The Sun. — London, England, 1858-12-17 00:00:00

MB. B HT AT EDINBURGH. The telegrapl , Ic retort of Mr. Bright's speech at i Edinburgh, in our columns of yesterday, was avery 1 fair condensaf ion of the whole address, and we do 1 , not think it necessary to produce it in extenso. We, hOwev, er, give the following as containing the most. i-atexesting points. file hon. gentleman, after referring to the ad v.nntages conferred by the Reform Act upon the city of Edinburgh, said—The Reform Act of 1832 was a great measure. I have never been one who depre 4-elated it. It was a measure full of great results, •and the greatest result was this—that it settled for ever the question whether the people of England should be contented, and whether their constitution required that they should be contented, with a fraudulent and sham constitution—(hear, hear) — or whether they should have a right to demand from Parliament that fair and full and real repre sentation which I hope we have met here to demand. (Loud applause) But we have had two other Reform Bill since this ; but I shall ask your atten ti-in for a moment only to the last of them—the one that was proposed by the Government of which Lord Aberdeen was Prime Minister, in the year 1854. That bill proposed to carry the action of the Reform Act still further. It proposed to take 19 burghs, having 1 member, and some 2 members, but having in all 39 seats, and totally to disfran chise them ; and it proposed to take 33 other burghs, from each of which it proposed to take 1 member and leave .1 member—thus taking from one class of burghs 29 members, from the other class 33 members • and, recognising the disfranchising of the burghs of St. Albans and Sudbury for corrup tion, giving 4 more members, it left 66 seats to be disposed of by the bill; and those 66 seats, the bill 'was intended to enact, should be given to new and large constituencies throughout the kingdom. Now I have adverted to those two bills for this object only—to show you that every plan of Parlia mentary reform—be it carried in 1832 by an enor mous uprising of the nation, or be it proposed by a mixed and coalition Government in 1854—has and must have precisely the same object, it must advance upon the same lines, and it must tend to the same destination—less individual influence, less of the influence of small classes ; more of that general influence and power which in every free country must rest upon the great body of the people. (Cheers.) Now our object is precisely the same. We want to carry out the same principle in giving to a larger number, of our countrymen votes for members, of Parliament, and in distribut ing electoral power—that is, distributing seats and members to large constituencies, instead of allow ing them to remain with very small and inefficient constituencies. Now, I believe that whenever I have spoken for the last few weeks—in fact, when. ever I have spoken on the question at all—this has been precisely the object which I have had in view. It is utterly impossible to make it more clear, I think, by language than I have endeavoured to make it ; and yet, notwithstanding that, you know —for I take it for granted that you all read the newspapers—you know that there is no conceivable mis-statement or misrepresentation which has not been set forth to the country with regard to my opinions and my objects in reference to this great question ; and it is not because editors of news papers don't know better ; they are not like some men who come on platforms occasionally—and I am sorry to say even some members of Parliament, who don't appear to comprehend what their fellow-mem bers say—(laughter and cheers)—editors of news papers are men of sufficient brains and sufficient sagacity to comprehend that perfectly ; and I say that the people have a right to complain of them when they, knowingly and purposely, misrepresent me.. (Loud cheers.) It is a fair question to discuss what should be the parliamentary franchise if we depart from that which now exists, and which was established by the Reform Bill. You know that the prevailing burgh franchise is that which is given to every man who occupies a house of the annual rent of £lO within the limits of a burgh. This franchise, as we all know, excludes some of what may be called the middle class ; but it ex cludes almost altogether the great body of what is called the working class in this country. (Cheers.) I do not believe that it is possible to maintain a law or a clause in an act of Parliament which purposely shuts out from the enjoyment of political rights four-fifths or five-sixths of the grown men of the United Kingdom, and which is obviously directed against one particular—and that the largest—class of our countrymen. (Applause.) Now, I propose to take a different basis—to give a wider franchise; and I think I shall be able to show you that the basis is a very rational one, and that the franchise so given would be a safe one for all purposes of a good and honest representation. In the bill which Lord J. Russell proposed to Parliament in 1852, he offered a franchise fixed upon the basis of a rating —the rating to the poor—to the amount of £5 per annum ; and in the bill of 1854, he proposed that it should be fixed at a £6 annual rating to the poor, or rather, I believe, it was above £6 ; and, therefore, if a man was rated to the poor to the ex tent of £6 ls., he would be entitled to a vote. Now, I object to that mode of establishing the franchise, on this ground, that the mode of rating differs—at 1, differs in Pwl 1 • st ---- • .east it differs in .v..nglana—in almost every parisu ; that in some parishes a house, probably of £8 or £9, is not rated at more than £5 or £6 ; that in some others a house of £6 or £7 may be rated at £5. But a franchise establisked upon that basis would be very unequal in different towns, in different parishes, and in different districts ; and therefore I think it is not suited to be the basis of a general franchise throughout the country. To some extent the same thing may be said of an annual rent, because we know that the annual rent of a house in the city of Glasgow is:very much more—taking the same kind of house, the same squ yards, are the same comforts of every kind—than it would be in some of the small towns and country places of Scotland. I should prefer that we should say that every man who is an occupier and who is rated to the relief of the poor—that that man should be entitled to have his name put upon the list of electors for members of Parliament. (Loud cheers.) Now, there is some thing simple, broad, and equal in a franchise upon that-basis. I don't go now into the question of the time of residence which Parliament would fix—six months or twelve months, as the case might be ; but I say that is a basis of the franchise. I believe that it is impossible to secure one more simple, more equal, more lust, more justified by experience than that which I have now proposed. (Applause.). In Scotland you are in a different position from that in which we are in England with regard to this rating franchise • and therefore it may be necessary for me to state here what I have stated elsewhere, that throughout England and Wales the whole franchisz, the whole power of election in parochial matters, is basis upon this right of being rated, and upon the basis which I propose. With regard to the repairs of highways, for example, with regard to church rates—which I hope we shan't very long have to vote about at all—(cheers)—with regard to a variety of matters in which parishes interfere, every man who is rated can vote. In our poor law unions, which are districts comprising many parishes, the same franchise has been established by act of Parliament, and in our cor porations, our municipal town governments—al though you in Edinburgh, and for anything I know, all over Scotland, merely vote for your town coun cillors if you vote for members of Parliament ; in England it is not so, but all persons who are rated as householders in the burgas are entitled to vote for the election of members of their common coun cils and their corporations. Well, then, I venture to say that the experience of the past in our parishes, in our poor-law unions, in our corpora tions, has sufficiently demonstrated that to that extent at least the people of Englaird—and I doubt not the people of Scotland and the people of Ireland —may be fairly and safely entrusted with the right of electing members of the House of Commons. (Applause.) I stated the other night at a great meeting in Manchester that so long ago as sixty years" back Lord Grey (the late Lord Grey), Mr. Pox, and many other members of the House of Commons who supported them, were in favour of a household franchise. Now, let us for one moment ask ourselves how much there has been of increased education and intelligence, of general improvement, and of an advanced civilisation, amongst all classes of the people of this country during that period. Take one particular branch of inquiry —that of your Sunday school education. I was talking th e o th er day to a most estimable