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A new Book, entitled "The World's Pharos," containing the
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ing, as astral, at seven o'clock.
let ron pule Franesis.
Eller opriel4 man Deut4cl3.

Qui si parla Italian.
Aqua se 11Abla /.403101

CONTRACT FOR STAIR FOR SEAMEN'S BEDi.
Department of the Comptroller for Victualling and
Transport Services,
Somerset place, 22d April, 18'3
THE Commissioners for Executing the Office of
I ord High dmiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, do Hereby Give Notice, that on THURSDAY, the sth
May nest, at One o'clock, they will be ready to treat v,;th such
persons as may be willing to Contract for supplying and delivering
into her Majesty's Victualling Stores at Deptford
30,000 lbs. of STAIR for SEAMEN'S BEDS.
One-third to be delivered by the 31st July, another third by the
31st August, and the remainder by the 30th September next, or ear-
lier if preferred by the party tendering.
No Tender will be received for less than half the quantity.
A sample of the Stair may be seen at the said Office, or a sample
may be produced by the parties tendering for approval.
Ttie conditions of the Contracts may be seen at the said Office.
No Tender will be received after One o'clock on the day of Treaty,
nor any noticed, unless the party attends, or an agent for him, duly
authorised in writing.
Every Tender must be addressed to the Secretary of the
ratty, and bear in the left-hand corner the words, " Tender for
Stair for Beds," and must also be delivered at Somerset-place,
accon.panied by a letter signed by a responsible person, engaging to
become bound, with the person tendering, in the sum of 201. per
cent.on the value, for the due performance of the Contract.

IMPORTANT MEDICAL AND SURGICAL WORKS,
Just published, by U. BalMere, 219, Regent-street, London.
No I.
Bvo., in cloth, price ss. by post free, ss. 6d..

(i)N TRUEthe
View
FALSE
iev,t9thecoSr,PecEtioßr AoffAwrridoe
wide-spread
read Errors
with ors.
in relation to the Treatment and Cure of Sufferers from Debility of the
;enerative System, -a. Sexual Hypoehondriasis.
Translated from the German of Dr. PICKFORD

"Dr. nekton', 's known to English readers by his frequent practi-
.tal contributions to German medical literature. This is the first
time, he informs us, that be has addressed himself to the nou-medi-
eat reader. We trust this may not be the last, if he shall
ietect any other equally flagrant evil which It may be in hit.
;lower to correct."—London Medical Gazette, May 30, 1851.
"We promised in a former number that we should recur to this
w3r:c, in order to exhibit its aim more clearly. The author lashes
with great severity the impostors who make a livelihood by preying
on the credulity of the public. The tribe of ' Quiet Symathisers,'
and ' Medical Friends,' are mercilessly exposed; and if this book
could find its way into the hands of those who suffer from th com-
plaint of which it tre its, we are satisfied that many h tndreds would
be saved much needless sulTering of body and mind, and what is of
less importance, though it is that which the quacks most prize—
much money --This volume is well qualified to put an end to the
empirical system of treating Spermatorrhcea, and to place the treat-
•nent upon a more rational and physiological basis. It is, therefore,
')k'ily to do much good."—Medical Circular, June 16, 1852.

No. 11.
:n cloth, price 3s. 6d., by post free, ds.,
THE CURE OF STRICTURE OF TILE URETHRA, on Primi.
pies at once Simple, Safe, and Efficient, in even Its most Inveterate
and apparently Intractable Forms.
BY F. 13. COURTENAY,
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

"In proof of his views he (Mr. Courtenay) has given
the history of a great many cases successfully treated, as bad
as any which Mr. Syme adduced, end on which he had operated.
-uch are cases ix., xi., xii., and xviii. No. Ix. ,had res`sted, for a
period of twelve years, the treatment by dilitation, and was finally
removed in as many weeks. But cases xviii. and xix. appear, both
In duration, severity, and complication of symptoms, of a more ag-
gravated character than any detr'led by Mr. Syme, and yet the
treatment adopted by Mr. Courtenay proved eminently successful."
—Professor Lizars on the Treatment of Stricture.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, APRIL 22.

The Agamemnon, 90, Captain Sir Thomas Maitland,
is now in a more healthy condition, and there seems
some hopes of the sickness leaving her, as no new cases
or relapses have taken place this week.
The Amphion, 34, Captain Patey, sailed from Spit-
head for Plymouth this morning.
The Cruizer steam-sloop, Commander the Hon.
G. H. Douglas, exercised her crew at Spithead, this
morning, at the great guns, firing powder only.
The London American packet-ship, which sailed from
Spithead last evening, put back this morning to the
St. Helen's Roads, the steward having died suddenly
on board. The body was brought on shore in the cutter
belonging to Lloyd's agents, and she sailed again for
New York about noon.

Wind, S.W.

WOOLWICH, APRIL 22.

APPOINTMENTS.

