Parliamentary Intelligenc...
The Times, 1824-02-13T00:00:00

MIr.(GOSSETT presented a petitinis from Truro,'against the coast- ing coal duties. Mlr. Alderman C. SMIlTH presented a similar petition from the Cordwainers' Wird, and Mr. WOaEEITOUSE from Norfolk. Admiral SOT HERON presented a petition frorn certain victu- allers in Newark, against the licensing duty act. Mtr. JONES gave notice of a motion for Wednesday next, on the subject of the appointmCnt of W1'elsh judges. JURIES. On the motion of Sir EDwARD KNATCHRBILL, an address to the King was agreed to, for a return of the number of persons lia- ble to serve on j iries upon tht home circuit, as far as the samne could be mwade out from the sheriffs' books. ESTIMATES. The CHANCEIL,OR of the EXCHEQUER presented the ex- traordinary army and miscellianeous estimates, which were ordered to be printed. Sir H. HARDINGE presented the ordnance estimates. iMlr. HERRIES postponed until Wednesday next, the comnittee oni the rates ot postage; and also presented accounts of the public expenditure af (Great Britain, up to the 5th of January, 1824, cOI1i- prising the details oi' the debt and expenditure, and of the funded and unfunded debt. I:1PRESSMENT OF SEAMEN. Mr. flUME postponed lis notice respecting the inpressment of seamen, trom the 19th of Fetlrtsary, until Tuesday the 2d of March, when he intended to move for the appointment of a dommittee to take the wliole subject into their consideration. Sir JOHN NEWXVPORT gave notice,that on the 19th of Febriary he should submit a motion respecting the Irish burial act. Mlr. H USKISSON presented copies of papers relatinz to certain countervailinig duties on vessels trading between America andi the iVest Indies. TREAD- 1ILL, Sir F. BURDETT rose to present aetition from Ar. Martin Stapylton, o)e of the justices of the penct for Northallerton, in York- mhire, on the subject of the tread-mlill. The petitioner complained thlat lie hadl, in his official capacity, in vain remonstrated against the practice of sending prisoners, before trial, to the degrading and la. borious punishmnent of the tread-muill. After the general explana- tion of last session, that such was not intended it was astonishing that any set of magistrates should persevere, before trial, irs so op- pressive and illegal a punishmeut. He hoped thst some effective measures would be adopted, either to amlend the law, if a mistake prevaited upon the subiect,or to correct the practice il it were illegally persevered in. It ought not foraimomensto be suffered to exist after this exposure of its oppression and injtisticc. Mr. PEEIL sai,h, that the subject had been tecently before the Court of King's Bench nan it would be premature to discuss it at present, more particatlarly as the lion. member for Shrewsbury had, three nights agro, given notice of a specific motion upon the subject. He rea ily agreed, that if the application of the tread-trill before trial were nwt illegal, it was atall events decitletli' impolitic. (Ilear, hear.) The chiief benefit of its disciplin6 'as, that it inflicted a stigna, and a disgrace, a mottl punishment, which would be lost if it were used before trial. (ilear hear.) Upon a principle of justice as vell as expediency, lie thought the punishment of the tread-min oughlt not to be inflicted before trial. (Hear, liear.) Sir FRA N C IS B lURI)ET'r could not conceive the slightest doubt upon the illegality of the punishment before trial. it was a con- pulsory punishment upon inier not proved guiltv of any offence. The Ju sdges, of thie Cort. or K ing's B3enchi had evadeid the real question, and not determnined upon the mahit point at all U the liad merely said that a prisoner xvas only entitled to the county allovwatce if he refused t-o work. Bttt s;uppose the -cas of at person so tefutsing to work;; the miscief of this sort of pixiishmeit was worse in its prin- ciple to society than the irijury sustained by the example of the ina- bility ant obstinacy of any pnsoner. Hle would repeat,thatthe prac- tice was highly illegal, because the prissner s-as in general entitled to bail before trial, if he could obtain it. If it were his misfortune to he unable to obtaini the necessary ball, was it not quite enough that his lot must be imprisonmelit,witlioutrinful labour beingcoercively superad4ed ? (Hear, hear.) If it w-ere 'the lot of a prisoner to be long committed before trial, his confinement and this tread-mill might amount to a far greaterppunishlment than could be inflicted tndn him, even if graills werie legally