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    vided responsibility . —A somewhat rambling discussion ensued , and Mr . Aykton having rep lied , the committee di v ided , -when there appeared—For the amendment ... 100 Against ... ... ... ... 351 Majority ... ... ... 251 The chairman then reported progress ; the House resumed ; and , some routine business having been got through , an adjournment took p lace at ten minutes to one o ' clock . Tuesday , May Ath . ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION BILL .

    In the House of -LoiVds , the Earl of Dekbv moved the second reading of this bill , which was founded on the recommendations of a committee of their Lordshi ps ' House in 1851 and on those of a committee of the Lower Hoivse in 1856 . Hitherto , the transfer of the property by Bishops and chapters has been a purely voluntary a c t ; but , with a few exceptions , their estates have been transferred to the management of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners . The object of the bill was to introduce compulsorily the system of transfer to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners . The bill was the same as that introduced last year by the late Government , but not sent up to the House of Lords in time to he passed . He proposed to take the second reading in order to refer the bill to a

    select committee , in which some additional clauses would be introduced . —The Duke of Marlborougii made several objections to the bill , which he thought Avould deprive the chapters of an . important source of income . He thought his own bill on the same subject far preferable , and urged their Lordships to take it into serious consideration . —The Earl of Chichestek , as one of the commissioners , expressed his approval of the bill introduced by Lord Derby . —Earl Guey thought that the plan of converting the estates held under lease of the Church into ordinary tenant holdings , to be managed hv a commission , would be found in practice very disadvantageous . —The Bishop of Oxfoud regretted the tendency he saw to make the Bishops and officers of the

    Church mere stipendiaries ; hut , on the -whole , he approved Of the course the Government had taken in introducing the present bill . — Earl Gran ville supported the measure . —Lord Eavessworth suggested that , in the distribution of ecclesiastical property , the mining property vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners should be appropriated to the use of the districts where there is a large mining population . —Lord Cranworth , in repl y to the Bishop of Oxford , exp lained that , by the clause in the Probate Act giving compensation , it is stipulated that the officials shall receive it so long as thev render their ecclesiastical superiors the same services they had endered before

    r ; but of course a new arrangement should be made when the present officers cease to act . The Earl of Powis thought that the provision b y which the episcopal and common funds are merged together ought to be well considered . The right rev . prelate had said that the chancellor of the diocese should be . paid out of the ecclesiastical fund ; but there is a prior claim for the extension of the number of Bishops and for providing retirements for Bishops . As the funds are mixed at present , there is no prospect of ever having a definite sum app lied for episcopal purposes . —After some further discussion , the bill was read a second time , and referred to a select committee .

    The Ecclesiastical Corporations Aggregate Bill was also read a second time , and referred to the same select committee . —Their Lordships then adjourned at twenty minutes to ei ght o ' clock .

    MILITIA AT ALDERSHOT . I n the House of Commons , G eneral Peel , in reply to Captain Gray , stated that it was not the intention of the Government to disembod y any more reg iments of militia , and he had no doubt , therefore , that those who had been furnished with the Enfield rifle would soon be broug ht to a state of cfliciency in the use of that weapon . THE WESTERN BANK OF SCOTLAND . In answer to Mr . Brady , the Chancellor of the l-. xcHEQUKnaaid that tlio directors of the Western Bank of bcotland had forfeited tho right to circulate banknotes . It was not the intention of tho Government to grant in anyway , if they should havo the power , tho sale of that privilege .

    SPECIAL MISSION TO PORTUGAL Replying to Mr . White , tho Chancellor of tiik Exchequer stated that a special mission is about to bo sent to Portugal . The Marquis of Bath has been appointed her Majesty ' s p lenipotentiary to that Court , and at the proper time any expense incurred by tho mission will be submitted to the consideration of tho Houso

    AIAIIRIAGIC WITH A l > ECEAai 5 n WIFE ' S SISTKK In answer to Mr . Sciinibiimsb , Lord Stanley said it 13 true that the Legislature of South Australia has passed an act for legalizing marriage with a deceased wife ' s sister , and that a copy has recently beon received by her Majesty a Government . Some legal iliflloulticH having arisen , tho act has beon referred to thu legal advisers of tho Colonial-ofllco , and upon thoir report Ministers will proceed . NEW FOni 5 IClN-Ol < VICJC . Lord John Mannkhs , in answer to Sir John Shicli . i-v stated that her Majesty ' s Government has not yet uVtorl mined upon tho erection of a now Foreign-ofliee , mid no

    architect has therefore been appointed . The materials now near Downing-street belong not to the Government , but to the board with which the lion , baronet had been connected- —the Metropolitan Board of Works ; and they are intended not for any Government building , but for improvements in Victoria-street . ( Laughter . ')

