of this country were plain and simple. We stated our opinions and gave our reasons without indulging in those complimentary expressions which other countries were accustomed to use. He believed that such a Congress, instead of strengthening the foundations of peace, would only lead to a wider separation, and make the existing differences more apparent; but he could assure the House that the relations between the two Governments were as cordial now as they were before the proposition was made. He denied that Ministers had come down without a policy on the Schleswig-Holstein question. That policy had been to endeavour to bring to a friendly settlement the differences which had arisen out of the Treaty of 1852; and within a few hours the Government had had the satisfaction of receiving information from Austria and Prussia that they were prepared to declare that they abide by that treaty, and maintain the integrity of the Danish Monarchy, in accordance with its provisions. By not waiting until the Danish Parliament had assembled and revoked the constitution of last

year, those two Powers had put themselves in the wrong. England, France, Russia, and Sweden had combined in urging Denmark to abrogate that constitution; but it was physically impossible that the King could do so in a constitutional manner until his Parliament had been called together. Austria and Prussia had therefore unjustifiably entered the Danish territories. In conclusion, the noble viscount defended the general foreign policy of his Government. That policy, he declared, was a policy of peace and of unremitting effort to reconcile differences and prevent quarrels and collisions between the various states of Europe; and he was persuaded that it was a policy which would receive the approbation of the country and of Parliament.

The debate was continued at some length. The principal speakers in opposition to the Government were Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald, Lord John Manners, Mr. Whiteside, and Sir John Pakington, the policy of this country in regard to Denmark forming the chief topic of observation. This policy was characterized by some of the Opposition speakers as confused, oscillating, and ignominious.

Mr. Hennessy adverted to a declaration by Earl Russell, that, by the violation of the Treaty of Vienna, Russia had forfeited a title to Poland, and asked why that declaration had been withdrawn from a despatch. He complained of the policy of the Government in relation to Poland, and accused the Emperor of Russia of being the real author of the severities exercised towards the Poles. regard to the Danish question, he examined the history of the Treaty of London, and denied its validity. The question, he said, was one in which we ought not to have interfered. Denmark was actually dismembered, and Lord Russell was responsible for it.

With

The Chancellor of the Exchequer vindicated the course pursued by Her Majesty's Government. He said that the sum and substance of the advice given to Denmark was that she should fulfil

her engagements. So far from contracting a debt to Denmark or to any other country, by giving that advice, he held that they had performed the part of a true friend, and conferred upon her a real obligation.

Eventually the Address was agreed to without a division.

The debate upon the Address on this occasion was marked by the omission of one topic which usually holds a prominent place in such discussions, the condition of Ireland. The omission, however, was repaired on the bringing up of the report, when Mr. Whiteside took occasion to remark upon the absence from the Royal Speech of any reference to the state of the sister country: Ireland, he said, had not participated in the abundance on which Mr. Gladstone had in his financial statement of last session congratulated this country. Those two great branches of the national industry, distillation and the paper manufacture, were in a very depressed condition, and this he attributed to the course of legislation in recent years; whilst so wide-spread was the distress amongst the population, that during the last thirteen months upwards of 100,000 men had quitted the shores of Ireland to swell the ranks of the Federal army of America. He did not see how Irish affairs could be efficiently conducted under a local government, where members exhibited so many discordant opinions. Look at the mode in which they were governed by their chief secretaries. Mr. Horsman was chief secretary for a time, and that gentleman said he had nothing to do. But there was abundant work to be done by those who chose to work for the benefit of the country. Then came Mr. Cardwell, but no one knew why he came or why he left. He occupied one summer in inventing a penal law to punish the young men of Derry for singing songs and hanging out flags, and that law was now a dead letter. Then came Sir R. Peel, who dashed into Dublin, crossed the mountains which separate Sligo from Enniskillen, pierced his way into Londonderry, and from the centre of the unconquered city was reported to have addressed the noble viscount in the words of the great Julius-" Veni, vidi, vici." He should like to know how they were to govern a kingdom of the size of Ireland if they excluded from all share in that Government the brain and industry, the property and intelligence of the country? The right hon. gentleman then referred to the emigration from Ireland, and said, under the circumstances, it was not unreasonable to expect that a few gracious words would have been used to soothe the sorrows of that nation.

