The Sun. — London, England, 1841-03-22 00:00:00

E VENIN G EDIT lON be entered into, only that it is to merge into any such contract us may be concluded in the course of the five years in which the premium or gratuity is to operate. The East India Company will thus b placed in a situation to judge of the competency of the parties to fulfil the higher duty which would be confided to them, in the event of their having the cone veyance of the moils on so important a route before they thereby subject the public to any risk. The pro ceeding is, therefore, both a judicious and a liberal one , on the part of the East India Company, who still main tain their ofginal engagement with Parliament, by con ducting it upon their own responsibility. So much has been-done already by the Oriental Company that little doubt seed now be entertained of the success and of the extension of the project. Thus will the " comprehensive" scheme, but by means differine fenn those at first con- I temphted, be at length cartiacrou*. It is understood that at the meeting of the Committee of Stinnish Bondholders held this day, it was egreld that , since all communications between them and the. Govcrri- naent of Spin had proved unavailing, aeplication should be made to P.rliamcnt to take tome sups to enforce their rights. Such a propcni..ion can, hosever, be only corei- • dered as a pr&iminary step, since the consent of the Bond holders generally would be regnired before application to the L-gi3lature could be actually made. The sufferers by the failure of a speculator out of the house as long back as the October Account are renewing their complaints, stating that altbough hopes have from time to time Leen held out that the matter would be finally arranged, nothing has as yet been done towards it. Coe sidering that ore class of creditors have received payment in full, it seems too much to expect that the other class shou'd accept a small composition when the sum itseF, as cozier:cos I with the character and ill :CaCC of the parCe; concerned, is so trivial in amount. However, with regard to all tbi,, it should be stated, as on the other side, that tl-.e portie; who have so paid various claims in fell are in no way legally liable for them, and they allege al .o that they haee made the distinction in favour of those who love been paid in full, through the notion that the parties were really necessitous. WEST INDIES. Her Majesty's packet, Linnet, Lieut. Forrester, arrived a Falmouth on F. iday afternoon, having sailed from St. Thomas Feb. 17th, and Care Henri, the 24th, furnishing Ja maica letters, brought up by . the Firefly steamer, to St. Do mingo, of Feb. 15. She had a trithrz freight of about 5001. I'a sengers, the Hon. Mr. Sinclair, Captain Courteney, and Messrs. Bean, 'Marlyn, and Stoney. The accounts now furnished are of a much later date than those we were before in pssession of, principally owing to the shortness of her voyage homewards, but ate only of ordinary interest. His Extelloney Sir Charles Metcalf, by proclamation, dated January 2:2, proropM the Ilothe of Assembly from Feb. 1, to March J. '1 he ball given by his Excellency en the 10th of February, in benour of the birth of the Princess Royal, was numerously attended. His Excel Lacy wore his uniform as Captain-Ge neral, and appeared it health and spirits. The Members of the Council were dressed in the Windsor uniform. Dancing was kept up with animation until the period arrived fur ad journ'ng to the supper-table, when Sir Charles proposed" The Health of the Royal infant and her August Parents ;" which toast was drank is enthusiasm, and was loudly cheered, in which the fair vi,itaitts jained. A royal salute was then fired, and the band struck up the national anthem. After supper ' dauctin,g was resumed, and the party did not break up until past two o'clock. The public buildings were illuminated, and several tasty and apposite transparencies were placed in different quarters. The " Jamaica silk Company" appears to be 'progressing,. A pound of beaut,ful silk was transmitted to the Governor as a present from the Directors, and a good. sized hank was exhi bited at Kingston as the first-fruits of the Company's produce. It wi-I scarcely be credited that the plants upon whose leaves tha worms were fed only arrived there on Dec. 13, and that the coe.oens were ready for winding off on the 26th day. A stioels. of earthquake had been experienced, with very con siderable rumbling, during the night of the 4th of February. We reg -et to timid the following in the Royal Gazette, of February 6:—" 'the signs of the times' in Jamaica are decidedly of the most gloomy character ; nor do we exactly sea in I;kat manner they can be changed for the better. Throughont the country generally, as well as in the towns, the most deplorable stagnation and want of confidence exist. '1 he planters are toially despoiled of all hopes for the ensuing year; and in their consequent distress are obliged to inconvenience the country traders, who, in their turn, disappoint the me - chant in town, whose resources being thus impoverished, and whose accommodations being otherwise drawn in, serious embarrassment, if not bankruptcy, is the consequence. Nor can we see that it is in the power of army sinle 'early sto remedy this serious evil. At one time, unques tionably, it nsiaht have been averted, or its effects very mate rially modified, by a greater f teility being allowed the public in turning - the island checks into money, and a judicious conti nuance of credits and diseount.s of the several banks. Now, however, the disease is too radical in its nature : and nothing but the vilest violent remedies need be attempted. In sooth, it is like a fire which has gained to) much ascendancy, and can only /Ls) extinguished by suffering it to burn itself out ! 'then, and no'., ;till then, may we expect anything like security and vigour in the mercantile sseirld; and, although in the mean time public distress may assume an almost appalling form, yet we are confident it is the only effectual means of estaLlishing a healthy action in the long run ! The manner in which Sir Charles Aletcalfe's speech, de livered on the occasion of his opening the House of Assembly last ses - iioa, was received in England, has much pleased the islanders. A general election of the representatives of the Assembly of Barbadoes took place on the 4th, when the old members Iv , re all returned with the exception of Jahn Packer, Esq., in the room of Sir R. Ilowcher Clarke, resigned, and John U. Grant, Esq., for St. Thomas, vice Mr. Carrington. On Tuesday, the. 12th, the Ilonse met, and received a very friendly an 1 gew rally favourable speech from his Excellency kir Evan 111‘Gregor. The following are the two pr:ncipal ruragraphs, and well deserve attention anywhere : " Ile unusually severe drought, at present seriously affect ing the agricultural prosperity of the country, is deeply to be deplore', and prudence seems to recommend, for the purl ose of alleviating any temporary financial pressure thence arising, that the erection of a town hall, a government house, and other con , iderable edifices, of late contemplated, should be postponed to a more convenient season ; but it would be in cons:s.,ent with sound economy to disturb the works at the Mole I-iced, in the satisfactory progress towards completion. , s In general, the best understanding prevails between the proprietary , body and the peasantry; and notwithstanding the variu*s de6titfta allurements practised en the inexperience and credulity of the latter (such as the assurance of their speedily revelling to a state of sla-ery, on the approaching abandon ment of Harbaioes to a foreign power), the artificial migratory propensity produced among them during the past year has ma terially declined, but not until the departure of 2,157 labourers anima ably demonstrated that the practical effect of the local enac,lments did nit in reality unduly impele the voluntary excrdse of their locomo'ive privileges." The sum of 2114.0. sterling has been granted as an annual salary to the resident Chief• Jus tice; an d 5001. for the Attor ney- Ge:rerrl. The packets Ranger and Express put back on Friday, when their mails were landed, and all letters thereby which arrived at Falmouth to and on that day were despatched. The weather having moderated at night, the mails were reshipped, and the packets again left port. THE ARMY. Detachments have been placed under orders for North America, the Cape of Gold Hope, Ceyl3n, •and the Mau min-, and are to sail fJr their respective destinations early in the spprovuhing spring. The at:eng h of the draughts for Canada, NLva Scoti', and New Brunswick, will he shout 64 officers, 40 sergeants, and 1680 rank and file ; for the Cal e of Good Hope, about 6 officers, 6 sergeants, and 230 rank and !Ile; for Ceylon, about 4 officers, 4 sergs!alits, and 130 rank and file ; and for the Mauritius, about 6 officers, 5 sergeants, and 140 rAnk and file. The time of en.bark:tion f these sere:al s ttle-nents, as laid down in the General Orders for the army, is tlo i‘ d month of April. with the exception of Ceylon, for which elsehments do not leave this country until May. Active measures are now in prcg ess for provilino. the re essary tonnage for the conveyance the number ofand accommodation ' of officer; btie rd men above specified ; and there is every reason to i h b at their departure will not be delayed beyond the prescribed