ni.batE.1 alit; leasliamcnt.

eiee. 0. : The Earl of Ptont:N, ..•:. • the attention of the !holq:

of Peers to the tit,: Q.:, it', Six, eh which spoke ot. the " tettanal peace Old do:nest:I. " ut the country. Ile con- tended, that so far 110tH the voi,iIition it Ireland heitiv trtuntuil, never at any previous period, t, ,t e; en 1.111111,:„! the thee of actual rchcliene esti prone: ty and life bci n -o 11,1'C'lle, or the exercise of the l'rotes- 1,:nt religion attc.roltql .1•1n::cr. To support this iliarge, he

iv, tit into a 1oir.7 nariative of outlaw., s; I11111 he quoted

o'Conneli's (I( duration ri the stippret-,,im: of Itibbonisin in -.VLatil and other comities in Ireland, as a proof of the existence of a lawless combination against property to an alarming extent. That the calendars of criminals at the Assizes were not so heavy as they had sometimes been, could not, he contended, be taken as eviderce of any improvement in the state of• the country, but rather as evidence of the power and audacity of the Ribbon conspirators. He appealtd to Lord Alulgrave, whether this horrible state of things should continue. He appealed to Lord Melbourne, who possessed more power than any hfinister since the accession of the House of Hanover, to protect Protestantism—not to deal "heavy blows" upon it, and glee it " great discouragement." If he failed in his appeal to Lord Mulgrave and Lord Melbourne, the Earl of linden had one consolation left, for he knew there was a God in heaven, who eared for the fade rless, tied Ivho sympathized with his suffering creatures. He coes1dered it to be the imperative duty of Parliament to take the state of It eland into serious consideration ; ;tad he coneltided by moving fur lee ers ■11e(!:. Eying the different offences committed in Treheel b. t Neel: the 1st of January leee; and the 1st of January 1c:37, the nteehee t f persoas tried, the convictions, and the puoishments awarded.

The Earl of Mt-Lae:kyr replied to Loud laden, in a speech oece- pying tour or five colutnrig of the Morniny Chrotti,le. fle a rites d leto a general &fume: of his administration of Irish affairs, and eferred to official returns to prove the comparative trait quiliity of Ireland omit r his government. It appeared that, during the six months precedieg, the pass- ing of the Coon:ion Bill, the number of offences committed was tiaKel); during the six months of last winter, only 2,1k., . Ili the first Line months of the present year, the offences were 3,781; whereas, during the same period of the years e•3.2, 3, 4, 5, (3, they had been l'espee- tively 7,461), (ea17, 0.t.t 5a354. Lord Mulereve Maieeentla repelled the inamtation that in the appointment or dismis-al of Stl- pendialy Magistrates he had been aetuated by party me;iecee or tl e intention to Marra end overawe the Protestants. It was a full slaneer on the Guvernmete to t harge it with neglecting to discover and awash crimes commi,ei ; eaelst Protestents. An itinenee orator ( ('oleeel Conolly) he ; s. piddle meeting, that a men neteed ..\ !lea leal been marl,.',:; ie-e the Govern tent took no more teethe, of the

render then 1, a. :1 a dead dog ; whereas, its feet, a peldie reward the :,:;prebensien of the offeeders.

hail been 1., ae. intone:ate'', and meet that iefermatioa a retholic . 1, I'll ;wrested. Alt investie:eioe teel:

trllich JIM( • 't't II to i!IIVEI been 119

wits eon-a-tee- e eheiee! elteneeer ; and he v 11, Itt:::11

Yet, with :el :aro 1,:' •. ,u1,1 ('vii C' ea!

da,lorati,n %‘:•. .•

Ill1(1''1.'1• 11 (tit I 11••I

• , •• tia. eit,ulna nits

:el a Inc-'.' • Irmo of nut of freletitl, to prove Ore:

, Leeem el. Marquis. 'Peas it tea=, that but his impression was that there had been repeated i ,e, , of sloth

assaults during Lord .Iltalgrave's Administration. 'file Iluke thee

read similar statements to those produced by Lord Roden tind Lord l)onoughtnore, to show that not only was the number of entre! fright- ful, but the offences were of the worst description. Li M=aine there were F4:1 cases ill which human life was attacked or risked, and atesa eases of malicious burning, robberies of arms, awl burglaries. Nu doubt tlfe police had done its duty ; but bow had lend laltilereve deue his Had there not been same seeking of popularity iu the melee exeeise of the preroaative of mercy? Ile really thought that there euela te lac some distiect, authetitite and fntellii iltle inferelation respecting the state of Irehnel lai•Ibcfore

Lord 111t. lee:tele: said, t' tt in the return; of cammittele to prisons_

by the Clerks of the l'et:rt•-,. 4t.,11 ch. -err: el !lee t,•• s,,me wa: mem hilted Cayce fe 1, • •'", pia di I/ , (1,(4';:t". vtt•t,

of lint, end a cese • e : seeeeli,:es -.Haet the e.• .1 ".-e.

postponi ;I from oe • it I.

thus ma!: rg the '•:: . to

five of ensue•, L 1 1.,,e1 rece.,

half of wha'll he 1, ,•. letere d wife e I, eeeit•,,

t 1.• !

