HOUSE OF LORDS.

May 2. The Earl of Powis moved the second reading of a Bill for repealing the act of 5 and 6 Will. IV. for the prospective union of the SEES OF ST. ASAPH AND BANGOR. The proposition was supported by nearly all the bench of Bishops, except the Bishop of London, who abstained from voting; but, being opposed by Ministers, was rejected by a majority of 129 to 97 (including proxies).

May 5. The Duke of Richmond opposed the Bill for the reduction of the AUCTION DUTIES, on the ground that the interests of the Agricultural classes had been neglected; but its progress was carried by 33 to 15. May 19. Lord Brougham drew attention to the amendment of the CIVIL AND CRIMINAL JURISPRUDENCE of this country. Great improvements had been made in the laws relating to real property; the descent of property had been cleared of many objections, its possession rendered more secure, and the title to it, therefore, was much more valuable; but, as respected the transfer of property, nothing worse could be conceived than the principles on which alone it was now possible to convey any fee-simple or leasehold by term of lives. Under the present system deeds and conveyances were so prolix, they were attended with enormous expense, and from their length were peculiarly liable to errors, which in most circumstances were not discovered until after the death of those who had made them. He proposed, therefore, to bring in a Bill, which he had prepared with the aid of the most skilful conveyancers of this country, to facilitate the sale and transfer of land, and prevent for the future the possibility of bad titles by consolidating the present system into one short deed. The law of evidence, notwithstanding the many improvements it had recently undergone, was still open to considerable amendment, and he proposed to bring in a Bill to enable parties to a cause to be examined, under some restrictions, on the trial of civil actions, as at present in the Court of Chancery; and another to facilitate the admission in evidence of certain official and other documents. He proposed to remedy the defect under which no one was entitled to commence a

declaratory suit as to his title or legitimacy, which did not exist in Scotland, and ought to be remedied in England; and to promote speedy trial of persons charged with felony, by allowing prisoners of one county

to be tried in another. He would bring in another Bill to amend the marriage. laws, and one to abolish the privilege of freedom from arrest for debt enjoyed by members of both Houses of Parliament. He had no manner of doubt that he would live to see all the measures he now proposed carried into effect. If he should see those measures carried, he should then contentedly cease his labours, and should feel proud of having humbly joined in raising that composite column which would then be erected as a monument of the virtue, experience, and patriotism of the British Legislature.-After a few words from Lord Campbell, the several Bills (nine in number) were brought in, read a first time, and ordered to be printed.

May 22. The Lord Chancellor moved the second reading of the CHARITABLE TRUSTS Bill. This Bill was founded on the reports of a commission which had been appointed in 1818, and renewed at various times till the year 1837, and was intended to remedy the abuses which had been detected in the superintendence over charitable trusts. At present the Court of Chancery was the only tribunal which took cognizance of breaches of trust, but, though eminently fitted for fulfilling this office in the case of large endowments, the machinery of the court was inapplicable to small charities; and, to meet this evil, it was proposed to give the Crown the power of appointing commissioners who should have the power of filling up vacant trusteeships. Every precaution should be! taken to make these officers independent, and to raise them above the temptation of perverting their influence for political purposes. He suggested that the funds for the support of these officers should be raised by one per cent. levied on the charities, or, if this were insufficient, the deficiency should be charged on the consolidated fund.-Lord Brougham would support the second reading of the Bill. After some conversation between the Law Lords, the Bill was read a second time, on the understanding that it should be referred to a select committee.

HOUSE OF COMMONS. April 28. The report on the grant of 30,000l. from the consolidated fund for the COLLEGE OF MAYNOOTH was brought up, and, on its being proposed to be read a second time, Mr. Law moved as an amendment that the report be taken into

consideration on this day six months. This produced some discussion, when Sir R. Peel said that he would fulfil to the best of his ability every thing which he had undertaken on the part of the Roman Catholics. The House then divided,-for the amendment, 119; against it, 232; majority, 113. The original motion was then put to the Chair, when Mr. Tancred moved to add to it the following words :"Until provision shall be made for the same by any Act to be passed in this or any subsequent session of Parliament, either out of any surplus in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of Ireland, or by an assessment of the lands of Ireland to an amount equivalent to the remission of tithes made to the landlords of Ireland by the Tithe Commutation Act, as Parliament may deem most advisable." The House again divided, when the numbers were:-For Mr. Tancred's amendment, 52; against it, 128; majority against it, 76. The resolution was then agreed to, and ordered to be inserted in the Bill.

