The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-07 00:00:00

present Bill, which were calculated to revive all the evils
of the old law, as regarded bastardy, and would give a
premium to perjury and incontinence, and place the
guilty in a better position than the honest and indus-
trious. He admitted, however, that the Government
were placed in a difficult situation, and he thanked the
Pres:dent of the Council for the speech with which last
night he had introduced the measure.
Their Lordships divided, when there appeared—
For going into Committee—Contents
Non Contents _ _

Majority against the Bishop of Exeter's amendment-16
The House then went into Committee on the Bill.
On clause 1 being proposed,
Lord WHARNCLIFFE contended that the present
law was a great improvement on the old system. Under
that system the poor suffered under great grievances,
and it was to remove those grievances that the now
poor-law had been introduced. Could the Right Rev.
Prelate for one moment entertain the idea of re-establish-
ing the Act 43d of Elizabeth ? The Right Rev. Prelate
knew that it was impossible to do so. 'The present law
he contended, was far more humane than the original
law, and the poor were better off under it. The law of
Elizabeth was passed for different times to these in
which he now lived, and it was idle to suppose that such
a system could be applied now.
The Bishop of EXETER took that opportunity of re-
plying to the arguments which had been used against
his amendment. He said that he had brought that
amendment forward solely on his own responsibility,
and without reference to any party out of doors. It was
true, the law of Elizabeth was passed for other times,
and so was Magna Charts; but we still held Magna
Charta to be a good foundation for legislation, and ho
contended that the law of Elizabeth was a good founda-
tion for legislation on the subject of the maintenance,of
the poor. He concluded by giving notice that, early in
the next session, he should move for a Committee to in-
quire into the means of spiritual instruction afforded in
union workhouses.—The clause was then agreed to.
Clause 2 was proposed.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE explained its operation.
The Bishop of EXETER objected to that part of the
clause which provided that, in affiliating a child, there
should be some corroborative evidence added to that of
the mother. He thought that, the more modest the
woman, the less chance was there of corroborative evi-
dence. He thought it was right to give the magistrate
a discretion, but that was an additional reason why cor-
roborative evidence should not be demanded. The Right
Rev. Prelate concluded by moving the amendment.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE must oppose the amendment.
The Right Rev. Prelate alluded to cases of seduction by
the men, but the fact was, the greater number of bas-
tards were not the fruit of seduction at all. In most
cases the woman seduced the man. The Right Rev.
Prelate talked of the indecency of an expose in a court
of justice, but he did not apprehend that any such would
be the case. There would be no indecency whatever in
the corroborative evidence.

The Marquis of BUTE differed entirely from the
Right Rev. Prelate, and would oppose the amendment.
He thought the clause went too far.
The amendment was negatived without a division.
The Bishop of EXETER thought some other mode of
receiving the money should be devised than that of the
woman's receiving the money from the putative father.
which was exposing him to further sin or to further bru-
tality.
The Earl of WHARNCLIFFE agreed with the view
taken by the Right Rev. Prelate, and would devise a
remedy.
The Bishop of EXETER said in case of appeal by the
woman's father from the decision of the two justices, the
woman in most cases would not be able to sustain the ex-
pense of the appeal at the quarter sessions.
The Earl of WHARNCLIFFE said, there undoubt-
edly might be cases where the woman might not be able
to sustain the expense of an appeal ; but it should be re-
collected that the man was bound in security not only
to pay the allowance to the woman, but to
pay the costs likewise if the appellant were un-
successful ; besides, many attorneys would be glad to
take up her case for the purpose of pocketing the costs,
and gaining a certain degree of notoriety for himself.
The clause was then ordered to stand part of the Bill.
The fifth clause was likewise agreed to, as were the
sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh, which
are the bastardy clauses.
Clauses up to 40 inclusive were agreed to.
On clause 41 being proposed,
The Bishop of EXETER suggested that the chaplain
should be appointed by the Commissioners instead of the
guardians.
Lord WHARNCLIFFE said that the subject had
been fully discussed in the House of Commons. He
could not accede to the suggestion made by the Right
Rev. Prelate.—The clause was agreed to.
The remaining clauses of the Bill were then agreed
to, and the Bill was ordered to be read a third time to-
morrow.
The Merchant Seamen's Bill went through Committee,
and was ordered to be reported to-morrow.
The Irish Arms Bill was read a second time, and
ordered to be committed to-morrow. _ _

The House adjourned at a Quarter before Twelve till
to-morrow at a Quarter to Four o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, August 6.
The SPEAKER took the Chair at Twelve o'clock.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented a Retition, signed by
1,640 persons, from Merthyr Tydvil, praying for the
release of Frost, Williams, and Jones ; also a petition
from the debtors confined in Whitecross-street Prison,
praying that insolvent debtors may be placed on the
same footing as bankrupts.
On the motion of Sir G. CLERK, a return was ordered
of the actual amount of income and expenditure of the
United Kingdom for the current year.
On the motion of Mr. BROTHERTON, a return was
ordered of all sums of money paid into the Manchester
Court of Requests by debtors, all sums received by cre-
ditors, and the sums remaining unclaimed on the 31st
day of December in each year from 1808 to 1844 ; also,
the number of causes tried, the number of executions
issued against the goods, and the number against the
person of the debtor ; and of the number of persons im-
prisoned in each year during the same period.
ROMAN CATHOLIC PENAL ACTS REPEAL