Star. — London, England, 1831-01-20 00:00:00

NOT EICLUSIVL FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. PARIS, JAL 18. The complication of the Belgic question has renewed the ar rrehension of war, which, on the assurance of the Pre sident of the Council, had begun to subside. We 3611re :it:tin, netertheless, of M. Lafitte's opinion— that the eon •inuaucc of peace is much more probable than the occur rence of war. The Gazette d'Augsburg, of the 13th inst. states, on the authority of letters from St. Petersburg, that the Emperor received the Polish Deputies very drily, referred them to his Manifesto, and said " he would allow Poland till the Ist of March to reflect on its contents." Letters from Madrid of the 6th inst. mention that a rup ture between France and Spain is almost unavoidable; but what is most singular, that rupture will be brought about by the apostolical party, whose warlike dispositions the King can with difficulty repress. The preparations made by Spain required an explanation, but it would appear that the answer obtained is of an unsatisfactory nature. The party that now directs Ferdinand is leading him to his ruin. Boy RSE, LF-PAST Fou R.—The only reports here cir culated are the commencement of hostilities between the French and Spaniards ; the sailing of an expedition of 6,000 men from Terceira for Lisbon ; and the departure of the Bri tish Consul from that city. The Funds have undergone a slight but not a decided improvement. The Gazetta Polska of the sth inst. states that the Grand Duke Constantine wished to dissolve the corps of the army under the command of Gen. Rosen, which, however, refused to submit. An engagement, in consequence, took place be tw•een them and Gen. Pahlen, in which the Lithuanian army lost 4,000 men, and the Russian troops 8,000. The Lithua nian army subsequently hoisted the white cockade (the na tional colour of Poland), FRENCH FUNDS.—P.tats, .7Ax. 18. Five Per Cents, 93f 40c 30c 26c 20c 30e 40c 311 e 40c 30c 2k 204 30e 3k 40c 4k. Three per Cents, 61f 25e 3be 30c 2bc 40c bOc. Bank Actions, 1,510 f 1,615 f 1,510 f. Rent. de Naples, 63f. Rants d'Espagne, 141 15. Royal Spanish Loan, 60M. Rents Perpetaelle d'Eapagne, 4bi 46 4% 46 4614. Haytian Loan, 336 f. Exchange on London, one month, paper, 211 lk. Three months, paper, 25f bc. The following are some further extracts from the Paris Papers : From the Gazette de Frame, Tuesday, Jan. 18. PARIS, J en. 17. A letter from Frankfort says:—" Count Wolewsky and Counts Joseph and Charles Michielsky, Colonels in the Polish service, have just arrived from Warsaw on their way to Paris." A great part of the troops that are at Algiers are returning to France. The regiments which will remain at that place are the 20th, 21st, 28th, and 30th of the line, with a corps of artillery and engineers. The 17th of the line will be the first to arrive in France. The Generals who return from Africa are, Lieut.-General Boyer, Major-Generals Achard, Damremont, D'User, and 'Hurel. Lieut.-General Delort, Major-Generals Cassan and Danleen, will remain till further orders. M. de Brion, Director of the Quotidieltne, was taken from St. Pelagie, where he was with Messrs. de Kergolay, de Ge uoude, and de Nugent, to be conveyed before the Juge d'ln struction. Three Noe. of the Quotidistuse are seised, and M. de Brion is accused of having excited to the hatred and overthrow of the established government. A report had been spread of the formation of a camp of 80,000 men in the 6th Militia regiment (Besangon). No such measure is in con templation. BELGIUM. MANIFESTO OF TBE PRINCE OF ORANGE. The following Manifesto is addressed by the Prince of Orange to the Belgic nation. It is a document which will be read with interest, though the decision of the Congress ap pears to forbid all hope to the House of Nassau. The tone is sufficiently humble : The late events in Belgium have been attended with misfortunes for myself, fur my family, and for the people. These misfortunes I have never osesed to deplore; yet in the midst of my regret I have never abandoned the consoling hope that a day will come when justice will be rendered to the purity of my intentions, and when 1 shall be able to aid personally in healing your intestine divisions, and restoring peace and happiness to a country to which I shall ever be attached by the sacred ties of duty and affection. The choice of a Sovereign, since the separation of Belgium from Holland, has been a source of difficulties which it would be need less to recapitulate. May I, without presumption, still entertain thi hope, that the choice of myself to that station will of the best possible 'elution to the difficulties which surround you ? It is impossible to doubt that the five Great Powers, who have united their efforts so disinterestedly to release us from the evils that oppress us, and whose confidence it is so necessary to preserve, see in this arrange. ment the best means