instance of a different character occurred | would be done by if he exhibits in his in the principal parish of an important own person an example of spending county town. The income was only carelessly the money of other people by £350 a year. There the same thing taking goods from his parishioners which happened. I was asked-and I could he has no means of paying for, and if not refuse-to present a gentleman who he thus neglects the obvious duties which for 25 years had admirably performed all owe one to another? It is plain that the duties of the parish in lieu of the such a person cannot have the slightest incumbent, with a stipend of £200, the hope of impressing on the minds of his rest of the income being appropriated to congregation the doctrines he preaches, the incumbent's creditors. I have had while his own example is opposed to the six or seven other parishes in the same principles he inculcates. I therefore condition, and where the most disastrous trust that the proposal to refer the right effects have resulted to the parishes. rev. Prelate's Bill to a Select Committee One of these was the case of a large will be agreed to; and I hope that the rural parish. The emolument was small, noble Earl will not require that his Bill and the incumbent had become hope- should be referred to the same Comlessly in debt. I found great difficulty mittee, because, if only on account of the in finding a proper presentee. Under complication of its details, it would these circumstances I was most thankful occupy time which had better be devoted in being able to obtain the assistance of to perfecting the Bill of the right rev. a clergyman who, in consequence of Prelate. There is a clause in the noble having served in India, was in the re- Earl's Bill directing the value of a seceipt of a pension, and who, on that questrated living to be ascertained, and, account, stood in a better position to after deducting what is necessary for the perform the duties of the incumbency maintenance of the clerk and his family, than many others. This gentleman to hand over all that is provided for the accepted the living, and has restored the creditors to another authority, the whole parish to a proper condition. Such cases transaction being completed by borroware too frequent and are known to all ing from Queen Anne's Bounty. The right rev. Prelates, and therefore there whole principle is wrong that there is no doubt that some remedy is required should be a power set above the creditors for this most disastrous state of things. to take out of their fund that which the Beyond all doubt, no person would ven- clerk has forfeited, and I do not see any ture to say that an incumbent is placed object in referring the noble Earl's Bill in his parish merely to perform his duty to the same Committee as that to which twice on every Sunday, to spend his in- the Bill of the right rev. Prelate is to be come as he pleases, to incur debts, and sent, because, without taking that step, to place himself in circumstances under the noble Earl will have the opportunity which his character becomes such that of making such suggestions in the Select his parishioners can no longer respect Committee as he may think desirable. him, and yet that he should continue to As regards myself, I am afraid that my enjoy the income which he draws from necessary attendance at appeals in your the parish. I feel thankful that the pre- Lordships' House will render it impossent Bill has been introduced, and that sible for me to be present at the delibeno one has opposed the second reading; rations of the Select Committee. but, at the same time, I am bound to say that I agree with my noble and learned Friend that there is much requiring consideration in the Bill, which is somewhat meagre in its details, and which, though proceeding in a right direction, goes further, perhaps, in its operation than any Select Committee of your Lordships

THE EARL OF HARROWBY said, he did not wish to press his Bill upon the Select Committee, if it were not the general wish of their Lordships that it should be referred to that Committee.

Motion agreed to; Bill read 2a accord

would, after a full and general con-ingly; and referred to a Select Comsideration, sanction. The true principle mittee. is, to consider the parishioners in the first place; and is it to be supposed that a clergyman can teach to his parishioners the cardinal principle of doing as they

The Lord Chancellor

And, on May 19, the Lords following were named of the Committee :

And, on May 20, the Lord Bishop of ELY him on Friday the 13th May, that if added in the place of Lord WESTBURY.

812 vances from the Imperial Government and advancement of their prosperity. With this varying from £60,000 to £96,000 a year. the sum will be expended as it is raised for the view they are prepared, on your assurance that The sum of £426,600 was to be the largest amount that at any time the Im-purposes indicated in your letter, to submit to Parliament a proposal that, under proper conditions as to repayment, which will, of course, be a subject of further arrangement, the Imperial Treasury should be authorized to guarantee a loan such proportions as may be agreed upon.” of £500,000, to be raised at such rates and in

IRELAND-MR. D'ARCY IRVINE.

QUESTION.

these stories also. It was difficult to believe that Mr. D'Arcy Irvine should have appeared at the head of 100 rifles; but if there was any truth in the story, it would be highly desirable that some influence should be used with Mr. D'Arcy Irvine to moderate the state of excitement which such an act would indicate. He should be afraid to employ any influence, as he believed no one connected with the Government of the country would be a fit person to approach Mr. D'Arcy Irvine; but if there were other gentlemen who could bring their influence to bear on him, they would do a great deal of good to that part of the country.

MR. SAUNDERSON said, he wished to ask the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether the attention of Her Majesty's Government has been called to outrages said to have taken place in the county Fermanagh, against Mr. D'Arcy Irvine; whether, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government those alleged outrages ever took place, or are not imaginary; and, whether it is true, as reported, that Mr. D'Arcy Irvine appeared at the fair of Irvinestown, on the 9th of this month, at the head of one hundred men armed with Snider rifles; and, if this report be found correct, whether it is not necessary to put an immediate stop to such proceedings? He begged further to ask, Whether, as Mr. D'Arcy Irvine, who now SIR JAMES ELPHINSTONE said, always carries firearms in his carriage, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of was proceeding through Enniskillen, he discharged two shots in the air before State for Foreign Affairs, Whether, as the house of Captain Butler, the Stipen- the House, that the release of the captives it appears from the Papers laid before diary Magistrate, which collected a large in Greece was opposed by a political crowd, who, to show their sympathy, followed him through the town, cheering State for Foreign Affairs has pressed on party in Athens, and as the Secretary of vociferously? Also, whether Mr. D'Arcy the Government of Greece the urgent Irvine had called a meeting for Friday next to censure the conduct of Captain Butler, the Stipendiary Magistrate, by the following placard :

"Rise, sons of civil and religious liberty, Orange and Green! Meet me in Enniskillen on Friday next, in Fair Green, in defence of The Queen and Her Throne, in defence of your lives and rights, in defiance of all party government, in defiance of ascendancy and police magistrates who write in

the Press that peaceable inhabitants are shocked

to see loyal men carrying arms to defend themselves against assassination. United we stand, divided we fall.-Yours sincerely,

"D'ARCY IRVINE."

MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE, in reply, said, his attention had been called to the outrages or outrage alleged to have been committed, not upon Mr. D'Arcy Irvine personally, but upon his servant. The story was, that a gun had been snapped at the servant in the darkness of the night, as he was standing outside Mr. D'Arcy Irvine's hall door. He confessed, from all the information he had obtained, he agreed with his hon. Friend that the outrage was purely imaginary. It was not for him to explain how the mistake arose. With respect to the latter part of the Question, he had no official information. He should be inclined to believe that there was a good deal of imagination about

THE MASSACRE IN GREECE.

QUESTION.

duty of tracing out this conspiracy, Her that the presence of the Mediterranean Majesty's Government do not consider

Fleet at the Piræus would strengthen the hands of the Greek Authorities in pursuing an investigation involving many persons of high political and social position at Athens?

MR. OTWAY: Sir, Her Majesty's Government have required of the GoVernment of Greece that the investigation into all the circumstances of the recent murders of their countrymen there shall be searching and complete. Her Majesty's Minister at Athens has informed us that the judicial inquiry is being conducted with all practicable speed, and, as I mentioned to the House a few days ago, Mr. Erskine will have the assistance during this inquiry of able counsel. We desire that the truth may be made manifest and justice done in this matter; but we do not consider the presence of the Mediterranean Fleet at the Piraeus as necessary to this end; while it might have the effect of leading the people, of whose sympathy and right feeling on this subject we have no reason to doubt, to think that the investigation was being pursued and that justice would be administered under the

CHANNEL PASSAGE BETWEEN ENG-
LAND AND FRANCE.-RESOLUTION.

SIR WILLIAM GALLWEY rose, according to Notice, to move

"That, in the opinion of this House, Iler Majesty's Government should invite the co-operation of the French Government for the purpose of improving the Channel Passage between the two

Countries."

pressure of a foreign armed force. He an untimely end. The hon. Gentleman might take that opportunity of telling opposite (Mr. Shaw-Lefevre) disclaimed the hon. Member for Surrey (Mr. Peek), having been the cause of that misfortune; who had asked a Question on the subject and, although the evidence against him on the previous day, that there would be was strong enough to sink one of the no difficulty in completing the series of iron-clads of the right hon. Gentleman translated Papers. (Mr. Childers) who sat next him, yet he placed perfect confidence in his disclaimer. After the failure of that Motion all that he could do was to ask a question or two on the subject, which, of course, could not be followed by discussion. Still, the public began to reflect with some uneasiness upon the smallness of the vessels in which they had to cross the Channel, and which were to be exchanged for still smaller vessels in winter, the very season in which vessels of more power and greater size were most required. The public also began to feel some indignation at the persecution which, owing to the supineness of the Board of Trade and the South Eastern Railway Company, passengers had suffered for so many years on arriving at the port of Boulogne. He had asked the hon. Gentleman opposite whether he was aware that those Channel packets, which sometimes carried 200 or 300 passengers, did not carry more than sufficient boats to save 30 or 40 persons besides the crew in case of accident? The answer he received was "Yes." He also asked whether paddle boats could not be fitted on the paddlewheels of steam packets? a question to which he got no answer at all. Now, he had been informed by a gallant and most skilful officer, who had for many years commanded a paddle-box man-ofwar, that during the term of his command his vessel was fitted with large paddlebox boats, and that by means of "hinge davits" those boats could be safely launched in all seas without difficulty. That was a point which he thought the Board of Trade ought to consider, with a view to requiring the Channel packets to adopt some such expedient. Travellers generally were very ignorant of all matters concerning the passage across the Channel, and contented themselves in stormy weather with anathematizing the Board of Trade, the boats, and everything connected with them; and, therefore, it would be impossible for them to judge of the advantages that would be derived from bringing the Folkestone and Boulogne boats to Dover, without waiting for those more important im

He was sorry to say he found it very difficult to convince anyone of the importance of that subject, and he feared that neither the House nor the public would give to it the attention it deserved until some terrible catastrophe occurred, either from the great difficulty now experienced in entering the Channel ports, or from the insufficiency of the boats which the present Channel packets were enabled to convey, with a view to the safety of their passengers in the event of accidents. The physical consequences of the improvements he would advocate were that by means of larger vessels they would gain greater speed and more certainty, together with much additional safety in making the passage. He need not say that the moral effects of these improvements would also be very great. He was told, on the best authority, that the number of passengers who would cross the Channel, if they were not deterred by the insufficient size of the packets, would be very large indeed, and that the value of the traffic now passing that way from England into the port of Boulogne was £19,000,000, while the traffic entering all the ports generally on the English side amounted only to about £12,000,000. By improved arrangements that traffic in passengers and in goods might be very largely increased, the result of which would be that both countries would obtain a better knowledge of each other, would learn how they could become more useful to each other, and thus their relations of mutual friendship and goodwill would be placed even on a firmer basis than that on which they now stood. Last Session he brought forward a similar Motion to the present; but by a mishap the discussion upon it came to

Mr. Otway