The Express. — London, England, 1847-12-03 00:00:00

, and a it was distincoom estion hon ad sense been wog between tha which was common t o beca chit which was pereonal • but of late years the Doe had been to cry down land, and to exalt cotton; had put down the landlords good s lt the cotton ( e laugh) —they had cheapened , but they had .be tam from their customers the means of buying them. a r, hear.) They had listened to a manufacturer of m `,....sursate eloquence, prudence, and judgment, who had and that the towns should rule the country. The townand s did a e s, and much good might it do them. (" Hear," wt.) The systeem had enabled them to raise colossal for ram amidst a starving population. (Hear, hear.) Under a d i e operatives ware lording it over them at one time, and b u sing their mills and sacking their peaces at another. It W been said that free-trade principles pervaded the land, ad Lawlor' was pointed to as haviag, in maintenance of *se principles, returned as its representative the noble lord ,the head of the treasury. That was true ; but the condi , had taken off some of the grace of that charm by the noble lord with a Jew. (Laughter.) But, on *o ther bud, the cosetitneney, pa exceilete• the most ishtened modern Athena, had given a reverse judgment, la r aey had toned out that the modern Demosthenes must met elate here, and they bad sent in his steads gentleman 0 0 was to teach the house how to behave itself. (Laughter.) bI'OItEGOR expressed hie general isoncurrence in * views stated by his right hon. friend the Chancellor of lie Enhequer, as to the causes of distress, of which he did am consider the act of 1844 to be one, although he admitted east measure not to be without its defects. Its restrictions, " w i l dly with respect to Scotland, bad operated grievously, s ad bad been attended with great commercial incenveniente ;that country. He regretted that his right hon. friend had attacked the Seopi banks, to which he (Mr. Iti'Gregor) believed the prosperity of Scotland, the improvement of that country, and establishment of its manufactures, were to be attributed. The beet test, the soundness of the principles en which the Scotch banks were founded, was the fact that so very few failures bad taken place, and that even those which had 'wended would pay fully 20a. in the pound. He was sum when the whole case was investigated, and when the returns he hod moved for to-day were before the beau, it would be found that the condition of the Scotch banks was sound, and that they were adapted for every IP TIANDARS said he had beard of venous causes of lisUese, and various remedies. It had been stated over and um again that the commercial distress in which the country was involved was attributable to railways, but he decidedly taunted from that proposition. He should like to Vow whether the construction of railways had sent gold out of the country. Hail it caused the exchanges is be against us ? Had it caused the floating caeltol of the country to be converted to fixed capital ? Certainly not. altar, hear.) It had been said that money expended on the onstruction of railways—that railway capital, was (all teed capital. That was not so. If a man, for instance, in vested 60,0001. in railways it undoubtedly became fixed, in a certain sense, but what became of the lawyers' bills, the same expended in iron, wages, materials, de. ? Provisions were purchased by the labourers employed, by the iron founders, artisans, &c . The sums paid in that way were therefore no drain upon the country—they remained in it and were tioatiag capital. (Hear, hear.) As to the Bank Charter he thought it impossible, even in times of prosperity, that it could be operative : in times of pressen, he need hardly express his opinion that the currency of the country was inadequate for its use. However, he (Mr. Sanders) did not object to the in gain, but he wished to suggest that some tempotary mea sare should be peered, in the interim, to suspend the opera- Lieu of the Bank Charter, and remove suspense and uncer tainty amongst the mercantile interests. All the mischief that bad been done was for the sake of convertibility. Had they accomplished their designs? No such thing! He, maintained we had no such thing as convertibility, and what he would suggest was, that silver should be made the standard as well as gold. He had never been an advocate for tree trade, or connected with the Anti-corn Law League; be had been a director of the Manchester Chamber of Com merce when that dangerous question was first muted there. He opposed it, and he penisted in his opposition I. it during the advocacy of it by the hon. gentleman the member for the West Itidieg of Yorkshire Z(Mr. Cebdea). He was still opposed to it ; but he thought, as the measure bad passed, it ought now to have n fair trial. He did not attri bute our recent calamities to free-trade, but to the large and necessarry importations of grain in 1846. Sir W. CLAY should decidedly support the appointment of the committee. With reference to the range of subjects to be inquired into, he had no doubt that the good sense of the committee themselves would limit that range within a reasonable compass. At the same time he would caution the horse and the country against expecting too much from the inquiries and recommendations of the committee, or from the legislation which might follow. Legislation upon these subjects was rather valid to prevent evil than to originate good. It was quite beyond the power of the legislature to add one single pound to the capital of the country. The utmost it could do was to take care that the country, io making use of a paper currency, should not overstep the limits within which alone the advantage of a paper currency might be safely used. The point of the inquiry of the committee would be practically this, whether the object of the act of 1814 had been desira ble; and secondly, whether that object had been attained. It should be borne in mind that the framers and supporters of that measure had never held it out as a menus that would of necessity prevent fluctuations. Io his opinion, the experience of the last year had afforded a most convincing proof of the value of the measure of 1844 ; but the events of the last twelvemonth had convinced him that something was necessary to regulate the Bank's action. Mr. MASTERMAN said he should not have risen ex cept for the remark that had fallen from the hen. member for the Tower Hamlets (Sir W. Clay), as to the recent in terposition of government. He considered that the commit tee would be the proper place for discussing the causes of the recent commercial disasters, but he was anxious now to express his opinion that great credit was due to the govern ment for their recent interference, at a moment when, he be lieved, the country was never in a more dangerous state. (Hear, hear.) The evil at that time was not so much a want of money, as the belief that there was a want of it ; a panic existed without any real cause. (Hear.) lie bad bad the honour to form one of a deputation who waited on the members of the government ; and though, in that interview, he had advocated some relaxation, he had done so without any wish to give room for fictitious issues. (Hear.) He had never been favourable to the bill of 1844. At the time it was proposed he bad expressed his opinion that no one could say whether the authorised amount of fourteen millions was sufficient; and that it might be necessary to give the Bank power to issue beyond that amount. (Hear.) From what was said by the right hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he conceived he was now convinced that that measure could not longer work without some modification. If the committee was ap potated, its inquiries might occupy a long time ; and he hoped that some resolution would be come to by the house in the interim, giving the public confidence that the Bank would be authorised to extend its issues if neuseery. (Hew.) He begged again to thank the government for their timely and valuable interference. (Hear.) Mr. BLE WITT