The Sun. — London, England, 1840-02-15 00:00:00

tarots our feelings of sincere satisfaction that her Majesty has been enabled to reconcile the public interests with the gratification of her own feelings and affections, and to join in that prayer which the Noble Lord has put up, not only that the welfare of this country may be pro moted, but that the personal happiness and comfort of our Sovereign may be insured by the union which she has formed.—( Loud cheeri.) The S?EAKER then put the question. Sir R. PEEL suggested that it would be advisable, if the Noble Lord gave public notice when the Address would be received, so that the House might go up with it in a manner most respectful to her Majesty.—( Hear, bear.) Lord J. RUSSELL had intended to move that the address be carried up to her Majesty, and then to state that he would take her Majesty's pleasure as to when she would receive the Address, and inform the House of the time on Monday.—(Hear, hear.) The Address was then put, and agreed to. CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT. Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved, that after the Con gratulatory Address to her Majesty, that another to the same effect should be presented to his Royal Highness Prince Albert, congratulating him on his marriage with her Majesty, and expressing the satisfaction of the House at the event.—The Motion was agreed to. Mr. WILLIAM DUNCOMBE wished to ask the Noble Lord opposite if the name of his Royal Highness Prince Albert would be inserted in the Liturgy. Lord J. RUSSELL had no information to give the House on that subject. • CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCHESS OF KEN I'. Lord J. RUSSELL said that he wished to make a motion, of which he bad not given notice, but to which he thought the House would have no objection in acceding. He wished that the House should offer a Congratulatory Address to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent— ( Hear, hear)—on the marriage of her Majesty.—The Mo tion was agreed to. On the motion of the Noble Lord, Lord Ashley, Lord Seymour, Mr. Byng, Sir G. Clerk, and Sir William Somerville, were selected to present the Address to Prince Albert; and Earl Lincoln, Sir Thomas Acland, Mr. Villiers Stuart, and Sir Matthew Wood, that to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS (IRELAND) BILL. Lord MORPETH moved the Order of the Day for the second reading or this Bill. Sir R. H. INGL IS, in rising to oppose the motion, said he did not think it would be proper to waste the time of the House by going over the objections he had so often urged against similar measures —(" Hear, hear," from Mr. O'Connell.) The Hon. and Learned Member had himself, however, furnished special reasons why this Bill should be rejected; for be had broken the terms of the compact, if any there had been, in favour of such a Bill, by agitating for an alteration of the tithe system now existing, and for the transference of the tithes to other parties than those now pos sessing them ; and the maintenance of the tithes as now constituted was a fundamental article of that compact. He (Sir R. Inglis) could not, moreover, help asking if the English corporations had proved themselves so beneficial that it would be benefiting Ireland to model her corporotions on the same principle ?—( Hear, hear.) It was not unnecessary to repeat on this occasion, or to do more at least than repeat, that he had always held it was as unjust to swamp and destroy ten or twenty existing corpc ration3 for alleged corruptions which might be remedied in the Courts of Law, as it would be, for such a reason, to do away with a single corporation. For these simple reasons he now moved that the Bill be read a second time that day six months. Mr. LITTON seconded the motion. He bad before stated that he should not object to any true and bona fide reform of the Irish corporations, but he did strongly object to a measure which he believed would have the effect of transferring all the power, patronage, and in. fluence in these institutions, now, he admitted, in the hands of one party in religion and politics exclu sively, into the hands of another, and as exclusive, though of the opposite party. He eppealed to the Noble Lord at the head of the Government of Ireland in that House, and who, to do him justice, always replied fairly and candidly to whatever question was addressed to him. whether such would not be the effect of the present measure. If the Noble Lord admitted that to be so, then he would ask whether it tans fair to introduce such a Bill, even if the present was a measure brought before Parliament for the first time? And even if it was now the opinion of Parliament, that for the first time corporations should be established, he would then ask whether Parlia ment, exercising a fair judgment, would agree to a Bill whose principal element was to give power, pa tronage, and influence to one parte ? The Bill he consi dered unjost, and therefore he should . resist its adoption. It gave influence and patronage to a class of persons who were not entithed to expect any ; men who from their edu catien were notlikelv justly, usefully, or impartially to admi nister that patronage. A great outcry had been raised on the other side about ascenelancy. The present Bill be considered gave it all to one party. It was said that a compact had been entered int...le that if the Government gave a Tithe Bill, that then that siiee of the House should agree to a Corporation Bill. If such A etompact bad been entered into, be was the last man that eaoa:ld wish to have it broken. Suppose it to be admitted tha: there had been such a compact, what had been the condee't of Go vernment ? Had they acted in a fair and bona firm man ner respecting the Tithe Bill for Ireland ? He was ) satisfied with the Bill as it stood (Heat, hear, hear.) But did they owe it to the Govern ment or the supposed compact ? No, but their own exertions ; for to the last the Government were determined to take from the incomes of the clergy 33 per cent.; but he and those with whom he was proud to act on almost all occasions defeated them, and pee the clergy 70 per cent. Besides, had not the Government stated, and were they not prepared now, if they could bring the people of England round to their own views, were they not prepared to carry out the appropriation clause ? ( Hear, hear.) But suppose they had acted fairly with respect to the B,il, and that there were such a compact in existence, bed they not broken that compact by the two Bills which they had introduced within the two last years, or were they to be bound to take any Bill the Govern ment pleased? He would submit to his Hon. and re spected Friends, with whom it was a pleasure to him to act—he would put it to them, first, whether the compact existed at ail. Had not the Government broken through it on several occasions, and that they were neither in honour nor in justice bound by it —( Hear, hear. The Bill, aecording to his view of it, was full of injustice and infirmity ; and although it might be said that it could be amended in Committee, he contended that it was not the -language of common sense to vote for the second read ing of a measure in order to oppose it in Committee. He regretted that in taking the present course he should differ from many of the [lon. Members with whom it had hitherto been his pride to act. Mr. SHAW, without entering into the details of the measure, would feel himself obliged to vote for the second reading, and he did so on the grounds of consistency and good faith.—( Hear, hear, from Sir R Peel.) He had seen the good effects of the Tithe Bill in the improved state of the Irish Established Church, and of society in general in Ireland, and as the Irish Church was subjected to the attacks of the Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin, it was the more important for them to retain a law by which they cculd successfully resist him. He begged to ask what his Honourable Friends meant to do if the present amendment was carried? Had they provided themselves with any measure as a substitute ?—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) His op;nion was that it was neither desirable nor possible that the Irish corpora tions should be maintained in their present form. This was no new question. They bad been discussing it or the last tour years, and the only alternative which now presented itself to his mind was to set , le the question ac cording to that principle which had been agreed upon by both Houses of Parliament, otherwise it would be left in its present unsettled and unsatisfactory state—a pestilen tial sore, inflaming the mind: of the violent of both par ties in Ireland, and a constant subject of angry discus sion iu that House, to tile exclusion of all practical legis lation. He might lose his popularity by this course, but he felt be was only doing his duty. But he thought the political importance of this measure was exaggerated a great deal by both parties. For his own part he did think that if those who were considered the Conservative party would lay aside a great deal of that bitter resentment, and set themselves fairly to assert that just influence which their property, and intelligence, and character entitled them to, that after a short time it would not be found that that which was termed the Conservative inter eats would be overborne by those measures if the Government consented to a bona fide 101. franchise— (Hear, hear)—and so far from thinking that the present condition of the corporations did any service to the cause, his own sincere conviction was that it did that cause great injury. He felt bound to call himself a member of the Conservative party, and he did not think that party was served by the present state of corporations in Ireland.