The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-13 00:00:00

TUE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 13, 1868.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS-LAST EVENING.

The Lava) CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

THE EDUCATION BILL.

Lord GRAN VILLE said that he understood that the
noble duke opposite had postponed this bill till Friday,
the 22d. Would it be brought on on that day ?
The Duke of MARLBOROUGH said that in the pre-
sent state of public business the noble earl must be aware
that it was impossible to say what might happen. He
should be obliged to postpone his answer till Monday
next.

UNITED PARISHES (SCOTLAND) BILL.

Lord COLONSAY moved the second reading of this

The Earl of DALUOUSIE said that ho was not
going to oppose the bill, but he must object to the
eighth clause, which treated of the consolidation of
parishes. He wanted to know what would be done with
the parish church when this second church was annexed ?

Lord COLONSAY said that when there were two

parish churches the parish was now bound to support
both. The bill would prevent that anomaly.
The Industrial Schools Ireland Bill was committed and

passed.
BROMPTON FERRY ORDER CONFIRMATION
BILL.
This bill was read a third time and passed.

to restrain the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for a
limited period from making any new appointments
to the Church in Ireland. (Hear, hear.)
PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.
Mr. DILLWYN moved the following resolutions :--
That those who conduct the audit of public
accounts on behalf of the House of Commons
ought to be independent of the Executive Go-
vernment and directly, responsible to this house; that,
inasmuch as the appointment, salaries, and pensions
of the officers entrusted with the conduct of such audit
are more or less under the control of the Treasury, the pre-
sent system was one which imperatively calls for revision.
The hon. member contended that the audit ought to be
under the control of the house, and the best way of secur-
ing such an arrangement was for Parliament to ap-
point a standing committee, which would result in
the work being done much better than it
was under the present arrangement. He hoped the Go-
vernment would support his resolution.
Sir G. BOWYER seconded the motion. The Controller of
the Exchequer was the person in whose name all the
money of the country stood, and ho thought it most ob-
jectionable that he should be the auditor of the public ac-
counts. If a proposition was made at any of the public
companies in the city that the cashier was to fulfil the office
of auditor, such a proposition would b 3 laughed at,
and such being the feeling in public bodies, he did not see
why the Government should continue a practice which,
to say the least of it, was most absurd.
Mr. T. HANKEY thought the accounts of the nation
very well kept now, compared with what they were pre-
vious to the report of the committee which had sat to in-
quire into the system.
Mr. P. URQUHART thought it possible to alter the
present mode of auditing the public accounts with great
advantage to the country.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER explained
the system under which public money is paid in and out
of the Exchequer, which he contended supplied perfect
and stringent checks against irregularities. The Auditor-
General, he maintained, was wholly independent of the
Treasury ; he held his office during good behaviour, and,
with the exception of first, appointments, he had the en-
tire control of his staff. The new system of accounts in-
troduced by the Act of 1866 had not yet got into complete
working order, but there was every reason to believe that
it would give Parliament a complete knowledge of the
national expenditure, and, after some observations from
Mr. O'Reilly,
Mr. CHILDERS insisted that the Treasury must be the
great controlling power over the spending departments,"
and deprecated any change which woul i lessen its power.
He agreed with the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the
Act of 1866 when it came fully into operation would fur-
nish the most complete accounts.
Ultimately Mr. DILLWYN, yielding to an urgent ap-
peal from Mr. Gladstone, withdrew his resolutions.
Sir M. LOPES next brought before the house the local
charges on real property, and moved a resolution " that,
inasmuch as they have of late years much increased and
are annually increasing, it is neither just nor politic that
all these burdens should be levied exclusively from this
description of property." In support of these propositions
he showed, in an able analysis of the local taxation of the
country, that these charges have doubled within the last
30 years, that they have risen by a million during the last
year, and that more than £16,000,000 is raised from real
property of an annual value of £90,000,000. When our
present stem of assessment was founded real property
was the only visible signs of a man's means and ability,
but now it was only £90,000,000 out of .£260,000;000. But
all these local charges being levied on it exclusively, £6
out of £7 of the income of the country might be'said "to
escape local taxation altogether ; and in enforcing the in:-
justice and impolicy of this exemption he pointed out that
some of the largest incomes of the country, being derived
from capital invested in commerce and foreign funds,
were not liable to the support of the poor by whose la-
bour the capital had been created, and he urged that by
discouraging improvements in land they checked produc-
tion.

