MR. GLADSTONE said, he thought fore a Select Committee, which would too much credit could not be given to have the effect of putting those who metropolitan Members for their zeal in objected to its enclosure-not wishing to endeavouring to secure for the metropo- be suffocated in this metropolis-to conlis the advantage of fresh air; but he siderable expense and trouble. The was sure they would only wish to attain right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the this end by just and fair means. A fixed House made a great mistake in asking and well-understood system had been them to leave the question in the hands established by law for the regulation of of the Inclosure Commissioners, because enclosures, and parties setting this ma- that body could only inquire whether or chinery in motion were put to consider- not the Lord of the Manor, and other able expenses, in return for which Par- parties interested had agreed to the enliament incurred something like an closure, while the rights of the public obligation to see that the system estab- were never taken into consideration by lished by its authority was not interfered it. This common had been omitted from with. It would be a sweeping proposi- the Schedule, and there the matter had tion to lay down that no common within better rest. The nineteen miles of the metropolis should MR. FAWCETT said, he hoped that be enclosed, yet it would be necessary the hon. Member for Marylebone (Mr. to go that length to justify the course T. Chambers) would press his objection. which was now recommended. If it were alleged that insufficient notice had been given, that defect would be cured by the reference to the Select Committee. But any change of system, or of policy by the House with regard to enclosures near the metropolis ought to be adopted prudently and carefully, and not avowed suddenly and with haste with reference to an isolated proposal. However strong the feelings of hon. Members might be, something was due to the general principles of justice. MR. KINNAIRD said, he wished to point out that the House was not suddenly expressing any new view as to enclosures near the metropolis. This was the third time that objection had been urged to the principle which they were now asked to adopt; and, in a Select Committee not very favourable to the preservation of open spaces, the proposition to restrict enclosures within twenty miles of the metropolis was defeated by a very small majority-he believed of only 1. MR. LOCKE said, he doubted the accuracy of the recollection of the Secretary of State for the Home Department as to the course taken in doubtful cases. He remembered several instances in which proposals for enclosures, instead of being referred to a Select Committee, were struck out of the Schedule without compunction. Petitions had been presented from all quarters against this Wisley Common proposition. It was clear that Wisley Common was a condemned place, and the House was asked to send the question of its enclosure be They were getting into a habit of refer- MR. KNATCHBULL-HUGESSEN said, he felt bound to state, in answer to the observations of the hon. Member who had last spoken, that when he had informed the deputation who waited upon him upon the subject of this commonnot that the common would be dropped out of the Schedule - but that, understanding from them that a public opinion existed against its enclosure, he would postpone the Bill for some days, in order to give them an opportunity of making evident the existence of such public opinion; and, if they succeeded, he would take care that no enclosure should take place without an opportunity for full consideration subsequently; in answer to a Question in that House, he had stated that he had heard sufficient to induce him to leave Wisley Common out of the Schedule with a view to farther inquiry, and that he thought the House would probably prefer that such Motion made, and Question put, "That a Select Committee be appointed to consider the proposed Inclosure of Wisley Common." (Mr. KnatchbullHugessen.) The House divided:-Ayes 43; Noes 22: Majority 21. inquiry should be conducted before a feel it his duty to vote against the GoSelect Committee. From the evidence vernment. which he heard, he fancied there were proprietary rights which, in the absence of a public feeling on the subject, would justify the enclosure of the common. What had been said showed that further inquiry was necessary. If hon. Members objected to the present system of enclosure they should bring in a Bill to alter it; but after persons interested in an enclosure had performed all that was required of them in the Act of Parliament; and after he, as responsible for the Bill, had gone so far as to introduce what was called "a novelty," in order that no injustice to the public might possibly occur, it was hardly fair to step in at that stage of the proceedings and actually deny the inquiry which had been granted in order to satisfy those who now wished to refuse it. MR. ALDERMAN LUSK said, he wanted to know how the poor people residing near Wisley Common were able to afford to come up to London and plead their cause against this enclosure before a Committee of the House of Commons. It was bitter irony to tell them to do so. He would appeal to the Government to give way, and let the ground be open to the people. MR. AYRTON said, it was the duty of the House to confirm the Report of the Inclosure Commissioners, unless a Select Committee over-ruled the Commissioners' decision. It was the usual practice of the House, when private rights of property were involved, to have an investigation of the matter by a Select Committee before the House decided upon it. MR. MORLEY said, he felt compelled to say there was a growing determination on the part of hon. Members of this House to prevent the enclosure of these commons, and if the original clause which was inserted in the Act of Parliament for the enclosure of Wisley Common had not been taken out by the Government itself, the House, he believed, would have struck it out. He held that, without further inquiry, it was perfectly competent for the House to say whether this common should be enclosed or not. He hoped his hon. and learned Friend the Member for Marylebone (Mr. T. Chambers) would persevere in his opposition to the Motion; and, if he did, he (Mr. Morley) should certainly VOL. CXCV. [THIRD SERIES.] And, on April 6, Committee nominated as follows:-Sir FRANCIS GOLDSMID, Mr. FREDERICK STANLEY, Mr. BROWN-WESTHEAD, Mr. GOLDNEY, and Mr. FAWCETT :-Power to send for persons, papers, and records; Three to be the quorum. House adjourned at half after One o'clock, till Monday next. HOUSE OF LORDS, Monday, 5th April, 1869. MINUTES.]