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EVENING IfaliTlON.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS. Juxr. 14

The Royal Assent was given by Commission to ihe
fol-
lowing Bills. The Commissioners were the Lord Chan-
cellor, Earl of Shaftesbury, and Lord Falkland :—To
Designs Copyright Bill, Durham Court of Pleas Bill,
Staffordshire Potteries &c., Police, Improvement, &c.
Bill, Perth Police Bill. Eyemouth Harbour Bill. South
Eastern Railway Bill, Liverpool and Manchester Extension
Railway Bill, Great North of England Railway Bill,
London and Birmingham Railway Bill, Parrett Naviga-
tion Bill, Brighton Gas Bill, Rishworth Reservoirs Bill,
Witham Drainage Bill, Basingstoke Roads Bill, Norville
and Shipton Roads Bill, Bury, Haslingden, &c. Roads
Bill, Clitheroe, Blackkurn, &c. Roads Bill, Leeds and
Harewnod Road Bill, Dover. Deal, and Sandwich Bill,
Mills'. Estate Bill, Hulme's Estate Bill, 'Liles' Estate
Bill, Ciun (Salop) Inelosure Bill, Cemberton (C..m-
bridge) Inelosure Bill, Rampton (Cambridge) Inclosure
Bill, Barton (Cambridge) Inclosure Bill, Lardner's Di.
vorce Bill. The House adjourned during pleasure.

The LORD CHANCELLOR took his scat M a few minutes
afterwards on the Woolsack.

The Earl of RODEN moved, at the reqw2st of the
Committee sitting on Irish affairs, for certai►► returns
(as we understood) relative to crime in Ireland.
Lord NIALMESBURY presented a petition from
Ealing against the national system of education.
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY presented a
petition from Bath, praying for the better observance of
the Sabba,h Day.

Lord RODEN presented petitions from the county of
Derby to the same effect.
Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the
Vintners and Licensed Victuallers of the City of
London, complaining of the hours to which they were
restricted in keeping their houses opened, and pray-
ing that those hours might be increased. Also a
petition from the Incorporated Coopers of Glasgow, com-
plaining of the alteration of the law respecting colonial
and other produce, by which their trade had been
injured, and praying for a reduction of duty ; also a
petition from Bourne, in the county of Lincoln, praying
for a system of education without any test ; and also
petitions from Edinburgh, and several places both in
Scotland and England, praying for the adoption of a penny
postage.
Lord MELBOURNE in aswer to a question from
Lord Brougham, stated that he hoped peace would still
be preserved in the East, notwithstanding the two forces
at present assumed a very menacing aspect. No accounts,
however, of any actual collision having taken place had
been received.

The Duke of MONTROSE presented a petition from
the Senate of the University of Glasgow, praying that
due care might be taken in regard to publishing an au-
thorized version of the Bible in Scotland.
The Earl of HADDINGTON said it would be satis-
factory to know what arrangement her Majesty's Govern-
ment intended to make on this subject, which was one of
the deepest importance.
Lord MELBOURNE admitted the great importance
of the subject, and the object which her Majesty' Govern-
ment had had in view in framing the plan which had been
been stated in the other House, was in the first place to take
care that the Bible should be disseminated at as cheap a
rate as possible ; that the price of it should not
be enhanced by the levying of any tax, duty, or fee, for
the benefit of any person ; and also, that sufficient security
should be taken—indeed as strong security as bad ever
been taken hitherto—for printing the Bible according to
the authorised version of the text, and as it had beer, acted
on both by the Church of England and Scotland.
The plan which the Government intended to propose was
as follows—To incorporate by charter a body composed of
the Lord Advocate and Solicitor. General for Scotland, for
the time being, together with the Moderator of the General
Assembly, and two divines and two laymen, members of the
Scotch Church. To this body was to be committed
the exclusive right of printing or importing bibles,
under certain regulations, however, as that a free importa-
tion was to be allowed of all Bibles published (as we un-
derstood) by authority of England. And this body were
to have the power also of licensing readers and collaters of
the press. to correct the printing of Bibles, provided the
Board were satisfied of their qu.difications No fee was
to be charged for affix:mg- their imprimatur to any Bibles,
or licensing any correctors of the press. And the Lord
Advocate might apply for injunctions against parties who
printed Bibles without the sanction of the Board.
WEST INDIA COLONIES. •

