been predicated by Mr. Howley. The tithes, too, of late years, had not been collected by the ancient process of the law, but by an Exchequer process. If the Government should think fit to enforce the payment of them by distraint, what would become of all this boasted tranquillity? Again, if the country were in that state of tranquillity, how came it to pass that twenty-three new stipendiary magistrates had recently been added to the police force of Ireland? It was true, that they increased the patronage of the Minister, but they diminished the revenue of the country by a loss of 12,000l. He would not enter into the statement that nineteen out of these twenty-three magistrates had never been in the police before. He must complain of the mischief done in Ireland by the constant employment of pacificators, who were a set of middlemen and bankrupts. He was a private friend of the Earl of Mulgrave, but he had not visited the Castle of Dublin during the later periods of his Lord-lieutenancy. He would not hesitate to declare, that the main reason was that horrid and ferocious speech which a guest of the noble Earl had made at Carlow, in January last, upon the death of the kind and excellent Kavanagh, the undoubted descendant of the ancient kings of Ireland. How did the peasantry of Carlow act after that brutal speech? That man had told them to disgrace the grave of Kavanagh. Had they done so? At the last election, they would not vote for their landlord; but they determined that they would not vote against him. So disgusted were they with that speech, that though they did not vote at the previous election for their landlord, they did vote at the next ensuing election for his successor and heir, Mr. Bunbury. He concluded by repeating, that his reason for not attending the levees at the castle was, that he knew that Mr. O'Connell was received at them. Lord Brougham hoped that his noble Friend, the Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, would not condescend to give any further answer to the speeches which had that evening been made against him, without notice, and upon a subject with which they had no natural connexion. If his noble Friend should not be inclined to follow his advice, then he would warn their Lordships against proceeding further in the course upon which they had recently entered, and which was quite un paralleled in the history of disorder. He had observed, on a former occasion, that of all the places of discussion which he had attended, both within and without the walls of Parliament, the House of Lords was that in which he had seen the greatest irregularity practised. But he thought, that on the present occasion, the House of Lords had exceeded all its former illdoings, and that it had, if possible, surpassed itself. First of all, they had seen a noble Marquess come forward to explain the reasons why he moved for certain papers relative to the appointment and removal of two individuals from the magistracy. They had seen him rise and make a speech of attack on the noble Earl, founded on every individual act of his administration during his government of two years and a-half in Ireland, including, no doubt, the appointment and removal of those two magistrates, and entering on every topic of abuse, slander, and calumny, which ever had been urged against him since his first arrival in Ireland, entering into all manner of details, raking up every charge, rumour, and report that had ever been advanced against him, every word of which he had no doubt but the noble Marquess perfectly believed. He begged it to be understood, that when he used the words "slander and calumny," he was not applying them to the noble Marquess, but to those who had furnished him with his instructions. He would here remind their Lordships, that the gravest of all the charges preferred against his noble Friend, the Lordlieutenant of Ireland, was that of releasing from prison an individual who was lying there, ordered for death, under sentence of the judges. That charge was disposed of for ever-for it turned out that all that was done was done at the recommendation of the learned judge who tried the man, and who, on reconsideration, was of opinion that the conviction was wrong, and could not stand. [The Marquess of Westmeath: The noble and learned Baron is quite wrong.] He was not wrong, and would quote the words of the noble Marquess himself, to prove that he was right. The noble Marquess, in one of his speeches, had candidly admitted that he was glad to find that he was mistaken, and that no man could rejoice more than he did at finding that the charge was false, and had been satisfactorily rebutted; and yet the noble Marquess, after a speech which would have justified, if true, a vote of censure upon his noble Friend, had concluded,-oh, lame and impotent conclusion!