the House to wait until it saw the measures which the Government were about to propose. The debate on the Address was then adjourned; and after two nights' discussion (Lord Stanley and Lord J. Russell being the principal speakers, the one contending against, and the latter for the amendment), the House came to a division: when there appeared-for the amendment, 309; for the original motion, 302; majority, 7. March 2. The Speaker informed the House that on Saturday the amended Address to the Royal Speech had been presented to his Majesty, who had returned the following gracious answer: "I thank you sincerely for the assurances which you have given me in this loyal and dutiful Address of your disposition to co-operate with me in the improvement, with a view to the maintenance, of our institutions in Church and State. I learn with regret that you do not concur with me as to the policy of the appeal which I have recently made to the sense of my people. I never have exercised, and I never will exercise, any of the prerogatives which I hold, excepting for the single purpose of promoting the great end for which they are entrusted to methe public good; and I confidently trust that no measure conducive to the general interests will be endangered or interrupted in its progress by the opportunity which I have afforded to my faithful and loyal subjects, of expressing their opinions through the choice of their Representatives in Parliament." After the thanks of the House had been voted to his Majesty, Sir R. Peel moved for a Committee of SUPPLY; when Lord J. Russell rose to call the attention of the House to the extraordinary situ. ation of the present Ministry, after the recent defeats they had sustained.Sir R. Peel, in reply, said that he had not felt it his duty to tender his resignation in consequence of the recent vote of the House, and it was his intention to persevere in doing his duty, and submit to the House those measures on which Ministers had formed their opinion. The House then went into a Committee of Supply, when it was resolved, "that a supply be granted to his Majesty." [During the remainder of the week, the two Houses were chiefly occupied with the presentation of Petitions on various subjects, with notices of motions, and other desultory business, which gave rise to discussions of no particular interest.] March 10. The Solicitor-General obtained leave to bring in an Act to indemnify persons who had omitted to comply with certain of the regulations contained in an Act of 38 Geo. III. c. 78, respecting the printing and publication of newspapers, from penalties incurred under that Act. The Bill was immediately brought in, read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time. The Marquis of Chandos brought forward a motion for the repeal of the MALT TAX. He thought that no measure was so well calculated to relieve the overwhelming distress of the agricultural interest as the repeal of this tax. At present, the farmer was unable to give his labourer beer, and the labourer was unable to purchase it; and he trusted that the present House of Commons would not reject a proposition, the effect of which would be not only to relieve the agricultural interest, but the country at large.-Mr. Handley seconded the motion, and said that if the people were able to brew beer at home at half the price, he was persuaded that none but the dissolute and the idle would frequent the publichouses.-Sir R. Peel opposed the motion in a very long and able speech. He began by remarking that the motion was premature, being made before it was known what could be saved from the public service-a fact which could not be made public till after the 5th of April next, being the termination of the financial year. It was calculated that there would be found to be a surplus revenue of 250,000.-and under these circumstances they were called upon to repeal the whole of the Malt-tax, which produced, in 1831, a net sum of 4,208,0007; in 1832, 4,675,0007.; in 1833, 4,772,000l.; and in 1834, 4,812,000.-thus creating a deficiency in the amount required to meet the ordinary expenditure, of 4,500,000l. In answer to the assertion, that the Maltduty had occasioned a great decrease in the consumption of beer, it might be observed, that other articles had entered into a successful competition with it, namely, tea, coffee, and spirits, the demand for which had of late wonderfully increased. The duty on malt, however, was only 2s. 7d. per bushel, or at the rate of 57 per cent.; whilst the duty laid upon West India coffee was at the rate of 63 per cent.; the duty upon port and sherry at the rate of 75 per cent.; the duty upon rum at the rate of 407 per cent.; the duty upon English spirits at the rate of 333 per cent.; the duty upon brandy at the rate of 627 per cent.; and the duty upon geneva at the rate of 930 per cent. How then could it be said that an undue preference had been given to those articles over beer? Whatever the determination of the House might be, of one fact he was the Church, the law would remain what it now is, he holding that if relief were afforded to the Dissenters, they would have no right to attempt to interfere with what the Church Establishment deemed best for its members.—Mr. Wilks said that this was a decided improvement upon Lord John Russell's Bill.