further, that a most unholy alliance was formed between that party and those in Scotland who were for secular education; but luckily it was broken up, as they could not agree amongst themselves. They were only united upon one point, and that was to destroy the parochial schools. He hoped that any measure which the Government might hereafter introduce would be carefully considered, and that they would resolve not to be guided by the views of one party only.

THE DUKE OF ARGYLL would impress on the minds of all his noble Friends connected with Scotland, he would not say the impossibility of treating this question adequately, upon an incidental discussion such as this, but the impossibility of dealing with it with even tolerable fairness. It was a very large subject, the question of education, whether in England, Scotland, or Ireland-connected with very large principles of public policy, and requiring very careful examination. He almost regretted that his noble Friend who had just sat down had withdrawn the notice he had placed on the table; because, though he (the Duke of Argyll) should have been compelled to vote against it, he should have thought it a fit occasion for bringing under the notice of their Lordships' House the views under which Her Majesty's Government had introduced the recent measure on the subject of education in the other House of Parliament. He should now look forward to the occasion when the Bill which had just been announced by the noble Earl at the head of the Government should reach their Lordships' House for an opportunity of stating his views. Till that time he hoped their Lordships would preserve an impartial judgment on the question. THE EARL OF HADDINGTON said, he was certain there was no want of sympathy on this subject in their Lordships' House. He could assure their Lordships that the benefit of the schools of the Established Church of Scotland was not confined to the members of that communion. Free Church children and Dissenters flocked to those schools; and he knew that in the West Highlands, a great many Roman Catholic children had attended them constantly till they were prevented by their priests. A noble and learned Lord (Lord Brougham) had stated the other day, in presenting a petition on this subject, that Lord Dunfermline, and those who concurred with him, had not been actuated by the least opposition to plans for the education Lord Kinnaird

of the people, nor influenced by any such motive. He heartily rejoiced to hear the announcement that had been made by the noble Earl at the head of the Government. He would suggest to that noble Earl that, regard being had to the peculiar circumstances of the case, he should introduce two measures on this great and important subject. In Scotland there was great diversity between town and country. Although what his noble Friend who spoke last said might be perfectly true, and although the want of the means of education had been a little exaggerated in the accounts that had reached their Lordships, still he believed it wholly impossible to exaggerate the want of the means of education that existed in the towns. The parish school system, which had for centuries been of the greatest benefit to Scotland, had unhappily been found inapplicable to towns, which, consequently, were left without adequate means of education, except what were given by voluntary exertion. He believed the Church of Scotland to be anxious for the education of the people; he also believed the Free Church to be anxious for the education of the people; and he trusted that they would show it, and not lead it to be believed that they only aimed at victory the one over the other.

LORD BROUGHAM said, that, on a previous occasion, when he had presented a petition on the subject of the Bill then before the other House of Parliament, and which they had unfortunately rejected, he had taken the opportunity of stating that not only his noble and learned Friend Lord Dunfermline, but those who concurred with him in opposing the measure, were not actuated by any decided opposition to the plan for the education of the people of Scotland, nor were they influenced by any coldness in that great and important cause. He heartily rejoiced that the noble Earl at the head of the Government had made the announcement which their Lordships had heard of the intentions of the Government in respect of the stipends of the schoolmasters, and, if he might be permitted, he should wish to suggest, in reference to any measure that might be hereafter introduced in respect of education, that regard be had to the peculiar circumstances of Scotland, and that two measures should be introduced instead of one. There was the greatest diversity between the towns and the country parts; and, although what had been stated by his noble Friend about

the want of the means of education in the country parts might be true, still there had been a considerable amount of exaggeration as regarded the educational wants of those districts. With regard, however, to the towns, the case was very different, and it was impossible to exaggerate the want of the means of instruction in the towns of Scotland to which the parochial system was not applicable. The only means for the advancement of education in the towns were derived from the voluntary exertions of individuals, and it was quite clear that we could not leave so important a subject as the education of the people to mere individual exertion. He trusted that the Government would justify the opinion he ventured to entertain, and that in dealing with this question they would show themselves anxious for the education of the people, and prove that there was one thing which they valued more than even a victory of the Established Church over the Free Church, or of the Free Church over the Establishment.

THE EARL OF ABERDEEN said, he was afraid that his noble and learned Friend had a little misapprehended what he had stated. What he said was, that a Bill would be shortly introduced to make a temporary provision for the schoolmasters in Scotland, but he did not give any assurance of a measure for education in Scotland being introduced during the present Session.

LORD BROUGHAM was sorry that the noble Earl could extend his assurance no further.

THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH said, he hoped the operation of this temporary measure would not be so limited in duration as that the schoolmasters would find themselves a twelvemonth hence in the same situation that they were now. He wished it to be clearly understood that the schools in Scotland were not exclusive. There was no system of education so open in the whole world as that of the parochial schools in Scotland; for there was not the slightest impediment to children of any religious denomination attending them. therefore, difficulties were interposed by other parties, the children of Roman Catholics. Episcopalians, and Dissenters could and did attend the parochial schools with the utmost freedom. It was, therefore, not liable to cause misapprehension to state that there was anything in the slightest degree exclusive in the Scotch system of parochial schools. He trusted that the

Unless,

suggestion thrown out by the noble and learned Lord (Lord Brougham) would meet with consideration, and that two Bills would be introduced. It was necessary to bestow the utmost care upon any measure of education which was intended only as the precursor to a more general change, and he hoped that when another measure was introduced it might not be left to the management of one person, but that it would be supported by the united weight of the Government.