of securing our internal tranquillity and the general peace of Europe. I still retain the affection of a large proportion of the population. Recent and numerous communications from the principal cities in the country have afforded convincing proofs of it, and I am happy to believe that this sentiment will gain strength when my intentions shall be ade quately understood. It is from this belief that I feel a strong desire to acquaint you with my views. The : past, m far as concerns myself, shall be buried in oblivion. I will recognize no personal &inactions in referenat to former polideal conduct. All my efforts will be accompanied with the maintenance, in the offices of Government, of those whose talents and experience have merited such distinction. I promise the protection of Government to the Catholic Church, and to her Ministers. I shall be ready to co-operate in all measures for guaranteeing religious liberty. It shall also be my first desire, as it will be my first duty, to join my efforts to those of the Legislature, in order to consolidate the institutions founded on national independence, and to afford all possible satisfaction u regards our external volition. For the realization of these views, I await with confidence the aid of those Powers whose:whole conduct tends to the maintenance of the Es. ropean balance, and of the general peace. It is to their interest to render Belgium strong, independent, and happy. They will have there the surest guarantee for the security of other nations. Whatever may tend to delay the solution of your difli culties muse necessarily paralyse if not destroy the salutary effect that would otherwise attend their exertions. In considering the means which may insure to Belgium, with the establidunent of its inde pendence, the benefits of a durable peace, it will be worse than super fiuous to think of any method whatever, which, under factual dr eumstances, can in the smallest degree procrastinate the final ded sion ; for delay can but increase the difficulties and dangers et your situation. I have expressed myself with all the frankness that my situation de manded. Placed as lam before the Belgic people, all my bore rest oa their enlightened manner of viewing the Interests of their County, and their attachment to their independence. I conclude by mining them that in the step I have taken, I have been less actuated by con. .I.leastions of my individual interest, than by a lively and sincere desire to witness the termination of the evils that a>oiet their cannily, by We t r y measures of peace and conciliation. POLAND. JAN. 6.—(Private Correspondence.)—The regular Polish army, 80,000 strong, is drawn up along the whole line of the Lithuanian frontier and Poland. It is ready to unite to the Lithuanian corps, which is well affected to the cause. It is thought that General Chlopicki's plan is to act upon the offensive: and enter Lithuania before the Russians can con centrate their forces, which it will take at least two months to effect, on account of the heavy state of the roads. This may be considered by some as a breach of the non-interven tion principle; yet Lithuania is Poland as much as the late kingdom of that name ; so that if the Poles do not cross the Dwina. they cannot be said to have gone out of their coun try. General Diebitsch being ill, it was supposed that Gen. Paskewich of Erivan would take the command et the army. But it appears certain that the confidence which the Emperor placed in him, whilst he was fighting the Persians and the Turks, is now changed into distrust. General Paskewich is a Lithuanian by birth, and cannot have for gotten the glory he covered himself with in 1792, under Prince Joseph Poniatowaki ; and in 1794, under Kosciusko. The Grand Duke Michael has arrived at Grodno, wl.ence, it is said, the Czarowitz Constantine will shortly set off for St. Petersburg. Among the persons who have deposited their offerings on the altar of their country, the most prominent is Miss Emilia Szczaniecka, who has given up all her dowry, amounting to 200,000 florins of Poland, and entered the religious order of the Gray Sisters to attend the sick and wounded. All her property lay in the Grand Duchy of Posen. Prince Adam Lubomirski and Baron Horoch have left Galicia, and joined the patriots of the Palatinate of Sandomir with a hundred of their countrymen, who immediately enlisted in a regiment now forming in that province, under the orders of Rogo zinaki. Poland does not want for men. Independently of the regular army, she has sixty thousand volunteers, and two hundred thousand National Guards. Money and arms are scarce, but she hopes that France and England will send her a supply of both. (From the National of Monday.) WARSAW. JAN. 4.