Clerk.—George T. Harris (1847), to the Boseawen,
70, guard-ship of ordinary at Chatham, vice Chapman.
Masters' Assistants.—George W. Atkinson, to the
Arrogant, 47, screw steam-frigate at Devonport ; John
G. Frewin, to the Dasher, at Portsmourth,
Captain Rundle B. Watson, C. 8., of the Imperieuse,
50, screw steam-frigate, went through a course of study
of steam at the factory at Woolwich Dockyard, not-
withstanding the statement that has been made to the
contrary.

FIRE AND Loss OF LIFE.— Yesterday morning, be-
tween one and two o'clock, a fire broke out at the
Black Horse and Windmill, Fieldgate-street, White-
chapel-road. The landlord, Gerard Tritner, had held
possession but a few months. During the progress of
the fire, his wife leaped from an upper story and fell
through a skylight, injuring herself in a dreadful man-
ner. When the fire was subdued, the firemen dis-
covered the lifeless body of the landlord crouched In a
corner of the parlour. In the course of the afternoon,
Mr. Baker held an inquest on the body, when a sur-
geon proved that deceased died of suffocation, and the
jury returned a verdict of " Amideutal Death,"

lianient suggesting that they should provide for such an
object by making an appropriation of land. In the
course of the year Mr. Pitt introduced a measure by
which, it was proposed that one-seventh of the waste
lands of the colony should be appropriated for the main-
tenance of the Protestant clergy. These so called clergy
reserves continued for a perioi of 50 years, until the act
of 1840 passed. A clause walp introduced into the act
of 1791 providing that the provincial legislature might
have the power to alter and repeal the provisions of that
act ; and this power, he believed, until a comparatively
recent date, was always considered to be unlimited as
regarded the power of the provinCial legislature. Until
the year 1817 the act continued without any open hos-
tility on the part of the population--in fact, it was
nearly inoperative, the Protestant clergy deriving little,
if any, advantage from it ; but 'in 1817 a motion was
made for alienating one-half of the clergy reserves ; and
in 1819, for the first time, a claim was put forward on
the part of the Presbyterians. The noble and learned
lord opposite (Lord Lyndhurst) who was then attorney-
general, being consulted, gave his opinion in favour of
that claim, that the Presbyterian clergy, as Protestant
clergy, was entitled to a share of the re serves. From
that time for 20 years a constant struggle was carried on
in the colony between members of the Church of Eng-
land and members of the Church of. Scotland. Up to the
period of 1824 these clergy reserves were but of little
value, and were almost entirely absorbed by the expenses
to which they were subjected. In 1819 they only
amounted in value to 7001., and in 1822, they only
yielded an income of 1501. a-year. There was subse-
quently a proposal for the sale of these reserves, which
time,
m eagainst
g a travellingn st
tt
hh
er through
Canada and the United States, gave his opinion in the
Tmheeanobreleineatrrold, opposite (the Wilmot
of
otherpH was
eorreYoahn)r uwiesnhde olooBufl2:Parliament, bya measure
just
before
a t
thbeaitil
con-
tinuance of the clergy reserves, and he (the Duke of
Newcastle) did not quote that opinion for any party
purpose, but to show the universal feeling which then
prevailed on this subject. The noble duke here read a
passage from the speech of Lord Derby, to the effect
that his acquaintance with Canada enabled him to state
that whatever differences there might be in Canada, and
party feeling ran high, no person could entertain any
difference of opinion as to the inefficincy of maintaining
the Canada clergy reserves. Further on he expressed
an opinion that the Church of England never could be
established in Canada. In 1836 ant address was sent
from the Assembly of Canada to this country, requesting
sentipurpoi7elsB2o7f, e
dc a ti ino nl.32BAthseiiNnvileasrieyaadidirmessedivoadsist7pauint
that the clergy reserves might be appropriated to the
an
in a claim, stating, that although no other Pro-
testant Dissenters had a right to partici pate in the reserves,
they had a special claim ; but the Government did not
acquiesce in that opinion. He wished to show their
lordships the succesive progress of public opinion with
reference to this matter ; so that as the desire of the
Canadian people had been neglected, it led on to fresh
and increased demands in every successive year. In
1824 the demand was, that, the clergy reserves should be
equally divided amongst all denominations in proportion
to their numbers, but in 1826 the application was, that
they should no longer be appropriated to the purposes
of the clergy and the various denominations, but to the
purposes of education and public improvements. And
in 1828, those two first demands having been rejected,
the people of Canada then applied to have the clergy re-
serves appropriated to secular objects entirely. In 1831,
the struggle having proceeded between the House of As-
