The Sun. — London, England, 1842-07-29 00:00:00

MONnwil ." CE. Ittiy -2 7. fi ll dereodOlT Is poke t.0 . 14 . fq rial. ro days aria,j! July 27. -,.- TINP-P4' Iprisonmentl . r. Yardley; ,eloer "and IP P ; Not Guilty "1 and the -deft"; ke-upou.--Tr.l„ custody bi ber, on a chair re been st(%t li. 11 cell, his Jrv i i the floor, ° 1 )th of the 5 1 : Potteries, ,`;„ a on the le station aken, and , 0 nesdav, in P t , detendantl nst 'he s strong and the Al agistrs he cross-eso ed to shoo' p f lace provide a 0 , nt for the c' to risoners, to to be taken at the laintiff as a te Was tried 30 the case. . 0 0 rural objec tl i bi the Jury for V ry consulted el e plaintiff, a c ' h yt the police /I r ,e declined oeo, tnd the Jury, eir depT rf, Blaelvorld; )lendid stOno to heir routs , Sit re Genets a hon. Sir Mr , LI Hawker , v.e i Stearn PO ENT. ' , Ra w . defend reprobation arey 'person who would be found to The seeh ti base and pitiful morality.—(Hear, hear.) w ho *lbws was the grea t criminal.— (Ilear, hear.) n u viv .` wtis the greater criminal—:the great man who went .t_., 6 , 1 t 'powr constituency, and, finding some man a 's•ea .- W-Itla want, having a large family, offered him te. sell hi s conscience end his countryeer,l - lear)— 4 f the' esaor unfortunate wretch who yi'Cldeci to the rtPtati•en held out by-hie base correptors ?—(Cheers.) ilsee theis t hare a high morality sad they would have a 3, Wirtuon A p eop l e; and let. them ate et sneer, and refine away, rhea necessary resii ss 'eof the circumstances under 7 1 ch the - were - lat• ceets'ing, or eny other vague and ro,tmiled generalities, taiose practices which had taken If they did the people would under tend them > • was a If they did nut think the giving of the bribe crime, the people would not think the of it one ; and if they were content with bribery gar tern h'eve no bribery laws—let them have no hypo- V' s Y nho - et it.—(l -7 ,ear, hear.) They had far too resseh thae They passed from half-past four o'clock in the 1•,ill ir.g until early next morning discussing P. Bribery notwithstirecting which, a eandidete wound gst down .norrow to bribe a constituency.--festeers.) Dis enise it as fee • would, cloak it as ;lee might, the • , Was, that, as regarded bribery they bad hitherto been a band of hyp oc rites-(Cheers.) H - r; had stated in his 'P 4 . lB "e° , . that e uses . of the geossest brilrery, flagrant breaches the ordinary rules of law, he a l escaped from detee !ll44Wit it had been the midi,- to him ? You are tell -414; us nothing new. Why do you melte such a fuss 'petit it -it is nothing blet what we all knew before. into ts es Lobby, end every Member will laugh under l i our no se et you. Wheo the Committee was appointed, s t i vts nslestl, what will you do with your Committee ? wish you joy 'IC the inquiry. The House would •• 4 ' thrt wit him •everboard, it the Right Hon. Baronet nt the het d of tl4e Govesumant had not stood by him.— ( 91 ) Positi en cheers.) lie (Mr. Roebuck) was not in `-'illsll- to flatter., but the thanks of the country were due L,) es i th '' Bight . 1 :lon. Baronet for his conduct on that ocea dial no- osition cheers.) If this Right Hon. Baronet notie done= so, he (Mr. Rosbuck) would never 3 7 e -got this Committee.—:Continited cheering 1 ';he Opposition.) He never should have got `" " f tie Right Hon ronet had not stood by him; and oee p• 43 - f .„... 1 Jet him. Baronet was deserving of the applause ff -,„ . " 10 country for his conduct on that occasion.—(Loud sieion cheers.) In spite of everything, they had i 31 : 11 enabled, by means of the inquiries instituted by „, , itt Committee, to obtain a complete account and ex of a most base and degrading system. They Sh "t• frl lay aside everything like personal consideration ; Ith- individuals they had ,no concern ; they ought not back to the past brit forward to the future. It e,r g lls 'necessary to refer to some of these eases—he did not to them as matter of personal consideration, but as 4 e.., 1 " 1 4. trative of a system. An .. I.lchi. G e raleinan goes •A`e'Asa to a borough with 5,0 r,/. in his pocket ; the I' 4o , n•tituency consist of 150, 'and he takes an and -411 ant Friend with Rita, He wants no bribery—he e :fl( iws nothing at all about never intended it. His s-iY''s are so delicate that he cannot see it ; his sens i b ilit y • so acute, his see se of honour so nice, that he will not 1 4 rar a word aberst it. Elect me Member for the borough, ' says, but do not let me know the means by which 1 • kin elected ; there is I,oool.—there, take it — go away, and let mekneey know nothing more until you let me e e l lew that I am Member for Harwich.—(Cheers.) No 7 ti Albt s uc h an H on . G en tl ema n was correct in stating i nt he knew nothing of any bribery. No doubt he might ' 411 .1' that he did not know it ; but he would ask, (1 d any one, as an ordinary man of business, not know , I°l-1 What perpose it was intended to appropriate that (l eY? It wass as clear as the sun at noon-nay, that he 'Sae • s , have known that that sum must have been put as into 'otitltiit pipe, 'through' which it descended into several t . til al• ler pipes, un til it percolated through the whole con : I t t it eency.--('Oheers.) Who but must have known that einp/..,yed in the grossest and, most debasing bribery? ,e lion. Gentlemen goes through the streets, he ayes his colours displayed ac beer-shops, he knows • t ' i lling ab, eut it—no doubt he has his opinion that so serge it sty n of money must have been employed in that d ay, but 'ae knows nothing about it. Doubtless, legally -Sea kinst he knew nothing about it ; but was not , that ka n Jur A as wrong as if .he had gone more openly, more Ay, more barefacedly, and bribed the constituency with }As own hands? The late law suffered this state t)tri j ngs, but the Act introduced last year by the Noble • the Member for London, had had the effect of ing to the detection and exposure of this system. II havin g b een so f a r s uccessful in one attempt, should 3, 1 `'3 l not go still further ? He believed that the Bribery pull passed l as t n ight, shorn though it was of its most V l icient clauSes through the somewhat over-technical l(!ieel a, lilenrgsiof his Hon. and Learned Friend the Solicitor would have a beneficial effect. But if they went on in the course they were now pursuing without . making an • cha nge ,bribery, which the Hon. Member for • Oxf ord said he did not consider as so very great a be6arirdihti ING :ten did uot-rni, if LIS appealed to Hon. Members who had such were his words. He had said that he • teri tn i nar Tard bribery as die concentrated essence of all igt.t,ttr a sii.l3•l—istbat he did'uot look upon bribery as being murder. -I I • ROLBLCK was obliged to the Hon. Gentleman for his explanation,' He was sure the Hon. Gentleman • 'would give him credit for not having any desire to inis l'ePresent,what fell from the Hon. Member. He (Mr. 41 0 e buck) mu ;t h ave an inaccurate recollection of what he had lreard. But he still felt that there was • ' sort of eurning given to the statement, of the Hon. euentlevin of which - he (Mr. Roebuck) could not aPProvv. It was not the concentrated essence of crime it was not equal to murder'. Thatwp . :soct Of cii itterated'pliraiOblegy which went s o f ilia t 111 • 4; L. .we b to depreciate the value o f we pun ?Rs ,p e steLpet t •',. r t .tbery. He d.d not like that ,ItAiiti4, s suW4' T • ~1 , "lion WitS, Was this bribery a thing e to- 44 - Atmlown, ',Was it not ?—was it mischicYYPAlW thaii4osztarifility,- r Wits it not ? If it wern•enischievansdeeitiviebotrieigue „ • Y, let them see if they could putitiellinveAtarefilj i ( 3 iet them use such exaggerated langetigsaeiell 130y0 Jost quoted. Was it a matter to jtalfe' inlet eelfini• stdProiio fur the purpose of remedyi n g iet s ''VetNas t he -,why.,112kt.. " simple reasonable view of it. 1 ", 4 4 'farrago of leuguage launched against .hihrTe Il e hy . s hould they not rather join together ; and endwour to Put aoi,Vn the practice ? There was ono argument used " 11 thii subject to which . , he _gave. every possible atten il,'n—he meant the argument advanced by, thoscwho us- Si gned :as a reason for retiring from"i6' - oritest the 4 ,, ll e'rinotts expense to which they woald be subjected,, But o 4 st should not draw ••off others .from the - inquiry. 1 e would refer to the five boroughs to which his inquiry • Vctended to •• explain his views on the question—k' show de terred it was fear of diebovery, -not fear of expense, that persons frompursuing the contest. At one of , t hese eases the pare having learned from his agent that ribery would be proved, paid 2,000 L to get rid of the 44 quiry ' and f,he "agent employed was so strongly Pressed with the danger of the inquiry, that he added ° •" -- -(Hear e hear)--eso that at the present moment 2 ,„,:;. 5 00/. had ieen paid to get rid of the inquiry.—(Hear.) as it not, he would ask, a remarkable thing that a person s the Hon. Member for Reading should agree Pay 2,( s)o1. upon that which was not certain ? This Towed th at the inquiry was dreaded ; the thing ',f ( tded was the inquiry, and nothing else— t"ear, hear ) — rind it was as clear as the sun at 4' ) n.day that there was something behind hand 1, Which all were afraid. Was it not, therefore, fr • would ask, the duty of the House to come (i'*.vard and say that it was determined that in all such !ipses as he had mentioned, it would deem the proceedings e e had described as a gross violation of the rights of the I :e°Ple, tend a gross breach of the privileges of the House? be would take the case.of Lewes, there the party 0 -40 Ives placed at the head of the poll, was, at first, far "° l `e in the list. Now, how, he would ask, was such a ch i age of ? Why, one witness stated that it was 4, ° re by shuttlecocking the votes. Was that, he would the way to deal with the franchise, and was `e Rouse prepared to give such a measure its sanction ? .thwas wise for the House to consider in the first place e great interests of the nation—the interests of the voters ; and in the nett place, as representing the peo 'shey ought to consider such proceedings on the part •Any one as a gross infringement of their privileges. a . 0 woull ask the House to consider for a moment the •1 0 ,, "•nger to the character of that House from the exposure had been made of the mode in which Members ere elected. The Hon. Member for Pontefract, whom • in„ (t did not see in his place, had said that his (Mr. Roe '''nUck's) object was to bring that Houie into conte b mt. / ':Nowr that wits not his object. His object was to rin pg into contempt a bad system. He did not care whether • 4,at House was or was not affected by that proceeding the House was implicated in a bad system could "4 ' 4. not help it. Re would ask the House what the world -a, • would think when they found men, in private life, .of wri er h ieriiished honour on both sides—men who might be kristed with untold gold, going down, and for mere party Turposei, in the heat of party politics. debesing, debauch ing, destroying the whole constituency; and not a whole Solistituency alone, but a whole town ; promoting drunkenness, crime, confusion, terror, end every species cif la llirnorality, under the sacred name of making laws for the ' iPeople The evil had come to a crisis ; and it could -be .'tuflered to continue, for it would bring th e * us e:i nto • t empt with the people. If they hoped to do any P'sseki for the Nttion it must be by ruling the minds of thk, pew , • 14 13 them to love the institutions under whit tyle' lived. Beat thei r l ove for t h e i nst it u ti on s of the count and lead .s, would be converted t 0 hatred, if, after the scenes which '., ad been described, after 'he terrible secrets which had bee . .1 evolved by this Committee, e House did not feel it inctreeeees on them to do something ee : e we than indulge in a sue er an d a laugh at the painful expo -we which had been ,; .de . He thought he had now tap e i), L ,' enough, thou, he had avoided, as much as pos thy:, going into a" dissection of the evidence, believing " al l his ch'...ges had been proved; bust he thought he had enough 'tor his justification in bringing forward this ques fa ,nt and . m support of the two propositions which he had sub in t , to the House. He now asked whether it would be wise, e - eee peculiar circumstances of the case, to issue a writ for. any r • ' 'er the five towns first submitted to the corisideration of the s rmrnittee, before they had further safeguards for the protec -45% of-the voters? He put it in that form designedly. He not want to protect the candidates, they could protect them ' - • e 'ves; but he wanted to protect the voters against that system • Rbichwas employed for the purpose of debasing the constituencies. R 4, , ,t was there to protect the voters of Nottingham from the 'lie scenes described in the present evidence? Let them get till state of things, and then they might issue a writ, but ' then he would call on them to pause. He alluded to the iead• niers with w hich the inquiry o f th e Committee had been el .' 