§ Lord John Russellsaid, he would now make the motion of which he had already given notice, that Orders of the Day have precedence of motions from the I of July next. It had been usual, of late years, to make such a motion at an advanced period of the Session, and it was obviously of great advantage to send up to the House of Lords the Bills which were to be pressed through at as early a period as possible, in the month of July. Undoubtedly, should they 969 be delayed till the month of August, there would then be good grounds for the other House to postpone the consideration of them to another Session. As there was an anxiety on the part of hon. Members that the Bills now before the House should be forwarded without delay, it was his intention, after this motion was carried, to propose that the third reading of the Registration of Births and of Marriages Bills should take place to-morrow, and have precedence of all other motions.
§ Mr. Robinsonsaid, he would not oppose so desirable a step on the part of the Government with a view to getting through the business of the Session; at the same time he thought it rather hard upon those hon. Members whose motions stood upon the notice book, and many of which had been postponed till the present late period with the expectation of bringing them on.
§ Mr. Humethought it extremely desirable that they should endeavour to get through the public business. He had already presented a petition from Upper Canada, and he had given notice of a motion as soon as the papers were on the Table; with the exception of that urgent question, he pledged himself that he would not interfere with the Orders of the Day.
§ Sir George Sinclairobserved, that the motion of the noble Lord opened an extensive field for argument, and might give rise to an adjourned debate of at least two nights, as it was in the power of any or every Member to select as many of the notices as he thought proper, and urge the importance of each as a ground for resisting the noble Lord's proposition. He (Sir G. Sinclair) was one of the noble Lord's earliest victims, as he had a notice on the books for the 5th of July, with respect to the College of Maynooth. He was, however, quite satisfied with the noble Lord's arrangement, as far as he was personally concerned, for he had previously determined, at the suggestion of some respected Irish friends to postpone, until next Session, a formal motion on that subject, and then to move for a Select Committee to inquire into the system of instruction pursued at that establishment, an inquiry which it would be impossible to enter upon with advantage before the prorogation. It would also be perfectly competent for himself, as well as for any other Member, to state on the Irish miscellaneous estimates the grounds on which a grant for such a purpose as that to which May- 970 nooth is devoted appeared to be altogether inexpedient.
The Motion carried; and it was resolved that, from and after July 1st, Orders of the Day have precedence of notice of motions on Tuesdays and Thursdays.