    TELEGRArHIC COMMUNICATION . Mr . Crawford moved for certain papers connected with the establishment of telegrap hic communication in the Mediterranean , or with India b y way of the R ed Sea or Persian Gulf . As no opposition was to be offered to his motion , he refrained from entering into ^ details in support of it . —Colonel Fhasicr called attention to the inaccuracies in the telegrams . ——The motion was agreed to . SALE AND TRANSFER OF LA- > D IN IRELAND . Mr . Whiteside moved for leave to bring in a bill to facilitate the sale and transfer of land in Ireland . The act establishing the Encumbered Estates Court will exp ire in two or three months , and it therefore became

    necessary to consider and decide what is to be done in the matter and with the tribunal itself . The Government had preferred to deal with the question in a comprehensive manner , rather than introduce a continuance bill . The measure proposed to extend the principle of giving a Parliamentary , indefeasible title to unencumbered as well as encumbered estates , and to empower the court constituted by the bill to be permanent and to be called the Landed Estates Court . He proposed that there should be two Jud ges sitting separatel y , with appeal to the Lord Chancellor and Chief Justice ; and the third Judge ( Hargrave ) he proposed should be pensioned , with his full salary , till he should receive another appointment , when it will merge in his future

    emolument . The office of Master he proposed to abolish , leaving him , and such other oiucers of the existing court as mig ht not he necessary in the new , to be dealt with in the matter of remuneration by the Treasury . The expenses of the court , as a permanent tribunal , would be 15 , 000 ^ . or 16 , 000 ^ . ; and he proposed to reimburse the Treasury for the advance of these expenses by a tax on the estates themselves , which would be . so much increased in the value by the operation of the court . This tax he proposed to fix at one-half per cent . up to 5000 Z ., three-quarters up to 10 , 000 / ., and one per cent , above that value ; and this would produce from 16 , 000 ? . to 18 . OO 0 Z . a year . Mr . J . D . Fitzgerald- gave a general approval of

    the measure , but refrained from expressing any op inion on the mode of carrying it into operation until he should see the whole measure . —Sir Erskine Pekry thought the principles enunciated by Mr . Whiteside sound and practicable . —Mr . Dea . sy likewise thought the bill a very great improvement of the law of Ireland . —Mr . Dobbs hoped the Reg istry Act would be so improved and extended as to be ancillary to the proposed measure . —Mr . Horsman expressed his satisfaction with the measure generally , but regretted that the Attorney-General for Ireland did not propose to abolish the appeal

    to the House of Lords . —Mr . Malins considered that the question was one of great difficulty , and that portions of the machinery of the measure would be found to be impracticable ; but he oiVered no opposition to the motion before the House . —Mr . Waipolk was convinced that a measure could be framed which wovdd give a . Parliamentary title to land acquired through the Encumbered Estates Court , and that such a measure would bo a great boon to the landed interest . —Mr . Whiteside briefly replied to tho criticisms that had been offered ; and leave was given to bring in the bill .

    THE J > A 5 » UBIAN PRINCIPALITIES . Mr . Gladstone moved , "That an humble address be presented to her Majesty to submit to her Majesty that tho House , bearing in mind tlie obligations imposed by tho Treaty of Paris , so far as they affect the Danubian Principalities , has observed with satisfaction the general tenor and sp irit of the declaration recorded by her Majesty ' s chief Plenipotentiary at the Conference of 185 G , concerning tho future organization of those territories ; and humbly to convey to her Majesty the earnest hope of this House that in the further prosecution of this important subject , just weight may bo given to those wishes of the peop le of Wallachia and of Moldavia , which , through their representatives , elected in conformity with the . said treaty , they have recently expressed . " A solemn

    pledge had been given by the Plenipotentiaries who met in Paris that the question of the union of tho Principalities should be submitted to tho judgment of the Kouman peop le . The people had expressed n desire for union—perhaps , indeed , for something more ; but , if there was anything objection able in their demand for union under a prince or chief taken from some forei gn famil y , that should not invalidate tho pledge given to to the people of tho Principalities . Unload the union took p lace , Wallachia and Moldavia would bo a constant source of anxiety to European policy ; but their consolidation would form a living liairicr between lius . iia and Turkey . Tho union would not have any injurious effect on the Ottoman Empire , which never pos . so , s .-ie « l the sovereignty of tho 1 ' rinciiiulitiuH .

    Mr . Seymour Fitzuicuau ) said that the motion was utterly unprecedented , and calculated to KmkI to serious consequences . The object of the Treaty of Paris was to maintain the territorial integrity of tho Turkish Empire , and tho population of tho Principalities Jiuu declare *

    Mr . Fitzgerald . peop , palities would be satisfied with the simple act of union , their other objects being merely secondary and subordinate . ' Besides , the Porte had no right to allege that the integrity of the empire would be impaired by the choice of a forei gn Hospodar . —Mr . Roebuck thought that , the representatives of England in that House ought to let our Ministers at Paris lenow that this country intends to support a free people sprung from a peculiar source—the old Roman Empire . They were never united by conquest to the Turkish Emp ire , but b y independent contract ; and they have a ri ght to demand that their wishes shall be acceded to . —Mr . Duff spoke in favour of the union of the Principalities .