severely condemned the act of 1844. and likened its operation to that of an " infernal machine." He quoted from the speech of Sir R. Peel, iv proposing the act of 1819, and contended that the right hon. baronet hail contradicted his own principles in the act of 1844. He felt disgust at the principles which had hems prescribed to the Bank as their rule of action. It would seem front the way the Chancellor of the Exche quer treated the matter, that they were first to be ruined before they were to be saved. (A laugh.) When the letter of the government was written, bad the potato crop emerged from its rottenness, had the great houses anion from their ashes, or had the foreign exchanges altered at the magical bidding of Wood, the enchanter? (Renewed laughter.) Not so! though happily now, if all did not go so merry as a •massage bell, at least the bell that rang the knell of com merce had ceased to toll. (Ironical cheers and renewed laughter.) But he was tiring the house. (Cries of " No, no : go on.") Well, then, he would state his views on the subject of convertibility and the standard (Hear, hear.) What the gold standard was he was unable to:say ; but that it was something of consequence in the opinion of the right hon. hart. was clear from the fact that he would not have • silver standard at any price. All people were entitled to de mand gold from the Bank of England at a certain price. Why should we be obliged to buy gold, sot at its market price, but at a price fixed upon it by the bullion broken ? Suppose the Emperor of Russia were to take it into his head to exchange his millions of gold for iron rails, or any other product of this country, why there would be no demand for gold at our fixed price, and it would have to lie in the cellars of the Bank useless, except, perhaps, to minister to the diseased fancies of the bullioniMs. (" Hear," and laughter.) For his part, be could not conceive whence WON the dread there was in this country of an export of gold. He could see no reason why gold should not be made an exchangeable commodity as well as anything else. When our crops foiled we had real cause for dread, but what was the use of shedding teen for the loss of bullion, which was mere deem, and only useful as a medium of exchange. He was Unions that an addition should be made to the subjects for inquiry by the committee as to the operation of the act of 1844, and he trusted that would be assisted to. On the motion of the Marquis of GRANBY, the debate was them adjourned. RAILWAY BILL. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER gave notice that he should proceed with the Railway Bill at the meeting of the house to-morrow. The house adjourned at 12 o'clock. nom pahory purchase of the lands therein referred to, can be lawfally exercised, and whereas it is expedient that in cer tain eases further time be granted for the purposes men- gonad, it is now proposed to enact that companies may apply to the coninusdoners of railways for an extension of time at any time within two calendar months after the peeing of this bill. The commissioners may direct ad , yertienneata of the appliestion, " and every such notice I shall set forth within what time and in what manner any person who thinks himself aggrieved by such proposed ex tension of time, and who &mares to object thereto, may bring such objections before the said commissioners." By the third clause its proposed to empower the railway commis sioners to extend, if they think fit, by warrant under their seal, and signed by two or more of them, the period allowed for the completion of a railway or works, or for the com pulsory purtheise of lands for that puepose, for such further time as the said comminioners think fit, " not exceed ing the periods so allowed by such act or acts respect ively, and they may so extend such period' respectively, either as to the whole of such railway or works and the whole of the lands required for the same, or as to so much of such railway or the works, or the lands con nected therewith, as shall be specified for that purpose in such warrant." The acts of parliament in force are to be construed with reference to the warrants of the com missioners. The act is not to revive expired powers. within a day of granting the warrant the same te to he pub lished in the Gamete where the property is situate. Parties aggrieved by the delay granted to have compensation. The act is to be incorporated with the Bth and 9th of Victoria, e. 18, 19. There is the following provision respecting the postponement of contracts ; it requires to be given at length :—" And be it enacted that no railway company authorised by act of parliament to construct a railway or any works connected with a railway, who have not before the 27th of November, 1847, entered into any contract or agreement for the execution of any works which they were for the first time authorised by each act to:construct, shall enter into any such contract or agreement within 12 calendar months after the passing of this act, excepting always from this enactment contracts and agreements for the construction of any part of any railway which by the act authoriaing the construction thereof is oubstitnted by way of deviation from the line as originally proposed and authorised by some previous act, and which is abandoned in favour of such deviation, and also contracts and agreements for the con struction of such other works which the company shall be authorised to proceed in constructing, by the consent of so many of the shareholders as hold at least three-fourths of the whole number of thane in the said railway, such consent to be signified in writing under their hands respectively within six weeks after the passing of this act, and all contracts and agreements entered into in contravention of this enactment shall be utterly void and of none effect; and a certificate of such consent having been duly given within the time afore said, under the hand of the chairman or two of the directors of the company, and countersigned in each case by the se cretary of the company, shall be deposited in the office of the commissioners of railways, and such certificate, or a copy thereof, certified under the seal of the said commissioners to be is true copy, 'hall be received as evidence in all court', and before all justices and others, that such consent was duly given within the time aforesaid." The bill concludes with the usual provision to amend or repeal the proposed set. ht icvregg. MAILS. mi. loads hr British North America, Bermuda, tad the United Babe, will he may op ea tha eaming of the 3rd December. the imam Om _ Brodie 1, 1 1 .4. • Biwa Plate, Monte Video, Femora. = loathh Italia. tad i t ettlio Dohoslter. hymn will be made ap on We The oohs he !ye, Oporto, Lisboa, Madeira, Cadiz, and Gibraltat will be mho op ea lho Worship of the 7th December. The oloirird dna mem. oh Montilla to the de op = 48 •• lualk awe Km, sco.: will be made op fa the Mho Tat Doneler. The Wait lidisonoloollog Berontle, Navan, Hanzon, Hattlneo, Mew Odom% Tors Oro. ort. Porto Blee. sod - then Ix thAdre. Pommel. Beata Merits, theirte, Parme. Wed Omet gosh aui St. Jerda N tagirm Mary mesethe asoilit lithe Mk Dseeniar. The troahni meth kr Mini' Mat% Men% the loner limb, sal Ohs, no tenthenhen, 2g t . = mien the mesh( el the Yhlt Klwwl~~~~q y I/D ~~ ll4L l~M~vNwts~p rant wT - fr~~uewar wrbllaiu.. 1111011 WATDI AT LONDON NUDGE Two Dar—Howleleols.pea Alter." 