Lords Sitting of 17 February 1853

MINUTES.
Sat First in Parliament—The Earl of Beauchamp, after the death of his Brother.
Took the Oaths.—The Earl of Burlington.
PUBLIC BILLS.—1a Transfer of Aids; Law of Evidence (Scotland); County Elections Polls; Valuation Act Amendment (Ireland).

TRANSPORTATION.
LORD MONTEAGLEsaid, it bad been rumoured that the Government intended to introduce some measure the effect of which would be the total suppression of transportation to Australia. Now that he thought must be a mistake; he believed that so far from there being any indisposition on the part of the inhabitants of Western Australia to receive convicts, they were desirous that convicts should be sent to that colony. He wished to know, therefore, from the noble Duke (the Duke of Newcastle) whether it was intended that the contemplated measure should apply to Western Australia?
The DUKE of NEWCASTLEsaid, he was much obliged to his noble Friend for putting this question, because there had been considerable misapprehension abroad as to what fell from the noble Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Lord John Russell) in the House of Commons last week, when he announced the measures proposed to be introduced by the Government. Before he answered the question, it might perhaps be convenient that he should state the position in which this question stood upon the accession of the present Government to office. It would be recollected that, at the commencement of the Session in November last, Her Majesty, in the Speech from the Throne, recommended Parliament to take into consideration at an early period whether it might not be possible, by changes in the law, so to deal with the question of secondary punishments as to enable them before long to dispense with transportation to Van Diemen's Land. He (the Duke of Newcastle) found that on the 14th of December his predecessor in the office of Colonial Secretary (Sir John Pakington) addressed to the Governors of the Australian Colonies a despatch on tins subject, in which he stated that the then Government would be prepared, as speedily as possible, to abandon transportation to Van Diemen's Land; but that it would be necessary to effect certain changes in the
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law, and to make preparations in this country with reference to increased prison accommodation and other matters, which prevented him from fixing any definite time at which transportation would cease; but he promised that it should be brought to a close as speedily as arrangements could be made. Upon succeeding that right hon. Gentleman in the Colonial of-fice, and his attention having been called to the state of the question, it occurred to him, and to the other Members of the Government, that, with this promise of an early cessation of transportation to Van Diemen's Land, it was necessary immediately to look into the subject both in its bearings upon the Colonies and upon this country, with the view of endeavouring to decide at what exact period it might be possible to bring the system to a final termination. With that view, having entered into communication with his noble Friend the Secretary for the Home Department (Viscount Palmorston), and having carefully investigated the subject, they came some short time ago to the conclusion that it would be practicable, and that being practicable it was most desirable, that transportation to Van Diemen's Land should cease at once. He had therefore the pleasure of assuring his noble Friend, in answer to his question, that, as regarded Van Diemen's Land, not one convict more would be sent there. In stating that, however, he would not conceal from his noble Friend, or from the House, that the question was not by any means unanimously decided in the colony of Van Die-men's Land whether or not it was time that transportation should cease. At the same time, looking to what was, he thought he might say, the general feeling of the colony, and to the fact that the other colonies contiguous to it were so deeply interested in the question, and so greatly affected by the continuance of transportation to Van Diemen's Land, he thought there could be but one opinion as to the propriety of the course taken by the Government, that transportation to that colony should cease at once and altogether. As to the question, so far as it regarded transportation to Western Australia, what had fallen from his noble Friend the Foreign Secretary (Lord John Russell) in the other House had been misunderstood. His noble Friend bad not said that transportation should at once and immediately cease to all the Australian Colonics, but that it should cease immediately as regarded Van

