The Sun. — London, England, 1846-01-30 00:00:00

hands o f the Accountant-General as , (-Twiny intention t : o l e Part of the railway company of their .yjlls dere:r i o F ee tt e ie d y with a their . scheme, and that it _ a 6°"..fide undere king —(Hear, hear.) But he c_c i n o s_,- , we re to (sive ten thousand or thirty tn t! rid: they were as I P ule notes. All . . 118a ' n, 4 Pnand3 ' v alue in ' Consols. Exchequer-billse t i h r a l t o t t e lio goo, as ,a . . ten n ti se wanted was security from compel:le, of their itnn e, on to eie see. -'.• ' ' ' Presecut-t their schemes ; and in actin; be , eeeseon he now made he believed all parties would . 1,7„ nenefited.—(Hear, hear.) Whether the deposits er e °j , Paid i nto the hands of the Bank of Englan d , the Aceountant.General, the course he recommended Wauld be satisfeetor • to all parties, and no difficulty woeld ) t hen arise. 4 Mr. RICARDO said it appeared to him of little con :2-1:1:1:re: o r t 0 ht ‘e in whose name railwa pcsits mig I r n, whether in the name of one many n preference to as to who might be the party who made the t a ', 37°3 l ,nt• If the Accountant-General invests the moe t e h e e , 1 e,',"is order in the Bank of England, then . if in a pceition to pay interest on it, and and , not • he d oes not, the Bank of England.ties ofi e In a positien to pay upon it. The securities not d oubt s banks might have been taken were there se banks Wheiher they had not made edvances on the b emit nf depoeqs in a very imprudent manner. If these Pr a e n d k e s ne in this respect had acted with common 0 , e teere we i eld have been no difficulty at now t. to- .9 - great deal of the . inconvenience . , Tamed of would have been avoided if, at the . time o pe47l.tration, a period was nalla4 for the deposits_ to be tEei l i n l! da m;ght be stated that they sbould be i id hal o - 0 . ; , say three or four months a. `ter l eprae sg e ist , v u a : le e hltue Conapany. He thoueht it was et; e V to . o'u h e e 7„ell these deposits were first paid what li re fuse it wAtatTs De et on the public cireulation. old be NTZ said that he could not help thinking to very strange that the Government should . th e receive their '' own securities as a payment into held ' 4 -ureasury, especially when they were only c e l l a a trustee fund, and he conceived that the Chan he,: cif the Exchequer was throwing something like e e 'r, lee on their own credit. He thought the proposal Ikea Proper one, and if the Hon. Member fur Sundeirf te i t ''sd not made it he should have made it ___hi o m ve s r e n , ::::i teil,epedaoriendg exceedingly strange that tbeG enee4setild refuse to receive their own paper,_ especially so would be a saving of expense to the Sirs a sv vell as in conven i ence. plath„ PE EL said that the express object of the re , tiplqe th te, ' e— Inthatplainecl of was to give relief to the public ...-neht the parti es who wer interested . this ma tter had had sufficient notice of the effect of . with 'et.gclation to save themselves and those W elk wun al they had to deal. That the . rule to th be attended with some inconvenience 'eat< Patties most immediately interested NU i th -5.3 he could not deny. It was well understood . l e t Petel e .ee n a non in railwa - es. object of Parliament was to discourage unsound' Sn deposit had origina ex y_ t, th e T e, that it Offered no bar whatever to the rlia. nee, . meonvenient extent, of speculation, and P l itee a " had accordingly made the deposits required a te tt i t ertai n. period 10 per cent., and at the time that l it* Is le 'was Instituted it was well known that the derpaol -444 ere to ! i ,„ be paid in mone •• to the Accountant-Gene , kit tin - n stock and the object of that rule was to prevent fl-4til 3-trislticenedntsl;eeulation which d the other rule had not eoe epri , e. e enough to o, and thus the object of the tint t h e n t Was se rve d . T he rule wou ld b y no means t pre: with 1 : 1 niscount of' long bills, and if it interferedall Net' art e n nes, it would only ' a do so with that class of ta s run g : as bills which had only two or three months . e 9 p arti ent; Which were generally presented . for discount l ete„, B Who bad unwisely used their funds in railway Pr eseV °n s• It %sees intended that there shouldbe h a e Ntele:Lheut he believ'ed that Hon. Members would ni,ltai ''''h e • no he y imagined dia .& )4 °us '. bed, or that it would te, ~ , rellw tha the pressure would be more ec' • II the future re ' • eyed by b hands of Of eliTun t an t k payments eie e _ e of the Bank ete in the d 'General P rather than in those . I ,tll ,,stltst ri ;* Re had given his most careful atte.7 j ge ctl - 1, -- ' a nd he p f Perfectly greed with his Right h... ' . ti0n .,.. t0 'aterse the Chancell er of th a Exchequer. He had had 4nti _ ewe with any o th4 t "P e erien ne in the parties e of - the highest authority City,and they were convinced t th at eo tu t Plan adopted ted would be the best r° Paa 14. ' be used p for the purpose. But i the I 4 a• that after a portion of the money lad ts u e L )° s:te, a certain interval should elapse before '"' w oldd, in his opinion, be unjust to the specue tie' c tho IA h; ° light td have the earliest opportunityofget eo Ir e he h e veba e O ne Y back, should the railway in which tt le ' a !'• P:ll7l.,,T)..pass_ the' standing orders. tee int erval ?-ItWART rose e• and the release of . to:explain. He thought . q e el it oe ey co n u e l t d !en the de . positT e the . fate of the Bill gi r ti fied by n t _ ee determined by et y . 411itri R, PEEL ehh.e neer h ity. tr looth 'ni ght not dee decidede on t fur perh ap s that tw r 4 8 6o th o e r fa th e re c e 'f 114ei de„ eit -I;IVART—Why the standing orders are to h eite ' T , th e t enie y f - considered it . 9a i k- ' 4 RriG • d would be hard to lock 11 4 , 1 1 ' e - b • the Bill 1 1 ' 'lt ne 'n' an indefinite time without interest until Li 4 i i nt i 4.l,llltitta!_ms ista.kleran,igthhatthheehcaLewld:not understand what The object of the de pria!ittestealeosfyould arise from the deposit of Exchequer bin% 2tvast th at ra th ile) 4 .— vernment and the public might fDrop ' aseenrity that e the o undertaking for which it wa:, l e , ::t e ,: . 01)..tainanAct of Parliament was of a bona ,sehi a lie hoped the House would well consider theAb "fete--Rlear heer ) k i i it h es tien o 4 the adjournment was then put from '' and de e h e eed carried. tem TEN 179URS' BILL. a f 0 1 ` n A SII• Lorde 'l' LEY laid on the; table a petition in favour ' 4 hours' Bill for the repletion of labour. It lit dh, ASHLEY again ro,,e, and tk ) sitj,. - .7Y, in the first place reenectfully but said he felt it 54 tile to state. that the to ' decisi ‘ on eonee tfq , , n - factory question Was not the deeidon 14_e Rouse, but the decision of her Majesty's Ministers. ktri`feuld say that a very large majority of those ge . ntle- , Ater h e feelings of the commercial and manufacturing IN u th_ s of this country, supported his proposition. No gnu a n 3 3 out of 42 of those Members voted in that tap au the Ten ipert Hours' Bill, and he did hope a similar 1 - I ` 4 , e w ould be given him on the present occasion. dte i . r, he Was certain, that the most anxiou , and s eei s e ,,bed desire was felt out of that House for the l i eti s , 4 ° l the Bill—(Hear, hear)—a desire unabated, etre atom " i re Which was every day gathering new • d earl yhadelapsed since O f' kibesitt two years_ . a the Ho that question for the consideration stee us and he hoped the House Pat N I • e, had 4 see e side r that a full and sufficient interval - li ef eet eee the intro " 1 ee l 1 en the rejection of that Bill and t • . _ intro- Nob of „ another. The country was decidedly in meet metthe " u ch a m easu re, and he hod it would meet e t * lt eialPprobation of thet House also. —(Hear,. hear.) kl: „ e qin e e ° t it e ld be his great endeavour to abstain from Por t tie "" e House by the production of evidence re vs ,end often tk put before them in the . shape of be a epntleta°`"erwile. He believed that it would . f or tilos e e e to his cause if he did not refresh their memory %Le° th - s : n biects ; but, however, he would willingly 14 4 tliell'. ad vantage rather than appear to trespass ha th e tir ne, and he could do so with less reluctan s Pro" %esti() NI ete th , n was narrowed to this—Could the 4 e ? "" be effected without injuring ,NI t e Th,,. the II ik o ffer, ""„„ was the simple proposition he mo !_ e lle ., fit s e , v v „by, could it be denied that a great ours setent ? - Alta accrue by the limitation of the h 1. 4.4 t'• ° f 4ix' ll !ar, hear.) He would] detail . to them a b' t. Mr. 141oep, -Porttnents connected with this su . jec mills in t Ws ell est e a gentleman who had very extensive h to send his his a nt and and Preston, was good enoug Ashley) 4iCeetelt-' o n to London to give him (Lordhad tried in l e tbtnaner°fsotne experiments which he put to had a a etnr ' Noble Lord) .P . fee s; llev e , i Y• He (the e which they ' 4, 4 rite "4' questions, the answers to were se le Neel co mmitted to writing. They apologize' ,1; t he ° Ye, important that he must a ' e• r ) a ° % 41°118 ° • them —(1-1ar' ea ' k ot b rdi tiar f , br reading • _ . of e l even 1. - N -.4r k ' 8114 —" I have tried the ettect the h eLfof, Instead of twelve hours, and I find that contrary, Zt te„ welerk downs not reduced at all, but, on the .- !7 1 kli - ( ltte at , te in that time. He (the Noble Lord) d the a n , :IN *ki t i 41% how it was that the men were able to o we,. 4 aq: i ts ~ ti!levell hours as in twelve hours? The . answer %t o t , eat t h e b tt r able to do their work ), , le a -t ri%hi,,,, men were e e . %ter, is litit ~, -^' to have more rest at night." The next A in the 4: ~ ii 0,,„ ti;.; w hether the work was better answer ...one was, the te xt wes s iess ll , In the shorter period ? The the eleven hours. , 1 0,, tk etieeltiont sivecidedly better done in any advantaZe in t br a Mi''Rh lye sharta'' Whether therethe was nswer was that there ‘ 4 l . 4 ho.s_talOn,_eer time? and a eleven hours over the sh._ dify." . es, iti favour of the h ad mer srens e (the Noble Lord) then asked it there was ti In from the e r ,Le e , tete the health of the men . e rc eree . and the answer was, that `. they 1 /11 ti l . ° l 4, rTlateriall inhealth from the reduction in the ta et - ou t , ttr, , , „, y ti l ,p7 saiptie data`ls to the influenceof the shorter period „ hi te e s of d providentf the he f t - Ls ,4 0 , the employe , (Oe ernestit,t4 ...7e men had become more , and th, ploym --.Pioyed themselves at the nee • Te between in s 'Lilt w r3 444 be was with respect to h the ct f ee. tiling f hours, and 14"t7tv'eents 4i4 t: employed, bythechange of anl ;onfidence exist- Ni t 4413 to " o th a , greater d egr ee Ashley) had put k r erstotOthei,c Parties ' He (Lord and the te %Nl' "elan w hose experience was very great, the House. Net 'net e re lino already read to . _ th e 1 4 1 1 ,a 14 iar to those . d that he believed the a n te t i n eetis e ,„t r espectable man, sal wll-11 of h 0 ha % 'oat " there was more bad . work done in M 4 1 1 khe c't the d th at ny other period of the ier 4 /1 tzr." ,p, ay an aa i of Bolton. • els an Mr No es, his e o ~,,e , ere was 4 the result of I, 4i iiv e h; r lVa g, fade , e e xperiments, and go back to the l i sqtr t : l t tet q l, ja s f y l t etn..... st ( ; i v e e a u r ld , not again hear.)Another gentleman, ct s l ras 5 ten hone' hi m that he had about six months ago, the M 4:Pt d,,,.._,r0 r k, instead of twelve hour r s s d H ' a ß - ill y . , He 1 " . , s e „,._ ley) 6-.77,13, in favour of the Ten . ou to carr out iste r ,. 0pi,, i0 .,7 also other answers which went 4 ttl i i wer e , • Now these evidences of the ten hours' tk ie pi . kil f rom , 1 t . paneled att • respectable gentlemen, and the House f the io a s Zama to them which the importance o in e t Ntie ~erts of tk i lle.se were the experiments of la,?t, year__ es eo n 'lt the the Kingdom and in every instance it Mid been nit 14 1 , 4d ir ) ,_ a ges had n et ' diminished,and the condition of Nil %or a l ll much improved ; and he understood that tit o its al, „1i„ to as antsees had been the result. He was very ' 4 i ," the eiheeertaln what the effect of the limitation of wages t i t li t k,r Itiiern of russia. The King of Prussia had, in ,'ver ti nge Passed a decree limiting the hours of labour ' lt t - Ote, a : . , under the age of 16. That decree had existed i loi ri a t esti , ‘ was in full operation at the resent time. What kere‘ti et ; , t of it ? He had receiv d P answer to some in set:•staternent fr Elb fl e an ' h 'd that in the Is e , tie s th orh . er e ds, whic sal tarn t gli th e .2 ere no diminution of wages had taken place, Ity . 