The Sun. — London, England, 1834-03-08 00:00:00

bares • it should be convenient. He thought too that there t: Wintl4 he Political causes which would prevent a very cordial extensive commercial intercourse with Russia; but she firs alive strictly to her own interests, and that would be the st motive of her reluctance to receive our manufactures to any extent. to Gerh, But then the right honourable gentleman carne e .... -- any, and in Germany he told them there was a grea t out Cation off"hfirsee trade, which could not long be resisted. The right.. honourable gentleman had read to them, as the foun hoPes in Ge any, an article which had ap eaed M the Augsburg Gazette, and he had thought it ne e,.4B_ arY, in order to strengthen his authority, to inform the araeriouseinththate etatzrsons who wrote in newspapers were great Y. He did not know whether the right hon. gentlelnan meant that no great men were writers in news taPaPerielsin this c ountry—(Hear, and a laugh)—but he must eer y y. h ave h a d some reason for making the distinction. Now t i l le subject of that article was a statement that the people of byZ. M Y Were bent upon breaking up the monopoly possessed ~_lllalid in th e G erman markets for her manufactures. It - 4 .4 t rided atl t hat the g overnment of Prussia, with the greatest skill of cr , had succeeded in bringing all the little principalities Preh " a ny into a union for this object ; and that it was ap ,iponeubdecl that even the King of Hanoier would be prevailed mac an to b s u a r nm seductive means to join it. This appea k e an odd sort of prospect for the extension of the . et Y f o t t . he o elle of 5 , manufactures. That question was not at all Isuf, ' 4 n• If we were to go and offer Prussia, who had ma.. j ctures of her own in Silesia, to take her corn, would she not t a e u gh at us if we expected her to take our manufactures in re adopted ?— ( Hear, it ? " --- (Hear, hear.) Before any legislation should be that aQ •,`," ° Pon so important a question he must express his hope oth er ule right hon. gentleman and the house would get from kaisources than an article in an Augsburg newspaper a ...,( e w h ed ge of what the feelings of the people of Germany were. ge u „,, e ,") He thought it would be well if the government •-aliy attended to this caution. He was sure that if the ~...ne lord at the head of foreign • affairs had taken half the evo4,l,cfs_to_ defeat the plans of Prussia in forming this commercial tak,ea.eration against the interests of this country that he had h" n In Ot her thing s with which the country bad nothing todo (L oud h ave bee ! much more advantageously employed.— to t he ch ee r s.) He would not omit here to state his views as this utter ~ ~ neglect which the government had betrayed upon th uu rn s ,,.. -4 ir aPortant point of its duty.—(Hear, hear, hear.) He the t7.,,", t ,, h e had now clearly made out what he conceived to be no i - "" 1, that no material advintage could arise to this country, pre;rnPortant addition to her foreign trade, by altering the alt es e a n t . 'code of receiving corn from the Continent. butAn that h' s .°4 alight give them a better average at home ; . t letaii i - deni ed ; there might be improvements made . in the h i o cif the system, but it could not affect the foreign markets . thEZ fQv our to any ' sensible extent. At the present time house - Were a million o f quarters of foreign wheat in our ware p.as With a fi xed duty the whole of that might now . be app into the market. Would any gentleman—he did not but t o " I ) . to those who were acquainted with agriculture, Ilo w - s , my gentle ! who had never been beyond the sound of Ihis any, ,`"clis^- would nal'l gentleman pretend that we now wanted OW „ -° , rn in the country ? Every man must admit that we not - i ; and not wantin g it, the law, wisely as he said, would Pr c L Ufre, it to come in and complete the ruin of the home th e ,•-eer, already struggling with the utmost di ffi culty against The be to which he ' was obliged to submit.—(Hear, bea r.) resortoeestt reasoning was, its his opinion, always that wh ich ho use ,(,! .0 i mmediate practical proof. And he would ask be Pus s! . it would not be worse than madness in them . to the sn in g their brains with theories and subtleties when Th e facts were standing before their eyes ?—(Cheers.) this right h °n• gentleman told them that by the departure from sYstem ' POpw at . great additional wealth was to be created, and the t'o'ed t lons of the towns doubled. He certainly was not dis -0 unaervalue the importance of commerce. He owed (erred much to it, ts,, u o „ a- ' was deeply sensible of the advantages it con inan r - " a co mmunity. But, when the right hon. gentle ii in talked of c onverting the rural population into new masses statevg in t ftns, he begged to say that it was not exactly the th e things ti :iligs which took his fancy. If he .. lacked at what e a l le Z e member for Oldham in some of his writings had aptly iann,.'. ni e great wen," certainly he could not join in those I,,,Ziinlin a nticipations of the right hon. gentlema n. .. The po douht was already a million and a half, and if this were to b e l lustra7. hefeared they would soon have certain pract i ca l . 1- ileh ato wil ' of the change in such an interference with the ir . Of th e ' as might not add much to the calmness and deliberation regard. proceedings. If such a change were produced he should a a county as a serious calamity to any country, b ut . above all, ~,eas"irY situated as this was. Mr. Huskisson upon t he t he . Ich t o which he had already alluded, observed that was X.eatest calamity which could befal the population li e w at of being dependant upon foreign countri!ii for its oo : ti a t , Quid now pass to some observations of the right hon. gen . - o '4 m ; as to the condition of the farmer and the labourer as it cl a i,,T ad be affect e d b y this mot i on. H e h described the Part - ott.°,, Pro tection as a piece of covetousness on the havin the l andlord, and the farmer and the labourer as g no si • • triad, ~.. . iterest in its maintenance. How that could be w, out with regard to the farmer he thought any gentleman 40 mix ed lion w as ° Mich with that class, and knew what their condi. no t his '4'ould be very much at a loss to understand. Was c aPital included in his stock and his farming W a l : le : 1 ' 0 7 ts ° , le ~ a nd of what value could these be when his farm to f a i l ba, ',; , ' l ger to be cultivated? He had no other resources Cents to . 1.1 „ 1)° ,. 11 ' ,He (Mr. B.) wished he had the Three per teas i n 1 i'°- '°-( Hear —but that was not the case; his all valueless. stock and implements, and they were to be rendered elonged lion, wh icii rl Yet the fanner had no interest in this ques- Why the tl . of too. deeply encurab-"esZedig exclusiv ly to the proprietor.—(Hear.) propri e t or ,„,,,...„_. :get e his di ffi culty in time, if the out t ut of oor farmer must be the I ed ate sacrifice. But the misfor p tunes of these were no . ; 1 1l eel.B What was to be the state of the poor peasant ?- I t Z e h;) There was no gentleman in that house, whatever elltitt„, might think the representation of large propulations - s. hi m to hold, to whom he would concede one particle of ,anxiety for the condition of the great mass of the labouring „__°Ple which to him the first consideration. With was always ~, regard to the power of the rural labourer to apply him 7'. to ma nufacturing pursuits, that had been so admirably lust by the right honourable bronet in the previous night's I t h eb ate that he would add nothing upon that point. In fact the th -e Pherd could no more be turned into a manufacturer than a -ati ttf into shepherd. The mistake of these philoso bh_ -acturer a bib - - " •1 was, if the right hon. gentleman would excuse him for h• ' • h (A laugh)—that they were too apt te im a philosop er— .. h they could treat masses of men like a steam-engine, who._ steP" - them on again, as it suited their vi a m ornent'snotice,and set 'V ' —( Cheers and laughter.) No sooner had they in the b ola aof their speculations turned out 10,000 agricultural la. , uerers from their work in cultivating the land, than, by a Lo has it were of their H arle q u in's the whole body were to be set do ter and h e „ wn Ma king night-caps and scissors. —(Loud laugh_ anr o hs -- in He would undertake to say that if there was • n the country who would be brought to entire ruin by the It • Z_ ,_ ea a alteration of these laws it was the agricultural labourer a t s tl th r, hear.) Mr. Jacob, in his evidence, being asked what lea s ..... e feed of the people in the countries from whence corn 4 ,... a. - .... Ported, ,A , '.. " I have been in every district, and never ii7aveloaf of wheaten bread in any place eastward of the Rhine. iOn g u is ,eil a roll of the size of my fist brought to table when an th e v niM or any other foreigner was present, but the food of s'voPle i s shir e wis_ ' black rye br ea d . " Wh y, i n t h e par t o f Hamp from their he lived th e poor not only got good wheaten bread ma gistra te employers, such as they ate themselves, .but the compelled 8 forced them by law to provide it. And . if they Mu st gO, tbe farmer to compete with the foreigner, he Lef ore It hi s People with the same food.