The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-23 00:00:00

THAMES EMBANKMENT.

Mr. CAVE asked the President of the Board of Trade
whether the Metropolitan Board of Works had complied
with the requisition of the Board of Trade, as suggested in
the report of Messrs. Goode and Rawlinson, that they should
draw larger quantities of material for the Thames embank-
ment from the bed of the river ; and, if not, what course
be proposed to take in the matter ?
Mr. M. GIBSON said the Board of Trade had been in
communication with the Metropolitan Board of Works on the
subject, and a special resolution had been agreed to. It
appeared they were now acting in the spirit of the resolu-
tion, and he believed it had been decided that a great deal
of the material dredged up from the river was fitted, gene-
rally, for filling up the embankment.
SATURDAY HALF HOLIDAY.

Mr. BUXTON asked the First Lord of the Treasury
whether he was -prepared to give an answer to the appli-
cation made to him by a deputation which waited upon
hire some time since, with regard to affording the clerks in
the several Government offices the opportunity of obtain-
ing a half-holiday on Saturday afternoon ?
Lord PALMERSTON said the subject had been consi-
dered by the heads of departments, and he believed there
were many departments from which a great many of the
clerks could avail themselves, by turns, of the Saturday
half holiday.
CLERICAL SUBSCRIPTION BILL.
Sir G. GREY moved the second reading of this bill,
which had passed the Rouse of Lords, and the object of
which was to give effect to the recommendations of the
Royal commission appointed in 1864 to consider and revise
the various forms of subscription and declaration required
to be made by the clergy of the Established Church. Al-
luding to the amendments of which Mr. Whiteside had
given notice, viz., to substitute the consolidated oath con-
tained in the act 21st and 22d of Victoria, for the oaths of
allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration, he observed that he
was quite willing to assent to them, inasmuch as they
would restore the bill to the state in -which it was when
first introduced into the House of Lords, and where the
alteration had been made.
Mr. WHITESIDE regarded the bill as a valuable and
useful one, and the Government and the Home Secretary
were deserving of thanks for the manner in which they
had constituted the commission to inquire into what was a
very delicate and important subject, and for the fair and
courteous way in which tley had considered and treated
his amendments. He the reforo readily gave his cordial
support to the measure; bat adverting to the application
recently made for licensing the Convocation of the Church
in Ireland, in conjunction pith those of the Church in Eng-
land to consider tho .:anok. a an ~1 formularies of tho Church,
LS protested atminst the almost contumelious manner in
which the Convocation of the Irish branch of the national
establishment had been '••• %miffed out."
BUXTON was of '!pitmen that the change proposed
bv -I
" '0 tfir 41.43 It Ought. Still, by providing
tn,.. f.!, rgymau rnlnif the doctrines of the
Church as a whole, and not: in part or parcel, it would relieve

a number of tender consciences from a cruel burden, and
was likely to be of very considerable value.
Mr. BRISCOE admitted that the change w's radical in
kind, but he denied that it was so in degree. wit was
to relieve tender consciences he was at a loss to understand,
for it did not alter a single word in any J 1 the services of
the Church or the Thirty-nine Articles, wli Ist the clergy
were solemnly required to make use of and teach those
I very formularies and articles to which they conscientiously
objected.

Mr. LEFEVRE, regarding the bill as a step in the right
direction, though a small one, cordially assented to it, but
saw no reason why the approval of Convocation was ne-
cessary to effecting such a change.

