NEWS OF THE WEEK.

THE two Houses of Parliament on Thursday presented the first specimen for the session, of their old,- and we fear inveterate habit, of sitting late, and talking much to small purpose. The Commons sat until half-past twelve, and the Lords until half-past eleven. 1-luring the rest of the 'week, the hours ha-re been earlier, and the discussions more moderate. On Monday, in the Com- mons, a conversation ortloine importance arose out of the votes for Windsor Castle, and more especially for the Rideau Canal; on the wasteful and extravagant and illegal *stem of engaging in public works without certain and defined estimates of the expense. On Tuesday, in the Same House, Lord ALTHORP announced the nitention of Government to take a voteof credit dB account of the Civil List Until their final plans with respect to it were properly adjusted : the vote was taken last night. On Tuesday, also, -Mr. KENNEDY, in an able and argumentative speech—which, not being understood by the reporters, was not noticed, though it well de- served-to he so—introduced his important measure relative to En- tails in Scotland ; and the Marquis of CHANDOS introduced his bill for modifying another nuisance, more crying, but riot greater —the Game-Laws .of.England. The projected appointment to the Chancellorship in Ireland was talked at in the House of Lords on Wednesday; • and the procession of the trades of London, which - took place that day to address the King, was made the ground of censure against Ministers, by the Duke of WELLINGTON. The samesubjectS were reeurred to in the Commons on Thursday and Friday.. The GOVernment have pledged themselves that the dismis- sal of SirANThorry HART, on a pension, shall not cause any expense to the country ; a paradox, for the explanation of which, we must wait until the details are completed. On Thursday, Lord WYN- PoRD brought on his motion de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis, with an appendix On the state of the nation. A long -discussion ensiled, which terminated in the withdrawal 'of the motion. Very fe*:ofthe Peers seemed disposed to support any part, and none were disposed to support all the parts of Lord WYNFORD'S com- plaint, except Lord STANHOPE. A Committee was moved on the same evening in the Commons, by the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, for the purpose of inquiring into, with a view to reduce, as far AS practicable, the whole of the salaries of the various officers of Government ; -a measure which we have on repeated occasions recommended, and which we are happy to see Ministers inclined to adopt. The inattention of the late Ministers to the distress of the country was severely censured by Lbrd RADNOR on Thursday; the subject was reverted to by the same noble Lord on Friday. On that day, also, the grave solemnity of their Lordships was broken in upon by Lord B: EOUGHAM, who gave way, for the first time since he has taken his seat, and upon rather strong enforce- ment, to a Strain ofraillery which wakened the aristocratic echoes of the House With sounds that but seldom disturb their staid tranquillity. The laughter, loud and long, was at the expense of Earl STANHOPE 11 nobleman who is somewhat better known for the length and the pertinacity of his argument than for its logic. The proverb says that we ought not to pluck a dead lion by the beard ; Lord STANHOPE has been bold enough to toy with the mane of a living one. The correction of the Chancellor was gently administered, but quite severe enough to teach the Earl the danger of too much familiarity with such a playmate. We sus- pecf'that " the feeble voice" will be hushed for some time to come. The living of Stanhope will not be joined to the see of Exeter ; Ministers have advised his Majesty against a step which had oc- casioned a degree of excitement, throughout the country inferior only to that caused by Dr. PHILLPOTTS'S elevation to the Bench. The fact was announced by Lord ALTHORP on Thursday, in answer to a question from Mr. WYNNE. The present intention is to adjourn the two Houses on Thurs- day next ; and it is not supposed that they will again meet until the end of January or beginning of February. Indeed, Ministers have announced that they wish to be indulged with as long a day as the forms of Parliament and the state of the public business will per- mit. The Commons meet to.day, but merely for the purpose of bringing tip the report of the Committee of 'Supply of last night on the vote of credit asked by Ministers to account of the Civil List.

sv.. 1. STATE OF THE COUNTRY. Lord WYNFORD'S motion for refer- tring the consideration of the state of the country to a select com- mittee, was debated in the House of Lords on Thursda general existence of the distress, his Lordship thoug the fact was too notorious to be disputed, and it might he satisfactorily proved to any one who would take the trouble of but a fifty miles' journey from town. It was proved in a still more convincing way • in its effects—in the criminal practices to which it had given rise —practices (his Lordship alluded to the destruction of property) which were new to the Country, and whose adoption for the first time by Englishmen, was the best indication of the degree to which they were now suffering. The records of the Criminal Courts Tiresented a frightful catalogueW offences.

‘` In the year 1825, there were 233 personstransported to Botany Bay from Great Britain and Ireland ; in the yeas- 1826, their ,,Lordships would be surprised to find that number increased to 1,81:;.; 1-,4he year 1827, it 34,as stf.Liurther increased to the enormous nut. ,. -„if ohs; a ad in 1828; the was a trifling reduction in the nun er,le.'P1ng it standing

at 2,449, „.

.

It was true, a Committee on pointed ; and he. might be met in 4-mine by a reference to that the -Poor,Laws been Committee, and to -the result whith might naturally be expected from its labours; but his objectmas a more extended one than that which the Committee on the Poor-Laws contemplated—it extended not to the best method of managing the funds of the poor, but to the best means of procuring funds for their relief. The first cause to which Lord Wynford adverted, as producing the general distress. at present prevalent, was the want of capital in the country.

He derived his proof of that fact from the circumstance that tradesmen were obliged now in many instances to pay their labourers in goods in- stead of money. Even if there were capital enough in the country, if it was not properly employed, and if the usurers who possessed it were un- willing to lend it out for the promotion of the productive industry and manufactures of the country, in what state must such a country be? If the country had been so unfortunate in all its speculations, agricultural and commercial, that the capitalists were induced to stop the life-blood of the country by locking up their capital in their boxes to support the in- dustry of the country, in what condition must that country be?

- In the very Committee which was now sitting (the Marquis of Salisbury's) it had but that day been stated, that the funds of the •-ti farmer were .everywhere nearly if not wholly exhausted ; and for no other purpose was the inquiry that he prayed for—it mattered not in what form it was granted, at the bar, or in a special com- mittee—than to set the people right in respect of the conduct of. two much calumniated classes, the landlords and farmers.

Another, and no inconsiderable cause of the distress of the country, was the machinery of the country.

He was no enemy to machinery, if the employment of it were properly regulated ; but when it produced a glut in the market, it injured the manufacturer, and it injtred thepoor man, by depriving him of the means of obtaining employment for his labour. He was of opinion that the poor man had as u'onod a right to have his labour protected, as the manufac- turer had to have his manufactures protected. He was not so absurd as to propose to put a stop to the use of machinery altogether, but that its use should be properly regulated, so as not ,to interfere with the labour of the poor man. In that way justice would be dealt out to all, without distinction ; and if any distinction should be made, it should be made in favour of the poor man.

