How unworthy these fears, in a Government pretending to be based on the choice of the people! Suppose the scene changed to America; and it will be at once shewn how little in accordance with true freedom has been the whole proceeding. In America there is no such statute as the one under which these men were condemned. Government there feels secure enough in the affections of the people, to allow its citizens to take a score of secret, or open oaths per day, if they so choose. In America there is on the part of the Government no jealousy of the power of Trades' Unions; no punishing Unionists under false pretences; no fear of being thought afraid.

One work has reached us so late, that we can only welcome it-Lay Sermons by the Ettrick Shepherd. "A fact!" as Miss Edgeworth so often says. The Shepherd's Sermons appear, at a glance, to be Essays on Morals and Manners. One is addressed to Young Men -another to Young Women-a third to Parents-and a fourth is on Good-breeding. We can just gather that Mr. Hogg thinks the society of London " the pink of what he has seen in the world." The Blues are not so deeply blue as in Edinburgh, but more beautifully blue, not so "assuming;" the men in London society are less intolerant, not so Lesmahagoish, dogmatic, and "overweening." Croly, however, was too apt to take the lead in talk. "Hood was modest and retired,-Reynolds brilliant,-Hook inimitable for fun and drinking,

Martin simple as a shepherd boy,-Cruikshanks stately and solemn." The Shepherd, however, (as most plainmannered, well-bred people do,) "felt himself most at home among the nobility and gentry; for among them there was no straining for superiority."

There is one Sermon on " Marriage," and another on "Reviewing," both attractive topics.

LEIGH HUNT'S LONDON JOURNAL.

This cheap weekly journal, by our excellent friend Leigh Hunt by felicity of style, and richness and scope of knowledge, is adapted to the most refined intellects, and by graceful amenity, and a genial spirit, to every class of readers. These are truly the golden days of literature, when its most precious treasures are brought at small cost to every cottage door and homely hearth. Let them only be made welcome, as flowers in May, and they will continue to spring in fresh beauty and luxuriant abundance. The name of the Editor is, of itself, sufficient guarantee for high and various excellence. He is one of our cc арproved good masters." Though London is the birth-place of this work, its spirit is British, or cosmopolitan; nor will it require a Diffusion Society to speed its dissemination in Scotland: its seeds are winged.

A valuable collection of original memoirs relating to the Rebellion of 1745, has been edited and published, in one volume 8vo, by Robert Chambers, the eminent antiquary and Historian of the Rebellion,

MINOR PUBLICATIONS.

RESERVING, with very few exceptions, the leading works that have recently appeared, we must, from love of order, just glance at the "Alps on Alps" on our table, and despatch them to make room for newer candidates for fame. In VOYAGES AND TRAVELS we have vol. I. of Holman, the blind traveller, whose circumnavigation of the world is to be completed in four volumes. This specimen is singular from the circumstances of the author, (an officer in the Royal Navy,) who early lost his sight, and attractive from the variety of information, and the facts that this very deficiency may have been the means of his scraping together, while they might have escaped the notice of the quick-sighted. There is much amusing and novel matter in the volume, and withal some offences against good taste. We need not go to Sierra Leone for Bernard and Thorpe cases, while we have served up daily our own metropolitan police-reports in rank profusion. We should fear that Mr. Holman has cast his work on too wide a scale.-The present period is fertile in works on education. First, we have Mrs. Austin's Translation of the Report on the State of Public Instruction in Prussia, addressed by VICTOR COUSIN to the French Minister of Public Instruction, the Count de Montalvet, with an excellent preface by the benevolent translator. At the present moment, when the public mind is so much alive to the cause of universal education, this work will be read with interest and benefit. Though the Prussian system has more of the features of the old drill school of the Fredericks than we admire, it contains very much that is deserving attention, by all who are studying this most important subject. In our own city, Mr. Simpson has published a volume upon the necessity of National Education, in which he has discussed, somewhat diffusely, the modes and ends of all education, and brought topics into view that had no very direct bearing on the point. Phrenology is the basis of Mr. Simpson's plans of improvement. His work bears clear evidence throughout of pure and benevolent intention. Had it been more condensed and definite in object, it might better have fulfilled the writer's purpose. One-half of the volume has no imme

"National

diate connexion with education whatever. Education," by James Milnes, ought to be entitled "The Political Education of Nations."

