NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE prelude to the grand act of next week has already begun ; the question of the Bill has been raised by the Lords. It was in- troduced on Monday, by the Marquis of WESTMINSTER, on the presentation of a petition ; and again, on Thursday, by Lord Chancellor BROUGHAM, on a similar occasion. The conversation on the former evening elicited a very zealous speech from a vene- rable ex-Chancellor, the Earl of ELDON; who is determined that the world shall be no better while he remains in it, if he can help it. A no less vigorous display by the venerable ex-Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was the result of the debate on Thursday. Lord WYNFORD has so huge a stake both in the property and the, reputation of the country, that his opinion cannot fail to be duly estimated ! Lord WHARNCLIFFE is not averse from the purifica- tion of Scotland, though he will resist that of England ; our neighbours' sins may be amended if they will, but it is essential to the salvation of the empire that we should keep our own. The de- bate of Thursday elicited another fact, of which few were previously aware. It seems Lord MELVILLE has beer. for several years em- ployed in earnest endeavours to mend the representative system of the North. What a pity that his endeavours had been kept so pkOfound a secret ! The Scotch Bill was committed on Monday pro forma. The Scotch superiority men—the paper voters, as our neighbours call them—have been preferring an earnest cry and prayer for com- pensation. No petition was ever more coldly received: it was scouted even by Sir EDWARD SUGDEN.
On Thursday, the House of Lords was the scene—we speak it with reverence—of what in a less holy place would be called no better than a squabble. Lord LONDONDERRY, after calling poor old Prince TALLEYRAND all manner of names—not behind his back, according to his Lordship's interpretation of the matter, in- asmuch as he spoke to the reporters, who speak to every body— wee so offended by Lord BROUGHAMS insinuating a doubt of the accuracy of his powers of conception, that he challenged the Lord Chancellor "out of the face !" It is extremely edifying to listen to the heroic HENRY HUNT challenging O'CONNELL ; but the at- tempt to fasten a duel on the chief law judge of the empire, out- blusters bluster. It is only justice to the Marquis to say, that, when he came to his right mind, he apoloeized with as much dig- nity as he offended with levity, and that, if nothing else in the quarrel became him, at least its endingdid.
,The question of Belgium, which we adverted to last week, proved quite as dreary and dull as we anticipated it would. It came on in the Commons on Tuesday, in the Lords on Thursday. The Oppo- sition are surely- hard put to it when they will raise a debate, in the English Parliament, on the King of Belgium hiring a few French officers to drill his awkward squads. What would LEOPOLD say were our Government, as the Tories would have it, to demand his reasons for this very common act of common policy? What would we say were LEOPOLD, in a similar case, to put a like question to England ? - The case of the DEACLES has been settled pro tempore, on the notion of Lord ALTHORP ; who thinks that a case of grossest oppression in a public magistrate is not worthy of being enter- tained by the representatives of the people of England. We shall see what the next House of Representatives will say to this doc- trine.
The grant to Maynooth College has been the subject of another pious dispute, in which the exemplary members for Lincoln and Shropshire bore a distinguished part. The Palaces have also attracted a portion of the attention of members. Buckingham House, it seems, now requires no more than 70,0001., to complete it. The Times would fain make the Committee of Taste pay all - --- that has been expended over the original estimate. In that case, they ought, in common fairness, to pay the 70,000/. also. The original estimate was meant to finish the pile. Lord BROUGHAM has introduced remaining Chancery Bills —for the regulation of the Master's Office. and for the better euardianship of Lunatics. The Bankruptcy Bill will be the law of the land in a few days—no one opposes it but Sir CHARLES WETHERELL. The Wine Regulation Bill is law already. A bill which proposes to effect a lone-desired reform has been brought forward by Mr. STANLEY—we mean the Irish Grand Jury Amend- ment Bill. And one has passed the Lords, nearly in silence, to effect the reform of a great and gross abuse which has been pressing upon the free people-of England since the days of the Conquest—the Game Bill. Yes, force naturee are feree nature no longer—partridges are desecrated ! Why- should noble Lords boggle at such a trifle as the Reform Bill after this ? Can Revo- lution itself do more ?
1. REFORM AND THE LORDS. The Marquis of WesranersrER. presented, on Monday, a petition from Chester, praying that their Lordships would pass the Reform Bill. After adverting to the numerous meetings on this subject, and to the strong and unani- mous sentiments entertained respecting it, the Marquis went on to remark on the conduct which he anticipated from the Lords under such circumstances.
He was convinced that if the measure should not be passed by them unanimously, it would still be carried by a very large majority of their Lordships ; and his reasons for thinking so were these. In the first place, he was quite certain, that, animated by those patriotic feelings for which their Lordships had been always distinguished, their Lordships, if they should consider the measure as one that would be productive of advan- tage and benefit to the people of this country, would not allow their pri- vate interests to stand in the way of carrying it into a law. But it was a great mistake to suppose that the private interests of their Lordships would be in any degree injuriously affected by this measure. It did un- doubtedly happen, that a certain number of their Lordships possessed property in places that sent members to the other House of Parliament ; but he'did not think that the circumstance of those places losing the right to return members to Parliament would at all injure the property which those noble Peers possessed there. At all events, there were very few noble Lords in that House who held property in such places, or who could, o'i that account, feel. inim:,m1 to the measure of Reform ; and he believed that the great majority of their Lordships felt no interest in the continuance of the franchise to those places. He Wonla not call the •. noble Lords who possessed such property " boroughinongers," as suchs term supposed the existence of a traffic in those boroughs ; but lie would call them " borough-proprietors ;" and he should not be at all surprised that They should feel opposed to the measure of Reform, and that they should call for compensation for the borofighs which were to be disfran- chised. They might perhaps imagine that compensation should be now awarded in the instances of those boroughs, as had been the case at the period of the Irish Union, when a certain number of boroughs were put an end to in Ireland. He did not suppose, however, that their Lordships generally would he inclined to attach much weight to these matters ; he did not think it at all likely that any questions relating to private interests of that sort would materially influence their Lordships in the considera- tion of the great and all-importantquestion of Reform. That was a ques- tion, besides, which peculiarly belonged to the other House of Parlia. ment. That House had thought fit to reform themselves. Whv, therefore, should their Lordships interfere under such circumstances? "Why should they interfere With that which most peculiarly belonged to the other House of Parliament ? He did not dispute their Lordships' perfect right and power to interfere in such a question : but there was such a thing as discretion, and in a case which so peculiarly belonged to the decision and determina-
tion of the other House of Parliament, their Lordships might think it wise and discreet not to interfere, but to allow the Bill which a large ma-
jority of the other House had sent up to them on that subject to pass without opposition. If their Lordships possessed any interest in, or control over, the proceedings in the other House, it could be only an in-
terest of a most improper and unconstitutional description. Each branch
of the Legislature should strictly confine itself to its own peculiar duties and privileges. In proportion as both Houses of Parliament took care not to deviate from the respective orbits in which they revolved, in the same proportion would they be respected and revered. But shoUld their Lordships wander from their own peculiar sphere, and shoilld they reject this Bill, which peculiarly concerned the Commons, and had been sent up to them from that House, the shock might be such, that each of their re spective orbs might fall into fragments, and become a splendid but at the same time a deplorable mass of ruins. The Earl of ELDON fired at what he deemed an attack on the power and privileges of the Upper House. He heard the Noble Marquis give advice to the Peers of the realm. Now he would take the liberty to tender them some advice also. He had no doubt that their Lordships would do their duty. (Loud cheers from the Opposition, and especially from the Duke of Cumberland and the Marquis of Londonderry.) He' would not presume at present to say what that duty was, but the time would come when it must be reasoned before the people of England what that duty was for their sakes. (Repeated cheers from the Opposition, echoed from the Ministerial benches.) It was not or. bfut at pre- sent to declare what the duty of their Lordships wou uttlie had b etiatellOpt tion, when the question came under their considerati had the experience of a long life, and he should not h Mon as to the course which it would be the duty of thei rdships.1Stur..
sue with regard to it. This he would say, that, so far fr that the
Peers of England had no interest in this question, h ,to *eine tain, that this country would have no constitution left to it if the Peers of England had no interest in such a question as this. Nay, he would go further; bred, as he had been, in loyalty, living under the law, and re- 'vering the constitution of his country, now that he had arrived at the age of fourscore years, he would solemnly declare, that he would rather die in bis place than not state that the proposition that the Peers of England had no inarest in this question, was the most absurd one that ever had been uttered or propounded there or elsewhere. (Loud cheers from the Opposition.) Lord Eldon enforced this argument at some length with great vehemence of tone and gestur,,, beating the table at every sen- tence. He sat down amidst the loud cheers of his party.
