The Sun. — London, England, 1847-03-31 00:00:00

history of Lilly; at a very early age, the only sur livcr of a shipwrecked crew, she fell into the hands of tome smugglers, who brought her up and treated her as their servant. Without the least education of any kind, without an idea in her mind or a feeling in her heart, she grew up, living a life of toil, hard-worked and ill-treated, living and practising only the duties of industry and obedience. Sine grew up, that is to Say, her frame developed rd her years increased, While in heart and mind she remained a child, or • something more ignorant and more helpless. Gradu ally, however, the change took place ; she at last found friends; she heard for the: first time • words Of kiniiness, and her heart for the first time beat with a kindly emotion. Un taught! and unlearned, she was ignorant no longer her heart developed her intellect. Obedient to its promptings, though unable to think and reason correctly, she was enabled to act wisely and well, t t ,hough not in accordanc, , ! with the world's wisdom. he obeyed a higher teaching. Her life was a con walled illustration of that beautiful maxim— "He never errs who sacrifices self." The development of Lilly's character—indeed, all her conduct, all the history of her heart—is very b eautifully and truthfully described. She experi ences, not only many strange adventures, but many Severe trials ; ardent and devoted in friendship and love, her lover leaves her and her friend proves false ; set) though oppressed by many bitter and painful le nsations, her true heart remains firm. So stedfast t 'S her friendship, and so humble her love, that decep tion cannot wholly destroy the one, nor desertion in a nYwise impair the other. The various traits of Lilly's character are more forcibly manifested by her f riend, the brilliant and beautiful May Elliott. The character of the latter is very skilfully drawn, and is doubtless not without its living prototypes ; endowed with every outward attraction, with every fascination eof form and manner, possessing just enough of good Lemper and generosity to veil her various defects, 44 - 4 3? completely eclipsed her more unpretending and , in ore deserving friend. Her vanity and selfishness, e 3 / 4 illy's devotion and humility, and the changing senti ments of Pisa Ryland, forgetting the humble Lilly 74 his admiration for her brilliant friend, are all d e e scribed in a most natural and interesting manner. ..,, 13 1 1 eaking of the authority which the fascinating May e . 48 4 obtained over her lover, the authoress observes, 'eat "it is constantly thus in real life; these are the Wo men that by ruling men have ruled empires," and t akes occasion to offer some very judicious remarks on the important subject of female education. Very i n dicious and correct they are, to a certain extent at aea e ast, for we cannot agree with her conclusions—in „,ti „ we do not quite comprehend them. For instance, ` the fo n t o f one o f th e pages we fi n d th e f o ll ow i ng 4 '. (k e :—" It gives us great satisfaction to learn that the W omen of Berne, in Switzerland, are at this time pe tititiecning for equal rights ; and that one of the Ame s an States is about to pass a law, giving females wer over their own property." With this " great ti sfaction" we do not certainly sympathise, and with ki l n, remarks of a similar purport we cannot cer ,nlY coincide ; beside which, we are disap 'cted and dissatisfied at meeting with them 0 such a place, because they are so entirely I t ; v ariance with the beautiful ideas embodied t he character of the heroine. It is strange, and 4; 4 0, quite anomalous, to find an advocate for what I l e called " the rights of woman," at d one anxious for 1::` introduction into active life and ,- maloyments," k i , l le person of the authoress, who, in tee character t i' l d history of Lilly Dawson, has forcibly pointed out t p ;, l true object of a woman's life, and the fitting t ll c re for her employments. Without any great ( " li n tel capacities or culture, without perhaps ever M4,ariling of her " rights," Lilly performed her various i es, and passed through life, blessing and blessed; t the last few words of the last volume sums up her r t o t actee, and tells her history in a brief line s: her epitaph, " for Lilly's life was love." A I t ,e bea u tif u l c h arac t er an d a h a ppi er history than 7h it were difficult to find for any individual, es tho'llY a woman ; conveying, perhaps, a similar idea, tpi t tl a gh more beautifully expressed, to that old Roman 1 / 4 Ph which Scott so singularly misapplies to his f ecit 4 ,!'geon' s Daughter"—" Domum niansit, tanarn be at ' This id e a Mrs. Crowe has se beautifully deli- Lilt e d in her beautiful history of Lilly's life and NY's love, that we are sorry to find her making 11. 1 ° I the remar k s t o w hi c h we h ave re f erre d. W e ss bi. already spoken of the very unnatural character ~t h, is Story as a whole -, but though this is We °° 'ten in the excellence of individual parts, le 14Inust, nevertheless, protest against one or 0 4 material blemishes. In the first place, our au ittsie,'," evinces too great a partiality for the horrible 'IN ' 4 mysterious. A writer who does not pos lite,e,nough ability of his own to excite interest, or te,s‘ attention, may, perhaps, be glad to have re - Lo to the adventitious aids of mystery and IS Z s— ea% a gaudy colouring is often thrown over kr,,erior picture, in the hope of disguising its ks 4 . l ' . But Mrs. Crowe has no need of such assiqr get' the most interesting portions of her narratiee is h ose which contain h er na t u r a l delineations of le v u 'al individuals and nat u r a l even ts. We should y4is liked the book far better without the introduc- N 4 q murders—one chapter, the last of the second ttri Ill ei might h ave been most advantageously omit ifs',l, I t is not only very horrible, very revolting in titie but it is very improbable, not to say impos oitiln all its details, and is obnoxious every way. !liei e c murder is less plainly spoken of; it is enve kits 111 mystery—perhaps in order to increase the rat e d qs, s , a mystery indeed bordering upon the liper tligi, for the victim " appears before his . mistress , 47. 4 5 e night of his murder; and Mrs. Crowe, in re -41?;'84.t0 this, gives us to understand that she be tore In the possibility of such appearances ; nay, oath' that she is about to favour us with a volume it , f I,,ze subject, to be denominated " The Night-side t k l ,l attire." Without for a moment presuming to ' '''k t . 11 411 question her ability to write on s"40 ? „ 4 theme, and her power of bringing i'ke i' li t o the most ' convincing arguments as to the s,',. i gn "millions of spiritual beings walk the earth," 'lti ls -n id merely venture to ask, what, after all, will N o ' utility of the endeavour ? For our own part, t ttly„ n ,d much rather receive from Mrs. Crowe, not e l"c volume about the " Night-side of Nature, 7 0, -7 „ ' i nteresting account of the every-day doings of : 'tl,7„ t nettie on Which she is so well qualified to write ; i ti li t td: w ithstandirig all the mystery thrown round the L virar to which we have alluded, the most interest- V,t of the affair connected with it—per re the most interesting part of the whole .s; Is —is the natural and affecting Is le' s "In of • poor 11 , inny s grief for the loss 1 1 ,1 -, lover. We have been particular in can e e t t ntion . to the—to our thinking—great 't 1 0, of this interesting and able work, and ' rht'', 4 done so chiefly on account of the 4 fli, o 'nterest it possesses, and the great ability i:lis:es• In a common-place work faults may be Ole.. t 'd ; they and it will be soon forgotten to "klitil bat when any hook from certain good thorns is likely to be much read, and when its i ls % Will in consequence be likely to produce more, ky ()t it les necessart , to point out i - s faults, both by . 4 hs r , caution to its readers, and counsel to its i v s , Therefore, after bestowing due praise upon ts, r Y natural descriptions of domestic life, upon Oe t ,Y accurate portraits and nice discrimination of ' 'isi."`" to be islet with in " Lilly Dawson," above I'S 'ter , I tici s i 4 vsarding most hearty commendation to the th q , si e r es Inculcated, and the moral impressed by the i s s;:e must express our entire disapproval of all 41 :ttei r dsrs, whether minutely described or darkly s l Ak a ,„ t ; our dissatisfaction with the mysteries, both tl ' 4 se l ',' , s the supernatura l appearance and the pro it t v elations, and our dissent from the remarks arits of women • with these exceptions, . i 1 y D awson" • 1 is l '' sei interesting is, as we have said before, a very I,tis t , ri i nteresting work. The story has been dra -4'li4 and is being performed at the Surrey 4 I tit tqv , k 4 'l 4 . MANAGE AN Ass.-The following i 3 an p a ng ~''' a sort of eccentricity in an ass, but of such i , a s the learned Dogberry could not justly have lii t i,,tta °7 'n an ass in his sense of the word. A k t ‘1 4 , 41, , from whom I received the anecdote, was \' ‘ 11 ,,1i4, (14 v 11 a lane near a town in Norfolk, when he 4 ; 4i B Bl f in company with the following personages ,k 2 , 4: eld wi th a lubberly youth of seventeen or eighteen 'gt h `litili, uPen his back, beating the animal Trost an- Ike Its,„' t with a stick on the head and neck—an old A tL tlis,i'd With a hedge-stake, striking at the hocks tsV s (ISlarters, and a boy of eleven or twelve, also .k,tiN s ,„ tl ekt cutting here and there as opportunity S i C k 9 s , lhe animal was certainly as awkward as an Via r w l " well be, kicking, turning round, and throw liiokl,t upon the raised footpath, at the same time .ta kh 4 si4' t( trusing to stir one step in advance. "Isn't 'li l :' .tom e brute we have got here, Sir?" said the old K o tsr, ) i otesnant, " we have been trying this three g‘i,lllllh,,'' an hour to get him on, and we can't." The t ' ei - t 'id him he would try what he could do, and le t '.'e p m. ', i ar rned the three of their sticks, and laid them ls:s 11 , 0, - "' c"ttimenced a milder course of treatment by It A Nl'''sl! animal on the neck, rubbing his nose, and N t ,:'r ki", i _l i dly to him. He evidently understood this V"i q "-mils for hardly two minutes had elapsed, ir, s 11 litho 7 Is esk i word of command, and a fart well pat on I , t o h ke cantered e ff as gaily as possib:e, with the ki kh a , k ,":s back, and in the proper direction. Now. ki th t gl n , c ase of eccentric temper in an animal. One kis, ll N-• ''' u u fancy that it reasoned in the following kiP ti t4 r, ----% `As this fellow trnats me in a becoming ; ' itti it Ind n conducts himself like a gentleman, I don't 4 ta. the P'? "ck ; but if ever those three blackguards hi t her prtelts should have made me stir one inch k 1i,. 