Debates anb Vroteebings in Varliament.

EFFECTS OF PROTECTION ON WORKING AGRICULTURISTS.

In the House of Commons, on Tuesday, Mr. COBDEN rose to make his motion for a Select Committee to inquire into the effect of import- duties on tenant-farmers and farm-labourers.

He began by citing precedents for granting such a Committee of inquiry at the instance of persons not immediately connected with the business which was the subject of investigation ; as in the case of Committees on the importa- tion of silk, the exportation of machinery, and others. He was prepared to bring before the Committee, not manufacturers, tradesmen, nor operatives, but tenant-farmers themselves, of undoubted intelligence and great practical expe- rience, to prove that the present duties on corn and the bases on which the agricultural interest is placed are injurious to them. The Corn-law of 1815 undertook to fix the price of corn at 80s. ; and he was prepared to bring old land-valuers to prove that, after the passing. of that law' farmers took leases of their lands for rents calculated on the promised price of 60s., when at the time the price of corn was down to 50s. In like manner, leases were calculated at a valuation of 8s. per bushel when the law of 1828 undertook to fix the value at 64s. ; and he would ask whether, since the passing of the last act, rents had not been calculated at the supposed value of 568. per quarter ? He had beard of an instance of a landed proprietor, an occupier of his own land, the valuation of whose land was made upon the supposition of the value of wheat being 56s. per quarter, when it was in fact selling at 478. ; and on his inquiring why be was so rated, he was told that the only reason which could be assigned was, that the Prime Minister had guaranteed the price of wheat at 56s. per quarter. ("Hear, hear ! " and " Oh, oh !") Honourable gentlemen might cry "Oh, oh!" if they pleased, but he would bring forward that very case, and prove what be bad stated concerning it. Now, what he wished in going into Committee was, to convince the farmers of the country that the House had not the power to regulate or sustain the price of their commodities. Within twelve months of Sir Robert Peers declaration that his with and intention was to fix the price of wheat at 56s., it had fallen as low as 47s. ; and in fact the price had never been so high as that named by the Premier. The first point which he wished to fix upon the attention of the farmers was, that that House exaggerated its own power over their interests. Monstrous fallacies were rife on the subject-such nonsense as the assertion that wheat bad been sold at Dantzic for 15s. I Id. per quarter. He considered that the Channel Islands might be taken to show what the price of corn would be if there were free trade in England now, according to papers before the House, the average price of wheat in Jersey, for the ten years ending 1841, was 98s. 9d.; while the average price in our own market was 58s. 8d. He believed that the demand for corn in England would have the effect of raising the price on the Continent about 2s. or 3s. above the Jersey average. Where, then, was the danger of throwing land out of cultivation by a reduction of price from 56s. to 51s. ? But the farmer does not get the 56.s. 881. for his corn. A miller had supplied Mr. Cobden with a table of prices for five years ending September 1843, showing the rates before and after the harvests; from which it appeared, that the price of wheat was lower by I5s. a quarter in September or October than it was in July or August-showing that the farmer does not sell his corn at the highest but at the lowest prices. The price of wheat at Dantzic, for the ten years ending 1841, was 40s. a quarter ; which, adding the freight-charge, &c., 8s., or rather 10s. 6d., would make the price in England 52s. 6d. He should like to examine farmers on the wool-trade, in which the reductions of duty had been the subject of the moat alarming predictions : but have the farmers been ruined ? have they lost all their sheep-walks? is there no more mutton ? are shepherds and sheep-does extinct ? He read a state- ment, for five years ending 1843, which showed that in every instance where the price of wool was highest, the English farmer bad sustained the greatest competition from abroad in the shape of increased importa- tions; and where the price was lowest, the importations and the com- petition bad been the least. For it should always be borne in mind, that there is a high price consequent upon prosperity, which may continue, and a high price consequent upon scarcity, which cannot continue. He did not be- lieve that the new Tariff had reduced the prices of articles of consumption: for the imports had not been sufficient to make one good breakfast for all the people of the country. The people could not sink into abject poverty and distress without that evil affecting the price of provisions. He calculated the falling-off of consumption in Stockport alone, for three or four years, was equal to all the importation of cattle. Another illustration was the statement that the farmers in the West of Scotland had been ruined by the reduction in the price of cheese : now the duty on cheese was not touched by the Tariff; and it was well known also that while the price bad fidlen the importation had actually diminished. Be now came to the subject of rent, wishing that the next dissolution of Parliament might send up a bond fide tenant-farmer to enlighten the House upon the point. An eminent agriculturist in the Midland Counties, Mr. Charles Paget, of Ruddington Grange, near Nottingham, had supplied him with a statement showing the expenses of managing a farm ; rent figuring at 800/., and all other expenses at 790/. ; a wheat crop, the remunerating crop, being grown once in three years. "Now," said Mr. Paget, "if it requires 55s. per quarter in an average year to enable the tenant to pay the rent and make 150/ profit, it is obvious that without any rent he would be able to pay his la- bourers and tradesmen as well, and put the same amount of profit into his pocket, with a price of 30s., supposing other produce to be reduced in the same proportion. But I do not anticipate that wheat will be reduced below -45a., even by free trade ; and meat, butter, cheese, u ill certainly not fall in the same proportion." He was prepared to prove, by a witness deputed from the best East Lothian farmers, that half the price of their produce went to pay their rent ; so that if they had their land rent-free, they would be as well off when getting only 26s. a quarter as when getting 52s. under the present system. In like manner, on grazing farms, for every 5d. received, as in the case of cheese, 24d. goes for rent. Mr. Cobden dwelt at great length on the condition of farm-labourers under the existing law of protection ; quoting largely from the Report of Mr. Austin, the Commissioner appointed to inquire into the Condition of Women and Children in Agriculture, and from the writings of the Reverend Godolphin Osborne. He contrasted the respect shown to property during the disturbances last year in the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire, with the incendiary fires in the agricultural districts ; attributing the difference to the fact, that the manufacturing population are conscious of having those who will make known their sufferings and complaints, which the agricultural population are not. He read many extracts showing the miserable wages paid in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, and Devonshire. In Wiltshire, they average 8s. or 9s. a week. Mrs. Wilshire, the wife of a farm-labourer, said, "Our common drink is burnt crust tea : we never know what it is to get enough to eat." The Reverend J. Guthrie, Vicar of Caine, said, " I never could make out how they can live with their present earnings"; and Dr. Greenup, M.D., said the same. The ordinary agricultural day-labourer's wages in those counties before the rise of prices after 1790, ranged from fas. to 10s., not including hay-time and harvest; the average price of wheat was then 44s. 6d.: since that time, wages have scarcely increased, rent has advanced from two-and-a-half to threefold. In 1683, Judge Hales states the wages of a farm-labourer in Gloucester to be 10s. a week ; wheat was then 36s. a quarter : now, says a gentleman writingto Mr. Cobden, " wheat is 40 per cent higher ; the average wages in Gloucester- shire are only 8s. to 9s. and in many cases 7s. and 6s. ; in the mean time rent increased tenfold." Mr. Hunt, a farm-labourer, states that many families only obtain half the amount that their maintenance in the workhouse would cost. From these wages and the style of food might be inferred the style of lodging and clothing—nay, the morality, education, religion, and every thing pertaining to the happiness of the people. He quoted passages respecting the ill-contrived and over crowded cottages, and the consequent licentiousness,—whole families being huddled together in one sleeping-chamber. " You talk to us," exclaimed Mr. Cobden, " about the crowding together of the labouring population in the manufacturing towns, and charge that upon the manufacturer and the millowner, forgetting that the crowding together in towns cannot come under the cognizance of particular individuals or employers; but in the agricultural districts, we find the large proprietors of land, who will not allow any other person to erect a stick or a stone, or to build a cottage upon their estates, nevertheless permitting men, for whose welfare they are responsible, to be in this beastly state—in dwellings worse than the wigwams of the American Indians." When they saw these things, he repeated that the persons by whom they were permitted to continue deserved to be visited with the most unqualified indignation of that House. Now, mark, the progress of the evil was this—the landowners refused to build up new cottages, and permitted the old cottages to fall down ; and he spoke ad- visedly when he said that this was the course adopted systematically in Dor- setshire, and the people were driven to Blandford and other towns. And what a population were they thus sending to the manufacturing districts ! Why, what was this but a school of prostitution and vice ? Oh, let them not then blame the manufacturer for the state of the population in their towns, while they reared such a people in the country, and drove them into the towns when the hovels in which they had dwelt fell down about them. Mr. Austin says, a change of clothes " seems to be out of the question "; and he mentions women who are obliged to lie in bed whilst their clothes were washed and dried. And this was the population who, according to honourable gentlemen, were the "home customers " for the manufacturers ! The Scotch agricultural population would do honour to any country : their food in East Lothian is bread like the rape and oil-cakes used for cattle and manuring fields : their wages in Forfar- shire average 4s. a week, with oatmeal and milk, increasing the value to about 6s. 10d.; the principal article of food is oatmeal and boiling water, called "brose." In Wales, the Times reporter said, the main cause of the disturbances was the abject poverty of the people, who live on potatoes and butter-milk, oat- meal and water, with occasionally a little cheese and barley bread or a red her- ring; lodging in mud huts of a single room, for all purposes ; with no window, but a hole in the wall toadmit light and air by day, and blocked up with a bundle of rags at night. A large portion of the inmates in the London Fever Hospital, and of the vagrants brought up at the Police Courts, are destitute agricultural labourers, whom the Magistrates send to prison for a short time. Could they show a blooming and ruddy population as the effect of the Corn-laws, there might be some grounds for asking to continue the injustice ; but when the protection does not benefit either farmer or labourer, its advocates have not a leg to stand upon: and the facts alleged he was prepared to prove before the Committee. What was wanted was, not acts of Parliament to protect the farmer, but fresh bargains, fresh leases, fresh terms. Before no previous Committee had both sides of the question been fairly stated, and he wanted further evidence. He wanted no man to be examined who was not a landowner or a farmer. They could have Peers also : he would call for the evidence of Lord Ducie and Lord Spencer, and gentlemen opposite might send for the Duke of Richmond and the Duke of Buckingham : let them examine his witnesses and he would examine theirs. They might have a majority of Protectionists on the Committee, if they would ; and he did not claim to be Chairman, but only to attend as an individual member. " What objections there can be to the Committee, I cannot understand. Are you afraid that to grant it will increase agitation ? I ask the honourable Baronet the Member for Essex [Sir John Tyrrell], whether he thinks the agitation is going down in his part of the country ? 1 rather think there is a good deal of agitation going on there now. Do you really think that the appointment of a dozen gentlemen to sit in a quiet room up stairs and hear evidence will add to the excitement out of doors ? Why, by granting my Committee, you will be withdrawing me from the agitation for one. (Laughter.) But I tell you, that you will raise excitement still higher than it is if you allow me to go down to your constituents, your vote against the Committee in my hand, and allow one to say to them—' I only asked for inquiry : I offered the landlords a majority of their own party ; 1 offered them to go into Committee, not as a Chairman, but as an individual member; I offered them all possible advantages; and yet they would not, they dared not, grant a Committee of inquiry into your condi- tion.' " They bad no right to say to the farmers, as Lord Stanley did, " You must not plod an as your grandfathers did before you ; you must not put your hands behiud your backs and drag one foot after the other in the old-fashioned style of going to work "; while they themselves taught the farmer to look to protection instead of depending on his own energies. In conclusion, he moved " for a Select Committee to inquire into the effect of protective duties on im- ports upon.the interest of tenant-farmers and farm-labourers in this country."

