principle which led Mr. Pitt to seek a peace with France at the moment when he himself was disposed to a continuance of the war; that was a principle of conduct which proved him worthy to be the minister of a free country; -a principle which, by attaching the affections of the people to the government, prevented the well-meaning from being misled, and from becoming the dupes of the ill-disposed.

Mr. Stuart Wortley was compelled, although with regret, to differ from the hon. member who had last spoken. Granting that he could not agree with the people in their opinion, that hon. member was still prepared to ground his vote upon his deference to their wishes, and he called upon the house to follow his example. The view which he (Mr. S. Wortley) took of his duty in parliament was this:-he was to give all due weight to the representations of his constituents, to listen to their prayers, and to the arguments by which they enforced them, and then to vote according to his own opinion. Upon that principle it was that his vote on the present occasion would be founded; and he would explain to the house why he could not, after what had happened, advise the crown to bestow any mark of grace or favour upon the queen. True, the sense of a great body of the people had clearly declared itself in favour of the effect of the present motion; but he (Mr. S. Wortley) thought that the people had come to that opinion under an erroneous impression. The people thought that to exclude the name of the queen from the Liturgy was to

deprive her of a right; and if once he (the hon. member) could be of that opinion, he would undoubtedly vote for the insertion of her name; but he voted against the present motion because not even all the eloquent speeches he had heard had convinced him that in the exclusion there was any thing illegal. He did not put the negative vote which he proposed to give upon the ground taken by the hon. member (Mr. Legge) who had spoken for the first time upon the present occasion; he 'deprecated the language put forth in her majesty's addresses, and in her letter to the king; but parliament ought in another way to mark its disapprobation of that language; he (Mr. S. Wortley) would not on that account exclude her majesty's name from the Liturgy. But the queen, most ill-advisedly, had rejected the mediation of the house; she had refused to take any steps by which the differences between the illustrious parties could be arranged; she had put herself upon her trial; and, in so putting herself, she took the risk of any impres sion which might be produced by circumstances coming out during that trial. Now there were some facts of which it was impossible. to divest the mind; and although he (Mr. Stuart Wortley) sitting in the house of lords, might probably have been bound to declare her majesty not guilty, still there had upon the trial appeared such facts as made it impossible for him to call upon the crown to hold her majesty up to the public in the situation of a graced and favoured queen.

Mr. W. Lamb observed, that with regard to the legal question connected

The

connected with the present motion, he was not convinced, after all the arguments which he had heard upon it, that the clause in the act of uniformity gave the queen a right to have her name inserted in the Liturgy. The learned gent. in his argument upon that point, had recounted all the various privileges which belonged to a queenconsort; but he (Mr. Lamb) thought that he would agree with him in stating that they were given to the queen in aid and assistance, not in opposition and contradiction to the crown. That was the general rule of law on which all the privileges of a queenconsort were construed. clause in the act of uniformity, on which the learned gent. had placed so much reliance, was put in er ubundanti and for explanation of a former clause; and even if it were not so, still every act of parliament was to be construed consistently with reason and itself: therefore, if there had been no proviso like the one now relied upon in the act, there must have been a power vested somewhere to make such alterations as were rendered necessary by the course of nature and the hand of God. A clause, therefore, which was loosely worded, which settled no remedy, and therefore gave no right, was insufficient to control a lawful authority which was recognized in another part of the same act; and if such were the case generally, it was peculiarly inefficient to control it in the present case of the queen, after all the circumstances of a legal conviction after all the circumstan ces short of actual degradation, which had transpired against her. Upon the principle, therefore, of

law, he did not think that her majesty had any right to have her name inserted in the Liturgy, though he could not help at the same time observing that it would not be wise for that house to decide upon the construction of a dubious legal authority. On a former occasion he had stated that her majesty, as her innocence appeared to many to have been satisfactorily established, might with safety and propriety have conceded the point of the Liturgy. He was then blamed for having argued that her majesty was right, and therefore ought to concede; and the argument was even treated as highly ridiculous and absurd. Now, he saw nothing absurd in it; on the contrary, it still appeared to him that the concession of the Liturgy would have been the most prudent and patriotic measure that her majesty could have adopted. Her majesty was represented as a person of most exalted character; she had been described by one of her legal advisers as of a sagacity inferior to none that he had ever known, and of a propriety of mind, notwithstanding all that had been imputed to her discredit, rarely excelled. In his opinion, that sagacity of mind for which she was distinguished ought to have rendered her anxious to allay the present animosities existing in the country; and that propriety of mind, for which she was so much eulogised, should have taught her that the best method of doing so was the giving up the long contested point of the Liturgy. The honourable member, after stating that it appeared to him that the crown, the queen, and the house, ought each to concede something

to

to the other, concluded by saying that he should give his vote in favour of the original motion in deference to the opinion of a large majority of the people; which, although it ought not to be servilely acquiesced in on all occasions, still should always meet with some attention from a wise and prudent government.

now given to the officers, and that was the object of his present motion.