The Marquis of WESTMINSTER said he had been wholly misun- derstood; he never doubted that their Lordships had an interest in the Bill, as well as the right to deliberate upon it : but he denied that they had so strong- an interest in it as the Commons had.
Among the Reform petitions on Thursday, was one from Edin- burgh, presented by the Lord CHANCELLOR. The number of signa- tures to this petition was 36,150,—or somewhat more, as his Lord- ship observed, than one-fourth of the entire population of that city and neighbourhood ; that is, according to the received calculations of political arithmetic, the petition was signed by every male adult between sixteen and sixty—by every person capable of bearing arms—that the town and suburbs contained. Lord Brougham, in offering the petition to the House, dwelt at some length on the change of opinion on the question of Parliamentary Reform, which it indicated in the Northern metropolis in the course of the last twenty-five years. He adverted to the sober and calculating spirit of the people, as indicative of the permanence as well as progress of Reforming principles.
If ever there was a people less liable than any other to be carried away by sudden impulses—to become the tools of party agitators, and the prey alaction—the people of Scotland was that people. No people that he was aware of on the face of the earth, was less liable to be inlluenecd in that way than the population of Scotland. Now this people, the whole population of Scotland, after a solemn and mature deliberation, and after thoroughly discussing and investigating the entire subject, hail come to the resolution, one and all, of supporting those measures of Reform which his Majesty's Ministers had introduced to redress their grievances. The prayer of the present petitioners, who so truly represented the 140,000 or 150,000 persons that formed the population of the Northern metropolis, was, that their Lordships would pass the measures which had been brought forward by his Majesty's Government for effecting a Reform in the Commons House of Parliament.
Lord Brougham proceeded to describe the nature of the Edin- burgh representation, by which thirty-three self-elected individuals usurped the rights of the whole community. He concluded by stating, that if any attempt were made on Monday to draw a line of distinction between the two countries, and to argue that rotten boroughs were essential to England, though Reform might be ne- cessary in Scotland, he would show that the close elections of the latter were as sacred and essential to the present constitution as Gatton and Old Sarum were. to WHARNCLIFFE denied thaCilLord Brougham had any right to assume that those who were hostile to the Ministerial plan of reforming England, must be friendly to the present system of re- presentation in Scotland. The representation in Scotland was of a totally different description. Indeed, he had no hesitation in at once declaring it as his opinion, that the state of the representation in Scotland presented a case which did require reform and amendment. (Loud cheers from the tiinisteriat side of the House.) He remarked, at the same time, that Scotland had prospered. beyond all precedent under the present system ; a circumstance which showed the propriety of proceeding to amend it with the greatest caution and deliberation. Lord BROUGHAM expressed his pleasure at learning from Lord Wharncliffe's address, that the case of Scotland was considered too bad to be upheld by any defence. He repeated, that if it were attempted to argue for the close boroughs in England, he would be prepared to grapple with those who held that doctrine, and show that Scotland was not to be subjected to a corruption-cleansing experiment while English rottenness was exempted. Lord WHARNCLIFFE reiterated, that Lord Brougham had no right to judge of his opinions respecting the English system from -what he said respecting Scotland. The Earl of CAMPERDOWN ridiculed the notion that the pros- perity of Scotland was connected with its system of representation. The prosperity of Scotland was to be traced to the Union with Lord MELVILLE denied that if the English Reform Bill were re- jected, that it followed the Scotch Reform Bill should be rejected also. He said, that so far from thinking the Scotch system re- quired no improvement, he had f ir years been endeavouring to carry measures for its improvement into effect. The Earl of CARNARVON said a few words on the impropriety of mixing the questions of Scotch and English Reform. Lord BROUGHAM again rose, to present the petition from the Corporation of London. On the prosperity argument, he remarked --ghat the country was flourishing before the abolition of the Slave-trade, and before Catholic Emancipation ; but would any -man say it flourished because barbarity and exclusion were not put down by law? He asked, what would be the effect of such an argument applied to the bills he had recently introduced ? Was A not true that the country prospered while the Court of Chancery flourished in perennial delay ? Lord WYNFORD denied that he was an Anti-Reformer, but he Would rather reject all Reform than accept of the Ministerial Bill. HP asked if Lord Brougham's opinions in respect to reform had not recently changed ?—
If they could see the Reform Bill which that noble Lord had himself drawn up last year, he was sure it would be found to differ, greatly from this measure; he was sure that nothing would be found in that bill de- structive of Gatton or Old Sarum, or of any other rotten borough in the country.
Lord HOLLAND said, the assertion of Lord Wynford conveyed a most pregnant remark for the consideration of that House, if true.
If it were true that men, gifted with the powers of Lord Brougham, thought on former occasions that certain reforms were necessary to the
welfare of the country,—if these reforms, aided by the energies of his noble. friend, and aided by those persons now so anxious not to be con- sidered Anti -Reformers,—if these partial reforms were uniformly rejected ;
ant if, notwithstanding this rejection, the country was now disposed to support a reform more comprehensive in its character and greater in its
results,— it was for that house solemnly to weigh, and deeply to reflect, what would be the consequences if they persevered blindly, stupidly, and dangerously, in rejecting the Bill. (Chet-ring from the Opposition &nehes, mingled with ruhPinent and rei:craled cheering front the illinisterial side.) That douse, he repated, was called upon to consider what would be the effect on all deliberating minds, if they rejected a measure adapted to the character of the times, in harmony with the wishes and interests of the people, and essentially calculated to leave the real constitution of the em- pire improved and confirmed. Lord Holland concluded by noticing two important admissions made in 1 he course of the debate,—ftrst, that the system of Scotch representation was grossly defective ; secondly, that Scotland had notwithstanding prospered very greatly. These admissions threw overboard for ever the sophistical doctrine that the system worked well ; since it was conceded, that in spite of the prosperity there is a necessity for change. They had now to contend not with the principle of Anti-Refo-rm, but with the degree of Reform necessary to be carried.
" And great," observed the noble Baron, " great indeed must be the difference of degrees, which could induce the House of Lords, whose in- terests are identified with the welfare of the whole community, to disap- point the wishes of the cverwhelming majority of the people cf this country, demanding and requesting Reform."
Lord WHARNC JAFFE said his sentiments were not derived from any new light on tiiis subject. His opposition to the Bill was sup- plied by the hill itself. Lord BROUGHAM replied to Lord Wynford's observations on his snap, sed bill. Lord \\'ynford said he was sure that if he saw the Bill Lord Brougham had di awn, in the beginning of la,t session ("Hear !" from Lord Wyn- ford)—it would be better for the noble Lord to listen than cry " Hear !"- if he saw the Bill drawn up at that time, he would discover no clauses in it for the disfranchisement of Gatton and Old Sarum. He would admit that the noble Lord had made a happy guess—he freely acknowledged that he was correct in his divination, yet he was sorry to he obliged to take him down from the towering pinnacle on which he was enthroned, but take him down he must, for had he seen the Bill in question, he would have found no clause in it of any kind. In fact, it was not particular but universal. (A laugh.) The plan of a bill had been drawn ; but though there had been much consultation about its form and provisions, the re- ducing of them into a definite shape, or even the putting of the pen to paper for that purpose, had never taken place. He admitted that his plan did not go so far as the Bill before the House, which had been modified in various particulars, to ob- tain the concurrence of a large body of the House of Commons. In that Bill, however, he must add, he saw nothing but unmin- gled good, and he conceived it " to ,be in particular a safe mea- sure." Lord Brougham concluded by deprecating the argunzentant ad hominem, in a discussion.of so much gravity and importance as that which they were about to enter on. Lord WYNFORD observed, that he understood Lord Brough- am's plan did not embrace the disfranchisement of any boroughs. Lord BROUGH A 111—" The noble Lord has been misinformed. My plan took away one member at least from a great number of boroughs." A great number of petitions were presented to the Lords last night. The Duke of SUSSEX presented several from the county of Middlesex, from the Wards of Cripplegate Without and Within, and various boroughs and towns in Lincolnshire and elsewhere, The Earl of CAMPERDOWN presented petitions from Haddington and a number of other towns in Scotland, more numerously signed than on any previous occasion. Numerous petitions were also presented by the Marquis of CLEVELAND, Lord BROUGHAM, Lord HOLLAND, the Duke of HAMILTON, the Duke of RICHMOND, and Lord RossE.
