Diseases Prevention Act for Thursday evening, said, he was anxious to know, Whether the local authorities which had the Trustees of the British Museum and National Gallery in a very difficult position. LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY replied that if the trustees of national in-existed up to the present time under the stitutions thought there would be danger in lending the works of art it was proposed to borrow, they would of course not lend them. THE EARL OF DERBY said, he did not understand that the Bill gave general permission to trustees to lend works of art under any circumstances, but only to certain specified exhibitions; and these loans under the immediate sanction and control of the President of the Council-the President of the Council being himself morally, though he was not legally, responsible for the safe custody of the pictures. In making the arrangements for the National Portrait Exhibition to take place this and next year, it had been felt that many most valuable and interesting historical portraits could not be obtained, because the trustees in whose custody they were had no power to lend them; and the Bill, therefore, was to enable the trustees to exercise their own judgment as to whether they would allow the pictures to be exhibited, under the control of the President of the Council, in the two cases named. LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY said, the noble Earl had quite correctly stated the object of the Bill, which had reference to the Paris Exhibition and the National Portrait Exhibition only, in which the noble Earl had taken so much interest. LORD TAUNTON said, that if the measure applied only to these two Exhibitions, he entirely approved of it; but there would be considerable objection to allowing the pictures to be lent for exhibition all over the country. If such a power were given, he was afraid the effect would be to prevent persons leaving works of art to the nation. LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY said, that it certainly only was intended to apply to the two Exhibitions he had named; but if the wording of the Bill should appear too general, he should be happy to introduce in Committee any words which would make the proper restriction. Motion agreed to:-Bill read 2, and committed to a Committee of the whole House on Thursday next. THE CATTLE DISEASES ACT. QUESTION. THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH, in giving notice of a Question respecting the Cattle Orders in Council had now ceased to exist, or whether they would continue until the new local authorities were constituted? For Scotland a new local authority altogether had been invented, and it must take several days before that body could be constituted. He should like to be informed whether the Act of 1848 was still in existence, or superseded, or only in abeyance? Several communications had reached him by post, that morning, from Scotland with respect to the new Act, and but for the haste with which it had been pressed forward these suggestions might have been considered, to the great improvement of the Act. METALLIFEROUS MINES BILL [H.L.] A Bill relating to Metalliferous Mines-Was presented by The Lord KINNAIRD; read 1a. (No. 21.) HABITUAL OFFENDERS (SCOTLAND) (1866) BILL H.L.] A Bill for the better Prevention of certain Of fences in Scotland-Was presented by The Lord ROSSIE; read 1a. (No. 22.) House adjourned at a quarter before Six o'clock, till Thursday next, half past Ten o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Tuesday, February 20, 1866. MINUTES.]- SELECT COMMITTEE - On Education nominated (See p. 451). PUBLIC BILLS-Resolutions in Committee-Act of Uniformity; Bank Notes (Ireland). Ordered Postmaster General ; Turnpike Roads; Artizans and Labourers' Dwellings; Elective Franchise; Act of Uniformity *; Prosecution Expenses; Bank Notes (Ireland)*; Church Rates Commutation (No. 2).* First Reading-Postmaster General [25]; Fellows of Colleges Declaration* [26]; Artizans and Labourers' Dwellings [27]; Prosecution Expenses [28]; Bank Notes (Ireland) * [29]; Church Rates Commutation (No. 2) * [30]. Second Reading-Telegraph Act Amendment* [23] [Lords]. * Committee-Cattle Plague (re-comm.) [7]. INDIA-THE LAHORE BISHOPRIC BILL. QUESTION. MR. GILTIN said, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for India, If it is the intention of the Government to re-introduce the Lahore Bishopric Bill during the present Session? MR. STANSFELD, in reply, said, it was not the intention of the Secretary of State, during the present Session, to re-introduce the Lahore Bishopric Bill. indeed, with regard to the Correspondence, in the power of the Government; and, some of it is already prepared for presentation, and is about to be moved for by an hon. Member. SIR ROBERT PEEL: Will my right hon. Friend say that the charter of the Queen's University will not be altered without being brought under the notice and knowledge of this House? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: Immediately that any charter varying from the present shall be issued it will be brought to the knowledge of this House. MR. LOWE: Do I understand my right hon. Friend to say that the change will take place without this House having an opportunity of expressing an opinion upon it? IRELAND-QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY AND QUEEN'S COLLEGES.-QUESTION. SIR ROBERT PEEL said, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, What changes are contemplated in the charter and constitution of the Queen's University and Queen's Colleges in Ireland, and whether it is the intention of the Government fully to inform the House before proceeding with any measure involving a departure from the present system of Uni-executive Government, enabling the reversity Education in that country? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: In reply to the Question of my right hon. Friend, I had better perhaps first say the Question in its terms including the Queen's Colleges along with the Queen's University-that no changes whatever are contemplated in the charter and constitution of the Queen's Colleges. With respect to the changes contemplated in the charter and constitution of the Queen's University, I may best describe them by saying they are such as were indicated and explained towards the close of the last Session of Parliament in the speech of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department, having for their object to qualify persons who have received their education in institutions where a particular or exclusive religion is taught to take degrees in the Queen's University, and likewise to make some arrangements for the purpose of obviating and removing jealousies and securing confidence with respect to those degrees. In reference to the last part of the Question of my right hon. Friend, of course I cannot say that it would be in our power to keep the House informed of those steps severally before proceeding with them, although I am by no means prepared to say that they involve a departure from the present system of University education in Ireland. But I can pledge myself that the charter and the Correspondence will both be presented to this House at the very earliest moment THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: I apprehend that the proceeding, such as I have indicated it, will be in conformity with the universal practice of the sponsible Advisers of the Crown to give that advice which they think most for the public interest. They will, upon their own responsibility, make known that advice to the House of Commons, fully admitting the right of the House to call them to account. SIR ROBERT PEEL: My right hon. Friend has not answered the Question. What I wish to ask is this-has no alteration at the present moment taken place in the charter of the Queen's University? That is done by the Sign Manual of the Sovereign. Has it not been done, will it not be done, without first laying before the House the grounds which the Government have for altering the present system of liberal and united education to one of a sectarian and denominational character? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: That alteration has not been effected. With respect to the rest, I must refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I have already given. NAVY-GREENWICH HOSPITAL ESTATES. QUESTION. MR. H. B. SHERIDAN said, he would beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty, Whether a Comptroller of the Greenwich Hospital Estates has been appointed; and, if so, by whom was such appointment made, and at what salary or mode of remuneration? If such appointment has been made, to ask the name of the gentleman who has been appointed, and whether he is to be allowed to follow any business or profession, and to ask the like questions as to the appointment of the Solicitor of the Greenwich Hospital Estates? LORD CLARENCE PAGET: Sir, the Duke of Somerset and the Admiralty have appointed a gentleman as Comptroller and likewise as solicitor of the Greenwich Hospital Estates. That gentleman has for many years been employed as solicitor. He will be paid by a fixed salary of £500 a year as solicitor, and £500 a year as Comptroller-an office which is not liable to superannuation allowance. The gentleman's name is Lethbridge. MR. H. B. SHERIDAN: Will he be allowed to follow any business? LORD CLARENCE PAGET: He is to be permitted to follow his own profession. IRELAND-THE DUBLIN AND LONDON DERRY MAILS.