The Express.
London, England, 1868-07-08 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

Explanations are becoming part of the regular
tininess of the House of Lords. In the course of
the discussion upon the West Indies Bill last even-
ing, Lord Carnarvon took occasion to reply to an
attack which the Lord Chancellor made upon his
'oviduct, in reference to the church in the West
Indies, while the Suspensory Bill wee before their
lordships. The noble earl maintained thatbeca
his
eouree had been perfectly consistent ; use
baying sanctioned a suspeneory measure for the
West Indies, be had votexl in favour of that which
it was proposal to apply to Ireland. The
Leal Chancellor elefmekd his allusion with
Ices than his usual sill; bat Lord Cur-
narvon did not escape without a reference
to his supposed euggeetion that If agdala should
be captured by the sudden swoop o a thousand
horsemen. Two or throe noble lords took part in
the discussion which followed, and Lord 'Granville
availed himself of the opportunity so temptingly
offered to him to earmark upon the somewhat hard
treatmont which noble lords opposite, who were so
deeply offended at the conduct of himself and his
friends the other evening, extended to members of
their own party who did not altogether agree with
their views.- The Boundary Bill and the Irish
Reform Bill passed their several stages without
exciting any discussion ; but the Scotch Reform
Bill was not read a third time until Lord
Itedeedule had uttered another protest against the.
manner in which the House of Lords haul been
treated with reference to these measures, and had
made a last ineffectual endeavour to procure the
extension of the boundaries of the city of Glasgow
as recommended by the report of the commis-
sioners. The other business was of little interest,
and after it had been got through their lordships

adjourned.
The meat noticeable incident in the debate upon
the Public Schools Bill, which occupied nearly the
whole of the early sitting of the House of tom-
wont, was a proposal by Mr. Lowe that the pupils
who received their education in the seven public
schools to which the bill applied should be subject
to an annual examination, by Privy Council in-
Vrs, in reading, writing, arithmetic, geogra-
°grammar, and history. This proposition excited
very general hostility, and commanded the support
only of Mr. L►bouchere and Mr. P. Wyndham.
Some comments in which Mr. D. Griffith indulged,
upon the insufficiency of a knowledge of his
mother tongue to fit a man for high positions,
drew from the member for Calne the pertinent,
and, as the house took it, somewhat personal
reply,l hat " mother wit " was a quality that could
not advantageously be dispensed with by either a
statesman or a politician ; while a rather rash
de rluration on the part of the 811.111 C hon. member,

that the theory of a mens sane in corpore saiw was
nothing better than a myth, prompted the still
more personal suggestion that the hon. member
for Devizes—whose weakness is certainly not of a
bodily character --spoke entirely from his own
experience. Mr. W. E. Forster, Mr. Walpole,
Mr. Henley, and Mr. Acland alike op-
posed the proposal for an examination,
and seeing no chance of carrying it, Mr. Lowe
withdrew the clause which he had moved. A
little animation was infused into the discussion at
an earlier stage by a statement by Mr. Ayrion—
si propos of the consent of the government to in-
crease the contribution to Westminster School
out of the property of the Dean and Chapter of West-
minster—that the professed friends of the church
of religion were applying money which would
otherwise be devoted to the religious instruction
of the poorest classes of the community to the
education of the richest. This expression drew
from Mr. Bentinck " a flat contradiction ;" but
the argument of Mr. Acland, that the education
given at Westminster was not confined to the rich,
and that of Mr. Walpole and Mr. Lowther, that
Westminster School had statutable interests in the
funds of the dean and chapter, were much more
effective than the simple denial of the member for
Whitehaven. The last question which divided the
committee was a proposal by the member for the
Tower Hamlets to secure the education of day
boys in all these schools; and after this had been
rejected by a large majority the bill passed
through committee, and the sitting was suspended.
Before the house went into committee of supply
in the evening a pretty strong indication was given
that the representatives of the agricultural in-
terest are somewhat uneasy as to the prospect of
passing the Metropolitan Foreign Cattle Market
Bill during the present session. Colonel Bart-
telot inquired with undisguised anxiety when the
measure would next come before the house, and
Mr. Dc Grey, member for West Norfolk, did not
hesitate to accuse the government of having failed
to exert themselves so much as they ought to press
on the bill. Mr. Disraeli ridiculed tho idea that
the people of Norfolk could share the doubts
expressed by their representative of the in-
tentions entertained by the government with
reference to a government measure. He was forced
to admit that morning sittings had not proved
favourable to the progress of the bill ; and under-
took if possible to fix the continuance of the dis-
cussion for some early evening. The British
Museum vote was moved by Mr. Lowe in a very
short speech, which raised none of the questions
of extension or arrangement which have of late
years excited public attention ; and in the =-
usually brief discussion which preceded its adop-
tion, there was only slight reference to any of these
topics. There was a little discussion upon the
Poet-office vote, and attention was called by one
or two members to the obstacles which had lately
been thrown in the way of the distribution of cir-
culars by private companies. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer was unable to give any information
as to the proceedings which are now going on ;
but he tol thee oommittee that the government
are now considering the propriety of reducing the
charge for the transmission by post of
printed matter below 4 ounces weight.
The debate upon the Packet Service vote
ranged over the wide field of our postal
communication with almost every part of the
world, including the East and West Indies, Ceylon,
Australia, Penang, Malta, and the Cape. Nume-
rous complaints and suggestions were addressed
to the government; and while replying as far as
possible to the objections that had been advanced,
Mr. Selater-Booth promised that many of the
questions raised should receive the consideration
of the government. The house got out of com-
mittee of supply about half an hour after midnight,
and the remainder of the sitting was devoted to
disposing of the orders.