Debates anti Vroceebinas in Varliament.

PRINCIPAL BUSINESS OF THE WEER.

Horn OF LORDS. Monday, Feb. IS. Corrupt Practices at Elections Bill, read a second time—Scotch Marriage Bill, read a second time—Adjourned at 711. 30 in. Tues- day, Feb. 20. Irish Habeas Corpus Act Suspension Bill, brought from Commons, and read a first thou—Conveyance of Real Property Act Amendment Bill, passed through Committee—Adjourned at 5 h. 5 m. Thursday, Feb. 22. Motion for Se- lee:. Committee on the Slave-trade, agreed to—Adjourned at 6 h. 55 m. Friday, Feb. 23. Female Convicts in Van Diemen's Land: Questions and Information— Irish Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill, second reading—Adjourned at 6 h. 30 m. HOME OF COMMONS. Monday, Feb. 19. Irish Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill, read a third time and passed—Jewish Disabilities : Resolution on Members' Oaths —Adjourned at 12 h. 15 in. Tuesday. Feb. 20. Motion for Select Committee on Grievances in Ceylon and British Guiana, agreed to—Consolidated Fund Bill, (8,000,0001.) read a second time. Adjourned at 12 h. 30 m. Wednesday, Feb. 21. (Ash Wednesday. House met at 2 p.m.) Bribery at Elections Bill, read a second time—Adjourned at 6. Thursday, Feb. 22. Return Visit of England to France : scene—Bill to amend Lord L,yndhurst's Marriage Act : Leave given—Clergy Relief Bill, ordered to be brought in—Irish Tenant Right—Motion for Committee on the Dutchies of Cornwall and Lancaster, negatived—Consolidated Fund Bill 8,000,000/. reported—Adjourned at 12 b. 90 tn. Friday. Feb. 23. House in Committee on Par- liamentary Oaths Resolution agreed to, and Bill brought In—Adjourned at 7 11.15 m.

PARLIAMENTARY ARRAIGNMENT OF THE COLONIAL OFFICE.

Mr. BAILLIE introduced the specific matters of his motion for a Com- mittee upon the grievances complained of in Ceylon and British Guiana, by some strictures on our general system of Colonial administration, which is such that not one individual in a succession of Ministers of the greatest abilities has succeeded in gaining the confidence of the colonists or in doing credit to himself and his colleagues. The present Secretary of State has not been more 'fortunate than any predecessor, notwithstanding the high expectations formed of him before he was tried. The causes of such con- stant failure are to be found partly in the constitution of the Colonial Office, and partly in the extravagant notions entertained by statesmen in this country, of the manner in which the government of the Colonies should be carried on. No fewer than four Colonial Secretaries of State and as many more Under-Secretaries succeeded each other in the short space of four years. Mr. Philip Anstruther, fifteen years Colonial Secretary for Ceylon, has declared that it is "impossible to say to what extent ex- penditure might not be reduced in the Colonies ": he "did not know that the Colonies would be worse administered at half the cost." Mr. Herman Merivale, now permanent Under-Secretary for the Colonies, in his Lec- tures on Colonization, (the ability of which, no doubt, gained him his ap- pointment,) had expatiated on the cheapness with which our old American Colonies were well governed before the war of Independence; and his statements may be compared with our present system of expenditure. The whole expenses of our old American Colonies before the war were some 53,000/. for a population of 3,000,000; while British Guiana, in 1836, cost 273,000/. for a population of 120,000,—a rate of 2/. 68. a head upon each inhabitant. Here, then, is a colony without army or navy or other impe- rial expenditure, whose rate of taxation is fully one-sixth higher than is

• paid by our heavily burdened home population.

With these prefatory remarks, Mr. Baillie introduced his charges against the Colonial Office,—wasteful and extravagant expenditure; blun- dering imposition of grievous and intolerable taxation; and irresponsible tyranny over those dependencies of the British Crown which have no constitutional or representative form of government. Throwing our colo- nies into three categories of colonies with more or less perfect legislative and popular government, and colonies whose government is a pure and simple despotism, Mr. Baillie stated, that it was only to this last class that he would call the attention of the House.

Ceylon is one of these; its legislative administration being confided to a Governor and a Council nominated by that Governor or by the Colonial Secretary in Downing Street. In consequence of various abuses created or /JEWS!' sneopcsged by this form of government, great discontent had been preys- anrong not only the natives but the European population of Ceylon;

r— had been manifested by characteristic rebellious demonstrations, or by -" the more civilized mode of memorial to the Secretary of State or petition to that House. Property in Colombo and other towns had fallen in value from forty to fifty per cent, and one-third of the estates of the island had lately changed owners under forced sales, at, in many instances, not a tithe of their cost. In the midst of these circumstances, the public expenditure in maintenance of sinecures and in creation of new offices with inadequate duties was largely increased. This was the state of Ceylon in 1847, when Lord Torrington arrived there as its Governor,—universal distress of the community, rapidly- increasing Government extravagance, diminishing Go- vernment revenues, impending bankruptcy of both people and public ex- chequer. Lord Torrington being, as Mr. Baillie presumed, a Free-trader, did not contemplate increasing the import-duties; and being a Whig, he of course did not contemplate any reduction of expenditure; he had no in- come-tax ready framed, which might be promptly doubled; so he hit on a financial scheme of all others the most objectionable and impracticable-- he issued an ordinance imposing a poll-tax for roadmaking, a tax on shops, a tax on dogs, and a tax on guns. All these taxes were imposed, Lord Torrington himself told his Council, with the full concurrence and sanction of Earl Grey. It was discovered that they were impracticable; but it is lamentable that the discovery was not made earlier, for the papers on the table show beyond doubt that the mode in which those taxes were levied was the immediate cause of the late rebellion. For proof of this, Mr. Baillie referred to a memorial by the merchants and traders of Colombo— disinterested parties, inasmuch as they had not to pay the taxes. That me- morial stated that the gun-tax amounted to a yearly impost of 33 per cent of the value of the gun; and the registration required by the ordinance could only be effected in multitudes of cases among the poorer natives with the loss of several days' labour and a considerable sum in costs. The diffi- culties of collecting this impost, and the oppressiveness of its operation, compelled its modification, and the dog-tax was repealed altogether. It is remarkable that the homeward despatch announcing these modifications crossed an outward despatch from Lord Grey which fully approved of the taxes as originally imposed. Mr. Baillie went through the details of the Candian insurrection and its suppression. All the authentic information now corroborates the view which the Under-Secretary of the Colonies took last session, that this in- surrection never had extensive ramifications, and never was formidable in its nature; and it proves the truth of the statement which he then made, that "the troops had been called out more for show than for use." But that only aggravated the character of the means used to put it down,— means which could not be described without blushes of shame. Riots oc- curred in detached places; two persons of no local importance were pro- claimed kings by notorious rabbles, and were as quickly deserted by those rabbles as soon as the regular troops appeared; for in no instance was for- midable resistance offered to the troops, and not an European life had been lost when the whole insurrection was put down. Yet martial law was pro- claimed; after all resistance was at an end, eighteen persons were sentenced to death, and seventeen actually shot; and of these seventeen, one, who is now universally deemed to have been innocent, was shot under circum- stances of gratuitous infamy to the religious feelings of the whole native population—a priest of Buddha, he was shot in his sauerdotal habiliments! One man was shot because he did not communicate information he pos- sessed; another because he administered an oath to conceal the person of the pretended king: both were convicted on the suspicious testimony of two native candidates for Government employment. But after the courts- martial had ceased their operations, fourteen persons were condemned by the ordinary tribunals to suffer death. Sir Anthony Oliphant, the Chief Justice, recommended these to mercy. Lord Torrington replied in a letter rebuking the Judge for interference beyond his province; complaining of the embarrassment caused by a recommendation to mercy of men whose lives his Lordship demanded as a further offering to justice; and succumb- ing to the Judge's influence only in unwilling deference to the pub- lic opinion which Sir Anthony had enlisted on behalf of the prisoners. Confiscations followed; and so recklessly were these measures pursued, that many individuals had their lands sequestered and their property sold, who have since proved their innocence even to the Governor's satisfaction: restitution of the lands, and payment of their sequestered revenues, are promised; but restitution cannot be made of the property sold, nor by giving the proceeds of sales made at half values. The last feature of the Ceylon case is one of the most remarkable. Lord Torrington was im- pressed with the illegality of his own acts, and demanded of the island Legislature a bill of indemnity for himself and his subordinates. Out of the fourteen men constituting the Legislature, eight were official, and six were unofficial, but of the Governor's own nomination: yet the Council thus constituted was equally divided on the question of passing the bill. Sir Emerson Tennent, the Colonial Secretary, declined to vote; and the bill was only passed by the casting-vote of Lord Torrington himself!

