The Sun. — London, England, 1847-03-16 00:00:00

rkonsas, e htthst L. Lord• 2ct their w•as the xeess of the last tion the L be very returns, cipation Ivo gu ti e fr arl. 116 persons. a t ei he ,d die ,ge bold- f families could xl° Why the o pode schi er - 1 r dt the so ot t ° sl ed ` (1 nee oo - 5 1 4 0: 4 1 1 by ""ti prol' e b i e t a o de e :ll4 ar 0) t 4 o rat' ri f a a which hick preot Is teto t ; ,t, e ffec , t h rega rd iu bteci l l ants thao rerom en ,ot there,, tbens L. , at tk e cour.trie;6 to ois too far i )01 , `°.° i latio n. Dpu easnre tO ar rnigUt d tbOuill 3A s. 0 g wu sorry to be obliged to say that, judging from the speech f the Hon. Harem t the Member for Marylebone, there was stro ng feeling in that House against the Irish proprietors, and a desire to inflict on them what was called stringent sra.easures. lie was sorry to say that he had often seen in arees where charges were brought forward in that House sis e ning indiveseals, and those charges were afterwards-con e eyed as affecting a whole class.—( Hear, hear.) He was l oo kr rd' that the Right Hon. Baronet, in his observations, had not ta ;ed fairl y upon both sides of the question, hut had, without talon means to inform himself of the correctness tithe state men t s , open l y i n fl icte d upon t wo i n di v iduals R e not light punishment of denouncing them in that House. tv a had in hi s possess i on a l etter from a M r. L ea d er , a gentle n in Ranturk, stat i ng th a t a t th e p resen t men t s e s sions there ti '' ° ° ol - wer e vo t e d f or t h e pu bli c wor k s , an d th a t, t o o, at a ~t rt e when it was b el i eved that the who l e sum wou ld h ave t o b e :Pia- The writer went on to say, that Sir B. Hall had been misin formed i n th e s t a t emen t h e ma d e th e o ther night in the s u se, and th a t i n th e un i on o f K an t ur k th e re was not any e madn asingl e i n d iv i dual possessing a property of 6,0001. per an- After th e a bl e s t a tements which had already been on the subject it would no necessary f him to ° : ttle the House any further.t Le He believed that no fs lur e Member entertained any objection to the mea t, then b e f ore t h e H ouse , a l t h oug h they were cal sainted The to entail such severe burdens upon Irish property. tell i ed e g o p m i6 m t issioner s said, that at that moment there was a de of improvement abroad, and since the furnishine of w at report the same fact had been caretabundanly coefirmed. , s a a nxious that the House should take that that spirit of t 4 nrernent should not be checked or crushed, because in s e t a t e T st'es Ireland would be lost. If anythine were wanting to t o l l e nd 'r u eland in the scale of nations it would be an incitement sty s trls aid therefore he prayed the House not to act on hastily formed and crude opinions, not to give by a system d ol o nt door relief to the poor of that country an excuse for in sleenle, and thus neutralise the who!esome feeling which had le - ' l 9' so extensively spread throughout the country. He _ gretted that the Government had not romoted this spirit, by e 7 te k il d t A ne to . the measure lately introduced for the purpose of th e eling Industrial improvement ice Ireland. He would, with 1841, Which of the House refer to rtain statements given in t/ 4 " d '. W hich showed the number of the population in each of istricts of Ireland, the house accommodation , the extent la nd ltal cultivated and uncultivated, &c. He found, for in s• that in the county of Mayo tkere were 1,360,000 acres s eod , a ,Population (excluding towns) of 370,000. The accom secia"°n was divided into four classes of houses, Iv the returns gave the means of these families. asv result showed that the valuatio of Mayo, 4,, 2 , 99 ,851e ; the county rates were 39,2891.; leaving a net tt stf 260,563. The number of families were 67,000 ; the Earaber of individuals 370,000; and of these 255,987 above ei r s , Y e ea t's of age could not read or write. The number of first glass uses was 217 ; of the second class 312 ; ef the third hue " 2,20 0; and of the fourth 3,803 ; thus showing that the ee, e ss would fall upon those least able to bear it. The Hon. st e ir, ° : er then proceeded to illustrate his argument by similar th ei . ' ; `, l " from different parts of the country. He considered " was the first duty of Government to take temporary e si . - t ' n res for the relief of distressed and starving people ; and he rtiCelly regretted that the Ministry, instead of introducing gres calculated to ulate and vivify the industry of %e as t'', had in the measure before the House, disappointed cl e i t ZUntry by a promise of relief, which would end only in JOHN O'CONNELL, was sorry that this measure had 41,.„ e stn introduced -would a eriod when the minds of men were th e e and when they be prepared to temperately discuss e ii ,,,;MPortant question of the poor-law, instead of bringing it te e al l at a season when the crisis of a starving population dis prated th e i r attent i on, an d requ i re d th e i r f u ll es t cons ideration. to b° the report e haeceived from Ireland, there epared Yeti. "ery prospect of d a r more direful famine occur:ri pe g next th e ' i and Government ought therefore to take steps to prevent Pel ,t la rnity bearing down the landlords, rather than to corn- Se e t`, them to maintain an extensive system of out-door relief. e sii i.'!aught, moreover, when it was too late to remedy the vel e ,l ls ns Government would regret that they had not pro -20t17 seed to ensure a tufficieny of autumnal crops. On the so h! °f March, 20 per cent. of the labourers at present s e led on the public works would be dismissed, N s a ' there was nothing for them to fall back upon, t r ,i i Act w ou ld h a v e the effect of increasing the Sh o e ' , and suffering of Leland. A good deal of land would be s i l :ther thrown out of cultivation in consequence of the de- bd as n of Government net to allow the holders temporary relief, t ne was fully convinced that the measures of Government hi s e (mite inefficient to meet the emergency, he should give se ei ku oPort to the Bill before the House, because he was glad to felle t " at anything which was calculated to prevent some of his e 3ri w ; beings from dying of starvation. Still, he felt teteL n e ee d the measure would never succeed. Its direct lat e "" e Y was to encourage rather than suppress pauper and he was very much afraid it would ultimately el eeri t° an augmentation of thepaupers of the country, which ha r d — Y amounted to between and three millions. But he 4124 s till stronger objection to this Bill. It must inevitably . the small ratepayer. There were many industrious per pon_ in Irel an d who contributed towards the support of the ist4 r in the workhouses who themselves would be reduced to t e tn P e Ttarn, if they were called upon to increase their payments si etni amtain an extensive system of outdoor relief. He had a S ere ." of letters in his possession, written by persons in da b "t parts of Ireland, complaining of the clause which l e rn Posed to increase the number of ex-officio guardians. i n " . , one of these letters he found that in one stance, the election of two gentlemen as ex officio guardians s t ? „refused, on ac c o un t o f t h e i r k nown lib era l v i ews , name l y , es. ` Wm. Sommerville and the Marquis of Headford. If the na: • .U 4 CIO clause were carried, it would open the doors still fur tithrer to religious dissensions, f or i n many parts of Ireland the estestant s might predominate , w hil e i n anot h er t h e C a th o li cs r night be in th e majority, and the resu lt o f t h e pass i ng o f th is e tense would be to increase religious dissensions in Ireland. Ile did not wish to cast any slur upon those gentlemen who Were eligible to become ex officio guardians. No doubt they were highly est'rnable in their private characters as country gentlemen, but they were but men, and he did not wish Co trust them with the power of limiting the operation of a Bill Which taxed themselves for the maintenance of the poor. Now the Noble Lord had called upon Irish Members, if they "aid do so, to propose a better measure. He was not pre ptred t o say th at h e was i n p ossess i on o f a b e tt er measure , b u t ad he beers asked to advise her Majeste's Ministers upon the akb jects he would have recommended them to pass a very tstr_itingent poor-law of a temporary character.—( Cheers.) The T r u ei ee advanced was nothing more than money extracted from y stii rd tes means of a meastire passed n opposition to the Led peen cd the Irish people He thought that a larger loan than e f i • ve,en advanced would have been nothing more than an act it 4Q ,: t t l s e Q• At the time of the union of the two countries censidered that Ireland should not bear a full V ° Pore lstt of the charge of the public debt, and the Act of liabi ° e ti s l Pressly enacted that no equalisation of the taxes and w* ere es should take place unless the condition of Ireland ee ' 0 be permanently and materially improved. If there t herefere, any meaning in words, he contended that the *H e ed Parli ament i n 1816 most ill e gally and unconstitution ort"Pnsed, by means o f th e Consolidation Act, the liabilities th e Nitand, and which, it was expressly stated at the time ef the i .„l ni nns should not be borne by Ireland. He thought , le en `'°re. that as some reparation for the injustice done, that at °rise lar ge l oan s h ou ld be m ade to Ireland. But, after If it hat Was the charity that had been afforded to Ireland? gi, e . was an a c t ua l gran t, it wo u ld be n o more than justice to eta Its but it was nothing more than a loan, one half of which the l Yylinced upon the security of the property of Ireland, and l'h e n ttler was t o b e re p a id i n p a rt of the taxation of the country. e tiii charity of individuals in the country had been most liberal efe, Pt , a iseworthy, but the charity (if such it could be called) tiee at House was of the most niggardly and beggarly descripe sl ew He thought that the loan ought to have been a great ir e „ Larger than it was. The Gevernraent ought also to have e r r: a l ert a tax upon the rich absentee, and not attempted . to t i; 4 down the poor ratepayers of - Ireland by the imposition ~e. proposed law. Irish Alembers had been taunted by the Ir e tt ° ll —What would the advocates of repeal do if the union ere: r ePealed ? Why, where was the lower depth to which that rs eci rt nnate country could have fallen than that which it has al every reached under the legislation of this country? If, how tik e ' t hey could obtain the repeal of the union, they would hh i t t immediately. There were ample resources in Ireland Us e s,'" needed to be developed, and which could be applied for rnefit of the country if there were a Paliament sitting theee. th e "ad heard mere thanence in that House a great talk to th - „ e ff,ect that taxation should be increased in Ireland. He eneints however, that it would be much the better course to coel ly stur to remove the feelings which had been created in 14 1 t t ' t ylence of the measures passed for Ireland during the Of th e cou years by equalising the condition of the vari ous classes t iLor , ry. CoURTEN AY felt great pleasure in being able to his most cordial support to the measure before the 4 -4 ' If he had looked at this measure unconnected with the tahleth measures which he hoped to see shortly laid upon ,a. es er of th e House he should feel indeed that it was a w are not entitled to , his support. He would impress upon eednourable Members connected with Ireland, the necessity of le iw e f i a aoUring, not only as Members of that House, but also as n rdss by every means to ameliorate the condition of all of the countr • He would ask what were they to do sl l ; th e existing sta ) te . of things in Ireland ? The Noble Lord l en "e head of the Government had put that question to the t ee n , tation that had waited upon him. He (Lord Courtenay) Vit'iessed that he had yet heard no satisfactory reply to it. t ou Z i regard to the Labour-rate Act of last session, he was ap i ; t " to say that though he could not altogether re ',„' r° of it, he thought it had been the h e i . - " a of saving thousands of people from the ig t l l °4 O starvation. The system of out-door relief proposed tt Present Bill was, in his opinion, sufficiently hedged round th! e strictions to prevent any abuse. He thought, however, ; Wisest cou rse would be to limit the out-door relief to the fe d and i n firm, so as to make room in the house -r th e ehle-bodied. If they did this the law of v is agrkst cY would be rendered unnecessary. —(Hear, hear.) He ';l9llo,rted the proposition as a whole, because it appeared to I l t ml ' au ght with the greatest good to the people of Ireland. would operate as a tax upon absenteeism, and incite the ltetindee proprietors to give additional employment to the desti on.e details, t s t e Poor on he th w e o i u r l e d states. Without pledging himself to all 1 the Bill . give his cordial support to the principle Sir D ex pr ENHANI NORREYS did not agree in the opinions r ier !meet by Mr. John O'Connell, with respect to the man /Jill which ex-officio guardians where constituted to the th a ,! instead of exciting it would be the means of allaying th at "Rtntis differences that the Hon. Gentleman anticipated k ern " would excite. He then proceeded to advert to the state -14,0' of Sir Benjamin Hail with respect to Mallow and other fes -- , k i e and contended that England herself was to blame P so `"e state of things that was to be seen in Ireland th e the days of Henry the Second to the present time, since use r st connexion of the two countries, nothing but misery th e i t PPressi on have been the portion of Ireland. Wha were Fos rt oll landlords but what England had made hem s ? lt Of all very well fur England to make the landlords had Ireland her scape-goats. Now, he would ask, d irt she not beers always making them do her re e d. work ?