34 d. 11. Twiloss.r-11 pen . ADOO OOOO 4 0 000 . Pm , U. LONDON, FRIDAY, DEC. 3. In the House of Lords, yesterday, the Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved for the appointment of a select committee, similar to that proposed in the House of Commons, viz., to inquire into the recent commercial distress, and how far it has been affected by the law regulating the issue of bank notes payabie on de mand. The noble marquis was replied to by Lord STANLEY, who concurred in the proposition, that as a committee of the House of Commons was about to inquire into this large and complicated ques tion, it was fitting that a committee of their lordships should simultaneously proceed with • similar inquiry. The noble lord concluded his nervations by stating that he should not at present submit any motion, but inasmuch as the government had shrank from proposing any measures to parlia ment for the remedy of existing evils, that as the ap pointment of these committees was the only step they were prepared to take on this all-important question, they must not be surprised if, from other quarters not pledged or bound by the ties of official duty, I they found some practical measures suggested cal culated more directly to meet the difficulties of the emergency. The succeeding speakers were Earl GREY, Lord BROUGHAM, the Duke of GRAFTON, Lords ASHBURTON, EGLINTON, and WHARNCLIFFIL The Marquis of LANSDOWNE, in reply, stated that it would not come within the scope of the labours of the committee to consider and open the whole monetary system, but merely to confine the inquiry to the banking question. • There was every disposi tion on the part of the Bank to meet the views of government and the legislature. The motion was then agreed to. In the House of Commons Mr. Btewrrr gave notice of his intention, when the committee on the currency question should be appointed, of moving that it bean instruction to the committee to consider and report to the house, before they made their final report, whether a bill should not be introduced forth with for the purpose of enabling the Bank of Eng land to extend their issues beyond 14,000,0001., as specified in the act of 1844. Mr. J. O'CON NELL also gave notice that on Wednesday, the Bth inst., he should move that the house do go into committee on the state of Ireland, and determine what measures of relief ought to be adopted.—Lord JonN RUSSELL postponed his mo tion on the subject of Jewish disabilities until the 16th inst. The noble lord, in answer to Mr. RI CARDO, stated that after the recess he hoped to be aW 111 bring forward a measure on the subject of the n laws.—Mr. LABOUCHERE, in answer to lfz. Z ann WELL, said that in the course of the session •bill would be brought in to amend the act of 1844, relative to the winding up of the affairs of joint stack ant • —Sir G. GREY, at the instance of . PAXINGTON, explained the principle on which the transportation system bad been carried oat during the past year. Some discussion took place relative to the Poor-law Commission, on Mr. BaNxerfs motion for leave to bring in a bill to amend the Poor-law Act, by reducing the amount of charge to which the public are liable under its provi sions, but which motion was withdrawn.—Mr. Os- BORNE, at the suggestion of Sir GEORGE GREY, with drew his motion on the subject of encumbered estates in Ireland for the present.— Sir GEORGE GREY, at the instance of Mr. EWART, explained the circumstances and the causes of delay in the liberation of certain persons who had been convicted of offences of the commission of which they bad since been proved to be innocent, and said, with respect to the hon. member's question as to whether it was intended to institute • court of appeal in criminal eases, that such a measure was not at present in contemplation.—The adjourned debate on the appointment of the committee on the currency question was resumed by Mr. URQUHART, followed by , Mr. ELLICE, Mr. NEWDEOATE, Mr. MITCHELL , Kr. H. DRUMMOND, Mr. MACOREGOR, Mr. SANDARS, Sir W. CLAY, Mr. MARTERMAN, and Mr. BLEWITT, PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. i when the debate was further adjourned until this day. - - RELIGION AND EDUCATION.—A paper showing the disbursemeuta out of the consolidated find for religious and educational purposes during the year ended sth Jan., 1847, moved for by Mr. Ifittison, hes bees presented to the House of Commons. The return for Great Britain is nil. For the colonies it amounts to 20,376/. 2s. sd. The diocese of Barbadoes bad 5,3141.10•. I.od. ; of Antigua, 3,8111. lls. 7d.; of Guiana, 3,0001. ; of Jamaica, 8,2601. No details are given as to the object or application of these grants. The re turn for Ireland amounts to 36,9321. 10s. 7d. The provin cial colleges had 8,5031. Be. 6d. among theta ; the Maynooth College, 26,3501. ; Trinity College, Dublin, 6221. 9s. Bd. the Board of Education, 8011. ! the Iris h ; the ins pec tors of schools of anatomy, 4701. the Irish Royal Academy, 1831. 124. ld. There are • few minor items to sundry c l erg ymen, among which is 701. 4e. to the rector of Bt. Paul's for attending the sick in the barracks of Dublin. ItAmwaYe.—The government [UMW, to give further time for making certain railways, brought into the House of Commons on Friday nigh', was on Monday printed. There are 10 provisions in the bill, the preamble of which states that divers acts of parliament have been passed for making railways, and In such acts respectively certain periods of time are limited within which only the powers thereby granted, whether for making the railways or for the No report has issued from any sanitary commission coin for practical importance, to that which has just appeared for the metropolis. It is true that it is short. It is true that it is confined to part of the metropolis only. It is true that it appears, unaccom ' by the detailed evidence on which it is based. u t i t, notwithstanding all this, it is pregnant with in calculable consequences. We would not be misunder stood in saying this. The reports of Mr. Chadwick on the sanitary condition of the poor, the reports ofl the health of towns commission printed in 1844 and 1845, contain, imylicitly, almost all the information that is contained in this report of 1847. The revels lion of these earlier commissions awakened public attention to the existence of unsuspected sources of disease, and directed the public mind to unimagined mesas of This last report is the coro to its rs. It clinches every nail they drive. And • not in theory only. It has already bad a practical erect. It has killed the existing commis- THE EXPRESS, AY EVENING, DECEMBER 3, 1847. down the 'threshold dons of sewers. It has, in so m... great giant of obstruction, who stood of all effective sanitary improvement. The LORD CHANCELLOR has already tamed his writs of sispersedeae. The seven unwieldy, irresponsible, ignorant, and jobbing nuisances, which mismanaged the sewerage of the metropolis, are at last got rid of. The way is open for doing the work, which they never have done, and never could have done. We rejoice in this result, as in one to which we have oon tributed, from a conviction that it was the one great condition of real sanitary improvement in London. The metropolis is the source and centre of example. What is done in it will sooner or later be done else where. This report furnishes a curious comment on the letter from a commissioner of sewers lately published in our columns. It bears out, substantially, every complaint we made, and negatives, as substantially, every point he took in defence of the existing com missions generally, through the Westminster °manila lion in particular. The seven old sewerage commissions comprised about 700 persons. There were the strangest names in the list. The Archbishop of CANTERBURY upheld the tegis of the church over one. The Duke of WEL LINGTON was paraded in the front of another. The Chief Justice arrayed the dignity of his ermine to deter all suspicion from a third. These great and venerable names were used like " man-traps and spring -guns" to frighten inquiry off the premises. They were the scarecrows set up to terrify trespassing suspicion and importunate economy. All this is at an end. The 700 are reduced to 22. These 22 include neither empty great names to impose on the public, nor architects with friends to serve, nor surveyors with jobs to carry out, nor builders with contracts to execute—they comprise such men as Lord ASHLEY, Lord MORPETTI, and Lord EBRINOTON, the noblemen who have shown the most real zeal and knowledge in the sanitary cause ; physicians, such as Dr. SOUTHWOOD SMITH= Dr. ARNOTT, economists such as Mr. JOSEPH HUME, physiologists like