The Sun. — London, England, 1842-07-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT o the PUBLIC JOURNALS. FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY. GLOBE.—The changed position of Sir Robert Peel, from leader of the Opposition to head of the Go vernment, has involved him with the ultras of his arty with reference to what he has done, and what le has not done, in his new character. This has already, to a considerable extent, had the effect of undeceiving their hope iind of shaking their attachment. Another oczesion of discord in the matter of Church Extension by Parliamentary grants from the national revenue, still remains. Sir Robert Peel's silent and sulky vote on . Sir R. H. Inglis's motion in the last Parliament, was anything but satisfactory to the Oxford Baronet, and those who regard him as leader of the Church militant in the House of Commons. Still it was hoped Wit that vote, constrained as it was, might be taken as a pledge of better things to come. At the last election, therefore, the High-Church party lifted up their ban ners in his name, and zealously beat up for votes in fa vour of his candidates. If Sir R. Peel were placed in office by a Tory majority returned to the House of Commons, the waste places of the National Church would be restored, by the erection of new churches and large additions to the established clergy, at the national expense. The good old times would be re vived ; when the nation was church-ridden, and Toryism was the creed, religious and political ; the articles of which were imposed as the terms of civil privileges in this world, and enforced as essential to happiness in the next. The organs of the party to which such expectations were held out and such arguments applied, begin to suspect that gross deception was practised upon their simplicity ; and, as a matter of course, to complain of and to resent it. The last session of Parliament passed over without any allusion to the grand scheme of im posing new taxes upon the entire nation, already over burdened and crushed to the very earth by the extent and severity of commercial distress, to supply the deficiency of church accommodation and religious instruction which the defective appropriation of the large revenues of the Church had in part occasioned, and which the existing funds of the Church, if properly husbanded and .applied, would go far to provide. The reason for this omission was suspected. It was shrewdly guessed that its introduction would provoke a discussion anything but advantageous to the new Govern ment. It would compel the Premier to take a de cided. course on a very difficult question. In avoiding Scylla he would run upon Charybdis ; for a middle course was impossible. He must either propose a grant, or oppose it, if moved for. Sir R. Inglis would fain have preserved his Right Hon. Friend at the head of the Government from the dangers which threatened him frcm the Church Ex tension scheme. This, however, was impossible. His own consistency must have been compromised by an abandonment of his project. He was pledged to bring it forward " under the happier auspices ' of a new Parliament. He, however, gave the Premier " a long day," as the only favour he could bestow. STANDARD.—Upon the House of Commons going into Committee on the Bill for the Queen's protection, Mr. Hume got up, with his usual feli city and characteristic good taste, to pronounce a coarse invective upon the lavish expenditure, as he affects to esteem it, of her Majesty's Court. " If anything," he said, " could be more dissatis factory to the great mass of the people than an other, it was to see, outside of the palace, squa lid poverty, misery, and wretchedness, in all their painful variety, and to behold withinside the palace nothing"—mark, nothing—no sympathy for the Spitalfields' weavers—no effort for the relief of the Paisley sufferers—no gracious supplications from a Queen in behalf of her distressed subjects— " nothing but extravagance, gorgeous grandeur, and expensive finery." Having by this malignant contrast done his utmost to direct upon the Sove reign the worst feelings of the ignorant and un principled, the Member for Montrose expressed his approbation of . the Bill for the protection of her Majesty. Sir Robert Feel, whether mildly or sar castically, suggested the hypothesis that the Member for Montrose had mistaken the question before the . House for a qUestion of Supply, and exposed the folly of supposing any connexion between the Itoyal expenditure and the public distress. Sir Robert Inglis remonstrated against the ungracious ness of Mr. Hume's speech upon such an occa sion, and destroyed Sir Robert Peel's charitable or ironical hypothesis of a mistake, by marking the expression by which Mr. Hume referred to the ques tion actually before the House—an expression which will be found at the conclusion of his speech. Never theless, Mr. Hume and Mr. Williams, of Coven try, made a clumsy attempt to shelter the offen sive speech behind the pretence of a blunder. Ques tionlem the occasion upon which Mr. Hume deli vered his gross attack upon the Queen adds to its ungraciousness • but nothing can aggr a vat e th e wicked sedition of the words which we have quoted, or the utter falsehood of the inference to which these words were manifestly designed to lead. Words mere exactly calculated to raise up among, the ignorant and thoughtless, profligate and despe rate, not nksck, but real assassins, could not fall from the lips of man. The people are represented as ex posed to squalid misery and wretchedness in all their painful variety, the Queen is described as indulging in extravagance, gorgeous grandeur, and expensive finery, revelling in epicurean luxury and its epicurean indifference. " Notting" else is to be seen 111 the Palace. Her Majesty's painful discharge of the distracting duties of her high station, those noble efforts by which she has proved her constant . and mast affectionate sympathy with the wants of the humblest of her people, are all rejected from Mr. Ilume's picture of his Sovereign—a picture sketched too on a day, or in a week (we may give gp the inquiry as to the particular minute), when the question is raised by an unhappy necessity, how best her Majesty can be protected from personal danger. The Earl of Lincoln, in the course of a graceful speech mentioned a circumstance that may teach Mr. Hume that the Queen does sometimes think of other matters than extravagance, gorgeous grandeur, and finery. It appears that when the plan of Buckingham Palace was prepared in the reign of George the Fourth, a chapel was foTotten—and at present the Royal Household have no pince of worship nearer than the Chapel Royal, at. St. James's, an occasion of much inconvenience in bad weather. The Queen, in consequence, resolved to supply thi s wan t, an d that it might be supplied without any demand upon the public, devoted to the purpose a grant made for the building of two con servatories. STATE OF TRADE IN SCOTLAND. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) The utter destitution of the industrial classes here at this moment, in its harrowing details, exceeds be- Fgt . . Montrose, Perth, and Arbroath, exhibit fright ful evidence of ruined trade, in the condition of the working classes. In Aberdeen—though of compa ratively recent growth—the list of unemployed is swelling weekly, and has already attained an alarming appearance. Perhaps throughout Britain the present condition of Aberdeen—in its marked change, compared withthe state of trade only a few months back—is without a parallel. In Pa - isley the all but complete bankruptcy of the manufacturers and traders was only a prelude to the state of utter helplessness in which the labouring population appear to be ; and that state of destitution and misery is hardly credible. The soup kitchens are sustained with difficulty • and only exist through the imm ense sacrifices made by various charitable individuals in their regular donations. The ralhef list every week gives evidence of yet more serious barriers being in the way of raising the re citilroctamount to meet the necessary outlay. In Duna dee, owing to a great many of the Staple articles of trade being shut out of the French market upon which Dundee mainly depends—the utmost stag flation pervades all branches of manufactures. The flax mills are closing ; and men and women crowd the streets in idleness; yet willing to toil. The town is canvassed every day for subscriptions in aid of the unemployed labourers. In Glas gow the public works are closing. Cotton mills and other factories are only kept open half time, at serious loss to the manufacturers themselves. Shop keepers and small manufacturers are in a like posi tion ; for the custom of the one is gone, and the latter have nothing to do. The busiest streets evince this fact to an extent almost beyond belief. In nearly every street there are whole rows of shops shut up, while those that are open scarcely draw as much, in retail, as will cover the expense of porters' wages for a single week ! All trades are suffering 'alike. In Edinburgh—although de pendiug more upon its local consumption than any other source of revenue—the number of tradespeople out of work is very great, and daily increasing ; es pecially in such 'trades as printing, brassfounders, and A private letter from Ayrshire, dated July 12, tells a fearful tale of distress amongst the spinners and weavers of that quarter. The writer is a schoolmas ter. lie says : " I hear that it is with the greatest difficulty and ex ertion the people of Paisley are kept quiet; and should something not be done immediately, we cannot but contemplate the most fearful consequences. Things are getting every day worse and worse !" ' •I• or:LT111i :KNIGHTSBRIDGE COMPLETE SUFFRAGE As ;_ SOClAFlON.—Wecinestlay this Association held a meeting at Thornton's Coffee-house. Mr. Stempson was called to the chair. After the transaction of the ordinary busi ;. 4.