'll ;sect by the different parties, with one exception (we believe the 19.44,ernber fu r R ea di ng , b u t th e M em b er f ur B at h was very indis ..4ll.4'l"), and he believed that the recusant gentleman was quite guilty as the rest. He concluded by moving the following res olutions:—"That the compromises of el e cti o n petition. as iir "ught to the knowledge of this House by the Report of" the Select Committee on election proceedings, must, if for the ulture the be allowed to rass without pu nis h men t or censure , te nd to bring this House into contempt with the people, and y serunesly to diminish its power and authority. That ill 1 h 'nett practices are heieby declared 19 be a v i o l a ti o n o f th e otties of the people, and a breach of the privileges of this , ° nu!, which it will in all future cases strictly inquire into and Yeely punish. 'f hat is in the lat e e l ec ti ons f or Her ' w e t, • tinglianeLo,yes, Reading, Falmouth and Penryn, and ''''tdroirt, the p resen t l aws have been found insufficient to pro. tect the voters from the mischievous tetn,ptoi4ing of bribery, it be ordered that Mr. Speaker 'do issihe no Whit for any election of • Members for the said towns, till further legislative enactments have been adopted to protect the purity of elections." Mr. C. RUSSELL said that as long as his 'conduct we.t. tinder consideration he had abstained from making ahy obser- • vations, When the Honourable Mt:AM tdr Bath thought proper to interrogate as to otirtain fritsactiots (6 • which be was pleased to affix the epiittet of eorrOpt, tie had refused to answer the question, bettanse he hdlieVed it was the only course he could adopt comisferitly Wit?: his 'own inde pendence; the Speaker too had decided that the Member for Bath had neither right nor pre&traent to put' the question. He had offered no opposition lit the appointment of the Committee as he had no wish to shrink from investigation, but be Kira now enter his solemn protest 'against this unjust and unpre cedented proceeding. ile felt it to he his ditty to his consti tuents to resit any resolutions that might be founded upon them. He objected to the Hon. Member for Bath, as an unfit Perv:ai to be entrusted with such an enquiry from his strong predetermined opinions ; he having declared that he would fix and crucify them before the pe....ple. Had not the Hon. Mem ber tor Bath, also, sold his, Parliamentary services for move} ? 5 ' No, no," from Mr. Roebuck.) - Did he mean to deny it ? Mr. ROEBUCK—Certainly, I do. Mr. RUSSELL—It was universally believed that he had done so. _ Mr. ROEBUCK said whoever had to'd the Hon. Member so had told him a falsehood. Mr:'RUSSELI. said it was universally 1 e'ic ved that the Hon. Member for Bath had s.:ltl his Parhamen:ary snviees to the Canadian rebels. - Mr. ROEBUCK said the best answer to that was that he was not in the House when Canada was in rebellion. The SPEAKER said the Hon. Meintinr for Reading inns: withdraw the expressions he had used. who are too noisy and too unreasonable to• uo toYth in g to the cause they espouse, but injure it, 'wevent the holding of public meetings, except at the las% of great di stur b a nce. With full tnowledge, therefor. %, o f the sentiments of the mass of the people in those pl, acts, it is perhaps very likely no stro n g er ex p ression will b g"iven; and this Sir R. Peel may, perhaps, interpret as .11 sign of their acquiescence. He will woefully deceive hi, itself.— (Hear.) Two bramelies of a public sentiment, he t -tile in the highest degree to the principles of his Goren, ment, hold each other in check simply as to the noier they make. Still they not only exist, but under that very silence they are fermenting and ripening for sults which will make him tremble.—(Loud cheers.. ) In this, as in other cases, just when he has dressed hist: speeches, and with his dangerous facility ain o e f d tting single facts for large conclusions , he has ghi pu s de bates, and stopped for a moment the mouths of his op ' pundits, a state of things in this neighbourhood will burst upon him which will upset all, and shoo; him up once more as a Minister of mere words..--(Cheevs.) Mr. Chapman concluded his important and impressive speech amidst Much .applause. The Rev. Mr. BONNER, of Bilston, s•dt", that befit e he came to London he had thought that in this metropt. lis was concentrated all that. was patriotic, and noble. en) good. ; but his experience, short as at was, convinced hies that it also centained much that was foal, base, and de grading. He bad attended two meetings in Lencrou„ which were assembled to hear the statternents of the De legates respecting the distress of the country and its principal cause ; and he never saw in his life such con duct as was adopted by those who interrupted the meet ings But he thought he could -see in the countenances of those men the channels through which ran the secrot service money of the Government.—(Cheers.)' 1),9 did net believe that they injured the cause of the Lea e itue• and they certainly did not serve that of the Cbartieta.— (Hear, hear.) He had seen in the Morning Chronict:: an assertion that it was false to say that the unemployed men in Bilston were seizing food by force. But he had! received communications from Bilston, which be would read to the meeting, and which showed that the men were seizin g provisions by force, and obtaining mon e y by force, and he expected that he would shortly have to communicate to the Conference the announcement of ai still more fearful state of things. The Rev. Gentleman then read the following letters, which produced a deep impression on the meeting. He begged to say that he . bad nut solicited this information, and that the letters were written to him without any previous communicant `with his friends upon the subject : _ --`. Til Jtil, SUN', LON DON, _FIII4),t Mr- RUSSELL would unquestionably do so if the Hon Member dewed it. He proceeded to object to the constitution of the Committee and the manner in vt hich the inquiry was conducted ; it was secret, was not sworn, nor could swear others, and was totally irresponsible. The lion. Member for Bath made himself their accuser, and the House had consti tuted him their judge. lie allowed that he and the Members of the Committee had showed the utmost personal urbanity, but he believed it proceeded as much from policy as disposition. He would ask, not effensively, how many of the constituency of the country were entitled to cast the first stone ?—( Hear, hear.) It was notorious not only that thousands, but hundreds of thousands, had been spent in contests for counties.—( Hear hear.) Ai as it not a fact that Roman Catholic families had become rich, because the law had prevented them from spend ing their wealth in contested elections? .Were not the large constituencies, such as Bath, bribed by the promise of their in tended representatives ? He did not mean from these observa tions to say that bribery was a crime the House could not touch; he meant no such thing.. Let them improve the law, but let them not select a few private individuals and weesate their vengeance upon them. He was as anxious As thy man to suppress bribery, bast he was not prepared to break through one great princiele fur the purpose ef establishing another. He was prepared to legislate with the Noble Lord the Mem ber for Tiverton, but net the inverted maxim of the Hon. Member for Bath, that they should bribe in order to punish. —( Hear, hear.) He believed for these evils there was a sote remedy. Let them surrenfer a privilege they could not exer cise with satisfaction to themselves or justice to others ; let them give to the Judges of the land the exercise of the ordinary law. —( Hear, hear.) If they would adopt these measures they would ensure the confidence of the people of England. Major BERESFORt) said, that the object of the Hon. and Learned Member in moving for the Committee, and in drawing up the Report, might be said to be to make the country dis. contented with the representative system, and to endeavour to bring the House into disrespect. He would not attempt any further to discever what were the motives of the Hon. and Learned. Gentleman, but he would state what, as far as he (Major Beresford) was concerned, were the real facts of the case. The Hon. and Learned Member in relation to him (Major Beresford) had got up and talked abeut, slander, and said that he (Major B.) had alleded to what had passed on a former occasion when he (Mr. Roebuck) had put questions to different Members. On that occasion, ha (Major Beresford) had said that the Hon. Member had no right to ask him se& a question. The Hon. and Learned Member had accused him of slander. Now, if the Hon. Member would procure him a Committee armed with the same stringent powers as the Com mittee he had procured for himself, he (Major Beresford) would undertake to prove every accusation he had made.—(Cheers. ) The first day the Hon. and Learned Member had brought for ward his accusation, he had accused him (Major B.) of a cor rupt compromise of bribery and of treating Now, he would call upon the Hon. and Learned Member to point out what portion of the evidence he relied on to bring that charge home to him. He denied that he had had anythieg to do with bribery and treating, and he denied that he had hert anything to do with a corrupt compromise. The only votespro mine he had engaged in was this :—HeeertOinly did engage to retire rather than that his colleague should he forced to de so, in the event of one of them being obliged to resign his scar, because his colleague had been at all the expense of the elec tion, and he felt, that if one must go, it ought to be the per son who had not paid.