gentleman, who spends a great amount of his time on this particular and most beneficial branch of voluntary exertion, and he told me that he believed it could be proved that there were 250,000 Sunday school teachers in the country—(cheers) —that they have under their tuition, and have had for many years past, almost all the children cf those classes by whom Sunday schools are being used. I don't believe that all the statesmen that you have those of.ficials who set us down for knowing no thing about public affairs—l don't be lieve that all the efforts they have ever made have tended so much to the greatness, and the happiness, and the security, and to the true glory of this coun try as have the efforts ofyour Sunday-school teachers. (Loud cheers.) But let MC let you into one secret. It is not at all because the ruling class don't think you intelligent enough that they don't want to give you the franchise generally. The more intelligent you become, the more instructed, especially with regard to public affairs and public finance and foreign affairs, and all those matters which are included in the name of government—the more completely fur nished you become with regard to all thole the more they will dread the time when -political power is universally extended amongst the people. (Applause.) The illiterate, the depraved, the care less--all these can be managed—there are many means of managing them by cajolery or by force ; but it is the intelligent, hard-headed, instructed. thoughtful, resolute citizen that the privileged classes don't like. (Loud applause.) Well, now for a moment let us look at our county representation. The original franchise in the counties—in the counties of England, for I am not so fully informed upon the legal peculiarities in the Scottish franchise as to speak without hesitation upon them—but in England and Wales the great franchise up to the Reform Bill was that of the freeholder, and any man possessing a freehold of the value of 40s. a year was an elector for the county. (Cheers.) I have not the smallest doubt that in any measure of reform proposed by any ministry, or at least car ried by any parliament, that 40s. freehold franchise must necessarily and inevitably be extended. (Loud applause.) But up to 1832, the time of the Reform Bill, the county franchise did not admit of what is called an occupation franchise, and it was not the author or authors of the Reform Bill who proposed that change. It was proposed, as you know, by a member of the House of Commons, now a member of the House of Peers, and who did it for the express object of giving increased power to the .neat proprietors of the soil. If I had been in par liament when it was proposed to give the franchise to every occupier of £5O and upwards, it is most probable that I should have voted for it. But we are really indebted, if I may so speak, to the anti democratic class, to the privileged class, to the great territorial proprietors, for the departure from the original conservative element of county represen tation based upon the actual ownership of the land. Well, now comes the point. Is it time, having adopted an occupation franchise of £5O and up wards—is it time, do you think, to bring it a little lower ? If there be 200,000 persons in the coun ties having occupations of £5O and upwards, and there be 400,000 lower than £5O, and yet as high as £lO, does it appear to you safe and reasonabe that we should abandon the line of £5O occupancy, and come down at least to as low as 210 occupancy? (Cheers.) Now there is one point of view in which I think even the most timid will be reassured with regard to this matter. A £5O occupancy of a farm supposes that a man has a farm—varying, of course, according to the quality of his land and the near ness to a market—of perhaps from 20 to 50 acres. But taking the estimate of the income tax, which says in England that a farmer's profit is only equal to one-half his rent, and I think in Scotland that a farmer'i; profit is only equal to one-third of his rent, itis clear that, according to the income tax estimate, a farmer who only pays £5O a year of rent, and has no other source of income, is not sup posed to receive a profit of more than £25 per an num. Well, his income may be more than £25, because, apart from the profit he may receive, that which would be welgesto himself if he worked upon some other farm as much as he works on his own, and therefore £25 may not be an exactly fair esti mate of the income of such a man. But a house in the country to which there is no land attached, of £lO per annum, in any country !district of Scot land, surely you will admit that no man would live in a house and pay £lO per annum of rent in the country districts of Scotland, who had not an in come of more than £25 per annum. (Laughter and cheers.) I think few men would live in ahouse of £lO in the country districts of Scotlandwho had not an income varying from £7O to £lOO a year. If that be so, we come inevitably to the conclusion that the high probability is that every occupier of a house of £lO in the country districts of Scotland is a man of a larger annual income than the man who has no other income but that which he derives from a farm, the annual rent of which is £so— I think that is not an inconclusive argument, but rather a satisfactory argument to those timid persons who may not have examined this question so much as I have, and who fear that if you lower the franchise in the counties from a £5O to a £lO occupation you admit a large number of persons apparently of less intelligence and edu cation, so far as intelligence and education are to be measured by the test of their annual income. Now we come to the question of what we shall do after we have settled the question of the franchise—that all ratepayers in burghs, for example, have the vote—that all £lO and upwards occupiers in coun ties have the vote. There is another most important part of a Reform Bill, and that is, to carry out fur ther what was commonly called schedule A—the disfranchising clause of the Reform Bill of 1832. Well, I presume that every man would say at once that you must take a certain line of population, or of number of electors, or of amount of payment to the taxes, or of rateable property, and of property charged to the income tax. From one or from all of these you must draw some line, and you must disfranchise the burghs which are below that line, because you conclude that they are not entitled to that amount of political power in Parliament which is designated by the returning of two members, or even of one member, to the House of Commons. And if their be a certain number of burghs which you must disfranchise entirely, there - will probably be another number of burghs which youj must par tially enfranchise, just as you did in the Reform Act, and then you will give a number of seats more or less as you draw the line—and those members and seats you must re-apportion in some cases to new constituencies not now enfranchised, and in others you must re-apportion them in greater numbers to the larger constituencies of the country. I think I could show a plan which would be satisfactory to all those persons who wish for an honest Parlia mentary reform. You have in Parliamentary returns accounts of the population of every burgh, of the rateable property in every burgh, of th• property which pays income fax in every burgh, under sche dule A, which includes land and houses, under schcdile D, which includes the profits upon trade. You have, in fact, all the statistics, all the details, all the facts, to enable you to judge how far one town, or one cluster of towns, is more entitled to power than another smaller town, or less impor tant cluster of towns. Now, if you have happened lately to read some articles in the Times newspaper you will have observed that the Times is in a con dition of great difficulty. ( A laugh.) It looks to me very much like what one could imagine of that great steamship that has not yet gone to sea—if you could imagine that great steamship in the Bay of Biscay, with its propeller driving it one way and its paddlewheels driving it the other—without cargo, and without chart, and without compass, and without sailing regulations, and with nobody on board who understood nautical affairs—you would see something very much like • the condition in which I fear the Times newspaper is at this mo ment. (Renewed laughter.) The Times, as you know, is accustomed generally to go with the strongest, and-the moment the Times finds that the people of the United Kingdom are in earnest on the question of reform, they will just be as zealous and as entirely with us as they were during the year 1831 and the year 1832. (Cheers.) But the Times just now asks me in repeated leading articles, why I deal in these vague and general statements, and why I don't tell the public exactly the details of the measure which, on behalf of many reformers in England, I have been requested to prepare ? Well, but the Times, as a great public instructor, has said much more to the public than ever I have, and the Times