The Press.
London, England, 1857-06-13 00:00:00

JUNE 13, 1857.

Lord BROITGHAM entirely approved of such a sub•
stitution for the action of crim. cop.:—
If any one wished to know with how much hardship and
injustice a woman might be treated by the action of crim.
tun. as it now stood, lie would give them en example. He
held in his hand five letters from the falsely-alleged
paramour of an injured lady, and he would answer for it
that the reading of those letters by one, two, three, or more
of their lordships would at once convince them that the
charge against that lady of having had an amour with his
late lamented friend Lord Melbourne was absolutely and
necessarily false. They had produced upon his mind the
most absolute conviction that the thing was utterly and
entirely impossible. Yet this action was tried behind the
back of the lady, and but for the exertions of his noble and
'envied friend, then not her counsel but that of the defen-
dant, her character might have been ruined for life, she
being all the time as guiltless as any other human being.
(" Hear, hear," from Lord Campbell.)

This amendment on the clause as it originally
stood having been received with approbation, clauses
22 up to 25 were agreed to.
Atter clause 25,

The LORD CHANCELLOR proposed a clause imposing
a fine on the guilty parties, to which the Bishop of
OXFORD proposed an amendment punishing them
" with fine and imprisonment," or " with fine or im-
prisonment."
After some discussion the committee.divided, when
there appeared—
For the amendment
Against it
Majority
The amendment was consequently carried, and
the clause as thus amended was agreed to.
Clauses up to 44 were agreed to.
Upon clause 45, in which, on the motion of the
Archbishop of CANTERBURY, words were Inserted pro-
hibiting divorced persons from marrying again,
The LORD CHANCELLOR proposed an amendment,
the effect of which was to penult these parties to
marry again.
This amendment was carried on a division, in
whirl► the numbers were—
Content
Not Content
Majority —22
Lori WENSLEYDALE then moved to add a proviso
that either party should not marry the person with
whom the adultery was proved to have been com-
mitted, and the court in its decree for a divorce was
to name that person.
After some discussion the committee divided, when
the numbers were—
For the amendment
Against it
Majority —o
This and the remaining clauses were agreed to,
and the house resumed.
Their lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—TUESDAY.
THE BELLEISLE CASE.
Lord PALMERSTON, in reply to an inquiry by Mr.
Dillwyn, said that her Majesty's Government had
received full information respecting the lamentable
occurrence of the death of a seaman on board of a
British merchant vessel, who was killed in the her-
br.ur of Belleisle, on the 24th of May, by a shot fired
from a French war-schooner; and that the conduct
of the officer in temporary command of the French
vessel of war was quite unjustifiable. The French
Government, however, he added, had given her
Majesty's Government no opportunity for remon-
strance, Count Walewski having of his own accorl
expressed his regret at the occurrence, and stated
that orders had been given to dismiss from the
French service the officer in command of the schooner
who had directed the firing of the fatal shot.
GRAND JURIES BILL.
Sir F. THESIGER moved for leave to bring in a
bill to dispense with the attendance of grand juries
at the Central Criminal Court, and at courts of
general and quarter sessions holden within the
metropolitan police district, except in particular
cases. The interposition of the grand jury was, he
maintained, a cause of much delay and expense,
and, under the present constitution of the metro-
politan courts, had become altogether supererogatory.
The examination before a police-magistrate was a
satisfactory preliminary before sending any charge
for trial, and this process he proposed to make suf-
ficient and indispensable in all cases.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL admitted the evil and
inutility, in many cases, of the grand-jury system,
and promised an active co-operation in maturing the
measure now laid before the house.
The motion was agreed to, and leave given to
bring in the bill.
THE LAND TRANSPORT CORPS.
Mr. DUNCOMBE moved for the appointment of a
select committee to consider a petition from members
of the Land Transport Corps, complaining that the
War Department had not fulfilled the conditions
under which they had enlisted. During the past
session, he remarked, the subject had been referred,
on his motion, to a committee, but as Parliament