The Sun. — London, England, 1841-02-10 00:00:00

grave nature than those for which imprisonment for three years was the maximum punishment that could be inflicted at present It was evident to him with respect to this subject that it was necessary to take a compre hensive view of the whole subject, and that punishments should be made commensurate with the offence. In legislating on this subject for the future, they should endeavour to take a general tiew of the whole subject, so that there might not be heavy punishments for light offences, and light punishments for serious crimes. The Hon. Gentleman's proposition would do away with a great amount of capital punishment, but it must be well considered before it was adopted. Leave was then given to bring in the Bill. EAST INDIA PRODUCE. Mr. EWA RT in withdrawing a motion of which he had given notice relative to the "reduction of re maining high duties on E ist India produce to the same rate of duty as is levied on similar articles, the produce of the West Indies," said he hoped that by one conclu sive measure all t h ose i nv idi ous diff erences which ex isted in the matters to which his motion referred, would be swept from the Statute Book. Since he gave notice of his motion, her Majesty's Government had, he under stood, given notice of motion to bring in a Bill to the same effect. Th e d ut i es to w hi ch his (Mr. Ewart ' s) motion referred were distinguished, first into agricul tural duties, next into duties respecting manufactures, an I thirdly into Colonial duties, such as those on the produce of Ceylon, &c. He hoped that her Majesty's Government would think it proper to embrace all those subjects in the most comprehensive manner, and that they would not confine the alterations proposed to the single article of rum. H e h o p e d th a t it was n ot a li mited commercial reform which they intended to carry into effect. In his opinion the reform ought to be by far more comprehe ns i ve th a n w h a t he understood it was intended to propose. As, however, the question would come before the House on Friday next, he would not, in justice to the Government, who had thus shown their willingness to advance commercial reform, pre durely disclose his views on the matter. The Hon. Gentleman concluded by stating that he withdrew his motion for the present. TITHE RECOVERY ACT. Captain PEC HELL, in rising to introduce the mo tion of which he had given notice, relative to " a Bill to amend the Tithe Recovery Act (5 and 6 Will. IV.), end to take away the jurisdiction from the Ecclesiastical Courts in all matters relating to 'tithes of a certain tonount;' said that it might be in the recollection of the House that in the year 1835, a Bill which he had the honour to introduce was passed in the sth and 6th year .of William IV. Br that Act it was provided that all suits to which it referred should be held before the Jus tices of the Peace, and it appeared now that the Ec clesiastical Courts did not came within the scope of her 11Iajesty's Courts. He had no doubt that they could not be called her Majesty's Courts, but it was the object of the House to prevent all suits with respect to tithes being carried before the Superior Courts. A pe tition was now lying on the table of the House in which it was stated that a poor woman, named Sarah Young, relying upon the Act of the sth and 6th Will. IV., was cited to appear before the Bishop's Court at Llandaff, at the suit of a Reverend Divine, whose name he would not mention, for an alleged arrear of tithes, to the amount of 7s. The poor woman was unable to make her appearance. She was, in consequence, held, in contempt, and confined in the gaol of Monmouth, where she remained seven months. Another case occurred in the diocese of Exeter. It appeared that a citation was isticrl to a person named Hill, who had not complained to that House, but whose case was well known.. That gentleman employed a proctor, who advised him, when he should pat in an answer to the citation. The man appeared in the Court, and held up the Act of the sth and Gth Will. IV. ; but to his own astonishment, and that of the proctor whom he had employed, the case wes disini,:sed, but without costs. If a person liable for tithes to any small amount were cited to appear before the Bishop's Court, be understood that in-such citation no mention was made as to the sum claimed. When the Act passed in 1833, all parties were desirous a com position should take place, and that •had been settled, he believed, to the satisfaction of all parties. Nobody could deny that it was it:Orly-desirable the Ecclesiasti cal Courts should be placed on the same footing as her I , lajesfy's Courts. He had hoped that the'Noble Lord would bring in a IA to abolish the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts in tithe cases altogether, but, at any rate, he hoped the House would agree to the Bil' be then mored for leave to bring in. Mr. HA WSE seconded the motion. Dr. NICHOL said, that all the difficulty had arisen in consequence of the Hen. and Gallant Member being rush e bungler at legislation, and meddling with a subject that he was not acquainted with.—(Laughter and cries of Oh, oh.) Mr. FOX MAULE thought thst great responsi bility was attached to the Hon. and Learned Gentle- • men (Dr. Nichol), because he was perfectly well aware of the measure", and allowed it to pls.?, in its imperfect shape..—( Hear, hear, hear.) Mr. HUME suhrn'tted that the observations of the I Learned Civilian v,cre, perfectly unjustifiable.—(Haar, hear.) Great cre.nt W.,3 due to the lion. and G Mara GerAlcrnan fur tatting up the subject, but 'lle did not t'lnk that the conduct of the Hen. and Learned Ciii i was wry praiseworthy, who, seeing an error, had thought fit to correct it.—(llear, hear ) COUNTY COURTS. Mr. FOX M A ULE in moving for leave to bring in a Bill to improve the practice and extend the jurisdic tien of County Courts observed, that he approached Cie suljeet with great diffitlsnce, when ho considered 1::at the measure hid tee-lye:I the attention of such teen L Althorp, Lord Brougham, and the Rght lion. Geeilereen opposite (Sir R. Peel). The House would, however agree that, connected as be was with a department which h arl the surveillance of the adminis tration of jestice, he could not shut his eyes to the re , ,isure er to the extent of the demand the public feel msde on this subject. Year after year, the tale 1 of the House bed been crowded with petitions, and sees scarcely a -district in Kigland from I cations for private Bills to authorise to recovery of sena!l debts had not emanated. lie thought that instead of that piece -meal legislation they mould assimilate the low in all parts of England and Wales. He would not enumerate all the evils of the pres:oit system, he would only refer to the fifth Report of the Law Commissioners ; all the grievances had been so long complained of were there de tailed, and most of the remedies which lie now proposed would be found there reecminended. The principles of Ills measure were first to extend the jurisdiction of the County Courts to debts amounting to twenty pounds. Tills wee not the time to discuss the details of the but he would state some of the most. impertent. It 11,23 his intention to propose that the Courts should be aeibulatory—that the Judge hiving a fixed court in a central part of his district should visit such other ports from time to time as her Majesty should please to eppoint. He proposed that the Judge should have a Led salary, and be removable at the pleasure of the Crown only. He proposed that the deficiency of salary aboee the amount of the fees, instead of being paid out cf the county rates. should be paid out of the comolidated fund. He next proposed to render those Courts more s'mple in their fortes and process, and more easy dee- CCS3. The first process should be by summons calling on the defendant to appe 1r and if he s ho u ld fail to eeswer that summons judgment should be given agatest him. But on showing cause for his noa-appearanee he might have a new trial. In case's he should give the Judge the power of peremptorily deciding by whieh;party the- casts should be paid. In turns below 51. the Judge should decide alone :rid summarily. But in cases where the amount is di s pute was above W. and not above 20/. the action should be referred to a Jury of fi7e persons. He next proposed that both parties should be examined utten oath. Since this measure was first introduced, no teas than twenty-two local Bills had been framed uponea siceilar principle, and in each of them t::ile Lordepowercofht. peinting the local Judges was rested in cam.. All these would be. merged in this generalenea' . sure, should it pass. The patronage of this measure could not be vested in other hands than those who were responsible to both souses of Parliament. With re spect to the patronage of Manorial Courts, he did not propose to interfere with it, but merely to improve the whole administration of justice. He proposed that the Judges should receive a salary commencing at c oora year, and increasing as business increased, but not to exceed '1,500/. a year. The Judges were not to practice as barristers. These were the outlines of the measure he proposed. Its great principle was to establish in this country local Courts of a peremptory character, to which the poorer classes should have im mediate access, and which, instead of sitting in one part of the county, calling tbem, with their witnesses, and all the apparatus of legislation, a distance from home, should be near to it, and by rendering justice to . all give them that c on fid ence i n t h e adm i nistration of pestle:3 which, he was sorry to sly, he feared they did not now possess. In the county with which he was more immediately connected, similar Courts were esta blished to those he now sought to establish by this Bill. Three years ago t measure passed that House which certainly attracted little notice, but which gave her Majesty power to declare in what parts of the coun ties of Scotland Small Debt Courts should be estab lished, and this measure had given great benefit and satisfaction to the people of that country. H e hoped, in the course of this Session, to see a similar benefit conferred by this measure on the people of England.