On this page

• Text (1)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    In the House of Commons , Mr . Gladstone took the oaths and his seat on re-election for the University of Oxford . ¦*¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ Mr . White . gave notice that in committee on the Reform Bill he . should move that instead of disfranchising ' the workmen in the Government dockyaBds , the votes of those men should be taken by ballot . Mr . Cox also announced an amendment with the purpose of shortening the duration of Parliaments , while continuing , the existence of the present house , the passing of any Keform Bill notwithstanding , until its term of service has duly expired . Lord John" Manners stated that a vote would be proposed during the present session for the purpose of defraying the expenses required to clean and improve the Serpentine in Hyde-park .

    THE CHARLES ET GEORGES . Mr . Ivinglake called attention to the affair of the Charles et Georges , and in moving for some additional papers relating thereto , entered into an elaborate review of the ; circumstances of the case , and urged various charges against the Government for timidity and . vacillation , as manifested by their conduct of the case , and especially for having betrayed , and deserted the Portuguese Cabinet during the controversy with France . The result , lie contended , attested the incompetence of the jForeigu Secretary , and had heavily compromised the honour and dignity of England : ^—The motion was seconded by Mr . Buxton , who

    dwelt upon the ill effects likely to flow from the course taken by the British Government in this transaction , and its want of vigour . —Mr ' .. S . Prrz-GERAT-T > , in an elaborate commentary upon the whole transactions , defended the conduct of the : Foreign Secretary . He contended that the form into which the question was thrown precluded any interference on the part . of . Lord Malmesbury before the date at which he first offered the good offices Of England to settle the controversy , and that in the subsequent correspondence the British ministry had neglected no step calculated to bring the affair to a pacific and honourable conclusion .- —Mi " . Lowe disputedmany of the positions of Mr . Fitzgerald , contending

    that the ground . ¦¦ totally tailed him . The real issue before the House was what Lord JStalmesbury did . The Charles-et-G . eovges was convicted , he observed , as a slaver , and he cited facts to show that she . was justly convicted . He contended that the British Government were bound , without loss of time , to have made- up their minds whether this was acase of slave trading or not , aijd , if Portugal wa $ in the right , to have advised her as to the course she ought to pursue . Xo definite -course was recommended to her , however , but one of dishonour . He aske . l on what principle a Government could bo justified in a case like this in standing aside without the courage to give an opinion of its own . —Mr .

    Bovill argued that from the outset the 1 < ronch view of the question relating to tiie seizure of the Chaiieset ^ Goorges was borne out by the tlicts of the case . This being so , the English Government could not interfere to support Portugal in a ease whore she was so clearly in the wrong . —Lord Jonx Rksskm .. justified the Government in some respects , and condemned it in others . His lordship remarked that this was not a case for censure , but Cor comment . It would , he thought , have been wrong to have encouraged L ' ortugal in refusing to give up the ship under the menace of France , and thus risk the outbreak of hostilities ., Tlio circumstances , however , unquestionably prove ! tliut the conduct of the French Government was violent and wrong , and ho insisted that tho support afforded to our Portugese ally by tho Foreign Minister ought to have been nioro decided . — Tho Solioitoh-Gexera ^ analysoil tho legal

    boarings of the question , contending that the Government had but observed tho restrictions proscribed by the uecoptod code of international law . lie showed that our good offices wero tendorail unasked , and that Lord Cowley had proposed to Count Walowski to refer tho matter to tho arbitration of a friendly power , anil when that proposal , was rejected , " ho immediately proposed a mediation . In conclusion , lie insisted that her Majesty's Government , using the valuable services of Lord Cowloy , had from day ¦ to day exhibited their good oflicos with Franco in favour of Portugal . —Sir It . Bktiii : i . i- movod that tho debate should 15 o adjourned . —Tho Cuancki-lou of the ExoiiEQiTKn romurkod that thoro was no . question properly before , tho IIouso . Tho motion wus simply for papers w , hioh had been promised .- — Tho motion was , howovor , ngreodtp , and the debate stood adjourned .