--(Laughter.) As long, as they could, they te,r a t he Iri s h l an dl or d s their tools. As long as aye could Ileo" 1 4 nu had sowed religious dissensions among the Irish to e , , and enabled the landlords, who were her i nstruments, -t at , er ,etse dominion over the leaseholders , and keep th em in a tie * ° f serfdom, tint now when the pockets of the people of ', Oh cou ntry were touched, they turned round and said , s tate ', e we , do not want you any longer." Loo k at the tie nt ' things which has sprung up under your mismanage he d e You must now bear the responsibility of all these evils. Ised ii n _t,ed emphatically that the guardians of the poor in Ire- In auadesire to cheat the poor, as had been imputed to them. bet trl n gland the poor-laws fell upon the occupier—( Hear) ; nceu,i e ire lorld they fell upon the landlords alone, and not the Posi t l n r , 0 that there was a material difference between the th e ipi -n °f English and Irish landlords; but if the support of entil4 ° `: Were made a national charge, the Irish landlords i,"tent urge the objections they had urged, and would be er et h ed to bea r thei r f a i r s h are i n th e su pport of their poorer reu• To show e importancenil u. of rating electoral divisions , th e gt state the that th e p oor - ra t e o f the town of Mallow was 2s. t ear i temod, but only 2id. inChurchtewn, an agricultural village a Stat e l_ th " showing the impolicy of union rating; and by th at 3 0 , 0 ent with whi c h h e h a d b een f ur ni s hed, it appeared ese ne e ", Persons wh o h a d b een c l eare d f rom es t a t es mus t be dety t( , ° argeable to the Mallow district. Ile had felt it his pe ss i bi :fouble th e H ouse with these remar k s, b ecause i t was of 0 1 , B r i l might be compelled to be absent when the clauses M r v e c arne minutely under consideration. negl ect "SEY denied that the landlords of Ireland had rind th , e ,n„their d uty as landlords and as guard i ans o f the poor, he of ; I : t hey had g i ven n i ggardly contri b ut i ons towar d s t h e re " r'oora tad convellecithera to resort to the public w oar. They had admitted more people into the workhouses than they were in ordinary cases calculated to hold. They had also ex pended large sums in drainage, in order to give employment ti the poor, and 100,1'00/. had been contributed by local com mittees for the relief of the poor. He regretted that the Go vernment proposed to institute the out-door relief test, because he believed it would open a door to fraud. He quoted the opinions of Mr. Lewis and air. Twisledon, Assistant Poor-la, Commissioners, to show the great disadvantages which could not fail to attend the adoption of a large plan of out-door relief. They agreed in opinion that such a system would impoverish those who, like agricultural labourers, had some work to do, and would throw a burden on the landlords which they would be unable to hear. Until the social condition of Ireland was assimilated to that of England, such a poor-law as the one proposed would be found most impo litic, and Ireland, instead of being, as he hoped, the right arm of England, would become a far greater difficulty than heretofore. Major LAYARD fully agreed with the Hon. Gentleman who had just addressed the House, that it would have beer happier for the House and for the country if, instead of at tacking the landlords of Ireland, a closer attention had been paid to the circumstances of the calamity with which they had now to deal in Ireland. He (Major Layard) was one of thou who, ever since he had known Ireland, now fifteen years, hoe been convinced that no good would ever be done there without a poor-law. He had prophesied, when the poor-law whirl now existed was passed, the necessity would very shortly arise for the adoption of a measure of a wider character and a more extensive operation. He, fur one, was an advocate of a system of out-door relief. If such a system were not now brought forward, how could they expect any law, situated as Ireland now - was, to be beneficial to the people ? The workhouses multi not now receive one-twentieth of the ap plicants for relief, and many thousands would inevitable perish if they were compelled to wait while the poor-house, were being built.—( Hear, hear.) He admitted that many very great difficulties surrounded this question. He ac knowledged that from the position in which they were placed many of the landed proprietors of Ireland could not but grudge taking that part which they were called upon to play in coming to the aid of their countrymen ; but the majority of the people should be the consideration for that House to decide upon, and though it might be proved that seme few would suffer, still the good of the many must prevail.—(llear, hear.) It was not the fault of the people that they needed the charity of the House. There were in dustrious men who had no opportunity of earning a heel hood by the sweat of their brow ; and there were the wretched and the pauperised, who by no exertion of their own could rise from the state to which they had been reduced.— ( Hear.) The Government deserved great credit for proposing the 10th clause of the Bill, by which it would be enacted, that after 2s. Gd. in the pound had been paid out of the borough rate the expenditure would then come on the electoral district The towns would then be relieved of an enormous burden of vagrancy and mendicancy, and the tax would be equally divided over the laud. He had heard Hon. Members threaten to bring forward a Bill to impose an absentee-tax ; but their object would effectually be attained by the measure now before the House. A poor-law was the best absentee-tax. When a poor-law was carried for Ireland it would be the interest of many proprietors to remain resident on their own estates, in order that, by extra care and carefulness, they might compen sate themselves for that loss to which hey would be exposed when they had to maintain the poverty of the country. Their only alternative would be to furnish employment to these dependent on them, and in this way the great capabilities of the country would bo fully developed. They would not be able to carry an absentee-tax for Ireland, without im posing one also upon England. Hitherto, the poor had sup ported the paupers, and the time had come when the land and the landed gentry ought to support the poor; and un til they adopted some such measure, the interests of that country never could be advanced. ( Hear,) Not having much property in Ireland, he might not be a suffi cient witness, but he could not get rid of the impression that the landlords ought to be responsible for the support of the poor. He gave the present Government full credit for the exertions they had made for the improvement of the poor le Ireland ; and he trusted they would be carried out. When the Noble Lord who introduced the measure for the formation of railways had stated that this could only be a temporary measure, he was anxious for a permanent measure for the relief of the poor. Lord JOHN MANNERS conceived that unless some permanent measure were introduced, it would be worse than useless, for, unless that were done, it was only weak ness to legislate. Out of a population of five hundred thou sand, this measure was only calculated to give relief to three hundred thousand labourers. Admitting that this measure was calculated to administer relief to six hundred thousand heads cf families, yet it was evi dently inadequate to the circumstances of the case, They had then to look to the measures of the Government. and he must confess that the measures which they proposed was totally inadequate for the purpose which they professed to serve, and admitting all the facts which the Noble Lord hail adduced at the commencement of the session for the improve ment of the waste lands in Ireland, he still could not perceive that there was anything like an assurance that these measures would answer the purpose for which they were propounded.—( Hear, hear.) On the remarks of his No ble Friend the Member for Lynn, he would offer no comments, but he might say, that on the facts which he had adduced no one could express the slightest doubt. That Noble Lord h a d stated that by his project employment would be provided for upwards of five thousand heads of families as su perintendents of the works which he had advocated, and none of those assertions had been contradicted and then the House looked to the opportunity which was af forded for the employment of the people, he thought that the House would be assured that the measures of the Government would in no way prove superior for the advantage of the people. Admitting that 5,000 heads of families were to be provided for by the scheme of waste lands, he then came to ask what was to be effected by any scheme for increased emigration. The Noble Lord had said that he did not intend greatly to increase the facilities for emigration, and supposing that the increase would accommodate 5,000 heads of families more, they then came to the extended fisheries. With all these schemes—the drainage—the education scheme—and the fisheriel—publie works—there could not be more than 100,000 heads of families provided for. He asked then, what became of the half million of persons which remained.—( Hear, hear.) What was to become of them, and what measures did the Government intend to adopt for their relief. He would put before the House the reasons which induced him to think that they had still population to provide for. He agreed that they had a right to expect increased exertions on the part of the Irish landlord, and increased cultivation of the land. They ought to rely greatly on the Irish landlord for the employment of these la bourers, and therefore they ought to take care to give such a poor-law as would not depress, but facilitate the exertions of the Irish proprietors. The measure was one of the greatest im portance, and ought to be approached with the greatest caution. It was a measure which ought to enable Irishmen to look back with pleasure, instead of sorrow, to the period of the calamity which afflicted them. He felt that a portion of this Bill tended in the most direct manner to interfere with the exertions of Irish landlords. It made no difference between those landlords who spent their incomes in the improvement of their estates and the amelioration of the condition of the peasantry, and those who spent their incomes uselessly at Bath or at Naples. The present measure would destroy the last remnant of that ancient parochial and territorial system which had tended so much to the benefit of the country, Let them conceive the feelings of the man who was rated for his portion of the expenses, when he had exerted himself to the utmost in the maintenance of his own poor, and who had forborne to place a burden upon those who were in distress let them conceive his feelings when rated equally with the man whose tenantry knew or saw nothing of him, except at certain periodical visits. He could not bring himself to sup port such a system—a system which pressed equally upon the man who did his duty and the man who neglected it in every respect. He thought, unless the House would show a bolder wisdom than had hitherto been shown by her Majesty's Go vernment, they would extend a curse rather than a boon to Ireland, by an extended poor-law. They should make Irish property answerable to the Irish poor, but not in the way in which her Majesty's Government proposed to do. Unless that care were taken in imposing a Poor-law upon Ireland session after session, would Irish misery form a never ending .heme of discussion in that House, and one which would never be properly remedied unless greater caution were adopted.