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PRINCIPAL BUSINESS OF THE WEEK.

Hors: or LOn.to. ifonikey, April 14. Torture in Madras ; Lord Albemarle's Motion.

Theaday, April 15. No business of importanee. Thursday, April 17. Troops for Canada; Lord Panmure's Statement.

_Friday, April 18. Secondary Punishments ; Lord Mahon's Statement.

Rom or Comisoss. Monday. April 14. The American Questions ; Lord Pal- merston's Replies—Simply ; Civil Service Estimates—Public Works Bill read a third time and passed—Public Works (Ireland) Bill read a third time and passed— Cambridge University Bill committed pro form!. Tuesday, April 15. Maynooth College ; Mr. Spooner's Bill read a first time— Medical Department of the Army ; Mr. Stafford's Committee appointed. Wednesday, April 18. Justices of the Peace Qualification Bill; in Committeg-- Ministers'-money ; Mr. Pagan's Bill thrown out—Reformatory and Intlitsfrial Schools ; Sir S. Northcote's Bill read a second time. Thursday, April 17. "No House." Prising, April 18. Fireworks in Hyde Park ; Lord Raynbain's Question—St. James's Park Road ; Sir Benjamin Hall's Statement—Indian Finance; Sir Erskine PenT's Complaint—Supply ; Civil Service Estimates.

TIME-TABLE.

The Lords,

Hour of Hour of

Meeting. Adjournment. Monday 6h ith 45m Taaltday lb6h 30m Wednesday No sitting.

ThuMMay ffh 6h 35m

Priday 6h ... , 8h 40m Sittings thisWeek, 4; TiMe, 8h 3Out this Session, 88; — 78h Om

The Commons.

Hour of Hoar of

Meeting. Adjournment.

Monday 4h .(m) 18 15m Tuesday 4h .(m) 1213 15m

Wednesday Noon .... 511 dSm

Thursday No House.

Friday 412 „(a) lh 15m Patinae thisWeek, 4; Time, 52k 30m this Session, 45, — 11161 Urn RELATIONS WiSh Autinc.a.

In reply 'to Mr. Mom. BAn.r.rn, whose motion on the American Re. cruiting question stood for Monday, Lord PAIMFUSTON made the follow- ing statement. The documents which must naturally form thegroundwork of the reply of her Majesty's Government to the last communication from the Govern- ment of the United States were only received a short time ago, and they contain a good deal of detail. My noble friend Lord Clarendon, as is well

i

known, is now at Paris, engaged n negotiations of a very important cha- racter, which occupy a great portion of his attention every day. My noble friend's powers of work are, however, very remarkable and, although absent from this country, he is transacting.the business of the Foreign Office with only that delay which is necessarily incident to the distance between Paris and the Foreign Office. The answer to be made to the United States Government necessarily requires very careful preparation—that, on the one hand, it may contain nothing which can at all envenom the dis' cussion that unfortunately hits already gone too far, while on the other hand, no- thing may be omitted essential to the case of the British Government. The absence of my noble friend, the necessity of communication with him, and the small portion of time he has been enabled to bestow upon a matter which requires a great deal of consideration, have been the causes which have hitherto prevented the completion of the answer of the British Govern- ment. That answer is in preparation' and we are in communication with my noble friend upon the subject. I will not undertake to say that in the course of this week the answer can be so entirely agreed upon as to be com- municated to Mr. Dallas. My noble Mend tatty probably return to this country at the end of this week ; and I think I may venture to say that at an early period of net week we shall be in a position to submit to the House the whole of the correspondence." In reply to Sir Enwertn Lvz-ron he further stated that the papers on the Central American question would be laid on the table in the course of the week.

Mr. Humors postponed his motion.

TROOPS rou CANADA.