Lord BROUGHAM (in a tone of voice, for the Noble
and Learned Lord, peculiarly inaudible) made some re-
marks as to the condition of the negroes in certain West
India Colonies, as, at Montserrat, where there was an over-
population and a proportionate rate of wages, 6d. a day
sterling, whereas in other colonies the negroes could get
2s. 3d. a day ; but, under the existing laws, they could
not avail themselves of this advantage, because they could
not emigrate.
The Marquis of NORMANBY admitted the subject
was one of very great importance, and the Noble and
Learned Lord was right in supposing that it had engaged
his most anxious attention. Efforts were making to induce
the local legislators to reconsider the laws passed in 1836,
and he hoped they would be attended with the best effects.
After a few words from Lord ASHBURTON and
Lord BROUGHAM in explanation, the conversation
dropped.

The Bills on the table were forwarded a stage and the
House adjourned, at Six o'clock, to Monday.

HOUSE OE COMMONS, Juxa 14.
The gallery was not opened till half-past four o'clock
in consequence of the call of the House, adopted on the
motion of Lord Ashley, which, however, was, we under-
stood, ultimately withdrawn.
On entering the House the object which at ence struck
etery person, was the National Petition, placed upon a
huge wooden circular frame-work, at least five feet in
diameter ; it was ~ moored" on the opposition side, upon
the lowest front bench of which Mr. T. Attwood sat.
THE NATIONAL PETITION.
After some petitions, which were utterly inaudible, owing
to the buzz of conversation,
Mr. T. ATTWOOD was called upon by the Speaker,
He id
and rose amidst some cheering. Sir, I
less
urise.n to
present this extraordinary' petition,
one no
n
portant than extraordinary.—( Cries of " Hear, hear.") hear.")i
am aware the rules of the House will not allow me to
trespass upon their attention by going into any argument
in defence of the great principles which the petition lays
down, therefore, I shall not attempt to go beyond
what the rules of the House allow.---(Hear, hear.)
I shall confine myself to explaining briefly the contents of
the petition and the circumstances under which it originated,
and perhaps the House win indulge me with a few words
of explanation of the peculiar circumstances in which I am
situated with regard to it. The petition originated in
Birmingham ; it was adopted at a large meeting
there on the 6th of August last ; immediately
after this it was 'sent to Glasgow and adopted there,
in a similar manner, where it received upwards of 90,000
signatures, having received a nearly equal number in Bir-
mingham and the surrounding districts. It was then
handed round the country generally, and 214 towns, coun_
ties, and districts, have adopted the petition nearly uni-
versally. The signatures amount to 1,280,000 and up-
wards. The principle was affirmed by not less than
500 meetings, at all of which those who had
signed it had stated that they were suffering great
distress, which had been too long disregarded by
this House. I attribute the whole of the recent
discussions to the sufferings of the people—sufferings
which they have long eniured with admirable patience,
and which have been too long disregarded by this
House. I hope the House will give its serious atten-
tion to the contents of this petition, and not think
that because the humbler classes of workmen are the
sufferers that it is not entitled to the consideration of this
House.—( Cheers.) It will be most painful to the honest
men who have signed this petition if their Delegates, who,
by the favour of the House, have been permitted to wit-
ness its presentation, should carry back a report that
the petition had been treated with disrespect by the
House.—( Hear, hear.) Many who have signed it
arc at present suffering under extreme distress—distress of
such a nature, that gentlemen born in the lap of affluence
and luxury, whose wants are all supplied by the property
they have derived from their forefathers, can form but a
very feeble idea of the agony which an honest man
suffers, whose hands are able, and whose heart is will-
ing to work, but yet is, with all that, unable to
get a living. At all the meetings which have been held
the persons attending them have confined themselves
strictly to the legal pursuit of their constitutional rights;
and they have been induced to do so on account of the in-
juries and sufferings which they have endured for so many
years, without finding any efficient relief. The hand•
loom weavers, the artisans, the agricultural labourers—
all these classes find themselves aggrieved ; they find that
they have no sympathy from this House, and they consi
der themselves bound to use every just and legal exer-
tion to recover the whole of their constitutional rights.
I hope Hon. Members will not be prejudiced against this
demand by thinking there is any slight or any im-
proper reflection upon themselves. All they say is,
that the Members of this House, in consequence of
birth, parentage, education, wealth and habits of life,
have not shown that anxiety for the suffering of
the lower classes which they think is absolutely ne-
cessary to the enjoyment of their rights as British sub-
jects. They have, therefore, adopted this measure for the
purpose of recovering their ancient rights. They and
their fathers and grandfathers have trusted to the noble
men of England to protect them, but no protection having
been given to them for years past, they have been obliged
to have recourse to the measure, in order to obtain their
just rights. They say they only ask fur a fair day's wages
for a fair day's work, and that if you cannot give them
that, and food and clothing for their families, then they
say they will put forth every power the law allows
them to change the representation of this House, that they
will use all means to act upon the electors, by which they
hope ultimately to produce such a change of opinion as
finally to lead to success.—( Hear, hear. ) I have
no doubt that they will succeed ultimately, but
I trust in God they will shortly succeed in obtaining all
the objects of the petition.-4 Hear, hear.) The first ob-
ject of the honest men, who every one of them produce
four times more than they want, and yet their country re-
fuses them one fourth of the value of their labour, not only
that but some of them are put at three* Lays' work a. Is eak—
the first object of these honest men who are pressed down
by the hand of oppression—and I am sure that such being
the case, the House will not be surprised at their
using stronger language than they otherwise would
leave used —( Hear, hear) —the first part of the pe-
petition claims Univeral Suffrage, it claims Representation
Coequal with Taxation, whieli was the ancient law of
England ; it says that they have been bowed down to the
\
earth ; and then it goes on to describe the suffering they
have endured, and that they came befure this House to
tell them that the capital of the master must not be de-
prived of its due reward; and that the labourer must not
be prevented from having the wages of his labour, and that
the law t;.at makes labour clieeli should be abolished.
They then go on to demand Universal Suffrage in the
lari2uage used by oar forefathers in the celebrated Bill of
Rights. They then go en to show that wOn the Consti-