48 5, ( 1 , 15e shot!" Sterne pleaded well in behalf ot th t . ' titliv,g,•ntl,, :•übmissive, and might be made tract V' , , s 4 1 , ', but alas! many years hsve rolled by, and , r ' ‘ ''s!....., ,i ,.';'}', st.l , fe ests on thistles, and not on mac !ol,l itix,,Ai, "s Fumurite flaunts. . e i 1,,,[' . 11, - I . ,, i w t ‘}\ - . 1. RA it.wast.—ltass week, Air. Peto, no ' tt o • li ;' , l , i t 0, : ,:f .i.es priticip,el inana;er, Mr. Beaty, and :Nli. 11 1 4, , 1 '1l (rt . th nizttieer under Mr. Brunel, made a persona: tt e, o kt (it' t h e l e i Cornwall lii e; and on "futt-da last, at :-: . 5ket0e5.,, ,,.1 -art!, it w:s resolved to 1,4 th , ,, contract fot N. T. st is, .resato the al.) , twe eminent eon eittio4 '4,,:lid a Lai It . ew s - t he woresefik West Briton. THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY MORNING, MARCH 31, 4847. TENANT-RIGHT BILL. l The i'ollowing is an abstiaet of Div.harmaa CMS'S • tord'n Bill : The Bill is entitled, a " Bill to senile the rights of occupying tenants in Ireland, and thereby to promote the improvement of the soil, and the employment of the lab, airing classes." The preamble recites that the practice has long existed in L eland of letting land on terminable leases, or at will, witi:out suitable buildings or other appendages, and without any filli:wance in rent for the want thereof, and also without any agreement for improvements to be made, and that this practice ha's led to just complaint on the part of the tenant, on account of his liability to eject ment without any security for compensation for labour and capital expended—thus checking improvement, pre venting employment, and creating violence and disorder. Clausq 1 gives compensation to any ejt cted tenant who &hall have made permanent improvements, for the value of his tenant-right created by such improvements. Clause 2 insets that a tenant claiming under this Act, on reeei%ing notice to quit, or a demand of increased rent, or service of a declaration in ejectments, or within ten days afterwards shall serve a notice in writing of his claim on the landlord, and an offer, in case of terms not being agreed on, to refer matters to arbitration. If agreement not made, landlord to appoint an arbitrator within ten days, to act with the tenant's arbitrator, which two shall appoint a third, and these three, or any two of theta shall settle the amount of compensation. Clause 3 enacts that if the landlord proceed with the process of ejectment, the tenant may prove on trial that the landlord refused to appoint an arbitrator, or that the award was made in his favour, and is not paid ; and then, unless the tenant be settled with, he shall be entitled to judgment in his favour ; but if no award have taken place through default of the arbitrators, the court shall, if required by landlord or tenant, appoint an arbitrator, with power to award ; no hubtre to issue before award paid, and if not paid within time fixed by court judgment to be for the tenant. Clause 4 enacts that if award is not made by arbitra tors according to regulations of this Act, appeal lies to the court, which may:cancel, alter, or amerd the award, or appoint an arbitrator as if no award had La via made. Clause 5 enacts that arbitrators may, if required by the landlord or the tenant, name a fair rent f( r the pre mises; and if landlord accept the tenant at the rent named, and the tenant refuse, the tenant cannot then claim compensation. Rent to be computed by that which a solvent tenant would pay, according to the usual let ting value, not charging an increased rent for buildings erected by tenant at his own cost. Clause 6 enacts that no tenant shall claim tenant-right who cannot show that he has expended labour or capital, so as to increase the value of the premises. Claimant to be in sole occupation, and residing on the premises, which must be in tenantable condition. Clause 7 enacts the mode in which the arbitrators shall proceed in determining the award. Clause 8 enacts the manner in which the value of buildings, and also of improvements of the soil, shall be ascertained, the main principle being that they shall cause a permanent increase of the value of the pro• perty. Clause 9 enacts that the landlord may set off against the tenant's claim any injuries to the property resulting from bad management on the part of the tenant, and also all rent or other debts ; and if an overplus in favour of landlord, he may recover same as rent, or else by action, or by civil bill. Clause 10 enacts that any tenant who shall, after the passing of this. Act, sell or sublet any portion of the premises without — the,. landlords consent in writing, or who shall without the like consent erect houses fur cot tiers, or give ground for the erection of such houses, or bring such persons to inhabit on the premises, ex cept as hired servants, such tenant and the holder of the transferred portions shall fOrfeit all claim to tenant right. Not to be construed to apply to any sub-divi sion or sub-tenantcy created previous to the passing of this Act. Clause 11 regulates the principles by which the ens , torn of tenant-right in Ulster shall be brought within this Act, and enacts that the tenant may tier evidence of the sum which a solvent tenant would give for the right of occupancy, and the arbitrators may make their award without entering into it detailed excraitiation of improvements, which in other cases 'lacy must do, ac cording to the 7th clause. Clause 12 enacts that in case of ejectment for non payment of rent there shall be no claim for comps nsa tion except in two cases—firstly, if landlord shall re fuse to allow tenant to sell his interest; s. cundly, it ttie rent payable exceed by one-tenth tne poor law valuation. Clause 13 enacts that the landlord shall get just credit for the improvements madee at his entire or joint expense, or for which a reduction in r,•nt has taken place. Clause 14 defines the term used in the Act " Tenant" to mean a person in occupation of land let for purposes of agriculture or pasture, but not of land let for building, or in conacre, or for special or temporary purposes, and which shall be held at will or from year to year, or for a life or lives; " Landliord," the person entitled to the immediate possession on the determination of the interest of the tenant ; " Improvements " all buildings and works tending to increase the permanent value of the property ; and "services of notice " may include service by post-office as well Its the service usually adopted in legal transactions—the address to be the last known ad dress, and the letter to admit of being delivered within the time prescribed for the notice being given. Clause 15 limits the Act to Ireland. Clause 16 is the usual alteration and amendment clauses. MURDER IN CAITHNESS. This district has this week been thrown into a state of great excitement, by the commission of one of those dia bolical crimes which are fortunately of extremely rare ocearrence in this county, and, indeed, in the north of Scotland. Isabella Gunn, an old woman, apparently about sixty years of age, living in the Achow of Swiney, in the parish of Latheron, has been made the victim of a most atrocious, yet evidently deliberate murder. Her residence is at the end of the Free School of Achow, situated about two hundred yards from any other dwel ling. O❑ the morning of Sabbath a school is taught, and it is customary on that, as on other mornings, for some of the children to go to her room for fuel to kindle the fire. Accordingly on the morn ing of Sabbath last one of the scholars went for that purpose, and was surprised to find no reply given to the customary salutation. Another of his school-mates speedily followed, and discovered the body of the unfor tunate creature lying under a quantity of straw which had been spread over her. She was dead ! The alarm was immediately raised, and forthwith a number of the neighbours were assembled. They found that the crime of murder had been that morning committed upon the lonely woman, and judged that it could not have been of very late occurrence, as the body was yet warm. The foul deed had evidently been committed by means of strangling, as a pi,ce of rope was found round the neck of th, deceased. _ . _ _ . Immediately on the fact being known to the authori ties, Sheriff Gregg, and Mr. Henderson, procurator fiscal, proceeded to the place, and ectunaenced a judicial investigation into the circumstances connected with the diabolical deed. The body was examined by two medical gentlemen, who found certain parts of the neck tam face of a livid odour, evidently the result of strangling. There were also marks of violence on other parts of the face, one in particular on the chin, where, to all appear ance. an iron instrument had been applied. On one of the hands there was also a blue mak. Several small sums of money, amounting, in all, to upwards of ts%o pounds, were tound 0 different parts of the deceased's person, and lying between the body and the chest. According to a statement said to have been made by her to some neighbours oil Saturday, she had occa sion to le,.ve her hitt for a short time, in the dusk of Friday evening,',and m her return she discovered that some one had °titan - aid admission during tier absence. On entering, she obst-rvt,d, according to our infortna• don, a man in her be i turning over the bedclothes, for the evident purpose of obtaining booty. So soon as he observed he was detected, he threw a small shawl over his f,ice, and made his escape as fast as possible, throw ing away the shawl when he found himself beyond the reach of recognition. No other object can appear to have dictated the com• mission of this foul murder, than to lay hold of the reputed money of the deceased. In this. the perpetrator cannot have been more than partially successful, from the small sums on her person. Some papers belonging to her were also found in an adjoining field. It would appear that a shawl was also found round the deceased's neck, being placed between the rope and the neck. Of course, there are a great many other circumstances which have come to light, during the progress of the investigation, both from the examination of witnesses and otherwise, but, for obvious reasons, in the present state of the precognition, it would be injudicious to record them. It is sufficient to say, that a young man has been apprehended and lodged in jail, under suspicion of being connected with the murder.