The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-28 00:00:00

SPAIN

The ITNrqris of LONDONDERRY begged to ask the noble
viscount if the officers in the army of Lord John Hay were
parties to the Bergara convention, and if the British govern-
ment-were party to it. Secondly, he wished to know if the
Bergrata convention was in the possession of the government,
and if it was their intention to lay the convention on the
table of that house ? Thirdly, he wished to know if the noble
viscount had any information to lay before that house to show
the satisfact on of the Spanish government and the Basque
provinces ?
Lord MELBOURNE'S reply was, that he would have no ob-
jection to produce the convention.

FINANCE.
The Earl of RIPON said be felt so strongly the unsitisfac.;
tory state of their finances, that he did not feel himself
justified in abstaining from giving her majesty's government
an opportunity of enlightening the house upon that subject.
What he was now about to state was not with the view of
imputing blame to any persons or to any party. Their lord-
ships would recollect, that when the noble duke (Wellington)
behind him was at the head of the treasury; certain laws were
passed abolishing the system of the sinking fund, and point-
ing out a new and superior system, which was entitled to
admiration on account of its judicious simplicity. Instead of
giving a grant for the sinking fund, whatever might be the
state of the finances, it directed that only such a sum would
be applied in each quarter as amounted to a quarter of the
bona fide surplus in each antecedent quarter. For the five
Or six years following this alteration, they had at the same
time the benefit of the surplus for the sinking fund, and the
benefit of a considerable reduction in taxation. But there
was no surplus, and not merely so, but it appeared from
papers laid on the table of the house last year, that the excess
of expenditure over income in the year ending the sth of
April, 1838, was £1,420,000, and the year ending in April,
1839, £400,000, being on the whole about £1,900,000, and,
according to estimates laid before parliament last year, the
expenditure would exceed the income of the government in
the year about to end in April, £900,003; so that for three
successive years there was a clear, avowed, and unmitigated
excess of expenditure over income, and he thought there were
no grounds for supposing they would be able to extricate them-
selves from that perilous system. He found that the excess
e e-enenditure for the present year, as it was estimated
•,. P.S he had already said, ,f.. 3,200,000 over eie
• . • ~+mexpended in the year 1830. lle would
attention to what had occasioned a very
it. £600,000 or £700,000 had been
-2,,iioas made to the public debt within
•
:1,, t addition was made partly by the
• ,t,!- and partly from the operations
:11,t great measure of the emancipation of the
nejoes took place at an expense of twenty millions of money.
He (the Earl of Ripon) was a party to that measure, and if
it was to be done over again, he would meet willingly become
a party to it, because he considered it a wise, a politic, and a
humane act ; and, moreover, he believed the question was in
such a state that the act was one of inevitable necessity.—
(Hear.) Now of the £3,200,600 excessive expenditure since
the year 1836, a very considerable portion had been occa-
sioned by an augmentation of the expense of the army, the
navy, and the ordnance, and he should like to ask any one
who thought he could look forward beyond the present
moment, to stand up and demonstrate that there was any
reason to think that they could curtail any one of:these ex-
penses. (Hear, hear.) There was nothing in this which
could enable them to reduce their army. No country
had such an immensity of foreign possessions as we
had, but throughout the whole, could any man put his
hand upon one and 'say that there was too much garrison
force. On the contrary, he believed that many of them were
too weak. Then, with respect to ..the navy. Great com-
plaints had been made last year respecting the proceedings of
the admiralty, which were positively denied by that depart-
ment, and it was said that shops were building, stores being
laid in, and ships being put in commission, but all naturally
leading to an increased expense, and the government com-
plained of the great difficulty they had in inducing the other
house of parliament to grant them sums of money for the
purpose. He believed that those complaints were well
founded, and that similar complaints might be made byevery
eovernment that had been in office since the peace. In the
6
midst of all this there was another question calculated to pro-
deco in its consequences great alarm as respected the revenue.
ided to the new post-office regulations, and whatever
their probability of ultimate success, he would ex-
cenvictioe that it was a most ill-timed experiment,
here anything in the state of our finances to war-
an eveerirr.at, in the absence of any plan to meet
tits • -,ey. The papers he had to move for were
fleet a: tilt; net income for the last five years; the
1,0 debt for the same pertod ; and the re-
-, • ;-'1 respect to the reduction of •the debt.
. • 7 'e ,ntirely- agreed, that it was not a
• -inancial affairs to have a clear ad-
. . r• :her thought that when the de-
va = tett small, it was not wise to burden the country
cvitu aly extraordinary exactions, but to trust to its natural
resources. His noble friend stated that the deficiency arose,
got so much from any falling off in the revenue—not by any
failure in the productive power of the country, but from
temporary causes from which the country might still recover.
Still it was not to be denied that the expenses of the country
had been long growing in a great degree, and he did not fairly
see any probability of any government being able greatly to
diminish the expenses either of the military or the naval
ports of the country. They have increased very much since
the year 1816, at which time they were very low ; but it could
not be denied that there have been growing difficulties to
account for the increase. The noble lord had dwelt upon
the I .4. that was likely to accrue to the revenue in conse-
quence of the bill which had been passed last session of par-
for I.e,itteing the duties of postage. A large defi-
cieue; of the revenue had on all hands been anticipated as a
conorweace of the adoption of that measure. He felt fully
confiLnt, however, that the energies of the country—that
t 4 p ttnot-;.), of the House of Commons and of its consti-
teeneies—that a due regard to the fidelity of contracts, the
honour of the country, and her station among nations, would
he amply sutfic'ent to induce them to meet the financial dif-
ficulties of the reentry, boldly and firmly, in such a manner
as should be suited to the occasion. With respect to any
deficiency that in. arise by the adoption of that measure
for which they had di.tiactfy Rod expressly pledged them-
selves. he could not think that the noble lord had doneother
than his duty in calling thus early in the session the fatten:-
tion of their lordships to a matter of such importance. He
perfectly admitted the reasoning of the noble lord.
'The motion was then agreed to ; and, after the presenta-
tion of a few petitions, the house adjourned.