The Earl of ELGIN asked, on Thursday, whether there is any truth in the report that the Government intend to increase the British forces in Canada ?: Lord PANMURE; in reply, gave the following explanation. "There is a general impression out of doors that a very large force is about to embark for British -North America. It is quite true that it is our intention to send back to North America a certain number of regiments which were taken from that part of her Majesty's dominions for the purpose of carrying on the war; and it is not improbable that in the new organiza- tion of the army, by divisions and brigades, which is contemplated, there will, over all the North American Provinces, be a Small addition to th,e British army ; but the impression that we are about to send thither a large force for purposes of aggression is entirely without foundation. It is also stated—and I am glad to have this opportunity of explaining that too--that large quantities of munitions of war are being sent to British North Ame- rica. The fact is that during the war we drew from the British North American stores almost all the munitions of war, in the shape of gunpowder and other materials, which they contained. All that is now being done is to replace the stores which were drawn thence."

THE FALL OF KARS

On Monday evening, Mr. Warratunz stated the terms of his motion on the fall of Kars; namely "That That while this House feels it to be its duty to express its admiration of the gallantry of the Turkish soldiery, and of the devotion of the British officers at the siege of Kars, it feels it to be equally a duty to express its con- viction, that the capitulation of that fortress, and the surrender of the army which defended it, thereby endangering the safety of the Asiatic provpices of Turkey, were in a great measure owing to the want of foresight and energy on the part of her Majesty's Administration:"

Mr. Whiteside has fixed the 24th instant for his motion.

MAYNOOTH ENDOWMENT.

Mr. SPOONER brought the Maynooth question before the House on Tuesday evening. The form which his annual motion took this year, was that of a resolution that the House should go into Committee, "for

the purpose of considering the Acts for the Endowment of the College of Maynooth, with a view to the withdrawal of any endowment out of the Consolidated Fund, due regard being had to vested rights or interests."

At the beginning of a speech shorter than usual, he said that the subject was exhausted, and he would rather go into Committee at once. This

offer was received with cheers and cries of " Divide !" But Mi.

Spooner nevertheless continued to speak, and to argue the question. He found great fault with the doctrines taught at Maynooth,—the supre- macy of the Pope; the doctrine of equivocation; the indirect power Of 'the Pope in temporal matters. He revived the cry of the Protestant succession in -danger.

Cardinal Wiseman had lately published two numbers of an old work in which the title of the descendants of the house of Hanover to the throne

was disputed, and in which the existence of heirs of James was asserted ; and that such an opinion was inculcated among some portions of the Roman Catholic community was confirmed by other publications. The House might rest assured that there was at the present moment an earnest inten- tion on the part of the Roman Catholics to claim the right of succession of a Roman Catholic King, and for which they meant to make a struggle'

and that they would never cease in their exertions until they had placed themselves in all respects on a level with the Protestant Church Establish- ment. This design was at work ; and the Govenunent and Parliament were lending themselves, unconsciously perhaps, to the carrying out of this object. At the close of his remarks, Mr. Spooner said, looking at the Oppo- iiition benches, that he did not receive that support to which he was entitled from the party with whom he usually acted. He would rather see honourable gentlemen present, even if they told him he was wrong, than find that they kept away altogether. Mr. BLACK brought forward a few statistic's to show the unjust way in which public money is distributed among the religious sects in Ire- land. The revenue of the Established Church is 700,0001.; Parliament has voted this year 39,000/. to the Presbyterians, and 26,360/. to the Roman Catho- lics. The members of the Church of England are at present 43 per cent of the population of Ireland, the Roman Catholics 77 per cent, and the Presby- terians 10 poor cent; and yet of the 764,4041. _spent in that country for the purposes of religion, while each Church-of-England Protestant family re- ceives 51. 8s. annually, each Presbyterian family receives €8.. 11d., and each Roman Catholic family only Rd. The Roman Catholics have a stronger claim than the Presbyterians to their grants because the latter proceed from the voluntary benevolence of the country; the former was the re-

salt of an honourable understanding at the time of the Union, and had been confirmed by act of Parliament. He moved as an amendment the addition of the words—" and at the same time to take into consideration the other Parliamentary grants made to religious denominations in Ireland." Mr. Hanrrein seconded the amendment. •

