The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-03-20 00:00:00

imperiat Varliantent. HOUSE OF LORDS.-MONDAY. The Duke of GORDON presented petitions from places in BandAire, Rossshire, and Elginshire, praying for church ac t ,nmodation in Scotland. The Earl of ROSEBERY presented a petition froth a parish in Scotland, praying for the protection of the established church in that country. Lord BitouCiisst said he wished to move for a return, to which, he believed, no objection would be offered. It was a return of the number of schools in each town, parish, cbapelry, or extra-parochial place, in England and Wales, which return, after stating the amount of the population of the said town or place, according to the last census, should specify whether the said schools were infant, daily, or Sunday schools, &c. The form of the motion was in accordance with that which had been proposed by a noble friend of his (the Earl of Kerry) in the other House of Parliament.—Ordered. Mr. Bernal and others from the - Commons, brought up the newspaper regulation bill, which was read a third time. EMBASSY TO ST. PETERSBURGH. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY after apologising to the house for introducing a subjectpersonal to himself and not strictly in order, proceeded to give an explanation of his late appoint ment as ambassador to the court of St. Petersburg. When Sir Robert Peel bad framed his arrangements to carry into effect the administration of the country, he was pleased to re commend to his majesty that he should nominate him (the Marquis of Loudouderrv) to the important situation of ambas sador to the court of Reissia. He confessed that he felt a great degree of pride when he was informed of the nomination—a nomination which unquestionably he had no right to expect. At the same time he received a letter faom his noble friend, the noble duke near him, stating not only his entire acquiescence in the arrangement, but adding that the noble duke himself would be much benefited by it. He did confess that it was with pride he received the intimation that his humble services Were likely to be again useful to his country (hear, hear); and wlefn he recollected that, during the time in which he had exerted his humble efforts for the benefit ef his country, lie bad become intimately acquainted with nearly all the ministers 'of the day—when he •had served his country at Dresden, at Berlin (hear, hear), at Paris and at Vienna (hear, hear), when he had, during that time, been constantly associating with individuals of great ability and experience—when he remem bered, ton, that he had been the companion in arms, on the fields of Vittoria and of Toulouse, of the most distinguished diplomatist of the day, (hear, hear), he did believe, however presumptuous it might appear, and though perhaps he had acquired neither the sag acity nor the discretion of noble lords over against him, still he did think, when he was appointed ambassador to Russia, that he should be able to perform the duties attached to the situation with advantage to the interests of the two countries (hear, hear), by cementing more firmly the union which now existed between them. (Hear, bear.) Under these circumstances, he did not hesitate to embrace the offer which had been made to him by his majesty's ministers, and he accepted of this appointment. (Ilear, hear.) He con fessed, however, that he was not prepared for the attack that had been made on him ; neither he nor his noble friend near him had any idea that any personal objection would have been offered to ham•. Ile felt, however, so soon as he had read the report of the discussion which had taken place in the other house of parliament, that there was but one line of conduct for him •to pursue as a British subject, and one who was att iched to the public service. He could assure their lordships that he had been guided but by one rule in the course of his long political and military services; he would boldly state, and he believed even his political enemies would not deny the fact, that' in all his proceedings he never had but one object in view, and that object was to serve his King, and to exert himself to the utmost and best of his power for the benefit of his country. Situated as he now was, were he t o depa r t f rom this country, after what had passed in the House of Commons, he should feel 'himself, as a representative of his majesty, placed in a new, false, and an improper situation. He should go with the re marks and animadversions of one branch of the legislature so strongly imprinted on him, that his efficiency would be impaired, and it would be iinpoesib:e for him to fill the office to which he lied been called with proper dignity and effect. It was on these grounds, standing, as he did, upon his sense of duty to his sove reign, and not meaning to succumb to faction, thou gh he should be devoid of feeling if he wer e i nsens ibl e t o th e scoffs and scorn with which be had been so unjustly attacked—it was on these grounds that he stood before their lordships, determined, upon no consideration whatever, to accept of that appointment which his majesty had been graciously pleased to confer on him. (Hear, hear.) He had felt it proper to take this decided course. He had done so entirely on the grounds which he had stated to their Lordships. He bad had no communication directly or in directly with the government. He had neither sought advice, nor had advice been proffered. (Ilear.) lie lied taken this po sham firmly, and after due deliberation. Other times and op. portunities might perhaps arrive when lie should feel it to be his duty to wipe away and remove those unfair, unjust, and un expected remarks and animadversions which bad been levelled at him. They related to circumstances which had occurred sixteen years ago, and they were brought forward at a moment when it was impossible for him to meet them in that house. ( Hear, hear.) He wished to say nothing of the House of Coni mons ; it was omnipotent; but, he would ask, how would any . one of the members of that house like to he placed in the situa tion in which he stored at that moment? (Hear.) Would not a member, if thus attacked, have claimed the right, and have been allowed, to defend himself? (Hear.) He would not refer particularly to the originator of the motion in the House of Commons, nor to those who followed up that motion ; he should merely observe that statements had been made of a very gross and a very false nature. From the course which had been taken on that occasion it might be seen (and he hoped the house would reflect on it) how a public servant, when he had done the best that he could for his King and country during a lone period— after a service of sonic thirty vears—was likely to be treated. (llear, hear.) •He could safely defy the utmost malice of his enemies to point nut one stain on his character, after a service of thirty years. (Hear, hear.) Let noble lords calmly reflect on the consequences that were likely to result from a system of this kind, when they saw such an unfair course of proceeding adopted against an.humble individual like himself, whose great &eject always had been to perform his duty according to the best of his ability. (Hear.) He had now only to thank their lordships for the attention with which they had heard him, and he should not on this occasion trespa.ss on them further. The Duke of WELLINGTON, being officially responsible for the noble marquis, had a few words to say on this subject. It would not perhaps be agreeable to his noble friend if he went into a detail of all the importaut services which he had done ; but this he would say, that he had recommended his noble friend, because he conceived him perfectly well qualified to fill the situation. He had made that recommendation to his ma jesty from his own knowledge of his noble friend's great and important military experience, and also from his acquaintance with his' noble friend's fitness to fill a diplomatic situation, fouwled upon his noble friend's long course3of employment in various diplomatic services, which extended over a period of many years. He alluded more particularly to his noble friend's embassy at the Court of Vienna, which lasted nine years, during which be had performed the most important services. His 'noble friend had on that occasion given the utmost satisfaction to those ministers by whom he hail been appointed, up to the very last moment of his miseion ; and, when he retired, he did so with the strongest marks of distinction and approbation from the then secretary of state for the foreign depwrtinent. (Hear, hear.) He was aware of the peculiar fitness of his noble friend for this particular diplomatic employment (hear, hear,) his noble friend being a military officer of high rank and reputa tion in the service of his country. ( Hear, hear.) Being, aware of the military situation in which Russia was placed, he well knew and deeply felt the advantage of havine such a man as his n o ble friend at the Court of St. Petersburgh ; and therefore he thought himself perfectly justified in recommending his noble friend to proceed as ambassador to that Couit. Ile was happy to find that his right hon. friend (Sir 11. Peel) approved of that appointmenteand that his majesty had bee% pleased to sanction it. Under these circumstances, it was with the greatest regret he found that the nomination for this iineibetant duty was not approved of in another place; beeauee it at's in conseuuence of that disapproval that his noble frilled, witleihat delicacy of feel ing which could not but be admired byeall, had declined the office. (Hear, hear.) Now, uotivithstaading what had passed elsewhere, he felt it necessary to soya feWevords on a particular point, nearly connected with this subject., There could be no doubt whatever that there was no part of the prerogative of the crown so great or so important as that of sending ambassadors to foreign courts; nor was there any branch of that prerogative which ought to be kept more inviolate. But the ministers of the crow,. were responsible for those nominations. (Hear, hear.) They were responsible for the instructions under which his noble friend, or any other noble lord so nominated, was bound to act. They were, moreover, responsible for the proper performance of these duties (by the ambassadors whom they selected) to the whir house of parliament, and to the country at large. It was impossible, therefore, that the House of Com mons could agree to a vote questioning such an appointment. It was impossible for him to believe_ that the House of Com mons would proceed so far as to interfere with that peculiar prerogative, and