professes to be wise on the question of Par liamentary reform ; but the Times has never con descended to put the clauses of its act of Parlia ment in any leading article that I have seen. (A laugh.) The Times not long ago supported a Go vernment that was pledged to Parliamentary re form. Lord Palmerston was pledged to introduce a bill, as I have been requested to introduce one. He was a minister, and I am not; but in all that time I don't recollect one single occasion on which the Times insisted-upon it that Lord Palmerston should explain the exact clauses of his bill. (Cheers.) All that I can promise the Times is this, that wherever I attend a public meeting, if it be possible for lan guage to do it, I will make my audience understand what are the principles which I think should guide any measure of parliamentary reform ; and I hope it will be such—and I have great reason to believe that it will be such—as will entitle it to the confi fidence of the reformers of this nation. (Applause.) But now, turning to the county members once more. The other day there was a meeting, I think, in Warwickshire, and a gentleman, a member of Parliament for one of the divisions of Warwick shire, went into the question of county representa tion. Now that gentleman, Mr. Newdegate, is a man who is profound in statistics. There is no amount of labour that he wont give if he once finds himself amongst a heap of figures. But, strong as he is in statistics, I know hardly anybody more confined or more feeble on any question of princi ple. Now Mr. Newdegate was a great friend of the agricultural interest ; and you know that he was one of the very strongest supporters to the very last of the principle of protection. He had abun dance of statistics to prove that he was right. Well, fortunately for himself as a landowner, fortunately for all the tenants of the United Kingdom, and still more fortunately for the people of this country, the great majority of whom have to work for their living, all Mr. Newdegate's principles and statistics n v oe rubbish.dii e , carted,,p ua ( t some. oLNI were el a cirg s e it N.o T e e ( re b , y ou p t ai l iam th e e nt ll so ou m se uc o h f C u o tt m e; Now, Mr. Newdegate, I am question to mc, and rather dared me to meet him on the question of county representa tion. He is anxious that the counties should have far more members than they have at present, and a far larger shareiu the representation of the House of Commons. I believe that if he really understood -iomething of. the. constitution, of object ePluatry, and som ething of the basis and the of the House THE SUN, LONDON, FI{IDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 17, of Lords, and of an hereditary peerage in this country, he would not make any such demand, nor express any wish that county members should be in creased. Now, . there are in the House of Lords at this moment, I believe, according to the books, about 436 peers. Of these, 30 are peers that are called spiritual peers. (Laughter and derisive cheers.) It is pleasant to find that a public meeting in Scotland can treat such a subject with good humour, because the time was when spiritual peers would have had a very bad chance in your country. Well, there are upwards of 400 peers, who, for the sake of distinc tion, I must say aie not in the least spiritual. (Laughter.) Now, in old times, those gentlemen who sat in the House of Lords were called upon to occupy their seats there by the Crown. They were the owners, as many of them are now, of vast estates in various parts of the kingdom. They were called upon by the Crown as representing the vast estates which they possessed and the tenantry upon them, and the retainers and the population with which they were intimately connected. The knights of the shire sit in the House of Commons, and may be considered to represent, as they did wholly re present before the Reform Bill, the smaller proprie tors and freeholders of the counties. In the same manner the burgh members were assembled for the purpose of representing the population of the burghs and trades, and the interests connected with these populations. Now, I should like any man to answer me this question—Does the House of Lords repre sent the land, and the tenantry upon the land, or does the House of Lords represent only the personal interests and the individuals of which it is com posed? If it be admitted that the House of Lords does represent not by election, but originally by nomination of the Crown, and by hereditary descent from that nomination—if the Lords represent those great territorial interests in the Upper House of Par liament, then I say it is competent for any person to defend such a state of things, and such a state of things may a long time be tolerated in this country. But if any man say that those 400 peers represent the personal and individual interests only of those 400 peers and their families, he places the existence of the House of Lords upon a most precarious foun dation; he says, here are 400 men chosent not by the people, chosen now not even by the Crown,but sitting there by right of descent, and there are 30,000,000 of the people of the United Kingdom, and these 400 individuals dare set themselves against the will of the 30 millions, and reject year after year, as they have done, beneficent and excellent measures passed by the representatives of the people. (Loud applause.) And recollect that the venerable mo narchy of England, be it occupied by King or • Queen, pretends to no such power. The Convention Parliament settled all that ; and the right of the monarch to the throne of England is settled upon a basis which is well understood, and which nobody for a moment pretends to call in question. (Cheers.) The House of Commons can at any time control the Crown, because it can control the supplies. The Crown, if I am not mistaken, has scarcely rejected any single bill passed by both Houses of Parliament for the last 150 years. But the Commons have no such control over the House of Peeri. You cannot stop the supplies against the House of Peers. And we know that, as in the case of a bill which men differ in opinion about—the bill for admitting the Jews to Parliament—the Peers can go on for ten years rejecting a measure like that, although passed by the House of Commons ; and the House of Com mon s have no kind of remedy against it, as they would have at once if any monarch on the throne proposed to veto a bill for ten years together. Now, it must be borne in mind that we are not rais ing these questions—l should not discuss them at all if it were not necessary to meet men who speak and argue in the sense that I have just now attri buted to one of the members for Warwickshire. If he wishes to get up a clamour in favour of more county members, what does that lead to, and upon his own argument—for he gave us the population of the emnties and the population of the boroughs? Well, it leads directly and inevitably to the ques tion of equal electoral districts. Now, I have never since I have spoken on the question of reform said a single syllable in favour of what are called equal electoral districts, not because if we were now in Australia establishing a new representation, or in the United States establishing the basis of a repub lic—not that I should deny the right and the wis dqm of such an arrangement ; but I am one of those who advocate no change for the sake of change; and I should prefer that all the changes that we make, so far as it i 3 possible consistent with the objects we have in view in the establishment of a fair re presentation for the people, should be made within those boundaries and those landmarks which we have already before us in the institutions of our country. (Loud applause.) I hold that the theory which Mr. Newdegate has propounded is the most ultra-democratic theory that I have heard expressed from any platform for a long time past. It would necessarily compel, and very speedily compel, a change in the constitution of the House of Lords.. The Lords at this moment are sufficiently severed from the people in political opinion. Now, cast your eyes over this meeting. Go with me for a moment to the meeting that was held in Manchester last Friday night—go, if you like, to all the meet ings that are being held on the reform question, and that will be held before the meeting of Par liament, and ask yourselves this question—ls there at this moment known to the public a single member of the House of Lords who can be said honestly and frankly to sympathise with, or in any fair degree whatsoever to represent the opinions and the views of the scores of thousands of your countrymen who will assemble to express their opinions at these meetings ? There is no such thing. You cannot point at this moment to one single liberal peer in the sense to which I refer. Take the question of the franchise, the question of the distribution of votes, of seats, the question of the ballot, and many other questions which are being constantly discussed in all the public meet ings of our countrymen, and I say that I do not know one