The appointment of such a man as Lord Torrington—a man of no pre- vious knowledge or experience in Colonial government, whose highest state functions had previously been those of a Lord of the Bedchamber, whose highest excellencies had been shown in amateur farming, and whose highest testimony of official qualification was a complimentary banquet given him by co-directors in a railway company—the appointment of such a man to the rule of Ceylon in 1847, was as great an act of injustice to the Governor selected as it was to the colony he was deputed to govern.

In passing to the case of British Guiana, Mr. Baillie premised that this used formerly to be referred to as the most promising of all our West Indian settlements. Nothing, however, could long withstand the wither- ing influence of the Colonial Office. The neglect to make any regulations enforcing contract labour and providing for the cultivation of the soil under the altered circumstances consequent on emancipation, produced its fore- seen result of total social disorganization and commercial ruin. A still more fearful depreciation of property occurred than in the case of Ceylon. An estate, which a few years since was bought for 24,0001., was last year sold for 2,4001.; the coppers, boilers, and machinery, it is stated on in?st respectable authority, being worth more than the latter amount. Propne- tors are universally ruined; and cultivation is carried on at a loss by mer- chants and speculators in this country, who buy estates at the cost of tba. moveable plant upon them, and wait for reimbursement on the chances ot the chapter of accidents. Such being the state of the colony, opinion ran strongly in favour of retrenchment of the public expenditure; and not without reason, for in no colony have abases of extravagance gone t° 5° great an extent. The salaries exceeding 2501. a year at the disposal of tIle Governor amounted to 37,5001., and the salaries at the disposal of the ulster in London amount to 39,0001. a year. The administration of Gtu.anl consists of a Governor and a Court of Policy; the Court consists of eight members, four of whom are named by the Governor and four by the plant- ers. There is also a College of Financial Representatives, elected by the planters; and the Court and the College united form what is called the Combined Court of Guiana; which meets once a year to vote the supplies and regulate the expenditure of the colony. In 1848, this body proposed that there should be a reduction of 25 per cent on all official salaries, from the Governor downwards. The Government objected; an altercation ensued; the Court threatened to stop supplies, and ultimately voted them only for three months, to give the Governor an opportunity of communicating with the Colonial Office. Lord Grey refused to allow any reduction; on the grounds that the faith of the Crown was pledged, and that the revenues were ample; and he added that the taxes were levied from sources which press little on the planters, though one of the principal of those sources was a tax on bread! By the pledge alluded to, Lord Grey meant that the Combined Court had agreed with the Colonial Office that the civil list should be voted regularly for a certain period: from that agreement he would not stir- " I'll have my bond—I will not hear thee speak: ru have my bond, and therefore speak no more.

I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool,

To shitke the head, relent, and sigh, and yield

To Christian intercessors. Follow not: I'll have no speaking : I'll have my bond!"

Mr. Baillie cited Mr. Barkly, the lately-appointed Governor, for proof that this agreement was obtained on false pretences—on the promise of an emi- gration-ordinance, which has never been conceded. The promise of this ordinance was the condition on which the civil list was voted in 1841; and the breach of the promise released the Court from the effect of the bond of which Lord Grey claimed rigorous execution. But in their distress, the colonists humbly appealed in forma pauperis; and the refusal of the Colo- nial Office is the most unnatural, cruel, and tyrannical act ever perpe- trated. In the despatch which contained that refusal, however, was one small concession—a new promise, that though the civil list agreement must be fulfilled, yet on the occurrence of vacancies, all practicable re- ductions in the particular salaries would be allowed. How was this pro- mise redeemed? The Governorship itself became vacant, and the Court proceeded to consider a reduction in the salary of the next incumbent: the acting Governor informed them that their business was to vote the civil list, not to discuss it; he threatened adjournment; and ultimately, on home instructions, he did adjourn the Court sine die. British Guiana is at this moment without a government: no taxes are raised, and only the civil list salaries are paid; provision for these being contrived by reviving an obso- lete duty on tonnage, and by misappropriating the produce of a duty on produce, specially imposed to meet the interest on the immigration debt of the colony. In closing his Guiana case, Mr. Baillie expressed deep regret that Mr. Barkly should have sacrificed his consistency by accepting the Governorship of the colony at the full salary set down in the civil list.

Into the case of Mauritius Mr. Baillie had resolved not to go on the pre- sent occasion; upon the double ground that the other two cases were the most urgent, and that the more you limit the inquiry the more likely you are to gain a satisfactory result. The same wasteful extravagance had prevailed there, however; and he only proposed to defer inquiry into that ease till a future occasion.

Mr. Baillie anticipated the reply which he would be met with-

" The honourable gentleman the Under-Secretary for the Colonies will be most liberal in his promises, both for himself and the head of his department. He will tell us that he has often already recorded his vote for Colonial self-government. But that is what the colonists complain of. They say, `Both the honourable gentleman and the noble lord have expressed opinions in favour of our demands ; but their opinions are at variance with their recorded votes. (Cheers.) We have no faith in the promises of the one ; we have no hope in the management of the other.' And indeed, Sir, how can the inhabitants of the Colonies place any con- fidence in the Colonial Minister? How can they place confidence in a Minister who stands convicted of a deliberate attempt to deceive and mislead the House of Lords as to the condition and prospects of Jamaica. How can they place con- fidence in a Minister who did not hesitate to read certain portions of a memorial to show that Jamaica was in a happy and a flourishing condition, and that the island presented a good field for the investment of capital—all the time know- ing, as he did know, that the document which he was quoting had been ad- dressed to him to prove, and did prove, that the memorialists were utterly ruined, and that the large capital which they had invested in land was utterly wasted and gone? Sir, I ask, whether a Minister who thus perverts truth to serve party purposes, can possibly enjoy the confidence of the colonists; and whether he ought to be longer intrusted with the high and responsible duty of residing over and protecting the lives and fortunes of British subjects? (Cheers.) Sir, nothing but the unhappy differences which existed on this side of the House during the last session could have prevented the Opposition from uniting in a body to denounce the Minister who could be guilty of such an act, and the Cabinet which could support him. (Cheers.) But there is a point be- yond which endurance is no longer possible—there is a limit which, once over- stepped, will and must rouse any but the most effete and emasculated of mankind. Sir, that limit has been passed; and the time, I do believe, has now come when at last a dread of responsibility will not be allowed to overwhelm all sense of fair- ness and of honour, or a fear of casting censure on the Government will deter the great majority of this House from coming forward to give their support to a motion for that inquiry which I demand in the name of justice, of policy, and in the name of the outraged British colonists, who, although nominally living under the shadow of a constitution which gives them a right to expect safety and pro- tection have yet from the benefits of that constitution been so long and so sys- tematically excluded.",

[Mr. Baillie's long and elaborate address was listened to throughout with marked attention, and he was greeted with loud and general cheers on re- suming his seat. Earl Grey was an auditor in the Peers' seat under the gallery.] The motion was put in these words—.

" That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the grievances complained of in the Crown Colonies of Ceylon and British Guiana; and to report to the House whether any measures can be adopted for the better administration and Government of those dependencies."