10 14 j i , fueeret limiting the hours of labour had been a ),(at!nthie. oree. It also said that the law exercised a salu th 14 tin ed On th e • '14 % NOW,. a n s wer ' and moral condition of the I tst t ,elv es. • T hat answer came from the manufacturers ti kti ,o th at Ile had received another answer, which also ti a oee a 40 diminution of wages had taken place. There Si i °o odu al a rst a stron ft• •the I but this sub lai.se, sn es beneficial eeeng against law' ;t o w e ,. t effects were found. He had received I kt h 0 i u • ee -4epart q estion put by him to the Secretary of the ,th. } be . ment, which asserted that, wherever the hours of tide I„T:ilneen shortened not a single remonstranc e had been til: to i r egard to it, and no resistance had been 411,41 as " v. The people entertained some doubts at aeotilj9Y feared foreign competition, but they -A quit• Awti4 c d with the arrangement. ith the re's° nw Ol e At) r, t o n e th e f li „ j e °,les ° 0rt,,1 i to- he ot p,, I ,d t `,",l 1 1 bo t hg; aw e o f D e tit) . o i , cu u oli ) , doe a 0 r ; ja., ir , to dr'' ° l4 . od d 14ogia jo ilpe of ec fe l% bj , a te tbs pu rP re , t , h 6 , t 1 0 oa f Plb tie tho ra a 0 th ,( ra c tle tr r- el c'l9°', he ie'' • t co l ps er r e : as , >tirP ° '' i rer e , e o if he o l. he w oe)" if , fr o , ked up ourt ° u rro e ,) P „ s is )0 , or e r t A •n• b 9 het r o t , (lig ht ei t 0 int er he tion rnitlsde3 g . tg eS e, Va g r hens" It t ca' ['or ,it wo uld Jo iePnsiti The people of France had also followed their example; for though they had objected at first, a law had been framed for the regulations of factories, which was a transcript of their own. Russia had also followed the same example. `The peo ple of Russia, from an estimate of the moral and physical ad vantages such a regulation would produce, had seen the pro-. priety of adopting a measure of this kind. The experience of the success of the principle had operated in this manner on these countries, and not only these countries, but every other country he was persuaded, would be compelled to carry it out. He would now pass on from this review of the results, to the general consideration of the influence of factory regulations on the physical, moral, and financial condition of the manufactur ing population of this country. He requested the attention of the House while he referred to several productions which were made in 1833, when he first undertook the introduction of what was called the Ten tours' Bill. There were four pre dictions continually rung in the ears of the House, and were the arguments continually employed by the opponents of the Bill to defeat this measure. The first prediction was, that if the Bill passed the cotton trade would be destroyed— that an end would be put to the great staple branch of national industry. The second prediction was, that the wages of the operatives would be diminished. The third prediction was, that the wages of the children would be reduced, so that they would receive only afractional payment for their labour. And the fourth prediction was, that the number (f children employed would be di minished,and that great physical suffering would ensue. He would now come to the results of those predictions. And first, he would take the effect f the limitation of wages occa sioned by the reduction of the hours of labour, and he would, in the first place, appeal to the year 1831, when the first Act was passed for reducing those hours ; and then would, in the second place, bring forward the period after labour was pro tected, and show that the wages had not been diminished. In the year 1831 the first Bill had been passed for the limitation of those who were called young persons. Those were persons between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years. In 1831 an Act had been passed ehich limited the labour of those )oung persons to twelve hours in the day; asel it was asserted that the effect of this measure would be to reduce the wages of those i nt. 4 ;viduals. Now, how far was that assertion, that protection would in.,"re wa g es, founded in truth ? In 1833, before this protection was s uraated, the wages of those Indio duals had, on an average, been ss. 4d. per week, while, after that protection was granted, the average :ate of wages was 6s. I Id. per week, showing not less a rise than upw:.'isof this ty per cent. These facts were drawn from returns made fri2."l the four great manu facturing towns of Bolton, Preston, Oldham, and Manchester. Now, in the third place, with reference to the wag7' of those distinguished as children. Before 1833 the ave. 7" rate of wages of these children was 3s. Id. per week. Before the Bill which limited the work of children under thirteen years of age, the time of these children was eight hours. By that Bill the time was reduced to six hours, and although the average rate of wages was reduced to 2s. 2d., yet it was rather an apparent than a real diminution, for though there was an abatement, yet it was not at all equiva lent to the relief, and the families were in fact far better off than before, for a great demand for children had been created, and where only one child was employed before, two were now re quired. Now he would allude to the fourth prediction. In order to do so it would be necessary for him to enter into some minute details, but he hoped the House would pardon his so doing, on the ground that they were essential for the purposes he had in view. The next point raised was that children would suffer physically. He begged them to see hew far that predic tion had been verified. It was extremely difficult to obtain a return of the number of children under 13 years of age, em ployed in 1833, but those who knew were aware that very few had received any education at all. Now he would assert that there were under 13 years of age, working six hours a day, and receiving three hours education each day, no less than 30,000 children.—( Hear, hear.) Before the year 1833 there were scarcely any children receiving education. The increase of children attending school since 1833 was at the rate of 8 to I.—( Hear.) On the other hand, the increase of children attending school, above 13 years of age, who were kept at work during the full period was alwaest nothing. He would now call attention to the opinions expressed by the Committee of Operative Spinners—a body which had been opposed to the introduction of the law which limited children to half time, because it pressed heavily upon them. He would be glad to give them the opinion of those who had been opposed to the half time system. For every year their condition was much improving, but particularly since 1844. Now, mark this—for several years the labour of these children had de creased to some extent, and during that period a great im provement had taken place in their moral and physical condition ; to such an extent, indeed, that he did not despair but before long they would occupy positions fit for human beings.—( Hear, hear.) The hand doom weavers now declare that so great is the benefit resulting to them an d their children, by working for a limited period, that before they stsould work longer they would part with their last shilling. Now, he heard this statement with great satisfaction , and he believed he might appeal to the Hon. Gentleman op posite, the Member for Durham (Mr. Bright), as to the vast improvements that would take place by the shortening of the hours of labour.—(Hear,) The great benefit that had been felt by them on getting their holidays, and the renewed energy with which they returned to their labour after such ho'idays, was, he considered another proof of the benefit of shortening the hours of labour. He would say that there was something very cruel in taking children from their parents at a tender age, and exacting from them labour, such as the most grown could hardly support or enderisooss( Hear, hear.) These children are engaged during the whole period of twelve hours out of the twenty-four, a period during which adults in vigorous health carry on their labour. Well, now observe what an effect this produces on the community. That it is a mattes' of vital importance to the peace and welfare of this country that women should be brought up wiih some know ledge of domestic .ftrrangernents, so as to enable them to dis charge their duties, has ever been an admitted (set. Yet, bow was it possible that they Could learn those duties when they returned home in a state of exhaustion? How was it possible, he would ask them, that they could learn any of the necessary details in which consist the comfort s of the working man's home ? It is another admitted fact by lawyers, commis sioners, and statesmen, that on the condition of the women in the manufacturing towns depends the social welfare and IMO nest of the men. A friend of his residing in the neighbour hood of several large factories, and who erected two night schools for the purposes of giving some instruction in residing, writing, and needle-work, informed him that the anxiety evinced by these poor people to receive instruction was very great. These schools were opened twice a-week, and on the first night of their opening forty young men and thirty-eight young women entered immediately. So great was the fatigue under gone during the day that although they okerved an earnest desire to receive instruction their physicalowers would not endure it. Four or five used to be found asleep at a time, and at length, after the space of a few months, the classes were deserted by all but five. They were stoked the cause of this desertion, and they answered that they could not spend their evenings at school as they had to be up at five o'clock in the morning, and that owing to their short rest at night they found it Almost impossible to keep awake, Thus the school that was opened for their benefit was compelled to he shut up, although they were eager to attend it. There wag s in another country, an establishment where a different state of things existed—where twelve hours of labour was considered to be sufficient for health and moral improvement. The law he referred to was a law at Lowell, in the United States. He would begin by assuming that the hours of labour in both countries were the same, that was to say twelve hours a day. Dr. Bartlett, who wrote a book called " The Institutions of Lowell," said that a statute existed, by which no person under fifteen years of age was allowed to work more than nine months out of the year.—(Hear, hear.) The other three months were to be passed at school. That law was enforced with unflinching strictness, so that in time of scarcity no infraction of it is ever heard of or allowed. He (Dr .Bartlett) had stated that he never knew an instance of any person under fifteen years of age working more than nine months out of the year. What was the case in the English factories? Why children who had at tained the age of 13 years were admitted to twelve hours' work for the whole year. They do not begin at such an early age as they do in England. Out of 2,000 gtrls employed at Lowell, who had been indiscriminately examined, the average age was twenty-three years. In one mill, of 657 girls employed in it, the average age was 22. 1 2 years. The average time these had been employed was 34 years, making them about nineteen years of age when they entered the factory. Thus, while nineteen years of age was the average age of girls entering factories in Lowell to work twelve hours a day, in England the age was thirteen at which children were called on to work twelve hours a day.