—(Hear, hear.) seei o .Y cattle to that he was for making a struggle, and \ gif th e LVh eo he y could not go on as they ere.—(Loud cheer . s t .) ing that th sald for making a struggle, he w was far from admi - the contrar e condition of our labouring poor was bad. On qUainted u. ) .' , he would confidently ask any impartial man, ac there was it h the different countries of the world, whether in th e 50 . st y other part of it in which he had seen the people thi s we JOY/Tent of so many comforts ?—(Hear.) He said . that the mss be the result of viewing the English population in ... ti ° ll of ;„ 1- at if they took it by the test of actual consump 4'hat -"Y 'night Partic ular article, they would find the same results. 1, Point , h •..e a sort of 4 i custom-house way of deciding the m _ ht it as , -- 'essar, , a good one. He would take an article between at the eo ' "nd a luxury —the article of sugar. If they looked that our of nautePti on of sugar in this country, they would find Loon PoPUlati on consumed as much sugar as the whole popu a proo PM , was not t upon the 1, t hey wer e not arr i ve d at together.—(Cheers.) a state of Why things calling ' a . iis wooi;eose to m a k e a great change i n our system, suc h as Pectin - he ? Ile would but one more observation re isbo4rieg the eff ect which such make a measure would have upon the einution.g interests. He scarcely dared to contemplate the \v as sai d 4 and co mbinations it would infallibly give rise to. It t‘°llntr t hat it would driie a vast number of hands from the the fact distr icts to seek employment in the towns... But . t hose ' to t i v t"nid turn out, that the jealousy and competition in m towns Were so ; t, that they would not be suffered receu ti ; in • A case i g n " point had occurred to himself very E ssex 1, - He sent an honest blacksmith of the county o . f hi s bus - in P:o t 0,. ., ~ nin order that he might improve himself in I,,ek again He came up to be sure, but he very soon came lu atl h e , o 7 ln, and very much disheartened, for no sooner ° Ther i,esented himself to a master in the trade, than the if emp•inurneymen immediately combined, and declared that stated t c : int ent was given him they would leave. He only real aoci !circumstance with a view of showing how far any liPon . l ' en eficiai competition of labour could be calculated t, it ztead of a" —3' such freedom of competition being the froto their Quid be found that the labourers, being turned away ' , Poo the ag.rieUltural employments, would come immediately Um, to Parish and the farmer, who were under a legal obliga ti°o to uPPort them. lie had , now only one further observa had . been a ke; and that the q uestion which )( mu ch would be relative to . . en duty I* mooted as to the propriety of substituting a cor a -or th e S i •.•H e La _ lifting duty now imposed up?n imported all th at hail u be ri 11 been waiting anxiously and watching carefu y Zad nos b eam ean.said upon the subject, and he must say that he hi ° m uld he de s i rob si i n gle argument to show that such a cha d ng t e a th th" th e Pre e. All he could say was, that it seeme at, at aoy ra, seht duty had on the whole worked well, and dl slzatted the ` f e , was one essential point. An hon. baronet had Prices. H e a ct that these duties hadpr oduced equitable it w e wo„,_, . re prop osed "i° not go so far as to contradict that opinion if into considerat to go very far back for their data. But taking b een but a f . e : o the present system of corn laws, which had in ., evi dent a s ~_ ars in operation, lie would say, it Indeed was voernseives, t`hi"aoeacknowledged by the aslcates for free trade ev Y Stead y d' the price of corn haat•in maintained • "oula ag ain equable manner. That. there had been, and gre at e u '_:" °e, times vs Is•-•en_ this steady price would meet with th.._ cmations was not to be do bted • h 'ons as v`v Were ex _ U , but suc OCCasi veptions to the rule, and formed a separate argu- ment of themselves. It was not to be supposed that the supply of the common article of food could be so regulated as not to be liable to some degree of fluctuation.—(Hear.) If any hon. member would show him a plan that would admit of no fluctuation in the price of corn, whatever the fluctuations of the seasons and the changes of the times, he would admit to that hon. member the glory of having discovered a philosopher's stone.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) Mr. Jacob, in his work upon this subject, had shown that the price of corn in France in 1832 was 355., and that in Switzerland the prices were some times higher than in this country. This seemed sufficient to warrant him in asserting that the present system of corn laws had not only preserved equable prices in this country, but equable prices, moreover, in regard to the prices of foreign countries. He begged pardon for having detained the house with these statements at so late an hour in the evening—(Hear, hear)—and he would conclude by declaring his firm conviction that if the house and the country were to listen at all to the mad project of interference with their supply of food, the sooner it were tried the better.—(Hear, hear, hear.) It was better that whatever was to be done should be done at once, in preference to the foolish proposal of screwing down the land by slow de grees of increasing distress and torture. Of all horrible systems of cruelty, this appeared to him to be the most cruel. It was just like the operation of the tourniquet, which the surgeon screwed and screwed again, and at each turn gave additional pain to the suffering limb —(Hear, hear, and laughter.) Everybody was now aware how this system had worked in the case of the currency; it had been tried for fifteen years, and the public had acknowledged to their cost the effects of this progressive agony. He therefore trusted that the house would not countenance this species of protracted torture to be adopted in the present case.—(Hear, hear, and loud cheering.) Mr. FRYER had heard with sorrow and pain the speech of the hon. gentleman who had just sat down. The question be fore the house was one deeply affting the happiness of the people, and yet the hon. member had treated it with derision. —(Cries of " No, no.") Mr. A. BA RING felt himselk entitled, when such an accu sation was brought against him before that house, to call upon the hon. member who made it to state what expression he had made use of to bear him out in making such a charge. Mr. FRYER could not recall the particular words of the hon. member.—(Hear, and cries of " Oh I") It was the ge. neral tenor of the hon. member's speech, which left the im , pression upon his mind that it was couched in terms of deri sion. For his own part he cared not whether the resolution before the house was to be adopted or not—(Laughter)—but, if it should not be adopted, he gave notice that he should him self move for leave to bring in a bill for the repeal of the corn laws.