The Sun. — London, England, 1841-05-27 00:00:00

EVENING .EDITION CORN LAWS AND COMMERCIAL REFORM. GREAT ANTI-C RN-LAW MEETING AT THE AMPHITHEATRE, LIVERPOOL. (From the Liverpool Times.) One of the most numerous and enthusiastic meetings of the electors of Liverpool ever assembled, was held on Monday, at the- Amphitheatre, in Great Char itrfte-street, which is the largest building in this town, to receive and communicate with a deputation of gentlemen from lianahester, Ashton, and Rochdale, and other places in the manufacturing districts, on the subject of free trade in corn, sugar, and all the necessaries of life. The at tendance exceeded all expectations, and not only was the immense building in which the meeting was held crowded to the roof, but vast numbers were unable to obtain ad mittance. We noticed the following gentlemen amongst others *ear the speakers t—Sir Joshua Walmsley, Colonel Wil liams, Charles Tayleure, William Rathbone, Thomas Blackburn, Christopher and James Rawdon, R. Shell, J. D. Thornley, Samuel Stitt, Charles Robertson, Walter ll . Grap • or, J. Woolright, John Priestly, Lawrence Hey worth,Samuel Thornely, Wm. Earle, John Rosson, John Taylor, Samuel Blackburn, T. Blackburn, jun., R. W. Ronald, Edgar Fletcher, John T. Crook, Henry Barnes, Thomas 'Urquhart, IL Tayleur, Thomas Taylor, Esq., James P. Budd, W. Thornhill, James Mulleneux, John Finch, Edward Finch, Charles Wilkins, barrister, W. M`Khee, Richard Johnson, W. Slater, Thomas Wylie. Robert Johnson, jun., James Harvey, jun., W. Wood, Esq., IL C. Langton, A. C. Jeffrey, J. H. Greene, George Maxwell, D. M`Viccar, David Paton, Augustus Radcliffe Alderman Freme, Hardman Earle, J. Leices ter, J. Rosson, T. B. Barker, W. Bland, Edward James, barrister, &c. Sir JOSHUA WALMSLEY stepped forward and was re ceived with loud cheers. He said they had deputed him to take the chair that evening, and he accepted the office with pleasure. He understood that a placard had that di appeared on their walls, setting forth that a number ofgelitlemen had come from Manchester—men he believed they-were called, and men they were, and noble-men—had come here in a spirit of dictation. He believed it was unnecessary to deny the assertion. They came not in a spirit of dictation, but as men of all parties, Whig, Tory, laid Radical, to communicate with their fellows in a neighbouring town on their grievances. They came not before them as manufacturers, or agriculturists, or mer chants,- but as men. They came to show the people of Liverpool, if they could, that the Corn-laws were unjust and iniquitous. He (the Chairman) should take care to let every one have an impartial hearing. Mr. Asnwownt was received with loud cheers. He and his friends came not here with any degree of dicta tion, for they despised that word. Far be it from them to use al y such thing as dictation to their sister town. They had come for the purpose of discussing the subject of the grievances by which they were oppressed—of lay ing before the meeting their sorrows and distresses. For some years past the working and industrious classes of Lancashire had been suffering in every way. Pro vision s had been dear, work scarce, and wages low. The manufacturing interest had never been fairly re presented in the House of Commons. For years past monopoly had opposed it. The West India interest was an important monopoly, and the East India interest was an important monopoly, but the agricultural monopoly was the greatest of all. He would speak of the mono poly as regarded sugar. Why should that interest claim any preference ? Merely because they had retained it for years. They discussed not the right or the wrong of the matter, but they had the monopoly, and they re fused to give it up.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") The people had given twenty millions for the manumis sion of the slaves in till West Indies, and having done that, tte proprietors should be told that free labour ought now to support itself on- its own merits, and without protection. This nation was protected to death. What was the protection of Jamaica ? The sugar ob tained from the Brazils paid a duty of more than twice as much as that from Jamaica. The sugar of Brazil was excluded, and therefore so long as the West Indies did not supply sufficient for our consumption, we had to pay a monopoly price for it. Sugar purchased in Jamaica paid only 3d. per pound duty, while that bought at zil paid • 7d. The English people paid annually 3,A00,000/. to the proprietors of the soil of Jamaica on. account of this monopoly. This preference of 4d. •per lb. to the West Indies pressed more heavily than would be imagined on private families. He had calcu lated, the cost in hiS own family, and found that it amounted to 101. Bs. a year. That sum he had to pay on aceount of the monopoly of the West India proprie tors. Every labourer that used only one pound of sugar a week paid directly to those men, who were previously stave-owners, and whose only claim on us for this pre ference was, that they had manumitted their slaves for 25/. each. These men, however, had now turned huma nity-mongers ; they had endeavoured to cajole the people by appealing to their humanity on behalf of those saves, and under this plea they wanted to continue the tax of 4d. per lb. on sugar, for their own especial bene fit, and not, be it remembered, for the advantage in the slightest degree of the negroes.—(Hear, hear.) Then, at . 3 to the monster monopoly, the Corn-law. What right, ho would ask, had the landowners to their mono poly ? During a war of 25 years, all kinds of agricultu- ' re produce rose to an unnatural height, to the great llehefit of the landowners, but to the great prejudice of trade ; for it was trade, and not land, that paid the cost of war. The Landowners, however, having had ,high -prices for a long time, took those as the rule, and not as the exception. But what said those gentlemen in their own • Cavour ? They declared that they bore a share of the national burdens. But what share of the national taxation did they pay ? The assessed taxes amounted to 4,000,0001. a year, and what propor tion of them did the agriculturists pay ? They were ex empted from the payment of duty on their servants, their windowg, their horses, dogs, sales by auction, insurances, ezz!. ; almost everything belonging to them was ex emoted, so that they had to pay scarcely anything. He had in his pocket a letter from a farmer, who rented three hundred acres, and who stated that his assessed taxes did not amount to 5/, a year.—(Hear, hear, hear.) Vilna; shopkeepeF, paying a rent of 1001. a year, did not ;;ay in aSsessed taxes three times 5L a year ? Did their exemptions, then, give the landholders of this kingdom a right to lay a tax of fonrpence in the shilling on every loaf of bread consumed in the country ?--(No, no.) That tax was called in 'round numbers 50,000,000/. a year. ' whale of this, however, did not go to the aristocracy. The people of England had been caged up within the limited extent of their soil, and the consequence was that very inferior soil had been broUght into cultivation. A farmer in his neighbourhood had told him, that for years past he had not had in his house a single ounce of sound flour of his own growiag.—(Hear, hear.) The people had been screwed down to starvation point. until trade had been nearly ruined, and now, forsooth, a relaiation of our bonds was talked of. Yes, both sides of the House of Commons -now talked, forsooth, of re laxing our bonds. Now, he said that the same effort that —.— would secure a reduction of the duty on corn to Bs. a quarter, would give the people the full measure of liberty. —(Much cheering.) The same energy that carried the Re form Bill would be called into existence to carry this question.—(Renewed applause.) He besought of them, ilerefore, not to be deluded from the honest justice of the ctr,e by false sophistry. Let them have no sliding scale--no Bs. fixed duty—but the full measure of justice due to the country.—(Great applause.) What was the state of the manufacturers at the present time ? During the last fortnight there had been failures in Glasgow to the extent of 300,0001. Within the last week there had been failures in Manchester, the extent of which none yet knew, and there were fearful apprehensions as to what to-morrow would produce.— (Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") The speaker concluded by emphatically observing, " Our case is your ease ; your case is our case ; we will endeavour, to the utmost, to obtain justice for you, and we beg that you will exert yourselves to obtain Justice for us."—(Much cheering.) JOHN BROOKS. Esq., of Manchester, was received with loud applause. Ile came forward not as a politician at all. Lord Stanley had told them that politics was a t.h inible-rig. They had it, therefore, from good authority— from one who had been in the trick himself. —(Laughter applause.) After reading, Sir R. Peel's speech the other he said to his friend Mr. Alderman Cobden, " What l o b -, we to do about this infernal machine (he always (!niled. them the infernal machine), the Corn-laws ?" Mr. Cobden replied that he supposed they were to have a ,iding scale again. He supposed the scale would be a • little less than the former one, and that they would kill from 10 to 15 per cent. fewer by it than by the old one. it did kill the people ; it ground them to death, an d t h at . e. as far worse than killing them.—(Hear, hear, h ear , an d cheers.) The new sliding scale would be of no use to anybody except the speculator in corn, and it would stop the trade as the present scale did. — (t ear,hear.) He had been a shipper for twenty-five years, and had, never yet brought corn home. He had brought every descrip tion of articles home ; things that neither he nor any body else could use ; but had never brought corn. What was the reason '? The sliding scale would not allow thein to send forcorn, excepting to short distances. If they got Sir R. Peel's sliding scale, the Bank of Eng- • land would be 'moved every three months, instead of every six months, as at present. It would stop the trade, and make-the sovereigns go out of the country, instead of sending out goods. As a proof of the misery which he said at present prevailed in Manchester, Mr. Brooks • read an extract from a statistical account dravvii:',lj? in April last, of the state of the poor of - Aancliehter. In the first district,' there were two thou sand - families of 8,866 persons, who only earned front id. to 21d. each per day, and in another, 2,000 families of 8,136 persons ; they were only getting about Is. 6-41. each per week, or about 6s. 6p. per family. But the . ) , did not seem to beaware in London that they ere so badly off. Sir Robert Peel, even, did not know they were so b a dly o ff : for he said they would flourish again by and by. Whilst the . grass grew, the horse starved ; and how many poor people had starved for want within the last year, he wondered. It appeared to him that Sir Robert Peel had no idea of the total or im mediate repeal of the Corn -laws. He, perhaps, thought i t w as madness to talk about it ; and so they did last year, but they got the wedge in, and cracked. them.