The debate was continued by Lord CAETLEROSSE, Mr. FA.GAN, Mr. 'KENNEDY, Mr. Da Vans, Mr. -MEAGHER, Mr. DEASY, Mr. Rosettes, and Mr. Lax; who urged the often-repeated reasons against the motion. Stdotly in support of it there were only two speakers, Lord BERNARD and Mr. NEWpRGATE. Mr. Hymn- DRUMMOND quoted Liguori, and descanted on die morality taught by Popish priests ; but he said that the great question that ought to be considered was, how the Church in Ire- land might be settled in a way different from the present ; and if the House does not well consider that question, the fall of Maynooth may entail consequences little anticipated at present.

Mr. KENNEDY took up singular ground on arguing for the grant. He held in his hand a list of persons who, in the period between January, 1849, and 1855, had abandoned the religion supported by this country, and passed to that of the Roman Catholic Church. That list included the names of three dukes, one marquis, two countesses, four viscountesses, eight right honourable ladies, one right honourable earl, three right honourable vis- counts, five right honourable lords, one right honourable baron, four right reverends, one right honourable knight, five honourables, five honourable mistresses, one honourable miss, eight baronets, two venerable archdeacons, one very reverend divine, 85 reverends, six members of Parliament, and 272 gentry of distinction. He thought a greater degree of charity might be ex- tended to a religion with which so many persons became associatedin conse- quent* of the investigation of truth.

Lord PALMERSTON expressed his regret that Mr. Spooner should have brough±. the-subject again wider the notice of the House. Nothing could he more 'unfortunate than repeated debates turning exclusively—in con- 'sequence of the example set by Mr. Spooner—on mere ecclesiastical and theological topics. But the question before the House had nothing to do with the comparative merits of the doctrines. It is a question of politi- cal expediency. Was it advantageous, or not ? would it be just and consistent, or not, to maintain existing engagements ? It was argued that the teaching at Maynooth is incompatible with loyalty to the Save- reign: hi si answer was, 'Look at the results." Ireland has never been more loyal, tranquil, and contented, than it is now. He should vote against both the_amendment and the original resolution, in the hope that the House would think it high time to put an end to these irritating polemical debates.

The House divided on Mr. Black's amendment—the question being " That the words be there added" : negatived by 263 to 21. When the main question was put, the Speaker called for two decisions, unable to determine at first whether or not the " Ayes " or the " Noes " had it. The second time, although the cries of "No" amounted to a shout, he declared, after some hesitation, that the " Ayes " had it. On a division this proved to be a correct estimate : there were—for Mr. Spooner's re- solution, 159; against it, 133; majority for the resolution, 26.

The House accordingly went into Committee,—Mr. Newdegate in the chair; and Mr. SPOONER moved for leave to bring in a bill "to provide for the withdrawal from Maynooth College of any endowment out of the Consolidated Fund, due regard being had to vested, rights or interests." _Mr. Ifirrennrs moved as an amendment, that the Chairman, should leave the chair and report progress. Lord Paraninsrosr supported this amend- ment; ; hoping that "the progress proposed to be reported would be the only progress made in the matter." On a division, the amendment was negatived by 164 to 132. 'Mr. Thutuvar asked the opinion of the Chairman on a "matter of some moment." He stated that Mr. Spooner had shouted " Aye " when the question was put that the Chairman should leave the chair • might the minority claim that vote ? Mr. NEWDEGATE decided, that as no notice was taken of the circumstance at the time, it could not be enter- tained.

Captain Denim. O'Cororsil, next moved that the Chairman should leave the chair.