—(Hear, and laughter.) Mr. WHITMORE, unwilling as he was to lengthen the discussion of this question, hoped that he might be permitted shortly to state his opinions, not as a philosopher, but as a farmer. He had no hesitation in declaring that he dissented, and almost entirely, from the representations of the hon. member who had just argued against the resolution before the house. He did not believe that the substitution of a fixed duty for a fluctuating one, was liable to the objections raised by that hon.gentleman.The fact was that the present system ofcorn laws was founded upon a fallacy, as daily experience made more and more apparent. Theprofessed object ofthese laws was to keep up the price of corn. They had, perhaps, this effect in times of scarcity, but in abundant seasons the prices were not kept up by them. From 1817 to 1820 there was a continued scarcity of corn; but in 1820 the crops were fuller, and the', prices immediately fell, and had continued to fall to the present time. With regard to the fixed duty now proposed, he would briefly advert to the probable results of such a change. It was his firm belief that, with a fixed duty of 10s., the general prices of imported corn could not be lower than 525. or 535. He would take the prices of corn at Dantzic as the foundation of his cal culations. The prices at this market were known to vary con siderably according as the ports of England were thrown open to it or not. Thus in 1821 and 1825, the prices varied from 265. to 375.; but in 1826, when the English market was closed against foreign corn, the prices fell to 17s. From 1828, how ever, the prices at Dantzic experienced a very considerable rise, owing to the relaxed provisions of the new corn laws. Upon a consideration of the prices from 1791 to 1825, it appeared that the average price of wheat at Dantzic was 455. I Id. But sepa rating from this series of years a few seasons when, owing to the great scarcity, the price was extraordinarily increased, a fair average of 335. 6d. was obtained as the price of corn at that place. When to this was added the expenses of importation, which he did not overrate at 10s. per quarter, and the proposed fixed duty of 10s., the price to the consumer here could not be less than 535. or 545., as he had premised.—(Hear.) The hon. member for Essex had drawn a melancholy picture of the distresses which would accrue to not only the landed proprie. tors but to the agricultural labourers from any alteration of the present system. The latter, it was alleged, would be reduced to the present condition of the wretched serfs of Poland ; but in this prospect one main feature was forgotten, that, whilst Polish serfs were inhabitants of a very poor land, ours was a very rich one. It had also been said that a vast quantity of the poorer lands would be instantly thrown out of cultivation. For his own part he did not expect that that would be the case. The hon. member concluded by observing that although he would support the general objects of the resolution before the house, he was opposed to the proposal for reducing the duty upon imported corn from year to year. If the question went further he should feel it his duty to vote against the feature of the measure. might be estimated at Bd., which was the average price from 1790 to 1800. It was reasonable then to presume that the farmers were receiving 30,000,0001. a year less for their pro duce now than they did from 1800 to 1812. The poor rates in 1793 amounted to about 2,500,0001. The national debt to 250,000,0001. The price of the quartern loaf was 7d. In 1812 the poor-rate amounted to B,ooo,oool—the debt to 600,000,0001; the quartern loaf was Is. 6ed. This was the period of agricultural prosperity. The poor rates at the pre sent time amount to about 6,000,0001., and the quartern loaf is Sd It was therefore evident that the framers were worse off now than they were before the war, for they had double the rent to pay, and an increase of taxation, and only the same price for their produce. The landowners, who made their own laws, had led the people into a war, for the main tenance of which they declared they would spend their last guinea, but they had shrunk from their pledge, and thrown the burden upon the commercial and labouring classes, and had not paid one farthing of it themselves. Mr. HUME rose, but gave way to Sir G. PHILLIPS. Sir G. PHILLLPS had inquired intothe feelings of his con. stituents, and they were of opinion that the present corn laws should not be disturbed.—(Cries of " Question.") For these Lord ALTHORP was not going to enter into any long dis cussion upon the resolution before the house. He was merely going to state his reasons for the vote he was about to give, which he felt , it to be his duty to give decidedly in the nega tive, to the motion of the hon. member for Middlesex. He need not explain to those who had done him the honour to confer elsewhere with him upon this subject how it was that, his views generally not being favourable to what was called the protective system, he was not prepared, whilst he voted against the motion, to oppose it upon the extensive grounds taken up by the honourable member for Essex. Situated as he was he felt it to be his bounden duty to con_ skier all the conflicting circumstances and exigencies of the times before he ventured upon the adoption of any mea sure, however he might approve of the general principles upon which that measure was founded. And, looking in this way at the state of the present times, he must say that he did not see any pressing exigency for the measure now proposed. Whilst the manufacturing and commercial interests were well known to be in s satisfactory and promising condition the landed inte rests were but too generally in a state of the greatest distress.— (Hear.) By the adoption of the motion of the hon. gentleman the house would but aggravate that distress, and spread alarm reasons he certainly should vote against the motion; for, as the representative of an . agricultural district, he was in duty bound to consult their wishes and their interests.—(Loud cries of " Question," " Divide.") Mr. W. DUI4COMBE denied that the corn laws had been established for the purpose of benefitting the landlord at the expense of the other classes of the community ; and he was fully prepared to contend that they had answered all the ob jects for which they had been framed. What were those ob jects ? They were to secure to the country an adequate supply of corn at a moderate, fair, even, and steady price—(Hear)-- and also to give to an important and large body of labourers employment.—(Hear.) There was but one other observation he was desirous of addressing to the house, especially consider. ing the labours of the house, and the length to which the de bate had been carried. He defied any person to show that under the existing corn laws there had been any, even the smallest, want of a supply—(Hear, hear)—or that there had been any material fluctuation in prices as compared with what had occurred under any other system.—(Hear.) The average price of corn last year was 535. per quarter, and no person could say that was more than a bare remunerating price to the grower. Since last year the prices had materially fallen, and therefore to talk of further reducing them, and that by legisla. through the country.—(Hear, hear.) He did not think that the manufacturing interests stood in need of such a precarious step to put them on a better footing. An hon. member had stated his opinion that the mass of the population were now in a better state than they had been for some time.—(Hear.) He (Lord Althorp) had lately been consulting a table of annuity calculations, from which it appeared that amongst a population of four millions the deaths in England were less than in any other part of the world. That argued something for tion, was to talk of committing an act of complete injustice.— (Hear, hear). At the period when the present corn law was enacted he might truly say that he occupied a position of strict impartiality. Fie had acted in that spirit in the support he had given to it, and, as experience had fully justified that support it should not now be withdrawn. Lord PALMERSTON rose amidst shouts of " Question." He could assure the house that he would not long trespass on its time. He had no intention whatever of going into any arguments on the subject.—(A laugh.) He would neither descant on the Prussian tariff or the French customs. But the happy and prosperous condition of the people.