-PUBLIC BILLS-First Reading- * House in Committee (according to Order). THE DUKE OF ARGYLL said, he had to propose to their Lordships the insertion of an additional clause of some importance, to which he desired to call the attention of the noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Ellenborough). The Act of 1833 contained five or six clauses, providing that Europeans should not reside in India without the consent of the GovernorGeneral in Council, and empowering him to issue regulations as to their residences and as to licenses, amounting, in fact, to a system of passports in that country. Now, the whole condition of the country had so much altered that these clauses were practically obsolete; but nevertheless they acted as a very inconvenient impediment on the action of the Government in India in dealing with vagrants, the number of whom had F greatly increased since the introduction practicable, to co-operate wi of railways, owing to the large bodies of lish Government. He was navvies employed in their construction, onerate the London Mission and to other causes. The repeal of these from being mixed up in th clauses had consequently been contem- ings, for that body was well plated; but on further consideration it with China, and he was also was thought that, as prior to the Act of that they were sensible of the 1833 it was altogether illegal for Euro- of sending missionaries to ram peans to reside in India without the per- the country, instead of confin mission of the East India Company, treaty ports and to Pekin or E such a step might have the effect of re- for it was the passing beyond viving enactments still more obsolete. which had caused difficultie He had therefore come to the conclusion brought our religion into ho that it would be better to add a clause the people of China. He n to the present Bill enabling the Legisla- to know whether the Foreign ture of India to deal with vagrancy not- the Admiralty could furnish withstanding those clauses; any Act on mation as to proceedings of M the subject being subject, of course, to and Gunboats in Formosa ? B the approval of the Secretary of State in derstood a short time ago that Council. This would avoid all diffi- operations were to be under culty, and one or two of the clauses were British consuls or officers wit valuable, as laying down the principle communicating with the repre that Europeans insulting or injuring the of Her Majesty's Government religion or customs of the natives should he had heard with surprise the be subject to penalties. tions not thus authorized had tal in Formosa. Missionaries hav there, the people, being very and fanatical, rose against th drove them back-whether w loss of life he could not say-a attacked, as they were very ap all the foreign residents. The marked on a previous occasion the inevitable gunboat-for, as boats were always called in wh missionaries had made these unfor inroads on the feelings of the pe and ten or twelve natives were Now, was this the way to promote tianity in China? It was surely that the attention of the public be called to the subject, in order if such proceedings could not be wise prevented, they might stop supplies, without which these miss ries would not carry on their opera THE EARL OF ELLENBOROUGH thought the noble Duke would do well to communicate with the Horse Guards on the subject, his impression being that many of the vagrants were discharged soldiers. Further Amendments made; The Report thereof to be received on Thursday THE EARL OF CLARENDON sai believed that all the information in possession of the Foreign Office for w the noble Duke asked had already laid on the table, being comprised tween pages twenty-two and fifty-si the China Papers. From these Pa they would gather that the affair at 1 mosa originated in the destruction mission-house, and that there were some commercial disputes, an att upon a British subject, Mr. Pickeri and one or two other matters for wh redress was sought. He was afraid th the Foreign Office could not furnish a connected narrative of what had passed; but the Admiralty had received an account from the acting consul and from the commander of the gunboat, which had enabled the Government to form a judgment on the proceedings. He was sorry to say that that judgment was unfavourable to both the officers concerned -except, indeed, as to the professional part of Lieutenant Colonel Gordon's duty, for the operations conducted by him exhibited great judgment and forethought, while the skill and gallantry with which they were carried out entitled all concerned to the highest praise. But the fact was that the operations ought not to have been undertaken at all, for all danger to life and property had passed away several weeks before, and the only question left was that of reparation. This should have been ascertained, and then if any remissness had been shown by the authorities in giving redress it would have been a matter for communication between Her Majesty's representative at Pekin and the Chinese Government, and was not to be made a subject of reprisal and violent action by two subordinate officers. The Government wholly disapproved the exaction of a considerable sum of money-$40,000 -as compensation for the outrage and still less of two sums of $5,000 eachone for the military stores used in storming the Chinese fortress and the other by way of reprisal-and they had directed that the money should be returned, with an expression of regret for what had occurred. The conduct of the vice consul also appeared to them highly reprehensible, and directions had been given that he should no longer act in that capacity. He hoped this step would have a salutary effect on the whole consular body, and that they would understand that they would incur the severest condemnation if they wantonly undertook military operations without the sanction of the Government, or without absolute necessity. He was glad that his noble Friend (the Duke of Somerset) had done justice to the London Missionary Society, for since the previous discussions on the subject he had received a numerous deputation from that most respectable body, who feared that his noble Friend had placed upon them the blame of what had occurred, and who, therefore, placed in his hands the statement to which his noble Friend had referred. He wished also to refer to a dispatch that had lately been received from Sir Rutherford Alcock, because he thought that the public should know the result of his great experience in China, and of the labour and the study