ederiod. Lieutenant-Gener a l Henry Frederick Bouverie, K. C. 13., Governor, and commandin gei the forc,'s at Malta, country w ill shortly return to thi s on leave. D ur i ng hi s absence the government o f the island sland and the command of the troops will devolve on Colonel Carden, of the Royal Engineers. Li e utenant-General Sir Howard Dougla s , Bart., and K. C 8., has been appoint rd to th e 90th regiment, in sue . ces,ion to Major. Genera l Sir Hu gh vice ", Lieutenant.G e transfdrr e d t the 87th Royal I ish r • • v Sir Thomas Reynel l, who has replaced the late lamented Sir Sa , nuel Ford Whiiti-igham in ttic Coloneley cf the 71st Li& Infintry. This arrangement is in every re s p ec a just and equitable one, and can se ircely fail to be ne_ t knowledged a; such by th e army at large, to whom Sir Howard Douglas's strong c'a;rns aid sterling merits have long been advantageously known. The Asia, erstw:ct ship, will sail from Dorf f,r Van Diemen's Land, on Thursday nex', the 2511 instant, taking in convicts at Woolwich and Ps,rtsmouth. The guard, consisting cf two officers and 40 molt, has been selected from the 96th Regiment. GENERAL ORDERS Horse Guard', March 1, 1841. HeriMaje3ty having been graciously pl.eased to command that the mates of fie Royal Navy shall rank with the sub alte'n officers of the Army, the General Commanding-le- Chief desires that :he forme: may he recor.Tniied and sa luted by the troops ecec.rding to that rank.—By command of the Right Henoural lc General Lord 1111, Command !Lig. in- CiLer, JOHN MACDONALD, Adjutant-General. Horse Guards,. March 8, 1341. Thn Master-General of t'le Board of Ordnance being about, to form ground; for the use of the troops at the r spectiva barrack stations thyour p hout the United Kineorn. the General Commanding-in-Chief desires that officers of regiments, depots, aid detach ments. will cau,e these grounds to be strictly preserved, and thht no c trrlges hersei he suffered to enter them. The cr; t .k,r.greund ti to be co ns id ere d as in the imme distc charge of the aurr.cl/4-master, •. 0 , .0a ever, cannot 1 , 4 - sonai 14 t e expecte.i to protect it effectually, u n l ess as , sisted in tL. executiou of that duty by .be support and autliori y of the commando g dicer of the stalim, as well as by lbs glod fceling r 0. !at, troops, for whose amarement and recreation this liberal brrangetnent has been made by the publi , . Lord will treat as a . grave of f ence every trespass that shall he wantonly committed by the troops, either upon the cricket-greund or upon its fence=. The troops will, more)ver, be rt qui cd, in every such ease, t pay the estimated expense of repairs, as in the case of bar. Pack damages. Special iastructions concerning the cricket grounds have been issued to the Barrack-masters by the Master_General of the 8. - ,ard of Ordnance.—By commend of the Pi,la Honourable General Lord fib, Commanding.i n .ci A , f. JOHN MACDONALD, Adj.-Gen. O. Thursday a young lady, remarkable for her beauty and accomplishments, eloped from a school at Long tcris, Sutton, in i Cam n LibridgeflurF. ncninshir . e, with a Young surgeon o f Chat- The escape of th e f a i r f ug i t i ve was nut discoverei until eleven o'clock at n i g h t, w h en infornution was sent to her friends..—B ury post. IMPORT DUTIES. MANCHESTER, THURSDAY.—Yesterday a special I meetnyr of the Town Council was held in the Borough- 1 reeve's room, Town Hell, for the purpose of considering the subject of the present import duties, with a view of adopting such petition as might be thought advisable in relation thereto. William Nield, Esq., the Mayor, presided, and briefly stated the object of the meeting. Mr. Alderman SHUTTLEWORTH, in proposing the first resolution, said he was not prepared to go at any lmgth into this subject ; but, having carefully read the evidence given before the Import Dufes' Committee— and nothing better or more convincing on the subject could be read—he would draw attention to ono or two points of it, and then sit down. Mr Sbnttleworth then read.portions of the evidence given by Mr M•Gre gor, one of the secret-tries of the Board of Trade, and Mr J. D. Hume. Mr T. HeruaNs seconded the resolution, and pointed out the folly and absurdity of the present system. If any novelist, said he, had ventured to sly that a people who imagined themselves the most enlight ened in the world, not being able to grow sufficient timber for their own use, required a supply from foreign countries, and foreign countries were ready t) supply it, but that this enlightened people would not have this timber unless it was first taken round to some distant parts of the world, by which a great additional expense was incurred, and that then they received it—it would have been said that this was too extravagant, and the author was de sirous of drawing too largely on the credulity of his readers. And yet this was precisely the case ; Baltic timber must incur the expense of being shipped to Canada and back again before it could he received here.—( Hear, hear.) But this was only one of many cases arising out of the slate system. Coffee was brought to Liverpool in bond from Hayti and other pl ices ; but the merchant could not sell it ; the law obliged him to take it out to the Cape of Good Hope and back again, and it was not till after incurring all riis unnecessary expense that he was allowed to sell it. Hear, hear.) Was not this true'', which was going on before our eyes, stranger than fiction? We had paid the West Indians 20,000,0001. to put an end to slavery, and yet we permitted them alone to send their sugars for sale here, while they were allowed to refine :Jive-made sugar in Liverpool, and take it hack for t heir own use. We were thus encouraging, and almost compelling them to use the slave sugars of Cuba and the Brazils. Was not this the very essence of absur dity ? He should like the advocates of the present system to take up the report of the Select Committee, and answer it paze by page, if they could ; he would willingly let the two documents go before the country together, and he had no doubt as to the chef: they would produce.—(Applause.) The resolution was then put and carried. Mr. Joni.' EDWARD TAYLOR moved a petition founded on the resolution just read, and alluded to the effect the sirnplfication of our tariffs would have in pro moting peace, by giving to every country an equal in terest in the continuance of it. Mr. J. P. WESTHEAD, in seconding the petition, said the gratitude of the country was dee to the Select Committee of the Commons for their report on this sub ject, and the evidence of Mr. lll:Gregor and Mr. J. Deacon Hume was invaluable. He believed that report would produce a great effect upon the people. In reference to the report published by the Caamber of Commerce, he thought a debt of gratitude was owing to the gentlemen who prepared that document aiso— (Hear). That morning he had been called back by a gentleman, vs he was on his road to the meeting, who asked him what he thought of that report. He stated at once he thought it was an admirable report. The gentleman said be thought so too.—(Heir, hear). That gentleman had hitherto been opposed to measures of the character recommended, but he said—" I have made up my mind to vote for no man who will not go into the question of the Import Duties with a view of re medying their discrepancies."—(Hear, hear, and ap plause). He agreed in the opinion that an alteration of our restrictive policy would lead to a similar altera tion abroad, for foreigners who had witnessod our pros perity, had jumped to a conclusion that it was the result of our restrictions, whereas it arose from a totally dif ferent cause, and in spite of it.—(Hear.) Alderman COBDEN said he had felt great pleasure in 1 stening to Mr. Westhead ; he had felt great pleasure in hearing the additional testimony from him that all naeties in Manchester were about to unite in favour of the principles of free trade. He had seen evidelee during the past week that such a happy state of things was arriving. He would wish to suggest the vast influ ence that such a junction of potties, on this question, might exercise on the House of Commons, if that una nimity were carried out which he trusted in his heart would be. If Manchester and Liverpool were in favour of free trade, not only would Manchester and Liver pool he represented by free traders, but he had no he sitation in saying that Manchester and Liverpool, and their ramifications elsewhere, might command the re preientation of Lancashire, Cheshire, and of Derby , shire ; and that not only South Lancashire, but North \ Lancashire, would be made to retirn free traders.— ! (Hear, hear.) And he should look with the fullest confidence to seeing men of the Conservative party uniting at the elections to bring forward men who, whatever their other politics might he, were unques tionably in favour of free trade. He should look for ward coafidently to such a course on the part of the Conservatives ; and he would siy for one, that in any of the counties for which he had a right to vote he should be willing to forego his party opinions, and take any man whom the Conservatives might bring forward, provided he was for free trade.—(Appliuse.) There was one article which had been alluded to in the course of their discussion second in importance only to the grelter article—that of corn—on which he would make some remarks—the article of sugar. It should be as clearly as possible put before the people of this country that the amount of taxation which they paid upon this article was not for the purposes of revsnue, hut of " protection."