bateg znitt Procertinivi in Vadiamtnt.

1. THE REGISTRY CLAUSES. The Case Of the nonregistered eke- tors was again brought before the House of Commons, on Saturday, on IL petition from certain of the electors of 1Vestminster, presented by "Sir JOIIN llomiocsi:. Sir John said, that for several Parliaments he had represented a constituency of not less t han 18,000; but, if returned riext Parliament, III! NVOUld nut have above 4,000.

Lord A uruoite said, the new Act merely altered the time at which the rates were to be paid up— Formed, in all sent and lot places, the rates must have been pall before the election ; the only difference now was, that they inust be paid at the time of re- gistration. The old test of qualification had been retained in the new bill, and conti2ssed he saw no reason sufficient to make a chaoge necessary : if the electors found themselves, as they said, disfranchised, thee had only. to attribute the circumstance to the fact of their not havitor paid up their rates in due time ; for they certainly should have nothing to complain of in any instance where it could be shown that the rates had not been demanded. Suppose a dissolution of Parliament had taken place, and that the day of election happened to be fixed for that upon which the payment of rates had been fixed, would not the electors lave been placed in that situation of which they now so loudly complain? In the conversation that followed, Mr. HUGHES HUGHES suggested, that as the Boundaries Bill was to be taken as part of the Reform Bill, and as the Boundaries Bill had the usual clause for permitting amend- =lents and alterations during the present session, it seemed to follow that the Reform Bill could be also amended or altered.

Lord Arrnone sitid, the defect of the clause was not the reason why he abandoned the bill, but the state of the House and the period of the session.

FitANCIS BuitnEtt observed, that the public expected a Reformed Parliament to he elected by a large constituency, and they had a right 10 call for the redemption of that pledge.

Mr. HUNT, having on Wednesday, presented a petition praying for the repeal of the Reform Bill, with the exception of Schedule A.

Lord ALTHORP took the opportunity of making a few observations tm the statement of Colonel Evans of last week— Ile had received a communication from a most respectable gentleman in Man- chester, well known to him, and who had ample opportunities of being accu- rately informed on the subject ; and that gentleman's statement was, that instead el 758 voters, there would be in the township of Manchester alone 4,400 persons qualified to vote, and that the entire number of voters for the borough of Man- chester would amount to from 7,000 to 8,000; that in Salford there would lie from 1,100 to 1,200 voters; that in Bolton, instead of only 84, there would be 3,000 voters, there not being above 10 persons there, who would be entitled to a Vote under the Bill, disqualified from the non-payment of the rates; and that in Blackburn there would be 1,000 voters, instead of 78. The information with —.ward to Blackburn came from a gentleman who had already canvassed 800 out Oithe 1,00(5 Yrs in that borough. He had not received any information with

respect to Wair

• ington ; bid the statement to which he had adverted, he felt warranted in saying, that the lowest ntiur of voters in any of the boroughs that had been alluded to by Colonel Evans, would be upwards of 700; which was by no Means an inconsiderable constituency. He knew not on what grounds Colonel Evans had made the statement in question; but it certainly was a most incorrect one. He could state, that at Preston there would be from 6,000 to 7,000 persons qualified to vote.

Mr. MAcAcr.Av described the position of Leeds and other towns in Yorkshire to be precisely similar to those mentioned by Lord Althorp.

Colonel EVANS observed, that the numbers which he gave for Man- chester and the other places were given on the hypothesis that in these towns the ratio of non-registered to registered was the same as hi West- minster.

Mr. DUNCOMBE asked, if Lord Althorp meant to say that scot and lot voters who claimed to vote must pay their rates to the 5th April, or to the day of registration ?

Lord ALTHORP said— "I really think that these questions would be more fairly addressed to a lawyer than to me. I apprehend that the law formerly was, that all rates insist be paid by the scot and lot voters up to the day of the election ; and all that is done by the present Bill is to put the day of registration instead of the day of election. Therefore where a voter claims under the old law, all rates must be paid up to the day ofregistration; and this would have been die case, if we had adopted the proposition of giving all scot and lot voters throughout the kingdom the elective kanchise."

Mr. DUNCOMRE observed, if that were the case, there would not be a man in the whole parish of St. George, Westminster, entitled to vote : 4,180 of 5,144 had paid their rates to Lady-day, and only 22 to the .5th April.

Lord ALTHORP thought, if they paid to Lady-day, such of them as occupied 10/. houses might vote.

Some more conversation took place, but no further light was thrown on the subject.

Sir GEORGE WARRENDER wished to know if the Government bad any objections to postpone the register altogether; or if there was any intention on the part of Government to have an election previous to the registers being completed.

Lord ALTIIOUP—" I think that it is quite impossible for a Minister of the Crown, consistently with his duty, to give an answer to that question. I cer- tainly did state on a-former occasion that there would be a great inconvenience in a general election taking place before the register was complete. I am willing to repeat that statement ; but I think that I should be guilty of a dereliction of duty, were I to give any pledge as to the dissolution of Parliament; and I must, therefore, decline giving any answer to the honourable baronet."

xpressed a doubt whether there would be a sufficient uted returns to the next Parliament to form an Elec- ..

RENDER thought the only class the Bill would the lawyers.

