The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THTTRSDAY EVENING, AUGUST" 6, 1846.

titling them to sympathy rather than abuse. No parties I
were more anxious to secure the safety of their passengers I
than that board over which he presided, and for this purpose
they were always anxious to secure the services of efficient
servants. His own policy was always to secure the sympa-
thies of the secretary down to the labourers on the line in
its future success ; but no exertions, however skilful or sin-
cere, could at all times avert accidents on the best regulated
railways.
The meeting then separated.

LARNE, BELFAST, AND BALLY-

MENA RAILWAY.—(THIS DAY.)
A meeting of the scripholders of this Company was held
,o-day, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, for the
purpose of receiving a report of the directors, and of adopting
such measures as might be deemed expedient. Mr. Andrew
Spottiswoode took the chair.
The SECRETARY read the report of the directors, from
which we make the following extracts :
" The directors who represent the Company are prepared at
once to resign the trust reposed in them to such other mem-
bers of the company as the scripholders may elect, not, how-
ever, with the view of relieving themselves from responsi-
bility, for they would suggest the introduction of a clause in
the Bill to facilitate the recovery from the parties at present
liable for any moneys which may hereafter be found to have
been improperly expended."
" Should the scripholders decide upon the expediency of
proceeding with it, the Directors submit that there is every
reasonable prospect of its being a most valuable investment.'"
"But, supposing for a moment that there could be a doubt
as to the line answering, the Directors would urge the pro-
bability of an advantageous arrangement with the Belfast
and Ballynena Railway."
The SECRETARY then read a balance sheet of the receipts
and disbursements up to the present time, from which it
appeared that there was a balance of 11,4891. ls. ld., sub-
ject to various claims, estimated at 8,3931., which would
leave a balance of 3,0961., or about is. 6d. per share upon
the shares in the hands of the public.
No motion was made for the adoption of the report.
Mr. COWAN, one of the scripholders, was of opinion that
the report of the Select Committeeof Parliament rendered it
impossible to proceed with the Bill, and he was astonished
that the chairman and the directors should come forward now
and exhibit such want of self-respect and unblushing disre-
gard of the great and culpable irregularities which had come
out on the evidence before that Committee, as to advise the
meeting to proceed with the Bill.
Mr. CowaY then read portions of the evidence criminating
the directors, and after a lengthened appeal to the meeting
on the gross mis-statements of the directors and their several
mismanagement, proposed the following resolution ;—" That
it is the opinion of this meeting that the Larne and Belfast
Railway Company was virtually dissolved on the 28th day
of May last, when a meeting of shareholders was held for
the purpose of assenting to or dissenting from the further
progress of the undertaking. Because 1,180 shares that were
on that occasion recorded in favour of the undertaking were
shares purchased by the directors with the paid-up deposits
of the shareholders. This being an unfair mode of creating a
majority of votes ought not to be admitted. Consequently
the non-assenting shareholders were in a majority of 830
to 800."
Mr. MAnsixam seconded the motion which was carried by
a majority of 13 to 6.
Another resolution that further proceedings with the Bill
should be stayed, was also carried.
The general feeling of the meeting being that the Com-
pany should be dissolved; it was agreed upon by the share.
holders and directors, that as the present meeting could not
be considered one in conformity with the Earl of Dalhousie's
Act, another meeting should be convened as soon as possi-
ble for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety
of dissolving the company.
The meeting then -idjourned.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

(THIS EVENING.)

HOUSE OF LORDS•

-
The Earl of SHAFTEIBURY took his seat upon the
Woolsack at Five o'clock.
Messengers from the Commons brought up several
Bills, and praying their Lordships' concurrence.
SUGAR DUTIES.
Lord CAMPBELL presented a petition from the
Convention of the Royal Burghs of Scotland, in which
they express their gratification at the passing of the Bill
for the abolition of the corn-laws, and now pray for the
equalization of the sugar duties.
The NOBLE LORD also presented a petition from the
town of Newport in Wales in favour of the Bill for the
better recovery of small debts.
AMENDMENT OF LAW (IRELAND).