—( Hear.) In another mill in Lowell the average age of the girls employed was twenty-three years, and they had been engaged in the factory for four years, making the age of entry, as in the other case, nineteen years. The peculiar characteristics of Lowell had been shown in an authentic work, lately published in America, by the Hon. Henry A. Miles. who had written the work at the solicitation of the proprietors of Lowell, who had furnished the writer every statistical information. The writer in the work in question pointed out the great distinction between the people of Lowell and the factory operatives of this country. Mr. Miles says— " There is no permanent factory population. This is the wide gulph which separates the English manufacturing towns from Lowell. In the latter place only, a few of the oper a ti ves h ave their home; the great proportion came from distant parts of the country, the girls being principally the daughters of far-. mere." Mr. Miles further states, that, on an average, the gi r l s do not work more th an four and a half years at the factory ; they return home, and their places are taken by new corners. Look at the operatives in this country; they spend their whole lives in the factories ; but in Lowell the average was only r oar s and- a-half years, after which they gave up a factory occupation. The labourers resident in this country were all their lives de voted to this business, and constituted a permanent caste. Their labour was continued from year to year, and how was it, he asks. that. the English visitor found it so difficult to under stand the difference between the manufacturing population of Ames ica and their own. How is it that there is such a differ• ence between the population of Lowell and that of Leeds or Manchester. Why, indeed, should there be—why, indeed? Yet there is. Because the class of females in Lowell are of a very different order to those of the same class in Manchester. Now, he would look at the statistical return of the female operatives in Lowell, and see what a differeree there was between the places he had named, Out of the 6.320 female operatives of the former place he found that no less than 350 of them had been teachers in public schools, and in addition to that there was also the fact that the women of that place were only accus tomed to factory labour about four and a half years of their lives, and that a great portion of them were married women In the town of Lowell. Yet he tound that there was the same predominance of female labour in Lowell that there was in either of the two manufacturing towns in England which he had natted, arid after that fact was stated he thought that some other cause must be looked for than the cern-laws for the misery and wretchedness which harrassed the manufacturing population. The total popu lation of 'Lowell was 300 00, and of the whole the manufac turing population was 10,000, and of those 10,000 2,915 were men, while there were 6,320 women. It should be remem bered that, in America, there is nothing like commercial re striction. Trade is completely free and unfettered. There is nothing to prevent the master from doing whatever seems to him right, and yet we have the same complaint in Lowell that there is Manchester—the same complaint of excesoit labour, premature decay, sinking health, and early graves He would next quote from a public document which had been presented to the House of Representatives of the State of Massachusetts in 1845, and see what course was taken there. It was a petition, signed by 0,131 persons, and it complained of the excessive duration of labour ; and it should be remem bered, that the parties who signed that petition were in the prime of life, who only began their work at nineteen years of age, and continued their labour for an average period of four and a half years, at the rate of ten hours a day. The peti tioners went on to say that they were confined from thirteen to fourteen hours per day in unhealthy apartments, and were thereby hastening, through pais, disease, and pri v a tion, dow n to a premature grave. If t here was an y truth—if there was any force in that statement —how much more must be the statement of the English operatives, who commenced their toil at e i g ht y ears of age, in close and unhealthy town s, continued their labour to the latest hour that their physical energies could support them. ( Hear, hear.) What opinion, he would a sk, did the Special Committee, to whose consideration that petition was referred, come to? They said, we think that many irnproYelnents ntay be made in various ways, and we are of opinion it would be far better if the hours of labour were less, if more time was allowed for meals, and if more attention was paid to ventilation and pure air." The Committee proceeded to comment with very great severity, and in marry eases unfairness, on the stateof English factories and the peopte engages' ha them, and stated that they acknowledged the claims of the petitioners, 14 that 1904 was not v4th them. They farther ventured to Pi? tertain a hope that the hours of labour would be materially de creased, and they stated that they looked for such alteration in the progressive improvement in arts and sciences—in a higher appreciation of man's final destiny—in a less love for money, and in a more ardent love for intellectual attainment.— ( Hear, hear.) Such was the report of the Special Commit tee. That Committee had passed an opinion, which he (the Noble Lord) considered was applicable in almost every respect to 'the case he had brought before the House. It would, he maintained, be well for all parties if this long-agitated question could be finally settled in a satisfactory manner.—( Hear, hear.) If the House would not give the operative manufacturers all they wanted, he hoped it would accede a portion at least, and let the success or failure deter mine whether the remainder should be conceded.—( Hear, hear.) Nothing could be easier than to repeal a law, if the ef fects were found to be prejudicial. If the law was not bene ficial, the operatives would be the first to exclaim against it, and agitate its repeal. Without some such management as that which he had proposed, he was quite sure that the entire mass of the manufacturing classes would never desist from their ef forts. He assured the House the manufacturing operatives of England only gathered strength from each di , appointment. He never knew them more unshaken in their determination, or more courageous than at the present time, when they were ask ing the House to concede to their just and their reasonable de mand. They were fortified in their res , 4ve by the cotempora neous efforts of other classes, who, by perseverance and unity of purpose, had always been successful in obtaining the conces sion of equitable demands. They were also en,ouraged by the fact that wherever they presented their claims to the notice of the House, they had been treated with kindnesa, and listened to with considerable attention. He forebore from bringing before the House a quantity of evidence contained in speeches and reports, all tending to prove the hardships and phy sical privations which the operative portion of the community endured. He was aware that, in consequence of the non-pro duction of such eviden .e, he laboured under considerable disad vantage, but he was actuated in the course he had pursued, from a desire not to trespass too long on the attention of the House. He had also omitted various statements, tending to show that there would be no abatement of wages in conse quence of the diminished hours of labour, but that if there should be, it would be more than compensated for by a system of judicious economy. He did think that certain hours should be set apart for the education of the children. It was not only necessary that they should give time to the children to learn, but that they should give them time to study what they had learned. They give, by their present system of educa tion, a certain amount of teaching to children under thirteen years of age, but fern des, who constitute so large a portion of :-he manufacturing population, and who were s o i m p ortan t a portion constant a 'f bstrae . society, were in a great mea s u re un s exe d b y t h e i r ion from domestic duties, which they alone are best able and best fiti,7l b 5 nature to discharge.--( Hear.) Sir, we did not stir up the feelings of the people as we might have done, on this meaiure.—( Hear, hear.) They did no such thing ; and he would say, to the honour of the working classes, that they never indulged in Vindictive expressions against any measures of that House.—( Hear, hear.) It will be a fatal night when you shall throw out thi Bill, for you will thereby shut out all hope of improvement, either social or moral, from a vast body of people. He did ask of them, though he should never again raise his voice in that House, that they would be careful, lest in throwing out that Bill, they might not widen that breach, which was already a deep and }awning gulf, which already separated the rich from the p ior. The differences in the different grades of society —he would rather say classes—was very broady laid down, The numberless luxuries of mind and sense were enjoyed pro. portionally by almost all classes, while the poor and over-toiled operatives were the only ones excluded from the common en joyment. The contrast is seen and felt, and is resented. The repetition of these things would be useless. He had before subjected them to their notice, and though he had but little hope of succeeding, from the influence which would be exerted against himyte would never desist from raising his voice for the protection of the overtoiled operatives. For the last two or three years he had accumulated such an amount of odium, that he feared there was such a feeling against him, as left him little hope for a successful termination of his endeavours in the present session. He, however, trusted to the judgment of the House to give the subject their most careful consideration. Should he be defeated now, he would however go on, never abating one inch till he gained that happy result, which he felt so important a question demanded from the Legislature. Should this country wish to keep up her power, the cause of the poorer classes should not be neglected. . . The SPEAKER having put the question—That leave be given to bring in the Bill ? Sir JAMES GRAHAM said, he would inform the Noble Lord that, on the part of the Government, he was not about to offer any opposition for leave to bring in the present Bill. The Noble Lord bad on this occasion discharged his duties most ably and impartially. He (Sir James Graham) was, however, of opinion that the Act of 1844 had gone far towards settling the many difficulties between the employers and the employed. The Noble Lord had stated many instances of manufacturers who had made experiments on the short hour system, and the results which he read to the House were favour able. Since the year 1833, some of the children had their work limited to six hours, and the labour of females was in some cases limited to twelve hours, Any person from thirteen to eighteen years of age was restricted from working more than twelve hours at any time. The result of their legislation had been, that the manufactures of cotton, wool, silk, and flax had been affected by it, and that no man would be allowed to work in any mill for more than 12 hours. He must say that the limitation of labour was a very dangerous experiment in a country, which depended a good deal on its manufactures. The Noble Lord had adverted to the state of the law in other countries. He (Sir J. Graham) was sure that the Noble Lord knew that it mattered little what the state of the law was in other countries. And what was the state of the Statute-book at Lowell ?