-After an extended discussion, in the course of which the Bill was generally eulogized, the mo. sure, that with his views of the con- March 16. On the motion that the House resolve into a Committee of Supply, Mr. Hume moved that the Navy Estimates be referred to a Select Committee, for the purpose of examining the same, and reporting thereupon in the House. After some discussion, the Hon. Member's motion was negatived on a division; the numbers being, for the original motion, 146; against it, 66. March 17. Sir R. Peel moved for leave to bring in a Bill to alter the law of MARRIAGES, as regards DISSENTERS. He stated that, until the Marriage Act of 1754, marriage was in fact a civil contract; as far as the Dissenters are concerned, it was proposed, in reality, to restore that state of the law. To prevent the intervention of the clergyman, the Bill would enact that Dissenters desiring to be married, should give notice thereof. to a magistrate; that 14 days after such notice, or any time within three months, they should present themselves before that magistrate, and, on signing in his presence a contract of marriage, after declaration that they were 21, or had parents' or guardians' consent, and that there existed no legal impediments, they should be entitled to have a certificate of such marriage from him; and that the adding to or withholding from such civil contract of marriage, any religious ceremony, should be left to the parties. The magistrate to forward a certificate of such marriage to the clergyman, for the sake of registration, that being the best system of registration at present existing-the Right Honourable Baronet at the same time stating that a general system of registration was under consideration. As to the payments, they were to be 7s. to the Magistrate :-5s. of that sum to the parochial officers or clergyman, for registration. With respect to the members of March 18. Sir J. Campbell moved the second reading of the Bill regarding the abolition of IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT.Mr. Richards and Mr. Baring strongly opposed the Bill, contending that it had not the sanction of the mass of the community, and that its consequences would be of the most disastrous character to trade and industry.-Sir J. Campbell replied that both debtors and creditors in all parts of the kingdom had strongly urged him to press forward this Bill. After an extended discussion, in the course of which, Mr. Grote, Mr. Ewart, and Mr. Warburton, &c. supported the Bill, it was read a second time, without any division. Sir J. Graham brought in Bills-1. For the encouragement of men voluntarily to enter the navy; and 2. To consolidate and amend the laws regarding merchant seamen. They were read a first time, and ordered to be printed. March 20. Sir H. Hardinge brought forward a measure for the COMMUTATION of TITHES in IRELAND; the principle of which he stated to be, that for the future the tithe should be commuted for a landtax, offering to the landlords a bonus of 25 per cent. By this arrangement, an effectual stop would be put to the frightful scenes lately witnessed in Ireland-tithe being no longer allowed to be collected either by the landlords or the Clergy. Although the sums advanced to the Clergy, in lieu of tithe, in the years 1831, 2, and 3, were still to be considered due, repayment would not be demanded; so that a frightful source of strife and bloodshed would thus be effectually rendered innoxious. The Right Hon. Bart. concluded by moving," That tithes in Ireland should be abolished, and that in lieu thereof there be a rent-charge, payable out of the land; that such rent-charge should be after the rate of 751. for 100l. tithe; and that such rent charge be saleable, and the money raised by the redemption thereof be invested in lands for the benefit of the present owners of the tithes."—Lord J. Russell said that he would not oppose the resolutions, but content himself with reminding the Committee, that there was no essential difference between this measure and the Bill rejected last year. That Bill was charged with proposing to "secularise" Church property: if so, this Bill did the same.Mr. Rice moved an amendment to substitute the following for Sir H. Hardinge's resolution:-"That it is expedient to alter and amend the existing laws relating to tithes in Ireland." On this amendment the Committee eventually divided. The numbers were: For it, 198; against it, 213.-The first resolution was then carried. DOMESTIC OCCURRENCES. INTELLIGENCE FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. commend any diminution, unless it exceed 5,500l. But they think that the two London, Durham, and Winchester, ought Archbishopricks, and the Bishopricks of to have a larger provision than the rest. The following table contains a summary of the net income of each Bishop on three years' average, ending the year 1831; with the present number of benefices in each diocese: Province of Canterbury. Diocese. Canterbury Exeter. Hereford Lichfield & Coventry 3,923 2,576 256 606 4,542 1,234 924 192 13,929 635 Report on Church Reform.