In BIOGRAPHY we have "Adam Clarke's Life and Labours,"- -a very good book, but still far too high-priced for popular use; though only a third of the cost of the voluminous Life, published by Dr. Clarke's family. Of the works issuing in series, we have a shoal. The "Sea-Wolf" is the latest appearance of THE LIBRARY OF ROMANCE. It is a decided improvement on the "Baronet's Daughter," who was "silly sooth.” But they are no fair objects of comparison. "The Sea-Wolf" is an animated story of those favourite heroes, the freetraders. "Valpy's Hume's History of England has reached a third volume; and Allan Cunningham's "Burns," a fourth, enriched with many new pieces, various readings, and delightful variorum notes by the Editor. "The Sacred Classics" has conciliated popular favour by giving "Cave's Lives of the Apostles." These form, we presume, vols. II. and III. This is one of the best and cheapest of the Libraries. "The Park and the Paddock" forms No. I. of a new series of tales by Miss Martineau, intended to illustrate taxation. The young ladies may be informed that this story is fully as illustrative of flirtation, and will probably think it none the worse for this deviation. An illustration of the folly and iniquity of the Game Laws, would be a more exact and appropriate title, for Miss Martineau has not yet directly reached taxation. A new series of little tales has appeared in Glasgow, entitled "Illustrations of Social Depravity." It is utilitarian and sensible.

A pile of pamphlets on the grievances of Dissenters, and Church reforms, stands before us. Its solid and appropriate pediment is a Third Edition of " Howitt's Popular History of Priestcraft," one of the most effective works that has appeared in late times; effective, in stirring and warming the inert mind of the mass to exertion for the removal of some of the greatest obstacles that have obstructed social improvement, and the progress of true Christianity. Mr. Howitt has enlarged and carefully revised this edition, and written for it a noble preface. We

hail the success of this work, of which two large editions have been exhausted in six months, as a highly favourable sign of the times. Among the pamphlets we have accumulated on the urgent subject of Church reform, we can only notice "The Rev. Dr. Wardlaw's Speech at the Public Meeting in Glasgow for the Separation of Church and State," with the Petition, and the Memorial to Earl Grey, drawn up by that meeting; "The Address of the Rev. Mr. Andrew Somerville on the Causes of the Secession Church;" "Lectures on Church Reform," by Mr. Alfred Bishop,-short, pithy, and full of substance, and well worthy of extensive circulation by those who wish to uphold true religion in opposition to corrupt establishments. These Lectures are sold at 2s. 6d. a dozen, and are written with hearty zeal in the cause. We have also a warning "Letter to the Hierarchy of the Church of England;" by the Rev. Edward Duncombe of Brazen-nose College, Oxford. The Hierarchy will not be warned. The only symptom of wisdom, even in their generation, which we see among them, is the dead-set now making at the Methodists. The review of the Life of Dr. Adam Clarke, in the last number of the Quarterly, is a palpable attempt, but, nevertheless, a doubtful hit. The Wesleyan Methodists,

in the question of church rates, are joining the other bodies of Dissenters. Truly this is a sudden fondness the Church has conceived for the Methodists!

In miscellaneous literature we have several noticeable works. The most remarkable among them is a volume, entitled "Letters and Essays, in Prose and Verse;" probably by a Sexagenarian, evidently by a man of refined taste and considerable literary accomplishment.

The Cabinet Annual Register, we were disposed to think a most useful cheap compendium of the history and business of the past year. It is so in the present year, so far as we have noticed, with the exception of the domestic history of Ireland, which is written in a strong and prejudiced spirit of party, the last thing to be indulged in in a work of reference purporting to be an impartial chronicle of events. Is the reader to accept as a portion of the true annals of Ireland for 1833, statements like those in p. 21. of the distress of the Established Clergy? If the Cabinet Register is to succeed, it must be by truth, accuracy, and perfect impartiality in all its details. Here is another fault: The Domestic History of Scotland is comprised in a half page. Better arrangements must be made, and a more equal balance maintained.

