The Sun. — London, England, 1846-02-18 00:00:00

n surprise.—(uea) tt r , r, P reva l en ce of f it. I adroit t'Pj that have (it call his attenti_n,',l r of Ireland eel, existing P` 0r ' be es of disease ntaYi, into the svorkhou. hospitals, if the!'.. o sr fear of infel4 I " sates. wri .ovisiong, b ut in cases of,thiS,.,e ese provision! ui he vicinitY e t p re h workhoweiec, ry hospitals (lin': l e such acco ; Hear, hear.) fr i l l( veers the tapeit ere cted, t° In p u rpose. _ r d s f fled, and 1/1"; 15 ,,r , iporary fec,' L „ die in a short tie; t h e se preci9,,,,ot he . ore, en t los r the introdcer4 e o f things. f f or hospitals, if it by th e , „P to. esrnt of Ireland' ;101 , is discustionLat is: )regress of ti l' t u o t o r •es prer' e vea , t e , v er since t• -C. was de r 'a oi o the evil it sc illet r i e to ronoc icie , 0 a tion of that ev e , otV j, o wed In -°,, f r i ae stf' eo f her 0. 1 d 1 very t u '",,ohir cise of t . h,e, to P sl ls o . a tion of r one A 10, p , ‘"" ir y measure .f telioratlpOe samet i r pte e: blouse th e •,,iog e ', e .l a w Cere iuk e ' n ( t that , 00 i rovidin n d to ea ' hat 50 0it te " , ision veer k e n ion hail 9 , s ou interest ed eter of the o r s e m. it' .en•t to e i l e % o J,r ot , ase in '' c) coon . ° •ated•- -( wat t ', a t distre ss , but h e „i;, 1 ,0 es of L :1411' y in anY siclerable ge crops. tlt O.PO , the su bjett% is ot n those P a l e Ul i cat ion b e e n e l r: ° it in ;„, 3e gay. and , ' s v ri°,4 l 3 no le' ,tl, might st:e owevers 13 .0 r ,„ d h" to 14 0 1 ) ha to „° lornentVi ,t they n e ti;2 an d P 'ves r J' it. F° r rit es ' wa g Or t el: been g r _,°,otej ,ust be re s o d u d een fou , los j f .linarY 0 t t11 6 2 J, gore, tb a s ieje ready e i l b :eio: use ban ~,eol! v t h e arg ll d e l ad to ss, nt.—( ll , e ,l*, Hon• nt wereiero # igs Of b theer, ate Cr o r . led pled' tenr Tering let,"ed 11 :on° itt no n • t lo as ref , * at it , ki i 4 ieved tb gitc, v dool. tie 0 !a - v.5 o u t ° 44. 101 1 " it c" .00 11 a nd 'l' l co os 6, ed 05 0 'o l ' Gent leo el l .g was to th i loi f, poly uld n t at, i ,t er ,t l did n e '''P o r' T ri-1 3 '"' titer tY ation 3 t" his of h e „ OPL, O I. liscw , Sut , the Pr'r e bews , fearf fl igh t dei of the „ o rrs Is ,e come C le i t e 0 4 mutiv 0 ),1 1 :t. A nd Sll ol ° i ad be' be ,", Ire lallU,tiop the re t4 ,o l ho b' tto who Pr ese sl iv o rough s f : r e), ..—( t he Lte f tb i ,V 4 L ents e bit .0 r sa i d tt s'• i r o , ar. ) here ws e v o tt ),000., re e 0 , 't) c s tainth e ,L 14 ,1 'not 6ee s V o tir, t ioo ot )Ul3 ~1101 id cou'o li°;0 1 most„, o ) i. cod t ' t e other l ite', ..wer ,.. e t o re ol t: , P ia Y n $ t ee ater o n „ j o: untrY the! Fe that e ri 4 ,rl of a l y e ", L king•leic t •ri e i t thean rther, 1 from e, . 1 0 1 ,/ !nu.° ed i '5 51. o f th e e rte l i 3 O to th"olti n ie t til , e niPP I J o., o ti', he en?, f r e . vi hout o sPbal; the'r, ear,,, e linf f 4 11 , 0 i ` yo lr etfeL,t )cen r ,011 ° is i s MT . 1.0 0 0 1 0 XI sn c A sa i° t r iog ,A 0 ,0 711 I" tbi : Terifik •etl,•„e' if. °c' c ./ di s able . : 04.1 o a j i t O to not re tbendrl , ! e irnc t ,e o ; vblc 0 10' de er tst , $ roili•t as the ,sro 110' flo e: of y ,art boiP of e y hio ° oil 4 ' fc r,t ° eoV is i f un O .13 0°n1d d' • Aer °died ~._ ri d I ce , aio t a le leg° 40 0 r dia au se e r !' by t oc u thei iv 0! ) bee lit ic° 'no ll' of - eef, re: en'00 0 " ; ,0 ,- the m , 'ei ith 1 c c lotV et to 0 ' e d fo' ch' f , g o to p , o 4 4 og 000 f T od s a l re r.i? herof ot v , ,r , r oist'oe T e d „jure Le t ! 0 ,,41 it. c 0 01 1,, ,, go t b! ou ld u‘dcl a 5 ell ! it f il o r r , The e thB 0 ,0 t'i Y tt a 0 ° itb at ed hem der fi li o of be r e m etic t° } l : - 1 r " b r g e ife s r I, e t ii• 11 , to t om, a po i he ba t `to rt!to oithey r je st s he r j e , theY yr sc hic' 3 0- t t is P red li c s l3 ?Prey s id le Oland o oh' e vetl et ,, s l. ha t 5 1 . ` ,1 (0 for $ be c t° • eJ 1. Lai g IP sag vier to er , je ion v b 3 d r th el ooo 'O3 Y 6,1 1131 of that produce, a great deficiency was occasioned by the. evil , of absenteeism. By the union, a large mass of the rich proprie • tors have been induced, to leave the country, and as much as from tw o to three millions of money have been abstracted from the home market. In fact, the home market, he might say, • l ras not only impaired but destroyed; and until they could re turn to Ireland the advantage which that country had e n s Joyed by th e res i dence of rich proprietors, they would render it unable t o enter i nto any sufficient competition with the manufacturers of England, ard all their e ffirts to remedy th e di stress would be i neffectual. Until this was done they could not expect her manufactures being employ e d was b ecause their absentee landlords were con draining her of h er resources. I f they meant to revive tthe manufactures of Ireland, they must stop the drain on her apital by the absentee landlord,. They should stop that drain. th at sho u ld remember that there was a drain on the capital of . Cradt c ountry of f our m illi ons and a half by the absentee land '. How would that act against this country ? Would they Ilat d° ha ve want an d misery staring them in the streets, and old not the country cry out ag a inst so great an evil? This there were other drains from ►that countr y ; there was a sum of 70+0004 taken annually from her in the shape of a ground-rent tv, when they spoke of - the Government grants and the ad ;:dlrtehlea3n.d, and when they made, he would not say a uo,a4st of intt,rbyut when they made a public declaration of those. Krautsoaierl„eree.s,o u to not a right to say, "'Look at the conduct of us during the last century and a half." _ Let t °, remember the language of Huskisson. When speaking • t "'' s ufferisig s of Ireland, he described them as the results of ti,r,siheepsr.feaatulte,,g,i2lation ard the great drain which was made on In r evenu e of the co ' untry. It might not be in their power to correet e in seils that have pressed Ireland at once, but th h is . , e hail it their power to do. They could prevent t Pe l' e t t i"ed d rain upon her resources, for "how could it be CX f . . d that, the capital remaining in Ireland could be in a state °lenv's'Orotts circulation, when a constant amount of eight . or th e : tu dlions was annually derived from that country, for which rtee"ived iin return. It was with the body politic expect the huma body if the blood were gone, could they th edra t h. at the bo n dytv;u — ld maintain a healthy action ? and if t hat en 'tied the resources. of a country, could they expect that of t i e - ° Qtry would improve its condition ? How was this state kind badto be changed? There had been some talk of messes to Ir e l and in pecuniary matters, and that night mention rte 'eco made of 46 8,000 1 . g i ven i n grants to that country.t tee : to th e entire stain given, at this moment didd ehar? t t() the sum of th e i r own revenue ; and which, aster 4.'li 1' die and 'g the cl a i ms of Ireland, went into the public revenue. s pent in country. They had a remedy, if this t ha a s - ,? t t . r ) - but adopt ils it—the restoration of their own Perim tax h sf they Was t that remedy, let tithe at least takel4e,,hsentees, Was it not monstrous that should them ‘neSte 0/. out of that country for years without giving . forr ne an Y return whatever ? If they would not consent to the 441 h r s illea hure, they might at least adopt the less natural one, Woa,4 be lieved less e ff ective one, of taxing the absentees. efter a P ie Government allow the surplus of Irish revenue, e li ati l,,r e e :s t l: t r , e a . Yie the expenses of Government in Ireland, In be th' in Ireland ?If they contributed to the produce of the thev ou , ht to have a fair share of the expenditure of ti 'hp should not the expenses of the navy be to tr,l l "Y the two countries? There were splendid harbours to '''and, superior to those in England, but more b open . b e a f`jr ' i 4n foe Why should not those har ours \S'eeti,hrdett Fs . eelish men-of-war ? (Hear, hear.) fli ta • '" e 'uld not - there'be dockyards established in Ireland ? tt 'ar• ) Why should the whole expenditure he atitorhed epont'ieountry? One - of the great evils which had been visited estabe i i re land had been the reduction of the Government lazes ”`" pit,lf there were time, he could show that the eieht eh had b ean rem i tted i n th i s country exceeded by the „c•e° ti mes the t axes rem i tte d i n I re l an d. Th e t axes since se e ''uon that had bein'imposed on this country amohnted to Yoe ° l .' e rea, while in Ireland it had been as one to eighteen. r %ae., charged the people of Ireland five per cent, for the van e es, w nich ITas been advanced to them, whereas the ad ehars,h tl iade to the people of England have been srels' a - 'ttv four, and in some cases only three te-Lalf cent. These and other petty matters actm fair) t', impoverish the country. You have not elnt,e toward, Ireland in this as in other respects. The' .h t 's he .4hi you boast of advancing to us is the money which hie obtained from us by such means. These _are b m e w r a s tt l e o c r o s hi, s i,,°°lti know. It was not the fault of Hon.. M sot at " f ` °f the House if the Government of this country em would him .?say ', l 'd to this state of things. It was unnecessary for . ;'nu'e ', ta t it was of the utmost importance that both countries tote r, Le heartily bound to for if war came on it ,Insegilence• of the state of feeling which prevailed, dtsc h" o y ' tcalculate. He felt that he was only t 'f ti:,,?n dos? as n Member, in taking .alleviate thew , th i e ee -4 ,'j e ct• Nlillatever they had hitherto done to _ ( Tent,',7 of that unhappy country was but small and mei! " % ee - earned them that now was the time.to chan e e p ert eit I * all, and etitirely the eystern of policy which they had Nord 1' -sued toward Ireland.—(Loud cheers.) e t he j' R UESELL—I do not altogether concur' in some of „," 4 ° e v e ati cßis which have been made by the Hon.. Gentle 13pr: te was just sat down. I am so very far from wishing to rts itaotTY discussion on the subject, that I would rather t ' r e th Member to take every opportunity to bring be spell e attention of Otis House the grievances of Ireland, and h as th r4 e ei t s urea as might be considered most advisable to adopt els be miprovementgof its condition. The Hon. Gentleman ssE,ir,aself allowed that there exists in this House a desire and fortistt to relieve those distresses when proved to exist ; and, Z t Y "° Part. I am prepared not only to take into conside ,eosl,Teevizoe:er:t grievances which t. exi:t, but also all the for k 11- 4)4 , s under which tha country has laboured ;as r measure s which may be cdered est adapted ' 4 fret good of Ireland:—(Cheers.)onsi li ow, b Sir, am Yet (r° being of opinion that *anything the House has s,hould be regarded as a boon to Ireland..—( Hear, e - nit ) e h.look upon this House as the representatives of the L - illse f e d ,'`"ndom and• if one part of that kingdom should .h ,7 4 41 , ,; ° , l °e more serioasly than another, it is the ° 'tut yof this House to take measures for the effectual shah (A that evil, and certainly Ido not consider that for ue or assist anc e, that afflicted portion of the country t h e expected to be grateful.—( Hear, hear.) 1 4, 4 • rotas I have risen on the present occa teeth not for the purphse of entering into the late nf tl --: te r h 'e statements made in reference to this subject, eoeßht.t Gentleman of joining in the wish expressed by the t h e : iteuld opposit e, thit th . e . Hon. Member for P severe any further with his motion after that had been offered by the Government. I gq,u l rn - i , t, after listeningtothe statement of the Right Hon m "ves e-50 o PPosite I feel satisfied, that while her Majesty's teZl,,,orlihreattro,t,„has.vh left• nothing undone to avoid the impending e lect upon the one hand. fer4edr as ta u r - %en entity th e f et °4 the ee e h n i a I n y . o o st f e a n7 y ti n on g s display of the relief a/- ta n opinion, and bearing in mind 'to r :- that thother,m(isjlng this i P n Ireland may recommend e atens 'ald e e measures than those of the Government, if they f e). Ouch necessary, I feel confident that there tit ' s n if, el l;,e of complaint ' left, and therefore it is that I 4 . ,i s cisTio;h:,l, (I.l7s4gs:sat b t e h r u t e te x w p ithdraw his motion. If he should expiration of a month or so be of opi i;!tht t„ tue Government measures are not such as he had . a f tnnti, e4 l'eet, -then nothing can prevent him from resuming this hat th.rtt.