—John 0' Groat Journal. DONATION FROM THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.—In the published statement of the proceeds of the sale of ladies' work in Dundee lase week, the following entry occurs Hi s Grace the Duke" of Wellington, per a lady, 51." The explana tion of this is, thilt a young lady of that town wrote to his Grace, explaining the object of the sale, and soliciting a few autographs, which, she said, would doubtless find ready and liberal purchasers. His Grace politely declined the request, but enclosed a money subscription instead. Sir William Gossett, Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons, whose illness was announced some time since, has again lately been seriously indisposed. We have much pleasure in stating that within the last few days, he has considerably improved, and that it is expected he will be able to resume his official duties before the close of the session. He is staying at St. Leonards-on-theSea. Colonel Perceval, Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Lords, is absent in Ireland. THE GENERAL FAST.—The Fast Was observed in Dublin, by all classes of Christians, with the solemnity and humbleness of spirit, which one is not surprised, certainly, to witness amongst a people who, however divided in sections, are undoubtedly the most religious portion of the Queen's subjects. The Catholics solem nised the Fast on the same day with their brethren, the Protestants of the Establishment and the Dissenters. And we believe, on that occasion, that for once there was a cordial unity in the prayers of all the people of Ireland.—Dublin Evening Post. Miss iIERSCIIELL.—..4. letter from Hanover says, that on the 16th, Miss Caroline Herschell, sister, and for a long time assistant of the illustrious astronomer, celebrated he 97th anniversary of her birth-day. The King sent to compliment her; the Prince and Princess Royal paid her a and the latter presented her with a magnificent arm -hair, the back d wl, - cli had been embroidered by her Royal I ighoess ; and the Minister of Prussin, in the name of his Sovereign, remitted to her the geld medal awarded for the -xtension of the sciences. Aliss Herschell is herself distin ...uished for astronomical researches. and particularly to:- the construction t f a selenographical globe in relief of the sur •ce of the mo"n. Notwithstanding her advanced age and otirmities ' he still passes se veral hours every day in amtro domical labours, sud nut, uninqueutly spends the whole night a tier observatory. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, Marcia 30. ROYAL ASSENT. The Royal Assent was given to day by Commission, at Four o'ci ek, to the Drainage of Land Bill, the Llynvi Iron Company, and the Whiteburn and Ke!so arid Lauder and Kelso Road Bills. The Lords Commissioners were the Lard Chancellor, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and Lord Monteagle. Their Lordships then adjourned during pleasure. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack at Five o'clock. WATERWORKS CLAUSES BILL. This Bill was read a third ,iriao and passed ; as were also the Gas Works Clauses Bill, the Markets and Fairs Clauses Bill, and the Commissioners il,nises Bid. GOVERNMENT PLAN OF EDUCA HON. The Earl of CLARENDON presented severe,: peti tions, on the part 'of the Marquis of Lansdowne, from congregations of Baptists at Oakham, from Protestant Dissenters at Bucking, in Essex; and from Protestant Dis senters at Eddington, in the con ty of Bedford, against the Government scheme of education. POOR-LAW SE ITLEMENT. The NOBLE EARL also presented a petition from the rector and churchwardens of a parish in the county of Pembroke, praying for a repeal of the Poor-law Settle ment Bill. col e!ors of the income and assessed taxes, praying kr a higher scale of remuneration for their duties. ROYAL ASSENT. The Usher of the Black Rod appeared at the table of the House for the purpose of summoning the Commons to hear the Royal Assent given by commission to several public and private Bills, tor a li,t of which see Lords' report. , _ SECOND READINGS. The following Bills were read a second time : Blackburn Improvement, Market, &c. British Commercial Insurance Company (No. 2). Coventry, Banbury, and Oxford Junction Railway. Dublin Consumers Gras. Falmouth liraterworks. Inverness Harbour and Navigation. Inverness Municipal and Police, &c. Ruthinioes Improvement. Turista!' Paving, Lighting, Cleansing, Watching, Im provement, and Market. SHIPLEY GAS BILL. Mr. GREENE wished to call the attention of the House to a special report from the Committee on the Shipley Gas Bill, showing a direct variance, on the part of the Committee, from the report of the surveying officers appointed under the Act 9 and 10 Vic., c. 106, to make the preliminary inquiries, and moved that the Bill be re-committed. After a few words from air. H. BERKELEY, Mr. HOME moved that the Bill should be referred to a Select Committee up stairs. After a few words from Mr. Brotherton, Sir W. Clay, Dr. Bowring, and Mr. Ag, , lionby, Mr. CARDWELL said, that as a Member of the Privote Bills Committee, he wished to say one word, and he did not wonder that the Hon. Baronet with whom he had served was anxious that the proceedings of the Committee should not be judged by the present case. The circumstances were these : there was a large district which required lighing by gas, and it was desirable by every means to save expense, and with the furtherance of that object the Commissioners had sent down surveying officers to see what really the state of the case was. Their report was in every respect favourable to the object of the petitioners, but it was stated that the population of the district were quite unable to bear any heavy expenses,. and with a view to save the outlay, the Committee had agreed to avoid any of those preliminary expenses which are so frequently made the grand difficulty in obtaining an Act of Parliament. Notwithstanding all this endeavour the Hon. Member for Cockermouth wished the Bill to be treated as an opposed Bill, and this was the way in which the expense was to be saved. He sincerely trusted that the Hon. Member for Lancaster would oppose such a course with all his might. He had only to say that he had personally no interest whatever in the district ; but he could not but observe that he was now not at all sur prised at the way in which the able reports on railways had been treated when they had been made by the Board of Trade. Mr. STRUTT said it was extremely uufair to judge of the utility of those local inquiries by one instance. He should give his support to the original motion, but at the zaine time he did hot wish to cast the slightest slur whatever upon the report of the local officers. After a tew words from Mr. GREENE, Mr. HUME thought if the local surveyors bad been cant(' it would have been satisfactory. But as it was not to be drawn into precedent, he would withdraw his am( ndment. The motion was then agreed to. SUTTON HARBOUR IMPROVEMENT. Mr. STRUTT moved that the Sutton Harbour Im provement Bill be referred to the Commissioners of Riilways, an,' that the said Bill be nut considered in Committee until the Commissioners shall have reported upon the Bills promoted by the London and South- Western Railway Company, in conformity with the res4utions of this House of the 23d day of February. Agreed to. DUBLIN IMPROVEMENT BILL• Oti the motion for the second reaJing of this Bill, Mr. GREGORY begged Mr. Smith O'Brien to post pone the second reac,ing till after Easter, in consequence of the absence of certain returns which be had moved for rehvive to the Bill, and he moved accordingly. Mr. GROGAN seconded the motion. Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN had no objection to the post ponetnent ot the Bill it the Government considered such a course advisable. Mr. I). BROWNE opposed the postponement. There had been no reason given to justify it. 'The corporation of Dublin, who were the promoters of :he measure, re pre,;en.ed a constituency of 200,000 persons, and they t.ere very desirous to have it carried into eift et. He thought, therefore, it would be a great injustice to them If it were postponed, and would had to the belief, already strongly impressed on them, that if it were postpon , d, and would lead to the belief, already strongly impressed on them, that there was one law for Ireland, and anuther for this cuuntrv. Mr. HERBERT was in favour of postponement, that they might have an opportunity of reading the evi dence, so as to enable them to come to a proper conclusion on the merits of the Bill. Mr. LABOUCHEItE said he should not have inter posed to prevent the Hon. Gentleman from pursuing the course he had thought proper to adopt, but he (Mr. Labouchere) must say that he still adhered to his opinions on the subject, and he was prepared to give his assent to the principle of the Bill. He conceived that the principle involved in the Bill was, whether or no the city of Dublin, the second city of the United King dom, should have municipal privileges equal to the cities in this country, and to which they were so justly entitled. There were some of the positions put forward by the corporation of Dublin to which he could not assent, but he was told that they were ready to withdraw what was objectionable. He would take this opportunity of stating that he held in !his hand a petition, signed most numerously by the inhabitants of Dublin, in favour of this Bill. He was prepared