In presenting the Dundee petition, the Earl of CAMPERDOWN, observing on the distinction attempted to be drawn between Scot- land and England the previous evening, said the people of Scot- land did not recognize it.
They knew that, -unleSs the measure was carried completely through, there could be no substantial reform for them ; and with a shadow of reform they never would he satisfied. A reaction had been talked of; but for his own part, he could say that the feeling in the North was more intense than ever ; and if their Lordships refused toaccede to the general wish of the country, it would create more dissatisfaction than had been exhibited from the first agitation of the question. By passing the
the Aristocracy would impart permanency to their order, for it would then rest on the unflinching basis of national gratitude and affection.
On the suggestion of the Duke of BUCKINGHAM, their Lord- ships agreed to meet on Monday at four o'clock, and to devote their time from four to six entirely to the reception of petitions. It was proposed to meet this day ; but Mr. Smirke's apparatus. for ventilating the House is not yet completed, and their Lord- ships assembling would have interrupted the workmen.
2. SCOTCH REFORM BILL. On moving the committal of the- Scotch Reform Bill, on Monday, Lord ALTHORP stated the con- templated additions to the representation, which we noticed in the postscript to our last number. Agreeably to these alterations, the representation of Scotland will in future stand thus : Counties—Aberdeen, Argyle, Ayr, Banff, Berwick, Bute, Caithness, Clackmannan and Kinross, Dumbarton, Dumfries, Edinburgh, Elgin and Nairne, Fife, Forfar, Haddington, Inverness, Kincardine, Kul,cudbright, Lanark, Linlithgow, Orkney and Shetland, Peebles, Perth. Renfrew, Ross and Cromarty, Roxburgh, Selkirk, Stirling, Sutherland, Wigton. Each County and district of Counties in this list to return oim member; total County members for Scotland, 30.
Cities and Burg-hs—Edinburgh, with Portsburgh and Canrngate, two members. Glesione with Calton, Gorbals, and Anderston, two members. Aberdeen and suleiriis, one member. Paisley and suburbs, me meinher. Dundee and suburb,, one member. Greenock and suburbs, me member. Perth and suburbs, one member. Leith, Portobello, Fish, crow, and Musselburgh, one member. Invm-bervie, Arbroath, Forfar, ::',,,ntrose, and Brechin, one member. Ayr, Irvine, Campbelltown, and lir. erary, one member. Crail, leilrenny, Aumruther, East and Weet, l'ittenween, Cupar, and St. AndrewT., one member. Dumfries, Sanyo; ar, Amino, Lochmahen, and Kirkcudbright, one member. Dysart, Kirkaldy, and Abbetsball, Kiughorn, and Burntis;land, one member. 11:i in, Cullen, Banff, Invcrury, Kintore, and Peterhend, one member. Fortrose, Inver- ness, Nairn, `runes, one member. Renfrew, Rutherglem 1%umharton, Kilmarnock, one ;aeinher. Haddingtm, Dunbar, Nutt) Berwide, Lander, and Jedburgin m: member. Inverkeithin-, Dunfermline, Queensferrv, Culross, Stirling-, one member. Kirke-al?, Wick, Dingwall, Dornoch, Tain, and Cromiti.ty, one member. Airdrie, Linlithgow, Lanai k,and Fal- kirk, one member. Wigton, Stranracr, New Cleiloway, and \Vhitchorn, one member.
Total Burgh members. 23. Total members for Scotland, 53 ; being an addition of 8 members in all.
The committal of the bill pro .fanna took place, after a few words of approbation from Mr. KENNEDY and Major C. BRUCE; and the Committee obtained leave to sit iorain on 'Friday.
A conversation on the subject of Scotch superiorities'took place on Tuesday, on :he presentation of a petition from iderrot's Hos- pital, alinhere-li, praying for compeusat ion for the loss which it would sustain by the bill as a holder of several of these nominal votes.
Mr..T. CAMPBELL spoke strongly against the petition. He blushed, he said, to hear a demand preferred by his countrymen which no proprietor of a rotten borough in England hail once hinted at.
Mr. DIXON spike of superiorities as legally saleable, which rotten boroughs were not.
Mr. Gsekoef- denied that there was any difference in the two Cases.
Sir EDWARD SUGDEN observed, that barge ge tenures were quite as much property as superiorities were. He would never give that compensation to the one wkich he denied to the other. Lord Sroamosir said, Mr. Campbell knew nothing about the right of voting in Scotland : superiorities were sold by auction, by the judgment of the Scotch courts. The right of voting for Old Sarum could not be so disposed of.
Mr. CAMPBELL—" The right of voting for Old Sarum is in the burgage tenures of Old Sarum; and a burgage tenure may be sold by auction quite as legally as a Scotch superiority."
Sir CHARLES FORBES said, the holders of superiorities would be plundered by the bill of not less than two millions sterling. He was determined to frame his leases in future in such a way that his tenants would continue farmers,' and not trouble their heads with politics. He said the great mass of the people of Scotland were averse from the Bill—the question of Reform was indeed gone by. He recommended the Lord Advocate to take measures to prevent the recurrence of the riots that disgraced the last election.
Sir ROBERT INoms spoke in favour of compensation, on the precedent of the Irish Union. The English proprietors had, he said; been prevented from snaking a claim, from the system of terrorism exercised since the introduction of the Bill.
3. CALL OF THE HOUSE. Mr. O'CONNELL'S motion on Tues- day, for postponing the call of the House to the 10th October, was opposed by Sir RICHARD VYVYAN ; who moved the absolute dis • charge of the order; and a rather angry discussion was the consequence.
Mr. HUNT taunted Mr. O'Connell with being absent on the division on the Scotch Reform Bill, and with never having been returned twice by the same constituency.
Lord ALTHORP and Sir ROBERT PEEL severally denied that there was the slightest wish in the House to neglect Irish matters. Mr. O'CONNELL replied to Mr. Hunt. He (O'Connell) had at last election the choice of three counties. ".His countrymen knew his candour—(Oh !)—his honesty—(Oh !)—and that he was in- capable of double-dealing." He said the Ultra-Tories had the benefit of Mr. Hunt's speeches if they lost his votes ;. he wished them joy.of the bargain. To the argument ef Lord A1thorp and Sir Robert Peel, he offered in answer the present amendment—
Talk to, him of English justice, when he had the fact now before him, that a motion for a call of the House,. which was never resisted on any former occasion, was now opposed by Sir Richard Vyvyan, when he saw those crowded benches ready to support that opposition, because the question was only an Irish question.. Was this justice or common fairness ?
Sir RICHARD VYVYAN withdrew-his motion,. that Mr. O'Con- nell might not have, the satisfaction of complaining, which he seemed to desire.