The NOBLE LORD also obtained leave to bring in two
Bills, for the improvement of the law in Ireland. One
was entitled the Interpleaders' Act and the other the
Mandamus Prohibition Act.
These Bills were read a first time.
MARRIAGES (IRELAND) AC r AMENDMENT

Zealand Company Bill were read a third time and
passed.

POST-OFFICE.

Mr. T. DU...1.C05113E presented a petition from Tho-
mas Mitcham, a letter-carrier, complaining of the hard-
ship of being dismissed from the Post-office in conse-
quence of having given evidence before Mr. Peacock, the
solicitor to that establishment, and praying for inquiry.
CORK AND WATERFORD RAILWAY.
On the motion of Mr. WYSE, the Bill was ordered to
be read a second time on Friday next-
Captain PECHELL presented, pursuant to notice, a
petition from the Rev. Edward Duncombe, rector of
Newton Kyme, in the county of York, complaining of
the misappropriation, by the York Central Diocesan
Society, of the sum of 3,500/., granted by the Committee
of Council of Education for the purpose of building
Normal Training Schools for the benefit of the children
of the labouring classes. The Hon. Member gave notice
of his intention to-morrow that the petition Le presented.
VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.
Mr. HUME presented a petition from the free colo-
nists of Van Diemen's Land, setting forth the hard-
ships under which they laboured, and praying for a
representative from Parliament.
On the motion of Sir GEORGE GREY, a Select
Committee was appointed for the revision of the stand-
ing orders relating to Private Bills, consisting of Mr.
Estcourt, Mr. Strutt, Captain Ives, Mr. Gibson Craig,
and Mr. Greene.
FLOGGING IN THE ARMY.
Sir J. C. HOBIIOUSE presented a petition from
Nottingham complaining of the practice of flogging in
the army, and praying the House to take the subject into
consideration.
Mr. HUME moved for a return of the number of
floggings that had taken place in the army during the
past year.
MORTALITY IN THE ARMY.
Mr. HUME also moved for returns of the mortality
in the British army in different parts of the world during
the past year.
DEBT AND PRIZE MONEY.

Sir HENRY—NVINSTONBARRON rose, pursuant
to notice, to put the following questions to the Presi-
dent of the Board of Control:—What was the amount
available of the debt and prize money since the last
distribution of the Deccan Prize Money ?—Had the
Nagpore jewels, in the custody of the East India Com-
pany at Benares, been adjudicated, as set forth in the
Printed Paper of the House of Commons, as printed in
the year 1838 ?—When will the distribution of the debt
and prize money take place ; and has the dispute which
prevented the distribution of the said prize money been
settled, if not what is the nature of the dispute ?
Sir J. C. HOBHOUSE said that the last distribution
of the Deccan prize money took place in 1842, and not
as stated by the Hon. Member in 1838. With reference
to the other questions, he thought the Hon. Member had
better move for a continuation of the returns moved for
by the Hon. Member for Montrose on a former occasion
on this subject.
QUARANTINE LAWS.
Captain LAYARD wished to ask the Secretary for
the Home Department, whether Sir William Pym,
Superintendendent General of Quarantine, had within
the last two years been employed by Government to pro-
ceed to the Continent for the purpose of obtaining in-
formation on the subject of quarantines from the au-
thorities of different places, or for some other purpose ;
and to know if he made a report on his return ; and, if
he made a report, whether there be any objection to its
being printed, and laid on the table of the House ;
also that Government may institute an inquiry, by com-
petent persons, as to the nature of the fever which pre-
vailed last year on board her Majesty's ship Eclair; and
if shown to have been the true yellow or black-vomit
fever, that the inquiry should then extend to the ques-
tion as to whether it has been proved that such a disease
is transmissible from persons labouring under it to
others in health. _ _

Mr. M. GIBSON said Sir W. Pym was employed to
inquire on the subject, and the report had been laid on
the table of the House; with regard to the second
question, he said that there had been an inquiry
into the subject of the fever, and the result wa,
that Sir W. Pym, one of the persons appointed to in-
quire into the subject, came to the conclusion that it
was an infectious disease, and Sir W. Barnett had arrived
at a contrary opinion on the subject.
SECONDARY PUNISHMENTS.

