The Sun. — London, England, 1848-08-29 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. NORTHERN ClRCUlT.—Liverpool, Aug. 28. CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice CRESSWELL. TRIAL OF DR. M'DOUALL. Peter Murray MWouall, the Chartist, was indicted for sedition, and endeavouring to incite others to resist the laws, and for attending an unlawful assembly. The AttornepGeneral stated' the case for the prose. sution, and called evidence to establish the case. Thomas Hollingworth, overlooker in Mr. Raynor's factory, said he went to the meeting on the 10th July. When there was a rush at the door, he saw what he thought two or three pikes. He went no farther than the door. The note-book found on the prisoner was put in, and notes containing prisoner's appointments for attending many meetings at different towns in the manufacturing districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and, among the rest, that for Ashton, were read. A letter of the 6th July, 1848, was read. It was addressed to the prisoner from M'Kew, sending him 21., and giving him an account of the proceedings in London at that time on the trial of the Chartists. Another letter, dated the 14th, from the same, in answer to an application for money, assur ing him they had none, and also giving an account of the trials in London. The " Song of the SJil," was then tendered, and objected to, but admitted, com raencing— "With pikes so brightly glancing, 0, With flags so lightly dancing, 0, As felons still, With right good will, To the struggle we're gaily advancing, 0." Ib purported to be printed froml the Irish Felon of July 8. One, of about 100 handbills, found on the pri soner, was read, advertising a projected periodical, to be called "The Truth Teller," the object of which was to advocate the People's Charter and the Repeal of the Union. That was the case for the prosecution. , Mr. Sergeant WlLKiaes addressed the jury for the prisoner, remarking on the strong prejudices just now prevalent on the subject of the opinions professed by the prisoner, and those who thought as he did, and on the extreme difficulty of laying aside those prejudices, but he entreated them, as they valued the trial by jury, to exert themselves to decide the queln then before them purely by the light of reason, and f from the influence of prejudice. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL replied. Mr. Justice CRESSWELL summed up. He said the pri soner was charged with intending to oppose the execu tion of the law, and it had been argued that it was lawful for him to do so. To be lawful to obstruct the execution. of the law was a contradiction in terms. Instances had been referred to in which men, under certain circum stances, had resorted to arms against the Government. But those who justified what they had done did it, not on the ground that they had not violated the law, but that those whom they opposed had violated it. There could be no doubt that men had a right to form their own opinions as to any law being good or bad, and they might meet to declare those opinions ; but how were they tolproceed to get it altered ? Not by advising organi zation, and resorting to arms. He admitted the coinci dence in the evidence of the policemen was remarkable. It was for the jury to say whether that arose from the character of the alleged facts, or the intention of the witness to mislead them, by deposing to that which was not true. His Lordship then drew the attention of the jury to the several counts of the indictment, and the evi dence tending to support each of them; and having ex plained to them what was an unlawful assembly, and what seditious speaking, he advised them to do their duty without fear or favour. The jury retired, but in ten minutes returned, finding the prisoner Guilty on all the counts. Ho was then called on to say why sentence should not be passed. The prisoner said, in consequence of the conduct of certain miscreants at Ashton-under-Lune, his witnesses, had been prevented from attending to give evidence. His LonDsnie said the prisoner had been convicted on evidence which fully justified their verdict. He had hired himself to propagate sedition, and he took the opportunity of addressing an ignorant, and, perhaps, suffering people, not for the purpose of proposing a remedy for their sufferings, but to excite discontent and. incite them to violate the law. This was the second time he had been convicted of sedition, and he must be severely punished. His Lordship then sentenced him to be imprisoned in the county gaol for two years. CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT OLD COURT. John Jaracs Bezer, 32, described as a labourer, was placed in the dock, upon an indictment charging him, with sedition. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that the speech which the prisoner was charged with delivering was delivered at a meeting held on the 28th of July, the day following the ill-founded and fated rumour of an insurrection in Ireland, and of the disaffection of the troops, at the thea tre in Milton-street, Cripplegate. There were at first about 500 or 600 present; but when the prisoner deli vered his speech there were nearly 1,000 present, con sisting chiefly of Irishmen and persons of the labouring classes, who were highly susceptible of excitement. The prisoner was a fish dealer—ho sold fish about the street'. —(Laughter)—and was possessed of considerable powers of the tongue. His speech ran as follows : "It is not the fashion of Chartists to prevent free and fair discussion. I love dismission. I glory in being in a discussion, and simply because I think that discussion, based upon fair and equitable grounds, is the best way of arriving at tine truth.. Now, as to the resolution I hold in my hand Resolved, that this meeting deeply sympathizes with the struggling people of Ireland, and is resolved to ',Leta oy all aiiu every ineisua weir power; and that we consider the physical preparations of the Go vernment unjustifiable without the proper remedial measures attached thereto.' Brother Chartists! brother Republicans! brother Democrats!—for I don't know that I can address you by any better name than Demo crats, for the principle of democracy is the principle of fair play; the principle of democracy is the principle of a free stage to all and no favour to any ; the principle of de mocracy is the rights of the rich and no more; the prin ciple of democracy is the rights of the poor and no less; the principle of democracy is the greatest amount of good to the greatest number. In short, the principle of de mocracy is the principle of justice and of truth. DCI3IO - are the same in every nation. The democrats of Russia, the democrats of Poland, the demo crats of Switzerland, the democrats of Ger many, the democrats of France, the democrats of Ireland understand each other. They are all travelling the same road, they have all one mind, they have all one aim, they have all one object in view, and that ob ject is glorious liberty, they are all singing one song— not in the same language, perhaps, but the same senti ment. ", Oh, liberty, will men resign thee, Once having felt thy glorious flame? Shall locks or bars or bolts confine thee, Or whips thy noble spirit tame?' That is part of the Marseillaise Hymn. Tyranny has not tamed John Mitchel yet, I will be bound. It has not yet tamed Ernest Jones, I will be bound. Did it tame the men of old when they were burned at the stake? No, it did not; it actually pro gressed their principles more than they would have pro gressed. And let tyrants beware. You had better shut up shop; you had better put up your swords and cut and run, for democracy is spreading, depend upon it, and sooner or later will overwhelm you all. We have seen lords and dukes and princes, and all the rest of the mob in different nations cut and run. Louis Philippe had to change his clothes and his whiskers, and to take his umbrella, and run away. Wo shall live to see greater changes yet. As a democrat, I hope so. Every man that works for his living honestly, either by his head or hands, is a respectable man, though by bad laws he may be badly clothed and badly housed and badly fed ; and those who do not work for their living, but who fatten upon the labour of others, are not respectable people, but, on the contrary, are thieves and rogues and vagabonds, though they may wear fine linen and fare sumptuously every day—though they may wear crowns upon their heads and have swords hanging at their tails—though they may be called Lords, and Dukes, and Marquises, and Viscounts, and Right Rev. Fathers in God, and K n i g ht s o f the Garter, and Grooms of the Stole, and Lords of the Bedchamber, and all the other flummery, and mummery, and humbuggery. I therefore will address you as respectable people,—for I presume that with the exception of a sprinkling there and a sprinkling here, and a few of these despi cable wretches who have hired themselves for blood money—with the exception of those creatures we are all respectable people. If Lord John Russell wants to know what I am—l am a merchant in ttie city of London, and though perhaps I have not much 'rhino,' I am perhaps more respectable than many other merchants, for I market with ready money. I sell fish about the streete. If we perform our duty well, generations yet unborn will bless us, if we perform our duty ill, generations yet unborn will curse us. What is that duty? The Northern Star of last week says, our duty is to sympathise with Ireland. Well, is our duty to end there ? Our duty is to help Ireland, and I will tell you how we will help her. lam not going to say, in God's name, geil arms,' for that is sedition : I am not fe going to say, in God's name get pikes,' f or th at i s lony; but I am going t o sa y, g in God's name get umbrellas,' 'in God's name get great coats.' lam not going to tell you:? 