The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-01 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PAIILLUiMNT

HOUSE OP LORDS—Last Evening,
The LORD Crux=Lox took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The Millwall Canal, Wharfs, and Graving Docks Bill,
was read a second time.

THE AUGMENTATION OF BENEFICES BILL.
The Earl of DERBY asked the noble lord on the wool-
sack for an explanation, touching the Augmentation of
Benefices Bill, under the recent act, of a point upon whifeb
there was some misunderstanding. There appeared to be
en impression that a large sum of money, de-
rived from the sale of a number of livings, was
now in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.
All the Commissioners had to do with the matter was to
receive the money and appropriate the interest arising from
that money to the increase of small livings.

The LORD CHANCELLOR said that the morals
received under the act were devisable into two
moieties. The moiety arising from the sale of two
livings appliable to the augmentation of small bene-
fices was paid to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners
simply as trustees, they to pay the interest at the rate of
£3 108. per cent. to the incumbent. The second moiety
was also paid to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, to accu-
mulate in their hands and to be invested by them. With
respect to the second moiety they were trustees both of
capital and interest. With regard to the money arising
from the sale of 100 livings, that did not go into the hands
of the commissioners unless he (the Lord Chancellor) re-
quested them to take charge of it, and then they only were
to act as trustees.

THE PLOT TO ASSASSINATE THE EMPEROR

NAPOLEON.

The Earl of WESTii—EATII referred to the trial of
Greco and his fellow conspirators in Paris, and asked if the
Government had a moral conviction that the evidence in.
criminated 3f. Mazzini, and if it would take measures
with regard to it?
Earl RUSSELL replied that any one guilty of conspi-
racy in this country to assassinate the Emperor of the French
was guilty of a indictable crime. He had no evidence
that any one was so engaged, and consequently he could
not take the matter up.

THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY COMMITTEE.
Earl GRA.NVILLE laid upon the table the report of the
joint committee of the Houses of Lords and Commons that
bad beenconsidering the question of metropolitan railways.
Ho had great pleasure in stating that the committee had
been unanimous except upon one point.
THE DANO-GERMAN WAR.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGII gave notice on a
future day of his intention of asking her Majesty's Go-
vernment whether any steps were to be taken to afford ma-
terial aid to Denmark ?
INSANE PRISONERS' ACT AMENDMENT BILL.
Earl GRANVILLE moved the second reading of this
bill. In doing so he explained its provisions ; but, as these
have so lately been under discussion in the House of Com-
mons, it is unnecessary to enter into a detailed statement of
them,

Lord ST. LEONARDS said the house was aware that
this bill had been rendered necessary by the Townley case,
and it was therefore necessary to refer to that case. After
showing the absurdity of supposing that Townley was in-
sane...of which, he added, not a single particle of proof had
been adduced—the noble and learned lord commented
severely upon Dr. Forbes Winslow's evidence, which, he
said, was opposed to both law and justice, and was calcu-
lated most mischievously to unsettle men's minds. The
doctrine of uncontrollable impulse was an absurdity; but
unless they had recourse to it, there was no pretence for
saying that Townley was insane, for there was no trace of
any delusion on his part. W hat had happened in Townley's
case had taken plait() several times before within the last few
years, without the crime attracting particular attention.
Nor would such attention have been attracted in this case
had the criminal been a person in low life. Having received
the certificate of two medical men and two magistrates that
Townley was insane, the Home Secretary considered that,
under the Act cf 1840, he was bound to respite the crimi-
nal; but he (Lord St. Leonards) doubted whether that act
was imperative. Moreover, in previous cases, when a
man having been respited had been ultimately relieved
from the execution of the capital sentence, the criminal
had really become insane after his sentence. But in
this instance the criminal never had been insane, and
there was not, therefore, the same reason for commut-
ing his sentence. He trusted that the course taken in
this case would not become a precedent. This bill would
be a great improvement upon the present state of the law,
for it distinctly conferred upon the Home Secretary a
discretion as to acting upon the certificate of the justices
and the medical men. There was, however, one defect in
it—it omitted to say what was to b 3 done with the man if
the Home Secretary declined to act upon the certificate and
to issue a warrant for his removal to a lunatic asylum.
Was he to remain in prison, or was he to be hanged?
Lord WODE HOUSE thought it doubtful whether the
machinery of the visiting justices should be employed in the
case of a prisoner sentenced to death. If the visiting jus-
tices were to put the law in motion in such a case, it might
be possible that souls one or two gentlemen might be found
who would not possess the requisite knowledge or discre-
tion. Tho medical officers whose advice they took might
also not be persons whose opinion was worthy of respect.
It would be much better that, whenever a prisoner was re-
ported to be insane, the Home Secretary should issue a com-
mission to such persons as he might deem most worthy of
his trust, and thus institute an inquiry of his own, upon
which he might act with confidence.
The bill was then read a second time, and the house ad-
journed.