THE EARL OF GALLOWAYasked the Lord Chancellor whether he would postpone the second reading of the Representative Peers (Scotland) Bill until the middle of April, for the convenience of the Scotch Peers generally? The noble Earl said, he did not think the request at all an unreasonable one, as a number of Scotch Peers could not conveniently be here until after Easter. They in Scotland should like some time to consider a subject of this kind, and therefore he hoped the noble and learned Earl would not bring on the second 1586 reading of this Bill sooner than Tuesday, the 17th April, and would also, in that case, give an assurance that the Committee would not be taken sooner than the first week in May. The Scotch Peers generally would thank the noble and learned Earl very much if he followed that course.
THE LORD CHANCELLORsaid, that nobody could be more desirous than he was to consult the convenience of all their Lordships, and certainly of the Scotch Peers as much as other Members of their Lordships' House, on a subject in which they were especially interested. He could not, however, entirely assent to the proposal of his noble Friend, as to taking the second reading on the 17th April, or as to the time he suggested for the Committee; but it appeared to him he would meet the views of his noble Friend if he said he would not move the second reading until after Easter. He thought it would be reasonable that he should move it on an early day after their Lordships met again after Easter, which date he did not at present exactly know; and if Scottish Peers did not think it worth while to come up for the second reading, they would have an opportunity of considering the measure in Committee, which he should fix at a reasonable interval after the second reading.
§ House adjourned at Seven o'clock, to Thursday next, a quarter past Ten o'clock.