1 , opinion of the Government of this country; but I else, and as this give you the opinion of somebody man is a long way off I don't think that the Gov ernmen t t h will be able to catch him—and that is the editor of now e New York Herald. lam read ing from a stamped er, the most loyal paper in the world, and therefore is uo treason in that. This is what Brothsearo we are thinks of the British Government. They gro e v a el i ll a ng tio in n ' we area nation,' say they, 'a — you— .' There is a shame. A narrow masses of our population to it rules , taxes, and p owde g r arc .hy is grinding the plunders the State for its own lucre and ambition. The church, the law, the navy, the army, and the Crown are kept up only to satiate its hungry maw and aggrandi se its power. The middle classes, say s BrotherJ athan —I don't say so—' are either sl aves or toadies —the lower classes only slaves." Chartism is the natural a he true expression of the popular feeling. The unconcealed wish of the majority of the people is for a republic, and they are only kept in check by the terrors of milita r y force.' And now, something to the point that has called us together this night. We will quote Brother Jonathan again, because they cannot catch him If ever there was a people,' says the .New York Herald (which, mark you, is the organ of the war party, and the war party in .America is now getting the ascendancy, and that is another significant fact), ' if ever there was a people who had cause to rise and strike their tyrants, the Irish are that people. If there ever was a time to do it, the pre sent is it. The crisis may be delayed until after harvest, but we are inclined to think that it will come then beyond all peradventure. They will gain an accession to their I THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 29, 1848. ranks from Mitchel's conviction and transportation of thousands who have heretofore opposed their move ments; and if, after rising in arms, they can but hold thoir ground for five or six weeks, their example will assuredly be followed by the Chartists, and the result will be the downfal of the great tyrant of the universe, one of the most corrupt, tyrannical, grinding, and despotic Governments that Providence ever permitted to afflict a world. In this downfal the nobility and aristocracy, the well-fed pup pets of the Government, they who have lived on the fat of the land, and revelled in luxury purchased by the sweat and anguish of a nation, will be crushed to atoms.' The gagging Bill does not say we must not read, so you see I like to do everything according to law. Brother Jonathan says again,: By the last arrival from England we have some indications of the policy which England has shaped, and which from all appearances she is determined to pursue. It is not a direct, open, and honest policy, such as Russia has m ar k e d out , b ut a mean , pitiful, sneaking, and u n d er h an d sys t em o f p e tty i n t r igue and :Machiavellian deception, which has always charac terised her Governm e nt from tim e immemorial. Fear ing the powerful Republic, its increase, its stability, :and its future greatness, and knowing herself to be powerless to oppose any obstacle in vs way, this wicked, atrocious, and diabolical Govern ment has embarked in a policy wisich would disgrace the Kings of India. She dare not meet the Republic in the field, and there manfully and honourably dispute the spread of the principles of free government in Europe. The first shock of battle would show her nakedness and prostrate her. But she eta play the assassin. She can stab her enemy in the back, as she has done en former occasions, and as she is attempting to do so again; but it will be seen with what success eventually. The policy which she has determined upon is to send abroad her agents for the purpose of intriguing the people and with the Governments of the continental nations, of putting the people against the Governments, and the Governments againet the people—of inciting the masses to rise for their rights, and inciting the Go vernments when the masses have risen, to massacre them, as has been done in Naples. There is not only every probability, but it is almost a moral certainty, that the late dreadful massacres in the city of Naples were the work of this trea cherous and mean Government through the agency of its intriguers. At the present time there is no doubt that England has her agents scattered throughout all Europe, whose missions are of this character, and who, if successful, would deluge Europe with the blood of her people, and re-establish, amid carnage and desolation, monarchy in France, and prevent the progress of the principles of free government from making further headway in Europe. These are the despicable and underhand means which this assassin Go vernment has resorted to 'to overthrow France, not daring, as wo have before stated, to measure lances with the giant Republic.' Now, there is an important question in this bill. Is Ireland up ?' I think she has been down long enough, and another thing you will own, too, that it is time she was up, and it she does not get up herself as one man, serve her right for being down, and serve any one right that kisses the chains that bind him. It is a shame that those who pant for liberty should still be in bondage, whilst some are slaves at heart ; but I hope that Ireland is not a slave at heart, and the time is fast approaching perhaps at this very moment she is at it, and if she is, God of the suffering poor defend the right. Tyrant: , have reigned in Ireland for seven centuries nearly, and I hope that those who have mocked her sufferings and starved her may now meet with the reward they merit, whoever they are. ' But what would Ireland do if she had her nationality?' say some; people. The Irish h ave a r i g h t to govern themselves. Let the Irish nation, as every ot h er nation, govern itself by its own laws. Some people say what have the English to do with it ? The English, I consider, if they are democrats at heart, have to do with everything. that is oppressive and unjust; they have raised their voice against injustice and oppression in Poland. Why not raise their voice wben injustice and oppression aro per petrated in Ireland ? I say the Government are acting either very roguishly or very insanely ; and, therefore, I say openly and advised!), that neither a roguish Government nor an insane Go vernment ought to exist. lam ready here to assert that there is something rotten in the political state of England; that from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot there is nothing but wounds and putrefying sores; that monarchs, aristocrats, lords, free-traders, special constables, and blue devils have all done that which they ought not to have done, and have left un done that which they ought to do. Ono in seven has has no voice in this country, and while that is so we are virtually slaves. I advise you to read the Black Book of England,' and you will find that Lord John Rus sell was very foolish, and told lies too, when he stated that the people of England wanted no reform. There are too many bishops; there is too much aris tocracy; there are too many .drones to live upon the bees. I wish to God they would emigrate. I say that a system of emigration is a very good thing, and the sooner those fellows emigrate the better. I always like to say what I mean and mean what I say, notwithstanding the consequences that may ensue. The truth ought to be spoken. I reiterate the sentiment that Ireland is justified" in rising up in arms against those who have oppressed her ; and God grant she may win; and I say in the language of the poet : " Down with aristocratic slavery, Up with Republican bravery.' " The speech was received by the audience with much ap plause, and there was a deal of excitement. Having ad verted to the effect and tendency of that speech, takin g Into account the excitable state of the audience addressed, the Attorney-General stated that the prisoner was a person of a very dangerous character and it was neces sary that his career should be stepped. Mr. James White, short-hand writer, proved attend ing the meeting in question. The chair was taken by John Shaw. The witness then read the speech of the chairman, and also that of the prisoner, which is given above. At the conclusion of this witness's evidence a copy of the Times was put in evidence, and the additional com ments upon the extracts from the New York Herald were read, it being alleged by the Attorney-General that those comments had been altogether omitted by the prisoner when he read the quotation from the Ame rican paper. This closed the case on the part of the Crown. The prisoner addressed the jury in a quiet, inoffensive, and fluent speech, which was listened to by the Court with considerable attention. He avowed himself a con scientious Chartist, and stated that whether the speech he delivered was seditious or not it contained his honest and deliberate opinions. Every man had a right to express his opinions openly, freely, and fairly, and he contended he had done nothing more. If he were guilty of sedition in quoting a passage from the Times, in the hearing of about 800 people, the newspaper was still more so by publishing it to the world. The prisoner then asked the jury if the miserable condition of the labour ing classes, to whom he belonged, and the injustice and the oppression they had to submit to, was not a sufficient reason for the expressions he had made use of, and the course he had pursued. In the course of his speech he complained of not being allowed to consult Goldsmith's " History of England" and the Times, for the purpose of preparing his defence. Mr. Baron PLATT said the prisoner ought to have informed him of that when ho was arraigned. He should, however, make inquiries into the matter, that the public might not be induced to think that any obstruction had been placed in the way of the prisoner's defence. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL then replied in a very eloquent and impressive speech. The Learned JUDGE charged the jury, The jury, after a few minutes' deliberation, returned a verdict of Guilty. By the direction of the Learned Judge, James Max well Bryson, George Shell, and Robert Crowe, the other Chartist prisoners, were placed in the dock, together with the prisoner Bezer. Mr. Baron PLATT having severally addressed the prisoners, proceeded to say that th ey had been und guilty of uttering seditious speeches for the purpose of disturbing the peace of the country, and inciting the people to insurrection. They had been fortunately stopped in their career, for it the Government had allow e d th em t o pursue their guilty course, and they had arrayed themselves and their party in arms, they would assuredly have been found guilty of high treason, and undergone the extreme penalty of the law. It was a mercy, therefore, that their evil course had been stopped. They called them selves the people, and said they advocated the rights of the people, but they must know full well that the people were opposed to the objects which they and the persons who joined them had in view. They might have been actuated by motives of vanity in the course they had taken—they might have expected to have been dealt with as martyrs, or to be kept in comfort out of the purse of those confederated to gether; but whatever might have been their objects, it was the duty of the Government to put down such practices as those of which they were respectively guilty, in order to preserve the public peace. It is now, said his Lordship, my duty in wielding the sword of justice to make an example of you as tar as the law gives me power to do so. Men were indicted in this place on a former occasion, but it does not appear that the sentences which were passed upon them are sufficient to deter other wicked and vain people from following their example. It is, therefore, clear that the sentences upon you should be sufficient to restrain others from pursuing a similar course hereafter. The sentence upon each of you respectively is, that you be imprisoned in the House of Correction for the space of two years ; and you George Shell, Robert Crowe, and John James Bezer are to pay a fine to her Majesty the Queen of 10/. each ; and you James Maxwell Bryson, a fine of 204, and to find securities respectively to keep the peace fur the space of five years, and until the fines are paid and the securities are given you will be confined in prisons. The amount of your recognizances must be, yourselves in 1001., and two sureties of 50/. each. Bezer wished to know in what prison he was to be confined? Mr. Baron PLATT said he would be confined in some prison in the district where the offence was committed. Bryson took an objection to the form of passing sentence, on the ground that he ought to have been asked first " why the sentence of the Court should not sß"l ar u o p n onhm." PLATT--That m be i k T s P d h ltsr e: is not necessary in a caso of The prisoners then left the dock, one of them crying out,' Come along, brother Chartists." beet MA.naiAGE.—At Desertrnartin, on the 18th ult., Mr. John Dunlop to Mrs. Nancy Macdonald. They were accou3panied to church by about one thousand people with drums. horns, speaking trumpets, &e. It Was the fifth marriage for the bride, and fourth for the gay Lothario. Their united ages amounted to 170 years. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION-HOUSE. John Dan was brought before the Lord Mayor, charged with having stabbed John Conway with a knife. From the statement of Conway, it appeared that he had been employed on Saturday, in Upper Thames street, to unload a van, a job which the prisoner, if sober, would have had to perform. He afterwards went into a public-house, in the tap-room of which sat the pri soner, who immediately called him an undermining vil lain, and at length proceeded to the use of such language as was quite intolerable. Conway found it necessary to give the prisoaer a blow, which he supposed put an end to the disagreement. He was mistaken. The prisoner let loose at him again with a still fouler tongue; and, after having been earnestly expostulated with on the danger of using such lausr,uage, received another blow, which was returned with a stick of a knife. The instru ment penetrated Conway's arm to a considerable depth, and completely disabled him. The prisoner had been cutting bread and meat just before the transaction. The words used by him were just such as might be expected from a dissolute man who had been cut out of his work by a sober man. A policeman who was passing walked into the house, and seeing the blood pouring from Con way's arm, asked the prisoner why he committed so des perate an act, to which the latter, who was cutting meat with his knife, replied that the complainiint had struck him three times, and he had used the knife in his own defence. The prisoncr—So he did strike mc. The LORD MAYOR--YOU deserve to be struck for having used such horrible language. The prisoner —It was undermining conduct in him, and I am a mush older and a smaller man, and he should not have struck -me. The LORD MAYo:l—That will net eXCIISO the use of the knife. lam sorry to see that such an un-English practice is gaining ground. If ye: are the smaller man that is no reason you should have struck at the man with a knife. The prisoner—After he had struck me twice I held up my hand to defend myself, and then he struck the knife and wounded himself. The LORD MAYOR—It is an offence which must be dealt with in the most serious manner. I shall commit you for trial at the Central Criminal Court. The prisoner was accordingly committed. John Henry was brought up for final examination upon the charge of having attemited a burglary in the house of Mr. Willey, cutler, of Fish-street. The prisoner had been seen a few nights ago endea vouring to openithe dour of the house by turning a key of his own in the lock,• while a confederate acted as a blind by standing before him. Upon being taken into custody a skeleton key was found upon him, and he dropped in the station-house a piece of black war, such as housebreakers are in the habit of using in taking im pressious of keys for their own purposes. Two nights previously an attempt had been made by three persons to get into the same house, but they were disturbed by a neighbour, who, however, could not swear to the ideetity of the prisoner as one of the gang. The prisoner had been two years ago charged at Worship-street with hav ing broken into a house. He now adhered to the rose :ution he had formed upon being first brought before the Lord Mayor, not to disclose his address, from what he called tenderness for the feelings of his mother, who never could bear the idea of such a shameful accusation; and upon being reminded that lie had before labqured under a similar charge, he declared that he was as in nocent of the one as of the other.—(A laugh.) Sentenced to imprisonment for two months. MARLBOROUGH- S7'I?EE T. Christopher Lewis and William Lewis were charged with having assaulted police-constable Lynel of the C division, and with having attempted to get possession of the constable's cutlass, for the purpose el doing him some bodily harm. The constables within this district have been re cently armed with cutlasses a hen on night duty, in consequence of the number of Irish clubs established in venous localities, and the threats pot forward by the members of these clubs 'if disturbing the public peace, when a favourable opportunity presents itself. The constable said he was called to quell a disturb• once in George-yard, about ten o'clock last night. Wit ness fourd the prisoner, Christopher Lewis, fighting with anuther man. He desired the parties to desist. The prisoner said he would see him d—d first, and witness was proceeding to take him into custody, when William Lewis came up, and tried to rescue his brother. Failing in this object, William Lewis seized his cutlass, and attempted to get possession of it, swearing that if he succeeded, he would run him through his side with it. Another constable came up, and after a severe struggle, both prisoners were conveyed to the station house. Police-constable Peckham corroborated the statement of the first constable. He saw William Lewis first at tempt to rescue his brother, and then try to get the con stable's cutlass, threatening to run him through if he succeeded. Witness seized the prisoner Lewis, and after being assaulted several times he overpowered him, and took him to the station- house. The prisoner denied the charge. Mr. BINGHAM said such violent language and such violent conduct on the part of the prisoners could not be passed over. He should therefore send them to prison for ten days, without a fine. MARY LEBOLVE. George Hockley, John Jones, and Edward Wilkinson, the three men who were remanded from Monday last, were again brought before Mr. Broughton for final examination, charged with having stolen three blood hounds, oF the Cuba breed, valued at 2001., also a box containing six ferrets, th e pr o p ert y o f Lord Alexander Russell. Mr. Parry, the berrieter, attended for Hoekley; Mr. Gilham, for Jones ; and Mr. Robinson for Wilkinson. The facts of the case, as developed on the first ex arnine,ion, were briefly these:—Oa the night of Tuesday, the 15th inst., Metcalf, Lord Alexander Russell's ser vant, who had come up by . the railway from Bristol, had the three dogs in question looked up in some stables attached to the Mint Hotel, Paddington. He saw them safe in the said stable at ten o'clock the same night, and at six the next mornin g he discovered that they were gone. He directly, on discovering his less, gave infor mation to Inspector Wiggins, who adopted such means as speedily led to the apprehension of the prisoners. The management of the case was entrusted to Sergeant Hughes, of the D division, who, in conjunction with his Lordship's servant, succeeded, after much trouble and manoeuvring, in effecting the restoration of two of the clogs, for which 41. was paid. After the payment of the latter sum his Lordship's servant went away in haste to join his Lordship in Scotland. The third dog was sub sequently taken from Ilockley, by Yewer, 219 D, at a public-house in Lisson-grove. The ferrets have not been found. Mr. Fell, the chief clerk, now read the whole of the depositions taken on a former occasion, and which were very voluminous. The following fresh evidence was adduced:— Alexander Metcalf, his Lordship's valet, who was not present at the last examination, was now in attendance, and stated, that on the 15th inst. he came from Bristol by railway, with the three dogs and box of ferrets in 11 s possession. He took a stable at the Mint Hotel, in which- he placed them. He saw them safe at ten o'clock, when ho fed them, and the following morning he was awoke by a man named Wills, who told him that the stable had bcen broken o p en d uring the night, and the dogs and ferrets stolen therefrom. He proceeded to th e police-station, and saw M r . Wiggins, the inspector o n duty, and informed him of the robbery Mr.4Wie. 