Mr. HADFIELD remarked that the revival of the action
of Convocation was a great mistake and an insult to the
country. Why, he asked, did they not " lay the axe to the
root of the tree," and mend the Catechism and revise the
Prayer-book and formularies which were most objected to.
To the bill itself he offered no opposition ; for if there were
tender consciences that could be comforted by so petty a
relaxation, do let them have it.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL believed that the mea-
sure would have a just and salutary operation in that re-
spect, and really relieve scrupulous consciences. He justi-
fied the refusal of the Government to allow the Irish Con-
vocation to meet in synod with the English, and said that
practically there was no Convocation in connection with
the Irish Church. The desire of the Government was to
keep the Established Church in harmony with the feeling
of the people, and to produce confidence on the part of the
clergy ; and there were no better means of attaining that
harmony than by having a body such as Convocation,
where free expression could be given, within certain well
understood limits, to the opinions of the clergy.
Sir W. HEATHCOTE explained that it was only owing
to severe illness that he had not placed his name with
those of the other commissioners to the report upon which
the bill was founded.
Mr. LEFROY also supported the bill.
Mr. D. GRIFFITH dilated on the evils attendant on the
operation of the law of simony, which he hoped would be
dealt with in the next measure of ecclesiastical reform in-
troduced to the house.
The bill was read a second time.
The Colonial Governors (Retiring Pensions) Bill was
passed through committee.
SUPERANNUATION OF OFFICERS OF CUSTOMS.
On the order for reading the Consolidated Fund (Appro-
priation) Bill a second time,
Mr. HENNESSY called attention to the inadequate
salaries and superannuation of the out-door officers of
Customs, and asked whether any steps had been recently
taken to remedy the grievances under which those per-
sons labour.

Mr. A. SMITH observed that formerly it was the prac-
tice of the House of Commons to keep a watchful and
jealo'is eye upon the Treasury bench, for the purpose of
guarding the public expenditure ; but during the present
session the object seemed to be to encourage an increased
expenditure in every department of the civil service.
Mr. NEATE was glad to find that there had been such
a reaction on the part of hon. members, as the Chancellor
of the Exchequer had carried out his notions of economy to
an extravagant extent. •
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said there
was something novel in the use which Mr. Hennessy was
making of the Appropriation Bill. Hitherto members had
availed themselves of it to checkthe disposition to increased
expenditure on the part of the Government ; but now it
was used for the purpose of contending that the people
were not taxed enough and ought to be taxed more. Than
this nothing could be more mischievous to the public in-
terest. In some portions of the civil service there was a
rule for granting an annual increment of pay ; but he could
not admit that the principle was so wise that it was the
duty of Government to inflexibly apply it in all cases. He
denied the existence of any special hardship in the cases re-
ferred to by Mr. Hennessy. Inquiry had been made with
the view of ascertaining whether some classes of officers
performed extra duties that were not remunerated ; but no
information had yet reached him to show that anything of
the sort prevailed.
The bill was then read a second time.

The Comptroller of the Exchequer and Public Audit
Bill was recommitted, and ordered to be reported to the
house.

On the order for going into committee on the County
Courts Equitable Jurisdiction Bill, _ _ .

Mr. AYRTON pointed out the anomaly of maintaining
the Sheriffs Court in the City of London, and allowing the
corporation to levy fees to the extent of £5,000 a year,
whilst they paid the judge only £9OO a year ; and moved
an instruction to the committee to assimilate that court in
all respects to a county court. Upon hearing from the
Attorney General that if the instruction were adopted it
would endanger the passing of the bill, the hon. member
withdrew his motion, and the bill went through com-
mittee.

On tho order for reading the Indemnity Bill a second
time, Mr. HADFIELD moved as an amendment that the bill
be read a second time that day three months.
The amendment was seconded by Mr. HENNESSY, and
opposed by Mr. PEEL.
Upon a division the amendment was negatived by 32 to
18, and the bill read a second time.

The Expiring Laws Continuance Bill and the Compound
Spirits Warehousing Bill were also read a second time.
The Local Government Supplemental (No. 5) Bill and
the Turnpike Trusts Arrangements Bill passed through
committee.
Other orders were advanced a stage, returns relating to
various subjects were ordered, and the house was counted
out on the Turnpike Acts Continuance Bill at 12 o'clock.

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

CITY OF LONDON.

A private meeting, called by circular, of the City
Liberal Registration Association will be held this
day to decide who shall be the Liberal candidates at
the ensuing election. There is, it is said, complete
unanimity as to supporting Baron Rothschild and
Messrs. Crawford and Goschen, but considerable
difference about the eligibility of Mr. Alderman
Lawrence, the late Lord Mayor, who has also
announced himself as a candidate. Several mem-
bers of the association are in favour of bringing
forward Mr. Kirkman Hodgson, the late Governor
of the Bank of England, who is an advanced Libe-
ral. It is, however, understood that whoever is
decided upon by a majority of the meeting will be
joined with the three sitting members as the can-
didate of the Association acting on behalf of the
Liberal party in the city.