The Sun. — London, England, 1842-07-02 00:00:00

ons bmi f their conduct here, in the Duke of Wellington's an swer to L or d Ki nn ai rcl. It i s qu i te clear that unless B° lne great effort he made to secure provision for the Starving manufacturing population, during the approach ing winter, by such a motion as yours, Parliament will be adjourned, and they will be allowed to starve and die, or have their lives preserved by the bounty of their neighbours i n any way i t can be attained. Here things are looking worse and worse at present, the time for making preparations for the autumn trade is at hand, • a nd our most experienced manufacturers assure me there ts • no prospect whatever of the great mass of the un erePloyed being taken up this year." He had received a nother letter, dated 28th June, a great part of which was oPied with statements as to the disposal of the funds fo r bud b een sent from various parts of the country ' r the purpose of relieving the distress. The Hon. Member th en read the letter.—" The stocks of coarse goods made far the manufacturing districts and American market ;Ire still heavy, there having been no sales in these mar aets for long, and no appearance of any. The clergy men's committee was formed at the beginning of winter, meet a special case. The members of churches had, general, been able to maintain themselves. They are generally thoughtful and well doing. But the distress had been so long continued—no hope of amendment— ..Lne-Wiuter.intense, many of them suffering very severely, pauperism. yet ashamed to go down to the level of a common b ' a a ti „P e ri_slo. 'They had always been a rampart against i n - a "Perisin, and we wish to maintain their spirit of iii'yendence, and furnish supplies in a way as little of t el.Y as possible to interfere with it. The clergy Sul the various denominations agreed to issue a lectionto the chur c hes, to e nabl e us t o ma k e col tien. e• Our application met with a liberal response. ina„"as designed at the outset, that w e sho u ld ac t w a 7P c ., adently of the general relief committee. Thi s uepaeted from, to avoid any appearance of schism. ' L e 'agreed t o pay over to the General Committee the Should from time to timereceive such sums again as we edi after having stated our cse, and when the Com irtee had judged and determined in the matter by a vote. In n t he whole, t h e arrangement wroug h t we ll , and an im tense de a l o f good was done. The m i n i s t ers in this way e l f st ributed up war d s o f 3,000 1 ., ass i ste d b y all the sess i ons the various churches, Established and Dissenting. At itt bre a ki ng up there was 1,5001. of our fund in the f er il d of the R e li e f C omm i ttee. W e did not st i cke le'Ll e PaYment. We knew that many w h o col t Lyn did so with th e v i ew o f re li ev i ng t h e di 5 .4,7,1 . 4 ,7, 1 generally. We had got nearly a ll we nee d e d, - I ) ; * the balance of what we h a d p a id i n h a d n,expended in relieving the general distress. We ia 're ther e f ore sat i sfied. The greater part of the people we j k ried being well-conducted and ,first-rate tradesmen, got work, an d we h a d no d ou bt th a t o ld women an d ra ,"lbg women—a considerable number of women still re-. 1 4 me li on our list—would be supplied from the Govern -414, stores. But, no ! Commissioner Twisleton e n n the rule, that no new applicants should be received szA -7Y pretext—th a t th e surrounding villages shouldibe A ot n - tded- We did thi n k, w hen the people who had been ° the soup kitchen -were transferred to the stores, there d have been no objection to admit those who had If ) 11 ° a the mini s ters' fund, and would h a ve en j o y e d satne privilege, and all the more that the balance t 6 them had been expended for the general distress. drewtil°l The Commissioner was not to be moved. I Or,l 11 8 a memorial to the Governint nt at the request si w le eneral Relief Committee, which was signed by G r . k r - Napier and other Magistrates. Sir James t4""aul replied, it had been sent to the London Commit ret,,and I believ e something is now doing for the sur 6ng villa ges , b u t a d ea f ear was t urne d to me f or ef to the few that r e m a i ne d on our f un d. S ome o f „„ were reduced to great distress, but from the cir excel's I have ref er red t o , th e p ar ti es b e i ng a ll o f • get eat cuaracter, they have been among the first to ae t t"lt- The mode of operation was . painfully harsh rub tt nnecessarily so. There were people who, rei t ,„ er , than submit to receive charity, would have sub ln7u to privations of which persons in the upper ranks vott e never dreamed. Some express surprise that the n g men here generally do not enlist. They should t oo "' that Scot c h me n never do so when sober. They are reflective for that. If they wish to enlist, let them thillottic," them with work and good wages. Th e m ore th e - _entless will get drunk and then enlist, but not till v ie. Th e very l owest of the . people are getting more ci , zed in reference to war than some who rule over them. . fi g n ,„ 1 "o- Gentleman then proceeded to •read a letter 44 , a cle rgyman of the Esta b l i shed Church i n Scot to, dat e d June 25 - a gentleman of Conservative poli va te iraeit;: b i u , ti t v . h o wa s un i versa lly res p ec t e d. Th e wr i ter My opinion of the whole scheme of the Go !, _ m eat interference with our local charity hits been tin at the b eg i nn i ng (and every day confirms it), a most ililealied-for thing, eatly the that it has done much mischief—that. i t, as increased gr expense instead of lessening th a nd that th e persons at t h e h ea d o f i t here hav e shown 2,l ea 'selves totally ignorant of the habits of the Spots.— of I have all along contended strongly against the plan thestores, because they degrade the minds and condition feelings of our more respectable opratives, because e )' are - making very necessary articles for families Vleh the stores do not, and perhaps cannot provide, and w ec l ,ause the articles in the stores are often of bad quality, ile the superintendence—a very expensive thing too -0;11 never be so strict as that of an honest man over his ft°ui'll concerns. reover, the villages do not get anything the stores; and why should their inhabitants be e e ,, t uPon a different footing from the town ?-3d. With De "„,,rd to the recipients from the stores, I may say, with th;'"et accuracy, that they are thankful for what is given ta, while they feel, that it is given in an ungracious . a 3, 1 1 ,; n tl , I am certain that the difficulties of winter were a ° s ?„ ll , c red, and the peace of the community preserved by a sy - ste `"' Precisely the reverse of what is now going na r aore economical, by far than the present, and on— while i m t w hich consulted the people as human beings, t hey a ., s .YmPathised with them underdistresses for which tion i n -su redly w er e not responsible.-4th. Any reduc new in of numbers on the lists, as effected by the suit r er i , is more ideal than real. The re en-d:two scrutinies, made for the very purpose bee, - , - ,`, l) g fault, has confessedly confirmed the set of accuracy of the whole.-sth. A grievous is p • Injustice has been done by the Commissioner, and ate;; ° ,, lll ,. on—viz., the refusal to give, in any case, Ivi,th - th us - a week to one family, however large, coupled ' t ionar e role, that a lad above 16 counts as an addi . -et ee ; - e asn, though living under the same roof. The 44 4 ' of this has been, that in some cases 16s. has been nn t iLs bY one family, while another, larger far, but t erd7 k r 1 6, gets only 6s. This was stated to me yes uy two Magistrates.—While the men at out-door oldie r ", ave bee n provided, very properly, with barrows and bee n tin Piements, their repeated petitions for shoes have al e harshly rejected. * * * The more I reflect on the will Qf our town, the more I am convinced that nothing %o w l/I "re it and the commercial interests of the Iktla ,!Y but a total revolution in the commercial tariff, t 4 )r, - a ,,weaping away of all restrictions." He had also uti h 7 the followire,,e• and to bear testimony to the tlee e rnta of gratitude entertained for what had been Y her Majesty with respect to the Paisley ma "pr'tarers. The letter was dated Paisley, June 20 til le r a return just made up and shown me to-day, the net' 2f cotton-spinners, machine-makers, and so forth,. Zeiohnstone is 1,254. The number employed is e About seventy persons have been transported the ea from Johnstone, by subscription, to lighten Ive,tre6sure. T ra d e h ere h as b een go i ng b ac k f or some 41 1); 3 ' a nd still continues to do so. There is no prospect li v es .t"t of imp rovemen t. The goo d s ma d e are princi ittr I ,,ue bett er d escr i p ti on f or th e h ome mar k et , an d te r "'r the foreign. A shawl merchant told me 4 E1 4 be usu a ll y emp l oys fi ve h un d re d weavers f or t h e 4 4e le an market at this season ; this year he has not lle4 ye a nd does not expect t o h ave one for some time. The hiL" 41 t s of the new A mer ic a n tariff, he assures me, has +fie`p,Y closed that market against Paisley goods. reviietn's sh aw l s were th e principal cause of our slight ' g eo - spring. That class of goods affords to the weav hay k ' Wages, if they are continued at the same pattern. Aketi e. ; 4 ,e not b e en continued in general, and in conse e'llar the weavers' wages have been eaten up by the , 1 0 the mountings of their webs. The condition of 4 heie d i tze here is most alarming, and the House of Commons tin~fimplored to do something for them, and others 'tetvin-'1 situated, before it breaks up for the season." • * _l t' tsee -4 e„ b een prevented by the forms of the House from "" 1 -41 ,, L ,g a petition then in his hands, he would read it I ',!Pei si ' l mise. The petition was from the inhabitants ;V, and signed by six thousand persons, every bie]im j 'hom were the recipients of the charity ( 7,'t been sent from various parties for their I C r n eV" Honourable Gentleman read the petition h a +for whi 4 h we regret to say we cannot find room.) k4atb„l3ll- Memb er went on to say that in virtue of the 17 4 t - 0 1 given him by the petitioners, he thought it I ve the p e titi o n printed with the Votes, and he l ` t teti - ti 3w brought it to its present use, He next . called . t e t lie u % to an advertisement for tenders for the h Y L the poor, which, though not signed ), d Twisleton, the iGovernment agent, had wad emanated from that gentleman. He would th e a ," a petition of the fathers of families employed ns:lne quarries, to the Provost of Paisley. (The t ct i et u t e ; 4 :.'le • Gentleman then read the petition, and Tdrib 4r ° lll a clergyman of the Church of Scotland, he Pee g _the extent of the distress in Paisley.)' et r' -% ere ying o n the smallest possible sums. oh i " recommended that Honourable Members ~j i ~°i'tun a i tnge places for a short time with these din crh !t Ps living on one penny a day, and Ps they might be able to comprehend . the tj'h ng which they were placed. The documents th e With b v - er ly , ag re next . about to open, he should refer b oe.. tow,, a . t e pain. They contained an account of • sik,a" Which with town which he had ea with all his life, and which he had ice r se ()i L. trad i e r . onl an insignificant to a flourishing , w es Greenock had obtained great celebrity, 4 114i nr . 'yti known to be unrivalled in the art of ship %t!,tei tiring the last year innumerable strangers vi , 1 1 : 4 ; e nd t „""n, which was then full of business and occupa kl %hi eh t i i i 4 a House w ou ld b e a bl e to apprec i ate t h e sta t e ebb , 1 . town was red uce d, th e y m ight judge of its ebb, rom the language used by the Chief Magis the l anguage of the petition that had been 1e(1r then to the Right lion, Baronet. The Hon. . e t ti if by read an extract f rom a l e tt e r addressed to the Chief Magistrate, which, with the M uht - "ette r ' are so voluminous that we are to ': R. TILL th,. sni and proceeded to state the tt,'" ter the tue subscripuOg that had been entered t e relief of the poor. 1 . 