sembly on the one hand, and the Legislative Council re-
sisting the demands on the other, the House of Repre-
sentatives, failing to attain their objects through the in-
strumentality of their own legislature, applied to the Im-
perial Government ; and it was singular enough that,
without any knowledge on their part, the Government
at home had resolved upon an abandonment of the
clergy reserves, not seemingly in deference to the House
of Assembly, but in consequence of a report of a coin-
mittee of the House of Commons on the subject. The
Government proposed that the reserves should revert to'
the Crown. But on what terms was this proposed ? He
found, not merely on this occasion, but upon every other,
that every successive colonial secretary appeared to have
looked on this question as one that was to be legislated
upon, not by imperial parliament, but by the colonial
legislature. Did the colonial secretary of that time,
Lord Goderich, proceed to introduce a measure into that ,
house ? By no means ; he addressed the following
despatch to Sir John Colborne, the Lieutenant Gover-
nor of Canada.—[The noble duke here read the dispatch
from Lord Goderich to Sir John Colborne.] Lord Go-
derich appeared to be so convinced that this was not a
matter for the imperial Parliament but for the legislation
of the colonial parliament, that—as in those days it ap-
peared to have been impossible to let the colony entirely
out of leading-strings—the noble lord sent the form of a
message to the governor, which he recommended he
should address to the- Canadian Parliament ; and he ac-
tually sent, at the same time, a draft of a bill to be pro-
posed to the Canadian Legislature, and in that draft he
found a clause to this effect.—[The noble duke read the
clause proposing to do away with the' clergy reserves, as
far as the Protestant clergy were concerned.] This
showed how little value was to be attached to the pre-
tension made by a right reverend prelate near him, (the
Bishop of Exeter) on a former occasion, that this bill
was an infraction of vested rights:' and that it consti-
tuted a breach of faith. What would the say to the
course taken by Lord Goderich, and every subsequent
secretary on this matter ? No attempt was made to
legislate by the Imperial Parliament, because their view
was that the legislation should be by the Canadian Par-
liament. In consequence of this dispatch, Sir John
Colborne sent a message to the Canadian Parliament,
but a prorogation suddenly took place, and it was not
then acted on. In the year 1831, therefore, the Colonial
Parliament was invited by Lord Goderich to consider
this question and legislate upon it ; and their lordships
in 1853 were engaged in discussing ,not whether they
should allow the Colonial Legislature to abandon the
whole system of the clergy reserves ; but whether they
should give to the Colonial Parliament power to do
inter aliet, what in 1831 they invited them to do.
(Hear.) No consequence arose froth the dispatch of
Lord Goderich, and the struggle continued as before ;
but in 1835 the legislative council, hitherto strongly op-
posed to all alterations in the clergy reserves, appeared
to have become alarmed at the contest in the colony,
aud, for the first time, addressed the Imperial Govern-
ment, requesting them to interfere and settle this long
agitated question. That address was answered in De-
cember, 1835. The answer stated that there were two
reasons why her Majesty should not recommend to Parlia-
ment the consideration of this question. One of these
reasons was that the matter in question was one in which
the local legislature ought to take the initiative. It there-
fore appeared that up to 1835 every colonial secratary
was under the impression, referring to the act of
1791, that the power of the Colonial Parliament
was unaltered. There was a subsequent dispatch from
t
Sir George Grey dated the 9th October, 1837, much to
same effect, with the substance of which he would
not fatigue the house. Nor would he stop to state the
opinions of successive governors upon the matter, the
same view was to be found in them all with regard to
this question. He would only now refer to one snore
dispatch from Lord John Russell, dated in December,
1839. In that dispatch his lordship stated that her
Majesty could not assume nor parliament accept the
delicate office of settling the question of reserves • while
on the other hand, he thought that the provincial legis-
lature would bring to the matter an extensive knowledge
• must be unavoidably deficient. He had now shown
the views of the various British secretaries.
what were
the two houses in Canada
of the state of things in the colony of which Parliament
In 1840, for the first time,
and a NI a;
of this matter. The bill
at last rased for the settlement
to this country for the royal assent. It was
I was sent
house with the view that in
laid before their lordship's
In e 0 ings, very un-
came to an agreemeqt upon th s subject,
30 days, if no address were received against it, it might
ih-aveth royal assent. this tat f thin