—(Opposition cheers.) He repeated, he was utterly innocent of bribery in' any way, and, if he had chosen to defend his seat, he could have done so with suc cess, for he felt that he was innocent of bribery, corruption, anti treating. He would just call the attention of the House to certain parts of the Report and evidence. At page 4of the Report it was stated that a compromise had been entered into between the agents of the parties concerned, with the consent of the principals. He denied that any compromise had been entered into between his agent and the agent of Sir Denis Le Merchant. He had never entered into any negotiation with the agent of Sir Denis Le Merchant. He had written a letter to Mr. Attwood, which he had given to Mr. Currie, as Mr. Attwood's agent, stating that if one was to retire he (Major Beresford) would be that one. He denied that he gave that to Mr. Currie as his ( Major Beres • ferd's) agent. In the evidence of Mr. J. Parkes, p. 24, it would appear as if Mr. Currie was his agent; but Mr. Currie was not his agent, and, as a proof, he would state that while the Committee required Mr. Currie to bring up the names of the persons who had been bribed, which were stated in his brief, he refused to give them up without the consent of his principal, but having got the consent of Mr. Attwood, he gave up the names without consulting him (Major Beresford), which was a proof that Mr. Currie did not consider himself its his (Major Ileresford's) agent. He, therefore, trus'ed. the House would consider that allegation as unsupported by 'evidence. He denied that he had been any party to a compro ' nifie, except by that letter to Mr. Attwood. He had given up 'Aitteet because he had not the means of defending it, and because 44' felt that, in honour to his colleague, he was bound to res cligWeather than suffer his colleague's seat to be perilleds Hn 'itra'i not ashamed to confess that he was not a wealthy man, and could not afford to defend his seat, but if he could have at -fOrded' it he had no doubt he could have done so euccessfully; for he felt that he was innocent himself, and he kaew that the petitioners had not come before the Committee with clean hand-. They had asked for the seats. If they had 'asked for 'a void election he should have felt secure of his re election, for be should have felt perfectly secure, as he felt now, in again going before the electors of Harwich, The Hon. and Gallant Member then commented upon that part of the evidence relating to the late Mr. Cox, who was said to be's medium throughwhich bribes were conveyed. He (Major Ireresford) knew that Mr. Ctex was incapable of such conduct, and if he knew that such evidence was to be adduced before the Com mittee, he - would have taken means to contradict it. The CoMmittee had, by their Report, cast a brand into the breast of a young and interesting female, and who was about to be come a widowed mother. The evidence showed that only about 80 individuals had been bribed ; but if even so many were bribed, that was not a large portion of a constituency consisting of 182.--(Much laughter.) The Hun. Member then referred to Question 205, page 18, of the evidence relating to an answer giver by Mr. Parkes, to the effect that lie knew a person' who was offered 5001. for his vote in 1837. The only person to whom he could refer was Mi. Rumnacles, who gave his casting vote in favour of Mr. Herries and Captain Ellis. Mr. Rumnacles held a situation in the Board of Customs, and, fearing that he would be brotseht into trouble if he gave his vote, lie hesitated for some time, but towards four o'clock, being a person of Con servative principles, he at length gave his vote. He voted for Mr. Herries, in order to conciliate strong assistance, in case his voting brought him into any trouble ; and f:tr Mr. Ellis, in order that the expense and trouble of a petition might be avoided. The Hon. Gentleman then read a letter from :sir. Rumnaelets, denying that he was ever offered any money. It had beets the talk of every Club in London, that the Committee of the other candidate had been bought for Mr. Attenod and himself; and this had not been denied by those who knew it to be false. He begged to state that the Committee of his adversaries voted for his adversaries. The avoids " veni, vidi, vici " had also been applied to him. he reply to that he begged to state that he was in constant communication with 182 of the electors foe fourteen days. He trusted that the House would excuse him for having detained them so long with his own private affairs, and that they would come to the conclusion that as all was not gold that glittered, so all was not corrupt that was calum niated.—( Hear. hear. ) Captain FITZROY wished to correct one or two misstates ments in the Report. He would particularly call the attention of the House to the item relating to the agreement that all actions and indictments for bribery on both sides should 'be .withdrawn. Any one who read that agreement would imagine that it , was from fear of personal con sequences that he consented to the compromise. Now in page 1140 he stated to the Committee that the only arrangement entered into was that Mr. Harford gave up, and after that all cross actions for bribery should cease. Mr. Briggs, the lawyer for the ()Hosing party, when questioned with respect to the indictments and cress actions being dropped, stated that that was not the haste of the agreement. There were two cases of actions for bribery. In one of those cases lie caught the party in the act of paying the bribe. The instant he discovered it, the opposite party got up a sheikh action against him, • to prevent him from being peostclited by I those_ who had caught him in the fatts le thought it rather hard, under these circumstances, that that should . ' ne stet; dto be part of the agreement Now, he -.dust say he thought it rather strange that the Committee. had „Ri m , eb . amined his agent in London, nor his gent in the conduct of the petition. They had cal l _, !11 . r. Clark, who was a partner''.. in the same firm as his agent, but they appeared to h ave sttr 'diously avoided r ailing the agent himself. He theught It would have I .,een only fair to have examined his agent in Lewes , and hie agent in carrying on the petition, to see whether his s :4tements were . horse Ott. As to the statements whirls had been made with 'respect to the coretitution of the clubs, the hardship In that respect a.iose from the manner its , which the investigation had been conducted, namely, with chased doors. With respect to treating, he begged to state that he had received a letter from Lewes that morning, stating that there had been no hot suppers since the time of the Reform Bill. Mr. ESCOTT said he had been opposed to the mode of conducting the inquiry, but the House having sanctioned it he did not think he would be justified on. that account in voting against the two first resolutions. He thought the evidence in every case, except that of his Hon. Friend (Captain Fitzroy) was perfectly satisfactory; he did not think there was any proof that his Honourable Friend had been cognisant of corrupt practices ; on the contrary he thought he came free from the inquiry. The other cases were totally different, and it appeared to him that the gravest part of the charge was that such compromises went to turn over a constituency to parties whom they did not elect to represent them, and this trifled with the rights of the electors of England. He would, now state why he could not vote for the first resolutipp. He could not dig so because he believed it would be a virtuaTdisfranchise ment of those towns, and because there was no proof that the majority of the electors had accepted bribes. He could not understand how, with a view to public liberty, the Hon. and Learned Gentleman could now propose to dis franchise the electors of those towns, without having proved the majority of, them guilty. And even if the majority were proved guilty, ashy punish the whole of the electors? The Compro mise Election Committee had entered upon its duties with a view to further legislation ; bse; the evidence brought before it had not been made use of for that purpose. Under all those circumstances he thought it inexpedieet to withheld the fran chise front those towns. Ile would vote for the two first reso lutions, because he thought the proceedings they referred to ought not to pass without censure. Mr. PLUM RIDGE asked whether he ought to be included among those subjected to the censure of the House, when, ac cording to the Report of the Committee, the arrangements which were condemned in his case were made without his knowledge. If the Right Hon. Baronet, at the head of the Government, were in his glace, he could ask him whether, after the Report of the Committee, he (Mr. Plureridge) /eight to apply for the Chiltern Hundreds, and thereby carry out the compromise. Mr: 13LL:CkSTONE could not, as there wag sires, a trii. bunal in the House as an Election Caii‘mioe, 'consent to the .• being,. a. Violation of the lr et`t~ 3f th sittojiie,t.and of the ,of that HOuse. the ctt. MeMber for HartiviCh had stated, that he was not a pan of natach wraith, and that it nluuld be impossible for him, sit 'case of a petition against his return, to defend his seat oil riceoirni o ttib extraordinary expeuse which his doing so would entail on him. He (Mr. Blackstone) could not, therefore, agree to the last resolution. Mr. LASCELLES, who was thoroughly inaruiible from the low tone in which he spoke, was understood Ski that the reso lutions had 'been'agreed to on the intharity of the Chairman anti net of the Comitsittte generally. The Committee hail been appointed to investigate certain charges, without its being intended that any eliminatory proceedings should be taken -against individual parties. He bore testimony to the impartiality wills which the Chairman bad conducted the investigation and drawn up the Report. Lord CHELSEA, who was also very indistinctly heard, complained of eerta:n parties being selected in this matter for the purpose of their being held up to public contumely. If any Hon. illevnbee had complained of the prevalence of such prae , tinee as it Was now sought to condemn, and had called on any uthr , r lion, Members to a.'.d him in carrying a measure to pre , vent the continuance of those practices, he was sure nn Hon. Gentleman wool refuse so to do. In the present ease, he must say that notoriety might be- bread and tntit to the Hon. and Learned Member for BAN liut sVatt poison to him (Lord Chelsea). Mr. WARD said that general allegations on bribery might be repeated, uspe ad nauseam, in that House without any one proceeding to a legislative remedy in consequene-, if it had not been for the moral courage of his Hum Friend the Mem ber for Bath coming forward as he had: He never linen; of any person having such a ta•ii to petform Who had acquitted himself with the concurrent ilivourable testimony of all, as the Hon. Goodman had. He asked now what was to be done with the Report? Could anything be more indispersible than the proposal of his Hon. Friend? Corrupt practices heel taken place, and was the House to pronounce tos opinion Upon them? If the Right lion. Baronet rare here, he believed his opinion would serve to guide ether Members bn this occasion; and, indeed, from what had fallen from him list night, ho eapetted he would do so in the right direction. He trusted her Ma• jesty's Government would stippOrt the resolutions ; and whether ther they did so rd hot, If the House did not wish to destroy the whole preliminary proceedings which had taken place, it Would support the resolutions of his Hon. Friend. If the House did not pronounce some opinion, its elndeMnation of such practices in future, he did not :re What Was the use o the inquiry at all. If the writ for Nottingham were issued to morrow without taking steps in the cash,, it Were better the in.. c+uiry never had taken place.(flCar, heel`.) supported the iftquity front the beginning, and he was now prepared to sttiVert the , resohn tont , at the necessary compliment of that in quiry.; And if the House would not go with him, be thought they -were only evincing another instance of that hypocrisy with which they were charged.—( Hears later.) Mr. HA WES' said he mold not •Stittpiart the f•Foltitirms of the lion. and Learned Member for bath. The object of the inquiry was to by bei'ore the House th facts of the cases which had fait referred to the Committee, and not for the purpose of expres4ing what leeislative enactments ought to be passed with regard to them.