— Ilear, hear.) He apologized to the House for under taking a measure connected with a profession to which he did - not belong, but he • had thought much on the subject, and b e i ng conv i nc ed of its great import ance, sad felt it to be his duty to undertake it.—(Cheers.) Mr. EWART hoped he might be allowed to express an opinion -on this subject, having been solicited by in dividuals in that part of Lancashire to tvhich he be looged to introduce a similar measure. These Courts existed, and were found very b ene fi c i a l , i n S co tl an d and - `''lreland, an d h e hoped they would soon be established in England. H e, howei . .e r , thought it would be better not to prevent the' Sudges practising as barristers .. . .There -was one i nnovation in the. Bill worthy of all winch app EVENING EDITION ?raise, namely, that the evidence of witnesses was not to be limited by technical rules. Let a witness be sifted as much as possible, but let his evidence be taken quantum valeat. He should be glad to see, by way of supplement to this measure, one for introducirg a sys tem of stipendiary Magistrates throughout the country. Colonel WOOD would caution the House to take care so to limit the measure then before them, and tire number, and the appointment of the Judges, that the new Courts would not be made instruments for admi nistering criminal justice, while they were made the means of recovering debts and adjudicating in civil cases. He thought the two subjects should be kept totally distinct. Generally speaking, however, he be lieved the proposed measure would be of great advantage to the poorer classes of the community.—( Hear.) Mr. HUME could not conceive how the adoption of the measure could lead to the danger that criminal and civil jurisdiction would be confounded by its provi sions. He completely coincided i s the views expressed by his Hon. Friend the Member for Wigan (Mr. Ewart), and his only regret on that occasion was that the Bill did not go further than was pro posed. The * cheap and easy administration of justice was an object of the utmost importance to the community at large ; and he certainly felt that the measure just introduced would tend very materially to secure that object. Mr. HAWES was glad that the Bill had been brought forward. He hailed the measure as a bold ef fort on the pert of her Majesty's Ministers to endea vour to lessen the costs of the law, and facilitate the administration of justice. Numbers of small debt bills had been formerly passed, almost every year, through the House, each rendering the law more per plexed by introducing new principles. At present there were innumerable small Courts, with various de grees of jurisdiction, the patronage of which was placed in the hands of private individuals. He thought such a system extremely injurious to the due administration of justice ; and he hoped the rights of patrons would not prevent the passing of the measure then before them. The Hon. and Gallant Officer had given no reason for his opinion, that the giving to these Judges criminal and civil jurisdiction would act injuriously. If in the me tropolitan districts they had competent Judges under the Police Act, why should they not hare additional duties imposed upon them, if they had time to discharge such duties? He saw nothing injurious in such a plan, and he thought the public, having gone to a very great expense in the establishment of those Courts, were en titled to have them made as beneficial to the people as possible. The vesting the appointment of Judges of these Courts in the Lord Chancellor or the Lord Chief Justice, would remove all objections that could be made en the score of political patronage. That was a subject which had been much discussed in the Committee, and he understood the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Pembroke to say that he had no ol•jection to give the patronage of these Courts to the Lord Chan cellor, or the Lord Chief Justice, but that he would prefer the Lord Chief Justice. *Healso understood the Right Hon. Gentlemen as having stood less for the rights of the existing patrons. Now, if a great and useful measure of this nature were opposed by Hon. Gentlemen merely foe the sake of preserving their pri vate patronage, it would give great support to the opi nion that that House existed more for private purposes than for public benefit ; and he hoped that when the question was next discussed, they should hear a great deal less about the loss of patronage by private individuals and a great deal more of the necessity of securing a good administration of justice than they had done on former occasions. Mr. O'CONNELL thought that the want of that, the introduction of which into the measure had been deprecated by the Hon. Member for Middlesex, consti tuted its great evil. The Judges of these Courts ought to possess both civil and criminal jurisdiction. Let them lock at the anomaleus state of the law regu lating these Courts in the different countries. In Erse land by this Bill the Judge of the County Court had civil jurisdiction only ; in Ireland he might possess both civil and criminal jurisdiction ; and in Scotland, where he had originally only criminal jurisdiction, civil jurisdiction had been recently superadded ; so that in the three different countries there were three different me thods adopted in the administration of justice. In many cases of civil trial it was necessary that the Judge should have criminal jurisdiction, and nothing could be more anomalous than this Judge half dead and half alive, this paralytic Judge—(A laugh)—wh o was alive on one side only—alive on the civil, but dead on the criminal side.—(A laugh.) What the Hon. Member opposite was afraid of was, that they would interfere with the jurisdiction of the Magistrates. (Hear, hear, from Colonel T. Wood.) In Scotland, the Magistrates had very little. to do he believed, and that was just what they were fit fo--(A laugh)—and it would be for the benefit of this country if the Magid. trates here had also the same opportunity of indulging in dignified leisure extended to them. An unpaid Ma gistracy was a perfect anomaly which bad no existence in any other county.—(Cheers.) The Magistrates' Court could not, at all events, be considered as a poor man's Court ; at all events he had never known an in stance in which the being rich had been a disadvautage to a man before the Magistrates.—(Cheers.) He thought it would be better in all cases to leave the ad ministration of justice to paid and responsible authori tics.—(Cheers.) He ryas sorry to see that the Bill proposed to give patronage to the Jud ges . T he L or d Chancellor w as on e o f the Ministers of the day, remov able vvitir the Mieidry, and, therefore, the giving• patrowsge to him was, in fact, giving it to the Ministry—but if they wished to devise a method for spoiling the Lord Chief Justice, they could not possibly invert one mere effectual or more calculated to degrade him into a political partisan than the giving him the ap pointment of threJudges of those Courts. The Bar at present was quite subservient enough to the Bench. Mr. Sergeant TA LFOURD—No, no. Mr. O'CONNELL—Not subservient enough 2 (Roars of laughter, in which Mr. Sergeant Talfourd joined.) Now if they gave the Lord Chief Justice the appointment of these Judges, they would have the entire rising Bar subservient to him. Not a junior barrister welld express an opinion or take a part in any political discussion until he had ese,ertained the opinion of the Lord Chief Justice. He hoped that in the progress of the Bill some clause would be introduced to give the Judges of the County Courts criminal as well as civil jurisdiction, in the same manner es was now exercised by the Judges in the higher Courts, and he felt con vinced that the public would be highly benefited by retying the criminal as well as tho civil jurisdiction brought home to their own doors. Mr. WAIZ.BURTON hopel the provisions of that Bili would provide for the proceedings and practice of the Courts. He should wish to see the same proceed ings adopted in these Courts, as were adopted before the Commissioners of Bankrupts, where bosh litigant parties were brought before the Judge and examined. Mr. FOX MAULE—It is so ; such are the previ sioni of she Bill. Mr. WA B.I 3 URTON-011, very well ; then I have nothing more to say. Mr. G. KNIGHT trusted that he should never see the day when stipendiary Magistrates should be placed in the room of-those who had so effectively performed their duties, and administered the justice of the country. He should be extremely jealous of any measure that would bare that effect. The Bill now before the House was not of that character, and he hoped it would not be followed up by any such measure as had been suggested by the Hon. Member for Wigan. Mr. VILLIERS supported the Bill. He . believed that nothing was so detrimental to large districts,. as having unpaid Magistrates. Mr. CRES WELL would be most anxious at all times to render every assistance in his power to perfect a measure that would give justice to the poor at a cheap rate, but the great difficulty, in his opinion, was so to frame a measure as to give satisfaction to those it was intended to benefit. Another point to which he would refer, and which appeared to have been made a ground of objection against the Bill, was the patronage given by it to the Judges. He trusted that he valued the integrity and independence of the bar as highly as any man living ; but he entertained no apprehension that that independence, or that integrity, would be at all diminished if the patronage referred to by the llon. Member were given to the Lord Chancellor or to the Chief' Justice. The Hon. Member had said that the bar was sufficiently subservient to the Judges already. He (Mr. Cresswell) did not know whether he meant by that to insinuate that they were too subser vient, but he defied any man who had been in the habit of visiting Westminster Hall to substantiate a charge of want of independenc e and integrity against the membersoftleboar respectr.ltw for thoseastheirr f i u d n e c , t t io als aie that al who -• they felt a proper administer the law, yet they ma i nta i ned perfect though independence and firmness in all that relates! to the interest of their clients. Would any man pretend to say that there bad been any alteration of late in the conduct of the members of the bar ? No one would say so ; et the Judgei nad exercised considerable pa tronage in the appointment of revising barristers— (Hear)—and he apprehended that and independencellttherecou could be of no greater proof of the upri. es the thanhoahraoz ehad was v a s h furnishedeoo produced their fe.ct political that not opi nions least - nions by the appointments of the Judges.