— ( Hear, hear.) He apologised for having trespassed so long on the House, and said he v o te for the second would reading, with a view to improve the Bill in Committee and to amend som e o f t h e d eta l s . He do so as the lot. franchisehadnwcaosnethedeemd.ore ready to Mr. Sergeant JACKSON would not give a silent vote his on this occasion. H e f e l t, with the House and Learned Friend, how import a nt i t was to have question settled. The Bill which bed p asse d through h and afterwards came down, cons deral4 H a e m es e e nd i e e d, 1 1 8 r 3 o 8 m , the Lords, would have been agreed to by the Government but for that overpowering influence to which nd e they too often bowed.—( Loud cries of '• Hear, he ar ," a The Bill of last year had been hurried th roug h the House s " ) a lmost without discussion ; several of the c l auses had been thrown out by the other House, and it h a d b een rejected on the pretext that it infringed on the privileges of that House. It never appeared to him that the Government were sincere in their desire for the settlement of that quest on. The Noble Lord, in his opening speech en moving leave to bring in this Bill, had told the House that it was the intention of the Government to adopt the Bill sent down by the other House of Parliament. It was oeif yesterday that that Bill had been laid on the table, enerefore it would be totally impossible for them to get the opinions of persons on the other side the water as to its details; and they would be obliged to discuss it without consulting those most interested. He felt it his duty to THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1840. state to the House and the country the grounds on which he was about to give his vote. He felt that the Conser vative party were bound to consider some mode for the re construction of the corporations of Ireland, although they had for some time resisted it. But, at the same time, they had had to encounter an agitation against the exist ence of the Established Church in Ireland—t'ney had had to encounter an Appropriation Clause, brought forward originally, solely he believed, to drive his Right Hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth from the Government. The Ministers pledged themselves to the Appropriation Clause, and said that no Bill would be satisfactory without that clause, and that their existence as a Ministry was ident tified with it. In 1837, the great leader of the Conserv ative party of the other House said the aeitation in Ire land must end—they mus t h ave a new Poor-law in Ire land, and then Corporate Reform. Similar language was held in that House, i n consequence o f w hi ch he felt him self bound to the recognition of that principle; but he told the Noble Lord that the Bill must be greatly modified in Committee. He remembered the language of the Go-- vernment of that day when the first Bill was introduced. It was said by the Hon. Member for Greenock that the Bill would wrest the power from the Protestant hands it was then in, and place it in the hands of the Catholics. He for one would never be a party to such an object as that. Had the Noble Lord opposite ascertained the number of voting houses belonging to Catholics and to Protestants respectively in the towns to which he proposed to extend municipal corporations? That was an important consi deration ; and he (Sergeant Jackson) could tell the Noble Lord that an overwhelming majority of voting houses were in the hands of Roman Catholics. Ministers had declaimed as earnestly as he could have done against any intention of transferring power from one class in order to bestow it on another. That sentiment had on a former occasion been most strongly insisted on by the Right lion. the Master of the Rolls. If these were the feelings of Hon. Gentlemen opposite, and if, at the same time, it was thought necessary to abolish the existing municipal cor porations of Ireland, Government should beware how they threw them into the hands of opposite parties. That would be a most unjust and unwise policy. Was not this, he would ask, a Protestant State, and was it not intended that it should continue so ? As for his part, he should be sorry to think that this should ever cease to be a Protestant country ; and he would ever oppose any measure which he thought might lead to such a result. He would take the liberty of offering two propositions to the consideration of the House, with a view to obviate any danger of party ascendancy which might follow from the new Bill He would first propose to continue to all free men and burgesses in the several corporate towns of Ire land the right of voting under the new Bill for torn coun cillors. lie could not conceive any reasonable objection to that proposal. It would, he should observe, be a strong measure to divest any body of men of their vested rights, and those freemen had at present a voice in the manage ment of their local concerns. The proposal in question would be found in addition to he a valuable means of coun teracting the exclusively Catholic character of the new corporations. He would next propose a principle which was to be found in the English Municipal Bill—he would propose that no one who voted for town councillors should vote for more ti an a moiety of them. That proposal would be no novelty, as it existed in the English Corpo rations Bill, with respect to assessors and auditors. He also found the Earl Grey, whose authority Hon. Gen tlemen opposite would not object to, in his speech deli vered on the 27th of June, 1836, offered a similar suggestion.—(The Hon. and Learned Nlember here read an extract from a speech of Earl Grey's, suggesting a proposal of the same nature as that which he was advoca ting, as the best means of securing the minority cglinst the majority who might b , : opposed to them.) He should now beg leave to call the attention of the House to a pe tition from the town of C!onmel, which was one of these places to which the new Municipal Corporation Bill was to extend. The petition was from the Mayor, Corpora tion, merchants, and other inhabitants of that town, who stated " that they felt alarmed by the most injurious provisions of an Act for altering the Municipal Corpora. tion of Ireland, and they prayed the Hon. House to ex clude them from the list of those towns to whom these pro• visions were to apply." He would ask if it were fair to force Corporations on a town which was unwilling to receive them. The petition in question had been signed by the Mayor and Corporation, and by three fourths of the rated population of Clonmel. He held in his hand a similar petition from certain inhabitants of Belfast, which had a population of 85,000 inhabitants, whose wishes should not be disregarded. There had been a petition to a similar effect already presented to the House from the town of Galway. It might ba said that the petitioners in that case merely prayed for the removal of certain clauses in the Bill, but he could show the House that their objections applied fully to the measure then before the House. The petitioners from Galway prayed that the freemen might have their rights reserved ; and that the counties-of-towns might be in cluded. Was it not a breach of the principle that pro. perty should be represented—that those who did not contribute to the municipal rates, should have the right of voting Was it the express provision of the Bill that the rural district surrounding Galway was to be taken from the municipal limits ; while the right of voting for Mem bers of Parliament was preserved to that district ? To the borough of Cork there was attached an immense district of 45.000 acres square, which under the Bill would he part of the borough for the purposes of voting, though in habited by persons who could no more be called citizens of Cork than citizens of London, and who generally were so ignorant that they could neither read nor write. He should vote for the Bill, in redemption of his pledge, but he should oppose the Bill in every future stage, if it were not made a safe Bill—a Bill that would not render the corporations exclusively Roman Catholic. Mr. O'CONNELL was glad of the support of the j' ht Hon. Recorder of Dublin, and the Learned Ser gear t who had just sat down, whose vote, hoWever, be would rather have than his speech.