---( Hear, hear cannot sit down without saving `'se by H?n. Member has rendered reat service to at e „ y the information he has afforded it on the present f° hlr LAelan 1, tQ w{,rts\VSollo:\t'iliass ganueindependent Member, wished to say a °s 'tao this qucstion._( Hear, hear.) He thought a * ,hcl, th, e . re were so many points in the question, Nes had 3een already very ably discussed, he should be 'the e `" confine himself to the general question, and become forseerituatious than he had been accustomed to be. He had Who übmitted the expression of his feelings to those Is bow 1,, faun he was accustomed to look as his leaders ; but e 'ittoof . '`'und he was compelled to state his own opinions for litiseofor•lloAtsto lament question of famine which had been brought rho dune Rouse there on that side of the House the sa w d as o n siti n ol e of Ireland, as detailed by the e4.rtod. Learned Member for Cork, who had displayed Dolieji? good sense and good feeling in not having intermixed ° tight " In ha description of the moral condition of Ireland. It f r to be co, °rll tn 1 inehed whether he withdrawal ,of the gentry tifliglibaendOht.ttoeignhdt,sisi rndeasuroltnwe;id be one of the consequences measure, would not reduce *shsh oceurraedmts: hirn " wa7 t t i tt" ) ,::', l a , " Ireland. Another point rchetry. If 'it should happen tha't sitzwahof capital from the ain of gold to pay for the forei gn hurl orted into. this couatry reeohhould be a great vhich would be , then the like it'll so lamented as having befallen Ireland calamityel,2 which had d : gland. With respect to the potato crop, th e pe,,pl e e r o e f a lt ise l n in d 4D'ruled from year to year on its precarious ,existeneee andan peop'le of was the result ? It was a warning to the I , t ' e e . and to beware how they placed themselves in a similar ,e'arions position—to take care how they made th e eihr,,enderit from leer to year on the mercy of a foreign nation, thieetatltht probably be actuated by hostile leelings, and if a e'l'crald occur to 'prevent. their supply of corn, eople L ent, t ' l4 'd would be as off as the Irish Beatwer pre t 4ti°4, U l t t7 i . t e hl at possessing the same resources .. and commise_ 4 'ard 1422 he had had the great satisfaction of subscribing "d What - Famine Fund for the people e e l, 'ela nd was called the ' 4 lty ic e , Ile remembered with respect to that rep al ly e,,,t the Government then possessed no . power to 'klaZn laws, as a temporary. expedient to relieve a terh- Peri e ' d Th at o i ',,Y• The whole - sum subscribed was 300,000/, nod ti ' l , t he t - ; ita effect on the people of Ireland? At that from °l t ha t ‘ii re : 3 of the people of Ireland was so great that that if tir o .eht Hon. Baronet would have been frightened e •° 4 s r i ,etY, and have been induced to come down to land I 'l se nt ll ' have introduced a similar extravagant measure ,dht „. The men Rut at that time there existed no fears of the tab o r s -41 of ...?eY subscribed was expended in relieving the t tcit . r . ers ute people, and in the employment of `hich rt , eah aes , t .'he c instruction of public . works, and th ele tne 'lnc.! the supply of grain at home. 'agesatse"d th e 4"ted measure would effect. The Hon. Member that h e ' )u . "' for their patient hearing. and concluded by ;Nee,. 'rela ret % ) ohl never be a party to take any mean advan nt thll4'S of ,HY improperly interfering with her immense ll r, Sicily - e f a ' n ' and hoped that she might long continue to cioN_Great Britain. L e senl.L then withdrew his amendment. tr st . 1. " JOHN` ADJOURNED DEBATE. f iat' ie rest - AN NERS felt - most anxious to promote the is es t l'e m en ' , s of the vountr • fie was anxious to see the con thea°'iled ients which r ) ; dat present in the country p,evriteeallye`hreneteid tet e l ' r ietly "e harm P on e i eace The Noble Lord a misrepresentation which bad been un the Hon. Member for Lincoln on the "ta r " -11 "efitihd Prneew!ed to say that, in considering the " r e alent id r : 1100 se ‘ •t h d ad appeared to him that the atie e 4 O was ent . er ' t f how a country like t e l't "n l' s in Fe ll;e .n u e v ",. a . h to be supplied with food. W ithou o. t sen ee d ""se with any of those hackneyed qu toliti„),rtslanee„attn s mith and Ricardo on this subject, he 'Re ( i eto e . °ltinio sne of a great foreign writer '_ on ake t ,o ltil ae -"ha—the al President of the Cr:d ate:rotate n ' e tA , , l ''° was opinion " ;hat no prudent Govern as soh :Mutate st , ; loot to take re per precautions for a regular e el tlet PilY of co rn , .he . P eau ‘ nose the produce of the ground f a; f ‘" all te • 'r ° a s , a vicissitudes of the season, and was ne tee. tlhese„ti uncertain nature Corn was not a subject for eure.:2se a°l competition.like wine and olives, fur with the 1 ,, m t'ould live. but ' they could not live without Sestet:l:le ite ! h“,, r °hle L9rd then neade another quotation from eetee s, we- as to the wise proposition of the English , s the len regulated the supply of fond, and fen hiAsB,, Np l ,h, Peelde ate the d t f foreign aid for e and r pn en o tie the e esso,en iq egretted that so able a . writer er. 4 U narti, this country. He had heard that it was It pro th„ otry th at the opinion of all the statesmen of r efer at th e nearly e e„,arrie Corn-laws could be no longer retained. Al l i er, to ° rods! t le . duty of those who still thought that 1,• , ht theneeStiseet, the''eitained to consider carefully the whole 11 _ e r i a,,t_ corci P r obabilities of a successful contest, and 14he, :el. i t w:_o definite conchisihn as to the course to ' tee e 'l7 his opinion that the effects of free trade ,Inciisp()%,,'oggerated on both sides, and tberefere he "nose, It sh oeie 7 to entertain dispassionately an y pro . , CI, r f . n r Loa rnanate from the Noble Lord opposite, the tajeet 'senior fr o 11 etc YG o to the Right Hon. Baronet at the head Bartow B ut f nt of serornent, whieh should have for its object the tl at op'eerttetih_inl discord which prevailed on this matter. It "trip orar .'u v; to be successful it must not be mad I)!Nlo "ear b' ew s , and on shallow and contradictory Q"-iihinate ut great, broad, and general principles. di!•lctiatte4o,ttbh.ro.,ege a m as y t e h ti e fle e d xp p e a d r ie il n a t of a teen rifled Cabinet, to te e , h i th e t: 'ubmittedt,o the full disrnce u n ss t io t n o a a u p d re u m hi azir t e e nglish peo • 4 might tr ,e o dl e C ti he e er o s)c r a l tt r d m t an he e n n s t uch a great good and TELE SU,N, .t,ONDON,, WEDN i ESDA YEyENING, _FEBRUAR_Y 18, 1846, just sat down, was scarcely intelligible, at least to him.—( Hear, hear.) He (the Noble Lord) had written a letter to his con stituents, and from that letter he (Captain Layard) was led to believe that the Noble Lord would have supported the measure. The Noble Lord, the Member for Liverpool, had also made a speech the other night in favour of the position of Hon. Gen tlemen opposite, and yet he had said that he would vote in support of the present measure. He was sorry not to sec the Hon. Member for Oxford (Sir R. H. Inglis) in hit place, who claimed the speech of the Noble Lord as his own, and he (Captain Layard) thought he had every right to it.—(Cheers.) Now, he must say, that the conduct of the Noble Lord reminded him of a circumstance which had oc curred some years ago, at Nottingham. There was a man there who had a vote, and a certain Hon. and Gallant Member if he were present could confirm the statement which ha was about to make. That man, for the vote he had given at an election there, was promoted to a choristership at Canterbury, but when he came to sing he could not sing at all.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) So it might be said of certain Hon. Members on the other side of the House : A singing man, he could not sing, No need to thank his patron's bounty; Excuse me, sir, I cannot sing, My voice is in another county. —(Laughter.) He was delighted to find that the Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary for the Colonies, in spite of the caustic speech which had been delivered by the Hon. Member for Shrewsbury, was determined to vote in support of free.. trade.—( Hear, hear.) And what was the charge—th'e grievous charge—that that Hon. Member had also brought against the Right Hon. Baronet now at the head of her Majesty's Government? Why it was this—that he sacrificed party feelings for the good, for the glory, and for the happiness of his country. —( Great cheering from the Opposition.) An Hon. Gentleman on the other side of :he House had also said that rotten potatoes formed a rotten argument.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) But what would that Honourable Member say, in answer to the distressing statements which had been laid before the HoMe that night by the Hon. and Learned Member for Cork (Mr. O'Connell). He had not intended to refer to this subject in consequence of those statements. He would beg the House to conser those statements most attentively, for they depicted suffering of the most awful and grievous description, which was brought about by the "rotten potatoes" alluded to by the Hon. Member in so unmerciful and inconsiderate a manner. He held in his band a pamphlet which went to show that agriculture was benefited by protection,and that it was a just measure. Now, he thought with the celebrated expression of Mr. Cobden, that the system . of protection was one of mutual plunder between the farmers and their landlords—( Hear ' hear)—and he had not heard one argument from Honourable Gentlemen opposite showing that such was not the case.—( Opposition cheers.) He could understand the reason why so little money was spent in agri culture—it was because of the uncertainty that at present prevailed with regard to the corn-laws. Hon. Gentlemen on the opposite side of the House had said that they preferred im mediate repeal to the present proposal of her Majesty's • Government. Well, then, the (tight Hon. Bart. at the head of the Government had last night expressed his perfect wil lingness to accede to their wishes.—(Cheers and laughter.) Tney had now, therefore, an opportunity of obtaining their desires.—( Hear, hear.) They would certainly have a num ber of supporters on their own side of the Home, and certainly a very great number on his (Captain Layard's) own side of the House.—( Great cheering and laughter.) He ever had confidence in his political readers, and he had every reason to continue his suppor tto their measures. They had never betrayed hi:el.—( f-lear, hear.) He believed that these leaders had ever acted rightly. He could safely say that he had always the greatest reliance upon the Noble Lord the Member for the City of London, and particularly when he made that startling expression some time ago, that " protection was the bane of agriculture." He (Captain Layard) wished to ask Hon. Gentlemen opposite how they could justly charge that Noble Lord with a sudden change of his opinions upon the free- trade question, when he had uttered such a sentiment as the above years ago?— (Cheers.) For the reasons then that he (Captain Layard) had stated, he should be happy to give the Right Honourable Baronet at the head of the Govern ment his humble support. He believed that the present measure was for the benefit of the country ; he believed that that Right Hon. Gentleman had made the greatest sacrifice that any man could make for the good of his country.— ( Cheers.) He must say that be both honoured and admired him for the sacrifice which he had made —(Cheers)—and he never in his life had given his vote with so much happiness and so much contentment as he should upon this occasion.— ( Hear, hear.) Believing that it was for the good of the coun. I . lasting benefit. He could even conceive of such a course being taken by her Majesty's Government, and after the speech of the Right Hon. Baronet on the previous night, the possibility of adopting such a course could not be disputed. if the Right Hon. Gentleman had announced before the meeting of Parlia ment his long-cherished idea of throwing open the ports, and have told us he was no longer prepared to steer the ship the same course as he had hitherto done, the feelings on this matter in the country and in this House would be very different from what they now were. He (Lord John Manners) had paid great attention throughout these debates to hear a reason assigned by the Government for the course they had chosen to take. The Right Hon. Baronet had last night expressed his satisfac tion at the result of his measure of 1845, but he would ask what confidence could this country have in a Government who adopted a course which contradicted all their former acts ? It would not do for the Right Hon. Baronet to plead that he was placed in such a difficult position by divisions in the Cabinet that he was compelled to adopt the course which he had litigated. If the Right Honourable Gentleman was in earnest—if he really thought that the danger and diffienity was so pressing—even now he might open the ports, and let in the corn till the danger had disappeared. Why, what a lumbering bitch ! what a lumbering task ! the Government takes upon itself. How long did they expect to be occupied in carrying this great experiment, which affected nearly every interest in the country, through Parliament? With their commissions of inquiry into the burdens upon land, with their commissions of inquiry into the probable effects of this great commercial revolution upon the colonies; with their commissions of inquiries into its effects , upon the finances of the country, and with that able, bitter, resolute, and unswerving hostility which they had excited against their proposal, what chance, he asked the Government, was there of this.measure being immediately passed through Parliament? Now one word upon the subject of guarantees. ' He had shoWn how unfair the Right Hon. Baronet had acted in presuming that a guarantee would have been requ'red from him in re• specs of the opening of the ports, and he now told the Hon. Baronet that he d;d not think any man in England would ever again ask the Right Hon. Baronet for a guarantee upon the corn-laws, or anything else.