If Mr. O'Connell wished, to bear down that, House, he would find that Englishmen, and Scotchmen, and Irishmen, would not allow themselves to be borne:dawn by him, or be driven from their purpose by any course which he might-please to take. (Cheer:.) Mr.. Restgr- said,-the charge against Mr. O'Connell, that he itrished to bear down the House, was unjust and unfounded. The conduct-of Sir Richard Vyvyan, and those who supported him on this occasion, was,suclaas,he had. seldom witnessed,. and such as, in his opinion, was unbecoming English gentlemen. (Crivs of " No, no !" and " Order !") It was at least unbecoming English legislators. He had seem such opposition to his honourable and learned friend, as he thought wholly unbecoming honourable memlne, -" ting as a legislative body_ Was it not natural that his honourable f r i. • hould resent such conduct.
and speak of it in the manner It' honourable mernben
wished to be treated as •. them behave as Enzlisk gentlemen. (Loud •• •• The SPEAKER ,s i77,IE explained, that he did not use the words personally. The question for the cell of the Honse sn the I eth October r.-as then put, and carried ; Mr. O'CoNNELL having in the outset ex- plained, that if the attendance was suifieiently ample on the oeea- sion, it NYould not he persisted in.
4. THE LORD CHANCELLOR. The absence of Lord Breee'eaura on 'Monday, when the Eert of Shaftesbury supplied Ids place, Ozza-
sioned a display of temper on the pert. of a k Opposition Lords-
The Marquis of LoNnoNneirev sail, as on every occasion Lord Brougham the orders of the lionse with a view to level thin at him, he would retaliate, by employing them mrainst Lord Brougham. He gave notice, arecycline-ly, that on Tuesday he would ask a question respecting- the al)sence of hit-hole lsip ; who, he said, leas acting So nmell on the principles e: Moan. that he seemed deternshrsd to overturn their Lordships' I rivileges. After some convened ion,—in which Loyd Preumeesr defended. the Lord Chancellor's al;sence, on the ground that there was person appointed te) till his piece,—
The Earl of ELnosz said, that Lecordinz, to an experience of twenty-flve years, and upon informa-
tion derived from Lords Thurlow and Unighbiirough, the it order v:as made not to decide what was the duty of the Lord. Chancellor. 'out in what case the blouse should put a person on the woolsack. If the Lord. Chancellor was absent and no nersun appointed, then it was their duty t.3 place some one in his stead. Ills Lordship was bound to be present there unless under circumstances of itopossibility—he understood the Lord. Chancellor was absent from indisposition. Under these circumstances, he was to signify the fact to the person appointed by letters patent. Lord Eldon could state, without fear of confutation, that three great Chancel- lors had never been absent without en explanation of the cause. No Chancellor ever dared to leave the woolsack without permission of that House.
Lord Eldon afterwar is admitted, that the orders of the Upper- House respecting the Chancellor did infinite injury to suitors in Chancery ; but still, for good or for evil, it was necessary to abide by them. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY repeated, that as the Lord Chancellor was so severe on others, he was determined to be equally severe on the Chancellor. On Tuesday, the Marquis of LONDONDERRY put his question The principal reason for his anxi Ay on this occasion, was stated by him to be, a speech delivered by the Lord Chancellor last week, in which he dwelt at some length on the neglect of order in- dulged in by their Lordships ; which he explained by the fact, that there was no power inherent in their Speaker, as in the Speaker of the House of Commons, of enforcing the observance of those rules by which order in the Upper as in the Lower House was meant to be maintained. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY, on the contrary, insisted that it was the duty of the Lord Chancellor to repress disorder ; and he especially deprecated at this period any expressions from the woolsack which might be construed into a contumelious attack on the House. The Marquis went on to charge Lord Brougham with repeated neglect of attendance in his place: on one occasion he had been absent for eight or ten days. His absence on the former evening, he said, had been so much the more to be blamed, that an important notice respecting foreign affairs stood on the books : and the Chancellor had put himself forward as the champion of 'Government on all occasions, and par- ticularly on questions of foreign policy. Lord Londonderry ad- verted also to the other questions of the night ; which, he contended, called most particularly for Lord Brougham's presence. He thought it hard, while other noble Lords were so zealous in their duty, that the Chancellor should be so slack in the perform- ance of his ; he was in the receipt of large emoluments, and should bear in mind that his first duty was to attend the House of Lords. The Marquis noticed an excuse that had been made for Lord Brougham,—namely, his close attention to the Court of Chancery; and spoke of the boasted wonders that be had accomplished there, oliserving that if Lord Eldon had neglected the House as much as Lord Brougham had, he would have got through quite as much business as Lord Brougham had done. Even if Lord Broughath were in danger of becoming a martyr to his labours, Lord Lon, donderry did not consider that he would on that account stand ex, cused. He must tell the noble and learned Lord, that he had not been the first or the only person that had employed his days assiduously in the service of the country, when called by the King to fill the highest offices in the State. They knew that Ministers of the Crown had before this time fallen a sacrifice to their zealous and unwearied exertions in the public service. It could not be forgotten that such men as Canning, Castle- reagh, and others, had fallen a sacrifice to their intense application tO the public business of the country. He would not have the noble and lea' rued Lord imagine, that he alone could plume himself on that point. The Marquis observed, as an aggravation of Lord Brougham's conduct, that he had been absent-on the very first day of the ses- sion, when. several of the. Peers were to be sworn. It-was such frequent: instances of neglect, that had induced him to put the question which he then did respecting the Lord Chancellors ab- sence on Monday.. Lord BROUGHAM, before he answered the accusation broil*
against him, made a few remarks on the spirit in which it origi- nated.
Party might sometimes be a good thing, but never had a man been so blinded by party before as the noble Marquis was when he charged him with negligence and a want of attention to his duty. Such a degree of sblindness, arising from party feelings, was what he had never before had any conception of. (Cheers front the Ministerial benches.) From the si- lence of the noble Lords on one side of the House, he might conclude that he had a considerable number of their Lordships against him. ("No, no, no !" front the Opposition benches. Lord Brougham made a profound bow to the Lords on that side. A loud laugh on both sides of the House.) Why, then, he had only the solitary noble Marquis himself to answer—or at least but a very few more.
Lord Brougham explained the two first cases of absence of which the Marquis complained. For one, he had the permission of the House ; which was engaged in no business of importance during the week alluded to, and, in point of fact, rose on all the nights that he was absent between six and seven o'clock. The swearing in of Peers, he observed, was a formality that could be as easily observed in his absence as in his presence ; and he hap- pened at the time to be engaged in hearing a very expensive appeal, which must have been postponed had he come over to the House at twelve o2;ilock. He denied that he had ever boasted or even mentioned his labours in his own court ; nor would he, unless he were compelled by such a discussion as the Marquis of London- derry had provoked. The sittings in Chancery had continued since the 22nd November last— With the exception of one day at Faster, there had been no intermis- sion. He gave up Easter week, which he might have spent in the coun- try, for the purpose of disposing of fifteen heavy appeals. He sat on Easter Saturday and on Easter Monday, when almost all other persons were rest- ing from their labours and enjoyinc,' the vacation. (Cheers.) He was the first Judge that ever sat on Easter Monday, and he was the first Chan- cellor that ever sat on Easter Saturday or Easter Monday, since the insti- tution of the office. He claimed no merit for all this, he sought no praise for doing so, and it was only mere justice to himself that compelled him to state the fact. In performing his duty in the Court of Chancery, he bad uniformly acted upon the maxim-4 Take care of the minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves." Acting up to that maxim, he had made it his constant practice to take his seat in the court as the clock was striking ten ; and he continued to sit there until eleven or twelve o'clock at night. He attended to every thing that was said there ; he endeavoured to get acquainted with the case before him as quickly as he could—to shorten as much as possible the discussions with regard to it, and, in fact, to go through it with as much rapidity as he could. That was the way in which he endeavoured to despatch the business of his court. He had never had the idea, however, nor had he ever said a word that could by any possibility be construed into the idea, of setting himself above, or even on a level with, his learned predecessors, except in dili- gence; and in that quality he would not be surpassed by any of them.
