(COMMONS.) Sir G. Grey obtained leave to bring in a bill for April the better supply of water to the metropolis. Mr. Ewart then pro

29.

ceeded to move the extension to the colonies of the mitigation in the law with respect to capital punishment, when the House was counted

out.

(COMMONS.) Lord J. Russell moved an address to the crown April to issue a royal proclamation with a reward for the discovery, 30. apprehension, and detention of certain persons who had hitherto eluded the service of the Speaker's warrant in order to avoid giving evidence before the St. Alban's Election Committee. The Welsh Highways Bill then passed Committee; the Lodging House Bill was read a second time. The second reading of the Farm Buildings Bill, the object of which was to authorise the charging of estates with loans for the repair and erection of farm buildings, was carried by 66 to 25. Mr. Anstey moved that the Sunday Trading Prevention Bill, which stood for Committee, should be considered this day six months. The debate on this motion was adjourned. (COMMONS.) On the order of the day for the second reading May of the Jewish Oath of Abjuration Bill, Mr. Newdegate moved the 1. second reading this day six months. Mr. Roebuck, the SolicitorGeneral, Mr. J. A. Smith, Mr. Anstey, and Lord J. Russell, opposed the amendment; Mr. Wigram, Sir R. Inglis, Mr. Goulburn, and Col. Sibthorp, supported it. On a division the second reading was carried by 202 against 177. The Irish Civil Bills Bill was then read a second time and referred to a select Committee.

(COMMONS.) After a short conversation on the subject of the

May diocesan synod contemplated by the Bishop of Exeter, and after 2. some remarks from Mr. W. Williams respecting the extension of the income-tax to Ireland, the House went into Committee on the Income Tax Bill. Mr. Hume's motion that the tax as at present imposed should be renewed for one year only, led to a long debate and was carried against Ministers by 244 to 230. The result was hailed with tremendous cheering. (COMMONS.) In Committee on the Income Tax Bill, Lord J.

May

Russell accepted the decision of the House on Mr. Hume's motion, 5. and would coincide in appointing a Committee to investigate the whole subject. The Bill then passed Committee and the House resumed. On the motion for going into Committee of Supply, Lord J. Russell and Lord Palmerston detailed the reductions about to be made in official and diplomatic salaries in accordance with the recommendations of the select Committee on the subject. The House subsequently went into Committee of Supply for the naval service, but no vote was passed.

May

6.

(COMMONS.) Mr. G. Berkeley's motion for a Committee of the House on agricultural burdens was withdrawn after discussion. Lord Naas's motion for the House going into Committee to consider the present mode of levying the duty on home-made spirits in bond, was opposed by Ministers, and gave rise to a spirited debate. On a division there were 159 for the motion and 159 against it; the Speaker then gave his casting vote in favour of the motion. Mr. Roebuck upon this put it to Lord J. Russell whether after this fourth defeat it was wise, or politic, or consistent with a regard for his own personal character, to retain office. Lord J. Russell, in reply, declined the advice of Mr. Roebuck to resign office, and would take care of his personal character himself. The House then went into Committee on the Spirit Duties, but resumed without passing a resolution. Mr. E. Ellice obtained leave to bring in a Bill for the appointment of a commission to inquire into the existence of bribery in the borough of St. Alban's, Mr. Cobden's amendment to include the Falkirk burghs in the inquiry being withdrawn.

(COMMONS.) Along discussion took place on the motion for going May into Committee on Mr. Locke's Railway Audit Bill, which motion 7. however on a division was carried by 72 against 49. The clauses of the Bill up to eight were then discussed in Committee and passed. The Welsh Highways Bill was reported and the Lodging-house Bill committed pro formâ. (LORDS.) The Administration of Criminal Justice Bill, the Prevention of Offences Bill, and the Registration of Assurances Bill, were referred to a Select Committee on the motion of Lord Campbell. A resolution moved by Lord Redesdale respecting the mode of managing conferences between the two Houses of Parliament was agreed to. The other Bills on the table were forwarded a stage.

May 8.