—(Hear, hear.) It was the consciousness of their integrity o gr l ityanl their s honour which supported them in the discharge a-duous duties. Leave was then given to bring in the Bill. Mr. FOX MAULE then moved for leave to bring in a Bill to enable the Lord Chancellor to direct that certain proceedings from the Court of Chancery, and matters in bankruptcy, insolvency, and lunacy, may be carried to the County Courts. The Hon. Gentleman said that the Bill which he now proposed was some what connected with that which had already been dis cussed. He took it for granted, in addressing himself to this second Bill, that the County Courts had been established. It was not his intention to enter_ on that occasion into the great questions of insolvency and bank ruptcy. That questio n must be touched upon in another Bill, and required to be brought forward by one whose their improvement. He had already spoken of the ad vantages which he expected to derive from the exten sion of copyright. He was quite aware of the argu ments by which he might be met, and could only say that when they were brought forward he should be quite prepared to grapple with them ; and in consequence of recent circumstances he was now in a better position to do so than when the question was last before the House. One of the chief objections was the timidity on the part of several Members of the Committee lest the exten sion of the copyright, by giving increased value to de sign, should lead to increased litigation as to what was original design and what was not ; but as this difficulty existed under the present law, towards the close of the Committee this and other arguments were successively abandoned, and towards the close of its last sitting most of the Members were content to concentrate their opposition on one point, namely, that if for twelve months they prevented calico printers in this country from copying one another's designs, and had no means of pre venting a foreign calico printer from copying the designs, we should have English designs copied abroad and sent into the market in competition to England. The impos sibility of this was manifest from three circum stances. In the first place, our designs must be better than their owe, and ha believed that no person would say that the designs of England were not in every respect inferior to those of France ; but even sup posing that in point of execution, effect, and elegance, the designs of,England were equal to those of France, there would still be another consideration, viz., would they be saleable in the English market. Every one knew that the taste of England in these particulars was different to the taste of Prussia and France. The fact was, that style was so different that the prints of one country would be quite useless in others if the copyright were open to them. And thirdly, even supposing that these designs were suit able to the foreign market and taste, there still remained the important consideration that it was impossible they could enter into full competition with England unless the printers in those countries could produce them cheaper. An assertion was made in the Committee that Belgium could produce printed calicoes, in competition with those of England, at 20 to 25 per cent cheaper than England. He had recently visited that country, and he had documents to prove that, so far from this being the case, in every in stance they were 50 per cent. dearer than ours; and more over, if this assertion were true, how came it that they put prohibitory duties on our goods ?—( Hear, hear, hear.) He felt much indebted to the House for its patience in listening to him. Ho felt this to be a most important subject, connected with a most important branch of trade. It was impossible that any country could compete with England, so loeg as England commanded the supply of 200 millions of our own subjects. If Eng land were true to herself and her own interests, she must retain the superiority she at present enjoyed; and if, in addition to this, she would give encouragemeet to artists, she would increase that superiority, both in taste and in cheapness of production, and render it morally impossible for any other nation to enter into successful competition with her. For these reasons he trusted the House would assent to the prayer of the petitioners, who were so largely connected with the trade of this country, and assent to this proposition, which, without doing injury to any, would confer great benefit on all. He therefore moved resolutions to enable him to bring in a Bill to amend the Laws affecting the Copyright of Designs.—( Hear.) Mr. O'CONN EL L seconded the motion, Mr. M. PHILLIPS said, that when this question was brought before the House last Session, he had felt it to he his duty not to oppose any inquiry into the subject, be cause at that time he had not full confidence in the opi nion he entertained as to the impolicy of an extension of the copyright of design, But he was bound to say that, having paid considerable attention to the evi dence produced before the Committee, he now felt it to be his duty to oppose the motion, as he had now a firm conviction decidedly hostile to the exten sion of copyright of designs. He approached this sub ject without the least possible bias, as must be obvious to the House, connected, as he was, with so 1 srge a portion of this trade, that lie could form no opinion on which he could agree with the w h o l e o f th em , an d t h at whatever opinion he formed ho must offend a Dirge portion of his constituents. He was therefore opposed on principle to this extension, but he begged to premise a few observa tions, although it was not his intention to take that step in opposition to the proposed Bill of his Honourable Friend. He was, ho confessed one of those who did not think so lightly as his Hon. Friend respecting that " bugbear" of foreign competition on which he had enlarged. His Hon. Friend had enjoyed an opportunity which few other Members of the Committee had dune, of recently visiting the Continent. He much wished that it had fallen to his lot to have effected a similar journey ; but inasmuch as he had to deal with the evidence alone given before that House, he was unable to take ad. vantage of that further information which his Hon. Friend possessed. It was the evidence taken before the Com mittee on which the public formed their opinion, and, unless the question nes again referred to a Committee, he was bound to abide by those opinions be bad formed from reading that evidence. He must say he did not think it safe for us to assume that the degree of competition to which we found British manufactures now exposed, was the same as that to which they would ba exposed five, or ten, or fifteen years to come.—( Hear, hear )__fur he would ask whether it was the same now as it was fifteen years ago ? The degree of competition in every branch of industry was now far greater, wider, sad more extensive than could have possibly been imagined at the period he had named. He therefore thought it as as not a safe argument to make use of with regard to the prospective industry of this country, that because competition (lid not now bear us down in neutral markets, it would be safe to speculate on the present state of things. His Hon. Friend had assumed that the French were superior in designs to the English. He believed he must grant this to be the case, but if the extension of the period of the copyright of designs had a tendency to induce Englishmen abroad to copy these articles, the foreigner must stiil produce these articles at cheaper cost to put them in competition to the original design, conferred for a longer period than the present. Then with respect to protection to these designs, it appeared to bairn that the calico trade of this country was so diversified, and divided into so many interests, that no one rule could be made p.p. plicable to all. He bad a strong impression on his own mind, that undoubtedly much litigation would arise ; and when he looked to the existing law, which had existed fifty years, and looked at the trade which had sprung up after it, he was inclined to say that they should not intro (Kee any fresh system that Might lead to litigation as to what was or was not original design. Ile thought the consumer was a party who ought not to be lost sight of in this or any other matter. And if this extension of copyright had a tendency, as be believed it had, to increase the cost to the consumer, he thought, on this ground, as a restriction of the supply of articles of every day consumption, it ought not to be sanctioned. With respect to Mr. Applegarth, and the designs offered to him by eminent academicians, this appeared to him to be an exception to the general rule. and to have no reference whatever to the supply of those articles worn by the working classes themselves, and whi c h f orme d the subject of supply to the great mass of population in this and other countries. With reference to the home traders being deterred from making purchases, three months beforehand, because they had not the protection of copy right, he thought there was little ground for apprehension of that kind, as he did not believe they would purchase be forehand, at so long a period as three months, when there was a constant succession of new patterns. It, moreover, appeared to him to be inconsistent in those who pro fessed to seek a constant succession of new patterns, to seek at the same time an extension of copyright. Ho remembered in the Committee there was a beautiful design laid ore the table, which he could not help admiring, as well for its design as