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Diemen's Land. The noble Lord (Lord Monteagle) had rightly stated that, with regard to Western Australia, so far from its being desired by the colonists that transportation should cease, it was alleged by many persons that it would be a very great inconvenience to that colony if transportation were at once abandoned. With respect to that colony, very considerable expenditure had been incurred by this country, within a very recent period, for the accommodation of convicts there; and, looking to this expenditure, to the interests of the colony, and to this further fact, that while they were benefiting the colonists of Western Australia by continuing transportation to that colony, they were not in any way injuring any other colony, because its remote position, as compared with that of others, prevented that efflux of convicts who received their pardons into other colonies, which did take place from Van Diemen's Land—looking at all these facts, the Government had come to the conclusion that it might be safe and wise for a short period, and to a limited extent, to continue transportation to Western Australia. At the same time he thought it necessary to state—and he did not say it with any view of now introducing a discussion on the subject, which he thought would be premature; but, in reference to what had fallen from his noble and learned Friend the Lord Chief Justice the other night, and to the alteration of the law which must take place this Session, in order that there might be no misconception or misunderstanding on the point, he would remind them that the colony of Western Australia was of very limited extent indeed: he did not mean, of course, with respect to territory, but population. The free population of that colony was extremely small. The number of convicts hitherto sent there was not inconsiderable, and consequently the means of receiving others were but limited. It was therefore right that he should state, looking to the alteration of the law upon this subject which must take place before long—he meant in the present Session—and looking to the circumstance that Western Australia now remained the only colony to which, with safety to the interests of the colonists, transportation could be continued, that he could not, on the part of the Government, hold out any expectation but that transportation to Western Australia would also, before long, be brought to a final conclusion. However, convicts would, in all pro-
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bability, be sent out to that colony for a very short time, and to a limited extent. But with regard to Van Diemen's Land, and all other Australian Colonies, no further convicts would be sent to them.
LORD CAMPBELLdid not desire to enter into any lengthened discussion upon the subject to which their Lordships' attention had been drawn, but he must express his most earnest desire that Her Majesty's Government should deliberate carefully before they determined upon the abolition of transportation. He thought that system afforded the best chance of reforming criminals, and of protecting the community at large from the repetition of those crimes for which they were transported. He declared to their Lordships, that from his experience as a Judge he was in a position to state that the sentence of transportation produced the deepest effect not only upon those upon whom it was passed, but on all who heard it pronounced. He believed that no length of imprisonment that could be inflicted upon a criminal, afforded the slightest chance of his reformation. Let them look to the state of things in a country with which his noble and learned Friend who sat near him (Lord Brougham) was well acquainted—he meant France. He had conversed with a great number of eminent lawyers and statesmen in that country, and he had been informed by them that criminals returning to Paris from the travaux forces, uniformly returned to their habits of depredation and violence. Those lawyers and statesmen had expressed themselves in the highest terms in favour of the system which prevailed in this country, by which criminals were removed altogether from the scene of their outrages, and had an opportunity of becoming useful and respectable members of society. If the Government should decide on the abolition of transportation to Australia, he most earnestly hoped that some other part of the world would be found to which our convicts might be sent, for he despaired of finding any system of secondary punishment at home which could be advantageously substituted for it.
LORD BROUGHAMdid not wish to prolong the conversation; but as his noble and learned Friend had referred to him upon the opinions held in France upon this subject, he was bound to add that some change might be observed in the opinions of reflecting and well-informed persons, and that in some quarters where, some years ago, a strong opinion was entertain-

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ed against the punishment of the galleys, and in favour of transportation, or what the French called "deportation," there was now much hesitation on the subject, and a strong disposition to reconsider the matter. It was certain, however, that the great bulk of the people were favourable to transportation, such opinion being founded upon their actual experience of the working of the existing system of punishment. If their Lordships would look at the reports of proceedings in the criminal courts in any part of France, but particularly in the great cities, they would find that a very considerable number of the convicts who were sentenced were persons who had before been condemned to the travaux forces; and that these were not escaped convicts, but persons who, after suffering heavy punishments, had been turned loose upon society, and had again resorted to the commission of crime. He would not say that the penitentiary system of this country might not be so greatly improved as to provide a fit and proper system of secondary punishments; but the difficulty was very great, as those noble Lords who had attended their Committee in 1847 well knew.
LORD ST. LEONARDSsaid, that the late Government had no desire that he was aware of to abolish transportation. He was not himself aware of any secondary punishment that could be advantageously inflicted in this country by way of substitution for transportation; but the question was, whether transportation could or could not be maintained. It was clear that they could not continue to send convicts to places to which they had hitherto been sent; but he was not aware that it was necessary to do away with transportation altogether, for not only was Western Australia open to them for some time, but they had also Bermuda, Gibraltar, and other places, to which he believed they might continue to send persons who were transported to be employed on the public works. He hoped the Government would not carry into execution the abolition of the punishment of transportation beyond the necessity of the case, for he, for one, thought that transportation was the best secondary punishment that had hitherto been devised in this country; but, as far as there was a necessity for its cessation, they must submit.
The DUKE of NEWCASTLEobserved, that the question of transportation, so far as the colonies were concerned, stood upon
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a totally different footing from what the noble and learned Lord who had last spoken alluded to as transportation to Bermuda and Gibraltar. The convict establishments in those places stood more on the same footing, though on a different soil, with those at Dartmoor and Portland. They were prisons where the convicts were employed on public works; and, with respect to them, it was not the intention of the Government to introduce any alteration whatever.
LORD ST. LEONARDSsaid, he was perfectly aware of the distinction to which the noble Duke had referred, but he had thought it necessary to advert to it. All he had meant to say was, that being sent to these places was transportation, and that, as the convicts could there be occupied usefully as regarded the public, there was no necessity for the total cessation of transportation.