Professor Owen', philan thropic clergymen like the rector of Spitalfields, and statists like /Mr. CHADWICK. All the necessary science and all the useful qualities of business management are represented in the new body. More than this ; legal difficulties stood in the way of formally in urpsrating the seven different commissions in one. Pset,ikir efficient and economical action such consolida lion was absolutely necessary. It has been effected by a happy expedient. The same gentlemen have been appointed commissioners for all the seven com missions. Thus the sewerage of the metropolis, with the exception of the City, will be practically under the government of one and the same body. It may be said that these twenty-two are as irresponsible to the rate-payers as the old seven hundred. As far as the direct responsibility secured by election i goes, this is tree. But it must be remembered that there s not MO althea) twenty-two who is not committed to the whole public of England on the sanitary question. They must do their work, or be shamed for ever. More over, they are each and all responsible to a reputation. Dr. SMITH. cannot countenance a job, nor Lord Mon- Prut pitchfork a serviceable builder into a snug con tract. And they are deprived of the shelter of a crowd. Of the old commissions, as of the sinners of old Rome, it might be said : Defereht unmercia, junctlgne umbone phalange'. You could not easily put your hand on the jobber, out of 700. And then the great names are gone under which the old commissioners used to fly for shelter from personal charge of public obloquy. Complain ants will no longer find the Duke of Wettlnurces's hundred victories dashed in their teeth, or have their mouths stopped with—the wig of the Archbishop of CANTERBURY. This great change has been effected by the com mission, which has just published its report. But it has not only demonstrated in general the inefficiency, jobbery, and waste of the old bodies; Shea laid its finger on the particular errors of their prosedure. It has shown, not only that they con demited sewers which effec ted the very things which sewers are intended to obviate, but the means by which such mischiefs may be obviated for the future. It has brought out great practical improvements in the theory of sewerage. It has shown how its ex pense may be reduced two-thirds, and its efficiency increased in far more than this same ratio. It has put the country in a position to repair past and avoid future errors. With this result actually achieved, and this pros pect of future results opened, we consider ourselves justified in our assertion that, practically, this is the most important sanitary commission that has yet sat and reported. The consideration of the report itself we defer till another, but that the earliest opportunity. WE have observed, with some surprise, and more regret, that hitherto scarcely any allusion has been made, either in or oat of parliament, to one of the most vexatious and impertinent of the interferences with the ordinary trade of the country, of which, from first to last, the present Bank Charter Act is composed. The discussion has been ample and continuous on the prejudicial influence exerted by that statute over the policy of the central banking institution, and over the great financial focus of the empire, but throughout the debate the injurious consequences of the same code of legislation upon the system of provincial banking'aad provincial circulation seems to have been overlooked. We by no means underrate the importance of those greater topicsof the controversy,bat as a matter of daily facility, as a question of habitual expense, and as an arrangement which threatens at no distant date to in terfere most extensively with the whole scheme of our country banks, we are quite sure that the regula tions of 1844, with reference to the non-metropolitan notes, call for as cloee:an examination, and deserve as persevering an exposure. There are several peculiar reasons why this division of the investigation should not be left to the care of those, whom in the first instance it appears most directly to concern. It is quite true that the body of country bankers are the class of persons whose in terests have been most obviously invaded, and who therefore may be supposed to have the strongest in ducements to seek the alteration of a law towards which they can entertain only sentiments of hostility. The country bankers, as a body, do entertain these sentiments : they have a strong opinion in opposition to the legislative dispensation under which they have been compelled to act. But there are a variety of causes which keep in check the natural expres sion of their dislike and their discontent. At this moment especially, it is in the highest unlikely, that they would feel it wise to oomt gem: any agitation which might suggest a doubt of their perfect ability to meet the demands of the crisis. That jealous conservation of unimpeached credit, which is the governiag maxim with every sound banker, would effectually preclude them from enter ing upon a course aterespicuous remonstrance against the existing law. Collectively, there may be the most prima amity of opinion throughout the whole ohm, but the single consideration that to move lag, or to exhibit any distress under the influence of • saris common to all who pursue the same profes sion, would be instantly interpreted to indicate in adequate resources, will be quite sufficient to relieve the legislature, at least for a time, from the appear ance of the country bankers among the list of sup pliants for parliamentary relief. In the whole catalogue of impertinent inter ned dlings with the trade of the country from which our jurisprudence is only beginning to abstain, we do not believe there is any instance in which more annoy ance and inconvenience is occasioned for the attain ment of so problematical a good, as in the case of the interference with the country circulation. Theoreti cally, the arbitrary maximum was placed upon the volume of that circulation, because it was alleged to be subject to an extravagance of irregularity in its rise and fall, utterly at variance with any general rule or certain principle—because the issuing bankers had the means of emitting as many of their notes as they thought proper—and because, as a body, they did not regulate their business of issue in accordance with the foreign exchanges. Now it is not too mach I to say that as far as the most circumstantial evidence and the most exhaustive argument can settle any question, it is quite certain that however essential to the completeness of a theory, there was not one of these grounds upon which, as a practical matter, any measure of legislation could be successfully defended. Nay, so complete has become the demonstration of the precise negative of each of these theoretical ' poetulate..-so undeniable is the evidence that . the country circulation observes, strictly, certain periodi cal fluctuations in amount, so regular as to indicate the existence of a fixed law of variation—that the country bankers have not the power of ad libitum issue ; and that it is in the highest degree undesirable dust Our local esseasedee of paper shoal follow the NMI course of eeeMation as the flereign exchange; slat it is hardly needful to reespitskite the ergs• molts in support of these concludes. At this moment it will be of greater swift to point out some of the objections to the preset date of the law, as regards country banking. In the first place, the limitatith ill VW e notes has most materially added to the espe s : ll s the banking accommodation required by the public. Practically, the circulation is cut down Item about 1 ten millions to about seven millions, and the conse quences are obvious. The profits previously derived by the bankers from the employment of three mil lions of capital acquired through the circulation, are now paid by the public in the form of extra balances and extra commissions. In point of fact, therefore, the question is one which concerns the bankers much less than it ooacems the commercial classes as a body. If you take away the whole of the local note circula. 