—as, before any reliance could be placed On the ex ample set of a foreign country, it was necessary to understand the circumstances under which that example was set. It was not enough to see the law, but the circumstances under which it was framed. The Noble Lord had brought on this question eight or nine t Ines before, but had never moved it under the Present form, The Noble Lord, as he had said, represented a great portion of the manufacturing community, and had ad verted to the magnitude of the question as affecting their inte rests. He ( Sir J. Graham) did think that, while it was the duty of the litinsp to consider the hopes and expectations of the working classes wish reference to this question, it was also their duty to consider the real interests and welfare of those classes whose interests and whose welfare mould be so deeply affected by this measure. With reference to the general in dustry of the country this question was of paramount import ance ; but as his Right Hon. Friend ( sir R. Reel) had made a statement to the House of the intention of the Government to remove restrictions on several articles that entered largely into the consumption of all classes, he thought it would be expedient to postpone the decision pf the House, as the question introduced by the Noble Lord till the tense of the House woe taken en the proposition brought forward by his Right Hon. Friend respecting the supplying of corn, and the law which regulates it. Respecting the particu lar question under discussion, he twaatt w was howeveriss Impolitic bound f t u o r i t n h f e o r r t m o the House, that nothing he had heard on the subject could ni ( o n 1 h 4 factory labour. Cert a i n ly no argument had used in introducing hi s proposi tion, could s pporrthe Bill ; still con s id er i ng th e withutchee hi m re gulation eL o o r importancec i interferea ge h thei n Nob unalterab le l i of the measures proposed by his Right Hon. Friend Sir R. Peel, while he ( Sir J. Graha m) t hought the opinion of the House should be p ost p oned, he had n o objection under pre sent to c i n m c e s tranneede, pdi 14in a nd considering the g reat an d grow i ng in terests ,11 order that the Bill might b e f u ll y ea - r e c o u amined, to allow the motion of the Noble Lord. On these grounds he consented to the introduction of the Bill, Sir GEORGE STRICKLAND cordially supported the Noble Lord. He recollected sixteen years ago, when the venerable Member of the West Riding of Yorkshire introduced the question. that it was then predicted great injury would ensue tob by see an l yi e u glti r a rer o e n neewith factory labour. He h a d h owever li ve d tried on the question, the hours of labour of children seduced from 15 or 10 hours a day, to 8 hours, and afterwards to 6 hours, and yet the ruin predisted harlot occurred. He thought the measures which had been adopted had been of essential service to the country, and he thought that if another step were taken in legislation, that a great benefit would be ob tamed for the community. The Right Hon. Baronet seemed to think that this was the wrong time to take this step. He must beg to say that he took a different view of the matter, for they were going to accomplish another great measure, and this was, therefore, one of the most convenient seasons of all. They were going to repeal the corn-laws. He had always been an advocate for the repeal of the corn-laws, because he believed that that repeal would conduce largely to the prosperity of com merce and manufactures. if it did do so, it would contribute also to the demand for labour; labour would be required, and for that very reason this was precisely the opportunity for legislating on this great subject. But perhaps the Noble Lord would be content at the present time to take a modification of his measure, and if he could not obtain a ten hours' Bill, he would be satisfied with eleven hours. There never was a time when there was a better understanding between the manufac turers, and the men than at the present moment, and he thought the operatives would be ready to meet the masters in a com promise on the point of time. He could not sit down without expressing his admiration of the conduct of some of the leading manufacturers. He knew some who had tried this great ex periment of a reduction of the hours of labour, and they had found that it was invariably attended with advantage. Mr. TRF.LAWNEY rose and said, the Noble Lord ought to be she last person in society to attack the rights of property. He ( Mr. Trelawnev ) thought that wages would come down if the hours of labour were diminished, and that the Noble Lord ( Ashley) was more likely to do harm than good by his pla n . He would not then make any other observation. Lord ,ft, TIN MANNERS said he heard with the g reatest pleasure ttit no obstruction wo u ld b e g i ven to the measure of his Noble Friend (Lord Ashley), although the corn-laws were to be repealed. He thought the arguments of the Noble Lord were good, and that various and sufficient proofs were given. lie would be curious to know how her Majesty's Ministers would oppose the measure of his Noble Friend (Lord Ashley) after they had carried the repeal of the corn-laws. He was c or the v operatives so much as the m easure now p ro p osed b y his incest that they could do nothing to conci l iate t he feelings Noble Friend.—(Hear , hear.) In conclusion, he would sa y , that he would give the most determined suppor t to the Bill of his Noble Friend. Mr. HUME observed that he had always been accustomed to believe that the time and labour of the artisan was his capita!, and that any interference to stop or prevent him from exercising it as he pleased would be a great hardship and piece of tranny. Now, about twenty-three years ago, no three men could meet to talk over their affairs, or say they were hard worked, or seek for an additional shilling, with out being liable to be indicted for a conspiracy. He had known instances where men were transported for going, in a quiet and peaceable way, and demanding an increase of wages. Well. Parliament swept away all these laws, and it was made lawful for every labourer to meet with any number to talk over their station, and to arrange how many hours they should please to work. He happened to be at Macclesfield when the Bill for repealing the short time came into operation, and he remembered that the greatest misery prevailed there from a turn-out for an increase of wages. He wished that his Noble Friend would withdraw his Bill, ter if this principle were car ried out it would actually, instead of doing good, bring great misery upon the class whom the Noble Lord sought to relieve. He knew petitions had been presented, and that petitions had been signed ; but when the proper time had arrived for discussing this case, ho was perfectly convinced that all the arguments adduced by the Noble Lord would be answered to the conviction of every Member. There was one part of the Noble Lord's speech with which he was quite pre pared to go, and that was the erection of schools, to which the children would be compelled to go in order that tt ey might acquire those principles which might be of use to them in after life—those principles which w mid preserve them from crime. The measure would, in his opinion, be an unjust inter ference with the rights of capital and property. He regretted the condition of the working classes, but he was of opinion that the measure would deteriorate instead of im prove their condition. Besides, its adoption would materially injure the manufactures. But the Noble Lord should bear in thiod that the agricultural classes were in a more wretched condition than any qthey portion of the community ; and if the condition of these people was se lamentable, they show!:! adopt a ttieastjre which would benefit all alike. The cry, •' Let industry be free," was now beard throughout the country ; but the Noble Lord wanted to shackle industry, and to prevent the employer and employed to make their own terms as to the number of hours he aliqeld work, and the wages he should =vim But coercion —and the measure was, In his opi nion, a coercive one—would prevent the manufacturers from taking steps to alleviate the condition of the persons in their employ ; for which purpose the combinatiOn laws were swept ;wa y, gig time §rqupds he opposed the introduction Ole Bill. Mr. ESCOTT said, as there would be a discussion on the second reading of the Bill, he should take that opportunity of expressing his opinions at length respecting it; but he wished to call the attention of the House to one remark of the Noble Lord, the Member for Dorsetshire. The Noble . Lord Yad stated, in reference to a former decision of the House, tba• it was n it a decision of the House of Commons, but a deci l / 4 iiiii of her Majesty's Ministers. This appeared to him a new doctrine in that House. When the House of Commons, after a long debate, rejected the measure on division, and because it was unpalatable, to turn round and say it was not a decision of the House, but of her Majesty's Ministers, was most improper. He had voted against him, and should continue to do do so, and repeated tha that was not the way to treat the House of Commons. Theret were persons in the country interested in this question who did not say it was rejected by her Majesty's Ministers, but that the Noble Lord gave up the measure.—(Hear. 1 Now one word upon the principle of the Noble Lord's measure. He said it was necessary to have some laws to regulate the terms be tween the employers and the employed. If that was the ease, why did not the Noble Lord introduce such a measure? — (Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord quotes from the blue book in support of his principles, but he never quoted that authority fully. There would be found in that book many cases which would tell against the principles and arguments of the Noble Lord. He would never agree that such a measure should become a law. Such a measure as the one proposed by his Noble Friend, would have the effecs of interfering with the interests of the able xorkman. He was of opinion that there had been much injury done to the able-bodied labourers by the mistaken philanthropy of the Noble Lord. Mr. COLQUHOUN thought it was most unfair towards his his Noble Friend to say that he had not quoted the blue book fully. If he were to do so, the House would be treated to something like the American speeches, where the speaker at times occupies the floor for a week.—( Laughter.) Now, his Noble Friend had maintained those principles for years ; he never arrived at a conclusion without having first weighed the cause which led him to it. Now, because these were the prin ciples which the Hon. Member for Montrose ( Mr. Hume) held in 1833, he still continued to assert that the opinions were de lusions, which would very soon be dispelled; why, what would the Hon. Member say to any one who held such opinions with respect to trade? He would have looked upon them as too ridiculous, and a motion to that effect the Hon. Member would have laughed out of the house.—( Hear. ) What was the case ? they, as practical men of business, were, after thirteen years of experience, come to the consideration of a practical subject. In 1833 he had voted with the Hon. Member for Montrose against his Noble Frier d. During the pe riod which had elapsed since their manufactures and commerce had received a great impulse, and in the course of that time it was a matter of notoriety that, where there had been a re duction in the hours of labour, wages had not been diminished, but they had in many instances been increased. When he saw, then, that not only was there no injury done to either commerce or manufactures, he felt bound to act with the utmost cordiality with his Hon. Friend ; and when especially he saw that in this case the impulse of policy and the claims of humanity coincided, he saw no reason for resisting the motion of the Noble Lord. Look to Ireland—why was it there were no manufactures of importance in Ireland, but because the population were in such a state of moral depravation, and if they were to have England in the same state of social disorder, where, he would ask, would be their manufactures a few years hence; and for these reasons he would ask, them to vote for the resolution. Mr, ROEBUCK said that he had voted for the previous Bills because the objects of those Bills were unable to d e f e nd themselves, but such was not the case with those for whom the Noble Lord was interested ; they were in an altogether diffe rent po‘ition, for they were able to defend themselves. He would put the question in every possible light, that the price of labour depends entirely upon the demand for the supply of labour, and no Legislative interference will raise the supply of labour. The taking away of Legislative restrictions did, in• deed, raise the price of labour.--(Hear, hear.) We have seen within the last few years a great increase in the demand for labour ; at present, comparatively, there was no labourer unem ployed. In proportion as the demand from the outside increased the manufacturer was enabled to build manufactories, to erect machines, and to furnish work for the labourer. The only way of benefiting the labourer Is to give full, free, and complete development to the resources of labour. No Legislative attempt at regulating labour will ever succeed ; but let it be left to itself and it will prosper. He was not inclined to place any confi dence in the statements of person; about improving the condi tion of the labourer by the power of Parliament. Any inter ference with labour was unnecessary. Leave it alone, and it will find its own level. A great deal bad been said about humanity, of shortening the working hours of the labourer. The regu? lation for humanity would be easily gained. In fact, there was no sort of regulation that would be more easily obtained than that of humanity It was obtained without any personal sacrifices, and without the exertion of any one of the pardinal virtues.