Mr. HUME gave notice that upon Monday next he
would ask some questions of the Government relative t.
the subject of secondary punishments.
Mr. PROTHEROE moved for copies of any corres-
pondence between the First Lord of the Treasury and
the Master of tha Rolls, in the year 1845, respecting
the building of a Public Record Office.—Agreed to.
RELIGIOUS OPINIONS BILL.
The order of the day for the second reading of the
Religious Opinions Bill, on the motion of Lord J.
RUSSELL, was then read.
Lord J. RUSSELL would wish, on this order being
read, to make a short statement respecting the nature
of these Bills, and he might first observe that the greater
part of these Acts were altogether unworthy of being
retained on the statute-book. These Bills might be
divided into various classes, and among the first might
be stated an ordinance which prevented any Roman Ca-
tholic from holding lands in this country. There was no
doubt of the general desire to gat rid of this nuisance. The
next in this class was that which required that all Jews
were required to now a badge of degradation. This
was a power which he thought no one would wish to re •
taM. All Jews were were admitted to all the privilege.
of the Constitution, and it would therefore be absurd to
keep up a distinction which had been practically abolished
already. The next class of Acts which he was desirous
of sweeping from the statute book was, that which im-
posed penalties for not attending public worship ac-
cording to the rites of the Established Church. By tht
5 and 6 Edward VI., any offender was liable for the first
offence to imprisonment for six months, for the second
to premunire, and for the third to the penalties of higl
treason, when any party was proved not to be in connec-
tion with the Established Church. By the 29th Eliza
beth, every person not attending public worship in the
Established Church, was liable to a penalty of
201., and for a second offence was liable to it
forfeiture of all his goods. The next class of Act:
which it was desirable to repeal, were those which
also induced prosecution for religious opinions.
and especially those which instituted punishment for
allowing the supremacy of the Pope in this country.
The Act itself was one of the reign of Elizabeth directed
against Popish recusants. It was subsequently enlarged
in the time of James, and imposed for the first offence
the fine; for the second, loss of all the goods and chat-
tels of the offender; and for the third, the punishment
of a premunire. He (Lord John Russell) thought there
was little to fear from the Pope's supremacy in
this conntry in the present day, and that the Act
might with safety be erased from the statute-book.
He said Lord Denman and several eminent judges had
given their opinion against these enactments, and there-
fore the Government was convinced that there was no
danger whatever of the supremacy of the Crown
in this country. He did not think there
was any advantage in keeping up these penalties ;
that the mere assertion that the Pope ought to have
supremacy in this realm, if it were the person's
opinion that it ought not to be punished. If any
person made his assertion of the Pope's supre-
macy in such a shape as to bring it beforf
a court of law; he would be dealt with according to the
common law of the country. These Acts, the 13th of
Elizabth for example, were enacted in times when there
certainly was an assertion of the authority of the Pope.
and an attempt was made to free men from their alle-
giance to the throne of this country by authority of
the Pope, and after that time all persons who introduced
bulls into the country were pronounced guilty of high
treason. Now the question was, whether it was desirable
to keep up the penalty for this. He said it was not iii
the power of any one to prevent the introduction
of bulls into this country. These were necessary
for the appointment of bishops and priests in the
Roman Catholic community, and it was fully to thinb.
of preventing their being introduced. Supposing such
an attempt to be made as they had read of in forme)
days ; and yet it was extravagant to suppose that any
attempt should be made by the Pope to interfere with the
Sovereign authority of this country ; and be did
not believe that any Roman Catholic would be affected
by any bull to that effect, still if any one acted under if
SO as to infringe the common law of the country, he
would be indicted on a charge of high treason,
and law would deal with the offence. If there
was anything treasonable in these bulls, they
would be reached by the law of the country, and
if there was nothing in them of a treasonable character
why then it was unnecessary to maintain those laws.
He would say that after the Bill had passed, it certainly-
might give rise to some confusion in the law, though no
contradiction. There was nothing in the Bill intro-
duced to alter the oath which was now taken, and which
would continue to be taken, namely, that the Pope
neither has nor ought to have, any jurisdiction, eccle-
siastical or spiritual. in these realms, while, at the same