its execu tion ; and he inquired what had been the time and trouble, and the cost of its production; and he was told that the producer had spent three months in preparing the design. Of course, he thought that where there was so mnch labour and expense, a consider able number was produced, and h e asked the number of pieces, but the answer was—." S:r, I had rather not talk of the number of piec es, but of the number of dresses, which was limited to 50." Now, if the remuneration on the sale of 50 dresses was sufficient to discharge the expense of production, how could he want an extension of copyright, when, if he did not sell the articles in the first three months, it was impossible he could have any sale for it. There was great variety of opinion on this subject, and he did not feel inclined to legislate on a sub ject of such importance upon such conflicting opinions. With respect to foreign orders it was well known in the trade it was of very little importance whether the patterns were new or not. He would not oppose the introduction of the Bill, but be would take opportunities of discussing its details in the course of its further progress. Mr. LABOUC HERE did not intend to oppose the motion, but he was desirous of stating that Lord Syden ham (Mr. Poulett Thomson) protested against giving the extension of the copyright of designs for twelve months, unless the manufacturers who applied for it would accept conditions which he proposed ; in consequence of the rejection of those conditions, they were excluded from the Bill for the protection of copyright. He ( Mr. Labouchere) in reading the Report of the Committee found the most conflicting evidence in favour of and against the principle of this Bill. He found that the Lancashire interest, on which chiefly depended the views were far more practical and enlarged than his own. All that he proposed in the present case was to give to the Lord Chancellor power to refer to the Judges of the County Courts those matters in bankruptcy and into! vency which now came under the jurisdiction of Com missioners. In the Repart of Commissioners on Insol vency and Bankruptcy it was stated that it appeared to them by the evidence that there were strong grounds for alteration in the present mode of administering the laws relating to bankruptcy. There were in the country seven hundred Commissioners in one hundred and forty Courts ; by devolving the business which had been trans acted by these Commissioners upon the Judges of the County Courts, a saving would take place which would go very far towards meeting the expense attendant upon those Courts. Another point which he would just refer to was the expense attending the imprisonment of debtors. A great saving would be effected in this res pect by the Bill; there were numerous cases of debtors suffering incarceration who, when their cases came to be deci led, were not charged with acting fraudulently. The frequent sittiug of the County Courts would give to those unfortunate men more speedy relief than they could obtain under the old system. He also proposed to refer cases of lunacy, which were now brought before the Lord Chancellor, to these Courts. The present system worked most injuriously ; it was found to be very inconvenient : and he was quite sure that if Commissions of Lunacy were transferred to these Courts a saving of nearly 10,000/. a-year would be effected. But it might be asked, would the Judges, whom he proposed to appoint by the first Bill, be able to dispose of all the business which, by this second Bill, would be devolved upon them. Possibly they would not ; but in order to prevent any inconvenience which might arise in that way, he had inserted a clause in this second Bill, giving to the Lord Chancel lor power to increase the number of Judges if any in crease should be required. These were the main pro visions of the Bill, which he trusted would meet the approval of the House. Mr. HAWES thought it would be inexpedient to have any discussion on the measure until the Bill was before the House ; but he might be permitted to say that it was one of the most important measures as regarded the comme rc ial i n t eres t s o f t h e country, that had ever been brought before Parliament.—(Loud cheers.) There was nothing so well known as the un -1 satisfactory state of the Bankruptcy-law, and no sub ject had been more generally complained of by the commercial interests. A new system bad certainly been introduced of late in the metropolis, and had given great satisfaction to all parties competent to form an opinion on the subject. lie trusted it would be more generally followed up under the provisions of the pre sent 8.11. Leave was then given to bring in the Bill. COPYRIGHT OF DESIGNS. Petitions on the subject of the Copyright of Designs were presented by Mr. O'Connell, from calico printers of Manchester and Leeds ; by Mr. Colquhcun, from Paisley and other places ; and byMr. E. Tennent, from Belfast and Manchester. On the motion of Mr. E. TENNENT, the House then went into a Committee of the whole House to consider the laws relating to the Copyright of Designs. Mr. FRESHFIELD in the Chair. Mr. E. TEN NENT said it was not his intention to introduce any new principle of legislation, nor any new law, but simply to give efficacy to the laws which lead been in existence for the last half century. He had had the honour of introducing a Bill in the course of last Session, to extend the period of taking the benefit of the copyright from three to twelve months, but in the imperfect state of the information possessed by the House, the Right Hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade, had expressed his unwillingness. The House, however, would recollect that a great propor tion of the goods manufactured, to come within the provisions of his proposition, were to find a market in the East and West Indies, and he did not think the proprietors asked too much when they required twelve months as the period within which they might obtain remuneration for the labour and capital they had ex pended. The copyright of designs, in every branch of the art, was most carefully preserved in France, and there a party might obtain the copyright for a period of one, three, five, or ten years, or even in perpetuity. What was the amount of protection which the copy right furnished in the present state of the law ? Instead of five or fifteen years, or perpetuity, as on the Conti nent, it was, in England, only a protection of three months. That protection was granted fifty years ago. But the improvements of modern times, and par ticularly the application of electro-magnetism to these branches of art, had reduced the operations of months to weeks, and consequently increased facilities were furnished to the pirating copyists. The House, he was sure, would admit that it was not fair that there should be one law for the producer of designs for silks, and another for that of designs for cottons. Was it nut absurd that the individual who invented designs for silk should have a protection of twelvemonths' copyright, but the originator of designs for cottons should have only a copyright of three months ? The latter merely asked the same privilege as the former— that was, that the term of the copyright be extended to twelve, instead of three months. That proposition was surely a reasonable one, and yet, he regretted to say that opposition was offered to it. However, the opposition was but partial. In England, Scotland, and Ireland, the cotton trade was carried on very exten sively, and yet throughout the entire of the manufac turing districts, in each of these countries, not a single person objected to the assimilation now sought to be established, save a few individuals in one district who were, he had no doubt, acting under mistaken views respecting the ob ject of the present Bill. He would read to the House extracts from evidence given before the Committee of last year. The gentleman, whose evidence he should first read, was a person of great ieflaence, and one who was opposed to giving an extension of the copy right, he was a Mr. Brooks. That gentleman avowed that he was himself a most extensive copyist of other men's designs, both during the existence of the term of copyright end afterwards ; he was so sometimes with loss to himself, but generally with prefit ; he produced the copies on inferior cloth ; when remonstrated with for thus proceeding in a manner which was injurious to individuals, and upon being asked how he should act if proceeded against, he said that he did not think he acted unjustly on account of the shortness of the copy right term, and that if he was proceeded against for damages, he would oppose and rely on his purse for success. That, observed the Hon. Gentleman, was the confession of a repentant pirate copyist. The next evi dence was that of Mr. Lucas, of the house of Lucas and Ce., calico-printers. The Hon. Gentleman then proceeded to read extracts from the last-named person's evidence, which stated that their house purchased printed goods to a very great extent, gener a lly a b ou t 60,0001. a month ; an d that they seldom employed an original designer, for that they could find a copyist who would undertake the task at his own price, and at a cheaper rate than the other could. " But," added Mr. Lucas, " I do not object to the protection of three months, for I never found it any protec tion whatever to the printer." The evidence of Mr. Stirling, of the house of Henry and Co., Island-bridge, Dublin, stated, that in December 1839, they delivered 700 pieces to Mr. Hosier of London, and that in the January following, 83 of those designs were brought to the same house manufactured on in tenor cloth and offered at 20 per cent. less than they obtained for the original designs. Mr. Henry's buiness was almost at a stand, as he was never able to effect a second sale of any new pattern. There was, continued the Hon. Member, a volume of evidence on the table, filled with details of the ruinous consequences to honest traders of the practices to which he alluded. He might be asked if there were infractions of the existing law of three months' copy-right, why did not the injured party vindicate their rights by application