-The Report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, recently appointed by the Crown to investigate the present condition and revenues of the Church, has been laid on the tables of both Houses of Parliament. It is an elaborate and ably drawn-up document. The Commissioners have digested the voluminous and complicated details of the important subjects committed to them, under the three several heads of territory, income, and patronage. Under the head territory, are explained the intended new arrangements of dioceses :-It is proposed to erect two new Bishopricks-one of Manchester, the other of Ripon. The greater part of the new diocese of Manchester is to be taken from the present diocese of Ely. Chester. The Archdiocese of York to supply the new diocese of Ripon. The number of Bishops in the House of Lords will not, however, be increased, for it is proposed to unite the Bishopricks of Bristol and Landaff, the out-lying part of the diocese of Bristol in Wilts and Dorset to pass to the diocese of Salisbury; and also to unite the sees of Bangor and St. Asaph. It is likewise proposed to deprive the see of London of those parts of the metropolitan diocese which lie in Essex and Herts, giving to London in return all those portions of the metropolitan districts, which now belong to Canterbury or Winchester. Essex is to be transferred to the Bishoprick of Rochester. According to the tables published, the net income of all the Bishopricks of England and Wales, in the year 1831, amounted, on an average of three years, to the sum of 157,7377., and may now be calculated at about 148,8757.; but it appears that this amount is very unequally distributed, the incomes of one-half of the Bishopricks falling below the sum necessary to cover the expenses to which a Bishop is unavoidably subject. On the whole, the Commissioners are of opinion that where the annual income of a Bishop amounts to 4,500l., it is not necessary to make any addition; nor would they reGENT MAG. VOL. III. Norwich By an order in council dated Feb. 12, vessels which may be driven by stress of weather to seek shelter in any British or Irish port, shall no longer be chargeable with any light or other duties payable to the Corporation of the Trinity-house of Deptford Strond; all vessels, smacks, and boats, belonging to the United Kingdom, while actually employed in catching fish within soundings, shall be exempt from light and other duties payable to the said Corporation. 3 I LONDON AND ITS VICINITY. In Progress of the Great City Improvements. -On the 1st of August, 1833, the City Committee had completed the purchases necessary for the formation of the new line of street to the western extremity of Cornhill, and since that period the whole of the premises in that line, including those lately occupied by Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smith, have been taken down, the new street laid down and defined, the carriage-way paved, and most of the houses are in progress of erection. The purchases necessary for the widening of Little East cheap and Little Tower-street have been nearly completed; most of the houses pulled down, and the greater part of the ground not required for the improvement has been let upon building leases. the approach to Lothbury, by widening Prince's street, the houses have been removed, and measures are now in progress for perfecting that improvement. The probable state of the finances at the disposal of the City, after the completion of the foregoing works, will be such that a sufficient sum will remain to defray the expense of continuing the line of improvement from the north end of Prince's-street to Moorgate, and afterwards to effect a material improvement in Upper Thamesstreet, by widening it in those parts where two carts cannot pass, in the whole line from Earl Street to Fish Street Hill. Similar measures have been taken for extending the improvements in Gracechurch Street. Arrangements are also in progress for making an opening from Holborn, at Farringdon-street end, through the filthy neighbourhood of Saffron-hill, to the limit of the civic jurisdiction. By a statement of all the purchases of property made for accomplishing the improvements since the 1st of August, 1831, together with an account of the sums claimed and paid, or agreed to be paid, for the respective premises, it appears that the claims on that account, for goodwill, loss, or removal, and other incidental expenses, amounted to 46,7487, and had been settled at the sum of 21,877/., and that these, as well as the former purchases, have been accomplished within the estimates. The Thames Tunnel-March 3. A numerous Meeting of the Directors and Proprietors was held at the City of London Tavern, to receive the report of the Directors. B. Hawes, sen. esq. from the Chair, said that they met there under circumstances different from what they had done for the last seven years. The late Government had consented to provide them with a sum of money which had been considered necessary for the completion of the work, and there was now no doubt of the final success of this great national undertaking. Mr. Burkitt read the report of the Directors, which stated that for the last six years they had used their exertions to fulfil the duty imposed on them, and had, at length, succeeded in obtaining a loan from the Commissioners for issuing Exchequer Bills on account of Public Works. In order to obtain the required assistance, Lord Morpeth and Sir Harry Inglis, with a deputation, waited on Lord Althorp, to whom a statement was given that 246,000l. would be as much as they should want, and which was readily acceded to. Under the advice of their solicitor, 30,0007. on the 5th December last, was placed in the Bank of England. At no distant period, therefore, the Tunnel would be finished. The Report concluded by stating that, not only the late but the present Government have afforded every facility for the promotion of the work, while the Duke of Wellington and Lord Morpeth have manifested the greatest interest throughout its progress. The report of Mr. Brunel was next read, which expressed the fullest conviction of that gentleman as to the possibility of the Tunnel being perfected, for which purpose a house had been taken for him close by the Tunnel. A new shield will have to be made; but many preparatory steps have been going on since the beginning of November last. Mr. Brunel will not commence the Tunnel from the north side, but continue the line on the south side, beginning where he left off. accounts were then read by Mr. Burkitt, beginning from Jan. 1, 1834, to December, 1834. On the credit side there was an account of admission money to view the Tunnel, 1,1197. 