'ns . it directed witness to S ergeant H ughes. Witness . went g with the latter constabl e to several places, and at length succeed in tracing the an i ma l s i nto the possession of the crossd-egxiavmeninaatiwonritbteyoMdor.oPoolaroroyt, twointnoeosksiaodymte . prisoners. iu h that liaising, if the dogs wer e restored, he should receive pro. 61. and no further proce e di ngs wou l d be taken against him At the time he wrote h e (M etca lf) f ully intended to abide , by that promise. He never instructed the police to entrap the en.rap the prisoner. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Gilham cross-examined this witness, from whim] they elicited some facts .favourable to their clients. Yewer, 219 D, who was instrumental in getting pos. sion of the third and mast valuable dog, was examined touching his share in the transaction, and it did not ap. pear from anything that transpired that he in any way laid himself open to blame. Police-constables 113 1) and 212 D, as also the pri vate watchman on duty, corroborated each other in the fact of the prisoners !laving been seen in the imme diate neighbourhood of the stable from whence the dogs were ,stolen at a late hour of the night, prior to the dis covery of the robbery. These witnesses were severally cross-examined, but nothing was elicited to shake their testimony in the least. Mr. Wing, solicitor, who attended to watch the pro-. ceedings on the part of Lord Alexander I;,ussll, and who had paid great attention to all that transpired be fore the Bench, observed, that as his Lordship's servant, from the admission which ho had made, coupled with the written document produced, to n hick he had affixed his signature, promising that in the event of the dogs being restored, no further proceedings of any kind would be instituted, he (the Learned Gentleman) thought that, taking the whole of the circumstances into consideration, the ends of justice would be answered by dealing with tiethe ease summarily, in s t ea d of sending the accused par s l. Mr. Baoucwrox reviewed the case in all its bearings, and in the most lucid manner gave his opinion upon the whole of the facts developed iu the course of the long investigation which had been gone into. Sergeant in some m ew: ;re, exceeded the strict Hughes had, pe r h a p s , line of his duty, with regard to his being a party in the negotiation of the affair ; but he was a good and clever cfficer, and had no doubt acted according to the best of his judgment, and with the.best in:entions. Mr. Brough ton ultimately came to the decision that the case was one with which he should not feel bittisr•lf justified in deal. ing summarily with, and comrnittrd the prisoners for trial. Good and substantial hail would, however, he taken for their appearance to answer the charge at the sessionF. Mr. Broughton received 11. worth of postage stamps from "S. H . ' 21. from " A. 8., Hampton Wick," and 1/. from "M. F." Mr. Fell, the ebi,f ekrk, also received sovereign from "J. R," On Is hole of the said &ma tions being for the benefit of the Parry family, wh ose distressing case has excited zo great Z degree of publi c sympathy. MONEY ORDERS.—Edenbridge, in Kent, having en constituted a post town, the post-office there will be opened for the issue and payment of money orders, on and after the Ist of September. THE DECCAN PRIZE MONEY.--From a Paper printed on Saturday, it appears that the amount of Dp c _ can prize money realised was 68,67,3C6 sicea rupees, find the interest realised was 44,13,755 slew% rupees, ELECTION COMMITTEE. HORSHAM. The Committee were again occupied the whole o yesto7diy in receiving rebutting evidence on belialf o: Mr. Fitzgerald, the sitting Member. _ • HOP INTELLIGENCE. BATTLE.--.The hops are still: looking well, but the weather is probably against them, as they aro in want of more sunshine, and if it continue so much longer, it is likfly there may be a great portion of the seed iraper• feet, so that they may be very li g ht i n proport i on to mag nitude; time will prove this conjecture. HEATHFIELD.—The general opinion in this neighbour hood is that the duty will, come out far below what it is currently stated at. Many gardens are beginning to look quite 3 - elow and sickly for want of sun, and the burr is very tardily developing itself. HURSTGREEN.—The hops in this neighb: , ,vrheorl have improved very much since last week, and n , ,w &low for a good average crop. Many gardens promise a ton per acre, if the weather proves favourable. NEWICK.—Our crops are going on favedii-ably, re quiring only warm weather to bring them to perfection. lIoTHERFIELD.—The hops in this district generally are improving; picking, it is supposed, will cow, wenee in about three weeks' time in the early sorts, w I.ch have ce me very rapidly into hop, and in many cases are look ing remarkably well, although upon the whole is is not likely we shall grow so many as in the previims year. RICK—The continued unpropitious state of L,e wea ther operates very much against the hops, %ill retards their progress towards maturity. They art- l‘,tatil to be very uneven in the same gardens—on some hills being quite half grown, and on others but just eLnerging from the burr. It is probable that another reek will more accurately .decide what the growth ail be. In the neighbouring parish of Iden mould has mad:, its ap pearance, which, it is feared, will rapidly increase should the present humidity continue. The wheat and other c r o ps are also suffering from the prevalence of rain, and the potatoes are•daily getting worse. Fine warm weather would now be a great blessing. SALEHURST.—Tho crop in this neighbourhood will come short of last year. UCKFIELD.— We are inclined to think we 4h ell get a good duty at last with fair weather. lIIAIDSTONE. The bine; still appear sulky, the burr not coming into hop freely, and the weather being very much against them. Although they do not retrograde, their advancement is unpreccdentedly low. The general opinion here is that th e d uty i s overact. MEREWORTH, WATERINGBURY, TESTON, AND NET TLESTEAD.—The hops have grown and improved much within these ten days, but th' mould has luspc pace with the improvement. OU Saturday bets were against 180,0001. Sunday was a fine day, and hopes were ex pressed that, should it continue so, the hops might beat the mould and other enemies; but yesteroay the wind and rain did the hops irreparable injury. lioasmoNDEN.—Unless we speedily get fine sunny days, the condition of the hops will prove very inferior. CANTERBURY.—The cold showery weather of the past week has retarded the development of the burr, while the mould is increasing, which will occasion a great de ficiency in what was expected. The duty has receded to 180,0001. General accounts state the burr to be coming into hop but slowly, owing to the cold weather for the period of the year. FARNHAM, ALTON, AND COUNTRY DISTRICTS, AUG. 21.—Althuugh the weather has again been unfavourable during the last week, we perceive an amendment in the green bine of the grape hops. We had a fine day yes terday, with a higher temperature, and it we get a few more such we think we shall get a good crap. WORCESTER, AUG. 18.—The continued unsettled state of the weather up to yesterday has very much retarded the progress of the hop plantations, and unless it is in some Early warm grounds, the plant has been quite at a stand still. The duty is still called 180,000/., and should the weather become. more fivourable, which there is an appearance of this morning, it may be rea heed. The market is 6s. to Bs. dearer from the lowest ANEW SORT OF HOP.—Mr. Apps, of fan - smonden, has succeeded in introducing a hop which ripens a month earlier than the original. The set take❑ trom parent stocks, which he planted on the 16th of March last, are now growing over twenty and thirty feet poles, with a fair sprinkling of hops. They have been examined by a gentleman well acquainted with the Yop, who pro nounced them to be different from any that no has seen before. Mr. Apps has given them the name of " Prince A !I3rt."—Sussex Advertiser. DISCOVERY OF MORE HOR RIBLE MURDERS BY POISONING. SATURDAY.--Another must atrocious murder, by secret poisoning, has, within the last two or ' three days, been discovered in the neighbourhood of VVix, connected with which are some unpleasant state meats, implicating one or more females with other mur ders, and which have led to the most painful excitement throughout this part of the country. The particulars, as far as we have been able to collect them, show that the wretched woman, Mary May, who was executed at Chelmsford gaol, on Monday week, for the murde r o f her broth er , a t Wix, for his burial fee s, urged and ad viskd the commission of the dreadful cricles ' one of which, at least, has b e en c l ear ly establisher!. Some an t.