to the legal authorities ? His answer was, that it would not be worth their while. The copyright would have expired before the legal proceed ings would have been well commenced. He contended that the present deficiency in the law, and the preva lence of piracy, arose from the small extent of the term of copyright. Ho was prepared to show that, even if the law was not icfringed, it was quite inopera tive for its own purposes. Its object was to give to the successful inventor the benefit of his own invention. He would, to confirm his statement, take, for ex ample, the sale of ladies' dresses. Articles of that na ture continued in fashion from seven to twelve months generally, and sometimes as long as two years. The inventor of designs was only protected for three months, and thus the copyist had very nearly as much benefit as the inventor. —(Hear.) The Hon. Member next adverted to the non-extension of protection to those engaged in the sewing embroidery of muslin, a branch of manufacture which was carried on extensively in Glasgow and Paisley, and also in Ireland. The manufacturers of furniture calico had, he observed, a similar gronnd of complaint ; the sale of their articles continued much longer in the market than that of others, and their business was something similar to that of pap-r -stainers, who had a copyright of 12 months given them by Poulett Thom son's Bill. That extension was all that he (Mr. T.) asked for the calico -printers, and he was certain that if it were granted them, it would be a stimulus to trade, it would bring an increased number of designs into the market, and augment the number of consumers. The deterioration which articles of manufacture suffered in this Country arose from the present state of the law. Another gentleman, Mr. Applegarth, stated that he was offered designs by Sir It. Smirks for a new class of calicoes for the interior decorations of rooms, but on ca l cu l a ting the cost, and taking into consideration the term of copyright, he found he should lose by the spe culation, and was obliged to decline them. Oa another occasion, he states that Sir David Wilkie, on his return from Italy, having been struck with the beauty of the interior decoration of the houses in Italy, gave him a ab t l e ig o e i d art to s series of designs in imitation of them, but for the same returnreason s them. a s in n the We fo e r o n m t eprun of the instance hew s obliged low state _ . permanent trade of the country, turned on cheapness and quality, and not on patterns. He wished he could put an end to the evil which thelßill was intended to remedy, without doing a greater injustice to our own designers, and interfering enormously with our foreign trade. He would give the Bill the fullest consideration, and if the principle of registration could be carried out in a practicable manner, he would certainly support it to the utmost of his power. On the whole, he thought that the most prudent course would be to extend the copyright from three months to six, but he would wait until be saw the Bill before he gave a decided opinion on its merits, and on the second reading he would be prepared fully to state his views. Mr. COL Q UHO UN thought that if it was the fact that the principal competition between our manufacturers of cotton and the foreign manufacturers consisted in cheapness and quality, and that design bad no share in the competition, it was highly important that protection should bo afforded to the highest kind of manufactures, and that our artists should be encouraged to improve their designs.—( Hear. ) Mr. MORRISON was of opinion that the competi tion in other countries tended to equalize the cost of pro duction in this country. He thought that the difference of price in different countries could be regulated only lay the - difference in the cost of transmission from one country to another. He thought that what was wanting in this coan try was the improvement of English art. In truth, most and quality, but also to supply of the claims for originality rested upon this ques tion —which of the claimants had first copied the foreign thou lmportance g h t design ? The Americans were now able not only to supply themselves with articles equal to ours in cheapness tjf e b 4h il t iu 7o 6 of the world, and to drive us out of the market. He that t to the t t h h e e i manufacture,mprovrn,tit o t f h t l ig e : i s g v s China and other parts have a protection fcoi at least a hele season; And be was in this country ; but here were three instances in which the imperfect state of the Lew had prevented THE SUN, LONDON. WEDNESDAY, FIMRUARY 10, 1841. desirous of dating that protection from the time of publi. cation. He did not think that the public would suffer by the copyright being extended to a period of six months, but he did not think it need be extended to a longer pe riod. The fact was, that that would be equivalent to ex tending it for twelve months, as the same patterns were never used in winter and summer. He was, there fore, of opinion, that a six months' protection would be as much as the manufacturer would desire. He was firmly persuaded, in any case, that a School of Design should be established; and it seemed to him somewhat disreputable to former Governments, that the country was still without one. It would be useless to talk of making any progress in the art of manufacturing ca licoes unless they bad such a school. They would be able, in that case, to compete successfully with foreigners, for they possessed some advantages over them. In por trait landscaper, he believed, there was no doubt but the artists of this country surpassed those of the Con tinent, however inferior they might be to them in his torical painting. He should conclude by repeating, that when the time came he should vote for extending the copyright of designs to a period of six months.---( Hear. ) Mr. WILLIAMS said that after having paid great at tention to the evidence taken before the Committee who had sat on that subject, he had come to an entirely different conclusion from the Hon. Member for Belfast. He was persuaded that a change in the present law of copyright of designs would prove most injurious to the calico-print ing trade of this country. The present law had been in operation for more than fifty years, and during the whole of that period, though many of the principal persons en gaged in the calico trade had seats in that House, not one of those parties had proposed any alteration of the law. He was sure that if they extended the period of protection to designers, such a measure would be a source of endless litigation. All designs were taken from the veget table or animal world, and how was it possible that every pattern taken from those sources could be a com pletely new one ? One of the largest calico-printers in this country had stated that 250,000 patterns were pro duced here annually; and there could be no doubt that not less than 30,000,000 of designs had been produced for the last fifty years. How then was it possible that new patterns could be any thing more than a compound of the old ones. If, therefore, they held the prospect of a higher reward to designers, they would be introducing a raeosure which would probably lead to litigation and abuse. Under these circumstances, ho would give his most decided op position to any attempt to extend the period of copyright of design, from an impression that it would be most inju rious to that branch of our manufactures. Mr. Sergeant TA.LFOURD did not mean to enter at any length into the questiaa then before the House. He could not, however, help saying, that having devoted many years to a similar subject, he felt it was the duty of the Legislature to protect the interests of those who devoted their time to artistical or literary labours. He sympa thised, therefore, in the exertions of his Hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, and he hoped his Hon. Friend would be more successful than ho (Mr. Sergeant Talfourd) had been in his undertaking. He would take the oppor tunity of saying, that though he 'had been defeated, he was not convinced; and while he continued a Member of the House he would do all in his power to insure a due protection to those engaged in intellectual pursuits. Mr. O'CONN EL L said that the Hon. Member far In verness ( Mr. Morrison) was manifestly right when he told the house that the competition was daily increasing be tween British goods and those of foreign manufacture, and that, in fact, the superiority in the finer qualities of goods lay decidedly with foreigners, who displayed more taste, more talent, more knowledge and skill, than the manufac turers of this country. They would beat compete with their rivals by holding out a sufficient reward to native industry. The Hon. Member for Inverness would have granted a protection of six months only to designers, while the lion. Member had himself proved that twelve months were ne cessary. He wished the Hon. Member would convince himself as he had convinced others on the subject. Now as the only question seemed to be whether the protec tion should be granted for six or twelve months, he hoped the House would consent to grant the protection to talent for the longer period ; for, after all, it was a pitiful question whether six months only, or twelve months' protection should be granted! Mr. HUME thought that his Hon. Friend, who had just sat down, was going a great deal too far.