charge 4; bribery by colourable employment of voters, and p 3 ):10 them for labour which they never performed. learned counsel was proceeding when our report left. COOKERMOUTH. At the reassembling of the committee this morn s the witness Crone was brought from the custody °f Sergeant -at-Arms, somewhat more sober than when appeared yesterday. H e was examined as to the Wig, action relating, to the purcha se o f hi s b edstead by. 11 Beason, who was alleged to have bribed him by gl" a higher price for it than it was worth. COURT OF ALDERMEN. — Yesterday a court was P t y which was numerously'attended. A number of go men were admitted as brokers. Mr. Thomas PilloWs e f Mr. John Dudin we re e l ec t e d members of the Cour t o r ill Assistants of the Watermen's and Lightermen's C.,,f°) pany, inste a d of M r . J ames Lyon and Mr. Thomas •"„00 resigned. A di scuss i on of some length took place ii4r the report " f or th e appointment of governor and e'' 4 lain of the prison at Holloway," and it was s ent 1 / 30 fur further consideration, upon the motion of Aldern / Wilson. Upon th e motion of Alderma n Wi re , it'`' ordered th a t th e names and addresses of all persons,7 gyp; plying to the c our t t o be. admitted as brokers of 1 ,1. City be put u p i n some conspicuous place in the G, tie, ball, one w ee k pr i or to the date of the holding or "e, court at which such application is intended to be IVO° TINCROFT MINING COMP ANY.—At the meeting-or Tincroft Mining Company, held yesterday, the re1 ) ,. ° 0 9 and accounts w ere rece i ve d as satisfactory' The retil:ii from sal es o f ti n an d copper amounted to 46,g8401., , e the expenditu re h a d b een 40,8171., leavin after payment of dividend s a t th e rate of 15 per cent., 3 lance in hand of 1,4751. SCREW STEAM-SHIP ARGO.—The directors of the G ral Screw Steam Company have determined to test Ihe efficiency of their new vessel the Argo, by a run doll, the Channel on the 20th inst., previously to her starter on her voyage to Australia on the 4th of May THE COUNTRY BANKS.—The Bankers Magazine giv ,he following summary of the average circulation o f tli t ; country banks in E ng l an d f or th e month end i ng the nr March. Average weekly circulation of these banks the month ending March 19 : Private Banks £3,671,785 Joint-stock banks 2,993,611 --- Average weekly circulation of pri vate and joint-stock banks end ing as above ..................... ... £6,665,396 i 4 PRICE OF GOLD. — The quotation of gold at Paris .bout par (according to the last tariff), which ,e , at " English Mint price of 3/. 17s. 10id. per ounce f o r std; d age ld, g ives an exch ange of 25.17 ; and, the fop change rd at Paris on London at s h ort b e i ng 25.05, it lows that gold is about 0.48 per cent. dearer 410 Paris than in London. By advices f r o m H am burgb,%ll price of gold is 429 per mar k , which, at the Engiii-ds Mint price of 31. 17s. 10w1d. per ounce f or standard Ott' gives an exchange of 13.7 ; and, the exchange at gt; burgh on Londo n a t s h ort being 13.6, it follows tu'" gold is 0.47 per cent, dearer in Hamburgh than in L i e f ; don. The c ourse of exchange at New York on Lonc"lf for bills at 60 days' sight is 109 k per cent., and, the P o ') of exchan ge b etween England and Amerca being 1 , - If 23-40 per cent., it f o ll ows that the exchange is nornin3„`l. 0.33 per ce n t. aga i nst England ; but, after making 'eg lowance f or c h arges of transport, the present rate Lle not admit of th e t ransm i ss i on o f gold either way betwe e n the two countries. THE GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE ON RAILWAYS.- - ,it Minutes of E v id ence l a id on the table of the House Monday contain additional evidence from Mr. Saundelg Mr. Seymour Clarke, and Mr. Stephenson, as well the exami na ti ons o f the following gentlemenfr, : Buscell, chairman of the Great Western ; Mr. Mell „ye director of the • Grand Junction. Canal ; Mr. Ge e '' Loch, for the Bridgwater Canal ; Mr. Barley, e l l airo , 1 of the M anc h ester Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Denis e chairman o f th e G reat Northern Railway; Mr. Broinlfie: secretary to the A u di t Board, Somerset-housei Anderson, Deputy Paymaster-General ; , Mr. J 3 " 1 , - , I Booth, • senior secretary t o th e B oar d of Trad e ; r., Main Simmons, railway secretary to the Board Trade. bI'EAM ENGINES, &e.---the declared value of stew tb engines and other machinery exported in the m °ll ended the sth ult. was 99,932/. . 0 . PORTSMOUTH RAILW AY E ILL.— A bi ll for 'Bakal , ' t o railway from Havant, in the county of Southamptov oj e o Godalming; in th e county O f Surrey, to be called toa Pertsmouth,Ap t ilway," a n d f or o th er purposes, was a'first time in the House of last night.