• prise has been manifested at the course the authorities adopted in not investigating other charges u murder in which Mary May was said to be implioutt.d, and a ge neral opinion is held amongst the polic:.? Clat she not only disposed of her former husband by the same hor ' ribie means, but also several of her chikircn (she had must of them died suddenly). Nothing appears to beve be c: dune, lion ever, in th. matter until Wednes day, o hen Mr. Raison, inspector of the constobulary stationed in the district, received II warrant from Mr. Co.id, one of the coroners for the county, directing the disinterment of the body of Thomas Ilaw, then lying in the burial•ground of Tendring Church, i n t h e v i c i n i ty Thi s party was th e h us b and of a sister of industri ous man , an d had accumulate MaryHe ap [l i e l r j; s , t w o whose d haves a l e beentl e n t a o o took place in A pr il l ast year. et ey a ;dy his wire, however, nut so frugal, being rather irreg u l ar i n her conduct. Haw quarrelled about a man named Southgate, and soon afterwards he was suddcdly attacked with sickness, and died in a few hours. There was no inquest held, his death, like the other suspected cases, being registered 'as from natural causes. liis remains were interred in Tendring Church, and exhumed, as b e f ore stated, on Wednesday. A coroner's jury was impanuelled on the same day, and Messrs. Manthorpe and Son were directed to secure the stomach for analysation by Professor Tay lor, who is an eminent m lectu rer on chem i stry at Guy's Hospital. .A.o.clay the authorities received in , to the eff ec t th a t h e h a d y iathe int es ti nes to account f or f f o o u rm nd at s i u on ffic t death. In consequence of that di scovery, the suspected party has been arrested, and a wa i ts t h e c l ose o f the " coroner's inquiry. The police h ave a l so rece i ve d in structions to exhume other remai ns . ireon from arsenic Mr. Talor, THE FORGERY ON MESSRS HENRY AND CO.— On Wednesday, the 27th of March last, a eh! quo for 3,450/. bearing the signature of Messrs. Henry and Co., was presented at the Branch Bank of England, in Man chester, by a young man named Francis M*Natighteu, and having obtained the money, and offered three 500/. notes to be changed at Messrs. Hey wood's bank, his youth (not being of age) excited suspicion, and he was told to call again, and then, if all was found to be right, the money would be changed. M`Naughten, however, did not return, but, in company with two friends, John immediately proceeded to on afterwards apprehended, Liverpool. Pow n 1 l and po Hugh woen Brady, was s o but on giving a satisfactory account of his connexion with M‘Neughten, he was discharged. The other two were not heard of in spite of all the vigorous efforts to to discover them by the police, both in this country and America, until Sunday morning last, when Mr. Berwick received a letter from St. John's, the capital of New foundland, stating that the prisoners were in custody fur presenting one of the stolen notes (the numbers hav ing been published) at the bank there on the Ist August. The prisoners had taken the names of William Phillip O'Kelly and Thomas Bradshaw. It is expected that one of the Manchester detective . force will be dis patched as soon as possible, for the purpose of bring ing_ the prisoners to England.—Manchester Time s . ATJTOGRAPII MANUSCRIPTS or LORD BYRON.—A few interesting, autographs of Lord Byron occurred in a sale whiCh took place on Saturday, at the rooms of Messrs. Puttick end Simpson v the auctioneers, of Picca dilly. We extract from the - Catalogue the following lots: —Lot 863, " The Curse of Minerva," 13 pages 4t0., entirely autograph, sold for 101.; 864, the well-known " Maid of Athens," the original MS., 2 pages 4t0., en tirely autograph, sold for 41. 45.; 865, the poem " Wa terloo," from the French, 4 pages 4t0., entirely auto graph, sold for 41. 155.; 866, Lines written on a Cup o and o),e r S . A c i o s t e s h . i l o le t v h i e ew s e a r l s e , formed of a Skull, 2 pages 4t0., sold for 71.; 867, Lines S u l fa n A a tu-;:(1"tigi missals; on the Elgin Marbles, 2 pages folio, sold fur 31.; 869, three leaves, being the opening lines of " English Bards s a t i f: e ; sold som e fo i r n of these the most worthy of notice were -855. an Illu minated Missal, exhibiting a combination of Frtnch and Flemish twhich "wB;•ecre" sold for SO guineas; a:1 , 1 851, a small Book of Hours, illuminated by a FlerniZa artist, which sold for 251. There were some other i'lae^inated books of lower pretensions, which sold equally e ell. WOOLWICH DOCKYARD BRIGADE.—Th e r: salt Of 1 the practice of the three Artillery companies when they fired from 9 -pounder guns in the Marshes at 750 yards range, gave six shots entering the target from the guns of the first company, ten sh o t s entering the target from the guns of the second company, and six shots entering the target from the guns of the third company. Previous to the commencement of the practice one guinea was promised to the best gun, and it was gained by No. 4 of the second company, that gun having entered six s h ot i nto the target out of the fourteen rounds served for it, being very excellent practice at the length of range they were fi red. Th e three Artillery. companies•assembled on Friday afternoon, at the Dock yard, under the co mman d o f Major Jenkins and marched at three o'clock to the Royal Arsenal for practice with balls from small arms, tired at targets set up at the butt. The firing was first carried on at fifty yards die ance, and remarkably s afterwards at eighty yards ; a nd the firing wa •_ good, nineteen balls ha v i ng perforated the sniall o bout canvass target of a sub-division o f the 3d company, out f a forty balls tired ; and t wen ty-one balls entered the target at the second round, from the same number of men. Sir Gor don Bremner, K.C.8., K C.H., Colonel Commandant of th e Dockyard Brigade, arrived at the Royal Arsenal to witre-s the practice, and appeared greatly pleased w i n c h th , result. The targets were in some cases so ri ddled wit b- Ils that it was necessary to suspend fi r i n g until they were again fixed to the iron reds on which they were stretched. OAKEN GATES RAILWAY TUNNEL.— A WFUL Ac. CIDENT AND Loss or LIFE.—On Wednesday evening last shortly before the navvies were leaving work for the day, a great body of earth, of many tons weight, suddenly fell in upon them. One young man, named Thomas llayrard, was got out only just alive, with his head and face sadly man gled. Two other men, navvies, were got out from the fallen earth, quite dead; the other poor fellow said, " I am going to leave , you," and then died.—fAidowci; Shropshire Journal. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OP LORDS. August 28. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack at Five o'clock. The Sheep and Cattle Importation Bill was read a second time , )n the motion of Earl GRANVILLE,. The Labouring Poor (Ireland) Bill was read a second time on the motion of the Marquis-of CLANRICARDE. • The Petty Bag-office Bill was read a third lime and passed on the motion of the LORD CHANCELLOR. The Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers Metro polis Bill was passed through Committee. The Commons Inelosure Bill was read a third time. PAROCHIAL DEBT AND AUDIT BILL. Lord BEAUMONT complained that the Earl of Shaftesbury had, in his rapid meal for legislation, passed this Bill, so that he did not know it had been \ passed until the House had adjourned.--(Laughter., He should, therefore, to-morrow move that the standing orders should be suspended, in ord©r to enable him to bring forward his amendment. He should do this in the form of a new Bill, which might be carried through its staffs in one day. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY said he had proreplul with the Bill in the ordinary form. The Noble Lord was not present to move his amendment, and the Bill was therefore passed without it.—(flear, hear.) SUGAR DUTIES BILL. Earl GREY moved the second reading of this Bill, the object of which was to alter the existing sugar duties as they were settled in 1846. The measure, which had been fully debated in the other House of Parliament, arose out of the present condition of the West India planters, and it was intended to extend the period of protection to the sugar grower beyond the time limited by the Act passed in that year. The Noble Earl said at this late period of the session it wes unne cessary that he should enter at length into the subject, and proceeded to refer to dispatches from Sir Henry Light, the Governor of BritishlGuiana, and other docu ments, to show that undue extension of cultivation under the stimulus of protecting duties had proluced an artificial competition for wages, and raised them to an extravagant amount ; and contended that such wages instead of promoting the teal welfare of the negro, had rather tended to his demoralisation. It was proved also that such en extent of cultivation arising from the system of mutual compe tition among each other by the planters, and stimulated by protecting duties, had been carried on under enormous charges which returned an ordinary and usual mercantile profit, but altogether insufficient to preserve the planters from ruin. The same observatince applied to the Mauritius, where the protection had ben increased more than sixfold in 25 years. There had been an in crease in the last two or three years in the Mauritius of 66 per cent.; and while this enormous increase was going on—during the whole time from the year 1822 to the present period—there bad been constant complaints on the part of the planters and merchants of' that colony, of extreme distress and embarrassment. He had no doubt that such complaints were well grounded. and why bad they arisen? Simply from this eircumstanct : by the existence of protecting duties in this country the producers in the Mauritius were taught to expect that they should obtain extraordinary profits, and therefore capital was sent out from this country to a great amount, and cultivation was pushed, not to a natural. but a spe culative increase, by parties who calculated upon the profit that would arise from the protecting duties which existed. And in this manner wages had increased, in spite of the enormous importation of labourers, to the number of 890,000 within the last few years. The demands for their services, however, were increasing in more than an equal ratio. Employers were bidding against each other, and by doing so were raising the cost of production, and at the same time exceeding the quantity which this market could carry off at the price which they calculated on for their remuneration—and the consequence was their ruin. This increase had been going on not only in the Mauritius, but in Malaece, Sin gapore, India, and elsewhere, and it had been carried on ' principally by borrowed capital, the merchants at home trading to a great extent upon credit. He did nor, how ever, blame these parties, but the two Houses of Parlia ment, for having fostered this unnatural system, which could lead to no other result.