tution grants a right it must be understood to guarantee
the means of exercising it. The Constitution guarantees
f,..t0r0 of eh aim), and thrse petitioners contend that
Vc.:e ilbsolutely necessary to secure
tre, Glom ,:f rlectit,n, abd th,refore they contend that they
have a constitutional right to Vote by Ballot.— ( Cheers.)
They go on further, and claim Annual Pal-liaments, agree-

abletothe constitutional Acts of Settlement, which orders
that the Parliaments he triennial or more frequently ;
and under the old practice of the Constitution
they were minus]. They then go on to show that the
labour of representatives ought to be rewarded.—
.

(Loud laughter.) That was the ancient pactice of the
Constitution, as laid down by Andrew Marvel ; and I could
to-morrow apply to my constituents at Birmingham, the
Constitution authorising Members of this House to be paid
the wages of attendance by a rate on their constituents.—
( Much laughter.) They consider, unless their right is
restored, that they cannot have Members of this House

properly feeling and understanding the wants and sufferings
and distresses of the people. The fifth demand is that
the Property Qualification of Members of that House
should be abolished. Now, in all these live points of
the petition I most cordially agree, and I do sincerely
hope that by the process of public opinion, the day may
not be distant when the whole of these five points will be
granted to the people ; that they will have them in full
measure, in full weight and pureness, and no mistake
about the matter. —( Cheers and laughter.)
Sir. G. H. SMYTH rose to order. He contended that
the Hon. Member was transgressing the rules of the House.
He himself had been prevented fiom speaking on the pre-
sentation of a petition the other night, and he could
not conceive how any Hon. Member, with that ridiculous
pics! of machinery. could transgress the rules of the
House.—( Leu:l cries of " Chair and order.")
The SPEAK ER said if the Hen. Member appealed
to him as to what was the strict rule of the House, he
must unquestionably say that no Hon. Member had a
'right to speak at any length in presenting a petition. But
when
.the House considered the peculiar circumstances
under which the petition was brought forward—( Loud
cheers)—and the position in which the Hon. Member
stood, they would perhaps be inclined to grant him some
indulgence.—( Cheers. )
Sir G. H. SMYTH as an individual would enter his
protest against it.—(Cries of " Oh.")
Mr. ATT WOOD resumed—Sir, I thank you for the
indulgence you have extended to me, and I shall not tres-
pass long upon the attention of the House.—( Hear, hear.)
But I beg leave to say a few words with regard to my own
peculiar position. Although I most cordially support
' every part of the petition, and am ready to sup-
port and verify every word of it, and although 1 am J
determined to use every legal means in my power vu-carry
it into law, I must say that many reports have gone
abroad of arguments that were used, or that were said to
have been used, in various parts of the country, which I
disavow. I never, at any period of my life, recommended
any principles except those of peace, law, order, loyalty,
and union, and that, Sir, in good faith, not holding one
face here and another out'of doors—(Cheers)—tl face
which you now see, I have always held out of doors and
within doors, and my determination is to do all that lies in
my power as a man, a Christian, and as a gentleman, to
work out the wishes of the petitioners. —( Cheers.) Having
stated so much, I wash my hands of any tale of physical
