The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENIN'G, TUNE 1, 1861.

efforts. Every one is able to judge for himself for what ulti-
math end these preparations are intended. The point to
which I invite attention is that whatever may be the mo-
tive-of France the practical result is that we are rapidly
becoming the second maritime Power of Europe. (Hear.)
It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this propo-
sition. Is it true, or is it not true ? If it be true, what are

the intentions of the Government ? Such questions cught

to be quite above any party considerations—(hear, hear)—
and I will not therefore enter into any party matters, but I

cannot help feeling that I am bringing this subject under

. - -
the scnous consideration of the house and of the country,
at a moment when the Government arc, as I think, need-

lessly throwing away a large amount of revenue. (Ironi-
cal cries of " hear.") That observation may not be

acceptable to hon. gentlemen opposite after the recent Par-
liamentary struggle in which we have been engaged, but 1
hope my tone will convince the house that I am not
alluding to this matter with any party object. (Hear.)
_ _

Let me add that no one believes more sincerely than I do
that the noble lord at the head of the Government is as

anxious as any to preserve the supremacy of England.
(Chews.) There was recently paid to him one of the
_ _

highest compliments that any public man could receive,
coming as it did from a member of this house who is himself
of high position and character. The noble lord was told
that in the opinion of that gentleman he has the heart of an

Englishman and the head of a statesman. I beg to tell the
noble lord that no party differences shall prevent my

saying that I subscribe to this eulogium. (Hear, hear.) For
myself, I hope 1 may lay claim to possessing the heart of
an Englishman, and it is because I am full of anxiety as an

Englishman at the information received by me from unex

ceptionable authority that I now appeal to the noble lord
both as an Englishman and as a statesman, and ask him
whether he is content to allow this state of things to con-

tinue, and whether he is prepared to tell us whateiforts he
will make to prevent its continuance ? (Hear, hear.)
He will not deny the gravity of the subject. He
can hardly say that I am speaking on erroneous infor-
mation. I cannot see the possibility of error in state-
ments made as the result of personal inquiry by one of the
most distinguished men in our navy. That officer gives me
the account of what he has himself seen within a fortnight
from this day, and he allows me to use his name. Looking
at the nature of this information, I must say I am disap-