—(hear, hear.) With reference to the prospects of the future, there was no reason for despondency. There was no ground for assuming that slave labour was c h e ap er t h an free labour. He believed, on the contrary, the reverse to be true. He admitted, and deeply deplored, the extreme severity of the existing distress of so many respect able parties; but he saw the prospect of improvement in the future. The Noble Earl then referred to various documents, in order to show that free labour was cheaper than slave labour in the Mauritius. In referring to the subject in February last he had said that when things were placed on a more natural footing wages would fall, and his prediction had partially been realised; but they had decreased less in the colonies, where the highest amount had been paid for labour, than in others where the remuneration had been more moderate—thus proving the bad policy of the system to which he had referred. In Demerara, for instance, the negroes had 'strenuously resisted a reduction of their wages; but in Baibadoes, Antigua, and some of those colonies which possessed greater natural advantages, and where wages had not been forced up to such au extraordinary height, the reduction had been effected most amicably. The Noble Earl read extracts from various dispatches to prove these facts, and also to show that the reduction of wages had brought more labour into the market. Im provements in the cultivation and manufacture of sugar had been carried on more vigorously than before Sir H. Light stated that from an experiment which bad been tried in Demerara, it had been proved that by good drainage the land would produce one hundred per cent. more than by the old system of cultivation, and Lord Harris stated that in Trinidad experiments had been tried in the manufacture of sugar, and that by Dr. Mitchell's process the quantity of raw material, which ordinarily produced sugar to the value of 365., would, without additional expense, produce sugar to the value of 475. In spite of all discouragement, he found that there had been an increase of production in Demerara during the first six months of this year, as compared with the corresponding period in 1847. In the latter year the produce had been 19,120 hogsheads, whilst in the first six months of this year it had increased to 21,528 hogsheads. The export of rum in the same pe riod in 1848 had been 11,600 puncheons, and in 1847 it had been 7,200 puncheons. The export of molasses for the first six months of 1848 had been 4,167 casks, and in 1347, 6,552 casks, being a decrease of 2,385 casks, which was a strong proof of the adoption of an im proved process in making sugar.—(Hear, hear.) The Governor of Trinidad stated, in a dispatch dated the 19th of June in the present year, that matters had reached the worst, that there was great improvement in the ma nufacture of sugar, and that things were beginning to look better. He had stated, moreover, that up to July, 1847, there was great facility in obtaining money and bills in Trinidad—a fact which he (Earl Grey) merely mentioned to show the inconsistency of the statement of those who attributed to the Act of 1846 the ruin of the West India colonies. The Governor of Antigua was also of opinion that the worst was passed, and, although himself in favour of protection, he admitted that its withdrawal was not an unmixed evil, as it would lead the planters to look for more extraneous assistance in improved modes of cultivation and manufacture.— (Hear.) The editor of a Barbadoes newspaper spoke in cheering terms of the spirit which prevailed in that co lony among all classes of society and their determination to use active exertions for the restoration of prosperity. The establishment of central sugar works in the colonies was spoken of, and he (Earl Grey) thought such a plan would be very desirable, with a view to afford every facility to improved manufacture. "There was no ground, then, for despairing as to the future prospects of these colonies. He had succeeded in proving that the former system was essentially unsound, and the return to a bet ter, although necessarily attended with considerable pressure and difficulty, during the time of transition, did yet afford fair grounds for hope.—(Hear, hear.) The object of the Bill, as he had before said, was to grant a longer period of protection to the sugar grower; and he thought, notwithstanding the sentiments which he had just expressed, that the Government were jus tified in bringing forward such a measure, partly on account of the panic which had existed amongst the planters, and which it was necessary to check. They had been taught to look to protection as their sheet anchor by their injudicious friends in this country, and by the practice of Parliament; and unless the pre sent Bill had been brought forward to extend that protection a little longer, sugar cultivation might have been discontinued to a considerable extent; and if abandoned for a year or two, it could not easily hav e been resumed.—(Hear, bear.) Another reason in favour of the measure was that the amount of advantage in tended to be secured by the Act of 1846 had not been practically enjoyed by the planters.—(Hear. hear.) The consumption of sugar on the continent of Europe, and even in this country, was diminished, in consequence of what had taken place in several continental states within the last few months. For these reasons he thought that they were justified in affording protection for some time longer to the West Indies. The Noble Lord then pro ceeded to read the proposed scale of duties, by which the duties were lowered at the sometime that protection was continued to the West Indies. He believed that the effect of this general reduction of duties would be of the utmost importance to the British growers. He did not believe that it would injuriously effect the revenue, because the reduction of the duties was to be gradual, and therefore time would be given to allow for that in crease of consumption which would make up any loss that might be at first occasioned by the reduction of duty. A great advantage was also given to the West Indians in the reduction of the duties on rum. He be lieved that if they had attempted more for the benefit of the West Indians they would have effected less. He hoped that the colonists would accept this measure in the spirit in which it was proposed, and that they would not be led away by those who told them that their wel fare and prosperity was not an object of haterest to the Government. If he believed that protection was for their real benefit, he for one would be for retracing their steps, notwithstanding that all his opinions were against that:systein. It was because he believed it to be fur the real benefit of the colonists themselves, that they should not go ly.cle to a• system of protection, that he refused to do so. They must not depend on what the Legisla ture could do for them, they must rely on their own exertions for prosperity; and if they put forth all their energies as they ought, he believed that prosperity would be the consequence. He was persuaded that any agitation in the colonies on the question of protection might have a powerful effect in preventing the influx of further capital from this country. It might have a powerful effect in keeping up alarm and uneasiness; it might have the most fatal effect in this manner; but there wer e bli n d o b servers o f pass i ng even t s , who for a moment believed that such proceedings could have the effect which was hoped from them, of inducing Parlia ment to alter that policy which it had. deliberately adopted. lie was convinced that that policy was the right and the true one; it was one to which Parliament was finally and irrevocably pledged, and ono from which he believed they would never depart.—(Hear, hear.) Even those of their Lordships who might differ from him on this point would agree with him that even if this policy was to he altered it was not to be dune by ill advised' measures intended to sow discontent and dis satisfaction in the colonies.—(Hear, hear.) With these observations he begged leave to move the second reading of the Bill. Lord REDESDALE thought that many of their Lord ships must have heard the latter portion of the Noble Lord's speech with regret. He thought it was rather a heartless proceeding, on the part of the Noble Lord, to speak as he did in the latter part of his address, see ing that he was the Minister who proposed that sys tem which brought upon the colonists irremediable, and he believed, irretrievable distress. The Noble Lord said that the former system was a bad one; but, at all events, that system had enabled the colonists to produce a very large quantity of sugar, and led to a very large immi gration. The Noble Lord said that the new system was much better; but he was inclined to view with suspicion a system which began by lending 500,0001. which never would bs repaid. He thought it was a very bad system to reduce the duties to the lowest possible amount. It seemed that they had a deficiency el' 2,000,0001. which they wore to meet by borrowing to that amount. But how was that deficiency produced? He believed it was produced by the reductions which had been made in va rious articles. He thought that the Government were greatly to blame for not bringing this measure under the notice of their Lordships at an earlier period. At the prceent late period of the session he would not di vide the House. Earl GRANVILLE was of opinion that the antlci pated loss to the revenue would be made up by in creased consumption. He agreed generally in the re marks which had fallen from the Noble Lord opposite respecting the lateness of the time that the measure was brought under the notice of their Lordships. Ho admitted that the West Indians were suffering great dis tress, and that they were placed under disadvantages with regard to labour. They were also placed under dis• advantage by the measures which were adopted under the influence of the anti-slavery advocates in this coun try. For these reasons he thought they had a claim to some favour, but he would not support a system of pro tection to the injury of the people of this country. Lord DENMAN was glad that this measure was about to pass without opposition, because it was in direct opposition to that measure which was introduced two years ago, and which he looked upon as a most dis graceful one. It was said that that measure was to be a final measure. and was to last for ever, but he was glad to find that it had only an eternity of two years and seven days.