Mr. GLADSTONE opposed the motion by suggesting difficulties and sources of embarrassment.

He participated in Mr. Cobden's indignation respecting the degraded condi- tion of cottage's in Dorsetshire. One argument for the agricultural system is, the kindly ties which connect the different ranks together; and in pointing out such cases, Mr. Cobden would be cutting the ground from beneath their feet, if the cases were not, in fact, exceptional. The mover's speech embraced so many distinct subjects for inquiry, that it was very difficult to know what the real scope of the inquiry was to be. He had unfairly assumed that parti- cular spots represented the state of four counties, and then that those counties represented the whole country. The effect of mixing up the inquiry into the condition of the agricultural population with inquiry into the effect of the Corn-law, would be to place many gentlemen favourable to the existing Corn- law in a false position of hostility to agricultural improvement, which the Com- mittee would thus retard. Mr. Gladstone denied the declaration imputed to Sir Robert Peel, that the price of corn could be fixed by Act of Parliament. He treated as incredible Mr. Cobden's computation of the proportion of rent to other farming expenses; and contended that'Mr. Cobden argued the question upon abstract principles, without adapting his arguments to the condition of a coun- try in which a protective system has long prevailed. Mr. Cobden had failed to prove any connexion between the existing distress and the existing Corn-law. As well might the existence of machinery concurrently with distress in the manufacturing:districts be regarded as the cause of that distress. The House had sufficient information on the subject of freights, and the Committee could throw no furtherlight on that point. Mr. Cobden thought the protection laws were useless or injurious to farmers and farm-labourers : others thought differently ; and the Member for Wiltshire [Mr. W. Benett] remarked, that if you press upon the landlord, you will force him either to farm his own land or to resort to some cheaper mode of cultivation. But the great argument against change of the-Corn-laws is the great and sudden displacement of manual labour that it must cause. The Committee was to examine the subject of freights, the power of Parliament to regulate the price of corn, the doctrine of rent. The condition of the agricultural labourer and the whole subject of agricultural improvement were too vast—nay, the inquiry proposed to embrace all pro-

tecting-duties, including the sugar-duties ; and he objected to the Committee on the ground that it would paralyze trade, and give a needless importance to the Anti-Corn-law League.

