The Sun. — London, England, 1846-06-24 00:00:00

LITERATURE. BURNS' FIRESIDE LIBRARY. We have from time to time noticed these volumes as they have individually appeared, and now we have the entire series before us, comprising twenty elegant little volumes, bound in crimson and gold, varying from " grave to gay,, from lively to severe," and forming an admirable little library of instruction and amusement for children of all ages and all capacities, and even for those "of larger growth." In the very interesting pre face to Schiller's " Maid of Orleans" (in this series), the translator observes, " I hold it no unblest work to provide few the pure entertainment of my kind, and to be instrumental in making amusement conducive to intellectual and spiritual elevation." This very beau tiful and benevolent belief is evidently not that alone of the translator of one volume ; it has been the guiding principle which has regulated the whole work To amuse while it instructs, to improve while it entertains, is the object of the serifs, as a series ; and is also the object, mere or less, of each component part. History and Fiction are here familiarly entwined, R , manse, as it were, joining the hands of each ; and while OA the one hand we tnd Truth to be stranger even than Fic tion, on the other Fiction borrows new charms from its analogy to Truth. These potent monarchs of the world of' literature hold divided sway over this little library. Foremost among the historical works is " The Lives of celebrated Greeks and Romans," taken from Plutarch, but in which (in order to render it more fitting for every reader), .we are 'informed " everything objectionab:e has been omrtted, - And much useful matter added from other authorities." Such a work requires no comment ; it will he fe's• more welcome to many a youthful reader than th s , most attractive wonders of Arabien romatice. The 'pages of Plutarch are woven with many a student's drams ; as the pioneer of the past, he portrays to us the fitorious deeds (If old, and prompts young ambition to emulate what he admires ; over those pages hung en raptured the hero of modern times, he wha , e high genius was to echese what his yolthfnl fancy first revered, and amid his many high-sounding titles is hardly one more honourable then that bestowed on him in his early youth, " one of Plutarch's men." Hardly inferisr in interest to the Gr- els and Boman heroes are two small ssvolumes devoted to e The Lives of Englishmen in Past "ass," comprising many of the good and great among our countrymen ; first and foremost of whom occur the names. de-servedly dear to all, of Alfred the Great and Sir T. 'afore. In a Firseside Library, poetry, of course, is ineispensable, more especially ballads wad old songs, Which, emanating from, and appealing to, the warmest feelings of the heart, are peculiarly appropriate to the domestic hearth. Accordingly, in this series we find one volume of " Ballads and Metrical Tales," another of " Lays from English History," one of e Northern Minstrelsy and Scottish Song." and one of " German ballads." The book of "Scottish Song" is a treasure in itself. and when we say, that besides many beautiful pieces by minor poets, it contains, " The Cotter's Satur day Night;" "Scots wha hae ;" "For a' that, and a' that," and many others of the chief and choicest "beauties of Burns"—that it is adorned by many inter esting illustrations, especially by a frontispiece repre senting "John Anderson and his Wife"—further explanations will be needless—none will doubt the justice of our asseveration. It is hardly necessary to enumerate the varied volumes devoted to romantic fiction ; conspicuous among these are " Marco Visconti," now first translated from the Italian of Tomasso Grassi, and the tales of the Baron Fouque ; among others the " Magic Ring," and the far-famed " Undine." Nor is Pouque the only German whose productions are here offered to the lovers of romance ; one little volume con tains "The Swedes in Prague; or the Signal Rocket," and " Quentin Matsys," translations from the works of C. Pichler; and a second and thi r d, the "Popular Tales" o f Mussens and Wilhelm Hauff, among the latter of which is a very interesting one, entitled " The Portrait of the Emperor." " The Old Story Tellers" contains many marvellous legends from the Gesta Romanorum ; and " Prasca Loupodoff," "Select Fables," and " Household Traditions," will furnish amusement of a less exciting, but perhaps as agreeable kind, as the " wild and witching" romances we have enumerated, and among which we have forgotten to class the " Twelve Nights' Entertainments." Ii will thus be seen that this library must please all kinds, and all classes, for the ingredients of which it is composed are all various. Any volume or volumes may be had "Perately at from half-a-crown to five shillings, in their elegant binding, or at a far lower rate in their print'd Paper covers; in either case, singly or collectively, they are admirably suited for " presents and rewards,' which it appears is one object of their being. The only fault We can find with this collection is its title. It is cer tainly a fireside library, hut is also something more ; as if conscious of the omission, it is de cribed in the pro spectus as " srdted for the fireside, the lending library, the steam-brat, or the railway carriage ; " it is all this, and it mies'at have added also—" an d an admirable coin- Panion c.or a solitary walk, or an amusing passe-temps f or sore idle hours spent under the shadow of the wide aPreading trees, which, certainly in such weather as this, Would be a far pleasanter place than a fireside. BILL FOR THE REGULATION OF STEAM NAVIGATION. z A. Bill with -the above title has just been introduced illto Parliament. The following are among its most important clauses:— Steam vessels to be divided into compartments—That from and after the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, all sea-going steam- Vessels, the building of which shall have been commenced ' after this Act, shall be divided by transverse water tight partitions, so that the fore part of the vessel shall he se parated from the engine by one of such partitions, and so that the after-part of such vessel shall be separated from the engin:a-room by another of such partitions. To be selticiently provided with boats.—And be it enacted, that from and after the said first day of Ja nuary one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, no sea-going vessel, the tonnage of which shall be twit hundred tons or upwards, shall proceed to sea from any Port whatsoever, unless it shall be provided with boats duly supplied viith all requisites for their use, and not being fewer in number, nor less in their dimensions than as follow :—Each vessel of from 200 to 250 tons burden to carry one long boat of eighteen feet length and six feet beam, and one boat a stern, of fourteen feet length and five feet beam :—each vessel of 350 to 550 tons to carry three boats, namely, one long beat of twenty feet length and six feet and a half beam ; one boat on the deck or quarter, of eighteen feet length and five and a half feet beam ; and one a-stern, of fourteen feet length and five feet beam ; each vessel of from 550 to 850 to carry four boats, viz. :—one long boat of twenty-four feet length and seven feet beam ; two boats on the deA or quarters—one of twentp-two feet length and si. x feet and a half beam—the other eighteen feet in leneeth and 5i feet in beam ; and one boat astern, of 16 fee, in leng th and ef feet beam : each v esse l o f 850 t ° oB npwards to carry four boats, viz.:—one long boP.4 of 26 feet length and 8 feet beam ; two on the deck or quarter—one of 24 feet length and 7 feet beam—the other 22 feet length and 61 feet beam ; and, one boat astern, of 16 feet length and 51 beam :—and that no sea going vessel, the tonnage of which shall be under 200 tons, and above tons, shall proceed to sea unless it shall be provided with a dingy, and with a boat suffi ciently large to receive and carry ten persons (such dingy and boat being duly supplied with all requisites for their use); and, that in every case one of such boats, as afore said, to be carried outside on the quarter or on the stern, shall' be &tee; up as a life-boat : Provided always, that W hen stea m vessel shall be provided with such boats as are IP:dally called paddle-bo x b oa t s , suc h s te a m vessel only b e required to take two other boats, namely, 'de long -boat and the boat astern, mentioned as aforesaid. And be it enacted, that if any such sea-going steam vessel as aforesaid proceed to sea without being so divided as aforesaid, or if any sea-going vessel of one hundred tuns burden or upwards proceed to sea without being so_ provided with boats as aforesaid, the owner thereof shall forfeit a sum not exceeding one hundred Pounds, and the master thereof shall forfeit a stem not exceeding fifty pounds. To take a Certain Course in Rivers and Narrow Channels.--And be it enacted, that every steam vessel, when meeting or passing any other steam-vessel, shall Pass as far as may be safe on the port side of such other vessel; and every steam-vessel navigating any river or narrow channel shall keep, as far as it is practicable, to that side of such river or channel which lies to the star board side of such vessel; and the master or other per son having the charge of any such steam- ve-sel, and neglecting to observe these regulations, or either of theni, shall for each and every instance of neglect ft trfeit and pay a sum not exceeding .fifty pounds. To Carry Lights.—And be it enacted, that the master, or other person having the charge of any stem-vessel which shall be in any river or narrow channel in Great Britain or It eland, or the adjacent isl a nds, o r t. upon the se a within ten miles to any part of the coas t weigh o Great Britain or Ir e l a nd, shall, whether un de r of at anchor, between sunset and sunrise, exiebit su ch lights within such pl a c es , i n s uch manner, anti un d er h Such circumstances as by t h e sa id re gulations herein e.- fore authorised to be mad e b y t h e sa id Lord High Admiral or by the said Consissioner shall be required ; and in default thereof shall f o rfeit and pay a gnu not exceeding twenty pounds for every n i g h t i n w hi c h s uch default shall be made ; and the owner of any steam vessel in whiet such light shall not he exhibited as aforesaid, shall not be entitled to recover any recom pense of damage whatsover which may be sustained by such vessel in consequence Of any other vessel running foul thereof during the night. And be it enacted, that if any damage to any person or p the roperty, shall be sustained in . c a o n n i s_ , v li s ic s in o c , e t of if non-observance, as respects any steam-ve ss el, rules contained in the two enactments lastly hereinberore contained, the same shall, in all courts of jusice, b e deemed to have been occasioned by the wilful default of the master or other persons having the charge of such steam- vessel ; and such master or other person and his employer shali be subject in all proceedings, whether civil or criminal, to the legal consequences of such wilful default. MERCHANT TAILORS' SCHOOL —The annual (Boner took place on Monday evening; Mr. Hessey. late head master of the Merchant. Tailors' School, presided, supported by Sir R. Ellis, Mr. Bellamy, Mr. Parnell, Professor Brown, &c., VI. After the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman proptised the Atalth of the " Old School," which was drunk with great enthusiasm. The health of Mr. Bellamy (late master) and of the Chairman was tl.en given. The Chairman next pro p_osed " The prosperity of St. John's Colleg:., Oxford." Mr. U. Bellamy returned thanks. The prosperity of the Mer chant Tailors' Company," the " King's College and Pro fessor Brown," and various other toasts, were then propc“ed, after which the company, amounting to nearly seventy per sons sensrated. Tat:: POTATO DISEASE.