—( Hear, hear.) He confessed that, as a Morn. her of the Committee, he did not think hit could travel out of the order of the Howe ; under which the Committee was ap , pointed. o—k, Hear, hear.) He thought the value of the Report erittaisted in bringing to light, upon authentic evidence, facts tVbirth existed before upon mere surmise, and which furnished grounds for legislation. • The second resolution was one which he found it difficult to support, but, when he came to the third resolution, he had no doubt at all as to the course he should pursue. He considered that the Committee which brought those facts to light, was in the natured a preliminary Com and that to take further steps, a judicial inquiry ought to be instituted. He, therefore, differed from his lion. Friend the Member for littb, in thinking that legislative measures ought to be founded upon and proceed from the Committee which sat merely to investigate certain cases which hadheen referred to it, though he agreed with him in the general substance of his resoltitiOns. He admired the energy and courage With which his Hon. Friend pursued his inquiry, and what was, he believed, a singular fact, there was not a single dif ference between any Member of the Committee.—(Hear, hear.) - The only point in which he differed from him was the one he had elated. Mr. AGLIONBY said that if the resolutions which had been commented upon by the Hon. Member for Lambeth, were much stronger than they were he Would vote for them. —( Hear, hear.) An ifigitiry had been instituted by that House into corttin compromises which bad taken place, and the liepoft of the Committee who made that inquiry was now Wore them. He had carefully read the evidence over, and he did not see how the Hon. Member for Lambeth, who had been a member of the Committee and agreed to the Report, could oppose the resolutions of the Hon. Memba- for Bath. Mr. HAWES—The Hon. Member did not understand what he ( Mr. Hawes) had said. He agreed with the resolu tions, but as a member of the Committee he could oat support them. . . . Mr. AGLIONBY confessed he did not see the distinction of the Hon. Member for Lambeth, But the real question was, would the Hon. Member vote for the resolutions?—( Hear, hear.) The evidenee showed that the system which had been pursued was is disgrace to the Howe of Commons. With re gard to those who, might say, were convicted by the evidence given before the Committee, he thought the resolutions ex tremely mild, and he hoped that would induce the House to adopt them. If any Hon. Member moved' stronger resolu .tions he would support him with all his heart.—( Hear. ) The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said be quite agreed with his Hon. and Learned Friend as to the nature of the com promises which had been made. But that was not the question they had then to discuss. The Hon. Member for Lambeth and the Hors. Gentleman behind him, who were members of the Committee, could not shut their eyes to the fret that the Committee was not one of a judicial character, but was con ducted by evidence given. in a manner altogether at variance with the usual course.—(Hear. hear.) What was the purpose and.object of the inquiry, and upon what grounds did Mem bers on both sides consent to the inquiry at &I? The Hon. and Learned Gentleman then referred to the ' orounds upon which the lion, and Learned Maribor for Bath 'obtained the Committee of Inquiry, and said, that althbugh it as clear from the evidence that compromises had taken place, and could not be denied to hive taken plate, for the purpose of preventing invet.tigistiottHeir, hear )=the lion. bald Learned Member for Bath 'could hot thereupon the inquiry not being of t jedicial character; and net granted for that purpose—ground his present resolutions.—( Hear. ) He was reluctant to vote that anything was a breach of the privileges of the house without fotanwing it up by punishnsent. He thought the adoption of such t course as had been proposed would be a farce, but in his Opinion it was perfectly clear that no inch thing could be done by the House. Thcre had been no legislative tne•AStites adopted since the Report; it was true, there had been •k measure brought forward by the Noble Lord the Member for : the City of London, but that was founded, not upon the Report, but upon the fiat stated by the Hon. Member for • Bath. —( Hear, hear.) The Hill now before the House, it must be rentembered, was retrogpetttve, dray in its operation, and the resolutions therefore, Which the Hon. Member ought to have proposUlti the House, Supposing there h.( been no meas Sire ri'cposed, was, that what had been dis closed Sheered the adoption of a system that was calculated to prevent the investigation into charges of bribery, Mid It . Was therefore the duty of the House to adopt sortie legislative remedy on the subject. To such a resolution he should hate beets prepared to assent. Such, in his opiniert, Was the proper course to have pursued, and not to call upon the House to pronounce all the compromises that had taken place to be criminal.— As to the last resolution, calling upon the House to issue no writ, he wished to ask the Hon. Member if he Was prepared to introduce any other measure than the one brought forward by the Noble Lord the alcfnber for the City of London ? be- cause if he was not, was it just to keen vacant twelve Seats in the House of Commons.—(Hear ) He (the Solicitor. General) doubted the right of ' the House of Commons to adopt any saeh course, it Was but one branch of the Legislatures and Unleas the other branch assisted, he believed it Would be dangerous for the House of Commits Id §itspetiel the issuing of a writ, unless it was intended to foetid upon that tesperision • some legislative iteatures Ele belieted if the reSollitiens of his Hon, and Learned Viiend the Member for Bath were adopted, they would afford a precedent which might be taken advantage of in Worse times for evil purposes. He trusted, therefore, the House would not countenance the Ksio!iitioles of his Learned Friend, as they were ttlta4 linnetessary, and , if they were persevered in he thotlld stove the previous questiOn. Sir R. INGLIS oisieCted tie the resolittiont altogether, and would have been mutts better pleaSesi With Eta Hon. and Learned Friend Are SokicitnizGearal if he had met them with a direct negative, The lion. Member seemed to have forgotten that Elrctloh Committees were trials of a private fight, hot condoeted by a public prosecute!. be they hict no right to say that a person withdraWing a petition for hi& priVate ad vantage was guilty of a pkiblit Wrong. He took the three resolutions together oh account Of itt gral'et'eoiii , Nrantle. The Solicitor , Generai had skated his objections to the third resolu tion so toecibly that perhaps he ought to be satisfied with ft. He had stated that when the House met again they would be as far from any legisla.tive.pristettia'elii that Would content the Hon. Member tie coWs . What slid he fancy to be " purity of election?" lie believed it consisted of Universal Suffrage and Vdtil, by ballot:—( Hear, hear.) Thy . , he hoped, was a purity of election that *otild Wives- bt` rtaiised in that House. laelierhig that. the pl•actice mentioned in the second resonation Was net Sustained either as violation of the liberty of the pebple, or the rules of the House, it, would be Most un advisable as a precedent to give what had been termed a ty rant rusjority the power of deciding What places ehmild or Should not exercise the It'alichite..He,ShOtild elieetitt4 ihb hiti• tion of the Holt:. Ateltb'et• tar Bath 410.1 a (st reet neeative. Alt ,titTNIB ile ede?, roe course taken by the Hon. Mem hey rot Bath ; Clio had acted strictly according to the instruct. basis given to the Committee by the House. The Hod: Men-l -b:I. for the University of Oxford seetaed to liatt forgotten that fact. He had not underfitbuil the Stiliciter-General to make any motten. The SPEAKER. said he believed the' MO. and Learned tientleman said he should move the til - eVioits tplestion, if the Ron. Member fot Beth did not Withdraw his motion. the Sdlsi6lloll-GENERAL then moved the previous AllettiOn. Mr. FLUME said he was sorry that the Hon. and. Learned Gentleman should have put the Reuse in that situation, since he had admitted the prattled pfoneedeel against. All that was proposed to be done by his on. Friend was to put an end to practices that deregated from the honour and dignity of the. House. Wou d it be denied that such Braes Ices tended to produce duce that effect? Then Why refuse to condemn them? The f t ro tti m eti p ti as n si O n f g th an e S op o i l n i c i i o t n or - n G pa e n rie t r h a e l a a s n t d o itprevent t i li t hj e tt ase ct o o n fth c t .ci b u ey ra s g n ement to bribery; And refuse? On that Of the: legal o a o p ffi n p c e s e . a . r h r o a what h a a u e trhAodiri a r i ti e ey e s t tw u y senloverntitettt Ile Gould they recon cile the openly s tated opinion of the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for l'amworth tith this motion? The Member fur the University of Oxford said he was at a less,to know how these practices could be celled h vidlation Of the liberties of the people. Whys everything that interfered with the free and fair excrete of the franchise by the people was a violation of their rights and liberties ; and they were equally a b reach of the pri vileges of this House, since these compromises were for the ex press purpose of preventing justice being dent, And would it not tend to bring the House into contempt to let them pals un punished? Such language on the part of the Solicitor-Ge neral was a direct encouragement to their continuance. It would appear to the public a complete farce if, after all the trouble that had been taken, it should turnout to have pro duced evil instead of good. They would neither pass censure upon them, nor provide a punishment for them for the future, and he apprehended the Government was about to support tile declaration. Then, he supposed, since they were not to re ceive the censure of ,the Government, they were to receive its praise and sanction. That seemed to him the alternative. They might at least concur with the third resolution ; if they. issued the writs under the present declaration, it would only be issuing them for a renewal of the bribery. Ile thought the House ought to agree to the resolutions. Ile believed that, under the present constituencies, there might be purity of election ; but he thought it would be much better secured by Universal Suffrage and Vote by Ballot. However, be would support c the i resolutions. w o u would •Air. T. N not occupy the Froase many moments. But he wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it was his intention to grant the Chiltern HOndreds to those Members who had agreed cni forto3aginlyies that 11;:d expnied? Stewardship, i n p urs uance of the The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that no application had been made to him as yet. When applies, corr op t tines should lienneeedentrwried - be - tinurentergh - for - hinr to -say What eriewerlits ihould give to _thbett,who atie them. - Capte 1)1,1; el RID p E... begged the Exchequer whether he Would g iv e hi m th e Stewardship, in order to carry out the compromise to which he was an in nocent t arty? —( Laughter. ) tet - asit the Chencellor of The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he would give the answer when the application was wade. Captain PLUMRIDGE—I make the application now. — (Great laughter, and cries of " Order.") Mu.'COCHRANE etrentienele denied that any charges against him or his agents had been made out. He had refused to give evidence before the Committee upon principle, and not from any fear of inquiry, Sir ROBERT PEEL said that in the course Khich he had pursued in res ect to the inquiry he saw no reason in the slightest degree to regret it. He believ e d that the irquiry and the development ofthe facts would lead to the dneontinuance of the practices . which hurl been exposed.—( Hear, hear.) He th o ught that the Hoe. Member for Bath had been hardly dealt with.