-by simply moving for the production of certain papers! In reply to the noble Marquess, his noble Friend had entered, unprepared as he was for such an attack, into a full and ample, and satisfactory defence of his own conduct. The speech of the noble Earl who followed his noble Friend was, if possible, still more extraordinary than that of the noble Marquess himself. The noble Earl said, "You have answered the speech of the noble Marquess, but you have not answered my speech of March last,"-of which he then produced to their Lordships many full and copious notes. The Earl of Roden had not produced any notes of the speech to which the noble and learned Lord had just alluded. Lord Brougham fancied that he had seen the noble Earl take out of his pocket a small fasciculus of notes, and he imagined that they might be notes of the noble Earl's speech, to which he had formerly listened with great attention. Greatly as he deplored the opinions of the noble Earl, greatly as he doubted their wisdom and propriety, there was no man in existence to whom he would more readily give credit for the honesty with which he both spoke and acted. The charge which the noble Earl had made against his noble Friend, resolved itself into this "Why have you not answered my speech of March last? I'll show you what I said last March, and answer that if you can." Now, it really turned out that the bulk of the charges preferred against his noble Friend by the noble Earl, and by the noble Lord who followed him in the debate, had been answered by anticipation in the speech of his noble Friend. Those two noble Lords said, "You have shown us how tranquil the country is at present by specific acts of yours. We will show you what your tranquillity was in the years 1835 and 1836, when you first came into office." To this statement his noble Friend had, by anticipation, given a satisfactory answer, by pointing, not to the state of crime in 1835 and 1836, but to the state of crime in 1837, when tranquillity was re-established throughout Ireland. But, said the noble Earl, twenty-three additional stipendiary magistrates have been appointed, and at a cost of 12,000l. per VOL. XXXVIII. {Serie} 'Third annum; to that he would retort, that it was because his noble Friend had tempered justice with mercy-because he had mingled precaution with lenity-because he had displayed that vigour which fit proclamations and due augmentations of force indicated, that those appointments had been made. Then, again, with regard to the different line of conduct pursued towards Sir Richard Nagle, and that observed towards Colonel Blacker, one of whom had been restored to office after dismissal, and one of whom had not yet been restored, he thought that that case proved nothing; he suggested, therefore, that the House should return to such matters as would show, that there was some connexion between the things on the notice-book and the things noticed in the House. He thought that their Lordships had travelled far enough over this wide field of irregularity, into which his noble and learned Friend might say, that he also had entered, although, as he had not begun it, the offence in him was the less grave. The Duke of Wellington said, that nothing was more painful than the irregularity of such debates; it appeared, however, that the gentleman who had been once removed had been replaced, and so far the charge remained uncontradicted. With reference to the peace of Ireland, he could not but recollect the speech from the Throne in August 1836, when their Lordships had been assured that Ireland was in a state of tranquillity; he could not but think that statements of the noble Earl opposite had been the foundation of that assertion; and yet the state of crime now was double what it had been in 1833. He thought at the time that the statement was erroneous, and in the last discussion he had read the charge of Baron Foster, at the last assizes, to the grand jury of Tipperary, a county, which, if not the worst, at least afforded the measure of crime in Ireland. That learned judge said, that there were 930 persons in confinement since the previous assizes. Considering, therefore, that the last assizes occurred in April, he could not think that Ireland had proved to be tranquil, though he should be glad if returns could show that she had been. The Marquess of Lansdowne would not follow the example of noble Lords opposite, and thereby expose himself to the just censure of his noble and learned 3 P Irish representation had been entirely misrepresented. What he considered objectionable in the state of that representation was, that fourteen places returned Members who had not otherwise the slightest connexion with them. He was sure that none of their Lordships would say, that Mr. Raphael, if he had continued the Member for Carlow, would have been the legitimate representative of that county. The county of Meath, too, was represented by one of the O'Connells, who he (the Marquis of Westmeath) would venture to say had not a single acre of land