force_( Loud cheers)—or arms. I want no arms but the
will of the people, legally, firmly, and constitutionally EA.
pressed—( Cheers)—and if the people will only send into
this House a similar petition:from every parish in England,
and if they will go on using every argument which justice,
reason, and wisdom dictate, they will create such an action
upon the human mind, which will again act upon the
Members of this House, that when the whole people shall
ask for a remedy of their grievances, in the manner dic-
tated by the Constitution the country—when they only
ask for that which belongs to them by the Constitution of
the country, I hope, that though Honourable Gen-
tlemen here, differ from me in opinion, I will not in-
sinuate that they differ from me in feeling—l say,
if the people go oti, washing their hands from all
threats and insolence, but go on firmly, honestly, and
constitutionally, I am sure their demands will meet with
respectful attention. Having said so much, I will now
read the prayer of the petition :—" May it therefore please
your Hon. House to take measures, and to use your utmost
endeavours, by all constitutional means, to have granted,
that every man of lawful age, sound mind, and unconta-
minated by crime, have the right of voting for Members of
Parliament—that you should cause a law to be passed giving
the right of voting by secret Ballot—that the duration of
Parliaments might be again limited to one year—that you
will abolish all Property Qualifications in your Hon. House,
and providing that, as in former times, all Members of
Parliament might be paid for their services."—(Cheers.)
I thank the House for the patient hearing you have given
me upon this occasion.—(Cheers.) I will trespass no
further, but move that the petition be brought up.—
(Laughter.) The Hon. Member had unrolled a con-
siderable portion of the petition, and took its heading up
to the table amidst loud laughter and cheers.
Mr. FIELDING—I beg to support the prayer of the
petition.
Mr. ATT WOOD then moved that the petition be
printed.—Ordered.

The SPEAKER—Does the Hon. Member mean to
found any motion on the petition ?
Mr. ATTWOOD—Yes, Sir; I beg to give notice
that on the first Supply Day next week 1 shall move that
the House do resolve itself into a Committee of the whole
Honse, to take the petition into consideration.
Mr. G. W. WOOD presented a petition from Kendal,
against the Government scheme for national education.
Mr. PULMAN, the Deputy Usher of the Black Rod,
advanced to the table, and requested the attendance of this
[-louse in the House of Peers, to hear the Royal Assent
given to several Bills (for which see Lords' report).
On the return of the Speaker,
Lord ASHLEY said, as there was a very full attend-
ance of Members, and as the notice of the call had an-
swered his object, he would, if the House permitted him,
withdraw his motion for calling the House over.
The motion was accordingly withdrawn.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said he intended to move that
the House sit to-morrow, in order to receive the Report of
the Committee of Privileges.
The SPEAKER suggested that petitions relative to
education be forthwith presented.
Petitions against the Ministerial plan of education were
presented by Mr. Freshfield, from Cornwall ; Sir W. Fol-
lett, from Exeter; Sir J. Graham, from Carlisle, and the
congregation of the Lock Chapel, Westminster; Sir G.
Clerk, from different parts of Scotland.
Mr. POULETT THOMSON presented a petition
from Manchester, signed by 22,000 persons, approving the
Government plan of national education.