single member of the House of Lords of whom I can positively say that he would be dis posed to give in the House of Lords that support to those views of which you may find more than 100, and perhaps 150 at least, supporters in the Housef Commons. Well, but that is a very serious con sideration, that you have got a house of legislation —a separate House of Parliament—a house that stands in the gap, and no single measure, however small, can pass through that house and become raw unless it is fined down to the dimensions of that fine wire-gauze gauge which the House of Lords sets up for all legislation in this kingdom. (Cheers.) But suppose that Mr. Newdegate's theory were carried out, and the party which now in the House of Commons sympathises with the House of Lords were made very much more numerous and powerful, what could be the result ultimately ? It might not come in a day, it might not come in a session ; it is dangerous enough now if some accident should happen, but it would be infinitely more dangerous then, for you would have not the House of Lords only, but perhaps half the House of Commons, or a majority of it, as separated front the public opinion of tb e great mass of the people as the House of Lords now is—estrangement would become greater—with estrangement want of confidence must certainly follow, and you would be on the high road to changes in your political institutions which I cer tainly do not wish to see, but which all those per sons who call me rash and innovating would tremble even to think of. (Applause.) Now I have explained my opinions with regard to this question of reform. If there be anybody in your town who with pen in hand, or speaking from a platform, or speaking in any private assembly—if there be any person now, after this meeting, who charges me with being wishful to overturn the institutions of our country, who says that he is for reform, but he won't follow me at all—l don't want anybody to follow me, I will follow him—(cheers)—if he will go right, and I should be glad at any rate to go alongside of him; but if there be such a man, ask him what he pro poses to do. He is a reformer—always was a re former—always supported reformers. Can you have any reform without an extension of the franchise ? (Hear, hear.) Can you extend your franchise and still purposely exclude the great body of the work ing class ? (No, no.) Can you admit the great body of the working class without comingdown to a fran chise something like that which I have explained to von ? Do you intend to keep your county franchise as it is ? No. What do you mean to stop at—£4o, or £3O, or £2O, or £lO ? If £lO is too high for your burghs, surely £lO is not too lOw for your counties ? Do you intend to disfranchise any burghs ? Well, so do I. Do you intend to take your members from little and decayed burghs and to give them to large constituencies ? Well, so do I. Depend upon it that no man who cavils in this manner, who misrepresents—who is anxious to make it appear that the only persons who are moving public opinion in favour of reform want •something other than reform, is not an honest re former, and he is not a trustyadviser for the people. (Applause.) I think I have a right to complain, and I refer not to Edinburgh, but I refer to many parts of the country in which I observe that there are public writers who tell the people that they are for reform, but they are not for our reform. They don't tell you what reform they are for, but the systematically misrepresent the statements which those who are now moving in the question set before the public. Now, I think every honest man who speaks in public or who writes in a newspaper on this, great question ought to discuss it without re ference to his likings or dislikings for any parti cular individual. It is a great and solemn question, and it ought to be discussed as if it were such ; and if it be, I believe we shall come before long t) a very wise and satisfactory conclusion in public opinion, and that conclusion will before long. be ratified by Parliament. (Cheers.) But lam satisfied of one thing—that the people themselves are not making any mistake whatever. I have never flat tered them for a moment ; and I believe they belieYe that I shall never betray them. (Prolonged cheers.) No man can be less justly charged than I can be with being an enemy of order. I am charged with being too much an advocate for peace abroad. lam not less an advocate for peace and order and security , at home. Why is it that you have such peace in this country now ? Compare the time from 1793 to 1842,and you will find very few periods in which there was anything like settled peace in this country. There were riots and insurrections, and seditious meetings, and men were had up before the magistrates, and Habeas Corpus Acts were . suspended ; great numbers were im prisoned, not a few were transported, and some suffered the last penalty of the law. Why is it that' you have of late years a state of things wholly different? Because the people feel that their in terests are not so wholly disregarded, and because the policy pursued by . the legislature from 1842 to 1846, and especially in the year 1846, has tended more than all the legislation in you r own tim e o r of your fathers' lifetime, to give comfort, and plenty, and ease throughout the homes of the people of this country. (Loud applause.) In 1848, when every packet that crossed the Straits from the con tinent brought some crowned head orsome minister fleeing from the vengeance of his country, what was the state of things here ? Why, I recollect hearing in the House of Commons, and in the lob bies of the house—l recollect hearing gentlemen and noblemen congratulating themselves—is it not a fortunate thing for us that we have not got the corn law to irritate the people at this moment. (Applause.) We who gave five or seven years of the best of our lives to carry that great question, we have done more for the peace and security of this realm and for the glory of its Crown than .all the pegrage have done during our lifetime. (Applause.) And now we ask, what for ? For a great change— a change following up a change made six-and twenty years ago ; we base our propositions on just principles—the principles on which , that change was based, the principles which the unanimous opinion of the people and statesmen of England have already sanctioned. We intend. to keep up ancient landmarks as far as possible ; we are war ranted by experience of the past ; our measure shall be moderate in its strength, but it shall be of irre sistible strength in its moderation. It is calculated, or it will be calculated, as I believe, to knit toge ther all orders and conditions of men within this realm, and I believe from my conscience that it will give additional freedom, and greatness, and happiness to the people of this country. (Applause.) I believe in my countrymen, I believe in their grow ing intelligence, in their education, in their virtue, in their wish not to boast of freedom but to have freedom. (Loud cheers.) I come to Scotland- de puted—may I not say deputed—by vast numbers of my countrymen, and your countrymen, in England—l come to ask whether you will join in this movement ; and when I recollect, your history, and when I know your character, and when I see the thousands in which you have come here to-night, I feel beyond dispute that I shall not ask you in vain. (Mr. Bright sat down amid deafening cheers, repeated again and again.) [We extract the latter portion from the Edin burgh Caledonian Mercury.] Councillor FIFE then submitted the following motion :—" That any Reform Bill entitled to the support of the great body of the people, ought to provide for the extension of the franchise in burghs to all inhabitants who may be rated for the support of the poor, and in counties to all occupiers of houses of the yearly value of £lO at least; that Parlia ments should be elected for not more than three years, and that the voters should enjoy the pro tection of the ballot ; that a new apportionment of members should be made, which will more equally distribute the electoral power than the present sys tem ' • and that Scotland ought to enjoy all the poli tical rights and privileges which are enjoyed by England, including the right to return an equivalent number of members, having regard to its popula tion, and to the proportion which it contributes by its taxation to the revenue of the United Kingdom ; and including also an extended franchise for Scot land, based on the ownership of property in lands and houses, which shall be substantially the same as that which is enjoyed in the sister kingdom, under the name of the 40s. franchise." In supporting his motion, Councillor Fyfe said :—Mr. Chairman and Fellow-Citizens, this evening marks an important epoch in the history of Scotland. You, the citizens of its ancient metropolis, have been addressed by a man who for ability, eloquence, and conscientious honesty ranks among the foremost of the statesmen who adorn the Parliament of Britain (great cheering)—a statesman whom the blandishments