—(Hear, hear.) At the present time the price of brown sugar in bond in Liverpool, the produce of Brazil, or any other foreign country, was '2 d., and of white lid. per lb. ; the duty was 61d. per lb.—(Hear, hear.) Our own colonial brown sugar, in bond at Liverpool, or selling at Liverpool, was 6d. per lb., and white was 7d. ; now upon foreign sugar we had 24d. additional price upon the article itself in bond, and we had Sid. additional duty to pay upon it, giving 7-I t i. per lb. as a tax for protection upon the article of sugar at the present mom: nt. Arid thus was the amount that poor people were obliged to pay for theh• sugar 711. p,-tr lb. more than the pour people of Ha nburgh were obliged to pay at the present time. They must observe that he did not take the duty for revenue into calculation at ell ; he merely gave them what was paid for protection t i the colonists of the West ladle , . Ile bad put down the difference in price as well as the difference in duty for protection, because he maintained that if it were not for the protective duty, our West India colonists might produce sugar as cheaply as they did in Bermuda or Cuba. For he repudiated the idea that slave labour was cheaper than free labour, provided it were not op pressed with the same restrictions that we laboured under here, and provided the seine degree of skill and the same amount of machinery were employed in its production. But this was not the case ; he had seen gentlemen who had travelled in Jamaica, and who had gone from there to Cuba, who told him the difference between the machinery in use in the two places, and the • whole of the contrivances for manufacturing sugar was as great as anything they ever saw in their lives ; that, in fact, Jamaica was fifty years behind Cuba in the cul tivasion of sugar. Thus we were encouraging the old fashioned and slow processes in Jamaica on the one hand, while we were stifling every improvement on the other ; ' we were thus encouraging the use of old machinery in Jamaica, while we were obliged in our own industry at home to invent every species of new machinery. Now tiineegeu.es inth thee of the sugar trade b a d b een m i xe d up , wrongly, w question of philanth ro py an d benevo tiofever there was a proof of the folly, in matters of policy, of taking the impulses of mere philanthropy for our guide, it was to be found in our conduct towards Ithese coloni es . I nstead of benefiting the West Indies Ly this protection we were prepari ng them for a most ;earful shock some ti me , because we could not keep up t i le principle ; it must break down of itself, if we did pot put an end to it. Then, when the shock did come, it would be seen that we dad been retiring the industry : n a hotbed, which would afterwards have to be exposed r em r ar k a r a d b , l e apnr advert this that could po to the sterns of winter.—(A pp la use . ) He had said that slave lab our was not so cheap a s f ree l a b our. He m held in his ha nd f b • oss e he br m ou o g st h tfo w in New York pap er, announcing for sal e i n oneo y t tisement a that town '2, 43-1 bags 0 by f Sandwich sugar, produ ce d i n . the Sandwich Islands f, e , labour. Now this sug ar , the produce of the semi-barbarians of the Sandwich island!, was taken to America to sell in competi tionsuaar, and he with their own slave grown e ob served that • their own sugar w as selling on the levy on the wharf at New Orleans at 2 1 d • a p ound. If the i Sandwich islinders, with all their disadvantages, could compete with the Americans with their o wn sugar their can market, surely our W ablest India islands, iflet free a= the Sandwich islands were, could conTete with any other country in this market. He took this little advertisement as a proof of it. But if they could not, let them raise coffee or anything else—let them raise India rubber or anything they could turn their industry to better. Why should we be taxed to enable them to raise an article in Jamaica which it was not advanta geous for them to produce? But there had been another feeling strongly alluded to, a religious feeling, that we ought not to hold intercourse with countries where slaves were allowed to exist ; and in order that this principle might be carried out, we were interdicted from importing (for that was the argument that was now going to be relied on), the produce of slaves in Bra zil. But mark, we were not interdicted from sell ing the produce of our industry to the Brazilians. Now, here was a proof of the shortsightedness, the very shortsightedness, the contracted vision of those who looked through the loop-holes of hes their reasoning powers to guide them a little. Why, if we so ld our manufue nevolence, without taking tures to Brazil, and took their sugar, not bringing it I borne, but taking it to Hemburgh, for instance, and there got a bill of exchange on England, surely th a t was as much buying of Brazil as if we brought it here.—(Ap plause.) But suppose that these philanthropists, in their blind benevolence, had carried out their principle a little further, and said, " you shall not sell to them any more than buy of them ; you shall not trade to Cuba at all," what would have been the consequence ? Would they have accomplished their obiect ? No ; we sect to New York or to Hamburgli. The Brazilians sent there too, andthey would meet us on the neutral ground of New Orleans or Trieste, and thus our traffic would merely make a wider circuit : but they would not by their foolish restrictions intercept it ; and nothing would in tercept it, unless they built a wall of brass round the world.—(Applause.) Hence the futility of any possi bility whatever of interfering with the freedom of trade, which would only assert its own power in spite of any legislation we may adopt.—(Cheers.) Mr. A. PRENTICE said he was glad that refereoce had been made to the effects of free-trade in promoting peace. We were at the present time anxiously waiting for news from America—( Hear)—of which we should have no apprehension, had our trade with that country been placed on a different basis. At the present time we were receiving only the produce of the five mil lions of people of the slave States of that country, while we were not receiving any of the produce of the twelve millions in the free States.—(Hear, hear.) This was a most absurd policy ; and only observe what would be the effect of this in the present moment of anxiety as to our relations with that country, we should then have the sympathies of t.velve millions of the free and noble men of the northern and western States, who would then be interested in the preserva tion of peace ; whereas now we had only those of the five millions in the southern slave States.—(Applause.) The resolution was then agreed to. Mr. MAYSON moved another resolution, which was adopted, and Mr. Alderman COBDEN then gave notice that he should bring forward his motion on the Corn and Pro vision-laws next Wednesday, and the meeting ter- MANCHESTER BOROUGH MEETING, REPEAL OF THE CORN-LAWS. (From the Manchester Guardian ) It is already known to our readers that a requisition, signed by nearly 600 firms and individuals, in all branches of trade and manufactures, was recently pre sented to Wm. Neill, Esq., the M iyor, expressing their conviction " of the injustice of those lass which restrict the food of the people, and which, if not repeal ,d will overwhelm the country with ruin ;" and respectfully requesting the Mayor to call a public meeting of the inhabitants of the borough, " to consider tho propriety of petitioning the House of Commons for the immediate abolition of the Cern and ProvieionAaws." In compli ance with this requisition, the Mayor convened a meet ing of the inhabitants, which was held yesterday at des ea o'clock. In the meantime, the walls were placarded with an address to the working-classes, complaining of toe meeting having been called at an hour when they could net attend, and calling upon all operatives out of work, and upon tailors, shoemakers, and others who could leave their work for a titne, to attend the meeting, and show their opinion of such conduct. Soon after ten o'clock, there began to be an assem blage of people around the principal entrance to the Town hall, which, before ele , , en o'clock, had increased to several hundreds ; and it was pretty obvious that there was a general muster of the Chartists, amongst whom were E. Nightingale, J. R. Richardson, Doctor M'Dousl', Doyle, Butterworth, Elijah Dixon, and others, who regard themselves as " leaders of the people." At eleven o'clock the doors were thrown open ; and the centre of the large room was rapidly filled, the Chartists occupying the seats and standing room imme diately in front of the platform (which was placed near the front windows) so as to form a tolerably compact and numerous band, pre-occupying the most central parts of the room. Soon afterwards a manoeuvre, which had all the appeirance of previous concoc tion, was in part executed.—Six minutes after eleven o'clock, ELIJAH DIXON said, it was a quarter past eleven o'clock ; and as the Mayor, who had called the meeting, was not present, he moved that Mr. James Scholefield take the chair.—E. NIGHTINGALE seconded the resolution.—Mr. GEo. HADFIELD said he had an amendment to put ; but NIGHTINGALE put the motion, and decl fired it carried.