—( A laugh.) Was he certain that the granting protection ensured excellence? How was it that other countries excelled without protection being afforded them ? The manufacturers of chintz in Switzerland had never been excelled, and there they had no protection. He mentioned that country, because there they had no Custom-houses, and the Swiss manufacturer laboured under the disadvantage of having to bring the raw materials a long way by land to his manufactory. He thought instead of extending the time they ought rather to consider whether the three months at present allowed was not too much, whether they ought not to do away with all protection. The whole doctrine of protec tion was a fallacy. The witnesses who had been exa. mined said that three months was no protection, and if so there could he no harm in doing away with it. He thought the Government should correct the errors'of the old times, and do away with protection altogether. The true way to excel was to pay attention to those arts by which our manufactures might he made superior --.We were superior in weaving, h , hy should we not be in all other erts? He for one thought that all protection should be withdrawn. Mr. BRO "MERTON thought the House ought to pause before coming to a decision, when they considered the conflicting nature of the testimony given before the Committee, and that the Report in favour of copyright had only been carried by a majority of one. There was some thing like justice in asking, as the Learned Sergeant had done, for a copyright for authors ; but who would stand up and oak for a copyright for b ,oksellers ? Yet that was what was sought to be obtained by the present Bill. These designs were not the ieventious of the master printers themselves—they were purchased by them for a few shil hugs, and this Bill was to enable them to make rapid for tunes, by taking advantage of the inventions of others. Ile agreed with the lion. Member for Kilkenny, that there was no necessity for any copyright at all. It took two months to prepare the plates before a design could be struck off, so that after any design appeared it would be three morons plobably before a copy of it could be in the market. The Bill would give rise to endless litigation. He did not see how it wes possible to distinguish between a copy and an original pattern, and unless a system of re gistration were established it would be impossible for the honest tradesman to know whether the designs he might purchase were copies or not. The Bill was calculated to favour the few at the expense of the many, and be thought it was best to let well alone, and not make any alteration in the present law. Mr. WARBURTON thought his Hon. Friend the Member for Kilkenny went too far. He thought, with regard to the copyright both in literary works and mechanical inventions, no one could say that no remuneration ought to be afforded to the inventors. The great object to be kept in view was to reconcile the interem.s of the inventors with those of the public, to give some short period of copyright, just sufficient to act as a stimulus to the inventor, and, having done so, to secure the reversion to the public. That was the proper principle to found a Bill as regarded literary copyright, and the copy right of designs. If, as the Hon. Member for Inverness stated, the foreigners were so rapidly approaching us, that, in two or three years, they would be able to manu facture as cheaply as ourselves, they ought not to extend the copyright an inch beyond the time absolutely neces sary, as the designs might otherwise be carried to foreign countries, where fac similes would be produced ata cheaper rate than the original was, inasmuch as they would nut have to pay the original designer. He thought the term proposed by the Bill would be a hazardous term for the export trader of this country if it were carried into effect. Mr. EMERSON TENNENT replied, and the reso lution was carried, reported, and leave given to bring in the Bill. HER MAJESTY'S MESSAGE. SirJOHN C. HOBHOUSE, on the part of the Se cretary for the Colonies, announced that it was not the intention of the Noble Lord to move the consideration of her Majesty's Message that evening, in consequence of the lateness of the hour. He would also move that the House at its rising do adjourn to Thursday. Mr. HUME wished to know what pension it was pro posed to grant to Lord Keane. Sir JOHN C. HOBHOUSE-2,0001. a-year for him. self and his two successors after him. Mr. HUXE—When will the question be brought on? Sir J. C. HOBHOUSE—The first thing ou Friday. The motion was then agreed to. On the motion of Mr. O'CONNELL, certain returns relating to the licenced victuallers of Ireland and England were agreed to. JEWISH DISABILITIES. Mr. DIVETT had felt it his duty to put the motion, o, which he had given notice, on the paper, in consequence of his attention having been called to the disabilities under which persons of the Jewish persuasion laboured, by a peti tion from a gentleman named Salornons, which he had had the honour to present to the House, who com plained that he had been excluded from several corporation offices in consequence of his being of the Jewish persua sion; the gentleman in question was well known to many Members of that House. He had served the office of Sheriff of Kent, and he had also served the office of Sheriff' of London and Middlesex, and, on his completion of that duty, he had, by his fellow-citizens, been elected an Alderman of the City of London. He had however been unable to enjoy, that dignity as the declaration required to be take on entering in that office was of such a nature as to exclude all persons of the Jewish persuasion, who in consequence could not hold the lowest corporate office in the smallest borough intim kingdom. By the 9th Geo. IV. cer tain declarations were required to be taken by all corpo rate officers. It bad been found that these declarations excluded certain classes of dissenters, such as Quakers and Moravians, and a Bill had been introduced for their • relief by the Hoe. Member for Leeds. His object in the present Bill was to afford similar relief to persons profes sing the Jewish persuasion, and he was induced to hope this measure would be successful from certain observa tions made by a N hie and Learned Lord at the close of last Session, when presenting a petition from the same individual in another place. That Noble and Learned Lord had then expressed his opinion that this was a grievance which ought to be removed. Under these feelings, and with the impression that the Noble Lord entertained the same views, be should move for leave to bring in a Bill according to the terms of the notice he had given. Sir R. INGLIS objected to the Bill, as he believed it would be the com mencement o f a system which would terminate in an unmixed evil, and which would be used as the ground-work of further concessions. Mr. WARBURTON supported the Bill. There had been a great outcry in this country against Mehemet Ali's persecuting the Jets, while the fact was that they were persecuting them themselves. Mr. W. H. GLADSTONE objected to the Bill, but he would not divide the Home upon it in its present state. The effect of the Bill of the Hon. Gentleman would be to recognize the competency of the Jewish community to sit in Parliament, where they had to perform Christian duties. Mr. HAWES asserted that every subject of the Crown had a right to the enjoyment of ail civil privileges, with out the slightest notice being paid to the religious princi ples he entertaincd. Mr. A. WHITE thought it beneath the d:gnity of this great country, to keep such l aws on th e S tatute -b oo k, as those whi c h prevented- individuals of any denomination from occupying their civil status in society. He would give his most hearty support to the Bill of the Hon. Member. Mr. DIVETT having briefly replied, leave was then given to bring in the Bill. _ _ WINDOW DUTY. Captain PECHEL L moved for areturn of the window duty charged on hospitals in England in 1840 ; distin guishing the class of officers and servants charged therewith, and number of windows charged to each re spectively ; return of the duty on windows assessed for the twelve towns in England, which contribute the largest amount. The return was ordered to be made. COPYRIGHT DESIGNS BILL ENIMERSON TENENT brought up the Copyright Designs Bill. It was read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time on the Ist of March. The House then adjourned at Eleven o'Clock, until Thursday. LICENSED VICTUALLERS' AND GENERAL FIRE AND LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY. (From the Morning Adertiser.) On Saturday last, the first meeting of the above Corn pAny, empowered by Act of Parliament, was held at the London Tavern, Bishopsg ate- street. The Chair was taken at twelve o'clock precisely by Charles Bleaden, Esq , the Chairman of the Directors, supported by the Vice-Chairman, T. Powell, Esq., the Directors, and Auditors of the Company. After a few brief observations, the Secretary read the Report of the progress of the Institution during the last five years, which being infieitely more favourable tha❑ there was any reason to anticipate, elicited from an im mense body of Shareholders, who crowded the room, re peated thunders of applause. Upon the motion of Mr. lime, one of the Auditors, who vouched not only for the accuracy of the accounts, but for the strict economy which had been observed by the Direc tors in the management of the Institution, the Report was unanimously received and adopted. The re-election of the Directors and a new election of Committeemen was next proceeded with, when Mr. Vous ley, jun., Mr. H. Lancaster, Mr. Shenton, and Mr. Gib son, were added to the latter body, by a show of hands. Mr. CHILL? then moved, that all the original shares, amounting to 30,000, having been disposed of, and there being a strong demand upon ti.e part of the Lie:nsed Vic tuallers, to become proprietors as well as insurers in the Company, it was expedient on the part of the Company to authorise the Directors to make a fresh issue of shares, as autherised by the deed of settlement, as circumstances might direct, the said new shares not to be issued at a less price than 10s., or 50 per cent. premium. Mr. Child, in the course of a lengthened speech, gave the most fJrcible and convincing reasons in favour of his motion, and was heard throughout with the utmost attention. Mr. ANDERSON seconded the motion, and pressed upon the attention of the meeting the following facts:- 1. That the present capital of the Company was insuf ficient for complying with the numerous calls for safe loans of money which were made upon it, varying from 7i to 10 per cent. profit. 2. That if the capital of the Company were augmented from 150,0001. to 300,0001., which it might be by the ju dicious issue of the remaining shares, public confidence in its stability would be proportionately enlarged, to the great benefit of the Shareholders, and the satisfaction 'of the public at large. 