Mr. Hewns characterized the preceding speech as frivolous and, trifling.

Formerly, when agricultural distress was before the House, there was no ob- jection to settle the question of rent ; but now, when a decrease of protection

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is demanded, it is objected that the abstract question of rent stands in the way of inquiry. He insisted that Sir Robert Peel said—" Under the new Corn-law I fully expect you will have a price of 56s. or 58s." He argued that the effect of the refusal would be to increase the agitation of the question in the country; and be maintained that a review of the last fifteen or twenty years in the com- mercial history of the country proved every Free-trade measure carried into operation to have been succeeded by abundance and increase of wealth. Mr. Hawes also contrasted Mr. Gladstone's speech with a paper advocating free trade in the Foreign and Colonial Review, imputed to him.

Lord POLLINGTON opposed the motion ; applauding free trade if truly, free, and not carried on with countries excluding British products ; and contradicting a statement in the Morning Chronicle of December the 26th, that Mr. Rand, of Bradford, had joined the Anti-Corn-law League.

Mr. Scorr followed on the same side. He denied the analogy be- tween Jersey, the smallest country in Europe, and England, or between wool and corn.

The further Mr. Cobden departed from the tall chimnies of which he was so much enamoured, the further he departed from accuracy. His account of the average wages in Scotland was altogether wrong: the true average would Li from 9s. to 12s. or 13s.

Lord WORSLEY combated Mr. Cobden's agricultural statistics. He quoted the statement of receipt and expenditure in managing a farm for four years : the value of the produce was 3,4501., the cost 2,6661., exclusive of rent ; which was 800!. Mr. Cobden was correct in excepting Lincoln from what he had said respecting the state of the agricultural labourers ; but Lord Worsley had seen reports which confirmed what he said with regard to the South part of the island. In fact, it was a marvel to him, and to many other persons with whom he had conversed, how anybody could support himself on the wages that were given in the South of England. A friend of his had told him that he bad met a farmer from Yorkshire and another from Lincolnshire, at present farming in Berkshire, who had told him that they did not mean to stay there, they found wages so low. They could not, they said, be the persons to begin to give higher wages than were given in their districts, but they were not satisfied with the existing system. In their own counties, they observed, they had found no difficulty, on an emergency or in harvest-time, of getting more work from their labourers without reluctance or grumbling on their part ; but where they were it was difficult and disagreeable to get their labourers to make an effort. This was the statement of these practical farmers ; and he believed that, although wages in the Northern parts of England were compara- tively high, the farmers were, nevertheless, flourishing. The superior state of Lincolnshire, Lord Worsley attributed to the confidence produced by the cus- tom of continuing farms from father to son, and to the high wages-13s. to ifs. 6d.—given to labourers.

Mr. BROTHERTON supported the motion. Colonel WOOD opposed it. Mr. CURTEIS denied that Mr. Cobden's statements were applicable to Surrey.

Colonel &Braw n. attacked the language in the Anti-Corn-law Cir- cular, Mr. Cohden's new attempt to " humbug " the people, and the " infernal " Reform Bill.

Mr. VILLIERS taunted the Members for the Counties named by Mr. Cobden with their silence, and supported the motion generally.

Mr. BARNES pointed with satisfaction to the independent declaration of opinion by tenant-farmers at the Anti-League meeting ; and quoted a report cited by Mr. Cobden, to show that in Dorsetshire wages are higher than in a neighbouring county, while the value is augmented by houses rent-free, potato-grounds, and other immunities. He had repeatedly told Mr. Osborne that his hook contained conspicuous in- accuracies. As to the cottages, some were old poor-houses, with which the parishes knew not what to do. Others nominally belonged to some great pro- prietor; but not really, for the system of life-rents still prevails in some parts.

Mr. BRIGHT boasted the influence possessed by his party, if not within the House, at least out of doors. He contributed more instances of wretched condition among-the agricultural labourers ; and threatened that Mr. Cobden and he would again take a tour through the agricul- tural districts, to tell the farmers that the landowners sought, not to re- lieve their distress, but to keep them as they were.

Mr. NEWDEGATE quoted two letters written by members of the Anti- Corn-law League, recommending the League to take up the Suffrage question in a Democratic spirit ; and he asserted that persons connected with the League fomented the disturbances in the agricultural districts.

Dr. Bowaneo and Mr. W. 0. STANLEY supported the motion, amid in- creasing signs of impatience.

The House divided after one o'clock in the morning. For the motion, 133 ; against it, 224 ; majority against the motion, 91.

PROBATE-DUTY ON REAL PROPERTY.

Mr. HOWARD ELPHINSTONE proposed, on Thursday, to extend the probate and legacy duties to real property. The probate-duty is an ad valorem tax levied on the whole amount of per- sonal property at the time of any individual's death ; the legacy-duty is un- posed at a rate according to the degree of relationship between the deceased and the party benefited. From these charges real property is entirely free, ex- cept that certain annuities and rent-charges are held liable to legacy duty. Mr. Pitt, the originator of these taxes, expressly intended to impose them on all kinds of property. Besides the manifest injustice, the present law gives rise to curious anomalies. Leaseholds for years are considered in law as per- sonal property, and are therefore liable to this description of tax, whilst leases for lives are considered as freehold or real property, and are not subject to it. There are boroughs in this country—South Shields, for instance—in which one-half of the town are let on leases for lives, and the other half on leases for years; the consequence is, that half the inhabitants of the town are subject to this heavy tax, whilst the other half are exempt from it. He asked the House, how it could allow taxation to be levied on this mere technical difference? The total amount accruing to the revenue from the probate and legacy duties is about 2,500,0001. yearly ; and he cited several figures making out that the extension of the tax to real property would produce 1,500,000/. It is said that landed property is already subjected to an equivalent in the shape of the stamp- duty on conveyances and other instruments : but of 1,200,000!. levied in that way, only 400,000/. is raised from real property ; the remainder arising from leases in large towns, settlements of money in the Funds, and other personal property. It is also said that property held under trust would escape : bat nothing could be more easy than to remedy this objection, because they would only have to declare that on the death of a cestui gate trust the person next entitled to the beneficial interest should be liable to the duty. He moved a resolution embodying his proposal.

