§ MR. HUNT,in moving that the House at its rising do adjourn till Monday next, said, he thought it would be convenient if he were to state the business which it was proposed should then be proceeded with. Supply would be the first Order, and the Estimates for the Revenue Departments and Post Office Packet Service would then be taken. He might add, with reference to a Question which had been asked, that it was the intention of his right hon. Friend the Home Secretary to proceed with the Reformatory and Industrial Schools Bill, and, if time allowed, with the Public Health Bill, the Vaccination Bill, and the Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings Bill.
§ MR. BERESFORD HOPEsaid, it would be very much for the convenience of the House if some hon. Gentleman could state when an opportunity would be given for fully sifting the questions relating to the public buildings of the metropolis—the National Gallery, the Royal Academy, and the University of London.
§ MR. E. C. EGERTONsaid, that the course the Government intended to take would be stated on Monday next.
§ MR. DARBY GRIFFITHsaid, that the prolonged interregnum of Government was a very serious detriment to the public, because events of immense importance were now passing on the Continent with extreme rapidity. It was known that after the disastrous engagement the other day a proposition was made by Austria to the French Government relating to the cession of part of Venetia, and also for the intervention of that Government. It was solely on account of the extraordinary nature of that proceeding that he ventured to warn the House and the public as to the possible consequences that might ensue. In this case one of the three 757 belligerent Powers had handed over to another Government which had taken no part in the war a province which it was to dispose of to another of the belligerent Powers, and the difficulty he felt was that some decision might inadvertently be come to on the part of our Foreign Office before an opportunity could be had of expressing the opinion of that House and the country on the matter. They had had experience of a transaction different in itself, but somewhat similar in its circumstances, on a former occasion, when Lombardy was ceded to France; and when that province was handed over to Italy compensation was required. France was then a belligerent; but in this case France was only a spectator. In this case a cession was first made to France and she might use that position so as, in the political slang of the day, to secure "a material guarantee" by which she might attain any other advantage which appeared to her desirable on behalf of her Empire. At the first blush of the question it might seem plausible to enter into the new arrangement that had been proposed; but if the cession of Venetia to France were readily acquiesced in, the question might be raised as to whether compensation might be desired by France, and whether that Power might not cast her eyes upon one of the finest islands in the Mediterranean, that of Sardinia. He hoped this subject would meet with the most earnest attention from the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
§ Motion agreed to.
§ House at rising to adjourn till Monday next.