THE LORD LIEUTENANCY OF IRELAND.
The EARL of CARDIGANrose, in pursuance of the notice he had put upon the paper, to put a question on the subject of abolishing the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and assured their Lordships that he would not have presumed to obtrude himself on their notice for the purpose of originating a discussion on such an important subject as this, even by asking a question; but the ground of his justification for rising at present was, that the subject was not new to their Lordships, it having been brought under the notice of both Houses of Parliament one or two years since by a measure which was then introduced for the abolition of the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland by the noble Lord who at present occupied the office of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Lord John Russell); and he found that on several occasions the House of Commons had come to divisions on the subject, and that there was invariably a large majority in favour of the measure introduced by the noble Lord. He found also, that it was not at all considered as a party question, for he saw the names of Gentlemen of all parties—Sir Robert Peel for instance—in the majority. Before he put the question, he was anxious to make one or two observations on the subject. It appeared to him that the noble Lords who were selected to fill the important post of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, were placed in a very equivocal, painful, and anomalous position. He (the Earl of Cardigan) had had the honour of paying

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his respects in the course of the last few years to several of those whom, without meaning to use a harsh expression, he would call mock kings, or, if they liked it better, fictitious kings; and he could not help observing that he had often admired the great good humour with which they carried themselves through the difficult task which had been imposed upon them, although he must confess there were some occasions on which he had witnessed a want of tact and quickness in assuming oval habits and demeanour, which, perhaps, was hardly to be wondered at, considering the newness of the position, and the fact that its duties must have been foreign to the previous habits of many of them. He was perfectly aware, however, that some of the noble Lords who had been placed in that position had rendered great and essential services to the country while holding that office. There was, for instance, a noble Earl on the other side (the Earl of Clarendon), who in a time of serious public disturbance exhibited a great deal of decision, talent, and judgment, in suppressing that disturbance, and had thereby rendered great and important service to his country; and there was another noble Earl, who, if he had been present, would have been sitting on his side of the House (the Earl of Eglintoun), who by the sound judgment, discretion, and tact which he evinced during his period of office, had obtained a universal and well-merited popularity. But he (the Earl of Cardigan) did not believe that, had the noble Earl opposite not occupied the position of Lord Lieutenant at the critical period to which he had referred, the result would have been very different from what it was; that the British Empire would have been dismembered, or, that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland would have ceased to exist. He certainly felt, however, that any noble Lord who undertook to occupy the position was exposed to great difficulties. Let their Lordships just observe the course of a Viceroy. He would suppose that a noble Lord of unblemished and highly respectable character, though perhaps not of transcendent ability, young in years, and younger and lower still in the list of the Peerage, was selected to pass over to the other side of the water to fill the office of Viceroy in that part of Her Majesty's dominions. He arrived in the country amidst a great parade of troops; he then proceeded to take the oaths, and immediately afterwards held a
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number of levees and drawing-rooms, at which he has to undergo the task of saluting 300 or 400 ladies; an amusement very innocent in itself, but it appeared to him very extraordinary that any one of their Lordships should be placed in a position where he had to undergo such a ceremony as a point of duty. These were followed up by several great fêtes and dinners at the Castle, which were, no doubt, very agreeable both as acts of hospitality and as an encouragement of trade; but it ought to be recollected that it was not necessary that any one should assume Royal habits in order to enable him to give those entertainments. At those fêtes and dinners there appeared a numerous and splendid staff, and various high officers of the household, such as a Chamberlain, a Controller, Treasurer, and a Master of the Horse. He believed that one of the principal duties of the staff officers on such occasions was to carve the massive joints on the vicegeral table. The Master of the Horse had a high salary for superintending an establishment of some eight or ten horses; and probably knew as much about the selection of these horses as some other Masters of the Horse in other countries. But there was another serious objection to the system, and that was, many of the Household officers held appointments in the Army, and, although away from their military duties, retained their full pay in addition to their salaries, largo or small, as officers of the vicegeral household. He must say that that was a very objectionable system. In addition to giving fêtes and dinners, it was also necessary that the new Viceroy should go to the theatre, on which occasion he proceeded through the quiet streets of Dublin attended by a cavalry escort. At the theatre he had an opportunity of showing himself off to his admiring subjects; and he must say that he was in general well received by the good-humoured and versatile inhabitants of the Irish metropolis. At the theatre there must of course be a representation; and if it happened by chance to be the well-known farce of King Charming, the Viceroy might see not a very unfaithful representation of his own very equivocal and somewhat ludicrous position. Did their Lordships really think that in this 19th century, when genius, talent, education, and instruction were making such rapid advances, a little common sense on the details of the Government of this great country should not be allowed to go