11.!

into the-t(ttl Lord of !levee:- 1.

1.1,e 1., of I '• the l'rt,.; .t,t: ' h11111 III (', 1.1 .1' . • (t•

1110 P1111.t. ( •1 1.1111rt..t.st; th •

Eli, 11:111.1 ' 1.011 I.

of ',tell(' Ill- 1 1. I I :,11

;Opie.

f I'•) ' .. •,! u!' 1:it' \1.'' ,1 , rs lied y:,.1.,.od their oa.lt,, e; ,■• - l'eft I:11 (tit the '1'111 ` 1114 !t, tar Chl/l1-11 in fttly w the intent of the IIII`Il• in q n 'I . • the (7111,11Vil. _ls

to the rei.eel ef the Eal ei.aaati et 'act, :le that new of the the' i It sultine the ill ()ranee areees

eeired the ep.:eite.

Lord •. justified him in cc:- Throne. If be wr other part of 'I— :-• doinestle true ye atitlority of riti)Nry er th••

,l-et t I t lilt ban''.e• • I •

t•X'. tit!, !

let lit. l•-• 1: a..

! is • -sity

a a ter :Pro- of tite lush

Lordships entertained the notion : but he warned the Duke of New- castle and Lord Lorton against disturbing measures of importance, and recently passed.

Lord WINCHILSEA said that the securities for the preservation of the Church contained in the Emancipation Act were insufficient ; and he would support any bill for tilt exclusion of Catholics from Parliament. Lord Bnorottaat regretted that Lord Winchilsea, whose honesty of purpose was so generally known and admitted, should use such lan- guage. Coming from him, it might do much mischief. He assured those who wished simply to repeal the Act of 1829, that they could not stop there, but must retrace their course till they had reenacted the old Penal Laws of 1778. He entirely differed from the petitioners as to the construction of the Catholic oath ; which, he held, never was intended to interfere with the conscientious discharge of a Member's Parliamentary duties. Lord Brous:ham then referred to Lord Mel- bourne's explanation of the words " heavy blow and great discourage- ment," for the purpose of correcting a prevalent misrepresentation of some words of his own— Three years ago he bad given some explanations relative to expressions attn. !eed to himself. It was said that he had made the assertion that "if little had been done in the ilst session, less would he done in the next ;" and it ran C.rough the country like wildfire. (Lcluester.) He took the earliest oppor. moity of giving it a most positive contradiction. It was the only time he had ever t ,ken the trouble to make any explanation, for he had always known bow unavailieg were all such contradictions : he made a statement—it was printed and published—it was signed by him, and was circulated a widely as the cir- cianstauces would permit ; in which statement he had declared that he had said uo such thing ; and that what he did say was, that during the two last sessions, IS.53 and IS:34, the sessions succeeding the passing of the Reform Bill, ten or twelve most important measures had been passed, and that those who thought that too little bad been done in the last session could scarcely expect that more could be done in the next, because all that had been done in the last session could not be again accomplished, and, several great questions having been settled, less remained to be done : and it was clear from the context that in no other sense could his observations he taken. This explanation was re- ceived; it was pronounced satisfactory ; but it was forgotten alike by friend and enemy. The enemy continued to cherish and revive the original mis- statemeut ; and the friend, instead of denying that be had ever uttered it, entered upon petty cavillings as to the expressions, and argued in extenua- tion of them, wing that they were possibly used in the beat of the mo- ment. 'Laughter.) No one knew better the utter falsehood of the charge than his noble friend at the head of his Majesty's Government. Nobody knew better than the Ministers of the Crown that be could not have uttered the im. puted statement, because they knew the measures in preparation, and which were to be brought forward at the meeting of Parliament : but they seemed to think that it was better to allow those charges to be made and remain un- atswertil. Ile did not charge them with being agents in this matter ; but they thought it better to nit by in silence, and to let persons circulate these reports, and to run like wildfire through the country, whilst they sat silently by and permitted attacks which injured them as well as himself. He only mentioned this to point out to his noble ft iend how futile were all these attempts at explanation : it was like oil and vinegar—the taste of the contradiction was quickly passed, whilst the scandal remained longer on the palate ; the oil was less pungent than the vinegar, and the first sooner escaped the senses; the one lived, whilst the other was forgotten ; the one glided smoothly away, whilst the other ran its course, till time; conduct, and action euabled a man to over-live and live then the absurd and ridiculous misrepresentation ; and he hoped that his etble blend would live down the misstatement which had been raised against as well as the more humble and insignificant individual who was then addit ising them would, be trusted, succeed in doing with respect to himself. Lord lIcsortave said, that Lord Lorton was in error if he thought that the Protestants alone suffered from outrages and needed especial protection.