—We have now lying before us a sample of new potatoes, grown near Knut , fo.ll, which exhibit the very worst form of the prevalent disease; and thy, statement made to us respecting them is, treat about a week betore they were taken up there was not th, slightest appearance of disease in the field; and that at the present time thevatire crop it affocWl7.4isicleciter Guardio. TIIE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY MORNING, J UNE LATEST PRICES OF SHARES KW BANKS, ASSURANCE, AND OTHER COM- PANIES' STOCK. From the Official List, PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIT LONDON, TUESDAY, JUNE 30XNT-STOCZE DAY EVENING 23. S. Dividend Amount Name of Ccmpanv. I er - of - Paid. Price Annum. Share. -- ---- - - £ s. d. £ s. d. Australasia .......... 6/. per cent. 40 0 0 40 0 0 27 Brash North American 51. per cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 4514 Commercial of London 5/. per cent. 100 0 0 20 0 0 23 `Jolonial . Londn and Westminsir 6 5 1 1. . p p e e r r c c e en ut t . . 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 6 0 5 0 6 0 0 1.. 1 6% London Joint-Stock .• • 61. per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 14% Metropolitan ••.•• • • • • - 25 0 0 710 0 Provincial of Ireland.. 8/. per cent. 100 0 0 25 0 0 48 Ditto, New.• •••• • • • 8/. per cent. 10 0 0 10 0 0 18 jr National of Ireland .. 51. per cent. 50 0 0 20 0 0 20 Nat. Provncial 01 Eng. 51. per cent. 100 0 0 35 0 0 36 Dltto,•New.• ••• • • - 51. per cent. 20 0 0 10 0 0 Union of Australia -•• 6/. per cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0 25% Union of London. •• - . 51. per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 11 _ INSURANCE COMPANIELI. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per Of Paid. Price Annum. Share. £ s. d. £ s. d. Albion ••••• • • • • • -Ia• 3/. 105 500 0 0 50 0 0 74 Alliance Grit. and For. 6 per cent. 100 0 0 11 0 0 18% - Ditto Marine....... tit. per cent, 100 0 0 50 0 5% Atlas . British Commercial •• 7s.per share 50 0 0 50 0 7% Clericl,Med.&Gen.Life Si. per cent. 100 0 0 210 0 61 County .......... „ „ 31. 100 0 0 10 0 0 ,Irown ••••-•• •• • • -10 s. 50 0 0 5 0 0 - Eagle • • • Eng.& Scot. Law .... 51. per cent. 50 0 0 20 0 2% European Life • ..... 5% per cent. 20 0 0 All paid. 20 Freemasons' ... ...... 51. per cent. 20 0 0 8 0 0 , =lobe ..... .......... si/. per cent. Stock. - 136 Guardian -- - ....... 5/. per cent. 100 0 0 36 10 0 48% Imperial Fire ..•• •• -6/. and bonus. 500 0 0 50 0 0 240 Imperial Life -• • • ... 12s. 100 Q 0 10 0 0 16% Indemnity Marine.... it. sh & be. 100 0 0 513 1 29 Law Life............ IL ss. 100 0 0 10 0 0 52 Legal and General Life - .50 0 0 20 0 6% London Fire .. .. .. 10s. 25 0 0 12 10 0 14% London Ship ........ 10s. 25 0 0 12 10 0 14% Marine •••• • • • • ..... 5/. per cent. 100 0 0 15 0 0 10% Med. Invlid&Gen. Life 4%1. per ct. 50 0 0 2 0 0 3 National Lean Fund... W. per cent. 20 0 0 210 0 2% National Life......... 8/. per cent. 100 0 0 50 0 9% Palladium Life... ... 51. per cent. 50 0 0 2 0 0 2/. Os. Ilicenix .. .. ...... . • 3/. p. ct. & bs. - - 205 Protector Life.... .. 5/. per cent. 20 0 0 1 0 0 1/. 3 , Provident Life.. - .. IL ss. 100 0 0 10 0 0 23 Rock Lite- - - ...... _ 4s. 5 0 0 010 0 4% !loyal Exchange Si. per cent Stock. - 19 s itui Fire 6l. los. - - 210 DittO Lire .......... 11. tis. - - 49 Universal Litt ....... 10 3 41. pr cot 100 0 6 15 0 22 . 1 LIST or SCOTTISH comParrxEs. plezers. Dividend Amount Niune of Company, per of Paid. ! Price; • Annum. Share. 1 - £ s. d. £ s. d Bank of Scotland - 100 0 0 .167 Royal Bank of Scotland 6/. per cent. -- 100 0 0 157 British Linen Company 81. per cent. - 100 0 0 223 Commercial Bank - 100 0 0 161 National Bank ...... - 10 0 0 15 Union Bank of Scotland 7%1. pr cent. - 50 0 0 92% Western Bank - .... - W. per cent. - 50 0 0 84 North of Scotland Bank 61. per cent. - 5 0 0 7 4., Clydesdale Bank •.- •• 6/. per cent. - 10 0 0 •-, ',,,, . Eastern Bank 5/. per cent. - 120 1 0 0 0 0 ,•.' i Caledonian Bank - Edinb.& Glasgow Bank 61. per cert. - 50 0 7% City of Glasgow Bank . 51. per cent. - 10 0 0 13% Scottish Union lns.Co. 51. per cent. 20 0 0 1 0 0 245. 9d Hercules Insurance Co. 71. per cent. 100 0 0 10 0 0 14% Incur. Co. of Seetlnd• • 5/. per cent. 10 0 0 All paid. 91 North British Incur 5% /. pr cent. 200 0 0 10 0 0 28 Caledonian Fire Insur lOl. per cent. 100 0 0 10 0 0 22 Edinkurgh Life Incur 6l. per cent. 100 0 0 12 10 0 18% Edin. & Glasg. Railway 1/.los. per c. 50 0 0 50 0 0 75 Ditto, % Shares 78.6d. p. s. 12 10 0 All paid. 18 Edin., Leith, & Grantn - 20 0 0 20 0 0 15% I Ilasgw & Ayrshir Rail. 71. per cent. 50 0 0 All paid. 73% Glasgw & Greenck Rail. 21. per cent. 25 0 0 All paid. 16% Glsgw&Ganikirk Rail. 51. per cent. 25 0 0 All paid. 40% Dinglee& Arbroth Rail. 6/. per cent. 25 0 0 All paid. 38 Standard LifeAssurnce.l 51. per cent. 150 0 0 210 0 9 DOCKS. Dividend Anil u,n .Amount Share, Name of Company. per of I Paid. Price. --- - X s. d. I £ 5. d. Commercial •. - 78 East and \Test India 6l. pr cent. I Stock. - 141)6 East Country ..... • - 21 London• .* • - 114 At. Katharine •••• • • • • 5 per cent. I Stock. - 104 Sou thampton ••••• • •• , 4/. pe r cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 27)4 CANALS. Names of , I t 4 Dividend Price Names of EDividend Companies. .3 per Companies. .1 per Price w cn Annum.' c Annum. ----- --.. £ X Ashtn & Oldh 97,5/.55. p c 70 sfonmouthsh 101 , 81. 160 Ashby-d-la-Z 113 41. 70 Mntgomrysh 100 51. 98 Barnsley •• .. 160. 121. , 180 Macclesfield. 100 - 38 Basingstoke.. 100: - - Xeath -•• • • 100 171. 340 Brknk&Abrg 150 51. 85 Nottingham. 150 121. . - Cromford -• • 100 141. 150 Peak Forest. 78 3E, 68 Dudley loo' 41. - Regent's .... 33 1/. ss. 22 h Derby •• • • Ellsmre&Chs 133 4/. 55 Shropshire .. 125 81. - Eiewash •. • 100 321. 300 Somrset Coal 150 71. 105. 130 Forth & Clyd 100 41. - Do.Lk Fd St 12 6/. p. c. 11 GrandJunctn 100 71. 95)6 Stffrd &Wore 140 281. 290 Grand Union 100 11. 10s. - %Shrewsbury.. 125 15/. 230 Glamorgnsh . 172 13%1. 210 Stouts:l(lp.. 145 201. 315 Glstr& lirkly 00 - - IStrtfrdon Av 714 11. 105. - Grantham • • 150 121. 100 , Sevens and 26 1/. 85. 32 Huddersfield. 57 - - i' Wye Rail. 3 Komi & Avu ._ 3.94_15. 6,l.______th_ocr.,t R., - / • . • . --. Lancaster. • • 47 I/. 10s. - 1 sey, li sh. -- Leeds& Livrp 100 341. 520 'Thams &Med 19 - - i.elcester , 140 10, 105 Worestr del 7S 21. 44 Leiestr & Nth 1 f 53 4/. 60 ' Binning'. Lough Is3rogli ( 142 701. 1350 Wilts & Ili ks 67 11. 11 WATER-WORKS. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per of Paid. Pric, Annum. Share. X s, d. .:ast London.. •••• . • • • 8/. 100 0 0 i - 210 , ;rand Junction .... • • 3/. 105. 41 13 4 - 90 ; 2/. 105. 100 0 0 1 - 70 Vauxhall - 57 West Middlesex ••. • • • 51.5 x. pr cut. 63 12 9 - , 130 IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LOPDS, jeme 23. Their Lordships met at ten minutes to Five o'clock. Messengers from the House of Commons brought up several Bills. THE SEES OF, ST. ASAPH AND BANGOR. A NOELE LOUD presented a petition from Lincoln against the union of those two sees, and praying for the immediate ap pointment of a Bishop for Manchester. The Bishop of EXETER presented several petitions to the same effect. The Right Rev. Prelate also presented a peti tion from the magistrates and other inhabitants of Wolver hampton, praying their Lordships to pass some measure which will make it penal to carry on the trade of prostitution. He was very glad to find that an Hon. Member of the other House of the Legislature had given notice of his intention to bring in a Bill to the same effect. SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY. Lord DEVON presented several petitions against this project. LORDS HARDINGE AND GOUGH. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE wished to know what the intentions of her Majesty's Government were with respect to the Annuity Bills of Lords Hardinge and Gough. He thought that the time had come when the subject should be taken into consideration. The Earl of RlPON•said that, on Tuesday evening next, he should move that the report be brought up, and the intentions of the Government would be announced. OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE RAILWAY. Earl HARD WICKE presented a petition from Mr. Frede rick Brown in favour of the Oxford and Cambridge Railway Bill ; and the petitioner requ , sted to withdraw th , petition presented from him a few nights since against the line. The Noble Earl presented a petition from Aylesbury and other places in favour of the railway. A petiti , n from Spilsby, in Lincolnshire, was presented against the Charitable Trusts Bill. SCOTTISH (RAILWAY) CONSOLInATIONS. Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from Mr. H. Adie, solicito r f or one o f t h e compet i ng lines for connecting England with Scotland, stating that a notice had been served on him to deliver up the papers which had been entrusted to him in his capacity as solicitor, and for the possession of which he was resp6nsible. He prayed, therefore, that he might be protected, and not be convicted of a contempt of their Lord ships by withholding such papers. The LORD CHANCELLOR said that in his chat aster of solicitor, he was perfectly justified in withholding the papers. On the motion of Loru BROUGHAM, the petition was re ferred ro the Committee. THE REV. MR. SHORE AND THE BISHOP OF Earl DALHOUSIE—The difference is of no importance. If, however, there was not a reduction o f prices, it could not be Iconsidered a matter of blame to the Government, for they had 1 endeavoured to doso by proposing this redaction of duty. After a few words from Lord STANLEY, their Lordships divided, when there appeared— For the omission of the words 33 Against it Majority On our re-admission into the gallery, we found The Duke of RICHMOND on his legs, speaking against the proposed alteration in the item of hops. He considered that the proposed alterations would materially affect the interests of the home grower. The reason why great quantities of hops had not been introduced into the country yet, was that it required three years to prodflce a good crop; the home produce 'also had to pay the heavy excise duty of 17s. 9d., which the foreigner would not have to pay; it would therefore be placing them in unjust and unfair competition. The average produce of hops in Austria was 42,000 per acre, while it had been proved that the cost of cultivation was 25/. per acre. Now the coat of cul tivation in this country was 42/. per acre, and he wanted to know how the British producer could compete with the foreigner under such circumstances as these 2—( Hear, hear.) In Kent there were 250,000 acres of land devoted to the growing of hops, and the capital which bad been invested in the cultivation amounted to two millions sterling. Every year an additional sum, amounting to upwards of 900,0007., was invested in this land, and he believed 230X0/. was for labour alone. Now he wanted to know, with these facts staring them in the face, how they could justly re dnce the duty imposed'on foreign hops for the protection of the British produce. —( Hear, hear. ) The Earl of DALHOUSIE said they could net rely upon such data as that given them by the Noble Duke, and he would therefore pass over some of the Noble Duke's statements, and come to the real question at once. Now. the nearest point from whence hops couldbe brought tothis country was Belgium, and they could not be imported from that country under six per cent. . When they arrived In England they would have to pay excise duties to the extent of 60 per cent. more than the British producer. Surely this would be an ample protection to ti-e hop interest of this country.--( Hear, heat.) At all events he was convinced they could not with any fairness carry protee , inn further than 60 per cent. —( Hear, hear.) The Earl of WICKLOW said Government, in carrying out the free-trade prineiples, ought to repeat the malt tax. It appeared to him that they wished to abolish every other duty but this.