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) And he was sure that those gentlemen who thought protection to native industry was deeply rooted in the affections of the people, and closely allied with the interests of the country, would in future rely upon the good judgment, the good sense, the:deterrninatiOn, and the courage of the English people, rather than upon the promises of the Right Hon. Baronet. He for one could not but complain of a spirit of straightfor wardness which was exhibited in the arguments and the tone of the Right Hon. Baronet. It was exceedingly amusing to see how the Right Hon. Baronet disposed of any partiCular course of action which his opponents might think proper to• adopt. For instance, the Right Hon. Baronet said, if the BOIL Member for Bristol had taken upon himself td propose a want of confidence in the Ministry, er to propose a direct declaration in favour of native industry, or, in short, if he had takers any other course than that which he did, the Right Hon. Baronet would have understood this mode of action, and been prepared to meet it accordingly.—( Hear, and laughter.) Nothing, in his • opinion, could be more unfair than this mode of di'posing of the arguments of opponents ; and although he was not bold enough to take upon himself the task of advising Hon. Members, he would say this much for the Hon. Member for Bristol, that had he adopted any other course than the one he did, the Right Flon. Baronet would have disposed of him with very much the same argument. And after the revolutionary senti ments of the Right Hon. Baronet,: he thought both the Hon. NI ember for Bristol and the Hon. Member for Newcastle upon-Tyne might be excused for withholding their support from the Right Hon. Baronet and his Government. Now the Right Hon. Baronet alluded to the probable effects which the passing of this measure would have upon foreign countries. Russia, he said, would be shaken by it. An HON. MEMBER—No ; he said Prussia would be shaken. Lord J. MANNERS resu ed—Rassia would be shaken, the Right Hon. Baronet said, by the passing of this measure ; but when it was remembered that such a measure was all that Prussia wanted with this country, he did not think the pass ing of it was the surest way of inducing her to alter her commercial policy. Passing from Prussia to France, the Right Hon. Baronet made a statement still more unsatisfactory, because he admitted that the aristocracy of France were op posed to free trade; but against this he placed the fact that the intelligence public opinion of France waS directly in favour of freedom of trade. Let him, however, ask the Right Hon. Baronet who it was that led this intelligent public opinion? He believed Arago, Thiers, Louis, and Berryer, were men who led public opinion in France, but who were far from entertaining views in favour of free trade, but on the contrary, were favourable to protection to native industry. Be now came to another branch of the Right Hon. Baronet's ar guments, and he hoped it would .not be inferred from what might fall from him upon this part of the subject that he wished to deal lightly with the calamity which had lately fallen upon Ireland. He must, however, be permitted to say, that when the Right Hon. Baronet argued that a failure in the potato crop in 1845 was a justification for a total repeal of the corn laws in 1849, the Right Hon. Baronet left his reason un convinced though he might have excited his sympathies in his behalf. The Right Hon. Baronet prefaced his introduction of this measure by a melancholy statement and touching appeal to the feelings of the House, and whilst by this means he had almost safely lodged the corner-stone of his new principles, he dashed it to atoms with the argumentative reasoning with which he followed up his melan choly oration ; for after making a touching appeal to them to ,ive the people of Ireland cheap bread, he went on to state that ne did not expect the repeal of the corn-laws would reduce the mice of agricultural produce, and his Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of War, in improving upon this text, said he did not -HA the English farmer would be exposed to foreign competi tion. He maintained, then, that after the great proposal the Government had made to the present Parliament, and the ~weeping and tremendous revolution whith they wished toeffect • hroughout the whole commercial system of the country, he felt himself peifectly justified in voting for the amendment of his Hon. Friend the Member for Shropshire for an appeal to the eonstituencies of England. He might be told that an appeal to the constituency of Newars would be sufficient for his purpose, hut his answer to this was that he did not wish to appeal to he electors of Newark, but to the constituencies of the coun try. Now, having said thus much, be must be allowed to ex press an opinion that the proposal of the Government was not the best that could have been made. It could not be called Free trade, and he doulated even if it could be called a scheme of free importation, for on theame hand they reserved protec. don to a great number of manufactured articles, and on the other they maintained, the prohibition against the growing of tobacco, and that enormous burden the malt-tax—for what ever might be said in its favour, it must be still allowed that the malt-tax was, to a great extent, a large burden upon lam!. It did seem to him, with all deference to the Hon. Gentle men who entertained strong views on both sides of the question, that if the corn, the produce corn of the British colonies, and Indian corn, had been proposed to be admitted duty free, and other foreign corn at a moderate fixed duty, it would have try—believing that every country would follow the bright example which the Right Hon. Baronet had set them—( Hear, hear)—believing, as he did, that it would strengthen and bind in a link of unity and peace, which we must all desire and hope for, the nations of the earth, he would give the proposal his most hearty support.—(Cheers.) Mr. G. PALMER said, be did not hope by anythincr he might utter to add any new argument in the discussion of this question ; but he felt himself bound to express his opinions in discharge of the duty which he owed to the individuals whom he represented in that House. Those individuals were most anxious to know the result of the delibera tions of the House on this question, believing, as they did, that on the result of those deliberations depended their future prosperity or distress.—(Hear, hear.) It was scarcely necessary to inform that House of the state of excitement in the country on this question. They had seen that numerous meetings had been held in different parts of the country—almost in every county—to denounce the free-trade measurea of the Government, and they were almost all unani mous in their concemnation of the present measure.—( Cheers from the protectionists.) For the purpose of showing the quickness of the Right Hon. Baronet's change in favour of free trade, he would beg the indulgence of the House whilst he quoted Hansard for a few moments.—(Hear. ) In the year 1844, the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Government, in opposing the motion of the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton (Mr. Villiers), avowed himself an advocate for . protection, on the grourd of the peculiar burden on land, and that that was a subject which he could not deal with upon abstract principles, without regard to all the other interests of the class. Upon these grounds he therefore gave his unqualified opposition to the motion.. It was by thus acting, that he (Sir R. Peel) led many persons to imagine that he did nut contemplate a change in a law which was settled only two years before. He (Mr. Palmer) hail attended many meetings in the country, and the general feeling was one of alarm at the consequences likely to ensue from the adoption of this measure. The question which was asked throughout the country was, what grounds are there for the change proposed by her Majesty's Government ? He had listened to a large por tion of the debate, but he had not heard any substantial reason brought forward ley the Government to account for this change, excepting that melancholy statement of the failure of the potato crop in Ireland. He could not hear the statement made by the Right Hon. Baronet last evening without feeling gr.'at alarm and anxiety. He did, not think, however, that the measures proposed were calculated to remedy this grievous evil. The necessity of opening the ports had been urged, but he did not think even that measure would have alleviated the distress, unl ess th e p ersons w h o were . suffering under the calamity had the means of obtaining the corn thus introduced. But he would not have objected to any Bill of Indemnity which it might have been necessary to have passed in this House, on account of the suspension by Order in Council of the existing corn laws.—( Hear, hear.) He was not sufficiently versed in Par liamentary matters to know, however, that it was a necessary consequence that the corn-laws should be totally repealed in consequence of a temporary suspension of the measure. He , remembered that the late Mr. Canning suspended that law, and orders were given in Council for the admission of 5,000 quarters of wheat. A Bill of Indemnity was given to him, but he (Mr. Canning) never thought of coming down to the House and saying that he considered it necessary to repeal the corn-law in consequence of that temporary suspension. ( Hear, hear,) The principle of protection seems now to be abandoned by the Government, but they have given us no good reason for changing their minds on the subject. He was however prepared still to adhere to that principle. It was no new system; it had been the policy of England for upwards of a century. He had read in " The Lives of the Lord Chancellors" (a work written by Lord Campbell) of Lord Chancellor Morton, who lived in the reign of Henry VII., who considered that in a time of scarcity corn should not be allowed to be sent out of the country. This he believed was the earliest case on record. It is under this system of protection the country has arisen to its present proud position. Mr. Huskisson said that the produce of the country should be protected—he cared not how cheap corn was—and he said that in order to ensure a continuance of the supply of cheap corn, we must ensure to the corn producer an adequate anlount of pro'ec tion. He (Mr. Palmer) did not agree in the demand which had been made upon the Goyeriiment for a compensation; he did not look at the question in that light. The principle of protection is in itself either right or wrong.—( Hear, hear. ) If it is right, let us maintain it ; if wrong, the continuance of the principle is wrong, u , ,ju,t, and unfair, and we have no right to grant compensation for the removal of that which we admit to be unjust. That would be giving a premium to injustice. The Right Honourable Baronet states that he has afforded ad vila Her t . a o 4 , ehi that he l t ey h e ila l yt a landed adatniwnehtgeeurnievesavt equivalent.—( he e. t h e a(d a H b ae o na l o hp n eoar o rt f .u)n t tT o y s h e oaf l t a oow w na s s their t i i r n g the opinion,f farmers a e n r s d on th a t e w .s subject, eacl also that his not npi n o I n . o e m o f them s h e consi deredsaid before, t he considered it was a measure on that he was not coarseca e d e o fn his t s c p o e n e e c u h r in, a f o T r n_t h The r 1 0 1 i n t ;ht Hon. sr. td Baronet, tit in the alter ation he had then made had been prqductive a of e no the imit n ratherthe e pricewa s a nf be e n n e t ti ti t t: ,t°maelt at P : ' a l n ie d s' oth n er e co in al t rn an od ee it d ie a s. indru N era it r h is e e thought there were many other reasons why the rise in the price of cattle had occurred, besides its being caused by a re duction on import duties. He thought the Right Hon. Baro net could not take particular credit to himself for raising thOse prices. Even admitting that those benefits had occurred in consequ2nce cif the measure that he had introduced, he (Mr. Palmer) thought it was a good argument for not meddling pry more.—(Cheers..) He believed that the c onstant meddling with those laws had occasioned more dis treis amongst the agricultural community than any ether pro. ceeding whatsoever. It was not until about the present time hat the farmers, in consequence of the alterations made in those laws in the 'year 1842, were recovering'from the losses which the agitation of that measure caused. The labourers were much better employed, general prosperity was experienced by all parties in the country, just at the period when the Right Hon. Baronet brought forward his proposition, which turned the scale in a contrary direction.