Ile bad received a report of an outrage lately committed in the county of Mucelglein, communicated in a letter from a Stipendiary Magistrate of that reetity, in which it was stated that an armed body of fifty men had the night gone about the place and broken into several Louses; that all the houses .al were those of Catholics; and that all the persons implicated in the tr. ction and who had been apprehended were Protestants. He would be I% I ,-t person to found a general charge on a individual instance, or to bring an ae -Nation against any religious body, least of all against the members of CA. erasion to which he himself belonged : and he would ask the noble vie. (suss whether be was justified in placing those outrages to the credit of the !iss: feelings of one persuasion? He would adduce another instance of the .:sty of such a course. A sermon was preached on the 5th of Novem. .,;ewtonbarry, against the system pursued in the National Schools; and %Ai of November the Schools were burnt down. Now this showed the Sept.. ; .,,ay of enlarging on topics which were of such a nature as to lead to the is i,ility of their being taken in a wrong point of view. Since that 1..e Reverend Mr. Douglas, a clergyman living in the neighbourhood of !s, had received a threatening letter, stating that if be did not re. ante oney which be Mad collected for building the Schools he would meet Sii 11 •;, •> wie fate—destruction. He besought noble lords, therefore, not to mix I ; attempt to violate the law with any religious feeling. s The pstition was then laid on the table.

CONTROVERTED ELECTIONS.

Iv the House of Commons, on Monday, Mr. CHARLES BULLER lath g moved the order of the day for the second reading of his bill " to attend the law relating to the trial of controverted elections, or semi 1.5 of Members to sit in Parliament," Lt Id STANLEY rose to suggest the absolute necessity of postponing the second reading of the bill. The house would recollect that Mr. O'Connell had obtained leave to bring in a very different hill with the same object ; and he put it to Mr. Buller whether this wasnot suffi- cient of itself to postpone the second reading of his bill.

Mr. BULLER intimated that be should persevere in his motion.

Le rd STANLEY said he felt bound in that case to address some addi- tional observations to the House. It was manifest that Mr. O'Con- nell's bill as well as Mr. Buller's should be clearly laid before the (louse, to enable it to judge which should be taken, or whether both should be rejected. He had very great objection to the proposal of i'1r. O'Connell to refer the decision of Parliamentary law to a tribunal not of the House ; but at the same time, be felt bound to give Mr. O'Connell an opportunity of defending his proposition. In his opi- nion, it was the uncertainty of the law, not the corruption of Mem. bcrs, which was the chief evil of the existing system. Ile would sug- gti' the appointment of a Committee of the most experienced Mem-

bers in the House, who should carefully examine the subject, and report certain general rules for the guidance of Election Committees, which should afterwards be embodied in a declaratory act. He had consulted no other Member of the House, and acted on this occasion entirely from his own feeling. He would take the sense of the House as to the propriety of proceeding with the bill ; and would move that the bill be read a second time on the 12th of February.

Mr. CHARLES BULLER did not see that any sufficient reason bad been adduced by Lord Stanley to justify the House in postponing the bill. As to Mr. O'Connell's bill, if Lord Stanley or any other .them. ber would guarantee that Mr. O'Connell's bill should be forthcoming within any reasonable time, or indeed be forthcoming at

that might be a reason for his yielding to Lord Stanley's sugges. tion ; but he doubted whether Lord Stanley could satisfy the House that one word of that bill had been written. He did not believe that anybody in his senses really supposed that Mr. O'Connell had the slightest intention of proceeding with that bill. With respect to the necessity of altering the present system, his opinion had been strength. ened. Nobody expected justice from Election Committees as at pre. sent constituted— At present it was the universal opinion out of the House—among Tories, Whigs, and Radicals—that an Election Committee of the House of Commues was an assemblage of men whom neither honour, virtue, nor their oaths could bind when their political bias was involved. Such an opinion as this, the House should remove as speedily as possible. He did not for a moment tunas to say that he concurred in the imputation to any thing like the full extent ; he did not believe that the House consisted of a set of men incapable of doing juts tire; but he conceived that the present system inevitably led them, in the gene. rality of cases, into injustice. The reforms he proposed were as small as could be proposed. All he desired was, to get as far as possible on the right road, One great object would be to render the law certain. He should also desire to reduce the number of Members serving on each Committee ; and he believed the general feeling to be, that the smaller the number of Members, the greater was the chance of justice, without any decrease of responsibility. Another improvement was, substituting a peremptory challenge for the present mode; and he believed this change would produce the ultimate effect that challenges would be exercised very sparingly. Another improvement would be, the intro. duction of publicity into the proceedings of Committees. He proposed that the votes which Members gave on these Committees, on every resolution, should not only be entered on the record, but read by the Chairman when the public were readmitted. He would insure further publicity by the Chairman giving his decision publicly ; and thus, he thought, he should effect all the publicity that was necessary. He proposed another alteration, and it was one of considerable importance—it related to the law of costs: he would not say what the whole law of costs should be, for he thought that a matter which in a great measure it was better to leave to the regulation of the tribunals themselves when este. blished: he proposed to give the power to the Assessors to regulate the costs till the necessary rules were laid down. The last alteration was one to which the noble lord had given his high sanction, and it was the one which he believed to be the most important. He proposed the establishment of a Court of Am peal, composed of Assessors. His proposition was that three Assessors should sit to hear appeals from the decisions given in the Revising Barristers' Courts, as the Court of Queen's Bench beard appeals from the Magistrates. It was not his object to deprive any man of his right of appeal to the House of Colas moos; but be would allow to no man a double appeal—be would not allow any point that had been decided by that higher tribunal of which he had spoken to be brought under the consideration of a Committee of the House of Commons. He hoped the House would excuse the length to which he had addressed them; his excuse being, that he had had no previous opportunity of explaining the de. tails of what, he must confess, was a somewhat complicated measure.