pointed that the pledge given on the part of the Govern
ment in February has not been redeemed. The state of
things then contemplated has arisen. Fresh efforts are being
made across the water ; no proportionate efforts are being
made in England. I hope my object in making this state-
ment will not be misunderstood—(cheers)—and I will
merely add that with great anxiety I await the answer of
the noble lord. I hope that he is not insensible to the
gravity of this information, and that if, as I have reason to
believe, he has received the same information, no financial
considerations will prevent the Government from using
every possible effort to maintain the supremacy of this
country. (Cheers).
Admiral WALCOTT said he had received the same in-
formation, and was convinced by it that our neighbour had
at this moment a most formidable number of armour-cased
ships. Very soon they would possess a fleet perfectly
irresistible in regard to this country if a war broke out,
unless we took steps to place ourselves on an equality with
them. lie felt bouud in justice to Admiral Elliott to say
that he had waited on the First Lord of the Admiralty, and
acquainted him with all the facts which had been laid be-
fore the house by the right hon. baronet. (Hear, hear.)
It was imperative upon the house to see that England was
placed in a position of equality with foreign Powers in this
important particular, for if once we lost the supremacy of
the sea England's sun would sink never to rise above the
horizon again. The noble viscount at the head of the Go-
vernment had been taunted by an hon. member below the
gangway with making a " Rule Britannia" speech, but he
felt convinced that, high as her reputation stood, it would
be increased by a repetition of "Rule Britannia" speeches.
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. LINDSAY was surprised that the right hon. baronet
if he meant to challenge statements made by;him at a former
period should not have given him notice; for he could not
be expected to carry a whole array of figures in his head.
It was only at eight o'clock that he had heard from the
right hon. baronet that he intended to call these statements
into question. Neither could he see what good was to be
done by the right hon. baronet's statement. If the informa-
tion which he had received was so important, his proper
course would have been to wait upon the noble lord at the
head of the Government and lay it before him. The only
result of the course he had adopted would be to create un-
necessary alarm. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. baronet
had challenged the veracity of one of the most eminent
statesmen in France, M. Chevalier. (No, no.)
Sir J. PAKINGTON—On the contrary, I stated dis-
tinctly that I hadno right to make any imputation on the
veracity of M. Chevalier. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. LINDSAY said the statement of Admiral Elliot was
entirely at variance with M. Chevalier's, and if that was
not imputing his veracity he did not know what was. In
his letter, written in the early part of February, M. Cheva-
lier stated that France had then only one iron .cased ship
ready, La Gloire, and that in a short time they were to have
a second, but that a full year was necessary to get two
more ready, and another year for two more. The right hon.
baronet would probably admit that on the Ist of February
there was but one ship ready, and he had not stated that
the second one was ready yet, so that N. Chevalier's state-
ment was quite correct. As for M. Chevalier attempting to
throw dust in his eyes, he certainly had had some expe-
rience of the world, and was not easily gulled, but M. Che-
valier did nothing of the sort, he simply referred him to the
Minister of Marine. He saw the Minister of Marine, who
handed him his own report of every ship in the navy—of
the stages in which they were and where they were to be
found, and he offered, if he would visit the dockyards for
himself and judge of the accuracy of the return, he would
send a gentleman with him from his own office. Those
statements were entirely at variance with the information
of the Secretary of the Admiralty on which h was basing
his estimates, and he wrote to his noble friend from Paris
suggesting that he should come over and see for himself,
being sure that the Minister of Marine would grant the
noble lord the same facilities as he had so frankly offered to
him. No doubt, pressing engagements had prevented the
noble lord from doing that, as they had prevented him from
accepting the offer of the Minister of Marine; but so anxious