The third cause of the existing distress was the diminution of the precious metals ;- a diminution so great, that whatever horror he might feel at any change in the currency, he yet thought, if the diminution were satisfactorily made out, as he thought it might be, there ought tO be such a thange. Their Lordships had lately made an alteration in that currency, which., certainly did not form the standard, but which formed a greet,portion of the currency of the country. A pound of silver, which was formerly citt into 62 shillings, was now cut into 66, which made a diferenee of almost five per cent. Again, tilere vsim that marked alteration in the currency, the restriction upon the issuing of the small.notes. He trusted that, from what he had heard from Earl Grey on that point last session, he should have his support, when he called for their restoration. He would con- tend that the reissuing of the 1/. and 2/. notes would not have the effect of altering contracts. If they were issued to the greatest extent, the cur- rency would remain the same as to contracts, for they would still!he per- formed upon the same standard. The only effect of the issuing of the small notes would be to give the country bankers and the Bank of Eng- land the means of accommodating those who wanted accommodation.

The next grand cause of the difficulties under which the people laboured, Lord Wynford said, was the grievous amount of taxa- tion. It was admitted by Mr. Pitt, that, in his time, the taxes, di- rect and iedirect, took out of the pockets of every poor man in gngland two-fifths of his earnings.

They heard a great deal about high rents; but would any man say that they took two-fifths, or even one-fifth, out of the pockets of the poor man ? They were told that if they reduced their rents to what they were in 1793, every thing would be right, and that the country would go on well. He would undertake to prove, that, with regard to the rents, except in cities and towns, where circumstan- ces might have occasioned a great rise, the landed proprietors only received a fair interest for the improvements they had made ; and that, making that allowance, the rents had not merely been reduced to the standard of 1793, but in many instances below it. The doc-

trine-that a reduction of rent was all that was required by the country,

was supported by a great and most powerful instrument in this country —tile public press ; but the adoption of it would be ruinous to the coun- try. If the poor land was to be thrown out of cultivation, millions would be deprived of subsistence. He would beg their Lordships to re- collect what had taken place since 1793. Since that time, settlements had been made, and money had been borrowed upon estates. How were these incumbrances to be discharged, if a return was made to the stan- dard of 1793? Besides, if such a deduction were to take place, would the landed proprietor be in the same state as the rest of the community ? With rents of 1793, could he afford to give the prices of 1830? Unless every thing else were reduced in the same proportion with rents, the conse- quence of returning to rents of 1793 would be, that the landed gentlemen would be degraded from their station ; and if every thing were so reduced, who would be advantaged by the change ?

The Corn-Laws had been very generally considered as a cause of distress, and he was not prepared to defend them. If the result

of his inquiry showed that they required to be repealed or modified, let it be done. The law of 1826 at least, he was sure, was of no advantage to the public.

It and the rest of them might be, and he believed they were, useful to the speculator : they might, and he believed they did, encourage a spirit of gambling, which had originated with the Stock Exchange, but which now affected all our markets, which deranged the whole economy of our do- mestic life, and which caused uncertainty in every species of property throughout the country. But farther than that, he was strongly disposed to question their utility, and more especially that part of the system by which the averages were struck.

The protection givenlo the land, led naturally to the considera- tion of the burdens of which it was the price. The most. obvious and heaviest a these was the poor-rate, a tax which the land bore exclusively, or nearly so ; and the land-tax, which was also exclu- sively imposed on the agricultural interest.

The landed interest paid for the support, not of its own poor only, but of the manufacturing poor also. A man might have a factory,. which produced him thousands; and such a man would be rated, not according to his property, but merely by his factory. Such a man, though he might have his factory in one place, might have his workmen in all the parishes around, who, when turned off, must be supported by the parishes to which they belonged. For the land-tax, it was originally intended to apply to all property ; but, as it had turned out, all property, with the exception of certain pensions, escaped, and the land, paid the whole. When it was first laid on, a bounty was given on the exportation of corn, in order to induce the landed proprietors to consent to the tax ; but that bounty had been taken away, and the tax remained.

On the necessity of protecting the land, his Lordship observed, there could be little 'question, with those who looked to its com- parative value, or with those who considered the permanence and security of its profits. When the income-tax was in its full vigour, the land alone, out of 15,000,000/., paid no less than 8,000,000/. The commerce of the country was of the highest importance, but it depended in a great measure on the caprice or often conflicting ...interest of foreigners. The Americans, the Danes, the Russians, and others, had betaken themselves to manufacture, and turned a deaf ear to all that we said to them about how much cheaper they might buy manufactured articles of us. It was in vain that we told the Dane that we could sell him cloth cheaper than he could buy it ; for the Dane (stupidly, it was said) replied —" Perhaps so: but if I buy it of you, I must pay in coin; if I buy it at home, I may pay in paper : and, besides, if I buy of you, I takeaway from my own countrymen one means of employment." This was the language which the Dane, it was the language which foreigners ge- nerally, held to us.

'Lord Wynford concluded, after an appeal 10 the House and to the Ministers, by moving a resolution "that it was expedient ferthwith to institute an inquiry into the causes of the present state of the country, and to consider of the remedies to be ap- plied thereto."

The Earl of EOSEHERRy opposed the motion, on the ground that only a few days had elapsed since his Majesty's Ministers had consented to a Committee on the Poor-Laws, under whose cogni- zaece a large portion of the inquiry -which Lord Wynford con- sidered to be neeessary, would of course fall. He thought the recteit changes m the Administration equally forbadethe House to entertain so sweeping emotion; which could only *14 to eat. bars-ass the tabours of Goternment,, and consume a great deal of: time which might be better bestowed.- While he admitted that much distress prevailed, though not to the extent described by LordWynford, he still thought thnt its amelioration or removal ought to be left, for censideration. to a more convenient period, when Ministers, should have had time allowed them to arrange some plan for that purpose. Many of the assigned causes of the

distress, he considered to be extremely questionable. The doc- trine of capital being locked up in boxes was ridiculous. There was an unnatural distribution of capital, but assuredly there was no such hoarding practised as Lord Wynford complained of. Rents, Lord Rosebeiry thought, were not so low that they might not very properly be made yet lower, and that without at all risk- ing the ruin of the landholder. The increase of crime, of which Lord Wynford had talked, might arise in part from the distress, but it might as justly be attributed to the bad laws of the country. He thought the system of game-laws had done more to demo- ralize the people than all they had suffered and were suffering.

The Earl of ELDON deprecated the idea that the Legislature was to interfere to repress or put down machinery, as seemed to

be in part the wish of Lord Wynford. He differed also from him in respect to some other causes which he had assigned for the pub- lic distress ; he nevertheless thought it a most fitting subject to inquire into, and he would vote for it, if the noble mover pushed the question to a division.

Lord KING enlivened the debate with the species of ridicule that he shines in.