—( Laughter.) He would undertake to gain a reputa tion similar to that which the Noble Lord had obtained in a very short time. This legislative sort of humanity was a farce —a mere pretence. —( Hear.) When, however, it came to touch their pockets, people were not willing to come forward and plead the cause of labour. To pretend to be the labourees friend, under the pretence of a few printed words, was hypocri, tical as well as useless. _ _ Mr. WODE HOUSE would support the Bill, on the grounds that some regulation as regarded the hours cif labour in the ma nufacturing districts was necessary, Mr. P. HOWARD thought that a further legi'lative inters ference at prelent with the hours of labour, would not be Os tended with any benefit to the class whose ewe the Noble Lord had advoeated. If the Ten Hours' Bill were to be put in force at all, he thought it would be better to be put in force by the manufacturers themselves, and not by an Apt of the le gislature. In agriculture it would be iliffiMilt, and in harvest time impossible to limit the hours of labour i and reasoning by parity op manufacturing affairs, where any revertant hu s i ner is pressed far immediate execution, to shorten the time of labour would be attended with great inconvenience. He should pros test against the Bill being carried a further stage. Mr, JOHN O'CONNELL, who was nearly inaudible in the gallery, was understood to say ha should supp ,rt the Bill. Mr. BRIGHT said, that in the course of the observations which have fallen from the Noble Lord, he had (Tooted from a report, and complained that the report had stated the condition of the manufacturing population with great unfairness. Now, if the. Committee who had drawn up that report . had compiled their information from the speeches which the Noble Lord had made on several occasions, he would with reason have had some grounds to complain of the unfairness of the stateniects contained to the report, as respected the labouring population of the country, There was no doubt that all were desirous that the labouring population should, if possible, work less than they do at present, and that they should possess in abundance the comforts of life, but he thought that leg:station would altos gether fail in bringing about the state of affairs that was de- I sired, by any measure of a similar nature to that lopfees th e 1-1 0 4 p, fie had listened attentively ' 0 th e N O bi e L or d , b ut be had not learned fiom him, that when Mr. Gardner had reduced the hours of his workmen, that any material ben fit had re. suited, Air. Gardner bad partially succeeded in the experi. merit, by diminishing the tirae allowed for breakfast, dinner, and tea, chick, added to an increased exertion on the part of his workpeople, had enabled him to make up nearly the usual time of labour, and produce as much manufactured goods as before the experiment was tried, Air Gardner had said that h e would still further decrease the hours of laboer, but he, (Mr. Bright) found that he had not made any further reduc tion in the time of his workpeople, and that his manager had stated that a further reduction was not advisable. Now, the Noble Lord does not know so much of th working of the ma nufactories as he ought to know, in meddling with questions of that nature. The Noble Lord had once called upon the firm to which he (Mr. Bright) belonged, and although requested to go over the factory and inspect it, ho had refused. He was rather too much disposed to listen to one side of the question, and to get information about the condition o f th e manu f actur . ing population more from hearsay than from ac t ua l i nspect i on . Respecting the demoralisation of the f ac t ory popu l at i on ta l ked of, he had seen a statement published by Mr. Clay, the ohaplin of the Preston House of Correction. And what did he say ? Why, that the femaleifactory operatives were chargeable with the smallest number of offences. There were 20 classes of offenders, beginning with No. 1, which class was the highest for offences, and going up b No. 20, which was the smallest, and the last class was the female operatives. No. 19 was the domestic ser'ants, and the male operatives was class 14. This was a proof that the demoralisation and degradation spoken of did not exist. He might say that, generally, in the factory districts, the evils hitherto complained of were diminishing at a rapid rate, and that a better feeling between employer and employed was springing up everywhere. A general disposition was evinced on both sides to improve the condition of those en. gaged in mills and factories The reason continually brought forward in support of a Ten Hours Bill was, that it would limit to some extent the competition going on between manual and mechanical power. He could say, as far as Rochdale was concerned, that the principal parties he had heard speak in its favour were some hand.loom weavers in the woollen trade, who said it was a proper object. to interfere with the working of the power-loom, in order to effect an improvement in their con dition, and that of hand-loom weavers generally. He, how ever, would say, in reply to such a reason, that nothing could be more disastrous to all parties concerned than any such at tempt to interfere with machinery for the advantage of any particular class.—( Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member for Bir mingham had alluded to the women working in factories while the men were walking about, having nothing to do. To that he would say, there was no place in England where adult la bour was in more demand than in Lancashire. The employ ment of women gave addilonal employment to the men, and none could deny that the labourers in that part of the country had a regularly increasing market for their services, and were in steadier demand than elsewhere.—( Hear, hear.) He re gretted opposing the present Bill, as he knew many . of the working classes were in favour of it, though not a majority; but he did so, considering' it was not fur their interest that it. should be passed. lie looked up .m the measure proposed by the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of the Government as a far greater boon to the factory operatives than any Bill like that submitted by the Noble Lord. That measure, with such alterations in it as he ho se d wou ld b e made before it passed, once in operation, buthe bhyorpaetdintnhaalt andthe feeling in favour of short hours of labour would spread and througho u t th e n a become extensive in the country: and that then the working enlightened in at lnoatstsnes, Least notsat a wt unbnney woollen cuel eleven v m , e districts.b n i hours n woulda before n e, tsystem or r ue und e violence, many r 3ears, brin g i n t o opera - , universally present circumstances, however, he must oppose the measure of the Noble Lord— ( Hear, hear. ) Alr hIELDEN supported the Bill of the Noble Lord. His experience of the factory system w u a d s h a i t s least as great as that of , vi o c great benefit not only to rtioenisewahse, h t a n d e n i o f passed, it would prove o f hear.)the working —( Hear, classes, but to the employers.He could not Bight e of the objection of the Hon. Baronet, ( Sir see the fore arnes Graham,) which had been echoed back by the Hon. Member for Durham, that if the system as far as it had been the Hon. Member for Durham, a Hon. Member for Durham knew . that it was not in the hands but in that of their employers. The tried, had worked well, why was it not generally adopted. The of the factory workers, . former were not free agents in the the Bill doubt they would have done it. It B w u as t said was not labour would inter fere with the rights of property.. . . . our property ? entitled to protection as much mat e t o e n r, And was not that property as ac cumulated( ear, hear.) But in doing so should take care that the labourer was not inj ure d, that his in terest was not destroyed. Those willing to labour should have bosh the means and the power to labour, but if they overworked them their capacity and power was destroyed., Und er t h e pre sent system children of 13 years of age were and obli:agged o ut of their beds at five o'clock in the morning , au iged t o go to the factory, a distance perhaps of two o r three f l ot •es, where they were kept at labour till eight o'clock at night Was that system of slavery to continue? Those who objected to interfere with it, used the old haeknied argument employed against the abolition of the slave-trade ; but it was too late for them to get the public with them. In spite of all opposi tion he was satisfied that ere long a Ten Hours' Bill would be passed. In proof of the growine feeling At i r .avour of it, he lately attended a meeting in Oldham, at the request of his constituents, at which resolutions in favour of a Ten Hours' Bill was passed ; and at that meeting two extensive cotton spinners were present. These two gentlemen were previously against the measure, but on the illielrt `lPatiitin ora. o f di e m took the chair, and the other spoke In favour of the object of the meeting. If the House would pass' Ten Hours' Bill, the question would be settled, and the agitation cease, but net till then, —(Hear, hear. ) ' 1 Mr. WAKLEY H o nourable and asked the Learned Mem ber for Bath if, after the speech of the Ho b. Member who had just sat dune, his opinions remains , d unchanged. That Hon. and Learner!Geotletmen had ebtaineti his opietong in his study, frombooks and documents issued by that House; !Ago the lien, gemher for QI4 I I I am who had spoken, was TM E: SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANTJAWI 30, 1846. one of the most experienced, intelligent, and humane men, and one who had ever proved himself the friend of the poor.— ( Hear, hear.) He was a practical man, and not one that would run through granite after principle.—( Laughter.) He (Mr. Wakley) would ask the Hoc. and Learned Member, if infants were to be slaughtered?—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Wakley) had heard with much pleasure the address of the Hon. Member for Oldham, and coming from him it ought to have great weight. The Hon. Member employed thousands of Persons, and worked up a 100th part of the cotton imported into ihir country—(Hear ) —and he was not afraid of any evil re sulting from a Ten Hours' Bill. He (Mr. Wakley) would call the attention of the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir J. Graham) to the statement of that Hon. Member, and ask him to say if he still retained his " unalterable opinion." It was rather rash, after what bad passed the last few days, for men to talk of un alterable opiuiuns, seeing the great change the Government had manifested in their former faith. He gave them full credit for the change of opinion, but he had no sympathy with those who denounced such a change on other questions.—(Hear, hear.) He hoped that the Right Hon. Baronet would reconsider the question. He was sorry to hear him say he would oppose the Bill. It was said the working classes could protect themselves, and he thought so too, provided they were represented in the House, for he was persuaded if they were duly represented there, that a session would not pass before a Ten Hours' Bill was passed. All that the Nobl e L or d asked was protection for infants, who could not protect themselves, and if that was not the object of legislation he did not know what was. Wealth and intelligence could protect themselves. The Hon. Member for Montrose (Mr. Flume) admitted that he would extend education to the mind ; and now all that was asked was to carry the powers a little further—to carry out physical education. ( se i t In conclusion, he hoped the Noble Lord, when he i ntro d uced his Bill, would adduce facts and arguments that could not b e right wouldMr. t o g i t v w e s doubted, and he also wished that the Right Hon. B aronet give a his heart good t o listen to the speech of the Hon. Member for Finsbury. His candid E support GA consideration T E t ns n thedit Nobleh a t do thedone onrn de . question, H r and eabear. principle was better than the principle of the Noble and Learned Member for Bath, or the Hon. Member for Durham. He hoped also the Right Hon. Baronet would fully consider the questi n, and would weigh it over, as he was about to throw the labourers of this country open to the competition of the world. The f.ictory operations ought to be protected, and in this opinion he had the experience of the Hon. Member for ' Rochdale, and the medical knowledge of the Hon. Member for Finsbury- Mr. S. CRA WFORD expressed himself in favour of the measure. He had taken some pains to ascertain the opinions of the opera ives of Rochdale, and they were generally in favour of the Ten Hours' Bill. He had, on former occasions, sup ported the Noble Lord, and he would cordially support him now.