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spoke to M. Augustin Perrier with some vio- | to the virtue of your family: it cements the

lence. Several other Deputies also appeared in great agitation.

"A voice-You want a republic, it is well known.

"Most of the Deputies, upon this, rushed to the Ministerial bench, where this incident took place. Tranquillity having been re-established, a Deputy in the centre was heard to say the Ministers must govern, or they must go out.

M. LAFITTE replied from the centre with much violence-The Government is strong; it is stronger than the Chamber, and it will prove it when necessary.

"The Deputies appeared astonished at these words. Attention was directed towards Cassimir-Perrier, who, on seeing his brother engaged in argument, appeared troubled; and when the discussion upon the municipal law was resumed, his voice was so much paralysed, that not a word of what he said could be heard.

"The first and second section of the left joined in this tumultuous discussion, and so many persons spoke at once that it was impossible to collect the different exclamations which fell from them.

"Many of the Deputies then retired to the Anti-chamber, or the Hall of Conferences, and communicated their conjectures as to what was meant by the observation of M Lafitte. The greater part of them contended that it meant the Chamber was about to be dissolved. The Ministers then retired from the assembly, and it was said they were going to hold a Council. The Chamber then proceeded with ordinary business, after which it was adjourned till the next day (Friday).

Paris, Feb. 17.

To-day, at noon, the deputation of the National Congress of Belgium repaired to the Palais Royal. Two of his Majesty's aides-decamp received it at the top of the grand stairease, to conduet it into the first saloon, where it was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who conducted it into the Presence Chamber. His Majesty received it sitting on the throne, having on his right the Duke of Orleans, and on his left the Duke of Nemours. Her Majesty the Queen was present, as well as the Princes and Princesses, and the Princess Adelaide, the King's sister. The Ministers and Aides-de-camp of the King surrounded the throne. The President of the congress delivered the following speech

"Sire-The legal organ of the Belgian people, the sovereign Congress, in its sitting of the 3d of February, elected and proclaimed King his Royal Highness Louis Charles Philip 'Orleans, Duke of Nemours, your Majesty's younger son, and has intrusted to us the mission to offer the crown to his Royal Highness in the person of your majesty as his guardian and King.

"This election, which was hailed by the acclamations of a free people, is a homage rendered to the popular royalty of France, and

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natural union of the two nations without con founding them. It reconciles their wishes and their natural interests with the interests and the peace of Europe, and by giving to the independence of Belgium a new support, that of the French honour, it ensures to other States a new element of force and tranquillity.

"The constitutional compact on which the Crown of Belgium rests is finished. The nation whose independence is recognised expects with impatience both the sovereign of its choice, and the benefits of the constitution to which he will take the oath. The answer of your Majesty will fulfil its well-founded expectations, and our just hopes. Your accession has proved that you know all the power of a truly national wish, and the sympathy of France is a pledge to us of its ready assent to the suffrages of Belgium.

"We deliver into your hands, Sire, the offi cial decree of the election of his Royal Highness the Duke of Nemours, and a copy of the constitution decreed by the Congress.

The President of the Congress then read the act of the Congress in the following terms:→ In the name of the Belgic nation,

"THE NATIONAL CONGRESS
"DECREES-

Philip d'Orleans, Duke of Nemours, is pro"Art. 1. His Royal Highness Louis Charles claimed King of the Belgians, on condition of accepting the Constitution, such as it shall be decreed by the National Congress,

till after having solemnly taken, in the pre"2. He is not to take possession of the Throne sence of the Congress, the following oath :

"I swear to observe the Constitution and the laws of the Belgian people, to maintain the national independence, and the integrity of the territory.'

"Brussels, Palace of the Nation, Feb. 3, 1831.

"The Secretaries, Members of the Congress.
"VISCOUNT VILAIN XIV,
"LIETDZ.