—( Hear, hear.) After a few words from Lord AsHnuaTtm and Lord Con- CHESTER, who were opposed to the change. Earl STANHOPE said, hop-growing was a very pre carious trade, and it ought, therefore, to be well protected. The Noble Earl the President of the Board of Trade had re marked that 60 per cent. was protection enough, while it wouid enable Ergland to obtain foreign supplies in times of scarcity.— (Hear, hear.) Why, did the Noble Earl know that the hop trade of Kent was a vrfect juggle. and that the grower never made any profit unless the crop failed him once in three years? Indeed, a failure once in three years was brought about to keep up prices.—(Hear, hear.) The Earl of RIPON observed that the Noble Earl had ad duced a most extraordinary theory as an argument against the proposed change. The Duke of RICHMOND said, extraordinary though the theory was, it applied to almost every trade in the country. Government were now consoling themselves with the thought that they had given the people cheap bread, and all the pro tectionists could do now was, to get up a cry of give the people cheap beer with it, and repeal the malt-tax.--( Hea r , ) Earl FITZ WILLIAM said, although he diff red from the Noble Duke on many of his points, he agreed with him in this, that the malt-tax ought to be abolished.—(Hear, hear.) He quite agreed with his Noble Friend that no greater advantage could be conferred upon the people of this country than a re peal of the duties upon malt, and if their Lordships would per mit him to say so, he contended that no greater boon could be conferred upon the landed interest. The measure which they were nos discussiug, although it was technically called the tariff, was, in fact, the question of the repeal of the duty on corn.— (No, no.) All these matters were merely subsidiary and contributory to that great question. Very possibly the Government could not have introduced the one without intro ducing the other. He was sure his Noble Friend would agree with him that the question which they were then discussing was, whether they should allow foreign corn to be imported into this country free of duty, and he contended, that if they were to have free trade in corn, they ought to have free trade in beer, that necessary article of domestic use; and that it ought to be imported into a man's house . free from the inspection or interference of she exciseman. Lord ASHBURTON said the Noble Earl who had just sat down, had said that this was but the part of that one great question, the repeal of the duty on the importation of foreign corn. It was certainly a part of the great question, " Shall we protect our native industry ?"—Hear, hear.) In that respect then, he agreed that this question was part of the question of free trade. The question for their consideration was whether they should protect the cultivation of their own land—whether their home industry should be protected as far as the cultivation of hops. After that, they would go into the question of shoes, boots, and all the different articles of home manufacture. The question, as it had been laid before their Lordships by the Noble Earl opposite, and those who held the same opinions, was whether the menu 'acturers, &c., of foreign countries should be preferred to the labouring population of our own country. In that respect he agreed with the Noble Earl, that it was one question only, and that was, what they called free-trade. The Earl of RADNOR said, that the cultivation of hops was avowedly a gambling speculation. A very extensive hop-grower in the county of Kent had told him so about two years ago ; and he knew that it was the opinion amongst hop growers elsewhere, that that business was entirely a gambling speculation. In one year a man might realise by his hops several hundred. pound., and in the next year he might be a most ruined. And, with respect to the wages paid to the labouring elasses in the hop-growing counties, ie cot,ld assure their Lordship, that so low were the wages paid to them, that they were in the most abject state of pauperism before the carrying out of the late Act fix the amendment of the poor-laws. The wages in those parts of the country were, on the average, less than those paid in any other part of the kingdom. Earl STAN HOPE admitted that the duties on malt ought to he repe led, but he contended, at the same time, that the People of this ronotry. from nna_p_stromity to the other. n'ere_ot. ',pinion that the Government ought at once to repeal the duties also on tee, coffee, soap, and all such necee,ary articles of do mestic consumption. _ _ The article was then agreed to without a division. On the article lace being real, Earl STANHOPE rose for the purpose of giving his decided objection to the reduction of the duty upon its importation, be. lieving, as he did, that of the articles in the tariff this was un doubtedly the one on which the duty should not be repealed The reduction of the duty on the article of lace would inter fere moat unjustly with the poorer portion of the labouring clas.es of this country, and more especially those resident in the county of Buckingham. Into whatever cottage their Lord 'hips might enter in that county, they would find that the wives and children of the labouring classes were engaged in the manufacture of lace.: And what would be the consequences if their Lordships consented to repeal the duty on this article? The labouring classes of the people of Devonshire were largely employed in the manufacture of lace. The wages at present were as low as six shillings per week, and yet, low as that re muneration was, the Government proposed to deprive the poor people of it. In Buckinghamshire the wages per week allowed to a woman and one or two children, at present, amounted to twelve shillings, and on that remuneration the labouring classes in that part of the country chiefly depended for their livlihood.' The proposal of her Majesty's Government, how ever, was that those poor people should be deprived of their present remnant of protection. If there was one article more than another on which the duty should not be repealed he con tended' that that article was lace.—( Hear, hear.) He felt strongly upon this point, and he was determined to take the sense of the House upon the question. The Duke of RICHMOND—His Noble Friend had said most truly, that of all other articles included in the tariff, that of lace was pre-eminently the one on which the duty should not, for the protection of the interests of the labouring people of Buckinghamshire, &c., be repealad. At the present moment the wives of the labouring classes of that part of the country were employed in their own cottages in the manufacture of lace, and their children were instructed by them in everything pertaining to industry and morality.—( Hear, hear.) Those habits of industry enabled the families at present to purchase all the necessaries of life. Lace was an article of luxury, and not necessary for any one. But what would be the effect of this proposed repeal of the duty thereon on the children of these parties? They would be deprived of educe ti ,n, clothing, and the comforts of life, which they now en joyed. But, of course, his Noble Friend was prepared to obey the orders of his bish— everything, and it could not be expected that he would be per suaded to withd raw hi s consent from any measures of the Pre mier. He (the D u k e Sir Robert Peel—(Laughter)—in of Richmond) should have the greatest satisfaction of voting with his Noble Friend. The Earl of DALHOUSIE said that it would have been more appropriate, perhaps, if'the Noble Duke had termed Sir Robert Peel his (the Earl of Dalhousie's) moderator instead of bishop, as he happened to be a Presbyterian. But he denied that he foil, wed Sir Robert Peel in anything that did not appear to him (the Earl of Dalhousie) to be just and reason aLle.—(Hear, hear.) Those engaged in the manufacture of lace would not, in his opinion, be injured in the least by the passing of this measure. Lord STANLEY locked upon this measure not as one cal culated, in the opinion of her Majesty's Government, to benefit the people of ;Lis country, but merely as a measure to fill the coffers of the revenue. Thht had been the effect of the measure of 1842, and he had no doubt that this the f expectation thia measure. stn ii ila w r as reL 'r l ° ts ugh w t ou f l or follo w ward w w ith h e passing reduction.mimeans a d n i s d htoop thee They y t hweeHr were House i w tn o g u d withn ot consent lu a t matter the which, proposedif i t might be one of indifference to the revenue, vi as not so by any parties concerned, who were women and chit dren. And he would ask the House to deal in th e same manner with this article as they had done with regard to made-up goods. Earl DALHOUSIE hoped that the House would adopt the sug a g e e w s tiitohn made-up of the N gobolaedLa.orada,e andthat deal with b i t e h b l a y e e notaa s they gre e h m al g i to the amendment proposed, but'by imposing a rate of ten per cent. ad colorant. In his opinion Mr. Deacon Hume never went so far as to assert that 25 per cent, could give them the same amr , unt of protection as 20 p Lord STANLEY—Mr. Deacon Hume says th a t merc h ants and traders will be willing to pay the 25 p er cent. sooner than risk of hear. ar. ) run the of paying 20 to the smu gg l er, and that the revenue will Earino not sufferl.nz w 1 at 125 % A per a aciedn that. Heera cent. Mr. Dea con H ume never said that the same per tentage of duty would secure them in every article. He was sure that Mr. Deacon Hume never said that such would be the effect with regard to lace.—(Hear, hear.) It might be so with regard to some bulky article, such as co rn ,b u a but' not present n lighter e v, texture, as v ery su c m h u a c s h that which connected they were with a country where the lace trade existed, and he considered that there was no employment less conducive to the moral cul ture of the young than this very manufacture. The trade was inthat d i s c o u f s not carried on in the houses of fathers and mothers, but i n manufact , iries, and it also unfitted the women empl o y e d i n i t for any other kind of work. The Earl of GALLOWAY said it was a grievance in this country that parents were too apt to employ their children in such occupations as the lace manufactures from motives of cu pidity, and that at a time when those children should be at school. He was aware of many who, from being thus early employed, were totally ignorant of every other subject, and agreed dur to r e w r th d o m u ir on any we f were not even cap a bl e o f men di ng t h e i r own .clothes.—( Hear, hear.) He w ou ld th ere f ore support t h e reduction. After a few words fro t h E ar l St an h ope, t h e Duke of Rich mond, and the E a rl o f G a ll oway , Strangers w a e t re t orderedthe c laas t e o ha withdraw. d b e been a ,, ee On division. Earl STANHOPE rose to object to the reduction of two pence per square yvd on stained paper. Lord ASHBURTON said that these reductions were the mere pedantry of political economy. He would oppose the reduction on the ground that it would reduce the wages of the operative. The Earl of DALHOITSIE did not dispute that certain masters might take advantage of the reduction to diminish wages, but he denied that suck would be the case with the paper stainers of the country generally. The item was then agreed to. SILK. On the reduction on silk being propnsed, The Duke of RICHMOND regretted that their Lordships 414E4 Wide W the Pinta he Pude tut night, that they should hear counsel at the bar relative to the effect of this re duetion. He thought that the course then pursued was inju dicious. He would ask why counsel was not beard? Was there a fear entertained that the case would be too strong for them to resist ? He would ask what were the operatives to do when the reduction took place ? The Earl of GALLOWAY—Give them cheap provisions. Duke of RICH IIOND—The Noble Earl said "give them cheap provisions ;" but if they had no employment and no wages, where would be the benefit of cheap provisions ? The Earl of GALLOWAY—If all kinds of provisions were accessible to the working glasses, in proportion to their means to purchase them, would the Noble Duke think that no be nefi. ?