    Mr . J 3 ih ; mmo > -d obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend and explain tho law relating to tho combination of workman . Leavo was given to Lord Naas to . lnjroduco a bill for tho registration of births , deaths , nii-d murrlugos in Ireland . The Houso aljnuvned « t twenty minutes to ono . Wc ( fn . ( i . i ( lai / , March 0 . n IlUh 0 Hi ' usto of Commons tho Juries ( Treland ) will wiw rcr . U a second time

    CHURCH RATES BIM-. On the motion that Mr . Walpole ' s bill should be read a second time , Sir J . TkELA-vvNV moved an amendment , deferring the second reading for six months . He re-urged the objections so . often advanced in the many previous debates on the subject against all attempts to compromise a question which could only be satisfactorily solve . ! by totally abo ^ lishing the church rate . The bill , he contended , would not remove the injustice now inflicted upon dissenters in being compelled to support a church to which they did not belong . It was erroneous in principle , and , as lie also pointed out , faulty in many of the most important details . —Mr . Hardcasxle

    seconded the amendment . declaring that of the numerous measures brought forward on the subject in successive sessions , the present was in many respects the worst . —Mr . Sotiieuox Estcourt , ( who had a few minutes previously taken the oaths and his seat on his re-election for North Wilts ) said that the House had now the advantage of a choice of measures , based upon different principles , which they could compare . The bill of Sir J . Trelawny , for the abolition of church-rates , was a rough way of dealing with the question . The proper mode was to ascertain what were the grievances complained of , and to devise suitable remedies ; and he proceeded to consider the inconveniences and hardships of the

    present system as respected clergymen as well as "Noncomfbrmists , and the . manner in which they would be obviated by Mr . Walpole ' s Bill , and by . certain amendments of it . This measure lie regarded as a reasonable mode of settling . a difficult question , and more just than the total abolition or the entire commutation of church-rates . — Sir G . GiiEy opposed the bill , insisting that its provisions were suited only , to a very limited range of localities . There were many parishes , and many circumstances in , or under , which the measure could not be worked at all , and many more in which it would work ill . He agreed with those who . thought that the only effectual method for terminating this

    long-pending Controversy was to abolish the impost altogether . —Sir J . Pakingtox , rising with some warmth , said the speech of Sir G . Grej' had forced upon-his mind the conviction that the spirit of party was still to'be paramount on this question to the spirit of peace ; and , because the gentlemen opposite to him had shrunk from dealing with it , they' would not allow others to deal with it . Sir George had , lie said , shown why , according to the rules of the House , he ought to vote for the second reading , and dad not assigned , any reason why he should not do so . There were two principles in the bill ; to neither of which / -Sir George objected ; yet he declared he should vote against the second reading of it . In

    considering the real scope and intention of the bill , Sir John remarked that all property was subject to the charge of church-rate , a : id that there was no injustice in enforcing it ; but , although this was a legal and ancient charge , ho agreed that it might be grating to the feelings of dissenters to pay it , and he was willing to . moot them in a spirit of pear .-o and conciliation . This wasthe spirit in which the bill had been frame J . The present Government had done what their predecessors never did , made a fair offer , and it remained for the House and tho country to decide whether this question should be settled in a friendly spirit , or continue a subject of prolonged agitation . — Sir G . Grey explained that ho supported Sir

    William Clay ' s bill upon the assurance that there should be embodied in it certain amendments of which ho had given notice . —Sir R . Butiieli ., observed that , after the speech of Sir J . Pukington , he had some difficulty in \ inderstanding what was his notion of peace nn < l conciliation , llo had brought charges against Sir G . Grey whioh were groundless and unjust , and had conveyed thorn in language anything but eonoilintory . Ho disputed the doctrine of Sir J . Pakingtoii as to the origin and nature of churoh- 'ra . tcs , which lie ( Sir IS . Bothcll ) characterised as the progeny of a wicked system of intolerance whioh diotatod one mode of faith for all . Tho common law , even now , treated all the occupiers in a parish as men of tlio same form of belief ; this was tho foundation of tlio liability to church-rate , and to

    this tho dissenters objected . — Mr . Dhummond objected to the bill , because it partially waived a right on which ho considered that no compromise was permissihlo . Tho c-liuroh-rato was tho ancient and inalienable patrimony of tlio church , and could not bo surrendered oxop . pt by a fraudulent sacrifice- of her rights . —Mr . li . \ uu gave his hearty support to tbo bill , as tho only practical mode of settling this question and noouring tho fabric of the established church , wlille it relicvod dlssonters from tho ' obligation of contributing to that church . — Mr . Lowjj ndntf ttod that tho present stato of tho law was intolerable , Tho bill now before ' tlio House was , however , calculated , in liis opinion , to make mutters worse , and stimulate tho dissension whioh it -was most essential toalhiy . — Mr . Wam'Olm , in reply , co ' mbattod the objections which had boon urged against this measure , Vhoso provisions ho sought to

    explain and vindicate . He called attention to the important fact that the House had arrived at the second reading of this . bill * ' -when . , the only question , to . be determined was the principles involved in the measure , and not the mere . machinery . The principles , were ' tivo ^—first , the voluntary commutation , instead of the compulsory payment of church-rates ; second , the exemption of those who objected coascientiously to paying them . No opponent of the bill , he observed ; had pointed out wherein these two principles were open to objection . He vindicated its provisions , and insisted , in opposition to Mr . Drtjmmond , that it did hot conflict with the principle of an establishment ;— -Upon a . division the amendment was carried by 254 to 171 ; the bill is , consequently , lost .