He was aware that his plan was incomplete, but it went in the right direction ; and his principle was to propose the smallest possible reforms, provided they did not interfere with the future progress of improve- ment.

Mr. WYNN agreed with Lord Stanley, that Mr. O'Connell's bill, as well as Mr. Buller's, should be laid before them. He believed the im- putation of profligacy to Election Committees of that House was most unjust ; and had strong objections to the scheme of constituting a tri- bunal independent of the House for the decision of matters affecting the return of its Members. But before deciding, he should wish to see the two bills.

Mr. O'CONNELL said he had never intended to interrupt the pro- gress of Mr. Buller's measure ; and now that he saw the introduction of his bill would have that effect, he begged leave to withdraw it : let Mr. Buller's bill, therefore, de discussed solely on its own merits. It was undeniable, that much dissatisfaction existed with the manner is which Committees of the House tried election petitions—

It was rather an unhappy and unfortunate circumstance that they must admit that when a petition was sent down to them for trial theme was intim:di- ately a very active canvass on each side. It was true that when men asked hits to attend the ballot, they did not say to him, " Pray go down to the House of Commons, ready to perjure yourself on the Committee!" Oh, no; but what they said was, "Pray go down to the House, that you may prevent the Tories from putting themselves on the Committee." And did nut the Opposition say that on their side? When the Whipper-in went to them and pressed them to come down, did he say, " Come down, that you may be on the Committee, and no matter what the evidence, decide against the individual peu• Cloned against, because he belongs to the opposite party ?" No such thing. But

what he did say was, " Go down, or the Reformers or Radicals will decide every thing ; they will not care for their oaths; they will perjuee themselves, and set at naught every mural obligation, in order to cause a decision in favour of their party." The truth was, they accused each other ; and he believed that the public accused them both. It was notorious that the appointment of a Committee was a trial of party strength—

Honourable Members were aware, that upon the striking of an Election Committee, where the names of two or three persons drawn were belonging to the same party, a cheer was to be heard. Was not, lie asked, this indecent: was it not improper that any set of men should be appointed as judges whose opinions might be influenced by political and party interest? The House was quite aware that at this moment the striking of a Member from one side or the

other was an object of the greatest importance. The fate of England—of one- third of the empire—the fate of Ireland, and how it was to he governed—the

appointeneot to the highest (Mica in the state, all depended upon the luajet its in that Home. Good God ! if they would not hear that their ptoperty, them life, or their honour ought to he tried by men having the one-liundro.dth part of the interest in the result of the trial which they had there, why permit tot ils in that (louse, where such interests were at stake, by the very parties who tried them ? This bill did nut, in his opinion, go fur enough; but it gave theta st least one protection—that of a single impartial person ; it also gave them

publicity, which was another security at least. There was no man, he was ore, who heard him who was not convinced that a worse species of tribunal to decide rights than their Election Committees there could not be. On his side of the House they sought to ameliorate the present system ; upon the other side they stood forward as its protectors: in doing so, their oponents wed all their Influence in outraging the public feelings; and he said, let them have with it all the prosperity that they could.

Sir EDWARD SUGDEN said Mr. O'Connell's conduct in withdrawing bis bill was most extraordinary, considering the manner in which be had introduced it ; and altered its title, so that it might proceed pari passu with Mr. Buller's to which Mr. O'Connell had weighty objections. For his own part, he believed that Mr. Buller's plan would not remedy the evil : and moreover, he could not suppose that the House would part with the power it had over its own elections.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL supported the second reading of the bill ; and referred to the divisions which had taken place in the Committee

upon it last session, for proof that on its most important provisions there bad been nothing like party feeling exhibited. It was admitted that an improvement in the constitution of Election Committees was re- quired ; and in several respects he thought that Mr. Bullet's measure

would effect an improvement ; but he was reluctant to part with the power now possessed by Members of deciding questions affecting their

own rights and privileges. With respect to Lord Stanley's ground for postponing the second reading of the bill, it had been cut from under biro by the withdrawal of Mr. O'Connell's bill.

Sir ROBERT PEEL said, that the real question was whether they should affirm the principle of Mr. Buller's measure, without time for due consideration of it. There were 150 young Members in the House, who must require time for consideration ; and who would gain little by reading the bill, even if they did read it ; for it was full of blunders. The main point of interest, however, was, whether the new tribunal, which this measure would appoint, would have to try the election petitions presented before it became law. There was a

clause to the effect that the bill should not come into operation till after the close of the present session of Parliament : if that was not a blunder, there was no cause for precipitation. He could not believe

that Parliament would give the measure an ex post facto operation— such a proposition would be fraught with the grossest injustice. Ile

would not, however, consent to the second reading of this bill, until they had a distinct declaration from Ministers of what they intended to do with the trial of election petitions. Sir Robert that discussed the details of the bill at some length; and contended, that more con- sideration was requisite before Members were justified in giving their sanction to the bill by reading it a second time.

