The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-07 00:00:00

THIRD READINGS.

- - -
The Great Eastern
Railway
(Steamboats) and North
British Railway bills were read a third time and passed.
THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES.

Their Royal Highnesses entered the house this evening
shortly after five o'clock. The Princess of Wales occupied
a seat in tha gallery over the throne, and his Royal High-
ness took his usual seat on the front cross bench.

The Earl of DERBY thought the whole bill would prove
totally useless without a clause similar to the suggestion of
the noble earl (Grey) opposite respecting bribery was in-
serted. He objected to the clause which gave the House of
Commons the power of suspending the issuing of a writ for
five years, as that was virtually disfranchising the place.
Lord ItEDESDALE also objected to that clause, and
hoped it would be expunged.
After a short discussion the house went into committee
on the bill.

Clause 1 was agreed to.
CORRUPT PRACTICES AT ELECTIONS :BILL.
Earl RUSSELL moved the committal of this bill, and
in doing so entered into an explanation of its provisions,
which provided that in the event of boroughs being found
guilty of extensive bribery the writ might be suspended for
five years, and also gave very stringent powers where in-
dividual cases were to be dealt with.
Lord LYVEDEN moved the insertion of a clause which
disqualified all persons from voting who had been engaged
at a salary as agent, messenger, or any other capacity for
one month previous to such alteration.
Their lordships divided, when there appeared—
Contents
Not contents
Majority against
Clauses up to 9 were agreed to.
A division took place on the 10th clause, giving Parlia-
ment the power to suspend the writ of a borough guilty of
corrupt practices for 5 years. Tho numbers were—
For the clause 26

Against it
Majority against the clause 66
(LEFT SITTING.)

HOUSE OF COMMONS.---This Evening.
The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock,
PRIVATE BUSINESS.

The consideration of the Lords' amendments to the fol-
lowing bills and amendments were considered and agreed
to :—Cleveland Railway, Inverness and Aberdeen Junction
Railway, Rugby Water, and Whittle Dean Water.
THIRD READINGS.
- -

The following bills were read a third time :—Birkenhead
Improvement, Formartineand Buchan Railway, Gravesend
and Milton Gas, Great Grimsby Water, Itchen Bridge,
Letterkenny Railway, London and South Westerr and
Andover and Redbridge Railways, Mid Kent Railway,
Rotherham and Kimberworth Local Board of Health,
Stourbridge Railway, Tranmere Docks.
The Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead Equitable Gas
Bill was considered, and ordered to lie upon the table.
PETITIONS.

Several petitions were presented against tho imposition
of income tax out charities, and against the amalgamation
of the Metropolitan with the City pollee. A large number
were part in favour of the Prisons Ministers bill by Mr.
HENNESS EY.
EXPERIMENTS AT SHOEBURYNESS,

In reply to Mr. MAGUIRE,
Lord C. PAGET said it was true that experiments were
made at Shoeburyness on the 27th of April last on
" Chalmers' Target," but whether they were made on a
target which was a piracy of one patented by Mr. John
Clare, jun., the Board of Admiralty could not venture to
express an opinion.
CONVOCATIONS OF ARMAGH AND DUBLIN.
Mr. H. SEYMOUR asked the Secretary of State for the
Home Department whether it was the intention of her
Majesty's Government to summon the Convocations of
Armagh and Dublin, in the same manner as the Convoca-
tions of Canterbury and York were summoned ?
Sir G. GREY replied that two memorials had been pre-
sented to her Majesty, but the Government had not deemed
it well to advise her Majesty to accede to their prayer.
ORDNANCE SURVEY.