3. That the increased business of the Office could be met by the existing establishment, or, at all events, by a slight addition to it, while the profits would necessarily be greatly augmented. 4. That if the issue of shares was mainly confined to Licensed Victuallers, there was every reason to believe, from the extended influence of that body, that while the numbor of fire and life policies would be greatly aug mented, the shares, instead of being deteriorated, would improve in value. Mr. COHENS and some other gentlemen contended against this view of the question, and argued that any ex tension of the shares would depreciate their value. The motion, however, was ultimately carried ; the feel ing of the meeting being distinctly that the Directors were, by their past conduct, amply entitled to the confidence of the Shareholders, and that the issue of the remaining shares might be safely left to their discretion. The next subject which occupied the attention of the meetir.g was the policy of extending its operations to marine insurances ; but several Shareholders having expressed their desire to be made better acquainted with the subject, it was moved by Mr. Vousley, sea, and unanimously car ried, that the Directors be requested to call a special meet ing of the Proprietors within three months, and to lay before it a detailed report of the risks and advantages likely to be encountered or derived from this new branch of business. The request was cheerfully acceded to by the Chairman and Directors, and there can be no doubt that ihis profit able branch of insurance will, as in the case of other in surance offices, be added to other profitable sources for the investment of the capital and lucerne of the Company. Yates of thanks were then unanimously agreed to, to the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Directors, Committee, the Actuary, Secretary, Auditors, Surveyors, and other officers of the establishment, after which it broke up amidst the applause of not fewer than 300 Proprietors. A more respectable meeting was never held within the walls of the City of London—the greatest unanimity in zeal for the prosperity of the establishment prevailed from the beginning to the end ; and the " Licensed Victuallers' and General Fire and Life Assurance Company" may now be set down as one of the most influential and stable of the present day. IHE DINNER At half-past five o'clock, as previously arranged at the meeting, a most respectirbla number of the largest and most influential Proprietors of the Company sat down at the London Tavern, to one of the most elegant dinners at which we have. ever been present. It exhibited all the taste by which Messrs. Bathe and Breach are now so justly celebrated, Fn.! gave the most unlimited satisfaction. The wines were of the highest character, and Mr. Jolly, Mr. Jones, and other gentlemen noted for their vocal talents, added the always delightful charm of music to the plea sures and festivities of the evening. C. Bicaden, Esq., was the chairman, and was supported as at the above meeting, and with the addition of Mr. Smith, the Solicitor of the Company, and Mr. D. Hill, one of the standing Counsel. Mr. S. Taylor was un avoidably absent on account of indisposition, and also Mr. Wire. The usual loyal toasts were proposed by the Chairman, in that style of calm but per suasive eloquence which pervades all his addresses; his health was proposed by Mr. M. D. Hill, and received in a manner which must have b:en in the highest degree pleasing to him ; that of the Vice-Chairman, T. Powell, Esq., and his brother Direc tors followed ; the health of the Committee, and thanks to them, was also duly given, and responded to by Mr. 13:nglcy, the Chairman; and finally, along with the Audi tors, the Press was not forgotten. Many eloquent and most gratifying speeches were delivered is the course of the evening; and from all that we could see or hear upon the occasion, we ouliesitatingly state, that " the Licensed Victuallers' and General Fire and Life Association" will become the largest insurance-office in the kingdom. The only complaint that was heard of was that the issue of the shares ought to have been much more extensive, inasmuch as the present Shareholders would have bought the whole of them even at a premium ; but this error, if error it be, is capable of correction, and the Directors deserve the ap probation of the Proprietors, as well as the confidence of the public, for their extremely cautious conduct in lending money, in insurances against fire—in life policies—and in the expenses of the office. MARKET INTELLIGENCE. (From the London New Price Current of February 9.) SUGAR.—Prices have still an upward tendeacy for• West India Muscovadoes, and there has been a good demand from the grocers for all descriptions since this day week ; the refiners have been buyers to a fair extent, and the total quantity disposed of during the three market days has amounted to 1,100 hhds and tierces, at prices Is higher for calory, and 6d for brown and grey sorts. Antigua fine and good yellow together has been sold at 83s 6,1 to 84s 6d, good middling and good 80; 6.1 to 82s Od e Dominica with less colour 80s, Jamaica good mid ding of fair complexion and strength 77s to 78s, Grenada and Demerara middling 75s 6d to 765, low middling from the different Colonies 72s 6d to 755, good low brown Ber bice and Demerara 71s 6d to 725; fine strong yellow is worth 85s to 86s, and any extra quality would fetch be yond that price. To-day there was a good deal of inquiry from the grocers for British Plantation, more particularly for coloury sorts, and the refiners were desirous to purchase, but the market being scantily supplied with samples, checked buying ; nearly all on show, however, amounting to 450 hhds and tierces, found ready buyers, arid the prices paid generally 6d above those of Friday or both brown and yellow sorts. REFINED.—In Refined Goods prices are Is above those of this day week; Standard Lumps at 95s 61 to 965; 'faders and Hamburgh Loaves fine 103 s to 105 s, good 97s to 101 s, brown lumps ord and floe 93s to 95s per cwt. In Treacle the operations have been to a fair extent, common at 34s Gd to 355; Patent 36s to 375, best old make 39s to 40a, and golden syrup 41s to 425. Pieces, fine 83s to 88s, mid wed good 77s to 823. Bastards, good and fine aorta have realized 66s to 735 for large par cels, and low and middling sorts 56s to 645. Bonded Crushed Sugar at 32s 3d to 32s 6d; Loaves 10 and 14lbs at 36a 6d to 38s, and 6lbs 403 Gd to 41s; the supply is small. For Treacle 14s 9d for present, and 153 for for. ward delivery; pieces 22s to 265. Bastards at 17s to 20s per cwt. Dutch Crushed Sugar at 308 91 on board. To-day the home trade were anxious to purchase Re fined goods, and standard lumps fetched 96s to 96s 6d. Treacle secured a fair sale. Bastards and Pieces sold freely at full prices ; in Bonded Crushed Sugar under 32s 3d there are no sellers. Mauftertus.—This afternoon the demand was active, and 6,102 bags at public sale were all disposed of at prices equal to those of Fridry last; low yellow went at 72s to 75s 6d, mid 76s to 775, good mid 78s to 78. s Gd, good and fine 793 to 83a 6d, low mid to fine brown 57s to 71s. EAST INDIA.—This afternoon the public sales consisted of 5921 bags, 102 boxes Manilla, and 1276 bags Siam, at which buyers evinced little disposition to do business : of the former a small part only found buyers, but holders refused to give way in prices, low mid yellow and good mid grey fetched 22; Gd to 245, being former rates: the latter bought in at 24s Gd to 263 6d. for low to good mid white, being the full value. Pottators.—Holders cf Yellow Havannah still display firmness at 24s for fair average parcels, 6d under that figure the Refiners are disposed to buy largely : 23s 6d to 24s 6d for middling and good middling, and damaged 20s 6d to 245. Fur White holders are reluctant to submit to lower rags, and bought in ncaily the whole of 820 boxes at public sale at 31s to 34z for low to good quality but gene rally soft; a few lots wore however disposed of, good mid , EVENING EDITION. dry at 32s 6d to 83s, ordinary 30s and damaged 271641 313 per cwt. Brazil realised full prices ;0 MOLASSES.--West India have been in brisk e rer elli o and rather hi g h er ra t es b tve b ee n paid fa th description. A n ti gua o f goo d en d free quality has , St, 37s 6d to 395; Demerara, fine 343, gold 325 aall Vincents, low a n d m iddli rg d ar k 32 s to 235, and Or Berbice 32s per cwt. prig COFFEE,—Prices continue on the decline for i 46 Plantation, the d eman d b e i ng li m it e d and the supp l y the market has presented a dull aspect since this daYbod for all qualities. This afternoon the home trade Ple 551 with more freedom of both East and West l E l ' l ' 3 'olol holders for the most part appeared unwilling t° former rates: at public sale 2,094 bags Ceylon, 101 , : d bags Java wer e o ff ere d ; one sa l e o f the former c oo l; of 1,000 bags was principally taken in Is ab °ll 6 d week's rates, viz , good ordinary even pale at 71 3 72 , , the small p a rt s o ld wen t a t 72 s 6d to 733 fe, D i gel dinary gree n , an d one l ot super i or 78 s 61, 9 0 ' 44 60 fetched 70 3 t o 75 5 , T r i age 26 s to 27 5 , d a maged 25 5 255. The other sale went at prices 6d to Is ah'fie of last week, goo d or d brown fetched 70s to 70s 6d t Rd ord mixed 67a to 683 6d, and the whole sold. J a l o sef taken in ab ove th e va l ue, v i z. at 60 a f or geed 8 °"0 green; privately, h owever, severa l par cels were s'eliss 563 to 58s for good ord pale and green. T he .ilysel i bought in at th e a b ove sa l e h as s i nce b ee n pri°4 — at hue ing in priers. 6 ,01 TEA.—Tbere has been a n i ncrease d desire e ven the part of the trade to purchase free trade docile. since this day week, and prices have further iref' led driri The public sale of 2 500 pkgs washed and ki ln- dad Tea, duty paid, west off at high prices, notraith sta soli the bad condition and indifferent quality . . C°l 4l o-rsse at 2i 9id to 33 11d ; Souchong 23 91 to 3 5 8 " 1 ; Pekoe 3s 0/d to 3s ; Twankay 3s 4d ; GOP° 6d to 3s ad ; Hyaon 3s 31c1 to 33 8.1 per lb. I r Te day the market for Frco Trade presented a is for pearance ; there was a good demand for cash P nrce adi actual consumption, and rather higher rates weed, is difficult to purchase C ommon Congou unan',loo per lb. In Company's Congou a good many Pu,nropt* were made at Is lid cas h, an d I s 8d with shor t P'" at which rates the markets closed firmly. Cocoa.