— ( Hear, hear, and laughter.) This Bill would place the Conservative party in Ireland id a better position with their fellow-country men.—( Hear. There had been a great deal said of ; Roman Catholic and Protestant voting houses, as though a house could have a religion.—( Laughter.) If the Bill took away anyt'iieg from Protestants, as Protestants, to give it to Catholics, he (Mr. O'Connell) would resist it. But the fact was that hitherto Catholics had not had fair play. --(Hear.) For 47 years the Catholics were by law ad missible into the Corporation of Dublin, and not one had during that period been admitted. — ( Hear, hear ) Now, let one single provision be pointed out in the Bill which gave anything to the Catholic= because they were Catho lics. It made properly the basis of qualification—saying nothing of religion at Ai! ? The Hon. Baronet (Sir R. . Inglis) might think that n: en should have privileges merely for being of the State ret:^mn—but such was not now the feeling of the people of Eug,, nd.—( Hear, hear.) He did not quite think the Bill what it on; lit to be ; still he was willing to accept it, if granted now. But if now refused—if the principle were altered—it wouLl not be satisfactory again. The peop!e of Ireland had declared themselves ready to accept a moderate measure on thecon dition that in three years the qualification should be On the model of the English Bill.—( Hear. ) Sir R. PEEL said as to the admissions he had made on the former occasions, he did not wish to retract them. The main question was now, however, whether this Bill should be read a second time, that is, whether an attempt should be made to settle the long agitated question.— ( Hear, hear.) lie should vote for the second reading —( Hear, hear)—and he should do so on two distinct grounds ; first of his former delaration, and, secondly, which was by far the best ground—that be was convinced the Protc'stant interest in Ireland would not be promoted by keeping this question longer unsettled.—( Hear, hear.) He had never made any " compact" with any set. of men, nor would he ; but he had made declarations of the course he should pursue, which might have influenced the pro ceedings of others, and the substance of those declarations was, that provided a satisfactory Tithe Bill were passed, and a test of rating established through the intervention of the Poor-law, he would apply himself to the settle ment of the Corporation question ; and he did not think any disaff iction as to the Tithe Bill, or any disposition on the part of the Learned Member for Duhlin to agitate against it, would release him from that engagement. In deed, he would not make the lion. and Learned Gentle man of so much importance.—( Hear, hear.) He doubted the policy of doing so.—(" Hear, hear," from Mr. O'Con nell.) He would not believe tnat the Catholics of Ireland, with their good sense and discernment, would be induced, by the agitation of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, to consent to unsettle the tithe question again.—(Hear, hear.) Now, he certainly retained the opinion he bad formerly expressed, that it would be much more for the advantage of Ireland to abolish Corporations altogether; and he had tried the experiment of the proposal ; but, in 1836, the majority against it was sixty-four, and, in 1837, eighty; and it then became a question whether the interests of Protestantism in Ireland would be promoted by the exciting of all that and irritation which must be created by allowing the Protestant minority to govern by self-elective Protestant corporations.—( Hear, hear.) Ile had consulted the whole of the Gentlemen with whom he was accustomed to act, and it was almost their universal opinion that the ground which they had held was no longer tenable, and that the Protestant interest required the set tlement of the question by the establishment of corpora tions in Ireland upon the elective principle. If the Noble Lord, upon the declaration made by him (Sir Robert Peel) on a former occasion, had given more favourable terms to the Protestant church, he would feel bound to accede to those terms, unless some paramount considerations of public interest placed his public duty in opposition to his previous declarations. He would feel that a most painful position, but he felt thatthat in the vote he was about to give, he was at once fulfilling his own pledges and taking that course which was most advantageous to the interests of the Protestant Church.—( Hear.) Besides, he did not apprehend that extreme danger from the pre dominance of number and influence which the Roman Ca tholics were acknowledged to hold,—( Hear.) He was sorry that they did hold that predominance. He would prefer that the power and interests were Protestant. But it was quite clear that the possession of the corporations did not add to the interests of the Protestant body.— (Hear.) Looking to the eleven towns contained in sche dule A, which now had corporations, and must continue to h Drogheda, have them under thi s Bill—B e lf a st, Clonmel, Cork, Dub lin,gheda, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Londonderry, Sligo, and Waterford—he found that out of all these Bel fast alone returned Conservative Members.—( Hear.) Now he did not despair that Belfast would exert the same influ ence in the election of a good corporation. He believed also that in the other corporations the Conservative influ ence would exert itself beneficially. He had found prac tically that in places where what was called the Liberal interest prevailed, and popular town councils were elected in the first instance—the popularity of the councils was very soon lost when they began to exercise the power of taxation.—( Hear and a laugh.) Out of the thirty-three Members who sat for Corporate towns in Ireland, only nine were Conservatives, and he apprehended that a diminution of the Parliamentary influence of the Conservatives was diminished as much by the elective franchise, given by the Reform Bill, as it could be by any alteration of the pre. sent system of corporations. The corporation which was proposed to be established in Dublin. would have very few corporate powers. The control of the paving, light ing, and improvement of the city was to be withdrawn from it, and the only thing to be apprehended from it was that its members finding they had nothing else to do, would apply themselves to agitation. He concluded by saying that he would vote for the second reading, both because he was bound to do so by his previous declarations, and because he thought that course the most advantageous to the Protestant interests, and to the interests of the United Kingdom. He would go into the Committee with a sincere desire to come to an amicable settlement of the question in the course of the Session. After a few words from Mr. VILLIE RS STUART, Lord J. RUSSELL said he was sure the House would excuse him for answering some observations which had fallen from the Hon, and Learned Members for Dublin Univer sity, and for Bandon. The former Gentleman had said that he had made no contract with the Govern ment, but that the course which he was taking on this occasion was in accordance with his previous declarations upon the subject. He (Lord Jahn Russell) must say that that statement was perfectly true.—( Hear, hear.) But with respect to what the Hon. and Learned Member for Bandon had said as to the willingness of Government last year to agree to the alterations which the Lords had made in the Bill, he (Lord J. Russell) must say, that although there were some some of those alterations to which he might be dis posed to concede, there were others with which it would be impossible for him to concur. The Hon. and Learned Member for Bandon then suggested that in a particular town the Protestants, although in a minority, should have the appointment of half the town councillors. Now that was a proposition to which he ( Lord J. Russell) could never assent. He thought it would not only per petuate, but greatly aggravate the dissensions which already existed. It could not be expected that he would then enter into any discussion of the details of the Bill, and lie wauld only express his hope that all would go into the Committee sincerely desirous of soon coming to a settle ment of this long-agitated question. The House then divided, when there appeared— For the second reading .... 