The Press.
London, England, 1856-05-24 00:00:00

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relating to the convention appended to the treaty of
peace, by which the maritime law of the country is
modified. That convention was now part of the
maritime law of England. It contained some ex:
pressions that were very vague, and he thought it
important these resolutions should be before
the house previous to the day on which Lord Col.
chester would draw attention to the subject.
THE BANDS IN THE PARKS.

Lord PALMERSTON, on Monday, in reply to Mr.
Otway, explained that he had received last week a
letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury, stating
upon his own part, and upon the part of his epis-
copal brethren, reasons why he conceived that, in
deference to the religions feelings of a large part of
the community, it would be desirable that the bands
playing on a Sunday evening should cease :
To that letter (said the noble lord) I replied that I had
originally concurred in the arrangement that bands should
play in Kensington•gardens and Hyde-park on a Sunday ;
that my opinion had been and still was—for I had heard
nothing to alter my views—that such an arrangement
would afford an innocent recreation, combined with fresh
air and healthy exercise, to the inhabitants of the metropo-
lis ; bat I said that, considering the feeling which had been
expressed by himself as the head of the Church, and
having also had representations made to me that that feel-
ing was shared by various other persons, I had to ask
myself whether the advantage which would arise from the
continuance of those bands on a Sunday woull compen-
sate for the evil which might arise from running counter
to the religious feelings of a large portion of the comma•
nity, and to that question I was compelled to reply that it
would not. I therefore took immediate steps to discon-
tinue the playing of those bands in the parks on a Sunday,
but that prohibition does not apply to other towns.

Mr. OrwAY then gave notice that on going into
Committee of Supply he would move for the corre
spondence which had taken place between the
noble lord and the Archbishop of Canterbury on the
subject.

JUDGES OF

Mr. J. PHILLIIIORE, on Tuesday, moved for leave
to bring iu a bill to take away from all archbishops,
bishops, and ecclesiastical persons in England and
Wales, all power of appointing judges and chancel-
lors, and vesting such powers in the Lord Chancellor.
He should not have brought forward this bill had a
more comprehensive measure been proposed, hut as
he foresaw that no steps in that direction would be
taken, he felt it his duty to go on with this matter.
Mr. HADFIELD seconded the motion. He called
upon the Government to explain wby the present
state of the ecclesiastical courts was allowed to
exist. There were already three bills before the
house, not one of which had received a second
reading.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL did not purpose to offer
any opposition to this bill. With respect to the
question of Mr. Hadfield, if that hon. member looked
to the proceedings of the house, he would see that
the measures which the Government had introduced
on the subject of the ecclesiastical courts had been
delayed, not by the Government, but by the house
itself, who had (if he might venture to say so) ,thtered
into so much profitless talk that measures of public
benefit perforce stood over.
Mr. GLADSTONE regretted that his hon. and learned
friend (the S )licitor-General) should have charged
the house with wasting its time in fruitless and un-
profitable talk ; the gravamen of that charge being
that the house had not read the bills of the hon. and
learned gentleman a second time :

If that house were given to waste its time in fruitless
and unprofitable talk, he (Mr. Gladstone) was at a loss to
know why one hon. member should take upon himself to
become its censor ; to his mind, it rather became hon.
gentlemen to consider themselves as partakers in common
in the fault, and not for any one member to assume to
himself an exemption from the common failings of man-
kind, and, from the height on which such assumption
placed him, to lecture the house in a speech like that
which his hon. and learned friend had just delivered.
(Cheers.)

I Lord PALMERSTON defended the Solicitor-General
from Mr. Gladstone's severe animadversions. He
agreed with the Solicitor-General in believing that
too much time had been passed in " unprofitable
talk." He did not object to the introduction of Mr.
Phillimore's bill, but would reserve a right of taking
objections at any future stage.
Leave was then given.

PUBLIC HEALTH ACT.
Mr. COWPER, on Tuesday, in moving for leave to
introduce a bill to amend the Public Health Act,
said he proposed to allow local boards to secure an
outfall for their sewage beyond their own boundaries,
and to alter the ex►sting law, which prescribed the
same machinery to towns possessing municipal cor-
porations as to towns not enjoying that privilege.
Leave was then given to bring in the bill.
CHURCH-RATES BILL.
Mr. PACEE, on Wednesday, moved the second
reading of his Church-rates Bill, which recognised
the expediency of abolishing Church rates made for
the support of the " services" of the Church, and re-
stricted them to the following purposes :—the main-

THE PRESS.

tenance and repairs of the fabric of the church, or
the supply and renewal of its necessary fittings ; but,
on the recommendation of Sir George Grey and Sir
J. Pakington, withdrew his motion pending the con-
sideration of Sir W. Clay's Church-rates Bill.