The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-05 00:00:00

N, LONDON, FRIDAY MORNING-, FEBRUARY 5, 1847

on the present, they engaged in an undertaking of this
kind. Let them look at the enormous undertakings England
herself was already engaged in, in various railways, and while
extraordinary demands were being made on England for the
support of the Irish people, not only for the next year,
but for many seasons to come. According to the argunisnt
of the Noble Lord, the returns from the Irish railways
were so small, that the sums they proposed to advance them
were only to be paid for by the small interest of 3i per cent.,
so that, under any circumstances; they were not likely greatly
to improve the finances of the country. He objected entirely
to any employment of the Irish people excepting in endeavour-
ing to produce food for the next season, and in endeavouring
to avert the great danger of famine which threatened them.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that
although many topics had been entered into during the course
of this discussion, and on which many Gentlemen had made
observations, yet he rose on this occasion princi-
pally to make an appeal to those Gentlemen who had
shown a disposition to prolong the debate, and to
request them to abstain from doing so. He thought himself
bound to set a good example in that respect, and abstain from
making any observations on the most able speech in which his
Noble Friend opposite had detailed his plan. His Noble
Friend (Lord John Russell) had already stated the course
which, not only on the present, but on future occasions, he
should feel it his duty to adopt ; and such really being the case,
no possible question could arise that night upon it. Leave
had been given to the Noble Lord to lay his measure before
the House. Of course the Noble Lord had understood that
already there stood for that night a measure for the
practical and immediate relief of distress in Ireland, and
he appealed especially to the Irish Members to second
that Bill which had been already before them ; and not to waste
time on the present discussion, it was of consequence that
Hon. Members should not interfere or create further delay be-
fore that measure was passed, as its object was to give imme-
diate relief to the present necessities of Ireland.
Mr. GOULBURN wished to say a few words on this sub-
ject before it was postponed. The Right Hon. Gentleman,
who had just sat down, had said that the Noble Lord had dis-
tinctly answered the course that he intended to take when the
present Bill should hereafter become a subject for the consider-
ation of the House. He apprehended from what had fallen from
Hon. Members, that the course to be taken by the Noble Lord,
bad not been distinctly stated. He thought it essential be-
fore the debate closed, that the House should be informed
on that point, for although his Right Hon. Friend the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer had stated that Government had
avowed its intentions, the House in general was not satisfied
as to the course intended to be pursued. He felt that to leave
in uncertainty a question involving so large an amount of pe-
cuniary interest—(Cheers)—and one likely to lead to great
speculation—(Loud cheers)—which speculation might be seri-
ously affected, was a course open to the greatest possible objec-
tion, both as regarded the interest of the speculation to
which he had alluded, and the welfare of the very works
Government desired most to promote. Who would advance
money in undertakings of this kind? Who would encourage
them under the present circumstances without a distinct
knowledge of the course that Government would take
upon this measure. The sole object he had in rising was to
call upon the Noble Lord to make that clear which to some
Members of that House appeared to be obscure. A course at
once essential to the best pecuniary interest and the general
welfare of the people of Ireland.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL—In answering to the appeal of my
Right Hon. Friend, who has stated that what I have said was
not perfectly understood by the House, I will repeat my former
statement. I stated to the House that I thought it respectful
to my Noble Friend, and I am now confirmed in that opinion,
to allow him to introduce the Bill. I stated that in the future
stage, when, according to the forms of the House, it would be
necessary that the House should go into Committee, for the
purpose of providing the money necessary to carry into effect
this Bill, that on such occasion I thought it in-
cumbent on the Government to take it upon itself
to carry this plan into operation, or at once to put
in the negative to the proposition on the part of the Crown.
I do not think it would be fair for the Noble Lord to stand by
to give merely a formal sanction of the Government, and allow
him to proceed with the Bill in order to reject it on a future
occasion. I stated that whatever might be the course taken by
the Government and by the House, I was not prepared to
carry into effect the plan which my Noble Friend has propose I,
and therefore when he should apply for authority to carry it
into law I should, on the part of the Government, refu e it.
Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN said he felt he should be wanting,
not only in the duty which he owed to the Noble Lord and to
himself, but also to those whom he represented, if he failed to
take this opportunity, the earliest that offered itself, of thanking
the Noble Lord for his proposal. He thanked him, not so much
much for the proposal itself, as for the spirit in which it had
been offered. It had not been accompanied by that con-
tumely with which what were called boons to Ireland were so
often accompanied. Such was not the spirit of the Hon.
Member for Bath, who, on speaking on this subject, had taken
every opportunity of ridiculing their distresses, however un-
deserving they might be of such ridicule. He had accused the
landlords, the clergy, the middle classes, and the Irish people,
and he left to the House to say, when a country was suffering
from starvation and distress, was that a course to be adopted
by any Hon. Member of that House ? The Hon. Member for
Bath had come forward with his proposition, and what
did it amount to? He had robbed his Honourable
Friend the Member for Stroud of his proposal, and
has indicated his intention of proposing a property tax on Ire-
land, by way of relieving the present necessities, and told them
to enact a law which had been enacted two years since. He
must say ha was inconceivably surprised by the course taken
by the Noble Lord. He could not conceive how, as a Minis-
ter of the Crown, he should hesitate to allow an advance to
the extent of 16,000,0001., when his political antagonist came