1 tion, the bankers after a short interval will feel no loss and no inconvenience. The charges of their business will adjust themselves to the new circum stances, and, as the general result, the public will find themselves suddenly overtaken by an additional amount of virtual taxation. In the agricultural dis tricts, which are the great seats of the provincial issues, it was commonly reckoned that before 1814 the privilege of issue was the means of reducing the cost of banking accommodation in these parts of the kingdom by aa much as one ver cent. In other words, a banker in Norfolk with his circulation could afford to transact his cus tomer's business to the amount of 1,0001. per annum for 101. less than he must have charged without the advantage of his circulation. Now, why should the farmers and graziers of this country be sullied to an additional tax of one per cent. for the mere accom plishment of an ingenious hypothesis ? Or, to place I the matter upon its proper footing, wby should the price of cattle and the price of agricultural produce be increased one per cent. to the great body of con eumers for the sake of an object in the highest degree chimerical and incapable of defence? But in addition to the question of expense, there is a perpetual source of annoyance connected with the working of the present law. The country maximum is imposed in the form of a monthly average, and a most severe penalty is levied upon every banker whe cannot make a return upon oath that at the end of every four weeks his circulation has not exceeded, one day with another, the sum assigned as his legis lative limit. The effect of the contrivance is this, that if, as very frequently happens, through any peculiar local circumstances a banker exceeds his maximum in theearly weeks of the month, he has to neutralise this excess by . keeping within the statutory mark during the remainder of the legal term, and to any applica tions for his own notes, however urgent, while under this repressive regimen, he can only reply that, indi vidually, he would be moat happy to accommodate ; but there is the law ! With banks having an exten sive system of branches, the labour and anxiety im posed by this obnoxious statute is most vexatious ; ' tor, as the Stamp-office will only recognise the total' issue of each concern, there is the danger of over issue at one place and of under-issue at another to be perpetually guarded against. The consequences are every way in accordance with the system. The banking community are the victims of endless trouble and vexation, and the public for twelve or fourteen weeks in the year are suddenly surprised and an noyed by the occurrence of formidable difficulties in the course of all that part of their daily business which requires the intervention of country bank notes. These are a sample merely of the injurious effects, which so fully justify a vigorous protest against this part of the prevailing system. The Paris papers of Wednesday and our usual cor respondence have come to hand. The Delves contains the following important official announcement We republish an article in the Times upon the affairs of Switzerland, to which we think it sufficient to add a few words which will have the merit of stricter truth. The English journal is happy to find that the French govern ment has unhesitatingly adhered to the counter project pro posed in the noose of the English cabinet as thebasis of the mediation of the great powers. We beg permission to feli citate ourselves on the fact that the British government his adhered, we will not say without hesitation, to proposals in which the French government had, if we are not mistaken, taken the initiative. We think we know, for instance, that as early as the first day of November M. Guizot proposed to the governments of Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia to act in concert in order to offer to Switzerland • common mediation, with the object of restoring peace. A few days after M. Guizot sent to the four courts a pnject of • note to be addressed to the two belligerent powers, and the courts of Austria and Prussia accepted without hesi tation the project of note as they had accepted the first proposition. At the same time Lord Pal merston proposed, on his part, a counter project of note, also to be presented by the five powers. If we are well informed, this note received from M. De Broglie cer tain modifications, the gravity and bearing of which cannot fail at a later period to be sufficiently appreciated. These modifications were accepted by Lord Palmerston in the names of the British cabinet ; and the project of note, thus modified, was addressed to the representatives of France, ' Prussia, and Austria, in Switzerland, in order that they might be distributed by them to the belligerent parties. If the court of Russia has not officially taken part in these step', it is be distance has not enabled it to act simulta neously with the other powers; but we believe that its assent is not a matter of doubt. After having presented these simple observation., we share, without hesitation, in the pleasure which is felt by the Times in seeing France and England again united in common action. The Madrid mails of the 28th ult. were due in Paris on Wednesday, but had not arrived when our corre spondent closed his despatches. It is now certain that before the arrival of Sir Stratford Canning at Item the intercantonal war will have been brought to a close, the League will have been dissolved, the insurgent cantons will have submitted, and the authority of the federal govern ment will have been vindicated. Die despatches of our Paris correspondent of Wednesday confirm the news we announced yesterday, of the capitulation and submission of the lesser cantons, and their renounce ment of the League. The Valais alone stood out, and independently . of the fact of its population being much divided in opinion, the force which had been directed against it would have rendered resistance utterly out of the question. In short, all is over with the Awls] war, and much credit is due to General Dufour for theakill he has displayed in obtaining his objects with so little bloodshed. The chests containing the funds of the cantonal I government, and a portion of those of the federal government, which the members of the ex-cantonal government of Lucerne had carried off with them to Altorf, in their precipitate flight on the night of the 23rd, were announced to be about to be Morbid. This fact, which we already mentioned, is eealbesed by the publication of the letter of M. Tschopp, ewe/ the members of the ca-council of state. The journals and despatches from to the 17th have arrived by the Lersattsil. thli g: last accounts from Albania corroborate former reports of the almost complete submission or subjection of the insurgents. The Porte had received news that Rap pocalli and the other chiefs of the insurrection, with the exception of Djoalaka, had been arrested, and were en route for Constantinople. The cholera had made no serious progress in Con stantinople. The sanitary intendance reported on the 16th that some cases hadoccurred on that day, but that the number was very limited, and there were grounds for hoping that the epidemic would not further in crease. ATHENS, Nov.lo. I informed you in my last that is oompoqoune of the nonattendance of a number of members of as assons, sufficient for the minieterial party, ths shims hod lees closed. The senate, however, met on the 1 to hoax Ile appointment of the new senators nod. At this &dog X. Loudoe called upon ministers to ezplalathe term node use of by the President of the Counell et this last sitting, whoa he (the President) declared that the mots hod then powers in regard to the address to Ws Warsi ig ff,t (M. Loudoe) declared the conduct of the sohtilloy oe swess stannous', and as an attempt to conned ties of the senate. This attack was wither we ~sulked by the ministers. The Mfahreso Of the orlsoneared