The Sun. — London, England, 1833-02-04 00:00:00

lessly" a bandoned it ? Our contemporary, how - ever, not only calls names, but reasons ; and for the reasons which he gives we forgive the names. • He says— " The stamp duty on newspapers has been called a tax on knowledge—and it is a faielon knowledge in the same sense as the excise on gin islt *Arlon fowl. Gin, no doubt, is in one sense food. Gin wonlit keep - a man alive for a time, who bad no other sustenance. -':.Gitte , co.mbined with other articles of food, may be even sa►utost. -In the same sense, political writing addressed to men who have had the means of acquiring other knowledge, excites pnd improves their intellect. But the great mats of .the population, especially the agricultural population, have had little means of acquiring that previous knowledge which makes the violence of political writing innoxious, and under the cheap knowledge system they are to be fed with intellectual gin, and gin alone, and we are to find as the result a composed and sober people. " The last Ministry, with the best intentions, passed a measure which has established beer-houses by thousands and tens of thousands throughout the country—frequently in the places most removed from the casual inspection of Magistrates, where the half-employed labourers of the southern counties congregate to improve their minds by converse, and to spend the parish money. Into every one of these houses the removal of the stamp duties would send periodical political essays suited to the tastes of the customers. The readers, or rather listeners (for the ma jority of the people cannot read, but would listen to readers), would learn, as Cobbett has taught his disciples, how gross is the tyranny of vestries and overseers ; that an attempt to limit the allowance of the poor out of the land is a trampling on their natural rights ; and that the effects of rick-burning have been visible in the improve• ment of labourers. Assertions of this kind may not be injurious, when addressed to the purchasers of expensive publications; but can sane statesmen, who look to the state of the mass of the population of a considerable part of this country (a population unfortunately left destitute of other knowledge) become instrumental in furnishing it with the most fiery stimulants of its discontent? " The gentlemen of the Movement say this will furnish the rich with a strong motive to instruct the poor--and of course the poor will get knowledge when there is a motive to furnish it to them—and when they are well fed and well taught they will weigh at their just value these incentives to mischief. This is true ; but in the proposed plan, as in many other parts of the revolutionary common wealth, the end forgets the beginning. The incentive to mischief is to come in the year 1833, the knowledge ten years hence. The farmers may, indeed, teach the poor their moral duties by the light of their burning stacks ; but we doubt much whether the best preparatory step for filling the people gradually with solid instruction, is to plunge them at once into a fury of revolutionary in toxication. _ _ " Let penny, or halfpenny, or farthing political publi cations (and they may be printed profitably, in large now here, for the smallest coin mentioned) be spread through out the southern counties ; let them be artfully directed, au they will be, to the passions of the agricultural la bourers; let a year or half a year of distress intervene, and it matters not a straw what else the Ministers intend or think of." The whole of the above tirade of nonsense amounts to this, and to this only—that the re duction of the duties on newspapers will bring forth a mass of bad publications, without any antidote ; and that, because the people are igno rant now, they ought not to be furnished with the instruments of knowledge. Shame ! Shame"! But we must have done for the present; for our limits are exhausted. To-morrow we may, perhaps, revert to the subject. In the mean time we take leave to inform the public that the measure whose merits we have been discussing, has not yet, notwithstanding many assertions to the contrary, received the sanction of the Cabi net.—Morning Advertiser. The selection of Mr. Marshall, of Leeds, to second the address in the Commons (Lord Or melie is the mover), speaks well for the inten tions of Ministers; for the principles of Mr. :Marshall are decidedly liberal, and we are cer tain that lie would not have agreed to second the address, if' he had not been assured that Ministers, in their measures, will not deceive the expectations of the country. The people may well be excused for feeling somewhat un easy on this subject, after the Conservative tone which has for some time been assumed in certain newspapers devoted to the support of Ministers. The first ground for suspicion was the hint from head-quarters during the election, that there would be no great harm in the return of a consi derable number of Conservatives—a hint which was so far acted on, that in many places a dis tinction was made between Whig and Reform candidates, and single votes were given to the former, in order that a Conservative rather than Reformer might be returned. Ever since, man) of the most honourable and independent men in the country hare been singled out in Ministerial journals as Revolutionists, as Republicans, as Destructives, and so forth, and abuse not surpassed by any thing that appeared in the Treasury papers in the high and palmy days of Toryism has been incessantly heaped on them. The people, no d o ubt, wondered why a Ministry, which gave to *barn the Reform Bill, should wish to perpe tuate the abuses generated by boroughmonger ing ; but it was natural to infer that the endea vours to conciliate the Conservatives could not be without an object, and that that object could not be an honest one. We do not believe that the Whigs can form a junction with the Tories, in order to prevent the improvements which the people expect from the Reform Bill, If a junc tion take place, it can only be through such an abandonment of all principle, on the part of both, as would rouse the country from one ex tremity to the other. We certainly see no symp tom of change in the Tories. The election of Scotch Peers is a pretty decided proof of the hostility of the Tory aristocracy to Ministers and to Reform in every shape. In the Su folk Chronicle of Saturday last, we observe a report of a Conservative dinner at Halesworth, in ce lebration of the return of Lord fienneker, which was numerously attended by the gentry and parsons. We observe no symptoms of im provement in any of the speakers at this dinner. Sir Thomas Gooch, the Chairman, honestly stat ;:d that, as a whole, he abhorred the Re form Pill, though he approved of the clause 'admitting the 501. tenants to become voters. He'said, afsc, that " he knew not which was the worst—the Ministers or the mob ;" an ob servation which was received with " great ap plause." " The Ministers (added Sir Thomas) had pushed for ward the mob ; but a bludgeon and a brickbat mob would net do, for some of their most respectable supporters had been ashamed of their conduct and joined the Conserva tives.