forward and told him he might rely upon his assistance, and
that he would give to him all the credit and all the honour of
passing the measure, when he must know that such measures
were necessary for the security of the country, to prevent a
state of things next year like the present. Why should he not
grasp at it? But in truth the Noble Lord appeared to think that no
relief was of any value to Ireland unless it were totally and
utterly unproductive. The Noble Lord thought that all that
was required was to feed the people. There never was so
monstrous a proposition. What was to become of the 500,000
labourers now unemployed ? The Noble Lord said there were
measures proposed to him of a character rendering necessary
less sacrifice of imperial credit on the part of the railways.
He had stated that one proposition had been made to him, re-
quiring five millions of credit to ten millions of capital, and
that the Treasury had at once rejected the proposition. What
had taken'place in the county of which he was a member?
All classes were anxious that a certain railway should be
undertaken. They saw the amount of money about to
be expended in an unproductive manner, and they said
let us make a presentation for the railway, and we will take
our chance hereafter of Parliament allowing us to sell or lease
the line." The landed proprietors were prepared to give their
consent to the railway being made through their estates. At the
presentment sessions the proposal was unanimously adopted, but
when it came to be submitted to the Treasury, they had said,
"Oh, no, we must have unproductive works."—(Hear, hear.)
The population of the country would have entered into these
speculations, and paid every farthing of the money borrowed.
And what was now the scheme of the Noble Lord ? He now
came down to the same parties, and said that he would give
them one-half of the advance made by the Imperial Treasury,
when he might have had the whole repaid. He hoped that,
under the new system, we should not see what he had seen in
Clare, where the young women were sometimes working upon
the roads. He hoped the Noble Lord would take the earliest
opportunity of moving an address to her Majesty, that this
scheme might be carried into effect. He, for his own part,
stood there independent of all parties. He had no animosity
against the present Government. He considered him-
self independent of all, and sought only a good
system of legislation for his own country.--( Hear, hear.)
He considered the proposition would be of great benefit to the
people of Ireland, and hoped the Noble Lord at the head of the
Government would reconsider the determination he had come
to, and give it his support. If he did not do so, he (Mr. S.
O'Brien) was convinced he would be hurled from his present
seat of power.—( Hear, hear.)
Mr. LABOUCHERE expressed his regret at interfering in
the discussion, after what had been said by his Right lion.
Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as he (Mr. Labou-
chere) was desirous that the debate should come to a conclu-
sion as soon as possible, in order that the House might apply
itself to the measures devised by the Government to meet the
present urgent necessities of Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) He had
risen because the Hon. Member who had last addressed the
House had made a mistake, on which he (Mr.
Labouchere) wished to make a remark or two.
The Honourable Member for Limerick stated that
his Noble Friend the Member for the city of Lon-
don had encouraged no works but what were of a useless or un-
productive nature. If it was not in the recollection of the
Hon. Member, it must at least be in the recollection of the
House, that among the measures eihifih his Noble Friend at
the head of the Government had introduced, there was one
which, for the advantage and improvement of Ireland, pro-
posed to pledge the credit of England for at least a million and
a half of snoney.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) This was a
measure to enable the landowners of Ireland to employ the
people, to relieve the distress which prevailed, and to cause the
cultivation of the soil for the next harvest.—( Hear, hear.) It
was therefore a most extraordinary mistake to say that
the polio n
'Cy ~,over4lloo4 and especially that of
the Noble ~ 'd at the' kW& of it, was to give no
. ,
encouragement `measures of it productive nature, but only
poollit
to forward =Ora% were of a useless and inexpedient character.
So far from that, his Noble Friend was desirous of encouraging
works that would benefit the great body of the Irish people,
and not to construct works that would go into the hands of
speculators.—( Hear, hear.) There was another statement of
the Hon. Membeefot Limerick which was extremely calculated
to mislead the Honse, and which also required some explana-
tion. He had stated that the Government had refused its
sanction to presentments made at the baronial sessions for the
construction of railway works. He (Mr. Labouchere) would
tell the circumstances under which a refusal had been made,
and he would then ask the House whether the Government
had not done perfectly right in the matter. The line for which
a presentment grant was wanted was one for which no Act of
Parliament had been obtained.—( Hear, bear.) Would it have
been right, he asked for the Government, to ride over all the
Acts of Parliament which were passed last session,
and have sanctioned a grant to a private line of this des-
cription? Their conduct would have been most inexcusable
had they done so. But there could be no fear of injustice
charged. against the Government ; when they had always been
most willing, if a fair cause for assisting a railway, for which an
Act had been obtained, was mad out at a present-
ment session, to allow the grant for the exe-
cution of earth work and embankments.—(Hear, hear.)
The principle of a Treasury minute issued on the 16th October,
1846, was to this effect. It stated that the Government was
prepared to give its sanction to presentments for the earth work
of railways, providing there was a sufficient case made out.
There were several conditions, which he need not go through,
but there was one tothe effect, that advances should be made
but to railways for which Acts of Parliament had been ob-
tained.—( Hear, hear.) It would have been manifest injustice,
after agreeing to so many railway Bills last session, to pass
them by, and to advance sums on lines got up by private par-
ties. To have acted otherwise than the Government had
done, would have been to create great confusion.—( Hear,
hear.) Nothing but the statement of the Hon. Member for
Limerick had induced him to address the House, and having
made these explanations, he trusted the House would allow the
discussion to drop for the present, and go on with these pray.
s' - '

