The Sun. — London, England, 1853-04-20 00:00:00

THE FRENCH EMPIRE. The 20th. Emperor enters his 46th year to-day the The L eg i s l a ti ve B o d y sa t on T ue sday ; M. Bil 'milt, the President in the chair. Leave of absence ; vas accorded t o B aron B uqu et. Eleven bills of local interest were presented. Seven bills of local interest were adopted, three relating to new deli - I nitations of communes in Corsica and the Rhone, and four relative to extraordinary taxes in the t - Itliin, Lot, Pas-de-Calais, and La Vendee. 4 1 e two bill s proposing to accord a pension of )000fr. a year to each of the widows of Marshals xixelmans and Oudinot, were adopted. The dis cussion on the bill to regulate the promotion of .Perior offic e rs in the navy was then commenced. b m i snount de Latour and M. Perret opposed the 12 u ) and M. Conseil, M. de Cuverville, and General arcnappe supported it. M. Baroche, the Presi dent of the Council of State, having defended the i asnre, and M. Perret having again addressed t he house, the discussion was adjourned to the 11 1 ,, elct day.—Before the public sitting, the members et in their a nd bureaux, and named their Presidents Secretaries for the ensuing month. The Emperor has conferred the Military Medal General Count Ornan.o, Governor of the In- Plides, and on General Lebrun, Due de Plaisance, 'rand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour. General the Marquis de Castelbajac has, at his a cvn request, been removed from the retired list, a1 ! .(1 admitted into the second section (reserve) of Est General Staff of the army from the Ist January 11 3 r decrees of the Emperor, the Bank of France "Z authorised to open branch establishments at Na ncy and Toulon. 14 ,....an aide-de-camp of Marshal Vaillant arrived at rre on Saturday, and minutely examined the of fortifications. "It is hoped from this," 4alle Y 8 a Havre journal, "that the fortifications are ab outl a to be destroyed, so as to allow of the en rgement of the town." e municipal council of Limoges, at a late Ing, voted an address to the Emperor, praying to honour that place with a visit, and placed fn unlimited credit at the disposal of the mayor the expenses of the reception, in the event of Majesty acceding to the invitation. lyi The Sultan has just accorded the decoration of lJidie of the first class to M. Drouyn de Lhuys and M. Baroche ; of the second class to Count 4 40 ehiocchi ; of the third class to Baron de Chas it; Reynaud, and Capt. Rigaud. de Genou ttJ) Of the n a vy ; and of the fourth class to Lieu nallta Baehm and de Beaulieu, of the navy • to p, Rochegude and M. Wells, attaches of 4' 401 1 embassy ; and to M. Herman Lippus. th e T he Moniteur publishes a decree which convokes 4,,. " ,General Council of the Seine for the 23d of Stat uettes, ; a second decree provides that the marble etirettes, imported from Italy, shall pay the same tb L r ance duty as other marble goods ; and, by a d, the Bank of France is authorised to establish "! 3 .ch banks at Nancy and Toulon. esterday the Corps Legislatif resumed the dis 4sinn on the Marine Staff Bill. A division took ' t *,.,,ee) and the numbers were—For the bill, 188 ; 641 nst it, 31. cp At the Institute Lord Brougham read a paper on 4 a9a and mathematics, accompanied by demon -417.0ns and calculations on the board. In the i h Bence of M. Arago, whose health, though improv -47g, doesgnot yet permit his attending, M. Jus :ll occupied the chair. In the course of the pro ceedings he paid a handsome compliment to M. a l °t, on the sitting being the 50th anniversary of ;' l3 day on which that gentleman first took his seat, .. 4 2 a Member of the Institute. Amongst the per ''',llB present on the occasion was Marshal Vaillant, ' 4l e last member elected. At the Bourse yesterday the market for Govern kent Securities was dull, and with a decline on Monday's prices. In the Three per Cents., both for cash and the end of the month, the fall was 10c. bleach, and 15c. in the Four-and-a-Half per Cents., for account. An improvement of sf. took place in Sank Stock. The final quotations were :—For c ash, Three per Cents., 80f. 50c. ; Four-and-a-Half Per Cents., 103 f. 700. For the account :—Three Per Cents., 80f. 50c. ; Four-and-a-Half per Cents., 103 f. 55c.: Bank Stock, 2,735. In the shares of th e Bank of Credit Foncier an advance took place 3 f : , and they closed at 900 f. 50e. Credit Mobi ekr improved 6f., a n d w ere last done at 939 f. 75c. i mprovement noted on Tuesday in the Railway l i re Market has been again maintained, and an a uv anoe taken place in most of the principal lines. SPAIN. Madtid journal, of the 14th, whitth. tit 4 Q e regular mail, are like those of the 13th, des- I ti te of interest, as they contain nothing respect -4 116 6 Ministerial crisis, which had not reached to let ter of th le Ministerial h e 15th, by exe disatch, press from rivate sources. states that General the President of the new Cabinet and A L ' of the for Foreign Affairs, will hold the portfolio g o e Interior until the arrival of M. Ayllon. M. \ra tie Ivith 8 ) the Minister of Justice, is also charged Th ere ",e Portfolio of the Public Works ad interim. of ti l -13 no notice in this letter of the resumption p air sittings of the Cortes, announced by the Th e as havin g been communicated by telegraph. 311ae news was probably incorrect, for whatever Pro6ll the intentions of the new Ministry, it is not ‘eri a i that the Cortes woul d sit durin g the Muus "lB said that the Ministers had announced their Olen to abandon the cause of Reform. the 14th the Three per Cents, closed at 42k. We ITALY. De e .„ read in the Patrie :—" If our information to ~,- " rrect, the Sardinian Government is disposed 44 ( teede a line of railway from Nice to Turin Al l i eb 7-iessandria passing by Albenga and Asti, do oh will give ' fresh facilities to commercial rela ztpl between France and Piedmont. It would her r, however, that the Sardinian Government ensltate_ to admit this line among those of tkefirst o rat.for which it guarantees a minimum f inte- 8 t1 111 ) °fficial Journal of the Two Sicilies, of the to a t l liention s another shock of earthquake at Melfi, cli, a ulatory and violent, but short, and without any* The consequences. La v e Same journal announces a miracle said to O taken place at Bari where one of the thorns to rt - N .4l g to the crown with which our Saviour was (1 4vI ted, let fall some d ro ps of blood on Good Fri cr,:aet.,) in the presence of a numerous concourse peo ple. A similar miracle is stated to have taken of t e ,e at Andria on the same day with another thorn £ lNt ti ,.e crown, and it is added that this is not the b ee 'ime such a thing has occurred, but that it has Beveral times observed, the last being in 1842. to s; • - Victor Lefranc arrived a t Turin on the 15th, e o *"g 11 a contract with the Government for the kitrtiction of the Turin and Savoy Railway. of A letter. from Milan of the 13th, in the Opinione : 111 /in, states that three more bar rac k s are t o b e ' e 'ed at Milan a t th e expense of the city ; one an„ the site of the gar d en o f th e P a l ace D ugnan i, a nther at th e T osa ga t e , an d a thi r d oppos i te to 4 e amphitheatre. GERMANY. The Cassel Gazette of the 16th publishes an ordon nee abrogating the law of Oct. 28, 1848, re l a ti ve " 0 religious liberty and the introduction of civil tarria(re. This ordonnance abolishes civil marriage th regard to the members of the established Chris all Churches. tie T he directing members of the Hygienic Associa eh°, of Rostock were summoned before the police m ti,",the 16th, and recommended to withdraw from Z, s asociation, as its . democratic . tendencies were T i .. known, or otherwise it would be dissolved.. ic T he Cologne Gazette states from Berlin 16th •. h e k , grand military parade took place to-day in hour of the Elector of Hesse. The best under fa dig prevails between the elector and the royal ,' 1 3 7 , and ev er y t race o f f ormer dissensiohs has (CPPeared. The elector will remain here for some Diu The gran d rece pti on o f hi s R o y a l Highness d take pl ace i n t h e Ch a t eau o f P o t s d am . M. e theteldey President of the Police, has 'lined wit h the His Majesty will leave for Vienna after departure of the Elector. It is stated that rinc e making a long journey in 4.t a i y. „ George proposes e Th Prussian Gazette, under date of Vienna 14th, ---" Towards the end of last week dispatches . t o t he here from the Russian Embassy, relative c 0,,"" affair of Constantinople, which were to be , th;lll,.llnicated to our Cabinet. We also learn that ulfferences between Turkey and Russia may be q 1 Z 4 : (1 , ed as terminated, with the exception of the th e 1, 1 .°4 of the Holy Places. The conference of t ook 'rectors of the Austro-German Railway, which kP l ace ali last year at Berlin, will take place at th e 1 -?,. The young Duke d'Alba been of t ae epre ss o f the French) has been named as at 410ei to th e S pan i sh Embassy at Vienna. The trattntinent of an A us t r i an Consul in the princi of Montenegro is shortly expected." kilie le tter from Vi enna, 14th, says A few days a lit : , a Turkish staff officer arrived here with an coetagiraPh letter from the Sultan to the Emperor, for I , ot ui n,g the excuses of the Ottoman Government refoe, e ' l aving more rapidly sent the Hungarian h eet i% e into the interior. Count de Leningen had. ash a rgecl to solicit this measure from the Tur- It, th e ° inent. Now that the Porte has adopted o.,eifferences which had arisen. betv.