Mr. TRELAWNEY seconded the motion.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER took a preliminary objection, that the motion was out of order ; appealing to the Speaker.

The SPEAKER had doubts as to the propriety of the motion,—whe- ther it could be proposed without the assent of the Crown ; and whether it could be passed except in a Committee of Ways and Means, as a duty for the service of the year. Moreover, it is necessary that the Supplies should be voted, before any tax upon the people can be proposed to make up the Supplies. He was not aware of any precedent for the motion.

After some discussion, it was agreed to adjourn the debate till Tuesday, in order to a search for precedents.

ENCLOSURE OF COMMONS.

On Tuesday, Lord WORSLEY, having moved the second reading of his Commons Enclosure Bill, Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD opposed it. The bill endangered the right of the English people which is called the right of common, and which they have enjoyed from the earliest times of their Saxon ancestry. His principal objections to the measure were, that in the clause authorizing a public meeting to decide upon an enclosure bill, it provided no means of ascertaining whether or not those who were present had a right to be there ; the restrictions which it imposed respecting the tenure of the poorer commoners effectually excluded them from taking a part in the meeting ; the functions of the Tithe Commissioners would shortly cease [in four years], and it almost seemed as if the measure had been suggested by some one anxious to perpetuate their employment. The argument that the bill would diminish ex • pense was against it, for the expense of enclosure acts is one safeguard to the rights of the poor. He was by no means opposed to the enclosure of lands if effected on some principle just to the poor, such as allotment of lands to the poorer residents. He moved that the bill be read a second time that day six months.

Colonel STRTHORP seconded the amendment. He objected to the ex- pensive machinery of assistants and secretaries ; pointed out the incon- sistency of enclosing common lands, while they were widening the streets of the Metropolis to give the people fresh air ; and the incon- sistency of bringing into cultivation additional acres when they were told that they ought to encourage the importation of foreign corn. If the motion were agreed to, he should take the sense of the House on each of the 149 clauses.

Mr. WILLIAM COwPER supported the motion, as tending to give addi- tional employment to the people. The bill was also supported by Mr. DARBY, Mr. ACLIONRY, Mr. W. MILES: it was opposed by Colonel WOOD (Brecon) and Mr. Iluatz; who would throw every impediment in the way of grasping proprietors that wish to take every plot of ground away from the poor.

Sir ROBERT PEEL thought that the bill ought to pass into Committee, in order to the consideration of the details.

The enclosure of many kinds of land would be extremely beneficial; but he -should look with great jealousy to a bill giving any summary power of enclosing commons in the neighbourhoods of towns. He did not speak of large towns, such as Glasgow or Manchester, but of towns containing 2,000 or 3,000 inha- bitants. He thought it was a great advantage that there should be open spaces accessible to the poor ; and that it would be very unwise to apply a rigid prin- ciple of political economy, and to say that by enclosing those spaces a greater quantity of vegetable food could be produced. They had a perfect right to set the considerations of health, innocent recreations, and moral improvement, against the mere considerations of pecuniary gain. And if they could prove to him that by the enclosure of those lands for a certain period of time there would be a demand for labour, and ultimately a permanent increase of produce, that would not be a consideration with him as conclusive as the question, whether it would not interfere with the healthful amusements and recreation of the people. There were many eases in which unless precautions were taken they would have those spaces enclosed. For instance, it might be for the benefit of a corporation that certain lands should be enclosed, and they might be so en- closed ; but what would be the condition of the poor? The poor might be proud of their common lands; they connected them with the soil ; and by enclosing them it was dealing with the rights, not of the present inhabitants alone, but of posterity ; and the more they could multiply those feelings on the part of the poor, the more it would strengthen the foundations of property. Let the House recollect also, that what was done was irrevocable. Towns, too, might increase; and that was an additional reason why they should not permit too hasty an in- terference with unenclosed ground.

On a division, the second reading was carried, by 70 to 23.

MAYNOOTH COLLEGE.

In the House of Lords, on Tuesday, Lord MONTEAGLE, moving for certain papers, drew attention to the state of the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth.

Before the College was founded, in 1795, Parliament prohibited the educa- tion of Roman Catholics in Ireland, both lay and clerical. Foreign countries, not inattentive to the advantages thus held out to them, provided ecclesiastical education for nearly five hundred Roman Catholic Irish ; colleges having been founded at Nantes, Bordeaux, St. Omer, Salamanca, Lisbon, Rome, and Douay. The education was gratuitous, and therefore chiefly applicable to the poorer class, whence the Irish Catholic clergy were principally selected. There were indeed enlightened men among them, and they obtained preference to act as chaplains in the Royal Family of France a notable instance was the Abbe Edgeworth. who attended Louie the Sixteenth in his last moments. But upon the whole, foreign education could not be relied upon as a means of enabling the Boman Catholic priesthood to confer the greatest benefit upon the Irish people. Mr. Leslie Foster, Mr. Grant, and other competent authorities, highly approve of Maynooth College as a substitute for Continental education. It was founded by Mr. Pitt, at the suggestion of Mr. Burke ; and no public establishment has been subjected to greater scrutiny. Nevertheless, a want of knowledge of the facts produced in this country some indisposition to exercise proper liberality towards the College. There are about 500 students ; 250 supported by Parliament ; with an annual vote of 9,00W. a 3ear. The utmost sum allowed for the education of a priest for a year is 231., including commons, fuel, and candles ; and even that sum is at times divided between two persons. The College is so over-crowded, that three or four persons are obliged to occupy one room; and everything is out of repair and in a state of dilapidation. There are no philosophical instruments for scientific instruction ; there is no library, no proper supply of books ; and last year the institution was in such distress that the vacation was obliged to be prolonged for five months in continuance. Nothing would more conciliate quiet and peaceably-disposed persons in Ireland than an increase of the grant. There are no fellowships connected with the College, but the best students might be endowed for three years with small sums of 101. to 501. as rewards for desert and literary merit. What he argued for was, that men who are enlightened must make the better priests.