tical measures of the Government which were now anxiously
awaiting the decision of the Douse.—( Hear, hear.)
The Marquis of GRANBY had no desire to protract the
present debate, but he could not avoid rising to expressLhis
assent to the proposition of the Noble Lord, the Member for
Lynn. He did not think that railways were an unmitigated
good; there was a considerable amount of evil mixed up with
them. At the same time, he thought, if ever tlitre was a
country where the benefits would be great, and the evils few,
he believed that country was Ireland; and at no time could
the advantages of this kind of communication be better in-

-
troduced than at present. He had no intention to go into
the argument at present, but would content himself with thank-
ing the Noble Lord, the Member for Lynn, for the measure he
had introduced.

Mr. MUNTZ would ask the Hon. Member for Kendal
whether it was right to oppose this measure when the people
of Ireland were starving in thousands? He (Mr. Munts)
was of opinion that it was better to lay aside principle than to
allow the people to die.—(Hear, hear.) It appeared in that
House that the exercise of benevolence was made to depend on

the colour of the skin. It was not long since they had voted
twenty millions to liberate the West India blacks, but now

they Talked of adhering to the principles of political economy,
when the health and lives of millions were at stake.—( Hear.)

It was not a question of giving they bad to consider—it was
one of lending, the object being to construct railways as far as
they were required by the wants of the country, and no fur-
ther.—( Hear, hear.) This was the real point to be considered
by the House. He thought the measure of the Noble Lord
the Member for Lynn would do great good, and therefore he
hoped the Noble Lord at the head of the Government would
reconsider the question.—( Hear, hear.)
Mr. J. COLLETT supported_ the motion of the Noble Lord
the Member for Lynn. He did not think the present discus-
sion was abstracting the attention of the House from measures
of immediate importance, as he believed the proposition under
consideration would, if agreed to, be the means of extensively
employing the people. Though he might be considered as
being an interested party, he would inform the House, that if
the proposition of the Noble Lord the Member for Lynn was
agreed to, he could, on the railways with which he was con-
nected, employ, by Monday next, 50,000 persons. He be.
lieved the Government had not studied the question of rail-
ways, else they would not have expressed the de-
cision they had done that night.—(Hear, hear.)
If Government wished to interfere in the matter of railways,
they could, at that moment, purchase all the lines in Ireland at
par, and he (Mr. Collett) would be most happy to dispose of
his interest at the same rate.--(Laughter.) He was no be-
liever in the utility of Government management, but if the
Noble Lord desired to try the working of the scheme, he (Mr.
Collett) could dispose of a railway which had already received
the sanction of the House, and which was intended to run
through the wilds of Tipperary.—(Shouts of laughter.) He
repeated, that if the Government advanced the necessary
funds on the rate of interest contemplated in the measure of
the Noble Lord, he (Mr. Collett) would be ready to engage
50,000 able-bodied men, in the source of the succeeding week,
all he would require would be the Government permission, and
by the next post he would address a letter to Mr. Dnngan, the
contractor, who would, the following Monday, find employ-
ment' for the number of persons he had stated.—(Cheers.) He
had no hesitation in giving the names of the railways in which
these men would be set at work. lie would employ, let them
say, in round numbers, on the Dundalk and Enniskillen, 5,000
andm men;
; on
the Belfast 7
Western, ,
portions of Cork, 10,000; on the Kilkenny portion of the line,
3,000; on the Killarney Junction, 3,000; and the remainder
000; Junction, 7,00tt; on the Great Southern
on the same railway, in the distressed
on the other lines, 15,000.
Mr. M. GORE thought that another mode of providing
employment for the population of the Irish seabord, in his
opinion even preferable to railways, would be, to encourage
fisheries.—(Cheers.) He had received accounts from the
Galway coast that the fishermen of Claddagh were in a fearful
state of destitution, and he thought that the distress might be
greatly lessened if the Government took measures to extend
the fisheries of Ireland.
Mr. GROGAN said that as the Treasury minute, founded
on Mr. Labouchere's letter, had been referred to by an Hon.
and Learned Member in an earlier part of the evening, he
begged leave to make one or two observations upon it. He
could assure the House that, as far as beneficial works were
concerned, that minute had remained a dead letter.—( Hear,
bear.) The minute was in itself good, but the conditions
which were annexed to it crippled its utility, and there was,
therefore, no single instance in which it could be alleged in
which a railway compaey had taken advantage of the proffer
of the Government. He had not intended to trouble the
House, but felt it his duty to refer to this matter as it had
been so prominently brought before them by the Hon. and
Learned Member opposite.
Mr. MORGAN JOHN O'CONNELL would not have
troubled the House that evening were it not that he
believed that no other opportunity would be given them of
discussing the question, for be believed that it would be cut
short on the second reading. He was afraid that the Govern-
ment had not given this question a proper consideration.—
(Hear, hear.) If it were possible that the measure introduced
by the Noble Lord could in any degree endanger the finances
of the country he should be as loath to advocate the measure
as any representative of a Scottish or English constituency.
—(Cheers.) But with the supervision that was to be exer-
cised over those works he was assured that the Government
might safely advance the sums required by way of loan at 3i
interest, and the repayment could be as well guaranteed by
Irish railways as by any other species of public works. While
he thanked the Government for the intentions they had mani-
fested towards the people of Ireland, he still thought tbat
they might have adopted other and more beneficial measures
by the encouragement of productive instead of comparatively
useless works.—(Hear, hear.) He also thanked Hon. Members
for the good feelings they had evinced towards Ireland, and if
he but glanced at the expressions of those Hon. Members who
dissented from the measure introduced by the Noble Lord
(Lord George Bentinck) that evening, and he more parti-
cularly referred to an Hon. and Learned Member who sat on
the rams side with himself, it was only to express his regret,
that in the present unfortunate condition of Ireland, they, and
more particularly the Hon. and Learned Member, should have