-eeit the two this ,:ute May be considered as settled. On cca s i oil Count .111101 Shaueustein, Minister of Foreign Affairs, gives a grand dinner to-day, to which the Turkish Ambassador has been invited." TURKEY. Letters from Constantinople of the sth, mention the particulars connected with the arrival of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe in that capital. He was re ceived at the landing place of Tophana by all the English residents who, according to custom, ac companied him to the Embassy. When there the noble lord addressed a speech to them, in which he said that his sovereign had principally in view to assist the Sultan, in utilizing the resources of his country, in order to secure its future prosperity, by means of better management. He did not at tempt to conceal the difficulties which existed at present, and which had been lately aggravated by political complications, but said he hoped they were not insurmountable. He made no other allusion to the pretensions of Russia. The Turks saw with pleasure the arrival of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, and they were waiting with impatience for that of M. de Lacour, in order to be able to know exactly what they had hope for from France and England in the diplomatic struggle with Russia. Little doubt was entertained that Prince Menschikoff was charged to exact a treaty of affiance offensive and defensive on the broadest basis, and renewed from that which was concluded in 1798 ; when a Russian fleet, under the command of Admiral Oushakoff, passed the Dardanelles in order to assist Egypt. The Seraskier-Pacha and Arif-Effendi, Kasaskier of Roumelia, had been designated by the Sultan to assist Rifaat-Pacha in his negotiations with Prince Menschikoff. It was said that the principal ar ticles of the treaty had been discussed, and were on the eve of being concluded, when the news reached Constantinople of the arrival of the French fleet at Salamis. This news by reanimating the cou rage of the Turks excited a certain degree of discontent among the Russians, who redoubled their activity in order to obtain at least a moral engagement from the Porte. This question of this treaty of alliance absorbs every other ; even that of the Holy Places had been for the moment set aside. There was, however, it was said another question which is also serious. Russia complains much of the revolutionary spirit 4hich has mani fested itself some time in the Danubian prin cipalities. She particularly accuses the Prince of Servia of favouring the development of this spirit, and of showing himself at times hostile to the policy of the Cabinet of St. Petersburgh. On the 2d Prince Menschikoff gave a grand diplomatic dinner at which Rifaat Pacha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the first interpreter of the Porte, were present. It was remarked that Kyamil Bey, in troducer of ambassadors, and brother-in-law of Fuad Effendi, was not of the party. MALTA. Admiral Dundas expected that sailing orders would reach him on the 13th. A recent dispatch announces that, soon after the arrival of the French squadron off Salamis, the admiral received a visit from the Russian admiral, who had gone to Athens, and had visited the dif ferent islands in the Archipelago ; he had also been visited by the naval commandant of the coasts of Greece. Advices from the Black Sea state the armaments had somewhat slackened. The order for the sailing of the French fleet was known at Odessa at the date of the last accounts. THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 20, 1853. SOUTHIVAI?K.-(THIS DAY.) ROBBERY BY A SOLDIER IN A COFFEE-SHOE.—Gebrge Martin, a private of the second battalion Scots Fusilier Guards stationed at the Tower, was brought before Mr. Combe charged with stealing a sovereign and two pencils from the person of William Horton in a coffee-house, No. 144, Blackfriars-road. Prosecutor said he was a carpenter residing in the St. George's-road, and on Saturday night, the 16th, he met with the prisoner and treated him to several glasses of grog. About seven o'clock on the Sunday morning they went into the coffee house in question to partake of some refreshments, where witness was supplied with nothing but coffee. He soon afterwards fell asleep, but prior to that the sovereign was safe in his waistcoat pocket. He was then quite sober, but had been under the influence of liquor. He was roused from his sleep by a female, and from information he received Ole put his hand into his pocket and missed the sovereign and two pencils. While doing so the prisoner ran out of the house and escaped, but he gave information to the police, and yesterday afternoon the officer traced him out in the barracks in the Tower.—Witness did not drink any brandy in the coffee-house. Amelia Brooks said she was assisting in the coffee house while the prosecutor and the prisoner were there. They had some brandy, coffee and ginger beer. While prosecutor was asleep she distinctly saw the prisoner take two pencils and something out of his pockets, which caused her to rouse him up : while doing so the prisoner escaped out of the house. They both had been drinking previous to entering the house ; and prosecutor paid for the brandy. In answer to the charge the prisoner said they both had been drinking spirits early on Sunday morning, at a barber's shop, in the Mint, with two women of aban doned character, and that he must have been robbed by them. He stoutly denied the assertions of the female. The prisoner, who received a bad character from his regiment, was committed for trial. STATE OF TRADE. - - (From the Manchester Guardian of this day.) MANCHESTER, April 19.—The New York advices of the 6th inst. state that in all the markets of the states there was an active demand for cotton ; prices being firm but not higher. The receipts were still falling off ; and the excess in the receipts was reduced to 339,000. But it is evident that there is in Liverpool, a diminished confidence in the maintenance of present prices. Yes terday and to-day business has been dull, holders more dispossd to sell, and prices slightly in favour of buyers. And in our own market, to-day, we have had a renewal of that distrustiwhich "comes and goes" as to the continu ance of the raw material at a penny a pound above the rates of a year ago in the face of so great a supply as is now placed beyond all ground of doubt. This feeling has so far influenced the lower, and still more the medium counts of yarns, suitable for home and conti nental consumption, as to give buyers a trifling advan tage in making a bargain ; but they have shown a general backwardness to operate. For yarns and goods adapted to the India and China markets, there has, however, been more inquiry ; and business has been done in them at full rates. This applies more par ticularly to the better 40-inch shirtings, and as in part at least due to the proposed reduction of the duty on tea. For other cloths there is a moderate demand at steady prices. The budget brought forward last night by Mr. Gladstone has been received on 'Change with general and very decided approbation, as, on the whole, a wise and bold carrying out of the principles of the late S:r Robert Peel, though, of course, exceptions are taken to some minor proposals. HALIFAX, April 16.—We are not able to report any amendment in the demand for worsted goods, either plain or faecy, and, when inquiry is made, the prices offered are generally below the cost of production. The spinners are asking higher rates for yarn, and the feeling among the manufacturers seems to be in favour of a considerable concession, but not to such an extent as to cover the enhanced cost of the raw material. The wool market is in a quieter state. The spinners, being pretty well supplied, are out of the market ; but the late quotations are steadily maintained. HUDDERSFIELD, APRIL, 19.—The demand for wool lens to-day has been dull in comparison with our late markets, which perhaps in a great measure may be at tributed to the political excitement that pervades the town, which we hope by next week wiil have got over, and business resumed its general course. Still a very good trade has been done, most of our merchants having bought pretty freely, there havinc , been very few buyers from other towns. Fancies and light woollens in new patterns meet with ready sale for the home spring trade. ROCHDALE, April 18.—The piece market is not quite so brisk as it has been. The merchants do not like to give the advance asked by the manufacturers, which much limits the amount of business transacted. The price of wool continues to advance'slowly, but the manu facturers buy very sparingly, and for immediate use only. RACING FIXTURES FOR 1853. The figures within parenthesis denote the number of days' racing. MAY. Chester (4) 3 Redditch (2) 15 Newmarket Sec Sp (3)...10 Bath (2) 17 Liverpool Hunt (2) 11 Manchester (3) 18 Shrewsbury (2) 11 I Epsom (4) 24 Edinburgh (2) l2 I Newton (3) 2 Ascot (4) Hampton (2) 15 Beverley, Hull, &c. (2) 15 Jl3. I Bibury (1) 42 Stockbridge (1) 9 Winchester (1) 8- 28 I Newcastle (3) i .27, 'LY. Newmarket (3) Worcester (2) Carlisle (3) Liverpool (3) Stamford (2) 19 Nottingham (2) 21 Goodwood (4) 26 ...13 AUG Brighton (2) 3 Brighton Club (1) 5 Wolverhampton (3) North Staffordshire (2) Yarmouth (2) 9 R e ading (2) lO SEPTE Warwick (2) 6 Pontefract (2).. ............ 8 Doncaster (4). ............. 13 Bedford (2) ................. 20 Leicester (2) ............... 21 ,lIST. OCTO Chester Autumn (2) ...... 4 Newmarket S. O. (5) ..... 10 York (3) 17 Radcliffe (3) 21 Egham (2) 23 Derby (2) 24 Eccles (3) 29 Lichfield (2) 30 dBER. NOITE Worcester (2) 1 Epsom Autumn (2) 3 Cowbridge Hunt (2) 9 Liverpool Autumn (2) 9 Lanark (2) 22 Manchester Autumn (2) 22 Newmarket F. 0. (3) 27 Northallerton (2) 29 IBER. Richmond (2) 19 Newmarket H. (6) 2 :MBER. Warwick - Autumn (2) _ll3 Shrewsbury (2) 23 Aberyst with (3). ,Last week THE BUDGET. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. (From, the Morning Herald.) As the present Chancellor of the Exchequer has several active and energetic trumpeters in his service in the daily press—journals which can expatiate for hours together on the beauties of the budget, while they are stone-blind to its defects and blemishes—it is but fair, on the whole, that those papers which are independent of Ministerial influence should, moderately and dispas sionately, point some of those features in this large and multifarious scheme which are open to improvement by the House of Commons. And, first of all, we must remark the strange and startling manner in which this budget is disfigured by bribes and jobs. Of these, two especially stare us in the face ; and to these two we shall for the present con fine ourselves. The first is that of the total remission of the Irish Consolidated Annuities. Of course everybody knew and expected that there should be some remission. But let us take Mr. Gladstone's own words, as we find them in the most friendly journal, the Chronicle. He said : _ . " Of the four and a half millions which the consolidated Annuities represent, one and a half million, I use round numbers, consists of debts that strictly belong to the estab lishment of the poor law in Ireland—a great social and na tional benefit, a great and vast good to Ireland ; and a good to Ireland I hold to be also a good to England. (Cheers.) The other three millions consists of debts entirely connected with the famine ' • and of 'this debt the committee of the other house which sat upon this subject has recommended the remission of two millions. Sir, the plan which the government, after maturely considering this subject, and wei4hing all those other than mere pecuniary considera tions which it involves, have determined to propose to Parliament is, that from and after the 29th of September the Consolidated Annuities shall be wholly wiped away." So that while Mr. Gladstone himself judged that at least a million and a half was a most just debt, and while a committee of the House of Lords, most favour able to Ireland, had recommended only the remission of two millions out of four and a half, he, Mr. G., at once gives up the whole ! Of course, this is gratuitous ;i. e., a giving away of the trifling sum of at least two millions and a half of the public property. But why does he do this ? Simply and clearly as a bribe—as a large gift of money to induce the Irish to submit to a tax. Bent on keeping the income tax for at least seven years longer, and knowing that among its various inconsistencies one of the most. striking was that one of the British islands paid the tax while the other was exempt, Mr. G. resolved to saddle Ireland with the income tax at all events, and as the most effectual course he could devise to induce the Irish to submit to it he boldly offered them a bribe of four millions and a half. Whether this is the sort of way in which the finances of a great nation ought to be managed is a question on which Par liament must determine. The next plain and obvious bribe is one on which we should have felt a repugnance to make any comments ; but we find it already noticed in so many quarters, that it would be affectation to keep silence any longer. When Mr. Gladstone had announced his intention of remitting, unasked, the present stamp duty on supple. mentary sheets of newspapers, " Mr. Cobden asked whether the supplements would still be entitled to free passage ? " The Chancellor of tho Exchequer said certainly they would. " Mr. Cobden said he supposed the Government were not unaware of the fact, that there was only one news paper in the kingdom that published supplements full of advertisements." And the Morning Chronicle, while most friendly to Mr. Gladstone, is still forced to remark, that this will be appreciated by the only journal which finds it con venient to publish a daily supplement." While the Daily News, more plainly, says, " The removal of the supplemont stamp is a huge gift to the Times. Now, wherefore is this portion of the public revenue, be it small or large, thus flung away ? Let the Times leader of yesterday reply. There never was a more ful some or lavish panegyric of any financial scheme given to the world, even in the days when Ministers wrote or dictated " leading articles." Mr. Gladstone evidently appreciates the Times very accurately. He wants its praise, and he has taken the right way to get it. But should not an English finance Minister, address ing an English House of Commons, at least try to pre serve some semblance of consistency and adherence to principle ? In a former part of his speech Mr. Glad stone had said,— " If hon. members will examine the principle upon which the present scale of licences is adjusted they will find them bear very unequally on the minor and the greater trades men. In some instances they are uniform ; as, for instance, in the case of grocers and tea dealers. The grocer with premises at 51. per year pays as much for the licence as the grocer with those at 5001. per annum. We do not propose to touch the important question as to the licences which are connected with the sale of spirits, wine, and beer, but we propose in regard to the licences of tea and coffee dealers, brewers, maltstors, tobacco manufacturers, and soap makers, to adjust the scale of licenses by raising them at the upper end, so as to bear a fair ad valorem, proportion to the rata at which they stand at the lower." Here is a principle which seems fair—at least Mr. Gladstone seems to adopt it honestly, and with straight forward purpose ; but when he comes to deal with news papers, he adopts a course which is exactly the reverse. Not to bring our own feelings into the question, let us take two ministerial papers, the Globe and the Times. Looking at the circulation of these two papers, and look ing at the number of advertisements published in a week by each respectively, they resemble very closely the two grocers of whom Mr. Gladstone speaks :—" The grocer with premises at Si. a year pays as much for his license as the grocer with premises at 5001. per annum." But mark Mr. Gladstone's different way of dealing with the two cases. He finds the little grocer and great grocer paying the same sum for their licences. He says "this is unfair ; I must redress it ; I will make the great trader pay more than the small one." He then turns to the newspapers, and he finds that a small inequality already exists. The Globe, with 20 ad vertisements, pays a penny stamp. The Times, with 1000 advertisements, is obliged to employ an extra half-sheet, and for that extra half-sheet it pays an extra halfpenny. The inequality is trifling—it is not great enough to be just. The paper with 20 pays a id. ; the paper with 1,000 pays lid. Mr. Gladstone's eye turns this way. What does he do ? He says, " Here is an inequality which I must redress. The big paper and the little paper shall both pay the same stamp duty. Nay, the same id. stamp shall carry them both to the Orkneys or to Cork, though four copies of the Times weigh as much as 20 of the Globe." Thus for the grocer there is one principle ; while for the newspaper proprietor there is exactly the opposite principle. And the strange thing is that Mr. Gladstone moves both these opposite ways at the same time. He finds equality in the grocers licenses. He says, " This is unjust, I must produce inequality, because one is better able to pay than another." He then turns to the newspapers, and he finds a slight inequality already ex isting. But now he moves the other way, saying, that inequality is injustice, and that the right way is to take id. out of man's shilling, and an equal id. out of another man's pound ! All this is so manifestly absurd, that it is impossible to imagine that an acute man like Mr. Gladstone could ever have been guilty of it, had there not been some unavowed reason. That reason is plain enough to any one who has read the Times leader of yesterday morn ing ; and who has observed, also, the remark of the Daily News, that " the removal of the supplement stamp is a huge gift to the Times." (Fi•onz the Daily News.) At last we have got the long looked-for financial statement, and find—as might have been anticipated — the Coalition Ministry offer us a Budget of Compromises. As a whole its reception by the House of Commons was favourable, but in portions it is clear that both House and country will demand amendments before 3 can become law. Its corner-stone is the Income Tax for seven years certain, and so extended in scope as to include all persons in re-eipt of 1001. a year. In hope of making this bitter pill- acceptable, we are offered a partial reduction in the pressure of the tax hereafter. Mr. Gladstone—to use his own words—" invites us to submit to a renewal of the Income Tax" for the next two years, at sevenpence in the pound ; for the following two • years, at sixpence ; and then for three years more at fivepence. At the end of this long seven years' cer tain apprenticeship to an unpopular and unreformed im post, he points the date of April the sth, 1860, when he hopes that the progress of the country may have baen such as to permit the Income Tax to expire. All who now pay the tax,—with the addition of all those now earning 1001. ayear and less than 1501.,—are "invited" to join in this step of fiscal self-sacrifice, in order that Mr. Gladstone's schemes on other points may have fair play. On the Income tax he bases all his schemes and all his hopes ; but on an income tax unreformed as re gards its pressure upon those whose incomes arise from skill and intelligence. Mr. Gladstone himself spoke of the income of the active and industrious and the income of the lazy, but devoted an enormous portion of his very long speech last night to an attempted exposition of the utter impossibility