establisheda againist hi'm, Besid'es, they ehould bear in mind,' thts the new system of prison dis- cipline precluded the prisoner dfrpm receiving whatever sus- tenance his friends could aff)rd i-n* and wa,s he before tria to be so placed, as to have to encounter the privation of a gaol aLlowance, inadequate to fair human sustenance, di to be ekpos- ed to a severe personal punishment P After this, e hoped that com- mon sense and decent feering would prevent a repetition of sutb in- justice. Mr. PEEL hbegged in explanation to say, that in his opinion the prison act of last year did not authiorize the sendling to the tread. mill, withotit their own consent, priseners commnitted before trial. Perhaps if a doubii. prevailed upon such a point, it would be well to have it settled by law. Mr. STUART WVORTLEVy saLid. that the magistrates alluded to in the petition qonceived they were'acting legally, and were to a certain axtent fIrtllied by the ouidaion of the Juid es of the Court of King'is Bench. (Cries of' "1No.") At all evcnts, lie was glad to hear that there was a speedy 'prospect of baving the linw- clearly sattled upon the matter. Lr. JA M3ES said, that if the magistrates bad the power of starv- ing a prisoner Who refuseid to work, it was pretty much the same as giving them ani absoluxte right to hi's labour. The petition was laid on the table. On the mrotion of Alr. TlkE5,rAYzq1, accouints wt:re ordered of the exports andimports of corn during the last year. Onthe motion of' Colonel MlveEs, the excise accounts of last year,distinguishing Xhote fronreln wereodaedtobeproduced. THlE REVENUE. On the motion of MIr. MAgE1LT, certain returns were ordered, shoing thse net and gross revenue of this countrY fromc the 5th Jan. l7tft to he 5h Ja., 124,te chrgesfor olletion &c. Jan., simSiar accounts frotn Ireland front the &tt Jan., 1816, to 6th ;Jan., EI214RATION OF ARTISANS. Mr. HlUMlE rose to biing forward bis motion for a committee on thle lakw restraining the exportatdin of miachinery, and the emifgration of artisans. He felt that he was calling the attention of the house to otne of the most important questions whlich could be brougit under their consideration; -for imtportant indeed it must be, to -promote. the appointment or a committee to consider so conplicated z'sib- ject as the various laws which-affected the artisan p tovatido of thist empire. 'When, two yeara ago, lhe resented'. a peti- tion signted by 15,01)( artisans of~ the snetToptolis, lbe gave notice that in sheesigssinhwol umt ia motion - oil tiad sub.. jecs Bit whn te tie olsii noiceareived, hi IftCuWd or . -part to the subject nlready-in the heds: of-done lin. m 8isbei, - aild tre whole o dverifie an osp e.wat ildiced tipost.. poSe is front the last.-rclhedicl ' h Wili te f nknd mp2ber [for Port*rligoi Mr, Dvid kirardo.-. a n w1xoM isecn1ia knaw. leg ein the, Z difciti~tieae of poliiaeooy no- little nutdeii.. slod ad yt' o lpotant,was unvivrxpUy,adfimitfid. (1ioud cries, of Tear4). ~Tsl~o~uh a ohin-wap 7,sch n.occa-_ *msnnieijn wbkihichhs laebIsedafriend .,~cminmnicatedtt th eiflingive sources, ijf iifbrmsilc;*hstdhs.hli pogseated-ihe 'caindour, the sura-~ vity., the persuausivit Uitiofrected milaness, the unobtrusive way* in whichi he unifbrnij'~. addressed? 'the. bou-d. 'ii~on tlhoai'subjects which -be was so. Veculigrly calculated, id.expound.-.whet thiat. f'und'of informa,tion an'd those qualities were estim,ated, ast thy must be even bythseg&rntlentesi whowerepoliticalLy*opposed totrlie late Mr. Ricardo, (loud criesof '5~ hear," from both sides of the hiouse,) thten his (Mr. Hurme's) Peculiar loss could be appreciated on this occis- sion. Throutgh good report adnd baa report, Mir. 'Ricardo pisisued h1is scenetitirc track, andtino maniwasi more capable of eXpounnding tbe great priniciples wghici -were inter woven with the pfesenet subject. (Hear, hear.) fie thiought that there wereTio.w many, whio at firs t thiought Mr.- Ricardoss views theoretic_.9vho ivere now satisfied of their pracetical uitility. Entertaining these opinions, he de~ply felt on the present occasion the loss, of'so inestimable a guide and as- sistant, who bad&proeniised himn his support.