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Asaph and Bangor, was renewed by that noble lord on the 20th of July. He proposed the second reading of his Bill in a succinct and temperate speech. The circumstances under which the union of the two sees had been sanctioned by Parliament were already well known; the revenue saved being destined to support a new bishopric of Manchester. That union had caused the greatest dissatisfaction in Wales, and indeed throughout England. There was nothing to prevent the appointment of a Bishop of Manchester, and the continuance of the Sees of St. Asaph and Bangor at the same time. It was well known that the union was recommended from deference to the feelings of persons who thought that the number of Bishops in the House of Lords ought not to be increased.

The Marquis of Lansdowne resisted the motion. The utmost publicity had been given to the Report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners recommending the union of the two sees; and the Act of Parliament giving the recommendation the force of law had been accompanied in its passage through the Legislature with the usual notoriety. It should also be borne in mind, that at the head of the Commission was the Primate of all England, and that the most eminent authorities of the church were members of it. If those eminent prelates concurred in the arrangement, that afforded at once a negative to the charge of "reckless spoliation" which was made in one of the petitions presented by the noble Earl. It was not till six years had elapsed that any fault was found with the measure. The Welsh Commissioners never objected to anything being given to

Wales under the operation of the Commission: 2,000l. a year had been so given; and although the Act were carried out, Wales would still profit to the extent of 500l. a year. Lord Lansdowne was prepared to assert that the Commissioners were justified in considering that an improved arrangement of the bishoprics of Great Britain and Wales would contribute essentially to the efficacy of the episcopal office and jurisdiction. The bishopric of Ripon had been already created, and the Commissioners had provided for a bishopric for Manchester. If the state of the population in that district were taken into account, it would at once be allowed that the Commissioners and the Government had done no more than their duty when doing all in their power speedily to establish that see of Manchester. Burke, in speaking of the population of London, said, "when he contemplated the masses of poverty, vice, and crime, that were concentrated in that city, he almost looked up to heaven expecting its lightnings would fall and exercise an act of Divine vengeance on a mass so foul; but when he looked at the spires and public institutions raising aloft their heads in the midst of that corrupt mass, they seemed to him as so many electrical conductors to draw aside the wrath of Heaven and avert the vengeance which was impending on all around." As with London then, so it was with Manchester now. To establish a bishopric of Manchester was, therefore, a primary condition; and, with every respect for the feelings of the inhabitants of the dioceses of North Wales, he could not admit the claims of either of them, as a matter of expediency, compared with those which called

for the establishment of a bishopric of Manchester.

The Bishop of London would follow the same course he took on a former occasion, and would not vote at all. As one of the Commissioners, who came reluctantly to the decision that that was not the proper time to increase the number of English bishops, he felt bound in candour to state, that he thought the Commissioners were somewhat wanting in courage; and he believed that if they had taken longer time to deliberate upon what they were doing, the probability, he would not say the certainty, was that they would have come to a different conclusion. He thanked the Marquis of Lansdowne for the friendly feeling he had expressed towards the Church, and the encouragement he had held out on the subject of the see of Manchester. He thought that by the funds already in hand, and by subscriptions, as much might be raised in a few months as would provide an income of 3,500l. to 4,000l. for a bishop at Manchester, without waiting for a vacancy in the Welsh bishoprics. He was sorry to hear Lord Stanley, on a previous occasion, say that he was opposed to any increase taking place in the number of bishops with seats in the House of Lords: he hoped he had misunderstood him.

The Bishop of Bangor strongly supported the Bill, as a measure of justice to Wales.

Lord Stanley explained. He had never expressed an opinion in opposition to increasing the number of bishops; although at the period alluded to he had stated that it was not a fit time for bringing forward the question. With respect to the

present Bill, he did not think that Earl Powis was justified, in the existing circumstances, and considering the recent formation of the Ministry, in asking their Lordships to join with him in affirming part of the plan of the Commissioners and disaffirming the rest. If the Bill were rejected, he hoped Lord Powis would, at the commencement, not at the end, of the Session, take measures for obtaining the opinion of Parliament whether there should be an increase in the number of bishops, and whether they should have seats in Parliament; ascertaining also to what extent that increase, if it were made, ought to go.

The Bishop of Salisbury suggested the withdrawal of the Bill, but expressed his intention to vote for it, if a division should take place. The Bishop of Norwich also advised its withdrawal, and the introduction of a Bill in the next Session to create a number of assistant or suffragan bishops.

Earl Grey testified to the beneficial effects which had arisen from the labours of the Ecclesiastical Commission. He thought with Lord Lansdowne, that this Bill was objectionable, as being a futile and imperfect alteration of a large and extensive measure. His opinion, with respect to giving new bishops a seat in that House was, that if new sees were created, the prelates should take their seats on the episcopal bench. He thought that an increase in the strength of the episcopal body by the creation of suffragan bishops was worthy of mature consideration. But if the want of episcopal superintendence was a crying evil, he thought the want of an adequate number of parochial clergy in the country was

a still more crying and a still more pressing evil. But, by adopting the present Bill, they would strike directly at the possibility of making an improvement in this respect by increasing the number of the parochial clergy in proportion to the population.

The Bishop of Oxford at some length supported the Bill. He thought the real question was whether there ever should be an increase of the English episcopate. He dwelt on the paucity of bishops in England as compared with other countries. The consequence was that our bishops, instead of being enabled to devote themselves to the spiritual duties of their office, and to lead the way wherever the Gospel was to be preached or destitution relieved, were oppressed with secularity, and their time absorbed in the outward administrative parts of their offices. No man could look into the prevailing state of things without seeing that some new, greater, and more persevering effort must be made to leaven the people with Christian principles, otherwise the laws of the land in a season of difficulty would be but cobwebs. The experience of all times showed that a prerequisite to the increase of the clergy was an increase of the bishops. Their labours in the West Indies were in vain till a bishop was sent there, when a clergy grew up such as had never been previously known. So in the other colonies. If they believed this system to be of God, let them show something of faith in its efficacy. If they made an effort themselves, they would find a voice from their people cheering them on; and they would be enabled to endow and otherwise to carry out their objects.

