Attorney-General of the late government, but he
resisted the third, with which that gentleman had
nothing to do.—The Earl of Roden and Lord St.
Leonards objected to the bills, and the Earl of Wicklow
advocated the going into committee on the first and
third.—The Earl of ABERDEEN assented to the Marquis
of Clanricarde's suggestion, and the bills were read
a second time and referred to a select committee.

On Friday, August 12, the Earl of MALMESBURY
moved for copies of two Russian manifestoes published
in the St. Petersburg Gazette, and of any answers made
to them by our government; prefacing this motion
with a speech in which he entered at great length into
the history of the Turkish Question. He blamed
the government for not having sent the fleet in
company with that of France, when the former was
summoned by Colonel Rose, and also for not having
advanced step by step with Russia and given instruction
for the fleet to enter the Dardanelles when the Russians
crossed the Pruth. He repeated his previous assertion,
that the withholding of Lord Clarendon's answer to
Count Nesselrode had created suspicions that all was
not right, and that it had humiliated England.—The
Earl of Clarendon replied at considerable length.
As to the alleged mistake of not sending the fleet from
Malta when summoned by Colonel Rose, he explained,
that Colonel Rose did not ask Admiral Dundas to
come to Constantinople, but suggested that the usual
summer cruise eastward should be hastened by eight or
nine days. When the news that the English fleet
had been sent for reached Paris by telegraph, the
French government, without consultation with ours,
believing the danger imminent, ordered the French
fleet to go to Salamis. But this act did not throw
a single shade of difference over our relations. Toulon
is further west than Malta: it was felt that both would
be more handy and come better together if wanted
at Constantinople, if one remained at Malta and the
other at Salamis. The result proved this; for both
arrived at Besika Bay within a few hours of each other.
Lord Clarendon described the recent steps by which
the negotiations have arrived at their present stage.
After the occupation of the principalities, an offer
of Austrian mediation was made to Turkey, and acted
upon. Austria proposed that such a note should be
furnished as she might send to St. Petersburg, and
support when there. Delay arose at Constantinople;
and Austria, foreseeing its great dangers, called a
conference of the other powers, and proposed that the note
originating with the French government slightly modified,
should he laid before the Emperor and the Sultan
as a means of settlement. This was agreed to; and on
the 2nd of August the note was sent to St. Petersburgh.
But, in the mean time, the Russian minister at Vienna
had transmitted the substance of the note to his court;
on the 3rd a telegraphic message stated that the note
met the Emperor's views; and Lord Clarendon had
just heard that Count Nesselrode has made to Sir
Hamilton Seymour an official communication that
the note would be duly accepted by the Emperor.—Lord
Beaumont, the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Earl of
Hardwicke, and the Earl of Ellenborough took part
in the conversation which ensued.—The Earl of
ABERDEEN remarked, that we are not bound by any
treaty to take part in hostilities in support of the
Turkish empire; yet from a sense of our own national
interests, and from a sense of what is due to the general
interests of Europe and our own honour, we are bound
to support the integrity of that empire: and, interested
as the Great Powers are in the preservation of its
independence, "so long as it can be upheld by foreign
countenance and support, nothing will be sanctioned by
them derogatory to the honour and essential interests of
that empire."—Lord MALMESBURY said that, as government
thought the production of the papers would be
detrimental to the public service, he would withdraw
his motion.

On Monday, Aug. 15, a number of bills were
forwarded a stage.

The Hackney Carriage Duties Bill was thrown
out on the second reading, on the motion of Lord
STANLEY of Alderley, who said that the Commons
amendments destroyed the principle of the original
measure. His lordship added, however, that another
bill would be introduced the next day, on the same
subject.

The Pilotage Bill passed through committee, after
an attempt to exclude Liverpool from the operation of
the 10th clause, a proviso for that purpose being
rejected by fourteen to six.

The Thames Embankment Bill, Duties on Horses let
for Hire Bill, and Dublin Carriage Bill were read a
third time and passed.

The Universities (Scotland) Bill passed through
committee, after some objections from the opposition side,
and explanations from Lord Aberdeen and the Duke
of Argyll of the objects of the bill, which were not
only ineffective and unjust, but impossible to retain.

The Courts of Common Law (Ireland) Bill was read
a third time and passed.

On Tuesday, August, 16, the Universities (Scotland)
Bill was read a third time.

The Smoke Nuisance Bill passed through committee,
and was reported.

On Thursday, August 18, the Hackney Carriages
Bill was read a first time.

The LORD CHANCELLOR laid on the table the report
made to him by the gentlemen whom he had appointed
to Consolidate the Statute Law, and made some
explanations on the subject.

The Commons reasons for disagreeing to the amendments
made by the Lords on the Turnpike Acts
Continuance, &c, Bill, were considered, and the
amendments were confirmed, after a motion to the
contrary effect by Lord STANLEY of Alderley, which was
not pressed.

On Friday, August 19, in answer to a question from
Lord Brougham, the Earl of CLARENDON stated that
he had received no official report with respect to the
conduct of the Consul-General at Cuba in departing
from the stringent measures which he alleged he had
adopted for the Suppression of the Slave Trade.

The Hackney Carriage Duties Bill was passed through
all its stages, as were also a great number of other bills.

On Saturday, August 20, shortly after two o'clock,
the Houses of Parliament were Prorogued by
commission. The Queen's speech was as follows:

"My Lords and Gentlemen,—We are commanded by
her Majesty to release you from your attendance in
Parliament, and at the same time to express her
Majesty's Cordial approbation of the zeal and assiduity
with which, during a protracted and laborious session,
you have applied yourselves to the consideration of
many subjects of great importance to the public welfare.
Her Majesty has seen with much satisfaction that, by
the remission and reduction of taxes which tended to
cramp the operations of trade and industry, you have
given fresh extension to a system of beneficent legislation,
and have largely increased the means of obtaining
the necessaries of life. The provision which you have
made for meeting the demands of the public service,
not only in the present but also in future years, is of
a nature to give permanent stability to our finances,
and thereby to aid in consolidating the strength and
resources of the empire. The buoyant state of the
revenue, and the steady progress of our foreign trade,
are proofs of the wisdom of the commercial policy
now firmly established; while the prosperity which
pervades the great trading and producing classes, happily
without even a partial exception, affords continued and
increased evidence of the enlarged comforts of the people.
The measure which you have passed for the future
government of India has been readily sanctioned by her
Majesty, in the persuasion that it will prove to have
been wisely framed, and that it is well calculated to
promote the improvement and welfare of her Majesty's
eastern dominions. Her Majesty regards with peculiar
satisfaction the provision you have made for the better
administration of charitable trusts. The obstacles which
existed to the just and beneficial use of property set
apart for the purposes of charity and of education, have
been a serious public evil, to which her Majesty is
persuaded that in your wisdom you have now applied an
efficient remedy.

''Gentlemen of the House of Commons,—We are
commanded by her Majesty to thank you for the supplies