The Duke of WELLINGTON wished that Lord Monteagle had delayed his motion, as he had not had time to peruse the voluminous documents on the subject. Undoubtedly, Government must take the whole matter into consideration ; but he was not authorized to say that there would be any alteration of the grant.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE remarked, that delay in settling this question had been the besetting sin of all Governments ; and he con- tended that the College should either be destroyed, which few would venture to propose, or rendered thoroughly official.

The motion was agreed to.

DUELLING AND ITS SUPPRESSION.

In the House of Commons, on Monday, the report of the Committee of Supply on the Army and Ordnance Estimates was brought up. On coming to the clause relating to widows' pensions, Captain Beart.in moved for a copy of correspondence between the Secretary at War and the widow of the late Colonel David Lynar Fawcett, relative to the withholding of her pension.

On a former evening, Sir Robert Peel had rested the refusal simply on the

ground of discouraging duelling; urging no special circumstances in the case. He had searched for precedents, but found none, except the refusal of Lord Palmerston, in 1817, to grant a pension to the widow of an officer who com- mitted suicide; a case which bore no analogy to the present. He did not intend to raise the question of duelling generally ; but he advised Mr. Turner to withdraw the notice which he had given of a motion on the subject, and devise a bill, by which the relations of a person killed in a duel might proceed against the survivor for compensation, which is the law both of France and Scotland. Sir Henry Hardinge had told the House the other night, that, under a clause of the Mutiny Act, any officer sending or conveying a challenge was liable to be tried by a Court-martial, and, if convicted, to be cashiered. The clause is now entirely a dead letter. He could say that no officers in an ordi- nary case would refuse a challenge, and that he bad not known of any instance of either the conveyer or promoter of a challenge having been brought before a Court-martial. There was, be believed, one instance of an officer having in the year 1824 been deprived of his half-pay for having fought a duel. That was the case of Ensign Batty ; but his offence was not so much fighting a duel as fighting his superior officer; and in a general order issued that year from the Horse Guards, the noble Marquis [Londonderry] who was his antagonist, was blamed for fighting a duel with his inferior officer. He held iu his hand a remarkable letter, which settled the point as to the total disregard of the clause : the writer said—" Is a gentleman who happens to be the King's Minister to submit to be insulted by any gentleman who thinks proper to attribute to him disgraceful or crimi- nal motives for his conduct as an individual ? I cannot doubt of the decision which I ought to make on this question. Your Lordship is alone re- sponsible for the consequences. I now call upon your Lordship to give me that satisfaction for your conduct which a gentleman has a right to require, and which a gentleman never refuses to give." That letter was signed " Welling- ton." It was needless for him to remind the House that that noble and dis- tinguished individual now held the command at the Horse Guards; nor was it perhaps necessary to remind them that the conveyer of that letter now ably filled the office of Secretary at War. ("Sear, hear!" and laughter.) And yet, with such acts by such high authorities before them, they were told of the exertion of legitimate influence to discourage duelling ; and there was a boast of depriving an unfortunate widow of her pension—the widow of a man who probably thought that in accepting a challenge he was but conceding " that satisfaction which a gentleman never refuses to give." Sir Henry Hardinge had said the other night, that there was no instance of an officer being cashiered for not fighting a duel: he was not aware whether an officer had ever been cashiered, but in 1818 there was an instance (he refrained for obvious reasons from mentioning names) of a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Marines being tried by court-martial for "neglecting to demand the honourable adjustment of a quarrel." And very recently, an ensign in the First Bombay European Regiment was tried for conduct unbecoming an officer, because he had received a blow without resorting to those means of redress which were open to him : he was sentenced to be deprived of his rank and pay for six months. Of another case he could speak from his own knowledge : an officer, after having been in- sulted, refused to fight a duel, and was driven out of his regiment. He was much younger when he took part in that transaction, but he did not mean now to shrink from the part he took, nor did he hesitate to avow the senti- ments which then actuated him. He believed he had now said enough to show what anomalies there were in the system. If an officer refused to take part in. a duel, he was judged and condemned accordingly ; if he took part in one and his antagonist fell, he was liable to be tried for his life; and, as if to fill up the measure of vengeance, his widow was after his death liable to be deprivedof her pension. It was indeed a mistake to suppose that widows were entitled to their pensions ; but it should be remembered, that if Colonel Fawcett had sold his commission a week before his death, the sum of 3,2001. would have been at the disposal of his widow. Disclaiming all imputation on the Attorney-General for Ireland, he was nevertheless at a loss to understand how Sir Robert Peel could treat that affair as a mere breach of decorum, while in the case of Colonel Fawcett he deprived the widow of her pension.

Dat vent= corvis, cexta ceusurd columbas."

He could not but still hope, that on reflection the pension would not be with- held, but would be granted to the widow of an officer declared by Sir Robert Peel to have been "a man of great military reputation, who had distinguished himself in the service of his country." (Cheers.) Sir HENRY HARDINGE justified the course which he had taken.

In the exercise of his discretion, he bad been governed by the special ciroam- stances of the case, and not by any direct and general rule. An agent had twice applied for a pension for Mrs. Fawcett. He answered to the first appli- cation, in September, that he did not think he could recommend the grant of a pension, but postponing a decided answer. A month later, to avoid paining the lady, or putting on written record any thing that might prejudice the case of Lieutenant Munro, he sent his private secretary to tell the agent that the relationship between the parties rendered the duel so unjustifiable that a pen- sion could not be granted. About that time, Sir Robert Peel, then in the country, wrote to him, asking " when steps would be taken to supersede Lieutenant Munro; a considerable time now having elapsed and he not having appeared to take his trial ? " He replied, that Mr. Munro's friends held out hopes that he would take his trial; and he still delayed taking away the com- mission, in order not to prejudice the case. He referred to precedents for judging on the circumstances of each case. A duel had occurred in Ceylon, when he was Secretary at War; and, acting upon Lord Palmerston's principle in the case of suicide, he said that the pension could not be granted to the widow. His successor, Mr. Wemyss, took the same view ; saying that no circumstances of palliation had been alleged. Sub- sequently, however, it appeared that Captain Boyd, the deceased officer, with- out blame to himself, had been in a manner forced into the challenge; and the pension was granted. In the present case, it was impossible to grant the widow a pension, the parties having been such near relations; there having also beet

no insult which could not by moderate means have been cleared up; nothing having passed between the parties but one of them having said to the other, " Your manner is so offensive that I would thank you to walk out of my house." Other considerations besides the husband's services are requisite to justify a pension : for example, the widow of one who had fallen in action would have had a double pension. Some thirty years ago, during the war, our officers were systematically insulted and provoked to fight duels by foreign officers, so that four or five would occur in a day: but few would deem the Government wrong in not refusing the widows their pensions. In the Marquis of Londonderry's case, the general order had issued not because the Marquis fought with an officer of inferior rank, but because he had fought an officer on half pay, not amenable to military law. The distinction was obvious. As to the Duke of Wellington, his had been a case of collision with a nobleman not in the Army at all. As to officers not having been dismissed for fighting duels, be could state that he distinctly remembered one case—that of General Burton, who, having been on full pay, had been dismissed for that reason. With re- gard to the case of the Colonel of Marines who had been brought to a court- martial and cashiered—as alleged for not having accepted challenges—that officer had allowed insults to pass unresented for several years; which at last having been maliciously brought forward against him by a brother officer, the ease was found, on the criminations and recriminations between the parties, to have been an discreditable for both, that they were both dismissed the service— one of them on half-pay.