to say that the person nominated should not fill the.situation; inasmuch as by so doing the House of Com mons would not only take upon itself the nomination of the officer, and the direction of the particular duties which he was to discharge, but would also relieve the minister from the con stitutional responsibility of the appiantment. (Hear, bear.) He did not think that sentiments of such a description were general; and he could not bring himself to believe that a vote, affirming such a violation of the royal prerogative, would have passed the House of Commons. (Ileac, hear.) In conclusion, he should say, that he thought the country owed a debt of grati tude to his noble friend for having, under all the circumstances, declined the office to which he had beeu nominated. (Hear.) The Marquis of LA NsnowNE denied that the disapprobation expressed at the appointment of the noble marquis was in the slightest degree of a personal nature. He (Lord Lansdowne) disclaimed for himself any such feeling. The great objection was the recorded opinions of the the noble marquis (London derry) on the foreign policy of the late government. (Hear, hear.) It was, therefore, not disrespectful to the noble mar quis, when it appeared that, so far as regarded the peace of Europe, as connected with,Poland, and as connected with the illegitimate claims of certain pretenders to the thrones of both Spain and Portugal —as regarded also the peace of Europe, witi: reference to a close understanding and alliance between this country. and the kingdan m of France, on which it was essen tial that we should found and build our concert for the purpose of securing the general peace of Europe, but to which system 'the noble earl had recently and repeatedly declared himself to alien and averse—when, on all these points, the noble earl's feelings were well known, there was no disrespect on the part of the public when they, believing that the noble earl would act consistently with his avowed opinions, viewed his appoint ment as the appointment of one who would not he a zealous, willing, and efficient instrument ti) cry into effect that policy which he (the Marquis of Lansdowne) had not vet beard was to be changed, and on the continuanc e of which fie believed de pended every chance of preserving the peace of Europe and of this country. ( Hear, hear.) Ile believed and hoped that cou fideuce was felt in this country, founded on the continuance of proceedings, or perhaps he sh4uld say, on the absence of pro ceedings, on the part of government, and of the two houses of parliament, that the system of policy pursued by the late mi nisters would not be departed from. But it must be recollected that in other countries the saine opportunities of looking to their lordships' proceeiings and to the deliberations of the other house of parliament did not exist as in this. This obser- ' vation applied, above all,. to those more a b so l ute powers in the north of Europe. They judged of the sy s t em o f policy likely to be pursued by the impression created by personal appoint men t, in connexion with personal opinions. "Upon that ground they were likely to form their conc l us ions as to the intentions of go vernment. Now, it might so happen that an appointment, however honourable to the person in whole f avour it was made, might carry with it an appearance the very reverse of that which the people hoped to see adopted as the policy of the go verninent. Ile agreed with the noble duke that the other house of parliament ought to be very cautious in its interference with the prerogatives of the crown, but it was the peculiar privi legee of that house, entrusted as it was with the finances of the country to look to the reservation of the peace of Europe, and to watch every appointment which might appear to them likely to compromise that prospect of tra nquillity which now prevailed. In declining the. appointment, the. noble marquis had in his (Lord Lansdowne's) opinion, taken the course which best be came hint. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM said if this question had been placed on personal grounds, he should not have risen to address their lordships; but the noble marquis hail put the question on grounds of political principle, with respect to which he differed trom the noble marquis tote calo. Such a doctrine as the noble marquis had Nil down might he suited to a committee of public safety, but was not fit to be introduced iu a British house of par liament. (Hear, hear.) He had always considered freedom of speech to be the undeniable right of both houses of parliament. He had seen the speaker, attended by the House of Commons, presentin g himself at their lordships' bar, and claiming freedom of speech as their undoubted privilege; but now, fur the first lime, he found that that privilege was to be made use of to pre vent his Majesty from exercising his just prerogative. (Hear.) Was that a doctrine to be held by a constitutional peer in that house? The publication of what was said in that house was a breach of their lordships' privileges; and yet they now found that a report of what was spoken there was maize the ground of declaring the unfitness of the noble marquis to hold a particular office. It was said that the noble marquis's political opinions differed from the political opinions of others; but was that a fair reason for excluding him from public office? ( hear,) or holding him up as a man unfit to serve his Sovereign? (Hear.) If his policy were wrong, or if his conduct were not worthy of approbation, who were responsible for his proceedings? Why, the government that appointed him; and if anything were wrong, let that government be questioned on the subject. It appeared, however, that the ministers were not to be held re sponsible, they were not to be questioned on this point of policy, but the noble marquis was to be made the 'scape-goat--he was to be sacrificed to the caprice of individuals. With respect to the King's prerogative, he would say that this was the first time he had ever heard of an appointment of the Crown being ques tioned until the office was actually taken. (The Marquis of Lansdowne—‘• I did no t i n t ro d uce th e subject."] It would have been time enough to have objected when, by some act of the noble marquis, the peace of Europe seemed likely to be dis turbed. Those who were in such a hurry to censure ought to have waited till they had some fair ground of complaint. 'The noble marquis bad,_ in these trying circumstances, done that wt.ich became him. He bad done everything which an honourable mind ought to do. This was an innevationon the constitution; and he would ask where were they to stop? This proceeding, he cone tended, was a direct late] ference. with the prerogative of the Crown. If this were the first, where, he asked, would the last be? Encouraged by this success, would not the present attempt be followed up by others? (Hear, hear.) He warned noblelords not to acquiesce in it. Noble lords opposite might be vet in the situation of mini!ers themselves, and they might before long repent of this attack on the prerogative of the crown. They might hereafter be sorry for acquiescing in that of which they now approved. 'these were times in which they had little to trust to beyond standing firmly by the constitution of the cowl try. He called on their lordships therefore' to make their stand somewhere, and they could not make a better stand than on a question which affected the prerogative of the crown. The conversation here closed. Lord 'l' Ai (having asked a question relative to the is suing of rules and regulations by the poor law commissioners, to which the Duke of Wellington answered that no such rules and regulations had. been promulgated) gave notice, that he would call their lordships' attention to the subject on Friday next. The Duke of BuctriNnitAm, - as we understood, inquired when proper steps would be taken for carrying the poor law amend ment bill into full effect? The Duke of WELLINGTON answered, that the commission ers were required to send the rules and regulations framed by them to the Secretary of State, and also to lay them before par liament. Such rules and regulations had not, however, been vet framed. Ile, for one, was very glad that they had not vet sent forth those rules and regulations which the faw required, because time would give them more experience on the subject. The Duke of RUCK IN G H tai asked whether the poor law com missioners had made any new rules or regulations? Lord BitouG nest answered, that it did not follow, because the commissioners brad given certain orders, that they had framed new rules. The orders alluded to were those general regula tions which were required to be transmitted to overseers by the act. The rules and regulations to which reference had been made were of a mere formal nature, and were required to be sent to the Secretary of State, and to be laid before parliament fourteen days aft er. they were framed. On the motion of the Duke of Richmond, the oaths' abolition bill went through a committee. On the motion of the Lord Chancellor, the contempts in equity (Ireland) bill, and the property of infants, Ike. (Deland) bill, were read a second time. Adj.mtned. HOUSE OF' COMMONS.-WEDNESDAT. THE ISLINGTON MARKET BILL. A great number of petitions were presented' in favour of this bill, alter which it was read a second time and committed. Mr. E. CAMPBELL presented a petition from Argyleshire, for the proteCtion of the established church of Scotland. CANADA. Mr. P. M STEWART presented a petition from the inhabi tants of Montreal, complaining of many evils oppressing that colony. THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH (IRELAND.) On the question that the house resolve itself into a committee of supply. Lord JOHN RUSSELL, having been informed that a special re port would be made iu the course of next week by the local commissioners who had examined the parishes of eight dioceses in Ireland, pat it to the house whether it would not be better for him to postpone his motion respecting the church of Ireland? He would now move for the produc.ion without delay of any re ports which might be received from the commissioners, and if it should meet with the concurrence of the house, he would afterwards pospone his motion till the 30th instant, for which day he would move a call of the house. Sir R. PEEL said that he must tail upon the noble lord to give notice of the motion ; (hear,) it was one which ought not to be made as a matter of course. The question was whether incoin plete reports should be made from the commissioners. Up to the present moment the government had received no report from the commissioners, and it did not appear that government pos sessed the same means of ascertaining from the commissioners the course which would be taken by them as the noble lord had. (Hear, hear.) Without entering into any discussion now, he begged the house to have the goodness to observe that the ques ting, they had to decide was whether they would proceed to affirm a general resolution on a partial report ? Wnether or not the dioceses referred to by the noble lord had been examined he coti.d not state; but he must object to the motion being made without notice. (Hear.) Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that he had no objection to comply with the suggestion of the right hon. baronet, and give notice of his motion. At the same time he must say, that in order to avoid any appearance of surprise he had communicated to the right lion. Secretary for Ireland and the right hon. Secretary for the Home Department, his intention to submit such emotion, and if he had heard any objection offered he would not have brought it forward. He would now withdraw the motion, and -give notice for to-morrow. AGRICULTURAL, DISTRESS. Ae Marquis of CHANDOS asked the Chancellor of the Ex chehuer when it was probable that he would announce his plan for the relief of the agricultural interest? Sir It. PERI., on rising, was received with a cry of `-` Hear" by the opposition. He said he - was pleased to find that he had given so much satisfaction to hou. gentlemen opposite, even be fore he had opened his mouth. ( Hear.) lie might be excused for looking upon that circumstance as a happy augury. in an swer to the question proposed by the noble marquis, he must repeat what he had stated to litany gentlemen—namely, that with respect to all matters relating to the remission o ff` and fiscal regulations it was better that he should make a full statement of his intentions on the subject at the earliest possible period after the termination of the financial year, when he should know with sufficient accuracy fur practi ca l purposes what would be the amount of the demands for the public service, and what the probable amount of surplus. This statement he expected to make early in the next month, which would allow hon. members, who might object to the views he might then lay before the house, sufficient time to adopt what course they might think advisable. The house would recollect that it was only in December that he had assumed his duties, and taking into con sideration the manner in which he had since then been occupied, it really was but fair that he should have time to make up his mind upon several important points connected with the finances of the country. (Hear, hear.) He thought that he should best consult the public interest by declining to inal:e auy premature disclosures. EMBASSY TO ST. PF.TERSBURGH. Lord J. RUSSELL begged to ask the right hon. baronet whe ther, after what had passed in that house on Friday, it was the intention of his Majesty's government that the Marquis of Lon donderry shauld proceed to St. Petersburgh as ambassador from his Majesty to the Emperor of Russia ? Sir R. PEEL said, that he would answer the noble lord's ques tion without the slightest reserve. About an hour since he re ceived ftum his noble friend the Secretary of State fur foreign affairs a letter, in which his noble friend informed him, that he had received a communication from the noble marquis referred to, stating that he felt that, after the discussion which took place in the House of Commons on Fiiday. last, his power of public usefulness as his Majesty's representative at the Court of St. Petersburgh must be greatly impaired, am 4 that therefore he considered it to be an act of public duty to relinquish the si tuation for wnich he had been destined. He (Sir R. Peel) was bound to state that the step taken by the noble marquis .vas entirely the iesuit of his own judgmeut, and that its adoption had not been suiicited or suggested either directly or indirectly by any member of the government. (Hear, hear.) A lengthened conversation ensued, in the course of which the Speaker observed that the question before the house was, that. the house should'resot ve itself into a committee of supply. Sir It. PEEL, in reply to a question, said that he believed that the late government had inteudel to build a place of residence at Constantinople for the British ambassador there, with a view to economy. An otlicer of engineers had been sent out, and had collected a great deal of additional information. The subject required consideration ; but in delaying to give an opinion with respect to it, h e wished not to be understood us desiring to cast the slightest blame on the late government. Mr. Ilusm E inquired whether any arrangement had been made with the American government as to the erection of lighthouses? Lord ASHLEY was understood to say that he was unable at the present moment to answer the questions just asked, but he promised to direct his attention to the subjects alluded to. Mr. FRENCH wished to know whether it was the intention of the government to call on the clergy of Ireland to repay the instalments that had been advanced to them ? Sir It. PEEL said nothing was so desirable in Ireland as that the government should set the example of obedience to the law. The government therefore had issued circular letters to the clergy, as that was aproceeding required by law. On Friday next his right h un . friend the Secretary for Ireland would bring forward a measure with the view of settling the tithe question ; and on that occasion the course iutended to be pursued by go vernment, with respect to the matter alluded to by the butt. member, would be fully explained. In answer to a question, Mr. GouLatiaN said that the poor-law commissioners in Ire land had divided their inquiry into two branches, the first of which had reference to the present mode of relieving pauperism, and its moral results; and the second to the causes of pauper ism. Respecting the first branch, the investigations of the commissioners were concluded; and they had already made some progress in the second, but they could not make a general report until the whole inquiry had terminated. NAVY ts - risiATs.s. The question being again put that the house resolve itself lido a committee of supply, Mr. HUME asked whether the noble lord was prepared to lay on the table any of the supplemental statements which were asked for the other evening. In the United States, the most economical government he knew of, after the president had laid before the legislature the estimates for the year, a committee was appointed to inquire into each separate account. Why not adopt this course ? In Be l g ium the y acted upon the same prin ciple. He, Mr. flume, was desirous of saving the time of the house, but he bad no data to go upon as to what money ought to be granted. He had asked the right hon. baronet whether he had any objection to allow the appointment of a finance com mittee, such as had been appointed to IR:A but the right hon. not very courteously, that h e did not f eel power of Chancellor of the E xc h equer disposedba ronet h t a o d d t e o l e l ahtiem, the to anybody whatever. Sir R. PNEL.—The hon, member has misunderstood me, or rather, I misunderstood the hon. member. 1 understood him to ask whether I had any objection to the appointment of a com mittee to consider the subject of general taxatiou,-and I cer tainly answered that I did not feel disposed to surrender my office to a committee; but the hon. member misunderstood me if he supposed I ohjt , cted to a finance committee, such as was appointed in 1828, though I am certainly of opinion that they ought not to be too frequently appointed. Mr. Home then addressed the chair in a speech of some length, in which be complained of theuantity of stores kept on q hand, and insist e d th a t th e re ductions the estimates were less than they ought to have been. He concluded by moving as au amendment, "that the navy estimates be referred to a select committee previously to the house resolving itself into a com mittee of supply." This motion, after a short debate, was lust by aJnajority of 85. The house then resolved itself into a committee, and the fol , lowing votes were agreed to:— E 433,051, wages to seamen and marines to the ordinary and yard craft. £339,825 for victuals for seamen and marines to the ordinary and yard craft. £1 . 08,84-1 for defraying the charges of the admiralty office. £22,183 to defray the expenses of the navy pay othve. £24,590 to defray the salaries of the several scientific depart ments of the navy. The CHAIRMAN then reported progress, and the house re sumed. The MASTER of the ROLLS obtained leave to bring in a bill fur investing in gov e r nmen t secur iti es a p or ti o n o f the earth lying unemployed in the Bank of England, belonging to bank rupts' estates, and applying the interest thereon in discharge of the expenses of the court of bankruptcy, and for the relief of the suitors in the said court. _ _ The bill was brought in and read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time mi Friday next. The other orders of the day were disposed of, and the house adjourned at one o'clock. HOUSE OF LORDS.--TUESDAY. The Earl of Mot.Gitavx rose to put a question to the noble secretary for the colonial department. Intelligence of a private nature had been r ece i ve d f rom J ama i ca , w hich spoke favourably of the operation of the emancipation act. He wished to learn whether the official information corresponded with the intelli gence received throught private- sources ? It bad been said that the working of that measure would in some degree be tested by the crop of sugar produced since the bill became law in the colonies. .He 'wished therefore to know whether, under the operation of the act, a sufficient number of labourers and particularly apprenticed labourers could be provided for the cultivation of sugar. The other point on which he wished to say a few words arose from circumstances of which the noblellord was aware. It must be known to the noble earl; thatthere were' in the.colonies persons who had no land, but who were jobbers in slaves, who kept and hired them to the cultivators of the soil. He had heard that since the passing of the new act many of those jobbers had not—from want, as it was reported, of xuffi cient employineet—thought it necessary to retain those negroes,' and that those dangerous persons had in consequence betaken themselves to the mountains. Those negroes, not being now attached to the soil were the worst description of neighbours. Before he left the island, he was desirous that a vagrant law should be passed in reference to them. Ile now begged to ask the noble earl whether it was intended to introduce a law of nature ? The Earl of ABERDEEN felt great pleasure in being able to confirmi the statements of the noble earl with respect to the favourable working of the new system, and to the abundance of the new crop o f sugar. The new crops, he had reason to believe, were of the full average nature, and the same result was obtained in British Guiana, a colony second only' to Jamaica. With respect to the second point referred to by the noble earl he had no information, but believed that the evil did not exist to any great extent. He believed that no vagrant law had been enacted, but his impression was, that in Decem ber last a provision had been irit roduced into the new ect by which the wandering negroes might be arrested and punished accord ingly. It was his opinion that a law for the suppression of vagrancy in the colonies ought to be enacted if the provision alluded to should turn out inefficient. THE EAST INDIA INDSAINITY BILL. On the motion of Lord Elleuborough this bill was read a third time. ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. Lord BRODDH ;;asiced whether the bill introduced into the other house of parliament comprehended the abolition of the 'Court of Delegates? The LORD CDA NcEt.i.oß replied that it did not. The Earl of WICK Low presented a petition praying for the repeal of the act for obtaining money on landed securities in Ireland. The Marquis CAMDRN said be had received a comfnunication from the Vice-Chancellor and heads of the houses of the Uni versity of Cambridge, stating that they could afford some' use ful intormation bearing un the bill then before their lordships for the abolition of certain oaths. Ile therefore wished to know whether the noble duke (Richmond) would, under these cir cumstances, consent to postpone the third reading of the bill ? The Duke of IticiimoNn was obliged to his noble friend for the intimation which lie had given, and was willing to postpone the third reading of the bill to Friday, in the expectation that the information would be produced before that time. POOR LAW HILL. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM presented a petition from the inhabitants of Stoke Po is, in the county of Buckingham, against the manner in which the poor law cotnmissiosers pro posed to act with respect to that parish. The petition was in substance the same as the one recently presented to the other house of parliament by the Marquis of Chandos. His grace at considerable length and with great earnestness described the sufferings of the poor, which must result from the power ex ercised by the commissioners, particularly in the case of separating husband and wife, and parents from their children. The Duke of WELLINGTON suggested that the consideration of the subject should be postp?ned untie a counter statement had been made by the commissioners. Lord BROUGHAM defended the excellence of the poor law bill, and contended that the power of separating man and wife was necessary to get rid of improvident pauperiniarriges, which were frequently entered into for the purpose of burthening a parish with the support of the wife. The petition was laid on the table. _ , MESSAGE FROM THE COMMONS: Mr. Bernal and others from the House of COMmons brought up a bill for applying certain sums of the service of the year 1835 and the Exchequer bills bill. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM said that after what had passed that night he thought it his duty to g iv e no ti ce th a t he should take an opportunity to move for the correspondence which had taken place in reference to the union of Stoke Pogis with other parishes, and fur the attendance (as we understood) of the overseers of that parish at their lordships' bar. It was very fit that if the statement which their lordships had heard that night were true that those gentlemen should have an opportunity of re-stating what had been so flatly contradicted. (Hear.) Adjourned at seven o'clock. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-TUE3DAY. There being two ballots fixed for this daN for the appointment of election committees in the cases of the Droitwith and Ro chester petitions, the gallery was not opened until half-past four o'clock. The SPEAKER informed the house that the petitioners against the return for the city of 'Waterford had not entered into the required recognizances. I'he order for the consideration of the petition was accord ingly discharged. pit the motion of Mr. Roebuck, the education committee was nominated, and at the suggesti o n of Mr. Hume, the proceedings of the committee of last session were referred to it. Mr. Wyss presented a petition from Mr. Thomas Dixon,late candidate for the borough of Kinsale, stating that he had trans mitted a petition against the return of the sitting member through the Hanaper-office in Ireland, but that owing to the misinformation of the deputy-clerk of that office, he had not lodged his sureties in the required time. He now prayed that time might be allowed bias for perfecting his recogiiizances. The petition was then ordered to be printed, and the con i deration of it deferred until to-morrow. Mr. Husia said the house would recollect that he had pre sented a petition from the petitioner against the return for Lich field, stating that he had lost his time for lodging his sureties through the neglect of an hon. member (Mr. Jervis) in present ing his petition too early. He (Mr. flume) had that morning received a letter from Mr. Jervis, assuring him that the circum stance did not occur through any neglect or fault of his; that when the petition was first offerecito him he told the agent that he was obliged to leave town before the day he was requested to present it on, and that the agent brought the petition back to him a second time, desiring him to present it forthwith. The house would therefore See that the petition which he (Mr. Hume) had presented, praying for further time, was unworthy of any more notice. (Hear.) UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. Mr. TOOKE move:Ciorac4vt;ftieCharier of incorporation applied for by the University of London in 1831, and the steps that had since been taken with respect to it. The motion was agreed to. Mr. F. O'CoNNOIt gave notice of a motion respecting clerical magistrates in Ireland. NEW WRIT. VfittrioN moved that the Speaker should issue his warrant to the clerk of the crown to make out a new writ fur the election of a member for the nortlicin division of Nottinghamshire, in the room of Viscount Lumley, called to the House of Peers by writ of summons. ( Hear.) The motion was agreed to. THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH (IRELAND.) Lo - .d J. RUSSELL postponed the motion of which he had given notice for the production of any reports which might be made by the' Commissioners of public instruction ( Ireland)'until.M on day next, and also his motion relative to the church in Ireland until the 30th instant, for which day he would move a call of the house. DISSENTERS' MARRIAGES. Sir ROBERT PEEL, in introducing this measure, said that the object of the bill which he should ask leave to introduce would be to provide relief for those dissenters who objected to have the ceremony of marriage performed in their own case accord ing to the rites of the church of England. The 26 th Geo. I. provided that n o marr i age ceremon y should be performed unless by a clergyman of the church of England, and according to the rites of that church, except in the case of jews and ouakers. To the provisions of this act the dissenters objected; they al leged they had conscientious objections to the use of forms and ceremonies from which they dissented. The church of England could obtain no benefit by compelling those who dissented from her doctrines to solemnize their marriages according to her rites. Under these circumstances it became necessary to con sider what mode of relief could be granted to the dissenting body in this respect. To him it appeared there were only three modes by which the objects of the dissenters could be attained. The first an alteration of the ceremony; but this would be a violation doua to the consciences of those who adhered to the church and approved of that ceremony. The members of the church of England, therefore, had a Lair right to object to the alteration of a ceremony with which they were perfectly satis fied, and which was entirely conformable with their feelings and doctrines, provided that any other mode of satisfying the conscientious scruples of those who dissented from the church could be discovered. The second mode by which it might be possible to give relief to the dissenters, and a mode which Fad been hitherto almost always tried, was to make some provision by which dissenters should be able to perform the ceremony of marriage within dissenting chapels. and various bills had been submitted to the consideration of parliament since the year 1821, some of which had passed the House of Commons, founded on the principle of giving permission to dissenters to celebrate the marriage ceremony within their own places of worship. Sir Robert then proceeded to analyze the bill ietroduced by the noble lord, (Lord John Russell,) against which the dissenters petitioned during the last session on the following grounds,- 1, because they objected to the celebration of marriages in places of worship exclusively; 2, because they objected to the publication of bans in parish churches, and to the granting of licenses by surrogates; and 3, because they felt that the affix ing the license granted for the solemnization of marriage in some conspicuous part of their places of worship would give rise to feelings which it would be better to avoid exciting. It would be seen, therefore, that very material, objections were enter tained by the dissenters to the measure proposed by the noble lord. In his opinion the third objection was one of minor import ance; but still it must be remembered that it was put forward by the dissenters themselves. Besides these objections, there were °there whi c h might be urged to the noble lord's bilk on general grounds. He (Sir U. Peel) had already alluded to two modes by which it might be supposed, on a first impression, that relief should be given to the dissenters :-Ist, to an alteration of the marriage ceremony of the church of England, - whicle he set aside as an influential mode; and, 2dly, to the, mode adopted by the noble lord, which continued the publication of the banns by the mi nisters of the church of England, but , which permitted the mar riage of dissenters to be solemnized by the ministers of the cougregatiuns to which they belonged. The second mode not having given satisfaction to the dissenters, it therefore remained to be considered by what mode satisfaction could be given to that body, consistently with a principle which would admit of universal application without inconvenience or mischief. He would now, after much consideration of the noble lord's bill, which had proved unsatisfactory not only to the dissenters, but also to many members of the established church (for they had objected to be made the instruments of performing the prelimi nary ceremony of the publication of the banns, in respect to a rite which it was proposed should cease to be sanctioned by the religious forms of the church of England)—he would now, he .repeated, proceed to state to the house the principles on which he proposed to found a bill fur the purpose of giving relief to the dissenters. It appeared to him that by far the most efficient and leastobjectioaable mode of giving that relief was to propose two ceremonies, one a civil ceremony, and the other a religious ceremony; taking care to encourage as far as possible the re ligious ceremouy, but not impasing it is an absolute and essential condition of the validity of a marriage. (Hear, hear.) 