The motion was seconded by Mr. CORRANCE, and
Mr. M'LAREN pointed out some considerations on the
other side of the question, reminding the landholders that
they had been relieved of their original obligation of doing
all our fighting and supporting the poor, and that the land
tax imposed on them in lieu of it was levied on the original
assessment of William 111. Real property, too, had a con-
siderable advantage in not being rated higher to the in-
come tax than personal property, and, on the whole, Mr.
M'Laren maintained that if there were any changes
the burdens on real property must te considerably in-
creased.
Mr. LIDDELL made some observations on the exemp-
tions from taxation enjoyed by metallic mines; and Mr.
Neate, while admitting that real property paid more than
its share of local taxation, asserted that it had a return in
its comparative exemptions from Imperial taxation.
Mr. READ, in addition to the two exemptions of mines
and woodlands, pointed to a third, the deterioration of
rent, and therefore of rateable value, caused by the over-
stocking of land with game, and he indicated some
grounds for believing that the reasonable annual profit
would be a better basis of assessment than tho annual
rent. Though heartily deprecating a national rate, which
must lead to extravagance and centralisation, he held that
the Consolidated Fund ought to assume the expenses of
lunatics and other similar fixed charges. The subject, he
expected, would receive greater attention from a house-
hold Parliament than from this.
Mr. MILL maintained that though real property bore
an extra share of local taxation, it did not boar the whole.
That part of it which was proportionate to the rent of land
fell on the land, but that which was proportionate to the
rent of houses was a house-tax, than which nothing could
be fairer. The land, however, had strong claims to con-
sideration ; but this must be borne in mind - that, though
its burdens might have increased, its value had also been
largely increased by the general advance of the com-
munity, without any exertions of its owners. But the
question of local taxation—how to obtain the means for
carrying out necessary local improvements—was a grow-
ing one, and must be speedily taken into serious consi-
deration.
Mr. FLOYER replied to Mr. Mill that though the land
had increased in value from the general prosperity of the
country, the increase did not bear an extraordinary pro-
portion to the large sums invested in its improvement.
After pointing out some inaccuracies in Mr. M‘Laren's
historical retrospect, he argued strongly against a national
poor-rate, by which all the value of local management
would bs sacrificed.
Mr. SCLATER-BOOTH was also decidedly opposed to
throwing local burdens, which ought to be borne from
local resources, on a national rate, but though visible pro-
perty ought not to repudiate its original liability for the
maintenance of the poor, he held that there were many
new charges, such as the cost of lunatics, and the like, to
which property not now rateable ought to contribute.
Much relief, too, might be obtained by sweeping away
-infounded exemptions. On the part of the Government,
Mr. Sclater-Booth requested Sir M. Lopes not to press his
resolutions, and they were ultimately withdrawn.
There was a long discussion on going into committee
on the County Courts (Admiralty Jurisdiction) Bill, which
was opposed by Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen, Mr. Gorse,
and others, on the ground that the Commission on Judica-
ture may pesiibly recommend changes which will super-
sede this legislation. Ultimately the bill passed through
committee.
Mr. Sergeant BARRY moved the second reading of the
bill extending to Ireland the English Act which prohibits
the presence of military at Parliamentary elections, and
confines troops to their quarters during the time of poll-
ing, and his chief argument for this legislation was that
the military are used at Irish elections not to prevent riot
nor to defend tho electors from attack so much as to act as
custodians of herds of unwilling voters, who are driven
to the poll to vote for their landlords against their own
opinions.
The Earl of MAYO opposed the bill, for it was impossi-
ble to dispense with the use of troops as long as scenes of
riot and violence were so common at Irish elections, and
he objected, too, to an interference with the discretion of
the Government in employing the military for the preser-
vation of order.
A motion by Mr. Bagwell to adjourn the debate was
defeated by 57 to 37 ;
but a subsequent motion for adjourn-
ment was agreed to.
The other orders were disposed of, and the House ad-
_ journed at ten minutes to 2 o'clock.
eit 1