— (Laughter and cheers.) They had come down to Bs. irithout inquiry, but what would th ey come to when they bad inquired ? They talked much of protecting the landed interest but if protection was to be had at all, they ought to begin at the right end. Let them have the poor protected first.—(Tremendous applause.) Talk of protection ! A gentleman of the name of Todd, from Alexandria, lately brought thirty-five cargoes of Loans from that place ; they cost 10s. 6d. per quarter in the country, and 10s. 6d. for carriage. When he brought them here he had I Is. duty to pay upon them. Was it not ,enough, then, to have 100 per cent. protection ? Plenty of gntlernen then p resent did t h e i r b us i ness f or one per cent. rotection. But he would tell them one of the effects of free trade. The Chartists at Manchester would not be- e e tweerghimmwadh.en He totokildlite it the other day ; they asked if tlity off cor nt ,th ey Could rn that if they could get the M'onte 'gide°, where he hfl;tdet beef a t lid. per lb. At swo years, at one tithe they e traded for te last thirty illed to bring the hides, the TILE SUN. LONDON, THURSD A Y, MAY 27, 1811 down at Sunderland. Shortly after, the sliding scale slided the other way ;it went up, and trade in cotton and everything else was injured. Vessels might now go to America or to Egypt for cotton, but their owners, in stead of getting, as before, lid. or lid. per lb. freight, were glad to get id. And what was the effect of this on the shipbuilder and the carpenter ? When the thousands of ships which had been built, in consequence of the sudden rise of freights in 1838 and 1839 came into the market, there was a stagnation of trade. The corn carrying trade had ceased, and the vessels might now go about to the four quarters of the world seeking for freights, and be unable to find them. It was asserted that the manufacturers wished for a repeal of the Corn-laws, in order to enable them to com pete with foreign manufacturers. He should say that they wanted a repeal of the Corn-laws, in order that they might enjoy the right—for it was a right—of ex changing their fabrics for the corn and food of other countries. He cared not for foreign competition.— (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Give the English manufac turers the wide world for a market ; do not confine them to one limited spot of the great earth, and they would not complain ; they would not speak of foreign rivals, for the good God of all had given enough for all. — (Much applause.) He concluded by 'seriously and earnestly exhorting the electors to ponder the subject well, and said that on their decision depended the com fort or the misery, the health or the disease, the life or the death of millions of their fellow countrymen. — (Enthusiastic and prolonged cheering.) Mr. HARDY stepped to the front of the stage and said, as an elector of Liverpool he claimed the liberty of saying a few words. Some little disapprobation was heard amongst the assembly, and cries of " Name, name," were general Mr. Hardy said a few words which did not reach the reporters' table. The CHAIRMAN—Mr. Hardy, the gentleman who wishes to address you, says he goes further than the speakers who have already addressed this assembly. I really do not know how far he goes, for the gentlemen who have spoken go for a total repeal of the Corn-laws. —(Hear, hear, and laughter.) I am of opinion that it will not be in order to allow Mr. Hardy, who is not a member of the deputation, to speak on the same side. It will be, therefore, my duty to request him to sit down. A Mr. Dix, who is, we understand a journeyman tailor, here advanced to the front of the stage. Mr. Hardy still stood on the opposite, or what is technically called the O.P. side, Mr. Dix being on the prompter's side, and both claimed to be heard. At length Mr. Hardy sat down, when the assembly turned their disapprobation entirely against Mr. Dix. The CHAIRMAN said the gentlemen from Manchester had come at a great expense to Liverpool ; they had stated their opinions fully, fearlessly, and truly ; and they invited discussion.—(A voice from Mr. Hardy's friends, " You refuse it.") They invite full discussion from any who wish to oppose them by argument. He would merely ask that when Mr. Dix had spoken Mr. Cobden should be allowed to reply. Mr. Dix said, Mr. Cobden would not take it amiss if he asked him at the outset one simple question, and re quired an answer. Would he inform them what was the exact rental paid by the tenant to the landlord for one quarter of corn ? Oh, oh, that's the old thing." Mr. CODDEN—I do not profess to answer that question, but if I did, it would not answer any purpose for that gentleman. It is of no consequence to that which I advo cate. I ask but for justice.—(Cheers.) The CHAIRMAN said Mr. Dix was the only man who had come forward boldly directly to oppose them. He was satisfied that he (Mr. Dix) would be answered both to his own satisfaction and that of the meeting. Mr. Dix proceeded. He had a right to put that ques tion, because it was only proper that they should know the amount of which they were plundered. Mr. Cobden had not thought proper to answer, because it would have shown upon what sort of foundation his arguments were based. The average price of land in this country was three guineas an acre, and each acre would produce about six quarters of corn. The rental was about IS. 6d. per bushel, which, if reduced one-half, would be only ninepence, of which the consumer would be benefited merely fourpence-halfpenny. They had been told to believe that the landed interest had a protection, while trade had none. He could show them by docu mentary evidence that trade was protected to the amount of 42 per cent., while land was protected only 22i per cent.—(Oh, oh, and laughter.) The real evil was that they had no protection against machinery. The protec tion on land was far less than the protection to trade. It was the duty of the State to give protection to each interest in proportion to the amount of its taxation. How did Mr. Cobden reply to this assertion ? Nay, he said he granted it.—(" No. no," from Mr. Cobden, and some confusion.) Had, then, the Government a right to tax us, and then to allow other countries that were untaxed to come in and undersell us ?—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) He had asked Mr. Cobden how the principles of free trade, as applied to silk, had operated. He had shown that they had not operated well, and Mr. Cobden was unable to deny it.—(No, no, that is wrong.) He then asked him if the people in that trade received the same amount as before Mr. Huskisson's interference. How did he reply ? He could not deny the fact that they received considerably less wages.—(lnterruption.) How did he reply ? He said simply that the Tories had done it.—(" So they have," and imerruption.) That was no argument. Mr. Cobden said—" Give us free trade, a fair field, and no favour." He asked him now if he could produce as cheap as foreigners, and why we could not now keep the foreigners out of our markets.—(Cries of " Because we have dear bread," " We want bread as cheap as they have it," " The answer is easy," followed by loud cheers.) If that were the case, how could we keep the foreigners out of our markets unless we worked at the same rate of wages ?—(" Try us," and interruption.) If cheap bread would lowa wages, how would we be better able to corn ptte with the foreigner ? Would it make any difference ? --(Considerable confusion hero arose, which compelled the Chairman to make another appeal to the assembly to hear Mr. Dix patiently for ten minutes more. A person who appeared to be creating great disturbance was Ordered out by the Chairman.) Mr. Dix said, if the Anti-Corn-law League would furnish any man of sufficient ability, he was prepared to meet him to discuss this question, where he should not be put down by brute force. Mr. Dix here resumed his seat. Mr. COBDEN asked the meeting to hear him patiently, and without interruption, for ten minuted, Mr. Dix proceeded► tie asked them if they were not able to make any alteration in the money price of wages, how they would be better able to compete with the foreigner ? He asked them if they would compare a copy of the evidence on the Import Duties with the ab stract of the Anti-Corn-law League, and they would find that the League had holstered up their report by 'natty important omissions. If any one could furnish him with an abstract of the League and a copy of the evidence he would show them.' [Mr. Dix produced the abstract.] Ile looked at the evidence of Mr. Walker, of hampton who said the difference must collie Old of' the wages oilabour, for they- had the raw Material as cheap as in any part of the world. This was altogether sup pressed in the abstract, and its place filled up with other matter.—(" No, no," and interruption.) A passage in the evidence of Mr. Hume eprearetio.