made use of expressions which were so calculated to injure the
feelings of Irish Members. He could assure the Hon. and
Learned Member that tho-e expressions excited no indignation
in his breast—( Hear, hear)—they only excited a higher and
more honest feeling, that of pity—(Cheers)---that his in-
veterate restlessness of temper—a restlessness which had proved
so great an obstruction to his success as a legislator—should
induce him, at every opportunity, to attack all and every one.—
(Laughter.) They read in Homer that Thersites was listened
to by the Greeks, but after all, the fame of Thersites was very
ephemeral, and he believed that the Hon. and Learned Mem-
ber would not be more successful in his endeavours to attain
popularity.
Mr. HAMILTON also felt compelled to refer to the Trea-
sury minute, which had been alluded to by the Hon. Member
for Dublin (Mr. Grogan), for he felt assured that in the pre-
sent condition of the Irish people it would prove totally inope-
rative, and the Treasury Commissioners had no power to carry
it into effect. The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite seems in-
clined to ascribe mercenary motives to the Irish Members. He
did not know by what scale the Hon. Member for Bath mea-
sured the conduct of those who came from Ireland, but this
much he would assert, that there was no set of men whose
conduct was more directed by disinterestedness and consistent
integrity. The Noble Lord who introduced this measure
seemed to desire that the resources of Ireland should be made
available for the improvement of the country through
the credit of England.—( Hear, hear.) When at the
close of last year the entire failure of the potato crop
had shown that the resources of that country were likely to be
of little assistance , a deputation, of which he was a member,
had waited upon the secretary for Ireland, Sir Thomas Free-
mantle, and had pointed out that this was the means by which
the resources of Ireland might be made available for overcom-
ing the difficulty. The deputation had laboured to impress him
with the necessity, that this was the only means by which em-
ployment could be found for the peasantry, and that it could
only be used through the influence of British capital.—(Cheers)
The Hon. Member for Bath seemed to misunderstand the
measure of the Noble Lord (Lord G. Bentinck), but be (Mr.
Hamilton) believed that this was the only means by which the
burdens of the country could be lightened.—( Cheers.) They
should recollect that they had an army of 500,000 men in their
pay. The Drainage Act, which had just been passed, useful
as it was, would, in six weeks, or two months be quite
inoperative ; and where then would be found the
employment for the labourer, either in draining or
on the public works ? The House should recollect
were r e
completely kept on
leo
st. public
They works
m us thet
therefore cultivation
find
nodf
that the Treasury commissioners had reported, in 1836, that
there were five labourers employed in Ireland for two in Eng-
land.uuopthtuehlyde labourer; and where was the employment that
wspasapotore for
ote would
t
arn that support to be found ? He could not, there-
fore, perceive any means better than those which would be
found in the measures proposed by the Noble Lord, for that
measure would have the effect of procuring ample employment
for the Irish labourer. They had the experience of Sir John
Macneil, the most eminent engineer that had been engaged on
the railways in Ireland, who had stated that the Irish labourer
was equal to any man in the exertion which he makes when em-
ployed upon railway works. When they first came on the
in a destitute condition. In England,
left their usual occupation to obtain
half
fvufeaarrymeay
srl,islbut in Ireland the case was different, for
there badly clothed, and in a state of
to obtain it with avidity. When they first
came
kel
of setyt
h. wthmhee eyeyfynawtrwrmeoaernner were
destitution ; but shortly after they had obtained this employ-
ment they were altogether altered. He believed that the
measure of the Noble Lord would have the effect of removing
this evil ; and, in the words of Sir J. Macneil, once remove the
desolateness of their condition, and the Irish labourer would be
found to be altogether altered in character. He could not,
therefore, but believe that this measure would altogether im-
prove the social condition of the Irish labourer.
Captain HARRIS believed that an intimation had been held
out by the Government that arsenal depots would be formed in
Ireland, and he much wished to see a naval depot at Cork.
He should like to see the correspondence on the subject.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL—The correspondence is already on
the table.
An HoN. AIEMBER was glad this question had been brought
forward; for though he spoke in no hostility to the Govern-
ment, he still thought that the measure proposed by the Noble
Lord was the one best adapted for improving the condition of
the Irish labourer.
After a few words from Colonel VERNER,
Lord JOHN MANNERS said, after an observation that
had fallen from the Hon. Member to the effect that this mea-
sure was brought forward to harrass Government, he wished
to disabuse their minds of such an impression. He did most
sincerely trust that should the House pass by a majority the
second reading of this Bill, that her Majesty's Government
will not think it incumbent upon them to interpose the prero-
gative of the Crown to stop the Bill, which the Irish people and
the people of this country believed to be of the utmost im-
portance to Ireland. Should Government contemplate
that course, he would just remind them that it was not so long
ago since they witnessed in another place the introduction of
that prerogative, and they all knew with what final success.—
( Hear, hear.) He took the liberty of saying these few words
in no spirit of hostility to Government, and his earnest hope
was that Government would take up the measure, and carry it
forward as their own.—( Hear, hear.)
Leave was then given to bring in the Bill.
On the question that it be brought up,
Mr. ROEBUCK threw himself upon the kind indulgence
of the House, and in common fairness asked them to
listen to him for a few minutes, while he answered the per-
sonal observations that had been addressed to him. When the
Hon. Member for Kerry sat down, he took the liberty of ask-
ing him if he heard the speech he (Sir. Roebuck) made that
evening, and the lion. Member replied that he had not, but
had taken what he (Mr. Roebuck) did say upon credit. Now,
he appealed to the House if there was anything in the language
he had addressed to them of an irregular, or personal, or offen-
sive character? He had a strong objection to the employment
of money in the way proposed by the Noble Lord, and he simply
stated the reasons for his objeetions. In speaking of the affairs
of Ireland, he did not use one hard word.

