The Sun.
London, England, 1849-08-01 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The SPEAKER took the Chair at a quarter after Two
o'clock.
There were abnut fifty Members present.
EQUALIZATION OF POOR RATE.

Lord NUGENT presented several petitions from the
metropolis and other places praying for an equalization
of poor rates.
VOTE OF THANKS TO LORD DALHOUSIE.
The SPEAKER intimated that he had received a
letter from Lord Dalhousie, dated Simla, in reply to a
vote of thanks which was plssfd by the House in the
month of April, expressing the gratitude and pride with
which he had received the distinguished mark of appro-
bation which had been conferred upon him by the House.

POLITICAL OFFENCES. -
Mr. ANSTEY presented a petition from a public
meeting in Milton-street, City, praying that her Majesty's
radon might be extended to all persons suffering its-
priaunment for politie,tl off. ne. s.
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
In reply to Mr. HUME,

Mr. HAWES said that the subject of giving a re-
sponsible Government to the Cape of Good Hope was
auder the consideration of the Government.
BURIALS IN TOWNS.

Mr. GEORGE THOLiff'oNPieseted a petition
from the Tower Hamlets, praying for the abolition of
intramural interments.
ROMAN REFUGEES.
Mr. MILNES said it appeared from the public
to
prints
Isl
that th.• Governor of aita had thought fit prevento
th.- landing upon the island of refugees from Rome.
Whatever political opinions might be entertained wmite.
h
respect to the affairs of that city, the bravery
of the Roman people had excited the )sym-
pathy of the civil z d world. What he wished to
know was, whether the Governor of the island had
shown that want of hospitality of which there were SO
many flagrant instances in other countries?
Mr. HAWES said the persons alludt d to by the Hon.
Member had arrived in such numbers at Malta that it
was absolutely necessary for the Governor, upon his own
responsib lity, to diminish the number who landed, in
order to preserve the peace and tranquillity of the island.
HUNGARY--HAYNAU'S PROCLAMATION.
Lord NUGENT rose and said, he wished to put a
question_ to the Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign
A, on a subject respecting which he trusted the
trNoble Lord would not be reluctant to allay the anxiety,
if 1 a could, whichli e was felt by a great number of her Ma-
jesty's subjects. referred to the proclamation which had
public
appeared in the prints from the Ausrian General
Haynan addressed to the
inhabitants of Pesth, denounc•
jug the punishment of instant death upon the spot
resumed to have
against airy person who should b
c ; ted what Haynau termed political offences, whe-
thernhear:) He
ecTleierfb;sifore
of the male or female sex.—
(Lord Nugent) believed such offences were
made punishable with death by any political
jog a Commission from any Government—(Hear, hear) hold.
jog
a 3 the being clothed in a revolutionary dress,
spreading false reports, and offering what the General
_!rimed insults to the soldiery, thus making those very
soldiers themselves the jut!ges of matters the sentences
of which they bad to carry into execution. He wished
to ask his Noble Friend whether that proclamation,
which he would not trust his own feelings to charac-
terise, was genuine or not?
Lord PALMERSTON said it was unnecessary for
him to say that her Majesty's Government, in common
with everybody else, must have read that proclamation
as it appeared in the newspapers with feelings of pain.—
(Cheers.) Re naect say no more on that point. Ile had ,

no officical communication of that proclamation, and,
therefore, he had no official knowledge whatever whe-
ther it was genuine or not.
Lord NUGENT said, then, he would ask whether the
Government was disposed to interpose its fullest office
and its authority, if necessary, to stop tho:perpetration of
such horrors as were now being perpetrated in Hungary?
Lord PALMERSTON said her Majesty's Govern-
ment would use a legitimate discretion how to act in
uny circumstances which might arise hereafter.
Preci,ely at seven minutes to three o'clock Sir A.
CLIFFORD, the Deputy Usher of the Black Rod, knocked
at the door of the House, and having been admitted,
summoned the House to the House of Lords to hear
Parliament proroguei by Commission.
Nearly every Member, preceded by the Speaker, then
left the House.
At twenty minutes to four o'clock the Speaker re-
turned.
He was followed by about forty Members, among
whom were Lord J. Russell, Lord Palmerston. Mr. La-
bouchere, Mr. Hawes, and other members of the Govern-
ment. They all assembled round the table of the House,
and the Speaker having read her Majesty's most gracious
Speech, the Members then left the House.
Thus ended the Session of 1849.

TO THE SECRETARY OF THE
METROPOLITAN REFORM ASSOCIATION.
Sir,—On Monday the 30th, there was no House ;
in consequence, as was understood, of the Ministers
being in attendance on the Queen in the Isle of Wight.
On Tuesday the House sat at noon, and was
occupied till four, principally with a debate on the
right of adoption by the Raja of Sattara. As soon
as the hand had passed the mark of four, the House
was counted out, to the disappointmest of many who
must have calculated on getting through the remnants
of business which are found hanging about the con-
clusion of a session. The House was appointed to
meet at a quarter after two on Wednesday.
On Wednesday the House met according to ap-
pointment, and the Parliament was prorogued by
Commission, with the usual forms.
So ends a session in which some important mea-
sures have been passed, and a considerable quantity
of private and less urgent business got through. The
efforts made at the beginning of the session to facili-
ta'e the progress of business had not been entirely
without effect, though of less than was expected from
them. The great source of delay is still the quantity
of needless speaking. The evil is not in the number
of speakers, but in the necessity which a number of
indispensables appear to feel of making thleisr speeches the
of a certain length. Good evidently House results
appointment of fixed hours when the shall rise ;
from
I
a precedent which will at somelous
et
formedm e be
o usefullynon one day
ex-
tended to the prohibiting a
sittingrising into another day ;
.or, in other words,
t
at midnight, as
nowdoes at six,
fromhe u
eu eeisi
upon what is called a " morning sitting. In a work-
shop where it is undeniable that a considerable quan-
tity of the private as well as the public business of
the country is to be forwarded, it is of importance
to lay down the fact, that the quantity of work done
is by no means in proportion to the time consumed,
and may sometimes even be found in something like
an opposite ratio.
I am, Sir, you obedient servant,
AN OLD REFORMER.
London, Aug. 1, 1849.