May 9. Sir James Graham moved for leave to bring in a Bill on the subject of Academical EDUCATION IN IRELAND. He admitted that religious differences constituted the great difficulty in the way of establishing a general system in both countries, and that in Ireland this great anomaly existed, namely, that for centuries the religion of the majority of the people had been treated as a hostile religion. The only way in which this difficulty could be met was by adopting the principles set forth in the report of the Commission appointed in 1806 to consider this subject, which proposed to institute a National System of Education which should be open to all classes of the people, while it kept clear of all differences with respect to the particular religious tenets of any. On that principle he intended to found his measure. The Right Hon. Baronet then went at great length into the history of National Education in Ireland up to the present time; and said he should have no hesitation in recommending in Ireland the establishment of universities on the same plan as the University of London, where no test was required of either teacher or student. He proposed to establish one such university in the south of Irelandmost probably at Cork-another in the west, either at Limerick or Galway, and another in the north, either at Londonderry or Belfast, but most probably at Belfast. About 30,000l. each would be the sum required for building and fitting up those Universities, and about 6,0007. a year each for the annual endowment. Each college would have 10 or 12 professors, who would be allowed 3007.

a-year each; and both at Cork and Belfast there would be medical schools; and among these twelve professors would be included the professors in anatomy, surgery, and chemistry. Considering that the endowment was to be made by the Crown, he proposed that the professors in all the three colleges should be nominated by the Crown, and that the Crown should have not only the power of nominating, but the power of removing, on cause shown. The principals would reside in the college, but not either the professors or the students. The course of instruction would be given by lectures and daily examinations. There would be in none of these colleges endowments for professors of theology by the Crown, but, if private individuals chose to endow such professorships, every facility would be given them. It was the intention of the Government to continue to the four Divinity professors of the academical institution in Belfast the endowment which they had enjoyed for the last twenty years, and, if the Bill should pass, he thought the institution would transfer their premises and library to the Government, on easy terms, for the purpose of the new Belfast University. The Crown would not feel bound in such a case to re-appoint the existing professors, but to those not re-appointed it would award ample compensation. He had not finally determined, but he thought it would be better that these colleges should be united into a central university for the granting degrees, rather than that each should possess the power, and the central university should be in Dublin; but he did not at all intend to interfere with Trinity College as it at present existed. The Right Hon. Baronet concluded by moving for leave to bring in the Bill.Messrs. Wyse, Ross, Bellew, Roche, and Shiel, approved of the scheme.-Sir R. Inglis said a more gigantic scheme of godless education had never neen proposed, and he objected to it entirely upon principle. -Sir R. Peel said if any condition of religious instruction were insisted upon, it would be impossible to forward any new system of academical instruction. Sir R. Inglis had for twenty years been a party to a grant similar in principle to the present. He alluded to the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, which was in the annual receipt of a grant of 2,500l. from Parliament. Religion would be promoted by the diffusion of sound general knowledge.

May 19. A debate commenced on the Third Reading of the MAYNOOTH COLLEGE Bill. It was continued on the 20th and 21st, when it was carried by 317 to 184, and the Bill passed.

INDIA.

An important expedition under Sir Charles Napier, which proceeded about the latter end of January into the Cutchee hills, for the purpose of inflicting deserved punishment upon the Doomkie, Boojtie, Jakranee, and other marauding tribes, whose incursions into the territory of our ally, the Khan of Khelat, had occasioned such infinite annoyance, has succeeded in accomplishing some part of its object. The British troops, after a long and harassing period of marching and countermarching amongst the wild and arid regions, where the Beloochees sought shelter, at last managed to discover their position, and, by well-arranged operations, captured nearly the whole of the chiefs, with their women and children.

The confusion in the Punjaub is greater than ever, and the British troops, which have assembled in large numbers in the neighbourhood of Ferozepore, will probably be invited to interfere to restore order and drive back Akbar Khan, who threatens Peshawur.

UNITED STATES.

A most disastrous fire occurred on the 11th April, at Pittsburg, a rising and important city in Pennsylvania, destroying twenty squares of the city, comprising about 1,200 houses, the loss of which is estimated at two millions sterling. It is the next largest city to Philadelphia in the State of Pennsylvania. Its population is about 25,000, and it was becoming a place of great commercial importance. The fire originated in a frame building over an ice-house, near the corner of Second and Ferry Streets. The gas works were destroyed, and the city involved in darkness as soon as the lurid flames died away.

SPAIN.

A royal decree has been published, commanding suspension of the sale of the convents of the religious communities

suppressed by the decree of July 26, 1842.

GERMANY.

The Continental papers teem with accounts of inundations in Germany, exceed. ing, it is said, in extent and amount of disaster, the most terrible calamities of a similar kind in that country (those of 1655 and 1784) recorded for the last two centuries. The Rhine, the Necker, the Danube, the Elbe, the Vistula, and indeed all the rivers of Germany, have overflowed their banks; and the greatest part of the country of the Germanic Confederation, with a part of Austria and Poland, have been entirely submerged since the 30th of March.

SWITZERLAND.

The Grand Council of Berne, on the 28th April, voted an indemnity of 105,000 francs to be paid to Lucerne for the Bernese prisoners, who are still in the power of that canton. The Grand Council of Argovia had also voted not only in favour of an indemnity of 300,000 francs to Lucerne for their 600 prisoners, but an amnesty for all political offences committed by the Catholic party in Argovia in 1841, on account of which many persons were still under punishment or in banishment. The pacification of this country appears not to be so near at hand as was imagined.

TAHITI.