of equitably reforming the tax. We must have it as it is—or not at all He gave, indeed, at once a history and an elaborate eulogium of the In come Tax. It was that which helped us through the great war ; it was that which enabled us to secure our new and successful commercial policy, to reform our fiscal system, and by its help—if Parliament would vote him an income tax for seven years certain—he (Mr. Gladstone) would follow in the steps of Pitt and Peel, and reform our system of taxation upon prin ciples sure to be beneficial to the entire community. He would compromise between evil and good. He would have us submit to new taxation, that old taxes may be taken off. Some of the imposts now suggested are quite in accordance with the temper of the time and the equity of the case. He would reform the legacy duty, making all property derived from succession by death pay to the Exchequer. Herein he adopts another suggestion of the honourable member for Lambeth, and would bring the landed class, who have hitherto escaped the pressure of the legacy tax, within the fair and just operation of the law. This proposition might be dis tasteful to the landlords, but then, to sweeten it to them, he strives for their gratification to slay the income-tax reformers, and upset the case of adjustment, by proving that such adjustment already exists, since land (accord ing to Mr. Gladstone), now practically pays 9d. in the pound, whilst professions and trades pay but 7d. With one hand he s t tp r or i v o e p s o s t e do deprecate a l p e appease e at a hc sye taxwt he wrath landownertohn ofthe rateable fi n ; anc i with the other he fights the battl e o f the fundholder ; property. re all the reover exten% the in come t ax t o I re l an d , fHw b o u hre t ini lw h ee e ros r ueb e leydk a g itmnh a g i oe n compromise re-appears. He would, in return for such extension, brihe Ireland with the four millions she owes in the shape of consolidated annuities. It is fair to the English taxpayer that Ireland should pay income tax ; but it is unfair that the four millions— borrowed from the pockets of the English, and from the solvent portion of the Irish ratepayers— should be thrown up. On the other hand, the Irish gain by this no posi tive ready-money benefit. They are, it is true, to get rid of more than four millione of debt, but the income tax will at once take more out of their pockets than the non-payment of the consolidated annuity money will keep in them. It is, in fact, troubling Ireland for a little ad ditional ready money, giving as a bribe for compliance with a just demand four millions of what is lastly like a bad debt. What Ireland will say to this bargain has to be seen. She is better able to bear her fair share of taxation than she has been for generations, and besides the wisdom of an equalisation of taxation through all portions of the same kingdom, that very equalisation affords in itself a fair claim for equal laws, how can England deny her right to equal legislation in all other directions ? In proposing the extension of Income Tax to all per sons earning over 1001, a year and less than 1501. Mr. Gladstone said he did not wish to take it down "to the region of labour ;" but he should know that perhaps no class in the community are more laborious than the peo ple who earn this very class of incomes. He gave also cases in which estimates had been made of the way in which incomes varying from 1001. to 150/. were usually expended, and went on to show how far the reductions of taxation consequent on fiscal reform had benefited this very class. He stated that the Hundred Pound Income people had gained by recent reforms, at least five, and in many cases seven per cent., and gave this as a reason for bringing .them within a new range of taxation. In other words,—what he said seems equi valent to saying, " Let us cut off at one swoop a good two-thirds of the advantage which this class has gained by free trade." As a whole, the Budget has boldness and weakness — merit and demerits—a forward action and a backward action. In the elaborate attempts to show that Income Tax is incapable of reform, Mr. Gladstone is wrong—in his declaration that this tax may be used as a lever to relieve our industry from many more mischievous im posts, he is right. When he talks of its capacity for enabling us at a moment's notice to plunge into war, he quotes as an enormous good, that which is rather a dan gerous temptation, and therefore an evil, but when speak ing of it as a productive source of revenue, enabling a Chancellor of the Exchequer to dispense with taxes like that on soap and on tea, he told a welcome truth. In his calculations of support, he evidently bids the Soap Duties and the Legacy Duties, and the reduction of the Stamp Duties, in expectation of aid from Re formers ; whilst to the Tories he says, " I won't have a graduated Income Tax : I will do as your Chancellor wanted to do, by extending the Income Tax to Ireland, and to all who earn 1001. a year ;" whilst, lastly, he seeks to mollify the Irish for the imposition of the In come Tax by saying, "I ask you for 7d. in the pound, but then I forgive you a debt over 4.000,0001. Next in importance to the Income Tax proposition comes that which proposes the reform of the Legacy Duty. This tax Mr. Gladstone—as we have just said— • proposes most justly and wisely to put on a new footing, in the way which Reformers have often and long pointed out. The Legacy Duty is to be extended to all successions to property by death—settlements not to escape. All persons gaining wealth by the demise of others are to be taxed in proportion to the value of the life interest taken. All this was well received, as was also, and very justly, the suggested removal of the soap duties, and the reduction of the tax on tea, and on carriages, life assurances, a g ricultural produce, and stamps. The advertisement duty reduction to sixpence, is only an instalment, which, after the recent decision of the House of Commons, is meagre and ungraceful. This tax on publicity must all come off. The removal of the supplement stamp is a huge gift to the Times. But of this more hereafter. The sum total of proposed new taxes, with the balance of surplus, available for 1853-4 for reduction of other burthens, is stated at 2,149,000/. Mr. Gladstone's speech was an elaborate and powerful exposition of the financial affairs of the nation ; and if its compromises include on the one hand an extension of unreformed income tax, they on the other propose that the tax on successions shall be made general, and that soap, tea, life policies, advertisements, horses, carriages, servants—or in other words, temperance, cleanliness, prudence, publicity, and labour—shall escape a portion of the burthen they have hitherto borne. At first blush the budget seems, as a whole, likely to be popular with the House of Commons, and not the less so that any refusal of it, by any combination of Derbyites with those who sit opposite to them, would doubtless render a much earlier dissolution of Parliament requisite than will otherwise come about. The more important verdict of the country has now to be taken. (From the Morning Post.) By Monday next, the House of Commons and the country will have had time to examine and to analyse the financial scheme of the Chancellor of the Exchequer —to decide whether any or all of his proposals for the relief or diminution of existing taxation offer sufficient advantages to atone for the odious nature of the main ingredient in the Budget, and to satisfy themselves whether the contemplation of such happy posibilities as ,are promised with the advent of 1860 will compensate the public for the certain infliction of a seven years' in come tax. We have already declared our own opinion of the ex pedient which Mr. Gladstone frankly described Its the corner-stone of his financial policy—that is to say, the continued use of this exceptional engine of finance for the purpose of getting rid of taxes on social expenditure in To our judgment, the first part of the powerful and elaborate speech in which the Budget was introduced, proved most clearly that a direct tax on income is neither justifiable nor safe, except as a strong expedient spring ing from, and confined to, the imperative demand of some special and great emergency ; but the con clusion failed in equal strength of demonstration, that, in the demand for such remissions as are promised, such an emergency now exists. The house, however, have now before them the design- of what Mr. Gladstone considers a completion of the system which Sir Robert Peel began, and it will be for them to decide, next week, whether such a completion be worth the price they are called on to pay for it. This is the key of the whole subject ; an assent will make the rest of the business comparatively easy, a negative an swer involves, at the least, entire reconstruction of the Budget. There are two principles on which opposition to the Government project may be urged—that of ob jectors who, without quarrelling with the tax in itself, demand that a distinction be made as to its bearing on permanent and on precarious income ; and that of finan ciers, who hold, as we do, that the Income Tal being only an extraordinary expedient, not a genuine source of revenue, the excess of expenditure which depends on its maintenance is no true surplus. To the first Mr. Glad stone says that he has well examined their demands, with the thousand and one plausibilities projected for carrying them out, and he finds that, to attempt to satisfy them would involve us in endless complexity and absurdity, and must end in the destruction of the tax. He has no faith in the inventors of patent balances and infallible tests to determine the rateable value of every