7 4 4 94; 41 of the Right was sorry to occupy but he Ight Hon. Gentiemiiii and the t stated th flt that he had a duty to perlorill %i v N en f . O at the sum which had been raised by si b 1 , 11 : of 6061. r the relief fund was about 1,7001,, exclu the 4 'Ploy • appropriated to Paisley. The nntober of i ner e instead of diminishing, seemed to be gn N ease. .s t e :iiend,onte i he prospect of an early and good bar* t" be t bq t e he only ground of hope. it was *m luplate such a state 'of things with its 14 th great alarm. That letter was dater' ! ga ngs sc T hera was another, dated the 16th, in which `or th :L od that if th e d e p ress i o n co ntin ue d muc h w°4l(l be unable to raise any funds from T rill, SUN, Ltil 4 o,olqc gAttfßlYAit - kV—ENING:, .TTILY 2;14841 their own resources. On the 18th, it was stated that if they did not soon see symptoms of an improved state of trade, he had no doubt the Magistrates would thi n k i t their to make representations to Parliament as to the destitution existing in that town. He feared that any attempts to raise additional supplies would prove unsuccessful. He now came to the memorial presented to that House by the Provost, the Magistrates, and the Town-council of the town of Greenock. In that me morial it was stated that great distress had existed for the last few months amongst the working classes of Greenock. In the month of March last a public meeting of the inhabitants was held, at which arrangements were made for the purpose of raising funds for the benefit of the unemployed. Upwards of 2,0001. were raised, by means of which four or five hundred persons were relieved. They were obliged to resort to the expedient of pawning their furniture. Since the month of June last, 1,960 hands had been discharged in that town, more than three-fifths of the number employed, and the other two fifths would have been discharged ere this, but for the humanity of their masters. The memorial also stated that the people had been called upon for poor-rates, although the distress was increasing. The document was signed by the Provost of .the town, and several other Magistrates. He believed the distress extended to all the principal :towns both •in England and Scotland. (The Hon. Gentleman then read a list of towns in which deep suffering was stated -to prevail) He felt per suaded that if some remedy were. not devised tbr the evil, the star of those kitigdeins would set ere long. He thought that the universal distress which prevailed might be summed up in a few words. Trade was de- stroyed, taxation was a grievance, want of employment was also a grievance, and the danger was rapidly in creasing. He should be glad to hear if any of her Ma jesty's Ministers were able to contradict the statements he had made. Ile had endeF,voured, in the shortest time the forms of the House allowed, to bring the subject be fore the House. He would .jot attempt to ascribe causes, neither would he venture to prescribe a remedy, as it was not his province, nor did he possess the qualification. He had made these statements, and be would be bound to prove them before a Committee, and he would prove that the distress existed to a much larger extent than he had stated. He had no hesitation in saying that the country was in a most ruinous and depressed state. The time was come when they must turn the scale, for unless some measures, which had not yet been promul gated to the country, were brought before Parliament, the most disastrous results would .follow. It was with this view that he would submit his resolutions to th e House. He hoped her Majesty's Government would give them their immediate attention, as he had stated that the last resolution was the one upon which he most depended. The - resolutions were :—" 1. That the trades and manufactures of this country are labouring under great embarrassment and difficulties. 2. That the indus trious classes are also suffering many privations, and se vere distress. 3. That this state of things has been gradually advancing for several years, and is now ex tending in a most alarming degree. 4. That the altera tions made in the Corn-laws, and in the duties on imports and exports, coupled as these have been with an Income tax, to add nearly four millions of taxation to this already heavily burthened country, cannot be expected to afford that reliefwhich th e con tin ually declining state of trade, and the distressed condition of the people, so urgently require. 5. That the welfare of her Majesty's faithful people, and the future peace and security of the country, imperatively demand that effectual me-:_ares shall immediately be taken to rescue the working classes from the privations and suffering they have so long borne, with a degree of patience and fortitude which specially entitle them to the affectionate sympathy of their Sovereign, and to the respect, commiseration, and assistance of this House. 6. That therefore an humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying that her Majesty will be graciously pleased to refuse her conserk; to the prorogation of Par liament, until a diligent and searching inquiry shall be instituted into the causes of the unprecedented distress existing at present all over the kingdom ; and there after, until her Majesty and this House shall have been assured, by her Ministers, that effectual means are se cured to provide sustenance 6)r the unemployed and their destitute families, until their sufferings s h a ll b e. terminated by a demand for. their industry and wages for their labour," He should not object to a residution with a similar object, though the terms were somewhat dif ferent from his own ; but tbo principle must be the same. Mr. WALKER, who WILY totally inaudible at the commencement of his speech, was understood to coin plain of the dreadful distress of the cotton spinners of Lancashire, who were wandering about the country iu hundreds, in the most abject st a t e o f p overt y, b e i ng quite unable to obtain a day's employment. In his own immediate neighbourhood in Lancashire there was a large foundry which used to give employment_to two hundred persons. That establishment was, within the last two months, broken up, and all those persons were thrown out of employment. The House had now taken up the subject, but he felt satisfied that they would never arrive at a proper remedy until they removed the restrictions which fettered commerce. The question having been put, • Dr. 130 WRING confessed thet he felt oppressed with the burden of a heavy respocaibility, because the distress of the district with which he was connected was even greater than that of other places ; and if he could dream that this House, representing, as it ought, the intelli gence, the benificence, and the sympathy of the country, could separate without taking into consideration the state of the suffering millions, then be should wholly participate in that despair which was gradually taking possession of suffering labourers and deserving multitudes. There never was a period in the history of the country requir ing more the attention of the Legislature than the pre sent. The Right Hon. Baronet admitted that there were 1,200,000 relying for support on the public, and could they view without alarm and anxiety one-tenth of the population reduced to such a state ? An expense of eight millions had been incurred in the prosecution of wars, which many Members of that house considered to be wanton and . unnecessary, and all those means by which relief could be afforded to the people through the removal of commercial restrictions were shut out.: It was not only intolerable but perilous to allow the people to remain in their present state —no person could a ns wer f or the consequences. There was a point beyond which human patience could not extend—beyond which patient endurance would bo exhausted.—(Bear, hear.) The Right Hun. Gentleman held the reins of power with greater force than any Minister whom they had seen for many a year. Ile knew that any proposition of his would be carried by the House. He had acknowledged the amount of suffering in the country, and lie (I)r. Bow ring) could not believe that they were to be dismissed to their homes with the tale that nothing could be done fur the people. A country like this really ought not to de spair. It had again and again been said, that the apti tudes of the country were greater than those of any other. The people were industrious and intelligent. Capital was so plentiful that means could nut be found for its investment. They had the ocean at their control, and yet it was a fact, that the Government ruled over millions who were in the greatest distress, and conse quent despair. And yet these were the men to whom they owed their power ; those were the men who had caused their reputation to be known in every nation of the world ; those were the men, millions of whom were suffering, and no means were taken to relieve their dis tress. The Poor-laws made most imperfect provision for the sufferings of the people. It they were efficient, no suffering would exist. In the district with which he was connected, they were wholly inefficient. You might go from house to house, and find neither bed nor furniture, and the population were sinking lower and lower in the scale of humanity. The present state of things was most perilous to the public peace. He had much pleasure in seconding the proposal of his Hon. Friend. Mr. AGLIdStY was not willing that the debate should close without some observations. If he were asked what remedy he had to provide he should be obliged to confess that he saw no remedy whatever. This was no party question ; and he could not think that any one would be so unjust as to say that the Right Hon. Baronet and his colleagues were indifferent to the pre sent state of distress. He regretted that the Government had not taken what he consi;lered the best remedy, the Corn-laws, into better consideration. On this potut he did differ with them. Could he see any legislative re medy that could be applied he should be willing that the House should extend its period of sitting in order to pro vide it. The subject, was, however, surrounded with great difficulties. The distress which prevailed was known to every one, and he believed it would be impos sible to exaggerate its intensity. In the town of Carlisle, with which he was more intimately connected, the labour- ing classes were exposed to the severest privations. It was under these circumstances that he gave his vote in favour of the resolutions, for all parties ;greed that the distress was general and overwhelming. He feared that there was not such a prospect of a good harvest as would induce them to hope favourably of the state of the country during the coming winter. Sir JAMES GRAHAM said he was glad that he had given way to the Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down, for although he (Sir J. Graham) had no reason to complain of the language used by lion. Members who had taken their seats, yet he could not but say that Ow Hon. Gentleman had done that which he (Sir James Graham) conceived was only justice to her Majesty's Ministers. In the first place he had directly admitted that for the existing distress they were not to be deemed responsible, and in the next place he had stated that he believed that it was impossible that any Member of that House could more deeply feel for that distress than did - her • Majesty's Government. In the first place he (Sir J. Graham) would strongly deprecate,the use of any lan guage in that House which had a tendency to create public dyspondency. He was quite satisfied that the inevitable effect of such language would be to shake public credit, and by shaking public credit materially aggravate that distress itself, and diminsh every respect fur the interests of this