Dr. LUSHINGTON presented a petition from the
Tower Hamlets, as we understood, in favour of a national
plan of education, which should be open to all sects of
religion.
Mr. HINDLE Y presented a petition in favour of the
Government plan ofnational education, and another against
it, from some place in Salop.
Mr. DIVETT presented a petition from Exeter, pray-
ing the House to make no further grant for the purposes
of education, unless all sects equally participated in the
benefits to be derived from it.

Mr. CHAS. LUSHINGTON presented petitions in
avour of the Government plan of education.

Sir ROBERT PEEL presented 15 petitions from the
Wesleyan congregations of Hull and Bradford against the
Government Plan of Education. Also similar petitions
from Cheltenham and different parts of Yorkshire. Also
a petition signed by 8,000 inhabitants of Manchester.
Petitions to the same effect were presented by Lord
Dungannon from Durham, and Stockton:on-Tees ; by Mr.
W. Wynn, from Montgomeryshire ; by Mr. Pakington,
from Croydon, axd four other places in Surrey ; by Mr.
Law, from Zion College, and four parishes in the City of
London ; and by Sir Charles Burrell, from parishes in
Kent and Essex.

Mr. PRYME presented a petition from Huntingdon,
praying that any grant for educational purposes might be
impartial.
Mr. E. BULLER presented a petition from Burton.
on-Trent, in favour of the Government plan.
Captain AL SAGER presented a petition agreed to at
a meeting at the Horns Tavern, Kennington, signed by
760 persons, against the Government plan of national
education.

Mr. HAWES wished to ask a question of his Hon.
Friend. He wished to know whether he presented that as
the petition of a meeting over which he presided, held at
that tavern. _ _

Captain ALSAGER presented the petition as th• re-
sult of that meeting.
Mr. HAWES then felt bound to object to its being
received in such a character, because he held in his hand

a petition from a gentleman who had been put in the
Chair, after his Honourable Friend had been driven
out of it by a majority of the meeting.—( Hear.)
He was a most respectable gentleman—Mr. Curling,
the son of a County Magistrate ; and he, with the
others who signed the petition stated that the meeting was
not a public meeting, as it professed to be; the parties
being admitted to it only upon the showing of a card.
They protested against the petition being received as the
petition of that meeting—that considerable confusion took
place, and that the members of the Established Church
who were present on that occasion were certainly
not peacemakers—( Hear, hear)—that a majority of those
present had voted against the resolutions proposed by his
Hon. Friend. Under these circumstances he trusted the
House would consider that he was perfectly justified in ob-
jecting to the petition being received as the petition of that
meeting.
Mr. HUME suggested that the better plan would be to
have the petition read.
Lord J. RUSSELL said the petition was that of the
untZersigned inhabitants, &c. —( Cheers. )
Mr. hl AWES, of course, under those circumstances,
could have no objection to the petition being received,
but as his lion. Friend had stated it as the petition of that
meeting, he had felt bound to protest against it.
Captain ALSAGER could only repeat what he had
stated before, that the petition was the result of the meet-
ing over which he presided. No one was admitted to
the meeting without a card similar to one which he
then held in his hand, and which bound all who used it to
acquiesce in the decision of the Chairman.—( Loud
cheers.) There were about 200 of the Liberals who
gained admittance, and caused a considerable row. He
wished and tried for some time to make an explanation
to them, that they had not met there for discussion.—
(Loud cheers, and laughter.) The resolutions had been
prepared to be agreed to, and those opposed to them
had no business there.—(Renewed laughter.) As for his
being turned out of the chair, his Honourable Friend
was not present, or he would not have said so. No attempt
to turn him out of the chair had been made • but when he
found that he could not get a hearing he held up the reso-
lutions in large letters and put them as well as he was able,
and he was informed by many gentlemen who were there
that they were passed by a majority of at least four to one.
A scene of riot and confusion then commenced, and the
other party passed their resolutions. After he (Capt. A.)
left the chair he supposed it was taken by Mr. Curling.
Mr. KEMBLE said, from all he had heard, ho was
convinced that the majority pr. sent were decidedly in
favour of these resolutions.