THE MARQUESS OF BREADALBANE had spoken of the Scotch parochial schools as being "exclusive because the masters were compelled to be members of the Established Church of Scotland, and to subscribe to the tenets and doctrines of that Church, and no man, however well qualified, could become a schoolmaster unless he was a member of the Established Church, which did not now comprise more than a third of the people.

THE DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH said, that these remarks came very ill from a member of a sect, the trust deeds of whose schools were drawn with the utmost care, so as by the most rigorous tests to prevent any but one of their own body becoming a master therein.

THE MARQUESS OF BREADALBANE said, he was against all religious tests; he thought that the more we got rid of them the better. There must, no doubt, be some declaration of principle in cases like those under discussion; but he heard with great satisfaction that the noble Duke was opposed to religious tests generally.

LORD BROUGHAM said, that he only hoped that, amidst the differences of the contending parties, the scheme for the education of the people would not fall to the ground.

Petition ordered to lie on the table.
House adjourned till To-morrow.

HOUSE OF COMMON S, Monday, May 22, 1854. MINUTES ] PUBLIC BILLS.-1° Sheriff and Sheriff Clerk of Chancery (Scotland). 3° Customs Duties.

WAYS AND MEANS-EXCHEQUER

BONDS.

On the question that Mr. Speaker do leave the Chair,

MR. T. BARING said-I wish to explain the change it is necessary for me to make in the course I intended to pursue. I

had understood from the noble Lord (Lord J. Russell), on the first introduction of the Resolutions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that the first Resolution which was adopted in Committee would be reported, and on that Report would follow any discussion that might apply to the general system of finance. I then gave notice that I should move an amendment upon bringing up the Report, but since that the noble Lord has changed the course of proceeding, and we are called up on to go into Committee before reporting the first Resolution. As I cannot, from the forms of the House, refer in the House to what passed in Committee, I will defer the Resolution of which I have given notice as an Amendment till we are in Committee, and probably till after hearing from the Chancellor of the Exchequer the reasons for the change in the Resolution which he has since introduced.

House in Committee.

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: I do not rise, Sir, for the purpose of making any statement upon the subject of the merits of the Resolution in your hands, over and above the general statement which I have already made to the House upon that subject, but simply for the purpose of noticing what has fallen from the hon. Member for Huntingdon, who, I think, appears to be in error with regard to what was stated by my noble Friend as to the originally intended course of proceeding upon this matter. As far as the Government is concerned, there has been no change whatever in their intentions and announcements from the commencement; the only change that has occurred has occurred in consequence of suggestions made from the other side, and, in deference to such suggestions as appeared to be reasonable. The proposals of the Government were twofold. In the first place they went to an enlargement of the permanent resources of the country

I should rather say of the Exchequer; and, in the second place, they went to make a temporary provision of the funds to supply the wants of the Exchequer during the interval before the new taxes could come into play. I cannot, therefore, understand how there can have been any misapprehension on the subject of the order of proceeding, because I was most careful to state, in introducing the whole matter to the House, that the order of proceeding would be this-w -we should in the first instance take votes upon all the new taxes,

Mr. T. Baring

and then ask for votes with respect to what I will call the cash provision that was to be made, with this single exception, that, as certain contracts had been entered into, it was necessary to ask the assent of the Committee to, or at least the opinion of the Committee upon, these contracts without any delay. The Committee was pleased to give its opinion in favour of adhering to those contracts. That being so, there was no reason for departing in any particular whatever from the order of proceeding I had announced-namely, taking in the first instance decisive votes on the taxes, and then submitting to the House or the Committee the provision that must be made for the wants of the Treasury in the interval. On that principle it is that I have now moved that Mr. Speaker should leave the Chair, and that the opinion of the Committee should be taken upon the proposal that is made for raising money either by Exchequer bonds or Exchequer bills. The Resolution that has passed through Committee has reference rather to the contracts already made than to the general question of policy with regard to the raising of this money. It therefore appears to me that this order of proceeding is that which is most natural and conformable to the common sense of the case, and it certainly conforms with the announcement originally made by the Government.

Motion made, and Question proposed"That the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury be authorised to issue Exchequer Bonds bearing interest at the rate of 31. 103. per centum per annum for any sums not exceeding in the determined upon by the said Commissioners, such whole 4,000,000l., at any prices and on any terms Bonds to be paid off at par at the expiration of any period or periods not exceeding six years from the date of such Bonds."

MR. DISRAELI: This order of proceeding may be the most natural one under the circumstances, but it certainly is not the one which hon. Gentlemen on this side of the House understood to have been assented to. The House has seen to-night the great disadvantage of its having been induced without any discussion to pass this formal Resolution. There was a most distinct declaration on the part of the noble Lord that the Committee was clearly to understand that by the passing of the formal Resolution no person whatever was bound in any way, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer has now treated the formal passing of that Resolution in Committee as a sanction of the Resolution by the House. Now, with reference to the un