'lie would make the civil ceremony an indispensable. preliminary of marriage. That was the security which he would require on the part of soc ety. ( Hear, hear.) lie would fain hope, how ever, that the ceremony of marriage would not, in consequence, be divested of its religious character; he believed that it would not. (Hear, hear.) lie believed that so much importance was attached to the reheious rite, by the dissenting body, that they would, in almost alrcases, superadd the religious to the civil ceremony; and he doubted not that the religious sanction $o superadded would be more efficient as a sanction if left to be im posed by the parties themselves, according to such forms as were most acceptable to them, than if described iu the nature of a fixed ceremony by the legislature. (Hear, hear.) Every one must desire to see the religious sanction possess a solemn and binding character; but was it probable that it would have the effect of solemnity, or be of a binding nature, if it were not pre cisely in accordance with the conscientious feelings of the parties on whom it was imposed, but if it were, on the contrary, prescribed and determined by law, to which they would be compelled to sub mit? The religious ceremony that would suit the unitarian would not suit the independents or the baptists,but if the legislature left the dissenting bodies the right of superadding to the civil con tract such religious ceremonies as were in accordance with their peculiar opinions, nothing of the value of a religious sanction would be lust. In acting on this principle he was acting in :precise conformity w ith th e pr i nc i p l e o f a bill w hi c h passed the House of Commons in the year 1827, and which proceeded in the House of Lords to a third reading, and which was then only postponed on account of the advanced period of the session. l'he bill, which related to unitarians, was introduced by Mr. W. Smith, and the house would see irons a description of its provi sions, that it directly , recognised the principle on which he now proposed to proceed. Before he entered into an explanation of the particular details of the measure lie proposed to intro duce, he wished to show the house that the principle on which it was founded was recognized by the law of England previous to the marriage act of 1751. He apprehended that the law of England recognized marriage as a civil contract; and that it did not require as an essential and indispensable condition of the validity of that contract the performance of any religious ceremony. In the fatuous case of " Dalrymple v. Dalrymple," Lord StOwell, then Sir W. Scott, laid down that principle, and in support of his opinion he referred to the judgment of Lord Holt, in the reign of Queen Anne, in the following terms:—" It was said by Lord Holt, and agreed to by the whole court, that if a contract be per rerba de prcesenti, it amounts to an actual mar riage, which the very party themselves cannot dissolve by re lease or other mutual agreement, for it is as much amarriage in the sight of God as if it had been in facie erclesice." In Wig more's case the same judge said, " that a contract per verba de prcesenti is a marriage, so is a contract per verba de future; if the contract be executed and the man take her, it is a marriage; and they cannot be punished for fornication." Lord Stowell stated, that in the ecclesiastical courts, as well as in the com mon law, " the stream ran unirorinly in the same course," and he referred to the case of Lord Fitzmaurice, the sun of the Earl of Kerry, brought in the year 1732 before the court of de legates. In that case it 'appeared that the engagement was made in the following terms :—" We swear to many one another," and it was held that each party was bound by that de claration. The decision of the court was to the following effect:—" The court, composed of a full commission, paid no regard to the objection, and found for the marriage, and an ap plication for a commission of review, founded upon matter al leged, was refused by the chancellor." Lord Stowell next observed that things continued on this footing till the marriage act of 1754, which was not intended to give the ceremony of marriage a religious sanction, as a religious sanction; but was only intended as a precaution against fraud and clandestine marriage. In making, therefore, the civil contract an indis pensable condition of the validity of marriages, mind leaving parties to superarld the religious sanction, he was acsing in con formity not only with the principle of the bill of 1821, but with what was the law of England previous to the marriage act of 1754, (loud cries of " Hear,") and he thought he was acting in conformity with the dictates of reason and good sense in not prescribing any precise religious ceremony, but in leaving the parties interested to fix for themselves such religious sanc tion as was best suited to their religious opinions. (hear.) Having said thus much on the, general principles on which be proposed to proceed, he would now proceed to explain the enact ments which his bill would include. The present method of notifying the intentions of dissenters to contract a marriage with one of their own commun i ty was repugnant to the feelin g' s of the dissent ers , b u t if h e could devise any other mode by which effectu a l not i ce cou ld b e g i ven, which should relieve the dissenter from the necessity of conforming to the religious rites of the establishment, and if he could introduce some simple form of notice, by which the conscientious feelings of a minister of the church would be spared the pains or assisting in a ceremony which was in opposition to the forms prescribed by the esta blishment, lie thought that the object be had in view would be effectually answered. (Hear, hear.) The form he intended to propose would be very simple. If there were two parties who had an objection to the form of marriage as solemnized by the church of England, they would have within their power the remedy which it was the object of the bill to secure to them. But he did not wish to make this enactment compulsory on all who conscientiously differed from the doctrines of the church. He did hope, that the impediment of pride being removed, when it was no longer absolutely neces s a r y f o r the - dissenter to be married according to the :forms of an establishment to whose doctrines be could not subscribe, he would in many instances not avail himself of the kind of relief proposed by the bill. He would give him every facility of being married elsewhere, if he preferred it, but he hoped that he' would be induced, unless there was some serious objection in his mind to the form of the marriage ceremony as performed in the church of England, to conform to that ceremony. He proposed, then, that the two parties intending to be mmirried, having resided for seven days previously in some hundred, should present themselves before a magistrate at a given period, for the purpose of entering into a civil contract, that they should acknowledge the contract in his presence, and that there sh o uld b e a n ac k now l e d gment i n writ ing of the contract by those who would then be standing in the relation of husband and wife to each other. The acknowledg ment might take place not later than three months after such residence, and not earlier than fourteen days. He preferred a single magistrate for . this purpose, because when it was b p e a t i t r ‘ er i l b cif magistrates con sidered with w h at f ee li ngs persons would come to enter into this engagement, and th e nature o f t h e patt i es att e nding at the e before petty sess i ons, t h e va l ue of the remedy would be much requiringim th,e assembled ac to try prisoners, knowledgment to be made bef e e s a a ,) and the grace nd favour of the conce ssio n wou ld be (h much di minished if it were confined to so public an occasion. (Hear.) They would have to make oath that they were above the age of twenty-one years, and if they were below that age, fiat they had the consent of their guardians or parents, and that they were not aware of any lawful impediment to time validity of the con tract. (Hear, hear.) It might be said that a dour would be opened to clandestine marriages by the non-publication of bans, but he believed that it would be found that in most clandestine marriages which had taken place the parties had been married by bans and not by license; and he did not think that the pub lication of bans was generally found to answer the purpose of publicity. He apprehended, however, that his bill would pro vide all the security' which was given by license. But if, on experien ce , it was discovered that clandestine martiagps were more frequent owing to the operation of this bill, he was sure that the members of that house would all have a common object in providing more efficient safeguards against this evil. (Cheers.) After the ceremony had been gone through, a copy of the acknowledgment of the contract was to'le transmitted to the clergyman of the parish, not, however, by the dissenter, who was not to be forced to enter into contract with a clergyman of the establishment, but the magistrate who took the acknowledg ment would transmit the certificate of the contract. Ile was sure that the clergyman would not object to being made the re gistrar of these. engagements, and as it was a great object to keep the