time. There could be no doubt that he actually exer-
cised such authority. Such was the case at present, and
so it would remain after the Bill had passed. He always
interpreted the oath to be, that in the opinion of the
person taking it no jurisdiction of the Popes' in this
country could be enforced by law, and ought not to be
so, but at the same time he thought it was not to
be taken without proper consideration. He did not
intend, on the passing of the present Bill, to relieve the
people from the necessity of that oath. He thought that
it was desirable to introduce this Bill alone, as its intro-
duction with any others of a similar nature might impair
its benefit. The late Government came to the conclu-
sion that such a Bill was necessary, and Lord Lyndhurst
thought that it would be more desirable to introduce
the Bill alone than to encounter the difficulties
attendant on the protracted consideration of it which
would inevitably ensue if it remodelled the whole ques-
tion of religious opinions. He did not wish to give any
opinion on the other parts of the subject, but he thought
the House would do right to remove many of the ab-
surd penalties which could now be inflicted by the pre-
sent system of legislation ; and, with that impression,
he should move that the Bill be read a second time.

Col. SIBTHORPE said that he had always pursued
one course of conduct in that House, and he always
would do so. He did not bear any unchristian feeling
towards those who differed from him in opinion, but he
certainly was attached to the national form of worship,
and he could not subscribe, and never would subscribe,
to any omission of a ;departure from the rules
necessary to establish its supremacy in this empire.
lle knew the Bill bad been prepared in another place
by the Lord Chancellor, but the high position of the
authority from whom it proceeded would not preclude
him from offering it his most determined opposition,
for he considered it might be both too passive and
too active. He knew his opposition would be futile,
but nevertheless ho shoald not hesitate to enter his pro-
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R. H. Inglis), because he vs as satisfied he also would
have opposed the measure. The Noble Lord (J. Rus-
sell) had endeavoured to console the House on the subject.
This was a happy knack on the part of the Ministers,
in order to enable them to get comfortably over the ses-
sion. They should not, bowever, forget that they had
got in because the others were an extremely bad set.—
(A laugh.) They promised well, as they had not yet de-
ceived the House—(Hear)—and he should not entertain .
a bad opinion of them until they did deceive the llouse.
He objected particularly to that portion of the Bill re-
lating to oaths, and considered that the Bill, as it
stood, would have the effect of undermining the national
Church.
Sir H. W. BARRON entertained great respect for
the National Church of this country. If the Gallant
Colonel had such great veneration for our ancestors, he
might have recollected that they established the Roman
Catholic religion, and had handed down every great
principle which was worth contending for in that House;
and that a Roman Catholic Archbishop forced the
tyrant King John to sign the Magna Charter.
He was not going then to enter at large into this ques-
tion, but he believed no man could contradict this simple
fact, that the acts of their ancestors, which the Gallant
Colonel so much remained and so much eulogised, were
the acts of Roman Catholics.—(Hear, hear.) Now, with
regard to the principles of the Bill itself, he would only
say one word. One of the oaths proscribed to be taken
by Members on entering that House was, he would not
tolerate the spiritual jurisdiction of any foreign Prince
in this country, and yet it was notorious that the Pope
of Rome had an established and acknowledged jurisdic-
tion over the Roman Catholic Church in this country.
Mr. ESTCOURT complained of the time at which
this Bill was introduced, when the greater proportion of
Members had left town.—(Hear, hear.) The Bill bad
only been in the hands of Hon. Members for a rew
hours, and he could not be supposed to be acquainted
with the provisions of the Bill. The Noble Lord who
introduced the measure had said that bulls were per-
fectly necessary to enable the professors of the
Roman Catholic religion to act in a proper
manner. He (Mr. Estcourt) did not know how
correct that statement was, but he found that there had
existed for a great number of years a law prohibiting
their introduction into this kingdom, and he thought it
too much that at so short a notice, the House should be
called upon to repeal that law, and consent to
the importation of bulls. He thought that the
provisions in the Bill regarding oaths should be postponed
until the subject could be considered in connection with
a Bill cf a more general nature. He hoped that the
Bill would not be pressed forward the present session.
He considered this was not the way in which the House
should be treated. The Hon. Member concluded by
moving that the Bill be read a second time this day three
months.