NATION. On the third- reading of the Civil Lista 'Wednesday, the Duke of WELLINGTON entered intO a lengthened description of the state of the nation. He first touched on the Finances-- In October last, he had stated the income of the country to be 47,250,000/ , and the expenditure 47,2:39,0001. ; leaving a surplus of 11,0001. only. In the first Budget of 1831, in February, the Chaneellor of the Exchequer stated the revenue to be 47,'.250,000/., and estimated. the charge at 46,850,000/. ; leaving an apparent surplus of :300,000/. In the second Budget, Earl Grey and Ids noble colleague in the other House estimated the revenue at 47,250,000/., and the ex- penditure at no more than 46,756,000/. Tlwv founded their estimate of the expenditure for the whole year, not upon the Parliamentary Estimates, but upon the actual expenditure in flie quarters which had already elapsed ; and accord- ingly they got upon paper a surplus of 493,0110/. It turned out, however, that there was .not 0 suri dos , either of 49:3,0001., or of :300,0(.101., or of 11,0001., but a very cousideralde deficiency. The revenue received in the year from January Its;f1 to Jahuary 1.-a32, was 46,424,000/., and the actual charge in the same pe- T161.1 4702:3,1;00/., 'kitting a deficiency of 698,768/. The deficiency of reve- nue, as coin pin.eil with the estimate made in October, was 805,556/. The ex- - eess of chaige beyond the eqiniate of October was 49:3,479/. So that the state of atfiirs in January was worse than it had been estimated in October by the sum of 9,015/. On the 5th of April 18:32, it appeared by the accounts that the revenue from the 5th of April 18:31, lied produced -16.i i18,015/. The actual charge in this year, from April to April, was 47,858,488/. The revenue at this period was worse than the produce of the year from .January to January by

a 194,000/. ; and comparing it with the estimate ate of October, t was less by

512,000/. ; while the charge was greater than the same estimate by 705,000/. The actual deficiency of revenue to meet the actual charge at this period was then shown to be 1,240,0001. In July, again, they had the.statenient of the year's accounts from July 18:31 to July 1232. The revenue at this period was 46,296,5211., and the actual charge 47,559,078/. ; the deficiency at this period was, therefore, 1,263,000/.

The Duke went on to criticise the Budget of 1832; which, how- ever, he granted to be formed on actual estimate. The surplus in that Budget iWaS 773,000/. The Estimates were less than in 1831 by 2,162,000/. ; but in calculating the surplus, credit was taken for 160,0001. on account of the abolition of the Coast Blockade ; and no- thing was said of the increased expense in the Customs, which might be calculated at 80,0001., which would be incurred in consequence. There was another omission of 50,00W., for building a new Custom- house at Liverpool. There was no provision for the decrease of the wine-duties, consequent on the new scale of duties. Some savings, such as the Militia training, could not occur again ; and some, as the non-purchase of Navy timber, were merely postponements of expen- diture— It was necessary to look to what was likely or possible to happen in the cir- cumstances of this country. (" Hear !" front time Duke of Cminzberland.) Would any man say that the Government, with respect to its finances, was left in the situation in which it ought to be? 'The finances of the country were un- provided for, although his Majesty's Ministers knew that the session would be one of a Reformed Parliament ; and no man could tell what the decision of such a Parliament might be on any question, more especially on a question of finance. It \-as the duty of the Ministers in all circumstances, at the same time that they avoided every unnecessary expenditure, to place the finances in a state in which they might be adequate to any emergency that might arise. In the present state of the foreign relations of the country, it was possible that an occasion might arrive, in Which his Majesty might be compelled to make an extraordinary ex- ertion, and to call forth all the resources of the empire. But as the necessary con- sequence of the state in which the finances of the country were now placed, his Majesty would, in such a case as he had supposed, be put in the greatest diffi- culty in the management of his financial resources, so long as the necessity for exertion might continue. Let his Majesty's Ministers look to the condition of Ireland. Could any man conjecture how embarrassing the affairs of that country might become ?

The Duke next descanted on the foreign relations of the kingdom, and more especially on the state of Portugal— The military Movements bad been all in favour of the invader, and yet lie had been unable to advance further than the town in which he landed. That (lid not show that the country was favourable to the enterprise ; and therefore, the Duke thought it would be right to put a stop to the revolutionary war ; for it was quite obvious_, from the present state of things, that the invader could not succeed otherwise than by force of arms. Don Pedro had under his direction a band of as brave and honourable and enterprising men, and as good soldiers, as any in the world. Indeed, he might say that he knew them to be as he de- scribed. That army was formed out of the numbers of military adventurers of the present day—and plenty of them there were to be found in every part of the- world. (" Hear, hear !") Those, then, were the persons who were to take pos- session of Portugal, contrary to the wishes of the people. With all his advan- tages, however, -the invader had as yet made no advance ; and from that fact, the Duke of Wellington believed that Don Pedro could never govern Portugal i without the continuance of a revolutionary warfare. And was t to be supposed that that revolutionary warfare would not spread into Spain?

The Duke then adverted to the position occupied by the English • fleet off the Togas: instead of being there to carry off such British subjects as wished to remove, it was there to protect those who chose to remain—

The situation of an Englishman resident in Portugal was accordingly this-- if he felt himself aggrieved by any of the authorities, and could not obtain re- dress, he could call upon his Conservador ; and if that person could not obtain. redress for him, the Admiral could only do so by an act of hostility. Was it possible, then, that the fleet should not be looked upon as an enemy by the Por- tuguese Government? Was it possible that the presence of the fleet should not have an effect upon the war, prejudicial to the actual Government? But, what was more, there was a blockade of the port of Lisbon, by the fleet of the in- vader, and also by the British fleet; and the fleet of Don Pedro, with British colours flying, had pursued and taken a Portuguese vessel. What was the situ- ation of the British Admiral after this? Was he not bound to protect the fleet which carried British colours in his presence? And how was he placed in re- spect to the Government of Portugal? Was he any longer neutral?