country, and shake its institutions. It was true that in many parts there was great suffering, but on the other hand there was great wealth and power. One party had displayed great public virtue and great pa tience, which was consonant with the character of a people governed by a representative system, which system of representation stood forward as one of our permanent institutions. He would refer to one expression, which appeared to him to have fallen unguardedly from the Honourable Gentleman VI , ho had just sat down ; those expressions appeared to him to present a pic ture of a desponding character, but he trusted that that would not be realised. The Honourable Gentle man stated that they might expect a bad harvest. Now he (Sir James Graham) thought, that after three bad harvests, it was to be anticipated that the present was to be a good one. The Hon. Member f'or Bolton had produced documents, on bringing forward his mo tion, which had been studiously avoided by the Hon. Member who had brought forward the question. He '.admitted, to the fullest extent, that great distress ex ished. ; but he thought 6 , - riovernment would desert its duty if it did not, when the honour of the country was concerned, impole such taxes as would secure the ho nour and charalvr of the Nitish name. That had been 1 dui coUrde that the British Government had pursued, and any itrzation they had brought forward had refe rence only to that consideration. He would deal more • especially with the circumstances brought under the eon• sideration of the House by the Hon. Member for Greenock. If it was dangerous on the one hand to aggravate feelings of despondency, it was equally so on the other to hold out false expectations of relief from the public purse. If an example were wanting, the Paisley case would afford it ; that was a case of distress of a most remarkable cha racter, pervading a large manufacturing community. Into the causes of that distress it perhaps might not be profitable to go ; but he should assign as one cause the nature of the manufactures carried on in the town. It was a manufacture confined almost to one commodity ; the export trade was connected with the United States. From the disturbances in those States a sudden cessation of trade did take place ; and besides that, the expected failure in the Scotch banks caused a failure in the manu factures there. The Hon. Member talked of Christian people not being treated with respect. He (Sir James Graham) thought they had been treated with a feeling much warmer than respect, and to the honour of Scot land be it stated that a sum of between 25,0001. arid 30,0001. was collected in behalf of Paisley. This sum, however large, was expended. Local subscriptions fail ing, it was nece!sary to supply further funds. Her Ma. jesty's Government endeavoured to promote public col lections in this metropolis. The Paisley case afforded striking example of the danger of the Government inter• fering in cases of this nature - . The Hon. Gentleman had stated objections to the system of Government stores; but that system had been adopted as less liable on the whole to abuse than any other. The subscriptions did not come solely from the Government, but a portion was contributed by private individuals ; and there was no desire to encourage a belief that the public purse would be opened to an unlimited ext e nt f or th e re li e f o f t h e di s - I tress in Paisley. The manufacturing community at large were no doubt at present reduced to a very melancholy condition. He (Sir J. Graham) had never denied the existence of distress, and he deeply sympathised with the sufferers. He entirely concurred. however, with the Hon. Member for Cockermouth—a high authority on the subject—that it was beyond the power of the Legis lature to devise an immediate remedy for the existing evils. There were many circumstances which had of late tended to depress our trade and manufactures. There was, for instance, the war in China and the disturbances in Central Asia. The consequences of these and other events were deeply felt in this country, and he (Sir J. Graham) did not believe that Parliament could apply an effectual remedy, if they were to sit for a longer pe riod to consider the subject, as proposed by the Hon. Member for Greenock. The simple remedy proposed by Hon. Gentlemen on the other side was confined to a re peal of the G►rn-laws. So deep—so sincere, was his sympathy with the state of suffering, that could he be lieve a change in the Corn-laws would remove that dis tress, no personal consideration should prevent him going with them. But so far from that being the case, he believed a sudden change in those laws would reduce the farmers' labourers to the destitute condition of the manufacturing population, and aggravate the evil sustained by all. He believed the distress would only iw increased by that sudden change, and, under these feelings, nothing remained to him but to oppose the motif,n. Mr. WARD said that the Right Hon. Baronet had at last given a tangible form to the debate. He could not ap prove of the form of the motion ; it was so ambiguously worded ; they ought to have something positive and tangible before them. The representations he had re ceived stated that it was impossible that any remedy could be effective if they did not take the subject of the Corn-laws into consideration. The whole trade of the country depended on the freedom of intercourse and commerce with other countries. He regretted that the motion had not been brought forward somewhat later, as he believed the more the Government inquired into it, the more imperative they would find it to do some thing. The country asked the Government not to stand between them and a better system ; they did not expect wonders of the Legislature ; they did not expect them to make unproductive branches of.trade productive, or to do away with all the prejudices which restricted ourcommerce with the continent of Europe. But they did ask them to carry out their own principles, which they had them selves laid down, and which had been so ably expounded by the Vice-President of the Board of Trade. He be lieved it was impossible to overrate the olepression at Sheffield ; one-third of the population was out of ern 'ployrnent, and the poor-rates were increasing to an extent which the property of the town could not support. And all those who were suffering distinctly traced their de privations to the operation of the Cern-laws. With those feelings, he did put it.to the Right Hon. Baronet, whether he would not be glad to have the shield of Parliament interposed between him and such an amount of responSi bility. He did not approve or the motion, it was vague; but he had stated what Parliament could do—they could honestly consider . the Corn-laws. All these iierable subscriptions were only blinking the real 'question; and he believed the Right Hon. Baronet had arrived at the conviction that it would be necessary for hiin to open the ports during the coming winter, and that one of the first measures of the next session would be an alteration of the law he had himself proposed. Mr. WALKER explained. _ _ ,Mr. B. DISRAELI opposed the motion. The Hon. 'Member for Sheffield had alluded to the distress in that town, and had stated that it might be remedied by a repeal of the Corn-laws ; that might be all very well, but there were other means of remedying the distress ; it might be done by better commercial regulations. Bat the Hon. Member had said it was not only Sheffield, but Leeds. Now, with respect to that, he would ask, did not the same commercial treaty which permitted the goods of Sheffield to enter forei g n ports, ap ply equally to Leeds, Birmingham, and Wolverhampton. in all of which places it had been represented the greatest distress prevailed? They had heard a good deal lately of the French ordinance with respect to increasing the duty on cotton and other articles the produce of this country ; it was generally understood that that was a great blow to industry in this country ; he doubted whether it was, but this he believed, that the cause of the distress was not single, but depended solely on its foreign policy.—(Hear, hear.) ' He did not wish to enter into any political discussion, but he wished to show that their commercial prosperity was dependent, in a great degree, upon their foreign policy.—(Hear.) They lost the French commercial treaty, and the treaty they obtained in consequence lost them their Levantine commerce.—(Hear, hear.) Why, then, did they turn round and say that the Corn-laws were the cause of their present distress. The moment the French com mercial treaty was lost, the whole of their commercial relations v, ith the East, the Levant, Egypt, India. and China was disturbed.—(Hear, hear.) Of all our Eastern markets, the most important and the most profitable was the Chinese market. Tho Chinese were eminently a commercial people, and our commerce with them was rapidly increasing at the time the disturbances between England and China commenced. Those troubles had reduced the commerce with China to one-third of whut it had been before. Here, in addition to the distur bances of the American markets, were great causes of commercial distress, and yet those gentlemen who now complained of this distress were the very persons who had supported the late Government, to whose policy this distress was owing. The Income-tax was the school master abroad, and that would occasion inquiry to be made into the causes of the distress. No Minister for the future would be suffered to silence discussion by saying that negotiations were going on when they were not, and that a treaty was not ratified when we were acting on it.—(Hear, hear.) These things had occa sioned the distress, and not our agricultural policy. • Mr. HUME agreed that our commercial interests had suffered great injury from the non-ratification of the treaty Of commerce with France, and from the disturb ance of the Levantine market. But the lion. Gentle. man had omitted to make any allusion to the American and German markets—markets more important than those to which he had alluded, and from which it was our own faults that we were excluded. If we had modi fied our Corn-laws at that time, America would not have altered her tariff. From the. year 1825 to the present time, English manufactures had been subjected to a very heavy duty in America, sometimes amounting to 40 or 50 per cent., in consequence of the Corn-laws remaining. This duty would have gone as profit to the manufac turers, or as wages to the labourers, if the Corn-laws had been repealed. The delegates from the manufacturing districts bad set forth to the country their views on this subject. They prayed to be allowed to expound them before the House. From the statements of those gen tlemen, it would appear that a person had sent out a quantity of hosiery, for which he was to receive 216 barrels, of flour. Out of this he had to pay for freight and charges 59 barrels, for duty in America 32 barrels, and for the English duty 42 barrels. Both these ditties were imposed in consequence of our Corn-laws ; for if there were no Corn-laws in this country, the Ameri- cans would not impose any , duty on our ma nufactures imported into America from this country, He asked the Right Hon. Gentleman whether, if they had listened to the arguments of America, that the. Bri tish labourer would not lave been in a state now of com fort and prosperity. The Right Hon. Secretary for the Home Department said, that the distress had been accu mulating for years. Why, so it had, and it would go on increasing, for they could not now send their goods to those countries which had nothing but corn to return them. The Americans in retaliation put on a duty of 20 per cent. on hardware, and other heavy duties, all because we would not repeal the Corn-laws in this coun try. There was property in America which would enable this country to receive 6,000,0001. in a few months