" The noble and learned lord—for learned I must call him, and learned I have no doubt he is in his own profession, but learned he is not in the information which is wanted here, or at least he has thrown no light on the opaque atmosphere which a learned gentleman below the bar told us this day pervaded our House—the noble and learned lord has moved for a committee to inquire into the causes of the distress which now per- vades the country, and to report their opinion thereupon to the House. Taking the view of this question that the noble and learned lord has taken, I am surprised that he does not see that the committee for which he moves would, if granted to him, be nothing more than a mere ignis fatuus ; that it would only involve him in greater obscurity and deeper gloom ; that it would only plunge him further into the mire than he has got already ; and that it could not, by any accident, be of the slightest advantage either to himself or to the country. The noble and learned lord has„throughaut his speech, done all he could to deride political eco- nomists and the public press ; but his derision throughout was nothing better than a lamentable joke. The noble and learned lord says, that we are reduced to our present wretched and calamitous condition, by the doc- trines of-the political economists, and by the mischievous influence of the public press. Now, I venture to tell the noble and learned lord, that it is because the doctrines of the political economists have been neglected, and not because they have been too much attended to, that we are in our present state of suffering. The noble and learned lord, like all the deriders of theorists and political economists, is a little bit of a theorist himself; and is his theory is not a little extraordinary, let us see what it is, and how he defends it. The notion of the noble and learnedlord regarding capital is certainly of a novel description. He says that there is capital in the country, but that it is unfortunately locked up in a strong box. Does the noble and learned lord know what capital is ? Why, houses are capital, land is capital, food is capital, raiment is capital. All these, 1 admit, are lacked uP.in a strong box ; but then that strong box is as large as the island of Great Britain, and in that strong box I hope they will long remain,"

Lord King concluded by stating his belief, that no termination to the distress was to be expected without an alteration in the Corn-Laws.

"You have already tried the fatal experiment of these laws long enough. The injury which you intended to others has recoiled on your own heads. You are the greatest sufferers by it now; and a worse fate than your present will befal you, if you are infatuated enough to persist in your present course. The prosperity of the country has decayed before it ; that decay is still going on, and the question therefore is— Will you consent to let the country enjoy that prosperity which I am certain it still can enjoy, if you take off that dead weight, the Corn-Laws, which now oppresses it ? or will you continue to stand by the experiment of the Corn-Laws, which even the noble and learned lord declares to be inefficient for the purposes for which it is designed, for he admits that the agriculture of the country has declined under it ? The sooner you come to an alteration of the Corn-Laws—and come to it at last you must —the better will it be for yourselves and the country."

The Earl of Wiricausas agreed with Lord Wynford, that the rents all over the country had fallen, if not to the standard of 1793, at least to that of 1797; and that the burdens imposed on the land were as grievous as they were partial in their operation. He thought the Committee on the Poor-Laws would do a great deal of good ; but there were numerous points into which it could not possibly inquire, which the Committee proposed by Lord Wynford might take up.

Lord STANHOPE thought inquiry essential ; he had pressed it on the House at the first, he would press it on them again at the eleventh hour. He had no wish to embarrass the Government ; for on two most important points—the most important of all—he fully concuized with the sentiments expressed by their noble head--Ahe principle of non-interference with other countries, and the reform of Parliament in our own.

By reform, he meant reform conducted on proper principles with cau- tious peuclence, which would preserve, not destroy—strengthen, but not impair—the-existing institutions of the country; but whicii.would, at the same time, be a real, substantial, and effectual constitution of the Common, s House or Parliament. As they had now the satisfaction of seeing on the woolsack a noble Lord-who bad devoted his attention, and employed his powerful abilities, in considering that subject, he hoped that when .he had metered his.plas, itwould be found well qualified to thf just expectations of.the people on the one hand, and to secure. the colundition from the danger of violent innoeationaop, the other. With respeckto -the. coroZavis,., he basin° objection to-a total, rePeel et thew* p& 4414,44 the/ prete4" the hece#-* posed on the land—the land-tax, poor-tax, malt-tai, bop-tax,

d—were also taken off. earnest endeavours to promote its interests.

; " I should most probably vote for "—said his Lordship,—" not .a corn-

' rnittee with respect to reform, for that would be unnecessary—bpt.for

the impeachment of the members of the late Government, who went out country, they did not come forward with some plan of alleviation, . . change which had been made in it.

point out a single instance in which their conduct had had that not very easily perceive. • try have been some time infested," said the Duke, " have sprung from . • ivhich was called for by Lord Wynford—so vast and so multifa- •

rious—could by any possibility yield, as was. its express object, any 2. Tar LORD. CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND. On Tuesday night, immediate relief to the eountrynt all. There was hardly one of the in the House of Commons, Mr. G. Davasoaiput .ft question to the points of inquiry to whiehLord Wynford• wisdied to•direct the at- . Chancellor of the Exchequer, respecting, the Lord Chancellor of tention of the House, that had not already occupied it for several Ireland, whose retirement had been rumoured ; and Which Lord sessions ; to consider the whole in one committee, was impossible ; Aunoar was unable to answer. On Wednesday, the same gap- and if by any possibility it could be done, it would take so long a tion was repeated by Lord FARNHAM in the House of Lords. Lord time, that the disease would have cured itself, or killed the patient, Farnham professed himself not unfriendly to the Administration, before a remedy was diseovered. On the subject of the Corn-Laws though he wished to know if Ministers intended to advise the re. his lordship said— tirement of•Sir -Anthony Hart, in order to make way for Lord ' He could not pretend to speak with absolute impartiality, though in Plunkett. His Lordship lamented that the condition of Govern- the judgment he had formed he had endeavoured to guard himself as care- ment should be such that so important an office as that of Lord fully as a man could do from any selfish considerations, and to view the Chancellor should be politically connected with it ; and thought, question only as one that mightily affected the good of the empire at ,o w

large. Still, he must add, it was possible that he w.as biassed, even on- ., known to himself, by the circumstances in which hewas placed. All the mai functions might be easily effected in Ireland. The public property he had in the world was in land, and he did not pretend to be were in a way to have no fewer than six "dowager" Chancellors exempt from human weaknesses or human frailties. Yet if he knew him- and Vice-Chancellors to provide for, in consequence of the politi- self, he had considered the subject without reference to his own interests, cal changes of the Government