(COMMONS.) Mr. Cayley's motion for leave to bring in a Bill to repeal the Malt Tax was discussed at great length, Ministers opposing it on the score of Finance. The motion was negatived by 258 against 122. Mr. Cowan obtained leave to bring in a Bill to regulate admission to the secular chairs in the Scotch Universities. Mr. Hume's motion for the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the present mode of assessing and collecting the Income Tax was agreed to after some discussion. The Select Committee on the relation of the Caffre Tribes with Great Britain was appointed. (LORDS.) Lord Lyttleton in presenting two petitions from the May Inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land against the transportation of 9. Criminals to the Australian Colonies originated an interesting conversation on Convict Discipline; the principal speakers being the Archbishop of Dublin, Earl Grey, the Bishop of Oxford, Lord Monteagle, the Duke of Argyll, and Lord Wodehouse.

(COMMONS.) On the motion for going into Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, Mr. Urquhart moved as an amendment that the recent act of the Pope in dividing England into dioceses was encouraged by the declarations of the Government, and that the publication of Lord J. Russell's letter to the Bishop of Durham wounded the feelings of many of her Majesty's subjects and raised in others large expectations of legislative remedies, which have been disappointed by the Bill before the House. A long and stormy debate followed, after which the amendment was negatived by 280 against 201. (LORDS.) The Earl of Glengall, in presenting a petition from the Tipperary Grand Jury, originated a discussion on the protection 12. of home-made against foreign flour. The Church Buildings Act

May

Amendment Bill was referred to a Select Committee.

(COMMONS.) On the order of the day that the Speaker leave the chair for the House to go into Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, Mr. Moore raised an objection on a point of form, namely that the Bill, relating as it did to religion, ought, in compliance with the standing order, to have been first considered and agreed to in a Committee of the whole House. After some discussion the Speaker decided that a Committee of the whole House was not necessary in originating a Bill unless it related "to the spiritualities of religion." Mr. M. Gibson and Mr. Grattan having addressed the House, Mr. Reynolds moved the adjournment of the debate, which after further discussion on the point of form, was negatived by 179 to 53. Mr. Lawless renewed the motion for adjournment, which was again negatived by 145 to 36. Another desultory discussion followed, in which Mr. M. J. O'Connell, Mr. Urquhart, Mr. Keogh, Lord J. Russell, and Mr. Bright, addressed the House. Mr. Scully then moved the adjournment of the debate; this was negatived by 365 to 54, but the motion for adjournment being renewed, Lord J. Russell gave way, and the motion was agreed to. The Income Tax Bill was then read a third time and passed.

May

14.

(COMMONS.) The Charitable Institution Notices Bill and Mr. Spooner's Landlord and Tenant Bill were read a second time. The next business that occupied the House was Mr. Lacy's motio

or the second reading of a Bill to prevent the forcible detention of females in religious houses; the means proposed to effect the object in view being registration of the houses and visitation by magistrates of quarter sessions. The motion, which was opposed by Government on the ground that the mover had failed to prove a single instance of forcible detention, was rejected, after a long debate, by 123 against 91.

(LORDS.) The Lord Chancellor, in reply to Lord Lyndhurst, May explained the cause of delay in introducing the Bill for Chancery

15.

reform.

(COMMONS.) Another long debate on the motion for going into Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, and another adjournment. The Irish Bridges, the Common Lodging-houses, the St. Alban's Bribery Commission, and the Enfranchisement of Copyholds (No. 2) Bills, were read a second time; the Small Tenements Rating Act Amendment Bill a third time and passed; and the Lodging-houses Bill and Apprentices to Sea-service Bill passed Committee.

(LORDS.) An interesting conversation on the subject of the

May proposed railway from Halifax to Quebec and Toronto was origin16. ated by Lord Stanley in moving for copies of the proceedings of the New Brunswick Legislature on the subject, which motion was agreed to. (COMMONS.) The order of the day for going into Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill was carried by 116 against 35. The House accordingly having gone into Committee, on the motion that the preamble be postponed, Mr. Keogh moved that it be taken first. A discussion of considerable length followed, during which Mr. D'Israeli made several objections to the Bill, and professed his readiness to support any amendment that would render the measure more stringent. Lord J. Russell having signified the views of Government with regard to the proposed amendments, consented to have the Bill committed pro forma, in order that it might be reprinted in the form to which Government intended to adhere. The House then read a second time the Coal Whippers Bill.