in payment of their debts, if these laws were repealed. So, again, with respect to Germany and Prussia. Hon. Gentlemen on the other side said, if you open a free trade here, how do we know that other countries will open their trade? He had a letter in his hand, written by the Prussian Minister to this country, in 1825, in which it was stated that the importation of all foreign articles in Prussia was free, with the exception of salt and playing cards, upon which the Government held a monopoly, and that all that was was required for a reciprocated system of free trade was that the British Government should allow the importa tion of Prussian goods into this country, free. In this letter these representations were made to Mr. Canning, and the proposition was made by the Prussian Govern ment tc, him to allow Prussian goods to enter this country free. The answer was dated July, 1826, and said that their Lordships having fully cons idered the subject, they could never entertain such a proposal Never let any one say, after this, that foreigners had thrown obstacles in the way of a reciprocal system of free trade. If we had met other countries fairly we s hould have had that system now. With respect to the motion before the House, he was glad to hear that the istress wa.s freely admitted and regretted. The Right Hon. Baronet said that Paisley had suffered in conse quence of a change in fashio n , b ut h e (Mr. Hume) foun d that the hives in the manufacturing districts were still, and the manufacturers of Birmingham and Sheffield were not at work, therefore, the remark of the Right Hon. Baronet did not apply to the state of moment consume double the a dis tress. We could at this - general mount of corn that this country produced, and yet bey found that thousands were out of employraeut m he country. Repeal the Corn-law, and such would not be the ease, and he fully believed that the landed in terests would not suffer. The Right Honeurable Baronet's reasoning was quite fallacious • 'on this subject. The distress was general all over the country, and that which at one part affected all. The county of Forfar was ip a state of great distress. Linen weaving was the trade which the people of that county carried on. France 'and America were the prin ciple receptacles of their manufacture, but now they would take very little. 'He would beg to read a letter from Mr. Edward Baxter, of Dundee, in proof of what he sa id. "In that town," said Mr. Baxter, " the poor's-rates in 1840, were only 5,662/., last year the rates amounted to 7.0871., and upwards of 1,200/. had been subscribed for the relief of the poor. In January, 1842, the number unemployed, who subscribed themselves as paupers, was 942, (and he would beg to remind the House that, before a man in that country would. subscribe himself a pauper, he must be in great distress.) Besides that, since that time, four mills in the town had stopped work, throwing 695 men out of employment. Wages for spinning and weaving were very low. in January, 1842, since then spinning wages had been reduced 10 per cent., and other wages from 14 to 16 per cent." What would be the result in consequencie of the present ordinancea France, it was almost impossible to conceive. What was to be done he did not know. The Income-tax would rather add to their distress. The tariff would, in time, do something, but, in the mean time, the people were starving. There was a remedy, however, to which the people all' pointed, and he would ask them whether they were not called upon to throw their ports open and unburthen trade ? An lion. Member bad inquired what would be the effect of the repeal of the Corn-laws ? Why this would be the effect: Directly they knew abroad that the orn-laws wer to be repealed, lage suplies would co C me over here; the manufacturers lere wo p uld immediately commence their work again, till the goods might be exchanged for corn, and the hands would be immediately taken into employ. Notwithstanding the patience and good conduct of the working classes, their demands had been mocked at.--(No, no.) No ! He could not mistake the votes of the House. They had denied them bread—they had denied them their just demands. Was food cheaper ? No, food was clearer.—(Hear, hear.) The people asked for bread and they gave them stones. Was that to relieve them ? They inust re-consider the Corn-laws, that was the --Only remedy. The House was acting a cruel and" hard-hearted part, and on that ground he thanked his Hon. Friend for bringing his motion before the House. They might cavil about the remedy, but he (Mr. Hume) thought the repeal of the Corn-laws was the best remedy: If the Government had a remedy, let them try it but do not consign the whole population of England to misery, destitution, and death. 11Ir. M. ATTWOOD w9s understood to say that America had, to a certain extent, followed the free trade policy recommended by the Hon. Member fur Montrose, and the consequence was that the distress in America was second only to that which existed in England. He remembered well the words of Mr. Huskisson, when speaking of reciprocity. He said that so long as foreign articles could be admitted free, so long as taxes could be reduced, and the Exchequer still remain in a favourable condition, they might expect that foreign nations would fellow their policy ; but if they could not do that—if. whilst they reduced the taxes. and admitted foreign produce free, the Exchequer be came empty—they then might depend upon it foreign nations would not follow their example. And what had the Chancellor of the Exchequer to show now ? Nothing but an empty Exchequer, which required an Income-tax to restore it ; and would they expect, with that before them. that other nations would follow their policy, and would act with them on a system of reciprocity ? He (Mr. Attwood) did not attribute the present distress to the condition of the Corn-laws, but he did attribute it in a great measure to the extraordinary fact that the British manufactures could' be purchased in China, Bombay, and in almost every market of the world at as cheap a rate as at the place where manufactured in England. This might appear to be an anomaly, but it was a fact. The condition of the people was such that Parliament ought, if they could not relieve, to show that they were determined to apply all the remedies they could to the evil. It was not in the mouth of the Government to say they had not caused the evil, and there let it rest ; but they ought to Join with Parliament, and :assist it in doing 'all it could to remedy the sufferings of the . people.—(Hear, hear.) . Par liament ought not to separate without some such course being pursued. He denied that the Corn-laws were the sole cause of the distress in the country, but the people ought not to be left in the desperate state in which they were without inquiry and relief. Lord JOHN RUSSELL was not one of those who took the most favourable view of the course pursued by her Majesty's Government; but, although he had no g etfi re c ri a t c), 7 o li t an i c h e ei o r n pla tl n ier councils s i fortiereli or confidence efofthedist in the resses of the country, yet he should not feel justified in taking so hostile a course as that which had been adopted by the Hon. Member opposite. That Hon. Gentleman, after raising their apprehensions for the tranquillity of th e count r y, had suggested no remedy. —(Hear, hear.) All that he had done, was to say that there ought to be inquiry into the cause of the distress. —(Hear, hear.) Now, in his opinion, to adopt such an inquiry , would be holding out no reasonable expectation to the country of any relief.--*(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman had not even proposed the favourite scheme of the one-pound notes.—t Hear, and laughter.) Mr. M. ATTWOOD said that he never proposed any such scheme, Lord J: RUSSELL did not say that the Hon: Gentle man had proposed such a scheme, hut those with whom he agreed in opinion had.—(Hear, hear.) As to the present discussion, there ought certainly some allowance to be made for her Majesty's Government. They must allow that they were not responsible for the distress that existed. They must allow that they felt as much for their fellow: countrymen, as any other men. They must allow, also, that no particular scheme would alleviate their distresses. But having stated this much, he must state that he entirely disagreed with the course taken during the present Session. He (Lord J. Russell) believed' they were mistaken in supposing that the financial deficiency was the only evil they had to d: a 1 with. The primary evil was the depressed state of trade, and the financial deficiency was but a secondary evil. The whole plan of the Government was framed with the view of making the income equal to the ex penditure, and afterwards to relieve trade from its embar rassments. In this first object he admitted they were likely to succeed; but, with respect to the Income-tax, he thought it was neither justified nor necessary. He thought the spirit that had been shown by the country to bear that tax, was enough to convince any one that the spirit of the people was unbroken, and that they were ready to meet any difficulty. With respect to the second, the greatest evil they had todeal with was the embarrass ment of trade, and the present distressed state of the country. The Member for Whitehaven, thought they were wrong in adopting the plan of Mr Huskisson. Ile (Lord John Russell) could not agree with that because he did not think that the alteration made with respect to cotton and woollen goods, silks and gloves, had been any cause of the deficiency of the revenue of the country, and more than once it had been shown that the con sequences of these measures had been to increase the industry as well as the wealth of the country. Where, however, the case of the Government failed was that, not agreeing with the prin ciple of the Hon. Gentleman, but agreeing with the principle of Mr. Huskisson, they relied upon certain changes they had made, but refused to apply the same principles to other and greater articles.—( Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Baronet, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, had told the House that he thought the changes in the tariff would augment the industry of the country. If that was the case, if the Right Hon. Gentleman was right in that isupposition even to some extent, how could it be, he would ask, that measures founded upon those principles should be correct with respect to oil and other articles, but that when they came to corn and flour they were not equally so ?