Lord PALMERSTON said, that after the recess the Ilou,.e would be fully occupied, but now there was time and opportunity fur perfecting the measure before it. That was a sufficient reason for nut putting off the se .ond rending. Mr. FRI:SIIFIELD protested against this hasty legislation. The House divided—

For the second reading 214 Agaiust it 160 Liberal majority 54

After the division, Mr. O'CONNELL gave notico, that in the Com- mittee, he should move to expunge the clause which postponed the operation of the bill till the end of the present session.

EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE.

Mr. SLANEY, on Thursday, called the attention of the House to the condition of the inhabitants of large towns. He feared that this was a subject on which much ignorance prevailed, especially among the young Members. The increase in the numbers of the manufacturing population had been very great. During the last thirty years, while the agricultural population had increased 45 per cent., that of the manufacturing districts had been doubled. There had been a very great augmentation of the produce of the taxes on articles consumed by the working people, but nothing like an equal degree of improvement had taken place as regarded the comforts and habits of the consumers. One-tenth of the inhabitants of Manchester, and one-seventh of the inhabitants of Liverpool, lived in cellars. In Marylebone, out of 578 families of working people, 308 lived in one room, parents and children together. The number of commitments to prison had increased fourfold between the years 1810 and 1830; although the increase of population during the same period was only 30 per cent. in England and %Vules. The consumption of ardent spirits in 1827 was 18,239,000 gallons; in 1837 it was 29,600,000. A statement of the increase of drinking was in other words a statement of the increase of misery and crime. Mr. Slaney then read numerous documents to prove how much the education of the people was neglected. The Day Schools and Sunday Schools were quite inadequate to the de- mand for instruction ; and many of the former were conducted by persons whose ignorance was on a par with their self sufficiency. In the great majority of the Day Schools, there was no atteinpt at order or system. One teacher was asked if he taught the use of the globes ; and he replied " Oh, yes, both of thein, because one explained one-half of the earth, and the other the other half." Another of these pedagogues said that he taught Greek, Latin, geometry, and so on; and being told that that was ninfium in raw, said, " Yes, and you may put down ?indium in !rn.° too." The proportion of the chil- dren who went to school in England was nominally 1 in 8; but really, in the manufacturing towns, I in 17 only : in Prussia, the proportion was 1 in 6; in Saxony, 1 in 6; in Switzerland, I in 5; in New York State, 1 in 4. Ignorance was ii most expensive article : it was more costly ten times over than good education would be. lie earnestly hoped that Ministers would take this subject up; and that all parties, omitting party considerations, would unite for the purpose of securing education to the people. Mr. Shiley concluded by moving for a " Select Committee to consider the best means of providing use- ful education for the children of the poorer classes in large towns throughout England and Wales."

Sir GEORGE STRICKLAND seconded the motion.

Mr. IlitooUEaTorr confirmed Mr. SLANEY'S statements respecting the lamentable ignorance of the populution of Manchester and Salford. Lord JOHN RUSSEL!. comslimentsd Mr. S'aney MI the industry and ability he had exhibited in placing this important subject before the House. To the appointment of the Committee he had no obsec- tion; but many serious difficulties were in the way of the establish- ment of any system of national education— He was quite certain, that if any plan were adopted in which the religious feelings of this country were not consulted, it would be a decided failure, and an obstacle to the introduction daily plan hereafter. But, agreeing that the reli- gious feelings of this country ought to be consulted, there was next the con- sideration io what manner they could reconcile the different opinions of the Church and the Dissenters on the subject ; the Church being anxious that the Catechism and doctrines of the Church should be taught in the schools; the Dissenters being exceedinglyjealous and sensitive with respect to themtroduc- Con of any measure which they thought would trench ou their principles, and their right of free opinion. It would check all these feelings, besides the poli- tical and civil feelings of this country, if they introduced any plan imitated from those foreign countries which his honourable friend had mentioned—if they endeavoured to square and regulate like the schools of Russia and P111901 the schools of education in this country. These considerations pre,enteil the many obstacles which were in the way of the introduction of any plan on the subject. lie wished, likewise, as another motive for delay, to see the effect of those discussions which had recently taken place in the country, and which be expected would still further take place in Parliament, on the question.

He was glad—he was delighted—to see that the public attention had been directed to it. He could trot but expert, fool) the

meetings which had taken place, and from others which no doubt would take place, that a most valuable light would be afforded as to any new plan that might be ad.ipted, mai as to any scheme which might conciliate the various sects amid parties. Ile happened to know, moreover, that a noble and learned friend of his, whose name was identified with the cause of education, and who at all times took the de. pest interest in it—he meant Lord Broughani—( hens) —not only introduced a bill on the subject, or rather on a particular bracch of the subject, last year, but had turned his attention to the manner n. which education might be more extensively diffused and made :uore general throughout the kingdom. Seeing this attention excited to the 9ubjtct, and expecting that they would have further means of judging what would be the best plan to adop■, he should finish by declaring that he pre his assent to the motion of his honourable friend, impressed with the belief that it would be proper fur Parlia- ment to take decisive measures for the promotion of education. lle tlriught, however, that it wss a question which no Government ought to take up hastily ; but that they should wait till they could introduce a plan which would neither meet with the resentment nor repugnance of tine people of this comtry oe account of their religious feelings, nor which would crease an additieual motive to dissension between the Church and the Protestant Dissenters.