— ( Hear, hear). He agreed with the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) in the hope that the old feuds and old jealousies of bygone years would be extinguished in Ireland. He hoped that in this great affliction that had fallen on the nation those old jealousies would he buried in oblivion, and that the future historian, after recording the sad struggles between the two rival communions and the two hostile races, and after painting the horrors of this eventful warfare, would be able in a new chapter to say— " Henceforth all discord ends, One common woe bath made two rivals friends." Mr. LA BOUCHER E said that he should not direct his at tention to the details of the Bill before the House, several of which were most important, but to that which he believed to be the main principle of the measure. He should not, there fore follow the Noble Lord who had just sat down into the ques tion of whether the system of rating should be placed upon the unions or upon the electoral divisions; nor should he advert to the proposition made by several gentlemen, of increasing the number of ex -officio guardians ; because he thought that in stead of mixing up all these details into one general description it was the rule of that House to consider them severally in committee, when the clauses relating to them were brought forward ; and it would be of more use to con fine themselves to the general principles of the measure. That principle was one of the most important kind—it was whether the system of out-door relief should, however alight, be extended to the able-bodied poor in Ireland. He confessed that, for his own part, he should be willing to take the justification of the measure which had been proposed by her Majesty's Government from the speeches which had been made in vindication of its principle by gentlemen connected with Ireland, and which had been addressed to the House in the course of the evening. He alluded particularly to those speeches made by the Noble Lord the Member for Down shire, his Hon. Friend the Member for Waterford, and the Hon. and Gallant Member representing Londonderry. They were three gentlemen entitled, by their experience as Irish landlords, their intimate acquaintance with the local concerns of Ireland, and the honourable anxiety which they had evinced in their respective localities to improve the condition of the people around them, as well as any Members of that House could be, to express an opinion upon this subject. Those three gentlemen could not be influenced by the disposition attributed to the Irish Members by some of the English Members of that House, namely—that of support ing the measures devised for the relief of Ireland, lre H lr a. withoutd, Aiemher any individual regard to Irish interests. T had said that he opposed the introductionwas introducing a dangerous princ i p le into operation I of out-door question was, a great calamity had potato-crop had failed, and henceforth theovelgapkeeanpleroeflanlrde,latah,ei must either starve or be enable to earn wages. Such was the state of things, and he said it was no longer possible to leave them to chance, or to the support derived from voluntary contributions, but that a provision must be made by the Legislature to support those persons. They had now ar rived, if not to the end of the discussion, at least to the second night of it, and he had heard nn answer to the question pro pounded by the Noble Lord at the head of the Government in bis opening statement, which was the alternative before them, either to maintain the pemde or allow them to starve. No one had said let them be left to perish, or that England, or the imperial treasury, should maintain them. On the contrary, though it was admitted that Ireland at present bad peculiar claims on this country, it was held right that the destitute people of Ireland should be supported by the property and the soil of Ire rand. This was the principle of the present Bill, which he had no doubt would be agreed to by an immense majority, not only of English, but of Irish Members, and be made the law of the l an d. The Noble Lord who had just sat down, stated that he was not against the measure, but he objected to it, because it was not accompanied by other large and comprehensive mea sures. He (Mr. Labouchere) admitted that the 11111 should he viewed in connexion with the general scheme of the Government, but he could not but see that the main objection of the Noble Lord arose from the rejection of the favourite scheme for railways in troduced by the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn. This constituted the main objection of the Noble Lord, but he (Mr. Labouchere) could not see how the measure could have met evils of the case. The Hon. Member for the University of Dublin had referred to the state of the county of Mayo, an d asked how it was possible for the proprietors, under such cir cumstances, to s upport the destitute? This was an 'extreme case which the Hon. and Learned Member cited. But sup left as it was, he (Mr. Labouchere) W.itild the property of the pio: po vo s ta in d g thatk boot l‘lahyte er was lant prietors be sufficient to support the destitute without external Aid% He believed that it would not unless great exertion was nade, and it was to stimulate this that the present Bill was pre eared. He believed that it would he impossible to struggle ,hrotieh without great exertion on the part of Irishmen them selves; but with his knowledge of Irishmen and Irish energy, t was his belief that the poor-law would prove a stimulus, end, instead of crushing, would rouse and invigorate them. —( Hear, hear.) A good deal of discussion had turned on:the conduct of the Irish landlords, and sweeping condemnations had been made. He agreed with several Hon. Members, that great injustice had been done them, as it was unfair, in esti elating their conduct, to leave out of view the pecuniary dif ficulties in which they were placed. And he believed that if as great exertion had been made to bring to light the conduct of those who had done their duty in the crisis, as had been iispleyed in bringing obloquy on others, a very different im pression would have been produced on the House and the country. He thought that if the con. duct of many of the small proprietors, especially the great sacrifices of the clergy had been placed before them and the public, it would be seen that great injustice had been lane to the proprietors of Ireland as a whole. At the same time, he must say that the Legislature had not received from others that support which had been expected. He never liked to give names, but as several Scotch proprietors had been most deservedly mentioned for the exertions they had made to relieve the destitute, he wished to name one Irish landlord who could bear comparison with them, and he was but one of many others he might cite. He knew nothing of the gentleman personally, and the information he had derived was from one f the officers employed under the Government in that part of the country where the gentleman resided. The Right Honourable Gentleman here read an extract from the let ter of the officer, which stated that Sir Robert Booth the gentleman referred to, resided in the county of Sligo, where he had a large estate. He had at his own place opened two soup boilers of 140 gallons each, and daily distributed 180 gallons of soup. During six days in each week, he also distri buted 180 loaves of bread above 4lbs. weight each daily, be sides selling 30 tons of Indian corn in the week at a reduced price.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) Besides this, he distributed quantities of biscuit, oatmeal, and other articles 01 food. He tad, at the date of the letter, 5'27 tons of Indian corn in stand, and had ordered 2,375 tons of Indian corn more, besides a 4uantity of beans, peas, and other produce, for the consump tion of the neighbourhood. He had expressed a hope that the Government would assist him in the matter which they had done. This Gentleman had never desired his name to be mentioned, though it deserved to be, as well as many others in Ireland who had acted in an equally meritorious manner. At the same , itne it was equally - true that many proprietors who were deriv ing large incomes from Ireland had totally neglected their fluty, and failed in contributing to meet the destitution which orevailed. He rejoiced, therefore, that the present Bill would iblige them to contribute in purse to the support of the lestitute. It was important that these parties should knew that if they did not exert themselves to provide employment for the people, they would have to support them out of their incomes. —(Hear, hear.) This, ee thought, was the most valuable portion of the Bill. He 'sad now stated the general reasons why he trusted the House would assent to the principle of the Bill. Having agreed to hat, the details of it could be better considered in committee ; IS they would then receive all the consideration which they leserved. In conclusion, he trusted they would now affirm the main principle of the measure, which was that Irish property hould be charged with Irish distress, and leave all the details to be fully and carefully discussed afterwards.—( Cheers.) Mr. S. O'BRIEN said that, with reference to the people of England, it was impossible to exaggerate their munificence to the Irish people ; but he had said, and he repeated the as. sertion, that a national government in the country would have been able to guarantee every individual in that country from starvation. He was not disposed to question the liberality of Parliament. He considered 10,000,000/. was a sacrifice made by them, but he believed that the money which had been , xpended might have been done so more advanta. reously for the people.--(Hear, hear,) He considered that if the State said to the Irish railway companies hat they would advance half of the capital pari passu necessary ia advance their property, a great and material benefit would, have been cc.nferred. No reproductive work had been under taken for a long time, and the capital which could have been ealled forth was suffered to remain quiescent and languish. A great part of the session has been lost in attacks upon the Irish proprietors. He was not about to undertake their defence, but this he would say, that there were instances of generosity and liberality which equalled, if they lid not surpass any that could be brought forward. If the Irish party effected but a friendly intercourse between Gentle men on the opposite side of the House, they would have achieved a great good.