- ne m, Alr. Westerton opened the discussion on the fol tlowing question—" What are the best means for inducing -the middle classes to join the suffrage movement ?" The usual objecti.ms of the tradesmen who abstained from jnining were stated and replied- to by Mr. Weaterton; wheu,:on the motion of Messrs. Giffard and Watts, the disc6ission was adjourned to next Wednesday evening. Colonel Ferguson and family, the Compte de Boelzig, Captain Kinlock, and the Rev. Mr. Devey, arrived in town yesterday morning, by the General Steam Navigation Company's steam-ship Wilberforce, from Antwerp. ANTI-CORN•LAW CONFERENCE. The Rev. J. S. BAILEY, of Sheffield (in continuation from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday) said—This he knew that, independent of the distress that prevailed, there was a feeling among the people throughout the country that they lived under a cruel and heartless Government. — (Cheers.) Now, was he one of the Government, he should not be willing to hear such testimony as this ; he should be sorry to hear the people make such declara tion ; and he should think that common honesty would dictate the necessity of washing away such an asper sion. —(Hear, hear.) He would appeal to gentlemen present from other parts of the country whether such was not the impression entertained by the people gene rally.—(Cheers.) He would say nothing of the justice of the impression—he spoke to the fact of it. Such an impression was not likely to be a cypher.—(Cheers.) The people were discovering their feelings by deter mining not to petition • some of the Members of the House of Commons thought this was a proof of the people's patience. Such was not the case ;it was a proof of the people's contempt, as they said they might as well petition the wall as the aristocracy.—(Hear, hear.) Were not such opinions as these calculated to bring the aristocracy into contempt ?—(Cheers.) One blast of the breath of the people would destroy the aris tocracy.—(Cheers.) Why, then, should they beard the popular lion ?—(Cheers.) A stranger coming to this country from the dominions of the Czar, or the king dom of Prussia, and going to Parliament first, and then to different parts of the country, would suppose that Parliament was a great device to starve and impoverish the people.—(Hear, hear.) For his own part he thought the country would be better under a state of despotism than to be governed by such a Parliament as they had at present.—(Cheers.) He was persuaded this was the feeling of the great bulk of the people of the country. — (Cheers.) He considered such a state of things the highest censure on Parliament.—(Cheers.) If they looked into other countries that had no Parliament they would find no national debt—(Cheers) —they would find the people better educated, the poorer classes happy, and their cottages the scenes of contenL—(Cheers.) Ought such a state of things as existed in this country to con tinue ? They had been told they must try Parliament, and the course that had been adopted showed that as far as the power of the aristocracy could go, they would carry it to keep up such a state of things.—(Cheers.) He was persuaded if they could put a stop to the spirit of liberty that existed among their friends in Parlia ment, it would find time to cripple the people, and make peace for the coming winter by abridging their comforts, although it could not find time to look to the interests of the millions.—(Cheers.) It would 'be the fault of the people if they allowed Parliament to break up without bringing forward some measures for the re lief of the country from its present dreadful condition. He had not been in the House of Commons till Monday last since the time when faction was baffled in 1828, be- cause the public credit was run down by noble-minded men, who were determined to destroy the public credit or gain their measure of relief. He had not been there since, he said, till Monday last, and then he was struck with the heartless manner in which the Members seemed to take into consieeration the measure introduced by Mr. Villiers. Numbers were lounging about in a room, playing with their whips, and expressing their anxiety to get away, instead of being desirous to sit all night in the discussion of a question which concerned the bread of the people.—(Hear, hear.) The people knew that this was a ques tion which bore with dreadful efficacy on the morals of the country ; the Government might not know it, but the people did. The first victims of the morals of revolu tion were those who brought it on—a bad Government. He said that Sir R. Peel was an educator in the morals of revolution—that he was doing more to bring on a vio lent revolution than any man had done since the year 1798.—(Hear, hear.) In those parts of the country with which he (Mr. Bailey) was familiar, the people were being educated to an abandonment of self-respect, and when that was gone, all was gone from the mind ; and the great guardian power of aristocracy would soon be trampled in the dust. If they looked over the crimi nal lists they would find that the increase in the number of criminals was frightful. The reason of it was clear ; they would remember the statements he hid read to them last week, relative to wages in 1838, and wages in 1842 ; the wages in 1838 being often more than three times as much as in 1842, and the difference in the amount of crime would be found to vary precisely in the same ratio as wages differed.—(Hear, hear.) If they looked at the poor-houses, they would see the same thing. He could remember the time when the poor used to steal into the poor-houses, to go there by night, when they practised privacy, and thought it to be a great dis grace to be known to be on the parish. There was no such delicacy now, for the other day when he put out a paper to the poor in Sheffield, upwards of a thousand brought hi.n a confession that t,:ey were on the parish. The effects of the Corn-law upon education were obvious; education was one of the first things to suffer deterioration. One woad think that a wise man, like Sir R. Peel, would look thirty years ahead of him. Here was the boyhood of the population growing up without education; the boys, when they should be forming correct habits, were thrown on the streets, and had nothing to occupy their time; females went to still worse occupations. They ought to look 30 years a head. What sort of men and women would these youth become ? But what cared an aristocracy for the morality of the next generation ? What cared they for the morality of the universe ? Iris firm belief was, that if the universe were threatened with destruction, and a proposition was made to save it, the discussion of such a proposition would not occupy above five minutes in the House of Parliarnent.—(Hear.) Could they doubt that religion was neglected when the people were starving ? Was it likely that a man who found himself on the verge of bankruptcy, with his last sove reign broken, could pay that attention to religion which lie once found so congenial to his heart to cultivate ? Men of the world, when maddened to desperation by des pair, could not be expected to turn to that source which i would really afford balm and consolation to the broken spirit.—(Cheers.) He need not speak to them of the distress that did 'exist, he need not tell them that it re- I quired a great stretch of the imagination to fancy a man on the verge of bankruptcy; suffice it that my Lord Stanley, Sir Robert Peel, and the apostate Graham had admitted it.—(Cheers.) But they did not send to inquire where the distress existed, they did not send to the Delegates to explain it in detail; but if a rumour were to reach Down ing-street that the property of the aristocracy was in danger, and that the funds would sink 2i per Icent. to-night, Sir Robert Peel would not think it beneath his dignity to hunt out the meanest man in London who could tell him anything of the dreadful rumour which .had reached his ears.—(Cheers.) But they had a contemptible Government.—(Hear, hear.) What was Sir Robert Peel ? An alumnus of Castle reagh, a mouth-piece for repeating the words of the Earl of Liverpool, one who made the worst appear the best reason, at the feet of the immediate successors of the monster Pitt.—(Cheers.) As to Stanley, the Hotspur of the Cabinet, he was known advantageously to them, he had been formerly applauded throughout the land, , as a wondrous debater ; aye, but he was known to the people as a man who was- the active, instrument of stamping the triumph of liberty with the golden bribe of 20,000,0001. sterling.—(Hear, hear.) Of Graham, little need be said. He stood the self-confirmed apostate every night.—(Cheers.) There were Members in the House of Commons, who, on whatever subject lie spoke, could pull from their pockets the proof of his base apos taey ; and he was now the nightly expounder of the wickedness and folly of the opinions he expressed in Parliament in 1826, 1827, and 1828—his own book was his best condemnation and ‘•incur omuiuni ;" he need not say anything more about it.—(Loud cheers.) That was the class of men who composed the Govern ment—men, of whom, if it were said, " Let them have a pension, and go to enjoy it in another land," there is not a man in the country, except the extreme of their own party, who would not vote for their expatriation. —(Loud cheers.) It was necessary for them (the meeting) to look to what they could, and what they could not do, so that they should not .waste their strength on the air. —(Hear, hear.) SOme recommended that they should resort to physical force. But that was not their (the Delegates') judgment ; that was not their religion ; that was not their policy.— (Hear, hear.) But if they did not raise that power, there were those who would do so.