then proceeded to repeat the explanations already given
by the Government in the House of Commons with re-
spect to the withdrawal of tile third clause, observing
that the clause, as it stood, might have had the appear-
ance of an intended breach of faith, in withdrawing a
guarantee admitted by the bill of 1840, and he there-
fore, rejoiced at the alteration, but at the same time, his
conviction was, that the bill had not been in the slight-
est degree weakened in effect, inasmuch as the guaran-
tee would now become of a merely nominal character.
In conclusion, he called upon their lordships not hastily
to reject this measure ; he at least would ask them not
to refuse the second reading of the bill, unless they were
satisfied that that refusal would not be the signal of the
struggle which he would anticipate from such a course,
or unless they were convinced, should such a struggle
ensue, they would be able to maintain their denial of
those demands of the Canadian people. And he made
a special appeal, in all humility, and with all respect,
but with great earnestness, to the right rev. bench, en-
treating them not to commit the Church of England to
a contest with a colony on a question of self-govern-
ment, for it could not be doubted that in such a contest
the church must eventually give way, and thus in the
position of the defeated, be deprived of her dignity and
her prestige.
The Bishop of EXETER (who was imperfectly heard)
moved the amendment that the bill be read a second

time that day six months. 'The noble duke's speech had
been characterised by great inaccuracy of argument and
statement ; and it appeared to him (the right rev. pre-
late) that the whole bill was defended upon an assertion
which indicated an obvious misconception on the part of
the noble duke. The assertion was that the colonial
legislature would have no more power over the clergy
reserves under this bill than they at present possessed
over the Roman Catholic reserves, and that there would
be a power still left to the imperial Parliament to pre-
vent the predicted confiscation ; but this was a palpable
fallacy. The Roman Catholic endowments were pro-
tected by a provision in the Constitutional Act of the
31st Geo. III„ and if this bill passed, power would pass
altogether away from this country, including that house,
which specially was entrusted with the care of the in-
terests of the Church, to check, control, or interfere in
any way further. Would the noble duke introduce into
the bill a provision to substantiate his statement ? If he
could not, what became of public faith ? Certainly if he
(the right rev. prelate) had made such a statement, and
found himself in error, he would think himself bound to
abandon the bill, or, on the other hand, to alter it into
conformity with the theory. For the noble duke's own
sake, he would therefore ask him to look well to that
point. There was another general argument on which
the bill was based : the asserted right of the Canadians
to self-government, without appeal, on all, strictly inter-
nal matters. Now, that he greatly, questioned ; and lie
would only say) in reply to all the noble duke's appeals
about "right" alld "justice," that the notions which
the noble duke had of right and justice, as involved in
the consideration of such a bill, were distinctly different
from the principles of the law of England. He (the
right reverend prelate) was speaking in the presence of
many learned lords—and he would, no doubt, be cor-
rected if he was wrong in laying it down as a maxim,
that the imperial Parliament had the absolute right to
legislate, as it in its wisdom might think fit, on all
matters whatever within the co-ordinate jurisdiction of
colonial legislatures ; and that it could control the acts,
alter the laws, and repeal the laws of colonial Parlia-
ments. Let it be understood that he was not contend-

ing that the imperial Parliament should stand on, and
assert, and act on, this right ; far from it ; he believed
mutual forb_mrance and conciliation was the policy—
(great laughter)—to be pursued in all questions between
the colonies and the mother countries. The noble duke
was not apparently aware of this principle of the consti-
tutional law ; and a few authorities might therefore be
quoted with advantage. Mr. Burke, in speaking in the
House of Commons on the subject of the American war,
and referring to the right of the house to tax the colonies
—the " liberalism " being then as undoubted as the
great wisdom of that statesman was ever u3doubted—
said that the imperial Parliament stands in two capa-
cities ; first, as the local legislature for these islands ;
secondly, in her nobler capacity—in her imperial capa-
city—as controlling all provincial legislatures whatever,
these provincial (Irish) legislatures, or colonial legisla-
tures, being co-ordinate to each other, and subordinate
therefore to the imperial Parliament. Another autho-
rity which the noble duke might consult was that of Sir
Samuel Romilly, who—in his " Diary "—speaking of a
motion Mr. Wilbeiforce had brought forward in the
House of Commons to protect slaves in the West Indian
islands from the cruelties to which they were exposed
—as, for instance, it being legally competent to kill a
slave if a fine of 181. were paid for the murder—says
Mr. Wilberforce was opposed by various members, who
urged that Parliament had no right to interfere in such
a case, but that they were in great error, there being "no
doubt of the right" which Parliament had to interfere.
The Government of 1833 proposed, and Parliament as-
sented to a measure by which this country paid twenty
millions to extinguish slavery, and that was a consequence
of the power possessed by Parliament to interfere with
colonial legislatures in domestic matters. The House of
Assembly in Jamaica, sent a deputation to present a protest
which was read in the House of Commons against the inter-
,position of Parliament in their internal affairs ; which
was objected to by the then Colonial Secretary, Mr.
Stanley, who laid it down that it was in the power of
the imperial Parliament to legislate on the principle of
any measure, although they might leave the details to
be filled up by the Colonial Legislatures. There was, in
this instance, an interference with the Legislature of
Jamaica., and was there anything more sacred in the
Legislature of Canada ? In the former the legislature
had existed for centuries, but the right of Canada to a
Legislature only began under the provisions of the 31st
George 111., which provided that that Legislature might
do anything not repugnant to that act. That act con-
tained provisions for the preservation of the Protestant
religion henceforward and for all time to come, and that
was one of the foundations on which the Constitution of
Canada was to rest, and that principle the Colonial
Legislature was not to impugn. On those grounds he
asserted the right of the Imperial Parliament to deal
with all the acts of the Colonial Legislature, and for that
principle he had the authority of Burke, Romilly, and
Wilberforce. But he had also some other authorities.
In 1837 Lord John Russell brought forward certain
resolutions in the House of Commons, and the sixth was
in effect to legalise the title granted to the American
Land Company by the Colonial Legislature. Sir W.
Molesworth denied the right of the house to do that,
and Sir George Grey in reply stated that the house must
have that supreme power, or how could they have inter-
fered in the matter of the abolition of slavery. So that
he had the authority of the noble lord now the leader of
the other house. He could also refer to the right hon.
gentleman the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, who
concurred with those who had laid down the general
principle of the control of the imperial Parliament over
Colonial Legislatures, and said it was so beyond the
shadow of a doubt. It was true that Lord John Russell
and Mr. Gladstone were not now such authorities as
they were ; and were, indeed, rather to be taken as
authorities on the other side, as they had changed their
opinions. The right rev. prelate was then understood
to refer to the speech on a former occasion of the Bishop
of Oxford, and stated that his right rev. friend was up-
holding a doctrine, which, if true, would extinguish the
authority of his great father. He then proceeded to
quote an expression of Sir William Molesworth, in which
he stated that the law of England abhorred perpetuity.
He (the Bishop of Exeter) asserted that it delighted in
perpetuity, for it was laid down by Blackstone that the
king was a perpetuity, for he never died ; and also that
the law had provided that the parson of a parish never
(lied any more than the king, and that the present in-
cumbent and the one who lived seven centuries ago were
one and the same. Such was the horror of the law of
England for perpetuity. Was not every corporation the
essence of perpetuity ? It was a strange doctrine that
to be uttered by a minister of the Crown, and one which
was not contradicted or refuted by one of his colleagues,
rRt
ihgaeldi sti
cwhaolo.rnn.
Isgeternsvetaleneni seadon, f
ttni hi,eeenn,tCrown thato nt.
oc
assert
s:s
seerrt Morev attti
avaten
htvehraowtg, a
srthe
wandmisery
ho
b Radicalismwouldrou brought
wereeonb one
li
e id
v ee
acquaintedin tti ci that
tl .
in
with Certainly
rpolitics
w h i le bedfellows:ne.
the noble earl at the head of the Government, in stating
the principles of his Government, said they were com-
prised in two words, " Conservative progress" What
he had seen since had much disturbed his (the Bishop of
Exeter's) notions of Conservative progress. Conservative
progress seemed to be a sort of inclined plane, down
which opinions glided easily, when they had got to the
destruction of religion in the colonies. (Hear, hear.)
The noble earl dissented ; but at any rate, they had got
to the point of destroying all provision and endowment
for religion in the colonies. (Hear.) The noble earl
said endowment was a different thing to religion, He