—(Hear. ) Duke of RICHMOND—That was the fallacy of all recent proselytes to the principles of free trade. He would now briefly refer to the petition, and he regretted that he was so employed during the morning that he had not t i me to peruse it beforehand. The petitioners stated that a great mistake had been made with regard to the protection of 15 per cent. They also stated the argument as to smuggling was either sheer folly or intentional de'usion.—(Hear, hear.) The gross annual value of silk goods manufactured in this country at present was from two to three millions less than in 1824 —( Hear.) He would detain their Lord ships no further upon the subject, but he thought when a large class of the humble classes of this country asked to be heard against a reduction which affected their interests they ought to have been heard. He thought that when another Government came into pffice, they would be obliged for the sake of the revenue, to put on some of those duties which it was now pro posedHe would in conclusion move that the item onsilk to be ta o k m e iofitted. After a few words in explana►ion from the Earl of GAL LOWAY and the Duke of BuccLrucH, The Earl of DALHOUSIE regretted that he felt himself called upon last night to oppose the motion of the Noble Duke, but his reason for doing so was because he considered it would be establishing a precedent which on future occasions would materially interfer with public busines. He did not think, however, that petitieners suffered soy loss from counsel on their behalf not having been heard at the bar, as the case bad been ably advocated by the Noble Duke on the cross-benches. He would now refer to the duties on the article of silk. The mode of levying the duties on this article was a matter of extreme difficulty, arising from the varieties, and the very delicate differences which prevailed in the manufactured articles. It was impossible to levy a duty ad saloon. for in that case it must have been necessary to have examined the separate parcels, so great was the variety. But that would have involved a loss of time to the officers employed and to those interested in the manufacture ; and much more this practice would have proved destructive to articles of so very delicate manufacture as some of them were. If, however, they levied the duty not ad valorem, but according to the weight of the article, that would have raised the objections so common in interfering with commercial transactions, that they would be raising the highest duty on th e h eav i es t article, although that article would generally be found the worst. It had been attempted on that account to make a classification, and to give the parties concerned the option of a duty ad valo rem, or according to weight. Since the year 1824 (the year in which a great change e as made in this trade), it was found that the existing classification was become exceedingly unequal. A new classification had therefore been made up ; silks and satins end ribbons sere placed on tables by themselves, the , different descriptions of fabrics, whether plain or figured. The value of these separate articleo was ascertained, and the duty was fixed at 15 per cent. on the average value. When he stet( d that the duty had been imposed on the average value, he was aware that some of these articles must be of a higher value, and that therefore the duty on them must be somewhat less than 15 per cent., and on the other hand that some of them of a lower value must necessarily pay a higher rate of duty than the 15 • per coot. But on the whole of these article. the merchant will find that he has to pay a duty of 15 per cent. These re marks applied to broad silks, satins, and silk gauze and ribbons. In consequence' of representations made to the department with which he (Earl Dalhousie) was connected, by the manufacturers of Co: entry and the Member for the place, these parties had been pet in communication with the proper officers of the department. And classifications and modifica tions had been made, which he understood were quite satisfac tory t. the parties. His (Earl Dalhousie's) reason for not hearing counsel at the bar was, that the argument, however ably conducted, and the examination of an array of witnesses would not have led their Lordships one bit nearer the point which occupied their attention. The duties, he said, must be fixed by the usual, the experienced officers, put in communication with those men practically engaged in the trade, and versed in its details ; and, accordingly, the present classifications and cal culations for fixing the duties had been left to the officers and these parties. The duty fixed was 15s. per cwt. on the average value. If, however, the question before the House had been the general duty, he must remind them that that question bad been before the House. and they had given their deliberate opi nion on it—an opinion contained in this Bill, and that was that 15 - per cent should be levied on the average value. He would now come to the second point in the petition, the past experience of the petitioners, that the legis lation for the last twenty years had produced an alteration in their trade, by giving an advantage to the foreign manufac turer, and thereby bringing ruin upon the home trade. It would be in the recollection of their Lordships, that the language used by the petitioners was the same as that made use of by those who opposed the progress of these measures, both in that House and in the other. These were in the habit of saying that the effect of these measures would he, that the trade would be destroyed, the capital would be withdrawn, and the trade would entirely go down. How were they to determine this question ? If the silk trade had failed, if the capital had withdrawn from it, if the silk mills had been stopped, if the imports of the raw material had diminished, if the number of those employed in it had decreased; if all these had taken place, the worst tears and prophecies of these parties had proved true. But if the opposite of these had occurred—( Hear, hear)—if the imports of the raw material had increased, if the manu factures for the home market had augmented, if the exports had increased, then these statements about the ruinious effects of this course were false.—( Hear, hear.) He would sho W that it. was so from the returns which had been laid on their Lords'nips' table, from the period since the conclusion of the war up to 1844. He must observe that the raw ma terial was divided into three descriptions, the raw material properly so called ; the waste, the knubs and husks ; and the ihrown siik. (The Noble Earl was about to quote fioin the re 'urns when he was interrupted by a remark across the table Iron] Earl Stanhope.) The Noble Earl said he would attend to the points which had been alluded to. It haft been said that in the returns on their Lordships' table the waste, knubs, and husks and the thrown sill had been combined in the amount given for the raw material. But he begged toobserve that if by means of science they could now manufacture articles from that waste as good as they were able to manufacture in former years. he saw no reason why the waste should be excluded from the returns. But, in giving his quotation, he would take no account of the waste, knobs, and husks, or the thrown sdk. The importations of the raw material for the ten years, from 1814 to 1823, amouie iss to 15,2 Al,oolzlbs. In the re 'urns tor the years 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, an account of the waste, knubs, and husks had been 'included, hut he would make every reasonable allowance—such a deduction as must satisfy the Noble Earl (Stanhope). He would take the amount given in these for the year preceding, and for that which followed those he had mentioned, and making his cal culetion on such data, deduct accordingly. For the ten years, then, from 1824 to 1833, he found the gross am( unt given for raw material imported, waste being included, was 32,916,000 lbs. ; and making the deduction for waste and thrown silk, there would be left 31,553,000 lbs. In 1824, the great change was made, which re moved entirely the prohibition on foreign manufactures. The increase for the next ten years was annually 1,521,000 lbs.i in the next. year 3,500,000 lbs., then 3,742,1)00 lbs., and from that it increased to 4,310,000 lbs., so that while in ten years it had so increased, could their Lordships, with that fact staring them in the face—could they, he repeated, believe the allega tion in the petition that the reduction in the duty had caused ruin to the silk trade by the introduction of the foreign import, when this great increase of the raw material had followed that reduction. In the year 1845, there was an in crease of the import of the raw material amounting to 200 per cent. over that of the import prior to the reduction of the duty. Such, then, had been the increase of the raw material as compared to the trade previously to 1824. Indeed, for two hundred years prior to that year there was not a system of high protection, but a moderate duty. With the increase of the import of the raw material, the Noble Lord had failed to prove that the reduction had been injurious to the trade. It was well known that the price of the .article silk was a great restriction on the general use of the material. The reduction of the duty enabled the great mass of the people to wear silk dresses.—(s‘ No," from Lord Stanley.) The Noble Lord would surely admit that all servant women now wore silk gowns—they wore them now the same as they wore cotton ones twenty years ago. This was a proof that the reduction of duty which had taken place, did not injure the trade, but on the contrary had greatly served it. It gas well known that the trade would very materially increase, but for the difficulty of a supply of the raw material. The china market was now open to us, and from the supply 6f the raw article from that country there was every expectation of the trade increasing. France was the great silk manufacturing country, and was still able to outvie all other nations in the beauty of that fabric, but he hoped that it would not be for long—had had an impartation of our manufactured article, and that spoke most favourably of the prospect of our trade..--( Hear, hear.) When their Lordships considered the allegations contained in the petition, which complained that the trade in silk had been destroyed, they would no well to remember that he had shown the import of the raw material to be three-fold. arid that, instead of the trade being injured, it - was progressing. —(Hear.) He was of opinion that the petitioners had failed to show that the trade had been destroyed, or even injured ever so slightly, by the change which had taken place. He had been told that the population of Spitalfields had materially decreased. He did not deny that fact. But it should be re- membered th it the reduction of the population there had taken place long before the reduce ion of the duty. This was occa sioned by the Spitalfields Acts, which had pressed upon them long ago. Those Acts had been done away with, and deputa tions had often waited upon him (Earl Dalhousie), since he had the _honour of being connected with the Government, for the purpose of having the law re-enacted.—( Hear, hear.) The Acts bound the employers to pay a certain price, and no more nor less, and bound the employed to take no less, and demand no more. This restriction upon the free exercise of labour caused the Spitalfields weavers to take their labour into other markets, where these Acts had no effect, and thus it was the po pulation of that place had decreased. They must not accept the amount of work done as any conclusive evidence of the rate of wages paid to the operatives. By the improvements in ma• chinery. though as much might not be paid for a given quantity of silk wove, it did not follow that there might not be more paid for the amount of work dune in the day than there was before. If, because there had been a reduction of wages paid to silk weavers they were to conclude that the trade was in a languishing and fading condition, they must consider the same of all other branches of hand-loom weaving ; for in every one of them a reduction had taken place.