After humorously noticing the difference between Peers who sought a few hours relaxation in the debates, and his attendance there after a (lay entirely spent in unremitting and exhausting at- tention to his legal duties, Lord Brougham gave their Lordships to understand, that the real cause of his absence on Monday had been an invitation from the King to pass a couple of days at
Windsor. For ten days he had been afflicted by a troublesome
and painful cough, and had contemplated an excursion to the North with a view to fit himself for the laborious duties which awaited the House, when he received his Majesty's gracious invi- tation ; and he had benefited so much by the short respite from business, that he was now quite well. With respect to the stand- ing order which it was alleged he had violated, the order only called for the attendance of the Chancellor in " ordinary,"—a form of words that certainly contemplated occasional absence.
Not only had the House power at all times to appoint a Speaker, but there were two Peers expressly appointed to fill the office of Speaker in the Chancellor's absence.
The Earl of ELDON said a few words on the necessity of the Speaker of the House being a lawyer. The spirit of the standin-,
order, he continued to maintain, required his attendance ; the wisdom or folly of such a regulation he was not called on to dis- cuss. He concluded by expressing his opinion, that after Lord Brougham's explanation, the discussion might as well be allowed to drop:
Lord HOLLAND spoke in terms highly complimentary to the Lord Chancellor. He entered into the history of the order, which was dated 1660, and was in fact a compromise between the House and the Sovereign, who at that time claimed the right of nomi- nating their Speaker. He remarked on a case which had been cited by Lord Eldon the previous evening—
Lord Eldon had, singularly enough, quoted, not the authority of the House, but the language of a protest,—a protest emanating from a vio- lent faction in times remarkable for the bitterness of party spirit. Lord
Holland confessed that this quotation from a protest had tickled his vanity not a little, for he had been a great protester in his day—greater
than the noble and learned Lord, and had every respect for the symbols of conscientious opposition. This act of the noble and learned Lord, by which he placed the language of dissentients above the authority of the
house, had not only tickled his; vanity—had not only surprised him ex- tremely, but he had been induced to hail it as an auspicious omen of future and more momentous proceedings.
5. BELGIUM. The question of committing the Belgic troops in part to the command of French officers, was brought under the consideration of the House of Commons on Wednesday by Sir RICHARD VYVYAN ; when Lord PALMERSTON declined, in conse- quence of the state of existing negotiations, to enter on the discus- sion of it.
After being postponed on Monday, in the House of Lords, the . question was mooted on Thursday, by the Marquis of LONDON- DERRY, who made a long and miscellaneous speech. He con-
Tasted the silence of Ministers to his questions with the frank-
ness of Lord Castlereagh to the questions of Mr. Whitbread. He remarked on the length of the negotiations and the number of the protocols. He asked if the French troops had quitted Belgium, or when they meant to quit it ? Lastly, he asked if a large number of French officers were to remain in Belgium, to organize the troops there ? He denied that Leopold could be an independent King under such circumstances. France was trying all means to overreach England and to make us truckle to her.
The wily Prince Talleyrand was no sooner driven out of one hole than he burrowed in another. The Marquis complained of the exclusion of Holland from all deliberation on the question of the barrier fortresses ; and, reverting to what he called our flirtation with France, insisted, that with a " natural enemy," though civility might he practised, still it was better to keep him at arm's-length.
He then proceeded to a formal attack on the French Ambassador. Talleyrand had been Secretary to Napoleon, Minister to Louis the Eighteenth and Charles the Tenth ; he had been every thing by turns. The Marquis said he had a right to attack such a person ; whom he could not be said to attack behind his back, bee..a.:se the newspapers reported all that he said. To see Ministers running to consult such a one, had created a di,gtist which he thought very natural. Lord Londonderry expres.,ed his opinion that such dis- cussions did much good: thy evidently made considerable im-
pression on the Ministers; and if ever his friends came into power,
he would try to examine, and no doul;t would find that they had led to sonic little memorandums on some document or other. [This allusion to little memorandums on documents produced much laughter front the Marquis's friends ; who appear to have been thinking of Lord Liverpool's memorandum on the Marquis's ap- plication for pension—" This is too had ! The Marquis con- cluded with moving for copies or extract s of correspondence between his Majesty's Government and the Governments of France and Belgium on the subject of French officers being retained to organize the troops of the latter power. Lord GODERIcir replied to the more general observations of Lord Londonderry at considerable length. In noticing his attack on Prince Talleyrand, he recalled to the Marquis's recollection that the Prince had performed an important part in that treaty of
Vienna, of which the Marquis thought so highly. Having ob- served that the nature of the pending negotiations precluded him from meeting the question as he otherwise might, Lord Goderich went on to observe, that the practice of employing foreign officers was neither new nor uncommon. Many of the most celebrated captains that had led armies had not been natives of the country whose battles they fought. Lord Goderich instanced General Diebitsch, a German, and Admiral Greg, a Scotchman, in the Russian service ; and, as still more in point, General Chasse, a Frenchman, in the service of the present Dutch Monarch.
The LORD CHANCELLOR, or some one near him, here made an observation which escaped the reporters.
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY rose in great heat, and said-,
" My Lords, I rise to order. 1 beg. to put it to the noble and learned Lord on the woolsack, whether it is orderly for a noble and learned lord on the woolsack, or for any other noble Lord, to prompt another noble Lord when he is speaking. I beg to put this question to the noble and learned Lord."
The LORD CHANCELLOR—" Now, my Lords, I beg to state to you, once for all, that I will not sit here to be bothered with questions which ema-
nate from the ridiculous ideas of certain absurd individuals, who cannot or will not see any thing however clear, nor understand any thing how- ever intelligible ; and who, whether a noble Lord is engaged in conversa- tion, or whether he addresses the House upon his legs, seem, by an un-
happy infirmity i of nature, to be lamentably incapacitated from under- standing what s going on. I beg, moreover, to state to the noble Mar-
quis, whom I have in my eye, that for the future I will answer no ques- tion of his—will give him no information whatsoever. If the noble Lord feels aggrieved at any thing I may happen to do, let him proceed against me by a vote of censure, and I trust I shall know how to defend myself; but I will answer no more of his questions."
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY—" I only asked the noble Lord a ques- tion as to a point of order, which I conceive I had a perfect right to do.
As to the personal and offensive expressions which the noble and learned Lord has thought proper to use towards me, I beg to tell the noble and learned Lord that 1 shall be glad to hear them repeated in another place, and—"
The Duke of RICHMOND interrupted the further enunciation of this challenge to the Lord Chancellor, by moving that Lord Lon- donderry's words be taken down. The LORD CHANCELLOR—" No; I trust that my noble friend will with- draw that motion, and allow so trifling, absurd, and insignificant a matter
to remain where it is. Perhaps, to your Lordships, I ought to answer on the point of order. My answer then is, that strictly speaking, for one noble lord to prompt another—as the noble Marquis calls it—is quite as much out of order as ninety-nine out of one hundred of the things which day after day pass in this House: perhaps I am wrong in allowing that one even of every one hundred of those things would be within the
strict line of order if each were subjected to the strict letter of the law
of order. As an illustration, let me observe, that if the strict rule of order had been observed, I ought to have called the Noble Marquis to order when, in rising to put a question about Belgium, he made a speech about
Spain, and Portugal, and Holland, and France, and Prince Talleyrand, and a thousand other matters. (Laughter.) As to the hint which the noble
Marquis has thrown out to me,—filling as I do the highest judicial office in the land, and in a public assembly like the present, where such hints are not usually given,—as to that hint, my Lords, I have only to say, that it has never been my habit to say in one place any thing which I would not repeat in another; and that it is not likely 1 should fall into that habit now.
The Duke of RICHMOND said, he would, as requested, withdraw his motion ; although he was sure that Lord Londonderry must see that nothing could be more improper than, in debate, to ask the Lord Chancellor to fight a duel,=-for, not to mince the matter, such was the plain meaning of the Marquis's words, . The Marquis of LONDONDERRY attempted to rise again, but was called to order by Lord HOLLAND, and Lord GODERICH was allowed to conclude. He said, if the Lord Chancellor had ad- dressed any observation to him, he must confess he had not heard a word of it. He would only then add one more instance to those lie had already adduced,—namely, that of the Prince of Saxe Weimar, now in the King of Holland's service.
