The Press.
London, England, 1855-08-11 00:00:00

BEER BILL.

This bill was read a second time in the Lords on
Monday. It was necessary for the purpose to sus-
pend the standing oidel, and the suspension was
opposed by Lord REDESDALE, who contended that
there was no case made out for the violation of so
useful a rule, and that the Commons' committee
which bad reported in favour of an alteration of the
law had only done so as a compromise, and had had
no time for prosecuting the proper inquiries. It was
also opposed by the Earl of SHAFTESBURY, who said
that many peers had left town on the strength of the
standing order. The suspension was, however,
allowed by 25 to H.
The measure has since been carried through its
subsequent stages and passed.

LrvErtroot. letters announce the failure of Messrs.
Latham, Brothers, in the Buenos Ayres trade, with
liabilities for 78,000/.
CANNONS of the invention of Colonel Cavell', of the
Artillery, of terrible power, have been sent from
Turin to the Crimea. The cannon is rifled, and of
an unusually long range. The ball, which is of large
calibre, is of conical form, and has a point in steel ;
it is, besides, made hollow, in order to be filled with
powder, and is supplied with a percussion cap to
light the powder. There are few obstacles which
can rebist the steel point of this ball, and any object
that it meets with causes the percussion cap to go
off, and the projectile to burst into fragments.
THE ASHURST ESTATE, lately in the occupation of
Mr. Strahan the banker, was on Monday sold at the
auction-mart. The property is situated at Dorking,
and comprises 682 acres of arable, meadow, wood,
and ornamental land ; the mansion, " having every
requisite for a nobleman or gentleman's seat,"
terraces commanding extensive views, three farm
homesteads, besides farm houses; the land•tax was
redeemed and a portion of the estate was free from
great tithes. An offer of 15,0001. was made, and after
an active competition it was knocked down to the
mortgagee for 27,0001. At the conclusion of the sale,
the auctioneers offered the lease of the Headly Farm
Estate, which was adjoining the above property, with
the right of shooting over 1,062 acres of land, the pur-
chaser of the above estate having the option of taking
it without competition, provided he accepted the sum
proposed. This was also sold to the mortgagee.

THE PRESS.

REVIEW OF THE SESSION.

TIM session which will probably be brought to a close on
Tuesday next, has, like that of its immediate predecessor,
been emphatically of a warlike character; and measures
of a purely social nature, have given way before
the imperious necessities of a war policy. Amongst
the most prominent of the measures brought forward
with a view to social improvement were those con-
nected with education. The English Education Bills,
propounded respectively by Lord J. Russell and Sir J.
Pekington, are to be referred to a committee, and the
Scotch measure, after many combats, passed the Commons
only to be ignominiously rejected in the Lords, by the
exemplary majority of $6 to 1. The Irish Tenant Right Bill
and the Cambridge University Bill were likewise sacrificed;
and many other measures, have been forced into the limbo
of uncompleted projects. The Royal assent has, however,
been given to several Acts, amongst which may be classed the
bill for enabling the militia to serve abroad, that for the enlist-
ment of foreigners, and for concluding a convention with
Sardinia, the Newspaper Stamp Duties Bill, the North
American Fisheries Bill, the Ecclesiastical Courts Bill,
the Friendly Societies, the Bills of Exchange and Promis-
sory Notes, the Public Libraries and Museums, the Limited
Liability, and the Amended Beer Bills.
Amongst the more notable events to be recorde d are the
change of Administration from the hands of the Earl of
Aberdeen to those of Lord Palmerston, the resignation of
office twice by Lord J. Russell, the visit of the Emperor
and Empress of the French ; the death of the Emperor
Nicholas, of Lord Raglan, and of Joseph Hume; the with-
drawal of the Peelite party from the Administration, and
the accession to the Cabinet of Sir Benjamin Hall,
and Mr. Vernon Smit'l ; the steady ascent up the
steeps or official life of Mr. Bouverie, and the acceptance
of office by Sir R. Peel, Sir Cornewall Lewis, and Mr,
Lowe.

In the course of the session the Government have been
worsted upon numerous occasions, but the Opposition have
certainly shown no unfriendly spirit and no niggard band in
contributing the " Ways and Means " which the Chancellor
of the Exchequer has thought necessary for the purpose of
the war.

Parliament having assembled on the 12th December,
1854, the House of Commons will have sat since that
period upon 143 days, extending over 985 hours, while the
Lords will have sat upon IU7 days, extending over 242
hours; the average duration of the daily sittings of the
Commons, therefore, is not quite seven hours each, and of
the Lords about two hours and a quarter each. The sit-
tings past midnight have been unusually numerous, and
make us fear that Brotherton has been sleeping at his post.
Legislation has been carried on by the Commons on one
hundred hours after midnight, adding upwards of a fort-
night of seven-hour days to the session. The Lords have
only sat two hours past midnight. There have been two
"no houses " during the session, and the counts-out have
been nine in number; but several of these have been of
sheer exhaustion, at late hours in the morning. Members
would confer a greater benefit on the country than they
imagine, probably, if they would more frequently exercise
the privilege of moving a " count," and thus provide
against the transaction of important business by less than
forty members. It is a good constitutional safeguard
which should be invariably brought into use when there
are less than forty members in the house. The total num-
ber of divisions in the Commons has been 210, and in the
Lords 13. The greatest number of divisions in any one
day took place upon the 28th of June, when there were no
less than ten, of which nine were upon the Tenants' Com-
pensation (Ireland) Bill, a measure which, after consu-
ming much valuable time, was withdrawn.