--(Cries of " Ex plain the other first") II referred them to the Re port. If they would compare them at home they would find it sth Mr. Dix next read a paper in the abstract which he said was attributed to Mr. Herne, while there was no such passage in the evidence Of Mr. flume. Any gentleman who doubted his word might read the pas sage in the abstract when he got home. - A copy of the evidence was here thrown over to Mr. fix, and Mr. Cobden requested him to substantiate his assertions. Mr. Dix offered to show that there was matter in the report of the evidence which did not ap pear in the ebstrett, To this it was replied that the ab stract waa, from its very nature, an abridgment. Much entiksion ensued, and it appeared ultimately that Mr. Dix was unable to make good his assertion respecting the introduced matter into the abstract. He at length sat down, without making any further observation. Mr. COttlitN replied—As the Americans were wont tad say, he thought Mr. Dix was in afix,--(Lattghter.) He had told them that the average price Of land was three guineas an acre,. and that Mit% had a rental of is. 6d. per bushel, which ) if reduced to one half; would be 9d., so that the labourer would only gain 41d. In fact, he wished to shoWliA, what the landlords had laboured very hard to show, that the benefit would be a mere trifle. Why did they not give it up then ?—(Protracted cheers.) It appeared the manufacturers had a great deal of protection,and knew nothing at all about it all this dine. It seemed that they were protected 42 per cent., while the landed interest was protected only 221 per cent. Such being the case, was it not strange, when the manufacturers asked them to give up their trifling protection, and offered in return to give up their large one, that they should call them revolu tionists?—(Loud and continued cheers.) It had been said that if this demand were not conceded, there would be a revolution. He had heard many sensible people scy so. Was it not strange that the landlords should risk revolution for this question, when Mr. Dix could prove that there was no benefit in it?—(Ohl he's well paid for it.) Somebody said Mr. Dix was well paid, He (Mr. Cobden) hoped not, for if he were he got greatly too high a price for his commodity.—(Laughter and cheers.) They came to talk of the painful bread. tat, and Mr. Dix proposed to mend the matter by tax ing machinery also.—(Laughter--" Tax his goose l —Re , newed laughter.) . It seemed he was not content with dear bread, but he wished us to have dear clothes too,—e (Laughter.) Suppose Mr. Dix went with his week's wages in his pocket, and purchased a barrel of flour for 225. It would be his by purchase ; but he could not eat it till he had paid fourteen shillings for taxes, which Mr. Dix said ought to be paid by the foreigner, for the protection of the home grower. Now comes the great trump card, " What do yon want foreign corn for, except to reduce wages ?" They were one eyed people who talked in this way. They wanted to have a repeal of the Corn-laws, in order that they might exchange productions. If they had a free ingress for the productions of other nations, there were 250 millions of people all over the world wanting to trade with us ; to wear our clothes, and to give us corn for them. We country. 0 : 1 le a ir v rte e .r r y r could not trade with them at present. The question, however, stood on the ground of inherent justice, and lis.ved.oniotuthAroaTitthaundeti3hroedNwyicad:yandoowtfa right to the trade in corn. cheers, moved the first res h o gro l sat down amid loud cheers.] benefitingresolution, oasne owuhgithch which received pEemtopl..e with o f b this den loud was seconded TAYLOR, by Mr. ROSSON. eT xh M o r r . te L d Avir th ß e EN m " ee l t l in E g irw°R"' proposed the secondutbt preparedhe course resolution,to of the t support r pn , eoxr Taylor tt dtah ye question at the hustings.th seconded by Mr. JOHN he said a Sir Joshua ge N n V tri a e l cheers were m m a si n o . y w ,l l i t s l; ;lfea b iesf n to a yr m i s e d ir , in jos co h n u j a un w cti n j o m n a w ki 7 : Threeand three cheers for her gi candidate, The ;meeting separated. rated at half.past eleven o'clock. horns, and the fat of cattle away, and leave the carcase to rot ; but now beef was sold there for Id. per lb., and some of it was sent to Cuba and the Brazils, and he was quite sure the people of England could eat it. It might be, from the great demand that would ensue, raised to about aid. per lb.; but they could not grumble at that, for if the Corn-laws were repealed, they would have more money to buy beef with.—(Applause.) With re gard to the sugar monopoly, Mr. Gladstone had told them the reduction would only be Is. 6d. per cwt., and that was not worth dividing ; but in October last the price of sugar was 9d. per lb., and when the question was agitated in Parliament it forced the sugar down to 7d. At that time (October) there was a difference of 3s. per cwt. ; but Mr. Gladstone had only calculated from the time the sugar was forced down. When monopoly was done away with they would have sugar down to sd. per lb. The consumption of sugar was only three-fourths of an ounce per head in the United Kingdom. He thought he got more than his share, for he was very fond of sugar, and, therefore, some .of them must go without. He said they had thrown politics overboard,, for they found they had only about 50 representatives out of the 658 for the manufacturing interest ; and, therefore, they must exert themselves to get the Corn laws repealed.—(Applause.) Mr. GanstErr, of Clitheroe, sag he had for a great many years been a spinner and manufacturer, and there fore had had some experience in the trade ; but during the whole course of that time he had never known the trade to be in so paralysed and distressed a state. lie believed sincerely that the misery which the Corn-laws inflicted in this country was to a fax greater amount than many people were aware. Mr. COBDEN, of Manchester, was introduced amidst the most vehement applause. He' said it had been his lot to address a great number of meetings on this subject, yet never before such an assemblage, such a multitudinous assemblage as he then saw around him. They came there to protest, in the name of justice, against the most iniquitous law that ever was enacted in the world's history—a law purposely designed to starve annually thousands and tens of thousands of the poor people of this country—a law which was intended to in flict the perpetual curse of scarcity on the land— (Shame)—a law which could have no other result than the producing of a perpetual scarcity. It was a law so gigantic in its iniquity that it had the design of imprisoning a nation on a spot of earth not capable of feeding them, and which was designed to keep the country wretched—(Applause)—a law which violated the most obvious principle of nature. He quoted for them the Word of God, in condemnation of the Corn-laws. In the first chap ter of Genesis, at the 29th verse, in the very first injunction delivered by the Creator to our first parents, he found it said, "I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree on which is thefruit ; every treeyielding seed; to youit shall be for your meat." Every herb bearing seed which is on the face of the earth ! That was the splendid patrimony given to our first pa rents at the hands of God himself—and what had they done to fulfil that mighty gift?—(Applause.) There is nothing said in Scripture about the Duke of Buckingham's estate.—(Hisses.) He found nothing said there which would inculcate or sanction a statute which denies the people of this country being fed on the corn which is grown on the face of all the earth. No. That law is re served for the law-makers of this country, and he had no hesitation in saying that the Corn-laws were opposed to the most obvious disseminations of divine truth. But the law of nature, which has given to various climes and vari ous soils different capacities, in order that the interchange of one with another might beget kindly feeling, perpetual peace and amity with each other, had been violated in the article of food, whilst the law-makers had taken advan tage of it in everything which was to their own interest. He found no sliding scale to preclude the importation of their port or sherry, their silks or their mahogany. No • go down to their own quays, and see ships arrive freighted with every luxury that could minister to the excesses of the rich ; but they would see a sliding scale step in prevent the poor man from receiving his food. If they had patience with him he would read a statement made by Mr. Hearne, a Catholic priest, at a tea-party lately held in Manchester, a man who rarely went to public meet ings. Mr. Cobden here read Mr. Hearne's speech, which went to prove the great distress which prevails in Manchester, and attributed one half of the deaths among the poorer classes to starvation. A note had just been put into his hand which seemed to urge that they, in Liverpool, were not all lying on a bed of roses. The note seemed to point out a rather darker state of things than he had' vainly hoped existed. He was told there were something like thirteen thousand families claiming parish relief in this town. Could it be possible then, that the people of this town were aware that they were paying fourpence out of every shilling they spent as a tax for the landowner? Was it possible that the electors of that borough were aware of it, and still sent men to the House of Commons to uphold that monopoly ? There was, at the present time, a most sympathizing expression, by certain of the bread-taxing gentlemen, for the paupers, forsooth ! Oh, nobody was so great a friend of the pauper as the bread-taxer.—(Laughter and cheers.) But a man must become a pauper before he could obtain the sympathy of the bread-taxer.--(Great cheering.) Who ever heard from him (the bread-taxer) a cry of sympathy for the hardy, industrious, honest, struggling working man, who was determined, in spite of all obstacles, in de fiance of all aristocratic oppression, to maintain his fa mily in independence, without recourse to parish relief ? —(Bear, hear.) No one; there was not a spark of sym pathy in the minds of the noble bread-taxer for honest and independent working-men. Oh, no ! Ile would give encouragement to the paupers; h e wou ld ma k e paupers first, and then tax honest, hard-working men to keep them. Such was the sympathy of the bread taxer with the people of England. Let the paupers, and let every man in England possess the right, the inalien able right of exchanging the fruits of his industry for the fruits of the soil throughout the whole earth, and then the union workhouses might be left to stand empty and tenantless, as a nionument of the faulty legislation of past times.—(Three distinct rounds of most animated applause.) Although while the tide ran high he never had joined in the attempts thus to gain the favour of the poor, he had no hesitation in telling the audience that he looked on the imposition of the new Poor-law, whilst the Corn-law was in existence, as an aggrava tion of the injuries inflicted upon the people.