The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-19 00:00:00

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LONDON. SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 13, 1848.

The House of Lords met at Five.
The House went into Committee on the Diplo
maiie Relations with Rome Bill.

On the suggestion of Lord STANLEY, the allusion
in the preamble to the Bill of Rights and the Act of
Set tlement was struck out.

sChe Bishop of WINCHESTER objected to the words
Sovereign Pontiff, and on the suggestion of the
Du ke of WELLINGTON, the words " Sovereign of the
Roman States" were substituted.

The Earl of EGLINTON then proposed an amend-
mend, to the effect that no Ambassador should be re-
ceived in this country from Rome who was in holy
orders, or a Jesuit, or a minister of any other religious
order or community bound by monastic or religious
vows in connexion with the Church of Rome.

The amendment was opposed by the Marquis of
LANSDOWNE, Lord BEAUMONT, the Earl of SHREWS-
BURY, the Marquis of CLANRICARDE, and Lord
CAMPBELL, and supported by the Earl of ABER-
DEEN, Lord STANLEY, the Duke of RICHMOND, and
the Earl of HARROWEY.

The Duke of WELLINGTON considered that the
terxna " diplomatic relations" in the Bill put an end
to specifying the denomination of the party. It
was for the Sovereign to decide who should or who
should not be received as an Ambassador.

On a division the amendment was carried by a ma.
jority of 3, the numbers being—

For the amendment . 67
Against it . 64

The Duke of WELLINGTON then moved the fol-
lowing as a declaratory amendment :—" Whereas it
has seen enacted and declared in the provisions of
various ancient laws of this realm, that the Sove-
reign thereof; acting by and with the advice and
under the authority of both Houses of Parliament, is
the sole and supreme head and governor of all mat-
ters ecclesiastical and civil within this realm, or else-
where, the dominions of the Crown of England; and
the same Acts contain provisions, having for their
objects to control, regulate, and restrain the acts,
conduct, and relations of the subjects of this realm
with Foreign Powers upon the said matters : and
whereas it is essential to the welfare of these realms
that the said provisions, as to the Crown and Go-
vernment thereof, should be invariably maintained,
and it is expedient, nevertheless, to remove any
doubts which may exist as to the competence of her
Majesty, her heirs and successors, to establish diplo-
matic relations with the Sovereign of the Roman
States :" which was agreed to.
Lord REDESDALE proposed an amendment, that
no minister er diplomatic agent from the Court
of Rome should be received in this country until the
Court of Rome declared that it did not claim, but
disavowed any temporal or civil jurisdiction, directly
or indirectly, within this realm.
This amendment, after a short conversation, was
negatived

The Bill, as amended, was agreed to, and

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved that it
should be re-committed pro forma on Monday. The
amendments would then be printed.
The House then adjourned,

The House of Commons met at Four o'clock.
On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the Excnn-
QUER, the House resolved itself into a Committee of
Ways and Means.
Lord JOHN RUSSELL then rose for the purpose
of making the financial statement for the year.
The Noble Lord said that he felt his strength so
unequal to the task he had undertaken that he
thought it best to content himself with lay-
ing before the House the statement of the financial
state and policy of the country, leaving to a future
occasion the supporting that policy by argument. During
the last 18 months the vicissitudes of the country,
except during the time of war, had been unparralleled.
There had been a fluctuation in prices and a period
of distress induced by famine unparalleled in the
history of the country. The changes in the price of
wheat, the rate of discount, and the price of bullion
had been unparalleled. With regard to wheat, the
price in September, 1846, had been 495. per quarter ;
in January, 1847, it had been 703. per quar-
ter ; in May, 1847, 102 s. per quarter, and
in September, 1847, it had again fallen to 495. 6d. a
quarter, being, within 6d., the same price as in
September, 1846. Then with regard to the rate of
discount :—ln November, 1846, it had been 3 per
cent.; in April, 1847, 5 per cent. ; in October, 8 per
cent. ; and in January, 1848, it was 4 per
cent. The amount of bullion on the 10th
of October, 1846, was 15,780,5001. ; in September,
1847, 7,865,4151.; and in Feb., 1848, 13,821,7501.
Then, again, in the manufacturing districts, the num-
ber of persons in full work in Feb. 1846 was 16,898 ;
in July, 14,865 ; and in Feb. 1847, 32,142. Of
persons working half time, the number had been, in
February, 1847, 13,404 ; in November, 5,517;
and in February, 1848, 4,901 ; while out of em-
ploy there had been, in February, 1846, 5,600;
'these
November, 11,616/. ; and in February, 7,514/.
fluctuations must have necessarily greatly
affected the public revenue. When the late Govern-
ment went out of office they had in many instances
only taken votes for three quarters of a year instead
of the whole year, thereby throwing or adding