Sir R. Peel said that the emigration was but the natural result of Ireland's inability to give employment to the vast number of her agricultural labourers at an adequate remuneration. He did not think, therefore, that it was an immense misfortune that that emigration should continue, though he acknowledged it was a sad thing to find men induced to leave their country upon false pretences, and upon reaching America, obliged to enlist in the Federal army. He believed that the condition

of the agricultural labourers of Ireland was every year improving, and that there was a great and constant increase of social and domestic comfort to be found in their homes. The potato crop was better than it had been since the famine, and the turf had been all well got in. No doubt the prospects of the late harvest had not been fully realized, but, on the whole, he considered that the state of Ireland was better now than it had been for the last three or four years.

Mr. O'Hagan (the Attorney-General for Ireland) vindicated the government of Ireland, and said, that there was at this moment no country in the world which was so free from crime as Ireland, notwithstanding the local and exceptional instances of agrarian outrages.

Mr. Bentinck traced the Irish exodus to the financial legislation which had been completed in 1846. He regretted the silence observed by the Queen's Speech with regard to our relations with the Federal States of America. The Government ought to have informed Parliament whether or not it was their intention to allow the continuance of the paper blockade, or to take steps to render that absurd farce altogether nugatory, and what course they contemplated respecting the outrages committed upon our flag by Federal cruisers. He urged upon Ministers the necessity of putting our military and naval forces upon an efficient footing in view of existing complications; and said that in the event of their determining upon war, they were bound to tell the House how they proposed carrying on operations, without again sacrificing, as in the case of the Crimean war, to a short-sighted and cruel policy, the best blood and the treasure of the country.

At a later period of the Session the subject of Irish Emigration was revived by Mr. P. Hennessy, who moved Resolutions in the following terms:-"That this House observes with regret that the agricultural population of Ireland are rapidly leaving the country ; and that this House trusts that Her Majesty's Government will direct their attention to the subject, with a view of devising some means by which the Irish agricultural population may be induced to devote their capital and labour to reproductive employment at home." He referred to the great extent of the emigration from Ireland, which was at this moment, he said, greater than at any period during the last ten years; to the rapid diminution of the population; to certain theories as to the effects of this decline of the population, and to the actual results, in land going out of cultivation, the reduction of wages, and the increase of pauperism; and he described the inducements held out to the emigrants, and their condition in the places to which they went. He suggested that the Government had the choice of three courses for meeting the evil,-namely, legislative measures that would restore concord between landlord and tenant in Ireland; the employment of public money in public and reproductive works; and lastly, the reclamation of waste lands.

Sir R. Peel, after adverting to the difficulty of properly appreciating the causes of the depressed condition of Ireland, observed that there had been a wonderful revival, and proceeded to reply to Mr. Hennessy upon the two main points of his motion-namely, emigration and the condition of the agricultural population. With regard to emigration from Ireland, Mr. Hennessy's statement, he said, was not strictly correct, and he gave correct details of its extent, which had recently diminished. There was no doubt, he acknowledged, that there was a great desire on the part of the landlords in Ireland to facilitate the emigration of the redundant population on their estates, and he showed that emigration had been regarded by Parliamentary Committees as a relief of the mass of destitution and superabundant labour by reducing the number of those who consumed more than they produced. As regarded the other point, the state of agriculture in Ireland, and the statement of Mr. Hennessy that land was going out of cultivation, he observed that though there had been a decrease in cereals, there had been an immense increase in the quantity of land under cultivation, especially in flax; and with reference to his suggestions, he remarked that an immense quantity of waste land had been reclaimed, and that he did not believe there remained more than 3,500,000 acres of reclaimable land in the island. In conclusion, he showed that there had been a remarkable development of the trade of Ireland; that its capital had increased, that its tillage had improved, that an impulse had been given to its industry, and that all this was owing to the innate energy of the great bulk of the people.