-an aid of which he was now, as well as the country, for ever deVirived. (Hlear, hear ) Wihen hte approached thins great subject,- he felt lie was touching laws ren- dered venerable by their usage srod antiquwiy, butt also niot suited for the niew state of things wvhich had grown tip in thie country. (Heair.) It wausfline. to sim-plify, these lawvs btitt it could only be done by entering seriously into thte considleration of the complicated and intricate subjectitself, and at ouce probing it to the bottom. Whien he recollected the fate of the Spita feleds.act of last session, wvhich Alr. Ricardo had so ably supported, but which had beeni defeated elsewh'ere, andi chiefly on the grouncl, that while the laws relating to artisanis remainied on the antiquated plan, thut i-nea- sure ouight nuot toDpass, he saw an adtlitioinal reason for their going into thie present consideraton. It was with that view that he was prepared, in the first place, to suibmit a miotion for a revision of the lawy which prohibited artisans from- leaving the coinnts' andl se- condlv, to coDnider how far it was expedin tomantinte laws for prohiibiting the exportation of mnachiinery, or to admit their modifi- Caztion or repeal. WVith these two quesuions, it woulil also become righit to comibine the general considleration of all those laws betweci, mnaster and workmian, whichl were of'teni the source-of uich conflict.. ing. discussion, and whichi ramnified themselves inito the whole systeni of inusnufacturing tradle. This wras not the Proper time for himn to enter iuthei4e-dt.il of hil mnesunro....s wa~ enouch bforhim to :!hthe o.i. zme ; but he wdh ready~ to demonstrate the necessity of some general legislative measure upon this im otanft subiject. 'On Principle, he thoughit every law bad which shackPlied the emnploymient of any man's labour, provided the employment of' it. did not initerfere with) the vital interests and- public po'ficy of the country. H1e thouight on prin-. ciple that all mnen ought to be left free agents to make their own contracts. Adam Smith laid down that principle to be a sacreA anid inviolable righit. Now, as the law stood at present, aiman offortune miight go to France and c-arry his-property wvith hiim, or he mnight draw the whole of hiis incomec from England or Scotlandl, andI spendi it in France without afilyody being able to make shy legal com. plaint against him. Now laws, to be just, oughit to be general. 'I'he reverse, however, wks the case in ilhis instance. The property of the poor mniu consisted in his skill and industry, andl in hiis means of applying themnto any pzrticular trade. This property hie wa-s not at Present allowed to carry abroad if'be mnade the attemipt,he could be stopped ; n-ay, he could even be icoipsisoned until hie gave security that he wvould niot leave the country, if anybody had thie hardih6od to make oalh that he wvas intending to quit it. Wihat was still more hard, if any person recomirended ani artisan, who was Per. haps starving at home, to remove with his skill and industry into another couintry, in order to obtain better remuneration, that per- ,on wasL liable to a finie of 5001. for e3ticing artisansi to leave the k-ingdom. He did not, at this time of day, expect to hear the prin- ciple of these regulations defenided. It vas impossible for the house, after it had repeatedly recognized tbe principle of emigration by grantin~' large sumis of money, to convey whole families of artisans to thec Cape of Good Hopei and other paTst of the southernl helni- sphere, to tefuse to the artisans of the country the righit of carrying abroad their skill and industiy, especiully as that righit was likely to be limited in practice by the uncertainty of success, and by the're. Ittetance which every manr fekt to leave, for any lengthi of time, hiis native land. He now came to the stcond branchl Of the subject, whiceh related'to the propriety of -allowving our machinery to be ex- ported to foreign countries free from ak restraint. Ile admitted that this was a question of a doubtful natute, but lie hoped that tite pre- judices which prevailed regarding it would soon give way betore sountder and better principles. He was quiite satsficd that much examinationi would be necessary upon it; anrd he trusted that a full opportunity would be given in the coarse of it to all personis in the manufacturing distriletato sLtte fullytheir opinions regardingit.Asthey knew that thedr machinery wasat press.nt'exported,thatthieir manufac- Corers were in the habit of going abroad to work it, and that lirge manuifacturing establishmrents were i[n consequecnce in f'ull employ- ment in various Parts of the continent, 14 thought that it wvould opeima vast field, and a&fra a great profit, to the industry of the coun-. try, if they took suchi legal measures as would enable thef countrY to become openly and avowedly the mianufacturer of machinery for all the