Mr. Huarz seconded the motion; and expressed his opinion that every gentleman who had the slightest regard for law or justice, or the honour of his country, ought to stand and to say that an inquiry was imperatively ne- Cfasary; and further, that her Majesty's Ministers should recall Lord Tor- rington before another twenty-four hours passed over, for all the facts against him were to be found in official statements emanating from the Colonial Office. Mr. Hume also thought that Lord Grey and Mr. Hawes Should retire from the places they now held, at least while the inquiry was Pending. Mr. RICARDO proposed, by way of amendment, to add these words to the motion- " Whereby they may be rendered more capable of meeting the difficulties of the transition from a system of protection to that competition in the British market with the produce of foreign states to which Parliament has determined that they should be exposed, in accordance with the general commercial policy which it has deliberately adopted."

If the Colonial Office were really guilty of half that had been alleged against it, the fairer course would have been to propose a direct vote of censure on the Government.

Mr. BAILLIE—" It is a direct vote of e ,nsure."

Mr. RICARDO—" It does not convey mum an intention." The case was simply this: under the guise of a motion for inquiry, an attempt was made at a reac- tionary movement in favour of protection. Mr. Ricardo could trace the evidence in each of the colonies mentioned in the motion as it originally stood; but it would suffice to show the proofs in one case—that of Guiana. The prime mover of the opposition to the supplies in British Guiana was a Mr. Peter Rose, who had avowed that the movement was one to obtain from the Mother-country either a payment of three million dollars to keep up the wages of labour, or a restoration of that protection which had been removed. Mr. Rose had declared to the Go- vernor that it was hopeless to expect the supplies while the colonists were unpro- tected from slave sugar; and the postponement of the supplies for three months, which Mr. Baillie had mentioned, was expressly made in order that the course recommended by the Parliamentary Committee on the sugar and coffee questions should be first ascertained. The dispute about the civil list was not waged with Lord Grey, but against a Free-trade Parliament.

Mr. HAWES declared, that but for the amendment which had been in it would have been as much his inclination as Isis duty to follow immediately the speech of Mr. Baillie, in refutation of the grave charges made against the noble chief of the Colonial Office, against the Colonial Office in times gone by, and against the very Parliament and the country itself. Mr. H twee courted inquiry both on his own and his noble chiefs behalf; and he entreated Mr. Baillie to restore Mauritius to his motion, or to insert any other colony he chose: he only remarked that Mr. Baillie might at all events have spared his bitterness and personalities, and be might have suspended his condemnations till his accusations were proved. (Cheers from the Ministerialists and laughter from the Opposition.) Mr. Hawes claimed at least a respectful hearing: jeers would at all events not divert him: he had not meant that in courting inquiry he should shrink from now dealing with the accusations of wasteful expenditure and tyranny.

In the first place, the disingenuousness of the charges was palpable: one would think that not a colony existed with a representative government. The attack had been made in generalities, though the illustrations were taken from two or three colonies.

Mr. BAILLIE—" I expressly confined my charges to two colonies."

Mr. Hawes was dealing first with the general observations, which were not confined to any colony. In refutation of those general aspersions he made an excursion over the British Colonial world; resting on Canada and the other British colonies in America, the Australian colonies, and the settlements in New Zealand. In all the American colonies, representative governments, only ..promised before his noble chiefs time, were now existing things. In Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, representative and responsible government has been conceded to a British population capable of appreciating and realizing the full benefits. In a short time he would lay on the table a bill conferring the same institutions on Australia which he hoped to carry in the present session. New Zealand at this moment affords a bright example of the wise and pare motives, and the sagacity of choice, which have ruled Lord Grey in his exercise of pa- tronage. The same disingenuousness which characterized the more general parts of Mr. Baillie's speech was eminently characteristic of his statements against Lord Tor- rington in regard to Ceylon. Not one word had been stated of any of the mea- sures of reform which Lord Torrington had vigorously commenced instantly on his arrival in Ceylon, and had already carried to such an extent that the bank- rupt exchequer of the colony was receiving increased revenues, at the same time that relieved trade was reviving. The first thing done was to order all the lead- ing departments to reduce expenditure. Nearly 20,0001. was economized on the fixed establishments; and half as much more in other directions. The coffee- duties had been lightened by the amount of 15,0001. a year, and the duties on tobacco, cinnamon, &c., by 15,0001. a year more. These large reductions of the indirect taxation made it necessary to seek for some source of revenue by direct means. Six ordinances—and not four—were therefore prepared: the one im- posing a road-tax, prepared by Mr. Wodehonse's experienced hands, was intended to transfer to local management the making of certain local roads of importance— it was a labour-rate on each person, commuted to a payment of Si. a year. The honourable and ingenious gentleman seemed to think these ordinances were re- pealed. Mr. BAILLIE—" The dog and gun taxes."

Mr. HAWES—" Wrong again !" The object of the gun-tax was registration, not revenue. The rate had been found too high, and it had been lowered, while the registration had been altered from an annual one to a single and complete one: so amended, the gun-tax still exists for its beneficial objects. The dog-tax was another proof of the honourable gentleman's ignorance. As in all Eastern countries, the pest of the Ceylon towns is the multitude of dogs: the ordinance aimed at the abatement of this nuisance; but it was found to act inconveniently in the rural districts, where watch-dogs are of value: it was therefore repealed. The result was, that of the six ordinances promulgated, only one was repealed, and one or two altered; three are now in force unaltered.

He went into the question of the Candian insurrection, with the object of showing, by numerous quotations from official documents, that it was one of long preparation and extensive ramification; that it was organized by the priests and headmen, in the hope of resuscitating a declining religion, and restoring to politi- cal power the chiefs whom we deposed in 1815; that it had nothing to do with the taxes which are said to have originated it—though those taxes had been made a pretext for inflaming the native mind, by seditious editors abroad and indiscreet partisans in that House. The testimony of Major-General Smelt, the Military Commander, of Sir Emerson Tennant, the Secretary, and of Sir Herbert Maddock, a member of the Council of Calcutta who was acci- dentally in Ceylon at the time of the insurrection, was quoted in support of these averments, and with the further object of proving the ability and promptitude with which the rebellion was put down. The House might contrast that with the course which insurrection had run in Ceylon twenty years ago. An insurrection took twelve months of warfare to suppress: 11,000 troops were required for the work, and 12,000 persons perished in conflict. Martial law was proclaimed, and was continued in force for two years; and the Mother-country was saddled with a debt of more than a quarter of a million. What would have been the state of public opinion now, if any resemblance to these incidents had sprung out of Lord Tor- rington's want of energy and severity at the critical moment? Having thus vindicated Lord Torrington by showing the ameliorations he origi- nated, and the success of his military policy, Mr. Hawes gave a parting rub to those who played at bowls: he rebuked Mr. Hume for having written a letter to the Ceylon colonists stimulating them never to relax their efforts till they had obtained full responsible government like Canada. Responsible government for a

colony where the population consisted of a million and a half of profoundly igno- rant, superstitions, and priest-ridden natives, and only a few thousands of Euro- s capable of self-government! If attacks were to be made in the spirit now evinced, against the governors of distant colonies containing a great native popu- lation in imminent danger of outbreak, this would not be the last insurrection the House would have to deplore.

Mr. Baillie's Guiana case was a mere burlesque: it must have been com- p _iled from newspaper driblets. He had stated broadly that Lord Grey had re- fused to consider all reduction of the civil list: he would be unable to prove that, though he should have the opportunity of trying. Mr. Hawes had taken full notes of his accusations there, and he would try them elsewhere. The amount of the civil list had been misrepresented; the salaries which the Government have an interest in maintaining at their agreed amount are but 24,0001, out of the whole list of 297,000/.; at the time when impoverishment was alleged as a reason why the list could not be supported, the revenue was actually increasing, and the pro- duce of the colony was greater than it was in the preceding year by 9,000 hogs- heads of sugar. Mr. Hawes assured the House that there had been no objections to the economy proposed ; the objections lay against the mode in which it was to be enforced. The reduction of the Governor's salary Mr. Hawes and Lord Grey both opposed, and would still oppose, on its own particular grounds of policy; but Lord Grey was as ready now as ever to consider the general question.