The Duke concluded. with an observation respecting the impropriety of appointing Lord William. Russell to any Mission to Portugal ; on the ground that Lord William was a Portuguese Brigadier-General, and might be called on to command a Portuguese brigade. Earl GREY, after •commenting on the inconvenience to which he was necessarily subjected in rediscussing, within one day of the termination of the :eision, the entire of w financial question which, when made by Lord AlthOrp in the Commons, was admitted to have given general satisfaction, proceeded to notice in: general terms theDuke's argument-7 He agreed with the Duke that if an occasion of great exertion should occur; it ought not to be met by the imposition of new taxes, but that a 5.117-pus shouldpreviously have been secured to provide for the ':.7.-E:ency. When the deficiency

,l

Was found; then his Maje-ty's Ministers had to meet it in either of two ways—to create new taxes, or to reduce the expenditure. Haviog given tl.e alteruative their best considoration, they thought it was their tIwy t reduc.: the expendi- ture, in order to overcome t lw difficulty. In that can!' ti!k'y we: e encouraged by circumstances which hail arisen, paving reason to hop tie] tie re would be,

in the revenue itself, an improvement to compensate for tho deliciet cy, without

havieg recourse to the imposition of new burdens upon the country. Reduc- tions were accordingly effected, to the amount of two millions sterlh g. But the Duke 41id not think those redactions satisflictery Gr parmanent. ow, lie was perfectly \ to go into those points wit Ii the Duke. In the i;ru place, he must observe, that ao one lieu accused the Chancellor of :he Exchequer • of

having holm too sanguine io his expectations. Lord Grey than& that he had rather underrated thail exaggerated the proghyts of the revemie. In most respects, there Ivas reaqm to think that the revenue \could ;r 'u e nore than at first hk noble friend had reason to anticipte. There in Ii t I:e one or two in which the estimate of income was taben too high. ror in,tanee, in respect to the duty upon corn. The prospects, he xvas happy to say, ui 1 most abundant harvest m-,.re soch, that it was not likely that any great quall•ity ur foreign corn would be inipmted. But shuidd it even happen that this ;tem of the revenue should be wholly unproductive, the increased ceinfint of the people, consequent .upon the Amid:Loco of corn, would cause a proportionate increase or the revenue in other branches, awl would compensate for the detiaieney of the coin-duties. Ile thought, theeerl we, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had not erred upon the sanguine side; and he thought, that if they looked fairly into the whole of the Estimates of the income of the current {Tar, they would find that there was reason to expect that nearly the whole, if not the whole, of the present deficiency would be made good. lie had great sotisfaction in stlying, that there was every reason to expect an increase of the revenue, in consequence of the gradual im- provement that was going on in the trade and commerce of the couutry.

He noticed the causes that had disturbed the revenue during this year,—the Cholera, the unsettled state of Europe, the delay of the Reform Bill. Ile noticed the Duke's argument, that some of the re- ductions for wbieh credit was taken were only temporary— The saving in the :Navy amounted to 994,300/. The Duke considered that saving also to he not. only temporary, but injudicious. But the diet was, that in every article there was, at present, a considerable increase of quantity in the naval stores, as compared with what was upon hand at any corresponding period of the Duke's Administration. There was, therefore, no reason for sup- posing that the saying of this year would fall upon the next. The savings in the Naval department alone tunotinted to 994,300/. ; and in the Ordnance to 54,000/. ; making a total of 1,511,642/. The Army expenditure had been re- duced by the sum of 463,342/. Notwithstanding that, the number of soldiers had been Ma:cased by 7,000 above what they were when the Duke was at the head of AO. In the Miscellaneous Estimates, there had been a saving of 991,0001. ; anti the Pension List of England, Scotland, and Ireland, had been reduced to 73,0001. ; making a saving of 65,000/. above -what had ever been contemplated by the Duke.

As to the Portuguese question— The present Government, on coming into office, found upon the throne of that nation a Prince who had been characterized by the late Government as an usurper ; and he could refer to the speeches of the late Secretary of State, where, if possible, far worse was imputed to that Prince than that he was an usurper. The present Government had not invited that Prince to the throne of Portugal ; and it was not while they had been Ministers, that, with a British army in the Portuguese territory, that Prince, designated as an usurper, had been allowed to take possession of the sovereignty in which he had since main- tained himself. That was the time when it would have been both justice and policy for the British Governineut to have interfered. This state of things con- tinued. The British Minister was withdrawn from Portugal. Don Miguel was never acknowledged. His niece was acknowledged ; and was to the pre- sent moment designated, as she before had been, as her Most Faithful Majesty, by the Government of this country. The present Government then came into office with a negotiation pending, with a condition annexed to it (which was alluded to in the King's Speech from the Throne in November 1830), that the claim of Don Miguel would be acknowledged, provided an amnesty was granted. No amnesty was granted ; on the contrary, the prisons were crowded with per- sons suffering under the most cruel tyranny to which the history of any couutry never afforded any equal, and no recognition took place. These things had gone on till the legitimate heir to the Portuguese crown was acknowledged by this country. That personage, having been received here as Queen, when other Ministers were in office—having been treated as such by the late Sovereign and his advisers, had attempted to enforce her claims to the Crown by means of an expedition. He did not think, with the Duke of Wellington, that England had acted an inconsistent or impolitic part in withholding opposition to that expedi- tion. To all his feelings it would have felt repugnant; nor could he have re- conciled it to his sense of justice, had we prevented the legitimate Sovereign, whose right we had formerly acknowledged, from using endeavours to effect the establishment of that right. He did not think that such an interference would have been sanctioned by the principles of humanity or justice.

