as he says, to promote the objects of this great exhibition,
I very much regret that he did not accept the
invitation of the Lord Mayor, that we might have
thanked him for the effective aid with which he has, it
appears, endeavoured to promote its ultimate success by
the speech he delivered the other night in this house."

Lord BROUGHAM, who sat covering his face with his
hand, now rose to reply, with much energy. In the
course of his reply, he declared that he possessed the
kindest and most benevolent feeling that he could
possibly entertain for Lord Stanley; but rebuked him for
attempting by a dull joke to set people laughing at an
absent man. He concluded by saying that no one could
entertain a higher respect for that illustrious Prince; a
respect increased by the interest which the Prince has
recently shown in the condition of the working classes—
"so that it is difficult to know which most to admire,
the sound judgment or the benevolent feelings of the
Prince."—Their lordships, who had roared with
laughter during this encounter, now composed
themselves and proceeded to business, which was of an
unimportant nature.

On Monday, the 25th, Lord BROUGHAM moved the
second reading of a bill intended to Reform the Proceedings
in the Court of Chancery, in cases where the will
of a deceased person was uncontested, and to assimilate
the proceedings to the course provided under the winding
up of railway acts. The noble and learned lord
introduced his motion with a graphic description of
the delay, expense, and irritation to which parties were
subjected in that court, even in cases where there was
no opposition whatever, and stated that the effect of his
measure would be to reduce the preliminary expenses
from between £200 to £300, which they were now, down
to 5s., with a proportionate saving in all the subsequent
steps of the suit. Lord LANGDALE expressed a cordial
concurrence in the objects of the bill, though he had
some doubts whether this measure would attain them.
The bill was then read a second time, and the
house adjourned for the Easter recess until Thursday,
April 11th.

On Thursday, the 28th of February, in the HOUSE OF
COMMONS, Mr. HUME moved for leave to bring in a
bill to Amend the National Representation, by extending
the elective franchise to resident occupiers of houses
or lodgers for a year, rated to the poor; by enacting
that votes shall be taken by ballot; the duration of
parliaments limited to three years; and the proportion of
representatives made more consistent with the amount
of property. The debate which ensued was not
characterised by novelty, the usual topics being urged on
both sides. On a division the motion was negatived by
242 against 96.

On Friday the 29th, Sir B. HALL presented several
petitions from subscribers to Mr. Feargus O'Connor's
National Land Scheme, complaining that they had been
deceived. Mr. O'CONNOR defended himself: he had
deceived nobody; had got no money out of anybody;
and had neglected no means of securing the welfare of
his clients and subscribers. The petitioners had paid,
he said, little or no rent; the scheme was his debtor for
large advances, and it was no fault of his that the
company had not been fully registered, and its financial
concerns placed under the control of responsible trustees.
He had applied to Lord Duncan and Mr. S. Crawford
to assume those functions, but had received a refusal
from the former. Finally he promised to offer a bill to
settle the affairs of the association under the supervision
of parliament.

Lord PALMERSTON, on Monday the 4th of March,
gave some explanations respecting the State of our
Relations with Greece. He said that application for redress
having been refused by the Greek government, reprisals
had been made upon Greek vessels in order to obtain
security for satifying our demands, and that the reprisals
were thought, at the date of the last accounts, the 18th
of February, to be sufficient for the purpose; that the
good offices of the French government had been accepted,
but that the French negotiator had not arrived; that
diplomatic relations with Greece had not been suspended,
Mr. Wyse being still in diplomatic intercourse with the
Greek government, and his lordship mentioned a
confirmatory fact, which, however, appeared to be rather
amusing than convincing to the house, namely that the
British fleet had fired a salute in honour of the Queen
of Greece.—The Parliamentary Voters (Ireland) Bill
was considered in committee. Sir R. FERGUSON moved
the omission of the 2nd clause, which gave a title to
vote to joint-occupiers rated at £8 each; but after some
discussion, upon a division the clause was retained by
144 against 104. Clause 3, creating a freehold county
franchise of the rated value of £5, was opposed by
Mr. REYNOLDS, as a dangerous innovation, opening
the door to fictitious voters, since neither occupancy nor
payment of rates is required. Sir Frederick THESIGER
followed up the objection, and in a long speech supported
an amendment by which he proposed to secure that
the £5 value should be net value above all rates and
charges. The amendment was rejected, by 106 to 30.—
Clause 6, creating a borough franchise for £8 occupants,
was criticised by a number of Irish members, as too high
in value; Lord CASTELREAGH, Mr. MONSELL, and
Mr. M'CULLAGH joining in the representations that
an £8 franchise is higher for Ireland than a £10 one for
England; and urging reconsideration of the matter in
favour of a £5 franchise.—Lord John RUSSELL resisted
all importunities; stating, that if the proposal of £5
were adopted there would be little chance of the bill
passing this session. A £5 amendment was negatived,
by 142 to 90.

On Tuesday, the 5th, Mr. SLANEY moved for a
committee to consider on the plans which might be devised
for the Social Improvement of the Labouring Classes.
Concerning the distressed condition of those classes, the
honourable member entered into many details. He
showed, by the returns of mortality, pauperism, and
criminality, how wide and excessive was the destitution
under which they were now suffering. The causes of
this deplorable state of things ought to be discovered,
and the remedies pointed out. In an economical point
of view, the question was most important. Want and
its consequences, in the shape of hospitals, gaols,
workhouses, transportation, and all their accessories, amounted
altogether, for England alone, to an aggregate of twenty-
seven millions, and for the whole of the United Kingdom
could not be less than forty millions annually. All the
remedial measures, for improving the education,
protecting the health, and increasing the employment of
the poorer classes, had originated with private members,
and had neither received due attention from the government,
nor attracted its fitting share of interest in parliament.
He concluded with denouncing the laissez-faire
system of legislation.—The motion was directly opposed
by Mr. TRELAWNEY, as a proposition to do for the
working-classes what they ought to do for themselves;
by Mr. CAMPBELL, as an attempt to constitute an unpaid
commission for doing what a paid commission would do
better; and by Mr. STANFORD, on the ground that it
is unnecessary—if gentlemen would voluntarily devote
themselves to the inquiry during the recess, their labours
could not fail of being advantageous to the government.
Sir George GREY bore witness to Mr. Slancy's devotion
to the subject, and his desire to benefit the working-
classes; but he expressed doubts as to the possibility of
working a commission of four or five. The only effect
of such a plan would be to overwhelm parliament with
blue books, full of matters on which there is already
ample information. When any proposition to promote
the welfare of the working-classes is clearly and
distinctly recognised, there is no necessity for any
committee to carry it out.—Mr. Hume concurred in Sir
George Grey's doubts; and Mr. SLANEY withdrew his
motion.

The adjourned debate on the second reading of the
Marriages Bill was resumed on the 6th. Mr. HOPE
opposed the bill, on the ground that it would be but one
step, because the legislature, if it passed the present
measure, would be compelled to legalise all marriages
which had been contracted in violation of the present
law. He stated that 280 clergymen in various parts of
the country have returned information that they know
of 269 marriages within the prohibited degrees. Of these
cases, 178 were marriages of the deceased wife's sister:
the remaining 91 cases were marriages of persons standing