man's leavings and earnings. The second class of objectors, who think with ourselves, are told that all they say, and more, is perfectly true ; that the Income Tax, like war, brings inevitably with it such injustice, oppression, and iniquity that it should be used only as a desperate re source and last resort; but that, bad as it is, and not possibly to be made much better, we still cannot do without it for seven years to come, because it will take us that time to complete, by its rough agency, the circle cf free trade. There is a third class of objectors who must not be forgotten, and whom we look to see stirred into their fullest clamour by what we consider the best and fairest measure in the whole scheme as relating to the Income Tax, namely, the extension of that impost to Ireland. If the tax be continued at all, it is impossible, in our opinion, consistently with justice or common sense, to maintain an exemption for which there is now cer tainly no tolerable plea, and which Mr. Gladstone proposes to buy off at an ample and generous price. Nevertheless, we have had too long experience of the shameless mendicity, inveterate selfishness, and utter ingratitude of that particular section of the House, not to be fully prepared to find the bitterest animosity of the Irish Brigade excited by a proposal that Irish property should contribute its share, or anything like its share, to the expenses of the United Kingdom. But we hope, for the credit of the house, that this is an opposition which will stand alone—an animosity which will find no English allies. We trust it will be remem bered that the 4,500,000/. which it is now proposed to give to Ireland, will, if the gift be sanctioned by Parlia ment, be the completion of an immense expenditure of the same nature, issued mainly from the fruits of exclu sive English taxation, to exempted Ireland. By one in stalment after another, the aid so promptly given and so ill received, in the terrible years of famine, has been con verted from the shape of debt, in which he properly stood, to that of a free and generous gift out of funds, from the heaviest contributions to which Irishmen have been wholly exempt. With this last charge, created by the distress of 1846 to 1848, the faintest pretence for Irish exemption must vanish. The country for whose improvidence, for whose turbulence, for whose dishonesty, for whose sloth, this kingdom has been so heavily taxed, ought, if its members have the, slightest decent pride, or the merest appreciation of generous feeling, to welcome with gladness an opportunity of paying instead of beg g i ng its way. It will probably not be so ; but we trust that, supposing the first principle of a continued Income-tax to be admitted at all, no voice beyond the narrow pale of Irish ingratitude will be found to express the slightest doubt or hesitation as to the necessity of this tardy act of justice to England. Ireland has benefited, and will continue to benefit, by the large remissions in taxation. It is full time that she should bear her share in the price that we pay for those remissions. This is true of itself and in the abstract, and we do not know that the question of wiping away the poor law and famine debt should have been intro duced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer as a set-off. If there be good reasons for relieving Irish property from all expense of maintaining its poor in the years of dis tress, they had better have been stated, and the boon have been given on, and attributed to, its proper grounds. But, after all, as the proposition stands, it will, if the country accept it, be a noble and generous completion of a very noble and ill-requited course of action as regards the cancelling of these Consolidated Annuities ' • and, with respect to the Income Tax, next to dealing boldly and promptly with its reduction, the belt and wisest course is the making it general and na tional, the clearing it as far as possible from exemptions, and especially from this the most unjust, impolitic, and untenable of all—the Irish exemption. SURREY DOCKS.--A meeting of shareholders in the Grand Surrey Dock and Canal Company was held yes terday, when a dividend for the half-year of 2/. 10s. per share was declared. The affairs of the company con tinue to prosper, IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERDAY.) The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack at five o'clock. The Archbishop of YORK presented a petition against the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sunday. The Earl of EGLINTON presented petitions from places in Ayrshire and other places against the Jew Bill and the Canada Clergy Reserves Bill. The Duke of ARGYLL presented petitions from places in Scotland to the same effect; also others against the grant to Maynooth. The Earl of WICKLOW gave notice that if the Jew Bill were read a second time, he should, in committee, move to substitute for the oaths proposed by it, the oaths contained in the bill introduced by the Whig Go vernment, in 1849. THE NEW FOREST DEER ACT AMENDMENT BILL. On the motion of Lord STANLEY of Alderley, this bill was read a second time. MR. KIRWAN'S CASE. The Earl of EGLINTON rose to move for copies of the representation to the Earl St. Germans which in duced him to replace Mr. Kirwan. He disclaimed all motives of hostility to his noble friend now at the head of the Irish Government, or with any evil to Mr. Kir wan, but simply to justify the course which he had him self taken in displacing Mr. Kirwan. The occurrence out of which this affair had arisen, took place at the late Mayo election. Mr. Kirwan was a stipendiary magis trate. The course which he (the noble earl) had taken in merely suspending that gentleman from his functions for six months was most lenient in its nature. The stipendiary magistracy in Ireland was not at all compe tent for the difficult duties which they had to perform, and he thought that one-third of that body might pro perly be dismissed, and that the efficiency and reputation of the whole body would then be increased. But al though dismissal or censure were courses perfectly open to him, he had only suspended Mr. Kirwan, believing that he had thus acted mercifully • and he had conse quently been greatly astonished to Observe that the very first act of his successori n the Viceroyalty was to restore Mr. Kirwan to his functions. There was no country in the world which stood in such need of firmness and im partiality in administration as Ireland ; there was no country which it would be more desirable to impress with the idea that it was governed equitably. (Hear, hear.) It was, therefore, very expedient that one viceroy should not contravene the acts of the preceding viceroy except in very peculiar circumstances - and in this case there was no apparent circumsta n c e whatever to vindi cate the steps taken by' Lord St. Germans. (Hear, hear.) In conclusion the noble earl moved, pursuant to notice, for papers, observing, however, that he, of course, did not want the papers, and made the motion only to afford him .the opportunity of going into the case. The Earl of ABERDEEN could hardly object to a motion for papers which were not in existence. (Hear.) He was not surprised that the noble earl should feel warmly in regard to a circumstance which might appear to cast a reflection upon his own conduct in an office which he had filled with such distinguished success ; but he thought that the noble earl had attached an undue importance to the matter. He could assure the noble earl that there had not been, in this transaction, the slightest intention whatever to cast any slur upon the noble earl's discretion. The decision in respect to this stipendiary magistrate had been come to previous to Lord St. Germans leaving England • and it was o n ly accidentally that effect was given to diat decision upon Lord St. Germans arriving in Dublin. In that decision no reference was made to the course pursued by thenoble earl (Eglinton), and that course could not at all be con sidered to have been brought in question. He (Lord Aberdeen) would offer no opinion on this special case ; but, speaking generally, he felt bound to express his conviction that was not judicious to resort to the alternative of suspension in the punishment of an offend ing stipendiary magistrate. When that sort of punish. ment was inflicted in reality nothing whatever was accomplished ; the magistrate returned to his office just in the position in which he had left it, nothing the worse and certainly nothing the better for the suspension. (Hear.) That probably was the view taken in this in stance; and, therefore, it could not be supposed that Earl St. Germans' opinion was that the sentence was too se vere ; and that the noble earl opposite would admit that if suspension was the proper sentence, the limitation of the period by two months could be of slight consequence, and assuredly was a limitation perfectly within the discretion of a new viceroy to effect. (Hear, hear.) If the discre tion and the right of a new viceroy were questioned in such a particular, he did not see that one Government could be at all different in any way in its aspect from another. (Hear, hear.) He (Lord Aberdeen) would, however, not enter into any general argument, and had only to repeat his assurances to the noble earl, that no possible slight or disrespect could possibly have been in tended ; and having obtained that assurance the noble earl had probably gained the object he had had in view in introducing the subject to their lordships. The Earl of GLENGALL thought that the assurance of the noble earl was satisfactory ; but, nevertheless, he considered that the effect of the act of Earl St. Germans was to cast a slur and discredit upon the course taken