It had been stated that Government had done every thing to discourage duelling ; but lie bad not before been at liberty to say that her Majesty had authorized the insertion of new articles in the Mutiny Act, which it was hoped would have the effect of discouraging the practice. Serious and earnest con- sideration bad been given to the subject, not only by the Duke of Wellington but by her Majesty ; who, so soon as she heard of the late lamentable duel, ex- pressed herself most desirous of devising some expedients by which this bar- barous custom should be as much as possible discouraged. The amended Articles ran thus : "Every officer who shall give or send a challenge, or who shall accept a challenge to fight a duel with soother officer, or who, being privy to any intended duel, shall not take active measures to prevent it, or who shall upbraid another officer for not having accepted or sent a challenge, or who shall reject a reasonable and honourable proposition for compromise, shall be liable, if convicted by a General Court-martial, to be cashiered, and to suffer such punishment as the Court shall award. And in the event of any officer being brought to a Court-martial for acting as second in a duel, and it shall appear that he bad strenuously endeavoured to effect an honourable adjustment of the differences existing, and which endeavour on his part failed through the refusal of his proposals by the other side, such officer shall suffer such punishment as the Court may award." Then came the important declaratory portion of the new Article, in which her Majesty's wishes were more particularly expressed, and which certainly ought to be observed and obeyed, as they were really reasonable and just. "And her Majesty hereby declares her approbation of all those officers who, having had the misfortune of giving offence to, or having injured or insulted, any other officers, shall frankly explain, or apologize, or offer any amends for the same ; or who, having had the misfortune of receiving offence, by insult or by injury, shall cordially accept any such explanations, apologies, or amends as may be offered to them ; and of those officers who, if such explanations or apologies shall be refused them, shall submit the matter to be dealt with by the commanding-officer of the garrison ; and her Majesty acquits of disgrace or opinion of disadvantage such officers as, being willing to make or to accept such explanations or apologies, shall refuse to give or to accept challenges ; and approves of their adopting a course suited to honourable men who are desirous of doing their duty both as good subjects and as good soldiers subordinate to military discipline." (Cheers.) The effect of these new Articles would be, that her Majesty's approbation was distinctly declared as to that course of explanation which, in nine cases out of ten, he rejoiced to say, was pursued; and further, it was recom- mended, that when any difficulty occurred in such a course, the matter should be referred to the commanding-officer. Her Majesty's commands were more- over, that officers rejecting this course of honourable adjustment, and persisting in fighting, should be brought to a court-martial and cashiered but, in the case of seconds who had strenuously exerted themselves to prevent duelling, they were to be subjected to punishments not so severe as those deserved who had obstinately refused terms of accommodation. He believed that the effect of these regulations would be to discourage duelling to a great extent in the Army ; where, however, he could express his confident opinion that it did not take place to any great extent at present. A battalion at Chatham, in which there were from twenty to thirty depots of regiments, had not had in it for eight years a single duel. Cases in which officers were practically excluded for not fighting duels, were cases in which officers had acted dishonourably or with a want of proper courage ; and they were cases which it was impossible to meet by any alteration in the Articles. The amended Articles, indeed, would only apply to officers on full pay, who, being in the actual discharge of pro- fessional duties in garrisons, in barracks, or in ports, were of course necessarily subject to military discipline, and could only thus be kept in proper subordina- tion by the means being afforded of immediately suppressing any quarrels that might arise among them ; and on this principle the new Articles had been framed. Bat, if any such officers on full pay should quarrel with any parties in private life, out of the Army, be was as fully at liberty to vindicate his in- sulted honour as any other individual : for he never would be a party to propos- ing for members of the profession of arms—an honourable profession—restraints which did not apply to other classes of society, in respect of a practice which, however unfortunate and barbarous, society yet allowed to exist ; and he could never be a party to exposing a military man, merely because he bore her Ma- jesty's commission, to insults to which no other persons need submit. In like manner, it was not possible by the Articles of War to affect officers on half- pay ; though, of course, in those detestable and flagrant cases in which public opinion ran decidedly against the aggressor, the Queen might exercise her prerogative.

He would assent to the production of the papers, but with no hope of the pension's being granted. Among the considerations were the circumstances of the widow ; it not being the practice to grant a pension if the circumstances of the widow did not need such aid ; and he believed that such was the case with Mrs. Fawcett.

Mr. THOMAS DUNCOMBE corrected some mistakes into which Sir Henry Hardinge had fallen ; his authority being a letter from Lieute- nant Munro to himself, from which he read extracts, showing that the writer had received aggravated provocation—bad acted on the advice of several military friends, among them a general officer—and had done his best to avoid the duel. [Of this letter we give an account else- where.] Mr. Duncombe could understand that there might be special circumstances militating against the grant of a pension—there might, for example, be a case in which the wife was cognizant of the duel and sanctioned it : but he contended that Mr. Munro had been hardly treated. That gentleman was not to blame in the affair : he was the victim of the barbarous system of duelling. Had he acted otherwise he would have been scouted from the corps of which he was the ornament ; and now, if he came and threw himself on the laws of " God and his coun- try," in all probability he would be visited by sentence of transporta- tion. The proposed new Articles were not enough : the House should express a strong opinion on the subject ; and half-pay officers should be brought within reach of punishment.

Sir CHARLES NAPIER believed that a warrant had been issued, stating cases in which the widow's pension would not be granted; but duelling was not among them ; and as to the minute about the Ceylon officer, it had not been made public, and probably Colonel Fawcett had never heard of it. It could not be thought that Mrs. Fawcett had been pro- perly treated, unless it could be explained that she was cognizant of the duel and did not do her best to prevent it. Sir Charles suggested methods of discouraging duels : the practised pistol-shooter should be punished ; duellists should be disqualified for office, from the first Minis- ter of the Crown down to Attorney-Generals.