-------
Mr B. ESCOTT supported the Bill, but complained
that the previous Bill contained clauses which the pre-
sent did not, while the present Bill had important
clauses not in the other Bill. It was his desire, at a
future stage of the Bill, to submit some clauses to give
greater effect to the measure, and he trusted the Noble
Lord would have no objection to his doing so, or to their
introduction.

Mr. SPOONER entirely concurred in what had fallen
from the Honourable Member for the University of
Oxford, and if he pressed his amendment to a divi-
sion he would vote with him against the Bill. He
considered it was improper to press the Bill
forward at the present period of the session.
He certainly thought that this Bill ought to be post-
poned, for he conceived that the discussion should not be
taken now, at so late a period of the session, when
many of the Members had left London without any ex-
pectation that the Bill would at all be brought on at the
present moment, at still less thatit would be brought on at
all at this part of the session. On these grounds he thought
that the Noble Lord would assent to the postponement
of the Bill till next session. Then with regard to the
penalties to be imposed for the spread of sedition in this
country, he would beg to ask the Hon. and Learned
Attorney-General how, when under the oath of supre-
macy, they were bound to resist the exercise of any
supreme authority whether ecclesiastical or civil, they
were to meet the influence of a bull quasi, a bull which
was purely an ecclesiastical document emanating from
ecclesiastical authority. No action at common law
could meet it, and these was therefore clearly a fallacy
in the assertion that sedition, spread by means of a bull
of the Pope, could be stopped by any such means.
Mr. HENLEY said he rose. merely to give his rea-
sons for the vote he intended to give on this Bill. Ile
said the Hon. Member for the University of Oxfo d
complained of being called on to vote on this Bill,
which had been circulated only to-day, and the
more, that it was at this period of the session.
If this had been a new matter, upon which they were
entering, he (Mr. Henley) would have agreed
with the Hon. Member; but this Bill had been all but
substantially introduced by an Honourable Member at a
previous period of the session. The Ministers of the
then Government advised the withdrawal of his Bill,
because another was in the Upper House virtually
including all the principles contended for in it. That
Bill recited, he believed, all the Acts which the present'
Bill recited. This was the way he got over the question
of time. What, then, was there in the Bill itself which
any one could object to? He could not, for the life of
him, see anything to object to in the substance of the
Bill. It did harm to no one, and if it did no more good
to any one, the Bill ought to be passed out of con-
sideration of the prejudices of their Roman Catholic
fellow-subjects. Indeed, it was ,happily become the
policy of the times, and, for his parr, he said, if there
was a mark against any man, in God's name let it be
removed. As for the Act of Supremacy, which had
been introduced on that occasion, he did not see
that that at all interfered with that Act ; for
it was his opinion, that all who at present took
the oath of supremacy would continue to
have to take it if this Bill passed.
With regard to many parts of the Bill, he believed that
every Member in that House was in somo way or other
,übject to some of the penalties which it abolished. He
could see no harm or danger to any one institution in
the Bill, and therefore he should vote for a measure
which would in many respects be a very useful one.
The House then divided, when there appeared,
For the second reading
For the amendment
Majority

The Bill w•as then read a second time, and orderel to
be committed.
SUGAR DUTIES BILL.