"Spirit of Peers and People; a National Tragi-Comedy." -The author of the False Medium has, in these stirring times, stepped forth like a ready-armed Pallas, determined to wage war against every species of oppression; from that which assails Genius in her highest paths, down to that which weighs heavily on the poor man's heart. He is here the champion of humanity, advocating what may truly be called the cause of the people, by presenting us with a Serio-Comic National Drama, which represents in the happiest style the performances that have been re

cently enacted in the political world. King Anchorbroke, twitching up his trousers and declaring himself a Sailor King, who, with a sailor's oath, would be upright and downright, and do away with humbug, and have a regu lar built Reformation throughout the Island, is an admirable picture, drawn from the life, and worthy of Hogarth. Queen Sinister's attempts to prevent the hatching of the Reform egg, on which the King, after taking a glass of grog, goes and sits in person; and the means taken to stunt the growth of the Reform Chick, are described with a Hudibrastic vigour of humour, which might force the aristocratic lips of the haughtiest noble in the land to relax their gravity. This Tragi-Comedy is throughout, in fact, replete with life and humour. It is a drama that has been really performed, and which, though licensed by authority, ought to have been hissed off the stage by the whole nation. The author of the False Medium, by the present jeu d'esprit, has raised himself considerably in our estimation.

POETRY.

In this department of literature, which never fails, we have besides the valuable reprints of Crabbe and Burns, a new volume from Mrs. Hemans, entitled, NATIONAL LYRICS AND SONGS FOR MUSIC; not all absolutely novel, though this detracts little from their freshness, as they have only been seen with the appropriate music, which should rather enhance their beauty by the charm of association. Several of the National Lyrics are translations. Among these are the Rhine Song, and some Spanish ballads. In Fair Helen of Kirconnel, Mrs. Hemans has contrasted her own elegant mode of modern song-writing, with the inimitable simplicity, the exquisite truth and pathos of the ancient ballad style of Scotland. It was unwisely done. O'CONNOR'S CHILD is another of those injudicious attempts. There is but one Fair Helen of Kirconnel,-only one O'Connor's Child. A small volume, entitled the VIGIL OF A YOUNG SOLDIER, is not without poetic merit. CRITICISM AND TASTE, a satire, is a somewhat feeble chastisement of Professor Wilson, for his reviewing sins, particularly his tossing and goring of Mr. Tennyson. BLACK GOWNS AND RED COATS, OR OXFORD IN 1834, is an “occasional" satiric poem, addressed to the Duke of Wellington, the Chancellor of the University. It shews considerable talent. "Mischief, Section II." we shall pass, as we never chanced to see " Mischief, Section I." Among the serious poems, we may notice as published, “Napoleon's Dying Soliloquy," by Thomas Stewart, with a second edition of his other poems. "The Immortality of the Soul," (the successful prize poem of 1827 in the Edinburgh University,) and "Job," a dramatic poem, by Richard Whiffin. We have some misgiving about mentioning the "Seven Temptations," by Mary Howitt, in this list, as we reserve it for the lengthened notice to which it is entitled by its own merits, and the high reputation of the authoress.

POLITICAL

PARLIAMENT.

CONSIDERABLE progress was made in the public business in Parliament, previous to the Easter recess, which was, therefore, made somewhat longer than usual, extending from the 26th March to the 14th April. A select committee has, on the motion of Sir Charles Pepys, the Solicitor-General, been appointed to inquire into the present state of the law of libel, and report their opinion thereon to the House. The grievances of the law, as it now stands, were pointed out, at some length, by Sir Charles Pepys, and some remedies for these evils were suggested. He, however, defended ex officio informations, and expressed his opinion, that it was inexpedient that the mere truth of the libel should be held a justification. He illustrated this opinion by several cases which had occurred during his practice. In the short debate which took place on the motion, Mr. O'Connell protested against

REGISTER

criminal informations, as the worst way possible of eliciting truth, for they went on the principle of trying facts by affidavits; and, in such cases, there was hardly a chance of acquittal, for the judge, in allowing the information, pronounced on the libel before trial. Lord Althorp, though not partial to ex officio informations, thought the government should not be deprived of the power of laying them. The committee consists principally of lawyers, and there is little probability of their agreeing in their suggestion of a remedy for the evils of the present law. The Liverpool Freemen Disfranchisement Bill was read a third time, by a majority of 120 to 63, and passed. It has also been read a first time in the House of Lords, and the 28th April was fixed for the second reading, when Lord Wynford is to give notice of a motion for the attendance of witnesses for and against the bill, which his Lordship is resolved to oppose.