—For West India holders apear new', ltd submit to lower rates, and bought in the principal roe o to „ 746 bags and barrels Trinidad at public sale at prices, the small portion however sold went 6d ta ris° cheaper for the lower so r ts, 50 5 t o 58 s w ere the queaesfai for middling to fin e b o ld re d, an d or di nar y grey 48sw per cwt. 0 10 6 RlCE.—Bengal has barely maintained its formerias toi by private tr ea ty m id w hi te has beer selling ; sel l' 13s 3d, at those ra t es h owever some partier tall For Java and Si am h o ld ers are not disposed to a ° ",01 0 onlyl C o a w r e o r l ratesn partly for : disposed so} public )mo seeud s e s o, a fn l sale, new quality a i b il a yd e s arot o r f 36 l?fE g :t .so o per cwt. bw„, Sricas.—This afternoon 3,453 bags ''"lo 9 white Pepper, 1,442 bags and 550 pockets n/11- ptiP Ginger, were offer e d a t auct i on : Bl ac k Pepper 104 cipally taken is at 311 to 33-l. for ordinary Easter° is id' rather above former rates. White mostly taken dling mixed dingy at Bd. Gi nger so ld at full price s , pun RUM, BRANDY, and HOLLANDS. For West 1 11 " 1 , 1 - 15 th prices have suffered no further depression. 2 ' value for proof Leetvards. East India is held for 2 ' o ,rit° 2s 4d proof: 25 puns Rum, from New yoik, ra t „ s s ifott were bought in at higher rates than the market W"' n rool' viz. Is 10d to 2s 8•I for 5 to 25 per cent overcrogol For Brandy lower rates not generally accepted; ,alist i a first brands of the vintage of 1836 has been ° A " 0 . „5" 5s 4d in birds, and 53 2d in puns, ditto 1837 h iw e 6 9br e puns ss, ditto 1838 birds ss, puns 4s 10d, ditto I ° , ! 4s 10d, puns 4s ad, ditto 1840 hhds 3s 10d, P un t Spy Geneva has maintained former rates. British C °fr a, firm at lei cash. To-day proof Leewards were t ) ' -r 2s 6i per gallon. et 5 a has been but a li m it e d business t rin ,: ll; in common d escr ipti ons o f Fi s h Oil s e i t h er for 1 1 2 1, 1, 11/ . , or export ; stll holders displ a y fi rmnes s, 32/. t.": F, :s the value of pale Seal, 271. Cod, 251. to 2 8 ' i 2ta• e i Southern of o r d an d fi ne quality • at p u blic sal e '', 0 7 1 Cod of indiff eren t qua li ty from dalifax sold at 2 41 1 - i PI 4 tuns of Dogfish Oil 22/ lO s to 231 10 s , 6 tuna f i n ,4 Oil, of first quality 32/ to 331 ss, 12 tuns of h°76; r, 141 103 to 15/, 6 t uns o f C o d bl u bber 10 ; te 9 1 1 tun. For Sperm prices gave way 4/ yor k fir good and fine quality f rom B oston an d New to 1001 10s, low and middling 82/ lOs to 96/ 16 °' 4' 0 vately, first quality is n o t t o b e h a d un d er 1021; OlO Headmatter at 70/ t o 85/ ; f or Li nsee d Oil, parse 4f spot at 26s 3d to 26 s 6d ; Rape has further irnP,r°lo fist to 47s ; brown 46 3 t o 46 3 6d. E ast I n dia 1 • 1°C at 313 to 40s f or goo d qua li ty. P a l m h as unde r c o soir variation. I n Oli ve pr i ces h ave f urther i mpr oved at 641, and Gallrpoli at 681 to 69/. t Oil This afternoon 645 cas k s C ey l on Cocoa Na public sale partly sold at 37s to 39s 6d per cwt. ~,,se TALLOW.—Prices continue g ra dually to iloP',obs'" Russia tallow. O n th e s p o t f or P. Y. C. 46a 93 t°' e att iA r been paid for large p arce l s . F or d e li ver y in tbe; months at similar rates ; f o r th e l as t three snonta,,: year 47s per cwt. South American 46s to 46s sorts. P. 11 it This afternoon a good demand p r evailed fo r me' Candle on the rpot an d f or d e li very , prices were 47s to 47s 3d per cwt. IRISH MARKETS. DUBLIN MARKET NOTE for the WEE. 00 l' K cHdint A . U • 1 It 0 To 37 0 6 0 16 0 lr 0 0 14 0 • From 6 S Wheat,per barrel 9.‘ stone..... 25 0 0 Bere .. , . l6s to - 1e..... 0 0 PO2 Barley i6 5t00 , ,.... 13 6 i 879 Oats 1 4 5teri....... 10 0 o Flour, per cwt , 1 , V0it5 . ...,,,, 0 542 Oatmeal Sold to Bakers only. 192 9,185 Cwt. flour ...„..„. . 9 0 2l 0- ck o i Average price at Wheat and lour 51- &l. per 5j0.t,04, Receipts Of I.lollr. 16,24,4 Fir,s-c 111.... from a , • od. to ..., Os secon,s ....... from ►a. 0 ,1 co J° Sal.s of Do. 09• , Tniat .„,..„. from 9s. • ig 1 PRICY 01 :311,1rArl. LIZ& , Quarter Loa. ...... ..9d.: 114:1 Qua , tern . •••-," , p t'Vheat (per 1105t.).27- OJ. tt.3ls 61 CORI., MA R KETS.--Feb. 6 „ oj, t0,,/ j 4 0 vats iper !15t.... ;• 0" Barlcy (per 1(ist.)11 3 13 9 Igor: (per cwt ).,.. 1.., Oat weal (per ewt.)...............t5. ocl to His Ot , f d Meet; dd. to 7d.—Mutton, bd. tnfld.— Veal, ild te v .. Pork, 41.1. to 5d -Fresh Butte:, 10d. to lld Pe r - erf Piticg OF IiuTTER. CO I.- To the Merchants. To t he :6 F;rst Quality... ........ .......,...)06, • .....-"" .. ..4. . - leetrid Third .... ........ .. - Fourth -- '''''''' ••.• ..... 00 9 3 ..... • ••••••••••••• .. Fifth S 7 ....•... I ••••••4 .. :', • . . t Sixth ti . CLON NELL MA a KETS —Feb. 6 0. 0 8. d. s. d e r t. wt , s. d' v %' i . „ u New Butter 'A, OtoPO C Hide/ (ravi1...... , . 4 0 i Oatmeal l2 0 12 3 BacoliP:gs ..... ....• 46 1 o Rendered Lard 0 b 2 0 Heads .............- ••••`'„ 0 0 0 Per Rai,. 0 ~ flour, Second.. ( 14 ,I k (.1 taut ,11.4111.3...” ',l 0 0 0 —Household 42 0 1-- Fourws- ...., ' 1 4 Per Barrel. la . aapeseqd. 20 0 C I Barl:17 ..... -•••• .1 Bore S 4 10 t. i C., 4 1s ......... . ........ --- KILKENNY MARK.E..IS. 0 ,. ocl- a :0 e / Wheat ,pir barrel):3oi Od. to 375. Od. 'Beef ", Jet 1r.... • 5 .0 , &sr' cy " 0 0 22 Ii Muttea ....—“ , —• 0 0 'vats - 6 11 fi Pork, . ...... .....-- '0 6 11 8 Flour (per bag)....'01) 0 41 , 0 'V e , i' .- ......:-., 4 0 0 0 0 Butter(perewt.)..,9o 0 9, 0 e rev , Br,er .. ~ 6 ~ Bacon Pigs l 3 0 36 0 , ;a a 01UP ..... .... J . , - ' Coal:4 1 0 1 2 Potatim ,per st../ 0 1 1. SILVER PLATED DISH COVERS:'IO. SAVORY and SONS, Manufacturing Silversnli t ' s ,:blei t ylP Cornhill, London, opposite the Bank of Englaill, Sara PLATED choice, in their plate-rooms, many patterns 0 ' t ofu PLATED DISH COVERS, of Sheffield manufa e Fifteen to T wenty Guineas the set, viz. : t er e .P 11 Double Dome Pattern. 11 The Melon Fa-t Sir g 'h Size. s. d. i• I Plated Dish Cover, 20 i n . 5 13 C I Pl ated D i s h C o ver, 48 1). 4 1 • , I „ Dish Cover, 18 in. 4 76 1 „ Dish Cover 2 „ Dish Covers, H in. 512 0 2 „ Dish Covers ,. Per Set .Ll 5 13 0 Per Set•••• n d ar The above have sil ver h an dl es an d niountings, ;,oee C o o shields for engraving th e crest or coat of arms. A f o relkd rent, illustrated by drawings, and containing e very o ff V ? , relative to the purch ase o f s il ver or Sheff i eld plates et on application, or will b e sent i nto the country, f r ee in answer to a paid letter. ---. 5.; ea SPOONS and FORKS, strongly P_- at by .4 o. Silver on a white metal, and consecuently not is 21., to show any other colour. Table Spoons or Yer"" er claso, per dozen. Dessert Spoons or Forks, Two Guineas Po 0 Tea Spoons, 235. per dozen. Gravy Spoons, 94. Soup Ladles, 16s. each. T. COX SAVORY, Silversmith &c., 47, Corolla! (Seven doors from 01:°:10, church-street) Landon Of SI tiff N.B. A Pamphlet, con t a i n i ng a li st o f t he prices Plate, Plated Goods, Wat c h es , Cl oc k s , & c ., maybe h a d Or HA or will be forwarded, post fr ee , i n answer to a post P cation. S __---, s i SUPERIOR LONDON TABLE . 1 " e 12g" with Ivory Handles, 14s. er dozen • Dessert Kn i/ h l s te 5, Carvers, 51. 6d. per pair; Table K ' nives, wit h ,:loserb d o, handles, as. Bd. per dozen , Dessert, 6s. 8d• ; `'„'",,(- shs,r of per pair ; Globe-shape Tea-urns, 4 quarts, 275• !,* s 'ibe 0 ' 39e. ; Papier Macke Tea-trays, gothic) shape, 6L ' e ; 1 ,411' full sizes. , 0 fti ri Catalogues, containing the price of ever tid e - , y art i cle ing ironmongery and cutlery, gratis. tre e " - RIPPON and BURTON, Wells-street, 6Oxford- Established 1822 .1............„. ., BIRTHS. dog i r p On the 6th i ns t., a t B rom l ey , M rs. H . B erge r, of e ..re y,) On the 7th i ns t., a t Upper 'The-hill, Brixton , S u ' . • 14° Rule, of a d aug ht er . o f , „ On the 7th inst., the lady of F. O mman ney, 01 " it folk-street, of a son . l'ir• Odle On the 7th inst., at Brighto n , th e l a dy of F. „. r t. Esq., of a eon. , a of ti. On the Bth inst., in Bloomsbury-square, the 12-4 k Emmet, Esq., of a daughter. _Aso Pre On the Bth inst., the lady of Ramon de Bertou to r, Esq., of a daughter. 01 1 IC. „„ ° On the Bth inst., at Twi c k en h am , th e w ife of C. _....-" Esq., of a daughter. --------- ipso MARRIED. O4 a On the 6th inst., at Christchurch, Hants 1" . ; i j in . 0 . f , ° of Bellina Villas, Kentish -town, to Sarah 14°1.- $ gel. daughter of A. Dale, Esq., o f Ch r i s t c h urc h. e On the 6th i ns t., at St. Marylebone Chur ch, ftorbc.' o f r: Edward Forbes, Ra.insev, Hants, seecnd son of 44 ., o f Jr:ttr Newstone;Meath, and raig-a- Wad, in the oogn i l j o to °7 l ll Esq., to Juliana Anne, eldest daughter of the 4 At Bane Richard William Latter, formerly of the er)s - lott 6 ard Commandant o f th e R ungpore B atta li on . C hi° At Charlton Ch urc h, L. H. J. T onna . Esq" i 0 Elizabeth, relict of the late Captain Pheh.n. ic 00' D 1 RD. Jr. - i-- On the GU'inst., Emily, youngest daughter of po p , dell, of Clapham- c o mmon , age d 3 mon ths. j. D° b At Calcutta, Thomas Hague. se co nd son of sr . Vi e , of St 'Thomas street, Southwark. Dalyeli, y n ei t i, h e of l ß st in i n n s s t : B , a a t a ß . , in c n o s n l v i c o n u e s r e, o fLtiinl the i telotguon%ts;.llir.ekt!iti Sir J 3 On the 3d inst., at Cadwell House, Devonshire, to' De b! Churchman Long, of Dunstan Hall, Norfolk. n , On the 4th inst., at Clough House, near B ult° of shire, Hannah, widow of the late G. Poulson. On the 7th inst., in Gloucester-place, C. michelif Pl.' Forcett Hall, Yorkshire, aged t'6. --- of ~vrivt.o London: Printed and - PubliFhed by 111URDO T'stra,ol. No. 112, Strand, at Me Sun Office, No. 1 - 12 ' 1 0. the county of hliddlesez.—Wednoday, Februarl " Conlbination C° TT ,I 8 ;4f•alt74n vilartiqj i end pl NI the f lti o l ,: h les of L L. lnay b e h 'Or OSee Ibt 4 },L li o• Ite 4L -44 ah 4 19, k" C li oder T te -z $h Vi Ntcoj ,~ \