3 AUGUST 1839, Page 10

Questions sufficient in number and importance to occupy a delibe-

rative assembly for many weeks, were disposed of by the British Par- liament last night.

Lord BnoECtIAM laid on the Lords' table five resolutions respecting the administration of justice in Ireland and the exercise of the preroga- tive of mercy. The first three resolutions relate to the mode of con- ducting prosecutions, the challenging of jurors, the procuring of evi- dence; and are of a rather technical character. Those which espe- cially hit the Marquis of Normanby are the two last-

" 4. That it is the duty of the Executive Government, when considering any case of conviction had bcfure any of the Queen's Judges, with a view of remitting or commuting the 6eittenee, to apply for information to the Judge or Judges who tried the case, and to afford sash Judge or Judges an opportu- nity to give their opinion on such case, unless circumstances should exist which render anv such application impossible, or only possible with an incon- venient delay ; lint that it is not necessary that the Executive Government should be bound to follow the advice, if any, tendered by such Judge or Judges. " 5. That the prerogative of pardoning all offences in the conviction tbr which private parties are not interested, is it high, indisputable, end inalienable prerogative of the Crown, but that it is vested in the Crown for the purpose of aiding in the administration of justice, and is to be exercised as best to tend to that important object ; and that it ought never to be exercised without full and deliberate inquiry. into all the circumstances of each case and each individual, and that its exercise ought to &lend on those circumstances, and never on the accident of the Sovereign or his representative happening to visit the place where the offender under sentence may be confined."

Again did the uncomfortable Marquis of NORMANDY plead for delay. He said that the " prerogative of mercy " was a part of the subject which lie wits not prepared to deal with at so short notice: He should be obliged to go into details of what happened long ago. He had always understood that Lord Brougham did. not intend to allude to this subject ! [It' the Marquis of NORMANBY "understood" so, we believe he is the only man in Parliament, or moving in political society, with such an understanding.]

Lord 13nm:taw' declared that the patter he had prepared contained all the evidence whieli it was necessary to peruse, including that which formed the subject of his two last resolutions. Ile had never any doubt whatever that he should be compelled to make the exercise of the pre- rogative part of his subject.

Lord WHARNCLIFFE was for deferring the motion a short time longer. The Duke of WismaNGTON suggested. that Lord Brougham might pro- pose amendments, in conformity with his resolutions, to a bill before the House—the Irish Juries Bill. Lord 111THERTON approved of this suggestion. Lord LYNDHURST stated, that with Lord Brougham's paper as a guide, he had read all the evidence connected with the reso- lutions in two hours and at half. Lord Wiceisow was averse to so early a day as Tuesday. The resolution certainly implicated Lord Normanby.

Against all these attempts to turn him, Lord BROUGHAM stood firm to his purpose of bringing on his motion next Tuesday ; and the Marquis of Loxoosoettev said that his perseverance "would redound greatly to his credit."

The Earl of WARWICK entered into a sort of defence of his proceed- ings as Lord-Lieutenant of Warwickshire. He complained of the attacks upon him in newspapers, [meaning a certain " person stained Joseph Parkes,"] and denied that he had made appointments to the Magistracy with party motives.

A long conversation occurred on a motion by Lord BROUGHAM for an address to the Queen praying her Majesty to take effectual measures for the suppression of the Portuguese and Brazilian Slave-trade, and promising the support of the House in such measures. Lord BRs's-Glum explained, that he was accidentally absent from the debate on the vious night. He was apprehensive that unless his present motion;; adopted, a new stimulus would he given to the traffic in slaves, MELBOURNE and Lord MINT° deplored the rejection of the Pori Slave-trade Bill, and were afraid that the mischief would lv. part remedied by the address ; but agreed to adopt the address at o't The Duke of WELLINGTON and other Tory Lords denied that tk; had any wish to favour the slave-trade—quite the contrary ; set did disapprove of the particular mode of proceeding adopted by Goya: went. Lord Brougham's motion was agreed to unanimously, sedi concurrence of the Commons in the address is to be asked, fp, LUSHINGTON made his motion to search the Lords' Journals; hot; attempt to get up an Anti-slavery howl, "to catch the Wesleyanei have been baffled. by the discreet course taken by Lord Baouonsai The Register of Births Bill, the object of which is to enable the gistrar-General to procure the registers kept by and withheldfromi by Dissenting congregations, was thrown out, on the motion for$ second reading, by a majority of 69 to 38. Lord BUNCANNOI charge of the bill ; but Lord LYNDHURST said it came up from the fps mons too late in the session—on the 18th of July.

The report on the Irish Municipal Bill was brought up. An moss

ment, preserving the rights of the descendants of freemen in borou2S•• vd1 to 37. Lord MELBOURNE moved the rejection of the amended - bill ; but he would not divide the House. He intended that the ms. was carried by Lord LYNDHURST against Ministers, by a majhoroilti.,:o: by way of recording Isis opposition to their Lordships' alterations in IS sure should be sent again to the Commons ; but could not confident hope that it would be adopted in its new shape.

The report was received, and the bill ordered to be read a thirties:, on 'Monday.

The Custody of Infants 13111 was read a third time, and passed, Several other measures, not inentioned in the newspaper repot were also disposed of.