If it should be found that they had very large salaries, without doing corresponding services, they ought to be called upon to increase their services. The honourable gentleman then went on to say that strangers were not admitted to certain parts of the

Feb. 16. Mr. Lennard said, that the subjects of natural history, and the Elgin marbles in the British museum, were, with great liberality, thrown open to the public. But he had to complain that there was a difficulty of access to other parts of the museum, which were not less important or less interesting. In France public establishments of this kind were accessible with every possible facility; and he might make the same remark on the geological institution in this country. Why, then, should not every facility be given to the visiters of the British museum? If the officers were not numerous enough, let their number be increased; if their salaries were not large enough for such constant attendance as might be required, let an increase of salary be granted. Why should the use of an establishment instituted at great expense, and for which very large sums were annually voted by that house, be limited by a stinted allowance to the officers who attended it? But, in order to remedy this difficulty, it was necessary to know the salaries

mendations from the trustees, and this, he conceived, was making that which was for the public benefit an object of private favour and patronage. His object on the present occasion was, that the accounts of the number of persons admitted, and also the number of applications for admission, to those parts should be submitted to the house, before the estimates for this establishment were brought forward. He concluded by moving that there be laid before the house an account of the number of applications for admission to the reading-rooms of the British museum; also for the same to inspect the coins and medals not generally shown; also to inspect the prints, drawings, and manuscripts, or any part thereof, not generally shown; and also the number of such applications which were complied with; this motion to extend to all such applications made within the last five years.

Mr. C. Long said, that his object in rising was not to oppose the motion of the honourable member, but to assure the house that it was not less the wish than the duty of the trustees of the British museum to give every facility to the public who required access to that establishment. There were two classes of persons who required admission-the first

consisted

consisted of those who came for the purposes of general inspection, and to that class very great facilities had been afforded within the last few years; and by the returns made to the house it appeared that the number of such visitants was not less than 50,000: in the year. The other class of persons who required admission was the much more important one; it consisted of literary men and artists, who came for the inspection of the drawings and medals. It must be obvious to the house, that it would be dangerous to admit strangers indiscriminately to such places; and that therefore some restrictions on admission were necessary. He happened to know, that, by the general admission to the valuable library in France, very considerable losses were sustained. The question then was, whether the restraint adopted at the British museum was too great or too little? It was said by the honourable member who introduced the motion that no person was admitted to certain parts but by the recommendation of some of the trustees; but it should be recollected that there were forty-three trustees, and several of the principal officers of the place, to any of whom an application might be made, and who would not refuse it when fair claim was made. The officers were all disposed to afford every facility in their power, and if any complaint of neglect on this head were to be made, it would meet with immediate attention. In conclusion, he stated that the trustees could have no objection to give any account to the house which might be required.

Mr. H. Gurney did not consider that he should discharge his duty

if he did not bear testimony to the general facility given to the public by the trustees and the attending officers of the British museum By application to the proper officers, admission might be had to the coins, manuscripts, and other parts of the establishment on other days besides those on which the public were admitted. The of ficers employed were men of high literary attainments, and none could be found more fitted for the employments which they enjoyed. The French government expended more money in the care of their library than was here given for the support of the British museum altogether; and he was surprised how well the duty was discharged here at so small an expense.

Mr. Bright concurred in what had been said respecting the facility given to the public in this establishment.

A member, added a sugges tion, that it would be better to erect a new building for the reception of the works of arts and science than to expend such large sums on the repairs of the old building. He had no doubt that if a proper receptacle were erected many valuable works would be bequeathed for their reception. He hoped that honourable gentlemen would bear this suggestion in mind when they came to vote the annual grant for the museum.

Mr. Bankes, sen., concurred in thinking that the principal building was not in that state which was fit for its destined purpose. This applied particularly to the gallery for the Athenian marbles. He did not, however, consider that the building required to be renewed altogether; but he thought

that

that if additions and improvements were made progressively, year by year, it would be fit for the accommodation of the public. He thought that it would be better to refer this matter to a committee than refer it to the treasury, as had already been the case. It would be desirable that some parts of the building, particularly those destined for the manuscripts and coins, should be secured against fire, which was not at present the In conclusion, the honourable gentleman observed, that it was the uniform object of the trustees to afford every facility to persons of science who visited the establishment.

case.

The chancellor of the exchequer next addressed the house; but was for the most part inaudible in the gallery. We understood the right honourable gentleman to suggest the propriety of the motion being withdrawn, after the testimony which was borne to the inclination of the trustees to give every accommodation to the public. Under such circumstances, he did not consider that it was necessary to put the establishment to such trouble as the present motion would require, if carried. He hoped, therefore, the honourable gentleman would not press it.

Mr. H. G. Bennet thought it his duty, having often had occasion to observe it, to bear testimony to the great facility afforded to all persons who visited the British museum. He was aware that at Paris, there was more easy access to the public institutions than here; but at the same time he was aware that indiscriminate admission gave rise to great

losses; for it was known, that not only such great establishments, but all public libraries were subject to petty larcenies, which frequently occasioned irretrievable losses. A single print being lost was sufficient to destroy the value of a whole set. Some caution, he thought, was therefore necessary in the admission of strangers to this valuable institution. In conclusion, the honourable gentleman suggested to his honourable friend the propriety of withdrawing his motion.

After a few words from Mr. Sykes, in allusion to the fees. exacted for admission to Westminster abbey, and from Mr. Lennard in reply, the motion was agreed to, and the accounts ordered to be produced.

House of lords, Feb. 20.-Petitions from different parts of the country earnestly requested the house to inquire into the present depressed state of agriculture.

Earl Grey rose, to move for such further information as was necessary to obtain a view of all the circumstances by which their lordships might be enabled to form a correct judgment on the conduct of his majesty's ministers relative to Naples. The recent changes which had taken place in that government were such as must appear of great importance to every person who looked at political events with a view to their effects on the general interests of this country and of mankind. It had been obvious that, from the very first, the events to which he alluded had excited a hostile feeling in that alliance, which, notwithstanding that it assumed to itself the epithet of holy, had manifested