Mr. Jamas McGiiroa, with much warmth, lectured the First Minis- ter of the Crown for treating the solemn decision of the House as a farce by meeting a motion to report progress with so muoh levity. Lord PAL- MERSTON said, that if his remark was deficient in solemnity, he could not retort the charge on Mr. McGregor, whose speech was as solemn as any- thing he ever heard. He must adhere to the hope he had expressed, with- out any disrespect to Mr. McGregor. But he would ask Captain O'Con- nell to withdraw the amendment, so that they might come at once to a vote on the main question.

The amendment was withdrawn ; and the House divided on the ques- tion that leave be given to introduce the bill—Ayes, 159, Noes, 142; majority, 17. The House then resumed.

Mnsisnans'-Morrzy.

The chief proceeding at the Wednesday sitting was a debate on the second reading of the Ministers-Money (Ireland) Bill. When Mr. FAGAN proposed that the bill should be read a second time, Mr. Gismos Eurua-ox moved that it be read a second time that day six months. In this course he was supported by Lord BRRNARD, Mr. Neiman. and Mr. WHITESIDE. The chief argument they used to sopped the amend- ment was, that the tax is a tax upon property, not ripen persons ; and that therefore it is not a grievance affecting religious feelings of the people. Originally, none but Protestants could hold property in the towns where Ministers'-money is charged ; and Roman Catholics, who have since purchased or inherited such property, have done so with a perfect cognizance of the liabilities they incurred. The question was settled by the Act of 1854. On the other hand, Mr. MEAGHER described the tax as a supplement to the -penal code. Mr. BLACK said it was a tax analogous to that known in Scotland as the Annuity-tax, which, not for its amount, but because of the principle involved, is felt as a grievance. Mr. HOBSMAN stated the course of the Government. Their position is difficult and embarrassing. The tax of Miniaters'-money stands on a footing similar to that of Church-rates and the Annuity-tax. Each is defended on the same ground, namely, that it is a tax not on persons but on property. The fallacy of that argument is, that it assumes that Par- liament has no right to entertain any principle contrary to existing law,

however wise and politic it may be to make an alteration in that law.

The Act of 1854 has been termed a final settlement : but in reality it was a series of mistakes' first, in exempting heures under 101„ giving

up the principle of the tax, without a more than nominal alleviation of the grievance ; secondly, by imposing on the municipal bodies the odious duty of collecting the tax—for they had all determined to resist its pay- ment, and the act provides no defimte means of enforcing that payment; thirdly, the giving of a power of redemption, which has proved inopera- tive. The Government shrink from an annual contest on the subject, but it is their duty to enforce the tax ; and when they have given the measure a fair trial—when they have exhausted all legal means of en- forcing payment—then they will "be disposed to give their best endea- vours to bring about a settlement of the question in a manner which shall do justice to all parties."

Mr. Nai'iur?. denied the difficulty of enforcing the tax ; the Court of Queen's Bench would not hesitate to grant a mandamus to enforce pay- ment. Why did Mr. Hemmen make a speech calculated to inflame the minds of the people ? It does not become a member of the Government, in a matter of law and justice, to excite the minds of the people against the law, and then to say to them, " Oh, give it a fair trial !' What Mr. Horsman had in effect said was this—" I have received many deputations against this tax, and have had much friendly intercourse with the parties ; and my advice to them was, Continue your resistance a little longer, and this will be a nice little nest- egg for us when we sit on the other side. (Cheers and laughter.) I am not prepared to offer any particular remedy now, but I will take care to be pre- pared with a plan by which this odious impost shall be swept away." (Loud cheers.) Mr. I. D. Frrzosasux• pointed out some of the difficulties in taking legal proceedings. If the municipal bodies do not collect the tax, it

becomes a debt due to the Crown. The Crown cannot go into Court for a mandamus, it can only proceed by information but against whom ? Evidently, the corporate bodies. But many of them—as Limerick and