--(liear. ) The Report of the Committee was not the Hon. Member's Report, but that of the eight gentlemen whit. the House had appointed to carry on the inquiry with him,—( /Tear, hear.) He could not, however, agree with the mutations prepesed by the Honourable and Learned itlvisiber, for he thought that it otitis under a distinct on derstalitlirte that they were to be ind4riiniged. lloncuraVe :Members came before the Committee, and gave that evidence of which the frankness was acknowledged in strong and Learned Member for Bath applied for a le g islative t e rms by the Ccimmittis e Hear, hear. ) If the Hon. meas ure to prevent such compromises in future he %%mild vote for it. Bin he did not think right to pass a res:- lutien Of censure tteon these gentleteen. As to the stiseen s.on of the issue. of the writs for particular boroughs, he thought that it was right to sus} tend the issue of 8 writ when it was in tended to disfranchise a borough, or to institute an inquiry with a view to disfranchisement. But he could not consent to a suspension Of writs for an indefinite period until some law sh sold have been enaeted for the more effectual suppression of bribery. In other words, it was saving that, suppose on that subject some future conflict should hike place bet Neer' the Bettsee at Lords anti Cortithotig, they would declare by this rem la.i in that, these boroughs should ferfeit their right ofreturning Members to Parliament until the Houses of Lords and Commons should consent to some 8.11 which, in the opinion of the House, should have the eff ct of preventing the commission of bribery. Therefore he could not support the r, solution calling upon the House to consent to a suspension of the writs in these cases. hadeeken that cOut',6 which he consid e r e d Mos t c onsistent with Throughout the whole of these proceedings he (Sir R. Peel) jiirtice. lie feared he should gait! little apoiohitiert for the course he had pursued ; but throughout he had adopted the course %%hie% he had consieered most consistent eche justice ; and those lion. Gentlemen who had acted with him had been actuated by the same motives. He hail supported the Hon. and Learned Gentleman iii his motion,for inquiry for those rea sons; hilt hie the same reasons he could not support the resolu- Hans ; at the him time he wiinld declare his intention of sup porting any Bill which would hare the effect of discouraging and preventing these compromises for the future. Mr. VERNON SMITH protested against the doctrine at• tempted to be inculcated, that every perso n was bound, in ordee to those his detestation of bribery, t o vote i n f a vour of any resolutions that might be proposed against in The Com mittee had done all that had been expected from it ; it had brought to light facts for the purpose of future legislation — true, it had not carried out the speech made by the Hon. Member when he moved for it; but the grounds on which it had been ultimately granted, were very different from the grounds on which it had been first moved for. He denied that all compromises were illegal—he questioned if they were breaches of privilege—and he was not prepared to say that they were in every case improper. One fact had been brought prominently forward, in the evidence taken before the Commit tee, and that was the expense attending the prosecution and the defence of election petitions. In the Nottingham case, it appeared the expense would not be less than 20,0001. Under such circumstances, he was not prepared to say that a per son did wrong who, rather than incur such an immense expense, consented to enter into an arrangement. It was an evil, he admitted, but it was an evil that had arisen from the mode of trying election petitions. He objected to the second resolu'ion on the same grounds. With regard to the third resolution, he had more doubt than with regard to the others. The resolutions ought tohave applied equally to Bel fast end Southampton. He objected to keeping the writs sus pended an indefinite time, but he doubted whether the writs ought to be issued pending legislative proceedings for the pre , vention of bribery. He should vote against the resolutions ; but if any Hon. Member would in each individual case move the :us ensign of the writ until the Bribery at Elections Bill should have ',wed, he (Mr. V. Smith) would support such a motion. Mr, AGLIONBY rose amidst cries of " Spoke, spoke," which rendered him at first inaudible. 'rho SPEAKER said the Hon. Member had spoken to the original question, since which an amendment had been moved to which the Hon. Member had aright to speak. Mr. AGLIONBY said this debate would not be without its results. A tree had been planted which would bring forth good fruit. The Right Hon. Baronet had assisted at the planting ; lie was sorry that the Right Hon. Gentleman had refused to assist in culling the fruit. It had been said that they bad on this subject been engage d in acting a farce, and this was the second act of the farce. If the Solicitor-General had been disposed to adopt a s traightforward course, he would have taken the sense of the House on the resolutions seriatim, instead of attempting to give them the go-bye, by moving the previoas qu-stion. The moving the previous question was, in fact, admitting that the propositions contained in the resolu tions were undeniable, but that it was inexpedient to entertain them at the present moment. There was nothing in the first resolution froai which any one could dissent, and yet they were about to give the go-bye to that resolution. He warned the House to beware lest by their own set they should do more to bring themselves into contempt and disrespect, than anything could bring them that might be said at public meetings, of which they entertained such horror. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD would vote against the previous queStion, as he was not for throwing overboard all the rem utions. Ile approved of the first and second resolutions, but he was opposed to the third, because, as the parties before the Corninittea were not punished, bethoughtit wrong to pun i s h the electoral bodies lay thus indirectly disfranchising them. Mrs TOINER alluded to the disreputable character giten of so:ne of the witnesses in the Penryn case, and contended that it would be unjust to disfranchise a borough on the testimony of such witnesses. He supported the amendment. Mr, Rosnt.TCK rose, but was for a considerable time inau dible, owing to the extremely low tone of voice in which he spoke. He said the Hon. Member for Reading had chosen to speak in a way be (Mr. Roebuck) thought he would, upon cooler le tlection, be rather sorry for. It was certainly in a very pompous phraseology, and not bearing upon the matter in question. He would not reply to his exclamation concerning the principles of the Constitution or of the a dministration of the law In England. He took up o n him se lf to attack him (Mr. Roebuek), but he would not answer it. The Hon. Member for Harwich's objection was, that he was not a party to the compromise: Now there was nothing like coming to the book. Mr. Currie was asked, " You were treating of two principals, Mr. Attwood and Major Beresford? Yes." " Had you any previous cemmunication ? Y es ; a letter from Major Beresford," Itiajor iitutsVOrtp--that letter Was addressed to Mr. Atwood, and not to the Agents Mr. ROEBUCK—The Hon. Membet fns t Leiaes's objection was, respecting Certain actions. The question was, " You were concerned in certain arrangements respecting actions pending ?—tes." Now this was the class of objections to these practices. Now he would answer to ell those sort of declara tions about English principle, that these facts had been detailed voluntarily by the parties themselves, before that Committee. He could ndt understand ha* the Rothe eutald doubt that these compromises had been entered had, when the parties themselves had stated that they had engaged in them. Major Beresford was asked, " Yon ItOt.ctititetned hi the arrangement to give up all. actions pending?--Yes; but I do riot lino* that I was donttilt6d:" ,So that the Hon. M em b er sectioned it. Major BERESPOR D--1 beg emit pardon. I did not knoW that I should have contented if I had, been consulted. Mr: ROEBUCK—Was that the way ni which the Hon. Gentlgmati *mild object? He (Mr. Roebuck) had stated that compromises had been etiternd into toethe Hon. Gentleman to escape bribery, and these were the objectioni. now earner to time teal and Orions question, and he would of once state hoti far he agreed with t he R i ght Honourable, pironet. _ . perfectly agreed with him in sly ince eliat the arrangements of this Committee *ere made td did sib. tither into the gistem than td inculpate individuals. He (Mr. Roebuck) Went fiirthei; and Saki? that if be conceived that the resolutions which he owl pfepoted had the overt of ineulpeting Individuals, they Would not have been prlitiosed by him. He helieiYed they did not go further than was suggested by the Right Hon. Ilitrotiet himself. The Right Hdit. Berlina Wished him to propose a legislative Inca-. stire ; brit ithite lieidg a leglslatiee m easure then before the House, lie did not do it. He ensiled alt additional Safeguard: He could not cOnteice that there was anything more essential than this second safegtiard: Wheti he brottght in those reso ae be had aiiittni sit an early period of the afternoon, his object was to guard against a system, and not to inculpate indi viduals. The House said it Would det nd such thing. The Hirsh legialati4d safeguard ; a nd ell the speakers on that side th 6 question said that there itae a Bill before the floti , e. He Wished them net to issue certain writs until that Bill was passed. He *anted to know where was the danger of that proceeding - . If they got Chet edditionel safeguard, they might frame a Bill; and no harm to the eon. stit armies: He Would lease the resolutions such as lid bid prepared tlierii , te ne e muse: H e as k e d, then, if these compromises did not tend iS !three that House in the estimation of the people, they would despise their influence and their power? 'I he flop. Member for Oxford had alluded tit Universal Suffrage and Vote by Ballot. This was one Of the belt erguniente in their favour.—(Hear, hear.) But they on the opposite side were thoroughly imb tied with the vire of their position. They were 50 thoroughly mixed up with all these bad practices by which they Were elected, that they went; ashatited to declare against them, and so they acted one with inothets Major BERESFORD rose to - explain. He bad yet to learns that being in conversation with a man constituted him his agent. Mrs Currie did not, as he had stated before in his (Majdt Beeesford's) evidence, act a s his agent, alth o ugh the Hon.' Member for }'lath wished to impugn his statement. The ..C.ornmittee examined Mr. Currie, and he said he would not give certain evidente unless he had the consent o f hi s employer. Mr. Attwood w as sent foie and lelr • Attwo e e was willing for him so to do, and he (Major Beresford) was never asked at all. The House then divided, when there appeared-- For the res.olutions ..........................47 Against them ...... ........................ 13'3 Majority against therm— ............ --89 Oil otir fettirti td the g aller y we found Mr. HUME, who said, then the Government will sanction all those abominations ; and I wish to know whether they will grant td those lien. Members connected with those corrupt cases the Chiltern Hundreds, to enable them eo resume them ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER.. 11the Hon. Gember makes that application_ p a n his own behalf, I shall be most happ. , to grant it.— , (Laud 1 _tighter.) Mr. HUME understood, then, from that answer, that they would giant those Lon. Mernb?rs the request, as what they wou ld grant to bin they bad no right to ref use to any one.