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The Marquis of Lansdowne then announced that after this decision of the House he did not intend to offer any further opposition to the Bill. At the same time it was not to be understood that his conviction respecting it had been altered.

Upon the third reading being shortly afterwards proposed, Lord Lansdowne stated that he had felt some doubt whether under this Bill the consent of the Crown were necessary. He had thought it however the most prudent course to apply for Her Majesty's consent, and was now authorized to say that the Crown would oppose no obstacle to the measure. The Bill was then passed.

A few nights afterwards, (August 4,) Lord Clive inquired in the House of Commons what course the Government intended to pursue with respect to the Bill.

Lord John Russell said, that a Bill which had received the consent of the House of Lords, and of nearly all the bishops, deserved to be very respectfully considered. He could not agree with the Bill, however, even supposing that he were prepared to depart from the Report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. He did not conceive that all that was required was to preserve the dioceses of St. Asaph and Bangor: he was called upon to consider the state of the parishes in those dioceses, and their boundaries, with a view to better episcopal superintendence. The Government were prepared to consider

the subject; but time was required, and should the Bill be pressed in the present Session he must oppose it.

Upon this statement Lord Clive said, that he would not press the Bill to a second reading.

The remaining business of the Session may be briefly stated. The discussion of Poor-law affairs occupied a considerable portion of time; but as it turned for the most part on personal and ephemeral questions, arising out of its administration in particular cases, it does not require notice in this place. The conduct of the Poor Law Commissioners became a subject of frequent controversy, in connection with the proceedings of a Select Committee which had been appointed to investigate the administration of the law in the Andover Union, and which excited considerable public interest. Much warmth of feeling was excited by some of these discussions, the opponents of the existing law inveighing with great severity against the abuses which they alleged in its operation. The legislative results of the Session, as they relate to this subject, were limited to a Bill, which passed into a law, for modifying the Law of Settlement, by exempting poor persons from removal after a certain period of residence in a parish, subject to certain conditions.

An often attempted, but long deferred, measure received the Royal assent before the close of the Session, establishing local tribunals in every district of England for the recovery of small debts and the trial of actions under a certain amount. A measure for this purpose was brought in by Sir R. Peel's Administration; but being suspended by the change of Minis

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66

My Lords and Gentlemen,

"We are commanded by Her Majesty to express to you the warm acknowledgments of Her Majesty for the public spirit you have evinced in the discharge of your laborious duties during an anxious and protracted Session.

"Her Majesty trusts that you will be rewarded by witnessing the beneficial results of the measures which have been sanctioned by Her Majesty for the present relaxation and ultimate repeal of protective duties on corn and sugar.

"Her Majesty entertains a confident hope that the more free admission of the produce of foreign countries into the home-market will increase the comforts and better the condition of the great body of the people.

"Her Majesty feels the greatest satisfaction in reflecting that Her Majesty's efforts to settle, in a manner consistent with national honour, the conflicting claims of Great Britain and the United States.

with respect to the territory on the north-west coast of America, have been completely successful.

"Her Majesty continues to receive from all Foreign Powers the strongest assurances of their desire to cultivate friendly relations with this country.

"Her Majesty commands us to congratulate you on the victorious course and happy conclusion of the war in India; and Her Majesty has much gratification in announcing to you that perfect tranquillity prevails throughout the whole of the British possessions in that quarter of the world.

pleasure that a considerable diminution of crime and outrage has taken place in those counties of Ireland which had been most disturbed.

"Her Majesty is confident that on your return to your several counties you will find a spirit of loyalty generally prevalent. The extension of works of improvement has increased the demand for labour; and the tranquillity of the country has favoured the pursuits of industry in all its branches.

"Her Majesty trusts that by a combination of prudence with enterprise, and of a willing obedience to law with a desire for social pro

"Gentlemen of the House of Com- gress, Her people will, through the

mons,

"Her Majesty has observed with satisfaction the care you have taken to prevent permanent loss to the revenue, and to maintain the public faith.

"Her Majesty has commanded us to acknowledge the zeal and unanimity with which you assented to the increase in the Naval and Military Estimates, which regard to the exigencies of the Public Service induced Her Majesty to propose for your consideration.

"My Lords and Gentlemen,

"Her Majesty has to lament that the recurrence of a failure in the potato crop, in an aggravated degree, will cause a serious deficiency in the quantity of a material article of food.

"Her Majesty has given Her cordial assent to measures by which this calamity may be mitigated in that part of the United Kingdom where the cultivation of the potato has hitherto afforded the chief supply for the subsistence of the people. "Her Majesty has seen with

Divine blessing, enjoy the full advantages of peace.

results of which have scarcely been Thus terminated a Session, the paralleled in importance in the annals of modern Parliaments. The history of its proceedings may, indeed, be written in a single wordFree Trade; the ratification of that principle formed the sum and substance of its labours. But if we cording to the interests of parties, are to estimate legislation not acor by the changes wrought in the distribution of political power, (though even in this respect that of 1847 was pre-eminent,) but rather by the range of its influence, the duration of its effects, the numbers to whom it brings a blessing or a bane, and its connection with the daily occasions and most pressing necessities of mankind, we might look back as far as the era of 1688 ere we discovered changes more operative than those of the year just recorded upon the destinies of Great Britain. Whether these changes are to be regarded with more of fear or hope: whether we should look on them as the

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