Kinsale—possess no corporate property ; and the rates they levy are de- voted by act of Parliament to special purposes. As a lawyer, he must say he looked upon the tax as a tax upon persons whose liability to pay is ascertained by the occupation of certain premises. Lord JOHN RUSSELL wished Mr. Horsman had plainly declared what the Government would do. Either they should say that they would exhaust the legal =MB of enforcing the Act of 1854, and if there is a

fatal objection, bring in a bill to provide for the collection of the tax ; or they should abolish it altogether. To leave the matter for agitation, as Mr. Ilorsman left it, is the worst course that could be pursued. Lord John said, that if it will give peace to the country, he is prepared to abolish the tax altogether.

Mr. MAGUIRE, Mr. Sergeant 0 _c_xtrew, and Mr. FAGAN expressed their astonishment and disappointment at the course taken by the Government. The abolition of church-rates is supported by Government on the ground that the people refuse to pay them : for the same reason, Mr. Fagan con- tended, Ministers should vote for his bill.

On a division, the amendment was carried by 201 to 121; and the second reading was "put off" for six months.

Toirrues isMunies.

In the House of Lords on Monday, the Earl of ALBEMARLE presented a petition from certain inhabitants of Madras, complaining of the in- fliction of torture by the officers of the Government, and praying for protection. He moved four resolutions, declaring that the report of the Commission had proved to the entire conviction of the House that tor- ture is still practised throughout the twenty provinces constituting the Presidency of Madras ; that although clandestine and illegal, it has been for many years known and admitted by the constituted authorities at home and in India ; that the Rouse viewed the practice "as repugnant to natural justice, abhorrent to humanity, and disgraceful to the cha- racter of this nation " ; and pledging the House "to pursue the speediest and most effectual measures within its power for the annihilation of the odious and barbarous practice of torture within the abovementioned Go- vernment and Presidency of Madras."

The report of the Torture Commission must be taken as only a sample of the way in which the East India Company administers justice and collects revenue. The Commissioners themselves, in stating that a full inquiry would have occupied two years, instead of three months—the time they were employed—admitted its incompleteness. From the de- spatch of the Court of Directors to the Governor of Madras in September last, the House might infer that the torture was of a mild description ; but to correct that impression, Lord Albemarle read a list of thirty- four different modes of torture which he had extracted from the report of the Commissioners.

(Among these were—hanging a necklace of bones or other disgusting ma- tonal round the neck, a punishment peculiarly offensive to a Hindoo ; depri- vation of food and water ; tying a man by the hair of his head to the tail of an ass and parading him through the public market ; suspending a man by the wrist and scourging him while in the air—a woman died under this tor- tare; placing the carpenter beetle or other gnawing insect, or some sting-

reptile -confined within a cocoa-nut shell, on sensitive parts of the y; placing a stick across the chest with a man seated at each end of it; placing the victim on his back with his heels in the air, his face ex .sesl to the sun by day and the damp and cold by night ; scourging the ...y in every part, sometimes until death ; wrapping the body in cotton steep in oil and setting fire to it ; filling the nostrils, eyes, and other parts of the body, with cayenne pepper ; applying the bamboo pincers to women's breasts.] The Directors had expressed their satisfaction that the European offi- cers were acquitted by the Commissioners of all acquaintance with the existence of torture : Lord Albemarle however, quoted passages from six different witnesses, all of whom agreed in stating that the people be- lieved that the practice of torture was connived at" or "tacitly tole- rated" by the European officers. The civil servants in India could not have been ignorant of the existence of torture. The Renewable Walter Elliott., in a report on the subject, states, that of two hundred and Moen answers elicited, only seven express disbelief, seventeen give no opinion, while one hundred and ninety-seven " concur in stating their belief in the prevalence of the evil to a greater or lees degree." Lord Albemarle could not acquit the Indian civil servants of "all acquaintance" with the existence of this practice. Connivance of some kind is shown by their universal repugnant* to convict a subordinate, even on the strongest evidence.