—(Laughter.) He hoped that this measure would be the forerunner of the abolition of slavery, without which the West Indies could not prosper. This was a question of vital importance, and was pressing more and more every day. It might be said that he had a strong feeling on this subject, because a person nearly related to him was con cerned. The professional reputation of that individual was able to take care of itself, and his feelings were cer tainly not engaged in the question on that account. The Noble and Learned Lord then defended himself from an attack which had been made upon him for injustice and illiberality- on this subject by a daily paper. The Noble and Learned Lord said he could not believe that Mr. Cliff had ceased to be a slave trader from motives of humanity. He would not refuse to hear the evidence of such a man, but ho certainly would not take his counsel as to the best means of suppressing the slave trade. In alluding to tl.e proceedings of the Committee of the other House, he said he knew that many papers offered by those witnesses who were anxious to put down the. slave trade were refused. It was of immense im portance that the nation at large should rightly esti mate the character of the evidence by which the Com mittee had been guided. Ho had called Mr. Cliff a pirate because he was a slave-trader, but he ought to apologise to pirates for placing them in the same category with slave-traders, who were guilty of a more atrocious crime. The question returned, how was this infamous traffic to be put down? Not by our remaining passive spectators. There were serious grounds for apprehend ieg a general insurrection of the slaves, and the mas sacre of all the whites—a catastrophe which could only be averted by the timely extinction of the slave trade. Till that was effected there would be no prosperity for the colonies. The Duke of ARGYLL said that free trade was not the only element in this question; the :lave trade ought also to be considered; and in this respect there had been a great omission in the speech of the Noble Earl (Grey). The protection had been taken away from our colonies solely to make sugar cheaper; and if the colo nies succeeded in competing with the slave states, they would owo no thanks to the G overnment , w h o had aban doned them to the fiercest competition. Viscount ST. VINCENT regretted that the Govern ment had not taken into account the difficulty which our colonists had in obtaining a supply of labour. Till that difficulty was removed there could be no fair com petition._ _ _ Earl GREY, in reply, denied that there was any op. position between this measure and that of 1846. The difference was only one of time. The measure of 1846 proposed that our colonies should be put on the same tooting as other countries in 1851. This measure de ferred that equality for three years longer. There was no difference of principle whatever in the two measures. The main object of the Bill of 1846 was not, as had been represented, to cheapen sugar, though undoubtedly that had been a collateral result. So far from the revenue being sacrificed, it had been increased by the Bill of 1846. In the last year of protection, 1845, the total amount received from sugar of all kinds was 3,574,0001., while in 1847 it was 4,404,0001., being an increase of nearly 900,000/, and that too in a year of great commer cial depression. The system of protection had held out false hopes to the colonists. Under this system they had largely mortgaged their estates, and the result had been disappointment and loss. Xfier a few words from Lord REDESDALE, in ex planation, The Bill wns read a second time. POOR-LAW UNION CHARGES (No. 2) Bill. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved the resump tion of the adjourned debate on the third reading of this Bill. After a conversation, the Bill was read a third time, and passed. The House then adjourned at Nine o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS, August 28. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday. ) ROYAL MILITARY ASYLUM BILL. The report on this Bill was brought up and agreed to, and the Bill was ordered to be read a third time to morrow, at twelve o'clock. SLAVE TRADE (EQUATOR) BILL. The third reading of this Bill was postponed until after the other orders of the day were disposed of. SLAVE TRADE (MUSCAT) BILL. The receiving of the report on this Bill was postpor.ed until after the other orders of the day were disposed of. TAXING MASTERS, COURT OF CHANCERY (IRELAND) BILL The report on this Bill was received, and the Bill was ordered to be read a third time to-morrow at twelve o'clock. LOCK-UP HOUSE BILL. This Bill went through Committee, was reported, and ordered to be read a third time to-morr ow at twelve o'clock. , DRAINAGE CERTIFICATES DILL. This Bill went through Committee, and was ordered ;o be read a third time to-morrow, at twelve o'clock. The House then adjourned to Five o'clock. The House resumed at Five o'clock. Sir H. WILLOUGHBY presented a petition from the electors of the northern division of the county of Lancaster against the establishment of vote by ballot and annual Parliaments. NEW WRIT. Mr. PINNEY moved that Mr. Speaker do issue hie warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new writ for the electing of a burgess to serve in this pre sent Parliament for the borough of Cheltenham, in the room of the lion. Craven Berkeley, whose election has been determined to be void.—Agreed to. LOSS OF THE OCEAN MONARCH. Mr. HUME, seeing the Right Hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade in his place, wished to put a question to him respecting the loss of that ill fated vessel the Ocean Monarch; and he wished at the same time to take the opportunity of recalling the cen sure which he felt called upon on Saturday to throw out against the Cambria steamer. It was right that the House should know that the commander of that vessel had written a letter to the newspapers, in which he stated that he was proceeding to Liverpool with two hundred passengers, and with his decks full of cattle— he had given up to another vessel all his coals except what was absolutely necessary for the purposes of the voyage to Liverpool —that when he saw the vessel on fire ho was ten or twelve miles nearer Liverpool than the Ocean Monarch, and that had he gone to her assistance he would not have had sufficient coals to carry him back again. Now that appeared to him , (Mr. Hume) to be a complete justification of the com mander's proceedings, and he was therefore glad to have that opportunity of retracting what he said on Satur day.—(llcar, hear.) The question he wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade was, whether he intended to make any inquiry into the loss of this ship?—(Hear.) Mr. LABOUCHERE said the Board of Trade had no vessels. The Ocean Monarch cept in the case of British h power to inquire into the loss of any sailing ship, ex: could ul d powernot t s o a say, instituteth er efi: t r h e e , that w l s a ch r f o o r w ß e h i o g i a r n r h d v t o h e f s e T se H r l a O l e ae . n G hda e d nt ea le n man referred to. In D u lr i . - HUME remarked that when a vessel was lost in the Russia invariably caused ev er y i nqu i ry to be instituted Baltic c into the circumstances of the loss, no matter whether the vessel belonged to her or not, and he hoped some arrangement would be made by which England could obtain and exercise the same power.—(H ear .) Mr. LABOUCHERE said, with out going into the question of its being desirable that England should have the power. ho wished his Hon. Friend and the House to understand that the Board of Trade hnd been guilty of no neglect, inasmuch as it had not the power to inquire into the loss under the circumstances of the case. Mr. HAVES, in reference to this subject, was happy to inform the House that: an Emigration Commissioner had been sent down to Liverpool to render what assis tance he could to the survivors, and he was able to state that arrangements had been made with the charterers of this ill fated vessel to for ward the survivors at the earliest possible period. He was sorry to add, that the loss, both of life and pro perty, had been very great---the loss of the property belonging to the emigrants could not be less than 20,000 Z Mr. STANLEY said he was personplly acquainted with the commander of the Cambria, and he could assure the ilouse that he was a gallant seaman and a most humane man. nothing but the peculiar situation in .1......... which he was placed himself could have prevented hint Irene returning to assist the passengers of the ill-fated vessel, and he was glad the Honourable Gentleman the Meleber for Montrose had retracted what he said on Saturday. The subject three dropped. SLIGO ELECTION. The SPEAKER informed the House that he had re ceived a report from the examiner of recognizance' , stating that the sureties entered into for prosecuting the Sligo election petition were unexceptionable. SPIRIT (DEALERS IN) BILL. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER wiled that the House should resolve itself into Committee en this Bill. Captain PECHELL complained of the delay of the Government .4-, ith respect to this measure, and then forcing it on at the present late period of the session. From the 9th of June to the 28th of August not the slightest statement had been given by the Government with respect to a measure that affected so large a botli as the licensed victuallers and wine merchants of this country. He had endeavoured to extract from the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the objects of the Bill, but his attempts had been unsuccessful. He trusted that the Government would now give some ex planation with respect to the measure. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had stated, on the introduction of the Bill, what its Mein provisions were, and the reason of its delay was to meet the suggestions that the Government had received from the licensed victuallers in different parts of the county He believed that the Hon. and Gallant Member was the only person whe objected to the measure. Mr. MACGREGOR trusted that no further opposi' tion would be given to a measure which every elle seemed to approve of, and bore testimony to the atten tion that had been given by the Chancellor of the Ex" chequer to the deputations that had waited upon him 4s l the subject of the Bill. Mr. BERNAL also bore similar testimony to the kind manner in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had received deputations on the subject of the Bill. The House then went into Committee on the Bill- The clauses were agreed to after a short discussion, with the exception of clause 7, which was struck out. Clause 25 was then read, whereby a penalty of 251. is imposed on any person found carrying one gallon Of spirits without a permit, and authorising a policeman 10 apprehend and carry before a magistrate any one se offending, and on conviction imposing the above fine or six months' imprisonment with hard labour. Mr. HUME objected to the creation of so many thou sand exc-ise officers as the present clause called into eX" istence. Lord G. BENTINCK said that the penalty or the alternative confinement was intolerable and ought to be reduced. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER ex' pressed his willingness to reduce the penalty to 10 1 e with three months' imprisonment. Mr. HUME moved that the penalty be fixed at 1001, with liberty to the magistrate to reduce it according to his discretion. The Committee divided, when there appeared— For the original clause For the amendment Majority The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER pro' posed that the minimum penalty of 101. be imposed e° each conviction. Mr. HUME moved that the justice be empowered to mitigate the penalty to any amount at his discretion. Mr. HENLEY said that the system of minimum penalties was a very bad one, and ought to be abolished. Magistrates ought to have a discretionary power of raj' tigating penalties. He entirely agreed with the Hon• Member for Montrose that it was a monstrous thing to create so many thousand excise officers out of a class of persons certainly not qualified to exercise the duties of excise officers. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said tbst the amendment now proposed had been already decided on by the previous division. The Committee divided, when there appeared— For the original clause For the amendment 3l Majority —25 Mr. HUME would retain the maximum of punish' meet, but thought the minimum should be struck out• There might be cases in which the magistrates would wish to dispense with punishment altogether. Mr. HENLEY was of a similar opinion. Mr. FORBES moved that as a minimum "one hoer" be inserted. The gallery was cleared for a division, but none took place. On our return we found that the clause had been agreed to. The remaining clauses were agreed to, and the House resumed. BRITISH SPIRITS WAREHOUSING BILL. On the order of the day for the Committee on this Bill, Mr. M. J. O'CONNELL, in the absence of ?dr. Moffatt, moved as an instruction to the Committee, " That they have power to extend the provisions of the Bill, so far as to apply to spirits distilled in the United Kingdom, the privileges at present enjoyed by the owners of foreign and colonial spirits, in respect of the mode and time of levying the duties chargeable thereon." His ob ject was to give to the British distiller the same indul gence as was enjoyed by the foreign and colonial pro ducer. When the privilege of paying duty out of bond was being granted to the latter it was ascertained that of 350 gallons of foreign brandy bonded, only 299 remained on being taken out of bond at the expiration of five years. From that calculation the House might guess what were the losses suffered by the British distillers under the present system.—(Hear, hear.) The Rigbt Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when asked before to concede this boon, had re fused, on the ground that the British dis tiller had equivalent advantages in the excise regu lations. This was strange doctrine that excise regulationslwere an advantage to the dealer. Sir L. reel thought differently, for, on removing the glass duties, he considered the advantage of freeing the trade , from restrictions greater than the amount of duty repealed' The only feasible ground on which the alteration el ls t opposed was that it wou ld b e i mpossible to prevent fraud in the passag e o f th e sp i r i t from the worm's mout h to the bonded warehouse, but the chairmen both of ex cise and customs had given their opinion that proper security might be taken against fraud. One othergTouno on which he asked the Right Hon. Gentleman to acced e to his proposition was that the consumer would be snob benefited by the alteration. At present the interest of the distiller was to get his spirits into consumption at soon as possible, w h ereas, if allowed to pay duty out 01. bond he could allow it to remain and acquire that purity which was only attainable by age. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that it was n o t h e who attached any value. as regarde d the distiller, to excise regulations, but his predecessor in office. With regard to the motion, his Hon. Friend , in proposing it, sought to put the excise regulations oa the same footing as the customs, while the tact was that they were essentially different. With regard to the customs, the policy of this country had always been £ 0 encourage in every way the importation of foreign goods in transitu, so as to make our warehouses as far as pos sible a depot for the rest of Europe. In the case of the excise a precisely contrary principle was in operation. The duty was levied on articles of home manufacture and for home consumption, and the great object was to levy the duty at the earliest possible period, so as to re lieve the trade from all restrictions as soon as possible. The boon had been asked before and had been refused on the opinion of two eminent distillers, who had de , dared that if it were conceded the prevention of fraud would be impossible. On these grounds he felt bound to resist the motion of his Hon. Friend. The maximum loss to the revenue, were the duty collected as proposed by the Hon. Gentleman's motion, might be as much as 118,0001. in a year. This was a loss which he could not risk.—(Hear, hear.) With regard to the advantage to the consumer in enabling him to consume old install° of new spirits, it was only just, if a better article were given, that a higher duty should be paid. In every other respect but the period of levying the duty the Bill was from one end to the other a Bill of relaxation, and a re' !novel of restrictions f rom the British distillers, by al lowing the full amount of duty as drawback, the sweet ening and flavouring in the warehouse, the transfer or spirits in bond, and giving other facilities which here tofore had not existed. Mr. MONSELL admitted that the relaxations wide!! this Bill would effect were important, and that they lieu given great satisfaction, especially in Ireland ; but the question was whether the arrangements which had been made this session did give a protective duty in favour of colonial and against Irish and Scotch spirits or not He contended that they did to the amount of at least 3d. or 4(1. a gallon, and the Irish and Scotch distillers would much rather be placed in the same position as the colo nial distiller in regard to the duty on the decreases and waste than have a p ro t ect i on which was merely nominal" Mr. D. CALLAGHAN supported the amendment. The only difference between the Chancellor of the Ex chequer was us to the duty on the decreases. It was a great tax on the distiller, who depended on the borne trade, to be compelled to pay duty on that portion of the spirit which evaporated and was lost. He could seen° • danger to the revenue in levying the duty on the sp irit when it came out of the warehouse instead of at the worm's -end. The alteration in the duties on colonial spirits had placed the Irish and Scotch distillers in a worse position in regard to this waste than they were in before. Mr. J. O'CONNELL said the only argument the Chancellor of the Exchequer had advanced against the motion was that in hi s op i n i on i t was an advantage to the revenue that the Irish and Scotch distillers should be robbed.—(A laugh.) Lord G. BENTINCK expressed his surprise at the extraordinary statement which had been made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the dis tinction between the duties of the customs and the duties of the excise. It might be true in the case of soap, malt, glass, printed cotton, and some other articles, that it was desirable the duty should be paid at an early stage, because in those cases there was no waste, and the duty was thus paid upon the amount of those various articles that finally came into consumption. But the complaint here was that the distillers were charged a duty upon what might never come into consumption . (Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman had said that, as spirits improved by being kept in bond, and be came more valuable, it was right that a higher duty should be paid upon the article; but did not the same rule apply equally to colonial spirits—to foreign gin, hollands, and brandy, for instance? All that the Irish and British distillers sued for was to have equal justice dealt to them as was given to the foreigner; to be released from the grinding extortion of the excise, and brought under the regulations of the Custom-house ; and anything more roil sonable than that he could not conceive. Such was the opinion of Sir 11. Parnell's Excise Inquiry Commission in 1833. The Noble Lord then quoted a passage from the report of the Commissioners, stating that in their opinion it would be but just that the mode of eotiolatisg