The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-19 00:00:00

(gtottninc auz

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH Is, 1851.

In the House of Lords, last night,
Lord ToRRINGTON gave notice of a motion for Tues-
day week on the affairs of Ceylon, and stated that he
should take that opportunity of refuting the calumnious
misrepresentations of which, as Governor of Ceylon, he
had been the victim.
Their Lordships shortly afterwards adjourned.
In the Commons,
The Cs.ancF.l.Lou of the EXCHEIVER stated that he
should not make his financial statement on Friday.
Mr. SADLEIR then moved the following resolution:—
" That it is expedient to substitute for the existing
mode of varying the amount of tithe rent-charges in
Ireland a self-acting system, whereby the amount of all
tithe rent-charges in Ireland shall be increased or dimi-
nished every year, according to the average prices of
corn, as ascertained by public advertisement, in a man-
ner similar to the existing method of varying the tithe
rent-charges in England and Wales."
Sir GEORGE GREY suggested that the Hon: Gentle-
man should bring in a Bat on the subject, which he would
not oppose; but he hoped the resolution would not be
pto.sed. After a short conversation, in which Mr. G.
A. HAMILTON, Mr. FRENCH, Mr. S. CRAWFORD, and
Sir H. W. BARRON took part, the motion was withdrawn.
Mr. ANSTRY proceeded to call attention to the al-
leged obstruction offered to the claims of the infant
Raja of SATTana, in the denial of a hearing before the
G)urt of Privy Council, complained of in the petition to
'the House of Commons of the next friend of the said
infant, presented on the 14th instant; and moved a re-
solution to the effect that the grave matters contained in
the petition referred to deserve the serious attention of
the House.

The motion fell to the ground for want of a seconder.
The adjourned debate on the Ecclesiastical Titles As.
suinption Bill was then resumed.

Mr. BLENfirr did not think the POPE intended either

to injure or insult the people of this country, and there-
fore he opposed the Bill.
Sir RALPH LOPES would support the measure, al-
though he should have been better satisfied had it been
of a more stringent character.
Mr. WALTER considered the establishment of the
hierarchy a violation cf the compact of 1829. Ile re-
joiced at the letter of Lord JoRN RUSSELL, and at the
agitation which it had occasioned, as it showed how
deeply-rooted was the Protestant feeling of the country.
He had, however, no desire to see the provisions of the
Bill extended to Ireland.

Mr. ANSTEY opposed the Bill.
Lord ASHLEY denied the right of the POPE to make
any spiritual organization he might think proper in this
country, and considered that in his recent proceedings
he bad violated both the law of nations and the law of
the land. The Bill was not sufficiently stringent, but
it was valuable as a protest against the encroachments
of Popery, which had become so enormous on the con-
tinent, that in Austria the rights of the Crown had been
infringed upon, and in France the Protestants were per-
secuted, their churches and their schools were closed, and
they were in a worse condition than they had been since
the time of Louis XIV.

Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT saw no cause for alarm, and
should oppose the Bill. He could not imagine
why Protestantism should be in more danger because
Dr. WISEMAN called himself Archbishop of West-
minster, than it was when he called himself Bishop of
Melipotamus. Ho believed the Bill would be absolutely
ineffective.

Lord PALMERSTON treated the question merely as a
political one, and considered it the more necessary to
repel the aggression, because wherever, as in Spain and
Austria, the Papal power acquired influence, it was used
to control and undermine the civil authority. He did
not think this was a case for negotiation, neither could
he approve of the warlike recommendations of Sir R.
INoLis; but he considered this Bill, which was not a
measure of persecution, but merely an enforcement of
the provisions of the Act of 1829, would meet the ne-
cessities of the case ; and as he could not bring himself
to believe that the Catholics would wilfully violate the
law, he did not consider it would be inoperative.
The debate was then, on the motion of Mr. HENRY
BERKELEY, adjourned to Thursday.