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. Ni UNTZ would readily admit tbat the argument was sound that the general labour of the country should be regula ted. As far, however, as regarded the cotton factories, he knew that so long as the manufacturers kept their engines at work, so long would they keep their work-people at labour. In the cotton districts the labour of women and children was pre ferred to that of men. The women were working in the facto ries while the men were walking about with nothing to do. This fact he has heard from several sources, and he considered that such a condition of things was not proper. He should vote for the Noble Lord's motion, because he thought it would be for the benefit of the manufacturing classes. l e ord ASHLEY said he wished to make a few remarks upon what had fallen from the Hon. Member for Durham. The Hon. Member had made a personal charge against him (Lord Ashley), and he felt desirous to offer an explanation. He was sorry to observe the Hon. Member was not in the Hou-e, as he had particularly requested him to remain in. The year before last, he (Lord Ashley) was residing in the county of Lancaster with his friend the Hon. Member for Oldham. Whilst there, he remembered he was within a short distance of Rochdale, wbeie were mills belonging to the Hon. Member for Durham. (He might state that he had then been over many mills in the country, and was thoroughly conversant with the working of them.) Well, he did go from his friend's house at Oldham over to Rochdale, simply and solely that he might call at the country house of the Hon. Member for Durham to see him, or otherwise to leave his name. Why did he do this ? Because in that very House the Hon. Member had attacked him in a manner which he considered altogether unjustifiable ; but as he had afterwards retracted what he had said, he (Lord Ashley) thought that he would be, in colloquial phrase, acting like a gentleman if he called upon him in a friendly manner. The Hon. Member was out, and he (Lord A) saw his brother, who asked him to look over the works. He (Lord A.) said it was pot necessary; but he conversed with his brother for half or three quarters of an hour. It might be asked why he r had not gone over the works, and he would tell the House the reason, Because, if he had done so, it might be said he went there to spy some fault, or to remark upon some little mis management, that he might bring it again against him. He therefore thought the Hon. Member had travelled a little out of the record when he said that he (Lord Ashley) toolt a one sided view of the subject, becaqse, when asked to look over the works, he had refused to do so. He was most anxious to make , this miplanation, and he trusted the House would forgive him for having dune so, Lord JOHN MANNERS moved for leave to bring in a Bill to alter and amend the laws relating to bequests for pious and charitable purposes. He would content himself with ask ing leave to bring in a Bill, unless some Hon. Member had something to say upon the subject. Leave was given to bring in the Bill. Mr. HAMILTON, on the part of Lord Clements, moved for a return of the Police Reward Fund (Ireland), constituted by the Ant 0 and 't Wm. IV., for the year ending 31st Decem ber, 1848; also for a return of the Police Superannuation Fund for the same period, Mr. WODEHOUSE postponed till Monday the notice he had upon the paper respecting highway rates. Mr. F. 'l'. BARING suggested to the Right Hon. Baronet . 1 opposite ( Sir J. Graham) that it would be better if all the items of local taxation were included in one sheet, instead of being scattered over many documents, as they wereat present. Sir J. GRA HA NI said, any one reading the admirable report issued on local taxation would be aware that it was a most diffi cult subject; not less than a sum of 12,000,010/. being arranged i under twenty-two general rates, which are enumerated under 4 the general head of local taxation. 1 Mr. F. FFRENCH wished to know if it were the intention of Government to propose any amendment of the Poor-la'- Ireland. .. of Sir JAMES GRAHAM said that should '• the Poor-law of Ireland, an inquiry to bei nstituted as regard- „. it be necessary for the Government. The Hon. no obstacle would be offered • dial :: 'o .l;e observed that there was a motion to Member may k pe , this effect zy Lq:ri Clancarty, upon the journals of the other House. , Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL could not entertain a hope that the poor-law in Ireland would bear a severe test. Even in the most favourable time, the poor-law in Ireland had not been able to alleviate the pauperism of that country. It was now fated to urdergo a severe test indeed, and though he (Mr. J. O'Connell) entertained, as he had already stated, no hope that it could do so successfully, yet he should be glad to find him self mistaken. It had been truly stated that that country was within three or four weeks of a famine, and the House might perhaps be aware that that famine was generally accompanied by a typhus fever. He might mention that a very powerful pamphlet had been written by Dr. Conaghan, of Dublin, proving this fact. He entered his protest against this being considered a boon to Ireland, or that it was anything which Ireland had to be grateful for to that House. The people of Ireland considered it a small—a very small—instalment of their right. Ireland had been robbed of a hundred times this miser able amount, and this he would be ready at any time to prove. Mr. CRAWFORD said the Irish poor-law admitted of no external relief. Now, if &famine were to take place, it would be impossible to extend relief to all the houses, and he would, therefore, impress upon the Government the propriety of con sidering what means could be taken by which a further de scription of relief might be afforded. '1 he House then went into Committee on the sill. The whole of the clauses having been agreed to, with some alight amendments, the House resumed, when the Chairman reported progress, and the Bill was ordered to be printed as amended. RAILWAYS. Mr. BROTHERTON presented petitions for leave to bring in Bills for making the Direct London and Manchester, the Cashel and Waterford, and several other railways, and petitions against the North Staffordshire, the London, Newbury, and Bath Direct, the York and North Midland Extension, the Direct London and Portsmouth, and other projected railways. IRISH FISHERIES. Sir THOMAS FREMANTLE gave notice that on Mon day he should move for leave to bring in a Bill for the con struction of small ports and harbours for the extension of the fisheries in Ireland. FACTORIES ACT. Mr. COOPER brought up the Factories Act Amendment Act, which was read a first time and ordered to be read a second time on Wednesday next. Mr. B. DENISON presented a petition for leave to bring in a Bill to make the Leicester and Bradford Railway. The remaining orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at half-past ten o'clock till Monday. • SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY —The days of the Merry Monarch afford the most attractive field upon which the historical novelist could venture, and their advantages have not been lost sight of by the author of the highly interesting work just published, under the title of " Sir Roger de Covei ley ; a Tale of the Court of Charles ll."—already favourably known to the reading public by his successful novel " Maids of Honour." When we sav that the hero of this picturesque and effective story fills an - honourable office in thi*ourt of Charles 11., in whose service he is engaged in a series of adventures as singular as they are entertaining, and that he is the associate of such choice spirits as Buck ingham, Rochester, Sedley, Etherege, Dorset, and Killigrow, we shall be giving the reader a tolerably clear intimation of the amusement in store for him. But this constitutes only one feature in the romantic fortunes of " Sir R. •ger de Cover ley"—the narrative of whose adventures forms a picture of the gay and gallant age in which he flourished, the perfect fidelity of which must be as readily acknowledged, as its striking originality. [ADVERTISEMENT.]-AN EXTRAORDINARY RETURN OF HEALTII IN A FEW DAYS EY THE USE OF HOLLOWAY'S PILLS.—The patient having previously been in an ill-state for six years, Mr. Benjamin Hawkins, employed in the ironworks, and well known at the Crown and Cushion, High Bullen, Wed nesbury, Staffordshire, had, to use his own phrase, been a sad afflicted creature, and that no one but God and himself knew what he suffered from aches and pairis in all his joints and shins. likewise from a disordered liver and stomach, with scared) strength sufficient to keep about ! Here again have Holloway s Pills restored to health an individual labouring under the most complicated diseases.—Sold by all Druggists, and at Professor Holloway's Establishment, 244, Strand. [ADVERTISEMENT.] -DEFECTIVE SHIRT AND HEARING RELIEVED. Instruments and Spectacles sent into the country by post, 39, Albemarle-street, Piccadilly, Newly-In ventedso; es,c.Spectacles, p&c.—Patronised atro Power f ul z e d her Grace the Dowager Duchess of Bed for d , t heir Graces the his Telesco pes, Majesty tOperahe King Glasses, of Hanover, i Archbishops of Canterbury, , York and Dublin, the Dukes el Devonshire, Norfolk, Argyle, Marlborough, and Manchester, Bishops of Exeter, Lincoln , Cork , Elphin and Kildare. Messrs. S. and B. Solomons , Ocu l ists and Opticians, have invented Spectacle Lenses upon a new construc tion. Immediately they are placed before jasper !ect vision, either by day nr eandlelight, that mist and dullness which appear before the eyes is at once removed, and every object becomes clear and distinct, so that the most aged defective sight becomes bright and brilliant, and is brought to its youthful, natural, and original state. Also the most Powerful Achromatic Telescopes, Opera Glasses, Microscopes, Invisible and all kinds of Acoustic Instruments for relief of extreme deafness. Caution—Messrs. S. and B. Solornons, Opticians, are not in any way connected with a person of the same name in their immediate neighbourhood, ner in any part of the country. To prevent mistakes be cautious, and observe—Only to tie had at 39, Albemarle -street, Piccadilly, opposite the York Hotel, and 25, South Castle street, Edinburgh. PUBLIC READING OF TIIE PARLIAMENTARY DE BATES.—We understand it is proposed to have, in Liverpool, a pub 4 readhig at the Commercial Hall, Gloucester -street, of all the important debates during the session of Parliament, by competent readers appointed for the purpc4e, by which means the operative classes, at till:411 ehavge, may obtain a knowledge of all tbo l'Arliaineniary proceedings in which they feel'an interest, and thereby be enabled to judge fur themselves. The netien is a good one, and we wish it sue cess,—Liverol Albion, FREE TRADE INVESTMENT ASSOCIATION. Xpublic meeting of the Association, fOr the purpose of having the principles and the advantages .of the society explained, was held, at seven o'clock on Triutisday evening, at the London ►lechanics' Institution, Southampton-buildings, Holborn. Present—Colonel Thompson, George Thompson, Esq.; Richard Potter. Esq. ; Sidney Smith, Esq., and several othei gentlemen. On the motion of Mr. S. SMITH, R. POTTER, Esq., was called to the chair, who, having taken it, said that the best way of introducing the object for which they had met would be by calling on Mr: Sidney Smith to read the prospectus, and to explain the principles and nature of the Association. Mr. &urn, on coming forward, said, as it was a meet ing necessarily fur business, he thought it best to enter upon business at once. There were one or two great social, objects which in a state of society highly ad vanced in civilisation, it became most impotent to introduce and cultivate, as far as it was possible. The first was, that in a dense population habits of frugality ought to be formed, and the means and the opportunity given of turning their savings to - some important account. The second arose out of the condition of modern society, very different as that was from what had existed in ancient times. Civilisation was not now what it had been in great states. The greatest of these consisted of only one or two cities, with a comparatively small population ; and a single town, in some instances, constituted an empire. But they had a large surrounding territory at the same time that the popu lation to occupy and cultivate it was but small. Hence they heard of the distribution of lands which was made to the Roman soldiers, and of the parcels of territory which were possessed by the citizens of Athens. That circumstance affected them beneficially. Their having a part of the real property of the country in their possession created in them an interest in the well-being and the prosperity of the state, and in the protection of the peace and the institutions of the country., Since those days things were greatly altered—in stead of four or five millions, the subjects of as empire were now become 40 or 50 millions, and instead of possessions of land, the vast majority of the subjects were found without those things which it was most necessary and most desirable for them to have. Now the land was monopolised by a small minority, and the mass of the people had no interest, no pro perty, in the soil of the country.