    Sir J . Trelawny postponed until Thursday the motion for the second reading of his measure on the same subject , the Church-rate Abolition Bill . The House rose at six o ' clock . Thursday , March 10 : In the House of Lords the Occasional Form of Prayer Bill passed through committee , and tho Manor Courts ( Ireland ) Bill -was . read a second time .

    SINGAPORE . Lord Staxi-ey of Alderiev , in presenting a petition from the merchants , and residents at Singapore , asked her Majesty ' s Government what theii intentions were with regard to the future government of that settlement . The -importance '' . of the position was sufficiently shown by the acquisitions which the French , Dutch , and Spanish nations were making . in the Indian Archipelago , and he thought that we ought to have ah : officer with the saine powers as the Governor of Hong Kong , competent

    to make treaties witli neighbouring States , and to watch the aggressions of Kuropean nations .- —The Earl of Carxarvox stated that some correspondence was in progress between the Home Minister and Calcutta upon the question , biit no final determination had been yet arrived at . —Lord Ellexborough thought that Singapore and all the settlements in those . waters should be placed under , the government , hot of the Secretary of State for the Colonies , but under the Secretary of Stale for India . After some further observations ¦ from . the . Karl of Derby , and Earl Grey , the subject dropped . ¦ - ¦

    IN'DICT .-MEXTS KOIt CRIMINAJ , CIIAUGES . The Lord Ciiaxckli . or introduced a bill to amend the law in respect of presenting indictments to grand juries in the metropolitan districts- /] I ' e explained that , at present , after a magistrate hadin vest iyuted a charge , tliat charge was , as it were , filtered by a grand jury , who very often , to the astonishment of magistrates and of parties accused , ignored tli . cj l ) ills . The present system of grand juries allowed much tampering

    with witnesses , which would be remedied if a persoi > committed by a magistrate was committed' directly to trial . ¦ . Within the mctr 6 ]> oljtnn districts grand , juries were useless , and they had frequently confessed it , and protested against tho system themselves ; Mr . Clark , tlle late Clerk of the Arraigns , used to call grand juries the " hope of the London thief . " Still , he did not propose to do away entirely with grand juries , and explained in what cases they would still be of use . The bill , after somo discussion , was read a first

    time . Their lordships . adjourned at a quurler to seven . In the Tlorsia ok Commons tho Kurl of March took his seat upon his re-election . Numerous petitions were presented on Reform and other subject ? .

    TIIIJ HtSI'OItM Mil . ) .. Mr , Mn . i-: a gave notice that , when the bill was in coiuniitluc , he should move an amendment rescinding tho provision under which the county voters qualified- as owners of freehold property in tlie boroughs wore to be disfranchise" ! . —Lord J . HcgsKT . L notified , according to promise , the terms of the amendment ho intended to propose upon tho second reading-of the ; Hefonn Bill . lie designed lo propose * a resolution enunciating the eonelusion that tho ilis ^ fVancliisemont of that body of electors who now enjoyoii votes for tho county by a -1 () , s . fVoohold fVanchisc , on property sit unto in boroughs-, was

    altogether unfit and impolitic , and ( hilt tho occupation franchise in boroughs ou , u'h ! to l > o reduced bylow ( lie present and projxMeil minimum . —¦ In reply to a question froiu Mr ' . Kol . mmih :, the GiUNCKM . oit of tho 10 xcm ;« . > ii ; i ! Mricl that it was not intended that anv persoiirt should lioilislraneluppu by tlio Mil , and that ho shoiiM lay upon ( ho table clausoa reconciling' Iho prlnt-ij « I . of I Ho identity oi suilriiKO between crcniutloH ami boroughs with tho recognised righls of fi-eehol . leiv nil hiii . tho limits of lMirHumuiitiii ' v lioroughfl . —Mr . Wvi : i » guvo notlpo tluit liqHhould move ! as an adilltlou to tho amendment proposed bv Lord John Kuiwoll , tluit tlio votes at elections should be taken-by ballot .

    HAVINOH IIAMCH . Mr . 11 ankkv called attention to I he lulu funding of JOxulii « jiu' «' -MUfl > nm \ movuil n i-csolntlon that ij ) futuro no lundlnjjf of Hxoheqiier-I / Hs 11 c ^ I < 1 l » . v tlio CoiiimiHMiouerB of t ^ uvlnu ' s iJunks be mady' viiliour

    Untitled Article

    /^ yp >;¦^^ MABgg ¦• i 2 ,. ¦ i 6 i 5 § 3 THE LEADER . * 325

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1859, page 325, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2285/page/5/