The Duke of WELLINGTON warmly defended the character of Prince Talleyrand.
True it was, that that illustrious individual had enjoyed, in a very high degree, the confidence of his noble friend's deceased relative; and true it also was, that none of the great measures which had been resolved upon at Vienna and at Paris had been concerted or carried on without the in- terventi in of that illustrious person. He had no hesitation in saying that ben at that time, in every one of the great transactions which took place then, and in every transaction in which he had been engaged with Prince Talleyrand since, the latest of which had occurred durine° the short period in which he (the Duke of Wellington) had been in hisMa- jesty's councils after the late Revolution in France,—he had no hesitation, he said, in declaring, that in all those transactions, from the first to the last of them, no man could have conducted himself with more firmness and ability with regard to his own country, or with more uprightness and honour in all his communications with the Ministers of other countries, than Prince fallcyrand. (Cheers.) They had heard a good deal of Prince Talleyrand from many quarters ; but he felt himself bound to declare it to be his sincere and conscientious belief, that no man's public and pri- vate character had ever been so much belied as both the public and the private character of that illustrious individual had been. (Much cheering.) Reverting to the question before the House, the Duke went on to argue, that in the case of a great military power, such as. Prussia or Russia, the employment of foreign officers was a matter of small moment ; but it was of very great importance in that of a state whose military force amounted in ordinary to but twenty or thirty thousand men. In our own country, the employ- ment of foreign officers in the British army, was prohibited by law. The Duke denied that with such an army as that of Bel- gium, ,
um so officer, d, any .sovereign could be looked on as independent. Lord HoeLAND joined in the eulogy of Prince Talleyrand. They must decide the question before them on Parliamentary grounds. England had a municipal law against the employment of foreign officers, but the contrary rule was universal on the Con- tinent. No stranger had a right to say to England that we might not alter our law ; how then could we say to strangers that they
must not act on theirs ? we demanded from Belgium an ac- count of the French officers in her army, might not Belgium put a similar question to Holland, or France to Russia ?
After a few words from Lord ORFORD, the LORD CHANCELLOR shortly stated the nature of the question: either no such docu- ments existed as Lord Londonderry called for, and thus there was an end of his motion,—or the Ministry, from the mere fact of their existence, was engaged in a very delicate and difficult negotiation, and consequently the motion was a most improper one. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said he would not press the question of Belgium further, though he thought the argument of the Duke of Wellington perfectly conclusive. He then adverted, in a tone which evinced strong feeling, to the dispute between himself and the Lord Chancellor.
He entreated their Lordships to hear with him for a few minutes, while he attempted to set himself right with the House as to what had passed in an earlier part of time debate. Ile desired to say, that he always listened with the greatest reseect to every thing which fell from the noble and learned Lord on the woolsack ; and it was his earnest wish to avoid every thing that could be personally offensive to that noble and learned Lied, and particularly now that they were upon the eve of discussing that great question in which every one was so deeply interested. He was not aware of having upon any occasion given the noble and learned Lord just ground of offence; yet he could not help feeling, that no individual who ever ad- dressed their Lordships had experienced the same repeated and continual harshness of treatment, either with respect to what he advanced or the manner in w, •eh he expressed his opinions, as he had from the noble and learned Lertl, if, therefore, he could not forget this, it was natural that his feeling should betray him into expressions at times which he by no means wished or desired to use. But when the noble and learned Lord had again that night applied to him language of so very harsh a description,respecting a matter which, as time noble Lord, in the candour which he knew so well how to exercise, admitted to have been not strictly in order, he did then reply in words, which, if he had time for cool reflection, he should not have used. And if the words he had so used, under the irritation of the moment, had been painful to the feelings of the noble and learned Lord, he desired to assure him that they were not intended to be so ; and he was very sorry for having used them. He wished further to say, that he had no desire to come in collision or to have any personal altercation with the noble and learned Lord upon any occasion. All he asked was, that the noble and learned Lord would have the charity, if he should at any future time feel it right to question the manner in which the noble and learned Lord had performed his public duty, not to inflict upon him that sort of harsh and personal argument of which he thought he had much just right to com- plain. (Cheersfrom both sides of the house.)
Lord IlaouGH Aar said, that after the courteous terms in which the Marquis had thought fit to express himself towards him, and after an explanation so fit and so proper, and made in so manly- a spirit, he was most willing and anxious to meet the Marquis in the same spirit of conciliation. "In doing so," Lord Brougham continued, " I beg to state to the noble Marquis, roost unfeignedly,that it has been with the greatest pain that I have felt myself compeled to make observations of that character which. he has described as personal attacks upon him. I do not, however, recollect,—and I shall willingly submit to have my memory refreshed if it be treacherous on this subject,—I do not recollect one single instance in which I have gone out of my way to attack the noble Marquis, or any otheasnoble Lord, except when I have been first assailed myself. I be- lieve th A on every occasion on which I have said any thing harsh respecting any of your Lordships, 1 have been provoked to it by being first attacked myself. However, I perfectly agree with the noble Marquis, that nothing can be more" fit and proper than that there should be an end of such at-
' acks for the future ; and I hereby offer to make a treety of peace with the
noble Marquis, without the intervention of fall ey rand, or any other great negotiator—t cieess a:4d laugh tcr .--and the t: rffis of the treaty shall he, that A he will let Me aiumme, I kill let iomit aluuc. (Chccrs and laughter.) Of if the noble Marquis be disinclined to enter, without some further consideration, into so solemn a compact as a treaty of peace, let there be, upon the same terms, a truce or armistice between us for the remainder of the session, with due notice, hereafter to be agreed upon, of renewal of hostilities." -(Cheers and laughter.) The Marquis of LONDONDERKY—" I readily agree to the noble and learned Lord's proposal, and accept the treaty a peace upon the terms he has mentioned. Your Lordships are the witnessing parties to our corn- pact." (Cheers.) 6. LAN REFORMS. On Wednesday, Lord BROUGHAM intro- duced his bill fur the reeoiration of the office of Masters in Chan- cery. In introducing the Master's Office Regulation Bill, Lord Brougham stated, in brief, that The object of this measure, as of the other measures which he had already introduced, was to shorten the delays, to lessen the expense, and to introduce, as far as possible, a more uniform certainty into the deci- sions of the Courts of Equity in this country, beginning with the High Court of Chancery, and with the matters appertaining to its jurisdiction. He should slate iii a few words the manner in which that object was sought to be effected. One of the great evils connected with the practice of the Court of Chancery, and one which more immediately called for a remedy, was the delay which arose in Chancel y in the course of the pro- ceedings that took place in the Master's office. Their Lordships were aware, that every cause in Chancery was referred in the first instance to the Master for his inquiry and report. A great number of nice points were decided upon by the Master ; and after he had made his decision on these points, his decision was embodied in the form of a report. Now, in this important stage of the proceedings in a cause in Chancery, a great deal of delay, and a considerable increase of expense, were occasioned by the practice which at present existed. It was with a view to remedy those evils that the Lord Chancellor had prepared this bill.