Lord SANDON thought it better to strengthen dm hands of the so- cieties which already existed, than to institute any new scheme.

The motion was agreed to.

Last night, the Peers discussed the same subject.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE presented a petition from Nlanchester, praying for the establishment of national education. Expre.,sii.g his general concurrence with the prayer of the petition, Lord Lansdowne stated to the same efFeet as Lord John 13tissk11, that Ministers were nut prepared with any plan of their own.

The Bishop of LONDON said, that certain statements he had made, afew evenings ago, respecting the design of a suck ty called the Central Education Society, to exclude religious ilistruethon from their plan of education, had been controverted. He had BA documents at hand to prove the truth of these statements, but it was notorious that two members of that society, who had gone about the country making speeches on the subject of education, had born admonished by their auditory, more than once, that their plan was deficient in the point of providing religious instruction. Besides, anybody might see by pe- rusalof a correspondence which had taken place between Mr. Simp- son and Mr. Culmihotin, what the principles of the society were on this subject. With respect to any plan of national education, on the large scale proposed, he was convinced that it would be impracticable; and he thought the best thing that could be done would be foe Par- !lament to assist charitable individuals and socisties, who N1 irlied to educate the people, by a grant of public money.

Lord DEN MAN denied that the Central Education Society, of Ciich he was a member, designed to exclude religion fro:n their system of education : on the contrary, a reference to their rules would prove that they did nut medlle with the subject, their principal object being to collect and diffuse information. And he had not been able to find in the treatises written by members of the society, or in the speeches of Mr. Wyse or Mr. Simpson, any thing to justify the accusation of the Bishop of London.

The Marquis of t LANSDOWNE bore his testimony to the high respects ability of the Cenral Education Society.

Lord BROUGHAM then rose, and in a speech which occupies five columns of the Chronicle, brought forward two bills for the promotion of edu- cation. He explained, that the bills were substantially the same as those he had introduced last session, and which had been printed and extensively circulated. The object of the first bill is to establish an Education department, which should have a general superb:Le:hie:tee over all the sellouts in the country maintained and assisted by imblic funds. In the corporate towns, the Town-Councils would have the. more immediate control of the schools within th. ir jurisdietiiei ; and in the rural districts, Committees elected by the rate-payers would perform the same duty. The second bill provides for the esta- blishment of a Board, to consist of three paid life meml-as and two Ministers of State, for tike purpose of re.:tilatiiig the ilHosal of charitable funds bequeathed for the education of the poople, and such grants of money as the Legislature might make. With respect to the religious part of the ve-tion, tire creed of a person is nut to be held as a disqualification fur the (Alice of schoolmaster or schoolmistress; and the turnutilated 13ible is to form part of the system of instruction ; the cliihiren of Jews and Cathelies being ',bowed to be absent dining tho reading et* the Scriptures, if their parents object to their being present. Lord Brougham' is utterly op- posed to any general rate for the support of schools, or to compulsory education in any form. His aim is to make education cheap. and induce the poor to take advantage of it. His plan allows the rate- payers to tax themselves for the support of a school in their own dis- trict giving power to the Board, however, to quash the rate in ease a certain proportion of the rate-payers dissent therefrom.

( The abet: is but a ent•agre outline of the Indio.; fie.tures of Lcr.:

Brought.in's speech ; but it is impossible, the limited time Ye-i:.•:ining• at our /In-To:al, and the many claims upon it, to follow the discursive orator through the vast Lumber of details which he introduced. In the course of his speech, he tool: ye:ash:al to declare hiuiself a cc Invert to the Ballot, and to state that he ,had aitcajs been in favour of a more extended suffrage.] Lord WINCHILSEA expressed his satisfaction with that part of Lord Brougham's plan which made Scriptural instruction imperative; but 7zie doubted its general practicability. Leave was then given to bring in the bills.

POST-OFFICE REFORM.

The Duke of RICHMOND, on Thursday, presented a petition from Elgin, complaining of the high rates of postage, and praying for the adoption of Mr. Rowland Hill's plan. The Duke hoped that Mr. Hill's scheme would he fairly investigated ; though he feared that, when the details were sifted, it would be found impracticable, in the present state of the revenue. If such should be the result of inquiry, he nevertheless hoped that the rates of postage might be lowered ; as he was convinced that, without any injury, nay, with bandit to the trea- sury, a reduction of charges might be made.

The Earl of LICHFIELD said, that subsequent inquiry had confirmed his Opinion that Mr. Hill's plan was not feasible. To adopt it, would not only occasiott a loss of the million and a half now derived from the Pcst.ofEce, but an additional outlay would be required. No doubt, the number of letters sent by post wutdd be increased were the charge reduf., d to a penny for all letters ; but in order to prevent loss to the revenue, the number must be raised from 42,000,000 to -1S,000,000; and it was ridiculous to suppose that it would be increased to that extent. Lord Lichfield referred to a letter of Mr. Waline;., published some .seek- ago in the elea•spapees, 0101 containiag statements relative to suaas steleo from letters in the Post-office, and the praceice of open- ing letters by the Post-otlice people. With respect to the sums said to have Leen lost, Lord Lichfield felt sure that, to a Very considelable zxtents they bad never :equally been sent to the Post.oilice, and of Cs00,000/. applied for, -1ea.),1:00/. had been recovered and returned; leav-

ing' a 1 slim unaccounted fur, but which it was reusendble to sup. pose Lad never been posted at all.