on the earth. This was a species of representation which he considered a mockery, and he thought that the people of Ireland had better have no representation at all than such a one. Friend, by bringing in extraneous matters. | complained that his remarks relative to the The noble Duke referred to a speech from the Throne, in which allusion was made to the tranquil state of Ireland. This speech the noble Duke should recollect was founded on documents which were prepared months before the statements referred to by his noble Friend, and the then state of the country completely bore out the declaration in his Majesty's speech. The noble Duke had alluded to the number of persons, according to the statement of Baron Foster, in the county gaol of Tipperary at the period of the spring assizes of the present year; but the noble Duke should have recollected the answer made to him on the former occasion-namely, the great number of persons acquitted at those assizes, and also that the learned judge included the list of the names of persons tried at the sessions. With reference to the present state of Ireland, all the judges agreed as to the state of tranquillity and the steady and continued improvement of the country. That state of improvement had nbeen produced or promoted by exaggerated statements indering and desultory debates in that House, such they had heard that night, but had resulted from the improved government of the country, and this improvement was manifest to every one from the simple circumstance of the increased value of property in Ireland. This, he was convinced, was one of the surest indications they could possibly have of the improvement in the state of the country, which had resulted from the admirable and steady administration of the Government by his noble Friend near him. When noble Lords opposite referred to particular cases, he begged them to compare the average returns for the last five years, when there was no suspension in the regular state of the law, with the average of the previous five years, when measures of extraordinary severity were continually had recourse to. He hoped by pursuing the same course of good government that he had hitherto done, and he was sure that from nothing that he had heard brought forward would his noble Friend be deterred from pursuing that coursethat his noble Friend would have the satisfaction of finding the tranquillity and happiness of Ireland as great as those of any part of the empire. The Marquess of Westmeath in reply, Motion agreed to. MUNICIPAL ACT AMENDMENT.] The Lord Chancellor moved, that the House agree with the Commons' amendments to this Bill. Lord Wynford opposed the motion. The Commons' amendments were negatived without a division, and a Committee was pointed to draw up reasons for dissenting the Commons' amend ments. HOUSE OF COMIONS, MINUTES.] Bills. Read a second time:-Lords tices. Edinburgh, for the immediate and total abolitiof HOUSE OF LORDS, Bills (13,623,3002.); Malt Duties Regulation; Post-Office Petitions presented. By the Bishop of EXETER, from Glas gow, and other places, for a Ten Hours Bill.-By the Duke of BUCCLEUGH, from several places, to maintain the Privileges of the House of Lords. 1893 Lords Justices. HOUSE OF COMMONS, liament Reference; Church Building Commissions. Petitions presented. By Mr. SCHOLEFIELD, from Birmingham, for Household Suffrage; and by Mr. PHILLIPS, from Rochdale, for the abolition of Church-rates. THE QUEEN DOWAGER.] Viscount LORDS JUSTICES.] On the motion for power, superiority, pre-eminence, or au- The Bill went through Committee. HOUSE OF LORDS, Thursday, July 13, 1837. MINUTES.] Bills. Read a third time:-Burglary; Pun ishment of Death; Militia Pay; Militia Ballot Suspension: Slave Treaties; Exchequer; Public Works; Bank of Ireland; Clerks of the Peace; Property (Ireland). Petitions presented. By Earl STANHOPE (44), from persons engaged in Factories, for a Ten Hours Bill; and from occupiers of Lands in various places, against the New Poor-law Acts. PARLIAMENTARY ELECTORS.] Viscount Duncannon moved the second reading of the Parliamentary Electors Bill. who were entitled to exercise the franThe object of the Bill was to enable those chise under the Reform Bill an opportunity of doing so without paying the rates up to a later period than within six months of the time at which they claimed to vote, the law at present obliging them, as their Lordships were aware, to pay up to the time at which they voted. Lord Redesdale opposed the Bill. They had been told that it was not the intention of Government to bring forward any measure this Session upon which a difference of opinion was likely to arise, and that they would proceed only with such measures then in progress as were required for the public service; and yet their Lordships were now, on the eve of a dissolution of Parliament, called upon to pass a Bill which created a very considerable change in the elective