of Power have been unable to corrupt, and the tempo rary desertion of his constituents in a moment of frenzied delusion could not cast down. (Cheering.) What was said of the man of Uz may truly be said of him, for he has indeed held stedfast his in tegrity. (Great applause.) That speech to which you have listened, and whose echoes are still rever berating round these walls; has found a lodgement in your hearts, and long after that eloquent tongue is silent, and these walls have crumbled into dust, shall the principles enunciated, illustrated, and en forced, live and be fruitful of good in this old Scot land of ours, which with tenacious grasp lays hold of a right principle, and works out of it its legiti mate and glorious results—(loud cheers)—results which it is cheering to contemplate, but which it • would require the Seer's tongue adequately . to de scribe. (Hear.) Sir, we are met to consider the question of Reform--and why ? First, because Reform is needed. (Cheers.) I stay not to prove this. Because, secondly, it has been oftener than once recommended to Parliament by our beloved Queen--whom God preserve and bless—and, there fore, I consider it not less our privilege than our duty to consider the question ; and 3d, we know that her Majesty's Ministers are engaged in pre paring a Reform Bill. Well, it is now admitted on all hands that the Government of this country must be conformed to the public opinion of the na tion ; and hence the necessity of the p eo pl e ma ki ng their sentiments known for the guidance of those who are in power. (Cheers.) But it is objected by some friends of whom better things might have been expected, that the nation is passive and indif ferent to the question of Reform. (Ironical laugh ter.) Sir, quiescent at present the nation is, but. not indifferent. (Hear.) The people, and especi ally the unenfranchised classes, are watching with intense interest the motions and sentiments of pub lic men, hoping for promised good, and if there shall be any paltering with the great interests of th e country—any attempt to juggle and d e cei ve th e mass of the people—l believe those who dream of the quiescence of the people will receive an awakening in their indignant remonstrance, that will make both their ears to tingle, and their knees to shake. (Great cheering.) Sir, I have been requested to propose a resolution to this great and influential meeting, in order to give shape and embodiment to the sentiments which I believe animate the hearts of the earnest reformers of this country, and I hope of the present meeting. I can honestly say I wish the resolution had fallen into abler hands ; but when it seemed to bo the path of duty I acquiesced, although pain fully conscious that others could have discharged the duty better. Sir, it is no light matter for a man to take the position which I now occupy—especially a professional man—with such prejudices as are operating all around—but I am not afraid to take the responsibility. (Cheers.) lam no trading po litician—l am not ashamed to own that I have risen from the ranks by honest industry and hard labour—(loud applause)—and I should be ashamed of myself and ungrateful to a kind Providence if I were not willing to stretch forth my hands to lift up my brother to the same platform with myself, although at present he maybe depressed by poverty and placed beyond the pale of those who are recog nised allaying a voice in the Legislature of this great country. (Renewed cheering.) Now, siri•i let me come to the resolution. It would take a long time to expound and enforce it. Happily it is not necessary. The introductory remarks of our chair man, distinguished by lucidity and conclusiveness, and the splendid oration of the hon. member for Birmingham have, I trust, prepared you all for heartily adopting this motion as your own. (Loud cheers.) Bear with me a little, while I give utter ance to a few sentences. I have long desired an extension of the franchise, so as to include the great mass of the intelligent working classes in the com munity ; I think it just ; I think it safe for the in terests of all. (Hear, hear.) Confidence makes a friend—suspicion makes an enemy. Trust the working man ; give him his rights ; give him an interest in th e goo d government of the country ; and you raise him to his true position as an in dependent citizen, and whenever the interests of the community are assailed—whether from within or without—you have in that man a loyal and intrepid defender of your cause. (Cheers.) I therefore go for the extension of the franchise indicated in this resolution. But some men who call themselves Liberals are alarmed at this pro posal, and they hold aloof from us as if we were determined to turn the world upside down. They say, as the governing classes of old said, " We are the men, and wisdom will die with us." (Laughter.) Is it so ? These men have long since passed away, and the record of their folly only is preserved— (great laughter) —while wisdom still survives. Lord Palmerston is one of their successors—(loud cheers and hisses, -which lasted for some time, mingled with cries of " Put him out," &c.) The race, too, has many representatives among the Whigs of the present day. (Hear, hear.) Palmer- 858. ston promised a Reform Bill, but it suited his pur pose better to raise the war-cry—to set up himself as an idol for the nation to worship. (Laughter and cheers.) At the sound of the instruments of music the people fell down and worshipped the golden image, and some of the faithful were cast into the fiery furnace. (Laughter and cheers.) Where is Palmerston now ? " None so poor as do him ' homage," save the Hon. Robert Lowe. (Laughter.) And where is the faithful representative of the people ? Birmingham, with loud acclaim, proclaims him her member ; and the earnest men of Man chester, who, in the hour of temptation, were led astray,-have again resumed their true position, and endeavoured to make amends for their fault by taking their stand on the platform which I invite you to occupy this evening. (Loud cheers.) Sir, we must have an extension of the franchise, and the basis seems, on the whole, liable to as few objec tions as any that can be proposed. (Hear, hear.) Then if the franchise is to be extended to what may be called the dependent classes, the ballot must follow—(loud cries of hear, hear)—else you bestow a curse while . you propose to confer a blessing. (Hear.) To give a man famishing for thirst a cup of cold water, and then to tell him that ' instead of drinking it to refresh his - soul, he must pour it out to allay the dust at your feet, would be not more inhuman and unkind than it would be to confer the franchise on the working man, and at the same time leave him to all the in fluences which will be brought to bear upon him, to prevent him from following the dictates of his conscience in giving his vote. (Cheers.) Let every man who chooses proclaim at the Market Cross the man for whom he intends to vote ; but let the man who feels that he cannot do so without incur ring suffering and loss have the broad shield of the ballot thrown over him for his protection (Ap plause.) On the subject of short Parliaments, I think no argument is necessary. Tho old proverb is full of wisdom, " short accounts make long friends." There is a vast difference between the votes of most members of Parliament at the beginning and near the end of the period for which they were elected; and if by the ballot our elections were rendered more simple and less costly, there would be little Gbj ect ion to the shortening of Parliaments. , (Hear, hear.) On the subject of the apportionment of members and the inc: ease of the members for Scoland, I shall add nothing to what has been already so well said by the chairman and Mr. Bright. I conclude by earn estly recommending to you the 40s freehold franchise. (Loud cheers) On this point there should be no mistake and no surrender. England has it, and its liberal men prize it as one of their most valuable privileges. They are not unwilling to give it to us, but there are men—Scotchmen—shame to them— (hear, hear)—who would quietly put up with this in feriority—nay more, who argue against it on the ground of all the technicalities of the feudal law, as if the besom of reform could not sweep all these cob webs and the spiders who dwell in them out of the house. (Great laughter and cheers.) Sir, it is a token for good that the chief law officer of the Crown in Scotland has lately told us that whatever may be the opinion his Government may form on this question itself, they will not deal with it on techni calities. (Hear, hear.) And my earnest hope is that ere long we may enjoy a franchise which confers great benefits on our English brethren, and would I doubt not, be equally productive of good in Scotland. (Cheers) One word more and I have done. Not withstanding all her political disadvantages, Scot land has become great. Men have risen from her lowest ranks to be the glory of their country and their age. Look at that man whose centenary is to be celebrated by the kingdom next month. Robert