—While this was passing, WM. NEJLD, Esq , the Mayor, took the Chair; Sir Thomas Potter tieing on one side of him, and Mr. Heron, the Town-Clerk, on the other.—Amongst the gentlemen upon the plitform, Ise noticed Mr. Alderman Cobden, Mr. Rawson, and many other active members of the Anti-Corn-law League ; and amongst the ministers of different denominations present, were the Rev. Dr. Halley, of the Mosley-street Independent chapel ; the Rey. John Birt, of York-street Baptist chapel ; the Rev. James NI-Kerrow, of the Scotch Secession Church ; and the Revs. F. Beardsall, J. Gwyther, Wm. Mountford, J. L. Poore, &e. We underst Intl that, but for the aisorkletly interruption that (as will le scan) took place, several of these Rev. Genilemen would, like Mr; M'Kerrow, have tikes a prominent part in the pro ceedings of the meeting.—Mr. SCHOLEFIELD (being called on by the Chartists) sail he hied not come under a view to take the chair, and he would much rather re tire, and let the gentleman who had taken it keep pas- Session.—[Nightingale and others cried " No, no."] They perceived he was in a particular situation. The Chair was occupied by the Mayor, who refused to give it up.—(Groans.) Whet could he (Mr. Scholefield) do ?—The MAYOR said, that having called the meeting as the Mayor of the borough, in conformity with the practice of all municipal boroughs, he occupied the Chair as Mayor.—(Uproar, and cries of " Turn the beggar out," " Shift out of that," " No Quaker," &.c.— Mr. SCHOLEFIELD then said, that the gentleman now in the Chair was requested, on a former occasion, to call them together, on a mere important subject, the Poor law ; and he and his colleagues refused to call them together—(Groans and }ells)--and had so fir shown himself a partisan. That was the cause of all this fluinrocry.—E. DIXON and NIGHTINGALE spoke against the Mayor's retaining the Chair ; but he called on the Town-clerk to read the requisition and notice con vening the meeting, which was done amidst loud groans and hooting from the Chartists.—NIGHTIN GALE earnestly celled upon them, till Mr. Scholefield was allowed to take the chair, to let no man proceed. He added, " Nobody but Seholtfield ; think on."— DOYLE, the Chartist, said that Mr. Scholefield had a perfect right to take the chair ; and ELIJAH DIXON assured Mr. Neild that they laid a little English pluck left yet. At length Mr. SCHOLEFIELD stepped upon the table, awl intiireAed that he now considered himself in the chair, and called upon Mr. Ccbden to move the first resolution.—M'DouALL requested the Chartists to hear Mr. Cobden. assuring them that he would give him a reply.—Mr. COBDEN then came forward, but was repeatedly interrupted by a demand for a chair for Mr. Scholefield. At length one was placed on the table, and Mr. Schol Aield took his seat there, directly in front of and below the Mayor, who, during the whole of the proceedings, occupied the chair he had taken at first. A reporter for the Northern Star, named Cartledge, attempted to raise an Uproar by announc ing that the authorities had sent for " Sawley, the head of the police, to keep them quiet." After a few more short speeches from Mr. Scholefield, Mr. Nightingale, Leech, a Chartist, and others, compara tive silence was at length obtained, and Mr. Alderman COBDEN then said, he hoped his friends and those of Mr. Leech would be equally quiet, and then the business would be got through, and they would sooner get away. Whatever difference of opinion there might be upon who should be in the chair, he would venture to say, there should be none as to the resolution he was about to propore ; no man who would apply reason and argument ta it (as Mr. Leech had said) would dissent from it. [He then moved the first resolution, condemning the bread-tax as unjust, because it taxed the poorest man as much as the richest]. They had come together to discuss the bread -tax, the most odious, unjust, wicked tax ever devised in any age or country. Nay, more, he would venture to say, that the records of hist or y did not f urn i s h an example in which any tyrant, however powerful or cruel, had ever ventured to levy a tax upon the bread food of his sub jects. In the very palaces of the most despotic, and, what we termed, barbarous countries, it was the policy to legislate so as to secure to the population they rule the very greatest possible amount of bread. If we went to that half-barbarous coun try (in our estimation) China, we found there the law not only exempts from duty the cargoes of ve sse l s entering their ports, but also the vessels themselves from all port charges ; and, consequently, American vessels, going to Coma in ballast for tea, take in a cargo of rice at 'Manilla or Singapore, in order to escape port charges at Canton. If we went to Turkey, to America, or to th a t l ate b ar b arous country, Algiers, we found laws' of cor n , i n order that the passed to preyea the exporta tionpeople mi g ht b e a t a ll times provided, as far of bread.t asGcrnments could secure it, wth a pler.tiful up But it w as reserve d for the Governm ent of England pass a liw to tax the bread of the people, in order to enrich to t the l smallest sec tion and class in the community— which was i n possession of the greatest ofatmmeotucnaotn already (Hear.) He probably might be opponent, Mr. n p ti i i: o , n, as w n the list occasion, by one o might sa y, we don't ray so much in taxes for our corn that, last year , we onl y p aid 3,000 /. or 4,000/. into tlet Exchequer for our foreign corn. That was true, and was a reason w h y we s h ou ld meet and discuss the question ; because the law was so ingeniously devised, and cunningly contrived, that it w as a two-edged sword, cutting the farmer on the one side, and the capitalist and labourer on the other, so that the people could hardly see how it operates. We pay duty, not only upon foreign corn, but upon all the corn in the home market. Why was the Corn-law passed ? Avowedly because it gave protection (as it was called) to the agricultural interest. He would just test by ar gument the iniquity of this sliding al no duty on foreign corn, then the price of corn in Eng. E SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, MARCH 22, 18)1 land would be the same as the cheapest port abroad— say Hamburgh, with the addition of the carriage neces sary to bring it to England. If the duty on foreign corn was 103. a quarter, then the price in England would be higher by that 10s. and the cost of carriage, than in Hamburgh ; so that we had previously paid 103. a quarter, upon every quarter raised at home, which was estimated by Mr. M'Culloch, and other au thorities, to be equal to sixty millions of quarters an nually. Thus, in order to put 103. into the Exchequer, they might actually he obliged to pay sixty millions, not all into the pockets of the aristocracy. because much was wasted by the way; but it was wrung from the pockets, and was taken for the benefit of a small sec tion of the community.—(Applause.) This was enough to justify those who looked upon the bread-tax as one of the mighty grievances under which we labour ; not the only grievance ; nobody ever heard him sly that ; but surely grievance enough to justify us meeting once a year, and devoting a morning to this subject exclu sive of every other. We might be told that, notwith standing these burdens, the people were better, or, at least, as well off as the people of other countries,—as the people of Poland or Italy. Why, was it enough, that after all the advantages this country possessed, with the advantages of " our glorious Constitution in Church and Stat"," of which we heard so much ; after inventing and contriving to manufacture and produce, and almost to destroy time and space in accelerated movement,—was it enough that the working popula tion of England were only as well off as that of coun tries which had no such advantages? But if the working population were badly off (us he maintained), what was the condition of those who enjoyed the benefit of this tax ? Why, the landowners of this country were, without exception, the most luxurious, the richest, proudest, greetest of all the nobility in the known world, either now or at any former time. When they went abroad, a landowner with 5,000 acres would eclipse, with his pomp and equipage, a G e r man P r i nce with 50,000 acres? Why? Because they enjoyed an exclusive monopoly ; and the more the people toiled and spun, the more they put into the pockets of those who raised the food of the country, while the people were denied the right of exchangiug their productions, for an increased supply of food. It had been asked, what had our free trade done for us? It was said, it had done no good for us, and he had come to tell them why our imports were confined to articles of luxury, wanted only by the rich ; but the people were denied the right to import earn and meat, by which the great mass of the people wool" be benefited. Oar tnauu lectures were sent abroad for a constantly increasing supply of the silks, wines, spices, and diamonds, and other luxurious articles brought from sircatl, which had been constantly cheapened by the people's con stint activity and enterprise ; yet the people were de nied the right to import that alone which could minis tw to the comfort and happiness of the poor man. This was why the working classes and the people had not derived any advantage from our foreign trade. We had around us a population living in a state the most frightful to contemplate. He was glad he was sur. rounded by a great number of the ministers of the Gos pel, whose duty it was (and no doubt they fulfilled it ) to visit the poor : and he called upon them, in the face of so many of the poorer population of Mancester, to raise their voice and let it be heard, that the state of the population in this town was or,e bordering on har• barism and heathenism ; for he main:ained, with Lot d Ellenborough and the Bishop of London, in their state ment in the House of Lord, the other day, Oat we could not have a population raised in the scale of intel lect, morality, or religion, while the people were physi cally degraded.