ment of interfering with the policy of the other. Mr. Jephson said, that although the bulk of the people of Ireland was undoubtedly favourable to Repeal, yet the wealth and intelligence of the country were opposed to such a measure.-Mr. Shaw thought, that, were the Union repealed, the connexion of the countries would be a rope of sand, which the first demagogue who found it an obstacle to his views might at his pleasure scatter to the winds.-Mr. James said, that he was convinced, not only of the necessity of continuing the Union, but also of the necessity of cementing it more closely than ever, by the opening speech of the Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin; he had utterly and signally failed in showing that prosperity would return to Ireland if the Union were repealed, and he had not even made out a prima facie case that such a measure would be either just, politic, or expedient.-After Mr. O'Connell had replied, the House came to a division, when there appeared, for Mr. S. Rice's amendment, 523; against it, 38; majority against the Repeal of the Union, 485.

HOUSE OF LORDS, April 28.

The Duke of Newcastle called the attention of the House to the novel and disgraceful nuisance of processions at funerals of deceased members of Trades' Unions, and inquired whether any steps had been taken to put an end to them?Viscount Melbourne regretted the existence of such meetings. Government were ready to put down any riotous or disorderly assemblages; but it was hoped that such proceedings would die away of themselves.-The Marquis of Londonderry said that the present was a very alarming crisis, and one which called for the serious attention of Government. He understood that within these few days, 15,000 men had been enrolled in the unions.-The Earl of Eldon said that the assembling of such vast numbers of people, and their parading in menacing force, had a manifest tendency towards a breach of the public peace, and ought, consequently, be prevented.-The Lord Chancellor entirely agreed in the sentiment, that vast and unnecessary numbers of men assembling themselves together was illegal ; they tended to produce great public mischief. With regard to the Dorchester Unionists, there could not be a shadow of a doubt of the justness of their conviction. They were tried for taking unlawful oaths -an offence until within these few years past unknown in this country-a system which he believed, bad as it was in itself, bad as it was in its first object, had a

decided tendency to lead to offences of a deeper and more deadly die. His Lordship having affirmed that these Trades' Unions had been in existence five or six years before the political unions were thought of, and were in 1830 far more dangerous than at present-observed in answer to appeals which had been made to him out of the House on behalf of the industrious portion of the community, that it was because he was the sincere friend of the working classes of the coun. try, that he was an enemy to Trades' Unions; and he would add, that of all the worst things and of all the most perni. cious devices that could be imagined for the injury of the interests of the working classes, as well as the interests of the country at large, nothing was half so bad as the existence of those Trades' Unions.

April 30. An Address to his Majesty, relative to the destructive consequences to be apprehended from a Repeal of the Union, voted by the Commons on the preceding evening, having been communicated to their Lordships in a conference with the Commons, Earl Grey proposed that their Lordships should at once express their concurrence in the same, observing, that the question of the Union with Ireland involved considerations affecting not merely the prosperity and power, but the peace, the integrity, and the safety of the empire. The dissevering of the link which bound the two countries would be to expose both kingdoms, thus weakened, to the attacks of foreign enemies-to introduce internally a state of things which must lead to the ruin and misery of both countries-but more particularly to that part of the United Kingdom which it was sought to delude by specious declarations on this question.— The Lord Chancellor seconded the motion. His Lordship observed, that their Lordships were now called upon to manifest their concurrence with their fellow-subjects of the other House of Parliament, in resisting proceedings which tended immediately and directly, as he in his conscience believed, to endanger the existence, not of the Monarch, not of the Peers, not of the Commons-no, but to place in jeopardy the existence of the united empire itself. The Duke of Wel lington, the Marquis of Londonderry, and the Marquis of Westmeath expressed their concurrence in the Address, which was agreed to, to be presented to his Majesty the following day.

In the HOUSE of COMMONS, the same day, after a great number of petitions had been presented for and against Sir Andrew Agnew's Bill for the better observance of

