whereas Jamaica imported in that period only 14,000.
These material differences had no reference to imperial
legislation. There were circumstances, he proceeded to
observe, connected with the constitution of Jamaica
which had always been a source of difficulty, and in late
years had led to the stoppage of the action of the
colonial legislature. Among these peculiarities was the
payment of public officers by votes from year to year.
He read the suggestions of Governor Sir Charles Grey,
who recommended the assimilation of the powers of
the House of Assembly to those of the House of
Commons, and he said the government did not propose to
suspend the representative constitution in the colony,
but to induce, if possible, the assembly and the council
to act in harmony. They proposed, in the first place,
that there should be a permanent act, containing grants
for those officers to whom it was deemed fit that
permanent salaries should be given; secondly, that the
assembly should make no grant of money except upon
the initiative of a representative of the Crown, and
that the officers of the Crown should be responsible for
the expenditure of the money. On the other hand, it
proposed to endeavour to place the finances of Jamaica
upon a sounder footing. The public debt of the colony
amounted to £500,000, upon which an interest of six
per cent. was paid; and it was proposed that the
imperial government should give a guarantee for the
interest of the debt, a sinking fund being provided for
its extinction. Another guarantee was proposed. The
House of Assembly had insisted upon their right to
make a reduction of salaries, which the council had
regarded as a breach of faith. It appeared to the
government that this quarrel might be settled by the
grant of a compensation, which might induce the
present holders to relinquish their offices, which could
be filled by other persons at reduced salaries. This
would require £50,000, which sum the government
proposed should also be guaranteed by this country,
making the aggregate sum of £550,000. There was one
other point. Sir Charles Grey had already held his office
as governor for the full term, which he had discharged
with signal ability, and the Duke of Newcastle was of
opinion that Sir H. Barkly, who had been many years Governor
of Guiana, would be the best person to succeed him, and
he had accordingly recommended her Majesty to appoint
Sir Henry to that office. A question would arise as to
his salary, which the government considered should not
be less than £5,000, and to avoid dispute, they proposed
to vote £3,500 towards making up that sum for three
years.—Sir J. PAKINGTON, after commenting upon the
policy adopted by the government of the noble lord in
1846, and upon the effect it had wrought upon this
colony, observed, that one of the most important of the
proposed alterations was that relating to the financial
functions of the House of Assembly, and that the late
government had come to the conclusion that, whatever
concessions might be made, a reformation of that
portion of the constitution of Jamaica should be an
indispensable preliminary. He doubted whether the
government could have adopted a more effectual mode
of giving the colony relief than by guaranteeing the
public debt, the interest of which would be reduced
from 6 per cent, to probably 31/2. It was the intention of
the late government to send out a commission to
Jamaica; but as the present government had preferred
to make a change of governors, he had no doubt of the
wisdom of their choice of Sir H. Barkly. In one respect
he dissented from the course of the government, namely,
the delay in announcing their intentions, which might
have been done in January.

The house then went into Committee of Supply, and
engaged in the discussion of the remaining civil service
and other estimates.

The second reading of the Education Bill was deferred
for three months; in other words, the bill was abandoned.

The Poor Relief Act Continuance Bill having been
read a third time, was passed.

On the order for committing the Smoke Nuisance
Abatement Bill, Lord PALMERSTON stated the alterations
he proposed to make in the bill, and the house
having gone into committee on the bill, the amendments
were adopted, and the bill was ordered to be
reported.

On Friday, August 5th, the motion to read the South
Sea Company's Arrangement and Trusts Bill a third
time gave rise to considerable discussion, but the motion
was ultimately adopted.

On the question that the South Sea and other
Annuities Bill, be considered in committee, Sir F.
KELLY urged the objections enunciated on former
occasions, and contended that the house ought not to
sanction a scheme which might induce persons who
relied on the professions of the government to accept
proposals sure to entail on them serious loss.—Sir H.
WILLOUGHBY thought the scheme struck at the root of
the national credit.—Mr. J. B. Smith and Mr.
Willoughby having made a few remarks, the house went
into committee. After considerable discussion, the
clauses were agreed to, and Monday was named for
bringing up the report.

The house then went into Committee of Supply.
—Considerable opposition was offered on both sides of
the house to the vote of £35,000 for the embankment
between Vauxhall and Battersea bridges, on the ground
that the country generally should not be called upon to
defray the expense of improvements for the benefit
of the richest community in the world. The answer
urged on behalf of the government was, that the works
were too far advanced to be stopped, and that the like
expenditure would not again be undertaken. On a
division, the vote was carried by 94 to 27.

The issue of the Writ for Canterbury was postponed
till next session.

On Monday, August 8, Lord JOHN RUSSELL, in
answer to questions respecting the Turkish Question,
said that, before the prorogation of parliament, he would
give as full information upon the subject as was
consistent with his public duty, but declined to fix a day
for the discussion of the question.

A discussion took place relative to the Business of the
House.—Lord J. RUSSELL moved that the orders of the
day have precedence on Wednesday next till three
o'clock.

In a committee of supply, sums were voted for the
expense of the Caffre War and for the Militia.—Mr.
NEWDEGATE and Mr. SPOONER complained that it was
an attempt on the part of the government to usurp the
functions of the house, and that the immediate result
would be to defeat the very desirable object of
ascertaining the opinion of the house on the nunnery question,
which stood for Wednesday.—On the other side it was
maintained that to continue the discussion of the
nunnery question was merely to waste time.—Mr. LUCAS
and Mr. MAGUIRE declared that, so far from being
desirous that the debate should be brought to a premature
close, their wishes were all the other way.—The
motion was carried by 105 to 52.

On Tuesday, August 9, the house went into committee
on the Transportation Bill.—Lord PALMERSTON gave a
general view of the plan adopted by the government.
When a prisoner has undergone a preliminary or separate
confinement, he will not be sent out to a colony and
there get a ticket-of-leave as heretofore; but will get
his ticket-of-leave in this country, and be liable on bad
behaviour, to be remanded back to punishment. The
persons so released will be employed upon public works,
separate from convicts, and at suitable wages; a state of
transition from which they may easily slide into the
avocations of ordinary industry. This detention of so
many convicts in this country is not to entail additional
expense on the counties—the expense will fall on the
public in the first instance; but ultimately the plan will
be attended with a considerable saving of public money.
—Mr. WALPOLE concurred in the scheme as a whole,
but differed on two points. By the second clause,
transportation for a shorter period than fourteen years is
abolished: it would be better to give the Crown power
to commute all sentences of transportation for periods of
penal servitude. As the bill stands, no convicts but
those who have committed the gravest offences can be
sent to the colonies: but some colonists might desire our
convicts, and if the bill were altered as he suggested,
that would enable the Crown to send convicts to any
colony desiring it. He also suggested, that where a
man, after remission, again commits an offence similar
to that for which he has already been punished, he