—(Great cheering.) It wee the necessary consequence of this, that they had proportion a bly less interest in the country 'e well-being and Prosperity, in protecting her institutions, or in advancing the civilisation and the social happiness of the community, than they would have had under a system more just and equitable, which gave the subject part in the property to be protected and improved. Let them take, fur instance, France. They found there, previous to the first revolution, the land mo nopolised by a very few—the nobles in uncontrolled Posses sion of the whole—the people without any interest in the institutions of the country, and with nothing to protect— and they found that the revolution which followed was ore of the bloodiest which ever desolated any country, Th e cause of the character of that revolution was ,dr.,coVered to be that the people had no property hi stake. The first thing they did was to abolish the ,aws of primogeniture and entail.—(Cheers.) What had been the effect of that? In the course of forty years the land in France, from being possessed by three hundred thousand, passed into the hands of from five to six millions; there was hardly a father of a family there without a property in acres. The second revolution showed the effect of those altered circumstances on the popular mind. Property was then respected, human life was sacred, not a drop of blood was spilt, the ledges never stopped from giving their awards, no effect was produced on the country except the change in the dynasty, by which the whole was conducted.— (Cheers.) This exhibits to demonstration the advantages issuing from the people having a property in the soil. England is behuld France.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") John Bell had a very bad custom of despising " Johnnie Macraw"—(Laughter)—as he called the Frenchman, but he had to learn from him a sound lesson. Out of thirty-four millions of inhabitants, there were six millions of proprietors, who tilled the laud with their own hands, and ate the breach of industry; and who, while they were coecerneci in 'providing for the comfort of their fami lies, felt themsetves bound up with the best inte rests :of society at large. The contrast which Britain presented to what was broad and striking. There were 216,000 inhabitants to the. square mile, and in some cases one proprietor Owned the whole county.—(Hear, hear.) Indeed fortyanae fiftieths of the people were without pro perty in the soil, and therefore without interest in the pro tection of the country. Yet, this being the case, such %Ta g the law, as that had been effected by the Reform Bill even, that there oottki be influence possessed over the representation, or the education. hr the legislation of the ()wary, but by the Pess'.'lsion of so many bricks.— (Shame.) By the men Which the Association proposed use, they holes to make a great increase in the eke teral votes., buch an increase it\ the borough and eljunty votes as would sweep altogether the aris t :bcracy from the face of the country.—(Hear. bear.) They , could not promise to the publie the abolition of the laws of promo geniture or entail ' but the Association oars results perhaps equally good, and by means which he would proceed to ex plain. He said, some might be astonished, when first they meddled with property, to hear that a house might be got at a fifteen years' purchase ; and others might say that that would be no great advan tage, unless a tenant could be insured; for if the purchase were of land they could turn up the soil and make something of it in the absence of a tenant. The way to in sure a tenancy was for every one to become his own tenant, besides the disadvantage escaped of paying an exorbitant rent to another landlord. Why, a man went on paying at the rate of 201. a year, which would amount to 2001. a year, and after that time he mug' on still paying the same amount of' rero (Hear,go hear)—whereas he meant to propose a P'' the man might pay the 2001. —ueme by wh i ch house would become his own. at once, and the sum borrowed in any ays- ...saving him to pay back the the rent he wee ~ which would be as easy as paying confessed wont to give to the landlord. He the was sceptical of the trustworthiness of ~istem which proposed this, when it was first mentioned to him, bat, after subjecting the whole to the most vigorous test of arithmetic, and having had the testimony of others in favour of it, who with experience joined acumen, he was satisfied that it was a workabl e scheme, which might be safely commended to the public. After some further remarks, Mr. Smith said there had been delivered that day in the Common Pleas a very re markable judgment intimately affecting the course of the League.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") It bore upon the Splitting Act, an Act under which it was contended that the splitting of property into 4es. freeholds, in order to give a vote, was il.egal. There was some fear that the League might after all be out-generalled.iln delivering his judgment, Chief Justice Tindal declared that the course pursued by the League was perfectly legal—(Great cheering)—that he con ceived that course in accordance with the Reform Bill, which intended that the franchise should be extended as far as possible to the people, and that he could not conceive anything more commendable than the purchase of property in order to have a voice in the affairs of the country.—(Cheers.) Mr. Smith said that the calculation on which the Association was founded was, that by the end of ten, or say at the outide twelve years, every person paying 10s. per month would realise 1201.—( Hear, hear.) Many, might be able to do so out of the odd sixpences which they spent no one knew how. The inducement offered by the Association to lenders, as those might be called, was beyond that held out by savings' banks, which only gave 3 1-3 per cent., they gave five per cent. As to borrowers, he said one ad vantage offered was, that the sum might be paid back by small iestalments. If a man wished to borrow 601., he might take a share for 60/. ; he would, in that case, pay ten shillings a month towards liqui dating the principal, and four shillings additional for interest. After mentioning these particulars, Mr. Smith proceeded to speak on the advantages which were thus offered, and espe cially to those ,who wished to benefit their country by the riddance of great evils. He then resumed his seat amid great cheering. _ _ The - CHAIRMAN begged just to say, before calling on Mr., Thompson, that in societies analogous to the Free-trade Investment Association, such as friendly societies, Odd Fellows' clubs, &c., there was great uncertainty whether their affairs were in trustworthy hands—a difficulty which was very unlikely to impede any from joining that Association, where the leading men were so well known to the country. He quoted also from a book recently given to the world by Mr. Neeson, bearing on such societies, in which he had proved, from statistics, collected by the Statistical Society of England, from the friendly societies in Scotland, that these societies were unlikely to last twenty years, for by that time those who had formed them would have become old, and the money paid in would not be sufficient to meet the expendi ture which would then be necessary. , The CHAIRMAN then called upon Mr. GEORGE THoMPSON, who said he was thankful that,. in that meeting, and in future meetings connected with the affairs of that Society, he would not be excluded, or rather precluded, from addressing many who would have a share in the affairs of the country by the extension of the franchise, and that he would have every opportunity of addressing them on those interests which had led them to connect them selves with that Society. There were other besides poli tical inducements for joining that Association. No man could connect himself with it without being a better man for so doing, for he would be compelled to adopt habits of temper ance and frugality. They would discover by assocHawn what they had been loag in discovering—the might of social power. It was that which had constructed their rail ways—which had raised their clubs—which, in connexion with moral and pecuniary power, seemed almost omnipotent. —( Hear, hear.) For himself, he was induced to join that Association by other considerations. He had long wished the extension of the franchise—he had long sympathised with his unenfranchised brethren—but he never sympathised with those who feared that power when it should be put into the handa of the people at large. They had discovered the means by which they might lift their friends to their true position in society; and the way to do so was by patting themselves first in possession of the right. Thereby they would be made better men, and for the advantage they would have no one to thank but themselves—the attainment of the right, and the position they would gain would be in 'vir tue of their own act. lie was a free-trader; they were a free trade Association; there was no need to disguise it—it might be published through all the world.. He wished for an as sociation of thirty, or forty, or fifty thousand men, the majo rity of whom, by havin g availed th emselves _ of t h at so ciety, would become p art and parcel of the country, and have a share in se n di ng a representative to the Commons House of Parliament. He spoke as a free-trader. Had they been dreaming, or were they dreaming? Was it what they had been hearing merely, within the last few days, or was it matter of history, that Sir Robert Peel had come down to the House of Commons, and, in a speech of three hours and twenty minutes' length, had proposed a measure in respect to free trad e ? He did not know whether his Honourable Friend (Colonel Thompson) believed it to be true. He (Mr. G. Thompson) believed it, and he believed what he had heard that day, that the Tories had laid their heads together to carry the immediate and total repeal of the corn-laws, rather than that the Anti-Corn-lays Leage should go on creat ing votes, dispossessing a Noble Lord here and an Earl there, hereditary representatives rather than . that system of dispossession and possession should go on, and they should be asked to give up also what they valued above all—their political power.—(Cheers and laughter.) He was told that day that a Gallant Duke— (Hear, hear)—whe had given in his adhesion to the repeal of the corn-laws, but who volunteers, like a soldier to do his duty to his Sovereign, found himself reduced to this single argument in favour of a repeal of the corn-laws when he laid hold of this Noble Duke and that Noble Marquis, to solicit their votes.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) "It is better, said the Duke, to be wise in time, if you have a mind to keep Marlborough, or if you wish to retain such another eonety ; for the people will grow in power and in their de mands, and they will not be satisfied with the repeal of the corn-laws."