the Sabbath, Sir Andrew moved the second reading of his Bill, which was seconded by Sir O. Mosley.-Mr. E. L. Bulwer moved that the bill be read a second time that day six months. So far was he from thinking that the bill of the Hon. Baronet would promote its professed object, that he believed, on the contrary, its effect would be to bring the Lord's Day into almost universal disregard. -Mr. Potter expressed his conviction, that the clauses of the Bill were framed to catch and punish the middle classes, but allowed the rich and powerful to escape. No police force, however large, could carry it into effect, because it was repulsive to the feelings of humanity, and he would add, according to his firm conviction, contrary to the feelings of a vast majority of the people.-Mr. Poulten opposed the bill, and contended that the divine Founder of Christianity himself superseded the strict law of the Sabbath by his own authority, in commanding the cripple to take up his bed and walk-an act of work, and a clear violation of the old law, and not necessary to the mere act of healing and charity, and in defending the conduct of his disciples in plucking ears of corn on the forbidden day. The Lord's day was a festival, founded entirely on the practice of the earliest Christian Church, in commemoration and proof of that event which was the corner-stone of our religion. Mr. Roebuck was of opinion, that legislation upon a subject like the present amounted to a species of religious persecution.The Bill was supported by Mr. Wilks, Mr. Plumptre, Mr. Sinclair, and Mr. A. Johnstone, and opposed by Earl Grosvenor, Lord Morpeth, Mr. Gisborne, Col. Evans, Mr. M. Philips, Mr. Wynn, Sir Ronald Fergusson, Lord Sandon, Sir M. W. Ridley, Mr. Ronayne, Lord G. Somerset, Mr. O'Dwyer, Mr. Grote, Mr. Goulburn, Mr. O'Connell, and Sir D. Sandford. Sir A. Agnew having replied, the House divided, when there appeared, Ayes, 125; Noes, 161.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

May 1. The Lord Chancellor communicated to the House that his Majesty had received with satisfaction the determination expressed by both Houses of Parliament, to maintain inviolate the Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland, on the stability of which must depend the peace and prosperity of the British empire.

HOUSE OF COMMONS. May 5. Mr. D. W. Harvey brought forward a motion for a revision of the

Pension List. The Hon. Member stated that the present Pension List contained the names of 1303 persons, of whom 281 were gentlemen, and 1022 were ladies; of the former, 84 possessed titles, of the latter, 224, making altogether 208 titled paupers out of the list of 1303. In conclusion, he moved "that a humble address be presented to his Majesty, praying that he might be graciously pleased to give directions that an inquiry might be made into the Pension List, as ordered to be printed by his faithful Commons, on the 28th of August, 1832, with the view that no person be allowed to continue on that list in the receipt of the public money, but such only as had a real lim on the benevolence of the Monarch, or those who by the discharge of their duties in the public service, or by their attainments in science, had deserved the gracious consideration of their sovereign and of their country."-Lord Althorp opposed the motion, on the ground that, the House having finally decided on the Pension List, and his Majesty having given it his sanction, those on that list were, during the life of the present Sovereign, entitled to the receipt of their various pensions.--Mr. Strutt moved as an amendment, "That a select committee be appointed to inquire into the charges on the civil list and on the consolidated fund."Sir. R. Peel opposed both the original motion and the amendment. He thought them alike inconsistent with justice and the respect which the House owed to the Crown. Mr. Lloyd could not consent to the violation of a solemn contract.-Mr. Stanley felt compelled to object in the very strongest manner to the original motion and to the amendment.-Mr. O'Comnell denied that a compact had been entered into on the subject between Parliament and the Crown, the pensions in question being declared to be held merely during pleasure.-Mr. D. W. Harvey having replied, the House divided, when there appeared-For Mr. Harvey's motisn, 148; Against it, 390.-The House then divided on the amendment-Ayes, 230; Noes, 311.

May 6. On the motion for the second reading of the IRISH TITHE BILL, Mr. Ronayne moved an amendment for adjourning the question to that day six months.-Mr. O'Connell suggested, that as the bill proposed to sacrifice one-fifthof the tithes, the State should pay another fifth, that the third fifth should be raised immediately from the landlords, and that the remaining two-fifths should be a permanent charge upon the land. Mr. Stanley entered into a vindication of the measure under discussion. As to the

proposition suggested by the honorable and learned gentleman, he would ask if there was any chance, even if the State should agree to pay one-fifth of the tithes, that the two-fifths made chargeable upon the land would be paid, the resistance having been said to be attempted on the ground of principle? After an extended debate, a division took place, when the numbers were-For it, 248; Against it, 52.

May 7. Numerous petitions were presented against the Bill for a General Registration of Deeds, after which Mr. W. Brougham moved the second reading of that measure, explaining its objects, and pointing out the advantages which it would confer. Mr. Heathcote opposed the motion, and moved, as an amendment, that the bill be read a second time that day six months. On a division, there appeared-For the second reading, 45; Against it, 161.

May 9. Resolutions for the reduction of the Fours into the 34 per cents. were agreed to.