149 Against it l4 Majority --135 The Bill was the❑ read a second time, and ordered to be committed. FLOUR IMPORTATION (IRELAND) BILL. After several petitions had been presented against this Bill, Mr. L ABOUCH ERE moved its second reading. Mr. EMERSON TENNENT then rose to oppose the second reading of the Bill. Ile had stated in a former stage of the Bill his determination to oppose it, not. as had been suggested, merely on the narrow ground that it was a measure affecting the interests of the millers only, but on the broader prin ciple, that it would materially interrupt the career of agri cultural improvement in Ireland, and, so far from bene fiting either of the classes for whose advantage it pur ported to be introduced, the manufacturers and the poor, it would be a direct and serious injury to both. And when Hon. Members spoke of the proprety of assimila tiug the laws of England and of Ireland in this respect, he would beg to remind them that it was out of very dissimilar circumstances of the two counties that the present dissimilarity in the law had arisen. This not an Act of a recent date, or a measure of the British Parliament, which they were about to annul and to repeal—it was an Act passed by the Parliament of Ire land long before the Union took place, which had been recognised by the Act of Union, and which had been con tinued and perpetuated by every Corn Act passed by the Imperial Parliament since. —(Hear, hear.) The Howe were aware that down to a very recent period Ireland was not only entirely destitute of a home manufac ture of flour, but was totally dependent upon England, and that even within the last thirty years the wheat and rats even for her home consumption, were sent to Bristol, to Liverpool, and to Glasgow to be ground, and were thence returned to her in the shape of flour arid oatmeal. It was to remedy this serious want that the present law was enacted He (Mr. E. Tennent) did hope that the House would weigh well the consequences, not only to the millers but to the country in general, before they proceeded to unsettle and weaken a branch of trade so new and so prolific, and the ramifications of which extended equally to the mer. chant, the manufacturer, and the agriculturist. But thee he (Mr. E. Tennent) was to be told that there was a groundless alarm excited on the part of the millers, that this was a measure, the effects of which would only be felt, if at all, in seasons of great scarcity, and that he would be so protected b 3 the existing duties of England, which it was proposed to apply to the new trade in Ireland, and the diff,renee and cost of freight, that the Irish flour would still have a preference in ordinary seasons. Why, if this were realiy the case, and that the whole matter was such a bagatelle, he (Mr. E. Tennent) would concur th. t a suf ficient ground had been established against the Bill of the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Labouchere). Who would the House, for such a temporary trifle, such an abstract ar,d comfortless theory, overthrow the existing law, and strip be property embarked in mills in Ireland of that permanent security and protection which it had enjoyed for years be fore the Union, and which gave it present value ? But the fact was not so; and he (Mr. E. Tennent) was prepared to show that the existing duties would not be a protection against the American miller; and that so far from the freight being a security, that the balance of the freight between a cargo of flour and one of unwrought wheat was considerably in favour of the former. So that the practi cal result would be this, that in years of scarcity, or of crops of inferior quality, such as the present, the Irish miller imported foreign wheat to make up the deficiency, or improve the quality of his own. The American farmer and the Dantzic miller would send us their rascal and flour, instead of their corn and wheat, thus depriving the Irish miller of the profit of menutacture, and the Irish poor of tire supply of cheap food, f rom t h e coarser pro d uce o f t h e Bear, hear.) - The object, as proposed by the Bill before the House, was to permit the im portation-of foreign flour i n t o I re l and, at the same d ut i es as were now paid on its introduction int England. He (Mr. E. Tennent) had been given to understand that in a memorial forwarded to the Board of Trade from one baking establishment in Belfast, the measure now under consideration had been pressed upon the attention of the Right Hon Gentleman (Mr. Labouchere) on the ground that flour of good quality, could not now be procured in Belfast. A petition from the same town had likewise been presented to the House, but it with more caution abstained from making so absurd an assertion. As to that memorial from the one baking-house, in order to meet it he (Mr. E. Tcnnent) held in his hand a memorial signed by twenty of the first bakers in Belfast, all of whom state that having learned that such an allegation had been made as that a supply of sound flour could not be had in Belfast, they felt it their duty to give it an instant and direct contradiction ; as not only in this season, but in others of similarly defec tive harvests, they had an abundant supply of the best flour, ground from foreign wheat, imported specially by the mil lers around them. The argument for the Bill, therefore, from the necessity of importing flour to amend the quality of Irish wheat, fails utterly, inasmuch as it cannot be ad vantageously mixed when ground ; whilst wheat can most readily be imported for that purpose, and all the profits of its manufacture into flour retained at ironic, instead of given to foreigners. One evil which had been imputed to the Corn-laws, was the amount of speculation which it neces sarily entailed upon the dealers in grain by the present system. But if the trade were now to be compelled to speculation in stocks of Lur instead of stocks of wheat, the evil would be multiplied one buudred fold, because wheat was an article which, with proper care, would keep sound for years, whilst flour was liable to heat, sour, and to encounter numerous capricious changes which it was impossible to guard against, and on the least symptom of which the entire stock must be forced into the market at any sacrifice, to insure immediate sale, and thus an inevitable deterioration in prices must result even to the sound stocks in the hands of other holders. But it was incorrect to say that the millers alone were in terested ; the farmer and the land-owner were equally as. sailed through this measure. The cultivation and the growth of wheat had been found in every instance to be promoted by the establishment of mills. Lands which be fore were in pasture or potatoe are immediately prepared for wheat wherever the establishment of a flour mill held out the inducement of a ready market. This has been eminently the case in the counties of Tyrone and Armagh. It was quite clear that any discouragement to the pros perity or the increase of mills, such as was threatened by this Bill, must put an immertate check to all such instances of agricultural a dvancement. Such was the opinion of Mr. Spring Rice, expressed in the Debate on the Corn Bill of 1827.—(11ear.) But there is another and a most important class whom this measure ostensibly professed to serve, but on whom he (Mr. E. Tennent) was prepared to show that it would in flict a serious injury, namely, the operatives and the la bouring classes in Ireland. The great outcry against the Corn-laws in England was based upon the assumption that they tended to render the food of the anizans of that country more expensive than that of the operatives of foreign countries with whom they had to compete. Now he (Mr. E. Tencent) was prepared to show that such would be precisely the effect of this measure upon the operatives of Ireland. The mere cost of converting wheat into flour, the miller's profits, in short, in Ireland, and in the countries from ye horn Ireland would be likely to import flour, would, so far as he could ascertain, be pretty nearly equal; but the country in which the corn was ground for export would always have this advantage, that whilst the finer sorts alone were worth exporting, the coarse and the secondary flour went to increase the quantity, and consequently to diminish the cost of the operatives and middle classes. The effectual method to relieve the operatives and the poor was to diminish th e p r i ce , b y increasing the quantity, of the food they consume, and for this the most obvious ex pedient is the encouragement of the native mills, which afford not only the food to lata bought, but the wages where with to buy it. If from any aslverse circumstances of de fective harvests or of unsound native grain, it becomes ne cessary to import at all, that import should be the raw material, and not the manufactured article. We should import not the flour, but the wheat, the grinding of which secures the profits of the process to our own capitalists instead of foreigners, gives employment to our own ope ratives instead of others, and augments the quantity whilst it dimishes the cost of the Lod of the middle classes, whilst every barrel of foreign ground flour we import takes away not only a proportion of food, but a proportion of employ ment from our own mechanics. Such was the view of this question taken in 1827 by Sir John Newport. If we must be driven to import at all, let it be grain and not flour. "If grain were imported," he said, " the worst and middlings went to support the poor, but where flour was imported, it was the best son. an I was consumed exclu sively by the rich. In the first instance our own poor derived the benefit, in the latter it went to the poor of other countries, and he (Sir .fohn Newport) was convinced the House would not c nrsent to give away that benefit to Foreigners." He (Mr. Emerson