On the motion being put for going into Committee on
this Bill,
Mr. V. SMITH rose to put a question of which he
had given notice, to the Under Secretary of State for the
Colonies. He wished to know if any alteration
had been made in Mr. Secretary Gladstone's
arrangement for the appointment of Under Secretary
to the Colonial Department. Mr. Gladstone had deter-
mined upon a gentleman to the office who had not
been previously connected with the department,
and this system was considered to be unjust to
the gentlemen connected with the Colonial-office.
Mr. Gladstone proposed to sweep away not only the
head clerkship, but also the probationary clerks of the
office, and ho thought such a course of conduct was
highly objectionable, and caused a great amount of in-
jury to a very valuable class of persons, he alluded to the
clerks in the Colonial-office. The more manly course to
have adopted, would have been to come down to the House
and state that there was a necessity for an Assistant-Se-
cretary, lie would have gladly supported such a propo-
sition, but he objected to any insinuation to create a new
office. He had made this short statement in order to call
the Hon. Gentleman to the consideration of the question.
Mr. HAWES declined at the present moment enter-
ing into the subject involved in the question of the lion.
Member. Until he had had more experience
of the office, and had consulted with the Right Ho-
nourable Gentleman the previous Secretary of
the colonies, he did not think he would be in a proper
position to give the answer required. The officer, how-
ever, who had been referred to, had proved a most effi-
cient officer. With regard to the clerks in the office, he
would bear witness to their general efficiency, and he
fully and cheerfully gave his testimony to that effect.
Mr. HOME thought, if the clerks were so efficient,
they ought to be better treated than they were, and
should not have parties placed over their heads in the
way referred to.
Lord J. RUSSELL said, that in reference to the
office of Assistant-Secretary, the duty was a very pe-
culiar one, the party filling it having the examination
of all colonial matters. The appointment was, therefore,
t very important one, and should be carefully made.
He was quite ready to agree to the proposition that the
important business of legislation could not be
carried on whilst the services of gentlemen,
who were acquainted with the principles and the
practice of the law, and especially in the important
office of an Under-Secretary of State. But it seemed
to him that in this case the interests of the
senior clerks ought not to be neglected. The
duties of these gentlemen were sufficiently onerous,
and there were not too many persons to perform them.
The appointment of Mr. Rogers appeared to be a very
proper one, and he did not think that any want of
judgment had been made, or any erroneous feeling
exhibitited, in putting a gentleman into that position
who was intimate wiih the routine of its duties. _

The Earl of LINCOLN thought that as reference
had been made to the conduct of a Right Hon. Friend
of his, he might be allowed to say a few words to the
House. He had held a conversation with his Right
Hon. Friends at the time on this very subject, though
not an official correspondence, and he could assure the
lion. Member for Montrose, that the gentleman who
had been appointed to the Assistant-Secretaryship was
selected, not because he was a stranger, but because
he was a lawyer, and acquainted with the duties of the
office.
After a few words from Mr. WOOD,
The House went into Committee on the Bill, and the
several clauses were read, and agreed to.
The House resumed, and the report was ordered to
be brought up to.mnrrow.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS BILL.
This Bill was read a third time and passed.
The reports of the Copyhold Bill—The Turnpike Act
Bill—The Stock-in-Trade Bill—The Highway Rates
Bill, and the Loan Societies Bill were read and received,
and the Bills were ordered to be read a third time to-
morrow.
The Forms (Assessed Taxes) Bill was read a second
time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow.
THE SPIRIT LICENSE BILL.
On the motion that this Bill be read a secoUER nd time
that
,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQ said
he had lately received a deputation from the chemists
in London, and he had desired them to go to the chair-
man of the Board of Excise. Ile had understood that
all objections were removed, and came into the House
with that impression; but since be came into the House
he found that they were not entirely so. He was ready
to make such alterations as might be considered
necessary.

Mr. WAKLEY WAS by no means satisfied with this
Bill. It would be supported by the wholesale dealers
because it would throw a monopoly into their bands. It
would render it necessary for 3,000 more druggists to
take out licenses under this Bill, or they would not be
safe in having a still or even a retort upon the premises.
[LEFT SPEAKING.]