Mr. Hawes defended the appointment of Lord Torrington. "The honourable

gentleman has said that Lord Torrington—BS usual lie makes a personal attack— was one of the Lords of the Bedchamber. That he was a Lord of the Bed- chamber should not be considered at that side of the House as a reason for hold- ing him to be totally incapable. There may be able men Lords of the Bedchamber, and Lord Torrington has shown himself to be a man of ability. His means were small; he was a Peer of the realm ; he materially increased his fortune by agri- cultural industry and skill; and he was selected by a body of intelligent, sharp directors, namely, the directors of the South-eastern Railway, as an associate. / was present at a dinner given by those gentlemen to him on leaving this country; and I heard the highest opinion expressed by them with respect to his abilities and business-like habits."

Mr. Hawes concluded by a vindication of his noble chief and himself from the

charge of having deserted the principles which they contended for out of office. He keew of nothing which his noble friend and himself had more complained of than the perpetual meddling of the Colonial Office with the Colonial Legislatures: but surely Mr. Baillie never contended that unlimited powers of self-government should be equally given in every ease—equally in settlements of British popula- tions, and in colonies like Ceylon or Mauritius, where there is a great dispropor- tion of races and inequality of condition. He says, he "always found them making promises "—and he will also find that promises were very rapidly per- formed. But as to giving a local government to Ceylon, "I tell him, that my noble friend has not, and will not, and that I will not take that respon- sibility. My noble friend is the last person to take it, when it might be injurious to the colony, or who, because it might obtain for him a temporary popularity, wou Id condescend e se ekfor itbyso doing

wilt agree to the amendment

I presume the amendment will be carried, and the honourable gentleman will have the glory of presiding; and I will venture to say, that the more inquiry there is into the administration of my noble friend in the Colonial Office, the more readily will impartial men say it was honest, just, and sagacious. I do not like at this moment, when obloquy is surrounding my noble friend, to shrink from my share of it. I am ready to share with him that obloquy—I wish I could only share in the honour of doing one-half his duties, or discharging one-half his functions. Believing he has administered the patronage of his office honestly and well, I esteem it an honour to stand up here at this moment—I will not say to defend him, but to state his case, and confidently leave it in the hands of the House of Commons." (Ministerial cheers.) Mr. Hawes was followed by Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTIL in a speech of

wide grasp, and prodigious detail systematically arranged. Sir William sketched the organization of Ceylon, geographically and politically; ana- tomized its administrative departments, and set forth the statistics of its annual expenditure. He showed that the ignorance and unfitness of those officers whose duty it was to communicate between the governing powers and the native population had been the cause of constant disaffection and never-extinguished rebellion; and he proved by details of the salaries given to the multitudes of officials, to whom and for what purposes a colony like Ceylon is preeminently useful- " It is valuable as containing numerous appointments, with comfortable sala-

ries, well fitted for the acceptance of political adventurers, of the poor relations, connexions, and needy dependents of men possessing political power—("Hear, hear! ")—and of the rest of that tribe of privileged ineapables for whose profit the Colonial Office collects the revenues and administers the affairs of such colonies as Ceylon." (" Hear, hear! ")

Sir William exposed several most astonishing errors in financial calcula-

tion, which had been made by the Committee appointed by Lord Grey to review the finance and commerce of Ceylon: the report of that Committee took the expenditure of 1842 at 30,0001. leas than the real amount, from the omission of pensions, &c. paid by Ceylon in England: the expenses of 1845 were under-estimated by 23,0001., from another error of similar cha- racter. The cost of 1846 is under-estimated by 25 per cent of the real cost, and the error here is inexplicable. But it seems that 90,0001. of island debts have been for years put down as credits—through the treating of notes in the treasury as money, and through omitting notes in circula- tion as liabilities. These "serious fallacies" gave foundation to instructions which Lord Torrington found it impossible to realize when he arrived in Ceylon.

The House must acknowledge, that if five gentlemen of distinguished ability,

including the two heads of the Colonial Department, could after much study and labour be as completely mistaken with regard to this colony, that position is in- controvertibly proved, which has been so often and so ably maintained in this House by the noble Lord the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that it is impos- sible for any man, be his talents and industry what they may, adequately to ad- minister such complicated affairs as those of the British Colonies, scattered all over the globe." ("Hear, hear, hear ! ") Sir William forcibly described and censured our vacillating policy with regard to the Buddhist religion of the natives— What had been our conduct with regard to the most esteenied-relic of the Buddhist faith, what was called 'the tooth of Buddha'? The superstition was, that to the possession of this relic the sovereignty of Candy was for ever attached. In 1815 we obtained possession of it; in 1818 it was stolen from us; it became the standard of a rebellion which only terminated with its recovery.; for years after- wards we treated it with honour and carefully guarded it; until in 1847 the Colo- nial Office could no longer endure the notion of sanctioning a superstition, and Lord Torrington was ordered to deliver up the relic to the priests of the temple of Candy. This contempt wounded the pride and religious feelings of the Candians, and at the same time produced a belief among the superstitious that before long our reign over Candy would terminate. As soon as the disturbances commenced, the Government agents hastened to the temple of Candy, assured themselves that the relic had not been removed, and took precautions for its safe custody in fu- ture; thus convincing the idol-worshipers that our disbelief was feigned, and that

in the hour of danger our only safety was in the possession of this talisman. Our conduct, therefore, had been impolitic, inconsistent, and absurd. The beat mode of disposing of this relic would be to transfer it to the British Museum, and there let it fulfil the prophecy, and remain till Britannia ceased to be Queen of Ceylon." (Laughter.) Reviewing and warmly condemning some other incidents of Lord Tor- rington's policy in suppressing the rebellion, Sir William concluded with a summary of his speech, and a suggestion as to the future government of Ceylon.

"I have shown that excessive and increasing expenditure, for which the Cola nial Office was to blame, has produced financial embarrassment in the island of Ceylon ; that financial embarrassment, and the ignorance of the Colonial Offioe, led to the enactment of injudicious taxes; that injudicious taxes, combined with the bigoted measures of the Colonial Office, were the causes of the late disturbances; that those disturbances, though followed by military executions, confiscations, and attainders, were in the end successful in so far, for the injudicious taxes or their most obnoxious provisions were repealed. Of everything that has been done or no- done in that colony, Lord Grey, as the head of the Colonial system of this country, has expressed his entire approbation. It is evident, therefore, that the source of all these evils is to be found in the Colonial system—in the attempt to govern, from a distance of many thousand miles, men of whose affairs we are necessarily igno- rant—men wholly unlike us in race, manners, customs, language, and religion. The consequence is, general mismanagement and universal discontent, especially in the Crown Colonies. When that mismanagement becomes excessive, and the discontent grows loud, it sometimes reaches our ears; then only a few of us can spare time to learn something about it ; the vast majority are obliged to trust to the statements of the official defenders of the system, and there the matter drops. So, I am afraid, it will be with regard to Ceylon. What ought to be done for the better government of that colony i I do not dream of Anglo-Saxon institutions for Cingalese; nor do I believe in good government by a small oligarchy of Euro- pean merchants. " I must repeat my recommendation of last year, to transfer this colony to the East India Company. Physically and morally it belongs to our Indian empire: its productions and its races are those of India; when troops are required in Cey- lon, they are sent from India; when required in India, they are sent from Ceylon. The great difficulty in governing Ceylon is, that men of superior ability will not go there—there is not a sufficient field for their ambition; consequently the civil servants of Ceylon, with some exceptions, are what Lord Stanley described them. By uniting Ceylon with India, Ceylon would have a share in the talent and official aptitude specially provided for India. It would probably be more economically governed than at present, for the expenditure of Ceylon per head of the popula- tion is about 50 per cent greater than that of India. And, lastly, we should save a military expenditure which is now to be raised from 110,0001. to about 134,0001. a year. (deers.) Mr. ADDERLEY lamented that a great national question like this should have been met in so miserable a manner, either by a mere tricky amend- ment on the one hand, or on the other by a simple personal defence on the part of the Under-Secretary for the Colonies. The amendment had evidently been drawn up under a false preconception of the nature of the motion; but it had been persevered in to give the Government the advantage of turning an important debate on unimportant and collateral matters. He could not regard the motion as a personal attack on any individual. Indeed, as one interested in the welfare of the Colonies, he should be more in- clined to agree in a vote of thanks to the noble Earl than a vote of censure- (" Hear, hear!" from the Ministerial benches)—for, if ever there was a man raised by Providence to damn the system under which our Colonies are governed, that man is Lord Grey—(Cheers and laughter from the Opposition side of the House)—and he owed a deep debt of gratitude to the noble Lord for having, by the peculiarity of his character, brought to a crisis those difficulties and dangers. which he had seen growing up under our Colonial administration. The whole subject had been carefully treated in a book written by Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, which had produced a great effect on many leading minds both in that House and in the country. At present he was no party man, and had no leader in that House; but he would even throw himself among the party below the gangway, if he saw sufficient vitality among them to meet so great a question as this. (Cheers.) Mr. FRANCIS SCOTT drew from the blue book further evidence of Lord Grey's ineptness as a statesman—

