n Russell moved that the house should go into
committee on the Irish municipal corporation bill. Sir Robert Peel then
rose and stated his views and intentions with respect to the two great
Irish questions.

The consideration of the subject was renewed on the 1st of June, when,
the house being in committee, Mr. Shaw moved that schedules A and
B should be consolidated, so that there should be but two schedules
instead of three; the first to contain the towns to which corporations
were to be given with an uniform ten-pound franchise; and the second to
contain those in which the majority of the ten-pound householders might,
according to their option, be incorporated. Mr. Shaw further proposed
that Sir Robert Peel's mode of estimating the qualification of electors
should be adopted. Lord John Russell consented to that part of the
proposition which regarded the distribution of towns to be incorporated,
but at the same time intimated that government considered an uniform
ten-pound franchise too high a qualification. On this point, indeed, the
two parties were at issue, for Lord John Russell proposed a five-pound
assessment as the qualification, while Sir Robert Peel advocated the
ten-pound assessment. On the 11th of June Sir Robert moved to substitute
the latter for the former sum; but on a division it was negatived by
a majority of two hundred and eighty-six against two hundred and
sixty-six. The bill came on for the third reading on the 25th of June,
when Lord Francis Egerton moved that it should be read that day three
months; but on a division the bill passed by a majority of one hundred
and sixty-nine against one hundred and thirty-four.

The bill came under deliberation in the house of lords on the 12th of
July, and it was read a third time on the 27th of the same month. The
lords, however, had, on the motion of Lord Lyndhurst, substituted
the ten-pound for the five-pound franchise, and had also made further
alterations in the bill at the instigation of the same noble lord. When
the bill in its amended shape came under the consideration of the
house of commons on the 2nd of August, Lord John Russell entered into
a detailed examination of these amendments. In order to settle the
question of the franchise, he proposed that a rated house of eight
pounds rent should confer it; and he carried this by a majority of one
hundred and sixty-nine against one hundred and fifty-four. A variety of
alterations were then introduced into