In the House of Commons, Mr. LEADER asked Mr. Labouchere,itt were true that 80 or 90 political offenders had been transported free Lower Canada to New South Wales? Mr. Lanoueulate, admitiv„s'A that such was the fact, entered into a justification of Sir John ea borne's conduct. His object had been to shed as little blood as Tes- sible ; and in fact, out of 800 persons in the Montreal gaols, only s had been executed, 80 or 90•transported, and the rest discharged. Hems: observed, that in Canada Sir John Colborne's conduct was* versally considered cruel, tyrannical, and unjust. Sir Rouitirr Pea hoped the House would not separate without a vote expressing ]lid approbation of Sir John Colborne's conduct.

In reply to a question from Sir Roomer PEEL„ Lord PALMEneng said, that the four Great Powers, in conjunction with England, vie desirous of maintaining peace in the East of Europe. He could net go into any particulars at that time.

The principal discussion of the evening then followed, when Ices:: JOHN RUSSELL moved the Committee of Supply. Lord Julia deseriled.0 the state of the country, and explained the necessity that existed fa iticreasinb. 'w strength of the Army. The warlike operations in Us, and the unsettled. state of Canada, rendered it impossible for 3linisten to withdraw from foreign stations any part of the troops on sortie abroad. But the spirit of turbulence and disaffection, which prevaike to so alarming an extent at home, required an addition to the militati force of the country. Lord John thought that such persons as Osseo and Stephens, by their clamour against the Poor-law, had prepared de working classes for the violent measures to which they had nowt., course, with apparently political objects. IIe described the organizs tion of the Chartists as very formidable, and imputed to them a fixed design by means of terror and confusion to produce a general, total, and entire change in the institutions of the couutry. The complaint of these people were against the constitution of society, under which they had not a sufficient share of wealth and means of support. Ile read letters front Stockport and Newcastle to show that the civil fora was quite inadequate to the preservation of the peace. Large bodies of men, armed with pikes and other dangerous weapons, had risen, or were ready to rise, against the constituted authorities- " For a very Ions time their objects were various. Some were connected with the meld condition of the country, and the rate of wages was thought 3 matter of legislation : others were political, and extended to a new form of government. Formerly there seemed a want of concert and system among the individuals belonging to those societies ; but lately, it appears, they have had a inure regular organization ; and from the information we have had from various parts of the country, as well as information from districts not far from the Metropolis, it appears that in these societies a sysem of organization hat been intmducch."

Various modes of impressing the majority, of the people with the idea of their power had been adopted- " One of these is the ostentatious exhibition of arms, the showing of pith and daggers and knives, and various deadly and dangerous 'weapons, tied appearing much more generally to go armed, as if prepared. to act as an armed body. At the same tine, nIthough- there has hem exaggeration in this respect, I have no doubt that a consiacrable number of pikes have been manatacturol; but no great number of fire-arms, but at the same time a great proportion of cartridges and pistol-balls, with a view, no doubt, to create terror and excite alarm. It was but the other day that, by accident, a constable, searching in the house of a person that had been guilty of another offence, found a muse s litetory of cartridges connected with the society of Chartists."

Of the relations of the working classes to the other portions of see ciety its England, Lord John spoke as follows-

" I cannot avoid perceiving, if 1 relit ct on the state of the country, that while our laws in general, or generally speaking, are laws well adapted as well to maintain freedom as to preserve tranquillity, yet the means by which those two objects are to be obtained are not sufficiently well adapted to the increased population of the country. We have, particularly in the manuilicturing die f trots, and especially in certain parts of the manufacturing districts which I could name, very large masses of people who have grown up in it state of so- ciety which it is lamentable if not appalling to contemplate. It is not it society growing up under the hand of early instruction, with places of worship to at- I tend, with their opinions of property moulded by seeing it devoted to social and charitable objects, and with a fair and gradual subordination of ranks ; but it is, in many instances, a society necessarily composed of the working classes, together with certain persons who employ their labour, with whom they have little connexion. They unhappily neither receive in schools nor in places of wore geth

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worship that religious and moral instruction that is necessary for knitting to- gether the inhabitants and classes of a great country."

Mr. HUME moved an amendment, which recommended attention to and the removal of the causes which created dissatisfaction among the people, as a better mode of dealing with the existing discontents than the increase of military force. Mr. THOMAS Arrwood seconded Mr. Hiue's amendment. After a debate in which Sir ROBERT PEEL, Mr. WABURTON, Mr. VILLIERS, Mr. O'CoNNELL, and Mr. SCIIOLEFIELD took part, the amendment was negatived without a division. There seemed to be a general conviction that the proposed increase of the army was necessary ; but Mr. VILLIERS and Mr. WAnnywrox at- tributed the present alarming state of affairs to the misconduct of Par- liament and the Government, who had not done their duty to the people.

The House went into Committee, and, on Lord Howiek's motion, voted 75,0001. for the purpose of raising the number of men in regiments of infantry from 739 to 800.

The Birmingham Police Bill was withdrawn ; and Lord JOHN RnssELL obtained leave, by a vote of 77 to 3, to introduce a new bill, by which the Police will be put under the control of Commissioners named by the Secretary for the Home Department. Many Members voted for bringing in the bill, regarding it as necessary, who entirely disapproved of the Minister's new plan. The bill was brought in, read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time next Wednesday.