Lord Grey, in one of his despatches to Lord Torrington, laid down the extra- ordinary doctrine that the poverty of the colony, not its property, was to be taxed; inculcating the expediency of "endeavouring in the imposition of taxes to make them press, so far as prudence would admit, rather upon those who were content with a mere subsistence, than upon the possessors of property and the purchasers of luxuries." In the same didactic essay upon the blessings of taxation, he stated that, as "the real welfare of mankind consisted not alone in the enjoying an abundance of the necessaries of life, but in their being also placed in a situation favourable to their moral improvement and to their advance in civilization," there- fore "it might be for the true interest of the working classes that the contribu- tions demanded from them towards the wants of the state should somewhat in- crease the amount of exertion required for procuring a subsistence." ' He seemed to think that the true way to civilize was, not to send out missionaries from Exeter Hall, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer with a band of tax. gatherers. A tax upon rice was sanctioned by men who talked so much of the advantage of the poor man having untaxed bread !

Sir ROBERT PEEL assumed that the House was agreed on the main point of inquiry; and as Mr. Hawes had challenged and courted inquiry, he suggested for consideration, whether the terms of the motion could not be modified so as to render a division unnecessary. He did not quite like either the original motion as it stood, or the amendment. He wished to enter into the inquiry without reference to the conduct of any one par- ticular Colonial Secretary, but rather in reference to the conduct of all; and that not for party purposes, or for the defence or censure of par- ticular individuals, but with the object of obtaining accurate information as to the situation of the colonies, and with the view of getting at a satisfactory result. He would not consent to any proposal which should unsettle the minds of the colonists in regard to protection. Lord Tor- rington's despatches had left a most unsatisfactory impression Ott his mind: he regretted the tone and spirit in which they had been written, and thought that a far different tone and temper would have been more be- coming. Sir Robert spoke in special disapprobation of two cases of punishment,—the flogging of one of the native princes before transportation, and shooting a priest in his robes; and illustrated the latter by a parallel case— If a priest had been convicted for rebellion in Tipperary, and it bad become necessary to inflict capital punishment on him,—if he was executed in any dress which he chose, or even in the prison dress, there would have been general ac- quiescence in the justice of the sentence; but you would insult the spiritual bro- therhood, and you would cast a slur on their order, if you chose to insist, not only on punishing the man, but stigmatizing and insulting the profession to welch he belonged, by making him be hanged on a scaffold in his canonical dross; and their feelings of indignation would be shared by millions throughout every Part of the country. Lord Jonas RUSSELL made some observations in condemnation of the personal bitterness which Mr. Heinle bad infused into the discussion, and on the careful suppression and uncandid concealment of all facts in Lord Tor- rington's favour. He especially reproved Mr. Baillie for founding a charge in that House upon the report of a speech in the House of Lords, with re- gard to the meaning and sense of which there were different opinions. Lord John praised the energy and ability shown by Lord Torrington in suppressing the insurrection; and faintly defended his conduct in regard to the prisoners in whose behalf the Chief Justice craved mercy. With regard to the two facts condemned by Sir Robert Peel—the shooting of the priest and the flogging of the native prince—Lord John declined to express any opinion. (Cheers and laughter.) He praised Lord Grey's appointments, and read a list of them. He was by no means adverse to inquiry; but he thought Mr. Ricardo's amendment necessary to limit its soseo. Mr. DISRAELI was severe upon the manceuvre of the amendment moved by Mr. Ricardo; a "manoeuvre which had not the merit of dexterity." Mr. Bailie had avoided in the most scrupulous manner touching upon any topic that might be misrepresented by any ingenuity of any Free-trader; and this was the reason why he particularly avoided touching upon the cir- cumstance of Lord Torrington's reducing the export-duties and intro- ducing direct taxation. He confined himself to the sheer merits of the case; SO that Mr. Ricardo found himself in the position of making what in strategy is called a diversion—except that in this case the diversion was not diverting. Mr. Disraeli accused the Under-Secretary of trickery in the course of the debate.

"He comes forward in a tone of impetuous eloquence, carrying everything be- fore him; but at the same time saying, 'Don't think I am annoyed; you shall have your Committee—I agree at once—what we want is an inquiry—you shall have an inquiry.' A great many gentlemen left the House—it being a critical hour—under the impression that no division could possibly take place, the Go- vernment having assented to the inquiry, and we being satisfied that an oppor- tunity was obtained of examining into the administration and government of those Crown Colonies. Later in the evening, as the honourable gentleman in his speech waxed warmer and warmer, he said, 'You shall have an inquiry ; that is to say '—and he turned round for instructions. It was discovered that it was not quite so certain that we were to have the inquiry promised us a little before: the inquiry was again promised, but with a tack—on condition that you accept the amendment. Really, I think that for the honourable Under-Secretary, who has, without any circumlocution, accused my honourable friend of having handled this subject tonight in a manner singularly disingenuous and unfair, it was conduct neither fair nor ingenuous to promise a Committee of inquiry at once, and after wards to clog his promise with a condition which he knew we could not accept— which it is not to the credit of this House that it should accept. I can only ac- count for this by the excitement of the Treasury-bench; because the Under- Secretary has decidedly told us that whilst he was ready to consent to the Com- mittee, he was himself of opinion that the inquiry would not be useful nor bene- ficial; whereas the Prime Minister afterwards told us that he thought it was cer- tainly a subject for inquiry."

Mr. OSBORNE, as a member of the Free-trade party, protested against the attempt to hoodwink the House by the clumsy manceuvre of introducing free trade matter into the debate. (Loud cheering from both sides of Ow House.) By the mediatory endeavours of Mr. LABOUCHERE, Mr. PAGE WOOD, and the Earl of LINCOLN, it was at last arranged that the amendment should be withdrawn, and that the motion put to the House should stand in this form-

" That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the grievances com- plained of in the Crown Colonies of Ceylon and British Guiana, in connexion with the administration and government of those dependencies; and to report their opinion, whether any measure can be adopted for the redress of any grievances of which there may be shown just reason to complain."

Mr. HUME objected, that the most important feature was here omitted; and on his suggestion these words were added-

. . . . . " and also, whether any measures can be adopted for the better administration and government of these dependencies."

The resolution was passed as thus finally amended.

In the other House, on Thursday, Lord BROUGHAM made a general an- nouncement in these terms-

" I wish to give a notice with reference to the conduct of the Governor of Cey- lon; and the only reason why I do not forthwith place it on the paper, is that I consider it possible, and I sincerely hope, that proceedings elsewhere will afford a satisfactory explanation of the conduct of the individual referred to; and if they do not, that will be an additional reason why I should defer my notice of motion on the subject, became your Lordships may then be called on to proceed with the matter in another capacity. Whoever has read the book which has been presented on the subject, will comprehend, if he does not share, the feelings which oblige me to give this notice."

SLAVE-TRADE SUPPRESSION.