Tennent) had to apolo gize to the House for the length at which he had ventured to address them upon this question but the importance which he attached to it would, he hoped, plead his best excuse. He saw in it not merely the immediate injury of the miller, by the depreciation of his heavy stock in hand, but the permanent depreciation of his property embarked and invested in buildings and machinery. He saw in it double injury to the operative, by at once augmenting the value of his food, and diminishing the amount of the employ ment; and, above all, he saw in it an inevitable blow inflicted upon the agricultural advancement of Ireland. Thu principle of assimilation between the laws of England and Ireland failed as an argument in this case. The mea sure might be a good one as regarded England, which was already an importing country in the article of flour, but it was preposterous as regarded Ireland--it was carrying coals to Newcastle, to provide for importing flour into a country which already exported nearly 2,000,000 cwt. of it every year, unless it was meant to suppl tot that export. But if not in intention, it would at least prove in operation, a heavy blow and a great discouragement to the agriculture, which was the sole reliance and support of that country. It was on this ground that he (Mr. E. Tennent) relied on the assistance of those who represented the English agri culturists in that House to resist it. Their securiv in this country lay in making comenon cause with the agriculturists of Ireland. So long as England had Ireland at her back, as her granary, as a second Sicily to supply all her wants, she had an unanswerable argument in reply to those who sought to supply her with food from the Continent, that she could draw that supply from borne, and from an integral part of her own empire. This answer she could have so long as Ireland was in a situation to answer her demands, but if England allowed the agricultural protection of Ire land to be invaded or weakened in the least degree, every step by which Ireland was incapacitated from supplying her was an approach towards a dependency - on other coun tries for her food. The present measure was an attack upon the security hitherto enjoyed by the Irish agricultu riet. It was so felt in Ireland, and he did firmly hope that he would have the co-operation of the English agriculturists in resisting it —( Hear, hear, hear. ) The Right Hon. Gentleman who introduced the Bill (Mr. Lahouchere) seemed to consider it a measure of limited practical importance and operative only in peculiar seasons, He (Mr. E. Tennent) had laboured to show that the contrary was the fact, and that it would prove in stantly and actively detrimental. He hzd endeavoured to show that it would be a violation of public faith, relying upon Acts of Parliament unrepealed for nearly half a cen tury ; that it would cause the immediate destruction of the miller's stock in Ireland, and the ultimate deterioration of his vested property; that neither the duty proposed nor the ordinary checks of freight and costs would be any protection to him ; and that both to the operation in the price of provisions, and to the agriculturist in the growth of wheat, it would be a serious and instant injury. And if, in any one of these points, he had succeeded in establishing his case, he conceived he had just grounds for calling on the House to support the motion that the Bill be read a second time this day six months. Colonel CONOLLY seconded the amendment. The miller would be the first person injured by the alteration proposed by the President of the Board of Trade, because not only had he embarked great capital on the faith of the existing law, but he had imported a sufficient quantity of grain to meet the deficiency of crops. He was firmly con vinced that the proposed alteration would likewise in a very material degree injure the Irish public at large. The Bill would inflict a deadly blow on the agriculture of Ire land, and as soon as the contents of the Bill became known in that country, it would be universally condemned. Mr. LABOUCHERE believed that great alarm and appre hension had been expressed on very slender grounds.--( Hear, hear.) He would state to the House, as he had stated to the deputations that had waited upon him: from believing the Bill to be founded on just and fair principles, and denying that it would prove injurious to any of the great interests in Ireland, and believing the present law to be absurd, he had thought it his duty not to leave it to an individual Member of the House to propose an alteration in that law, but to undertake the task himself. He certainly did not expect to find so strong and de termined an opposition on the part of Irish Members to the Bill. He was prepared to rest his support of it on these two principles—first, that the alteration of the law could not possi bly have any effect whatever in ordinary seasons; and, se condly, when these circumstances arose in which foreign flour would be permitted to go into Ireland, it would go there paying the same duty which it would have to pay on coming into England. It was an absurdity to suppose that Ireland would be deluged by foreign flour if this Bill were passed ; it 'could merely be allowed to be imported under the same regulations as it was allowed to be imported into Eng land. The Hon. Member for Belfast had argued on the as sumption that Ireland had been in the habit of receiving flour from England instead of being as she was, and as he trusted she would be, the granary of this country. Therefore it was chiefly with regard to the second point he had made that he should address the House. He would read to the House the number of quarters of wheat and flour, and of the total amount of grain exported from Ireland from 1819 to 1839, and it was gratifying to observe how the agriculture of Ireland had in creased. '1 he quantity of wheat flour exported from Ireland In 1819 was 153,000 quarters.. In 1830 was 529.000 quarters. 1820 403,000 1831 527,000 1821 569,000 1832 790,000 18 9 0 463,000 1833 844,000 1623 400,000 1834 779,000 1824 356,000 1835...... 661,000 1825 396,000 1836 593,000 1826 340 000 1837...... 534,000 1327 405,000 1833...... 542,000 1821 652,000 1639 258,000 1829...... 519,000 Therefore the House would see how suddenly the number of quarters exported had fallen down within the last year, and that would perhaps account for the complaints that existed with regard to the non•importation of flour.—( Hear, hear. ) He would then read the return of the quantities of grain which had been exported from Ireland during the same time : In 1819 ... 967,1 . 00 quarters. In 1830 2,307,000 quarters. 1820 ... 1.415,000 1831 .. 2,215,000 . 1821 ... 1,822 000 1832 ... 2990,000 1822 ... 1,003,000 1833 ... 2,327,000 1823 ... 1,513,000 1834 ... 2,719,000 1824 ... 1,634,01)0 1835 ... 2,679,000 18 5 ... 2,203,000 1836 ... 3.300,01)0 1826 ... 1,693,000 1838 ... 3,277,000 1827 ... 1,121,000 1839 ... 2,340,000 1829... 2,826,000 He thought that a country which exported its grain on such a scale, might rest assured that its agricultural prosperity did not rest on such flimsy anti fallacious grounds as the Hon. Gentlemen opposite bad endeavoured to rest it upon. It did not rest on the circumstances of a few sacks of foreign flour being admitted under peculiar circumstances, but it rested on the fact. of Ireland being a great grain-growing country, and having the markets of England to bring her flour and grain to. The lion. Member for Belfast had stated that this Bill was like a Bill fur carrying coals to Newcastle. lie admitted that, under ordinary circumstances, that was the case.—(Hear.) But he would as soon expect to see the Members for Newcastle rising up and claiming a prohibitory duty to protect them, as to hear the assertion that if this Bill were passed there would be an end to the agriculture of Ireland. If there were no demand fir foreign flour, then it would not go there, but if, under pe culiar circumstances, there was a demand for foreign flour, as there was at present, then it would be advanta geous for Ireland that foreign flour should go there. He would not trouble the House further, but his opinion re mained unaltered ; that the measure would be productive of benefit to the people of Ireland. Mr. SLIMY contended that no case had been nude out by the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite for the introduction of the present Bill. Indeed, he believed that only one petition had been presented from Ireland in favour of the measure. The question was not a party one, and he trusted that some Hon. Member on the other side of the House would give his senti ments on the subject, and he had no doubt. it would be shown that the opinions of all parties would be adverse to the intro duction of such a measure. Sir D. NORREYS denied that the Bill would be in any way prejudicial to the agricultural interests of Ireland. It was merely a question between the miller and the consumer, with which the agriculture of the country had nothing whatever to do.