Hoy: inrity letters. lie ask, had been stolen in their ple..:;c to the re-

. • . f the persmns by a horn they went seat, without

1. -•• ••_.4 of them? How rainy c-.•as were there, in • a bc,e1, which in 1...3.::ty had never ,•• '• • I.:.1 not ,!err: tl:at money hal been stolen in the . i:■

wi:h every one, tit it the robberies

• f th-mey 1 •st .:, had been • , : .! WOLIM ..ay. .:s. • z ••_• • to their

tet.ce.

He eoth i menti011 an instance in c,_;:.`-trtaation of hi; •. euent that

▪ orr.:I:lints of the loss of letters were not altv::ys •!—

It happeash to Lim that. wh, 1- • %vat first app' :atol t i th-, • nrgv Intl !•''n".r to 10,11. ••...ived a letter from the in.t.

he ha. • n I. that a petitim, and a • !- • th. 1:. • . • , fauna kilintrie. in Ss....

er He. Lich n.iatilt 1,tee,.. etsnce, be , inert a time in i.et l'uit-ot.,. .•••stiy set it

. riot on n: . ;:tined that the lett,r . • iktition had

been Fo,te I; bur, after vv, he yea: : it. lle was deteri....e..: I.-L. to pert. .1 t r 1,• by ; and it u..•,,:: .• that it was -:O...LC11' that the • referiing to the - . •; , should

Lave been i.,st from ti.: - ::.".! ••:, t.t ra.s•ing. Ile

wrote • • ,• WaS. in two or three tie Itttertea•• it ILA L,:ca mislaid in• quanzi7:.. ,•• • 1..J1 to trig- att. This, t•..•nsSII,•: C: '7 Lad been

any further c ,hilit that

r 1,,Aat to

• i..• . ef letters;

but we, . 'v for the

;:. ,,,.et ▪ r. .. I'. •• - iatti after 12:.:2 the receiving- • - was' yen mit,' twelve when the box was item Gat reameing them, catItaol a desirc -...t• t.. • .etters oat pe:•,,,,,n to whom they yea ad.!: _ .• • .her tie sea!, wet.: violated. He

ta .coat to the I: the extrat.t•:::, •my n,ilimer in which theme letters

were One of them v-as s• tight:y fastened that it had actunIlv already

burst, i up;eeal on its being dr r;ieribitn tl.e box ; and the saals of ale others were se last tt that it WUstlie.1:f.,: to that a letter should be writtea to :11r. Wal- lace r. the s abject ; to which, however, no answer was tact received. Ile denied •• f l•:tter, had ever Leer ii,:cker, lam I. l'ost.afitce, uole-s under rerriered it rue that they -hould he so; and he de. dared that an a.aetion that such was the fact haslabel upon the establish. meat.

Lord BP.011;11.01 presented a petition from the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London in favour of Mr. Hill's plan ; of the feasibility of which, notwithstanding the, observations of Lord Lichfield, Lord Brougham felt convinced.

In the House of Commons, on Monday, a Select Committee was appointed to consider the preF.ent state of cornmunications by railroads, and whet measures should be adopted to secure to the public the benefit of the conveyance of mails by railroads. On the same day, another Select Committee was appointed, on the motion of Mr. WALcacia to consider Mr. Rowland Hill's plan of cheap and uniform postage.

THE Poole-LAW.

Colonel Wool) eeped the inquiry would comprehend the workhouse system.

Mr. LIDDELL said, the operation or the bastardy clauses was very severe-- In •rland alone, immediately after the act coming into operation, parte deal relief was suddenly withdrawn from no :ems than 200 unhappy children; and "dart; rumours" went abroad of " the mysterious disappearance of many of these ineeceuts;" and though no cases of child-murder were actually proved, vet ton mu •h ground for suspicion existed that many of them had been deserted by their anthers to starvation.

Mr. HUME asked Mr. LIDDELL, whether, as a Magistrate, he had inquired into the truth of the statement that so many children had died of starvation ?

Mr. LIDDELL was fortified in his statement by a letter from a gen. Oculars in Sunderland. He was a not a Magistrate for Durham, and had only heard of the occurrences some months after they bad taken place.

Mr. Hume asked for one case of starvation.

Mr. L:DDELL was not prepared to name one ; but he believed he could refer Mr. Hume to a newspaper fur information.

Mr. GORING was for extending the power of the Guardians of the Poor.

Mr. GUEST was satisfied that the Commissioners courted inquiry. General JOHNSON spoke strongly against the workhouse system.

Sir HARRY VERNET said that the bill was the most useful measure ever passed.

Mr. CRIPPS also spoke in favour of the bill.

Mr. CHRISTOPHER objected to the formation of extensive unions.

Mr. BeiNLS said that every charge against the Commissioners broke down before the Committee of last session. If the measure was car. tied into effect in a conciliatory manner, and cautiously, it would be of eate:al advantage to all classes.

Mr. LAW HODGES retained his unfavourable opinion of the bill.