- Our revolution is extending itself generally throughout the country. The ardour shown by all classes is beyond description. All the peasantry wear the white cockade in their caps, and arm themselves with pikes or sithes. From the readiness with which the nation sub mits to the decrees of the Dictator, you may judge of the union that °nista among us. France, threatened with an unavoidable war, has been preserved by our revolution. Can she abandon us, who shed our blood so often for her, who learnt to fight under standard SPIRIT OF THE JOURNALS. Ciraourcz.z.—The Catholics in Ireland cannot well carry pressen don farther than the Protestants did. The Protestants set son against father, and beadier against brother. They deprived the Catholics of in @auction, forced the Priests to skulk amidst bogs• and woods—and yet the Catholics increased and multiplied. As to Spain, Portugal, Bel gium, and Italy, Protestantism never was extinguished there, for it was suffered to take root. But throughout C3temany, France, and Switzerland, the proportions of Catholics and Protest ants have long been tolerably constant. The higher ranks of Pro testants in France became mostly Protestants, because the higher ranks of all countries have little religion, and think with Marshal Turenne, that no man can be wrong in his creed who has 100,000 soldiers to sup port it. The aristocracy of a country seldom bold out hag against a church which has rich livlng4 for their children. If the tithes and rich livings were given to the Irish Catholics, the Protestant nobility and gentry might turn Catholics, but the poorer Protestants would re. main firm in their faith. Tzarles..—We have inquired amongst Irish gentlemen of all parties, what was the state of their country before the Union ; and we have been ensured by the oldest and most intelligent amongst them, that they do not remember the time when Irish "absentees" were not spoken of as an evil which all men deplored, but which none knew how to remedy. That Ireland suffers dreadfully in a moral, if not In a commercial point of view from the absence of a resident and influential gentry, is a truth which every body but an Irish landlord or an abstract pedant will at ones allow; but the &Scatty is bow to force residence without interferng with the great principle of fine agency and the privilege of loco.modoci. Tou cannot make a selfish race padml by set of Parliament. Be. sides, how is the act to operate ? To what distance might an Irish gm. demon betake himself with impunity ? If he should happen to possess an estate in Antrim, and one in Berty, on which must be reside, or which must he sell ? Are we to understand that lay pluralities would be per. misted ? Or is no man to have more than a single stake in the country, and must be be " tied to that stake P" Ezaasc....lf the Polish revolution had not opportunely happened to disturb the plans of the Muscovite tyrant, France could not, at the present moment, entertain any doubt as to whether her duty was peace or war—she could have no alternative but either to fight for her eats. tame, or see barbarians trample under foot the liberties for which the heroes of July had bled. From the moment that the Autocrat heard of the successful resistance to the ordinances which were intended to make the Court of the Tanaka as despotic as that of St. Petersburg, there was nothing honest in his proceedings except the first violent and indiscreet ebullitions of his rage. Those gusts of pasion having sub sided, under the influence of which he prohibited the French colours fain on his ports, and recalled his 'objects from a country where Sisk p • .i*Wm might be tainted by the air of fteedan, his epirit settled dots into calmer hate, and, affecting peaceful inclinations, meditated ragmen. To make that rages= sure, it was necessary to beguile the prey into blind security, and then rush upon it unprepared. To un &Wailed indignation succeeded diplomatic hypocrisy. He made a show of negotiating with the Court of Franca while he was arming against the French people. His embarks found the French Government weak, credulous, and willing to be duped. They thought of nothing but obtain. lag what Bonaparte ailed • " certificate of existence" from the bar barian Fispesor ; and the prospect of a " recognition" which would give Looks-Pldlippe • station among the legitimates so dueled their eyes, that they could not see the object of the vast armaments which Aussie, and here allies of the" Holy Alliance," collected, was the in. vision of Frame. To all men of tie less' observation it was evident that the human military preparations of the Cu.,, anaectettwith those in the Rhenish provinces and the Austrian depawlencies, bad one common and that purpose a new ausade against a nation' whose voladon net a " bad ample" to the degraded mil. lions of the confederated had the Scythian deserts poured forth their armed m yriads towards frontiers, and the" living cloud of war" darkened on the stormy borbon, whence it would have burst upon devoted Frage, bad not the insurrecdon in Poland attracted its llghtninp la a new diroctios. Then, but not