"H. DE BROUCKERE.
"NOTHOMB,

The President of the Congress

"E SURLET CHOKIER." The King answered to the deputation :→ "Gentlemen-The wish which you are commissioned to lay before me in the name of the Belgic people, on presenting me with the act of the election which the National Congress has just made, of my second son, the Duke of Nemours, for King of the Belgians, fills me with sentiments which I request you to express to your generous nation. I am profoundly affected that my constant devotedness to my country has inspired you with this wish. I shall always be proud that one of my sons has been the object of your choice.

"If I listened only to the inclination of my. very sincere desire to yield to the wish of a people whose peace and prosperity are equally dear and important to France, I should readi

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ly accede to it. But whatever may be my regret, whatever may be the affliction which I feel in refusing you my son, the strictness of the duties which I have to fulfil imposes upon me this painful obligation; and I must declare, that I do not accept for him the crown which you are commissioned to offer him.

"My first duty is to consult, above all things, the interest of France, and cousequently not to endanger that peace which I hope to preserve for its happiness, for that of Belgium, and for that of all the States of Europe to which it is so invaluable and so necessary: exempt myself from all ambition, my personal wishes agree with my duties. It will never be the thirst of conquest, or the honour of seeing a crown placed upon the head of my son, that

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HOUSE OF LORDS. NATIONAL FAITH. The DUKE of BUCKINGHAM asked the Minister if it were still the intention of the Go vernment to lay a tax on the funds, as he should consider that a breach of na-* tional faith. LORD GREY was under the disagreeable necessity of at once announcing that the scheme as mooted by LORD ALTHORP in his budget-speech was abandoned, and of clearing his Ministry of the charge of dishonest intentions towards the "public creditor.” LORD BROUGHAM had to do the same. LORD GREY said, that "it appeared to "him both fair and equitable and just, "that the fundholders should begin to contribute something to the relief of the burdens which pressed on their "fellow-subjects, and he could not agree that, in doing so, he was guilty "May Belgium be free and happy! Let it" of any breach of faith to one class never forget that it is to the concert of France with other great powers of Europe that it owes the speedy acknowledgment of its nation curious to al independence; and let it always rely with" equitable and just" sound monstrousconfidence on my support to preserve it from ly like " equitable adjustment:" there every external attack, or from all foreign inter-only wants the ment; and we shall hear vention; but let Belgium also secure itself

will lead me to expose my country to the renewal of the evils which war brings in its train, and for which the advantages we might derive from it, however great they might otherwise be, cannot compensate. The example of Louis XIV. and Napoleon would suffice to preserve me from the fatal temptation of erecting thrones for my sons, and to make me prefer the happiness of having maintained peace, to all the splendour of the victories

which in case of war French valour would not fail again to secure to our glorious standards.

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It is more than to the other." hear this The words

against the scourge of internal agitations, and it before long, but not till it is much too let it preserve itself from them by the organ- late. LORD BROUGHAM "most posiization of a Constitutional Government, which" tively denied that the tax on the may maintain a good understanding with its transfer of stock would have been neighbours, and protect the rights of all by insuring the faithful and impartial execution any breach of public faith towards of the laws. May the Sovereign whom you "the fundholders, and it was not on shall elect consolidate your internal security," that ground that it was abandonand may the choice of him be, at the same ed." "Most positively denied !" Yes, time, a pledge to all the Powers of the continuance of peace and general tranquillity! but there required a reason, LORD May he be fully sensible of all the duties that BROUGHAM; however, all I say, is, as he will have to perform! and may he never Lumpkin says, in Goldsmith's play, forget that public liberty will be the best foundation of his throne, as respect for your laws, the maintenance of your institutions, and fidelity in observing his engagements, will be the best means to preserve it against every attack, and to save you from the danger of new con

vulsions.

"Tell your countrymen that such are the wishes I form for them, and that they may depend upon the entire affection which I bear to them. They will find me always eager to manifest it to them, and to maintain with them those relations of friendship and good neighbourhood which are so necessary to the prosperity of the two States."

Stick to that, mother!" Oh, how much gall would you have spared yourselves if you had abused me less! Lords WINCHILSEA, LONDONDERRY, and FARNHAM, regretted that the measure had been abandoned: all thought that the fundholder should be compelled to contribute his share.