---( Hea r, hear.) All kinds of h an d-l oom weav i ng had been affected in ; similar manner. The report of the Commission appointed to inquire into the condition of the hand-loom weavers, proved that the distress and reduction of wages among that body did not arise from competition with foreign producers, but arose from competition between the weavers of this country. ---( Hear, hear.) Hand-loom weaving was easily learned. They were generally employed at home, and assisted by their families, and the result of the compet i t i on among them was, that not only the silk trade but all other branches into which hand-loom weaving enteral had been reduced in wages —( Hear, hear.) The com petition of weavers with weavers was enormous, and that was the cause of the reduction in their wages. It was a case in which Parliament could not apply a remedy, at least not by the exclusion cf foreign com petition. The Noble Lord here read an extract from the re port of the Factory Inspectors of last year, to show that . the condition of th ose engage d i n the silk tra d e bad greatly un proved, and th a t th e d emand f or l a b our bad been verywould great. In many i ns t ances a r i se of wages h a d t a ken id h a ti c t e. all this im only advert t o one po i nt more. I t wa s said provement had taken place under. the oldsysttem, and was no proof that the new one would work well. Bat be would in been under the new form their Lordships that they bad r—that was, from the 16th sys tem for the last quarter of the yea , .. of March. By a Treasororder, on the . resolutions passing the House of Commons , the various articles in the tariff had been introduced duty freer. And what was the result ? The following w ould show. The following return of manu factured silks was taken from the Custom-house, and contrasted with the imports of the corresponding months in 1844 and 1845. In the four months of 1844, the amount imported was in value 129,500/. ; in. ' the for Egutlai of Vo r oti, ; While Lk the feu smith' since March 16, the amount was 158,000/.—( Hear, hear.) This showed that, compared with last year, a considerable in crease had taken place. Now, let them take the importation of raw.silk during the same period : —in the four months of 1844 the quantity was 912,0001b5. ; in 1845, it was 1,617,0001h5. ; and in the four months just ending, the amount was 1,916,0001b5. ; thus showing an increase from 912,0001bs • to 1,916,0t:01b5., or an increase of 100 per cent. ; and a far greater increase than had taken place in the importation of manufactured silk. He would now speak of the effect cf the measure en " throwsters," or those who were engaged inform ing twisted silk and thread cut of the raw material. A reduc tion on foreign thrown silk was made last year, and strong re menstrances were made at the time. In the same returns from which he had quoted, it appeared that from 1814 up to 1823, the amount imported on the average was 360,00011 , 5., %fele for 1834 to 1840, the average was 265,000, showing a reduction as compared with the former period.—(Hear, hear.) In 1844, the total amount of raw silk imported was four millions of pounds, while the whole thrown silk brought in was 410,00014. The propor tion of thrown silk to raw silk imported was, therefore, 10 per cent. Now, let them compare that proportion with what it was during the former period to which he referred, and they would find it formerly was 23 per cent.—(Hear, hear.) The relative quantites in 1844, 1845, and 1846 were, in the four months to whi c h h e had previously referred, as follows : Raw Silk. Thrown Silk. 18 " ...... ••• 912,0001bs 135,0' 01b. 1845... ...... 1,600,0001b 5 .... 157,0001b5. 1846 ......... 1,906,0001bs ....136,0001b5. This showed that the proportion of raw silk in 11346 to 1844, was 1,006,0001 W. to 912,000Ibs.—an increase of 1,000 per cent., ( w ii ht e le ar, th h e ea a r m o oun w t iothf respectthr, ,wn silk to th the had a rtie s actually e ng a d a e e c d re a i s n e d . th — e silk trade, he wo u ld inform their Lordships that there never was a time when there prosperity or more full employment. Hear, washear.) greater in Spitalfields itself there had been a gr ea t i mprovement, and the same had taken place throughout the country. A short time ago he heard that a meeting of the silk-weavers in Spitalfields had been held, and a resolution come to, to solicit a rise of wages. A gentleman had informed him that the rise in wages had been solicited, and in many instances it had been acceded to. This showed that the trade was in a healthy and flourishing condition. He had now tried to trace the progress of this trade, and he had endeavoured to show that the .mea sures which were said to be based on such fatal and mis chievous principles, had operated quite otherwise ; that they had stimulated industry—increased the demand for employ ment—extended the exports and enlarged the imports of the country—and had generally improved the circumstances of ail parties concerned.—( Cheers. ) Lord STANLEY said, that after the speech just delivered by the Noble Lord, no one could doubt but that anything could be proved by figures. The Noble Lora had, from his \ access to documents and figures, derived information which pro,luced an effect that he (Lord Stanley) tuts not surprised at, end which, in the absence of the case counsel would have presented on the other side, had that been permitted, he cer tainly did not hope to e.•ual in effect upon their Lordshipv. His Hon. Friend had not established his case. He had at tempted to prove a ground for this great reduction of duty, which they were now called upon to sanction. If hi, Hoe. Friend had proved anything. it was that the silk trade at the present moment was in a good condition—that the imports and exports et silk were largely increasing. But if his Hon. Friend was goink on to prove that the present prosperity was owing to the great alteration which had taken place in consequence of the principle of free trade, he was wrong. Admitting, how • ever, the fact of our being so prosperous, and that this enormous importation was now taking place, his Honourable Friend went en to sae that they should interfere with all this, and reduce the duties on the ma , ufactured article, trust ing that he would not injure the producers of this country by competition. First of all, he differed% from his Noble Friend as to the facts he had stated. He differed from the facts he bad adduced with regard to the prosperity of the silk trade in 1824, and he differed from him, more especially as to any facts he had pr e y e d, f or h e h ad proved nothing.- The effect of which he had spoken was not produced by the dimi nution of the duty on the raw article, for if they took off the duty on the raw article they would see afterwards that a con siderable increase had taken place in the consumption of that article. He was not surprised that, after the year 1824, a con siderable increase had taken place in the consumption of the raw material in this count.y, but the increase did not take place at the time, or in the manner, or to the extent, to which his Noble Friend had alluded in his speech. His Noble Friend was extremely ingenious in the statement which he had made to the House ; and, by any one who did not look at the facts before them, he was quite s sure that his Noble Friend's statement would have been accepted as conclusive. 'He would not trouble the House with figures, but if they looked at the immense improvement which had taken place in the decennial period before the year 1823, they would find that the average importation amounted to 1,520,000 lbs. weight, and in the single year 1844 they imported 4,021,000 lbs. It sounded very well from his Noble Friend, whom he hoped to have seen there to hear his expression. He would not go to decennial periods, but to more conclusive arguments. By the progress made by the silk trade, both before the altera tion was made in the law and afterwards, he thought that he could induce them to admit that the free-trade measure had not been of any benefit. He would take the amount of silk imported in the ten years before the year 1823, and compare it with the consumption which had taken place up to the year 1844. The average in the three years 1815, 1816. 1817—he spoke with regard to the raw material—was 1,388,0001b5. The average in the years 1818, 1819, 1820, was 1,844,0001b5., and the average in 1821, 1822, 1823, was 2,325,0001b5. In 1824 was prodwoed 3,884,0001b5. Now, before the principle of free trade came into operation, the increase from the year 1815 to 1824 (a decennial period which his Noble-Friend found it convenient to take) was from t,000,3881b5. to 3,884,0001 be. on the raw material alone. The duty was reduced in March, 1824, and in 1824 the importation amounted to 3,884,0..01b5. The increase in the three triennial periods, from 1815 to 1823, was an increase of one million on the raw material. Now let them go to a period beyond that, and ascertain the imports of raw silk. In the year 1822, the raw material amounted to 3,880,0001b5., showing, as he had said, an increase of a million. His Noble Friend did not like per tentage, and the absence of it would make his case the stronger, for ke could roundly state that there had only been an increase of one million in six yeare. In the sear 8.24, there was introduced into the country 3,800,000 lbs., and in the year 1844 were introduced 4,400,000 lbs.—( Hear, hear.) The increase went on at a much greater rate before the introduction of Mr. Hu-kisson's measure than it did njw, for while the increase before its introduction was 1,000,000 lbs. in six years, the increase since it had liaised was only 800,000 lbs. in the last twenty years. The duty was taken (ff the raw material in 1824, and the duty, was afterwards taken off the finished material. The Bengal and waste silks were m;xed up in equal qoantities, and were made up in articles of the value of of 7s. 6d. per lb. Bengal silk cost 20s. per lb., and Hellen silk cost 475. per lb. He mentioned that it was not a matter of indifference whether the increase had been in the best sorts of si.k or in the knobs and husks. The export trade in silk was not an increasing trade, for in the year -1826 the exports were £291,000 1831 1846 709,000 But it might be said, take the case of a single year. He would do so. In the year— 1840 the exports were £792,000 1 1839 ... 896,000 1838 760,000 1836 917,000 1835 07.3,000 Of the quantity of goods sent to France, a great quantity was formed of these knobs and wastes. From the year 1844 to the year 1845, 159.0001b5. bad been exported ; of these, 93,000 re presented 245,0001b5. twist and yarn made up of knubs and husks ; and the value of these articles was only 7s. per pound. He was sati-fled that the greater part of the exports to France was made from this Bengal silk, mixed up with these knobs and husks. He followed his Noble Friend through the exports and imports of these articles. His Noble Friend had stated a reason for the stagnation of the silk trade from a paper which he held in his hand (Durant's Circular). On the Ist of January, 1846, the stock on hand was 15,715 bales, while in most previous yt ars it had not amounted to more than 12,000 to 13,000.—(Hear, hear.) His Noble Friend had not upon that occasion ventured to put forward the question of smuggling. He had not urged upon them the necessity of preventing smuggling ; but upon a former occasion he did state that it appeared from the return of the French Custom-horses there was a larger amount of goods shipped for England than paid duty here. Now, he (Lord Stanley) did not deny there was a great deal of smuggling carried on beta een this country and France, but he believed that of all articles, there was less smuggling by way of running goods in silk than any other article.