Various opinions were expressed, in the course of the debate which ensued, on the subject of the relations of Landlord and Tenant in Ireland, and the remedies required to give security for the investment of capital in that country. A modification of the laws relating to the tenure of land was advocated by Mr. Maguire and Sir Patrick O'Brien. Lord Athlumney considered that a state of security was the great desideratum for the country, and the manifestation towards the people of a spirit of kindness and forbearance, rather than an interference between landlord and tenant. He considered the present mania for emigration among the Irish peasantry fully accounted for by the many inducements which it offered-the large sums sent over from America to facilitate it, and the little temptation offered to the peasantry to remain at home. Mr. Whiteside thought that the repeal of the Corn Laws and other measures of recent legislation had operated disadvantageously to Ireland. Mr. Monsell regarded the rapidity with which the population was leaving the country as a matter for serious alarm, and he thought that measures were practicable, and ought to be adopted, to meet the evil. Lord Palmerston recommended Mr. Hennessy not to press the motion to a division. No doubt, it was very much to be lamented that causes existed which drove a large mass of the people of Ireland to emigrate from

their native land; but if they went to a country where they found themselves better off than in their own, the change on their account could not be regretted, and it would be unkind to prevent their emigration. It was impossible by legislation to alter the laws that regulate human society. He moved the previous question, and the House by a majority of 80 to 52 decided that the Resolutions should not be put.

CHAPTER II.

FINANCIAL AFFAIRS.-Favourable condition of the Public Revenue at the commencement of the year-Retrospective view of the effects of Mr. Gladstone's policy— Financial position of England contrasted with that of Continental countries.-The Chancellor of the Exchequer's Financial Statement-His review of the results of the Free Trade measures-Unprecedented increase of our foreign trade-Declaration of a surplus and proposed appropriation-Reduction of Income Tax-Fire Insurance Duty and Sugar Duties-Minor alterations in the Customs Duties and Taxes-Ultimate prospects as to the Income Tax-Favourable reception of the Budget in the House of Commons and by the public-A Motion made by Mr. Sheridan to obtain a further reduction of the Duty on Fire Insurance is negatived. -Debates on the Malt Duties-Motion of Colonel Barttelot to give the preference to malt over sugar in the remission of duties negatived by a large majority-Motion by Mr. Morritt pledging the House to future consideration of the Malt Duty rejected-The Chancellor of the Exchequer introduces a Bill to relieve malt designed for the feeding of cattle from duty under certain conditions-Reception of this measure by the agricultural interest-It passes the House of CommonsDebate on the Bill in the House of Lords-Earl Grey deprecates attempts on the part of the landed interest to abolish the Malt Duties-Opposition by other Peers to these views.-Modification of the Sugar Duties-Mr. Crawford objects to the re-adjustment proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer-Vindication of the plan by Mr. Cardwell-The measure of the Government is agreed toRejection of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Bill for altering the system of collecting the Taxes - His plan for extending the benefits of Government Annuities in connexion with life insurance-Alarm and opposition excited against this measure in the first instance-Mr. Gladstone's explanation and justification of his scheme-Proposed reference of the Bill to a Select Committee-Consent of the Government to an inquiry restricted within certain limits-Appointment of the Committee and result of investigation-The apprehensions excited by the Bill are removed, and it passes both Houses of Parliament without opposition-Beneficial character of the measure- -Various Motions in the House of Commons on financial subjects-Rejection of Mr. Hubbard's Resolution respecting the Income TaxAppointment of Committee, pursuant to Colonel Dunne's Motion, to inquire into the proportion of Imperial Taxation borne by Ireland-Withdrawal of Mr. White's Motion for a general investigation by Committee into the fiscal system.

THE financial policy of the Government, as represented in the annual statement or "Budget" of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, formed this year the most interesting-indeed we might almost say, the only interesting feature, so far as domestic affairs were concerned, in the transactions of the Session. The great ability and eloquence of Mr. Gladstone, which enabled him to invest the