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along with them? It appeared from experience that the maintenance of the office of Lord Lieutenant, so far from tending to expedite business, was exceedingly inconvenient. In the first place, it led to irresponsibility—for one great inconvenience was the difficulty on the part of persons who had occasion to transact Irish business in finding out where the responsibility lay—the officials in Ireland, when applied to, declaring that they could give no decided answer in the matter, as it was one which must be settled by the Imperial Government; and the Imperial Government, when applied to, declaring that they could do nothing without the advice of the Lord Lieutenant. Then came the inconvenience of the frequent changing of Lords Lieutenant with every change of Government, which were not unfrequent since the Reform Bill, and to all appearance not likely to be less so. A Lord Lieutenant might get tired of the round of ceremonies which he had to go through; and they had known cases where a Lord Lieutenant had preferred being a Secretary of State to his mimic royalty. Nor was it possible with such changes duly to administer the laws, and especially those for the repression of, crime and irregularities. Great inconvenience also arose from the frequent changes; because it unfortunately happened that each Viceroy was in the habit of reversing the acts of his predecessor. For instance, the noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Clarendon), when helding the office, thought proper to remove a noble Earl (the Earl of Roden) from the high position he held in the magistracy of his county; and it appeared that the noble Lord who had just gone over had offered to reinstate the noble Earl in his old position, but had made the offer in such an offensive way that the noble Lord scorned the proffered boon. There was also the strong case of Mr. Kirwan, the stipendiary magistrate, who, for a serious offence, received from the late Lord Lieutenant the lenient sentence of six months' suspension from office; and it appeared that the Lord Lieutenant who had just gone over had reversed that decision, and would not allow that moderate punishment to be carried out, but had instantly ordered Mr. Kirwan to be reinstated in his post. Such changes must necessarily lead to great uncertainty in the administration of justice. There was still another, which he alluded to a few evenings ago—he meant the Six-mile Bridge affair, in which there were two most
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important points before the Government, namely, the prosecution of the soldiers and of the Roman Catholic priests. He maintained that the office of Lord Lieutenant was quite unnecessary, now that the communication between the two capitals of England and Ireland was so close and constant. There were at present no fewer than three mails each day from London to Dublin, and two back, besides an electric telegraph to Holyhead, and a submarine telegraph from Holyhead to Dublin, when it was in working order, yet nothing was known here respecting these two points by what was called the Imperial Government; and it seemed as if the local Government was still floundering about in uncertainty and indecision. He trusted that nothing he had said would be so misunderstood as to raise any doubts as to his perfect loyalty and veneration for genuine Royalty in all its forms. He was happy to believe that the people of this country generally were loyal; but he had a double right to have his own loyalty unquestioned; for an ancestor of his, of the same name, had suffered a long imprisonment for his devotion to the first Charles, and his family had been amongst those most noted for their fidelity to the Crown for the last two hundred years. But when it came to a question of bowing the head and bending the knee to one of their Lordships' House—he thought, without any disrespect to their Lordships either collectively or individually—he must say that he found the superabundance and overflowing of loyalty, and love of royalty, and all its forms, and all its etiquette, began on such occasions considerably to evaporate. The proposition to abolish the viceregal court might well fill up the interim which would elapse before the production of the great Government measure for the reform of the national representation, and might therefore be useful to the Government. He did not know whether that great measure was framed or created; but it was pretty clear that, unlike other creations, it would take much more than nine months to bring it into the world. If the noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs again brought forward his measure, he (the Earl of Cardigan) had no doubt it would meet with the support of many Members of this House. He should certainly accord it his own, though he was afraid it would be almost the only vote he should give to the Government—that "happy family," composed of persons of