A long discussion took place in the House of Commons on the 20th March, on a resolution proposed by Mr. Divett, "That it is the opinion of the House, that it is just and expedient, to take effectual measures for the abolition of all compulsory payments of church rates." Mr. Divett traced the cause of the present discontent, to the grant of a million, for building new churches in 1819. The amount of church rates is not far short of L.600,000, a considerable proportion of which sum is paid by the Dissenters, who have likewise to build and repair their own places of worship. The Dissenters possess

8000 chapels, and raise a million a-year, by voluntary contributions alone. Lord Althorp and Lord John Russell admitted that the Dissenters were entitled to relief, and the former alluded to several of the matters of complaint brought forward by the Dissenters. He considered the general registry of births, (a bill to effect which had been brought in by Mr. Brougham,) a subject of great difficulty, but he hoped that part of the machinery now forming for amending the poor-laws might be made available for the purpose of registering the births, marriages, and deaths, throughout the country. The admission to the universities, which would be highly beneficial to those institutions, he hoped would be granted, and he also hoped that a legislative enactment might be framed, for authorizing the burial of Dissenters by their own ministers, in parish burial-grounds. Lord Althorp met Mr. Divett's motion, by moving the previous question, on the ground that he himself had given notice of a bill on the subject; and Mr. Divett, in compliance with what appeared to be the general feeling of the members present, withdrew his resolution, leaving the matter in the hands of Ministers.

A lengthened debate, which was twice adjourned, took place on the Corn Laws, on the presenting of a petition from Liverpool, by Mr. Ewart, praying for free trade, beginning with the trade in corn. Mr. Roebuck supported the petition, and contended that a free trade in corn would benefit all classes, including the agricultural capitalists, except the landlords. The time, he hoped, would come when the farmers would discern that the "landed interest" meant only the interest of the landlords. He maintained, that by shutting our ports to foreign corn, we had compelled other countries to resort to manufactures, which formed the chief support of our own country. Sir Robert Peel defended the Corn Laws, denying that they were beneficial to the landlords alone; and contended, that before the landlords were deprived of the protection they enjoyed, they should be relieved of the burdens to which they were subject. Among these he reckoned the Malt Tax, which brought nearly five millions a-year to the Exchequer; but he did not explain in what manner this tax was paid by the landowners, and not by the consumers of the malt. He contended, that the manufacturers were protected as well as the agriculturists; and enumerated a great number of manufactured articles, on which heavy impost duties were levied. Sir Henry Parnell felt it his duty to contradict, in the most direct and positive manner, the statement that the Corn Laws were beneficial to the farmer. The farmer was a person who had to obtain his livelihood, by the application of his capital in a particular pursuitthe tillage of land for instance. His interest, therefore, depended upon the rate of return rendered by his capital, which rate of return, again, depended upon the price of the produce of the land, with reference to the rent. If the price fell, or, in other words, if it were reduced by the repeal of the Corn Laws, the interest of the farmer must be put to rights, and his loss prevented by a reduction in the rate of rent. As the interest of the farmer, therefore, depended upon the price of the produce of the land, with reference to rent, the farmer had no interest whatever in the monopoly of the Corn Laws. Instead of millions of persons being benefited by the Corn Laws, only a few hundred thousand landlords were benefited, and the whole community was taxed for the purpose of increasing rents. If landlords were to receive a million less annually than they do at present, that money would remain in the pockets of the consumers, the actual income of the country would not be lessened; but the

money, being in the pockets of the consumers, would pay as much tax, and employ as much labour, and do more good, than if it were in the pockets of the landowners. He denied that the Malt Tax was a burden on the landowners, and contended that the pressure of the poor rates arose from their mismanagement. He maintained that the protection, by a tax, on our imports of manufactured goods ought to be discontinued, as it was injurious instead of beneficial. The 40 or 50 per cent., imposed on articles imported into this country, was in fact a dead letter. His constituents, the inhabitants of Dundee, were great manufacturers of linen; they knew their own interest well, and they would be glad to see the tax on foreign linen removed. The great evil was, that under the peculiar circumstances of the country, there was an enormous quantity of capital unemployed, and a superabundance of labour. All the impediments, which prevented the employment of capital and labour, ought to be removed. As prices were reduced, the employment of labour and consumption would increase. The Corn Laws stood first in the way, and that impediment should first be removed. Mr. O'Reilly dwelt on the evils inflicted on Ireland by the protective system. The linen trade had been destroyed by protection. Since protection had been removed the trade had revived.