—( Hear, hear.) He should give his cordial support to the Bill. _ _ Mr. HUTTON also supported the Bill. Mr. O'CONNELL said the House had been told more than once this Bill was to assimilate the law of England and Ire land; this was an advantage to those who, like him, looked to the interests of the consumer; besides this, there was this prac tical reason for supporting it, the two last crops had been defi cient in Ireland. Was the Hon. Gent. aware that last year the crop was particularly defective, both in quantity and quality. In 1839 Ireland did not export one-third the usual quantity. Yet, as the rents of Ireland were receivable in England, an ex port of corn must be made to meet them. An advantage of this Bill was that it would introduce good and proper flour to mix with that of an inferior quality. The Right Ho nourable Gentleman did not understand the matter when he said the different qualities of flour would not mix together. The bakers of Dublin were much better authority on this subject than the Recorder of Dublin. There was no absurdity greater than this—that this Bill would injure the agricultural interest. Year after year Ireland had increased her exports of wheat and flour, except when there came such a year as the last, when the crops failed. Who would dream then of importing .flour into Ireland in this case ? • He believed nothing in Parliamentary history had been offered to the House so absurd as the argument on this question. Would it he supposed by any reasonable man that flour could be imported at a high duty, into a country that exported it in great quantities at n o d u ty at all ? Why not allow theimpor tation of flour as well as wheat ? Because they wished to make a miserable profit fur the millers of Ireland. And who was to give them this profit? Not the foreigner nor the Englishman, nor the Scotchman, but the Irish consumer. This was "rob bing Peter to pay Paul." If the millers in Ireland could grind as cheap as foreign millers they had an advantage in importing wheat; if not, they wanted to grind it by grinding the consumers —the people of Ireland. But he would put it on this ground in addition—it was a question affecting the health of the people ; they who were of the upper classes, for the lower classes in Ire land, who consumed little or none of it, were not interested in it. They all knew that the typhus fever was raging in Ireland —let it reach the higher classes who had not strength of consti tution to resist it, and they would soon become advocates for this measure.--.( Hear, hear.) It was a question of life and death in Ireland.—( Laughter.) He stated it distinctly, it might be a question of laughter to SO:4le, but would they like to have bad flour themselves ? Would any man deny, that if the crops were deficient in quality, it were a question of life and death? At present, it would be necessary to import ; but the quantity would not be considerable, nor adequate to the effect produced by the measure. lie hoped he should never again hear an argument against importing into a country that was a great exporting country. Mr. LITTON thought this was a tin' brought in to benefit the rich at the expense of the po w. He asked if a single petition had been presented in favour of the Bill. In proportion as they imported foreign flour into Ireland, he said they de prived the poor of the profit of the only manufacture they had —they were, therefore, bound to protect their interests. Mr. 011.11SBY GORE, as a person who deprecated the slightest infraction of our present Corn-laws, could n it give a silent vote on this question. He thought the House ought not to legislate on this question without hearing the opinions of those who would be affected by it. He had heard no rea son for altering a system which ever since the union had worked well. As nothing but the finest flour could be imported in consequence of this Bill, the Irish labourer would derive no benefit from it ; therefore it was not a poor manss question, but that of the bakers of Dublin only. The most thriving manu facture in Ireland now was, as he understood, the mills which had been spoken of, and he did not see why that should be depressed. He begged the Hon. Gentleman to postpone the Bill until he had ascertained the opinions of the people of Ireland upon it. Lord SOHN RUSSELL said, that the Hon. Gentleman opposite had stated that his Right Hon. Friend hail done no more than remove the objections which had been brought forward t o this measure, thus admitting almost in terms that the objection of alarms and dangers, which had been stated by the opponents of this measure, had been almost entirely removed by his Right Hon. Friend. He thought the Right Hon. Gentleman had allowed that, when he had admitted that, he could not perceive any very great danger from the proposed measure. But an other Hon. Gentleman had said that although his Right Hon. Friend had removed the objections of the opponents of the measure, he had adduced no arguments in. support of it.— ( Hear, hear, hear.) Now if the objections to this measure were removed that was a reaFon quite sufficient in its favour, because the measure which it was proposed to re move was a restriction, and a restriction for which no ground of necessity or justice could be shown, was in itself an evil.— ( Cheers. ) The Legislature had no right to say to the great body of consumers, you shall not consume such and such an article ; therefore, when once it was admitted that there were no grounds of objection, sufficient grounds had been shown for the removal of the restriction.—(Loud cheers.) They might tell consumers that they thought they were wrong to use foreign flour—that home flour was cheaper and better, but that was a question for cansumers to decide.—(Loud cheers. ) And they could not teach people by legislation, what it was their interest, to do.—(Cheers.) With regard to-any danger affecting the agriculturalist or the miller, the MITI. Member for Belfast, had actually made out the case of his Right Hon. Friend. He had proved from statistical details, that there was no danger to be apprehended. He had shown how much better for the consumer was the lour manufactured by the millers of Ireland, and how much better it was for importation into Eng land, than that of foreign countries, thus proving that it was naturally for the interest. of the people of England and of Ireland to use Irish flour, and his facts proved that they actually did so, so that no danger could be apprehended from this measure. The reasons for this preference were two-fold, first that there was a duty im posed on the importation of foreign flour into England, and secondly the nearer distance of Ireland to England than foreign countries. Neither of these reasons would be affected by the proposed measure. It was not proposed to do away with the duty at present payable on the imrorta ion of flour into England, and he could assure Hon. Gentlemen the effect of this measure would not be to remove Ireland to a greater distance that it was at present.--(Cheers and laughter.) The grounds on which he supported the present. 13111 rested on the general principle that they ought not to have any restriction or prohibition without strong grounds being adduced for its exist ence, and that mere restriction, for the sake of restriction— mere prohibition, for the sake of prohibition—interfering with the rights of consumers, to judge as to what was best for their own interests, was wanton, useless, and mischievous legislation --(Loud cheers)—and it mattered not whether that restriction were imposed one or two years ago, or in the year 1774. He felt that the millers of Ireland had nothing to fear from this Bill, and lie thought that no sufficient grounds had been brought for ward to justify the opposition which had been offered to this measure. Mr. SHAW explained. 111 r. BEAMISH, as a party practically interested as a mill owner, considered the prohibitory law totally unavailing to the Irish miller, who had been entirely misled with regard to the objects of this Bill. He had heard no valid reason for conti nuing the prohibition, and therefore should support the motion of the President of the Board of Trade. He thought it far better the law should be repealed as an use!ess enactment, but he 11,,ped the Right Hon. Gentleman would postpone the opera tion of the Bill to a lat , r period, say some three or four months, to enable the millers to work off their present stocks. Mr. Sergeant JACKSON bore evidence to the kindness with which the Right Hon. President of the Board of Trade had received the deputation yesterday. He had received many communications from all parts of Ireland deprecating this measure, which he believed was not called for by any class in Ireland. He joined in the prayer of the Hon. Gentleman who spoke last for delay. Mr. W. ROCHE wished the measure should he delayed for the present, in order to give time for investigation, and the ex pression of the opinion of the Irish people. Mr. CALLAGHAN had been asked by some of his consti tuents to oppose this Bill, and he would now stie e his reasons why be could not do so. The reasons of the Hen. Mernher for Belfast adduced in opposition to this Bill were, in his opinion, of no weight whatever. The measure was in strict accordance with the doctrines of free trade, and he felt it would not be at all injurious to the Irish miller. The Irish flour wee now sought after in the English market, and it was to this that the incraase in the numbers and prosperity of the Irish millers was to be attributed. There was a general call for this import from the merchants, more particularly from the North of Ireland. There was a growing demand on the part of the commercial body for the abolition of restrictions, and he wished to see all restrictions abolished ; he would, how ever, join his Hon. Colleague in his application to the Govern ment for delay, and he felt the more the subject was investi gated by the millers, the more would they be convinced that this measure would not be against their interest, and he hoped they would petition for permision to grind foreign corn in Ire land for exportation to the colonies.