and with a view only to the benefit of the people themselves, in order to Lord BROUGHAM could not give more than a general answer re- seal= to them .a constant, a safe,"and, he would add, a cheap necessary of life; and so-viewing it, he would maintain that some-protection ought specting the Irish Chancellorship, because the arrangements were to be. afforded to the agricultural interest. It was certainly a question of not yet completed, degree, bitt there were a few courageous persons who would willingly in- Whether or not it was desirable for the better administration of justice cur the whole danger of the experiment of laying open the.trinle in corn, in this country that the ordinary rule of the separation of judicial front He would confesathat he was not one of those courageous persons. He political functions should continue to be deviated from in the instance had not courage for such an experiment; for if it should fail in practice, of the Keeper of the Great Seal, was a question of no less difficulty that! the evils would be numerous and irremediable. These were opinions importance. At first sight, most persons would be inclined to give att which he was not ashamed to avow, however unpopular they might be in answer in the negative, on the general principle stated by Lord Farnhamf the country:. He was not, however, so wedded to the Corn-Laws as not but, on the other hand, there was something peculiar in the powers and to admit that, in some proper season, they might become the subject of jurisdiction of the Chancellor, which rendered it not so clear that the inquiry, though upon thewhole the Corn-Bill had operated advantageously separation ought to take place. That, however, was not now the question.. for thecountry. That this had been found tote the case,. he thought every The change would be the greatest in the administration ofjustice that had one must confess, who looked to the present average prices of corn, after ever been adopted.; it was, not sanctioned by one precedent—it had never so many years of deficient crops. Of one thing he was sure—that to agi- yet been formally, it to the Legislature ; but if ever the proposif tate a. question of such a nature, whilst the public feeling was so.excitgcl tion should be made, after due notice, he should not be found wanting at

as at present, could. not, on any pretence, be justified. the discussion of it. Lord Farnham had asked why the separation, thougla Withrespect to the present - distreskof the-country, Earl GreY not made in England, Might not be made in Ireland. He answered, that said,, he looked on it not, as the effect of one measure or of one set

of men, but as of.a long come of involicyo. Ireland; in 1804; when Mr. Pitt Came into office, he went out. (Lord

----- _ . . -tax, and others, that pressed exclusively bn the i roduce of to be obtained by eAreful attention to its wants, and by honeat imad

ord RADNOR said, if he had a seat in the other House, where Lord TETNHAM declared his intention of supporting, and the . be had-long possessed one, he would move an inquiry, but un- Duke of NEWCASTLE of opposing the inquiry. Lord FINS

I

1 questionably not such an inquiry as that meditated. by. Laid hought that much of the present difficulties arose from a want

Wynford. of consideration for each other among the different classes of the 1 community.

The journeymen blamed the masters, and the tenants blamed the lari...dlorlis ; but all Parties should be disposed to unite in a disposition to of office leaving the conntiy in the most perilous condition—in a state relieve the poor, and d nin the principle of " live and let live." Many per, verging on the actual dissolution of society, and that, too, without being. sous al ed o Parliamentary end y Reform as a measure that would suffice to,

relieve the country ; an without attributing to it that magic power

visited bythe vengeance of an insulted country." which would remove all our difficulties, he thought that the time was Under the circumstances in which the Ministers were placed,. now arrived when it could not be longer protracted. And while in any hardly yet set down in their places, it would be most unfair and such reform their Lordships should proceed with caution, in order to unreasonable, by consenting to the motion of Lord Wynford, to guard against anarchy and confusion, they should not confine their cast an undeserfed imputation on their sincerity. If, after they attention to one point. We should have a reform in the law, civil and criminal ' • and without that, any retrenchment, however extensive, wouldi had had time to deliberate on the distresses and difficulties of the not be sufficient.

The Duke of RICHMOND said, that the objects of the committee

it would then be time to compel their attention to that sacred duty. granted-to the Marquis of Salisbury, and now sitting, were by no He concluded by drawing a powerful picture of 'the condition of means so narrow as they had been represented; they extended to the country, which the Ministry were called onto consider. some of the most important points contemplated in the more • The social arrangements of society were every day dissolving ; the links extended inquiry of Lord Wynford.

which knit together the different orders of the state were loosened, and One of the first questions put to every witness was, " Are the labourers dropping from their hold. The framework of the constitution was turn- in the same condition that they were ten years ago ?" The answer was, bling in pieces—" the whole head was sick and the whole heart faint; „ They are not ;" and then came the question, " What, in your opinion, from the sole of the foot even to the head there was no soundness in it, is the cause of the change in their condition?" This, surely, was inquir, but wounds, and bruises, and putiefying sores, that had not been closed, ine•° into the condition of the labouring poor, and into the cause of the neither bound u , neither mollified with ointment."

e u . Er.iiSrdrOat warmly defended the late Ministry Lord Wynford, the Duke added, had only attended that coin, from the charge of having in any degree contributedto the distress mittee once, and now he was anxious for another—how he was to. or disturbances of the country ; and challenged Lord. -Radnor to attend to two, when- he could not attend to one, the Duke could tendency. - Lord WYNFORD, in replying, complained that in many instances " The dangers and disturbances with which some districts of the coon- , ne had been misunderstood, and in others misrepresented. He very different causes ; among which, the example—I will unhesitatingly Justified his opinions on machinery by a reference to those of the say, the bad example—afforded by the neighbouring states, has been the Duke of Wellington during the last session of Parliament. As, Most influential, as it has been the most pernicious. This has been en. however, Earl Grey had at lastgiven a pledge that the distress of couraged and heightened by the misrepresentations and false ideas Which the country would be one of the first objects of his consideration,

have been too generally circulated throughout the country of the causes would withdraw his motion. and the character of the unfortunate events which occurred last summer

in an adjoining kingdom; and, above all, by a want of knowledge on the Earl GREY said he had given that pledge within one hour after part of the people of the real nature of those events, and of the mischiefs his appointment to the office he held. Lord Wynford, therefore, sure to follow from their imitation. These were the causes of the present could have no ground for withdrawing his motion on that account disturbed condition of the country, and not any measure of the late Go- now, that he had not before he made it. *eminent." Lord ROSSLYN denied that the late Ministers•had ever entertained With respect to the distress, the ex-Premier thought no legis- or expressed any such opinions respecting machinery as Lord lative measure could reach it, and therefore he was averse from Wynford attributed to.them. inq E_uiry. The motion was then withdrawn ; and their Lordships, after a arl GREY ridiculed the notion, that an inquiry such as that sitting of six hours and. a half , adjourned.

n ever difficult in England, a separation of the political and judi- •• there, as 'here, it was without any. precedent. In 1801, under the ade ministiation of Lord Sidmouth, Lord Redesdale was made Chancellor of ,