Lord LYTIELTON said the question their lordships
were discussing was one of considerable importance be-
cause it involved the principle of colonial freedom, and
he must therefore beg 'permission to say a few words.
It was difficult to ascertain from the imperfect record of
the debates what really were the intentions of the
framers of the act of 1791, but whatever they were,
there could be no dispute about the fact that those in-
tentions were disappointed. Still the matter which the
bill embraced was one which was very properly confined
to the governing power of the colony, as had been done
in the case of the West Indies and the Australian co-
lonies. The most tenable objection which had been
urged against the bill was that which insisted that the
act of 1840 was to be considered as a final measure, but
their lordships should remember that no legislation was
final which was not accepted by the people, or which
failed to accomplish the purpose for which it was in-
tended. Well, then, the act of 1840 had failed—the
people of Canada had refused to accept it, and there-
fore it was impossible to treat the act as final. As for
the cry which had been raised about offending the loyal
party of Canada, he could not for a moment allow that
to stand in the way of passing the bill. Formerly there
might have been good reason for recognising a distinc-
tion amongst the Canadian public, but that necessity
no longer existed. Canada was now united, and must
be treated as a whole, and since he knew no other organ
through which the colony could speak but its Legislative
Assembly, he was bound to take it for granted that the
loyal portion of the population were rather favourable
than otherwise to the measure. On the whole, then, he
thought that if they acceded to the wish of the opposi-
tion it would be nothing less than a retrogressive move-
ment, and he for one should advise their lordships to
pass the second reading of this bill.
Lord St. LEONARDS insisted that the present state
of the clergy reserves had been incorrectly stated both
by the noble duke opposite and the Under Secretary for
the Colonies in another place. This statement was di-
rectly contrary to the law and facts of the case, and it
would be necessary for him to detain their lordships for
a short time while he stated the exact position of the
question as it stood at the moment. The first act that
related to the ecclesiastical endowments of Canada was
passed in 1774, and by that act it was provided, that
while on the one hand the Roman Catholic clergy should
be entitled to collect their accustomed dues and tithes
from the occupiers of land who professed their own re-
ligion, so on the other the Protestant clergy should be
permitted to have the control and disposition of their
own tithes. The right so conferrel upon the Roniaii
Catholic Church had never since been disturbed ; but in
1791 another act was passed, which distinctly gave
the Canadian Legislature power to deal with the
revenues of both the Protestant and Catholic clergy,
subject to certain restrictions, which the act set out
at length. It was provided by this act that neither
the tithes of the Protestants, nor those of the Ro-
man Catholics should be touched without the consent
of the Crown. Nay, the act went further even than that,
for by section 42 it was provided that in the event of
the local legislature wishing to pass a bill disposing or
dealing in any way with the clergy reserves, an address
should be presented to the governor setting forth what
the contents of the bill were, and praying him to for-
ward it to the Crown, in order that it might be laid be-
fore the Imperial Legislature, and sanctioned by them
in the first instance. So that in point of fact, as their
lordships would perceive, this section not only gave the
Imperial Parliament power:over the local Legislature,
hut also a control over the veto of the Crown. Under
the provisions of this act the provincial Legislature suc-
ceeded in abolishing tithes altogether, and if their lord-
ships consented now to place these reserves in tl.cir
power, what was to prevent their doing the same
with regard to then, I But to resume the history of the
case. In 1827, an act was passed, directing a sale of not
exceeding a fourth of the clergy reserves, and the pro-
ceeds were to be devoted to the promotion of public
worship and Christianity, but in 1839 the Legislature
passed another act, but as the Government refused to
adopt it, the act fell to the ground. The next year,
however, in 1840, another bill passed, by which it was
provided that the whole of the clergy reserves which had
been set apart by the early act for the promotion of Pro-
testantism should be distributed in the following pro-
portions—namely, a fourth to the Protestant Church, a
fourth to the Scotch Church, and the rest to be divided
amongst the other denominations. The Government
was anxious to give effect to the arrangement, but the
question arose whether the Canadian Parliament had
power to pass such a measure. The judges to whom the
point was referred, decided that they had not, and the
aid of the Imperial Legislature was called in. Now, if
ever there was a solemn compact with a large branch of
the Protestant clergy, it was that of 1840 in regard to
this measure. (Hear, hear.) When that compact was
made it was thought that the funds arising from the re-
serves so appropriated would not be sufficient to provide
for the very moderate stipends of the Episcopal and
Scotch clergy in Canada, and the Imperial Parliament
gave its guarantee to make good the deficiency out of
the consolidated fund. As this bill was the first intro-
duced that guarantee was withdrawn, and it was urged
that it was a matter of no importance—but was it no
additional security to have the guarantee of the Imperial
Parliament ? And was it now to be said that a compact
so entered into and so guaranteed on the faith of the
Parliament of this country was not binding ? The noble
duke on a former evening had stated that the Clergy
Reserves Act had no connexion with the Act of Union,
the 42d section of which, by a curious coincidence, was
similar to the 42d section of the act of 1791 in so far as
it required that any act of the colonial Legislature re-
lating to the ecclesiastical establishments should lie on
the table of both houses of the Imperial Parliament a
certain number of days before it could receive the royal
assent. The noble duke was mistaken, for though power
was given by that act to deal with the reserves, the con-
trol of the Imperial Parliament provided in the Act of
Union was distinctly reserved. One of the obligations
of the Crown in respect to the reserves, which under the
act of 1840 were to be maintained, was the payment of
1,6001. a ygar to the Raman Catholic clergy, in conside-
ration of their having been deprived of certain tithes.
He (Lord St. Leonard's) knew of no tithes which the
Roman Catholic clergy ever had, except such as they
had gained by the act of 1774, which gave them the
tithes of their co-religionists, but none of the Protestant
tithes. But they have been told by the Under-Secretary
for the Colonies, in the other house, that while the obli-
gations of the Imperial Legislature to the Protestant
clergy were to be abondoned, the obligations to the
Roman Catholic clergy were to be maintained. He was
not prepared, any more than the Government, to sweep
away the rights of the Roman Catholic clergy, but he
must deny the position put forward by the supporters of
this bill, that the Protestant clergy were placed under it
on the same footing as the Roman Catholic clergy. Un-
der the bill, if it passed, the Canadian Legislature
would have full power to deal with the Protest-
ant endowment, whereas they could not touch the
Roman Catholic endowments without the bill for that
purpose being submitted to the imperial Parliament.
rva
Those, however, who were so anxious to preservation
of the Roman Catholic endowments and the tion
cse
lonTn
Catholic tithes must not be surprised if tlist Ca-
nadian _
Legislature, having tasted the first fruits of
power in respect to ecclesiastical property, claimed the
right to appropriate the Roman Catholicportiont
the ion of that
property, as well as that which belonged to l'rote-
tants. He contended that the lotchaelylehgaidslnateivireer had no
right to the reserves, inasmuch as
part of the colonial revenues, and if the clergy were to
be deprived of them they ought to go back to the Crown.
It was said that this concession would tend to perpetuate
the connexion with the mother country ; but one of the
first elements of permanent union between two countries
was mutual respect, and if the mother country yielded
rights of which she was the depository, the respect of
the colony would soon be withdrawn, and the effect
would be to weaken rather than strengthen the bonds of
union. Protestant This proposition was to take from the
churches of England and Scotland that property which
had been solemnly and definitely settled in their favour,
and to hand it over to those who had no shadow of right
to it; to such an act of spoliation he trusted their lord-
ships would not assent.
Tho Bishop of NORWICH thought the bill before the
house was a measure of • ice by this country to
Canada, and he should give his vote in favour of it, feel-
ing that he was taking most calculated to sup-
port the interests of the churche in Canada. Whatever
might be the result of this measure on the Church of
Canada, he could not think their lordships would be
responsible for it, because they owed a duty to the Legis-
lature of Canada, w'ho had been taught to believe that
with them rested the settlement of this long vexed ques-
tion. Whilst he thought this measure to be just, yet, if
the Canadian Parliament should secularise the clergy
reserves and alienate the property altogether from the
church, he considered that the Church of Canada would
have no inequitable claim to compensation from the
Government of this country. (Rear, hear.)