--(Loud 'cheers.) He could, from his own personal experience, state that there was a great stagnation in the markets of his own country. No miller would buy any large quantity of wheat at present, but, to use a common expression, was purchasing from band to mouth. The price may be as high now (he did not mean to say it was not), but there was no business doing in the market since that measure was announced. He knew per fectly well that it made a difference of 75., or Bs., or 10s. to the mechanic, there being no trade carrying on. Therefore he said it was a most unfortunate time to bring forward such a measure. He (Mr. Palmer) should like to ask anybody who took a fair view of the farmers' condi tion whether there was not greater improvement, more capital, and more skill, now used by them, than there was twenty years ago—whether the general cultivation of their land was not much better than it was then—and, taking a full view j of the question, he could not believe that protection was a bane to agriculture. He (Mr. Palmer) considered that they ought to make themselves as independent of foreign supply as possible. These were arguments which were supported with great ability at one time in that House by some who had since thought fit to change their minds. He would venture to read a short passage to the House from the speech. of the Right Honourable Baronet the Secretary for the House Department, on the subject of depending me foreign nations for the supply of corn. The Right Hon. Ba ronet said, " It appeared to him . th a t th e state, an d power, and majesty of great Britain would be bumbled by their depending on foreign countries, and was like placing this country in a state of siege. When the supply was withdrawn, and there were many countries which would be glad to place us in that position, what then should we do ?" That was the opinion of the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir J. Graham) in the year 1830, on the question of our rendering this country dependent on foreign nations for our supplies. The Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Go vernment says, a deficient harvest may involve them in difficulties. If further calamities should arise then they • may lose their independence, for restrictive duties were no security against a famine. The House would consider that those were goad authorities who bad speken such language. A great deal had been said on the laced the trade on a basis satisfactory to the commercial interests of the country, and would have bound, by ties of mutual interests, the vast colonial empire to tue British Con stitution, whilst at the same time i., would have afforded a safe security against the unnecessary fears of the farmer. He did not stand alone in this opinion, for he found a fixed duty of ss. adiocated by the Messrs. Ferguson and Taylor, of Man chester, in a document, it must be remembered, which was not the production of the Central Protection SJeiety, nor the pro duction of the supporter of any fixed duty, but it emanated from parties deeply interested in the prosperity of Manchester and Englsh manufactures. Al:hough he could not say that he entertained some of the fears which some of his Hon. Friends did with respect to free-trade, or participate in the hopes which some Hon. Members anticipated would be realised from it, he did most earnestly and heartily deprecate any such harsh - or hasty interference with the great commercial interests of the country, or with the system of protection under which trade and manufactures bad made melt gigantic and almost Miraculous strides' and" under which agriculture has made such vast strides that if the people of their own country were not, foreigners were perfectly astounded at it, as that now proposed by her Majesty's Government. He depre cated, too, the dictatorial tone adopted by the Right Hon. Baronet tewardi some of his supporters, which, in his opinion, only served to aleinate t! e sympathies and the confidence of those great classes to which, in times of danger and distress, the Sovereigns of this country have ever looked, nor looked in vain, for a ready obsdienee to the lawi, and unflinching bravery, and uncompromising fidelity.—( Cheers. ). For these reasons he, for one, neither feared nor hoped much from free trade, but was, nevertheless, anxious to have this great question settled to the satisfaction of all parties, gave his most hearty and determined vote in favour of an appeal to the country ; and his most resolute and determined opposition to the pro posal that this House do resolve itself into a Committee for the purpose Of considering the corn-laws, with a view to their repeal.—( Cheers. ) Capt. LAYA RD said, whatever might be the feelings which bad been expressed by the [lon. Gentleman who sat below the gangway, he thought, after the eloquent and truly argumenta tivethe o t c ( , Government. e,tei r: speech n,uongtf,dueerhist w thtai ve h ,oven i accs.bh:utldihinkineteerol7Ryftrenjbholutnetttei.H, objection tui td,toeh. B det a 4ei rtrneohdgna conducive ogi t nntrhatedniiatnemdl greatly eat Committeel measure r t aetdi n . iove i fa g ntii h h,cni t ees. , th , • interests of agriculture ; and Nshil•st expressing /Anion, he must be allowed to say, that he should t be always sorry to see the commercial, or any other interested, benefited by the loss of another.—( Hear, hear.) Within the last six months a great alteration had taken place in the feelings of the country with respect to this question. The feeling of that House had also changed upon this great question, and that change had been in favour of free trade. The best men on both sides of the House had declared them selves in favour of the present measure.—(Cheers.) He would ask Hon. Gentlemen on the opposite side of the House, who were in favour of what was called “protection to native industry," where were their champions of protection now ? ( Hear, hear, and laughter.) Those champtuns ,who had led tiv'm in their battle fee protection dare not now stand up in defence of their hollow and unjust cause, either out of doors o r in that Hotise. —( Hear, hear.) The present measure was one which should and must be carriettwilla.out any longer delay. He (Captain Layard) had heard the arguments of Hon. Gentlemen on the other side of the House since the com mencement of this debate, and he must confess that they con tained in them no new feature; be had heard them all over, and over again years ago. The Right Hon. Baronet at the head if the Government had last night taken the wind out of all their sails —( Laughter.) Hon. Gentlemen on the other, s'de of the - House had told the House that the land would go out of cultivation if the measure were passed.—(" Hear, hear,"-from the protectionists.) He begged to refer those Hon. Members to the meeting which was recently held at Goatacre.— (Laugliter from the protectionists, and cheers from the Opposition.) At that meeting the agricultural labourers and farmers of that district said unanimously that they did not believe that one acre would go out of cultivation in the event of" the corn-laws being abolished.—(Cheers from the Opposition.) Of course, not the least particle of land would go out of cultivation ; and he really believed that there was not a man in that House, nor in the country, who conscientiously believed that the land would be left uncultivated. An Hon. MEMBER on the Opposition benches—l cannot believe it.—( Hear, hear. ) Captain tAY tiliD continued to observe that the Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary at War had theothernight made a free-trade speech, and that he most heartily congratu'ated that Right Hon. Gentleman on the speech which he had made. He was sure that he was possessed of talents, and that he would rise in the estimation, of the country. But the Right Hon. Gentleman had said that the corn-law of 1815 was a great mistake and a great error.—( ',Tear, hear.) He (Capt. Layard) would go further, and say that it was no less than a great and grievous crime. —(Cheers.) He believed that by that measure not only the agricultural but the manufacturing interests of this country were greatly injured.—( Hear, hear. ) He believed that it was a fearful crime, because the misery of the people was greatly enhanced by that unjust law. The House had been told by Hon. Gentlemen opposite 'that England had risen to great prosperity under the operation of the corn laws; they talked of great and glorious England under the corn law. He knew, and they all knew, that England was a great and glorious country, but he denied that the corn-law made her great and glorious.—(Cheers from the Opposition Members.) Looking at the Right Hon. Baronet at the head cf her Majesty's Government, he seemed in his (Captain Layard's) eyes to be a' free-trader.—(Hear, hear.) But he had been the leader of Hoe. Gentlemen opposite. His opinions on the corn-laws had however become changed The (I , ffieulties under which the country was labouring had made him a free-traier. The difficulties under which England _ hhoured consisted of the present corn-saws, and he maintained that England Was great and glorious, not because of, but in spite of the corn-laws.,.( Cheers.) The - Noble Lord vibe had subject of labour, and he thought that. it was one of the a party, and this was not very surprising, considering the great greatest proofs that the question now agitating the public mind changes which had taken place in the principles of public men. I was a labourer's and a farmer's question; by the fact that al- f Indeed; they should of necessity be in that position. They I , most in every part of the country they would find very few of the were now disagreeing amongst themselves. 'I hey *ere with- I landed interest present at those meetings, which were entirely out any settled kind of action ; and though they were midis -1 composed of tenant-farmers, who feel that their interests are alone ciplined and nnofficered, they were still undrsfria •ed. —( Cheers ) involved in that q ues ti on. Th e landlor d was opu l en t, an d i t Wh at theybelieved to be the cause of the good Ind the just, was s would not make any material difference to him!; but the one from which they would not become dissenters ; and, with tenant bound to a farm, from which he could not escape, was God's help, they would be loyal and true to the end. His Right placed in a very different position. Of the expenses attendant Hon. Friend had, he conceived, taken undue steps in reference on the cultivation of a farm, and the sums to be paid, the rent to the failure of the potato crop in Ireland. He (Mr. Shaw) was by no means the principal feature.—( Protectionist cheers.) had already stated that he would approach that question with A difference of 10s. in the price of wheat would make a dif- great caution, for he was willi ng to admit its importan ce . ferenee of one-half o f hi s rent. N ow, h e did no t m e an t o H e was ready to admit that the time of periodical distress say that he was a very intelligent man, but he thought, was approaching in Ireland; but he would contend for it that while they were getting only an average price for corn, the statements upon the subject of the failure of the potato that a measure ought not to be introduced which would crop had been greatly exaggerated. He had visited various make a difference of one-half his rent—( Hear, hear)— counties in Ireland, and he had received communications from but he did mean to state that if there was a rise in corn, there persons in the provision trade, such as contractors for supply was alio an addition to the wages of the labourer.—(" Hear, ing the gaols and workhouses, and other public institutions, hear," from the Opposition.) And so, when -the price of with this article of ford. He had also carefully watched the corn fell, in the same proportion did a reduction take place state of the markets ; and the result of all these measures of in the wages of the agriculturists.—(Loud cheering.) procuring information on this subject tended to show that When corn was low, as it was in the years 1822 and there would undoubtedly be a deficiency of the potato 1835—corn then averaging at 395. the bushel—the price of crop in some parts of Ireland, but that in a great labour fell, and it had ever been his experience that the pecu- majority of districts the crop would be an average niary difficulties of the farmer produced the worst results upon crop, and that much of the deficiency complained the agriculturist, who appeared never to derive any advantage of had been owing to a glutting of the market upon from the cheapness of bread, though it might reasonably be sup- the first rumours of the supposed famine.—( Hear.) He did posed otherwios. The Right Hon. Baronet, the Secretary of not mean to dwell at any further length upon this topic; State for the Home Department, did not always entertain and he would leave it now by expressing the satisfac the same opinion with respect to wages as he did Lion he felt at having observed the encouragement given, then ; he was not going to blame that change, to the employment of the labouring classes in Ireland for he believed that it arose from sincere conviction—( Hear, this session, by the temporary expedient for meeting this tern hear)—but he was going to quote from a speech delivered in porary evil. He knew it would be a waste of time to dwell 1839 by the Right Hen. Baronet, for the purpose of strength- upon it now, but he thought he was warranted in saying ening the case which he ( Mr. Palmer) was endeavouring to that it was a subject of wonder to many that his Right place before the House. The Right Hon. Baronet asked, Honourable Friend could have recommended such mea whenlereVes'oddressing the parties who advocated a repeal of sures without a more mature consideration of the pro the corn-law,* What was their object—was it to raise the price bability of a worse state of things than they had any of corn ? If it was, he would tell them that they would also real reason to apprehend. It was only the other day he raise the price of wages. Was it their object not to raise the had heard the Bight Hon. Baronet, the Secreta r y o f St a t e f or price of corn ?—if th ey d es red a low rate of corn, he would the Home Department. state, in answer to a question from tell them at once that they also desired to produce a low rate the Hon. Member for Rochdale, in reference to that clause in of wages."