by Lord Eglinton, and, at all events, he was satisfied that the act taken by the present Government had not been well considered. A stipendiary magistrate in Ireland had unbounded powers in elections, and it was desirable that it should not be permitted to have those powers abused. In this instance great powers had been abused, and it was to be feared that the lesson his noble friend had received had been deprived of its full effect, in conse quence of the change of Government. Much bad been said recently of the bribery that was prevalent in Eng-- land ; but great as that evil was, a greater evil lay in the system of intimidation that was almost universal in Ire land ; and hence he regretted that an occasion had been lost to give a salutary warning to those priests who were too commonly associated with brickbats and bludgeons. (Hear, hear.) The Earl of DERBY thought that his noble friend had amply gained his object in the assurance which he had received from the noble earl opposite. But he (the Earl of Derby) must nevertheless express his opinion that the course taken by the present Government in re versing this act of their immediate predecessors was, to say the least, suspicious in its aspect, and might shake the belief of the people of Ireland in the impartiality of the imperial Government. (Hear, hear.) If the prin ciple laid down by the noble lord was carried out, it would amount to saying that there ought to be no in termediate punishment between censure and dismissal ; but if the noble earl meant to say that censure on a magistrate was not calculated to lower him in public opinion, on what principle could it be said that an inter mediate punishment was insufficient ? He (Lord Derby) thought that the loss of a place and its emoluments for six months would be more effectual than any censure that could be passed. In the course of his statement the noble earl had let in light on the course of proceeding which had taken place which had induced him (Lord Derby) now to ask a question as to the non-production of certain papers. His noble friend (Lord Eglinton) assumed that the first act of the Lord-Lieutenant on his assuming office was the liberation of Mr. Kirwan from the remainder of his suspension, and he (Lord Derby) must remark in passing on that being done with out one word of reason being stated for such a course. Only two months of the suspension remained, and two days after the arrival of the Lord-Lieutenant the Under-Se3retary for Ireland was directed to write to Mr. Kirwan, merely stating that it was the pleasure of the Lord-Lieutenant that the remainder of the sentence should be remitted. The only inference that could be drawn from that was that Mr. Kirwan had been unjustly dealt with, and that the earliest opportunity had been taken to remedy the injustice. If the grounds for re mitting the sentence had been stated, and a caution I added with respect to prudence and discretion in future, he could have understood the case, although he should have regretted that any reversal of an act of the late Government had been made. But it appeared to him that the course taken was most unfortunate, and that, too, immediately after the departure of a Lord- Lieutenant like his noble iliend, who, it was admitted, had left behind a character fur firmness and impartiality in Ireland never surpassed by any of his predecessors. His noble friend had supposed that this was the first act of the Lord-Lieutenant ; but the noble earl (Aberdeen) now stated that it was done before the Lord-Lieutenant left London. If, as was stated by the noble earl, that course was decided on previous to the departure of Lord St. Germans for Ireland—at a time when he had no opportunity of conferring with his predecessor, or with the Lord Chancellor or his predecessor, or with the Attorney-General, who were all conversant with the facts of the case—if he decided without consulting them, it was clear that he must have acted on some ap plication not by word of mouth, but on some repre sentation contained in seine memorial or letter from Dublin. When, therefore, his noble friend had moved for all the papers relating to the case of Mr. Kirwan, he (Lord Derby) wished to ask the reason why this document—whatever it was—on which the Lord-Lieu tenant must have acted, did not appear on the face of the proceedings, containing, as it must, the ground of those proceedings ? If the memorial or letter was before the house they would know the ground on which the Lord-Lieutenant acted, and be able to judge whether the reasons which influenced him in the exercise of his functions were sufficient to justify what he had done ; and he (Lord Derby) could not but think that in a case where the reversal of an act of his predecessor was the first act of the Lord-Lieutenant, there ought to be the clearest explanation of the grounds on which ho had acted. He wished, therefore, to know whether there had been any representation or memorial to the Lord- Lieutenant, and if so why. it had not been laid on the table with the other papers? The Duke of NEWCASTLE expressed his gratifica tion that the noble earl who had just sat down was sa tisfied, and he hoped the noble earl who had brought forward the motion and the house were also satisfied that' there was no intention on the part of the Lord- Lieutenant to cast a slur on the noble earl his predeces sor. But he (the Duke of Newcastle) protested against the fairness of the statemen t of the ,noble earl (Derby) when he said that this proceeding would impress on the people of Ireland that the present Government were not ac tuated by a spirit of impartiality. The noble earl had ;and how he was to made a great deal of a small matter ' show that there had been partiality in this case he (the Duke of Newcastle) was at a loss to understand. Was it because the magistrate in question was a Roman Ca tholic ? [Lord Derby—l did not know it]. He was glad that that was the case ; but could it be said that there was a ny partiality evinced, when at the same time a similar offer was made to a noble friend of his whom he saw opposite (the Earl of Roden). It was impossible to say that any slur on the late Lord-Lieutenant was intended, or any partiality shown. With reference to the question which had been put by the noble earl (Derby), lie would say that there was no intention on the part of the Government to withhold any informa tion, and he had a very ingenious deducement when he said, that as the Lord-Lieutenant was in London when he replaced Mr. Kirwan, Le must have had some written communic ttion on the subject, and that it had been with held. The facts were, that the Chief Secretary for Ireland being in Dublin, a number of gentlemen, both Roman Catholics and Protestants, called on him, and urged on him to recommend to th e Lord-Lieutenant the restora tion of Mr. Kirwan to the commission of the peace. His right hon. friend accordingly investigated the case, and, having done so, he recammended the Lord-Lieutenant to restore Mr. Kirwan. That explanation he hoped wonld be sufficient to prove that there had been no sup pression of any document. The communication was made personally to the Secretary of Ireland, and by him communicated to the Lord-Lieutenant. The noble earl had been somewhat severe on the opinion expressed by his noble friend at the head of the Government that the late Lord-Lieutenant had not acted judiciously in the suspension of Mr. Kirwan, but that he should have been either censured or dismissei. The noble earl said that there were precedents for that course in other services, aad spoke of such sentences being inflicted by courts martial. But was there any similarity between the position of any officer in the army and a magistrate acting in the discharge of his duty in Ireland ? But the noble earl had gone further, and cited the precedent of the clergy ; and he was correct in stating that such a practice prevailed ; but it was to be regretted that no right rev, prelate was present who might have confirmed him (the Duke of Newcastle) when he stated that such a practice was not considered satisfactory in the church, nor did it conduce to the efficiency of the church ; and if the noble earl had no better example of the advantages of the practice than that, the obvious conclusion was that the sooner the practice was put an end to the better. He was aware that the practice prevailed with regard to magistrates in Ireland, and he was glad that his noble friend had made the remarks which he had, as he hoped the practice would continue to be followed. Having met the objections which had been made, and reminded the house that this proceeding could not fairly be charac terised as casting a slur upon the late Lord-Lieutenant, he would say that the fact was that the punishment having been inflicted on Mr. Kirwan ,for having been guilty of want of energy and judgment, which was all that was attributed to him by the reports of Mr. Mart ley and Captain Floyd, it was thought that he had suf fered sufficiently by a suspension of four months ; and considering the indigent circumstances of his family, it was also thought that justice would not suffer by such an act of clemency and grace as his restoration by the Lord-Lieutenant. The Earl of RODEN was glad that his noble friend had at once taken an opportunity of explaining what he was sure was a misapprehension of his, but he could not help saying that the opinion of every one in Ireland with regard to the circumstances connected with Mr. Kirwan and himself, was that which he had just now expressed. He felt it the more, for the communication he had received from the Lord-Lieutenant was of such a nature that he had no doubt that nothing but kindness actuated him in the course he took. Lord ST. LEONARDS said he was not desirous