to proceed in that course which had for its object the improvement of the municipal. condition of the Corporation of Dublin. The Earl of LINCOLN said that the Bill stood at present before the House in this position. At the sug gestion of the Honourable Gentleman the Member for Montrose, the Noble Lord at the head of the Woods and Forests commissioned two gentlemen to investigate this subject, and they, after a careful examination into every point, reported most strongly against the Bill. Now, surely this was a prima facie case against the Bill. His Hon. Friend did not call upon them to reject this Bill, but he said they ought to ascertain the facts that had influenced thoSe gentlemen in coming to a decision before they came to . a decision in f a v our o f this Bill. He thought that they should ascertain what the circum stances had been that had influenced the promoters. Now, he should like to see the evidence before he would say that the report was borne out. If the Right lioneursible Geutleman had carefully considered the subject he , would be aware that these powers were, in a great majority of instances, not vested in the muni cipal corporatiOn. Until very lately in Liverpool the powers for paring and lighting were not vested in the municipal corporation. It was a monstrous proposal to say, after porsons had been appointed under the Act to make a legislative investigation of this subject, for shouLlltriP°Lostehoaf saving g to ex h pse to e c a n ran the express P that they further r t e i v e i: s deuce upon the subject. He should therefore support the motion fur the postponement. Lord NIORP EHI did not wish to extend the dis cessieu, and he rose to suggest, as the evidence was not yet printed, that the tux titer consideration of the Bill be postponed tall after Easter. At the same time, he might remark, that Ili the second reading was now agreed to, it v.,.ttld not b 4 against the usual course adopted in reference to private Bills, even when it was necessary that the evidenco should be printed. Mr. H si F. dhou g ht it was desirable to postpone the second reading 6t the Bill. He would certainly advise that until the e‘lideuce was printed and placed in the hand.. f Metub , rs of the House. Mr. M. J. O'CONNELL hoped that the suggestion tor the puss pohein-ht would be agreed to. Mr. S. O'BRIII.N said, as the House appeared to be in favour of the postponement of the Bill, he would nut press the second reading at present. Tue tnsasure was accordingly postponed till after Easter CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY (No. 2) (EXTENSION AT CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD) BILL. On the motion that this Bill be read a second time. A short discussion ensued, in which Lord Sandon, Mr. W. 0. Stanley, and Mr. R. Collett, took part, The Bill was read a second time. STEAM COMMUNICATION BETWEEN LONDON C. FA-elan-erne: , on the subject of such correspondence. Agreed to. SUPPRESSION OF SEDUCTION AND PROSTI TUTION. Mr. SPOONER presented two petitions from congre gations in Bradford, praying for a measure to suppress trading in seduction, and for the better protection of fe.males. Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR presented five peti tions to the same effect. MERCHANT SEAMAN'S FUND. Mr. AGLIONBY wished to ask a question before the order of the day was gone into. It was one of the greatest importance to the public, and had reference to the Merchant Seaman's Fund some days ago, he had been led to understand that a Commission of inquiry was about to be issued, and he wished to know if such were the fact. Captain BERKELEY said that he had every reason to suppose that the Commission would immediately be issued and the inquiry gone into. BILL TO SUPPRESS TRADING IN SEDUCTION AND PROSTITUTION. Mr. SPOONER then proceeded to ask leave to intro duce the Bill of which he had given notice for the sup pression of the trading in seduction, and for the better protection of females. He eould assure them that he felt great difficulty in bringing the question under the rp,tice of the House, as he was persuaded be could not do it that justice it deserved. He would have been better satisfied had the measure been placed in abler hands, and if the Members of the Government opposite had taken it under their protection. There existed in the metropolis an association— Mr. GRANTLEY BERKELEY—Sir, I rise to a point of order. The Hon. Member, to make good his case, must bring before the House matters and details which are altogether unfit for publication. I therefore call the attention of the House to the fact that there are strangers in both galleries. The Galleries were then cleared, and the debate pro ceeded with dosed doors. HEALTH OF TOWNS BILL. On our re-admission to the gallery of the House, we found Lord MORPETH moving for leave to bring in a Bill for the establishing regulations for the improvement of the health of towns. This he observed was no new sub ject, for it had been repeatedly brought under the notice of the legislature, and more especially of late by the re ports of Dr. Arnott, early in 1838 ; again, in January, 1839, by a report of Dr. Southwood Smith ; again, in August, 1839, a general report was made to the House by commissioners engaged to investigate the state of the country ; in January, 1840, a return had been made under the commission authorised by the Marquis of Normanby ; again, in 1842, there was a report of the general sanatory condition of Great Britain ; again, there were similar reports in 1843, 1844, 1845, and again there was a second report made by the commissioners. In 1845 the Earl of Lincoln had presented a report to the House on the state of health in towns, and from this report he would read a summary, so that the House might see that an amount of labour had been expended on this subject, and who had contributed to furnish the facts on which he desired that they should legislate. He was the more desirous that this should be made known to the House, as by that it would be perceived that he had been no party to the accumulation of these facts, but that he was come in, as he trusted, at the last hour, to the accomplishment of an important object, though he was not the party entitled to the credit of its achieve ment. He would place before the House the circum stances which, whether they were viewed in their political, social, or statistical aspect, were worthy of the gravest consideration. But in doing this he should only take the primary features, and reserve the details till some future opportunity, but he felt that he could not do anything like justice to the subject, or pro perly lay this matter before the Legislature, without stating some of the evils which had resulted from the neglect of the itni ortant measure which he had now to introduce. lie was quite aware that there were some persons in that. House with whom he was not so fortu• nate.as to agree that it was nut the duty of the Legisla ture to take any steps for directing or improving the public mind. But if there was any question on the subject of education, there could be none upon the sub ject that it was the bounden duty of the Legislature to overlook, superintend, and provide for those physical and external necessities, under any circumstances, which might materially affect the health and the happiness of a . 1 eople ; nor did he feel that there was anything that could justify their dispensing with attention in this way to the welfare of the people, or that would exonerate them from hringiug these matters forward ; nor s'iould he re frain from doing so with all the powers he could command. He found by the statement of Mr. Guy—the gentleman who had been appointed to make a report of the com parative health of town and country districts, and who, for his extensive hospital practice, had a most complete knowledge of the subject to which his attention had been directed—he found by the statement of that gen tleman to the Registrar General, that in the country districts, where the population only have the proportion of 199 to the square mile, the number of deaths was 19,300, while in the town districts, where the population was 5,108 to the square mile, the number of deaths amounted to 27,900; thus showing an excess in towns of upwards of 8,000 deaths that might have been avoided. The rate of mortality in country districts was 1 in 52, while in towns it was 1 in 37. He was aware that this might be said to be the case of particular places; but the present rate of mortality throughout England was 1 in 45; while in the Isle of Wight it was 1 in 58, an d in the sle of Anglesea in was 1 in 62; but iu London, instead of being 1 in 58, or I in 62, it was 1 in 39. In Leeds and Birmingham it was 1 in 37; in Sheffield it was 1 in 33; in Bristol 1 in 32; in Manchester 1 in 31, and in Liverpool, which he regretted to perceive, en joyed a bad pre-eminence, instead of being 1 in 58 or 62, as it was in the healthy islands to which he had referred, it was 1 in 29. So that it followed, that in this capital the greater number of inhabitants, as com pared with the rest of England, were deprived of eight years of their lives, and in Liverpool they were, accord ing to this statement, deprived of nineteen years of existence. The population of the great towns is com puted at 4,000,000, so that the loss of life throughout the whole of the country was not less than 31,000 or 32,000 annually. But all towns did not exhibit the same rate as Liverpool. The average loss of life in that town was about 38 in a thousand per annum. In Manchester it is 32 in a thousand ; in Carlisle it is 32 ; in Halifax and Kidderminster it is 21 in a thousand. If he turned to the mortality of the counties he found the same rule to hold, for among the Cornish miners and in some parts of Wiltshire the average is 49 in a thousand ; while the mortality in Lancashire is as high as 36 in a thousand. In Lancashire the general average is 32, and in Liverpool it was only 23. The general average of consumption throughout England is 105 lbs. of butchers meat, while in Manchester the aggregate amount is only 201bs. for each person per annum. In manufacturing towns, the deaths from parti cular diseases was 1 in 13 of the general population, while in the country