In Nov. five French vessels of war were at Tahiti, together with several guard vessels, and the strictest martial law prevailed. The natives generally remained in arms in the mountains. The French were erecting numerous fortifications. The dwellinghouses of the natives and foreigners, without distinction, had been seized by the French and appropriated as hospitals for the sick and wounded. All the munitions of war and other supplies were strictly prohibited from being landed, and the coast was guarded to prevent any infraction of this order.

When the Monument to Nelson at Charing Cross was approaching to completion, a public subscription was made in order to regale the surviving partakers of his naval triumphs. It was subsequently determined that, instead of providing the veterans with a dinner, each should receive a medal and a gratuity. Accordingly, on

the 2d of April, a deputation, consisting of Captain Blanckley, R.N., and other gentlemen, arrived at Greenwich Hospital, and having waited on Admiral the Hon. Sir R. Stopford, the Governor, proceeded to the Painted Hall, where they were received by Rear-Adm. Sir James Gordon, the Lieutenant Governor, Captain Bowker, and the

other officers of the institution. The veteran tars who had actually served under the immediate orders of the immortal Nelson (to the number of 377) were ranged in line on either side the splendid apartment. The boys of the school, with their band, were also present. Each man was then called by name, in alphabetical arrangement, and presented with a medal, bearing the likeness of the hero of Trafalgar on the one side and a representa tion of the monument erected to his memory at Charing Cross on the reverse, and 10s. in money.

April 21. The remains of his late Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex were removed from the catacomb, under the chapel, in which they were placed after the funeral, and deposited in the vault prepared for their reception in the General Cemetery, Kensal Green. The Lord Chamberlain and the Vice Chamberlain of her Majesty's Housebold, and the executors of his late Royal Highness, were present. The vault is formed in the centre of the circular grassplat, immediately in front of the chapel. It is about 20 feet deep, and surrounded by brick walls of great thickness, forming the resting-place for five stones, which constitute the entire monument aboveground, and which are of grey Aberdeen granite. The four stones which form the walls are each rather more than fourteen feet in length, and about two feet in height and thickness. These are surmounted by the crowning stone, weighing about two tons and a half. The entire height of the monument does not exceed four feet. It is surrounded by fourteen pillars, each three feet six inches in height, quite plain, and composed of the same species of granite as the monument, but connected with each other by chains.

May 1. The Hungerford and Lambeth Suspension Bridge for foot passengers was opened to the public. At half-past eleven the directors and their friends passed over by ticket, and at twelve the public were admitted on payment of a halfpenny each. From that time to six o'clock above 20,000 passed over. It stands much higher above the water than any of the other bridges, and its light and airy appearance presents a very marked contrast to the solid and massive structure a little lower down, of which it threatens to be a formidable rival. The centre span of the bridge is 676 feet, and the sides span 333 feet; the height of the flooring in the centre above high-water mark is 31 feet 6 inches, at the piers 26 feet 6 inches, and at the abutments 22 feet 6 inches; the height of the towers, which are of the Italian style of architecture, is 80 feet from high-water mark; the clear width of the roadway is 14 feet. The

weight of the chains is 700 tons. This bridge has been constructed by Mr. I. K. Brunel, for a joint-stock company. The capital of the company was 106,000l., of which sum 80,000l. was raised by shares, and the remaining 26,000l. by loan. The cost of the brickwork was 63,000l., and of the ironwork 17,000. The span of this bridge is 254 feet more than of the bridge at Hammersmith, and 116 more than that of the Menai. It is second only to the bridge at Fribourg in Switzerland, the span of which is nearly 900, and its chains made of wires, not like ours of iron bars.

May 10. The Bishop of London consecrated Christ church, St. Giles's, erected in the new street called Endell street, so named after the Rev. James Endell Tyler, the Rector of that parish. Its architect is Mr. B. Ferrey. It is designed in the early English style, and built of Bath stone and Kentish rag. On account of the wedgelike shape of the ground, the tower is placed at the north-west angle; it is surmounted by a spire, 120 feet high, which now forms a conspicuous object both from Holborn and Long Acre. The west door is deeply recessed, with a trefoil arch. Above it is a connected range of five lancet windows, and in the gable is a triangular window. The roof is carried to a height unusual in modern churches, and perhaps unproportioned to its length, in order to procure light by means of a clerestory; otherwise, it would have been difficult to obtain sufficient light, as a house adjoins the church on the south, and the parish workhouse abuts on its east end. The columns of the nave are built of blue lias from Glastonbury, which is a tolerable substitute for Petworth marble, so often employed in ancient buildings. The roofing is open, and stained to represent oak. The seats, 1000 in number, are wholly free, and particular provision is made for the infirm occupants of the adjoining workhouse, who can enter the church without passing through the street. The east window (lighted from a small well court) is of stained glass, presented by Messrs. Hudson, and there are some other small obituary windows by Mr. Willement

ESSEX.

Danbury Place, the estate of John Round, esq. M.P. has been purchased for the residence of the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Rochester. The purchase-money is stated to be 26,0007. the timber, furniture, and fixtures to be taken by valuation. The mansion is nearly new, in the Gothic style; the park is a fine one, containing many handsome oaks, and extending partly up Danbury hill, the highest ground in the county.