whose forces were driven out, acted under my direction,
and the judges sat in the courts of law and conducted the
business of the country under my direction. I never
was in such a position as the noble Viscount who made
the address to you has been in; and (continued the Duke,
raising his voice to its highest pitch, and vehemently
striking the table,) I protest against being called into
comparison in any way whatever with him." —Earl GREY
explained, expressing his concurrence with what the
Duke had said respecting martial law: and Lord
Torrington's motion for papers was agreed to.

On Thursday, April 3rd, the Duke of RICHMOND
presented a petition from the Town Council of Chichester,
complaining of the conduct of the Vicar of St. Peter's in
that city, in Refusing to read the Burial Service over
the bodies of a Dissenter and of a woman who had
destroyed herself when in a state of lunacy. After
discussion, in which the Bishops of Chichester, London,
and Exeter, and Lord Brougham took part, the petition
was ordered to lie on the table.

Lord BROUGHAM then moved that the house resolve
itself into committee on the County Courts Extension
Bill; but was opposed by the Lord CHANCELLOR, who,
after enumerating his objections to the measure, moved
that it be considered in committee that day six months.
—Lord BROUGHAM warmly defended the bill, and it was
ultimately agreed that it should be committed pro formâ,
and reconsidered on Monday, after the introduction of
further amendments.

On Tuesday, April the 8th, the County Courts
Extension Bill was discussed in committee. The Lord
CHANCELLOR repeated his criticism upon the details of
the measure; his objections, however, being principally
directed against the clause conferring jurisdictions in
equity. The bill, he said, would make the county court
judges neither more nor less than masters in chancery,
in relation to which they had neither experience nor
knowledge.—Lord BROUGHAM asserted that Lord Truro
had totally mistaken the effect of the bill, and quoted the
authority of Lord Lyndhurst in favour of transferring
certain portions of business in the master's office to local
judicatures. He declared, moreover, that if the provision
to which objection was made were struck out, he
should not press the bill.—Lord CRANWORTH and Lord
CAMPBELL both stated that they did not concur in the
objections of the Lord Chancellor.—The clause was
retained, the Lord Chancellor declining to divide upon
it.—Considerable discussion took place upon several of
the remaining clauses, some of which were struck out,
especially those relating to reconcilement.—The house
was very thin; there being scarcely twenty members
present.

On Monday the 14th, Lord BROUGHAM took occasion
of a motion for certain returns relative to the salaries of
the judges and officers of the County Courts to complain
of the delay in the preparation of the criminal law digest.
—Lord STANLEY followed up the presentation of a
Petition from British Guiana, praying for an extension
of the colonial franchise, with an argument in favour of
a more liberal system of representation, as desired by the
petitioners. The document bore 5000 signatures.—
Earl GREY denied that the petition presented a fair
transcript of the real opinions entertained by the more
respectable inhabitants of the colony. He apprehended
some risk from an extension of the suffrage under the
existing condition of the great mass of its population,
but wishing to further all prudent steps that could be
devised towards liberalising the constitution of Guiana,
considered that the safest means towards accomplishing
that end would be found in an improvement of the
existing institutions. Some discussion followed; after
which the petition was ordered to lie on the table.—
The house then adjourned until Thursday, May 1st.

In the HOUSE of COMMONS on Thursday, March 27th,
Lord JOCELYN moved for a committee to inquire into
The Existing Steam Communications between England
and India, and to consider the subject of steam
communication having for its object a line or lines connecting
England, India, and Australia. Among other reasons
for this motion, the main ground, he said, was the
discussion which took place last session between the
Chancellor of the Exchequer and Sir James Hogg,
relative to the existing contract with the Peninsular
and Oriental Company. He thought that it was of
importance that inquiry should precede any further
arrangements. Lord Jocelyn adverted to the state of the
existing arrangements and to the allegations of Sir C.
Wood last year as to the objections offered on the part of the
East India Company, founded chiefly upon the prejudice
which the arrangements proposed by the government
would occasion to the Indian navy. He indicated the
various points to which he thought the inquiries of the
committee might be directed, one of the most important
being to determine the best mode in which a connected
steam communication might be effected between England,
India, and Australia.—The CHANCELLOR OF THE
EXCHEQUER proposed that a select committee should be
appointed to inquire into the existing steam
communication between India and China, and the practicability
of any improvement therein, and also into the best mode
of establishing a steam communication between England,
India, China, and Australia.—After a conversation of
some length, the motion as framed by the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, with the addition at the end of the
words "and New Zealand," proposed by Mr. Aglionby,
was agreed to.

Mr. ANDERSON called the attention of the house to
the differential duties levied on British ships in the
ports of Spain, and moved a resolution to impose
Countervailing Differential Duties on Spanish Ships in
the Ports of the British Empire.—He observed that
this was a subject of very considerable national
importance, and, showing the severe burdens thus imposed
upon British trade, which it had endured for twenty-six
years, he contended that, under the recent navigation
act, it was justifiable to subject the ships of Spain in
our ports to the equitable principle of reciprocity—Mr.
LABOUCHERE said it was undoubtedly true that, in the
first place, Spain did levy discriminating duties in her
ports upon goods exported and imported in British and
other foreign vessels, as compared with Spanish vessels
of a very onerous description; and, secondly, that she
in certain cases, treated our trade differently not only
from that of her own subjects, but from the trade of
other foreign nations. The chief injury arising from
this policy, however, was inflicted upon Spain herself.
He assured the house that the government had not lost
sight of the subject; a correspondence was going on with
Spain respecting it, and he recommended that the
matter should be left in the hands of the government.—
After some discussion, Mr. Anderson's motion was
negatived by 98 to 53.

Lord John RUSSELL moved for leave to bring in a
Bill for the better Administration of Justice in the
Court of Chancery. After taking a view of the state of
business in that court, and the different plans of improvement
which had been suggested, the noble lord said that
his bill went upon the foundation—first, that it was
desirable to have more than one judge in the Lord
Chancellor's court; secondly, that considering the great
wear and tear occasioned by the exercise of so many
functions, it was desirable that the Lord Chancellor
should be able to devote a greater portion of time to the
questions before him. It proposed that there should be
a court, to be called the Supreme Court of Chancery, or
the Lord Chancellor's Court, in which should sit the
Lord Chancellor, the Master of the Rolls, and one of the
judges in the courts of law to be summoned from time
to time; that any two of them should have the power of
hearing causes, and that, in the absence of the Lord
Chancellor, the other two judges shall have the same
power. The salary of the Lord Chancellor it was
proposed to fix at £10,000, leaving the retired allowance
the same as now—namely, £5000. It was further
proposed to vest the ecclesiastical patronage now
administered by the Lord Chancellor, in the crown, to
be exercised by the First Minister, taking the pleasure
of the crown.—After some observations from Mr. Stuart,
Mr. Roundell Palmer and others, leave was given to
bring in the bill.

On the report upon The Appointment of a Vice-
Chancellor Bill, Sir H. WILLOUGHBY objected to the
amount of the retiring pension, and moved that it be
reduced to £3000.—The ATTORNEY-GENERAL opposed
the motion, on the ground that, if the retiring allowance