—( Hear, hear.) He considered the admis sion of foreign corn was of the greatest importance to this country. The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite, when he (Lord J. Russell) made this observation, observed that he had proposed an Bs. duty ; that was perfectly true, and it was his (Lord John Russell's) firm belief, that if, during the ernbarasssments of last year, they had established such a duty foreign countries would have sent over large quantities of corn to this country. He agreed with the Hon. Gentleman the Member for Montrose that they might consume a greater quantity of foreign corn than at present without in jury to the agriculturists. The pre ent depressed state of the country was not to be attributed to the want of exports, but to the fact t hat workmen were paid low wages, while they had to pay high prices for their food ; but if foreign corn was admitted, they would get their food cheaper, employ ment would be increased, and the country generally benefited. Great alarm Jiad been created by the anticipated changes in the tariff; and yet the Government persevered in the measure. It was found, too, after a shertinterval, that the fears of those parties to be affected by the tariff had not been realised. He believed in like manner, that if theywere to effect a material alteration in the Corn-laws, although apprehensions might at first be created among the 'agriculturists, those apprehensions would speed.ly subside ; and that the agricultur e o f t h e coun t r y would be placed upon t he best and soundestbasis. He did not, however, mean to say that the Corn laws were the only source of the national embarrassments. But still those laws had not first alway s h avp certainly largely contributed to create those embarrass- Mr. D'l waeli) difficulties the consent of to the unsatisfactory condition of our commercial treaties. embarrass ments. a e d n t o s n . a The inrm e H r o n n e . cas A i l n e n mb l e t r tri fo h r ut S e h d r Shrewsbury ( M r. (0 our in our power other nations in any modification of this kind. But it would t il o u i t m it pr w o a y s e t t a he be tr o e b a s t not be wise, while waiting for such consent, to delay those ill system which we could improvements in our commercial system be our selves effect, and to which we wou ld - h e only .parties. He . in a pprove of the principle of re taliating on foreign nations their ) towards our manu factures. He did not think, for in stance, that because the people French Government had punished t heir by prohibiting the importation cf . our linen thr ead, that the Briti s h Govern ment should punish the Engl is h people by pro hi biting i Ile believed, Hear, hear.) articles of French produce. -- k on the whole, that the Governme nt, while h sound principles in the formation o f the new tariff , tey had ad op t e d . ha d n had n o t pro perly carried out those principle3f 's an to not pursued the course which would be most beneficial a the country. Expe rienceew Corn-law haul contrib u t e d had proved that the n very little, if at ail, to au increased i m por tati on of corn from e th er countries. Indeed, he feared it might be said that, considering the present. high price of corn here, b t . ere had b een a lest im portation since the new law had comeLnetoopel ation, th an t h ere nad been under the law of 1828. 11 trade. felt convin ce d t h at, it they applied to that very great article of _ ade. and o f subsist ence, the same principles which b ad they. applied t o ot h er arti cles, and upon which their lessonin g had been so just, and their majorities so triumphant—( Hear , h ear)—if they were to apply the same principles, he felt convinced they wou ld b e making a material, a most useful alteration in their legislation. He should certainly be ready, if any . one were to propose it, to give his vote in faveur of an alteration of the present Corn laws.—(Hear.) But he must consider that the House had made up its mind with respect to the plans of the present Session. The Right Hon. Gentleman who had made the mo tion of that night had not inted to ny definite remed for existing evils ; he had onlysated io h i s resoluti ons that i t was the duty of her Majesty's Ministers to advise the Crown not to ' prorogue Parliament until some remedy was found f or the pre sent distress. But knowing what the duties of a Government were, how advisable it was, and Is he (Lord J. Russell) thought how deft it was, not to place upon them, without giving a clear and nite alternative, the whole of the responi n o bil ity for not finding a remedy for the evils from which the country suffered, he owned he could not refuse to go into the ordinary 1 e., Committee of Supply upon such a motion as that of the Right Honourable Gentleman. — ( Hear.) He believed that the principles which he had stated on former occasions, and which he had repeated that night, with respect to the com mercial policy of the country, were the principles apo li w i l i c h . Governmeut must ultimately act. He lamented that the Go. vernment had postponed the consideration of the remedies for the existing distosse, but he should leave to them the responsi bility of determining the time at which they should propose the e remedies. He would nut, by any vote for a vague and indefinite remedy, tend in any way to augment the national em barrassment. His vote, however, as he had said before, would be given for any alteration in the existing Corn-laws. Tint was a subject upon which he had a clear and definite opinion, and he should therefore be prepared to give a decided vote upon it. tie could not, with equal satisfaction to himself, give a vote in favour of the present motion ; and he should refuse to concur in any course which wouldset aside the ordinary proceed ing by which the Government sought to obtain the supplies necessary for the service of the year.---( Cheers. ) Sir R. PEEL rose and said, that however various might be the opinions of gentlemen on different sides of the House with respect to the commercial policy of the Government, or the easons which ought to he adopted for the purpose of miti gating that distress which all admitted to prevail, he still ap prehended that no Honourable Gentleman would be inclined to give his vote without attending to the proposal to which he was invited to give his assent. lie should, therefore, call the attention of tke House to the practical proposition of the Member for Greenock. In much of the first five resolutions, which spoke of the fortitude with which the people had borne their sufferings, he entirely agreed. But the sixth contained the proposal of the Hon. Member, and it was, that a humble address be presented to her Majesty ; prayirg her Majesty net to prorogue the Parliament till a searching inquiry had been instituted into the causes of the present distress. Why, what a shabby way was this of meet rug the difficulty ?—( Hear, hear.) They had arrived at the first of July, and no notice had hitherto been given of such an intention. If such an inquiry was considered likely to have useful practical resu'ts. Why was it not proposed at a much earlier period? By what moils, was it to be instituted? Was it to he a Committee of Inquiry on evidence given at the bar of the House into all the complicated causes of the distress of the country, or was it to he by a Select Committee? Upon all the practical parts of the question the Hon. Gentleman had evaded giving any opinion. But he said he knew if the inquiry could be completed, still there would be no prorogation till effectual means had been secured for providing for the suste nance of the unemployed poor and their destitute families. Why, what did that mean, but the same thing as the motion of the Member for Knaresborough ? What Government could give such an assurance as that it would take means to revive the in dustry and commerce of the country. To promise the peopl e sustenance could not be duneunless they adopted the principle of the resolution of the Member for • Knaresborough, against which the Honourable Member for Greenock himself voted.— ( Cheers.) He hoped the House would not sanction such a pro position. He believed he had said enough to show that it would not be wise in the House to evade the pre sent difficulty and encourage expectations on the part of the suffering - people from an inquiry, the result of which could not be otherwise than deceptive. —( Hear, hear.) Yet he un derstood the Hen. Vember for Whitehaven intended to vote for the motion for inquiry ; he was surprised to hear him state that intention when, with all his practical knowledge of commercial affairs, he had sat tranquilly till the first of July, and never intimated that he had any such intention. He had never even stated his opinion of the causes of the distress; yet, surely. those who had been engaged all their lives in commerce were as competent to form an opinion of it; surely they could not be simile enough to believe that there existed in cer tain official departments a remedy for the disorder that existed. He was surprised, then, that his refusal to suggest a remedy should be so intense, when he was just as competent as her Majesty's Government to form an opinion of the kind of remedy required. Mr. W. ATWOOD—I am not " the Doctor."—(Leud laughter, and cheers from the Opposition.) Sir it. PEEL—Then the Hon. Gentleman took exactly the same course lie had cone himself—not being responsible, he would riot give a remedy; but he (Sir R. Peel)had undertaken that respensibili'y, and had offered a remedy—( Hear)—all that the Hon. Gentleman had de is was to attend a consultation of doctor.;, but he would offer no opinion of his own.—(Cheers.) He totally dissented from the remedy proposed by the Govern ment, but he proposed no other. He said the Government were wrong in making any relaxations of commerce they heel done— tid he, then, propose to increase restriction ?—(No, no.) It. appeared he did not; then what were his opinions on our com mercial system ? From the praise he had given the policy of the United States, he seemed to think we ought to refuse to purchase any produce of a foreign country which they were able to raise themselves. But the Hon. Gentleman would find him ' self defeated by high duties on such productions ; he would find the revenue diminished, but domestic industry not pro tected. Ile had expected to hear him advocate the abolition of the law which makes paper currency convertible into gold. He disclaimed the intention of re-issuing the one-pound notes ; he thought the repeal of the Corn-laws would aggravate the distress; he apprehended, therefore, that h e had no other remedy to propose, but the resorting to what was called the " little shilling," the making ninepence or tenpence, pass for a shilling, or else the relieving the issuers of paper from the obligation of converting it into gold. But let him get the Com mittee of Inquiry ; what was the prospect from it, what time would be consumed till they could come to the recommendation of some practical measure ? He now came to the speech of the Noble Lord, who took an entirely different view of the subject, and who was prepared to adopt a tore much less hostile to the Government. Ile said he thought the Govern ment had attached too much importance to their financial difficulties ; but considering that the deficiency hail existed for five years, and amounted to ten millions, he believed the coun try would coins to a different opinion.—( Hear, hear.) He said the people gave a great indication of their spirit by their cheerful acquiescence with the Income-tax ; what stronger proof could a people give of its confidence in a Government? What must they have thought of the late Government? Was it not probable that they had come to the conclusion that the time had at rived when the revenue and the expenditure ought to be equalized ; that delay and evasion were no longer practicable— and that some vigorous and decisive measures were necessary ? There had been a very prevalent impression, upon the proposal of the Income-tax, that the members of the late Government intended to give it their support. What circumstances had induced them to change their view, he of course could not tell, but that impresion prevailed ; and the very circumstance that they thoeght it necessary to take time to consider the measure would naturally lead to the supposition that they thought there were solid reasons for the proposal. Nor was it the Government alone who took that view of the matter. Looking at the general position of this country ; seeing that on the north-west trontier of India there were hostilities of doubtful issue, whilst on the other frontier of India, namely China, there was a war, the du ration of which it was difficult to forsee ; considering that our differences with America had continued for several years, and perceiving that, with respect to that country, an intimate alli ance with which hail formed one of our chief hopes, there had grown up, front some cause or other, feelings of jealousy and hostility greatly to be deprecated—combining all these consi derations together the people came to the opinion that it was desirable to make a great effort to equalise the revenue and the expenditure, and the burden should fall upon the property of the