The repeal of the malt tax was again brought forward by Mr. Cobbett. He insisted much on the advantage which would arise from permitting the farmers and labourers to brew their own beer, which could only be done by a total repeal of the tax. Mr. Mark Phillips remarked, that in the last session only 24 county members had voted for a property tax, while 66 had voted for the repeal of the malt tax, and in such circumstances he could not support the motion. Lord Althorp and Mr. Stanley, of course, opposed the motion. Mr. Attwood spoke in favour of it, and proposed making up the deficiency in the revenue which the repeal would occasion by taxing the fundholders. On a division, the motion was rejected by 142 to 50.

The debate on the Ordnance estimates, which were voted in a Committee of Supply, when there were not more than thirty members in the House, elicited some remarkable facts. Colonel Maberley, who brought the estimates forward, stated that the saving in the Ordnance Department from 1820 to 1829, had been L.600,000, from 1829 to 1830, L.370,000. Since 1830, when the present Ministers came into office to the present time, the saving had been L.335,000, and there was a farther reduction this year of L.82,000. Mr. Hume went into a long and able examination of the Estimates. In regard to the Irish survey, it had cost L.300,000, and it would cost L.200,000 more, as not more than two-thirds of Ireland had been surveyed. He complained of the enormous quantity of stores which were kept, and the great expense of keeping them. Part of these stores had lately been sold, and he observed that in the third day's sale, consisting of harness, collars, back-bands, breeching, &c. for horses, the first lot which had cost L.684,000, was sold for L.37,000. Several returns had been made to the Finance Committee, which sat in 1828. From these returns, it appeared that the number of muskets and carbines in store was 926,850, that the annual charge of keeping them was L.20,000, and that they had been twenty years in store. Part of them had since been sold to France and Belgium. Farther, there were 50,000 pistols and 154,000 swords in store; and what was more extraordinary, 287,353 sets of accoutrements, consisting of pouches, bayonets, and belts, which had cost, on the average, 14s. each, but some of them had been sold at 1s. a set. There were also in store about 60,000 ball and blank cartridges, and no less than 279,000 barrels of gunpowder, a supply equal to the consumption of forty years, and which cost L.6000 a-year for keeping. Notwithstanding this immense supply, they went on making 2,000 barrels yearly, at an expense of 1.5 or 1.6 a barrel. We had also in store, 30,000 iron guns, 2,000 brass guns, 16,000 carronades, and 18,000 gun carriages. Of wheelbarrows, there was a supply for twelve years; and there were laid up 98,000 blankets, 44,000 paliasses, and 112,000 sheets. He contended that all such articles

should be contracted for when needed, and that the present system not only occasioned an enormous expense for keeping, but that the stores themselves became useless through age. Colonel Maberley contended that great reductions had been made in the Ordnance estimates by Ministers. He thought there were many objections to disposing of the stock of muskets, that the committee had recommended that there should be a stock of gunpowder kept on hand, equal to two and a half or three years' consumption, and that the average consumption was 6,000 barrels a year. Mr. Cobbett argued that a large military establishment was necessary, as without it the taxes could not be collected, and that Ministers were not to blame for keeping up such an establishment, as long as Parliament voted fifty millions of taxes a year. When the taxation was reduced to fifteen millions, there would be no occasion for a standing army to keep the people down. After some farther discussion, all the votes were agreed to as proposed.