TITHES. LORD KING bids fair to

become the real purifier of the church. Any disinterested and dispassionate man must be struck with the hypocrisy of those who charge LORD KING with manifesting irreligion in what he is

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now doing. That he shows a want of tors. There was an Ecclesiastical Living in respect for religion in showing that Yorkshire where the allowance to the officiat parsons all over the country have neg- and there was another in Oxfordshire where ing Clergyman was only thirty pounds a-year; lected their religious duties, while that the allowance was only 301. a-year, although they have taken especial care not to aban- that was made up by subscriptions among the don their tithes! The scandalous neg- parishioners to 70l. a-year. These were cases lect of religion is one great cause of the Church. It still remained in the Ecclesiastiin which the property still remained in the people's hatred to the church parsons cal Corporations, and had not been abstracted and the only cause of the country being from the Church in the manner so much com overrun by all sorts of sectarians, plained of by the right rev. Prelate. So that where the property still remained in the LORD KING rose to submit the motion of Church, the incomes of the officiating Miniswhich he had given notice, for returns of the ters were sometimes worse than in livings resident and non-resident clergy, with an where the property and patronage were in the account distinguishing between the living of hands of others. But as to the abstraction of non-residents in lay, and those in ecclesiastical property from the Church-the right of the patronage. Returns of such a kind had often Church to all the property which had ever be been made to the Privy Council, and some-longed to the Church, had been put by the times to parliament. His motion was for an right rev. Prelate the other night on much abstract of the last returns made on this sub-higher ground than he had ever heard it ject to the Privy Council. A Right Reverend placed before by any of the most high-flying Prelate had, on a former occasion, said that of the High Church party. Even Bishop the great cause of non-residence was owing to Horsley, who, it would be admitted, was a the lay impropriators of tithes having the pa- great stickler for the hierarchy and the protronage of livings, because the incomes they perty of the Church, had not placed the claim allowed to the clergyman who did the duty on such high grounds, as he saw from looking was so small that he could not reside. That at a charge of that right rev. Prelate to his might be so if the non-residence had been clergy. Bishop Horsley's views were moderate confined to livings of small income. But the and reasonable, compared with those of the great cause was pluralities; and he should right rev. Prelate who spoke on the subject say, that if there was a sincere desire to put the other night. He concluded by moving for an end to non-residence, the best plan would an Abstract from the last Returns made to be to prevent livings above a certain value the Privy Council of Resident and Non-resifrom being held in plurality. In a certain dent Clergymen, with an Account distinbook to which he had been referred, he had guishing those Livings which were in the found it stated, that on an average the church gift of lay-impropriators, and those which livings were only 3651. 8s. 4d. each. But were in the gift of Ecclesiastical Corporations. there were 6,000 livings whose average income was 6451. His main object, however, was to show that non-residence was not con. fined to the livings in the patronage of lay impropriators of tithes, but extended to those in ecclesiastical patronage. He found it stated in a provincial publication of the 12th of the present month of February, that the rich living of Wisbeach, estimated to be worth 5,4231. bad been given to a near relation of the Bishop of Ely-a Mr. Farriday-and it was stated that this rev. Gentleman was in possession of several other ecclesiastical preferments. It was also stated that the rev. Gentleman was to resign a living in favour of a second son of the Bishop of Ely; but he did not see how all this could be done without the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor. [Lord Chancellor: Farriday had not been appointed to the living of Wisbeach.] The appointment had not then taken place. The rev. Gentleman, however, had five other appointments. (No, no.) It had been stated that he had. There might be considerable difficulties in preventing pluralities; but it would appear that the incomes allowed to the officiating Clergyman were as low in Ecclesiastical Livings as those where the patronage was in the hands of lay-impropria