—(Hear, hear.) He was not a party to their resolutions, and he, consequently, was not subject to the animadversions which had been cast upon them, for, in his opinion, a system of poor-laws was absolutely necessary for the welfare of the country. Mr. ROEBUCK, the opening portion of whose speech, as well as various other parts, were perfectly inaudible in the gallery, was understood to say, that the Hon. Member for the University of Dublin had, on a recent occasion, stated to the House that he was perfectly at a loss to discover the motives for his (Mr. Roebuck's) conduct. The amenities—continued the Hon. and Learned Member—of that gentleman's mind could suggest to him only one motive as actuating his, which was that of English spite towards Irish landlords. Spite, against whom? against what he (Mr. Shaw) was pleased to call the landlords of Ireland. He (Mr. Roebuck) did not know who the landlords of Ireland were; he had never been able to dis tinguish or to learn who those gentlemen were. For his part he thought that the real .landlords of Ireland were the tax gatherer and the mortgagee. Now, he never expressed any ',pinion against the tax-gatherer or against the mort gagee. He was perfectly aware that there were many persons in Ireland called landlords, who fancied themselves to be proprietors of land, but who had not the means of supporting the dignity belonging to their station, as such, and he (Mr. Roebuck) had often suggested that such persons should be removed from their false position, which they occupied as merely nominal proprietors of land in Ireland, in order that Ireland might be disencumbered from those who were hanging, like a dead weight, upon her energies arid resources, and allow the real proprietors of her land at once to be called into activity and exertion, and be made instrumental in promoting the interests which they possessed in that country. What did the House, however, now propose to do. He would venture to say that, upon the pre sent occasion, there were two separate questions before the House, and two really different and distinct things spoken of by Hon. Gentlemen who had spoken upon those questions. Some Hon. Gentlemen said t‘ Oh, we are agreed upon all things except upon the principle of out-door relief;" and then directly some other Hon. and Irish Member would get up and make a speech against all poor-laws whatever. If the House would permit him, he would dwell for a few moments on these circumstances, and then say a word or two with respect to the real feelings of Honourable Gentlemen opposite, What was it then that the House was endeavouring to do ? and what was the mode in which it was proposed to brine about the end it bad in view ? At the present moment there appeared to be in Ireland a remarkable collision of classes. Large masses of her labouring population were not subsisting upon wages but depended for their subsistence upon their small holdings of land. By a peculiarity connected with that country the landlords have been induced to divide their property into innumerable small portions, and the result of their infinitessimal division of holdings would be. that if anything like what had happened last year should occur again, the same disastrous results would take place as had marked the history of Ireland during the present year. A large multitude of persons were dependent upon these small patches of land for their maintenance and sup port, and if a failure should take place, or anything like a gene ral calamity come upon the people, a general and universal famine was the result. There was also another peculiarity at tached to these small holdings of land, which was, the agrarian disturbances which always overspread the country. These disturbances arose entirely out of these small holdings. It was not because one portion of the people were starving and another was not, that agrarian disturbances took place. It was because those small holdings of land were essentially necessary for the existence of the people. The law had not been their protector, and the consequence had been that the people had had recourse to every species and system of self-defence for the purpose of maintaining their holdings. But they had been driven to this by dire necessity ; the very exigencies of their condition had driven them to attempt a stand against the tyranny of their imperious landlords, who strove upon every slight pretence, and upon the most inetlicient grounds to eject them from their holdings. They were not so in England. And why ? The poor man knew full well that there was a poor house and a poor-law to afford him shelter. In Ireland, on the contrary, the poor man saw death—nothing but death staring him and his family in the face, and he was compelled out of dire necessity to fall back upon some means of self-defence. by which they could maintain their holdings. against the do mination of their landlords, and hence it was that conspiracies spread from one end of the country to the other, and threats from shore to shore. Hence it was that numerous combine. tions had been formed for the purpose of carrying out this wild spirit of justice, and the instruments or assassins of the combinations had been brought from the north and from the south in order to carry into execution the wild determinations of gangs of secret conspirators. What was their object ? It was nothing more than to maintain the poor man upon his holding, and to protect him by a species of wild justice in the absence of milder forms of law against the imperious domi nation of the merely nominal proprietors of the soil. Such was the condition of the large labouring population of Ireland, and unless England stepped in and brought some measure to bear upon this state of things, such would continue to be their wretched condition. And the same wild spirit of justice, and anhappy, and unchristian mode of maintaining the means of that existence would continue. The Hoare would, however, by the adoption of the proposed measure bring the people under the mild spirit of the law, and make the property of Ireland the means of providing for the existence of the poor, insure a spirit of mildness, gentleness, and subservience to the law, in place of the conspiracies, and the ill-feelings, and the secret societies which previously existed. Who were the ac cusers of these righteous measures ? The landlords of Ireland. It was a noble sight to see the land lords of Ireland laying aside their persenal conside rations, putting aside all their feelings of aggrandisement, and devoting themselves to the improvement of the condition of the people, but there was not a more degrading or a more debasing sight than to see those who were rich in this world's goods banded together for purposes of defence and aggression against the poor, and bringing to bear all the power which their station and intellect could command, to crush what should be considered by all right-thinking persons as the rights of the poor. Could he not then ask the House to look upon this picture and upon that. The people of England asked that a law equal to that which existed in England should be passed for Ireland. He would not be told that that which was bene ficent legislation for the poor in England would be the ruin of Ireland. But that was an argument which bad been very strongly put forth by the Right Hon. Gentleman the Member for the University of Dublin (Mr. Shaw). Ireland, said that s ß lhr i eo g lu h aln t ddl H .i k o e n Dt . Did khneowm Gen t leman , e w a h n a t t h t ehweina igrouhnitsn Hon.. d f . her G H we e on k ( l ei l I nm l g r a . n R m o e e abnu population,tcbky) or the narrow-minded sects of one of which he had been a favourite born child—sects that instilled feelings of the bitterest hostility against the English into the mind of the Irish people? —( A cry of " Divide.") Divide ! there would be no division ; there would be much talk, but no man had pretended that this question would go to a division.—(Hear, hear.) Now, in what position were they placed with regard to this question? It was no longer doubtful that Ireland must have a real and efficient poor-law, similar in spirit to the poor.law of England. Not only the feeling in Ireland, but the intel ligent opinion of this country, rendered the enactment os such a law necessary.—( Hear, hear.) Such a poor-law meant that there was a right, on the part of the destitute poor to relief—( Hear, hear)—a right to receive relief somewhere, and in some satisfactory manner. It did not my • olve the law of settlement—it did not involve the law of removal, and those points they did nut quarrel about. Now, they already had the houses and the adminis trators of the law ; they had got the law of settlement and the law of removal, and all that Government wished to add was out-door relief, upon its being clearly ascertained that the re . elpien • t was really destitute a nd in want. Irish g entlemen, however objected to this, and in doing soh would seem to argue that Irish landlords ought not to be Galled upon to pay in this way f o r the relief of the poor. And whenthese gentlemen dis cussed:lrish questi ms,the question itself invariably meant them selves. Indeed, when Ireland was talked about by them, Ireland meant nothing more nor less than Irish landlords, and because they were called upon to fulfil those duties their property imposed upon them, they declared that Ireland was being ruined.—(Hear, bear, and laughter.) Now, far from its being ruined, Ireland was just in a condition Whet} it Yfai moat likely to advance in the progress of civilisation. — (Hear, hear.) Ireland, according to Irish Members, had been retrograding since the Union, but he had lately seen more and better pigs and cattle imported into Liverpool than were brought from Ireland twenty years ago. The fact was, Ireland had improved within the last ten or twenty years mole than any other country in Europe, and it was well known that those who had a bright arid fair prospect before them invariably complained more than those who were sunk into the depths of degradation.—( Hear, hear.) One Hon. Gentleman had that afternoon told them that the Irish landlords had made presentments of two sums of 86,000/. and 68,000. 1 ., being 2s. in the pound of the - shole rental of the country ; but who paid the money ? Why, the English Exchequer; so that it was England that paid equal to 2s. in the pound of the rental of the country. Mr. W. S. O'BRIEN—Yes ; but the money is to be re paid. Mr. ROEBUCK never trusted such repayments. One shilling paid down was worth twenty shillings promised. Then, again, it was said the landlords were ruined. An Hoes. Aleatean—No, no. Mr. ROEBUCK—WeII, if they were not, why didn't they pay ?—( Hear and laughter.) They must either admit that they were ruined and could not pay, or they must confess that they were not ruined, and pay.—( Hear, hear.) Another mode of meeting Irish questions was the cry of " Let me have a national party, then Ireland will be safe." They had lately had a specimen of the " national party," and, when the party met in Palace-yard, they found the Hon. Member for Lim er i c k, declaring he would have nothing to do with their acts, and flying to the east, while Lord Mounteashel, being of a similar mind, marched towards the Treasury ; and what with some flying to the east, and others to the west, two gentlemen were left to call themselves the " Na tional party of Ireland." Until sectarian differences were got rid of he had no hope for a national party. Until he saw the Hen. and Learned Member for the University of Dublin lying quietly down with the Hon. Member for Cork, and he found them united together in harmony and good fellowship upon all points, he should have no faith in the truth or sincerity of their reconciliation. But the fire of bigotry still smouldered in the breast of the Honourable and Learned Member for the University of Dublin, and it might still break out in all the fury of 1810, or fifteen years ago, when the Emancipation Bill was being agitated. The fire was not yet dead. They had a proof of this the other day when the Hon. Member for Kinsale brought forward a proposition to rend away the last ragged remnant of olden bigotry, when that flight Hon. Gentleman and that party who seemed to be in t xtasiee for the social improvement of Ireland, voted against it. The Noble Lord the Member for Lynn, did the same. He begged the Noble Lord's pardon. The Noble Lord displayed more liberality than the rest, and recorded his vote in favour of the Were not these frequent and significant instances of what was now going on in Ireland? And did they not show that the good of Ireland was to be found, not in those hollow-hearted coalitions and interested confederations, bu: in the good sense of the English and Scotch people on this side of the Channel? He felt every hour the pressure from without with regard to the condition of that country. He found that from every part of the country they were asked how it was that a representa tive assembly like that—representing the working millions.of this great country—threw their shield over those who deserted the duties of their situation, and abandoned the unfortunate beings who had an undeniable claim on their protection and support.—( Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman, the Member for the University of Dublin, had been casting about for the motives which influenced him ( Mr. Roebuck) in ex posing the criminal delinquency of the landlords of Ireland, and set his conduct down to popularity hunting. He would not stop to notice these imputations. He did not deny that he sought his country's approbation, and he thought he would take the most successful steps to obtain it by imposing a stringent poor-law en Ireland, that would make the lindlords of that country understand their own interest, and discharge their duties to their destitute poor.—( Hear, hear.) He would ask the Hon. Gentleman ( the Recorder for Dublin) to meet any portion of his countrymen, and he (Mr. Roebuck) would meet any portion of his on this subject, and he had no hesita tion in saying that not a man in any town of England would be found who would dare to oppose such a proposition.—( Hear, hear.) And yet one half of it only had been sought to be sanctioned by that House; a partial application of it was merely proposed, at present ; but as sure as the sun would rise to-morrow—and he had no doubt of that — (Laughter) a long time would not elapse before that measure would be carried out in all its entirety—a mea sure which was a great act of justice due to the MO; people— due to them from England which had too long neglected and suffered their just rights to be withheld, and had too long fostered the pernicious system which had tended to demoralise them, and generate those social and moral evils to which Ire land was now a prey.—(Hear, hear.) And as he OM hope that the real benefit which he anticipated from this measure would be worked out for the country, he would support the proposition of the Noble Lord, and it should be his future object to show hew inade q uate for the relief of the p resent evils of Ireland was that p ro p osition, which he would now most cordially support.—( Cheers. ) Colonel VERNER disapproved of the measure. It proposed to he a Bill for the relief of the Irish, but he believed it would create greater, far greater evils than it purported to remove. Mr. M. J. O'CONNELL said he was anxious to offer a few observations in reply to the statements of many Lion. Members who had addressed the House, as he understood it was not the wish of the House that the debate should be adjourned.— (Cries of " Hear, hear.") What he complained of was, not that Honourable Gentlemen in this country supported this poor-law for Ireland and sought the approbation of their countrymen in doing so, hut that in the discharge of that duty they were in the habit of introducing topics—and the system was very prevalent amongst the party of which the Hon. and Learned Gentleman for Bath was a member—for the sole purpose of aspersing Irish landlords.— ( Hear, hear.) That was all he complained of, as he had, after the most mature deliberation, come to the conclusion that the measure was one which it was his duty to support. But the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had been guilty of much in justice. First, he had spoken harshly of the conduct of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman the Recorder of Dublin (Mr. Shaw). He (Mr. M. J. O'Connell) had, during the greater period of his life, opposed the principles of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, but for nothing did he respect him so much as for his conduct on the Irish questions, which had come under the consideration of the House during the present session. Ile respected him because he believed he had acted conscientiously, and because he considered he was promoting the advantage of Ireland by the course he had adopted. But whether they dif fered with the Hon. and Learned Gentleman or agreed with him, he alike censured them ; in fact, he was an apt illustration of the drummer, who, finding the soldier whom he was punish ing did not relish its infliction, exclaimed, " Strike high or low, nothing will please you." Though a man differed with him in opinion, he should not use harsh terms towards him. Then he attacked the Hon. Member for Limerick fur the observations he made, that he and others intended to vote against certain portions of the measure, which was must unjust, when it was borne in mind that both the Honourable Member for Limerick ( Mr. S. O'Brien) and he, in tended to vote in favour of the out-door clauses. The question of rating divided itself into three braeches—rating upon unions, upon electoral divisions, and upon smaller portions of property. He had heard man statemen ts during the course of the debate, but he c on f esse d he had heard n othing which de served the definition of argument. He was in favour of the tenth clause, which proposed union rating. and when the pro per time arrived, he should be ready to state his reasons for doing so ; but if Hon. Gentlemen could show him that rating smaller districts would benefit good landlords, and not lead to the confiscation of property, he should not hesitate to alter his opinion. Many Hon. Members, in speaking on out-door, reli2f, had made most extraordinary statements. There were two provisions in the Bill—one for out-door relief to the helpless poor, and, second, for affording the same relief to the able • bodied, which was opposed by many Hon. Gentlemen:; but to the heavy burdens already imposed if either clause was to be viewed with apprehension —it was the first—as there was considerable danger of its adding mate riallyopening a door of immorality and fraud. The Irish party who had been styled the " happy family," had come to the conclu siondoo to oppose the clause which proposed to afford out away, and therefore it was their duty to on land, and of relief, for which he could not help exp-essing his regret. It . was clear the calamity which had visited Ireland, would not liass amount i t of aid to the poor than they had heretofore given' waslt cheaper to pay rates than to allow a continuance of the existineedr L' d duress.d n To restrict it as much as possible to those who are On the first clause helpless, and maimed from other causes. d clause; he had this objection. Such he mightsay of the -"on spirit than g ive a greater am but he was glad to say that there was a much betterri Member for Bath to say that they only the Hon. had of late prevailed. It might be all very well I.:there was something to be got, but he was happy to s s l tha be gotten p for sent occasion the agreement was for something totha than charity to w he on the re- Ireland, and he thought it was something worse allege a ainst raise up the questions of sectarian difference' andh a r o g sit ion them those differences. Ile regretted that sue he would look had ever been made ; bid if he talked of them, regard to India. to the propositions of that Hon. Member with uld not help With great respect for his talents, he still coted with regard to feel ing that if the same principle had been ado') nt conclusion. Ireland, that he would come to a very agrees differe into the several Mr. CALLAGHAN would not entehre House on the one questions which had been introduced to t con n e him-elf to the before the House. He would simp l y ma tter stated by the Noble Lord with respect to the relief to the ouse an be granted to the able •bedied poor outside o f ) ressing his ; opi d only - with regard to that he was desirous of House to the Magis nion as to the power to be given by the House • testes for granting that relief. In his opin ion that p ower was h ower had excessive ; and tie deeply regretted that any suc b e en conceded. For his own part, he could not apt conceive that such power would be mischievous in the extreme, and likely to do anything than be of service to the Irish people. lie would take the liberty of saying to the Noble Lord at the head of the Government that he (the Noble Lord) had not s heuld increase the ex-officio given any one reas on wh y he Id. guardians. It migh very true to say that e ectora sions but the truth was, that these divisions sent ought to be taxed, balk of their paupers. It was the into the towns the great gr eat object in Ireland to sen d awa y their p au p ers. The No ble Lord, to pro vide for this, the rate said, that when exceeded e b should h Is. 3d. in the po und, the excess s chargeable upon the Noble Lord ought t o know that gene ral union. The , that height unl ess u pon each the rate could nev er r the occasion of a general_ famine like the present. He thought that the rates for the poor ought to come as a general charge on the country, and then the rate-payers would have a better control over the raising d and expending of the He adjured the Noble Lor not to listen to the voice money. the other, and not to give to any but of one party or the rate for the relief of the payers the power of taxing poor. togive Sir A. BROOKE wished reasons for not giving his assent to the measure proposed by the Noble Lord. He thought that the systematic plan of having 800,000 or 900,000 people maintaine d out of doors by public works w tl • as one most dangerous a nd fatal to le interests and character of the Irish people. He did not see any s ecur i ty t h at t h e poor would derive by their Noble maintenance ord from the Irish prop er ty genera lly. lie would, ifthe could satisfy him on these two points, DC very much disposed to support the measure before the Ho use, but otherwise he should feel justified in op posing it. He considered the present time was not the proper time for such attacks as those made by the Hon, and Learned Member for Bath, whose speeches contrasted most unfavour ably with the calm and temperate address of the Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary for Ireland, and the Noble Lord at the head of the Government, in his statement of Friday night last. Lord JOHN RUSSELL begged leave to explain a point which had been omitted in his statement of Friday night last, and to which his attention had been drawn by a note he had received from Lord Monteagle. In the interview ho had had with the deputation of Irish gentlemen when th e su bj ect o f the relief of the peer was; brought under his (Lord John Russell's) attention, they stated that they were willing to hear any expense that might be required for the extension and erection of workhouse accommodation, se as to admit of in door relief to the poor. His answer at the time was, that he did not think the suggestion capable of being practically carried into effect.—( Hear.) The House then went into Committee pro forma, and the Bill was ordered to be re-committed on Friday next. Lord JOHN RUSSELL observed, on the Chairman re porting progress, that he hoped there would be no renewal o the debate on Friday ! DRAINAGE (IRELAND) BILL. This Bill was read a third time and passed. GENERAL REGISTER HOUSE (EDINBURGH) BILL This Bill was read a second time, and ordered to b e com mitted. MUTINY BILL. This Bill was also read a :mad time, and ordered to be Committed a Thursday. THE SUN, LONDON,' TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 16, 1847. AGRICULTURAL TENANT RIGHT BILL. ' On the motion that tl is Bill be committed, Mr. STRUTT suggested its postponement. Mr. CRAVEN BERN.ELEY hoped they would not go into Committee to-night, as he had a must denied objection to certain portions of the 13i11, which he intended strenuously to oppose. Lord GEORGE BENTINCK said that the Bill was one which created the greatest possible alarm in the country, and he trusted that the Hon. Gentleman would give a little more time for its consideration. The nature of the Bill was one of a very objectionable nature, and the country would require time to in vestigate it. Mr. E. DENISON said that a petition had been got up by persons who had never seen the Bill, in order to defeat it. There was nothing in the Bill at all calculated to excite alarm or annoyance. After a few words from Mr. ACKLAND and Mr. STAFFORD O'BRIEN in support of the measure, Sir J. YARDE BULLER hoped that the Hon. Gentleman would consent to put off the Bill to a later day than Friday, in order to give a better opportunity for the reading of the Bill. It was impossible to give it a fair reading and investigation be tween that time and Friday. Mr. PUSEY said that in order to meet the wishes of lion. Members, he would postpone the Bill until Friday week. The second reading of the Poor Belief Supervision (Ire land) Bill was then postponed until Friday next. The Earl of LINCOLN obtained leave to bring in a Bill to facilitate the drainage of lands in Great Britain. The Noble Lord said the object of the Bill was twofold. it was to enable persons, without the enormous expense of a private Bill, to take measures for draining their estates ; and secondly, to allow them to take sites for the erection of mills and other machinery for such purpose. Mr. VESEY moved for accounts of the amount of sums ap plied for at the various presentment sessions held between the Ist day of October, 1846, and the Ist day of March, 1847, specifying the various works, and distinguishing those for pablic works and those for drainage; of the amount sanc tioned by the Treasury for each work ; of the amount ex pended on each work up to the Ist day o March, 1847 ; of the sums actually paid to the labourers on each work, specify the nature of the work, whether done by task or otherwise ; of the sums paid to the officers employed in carrying on the various works in each district, as well as the cost of the imple ments necessary for such works.