An Hoy. MEMBER—You suggested the introduction of a
clause in the Bill.
Mr. ROEBUCK—Oh, that was the charge; but what he
had said had been called vituperation. 1t might be so ; but he
must still repeat, that it was important for the dignity of that
House, that when money was to be applied for the benefit of
the people, it ought not to be partitioned amongst people.who'
held seats in that House. The Hon. Member for Kerry'
appeared to be annoyed at what he had said. Well he might
be so, but he might have applied a more characterisdc
term to the Hon. Member, by calling his speech a "frantic
speech." The Hon. Gentleman had called him a shrivelled
adder; but the adder was able to sting the ox.—(Hear, hear.)
He always found, that when be wanted to drive home a shaft
to make it stick, that he should barb it well; and the Hon.
Gentleman had found that the arrow had been well barbed, for
i t had stuck well.—( Hear and laughter.)
Colonel RAWDON felt surprised at the language that had
been used by the lion. and Learned Member for Bath, or that
such language should have been uttered in that House. That
Honourable Member had told the House that the
Honourable Member for Kerry had heard what he
(Mr. Roebuck) had said on credit. Now he (Colonel Raw-
don) had heard the lion. Member, and imparted what he had
heard to the Hon. Member for Kerry. He appealed to the
high and generous feeling of that House, if any Gentleman,
who heard him propose a clause, that no Member should ap-
propriate any portion of the money to be voted by that House,
if he would not feel justly indignant, were he alluded to,
as the Irish Members were. Could anything be more insult-
hear,) It had been strongly supposed that the
Honourable Member for Bath was the hired advocate of
ruffians.—( Order, order.)
The SPEAKER here called the Hon. Member to order.
Colonel RAWDON did not intend to commit a breach of
order, but he felt strongly the insult of the Hon. Member for
Bath.— (Hear, hear.)