registries of all marriages together, be knew of no bet ter plan that could b e a d opte d at present than to confide them to the custody in which they now were. Ile was considering the question of a general registry, but us it was impossible for him, occupied as he was, to bring forward everything at once, he thought it most advisable to select, ;according to the system now in use, the best depository that could be found, ie order to prevent, as much as possible, the inconvenience that would arise from the want of civil registration in one place for the members of all religions. (Hear, hear ) He did, however, as he had said before, cherish a hope, _that the impediment of pride .or religious scruples being removed, the remedy to he given by the bill would be comparatively seldom resorted to. The expense attending it would be trilling. The whole aumuut of fees, for taking the acknowledgm en t, 8.c., would not exceed 75., and ss. would be p a id to the parochial officer or the cler gyman of the parish, for registering the civil marriage, which he apprehended would altogether be found to be much less than the average charge for perf orm i ng th e marr i age cere mony. (Hear, hear.) - He was much obliged to the house for the great attention with which it had favoured him. (Loud cheering.) He was aware that he had taken up a subject which many gentlemen in that house were much better qua lified to haudle than himself, but if the bill ielieved the con seiterrieus minister of the church from his objections to publish the bans tar parties who were not to be married according to its `forms, and if he removed the causes which prevented the dis senter from enjoying civil rights, without violating his religious opinions, he was well paid for any trouble which the question had thrown upon him. (Hear, hear.) With regard to members of the Church of England, it was not his intention to propose any alteration in the laws that affected them in this particular. He believed that they were quite satisfied .with matters as they stood (hear, hear), and lie proposes' to retain for them the ad vantage of a ceremony which conferred the same.civil rights as the dissenters would now enjoy, without being obliged to go through the ceremony, and superadded a religious sanction to the civil contract. (Cheers.) Mr. Wings expressed his unfeigned thanks to the right hon. baronet for the attention he had paid to this subject at a mo ment when others in an immense variety - were pressing upon him. Ile feared, however, that large bodies of dissenters would be dissatisfied. The great point for which dissenters contended was perfect civil equality. (Oh oh ! ) It would, he feared, be to them a great and insuperable objection that they only were restricted to this mode of entering, into the marriage obligation. To the disseelers the provisions of the bill said " You may be I married in a different manner from the rest of the community," and represented them as persons indifferent to religion. (Oh ! oh!) The hon. gentleman mil served that he feared objections would be raised to clergymen becoming the registrars of these marriages, and wished fur a general registration of births, mar riages, and deaths. He thauked the right hon. gentleman for. introducing this bill, and regretted that any differences should exist between dissenters and the established church. Lord Joa n liUssaLL, after shortly referriug to the bills which he had introduced on this subject, concluded by saying that with respect to the measure befor e the house, whether objections might be found in it by the dissenters, or whether it would give satisfaction to them, he must say that it was conceived in a spirit of liberality and justice Hear.) Dr. LosniNdeoe wished to understand whether, when two persons were married in the manlier proposed by the bill, questicns as to their belonging to any sect of dissenters were put to them before or subsequently to the performance of the contract ? Sir It. PEEL said that the form of oath to be taken by the party ran thus:—" I, A. 8., do st.ear that I am not a member of the united church of England and Ireland,—(hear, heat,)— and that I have lived in the parish for 39 many days; that I am so many years old, a bachelor or widower, (as the ease might be,) and that I know of no other impediment, kindred, or alli ance which is an obstacle to this engagement." Dr. Loshington, Mr. P. Howard, Mr. Baines, Mr. C. Fer guson, Mr. P. 'Thomson, Mr. I). W. Harvey, Mr. Stuart Wort ley, and Mr. Leonard expressed their satisfaction, and thanked the right hon. baronet for the liberal spirit which pervaded the bill. Mr. Ewairr complimented the right hon. baronet for the'dis tinguished clearness and order with which the measure had been introduced. lie contended for marriage being performed ac cording to the old laws of England, as tt was in the time of the Commonwealth, and as it continued up to 1754. He trusted that the time was coming when the number of distinctions be tween churchmen and dissenters would be decreased, and he hoped it was not far distant when the most subtle would fade away. He trusted that the time was coining when personal rights and the rights of property would be secured by a general registration of births, marriages and deaths. The principle of the bill was one that would-redound eternallv"to the honour of the right hon. baronet for having developed It. Lord SAN DON thought that from the tune of some part of the observations of hon. members, one fact had been lost sight of— that they were not legislating for a certain sect but furthe great mass of the people, whose feelings attached them to the esta blished churca. The wisest thing a legislature could do was to apply itself, not to theoretical wrongs, but to acknowledged grievances. He approved of the non-interference of the esta blished church in the matter of registration. Mr. ROEBUCK said that the state should never view the cere mony of marriage in any other light than as a civil contract. He thought the time of a parish priest could be employed to no more useful purpose than acting as a civil officer of the state. For the peat principle propounded he returned the right hon. bert. opposite his most sincere thanks. They were now to be governed on philosophical principles so offensive to the noble lord opposite. Lord SAN DON was desirous of knowing, from some remarks that bad fallen front the bun. member who had just sat down, is hen the hon, member for Bath had been constituted lecturer on arrogance and acrimany to the house? Mr. SIIEIL thought there was much good in the bill mixed up with much that was objectionable. lie objected to giving cler gymen ss. for doing nothing, while the magistrates who would have to do all the work would only receive 2s. The ATTORNEY-GENERA L, Sir JOHN CAMPBELL, Mr. WAR BURTON, and Mr. M'Ca NCI: approved of the bill. Mr. KENNEDY was quite sure that the measure of the right hon, baronet would be even more unpalatable to the dissenters - than its predecessor, that of the noble member for Devonshire. (Laughter, and cries of Oh !) They objected to the latter for some of its details. They would object to the former for its principle. (Cries of Oh! and laughter.) It degraded the dis senting clergyman below the clergyman of the Church of Eng land. It drew a line of demarcation between sects, and it created two kinds of marriages. The consequence of all which would be to displease the dissenters to the last degree, and make them more violent than before. (Cries of Oh! oh ! and Question.) Sir ROBERT PEEL replied at some length, after which leave was given to bring in the bill. OSINIBUSSES AND HACKNEY COACHES. Mr. Alderman WOOD moved for a bill for the better regula tion of these vehicles.—Leave given. ENLISTMENT AND REGISTRATION OF SEAMEN. Sir JAMES GRAHAM moved for leave to bring in two bills for " the encourageineut of the voluntary enlistment of sea men," and to make better regulation for effectually manning his majesty's navy; and also to amend and consolidate the laws relating to merchant seamen, and for forming and maintaining a register of all men engaged in that service. In explaining the objects he bad in view, he said that his first was to consoli date the existing laws, and to establish a system of registration in substance the same as the bill of last session, which had proceeded through two stages. It was for interest of the country and the public service that the merchant-seamen should be protected, for if not, their numbers wou d gradually be re duced, and consequently the source from which the navy was supplied must in the end became exhaused. The first measure he should propose then would go to protect those sailors who were living on board merchant-ships. It was well ascertained that vast numbers of those men suffered severely from the absence of prOper written agreements with their masters. He should therefore propose that all merchant-seamen should in future serve under written engagements, so that they should he secure in the nature and duration of their service, and not be subject to the caprice or interested motives of the masters. In the measures be was about to introduce be shonld next propose to protect the master against the breach of his engagements by the sailor, and there would also be a provision against har bouring deserters from merchant-ships. Ile intended that the number of apprentices on board those ships should be limited ; send in order to ascertain that the proper number was not ex ceeded he should provide that all foreign ships on their return home should be visited by an officer, who would have all the apprentices mustered, to see that the proper number was not exceeded on board. The bill also went to prevent the practice, which he feared too much prevailed, of leaving seamen in foreign countries without payment of their wages or without any absolute necessity for parting with them. Many com plaints had been received from our consuls abroad of the prevalence of this practice by toasters of merchants-ships who violated their contract with the men in order to get rid of large arrears of wages due to them, and to get their ships navigated home on cheaper terms by other seamen. He a l so p ropose d to establish a registration of all seamen in the merchant service. He had endeavoured to meet as far as possible the objections of the shipowners upon this subject, and had adopted into his bills the suggestions they offered, and had availed himself of some parts of the bill which Mr. Lyall, who was then member for the city, introduced in the last session. Instead of the mode of registry proposed last year, he should propose that the regis tration should be made