Mr. A. ',Yuan, as Chairman of the Board of Guardians of one of the large,t unions in the county of Durham, bore testimony to the successful working of the Poor-law in his part of the country.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL defended the proceedings of the Commis. sieners ; and observed, that upon examination the charges of cruelty

and violence brought against them were found to be false. The chief

lee:eilt of the measure was not the saving of expense, but the improve- meet of the labouring classes. He trusted that the time of the Com- mittee about to be appointed would be more profitably employed than that of the Committee of last year ; and that due consideration would be given to the best means of introducing the law into the manufactu- rine districts of the North.

The Committee was then appointed.

MISCELLANEOUS.

IRISH STIPEND/ART MAGISTRATES. The House of Commons was erampied fur some time on Thursday by a motion of Colonel PERCE' fur a copy of the proceedings at a Court-martial held at Harwich. in of Lieutenant Richard Blake. Lieutenant Blake had been appointed a Stipendiary Magistrate by Lord Mulgrave, and sent to Sligo tiering the election. His conduct there excited the disapproba- tion of Colonel Perceval, who preferred certain charges against him; awl au investigation, which ended in the exculpation of Mr. Blake, was ordered by the Lord Lieutenant. It was then represented to Lord Melgrave, that Mr. Blake had been dismissed from the Army ; and consequence of that dismissal, not on account of misconduct as a Magistrate, Mr. Blake was deprived of the office of Stipendiary Ma- gistrate. It appeared that the Court-martial bud earnestly recom- mended Mr. Blake to mercy; but the recommendation was not com- plied with. His behaviour from that time to the present had been unexceptionable ; and he was recommended to Lord .Mulgrave by Lord eiranmore, Lord Dillon, and other persons of high character. Lord Mot:eerie in reply to Colonel Pereeval, said that he consi- sidered Mr. Blake to have suffered quite enough already for his ori- gina offence ; and deprecated the animosity which drove Colonel Per- revel to repeat the attack on him in the House of Commons. Mr. I rfeeoe Beowee and Mr. Sergeant WOUEFE spoke strongly on the same side ; and the former charged Colonel Perceval with having him- self committed the only assault that occurred at the Sligo election. 'f his the Colonel as positively denied. The motion was negatived, without a division. The same fate befell another motion by Colonel PLIXEVAE. for the names of the Chief Constables appointed under the Coa.tabulary Act.

FICTITIOUS VOTES. On the motion of Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET, on Tuesdly, a Select Committee of the Commons was appointed to inquire into the practice of creating fictitious votes in Ireland.

RIS,HOPRIC OF SODOR AND MAN. Sir HARRY VERNEY moved for leave to bring in a bill to prevent the annexation of this Bishopric to the see of Carlisle : for the motion, 53; against it, 159.

GRAND JURIES. Mr. PRYME moved for leave to bring in a bill to abolish Grand Juries in England and Wales. The motion was sup- ported by Mr. HAWES, Mr. WARBURTON, Mr. AGLIONBY, and Mr. WAKLEY; and opposed by Sir JOHN CAMPBELL, Sir ROBERT PEEL, Lord JOHN amid Lord SANDON. On a division, it was re- jected, by 194.; to 25.

POST.OFFICE VOTERS. Mr. FITZROY moved for a return of the persons who had been dismissed from situations in the Post-office in consequence of their votes at the lust election. From what he had seen in the public papers, he was convinced that never had the autho- rity of Government been exercised in so unconstitutional a manner as at the last election.

Mr. F. T. BAKING seconded the motion. In 1835, complaints were made that persona in the Post-office and Revenue departments voted at electio is ; and in consequence of these compluints, orders were issued to those persons, threatening them with dismissal if they voted again. Same had voted, and been dismissed accordingly. As to the general charge brought against Government, Mr. Baring challenged

Mr. Fitzroy to bring forward his cases in the House, where he would be met face to face.

Sir CHARLES KNICHTLCY said, that one instance of the misuse of Government patronage had occurred in Northamptonshire—

An application had been made to the Postmaster-General to establish a penny post-oflice at Daventry. The Postmaster•General required information to enable him to appoint a proper person. The clergyman of the place recom- wended a proper person; but in three months atter, another person was ap- pointed; and the person so appointed was a young lady only sixteen years old. The clergyman wrote to inquire why the person he had recommended bail not been appointed, and why the other was appointed ? and the reply was, that the party so appointed had been recommended by the Treasury. The appointment was a good deal canvassed, in consequence of the party appointed being only sixteen years of age; and ultimately the appointment was set aside. The young lady whose appointment was thus set aside was the daughter of a Dis- senter. The next person appointed of the name of Lee was also a Dissenter, and a violent opponent of Ills.

Mr. BARING said, he would inquire into the circumstances of this case. He believed that the clergyman of the parish had recommended &partisan of Sir Charles Knightley, and that the Treasury appointed one of different politics. As long as the Treasury had these appoint- ments, Sir Charles would very often have similar ground of corn. plaint.

The motion was agreed to.

ELECTION PETITIONS. Petitions have been presented during the week against the returns for Carlow Borough, Carlow County, Dublin City, Kerry County, Newry, Kinsale, Portarlington, Ho!, Read- Walsell, Shaftesbury, Bridgewater, Poole, Tamworth, Berwick- upon- Tweed.