He explained, that in preparing it, he had adopted the same plan as in preparing the other bills—by submitting it to the free and unreserved animadversion of all those whose knowledge rendered their criticism of service. The outline of the bill, framed as it had been with such assistance, his Lordship proceeded to describe. It was proposed, that the Masters should sit in court during the day, and in the evening too, if it were necessary fur the accommodation of suitors ; and that they should give as mooch of their time as possible to the important business of their office. The manner in which that busi- ness was at present conducted before the Master, was one great cause of the delay which occurred in the Master's office. He alluded particularly to the manner in which obj, ctions were taken to the decisions of the Master, and to his final report. As the practice at present stood, objec- tions could be taken, in the course of the proceedings in the Master's office, to his several decisions on the various points of the case; and, after his final decision had been made, objections could be taken to the whole of his report ; and in both instances these objections were carried before the Lord Chancellor for his adjudication. The practice stood thus —the Master, when the case was referred to him, went over the various points of it; upon each of his decisions in those several points, the party in the cause might take exception, and have that exception argued before the Chancellor ; and when the Master's report was finally made, they might aeain take exceptions to it, and have them also adjudicated by the Lord Chancellor. Now, with a view to do away with the delay which was necessarily caused by this practice, one of the objects of this mea- sure was to prevent those objections which were raised to the decisions of the Master, previous to his making his report, being brought before the Lord Chem slior ; and it accordingly proposed that those objections should be brought before three Masters sitting in court, and be adjudi- cated by them If the party failed in their objections there, the Master's report was made ; and it was open to them then to take exceptions to it, and to have them carried either before the Chain- lur or the Vice- Chancellor for final adjudication. By this alteration, time suitors would be provided with ad that they wanted—a tribunal to decide those objec- tions which acme in the course of the proceedings in time Master's Office; and nine out of ten—indeed he would go further, and say that ninety- nine out of one hundred—of the ohjectioos at present carried to the Court above, would be disposed of by those three Masters sitting judi- cially in court. There are several other excellent provisions in the Bill; the principal of which is the substitution of viva voce examinations for written depositions, and the abolition of fees in the Master's Office, and the payment of that officer by a fixed salary instead.
The Bill was read a first time, without remark.
The Beni:rill:ley Coutt Bill (which, notwithstanding the efforts of Lords ELDON amid LYNDHURST to stay it, passed from the Upper House on Tuesday ), was read a first time in the Commons on Wednesday ; and after a division, at the instance of Sir CHARLES WETHERELL, of 93 to 36, the second reading was fixed for Friday.
7. LUNATICS. BILL. The amendments in this bill which had been made by the Lords having been rejected by the Commons, a conference was agreed to, in which each party explained their views as is customary. Last night, the Loan CHANCELLOR reintroduced the bill to the Upper House. He mentioned the fact of the amend- ments being rejected by the Commons, and commented on the Consequences. Suppose any of their Lordships had time misfortune to have a female relation who, from childbirth or sane other accident, was afflicted with temporary derangement, say for six weeks, and that during this time she was sent to a lodging . The bill bound the keeper of the lodging, under the penalty of a misdeineatiour, to send her name and her condition to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and the solicitor to the Commissioners of Lunacy. This was not all. There was a greater in- stance of thoughtlessness,—so great, that how any number of persons could commit it, it was impossible to conceive. The keeper, for conceal- ing these particulars from the Secretary of State, and the solicitor, was liable to an indictment for a misdemeanour, even after the lady was re- covered—was moving about in society among those who never dreamt that she had experienced such a calamity—yes, even though she might have married in the intervening time. Any meddling, malicious person might indict time lodging-honsekeeper; and what would happen then? Why, that the special pleader, and the court, and the jury, and the papers, and the public, would be put in possession of all the circum- stances ; and if the trial went on, the lady must he called into the wit- ness-box, to prove the collateral issue establishing the fact of her f om e lunacy. She might be called, when in perfect health, to prove that she bad been mad three or four years before.
:uis Lordship proposed to print the amendments of the Lords and those of the Commons in parallel columns, that their effect might be the better seen. [The rejection of the Lords' amendments is due to Mr. Hums.]
8. BANKRUPTCY BILL. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, at a late hour last night, moved the second reading of this bill. Sir CHARLES 'WETHERELL, who is determined to oppose the bill by all constitutional means, wished to begin 1:y a motion to postpone the order of the day ; which, however, the SPEAKER informed him, could not be clone. Sir Charles then went into a long argument to show that the bill ought not to he entertained. He moved the adjournment of the debate till Tuesday ; which, on the under- standing that the debate should come on early, Lord ALTHORP
Consented to. •
9. IRISH GRAND JURIES. Mr. STANLEY, Oil ThUrSday, moved for leave to bring in his bill for amending and consolidating the various laws respecting Irish Grand Juries. He observed on the amount of money levied by the grand juries—on their numerous duties—on the smallness of the time devoted to their performance. In six counties, it appeared from the returns, in one year there Clad been presentments and bills to be got rid of during the grand jury sittings: at the rate of 344 per day. He cited a laugh- able ease of jobbing by a grand jury. In Mayo, a bridge was ap- plied for and built ; but there was'no road leading to it or from it ; and where the road run, only a (limiter of a mile distance, there was already a bridge. The new bridge was accordingly converted into an embankment, by applying a sluice to the arch! Mr. Stanley went on to state tine principal innoeat ions in his bill. First of all, it would consolidate seventy (life:Tent acts ; so that in itself it would form a complete manual. It would separate the civil from the criminal business of the mend juries. Public works would be submi4.1ed to mnoistrel ;e; at special sessions, who vfould have an absolute negative on sesii as aid not appear to be of utility-. In each county, he meant to propose the appointment of competent surveyors, the appointment to be vested in the Lord Lieutenant ; these would report on the works to be performed, and on the cost, before the presentment was entertained at ail. The grand jury would sit and hear evidence in open court. All stasot'es sanctioned by them would be dune by contract ; the lowest
to have invariably the preference ; and no payments would mede until the surveyor had made his report on the progress or completion of the work. Lastly, Mr. Stanley said he intended that the money to be raised should he raised out of the county +eves, instead of being levied upon the tenants; which change vrauld make the grand jurors payers as \snit as imposers of the taxes which they sanctioned.
Mr. WYSE, Mr. J. BRowNE, Sir R. BATESON, Mr. H. GRAT- TAN, Mr. LEADER, Mr. BLACKEN::Y, and Mr. RUTIIVEN spoke of the evils of the system, and in general approval of Mr. Stanley's reposed remedy. Leave was then given to bring in the bill.
16. l'alAavoorar COLLEGE. On the question of going into stimnly, on Monday, Mr. PEECEVAL moved a resolution for the discontinuance of the grant to Maynooth College after the present year. lie maintained that for a Protestant Parliament to vote money for the aapport of a college established to uphold a system of falsehood and cor- ruption of the word of God, was a great departure from the duty they %mai to God.
The pious member went on to ohserve, that Liberalism in reli- gion was Infidelity at the bottom, and that the pernicious doctrine of holding the scales evenly between God and the Devil was gain- ing aaround in the House.
Afr. YOUNG seconded the motion, because he thought that Pro- testant ascendency should be preserved in Ireland. Mr. STANLEY defended the vote.
Sc long ago as 1795, the Legislature had sanctionctl this grant,not asa re- ligioas grant ; and from that time it had been undisputably and uninter- ruptedly complied with. If it was only on the score of authority, the House oanhtnot to condemn, as unworthy of a Christian Legislature, agrant which Airsibeen introduced by Mr. Pitt, which had had the full concurrence of Mr. Fat, and which had beensupported by all the weight of the authority of Mr. Grattan. These were the three great names under the authority of which 'etc grant was first introduced in 170.1, and it hail been continued by every succeeding Government, not excepting that of which Mr. Perceval formed a part, and not on religious, but on political grounds. Nor was the grant -without special grounds of justification. During. the last war, Buona- parte offered an education to the Irish Catholics in France ; but this was rejected by the Roman Catholic priests, who forbade their youth to ex- change the education they obtained at Maynooth for the better education they could have got at Paris ; and therefore, on a principle of gratitude, 'se owed something to the Roman Catholic clergy. Did the honourable %amber think that if they refused this grant, there would be one Ca- nate less educated, or one Protestant added ?
After some conversation, the House divided: forthe grant, 14S ; against it, 47.
The debate was renewed in Committee. Mr. O'Coatetsee strongly objected to the infallibility of interpretation claimed by Str.•Perceval, and the arrogant impiety of one worm's setting its issalf up as the judge of its fellow-worm in such matters. He said the Catholics asked nothing of the members of other religions, pro- vided the latter were content to ask nothing of them. Veiptain'GORDON'said,.the grant was injurious to the Constitu- Umiak Church and State. Mr. PETRE, the (Yenta:volt Doty, Lord ERRINGTON, Mr. WYSE, Mr. H. GRATTAN, Mr. HOWARD, and Sir R. MUSGRAVE, defended the grant. Mr. T. LEFROY, Mr. BURGE, and Mr. A Jeilve"'oNE, a Scotch member, spoke against it. The last-named gentleman said,— He thought that the evils of Ireland were not so much attributable to misgovernment as to the detestable faith which prevailel there. The Pres- byterian people of Scotland should not be taxed for the support of a reli- gion which they believed to be idolatrous. The Roman Catholic members around him were tolerated in that Flouse, and the conduct of some of them gave him reason to mistrust them all.