_( Hear, hear, and cheers.) These were the opi- the Poor-relief Act affording out-door relief, that he was de pions of the Right Hon. Baronet in 1839. He considered at cidedly adverse-to any alteration in the established system.— that period that diminished protection would throw large ( Hear, -hear.) This certainly did not accord with the lately quantities of land out of cultivation, and he (Mr. Palmer) avowed principle of the Right Hon. Baronet; and he did was not to be bla me d if, i n 1846, he adhered to the lesson think that the impetus that had of late been given to employ which he had learned from the Right Hon. Baronet then. ment in this country by the railways, had been very unfairly —( Hear, hear.) He had already trespassed much too long kept out of view by her Majesty's Government. There on the attention of the House, much longer than was, no doubt, a great deal th a t was pl aus ibl e i n th e Govern he had intended, ba cause he felt th a t th e question had been so ment plans. But he begged to remind the Right Hon. Baronet long, so ably, and so successfully argued---(Cheers) —that that Hon. Members on that side of the House were not quite he could add nothing to it. For his own part, so unlearned as he seemed to think in the doctrines of Adam having no such convictions forced upon his mind as were Smith.—( Hear, hear.) They all knew that those doctrines forced upon the Hon. Baronet, and entertaining an opinion were very fine, and would be very fair and reasonable if they both of the justice and the expediency of maintaining the same could persuade other countries to adopt them also. B u t th e y amount of protection to agriculture and the other branches of should take into consideration the national debt, the corn native industry as had been maintained heretofore, he could Peered interests, and the very many other peculiar circum see no sufficient reason for the change now proposed to be stances of this country, its well-being, and its.-prosperity, in carried into law, and the Right Hon. Baronet must, therefore, considerir g this measure.—(Cheers. ) excuse him if he declined to follow him in the path in which "A thousand years scarce serve to form a state, he wished to lead him.—(Cheers.) They had be en t o ld by A n h our may l ay i t i n t h e d ust ."—( Ch eers. ) the Secretary at War (Mr. Sidney Herbert) that this was a From whom had they so frequently and profitably learned golden opportunity for settling the present question with these lessons of practical wisdom, as from those very men who honour—( He a r, h ea r)—but he did not see how any question would now have untaught them all ? The speech of his could be settled with honour when it was to be done at the ex- Right Hon. Friend, delivered the other night, was in fact a pence of political honesty.—(Loud cheers.) He had repre- free-trade speech, unqualified by any of those exceptions which sented his cons tit uen ts for many years, and h e did no t he had been so strenuous a su pp or t er o f f or th e l ast believe that he ever was asked to give a single pledge as to few years. It was not upon the ground of the petitio his course of conduct in that House. But he considered that principii that he had put these measures for there was an implied understanding that he should endeavour ward, nor had they been suggested by an anxious to maintain th e law as it then existed, and he considered such anticipation of the state of things in Ireland, which had been implication equally binding in honour as any pledge that he so much dwelt upon. It did appear to him (Mr. S.) that, could personally g i ve , an d it should never be said that he for the last thirty years, the Right Hon. Gentleman appeared deserted the i n t eres t s o f those who had sent him to that to think he had been wrong, and that it was only within the House.— ( Hear, bear.) last four weeks he had been set right by the speeches of the Sir CHARLES NAPIER had hoped that, after the elo- Anti Xorn-law League.—( Cheers. ) He (Mr. S.) regretted quent and unanswerable speech of the Right Hon. Baronet that he had not the eloquence or the arguments of his Right at the head of th e G ov ernment, that Hon. Gentlemen oppo- Hon. Friend to enable him to dwell upon the subject as he site would h ave seen the propriety of bringing the present could wish, for if he had he would endeavour to exhibit to the debate to a conc l u sion.—(Cheers and laughter.) He could House in its proper position the fact that the words of the not see what pu r po s e they had in view by prolonging it.— Right Hon. Gentleman upon this measure, upon former occa ( Laughter.) The great complaint which Hon. Gentlemen lions, were now in the actual process of being eaten at that table. had to the Right Hon. Baronet was, that he proposed to —(Cheers.) The Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary for the bring in a new co r n. l a w, which he had done in consequence Home Department (Sir J. Graham) had tried to gulp all his of the failure of the potato crop in Irel an d. H e (Si r C. a t one swallow.—( Cheers.) But that was too muc h even f or Napier) did not see why the lion. Gentlemen should have the stomach of the Right Hon. Baronet--( Cheers and laughter) expressed such i n dignation at the change of mind which such a —and it quite overcame the nerves and gravity of the House. course exhibited on the part of the Right Hon. Baronet. —( Cheers.) No, it would not do for the Right Hon. Baronet He was not the only person, however, against whom this (Sir J. Graham) now to talk of " abrogating his inheritance" indignation s ho u ld have been evinced.—( Cheers. ) The rather than wring his wealth from the poverty of the poor Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department man. Was that, then, what the Right Hon. Baronet was had shown a s imilar change of mind.--( Cheers and laughter.) doing for the last thirty years of his life? That assumption The Right Hon. Secretary at War had followed in the wa k e was really the beg g in g o f the whole question.—(Hear, hear.) of the two Noble Baronets.—(Roars of laughter.) The Did the Right Hon. Baronet think that even the poor rustic Chancellor of the Exchequer had expressed a similar opinion, labourer was so simple as to be taken in by that statement— and other Hon. Gentlemen on the same side of the House. recollecting who it was that, as it were only the other day,' so He wondered that Hon. Gentlemen did not tax that (the poetically described— Opposition) side of the House with having changed their minds " The breezy call of incense-breathing morn," alio. They had shown a change quite as great as that ex- as compared with the " sad sound of the factory bell," and hibited by the Right Hen. Baronet.—(Laughter.) Did they drew the pathetic contrast between "the blooming garden imagine they were to follow the example of country gentlemen and the foul garret,"—" the innocent walk of the country who ploughed the same horses now as they did twenty or thirty Sabbath, and the debauchery, the sorrows, and the sins of years ago.—(Roars of laughter.) Did not the Right Hon. the crowded manufactory"—(Cheers)—who spoke of "sinking Gentleman explain that so early as the let of November last hearts and rebelling hands;" and asked where were the he proposed to open the ports and the only support which such a moralists that they did not lift their voices against those fearful proposition had in the Cabinet was from three of his colleagues ? consequences ?—( Hear.) Ave, but where was the moralist The Right Hon. Baronet then resigned. The Noble Lord now, when the Right Hon. Baronet was himself proposing to ( Lord John Russell) was then called to the helm of Whit s, and perpetrate a cruelty which he then described as " far mere the Noble -Lord also failed to construct a Government.— atrocious than sending the Poles to Siberia ?"—(Cheers. ) The (Cheers and laughter.) He (Sir Charles Napier) rejoiced House might depend upon it that those changes of opinion that the Noble Lord had failed.—(Laughter.) The Noble by the Members of her Majesty's Government would be Lord had done so in an uncertainty as to how many of the Hon. appreciated as they deserved, and traced to their true source. Gentlemen opposite would have come over to his opinions, and But, to pass from those six-months' converts to those who were under the circumstances he was perfectly justified not converts as many days, he would first come to what ap e in declining to undertake the Government.—( Hear, hear.) peered to him to be the most inexplicable and unexplained part The Noble Lord the Member for Newark asked why the Right of the question—he meant the colleagues of the Right Hon. Hon. Baronet did not open the ports now. Had this been Gentleman, who first raised an alarm by retiring from office be the case, and had the Right Hon. Baronet proposed the im- cause they disapproved of the measure introduced, and then, in mediate opening of the ports, he would have met with the six or eight days subsequently, turned round. —( Cheers.) It same reproaches, and the same complaints would have followed. was contended that they were all honourable men. —( Hear, bear.) He (Sir C. Napier) thought that the Right He knew the majority of them, arid he believed Hon. Baronet was perfectly right in the course he had adopted such to be decidedly true ; but that was not under the circumstances. He believed the Right Hon. Ba- enough, for the public had a right to require ronet would much sooner have the immediate repeal of the every explanation for the acts of public men. corn-laws thin that they should be protracted for three years But these gentlemen had set the very worst precedent; as a de longer, but he sincerely believed that the Right Hon. Baronet parture from sound principles to meet particular cases of emer had gone as far as he could go.—(Cheers and laughter.) gency was invariably adopted by bad men for their own pur- But if they (the Opposition side of the House) poses.—( Hear, hear.) He asserted that it was not alone for fell into the trap which the Hononrable Gentlemen their own country's sake that the principles of their public men opposite had laid for them, with respect t o th e s h ou ld b e f u lly i n t e lli g ibl e; t h ey s h ou ld b e i ntell i gi b le to the immediate opening of the ports, they would defeat the measure men of all other countries—they should not alone be suited for entirely.—( Hear, hear.) He therefore hoped and trusted the present age, but for history also.—( Hear, hear.) There that they would abide by the proposition of the Hon. Baronet, fore, while he did not throw the slightest aspersion on the private though it might not reach the full limit of their desires.— , character of any gentleman, he should say that the conduct of ( Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord, the Member for Newark, many Honourable Members remained to be explained, and also proposed, that before they concurred in the measures he believed the public of that country, and the discriminating which had been proposed, that they should appeal to the coon- public of every other country, would consider their conduct as try. Now he (Sir C. Napier) would ask, was that a time to an evidence of imbecility of mind, and as a political tergiver make such an appeal, when Ireland was in a state of starve- sation unprecedented in English annals.—(Loud cheers.) tion—when the public tranquillity was in imminent danger of Would not France draw a striking contrast between the consis being disturbed ? Ard Hon. Gentlemen opposite knew- that' tency and firmness of her first. Minister—whose object was to such a state of things really existed ?—( Cheers, and cries of consolidate the power and extend the empire of his Sovereign— " No, no.") The consequence which would follow the carry- as compared with the opposite qualities exhibited by the Right ing out of the proposition of the Noble Lord would be, that Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Ministry?—(Hear, matters would become still worse.—( Cheers..) The Noble Lord bear.) And, looking to their relations with America, they might was the most extraordinary man that ever he had heard speak flatter themselves with the notion that by the enactment of mes on the subject.—(Roars of laughter.) The Noble Lord had sures of a free-trade nature, they could bribe her to peace, always heen a sliding -scale nobleman—(Laughter) --but now the but was the present the moment that the Ministry should Noble Lord proposed to accept a fixed duty.—( Hear, hear.) select to display their want of spirit, and their crouching with- The Noble Lord, therefore, was as much in fault as the Right drawal before the pressure of blustering and clamour?-( Hear, Hon. Baronet. , The Hon. Baronet was influenced in his hear.) He firmly believed that the present Ministry would change of mind by a regard for the public welfare, but the be handed down to posterity as the greatest political cowards Noble Lord was influenced by self-interested motives and from that ever held the reins of Government.—(Protectionist a desire to keep his rents higher.—( Cheers, and cries of " Oh, cheers.) The Right. Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State for oh.") He would tell the House what he 'believed to be the the Home Department not only spoke with all the zeal of a truth—(Uproar) —and he was of opinion that there would not political neophyte, but also acted as one ; and he (Mr. Shaw) have been such an opposition to the measure of could put no other construction on the speech of the Right the Right Ron. Baronet if they were not impressed Honourable Gentleman but that, for the sake of peace with the idea that the effect would be to cause a reduction in and order, he had discarded the support of a grea t p ar ty their rents.