of taking any part in this discussion, but for the question that had been raised with regar d to the punishment which had been adopted by his noble friend the late Lord Lieutenant. In the first place, he thought no one could find fault with the extent of the punishment : as compared with the offence, he thought Mr. Kirwan de served a more severe sentence. But the noble earl at the head of the Government had for the first time found fault with the suspension of magistrates as a secondary punishment, and said that it would be better either to censure or dismiss them ; and what he said to-night, would of course have its weight in Ireland. He (Lord St. Leonards) had had occasion in Ireland to exercise the function of punishing magistrates to a greater ex tent than the Lords Lieutenant, as it rested with the Chancellor to deal with the magistrates generally, while only the resident magistrates were under the control of the Lord Lieutenant. On several occasions he had.sus pended ordinary magistrates, and after he had exercised the power once or twice it occurred to him to consider whether it was constitutional to do so—as to its-expe diency, he never had any doubt—or whether he ought not at once to have dismissed them if their conduct re quired more than censure ; for he had some doubt whe ther a gentleman who was suspended should still hold the commission of the peace. He had made inquiry, and had come to the conclusion that such a course was not unconstitutional. If then such a course could be taken without impropriety, surely it was a good secon dary punishment. There were precedents for it in the army, the navy, and the church ; but the noble earl and the noble duke said that that was all wrong. He would venture to say that it would be at least inconvenient that it should go forth to Ireland that the noble earl was of that opinion. He (Lord St. Leonards) had heard with pleasure what had been said, Iso far as it acquitted the Lord-Lieutenant from any in tention of casting any reflection on his predecessor. If anything was still to be regretted, it was this—the Lord- Lieutenant may have had good reasons for doing what he had done, and it was possible that one man might in flict a punishment and another cause it to be abated, without casting any censure on the first. But the fault in this transaction was that it appeared, that the Lord- Lieutenant having made up his mind as to what he should do before he went to Ireland on a representation from the Chief Secretary, which might have been quite proper, yet did not in the document containing the re storation of Mr. Kirwan state more than the intention of the Lord Lieutenant to restore him to the commission of -the peace. If he (Lord St. Leonards) reinstated a magistrate, or remitted a portion of a sentence, he stated clearly and fully the 'g roundsr on which he did so. If that had been done in the present instance, there would have been nu occasion for what had now taken place. He would press on the Government the impolicy of sending forth to Ireland any opinion against the sus pension of magistrates. The LORD CHANCELLOR said he had no inten tion of taking part in this debate, and was only desirous of saying a few words in consequence of what had fallen from his noble and learned friend, which, considering the great weight to which his opinions were entitled, might lead to misconception. He understood his noble and learned friend to say that it was his practice, not with regard to stipendiary magistrates, but ordinary magis trates, to punish them by suspension—(hear) —and that a doubt passed through his mind as to whether it was constitutional to do so, however expedient it might be. He (the Lord Channellor) must say that he heard that statement of his noble and learned friend with astonish ment, for he knew of no process by which the Chancellor could suspend a magistrate. All that he could do was to strike him out of the commission of the peace. He thought it was neither a wholesome nor constitutional course for a Chancellor to take a step which he had no power to enforce. If a person was a magistrate, he was invested with all the power of the office, and if he was found unfitted for it, the only course was to strike him out of the commission of the peace. That was the view he (the Lord Chancellor) took of the case as at present advised; and if it was erroneous, he should be glad to be corrected. With regard to the subject before the house, he would only say that he thought it a dangerous principle to lay down, that a viceroy, on going to any part of her Majesty's dominions, should feel himself restrained in the exercise of his prerogative of mercy. The Earl of CLANCARTY expressed his satisfaction at the explanations which had been given. The Earl of DERBY said his noble friend who intro duced this subject had been compelled to leave the house from fatigue, but he had requested him to state that it was not his intention to persevere with the motion. The motion was accordingly withdrawn. CHARITABLE TRUSTS. The LORD CHANCELLOR laid upon the table a bill for the better regulation and management of charit• able trusts, which was read a first time. Their lordships then adjourned at 20 minutes past seven o'clock. HOUSE OF COgAIONS—(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were react a second time and passed :—Ambergate, Nottingham, and Boston and Eastern junction Railway (No. 1) ; Brecon Collegiate Church ; York, Newcastle, and Berwick, York, and North Midland and Leeds Northern Railway COM panics (Amalgamation, &c.) PETITIONS. Mr. WYSE presented several petitions from various parts of the kingdom in favour of protection to labour. Sir J. SHELLEY presented a petition from the committee of the Ragged Schools in Westminster against the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sundays. Mr. MUNTZ said he had to present a petition of a remarkable character. It was from the rector and church wardens of the Birmingham Old Church, against church rates. They stated that for many years no church rates had been levied in Birmingham, and that no church wardens would be elected unless they gave a pledge that they would not impose them on the inhabitants. COCKERMOUTH ELECTION. Mr. HAMILTON reported that the committee had determined that Mr. Aglionby and General Wyndham, the sitting members, were duly returned at the last election for Cockermouth. The committee had a in lso come to a resolution setting out certain instances which bribery and corruption had been practised, but excu lpating the sitting membe rs from being cognisant of the transactions. PETITIONS. -, ,r t presented p • . gof the allegationsa petition from New contained in the Windsor, inquiry election 0 f p e t t i i i t e i ociol committee that itt ee Sir F. TIIESICTE might STUARTpresented a petition from 839 Lord D. . t a F e d n'e p '° r lm a a y in l, iii ir t-e . that the Marylebone ' against the opening of the borough, Crystal Palace on Sunday. working report n o o f? t b mene re-opened. e n - op eue Several petitions to the same effect were presented by several other hon. members. Sir G. TYLER presented a petition from the magis trates of Glamorganshi re aga i nst the County Expendi- Bill. Mr. D. SEYMOUR presented.a petition from Sun derland against legislation on Indian affairs until a full inquiry had been instituted. Mr. THORNELY presented a petition from Lanca shire in favour of a reduction of the army. Sir R. H. INGLIS presented a petition from - the Presbyteries "of Haddington, Wigtown, &c., against the abolition of university tests in Scotland. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented a petition from St. Luke's, Finsbury, for the abolition of church rates ; also, petitions from Nottingham and. other places, against the occupation of Rome by the French troops. Mr. E. BALL presented a petition from Cambridge shire, praying for a general reduction of the army and 1 navy. COWAN presented a petition from Edinburgh in favour of the Public Houses (Scotland) Bill ; also a petition from the same city against university tests in Scotland. Mr. GORE presented petitions from the native inha bitants of Calcutta, and also from the Armenians of Ben gal, praying for the redress of their grievances by the Legislature. _ _ _ Mr. M. GIBSON presented a petition from the Free man's Journal, praying that the advertisement duty be repealed and not reduced. - Mr. HADFIELD presented a petition from Sheffield praying for a thorough investigation before the house renewed the East India Company's charter. Mr. BELL presented a petition from Maidstone against the Church rates. - Mr. HUME presented a petition from Stirling against the Maynooth grant ; also a petition from the council of the Liverpool Financial Reform Association against any increase in the interest allowed on the national debt. Mr. MIALL presented two petitions in favour of the separation of Church and State. Mr. PACKE presented a petition from Leicestershire, praying for some alteration in prison discipline. Mr. COWPER presented a petition from Hertford n favour of international arbitration. , Sir J. PAKINGTON presented a petition from Tri nidad in favour of the reduction in the rate of colonial postage. PROBATE BILL. Mr. G. DUNCAN presented a petition from the ma gistrates and Town Council of the royal burgh of Dun dee in favour of the Probate Bill now now before the house, and praying that its enactments may be extended to Scotland. • LAW OF PARTNERSHIP, &c. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE asked the President of the Board of Trade, whether a commission had been issued t 9 inquire into the Law of Partnership ; and, if so, whether it was probable that any measure would be in troduced during the present session founded upon the report of that commission ; also, whether it was the in tention of h er M a j esty ' s. G overnment to take a n y s teps towards enforcing the imperial measure, for the purpose of protecting the public against the frauds notoriously practised by the sale of beer in bottles containing con siderably less than the legal measure. Mr. CARDWELL said, in answer to the first ques tion, that he had been in communication with the Lord Chancellor on the subject, and a commission was about to be appointed, the names of whom would, he hoped, be announced in a few days. He trusted they would give satisfaction, and that the proposed inquiry was one which was likely to settle this difficult question. (Hear, hear.) He did not think it was reasonable to expect that the Government could make the report of this commission the foundation of a mea sure to be introduced in the present session. With regard to the second question, it was a matter not within his executive authority, and he was not aware that the Government intended to take any measures in reference to it. (A laugh.) Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said, he understood the matter rested either with the Treasury or the Home-office. Could the Secretary of the Treasury say whether he had any remedy to suggest for this great evil, and if not, could the j Secretary of State for the Home Depart ment give any information on the subject? (A laugh.) ' Mr. WILSON believed his hon. friend would h th a e ve inf to orm g a o tion rou h n e d re t q h n e ire h d o . use m b e e a fo r r he could , e and alaug ge h l Since the duty on glass was repealed, the Government took no cognizance of the manufacture of bottles. He believed, however, that every person had a remedy for the evil very much in his own hands, for if he purchased a quart bottle of beer which contained less than a quart, he could seek redress before a magistrate. NORWICH ELECTION. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE postponed his motion with re• spect to the withdrawal of the Norwich election petition until the 16th of May. MINISTERS' MONEY IN IRELAND. In reply to Mr. MAGninE, Lord J. RUSSELL said the Government could not at present give notice of the introduction of a bill for the abolition of ministers' money in Ireland, but they would do so at the earliest opportunity. INDIAN TERRITORIES. Mr. BRIGHT wished to know whether the house could be furnished, week by week, with the evidence taken before the committee on Indian territories, as it would be very inconsistent to have to g►o through a book of enormous thickness only a week before the bill of the Government was brought in ? (Hear.) , ' Sir C. 'WOOD said he was not quite competent to answer the question, not being the chairman of the com mittee. It was proposed, however, when the military and judicial branches of the inquiry were brought to a close, which would probably be in a few days, to [print that portion of the evidence. Mi. DISRAELI wished to know on what day the Government proposed to lay before the house their plan for the administration of the affairs of India ? Lord J. RUSSELL was understood to say that they hoped to do so on this day week. INCOME TAX. In reply to Mr. H. HERBERT, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the Government did not intend to draw any distinction be tween the money advanced to Ireland for carrying out the poor law and that advanced for relieving the distress in Ireland during the famine. These two sums together amounted to about five-and-a-half millions, and repre sented the consolidated annuities. The Government proposed to remit that debt entirely if the house should consent to extend the income tax to the sister kingdom. THE LATE BOARD OF ADMIRALTY. Sir BENJAMIN HALL then rose to call the atten tion of the house to the contents of three Parliamentary Papers, Nos. 67, 271, and 272, of the present session, intituled Dockyards, Dockyard Appointments, and Dockyard Promotions, and to move that a select corn mittee be appointed, to inquire into the circumstances under which a "circular sent to the superintendent of her Majesty's Dockyards, dated September 26th, 1849," was cancelled on the 19th day of April 1852, without any order or minute of the Board : also to inquire into the circumstances under which a letter addressed by Sir B. Walker to Mr. Stafford, as Secretary to the Admiralty, in which letter Sir B. Walker tendered his resignation as Surveyor of the Navy, was withheld from the board. Also, into the circumstances connected with the appoint ment of Mr. James Wells as master smith in the dock yard at Portsmouth, the subsequent cancelling thereof, and the appointment of Mr. George Cotsell in his stead : And generally into the exercise of the influence and patronage of the Admiralty in the Dockyards and Go vernment departments connected with the several Par liamentary boroughs, since the 19th day of April, 1852, at which date a circular was issued from the Admiralty, signed by the secretary, cancelling their lordships' order of the 26th September,lB49, which directs that " all reports and correspondence on the subject of vacancies, promotions, or changes of the offic ers an d wor k men o f t h e d oc k yar d , shall be forwarded through the Surveyor's department ;" and ordering that "in future such reports and correspon dence be transmitted direct to the Secretary of the Ad miralty." It was important that the patronage of public departments should be distributed with impartiality, and inasmuch as there was reason to suppose that this rule was departed from by the late Board of Admiralty, he felt it to be his duty to bring the matter under the at tention of the house. It was hardly necessary for him to remind the house of the circumstances under which Lord Derby took office. That noble lord promised to dissolve the Parliament at the end of the then session, and he was bound to say the noble lord studiously fulfilled his premise. Parliament was dissolved, and the question which the elee.ors were to decide was not whether free trade should be continued, for that had long previously been settled, but whether the noble lord and his Government should be allowed to continue in office and conduct the affairs of the country upon conservative principles. Upon the result of that elec tion, then, was to depend the fate of the Government, and it had come out in evidence before an election com- mittce that the patronage of the Admiralty was used by the late Board for the purpose of influencing the result of the election. Now, in 1847, a circular was issued by the Admiralty, stating that promotions in the dockyards in future would be regulated by merit only; but for the purpose of serving the turn of the late Government at the election for Chatham the Board of Admiralty of the day set this circular aside, in order to promote parties in the Dockyard who were not entitled to such . promotion by merit, but who found favour in the eyes of the Board of Admiralty, because they were in possession of the elective franchise. In 1849 a second circular was issued by the Board of Admiralty, making the Surveyor of the Navy responsible for promotions, and the filling up of vacancies, and the result of that course Was a saving to the country of no less than 190,0001. No less than four promotions had gd t i a id k na e et n me l rN a vi c aas e l. The great orator and advocate of Sir in consequence. Frederick Smith was sent to Portsmouth. Smile having ts he Sheerness, hav inges, sent from Sheerness p w l foru o n o l i p , f i r e s ht o Chatham.t}i the Co a ti n s d e Conservative v w s e h n ut had friends r uf atbi him, Chatham, was se sent from Woolwich to to Wool wich ; and Thomas i3ailey w as iced in a.to f. del l nd v o Sheerness, vice Forbes, Bailey having been an active committee man of the Conservative candidate for Wool wich, and his brother hay' man at the last election. having plumped for that gentle. saying that this patronage hade was, therefore, right in politi cal purposes. (Hear.) °H been extended for ing how the influence of thee should conclude by inquir ing in the dockyards 2 A Admiralty had been exer the hon, gentleman—and system had been pursued by at the gate of the d a very effective one, standing time-tickets, along withYl' where the men delivered their the Conservative candidate, in order that all the men might know who were the parties that were associated wi •th the lion. gentleman. (Hear, hear.) That took place at Deptford. Every one was aware of the visit which was made in June, 1852, to the dockyards in Devonport and Plymouth by the honourable gentleman in the Black Eagle. On Wednesday, the 22d of Jai?, the honourable gentleman walked round the dockyard at Devonport with the two Conservative candidates. He stood at the Muster office, so that every man must pass by him, and see with whom he was connected. There was a dinner given in the town : the two Conservative candidates were there „- the chairman of their committee, their solicitors, and election agents were there. It was, in fact, an election dinner given by the lion. gentleman : it assumed that character. (Hear, hear.) If it was necessary for- the lion. gentleman to make this visit and supervision of the dockyards, he ought to have gone there as a public ser vant, and kept himself from all political electioneering alliances. (Hear, hear.) He would feel it to be his duty to inquire whether the expenses of this dinner to the Conservative candidates and their agents had been entered in the Admiralty contingencies and accounts, because if they were to be found in the public ac counts, it was using and prostituting the public L money for political and party purposes. (Hear, hear.) Now in Portsmouth the honourable gentleman did I not stand at the Muster-office and did not have the