The Bishop of LONDON did not mean to oppose the motion of the noble Baron. He rose merely for the purpose of saying a few words in reference to the gross misrepresentations which had been made on this subject in some of the public prints, and more particularly in a certain book which had been lately published. When he spoke of lay impropriations as being a great cause of non-residence, he did not mean the remotest allusion to the present lay impropriators. He spoke only of the original lay impropriation-the effect of which had been to make the income of many livings so small that it formed a great obstacle to residence. He hoped, therefore, that this would be held to be a complete explanation once for all, and that he would have no occa sion to trouble their Lordships further on the subject. There was another point on which he wished to say a few words. It had been said that the average income of livings was from 350l. to 3607. or 3651. a year. He had investigated the subject minutely since he had adverted to it on a former occasion; and the noble Baron himself would probably be sur prised at the result; for, after all that had been said about the enormous property of the Church, he had found that, taking every thing into account, the value of the livings, on an

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average, did not amount to more than 1851. a always calculated it at 8,000,000%, and year. He had taken as the basis of his cal- I am confident that I am under the culation the Returns of 1811-a period of great mark. agricultural prosperity. Besides the tithes, he had taken into account the value of the glebe lands of Queen Anne's bounty, and the incomes of Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Corporations, and the incomes of livings did not amount, in the whole, to 2001. on an average. He stated this in answer to the gross and scandalous misrepresentations in some of the public prints, and particularly in the book to which he had alluded, in which there was the grossest misrepresentation on this subject that could well be put forth. The incomes of Archdeacons, for the discharge of their important duties, were very small-so small that they could not perform them at all without the aid of livings held by them in addition to their Archdeaconries.

HOUSE OF COMMONS. BREACH OF FAITH. A long de bate on the proposed tax on the funds, in which Lord ALTHORP defends himself from the imputation of wishing to break the public faith. He is rated by some, and consoled by others; he will not resign his opinions," but he resigns his project. I knew that if I lived I should see this; and if I live but a little longer I shall see bitterer draughts than these swallowed by those who have abused me.

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HOUSE OF LORDS.

Feb. 15.

REFORM. Several petitions in fa

Lord KING. It would be easy to send the order to the Secretaries of the Bishops, and to the Deans and Chapters, who could, without difficulty, make out the account of such livings as were in lay, and such as were in ecclesias-vour of this, but particularly one from tical patronage. As to what the right reverend Prelate had said as to his statement, he had

not had his information from the black book to

which the right reverend Prelate alluded, but from a book called The Revenues of the Church no Burden on the Public-abook which was favourable to the Church Establishment rather than otherwise. He should feel great pain if the average income of livings were so low as

1851. each, as the right reverend Prelate had stated; and he hoped that the right reverend Prelate had fallen into some mistake in his calculation.

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Birmingham, signed by 21,000 persons, and styled a petition of right." Several petitions also against tithes.

HOUSE OF COMMONS. ALDERMAN WAITHMAN'S motion about trade and manufactures.-BUCKINGHAN PALACE and WINDSOR CASTLE. A pretty exposure of the manner of carrying on public works was made as to these two places, which have cost already Earl GREY did not see how the Returns called for by his noble Friend could be pro639,000l., and are, before they are comcured in the manner which he had proposed. pleted, to cost 121,000l. more; in all, He should have no objection to such Returns 760,000l. Be it observed that all this being laid on their Lordships' table; but he money is laid out for building that great requested his noble Friend to consider whether it would not be better to withdraw his unfinished thing in the corner of St. motion for the present, in order to see whether James's Park, which, on all hands, is it might not be afterwards brought forward in declared to be an ugly, ill-shaped, and a shape more calculated to attain the object. unfit thing, and for furnishing WindHis own belief was, that great inconvenience sor Castle; and the excuse given by the resulted from this mode of incidentally discussing particular parts of the subject, on occatrades-people for the cost of this latter sion of presenting petitions. He did not mean so far exceeding the estimate, is stated to question his noble Friend's sincerity; but by Lord ALTHORP to be," that the furhe did say, that the course which he had niture was so extraordinary and so unadopted was any-thing but favourable to the attainment of the object which his noble usual." No less than 203,9601. for furFriend himself had in view. He was fully nishing one Palace, while the country persuaded that there existed among the heads is in such a state of destitution, that of the Church a most sincere desire to remedy men, young working men, have been known to die of pure want, and with The "Extraordinary Black Book" nothing inside of them but sour referred to by the BISHOP of LONDON Sorrel!