The Earl of DERBY would recommend the right rev.
prelate to dismiss the last topic of his speech altogether
from his mind. If he really thought that the Govern-
ment would hold themselves bound to grant any equi-
table compensation to the Church of Canada in the event
of her property being alienated, the more prudent course
for him would be, before he joined in the act which
might render such compensation necessary, to ascertain
from the Government how far they would be disposed to
answer his expectations—(a laugh)—and in the answer
being in the negative, it would be impossible for hint to
support the second reading if he seriously entertained
the view he had expressed. He did not intend to pro-
! alt the discussion, for the arguments as to the justice
and legality of th question had been completely ex-
hausted by his noble and learned friend. (Hear, hear.)
He had demonstrated beyond the possibility of dispute
or cavil that the property with regard to which they
were about to legislate never was for a moment at.the
disposal of the Canadian Legislature. Previous to 1791
the clergy reserves were the property of the CrOwn by
right of conquest. They Were appropriated by the
Crown to the maintenance of the Protestant clergy, and
a certain extent of dealing with that appropriation wa s
given to the Legislature of Canada under the act of
1791 ; but all the power they could ever exercise over
the reserves was the power given them by that act.
Setting out from that act the power of the Le,islature
was limited by it, and whatever power they had pos-
sessed since that time over the clergy reserves was not
limited by the act of 1840. From 1791 downwards there
had not been a succession of restrictions, but a series of
concessions made by the Crown and Parliament, with
whom the dominion over these clergy reserves rested, to
the Canadian Legislature. And this view of the case at
once disposed, summarily and conclusively, of the claim
of strict legal right put forward by the colony of Canada.
The question now only remained as to the policy pf the
appropriation of the reserves. It might be the policy of
this country to grant to the colonial Legislature still
greater power than it already had granted. It was
undoubtedly the right of the Legislature to withhold
these powers, but it might be the policy of the Imperial
Government not to do so. The powers conferred, how-
ever, were not the inherent right of the Canadian Legis-
lature, but the free grant of the Crown and Parlia-
ment. On the other hand, he was ready frankly
to admit that as the colony advanced in intelligence
and wealth, and approached to that state in which
he must say its dependence on this country was
a nominal rather than a real state of existence—(hear)
—from the time they conferred representative insti-
tutions on Canada—and the same observation would
apply to other colonies—it was, in his opinion, a matter
of policy to keep a lighter and lighter hold over matters
of internal policy (loud cheers from the Minis-
terial benches)—and to grant to the colony a continually
increasing superintendence over its own affairs. (Re-
newed cheers.) And the extent to which those conces-
sions were to be made by Parliament was only to be
limited by the considerations involved. But he could
not admit that the question of the appropriation of the
clergy reserves was a local question—it appeared to him
to be a question in which imperial interests were con-
cerned—(hear, hear)—and when the same power was
brought to bear on the Roman Catholic and Protestant
institutions in the colony, it was difficult to contend
that the legal maintenance of the control exercised over
the Roman Catholics was a matter of general concern,
and they were to keep that in their own hands, whilst
the maintenance of the Protestant clergy was only mat-
ter of local interest. He should be disposed to strain
the point on the part of the Parliament of this countri
for the purpose of doing that which he believed to be
the wish of a great majority of the people of Canada.
(Hear, hear.) The measure of 1840 was intended to be
a permanent and final settlement ; and he frankly de-
clared that no consideration on earth—not the chance,
if there would be a chance, of severing even that nomi-
nal dependence of Canada on this country—should in-
duce him to take a step which he could not reconcile to
his conscience, and which he believed would be produc-
tive of the most serious evils. He would not, therefore,
as a Minister have interfered with the settlement of
1840. To a certain extent the position had been altered
by the way in which the matter had been taken up by
the present Government, By two successive Govern-
ments promises bad been given to the people of Canada
to give them a large control over the clergy reserves ;
and a large portion of the Legislature of Canada was
anxious to obtain that power. He could not shut his
eyes to the fact that the other house of Parliament had
sanctioned the principle of the bill, and, thus circum-
stanced, he was anxious to go to the utmost limit to
which he felt he could go, without infringing those
solemn obligations of honour and good faith which ought
to be dearer than any other consideration. (Hear.) He
had risen principally for the purpose of saying that, in
the condition in which they then, stood he was anxious
to find the possible means of not meeting this bill with a
strict negative ' • and he was prepared, therefore, to pre-
sent to their lordships a proposition in committee, if
they should pass the second reading of the bill, whereby
power would be given to the Legislature of Canada
more extensive than that given by the act of 1791, but
maintaining inviolate all appropriation which had here-
tofore been made, not for the lives of individuals who
had a secondary interest, but maintaining as a perma-
nent provision—be it for the Church of England, be it
for the Church of Scotland—all appropriation which,
either under the act of 1827 or the act of 1840, had
been already allotted and solemnly given over, not to in-
dividuals, but to trustees in trust for the benefit of those
churches for ever, maintaining those strictly and in-
violably. (Hear.) He spoke for himself alone : he
would waive all the great and serious objections which
he entertained to th bill, and which would have pre-
vented him as a Minister from ever submitting it to
Parliament--if he could obtain such a modifc tion of