—(Hear, hear.) It was not necessary to have leaders—it was not necessary to have Anti-Corn-law lecturers to raise it. It would arise out of the spontaneous upheavings of misery. —(Cries of "Hear, hear.") Nor was it mere probability that it might arise ; but he was sure that it would arise, unless the Government, warned at last by the symptoms of the times, have the wisdom of cowardice, as it had not the wisdom of justice. They (the Dele gates) were not able to shake the public credit, as had been proposed. It was true that Catholic Emancipation would not have been carried but for the money question. —(Hear, hear.) It was very well known that many other questions would net have been carried but for it. Oh ! he felt shame for his country that that House opposite (pointing to the House of Commons), which exists only for the purpose of securing liberty of speech, and free course of truth ; that with all the Foxes, the Sheridan, and the Broughams of that House, no question was ever settled, be it right or wrong, of truth or of justice, but it always came to the image and superscription of the penny.—(Cheers.) Let not the Government lay the flattering unction to its soul that public credit would not be shaken.—(Hear, hear.) Indeed, they (the Delegates) would not attempt to encourage a run upon the Bank, in the appro priation of wages only to the friends of the people. But this he thought was as certain to come as that the sun would descend at night, and that the coun try was at this moment in a state of misery. There was one little thing in operation. The man who was re ceiving, in 1838, wages of 20s. 6d. a week was now re ceiving ss. only.—(Hear, hear.) That vas the first tide wave that would move the mighty waters of the nation, and shake the public credit, until it fell in a ruined House and a bankrupt Exchequer.—(Hear, hear.) They could not recommend abstinence from excisable articles. They could not themselves abstain from them, for they had their wives and sisters to please, who would at all events have their tea and luxuries of excise. --(Hear, and a laugh.) They could not r ecommen d pass i ve re sistance to the Income-tax. But as to the Excise. hunger will not use excisable articles—the pauper will not use them—the unemployed in thousands a n d t h ousan d s will not use them.—(Hear, hear.) As to the Income-tax, the assignee at the Bankrupts' desk will stop the payment of that—(Hear)—.when the middle classes begin to swell with indignation, when they . have the livid spectre standing at their elbow, and turning over their books, and subjecting them' to inquisi torial interrogatories, and insinuating a charge of frau dulent. representation—(Hear)—then they would turn on . the official, and put him out of doors.. The dissolu tion of the present Parliament was not to be effected. The people forestalled themselves at the late elections.-- (Hear, hear.) They had been urged to attend to the registration, and they had left that to their enemies ; and now the remedy was perfectly hopeless, unless a great revolution should take place in the state of the constituency, by the aristocracy neglecting the registra tion, which was not likely to be the case. So long as the people could be fed with praise instead of bread—so long as they could be restrained from plundering the pro vision stores—so long as the parks of the aristocracy could be preserved from invasion, and the wheels of Government could go round with a little creaking— (A laugh)—Par liament would not be dissolved unless it pleased God to let in some hand, which would throw all into confusion. —(Cheers.) What they had to look to was to raise an exalted, united, determined public opinion. (Hear, hear.) It had been said that London must be raised, and it could be raised.—(Hear, hear.) It was per fectly disgraceful to London that it should be the least patriotic part of the country. (Hear, hear.) They knew that it was the power of opinion that ruled the world. It was that which gave force to the sceptre, terror to the gallows, an edge to the sword, power to the army, winds to the ship, lightning to the artillery, force to eloquence, power to poetry, charm to money, and influence to man. It was opinion that ruled the world in every form of life, in every species of opera tion.—(Hear' hear.) Now what they had to do was, to get hold of public opinion, and to wield this mighty power against those vicious laws which made food dear and labour precarious, which caused taxes to press with the most rigour upon those who were the least capable of bearing them, and conducted Government upon the worst possible set of principles. (Hear, hear.) The Go vernment had fairly admitted that there was great dm- ress, but they said that the Corn-laws ; - vere not ,he cause of that distress. Very well, but what cared the poor man about the cause of the distress ?—(Hear.) He was wronged, he was injured ; what did it matter to him about the cause of the injury ?—(Hear, hear.) The knowledge of the cause, unless he was the person to apply the remedy, was no very great comfort to him as a sufferer. What did it matter to im whether Sir Robert Peel attributed the existing distress to the Corn-laws or to something else ? What- ever was the cause they had a right to look to him for the remedy.—(Hear, hear.) He had undertaken to govern the people, he had undertaken to cure or to kill the patient ; let them keep him to the terms of his en gagement.—(Hear, hear.) He predicted that instead of the thorn, the fir-tree would come up under his sway ; that instead of the brier, the myrtle tree would flourish under his rule ; he assigned all the distress to the Government of the Whigs—all the misery to the ascendancy of Lord John Russell and his party ; he sneered at a diminished income ; he sneered at the representatives of trade ; and now that he had had fuller swing in the House of Commons than he ever in many instances, 60 or 70 per cent., from the inability of occupants to pay the landlord's claims. I will now add, that, in cottage property, the average reduction in annual receipts is fully 50 per cent. Mr. J. BRIGHT said he rose for the purpose of submit ting a resolution. agreed upon by the Executive Com mittee. He did not know if there was any particular business to be transacted during that sitting ; if not, he would make a few observations which did not bear upon the resolution. He was unwilling to take up the time of the Conference during that sitting, because he was quite satisfied that it was of the utmost importance that the details of the distress of the country should be brought fairly before the Conference, and by that means before the Governnment. For several days they had been occupied in hearing the details of suffering and distress. There was no tribe, however uncivilised, where there was so much distress and suffer ing as was to be found in Stockport, Colne Leeds, Sheffield, and other places he could mention. What was the reason of all this ? In coming up from Lancashire to London, it struck him that nature was smiling, and that Providence smiled on the country, every thing seemed to be smiling kindness ; but there was another picture, and that was man oppressing his fellow-man. Lord Stanley, the other night, said that the distress was entirely beyond the control of himan legislation. There never was a man more ignorant of the distress ; and he was sure that every one who perused the speeches of the Delegates in that room , must feel that it required the immediate attention of the Government. He supposed it was not possible to point to a country on earth, in which a state of things existed equal to that now in this land of civilisation, commerce, and all the appliances by which human life was rendered happy and prosperous. It had been shown that the Est - Tering was not confined to any one point of the country, but was spread over the whole country; and he was sure there was not so much suf fering and calamity in any other nation of the earth. It was said bad harvests were beyond human control. Why they knew that very well; but they knew perfectly well that when Providence affliCted is with a bad harvest, the same benevolent Providence‘iad given us other places to go to, if the law allowed use to remedy the evils a bad • harvest inflicted. There was no doubt but they suffered from bad harvests ; and thos* evils would be almost en had before since he was one of the petty secretaries of my Lord Castlereagh, now that he had all the aristocracy and the registration, and the weakness of the other fac • tion, and a great part of the democracy on his side, now that Providence had thrown into his hands a fine occa tirely removed, certainly grettly alleviated, by the esta. blishment of a perfectly free trade in the country.— (cheers.) People said there were 27 millions of inha bitants in Great Britain. Over population was an evil, and emigration was the remedy. He (Mr. Bright) never could discover why 27 millions should not be as com fortable as 15 millions were. He thought all the burdens of the taxes would be more easily borne if the people Were not so wealthy as they were formerly. The 15 millions of inhabitants were engaged in ministering to each others wants, and every man was maintained ; therefore 27 millions were just as likely to keep them selves in comfort and prosperity as the 15 millions. But it would be seen that the action of the Corn-laws pre cluded our obtaining a supply from neighbouring countries. When they had a pcpulation of twenty-five millions, and a supply of food only adequate to the subsistence of seven millions, there mist be a complete scramble amongst the people to obtain it, in which the weakest must go to the wall. The mai of inferior strength and of un skilled labour must iut up with a shorter supply. At this moment this was tie condition of the people, though they worked harder tian ever they worked before—ten, twelve, fourteen, ark sixteen hours a-day, and some .almost day and night, and yet with doing all this they !were not able to obtaii food. The only result of their ;increase of population was, that the same supply of food 'had to be spread wer a larger number of people, when there was nc corresponding increase in the supply of food.