--( Hear, hear.) And what smuggling did take place in that article was carried on through the connivance of their own Custom-house officers. He held in his hand a return of the number of persons convicted for smuggling. The total num ber convicted was 755, and of that number 511 were for smug ' gling tobacco, 171 for smuggling spirits, 11 for smuggling tea, and only ten persons for smuggling silk.—( Hear, bear.) Since the last time they debated this subject, he had looked into Mr. Deacon Hume's evidence of 1835, and he found that gentle man recommended 33 per cent. as the maximum duty for protection to the silk trade, and 25 per cent. as an increase Fluty to guard against smuggling. Therefore, he said that, as far as- smuggling was concerned, there was no case made out for the further reduction in the duty. It had been representt tl tc him that the.proposed duty, instead of being as it was rept c tented a duty of fifteen per cent., would be a duty of seven per cent. on some goods, eight per cent. on others, and nine per cent. on others. This arose from the duty being levied according to the weight, and not upon the value of the goods. Now, he could see no reason for departing from the old and usual mode et classifying silks; and to show what result the change had produced, he might mention, that twenty-four pieces of figured silks had passed through the custom-house that morning, which, under the old classification would have produced 25.. 10s. at a duty of ten 'per cent., while. under the present system of levyi .g the duty according to weight, they had only paid 12!. 10s. It was proposed to levy the duty on riboons Is. the same manner, but on a representation of its injustice and impolicy being made to the Board of T ra d t , by the Hon. Mr. Ellice, and the ribbon macuhfeacetoourildesu,o)ft Coventry, the old clas s ification was adopt e d ; anti see why the same should not he dot.e with re , ' rd He was competentto enter i t n o t I }i . e; - !Tear, hear.) e details, or to explain the rminutiae of t h e silk trade, but 1 , must be plain to their Lordships, and to sense, that there wou ld b e a manifestirtjvuesr lic V man ofe committed in common proportion t o t h e applieati n thi se dirtie tog in amou n t f rom 51)/. to 1001. s on ahrtiarcaleesd wi th v more duty ; a n d w h en, for the firstpe time, enmceto;isor reductioncith vary took place, notwithstanding the principles which their Lord shi p s had al ways hitherto recognised.—( - Hear, hear.) Well. now, he had not the means, undoubtedly, of satisfy ing their Lordships that his Noble Friend , supposed that ha s address was a mos: , who, silk trade no ofdoubt, triu m p han t one.t i s Was mistaken in his statements n this country, but his arguments wi th in that trade were ts,htorefterence to the wages sv, and employment of people c oncer ne d k e e that from 18.'26 to , erro neous. This he (Lord Stanl e y ) there was, as appeared by the evidence o f f It t I s re. of G Commons ro a , w h IN32 o was examined before a Committee o f the in 1831, a large and progressive decrease in the number c f e mployed in the silk trade—ther e was spindles and p eople employed of mills standing still. He (L or d a large increase tphee St a nley) had not the ocuracnta to refer to, but the accounts which he had received from private individuals was very much at had ewith the statements made by his N o bl e F. l end who I lately a ddressed them. Now he would beg their Lordships t o recollect that the r e w a s o ne art i cle in the silk trade in which there had been an important falling off in the wages of the la bourers in that trade, and that one article was the article of fieured velvets, upon which the highest protecting duty to this day was 11. 7s. 6d., he believed, but by this in, a. sure the Government proposed to reduce the amount to 93. per lb.—( Hear, hear.) 'They were going to reduce that duty which, according to Mr. Deacon Hume, eras only 30/. per cent. in the year 1824. The effect of their present proposal would be to reduce it two-thirds. Notwithstanding the statements of his Noble Friend, as to the prosperous state of the silk trade, ho (Lord Stanley) had learned that not only in Spitalfields, but in Macclesfield, and in other parts of the country, the silk trade was in a declining state.—( Hear, hear.) He could only state the evidence of private individuals on this subject, but the Noble Lord had only offered them similar evi dence in support of this measure.--(llear, hear.) He should certainly be surprised to hear his Noble Friend say that there had not been a decrease in the manufacture of plain silks, and the wages of the people employed in the manufacture of them. The wages he bad lately heard, had decreased in lonadsa f_vlaa Lb 444 sad 44 41 , 1 to Lo. .S aJ N • of • v !!' • ::yen ac , ured by the most,eminent OK- r. tA, t , trai.e was gradually declining since • , z-" of what were called the principles ty Apr NT —(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord conel9l • • that this measure was, in his opinion, not called fin *by Policy or wisdom, nor justified by the arguments which Cad been adduced by his Noble Friend, and he would only. vi.. 44, as a very inferior, b u t not a l toget h er un i mportant considOratilms that the effect of this measure would be still to redu.ce that revenue . derived from our i mports, b y re d uc i ng t h e d u ty - mug half of what it was at the present moment, and by which wed realised about 332,0001.,( Cheeri. ) Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the Hottiot divided, when there appeared— For the amendment Against it Majority The item was then ordered to stand part of the Bill. The House then resumed, and the Bill was reported with out amendments. 50 It was then agreed, on the motion of the Duke of WEL LINGTON, that the Bill should be read a third time on Thursday next. Their Lordships then adjourned, at a Quarter past Twelve. HOUSE OF COMMONS, .Tune 23. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. REPORTS The reports on the following Bills were considered and agreed to, and the Bills ordered to be engrossed, viz. : Blackburn and Preston Railway ; Dublin, Dundrum, and Enniskerry Railway ; Eastern.Ccunties Railway Stations En largement ; East Lancashire Itzilway (Deviation and Branches); Enfield and Edmonton Raikzay , London and Bir mingham Railway and Birmingham Canal Arrangement;, London and Birmingham Railway (Aylesbury Railway Pur chase); London and Birmingham Railway (Coventry ter Nuneaton); London and Birmingham Grand Junction (Manchester and Birmingham Railway Amalgamation); London and Birmingham Railway (Weedon and Northampton Branch); North Union Railway; North Wales Railway; St. Alban's, Luton, and Dunstable Railway; South Eastern Railway (from the Greenwich Railway to Chart, near Ashford, with Branches to Tunbridge and Riverhead); Sbrewsbary, Oswe a s r y, an d Ch ester J unc tion Railway (Cr ickheath and Wpm Lines); Shrewsbury, Oswe:stry, and Ch ester Junction. ' Rail way (Extension and Deviations); Wath-upon Im provement. THIRD READING. The following Bills were read a third time, and it:— piaged, • v Ardros.an Municipal. Police and Improvement—Forth 30 Clyde Navigation and Bowling Bay Improvement—lpswich' and Bnry St. Edmund':' Railway (Norwich Extension) . — Sheffield. Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Huddersfield, and Goole Railway—Stockton Gas—Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole Railway, and Port, &c., of Goole. COVENTRY._NpNEATON, BIRMINGHAM AND ELIHU BURRITT. THE LEARNED AMERICAN BLACKSMITH. As this indefatigable philanthropist will probabV sit Great Britain in the course of a few wei , ks, it will no doubt`grstify many Of our readers to learn something regarding his history. Elihu Burritt was born in New Britain, Connecticut, in the year 1811, of honest and respectable parents. He enjoyed the priviloge of occa sionally attending the " district school " till he was 16 years old, when his father died, and he was apprenticed to the trade of a blacksmith. The Bible was the first boa which he thoroughly studied; and at a very early age 1w was familiar with almost every passage in the Old and New Testaments. Before he reached the age of 21, he was conversant with the English classics, both in prose anti poetry, and passed delighi fully many of his leisure hours in poring over the pages of Milton, Young, Thomson, Cowper, Addison, &c. In the winter of the year is which he attained his majority, he commenced, under the direction of a brother-in-law, who was an accom plished scholar, the study of mathematics. He then en tered on the study of the Latin language, for the pur pose of reading. He soon after turned his attention to the French, Greek, and German languages. After having mastered the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin lan guages, and ail the languages of modern Europe ; by dint of hard labour he has become a proficient in the most difficult languages of Europe which are now nearly disused and obsolete—among them are 'Gaelic, Welsh, Celtic, Saxon, Gothic, Icelandic, Russian, Salvonic. Armenian, Chaldaic, Lyriac, Ethiopic, San scrit, and Tamul 1 It was stated in a public meeting, in 1838, by Governor Everett, that Mr. Burritt, by that time, by his unaided industry alone, had made himself acquainted with fifty languages. Mr. Burritt sows no disposition to relax it un his labours. He usually devotes eight hours to labour, with eight hours to study, and eight hours to physical indulgence. anti repose ; and, by pursuing this course, he enjoys the advantages—vainly coveted by many literary men— those connected With "a sound mind in a he. , lO(lY body." Nor does he confine his labours to the mere acquisition . of literary we a lth—he a l so diff uses it w ith a liberal hand. He has written many valuable articles for periodicals of high standing ; he has delivered many lectures, which have been replete with interest ant valuable information ; and has been repeatedly list. ned to by large and highly respectable audiences in New York, Philadelphia, and other places, with edification and delight. He has not yet reached the meridian of life, and it is to be hoped that many years of usefulness ...re still before him ; he is indeed, a man of whom N. w England may well be proud. Amongst his works of philanthropy, Elihu Burritt issues almost weekly 1,000 or 1,200 of his " Olive Leaves" for the press ; and, in prom of his powers of writing, we may mention the fact—a fact perfectly •unparalleled in the annals of periodical literature —that the artiees thus forwarded are regularly printed in about 30U newspapers in various parts of the Union. DISAPPEARANCE OF THREE HOUSES.—An alarming and very extraordinary circumstance took place yesterday se'nnight at Hateley-heath, West Bromwich—the total and immediate disappearance of three houses, in consequence of the thick coal having been got from under them some time since. The hou ses were inhabited, but fortunately no lives were lost. About ball-past eight o'clock the middle of one of the houses suddenly fell in,an t a b l e ar w, alarm was of thegiv en,atidas soon as the people could get out,buildings being five six or yart immediately sank dow il wi t t h s b a el g o r w e a t t b e e r asl level e the t t h o o p s s the housesuorfface covered with the earth which had fallen in around them. of T their p The unfortunate Bru e y o_ccupi l ,invm Gazette.ntsol a thehou have lost the whole on 17 ti .a n i cie n ; d - s?o' the THE WEATHER.