it is only 1 in 54. During the prevalence of the cholera, the deaths in Manchester daily were 343, while in the country the nu.nber was 50, so that no less than 4,700 lives would have been saved, had the improvements devised by the Government been brought into play. The whole result of these calcu lations was, that the average of deaths in Great Britain, was 46 in 1,000 in the country, and 54 in 1,000 in the towns, showing that not less than 14,949 lives had been sacrificed by the want of these sanatory regulations, or one-seventh of the whole number of deaths that had occurred in the country. This was Mr. Guy's opinion. Nor was Dr. Southwood Smith less explicit in the state meat of his opinion, expressing his belief in the state ment which he had made to the Registrar-General that the whole of the evils endured were to be ascribed to bad sewerage, the want of water, the want of sca vengers, and the consequent accumulation of filth and the generation of pestiferous miasma. They mightform some idea of the evil which the Sewerage Commis sioners had been unable to remedy, that in the worst districts, out of 16,000 cases of fever, upwards of 150 out of every 200 had been occasioned by the prevalence of the causes which he had stated : and throughout the country not less than 700,000 unnecessary cases of fever had occurred from this cause, and not less than 10,000 deaths. According to the regulation of the Registrar- General, the whole of the country was divided into three provinces, with ten districts in each, to ascertain the rate of mortality. In ten of the healthiest districts, where the quantity of ground allowed to each person was 202 square yards, the annual rate of mortality is 1 in 49. In ten of the medium districts where the quantity of ground for each person is 102 square yards, the rate of mortality is l in 39, and in the worst districts it is one in 36. The Rev. Mr. Kay, of Preston, who had paid great attention to this subject, had divided the several districts into four classes, and he found that in the healthiest districts the annual average of deaths is 15 in 100; in the bad districts it is 38 in 100; and in the worst districts it is 44 in 100. In the parish of St. George's, Hanover-square, the annual average period at which those in the upper classes die, is 45 years, while among the labouring classes the average period of death is 27 years. In St. Giles's, and the neighbouring parish, the usual term of life among those connected with the gentry is 40, while among the labour ing classes it is only 17 years. In Liverpool, the usual average period of death, among the upper classes, is 35, while among the pourer inhabitants it is only 15 years. For the sake of convenience, the whole of the country is divided into 103 districts by the Re gistrar-General, and it appeared by the last report hut one, which was rendered on June 30, in last year, that during the three years preceding, as many as 33,000 deaths had been occasioned by the bad drainage of towns, and that a thousand persons were an nually destroyed by miasma, which brought on cholera. dysentery and diarrhoea. In June, 1840, it appeared from the reports, that from the deficiency of the drain age of the ground areas, there was a constant diffusion of malaria and volatile poisons arising from the stagnant ditches which surrounded London as other towns are surrounded by walls. In Sheffield and Liverpool the number of deaths was one-third more from this cause, than it was in London, and the mortality was ra pidly increasing. The deaths had increased, upon the the previous year in 1845 by 14 per cent. The Noble Lord then went through a series of statements of the number of deaths which had occurred in Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool, and the other chief places in the country, to show the excess, the repetition of which is ould only be a dry detail of a mass of figures, and the result of which was to show that the increase would soon amount to more than double the mortality which had been suffered in previous years. This was not to be wondered at when the nature of the summer which we had had was taken into consideration, and the state of (lie crowded lanes and dirty streets, which were con stantly throwing out a mass of poisonous miasma, and there was little doubt that if we were to have a summer like the last, that this mortality would be frightfully n creased. The deaths of infants and of youeg children e ere frightfully numerous. In Liverpool, out of 23,000 deaths, more than 5;000 were of children under : five 3 care of age, and in another place out of 21,152, there were as many as 7,726 under seven years o!d. In Manchester alone. there had been as many as 13,362 who . had died in infancy and early child hood within a . very brief pe r i o d ; and in Liverpool the deaths were not less numerous. And he regretted to say, that by the last returns the sbiternerife were not less melancholy or important. He would now turn to the de tails of the measure which they meant to p ro p ose f or t h e amendment of this growing and ;erious evil. When Lord Lincoln had first introduced a measure for improving the sanatory condition of towns he had truly stated, that with the onerous duties pressing upon the attention of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, even with the assistance of the Committee of Privy Council it would be utterly impossible for him. even did the person holding that high office possess all the qualities of the Right Hon. Baronet who held it under the late administration, or of his Right Hon. Friend who now filled that post—it would be utterlyim possible for him to attend to the duties which this Bill Would impose. To the general care of the internal Government of England, Scotland, and Ireland was added the general superintendence of the police, the care of prison discipline, and the ultimate administration of the poor-law. The Privy Council too, he was sorry to say, was not at the present moment in the highest favour with the people. If, therefore, the business in hand was important enough, and happened to be specially connected with some other duties and functions, it might be important enough to justify the constitution of a medical board for the purpose, framed very much upon the same footing as the railway board of last session, composed of five members, three of them to be paid, and the others, mem bers of the Government, receiving no pay ; and the person who filled the office which he had then the honour to hold, should be the ex-officio chairman of that board. This board of health should be empowered, either upon petition or otherwise, to direct an inquiry into what was termed the sanatory condition of any town or district. They should be empowered to appoint inspectors upon recommendation, who should go down to these dis tricts and institute the necessary inquiries ; who should make and direct surveys, and point out the direction of streams and water courses, and define what should be the proper area of any work which was to be carried out, if there should be a case of neces sity for it. On receiving and considering this report, the board of health would recommend that an order in Council should issue, conferring the necessary powers upon the local administration. Now what were these powers, and what was that administration to be ? With respect to these powers, he should revert entirely to the old constitutional foundation, which he found exercised by the commissioners of sewers, and which was originally brought forward in an Act passed in the reign of Henry Bth. As these powers were exercised by the commissioners, they did not provide sufficiently for the construction of house drains in connexion with the main sewers, or furnish a proper supply of water. That was the cardinal point on whit h all the recommendations of all the various boards had been founded. What was to be done to a house were these powers of sewerage, drainage, cleansing, &c., to be entrusted to the occupier? He would just mention that he should not find it neces sary to embody all the provisions respecting these various functions in the present Bill. These were com prehended in the Bills which were drawn up in pursu ance of a resolution of a committee of this House last session, and brought forward in the present session and passed. Was it right to combine these powers in the control and superintendence of our local ad ministrative body ? What was that body to be ? Lord Lincoln's Bill provided for a new electoral body, and that certain districts and wards should be made for the purpose of these elections. He thought that they had had almost enough of elections, and it would be hardly desirable to bring forward any new system for the formation of a body especially analagous to the town councils. They would be comprised of, and elected by, the same sort of persons—their attention would be directed to many similar objects, and on ac count of that very similarity they were more likely to be jealous—counteracting and mutually repellent bodies. Some had suggested a direct nomination from the Crown, but he thought there would be reason to fear the antagonism of those bu ies chosen by ti e p eo pl e . The system should be frame , •n such a way as to i n d uce activity, energy, and practicer, philanthropy, and a de ll sire to benefit the respective communities of these bodies. The functions otdraining, clesnsing,and sewer age seemed to be the appropriate function ofa municipal corporation.— (Hear, hear.) It was true that when these corporations were first appointed there was much jealousy springing up, but that evil was de creasing.