It is gratifying to observe, that the plan for the emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies is working well. In answer to a question from M. Fowell Buxton, Mr. Stanley gave a favourable account of the state of feeling in the Islands generally, and particularly in Demerara, Jamaica, and Antigua. In the last-named island, the wish of the planters (and there was nothing to prevent it in the Act) was to do away with the term of apprenticeship, and emancipate the negroes at once. In Jamaica the same desire prevailed. In Demerara, the House of Assembly had, of its own accord, abolished all corporal punishments of the slave by his master, six months previously to the period when it would be abolished by the recent law. Nearly the same amount of stores as usual had been ordered from this country for the West Indies, and there appeared to be no apprehension that the crops would be materially diminished by the use of free instead of slave labour.

The new scale of tea duties has led to considerable discussion. Petitions have been presented to Parliament for a uniform rate of duty on all tea imported into the country. In presenting a petition to the above effect from persons engaged in the tea trade in the metropolis, Mr. Crawford stated, that when there was anything like an approximation of quality, there was a very great difficulty in distinguishing between the different sorts of tea, especially between Bohea and Congou, and Congou and Souchong. The difference of value to the importer of Bohea and Congou was from two to six per cent.; but Bohea was charged with a duty of 1s. 6d., and Congou with 2s. 2d. a pound, a difference of 44 per cent. Sir R. Peel disapproved of the new duties. It appeared by reference to the prices of tea at the India House, that there was only a difference of three half-pence a pound between the value of Bohea and of Congou, but the difference in the duty was 8d. In 20,000 chests of tea, it would make a difference to the importer of L.50,000, whether tea was called Bohea or Congou, and it was imposing too much responsibility on any man's judgment and too strong a temptation to leave him to decide to which class the tea belonged. Mr. Hawes remarked, that of the thirty-three millions of pounds of tea consumed last year, twenty-one millions were Congou, yet this was the tea on which a duty of 2s. 2d. per pound was laid. Lord Althorp and Mr. Poulett Thomson defended the Government scale of duties. The object had been to give to the consumer of the lowest quality of tea, that article at the lowest rate of duty. The quantity of Bohea sold, has risen, during the last seventeen years, from half a million to six millions and a half of pounds annually; while the quantity of Congou has only risen between one and two millions. The Government had acted with much precaution, and consulted the most experienced men in the trade, before adopting the present scale. During the inquiry, forty-four different samples had been submitted to tasters,-and, with two exceptions, the different qualities were most accurately distinguished. This showed that the difficulty in distinguishing the different qualities had been exaggerated. In conclusion, Mr. Crawford gave notice that he should, on an early day, move for a committee to inquire whether an equalized, in place of a fluctuating, duty on tea should not be imposed.

The presenting of a petition from sixty-three resident members of the University of Cambridge, for the removal of the religious tests which preclude Dissenters from taking degrees in that institution, led to a long discussion, which, after having occupied the House for two successive days at its morning sittings, was adjourned over the Easter recess. Mr. Spring Rice, who presented the petition, gave a detailed account of the mode in which the tests complained of were originally imposed, and maintained that there never had been any sufficient authority for the practice. Mr. Goulburn, Mr. Cobbett, Sir R. Inglis, Sir R. Peel, and various other members, opposed the prayer of the petition; and it was supported by Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Pryme, Mr. Stanley, Lord Palmerston, and several others.

A committee has been appointed, on the motion of Sir R. Inglis, to inquire into the origin and present state of the Glasgow Lottery. Mr. Sinclair, who shares with Sir Robert his horror of lotteries, seconded the motion. Mr. Bish remarked, that, by the abolition of lotteries, the revenue had lost four millions, and had not procured four pennyworth of morality.

After the Easter holidays, Lord Althorp brought forward the Ministerial plan for the commutation of tithes. All the land in the country is to be valued by separate valuators in each county. The rent is to be taken as the criterion of the value, except in peculiar cases. The tithe actually paid is to be valued on an average of the last five years. The sums thus ascertained are to be laid before the Magistrates, at Quarter Sessions, who are to determine the proportion the tithe bears to the rent, and this proportion is to be fixed and invariable. The land is to be valued every seven years; but the proportion of tithe to rent is not to vary, but only the amount of tithe paid. The tithe is to be paid by the owner and not by the occupier, and it may be redeemed at twenty-five years' purchase, of the annual value, or the landowner may make it a perpetual mortgage at four per cent., not liable to be foreclosed, but redeemable at his option. When the money, so to be paid, belongs to clergymen and not to laymen, it is to be invested in land, or other securities, for the benefit of the incumbent to whom the tithes were paid, by a commission which is to sit in each county, and to consist of the Bishop of the diocese, with such assistants as he may select. When land is purchased with the money, the incumbent is to have power of granting a lease of it for twenty-one years, but not to be allowed to receive fines on renewal. Moduses are not to be included in the general valuation. When there is any doubt about the right to the tithe, the money paid in lieu of it is to go into the Exchequer, whence it is to be drawn by the party entitled to it.