—(llar, hear.) If they looked into this state of things they would at once see the re medy they must come to, and his object would be to show that there we: but one, and how its operation would be certain. -Ht would take Stockport as a proof that in the present ditressed state of the country, cir cumstances rendered it absolutely imperative for a Go vernment to do something; it was necessary that every individual who felt for the very existence of the country, should at this time do everything in his power to bring these statements before the public. In Stockport' the mills and machinery were unoccupied, the workmen were discharged, property greatly fallen in value, and the streets &populated. What was the re sult? The populatioi must live, if not upon wages, upon the poor-rate;, and the effect of this was to impoverish those who were not yet reduced to the lowest stage of poverty. These persons were gra dually coming down b the condition of those in less favourable circumstances. No one now would occupy mills in Stockport ; the poor-rates were enormous — whole streets of houses in Stockport might be bought by only guaranteeingthe chief rent, but even then, as it would be impossibb to let the houses, the purchaser would probably be out of pocket. Thus it would be seen that there was m hope for Stockport in any of the measures of the Government, or tho stupid fallacies propounded by Sir Ibbert Peel, and those who followed him.—(Cheers.) If machinery were destroyed in Stock port, as Sir • Robert Peel had wickedly insinuated would be a beiefit to the working classes they would destroy he little means of support that re mained. The whole of the mills that were being em ployed unproductiv(ty must stop ; they could not give. them up to the poo as they could with land, in which they might grow pttatoes and keep body end soul to gether. However mmerous paupers might be they could not live upon ,bricls and mortar, and iron and wood. Thus they would love the whole of the capital of tne present employers dissipated without the smallest re source being given ;o the working people. This was not a disease that couldbe expected to work its own cure ; they might just as Yell expect that a building filled with the most inflamniablE materials, if on fire, would go out of itself. It would go outcertainly, but not till everything was consume. The disease was going on in other towns as in 'Stockport, and the mare it accumulated the more it ap peared likely to sNeEp the towns with desolation, the more imperative itvras on a Government that made any claim to patriotism , or even any regard for its own exist ence and safety, to come forward with some radical cure for the state of things. It must be something that could stay he plague; it could be no palliative; it could not be done by send i ng down money from the Treasury, or by begging sibseriptions by a Queen's Letter. This was the most foolish thing of all, for as the distress was universal, the , funds migt as well be distributed where they were collected. Colne and Leeds, and the other maufacturing towns of England were declining into pre cisely the same stale ; and notwithstanding the deadness and apathy of the poor, he did not believe that the people could starve off without some unpleasant circumstances arising, especially where they were convinced that the Government had the power of applying a remedy. Of the twenty-five millions of Great Britain, twenty mil lions lived on wages received every week or fortnight, and when these were diminished by the high price of food, there was less to expend on other articles. The effect of this was felt through every branch of trade, the warehousemen and wholesale dealers partaking of the same depression. The only permanent remedy was in obtaining a reduc tion in the price of food, and even then the improve ment would be gradual, and it would take at least ten years to put the country into the same circumstances in hich it was five or six years ago. No law which did not diminish the price of food could alleviate the gene ral depression of our trade. And he would further say, that if the remedy did not come soon, the evil would be irremediable. He knew of many who had flattered themselves that the accession to office of a Conserva tive Ministry would be immediately followed by a wonderful revival of commercial prosperity ; but these very . men were now ready to admit that that expectation had been a complete delusion. It was not a change of men that was wanted, but a change of principles—(Hear, hear)—and there was no magic in a name to relieve our condition. The only remedy pro posed by the present Government was a series of mea sures which could only be looked upon as a mockery of the demands of the country. But the trickery had been unmasked ; the thimbles of the new Corn-law and the Tariff had been examined, and it was ascertained that, though they might conceal a pea, it was one of very little value.—(Hear, hear.) He had closely watched the con duct of Sir R. Peel, and he believed him to be one of the most ambitious, the most self seeking, and heartless men that ever presided over the destinies of a great country. He should not complain of a lofty ambition to serve one's country; but the only ambition of Sir Robert Peel seemed to be to serve an aristocracy at the expense of , his country.—(Cheers.) Things could not, however, long continue in their present condition ; and Sir R. Peel must either go out of office or repeal the Corn laws.—(Cheers.) He was happy to be able to inform the meeting that the interest in their cause had not de clined in the country ; they would soon have fresh depu ties from Manchester and various districts ; and among those persons professing Conservative priciples, who felt that unless some relief were afforded for our present ca lamities, they could not themselves escape the general ruin. There was another subject to which he felt ex ceedingly sorry to be obliged to allude. He had been told that a number of Whigs were leaving town, in con sequence, perhaps, of the heat of the weather, and among them. Lord John Russell.—(Hear.) It ap peared that his Lordship was on his way to Scotland, and he wished the Delegates should mark their disap proval of such a course, and their conviction that at a crisis like the present no public man had a right to de sert his post and abandon his duty to his country. Mr. Bright concluded by moving the following_ resolution:— " That this Conference cons i d er it their duty to repre sent to those Members of the Legislature who support free-trade principles, the great responsibility which the present momentous crisis devolves upon them; and that the nation expects them to remain at their post, and to lose no opportunity of again enforcing the claims of the community to immediate relief from the deep and intole rable distress they are at present suffering." Mr. RAWSON seconded the resolution. Mr. G. THOMPSON called the attention of the meeting to the fact that the Bill for the better protection of her Majesty's person was introduced, had gone through the several stages, and been passed in the course of two nights ; and observed that, concurring as he did in the sentiments expressed by Sir R. Peel when introducing that measure in the House of Commons, and in the propriety of adopting the most efficacious measures for protecting the person of her Majesty from injury or annoyance, and happy as he was to find the general unanimity that was manifested in the House on the matter, he could not help observing that the same Ministers, the same House of Commons, that so laudably suspended all their rules for promoting the better pro tection of the Sovereign, abandoned the subjects of that Sovereign to their fate without pity or hope of redress. He trusted that when those gentlemen went to the country - to enjoy their shooting, that at every place they would be met by groups of the starving poor. Dr. BOWRING next addressed the assemblage. He said though he was o ut-wearied, like the public patience, and almost as the voice of truth in high places, yet the pleasure . * felt at finding himself surrounded by those present was such, that he could not lose the opportunity of addressing them for a few moments. He felt as if connected with the public desperation. He * willingly took part with an exceedingly mall, and he feared' sion for the elucidation of his power and for the applica. tion of his remedy—what did he do ? Why he came forward and said to the people of England, " La dies and gentlemen, you shall have nutmegs and silk stockings cheaper."—(Hear, and great laughter.) Aye, let them keep Sir Robert Peel to his bargain. He had undertaken to govern the country, and to conduct it safely through its present distresses. He had asked for power, he had clamoured for power, he had crept for power—(Hear, hear)—and though they slid not know how much money had been spent in its acquisition, they knew that he had stooped to meaner things, and things of meaner purport than Anti- Corn-law lectures.—(Hear, hear.) They knew that by the help of these things he had risen to power ; that he had been the giant upon the shoulders of the people, the idol of a particular mob, and that one pledge, at least that with respect to the Poor-law, he and his party had basely falsified since they came into office.—(Cheers.) Let them keep Sir Robert J?eel to the question.—(Hear, hear.) They knew that the sophist was a man who strayed through the universe from the question.—(Hear,• hear.) Let them get deputations to demand an interview with Sir R. Peel daily.—(Hoar.) Let their voices daily reach the public mind through the reporters.—(Hear.) Let them send out their lecturers into all parts of the country to enlighten the ignorant and to beard the monopolist in his own land.—(Hear, hear.) There was another thing which he would advise them to do—sum mon their reverend brethren of all denominations to join in the cause. —(Hear, hear.) He was well aware that he might be told that he had no businesss in a meeting like that.—(Cries of " No, no.") He was well aware that' there were some who pretended to feel the touch of something polluting, or at least disloyal, something; of degradation in contact with a body like that.