was he to arrive at the truth that he consulted with his
hon. friend the member for Finsbury, and they sent over an
engineer who visited the dockyards of France. That gen-
tleman held opinions in regard to the intentions of the
Emperor of the French very similar to those of the right
hon. baronet. He had the same idea which the right hon.
baronet appeared to have, that the French Emperor was
getting together a vast navy, with some remote view of
invading England ; but when be came back he confirmed,
word for word, the statements thade by M. Chevalier and
the Minister of Maxine. (Hear, hear.) He mentioned the
subject, too, to the hon. member for Glasgow and the noble
lord the member for Tetness, who had been members of the
recent commission, and they had visited the principal dock-
yards, and would be able to say whether the information he
had received was correct. Besides that he had analysed the
expenditure of the French navy, and he had shown to the
house—as clearly as figures could show—that so far from
overrunning the votes—as it was said that money was
voted for one purpose and applied to another—for a series
of ten years the expenditure had not exceeded the votes
more than our own expenditure exceeded our votes. (Hear,
hear.) The vote for the French navy last year was
£1,900,000, and he had no doubt that the expenditure this
year would only slightly exceed that sum, But we were
spending upwards of £12,000,000 on our navy. (Hear.) If
France was only spending £5,000,000, and if we were spend-
ing £12,000,000, what reason was there to fear the power of
France? Either we must be managing our business very
badly, or France must be managing her business exceedingly
well, if France could produce for £5,000,000 that which
cost us £12,000,000. He wanted to know why the right
hon. baronet who had held the OffiC3 of First Lord of the
Admiralty should ask the Government to spend more money
on the navy. What would be the effect of this discussion
in France? The story would go about that on the recommen-
dation of one who had held high office at the Admiralty,
England was about to vote more money for the building of
ships. There were many people in France who seriously
entertained the idea that we intended to invade France.
(Laughter.) Hon. gentlemen opposite might laugh, but he
laughed at those who thought that Franco intended to in-
vade England, and he had far better reason to laugh at
them than hon. gentlemen had to laugh at those gentlemen
in France who thought that England intended to invade
France. If they looked at history, they would find that
France had never invaded England, but the flag of Eng-
land had waved over the palaces of France and the armies
of England had marched in:to its capital. France had never
invaded England, but we had invaded France. Therefore
when a vast English fleet was cruising in the Channel it
was not so ludicrous to assume that England intended to
invade her again as it seemed to hon. gentlemen opposite.
It would go forth that, not content with spending L 12,000,000
on our navy, we were about to spend more money. The
people in France would bring pressure to bear on their re-
presentatives in the Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber
of Deputies would bring pressure to boar on the Throne.
More money would be spent on the navy of France, and we
should have to spend more money on the navy of England.
(Hear, hear.) There was some rumour of nine or ten iron-
cased ships being about to be built in France. The gentle-
man who was sent across was told to inquire particularly
into the matter, and he did not see the smallest preparation.
He did not mean to say that France would not build more
iron ships, because five years ago the Emperor had deter-
mined on building nothing but iron ships. (Hear, hear.)
He did not say that in the course of time France would not
build more iron ships ; but the gentleman who was sent to
France could find no trace of them, and dust was not
thrown in his eyes, for he was allowed to visit the dock-
yards. Admiral Elliot's statement was that he had seen
nine or ten in course of building.
Sir J. PAKIN GTON—Fifteen in different states of pro •
gress, and excepting the ships at Toulon. (Hear, hear.)
Mr, LINDSAY tionllt it very remarkable that Admiral
rAliot should see so many ships in preparation, when pply
Aleut over could
a fortnight before the gentleman who W,?..4
find no trace of the nine iron-cased, ships. He believed that
what Admiral Elliot saW were not the nine large ships
which it was rumoured were in course of construction. He
was AS Wane a* ary man that Apglatici 0119%44 willitidik