Mr. WARNER asked the Under Secretary of State for
War when the military survey of the environs of London,
stated in the Ordnance Survey Report to be in progress of
publication at the end of last year, was likely to be issued ?
Lord HARTINGTON replied that some portions of the
survey had been published, and that the rest would be com-
pleted and be ready for issue before the end of the year.
PURCHASE OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHI-

with the other Ministers, and generally created by his con
duct an ill-feeling against this country. He justified
the language of Gen. Webbe with respect to Mr. Christie.:
Lord t'ALMERSTON defended M. Christie. He bad
for sometime been a member of that ho use, and many hon.
members could hardly fail to recollect the meritorious way
in which he performed his duty. (Hear.) Mr. Christie
was a gentleman and a man of honour, and he was satisfied
that no man could justly question his verdict. (Hear.)
He knew nothing of Mr. Webbe--(laughter)—and with re-
gard to his letter, it was no doubt treated by Earl Russell
with the disregard it merited. (Hear.) Had such a letter
been written by a British diplomatist he was sure his noble
friend would have dismissed him as a perron unfit to hold
such a responsible post. Mr. Christie simply carried out
the orders sent him by the Government, and he had reason
to believe that the informati ,n supplied to the hon. member
for Lincoln with respect to the alleged ill feeling against
Mr. Christie was grossly incorrect. (Hear, hear.) It
was not the province of a body of traders to decide upon tho
conduct of the representative of a Government, but that of
the Government who sent him there. (Hear, hear.)
After a short discussion the motion was negatived with-
out a division.

PRISON MINISTERS BILL.
On the motion for going into committee,
Mr. R. LONG rose to move that the house resolve itself
into a committee this day six months.

(LEFT SITTING.)

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.—This Day,

CHESTER RACES-THIS DAY.
BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
SCURRY HANDICAP.

Antipodes
Mountain Buck
Miss Julia.. •.

Five ran.
MARQUIS OF WESTMINSTER'S PLATE.
Dictator
Caller Ou
Middlewatch

Six ran.

CHESTER. WELTER CUP.

Eidolon
Fontenoy
Deception
DEE STAKES. _
--

Borealis
Newohurch

Won in a canter.
LATEST BETTING.

THE DERBY.
9to 2 agst Lord Clifden (taken)
11 to 2 agst Macaroni (taken)
12 to 1 agst Saccharometer
60 to 1 agst Fantastic
66 to 1 agst Avondale (taken)

THE CONSCRIPTION IN FRANCE,

" One hundred thousand men," says a Paris

paper, speaking of this year's conscription,—
" One hundred thousand men have just passed
under the regu:ation measure, and have heard the
President of the Board of Revision cry out, as each
moved on, 'Good for service.' One hundred thou-
sand families have received the terrible tidings.
For the first few days all is sorrow ; soon courage
returns to their valiant hearts. Is not France a
nest of soldiers ?"

No doubt, the army of Franco is worthy of admi.
ration, but while we are struck at the exactness with
which she turns out yearly her 100ynotuitnhs,sappirpiats-
rently excellent in health and exuberant
—some of them already grasping in fancy the Mar-
shal's staff which they are to find in their cartridge-
boxes,—We do not notice the crowds which the
same Board of Revision have been forced to reject
as unfit material for powder to consume before they
can get at the number required. It is affirmed by
those who ought [to know the fact that the sickly,
the deformed, or those who are below even the small
stature of an approved conscript are far more nume-
rous than those who are declared fit for service. The
result of the conscription which is just concluded
shows that in this respect matters are still worse.
The War Department had been forced to lower by
a few centimetres the standard required for the old
regiments; and it is feared that if the numerical
amount of the ccnscription be maintained at its pre-
sent rate a further reduction will become indispen-
sable.

This ogre, called the Conscription, swallows up
year after year the flower of the youthful rural
population. Those who are left behind are com-
paratively short in stature, feeble in frame, and
infirm. It is stated on authority, whieh has not, I
believe, been contested, that, out of 1,000 youths
registered as the contingent to be furnished by cer-
tain cantons, 731 were rejected by the Revision
Board as unable from physical defects to bear arms.
Napoleon I. used to boast that he had 100,000 men
to spend every year, and his incessant wars and in-
cessant calls upon the population to support them
have produced what we now w itness. To this, as
well as to the laws on the division of property, is
attributed the fact that the population for the last
ten years has stood still, where it has not actually
diminished, while that of other European countries
has increased.