Extending from the American war downwards.M the causes of the Forrikins—" No.") Right—Lord Redesdale did continue in office; and present distress, and more especially 'from the beginning of the French that only made the parallel stronger; for Lord Eldon, who had before been revolution, and Of that war which anise out of it,. and Which he then made Chancellor here, did not go out upon that change of Ministry, but thought, and continued - to- think, unnecessary in itself, and most continued under Mr. Pitt's, as under Lord Sidunitith's Administration, to unjustly brought about. He believed that the preaent situation of the hold the Greet Seal. When, on Mr. Pitt's death, in 1806, another Ad, -country was entirely derived from taxation, and the,other consequences ministration Was formed, Lord Redesdale came from Ireland, and was sue- 'of that unfortunate. policy. He oily Wanted a. fair indulgence to enalde ceeded by the Right Honourable George Ponsonby; and when, in 1807, the his•MajaitY.'11. Government to apply themselves. directly, carefully, and Duke of Portland's Administration was formed, Lord Manners took the assiduously to the difficulties of the country; andhe trusted that they Seals which he held wider the Administrations of Mr. Perceval and would not be more interrupted on the part of 'any members of that House Lordiiverpool. When the Liverpool Administration came to an end. than the aenseof citity might compel. them to opposition, Beyond this, the same rule was again acted on in both countries. Lord Eldon retired, 4e-desioid.no:conadence whatever. Hg Akan) stand alone upon -the and was succeeded by Lord Lyndhurst here; and Sir A. Hart in the same • principles laelifid-PrOfessed„ and Upon his acting up' to there. Feeling way succeeded Lord Manners, Who only held the Seals under the new that he had undertaken a task far beyond his strength, he knew that he sIttlininistrition untilthe -arrangements they desired could be completes. could stand only upon the support of the country, and Which was only All Sloe cases showed thatthe changes of Chancellors in both count4 a had depended on the changes of Administrations. He need nOt, there- fore, say that any distinction now to be made between the two countries in that respect would be perfectly new. Such a change might be right; but, at all events, it ought first to be seriously discussed. It was no matter of charge against the present Government that they had not of their own act, departed from the precedents of all former Governments.- Such a charge might be proper after that and the other House had given it their sanction ; but the Ministers were guilty of no dereliction of duty lit not making it without such a sanction. He would not say whether the Government might or not issue directions for such change of the Chan- cellors; but nothing was finally done at this moment. He was not bound to state whether such a change was contemplated : it was needless for him to say he leant towards it, but it had not yet been finally determined. All the Chancellors he had mentioned had had retiring pensions; but he would say this, that if any alteration was made (though he would not state the details), he was sure the arrangements would be made with the strictest regard to economy in the administration of the pecuniary re- sources of the country. The salary would be so modified as it had never been before, and in such a manner as to consult the distresses of the public ; and though the saving might not be considerable, it would be important, for he was fully convinced that nothing could be unimport- ant which went to save one farthing of the public money. (Cheers.) 3. THE CIVIL LIST. On Tuesday evening, Lord ALTHORP said, it was well known that the present Ministry disapproved of the way in which the Civil List had been made up by their prede- cessors. They had not had time to frame such a measure as they would desire to lay before the House ; they therefore would take a vote of credit until they had. Sir vote, PEEL thought, in that case, the order for the Com- mittee should be rescinded, and another appointed. It would be most irregular to keep the present Committee in abeyance, waiting on the proposition of Ministers. • Mr. JOHN Woon thought the vote of credit the most proper mode of proceeding.

Nothing could be better calculated to insure the approbation of the people out of doors, and to insure likewise, not the approbation of "the party" within Parliament, but of the no-party—(cheers)—to which he be- longed—the no-party,which never meant to combine in any opposition to Ministers,with a view to getting men again into those places of which they had been turned out by the voice of the country. (Cheers.) Considering the quarter from which the objection came—from a person who had so lately been the leader of that House, and a high servant of the Crown— he thought, of all men on earth, the honourable baronet ought to be the last to throw unnecessary impediments in the way of the noble Lord. (Cheers, succeeded by cries of "No" from Sir Robert Peel.) Such seemed to him to be the conduct of the honourable baronet, who appeared to him to have said, "I will give Ministers no time whatever to prepare a Civil List: a Committee is formed, and to that Committee ought immediately to be referred the Civil List got up by the preceding Treasury Bench.

Sir ROBERT PEEL—With great warmth- " Really, Mr. Speaker, I never heard such a speech as that in my life. Because I chose to put a question to his Majesty's Ministers on the course they. ought to pnrsue,—does the honourable gentleman consider himself entitled to lecture me upon, throwing impediments in the way of his Majesty',1, Government ?; :Impediments '—what impedimensts haVe 1, thrown in the way of The noble lord? The noble lord may, Perham be perfectly reasonable, perfectly right in his wish that Government,11116Uld have time to ctinshier what Civil List they will propose to the Comrciittee; and that the Committee shall not meet until the proposition is ready to -be made. But what I say is, that an order of the House is already made that a Select Committee be appointed ; and yet the noble lord says he will

• not be prepared to make any proposal to that committee until after the Christmas recess ; and therefore two months must elapse before the Committee can sit with effect."

Lord Amu:me said, it was only last session that Sir Robert

• Peel had appointed a• Committee on the Superanttuation Act, which did not sit for six weeks after. There was nothing unusual- in the plan he proposed. It would be ridiculous to rescind the order for the Committee, merely to move its reappointment when

his measures were matured for its consideration. ,

4. SALARIES. OF PUBLIC OFFICERS. On l'itursday, Lord ALTHORP, in moving for a Committee to inquire into and report on the reductions which it might be expedient to make in-the sa- laries of public officers, said— The economy which he wished to see carried into effect was this—that when the patronage of Government was concerned, there should be scarcely any limit to which retrenchment should not be carried;. but where the public service was concerned, and efficient and able men were ,required for its due performance, economy should only be a secondary consideration. Economy should, in the latter case, be attended to as much as possible, but never to such a degree as to prevent the Go- vernment from being conducted on the best principles. With reference to the enormous amount of taxation, it was impossible that the reduction of the salaries of the higher officers could afford any great relief to the country, but it would afford what was almost of as much importance as ielief—satisfaction. (Cheers.) It would show that the Government, be- ginning with themselves, were determined to carry economy and re- trenchment into effect. (Cheers.) "He would merely add a few words respecting the constitution of the Committee. Government had deter- mined that the Committee should not contain a single person under their influence, or who could be supposed to be under that influence."

Mr. BANRES asked if it was the intention of Government to re- move the Chancellor of Ireland ? : Lord ALTHORP said it was : the Government found it essen- tial that a strictly confidential communication should- eiist be tween them and the person holding that office. 'At the same time, care had been taken, in the arrangements, that they-should not produce any additional expense to the country. --Mr. BANxis Was Sorry to see, in the commencement of a Go- vernment that Promised so fair, any thing that bore the appeal--

en& We, job: .

Mr. GEORGE DAWSON adverted to the retirement of the Irish Chief Baron; as well as the Irish Chancellor: -the country was lo be Saddled with two retiring pensions instead of :one. W at, hoir- ,

ever,'Mr. 'Dawson Witit chiefly inclined to notice, was the igno- -.

ranee of the Noble Le@ when the question of Sir Anthony-Hart's retirement was formerly put.

It was true he had been with his constituents in the country ; but then a letter communicating the fact could assuredly have reached him. If this want of confidence continued to subsist between the other mem- bers of Government- and himself, what became of his responsibility as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the very officer whose peculiar province it was to have superintendence over the revenue of the country ?

Lord ALTHO RP said, when the question was formerly put, the re- tirement of the Irish Chancellor had not been determined on. The Irish Chief Baron has sat on the bench for five-and-twenty years, and he now retires by his 'own choice. If Ministers are not to be allowed to appoint persona to offices of responsibility with whom they are to have confidential intercourse, the business of the country cannot be effectually carried on.