— (Cheers.) -It had imposed fresh restraints, heavier tests, severe ordeals on the men who had been made pau pers by that law which the landlords had enacted for their own benefit. The new Poor-law was passed be cause, under the operation of the old law, the landlords saw that their estates were becoming valueless in their hands. He knew, as an inhabitant of the south of Eng land, that previous to the passing of this law, when a man came to take a farm in Hampshire or Sussex, th e i nqu i ry was not " what is the re n t ? ' but " what are the Poor rates ?" In one parish, that of Cholesbury, the poor had actually got possession of the whole of the lands of the parish. The owners refused to have anything to do with it. The fields were lying waste, the gates were pulled down, the hedges were broken and decaying ; even the minister of the gospel deserted the village, after having vainly endeavoured, by means of alms collected in the neighbouring parishes, to keep the poor. The scene, however, was after a time changed. Under the advice and assistance of a society sitting in London, the agricultural population set to work to till the lands of the parish themselves, and for themselves, and in the course of two years and a half tlee poor men, who had previously been hopeless paupers, became poasested of cows, and pigs, and horses. A man, with three acres of land cultivated by his own spade, was enabled to maintain his family i n com f ort , an d to send his children to school.—(Cheers.) Ho should now leave the subject of the Poor-laws, but he should wish to impress Upon their attention the grand argument used by the bread taxers : " Oh, if you repeal the Corn-laws, you will bring in great quantities of foreign corn, and what, th en, w i ll become of your labourers ?Re would answer this by asking what became of the labourers in Cholesburr ? (Great cheering.) What, indeed, could deprive la bourers of their subsistence unless they were deprived of their land ? How did they subsist now ? They sub sisted on the land, and paid a rent upon it in addition, at least their employers paid a rent. A little time ago one of the lecturers of the Anti-Corn-law League was urging this argument to a crowd of the peasantry assembled around him, when a farmer came up Out of the midst of them, and said, " What would you do with these men if you throw our lands out of cultivation ?" The lecturer was not necessitated to answer the question, for the pea sants shouted out, " Oh, never mind, we will cultivate them ourselves."—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) The other day, one of the Anti-Corn-law lecturers, who was tra velling in Dorsetshire, hired it peasant whom he met, to m w thavehim. ainioop(tpohertulencittory eorf)enhtaderinbgeonintoaddeorensyseirnsgattiohne carry his carpet -b ag for five miles, in order that he people in a neighbouring town. He said to the man, " You hav e some Anti-Corn-law, lecturers here, sent among you from th e manufacturers of Manchester ; do you know what those manufacturers are going to do ? I will tell you. They are going t and then there will be so mucothhrfeoPereaignl telioernCiomrnp-olratweds, that all your lands will be the speaker with a tion." The man looked up to the out of cultiva tion." knowing cock of his eye, and " They beant going to carry away the land, be theysai Great laugh read -tax under ter, followed by enthusiastic a - 1 say that the man who voted for the asl i not prac ) He should the present circumstances of this countryScriflteures*would would en on tically a believer in the Holy claim their r as el t ii not descend from this ground, their higher feelings • he would sympathies, and demand from them as a duty that religious should vote for a repeal of this iniquitous law. Pro perty in manufactures and mills had been depreciated within the last three years fifty pef'cent. in value. How long would this state of thi ngs last There w as one class in Liverpool which hiul not hitherto suffered amidst the general distress. The merchants had suffered. Those, for instance, who sent out goods to A mer i c a , and brought back cotton, which was sold at a loss of 1/. per bale, had suffered. Importers of allkinds of goods had suffered; but still there was a numerous body in this town, the brokers, who had 'not yet suffered to any great extent, because all goods, whether outward or inward bound, must pay toll to their exchequer, whether sold to a profit or not. But he would ask, how long would this state of things continue ? how long would the brokers be prosperous, if the trade of the principals continued to be carried on to a loss ?—(Hear.) He believed that there was another class of industrious men beginning to find out that all was not right. He alluded to the ship owners, ship-builders, and carpenters, who, he was in formed, were not so prosperous as they had been.— (Hear, hear.) Yes, and he must tell them that unlesi the cause of this progressing mischief was removed, the same distress which was pressing so heavily upon other classes must reach, and speedily reach, the ship-builders and carpenters. In 1838 and 1839, when there was im portation.of foreign corn, all unemployed vessels were take n 4nd-despatched to the four quarters of the world in search of grain. Ships became scarce, freights for tea, sugar,' coffee, and cotton rose ; and then the ship- OwnerS, who did not perceive the cause of this sudden • expansion -of trade, laid down fresh keels.—(Hear, hear.) • The Duchess of Kent visited the Du c he ss of As many as seven hundred or -eight - hundred were laid- yesterday, at Cambridge ling% IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF COMMONS, May 26. There being only 21 Members present at Four o'Clock, the House adjourned till to -morrow. LITERATURE. THE WYE, AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS Longman, London, 1841. The picturesque beauties of the river Wye are but a stale subject for description, having already employed the pens of several scores of small tourists; Mr. Ritchie, however—despite the hacknied nature of his theme—has contrived to manufacture a very readable volume, possessing much vivacity of description, and illustrated with several cleverish embellishments. His sketches of Tintern Abbey, and of Piercefield—oae of the principal lions of South Wales—are quite as good as anything that has yet been written on the sub ject; and he furnishes us with some interesting particulars respecting John Kyrle, from whom Pope drew his celebrated character of the " Man of Ross." The work is a sort of Picturesque An nual, and is neither better nor worse than the generality of such ephemera. MATINS AND VESPERS. Green, London, 1841. In this volume we have a collection of Hymns and "occasional devotional pieces," from the pen of Doctor Bowring, whose "Dutch Anthology " —as may be surmised from its title—was a very airy and mercurial production. We consider the work before us to be by many degrees the best that the Doctor has yet penned ; and the poesy —though in places it reminds us somewhat of Sternhold and Hopkins—is, generally speaking, chaste and spirited in its character. The hymn, in particular, entitled " Friday Morning " is a charming canticle, and might be sung with great effect to the tune of the Hundredth Psalm. TOPOGRAPHICAL AISTORY OF SURREY. Part B.—Ede, Dorking, 1841. The present Part of this usetul and unpretend ing publication contains three cleverly executed engravings, and much curious information re specting the Abbot's Hospital at Guildford. IMPORT DUTIES, 4.c. By Thomas Smith. William Hoperaft, London.. One of the objects of this pamphlet is to supply the deficiency in the Appendix to the Report of the Select Committee on Import Duties, by quoting the prices, and estimating the rates per cent. which the duty bears to the cost of the ar ticle. The table in which the rate per, cent. on each article is given is an important document, and is entitled "A copy of a Return to an order of the House of Commons, for the Select Com mittee, completed with the price of the articles in bond on the average of 1839, and the rate per cent. which the Customs' duty bears on the first cost, or bonded price of each article." This table gives the quantity of each article imported, ex ported, and left for home consumption, with the rate of duty, the price in bond, the rate per cent. which the duty bears to the cost, and the yearly nett receipt ; for instance, the quan tity of coffee imported from British Plantations is 22,506,3041b5. at a duty of ls. ld. per lb. and at the rate of 46i per cent., producing a nett re ceipt of 564,1761.; Foreign Spirits, 3,408,529 gal lons, at 642 per cent.; Rum, 4,643,811 gallons, at 200 per cwt.; Sugar (British plantation) 4,555,560 cwt. at 64 per cent., while that on foreign amounts to a prohibition. Tea, 40,413,7141b5. at 104 per cwt., and tobacco 30,135,7581b5. at 436 per cwt., giving with each the nett receipts. Another object of the writer is to impress on the Government, when they revise the duties, the importance of pre serving the system of fixed duties, both as a convenience to the Government officers and the merchants or dealers. On this point he gives a good authority, who urges reasons that are quite unanswerable. He says— In reference to the objections to ad valorem duties and to show the advantage of fixed duties, we adduce the opinion of John Travers, Esq., and we know of no one of higher standiag as a trader of the City of London ; from a letter, in which be successfully combated the Ministers on this matter, we take the following ex tract :—" Of an ad valorem duty I need say little. Under any other system than monopoly it is equally liable to objection with a scale of duties, for a single importer only, apart from all combination, might easily by public sale depress the market with a supply beyond what was wanted at the moment, so ark to fix a low duty, and .then by employing somebody to buy in the Teas thus offered for sale, re-sell them most advantageously for himself, but of course to the great injury of the re venue. A fixed duty is therefore inevitable, amci one duty npon tea of every description, I beliqo honestly to be the only safeguard to all classes of the community. It will shut the door upon fraud ; it will not only give to every body good tea at a lower price than was ever