—( Hear.) He was here to contend, that the people of England were entitled to eat untaxed bread ; and be waited to hear, whether any ore present would say, that our bread ought to be taxe I. It was twelve months since they bad met upon this question of the Corn-laws. Many pre tent might. be disposed to despond, and to say, that no progre: s had been made in public opinion upon this question ; but he was not disposed to agree with them ; since they last met in this room, a vast amount of knowledge had been spread through the country upon this un righteous law. They might congratulate themselves upon the evidence tendered by official men, and pub lished at the instance of the House of Commons itself,—in which it was declared, that the burden of the food taxes was greater than the burden of ail the State taxes, This was not the testimony of a Corn-law agitator ; hut that was the testimony of Mr. Deacon Hume and Mr. M'Gregor, who spoke, not so much for the interest of the working classes only, as for the interest of the Government and the State at large. Whatever others might do, he should always be found opposing the C wn-laws with his utmost ability : he had ben at it for two years ; and now, after spending some little time and money, he felt more detestation to the Corn-laws now than he did two years ago. He hoped the meeting would not ter minate without its being made fully known to the world at large what was the real state of the poor of this great town. Should we have Sir Robert Peel talking in the House of Commons of giving us pl ty grounds, and walks, and food for the mind, and mea sures brought forward to give the people amusements, when they want bread, and houses, and beds to lie upon.—(Appl lase.) Seine one had sounded the tocsin of foreign competition ; and its influence was denied. Why, we had competition already from every country of the globe ; there was not an article we exported anywhere, but we already made it cheaper than in any other country on the face of the earth ; for, if we did not, we could not export it. Why did we manage to undersell all other countries ? Because we had great natural advantages ; and because, without flattering them, he would say, the muscles and bones of Englishmen accomplished far more work in a d iy than any other people, except our descendants in Ame rica. But how did they do it? Notwithstanding the burden of the bread-tax upon their shoulders, in telditioa to all the State taxes they had to pay, we sent our goods to New Yosk, where might be bought a bar rel of flour (19e1b.) at theloresent moment, at 19s. Gd. as appeared by the list advices ; and he was told, yes terday, that the same barrel of flour was worth now, in Manchester, 395. or just double.—(A Voice—No ; 36s Gd.) fie was speaking of the best brands, and was told it would be worth 395. We were already competing with foreign countries, with the Americans and Germans, notwithstanding we paid for our flour 2e. 31 a dozen lb., when we might and ought to have it ut Is. 6i.—(Hear.) If we could compete with them now, he would ask any reasonable man whether he . would not be able tea enter into competition with them on still better terms, if he could get hie bread at the same price as they did ? As had been well said by Mr. Rawson, we had been running a race, by means of our machinery, with foreigners ; but all the. while we had been forgetting the weight of the riders ; we had been carrying 365. 6d. a barrel, or 2s. 3d. a dozen for our flour, while our foreign rivals had carried only Is. Gd. It might be said that we wanted to bring in foreign flour, in order to reduce wages here. —(Cries of" True I" " So you do.") Why should the repeal of the Corn-laws lower wages ? We traded with one-third of the population of the United States, who grew tobacco, rice, and cotton ; but there were two thirds of the richest, most industrious, and most intel ligent part of the population of America, where there were no slaves—he spoke pf the great north-western and northern States, where they produced the flour for which we had now to pay 36'. Gd. a barrel—and from all trade with these two-thirds of the people of America we were excluded by our Corn-laws. Would any working man say, if his master were getting three times the orders he was now getting, that that would be a reason for reducing the workman's wages ? Was any working man so ignorant as to suppose that the master had the power of reducing wages when and how he pleased ?—(" Yes.") If so, how was it that the masters here were so good-natured as to give c'ghteen shillings weekly wageg, whilst in Ireland they only gave four shillings.—(Uproar.) He believed no one present but would admit, that, if the masters had the power of regulating wages, the operatives would be put on much shorter allowance than they were, he was afraid. No—it was decided, like the price of apples in the market, by the quantity there is, and the demand for it. As the popul &on was increasing, at the rate of 1,000, the only re user) why labour should not become cheaper, was the want of more customers ; and how were they to be got, unless the other countries could trade with us ? On the last occasion, he had told them, that we were competing with the Germans and others, paying nearly double the price they paid for wheat ; and be now left it to every rational man to say, whether he would not wish that his family, for the same money, should have three loaves instead of two. They had met to protest against those unrighteous laws, the greatest of the prac tical grievances under which we laboured ; and he firmly hoped that our Legislature might in time do us justice, that the peace and welfare of this country might be preserved.—(Great applause.) The Rev. Wm. M'Kefteow, of the Scotch Secession Kirk, in seconding the motion, said, he had risen to identify himself with the Anti-Corn -law movement, and to support the resolution so ably advocated by his friend, Mr. Cobden, After justifying his , coming for ward on this question, as a m i n istet o,t' the Gospel, be said he should leave it to c o mmercial men to g o into the commercial vi ews ofthis question ; he would bring before the meeting its religious aspect. He held that the law by which food and labour were r whether estriete I was condemned by eve r y p r in c iple of religion, . natural or revealed. It was at variance with tee re quirements of God's law ; for why sho uld the few be enriched and pampered at the expense of the exhaus , ..- ing toils, wants, and sufferings of the many ? It was at variance with i n t e ll ectus il and moral elevatio n and m provement ; for it was frequently found that poverty is the p trent of crime ; and how was it to be expected that those who were borne down by the toils, cares, and providing for the means of life, should cultivate their minds, and grow in knowledge or virtue ? It was at variance with the dictates of the divine word, for He had said, " Blessed is he that considercth the rights of I the poor :" and again, " lie that withholdeth corn, the I people shall curse him." It was at variance with all the I design and tendency of the spirit of Christianity, for the i very essence of the Gospel was.not only" Glory to God in the highest," but also, " Good will towards men." Hit, therefore, thought religious men were bound to identify themselves with such movements as this ; as be felt that the Corn-laws were opposed by all the in timations he had both from nature and the Scriptures of God. It was the will of God that al nations should maintain friendly intercourse, but the Corn-laws forbade it ; it was the will of God that the productions of various countries be interchanged, so as to promote thc'r mutual enjoyment, but the Corn-laws foruade it ; it was the will of God that wars should cease, but the Corn-laws forbade it ; it wes the will of God that we should all enjoy peace, and plenty, and happiness, as our portion, but the Cnrn-lows forbade it. Holding such sentiments, he deemed it lf's duty to avow them. lie had no sympathy with the religion of cant and hypo crisy.—( Hear.) The religion he professed taught him to do good to every men. He feared this question must ultimately, unless our rulers were wise, cause the v:il I frenzy of revolution. This was as much a reli gious question as the Anti-Slavery Question. If it was right to give freedom to the slave, it was right to give bread to him who called himself a free man at horn , . it was right to break the yoke of the slave abroad, he was sure it was to burst the fetters of slaves at home. —(Applause.) With these sentiments he would most cheerfully and cordially support the motion of Mr. Cobden.