to evade the question by Ravioli the Waft of ilioN i t ei thz admission of the sow sensems. Main. and ',fanzines then essoessively toproolhol the aidoltio with having kept the saute in a Man of WWI= shoe the opening of muiiament, with entissowelog to vilify it, sal injuring its rights and prerogatives, es we of the peg powers of the state. After several smokes from other sawn hors, mostly condemnatory of the ministers, M. Christacop oulu nom and proposed the following, " The MA* having in their vote upon the 'darns acted within the limits of lte functions, as a sovereign and independent body, pion Is the order of the day.' This proposition was strasity ap posed by the Minkter of Finance, N. Cornatekss, who altogether denied the Wahines of say each power in the senate. This brought forth N. Chrysooelas, who asserted the absolute independence of the senate in all its acts, and denied the power of the minister, to interrupt the working of the senate by the introduction of new members. After much discussion and several speeches very unpalatable to the ministers, the president suddenly arose and declared the sitting terminated. This is the man ner in which Greece isgoverned. The budget for 1847 has at last appeared. It was presented to the Chamber of Dep!- tim on the 10th, preceded by a long address from the Mi nister of Finanoe. The total amount of receipts, including the loan from M. Eynard, is 18,483,544 drar-hmes—about 650,0001. The expenses are 18,422,331 drachmas, leaving a balance in favour of receipts of 61,212 drachmas, or 2.2001 Letters from western Greece are full of the socounte of the frightful fortune exercised on the inhabitants of that part of Greece by the Mirarque Taman., Three of the chiefs of the insurgents, Macrynanni. Farmakis, and Votsiakis, have been arrested at Oranri, and sent to Miseolonghi to he tried. MALTA, Nov. 24. The Bishop of Malta, Cunene., died on the 17th, at the advanced age of 90. On the following morning the acting governor published a notification, that, inconsequence of the decease of the Archbishop of Malta, the public offices, courts of law, theatre, &c., would be all closed, u a mark of respect, until Tuesday, 23rd, the day on which the funeral took place. The officers of the garrison gave • dinner to Sir Charles Napier, the hero of Meanee and Hyderabad, on the 16th, at the Auberge de Provence. The acting governor, Rear. Admiral Curtis and the Bishop of Gibraltar, were among the invited. Covers were laid for 90. Sir Charles is expected Ito leave here for Italy, in the French ste►mer of the 26th. Prince Charles of Caput and his family still reside at Sliema, in the empty house, just u it was left them by the officers of the court. Several persons came forward with offers of furniture, &c., but the prince declined them ail. :bt Court. Col. the Hon. C. Grey arrived at Osborne on Wed nesday atternoqp, and has relieved Lord Alfred Paget ' (Clerk Marsha:)U the duties of Equerry in Waiting to the Queen. Colonel Bouverie arrived at Osborne on Wednes day afternoon, sod has relieved Capt. the Hon. Alexander Gordon in the duties of Equerry in Waiting to Fringe Albert. A deputation consisting of Sir E. M'Naghten, M.P., Mr. Tennant, M.P., Mr. Boyd, M.P., and Mr. W. Cleney, had an interview with the Chancellor of the Each.. goer _yesterday at hie official residence in Downing-street. The Right Rev. Dr. Wiseman lad an interview with Sir George Grey yesterday. The Earl of Cawdor had also an interview yesterday with the right hon. baronet at the Home-office. The ecclesiastical commissloners for England had a general meeting yesterday. Despatches were sent off yesterday evening from the Colonial-office far the Lord High Commitsioncr of the lonian Islands ? and also for the Governor of Malts. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat yesterday. The lords present were the Master of the Rolls, Lord Brougham, Lord Campbell, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall, and the Judge of the Admiralty Court. An appeal was oommenced from Bengal, " Reny 6rimuty Debiab v. Reny K booed Seta." Mr. Charles Boller and Mr. Jackson were heard by the court. NATIONAL EDUCATION. It appears, from a letter addressed by Dr. K. Shut tlewortb to her Majesty's inspector of schools, that the first general eransinotion of schoolmasters who are candidates for certificates will be held in Easter week, commencing on Monday, the 24th of April, 1848, and extending to the middle of the following week. Meanwhile, it is a needs. sexy preliminary to the admission of any candidate to exami nation that the trustees or managers of his school should apply tothe Committee of Ceuncil on his behalf, and should fill up certain forms of inquiry, which will be transmitted to them from this office in reply to their application. The examination of the candidates will extend to the sub jects contained in the first of the two following schedules. The second schedule contains other subjects, to which, on the application of a candidate for the middle or highest CIIOUI certificates, the examination may be extended. This latter schedule is intended to afford candidates an opportunity to prove the ranee of their acquirements in subjects on which they will net be required to be examined for the third or lowest class certificate. FIRST SCHEDULE.—fteligiotis instruction (in church of England schools), arithmetic, English grammar, paraphrase of some ;image from an English author, English history ReogTsphy—descriptive, physical, historical (of the British empire) ; popular astronomy, book-keeping, geometry, ele ments of mechanics, mensuration, land surveying, levelling, algebra, composition of the motes of a lesson, original easy on a subject connected with the art of teaching. Nora.—ln the subjects of this first schedule, the etandard of acquirements should correspond to that of students who have completed one year's course of instruction in the train- Iln schools under inspection, as reported in their lordships' minutes. The most useful text books may also be ascer tained by observing what books are reported to be in use in the training schools. SECOND SCSIEDULI.—StIbjeCtS to which examination may be extended on the request of • candidate for the higher classes of certificates :—Vocal music, drawing from models, history and etymology of the English language, modem history, modem languages, Roman history, Greek history, physical science, higher branches of mathematics, Latin, Greek. COMMON COUNCIL. Yesterday a court Wee held for the despatch of pub lic business. THE ROYAL HOSPITALS. — Mr. Lott brought up the report of the charity commissioners, and the privileges of the cor poration respecting the royal hospitals, &c., to which he particularly called the attention of the curt. In it the com mittee draw particular attention to the circumstance that the affairs of each of these hospitals were intrusted to the 'management of a committee ; and from that portion of the I report which relates to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, it ap- Pm" that up to the year 1835 it is rarely found that any of du chartered or corporation governors are placed upon inch useamittes of management. The committee adverted to the observations in the report relating to Christ's Hos pital, alleging that 313 of the 406 then members attained their station simply by their ability to I pay 4001. (the then price of a governorship, since raised to ROO, and showing that such governorship is worth 9001. at Last. Also the strong, butjust, observations, condemnatory of the sate of governorships, the constitution of the body of almoners, their appointment, exclusiveness, and irreepon ability, and the unjust exclusion of the corporation governors therefrom. The committee also drew atten tion to the report as to Bridewell and Bethlehem Homitals, commenting . upon the large patronage of the =ent and treasurer in the appointment of nearly op of the governors without ballot or limitation, as oblectionable ' and tending to give them as undue prepon derance and gradually to place the whole management