franchise as established by the Reform Bill. He had originally opposed the Reform Bill; but as it was now the law of the land, he would uphold its provisions as far as he could, while he should at the same time most decidedly object to any innovation upon, or change in its principles. He should therefore 3P 2 1896 that this Bill applied only to those who had been once on the registry. move that the Bill be read a third time that day three months. The Marquis of Westminster defended the Bill. He had been always of opinion that the Reform Bill, in requiring the taxes to be paid up to the period of voting, was so far objectionable. The present Bill would remedy that evil; and if he did it alone, he would divide the House on the motion of his noble Friend. The Earl of Haddington said, that the noble and learned Lord had observed that there was no work of man, legislative or otherwise, which could be looked upon as absolutely final; and it would, no doubt, be the height of presumption in that or the other House of Parliament to affirm anything to the contrary; but, subject to Lord Brougham thought their Lord- that necessary observation and restriction, ships ought to pass the Bill. Experience he was sure their Lordships had heard had proved that a vast number of persons, those who had introduced the Reform whom it was intended by the Reform Bill Bill say, at least a dozen times, that it to vest with the elective franchise, were was to be a final measure. It had been deprived of that advantage by the rate-admitted that by that Bill the franchise paying clauses-not from any unwilling-was pushed to its greatest extent in order ness on their part to pay up those taxes, to render the measure final, particularly as but from a temporary inability to do so. regarded that portion of it, and he would It was not intended by this Bill to break therefore oppose any proposition which through the principle of the rate-paying was at variance with the principles upon clauses of the Reform Bill, but merely to which the elective franchise had been so mitigate their severity, and thereby extend established. the elective franchise. The Earl of Harrowby considered this a main alteration in the Reform Bill, which had been declared by those who had introduced it a final measure, particularly as regarded the franchise. Now this Bill, according to the noble and learned Lord, was for giving an extension of the franchise. The ready payment of taxes was considered as a test by which it might be judged whether persons claiming a right to vote did or did not possess that degree of respectability which persons ought to have who were to be intrusted with the franchise; while this Bill, according to what had been stated by the noble and learned Lord, would confer the franchise on persons who could not stand that test, and were not therefore fully qualified to enjoy the franchise. The House divided on the second reading of the Bill:-Contents 55; Not-contents 66: Majority 11. Bill put off for three months. NEW POOR-LAW.] The Bishop of Exeter rose to present petitions from places in Devonshire against the Poorlaw Act, and one also from the township of Hull, in Lancashire. It would be in the recollection of their Lordships, that he had on a former occasion adverted to the grievance so generally complained against, that the inmates of the workhouses were not allowed to enjoy the advantage of attending divine worship. He understood that in all cases where there was in the workhouse a sufficiently good room to admit of their assembling in it on Sundays, they were denied the privilege of going out of the house to church. He had received a letter in the early part of the last month from a clergyman resident in one of the midland counties, which, with the permission of the House, he would read. It was as follows:- Lord Brougham: When he spoke of the extension of the elective franchise, it was not in the ordinary sense in which that phrase was used: he had not used it in reference to a class of persons differently qualified. The noble Lord had said the Reform Bill had been introduced "In reply to your Lordship's inquiries on as a final measure. There was no such the subject of the spiritual destitution of the thing. No work of man, legislative or inmates of the union workhouse at this place, otherwise, was final; and no one would be it is my painful duty to state, that the inforso absurd, much less those who had intro-mation you have received is substantially corduced that measure, as to say that when passed it was so perfect and absolute in all its parts as to be above the test of all future legislation. Viscount Duncannon begged to observe rect. The workhouse has been occupied nine months, no chaplain has been appointed, nor divine service at the parish church, distant have its inmates been permitted to attend about a quarter of a mile. Five or six weeks ago a chaplain was advertised for in the papers, |