—(Cheers.) This could not injure the British agriculturists; and at this moment, when mills were erected in foreign countries fur the purpose of manufacturing flour for exportation to those British Colonies which did not grow wheat, he thought this was an advantage that the Irish miller was fairly entitled to.—( Cheers. ) Mr. BROTH ERTON wished to enter his protest against any postponement of the measure, because the present period was the time when it would be most beneficial to Ireland. On behalf of the consumers, he called on the House to pass the Bill. It was those alone who advocated the interest of the millers who were opposed to the measure. The millers had ever been a class of men who had ever been ready to grind down the poor. He remembered a saying relating to two millers who had lived some years ago iii Manchester, named Skin and Bone.— ( Laughter.) The saying was as follows : " Bon and Skin, two mil'ers thin, Would starve the poor, or near it ; But be it known to Skin and Bone That Flesh and Blood can't bear it." —(Great laughter.) Mr. FITZSTEPIIEN FRENCH said a few words in fa vour of the measure. Mr. LABOUCHERE said that if the Heise should assent to the principle of the Bill by voting for the second reading, he would not take the next step regarding :t until after Easter. Mr. WAKLEY rose to address the House in consequence of what had fallen from the Right Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down. He (Mr. Wakley) wished to know if it were not true that the immediate passing of the Bill was necessary, inasmuch as the wheat of Ireland was at the present time of a very bad quality, and was such as would be likely to pro duce disease among the people of that country. He believed that it would be universally admitted that the wheat of Ireland was this year of a very inferior description. If that were the case he thought it a most urgent reason for the immediate enactment of the present Bill. He believed that if it were a measure for the benefit of the aristocracy it would meet with no delay or opposition from a large portion of the House.—(" o, no," from the Opposition Benches.) The Bill might be thought an infraction of the present Corn laws, and Hon. Gentlemen opposite might on that account oppose it. He had no hesitation however in saying, that the days of the present Corn-laws were numbered, and he could assure them that the conduct of the House on that, question had created indignation and disgust in the country. He trusted that the Bill would immediately be passed, and that the millers of Ireland would no longer be able to send among the people food which was dangerous to human life. He be lieved that every Member who should vote against the Bill would vote for typhus fever in Ireland. The numbers were.— For the Bill Against it . • 102 Majority -32 THE SHERIFFS. Mr. Alderman THOMPSON in rising to bring forward his mo tion with regard to the Sheriffs, said he had no intention of making any remarks reflecting on the conduct either of those who had originally ordered them into custody, or those who had since voted for their retention in custody. He grounded his motionlon the feeling that the privilege and the authority of that House had already been sufficiently vindicated by the long imprisonment, and the many privations of the Sheriffs. Mr. Sheriff Wheelton had already been discharged on account of illness, which had not since been removed. Mr. Sheriff Evans had also suffered much indisposition, though not to so great an extent. It was an addi tional argument for the release of the Sheriffs, that the authority of the House to commit had been fully vindicated and sustained by the decision of the Judges that the return of the Sergeantat. Arms to the Habeas Corpus was sufficient. Moreover, it should be considered that the difficulty of the Sheriffs had arisen from the de. fective state of the law of Parliament as to privilege, which came di. rectly into opposition with the law of theland, so that the Sheriffs, if they obeyed the Courts were committed by the House, and if they obeyed the House they were imprisoned by the Courts.—(Hear, hear.) Hopes had been excited that the difficulties of the ques tion would have been settled by the introduction of a Declaratory Act.—(Hear, hear.) A writ had been issued to assess damages in the present action, those damages had been laid at 50,000/. It was admitted upon all hands that the Sheriffs had discharged their duty in the moot honourable manner. The petition to the House of Lords was not intended to give offence to this House, but merely to make the House of Lords acquainted with the subject. The vindication of the privileges of the House had been complete, and would not be affected by agreeing to the motion that the Slie riffsbe d scharged. Mr. DAB BY thought that the Sheriffs ought to be discharged, and that they ought not to be held in ustody as hostages for the passing of any Bill which might be sent from that House to the house of Lords. The law offlcers of the Crown ought to be prepared to recommend to the House a Bill to settle the question of privilege to which the House of Lords would assent without hostages being held in the custody of the House. He hoped that the Noble Lord would consent to the release of the Sheriff, whose conouct the Noble Lord himself allowed to have .beens actuated by perfect honour and sincerity. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said the Honourable nertilemaiw who spoke last entirely misunderstood him. The House had :id as sert its privilege of printing and publishing. That privilege Was not vindicated by the committal of the Sheri& It might-be. painful that for the assertion of the privilege it was necessary o select an individual for confinement, and much reference had been made to the conduct of the Courts of Law and Equity in such cases, when their authority •was questioned. But= he would ask, did these Courts in considet ing the importance of main taining their own power, take into account the inconvenience which individuals might suffer ?—(I4 ear, hear.) Ne one could doubt that the eiercise of the privileges of this House was of the highest importance. The matter which had been addressed to the feelings of the House, he felt as much as other Hon. Gentlemen could feel it. But he thought the House was not to sacrifice to compassion that which was necessary to maintain its privileges, more than it would be required of a Court of Law to sacrifice that which was necessary to maintain their authority. tie did not think it necessary to say a word more with respect to the motion further than that he h ttended to give it his decided negative. Sir E. SUG DEN thought if the Noble Lord was prepared to go the length of keeping the remaining Sheriff in custody until the powers of the House were free and undisturbed,—that be was ready to go the length recommended by the Solicitor-General, and make the imprisonment perpetual as far as the House could do so.—(Hear, hear.) With respect to the motion of which he hag given notice for to-night, and upon which he was determined to divide the House, he would only say that if it was the intention of the Noble Lord to keep the other Sheriff in custody until he had paid the whole amount back to Messrs. Hansard, he would find that the sense of the country would not be with him either upon the law or justice of the case. He wished to know from the Noble Lord what course he intended to. propose to the House to pursue on Monday, relative to the actions that were pending. Mr. GODSON considered that the privileges of the House had been sufficiently vindicated by the imprisonment the Sheriff had already undergone. The real question the House had to decide was whether the Sheriff had suffered sufficient imprisonment for the breach of the privileges of the House ? He thought he had. Surely there was to be some end to the punishment, and how long was it intended to keep the Sheriff' in confinement.—(Cries of " Question, question," " Divide, divide.") Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the House divided, when there appeared— For the motion ... 76 Against it Majority against the motion Sir E. SUGDEN moved that the order d'secting the Sheriffs of Middlesex to repay the sum of 640/. to Messrs.Hansard, be rescinded. Mr. LAW seconded the motion. The motion was nega ived without a division. Sir E. KNATCHBULL would be glad if the Noble Lord would state what course he intended to pursue with regard to the petition of Messrs. Hansard? Lord JOHN RUSSELL said it was impossible he could then state to the House what proposition would be made. Mr. GODSON gave notice that he would, on going into a Com miitee of Supply on Monday, move- that Mr. Sheriff Evans be discharged. NEW WRIT. Mr. E. J. STANLEY moved that a new writ be issued for the borough of Morpeth, in the room of Viscount Leveson, who had accepted the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds.—Ordered- The House adjourned at Half-past Twelve o'Clock. COURT CIRCULAR. The Queen and his Royal Highness Prince Albert of Saxe Cobourg and Gotha, arrived at Buckingham Pa. lack at five minutes past four o'clock yesterday afternoon, in one of the Royal Carriages and four, escorted by a party of Light Dragoons, from Windsor Castle. Her Majesty and the Prince were received with loud and fre quent gratulations, by a numerous body of spectators, who bad assembled in the vicinity of the Falacc. The Royal Standard was immediately raised on the marble arch. Several of the Queen's carriages followed, con taining Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent; their Serene Highnesses the Duke of Saxe Cobourg and Gotha and Prince Ernest, the Countess of Sandwich, Lady Fanny Howard, llon. Miss Cocks, Hon. Miss Ca vendish, Earl of Erroll, Viscount Torrington, Honour able Major Kepia.l, Lord Alfred Paget, Count Kolowrath, Baron Alecnaleben, Baron Lowenfels, Mr. Seymour, Mr. Craven, and Captain Pcelnitz. Her Ma. jesty and Prince Albert were received at the entrance to the Grand Hall by the Lord Chamberlain, the Master of the Horse, and the Clerk Marshal, who conducted her Majesty and his Royal Highness to the State Rooms. On crossing the Picture Gallery, the band of the Ist Life Guards, who were stationed at the end in a recess, played " God Save the Queen." The Royal Dinner Party at the Palace laat evening in• eluded the Earl of Errol, the Earl of Uxbridge, and the Earl of Surrey. The band of the Ist Life Guards attended at the Palace during the evening. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a small party et dinner, including the Danish Minister and Baroness Memo, the Netherlands Minister and Madame Dedel, and the Hanoverian Minister, on Thursday evening, at Cam bridge House. 'lle Duke of Cambridge visited the Royal College of Surgeons yesterday afternoon. Viscount Melbourne arrived in Town yesterday after noon from a visit to her Majesty at Windsor Castle. Count Polion, the Sardinian Minister, transacted busi ness yesterday at the Foreign-office. Mr. John Lefevre and Mr. M. Biddulph had inter views yesterday with the Marquis of Normanby,,at the Home-office. Despatches from Governor Light, at British Guinea, were received yesterday at the Colonial-office. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat yes terday, and were occupied during the whole of the day with the appeal respecting a Codicil of the late Mr. Davy's Will, Dufaur v. Croft and others. Sir William Follett and Dr. Nicholl were heard for the Respondent, and Mr. Fitzroy Kelly replied for the Appellant. After the Judges had been some time in consultation, it was intimated that judgment would be given on Monday, the 24th instant. The Lords present were, the Lord President, Mr. Baron Parke, Mr. Justice Bosanquet, and Mr. Justice Erskine. The Hon. William Bathurst was the Clerk of the Council in Waitin g . Mr. E. J. Cooper, M.P., and lady, arrived at Farrance's Hotel, Belgrave-street, from Brighton. Miss Laura Wheatley, daughter of Major-General Sir Henry and Lady Wheatley, expired yesterday morning at her father's residence in St. James's Palace. This lamented young lady was taken suddenly ill on Monday morning, and it was owing to this circumstance that Sir Henry Wheatley was from the ceremonial of the Queen's marriage, as Keeper of her Majesty's Privy Purse. Sir G. Anson, Member for Lichfield, who it will be remembered, held a confidential appointment in the House hold of the late Duke of Kent, is appointed Treasurer of Prime Albert's Household. Captain Seymour, who has been for some time travelling with the Prince is also to hold an appointment in his Royal Highness's Household. A completely new town is in the course of forma tion between the old corporation town of Kingston -on-Thames ( Surrey) and the South Western Railway, and already nearly 200 beautiful houses and snug villas are finished, or in the course of 6nishing. PROGRESS OF TIIE NORTH MIDLAND RAIL' WA Y. —A considerable portion of this railway is so far com pleted as to allow of the permanent way being laid; this is done on the greater part of the line. The most forward dis trict is that situated between Derby and Barnsley. One line of rails is now nearly all laid for the whole distance, which is about 50 miles, great exertions having been made to accom plish this, as it is expected the Directors will pass along the line with a locomotive engine, between the towns of Derby and Barnsley, very s h or tl y — pro b a bl y next week. In the neigh bourhood of Wiper, Clay Cross, Staveley, &c. the works are proceeding night and day, in order to have a road through the large excavations in those districts. A locomotive is about to be put on to convey ballast from Little Eaton northward. The first class stations are nearly all contracted for, and several of them are in a forward state. The Eckington one is nearly ready for the roof ; the Chesterfield and South Wingfield sta tions are also far advanced ; the Leeds and Sheffield stations have been set out during the week. The latter one is con tracted for by Mr. Crawshaw, and will be situated near the entrance of the Sheffield and Rotherham railway. It will be a large and convenient station ; the cost is estimated at about 8,000/.—Nottingliain Review. The Betsy Hall, Captain Cooker, which arrived at Liverpool on Thursday morning, has brought letters fropa Monte Video to the 30th of November. They confirm the re port previously received, that Rosas had put down the insur rection which had been got up against his Government, and taken many of the insurgents prisoners. About GOO or 700, who had made their escape, had taken refuge on board the French ships of war. The general opinion of the merchants of Monte Video was, that Rosas would sequestrate the property of the persons who had been engaged in the insurrection, many of whom were people of substance, and thereby strengthen his own power, and enable him effectual' , to resist the French. The reinforcement on its way to the French squadron had not reached La Plata at the time the Betsy Hall sailed. ST. VALENTINE'S DAY.—This well-known custom (says Fosbroke in his Antiquarian Encyclo_pmdia), was a Christian commut a ti on o f t h e ceremony in the Roman Lu percalia, in which the names of young women were put in a box, from which they were drawn by the men, as chance directed. It was continued by the ladies, who chose knights for a twelvemonth, mostly during carnival time. The earliest poetical valentines now remaining are supposed to be those of Charles Duke of Orleans, taken prisoner at Agincourt, and which are in the Royal library at the British Museum. In in old English ballad, girls are directed to pray crosslegged to St. Valentine for good luck. The Roman Lupercalia above men tioned used to be observed on the 15th of February, being de dicated to Lycssan Pan. Great consternation was excited amongst the members of the South Bemlleet Benefit Club, at their monthly meeting at the Anchor public-house, on the Ist of February, on discovering that their cashbox had been stolen. with its contents, amounting to 81/. Is. Odd. At the previous meeting, on the 4th of January, the money was safely deposited in a box, which was enclosed in a larger box, both being locked. On the secretary attempting to unlock the box on the Ist. inst., the lid came off, and the box containing the cash was found to be missing. It had been given into the landlord's custody, who placed it in a bed-room v,llere his sons and a lodger slept. The latter, who is a briekla),r. and hail been in the neighbourhood some time, lately left the ',louse, saying he was going to Graves end for work, and he has not since returned. The robbery will be a serious loss to the members of the club.—Essex //erold. The body of a well-dressed female, about forty five years of age, was found on Tuesday morning in a sewer which runs by the Swan, opposite Kennington Church. MADRID, FEB. 1.-The Government is going to send two ships of war to the Phillipine Islands ; one to remelts on the station there, now become of more importance since war between England and China has become so very imminent ~~_..,.