The conversation was continued by a reply from the Duke of WEL- LINGTON, and a rejoinder from Earl GREY; but no new fact was stated by either.

The Civil Lists Payment Bill was then read a third time, and passed.

. PROSPECTIVE LAW REFORMS. Lord BROUGHAM, on Wednesday, went into a long statement of the teforms which it was his intention, in the course of next session, to introduce into the Court of Chancery. We shall hest give it in his own words, as reported by the Times.

"The plan which I have now to detail will, in the first place, provide for the abolition of the Report Office; by which a considerable saving will be effected. In the next jrlace, it will provide for the regulation and change of the Registrar's Office; and in this department also a considerable saving will take place. My measure will then provide for changes in that great and most important depart- ment of the Court. of Chancery—the Master's Office, to which I have on so many former occasions directed the attention of the House. I consider the saving which will be effected by these changes as the least important result which may be anticipated from them. It is right, however, that I should state what the amount of that saving will be. By the abolition of the Report Office, there will be a reduction of 4,0001.; by the changes in the Registrar's Office, a saving au,0001., and by the alterations in the Master's Office, a reduction of 13,0001.; producing a total saving of 31,0001. a year. By my plan, the worst branch of do system in the Master's department, which pays the Master by fees on work ne, will be entirely abolished : I mean the copy-money, which gives an in- terest to those persons belonging to the department to increase unduly, and I may say vexatiously, the expense of the suitors; the expense being increased in an mffisitelyannater proportion than the gums actually raised by this bad mode . .

a paying j mal persons. I also propose to abolish altogether that still worse

system ot abuse grafted on the former bad one,-4 mean, the payment of gratui- ties; the legality- of which is only unquestionable because it has grown into a habit, which seems to have become perm- anent that office. Thew-changes will be important, considered with rderence to economy, bat incalculably more so when viewed as improvements in the admiu:stra• jou. te' justie • M this parth- cular department. The 'Master will, in 101110. c PiLi'd IN a wilary iasteol of fees. I have abstained from dealing with the Six Clerks' department, and that of the Subpeena Office, by the present measure. Those departments, together with one or two other branches of the system, will be more conveniently intro- duced into one or two other measures, which will be rendered necessary by the act which lets this day received the Royal assent. In addition to what I have already stated, I shall feel it my duty to submit to Parliament an important pro- positioo, which, I trust, will be canied ioto erket—I mean the enlist II ution of a Court of A,,peal in Chancery. I propu:e that this court shall be coit,tituted of the beads of. the Equity jurisdiction in this country. This evill be a great prevenient upon, the present system, hy which :1 single head yr a branell'iir Equity constitutes a court of appeal- froui acetlier branch. In ;oldition to the three heads of the Equity Courts, I will place in the Court of Appeal the t flier Baron of the Court of Excheqer. The Juillge whose decision is appealed agailed, will, during the hearing of the case afflicting ii is judgment, be exeludisi liM11 this court. The appeal to this coin t will not be peremptory, but by way (rt. election ; the suitor may either come to the High Com: of Parfiainent, or to the Court of .A ppeal ; blit it is part 14 my plan, that fi.oin that court an appeal shall not ceme to Parliament in the last reset t, unless there should exist a diversity of opinion amongst the Judges. I libeivise mem to add a provision, whielt l cannot help feeling to be of eminent importanci•, nut only to the administration of but to the proceedings of this House io the Appellate Jurisdiction. I i• • • to propose that your Lordships shall have the power of calling on '• • in Equity, aS you now call en the Judges in Law, fur the purpose of 1.-,.

our decision in cases of appeal. I allt perfectly aware, that if this p were

to stop here though a great improvement would be mark, it would t.e that enough would not have been dune; fur it is my fixed ntid deliberate o• ion, by

which I am desirous of being understood to abide firmly—in spite of objections from quarters which are entitled to great respect, to which 1 understand that

opinion has been exposed—that a very great change indeed is almdutely necessary in the constitution of the high office width I uudeservedly have the honour to fill. I think that WC cannot much longer remain in this country with that great—I will not say that gross and grievous, but milt: with that great, signal, ami striking anomaly, that the 'highest Judge in civil ;natters under the ('nova is a Minister of the Crowu, :ind is removable at the pleasure of the Crown.—

that to him should be intrusted, sitting :done, and without control, the disposal of property of an immense amount, and of rights and interests still more dear to

the parties than any rights of properly however important ; he all this while being removable at the pleasure of the Crown, and also, whether lie will or not, a political character as well as a judicial one. What, then, it will be asked, is- to be done with this high office and this great public functionary? I propose merely to separate the great branch of the Lord Chancellor's judicial functions— I mean that branch in which he sits and acts as a Judge alone, from his political functions, and from thefunctious which he discharges as Speaker of this House, and from his function of adviser of the Crown, and also from that other function, incident to the Speakership of this house—I mean the judicial function, not exercised by the Lord Chancellor alone, but in conjunction with, and if need be, under the control and superintendence of coadjutors. If these functions he no longer united,—if the Lord Chancellor shall sit in this House under precisvly the same circumstances as the ether Judges, and in the Privy Council also;— when that important branch of .juristliction shall be remodelled by Parliament,• as by an act passed this session it is pledged to be; so as to be rendered a useful and efficient court,—the great anomaly of which I complain will be removed, without any increase of patronage. and without a single shilling of additional burden to the public ; for my opinion is, that the provision which has been made by Parliament for the sustentatien uf the office of Keeper of the Great Seal is abundantly sufficient, if well applied, to maintain in due dignity the Lord Chancellor both as an officer of State and as a Judge irremuveable at the pleasure of the Crown."