from the returns taken on board mer chant ships on their arrival hoine at the Custom House. These returns he thought would form th e b es t ma t er i a l s l oran e ff ect i ve registration. He was disposed at first to substitute the system 1 of ballot for impressment; but on reflection he felt convinced that that system would fail altogether to attain the desired end. or else that it must after all - ue only a system of impressment under another name. The practice of ballot in the land serNike was widely different in its effect from that which it would have in the naval service. The land force was provided from an in exhaustible source; but the very contrary was the case with the sea service ; for here the source was extremely limited, while the demand, particularly in time of war, was unlimited. He pro posed that the crown should have the same right to call for the service of the laud force; but lie would limit this compulsory ' service to five years, and that this length of compulsory service should be a protection for life against any further claim for compulsory service. He considered that it would be highly ad vantageous to hold out every inducement to voluntary service before compulsory service should be resorted to. and to this end he proposed that after the proclamation should be issued t here should be a cei min period of grace before it came into operation, during which the men might boycott opportunity oftenduring their volun tary service, and thaton so tendering themselves they should be en titled to double bounty—that is £lO instead of £5, the . present bounty ; and he proposed that one year's voluntary service (lur ing war should go as far as two years in peace, or by compulsion, towards entitling a man to his pensiou, and that if the war lasted beyond five years he should be entitled to a second bounty on consenting to serve again. He proposed, too, that twenty years' service should entitle the sailor to draw his pension as well as his wages, which was not the case at present. With all these inducements, however, it was his intention to hold still the power of impressment, although he did not think there would be much occasion to have to recourse to it. Ile had now stated the heads and wain objects of the two bills which he asked permission to introduce, and, having done so, he should leave the house to deal with them as it thought fit. He should be happy on any future occasion, in other stages of the bills, to afford any explanations that might be deemed necessary -on going into the details. Mr. Young, Mr. Buckingham. Mr. Baring, Capt. Berkeley, Capt. Gordon, Mr. Chapman, Mr. Alderman Thompson, Admi ral Adam, and Sir P. Durham, exiSressed themselves favour ably disposed to the bill.—Leave given. On the motion of Mr. GILLON various returns were ordered connected with the revenue and expenditure of the years 1834 and 1835, and also returns of the amount of compensation given to clergymen in Scotland for 1831,1832, 1833, in lieu of tithe on fish. PUBLIC WORKS (IRELAND.) Mr. I.ANCH, pursuant to the motion which he had given, moved for a select committee to consider whether, for the better employment of the labouring poor in Ireland, the powers of the commissioners of the present board bf public works in that coun try ought not to be enlarged; and whether the terms upon which loans might be made by such commissioners ought not to be varied; and what steps ought to be taken to provide for the reclamation of the waste lands of Ireland. The hon. baronet at the head of the government had refused to state whether or not it was the intention of the government to advance any more money for public works in Ireland; but he would not of course object to the appointment of such a committee as this.—Leave given, and a committee appointed. WITNESSES' INDEMNITY BILL. On the motion of Mr. °ROE the witnesses' indemnity bill was read a second time and ordered to be committed. DANISH -CLAIMS. Admiral ADAM said that, seeing the hon. baronet the secre tary for the Treasury in his place, he wished to ask him a ques tion on the subject of the Danish claims. What he wanted to know was whether they were likely soon to' have the report of the commissioners with respect to these claims, and when they might expect that report to be laid upon the table of the house . ? Ho was also anxious to know whether in this report the com missioners meant to include all claims, namely, as well claims relating to book debts and goods as those connected with ship ping? Sir T. FREEMANTIE, in reply, begged to assure the hon. and gallant officer that the report of the commissioners was very nearly ready, and the moment it was completed it would be laid before the house. He was also happy to be able to state that the report would include the whole number of the claims which bad been received, as the commissioners meant to report on the three classes to which the hon. and gallant officer had mentioned, namely, book debts, goods, and shipping. He was, however, sorry to say that these claims amounted to an enor mous sum ; in fact, no less than half a million of money. Admiral ADAM was quite aware that the amount of the claims was very large, but he mast at the same time observe that the droits of the Admiralty had been disposed of in other ways instead o f being applied, as they ought t o h ave b een, i n li qu id at i on o f those claims. The other'orders of the day having been disposed of, the house adjourned at twelve o'clock. HOUSE OF LORDS.—WEDNESDA T. The Earl of RODEN presented several petitions from Scot.. land, praying fur protection to the established church of that country, awl also some petitions from Ireland for the better observance of the Lord's-day. APPOINTMENT OF LORD CANTERBURY As COMMISSIONER TO CANADA. The Earl of MtadnAvit, after alluding to the disputes which had taken place in Canada, and the intention of government to rend out a commissioner to that country, begged to ask the noble lord (Aberdeen) whether he w&t prepared to name the person who' had been selected to discharge that duty ? His next ques tion was, whether that person was to act upon his own respon sibility? The situation was rather a novel one, and it might be wise to inquire how much was left to the discretion of the indi vidual? It was thought there might be son,• points on which it would be convenient to-allow the commissioner to decide, but their lordships knew there were also grievances of which the Canadians complained, which it would be verb injudicious to allow him to decide upon, without reference to his majesty's government at home. He could not also avoid alluding to the delicate situation in which the noble lord who was exercising the functions of government in that country would be placed, when he should be, as it were for a time superseded. lie would not decide as to whether his majesty's government had taken the most proper course; but he would impress upon the noble earl, that no now should be lost in sending out this per son. It was impossible that any person acquainted with colo nial affairs could be ignorant of the detriment which delay too frequently occasioned, and he hoped that the noble earl would be prepared to tell him that no delay should take place in send ing out the person appointed. The House of Assembly would shortly meet, and it would be advantageous that be should be there in time to be present at its meeting. if the noble earl was prepared to answer hint upon these three points it would be very satisfactory. • r MARCH 20, 114:35; The Earl of ABERDEEN, in reply, said, the noble lord could scarcely expect him to enter fully into a general view of the policy about to be taken by the government, but of course they would most carefully avoid - every species of delay. Surely he could not be accused of delay—the report was made ou the Ist of July, and when he entered office he found no steps taken, though six months had elapsed—surely,, then, he was not to be charged with delay, when only a few weeks had been suffered to elapse since he had entered into the office —( Hear.) . He did not mention that for the purpose of casting any blame on the late minister, but merely to exonerate himself. He con curred in all that had fallen from the noble earl as to the [peat difficulty and importance of the task which the individual who was selected for the place would have to perform. ( Hear, hear.) He was perfectly aware that the person charged with such large authority must be a man of' great ability, being possessed of great qualifications; and, above all, have a character of the most conciliating nature. All of those qualifications he did not despair of finding in the person whom his majesty had been pleased to appoiut. (Hear, hear.) As he (the Earl of Aber deen) had this day submitted to his majesty the name of a noble lord, a member of the house, and as his majesty had been pleased to approve of the appointment, of course he had un difficulty in naming him. As he had said, he was a member of that house, thous he bad not yet taken his seat—Viscount Canterbury was the nobleman who had received his majesty's approbation. He would now say a few words as to the noble person who now filled the office of governor. In doing so he begged the house to understand that he had not the least view of disparaging his services, nor was lie prepared to say the un fortunate situation in which that country was placed was pro duced by him, but the fact was notorious, that in the situation in which he was placed no hope could be entertained of bring ing these unfortunate differences to an amicable conclusion. Such being the case, it had be en th oug h t necessary to appoint another person with special instructions. After a few observa;ious from Lords Brougham and Aber deen the conversation ended. - THE PUBLIC SERVICE BILL. This bill was read a second time. THE NEWSPAPER lIRGULATION BILL. This bill was read a tiiird time. The other bills on the table were advanced a stage; and the house adjourned. • --- HOUSE OF COMMONS, WEDNESDAY. The SPEAK ER took the chair at half past three o'clock. Se veral petitions were presented to the house on various subjects. THE DUBLIN ELECTION PETITION. Mr. O'CONNELL said that three different periods had been fixed upon for hearing of the petitions against the return for the city of Dublin. Upon the second petition, fixed for the 4th of March, no securities had been proposed until that day, and although a week before the agent for the petitioners had stated that he would not proceed on that petition, but only on the third. He (Mr. O'Connell) bad therefore nut justified, and had written to Dublin on Monday to stop the witnesses who were coming relative