—(Hear,. hear.) He wished that the reverend clergy of an denominations could always carry their hands as sweetly odorous in the cause of virtue through the world as they did wh ?n attending an Anti-Corn-law Conference. (Hear, hear.) This was straining at a gna; and swallowing a camel. Though comparatively a young man, he had often seen the world roused by the reve rend clergy of all denominations on petty questions or faction ; but now, now that the masses of suffering man kind, now that the thousands of supperless and bedless families were entreating to be supplied with bread, the clergy remained quiescent. He knew what would be the effect of making these remarks. But he took his ; stand upon this—Jesus had compassion on the multittide when they had only been with him three days, and wanted something to eat. Jesus had not the power to help them naturally, but He wrought a miracle—He shook heaven and earth—He_ changed the laws of the universe for the time being—He wrought won ders which would never be forgotten. And for what purpose ? Why was that miracle wrought ? Net merely to appease the gnawings of hunger felt by the multitude, but to teach his disciples, to the end of the world, that the hungry and the poor should be the fleet , objects of their care.—(Hear, hear.) Talk of clergy men being afraid of coming in contact with the multi tude ! Why, they were the men of the multitude. They had not come down from the aristocracy, they had risen out of the multitude. The multitude had fed them, had clothed them, had protected them from the aristo cracy ; and was it compatible with the honour and honesty of pious men to be ashamed of the multitude, who were their best friends ?—(Hear, hear.) No, no, there was no disgrace in being the man of the multitude ; there was far more disgrace in a clergyman being the pet of the parlour, who could only distinguish ladies and gentlemen, who was only ambitious to knOw his supporters ; there was far more dishonour in Tat than in moving amongst the ten of thousands of he street, or in gathering hundreds upon the common, to deal out to them the bread of life, or to help then{ in their worldly concerns. Time was, when the Chqrch had the multitude in its own bands ; time was whenithe mass of Englishmen were in the strings of the Church ; when the Church had only to utter her command, and the multitude went on their pilgrimage ; or embarked in the crusade ; but now the Church had lost the multitude, and, as in the days of Jesus, they were like sheep, scattered without a shepherd ; and as that was the cause of Christ's compassion, so also was it the best justification of their own.—(Loud cheers.) Mr. WOOLLEY said—l am anxious to correct some serious errors in the report of what I said yesterday, and which, if left as printed, will make my argument ri lieu lous. What 1 stated was, that from the .report of, Mr. Horner, as printed by command of her Majesty, there were, on the 31st Dec., 1841, in his district, 1,164 cotton mills.of all descriptions, employing, when in full work, 199,190 persons. Of the 1,164 mills, 130 were working short time, and 133 were not at work ; and the total number of persons working full time, at that date, was only 142.063, and the number of mills was 887. I stated that in the above 1,164 mills, the proportion of mule spinners, to the other workers, could not exceed 3 per cent. ; and, if so, that there were not more than 4,260 persons so employed on the 31st of December last ; and taking it for granted . that one-third of These had been thrown out of work from improvements, there were only 1,420 immediate sufferers from the adop tion of those improvements.—(Hear, hear.) I do not trouble the meeting with the calculatiOn by which I arrive at the conclusion I do, but those who are practically acquainted with cotton-mills, will see, by the following statement that, in assuming 3 per cent. as the proportion of mule-spinners to all other workers, lam allowing the extreme quantity. Of the mills in full work on the 31st December last, 444 are spinning-mills only; 267 spinning and weaving mills ;. 70 weaving mills without spinning ; 27 doubling mills ; 18 small ware mills ; 61 spin and weave waste cotton; total 887. It will be seen I speak only of Mr. Horner's - district; but as his district contains about two-thirds of all the cotton mills in the kingdom, I feel satisfied in allowing 7.000 persons to have been employed as mule spinners in the United Kingdom ; in the most prosperous times, I exceed the mark.—(Hear.) It is in mule spin ning that the great improvements of which Sir Robert Peel speaks, have taken place •, and supposing 3,000 spinners have been thrown out of work, will this account for the destitution existing in the cotton districts ? In the preparation departments, however, of cotton Bpinning mills, considerable improvements have also been made, and I have not sufficient data to show the number of persons who may have been deprived of employment from them, but judging from the mill with which I am connected, and in which a great part of the recent changes to economise labour have been adopted, I should say that 10,000 persons (and those chiefly young women and boys) would be a most extravagant estimate, as the number so deprived of employment. Ido not believe, however, that one-half that number of persons have been dismissed from the improvements of which Sir Robert Peel makes so much parade, particularly as, according to Mr. Horner's report, 91 new or enlarged cotton mills had been set to work since Ist January, 1839, which were capable of employing 16,000 persons. From what I have stated you will see the fal lacy of the argument that improvements in machinery have reduced the means of employment. You will see another cause, and if I mistake not, Sir Robert Peel sees it also, if he had the honesty or the courage to proclaim it. What does Mr. Horner say ? That on the 31st of Decem ber last, in 1,164 cotton mills, capable of employing 199,190 persons, 142,063 people only were employed full time, showing that 57,127 were either idle entirely, or working short time. Since that period the unemployed bare daily increased, and we may safely assume that ' there are, at this moment, 80,000 mill hands in Mr. Berner's district alone without wages, and without any Means of existence, save from the parish, or from charity. Look at the number of persons dependent upon the labour, directly or indirectly, of the above 80,003 individuals—their wives, their children, mecha nics, dyers, printers, &c. &c. Look at the withdrawal of 40,0001. per week of wages from circulation, or 2,080,0001. per annum from the mill hands alone in one Inspector's district; at the like sum withheld from the dyers, printers, mechanics, &c. &c., indirectly dependent, and you will not be surprised if the shopkeepers'_ eceipts are diminished, and the masters themselves deeply embar rassed. These effects will shortly reach the landowners, when they will find to their cost, that they have killed the goose which laid the golden eggs. lam represented as haying said cottage-rents had fallen 600 or 700 per cent.. What I did say, was, that they had nominally been reduced 20 or 30 per cent., but that really they had, THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JULY 15, 1842. diminishing . body of men itt the House of Commons, who at any personal risk would have endeavoured to stop the supplies, in order to obtain a remedy for the deplorable condition of the people. Looking, hoetsreer, at all they had done, at all they were now doing, he was obliged to come to the conclusion that with a House of Commons constituted as the present, they reasoned, they appealed in vain. Yet that House of Commons represented in a very great degree the electoral body. But it was not the electoral body that was suffering—it was the non-electoral body, the excluded, who had no representation, that suffered most. He was exceedingly desirous that those who expected something from the House of Commons, as now constituted, should do every- j thing that human power could do, in order to ascertain whe ther, with such materials, they had any hope for the future. He believed there was none.—(Cheers.) He felt over whelmed with sorrow when he looked to the extension of suffering that existed, and that a remedy only was to be found in the excess of the evil—(Cheers) —and the information he received from other countries strenght ened his alarm. He had received a communication from the representative of one of the continental kingdoms ; he told him that the friends of free trade were engaged in a desperate struggle, and doubts were entertained whe ther they would be able to maintain it, with the domestic manufactures, and if such was the result the consequence would be to place in peril some of the most important mauufactures of the country. Another gentleman had stated to him the willingness of the Americans to keep up friendly relations with this country; but unfortunately the pernicious example of this had gone to other coun tries, and they were returning the poisoned chalice. — (Cheers.) He had yesterday received a letter from an intelligent Member of the Chamber of Deputies, who wrote in a hopeless and despairing spirit, and stated that even with the modification of the tariff, while the Corn law remained it would be impossible but that the ex ample of England would act injuriously on other coun tries.—(Cheers.) The history of England was summed up in a few words ; the dominant few had created re strictions and monopolies for the pillage of the many.— (Hear, hear.) What then remained for them to do, but to put an end to what had been done, and put an end to Acts of Parliament that restricted labour and the exer cise of capital and mind ?—(Cheers.) The Hon. Gen tleman concluded an eloquent speech, by stating that he gloried in the cause of the present Conference ; that he was happy to come among them ; as to him, it was leaving the atmosphere of usurpation for the more healthy one of pubhc opinion.