—( Applause.) Doctor M'DOUALL then said, he came before them at this time, not for the purpose of seconding the er forts of the landed proprietors in maintaining a mo nopoly in corn, nor to second the efforts of the capi talists in removing the monopoly. He came rather for the purpose of advocating the rights of labour— ( Applause)—because, he believed, the working-man, lil:e Jesus Chris!, had been crucified between two thieves ; and he came there to move an amendment to the following effect—" That, in the opinion of this meeting, not only the Corn-laws, but every other tax on the necessaries of life, ought to be repealed ; and that to make up the deficiency in the revenue, a tax should be levied on all real and funded property ; that there should be an equal adjustment of the debt mis called national; and that, as soon as possible, the national expenditure should be controlled by a House of Com mons chosen on the principle of universal suffrage."— Mr. Cobden had referred them to Turkey and China, and said, that these so called barbarians had no mono poly in corn ; but he woull tell them, that there was not, either in China or Turkey, such a hell-born sys tem as that create] by the manufacturers of this coun try. If the Corn-laws were repealed, it would only amount to their getting the quartern loaf 2d. cheaper ;' and what security had they that the working man's wages would not be reduced 2 6d, a week? Their object was to reduce the wages of the people of this country.—(" No, no ;" and Chertist cheers.) He should oppose the abolition of the Corn-laws until the working classes had power to protect themselves. LEECH, one of the Chartist agitators of 1839, and who is now a Chartist lecturer, next addressed the meeting. He contended that while, since 1815, our trade had considerably increased, wages had decreased ; and, therefore, if trade increased more, wages would go still lower, and that the misery of the people was not owing to the Corn-laws, but to the great improvements which had, from time to time, been made in machinery. Mr. A. CAMPBELL, a socialist missionary, contended tdat this country was capable of producing food for a hundred millions of people, and that the main cause of Vseir distress was the law of primogeniture, v hich kept the land in the bands of a few. He could sea no difference between the amendment and the resclution ; and Mr. M'Douall in moving, and Mr. Leech in se conding the amendment, had in fact agreed to the reso lution.—(Hubbub.) M. E. DIXON—Mr. Cobden had told them that they were increasing at the rate of a thousand a d my. Why that was a thousand new customers every day for food and clothing, so that they had no occasion to go abroad for them. Unless they begun at the right end, nail laid a tax on accumulated property, there would be no ced t ) the misery of Vie people. Mr. R. BUCHANAN, a socialist- missionary, said there was the adjustment of the debt, and many points con nected with this subject ; and it was one-sided justice to declare war against the landlords merely, while they let atone the Jews and stack jobbers, who bought 100/. stock with 601. of ready money. He contended thst the re peal of the Corn-laws would not be a benefit, unless they could agree that the inventive powers would be so kept doWn, and the orders from abroad for manufactures so increased, as to keep the demand for labourers above the supply. He hoped they would all unite for the good of the country. Mr COBDEN then replied. The first speaker in favour of the amendment had begun by denouncing as strongly . as he did himself,the Corn and Provision-laws as unjust, and every following speaker avowed the same opinion. Now, if he found an injustice, common sense told him to put it down ; but the argument of his opponents was— " Oh, no; the Corn-1 iw is very unjust, but if you put it down something else unjust will arise ; and, unless you can prophesy that nothing of this kind will arise, we won't allow this injustice to be put down:'—(Hear and ap plans,...) Was there not as much safety in petitioning for a repeal of the Corn-laws as for any other question? and, till they gave up petitioning altogether, they were incon sistent in refusing to petition for the repeal of what they had acknowledged to he unjust. Amongst the speakers had been' Whigs, 11 Chartists, and Socialists : and one speaker moved an amendment to go for universal suffrage. But the Anti-Corn-law party said, " No, we'll go for the repeal of the Corn-laws alone ; because the Corn-laws arc admitted by a 1 to he unjust." But no Whig could, consistently, be a Chartist and a Whig ; no Chartist could, consistently, be a Whig and a Char tist ; no Tory could be both a Tory and a Whig ; and, therefore, if the Anti-Corn-law advocates were to join any of these parties they could not take the others along with them ; but they might unite all right-minded men of all parties in the State on this one great question on which so many were agreed Applause.) Without asking any man to give up or compromise his political principles, he would say to thein all, Take more along with you ; get three loaves instead of two ; then you will have more leisure, more money to spend in news papers.—(" Oh.") He concluded by recommending all to hold up both their hands, and those who were for justice to keep their eyes on him, and hold up their hands when he did.—Mr. SCHOLEFIELD, after some conference with the MAYOR, said, that, as it was customary, at all public meetings, to put the amendment first, he would put the amendment, and Mr. Neild would put the original motion.—(Uproar.) Mr. Scholefield then put the amendment, for which the Chartists in the centre of the room raised their hands. The Mayor then put the original motion, for which the number of hands raised appeared to us to be nearly double that of the show for the amendment. Each party claimed the victory ; both cheered and huzzaed ; the MAYOR pronounced the original motion to be car ried ; and Mr. SCHOLEFIELD said, that there were three to one in favour of the amendment—(Great uproar ensued, during which a number of Chartists climbed over the benches, and came upon the table where the reporters were writing, trampling on their notes, pens, &c., and completely preventing them from hearing or seeing what was passing. Under these circumstances, the reporters for the whole of the Manchester press determined to retire, and they accordingly left the room about three o'clock, when the greatest noise and confusion prevailed). We should think that, about-halipast twelve o'clock, the numbers were largest, probably amounting, at that time, to fifteen hundred ; but soon afterwards, many re spectable persons, tired of the Chartist harangues to which they were doomed to listen, left the, hall, and the number s con ti nue d rap idl y to d ecrease to the con clusion of the meeting. We are told, that about the same time as the re porters left, Mr. Scholeifeld, from some cause or other, deemed it right to quit his chair and the table ; and notwithstanding the irruption of the Chartists already noticed, the' original resolutions as prepared by the pron - ioters of the meeting, were proposed and seconded by various gentlen:en. put to the meeting by the Mayor, as Chairman, and passed by considerable majorities. They were moved and seconded by the following gen tlemen, who contented themselves with a very few ob servations, as it was now nearly three o'chck :—Mr. George Hadfield, Ray. F. Beardsall, Messrs. J. C. Dyer, and George Wilson, Sir Thomas Potter, Messrs. William Rawson, Robert Gardner, C. H. Jones, Samuel Stocks, and James Hampson. The resolu tions passed, together with the petition adopted, will be found in our advertising columns.—The Mayor having quitted the chair, Sir Thomas Potter was called thereto ; and, on the motion of Mr. Robert Gardner, seconded by Mr. Alderman Cobden, the thanks of the meeting were voted to the Mayor for his patient, persevering, and impartial conduct in the chair ; and the proceed ir.gs then terminated, about a quarter past three o'clock. BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, MARCH 19. We have no sugar market, and prices are quite nominal. The arrival of the Sybilla from the Maurititis, ;and the Eleanor from Demerara, may probably lead to a resump ton of buiine3s shortly, but to what extent, or on what iermF, it is impossible to hazard an opinion, as no trade appears to IT more prejudicially affected by the general wavt of coefidenco, and th dearession in mercantile affairs, than the su ar trade. —B r i s t o l M ercury . The Asia was inspected by our Port Admiral this afternoon, more particularly in her gunnery practice, which is in a most perfect state of efficiency ; a large party of naval officers accompanied Sir Edward Cod ringtop, and all u ere highly gratified with the target practice. She will proceed to-morrow or next day for Chatha m to be paid off. MONAGHAN ASSIZES.—TRIAL OF SAM (NAY FOR MURDER, FRIDAY, MARCH 19.