till then, the alarmed and crafty Autocrat recognised the French Government, which he had hoped to sweep from the face of the earth ; and it may be easily ima gined that his reason for assamlng anew and asiissee saw towards a Hag who had no other title to a throne than the rare' disks, was the dread lest that King and that people should mist ehe !bass in their &dogs fee the recovery of their oddest flake. Thus have the Poles mod nines for the present, and if the Psis* Assert she Polish muse they will desert their own. If Maio sums& is sainsiag Warsaw to a heap of miles, and ex termlwinit the basis dislimdees of the land of Kosdusko, will be stop them? WM his Ascots, imbed with victory, retreat into their from wilds ? Will the Torten of the Desert be satiated with the eamorined spoils if vanqubbed P.. land, and seek not a more tompting scene for rapine and dew sedan in the facile field' end vineyards of France ? Those who know the ambition of the Cabinet of St. Petersburg, and the quendsless hate which its despot bears to liberty, will not be at a lose for an answer. We have not the hers lise Poland that many entertain ; but, single-handed she must enter the field with such disparagement of force as must naturilly excite some anxiety for her fate. Greece hail her Marathon, Francis ha Jemappe, and the Poles have shows them . selves capable of emulating such exampl es ; but humanity shudders a the ides of the corms of which such a conflict must be productive and which France,_ by a resolute and determined attitude, might peas bly avert. Casoinct.o.—Tbe French feel, that, however meek might object to $ Russian army an the Rhine to establish the of the Knout, their objection would any little weight with ly Ism ported by their area. It is the dilkohy of his and moments existing together width hods tee Fran& tee sod the Russians to the Rhine. The almohdo Geemossem i him the instinct of self.preeervatico, would pet dews el Omme 7 mints which bold out to their subjects an simple whish they may feel tempted to imitate. Free domenasms, se die ether b.d, Imes that absolute Govenmenes are in a ammo asehoe dims, sod dh posed to seise the het favourable mom lee . Boom the into est, fee the sake el seestiry, of the Foss* to establish as esameively as melds Caustitedsoel Cievermisoft s sod lessee the intsoole of the Aostrims and Illsoime to pot dews all Censtitutimed desionments. This fear and jealousy mesa the adthadon of the ame of poses Meet, we dense bellem that Europe will know pease we Nasky till either absinthe or Inseam pies the day is the raw pert of its Idaho's. The very pried* of alsoludme is use et damps. The seenrity in the eae of osmosis@ is is the publeity of tometehms. When every subject b disomesd, time is se wen Ow bungles Ns lions, too, have no interest is lash when But absolute Governments may rimy* bine Who ihoir adthhowsw•-- The Soversign,too, feels diersood to consist ea thepsindpie of property, for he who is the Led of twenty sallies@ ef human rattle is greater, in the prowietesy some, than he she is the Lord only of ten millions. Another arguninnt, too, egoist the existence of arbitrary go. Vaninctits is, that they subsist by assies. The principle of free government supposes tbe define ensussed to National Guards, who are only available kr deism. t suredbig swan are a source of apprehension to that neighbours An aireebene swernment, therefore, is a nuisance which thu d ihse is are in. terested in putting down. The ef Is a isod one, but who shall answer for its okeervenos P It has never been heard of till the French secured their freedom. The Holy Alliance set it at defiance. It wu violated in the case of Spain—it was violated In the case of Piedmont—it was violated in the cue of Naples. England looked on cattily while one constitution was overturned after another.— France, to be sure, is too 'powerful to be attacked rashly. But even France was threatened by the hordes of the Northern Barbarian. And France knows that the principle of non-intervention would not have kept ourOovernmentiftoro attacking her,if the opinions of the people through. out Europe were not in her favour. Poland has truly thrown itself be tween Russia and France. ARREST OF MR. O'CONNELL. DUBLIN, TUESDAT.—Extract of a letter :—" The Go vernment here have at last determined to take the bold step. This day a warrant was issued from the office of the Secre tary of State, for the apprehension of Mr. O'CouaLL, on a charge of sedition, arising out of his letters, lately published here, on the subject of the Lord Lieutenants' procla mations, as tending to bring them into contempt and disrepute with the people. It is understood here, that our law officers were unanimously of opinion, that a prosecu tion can be successfully maintained against him, on this ground. The warrant was immediately executed on the accused, at his house in Merrion-square, to which he re turned yesterday, from the seat of his son in law, Mr. Fitz simons, in the county of Wicklow. He was brought in custody to the Head-office of Police, and entered into bail, himself in 5001. and two sureties in half that amount each, to take his trial at the approaching Sessions, on which he was liberated." THE KING'S COURT. BRIGHTON, JAN. 19.