Mr. D. W. HARVEY said that he had great expectations from the labours of the Committee.

When he reflected on the hideous and frightful list which had lately been promulgated, ascending as -it did from the repulsive item of 1,0001., to the inordinate and appalling sum of 10,000/. per annum—increasing in amount as it approached to the total absence of all labour—estimated at one- seventh of the entire of the expenditure of the country apart from the interest paid upon the national debt, in the gross to no less than 2,000,000/. sterling, he could anticipate nothing short of a saving of 1,000,000/. yearly. (Loud and repeated cries of " hear.") There was ano- ther list also, not less objectionable in its character, and more diversified in its recipients, having for its minimum 2001. a year, and its maximum 1,000/., out of which a proportional saving might be effected. He beheld in the present Government an association of pure men with pure objects. (Hear, hear.) They no longer witnessed an unnatural coalition of hete- rogeneous elements combined through unworthy means for a pernicious end : there were no spies in the gap—no high officer a state to approach the King and distil his " leprous venom" in the Royal ear. (Cheers.) Whatever might be the difficulties -which encircled the infant Administra- tion, they could not eXatilk tetWeli* y a want of a confiding Sove- reign, or, he could add, a '411-a: Mament ; for Parliament could be conciliated if they introdir ;Measures:of a -nature to win esteem. As for him individually [Mr. Harvey was seated on the Opposition Bench), he found himself in Company to which he sernewhat -unaccustomed; but he was quite ready to obey the apostolic:al.-injunction, and " come out from amongst them." (Reiterated cheers and (aughter.) Sir FRANCIS BURDETT proclaimed, from the Ministerial Benches, his _perfect confidence in the new Administration.

In the whole history of England, he knew of no Government that had gained the same hold of public opinion in so brief a space of time—that, before they -well enjoyed the exercise of their functions, had promised so many advantages to the people, or had • given so many earnests of sin- cerity. - (Hear.) It was therefore only candid to assume, that they would proceed as they had begun, while new hopes were opening to the country that its affairs would be retrieved from that condition into which uncontrolled misgovernment hadbrought them. As to the imme- diate motion Were the House, he could see no reason why- Ministers should be expected-to-come down with an immediate reduction. of their -salaries; nor did he think that any beitefihrwould:. scenic to the public from withholding the niggardly reward due,fo the labour of theieservents who -were employed in conducting' the ItaineMsiii their several stations according -th their various talents•qand reipective opportunities. He should be sorry to see 'clerks otherwisethati well paid, and despised the sordid economist that would rescirt to so miserable an expedient. (Hear.) Neither. was it altogether fair to look for much retrenchment in the kreat official salaries, when it was well known that the salaries of office would scarcely repay the costs of it. This Was ungenerous and unjust. (Hear.) He fully_acquiesced in. the observation. of Lord John Russell, that they Would derive only a secondary. benefit from economy of any kind, unless the Heine was differently, composed from the manner in which it was constituted at present. He was no 'less gratified With the sentiments of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this than on every'oc- casioni and felt assured, that a Ministry so elected for .their talents and integrity might stand forward and challenge the unqualified confidence of the public. There was but one circumstance in connexion with the late changes that he regretted, and that was,that the right honourable baronet, the member for Queen's County (Sir H. Parnell); was not comprised in the arrangeinents.(Hear.) Sir E. SuenxN. , in allusion to Sir Anthony Hart's alici the Irish Chief Baron's retirement, thought, when Ministers* gave a re- tiring • salary to one judge of 4,0001., and to another of 3,0001.,

such conduct should not escape animadversion. ' '

Lord PALMERSTON conaidered the accusation of the learned gentleman unjust, after the *speech of the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer. Sir EDWARD SUGDEN—" I did not hear the speech."' Lord.PALMERSTON—I think a person Of the learned gentleman's experience ought not to have Oren Utterance to se unqualified i

expressions n answering a speech he did not hear.

Colonel SIBTHORP asked Whether Ministers had filled up the office of Second Clerk of the Council ; and whether they- Nig

sent an ambassador to Vienna with 12,000/. a year. . •

Lord ALTHORP—" The Clerkship of the Connell' was filled up by the late AdministAtion: all 'we could downs to reduce the salary from 2000/. tn. 1200/. . No change has taken pistee in the

embassy to Vienna." -

N.

The 'ednunitteewas named' by Lord ALTHORP'; At consists of the following inditiduals--LThe, Chancellor of the 'ExChequer, Sir Robert Peel, Mr.*GoulbUrn, Mr. Bankes," Sir IL.Parnell; Sir G. Warrender, Sir C. Wetherell; Marquis- of -Cliandea,-„Air.T.-Ac- land, Mr. Adeane, Mr. Bethel, Mr., Lawley, SiI 11an3aliry, Sir R. Vyvyan,; Mr.- Irving; Mr. Hume, Mr: Baring, J. Wood, Sir J. Newport, and Mr. Kennedy.

• 5. VOTE BY BALLOT. -The presentation of a petition,,ori Mon- day; by Mr. BnoWerLow, 'frOm the haretigh of Arniagh, 'gave' occasion to that gentlentan,- and also Mr. C. Pintiesa,-,te declare their approbation of the nuxle of election by ballot. The bill:has since gone to the Commons, where it now wails- only the third reading. . Lord "Acirrsois said he was most friendly, to reform, but op- posed to- ballot; of the evils and inefficiency of which he had been convinced by, the eloquent exposé of -Lord Brougham during

the last session of Parliament. He, was of opinion that the vote by ballot gave no security to the voter ; that he must live in Con-

tinual fear that some friend Cr other, to whom' in an hour of con- fidence, he had intrusted his secret, should betray it. Neither

• did the vote by ballot exclude bribery—it excluded particular bribes, but not bribes in the mass. A man might still say to a number of voters; Return me, and you shall have such a sum among you ; and he might keep his promise or not, as the event turned out. The vote by ballot, Lord Acheson added, on a high authority, had not succeeded in America in producing either se- crecy or purity of election.

Mr. O'CONNELL observed, that vote by ballot was not held forth as a measure by which undue influence and corruption were . to be wholly and necessarily got rid of, but as one which tended

• powerfully to repress the workings of both. It offered the highest security to him who most needed it. The poor man had only to keep his own secret, to possess the most perfect security. To . object that he must live in perpetual fear lest some friend should betray him, was no more than to say that he must, with- ' out the slightest necessity, first betray himself in order to give a friend the power which he dreaded. It might be granted that a man might, even under a system of ballot, bribe the whole voters of a town or county ; but though this was possible, it was not very likely to happen. It was not likely that a candidate would pay men who might not have voted at all, or might have voted against his interests. The fact of the . ballot not having produced secrecy in America, he could believe, Tor Where was there any one to make the voter afraid in that country.? There was no inducement for secrecy there. The alle- gation of bribery and influence he wholly disbelieved. They were practically impossible. In some States, the suffrage was uni- ver,sal—in all it approached to universal. How was it possible to influence or bribe such a number? And if possible, to what pur- pose should any man attempt it? There were no snug places, no sinecures, to. be purchased by a vote in the American Congress. 'He that bribed a voter in America, squandered away his money —he • did not invest it, as the prudent corruptionist of this country did. The terrors of the voter under a system of ballot had been alluded to— his insecurity had been dwelt upon—the falsehood and trickery to

• which he must have recourse were strongly asserted : did the pre- tent system offer nothing analogous ? Was there any condition . of humanity more painful and degrading, than for a man to P.1* openly called on, nay, --q-offip011ed to support men and measures ,-which in his conseienee-ha abhorred ? It was allowed by formers, that votes ought to be free; - the ballot offered 'the best - safeguard for freedom of voting, and therefore he advocated the ballot.