After a protracted discussion, the Bill for the Amendment of the Poor Laws was read a second time, upon the understanding that it was to be modified in the Committee, after a division of 319 against 20.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

May 12. The Lord Chancellor presented a petition from Glasgow, signed by 48,600 persons, soliciting a redress of the grievances and disabilities under which the Dissenting population of the United Kingdom suffer-a prayer in which be entirely coincided; and urging a dissolution of what they termed "the unjust, unscriptural, and injurious connexion between the Church and State"-a new form of expression recently adopted, which seemed to have originated in political rather than religious dissensions. They desired that there should be no compulsory provision whatsoever for the maintenance of religious establishments; but that all sects and individuals, the ignorant and uninstructed, as well as the better informed, might be left to provide for themselves that portion of religious instruction of which they stood in need, so that every man might be a sect and a church to himself. On this point he professed an irreversible difference of opinion with the petitioners, and he could not but advert with feelings of dismay to the state of things inevitable on the concession of this portion of their prayer-which was, in fact, one for the total abolition and ex

tinction as well of the economical Church of Scotland as of the Establishment of England; but he could not think of leaving 14,000,000, he believed he might say 16,000,000, or 18,000,000 of persons, wholly without any established or enduring means for the maintenance and support of religion. The Archbishop of Canterbury said, that if the petitioners had only asked for the advancement of their comfort, the increase of their security, and the protec tion of their property, the petition should have had his support; but the point to which they had pressed their pretensions was so extravagant, and the proposition they had made so wild, that he could hardly conceive it should have proceeded from persons so respectable as the body with whom the petition originated. Grace, in conclusion, declared, that he should give his stedfast and uncompromising opposition to every measure that could possibly tend to diminish the efficiency of the Established Church-that he should discharge that portion of his duty in a true Christian spirit, not returning "railing for railing;" neither would he endeavour to deprive those who might choose to assail him and his Rev. Brethren, of any advantage to which they might be fairly, legally, and constitutionally entitled. After some further conversation the petition was ordered to lie on the table.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

His

May 13. Mr. W. Brougham moved for leave to bring in a Bill to establish a GENERAL REGISTRY of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, throughout England and Wales. Should the present Bill pass into a law, he proposed to bring in another Bill, providing that buildings for the celebration of marriage should be enrolled and licensed at the quarter sessions, and that persons should be there qualified to celebrate marriages with such religious ceremonies as the peculiar tenets of each sect might require; and any justice of the peace might be authorized to grant a licence, whether he were a clergyman or layman. With regard to the registration of births and deaths, he proposed to avail himself of the machinery at present in existence for the collection of taxes. intended to make the collector of taxes the civil registrar of births and deaths, and to provide him with a book containing tabular forms, in which he was to make entries. He was also to be provided with a number of loose sheets, on which he was to make entries, and transmit each sheet, as soon as it was full, to the surveyor, who would afterwards forward it

He

to London. The entries made in his book would form duplicates to those upon the loose sheets, and when the volume was full, the registrar was to deposit it in the parish church as a place of safe custody. While the registrar had the volume in his keeping, he was to furnish any extract or information which might be required from the volume; but after it had been deposited in the church, application should be made to the clergyman of the parish. The scale of payment which he considered most just, would be to give, as a fee upon each of the first ten entries, 5s., for each of the next ten entries he proposed to give a fee of 2s. 6d. and for all entries above 20 a fee of Is. He also proposed to render it compulsory on every occupier of a house to give notice, within three days, of any birth or death in his dwelling, with the name of the party, sex, that of the father, mother, place of birth, occupation of the parents, &c., under a penalty of 40s., to be recovered before a justice of peace. The measure met the approval of Lords Althorp and J. Russell, and leave was given to bring in the Bill.

May 14. The POOR LAWS AMENDMENT Bill passed into committee, when Lord Althorp intimated that in consequence of the objections which had been urged, the Commissioners should be deprived of the power which the Bill now gave them of committing persons for contempt, and that that offence should be taken cognizance of, and be punishable by, two justices of the peace. Another alteration was, that the orders of the Board, after remaining 40 days before the Secretary of State, and receiving the sanction of Government, should be laid on the table of the House, so that an Address to revoke any one of them might be immediately brought forward. After much discussion, and a division of 312 against 17, the first clause was agreed to.

Mr. Brougham brought in his Bill to establish a REGISTRY of all BIRTHS, MARRIAGES and DEATHS throughout England and Wales, which was read a first timeto be read a second time on the 27th May.

unnecessary, and the proposed measure inefficient for accomplishing its professed object. On a division, the numbers were -Contents, 16; non-contents, 13.

In the HOUSE of COMMONS, the same day, Mr. Tennyson brought forward a motion for the REPEAL of the SEPTENNIAL ACT, and shortening the duration of Parliaments. The Right Hon. Member contended that, at the Revolution, three years had been fixed as the period during which Parliaments should continue. The Hon. Member thought that one effect of triennial elections would be a diminution

of the expense. Col. Davies thought that they ought to give the Reformed Parliament a fair trial, and if they failed to carry those measures of relief which the public called for, then it would be time to introduce such a motion as the present. Lord Althorp said, that after the passing of so large a measure of Reform, the Septennial Bill gave the people sufficient control over their representatives, and he shou'd therefore vote against the present motion. Mr. Stanley opposed the motion. He affirmed that a Triennial Parliament would, in fact, be only for two sessions, the first of which would be spent in examining returns-the second in considering the best means of carrying measures founded on them into operation-and the third in nothing; for the Parliament would be dissolved before any thing could be done.