The Bishop of OXFORD brought forward his motion "for the appointment of a Select Committee to consider the best means which Great Britain could adopt for the final extinction of the African Slave-trade." England, he said, that had once shared the atrocities of the African slave-trade, had felt it incumbent upon her to repair her crime by an example of active repentance. With nations as with men, however, it is easy to make a great self-sacrifice once for all; but not to maintain a severe and expensive struggle for years; and it is useless to deny that there is at present a changed feeling, an apathy on the subject. It is shown by the press, which represents and leads the public mind. Not, indeed, that there is any change in the public mind as to the necessity of suppressing the slave-trade. He believed that the inquiry would prove the decrease or increase of the slave-trade exactly to coincide with the efficiency or inefficiency of our blockade squadron; and he imputed the great increase—in 1846-47, 65,000 slaves were im- ported into Brazil—to the misapprehension of instructions issued in 1842, which had damped the zeal of our naval officers. He argued against the hope of a peaceful regeneration of Africa by means of commerce, because legitimate commerce cannot exist while the slave-trade continues. Friendly to free trade, he yet regarded the Sugar Act of 1846 as one of our grossest crimes, for the stimulus which it gave to the slave-traffic. Br. Wilberforce's motion was altogether unopposed, and was formally assented to by the Marquis of Latesnowsta; who concurred in the opinion that any recent doubts turn rather upon the efficiency than the object of the means employed to suppress the slave-trade. The Earl of ABERDEEN claimed the responsibility of the measures now in force: when he took dice in 1841, he found eight or nine hundred men employed on the coast 9f Africa; when he quitted office, he left three thousand men there. The instructions of 1842 were not intended to damp the zeal of officers, but

only to check the over-zeal of some who had destroyed merchandise as well as slave-barracoons.

Lord STANLEY concurred in the inquiry, but thought that the Commit- tee would fail in its duty if it neglected to inquire into the obstacles which the blockade squadron had to encounter, or into the marked effect of the Sugar Act of 1846 in promoting the slave-trade. To this Earl GREY re- plied with great asperity; charging Lord Stanley with a characteristic im- patience to pronounce a sentence before inquiry—a burning desire to de- liver himself of a philippic brewing in his mind. Lord Grey for one was in no degree shaken in his original opinion, that the Sugar Act of 1846 was a wise measure, even with reference to the extinction of the slave-trade; and he should not shrink from inquiry. In passing, Lord Grey attacked Lord Brougham for a premature intimation of censure, in giving his notice on the Ceylon affair. Lord BROUGHAM retorted, without asperity, but with the more effective pleasantry; bantering Lord Grey for his charac- teristic " perseverance" in sticking to his opinion, and for that " san- guine" temperament which made the most manifest and glaring want of success produce upon him the same effect that the most triumphant vic- tory produces upon other men.

JEWS IN PARLIAMENT: OATHS FOR MEMBERS.

In moving the House of Commons to consider in Committee the subject of the oaths of Members, Lord JOIIN RUSSELL stated that he proposed no alteration in the oath now taken by Roman Catholics, which was delibe- rately settled in 1829; as the country is generally satisfied that the oath is faithfully taken and honestly observed, and affords every security it was intended to provide. He reviewed the three oaths now taken by Mem- bers,—those of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration. The oath of Su- premacy has become a sort of mockery; as since 1807, when Cardinal York died, there have been no descendants of James the Second in exist- ence, none therefore to forswear. He proposed to dispense with this oath. The oath of Adjuration is only the oath of allegiance developed so as to give a special safeguard against the temporal power of the Pope. Lord John read its present form- " I, A. B., do swear, that I do from my heart abhor, detest, and abjure, as im- pious and heretical, diat damnable doctrine and position, that princes excommu- nicated or deprived by the Pope, or any authority of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects or any other whatsoever. (" Hear, hear!" from the O'Gorman Mahon, and laughter.) And I do declare, that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate, bath or ought to have any jurisdiction,. power, superiority, preeminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm.'

This last paragraph had raised such doubts in the minds of two or three Members that they refused to take their seats. Lord John did not wonder at the misinterpretation; but he argued against it. On examination of the oath taken by Roman Catholics, the portion referring to this subject is found to stand thus-

" And I do declare, that I do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, person, state, or potentate, bath or ought to have any tem- poral or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or preeminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm."

So that, if the interpretation of these gentlemen were right, it would re- sult that Parliament required from the Protestant a declaration that the Pope has no spiritual or ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and from the Catholic only a declaration that the Pope has no temporal or civil jurisdiction. However, it is sufficient reason for alteration that doubts exist.

Lord John introduced the bearing of the oaths on Jews, by quoting the words which conclude the oath of Abjuration- " And I do make this recognition, acknowledgment, abjuration, renunciation, and promise, heartily, willingly, and truly, upon the true faith of a Christian." These words were intended as a sanction only, and they ought not to be continued with regard to Jews; for the House had no right or claim to exclude any subject of the realm from Parliament, unless his doctrines and opinions make him unfit or incompetent to perform the duties of legis- lation. Neither of these allegations could be made in respect of the Jews; and their exclusion came therefore to be a pure and unmitigated case of persecution.

Lord John proposed that the Roman Catholic oath should remain as at present; and that the oath for other subjects should be in these terms— being nearly all the words of an oath penned by the Commission of 1845 which reported to Lord Lyndhurst-

" I, A. B., swear, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Ma- jesty Queen Victoria, and that I will maintain the succession of the Crown, as es- tablished by an act intituled ' An act for the further limitation of the Crown, and better securing the rights and liberties of the subjects'; and that I do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, person state, or potentate, bath or ought to have any temporal or civil jurisdiction, authority, or power within this realm: and that I will defend, to the utmost of my power, the settlement of property within this realm, as established by the laws. And I do make this recognition, declaration, and promise, heartily, willingly, and truly, upon the true faith of a Christian. So help me God."

The words "upon the true faith of a Christian" he proposed to omit in the cases of Jewish subjects. By these means, he thought the measure of religious liberty in this country would be made complete.

Mr. GOULBURN consented to the first reading, so as to have the measure distinctly before the House; but he repeated his already expressed opi- nions that the admission of the Jews would be considered as derogatory to the Character of the country, while it would diminish the authority of that House; that it would be productive of serious consequences to the people at home, and would operate with still greater force on the extension of religion abroad. Allusion to Mr. GLADSTONE, by another Member, called that gentleman forward to state that his opinions on the subject had undergone no change, unless indeed they had been strengthened and confirmed by reflection. He was "still deliberately convinced that the civil and political claim of the Jew to the discharge of civil and political duties ought not in justice to be barred, and cannot beneficially be barred, by a difference of his religion from ours." Indeed, Mr. Gladstone took up a position of his own. Inde- pendently of the constitutional question in regard to the Jews, he put it seriously to the House, whether the alteration which Lord John Russell was desirous of making in the oath was not an improvement, and an im- provement of weight sufficient to justify even those who are most opposed to the proposal in respect to the Jews in giving their assent to the propo- sition that the House go into Committee? The Highest Authority had in- formed us that our words should be few in all solemn acts having peculiar reference to the Deity: he thought, on a review of the oaths, and a com- parison of the number of words in them with the purpose they had in view,

that "they would admit of abbreviation, not only with advantage, by bringing them into a more lucid, distinct, and intelligible form, but like- wise with the advantage of bringing them much nearer that standard of pro- priety accordirg to which all oaths having a solemn end in view ought to be unquestionably framed." Several of the customary opponents of religious Liberalism spoke against the Minister's proposal; and Mr. NEwDEGATE moved the adjournment of the House: a motion which Mr. BANKES offered to second; but Mr. New- degate was induced to withdraw his amendment, and a division was taken on the main question.

It was resolved, by 214 to 111, to go into Committee; and the announce- ment of the numbers was received with cheers.

The House having gone into Committee, Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved his resolution in these terms-

" That it is expedient to alter the oaths required to be taken by the subjects of her Majesty not professing the Roman Catholic religion as qualifications for sit- ting and voting in Parliament, and to make provision in respect of the said oaths for the relief of her Majesty's subjects professing the Jewish religion."

The Committee reported progress, and obtained leave to sit again on Friday. MARRIAGE OF A WIDOWER WITH HIS SISTER-IN LAW.