—His MAJESTY did not take his accustomed airing yesterday. The Qu trN , accompanied by his Royal Highness Prince LEOPOLD, Miss MITCHELL, Lady ERROL, Lord MAYO, Sir PHILIP SIDNEY, Sir ANDREW BARNARD, and Lord ERROL, rode out on horseback. The Royal party proceeded through Castle-square to the West Cliff, and on as far as Hove, returning by the western road to the Palace, about half-past four o clock. The dinner party at the Palace was very select on last evening, including only his Grace the Duke of DEVON SHIRE, the Earl and Countess of CARLISLE, the Earl and Countess of BELFAST, Lady CHARLOTTE BUTLER, Cap tain and the Hon. Mrs. PECHELL. The Royal party was increased in the evening by a select few. The Quesx's private band was in attendance. His Royal Highness Prince LEOPOLD took his departure this morning from the Pavilion for Brighton. The calls at the palace yesterday were exceedingly Hume- roue ; the following were amongst the names left : Lieut.-Colonel Money, Mr. and Mrs. Barrington Prim, Colonel Downman, Hon. Major and Mrs. Blassey, Mrs. O'Reover, Miss An son, Mr. and Lay Elisabeth Dickens, Lady and Miss Dwell, Mrs. and Miss Dawson, Hon. Misses Montague, Sir Samuel libeplierd, Cap tain and Lady Umbel% Fielding, Mr. and Mrs. Moniu, Majoe.Gen. Dalblae, Sir H. Lady, and Mies Campbell, Hon. Mn. and Captain PecheU, Lord Sandon, Mr. Robert O'Byrne. Her Royal High ness the Princess AUG USTA , and the Landgravine of you Houszno, have not taken their usual airing for some days ; they, however, enjoy excellent health. Sir ANDREW BARNARD has returned. COURT CIRCULAR. The Duke of Sussex visited the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland yesterday, at their residence in the King's Pa lace, St. James's. The Russian Ambassador, the Swedish Minister, and the two Commissioners from Belgium, Messrs. Sylvain Van de Weyer and Vilain, had interviews with Viscount Palmer ston yesterday at the Foreign-office. The Bishop of London had an interview yesterday with Viscount Goderich, at the Colonial-office. Sir Herbert Jenner, the King's Advocate, transacted bu siness yesterday at the office of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Earl Grey, as.Fust Lord of the Treasury, gave the first Cabinet Dinner to his colleagues last evening, at his resi dence in Downing-street. The Chancellor of the Exchequer entertained a select party at dinner, at bis residence in Downing-street, on Tuesday. LITERATURE. Yemoirt of the Duke of Wellington, by Captain 110TLI Suzann. Lesponan, ea Co. This work is the first volume of • series, editing by Dr. Lordner, l under the title of the " Cabinet Library," of the same sine with the " Cabinet Cyclopeedia." It is likewiseonly the first volume of the Duke of Wellington's Memoirs, bringing down the history of the Duke's Military achievements to the year 1810—the period of his services in Portugal; when the French in that country were under the command of General Junot, the Duke d'Abrantes. In many respects, a soldier is well qualified to be the biographer of a soldier; and Captain Bherer's narrative displays considerable spirit, and more of the difficult tact of proportioning the objects he introduces, to the miss of his canvas, than is often observed in professional authces—not authors by profession. In perusing these Memoirs, we have noticed several remarks, on the political events alluded to, with which we do not acquiesce. We cannot but think, fry instance, Captain Sheen a little unfortunate in his expression, he describes " the war of the first French Revolution, as raising England to that plasele ',power, wealth, and influence, to which she has sow ot:oissed"..-an expression very ambiguous, and which will generally be considered of Hibernian extraction. He rejoices that the Duke had no hard in the bombard. went of Copenhagen ; and yet, instead of honestly designating that transaction, as one which will remain a disgrace to British history, he vainly attempts to palliate its atrocious wickedness, by the tyrant's plea of necessity. His sketches of Indian warfare are able. He keeps his hero always prominent in his picture ; and in pouxtraying the scenery and cha racters around him, he is clear and select in his delineation', without being talloady minute. We may conclude by saying the work has ask, noddle& both instruction and amusement. From the French Papers received this morning, it appears the Minister of Finance has published a table of the re venue of the year 1836; it presents a defieit of 18,031,496 francs on the valuation of the Budget : bat the deficit com- pared with the year 1829, is only 5,406,834 francs. It is a fact