Sir J. ELPHINSTONE said that the statements of the
tight hon. baronet were more alarming when they reflected
that the Government,in the face of information to the same
effect, had been voting away money which,before the end of
the Session, they would be obliged, in one way or other, to
replace. (Hear, hear.) The house must bear in mind that
they were dealing,not with mere suppositions, but with fact.
A British Admiral of the highest standing in the service
had visited some of the French dockyards, and had made a
report which ought justly to alarm the Government and
the people of this country. Evidence had been given that
day before a Select Committee of which he was a member
—(Order.) On the 4th of May, 1858, the keel of the first
iron ship was laid in France, and Admiral Elliot told them
that there were now thirteen frigates and two line-of battle
ships in a forward state of construction. A two-decker
ship was a most formidable antagonist to any frigate,
more especially as the former, from their size, would be
capable•of carrying ordnance of the same power as the
Warrior, and of giving a double broadside. He hoped
that the Government would lose no time in instituting a
thorough investigation into this subject. A committee com-
posed of men of science was now engaged in an inquiry as
to the power of resistance of iron plates, and the genera
application of iron to shipbuilding, and would soon be able
to furnish very valuable information on that subject. He
suggested that the Government should add to that commit-
tee a number of gentlemen of known attainments in metal-
lurgy and the science of ordnance, in order that they might
investigate the whole question, and ascertain how our navy
might most speedily and effectually be placed on an equality
with that of France. (Hear.)
Mr. D A LGLISH said that the dockyards of France were
by no means in the state of activity which had been de-
scribed that night when he visited them lately. He depre-
cated the continuance of such discussions, and suggested
that the Government had better send a committee over to
inquire into the state of the French navy. (A laugh.) He
was sure the French Government would afford every facility
for the investigation, and had no doubt that the committee
would make a report very different from the speech of the
right hon. baronet. (Hear.)
Lord C. PAGET—Sir, I cannot but agree with the hon.
mewl ,er for Glasgow, that these periodical discussions on
the armaments of France are very unadvisable. (Hear,
hear.) It is perfectly true that the French are making
considerable progress in regard to iron-cased ships.
Whin the last few months they have either laid down or
have prepared to lay down nine iron ships. Ido not sup-
pose that my right hon. friend desires to create unneces-
sary alarm ; but he spoke of these ships, as the hon. mem-
ber for Sunderland observed, as if they were growing up
like mushrooms. The French are really not using any
undue exertions at present in their dockyards. (Hear.)
They pay undoubtedly great attention to their navy ; they
have vast dockyards and a large establishment of artificers,
and they are constantly building ships. Of late years they
have bestowed undivided attention on this new class of
very powerful vessels. But we have no reason to suppose
that we are going to be suddenly overwhelmed with a great
fleet of these iron ships, although I dare say that in
two or three years they will have made great progress. I
have no doubt that my friend Admiral Elliot, whose great
merits as an officer I gladly acknowledge, has made a faith-
ful report of what he saw across the Channel. I think, how-
ever, that my right hon. friend has somewhat misunderstood
Admiral Elliot's views in regard to these iron ships. [Sir J.
Pakington—Not at all.] I also had a conversation with that
officer on the subject. (Hear.) Now, it is perfectly true that
the Magenta and Solferino are pierced with 100 ports ; but
it does not follow that either will mount 100 guns. Indeed,
I cannot conceive it possible that either can do so. They have
not sufficient flotation for anything like that quantity of
ordnance. The Warrior is termed a 40-gun ship, but if we
were to put guns in all her ports fore and aft she would
number double as many. lam sure it would be very un
wise to arm those ships with more guns than they can carry
in their casemated batteries. The Magenta and Solferino
carry 52 guns apiece, while the Warrior carries only 40 ;
but then our ships are intended to mount 1001 b. Armstrong
guns. Ido not believe that the French ships are calculated
to carry those guns, for they are not so large or powerful as
our own. I would rather avoid at this moment entering into
too great details as to our shipbuilding operations. I pur-
posed making a statement of the intentions of the Govern-
ment on that head when I again brought forward the navy
estimates. I may, however, say now that the Government
have been watching with considerable interest the proceed-
ings of other countries in this matter, and have determined
to build five additional iron-cased woodenships in our dock-
yards. We have not made any addition to the estimates on
that account. We have frames of timber cut outfor line-of-
battle ships, and by giving them additional flotation and
length we shall render them capable of carrying a power-
ful armament. When cased with iron these vessels will
be of a fermidable character. With respect to what fell
from the honourable and gallant admiral the, member for
Portsmouth, I have no doubt we may expect to derive
from the labours of the committee to which he has re-
ferred some very interesting results as to the best means
of making iron-cased ships. I will not now further
enter into the subject, but will simply sey that very shortly
we may expect some advantageous results from recent ex •
periments which will be of great advantage to us in con-
sidering the mode of construction of iron-cased ships. I
think the house will excuse me for entering further into
detail upon the present occasion. (Hear.)
THE APPOINTMENT OF GENERAL EDEN.
Mr. CONINGHAM rose to call attention to a subject
which had excited much public attention, the appointments
of colonels of regiments. He wished to avoid instancing
particular cases or mentioning particular names, but if the
principle of promotion by selection were adopted he thought
the selection should be based upon public services. There
had been much dissatisfaction expressed at the mode in
which the appointments to colonelcies of regiments had been
made. He would not refer to any particular case, but would
ask the Under-Secretary for War what was the principle
upon which those appointments were made, and why, in the
last appointment that had taken place, the services ren-
dered by several officers had apparently been overlooked by
the authorities at the Horse Guards ?
Mr. T. G. BARING said as no notice of the question had
been given, it would have been more satisfactory if the hon,
member had stated to what appointment he took exception.
Mr. CON INGHAM—The appointment of Gen. Eden.
Mr. BARING was able, even without notice, to satisfy
the house that the appointment of Major-Gen. Eden was
justified by the facts of the case. It had been alleged against
that appointment that Major-General Eden was a Guards-
man, that he had never seen foreign service, and was ap-
pointed out of due order. Those statements were incorrect.
General Eden was not a Guards' officer. He had served
in the West Indies in command of his regiment, and so far
from being appointed out of turn, he had been several
times passed over as colonel by officers who were his juniors,
but who had the good fortune of seeing more service than
he had. That appointment was, therefore, perfectly justifi •
able. The appointments to the colonelcies of regiments
were made upon the recommendation of the Commander-in-
Chief. It was assumed that officers of good service, al-
though they might not have seen distinguished service,
should not be passed over, but that officers of very distin-
guished service should be selected for those appointments
before officers who had not had the same opportunities
for distinguishing themselves. It would be found that
in recommending officers for those appointments the Corn.
maneler-in-Chief had always acted with strict justice,
and ho believed that such was the general opinion of the
service,
The house then went into committee,
THE ARMY ESTIMATES.
£2,200,000 was proposed for army stores.
Sir F. SMITH. thought another committee should b•
appointed to test the respective merits of the Enfield and
Whitworth rifles, It was ',Alto twaccmtaktio that a cco-