—(Cheers, and cries of " Oh, oh.") It was not his which comprised the rank, the wealth, ay, and h e wou ld sa y, desire to p ress hardly on Hon. Gentlemen opposite. ,He con- whatever Hon. Gentlemen opposite might think, the intent sidereil, however, that there were certain feelings which some- genre of the country.—(Oh, oh, and protectionist cheers.) times crept into the human heart, which . blinded it to a sense Yes, for the sake of saving them and the country from ruin, of justice, and prevented it from asserting those principles of the Right Hon. Baronet threw himself and the Government truth which, under other circumstances, it would at once adopt. into the hands of the Anti-Corn-law League and the Repeal The Right Hon. Baronet, in his speech of last night, adverted A ssoc i a ti on o f D u bli n. —(Ch eers an d counter c h eers .) B ut to what had fallen from the Hon. Member for Northampton; the lesson would not be lost in Ireland. He had observed, that and he had very properly animadverted upon it. Now if, in- Mr. Smith O'Brien, a gentleman for whom he entertained in stead of making long speeches on the other side of the House, private the highest respect, though he differed with him in Hon. Members were to give long leases, their tenants would politics, had pointed out the present concession as an not suffer half so much, even according to their own argu- harbinger of ultimate success for the Repeal Association. merits, hear .) as l f ttheyhe they otherwise to would from this measure.....( Hear, He was an enthusiastic gentleman, and w ou ld p ro fit b y th e go down into Scotland, they would concession. He should declare that, if in two years hence he see the improvements in agriculture there. They would see should see Sir Robert Peel, under the pressure of agitation, them thrashing corn there by steam, instead of by men and introduce some modified plan for a repeal of the Legislative horses. It might appear strangely singular to Honour- Union, he would not be so much astonished as if any man able Members far a sailor like him to give them had told him, two years since, that he should witness such advice, but he was a farmer himself. It was the introduction of a measure like the present.— true he was a farmer upon a small scale—so much the worse (Cheers.) The measure would have a most dangerous for him.—(Laughter.) He took a farm about two years ago effect, and would be a further inducement to the of forty acres, and he wished he' could have afforded to take repealers of Ireland to persevere in their determination. more.—(Continued laughter.) It was now fourteen years in When he heard his Hon. Friend last night threaten those cultivation, and, up to the time he had taken it, it had produced gentlemen representing the agricultural interest to give them nothing. His predecessors could grow nothing, the soil was total repeal, he thought it was not very worthy of the Right a barren one, and in fact truly unfortunat e All w h o h a d t a k en H on . B aronet , arid he did think that it showed his instability it up had most signally failed. He had not been on it above and his infirmity as a public man. Tile Noble Lord the Member a year before he had lost 1001. clear money.—( Laughter. ) for London had spoken of his party the other night, and His next door neighbour was ap or fellow, but he was a good gloried in he share they had in bringing for ward this mea fellow ; ho had no money, but he managed to live very sure. He (Mr. Shaw) owned, that when he heard well. He (the Honourable Baronet) said to 'him, the Member for London state the means that been adopted Well, old fellow"—.(Laughter)—he said toi him, in order to carry this measure he thought that the Noble Lord Well, old fellow, how ait you get on—you have no money ? 'tit spoke in bitter irony. —( Cheers from the Ministerial benches.) true, you have but a wife and a pony—how is it you manage to Let what would result from the measure—either failure or sue do so well ?" I said, " I have money, and have spent it on my cess—let it bring either weal or woe to the interest of this land, and yet can produce nothing but a loss."—(Laughter.) country, neither honour nor glory would ever be associated " Well, Sir," said h e , '"'my advice to you is, to dig up all your with the means that had been adopted to bring it about.— ditches, and then to go eighteen inches with your plough, and (Cheers from the Mi n i s t er i a l s id e .) It was we ll k nown to then sow your seed." He had followed this advice, and he men of every system of politics that this proposed measure had grew the next year eleven acres of oats all gond and marketable. given a shock to public feeling and confidence which raver- Now, by following this advice—by making all those improve- berated through every portion of the Queen's empire, and bad ments, of all this farrow land he had but fourteen acres which injured all confidence in the Government. When the Noble, did not produce an abundant crop. On mach of this farrow Lord, the Member for London, spoke of the satisfaction.he felt land, he could assure the House, that he had grown in the measure, he must have felt well satisfied to look at that the . heads of many 'of the side of the pow, to see their broken ranks—to see the Right Ho ,had. no doubt that he would be he had effected the overthrow of the Noble Lord, now corn 'the 'P"teetivdinterests of the Honourable Baronet, with the very weapon with 'which other g ab ro le w t v o ete g h ro es w , one thing after tho other till at last he would mitting a sort of political suicide—(Cheers from the Minis- grow which theland would produce corn , and terial side)—to see the man who had formerly commanded p side Members de a o s fh e large " iado uv os House. . a s t olgie wi th such improvement, instead of Lord to uphold this would be the result of an improved . system of agriculture . the House, and driven the Noble Lord from his position, now If Hon. Members who Blade such an outcry against the in- supplicating the Noble Lord for support ._( Hear, hear.) He Oh !" roads of agriculture, would but get down their ditches, and sow (the Right Hon;Baronet) was humbly supplicating the Noble the existence of his Government.—(" speeches, they would do well, and the result from the Opposition.) Well, then, those gentlemen who cried ter favourable gain. He hadtaken I I at least deny that the Government of the would be no but a y up " Oh, oh, cou tno discussion—he thought a new course Baronet existed on the sufferance of the Noble a new part in this was Right Hon. Id t k had he o fiewhat thatparty was years been worn quite Lord. When he thought of very necessary, as t m th a e k ir in c g or t n ho i s n e l a o c n e g ord accordance threadbare, an one alte • • d he thought , Hon. Members would appreciate ago, when the Right Honourable Baronet was at its would be, that they would vote for the measure before the now, he could not help declaring that be was sorry Shell IA a :V il d o os w wai t nd h f a tl t ra h tt, e hien b i a r d much of that party f that his political life had lasted until he had seen that day. that the result head, and contrasted its then position with what it was the present mea- He considered the course adopted by the Right Hon., t H h o e :lsre. course .. .( -"ling , Baronet, or, as he trusted he might still call him, his Right sure, he would that much of that ruinous.—(Loud laughter from all parts although he must confess party feeling had Hon Friend, to be necbheeecrlas!)medwfhoratheivmersehlifs, v ( t r ,.a sh st a r w ic . t o s o en . se . of given way. those with whom he had of the House.) He entirely acquitted him of any motive for years acted had left alternative , either to besides the o Cheers e a e n e d n, la e ug the h ik t m e e r n . verify his opinion in unison • keep silence, or to Cheers.) Hon. Baronet's pinion The measure before the House was one of all others which might be * of the Right political conduct, he would du great and incalculable, injury to Ireland. The never thought that he was actuated by any but a good feeling. debate hail taken a new turn. The Hon. and Gallant He would conclude by addressing to the Right Honourable Member had introduced that change in the debate. Baronet the words which, many years ago, on a • Many of those w ho had risen on the subject had said they similar occasion, he (the Right Honourable Baro would vote for the measure, but many of those who had also net) had addressed to the Member for London—" You wish to risen said they would vote against the motion. The Noble induce us to follow principles in which there are nothing but Lord the Member f or Li v erpool said that the measure, though varying counsels—divided colleagues—statements of facts that he would not vote against it, if it should be carried, would cannot be reconciled—arguments leading to opposite conchs disappoint those w h o h a d b r ought it forward, and placed such sions. We cannot surrender our judgment to throw down the reliance on its results,. and he (the Hon. Member) was of protection now existing . as a security to agriculture, to try in opinion that it w o u ld di sa ppoint the public generally. He thought an agricultural lottery, in the vain hope of drawing out a prize." Right Hon. Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Ministry —(lmmense cheering.) had no right to say that the Noble Lord (Lord Ashley), who Mr. BRIGHT said that the lion. Member who had just had resigned his seat, was i n favour of the measure, because he resumed his seat, and other Members on the protectionist side, had so resigned, i ns tead o f voting for the measure. Thelllons should have learned by heart the speeches delivered by the Member for. Liverpool, w ho had said that the measure would Right Hon. Baronet and the Right Hon. the Home Secretary. be of the greatest injury to the interests of —(. Oh, oh," from the Ministerial side.) If these speeches this country was animadverted upon in the speech of had been correctly committed to memory, some two Members the Right lion. B aro net, who held it as a right that those who might have delivered them to the House, and have saved much held opinions contrary to the Right Hon. Baronet, had a right time and trouble, and a good deal of repetition. He had hoped to express th emse l ves t o that effect on that question, without that when the Honourable Member for Bristol moved the being subject to attack. The Noble Lord the Member for the amendment the principle of protection was about to be discussed. West Riding of Yorkshire bad said, that those who had advo- The question really to be considered was the repeal of the corn. mica the protective interests in that House were broken up as laws and not the party Twills on the opposite side of the b)s übgp tyue dk on. eg e :nand House. They were very much mistaken if they supposed that the great 'body of the people cared anything about the quarrels of the Conservative party. He had listened to nearly every speech on that side of the House that had been made in support of protection, and he, instead of entering into their party disputes, would direct his ateentien to the arguments that had been brought forward in its favour. The Hon. and Learned Member for the University of Dublin's (Mr. Shaw's) speech was entirely directed to the party quarrel at issue, and therefore he (Mr. Bright) did not intend to answer it. —(lronical cheers from the Conservative benches ) If he was not mistaken, the question of protection was the real question before the House, and therefore he would pass on to the speeches of those who attempted to grapple with it. The Hon. Member for Bristol (Mr. P. Miles), who introduced the question, said that the farmers would not be content to ' sell cheap corn and buy dear sugar ; and the Hon. Member for Wiltshire deeared that it would be unfair for the colonies to be protected at a heavy expense to British agri culture. The Hon. Member said he could not interfere to give protection to the planter or the colonist, if Parliament withdrew protection from British grain. In that principle he (Mr. Bright) agreed. He admitted its truth, and he sincerely hoped that the same principle would be extended to all.—( Hear, hear.) He would say it was not just to protect sugar, if it was withdrawn from corn; and on the same grounds he hoped that Hon. Gentlemen would see that if any interest or trade in the country was unprotected, while corn was protected, it was equally unjust to that particular trade or interest. Hon. Mem bers could not deny that. He must say this as the represen tative, if so he might term himself, of one of the largest trades in the country, to which no Member proposed the protection of the House, and a trade that did no t requ i re it . Si nce h e came into that House a proposition had been made to remove all impediments in the way of exporting machinery, and he was glad to say that every Member in that House, as well, he be lieved, as every one connected with that trade out of the House, supported that motion. Last year the 10 per cent. im posed on the exportation of cotton yarns was repealed, and every one .connected w i th the trade in the House voted for the proposition. Not only the Membde in the House con nected with the cotton trade gave their votes in support of the repeal, but out of the House it was supported by nearly all in terested in that pursuit. But he would not take cotton, or woollen, or silk, but he would come at once to the real question to be considered —the policy of a protective duty on corn—(Cries of " Hear, hear ")—and on which lion. Members on the Opposition side had talked as if they knew so much. He was walki ng p ast t h e offices of the protec tion party in Bond-street the other day, and he must say the place seemed seedy and forlorn:—(Loud laughter.)