18s.; and on the debit side, on account of advertising the exhibition of the Tunnel, 300. The London and Birmingham Railway.-The Directors, at their last half-yearly Meeting, made an interesting Report relative to the progress of this great undertaking. It appears that fifty-eight miles have been contracted for; the total amount of contract for which is 850,440. and the Engineer's estimate for the same 846,8021. The works of the several Contracts are generally in a state of satisfactory progress. To ensure the adoption of sound principles in the construction of Railway bars and supports, the Directors have endeavoured to collect the best information on the subject from scientific and practical men, and have undertaken experiments on malleable iron bars of different forms, at the suggestion and under the direction of Professor Barlow, at Woolwich Dock Yard. That passengers by the Railway should have a nearer ac cess to the metropolis than the station at Camden Town, they have caused surveys and Estimates to be made of a line, about a mile in length, from the present termination to Euston-grove, and have ascertained that no opposition will be offered to the measure. They bave succeeded in making arrangements for the improvement of the Railway, by partial deviations in the line at Wolverton, Weedon, and Brockhall, by which two tunnels and the curve round the barracks will be avoided, and the line shortened threequarters of a mile. To enable the Company to carry the proposed deviations into effect, and to extend the Railway to Euston-grove, an application to Parliament for a new Act will be required. THEATRICAL REGISTER. KING'S THEATRE. During Lent, Mr. C. H. ADAMS has been delivering his Astronomical Lectures at this theatre, to highly respectable and numerous audiences. His expositions of the ancient and modern theories have been remarkably luminous; and the splendid machinery by which his explanations were elucidated, was of a most perfect character. Among other scenic representations, there was a tellurian, shewing the PROMOTIONS, GAZETTE PROMOTIONS. earth in the four quarters of its orbit, and its revolutions round the sun; a magnificent zodiac sixty feet in circumference; and a mechanical transparent apparatus most effectively representing the nature of the tides as influenced by the relative situations of the sun and moon. But the most splendid and imposing of all was the grand vertical orrery shewn at the conclusion, which represented the sun as forming the centre of the solar systein, and all the planets, with their respective satellites, revolving around the great luminary of light. The Lecturer's delivery was clear, sonorous, and forcible; and his poetical quotations were very felicitous. March 21. The season commenced, at this theatre, under the management of Laporte, with one act of the opera of Tancredi, a musical selection, and the ballet of Nina, ou la Folle par Amour which were very well received.. DRURY LANE. March 21. A new comedy, in five acts, entitled The Patriciun and Parvenu, or Confusion worse confounded, from the pen of Mr. Poole, was brought forward and very favourably received. It was announced for repetition amidst universal applause. PREFERMENTS, &c. Feb. 18. Knighted, Col. James Limond, Ma dras Art.; Col. Joseph O'Halloran, C.B. Ben gal Army. Feb. 23. The Duke of Buccleuch elected K.G. Feb. 25. H. W. Macaulay, esq. to be his Majesty's Commissary Judge, and W. W. Lewis, esq. to be Commissioner of Arbitration, in the mixed British and Foreign Courts of Commissions established at Sierra Leone. Feb. 25. Knighted, Chas. Bullen, esq. Capt. R.N. C.B. and K.C.H. Feb. 27. Ceylon Regt.-Major T. Fletcher, to be Lieut.-Col.; Capt. S. Braybrooke, to be Major. Feb. 28. Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Manners Sutton, created Baron Bottesford, of Bottesford, co. Leicester, and Viscount Canterbury, of the city of Canterbury.-Major-Gen. Sir Howard Douglas, Bart. to be Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. March 4. John Nicholl, esq. LL.D. to be a Commissioner of the Treasury, vice Ewart Gladstone, esq appointed Under Secretary of State for the Colonies. March 5. Col. Foulis, E. I. C. to be C. B. March 6. Dragoon Guards, Capt. C. Makepeace, to be Major.-73d Foot, Lieut.-Col. J. F. Love, 76th Regt. to be Lieut.-Col.-76th Foot, Lieut.-Col. E. Studd, unatt. to be Lieut.-Col. March 13. 79th Foot, Major R. Ferguson, to be Lieut.-Col.; Capt. K. Cameron, to be Major. March 18. Knighted, Major Gen. Tho. Pearson.-Right Hon. Henry Lord Cowley, G. C. B. to be Ambassador to the King of the French. March 20. Coldstream Foot Guards, Lieut. Col. Wm. Beresford, to be Capt. and Lieut.-Col. Members returned to serve in Parliament. ECCLESIASTICAL PREFERMENTS. Rev. C. King, to be a vicar in Salisbury Cath. Rev. R. Gwillym, Ulverston R. co. Lancaster. Rev. T. F. Jennings, St. Philip's R. Bristol. Rev. W. Marsh, Ashburton V. Devon. |