The Express.
London, England, 1868-07-10 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

It was without much ceremony or any great
expenditure of words on the part of those who
proposed it, but with no lack of cordiality and
earnestness, thattho House of Lords last evening
agreed to en address to the Queen upon the safe
delivery of the Princess of Wales. The announce-
ment of her 'Majesty's gracious intentions to
honour Sir R. Napier was reserved with expir-
ations of satiedaction, which were sufficient to give
assurance of the ready co-operation of noble lords
in any measures which may be necessary to give
them effect. And having gratified their feelings of
loyalty and patriotism in rospoctof these two topics,
the peers surrendered themselves to a by no mesas
lively discussion upon the Uniformity of Public
Worship Dill, the second reading of which was
moved by the Earl of Shaftesbury. The object of
this measure was to carry out the recommenda-
tions of what is commonly .known as the Ritual
Commission ; and it wont so far beyond the
Clerical Vestments Bill, of which the sae noble
lord-was the author, as to include within its scope
not only coped and dalauttios, but also incense and
candles. After the discussion had occupied some
time, the brill a victim to that curious parlia-
mentary weapon known sa the " previous ques-
tion," which upon this mesision was moved by the
Earl of Derby. The Bishop of . Oxford made an-
other attempt to alter the provisions of the Com-
pulsory Church Rates Abolition Bill ; but the opi-
nion of the peers, as manifested by successive divi-
sions, was decidedly against the right reverend
prelate, and the measure was reported without
material change. , The other orders were not of
striking importance, and after getting through
them their lordships adjourned.
The absence of several members of the House of
Commons who had questions upon the paper gave
precedence in the interpellations of the day to Mr.
Candlish, whose anxiety has been excited by a
recent decision of the Court of Common Pleas as
to the rating of a certain class of houses in the
borough of Sunderland. Mr. Disraeli declined to
introduce any measure to remove the difficulties
which Mr. Candlish apprehended had been created
by the Court of Common Pleas; but Mr. G. Den-
man offered the hon. gentleman some consolation
by pointing out that the decision of the
judges applied only to an individual
0180,
and did not upon the face of it in-
volve the rights of any large class of
the borough population of Englund to the
franchise. Sir J. l'akington assured Lord Etch()
that he is still prosecuting his inquiries into the
insubordiniet. of certain volunteer regiments
after the Windsor review. Lord R. Montagu i.r.ve
a rather unfavounible account of the importation
of cattle (rein Tangiers into this country; and
after two or three other replies Iced been given tel..
inquiries of neon. or less importruiee., Mr. Desr.ieli
rose to naive an address of congratulation to her
Majesty upon the birth of the infant daughter of
the Prince and Primes:, of Wales. The allusion of
the right hon. gentleman to their royal highnesses
as living much among the nation was more apt,
although perhaps less courtly, than his reference to
the royal infant as a new security for the
continuance of the dynasty " with which
are indissolubly connected the destinies of this
country" ; but the most genuine cheer was aroused
when he referred to the infinite satisfaction which
bad been given to the country by the restoration
of the Princess's health. Some of the earlier re-
marks of Mr. Gladstone, in seconding the motion,
were rather unhappily framed; but his style
improved towards the close, and the concluding
sentence, in which he described the pure and
lofty character and gracious manners of the
Princess of Wales commanded universal assent.
As soon as the address hail been agreed to, Mr.
Disraeli proceeded to the bar of the house, and
while standing there announced that he was
charged with a message from the Crown
" under her Majesty's sign manual." By the
direction of the Speaker, the Premier "brought
up" the message, and the right hon. gentleman
proceeded to read from the chair the announce-
ment of her Majesty's gracious desire to give to
Sir R. Napier and his next heir a pension of 2,000/.
a year as a signal mark of her favour for the dis-
tinguished merits which he had exhibited in the
conduct of the Abyssinian expedition, and upon
other occasions. When the Speaker read the first
words of the message, "Victoria Regina," every
member who was wearing his hat uncovered. It
is not usual for hon. gentlemen to give expression
to the feelings with which they regard the contents
of messages from the Crown; but the cheers
with which Mr. Disraeli's announcement that he
should this day risk the house to go into
committee upon the subject was received indicated
very plainly the satisfaction with which the house
had learned the desire of her Majesty to confer a
substantial reward upon General Napier. The
anxiety which has been felt during the lust day or
two as to the intentions of the government with
reference to the Election Petitions Bill was re-
lieved when Mr. Disraeli rumounced that the
government intended practically to adopt the
suminelment curried by Mr. Ayrton the other night
—to appoint three new judges, and to cast
upon the judges of the three superior courts
the duty of selecting each year the members
of their body (excluding the chiefs) who
should be charged with the trial of election
petitions. The desire of the government to pass
the bill this year was further evinced by
the intimation of the right hone gentleman that it
will form the subject of the deliberations of the
house at the morning sitting to-day. Upon the
consideration of the Lords' Amendments in the
Scotch Reform Bill, Mr. M*Laren carried against
the Government an amendment, saving the rights
of non-rated householders to vote during the pre-
Dent year; but later in the evening Uri Mobiles-.
bury gave notice, in the House of Lords, that he
should object to this alteration, and claimed the
assistance of the opposition (which Lord Russell,
appeared not unwilling to render) to strike out of
the measure the words introduced by the hon.
member for Edinburgh. Several questions were
introduced to the house upon the motion for going
into committee of supply, but the only one which
attracted much attention referred to the position
and duties of the Controller-in-Chief of the War
Department. The arrangements which had been
made with reference to the powers and authority
of this new officer, who, it was alleged, had been
subjected to improper control on the part of the
Treasury, we're severely criticised by Major Jervis,
but were defended by the Marquis of Hautington,
on the ground that to concede to the Controller
the position claimed for him by the gallant major,
would unduly im pai r the responsibility of the Secre-
tor of State for Wur. The member for Hurwich
and the noble murquis addressed very small
1 sea, hut the attendance of members fell still
lower 1m •forc the discussion closed. Lord Eleho
delivered an earnest, and even excited, protest
against the interferenise of the Treasury to 17
members ; and at least I wo of these had disappeared
before he informed the remnant of the house
that Sir 11. Storks and General Balfour found
their position so intolerable that if they heed not
already resigned they were immediately about to
resign. Sir J. Pakington suffered somewhat from
his. speech immediately following
.the temporary
retareinerit of the Speaker, and it was to no more
than a down menebera that he addressed a pathetic
complaint of the absence of all those who had
attacked his policy, and characterised their
language as wild and unjustifiable. To the same
select audience he addressed an elaborate defence
of the new system introduced at the War-office,
but its number had been increased by perhaps half-
a-dozen members, when he gave the assurance
that, as far as he knew, neither Sir H. Storks nor
General Balfour had any intention of abandon-
ing his office. The debate upon this
topic was closed by Mr. Childers, who expressed
the Treasury view of the question ; and after a
brief interposition by Sir R. Anstruther, upon the
subject of allowances to officers on sick leave, the
Marquis of Hartington rose to comment upon a
recent speech of Sir J. Pakington, to defend his
own administration of the War Department, and
to assail. the military expenditure of the present
government. Incontinently General Peel and Sir
J. Painngton fell in speech only upon the noble
marquis, and denionstrated to their own aatiefac-
tion, and apparently to that of the members pre-