—Between eleven and twelve o'clock part of the eveningmetropolis was theand full visited by a pretty smart Which lasted for about an hour. In the early suffocating de,. warning the atmosphere was heated to the most corruscations of sheet close was given towre:(ia'of the coming storm of the evening, by the brilliant lightning which continued to illumi nate the horizon for two'h Shortly after eleven o'clock it beeline more vivid and o in r t s en ,t s o e, and rapidly assumed the For half an hour the vivid, rtu. character of a decided thunder lightning was exceedingly of thunder. The storm was dby loud peals fall of rain, which, though but of short dwuhrh a very heavy the most grateful coolness. A f ew more hoautrist:n, r oduced rain Avould tend much to the comfort of the hapless mortals doomed to the metropolis, for our climate• f or th e l ast week or two has been worse than tropical. EFFECTS OF THE WEATHER.—We are informed that the heat has seriously interfered with the working of many collieries M this neighbourhood ; the managers have found it very difficult, and even impossible, to maintain a proper state of ventilation. Ven tilation is usually effected by means of furnaces at the bottom of the mines near the pits' mouth, the heat from which so rarities the at mosphere as to cause a continual rush of pure air into the mine. The intensity of the heat, however, during the last few days has so rani fled the air above ground as to render this plan ineffective. We have beard of several collieries which has suspended operations for the present, in conseque nce o f t h e d anger arising frvia this vow.— 2 2L..o4,o4terZraminer. EXETER. Lord BROUGHAM then presented a petition from the Rev. Mr. Shore, who had been for ten years in- orders. After that time he was conscientiously convinced that it was his duty to leave the church. Previously, however. ‘o his leaving the church, he had been licensed to a certain chapel, which was afterwards et dowed by the Duke of Somerset ; having ob tained that iteenie from the Bishop of Exeter, wrier the autho rity of a certain incumbent, where he performed the service according to the rules of the Church of Eng'and. After wards, however, the living under which he was licensed passed into other hands, and Mr. Shore was deprived of that license, but the chapel had then passed cut of connexion with the church of England. Mr. Shore, who had in the meantime been converted to the principles of the Protestant Dissenters, and under the impression that his connexion with the church had ceased, administered the Sacrament, under the authority of the Toleration Act. Yet he had, nevertheless, been dealt with in the spiritual court as if he were still under the "cognizance of the ecclesiastical law. This petition was from the Lf arced Sergeant, who conducted the case for Mr. Shore, an . i it complain - cl that there was a defect in the law, which ought to be remedied. The Bishop of EXETER said that he must preface the few remarks which he hal to offer to their Lordships, with the statement that nothing could have been more fair and straight forward, or liberal. than the conduct of his Noble and Learned Friend. The facts were these :—Previous to the endowment of the chapel, he had received a c.mmunieation from the Duke of Somerset, inquiring what was the smallest sum that would be necessary to endow the chapel. He had replied that 1,C0,7. or 1,50 W. wouid be a sufficient sum to justify him in consecrat ing the chapel though, of course, his Grace would not think of attaching so small a stipend to a chapel of that kind. The Noble Duke had departed from his engagements, from what reasons were best known to himself, and he hed no doubt they were satisfactory to,his own mind. At the time the applica. firm was made to him he licensed Mr. Shore, when he found that that gentleman had received the leave of the incumbent; and their Lordships need not be infoaned what were the rights of incumbents or of petrons. One clergyman could not go into a parish and officiate there without the leave of the incumbent, and when the incumbent of the perish refused to grant leave to Mr. Shore. he did not feel himself at liberty to sanction his officiating. Mr. Shore then said he would officiate in spite of the refusal, and so he did. He remonstrated in the mildest manner, and called upon him by the oath which he had taken to pay obedience to the church, but he had not chosen so to do. Lord BROUGHAM said that his object in commenting upon the matter at all wee, to draw attention to the defective state of the law, with the view to have it amended. Theophilug Lindsay, who had been twenty-five years a rector in the English Church, and who afterwards became an Unitarian minist-T, and founded the Essex-street chapel, had never been proceeded against ; neither was Dr. Lardner, nor eny of those who had recently lot the Church and become Roman Catholics, the Hon. and Rev. Mr. Spencer, Mr. • Faber, and Mr. Newman. He thought, therefore, that their Lordships should pause before they turned a deaf ear to the comrlaint , of petitioners. The bishop of EXETER explained that Mr. Shore was a Dissenter irons the discipline, not from the doctrine of the Church of England, and thus, repudiating the authority of the diocesan, still continued the service of the Church of England. He stood in a very different pYition to tho:e gentlemen who had seceded from the Church of England for that of Rums. Mr. Shore might have escaped this prosecution if he had con. sented to depo-itirin ; but this, by his counsel, he had expressly refused to do. The only relief the H. , use could afford wai that from costs, and if this gentleman still coninu-d obstinate, he soul i not conceide that this was the right way to obtain the re lief which he sought. Lord BROUGHAM said that he could cite the venerable with the character, a priest could never be deposed, but could only be suspended. The Bishop of EXEHER could M., an equally high autho• namely, that ot Lord Stowell himseit, in the case of some one against Stone, in which the decision had been that after the sentence ot the Ecclesiastical Court, the Bishop could pronounce the additional sentence, and depose an offender from the ministry. The bishop o' LONDON thought that an interminable confu sion would arise if a party, after years of study and prayer, were to be Permitted at once to act in contravention of the oath which he had deliberately taken, and resume the civil position which he had forfeited when he entered into holy orders. The proper course to adopt under such circumstances would be the deposi tion from the ministry, but care shoughe taken not to confound deprivation with deposition. After a few words from Lord CAMPBELL, CASE OF THE REV. ROBERT KYLE. _ _ The Earl of RODEN . pre'ented a petition from the inha bitaLts of Donnybrook, near Dublin, complaining of the dis missal of the Rev. Robert Kyle from his ministerial duties by the Bishop - of Dublin. The complaint of the petitioners was so earnest, that he thought it his duty to acquaint the Right Rev. Prelate with the contents or that ptition. He could not but think it most harsh to depri ,e this gentleman of the office which he had so long filled with grea cralit, for no other fault than joining the Evangelical society. The petitioners prayed their Loroshipa to take such steps as will prevent a mi nister being deprived by his dioce-an of his living, without it could 'be shown that he was guilty of heresy, immorality, or impiety. The Archbishop of ARMAGH hoped their Lordships would suspend their judgment till he had an opp - irtunity of writing to the Archbishop of Dublin reap-cting the complaint of the p.-ti tioners. The Archbishop of Dublin stated that he should nave been manifestly guilty of a dereliction of duty if he had not acted in the way he did, however respectable the retitioner might be. The Right f+ev. Prelate here read a communica tion from the Right Rev. Prelate justifying the course he had taken. It was in sub-tance to the eff - et that the Rev. Mr. Kyle bed acted in oppreAtion to the discipline of the Church, and adopted a course which he (the Archbishop of Dublin) did not approve of ; hence, in virtue of the authority vested in him, he had caused the petitioner to be removed. He acted in the matter with the best wish - far the interests and prosperity of the Church. He could not, with a st:fe con cience, have given his consent to the movement which was going forward, and in which the Rev. Gentleman to ik an active part. Such were the sentiments of the Right Rev. Prelate, which he had now placed before the House. The Earl of GALLOWAY entirely agreed with the senti ments of the Noble Earl tato had introduced the retition, and if the allegations of the petition were true, he must conclude that the conduct of the Archbishop of Dublin had been most opinion atunionamong w thewere e t o best be friends reprehensible. The sub;ect of evangelical alliance was one in whicht o h f er t e be w c as bu g r r c e li a . t Of f e th re e n se ce at o t f erop put down, it would lead to very serious results. In a free country like this, such attempts toput down freedom of opinion should net be elicouraged.—( Hear, herr.) Lord REDESDALr: should be sorry if the House should be of opinion that the Right Rev. Prelate had not acted pro perly in the matter. He, for one, thought, that the Right Rev. Prelate had acted with great discretion, and ought to be supported in such a course. It was said, that with regard to all essent.al points of &reline, there was no difference between the members of this even ;elical alliance ; but to that he re pi:ed. that many of these parties we-e avowedly against an es tablished Church. It was not prudent for young meintees o the Church of England to be allied with them. 'there was in many respects a greater similarity between the Church of Eng e yet oV the the priestsll d C n o h t u ,r t tc h , ht e hoe il f Cshhoui Englandr. s e h i a o v f e u Rn a gdeh.f for r t o r e i l n i lane and the Ch urc h o f R ome t h an b etween the former and many r a o f n u e y s r e p p ! o f ' : s p t e o h n :: r clergy o y h those fa d i e l ; e t cuh t d h u t e r h, he s t ' ap t n t oi m ttr e hs n et t acn t ri h n sh t s h eo e nfr d e t ßr m so t m r d i e n s. e e sr differed the more e C)r t hd h u a iri n 2 t h po o f' After a few words from the Duke of LEINSTER, in vin dication of the conduct of the Archbishop of Dublin, and from several other Noble Lords, the subject dropped. CUSTOMS' DUTIES BILL. The Boise then resolved itself into Committee on this Bill. Th e Earl of SHAFTESBURY proceeded to read the schedule attached to the Bill. On the articles butter and cheese being read, The Earl of H A RDWICKE moved that they be struck out. He moved this as an act of justice to many of the poorer classes. Butter and cheese were agricultural produce, raised in many instances by persons holding small plots of land, and by the removal of the duty they would suffer se verely. This was especially the case in Ireland, where very many depended—if not altogether —at least in a great measure on the production of these articles.