6. PEACE or THE METROPOLIS. .0n Wednesday, a deputation from each of the trades of ,London proceeded to the palace of St. James's, to present to the King, atethe levee, a loyal and affec- tionate address, which had been agreed to in consequence of the -delayed visit to the City. The deputation marched with their or- dinary banners. In the course of the same day, an individual named Francis Sisk was taken in the lobby of the House of Lords, with a pistol in his possession, which report says he in- :tended to use against the Duke of Wellington or Sir Robert Peel. On Lord MELBOURNE moving that this man (who is un- derstood to be insane) should be given over to the ordinary tri- bunals, the Duke of Wzmaivormtook occasion to tint the at- tention of the noble Secretary to the procession—it 1 . t been at- tended by a very large crowd of people, and was in every respect much more important than the case of such a person as Sisk. - Lord MELBOURNE said, application had been made to him, the

_ day after he entered on office, respecting the address : he had taken the King's commands on the subject, and his Majesty had graciously agreed to receive it at the levee of that day. When . the procession was unexpectedly announced, he consulted with the

--Police Magistrates ; and they were all of opinion that no dis- turbance would ensue if the procession were not interrupted.

Their opinion had been acted or4' othing could be more tran- quil and orderly than the beha evy one connected with it

The LORD CHANCELLOR mon Was perfeCtly legal,

and the behaviour of the people armless.

Procestions might be inconVefilipt things, but they were only long .lines of people walking in one tedion. he people might walk the streets if they pleased. and St. James's Street or Pall Mall were not ex- ceptions; and they might walk with or without banners—the law would not justify any interference, much less the exertion of force, unless there was a probability of breach of the peace. There was no such probability in this case;' and he quite agreed in the advice which was given to Lord Melbourne by those persons who were answerable for the preservation

. of the peace. -

The Duke of WELLINGTON said he did not know that Govern-

ment had received information of the procession, or he should not have mentioned it.

• " As to the assemblage being a legal one—I have not the act of Parlia- ment by me—but I believe it to have been altogether illegal. I think such a proceeding contrary to the law. If such an assemblage were not - contrary to the law, it was certainly extremely dangerous to the public peace."

* Mr. O'Connell, hy.the-by, owes very little to the reporters on this occasion— the Times gives, for instance, to Lord Acheson's argument one hundred and twelve and to O'conners reply ten Ilnes. The procession to the Ptlae? 1V;I:i 111;112 the Subjict of a long and grave speech in the House of Commons on Friday, by Mr. GROVE TRICE, who went over the same ceroinld orconiplaint ati the Duke of Wellington had, and quoted the3th Charles II. to show that such processions Were illegal. • Mr. Price particularly dwelt on the circumstance of the prodession bearing a tri-coloured flag—a flag which had been the signal Of more crime, bloodshed, rapine, and destruction, than any other that eVer was displayed in Europe. The complaint of Mr. Price received from Lord ALTHORP the same answer as had been given by Lord Melbourne to the Duke of Wellington. With respect to the hi-coloured flag, his Lordship said he had not heard of any being in the procession : But if the assemblage of Wednesday had borne that flag, no doubt it was not out of any approval of the scenes which had formerly taken place under it, but from admiration of the great and glorious and suc- cessful struggle for liberty which had been made under it in France during the last days of July. (Loud cheers.) That was a feeling in which he, in common with the great mass of the people of this country, most cord ally joined; and he owned that, with the admissions he had already made as to this meeting, he could not think its character worse, by bear- ing- such a flag as an expression of their admiration of that glorious event. (Cheers.) Mr. LONG WELLESLEY observed, that the hi-coloured flag was the banner of a sovereign at peace with England, and One of its firmest allies.

Sir ROBERT PEEL regretted that any flag but British flags should have been borne in a procession meant to honour the King of England. He thought there must be some mistake about it V/ Mr.'CORNEWALL.—" I saw the whole procession pass through Pall-Mall, and there was no such flag borne by any person in it." Mr. GEORGE LAMB ridiculed the notion of stickling for the letter of the law in such instances, and not in all. By the letter of the law, no petition could be presented to the House that contained more than twenty names ; yet every day petitions were presented and received, that contained hundreds.

7. TRAVELLING COMMITTEE TO THE WEST INDIES. Lord NAPIER took occasion, last night, of a petition from Edinburgh, .to renew his suggestion for the appointment of a travelling com- mittee of the House of Peers, to proceed to the West Indies, and inspect the actual condition of the neg-roes there. His Lordship also renewed the proffer of his services to act as one of such a

committee. .

Earl STANHOPE suggested, that if such a committee were ap- pointed, the Lord Chancellor should be one of its members.

He said so, because that noble and learned lord had actually declared that he considered the subject of negro slavery t

i This o be a subject of para- mount importance. is was not the time for him to argue against that

• . •

'Para,d4of the-noble and learned lord ; for paradox surely it was, tasty ttgit Wits a Matter of paramount importance to lock after k distantfaina, When- their own house was on fire. Lind- BROUGHAM explained whatliel meant by paramount importance." "I meant, that let our distresses be ever so great, let the disturbanges which prevail at home be ever so'much to be deplored, still it is the-pro- vince of a wise, and, permit me to add, of a just Government, to filfd the duty of justice rather than of mercy ; and I call that a subject of para- mount importance which involves the fulfilment of the sacred duty of justice,—m duty that is never to be evaded, and the npn-performance of which can never be excused by any condition of unhappiness, no matter. ,how great at home. (Cheers.) Well, my Lords, so much for the use of the epithet which has scandalized the correct and critical judgment of the noble Earl." (Laughter.) After alluding, in his humorous way, to the possible inconve- nience to the suitors in Chancery from the Lord Chancellor's new occupation of chairman to an ambulatory committee in the West Indief, Lord BROUGHAM proceeded-

.