—(hear, hear.) It had been caused by these bodies feeling themselves intrusted with extraordinary powers of which, by the ordinary reaction that attended human affairs, they became jealous. They had, however, selected the town councils as the parties most free from objections, and he had reason to believe, that the more useful functions that were intrusted to these councils, the more useful would be the men who joined them. With regard to large pieces of wood land, where an appropriate outlet for drainage of the district could be found, these councils _would have power, under the sanction of a higher authority, of appropriating part of it with regard to those towns in which the Corpora tion Act was not in force, and there were very large places in that condition. He had at first intended to adhere to the practice of which they had an example in the com missioners of sewers, and that they should be constituted by direct nomination from the commissioners, but he now proposed that in such towns and cities the com missioners should be elected by the rate-payers, and the Crown on the representation of the Board of Health should nominate one-third of the number chosen by public election. With regard to the application of this Bill to Ireland and Scotland, he hoped that these gentle men who had the superintendence of the general affairs of those countries would adopt the Bill. He did not think it advisable to embody such a regulation for three countries in one Act. He proposed that as soon as this Act was passed, all existing commissioners and trustees should be abolished. His object was that all conflicting jurisdiction should cease, and for this purpose it was neces sary that all local commissioners and trustees should cease. The recommendations went on to state that all works should be undertaken by competent and impartial persons, complete surveys of the proposed works should be made, and all works performed by contract, and paid for by the public board. These recommendations it was proposed by the Government to carry out in the pro posed Bill. Medical inspectors would also be appointed under the Act, whose duty it would be to visit all portions of the districts consigned to them. Local sur veyors would also be appointed by the 'lowa Council, and approved of by the public board, to see that the works were all properly performed. An inspector of nuisance would also be appointed. Provision would also be made in the Bill to put down the smoke nuisance by the proper building and ventilation of the houses to be built. With respect to a sufficient supply of water he thought that it was a fact not to be disputed that tubular sewers and a constant and sufficient supply of water were absolutely essential to procure good sewerage. The Noble Lord then went on to read reports from Dr. Hale, Dr. Robertson, Mr. Hawkesley, and other me dical gentlemen, showing the insufficient supply, and the bad nature, of the water supplied to numerous places in the country, and urging the necessity of con veying water to every house, and not to allow the per sons to make long journeys to the springs, or reservoirs, for the purpose of obtaining it. It seemed, said the Noble Lord, that they had not much advanced in this respect since the days of Andromache, who had " to bring water from Ilyperia's well." All these altera tions it could not be supposed could be carried out with out additional rates, but he did not suppose that the benefits to be obtained under this Act would be dearly purchased by the imposition of' a small additional rate.—(Bear, hear.) The Noble Lord then went on to allude to the calculations of Dr. Lyon, Dr. Play fair, Mr. Coke, Mr. Smith, of Deanstown, eir. Ref itted, Mr. Gardiner, and other eminent persons. on the subject of the immense lose which the country sustained by the operation of the present inefficient sanatory regulations, by the expenses of medical at tendance, premature deaths, and . the rates of mortality, and also the immense sums loste to the country by al lowing the refuse or manure of the country to run away in water. In conclusion, the Noble Lord sand that he could assure the House that the measure had been dr.iwn up with the utmost consideration by the Gover nment, and with a sole desire to make it beneficial to the interests of the public, and ha would be most thankful if the measure, and the consideration which it would receive from Parliament, and the ultimate sanction which he hoped it might obtain from the Crown, should be useful in carrying out to sonic degree the a i m o f t h e Government. That aim was to diminish as far as in them lay those noxious . infl uences w i thin their reach, which now so panitully affli c t e d t h e large majority of theinhabitants of the towns and c i t i es i n t hi s great empire, and which proved the never-failing source of uncleanliness and disease. To counteract these noxious influences they proposed to let in a flood of pure air and pure water, and by thus doing, diminish, as far as they could, the prevalence of those epidemic diseases which had now and then shown themselves with such fearful ravages. The object of the Government in the present measure was to wage war wherever they could against filth, stench, and miasma, and its sure tenden cies and consequencies—bodily weakness, langour, fever, and death-dealing pestilence—and thus, as they hoped, be instrumental in lengthening the lives and adding to the happiness of all classes of her Majesty's subjects in these realms. lie would move for leave to introduce the Bill. Mr. MACKINNON thought the Government entitled to the greatest praise for bringing forward the present measure, and he begged to tender his thanks, on his own account and those of his supporters, for the very com prehensive measure they had introduced. The Noble Lord was nut, perhaps, aware of the great difficulties he would have to contend with in his contest against the existing corporations of the country, and more especially those of the metropolis; he, however, wished him most heartily all the success which the Noble Lore's most sanguine wishes might lead him to anticipate. He should like to know the Noble Lord's intention with regard to the removal of cemeteries from large towns, and he hoped he would explain the intentions of her Majesty's Go vernment on this subject, as the proposed measure did not deal with it. Lord MORPETH said that a measure for that pur purpose was under consideration. The Earl of LINCOLN said, that though his previous knowledge of the subjects just brought under the consi deration of the House by the Noble Lord, was such as to enable him to address himselt to the various points re ferred to, he would defer it to a future occasion going into the subject at length. He would take the liberty, however, of saying, with regard to the obiervations of :he Hon. Member for Leamington (ND-. Mackinnon) that the proposed measure was not more comprehensive tha❑ the one which he (Lord Lin coln) had the honour to submit to the House about two years ago. He was of Opinion that it interfered too minutely with local affairs, and carried out the principle of centralisation too far. The Noble Lord proposed to constitute a now board of paid commissioners to carry out the arranz , ments, the organ of Which in the House was to be the Chief Commissioner or Woods and Forests. - He believed the result of this arrangement would be, that the Chief Commissio ner wou ld b e i nvolved in a multiplicity of occupations to Rhich he could not efficiently attend. Be had a very great eljectiun on principle to the construc tion of new boards. He thought, moreover, when it was proposed to devise a great scheme for the gooAof the • 4 . country, and to construct a l arge mac hi nery, they had • a right to know what were the Peculiar functions to be ‘-- discharged by that board. Before the second reading of 7 - - x .ASAILIi the Bill he would call upon the Noble Lt.rd for an ex= planation on this point. Mr. AGLIONBY spoke in favour of the general pro vi.ions of the Bill. He, however, considered that a Committee of the House of Commons was the very worst tribunal that such subjects could be referred to, by reason of the expense which they created. The rate payers themselves ought to manage their own business. Mr. GREENE said that the private Bills on the table of the House should be suspended until the pro visions of the Bill were carried out. Sir WM. CLAY desired to add his approbation to that of the Noble Lord opposite in favour of this Bill ; he, however, considered that it was inexpedient to include the ..metropolis. The Noble Lord would have to dissolve some hundred local boards, many of them possessing the confidence of their con stituencies and popular, he was of opinion, therefore, that the Noble Lord had not calculated the difficulty of the task which he had undertaken to perform. He would support the Bill, but he would entreat that ample time would be given to the great interests involved. Mr. HUME hoped that, as soon as the House met, the Noble Lord would forthwith proceed with the Bill, fifteen days would be enough to give to the interests affected. The object of the Bill was to afford accommo dation to those who had been neglected heretofore. He considered it, therefore, the duty of the House to support the Noble Lord, in opposition to those selfish interests which always interposed between great and permanent improvements. Mr. BROTIIERTON could not refrain from offering his tribute of thanks to the Noble Lord for having brought the measure forward. He had no doubt diffi culties would be met with, but as the Noble Lord must have the co-operation of the whole country, he was sure they would be overcome. Sir. P. HOWARD thought that all private measures upon this subject ought to be withdrawn until this general Bill was passed. He approved of the measure as a whole, but he hoped the suggestion of his Hon. Friend the Member for Lancashire would be adopted, and that Government would announce before the recess their intention with respect to the private measures upon this subject. Leave was then given to bring in the Bill. Mr. C. O'BRIEN asked the Secretary for Ireland why the return of the number of extraordinary sessions held in each barony in the county of Clare, under the Act 9 and 10 Vic., c. 107, with the schedules and other infor mation in the order of the 9th day of March particularly mentioned, has not been laid on the table of this House, in obedience to said order. Mr. LABOUCHERE said, the officers of the Board of Works were most anxious to give the House every information upon subjects connected with their opera- tions, and no time would be lost in supplying the return required. As yet, however, sufficient time had not elapsed to admit of the return being got ready. Mr. C. O'BRIEN moved that the several petitions from the relief committees of Liscannor, Killilagh and Ktlshanny, Ennistymon and Clooney, and Kilfenora and Kiltonarta, in the county of Clare (presented 23d Feb ruary and Ist and 9th March), be referred to the Select Committee on Captain Wynne's case.