Society
rADYERTISEMENT.]—HOIIOWay'S Ointment and Pills.—
wherever it may discover itself, whether externally or in-
ternally, its victims may enter on Professor Holloway's
Safeguard.—Whatever the disease may be,
treatment with hearts of hope that every day will bring
some amelioration of the infirmity. For the cure of ulcers,
wounds, sores, abrasions, eruptions, abscesses, glandular
swellings, and the generality of throat and chest com-
plaints, the ointment need only be used according to the
instructions to insure a successful issue to the illness, and
a desirable restoration of health and strength. In all dis-
orders ts hich have been of long duration Holloway's pills
should be taken ; they powerfully stimulate the circula-
tion and raise the needful nervous energy.
[ADVERTISEMENT.J—Heneeforth no one will doubt the valuable
properties of Du Barry's health-restoring Revalenta Arabica
Invalids' and Infants' Food, since to the thousands of blessings
it has already received from Invalids whose position had been
deemed hopeless, we may
now add that of his HolinesS the Pope,
whose health has been perfectly restored by it, after thirty years
of unsuccessful medical treatment. We quote from the " (lazette
du Midi," July 25th :—" Rome, July 21, 1866.—" The health of
the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, abandoning all
other remedies, ho has confined himself entirely to Du Barry's
Revalenta Arabiea Food, of which he consumes a plateful
at every meal. It has produced a surprisingly beneficial
effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this
excellent food too highly." We extract a few out of
more than 68,000 cures:--Cure No. 58,218, of the M trchioness
de Brehan, of seven years' liver complaint, wasting away,
debility, nervousness, with a nervous palpitation allover, bad
digestion, constant sleeplessness, and the most intolerable ner-
vous agitation. Care No. 1,771: Lord Stuart de Decies, Lord
Lieutenant of Walerford, of many years' dyspepsia. N 0.49.832.:
" Fifty years indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness,
asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency, spasms, sickness, and
vomiting.—Maria Joly." Cure No. 46,270: Mr. James Roberts,
of Fernley, Surrey, of 30 years' diseased lungs, spitting of blood,
liver derangement, and partial deafness Important Caution.—
Beware of the many unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations
to which, without authority Baron Liebig's name is most auda-
ciously attached
In tins at Is. 11d.; 1 lb., 2s 9d. ; 2 lbs., 4s. id, ; 5 lbs. 118. ;
12 lbs., 225.; 24 lbs., 40s.—BARRY DU BARRY and Ce., No. 77,
Regent-street, London; also Fortnum and Mason, 182, Piccadilly.
aau at 61, Graceeharch-street; 4, Oheapside ; 68, 150, and, 293,
OXt9473trelq 330, titivad and all firma 1414 Chemist,.
_ _

JOAN OF ARC'S FESTIVAL.

The 439th anniversary of the deliverance. of
Orleans from the English was observed with great

pomp and success on Friday, the Bth of May. The

festival was established at Orleans in the year 1429,

on the day after the English retreated from the
town, and has been kept up with few exceptions
throughout the years that have elapsed since that

date. The Calvinists, who held Orleans in 1561.
were the first to suspend the ceremonies and forms
which had been arranged by the civil and ecclesi-
astical authorities of the town at the time of the

deliverance. The famous Scottish Bishop of Orleans,

John Kirkmichael, or Jean de St. Michel, had been

assisted by the bastard of Orleans (Dunois) in
drawing up the regulations for the festival, and it
had become canonical by the Bull of Cardinal
Estouteville, who admitted it into the local calen-

dar under the title of Feast of the Deliverance of

Orleans. In 1565 the Catholics returned to power,
and celebrated the anniversary, though not with-
out much care and circumspection, lest they should

come into collision with Protestant scoffers, of

whom there were still a good number in the city.
In 1791 and 1792 the procession of Joan was
stripped of all its ecclesiastical elements and be-
came purely military. In 1793 it was summarily
and altogether suppressed, and for ten years Orleans

was deprived of its annual rejoicings. In 1803, at
the prayer of the citizens, the First Consul issued

a decree for the renewal of all the ancient cere

monies of the Bth of May. In 1831 religion was
unpopular, and the procession dared not leave the
cathedral. In 1840 a reaction permitted the ac-

eustomed rites to be renewed. In 1848 the 11,nti.

ecclesiastical irritation rendered it prudent to ab-

stain from any but civil and military observances ;

but since the Empire the celebration of the deli

verance of Orleans has been reinstated in its ful

pomp. In the present year even more than the
wonted honours have been paid to the peasant girl
of Vaucouleurs—whom, in accordance with con-

ventional usage, we call Joan of Arc, rather than

Jeanne Dare—in consequence of the desire that
exists to procure the crown of canonization for the
heroine of so many fights. Rome, however, has
not been so docile as might have been hoped, and
it is said that a word of warning was sent to Bishop

Dupanloup advising him not to commit himself by
pronouncing the panegyric in his own episcopal
person, as he had intended to do. In obedience
to this, or some other pressure, monseigneur handed
over the responsibility of proving Joan's right to
the saintly crown to a less prominent but not less
eloquent advocate, the Abbe Bonnard, a cathedral
canon.