Lord PALMERSTON made some generalizing observations, which agreed in the main with Sir Henry Hardinge's, recognizing the widow'', pension as a kind of augmentation to the husband's pay in reward of services. in the particular case, Colonel Fawcett was not the chal- lenger ; he appeared least to blame ; and a different decision might very well have been come to. As a general rule, seconds are most to blame; for they are usually in a position to judge of the merits of the quarrel, and to oblige the party most in fault to make the proper con- cession.

Sir ROBERT PEEL expressed cordial approval of the course taken by Sir Henry Hardinge ; whose arguments he briefly supported. He thought that, as far as a decided expression of opinion from the highest authority could have effect, the new Articles of War would tend to re- move any odium which might be presumed to attach to those who, doing that which was right by others, refused to become in their own persons parties to a breach of the law of the land.

Mr. BERNAL complained that the House was sitting as a pseudo court of justice on a case of which they knew nothing: for the opinion of all the military officers, that Lieutenant Munro must resort to the extreme remedy, showed that something much worse than any thing stated had been kept hack. If officers did not fear dismissal for not fighting a duel, they feared being sent to Coventry, which was worse than being cashiered. He anticipated little good from the new regu- lations.

Lord HowicE contended, that the recognition of special circum- stances as modifying the judgment on a duel, conveyed a positive sanc- tion to duels under certain other circumstances ; and the argument used by Sir Henry Hardinge for limiting the restriction of the new Articles to duels between officers on full-pay, positively sanctioned officers on full-pay to fight officers on half-pay or civilians ; but where was the distinction in morality ?

Lord CHARLES Frrzaov regretted that the debate promised to elicit little that tended to suppress duelling.

Mr. WILLIAM COWPER avowed the opinion that a duel is unjusti- fiable under any circumstances ; and he declared that he never would fight one. He thought that differences between officers might be sub- mitted to the arbitration of Courts-martial.

Sir ROBERT INCLIS lauded Mr. Cowper's bold avowal ; and com- plained that Ministers had returned to a communication from the As- sociation for the Prevention of Duelling, transmitting an address to the Crown, a dry acknowledgment of its receipt, such as they might have sent to so many Chartists.

Mr. W. 0. STANLEY and Mr. E. TURNER called for more stringent measures against duelling.

Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR was grateful to Ministers for what they had done.

Mr. BROTHERTON pointed to the inconsistency of reprobating duel- lists, while the House votes thanks to " heroes " who kill men on a great scale. If the House, however, were to express its abhorrence of duelling, it would be followed by a good result.

The motion was withdrawn, on the understanding that it would not be opposed if brought forward next evening ; and the remainder of the resolutions passed in Committee of Supply were reported.

Captain BERNAL moved for the correspondence on Tuesday ; and the motion was agreed to.

In reply to Mr. GILL, Sir HENRY HARDINGE admitted that two offi- cers of the Seventy-sixth Regiment had been under arrest since July last, in consequence of a dispute, and in order to prevent ulterior con- sequences. The two were, a junior officer, who was the bearer of a challenge to a senior officer, and the aggressor, who was very much to blame, but had subsequently made the most ample apologies. He was about to be tried by a court-martial for his conduct. About that time the Commander-in-chief contemplated measures to suppress duelling; but, as the officers had been ander arrest so Jong, it was now the inten- tion to release them with a suitable admonition.

On Thursday, Mr. TURNER moved a resolution—" That duelling is immoral in its tendency ; that it brings into contempt the laws of the country ; is contrary to Divine command; and ought to be abolished;" supporting this motion in a speech of some length. He complained that the Government measure against duelling stopped far short of what was needed. He quoted Paley against the practice as amounting to murder, and alluded approvingly to the institution of a society, comprising 349 officers and civilians of rank and influence, to abolish the custom. Other countries have taken active steps for its prevention. Our law is too severe, and therefore Juries do not carry it out. He would abolish capital punishment, except in the case of duels fought without seconds; substituting some milder punishment, as transportation. Such a course had been found greatly to dimi- nish the crime of forgery. By the law of Switzerland, any person who killed another in a duel became liable for the debts of the deceased. (Laughter.) He was sanguine enough to believe, that in high life in this country even the adoption of such a law as this would produce a most excellent effect. (Re- mewed laughter.) The law of Switzerland also provided that an action should lie for damages against the nearest of kin. His conviction was,judging from h story, that imprisonment and exclusion from Government offices had ever been found the moat effectual means of preventing the practice of duelling; a plan adopted by James the First, and approved by Lord Bacon. Queen Anne had also issued a proclamation of the kind ; and so had Lord Fortescue, when L ird-Lieutenant, in Ireland. As to past duels, he would have an act of obli- vion ; and the widow's pension should be granted as an act of grace.

Mr. EWART seconded the motion; but deprecated the infliction of capital punishment in any case.

Mr. Wxttrard COWPER combated the notion that legislation can only proceed by punishment. The delinquency arose not so much from the individuals as the state of the law. The practice arose in barbarous times, when men were so ignorant and unskilful in the sifting of evidence, that they could net find who was right and who wrong in a dispute, and in their ignorance they turned to their super- stitions, and appealed to the sword to try who was right. The root of the evil consisted in the law leaving one class of offences utterly unprovided for by any regulation whatever; for, with regard to offences against the honour of an in- diVidual, the law provided no adequate protection whatever. Courts of honour had been a subject of ridicule, he was aware ; but they bad been established, nevertheless, with good effect in some countries of Europe. In Russia, no officer of the army could fight a duel, because the punishment was so severe; therefore officers there had recourse to the court of honour. Judge Black- atm e contemplated the possibility of establishing courts that would give satis- faction.

Sir ROBERT PEEL counselled Members to pause before passing such a resolution.

It would be establishing a most dangerous precedent if the House were to take upon itself the office of interpreting the Divine commands. it might pro- hibit any practice that it thought should be prohibited ; but he objected to taking the initiative thus. And if agreed to, bow was it to be enforced ? If Mr. Turner proposed to introduce a bill, he would not throw any impediment in the way of its introduction, though it must take its chance for ultimate suc- cess according to its merits : but what need was there to preface it by such a resolution? The proposal of making a duellist answerable for the debts of his deceased antagonist would not for a moment be entertained by the House. As to courts of honour, there would be very great difficulty in giving legal sanction to any thing of the sort ; and he doubted whether any court could give repara- tion for wounded honour as readily as it might be obtained from the good feeling of the parties. He relied much upon public opinion, now set against duelling— upon the society for its prevention ; and be would do nothing to check the flow of that feeling.

Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR advised that all departments of the civil service of the State should be subjected to the same regulations as the Army with respect to duelling ; and the heads of each department could deal with the matter precisely as the heads of regiments could.

Mr. HUME thought it would be well if the public were given to un- derstand by Ministers, that no bne who had been concerned in duelling would be considered eligible for any office under the Crown, civil or military.

The resolution was supported by Mr. PLUMPTRE. Its withdrawal was counselled by Mr. WARBURTON, Mr. BROTHERTON, and Sir T. D. ACLAND. Mr. TURNER consented to withdraw it.

THE REVEREND MIL MARSH AND HIS DIOCESAN.

In the House of Lords, on Monday, Lord 'ALFORD called the Bishop of Peterborough's attention to some remarks in the Times of that morning [sharply animadverting on the Bishop for not having taken severe notice of the conduct of the Reverend Herbert Marsh, who figured at Northampton Assizes last week as the unsuccessful pro- secutor of a young Frenchwoman for extorting money from him under threat of exposing immoralities, which he did not deny. The particulars are stated in the Provincial news.] The Bishop of PETERBOROUGH said that he had heard none of the charges against Mr. Marsh until September last ; and when he had, there was no remedy. The great difficulty was, not that he was unwilling to proceed, but that now there was no remedy in the power of a Bishop but by a proceeding under the Church Discipline Act: that act was not applicable to such offences com- mitted longer ago than two years, and this crime had been committed four years ago : therefore his hands were tied. Of course, criminal conduct had taken place, but it was said to have been at Paris; and there was another clause in thi Church Discipline Bill which gave power to the Bishop to take notice of crimes committed only in his own diocese : there again he was ex- cluded. He could have no wish to screen the gentleman. if he had selfish objects in view, of course be should have taken advantage of the conduct of this Rector; for the living was in his own patronage, and he could have found many excellent persons who would bare been thankful for it, even if he had not put a friend into it, to serve his own interests. He was not to blame, but the law of the land. He had no authority to interfere; but be said to the friends of the person, " Do not allow him to take any duty in the diocese till he hears from me again." Mr. Marsh had been prevented from doing the duty in the church, which was performed by his curate.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Devizes ELECTION. On Tuesday, the SPEAKER informed the House, that the petition against the return of Mr. Ludlow Bruges for Devises had been abandoned.

Bauman. On the motion of Mr. ESTCOURT, on Wednesday, the House of Commons agreed to the following resolution, in addition to those regulating railway-bills; the object being to prevent the delay and inconvenience which might arise to the promoters of one railway on a competing line, in waiting for their opponents to appear before the Committee of Selection—"That no private bill for the construction of a new line of railway which shall have been reported to this House to be a competing line, shall be read a second time after Friday the 19th day of April next. That it be an instruction to the Com- mittee of Selection not to fix the time for bolding the first sitting of the Com- mittee on any private bill for the construction of a new line of railway, which shall have been reported to this House to be a competing line, after Friday the ad day of May next."

Mn. O'CoNNELL's MEASURES. Mr. O'CONNELL obtained leave, on Mon- day, to bring in a bill, of which the object is to facilitate the bequest and pur- chase of lands for Roman Catholic purposes in Ireland, especially with a view to providing glebes for the priests. He gave notice, that on an early day after Easter, he would move for leave to bring in a bill to define the law of conspiracy, and the evidence applicable thereto.

Also, be would, after Easter, move for leave to bring in a bill to repeal all the acts upon the relation of landlord and tenant in Ireland passed since the Union, and to substitute other provisions upon the subject.

APPELLATE JURISDICTION AMENDMENT BILL. In nominating a Select Committee on his bill to amend the constitution of the Judicial Committee of Council, on Monday, Lord BROUGHAM indignantly alluded to an imputation brought against him in an Opposition paper, that his motive was to make a place for himself. It was a story trumped up and invented by malice and her bastard sister falsehood—begotten by the father of lies upon the weakness of human nature. (Laughter.) He had refused such an office when thrice pressed upon him by the Lord Chancellor. If at his present time of life he had become—what he believed he had never yet been charged with—avaricious, surely it was likely he would have availed himself of his noble and learned friend's offer, instead of having to struggle with all those chances against the bill which arose from its being in his hands. The reason he had refused the offer was, that he thbught the bill ought not to have been brought in, as he did not then see the necessity of it. The arrears of business which had grown up, and the want of further judicial help in that House, had, however, since convinced him of its necessity. it might be asked, why he was the person. to bring in the bill? Because he it was who brought in the original bill forming the Judicial Committee, and also the bill of last year.

FEES OF CLERKS TO JUSTICES. On Wednesday, Lord WoRsLEy moved for a Select Committee to inquire into the present system of remunerating Clerks to Justices, with a view to remove the anomalous disproportion between small fines and costs. He cited several instances : for example, in Hertford- shire a person was fined 2d., the costs amounted to 14s. 6d, and the expenses to the county of sending him to gaol and maintaining him for three weeks were 3/ 4.s. 41d. The most advisable course would be to pay the fines into the county-rates, and out of those rates to apportion a fixed salary to Justices' Clerks; the amount of such salary to be determined by the Magistrates in Quarter-sessions. Mr. MANNERS SUTTON asked Lord Worsley to withdraw the motion ; as Sir James Graham intended to introduce a measure on the subject. Lord WORSLEY complied.

INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT. In a Committee of the whole House, on Tuesday, Mr. GLADSTONE obtained leave to bring. in a bill for enabling the Queen to extend to foreigners, under certain restrictions, the privileges of Bri- tish subjects with respect to copyright.

GAME-LAWS. Mr. WALLACE moved, on Thursday, "for leave to bring in a bill to extend the provisions of the Act 9 George IV., c. 69, [which prohibits the going armed by night for the purpose of destroying game,] to similar offences when committed on, highways, and other public roads and paths, daring the night, and when those offences are committed upon enclosed or open lands through which highways and other roads and paths pass." Seconded by Lard WORE-. LEY, and agreed to.

IMPORT-DUTIES, SMUGGLING, AND REVENUE. On Monday, Mr. HUME moved for a "Select Committee to examine into the present state of the tobacco-trade, and to inquire what effects have been produced by the changes in the laws relating to it; and whether any and what legislative measurere compatible with the general interests of the country, may be advisable, in order to promote the trade or to check smuggling in tobacco ; and to report thsin observations thereupon to the House."