to the second petition. Now , however, the agent haul taken up the second petition; and if the house did not interfere, the ballot for these petitions would come on the next day, as fixed upon, and he should neither have his agent nor his witnesses ready to answer the a ll ega ti ons o f t h e petitioners. (H ear, hear.) He would, therefore, beg that the ballot should be postponed till the 26th, and he trusted that the house would, under those circumstances, comply with his re quest. Mr. Straw said that at the request of the agent for the peti tioners, he had undertaken to reply to the statement of the hon. and learned member. The agent informed him (Mr. Shaw) that he had never said he would unconditionally abandon the second petition, but merely that he would do so, if he succeeded with the petition of Monday last—(hear, hear,)—and he had accordingly posted up his notices to that effect. The securities to the petitions had also been objected to most unexpectedly, as no notice had been given of those objections. The agent re quired time to reply to those objections, and as those objections had been made, he then thought it proper and justifiable to re turn to the second petition, especially as the securities upon it were exactly the same as upon the third, and it wol-id save the trouble and delay of sending to Dublin on the subject. The agent haul, therefore, proceeded that day on the second petition. The petitioners were prepared to go ou with all of the petitious to-morrow; and he left it, therefore, to the house, seeing that many of his witnesses had come from a great distance, and at great expense, whether this petition ought to be put off. After some discussion, Sin JOHN CAMPBELL unwed that the time for the ballot should be extended fur a week, which was ultimately granted. ABOLITION OF IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT BILL. On the motion of SIR J. CAMPBELL, the house then went into committee on the abolition of imprisonment fordebt bill. Mr. RICHARDS rose to oppose the bill, and was left speaking. CORK PETITION. (From the Cork Constitution of Tuesday.) Oar readers will perceive by the letter of our vigilant and accurate correspondent, that the consideration of the city peti tion, has been postponed to the 9th of April. The reports of all the London papers were either silent or erroneous on this subject. It was, indeed, perfectly obvious from the beginning, whatever Mr. O'Connell and Mr. O'Connor might choose to asseverate as to the usual duration of the Cork assizes being only three or four or five days, that an attendance before the second of April, would interfere with the other public duties of almost every witness who would be required for either party. The day being thus fixed for the ballot, it may not then be uninteresting to state summarily the course of proceeding fol lowed in the formation of the committee which is to decide on the litigated questions of the petition. On the day appointed. measures ate taken to ensure the attendance of one hundred member!, who, having been got tog e th er , are i mme di ate l y locked in to pr even t their escape. Names are then drawn from a ballotting box, which contains the name of every member of the house, until thirty-three names of members present, and neither objectionable nor excused by parliamentary regula tions, are drawn. The parties then serike off each one name alternately, until there remain eleven. These eleven are then sworn, and elect their' chairman. The chairman of this committee may at any period of the investigition appoint a commission for the b e tt er exam i n i ng into tie qualification of the voters or other specified and dis puted fads. 'l'ho commission is armed with powers very nearly resembling; those of the committee itself: [t is composed of three commissioners. Two out of three are appointed in effect by the respective parties, and the third, without whom there is power t., proceed, by the house. The consequence is, that the .partisan commissiorers are neutralised. The power of sum witn-esses, inspecting books, &c., is almost unlimited'. and adequate to the most searchiug and cleansing operations on the state of the registry. Our position is peculiar, and may be well the object of atten tion and interest to all ['eland. We know that our proceed ings here are watched by the citizens cf Dublin with an anxiety only, if at all, second to that for their own representa tion. 'lf we succeed, as is likely, and as we did once before, against the ignorant er interested misrepresentations of the popular press, in establishing our freemen's rights, we shall infuse into every important city in Ireland a portion of respect akle and enlightened constituents; if we should Mac trry on this point, we shall have the alternative honour of beng the first to cleanse the Augean filth of the reform bill from the national registries. In any view, we shall add to the honour of our first breaking the unhallowed prestige of radical success, that of confirming; the superiority on principle, and for ever. In tho late election the full tide of constitutional and religious feeling carried on its bosom our present representatives into parliament. On other occa s i ons th e member way have returned himself; on this, the city has returned the member. The representation of time city was formerly an honour only to the representative; now the honour is doubled and reflected, and the character of the representative is the credit and honour to the city which, in despite of iniquitous laws, and snore iniquit ous evasions of them, has sent its real voice and wishes to parliament. We know that in appealing to -the victorious and triumphant principle of a noble regard for the preservation of our constitution, we cannot be disappointed. The evil passions of radicalism may stimulate its votaries by passing impulses; the steady and unprincipled virtue of conservatism will endure to the end; and for the honour of our nature and our cause, we will not allow a shade of doubt to cross our minds, that firmness, perseverance, and self-devotedness could belong to the assailants—rather than to the defenders--of political virtue. • CITY OF DUBLIN PETITION.- Tjere is no pettif ogg i ng qu i r k or l ega l quibble to which the par have not had recourse, in'raising paltry objections in this case. Even the solvency of the securities—gentleman of wealth and property—have been questioned, as will be seen by what took place before the exantinel, in London, on Monday. We can only say, that that case must be a bad one indeed which re quires to be so defended:— "CITY OK DIBLIN ELECTION "LONDON, MONDAY.—This being the day appoairted for en tering into the sectunies to prosecute the Dublin election pe tition the agents of the sitting members attended before the clerk of the - securities in one of the committee-rooms. Mr. O'Uonnell objected in the first instance to entertainiug- the question at ail, inasmuch as the affidavit of the petitioners was informal r it having been headed in the matter of a petition, complaining of the election for the city and county of the city of Dublin; whereas there was no such p:aca as the city an - il county of the city of Dublin. The petition itself was then sent for, and it appeared that the petition was properly worded, and the objection was then over-ruled. "Mr. O'Connell then said he objected to one of the securi ties on the score of insutlieienvy, and produced searches in die Irish courts, to show that certain judgments were affecting the property- of the gen tl eman w h ose name had been served - as a security. _ "The clerk o; securities said that he should require to have the nature of the engagements upon which judgment appeared to be entered, and Wednesday week next was ultitnat , ly ar ranged, as th day upon which tho decision would be given as to the securities. '1 he ballot cannot therefore take place until Thursday week, at the soonest, in place of Thursday next, the 10th instant, the day originally named." —Dubtin Euenioy - - ------------ MIRACLES AT LucKNow.—A second Prince Hobenlohe has appeared at Lucknow in the person of Syyud Husn Kashinee, who lately returned from a pilgrimage to Kerb°lah with the brother of the learned high priest of the Shacahs, and who in consequence resides at court tiedor the most favourable aus pices. On his introduction to the royal presence the King gave orders to set before him 21 trays of shawls, 60(X) rupees; but the Syyud, to use the words of our correspondent, "being a perfect man, and wrapped up in abstraction from worhily affairs," excused himself from accepting the proffered gifts, and contented himself with recommending his friend the l'iloAteheiet's brother to his majesty's favour. It is said, and by urauy devoutly believed, that this Derveish of Kasban has positively found the philosopher's stone! the prophet having in a dream informed him that it lay under Abrairain s black stone in the kaaba, and especially permitted him to carry it off. Others doubt this, but by merely placing paper und er th e pillow of his f or tun a t e h ea d f or t h e space of one night, he con-. verts it into gold, yellow, glittering, precious gold, and as be spends 5000 rupees a month, and receives no rents, it is plain' that one of the stories must be near the truth.—lndian Paper. Poetry is the nurse of freedom. From Tyrtxus to Berangee the muse has befriended through every age the cause oflibertY. The pulse of patriotism never beats with bolder throb than wheii the sound of martial song swells in the full chorus of manly voices; and it was in a great measure the rude energy of the "• Mat:- seilaise" that won for the shoeless and ragged soldiers of the convention the victories of Vainly and Gemappe. ID our own country Dibdin's naval odes, full of inspirating thought and sublime imagery, have not a little contributed to Cu: maintain ing in perilous times the disputed empire pf the ocean against Napoleon. Never was a pension granted with more propriety than the tribute to genius voted in this ease at the iecornmen dation of George 111.; and I suppose a similar reward has at tended the authors of the " Alanue.isof England," "The Bat tle of Copenhagen," and "The Sea; the Sea." If not, it is a crying disgrace to the country,—Pro l e; Papers, in Fraser's Ma gazine. VERY MODEST, DUI' A LITTLE MISTA EEN.—WO staled last Week at some length the reasons which we felt ought to insure the rejection of the motion of Lord Chandos for the repeal of the malt-tax, and we have been gratified to find that the powerful and statesmanlike speech of Sir Robert Peel does little more than enlarge upon the reasons which we bad already advanced.—Obserrer.