and every clime, to contribute to this great enterprise,
to which we have been prompted by our unwavering
attachment to the faith handed down to us from the
Apostles, and which, as Catholics, we deem more
precious than our lives." The address is "signed on
behalf of the General Committee," by "+ Paul,
Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of all Ireland, Chairman,
and William Keogh, Secretary," of the Association.
The following are the heads of the Franchise Reform
Bill which the Court of Common Council have determined
shall be brought into Parliament in the ensuing
session:—"That every person who shall occupy
premises in the city of London for a period of a year and
a day, and shall pay scot and bear lot, shall be a freeman
and a citizen, and shall be entitled to all the
benefits and privileges and be subjected to all the
duties thereof. That every freeman and citizen be
rated to some municipal, parliamentary, or parochial
rate, to an amount of not less than £10. That all
reference to the register of voters for members of Parliament
be repealed. That the roll of freemen and
citizens be made out in the first week of October; to
be revised by the aldermen and Common Council, in
wardmote, in the first week of November following;
with a provision that due notice be given in each ward
of times when and places where such revision shall be
appointed to take place. That in the absence of the
Alderman the Lord Mayor act in his stead. That the
qualifications for candidates for the Common Council
be the same as those of the electors; and that provisions
be made to prevent any person being a candidate for
the office of Alderman or Common Councilman, who
may not have paid his debts in full, in the event of his
having been bankrupt, insolvent, or having compounded
with his creditors. That the qualifications for Alderman
be those of the freemen and citizens as aforesaid,
and that the Alderman be elected for a period not
exceeding seven years. That the act of 11th George I.
c.18,(Election Act,) be further amended as follows:—
That freemen occupiers be entitled to vote in all elections
in Common Hall in addition to the Liverymen. That
the poll at elections in Common Hall be limited to one
day. That no person be eligible to be a candidate at
elections in Common Hall for the offices of Chamberlain
and Bridge-master without seven days' notice of his
being a candidate. That all enactments of the present
Election Acts inconsistent with the foregoing be
repealed."
At the second general meeting of the Suffolk Agricultural
Relief Association, (a body consisting of tenant-
farmers,) held at Bury St. Edmund's on the 16th, the
following resolution was agreed to:—"That this meeting
regards the present aspect of public affairs as highly
favourable to the advocacy of the principles of this
association: and that it would rejoice to witness statesmen
who at present deal in doubtful terms come forward
and ingenuously declare their principles and propound
their plans for the improvement of the condition of the
farmers."
A public meeting of merchants and others interested
in the Communications with India and China, viâ
Egypt, was held at the London Tavern on the 14th,
for the purpose of considering and adopting such means
as may be thought most advisable, by memorialising
the government or otherwise, in order to avert the
danger which now menaces the important British
interests connected with our colonies and possessions
in the East. The meeting was numerously and
respectably attended, and among the gentlemen on the
platform were Messrs. A. Anderson, M.P., M'Gregor,
M.P., Aglionby, M.P., General Briggs, Mr. S. Gregson,
Mr. Larking, Mr. Barton, Mr. Foster, Mr. De Salis,
Mr. Briggs, Mr. Ewart, Mr. R. Brooks, Mr. T. Fox,
&c. The chair was occupied by Mr. Samuel Gregson,
the chairman of the East India and China Association,
and a gentleman of high standing in the East India
trade. The meeting was addressed by the chairman,
Mr. Briggs, Mr. Foster (Member of Council at Port
Philip), Mr. M'Gregor, General Briggs, and Mr.
Aglionby. The following important resolutions were
unanimously agreed to:—"That a safe, speedy,
commodious, and economical means of transit through
Egypt has become essential to the security and good
government of our Indian empire, to the extension of
commercial intercourse between Europe and the East,
to the industrial and social improvement of Egypt;
and is opposed neither to the interests nor the legitimate
ambition of any nation on earth.—That the interference
of the Ottoman Porte in the internal administration of
Egypt, as recently manifested by its assumption of the
power to prevent the construction of the Egyptian
Railway, and to divest the Pasha of Egypt of the
necessary authority to maintain order in that country,
is calculated to injure the important British interests
involved in the facility and safety of the transit through
Egypt of the mails, passengers, and goods, to and from
the East. That it is therefore expedient to press upon
her Majesty's government the necessity of a prompt and
active interposition to prevent the Porte from proceeding
further in the course which she has in this respect
pursued; and that, with this view, the memorial to the
prime minister now ready be adopted and put in course
of signature.—That this meeting desire to convey to his
Highness Abbas Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt, the assurance
of their sympathy and of their support by every legitimate
means in the present position of his affairs; a
sympathy and support which they consider he has
fully earned by the liberal, active, and judicious manner
in which he has devoted, and proposes to devote, his
resources to the improvement and security of the transit
of the mails, travellers, and property, to and from the
East.—That a copy of this resolution be transmitted
or presented to his Highness in such manner as the
committee before named may think proper."—A committee
was appointed to communicate with government, and
otherwise further the objects of the meeting.
A great meeting of the leading members of all the
boards of guardians in the province of Munster was
held at Limerick on the 15th, in opposition to the
order for Repayment of the Famine Advances. The
attendance was extremely numerous and influential.
Sir Richard De Burgh presided. A letter from
Lord John Russell, to Mr. John O'Brien, was read;
in which Lord John said:—"Any statements showing
the heavy pressure of poor-rate and the difficulty
of supporting the poor will be attentively
considered by the government: but no government
can give any countenance to the doctrine of repudiation
which has been so unfortunately broached in some
parts of Ireland." On the motion of Lord Clarina,
seconded by Sir Lucius O'Brien, it was resolved—"That
a memorial be presented to the First Lord of the
Treasury respecting the distressed condition of the
Munster Union, and the impolicy of enforcing the
repayment of the consolidated annuities at the present
juncture." The memorial was then read. It argued
that neither the government nor parliament were
aware, when the act was passed, of the burden which
it would impose on large portions of the province of
Munster: it acknowledged that the waste of the money
advanced could not be fairly laid on the administrators
of the public funds—"for documents laid on the table
of the houses of parliament, at the time of the reform
of the poor-law in England, a country in which the
system of self-government has been so long established,
show that, when similar systems were tried in any of
the English parishes, similar results ensued:" it pointed
out that a persistence in the order for repayment
would accelerate the depopulation of the province, and
the flight of capital for "refuge under another flag."
Therefore, while disclaiming "the wish to evade any
payment which justice and sound policy may sanction,"
it earnestly impressed upon the government the strong
conviction of the meeting "that the payment of the
advances should be for the present suspended; that
the calculations erroneously made of the liabilities of
each district should be corrected; and that an intention
of reconsidering the whole question should be at once
announced." The memorial was adopted unanimously;
and a committee was nominated for communication
with the government.
The Hon. Captain Duncomb was, on the 17th inst.,
elected Member for the East Riding of Yorkshire, in
the room of the deceased Mr. Broadley.
William Millegan, Esq. was, on the 21st. inst., elected
member for the Borough of Bradford, in the room of
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