Burns would have been denied the franchise by many of the liberal men who will drink liba tions to his memory on the 25th of January. (Loud cheers.) Hugh Miller had not the privileges of a free citizen till he burst his fetters and rose to such a height of intellectual and scientific eminence that a nation did him homage. (Hear, hear.) And if the class from, which these and thousands of less eminent but still distinguished men have risen, shall be admitted to the privileges which this motion seeks to confer, there will arise in future generations a race of men true to the traditions of their conntry as a land of freedom, but at the same time just towards their fellow-men, and loyal to the throne. (Great cheering, during which Coun cillor Fyfe resumed his seat.) Bailie GRIEVE seconded the motion, merely re marking that after the very able and convincing speeches to which they had just listened, it was totally unnecessary for him to add another word. A Mr. CHARLES DUNCAN, Black's Entry, Comely Bank, here rose and said that he had an amendment to propose—an announcement which was received with loud hisses and derisive laughter. The chair man, however, informed him that that was not the proper time, but that an opportunity would be afforded him after the next speaker, who was to support the resolution that had just been moved. Mr. FRAsER (a working man) then rose, on the invitation of the eha; , .-man, and addressed his " fel low-citizens" and " fellow Tradesmen" in support of the resolution. In doing so, he said that Daniel O'Connell was wont to say about himself that he was the best abused man in Europe—lie thought their friend Mr. Bright might say that he wds at present about the best abused man in Great Britain. (Cheers.) Mr. Fraser then proceeded to consider the respective relations of the peerage and the work ing classes of this country. As to the peerage, one of themselves had said— " Let laws and learning, arts and commerce die; But leave us still our old nobility," —(laughter)—but he (Mr. Fraser) should like to know if all these four—laws, learning, arts, and commerce—were actually to die, where would the old nobility find themselves. (Renewed laughter.) There was nothing more interesting than to mark the progress which nations had made from bar barism to civilisation, from a state of serfdom to a state of freedom; and, in connection with this" it was a remarkable and significant fact that the en acting of good measures uniformly advanced a nation's progress, while the enacting of bad mea sures was always sure to retard it. (Hear, hear,) For the last 26 years the working-classes of Great Britain bad made great progress ; indeed, it was his decided conviction that the working classes of the present day, in point of thought and general intelligence, occupied a position equal if not supe rior to that possessed by the £lO householders at the period of the passing ofthe Reform Bill in 1832. (Cheers.) Though such was the case, however, it is but too true that the working-classes had not advanced during the same interval in direct poli tical power—(hear)—and what was the reason ? Simply this, that although both the Conservatives and Whigs had proposed measures of reform, these measures were rather intended to phase their own followers than to consult the general interests of the community. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Mr. Fraser next proceeded to say that reference had been made by Mr. Fyfe to the ballot—a very im portant question indeed—but one to which the objection had been raised, that it was un-Eng- Hsi). (Laughter.) Well, granted that it was un-English—were not intimidation and bribery un-English ?—(loud cries of hear, hear, and ap plause)—and was it not found that with all the checks put into operation, intimidation and bribery were still, to a greater or less extent, practised in the country ? (Hear.) The great object of the ballot, however, was to protect tho voter in the free exercise of the electoral privileges he enjoyed; and no matter that objections might be urged against it by some, it should, nevertheless, he remembered, that although it might not render a man invulnerable to temptation, it would, at least, enable him to walk safely. (Loud cheers.) Mr. 'Fraser next alluded to the subject of triennial Parliaments, quoting the famous remark of Junius, that septennial Parliaments gave hon. members six years to commit offencee, and one year to make atonement. (Laughter.) Mr. Fraser concluded an able and eloquent speech by urging the neces sity existing for prompt political action on the part of the people in matters affecting their owl( pecu liar interests, and by declaring that for a nation to be free, it was sufficient that the people should so will it. (Loud cheers.) The CHAIRMAN here intimated that the Mr. Duncan already alluded to, had put into his hands an amendment to the resolution just moved, but which he (the chairman) felt convinced, was quite foreign to the objects of the meeting. He had presided at many a public meeang iu Edinburgh, and had never vet refused to put an amendment to any meeting, but he decidedly declined to allow the one he had just received to be brought forward. It had nothing whatever to do with Parliamentary Reform ; and to prove this, he would just indicate its nature :—" That to dispel misconceptions and estrangements among Christians—(laughter)—era dicate sectarian bigotry, and give a just sense of our mutual relations—the first step is to overhaul the Bible—(roars of laughter)—in order to disen tangle what is really Christianity from what is not," and so on. He (the chairman) did not think he need read any more of this amendment to show that it really had nothing to do with the object of the meeting. Mr. DUNCAN, who was standing behind the chairman, here furiously vociferated—" Read it out, read it out," accompanying his demand at the same time with sundry fierce gesticulations, which elicited peals of laughter from the meeting. The CHAIRMAN then continued—" In order to dis entangle what is real Christianity from what is not, and from the theory of Christ so purified to discern the character of Christian laws—(great laughter)— and whether these law s s are founded on rent, educa tion, or on whatever fouridation—(laught e r)— we will then be in a state to legislate with precision and ease, as it is presumed, with what God has predes tinated all will be satisfied." (Roars of laughter.) The Chairman again intimated to Mr. Duncan, amid continued peals of merriment, that his amendment had really nothing to do with Parliamentary reform, and therefore could not be put to the meeting. Mr. DUNCAN then rushed wildly forward to the edge of the platform, and was preparing to descend to his former position in the area of the hall, when his hat, which he had stuck on the crown of his head, flew off in advance of its owner—its unex pected flight eliciting fresh roars of laughter from the immense audience. The CHAIRMAN then called for a show of hands in favour of Councillor Fyfe's motion, which having been responded to amid tremendous cheering, the motion was declared to be carried unanimously. Mr. TAIT, of Priorbank, in a few complimentary remarks, moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Bright in the following terms That the thanks of this meeting be offered to Mr. Bright for his zealous and powerful advocacy of the people's rights ; and particularly for the admirable address on the subject of Parliamentary Reform delivered by him this evening. And that this meeting have perfect con fidence that the bill for Parliamentary Reform which Mr. Bright is to bring into the House of Commons will be one which :every true reformer will feel it his duty to support to the utmost of his power." Mr. CAssEts, of Blackford House, in a few words, seconded the resolution, which was carried with the most enthusiastic plaudits, accompanied by waving of hats and handkerchiefs. Mr. BRIGHT acknowledged the compliment. I thank you for the kindness with which you have received me, and . for the attention which you have shown in coming here in such remarkable numbers, partly, no doubt, to hear what I had got to say in respect to the reform question. The meet ing, after all, might have been a very awkward one, for I tried door after door of this building when I came, and could not get into the inside at all— (laughter)—and wandered about on the street for a while in the hope that in the course of half an hour or so, when the house had been filled, those who could not get in would go away, and I would get myself squeezed in by some manner or another. (Laughter.) I never had so much difficulty before in getting into a meeting, and I suppose there has as many gone away disappointed as there are within. But after trampling over these difficulties by the satisfactory meeting we have had to-night, you must not suppose that the question is settled because you are here. (Hear, hear.) After some further remarks, Mr. Bright resumed his seat amid enthusiastic applause. Mr. GORRIE moved that petitions be drawn up and presented to both