In moving for leave to introduce his bill to amend the Act of 5 and 6 William IV. chapter 54, so far as relates to marriages within certain degrees of affinity, Mr. STUART WORTLEY recapitulated the history of the measure now in his hands, since it was taken up by his father the late Lord Wham- cliffe, in 1841; and the history of the social grievance in winch the bill originated. He explained, as they have been so often explained before, the effect of Lord Lyndburst's Act of 1835, in legalizing antecedent marriages between a widower and his wife's sister but annulling marriages contracted subsequently to that date; the restrictive effect of the canon-law; the revival of the restrictions by Henry the Eighth, to annul his marriage with Cathe- rine of Arragon and permit that with Anna Boleyne, &c. He cited the evidence taken before the Royal Commissioners of inquiry into the matter; from which it would appear that between thirty and fifty thousand mar- riages of widowers with sisters-in-law had taken place since the passing of Lord Lyndhurst's Act; and, at a moderate calculation, the legitimacy of forty thousand persons must be affected by the present state of the law. These marriages are contracted by persons of moral and religious feelings, who would not in any- other respect offend against the law. The grievance relates particularly to the affinity that he had mentioned, though a relax- ation could not well be allowed in that respect without allowing it also in the case of marriages with a deceased wife's niece. But he did not propose to extend the permission to any other degree, such as that of a brother's widow. Ills act would not be compulsory, but would only protect persons solemnizing or contracting such marriages from any suit in consequence.

The motion was opposed by Mr. BERESFORD HOPE, Mr. ROUNDELL PALMER, Mr. HENLEY, Mr. NAPIER, and Mr. PLUMPTRE; mainly on the grounds, that the marriages in question are forbidden by religious authority, and that the Royal Commis,ioners Lad been onesidcd in their collection of evidence.

Sir GEORGE GREY heartily assented to the introduction of the measure, and would support it in his individual capacity. And he vindicated the Commissioners, for their diligent collection of facts bearing upon the prac- tical operation of the law.

Leave given. UNFROCKING OF CLERGYMEN.

In asking the House to resolve itself into Committee on the Toleration Act, Mr. ROTA-ERIE explained, that his object was to extend the benefits of that act to one class of Dissenters omitted from its provisions,—namely, clergymen of the Church of England. It appears that a cleryyman of the Church of England, though he take all the steps required by a Dissenting mi- nister under the Toleration Act, is nevertheless liable to process in the Eccle- siastical Court for breach of discipline; having once taken holy orders, he is literally a villein adscriptus ecclesice. It was not a case of merely theoretical hardship: Mr. Shore had been prosecuted by the Bishop of Exeter, as Ri- chard Baxter or John Wesley might have been. Mr. Bouverie proposed forms by which a clergyman dissenting might make a declaration of his dissent; the declaration to be registered; the clergyman from that moment to be de- prived of the privileges and relieved of the liabilities which had attached to his office as clergyman of the Church of England.

Mr. GLADSTONE denied that there was any parallel between the cases of Mr. Shore and John Wesley. The Bishop of Exeter was quite willing to concur in expediting the process to release him from his clerical character; and if there had been any hinderance, it had been owing to disinclination on Mr. Shore's part, or to defects in the law.

The motion having been agreed to, the House went into Committee, and adopted a resolution upon which a bill was to be founded.

CORRUPT PRACTICES AT ELECTIONS.

Sir Joan PAKINGTON supported the second reading of his Bribery at

Elections Bill by a sketch of the law on the subject. The detection and punishment of bribery now rests principally on the acts of 1841 and 1842, which Lord John Russell induced the House to pass. But both those acts have become inoperative: the machinery of the first cannot be set in motion except by petition, while the second has suppressed the habit of petitioning by suppressing the power of compromise. The main provisions of Sir John Pakington's bill were these. He would require of every person re- turned to sit in that Howe a declaration that he was entirely innocent of all corrupt practices; and if, after making that declaration, a Committee should find that the Member had bribed, that Member should be disquali- fied for ever to sit in Parliament. He proposed to disfranchise every voter who accepted a bribe; and to do away with the disfranchisement of con- stituencies. Lastly, he proposed to do away with the Bribery oath. Sir John proposed to ask for a Select Committee on the bill if he obtained a second reading.

The object of the bill produced much expression of sympathy from se.

veral Members; but the bill itself met with somewhat hostile criticism. Sir Joule HANDIER assented to its second reading, with the object of bringing the whole field of the law under the review of a Select Corn- mittee. Lord Stanox showed constitutional objections to the clauses making bribers incapable of representing and persons bribed incapable of voting, on the determination of their guilt by a Committee: Pitt or Fox might have been thrust out of the House by such machinery, and as great party heats may hereafter arise again. Mr. AGLIONBY objected to the provision requiring a declaration, as a snare for tender consciences: it would leave scatheless hardly a Member of the House: Coekermouth was above the average purity, yet he feared he could not make such a declara- tion ; for he admitted he had flown at humble game, and by applications to Government had got in a few postmen at twelve shillings a week! Sir GEORGE GREY thought that the proposed declaration would exclude some of the most valuable Members: the disqualification from sitting would be monstrous, and that from voting would be objectionable. The Bribery oath did certainly tend rather to encourage perjury than to discourage bribery. He protested against even sending the bill to Committee, as the House was not agreed on its principle; but he would not oppose that course if it were in harmony with the general feeling. Mr. HEADLAM ob- jected to make a man further criminate himself by a declaration concern- ffig matters that were already criminal at common law. Mr. Hoemier and Colonel SIBTHORP also opposed the bill; and Mr. TURNER moved that it be read a second time that day six months.

Mr. COCKBURN approved the principle of the declaration; but would have the tribunal changed from a Committee to a Judge. The bill was the first step in the right direction, and had his cordial support. Mr. O'CoN- NOR took the same views: he thought the bill would in the long run prove a valuable " conscience-refiner."

On a division, the second reading was carried, by 110 to 80.

In moving the second reading of the Corrupt Practices at Elections BA the LORD CHANCELLOR stated, that it was a bill containing most of the provisions of the bill of last session, but confining its operation in some not unimportant particulars. [lie explained the bill, but all the reports con- cur in stating that the explanations were inaudible,] Lord DENMAN re- gretted to find that nearly every clause of the bill was objectionable. The powers given to the Commissioners were such as no public officer in the country possessed, and such as none ought, in his opinion, to be armed with. He did not object to the second reading, but would suggest a Select Committee. Lord BROUGHAM was also ready to take this course. Lord. STANLEY went into a detailed criticism of the bill; which, he said, was by no means the same, but a very different bill from that of last session. Both the principle and the machinery of the present measure were bad. The present was, in his belief, the very first bill which laid it down that a Com- missioner had been sent down to examine, not whether A or B had been guilty of bribery or corrupt practices, but whether there had been any bribery at all by any person.—Bill read a second time.

HABEAS CORPUS SUSPENSION IN IRELAND.

The third reading of the Irish Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill, in the House of Commons, raised no debate of much political importance; but some inci- dents of extraneous interest are reported. On the reading of the order of the day, Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL stated, that as Lord Nugent proposed to move an amendment after the third reading, he would not trouble the House with two debates in one night upon the bill, but would be content with one debate upon Lord Nugent's amendment.

Mr. EEARGUS O'CONNOR was less tractable. Whatever Mr. John O'Connell might do, he for one would not consent to the third reading without a debate. He therefore proceeded to harangue the House with a constitutional speech of great length; expressing at the outset his regret that Sir Robert Peel had given his support to this measure; "for undoubt- edly he was the Minister to whom the people of England and Ireland looked to relieve them of the maladministration of the present Government, who had failed to carry out any one of the remedial measures they advocated when out of office."

Having exhausted his own remarks, he resorted to authority: he would proceed to read a few extracts from Lord John Russell's admirable Essay on the British Constitution, and from the pages of Hallam, Bolingbroke, and Blackstone, with respect to the value of the Habeas Corpus Act. (" Oh, oh!") If gentlemen were impatient, they might have them read by the Clerk at the table. [Sir GEORGE GREY—" The honourable Member has already spoken for an hour."] "But for the statement of the right honour- able Baronet," said Mr. O'Connor, "I should have supposed I had only spoken twenty minutes." He continued, however, to pour out words for a considerable time longer.