-QUESTION. SIR FREDERICK HEYGATE said, he wished to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether the attention of the Government has been called to the alleged irregularities which have occurred during the past six months in the running of the night Mails from Dublin to Londonderry, and what measures have been taken to remedy this evil? MR. CHILDERS said, in reply, that the Inspector of Mails in Dublin had made a Report on the subject, and attended a Board meeting of the Ulster Railway Company, at which he requested the Directors to work their line with greater regularity. Since then the Company had got additional engines, and with the exception of the nights of the 7th of January and 4th of February, when some accidents had occurred, there had been no cause of complaint with regard to the night mails. There was no power to impose any penal ties. of Justice Building Act of last year, it was provided that the plans and arrangements of the Courts of Justice should be laid down by the Treasury with the advice and concurrence of such persons as Her Majesty might appoint for that purpose. A Commission, called the Courts of Justice Commission, was appointed, consisting of the Lord Chancellor and of most of the Judges and members of every branch of the legal profession. That Commission carefully considered the steps that ought to be taken in the selection of an architect. They prepared instructions, and came to a resolution that the competitors for the design of the building should be limited to six. The actual selection of these six architects has been confided to a Committee composed by the nomination partly of the Courts of Justice Commission, and partly of the Treasury. The two persons who were nominated by the Courts of Justice Commission, were the Lord Chief Justice of England and the Attorney General, the other persons are the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the First Commissioner of Works, and the hon. Member for Perthshire (Mr. W. Stirling). This Committee met, and they have selected six archiThe Committee are also to decide tects. on the selection of a design for the erection of the buildings. With regard to the proceedings of the Royal Commission, that Commission has not yet come to any decision as to the time and manner in which they will report those proceedings. Therefore, I am unable to tell when the proceedings will be published. In answer to an hon, MEMBER, MR. COWPER said, the names of the architects chosen to compete for the plans of the new Courts of Justice were Mr. Scott, Mr. Barry, Mr. Street, Mr. Waterhouse, Mr. Wyatt, and Mr. Hardwicke. SOUTH KENSINGTON AND THE BRI TISH MUSEUM.-QUESTION. MR. CAVENDISH BENTINCK said, he would beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, What course Her Majesty's Government intend to pursue relative to the vacant ground at South Kensington, and the erection of a building there; and whether any Bill is to be introduced this Session for the removal of any of the collections now forming part of the British Museum? THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: Sir, the intention of Her Majesty's Government, as I think my hon. 815 The Metropolitan Police and {COMMONS} the Fenian Convicts. 816 county of Louth, or the portion of it above referred to? Friend will perceive from the Civil Estimates which will very shortly be laid upon the table, is to propose two Votes for the disposal in part of the site at South Kensington, one of which will apply to the reception of certain collections of the Bri-state that it was intended to proclaim the tish Museum, and the other to the collection of Patents. With respect to the introduction of any Bill this Session for the removal of those collections, that would not come on until we have disposed of the Vote. It must necessarily follow; but until I know how that question has been disposed of, I am not able to speak of the time when the Bill will be introduced. CONSUMPTION OF CORN AND MEAT. QUESTION. SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE said, he would beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, What amount of information the Government can give respecting the consumption of articles of food, especially corn and meat, at various periods in the present century? MR. MILNER GIBSON: I am afraid, Sir, that any estimate that could be furnished of the quantity of corn and meat consumed either now or in any former period during the present century would be very loose and unsatisfactory. We have the Returns of the importations of foreign corn, and they are reliable; but we have no accounts whatever of the quantity of home-grown corn consumed. Indeed, we have no statistics in this country of the extent of land appropriated to different crops. We are taking a cattle census, and if it be true that one-fourth of the cattle are annually slaughtered, we might estimate the consumption of butchers' meat; but I am informed by the Comptroller of the Corn Returns and others who are acquainted with this subject, that no reliable information is to be had from which to furnish such facts as might be laid before Parliament. IRELAND-PROCLAMATION OF THE COUNTY OF LOUTH.