- - d that, after all (Laughter.) He understoo berme the trouble they had t ht ' had in bringing those practicesh2 Majesty's Govern ment did' not think them wort j. unishrt, or worthy to be inquired Into. He supposed , therefore, that her Majesty's Government . had no objection to grant tho se H on. M em b ers the Chiltern Hundred s to enable them to carry on those cor rupt practices. u t on the resolution that i de- The questionquestionwasquestion had b t was een carried. tided that the original Mr. ROEBUCK said he rose to move the third resolution. by the writ for Nottingham He wanted to kno w w had been sus- Gentlemen I I The Right lion. had laid down the rule peni es .should be ashy the writ suspended, namely, that while just now to certain going on with respect there was anhad inq not , terminated, and vet th e practices, that inquiryßight Hon. ry Ba ronet had sanctioned t h e withholding of •the -writ fur Not tingheni, and he wanted to know how he could get over the difficulty of withholding the writ ? resolution .was then negatived without a SLAVE-TRADE. Captain PECHELL rose to call the attention of the House to the operation o f the Act 2 and 3 Victoria, cap. 73, for the suppression of the slave-trade. ir —e said that by re ducing the bounty upon the capture of slave ships, the Government had not only done an injustice to the parties engaged in the laborious service of wi t c hi ng for elevens, Mr. HUME moved for a return " of the number of days on which the Home or Commons sat in this Session of Parliament, stating the total htunFe: of hcur3 occupied in the sittings 01 the House, and the rterage time, and also distinguishing the iiiirnt:er of nights on which the House tat, and the number of ilcur e after miehight (es printed in Parliamerittry paper, No. 254 of session 134." 113 stated that he should bring forward a motion cn the subject n-xt session.—A.rced to. N N G JUit ,Y 29, 18421 e The number of children attending the various day ,ehoels has considerably fallen off, from the poverty of their parents. "The increase of the number of paupers in the union workhouse is es follows : January 1537 46 January 1840 , ~ 1838 , 180 ihm B3 ~ 1842 "but- door relief is Increased in the same proportion. " In January 1837 the number of paupers residing in the house belonging to the parish of Brsdport was 32, in 1842 it is 66, being about doubled. The union consists of 19 parishes, and the total number of paupers being fully quadrupled, shows that there is a larger increase in the agricultural parishes." Mr. CII,WMAN, of Loughborough, next addressed the meeting. Ile said, having had occasion within these few days to visit the hosiery districts, I took the oppor tunity to make inquiry respecting the state of the popu lation, and although delegates had been here from those t o wns, perhaps a few facts he had collected might add to fill up the picture of distress. already presented to them. At Hinckley, which he did not visit, the :season foe their goods is over, and the hosiers were fetching in the presser of each stocking frame, a part without which it cannot be worked, from all in Hinckley and the four surrounding parishes. Total or nearly total silence is therefore by this time reigning in their workshops. The little business latterly been done here has been in the hands of persons of small means, who have sold the goods for less than they cost in order to tense funds to ,eo on with, trusting to reimburse them selves by a reduction of the workmen on the next lot. It is clear that only the most deplorable want of employ ment would suffer the existence of such a state of things. At Leicester trade is somewhat better than it was 'a few weeks ago ; their season is just com mencing, Yet at the height of the season they reckon on having fierce 1,000 to 2,000 hands out of employment. At the end of the season, about next November, they will be in the same state as Hinckley is now. Antici pating this, they are reserving 1,0001. of a late sub scription to assist in sustaining the extreme pressure they expect then. If Sir Robert Peel should happen to lica'r that Leicester is better off now than a few years since, he will doubtless quote it as a proof of returning prosperit3', whereas it is merely the effect of the re turning season, It should be borne in mind, that if all were right, Leicester would be better off all the, year round than it is now during the few months of the season. Onahni,sortant function of capital is to lay up goods made by reguL'zr and continuous industry, until the season comes for the,: appropriate use. This function of capital the present sys eem suppresses, and the demand is so reduced that it ma; be supplied by a fitful and sessional production. Leiceetee is some what relieved by a great deal of spinning being ~,hme ANTI-CORN LAW CONFERENCE. there for exportation. This, while it helps for the md ment, is grievous evidence of decay. The yarn ex (Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) ported was heretofore worked up in Leicester. He Mr. Crossley read to the meeting the following letter: (Mr. Chapman) was in company with a manufacturer "TO MR. CROSSLEY. who has a machine in . his possession which he believes " Brighouse, near Halifax, July 23, 1842. would make stockings much more rapidly than the corn- Sin—l now sit down to attempt a description of the mon stocking-frame will do ; but he remarked, that at state of this neighbourhood for your use in discharging present, the rate of wages is so low, that no possible your duties in London. I confess I scarcely know where sav ing by improved machinery will pay the risk and ex to begin, not that I have not material sufficient to work pease of setting it to work. Loughborough is acknow upon. God knows I have too much of that. lodged on all hands to be better off than any other town " Within the last fortnight the stone merchants here, in the hosiery districts. Yet here a singular fact oc almost to a man, have cut down their workmen to half- curs. Inquiring of a medical friend the state of various time, viz., three days a week, in addition to a reduction institutions in the town, the conversation fell on the of wages upon these three days , and the p r i nci p al em- Dispensary. He said. iat now many workmen, who ployer of workmen in Southowram (Mr. Freeman) says when in the receipt of good wages, spent 20s. or 30s. a that he shall be compelled to force another reduction in year with an independent medical practitioner,now go to a week or two. What are left of the fancy . weavers and the Dispensary, and the cases have so much increased, others engaged in the fancy trade in Rastrick, are in a that the managers have been obliged to solicit charity pitiable state of destitution ; but you are aware that sermons from the various religious congregations in the those who could have emigrated to other lands, and others town. An annual ball, in addition to subscriptions, , are now preparing to follow them, aided by the as - formerly sufficed for the su pp ort of the institution ; I sistance of the Poor-law Guardians. Some of them but merriment is not now enough ; a stronger principle never picked a shuttle since Christmas ; others have not —religious charity—must be appealed to. It is, how had more than a month, and the best not one-third of ever, especially to be remarked, that the majority are employment. One man, John Firth, of Castle-hill, now starvation cases, and so common are thesee that a in Rastrick, weaver, lived in his own house two years large vessel is constantly kept at hand of a preparation ago, when lie was obliged to sell it for debt, end has of gentian and cascarilla, from which the starving appli since lived in it, but never paid one farthing of rent, and cams are served. This preparation, by restoring the on Monday last he told me had only ea: ned six shillings tone of the stomach, induces a feeling of hilarity to which since Christmas, and this was by haymaking, and had it the sinking operative is too much a stranger; and although not been for . what he picked up under the hedge but - lie may have no better prospect than hereto fore of obtain toms he should have been starved to death. I, have ing needful food, it relieves hiin for a time of the depression known him all my life as a sober, industrious man. occasioned by the want of it. The gentian pot has, there- Another man in Bone-gate (William Armistead), a stone fore, become quite a favourite with the working-classes scourer, is setting cards, and can only earn a penny a there. When a dinner or two can be procured for any day on an average, if lie makes three halfpence he has to of these half-famishing applicants, they are not heard of work late and soon. Another, James Wood, who is a again as patients. And this takes place in a town better hand, works hard a whole week for a shi ling— whose condition is admitted by every body to Zbe better and remember these are fathers of families, too. than that of any other employed in the same manulae ." I could not set forth the number of empty houses in tare. At the committee of the Anti-Corn-Jaw League, Rastrick, but in a short time I believe one-half, et,lease, -, a very intelligent working-man said, that he estimated will be tenantless. In Bone-gate, out of thirty able- the advance of distress to be ten times that of the Poor bodied men, only three are employed. On Tuesday last, rate s —that is, if the rate rises one per cent, the dis between the George Inn and the railway station, a dis- tress rises ten per cent. ; so much misery does, he thinks, tance of about 300 yards, fifty-seven were counted stand- exists amongst those who are not yet sunk so low as to ing all out of work. need the aid of the poor-rate, and, of the greater number " The unemployed here have looked forwards to the who will suffer almost any extremity, rather than enter hay harvest with certain hope of relief, but, alas! they the union house. Without asserting the numerical cor are miserably disappointed. Last year only 2s. 6d. a rectness of this ratio between the rate and the distress, day was given for a good haymaker : this year ls. 2d. the'speaker remarked that the observation showed that only is given, and thankfully received. It may be ne- there are amongst . the operatives, men who closely and cessary to state who it is that is giying these low wages. accurately observe that which passes around them, and I may say it is general, and, as an instance, I will give that, if the proposed ratio be only an approximation to you One of your nearest farmers, James Manley. Mr. the truth, it gives a most terrific amount of misery. piss .Mooney, of Fartown, has had all his hay made by able . inclination to enter the union-house does not here arise bodied men out of Huddersfield for their food only, and from tiny want of comfort in the house itself. A gentle has refused scores more who offered on the seine terms. man who had lately gone over it, told the speaker that " The effects of this destitution are now beginning to its comfort, and the quality and quantity of the provi . tell upon the middle classes in more ways than one. The sions would, in present circumstances, be really a tempta unemployed will not starve. Hunger is a sharp thorn, i te e n to g reat numbers of working-men in that vicinity ; and it is driving them into the fields. Where potatoes but the unwillingness arises from an. honourable reluct hre grown there is scarcely a field or a garden in lime to give up their liberty and independence ; against Brighouse, Rastrick, and Southourani that does not pre- this sacrifice, numbers of them struggle to the last extre , sent effects of the —, I was about to say midnight mity of Want. The opinion of Mr. White, a large menu thief, but I will say of the perishing workman. On fact urer, of Loughborough, of the effect of the repeal of Tuesday night, Benjamin Gooder had seventy or eighty the Corn-laws on the American trade has not been suffi yards stolen, and, this, too, in the field adjoining your eiently adverted to. A large Boston merchant had said own dwelling-house. This week, William Avison, James to him, that, on that repeal taking place, he would take Thornton, and I may add, all the little farmers in this f e , m F a/g l a nd the goods he now procures from France neighbourhood, are bemoaning the loss of their potatoes, and Germany ; far here lie could pay for them in Ame cabbage, and turnips ; and what can they do ? I asked rican produce, while there he could not. Chartist meet- Gooder's wife what she would do with the persons who robbed their fields if she could find them out—whether ings are held in the market - plac e ever y evenin g . There eeem to be here three descriptions of Chartists ;—first, her husband would prosecute ? but she, very character- honourable and considerate men of all classes in society, ietically, said, smiling—" ,No, he had more like fill theta from the large manufacturer to the lowest workman, who their bellies." The fault ie not theirs, it lies at the doors think the Charter the fittest instrument of national ha' of those whom you are sent to convince of the error of provement, who zealously defe nd it, but who their ways ; but, Sir, we have little hope of redre ss from help the progress of any . other cause which them, and if you tell them the general feeling here, it is se. ms CI them likely to improve the condition that the sooner there is a revolt the sooner will the of the people—these are increasing in number ; hungry be fed.