11. THE PALACES. A long conversation took place, in the House of Commons, on Wednesday, on the subject of Bucking- . ham Holm and Windsor Castle. The occasion was a vote of 163,670/.9a. t2d. for defraying alterations and repairs in 1832. (Colonel 'FRENCH brought before the House his scheme for
e transferring Kine's College to Buckingham House, and for ap- .
proprialing the remainder of the latter building to various public purposes, by which, and the leasing of the gs.rdens, he is of opi- t)ion that a sum more than sufficient for the erection of a fit and proper residence for the King might be realized, over and above the expense already incurred. The Colonel mentioned that the tower story of the new palace was under water ; which statement, 1., owever, lie afterwards modified. It was wholly denied by Minis- ers ; who asserted, on the contrary, that the building, although hjeetionabla, was at least in sound and tenantable condition. Lord Aereonn, in answer to a question of Mr. Itonnesora, stated that the sum now asked for Buckingham House was solely for the pie ment of tradesmen's bills. Many of the tradesmen, it appeared, hat peen reduced to great distress, some of them to I selehete:, and to beggary, by the delays that had taken place in sst.t:h: , 1:1 .it accounts. Lord Althorp detailed the particulars of the est a ea as for Windsor Castle.
Tee r,s, - • ,ancticmed by Parliaincot for 'Windsor Cast's rmountcd, pre-
s me, ; . roll*, to 591,0001. There lied been a far:licr sum sanctioned
an- .., of 1,,-. fa i'111:':' '. (:( :,,!L21. 9... 2.1, ; but from this was to be deducted the sum 1,.4 ,:-,. r,Tvincl. There was besides '207,00Gi. for furniture, and a
-:,; paid to the Lord Chamberlain's r.:1;..,:. Th..re was an-
ern:tore for whirl: he was responsi!d Au e.:til:late had
licc., ' ;irst in:tance of 12,0001. for this fur.lit.,.zre ; but that was
C,,:; I 1,,:•bitant amount; and, by opening the estimate to corn-
1).: 1`;•.:;, reduccd to 10,000/. Thus the whole sum for furniture
amoe o ., L-,0,670/. Os. 2:1. There was also an outlay of 33,5001. for the pureiee a ,e' land, which it was considered desirable to possess in the neigh h: ,,I.00d of the Castle. This made the whole sum to be expended for beet' 'ii., repairs, alterations, furniture, and the purchase of land, 1,0S 1, -;e!. Of this sum, 80-1,5))0/. bad already been applied, leaving a sum of 1-:),6701. still to be applied. The sum for furnitui e required in the present year amounted to 13,000/. ;,which, added to the 50,000/.to beapplied annually out of the sum of 177,000!. which Parliament had already sanc- tioned, made the expenditure for Windsor Castle this year 63,0001. The sum of 100,0001. now called for in addition was for the purpose of paying the arrears due to workmen ; and it was all that would be required to cover those arrears except about 4,000/. Mr. HUME complained of the haste with which the vote was pressed, and wished that the report of the Committee now sitting on the Palaces. should he waited for. The Committee had made a special report, recommending the settlement of the workmen's demands, led it had not been printed. He moved the postpone- ment of the vote ; but his amendment was, en a division, rejected by 110 to 12. In the course of the conversation, Lord ALTHORP stated, that it had been calculated by an artist of eminence, chose estimates had usually been found correct, that Buckingham House might be completed for an additional 70,e00/.
12. THE SELECT VESTRY BILL. This bill went through Com- mittee of the Commons last night. Lord ALTHORP offered an amendment, substituting two-thirds for a majority of the rate- ra'aers, who should be empowered to call for the adoption of the bill in any parish where a select vestry existed. He withdrew the amendment, en an understanding that the Committee were averse from it; bat on Mr. Es'rcouar and Mr. LAMB speaking in its favour, again moved it. It was carried on a division ; but, after sonic discussion, a compromise was effected, and three-fifths sub- stituted for two-thirds. Sir RICHARD VYVYAN offered an amend- ment in the spirit of Mr. Sturges Bourne's Act, for giving rate- payers votes in proportion to the rates at which they were assessed. It was withdrawn. Another amendment, for continuing the charge of charitable bequests to the Select Vestries at present existing, was also withdrawn ; and the House having resumed, the report was ordered to be received on Monday.
13. THE GAME BILL. This bill, with some amendments, not of the most liberal kind, but which leave the principle and scope of the bill intact, passed the Lords on Wednesday. It was brought down to the Commons on Thursday, and the amendments were considered last night ; when, on the strong entreaty of Lord ALTHORP—who said that they still left much that was extremely valuable in the bill, and that any amenchnerft was better than the old law—they were reluctantly agreed to.
14. SUGAR REFINERY ACT. Mr. BURGE renewed the oppo- sition to this act on Wednesday, on the bringing up of the report which he had formerly offered in Committee, by moving, as he then did, that the effects of its past operation should be examined by a Special Committee. Mr. POULETT THOMSON defended the act ; and Lord ALTHORP promised, if it were permitted to be renewed for one year more, he would not object to the Committee iequired by Mr. Burge. Mr. MABERLY and Mr. nUME, on this proposal of Govern-
meat, suggested to Mr. Burge to withdraw hi opposition ; but without success. He insisted on dividing the House on his
amendment. The numbers were-125 to 113. Mr. GORDON suggested, that Ministers should forego their intentions, in conse- quence of the narrow majority; but Lord ALTHORP declined. The report was accordingly received.
15. WINE-DUTIES BILL. A long discussion took place in the Lords last night :on the third reading of this bill. The Earl of ABERDEEN went over nearly the whole of the topics connected with the Portuguese trade, which had been so repeatedly urged both in the Lords and Commons aeainst the bill, or any other measure militating against the conditions of the treaties between England and Portugal. Lord Goohareu replied to Lord Aber- deen ; his Lordship denied that in framing the scale of duties the Government had been actuated in any respect by a feeling of hos- tility towards Portugal,—a declaration at which the Duke of WELLINGTON, who followed Lord Goderich, expressed great satisfaction. Ultimately the bill' was passed, without an attempt at division.
16. PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF CONTROL. A discussion of some length took place in the House of Commons on Thursday, on a motion of Mr. STUART WORTLEY, against the resolution of the Salaries Committee, by which the salary of the President of the Board of Control was reduced from 5,000/. to 3,500/. Mr. Wortley moved a resolution for the continuance of the old salary. It was negatived. The speakers for the resolution were Sir GEORGE WARRENDER, Mr. C. FERGUSSON, Mr. RoniNsoN, Mr. IRVING, Mr. T. P. COURTENAY, and Sir CHARLES FORBES ; and against it, Mr. CHARLES GRANT, Mr. RUTIIVeiN, Mr. Home, Lord aA.LTHORP, Mr. A. SANDFURD, and Sir J. Newamer.
17. Tire DEACLES. This case was decided, pro term ere, on Tuesday, by the refusal of his Majedy's Ministers, anneunced throterh Lord ALTHORP, to grant a Committee of Inqury. The numbers were—for the Coaimi:tee, 31; against if, 73. No new fact was elicited on the occasion, nor Ilnv lb:2W argument oifered either by Mr. Baring's frlend, or in- those of Mr, and Mrs. Deacle. Mr. BARING Chart:PA Mr. 0'(!ori::.11 with bringing !or- ward calumnies night after night, and with be:nh the tool of a dirty conspiracy. Mr. O'CONNELL termed this a " brutal" attack ; but being called to order, lie retracted the epithet.