After sonic observations on the difference between the salary of the Master of the Rolls and that of the Chief Justice of the Vonimon Pleas, Lord Brougham :vent into a statement of what is called the Suitors' Fund in Chancery- " The suitors in Chancery are entitled to immense sums of monev, aniounting to several millions, which are fl-mu time to time paid into the hands of the Ac- countant-General, and entered to the credit of their respective suits. At any time during the progress of a suit, application can be made by the parties to have these stuns invested in the public Fonds. It is at their option to do this, and it is their own fault if they omit to do it. The parties who are entitled to the principal, are also entitled to the dividends; and these continue to he carried to their credit, and added to the principal. This money Parliament cannot touch. There is another fund, the floating balance of cash iu the Accountant- General's hand, called the Dead Fund, and so called only because it yields no interest. This balance remains in the hands of the Accountant-General, because no ap- plication is made to have it invested in the Funds, so as to yield interest. This fund has from time to time been dealt with by Parliament. It will be perceived that this balance is precisely of the same nature as a banker's balance. The Court of Chancery is to a certain degree a hanker. The Court always has suffi- cient money to pay the suitors the uttermost fiirthing2 on demand; but as no banker is expected to keep the whole of his balance in his shop evert- day and every hour, for the chance of his customers calling for it, so neither is theCourt of Chancery bound to keep the whole of the fund in question in its hands for the chance of being called upon to pay it. Parliament has, in several instances, directed a portion of this unappropriated fund to be invested in the public se- curities, so as to bear interest; which interest has from time to time been applied to various purposes, and sometimes to the payment of salaries. To the interest no individual has any legal claim. There may by possibility—by a bare possi- bility, exist a claim to the principal ; but even if the dead were to rise up and claim, their claim, however, must be confined to the principal. Claim on the interest they have none; for it was their own fault, and their own fault alone, that they did not have the principal invested in the public Funds. This inte- rest, then, forms a surplus fund called the Interest Fund, on which no party can ever have any claim ; it has been from time to time invested in the public se- curities, the interest goes on accumulating, and this is what. in common parlance, is called the Suitors' Fund. It now amounts to 600,0001., for it has been swelled by the accumulation of the interest of interest of interest ; and of this sum Parliament has an undoubted right to dispose of every farthing. The Dead Fund—that is, the principal, to which a claim may exist—amounts to somewhat about 1,000,000/. That fund remains sacred; Parliament has never appropriated more than the interest. ruptcy of James Rose, a decree of the Court of Chancery in 1823 directed the sum of 5,213/. to be paid to the assignees; who never applied for it. The matter slept, and was totally forgotten, until the Official Assignee discovered some trace of the transaction in the ohl assignee's books, and recovered the money. The system pursued by the Accountants, under the old system, is il- lustrated by the fact which I will now mention to your Lordships. Robert Wilkinson, an accountant, became a bankrupt in April last. His accounts, on being investigated by an Official Assignee, flow that he had assets of different bankrupts' estates in his hands at the time of his bankruptcy amounting to 7,000/. ; and this remarkable item appeared in his balance sheet—" profits, in- cluding professional earnings as accountant, and balance remaining, after declaring final dividends-38,000/." A commission was issued against Hurst and Robinson in 1826. The Official Assignee,*hen appointed, found 11,0421. Its. 10d. lying dead in a banker's bands, and 2,191/. in other hands; which he imme- diately received and vested in Exchequer-bills' for the benefit of the creditors. A person named Applegath became a bankrupt in 1826 : the soli- citor has absconded with his books ; yet the Official Assignee has succeeded in fixing the old assignees with various sums amounting to 5,0001., which were to- tally overlooked upon several audits had before the old Commissioners. In 1817, one Hadley became a bankrupt ; and his father proved a debt of 7,000/., and got himself appointed assignee. No assets were produced, nor any dividend paid. The father died ; but the Official Assignee detected so many of his frauds that his executors consented to abandon his proof of the debt, and paid back the 7,0001. ; by which means the creditors have obtained 20s. in the pound. This is a remarkable illustration of the benefits resulting from the new system. Nor Is the source of this satisfaction confined to the mere saving of money ; the bene- ficial operation of the system extends to the saving of time. For example, more progress was made in the matter of Duckett's bankruptcy in four months_, under the Official Assignees, than was made in eleven months in the case of Fry and Co., and twelve months in the case of Marsh and Co. ; and before twelve months, a final settlement would be effected in the case of Duckett, while four or five years have elapsed without a final settlement of the two others."

He concluded with a strong culogium on the gentlemen by whom the Official Assignees were selected.

4. FORGERY BILL. On the question for committing this bill, on Monday, Lord WYNFORD expressed his intention of moving that the penalty of death should still remain annexed to the forgery of a will and of a power of attorney. He also stated, that he would move to take from the Judges all discretionary power, as he did in the Cattle-stealing Bill, and that every offence whatever under the act should be transporta- tion for life. The first amendment he postponed, at the recommenda- tion of the Lord Chancellor.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE expressed himself friendly to such an amendment; as did the Duke of WELLINGTON.