The Government plan for the amendment of the Poor Laws has also been brought forward. A Central Board is to be established, with large discretionary powers, to carry into effect the resolutions of the Legislature, and to establish a uniform system of administration throughout the country. The allowance system is to be abolished in the middle of summer next year, when the rural population is in full employment. Justices of the Peace are not to be allowed to give out-door relief. Every mode of acquiring a settlement, except by birth or marriage, is to be abolished, and children are to follow the settlement of their parents, till the age of sixteen. With regard to the Bastardy Laws, the mother is in future to be liable for the support of the child, just as a pauper widow. The putative father is not to be subject to imprisonment, punishment, or expense of any kind, at the instance of the parish, though the mother is to retain her claim to compensation for any injury she can prove she has sustained. The measure, as explained by Lord Althorp, gave general satisfaction in the House.

Mr. Roebuck, in bringing forward a motion for a select committee to inquire into the political condition of the Canadas, detailed, with much ability, the misgovernment of the lower province, the oppressive conduct of the Governors towards the inhabitants, and the hostile feeling which had consequently been raised. He inveighed against the proceedings of Mr. Stanley in relation to Lower Canada, since his accession to office, and concluded

by impressing upon the House the necessity of adopting a mild and conciliatory course towards that colony. Mr. Stanley defended himself at some length. He opposed the Inquiry as too extensive, but agreed that a more limited inquiry should be made by a select committee, and Mr. Roebuck having withdrawn his motion, Mr. Stanley's amendment was carried.

It appears from the statement of Mr. Spring Rice that considerable reductions have of late years been made in the Miscellaneous Estimates. The amount voted this year is L.234,000 under that voted last year, and as compared with 1831, the reduction is L.1,322,000, or nearly onethird of the whole. L.11,550 was voted for the purchase of two pictures by Corregio for the National Gallery. This vote was very generally approved of by members of all parties. In the Irish Estimates, Mr. Spring Rice stated he had made a reduction of L.104,000 since his accession to office. A long and angry debate took place on the vote of 1.8,978 to the Catholic College of Maynooth. Mr. Sinclair, and Mr. A. Johnstone, in the most earnest manner, opposed a vote of the public money of this Christian country for the spread of Popery, but it was carried by 137 to 11.

A signal victory was gained by the liberal party by the carrying of Mr. Wood's motion to bring in a bill to secure the admission of Dissenters to university honours, degrees in divinity alone excepted. The majority was no fewer than 185 to 44. Will the Lords venture to throw out a bill supported by the Commons by four to one?

Among the miscellaneous business of the month we may record that Mr. Stewart has obtained leave to bring in a bill for establishing a uniform and efficient registration of births, deaths, and marriages, in Scotland; such a provision is loudly called for. Lord Ebrington has obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend two acts passed in the late reign, for establishing a uniformity of weights and measures. For some reason not explained, the new bill is to be limited to England. We, in Scotland, require a similar measure, for the uniformity of weights and measures proposed to be established is far from being universally observed. A committee has been appointed to inquire into the nature of the services of Captain Ross, and the amount of compensation (if any) which should be awarded to him. A committee to inquire into the best mode of expediting the business of the House, has also been appointed. The bill for abolishing the sinecure office held by Mr. John Archibald Murray, the member for Leith, almost since his infancy, has been read a first time. This office is called the recordership of the Great Roll of Scotland, but is better known by the name of the Clerkship of the Pipe. We believe that the public are indebted for the saving which the public will derive from the abolition of this useless office to its exposure by the press, which was so disagreeable to the honourable member, that he appears to have suggested the bringing in of the bill; at least it meets with his full concurrence. Lord John Russell has intimated that it is the fixed intention of Government to carry through the Local Courts' Bill, and the bill for the Abolition of Imprisonment for Debt, this session.