—At the sitting of t , T court thin morning, Samuel Gray, who was yester day arraign e d for having, on the 26th of November last, rmilic:ously and feloniously caused the death of Owen Mur phy, by shooting him with a loaded pistol in the right side of the cbelt, of the effects of which he instantly died," was placed at the bar. In the course of the jury being formed, Gray objected to eight or ten persons —some generally, and some because they had expressed their opiei)ns decisively on the matter. For the_ defence several witnesses proved an alibi, and the jury, after wee consultation, returned a verdict of—• Not Guilty, 4 ° THE CHINA SUN, " Which was lately RE-PUBLISHED, IS NOW ON SALE. Price SIXPENCE. Orders received at The Sun Office, No. 112 Strand. IN PROGRESS, m RAILWAY S UN. Nith a MAP of all the RAILWAYS in the United Kingdom ; containing all the STA rioNs on each Railway, and a great variety of Information and other particulars connected with Railways. THE CORONATION SUN, PRINTED IN LETTERS OF GOLD, WITH A BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT OF RER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, Can be sent by post free to all parts of the Em pire. Price SIXPENCE. Sun Office, 112, Strand, London. THE NEW NOVEL. Now ready at all the Libraries, in 3 vols. po;t Bvo., THE ENGAGEMENT. A NOVEL. _ _ •' One of the most vivid, vigorous, and just pictures of Eng lish aristocratic society which has ever been given to the world, by means of one of the most ingenious, original, and intensely interesting stories that has ever given vitality and interest to a work of this nature. We have had nothing equal to ' The Engagement' since the appearance of Tremaine ' and 'De Vere.' "—Naval and Military Gazette. Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street. Now ready, in 2 vols. Bvo., with Portrait, THE COURTS OF F,UROPF, At the CLOSE of the LAST CENTURY. By the Late HENRY SWINBURNE, Author of 66 Travels in Spain, Italy, Sm." " Two more delightful volumes it is scarcely possible to meet with. They form the most perfect picture of the Conti nent towards the conclusion of the last century we possess ; and no single work ever before exhibited such a gallery of illus trious characters as we are introduced to. It comprises the Royal Families in the principal Courts of Europe, with almost every person of rank or celebrity in the Church, the profes sion of arms, diplomacy, literature, art, and science, in exist ence at the close of the last century."—New Monthly. " We now le ive these pleasant volumes to all who love such running commentaries upon the great events of history—the signs and tokens noticed by an acute and refined observer."— Athenmum, Third Notice. Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Alarlborough-street. ST. KATHARINE DOCK COMPANY'S RUMMAGE SALE OF WINES, SPIRITS, and. CORDIALS, for Payment of Charges due on the same. FOlt SALE, by PUBLIC AUCTION, at the Hambro' Coffee-House, Water-lane, Tower-sheet, on WEDNESDAY, the 24th March, 1841, and Two following Days, at Eleven for Twelve o'Clock precisely ; by order of the St. Katharine Dock. Company, under the authority of thy: 117 Section of the 6th Geo. 4th, Cap. 105 ; and with the sanction of her Majesty's Customs. 570 pipes, butts, hhds. and qr. casks, consisting of Port, Sherry, East India and direct Madeira, Marsala, Canary, Te neriffe, Claret, Hock, Lisbon, Cape, Italian red, &c. &c. 420 cases and baskets of Claret, Champagne, Hermitage, Barsac, Sauterne, French red and white Wit.es, &c. 208 cases Claret, Eade's Shipping, Vintage 1825. 110 puns. and hhds. and 51 cases of Bran,ly, Hollands, Arrack, Cordials, &c. &c. Particulars and Catalogues of J AMES G. WINN, Sworn Wine and Spirit Broker, 59, Mark Lane. SUFFOCATION OF THE LADY " PAULET " AND " ASTLEY COOPER." Those who assisted, directly or indirectly, under the 'bad advice of the miscalled " medical! attendants " namely, Cuain- BEM, BRIGHT, and sinister COLLEAGUES—in the suffocation of the above individuals—from the aid-want of vital heat for the creation of Synovia —to propel the circulation of the ar terial blood, THEREBY reanimating life—have ivow, by those two exalted victims to a species of Indian Thug-ism, the last ing reflection on their minds of a total disregard of all moral duty, by having refused the proffers of the Undersign'd—for a restoration to health of the persons in question--the which, as a proof the parties can learn by cal ing on Mr. Nash, of Earl street, Exeter-street, Lisson-grove—Mr. N. having been, up to the 4th of Marsh last, reduced to " the last gasp " (after thirteen years illness) without taking food for a WEEK as the lady " Paulet" position—but on a sudden, on listening to rea son, " through God's providence " restored to health, under a transition (in -imilitude) as "quick as thought," e'en from a state of higli feverish storm to a calm serenity of mind-within the nova—of first application to the nostrils of the Vital Air Lamp. The co-incentrated spirit of whose elementary flame, appears to generate the synovia fluid throughout the labrick' whereby man again " becomes a living soul." Chambers, Swallow-street, Quadrant. CHARLES ACKERLEY, Author of The Lamp, "only 65.," for "restore'ng the circula tion of the blood," all cases of morbid action, alias—suspended animation. P.S.--Post-office order for The Lamp payable at Charing cross post-office, and " no mistake." THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT GARDEN. UNDER the MANAGEMENT of MADAME VESTRIs: THIS EVENING, MARCH 22 Will be repeated the New Comedy, in Five Acts, entitled LONDON ASSURANCE. Sir Harcourt Courtly, Bart.., Mr. W. Farren ; Max Hark. way, Mr. Bartley ; Mr. Charles Courtly, Mr. Anderson ; Mr. Adolphus Spanker, Mr. Keeley ; Mr. Dazzle, Mr. C. tMl:kthew•s ; Mark Meddle, Mr. Harley ; Grace Harkaw•ay, Madame Vestris ; Lady Gay Spanker, Mrs. Nisbett ; Mrs. Pert, Mrs. Humbv. After which will be produced a New Drama, in Three Acts; entitled THE EMBASSY. Duke de Nevers, Mr. Moore ; Viscount Rene de Bohan, Mr. Anderson ' Baroness du Pont, Miss Ellen Tree i Madame de Brissac, Madame Vcstris. Doors to ba epened at half-past Sia—the performances to co.nzlerir.! at Sere' o'Clock. Dress Boxes 7s. ; Second Price, 3s. 6d.; First and Seconc ircles, ss. ; Jecond Price, 2s. 6d. ; Pit, 35.; Second Price. ; Gallery Is. Tickets and plac es for the Boats to be taken of Mr. Grogan at the Box-office, from Ten till Four, where Season Tickets m y ne had upon application. Private Boxc . to be had so'eiv of Mr. Ands am, bookseller, :ti7. New Bond-street. itOYAL SURREY THEATRE. Immense attraction. Mr. T. P. Cooke and Mr. Collins the same Evening• the last week of their appearance. " Poor Jack " and another nautical drama, in conjunction with " Paul Clifford." THIS EVENING, MARCH 2/ Will be acted a Nautical Drama in Four Parts, called POOR JACK ; OR TIIE WIFE OF A SAILOR. In which Mr. T. P. Cooke, and the entire strength of the Company, will perform. After which, THE PILOT. Long Torn Coffin by Mr. T. P. Cooke. To conclude with PAUL CLIFFORD. Paul Clifford, with the Song of " Hurrah for the Road," Mr Collins . HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW. 2 minutes after 2 I Evening • 0 minutes after 2. The Publication of the Evening Edition of THE Stn.; corn meneed at 10 minutes after:Three. Nee 1 1 4, cf „A I 4 r , s l s " .4 7 , • Z,7l,t, 1, 1 , ,41' , N; • %; , 10 Whit -1U11,4 LONDON: MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1841. The law most relied on by Dr. NicnoLL in the House of Commons, and by the Tory press, rela tive to Church-rates, is the common law, as an nounced by the Judges in their decision on the Braintree case, which runs thus : " And we are ALL of opinion that the obligation by which the parishioners, that is, the actual residents within, or the oc cupiers of lands or tenements in every parish, are bound to repair the body of the parish church whenever necessary ; and to provide all things essential to the pet formance of Divine Ser vice therein, is an obligation imposed on them by the common law of the and• • • • • • • • " Such, then, being the law of the land, it follows, a , a necessary consequfnce, that the repair of the tabric of the church is a duty which the parishioners are com pellable to perform—not a mere voluntary act which they may perform or decline at their own discretion ; that the law is imperative upon them absolutely that they do repair the church, not binding on them in a qualified limited manner only, that they may repair or not, as they think fit; and that where it so happens that the fabric of the church stands in need of repair, the only question upon which the parishioners, when convened together to mate a rate, can by law deliberate and determine, is not whether they will repair the church or not (for upon that point they are concluded by the law), but how and in what manner the common law obligation so bind ing them may be best and most effectually, and at the same time most conveniently, performed and carried into effect. The parishioners have no more power to throw off the bur den of the repair of the church than that of the repair of bridges and highways, the compelling of the performance of the latter obligation belonging exclusively to the temporal courts, whilst that of the former has been exercised usually, though perhaps net necessarily exclusively, by the spiritual courts from time immemorial." According to the Judges that is the law, and that, according to the leaders of both parties in the House of Commons, men must be-compelled by fine and imprisonment, or by hanging, if necessary, to obey. Now, we must remind the expounders and the enforcers of the law, that there took place, some three centuries ago, a great change called the Reformation. In consequence of that England became Protestant, and the great principle was gradually established, which is now consecrated by numerous statutes, that every individual is free to interpret the Scrip tures for himself, and to believe according to