the measure as would say in effect that that which had
been allotted and appropriated, under the authority of
Parliament, by solemn compact, by legislative act, under
the assent of the Crown, should be hell inviolable
being the property of the Churches of England and
Scotland—as inviolable as if it was the private property
of any of their lordships. (Hear, )rear.) He should
have to propose this in committee, arid to explain his
views perhaps at some length. It could not be of local,
but imperial interest, that the engagements which they
had entered into— those rights of property which they
had affirmed--those estates which they handed over--
those funds which they had vested in trustees—should
not, by an act of tyrannical power, in obedience to
the unreasonable demands of the Colonial Legislature,
be set aside. (Hear, hear.) That could not be a
matter of local, but of the highest imperial, interest.
(Hear, hear.) He was anxious to have an oppor-
tunity of submitting this to their lordship's considera-
tion ; and should they be induced to accept such a com-
promise he would, however reluctantly—with the hope
that such a concession might lead to peace—waive his
objection to the measure, and assent to the third reading
of the bill. But if they insisted that the measure should
not be prospective only, but retrospective also—if they
violated the engagements they had entered into, and
plundered parties of property which they had bestowed
upon them, then no consideration on earth- -not even
the dismemberment of the empire itself—should induce
him to set his hand to a bill of that description, and say
" content," whatever might be the hazard of saying
" not content." (Hear.)
Earl GREY did not understand the noble earl to say
that he should not vote for the amendment, and the
proposition that he had offered would virtually defeat
the bill, although he had thrown out the expression of a
hope that it might pass, by common consent, on the
third reading. He would state the grounds on which he
thought the bill should pass in its integrity. For a mo-
ment he would allude to the observations which fell from
the right rev, prelate early in the debate. It appeared
to him that the right rev. prelate had entered into an
able argue on% and displayed his logical powers very un-
necessarily, to prove that the imperial Parliament was
supreme, for that was a proposition which he believed
the noble duke who moved the second reading of the
bill would not be disposed to dispute. It was one
thing to have a power, another to use it. They have
undoubtedly the power to carry the measure now before
them into effect, and as long as they used the power for
an imperial purpose, they were right in exerting. It had
-e deavo ured tosh
Church ow t/ at
would be in a
measure
.we i .
car-
riedbeen endeavoured
Roman Catholic
some-
what different position from that in which now was.
Technically that might be so, but substantially it cer-
tainly was not the fact. Objection also had been made
to the extent of the measure, but it concede:l all that had