—l am, Sir, yours obediently, second, zealous and honest, but misinformed noisy men, " THOMAS JESSOP. whose attachment to the Charter is little but bigotry, " P.S.—Two years ago, now, Messrs. Hepworth of and whose obstruction of all other efforts is doing nothing Brighouse had from twenty to thirty journeymen em- Id mischief to themselves; lastly, every public move ployed ; they have now three, and in this town there are inent drags after it the refu se of society. The men who not six journeymen in the trade of a joiner and cabinet- would cry with Lord George Gordon, "No Popery;" at maker in work at all. "T. J.'' Birmingham, "Church and Nine and at Nottingham A short conversation took place on the present value or Bristol, "Reform;" who would be rick-burners in of hind in Yorkshire, Mr. Crossley stating that the land Sussex, and Luddites in Yorkshire—these men now find in the neighbourhood of Brighouse was not more than the cry for the Charter the most convenient cover for two-thirds of what it had been two or three years ago. their dishonest purposes. It is to be feared that con- Mr. FINCH (of Liverpool) communicated the follow- tinued distress—the hunger which makes men mad, and ing letter, from a party engaged in the iron trade of the constant influence of bad example—are driving or Liverpool : twducing some of the well-disposed into this desperate " Mr. Dills, of Darlaston, called upon me this morning class, and that the term " spread of Chartism," means to (25th July), and says that an attempt is making to re- too great art extent, the spread of this dangerous and un duce the thick coal-getters from 4s. to 3s. 6d. per day, happy spirit. But what can we say strong enough of the and it is expected that the consequence will be a general system which keeps up such a s tate of things ? If all turn oat of all the colliers. Avery erroneous impression went right, there would be no influences on which a of the wages of colliers was given by Sir Robert Peel in man's happiness materially depends which would ortii the House of Commons last week. when he stated that narily be so much out of his daily sight and touch as the dispute was between 4s. and 3s. 6d. per day. It is those of a political kind. Just as the organic functions trne that is the universal wages given for the thick coal- of animal life are performed without consciousness, so getters, but the thin coal-getters, and the ironstone- should the rightful duties of the Government take effect getters, are reduced to 2s. 9d. per day ; and none of the on the people, without their being driven to the necessity colliers scarcely are doing more than two or three days' of daily, unceasing, harassing, and dangerous agitation. work per week. While the stomach, or heart, or brain of a man are " 'the League and Anti. Monopoly Associations, with healthily fulfilling their proper purposes, he feels the assistance of the colliers, have the power of cem• them not; but when they become diseased, lie is ren palling the aristocracy, in less than one month, to alio- dered painfully conscious of their existence. So it is fish the Corn-laws altogether, and to compel them also with Government; and a constant state of necessar y po to grant the People's Charter. Let the colliers in all litical excitement is ample proof that something is radi parts of the kingdom cease working for one month, and calls , wrong. At Nottingham everybody is indignant at the thing is done ; they have only to insist upon these the silly or wicked assertion of Mr. Gaily Knight. Measures, before they go to work again. This is the "Worse most simple and efficient measure that could be adopted and worse! worse and worse ! worse and worse!" is the universal cry. Very lately a number of gentlemen to get all we want, without spilling a drop of blood, or met fur the purpose of commencing a subscription for time esusing any commotion of any kind. The city of Lon- relief of the distressed operatives, and hoped to obtain don would be without fuel, and all other concerns must 1,0004 in aid of it from the Manufacturers' Relief Com eortie to a stand till it was settled? mittee. They found, however, that the number of per- The Citelusiem said this would not be understood as sons to be relieved was so great that all they could hope a recommendation of the Conference, but it was a proof to raise, dispensed with the utmost parsimony, woul4 not of the great feeling that was abroad against these laws. last more than three or four weeks. This seemed more Mr. 'l'. EwENS (of Bridport) read the following letter:— like tantalizing the people than relieving them, and the " Bridport is chiefly engaged in the manufacture of sail attempt was given up. There are numerous benevolent cloth, nets, lines, twines, and shoe-thread. societies attached to the different places of worship in " The state of trade in this town is extremely de- Nottingham. Many of' these have given written state pressed 1 in most of its branches there is net more meats of their belief that distress is not only severe with than half the usual employment. out former example in that town, but is rapidly " The importation of flax and hemp, the staple com- increasing. Many instances occur of almost total desti modifies of the manufacture, has fallen off more than one third, it being, in 1838, 2,778 tens, and in 1841 only up, tution of furniture, and anew class of brokers has sprung who deal in the miserable remnants of the conve -1,677 tons. niences and comforts of better days. Deaths, and it is "The number of manufacturers in the town and feared not a few, have occurred from starvation. The neighbourhood has been greatly reduced by failures and Magistrates have suppressed the practice of large bands declining business. In 1837 there were upwards of sixty of men going begging in the town, but these bands have persons so employed, at the present period the number is now betaken themselves to the country, and lay farm reduced below forty. houses under contribution. The feeling of the people is, " Wages have decreased in almost every description of that God gives plenty, and man starvation. The labour since 1838, generally to the extent of 10 per cent.. speaker was much struck with the remark made by the and in some cases much more. The amount of weekly wife of a working man, that it was grievous to see what 'wages paid in the town, on a moderate computation, does plenty God in his goodness had spread over the fields, not exceel one half of what was paid two and three while they, and thousands more, could not touch it. years ago at the same period of the year, and it is worthy Meny are becoming exasperated, not only with the pro of remark that the highest wages have generally been sent Government, but with all government; oppression paid w hen the price of bread lies been lowest, and as is making them mad. It is grievous, too, to be told that bread has advanced in price they have declined. distress has commonly fallen most heavily on those who "For many years there have not been so many persons were industrious and provident in better days. It takes out of employ ; the poor-house is completely crowded. much suffering to break down their praiseworthy feel and the rates greatly increased, with great difficulty in jugs of independence ; besides which, as they then collecting ; seventy , persons and upwards at a time have trusted only to their own industry for a livelihood, now Leen summoned before the Magistrates for non-payment. that fails them their whole stay is gone. As to the The number of collections for the poor during the year coining winter nobody would speak of it without a 1386 did not exceed six, while nine were required for the shun der. At the whole of these places the object he 'past year, and an equal, or greater number, will be purmued was to induce their local friends to procure a wanted for the present year. • elan strong, and immediate expression of public opi " From 1832 to 1837 unoccupied houses were scarcely ii i, n, known ;and although, durin this eriod, a considerablein order that the success alread attained in prin g p cii le might be pushed into act before the approach of number of houses were built, they were occupied as fast terrible winter.—(Cheers.) He said to them, time r , as they were finished; but noweowing to the want of em- whatever the Conference might have done as a means o_ ployment, the poor are crowded into small tenements and lodgings, and there are numerous instances of families, ) üblic instruetion, it could do nothing ieresal or suspensio iof those laws, hut as . h a mac s pressure who formerly occupied 101. houses, from poverty, and the transmitting the pressure from without—the "'al js " h tl i t n ' e l necessity of selling their furniture for means of subsist- I t lea e r pre he s ar.) once, being compelled to live in rooms at ls. and is. Gd. If they could find no stronger mode h e of m expressingte their must come from the people themsOves—( memorialise per week. The number of unoccupied houses is now very large, and consequently there is but little employ- opinions and feelings, Members of Parliament to stop thp?upp eli s; for lines i . t matt for masons, carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers,ye • such a th t could not be accomp l ished,. a stoppage be the strongest form in which painters, and glaziers, he urged_ t menial would, perhaps, " Drapers, grocers and other shopkeepers, all unite in th em selves.