the abuses in the establishment.

and Lord KING (the book is published GAME-LAWS. This terrible code by Mr. E. WILSON, Royal Exchange), is, it seems, to be repealed in great part; states the whole revenues of the but I remarked on this in my last Rechurch establishment at 9,459,5657. Igister, so I need not do it again. Quali

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fication is to be done away with; and a tax of 51. laid on sportsmen.

Nothing in the House of Lords on the

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nected with Ambassadors, Consuls and Vice Consuls, from the year 1814 to 1830. Motion agreed to. A good deal of battling about the steam-boat tax followed 16th of February. this. All sorts of efforts to get the HOUSE OF COMMONS. Chancellor of the Exchequer to give up REFORM. Many petitions on this his proposed tax; but he remained subject; one in particular, from Devon.; firm; fought the poor junketters of presented by Lord EBRINGTON, and London, Gravesend, and Margate with supported by Sir THOMAS ACLAND." force and arms," saying, "Some hon. This petition, like almost all others on Reform, prayed for the ballot.

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"Gentleman seemed to think, that, be"cause he had consented to make some "alterations in his original plan, he

· POOR-LAWS.—Mr. BRISCOE moved for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the 59th of ought to submit to a change of the Geo. III., c. 12., as far as it relates to the let- whole. He could assure hon. Genting and leasing of land to labourers.

Mr. Sturges Bourne and Mr. J. Smith sup-tlemen that they would be mistaken” ! ported the Motion. Bravo, who 'd have thought it!

*

Sir J. SHELLEY was of opinion that parishes ought to take a quantity of land, in order to give employment to their own poor; and thus in some measure enable the pauper to contribute to his own support.

Mr. PORTMAN feared that such a plan would be impracticable with regard to parishes, but private individuals might thus let out small portions of land to poor men, who would thus be enabled to support themselves without entirely depending on parish assist ance, and who would, consequently, raise themselves above the degraded state in which they now were. However, he must say, that rather thaa see the present system patched up in this manner, he should wish Parliament to repeal most of the Acts on the subject till they got back to the Act of Elizabeth. This was a subject which his Majesty's Ministers must speedily take into their consideration.

They must come back to the Act of Elizabeth, sooner or later, and the sooner the better. STURGES BOURNE's Bill I shot at from Long Island; and I shall have to refer very shortly to the poor liitle bunted Register of that time. February 17.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

February 19.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Lord WINCHILSEA presented a petiof the Malt duty. He said that the tion from a parish in Kent for a repeal Beer Bill had caused many small beer, shops in which the late outrages in the County had been determined on; and thereupon he charged the Government with being in some measure the cause. The Duke of WELLINGTON reminded Lord W. that the Beer Bill did not come into operation till October; whereas the disturbances began before.

REFORM. The Lord CHANCELLOR presented a petition from Edinburgh in favour of reform. His Lordship's words on presenting this petition, are remarked on in the former part of this. Register.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

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IRELAND. Mr. D. BROWNE came. to ask the Government for a grant of money (200,000l.) to relieve the Irish

Nothing of much consequence. Lord in certain districts of Ireland now suf

ELLENBOROUGH moved for some returns concerning articles on which some change in duties is intended by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Motion agreed to.

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fering the most appalling distress. He described the unfortunate people as ́ utterly destitute: said they had "some" "time since been obliged to have recourse to picking up wretched shell-' 'fish on the sea-shore, in order to delay, "as long as possible, the consumption of EVESHAM. A good deal of talk" their stock of potatoes!" He went about this Borough; but nothing worth recording or commenting on.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

. DIPLOMATIC EXPENSES. Mr. HUME moved for returns of expenses con

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on, after stating that the number of persons in the district that he spoke of amounted to about 200,000, to hope that the Government would grant a'

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