country, and not upon those who were engaged in pro ductive industry. Now, with respect to the tariff. The Noble Lord, by his general admissions, had gone far to show that her Majesty's Government had pushed the principles upon which the tariff was founded to as great an extent as was consistent either with public feeling or due protection to existing inte rests. " See," said the Noble Lord, "what you have done; you have reduced the duty on oil ; you have reduced the duty on seed, on ore, and on timber ; you have affected a great many interests. All I complain of is, that you have not carried your principles much further." Now take the case of cattle. For a long time the complaint had been that the provision laws im- Feded the commer c i a l i n t erco u rse o f thi s coun t r y ; b u t u p t o ebruary, 1842, no Government had ever talked about cattle —( Hear)—the subject was never mentioned. The late Go vernment said they would doubtless have made an alteration, for it was conformable with their principles; but he had never heard the word mentioned in that House. He proposed duties which were not objected to on the other side of the House—a duty of 1/. per head upon cattle, and Id. per pound upon meat. The Noble Lord said that a great panic had been produced by the alteration. He said he knew -cases in which farmers had bought cattle, had fed them, and had afterwards sold them for a less awn than they cost. This showed that a relaxation of monopolies was not unattended with practical evils—that they were often productive of individual injustice. The farmer who, in consequence of the panic, unwisely, but not unnatu rally, parted with his cattle, had a right to complain, per haps, of the proposition which he had made. The Noble Lord said that he (Sir R. Peel) had disregarded the panic, had braved opposition, and was now rewarded by finding that the panic was unfounded; but the Noble Lord did not give him much encouragement to proceed, for he told him that notwith standir g the reduction of duties he had done no good. Why, what was the Noble Lord's argument ? He said, " adopt the principle of an Bs. duty with respect to cern, and the sane consequences would follow as in the case of cattle. Why, what, according to the Noble Lord, would those consequences be ? That the panic would prove to be groundless, but he would do no good whatever.—(Hear, hear.) He asked the House to judge of the position of the Government. One class of gentlemen declared that all which had been done WRS in effectual, that nothing would avail but a repeal of the Corn laws. The Hon. Gentleman opposite, a man practically ac quainted with commerce, said that the Corn-laws were not in the slightest degree chargeable with the present distress, and that commercial prosperity had coexisted with them, and that it would be absurd to expect any relief from their repeal. Ile implied an opinion, in fact, that all commercial relaxations were unwise, and that additional protection to domestic produce ought to be at once afforded. The grand remedy now proposed was a Committee of Inquiry. Why, what was the practical course which her Majesty's Government had pursued ? They had re duced the duties upon corn by one-half.—( Oh, oh.) At , that moment foreign corn was admitted at 93., whereas if the old law had been in operation the duty would tuve been 235. Bd. They proposed to relieve the country from financial difficulties, and they staked the existence of the Government upon the proposal. They proposed to equalise the revenue and the expenditure by direct taxation. Did they stop there? Did they appropriate the whole of the proceeds of that taxa tion to the payment of the public establishments? On the contrary, they applied a great part of it to the remission of du ties which impeded foreign commercial intercourse, and they revised, almost without exception, the whole of the commercial tariff of this country. In proposing, however, the revisal of the tariff they did not think it desirable to disturb the employment of capital by too sudden and precipitate changes.—( Hear, hear.) His firm belief was that they adopt( d the proper course. They were blamed by some for going too far, they were blamed by others for not going far enough. He asked the House to esti mate all the difficulties with which they had had to contend, and he could not help thinking that any impartial man would come to the conclusion, that those difficulties had been fairly and successfnlly encountered. He now came to the Corn-laws. This proposal was net a proposal either for the repeal or for a modification of those laws, and any gentleman who was in favour of absolute repeal, would be perfectly justi fied in resisting a motion for indefinite inquiry. It was perfectly open to such a person to propose the repeal of the Corn-laws, but he earnestly hoped that no such propo sition would be made. He hoped that a fair trial would be given to the law as it now stood. He retained the opinion which he had heretofore expressed on this subject. He did not believe that any of the proposals which he had heard with re spect to the Corn-laws would have the effect of mitigating the distress under which this country was labouring, and he could not help thinking that if they adopted any measure of that kind, which involved the agricultural population of this country in distress, they would only aggravate privations which the commercial classes were now enduring. He found that the commercial prosperity of this Country had been consistent with the laws which bad till lately been in operation with respect to the import of corn. It was stated, on the authority of the Chamber of Commerce of Manchester, that up to the year 1837, and for many years pre ceding, the manufacturers and commercial interests of this country had been in a state of unexampled prosperity. He knew it would be said, that, during the four years preceding 1837, the price of provisions was very low ; bu: there had been no foreign corn imported during those years, and consequently there hail been no demand for the maallfac tured cottons of this country. The Hon. Member for Stock port had said that cotton manufactures in this country required I no protection, that it was absurd to demand protection far cotton manufactured in England. That was to say, that not withstanding the high price of food in this country, yet that still we had contrived to outstrip every other corn. petitor, as regarded the production of cotton. He (Sir Robert Peel) could not deny that distress existed in many parts of this country—that it was most grievous the districts concerned in cotton manufactures. 4..1 wally Other districts distress and privation were suOsreci, but they - existed in an especial degree in thnse districts connected with cotton manufactures. It may be said that a great portion of the mills in those districts had stopped work. That might be true, of course, with respect to some districts, yet still it was a remark able thing (he did not state this for the purpose of denying the existence of the distress—the indications were too manifest to admit of denial)—still it was remarkable—it did suggest some considerations to the mind, when they heard of this uni versal distress in the manufacturing districts, and the immense extent to which the closing of mills had taken place —that the quantities of cotton . taken out for home manufacture this year, as compared with last year, :awl not decreased. From the Government returns, up to the 24th of June, 1842, it appeared that in the first six months of the year 1841 there were 464,000 bales of co tt on token out for home consumption. From the statements of the extent to which industry was paralysed in the cotton manufac ture in the present year as compared with last year, he had ex caest e n d o t to t h fi e n c d a a s e d . i m in Theut quantity " ()n 'in the taken quant o ty u t t a t k h e e n fi first six months at out. tßut the 24th of June, 1842, was 533,000 bales. So that of last year was 464,000 bales. The quantity consumed up to notwith standing the distress and the closing of the milk, yet the whole quantity taken out for consumption in the first six months• of 184') exceeded that taken out in the first six months of 1841, and he doubted whether it did not almost equal that taken out during the first six months of any preceding year, with one or two exceptions. lie knew that that did not prove that the profits were great and that the distress was diminished. Still the fact was remarkable. He had taken, in one respect, a more desponding view of the condition of this country than Honourable Gentlemen op posite. fie firmly believed that if they repealed the Corn lass, and if that measure produced the effect they anticipated, they would net give a guarantee against the recurrence of se vere distress in certain l oca liti es . He was afraid, even if they repealed the Coin-laws, they must look forward to occasional severe local distress. At the present moment of severe distress there were in some parts of the country new mills in the course of building, and being filled with improved machinery. It must always happen that in certain localities manufacturers of smaller capital should have imperfect machinery, yet still employing a great mass of population not capable of easy re moval, who would find it difficult to enter into competition with those who could command capital, and adopt the most approved machinery. To resist the progress of those wonderful inventions was impossible, but though there should be increased demand at present for manufactures, still there must be simultaneously existing with that demand se vere distress on account of the sudden application of new ma chinery to the process. He could prove: that to be the ease, but he would not dwell upon the matter. He could show that the immediate application of improved machinery to manufac tures was the production of distress-a tendency to throw out of employment adult males, and substitute for their labrur that of females and children ; and that the result was, that men of twanty-five or thirty, who up to that age were employed in cotton manufacture, found it difficult to turn their hands to any other occupation. They sheuld not make the Corn-laws responsible laws for this. lie did not, however, make that an impeach ment of those inventions. Those inventions might cause em ployment in mechanical industry of another nature, but still commercial prosperity might be great ; yet in certain districts, from which it was difficult to remove men with large families, distress would arise from this cause. Looking at this state of things, he could not anticipate that absence of distress which some Hon. Gentlemen calculated upon. They had applied harsh terms to the measures which Government had taken to alleviate the distress. They talked of " begging boxes " and charitable relief," and said that such remedies were not satisfactory. lie admitted they were less satisfactory than any mode of providing employment ; less satisfactory, in every re spect, in a social point of view, to the honest and independent feeling of those who dreaded temporary assistance, and who pre ferred ' that labour which enabled the poor man by the sweat of his brow to gain an honest subsistence. But when pressure came could any man say that even that unsatisfactory mode of relief ought to be refused ? Was it wise to disparage that mode of re. ceieing contributions, when they themselves must feel that no immediate improvement, according to their own views, of com mercial policy, could result from their measures ? He gave credit to the patience and forbearance with which the people had borne their distress, and, he believed, if left to themselves, they would continue to manifest that patience. He thought them entitled to a higher degree of credit, in consequence of the persevering efforts made to inflame their minds by wicked per sons, who, he had conclusise proof, attempted to indispose them to honest industry. While on one hand their admiration was raised by the forbearance of the people, on the other their indignation must be excited against those who, by violent language, attempted to urge the people to courses which, for the preservation of the best interests of all, would give the present Government no alternative but their firm repression, the repression of disobe dience to the law, and the maintenance of peace against any efforts at disturbance. Mr. MILNER GIBSON said that, notwithstanding tbe regret expressed by the Right Hon. Gentleman at the opinion to which he (Mr. Milner Gibson) gave utterance on a former occasion, that subscriptions to the Anti-Corn-law League were more humane subscriptions for the relief of charitable objects than any other, yet he still adhered to that opinion. With respect to what had been sail, in answer to the arguments of the Hon. Member for White haven (Mr. M. Attwood), ho (Mr. Gibson) thought that gentleman had expressed himself consistently, rationally, and wisely, as he held that.protection was a source of national pros perity. Because he was in favour of protection and opposed to relaxation, he was consistent in voting for an inquiry. 