—(Hear, hear.) At they, could ex will not hear a Chartist. Their told they saying that their weekly sales have considerably fallen Hirckley lam for them off, and that they never, at any period, took so little destitution is too advanced to listen to any immediate relief. At Leicester and ready money, which their dealings with the poor chiefly n i a ns . but those of consist of. . L oug hbactugh a few, who 0,11 02 yes Chartist, but press. but at the same time they had given an indirect encourage ;Pent to the nefarious traffic. The Gallant Officer conclude.] by moving that an address be presentdd to her Majesty, praying for returns of the several sums df min* paid to the Registrar of the High Court of Admiralty on ti. - tcount of th# proceeds of the slave vessels and their cargoes captured under the Act of .the •2d and 3d of Victoria, cap. 73, and the dates when such sums were paid, and if any and what instructions have been .stied by the officers of th- Vice-Admiralty Courts relative to the remittance of sash sums. Sir G. CLERK said there was no abjection to give the Gallant Officer the teturns which he *tried for. After a few cbservitions front Capt, Pechell, Sir C. Napier, And Sir G. Cockbu.n, the motion was agredd to, MEDICAL CHARITIES IRELAPITY. Lord ELIOT obtaia .d leave to bring in a Bill to regulate ere medical charities in 'helm,. MIDNIGHT LEGISLATION. _ . - Bilston, July 23, 1842. " My dear Sir,—Things are much in tic same state here, only we begin to thmx we have nothing to hope for from any steps that have been or can be adopted nova to relieve us, and are disposed to sit down quiet and wait, ~.etnts. On Wednesday the men employed in breaking stones at the Union-house set off in procession after their dm e„,„,: - . through Wolverhampton, Bilston, and Wil lenhall; their e:'biFet was to show the rate-payers who wer so employee, and thus give an opportunity to edis cover any impostors. Abo ut 350 started, but a thunder ; they were peaceable and or storm dispersed some, 3 .0 at. last 200 reached the Swan Bank, opposite my house derly, but a poorer body of men need not be seen to cone vince our rulers that, as a natiort, we are going down, and that our artisans and labourers tell shortly lose all their old English character. In the evea:ing bodies of from 10 to 20 visited the shopkeepers, and ,for the first time demanded relief. The notice for a drop Pf the col liers' wages expires next Saturday, and I am Pld they will not submit; the consequence will be this end of the county will require military as well as the Potteries',. thus , increasing the evil to the middle classes. More furnaces are to be " blown out," and a further reduction has taken place in the price of iron this week. All will not, how ever, procure trade and employment fo r the people, while we refuse to take in payment for our manufactures what the farmer has to pay with, and what we want most, cheap food." Should the colliers of both ends of Staf fordshire and those in Shropshire stand out for their wages, the iron works and potteries must. stand for coals, and then we shall have a fear ful increase to the number of the unemploesel The Chartists have called a meeting by placards on ti e walls throughout the district, the meeting to be held set Swan Village, West Bromwich (a very central point) ota Monday next. A Mr. O'Neil is t o address them, and they' are to deliberate what steps they shall adopt to prevent, their " being ground into the dust ;" and the placards; say further—`• That by powerful resistance they (the I forgemen and miners) may obtain all that they want." The language used at their (the Chartist') room in 1 Stafford-street, lam told, was very strong, and a plan for their future operations was promised to be disclosed in a few days. There is a heaving of society that indi cates the working towards some crisis, Alid I fear it will not be long 'ere it overtakes us in one' common min- Our overseers are appealing this day to the Poor-lave 1 Commissioners for further help to collect the rate, and attend to the removal of the poor. In their memorial they say that they do not expect to obtain from the I,OOC/. still owing upon the rate granted on the 16th of April last, more than 200/, and thit it will be as much trouble to get that sum as it used to be to collect ' the: whole rate. That during the last three weeks, , , front' the -Ist of July to the 21st, seventy - one orders of ttllttkiiStial have been made out, and last night fourteen ratiwtiire made out, being sufficient work for the Assistta4 i;telle seer without expecting tim to collect rates. te - . " Believe me to be, yours truly, ROBERT :13E1V1 " ROY. W. H. Bonner, London:' „. " Bilston, July -as, 1642. ,, "My dear Sir—Events have made progress. towards a crisis here, within the post .ten days ; and at the pretent moment our town is quite a scene of alarm.. We have just bad a body of men --near 500—front tile neighliourheod, march into the town, who are now con sulting whether they Shull go round to the houses and help themselves, or whether they shall go and stop all the pits in the neighbourhood. I have ,this motrcut had a gentleman with me who has been through Wolver hampton, Willenhall, and Walsall to.d.v and he reporis an immense number of colliers and miners were assene- Wing in that district, and going round to stop all thee works. Tie left them taking the direction to our pits at• Bunker's-hill. We are now, I am persuaded, entering upon a scene of confusion ; Bread or blood' is chalked upon the walls, and it is openly talked of to have ta regular disturbance next Monday at our wake. Already' we hear of marked men. I could give you the names of several of our ironmasters thus marked for popular vengeance. Last week a party came to my home ; on the door being closed, they cried out, `li s no use shutting the door ; open it, or we will burst it open, and help ourselves ; we want bread, and bread we will have.' On some loaves being given them, they. left. Surely the men who have grasped the reins of power cannot be so blind and be wildered as to imagine that such a state of things in a district like this can last many days, or that it is safe to allow it to be so. I envy not their position ; I would not, for all their power, be subject to the dreadful and bitter curses denounced upon their heads—curses ,ieep and long, by the unemployed, as they stagger, throvgh weakness, from our doors. " There was an immense meeting at Swan Village, near West Bromwich. I have not heard the result. Excuse these hasty lines, and believe me, &e. " P.S.—Yesterday (our market-day) we might just as well have closed our shops ; there is really no business doing." " Bilston, July, 27,1842 My dear Sir—On Monday the town was very quiet, as the meetings at Swan Village and Walsall tempted many to go there. At Swan Village the meeting was very large ; seine reports say from 10,000 to 15,000; but I think, from the best authority, there were front 5,000 to 7,000. The Rev. Mr. Stocks succeeded in get ting a hearing, but their great man, Mr. O'Neil, was th principal speaker. He advised peace and obedience to the law, but used very strong and imploring language. I hear Lord Dartmouth passed the place during the meeting. In the evening meetings were held at Wed nesbury and Bilston, and the people were very importu nate for relief'. At Walsall, after holding a meeting, a body of miners set off to the collieries at Bently, and stopped those men they found at work. Yesterday morn ing the men employed breaking stones at our Union house, finding the guardians intended to pay them :l. instead of llb. mutton and oatmeal, and considering it a drop of wages, refused to go to work, formed themselves into a procession. and marched through Wolverhampton, Willeuhall, and Bilston. About 300 passed my house. They then returned to the Union house, and threatened if gelid was not given to commit violence. After consult ing Mr. Bill, a Magistrate, the guardians who could be got together, about six o'clock, p.m., agreed to give them , the wages as if they had worked, so that the men gained a great victory. 10-day they are working at the old wages, and are emboldened to ask for a Sunday allow ance, as well as for the six working days. The.board meet again to-morrow, as the applications for relief are much on the increase. The miners in the neighbour hood of Walsall were all stopped by those already out of work ; after a meeting at Wednesbury, they went round in a body of from 200 to 300, soliciting relief. The tradesmen gave them food, and, in some instances, mo ney; to the amount of 2s. and 3s. at a house. To-day has, however, has been the most important ; large bo dies of from 200 to 400 have passed through this dis trict, either compelling the men at work to desist, or else giving them warning of the consequences if found at. work next week. The notices for a reduction of wages expire on Saturday night, and they are determinedt not : to go in at the reduction. This ii"cr l n redn " e a s t bur and ° passed through the country betwectr . • from )I'V-el and c B sa r i a l d ; lef, h - . ey . cAbouticd 4aoot Bookerslla , e eop c m toil Collie,.}' o_ucfr. polled the men to leave work ; also at the .0111 Holes stances took bread and meat by force, and in many cases Colliery ; they then came up the town, and in some in the shopkeepers gave them what they demanded, and sonic closed their shops altogether. " The Magistrates are now at the King's Arms Int. ; swearing ill special constables, the town is in a ver y alarming state, and though I do not fear a riot, I do fear the men will take food where they can find it, and thus subject themselves to the law, and the town to the ex pense and unpleasantness of having a military force place:i in it. Besides I see no prospect of amendmeut, for the manufacturers have almost no orders, and are, not able to sell the little they do sell but at a serious . - not honest in saying the accounts loss. Sir Robert Peel is not, cannot be ignorant of the s tate of things in this and oth er manu f actur i ng districts, a state of things hourly getting worse, and he is common ruin of distress are exaggerated. I am surprised Government do not leave everything else, and turn th e i r attent i on to th e c o ndition of the starving thousands, d a ily in cre asing around them. One revivedappears charity awaitwill n i o f t o hn u i r g tratl for e u i s s , a n tt o d t poor-rates will shortly bring us all to one common level. I am more and more convinced that free trade measures are just and right, and will remedy our distress. " I have just heard that 400 colliers or more are gone to the neig bouthood of Dadley from Wednoabury an STAMPS AND TAXES. Mr, T. DUNColliiiEnio,;ifOr " the names of all persbns who hare been appointed since the Ist day of Sep• tember. 134 i, up to the preterit day, to any office or situation under the Board of Stamps and 'taxes dt Somerset House, -specifying the nature of each office or situation, and whether occasioned by vacancy or the creation of additional office, and if the, same is t be permanent or temporary, and the annual salary to be paid in respect thereof."—Agreed to. LAW COURTS (IRELAND). _, _ _ _ . Mr. SHEIL moved for copies of all letters Or written com munications made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Chief Judges and Puisne Judges of the Courts at Queen's Bench and Common Pleas, and Chief Barons and Fuisne Barons of the Court of Each« quer, in Ireland, in relation to the Common Law Courts (Ireland) Bill, or the Report ot.the Cominis4ioncrs on which the said Bill purports to be founded. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that he had already stated his intention of postponing the Bill for re gulating the Law Courts in Ireland until next session. lie Objected to producing the correspondence moved for, as it would be setting a precedent which might be inconvenient to the public service. lie was himself responsible for the Bill, and therefore he did not think he was called upon to produce the correspondence. Mr. F. FRENCH thought the Bill would inflict great indi vidual hardship. He hoped that it would be altered next year. Mr. SHEIL could not press the motion. He would ask if both the Judees, and the Attorney-General of Ireland, had not objected to the abolition of patent offices without compensation. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had endea 'Aired to frame the Bill so as to satisfy the demands of public, and at the same time not to disregard vested, interests. The motion was then put, and negatived without a division. The Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at One o'Clock. 1