Si: GEORGE GREY immediately followed Mr. O'Connor, and apologized for interrupting him— He lied perhaps been guilty of an impropriety in having reminded the honour- able gentleman, some considerable time before he concluded his speech, that he had then spoken an hour; but he could not help remarking that the honourable Member had exceeded the period to which he seemed desirous of restricting speeches in that House; for, on looking to the lists of the minority who recom- mended that speeches should be limited to an hour, he found there the name of Feargus O'Connor. [Mr. O'Cosxon—"But you voted against it, and I wee anxious to lake your example."] But, if anything could convince him of the ex- pediency of a rule to limit the speeches of honourable Members to that space, it would be listening to the speech which the honourable Member for Nottingham had just delivered to the House; and he was sure the House would agree with him in th nking, that if all extraneous matter had been rejected from it the ho- nourable Member would not have spoken for an hour, and would have made a mach better speech. (Laughter.) Mr. HUME supported the third reading, in order to keep Mr. John O'Con- nell and his friends quiet; and to rescue Ireland from the wicked men who had been engaged in agitation in that country. Give security to person and property in Ireland, and capital would soon flow into it. A debate being launched, Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL took part in it; chiefly to address reproaches to the Liberal Members for their support of the bill, and to aim some retaliatory sarcasms at Mr. Hume. Mr. EDMUND BURKE ROCHE repeated his independent strictures on Ministerial policy; uttering some very " advanced " doctrine on the subject of land-tenures: and Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD briefly justified his opposition to the bill. On a division, the third reading was carried, by 117 to 23. Lord NUGENT than moved an amendment, to abridge the period of the bi fa operation, by substituting the let of June for the 1st of September as the day of its expiry. Colonel THOMPSON seconded the amendment, as a mode of showing his objection to a bill which he nevertheless could not re- fuse to Ministers without lying under the imputation of tying their hands at a season of great danger and uncertainty. The amendment was nega- tived, by 166 to 11; and the bill passed.

TENANT-RIGHT IN IRELAND.

Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD renewed his efforts for turning the land and labour of Ireland to better account, by moving this resolution-

" That the laws relating to landed property in Ireland, as affecting the rights and powers both of landlords and tenants, require the immediate consideration of this House, with a view to such alteration of these laws as will remove the oh-

stades at present existing to the improvement of the soil and the employment of the people."

Contrasting the facilities for improvement afforded by the prevalence of the tenant-right in Ulster with the checks upon improvement in other parts of Ireland, Mr. Crawford glanced at the measures which he thought neces- sary to carry out his resolution,—to enable the landlord to charge outlay for improvements upon the inheritance; to grant long leases of ill-culti- vated and undrained lands; to protect the tenant who lays out money in improvements; to enable the State to enter upon waste and uncultivated lands, paying the owner at their present value; to render the Encumbered Estates Act effectual; &c.

Sir Witztem SOMERVILLE censured Mr. Crawford for bringing forward an abstract proposition, instead of a bill to carry out his objects. He de- nied the virtue imputed to tenant-right: it prevails in Donegal, yet Done- gal is as wretched as Connaught. Sir William, however, promised that two measures relating to renewable leaseholds and improvements on land should be introduced almost immediately, in the House of Lords.

After a conversational debate of some length, Mr. Suaassats CRAWFORD, in acordance with the general feeling of the House, withdrew his motion. DUTCHIES OF CORNWALL AND LANCASTER.

Mr. TRELAWNY moved for a "Select Committee to inquire to what ex- tent the public are entitled to claim an interest, present or prospective, in the management of the Dutchies of Cornwall and Lancaster "; and whe- ther better management would not greatly increase their net income. It was perfectly true that those Dutchies were much better managed now than heretofore, but it did not follow that they might not be still better managed. The returns would convince any one that large savings might be made: indeed, every solicitor or private gentleman who had an oppor- tunity of looking into the management of the Dutchy of Cornwall would bear out the assertion that it was impossible to find in the whole county an estate so ill managed. His proposition would go to enrich that Dutchy by 50,0001. a year. Mr. MILNER GIBSON and Mr. RICARDO supported the motion.

Lord Jomi RUSSELL opposed the motion, both on grounds of law and of fact. In the case of the Dutchy of Lancaster estates, the abuses are much lessened. The case of the Dutchy of Cornwall rested on stronger grounds: the revenues of that Dutchy are the property of the Prince of Wales, who is entitled to them at his birth as Duke of Cornwall: it is not competent for the Crown to make an arrangement adverse to the interests of the Duke of Cornwall.

Sir GEORGE GREY and the Earl of LINCOLN supported the refusal of the Committee; the latter with a speech of considerable length. He stated that the reductions of salaries in the Dutchy of Cornwall had been so con- siderable, that, excepting the salaries of the Surveyor-General and the Receiver-General, no property so large is managed on salaries so small— The Council—Prince Albert, Lord Carlisle, Mr. P. Leigh, Mr. G. E. Anson, Lord Portman, and the Earl of Lincoln himself—acted without salary. (Mr. HUME—" We would always rather have a paid officer, that he may be respon- sible."] Well, the Secretary was paid. (A laugh.)

The remission of fines had in the first instance caused a temporary reduction: the Sessionable Manors Act too had cost 20,0001., but would be of great ultimate advantage in respect of Dutchy lands which are inconveniently interlaced with the property of other proprietors. " Mr. Trelawny's own property was thus interlaced by Dutchy property; he had a most beautiful place: perhaps if this property were to be sold in the manner he was so anxious for, he would be a bidder." (Laughter.) On a division, the motion was negatived, by 74 to 27.

FRATERNAL VISIT OF ENGLISH CITIZENS TO PARIS.

Mr. BAILLIE COCHRANE, with an amusing and ironical aim, called the attention of the Under-Secretary for the Home Department to a society called the International English and French Association, headed by five gentlemen Members of that House,—namely, the Members for Tewkes- bury, (Mr. Humphrey Brown) the Tower Hamlets, (Mr. George Thomp- son,) Bodmin, (Mr. James Wyld,) Macclesfield, (Mr. John Williams,) and Southampton, (Mr. Brodie M`Ghie Wilcox). In order to explain the na- ture of the question he desired to put, be read some extracts from this Association's programme, beaded " Intellectual Treat for Easter Week— England's Return Visit to the National Guards of France."

"We gracefully received a visit which was graceftsgy made" by those who "then nestled in the bosom of England, and we trust foiled no want of warmth or ge- niality in their nest." (Great laughter.) "The social spirit which takes must give. We dine together—we, France and England—in a family sense." (Laugh- ter.) "You, France, dine with me today, and I, England, claim your hospitality tomorrow." (Laughter.) "Then will this national deputation, abandoning their domesticity for the attraction of a new hospitality, infuse the intellectuality of civilization into the friendliness of a national regard." (Laughter.) The As- sociation "has ventured upon the responsibility of blending with the visit some commercial considerations for those who find it really necessary to put business into the pocket of pleasure." (Great laughter.) After pointing out the "eco- nomy of seeing everything for nothing," the prospectus informed them that "the ladies shall be provided with a proper escort"—(Laughter)—that stewards were to be appointed to class together "those visiters who have already an acquaint- tance with each other"; and that every assistance is to be given to the party in "their intercommunication with their Parisian fraternity."

Mr. Cochrane inquired of the Under-Secretary of State, if he was aware that this Association had been registered according to act of Parliament?

Mr. CORER WALL LEWIS answered, that he derived his only information from t .e quotations now read. The Association seemed innocent in its objects, and not of a character to bring it under the observation of the Home Department.

Amidst the laughter of the House, Mr. WYLD endeavoured to obtain a footing for a speech, by moving an adjournment: but the SPEAKER con- fined him to showing cause for adjournment. Soon after, Mr. HENRY THOMAS HOPE informed the Speaker, that he had observed the honourable Member for Bodmin (Mr. Wyld) come across the House and address an observation, which he happened to overhear, to his honourable friend the Member for Bridport, (Mr. Baillie Cochrane.) which he feared might be attended with serious consequences. This occasioned more laughter, but no substantive proceeding.