_ There was not the slightest appearance of business there. He saw a large brass plate on the door, on which was engraved in large letters " The Central Society for the Protection of Agricul culture and Native Industry." And what, he would ask, wa s that industry which it was proposed to protect? He recol lected in 1842, when his Hon. Friend the Member for Stock pert (Mr. Cobden) proposed that if the protection of the landed interest was agreed to, that it should also be to raise and keep permanent the rate of wages.—( Hear, hear.) What answer was given to that proposition? Honourable Members said that they could not understand how that proposition could be agreed to on princi ples of political economy. If wages could not be settled by Act of Parliament, was it nut equally opposed to the laws of political economy, and equally absurd to pass a law to raise the produce of the landlord's estates ? He would beg the Hon. Member to give a clear and satisfactory answer to this point. That Hon. Member professed to understand the question, and he (Mr. Bright) believed that the Hon. Gentleman was a reader of the Economist newspaper. If he said so, and professed to know the principle which regulates trade and commerce, he (Mr. Bright) could not understand how he could reconcile those principles with the speech which he had made the other night. That speech was skilfully con structed, but it was nothing more, and did not deal fairly and comprehensively with the question before the House. Let him look at the increase of population—consider the limited extent of these two islands, with a population of 27,000,000, and which was increasing at a great rate, a million and a half hav ing been added since the corn-law of 1842 was passed— let him consider this, and see how he could reconcile it with the principles of political economy. They would, if they dared, shut out foreign produce altogether from this country; and he believed that many of their sup. porters sighed f or a l aw t h at would do so.—( Cries of " Oh, oh.") Well, then, they would prohibit it to the point at which it would be safe to stop,—to the point of starvation What mattered it how much distress might be felt by the labourer in Wiltshire or the weaver in Lincolnshire, if high prices for wheat could be safely maintained ? Up to that point, then, they wished to prohibit the importation of foreign corn, although they well knew that, with the increasing population, there would be a greater difficulty in supplying them with home-grown corn. But the landlords pr o b a bl y argue d t h at t h e increased demand for food would involve an increased amount of rent for the land.—(Hear, hear.) Was this protection to the labourer or to the farmer ? They said, yes, or they would not thus struggle to maintain it. lie (Mr. Bright) had heard a clergyman of the Church of England say that the labourers' protection was the poor-lase.—( Hear, hear.) The poor-law was as much a protection to clergymen as to the labourer, for the reduced clergyman like the labourer could fall back upon the workhouse. In what condition was the land under the existing system of protection? He (Mr. Bright) would tell them it was badly cultivated in most parts of the country. There was scarcely a parish in which there were not more labourers than could and employment. They found one labourer competing with another—they found a fierceness of competition that was destroying them, yet that House had never passed a law regu lating- the wages of labour. The Honourable Member for Wiltshire, the senior Member (Mr. Bennet) he expected, come time ago, at a meeting held in his own county, made a long speech to the farmers, and made one of the most extra ordinary statements that ever had been made in the bearing of his fellow men. He was reviewing the state of agriculture in that very happy county, and he was lamenting his misfor tune in being born to the possession of some thousand acres. He said that if he had the happiness to come into the world again, he knew no condition which he should choose with so much alacrity and contentment as the condition of the agri • cultural labourer. Well, he did feel some delicacy—(lronical cheers and laughter).—in saying, that this remark might imply a doubt as to the wisdom of the Ho nouable Member's choice. But he certainly ought to know the condition of the labourer ; he lived among them, and therefore was qualified to form an opinion on the subject. Bu' he (Mr. Bright) would rather have the opinion of the labourer; and he would still confine the 1-1, n. Gentleman to his own county of Wilts. They had heard of a meeting at Goatacre.—( Hear.) Some Hon. Member had stated that this meeting was got up by the League.—(Cheers, and laughter. ) Hon. Gentlemen opposite were so convinced of the omnipresence: of the League, that he, perhaps, need not affirm that the League had nothing to do with it. But they had a later meeting of labourers at Bremhill, and a certain labourer, Job Senning, took the chair. He did not know whether he was a prize la bourer or not. But Job said, " I be protected, but I be starved." It was not in Wiltshire alone that misery existed. An lion. Friend had put into his hand a paper, drawn up by a respectable person in the town of Tiverton. The paper gave the condition of 28 families, the number of children, and the wages which they earned for a week. What were these wages ? :seven shillings. Men with wives, and flue, six, or seven children—living in miserable huts, paying high rents, and obliged to pay oust of their scanty means a high price for winter fuel—and all this out of seven shillings a week. Now, he should like to ask the Hon. Member for Northamptonshire, who boasted that the labourer could earn 125., if this was the protection that they gave to the labourers?—( Ilear)—and if it was, whether it was commensurate with the benefits which the landlords had been reaping for the last thirty years.—( Cheers.) The Hon. Member spoke of the condition of the coachmakers. Would the Hon. Member go down to Southampton, and ask Mr. Andrews, the celebrated coachmaker, what the state of trade at that time was ? He would find that he was building coaches for all the countries of Europe. He (Mr. Bright) would not insult his countrymen, as Hon. Members opposite did, by declaring that they were behind their rivals on the Continent in anything requiring fine taste and execution. Why even foreigners acknowledge the superiority of the English workman in all the branches of manufacture. But these gen tlemen affirmed that the tradesman was behind the artisan of France, as their labourers were behind the serfs of Poland. lion. Members had expressed great horror of coming evils if these corn-laws should be abolished. There were different sorts of inundation. Ho had heard of inundation of water, but now agricultural gentlemen . were alarmed at a threatened inundation of • ' Corn.—( Hear, hear. ) Those who had travelled abroad must know there was nothing in the climate, nothing in the land, which was likely to com pete successfully with the agriculture of this country. What could be more certain than that they grew for every acre of land in England a larger quantity of corn than was grown upon an acre in any other country in the world. Mr. Web ster, in a speech in the United States, gave a statement of the number of acres grown in this country, and the number of quarters per acre, and he pointed to England as exceeding America, and he exhorted his countrymen to en deavour to equal this country. If they grew more acres than any other country in the world,, another thing was just as sure, and that was that the labourer got a smaller portion for his share than in any other country in t he world.—( Cries of " No, no.") Why if the prices were so much higher in this country, as they said they were, and if wages an _ if were seven shillings per week in some of the countries, d their acres of land grew nearly twice as much possibly s ssi a b n ie y other acres in the world, he would ask how was for them to come to any other conclusion than . that the l a bourer reaped their fields, but got a smaller port ion of the r p o d u ee for his subsistence than in any other country in the world ! Let them look to their advantages. They had a larger supply of manure than was found in any other country they had far better agricultural implements thes had them at a much cheaper rate they had far better roads than they found anywhere else —and they had markets so much better that hardly any com parison could be drawn. True it was that protection had da maged them. It was not foreign competition that they need fear. They had protected the tanner into a state of decripi tude, and now, when a stimulus was offered to them, they trembled for the consequences that might ensue.—( Hear. ) Let them take the county of Cheshire. There was ,a high aristocracy there and a very poor tenantry. There was land of at least an average quality most wretchedly cultivated, and there would be a mass of pauperism in Cheshire equalling the south-weetern counties, if it were not for the proximity to Lancashire, in which county the labourer found refuge. It was not the soil of Cheshire that made the farmer poor— it was not the climate —it was the Legislature. of that House which destroyed the vitality of agriculture. In the course of this debate, nothing had been said upon the subject of mortgages. Th e H on. Member for Berkshire said, that he did not ask for protection—if the law was not a good law, let it be abolish e d, an d i f the principle were unsound let it be abandoned. The late Paymaster of the Forces it was who first talked about mortgages, and they need not be surprised if the people in the country used that argument which had been put into their mouths. But he would discuss this question solely with reference to the peculiar interest to the landowner. The lion. Member for Berkehire spoke of burdens—he spoke of poor-rates. Now lie (:11r. Bright) thought he could show that [lon. Gentleman that the capital of the tenant-farmer of this country paid no poor-rates w hatever.—( Hear, hear.) They complained that he (Mr. Bright) did not pay rates upon ma chinery in his mills. They said that stock in trade should be rated to the poor -rate. But if that argument were applied to him, it must be applied to the agriculturist also. How did this woek ? The Hon. Member for Berkshire, he would say, had some thousands with which to cultivate his land. Ile paid nothing in the shape of poor-rate upon his household furniture, or the produce in his barns—his growing crops—upon his ma nure, upon his cattle, or upon any kind of stock or implement he might have. He did not pay a single farthing for poor rates until the time when a permanent improvement in the soil had taken place, and same portion of the tenant's capital had become incorporated with the land. Now if lie (Mr. Bright) was to fay upon his machinery and his cotton, it was quite clear that the tenant mast pay poor-rates upon the stock he had mentioned. They had better say nothing, . therefore, about the poor-rates. Mr. PALMER—I did not allude to the poor-rates. Mr. BRIG HT—I think the Hon. Gentleman tid., , _ _ on. Mr. PALMER—I quoted from a speech of the did. Mr. Hon. Baronet. Mr. BRIGHT-tWell then there t was th another bu rbdtternd of fi game.v ieh had not been mentioned, There svere two sons of ofti a ie nd Du ti k:e mi who had 'spoken in the deb t at e e, against the proposition_ _o r f l. the Noble Duke paid 9 I w ß h u o t la w n e d re i in about t t to house,vote Government. In 1844, that for game damage on 309 acres of land. Now he ' asked how Honourable Members could come to that liouso, when for their own aztzse. mcnt the produce of the land was being devoured He was of opinion after all that Hon. Members opposite were not in earnest in this debate. He believed there was no fear of the repeal of the corn-laws amongst them. They were angry with the Government, but they were not afraid of the abolition of protection. In that House, however, they had stated that if the corn-laws was abolished, the land would be thrown out of cultivation, and there would be no rents paid: they had told their tenants that if the corn law was abolished they would be ruined, and he would promise them that before twelve months had passed over their heads that statement would be brought up in judgment against them. They said that such a step would involve the country in ruin, for there would be no revenue; and the aristocracy of the country would be abolished ; and that the Church, and consequently Christianity, would be injured, and that the sun of England (he did net know what that meant), would be set for ever; which Hon. Members opposite had predicted would result from the abolition of the corn laws ; but did they new adhere to these statements and were they anxious to repu diate them? Why there was no alarm in the country ,although these inevitable calamities were said to be fast coming upon them. There was no resistance to the measure of any im portance, there was no insurrection, notwithstanding it was said that seven-ninths of the country were connected with agriculture, and the majority of them in favour of protection. An these calamities were fast coming upon them, and yet there was not the smallest alarm of insurrection.