The Duke of Anoirm, stated that the Government views the practice of • torture with abhorrence and detestation ; and denied that there had been any complicity on their part, or that they had sanctioned the practice. The facts ought to be completely stated, and not in a manner that would convey an erroneous impression to the people of this or foreign countries. When the Committees of both Houses sat to inquire into the renewal of the Company's charter, they did not hear one whisper of the existence of torture. It has been said that the inquiry was not sufficient : but if the practice of torture was notorious, it would have been one of the first and most obvious weapons of attack. When a Member of the other House stated that torture was practised in the Presidency of Madras, Sir Charles Wood said he could not deny the charge, as he had never before heard of it ; but a strict inquiry should be made. Accordingly, a Commission was appointed in September 1854, and in April 1855 their report was concluded. That did not show any reluctance on the part of the Indian Government to inquire into the subject. The practice of torture did not originate under British rule ; it was inherited from the great empires that preceded ours. The Commissioners say that the natives look upon tor- ture in criminal cases as necessary and right ; "it excites no abhorrence, no astonishment, no repugnance in their minds." It is practised in every relation of domestic life. "There is not a native public servant who does not know well that these practices are held in abhorrence by his European superiors." The Duke quoted several pa.xxsiges from the report to show that the British Government had not connived at the continuance of torture ; that the natives were not impressed with an idea that their "maltreatment" is countenanced or tolerated by the European officers of Government ; and that few missionaries, civil engineers, or even medical men, could testify to their personal knowledge of its existence. But at the same time he admitted, that since 1810 the Court of Directors had on ten separate occasions issued orders to put it down. He fully concurred in the desirableness of separating the revenue from the police departments,—views in which Lord Harris also cordially concurred. There were great difficulties in the way ; but the whole subject is en- gaging the serious attention of the Government, not only in England but in Madras. The Duke proposed some verbal alterations in lord Al- bemarle's resolutions, which made them read as follows-.-- "That, by a report lately laid on the table, it is proved to the entire con- viction of the House, that torture, or the infliction of pain for the purpose of confession or extortion, has long been practised in India ; and that, though derived from former Governments, and steadily decreasing both in severity and extent under British rule, it still continues to be practised by the native officers of Government in the realization of the public revenues and the administration of criminal law, to a greater or less extent, through- out all the twenty provinces constituting the Government of Madras ; that the aforesaid torture, although clandestine and illegal, has been for many years known to exist, and has been repeatedly denounced and condemned by the constituted authorities at home and in India, as shown by the public records.

"That this House observes, nevertheless, with great regret and disap- probation, the very inadequate punishments which have been freqently in- fficted upon the perpetrators of these atrocious crimes. "That the House relies upon the zealous and continued exertions of all persons in authority in this country and in India to extirpate a practice disgraceful to the character of our Government and calculated to render it odious to the people of India."

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE, while he acquitted British Govern- ments and British Ministers of complicity, could not so easily acquit the East India Company, who knew that torture was practised, and who wilfully disguised and concealed it. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said, that during the whole of his connexion with India he never had the slightest suspicion that the practice of torture existed there. Had it not been for the blue-book on torture, he should have repudiated such a charge with indignation. It was a matter of the greatest surprise and regret to him that there should have been silence on the part of those who niust have been cognizant of it ; and although he did not attribute connivance to any of the civil servants, he thought they had not shown that sensitiveness on the subject of the existence of so dreadful a crime which might have been expected from the feelings of English gentlemen. He trusted that those gentlemen would be made to understand that in future British justice should be administered in a different manner. Lord Ellenborough advocated the separation of the revenue from the police department. That alone, however, will do but little. The police, like the police he established in Seinde, should have a military character. He also urged objections to the ryotwarry settlement. Lord MONTEAGLE repeated the charges made by Lord Albemarle and Lord Clanriearde. Lord EJlenborongh could only have been kept ignorant of the existence of torture by means of a system of organized duplicity. He raised the question that the practice of torture is not confined to Madras, but pre- vails in other parts of India. There were two other speakers,—the Earl of HARROWDY, who fol- lowed out the line of argument taken by the Postmaster-General ; and Lord CoNoLvroii, who supported the views of the mover of the original resolutions. Lord ALBEMARLE accepted the amended resolutions offered - by the Government, and they were adopted without a division.