t

HOUSE OF COMMONS.—THURSDAY.
There being only 36 members present at four o'clock, the
Sp-aker adjourned the house till Friday.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY.

The royal assent was given by commission to the bill for
exhibiting a bill in this present parliament for naturalising
Prince Albert; and in a subsequent part of the sitting the
Lord Chancellor presented Prince Albert's Naturalisation
Bill, which was read a first time.
Lord DUNCANNON, by command of her Majesty, present-
ed further papers on the subject of Canada.
The Bishop of EXETER, agreeably to notice, presented a
petition from Birmingham, with upwards of 4,000 signatures,
on the subject of the alarming progress of socialism. His
lordship described its character, and the dangerous tendency,
to injure religion, of the principles of socialism ; and dis-
tasteful as it was to him to have to bring forward such a
subject, -he hoped that their lordships would direct the fullest

inquiry into it.
Lord BROUGHAM afterwards presented four petitions from
" Rational Religionists, vulgarly called Socialists," signed
by. Owen and other officers of the society, and from three
other societies, praying for inquiry into their. principles.
The Bishop of EXETTR observed that he rejoiced in the
nt,,entation of those petitions, as he thought now inquiry
' not be resisted by the government. His lordship gave
t ,t en Friday next he should ask Lord Normanby
office of registrar of births, marriages, and
r.;
,ijourned till Monday.