world : for there was no othier branchi of consmerce in which die rude materias were so chieap, or in wvhich they produced so much profit after tiey had been submnitted to the skill and industry of the miachiinist. If, theref'ore, it could be shown, and ke had no doubt it would be shiown, thaLt the policy of our laws lhad comnpelled foreign states to erect manuifactures of machinery at a verY hligh rate, and that they w ldwligyprhase mathinery fromi us if they could ditfeefroin danger, thle valuabl'b addition whbichi would berso umade to our conmmere would be a sufficient reason for making somne siter-a- tienithepescusyste. Hecoul nothellp mentioninig another in- ductnet t taingsom suh masue.There was scarcely a single mechnica impoveent ade,thatwasnot immiediately protectedl byapatnt.To btin hatpatnt seciiraionof heiimprovemnent discverd mst b mae ot insuc clar trms atn eable any othier machnistto ndertan Is.Ourown anuactuerscould not, it was true, infringe the patent ; but the patent-office was open to the world, and any foreigner that chose miight obtalb, a COPY of the speci- figaion;ado eurigt i w co ntymight take advantage ofte sill of Enlihwrmn to carry into effect the directionis it contained, fie hopdthtl had miade his intentions on this head sufficiently cler On the next bratich of the subject, wvhichl related to whatt were usoually termned the combination-laws, he inl- tended to be very brief. Vor miany) y-ears past the cvuntrS' had been burdlened by a sy-stemi of laws prevetiting the lahonring classes of the comimunity fromn combining together against their emiployers. Trheir emnployers, who, thoughi few in n1uni6er, wvere powerful in wealthi, mright combine against themn, and might dletermine not to give themn more than a certain sum for their labour. The workmen could niot, however, consult together about the rate they ought to fix on that labour, without rendlering themselves liable to fine and imprisonment, and a thousand other inconveniences which the law had reserved for them. This system hadi producedI great dissatisfac-tion timiiong the labouring classes ; for the men feht thiat thiey wvere not protected againist tbeir masters, though their master.3 were protected against them. It was said, that if thiese laws were repealed, there would he nothing but rioting anti quar- reilug btweis te mater andthe en;but thlis he denied On thle authrit ofperonsconvrsat i trde,who informed iiin that a strke or age ne'e wo plce,excptin ca-ses wlhere the men foud teirwaes nsuficen fo thirsupport, or under other eir- cumstnceaof svereeatrmies. Hemigtt also, miention thait thle honorabl andleared eniher fr Peerhrougli (Mlr. Scarlett), whiom he was sorry that he did not now see in his place, had infortnedl him that if al the lasws relative to masters silnt workmen wvere strucl' off the statute book, the common law of the land would be sufficient of itself to mecet stli nlis- chievous conmbinations for improrer purposes. If that were so, was it not worth their while to re'efle,t, ,vhethier it was fitting that thiese laws, which appeared partial inL their operation to those whom they most imnmediately affected, should be alluwe?l to re- main any longe-r in e *i-stence ? He wras fullY aware of' the diffil- culty of the subject, and of the prejudices whlich they wyould harve to encounter in examining, it; but he trusRted that they' should be able to overcome them all, if they met withi the asistance of his lUajes- tv's Mlinisters, and especially of thaut right hon. gentleman who had 6kten sachi an effective part in reinoving the restrictions by which the commerc-e of the cosntry liad been long f-ettered. (Hear, hear.) 'Witbout that assistancs, lie was aware that they could do nothing ; but with it, lue was uote that they could efrect a great and lasting be- nefit to the community. (flear,' hear.) fie conicluded by mnoving that a select eomr.ittee be appointed to inquire into the state of the law"s In the Unite-d irgoini, andi their consequences, respecting arti- sans leaving the country and carrying theitr skill and industry abroad; into the state of the lays respecting the! exportation of tools anti mna- chiniery:. and also into die state of' the laws and their consequences respectinig the coimbination of workmnen to raise their wages, and to regulate their hiours of work. After the ilollon hind been seconded, anid puit from- the chlair, Mlr. U140K1SSON1 rofe, not for the purpose of opposing, but of coneurring in thiepresenit motio.