Ssrrrny.

The House of Commons sat nearly the whole of Monday evening— upwards of seven consecutive hours—in Committee of Supply on a variety of Miscellaneous Estimates. During the whole evening, although there was much critical conversation, there were but three divisions.

On the vote of 24,7281. for the salaries of Governors of the West In- dies or other Colonies, Mr. WILLI...ma moved that the vote should be re- duced by 35001. and 1800/. respectively, the salaries of the Governors of Jamaica and of the West Indies. On a division, much merriment was caused by the announcement that the motion was negatived by 269 to 3. On the vote of 167,4981. for the Consular establishments, Mr. Wiss

• made his annual review of our Consular system. He repeated his ob- jections to the employment of merchant consuls, to payments by fees instead of salaries, and to the generally low scale of payments and the slowness of promotion. Mr. Wise professed great faith in the regula- tions respecting Consular appointments, and the examination-paper re- cently issued by Lord Clarendon. Mr. Inounin and Mr. LINDSAY commented on the meagre information respecting the resources of Russia supplied by our Consuls. Lord Ps.mamisixiii said, that for many years he had seen the Consular reports on trade and other matters, and he thought that generally they were ably drawn and contained a deal of useful information. They were sent to the Board of Trade, where any one might see them. Great changes take place in the opinion of the House of Commons. For many years he had been urged, on economical grounds, to appoint merchant consuls ; now the merchant consuls are con- demned. For his own part, he thought that it is not desirable to appoint merchants to the office of consul ; but if the House established that prin- ciple, they must be prepared to give increased salaries, otherwise they ruld not obtain fit men. When Lord Clarendon's system of examina- tion comes fairly into operation, it will fully secure the appointment of competent persons. Government anticipate an inquiry into the Consular system next session, when sufficient information, now in course of col- lection, will have been obtained.—Vote agreed to. On the vote of 25,000/. for extraordinary disbursements connected with Missions, Mr. WILLIAMS took exception to the employment of a number of missions at the small German Courts. Lord PA.LMERSTON explained, that these German States had, more particularly of late, been of con- siderable importance, because they formed the elements of the great German body ; and the policy of that body had been matter of great im- portance, especially during the last two years. Every one who had at all attended to the course of things was aware that a great deal of our interests connected with the war which had recently taken place was dependent on the action of these separate states, composing part of the great German body ; and the conduct of the great states, such as Austria and Prussia, had turned very much on the feelings and policy of these smaller component bodies. The public interest would very essentially suffer if a communication between this country and those different states were not organized.—Vote agreed to. On the vote of 12951. for the Foundling Hospital in Dublin, Mr. ALEXANDER Hams moved to reduce it by 10 per cent : negatived by 187 to 32. On the vote of 11,790/. for other charitable institutions at Dublin, Mr. Iissns repeated his motion : it was again negatived, by 180 to 33.

"No HOUSE,"

Four notices of motions in the House of Commons stood for Thursday, any one of which would have furnished matter for a night's debate. First, Sir Joshua Walmsley was to ask for leave to introduce a bill to extend the franchise and amend the representation in England and Wales. Secondly, Sir Erskine Perry was to bring before the House the state of the law as affecting married women. Thirdly, Mr. Murrough was to propose the abolition of property qualification. Fourthly, Mr. Dillwyn desired to abolish public executions. This was an ample paper of agenda; but Members "gave it the go-by "—the requisite "forty" to form a House were not present at four o'clock.