—Agreed to. Mr. HUME moved for returns from the Parlia mentary Trustees of the River Clyde and Harbour of Glasgow, of the amount paid or agreed to be paid by the trustees, on or before the Ist day of April, 1847, for land and compensation, under the powers of the Act 3 and 4 Victoria, c. 118, passed the 4th day of August, 1840, and the amount paid for the construction of works authorised by the said Act ; also, the number of square yards of ground so paid for, or agreed to be paid. Of the amount of tonnage or other dues, levied by the trustees on steam vessels plying ke , teveen the harbour of Glasgow, and ports or places on the River or Forth of Clyde, during the year ending the Bth day of July, 1846. Of the names of all ports and places from which sailing vessels have arrived during the yer ending the Bth day of July, 1846 ; also the number of vessels, and total tonnage, arriving from each port and place. Similar return of departures. Of the name of each vessel arriv ing at or departingjrom the harbour of Glasgow during the year ending the Bth day of July, 1846; a!so the ton nage and draught of 'water of each vebsel, with the num ber of times that each vessel has arrived during that period, and the average time she remained in harbour between arrival and departure. Abstract account of the revenue, expenditure, surplus, or deficiency, stating the amount of the debt of the Trust, fen each of the years ending the Bth day of July, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846. List of the number of vessels (both sailing and steam), lying in the harbour of Glasgow for each day of any seven consecutive days after this date and previous to the 21st day of April, 1847. Agreed to. Mr. CORNELIUS O'BRIEN moved for copies of the presentments made or passed by the magistrates and rate payers of the Extraordinary Sessions held at Corofin, for the barony of Inchiquin, in the county of Clare, on the 30th day of November, 1846, and at Ennistymon for the barony of Corcomroe in the same county, on the 4th day of December in the same year, both being for reproductive works, under Mr. Labou chere's Letter of the sth day of October, 1846, and which were sent to the Under Secretary for Ireland, or to tho Board of Works ; and though included in the Order of the 11th day of February last, are not amongst the papers laid on the table, pursuant to the said Order, whether sanctioned or not. Mr. LABOUCHERE said the return required bad already been moved for, and laid upon the table of the House, but there might be some confusion of dates, and ho would make inquiry as to whether that were the case or not. Mr. C. O'BRIEN, under these circumstances, con sented to withdraw his motion for the present. Mr. CHRISTIE, at the request of Sir G. Grey, postponed his motion for returns connected with the ad ministration of the poor-laws. ARMY SERVICE BILL. On the question being put for going into Committee on the Bill, Sir H. DOUGLAS rose, pursuant to notice, to move that the Bill be committed that day six months. The Bill was disapproved of by the highest authority upon subjects connected with the army. The Commander-in chief, it was admitted, altogether disapproved,of it. Had that distinguished personage not done so, perhaps he should not have felt himself called upon to support it. But it was disapproved of not only by the Com mander-in-Chief, but also by almost every eminent officer in the army, and before he sat down he would endeavour to show that they lead good grounds for doing so. In the first place he would consider what effect this Bill would have upon the army generally. Now in 1842 a Bill was passed for partially limiting the time of enlistment, and then it was contended that the measure would tend to add to the comfort of the soldier, and increase the efficiency of the army, but experience and subsequent results had proved such views to be erroneous. Let them inquire into the new arrangements proposed. What were the inducements to be held out to the re cruits? They were to be first enlisted for ten years, and then if a soldier thought fit he might again enlist till he had been in service twenty-cue years, when he could retire with a pension. If he retired at the end of ten years he was subject to be called out for twelve days every year to be drilled along with those who were re ceiving pensions from the country. This drilling he was called on to perform for the purpose of filling the glorious post, it would seem, of standing behind stone walls to defend the country in the case of an invasion. He considered it a perfect raockery to suppose that such an arrangement would gAl,s would t n r i e be en d b pf e aro t (r,i t ,e e fer ; oi c alei l l p a t leg s ) of r s notl3o, ea agw s r o shs l io d et l i hel e effi r r s hee , ea was a iac nd osoautshe o bs entwhonateos present At his ld assent, for he considered whatever the time of enli:t ment might be, that at the end of it there ought to be pension. He thought that, if a soldier had served twenty -one years, he should at least have a shilling a day, and if for fourteen or fifteen years, fourpence or sixpence at least; but in no case should there be any discharge without a pension. Let .thern do this, and, in his opinion, they would do more to elevate the army than by any other course they could adopt. Such was the plan he would recommend, and if ha failed in arresting the progress of the Bill in its present stage, then he should move amend ments to this effect in the Committee. While speaking on this question, he might remark, that since he lust ad dressed the House on the subject, he had received com. munications from a great number of persons in the army who all sought to have pensions allowed for a regular period of service, but none of theau seemed to be in favour of the short period of service without a pension. Now while they talked of getting a superior class of sol diers by this Bill, he would remark that it would not be possible for them to get better ones than now. At present the army was recruited from the very best sources. He found that out of every 1,000 recruits, 6 4 3 were agriculturists, who made the very best soldiers. About 300 out of every 1,000 were from the artizan and mechanic class, who made good soldiers, but not so good as the former. 43 out of every 1,000 were shopmen and clerks, and these made very bad soldiers.—(Hear, hear.) Gentlemen's sons, professional gentlemen, licentiates of law, &c., made the very worst soldiers of all. In fact, the higher they went in the scale of society, the w . c ount of the wors e soldiers they made, as it w as fo un d that those from out of the better classes were those in the decadence of life, who enlisted on ae l d la i n ffi t cu N l lteiem then difficulties they they wereoceedP ed to placed r e i a n d . The Hon. and Gallant e xtracts from certain l e tt ers, to show the bad effects which had resulted from the passing of Mr. Wyndham's limited was enlistment s o superior, Aet The reason why the British soldier in physical energy, to the 501- dier of the Continental nations, was, that the conscrip tion of these latter countries gave no libel ty of sekction while the voluntary enlistment of the agricultur a l la bourer o f this country affOrded every oppm tunity for the enlistment of the best men. He need only, in sup port of this assertion, instance the many cases in which they had driven thrice there own number before them. I Ho believed that the number of men who volunteered last year to remain in . I.edia was upwards of 2,000. The soldier desi re d to remain in India because ho was a sol dier, but he thought that they ought not to permit him to do so if they were to adopt the limited term of enlist ment. Supposing, for instance, a regiment in an un healthy climate—the West Indies, for example—they would actually be incapacitating the man 6,r his future duty. He regretted that the Chancellor of the Exche quer was not in the House, as he had saine remarks to make which would have been of importance ; but he might say that it was well worth the attention of the Government that the expense of removals under the 7.1 1 • IN • - • ` AND HARWICH. Mr. GOULBURN said he held in his hand petitions sinned by the pl. incipal merchants of Russia, Prussia, and other continental countries, praying for a railway communication between the port of Harwich and London. He also held in his hand a petition from the inhabitants of Harwich to the same effect. GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. Mr. CRAVEN BERKELEY presented a petition from the Dean of Windsor against the Windsor and Great Western Railway. NOTICES OF :UOTIONS.-PROVINCIAL BEER SELLERS. till twelve ..___ Mr. SPOON ER, (in the absence of his colle ague Mr. e A n tu ab n i t e z) ti g le av p e ro n v o i t n ic e , L i o b f r h e i w s e i r n s ten to tio k n ee to p b o r p i e n n g in a Bill to o'clock, as was till,:iwed to the metropolitan brewers. CHARITABLE TRUSTS. Mr. HUME gave notice of his intention to move for leave to bring in a Bill tor the better administration of charitable trusts in England and Wales. MALT DUTY. _ _ Population Mr. BOND CA - J - 13 — EL moved for an address f or ac• counts of the amount of duty charged upon malt, the number of quarters of malt upon which such d uty was charged, and the population of England aril Wales in the year 1700 ; of the amount of duty charged upon m s a u l e t h , d th u e ty n w u e m s be e r ha o r t g . e q u, uar a t u e d rs t o h f e malt upon of the United Kingdom in each year, during th e years 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, and 18 46, respectively ; of the amount of money received from the duty on malt, and the net amount available for the public revenue, in each year, during the years 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, and 1846 respectively ; returns of the number of beer-shops licensed to sell beer to be drunk upon the premises, in each of such years respec tively ; of the number of acres of land now lying waste, uncultivated, and uninclosod in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland respectively.