creditable to the Berkshire and Hampshire po pulace, that so few attended the late executions. How dif ' forest would have been the assemblages, if the people bad sympathised with the vengeance of the law 1 Life cannot now be restored ; bat the crowds under sentence of tramper tation, die. may yet perhaps be saved to their families, by suitable appeals to the fountain of mercy. Mr. WILMOT HORTON'S LECTURES AT THE MECHA. NICS' INS 1 I TUTION. Mr. W. Horton h at present engaged in delivering a series of Lec tures on Political Economy, at the Mechanics' Institution. Last night's lecture, which was delivered before a very emnerous audience, cm. braced the following propositions:_" Have we a surplus population its this country in a state of destitution ?" 2dly, .• Have we the means of providing for that surplus population by colonization ?" And 3.31y,"A re there any other means of providing for that p •pulation at home, prefer• able to the expedient of their colonizasian abroad ?" Having de fined what he meant by the terms .• surplus population," and hay. ving proved its existence la this c •untry, by instances- selected from the town of Rome and from 114 littlish of Benenden, in Kent. he proceeded to show th at the only rente:y tor such an evil consisted in an extensive and wen-conducted syst pf emigration. He stated, upon the authority of Mr. Hodges, the present member for Kent, that in the instance of the parish of ffenenden, the emigration a few years since, of 56 persons from that parish, cured the evil of an average redundancy of from 70 to 90, whidt had previously existed there; and he further illu - hated the beneficial effects of emigration by a detail of lac, coo_ nested with the emigrations which had taken place from under the superintendence of Government, in the years 1813 aiiil 1825. In proof of the perfect success of those experiments, he ref ti ed to the evidence of CoL Cockburn, and to a letter which had been re ceived from the Chief Justice of Upper Canada in the course of the last summer. Having, at some length, en forced the principles which he has so often maintained with regard to the expediency, practicability, and al most certain successful results of an extensive system of emigration, the tight hon. gent. proceeded to the consideration of the question rt home •niution, upon the waste and unreclainied lards of this country, which had been suggested as a preferable measure to that of emigra tion- He argued that the removal of our redundant INTO: hurt abroad would be attended with less expense than their loea non upon the reclaimed waste lands in this country, and contended ; would be much mote advantageous to employ that population op0:1 nt w and fertile land in the colonies, than upon the reclaimed lands at hoot - He maintained that, in such a case, the labour of that poputatt,.. (which was one of the objections urged to the plan) would not Its lost to this country ; for it would be their interest to produce the raw material abroad, to give in exchange for the manufactured ma terial which it would be our interest to produce at home, and in that manner a new market would be created, of demand on the one hand, an I of supply on the other. He professed hire self completely sceptical wait regard to the p.-ssibilisy of carrying a plan of home colonization i; t effect, at the same time that he expressed a wish to sec that, or any other experiment which the ingenuity of man could devise, tried, with a view to rescue this country from the disgrace of having so large a pau per population. We had talked long enough, he remarked, upon the subject, it was now full time for us to begin to act. He should only put one question to the advocates of home colonisation, and to it he ox. peered an explicit answer. If a system of home colonisation were carried into effect, how would it be possible to prevent the home colonists fro:.t still throwing their labour upon the home market, as the Irish laborers did at present, and thus creating that glut of labour in the market, the evil effects of which it was the object of all to remove ? Those evil effects, he maintained, could only be removed by a system of emigration, which would alone restore the due and proper proportion between the demand and the supply of labour in the market. He further contended, that unless emigration were resorted to, no reduction of taxation would meet the evils under which the labouring population of this country was at present suffering; for that as long as a redundancy of population ex isted, inadequate remuneration must, according to the laws of nature, be the lot of the labouring classes. In conclusion, he took occasion to advert to the co-operative system which was proposed by Mr. Owen and his followers. He did not seek, be said, to pre vent the formation of co.operativs societies ; all he wanted was, that to the poor of this country the al:emotive ahi.uld be afforded of choosing such a remedy