A fortnight longer and the documents relating to
the recent government, or rather we should say the
recent misgovernment of Ceylon, will be at length in
the hands of the various Members of the Imperial
Parliament. Until then no clear notion can possibly
be arrived at in reference to the policy of Lord Toa-
ursGTole. Any premature decision upon a question
of such extraordinary importance would be unfair not
only to the Administration condemned, but also, and
in an especial manner, to the Legislature pronouncing
the sentence of condemnation. Judgment must con-
sequently be deferred, no matter how vexatious the
delay, or otherwise the estimate formed by the House
upon the matter at issue might be very inconveniently
contradicted by the subsequently printed papers and
correspondence. Therefore it is, upon these con•
siderations, that we must, perforce, acknowledge the
reasonableness of the course pursued by the Ilo-
nourable Gentleman the Member for Inverness-shire,
although to ourselves, as well as to the rest
of the community, this further procrastination
of the debate on Ceylon is an exceeding annoyance.
Had Mr. B kILLIE adopted any other line of proceed-
ing he would have jeopardized his own character,
that of Lord TORRINGTON, and that also of the
Commons House of Parliament. He finds himself,
to employ his own expression, placed by the Prime
Minister in the invidious position of a person ob-
structing the business of the country at a period
when the popular patience is already very nearly ex-
hausted by a succession of impediments to the labours
of the Administration. He perceives at the same
time that the official documents, which are alone
capable of throwing light upon the difficulties in-
volved in his particular motion, are reserved yet a
while for later publication. Embarrassed, therefore,
by these very serious reflections, he comes to the
only conclusion consistent with his duties as an honest
representative. He refuses to hurry the Ceylon
question before the House prior to the appearance of
those documentary evidences which common
sense assures us are alone capable of
enabling its Members to arrive at a
judicious decision. He objects, moreover, to place
himself in the situation of one creating new stoppages
in the way of her MASESTY'S Government—and
therefore he naturally, we might even say inevitably,
determines to remove his motion from the notice-
book, reserving to himself, of course, a full and
perfect right to bring it forward whenever he may
deem himself justified in so doing. What we insist
'won in reference to this delicate point of Parlia-
mentary etiquette is—that the Hon. Representa-
tive of Inverness-shire was compelled to adopt the
course already specified by the curt and peremptory
announcement made by the First Lord of the Trea-
sury, to the effect that the financial measures of the
session should not be brought forward so long as the
motion respecting Ceylon remained undetermined.
Startled by this rather remarkable declaration,
Mr. BAILLIE objects to stand before the
community as the stumbling-block- of the
present session of the British Parliament.
Already the country has been sufficiently
irritated by the consciousness that this same session
is flitting rapidly away, and that as yet absolutely
nothing whatever has been done, not merely in the
way of wholesome legislation, but actually in refer-
ence to the carrying out of the annual projects of ad-
ministration. The Budget is still in nubikus—the
multitude remaining in the most profound ignorance
as to the nature and amount of the supplies. What
taxes are to be remitted and what to be retained, are
still left as puzzles for the conjectures of the popula •
tion. The masses know no more now than they did
on the 8d of February of the chances of anything
like financial retrenchment. They continue still, as

they did up till that period, doubtful as to the possi-
bility of relieving themselves of the miseries of suffer-
ing taxation under the Schedules D and E.
Nothing has happened as yet withi❑ the walls
of the New Palace at Westminster to
relieve the popular mind from its prolonged uncer-
tainty. To the Chancellor of the Exchequer, there-
fore, the public still look with unabated, or rather
inflamed curiosity ; and those who appear, however
unwillingly, to interpose between the nation and the
long-desired financial statement, call down upon their
heads the accumulated vengeance nurtured by pro-
crastination.

As to the objection raised by the Prime Minister
against the line of conduct pursued in the present in-
stance by the Hon. Gentleman the Member for In-
verness•shire, namely, that he is unfairly holding the
Ceylon question in terroreni over the occupants of the
Treasury benches—that is surely a most preposterous
quibble, seeing that Ministers have been able to
manage the affairs of the empire during the last
three years unembarrassed by the threatened in •
vestigationa in Lord TORRINGTON'S govern-
ment all along looming down heavily upon
the Cabinet. A sword of DAmocr.Es, the in-
quiry may still be, but it has hung quivering over the
leader of the Administration during three years past,
and the nerves of the statesmen trembling under it
may be presumed to be no weaker now than for-
merly. At any rate Mr. BAILLIE cannot be charged
with the continuance of the Ministerial dilemma in
this particular matter, seeing that he is only induced
to remove his motion from the notice-book by reason
of the threat held out to himself, and through him to the
country at large, that the financial statement shall be
made subsequently to the period of its settlement.
Acting as the Member for Inverness-shire has done
in regard to the Ceylon inquiry, he has provoked the
complaints of the First Lord of the Treasury. Had
he decided, nevertheless, differently he would have
infallibly excited against himself the indignation of
the entire community. Embarrassed for a moment
by finding himself between either branch of the alter-
native, Mr. BAILLIF has judiciously decided upon
selecting the lesser—thereby enabling the public to
arrive somewhat Earlier at some definite notion as to
the character of the financial statement of the Go-
vernment. Alesnwhile it cannot but he gratifying
observeo the gallant announcement made last even-
ing in the Upper
Rouse of Parliament by Viscount
TORRINGTON, to the effect that the Noble Lord would
now himself bring the matter at as early a date as
possible under the serious • •
consideration of the Legis-
lature.