her maritime supremacy. (Cheers.) Not one word had mittee comprising such able gentlemen as Gen. Codring-
ever fallen from his lips in that house to lead any one to ton, Gen. Hay, Captain Boxer, Mr. Whitworth, and Col.
suppose that he desired to see any Power superior to Eng- Dickson, should have been unproductive of any result
land on the ocean. (Hear.) On the contrary, he had said whatever, but he hoped that would soon be remedied by
over and over again that on account of our vast possessions the appointment, if necessary, of another committee.
and our enormous wealth always afloat, England ought to Mr. T. G. BARING said it was intended that there
be equal to France and any other naval Power in Europe should be another trial between the Enfield and "Whitworth
combined. (Cheers.) But he had shown to the house that rifles of the same material, and that as regarded the form of
in efficient ships of war—steamships—England possessed the vote he thought that the massing together of the items
more than all the nations in Europa. He said that we pos- tended greatly to facilitate discussion. At the end of the
sensed 20 line-of-battle ships, and his noble friend the Se- year he anticipated that the stock of arms would be in a
cretary to the Admiralty admitted that we possessed 17 highly satisfactory state. The increase of the vote for ex-
line-of-battle ships more than all the other nations put to- periments chiefly arose from the expense of testing iron
gether. Setting aside the vessels which Admiral Elliot plates, which fell upon the War Department.
said he had seen within the last fortnight, and of which no Colonel DICKSON moved the reduction of the vote by
trace was to be found a month ago, France had six iron- £112,473, being the excess of the item for stores in the cor-
cased vessels, mounting from 36 to 52 guns each. The two responding item of last year.
terrible vessels with which the right hon. baronet had Capt. JERK' IS supported the vote, expressing his strong
frightened the house were the Magenta and the Solferino. objection to the reduction of the military stores of the
They were line-of-battle ships cut down and cased with country.
iron. (Admiral Walcott—Not cut down.) Well, then, not Mr. CONINGHAM looked with great suspicion on these
cut down. The right hon. baronet said they mounted 26 Government experiments, and he believed that it was gene-
guns on each side, rally admitted that the Enfield was a very inferior weeper"
Sir J. PAKINGTON—What I said was that they were to the Whitworth rifle.
pierced to carry 100 guns each. But they had 26 guns on Sir J. PAXTON said that the fact was the Enfield
each side under armour of the full thickness. rifle had been made what it was by adopting the bore of
Mr. LINDSAY said it was no new information, and the the Whitworth rifle and two-thirds of its turn. It was
right hon. baronet must know that those two vessels were objected that the -Whitworth rifle was more expensive ;
not at all to be compared with the Warrior and Black and no doubt those that were made by hand cost some ten
Prince. Altogether France had six iron-cased vessels, two guineas because they were made by hand, but if they were
of a large size, three mounting 36 guns, and one mounting made upon a large scale, with the aid of machinery, the:
40 guns. We had seven iron-cased vessels built and price could be brought down to that of the Enfield rifle',
building. If they took the Gloire, the Invincible, or while we should have what everybody admitted was a very
the Normandie, and compared them with the Black superior weapon. At the same time, in these matters tbse
Prince and Warrior, why the Warrior was double the size Government had the best opportunities of knowing all the
of the Gloire, and would carry double the weight of metal. facts of the case, and he should, therefore, support the vote
It was the same with the Black Prince. These vessels were against the motion for its reduction.
double the size, so that, in fact, in iron-cased vessels we had Mr. BARING explained that the reason of the extra
more of superior size and power than France now possessed. charge for military stores and experiments last year was the
There was nothing to justify the right hon. baronet in ask- adoption of the Armstrong gun, and the experiments neces-
ing the house to spend more money. The right hon.baronet, sary to try it.
however, came down and made a statement which must ex • After a few remarks from Mr. LIDDELL the amendme,stt
rite unnecessary alarm in the minds of the people, and was was negatived and the vote agreed to.
likely to lead us into trouble with the Emperor of the French, The Chairman then reported progress and the house re-
which he was sure the right hon. gentleman was as anxious sumed.
as any man to avoid. The right hon. baronet should bear The Customs and Inland Revenue Bill, as amended, was
in mind that while it was necessary to have a sufficient considered and agreed to, and was ordered to be read a third
naval force to maintain our position as the first maritime time on Monday.
nation in the world, if we built more ships than were neces- EXCISE AND STAMPS BILL.
sary, France would go on building more, and then we must The house went into committee, pro forma, on this bill,
go on building more ships, thus entailing on the people of in order that it might be printed with amendments.
both countries unnecessary alarm and an unnecessary On the second clause being proposed,
amount of taxation. • (Cheers.) Mr. GRIFFITH moved, as an amendment in the clause,