—( Hear, hear.) By the course they were taking they would not lose a great deal of revenue, but those pony people wi,uld be made to suffer very much. In 1844, the duty on butter was 186,6661 ; in 1845, it was 247,6041. Yet this amount of duty they wete about to sacrifice. They were also proposing to give up the duty on cheese, which in 1844, was 117.272/. ; and in 1845, 141,818/. The effects would be very mischievous, and therefore he would propos e that they be struck out. The Earl of DALHOUSIE said the only object in all the reductions in the tariff was to supply the poorer classes with a full supply of the necessaries of life. He believed the price of butter and cheese would be reduci d to the consumers, but not to such an extent as toprove seriously injurious to Inc home producer, whsle Ithe price would be reduced, and thus a go..d le effected in as far as the poorer classes were concerned. He would take • place when the home thought the importati on least degree He considered k t w ould elected the • mar e that a duty of 20s. per cent. wa s too much to be leviad on an article of so great a consamrtton as butter, and of so much importance to the lower classes, and thereforeproposed to re ' duce th e amount o f d uty to t en s hillings per cent. Lord STANL EY cons i dere d t h a t e itherE the Noblearl was right or he was not. This reduction in duty would either re duce the price of butter or it would keep up the price, and the revenue would lose the amount they now receive • d for that ar ticle, which would have ofplacing 127 000/ a year is the effect the pockets of foreigners; and would not bestow a propor tionate benefit in the classes at home. Earl DALHOUSIE—The Noble Earl who spoke before, and to whose statements he alluded, said the reduction in duty would not affect the price of the • I ante e to the amount of one farthing per cwt. Earl sTANLIOPE—It was a fartkirg a pgwad. LEICESTER !AIL WAY. th up e , j a n n t d ro lf iu te e r ti a on fe o w f . a words from .e -i.e.pocrittnEnEtNhiEs o w o a t s i l , i e r, t * c u d gh to t cer tain clause, was agreed to. - GLASGOW, DUMFRIES. AND CARLISLE RAILWAY EILL—CONSIDERATION OF REPORT. Severel petirioesi,om Glasgow, Dumfries, and other places in the west of Scotland, were presented in favour of this line. The order of the day was then read, that the report be take* into consider Ginn on that day six months. Mr. EWART rose, and said that s in dealing with the im portant subject before the House it behaved them to be careful how they interfered in expressing an opinion with respect to the decision of the Come..ittee.—(Hear, heat, from Mr. P. Stewart.) Notwithstanding the cheers of his Honourable Friend, he ventured - to state that the character of the House would not allow the operation of the Committees to ba changed to suit the convenience of more personal aggrandisement. A Committee had been formed of gentlemen, selected particularly for their high integ. rity, iedependence, aed ability, and they had, after due delibe ration and investigation, given in their decision, which was now sought to be set asia.e by partieswho had interested motivea. A powerful combination of parties was formed against the progress of the measure. He altogether blamed these parties. There was the Caledonian Railway, there was the Grand Junction, there was also, he believed, the Carlisle and Lancaster Company, who were all united with a special - object to defeat the intcntioue of the Bill in order to promote their own special interest, and to cause their own special notions to be adopted. He would ask the House, whether they were prepared to lose its character in the eyes of the public by rejecting the Bill under their consideration ? He considered that they were in fairness bound to resist this attempt to oppose the passing of this measure, which was calculated to confer the greatest benefits on the country through which the line would pass, and particws larly on that part with which he had the honour of being con nected. If the House were to overturn the decisions of its Commit tees on such grounds as had been alleged, they might be constantly • reversing their decisions.—(Cheers.) It was very well for his Right Honourable Friend to cheer him ironically, but he hoped that that would nut prevail upon the House. He was ' sure that his cheering would not prevent them friane giving such a decision as would be consonant with common sense's and that they would uphold the well-considered and impartial deci sions of the House. If they did not the public would be injured—deeply injured. As far as regarded the general question, they were told that this line ought not to be sanctioned principally because it would be a competing line.• Why, he always thought that should be the very reason why the House should grant it.—(Hear, hear.) He had always thought that the very principle of the legislation of that House was the sanctioning of com p e tition—(Hear, bear)—be cause by doing so he had always thought that they were furthering the interests of the public. But this railway was not a competing railway, even supposing that competition were to be discountenanced by the House. It was a railway which struck off at a considerable angle from the railway that it was represented to compete with by his Hon. Friends near hem, or, at least, the supporters of that railway ; and in order to lead the House into the belief that it was a competing railway, its supporters had been obliged to distort the geography of,the country. They had not, there fore, a single ground to stand upon when they represented that this was a competing line. It would pour its tributary' streams into the Caledonian Railway. The people of that part 'nf the country through which it would pass were certainly in favour of this and against the other line. It was said that a cot-amiss:on had reported in favour of the Caledonian line, but, as a collateral breech, the line now under the considera tion of the House had certainly been s anctioned by the Com missioners, and the report of the Board of Trade had, in fact, taken the same view of thi, line as the promoters had; it would afford a direct communication with Edinburgh and Ghsgow and England, and instead of acting eirejudiciaLy to the interests of the proprietors of the collateral branches, it would rather tend to increase them. The traffic on the trunk tine between that part of the country with which he was copnccted and the north would be in creased. He contended, then, that as the Board of Trade had distinctly reported in favour of this line, it ought. also to receive the sanction of the House. The Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle Railway was admitted oa be a tributary to tic Caledonian. The Committee ap pointed to decide upon that Bid tA as composed of persons for whom he entertained the highest opinion; they considereel that the part of the country through which the line passed required a separate and indepent l eat line for itself, in consequence of the great mineral wealth which it possessed, and it was there fire of the utmost importance that a through line of commuuica Lion should exist bet ween it and this country. All these important , circumstances came under the consideration of the properly• constituted tribunal—the Select Committee upon Railways, appointed by that Howe. Having gone before this tribunal, consisting of persons of the highest abilities, his Hon. Friend the Member for the Tower Hamlets being chairman of the Committee, and an unanimous verdict was come to in favour of this railway—the House was now called upon by three powerful companies to repeal this decision of the Committee, and thereby to leave the whole of the valley of the I\ MI with out railway accommodation. The Honourable Member who represents that district must know that there is a general feeling an unanimous assent in favour of the line. If the House were allowed to repeal the decision of this Com mittee, it would indict a great injustice upon that important district through which the line would pass. If the House were thus allowed to rescind the decision of its Committees, when powerful companies came down to the House with interested motives arid feelings, prayinc , the House to do sos it wJtild be in vain that the Hon. Is ember for Oxford (Mr. Estcourt) exerted himself to reform and improve the tribu nals of this House, entrusted with the martsgement of railway; affairs. Public confidence would become shaken_ in the and local interest advocated in tbAt Llouse, personal decisions of the Committees, represented, as was the especially w: en they saw one by the Hon. member for Renfrewshire (Mr. ease with ashamed of stating their persona) Stewart), who were not and the interest of powerful companies in terests, and declare their intention to vote according to thee* interest. .A powe rful iotirnal which exercised considerable , ds called the attention of the d asked if these decisions public influence tts this u o n i in t h p p e rttunbtl quest i n orf e This was an were to. be alwaysble ruessceindbefd tibnstehistr.-Lannuals.,‘er, and if so what w as the F oss' indication of the. feeling of the -public: mind on this aken into mat t e r, and he , called upon every Member of the Honssi to prevent thisrfeelint becoming general out a the House: H e w ould move, then, that this question shou ld h o . further consideration , and if this H o u se should decit.!,e that a t n a d vi . n t g al6 an b y e interest in either f powerful companies-should not prevail in the house beta.:,utt• they were powerful, he would further move that this report 10 rose to urge forthwith taken into consideration. considera'ons which the M l r ines tr b A e W fOre ES tl d ie rs. t im us e e d , alember . (Mr. Evart) had stated upon the House a few of those considered a particular line, a Committee having biro to affect the subject before them. simplyseemed st. 13c said the Hon.. thi l s ern as * a simple case in whick a nd re , ported in favour of it, that line ,ort of the House. N • ow if that were the • ' consideration its the case before the Ho aim super House (Mr. Haees) would certainly port it. But the Howe would be surprised to learn, after' hearing the speech of the Hon. Gentleman, who said that this. line vs. scheme with the Caledonian. - nut a competing Railw ay , t h at t hi s line had been rejected by the Hoard of Trode, and not Only by the Board of Trade, but by the, first Commis,ion which w a s a pp ointed to inquire into the best communication between England and Scotland. He held, in his hand a report friim the Board of Trade, in which they distinctly stated that it was quite clear that the traffic front. Scotland to the south was not sufficient to support two com peting systems of railroad; that one must be atepted, and th.s others neglected, and that the Caledonian and the Niihadals lbws were two systems inconsistent with each other. lie (Mr.. Hawes) owned, that after reading this report, he did titek that the last Committe e hall adopted not course in their e the most propeZ proeeeeines. H had in a full House rejectedthat Honourable Members . line, the commtsion had decided the Board of Trade and! would support the ' • against it, and he (Mr. Hawes) eemsien of the Howe against the late Coin of Trade, mittee. Against the Beard e e, against the Commission. and again s t te de • (meson of the previous Committee, the late' Coinmittee, he thought, c - -me to an unwise decision,. He wou ld simply ask the House whether the evidence of public documents did not- preponderate in favour of the Caledonian line • , -; against the decision of the Committee - on the Dum fries line? There was, fur instaoce, a Committee of their own House who had reported against the latter line—the Board or Trade had done the same, and a Commission appointed by the , Crown had given a decided opinion in favour of the Caledonion: line. He sad thee this was noordinary case, and tl.e House ought: not to allow the Dumfries line to pa , s, at least for the present. But there was another consideration which he would urges against this decision. They were living in times of wild rail- , war speculation, and he found front a taper which had been. laid leei•ore the House, that there were Bills before therm, authorising railway companies to raise capital to the ; extent of three hundred and silty millions, while, . up to the Bth of June, th e Bills in the. other House am9unted.to upwards of one hundred millions.; Now, he put it to the House, whether, under the circumstances,' it was not fit and proper that the Dumfries Railway should ,be, pos'poued till a more favourab le p eriod for carr y in g it out?' Believing this to be the best that could be done for the sake of, the public at interest, considering th tbe evidence er public documents preponderated against the decision of the Committee, knowing that the House had autho. sited an existing company make a line in the saute district, and to raise two millions of money, affording an immense amount of labour, a large portion of which wa s now in operation ; and considering, lastly, the present state of railway speculation sad the money market, he thought it,"' highly desirable that the House should postpone the passing nt. the Dumfries Bill till a more-favourable opportunity. 05W44D til4 th 4 puarEici uro wvaii amc4itt. 1