. • COMAIONS.—FErnar. ,
acquainted the house that the sergeant-at-
a-; a cobh-dunication of importance to make.
.The Sergeant-at-Arms thereupon stated at the bar, that
he was on Thursday evening, at six o'clock, served with a
writ of habeas corpus, whereby the Court of Queen's Bench
7 commanded him to.produce the bodies of the sheriffs ; and
be now asked the direction of the house as to the course he
should pursue.
The Arroitsv,--GiNERAL moved, after a long speech, in
• which he cited precedents that he contended applied to the
present case, that the sergeant-at-arms be instructed to make
a return on the writ " that he held the bodies "of the Sheriffs
of London and Middlesex under a warrant of the House of
Commons, signed by the Speaker, for contempt and breach
of the privileges of that house." He apprehended that, upon
such return being read to the Court of Queen's Bench the
judges would only direct the prisoners to be returned to the
place whence they had come. If, unfortunately, a different
course were adopted by their lordships, it would be for the
house to consider what power the constitution gave the Com-
mons to vindicate their privileges.
Mr. GODSON said the real question was, whether, when
there was a course of justice running in the Queen's Bench,
when a plaintiff had obtained a verdict and got judgment
thereon, and was about to take the fruits of that verdict and
judgment—in the constitution of England there was any body
of men who could legally step between that plaintiff and the
fruits of the verdict given in his favour. Ire grieved to ob-
serve that a Ministerial pap of that day termed the judges
' apd spoke of them in a sneering
".fifteen elderly gent/Mtn,
• manner. He certainly thought such language ought not to
he used.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL observed that he had never in-
. •••tfrv.!-!d anything disrespectful towards those learned persons
tingilage he had made use of. He loved them as
re! pected them as honourable and impartial

1:;„ :I.to

.•, TEL said that the house ought to have but one
the return upon the writ—to return the
v,ll they had now to do ; and they ought
!•-•:i.ec. the consequences of that act, or on what
.ourt of Queen's Bench would decide on,
brought before them, with the pri-

• "
• • • 'tgrend to without opposition.
p-, p.2.,c,itecl by Mr. "Ltrrox, praying that
1.1 csialitries might not be compelled to take
a Roam. Catholic processions, or suchother:proceed+ I •
n r were contrary to their consciences.
1-.,titions were presented by Captain ALSAGER and Mr.
CEMBLE, :praying that, with regard to the contemplated
of the Queen, the " Protestant" • •
marriage religion might be
secured unimpaired, as established by the Bill of Rights and
the Act of Settlement.
Several petitions were presented on the subject of the corn
laws, ez.c. •
Sir J. Y. BULLER stated that the terms of the motion
Which he purposed submitting on Tuesday wouldbe—"That
her Majestv's• Government, as at present constituted, did
not possess the confidence of the house language that was
greeted with immense cheering.
-,ir. P. T&ENcx intimated, that on Tuesday he should
the restoration of the wax candles for the illumination
I;o,t,„‘nd the rejection of the Bude lights !
":\lr. CRAWFORD said that on Monday he should move an
acHte3s for all papers, despatches, &c., relative to the late
proceedin4s in China. •
Mr. LABorentae gave notice, that on Monday he would
in we that the house resolve itself into a committee to con-
sider so much of the 9th George IV., cap. O. "„as regarded
the importation into Ireland of wheat and flour.
• Lord MORPETTI gave notice, that on l‘londay he would
move for leave to bring in a bill to amend municipal corpora-
tions in Ireland.
Mr. ELLts stated, that on- Monday he should move for
copies of all the corresponce and documents that bad passed
between the British resident at the factory at Canton and
the Chinese authorities.
Mr. BAINES asked whether it was the intention of the
Government to introduce any measure regarding the regulat-
ing of factories during the present session ?
Mr. LABOUCHERE said that it was the intention of the
Under-Secretary for the Home Department to introduce
Such a measure.
Mr. FRENCH said that on Monday he should move for the
reappointment of the committee to consider the state of the
medical profelon.
Sir R. BA.TESON asked whether it was intended to intro-
digs any gripfirept measure on the subject of stesta:boats, sQ