Thanks to the
thetim
au
pl u?
sroiamchl3
lanratedto
Exhibition, the enterprise
unde ; -
2
toafkainllgclasses
by
the most diversified character have been
adventured i:POU
_ in all directions. These efforts,

moreover, it must be observed, have generally speak-
ing been planned by their originators upon a scale of
corresponding magnitude. In scarcely a single in-
stance have they been restricted to merely national
limits, embracing all races indiscriminately, and
holding out inducements fur co-operation so large
and impartial as to excite the sympathies, we doubt
not, of every genuine cosmopolite. It is surely
needless to remark that in all this we see
reasons for entertaining sentiments of very earnest
satisfaction. The ardour displayed on all hands is
about the best assurance that could have been
afforded that the Great Industrial Exposition is not
calculated to prove fruitless. On the contrary, we
may now very reasonably rest assured that the Crys-
tal Palace will turn out to be in plain matter of fact
(fanciful though the phrase may seem) a gigantic
hot-house for the development of emulation.
Among the various enterprises commenced almost
simultaneously with that suggested by his Royal
Highness the PRINCE CONSORT, it may possibly be re-
membered that on a former occasion we especially
alluded to one of a rather novel and attractive species,
now tolerably well known by the title of the Grand
Chess Tournament.

As admirers of that most noble and most venerable
of all intellectual pastimes, in its nature leas a Game
than a Science, it was impossible for us to observe
the first crude announcement of the jousts to be held
in its celebration without referring to it, however in-
cidentally, in terms of encouragement. Now that it
appears to be advancing steadily towards its realiza-
tion, we may be forgiven for alluding once more to a
scheme which promises to aid in regulating the whole
mass of the chess laws, a labour of revision so long
and earnestly desired by its votaries. According
to the very expressions used in the Prospectus, it
appears indeed that the promoters of the
undertaking look to it, and not unreasonably,
for "an authoritative decision upon the differences
existing between the chess code of Italy and that of
the rest of Europe, and the establishment of one con-
sistent and uniform system of notation for the whole
chess community." Added to all which advan-
tages, it must be remembered that, for the first time
in the annals of the game, a general congress of its
most distinguished players will be convened—the
year of the Great Exhibition affording them, in fact,
the first available opportunity. Besides the pleasure
experienced among themselveS in personally
making acquaintance with each other, we
are sanguine that more substantial benefits
may be derived from the circumstance of
their competition. The world will then be enabled
to judge correctly of their proportionate abilities, and
without much trouble to decide as to the relative
value of their reputations. In all this we cannot but
perceive matter for real gratification, coinciding cor-
dially as we do in the opinion expressed, that, of all
intellectual exercises, chess is indubitably " the most
sharpening and bracing to the calculating powers of
the mind." Its excellence as a means of cultivating

those powers to a very lofty pitch of mental adroit-
ness has been attested not merely by the professed
masters of the game, but by some of the most illus.

trious warriors and statesmen whose names have been
emblazoned on the scroll of history. It is thus that in
the annals of chess we can trace its incomparable
merits by its many glorious illustrations—and thi.,
we repeat, not merely by, so to speak, technical illus-
trations, such as the great PHILADO or the
greater DE LA BOUADONNAIS, but by others of a
more exoteric renown, from BADJAZET to NAPOLEON.

Bearing in mind the dignity assured to itself by
the major of games and the minor of sciences, we
must be permitted to direct public attention towards
the progress made in the carrying out of the Grand
Chess Tournament. It is satisfactory to find, after
the lapse of a comparatively brief interval, so much
accomplished in an enterprise surrounded from
its very novelty by such numerous difficul-
ties. Intimations of the sincerest sympathy
have directly or indirectly been received, it would
seem, already from the majority of the most distin-
guished players on the European continent. Kia-
SERITZKIJ has not only expressed his readiness to aid
in the development of the project, but has undertaken
in Paris the duties of a secretary to the Co-operative