Houses of Parliament, em bodying the sentiments expounded and agreed to at this meeting, and that the chairman should be instructed to sign them in name of the meeting assembled. The motion was agreed to. Captain PEAT moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Duncan M'Laren for his conduct in the chair. The vote was cordially given. The CHAIRMAN acknowledged the compliment. The assemblage then dispersed. HORRIBLE MURDER IN FRANCE. Accounts were given at the beginning of Septem ber of the finding of the dead body of a girl, about 15 years of age, hanging to a tree in the neighbour hood of Pantin, a village near Paris—of the dis covery, on examination, that she had been grossly outraged and then murdered—and of the arrest, a few days after, of her . uncle, one Parang, on sus picion of having committed the crime. Yesterday, this man was brought to trial before the Court of Assizes of the Seine, and the case excited con siderable interest. The indictment, after stating the finding of the body early in the morning of the 31st August, and describing the out rage to which the girl had been subjected, said that a handkerchief, tied tightly round her throat, bruises on her face and person, the marks of a severe struggle having taken place in a field at a few yardA from the tree, and lastly, the manner in which the bOdy was suspended to the tree—all showed that the deceased had not committed suicide, but had been murdered. She was meanly dressed .at the time, and had in her pocket two rosaries, a medal of the Virgin, and a small copper candlestick with a piece of candle, but she had nothing on her to show who she was. It then proceeded to say how the murder was discovered. In the evening of the 31st August, a labourer named Loriette, whilst looking at a mounte bank who was exhibiting in the Place de la Bas tille, got into conversation with a man standing by his side, and after a while said :—" Frightful crimes are being committed in Paris now-a-days ! This morning, the dead body of a girl was found hanging to a tree, and she must have been mur dered!" On that, the other man, who was a stranger to him, turned pale and staggered. Loriette added that a piece of candle had been found on the girl, and the stranger cried, "Why, it - must be my niece ! I had a presentiment on seeing her put the candle in her pocket that something would happen !" And then he proceeded, in a manlier which seemed very singular to Loriette, to say that his niece, though very young, was exceedingly vicious ; that she had made the acquaintance of a man at Vincennes, who had offered her 800 f. to visit him ; and that she had been away from home all the preceding night. He then asked Loriette where the body had been found, and the man said he thought it was somewhere in the neighbourhood of La Villette. The man pretended not to know where La Viliette was, and Loriette said that as he worked there he would, if he called on him very early the next morning at his lodgings in, the Rue St. Antoine, show him the way. The man, after stating that his name was Parang, and that the name of his niece was Lucie Parang, went away. The next morning, accompanied by his wife, he called at Loriette's lodging, but finding that he had gone to his work, he proceeded to La Villette, and calling on the commissary of that place, stated that he was the uncle of 'the girl who had been found murdered. The commissary sent him with a police officer to the commissary at Pantin, and on the way he repeated again and again that his niece had been of loose conduct. On entering the office of the commissary at Pautin he saw the cord with which the body had been suspended, and cried—" That is my cord ! " He also recog nised the candlestick found on her. He then related that on the previous evening the giel and himself had left home to purchase a cord for a turning lathe—she putting into her pocket the candle and candlestick with which she had lighted him downstairs—that after a while she had given him the slip, and that all his attempts to discover her had been fruitless. Although his story seemed strange, there was nothing to wfxrant his arrest. But after a few days it was ascertained that all he had said about the girl's immorality was scandalously false—that he himself had made repeated attempts to corrupt her but in vain—that on the evening of the 30th of August, she, by his direction, had gone out with him and had accompanied him to the Rue du Vert Bois, where he had purchased a cord of pecu liar make and of certain length—that this very cord was the oi , e with which the girl was suspended—that the girl was not afterwards seen alive by anyone - who knew her—that he had not returned home until late at night, when he was without the girl, and could not account for the manner in which he had passed his time—and, lastly, that he had scratches on his hands and face, and stains of blood on his linen, which he could not explain. In court, the man was interrogated at some length on the vari ous points in the indictment, and he answered with considerable cunning, maintaining that he was in nocent.. Some witnesses were then examined, and after hearing the'public prosecutor in upport of the indictment, and M. Nogent St. Laurent for the prisoner, the jury, after half an hour's deliberation, brought in a verdict of guilty, and the Court con demned him to death. He retired without saying a word. At Rochefort, in Belgium, three days ago, an experiment was made with some works for the distribution of water recently constructed. The King of the Belgians and the Count de Flandre having to pass on that day through the place on their return from the shooting lodge of St. Hubert to the chateau at Ardennes were requested to examine the works. H.M. and H.R.H. kindly con sented, and both on arriving and leaving they were most warmly cheered. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway's Pills.—When we con sider how uncertain aro life and health, and their value is appreciated by all human beings, it is strange indeed to observe how often men neglect the means of preserving these blessings at even the most trifling cost. They pay heavily to insure their premises from fire, or their goods from accident on flood and field, but they often put off until it is too late the expenditure of a few shillin g s on a box of Holloway's Pills, which they mi g ht k eep by them as an unfailing safeguard, as a charm which will protect the possessor against alt diseases. They must certainly do good. If used according to instructions, given with each box, they never fail. [ADVERTIStMENT.]—Rarey's Horse and Cattle Improv ing Food is equally adapted to improve the stamina of ill conditioned Horses, Cows, Bullocks, Calves, Sheep, and Pigs. It causes no extra: expense, as it contains far more and better nourishment than its cost of lid. per feed sup plies in corn and hay; hence ensures an actual saving in the keep. But its principal advantages are a great im provement in the digestive functions, the stamina and general condition of horses enabling them to perform far more labour without getting distressed. It imparts new vig•ciur to sick, debilitated, or old apparently worn-out horses, and it puts rapidly the finest flesh on cattle gene rally, and improves the milk in cows, as it enables them to extract the entire nourishment out of everything they feed on. Rarey and Co., 77, Regent's Quadrant, Piccadilly, London. Packed in tins of about 99 feeds, lls. • in cask of about 450 f ee ds, 50 5 . ; o f a b ou t 1,000 f ee d s , 15, being lid. per feed. RAILWAY fRAUD. Two men, named Fleury and Plaignaud, were yesterday tried by the Court of A ssizei for defraud ing the Orleans railway company. Military officers and soldiers have the priviiegc of travelling on railways, in carriages of any of the three classes, for one fourth of the fares paid b .) - the public; and it is the custom to stamp the tickets given them with the word militaire, and to cut oe about a third of each—the portion cut off being jetained by the distributing clerk to serve as a voucher and a check. The two men, the former of whom had been a porter in the company, and the latter 1411$ at the time a receiver of tickets at the Paris AI • tion, conceived in July last the idea of defrauding the company by giving military tickets to civi lians, and appropriating the difference between the* full fare paid by them and the quarter fare paid by the military. But to carry out this idea the co operation of an enzploile of a station in the country was absolutely necessary ; and - Ole two men pro posed to one Hourlier, a clerk at the station at Bordeaux, to act with them. Fortunately this man was honest, and he communicated the project to the directors. By their order he accepted the pro position. The two men then provided him with a stamp bearing the word " Militaire," and it was agreed that he should apply it daily to a certain number of tickets given to. civilians ; that in order to distinguish such tickets from those really given to the military, he should not cut off a portion of them, but should apply a