Lord HOLLAND said, he was decidedly opposed to the punishment of death for any crime unaccompanied by violence.

Earl GREY thought there was a distinction in the public estimate of such offences as the forgery of wills or powers of attorney, and the for- gery of bills of exchange. If it appeared there was not, a bill could easily be introduced for the purpose of taking away the punishment of death in these cases as in others.

Lord Wynfonl's amendment, taking away the discretionary power of Judges, was then agreed to.

The amendment respecting wills and powers of attorney was moved on Tuesday, on bringing up the report, by the Earl of ROSSLYN, Lord Wynford himself being absent.

Lord BROUGHAM said, he could not bring his mind to perceive any such distinction between negotiable and non-negotiable securities, as jus- tified the distinction sought to be made in the punishment. The fact was, the law had been hitherto severe because of the facility of forging ne- gotiable securities ; and were the punishment of death to be at all re- tained, he thought it more applicable to these than to wills and powers of attorney, which were constantly suspected, and the chances of mak- ing which available were at all times extremely small. He did not oppose the amendment, but he felt it his duty at the same time to pro- test against it.

The Bishop of HEREFORD also expressed his repugnance to the pro- posed amendment. Earl GREY thought, the only question was whether the law could be carried into execution or not. If it were found, on trial, that it could not be carried into execution, then the excepted cases could be included under the general rule by a new bill.

The amendment was consequently agreed to.

When on Wednesday the amendments were submitted to the House of Commons for their approbation, Lord ALTHORP mentioned, that a communication had been made to him—a verbal one—on the subject of forgery of powers of attorney. The number of Bank clerks, it seems, who are acquainted with the sums standing in the dividend-books, is considerable ; and the Directors were afraid, if so small a penalty as banishment for life and hard labour were assigned to the forgery of a power of attorney, some of these gentlemen might be induced to nsk it, which they would not do if the penalty continued to be hanging. On this verbal representation, Ministers acted. Mr. HUME thought it would be better to reject the bill altogether, than to accept it with these amendments.

Mr. HUNT remarked on the conduct of the other House ; which, whenever a popular bill was sent up, contrived to extract all the good of it, and then sent it down when it was too late to have it mended.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL observed, that though the Lords had de- prived the bill of much that was important, yet even as they left it, it would two years ago have been considered a good bill.

The amendments were then agreed to. • • • 5. TrrilEs Btu. On Monday, this bill was read a third time, and passed by the Lords.

Lord TEENHAm 'said, the tithe would never be collected under the bill, but by a military force; to maintain which, would cost a great deal more than the amount of tithe collected. It exemplified the old story of the French King and the Dey of Algiers— Louie threatened, for certain offences of the Dey, that he would send a fleet and beat the town down. The ambassador asked how much it would cost his Majesty to carry his threat into execution ; and on being-answered, that it might be a million of money, he replied, that if his Majesty would agree to pay half that sum, he would undertake that not a house in the place should be left standing. In the same feeling Lord Teynham would say, that an the score of expense, it would be much cheaper for Government to pay the tithe than to employ troops to collect it.

6. PARTY PROCESSIONS. On the second reading of this bill, on Monday, the Duke of WELLINGTON expressed a wish that it had ex- tended to all large assemblies, of all classes, from which any danger was to be apprehended, as well as to the Protestants of the North of Ire- land. He had seen Orange processions, and they were always con- ducted with order and without any ill feeling towards others. He ob- served that a number of Irish Peers had left town on the supposition that the bill would not be pressed, and he therefore thought Govern- ment would do well to defer it to another session.

The Marquis of LANSDOWNE pointed the attention of the Duke of Wellington to the enactments of the bill; from which it would be seen, that the bill.was not directed-against one, but against all descriptions of processions- " Bearing, wearing, or having amongst them any fire-arms or other offensive weapon, or any banner, emblem, flag, or symbol, the display whereof might be calculated or tend to provoke animosity between his 111aAsty's subjects of (Wt.- rent religious persuasions."

As to delaying the measure for another session, lie could state, (Ai the authority of Mr. Stanley, that no pledge to that effect had ever beema given or understood ; and therefore there was no breach of faith with any Peer who might have left town.

The Marquis of WESTMEATH described the Orangemen as men of unquestionable loyalty. This bill against them looked as if the Ministers were truckling to men who bad rebellion in their hearts and the Sub- version of all order in their dispositions.

7. CLITHERO. Mr. HUME, on Wednesday, asked Mr: George Lamb, whether the military had been called to Clithero against the pro- test of Mr. Garstang, the Bailiff; and whether they proceeded to act before the Riot Act was read ?

Mr. LAMB said—

The protest of the Bailiff of Clitlaero against the introduction of the military-, was made when he was only acquainted with a part of the outrage that had been committed. At that period, the Bailiff certainly thought that there was no necessity for sending; for the military ; and he accordingly proceeded to stop them on their march to the town. On his way, however, he was convinced, from communications which reached him relative to the progress of the riot, of the propriety and necessity of calling in the military for the purpose of suppressing it. There was, in fact, no regular protest made by the Bailiff against calling out the military ; and the moment he was convinced of the propriety of such a step, he acceded to it. With regard to the second question, Mr. Lamb was ready to say, that there was no doubt that the troops had entered the town be- fore the Riot Act had been read; but no attempt was made on their part to disperse the crowd until the Riot Act had been read, not once only, but five times. The inquiry, as far as it had gone, had shown that the troops had acted with great forbearance, and under circumstances of great provocation ; and he did not think that any blame attached to the Magistrates for their conduct in this instance.