of both institutions in the hands of their friends, connexions or dependents. It had been also referred to the committoi " to consider the privileges of the corporation in relation to the royal hospitals, and to take the opinion of counsel." With respect to this reference, the committee certified that they had taken the opinions of several eminent counsel. Those opinions were not distinct in 10010 points, and in soma respects differed from each other, though there were other points on which they were clear, and in which they agreed. But on the whole, as there was such contrariety of opinica on the important points contained in the case submitted to counsel, the committee did not then feel justified in recom mending any further proceedings to be adopted by the cor poration • but should a fit opportunity occur, or any future eircumetincto require the interposition of the legislature, they recommended that application should be made to par liament for a bill to explain and amend the act of the 22nd Oeo. 111., and to define the proper objects and intentions of the origin al chuterspanted to the corporation when the royal hospitals were originally founded. The committee could not does their labours without expressing their great satis faction at the working of the new classification of governors of the smaral lagente r reessameended by the report of the meamkimen ad nand by the court in 1843. Under the old themiemenn nag wards were without a governorship some ha been emplaned of it fur upwards of half a atom thin others had an inordinate number. At the parse anent only one ward is without a governorship, wait al In supplied on the first vacancy occurring is its claw The essuaittee could not help adverting to the fact that, netwilealanding the improved classification, there were several nay eli 10100bers of the court without a governor. ship, anal& three who had been nearly 35 years in the corporefia, ewe nearly 30 years, and others almost as long. The esstannednimaht it en act of injustice to those gentle row that they mbeeld continue so long excluded, and would therein meonnand that the system of ballot should be dabbed; and that upon either of the wards being entitled to a governorship the ma member of that ward should re aloe The comattee having thus considered and reported upon the verities mean referred to it, begged at the tarmi. nada desk Lb extending over a penod of upwards of thane gam, to neseatend that at the ensuing annual ap pendant et ennattees that committee should cease ; and that gime vonmeing outstanding duty of superintending the beet in es onion by seniority of governors be trans feral teen ammatittee for general purposes.—The report IVY Mani 00 be printed.—Adjourned. BRITISH PENITENT FT:KALE REPUGE.—Yesterday a meeting of the committee of management of the above institution wee held at the asylum, Cambridge-heath, Reekney. The meet angratulated the members on the =revels se the moiety, whose design is to afford to isneeest fisulea who may be exposed to al=sod danger es well so to assist in the restoration Dubs the leaf year 88 have participated in the benefits of the drollo,_lB of whom were *cot to • situations, 9 rild and restored to their fris7rtrt i d left al tlk own foxed, and 2 had bees dismiss ed for bad Assist, ring in the aelhasn, at the present, 30 inmates,. DIA* as quarter of &spar just concluded, 9 additional WYd been reestoek of whom 4 had been restored to l a ldnade, 2 la situations, 1 leR at her own re es: 8 net being fit objects The col:p -lot lately bow from want of feeds, to refuse to • grasBnrolow of deserving applicants: The we the passe van :--sulsecriptions, 2401. 61. 9d. ; Mt de ; seealpta from auxiliaries, 1471. Ids. la opeiloso at Anse by Inmates, 8021. ljd. Since the ikieaMMof the society near 1,000 have been received. 111140111114 TESTERDAY.--ALLEGED CHILD-MHZ oss.—asihre Yr. Carter, It the Rose, FAlll4llld4treet, Cam buirdlo s to the death of • male child.—Sergeent Kendall, I 1 P, stated that, from information he received, he went an eam day morning last to 4, Edmund-grove, Edmund-street, mai Sound a wassail named Matilda Butler, in bed, very ill ; she than denied having had a child. He got a rake , and ea searching the water-closet for about 20 minutes found a child, which he conveyed to the above house. He then went beck to the woman, and cautioned her that if she said an thing he should we it se evidence against her. She said that she had neither father nor mother. She knew /b. Charles Henloth, who was a ehopinan in Soho-square, sot they had been fellow sensate. She then said, "he was the father of the child," and he eked her what child. She mewed, "My child, which you 'hued." On Saturday was heard to go down stain, and the next morning was very ill. A surgeon was sent for and examined the child, and he was of opinion it was still-born.—The coroner then directed the jury to return a verdict to that effect, and told Sergeant Kendall to take the prisoner as soon as sufficiently recovered before the magidrates, who would deal with the case.—The sergeant said that the charge had already been entered.— Verdict as directed. SOIREE OF THE LEEDS MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. On Wednesday evening the annual soiree of the Leeds Mechanics' Institution and Literary Society was bald In the Music-hall in that town, under the preeidency of Charles Dickens, Esq. Before five o'clock in the afternoon the extensive picture gallery, which runs parallel with the spacious saloon, and the mute saloon, were thrown open cods* members and subscribers and their friends, who were plenti fully supplied with tea and coffee and other refreshments; and shortly before seven the company congregated in the saloon, where the oratorical portion of the entertainment was announced to commence at seven o'clock. At that hour Mr. Dickens was introduced and called upon to take the chair. Amongst the gentlemen present were George Stephenson, Esq., the engineer; Dr. iludgaon, Principal of the High School, Chorlton-on-Medlock ; John Crossley, Esq., President of the Manchester Athenceum ; the Rev. Wm. Sinclair, President of the Leeds Philosophical end literary Society ; E. Heiner, Esq., and other distinguished friends of education and popular improvement. Mr. Drexems, in taking the chair, was greeted with the moat euthasiastis cheering. When it had subsided, he mid: Ladies and gentlemen, believe me, speaking to you with • most distressing cold, which makes my own voice sound very strangely in my ear, that if I were not gratified and ho noured beyond expression by . your friendly welcome, I should consider the having been invited to occupy my pre pent station in this brilliant assembly in itself a distinction not easy to be surpassed. The cause in which we are eseas bled, and the object we are met to promote, I take and have always taken, to be the cause and the object inw i l almost all others that are essential to the welfare and ha epL nese of mankind. (Cheers.) And in a celebration like present, commemorating the birth and progress of a rest educational establishment, I recognise • something not limited to the spectacle et the moment, however beautiful and radiant it may be—not limited even to the me ows of the particular establishment in which we are more immediately interested, but extending from this place to swarms of toiling men elsewhere, cheering, and stimulating them in the onward and upward path that lies before us all. (Applause.) Wherever the hammer beats or those factory chimneys smoke; wherever hands are busy, or the clanking of machinery resounds ; wherever, in • word, there are masses of industrious bunion beings whom their wise Creator did not see fit to constitute all body, but into each and every one of whom He breathed a mind—there I would fain believe some touch of sympathy and encouragement is felt from our collective pulse now beating in this hall. (Cheers.) Looking with these feelings over the report of this institution for the present year, which was sent to me by your respected president, whom I ceases