►~~ '~ ~

YN‘

)ffle* j.-
-aslo subject them to a rid exam ination, ban as to the at.;
ciency and safety of the machinery, and also as to their ge-
neral sea-worthiness. --

Mr. LABOUCHERE answered that the subject was one of
very considerable difficulty, as well as importance, but it was
the intention of her Majesty's Government shortly to lay be-
fore the house a proposition on the subject ; and that he
hoped they should be able to legislate upon it during the
present session.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER (in answer to Mr.
Hume) said that it was thought that a smaller silver coinage
than fourpenny pieces was not expedient.
On the motion of Lord J. RUSSELL, the house resolved
into a committee of supply, in which his lordship moved a
resolution that it was expedient to enable her Majesty to
grant £50,000. a year to Prince Albert, to date from the day
of his marriage with her Majesty, and to continue during the
life of the said Prince Albert. His lordship entered into de-
tails of the. grounds on which it was considered that such
should be the amount, but premising that he should defer
the further consideration of the resolution until Monday:
After some conversation, the further consideration of the
resolution was accordingly deferred till Monday.
Some bills having been brought in, and the remaining no-
tices
mondaanyd. business being disposed of, the house adjourned till

ECCLESIASTICAL AND UNIVERSITY INTELLI-

GENCE.

(From the Oxford Herald.)
The Rev. John Brown, M.A. of Aberdeen}; has placed at
the disposal of the President and Fellows of Queen's College,
Cambridge, a prize of ten guineas, to be awarded to such
member of that Society (who is not of sufficient standing for
the Degree of Master of Arts) as shall write the best English
poem on the subject o! the approaching marriage of Her
Most Gracious Majesty. The poems are to be sent privately
to the President's Lodge on or before the last day of the
present term.
At a meeting of the Norwich Diocesan Committee, held
on Wednesday se'nnight (the Lord Bishop in the chair) the
Rev. Alexander Bath Power, M.A. of Catherine Hall, Cam-
bridge, Curate of Keswick, Cumberland, was unanimously
elected Clerical Principal of the Norwich Diocesan Training
Institution. The testimonials transmitted by the rev. gen-
tleman were of the highest character, including letters from
the Rev. Dr. Turton, Dean of Peterborough, the Rev. G. E.
Corrie. Norrisian Professor of Divinity, and Dr. Southey.
On Thursday last the following Degrees were conferred :

MASTERS OF ARTS.

Edward Sleap, Brasenose College.
Rev. John Rowlands..., Queen's College.
Rev. Robert Blakiston, Queen's College.
Edward Woolleombe, Fellow of Balliol College.
Rev. John Charles Bentley, St. John's College.
BACHELOR OF ARTS.

Samuel Andrew, Lincoln College.
On Wednesday last, Mr. John Murray Holland, Scholar
of Nev.- College, was admitted Actual Fellow of that Society.
Yesterday, Mr. Frederick Naghten (Commoner of Oriel),
Mr. Edward Monckton Jones, and Mr. David Barttelot
Bartellot (Frost's kin), were elected and admitted Scholars
of Corpds Christi College.
The Rev. Alfred Hewlett, M.A. of Magdalen Hall, In-
cumbent of Lockwood, near Huddersfield, and formerly Cu-
rate of Astley, near Manchester, vacant by the resignation
of the Rev. J. W. Edwards; patron, the Vicar of Leigh.
The Rev. Wm. Nathaniel Tilson Marsh, B.A. of Oriel
College, has been admitted, by the Lord Bishop of Worces-
ter, to the Incumbency of the Episcopal Chapel of St. Mary,
Leamington (lately erected, endowed, and consecrated, un-
der the Church Building Acts) on the nomination of the
Trustees of the said Chapel.
On Wednesday se'nnight, Wm. Fitzherbert, Esq. (Han-
over-street, Hanover-square) M.A. and Licentiate of the
Royal College of Physicians, London, was elected a Fellow
of Queen's College, Cambridge, on the foundation of D. Ed-
wards, gent.