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every political faith and creed, the most directly opposed to each other that human ingenuity or the mind of man ever devised. The question he wished to put to the noble Earl was, whether Her Majesty's Government intended to carry into effect the announcement made by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, when First Lord of the Treasury, of his intention to do away with the Office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland?
The EARL of ABERDEENsaid, that, in answering the question of the noble Earl, he should not think it necessary to enter into an inquiry of how far it might be expedient to abolish the office of Lord Lieutenant, nor should he inquire into the various agreeable duties which the noble Earl had assigned to that official. No doubt the subject to which he had alluded had occupied the attention of the Parliament; hut with respect to his noble Friend (Lord John Russell), to whom the noble Earl had alluded, he believed he might say with truth that, whatever might have been his opinion, his intention of abolishing the office of Lord Lieutenant had been abandoned before he gave up the office of First Lord of the Treasury; for it had been found, whatever reasons might have induced the proposal, that it would be received with so much aversion in that country, that all the advantages which the noble Earl had described, even including the abolition of fêtes, dinners, and processions, would not compensate for the ill-will and opposition which it would occasion. Therefore it was that his noble Friend had abandoned that intention before he quitted office. The noble Earl, who had given notice of his intention to put a question only, had made a speech upon the whole state of Ireland. He was afraid, even at the risk of losing the solitary vote which the noble Earl had promised him, that he should not be able to give him a satisfactory reply. No doubt, the reasons which the noble Earl had urged, and which unfortunately had no weight with him, might have had much weight with the noble Lords opposite, and he could not see why last year the noble Earl should not have urged all those reasons which he had now offered. However, as the noble Earl had asked the intention of Her Majesty's present Government, he could answer without any hesitation that they had no intention of abolishing the office of Lord Lieutenant.
The EARL of WICKLOWwas very
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much disappointed at the reply which had just proceeded from the noble Earl near him. Whatever objections might have existed to the abolition of the office hitherto, were now removed by the facilitated intercourse which existed between the two countries. He thought it would be highly beneficial that the proposed change should take place. In an economical point of view it would be very desirable. At all events, if the Lord Lieutenant were to continue in that country, he ought no longer to possess the prerogative of mercy; an event which had recently occurred had given an additional reason why that prerogative should be reserved to the Crown itself.
The EARL of DESARTfully acknowledged the anomaly of the present system, which he admitted to be more suited to times of weekly or monthly intercommunication than to the present. But when a great change was to be made in an office which had lasted for five centuries, some stronger reasons should be given for it than those advanced on the ground of economical reform. As far as he recollected the statement of the noble Lord the present Secretary for Foreign Affairs on the subject, he did not admit that the change would be any saving of expense. While he could see no advantage from the abolition of the office, he thought he could point out the benefits that had resulted from the viceregal power. He could not forget the patriotic services of Lord Besborough in 1846, nor those of the noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Clarendon) in the troubled years of 1847–8, nor the simplicity and firmness that characterised the administration of the Earl of Eglinton; qualities not only calculated to command the respect, but also the affection, of the Irish people. These things should make them pause ere they attempted to destroy so ancient an institution.