- He .wished, however, to hiave it distinctly uinderstood, that lie held Iiimself at liberty on every part of this stubject to form bit opi- ion upon the evidenice which miight hereafier 'de isubmitttd to the committee. He acknowledged that in mtic'h of th! g0teneal reasoning of the hon. member for Aberdeen he ful ocurred. On the Iist heaid of the proposed inquiry which reat= to the granting permission to artitans so go abroad, he most confess that he entertained butlittie doubt.. It atppeared to him that from the mvoment that thmepolic-y of -our laws (no matter how numer- oug or lOw long eniacted) mias called into question, the onnif of prov- ing their necetsgitk reasteti whit thosme who undertook- wo maiu,tain them; and when he spoke of necessity, he used the terila in reference to the great and paramount interest os the community. anjI not to thlat of any body Of individluals, whio either had5 or fancied that they hiad, au iitereumt in the employment of our attisuAls. He kaid thiAi esrerjV mnsti *as entidedi to carry that talent which fiaiira had given him, and those Steuluisements 'which hisdiligence h...J attained, to any macesinq hich lie sas likely to obtain the highsreu- rationi unless it could besbown tt:at there was somleparamonad oveiwimelmingnOece5sity ginst it.. With respect, therefore, to the law on tuist subhjet, the question was, first1 whether it was necessarY, and then whether it was ju,st and practicable. WVithi regard to its necessity, he did not feel himself called uPOn to say a a ugle wvord more than this-~.narmely, that it had led en nothing else but perjury, as any mRab miglht how 90 abroad, who cliose to swallow thle cusmoum. house oath. It was not jtust, because the severe Penalties it contained prevented those artisans,w1ho lma falled in turning the'ir acquirc- meats to advantage abroad, frorm ret-uring back with them to their native country . e' !mew that at.this very moment there were. many manuftorieirsFranmcein which not merely thiworiTmen, but also tbe masters who employed them, were British.born sub- jects;. and he alsoknewthat mnanyof thle individualssanggaed abrogd, would, in the fuctmadfins to which tbeir trade had been eXposed, have villinglv 'returned to England, had they miot considered themselve& proseibed by this very law. fie theref6re again repated, that upon this branch of the subject he himself entert ined but little doubt; he thought, however, that it ought to undergo havestigation, if for no other reason, at least for tbis-tlat it would tend to remove many idle prejudices which at prasentpeevail- ed regarding it. With regard to the frie exportation ot maliNnery, he agreed with tke hon-. uember forAberdeen, in thiking that pub- lie opinion was more divided For his own patt, he had no hesitation in stating, that in 'general he comi'eurred in the inions 'which the' hon. memnber had:expreasednupon it; axd ie wo;ld further observe, that if it were deterraine'd to pernit the etisigration ef artisans, it would be morcdifficult than ever to' prevent the exportation of m- chinery, as then'achinery was in;general of their invention. (Hear,. hear.) le could'wish the attciitiou of the committ~e to lie directed to this pointcan this part of law be matecffecttil . He knev that at this iery moment, mnachinery'of the D3mot cumbrous nature - was expo.rted' frion tIe country; and~ he agreed w7th- the hlonoti'abli nemnbtr 'for-Aberdheen in saying, d7mat with:th't supepority wbich: our artiasas poesesied over those of othet countriesr in the msanut'eture tad' erection 'of ssehiiery, we ought to' fike ifito 'conside'rafii?n thcn desnd for if which 'wouldl b'e immnediately created by silowirigit to bc frZe1y.ezppottd. On tba.t pan of theo isuhject, hiOWe ver, lie wishned'zesete hhmself untl he had Uard gl that could:be mstaed by tbose-wi6srh4re mostiznterested iliit; at4m5Ueent- he bad a"sstzo*'paiWo littie couintry would be: much" benefitid by siic, , ureteM oe'oulb er *for Abedeeis apper. ea to eohtenplate. Ilith tegasd to thee -lAnat!oQ lawl he muptt obwrve.tast-ww4 a 4uestion of great eYtnst and of recaThiilculty, andaone which w6idld require krcati'distr OD ac'ont tf thecom- plicitted system of lawY 3bi& ii; wdiild 'le ri~csay ' o aravdl. which li sclbeef aiife o batol, Fuzi it, hie vtaa convine.ed hat she laws- against ceonb n5tioiix had tended to multiply combinations, (hear;,'and that they had greatly aggX-. vated the evil thiey were intended to remove.From the moment those laws were made, the woktmen sav the injury wlhich 'tiy infilcted or'them, and isoniediately began to consider b; wliat reans