—Agreed to. Mr. WARD moved for and obtained leave to bring in a Bill to empower the Commissioners of her Majesty's Woods to purchase land fur the purposes of a harbour of safety at Holy head, in the county of Anglesea ; and also moved that Mr. Ward, Admiral Dundas, Captain Berkeley, Mr. Bankes, Vis count Morpeth, Mr. Bernal, Mr. Christie, Sir James Graham, Mr. Parker, Mr. Seymour, and five Members to be added by the Committee of Selection, be nominated the Select Com mittee on the Portland Harbour of Refuge and Breakwater Bill. _ _ The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at One o'clock. PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS. From the Votes ana Proceedingv yr' the douse of . Commons.) MONDAY, MARCH 15. The nndernamed Railway Bill was presented, read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time :-- Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ardrossan (Amendment, De viations. and Branches, &c.)—" to enable the Glasgow, Kil marnock, and Ardrossan Railway Company to make certain Branch Railways, and to make certain Deviations from the line and levels of the said Railway, and to amend the Act relating to the said Railway." The following Railway Bills were read a second time, com mitted, and referred to the Committee of Selection :—. Midland (Mangotsfield to Bath). Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock (Branches at Port Glasgow). Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock (Branch to the Caledonian Railway and Diversion of Canal). Parkgate and Chester and Birkenhead Junction. STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE. The following Resolutions were reported from the above Committee:— 1. That the Committee having considered the special report made by the Examiners on the Kilmarnock and Ayr Direct Railway petition, are of opinion that, with reference to the facts therein stated, the standing orders have been complied with ; and that with reference to the non-com pliance stated inithegreport of the said Examiners, they are of opinion that the standing orders ought to be dispensed with, and that the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill, with the exception of that part which enables them to make a Branch of about two furlongs in length, in order to effect a junction between the Main Line and the proposed Glasgow and Belfast Union Railway, and on the insertion of a Clause, restraining them from taking, for the purposes of the Branch Line to the Harbour of Ayr, the properties numbered 120, 122, and 123, in the parish of Newton-upon- Ayr, and also from interfering with the roads numbered 119 and 121 in the same pariah, without the consent of all parties interested therein respectively. 2. That in the case of the Dublin Improvement petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill, with the ex ception of those parts which enable them to purchase or take by compulsion, either the property comprised in Schedule (E) annexed to the Bill, or any property for the improve ment of any of the existing streets, lanes, or passages within the borough of Dublin, or to vest, by compulsion, the Dublin Royal Exchange, together with the powers, duties, rights, and liabilities of the trustees thereof, in the Corporation of Dublin. 3. That in the case of the Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, and Dublin Railway (Repeal of Act) petition, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill on inserting the notices for three successive weeks in sonic newspaper published in the county of Kilkenny. That the Committees on the three preceding Bills do exa mine, in the first place, how far such orders have been com plied with ; and do reportthe same to the House on the re port of the Bill. 4. That in the case of the Waterford and Limerick Rail way petition fur leave to read the Bill a second time, the sessional order ought to be dispensed with : —That the par ties be permitted to read their Bill a second time on giving due notice thereof in the Private Bill-office. 5. That in the case of the Edinburgh and Northern Rail way (Branch from Burntisland to Dunfermline Branch, &c. —No. 2) petition, for leave to deposit a petition for a Bill, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to deposit a petition for a Bill to enable the Edinburgh and Northern Railway Company to make a deviation and extension of their Branch Railway to Dun fermline, to make another Railway from their Strathearn Deviation Railway to the Scottish Central Railway, and to make an alteration in the manner of constructing the said Branch and Strathearn Deviation across certain roads and the Halbeath Railway. 6. That in the case of the Edinburgh and Glasgow, Monk land and Kirkintillock, Ballocimey and Slamannan Railways Amalgamation, Sale, or Lease petition, to read the Bill a second time, the sessional order ought to be dispensed with : —That the parties be permitted to read their Bill a second time on giving due notice thereof in the Private Bill-office. 7. That in the case of the Gravesend Cemetery petition, for leave to deposit a petition for a Bill, the standing orders ought not to be dispensed with. 8. That in the case of the Great Western Railway (Branch to join the West London Railway, Widening and Enlargement of the West London Railway, and Branches to Hammersmith, and to join the London and South-Western Railway near Lambeth) petition, for additional provision, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill. First, second, third, fourth, fifth, ,ixth, and eighth resolu tions agreed to.—Report to lie on the table. NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL-OFFICE. The following Railway Bill is appointed to be read a second time on Wednesday, March 17 : York and Newcastle (Main Line Improvement, &c.) DEATH of COLONEL GORE LANG- TON, M.P. FOR EAST SOMERSE rsniftE We have to record the decease of Colonel Gore Langton, one of the oldest as well as one of the most distinguished Members of the House of Commons. He expired on Sunday last, at his residence in Grosvenor-square, in the 88th year of his age, and after service as a legislator since the year 1815. This gentleman's name has been familiar in political circles owing to his determined opposition to the corn-laws. Though one of the largest landed proprietors in the kingdom, he was the greatest enemy of protection, which he considered to be as detrimental to the cause of agriculture as to that of commerce. Though suffering from extreme bodily debility during the greater part of last session, he went down to the llouse, or rather he was carried there, to vote for the second reading of Sir Robert Peel's free-trade measures. lie ob served on the occasion, that " Ile would give his vote though he should die in the lobby." Colonel Langton was also a prominent supporter of the Reform Bill, the Roman Catho lic Relief Bill, and other measures of a liberal tendency. The deceased gentleman has died one of the wealthiest commoners in England. He was the eldest son of William Gore Lang ton, Esq., of Newtown Park, who assumed the name and arms of Langton, in addition to those of Gore, on his mar riage with Miss Langton. He was twice married, and had four children. He is succeeded by his grandson, Mr. Lang ton, who married, a short time since, Lady Anne Grenville, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham. Colonel Langton for many years held the command of the Oxford Militia. The works on the Avignon to Marseilles Railway are approaching their termination. The long tunnel of the Nerthe is so far advanced that the opening of the line may be looked for in November. The execution of the immense works on this line will render, it is said, a loan necessary. MENDICANCY IN BELGIUM.—In consequence of the overwhelming influx of mendicants from Flanders into Brussels, the government came to the resolution of removing them all back to their respective communes. The Brussels journals of the 6th present a mournful picture of this opera tion. At six in the morning of that day upwards of 1,00() of these poor creatures were marched out by the gate lead ing to Halle, escorted by gendarmes and other policemen, the sick and infirm being put into three large waggons. The crowd assembled to view this sad procession were painfully affected by the sight of so many wretched beings, among whom were feeble men in the last stage of life, women and young children incapable of helping themselves. SINBAD zro SAILOR.—We are every day disproving the wisdom of the ancients ; whatever Sinbad might have been in the "Arabian Nights," he is evidently no sailor in these days. The crew of the Sinbad, provision vessel, en gaged in distributing biscuit on the Irish coast, have made a report to the admiral of the station that their Sinbad is no sailor—indeed, is hardly sea-worthy with the quantity of biscuit she has on board, dealing in rolls as she does on her own private account. They confess that she labours hard in the service in which she is engaged, but she allows her feel ings to be almost too much for her, indulging in them to a terrible pitch now and then, indeed being quite ungoverna ble. Again, some of the ctcw are fearful that in some of her antics they shall leave her in the lurch, by rolling overboard. We have heard that the Sinbad is one of Sir Wiliam Sy mond's build. (Query?) Would it not be well to staid for the "surveyor" to Ireland to survey the vessel—and the biscuit? —Nautical Standard. WATElthoo.—" What did you think of Waterloo ?" I inquired of an old fellow I tOund one morning digging in my garden, where he had. been hired to assist by the lazy head gardener. " Think of it, said the old crab, stopping and leaning upon his spade, " I thought it hell upon earth. I was utterly deaf with the continued roar of artillery ou one side or the other, and the sound of the musketry of the men beside me. I could not see my companion's face for one minute (as he stood next me) for the thick _smoke; and the next I found him choking, retching, and vomiting in the agonies of death, and clutching my very feet. Sometimes a shot went tearing through our ranks, and almost shaking the part of the square where I had been for some hours standing, seem ing to loosen our files as it knocked the poor fellow's head over heels, like nine-pins on a bowling green; and then we heard the familiar tones of the old colonel, to prepare for cavalry, as those devilish Cuirassiers poured upon us, and we were wedged together into a wall of iron again to receive them. That is all I know about my feelings, Sir," said the old soldier. "It was a terrible sight and awful to look upon. It was hell upon earth," he muttered, as he resumed his spade, and commenced with fearful energy.— United Serriae Mayarinet COURT CIRCULAR. The Queen and Prince Albert took their usual early walk yesterday, !n the pleasure-grounds of Osborne House. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, went to the sea-beach yesterday morning, and their Royal Highnesses Prince Alfred and the Princess Alice took an airing in the pleasure -grounds. Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent and the Duchess of Cambridge, honoured the performance of the French Plays with their presence yesterday evening. Lady Fanny . Howard, Sir George Couper, and Lord James Murray, were in Waiting on the Duchess of Kent. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent visited her Royal, Highness the Duchess of Cambridge yesterday, at Cambridge House. A depilation from the General Ship Owners' Society, con sisting of Mr. _Duncan Dunbar (chairman), M r . G. F . * Young deputy-chairman, Mr. William Tindall, and Mr. Anthony Ridley, had an interview with the Earl of Clarendon yester day, at the Office of the Board of Trade. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord John Russell, the Earls of Chichester and Powis, the Bishops of London, Winchester, Chester, and Lincoln, and Sir George Grey, attended a meeting of the New Bishoprics Commission in Whitehall-place, on Saturday last. A deputation from the Steam-ship Owners' Association, had an interview with the Earl of Clarendon yesterday, at the Board of Tree. The deputation consisted of Viscount San don, M.P., Mr. Brown, 141. P., Mr. Masterman, M.P.. Mr. Forster, M.P., Mr. Pattison, M.P.. Mr. Hull, Mr. Williams, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Hodges, and the Secretary, Mr. Morgan. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. TATTERSALL'S.—MoNDAY. All the events now in the market were more -or less noticed, but we cannot name one on which there was any considerable outlay, or that underwent any change of import ance. It is only necessary to state, therefore, that the horses most frequently in demand—some of them at slightly im proved prices—were Halo and Doleful, for the Northampton Handicap; The Liberator, for the 2,000 Guineas; Antler, Punch, Camera Obscure, Mickey Free, and Newcourt, for the Chester Cup ; and The Liberator and two or three out siders for the Derby. The latest prices were as follows LEAMINGTON STEEPLE CHASE. 9 to 2 agst Mr. Onseley Higgins's Pioneer 8 to 1 agst Mr. Preston's Brunette NORTHAMPTON HANDICAP. • - 8 to 1 agst Duke of Richmond's Halo—taken 8 to 1 agst Mr. Gratwicke's Doleful , 100 to 12 agst Mr. Gregory's Euclid colt—taken 10 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Qaeen Mary 20 to 1 agst Mr. T. Dawson's the Magnet 25 to 1 agst Mr. G. Moore's Watchdog 7 to 2 agst Halo and Doleful—taken NEWMARKET HANDICAP. 9 to 1 agst Lord Stradbroke's Lynceus 12 to 1 agst Lord E. Russell's Sting—taken 16 to 1 agst Sir J. Hawley's Humdrum—taken THE PORT STAKES. 2 to 1 agst Mr. IV. Scott's Sir Tatton Sykes METROPOLITAN HANDICAP. 8 to 1 agst Mr. Stephenson's Sheraton 20 to 1 agst Mr. Gregory's Euclid colt—taken 25 to 1 agst Mr. Ramabottom's Pine Apple—taken 35 to 1 agst Mr. H. C. Ibbetson's Pimento—taken TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS STAKES. 8 to 1 agst Mr. O'Brien's Liberator—taken 10 to 1 agst Mr. S. Conway's Christopher—taken 12 to 1 agst Mr. Payne's Sister to Cobweb colt—taken 500 even between Conyngham and the Liberator. CHESTER CUP. 17 to 1 agst Mr. Herbert's Antler—take 20 to 1 25 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Camera Obscura—taken 28 to 1 agst Mr. Wilson's Punch—taken 30 to 1 agst Mr. Irwin's Mickey Free. 30 to 1 agst Mr. B. Green's The Lamb—taken 40 to 1 agst Mr. Skerratt's Intrepid—taken 40 to 1 agst Captain Pettatt's Newcourt-✓taken 40 to 1 agst Mr. Meiklam's Inheritress 50 to 1 agst W. Scott's Sir Tatton Sykes 66 to 1 agst Mr Greville's Jonathan Wild—t. 1000 to 10 66 to 1 agst Mr. Payne's Queen Blab 1000 to 15 agst Lord Eglinton's Plaudit—taken 6000 to 90 agst Mr. Collett's Chatterbox—taken 1000 to 15 agst Mr. J. Clarke's Maid of Lyme. - DERBY. 6to 1 agst Lord Eglinton's Van Tromp—t. and aft. off. 10 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Planet—taken and aft. off. 12 to 1 agst Mr. Bowes's Epirote—taken and aft. offered 20 to 1 agst Mr. Mostyn's Glentilt—taken and aft. off. 30 to 1 agst Mr. O'Brien's Liberator—taken 40 to 1 agst Mr. Bowes's Lunedale 50 to 1 agst Mr. Payne's Sister to Cobweb colt 50 to 1 apt Duke of Richmond's Red Hart 50 to 1 agst Mr. Hyde's Will-o'-the-Wisp—t. and aft. off. 50 to 1 agst Mr. S. Conway's Christopher—taken and afterwards offered 50 to 1 agst Mr. Bouverie's War Eagle—t. and aft. off. 1000 to 15 agst Mr. Westenra's Pavilion—taken to 20001. 2000 to 25 agst Mr. Fuller's Oxonian—taken \ 600 to 500 on Conynham agst Liberator. OAKS. Bto 1 agst Mr. Payne's Clementina—tak. and aft. off. IRISH PROVISION SQUADRON. The following is the distribution of her Majesty's vessels on the coast of Ireland, employed in conveying provisions to the distressed population, under the command in chief of Rear- Admiral Sir Hugh Pigot, C. 8., K.C.H. The Tyne, 28, on passage to Galway, to discharge sup plies. The Madagascar, Andromeda, and Andromache, frigates, are depots moored respectively at Tarbert, Kil libegs, and Galway. The Cockatrice, schooner (tender), left Cork on Saturday for Castlemaine Harbour, with provisions, on account of the British Relief Association. The Mercury (tender) and the Gipsy, are gone with supplies on behalf of the British Relief Association to Ballydehob. The Adventure, transport, has proceeded with 2,345 barrels and 49 sacks of meal, to Kenmore, where she is to be moored as a floating depot. The Lively, lighter, is gone to Clifden and Tarbert, and is to return to Cork. The Devon, lighter, is on her way from Balti►uore to Cork, for further supplies. The Ant is gone to Limerick; the Sinbad to Tralee, Killarney, and Tarbert. The following are the steam-vessels and their distribution on the coast : The Dragon, steam frigate, arrived from Portsmouth, with meal and biscuit, and accompanied the Tyne to Galway . ; from that place the Dragon proceeds, and there discharges her cargo, for Sligo. The Odin, steam frigate, has proceeded with s7ed and supplies to Ballymullet, and is to return to Cork; discretionary orders w , re given to Captain IVil liams to land part of his freight at Kenmare if he thought it necessary. The Scourge, steam :loop, has been to Liver pool for supplies and old clothing, &c., furnished by the Society of Friends, and is distributing them along the north-westcoast. The Bulldog, steam sloop, has left Cork for Kenmare, with the Adventure, transport. The Blazer, steam vessel, left Cork with the Cockatrice in compan, for Castlemaine Harbour; she is lo land her freight at Castlemaine, for Killarney. The Geyser, steam sloop, is on her way to Cork from Dingle to Tralee, where she has landed supplies. The Tartarus, steam vessel, has distributed soup boilers along the coast; alter landing her meal at Arran Island, on the west coast, she is ordered to Galway, to relieve the Urgent. The Zephyr, Holyhead steam packet, is at Colic, and has taken on board supplies on account of the British Relief Associa . tion, for — distribution at Bantry Bay. The Myrmidon, iron steam' vessel, hag been sent to Waterford to afford protection to the provision boats passing between Carrick and Clonmel. The Lucifer, steam steam vessel, is attached to the depot at Sligo, for the conveyance of provisions in that locality. The Dasher steam vessel i 3 conveying pro visions to Westport. The Acheron steam vessel is stationed at Black Sod Bay, for the protection of meal vessels passing that way from bei ig plundered. The Pluto steam vessel is at Kildysart, to afford protection to meal vessels passing be tween Limerick and the river Fergus. The Comet steam vessel is at Limerick attending to that neighbourhood, as is also the Swallow. The Alban steam transport is in the river Shannon, attached to the Madagascar depot. DRURY-LANE THEATRE.—This theatre was crowded in every part last night, the attraction being the benefit of Mr. Bunn. The performances were of a very varied descrip tion, including the services of many popular artists, whose contributions were received with great enthusiasm. In the course of the evening Mr. Bunn addressed the house in a brief speech suitable to the occasion. SACRED HARMONIC SOClETY.—Tranders oratorio, "Belshazzar," will be performed by the Society, for the first time, on Friday next. Although Belshazzar has lain dormant for many years, it is one of the great composer's finest works. The libretto is understood to have been written by Mr. Jennens, who compiled for Handel the text of the Messzak. MR. BEULER.—This gentleman gave his annual concert last evening at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, and as usual, bad a full attendance. The comic songs of the veteran were the staple of the entertainments, all of which were received with great merriment. The remainder of the programme was made up of songs and duets, executed by Mr. C. Day, Mr. Trenklee, Mr. Sporle, Mr. Shoubridale, Miss Stewart, Mrs. Aveling Smith, and others. SPINNING-HOUSE RIOTS.-Our streets still present from time to time lingering evidence of the ill-conditioned crusade against Proctorial authority, of which we hope some of the instigators are now ashamed. On Monday evening a commotion arose on Market-hill, a little after eight o'clock, in consequence of the impertinence of a few dirty little boys ; larger wiseacres by and by interfered, and there was the usual hooting and shouting and mobbing of the Proctors, until at last a rather serious row was gene rated in St. Andrew's-street, and missiles flew about, so that the windows of the Bird Bolt Inn, and the lamp over the entrance gateway, were smashed. A silly fellow, named Wilson, was captured, and on being br o ught before the borough bench on Tuesday morning, was sentenced to pay a fine of U., or suffer two months' durance vile, for his ridiculous display of the preceding night.—Cambridge Chronicle. EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT AT LOWESTOPFo-011 Friday last one of the men engaged in pile-driving on the South Pier was observed to wave his hand to some per sons who were passing in a boat ; just at this identical time the bell of the engine, weighing 21 cwt., was descending, and forced the hand of the unfortunate individual in con tact with the head of the pile. A sad mutilation was the consequence. When conveyed to the Infirmary it was deemed necessary to amputate the limb. With a view of sparing the pain necessarily attendant upon so severe an operation, the narcotising process with ether was employed ; but so far from its producing a sedative effect, the most vio lent and uncontrollable excitement ensued. At the end of two or three minutes this abated, wben the poor fellow allowed Mr. Worthington to remove the limb, which he bore with the utmost composure a nd fortitude. At present he is doing well.—.Ninwich Mercury. S UICID E OF A POLISH N OBLEM AN.—On Saturday an inquest, adjourned from Thursday last, was resumed and concluded before C. C. Lewis, Esq., coroner for Essex, at the Crooked Billet public. house, Woodford, on the body of Mr. Herman Puznan ski, aged 37, a native of Poland, and a nobleman of that country, who committed suicide by shooting himself through the head, tinder the following cir cumstances t—lt appeared from the evidence of the father of the deceased and other witnesses, that for some time past the .deceased had been in a low and desponding state of mind, caused by being reduced from affluence to the most dire state of distress. On Sunday morning he left home, and between twelve and one o'clock on that day the report of a pistol was heard in Epping Forest, between Chigwell and Woodford. On some persons proceeding to the spot, they found the deceased lying upon the ground, with blood flow ing from his mouth, and by his side a pistol, recently dis charged. He was removed to the Crooked Billet, where a surgeon attended, who found that the deceased had put the pistol into his mouth and fired, the ball passing through the larynx and lodging in the neck. Although so seriously in jured, the deceased lingered until Wednesday , when he died. All that was found on his person was two duplicates, ' a half penny, a pair of gloves, and a letter addressed to L ord Dudley Stuart, thanking the Noble Lord for the part he had taken in trying to obtain the regeneration of Poland, which he (the writer) despaired of seeing ever carried into, effect . On the 4th instant the funeral of t h e ufortunate victims of the destruction oftnthi e nense crowd of th e inhabi tants Grand Duc a l Th eatre was t solemnized at Carlsrhue. An formed a double line to the cemetery gates. of the victims were =Weed in The ashes in two torah. eight coffins, which were said INSTITUTION for the PROTECTION OF FEMALES FROM SEDUCTION. Yesterday a meeting of - noblemen and