Committee established in that metropolis. From the
great Ilungarian player SZEN communications not
less satisfactory have emanated. JABNISCU has ex-

pressed his willingness to participate in the enterprise
from his distant residence at St. Petersburgh, and
has been the medium of transmitting a imilarly gra-
tifying announcement on the part of PETROFF, the

first of Russian amateurs. VON OPPEN likewise has
intimated from Berlin not merely his own ready
acquiescence in the scheme, but that also of HYDE-
BRANDT VON DER LASA, the Prussian Secretary of
Legation at Frankfort, and one of the most illustrious
chess•players in Christendom. When it is borne in
recollection that we ourselves, as a nation, are repre-
sented in London by the greatest master of the game
now living, we may look forward with eager anxiety
and with no small degree of confidence to the opening
of the future Tournament. Happily the funds
already collected in furtherance of the scheme
more

than justify its originators in promot-
ng the labour of its completion —no lass
than 350/. sterling having been subscribed among
the members of the managing committee alone.
With the celebrity of HOWARD STAUNTON as an en-
couragement, with the enterprise of its originators as
a perpetual incitement, and with the munificence
displayed among the members of the managing com-
mittee as an example to subsequent promoters, the
brilliant enterprise we are , alluding to cannot but
close with the happiest consequences. After deduct-
ing all necessary expenses, it is proposed that the
residue of the money collected shall be
divided into seven; graduated portions, the
first one-third, the second one-tenth, the third one-
fourteenth, and so on to the seventh one-sixtieth, and
that a supplementary prise consisting of a set of ivory
chess-men, with a suitable chess-board, inscribed
with the winner's name and victory, shall be played

for by the principal competitors. These wo have already
shown will include some of the greatest chess-players

of our generation, and, acting with a liberality
deserving of every imaginable praise, the committee
have decided that.the Tournament shall be open to all
parties without distinction, either in regard to
country or association. Under such auspices as
those we have indicated, we are sanguine that the
enterprise will turn out in the highest degree satis-
factory, and this in spite of the most shameless
calumny and the most ungenerous opposition.

At the late audit at , in Bedfordshire, the
landlord returned 20 per cent. to his tenants. A farmer of
the olden days thus expressed himself:—" Thankey, Sur, for
duing as you du, and i hopes ye'll allus du as ye du du!"

GREAT ANTI-PA.PAL LEAGUE.—Yesterday the
foundation was laid of a religious league, which promises
to become the greatest of the kind which modern times have
witnessed. A number of noblemen, gentlemen, clergymen
of the Church of England, and Dissenting ministers, of ♦a-
rious denominations, met in Osborne's Hotel, Adelphi, for
the purpose of consulting together as to what ought to be
done by evangelical Protestant denominations, with a ♦iew
to resist the aggressions of Popery. Among the noblemen
and gentlemen present were—the Earl of Ducie, Lord Ash.
ley, Sir Culling Eardley Smith, the Hon. and Rev. Monta-
gue Villiers, the Rev. W. W. Champneys, the Rev. Edward
Auriol, the Rev. T. R. Birks, the Rev. Dr. Morison, the Rev.
Dr. Campbell, the Rev. Dr. Bunting, the Rev. Dr. Beecham,
the Rev. Dr. Steane, with a great number of eminent lay-
men. The meeting lasted three hours, and was characterised
throughout by the greatest unanimity and cordiality. It was
resolved that duly organised and most energetic measures
shall be forthwith adopted in order to enter the arena with
the hosts of Popery. Advertiser.

To-morrow (Wednesday) we shall have the highest
tide of the year.— Livrpool Standard of yesterday.

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.--Last night a performance
took place at this theatre by the members of the Western
Dramatic Society, in aid of the funds of the Dispensary for
Consumption, Ma*garet- street, egent-street. The per-
formances commenced with Colman's admirable comedy of the
Heir at Law, in which Me.sre. Fawdon, J. H. Emery, Spicer,
Edwards, Chester, and G. Harrison sustained the principal
parts in capital style. Mrs. Nowbery made an excellent
Lady Duberly, and Miss Sydney a very pretty Cecily Home-
spun. The farces of the Day after the Wedding and the
Turned Head concluded the evening's entertainments.
Taken as a whole, the acting of the gentlemen last evening
was the best amateur i.erformance we have witnessed for
come time, and we consider we pay them a high compliment
when we say they equalled the ladies, who are always the
t est performers on these occasions. It was to be regretted
the house was so thinly attended. •
THE FUNERAL OF THE LATE SiR ALEXANDER
HOOD, BART., M.P., OF WOITON HOUSE, SOMERSET. —Yes-
terday morning the mortal remains of the late Sir Alexander
Hoed, Bart., M. P., were removed from his late town resi-
dence, No. 43, Wimpole-street, Cavendish-square, to the
Great Western Railway, where the body was conveyed by
special train to his late country seat, Wotton House, Somer-
set, whence it was removed to its final resting-place in the
family vault of the parish church of Buttle. Among the
principal mourners were Sir Alexander Bateman, Perian
Palmer Acland Hood, Bart., Lieut. Arthur William Acland,
R.N., Sir P. Acland, Bart., and several of the nobility and
gentry of the neighbourhood.