'What course was formerly pursued with agricultural distress? Why, Committees of Inquiry were appointed. There was tbe Pay master of the Forces looking with tranquil indifference at the distress of the manufacturers, who seconded a motion in 1321 for an inquiry into agricultural distress.—(Hear, hear, hear.) It was then said that mere sympathy was not enough— that they wanted more from the priest than his blessing— they wanted his pence. Such was th e l anguage use d t h en, and they were right, for though an inquiry might be productive of no real good, it would show the people that they were ready to inquire into their distress.—( Hear, hear.) It was upon the Caine grounds that they now asked for inquiry. It was true there were different opinions on the cause of that distress ; but that was the very reason why an inquiry ought to be instituted. —( Hear, hear.) He begged of the House to favour him with its attention, while he read some statements respecting Manchester, the metropolis of the cotton manufacture. The lion. Gentleman then read a letter from the proprietor of the Oxford-row cotton manufactory, in which the writer stated that, in consequence of the state of the trade, 260 workmen had heeis discharged, and that he was afraid he would be obliged to turfs a great number out of employment. The Hon. Gentle roan then read a statement, signed by Mr. Herbert, the Dean of Manchester, in which it was stated that 1,200 persons in Manchester were dependent for their support on the soup which they received from the charity fund; and that 7,500, who were making small wages, were partially dependent on it.—( Hear, hear.) The writer then went on to detail particular instances of distress. One family were without food for two days; a father of a family shed tears when a ticket was given him; and another, with a wife and five children, lived on a pound of bread for two days. Such facts, the enter continued, might easily be multiplied. 1,500 quarts of soup were at first distributed, but, during the four last weeks, 3,700 quarts were given. Such was the state of things in Manchester. The Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department regretted that the lion. Member for Bolton had raised unnecessary alarm by stating that they were likely to hay* a delcient harvest. But if that were so, was it not better to state the fact, that it might not come upon them un provided -( Hear, hear.) If he were desirous of the charac ter of a cautious statesman, he would rather yield to the fear of such a calamity, than depend ors the expectation of the other.—( Hear, hear.) But what did the Farmer's Journal say upon the subject ? He would quote from the " Corn trade letter" of the 20th of June. The writer stated his opinion to be that there was little corn in the hands of the farmers, and that the coming harvest was not likely to yield the average crop. He stated the de ficiency in 1840 was calculated to be 4,600,000 quarters, but that Ireland and the Continent were open to them, from which 6,218,817 quarters were obtained. But, now that Ire land was herself bankrupt, and that the Continent was not likely to grow wheat for them, they would not be able to ob tain more than 2,000,000 quarters from them ; so that four and a quarter millions of quarters were to be supplied.—( Hear, hear. 1 That was th e statement i n t h e Farmer's Journal, and it was confirmed by the dark-lane Express. This subject was germane to the question before the House, because the distress wai occasioned by a deficiency of food. Charitable contributions would do no good whatever. There were numbers in the country who wanted food, and he did not see how they were to obtain it, if the Corn-laws were maintained. It was true the Corn-law would net pravide im mediate relief, and the Ri g ht H on . B aronet ( Sir J, Graham's had misunderstood the argument of the lion. Member on that point. What the Hon. Gentleman said was, e' e es the Corn-law would not be of itnmediate efficacy, end that it would require some years to bring the country to that healthy state in which it would be if the Corn-laws had never existed. But the system of a sliding scale would not produce that effect. Nothing less than a total abolition of the Corn-laws would produce that result. ( Hear, hear.) They could not stop short of free trade. It was a fallacy to talk of levying a moderate protecting duty, and doing away with prohibition. They could do no such thing, lf, under a system of free trade, they would import twenty quarters of wheat, while under a moderate protecting duty they would only import fifteen quarters, that moderate protecting duty was, to all intents and purposes, a prohibition as far as re garded five quarters of wheat.—( Cheers.) The only proper judge of the wants of the community, of the quantity of food which the community ought to consume, was the community itself. For any statesman to pretend to know what the wants of the community were better than the community itself, appeared to him to be one of the wildest and most visionary ideas in the world.—( Hear, hear.) He was justified in saying this boy the conduct of the Bight Hon. Baronet. The Right Hon. Baro net had never been able to give any good reason why s in the alterations in the tariff, he had gone no further, The Right lion, Baronet, and the Right Hon. Gentlemen the Vice-Pre sident of the Board of Trade had, in their speeches, laid down free trade principles as clearly as any Anti-Corn-law lecturer could have done.—(Hear, hear.) The only difference between the Right Hon. G en tl emen opposite and himself was as tattle practical applic a ti on o f those principles.—(Hear, hear,) ne Right Hon. Baronet said that they ought to buy in the cltta i )est market, and that it was to manufactures, and not to the Corn laws that the prosperity of the landed interest was owin g (Cheers.) The Vice P res id ent o f the Board of Trade said if the y imported cattle t o th e va l ue o f 500,600/. a -year they must ex port commodities of an equal value to pay for them. Here they had the two great principles of free trade conceded— ( Loud cheers)—first, the right to.buy in the cheapest market ; and secondly, the principle that if there be an impost trade there must be an export trade—( Cheers)—and that principle fur which they contended was also admitted—that it was not corn-laws, or beef-laws, or mutton-laws, that were the founda tion of the welfare of the landed interest, but the prosperity of manufactures.—( Cheers. 1 Could anything be more reason able than what was asked for by the present motion? It was admitted that the country was in a state of unparalleled distress, and all that' was asked for was an inquiry into the causes - of the distress, lie would n o t quibble about the wor di ng of the motion. If he shirked the proposition the only excuse he could give for so doing was some quibble about wording of it. He sheuld be laughed at and be told by his constituents that he was shirking the questio n if he were to avail himself of such a subterfuge, If th e H on. Gentlemen opposite voted against the motion solely upon such grounds, they would be ad T e h Th ey r would inqui r merely lt. nt understand pausesstnad misunderstood out of doors, People out of doors knew o " a n g motion t o ti n le h ir ad qu b i e b e b n les m , thatno t h of the distress, and calling upon the Exe l eu g tiv i e remedy. Af next session the Executive were to be o In O o ld vi of e a diroir.ishing trade, arid of the continuan • and ' t continuanceincrease of distress, what would be said? Why, they would at once be told that they had made no motion for • • inquiry. —(Loud cheers.) —that they had sat, like the 114,-ht Hon. Gentleman the Pay mas'er of the Forces, with tranquil • - 1T indifference—(Cheers erence—(Cheers and laughter) -and had never exerted themselves to draw attention to the subiect,—( Loud cheers.) If they had acted in such. H th ey wou ld be undeserving of being returned to 'seat —(Cheers.) They did not ask the House to foi'erfere with the rights of others ; they onl • asked to be permitted to exercise th e i r own industry,' t should and that those smpe irnen s be -- • retooted which prevented them from earning their bread.— ( Cheers.) When the agricultural interest complained of dis tress, did they content thenseelves with merely asking this. No ! they interfered with the rights of others—(Cheers)— they asked th at t h e trade of the cou ntry should be checked by Act of Parliament.—( Cheers.) They asked that they should bo,s ctmstituted the sale shopkeepers, provision merchants, 3Ma porveyors of the United Ki n gdom.—(Cheers.) Tlla atanu ., factorCrs asked nothing of this sort. All they wanted was to he permitted to exercise their industry without impediment. That was a measure of justice, and (night not to be postponed on account of the vested interests of those who had coramitted originally an injustiee which ought never to have been corn-. mitted.—( Cheers. 1 The argument made use of by the Right Hon. Gentleman, that we ought not to reduce the duties on out imports until foreign nations should reciprocate, was a specious one, and not an invalid one in instances where there was any chance of such reciprocation taking place. But according to that argument it would appear that we were the parties yielding. Was such the real state of the case ? Looking at our tariff, including the Corn-laws, it was the most hostile 'fake the free trade of an y coun t r y i n th e wor ld.—( Cheers.) the Brazilian tariff. Th e y i m p ose d a d u ty of 15 to 20 per cent. on come of our manufactures, while, on their staple com modity, auger, we imposed a duty of 350 per cent. They k of the recent d u ty o f 20 p er cent . i mpose d b y F ran ce uponßritish thread? Why we i m p ose d a d u t y o f 1 , 200 per cen t. epon French talked brandy. For all these reasons the first proposal ought to come from us. —( Cheers.) It was nothing but the energy of our people and the n a t ura l a d vantages of our country t h at ena bl e d the ex pert f ore i gn tra d e to b ear up in the limner it had done against. these restrictions.—(Cheers.) Thu speech of Gen. Tolbecque, the American senator, showed in what light our tariff was re garded in that country.—(Tire Hon. Member here read an extract from the speech alluded to, in nhich the speaker urged the Americans to make the tariff more stringent, in consequence of the adh erence o f E ngland to her system of Corn-laws.) The adherence of th e Ri g h t H on. Baronet to the sliding scale wou l d he looked upo a i n A mer i ca as indicatiag a desire to perpetuate restrictions, and to give up all commercial intercourse with that country.