—(Cheers.) The motion was then put by the CHAIRMAN, and de clared by him to be unanimously agreed to. Mr. A. R. SHAW, the Chairman of the St. Luke's Anti-Corn-law Association, here announced the death of the Duke of Orleans, which he stated appeared in a third edition of one of the Morning Papers. Mr. G. THOMPSON again pressed upon the meeting the great value of their exertions, and exhorted them to continue in their good work, believing that the breaking up of the Conference would convey hope to the parties on the other side of the way.—(Cheers.) He begged most cordially to second tne resolution of thanks. Mr. RA.wsort wished to say a few words respecting the members and the character of the Deputation, on which certain reflections had been made. It should be recollected that the members of the Deputation were coming and going every day. The Deputation from Manchester was composed, with the exception of himself, of Common Councilmen, Aldermen, and Magistrates, both of the borough and the county of Lancashire. From that of Yorkshire, the deputation was composed both of borough and county Magistrates. In Stockport, among the deputation would be found the present Mayor and the three last ex-Mayors. These gentlemen might be called a rabble and a mob, but he believed that they belonged not only to the most respectable class of her Majesty's subjects—(Cheers)—but that they represented larger masses of her Majesty's subjects than those who sat in the House of Commons on the other side of the way.—(Cheers.) So much as to the question of respectability ; and as to number, if they were to reckon those who had attended the Conference, and those who were coming, their number would likewise be found to exceed the number of the House of Commons. The CHAIRMAN announced that at the meeting to morrow morning, at which they would be enabled to commence business at an earlier hour, several letters would be read, which had been received, in connection with the memorial which had been presented by the Duke of Sussex to our beloved Queen.—(Hear, hear.) The letter of the Duko of Sussex, which was a most in teresting document, would be brought - before the meeting to-morrow. He had likewise to announce that Mr. G. Thompson would lecture this evening at the Mechanics' Institution, Southampton-buildings, at half-past eight o'clock, to which members of the Conference would ob tain admission at a shilling the ticket. Mr. Duce, Delegate from West Hackney, said that complaints had been made of the apathy of London. That complaint did not apply to the district from which he came. About eight months ago, himself and half-a dozen others had exerted themselves to agitate the sub ject ; they held meetings, and they had since had up wards of 600 to join them.—(Cheers.) He would sue.- gest that the Delegates should go into the dif ferent districts of the metropolis and hold public meetings in the different localities. A speech from the eloquent and soul-stirring George Thompson, at such meetings, would soon rouse the people from their apathy. —(Cheers.) A speech of that description would pro duce an electrical effect upon an audience.—(Cheers.) Their proceedings were well reported, and those reports did a great deal of good, but still that did not produce the effect that a speech did.—(Cheers.) Their cause was making progress. He knew a gentleman in Mark lane, who had profited by the Corn-laws, and lvhe, after reading the result of the interview of the Delegates with Sir R. Peel, said that he saw now it was useless support ing the Corn-laws any longer, that they had little left now but to surrender. He himself profited by the Corn laws, but believing them to be bad, he should be un worthy the name of a man, if he supported them merely for his own profit. The Hon. Delegate again urged upon the Conference the necessity of holding meetings in the different localities of London, and stated, that, in all the meetings he had attended, he had never experienced any interruptions, either from Chartists or other persons. The vote of thanks to the Chairman was then agreed to, and the meeting adjourned till to-day at Eleven. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. 1 i HOUSE OF LORDS, July 14, 1 Their Lordships met at Five o'Clocx. DEAN FOREST ECCLESIASTICAL BILL. On the motion of the Duke of WELLINGTON, the Dean Forest Ecclesiastical Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow. The British Possessions Abroad Bill passed through Committee. • Several petitions were presented for and against the Mines and Collieries Bill. RAILWAYS BILL. The House then went into Committee on the Rail ways Bill. The Earl of RIPON moved the insertion of a clause to repeal that which restricted the use of car riages exceeding four tons in weight, including pas sengers. The effect of this would, he said, be to pre vent the most important improvements in railway travelling. The clause was agreed to. Lord CAMPBELL moved the insertion of a clause, forbidding the locking the doors of railway carriages against the consent of the passengers. The LORD CHANCELLOR said the clause was quite unnecessary, as the Railway Companies had discontinued the practice, to the great annoyance of many of the passengers. Lord CAMPBELL contended for the necessity , of the clause. When the controlling power of Parlia ment was withdrawn the Directors might revert to the practice, and it was necessary to forbid it. The Earl of RIPON opposed the clause. It was not desirable that any part of the Executive Govern ment should assume over the railways more power and control than necessary. There was not the slightest reason to apprehend that the railways would revert to the practice as soon as the active control of the Government was withdrawn, and the session of Parliament over. In every instance the Railway Directors had shown every disposition to comply with the suggestions of the Government. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE supported the clause ; there had not been perfect sincerity in the matter. As the Railway Directors did not lock the carriages, there was no necessity for the clause ; but if it should sometimes be necessary to lock them the clause would be vexatious to them. Lord CAMPBELL said he must press his clause to a division. The Earl of WICKLOW said that the Railway Companies knew their own interests as well as any other body of men, and if they found that the public disapproved of locking the carriages, they would abandon the practice. Lord COTTENHAM said that the argument of the Noble Earl opposite (Wicklow) would go the length of showing that the Railway Directors ought not to be interfered with at all—that they ought to be left to themselves, and to do as they liked ; but the object of the Bill was to regulate their practices, and he thought it was absurd to leave it to the discretion of the Directors whether or not they should return to so dangerous and unnecessary a practice. It was monstrous that people, in travelling by the only public conveyance that could be had, must be imprisoned all the way.—(Hear, hear.) It was not enough that they should have but one mode of conveyance, but they must also be kept under lock and key, at the peril of their lives. The Earl of MOUNTCASHEL could not agree with the Noble Earl (Wicklow) in his opposition to the clause. He thought it was absolutely necessary for the public safety, after the shocking sacrifice of life which happened lately in France, to put down the practice by law. The Earl of RADNOR would oppose the clause, because he thought the locking of the carriages was not dangerous, and he did not know but it might under some circumstances be necessary. The outcry against the practice originated in a prejudice arising from the erroneous rumour that the carriages were locked on the Versailles Rail way when the terrible accident occurred ; but that was not the case ; the carriages were not locked, and if they had been it would have made no difference. The carriages were all smashed to pieces, and in a heap in an instant, and they were burnt m a heap, so that if the doors had been open, it would have availed nothing. The Earl of CLANCARTY opposed the clause. The Earl of RIPON ridiculed the clause, on ac. count of the provision which it contained, that all the persons inside a carriage should be asked whether they would be locked in or not, so that if the majority thought that precaution necessary to their safety, one passenger, like the one juror, might overrule the sounder judgment of all the rest. After some further conversation their Lordships divided. The numbers were— For the clause Against it Majority against the clause —4 Messengers from the Commons brought up the Bill for the better protection of her Majesty's person, the Irish Rivers Bill, and other Bills. - PROTECTION OF HER MAJESTY. The Duke of WELLINGTON moved the first reading of the Bill for the better protection of her Majesty's person, that the Bill be printed, and read a second time to-morrow, and that the Standing Orders be suspended, in order that the Bill should pass through its other stages. Lord CAMPBELL cordially supported the motion, but suggested that it might be necessary to introduce a clause, providing for the punishment of individuals who might be found with any pistols or other weapons in their possession, and making any attack on her Ma jesty by other means than those stated in the Bill. lhe LORD CHANCELLOR said he would take the suggestion of his Noble and Learned Friend into his consideration. and he had no doubt the Bill would be re-framed so as to meet the concurrence of all their Lord ships. He was not aware that alterations had been made in the Bill in Committee. LONDON BRIDGE APPROACHES BILL. The Duke of WELLINGTON moved the first read ing of the London Bridge Approaches Bill. MINES AND COLLIERIES BILL. The Bishop of LONDON presented two petitions in favour of the restricting clauses in the Mines and Col- Honks Bill. The Archbishop of CANTERBURY presented a petition to the same effect. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY presented a peti tion from Bradford, in Yorkshire, praying the House not to prohibit the employment of children above eight years of age. He complained that the Bill had been hurried through the other House of Parliament, under an ex cited state of mistaken humanity, and denied what had been stated, that the Bill had received the assent of the coal-owners of the North. The Committee at Newcastle had prayed the House to defer the Bill, at least, till next session. He protested most solemnly against the Bill in all its stages, and if he had the power to influence their decision, he would most certainly vote for its re- jection. The Earl of CLANRICARDE would not go into the general question of the Bill at present. But as the Noble Marquis had again referred to the letter of Mr. Buddle, he would read a letter which had been received by Lord Ashley from a coal-owner, (whose name we understood to be Mr. Lambton), who was present at the Conference between the deputation and Lord Ashley, of which Nobleman it was not necessary for him to give any eulogy. The Noble Marquis then read a letter from Mr. Lambton, expressing surprise that Mr. Buddle, who was the agent of the Marquis of Londonderry, should have written that Noble Marquis the private letter read by him in the House of Lords on a former night, and denying that he had consented to the compromise. His letter from Mr. Lambton contradicted those parts of Mr. Buddle's letter which disclaimed any consent to the compromise. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY was proceeding to defend Mr. Buddle, when he gave way to laughter and cries of " Question." Lord CAMPBELL presented a petition against the Bill from miners in the Newtharket Colliery in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Lord WHARNCLIFFE presented a number of peti tions against the Bill. Viscount MELBOURNE presented three petitions to the same effect. The Duke of BUCCLEUCH presented a petition from West Lothian, to the effect that the time allowed by the Bill for discontinuing the labour of women in. mines was too short. He did not agree with the petitioners. The Earl of DEVON presented a petition in favour of the Bill, from places in Yorkshire and elsewhere. The Noble Earl then proceeded to move the second reading of the Bill. In doing so he would not call their Lordships' attention to anything that occurred at public or private meetings, or any compromise that had been entered into, but would lay it before them to be judged of by its own merits. The Noble Earl went through the history of the Commission which was appointed in con sequence of an address to the Crown from the other House of Parliament, and on the Report of which the Bill was founded. He had read that evidence most care fully. and he was convinced that any of their Lordships who had done so, must agree with him as to the neces sity of some such enactment. When he undertook the charge of the. Bill in that House, he told his Noble Friend that he could not expect that all its clauses would be passed. But after a full examination of all the evidence in their Lordships' Committee, he was induced to hope that they would pass every one of them. It was impossible to deny the abominations arising out of the system of employing women under ground, where there was no control over the conduct of the men with whom they worked. He read from the Report of the Commissioners several details of the monstrous evils belonging to the system. The men and women worked together at the same - Irma ‘,r lILDC.Tur women naked down to the.waist. The women who were examined by the Commissioners testified to the demo ralizing effect of suck a mode of life upon all the females engaged in it, from the age of six years upwards. He would not read.the more disgusting and deplorable parts of the Report, but would leave it to their Lordships to judge what the rest' must be from what he had read. He must at the same time say that there were many collieries in which those disgusting, indecent, and abo minable practices were not allowed—as, for instance, those of the Duke of Buccleuch. He would not further waste their Lordships' time on this part of the subject, but would proceed to state the alterations he proposed. The Bill provided that the em ployment of females in mines should cease in six months after the passing of the Act. He proposed to extend the time to the 13th of March next, when there would be an opportunity of further legislation if it should be found neces,sary. He was urged to disallow the employ ment of boVs, under the age of 13 years ; but from that be had heard, he thought it would not be unreason able to forbid that they should be employed under ten years. It was desitable that some of the young people should be brought up to the employment, from an early, age, to enable them to fill, afterwards, some of the more difficult parts of the work. These were the two princi pal clauses of the Bill. The third clause, related to the regulation of the number of hours, during which the children should be employed. He found that it would be very difficult to enforce such a regulation ; but he thought it very desirable that boys under thirteen years of age should have three days for the purpose of receiving instruction, and for recrea tion. He did not, however, mean to ptess this clause. The next clause, which provided for inspection, he was disposed to press, but it would be for their Lordships to confirm or reject it when the Bill came into Committee to-morr. w. The next clause related to apprenticeship, which he proposed should terminate at eighteen years of age. The clauses to the 9th he would pass over for the present. But the 9th clause was important. It provided that no person under twenty-one years of age should be employed to manage an engine. He had, however, been informed that there were persons under that age who were by use perfectly competent to take care of the engine, and, therefore, he would not object to an inquiry into this particular. These were the principal points to which he had now to direct their Lordships' attention. He proposed to make the alterations he had stated, in the Committee to-morrow. The Noble Lord concluded by moving the second reading. Lord HATHERTON said, that after the manner in which the Noble Earl had performed his very difficult task, he would not press the motion of which he had given notice, for a Select Committee, and which he would have felt it his duty to require from their Lordships, if the alterations now proposed by the Noble Earl had not been made. The effect of the law, if it had passed in the way which was at first proposed, would be to put a stop to the raising of minerals in the country. He was not one who opposed that part of the Bill which pre vented the employment of women in mines ; but he thought the clause might undergo advantageously some alteration. For instance, cases of women of mature age, and widows with families, who had been ac customed to the work all their lives, might be excepted. With respect to the employment of boys only on the alter nate days, he never could consent to that, and he was glad his Noble Friend did not mean to press it. Indeed if it were practicable it was not necessary. The employment of the boys when in the mines was not continuous, as they had only to attend upon the colliers, and there was no pos sibility of limiting their stay in the mines to ten hours a-day. As to the alternate days, they were imprac ticable, but at the same time the clause was not neces sary for the purpose of promoting the employment of boys every day of the week ; for it was a fact that, in no case, in high wages or low wages, did the colliers work more than three or at the utmost four days a-week. The alterations proposed by the Noble Earl were very valuable, and in the name of the Delegates he thanked them for the attention with which they had received their representations. One suggestion he wished to offer, which was, that a clause should be introduced to prevent the payment of wages in public houses, which was the universal practice, and was attended with the worst consequences. The Earl of RADNOR also approved of the altera tions, as far as they went, but he set his face against legislating on this subject. Moral dutiei could not be enforced by law. To enforce them was the duty of the clergy, and the Noble Lord who spoke last had shown that the clergy could do much in that way, for he had told the House, that by the influence of the Bishop, the masters in his district had given up the very ,bad prac tice of paying their men on Saturday night. That was enforcing a inoial duty by the legitimate means. The Noble Earl then read extracts from the Report, to show that in several mining districts, through the influence of the clergy, the employment of married women in mines had been discontinued, so that, without any law, the immoral practice was on the de crease. It appeared, too, that great immorality was occasioned by the construction of the cottages, the father and mother and whole family, children, and grown-up boys and girls, sleeping in one room. Now, this was said to be as much a source of immorality as the women going into the mines. Well, why did they not legislate against that ? Why did they not make a law that they should not sleep in one room ? He begged them to con sider whether, whilst intending to do good, they might not do great harm; as they would certainly throw thousands out of employment. He thought that as the Bill was not to come into operation until March next, the House would do well to allow it to stand over, and, in the mean time, leave it to the Poor-law Commissioners to inquire into its probable effects. The Earl of GALLOWAY supported the motion, ,but regretted that some unwise concessions had been mace in the House of Commons, and he was surprised drat, her Majesty's Ministers in that House (the Lords) were not able to adhere to the pledge given by their col leagues in the other House, to support the measure, at, least in the same state in which it was sent up to them. The Duke of WELLINGTON felt great respect for the Commissioners, but he had before observed to the House, that this inquiry . had not been carried on by those Commissioners having the power to administer an oath, but by a number of Sub-Commissioners, appointed by the Secretary of State, not having the power of ex amining upon oath.