—(Hear.) He stated again that, whatever might be his private opi. nions upon the theory embraced in the question before the house, he felt bound to vote against the motion; and he believed every Cabinet minister would do the same. The hon. member for Essex had taxed the government with in consistency ; and referred to an observation which he (Lord Althorp) had made in reply to a question from the hon mem ber for Lincolnshire on a former occasion upon this subject. He believed he could recall the very words he had used on that occasion, which were—" That it was not the intention of the government to propose any measure in alteration of the present system of Corn laws—and that if any other member of that house should propose such a measure it would not be with the sanction of government, and that government would not support it." He need scarcely add that the mo tion of the hon. member for Middlesex had not the sanction of government, and would not meet with their support, ashe be lieved every Minister of the cabinet was prepared as he was to vote against it. Thus much he had said, and thus much, he believed, would prove to be the case. He had not said, how ever, that this would be considered in the light of a govern ment question, for upon a question on which some people's minds were so firmly set it was impossible to say how every government officer would feel called upon to vote.—(Hear.) . For his own part he repeated again that he declined entering into the discussion of the question. If he did not dispute the argu ments of those who supported this measure he certainly could not speak against those with whom he was likely to vote upon the present occasion. —(Hear.) Mr. H. HANDLEY was understood to bear testimony to the correctness of the Noble Lord's report of the observations he had addressed in reply to his (Mr. Handley's)question on the occasion referred to. he was anxious, on a question of so much importance, to state as briefly as possible the grounds upon which he had to justify the vote he shotWd give, and that without going into the reasons upon which those grounds were founded. If he had under- stood the question as leading to the affirmation of the object to which, as it originally stood, the motion of the hon. member for Middlesex directly led, he should have had no hesitation in at once giving it his decided negative. The original proposition went to deprive the landed interest of any protection whatever, to establish a perfectly free trade in corn, and certainly that was a proposition he could not consider just under actual cir cumstances. However, as the question at present stood, it was a proposition for diminishing the amount of actual protection, and with respect to it he was inclined to take the same views as his noble friend Lord Althorp. He should be ready to approve of a diminution ; for he was satisfied that the effect would not be materially to lower the remuneration of the agriculturist, or to sink it below a fair return.--(Question.) But, under existing circumstances, he could not support any proposition for altera tion. The prices of grain were low and steady; the manufac turing and the trading interests were flourishing ; and as the agricultural interest was the only one that was depressed, he could not consent to run the risk of placing it in a worse condi tion. He would only state further, that he fully concurred in what had fallen from his noble friend (Lord Althorp), and therefore he should oppose the motion. Lord HOWICK rose, and the cries of" Question," " With draw," " Divide," were loud and long continued. He would not detain the house five minutes.—(Cheers and laughter.) He was extremely anxious to address a very few observations to the house, in explanation of the vote he should feel it his duty to give, as he believed he was one of the very few mem bers who represented a purely agricultural district, and would vote in favour of the motion of the hon. member for Middle sex.—(oh, Oh !) He wished to have it distinctly understood that, in voting for the motion, he did not vote for the speech wish which it had been introduced. His desire was to see a fixed duty on corn adopted, instead of the present system of fluctuating duties. The protection that the agriculturists de. sired, affbrded as it was, was a millstone round their necks, and had brought them to their present distress. He had every reason for supporting a fixed duty. A fixed duty would bring money into the treasury—(Shouts of laughter, and cheering) —and would enable his noble and right hon. friends below him to repeal other taxation ; while the present system had merely proved injurious to the consumer, without bringing advantage Mr. C. FERGIJSSON addressed the house.—The hon. mem ber for Middlesex, according to a well-understood and some what usual course of parliamentary tactics, changed in his motion the words, and, he would say, the import of his original notice, and, from a well-understood motive, to gain some votes —to entangle in the net of his ambiguous and plausible motion all those who were in any way disposed to vote for a relaxation of the present corn laws.—(Hear, hear, hear.( He moved that a fixed duty should be imposed on imported corn, with a view to gain in the course of time a total and final abolition of the duty. He declared, in the course of his speech, that his object was to effect a total abolition of the corn laws, though the words of the motion would lead the house and the country to think that that abolition would not be suddenly and violently introduced ; that no destruction of existing interests was to be immediately anticipated from it ; yet he (Mr. C. Fergusson) would say that the tenor of the hon. member's speech was strangely at variance with the spirit of his motion. In place of the 10s. which he proposed to be kept regularly on, he (Mr. Fergusson) was persuaded that, if the principle of de ranging the present system were once established, in place of waiting for the happy period, the golden era, which was to come in nine years more, when, according to the hon. member, there was to be a total, at least a satisfactory, alleviation of the present burden of corn laws, in place of that the country would be next year agitated with recommendations to produce a speedy abolition, and the house would have to receive the proposition of a repeal of the corn laws at once and altogether. --(Loud cheers.) He (Mr. C. Fergusson) would beg to call the notice of the house to the strange discrepancies between the advocates of a free trade in corn. He would take the mover and seconder of the motion, and would ask the house did they agree on a fixed plan ? Why, they both dis agreed whether the price of corn was to fall suddenly, whether it was to fall gradually, or was to be stationary.—(Cheers.)The lion. member for Middlesex said that there could be no fall in the price of goods if there was no reduction in the price of labour. But then his own remedy would not cause that. If to the agriculturist.—(Loud cries of " Question.") Mr. BENETT rose, but was unable to proceed, owing to the cries of " Divide," " Mr. Hume." He was only desirous of impressing upon the house that, after the diversity of opi nions they had heard in the course of the debate, he was more than ever convinced that the landed interest could only perma nently look for protection in a reduction of the burdens which pressed upon it. The hon. member made some further re marks, but we were unable to catch them, owing to the cries of " Question" and " Divide." Mr. HUME rose to reply. He must observe that the Go vernment appeared to him to stand in a very extraordinary posi. tion.—(Hear, and laughter.) They had a cabinet which, as far as he could learn, in a great degree coincided with the proposi tion which he had made, and yet which was not prepared to come forward and vote for it. The members of the govern ment, it appeared, were left at liberty to vote on the question as they individually pleased. In fact this question was, as the Roman Catholic question bad formerly been, an open question. Now he should say that if ever there was a question which a government was bound to take, this question was that one.— (Hear, hear.) He must say that the government had deserted their duty in thus treating the subject. It was true he had the support of some of the ministers and he thanked them for the proposition of the hon. member were to produce a general ' it. It was also true that some of the ministers had supported reduction of prices of goods and labour, then there might be the motion by their arguments, though by their votes they in. some colour for it. B u t w h en t h ere was no proof that it would tended to oppose it.