yet known, but also augment the consumption and improve the morals of the people ; it will at once place the honest trader upon a firm footing, and through him furnish to the Goveanment a sure, au abundant, and au increasing revenue." THE QUEEN'S POISONER-3 Vols. Bentley, London, 1841. In this historical tale—which is the production of Miss Costello—we have a spirited, and tolera bly accurate sketch, of the internal condition of France, during the last half of the sixteenth cen filth when the disputes between . the Catholic and the Huguenot party were raging with the bitterest acrimony. The Queen-Mother, the un principled Catherine de Medicis, of course figures prominently among the characters, and next in importance to her, is her crafty Florentine ad viser, Rene Bianco, from whom the story derives its name; for he was the chief agent hi her nu merous acts of murder, generally taking off his victims by poison, as the least troublesome mode of getting rid of them. This character is the best sustained in the tale ; it is forcible, without being exaggerated, and satisfies us that the au thoress thoroughly understands the temper of the period of which she treats. Of the young King of Navarre—afterwards the famous Henry the Pcittrth—we have but a feW cursory gliMpses, which we do not regret, for Miss Costae has not been so successful in her delineation of' this dis tinguished personage, as might have been ex pected. ftis character is so faintly poilttrayed, that we have some difficulty in making out the lineaments. The story, generally speaking, is an interesting one, though it is not very skilfu ly conductect; and the details' of the massacre of St. tlartholoinew—that " bloodiest re - cord' in the pages of' French history—arc given with singular boldness and energy. WOMANI A POEM. album Ltditidn, 1841, A republication or a spirited poem on the most welcome of all subjects, by the late Eton Stan nard Barrett. The poem, which is penned in Pope's favourite heroic measure, is remarkable for its ease and mellifluous versification. The author, however, succeeded better in . prose than in poetry; and his " Heroine"—a quiz upon ro mantic novels—is by far his best production. We have many such poems as " Woman," but we have very few such amusing prose satires as the " Heroine," the republication of which would, we should conceive, be an experiment likely enough to be successful. THE HUSBAND AND THE LOVER. An old militaire, named A., who fills the post of Mayor in a commune in the environs of Paris, was returning home from a sporting excursion a few days since. He had killed nothing, and was in a su,fficiently bad humour, when a very beautiful- pigeon clove the air within shoot ing distance. A. fired, and the bird fell to the ground. On lifting up his prey, the sportsman perceived that the poor pigeon carried under its wing a small piece of paper artistically fastened with a silken thread. It proved to be a mignon billet, which A. opened, and read as follows :—" Mon bien ame Charles, viens, lo tyran est parti." The Hon. Magistrate turned pale ; his brow was covered with a cold sweat. It was his wife's hand writing I The " Charles "of whom she made such tender mention was a rich landed proprietor of his ac quaintance, whose frequent visits to A.'s house had al ready appeared suspicious. The Mayor's emotion was vehement, but lasted only for a short time. He drew forth his pencil-case, wrote at the bottom of the billet, " Prix fixe, trois mille francs (price 2,000 francs), and signed it with his name. Then, without further hesita tion, he proceeded to the residence of the person to whom the billet was addressed. " Mon cher voisin," said he, " here is a superb pigeon which I killed a short time since: I want to sell it to you." The cher voisin became greatly disturbed on recog nising his messenger of love ; but, putting the best face he could on the transaction, he replied, "It is a sin g ular fancy of yours, M ons i eur A. ; but I am fond of bizarreries How much for the bird ?" " Look at the ticket. I shall not abate one farthing." And he showed the billet which was still fastened under the pigeon's wing. The gallant opened the billet with a tolerably good grace . ; then he appeared to reflect, and said, I rack my brains to no purpose, my dear Mon sieur A. I cannot find le mot de code enigme. "Le mot ! There are two of them, and here is one," replied the sportsman , slipping a ball, q uietl y , y et so so to be perceived, into the barrel of his fowling-piece. The comedy was hastening to a tragic denouement. The lover was slightly frightened, an d replied with po lished grace, " But a s I have not the slightest difficulty in honouring your signature, mon cher Monsieur A., shall hand you the sum." The 3,000 f. were counted into the chasseur's hand, who took them and retired without saying another word. But all did not end here. When Monsieur Charles had recovered from his fright, he began to regr . et the loss of his gold, came to Pa r i s , t o ok counsel's opinion, and com menced proceeding,s against the Sigur A. for extorting money by threats of .personal violence:The latter re pliodby instituting an action for adultery, supported by e ceztain numbe r o f very racy letters , a - which he had ma nagpd to secure possession. No doubt.this affair, if ever it is brefught before the courts of law, 'will be fruitful in scan* ~-Pavia . P a p er .. • • - PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION. (From the Votes and Proceedings qf the House of Commons.) TUESDAY, MAY 15. POLITICAL OFFENDERS. Motion made, and Question put, " That an humble Address he presented to her Majesty, humbly praying that her Ma jesty will be graciously pleased to take into her merciful consi deration the cases of all persons confined in England and Wales for Political Offences :"—(Mr. Thomas Duncombe :) The House divided ; Ayes 58, Noes 58. And the numbers being equal, Mr. Speaker stated that he considered that the Vete, if carried, would interfere with the Prerogative of the Crown, and therefore declared himself with the Noes. AYES. Aglionby, H. A.—Cockermoutla Jones, John—Carmarthenshire Barnard, E.G.—Greenwich . Langdale, Hon. C.—Knaresbe.. Berkeley, Hon. F. H.—Bristol rough Bewes, T.—Plymouth Leader, J. Temple—Westminster Bridgeman, Hewitt—Ennis Lushington, Charles—Ashburton Brodie, W. B.—Salisbury Molesworth, Sir William—Leeds Brotherton, J.—Salford Muntz, G. F.—Birmingham Huller, Charles—Liskeard Muskett, George A.—St. Alban'e Bulwer, Sir E. L.—Lincoln O'Brien, Cornelius—Clare Busfield, W.—Bradford O'Connell, M. J.—Kerry Butler. Hon. P.—Kilkenny Co. Pechell, Captain—Brighton Callaghan, D.—Cork City Protheroe, Edward— Halifax Collier, John—Plymouth Pryme, George—Cambridge Collins, W.—Warwick Roche, E. B.—Cork Co. Currie, Raikes—Northampton Rundle, John—Tavistock Dcnistoun ' J.—Glasgow SalweT, Lieut.-Col.—Ludlow Duke, Sir James—Boston Sinclair, Sir George - Caithness Easthope, J.—Leicester Stewart, James—Honiton Ellis, Wynn—Leicester Strickland, Sir G.—W. Yorkshire Evans, Sir G. De Lacy—Westmin- Talfourd, Mr. Serjeant —Reading ster Thornely,Thos.—Wolverhampton Ewart, William—Wigan Villiers, Viscount—Weymouth Pielden, John—Oldham Wakley, Thomas—Finsbury Gillon, Wm. D.—Linlithgow Walter, J hn—Nottingham Greg, R. H.—Manchester •Warburton, H.—Bridport Hall, Sir Benjamin—Marylebone Ward, H. G.—Sheffield Hawes, B. -Lambeth White, Andrew—Sunderland Hector, Cornthwaite John—Pe- Williams, William—Coventry Pr tersfleld Wood, Benjamin—Southwark Hindley, Charles—keiton TELLERS. Hodges, T. L.—West Kent Duncombe, T. S --Finsbury liumphery, John—Southwark Hume, Joseph—Kilkenny Adam, Rear-Adm. Sir C.—Clack• ES. Jermyn, Earl—Bury, Suffolk Kemble, H.—East Surrey Knight, H. G.—Nottinghamshir. Lucas, Edward—Monaghan Macauley, T. B.—Edinburgh Mackenzie, Thomas—Koss-shire Marsland, Thomas—Stockport Maule, Hon. Fox—Elgin Burghs Morpeth, Lord—Yorkshire Palmer, George—Essex Palmerston. Viscount—Tiverton Peel, Rt. Hon. Sir R.—Tamworth Pigot, David Richard—Clonmell Plumptre, John P.—East Kent Posey, Philip—Berkshire Riehards, Richard—Mcrieneth.b Rose, Sir George—Christchurch: Russell, Lord John—Stroud . Rutherford, Rt. Hon. A.—Leith Sandon, Lord—Liverponl Sibthorp, Colonel—Lincoln mannan Antrobus, Edmund—Surrey Baring. F. T.—Portsmouth Bentinck, Lord G.—Lynn Bethel', Richard—Yorkshire Broadley, Henry—East Yorkshire Bruce, C. L. C.—Elginshire Buller, Sir J. Yarde—Devonshire ('lay, William—Tower Hamlets Cleric, Sir G.—Stamford Clive, R. H. South Shropshire Darby, George—East Sussex Denison, W. J.—West Sussex Elliot, Hon. J. E.—Roxburghshire Estcourt, T. G. B.—Oxford Univ. Fort, J.—Clitheroe Fremantle, Slr Thomas—Bucks Goulburn. Right Hon. H.—Cam. bridge University Graham, Right Hon. Sir J. R. G. Bk—Pembroke Greene, T. G.—Lancashire Greig, David—Perth ~.: . Slaney; it. A.—Shrewsbury Smyth, Sir G. H.—Colchester Stuart, Villiers—Waterford Co. Teignmouth, Lord—Marylebone Wilde, Mr. Serjeant—Newark Wood, Charles—Halifax GtoWenor, Lord IL—Chester Raiford, Henry—Leicestershire Harcourt, G. G. V —Oxfordshire Herries, Rt. Hon. J. C.—Harwich Howard, C. W. G.—Cumberland Hurt, Francis—South Derby Wood, T. J.—Middlesex Wyse, Thomas—Waterford Inglis, Sir R. H.—Ox. Uniiersity Jackson, Mr. Serj.