Star.
London, England, 1825-05-20 00:00:00

SCOTCII JUDGES SALARIES BILL.

On the Order of the Day for receiving the Report upon this Bill,
Lord A. HAMILTON gave notice that upon the third reading
of this Bill, he should move that it be read that day six months.
After a few words from Mr. P. Mooar, the Report was
brought up. •
Mr. J. I'. GRANT said, the proposed mode' of paying the
Judges of Scotland was in his opinion very objectionable. He did
hope that the Scotch Judges would be inc;uded in the arrangements
at present on foot for the payment of the English Judges.
The LORD ADVOCATE observed, that under the present
system of judicial appointments in Scotland, the present arrange-
menu were the most suitable.

Sir J. NEWPORT said, he hoped the Irish Judges. would
meet with the same reward as was about to be given to the
English Judges.

Mr. A Bir.RCROMBY thought that some provision should be
made with reference to the Scotch Judges, which should place
them beyond the hope of promotion after their elevation to
the Bench.

Mt. It. MARTIN said, he hoped the Right Honourable Barrmet
(Sir J. Newport) would bring forward some motion embodying his
views with reference to the Judges of Ireland.
After a few words from Mr. H. Munn°Nco, the Report was
read, and adopted by the House.
The House went into a Committee upon the Scotch Leasing
Making lAIL—The Report was brought up, and ordered to be re.
ceived to-morrow.

The House resolved itself into s Committee on the Scotch Ali-
ment of Prisoners' Bill, the Report was ordired to be received
to-morrow.

QUARANTINE LAWS.

Upon the motion that the Report of the Quarantine RR be
brought up,
Sir 1. COFFIN said, since he had the honour of a
seat in that House, he had acquired some information
on the subject of the plague, which he thought it his
duty to mention. It would be recollected that the
plague raged at Malta some time ago with great vio-
lence. Every exertion was made by Sir Thomas Mait-
land, and the Local Government to arrest its progress.
A cordon sanitaire was drawn around the villages, and
every precaution was taken; but it was not got under
for a considerable time, and until 5,000 Maltese died
from its ravages. All this time the little island of
Goza remained untouched, and not one of i.s inhabi-
tants died of plague. Some time afterwards, when
plague was no longer known at Malta, the clothes of a
person of distinction (a Maltese), were taken up :tnd
brought to lioza, and by this means the plague was in.
troduced into that island, and no less than six hundred
persons died of it. An instance was known, and has
been well a'tested, where, by means of a skein of
thread, which had been about the person of an infected
individual, a young Lady took home the plague, and
she and her whole family perished. In all the towns
of the Mediterranean, the Franks or Christians shut
themselves up in their houses, receiving their food
through vinegar, and by this precaution they preserve
themselves from the plague. He knew it was the
opinion of some Honourable Members that the plague
was not contagious, and could not be communicated
by apparel—(lkar, /tear). He believed it might not in-
fect some Hyperboreans, with hides like a rhinoceros,
but he had little doubt that it would infect ordinary
men. Our indifference upon the subject had already
reached the Continent. He (Sir I. Coffin) when he
went in a man-of-war to Leghorn, was put under quarantine for
twenty days. If the cotton grown in Delta should be introduced
into this country, he thought it very likely it would bring the
plague along with it. Ile mentioned these facts, not for his own
sake; it mattered little whether bis head should be blown away by
a cannon ball, or whether he • :could die of the plague; but for the
sake of posterity, and the well-being of the country, he thought it
his duty to state his opinions.

Lord BELGRAVE thought the ciicwnstance men-
tioned by the Honourable Member (Sir I. Coffin) of the
security of the Franks, was sufficient to ovetturn the
doctrine of non-contagion. The Franks take the proper
preciutions to avoid the contagion, and they escape; on
the contrary, the Mahometans consider the plague a
sacred disease; they take no pains to resist its progress,
and conceive that when they die from it, they ate taken
to the arms of Mahomet, or the Houries. This fact
should induce the House to coesider, before the system
of precaution was given up. Our opinions on this sub-
ject had already reached Marseilles, Leghorn, and other
ports, and the consequences were likely to prove most
prejudicial to our trade. At several ports the period
of quarantine for English ships was extended, and
some species of goods perished before they were brought
ashore. These considerations ought not to be over-
looked. Indeed, he (Lord Belgrave) round it impos-
"sible to imagine why the Honourahl: Gentleman (Nlr.
Grant) should have introduced such a Bill? He knew
it was improper to impute motives to Honourable
Members, but he must say that he believed the Ho-
nourable Gentleman had it in view to establish a joint stock com-
pany for the extension of burial grounds. There was no other
reason why he should have introduced such a Bill. In conclusion,
he thought it the serious duty of the [louse to pause before they
ran the hazard of introducing a dreadful disease., upon the intr..
rested recommendation of some Manchester manufacturers. Ha

cAlled upon them, like the ancient prophet. "to stand between the
dead and the living, and to stay the plague."
Mr. 13ERNAL said'it was the opinion of many me-
(l cal men that apparel taken from the living conveys
contagion, but that clothes taken front a dead subject is not so
likely to communicate it. Medical men were much divided, and