Were this motion carried, it would be impossible for any Ministry to conduct the business of the country.Messrs. Ewart, Buckingham, O'Connell, Shiel, Hill, and Bulwer, as well as Sir W. Chaytor and Col. Evans, supported the motion. On a division there appeared, for the motion, 187; against it, 237.

May 16. Sir Edward Knatchbull moved the second reading of the BEER ACT AMENDMENT Bill, the object of which was, that no persons but those recommended by six 101. householders should be allowed a licence for the Sale of Beer; and that the beer should not be consumed on the premises.-A long discussion ensued, Mr. Warburton and others observing that the complaints against beer shops generally originated with persons who had an interest in discouraging the free Sale of Beer. On a division their appeared, for the second reading, 157; against it, 27.

The House was then adjourned to Wednesday the 21st of May.

SPAIN.

A quadruple alliance has been formed between France, England, Spain, and Portugal, for the purpose of expelling Carlos and Miguel from the Peninsula, which, it appears, has given great satisfaction to the Spaniards. The Cortes are at last convened, and the decree for the constitution and regulation of these bodies promulgated, in an Estatuto Real, or royal decree signed by the Queen. The Cortes are called together to aid the Queen in carrying duly into execution the wise provisions of the Law in cases where a minor ascends the throne. They shall sit por estamentos (or states), in two Chambers. The Estamento del Procedores, or Chamber of Peers, will consist of archbishops and bishops, grandees of Spain, the Titulos of Castile, who are hereditary peers, and certain peers for life chosen by the Queen from among the ministers, ambassadors, judges, officers of the army and navy, landed proprietors who have sat in the Lower Chamber of the Cortes, and distinguished professors of a certain income. They are to be twenty-five years of age, in full possession, their estates unmortgaged, themselves not the subjects of any foreign power, and not under any criminal process. The Estamento del Procuradores, or Chamber of Deputies, will consist of persons not under thirty years of age, natives of Spain, and possessed of twelve thousand reals a-year, with the previous exceptions. The Cortes shall be suffered to exist for three years, unless the Sovereign should think proper to dissolve them. Taxes to be voted every two years; the sittings to be public. In order to constitute a law there shall be required the approbation of one and the other Estamento, and the sanction of the Sovereign. The Queen has issued a decree, appointing an ecclesiastical junta, which is empowered to take a status of the church, its clergy, revenues, and worship, which are to be immediately reformed. The admission of novices into convents is suspended.

PORTUGAL.

Although the arms of Don Pedro had not been successful in the South, his efforts in the North, directed by Napier and Terceira, have been uniformly successful. On the 8th of May, Figueras was captured by the former; and Coimbra was shortly after evacuated by Miguel's troops. Don Miguel and Don Carlos had had a meeting at Chamusca, whence they fled towards Santarem, pursued by Rodil's troops, who had already bad skirmishes with the Miguelites. The citizens

were leaving Santarem, which was preparing for a siege.

GERMANY.

It would appear that the events of Lyons and Paris, and the proceedings adopted by the French government in respect of the factions elsewhere throughout France, together with the late tumults at Frankfort, had induced the congress at Vienna to resume its sittings, with a view to take cognizance of what was passing within and without the Germanic States.

SWITZERLAND.

Switzerland seems to occupy a considerable share of Continental attention, and additional and strong remonstrances have been addressed to the Federal Directory by the Envoys of Austria and Sardinia, reclaiming from the Swiss Government the expulsion of the Poles and the other foreigners who have taken refuge in Switzerland, and there cause uneasiness in other countries. At the same time France, whilst she insists upon Switzerland giving up French refugees, seems disposed to protect her against the designs of the other Powers, and a note has been sent by the French Government both to the Federal Directory and to Vienna, having these objects in view.

TURKEY.

A firman recently issued by the Grand imposts from the people, and directs, that Seignior reprehends the exaction of illegal in future "provincial budgets" shall be prepared under the direction of the tribunal or court in each locality, and sent to Constantinople for the Imperial sanction. Here, then, is taxation and representation in Turkey; for the municipalities elect their own officers, and the Sultan wisely concludes, that those who are the most interested in the correction of abuses, are the proper persons to be intrusted with the reform of them.

gives some interesting details of the public A letter from Damascus, dated Jan. 31, entry of Mr. Farren, as Consul General, being the first British agent every appointed to that Pashalic. He set out from Beyrout escorted by a large body of Lancers, and, for a considerable distance, by the Governor and his suite, as a particular mark of respect to the British Government. The commercial relations of the two countries may now, therefore, be considered as established on a firm basis, and a mine of wealth and enterprise opened by the important position of Syria with reference to the affairs and commerce of the East.