The proceedings of the House of Lords have, as usual, been nearly devoid of interest. The presenting of the petition from 63 resident members of the University of Cambridge, praying for the abolition of the religious tests required to be taken by all candidates for degrees in the University, led to a display of intolerance and bigotry on the part of several of the temporal Lords; the spiritual had the wisdom not to take any part in the question. Earl Grey, in presenting the petition, stated, that the authority for the imposition of religious tests, rested upon a letter from James I., from Newmarket races, which he was at the time attending. Upon such authority alone, were the Dissenters excluded from the Universi. ties. From this exclusion many practical evils were suffered. Persons who had taken a University degree, were admitted as attorneys and barristers two years earlier than those who had not, and, as barristers, their admission fee was diminished. No person could be admitted a Fellow of the College of Physicians who had not taken

his degree. The petitioners formed about one-third of the resident members of the Senate, and they were men distinguished by their learning, piety, and unquestioned attachment to the Church; he need only mention the names of Airy, Sedgwick, Lee, Babbage, and Hughes. The Duke of Wellington thought it perfectly justifiable to require the signature of all candidates for college honours to articles of Christianity, especially as it was well known that among the Dissenters all sorts of opinions prevailed, and that some of them were Atheists. Why one who does not believe in a God, should separate himself from the form of worship in which he is born and brought up, and join a form more strict, attended with secular disadvantages, and to the expense of maintaining the clergyman of which stricter form he is called on to contibute, his Grace did not think it necessary to explain. The noble Duke was worthily supported in his bigoted notions by the Duke of Cumberland, whom the University of Dublin has the honour to have as Chancellor, although it repudiates the exclusive system, which it was the object of the petition to remove.

Lord Ellenborough, who has more activity than judgment, attacked the Lord Chancellor on the subject of appeals. He stated that the appeals now amounted to 140, and that, although it it had been usual for the House to proceed with appeals immediately after its assembling, forty days had elapsed without anything being done. Lord Brougham, in explanation, stated, that he had been actively engaged in the Court of Chancery, having sat every day except two, when he was called to attend the King, six, seven, and sometimes eight hours. He complained that he had not had any efficient assistance in appeal cases, such as his predecessors had had. Last session he had got through so many of the Scotch appeals, which were generally very intricate, as actually to have overtaken the parties engaged in them, who were not ready to go on. His Lordship expressed doubts, whether it was of any advantage to hear appeals rapidly, as both the party who lost the cause, and his counsel, were apt, at first, to consider the decision erroneous, but after having some months to cool, they were more apt to take a dispassionate view, and acquiesce in the decision.

The administration of the criminal law, in the metropolis and its vicinity, has often been the subject of animadversion and complaint, from its inefficiency, expense, and delay. Lord Brougham has, therefore, introduced a bill for its improvement, which has met with very general approbation. The whole metropolis, including Lambeth, Southwark, and part of Kent and Essex, containing a population of about 1,700,000 souls, is to be placed under one criminal jurisdiction, the Old Bailey; the magistrates of Middlesex at Clerkenwell, are to try those prisoners only whose crimes are not punishable with more than seven years' transportation, and the persons arraigned for any offence before the magistrates, may be removed by certiorari to the Old Bailey. The Sessions at the Old Bailey may be held once a month, and the Home Winter Circuit, thus becoming unnecessary, will be discontinued. This bill was read a first time without opposition.

Several petitions from Dissenters, for redress of grievances, have been presented to the House of Lords. That from Edinburgh was one of the most numerously signed, and was presented by the Lord Chancellor. The petitioners wished to devote the property and revenues of the Established Church in Great Britain to civil and religious uses, for the benefit of all, having a due regard to the interests of present incumbents. With this part of the petition the Lord Chancellor did not concur, and he asserted that the petitioners were mistaken in stating that the members of the Established Churches of England and Scotland formed a minority of the population. He, however, entirely agreed with that part of the petition which prayed the legislature to take such steps as might be deemed necessary for putting an end to all distinctions, in respect of civil and constitutional privileges, founded on religious principles. He was drawing on towards the close of his days, but he hoped to live long enough to see all these distinctions complained of by conscientious Dissenters abolished.