POSTSCRIPT.
BOTH Houses of Parliament sat last night. In the House of Lords, the Irremovable Poor Bill was resumed in committee, but no progress had been Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE moved for copies or extracts of any corres- pondence which had passed between the Foreign Department and our Embassy at Constantinople in the last and present years, on the subject of financial or administrative reforms in Turkey, especially of such as were proclaimed in the late Sultan's Hatti-humayoun of the year 1856, and more particularly since the accession of the reigning Sultan. The noble Lord, in the course of a lengthened speech, contended that, although the late Sultan might not have fully earned out many of the internal administrative reforms initiated during his reign, and that though the general policy of toleration and equality embodied in his decrees might not have been acted upon to the extent desired in this country, still it was a great advantage to have the necessity of such a policy formally recognized by the sovereign.
Lord WoDEwousiz said that, so far as we had any intelligence, there had been already a vigorous reform commenced in the .financial administration of affairs. Any interference on our part at present could only be injurious. He had no objection to the production of all the papers relative to the matters referred to during the reign of the late Sultan, but he hoped the noble Lord would agree to omit the words, " more particularly since the accession of the reigning Sultan." The motion in this amended form was agreed to.
The bills on the table were then forwarded a stage. In the House of Commons there was a morning sitting, and the Parochial and Burgh Schools (Scotland) Bill passed through committee. The consideration of At the evening sitting there were the usual miscellany of questions.
Sir CHARLE8 WOOD, in answer to Mr. ictsxstrin, stated that he was waiting for despatches from India to enable him to make his annual financial statement, and could not, therefore, fix the day when he would do so. In reply to another question pat to him by Sir J. SHRLLEY, iw stated that he had not received any infdrmation as to the circulation by the Government of Bengal, in official envelopes marked " On Her Majesty's Service," of an English translation of a " Bengalli Play," containing attacks on British settlers connected with the manufacture of indigo: in India, and their wives and families; but he had received a copy of the " play," which he would be very happy to give the honourable member if be wished to read it.
A discussion was then raised by Sir IL VERNEY on the affairs of Schleswig- Holstein, which elicited a statement from Lord Jolts Russam. to the effect that propositions were likely to be made on the part of the King of Denmark which might probably lead to negotiations, and he trusted that these would end in a satisfactory solution of the question at issue.
A long discussion ensued, on a motion of Mr. MACAULAY, with respect to the " old old story of the Danish Claims," or, in other words, the claims of certain British subjects for compensation for losses arising out of the confiscation by the Danish Government of ships and cargoes in the year 1807. Of course the House decided that the question could not be reopened.
Several other questions were raised, on the motion to go into Committee of Supply. which occupied the whole of a protracted sitting, and at length the un- opposed orders of the day were disposed of, without any progress having been made in granting supplies for the year.
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