that he had bestowed upon missionary questions. He said that the hostility to missionaries was general throughout China, and that it did not come from religious intolerance, but was partly personal and partly political. He considered that they had an enmity against the very name of Christianity; and they disliked it on account of the support that had been given to the rebellion; and also from a spirit engendered by the French missionaries, who taught their converts to rely upon no authority but their own, and to despise the native authorities. There were also great differences between the Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries, of which Sir Rutherford Alcock gave some very unseemly instances. There was, further, a great fear all over China that the missionaries would so exercise their influence as to interfere with the local authorities, and these officers, therefore, induced the literati and gentry to encourage and institute acts of oppression against the missionaries. Sir Rutherford Alcock truly observed that, unless we intended to carry on the work of proselytizing by the sword, it was absolutely necessary that the missionaries should not establish themselves at places where they could not have constant communication with their countrymen. It would be absolutely impossible to protect the Chinese converts except by naval and military forces; and Sir Rutherford Alcock added that if ever Christianity was to become general in China it would be through the upper classes, and not in spite of them, and therefore it was most material that missionaries should confine themselves to the treaty ports and carry on their labours with great judgment and caution. Quite recently a most offensive placard against the Roman Catholic religion had appeared on the walls of Shanghai, and Sir Rutherford Alcock doubted whether any prospect of success which the missionaries were entitled to entertain would compensate the dangers they incurred in disregarding not only the laws of the country and the prejudices of the people, but the advice of their own Government. While all must admire the undaunted sion was appointed in March 1865, on account of the great difficulties that had arisen from the difference of the Law of Marriage in the different parts of the United Kingdom. This difference occasioned great embarrassment in our courts of justice, frequent conflict of opinion, and rendered uncertain the status of individuals, from the uncertainty whether a valid marriage had been contracted on one side or the other of an artificial line. This difficulty had been illustrated in a most striking manner in a late celebrated case before both the Irish and the Scotch Courts in the one case from the peculiarities of the Scotch Law of Marriage, and in the other from the statute law relating to mixed marriages in Ireland. The controversies arising out of that case rendered desi courage with which, in the spirit of martyrs, the missionaries laboured for the spread of religious truth, he hoped their zeal would not altogether exclude discretion, and that when once they became thoroughly convinced of the dangers to which they exposed themselves, of the risk they ran of producing riot and bloodshed and of embarking this country in war-when convinced, too, above all, that they were not in the path leading to success even in their own calling, both they and the societies which sent them forth from this country would see that the system hitherto pursued must be abandoned. He trusted that the stringent instructions which he had sent out and the good sense of the missionaries themselves would bring about a better state of things; and for this no moment could be more favourable than the pre-rable an inquiry into the possibility of sent, for he had received a telegram from Sir Rutherford Alcock, informing him that order was restored in all quarters, that the instructions recently sent out had been communicated to the Prince of Kung, that the best understanding existed between the Prince and the Foreign Ministers, that there was no more cause for anxiety in any point, and that our relations with China had never been more satisfactory. THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY sincerely hoped the missionaries would take the excellent advice given by the noble Earl, and of this he had not the slightest doubt, for all the great societies were acting with great moderation, judgment, and care. He believed, however, that in the case of Formosa the missionaries were not concerned. There was a Presbyterian congregation there; but it had not been the action of the missionaries which had led to the disturbances, except that they had been instrumental in making converts. The attack was made on the converts, and they being entitled to certain rights under the treaty, redress was sought on their behalf, the missionaries having nothing to do with it. MARRIAGE LAW COMMISSION REPORT. OBSERVATIONS. QUESTION. LORD CHELMSFORD rose to call the attention of the House to the Report of the Marriage Law Commission, and to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intended to introduce any measure founded on that Report? The Commis bringing the marriage laws throughout the three kingdoms into closer conformity, and the Commissioners were accordingly directed to inquire into and report on the state and operation of the various laws in force in the different parts of the United Kingdom with respect to the constitution and proof of the contract of marriage, and the registration and other means of preserving evidence thereof. He himself had the honour of presiding on that Commission over persons than whom none could have been better qualified to investigate the subject; for England was represented by the noble and learned Lord on the Woolsack (Lord Hatherley), the late Lord Chancellor (Lord Cairns), Lord Lyveden, Mr. Walpole, Sir James Wilde, Sir Roundell Palmer, and Sir Travers Twiss; Ireland, by the present Lord Chancellor, Mr. Monsell, and Lord Mayo; and Scotland, by the Lord Justice General, the present Solicitor General, and Mr. Dunlop. Their first step was to direct the preparation of a succinct summary of the marriage law in different parts of the country, and at the request of his fellow-Commissioners he issued a Circular asking for information and suggestions. A copy of this was sent to all the Archbishops and Bishops, Protestant and Roman Catholic, to the Moderators of the Established Church, Free Church, and United Presbyterians in Scotland, to various deans, archdeacons, and other clergymen, to Roman Catholic clergymen in Ireland, to ministers and members of Dissenting |