For weeks past the respectable town has been
roused_from its provincial apathy, by the necessity
for cleanings `and decorations. The civic authori-
ties have voted extra supplies. An undersized
statue of Liberty has been converted into a per-
sonificittion of the to' n of Orleans;• and set upon
an oversized 'pedestal, armed Ito' the teeth With
sword and. halbert, and all that Orleans' can 're -
quire. Triumphal arches, flags, escutcheons, of
all kinds and sizes, apposite .and inapposite, have
enlivened the uniform grey of the elderly streets.
Even the cathedral towers have been elaborately
spotted over with coats of arms and blazonries up
to the very top. The actual round of festivities
began as early as the third of the month with the
name-feast of the cathedral, which is dedicated to
the Holy Cross. Then a horticultural show pro-
vided gaiety for a day or two, the tents being illu-
minated at night in a manner ravishing to the
Orleanists, but scarcely worthy of a café chantant
in Paris, or of the raise en scene of the most meagre
Chateaux des Fleurs. An agricultural show sup-
plied additional distractions, many English names
appearing among the machinery entries, and the
Emperor competing freely from his model farm of
La Mothe Beuvron. On the 7th, at noon, the
bells tolled forth the inauguration of Joan's an-
nual harvest of worship and honour. Every
fifteen mi. utes t heir metallic wail was heard, re-
calling, in accordance with old custom, the anguish
of the beleagured city. At half-past eight o'clock,
the hour at which Joan crossed the bridge and
entered the town, after taking the Fort des Tou-
relles, this doleful clang became su&lenly a merry
, peal of joy. The principal streets blazed forth in
illuminations ; as did the Place du Martroi, on
which is a statue of the maid with a Don Quixote
sort of air ; so did the towers of the cathedral,
though as yet only partially. A military pro-
cession wound along the streets and quais, and
crossed the bridge over the Loire to the celebrated
Place des Tourelles, where stood the fort Joan had
to take before she could win her way into the
town. At the great porch of the cathedral the
bishop and chapter and other clergy ranged them-
selves in order, awaiting the arrival of the mayor.
Presently that functionary appeared, escorted by
military torchbearers, who formed a semicircle
in the broad place, and bearing the banner of Joan
of Arc. As he presented this to the bishop, for
yet another annual benediction, the whole front of
the cathedral burst out instantly into a maze of
lines of red light. The sky was dark and stormy,
which added to the beauty of the sight, and the
illuminations had been so arranged as to
pick out to perfection the architectural points
of the grand building. The bishop then
re-entered the cathedral, in the midst of a
'crowd of banners, Joan's banner taking precedence
over those of St. Michael, St. Aignan, St. Enverte,
St. Callinice, and St. Marguerite, the tutelary
saints of the city. St. Aignan and St Enverte
were in their time Bishops of Orleans, and the
former of the two performed on one occasion a feat
something like that of Joan herself, driving a be-
sieging enemy from the walls of the town. The
troops filed off, music en tete, and took up a posi-
tion at the foot of Joan's statue in the Place du
Martroi, the said statue being provided with sundry
gas-burners about the helmet, representing a glory.
After a few symphonies from the band, the mobn
came out from the dark clouds, the illuminations
paled and died out, and by eleven o'clock the good
old town was asleep.
At sunrise on the Bth the bells announced the
anniversary of the festival. By the way, Orleans
cannot boast of her bells ; the cathedral itself only
possesses three, and they are not much worth. The
quarterly tolling continued throughout the morn-
ing, but no longer representing a wail, it is to be
presumed. At t.n o'clock all the magistrature and
officials of the place went in state to the cathedral.
The bishop celebrated the Mass. The Abbe
Baunard pronounced the panegyric. Then a pro-
cession composed of tie clergy of the twelve
parishes, the seminarists, the various banners, the
holy relics of the Cross, issued from the cathedral,
and wended its way to the other side of the Loire
to the Place des Tourel'es. The choristers of the
cathedral sang during the solemn march a motet
specially composed for the occasion in 1843, partly
Latin, partly French.
After the return from the Place des Tourelles
the procession drew up in the Place St. Croix, the
bishop raised on high the famous relic of the holy
Cross' gave a blessing, and dismissed the world to
their homes. In the evening a display of fire-
works, and next day the Emperor, whose speech
was to have have been an event, but proved to
be purely formal and meaningless. —Pall Mall
Gazette.

• The Norihern TVhig urges the claim of Belfast to
a third member, on the principle of the representation of
minorities. •That town has now 160,000 inhabitants, and
nothing could be more unjust (it says) than to give a
Conservative colleague to Mr. Bright in Birmingham, awl
a, Conservative membei:,to City of Lowlon, on the,l
minorities principle, andto reinse a Liberal colleague, on
the same principle, to the Tory; members for Belfast,
The Murat-Mingrelia, marriage will take place in
a few days, the obstacles which., stood in the way having
been removed. The Emperor is to pay the Prince's most
pres Sing debts. •
In speaking. of Mr; Whitbread's resolution, the
Cork Examiner CIS' that "Roman await
further assurances•as to what may be the action of Parlia-
ment.. The Begiunf l?onum and the Maynooth grant are
not, it contends, analogous. The foriiier is a religious
endowment of the same character as payment to the
Catholic clergy would ba ; the Maynooth grant is a
counterbalance to the school of divinity of Trinity Col-
lege. "It would be preposterous to suppose that the
Maynooth grant, a pureiy educational subsidy, could be
taken from the Catholics, while so vast an establishment
for the education of Protestant ministers was maintained
out 01 the"publio moneys."