they coul tbe best evaded. (Hear.) lc was noslightobjection to those laws that they created between the-employed and the emrployer, relstions diamettically opposite to those vwichl migst to exist-for they created jealousy, ih vill, and discontent, insteed of thiat feeling of gotd wvill that vagi calculated to m2ale each party stand by the other in any period of mutual distress. TRo relieve itself from.thc numerous ap- plications which the house recelved'in periods of distress from the m aufacturing interest, calling u'pon it to interfers between the mas- ters and the men-toremove romrthe statute-booksomelaws whicl were too oppressive to be executed' and others which it was imDos- sible to execute-he thought that this inquiry ought to be instituted. He aiad rot stidied tie question sufliciently to be able to say that if all the combiniation laws were removed from the statute-book, the common law would be able tO meet all combinations ; but lie shoold suppose that if a workman engaged'to finish a given quantity of wvorkt in a given time, and did not finish it, there must be sone law to punish hinm for his breach of engagement. So, too, in; case of a conspiracy to deter individuals fronm working at a- given rate of wages. It wvould be incumbent on the house to. look narrewly into the subject; sorong prejudices existed reFrd- ing it in the manutacturing districts, many of which had oeen engendered by the law itself, and ought therefore to be carefully and tenderly removed. He could not conclude withiout thanking the hon. memnbre for Aberdeen, whose industry and deligence could be exceeded by no man's (hear, hear,) for having undertaken this arduous task. He was not at all surprised that the hon. member for Aberdeen, in proposing this inquiry, should have regretted the loss wihicih the house had sustained by the death of his valued friend the memnber for Portarlington (the late Air. Ricardo)-a gentleman, whoni he (DIr. -Iuskisson) had also had the pleasure of reckoning among his friends. There was no man who esteemed niore higlily the acuteness and ability of Iir. Ricardo than he did, and no N.an who more sincerely lamenmed their loss. (Hear.) In all his public con(luct there was an evident antxiety to do what he thought rTyht, to sek the goo.l of the country, pnd to pursue no other object (hear); and his speeches were always distinguished by a spirit of firmnevss and conciliation that did equal honour to himselfaud to his countrr- ([lear.) In conclusion, he rentarlced, that he was convinced that the diligent inquiry of the coniufittee would produceareport which would enable the house to retain whiat was useful in the laws to whicil the motion ref'ened, to clear frotn the statute book suchi of them as were useless, unnecessary, and impracticable, and to substitute in their stead such amendnwnts as would best promote the commercial in- terest and glory ofilic country. (Hear, hear.) Mr. BIRCH said a few words, whicih were quite inaudible in the gallery. The motion was then put, and carried. Alr. I BULIl then proposed that the committee should consist of the following 21 gentIenien, whose names were read from the chair: Mr. Hume, h1r. Huslisson, Mr. C. Gratit, Mr. Sturges Bourne, the Attoraey-Geneeal, MAr. G. Bennet, Msr. Dawson, Mr. Bernal, Mer. F;. Lerwis, Mtr. D. Gilbert, Mr. Phillips, Mir. P. Moiore, Mr. LJittleton, Al r. S. Wortley, MUr. Pares, Alr. T. WFilson, It; r. Eger- ton, Sir L. Parnell, Sir T. D. Acland, Msr. Hobhouse, and a nnem- her whsose namze we did not hear. 'These gentlemen wvere then ap- pointed to form the committee, Mir. Hums observing, that the coi- inittee would be happy to receive the assistance of any other mem- bers who woult attend iL Lsrd A ,THORP gave notice, that he should to-morrowi move for leave to bring in a bill to repeal and alter so much of the act of the 56th of the late King as gave power to dlistrain growing crops in Ire- land. He also stated, that on Weednesday next he should move for leave to bring in a bill for the better recovery of smniall debts. The repoit of the Committee of Supply was received, and the ie- solutions agreed to. On the motion of' Lord PALsMERSTON, a return was laid upon the table of the number of special vestries which had been called uin- der the nlew Tithe Commutation Bill, distingnishing those in which commissions had been appointed, and also those which had been adjourned sine die. The hoase then adjourned at six o'clock. PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGEANCE. HOUSE OrF COMAIONS. TUTTRcnAV Vn 19