Mr. FRENCH made a few observations, which were in-
' audible.
Mr. GRATTAN offered a few observations.
he Bill was then read a first time, and ordered to be read
a second time on Thursday next.
SUPPLY.
The House then formed itself into a Committee of the
whole House, for the purpose of taking into consideration the
resolution of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that a sum net
exceeding :300,000/. should be advanced out of the Consoli-
dated Fund, on the security of the poor-rates in Ireiand, for
the purpose of affording immediate relief.
After a few words from Lord Clements, Sir George Grey,
Mr. Labouchere, and Mr. Poulett Scrope, the resolution was
agreed to.
The House then resumed. •
Mr. GREEN brought up the report of the Committee
which was ordered to be reported to-morrow (this day).
The House then adjourned.

ARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.
(From the Votes and Proceednuis of the Rouse of Commons.)
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 3.
The following Railway Bills were presented, read a first
time, and ordered to be read a second time :
North British (No. 1)—" to empower the North British
Railway Company to construct certain Railways in con-
nexion with the North British Railway, and with the Ilad-
dington and Kelso Branches thereof; to make certain altera-
tions in the Hawick and Kelso Branches; and to alter and
improve the Leith Branch of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith
Railway, and for other purposes."
Southampton and Dorchester Railway Acts Amendment
(Weymouth Branch)—" for making a Branch Railway from
the Southampton and Dorchester Railway at Moreton to
Weymouth, and for other purposes."
Caledonian and Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock Amalga-
mation—" to amalgamate the Glasgow, Paisley, and Greenock
Railway with the Caledonian Railway, and to authorise the
raising of additional money by the said last-mentioned Com-
pany."

Caledonian (Lease or Purchase of the Glasgow, Barrhead,
and Neilston Direct, and Glasgow Southern Terminal)--" to
effectuate a Lease of the Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neilston
Direct Railway and the Glasgow Southern Terminal Rail-
way, to the Caledonian Railway Company, and to authorise
the said Company to raise money for these and other pur-
poses."

Norfolk (Branch from Norwich to Aylsham, with a
Branch to North Walsham)—" to empower the Norfolk
Railway Company to make a Railway from the Norfolk
Railway, in the county of the city of Norwich, to Aylsham,
in the county of Norfolk, with a Branch therefrom to North
Walsh am."
Newmarket and Chesterford (Extension to Thetford)—
" to enable the Newmarket and Chesterford Railway Com-
pany to extend their Line of Railway to Thetford, in the
county of Norfolk."
Regent's Canal Company (Paddington and Limehouse
Railway and Branch)—" to enable the Company of Pro-
prietors of the Regent's Canal to make a Railway from Pad-
dington to Limehouse, with a Branch therefrom, and to
amend the Acts relating to the Regent's Canal."

NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL-OFFICE.
The following Railway Bills are appointed to be read a
second time on Monday, Feb. 8 :
Aberdeen (Brechin Branch Deviation).
Arbroath and Forfar and Scottish Midland Junction Con-
necting Railway.
Fleetwood, Preston, and West;Riding Junction (Burnley and
Colliery Branches).
Ipswich and Bury St. Edmund's (No. 2—Extension from
Bury St. Edmund's to Newmarket and Ely).
Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manchester (Extension to Wakefield,
and Junction at Methley with the Wakefield, Pontefract,
and Goole, and the York and North Midland).
Huddersfield. and Manchester Railway and Canal (Branch
from Oldham to Ashton and Guide Bridge).
Huddersfield and Manchester (Deviation and Alterations
in Oldham Branch, Ric.).
London and North-Western (Lease and Purchase of the
Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal, and the
Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manchester Railway).
Al-mleen and Great North of Scotland (Amalgamation or
Leasing).

