POSTSCRIPT.
SATURDAY MORW1NO.
Mr. NEWDEGATE maintained the proposition that the prosperity of the country for the last ten years was not entirely caused by free trade, but 'by the discovery of the gold lelde. Ho described Mr. Bright's speech as one of dictation. In effect, he said to the Government—" These are my plans, and if you do not adopt them you must leave those benches." Mr. Renee( Omens= gave the Government great credit for the treaty ; deprecated the display of anti-gallican feelings ; and caked why the Opposition would not accept the Budget in principle and oppose it in detail. He objects to the repeal of the paper duty ; but the Budget contains so much it is desirable to have, that he should cordially surveil it.
Mr. THOMAS B.11.1LNG quite approved of a commercial treaty with France, but thought some provisions of the treaty were not what the country had a right to expect. Mr. 'Cobden had not received sufficiently specific instructions. He ought to have treated for the abolition of the differential duties on shipping. As regards the budget, Mr. Gladstone, in reducing the duty on wine, did not consider the poor; for, while the poor consume tea and sugar, they never taste wine. hin.sren GIBSON said that Mr. Baring seemed to think he was sure
of a reduction of 2d. in the Income-tat; but such a reduction would be dearly purchased by sacrificing the cemmercial treaty and the reform of the tariff. It is natural for Protectionists to oppose the Budget, but how Mr. Disraeli, an avowed free-trader, could support the motion, Mr. Gib- son could not understand. It wassaid the treaty should have been a treaty of navigation as well as of commerce. Yet in 1852, Lord Derby's Go- vernment, in their negotiations with France for a treaty, made no refer- ence to shipping. Lord Malmesbury had listened to a proposal from France for a redaction of duty en brandy and a corresponding reducticn of the French duty on coal. As -to wine, if previous reductions had failed to stimulate consumption, that was because they were too slight to reduce the price within general reach. Beer will still be protected against wine, so none need fear that the national beverage will be super- seded. Mr. Gibson combated the views of Mr. Du Cane, showing that he met a universal scheme by a partial opposition.
Mr. WALPOLE spoke in support of Mr. Du Cane's motion. He did not in the main oppose the Treaty, but he thought the time most in- opportune for its production. He was hostile to the main provisions of the Budget, especially to the repeal of the paper duty, when a deficient revenue haste be met by an increased Income-tax. Ought they to go on from year to year with an increasing deficit, and would the House under such circumstances agree to the Budget ? He objected to the
-scheme of the Government because it unnecessarily diminishes the revenue ; remitted taxes that caused no inconvenience to trade, and im- posed restrictions that will obstruct trade.
Eir. GLADSTONE, greatly cheered, rose soon after eleven, and replied -on the whole debate up to that point, and took up the main arguments of the Opposition speakers and replied to them.
Mr. DISRAELI and lord PALNERSTON epoke after 'Mr. Gladstone, and at a late hour this morning the House divided—For the resolution, 223; against it, 339; Majority for Ministers, 116.
In the earlier part of the evening Mr. HADFIELD carted attention to a prize-fight for the champion's belt about to occur, and asked if the Home Secretary intended to prevent it. Sir GEORGE LEWIS, greatly to the amusement of the House, gravely -described how Sir 'Richard Mayne -would stop it if he could ; but as he did not know when or where it was to take place, it might take place without his knowledge.
In the House of Peers, Lord CA=ARVON- called attention to an an- nouncement contained in the newspapers to the effect that Marshal O'Don- nell had proposed as one of the bases of peace between Spain and Morocco an extension of Spanish territory in Africa. He understood from the cor- respondence between Lord John Russell and her Majesty's representa- tive at Madrid, that Spain on entering upon the war distinctly declared that she had no intention of acquiring an extension of territory, and he asked the Government if they were enabled to give any miormation which would explain the inconsistency. Lord WODEHOUSE said the only answer he could give was that the Government had received information somewhat similar to that contained in the newspapers. Spain had demanded as the bases of peace an extension of territory in Africa, a large, indemnity for the expenses she had in- curred in the war, numerous commercial advantages, the establishment of a Roman Catholic Bishop at Fez, and the admission of a diplomatic agent at the same place. Lord DUNGANNON moved a resolution condemning the performance of Divine Worship at Sadler's Wells and other Metropolitan Theatres. The Archbishop of CANTERBURY remarked that, as the services were not illegal, he did not see what steps their lordships Gould take to suppress them. No doubt it was contrary to the associations and feelings of their lordships that religious services should be performed in a theatre but they must bear in mind that there were large masses of the population to whom the idea of entering a church was equally distasteful. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY, said he was a member of the association which had established the services referred to, but he could assure their Lord- ' slips that no theatre would have been selected if any other building could have been procured.
The Bishop of LONDON explained that the reason why the Bishops had assumed a position of neutrality with respect to this question was, because it was an experiment which might be productive of the greatest ,good to the ignorant masses of the population, and they would be sorry to crush the movement at once, though they did not altogether approve of it. Motion withdrawn.
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