to strike out the word "quart" and insert the word " pint."
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was very
sorry that he could not accede to the proposal of the hon.
gentleman. He felt himself to a certain extent entangled,
but he hoped the hon. gentleman would kindly regard the
position in which bn was placed, and he was sure that, from
the kindliness of the hon. gentleman's character, he would
regard that position. It had certainly been admitted that
it was a grievance that hitherto less than two gallons of
spirits could not be sold by the wholesale dealers, but he (the
Chancellor of the Exchequer) had now come down to a
single bottle—(laughter)--and he was determined not to
lower it beyond that. His hon. friend would know that he
had no undue sympathy with publicans, still he would be
very far from wishing to do them, as a class, any unneces-
sary injury. The right hon. gentleman concluded by reite
rating that he would not, under any circumstances, come
down lower than a single bottle.
Mr. CON INGHAM begged to remind the right how.
gentleman that what went under the name of a " single
bottle" was exactly an imperial pint.
Mr. D. GRIFFITH then consented to withdraw his
amendment.
Lord FERMOY moved that at the end of the clause there
be added, " That notwithstanding any provision hereinafter•
contained, all penalties to be incurred or recoverable under
this section, or in relation thereto, may be sued for by any
superintendent or inspector of police, upon information and
summons before the police court or justice having jurisdic-
tion in the place where the offence is committed, but the
appropriation of the penalty shall be the same as is herein-.
after specified."
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he
should agree to the introduction of the words proposed to
be added to the clause by his noble friend the member for
Marylebone. (Hear, hear.)
The words were then added, and the clause, as amended,
was ordered to stand part of the bill.
On clause 3, which created a five shilling license for the
sale of light beer to be consumed off the premises.
Sir W. JOLLIFFE took exception to the clause. He
looked with distrust on this extension of the system of
licensing, which he believed would have a most detrimental
effect on society.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
the object of the clause was not to create a new class of
houses for the sale of strong liquor. It dealt merely with
houses what beer not exceeding in value three-halfpence a
quart was sold to be consumed off the premises, under the
authority of an order of the Treasury. By a recent de-
cision, which the revenue authorities were not prepared to
dispute, that order was not deemed sufficient, and the
clause, therefore, was introduced to legalise a practice
which materially conduced to the comfort and advantage
of the poorer classes. The beer sold was of a. weak and
inferior description, and for consumption off the premises.
He did not think, under the circumstances, that those
beer•houses should be placed under the same supervision
and regulations as the other beer shops, where beer was
consumed on the premises. If any specific complaint was
made as to the manner in which the beer shops now pro-
posed to be licensed were conducted, he would take care
that it was fully investigated. He hoped the right hon.
baronet would be satisfied with this explanation.
The clause was agreed to.
Clauses 4,5, 6,7, and 8 were agreed to.
On clause 9,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said there
was a class of men called " Duffers," who, being substan-
tially hawkers, sold their goods by sample. He proposed
to alter the words of the clause, so as to extend the existing
law and make those hawkers liable.
The clause, as also clause 10, was agreed to.
On clause 11, which had reference to the taxing of house
agents,
Mr. AYRTON hoped the right hon. gentleman would
withdraw it.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
object of the clause was to substitute a reasonable for an
unreasonable amount of duty, and so to recover a revenue
upon lettings of that nature, which they had hitherto failed
to obtain.
Mr. CONINGHAM opposed the clause.
The committee divided, when there appeared—
For the clause
Against it
Majority —ll
The clause was then agreed to, and after some further
conversation the other clauses were passed and the chair-
man reported the bill.
The Consolidated Fund (L 10,000,000) Bill ar d the Re-
formatory Schools (Scotland) Bill were read a third time
and passed.
The Poor Assessments (Scotland) Bill was read a second
time.
The house adjourned at a quarter to two o'clock.

FIRE AT A LUCIFER FACTORY.—On Thursday
morning a fire broke out in the premises of Mr. J. llynam,
lucifer match maker, 7, Prince's-square, Finsbury. The
fire occurred iu the drying-house, through the overheat of
the stove. The brigade engines were quickly in attendance,
and the firemen got the flames extinguished, but not until
180 gross of matches were destroyed.

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appointment, and expense may be avoided by persons
in indifferent health sending only their address to E.
S. Barry, Esq., 77, Regent-street, W., London, and they
will receive gratis and tree by post the ..INVALIDS' owst
it;IDE," or Natural Restorer, without medicine or ex
wnse, of perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, and
refreshing sleep, to the most enfeebled, insuring the removal
constipation, liver Complaints,
of indigestion (dyspepsia),
nausea, epilepsy, paralysis, debility, nervousness, palpitatiot ,
cough, asthma, consumption, dropsy, flatulency, diarrhcea,
dysentery, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, colds,
noises in the ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, eruptions,
hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, palpi-
tation, heartburn, headache, despondency, cramps, spasms.
sinking, tits, bronchitis.— " Unouestionably the safest Guide
to health,"