    The le of the Princi that , unless they obtained a foreign prince , the union of the two provinces would only aggravate the evils under which they suffer . The effect of the union of "Wallachia and Moldavia under a foreign prince would be to make them practically independent of the Porte ; and this & totally incompatible with the Treaty of Paris and with the very object with which we went to war with Russia , He trusted the House would refuse to entertain a mo . tion which would tend to the dismemberment of the Turkish Empire . Mr . Deasy thought that Mr . Fitzgerald had made no answer to the speech of Mr . Gladstone . —Lord Robert Cecil took the same view of the arguments advanced bv

    Lord I ' almkkstos recalled the attention of the House to the real question at issue—viz . whether we should take a course that would infallibly be the first step to separate the Principalities from the Turkish Empire , which would thereby be dismembered . If the Priu ci palities were not a part of the Ottoman Empire , Iioty came Mr . Gladstone to be a party to a war when thev were invaded by Russia ? The nations of Europe would not have taken up arms to protect the Principalities from Russian aggression , had not their invasion been regarded

    as an . encroachment on Turkey . "Ihe Principalities had been separate from the time they formed part of the Roman Empire ; and therefore the House was called on to sanction that which had never yet existed . Had their condition under Turkey been a state of oppression ? On the contrary , their sufferings bad arisen from forei gn aggression and military occupation . It was a fallacy to argue that we are now called to decide whether t hoy Principalities shall be free . Free they had been , fra it was intended they should be ; and the-question was , not whether internal freedom should be taken awav froi : i

    them—not whether they should be subjected to tlu tyranny of a Turkish pacha—but what should be the internal condition of that freedom which all the powers of iMirope were pledged to secure to them . ( Hear , // car . ) It was said that we were called on by national honour and national engagements to agree to the motion bcfoi j the House . The Treaty of Paris made no engagement to that effect . It was true tliat opinions were expressed by the English and French plenipotentiaries that unhr . i mig ht be desirable ; but the question was not separation from Turkey—it was a question of internal organization . It -was liussia that suggested the notion of union . 1 : had been stated that the Treaty of Paris had not been carried out . Ho said it had . Divans had been called

    in the Principalities ; but the elections took place under excitement and agitation , fostered by foreign agents . The Divans ultimately petitioned for union ; but " wli : it union ? Why , union under a foreign prince . But would the Principalities , if united , take a Catholic prince ? He believed that liussia would make invhicible objection to any but a Greek prince . And where would one be found ? "Why , in the ' Russian Imperial family , to be sure . ( Hear , heur . ) Their ' union under a foreign prince' meant ' union under a Russian prince . ' (// tw . ) But suppose the prince to ha a Catholic—Ihmv was he to maintain himself against the Greek in / liiciuT that would be brought against him ? By being .

    subordinate to the power which alone could protect him . In cither case , he would be the vassal of Russia . Would a prince submit to be a vassal to Turkey ? Assuredly not . Supposing they separated from Turkey , there would be a nation of five million people ; and lioncould it sustain its independence V It would necessarily become the subservient vassal of one ; or the other of tlie great Powers , or it would follow the fate of Poland , and be partitioned . ( Hear , 7 ivar . ) It was nos-for tlio interest of the Principalities themselves , or for tho interest of Europe , or in conformity with the engagements of the Treaty of Paris to preserve the integrity of Turkey , that the proposition of the riglit lion . gentleman . should be acceded t < i "

    Lord John Husskll thought that the great Powers had taken a most unwise and irritating course with respect to the Principalities , They assembled the peop le , aiul , when the latter expressed their wishes in clear unmistakable language , they turned round and said Ilicy were- disorderly . Their wishes were accordingly cntiivly neglected , and it . appeared to him that , they had made \ my for Russia , whoso interests would be advanced whether the union Ijg granted or not . Tho only way out of the dilemma was to ufrrtie to tho proposition of ^ Ir . Gladstone . They should accept , the proposal for a union of tho Principalities , but should place nouic person over thorn who is not connected with any of tlie great Powers of Europe , hut wlio is acquainted with local nwiiiner . i and customs . 11 « r Mnjosty ' d plenipotentiary should hnvu instructions not to support tlie appointment of a foivign prince , but to « rg < ; that , tho l ' lincipnlities should have

    Untitled Article

    436 ! CHE LEADER , [ No . 424 , May 8 , 1858 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 8, 1858, page 436, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2241/page/4/