LAW REFORM—LAW OF EVIDENCE (SCOTLAND) BILL.
LORD BROUGHAMhaving laid on the table a Bill, to alter and amend an Act of the fifteenth year of Her present Majesty, for amending the Law of Evidence in Scotland, expressed his regret that his noble and learned Friend on the woolsack (Lord Cranworth) should have made his statement on law reform in his (Lord Brougham's) absence, because, as the noble and learned Lord had made objections to one of his (Lord Brougham's) measures, he felt it necessary, on the first opportunity, to defend it. No doubt it was very gratifying

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to the friends of law amendment to see the forces of the Government directed to that subject; but when they found those forces going neither backward nor forward, but merely performing the operation of "marking time," seeming to move when they did not advance at all, they felt suspicion and alarm. He was afraid that there was something in the statement of his noble and learned Friend that looked like "marking time." The very few measures which he had announced were, however, important; but of these the most important was the digest of the law. He (Lord Brougham) must say, that the conduct of the late Government, in adopting the digest of criminal law, recommended by the Criminal Law Commission, and embodied in each of his (Lord Brougham's) Bills of 1845, 1848, and 1850, had his (Lord Brougham's) warmest approbation. With respect to trial by jury, God forbid that any attempt should be made to abolish it. Nor was that proposed in the Bill he had presented last November. What was proposed was, that the parties should have an option; and he might even agree that they should not have the option in cases of tort. He admitted that it would require great consideration as to the extent to which this enactment should be carried. But what had experience shown in the county courts? Why, that in only three cases out of 100 where the parties had the option of having a jury or taking the opinion of the Judge, had the parties chosen to have their cases tried by a jury. There were one or two other subjects on which he wished to express an opinion, but when the Bills were brought in, he should have abundant opportunity of discussing them. He hoped his noble and learned Friend would apply his mind to other matters, as well as those upon which he had given notice of his intention to proceed; and such was his entire confidence in the good sense, learning, and experience of his noble and learned Friend, that he felt assured he would treat them in accordance with those sound, rational, and moderate views which he was known to entertain.
The LORD CHANCELLORsaid, he could assure their Lordships, and his noble and learned Friend in particular, that no one in that House regretted more than he did that he had felt bound to make that statement on a day when his noble and learned Friend was not present in his place. But he would observe, it might well have been supposed out of doors that
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he wanted to "mark time" instead of advancing, if he had not taken the very earliest opportunity of stating to their Lordships, and through their Lordships to the country, what were the intentions of the Government on the important subject of law reform. Had he known that his noble and learned Friend would so soon be in the House, he might, perhaps, have been induced to make that statement somewhat later. He took some blame to himself that he did not make the inquiry; but it did not occur to him that his noble and learned Friend, who was so seldom absent from his place, would not be there, so he gave notice on the first night of the Session that on Monday he would make the statement which he then did. He regretted his noble and learned Friend was not present, because he felt persuaded he would have seen that he (the Lord Chancellor) exhibited no intention of "marking time," but of advancing, as he was sure his noble and learned Friend would wish him to do, safely and surely. He had announced his intention of immediately proceeding with the Registration Bill, amended, he hoped, but certainly laboriously considered by him. He stated also that the Charitable Trusts Bill, which was not exactly the same as the Bill introduced a Session or two ago, was in such a state of progress that he hoped in a short time to lay it on the table of the House; and he showed that, having the means, he intended practically and at once to proceed with the digest of the statute law. Surely, then, he could not be said to be merely "marking time." With regard to the observations of his noble and learned Friend on the question now before the Common Law Commission, as to the advisability of giving the option of trial by jury not, if he had been represented as pledging himself against that proposition, he had either not expressed what he meant, or had been misunderstood. He merely said it required the gravest consideration, because, admitting that many questions, such as those relating to common debts, might be ordinarily, safely, and perhaps better tried and decided by a Judge, without the intervention of a jury—assuming that, he yet felt very strongly the advantage arising to the numerous body who performed the duties of jurymen at assizes, and who invariably left the Court more intelligent than when they entered it. He therefore thought they ought not to make any change without looking at the question in every point of view. So far

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from having come to any determination not to adopt the same view as his noble and learned Friend, he might be brought to think that the advantage of a cheaper trial might be greater than the disadvantage of mixing up duties in the administration of justice. There was no man in the country who felt more sensibly than he did the great debt which the country owed to his noble and learned Friend for all he had done, by his surpassing zeal and eminent ability, in the way of law reform; and most assuredly he should always receive with the mo3t respectful and ready attention any suggestion or opinion emanating from his noble and learned Friend.
Bill read 1a.
House adjourned till To-morrow.