—(Cries of "Oh, oh.") The Right Honourable Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department had told them that there was not the remotest sign of insurrection in the country, and did they suppose that the country would be in this quiet state while these great calamities were impending over them? Why the fact was the public did not believe what they said, and the majority of the people were in favour of the Government proposition. When were the meetings of the Hon. Gentlemen opposite? where had they been held? Why one of them had been held in Dorsetshirc, and it was trumpeted forth to the country as the great meeting of the county, and yet it was only attended by 1,500 persons. Now let them look at the contrast. Why he himself addressed 3,400 per sons in the very same field, and he had presented peti tions to that House which were unsninmously agreed tt by those persons, and prayed for the immediate ; e e total, and unconditional repeal of the corn-laws. Where else had they held their meetings? Why he could not find any that was worthy the attention of that House. But let them look on the other hand, and they would find petitions had been presented from all parts of the country. against the corn-laws.—( Hear, hear.) Look at the petition • that was presented from Manchester—it was signed by 300,C00. Look again at the petition which were presented by the Me tropolitan Members, with 400,090 signatures attached to it. Compare these withl the petitions presented by Hon. 'Mem bers opposite, with about 12 or 18 signatures to each. Why one Noble Lord, who sat upon the opposite benches, presented a number of petitions in favour of protection, and he stated the number of signatures which would be found attached to it. Taking the whole, on an average, there was not more than 30 signatures to each petition Did this prove that public opinion was in favour of protection ? No, it proved quite the contrary ; look again at the public press, and they would find that the majority of the largest circulating papers of the country were in favour of the Government proposition. He had heard of men going to the field of battle with light and merry hearts, and he had heard too of men who had mounted the scaffold with a bold and resolute step ; but he declared that in the whole course of his existence he had never seen a number of men sliding down to ruin with faces en jovial and so complacent as 'hose of Honourable Members opeosite. Honourable Members opposite had accused the Right Honourable Baronet at the head of the Government with being a traitor, but it would ill become him to attempt the defence of that Right Honourable Baronet after the speech he delivered last night ; that speech, he vi ould venture to say, was more powerful and more to be admired than any speech which had been delivered in that House within the memory of any Honourable Member present; he watched the Right Ho nourable Baronet home last night, and for the first time in his life he envied the Right Hon. Baronet the feelings he must have felt on that occasion. That speech had been sent into every part of the kingdom, and it would he read by those who had been trampled upon, and it would infuse renewed hope in the hearts of those whose rights had long been treated with scorn an d centempt.—(Hear, hear. ) He did not say that all the mills in Lancashire would be shut up in a week if Hon. Members on the other side of the Home had taken office, but he was quite sure that there would have been the utmost consternation in the country. The Noble Lord who lately represented the county of Lancaster—Lord Stanley —must have been a man at the head of that Govern ment.—(Protectionist cheers.) Now let. them just recollect the remarkable knowledge of geography—(Opposition cheers) —which that Noble Lord once displayed in that House with respect to a Russian province. --( Renewed cheers.) Let them look at the Hon. Member for Norfolk who sat at the table, and who was deputed, as he ( Mr. Bright) supposed, by the Great Central Protection Society, to have, in the phraseo logy of that body, a shindy—(Laughter)—with his Honour able Friend the Member for Stockport (Mr. Cobden) in St. Andrew's Hall, in Norfolk. That Hon. Member for Norfolk had said that he advocated certain principles which he said were supported by the Hon. Henry Clay, who, he belieted was once President of the United Stites of America. Now, if one man did not know more of geography, and another man of history, than those two did, he confessed he did not think they would make a very brilliant Cabinet in managing the concerns of this country.—( Hear, hear.) But no doubt the Duke of Rich mond must have been held a Member of that Cabinet— ( Hear, hear.) Why he heard the Noble Duke speak in another place—he heard him say that Mr. Cobden got thirty thousand pounds by his business.—( Hear, hear.) And, more over, he heard him say in another place th of one of his tenants paid more poor's rates than all the Leaguers put together. That might be quite true —be (Mr. Bright) did not doubt it; but if it did, it spoke very badly for protec tion, when he said that one of his tenants was obliged to pay more than the whole amount paid by the Leaguers altogether. —(Cheers.) Now what sort of Cabinet would they have had if Lord Stanley, and the lion. Member for Norfolk, and the Duke of Richmond, had been Members of it. Why, he was quite sure that in all the public speaking in which he had ever been engaged, he had never done anything so disastrous. to the aristocracy of this country, and especially to the order of things, as had been done by that Noble Duke within the last three or four months.—(Cries of " Oh, oh," from the protectionists,: followed by cheers from the Opposition.) Such charges upon men who differed from him in opinion—such statements as those which he had made in another place, to the effect that it were an easy matter to send itinerant agi tators to the north, and to say that corn could burn as well -as flax.—(Loud Opposition cheers.) Now really was that the man that they professed themselves anxious to place •at the head of the Government ? They knew very well that the country would not tolerate such a Cabinet for a week.—(Op position sheers. ) But it was not to place a Protectionist Go vernment in office that they carried on this violent opposition to the Government, but he believed it to be that they might be avenged of those who had forsaken the obligations of party, that they might obey the call of a great country, which was calling upon them to work out its commercial deliverance. He would make one observation on the speech -of the Hon. Member for Oxford (Sir H. Inglis). He confessed that he could not' participate in the lamentation which he made on the breaking up of his party. He considered that the country always gained when parties lost.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") The Honourable Member says he is going to vote against the proposed measure.—(Hear, hear.) If he did so, he (Mr. Bright) must confess that for the future be would always doubt his orthodoxy, for he had been given to understand that the whole bench of bishops intended to vote in favour of the measure.—( Hear.) Knowing the intense suf fering in the country—knowing that famine with all its attendant horrors is fast approaching the people of Ireland, who is the per son, or dignitary of a Christian church, who in this state would refuse to give his sanction to a measure for the opening of the ports, and thereby afford a supply of food to the suffering people of Ireland ?—( Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member need be in no fear for the dissolution of the Tory part ; he may be certain that so long as there are any abuses in the country, any imposition, whether civil or ecclesiastical, that party will still continue to have the power of throwing their shield around them.—( Hear, hear.) And as regards the University which the lion. Member represents, from the time of their passing the famous Oxford Decree, in the year 1683, to the present time, there has ever been the greatest spirit of perse cution associated with the most profound ignorance. —( Hear. ) But the question which we have now to consider is, " shall the measure be passed in its present slate, or shall the repeal of the corn-laws be total and immediate ? He considered hat the measure of the Government was a great and a noble measure—( Hear, hear)—and not all the Shibboleth of the Anti-Corn-law League would make him deny that state ment. It. was a measure which reflected great credit on the Minister.—( Hear, hear.) But great I fe, anti measures, i.ke great pictures, are tarnished by s he thought that the defect in this measure was defects. thatl temf th b e e r r epea was not immediate.—( Hear. hear.) An had Hon. had consulted six sta t tyed-thref, that a forifendhoisfhistehntadndtisng with larg reference to their e property a to mur b rn av e e r ag th a e in ir st t le he ase r s epe a a s l tlheaesyes, were,an n cl or th d e id y they con e r n a :s te e d of the corti-laW. They signed agreements for fresh leases at the very time when the present measure was brought forward in this House ; and there is one Noble Lord who is a large landholder, who states that he he has obtained higher rents than before, although the measure is on the table of the House. Hon. Members opposite have tried to frighten these farmers, and with some few they have succeeded. Now, he thought that the exertions of the League had, to some extent, prevented this panic. He asked for an immediate and total repeal of the corn-laws, because they were in opposition to the laws of heaven. It was a great wrong upon many. So grievous was the injury that it was impossible for them to remain where they now were. If there was famine in Ireland—and of that there was no sane person, he believed, who now entertained a doubt —he thought that the Government would not advocate a measure which would retain a duty of four shillings on food, but would proceed to the immediate and total repeal of the corn-laws. They knew there were emergencies, and emergencies that could not be overrated. He hoped that it would be remembered there was a famine, although there were some who would not admit it until it reached the dwellers of rich Belgrave-square.—(Cheering. ) The Anti • Corn-law League had, he ks.lieved, some influence on ' that subject, and they it was well known were advocating a total repeal. The country, more now than ever, were anxious that the repeal should be immediate ; and unleas it was, he promised the House that before the close of the session there would be another discussion—(Cheer)—in order that the corn laws may be repealed. The lion. Gentleman the Member for Warwickshire, who he (Mr. Bright) was sorry he did not see in his place, made an attack on the League, and said its acts were illegal, but he would recommend the Hon. Gentleman to read when he had leisure the decision of the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas on that question.—( Cheers.) - That Chief Justice declared it was not only legal, bait was highly honour able for the League to pursue the course they had adopted. It was to some a matter of rejoicing that there was a mode dis covered by which they could bring together the constituencies of that kingdom. He told the Hon. Gentleman that the for bearance of the League was a quality not generally observed by other bodies on such occasions. They (the League) , ; itim asked time who held free-trade principles to become e e; for their counties, and he could assure the Hon• opposite that the Leauge was a powerful weapon• f procuring Lord called on the Government to put a stop me t o e_ pro ceedings, which were carried on for Pu 1 " Th n o Noble their lie wo r uld 01 the Noble the aboltion of the corn-laws. League would be dissolved, and truth n in the documents read Lord that when a repeal of those laws i l o s a t t w s t il bad the t . k eni if there t at their table—if there be ... Cork truth in the Minister—if there (Mr. O'Connell) e truth in the statements of the Honourable Memb . er t the newspapers there was —if there be truth . be responsible. kod aesle everything g b utsoefor which somebody most. Th . e Government have refused to be so ; they it from them, they have ricked a calamity impending, removet dotat which in common jestire forward they ou ght to do, and which necessity would render it impera tive that they must do.—( Cheers.) He would ask them, would posterity or the country hold them guiltless for their present conduct, because, forsooth, they succeeded in their ven gance against the Minister ?—( Cheers, and counter cheers. ) If famine be in Ireland, and pcstileece treading on its heele— r: if er f no a m m e dp i i te t h e nee e a A n ii d itn disease u bt chi eo old,t f 00 i.fit s ei s i t ee a ,m s t e t the consl a n i ik e r w t h h a a t t a t glorious and obtained a majority on this question7recollecting, at the same time, that they had been accesso ries to the want and miseries of the nation by their factious opposition.—( Loud cheers.) Mr. HUDSON said, that in rising to speak on the pre. " a t Q` l44 gOils Le was quite prepared to bespeak the indulgence j J 11 1