PETITIONS ON PRIVATE BILLS.
HOUSE OF COMMONS.
(Room 22, before Mr. Examiner Smart.)
UNOPPOSED LIST.
In the following unopposed cases the customary formal
proofs were completed, and the standing orders complied
with :
Caledonian Railway.
Glasgow, Garnkirk, and Coatbridge Railway (with a Branch
to Glasgow) and Station.
OPPOSED LIST.
MIDLAND RAILWAY (SHEFFIELD, BARNSLEY,
DONCASTER AND GOOLE LINE.)
This adjourned opposed case was then gone into, and at
the close of the inquiry, it was found that the standing orders
bad not been complied with in one or two instances.
In the following cases the formal proofs were taken, to
enable the witnesses to return to their various avocations in
the country the opposition being postponed till to-morrow :
Wishaw and Coltness Railway (branches to Auchenheath,
Mineralfield, and Canderside), Caledonian (Edinburgh sta-
tion,
&c.), Caledonian (branches from the Clydesdale Junc-
tion, &c.), Caledonian (extension of the Motherwell branch
of Clydesdale Junction, &c.), Caledonian (branches to Ca-
nobie. Langholme, &c.), Caledonian (branch across Clyde
and Glasgow station), Caledonian (lease of part of Glasgow
Dumtries and Carlisle Railway).
The Examiner rose shortly after four o'clock.
(Room 23.) .
Before Mr. Examiner MAY.
There were no unopposed cases in Mr. Examiner MAY'S
list to-day
CORNWLL AND DEVON CENTRAL RAILWAY.
This adjourned opposed case was resumed. In the course
of the day several allegations were sustained. They had re-
fereace chiefly to defects in the levels, plans, and sections.
and inaccuracies in the books of reference.
The result of the inquiry is looked forward to with a great
deal of interest, the contest being ostensibly between the
South-Westelcn and the Great Western Companies.
The case was further adjourned.
GREAT N ORTHERN RAILWAY, ISLE OF AXIIOLME
EXTENnION.
The formal proofs were taken in this opposed case.
The Exa.-miner then adjourned till to-morrow at ten o'clock.