for their evils as that held out by in igro. tion, and that the boon should be placed within their reach by the in. terposition of the Legislature. It appeared to him that the co.ere-a tivc system, even supposing that he assented to its principlt, to he was directly opposed, involved too sweeping a change in all nit cir cumstances of society; and that the good effects anticipated front it, as suming that it was fit to be adopted, would be too far distant to induce us to deprive the suffering poor of this country of a measure of substan• tire and practical relief like that of emigration. The right hon. gen tleman concluded amidst the general ap plau se of his auditory. PROGRESS OF INCENDIARY FIRES. WHITSTABLE, near Canterbury, Jan. 17.—An alarming fire took place on the premises of Mr. George Hayward, st Bootsll-hill, Whitstable, this morning, at two o'clock. The barn, stables, and stacks, were all in flames ; seven houses were burnt to ashes; four men also fell victims to the devour ing element. Mr. Hayward is insured in the County Fire office. The fire is supposed to be the work of incendiaries, las three men have been lurking about the premises for tl:e 'last four days, and questioning several of the men about tLe wages and premises. It is understood that Mr. Hayward has a thrashing-machine, and in consequence of his taking it down, and secreting the same, Mr. Hayward has had three letters, saying, that unless he brought forward the machine, they would set fire to his premises. Although the engines from Canterbury were on the spot about thres quarters of an hour after the fire broke out, and well supplied with water, tbey were of no effect, as the whole of the premises were burnt down to the ground, and with great difficulty the dwelling-house was saved. A reward of 10001. has been offered to any person who shall give information of the offender or offenders. Thursday morning last, a little after four o'clock, a fire was discovered in the shop of Messrs. Riley and Son, bobbin turners, at Cob-wall, near Blackburn, by a person residing near the premises, who was awoke from his slumbers by the effects of the smoke which had entirely filled his room. On discovering from whence it proceeded, he immediately alarmed Mess. Riley and the people of the neighbourhood, who rendered every possible assistance ; but the materials in the shop burnt with such rapidity as to render it impossible to rescue any part of the property. The fire-engines belonging to this town were sent for, and arrived as soon as the distance would permit; but the fire had then reached too great a height to be subdued, and in spite of every effort to resist its progress, it raged until the whole interior of the build ing, together with its contents, were entirely destroyed.— There are several cottages immediately adjoining the pre mises, and it was with great difficulty that the devouring ele ment was prevented from extending its ravages to them; arid it was truly pitiable to see the alarmed inhabitants thus un timely aroused from their peaceful slumbers, and half•nuked, straining every nerve to rescue their little stock cf " goods and chattels" from the threatened destruction. Aleut 501. worth of bobbins bad been completed on the preceding even ing, ready to be sent off, and it was peculiarly ur,fortunate that the sufferers by this calamity, had laid in an additional stock of wood, a week or two since. The cause of the fire cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. The men employed in the shop were at work until 11 o'clock on Wednesday night, and had damped their fires upwards of three hours pre% iOllB to their departure, and persons passed the place so late as two o'clock on Thursday morning, and at that time per ceived neither smell nor any other indication of burning.— The damage is estimated at about 1,2001. and we tee sorry to state that only 4501. is insured with the Manchester Insu rance Company. D•RIWG ROBBERIES IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY. —On Tuesday night last, two or thrce policemen were in attendance at this Court, but notwithstanding their presence and endeavours to detect rogues, and, if possibl e , p revent their entering the Court, which , it is almost needless to observe, proved impossible, several depredations were com mitted undetected.— One gentleman assured us that, al though he kept his great coat buttoned, they bad actually turned his breeches-pockets inside out, without his being, in the least, sensible of the operation. He observed it was a mystery to him how they could do it; and facetiously added, that they really deserved what they bad go; for their dexterity, which was nothing more than a few trifling pieces of paper, a penknife and silver pencil-case, as in had taken the advice of a friend not to bring any coney with him.—Others were less fortunate, as several pocketband kercbiefe, and 11011111 watches, it was said, were aliening,