—(Laughter.) The noble lord (Palmerston), be attended with that effect he did not see why the house for instance, had reasoned one way, and would vote the other. should peril existing interests by supporting a theory.—(Hear.) Then there was an hon. baronet (Sir G. Phillips) who had ar_ A positive evil would be inflicted, and no certain good could guest for the proposition, but he would vote against it out of result to any portion of the people. He was not surprised at deference to those who sent him to that house. Really there the support which the hon. member received when he recol_ was no dealing with such conduct. He thought the noble lectgd the promises th a t were ma d e to t h e people to procure lord ( Althorp) had not done well in meeting the motion with a them cheap bread. How many a mem b er of that house bought direct negative. Now he must say that that course could his seat, ay, virtually bought it, by such cajolling promises!-- not by possibility be in accordance with the sentiments (Cheers, and cries of " No, no.") " No," did they say ? He of the noble lord, judging those sentiments from the ge, language which that noble lord had used on more than (Mr. C. Ferguson) would assert that through such lingua and the other accompanying circumstances of holding out pro. one occasion during the present session.—(Hear, hear.) mises of cheap bread to the people, were many gentlemen en. From the commencement made by his honourable friend titled to seats in that house.—(Cheers.) Abolish the corn laws, (the member for Kirkcudbright) he had fully expected to have Y been demolished. His hon. friend had spoken loudly and long; and what would be the consequence? Why, the loss of ever quarter of wheat to the market would throw an acre of land but it bad happened, as he had frequently found it, that those out of cultivation, an d of course ta k e from the labourers pro- who talked most often did least.—(Shouts of " Hear, hear," portionate means of subsistence. It would reduce the por- and continued laughter.) He was addressing himself to his tion of the landlords, and fling hordes of the agricultural poPu- hon. friend, and not to those hon. members who interrupted lation out of employment and bread.—(Cheers.) The political him. He (Mr. Hume) had pledgcd himself that if any hon. economists said that th e unemp l o y e d agriculturists must be member could show that the landed interest was peculiary taxed employed somewhere, and that they would (most of them) find more than the other interests he would at once forego his mo refuge tin the manu f a ctures. Wh a t! wou ld the hand-loom tion and vote for the maintenance of the present protection. weavers, who complained of th e i r own di s t ress es, find work for He had fully expected that his hon. friend would enter upon the farm labourers ? Would the other branches of manufac- the task, for he had said he would ; but he had done no such ture, though perhaps now enjoying a temporary prosperity, be thing, able to secure to them constant means of occupation ? No. Mr. C. FERGUSSON said the First Lord of the Admiralty They should go to the poor rates, and swell the general distress. had, —(Hear, hear.) Let the house but look to the active machinery Mr. HUME denied that the right hon. baronet had done going on in Prussia and all Germany to cripple the resources anything of the sort.--(0h, oh !) In fact the whole speech of , of England. Had they not established a tariff extending all the right hon. baronet was answered by his previous pamphlet. over central Europe for the purpose of injuring England ? —(A laugh.) While they were exclusive in one way should England open Sir J. GRAHAM rose to explain. It was right that he her free trade in every thing for the benefit of others ? It was should set his hon. friend right upon the point to which he had said that there was a duty taken off wines. What wines ? alluded, especially as similar allusions had been made by his The house should not be deceived by words. The continental right hon. friend the Vice. President of the Board of Trade. states said they would not reduce their tariff; their object was The pamphlet to which allusion had been made was really the fair and national ; and let England adopt their example, or at work of a Cumberland yeoman. It was not written by him least take warning by it; they wanted to rear up a manufactur. (Sir J. Graham), but he had assisted in its publication. He lug interest of their own. H e (M r. F ergusson ) would state certainly was not responsible for its arguments or its state candidly that he thought it the safest and the justest plan to ments.—(Hear.) have a graduated scale of duty; to have no time without a duty, Mr. HUME said, well, then, the speech which the right hon. but to have the ports open a t a ll times. Let a fixed duty baronet had delivered that night found an answer in the pam. of 10s. be established, and down went the security of the phlet of the Cumberland yeoman, to which pamphlet the right farmers,—(Cheers.) (While the hon. member was speaking hon. baronet had contributed.—(No.) There was, therefore, but there was considerable confusion and talking in the gallery.) one point in the able and eloquent speech of the right hon. Mr. BROTHERTON said, that he would not attempt to baronet to which he felt it necessary particularly to advert, for argue the question at this late hour, but having attended to that speeds was a mere string of fallacies, not more applicable the arguments on both sides, and given the subject a dispas- to the corn laws than were any in the book of fallacies pub sionate, and he hoped an impartial consideration, he felt bound lished by Jeremy Bentham. The point to which he alluded to state, that in his humble judgment the present corn law was this :—The right hon. baronet had said that the landed was not consistent with the principles either of justice, hu- aristocracy were a great and important body. They were so, manity, or sound policy. It was unjust to give one class an and he (Mr. Hume) wished to see them wealthy and respected. exclusive monopoly to the injury of the rest of the community. But the right hon. baronet had told the house that they were Whether this was to be considered as a British question, or as in difficulties—they were encumbered with debts, settlements, an European question, we ought not to lose sight of justice. and mortgages, and that they must have protection or be For what was morally wrong could never be politically right. destroyed ; which meant, that for the support of the landed It was inhuman to deprive the labouring classes of their right aristocracy the rest of the community must be taxed.—(No, to purchase food at the best market, and to keep many in a no.) That was his explanation; and he knew of none other state of starvation, who might, if the corn law was repealed, that could by possibility be given. High prices were to be find profitable employment. It was impolitic to continue a law maintained in order that high rents might be continued, and which did not answer the end for which it was professedly in. high rents in order that the landed proprietors might have tended. He did not consider this as a question between the large incomes ; which was, that one class of the people might farmers and agricultural labourers and thecommercial interests, be supported to the injury of the rest.—(No, no, and Hear.) butbetween the landedaristocracy and the rest of thecommunity. If government acted upon that principle, and he was sorry He contended, that as we were dependant upon other nations to say that from what had occurred he found it would, for our supply of cotton, silk, and various other articles, as it would adopt a most erroneous course. The honour well might we be dependant for our supply of grain. Nations able member for Essex had called him a philosopher.