Mr. HAWES then brought up his petition.
Petitions in favour of the Government plan of education
were presented by Mr. Wyse from Carlisle, by Mr. A.
White from Sunderland. Against it by Mr. Darby from
Hastings ; by Mr. Kemble from Richmond • by Lord
Hotharn from Cheshire ; and by Lord Sandon from
Liverpool.
Mr. BRISCOE asked the Noble Lord if the petition
from Liverpool was against the present plan of education,
or against the Government plan which had been withdrawn.
Lord SANDON said he believed it was against the
existing plan.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that he would like to
know against which plan the petition was directed, as it
was of some importance.
The petition was then read by the Clerk.
Lord SANDON said that the signatures were being
attached to the petition to the latest moment that time
allowed, and he could state that one of the petitions to
which 800 signatures were attached, was against the
second scheme. . .

Lord-JOHNVy
RUSSELL said that the petition which
had just been read was as much against one scheme as
against the other, the fact was the plan described in the
petition as the plan petitioned against bore not the slightest
resemblance to either of the plans which had been pro-
posed by the Government.—( Cheers and laughter.)
Petitions against the Government plan of education were
then presented by Sir Robert from the Members
of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ; by
Acland, from various Wesleyan congregations
in Soniersetshire and Cornwall ; by Mr. Puscy, from some
places in Berkshire ; by Lord Lincoln, from various
places in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire; by Mr. Bing-
ham Bating, from places in Staffordshire ; by Mr.
Gladstone, from Wesleyan congregations in Not-
tinghamshire; by Lord Ashley, to the number of thirty-
seven, of which twenty-five were from various Wesleyan
congregations in London, one of which was of some impor-
tance, being from the congregation of the Central Chapel
in Finsbury, signed by:1,420 persons, among whom was the
Rev. Mr. -Jackson. the President of the Conference.

Lord STANLEY presented petitions from Bolton,
Preston, Doncaster, Rochdale, and twenty-one Wesleyan
congregations in and near Sheffield, as well as from other
places, against the Government scheme of education.
Several other lioN. MENIBERS presented numerous peti•
tions to the same effect.

Upon the Order of the Day being read for the House
to resolve itself into a Committee of Supply,
Mr. HAWES postponed the petition of which be had
given notice to present today till the next day of the
House going into a Committee of Supply.
Lord J. RUSSELL hoped the Hon. Member would
not find it necessary to present the petition.
Mr. HAWES said he should present it with consi-
perable reluctance, but it was the only course he had to
pursue, unless the Noble Lord thought it was a case for
his re-consideration—in which case he should have no ob-
jection to withdraw it.

Mr. HOPE complained that his Hon. Colleague on the
opposite side of the House had made a statement, as Ap-
peared by a report in the Morning Post newspaper of this
day, upon presenting a petition yesterday to the House from
his constituents, calculated to create a very improper
impression. The petition purported to have come from
the Diocesan Society of Gloucester. The meeting at
which the petition was got up was adjourned; afterwards
a person was called to the chair, and the petition was then
agreed upon in favour of the scheme of education which had
been abandoned by her Majesty's Government. The Hon.
Gentlemen spoke amidst much interruption and confusion.
Mr. PHIL POTTS said that the only object he had
in making the statement be did was to show that the peti.
tion could not be received as the petition of the individual
who had signed it.
JOINT STOCK BANKS.

Mr. HUME gave notice that on Monday next he should
put a question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the
subject of the Joint Stock Banks, which subject the Hon.
Gentleman had five or six weeks ago promised to fix a day
to bring on. He hoped also that on Monday a period
would be fixed for bringing on the Budget.—( Hear.)