" I will tell the noble Earl candidly, that whether I go Or stay will de- pend very much upon who are to go with me. Let me oak the noble Earl if he intends to make one of the party; and if he do, whether I may cal- culate upon the pleasure of hearing seven or eight speeches from him, upon the same subject,—they must be upon the same subject,—in the space of every four and twenty hours; all of them as entertaining and as instructing as his three or four speeches made upon the presentation of a 'petition, and hailing as little connexion whatever with the subject of dis- cussion? (Cheers and much laughter.) I wish to know, before I 'decide, whether I am to- enjoy the pleasure of such intellectual amusements. I wish to know whether the. noble Earl will take care to get himself "em- barked in the same bottom as myself, for that is essential; I therefore pa it to the noble Earl whether he is ready to give me security that he will go in the same ship with me, and undertake to debate everything *It occurs on the voyage, and that does not occur on the voyage,—whether the noble Earl will thus debate, and whether, moreover, he 'Will carry on that debate in that feeble voice * of 'which he complained last night. (Loud and general laughter, and cries of 'No, WA,' from Earl Stanhope.) beg the noble Earl's pardon ; • he' cer- tainly said last night, that he raised his feeble voice, and Wished to express forcibly;' such were the noble Earl's epithets. It is not for me to say whether the noble Earl in his sfieech attended to that definition which an eminent critic has given of fine Writing, and which the noble Earl will probably see, is equally applicable to fine speaking, namely, 'apt words in apt places:' it- not for ine,triy lordS, to say whether the noble Earl attended to this efinition, or whether he put the epithets in the wrong places, fixing' feeble' where" forcible' ought to have been, and forcible' where feeble' would have been more appro- priate—(Much laughter)—itis not, I say; my Lords, for me to pronounce on this Matter, .but such were most assuredly the epithets of the noble Earl ; and as he has been so hypercritical upon One of my epithets; he cannot surely complain of my turning critic upon his. (Cheers anil ter.) Well, then, my Lords, as I was saying, will the noble-Eastgoreme good and sufficient security. that he will embark himself in thedrlieship with myself —I Will got insist upon the same cabin—(Laughter).-1tsth, • Earl STANHOPE'S voice, we may observe to our country friends, is singularly hale and powerful. will speak during the voyage such speeches as he speaks here, with the same iteration, in the same feeble tone, and with the same agreeable ab- fiance of argument? (Much laughter.) Will the noble Earl, I say, se- cure to me well and sufficiently, and legally, these advantages—all these advantages, for I will abate none of them ? (Laughter.) If the noble Lord will, and will inform me also who the others are who are to go with us—how we are to voyage, and what we are to do when we reach the end of our voyage,—then, and not till then, for then only shall I be in pos- session of all the circumstances of the case,—then, I say I will, like a good and just judge, decide whether I will go or stay." (Cheers and much laughter.) 8. REGENCY BILL. On the third reading of this bill in the House of Lords, the Lord CHANCELLOR took occasion to notice a curious exemplification of the principle of succession to the throne, which occurred at a very remote period of English History.

"The son of Henry the Second—Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany—held his dukedom as a fief under the Duke of Normandy, who was likewise King

of England; but a claim of lord paramount was also put up by France, as lord paramount both of Normandy and England. Geoffrey died, leaving his widow enceinte, and a daughter Eleanor, but no son. On his death, Philip Augustus put in his claim to the guardianship of Eleanor, as King of France; and Henry the Second put in his claim, as Duke of Normandy, Both the claimants acknowledged Eleanor to be Duchess of Brittany. though her mother was enceinte at the time. They held that the alle- giance was due, not to the child en rentre sa nzN.e, but to the eldest born child of Geoffrey, to whom, as in cases of real property, the possession at once passed. Eleanor being the eldest born child of Geoffrey, they ac- knowledged at once her right to the Duchy of Brittany, at the same time admitting that that right was defeasible at once and instantaneously, by the subsequent birth of a child, if that child should happen to be a son. In the course of a few months, Constance, the widow of Geoffrey, was de- livered of a son ; a son who was well known, unfortunately, in the history of this country, and whose name did not belong alone to the history, but to the drama of the country too, for he had been immortalized by Shakspeare. That son, Prince Arthur, became at once Duke of Brittany. The moment he was born, the defeasance of the title of his sister took place, and at once an end was put to the dispute between Henry the Se- cond and Philip Augustus, and to the preparations for a war which was about taking place between them, to settle the question with regard to Eleanor. Prince Arthur, it is well known, came subsequently into the possession of his uncle, King John, who murdered him some years after. Eleanor was also spirited away, and placed in captivity somewhere in Wales; and she was succeeded in the possession of the Duchy of Brittany by her sister Alice, the daughter of Constantia by a second marriage.

9. RIDEAU CANAL. In the Committee of Supply on Monday, a vote was taken for 40,0001., on account of this canal. Mr. SPRING RICE, in proposing the vote, which had been sanctioned by a former resolution of the House, gave an amusing account of the. process by which the estimates of Government works, and specia/iter Colonial works, increase from year to year. The first estimate was not more than 160,0001., and the last was 1,012,6301.! The only defenders of the canal were Mr. LABOUC.HERE and Sir BENRY HARDINGE, who thought that it would save a great deal of expense in case of another war, as during the last no less than 600,0001. was paid in one year for transporting stores up. the St. Lawrence.t From what passed, however, in the House, it would appear that this will be the last vote for a speculation Compared with which the Caledonian Canal was frugal.

10. NEWSPAPER TAXES. On Wednesday, Mr. STRUTT, member for Derby, presented a petition on the subject of the newspaper duty. The petitioners set forth, that, being unable to purchase newspapers, there bail been established among them a cheap paper which related solely to subjects of literature and of trade. No sooner had the paper obtained a circulation, than the conductors of it received a notice from the Stamp Office that it was liable to a stamp-duty, and the publication was obliged to be suppressed. "You prevent the poor," they continued, "ac- quiring knowledge, and then punish them for what is the effect of igno- rance. Leave us to ourselves, and we will educate ourselves."

Mr. Strutt, and also Mr. JOHN WOOD, who stated that he should have to present a petition on the same subject from Man- chester, strongly supported the prayer of the petitioners. The "working classes were generally in favour of the present Govern- ment, but they expected them to redeem their pledge of reducing the taxes on knowledge.

11. Cokr. Dorms. Mr. WiLxs, on Wednesday, asked Mr. SPRING RICE whether he meant to persist in his motion for the repeal of the duties on sea-borne best coals ; the Under-Secretary would not answer. Sir T. D. ACLAND said, if Mr. Rice would not stand to his pledges, he (Sir Thomas) would take them up. MT: CALCRAPT was afraid the removal of the duty would only put Money in the pockets of the monopolizing coal-owners of the North. Sir M. W. RIDLEY said, that was impossible, from the competition that existed—if the duty were taken off, he had no doubt the whole advantage would go to the consumer. - 12. BETHLEM HOSPITAL. A bill, principally intended to relieve This institution from the rates to which it is subject by the St. /George's Local.Act, and which had been introduced by Alderman Thompson, under the title of "Charitable Institutions Bill," was thrown out on Tuesday, by 70 to 36.

t it may be recollected, that among these stores were casks filled with /risk Mater, for the service of the flotilla on the Lakes !