—(Hear. hear.) He thought the evidence contained in the Report was not exactly of such a character as to carry with it their Lordships' confi dence, and therefore it might be expedient to examine a little more into the character of the evidence before they gave their sanction to the Bill. He had stated his anxious wish to vote for some measure in the present session of Parliament which would get the better of the evils which existed in the collieries. In the meantime he shoul3 vote for the second reading. and when the p roper time came he should give his opinion ITon the amcodments which. night be proposed by his Noble Friend or an y other Noble Lord. He had stated his opinion now with regard to the evidence, and he did not think he reed go anY further at present.—(Hear.) Lord HATHERTON wished to explain as to what he had said on a former evening respecting inaccurinies in the Report. He had not attributed intentional inisrire sentation to the highly respectable and conscienttou s gentlemen who composed the Commission. What be had said was, that the evidence contained some erroneou s statements respecting the districts with which he wry acquainted. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY regretted that the Noble Lord opposite had withdrawn his notice of rao tion for a Select Committee, the effect of which Was , that they were going to pass the second reading of a Bill which that Noble Lord (Hatherton) had said Was founded upon false statements.—(No, and a laugh.) Lord HATHERTON—No; I said that some of the statements were erroneous. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY was compel reluctantly, at that late hour (when it was so inconveniel l to many of their Lordships) to follow the Noble FAO who moved the second reading of the Bill through Pa ts of his statement. In the first place, the Noble Earl eu" logised the Commissioners. Now he could not join Seri in that eulogy. One of the persons who was 014 into Scotland, was a man of the name of Frank s, 1 hatter, who had been twice a bankrupt, and lieu been convicted, fined, and imprisoned, for a libel on the Clerk to one of the City Companies. With respect to what had been said as to women working naked i n mines in England and Scotland, when they were not se employed in the mines in Ireland, the women in Ireland, the women of the peasantry in to south of Iry lend, who were almost always naked—(Laughter) were employed in harder labour than working in mines' Lord CLANC ARTY—What is that ? The Marquis of LONDONDERRY—Digging pets", toes.—(Great laughter.) He repeated it was hard er an d more laborious work, and worse than working in mines; —(Oh, oh, and laughter.) The Noble Marquis roc' . letters from persons connected with Scotland, who stated . isi that the evidence in the Report was not collected in an honest manner—that it contained many mss' `s representations—and that if the Bill passed, the working of the mines must be given up. The women thrown out of employment in the mines would not get t.`,. - living . in any other way. It was very well to talk of the little boys. But who was to fill their months A. from eight to ten years? In conclusion, he moved thacti the Bill be read a second time this day six months , s, o ‘ ,, he would divide the House if he divided alone. It t"' House acceded to his proposition, the measure could be s next session referred to a Select Committee. ' Lord WHARNCLIFFE in reference to what lin e r'' been said by the Earl of Galloway, as to the differ enc of opinion between the Members of her Majestfe G as vernment in this House and in the other said there 0. 5 1 , none. They bad been, throughout, resolved to give thel support to the principle of the Bill. But it was necess sf o '; to proceed with deliberation, even in the removing , 9 a grievance. There was a great deal in til., details of the Bill which ought to have bee' inquired into ; and in this respect the 'louse of Commons had not done its duty.—(Hear.) If u se Bill bad passed as it came up from that House it the have done great injustice. But his Noble Friend (t 4 Earl of Devon) had managed the Bill so well that he was ready to give his vote for the seeeoll, reading. At the same time he wa s L I L s quite sure whether that part of it which 71, the most desirable—the exclusion of women frTs working in mines, would be hailed with unmixed delig7, in the collieries. He feared that it would at first cres much distress, by throwing many out of employmen t. i t The Bishop of GLOUCESTER was unwilling to h e trude himself upon the attention of the Ho use, but Pf could not abstain from protesting agai nst the deetri.,ne°se a Noble Earl (Radnor), who had addressed the i' e t i,",t in the early part of the evening. The doctrine wath ait h this Christian Legislature ought not to interfere '2O moral duties. Having made, this protest, he supe the Bill. tilt The Duke of BUCCLEUCH would not trouble be House for many minutes at that late hour. But i d s ob i 64 had been alluded to by some Noble Lords he co o l j3 it give a silent vote for the second reading of thiP h No women were employed in the mines with *k w 1 XiMaltrilitebekOntlgnatimilOikestgliati Arazio , P,,,', in favour of the employment of their wives and daugh,. te ra c , He believed it was perfectly true that in 5 " o f , cases the women, having been once employed o°, o • doors, become attached to it, and were very averse ' O 6 change. He had not found that in his neighbournes e-here women had ceased to be emp lo y ed, the Pn' had felt any increase to their burdens.—(Hear.) usT, After a few words from the E arl of ' S° CASHEL, aivisi ° Strangers were ordered to withdra w, but no r took place, and the Bill was read a second time, a O3 o ds. , red to be committed to-morrow (this day). e a 04 The other Orders of the Day were then disPe s and their Lordships adjourned at Ten o'Clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS, July 14 The SrEAKEs took the Chair at Four o'clock. SHANNON IMPROVEMENTS. Mr. F. FRENCH presented a pe tition fronl Y ioe 3 common, complaining that 100,0001. had been upon the county for improving the property: ° oi iii to Crown (the Shannon Navigation); the petitto.vit complained that if this *as persevered in they 70 1 not be able to pay the assessments, and prerv ief ie l the sums to be raised might be more equally" over the whole of the districts which the Shoo° provements would benefit. POOR-LAW. Sir E. KNATCHBULL presented a peti iv tioo a union in Kent, against the Bastardy clause Poor-law Amendment Act. THE TRUCK SYSTEM. Mr. FERRAND presented a petition from habitants of Neath, Glamorganshire, signed wi' v etr tradesmen, shopkeepers, and operative s. Thee ", tioners stated that they had heard that the IP% o', about to adopt me asures to put a stop to truck system, which they stated to be in full ell e t in the vicinity of that town. They prayed t1,1,5re5; House would be pleased to adop t such rnees'"oitor would tend to the entire abolition of that hug practice. o 'i NOTICES OF MOTION. hr Mr. T. DUNCOMBE gave no tice that b ic b e 4 withdraw his motion relative to Supply, Of ~dsf had given notice, and in its p lace, on Thu s 4 t should move an Address to the Crown, ho s' ,t same object in view. Mr. MUNTZ to gave notice that fly ri tf) session he should, move a Committee Co tio o : quire whether the distressed state of the 1001, arose from the state of the Corn - laws and rool i ;t e also what proportion wages tore to the price ocietS and whether it would be to the advantage of reduce such wages. MONUMENT TO SIR SYDNEY S f tii' po' Sir F. BURDETT gave notice of a 1 0° t this day week to address her Majesty, to err, nument to the memory of Sir Sydney' Stai r ' i ,fly THE TOBACCO BILL. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCP, e; of moved that the Order of the Day for reading of the Tobacco Bill be read, for the P t o postponing it. tle4 Mr. HUME wished the Right Hon. GS, II , 33 1 , 11 '' 0 e state on what day he would proceed with to ' the delay had caused considerable awdeti v 0 who were engaged in the tobacco trade, poPz The CHANCELLOR of the Eh fixed Monday for the second reading. )0Y ADMITTANCE TO NATIONM' MENTS. 1/ l e ` , to ,'"e -t Mr. HUME rose, pursuant to nonc e, t he 10 1 ' attention of the House to the Report i ti oef ; for Committee on National Monuments, • es ty, and to move a humble address to her .A.L 4 j ing that she will be graciously pleased r,OO tions to the Trustees of the British Ntu—,inge do the National Gallery, to the authorities 113s o f Do c , 0, of the Armnries and Jewels in the Towe.„d, 11 0 0 to the Commissioners of Greenwich liosPlak.'oectio_ all persons having the management or sdo pti 10 public edifices and cathedrals, for the ~m e a; A el ' those facilities and improvements the rert that Report. It had long been .110 riot of the British people, that they could of 1 ,1 41 , admitted to public monuments on sec ° obs e 0 0 1 disposition to deface them. He had idw.j.): that where confidence was not placed l e , 0 1 t i l t where they were treated with distrust, onti‘•ltbe different to derive confidence. w as hand, whenever they felt that confidence Ava .0 „ , in them, they endeavoured to justify' It•weretali"eltiiii; proved that he was right, when the peoPle,ish 111 0 0 ,0 3 to the National Gallery and to the Brli rfec tly to") . for it was found that their conduct Fe d n o C oo' that no inconvenience whatever, plac e ' t y o „; whatever to the treasures which tn ( i d s tt ,ittie tig aiii tamed, was to be apprehended frore.," to i fef re; In 1841 he obtained a Coromr,'oll'—otioll referrer into the subject to which his present. nted but the shortnes3 of the session roe , rhe y t A t! doing to it all the justice they Nos bed• 0 , 0 , that admittance to view coilectionNss*Tcould,,l:o: was a species of education to those o n M e re t educated in any other way , ° try in tIO very large number in this °III/ ey e d r Le t kc= ti °Pit ir on The 1 2 . . 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