Having made this positive statement, Mr. Lamb afterwards added, that there was such a mass of contradictory evidence on both sides of the subject, that he was not at present prepared to say what further steps would be taken towards the prosecution of an inquiry into the matter.

Mr. HUNT observed, that there were different versions of the case— If the elections of the people of England were hereafter to be carried on con- trary to law, at the point of the bayonet, and under the surveillance of a military force, it was high time for the people of England to do that which the Times had recommended them to do last Christmas—namely, to arm themselves, in order to protect themselves against the aggressions of the Borou,ghmongers. Having been an eyewitness of the Manchester massacre, he would state, that the grossest falsehoods had been uttered in that House on that subject, in order to screen the military ; and it was not at all improbable that the same was the case in this instance. As to inquiries, all inquiries on the part of Government were merely farces, for they were only inquiries on one side of the question.

Lord ALTHoar thought, if the People took the law into their own hands, it would be productive of the greatest calamity. If the military misbehaved, the Government would not be slow to give the People protection; but if they took the law into their own hand, there was no telling what might occur.

S. BLASPHEMY. Mr. HUNT having, on Wednesday, presented a petition complaining of the punishment inflicted on the two men con- victed at Derby last week of a blasphemous libel, Mr. HUME remarked on Ministers, who out of office were so zealous advocates of liberty of conscience, lending themselves to such a prose- cution.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, the men were charged with an as-

sault on a clergyman on the Fast-day. . .

Mr. HUME did not mean to justify assaults ; but it must be a very aggravated assault that called for eighteen months' imprisonment.

Mr. PERCEVAL said, it was disgraceful in members to present such petitions.

Mr. HUNT called Mr. Perceval to order, but he proceeded notwith- standing— When Mr. Hunt heard that two individuals had been punished for blasphemy, he ought to have ascertained whether there was any ground for the charge, before he complained of the laws of the land. If those men really were foul, beastly, and vile blasphemers of the Saviour's name, it was disgraceful in any person calling himself a Christian to come forward as their champion. In saying this, he meant no personal offence to any one. • He was laying down a principle which ought to govern the conduct of all of them. Nothing so much behoved them in every action of their life as to glorify the name of the Lord. It was disgraceful in any Christian to lose sight of this ; and let the Government be aware that these blasphemous principles were corrupting the morals and de- grading the minds of the King's subjects. They were working a horrible tide of mischief, which was running under the surface of.society. They had not yet come near the members of that House ; .they.had npereached their ears or ap- proached their doors at present; but they were, working in, secret, out of the notice of the House.

The House seems to have thinned under Mr. Perceval's sermon ; for when he arrived at this point, Mr. HUNT moved the counting; and

It was found that there were only thirty-two members present. The House in consequence atl.;,ourned.

9. THE PROROGATION. On Thursday, the Speaker took the chair of the Commons a few minutes before two o'clock. The business of the House was chiefly confined, of course, to petitions and notices. Mr. W. B. EVANS gave notice of a bill for next Parliament, to ex- tend the elective franchise to all male persons of twenty-one years of age, not morally or intellectually disqualified for its exercise ; and to disfranchise fifty more boroughs, or to add fifty members to the repre- sentation. He also gave notice of a bill for a tax on funded and other property, in order to pay the interest of the National Debt. [ These are election netices.] Mr. H. HUGHES gave notice of a bill to enable individuals to build and endow churches, and to present to them.

Mr. WILKES presented petitions respecting the treatment of the Baptist Missionaries in Jamaica; the registry clauses of the Reform Mil ; the taxes on newspapers ; capital punishments, and various other subjects. He also presented a petition from Hull against the levying of tithes in Ireland by military power— It complained that the military were employed now for the purpose of en- forcing the payment of tithes in Ireland ; that tithes were at present collected there by Christian ministers at the point of the bayonet ; and that a desolating and cruel civil war prevailed in that country, in consequence of the efforts of his Majesty's Government to support and uphold there a system of which the peti- tioners so loudly complained. It therefore prayed that an end should be put to such proceedings in Ireland; and with a view to do so, that the House would mot grant supplies to carry on a civil war in that country.

Sir CHARLES WETHERELL and Sir EDWARD SUGDEN threatened to divide the House on the reception of this petition; and the Gallery was actually ordered to be cleared. The guns of the Park had already an- nounced the arrival of the King in the linage of Lords ; and had the House divided, the Black Rod would have been obliged to wait until they resumed.

Mr. Mutes, on the pressing entreaty of Lord ALTHORP, agreed to withdraw the petition rather than risk the inconvenience.

Mr. HUME then presented a petition from Birmingham on the same subject; a petition against the interference of the military at elections; and a third deprecating the interference of the King, as King of Han- over, in the affairs of Germany.

Any attempt at further business was arrested by the knock of the mace. There were not above eighty members present.

In the House of Lords, Lord TEYNHAM, as soon as the Chancellor had taken his place, presented a petition from the Norwich Political Union, to the same effect as that offered by Mr. Wilkes in the Com- mons. He also presented a petition imploring the House to take into consideration the condition of Poland.

The Loan CHANCELLOR gave judgment in two appeal cases, Thom- -ley v. Watson, and Rhodes v. De Beauvoir.

