The proceedings in both Houses of Parliament last night possess
considerable interest. The proceedings in both Houses of Parliament last night possess considerable interest.
In the Commons, Dr. Bownisw. rf!neWea bis motion to strike cut of the Glasgow, Paisley, and Ayr Railway Bill, the clause which pro- hibits travelling on a Sunday. Mr. DUNLOP contended that the clause was in accordance with the feelings of the people, and would operate most beneficially for the poorer classes. All this was very well, but Mr. DUNLOP went out of his way to sneer at Mr. ROEBUCK as a man destitute of religious feeling : he did not expect to disarm his opposition, he said, by any appeal to Mr. Roebuck's sense of religion. After Lord JAMES STUART and Mr. WAKLEY had spoken in a manly and sensible manner ageinst the clause, Mr. Rot:BUCK " tackled " Mr. DUN- LOP. As the Morning Chronicle observes, Mr. ROEBUCK, though not a Scot, may take for his motto " nemo me impune lacesset ;" and Mr. DUN. LOP did not escape with impunity. He was told that to insinuate what he dared not state directly, was neither Parliamentary, nor decorous, nor manly, nor the part of an honest man. Of course the SPEAKER, on a call to order, pronounced that this language was not Parliamentery. Mr. Royal:ea knew that, hut neither was the paltry insinuation which provoked it. The Member for Bath then went to work upon the Lord's- day gentlemen, in his usual tranehant style. He challenged them to produce Christian authority for human legislation in regard to the Sabbath. He not only quoted Archbishop Cramer and Arch- bishop Whateley, but (at great length) St. Paul himself, to prove that the command to keep the Jewish Sabbath was not binding upon Christians. But the Apostle of the Gentiles was a person of somewhat different mental calibre from the Dusa.oes and AGNEWS; and Paul, it seems, is no great authority with them. Mr. ROEIWCK read his Scripture quotations so impressively and seriously, that Sir ROBERT INGLIS honestly expressed • his obligation to him for making them. Mr. LAROTTBERE, Sir JOHN CAMPBELL, and Lord JOHN Br's. BELL, all opposed the clause ; for which nothing like a defence or excuse was put forth. When, however, the house divided, the Agnewites were found to have mustered in force ; S3 voted for the clause, hut 11S against it. So the pseudo saints were defeated, and the bill finally passed without the clause. An interesting discussion on the efficacy of Capital Punishments fol- lowed Colonel Sorrnonre having been persuaded to put off his mo- tion to abolish the duty on tire-insurances. The Forgery Bill having gime tnrough the Cot iiiii ittee and been reported without discussion, Lord JOHN RussEt.r. moved the order of the day for going into Com- mittee on the bill to abolish the punishment of dentin in certain cases. Mr. Ewa ter moved an instruction to the Committee to abolish the punishment of death in all cases except murder; and supported his motion by a speech full of tints, to prove that mitigated punishments were more efficacious than capital punishments to prevent crime. Mr. Ewell was earnestly supported by Mr. HUME, Mn'. FOWELL BUXTON, Mr. BROT BERTON, Dr. Ilowersc., Mr. Romirce, Mr. O'CoNNELI., Dr. LUSHINGTON, Mr. Wit:, 1010BC1 THOMPSON, and Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN ; though most of these Members objected to Mr. Ewart's motion, that it did not go far enough—that the punishment of death even for murder ought to be abolished. Nearly the whole of the in. telligenee of the House seemed to be on one side,—for the motion was very feebly opposed by Lord .1011N Resat:Lt., the Attorney-General, and Solicitor-General, on the old ground that it was dangerous to hurry the process of reformieg the criminal code, and that such alterations as public opinion demanded alone should be made : there was reason to fear a "reaction "—that when the people became unaccustomed to public exeentions there would arise a craving for blood in the public mind. Admirable IA:HSI:Men' ! excellent, experienced, and acute judges of human nature and the influence of habit ! The division was close; 72 votes for, and 73 against the instruction. Of course, EWART will try again. The House then went into a Committee on the bill ; and a convee sation arose respecting the amendment of prison discipline, the es..blishment of a rural police, and the tendency of public executions tia
deprave the public mind. Sir ROBERT PEEL enlarged upon tile dilv_ culties in the way of establishing a rural police ; the prejudices that
would be excited against it ; and the obloquy that would be heaped on. him who made the attempt. Sir ROBERT spoke feelingly on point. Lord JouN Ressmt assured the Committee, that the amend" ment of prison discipline. occupied the attention of Government. Mr" GO.LILBURN objected to give. judges discretionary power as to inflicting. capital punishment for setting fire to dockyards and military stores: he
was for making sentence of death imperative; but the Committee re-
jected a motion to that effect, by 102 to 40. The report was finally received. A little progress was also made with the Offences against the Person Bill.
The Wills Bill was read a second time; to be committed on Friday next.
There was some more talk last night about the state of public bud- Hess, and the difficulty of getting on with it,—very much to the same effect as that reported in a previous column : nothing done.
Having an eye both to the session of the General Assembly and the Glasgow election, Lord HADDINGTON last night gave the Peers a se. cond edition of Sir IVILLIASI RAE'S speech on the Scotch Church gum. tion, as a prelude to asking Lord Melbourne what he intended to do? The substance of the Premier's answer was, "nothing at Present;" but Lord MELBOURNE alarmed Lord Aberdeen, by an intimation, that be. fore be resorted to what Sir Robert Peel called "a vulgar expedient"— a grant from the Consolidated Fund—he might recommeod that re. course should be had to certain tithes and rents which belonged to the Bishops in Scotland before the Revolution, now, under gross mis- management, yielding 2,717/. a year' and also to the unexhausted teinds. Lord ABERDEEN said, that the latter expedient would belittle less than plunder, if the teinds were to be taken for any other purpose
than the support of the minister of the parish whence they were derived. But Parliament, Lord ABERDEEN may be sure, will grant no public money till these teinds are exhausted for the good of the Church.
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