....- --............. _
been asked. If hereafter the colony should ask for more
it would be time to grant it. He could not but express
his regret that the noble earl opposite (the Earl of
Derby), who had held such high situations in the Go-
vernment, had not given the house his opinion of the
effect of rejecting this measure. He (Earl Grey)
o
bggeremind thehou(sseirt
J. pak
hatariinto
ghgthno) dn.idnot baronetsieikn
the
eiifa,
bee m hni
bill
edt
Houseo
to conceal his impression that the rejection of this mea.
sure was fraught with the greatest danger to the con-
nexion of this country with Canada. Fo
had come to the conclusion that if they
with te rejectedhpiam Parliament
lt
they would enter into a controversy
of Canada, which would only end either by this country
giving way, or by the colony, in a few short,
easy steps,
(Cheers.) The question was
i
in a constitutional view. It
sleopwarating taken itself
u p in from
ca n Lisa. .
was not a mere discussion as to money ; the question
was, whether the Canadian Parliament ought not to
have the power of regulating the internal affairs of that
colony. If the Canadian
not be doing their duty to
Legislature were to give way,
in his opinion they would
their constituents.
tut, at this day, no one would
But,
think of endeavouring
line of action.
Much o coerce a great colony into any
had been said of the injury wbfch
the bill would do to thee
of Scotlandhurch be ain
Church. He wouldgaasker,, if
would
the Church of England or we
were to in •
sist upon rejecting this measure, and so lose
the colony 2 . ? This was a case in which the entrance to
the quarrel should be avoided. But what were the mo-
tives which had been urged for the rejecting of this bill ?
There appeared to be two grounds—first, that the reli-
gious interests of the colonists ought not to be neglected ;
and secondly, that, for some reason or another, we were
bound in honour to }tact) up the existing arrangements.
While he admitted th it the provision for the religion of
the population was of vast importance, it was also true
that, if they forced upon a people a religious endowment
it did far more harm than good to religion ; it disposed
the people against their pastors. From experience he
was persuaded that there was no cause which had tended
more to prevent the Church of England obtaining a just
influence over the colonies than the impression that it was
more favoured by the governing powers than other
religious sects. As to their being bound in honour to
keep up the pi esent arrangements, he should be glad to
know with whom the supposed contract was made,
and who would be injured by its being broken. They
could not put their finger upon any one individual who
would suffer. Certainly there could be no injury to the
Canadian people, who were only to be enabled to do as
they pleased. It was said that the rights of the Church
were about to be interfered with. A noble and learned
lord had spoken of the Church as if it were an actual