(LORDS.) The Income Tax Bill was read a second time after May a debate, in which the Marquess of Lansdowne, Lords Stanley, Berners, Monteagle, and Grey took part.

$19.

(COMMONS.) In Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, Mr. Reynolds moved that the Chairman report progress, observing that the Bill as now printed was a new Bill, and that time should be given for considering its provisions. The Earl of Arundel and Surrey having seconded the motion, a long debate followed, after which Mr. Reynolds's motion was rejected by 262 against 46. The Attorney-General then, at the request of Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Gladstone, proceeded to explain the legal effects of the Bill, about which different opinions had been expressed by legal members of the Committee. Finally, after several motions for reporting progress, Ministers assented to the Chairman leaving the chair. The Hainault Forest Disafforesting Bill, the Sale of Arsenic Regulation Bill, and the Appointment to Offices Bill, passed Committee; the Liverpool Gunpowder Stores Bill was read a second time; and a new Bill was brought in by Lord Seymour to extinguish the right of the Crown to Deer in the New Forest.

May 20.

(LORDS.) In reply to Lord Wharncliffe, Earl Grey gave some explanation regarding the appointment of two assistant commissioners to aid Sir H. Smith in the settlement of matters between the colonists and natives at the Cape of Good Hope. The report of the Select Committee on the Registration of Assurances Bill was brought up by Lord Campbell; and the Income Tax Bill passed through committee.

(COMMONS.) After a short discussion about the new ride proposed to be made through Kensington Gardens, Sir W. Molesworth developed at great

length and with great lucidity his views on the subject of the discontinuance of transportation to Van Diemen's Land, and concluded by moving an address to the Crown to effect that object. Sir G. Grey having spoken in opposition to the motion, Mr. Anstey rose to speak and the House was counted out.

May 22.

(LORDS.) The Income Tax Bill was read a third time and passed; and the Episcopal and Capitular Estates Bill was read a second time after a discussion and a division of 46 contents and

28 non-contents.

(COMMONS.) Mr. Ewart moved a resolution for the extension to Scotland and the Colonies of the mitigations lately made in the laws relating to capital punishment in England. The motion was withdrawn after a short debate. Mr. W. J. Fox then moved a resolution " to promote the education of the people of England and Wales by the establishment of free schools for secular instruction only, supported by local rates and managed by committees elected by the ratepayers." The motion was supported by Mr. Hume, Col. Thompson, Mr. Trelawny, Mr. M. Gibson, Mr. Adderley, and Mr. Cobden. The opposition to the motion was founded chiefly on account of the exclusion of religious instruction contemplated by its promoters, and was made by Sir. G. Grey, Mr. Hope, Mr. W. Patten, Mr. Wigram, the Solicitor-General, Sir R. Inglis, Mr. S. Herbert, and Mr. Heyworth. The motion was negatived by 139 to 41. Mr. Hodge's motion to reduce the duty on hops to 1d. per lb. was negatived by 88 against 27.

(LORDS.) A rather warm conversation took place between Lord May Campbell, Lord Beaumont, and the Lord Chancellor, on the pre23. sentation of a petition by the latter against the Registration of Assurances Bill. A discussion originated by the Bishop of Oxford on the alterations made in the arrangement of Pentonville Prison occupied their lordships the rest of the evening.

(COMMONS.) In Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, Mr. Duncombe moved the postponement of the first clause till the brief was produced upon which the enactment was founded. The motion, after a warm discussion between the Solicitor-General, Mr. Roebuck, the Attorney-General, Mr. Walpole, Mr. Keogh, and Mr. Reynolds, was negatived by 221 against 49. Sir F. Thesiger then moved an amendment with the object of declaring all briefs, besides that of Sept. 29, 1850, illegal. This, after another debate, was withdrawn. An amendment, moved by the Earl of Arundel and Surrey to prevent the enactment from trenching on the spiritual functions of the Catholic bishops, was negatived by 316 to 61. A similar one, proposed by Mr. Sadleir, was rejected by 315 to 57. The House then resumed, and the Sale of Arsenic Regulation Bill was read a third time and passed.