—( Herr.) Although he agreed with the principle of making the property classes bear the burdens of the country, he denied that, the Income-tax would produce that effect. The Income-tax would be paid out of the fund from which the wages of labour were paid. and he felt convinced that the burden of the Income-tax would be borne by t belabouring clavier,. The Right Hon. Member for Whitehaven (Mr. M. Attwood) had said that if the principles Of free-trade were beneficial to nation:, America would be the most prosperous country in the world. But what was national prosperity ? A country was not prosperous in which the few were rich and flourishing, and in the enjoyment of vast incomes ; bet that cominueity wee truly prosperous, in which there was a large deinand for lehour, and in which the wages of labour commanded au abundance of the necessaries of life. In that sense America was p rosperous, and those advant'ges E ng l an d did no t enjoy. In this country the splendour of the few offered a striking contrast to the misery cud the privations of the great body of the people. We had, as had been stated by the Right Honourable Gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on a former evening, 1,200,000 persons theiwu for support on the poor-rates. That was a melancholy state of things, ee d proved that there was something rotten in the social system of this country. And now, that unparallelel distress prevailed throughout the country the Government had recoarse to charity balls and charity sermons fe: its relief. He looked upon this expedient as unwise and humiliating. He would re mind the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite that the landed in terest could not expect to prosper if manufacturers were de pressed. He believed that the Government, by the course they had taken, had confined themselves to the symptoms of disease as they appeared on the surface, and that they had done nothing whatever to strike at the root of the existing evils. Mr. W. WILLIAYS then moved that the debate should be adjourned till Monday. Sir 11. PEEL said that he tosk it for granted that several Hon. Gentlemen were still anxious to address the 'louse on th e subject of the debate of that evening ; and he should, therefore, offer no objection to the motion for its a-journment, much as he confessed lie regretted :that such a course should have been taken. lie hoped, however, that the House would hear in mind, that the necessities of the public service required that the rotes of supply should be taken without delay. He had hitherto abstained from bringing those vo t es b e f ore t h e House, from a, desire that the tariff should be passed as early as possible. Hie trusted that when the debate was concluded on :Monday night, there would be no objection manifested to give those votes which would be required for the service of the country. The motion for the adjournment of the debate till Monday was then agreed to. MINES AND COLLIERIES RILL. On the motion for the third reading of the Alines mi Col— lieries Bill, Mr, -AINSWORTH said he hoped the Noble Lord would not, on that occasion, press the third reading of tha Bill. There were deputations in London who were anxious to ex press their opinions, and he hoped the Noble Lord %%fluid post pone the third reading, in order to give a further opportunity of discussing its provisions. The Lion. Member concluded by moving the adjournment of the debate. The SPEa se.tt havin. , put the que s ti on , Mr. FORBES said he had received communications from coal-owners, who stated that although they approved generally of the Bitl of the Noble Lord, there were some provisions which were ext remely objectionable. Mr. VlLLimis and Mr. HuatE opposed the third reading, on the ground thn,t there ought to be further opportunity of discussion. Lord ASHLEY said he was extremely sorry that ho could not acquiesce in the proposal to adjourn the third reading. The communications which he had received were of a very different character from those received by the Hon. Gentlemen opposite, stating that the Bill would conter the greatest possible benefit on tho working classes, and he was desirous of seeing the Bill brought into operation nithout any unnecessary delay. Mr. STANSFIELD said if the House passed the Bill in its present shape, they would almost annihilate the coal trade. Mr. B. DENISON said there was a general feeling in the 'Vest Riding of Yorkshire against the provisions of the Bill. He did not wish to oppose any obstacle to the benevol e nt inten tions of the Noble Lord, but he hoped ho would see the pro priety of consenting to the adjournment. Mr. PROTHEROE supported the third reading. Mr. HODGSON HINDE said, if the Noble Lord pressed his. motion to a division, he would feel it his duty to vote asainst the Bill, in order to allow an opportunity of further discussion. Lord PALMERSTON supported the motion. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the House divided, when the numbers were— For Rut third reading For the adjournment Majority against the adjournment On our return to the gallery, we understood that Mr. AINSWORTH had again moved the adjournment. Lord ASHLEY deprecated the obstruction thrown in the• way of the Bill, and urged the third reading. Mr. AINSWORTH exp l a i ne d t h at, in opposing the thirsf reading, he did not for a moment wish to countenance the atro- cities it was directed against. Mr. PROT HEROE thought it was better it should be cussed in a fuller House. After some conversation, l‘lr. AINSWORTH defended his motion for the postponing the third reading ; he sho oi ld b e contente d to l et it proceed if he were allo we d the opportunity to bring up a clause respecting the hours in which children were to he allowed to work. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the house di. vided. The numbers were— For the adjournment .. Against the adjournment Majority against the adjournment Mr. LEADER thought it would be well that the third ' Ta d _ ing of the Bill should not he pressed that evening. J 6 WOUld be but fair to afford the cppmients of the mea sure an '01)% 01 tu nity of stating their views. He should, therefore, ID'ove the adjourument of the debate. Lord ASHLEY said that he found it would .00'wele ss to at tempt to pass the Bill that evening ; and hes therefore, felt himself compelled to accede to the motion, of an adjournment of the debate. He would agree that it sbeauld be postponed till Monday next. Sir T. ACLAND suggested that the Bill shoUld be th read a third time, and that the lir.o. Member for Bolton sh.ould bring up his clause on Monday, when it might be discu.T4ed by the House. After a short conversation this suggestion was :agreed to, and the Bill was then read a third time. Mr. GLASD'I'ONE gave notice of his intentiontc; move for leave to bring in a Bill relating to the linen trade of Ireland. The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at Half-past - One o'Clock, PUBLIC DISTRESS. Yesterday evening a meeting of Afinisters and Gentletnes connected with several of the Dissenting Congregations in London, was held in Devonshire-square Chapel, 13ishopsgate street, to consider thopresent alarming distress and destitutio n so generally pervading the country, and to arrange the preli 4n i_ naves for a general meeting to be held during the en a ut og week, to devise the best means of alleviating it. 'l'. W. A r,Ex NuLa, Esq., a member of the Society cf Friends, took the chair at seven o'clock precisely. Mr. CARLISLE, Secretary to the Provisional Committee, said the present meeting was held in contequenee of the reso lution of a meeting convened on Friday, the 22d ult., which. stood adjourned to this day. Its object Iva% to consider the best means of bringing before the public in strong relief oto present appalling misery under which the labouring clan sea were pressed down. Perhaps in this stage of the procoedi a ge the best course to adopt would be far Mr. George Thomp , fon, who with himself appeared on behalf of the Delegates at pm:sent sitting in Palace-yard, to read extracts from the commu bons which were addressed to the body from different parts of the country, descriptive of the distress which prevailed. Mr. GEO. THOMPSON rose and said he should read a few brief extracts from a vast number of communications addressed to the body which he and Mr. Carlisle had the honour of re presenting at this meeting, by several gentlemen who had the best means of acquiring authentic information respecting the state of the population in the manufacturing districts. Mr. Thompson then proceeded to read an extract from a letter from Sheffield, which stated that the American packets brought the most discouraging news for the manufacturers, a"nd that the people, who were a short time back in a comparative state a ff independence, were now obliged to seek refuge in the workhouse, in. consequence of the decay of trade. Some time back the writer was able to employ 700 men, gut now in con sequence o f t h e laws which. wevented the free exchange of labour for the commodity available to those with whom the commerce of England w hadrie on, that number was reduced to 200. An assurance been given to him from an eminent American capitalist that if he were he emigrate to America with tools and expert artisans able to traits ethers, a certainty of making an ample fortune awaited him . The love of father-land, so inherent to Englishmen, prevent e d him accepting the offer, but if times continued getting worse, es they had done for the last few years, a sense of duty teevards his family would compel him to seek another and more profit able field for industry and enterprise. Mr. Thonar son con tinued to read several letters from Wigan, Conglet.on, Auch terardar, the iron and pottery districts in Staffordshire, from Knaresborough, and from Wakefield, all detailing scenes of the most soul-harrowing misery. The letter from the last named locality stated that during the winter months numerous families lived upon turnip-tops, and detailed the cases of some families who derived subsistence from the wages of their chile dren, at present employed in the coal pits, who, if Lord Ash ley's Bill were to become law, would be thus deprived of r,ll means of support. He should confine himself to the extracts which he now laid before the meeting ; but be regretted to be compelled to state that this was but a fraction from numbers of letters which the Committee received, and which had been handed to many Alembers of Parliament, in order that they might be able to substantiate the facts stated by Mr. Wallace in bis motion that evening in the House of Corutnor,s. In reply to Mr. lleban, Mr. Trromrso s tated th at the resolution, which dis tress districts was near l y as painful as in the. ' alTt i ma F in r g id . seconded by Mr. SCORLE, and passed 'unanimously Re. done been appointe4:l to arrange After r long L a: p l r desultory p os edptehr e es o of n ; v lsl e o r e, s ,f a i conversation, n tereligious Aina. at i t 's i t distress sth t s e s d d a b l e . o T h f e h alayt mee t ingi relative °fu t e n t tchu IC,rlelsettpuetl now so prevalent in the country." the preliminaries previous to next Friday's meotint7, G EU. TiIosIPSON announced that the delegas met o n A provisional Committee having Tuesday next, at two clock, at Brown's Hotel, Shortly after which themeeting sep arated. ace -34 r DEATH OF LORD J AMES TOW NSEND..—Died, on Tuesday last, at Hutton Lodg-e, Yorkshire, the seat of his nephew, Henry Lodge. Yorkshire, Lord Jam es Townsend, in the 57th year of his age, eaptair, in thiN Royal Navy, and NavalAAide-Campd-de -Camp to her Majesty. His Lord ship.'s last command in 1831 wrLs as Commodore on the Sokith American station in the Dublin. frigate. The death of this gallant nnd kin d-hearted officer will by deeply regretted by a numerou.s circle of friends. A marriage his just tak.ctn place, at Vienna, be tween the Count de Dietrichstein, the Austrian Minister at the Court of Belgium, and the Coup.tess Pototka. --- .---w 3 00 ,40 •• 18° .• 25 0 • 20 ~~ I I