— ought to be dependant on each other, that they might feel the (Mr. Baring said " No." Laughter.) The honourable importance of cultivating the arts of peace, and turn their member had spoken of philosophers and political economists and swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, of the hon. member for Middlesex so completely in connection and learn war no more. He acknowledged that the agricultu- that it was impossible for the listener not to associate them to. nets were distressed, but denied that it arose from the poor gether. Now he should like to know what a philosopher was. rates, but from another cause, The average price of the quer- —(Question, question.) Really, when a member had been at tern loaf from 1790 to 1800, was eightpence. The average tacked, the house usually had the courtesy to admit of a reply. price from the year 1800 to 1813, was fourteen pence. Now But he could not follow the example too frequently acted upon, an advance of sixpence on the quartern loaf, allowing one and quarrel about words ; nor would he go into any long exa. pound a day for each person, amounted to 37.400,0001. a mination of the speech of the hon. member for Essex. He year. At the present price of wheat, the quartern loaf would prefer referring to another speech upon the same sub _ _ ject which had been delivered by that hon. member, and leave the one speech to answer the other. The speech to which he alluded had been delivered by Mr. Alexander Baring on the 27th of February, 1815. The hon. member then quoted passages from the speech referred to, in which it was stated that it was idle to treat the question under consideration, when the speech was made, as one involving the interest of the tenant, and still less of the labourer. It was the interest of the land lord the measure was meant to forward. The quotation went on to say that in framing laws it was necessary to take into ac- count the qualities and nature of the land to which they were to be applied. One sort of country was fitted to produce grain, another minerals, and so on, and legislation ought to be in accordance with circumstances. If Holland and Malta had di rected their efforts and legislation to provide their own food within their own limits they might have scratched their rocks and sand in vain. Such a scheme of legislation was not propor. ioning the supply of food to the population, but cutting down the population to the food. It was not lengthening the bed to suit the man, but shortening the man to suit the bed. Such had been the speech delivered by Mr. Alexander Baring in February, 1815, and he left it to answer the speech of the hon. member for Essex in the present debate. There was only one other matter he wished to notice. He had omitted the con cluding part of the notice he had originally given, simply be cause he wished to bring the subject unfettered before the house. He wished for hon. members to have an opportunity of acting freely. He now left the question in the hands of the house, conscious that he had done his duty in bringing it for ward, and hoping that the house would do theirs in the way in which they dealt with it. Mr. BARING said that as the hon. member for Middlesex had referred so particularly to a speech which he had made twenty years ago, he must just say in explanation that that speech had been directed, not against the present amount of protection, but against a proposition which had been made to increase the protection at that time contended for. The gallery was then cleared, and the house divided, when the numbers were— For the motion Against it Majority —157 COUNTY RATES. Lord ALTHORP, in pursuance of the notice he had given, rose to move that a select committee be appointed to inquire into the county rates in England and Wales, and to report whe ther any, and what, regulations might be adopted to diminish their pressure on the owners and occupiers of the land. The noble lord stated that he was induced to move for the appoint- ment of such a committee by the conviction that to the oppres sion caused upon the agricultural interests by local burdens the distress under which those interests laboured was really at tributable. There were two branches, however, of the local charges which he thought it would be better not to include in the inquiry he then moved for, namely, the highway rates and the poor rates. Those rates did not belong to what was called the county rate ; but, in addition to that reason for excluding them from the present inquiry, there were two others, which he thought would be deemed quite satis factory by the house. The first was, that there was at that moment a measure before Parliament for the regulation of the highway rates ; and the second, that in addition to the intention which he had expressed of introducing a measure on the subject of poor laws, those laws constituted in them selves a subject-matter well worthy of a separate and distinct investigation, should it appear therewas not already information before the house sufficient to enable it to legislate upon the question. As the subject which he proposed submitting to investigation was one which resolved itself into a variety of details, it was his intention to propose the appointment of a very numerous committee, in order that, should it appear to its members advisable, they might have the opportunity of dividing themselves into several sub-committees. Whether they should do so or not he proposed leaving entirely to their discretion. The noble lord then formally proposed his motion. Mr. F. O'CONNOR hoped the noble lord would have no objection to extend the inquiry to Ireland, where not only were immense sums of money levied under the head of county rates, but the grossest misapplication of those sums could be proved to exist. In the county he represented 100,000/. a year was levied for county rates. Lord ALTHORP would not say whether it might not become desirable to move hereafter for the appointment of a committee for Ireland such as he then applied for for England, but submitted that, as the mode in which the county rates were laid on in the latter was different from that in the former—the rate in Ireland being levied by the officers of the grand jury, while in England it was raised under the orders of the Court of Quarter Sessions—it would be highly inexpedient to perplex the committee by uniting the two inquiries. The subject matter, moreover, to be inquired into by the committee his motion sought to appoint would, in his opinion, be quite enough to occupy their attention. He would not pledge himself to move the appointment of a committee to inquire into the Irish county rates, but he did not hesitate to say, he thought such a motion would be found necessary. Mr. F. O'CONNOR said, if the noble lord had no objection, he would at once move for a committee for Ire land s i milar to that now applied for. Mr. S. RICE thought the house was bound to wait until the working of the Irish Grand Jury Act of last session was ascertained. In his opinion, that act would remedy the abuses complained of in connection with the county rates. Mr. F. O'CONNOR said the Irish Grand Jury Bill o: last session might, and he thought would, effect an cite• ration in the levying of the county rates, but not in the expenditure ; and it was the latter far more than the for mer that was complained of. Sir R. PEEL suggested that, as the committee was to be divided into several sub-committees, one of the divisions should direct their attention and inquiries to the working of the Grand Jury Bill of last session uppn both the levy ing and expenditure of the county rates. At the same time he thought the subject was one well worthy of a separate motion. He was quite disposed to admit there was some reason for excluding those branches of local taxation which came under the head of poor rates and church rates from the inquiry the noble lord opposite pro posed to institute, but be confessed he saw no reason why the highway rates, which constituted a highly important feature in local taxation, should not come under the in vestigation of the committee. He was aware - that the highway rates were levied by an authority different from hat under which county rates were raised; but be bought it would be extremely expedient to show the manner in which those rates were expended. Mr. LITTLETON begged to remind the right bor. baronet that there was at that moment a bill on the sub ject of highways before the house. The motion was then put and agree I to, an itl e c lE mittee appointed. Althorp, Viscount Peel, Sir R. Russell, Lord J. Graham, SirJ. R. G. Knatchbull, Sir E. Wrottesley, Sir J. B. Estcourt, T. G. B Price, Sir R. Fremantle, Sir T. Sanford, E. A. Hodges, I'. L. Cartwright, W. R. Lemon, Sir C. Verney, Sir H. Benett, John Bethel', R. Blamire, W. Wilbraham, G. Wilmot, Sir E. Buller, J. W. Calvert, Nicholson Carter, J. B. Chandos, Marquis of Tyrrell, Sir J. Strickland, G. Lefevre, C. S. Clive, R. H. Eastnor, Viscount Folkes, Sir W. Greene, T. G. of the day were the I at half-past one The other order the house adjourn, Vernon, G. H. Wood, Colonel T. Childers, J. W. Hyett, W. H. Tyrell, C. Milton, Viscount Heathcote, G. J. Lincoln, Lord Brotherton, J. Mosley, Sir 0. Cripps, J. Denison, J. E. Palmer, R. Scrope, P. Rooper, J. B. en disposed of, and 'clock. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. Mr. Hume's motion was lost last night by a majority of 312 to 155, or 157. This result will, we suppose, surprise no one who has at all attended to the composition of the House of Commons. It is said that when a certain indi vidual of easy principles was asked why he com mitted a certain questionable act, he answered, " A man must live." The statesman retorted, " I don't see the necessity for your living." Sir James Graham's argument was, we, the landed aristocracy, must live ; and were we to be just, we could not live. The people of England are somewhat of the opinion of the French Minister—they do not wish the exist ence of any class who, to live, must trample on justice. We are glad to perceive that the ques tion has been cleared of all connection with cur rency. It was demonstrated in the able letters of " H. B. T.," which lately appeared in this Journal, and which have since been separately published, that the currency of this country, even according to the bullionists, was not de preciated till the beginning of 1809, and that the high prices received for agricultural produce during the war were not caused by any depreci ation, but by the existence of a demand in con sequence of the sudden extension of our manu factures, which our home agriculture was totally unable to supply. They who wish to know the real merits of the question, will obtain far more information from the pamphlet of " H.8.T." than from the debate of the two last nights. Sir James Graham, indeed, dwelt upon the altera tion of the standard of value ; but putting even out of consideration the period from 1809 to the ' close of the war—though even during that pe riod there was no depreciation of the standard, if we take the exportable commodities of the country for our comparison—rents had attained their ut most height before 1809. Our correspondent de monstrated that the landlords profited enor mously by the increase of prices during the war —that the expenses of the state enormously in creased by a contemporaneous enhancement of the prices of all agricultural produce—that the loans raised to defray these expenses were proportion ably large—and that in the expenditure of the loans a very great part of them passed into the pockets of the landed interest in the shape of extraordinary profits. That landlords never save is proverbial. In the case of our land lords, they not only did not save from the ex traordinary profits made by them, but they con tracted debts equal to the purchase of both the old and increased rents ; and they have the assurance to call on their countrymen to main tain them still in the possession of the estates, the value of which they have already consumed. We have nothing to do with the value of land any more than with the value of broad-cloth or leather. The legislature owes to every indivi dual protection in the exercise of his industry, and in the enjoyment of what lie has derived from it. Any other protection than this is par tial taxation----is imposing on all classes a tax for the benefit of one class. Land ought, like other commodities, to be left to itself. The argumentunz ad misericordiam of Sir James Graham might be urged with equal propriety by all classes of owners of property. There is, in fact, no class of men who can be ruined with so little injury to the state as landowners ; because they are merely the consumers of that which re mains after the fanner has repaid himself his ex penses and the usual profits of stock. The bankruptcy of a farmer, or a manufacturer, or a merchant, is not only individually a calamity, but a calamity to the community ; because they may possess skill, which is thereby lost, and numbers of men may be thrown idle. But a landlord, who is merely a landlord, is qiiite in a different predicament. Whether twenty indivi duals sell out twenty thousand pounds' worth of stock each, or twenty estates worth twenty thousand pounds each, is of no earthly conse quence to any but the individuals themselves. We will undertake to furnish, at a moment's no tice, an individual who shall relieve any gentle man of his estate on the condition of spending the income—the only intelligible function of an Eng lish landowner. It is a disgrace to an English le gislature that such arguments should be listened to. Lord Darlington observed last night, that he knew that a relation of his own had lately, in addi tion to several reductions since the war, reduced his rents from eight to fifteen per cent. He believed that several other landlords of England had been very considerate towards their tenants ; and he had no doubt that many more of them would be found to be equally kind and philanthropic, "if their ability were equal to their will.—(Hear, hear.) If a man were obliged to reduce below a fixed point, he might as well be required to give up his entire pro perty.—(Hear, hear.)" If his ability were equal to his wili ! If an owner of house property were to use an argument of this kind, he would be deemed fit for Bedlam. " What is the rent of' this house ?" " Sixty pounds a-year." " Sixty pounds ! Why there are twenty such in this street, equally good, at forty pounds, and who do you think is to give you sixty for what can be had for forty pounds?" " But my debts. I have mortgaged the house, and pay fifty-nine pounds of interest, and so cannot afford to let it for less." " You and your mortgage may be —. A pretty fellow to suppose that lam to give twenty pounds a-year more than your house is worth, because, forsooth, you have mortgaged it." Why are landlords to be excepted from the ordi nary commercial rules? The argument involves that sort of insult to the understanding of those to whom it is addressed, that in common life would provoke a corresponding treatment. But as the house is composed of landlords, the country must pocket the injury and the insult. The speech of Mr. Poulett Thomson was admirable. It was in every respect a contrast to that of Sir James Gra ham. He painted in forcible colours the series of blunders committed by the landholders, ever since 1815, when we were 50 years a-head of every na tion of Europe. The tendency of all our measures since that time has been to deprive ourselves of our advantageous position, to compel other nations to become manufacturers whether they would or not. Rents, forsooth, must be kept up ; and without high prices there cannot be high rents. Perish foreign com merce, says Sir James Graham. But this anathema has been pronounced 30 or 40 years too late, as was forcibly remarked by Mr. P. Thomson. Fortunately for Sir James Graham and other landholders, we exportsir James Graham millionso cannot f manufactures therefore have, every in year. this country, the satisfaction which the landowner on the Vistula has of feeding:Es ca ee with wheat, because there is no market for it. The landowners of this country have always a market at a higher price than in other countries, because we export thirty six millions of manufactures, and are, therefore, necessarily an importing, country with respect to food. The destruction of foreign commerce, as we yesterday observed, means nothing less than oonfis cation of the land to the poor, who must be fed, whether they earn the food, or cannot earn it. Mr. P. Thomson exposed very happily the trickery of Sir James Graham, in referring to the exports of manufactures to the corn growing countries, with a view to show that, in spite of the restrictions on importation, the exports of manufactures to those countries had been