—(Great laughter, and cheers.) Hence they had the phenomenon of Sir Robert Peel becoming a free-trader. He (Mr. Thompson) was not ashamed to say he read a venerable book, the Bible. He was reading in it the other ra day the history of Israel while they were on the to curse of Moab, when Balaak, the King. sent for t Sir _K n . ' Peel and the people. He could not help thinking °faSnittfacturers and the agricultural Moabites.--4 a artisans, like the Israe/ites,..h k a l d au b - ec h. Ll Tah 1 might} in the lands MA WI thtrtfOre l t 'P a meetieg of the elders and chief men • among the Moabites—(Laughter)—and they sent to a man a prophet, they s en t money by the hands of their ser van t s , and brought him to come and curse the people. The pro phet consented, and came up on the agricultural ass— (Laugliter)—but the genius of free trade, the guardian of the people; met him in his course. He stood up to curse the people in 1842 but lo! h e t urne d and blessed them with the tariff.--(Laughter.) The elders were wroth with him, but bade him try again; he tried again, but when he looked on the people in their camp, on their Cobdens and their Brights, lo Ihe blessed them a second time. The Moabites were very wroth with him, but hired him yet to curse the people, and lo! he stood up and he blessed them altogether, and prophesied bf their glory, how the Moabites should be destroyed, while the people should grow and become great in the whole earth. —(Cheers and laughter.) But for associated exertions, he said, they would not have been there that night congratu lating themselves on the issue to which things had been brought, nor would they have seen Sir Robert Peel come down and cap:tulate as in the gate ; be had, like Lot at the gate of Sodom, prayed unfortunately that one small city might be spared him. But he (Mr. Thompson) hoped for the sudden sweeping away of this last vestige of these laws, if only they were so true to them selves as to seek this object by association. The meeting was then addressed by Col. THOMPSON and Mr. GIBBS, from Aylesbury. Mr. SYDNEY SMITH then read the following estimate to the meeting, in order to give them an idea of the work'ng of that system which had been contrived : Suppose a mechanic occupy a house of four rooms, tl e rent being 7s. 6d. per week. Ile can purchase the lease for 65 Years for 105/. Ground rent, 40s. a year. Insuran ce . 45.6 d.. Parochial taxes, 2/. 12s. Purchase 1 3 A shares at 53 premium, proceeds £ll7 5 0 He pays entrance fees 0 5 0 Surveyor's ditto 1 1 0 Lease - - 6 0 0 Mortgage deed - 6 0 0 Purchase of lease - 105 0 0 ..118 6 0 being a deficiency of 21s Payments to the S l :ociety monthly : Subscription: los } 149 per share. • ltedem7,tion 4s. - For' -34 shares, monthly payment SI 4 6 That is, for one year - Ground rent - Insurance Taxes - - 14 0 0 -2 0 0 -0 4 6 - 212 0 £l9 10 Fifty-• two weeks' rent, at 78. 6d. per week, is... 19 10 0 0 0 6 LORD METCALFE. :It will be recollected that at a meeting of gentlemen con nected with the North American Colonies, held at the offices of the North American Association, on Thursday, the 15th instant, it was agreed to present an address to Lord Metcalfe upon the occasion of his Lordship's retirement from the go vernorship of Canada. The address, a copy of which ap peared in our columns on the 16th instant, having been nu merously signed, was transmitted to Lord Metcalfe on Mon day last. The tollowing is a copy of his Lordship's acknow ledgment of the same:— " To the Subscribers to the Address of the Merchants and others connected with the British North American Pro.. vinces. " Sirs,—l am deeply sensible of the honour conferred on me by the sentiments which you entertain, and I beg you to accept my warmest thanks for the kindness which.has in duced you to express them. " Had it been possible, with reference to the htate of my health, to perform efficiently the duties of Jr.'y late office, I would gladly have devoted the retnaindP: of my life to the welfare of Canada, and to the furtht:ance of those purposes which you state to have been pr.imoted during my adminis tration of the Government of that province. " The aggravation of tare malady with which I have been long afflicted having' rendered the continued discharge of my functions impracticable, I was under the necessity of solicik, ing her Majesty's gracious permission to resign the trust cP,n ferred on me; but so long as I live I shall never ease to feel an anxious desire for the prosperity of Canada, and a grateful recollection of the loyalty and publi': ; spir;t by which the measures of my administration W° supported in that country. (Sig' "ea) " METCALFE. "2, Manstield-street, Jan. 5?: 1846." COI,TIt- T CIRCULAR. The Queen Prince Albert, accompanied by the Prin cess Royif,, took an airing yesterday afternoon in an open carries:eand four. The Equerries in Waiting, Colonel Buck .ey and Colonel Bouverie, were in attendance on horseback. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred and the Princess Alice, were taken their accustomed airings yesterday in the royal gardens of Buckingham Palace. His Royal Highness Prince Albert rode out on horseback yesterday, attended by Colonel Bouverie. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, attended by Baroness Ahlefeldt, returned to her residenoq at Kew on Wednesday evening. Count de St. Aulaire, the French Ara,:tssador, le Comma deur Marques Lesboa, Brazilian Iltister, and Count de Re ventlow, the Danish Minister, 'transacted business yester day at the Foreign Claim The Governor of t yesterday with ,• te Bank of England had an interview e jir Robert Peel and the Chancellor of the Exch etre r The i: , cclesiastical Commissioners for England had a Com ,ittee meeting yesterday, at the office in Whitehall-place. The Commissioners present were—the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Ely, the Bishop of Exeter, the Bishop of Dandaff, the Earl of Besborough, the Right Hon. Sir George Grey , and the Right Hon. John Nicholl. The Vice-President of the Board of Trade had an inter view with Sir Robert Peel yesterday. The whole of the Cabinet Ministers were present at the dinner given by the Duke of Buccleuch, on Wednesday even ing, to settle the roll of Sheriffs for the present year, with the exception of the Earl of Haddington and the Earl of Ripon. DUTCH MAIL. THE HAGUE, JAN. 25.—The last overland mail brougt accounts from our possessions in India, to the 31st of De cember. Perfect tranquillity continued to prevail. The American merchentman Surat ran a-ground and was wrecked, on the 31st of October, near Anger. The crew, consisting of seventeen men, was saved. The English war steamer the Driver, from Singapore to New Zealand, put into Sodabaja on the 12th of November, to take in coals. Lapatouw, late Prince Tanette, in Celebis, died on the 29th of October, at Pas Liepokassie. Intelligence has also been received of the death of Mo hammed Salim Oldin, Sultan of Boole, with whom a new treaty was lately concluded. A Government steamer has been sent to that place. The Jura Courant, of the 17th of September, copied from the Singapore Free Press, of the 14th of August, a notification of the Portuguese Governor of Timor-Delhi stating that two native vessels of Macassar, and a boat of Rolli, which was lost on the coast of Timor, all under the Dutch flag, had been engaged in the slave-trade. The commanders and crews have lodged a complaint with the Netherlands Government, of the treat ment they had received from the Portuguese authorities, under the pretext of their being engaged in the slave-trade. According to their declaration, the Portuguese cruising boats at Soeterana, (a place under the government of the ether lands,) had compelled a native chief to take down the flag of the Netherlands, and hoist that of Portugal. The resi dents in the Dutch port of Timor, are instructed to inquire into the matter, and to take such measures as shall be necessary. Col. Barre, Aid-de-Camp to his Royal Highness Prince Frederick, set out yesterday for Berlin, to convey the me lancholy intelligence of the death of the young Prince Wil liam Frederick: AMSTERDAM, JAN. 20.—1 n making some repairs lately in the Post•oflice, a large chest, the existence of which was not known to any of the officers, containing a vast number of letters of the years 1735 to 1755 was found. Those letters are chiefly from the northern part of Germany, Hanover and Hamourgh. How they came to remain in this chest is a mystery. They will, probably be sent to the Dead-let ter-office, and examined like other undelivered letters. We learn that the Second Chamber of the States-General is convoked for the 6th of February. UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE. OXFORD, JAN. 28.—The Regius Professor of Modern History (the Rev. Dr. Cramer, Principal of Ne w Inn Hall) proposes to commence his Lectures on the H is to ry a of Germany from the accession of Char Imperial Throne. The text-book will tams of Sleidan " de Statue Religion's e t Reipublicas Carob Quinto eyesore." The l ec tures will commence on be the v to the cowmen- Thursday, Feb. 12, at two, p.m. Those gentlemen who are desirous of attending are r e q ue sedo eours o to call h on the pro fessorl on Saturday, Feb. 7, between and two. Responsions—Theofldjuenrtioorn pcorocuegtoro wil l eiißl ce erve.JiovhentThe H. p e ter, fellow „ mos of those undergraduates who intend offering themselves for the responsions in Lent Term, on Tues fyrotmhe t 4 h th e , h f o ro u m r oftw twelve till three. and da y o F n e tV ru ed ar n y esda The Regius Professor of Pastoral Theology (Dr. Ogilvie, late Fellow of Balliol College) will begin his course of lectures for the present term on Monday, the 16th February, The Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History (the Rev. Robert Hussey, 8.D., Student of Christ Church) proposes to begin his lectures for this term on Monday, February 16th. The subjects will be " Eusebii Histories Ecclesiaitica," lib. and " Bedye Histories Eccle eiastioa." The lectures are intended for those gentle men only .who have passed their B.A. examination. CIONBRiDGE, JAN. 28.—At a congregation held this day, the following degrees were conferred : Honorary M.A.—Hon. Charles Edward Pepys, eldest son of Lord Cottenham, Trin. Cob. ; Hon. Delaval Loftus Astley, second son of Lord Hastings, Trin. Col.; Hon. Douglas Gordon, third son of Lord Aberdeen, Trin. Col. Ad Eundeui—John Edmund Fox, M.A., All Souls, Oxford. B.A.—Edmund Edward Allen, Trin. Col.; William Henry Tyrell, Trin. Col. ; George Edward Haviland, St. John's Col.; Decimus Drew, Sidney Col. L.L.B.—Hev. Henry Philip Marsham, Trinity Hall. BACHELOR'S BALL.—This festival, the gayest of the academic year, took place last night in the Town-hall. There wero about 400 present, including many persons of rank and fashion from Cambridgeshire and the neighbouring counties. MELANCHOLY CATASTROPHE NEAR HARROGATX.— Information was received in York on Tuesday of an unfortu nate occurrence which took place on Saturday night last, Y_ . ! It aPPe ars the vicinty of Harrogate, in Yorkshire, and resulted Hi the death of a man named Brotherton. man, Was that the deceased, who was a labour t inf and, as is paying his addresses to a female servant of a respectable farmer named Atkinson, frequently country, had frequently the case in that part _ atter the family had re been in the habit of visiting her the employ h deceased, who was opened the was iitgthintgt a e felony. TherellpOn went to the house on an tired to rest. On Saturday somewhat affected with liquor , gto attract the attention of the the family, attempting to break into the ' maid. servant, disturbed d the window, looked out, and saw a. amatory visit, and i n see ki the n adult members of one of whom supposed the purpose house, for gun, and fired at him. After the gun was of corn lie seized a loaded man who he fi re d the decea sed left the premises, an d nothing more was heard of the matter until next morning, w h en he was found i n a lifeless state in a field near the house. On examination. it was discovered that the whole charge of the gun had en tered his breast, and he had evidently died within a few minutes of receiving the wound. It turned out that the deceased, who was well known in the neighbourhood as an honest character, had merely visited the premises lc': the purposes already stated, and not for those of plunde!. Tke feelings of the family, on learning the facts of thi 'case, may be bitter imagined than described. I 1 11