help thinking it to be a kind of crime to displace, even thus peacefully and for so short a period—l say, glancing over this report, I find one statement of fact in the very begin ning that gave me increased satisfaction. It is that the greatest number of members and subscribers is among that class of persons for whose advantage mechanics' institutions were originated, namely, persons receiving weekly wages. That circumstance gives me the greatest delight. I am sure that no stronger testimony could be borne to the merits and usefulness of this institution, and that we could have no better guarantee for its continued advancement and pros perity. (Cheers.) To such institutions as these, in their darker forma, there may yet re-appear, now anethen, the spectral shadow of a certain dead and buried opposition ; but I am convinced that in the steady trust of the general people bearing testimony to the virtuous influence of such associa tions by their own intelligence and conduct—that in such a light as that the ghost will melt away like early vapour hem the ground. (Hear.) Fear of such institutions as this I have sometimes heard spoken of ; and jealousy of them — distrust of them. Imagine here, on either band, two great towns like Leeds, full of busy men, all of them necessarily feeling, in some degree, many of them feeling perhaps hea vily, the burdens and inequalities that are inseparable from curtailed existence. In this town there is ignorance dark and deep; in the other town, education, the best of education, the which the grown mem from day to day and year to year pro video for himself, and maintains for himself, and in right o which his education goes on all his life, instead of leaving off complacently just when he begins to live in the toes system. Now, which of these two places has a good man or a good cause reason to distrust and dread? " The educated one," does some timid politician, with a marvellously weak sight, say, as I have known some say, because, " Knowledge is power, and because it won't do to have too much power abroad." It would be well to reflect whether ignorance be not a power, and a very dreadful power. Leek where you will, do you not find it powerful for every kind of wrong and evil—powerful to take its enemy to heart, and to strike its best friend down—powerful to fill prisons, hospitals, and graves—powerful for the insecurity of life and property, and every description of blind violence, prejudice, and error? Whereas the power of knowledge, if I know ft, is to bear and to forbear ; to know the path of duty and to tread it—(cheers); to cultivate that self respect which does not stop at self, but cherishes the beet respect for the best objects ; to turn as @brays enlarging acquaintance with the joys and sorrows, the eapabilities and imperfections of our race, to daily aseetuat in mildness of life and gentleness of construction, and humble efferts, stone by stone, to improve the whole social fabric. (Cheers.) I have never heard but one tangible objection taken to educational establishments for the people, and that objection was, that in this or that instance, or in these or those instances, education has failed ; and I have never pursued even that objection to its rise, but I have found that by the term employed true education was not meant _. that anything but education was spoken of; that It imptiatl the mere application of old common-places and ths mot preposterous spelling-book lemon, to the meanest plapsees, as if you should teach a child that there was no allmr use in electricity than to strike a mutton-pie out of the leads of a greedy boy—(loud laughter)—an objection that would be about as valid as it would be to object alto gether to the combing of the youthful hair because in a certain charity school they had had the practice of combing it over the pupils' eyes. (Renewed laughter.) Now, I turn to the report of this institution in whose sup port we are met together, and I find what education is there given; that it really is education, and that it is worthy of the name. I find that there are papers read and lectures delivered on a variety of subjects of interest and importance. I find that there are chums formed for the purpose of afford ing sound useful English information, and for the study of those two important languages, daily becoming more im portant in the burliness of life, French and German. I find that there is a clue for drawing, and a chemical class, sub divided into an elementary branch and a manufacturing branch, a most important thing in this large manufacturing district. I rind that there is a darechool at twelve shillings a quarter, which small cost, besides including instruction in all that is useful to the merchant and the man of business. admits to all the advantages of the parent institution. I find that there is a school of design established in connexion with the government school ; and that there was in the library, in January of this year, between 600 end 700 vo lumes of books. (Hear.) _ If anybody could tell me that anything but good could oome from such knowledge as ie here to be acquired, I should consider him a new but lamentable proof of the necessity of such institutions- I should regard him as • melancholy instance of what • man may come to by never having belonged to one or sympathised with one. (Loud cheers.) There is one ether pt in this report, on which I cannot help offering a coo of joyful notice. It refen to the decided increase that appears to have taken place in the number of lady members, among whom I hope I may include some et the bright fair faces that are clustered around me. (Chaste) Gentlemen, I hold that is not good for man es be alone, even in Mechanics' Institutions. (Laughter.) And I rank it en very far from among the last or the hest of the merits of such places, that you need not be alone there, and that you are not. I believe that the sympathy and society of thou, who are our best and dearest friends, who influence us is childhood, in manhood, and in old age ; the most devoted and least selfish mimics that we know on earth, who tura to us always constantly and encouragingly when others terra away, should always greet us here If anywhere, and go en with m side by side. (Cheers.) f know, gentlemen, by the evidence of my own proper senses at this moment, that there are alums and graces in such greetings, such as no other gressimp ewe possess. I know that in every beautiful work of the Almighty hand, which is illustrated in your lectures, and in every ideal portraiture of fortitude and goodness ' which you fled la your hooks, there is something that mud bring you hams to these, the best and the brightest ex amples at the Preatios ; and, therefore, gentlemen, I hops that milts mown without theta, or without an =- e swabs, el them. in your studies or in your cele brations; sad that as imams amber of new marriagee-- (laughter)—eadether erase& festivals naturally consequent epos those 'marriages—(tsaswed laughter)—may be trios& bask from to time t ,,i,44 % is the Leeds Mechanics' Institution. (Loud .) Before I sit down I beg to congratulate you y upon the occasion itself; upon the prosperity. the thriving prosperity and prospects of your institution; and upon our coma= and t rail good fortune in livi c 2 la thus these, whoa amass of mental gm aad imstomsmattare pemosated cheaply, socially, and shisefully, sad not la UMW Sal en lonely garrets. And hotly, I esagnoslats myirdi most heartily that the part Tait which lass Itsaserli ea this esesalsa Ism megesial al* my wsemest AWN. imi ge =ttiss; I bag to ink you Or year hobo at whisk I wars yea I shall never WWI PlailliMar and never forget. (Load applause.) Ilr. Shaw (AN Pesdissa 4,.. ___ BSC Simla Maw the=ll as (11e essfaisr), Thicemlig, aril Mr_ . tnee=... At Ads a f s esame Ott e emir were ether given. The wait was meeting broke *delft bY at of the Society), Mr. • Bev. W. Sinclair, Mr. 'Toren* Johnstone, Et. Church next ar to ok pl o ac f e the during thex Inusit tate . I wo was subsequently . • The r before li o'clock. 44 :0 - . J. 73./