considerably increasing. The Vice-President of the Board of Trade took five years of an unrestricted and five years of a restricted importation, and showed that, in declared values, the exports to these countries had really fallen off, though of course we are obliged to take an immense quantity of raw produce from them as materials for our manufactures. Sir James Graham, in his character of "Cumberland Landowner"(the title to a well-known pamphlet written by him) was very happily quoted in answer to almost every position in his speech of Thursday night. It is, we fear, a true remark, that men are proof against all arguments but those which are addressed to their fears. The oligarchy of this country refused Catholic emancipation till coming events of a very ominous kind cast their sha dows before,—they delayed parliamentary re form till the people began to move in heavy columns ; and the landowners, who, notwith standing the reform, still form the majority of the Lower House, are prepared to sacrifice the in dustry of the country, and to strike at the prospe rity of the nation, from an unjust wish to avoid parting with property they cannot keep. We have not the slightest doubt that the prediction of the Vice-President of the Board of Trade will be rea lised, namely, " that they will be forced to deal with . the corn laws in a less respectful way than they could deal with them at present." In vain the right hon. gentleman tells them, " now is the time to act —now is the time to effect a change in the law ;" and " in this way they will be able to meet the great commercial combinations that are taking place in different places in Germany." They will delay till commercial disasters and hunger act on an infu riated population, and then they will yield meanly, as they have yielded meanly heretofore. We shall only have another illustration of the observation of Chancellor Oxenstiern, " Go forth, my son, and see with how little wisdom the world is governed." However, what wisdom fails to do, is at last done by necessity. Mr. Alexander Baring, whose argu ments always indicate the place he represents, made a speech last night for the Essex squires and par sons, and observed that " they all admitted that great distress existed among the agriculturists, and that the greatest prosperity was the present lot of ,the manufacturers ; so that in asking the repeal of those laws, the distressed were to extend a boon to those who were already in prosperity. The rich man came begging at the do( r of the poor man." Why it is your measures that have made you poor ; you build on a sandy founda tion ; and the manufacturer knows that though be is not so distressed as you are, yet he would be more prosperous if it were not for your measures. The whole of Mr. Baring's speech was a develop ment of the maxim, that there is no use in laying down principles or seeking to choose a wise course in preference to a foolish one, as the result will al ways be independent of anything you can do. It was that sort of sneering, poco-curante speech which one sometimes hears from a man seated at a good fire, who has had a good dinner, and is enjoying his bottle, and naturally dislikes agitation. The most amusing speech certainly was that of Lord Althorp, who disapproves of restrictions, but being obliged to vote against the motion, observed, " He could not an swer those with whom he theoretically agreed on the subject of the corn laws, and of course be would not answer those with whom he was to vote.—(A. laugh.) The corn laws will be repealed when the people are in earnest about them. Parliament never moves without a gale.— Morning Chronicle. HOUSE DUTY. A BILL TO REPEAL CERTAIN DUTIES ON INHABITED DWELLING HOUSES. Whereas by an Act passed in the forty-eighth year of the reign of King George the Third, intituled " An Act for re pealing the Duties of Assessed Taxes, and granting new Duties in lieu thereof, and certain additional Duties to be consolidated therewith ; and also for repealing the Stamp Duties on Game Certificates, and granting new Duties in lieu thereof, to be placed under the management of the Commissioners for the Affairs of Taxes," certain duties of one shilling and sixpence, two shillings and threepence, and two shillings and tenpence in the pound respectively were granted and made payable yearly on all inhabited dwelling houses throughout Great Britain, according to the value thereof, as specified in schedule B to the said Act annexed And whereas by an Act passed in the third and fourth years of the reign of his present Majesty, intituled " An Act to reduce certain of the Duties on Dwelling Houses, and to repeal other Duties of Assessed Taxes," certain re duced duties were granted and made payable on inhabited dwelling houses in certain cases in the said last recited Act specified, in lieu of the duties so as aforesaid granted and made payable by the said Act of the forty-eighth year of King George the Third : _ _ _ And whereas it is expedient to repeal the said duties on inhabited dwelling houses; Be it therefore enacted, by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Par liament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that from and after the fifth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, the said duties so as aforesaid granted and made payable on inhabited dwelling houses, and all compositions in lieu of the said duties, shall cease and determine, and the same are hereby repealed so far as relates to any assessment of the duties of assessed taxes, or of compositions in lieu thereof, to be made for any year commencing from or after the said fifth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four. And be it enacted, that where any contract of composi tion now in force for any of the duties of assessed taxes doth include the duty on any inhabited dwelling house or dwell ing houses repealed by this Act, it shall be lawful for the Commissioners acting in the execution of the several Acts relating to the said duties, in their respective districts, and they are hereby authorised and required to cause the amount of the composition payable under such contract, and the assessments and duplicates relating thereto for any year commencing as aforesaid, to be reduced to the extent of the said duty hereby repealed, and of the additional duty payable thereon by virtue of such contract ; and such re duction shall commence and take effect from and after the said fifth day of April one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four ; and all such contracts shall be of the sa.bite , force and effect for the recovery and enforcing payment of the reduced instalments of composition to all intents and purposes as if the full amount of the instalments com pounded for had continued payable on such contracts. The .Literary Gazette (No. 894) of Satur day, March B—being an Extra sized Sheet, (in 24 quarto pages, of 72 columns, closely printed) fbr the purpose of keeping pace with the present activity in publication, &c.— contains a Review, with Copious Selections, from Sir James Mackintosh's History of the Revolution in 1688 (unpublished)-- An Engraved View of the Elevation of the National Gallery, as it is now being built, with the Altera tions made in the original Design, of which an Account is given.—The Book Trade, and Tricks of the Society of Useful Knowledge, No. IL ; showing the Folly of Story-Telling and F a l se C r i t i l eism.—A Vivid Description of a Cornish Mine, by Mr. John Carne ; and other Original Articles.— The Adulteration of Teas, Brandies, and Wines.— The other Reviews are of Four New Novels pub- lisped within the week : Sir 'Egorton Brydges's Imaginative Biography, Bubbles of the Brennan, Keightley's Tales and Popular Fictions, Dyer's Nine Years of a Strolling Player ; Sir W. Jardine's Feline ; MlAdi t e's Feathered Tribes of England ; Jesse's Gleanings in Natural History, second series ; recent Religious Books and Practical Works ; &c. &e.—ln the Fine Arts, Retsch's Macbeth, and other Novelties ; the British Gallery.—Reports of the latest P rocee di ng s of every Learned and Scien tific Society.—Original Poetry, Music Concerts, the Drama, Exhibitions and Sights, Biography, Varieties, Literary Intelligence, &c. &c. London ;W. A, Scripps, 7, Wellington-street. { d 8 4, ;1 4 to ,e ri i; ;r