Precisely at two o'clock, the firing of the guns announced the King's arrival; and the Lord Chancellor, Earl Grey, and the other officers of state, left the House to receive his Majesty. At ten minutes past two, his Majesty, accompanied by the Great Officers of State, entered the House, in his robes and crown, and took his seat upon the Throne. The space on the Throne, to the right of his Majesty, was occupied by the Lord Chancellor, bearing the Purse, the Earl of Shaftesbury, with the Cap of Maintenance, and the Duke of Norfolk, with his Baton, as Earl Marshal ; to the left of his Majesty stood Earl Grey, bearing the Sword of State ; the Marquis Wellesley, with his Wand of Office as Lord High Steward ; and the Marquis of Cholmondeley, as Deputy ,Great Chamberlain.

The Commons having come to the bar, the Royal assent was given to several bills; among them, the Chancellor's Salary Bill and the Irish Tithes and Procession Bills.

The STEAKER then presented the Appropriation Bill, and addressed the King as follows— "May it please your Majesty—We, your Majesty's faithful Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, attend your Majesty at the close of a labonous and most important session. Your Majesty was graciously pleased, at the commencement of the session, to recommend to our careful consideration the estimates for the current year; and, Sire, it is with sincere gratification that we have found ourselves enabled to accomplish your Majesty's paternal wish, by .a great reduction in their amount. But, Sire, it would ill become me at this moment to attempt to enumerate all the various measures, however important and necessary in themselves, yet of usual sessional recurrence, which have come before us. This session, Sire, has been peculiarly marked by matters most diffi- milt in themselves, most pressing in their immediate emergency, and yet lasting in their effects upon the highest interests of the country. Among these mea- sures I would advert to your Majesty's injunction upon us that we should deli- berate on the present state of Ireland, with reference particularly to the payment of tithes in that country.

" Cire, we have deeply deliberated on that painful and difficult subject, and we have passed a bill, which we hope may afford the necessary protection of their legal claims to the Established Church, and which we hope may also form the basis .of future measures calculated to remove the present causes of complaint.

"But, Sire, of all the questions, that which has most engaged our time and attention, p aramount to all, from the earnestness with which it was called for, from the rNfficulties and intricacies with which it was embarrassed, from the great change it was productive of, and from the lasting effects it was to produce, —of all the measures we have had to shape, to contend with, and to complete,

the most proininent has been the

House of Parliament great measure of the Reform in the Commons . " Sire, it is not within the range of mortal intellect at once to embody and bring to maturity of perfection so vast a scheme; but, Sire, we have laboured with incessant assiduity, with honesty of purpose, and, we hope results may prove, with security to the State and contentment to the country. Sire, I dare not longer address your Majesty than to present you with our last Bill of Super entitled An Act to apply a Sum out of the Consolidated Fund, and the lus of Ways and Means, to the Service of the year 1832, and to appropriate t le Supplies granted in this session of Parliament; to which, with all humility, we pray your Majesty's Royal assent." The KING then addressed both Houses, in the following Speech- " My Lords and Gentlemen—The state of the public business now enabling me to release you from a further attendance in Parliament, I cannot take leave of yea without expressing the satisfaetion with which I have observed your dz-. ligence and zeal in the discharge of your duties during a session of extraordinary labour and duration. " The matters which you have had under your consideration have been of the first importance ; and the laws in particular which have been passed for re- forming the representation of the people, have occupied, as was unavoidable, the greatest portion of your time and attention. "In recommending this subject to your consideration, it was my object, by removing the causes of just complaint, to restore general confidence in the Le- gislature, and to give additional security to the settled institutious of the State. This object will, I trust, be found to have been accomplished. " I have still to lament the continuance of disturbances in Ireland, notwith- standing the vigilance and energy displayed by my Government there, in the measures which it has taken to repress them. The laws which have been passed, in conformity with my recominendation at the beginning of the session, with respect to the collection of Tithes, are well calculated to lay the founda- tion of a new system, to the completion of which the attention of Parliament, when it again assembles, will of course be directed. " To this necessary work my best assistance will be given, by enforcing the execution of the laws, and by promoting the prosperity of a country blessed by Divine Providence with so many natural advantages. As conducive to this oh., ject, I must express the satisfaction which I have felt at the measures adopted for extending generally to my people in that kingdom the benefits of education. " I continue to receive the most friendly assurances from all Foreign Powers; and though I am not enabled to announce to you the final arrangement of the questions which have been so long pending between Holland and Belgium, and though, unhappily, the contest in Portugal between the Princes of the House of Braganza still continues, I look with confidence, through the intimate union which subsists between me and my Allies, to the preservation of general peace. "Gentlemen of the House of Commons—I thank you for the supplies which you have granted to me; and it is a great satisfaction to me to find, notwith- standing large deductions from the revenue occasioned by the repeal of some taxes which pressed most heavily on my people, that you have been enabled, by the exercise of a well-considered economy in all the departments of the State, to provide for the service of the year without any addition to the public burdens. "My Lords and Gentlemen—Irecornmend to you, during the recess, the most careful attention to the pm servation of the public peace, and to the maintenance of the authority of the law, in your respective counties. I trust that the advan- tages enjoyed by all my subjects under our free constitution will be duly appre- ciated and cherished ; that relief, from any real causes of complaint, will be sought only through legitimate channels ; that all irregular and illegal proceed- ings will be discountenanced and resisted; and that the establishment of internal tranquillity and order will prove that the measures which I have sanctioned will not hi. fruitless in promoting the security of the State and the contentment and

in:, People."

.1:4ment was then prorogued, in the usual form, until the 16th ..1c.r; and the King retired, attended in the same way as he had entered. The Lords then broke tip; and the Commons, after having returned to their own House, also broke up.