stamp, bearing the date of the day at the back of the ticket, instead of tle front, leaving Plaignaud, whose duty it was to receive the tickets at Paris, to cut off the ends and send them back to him. lourlier was to retain three-fourths of the fares paid for these tickets, and the men were afterwards to divide between them the amount embezzled. In the course of a few days Hourlier obtained by these means a sum of 3,215 f., and then Fleury wrote to him to request a remit tance of his and his accomplice's portion of the fraud. On that the two men were arrested. When called on for their defence they could do nothing more than cast - imputations on Hourlier. They were declared guilty, and were severally condemned to five years' imprisonment and 100 f. fine. COUNTRY MABEE BRISTOL—DEc. 16. Arrivals are large this week, principally consisting of wheat and barley, and stocks in warehouse'ore accumulat ing. To-day the supply of wheat was moderate, and the sales made were at about last week's prices. Foreign no cheaper, but transactions only in retail. Fine malting bar ley fully as dear; grinding parcels is per qr cheaper, heavy Danish being obtainable at 26s per 4001bs. Oats quite a. drug. Peas 2s per qr. lower. Beans offered at rather less money. In Indian corn nothing passing. MANCHESTER—DEc. 16. At this day's market there was a large supply of wheat and sales could not be effected without submitting to a fur ther decline' of is per qr. Barley dull, with the turn in favour of the buyer. Oats, beans, and peas nominally un altered. BOSTON—DEc. 16. The weather has been exceedingly damp, and all kinds of grain have lost condition in consequence. To-day, there was a moderate show of wheat, the condition of most of which was better than might have been expected. Choice parcels sell freely at the prices of this day week, and there is more demand for inferior sorts. A small supply of spring corn, fully maintaining late rates. Wheat ...34s to 39s Oats.... lBs to 23s White .40s to 42s Beans 40s to 453 Barley .26s to 34s Peas ..40s to 533 BIRMINGHAM---DEc. 16. We have to report a small supply of grain at market, and prices ruled about the same as last week, bat there was no life in the trade. Barley again rather lower. Oats were taken in retail, at previous rates. Beans and peas difficult to sell. LOUTH—DEc. 15. The market continues quiet, but prices are about sup ported in the few transactions recorded this week. Wheat ....368 to 418 Oats.. 23s to 255 White do 45s to —8 Beans, new —s to 428 Barley ....30s to 33s Ditto, old .35s to 395 EDINBURGH GRAIN—DEc. 15. There was a tolerable supply of grain at market. Sales were heavy, and prices at about late rates. Wheat on the top is Od down average is Od up. - Barley On the top Os 3d down average Os 4d down. Oats on the top Os 6d down .... ..... —average ld up. Beans on the top is 6d down —averageos9d down. Averages per Imperial quarter. Wheat.... Wheat (N).... 0 0 0 0-12ths Barley Oats . 1 1 9 1-12ths Beans Total Supply and Sales. Wheat .1095 qrs Sold 930 qrs 8ar1ey........3039 qrs Sold 1625 qrs Oats .1378 qrs Sold 1168 qrs Beans 231 qrs Sold 142 qrs GLASGOW—DEc. 15. Since yesterday the weather has become frosty. This day's market was well attended, but in the limited trans actions which occurred the turn in value favoured the buyer. CORK-DEC. 15. The following were the quotations this morning :—Red wheat, 17s Od to 20s; white, 18s Od to 22s Od; barley lOs 8 1 to 14s 6d; oats, lOs &I to 13s Od. DERBY SMITHFIELD—DEe. 14. There was a good supply of fat beasts to-day, mostly Of excellent quality; the attendance of buyers was small, and the greater part went away unsold. The pens were well filled with sheep, and high prices asked. A good number of fat pigs, demand brisk, and prices better. A very poor supply of fat calves. Beef Sid to fild Veal . fild to 7d Mutton .. 64d to 7d Pork Lamb Od to —d Rough fat, 4810 d per stone• Hides, 4d to 51c1 ; calf skins, 41c1 to 51d. [ADVERTISEMENT.] SIGHT AND HEARING. SPEC" TACLES.—POWERFUL TELESCOPES.—OPERA, RACE, AND PERSPECTIVE GLASSES. Messrs. S. and B. Solomons. opticians, 39, Albermarle-Street, Piccadilly. Observe opposite the York Hotel, W.—Opera, Race-course, Field, and general Out-door Day and Night Perspective Glasses, very small, for the waistcoat pocket, each containing 12 and 18 lenses, constructed of German glass. Will show dis tinctly a person to know them at two-and-a-half and three miles, and an object from eight to ten miles distant. Her Majesty's Coast Guards are making use of them a s day and night glasses in preference to all others ; they are also pre ferred for deer-stalking by sportsmen, gentlemen; and gamekeepers. Telescopes 31 inches long, by which a per son may be clearly seen and known at 31 miles' and an object at 12 to 14 miles' distance ; and with an extra astro nomical eye-piece, Jupiter's moons, Saturn's rings, and the double stars are distinctly seen. • All the above can be had of larger and all sizes, with increasing, powers, and are secured by her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent. The Royal Exhibition, 1851. A valuable, newly" invented, very small, powerful Waistcoat-pocket Glass, the size of a walnut, by which a person can be seen and known one and a half mile distant. They answer every purpose on the Race-course and at the Opera houses. Country scenery and ships are clearly seer' at four to six miles. They are invaluable for shooting, deer-stalking, yachting, to sportsmen, gentlemen, game keepers, anourists. Price 30s.—Spectacle Lenses of the greatest transparent power. The great advantage derived from this invention is, that vision becoming impaired is preserved and strengthened, and very aged persons are enabled to employ their sight at the most minute occupation —can see with those lenses of a much less magnifying power, and they do not require the frequent changes to the dangerous effects of further powerful assistance. Persons can be suited at the most remote part of the world by send ing one of the glasses out of their spectacles in a letter, and stating the distance from the eyes they can read small print with it, and those who have not.made use of spectacles by stating their age. Deafness.—New Discovery.—The Organic Vibrator, an extraordinarily powerful small newly-invented instrument for Deafness, entirely different from all ethers, surpasses anything of the kind that has been, or probably ever can be, produced. Being of the same colour as the skin, is not perceptible. It enables deaf persons to hear distinctly at church and at public assemblies ; the unplea sant sensation of singing noises in the ears is entirely re • movad, and it affords all the assistance that possibly could be desired.-39, Albemarle-street, Piccadilly. Observe— . opposite the York Hotel, W. BIRTHS. AREER.—On the 16th inst., at 40, Upper George-street, Bryanston-square, the wife of Mr. Thos. Newel Arber, of a daughter. BATTEN.—On the I6th inst., at 8, Gloucester-place, Hyde park-gardens, Mrs. Edmund Batten, of a son. HANCOCK.—On the 15th inst., at New Charlton, Kent, the wife of Thomas Hancock, Esq., of a son. MASON.—On the 14th inst., at Silk Willoughby Recto* the wife of the Rev. Jacob M. Mason, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. BLACKWOOD — MANCIIESTER.—On the 16th inst., at St. George's, Hanover square, Stevenson Arthur, only son of Arthur Blackwood, Esq., of 53, Upper Brook-street , Grosvenor-square, to Sydnex, Duchess of Manchester. SIMPKINSON—WAGNER.—On'the 14th inst., at St. Leo nard's-on-Sea, Francis Guillemard Simpkinson, Esq., son of the late Sir Francis Simpkinson,' Q.C., F.R.S., to Emily, yomiger daughter of G. 11. M. Wagner, Esq., of St. Leonard's-on Sea. DEATHS. BRIOIIT.—On the 16th inst., in Saville-row, Richard Bright, M.D., F.R.S., aged .- 70. Cocx.. :7 on the 16th inst., at Tottenham, John. Cock, Esq,/ aged 83. Dixon.—On the 14th inst., at John's terrace, East India road, James Dixon, Esq., late of the 4th Light Dragoons/ 16 years Principal of Police of the East and West India Docks, aged 70 . . DEEDY.—On the 14th inst., at 40, Dover-road, Southwark' Mr. J. C. Deed;, sen., aged 77. DOBSON.—On the 15th inst., at Midford, near Bath, Eliza, wife of Captain G. Dobson, R.N. Fisx.—On the 15th inst., atWestbourne-terrace, Islington Mrs. Susan Fisk, aged 65. LIDDELL.—On the 29th ult.,. at Gibraltar, Florence , the wi:e,of Captain the Hon. Hedworth Liddell, 15th Regt. PAGE.—On the 13th inst., at Winchester, William Pagel Esq., aged 79. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG , 'of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the county of b , liddle?ex, Friday, December 17, 1868• 1 1" IXDI That a Gei ab °Te ou forenoon 1) , roDrietor last "for t T erence to Inel A of th atilit Rpo] la t co upon 1 Of Prl ' (Ut thle1;1 Tr 4 " I ' ll l be " th e baut a 1 1011.( ted lejetl allOt ei. 9;111Mt( SA.I TRE I t ING % F( > th insta '4(115..t I .4 uA Lklißlsl.l ,____ 4. SlT] e - 1 th their de hrcl ligh celection (PIO GI tal fte . Oh p ith a s t r Aritg 112 4 11 4 4 01 r, 4,4ket;. tE 4tCTI e reB4 . OG tim es 40 0(1 fc on, the butim th e f , n.;