—Bandon Bridge TELLERS. Stanley, E. John—North Cheshire Parker, John—Sheffield TORIES AND METHODISTS. Sir Stephen Glynne, Bart., Member of Parliament for Flintshire, has recently given an instance of the notion which certain feudal landowners of this country enter tain of their position with respect to their tenants, and of the spirit with which the supporters of another church would uphold her pretensions, if they were not met by bold and powerful opposition from those who know and value their constitutional rights and the rights of con science. We gather the particulars of Sir Stephen Glynne's extraordinary and most tyrannical proceeding from certain letters and some editorial remarks Which ap pear in the Chester Chronicle, of Friday last. It appears that, on Sir Stephen Glynne's estate, in the village of Broughton, some of the inhabitants of the district have been accustomed to assemble, for social religious worship, according to the manner of the New Methodist Con nexion, at the house of an individual who is a tenant of the Tory Baronet. The poor people who thus dared to worship their Maker after a form unrecognised by their landlord had no notion of the paternal control which that individual thought he had a right to exercise over their consciences. Sir Stephen, acting on the notion that pro perty has its rights, directed his agent imperatively to prohibit the exercise of such Christian and religious liberty, and the services were, in consequence, discon tinued. The Rev. John Bakewell, minister of the New Methodist Connexion, at Chester, hearing of this man date and its effects, wrote a letter to the Baronet, request ing his candid and serious consideration of the matter. The Rev. Gentleman writes in the most respectful tone, representing that the services were not held during Church hours, and, therefore, could not directly hinder the inhabitants from attending the Church service ; and that the object of their labours was to make the people sober, industrious, upright, and peaceable,—to teach them to be lovers of God and lovers of their fellow-men. He remarks, that the Church has so many advantages over the Dissenters that she is surely able to prove her sufficiency without resorting to compulsion. The first sentence of the Baronet's reply is as follows :—" My agent acted under my authority in ordering my tenant, at Broughton, to discontinue the assemblages lately held in his house, at Broughton, for sectarian purposes." He then, thoughilie is addressing a regularly licensed minis ter, terms the worship of the poor people alluded to " unauthorized religious services, ' and says, they were " incurring the guilt of schism, which is undoubtedly the case with those separating themselves from the communion of the Church." here is a sweeping con demnation for the Wesleya,ns, Baptists, Independents, and all those who entertain conscientious opinions not accordant with the doctrines of the Establishment ! " The Church," says this tolerant landlord, " being the divinely-appointed channel of grace, it would ill become me, as a consistent Churchman, to sanction the existence of sectarian assemblages upon my property; and, accord ingly, I am resolved always to act in the conviction that, by thus inculcating the duty of allegiance to the Church, I am also acting most kindly towards those who appear either ignorant or negligent of their duty." Such pro ceedings and such sentiments speak for themselves, and we should think the constituency of Flintshire will re member them when the next appeal is made for their suffrages.—Liverpool Albion. SPAIN. CADIZ, MAY 14,-4 went over to Xeres the other day in order to inspect the wine-cellars in that thriving city, and was highly gratified with my trip,cnae thing excepted, namely, the want of good roads between Port St. Mary's and that place, which is the more surprising because the constant transit of travellers as well as produce is im mense. The wine establishments most deserving the attention of visitors are those of Monsieur Garvey, where upwards of 5,000 butts of fine old wines are to be seen collected within a comparatively small building, and or M. Domeck, where, independent of as large, if-not a larger, stock of good wines, the oldest sherry wines are to be met with in greater abundance. The cellars belonging to the very ancient house of Hourie, as well as those of the wealthy M. Pemartin, are likewise on the first rate of magnitude. The stock of wines perma nehtly kept on hand at Xeres may safely be reckoned worth one million eight hundred thousand pounds ster ling, just as it stands, yet when first shipped for foreign ports, in 1727, the whole quantity which a good average vintage yielded did not exceed 200 butts ! There is nothing otherwise remarkable in gr about Xeres, if we except the recently built most splendid amphitheatre, for holding the bull-fights in, at an expense of 66,000 dollars, which had much better have been laid out to wards making a road, and M. Domeck's celebrated country house and estate, the produce of the vines on which is, generally, near 1,300 butts ; there were no less than 509 men at work on the grounds when I went over them. Another country house, called the Alameda, near the (ivadalete river, is well worth being visited. The city of Port St. Mary's, where you take shipping for Ciadii on your return from Xeres, stands next in im portance, hi cOrbieetion with the sherry wine trade, but neither arc its cella - I*CW elcepted, on the same scale of magnificence, or the stocks of old wines anything like so large as those at XerQsl vet, as a residence, I should prefer it to the latter. Most a the wines which now glut the British markets have been, and cont!,e to be, prepared at Puerto de Santa Maria, where no less two hundred butts of what they are pleased to call sherry ::".!"e were offered me at 101. per butt on board. The very extraZ dinary, not to call it by a harsher name, decree, in virtue of ilhich wines, as well as other Spanish prodtide, if re imported into Spain, are to be considered as foreign Me' chandise, will have one good effect, because it will, in a great measure, deter some of our wine exporters from sending to -England the wretched stuff they have lately been in the habit of shipping thither, a good portion of which has invariably been sent back to this country. Cadiz, though rapidly declining in its commercial im portance, in proportion that Seville, Xeres, and Port St. Mary's, thrive, will boast, by the 30th instant, of pos sessing a new, if not a very elegant amphitheatre, or Plaza de Toros, which will cost 8,000/. sterling, and the renowned matador Montes has been engaged to come down from Madrid, in order to act the very first part, the bulls excepted, in the first two bull-fights, for which he is to get 2001., and 260 L for six perfor mances at Seville, 130/. for two at Xeres, and 450/. for three at Pamplona, independent of his regular annual engagements at Madrid. This man Mentes, contrary to the usual habits of his colleague bull-fighters, is remark. ably saving and.steady, and has already put by 8,000/. sterling, about 5,000/. of which, whether in his name or that of some friend, he has invested in the English funds. In order, if possible, though at the eleventh hour, to do something "for the town, the Cadiz merchants are forming a company for the purpose of establishing four steamers to ply between that place and the Island of Cuba, and a contract is being entered into with Govern ment for the conveyance of the mails, which are to be made up each fortnight instead of monthly, as at present. Some capitalists have started a manufactory at the Carthusian Convent, near Seville, for making all sorts of earthenware, fit for the use of the middling and higher classes of the people in the southern and other provinces, but I doubt their succeeding, owing to the unsteady sort of countenance and support they will have to look for ward to from Government. Such is the perfection, as well as economy in price, with which upholstery furniture is made here, that quan tities of it are every now and then shipped for various ports of the United States of America. The contractors who undertook to perform the duties of the preventive service, finding it a losing concern, have adopted the expedient of replacing their chief Com missioners at the principal ports by new men whom they have brought from Madrid, but it will not have the effect of improving the receipts at the Custom-house, because the fault lies with the general demoralisation of the peo ple, more especially so of the public employes. A very Ingenious carriage has just been intro duced, in which a hearse and mourning coach are attached to gether, the vehicle being drawn by one or two horses, accord ing to the distance. The coffin is introduced into the hearse at the front of the carria ge , the mourning coach bein g in ' the rear,•and on its arrival at the place of sepulture, the horses are easily detached. The effect of this new introduction tends materially to lessen the charge of funerals at a short distance from town. • . BRAZIL SUGAR AND BRAZIL GOLD. COPY OF A LETTER TO VISCOUNT MELBOURNE ON THE SUGAR QUESTION. MY LORD,—The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery So ciety has forwarded your Lordship a strong remonstrance, dated the 26th March last, against the admission of Bra zil sugars, because produced by the legal slave labour of that country, although it would greatly relieve the com munity and extensively benefit the manufacturing, com mercial, anil shipping interests and the revenue. Mr. Henry Tuckett, of 7, South-street, Finsbury, the Chairman of the Anti-Slavery Committee, a philanthro pic quaker, signed the document in behalf of the Commit tee, yet he is a large slave holder, whose gold produce is imported five or six times a year into this kingdom from Brazil duty free !—a fair sample of the interested hypocrisy of patriotic benevolence ! Mr. Joseph John Gurney, banker, of Norwich, and ; until these - few days, Treasurer of the British and Anti- Slavery Society, is another of those philanthropic qua kers who is agitating the world on this subject, and hold ing up to universal execration and abhorrence all who legally inherit slaves in the United States (as English men did formerly), and yet this benevolent gentleman is a large slave owner in the Imperial Brazilian Mining As sociation, whose produce also comes in duty free ! Durins the last sixteen years, these merciful, benign, and charitable men have committed several thousand fe lonies by buying and working as many slaves, with no object in v'ew but mercenarily to secure a large interest on their investments, although liable to transpoi Lation for each offence. They have no objection to our re ceiving c0i,,,0n, coae and innumerab29other articles, the produce of sir re-labour, but the admission of Brazil sugars would le, sen the profits of their Wes , India pos sessions, be useful to the community, interfere with their misplaced clamour about slavery, and render the present Ministers deservedly popular with the greater portion of society, and therefore these things the; must of course oppose ! In 1824 the law justly declared every Englishma?' a felon who should thenceforward purchase a slave, ever through an agent. In 1825, the year following, that great philanthropist, Mr. Joseph Fry, and many of his benevolent Quaker and other friends, got up a Company, .vhich they called the Imperial Brazilian Mining Asso ziation. The object was to buy several hundred slaves. who were bought, and to form an extensive slave colony in the interior