the evidence he finds. Before that period the Ro man Catholic religion prevailed in England, which forbade men to read and interpret the Scriptures, except under the guidance of a priest, and forbade them to believe or fallow any doc trine which the priest did not sanction. In that antecedent time there was cnly one form of Christianity known in the land, and no other EVENING EDITION. was tolerated. Now the law which the Judges expounded being the common law, running be yond memory, and that law " having been exer cised by Ecclesiastical Courts, from time imme morial," it is scarcely necessary to add that this common law, which the Judges decide is now, and still the law, was made when Roman Catho licism was the exclusive religion of the land, 1t it were not made by Roman Catholic priests. We must distinctly state that we do not im pugn the integrity of the Judges, but their intel ligence. We do not say that they are dishonesty but we have not the smallest hesitation in assert- ing that they are unwise. We admit their pro' •-: .found knowledge of law, but it is so huge that it shuts out common sense. If they took a large and comprehensive view—if they were wise and , intelligent—if they looked more at society, and ' bound themselves less by the decisions of their pre decessors--they would not, three hundred Yea rs after the Reformation, have declared, in this pro testant country, that this Popish enactment was now the law of the land. If they had beeneoll - compelled, by the absence of all con tradictory decisions through all time, to declare that it is still the law, they would have accomPa nied it by another declaration, namely, that sue l h a law, though very suitable to the time when the Romish religion prevailed and toleration was e a : known, is wholly unsuitable to the pres ent time, and that it ought to be instantly repealed ['hey would have said that it is a remnant 0 f that system which compelled every man to submi t his judgment to the priest, which allowea of no diversity of faith, and fi n ed a man who Wa absent from his p ar i s h ch u r c h o f a Sunday; a n ds ' with the spirit of Protestants, they would hav e indignantly denounced the law as wholly an" suitable to the present circumstances of the community. . We feel astonished that Protestant Judge!' and great sticklers for . Protestantism both la Parliament and out of Parliament, should el; tend vigorously in behalf of the Papal law., ° it is, as the Standard correctly observed.° it Tuesday, "that the blunder or defection (or or pression) of yesterday is exalted into a Pree.c dent to-day, and becomes the parent of a prin ciplei of government for all time to come." li t Papal priest law is a case in point. The opPr e c sion of the Romish priesthood, though the power is extinct in the land as an esta blished priesthood, their determination 'u make all men submit to them, embodied into s law to make all the people pay for their Chao,..'. has been a precedent ever since, and is now. r e „ /I i ; thrced as a principle of our Government. It adopted by venerable Protestant Judges/ w 4 can find no better rule of right than this Pap usurpation. Its incompatibility with o ur p resen t habits 1 5 e Apparent from what takes pl ace i n ou r large ° L i tropolitan or suburban pa r i s h es . In each ° them, instead of only one sect, or one religi°.°l: there is a dozen, or perhaps a sco re . The par k a is divided into districts, each of which has , le church of its own. There are, moreover, eln i r o f and churches, in communion with the Church 4 England, erected by voluntary contribution, or built as a commercial speculati on . They are ad avowedly rivals of the Dissenting chapels/ i a , many of them have b een b u ilt expre ssly t° " j . men from Dissent, or t o k ee p th em f r om bee° ol t Mg Dissenters. Hence all th e mere tricious arh:, a of public worship are e m pl o y e d t o a ttract co st: mers." Popular preachers —y oung men `vi t l o t certain sort of persuasiveness —are selected i W e re care is taken about the sin g i ng , goo d organs e n d built, and the greatest c are i s t a k en to rival a- f supersede th:. Dissenting shop. The clergy'll' eli de , the different sects are like rivals ill tra d is seeking to carry off each other's customers; a ll j o it fair or honest in the State or the law to step to and levy a tax on one Sect to e n able anothersay have finer wares or sell them cheaper ? We is that the tital change which has taken Pla ce the religion of the people since the common ' re , was established for keeping churches in pair, makes it wholly inapplicable to the Pre seot times. • t he For seats in the churches, as well as seats in The Dissenters' chapels, a pew-rent is asked. pis , Churchmen have adopted the plan of th e re lt centers. Even the pe ws o f th e par i s h elni" ir are hired. The Di ssen t ers h ave to repair t,..leto own places of worship, b u t th e l aw , acccord'yqbe the Judges, will also make them repair gr. places of worship belonging to their rivals. 05 THOMPSON goes to a Meeting-house and P l ir. 2,55. or 30s. a-year for seats for his family' t° of JOHNSON, his next door nei g hb o ur, V e5 .,..„, r of Church, and pays the same f or an equ al notnu - go. seats. Mr. THOMPSON pays in addition 55 . or a-year to the building fund of the ChaPe, but " tr y Mr. JOHNSON, instead of that, goes to ve s o d. And votes to levy 2s. 6d. on himself and '2s. air on his neighbour, Mr. T HOMPSON , to re p to his Church. Poor Mr. THOMPSON then h as h n lIC'" pay for his own Chapel, at l eas t twice as -l r aet as his neighbour, and must also pay, by th e , le sli• of that neighbour, half as muc h again. ' oa and blood, at least English fle s h and blood , e ves not bear this arrogant robbery ; yet the J °( ;,os say it is according to law, because a la w , s ts, made on the subject by some Catholic p il e they do not know when, nor by whom. tioa To us, it appears, that as soon as tolerate 5 40 00 ti . grew. to he the custom of England, as --. j o ttS the various sects could freely offer their relig gil d instruction to the judgment of the peoP ie r ,' a at the lawgiver ceased to require all men toa tte i li pal one Church, from that moment the old Cos, common law became inconsistent with th e da es toms and the institutions of society. Tile, j r u o bes, compare the obligation to repair eo n 90 a to the obligation to repair highwaYs t i l e bridges ; but the latter are f°r ches use of the whole public, the e htir fy loh ire for a particular and rival sect. The 3 ' pa' would be complete if the law compelled the lari d eishioners to keep the landlord' s parkin Ord cultivate the priest's garden. Such all i n i - , - de' would not be submitted to, but the Judge' the dare that an analogous i n j us ti ce is the law ° J i t ted !and. Do they expe c t th a t it w ill be stiblihorae to? The Dissenters, or we mistake the ir e ,. pre' ter, will undecei ve th em , an d con vince bo th //at testant Judges and Protestant Members o f too ts. iiament who combine to fasten on the Plv te re ? of the community this Popish yoke, tha t rtV ligion is not to be made a sport of to s uit ) 11 • and political purposes. of tile An account is given, in another part Puy paper, of the harsh treatment to which Po' - ‘ l , no ir ire subjected by the new mode of licensinv o ' - t . t he lie-houses adopted since the establishm ent , tu ol‘ Metropolitan Police. The scenes whi e l .s. are place at the Clerkenwell Sessions on Satti rtia '' 4E; ell i only a repetition of those which have be , ‘r _ re aessed on every licensing day in this quar t t ' i d a ble presenting alike the severe and ullin s _ ns ible conduct of the Magistrates, the irresr tie nt the P a ha ve authority given to the police, and y ho . sufferings of the licensed victuallers, l' t oe functionaries for the smallest relief front ' 1 .,. to trust to the tender mercies of these P be ir galling bondage. We have had ocea- r .„,,hich peatedly to notice the despotic characte_ t o hit el a this new force has assumed within years, and regret to see that, thoug . , been day ha% L u day on the increase, scarcely any step ~._. a b a te taken, even by those most interested, I : nt i r ely the grievance. The publicans now are eo rors/ At the mercy of a set of persons called i115 . P,. 0 t he who report to the Commissioners and L . _., e r, think Pwr , 1 .county Magistrates whatever they t ~11) Y P °s- a the has cry' indulging . their - own private piques' l of rere avenging what they may consider in.sur.a, votg , to them in the course of their inouislt_oe'_lionge and altogether exercising a system of . .s.P, hic at v resPee ts of this military police. In ma n, e Guards, unknown in this country before the estabu si ` the y imitate their prototypes at the Hors .1. war t : book, has as little chance of a whe n A 11 th H us sars , 0r ,.. play as the officers of the to D and any publican who is en.rollieideailliutgltoerl of o i l; to report them - s t i l l t pleases Lord CARDIGAN Of t ill Ct 1 1 j iot " publicans may rest assure d, or "" flnt. or Lord FITZROY Journal, e then/ in self-defence, all that any a He ar W e have ~,e a from this degrading bondage. , have '''' . `ice the) eon accounts of treatment to w . mo ul d be 1 , , subjected on licensing days, wh.w. Their . i SE/R;7l.ey will ii rile Journals together, can do, will not reset' ended for the n ' ceases are susP sidered disgraceful even m R ie r t a r i• v i a t WS- .b.....: kto