-QUESTION. MR. S. B. MILLER said, he would beg to ask Mr. Attorney General for Ireland, Why the county and city of Armagh have been proclaimed under the Peace Preservation Act, without the inland portion of the county of Louth, which adjoins the County Armagh to a large extent, being at the same time proclaimed; and whether there is any intention of proclaiming the The Chancellor of the Exchequer MR. SULLIVAN said, in the absence of his right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney General for Ireland, he could sea-coast of Louth in order to prevent the importation of arms, but no reason existed for ploclaiming the remainder of the county. ARMY-CONVEYANCE OF TROOP MR. W. R. GORE said, he would beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, Whether the horses of the Carabineers were moved on their route to Ireland in cattle trucks; and, if so, whether any measures were previously taken to disinfect those trucks from the seeds of the Cattle Plague? MR. MILNER GIBSON said, in reply, that from information he had received he found that the horses of the Carabineers were not conveyed in cattle trucks. He was informed by the authorities at the Horse Guards that arrangements had been made for the conveyance of troop horses to Ireland in horse boxes, and not in cattle trucks. In consequence of the Question of the hon. Gentleman he had communicated with the authorities of the London and North-Western Railway Company, who had informed him that in case of their having to convey cavalry horses in cattle trucks care would first be taken to disinfect and cleanse them by washing them with chloride of lime, and adopting the necessary precautions in conformity with the circular they had issued to all the managers of their traffic. THE METROPOLITAN POLICE AND THE FENIAN CONVICTS.-QUESTION. MR. BAGWELL said, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether directions have been sent by the Home Office to Sir Richard Mayne that the twenty men of the Metropolitan Police appointed to guard the Model Prison at Pentonville should be Englishmen, and whether it is true that this duty is to be confined to men of English birth, and that no Irish constable shall be allowed to do duty there? SIR GEORGE GREY, in reply, said, the hon. Gentleman had privately given him notice of his intention to put a Question to him relative to a statement that had appeared in one of the morning papers. All he (Sir George Grey) could say was, that the paragraph was without founda MONUMENT TO tion. No such instructions had been given by him. The twenty men referred to in VISCOUNT PALMERSTON.-NOTICE. that paragraph were the men who were THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEpermanently stationed at the Caledonian Road Police Station for ordinary duty, QUER: I will move on Thursday next and were stationed there long before any that the House resolve itself into ComFenian convicts were confined in Penton-mittee to consider a humble Address to be ville Prison. Directions, however, had been given about a month ago that two of these policemen should patrol round the prison at night. He was unable to whether the twenty men referred to were of English, Irish, or Scotch birth. MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN PRINCESS HELENA. say presented to Her Majesty, praying that Her Majesty will give directions that a Monument be erected in the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, Westminster, to the memory of the late Right honourable Viscount Palmerston, with an inscription expressive of the public admiration and attachment, and of the heavy loss which the country has sustained by his death. I will also move that in the Address we assure Her Majesty that the House will make good the expenses attending the same. Committee to consider an humble Address to be presented to Her Majesty, praying that Her Majesty will give directions that a Monument be erected in the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter, Westminster, to the memory of the Right honourable Viscount Palmerston, with an inscription expressive of the Public admiration and attachment, and of the heavy loss which the Country has sustained by his death; and to assure Her Majesty that this House will make good the expenses attending the same, on Thursday. ARTIZANS AND LABOURERS' DWELL- FIRST READING. MR. M'CULLAGH TORRENS: Sir, I beg earnestly to call the attention of the House to the fact that some kind of legislation, and without further delay, should be adopted with reference to the dwellings of the class that live by labour in our great towns. The condition of these dwellings is becoming every year more disgraceful and dangerous. It is dangerous not merely to those who are without a habitation sufficient for their health and comfort, but it is a danger to those who live near them, and to the community generally, towards whom there is perpetually ap arising from these close dwellings. Every proaching nearer and nearer the contagion year, within the memory of the present generation, the want has grown greater and more intense. About twenty years ago societies were formed which sought by private enterprize to remedy, or at least to mitigate, the evil. I have not one word to say in depreciation of their motives, or in disparagement of their efforts. On the contrary, I think they are entitled to great credit for their perseverance in |