HA YIVIARKET THEATRE.
Mr. Boureicault's new five act comedy, entitled The
School for Scheming, was produced here last evening.
The scene oi the first act is laid in the lodging-house of
Mrs. Singl. ,heart (Mrs. Humby), and we are introduced
to "my Landlady and her lodgers." One of these
lodgers is the Mac Dunnum of Dunnum (Mr. Buck-
stone), a " capitalist," that is to say a schemer, who,
upon the Sts•ength of having 50/. in the bank, starts all
sorts of j( tie.t-stock companies, and allots shares to un-
known persons, which he sells at a premium, and
gets up a, testimonial to himself, to which, under
various all arses, he subscribes most liberally; in short,
a stag o f the first head. The other lodger is
the Hon. Maude Plantagenet (Mr. W. Farren), a young
old man, fifty-nine according to the peerage, thirty-
nine acco:cdi ng to his own representation. He has run
through Gay c fortunes, and is deeply in debt to X. Y.,
the advert'is'ing money-lender; but he speculates upon
getting on t of all his difficulties by marrying his
daughter .to Lord Fipley (capitally acted by, Selby), a
noble piwe en, but the heir to a dukedom. This
daughter, lielen (Miss Fortescue), has been educated
at the 'es tablishment of Mrs. Fox French (Mrs.
Glover), ty one of whose young ladies have married
any man 'b slow the rank of an earl ; indeed, one of them
was expelied for tolerating the attentions of an Irish
viscount. Helen, spoiled though she has been by her
education,. has a heart, and that heart she has bestowed
upon Crier( :n Acton (Mr. Howe), a ruined man, as her
tether tell is her, for Craven, like himself, is deeply in-
debted to the money-lender. We are then introduced
to X. Y., riot the real usurer, but a certain Job Sykes
(Mr. We b ater), who.has borrowed the name of X. Y. for
a purpose. Sykes was originally a stable-boy
in the set Mice of Plantagenet. By difit of industry he
accumula Sod wealth, and married a lady of noble family.
She, bee. ruing ashamed of the mesalliance, separated
from him, .taking with her their only child. This child
took her ni nne, and the father was never permitted to
hold any o cc with it. She died during this
. child's leacy, and the child was brought up by her
family. ['his child is Craven Acton ; and, in order to
watch ove r and guard him, the father has assumed the
character of X. Y., the money lender. He is aware of
the love of ;'Craven for Helen, and, warned by his own
fate, is det rmined, if possible, to prevent their marry-
ing. Old , Plantagenet, too, is desirous of getting
rid of Cr ay. en, and at last reproaches him with
being the scot t of his stable-boy. He persuades Helen
also to accers ; the suit of Lord Fipley, and he himself;
understandia g that Mrs. Fox French has a fortune of
10,000/., mars es love to the lady. Acton's heart, however,
yearns towed' ds Helen, and she loves him still, although
she has prow ised her heed to Lord Fipley. His Lord-
ship, however, has a certain cousin, Lady Rose (Miss
Julia Benxi( .t), to whom as a child he had been engaged,
and who, n• et:withstanding his folly, of which she is per-
fectly swat e, is devotedly attached to him. There is a
ball at M 6. Fox French's establishment, at which
all are ass ambled, and at which Lady Rose manages
to revive Lord Fipley's attachment, and in fact
elopes with , him. That same night, thanks to a
special lie( ace, Mrs. Fox French becomes Mrs. Claude
Plantagane t and Mr. Claude Plantagenet finds, to his
cost, that 1 pa has married 10,000 L of debt instead of
10,0004 of fortune. He is arrested for 3,000/. In vain
does Helen tapply to all her friends for the loan of a sum
to free her lather ; she is rejected even by the Mac Dun-
num of Di annum, who has jilted Mrs. Singleheart, to
whom he bad promised marriage, and to whom he
makes a le- assent of 100 shares in one of his companies
as an z ileviation of the disappointment. At
length C is.ven borrows from Sykes the 3,0001.
(pledging 'Pith him the portrait of his mother, set in
jewels), an d, giving it to Helen, releases her father and
quits her for ever, disgusted at her heartlessness. On
examining ti to portrait, Sykes finds concealed a letter
from his wife to their son, informing him of his parent-
age, t ;egging kim to seek out his father, and to tell him
how bitterly , on her deathbed, she had repented
of her treatneentsof him. The father and son recognise
each o ether, as d are reconciled—with this ends the fourth
act. In the. fifth act we find all the characters &sum-
tied at Boulogne, Plantagenet and his wife
.and '----daugh ae r living on an annuity a 1801.,
a year. Hellen, broken hearted for the love of Craven.
Lotd Fipley„ (now the Duke of Bungay,) a perfect
specimen of a. tame man. The Mac Thulium, now plain
John Perkir is. an exiled provincial committee-man.
Sykes, han 3 [. P., with the offer of a Peerage, travel-
ling witl t his 'son, in search of health and consolation ;
and) Mrs . Si, egleheart, a woman of fortune (the shares
which thi t M ])unnum had given her turn up trumps),
travelli ng in sea rch of amusement. They meet, the re-
spective~ lovers are united, and the piece ends with
a lenge ay, mora.l tag spoken by Miss Fortescue. The
best cb erecter in the comedy is that of The Mac Dunnum
of Dm mum, andi. .he is quite a hors d'oeuvre, for he has
nothin g whataver .to do with the plot, of the piece. He
has so me claims to originality, and the dialogue put
into As mouth is smart, and at times witty. In fact,
had i .t not bee; a for the introduction of this character
the piece w ould not have survived at all, for,
in
e fourtl t act, where there is a vast deal of
letter rc .ading and tittle-tattle to no purpose, the audience
were ye. ry iml )atient.
This impatience was audibly ma-
nifested at th e commencement of the fifth act, and it
was oni
y the a ppearance of Mac Dunnum that put.them
into got id 'Rini our. The first three acts are well written

and tolerably well constructed, but the last two drag.
' In the fourth act there is a fault of construction, which
we were surprised to discover in any work pro-
ceeding from- the pen of such- a—practised- writer as
Mr. Bourcicault. Sykes, in' a long t. and te-
dious speech, relates matters • with which the
audience were previously acquainted by his soliloquy in
the first act, and by the action of the piece, thus delay-
ing the point which, everybody knew- must come, viz.,
the mutual recognition of the father and the son, until
expectation had duller; the edge -of appetite, and the
point missed fire. Nothing but the consummate tact of
Webster saved the pieee at this juncture. The whole of
this scene must be cut down, and the pruning-
knife must also be unsparingly applied to the fifth
act, and then the comedy wili" go.". The actors were
all called for at the conclusion, but when Webster
appeared to announce the .comedy for repetition, there
were some disapprobation manifested. It was, however,
clear that the " Ayes" had, it; and. Webster's short ad-
dress, "I feel justified," in announchig this piece for repe-
tition every evening until further notice," was received
with loud applause, which . completely drowned the
voices of the dissentients. ,Mr. Boureicault" was after •
terwards called for, and, on his appearance; loudly wel-
comed. The house was crowded to suffocation. Every
seat was occupied before the rising of the curtain.