—Agreed to. FOREIGN LOANS. Mr. DISRAELY moved that au address he presented to her Majesty, praying that she will be graciously pleased to lay before this House, copies of, or extracts from, any correspondence between her Majesty's Secre tary of State, or written at. his desire, and the Govern ments of Spain, Portugal, Greece, Mexico, and the States of Sou h America, respecting loans made by Biitish subjects to those G-overnments. Also, copies of any COMU2UU/ClitiollB made to British claimants from the POOR REMOVAL. The NOBLE EARL also presented a petition from the guardians of the poor of the Bath Union praying for a repeal of the Poor Removal Act, passed last session. ELECTORAL DIVISIONS.—POOR RELIEF (IRELAND). The NOBLE EARL then presented a petition from the aldermen and corporation of Cork against the system of electoral division in the proposed Poor Relief Act. GOVERNMENT PLAN OF EDUCATION. Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the teachers of a Sunday-school at Salem, in the county of Dorset, against the proposed Government measure of education. POOR-LAW SETTLEMENT. The NOBLE LORD also presented a petition from the inhabitants of Sheptonllett, praying for au altera tion of the law of settlement ; also a petition from the board of guardians in Glamorgan upon the same subject. BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY LAWS. The NOBLE LORD wished to correct a statement which had appeared in one of the Sunday papers, to the effect that he had changed his opinions with respect to arrest on m( sne process. The statement in question had caused him considerable annoyance by the number of letters which he had received upon the subject from persons who were at present under arrest, and whose intention it was to take the benefit of the existing Acts. But it was possible that the wrong construction of the Act by the Commissioners might have worked the effect of which the complaint was made. The Conamissioners had a power to imprison for twenty days, and in some instances for forty days, and it appeared that in some cases the power had been overstretched. This was cer tainly an evil, but it might very probably lead to the ab,lition, the more complete abolition ofimprisonment for debt. He had received a communication from Nottingham in which it was stated that the labourers had a right to support from the produce of the laud. Now he had not been able to pay much attention to the matter of this communication, and the petition on which it was based, but thus) much he might say, that, in his opinion, the labouring poor were entitled just equally to support from the whole of the natienal capital—from the funds, stock in trade, and all other capital of which the country is possessed. The only title which any poor rimn had, in his opinion, was upon the produce of his own work. It was the primeval curse, inflicted by a higher power than man, that he should obtain his bread from Le sweat of his brow, and he (Lord Brougham) thought th .t it was perfectly right that it sho u ld b e so; for he la lieved that if there was no such condition imposed there would be but little work per formed. The Bi.hop of LONDON—Surely his Noble and Learned Friend did not mean to say that no person was to obtain any subsistence but that tor which he worked ? Lord BROUGHAM—OnIy the able-bodied poor. SC() FTISII PEERAGE. Lord COLVILLE ruse to draw ihe attention of their Lordships to the motion which he had been requested to postpone till tonight, in order that the true claims of the ancient nobilay of Scotland for a certificate of their titles in.ght be established. It was truly stated that in this matter he had no personal concern; but he ought to state that in cases where the Eng lish nobility had to act on their privilege, before they (lid so act they had to go bAbre the Lord Chancellor and prove their right to the title. In Ire land there was a similar security, but in Scotland there was no such advantage, for at the election of a Peer of Scotland an individual had nothing to do but to state himself to have a right to the tide he claimed to be at once allowed to vote. He must now drsw the atteu tion of the House to a matter personal to himself. Ile had been represented in a Scotch paper as having brought on a conversation respecting him self. Now the person of whom he complained was the representative of Lord Colville of Ochiltree, while be was i Colville of Kilross, and he would put it to the House 1 whether he had not endeavoured to the utmost of his power to place the House in the right position with re spect to this matter, and he should, therefore, now restrict himself simply to the terms of the motion of which he had given notice. Lord CAMPBELL thought their Lordships were very much indebted to the Noble Lord who had brought this matter before 'them, for it was not one in which the Scottish nobility alone were interested, but the tradespeople also, who were often defrauded, in consequence of the facility which existed of usurping the titles and privileges of the Scotch nobility. He hoped that it would be prosecuted to the utmost, that the evil might be put dow4and that the Noble LOrd (Colville) would continue to give it his attention, and after getting his returns would move for a Select Com mittee. Lord BROUGHAM agreed that that was the proper course; but he hoped that the attention of the Select Committee would be directed to the resolutions which affected this subject, and were brought into their Lord ships' Howe in 183. Why, a mere mendicant might go into Holyrood House, and on the mere claim could vote and influence important questions. So that actually it became a matter interesting the Legislature. The Earl of ROSEBERY agreed that the law was defective in the respect mentioned 'by his Noble and Learned Friend (Lord Campbell), and he trusted that, if the matter went into Committee, it would be remedied. The motion, which was for a list of voters iu the late election for a Scotch Representative Peer, was then agreed to. , BIRTHS, DEATHS, AND MARRIAGES BILL. Lord BROUGHAM presented apetition from a number of parish clerks and schoolmasters against the Births, lltalbs, and Marriages Bill. EDUCATION. Earl RADNOR presented a petition against the Go vernrn,nt sch, , mo of educati.n. Lord MON I'EAGLE presented a petition from New port Pagn,4ll against the Govi.rnment scheme of educa tion; he only presented it in ord r to express how far he tbs....wed from it. He would take that oppo. tunny of giviog notice thst he woulti, atier the Easier rece,.s, bring the qui- stion of ethigtati4m before the attention of their Lordships. CRIMINAL LAW. Lord BROUGHAM m•ived that tho Archhislmp of Dublin bt• added to ;fin C<•tnrnit:et' on C , iniinal Law. THE LAW OF MARRIAGE. -_ 141 - Lord GOR 1' presented a number of petitions from Bristol, Cheltenham, and various other place', against the law protriuiihg marriage with a deerui,e(l wife's sister. The petitiou was signed b) in lily acing ministers and in , !dieal mtern) n. who is b .re testimon) to the contusion ere LEA in families by the preselit law. e, Lord BROUGHAM 'presented a petition signed by 42 attoretes and 2 . barriSters of the city of Bath upon the same subject, complaisibig of the uncertainty which hung over the law as it tit , present. stolid. He begged, however, to state his opinion that chi re was no uncer tainty hanging over the law at present, for, by an Act carried through their Lordships' House by Lord Denman in 1835, such marriaees were declared null and void, without being declared void by the ecclesiastical law, as was required by the statutes of Henry VIII. They add the fact, that a great number of marriages had been contracted since 1835 on the speculation that the general principle of these marriages would be made valid ; and they wished, above all, to know whether the innocent children were to be legitimate or not. He thought, therefore, that there was a sufficient reason why the general principle should be opened up, for it was but natural that parents should desire to place their children under the protection of those who were the nearest re lations to them, and there was, therefore, sufficient reason for a full investigation of the whole question. Lord CAMPBELL did not rise with a view to ex press any opinion upon the subject, for upon that his I p wh r eaa o sr v r i i n leei c dnf e td s hi . rtheUedei her t o ef n raa,ra t andhebdi bigamy, and td r mouth was closed by th e resu l t o f a recent tr i a l i n t h e h rf aanta the prisoner's wife he d t t woman h h i e r dwaws defencei sftt ill in was that that marr i age was void, because the alive he left her and married a third wife. He was indicted for bigamy, and the defence put second ceremony had been celebrated between him and the sister of his deceased wife. The cause thus raised the question, and it had been brought by writ of error before their Lordship's House ; there fore, he thought that that was enough for their Lordships refusing to give any opinion at pre sent upon the question. He would be very sorry to see the law upon this subject, the marriage of a man with his deceased wife's sister, altered, for the law which had been instituted against incest affected affinity as well as consanguinity. Lord BROUGHAM was very sorry that he had not been made aware of this case coming on before he ex pressed his mind, but still he would hear counsel upon the case, and if he saw reason, no doubt he would change his opinion. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.—THE NEW HOUSE OF LORDS. . Earl GREY, with the view of meeting the conveni enco of Noble Lords in Ireland. proposed that their Lordships should adjourn till Thursday tha 15th, instead Of Tut,sday, the 13:b, and he begged to give notice that after the holidays their Lordships would meet in the new buildings, her Majesty having been graciously plen,ed to appropriate a portion of her palace to their Lordships use. _ _ 'Their.L,,rdships accordingly adjourned to Thursday, he 15th of April. HOUSE O COMMONS, March 30. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. ASSKSSED TAX COLLECTORS. Mr. 13LNBOW presented severul petitionw from the I 1