gentlemen wag held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, to sup_ port measures for " the more effectual prevention of trading in seduction and prostitution," which will be introduced this evening into the House of Commons by Mr. Spooner. The meeting was a very numerous one. Sir E. N. BUXTON, in the absence of Lord R. Grorp. venor, M.P., was voted to the chair. He said the objoct of the Bill they were met to consider was to prevent tho crime of what he might call the English slave-trade, by which persons induced by force or fraudful persuasion young females to become prostitutes in the great cities of this country. It was not necessary to enter largely into so distressing a subject, but he could not avoid men tioning the defects in the law that punished promptly and severely other offences, whilst it had no provisions to check the atrocities of those men and women who made it the business of their lives to decoy young females into a course of prostitution, and so destroying their minds, bodies, and souls. The Rev. Mr. HUGHES, of St. Pancras, moved the first resolution:—" That this meeting recognises and de plores the baneful influence of a systematic and eaten sive trading by procurers and brothel-keepers in the seduction of female children and young women." It was very painful to state that the law was inoperative to pre vent this nefarious trade, and that so many were allowed to carry it on with impunity. The law as it stood was surrounded with difficulties, and therefore it was of the greatest importance that something should be done tAI make it effectual. Mr. CLEWES seconded the resolution. The Earl of MourtivasuEL said the subject had en gaged his attention for many years, and he had the sa ristaction of thinking that he was the first individual who had suggested an institution for improving the laws for the protection of women. In these reforming times it was astonishing that no steps had been taken to amend the laws on this subject since the days of George IL That law was defective ; and did not go to the root of the evil. The law required was one that would effectually prevent the system of trading in prostitution. Was it not shocking that, in this moral and religious country, a, set of people should be tolerated, who lived by corrupt ing females, and selling their bodies and souls for the vilest purposes? Yet such ‘ i was the case. There did exist a set of beings—wicked demons he would call them —who lived by betraying their fellow -creatures into a course of the most dreadful misery and infamy. Ought they not to exert themselves' in every possible way to stop this system of evil—in checking which they were interested as fathers, brothers, and Christians? He would not go into long details of the evils caused by this system of seduction, but would confine himself to one melancholy case, of which he had a positive knowledge. About two or three years ago, a baronet—a gentleman belonging to an old family, of large property and great reSpectability, who had been sheriff of his county—had two daughters, young ladies brought up according to their rank and age, whom he sent to Paris, to an excellent school, to complete their education.. At vacation time they were to return by Boulogne, and embarked there in a steamer for London. At the landing-place servants were wait ing•for them, but the steamer did not arrive until the middle of the night, and the servants having returned home, the passengers landed, and the young ladies had not been heard of by their families ever since. All that could be learned was, that a well-dressed female had paid them great attention during their voyage, and the conclusion eventually come to was, that she had decoyed them to some infamous house, and that they were new either physically or morally dead. Such a calamity might come home to any man's family, and the parties causing it might escape with impunity. In .a country not so much vaunted for morality as our own—he meant France—the code penal would be found to contain mere salutary laws for the protection of young females than the statutes of England. This was a disgrace which he hoped to see removed, and he would aid every measure that tended to do so. The resolution was then put and carried. The Rev. ROBERT MErrtno, Chaplain of the Bridewell Precinct, moved the second resolution, to this effect-- " That by an enactment of the 25th of George IL, the Legislature of this country not only sanctioned the principle that prosecution against brothel keepers should be encouraged, but endea voured to afford the requisite facilities for carrying out the principle. Lengthened experience had shown that the facilities afforded by that Act are not sufficient for the object which it contemplates, and proves that the existing law is inadequate to the protection of female chastity." He considered the proposed Bill would do a, great deal of good, and therefore it should meet with his most cheerful support. Mr. BITCHINGRAM seconded the resolution, and con sidered it disgraceful to the country that prostitution should be carried on more openly than in any of the countries he had travelled in, whether European, African, Asiatic, or American. Mr. W. EVANS, M.P., supported the resolution, and considered that the happiness, honour, and strength of any society depended, in a very great degree, on the character of its,women. Whenever their character was lowered, it must fall on the whole mass of the com munity, and therefore he was most anxious that evety_ thing should be done that the law could do to prevent injury to female character. The Rev. Mr. GLANVILLE also spoke in favour of the resolution. The resolution was carried unanimously. The Rev. Mr. CBS! moved the third resolution— " That in order to the effectual protection of female chastity it is requisite that the law should declare the procurer to be criminally responsible as well as the brothel keeper; and that in order to the due execution of the law against both parties, the cheap and speedy process of a prosecution before a magistrate should be sanctioned before Parliament.". The Ray. Mr. BauwN having seconded the resolution, it was adopted. The following resolution, rroposed by the Rev. Mr, LUSIGNAN and secondt:d by the Rev. Mr. WOODYER, was next carried:—" That this meeting approves of the Bill which is to be introdu.ed into the House of Commons by Mr. Spooner, M.P., and desires to ex press their most hearty thanks to that gentleman for along the prominent position he has in the advocacy of this cause." Mr. SPJONER, M.P., said that he hsd promises of sup port from many Members of rarliament wbo formerly used to laugh at the Lotion of legislating for the protec tion of female virtue. A petition was drawn up, and signed by the chairman on behalf of the meeting, to be presented to Parliament, praying for the adoption of the proposed, or some equally efficacious measure. Thanks having been passed to the chairman, the meet ing separated. SCHAMYL, THE CIRCASSIAN CHIEF. We extract the following account of Schamyl, the chief of he Circassians, from a letter dated Constantinople, 17th ult., Ln the Univers:— "It is said that the power of Schamyl Bey is on the in crease. Circassia, in place of ceasing the unequal struggle in which she has been engaged for so many years, appears, on the contrary, to find new resources in the courage and the alliance of the surrounding tribes. The Caucasus has be come the refuge and the rampart of all the mountaineers who defend their ancient liberties; and such is the general confi dence in the future, that this military leader is already con sidered as the founder of a monarchy around which the popu lations of Georgia, Armenia, and Daghestan are to be grouped. Russia has no longer to put down a partial revolt. The point for her is now to hold firmly against a rising and creating power, which opposes numerous and strong nationalities to her own. The vague reports collected relative to Schamyl represent him as an able and fortunate warrior, surrounded with a court, and possessing a warlike army, disciplined by Polish refugees in the European manner. On Fridays, public prayers are offered up fer his safety—a Mussidman ceremony in honour of Royalty. Money is struck with his mark. We do not say his effigy, for the poverty of the country does not permit the use of metal for money, but only of leather, which, however, is received in all places where his authority extends, and is even preferred to Russian money. Schamyl is of middle height, well-made, and of a robustconstitution which enables him to support with ease all kinds of fatigue; continually on horseback, at the head of a chosen band of determined troops, composed of Polish lancers and Cossack hulans, he never ap pears but with the ornaments of his rank and in full uniform ; liberal to profusion, he distributes all the booty with those who share his dangers ; fond of literature, he has around his person poets who celebrate his triumphs in popular songs ; prompt to conceive plans of strategy and still more so to execute them, he flies from one extremity of his territory to the other, and falls on the Russian outposts with the rapidity of lightning, and after occasioning them serious loss, returns to his impregnable mountains or flies to other.dangers. His batteries of artillery are numerous and complete, and each piece is a trophy which has cost the enemy dear. Alussulman enthusiasm surrounds him with a religious respect; but be, with- an elevated and tolerant spirit,leaves to all his soldiers R v a u n s t s a i a g e m o u a y the free and u exercise o th ei r time under his au thorit y , as f w l e i ll as to the pfopula pcootnistmrastosf for him withworship. Liberty th in e so th a e d r e l l h i g is i o r u e s s d e c e t s Go vernment, that it has gained bim the sympathies of all the Christionapersecuted by the official church of the Emperor." GERMAN RAILWAYS.—RaiIway communication is proceeding rapidly in Germany. Next year the line will be complete between Cologne and the extreme frontier of the East, North, and South of the Germanic Confederation. Vienna, Breslaw, Berlin, and Hamburgh are now connected together by a continuous railway. The Augsburg Gazette informs us that a meeting has just taken place between the directors of the different railway companies possessing this vast range of lines. Between Vienna and Stettin there is a distance of 225 French leagues, and between Vienna and Hamburgh 250 leagues. This is the greatest extent that a railway line has yet run. The various directors have agreed on an arrangement of de.. partures in correspondence with each other, so that the die t anon between Vienna and Hamburg may be cleared in forty .. ab ou eight hours, comprising ll stoppages, and between Viaernrilivaesurciat Stettin forty hours. The train leaves Vienn a a t seven • the evening, and arrives at Breslaw the next day noon, and leaves 13reslaw at four o'clock, and Berlin at five in the morning; it leaves sgain at seven fin Hamburg and Stettin. The back train leaves Hamburg at one thenneat n g h afternoon, loa v eand again S tettin aat eleven, at fo a ; r i r t h.es reaches B B r esi erl a i N n y at day at eleven. and at Vi enna the second day at. seven nex n t i i in the morning. The works on the southern line—from Vienna to Trieste—are proceeding rapidly. When this lints is finished ;travellers may book themselves from Hamburg to Trieste. COUNTY OF ROSS FAIRS P CRS 4CROP, 1846. Wheat, first qu a lity, per quarter, 3 E L T 4s. 846. ; Wheat, second quality, per quarter, 8 1.55. ; B ar l e y , 11.18L:10 . 0 , Bear Or Bgg 21 • Os. 6 Ad. ; Oats, first quality, 1/. 13s. sd. ;ats, C i ommon , or second quality, 1/. lls. 70. ; Oatmeal, per 1401bs, 1/. 3s. 90.; Barleymeal, 18s. 44d. ; Pease, 2/. 15s. 24d. ; Beans—no evidence. It is somewhat remarkable that air., second quality of wheat was fixed at a higher rate than the first, and can only be accounted for on the supposition that the greater part of the first was sold before the rise in the price, and that the greater part of the second was sold after. —lnverness Journal. The German journals announce that the canal which will unite Bavaria with the Danube and the Rhine, and which, in honour of the Fang, is called the Ludgwiga Canal, is to be opened throuz'acut its whole length on the 15th inst., if the state of the weather shall permit. - WM I ~, {~ t I , , ', , i