of the Brazils, which was quickly accom plished, out of the reach of the law of England, for work ing gold mines. They forgot that they remained within the reach and operation of the said law to answer for their nefarious proceedings. The Company was immediately formed, the shares eagerly bought up, for the greater part by anti-slavery Quakers and other very opulent and anti-slavery men, and the following were chosen and have circr since acted as the Directors, with three exceptions Josh as Walker, chairman; Timothy Abraham Curtis, a Director of the Bank of England ; Thomas Gibson, Isaac Lyon Gold smid. George Lewis Hollingsworth. John Shore. Thos. Stokes, Michael Williams, copper-merchant, Theme:- street ; John Wray, Fellow of the Horticultural Society; Joseph Fry, banker, a banks apt ; William Plaxton All cock, deceased; and Edward Oxenford, removed, but now a Director in the National Brazilian Mining Association, which Company has also purchased many hundred slaves, now working at their gold mines in the Brazils. The Solicitors to the Imperial Brazilian Mining Association are Messrs. Freshfield, slaveowners rid solicitors to the Bank of England, and their Chief Commissioner at the mines is a George Vincent Duval, Director, on absence, of the Saint John d'El Rey Slave Mining Company, who, like many other English Mining Companies, have bought many hundreds of slaves. In the last seventeen numbers of the " British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Reporter" I have laid a full expo sition of all these matters before the public, which the Directors of the Imperial Brazilian Mining Association, in their various replies, have admitted, and which shows that the enormities practised upon the slaves by the said Association surpass the worst periods of West India depravity. These discussions have created such a sensation amongst the anti-slavery party all over the kingdom, that a meeting of the shareholders of the Imperial Brazi lian Mining Association was called on the 15th inst., to take the present crisis of their affairs into consideration, in opposition to the wish of the Directors ; and although between one and two hundred of the proprietors of stock attended, only seven supported a motion for giving free dom to their slaves, yet • a large portion of the whole are philanthropic quakers ! • The day previously, the annual meeting of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was held at Exeter Hall, and one of the speakers, a quaker, in addressing the assembly, very emphatically observed, " I very much regret that on one point to which the Committee have directed their attention, that of the Minin2 Associations in foreign countries, their efforts have not been attended Kith greater success. British merchants of high strnd ing and reputation still implicate themselves in the guilt of murder—murder of the blackest character—for the sake of filling their pockets with gold ! Should these remarks reach the ears of those involved in it, they will be heard by many very intimate friends of my own (the Thomas's, and Tuckett's, and Fry's of Bristol, and hun dreds besides), and I shall not rev et it." It is my intention to present a petition to the Legisla ture, detvging all these facts, and praying that the At torney-General be instructed to proceed criminally against the Directors of these numerous Slave Associa tions, unless your Lordship conceives it more appropriate that such instructions should emanate directly from the G over ment. _ _ I have the honour to be, my Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient servant, May 24th, 1841. F. A. KENTISH. SPIRIT of. the PUBLIC JOURNALS. FROM THE DAILY PAPERS OF YESTERDAY. STANDARD.—Ministers have been uniformly de feated in the House of Commons through the whole present Session, and frequently in former Ses sions. They have been for six years barely endured by the House of Lords—and they are still Ministers. They say that they will dissolve or resign if defeated on the Corn-law question. - Why, they said the same thing last year with reference to Lord Stanley's Bill upon which they were defeated—and the year be fore they went through a concerted farce of resigna tion upon the Jamaica Bill. They would not resign if defeated on the Corn-law question, though they would necessarily dissolve in the summer, as an excuse for huddling over the business of the session, and secur ing six months of salary and patronage. Nothing but such a motion as Sir Robert Peel's can get them out, or postpone the inconvenience of a dissolution. But it is said that even if Sir Rohert Peel's motion be carried Ministers will not resign, and the conduct in 1784 of Mr. Pitt, who retained office in defiance of adverse votes,is quoted as a decisive precedent.We long since antici cipated the use that would be made of this precedent, and showed how fiercely it had been condemned by the Whigs of 1784, the Whigs of 1807, and the Whigs of 1835. Let us, however, compare the cases. Mr. Pitt was, in 1784, an untried Minister, and the opposition to him was a direct infringement of the prerogative of the Crown. Lord Melbourne has had a six years' trial. Mr. Pitt was the chosen Minister of the Crown and the House of Lords. Lord Mel bourne is not the chosen Minister of the House of Lords, and there is no proof that he is the chosen Mi nister of the Crown. The House of Commons against which Mr. Pitt had to contend was chosen under the ad ministration of his antagonists. Lord Melbourne has been condemned by his own House of Commons. The majorities against Mr. Pitt were 8, 14, and at the highest 20. Lord Melbourne has been beaten in his own House of Commons, by a majority of thirty-six. Never theless—and this is the great point of constitutional dif ference—Mr. Pitt appealed to the people within two months from his first defeat, and would have appealed at once, but for an address from the Commons to the Crown, deprecating . a dissolution, and intimating a pro mise of good behaviour. In contrast, Lord Melbourne has not dared to appeal to the people through successive years of defeat, though no objection to such an appeal has been offered by Parliament. COURIER—In accordati.ce with the tactics of Minis ters in Parliament, their retainers out of doors and in the p r o ,...lnces are at the same time labouring with diligence, t :pd with if unreq success, to work the popular oracle in their favour. The oracle, however, is mute ; it makes no sign, gad gives no hope. Another great meeting, as it is facetionly described in the Chronicle, has been got up in Liverpool of all places, being the third held there, all within the compass of some dozen days, with two dayS or separate reports of each meeting in that most acute and provident Journal, by which the number is doubled with the honest intent of mystifying the public. At this last meeting, as at both of those by which preceded, the talking and the walking gen tlemen were all the same, and the proceedings and speeches the exact counterpart of those before. There were present, for example, that most excellent and dig nified Whig-made Knight errant Sir Joshua Wallis ley, with the Worshipful Aldermen Brooks and Cobden, of Manchester ; 'and these worthy persons not only de frayed all the talking expenditure of the day, but delivered the same stereotyped speeches which were before sported in Liverpool, and have since made the tour of Manchester, Bolton, Blackburn, &c. Alderman Cobden was abroad as usual, and in the character of traveller delivered out all the wonderful things which none but travellers, since the time of Munchausen, the prince of the tribe, ever see. Alderman Brooks, who is a well-known wag, retailed the last capital joke of his own invention ; he had discovered that the Corn-laws were an " infernal machine." Hear his own graphic and self-satisfied report of it. " After read ing Sir Robert Peel's speech the other day, he said to his friend Mr. Alderman Cobden, What are we to do about this infernal machine' (he always called them the infer nal machine) the Corn-laws ?" The meeting must have been convulsed with laughter on the instant, but the fact is perhaps suppressed by the Radical Liverpool Reporter. With wit and wisdom thus gracefully confabulating to gether, the wit of Brooks and the wisdom of Cobden, the country will be saved from the " infernal machine," it may be hoped, for it really seems a monster as terrific as the iron devil that tears and prepares the raw cotton in the cotton mill of Mr. Brooks. GLOBE.—Expert as Sir R. Peel confessedly is in al the expedients of political chicane, he will scarcely suc ceed in his last move, by which he evidently means to avert the dreaded discussion of the Corn-law question. Into that discussion there will naturally be introduced an exhibition of the mischiefs the Corn-laws have wrought to the trade and commerce of the country. Well may the Tories desire to prevent such an exhibition ! The appalling aggregate of privation and suffering the Corn laws have entailed on thousands of our fellow country men, when brought, as they will be brought, into public view , attested by 'evidence which cannot be contro verted, will excite sympathy for the sufferers in all who have hearts to feel. The death of a system so preg nant with physical, social, and moral evils will be decreed. Its sentence will be pronounced at the coming election with unanimity of feeling and of act by every popular' constituency. Throughout the kingdom the EVENING EDITIO:L.; mon( polists will fell before the popular indi t :Tna 6o which will be exert3d with determined er'ergy 90 1 / 4 0 them. The advocates of monopoly in articles foed will be driven from the hustings in disgraste , as unworthy to represent a free and hi mane , • The Tories plainly see that to this result the feeling is rapidly and certainly tending. Hence tb 9 desire they manifest to burk the Corn-law discus sion ; which, by exposing the results of the present sy tern, will add fuel to the flame already lendled. Th( 15; are wise in their generation. The children of light an WI of the day will baffle their dark designs : these will dra g forth to public view the monster-monopolies, which, lik 0 the fabled dragon, hare devoured the food on whic whole districts would have been cherished, and anis b+ them for ever. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF CHANCERY, May 26. The LORD CHANCELLOR sat in his Court at Westmi ster to-day. MAN,SER V. THE EASTERN AND NORTHERN ninweir COMPANY. This case came before the Court upon motion to di 5 ' solve an injunction granted by the Vice-Chancellor, which restrained the defendants from erecting a bridge, under a certain size, over the River Lea, near the Oil 1 ; tiff's mill. The case was partly heard on Saturday, an a the arguments were resumed and concluded to-day. The LORD CHANCELLOR, at the conclusion of the guments, ordered the injunction to be dissolved, Company unitertaking to build the bridge of the re quired height. The arguments in this case occupied the Court the whole day. ROLLS' COURT, May 26. The Master of the Rolls after disposing of the con sent petitions on his Lordship's paper, proceeded to beg motions. JOHNSON V. TIAMMERSLEY: This case came before the Court some ,irce sin's° upon a petition praying for a reference to the 1 Taster ascer tain the amount of the assets and liabilit:eis of the lat e b a :ik of Hammersleys and Co. in Pall-mr 01. That re fereVce had now taken place, and an ar plies,tion was ma d e pp-clay to confirm the report which the Master had made' upon that reference. By that report the Master found that the debts of the firm amounted to, upwards of 6 00 , 00 0 1 ., and that the assets alre a dy realise* exceeded 300,000/. ; he therefore recommen x led that ...z it dividend of 10s. in the pound should be - ,•lared. that was done it would leave upwards of 40,06 'O/. in the hands of the Court to pay any other creditors r ho might hereafter prove their debts. Mr. PEMBERTON observed that there were abe ut e ighty creditors residing in different parts of the world, whose debts did rot exceed 10/. each ; which would t 'ierefore not take more than 503/. to pay them all in full whic h he thought would be the more convenient cot arse of adopt. He would therefore propose that the am g. uut those debts should be paid to Mr. Fynemore, the sci,licitor in the cause, leaving it with him "to settle with :thoses parties. The MASTER of the RoLLs could not consent to, the, adoption of such a course, as it would be a manifest ja justice to the other creditors. Mr. PEMBERTON felt convinced that no compla u , t could be made in this case with respect to the delays the Court of Chancery, for, in a very short period 3' deed, a decrae had been obtained, the assets realised, ellu the Master had made his report as to the debts and lia bilities of the firm, and the case now came before Abe Court for the confirmation of that report The MASTER of the RoLLs ordered the report to.• he confirmed. BAIL COURT, May 26. COATS AND ANOTHER v. CHAPLIN AND ANOTHER. • , This was an action to recover 80/. 17s. the value 4); parcel of crape shawls, which were entrusted to the de fendants as carriers, which they lost. Mr. Erie and Mr. Thomas were Counsel fo t th plaintiff; Mr. Platt and Mr. Whitmore appeared f the defendants. It appeared that in August last the plaintiff " 0 f, °l , - , warded the parcel in question by the Grand Ju netl Railway, for whom the defendants were contract( Irs, deliver in London. The parcel in question : safely . at the Camden Town Station of the Londe ,0 Birmingham Railway, where the defendants have t of business, on the 23d of August, directed Met I ,srs. and J. Morrison and Co., London ; but according 4 0 tll_ o o principal witness for the plaintiff (Allen), who w s receiving porter at Messrs. Morrison's establisher a O lt Fore-street, it never reached its destination. The j )ar c i", was acknowledged to be wrongly addressed, it oug 11 t have been either James Morrison and Co., or, as flit l n r io now is, Morrison, Dillon, and Co. Such a parcel never offered to him, or if he had any doubt about : would not have refused it without asking advice ir some of the superintendents of the business. It; wss also proved that the invoice directed " J. and J. Morr iS ° l i . !' r arrived safe, and that they were so anxiou 1 °„ the goods that on the day they ought to have bet ":it livered, they actually wrote to inquire why they In 11 3 - r , been sent. Much difficulty was found in proving tl• , 10 rival of the package at the Camden Town Station, r 6 defendant's Counsel took many technical objections : 71 _ the property in the books, notice to produce which Jul been given. lled Ile After a long address to the Jury, Mr. Platt ca carman, and the man who accompanies him with the (1 e" livery-book, who swore that on the 25th of August the, took a bale and a truss (the parcel in question) to Mott ; rison, Dillon, and Co.'s, in Fore-street ; the bale 11 0 marked " M. D. and C 0.," and numbered ; t ' truss was addressed " J. and J. Morrison and Co.: They saw Allen there, who received the bill and signe i the book, but he said the truss was not theirs, and ea usesl it to be taken away again. They also stated that as% there was a Morrison and Co. in Star-court, Bread-street, they went there with it to see if it was e'reeted to them, but tl ley also refused it, and they then took it to defendant's warehouse, Hamburgh Wharf, Southwark Bridge, where it was thrown into the warehouse amongst other goods which were daily being sent off both by land and water. Several clerks of the defendant and of their correspond' ents at Liverpool were called in order to make out ;" tlia on the truss being refused they made all due and dil;g 6 search in order to find out the proper owner ; but al though the note of inquiry was dated the 27th of Au n gas t ti it did not appear to have been received in Liverpool li the 9th of September. His LORDSHIP summed up, and left it to the Jury 0 say-Ist, Whether there had been any tender to M ass" - Morrison and Co. of the truss in question ; 2d, Whe th supposing there had been, the defendants had use d d°° diligence in tracing the consignee ; and, 3d, Wheei"'_,,, they had used due care in warehousing it aftewards. The Jury retired for two hours and then retereetfr with the answer to the first query, " No Tender," and t „, g° the other questions they answered, " No," which 1 05 finding for the plaintiffs upon all the issues. In the course of the trial Mr. PLATT objected that the plaintiffs were not the owners of the property, it ha vi l vested in Messrs. Morrison and Co. the moment ti( package was given to the carrier. His LORDSHIP refused to nonsuit on this ground, sill gave the Learned Counsel leaYe to move the Court a ho ' upon the point. THE ENSUING ELECTION.—.Mr. Harvey was yesterday waited upon by a deputation fr,. ° ' ll . a country constituency, who offered to return hirn,..l - 5 of expense, to the next. Parliament. Mr. HarveY, lt , a .. understood, informed the deputation, that having ma he impaired his fortune by the pecuniary sacrifice s , e had made while in Parliament, he felt it his duty 01 ; 0 tain his present appointment, which precluded him fr ° o sitting in Parliament. It is rumoured that the offer made in consequence of an application from some in r , ential Members of Parliament, who are anxious that l e Harvey should have a seat in the forthcoming strugg b , • and that an annuity could be purchased by 9 , 11 t• scription to enable him to surrender his present ane . 7,,,,, ment, and sustain an independent position in th P o°' 7 - re s hip FLAT GOLD WATCHES, Gold \ Ten Guineas each. Highly-finished HORIZONTAL WATCHES, with engraved or engine-turned Geld u 70 1.. jewelled in four holes, and either engine-turned or • graved cases are offered , ' price Ten Guineas each. Thel'e 1 6 .1 ec t , gant little Watches will bo found to perform very cf ri at , and a printed warranty is given with fixed terms, on whwi" will always receive any attention required. T. COX SAVORY, from Watchmaker, Jeweller, &c., 47, Cornhill (Seven DOOM Gracechurch-street), London fa SPOONS, FORKS, &c., superior to Silver as. ; rability, equal in appearance. Table Spoons or FurT es tiolch Dessert, 10s. ; Tea Spoons, ss. per dozen; Table Cs", f whisk 8 inches high, 7s. per pair • the particular metal ,° 1 ,0, 0 14 these articles are made is so like silver, that it can cull ".„ o fae• from it by the stamp ; every article made ' in s il ver I teg'' tured in this material by RIPPON and BURTON, Wells-street, Oxford-stree t, _,, , Who, to prevent imposition, confine the sale of ik to thernsel" —, Catalogues of prices gratis. BIRTHS. On the 22d inst., at Fitzroy-square, the lady of Dr. Jail' e 5 Arnott, of a son. o f On the 25th inst., at the Vicarage, Stanwell, the la d Y the Rev. W. Windsor Berry, of a son. MRRIE tain On the 25th inst., S t. a Luke's D. Church, Chelseat, Gilt, of the Madras army, to Fanny Flowerdew, eldest ilaor of W. Rickerby, Esq., of Sloane-street. On the 25th inst., at St. James's Church, George C l e,s man, Esq., of Beaufort-road, Chelsea, to Mary A nne, daughter of John Brock, Esq., of Sackville-street, Piceadlle, On the 26th inst., at the Independent Chapel, Chase -91 0 , Enfield, James Curling, Esq., of Canonbury-place, IslingOof to Mary Ann eldest daughter of Thomas Challis, Esq'' Finsbury-square, and Forty-hill, Enfield. DIED. At sea, between the Cape and St. Helena, on his v l s age on from Australia to England, H. F. Gisborne, Esq., second of T. Gisborne, Esq. , M.P. , Private Secretary t o Sir Rict:7, w Bourke when Governor of Australia, and subsequently Colo sioner of Police in that colony. 0 o On the 21st inst., at Hawkhurst; Kent, Robert A.nders ► Esq., aged 68. On the 23d inst., at Terrick House, Bucks, Elizabeth, reli c of the late Mr. Job Stone, aged 65. • the On the 23d inst., at Clifton, Ann, eldest daughter of late William Orme, Esq., of Guilford-street, Russell-selate On the 25th inst., at Clapham, Alice, wjdow of tne George Stevenson, Esq., and daughter of the late Rev. ham Booth, aged 78. ;Hi Do ds On the 25th inst. , at M anor -t errace , Chelsea, W" asri t Car Esq., only survivin g son o f J. C. D o d, Esq., late of Els" leton, Norfolk. to'' On the 25th inst. at at Great Clarendon-street, SorneW W. A. Hall, Gent:, aged 25. th . • 1446 sir o E n v t e h r e ar 2 d 6t H h o i m ns e t ;i3 a a t rt H „ a a m, ed Su s r 2 r . ey, Jane, widow of • - t GOP In Gre a t G eorge - s t ree t, Elizabeth, relict of Re ber- D.D., late Bishop of Bristol. barris ter ; Of apople x y, W. S. Merycs eather Turner, Esq . b rill _ at. law, of Li n c o ln's-inn, and A. M. of Trin. Coll. , 6ani of London Printed and Published by MURDO V2U'i,d; No. 112, Strand, at 77 ze Sun Office , No. 112 . i the county of Middlesex. --Thursday, May 27, Is4'