May

(LORDS.) Certain papers relating to the Punjab prize money were ordered on the motion of the Earl of Ellenborough, and the Scotch Salmon Fisheries Bill was read a second time on the motion of the Duke of Argyll.

26.

(COMMONS.) Mr. More O'Ferrall, late Governor of Malta, took his seat for the county of Longford. In Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill various amendments on the first clause were discussed and rejected by large majorities. On the motion of Mr. Reynolds, the chairman reported

progress.

May

27.

May

28.

(COMMONS.) Mr. Baillie moved a series of resolutions condemnatory of the administration of Ceylon by Lord Torrington. The debate on this subject was adjourned.

(COMMONS.) The second reading of the Coroners Bill, moved by Lord Vane, was postponed for a month. In Committee on the Railway Accounts Audit Bill, Mr. Packe's motion, that the chair

man leave the chair, was carried by 62 against 56. The Bill was consequently lost.

29.

(COMMONS.) The adjourned debate on the affairs of Ceylon May was resumed, and occupied the House to a late hour. On a division, Mr. Baillie's resolution, which was regarded by Ministers as an expression of want of confidence, was negatived by 282 against 202.

May 30.

June

1.

(LORDS.) The Administration of Criminal Justice Improvement Bill and the Prevention of Offences Bill were read a third time and passed on the motion of Lord Campbell.

(COMMONS.) In Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, Mr. Keogh moved the addition of a proviso to the first clause to prevent criminal proceedings being taken without the consent of the Attorney-General. The proviso was withdrawn on the suggestion of Mr. Walpole in order that it might be proposed when the discussion of the second clause came on. On the question that clause 1 stand part of the Bill, Sir J. Graham called attention to the import of the clause, the ambiguity of which alarmed him. This clause, which had been borrowed from Mr. Walpole, would, he believed, be fatal to the peace of Ireland, as it declared all papal rescripts illegal, thereby rendering void everything that proceeded from the exercise of their spiritual functions by the Roman Catholic bishops, ordination, collation, and all acts of the priesthood, marriage included. The right honourable baronet concluded by entering his solemn protest against the clause. A long debate followed, after which the clause was retained by 244 against 62. The House then resumed, and the Irish Bridges Bill was read a third time; the Irish Fee Farm Rents, Court. of Chancery Regulation Act Amendment, and the Colonial Property Qualification Bills were read a second time.

June

(LORDS.) After a conversation between Lord Lyndhurst, the Lord Chancellor, and Lord Brougham on Chancery reform, Lord

2. Wharncliffe moved for certain returns relating to internal improve

ments in India, which were ordered.

(COMMONS.) Mr. Hume's motion to nominate the Select Committee on the income tax produced a debate of some length, which ended in the nomination of Mr. Hume himself being carried by 193 against 94. Further proceeding with the nominations was deferred, and the House went into Committee on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, when Mr. Walpole moved an amendment to the second clause, which, after considerable discussion, was withdrawn. Mr. M'Cullagh then moved an amendment to exempt from the operation of the second clause (against the assumption of territorial titles) persons who have been recognised as Roman Catholic archbishops, bishops, or deacons, by the superior courts in Ireland. After an angry debate the motion was defeated by 291 against 45. Another amendment, moved by Mr. Moore, was negatived by 240 against 36. On the motion of Mr. Reynolds the Chairman then reported progress. The Scotch Prisons Bill passed Committee.

(LORDS.) The India Marriages Bill passed through ComJune mittee. On the motion of Lord Brougham the County Courts 3. Extension (No. 2) Bill, the object of which was stated to be to give to these courts the same jurisdiction in bankruptcy cases as they now had in matters of insolvency, was read a second time. The Duchy of Lancaster Bill and the Church Building Acts Amendment Bill were read a third time and passed on the motion of the Earl of Carlisle.

4.

June (COMMONS.) Lord Melgund's motion for the second reading of the Scotch School Establishment Bill-the object of which was stated to be" to provide a system of education limited to secular subjects, supported by local taxation, and subjected to local government,”K