—(Cheers.) It was the fashion now to speak of concession, expedience, and policy, its lieu of honesty and loyalty; but, he would ask, what bad been gained by con cession to the Catholics ? He voted against Carbolic Emancipation ; for he knew it would not satisfy the Irish, nor make them less blood-thirsty than before. lie con ceived the hanging of Mr. O'Connell would not be a had thing.—(Loud cheers.) There is no safety (he said) but in the Conservatives ; he knew they would be powerless in the Commons, but they must act as a check on Ministers. Let them, therefore, be true Conservatives ; and fear God and honour the King."—(Cheers.) by way of contrast to this dinner, we turn to an account in the Glasgow Chronicle of Wed nesday last, of a dinner given at Falkirk to Admiral Fleming, the representative for Stir lingshire, on the Thursday preceding. Admiral Fl em i ng m ay be taken as a fair average sample of the majority ofthe supporters of Ministers t— " He trusted ( he said) that the country would repose much confidence in his Majesty's Ministers. Their vast conduct was the best guarantee for the future, and he hoped that the people would not be led away by the (la. moms of wicked or designing men. For his own part, be /aad often been taunted as a partisan, He owned that he was one. He had every reason to approve of the boom intentions and straight-forward conduct of the Ministry, and certainly considered them entitled to his warmest support ; but he assured kis friends, that if they ever acted otherwise, he would be one of their bitterest ene mies. —(Cheers.) Although it might be called a harsh ' expression, yet he knew no etconger or better distinction between Whig and Tory than honesty and dishonesty. Whatever his nolitital opponents might say of him, they Must confess that no„man, situated as he was, could op pose Tory Governmmts for forty yeas without being an honest man.—(Cheers.) He did not mean to say, how ever, that there were no good, honest, and conscientious men arimngst the Tories ; but he begged to be understood '44 speaking geneially, and he' b eg ged to caution his friends against being" misled by any foolish clamour about liberty. Reform, to be effectual, must be gradual, as the chair man had already explained ; but the„Tories would tell them—these very men who had set their faces against all Reform—would tell them that they were deceived and trifled with. They would set up a clamour about obtaining what was altogether impracticable, and they - would try to raise the voice of the non•electors on their side ; but he would earnestly warn his friends—he would remind them they had a sacred trust reposed in them, and he hoped they would discharge it calmly, fearlessly, and conscientiously. He saw the Tories arming to fight at home, as they had already fought abroad." How, we say, can there possibly be a junction between men who cheer enthusiastically the sentiments expressed* by Sir Thomas Gooch, and men like Admiral Pleming, who " know no better distinction between Whig and Tory than honesty and dishonesty." Were Ministers, therefore, to be so weak as to abandon their own principles, and form a junction with the Con servatives, they could only carry the venal and the base of their supporters along with them. Such honest Whigs as Admiral Fleming would turn indignantly from them were they to adopt such a course. We observe that several country papers are propagating a report that Lord Brougham has become oligarchical. The fol lowing passage is from an article in the same journal in which the account of the dinner to Admiral Fleming appears : " Lord Brougham is said to have communicated to his intimate friends the necessity of putting a drag on the po litical wheel. Reports of a similar sort have been diffused from so many quarters, that we fear his Lordship is not prepared to fulfil all the hopes of the country. He appears to have adopted, in sober earnestness, a bitter sarcasm of Machiavelli; and has bestowed most of his patronage upon his political opponents, trusting that his friends would adhere to him merely through affection or principle. He may chance in this to argue amiss. Already he is singled out as the most oligarchical Member of the Ca binet ; and, if he take a lead in disappointing the reason ahle hopes of the people, he may expect to become very unpopular. There has always existed a predisposition to doubt his political sincerity; and Reformers will not fail to mark in him what might pass without comment or re sentment from any other Minister." We have no hesitation in saying that Lord Brougham will not desert the cause of improve ment. His Lordship has the weakness of think ing that he is more cunning than he really is, and hence, for instance, his belief that he could trick the Bishops into a love of Reform, by affecting an extraordinary zeal for the Church, his investing them with patronage, &c. The eagerness of the Bishops to trip up the heels of the Ministers, the very first opportunity, showed that they were too old birds to be caught with chaff. In endeavouring to conciliate opponents, it isalways necessary to make certain advances and admissions, which may be turned against the party making them ; and it is in this way we account for the reports which, originating in the Tory Papers, are now going the round of the country of Lord Brougham's hostility to im provement. Having stated it as our conviction, that Ministers cannot form a junction with the Conservatives, we shall notice a passage indica tive of a belief to the contrary in an able article signed J. A. R. (said v." be Mr. Roebuck's) in Tait's Magazine for February : " If," says the writer, " the Ministerial, or Whig por tion of the House, possess the feelings which the late leclarations of Mr. Stanl?y and Lord Althorp naturally lead us to believe, we see no reason why an immediate junction should not take place between them and the To ries : for our first great difficulty is 'in understanding wherein the difference of our opinions consists, The Tories evidently are bent on preserving or conserving all the power which they can in the hands of the aristocracy, and doubtless desire that it should be intrusted to their own section of that body ; so, we learn from the declarations ,f the two Ministers above-named, do the Whigs. The Tories would, perhaps, be willing to make a compromise, ,nd shore the geed things with the Whigs, rather than be entirely ousted from all enjoyment thereof." This would be a most hazardous policy indeed. The Whigs seem so far conservative, that they are determined to consider the Reform Bill a final measure. Here they will be supported, as a matter of course, by the Tories. They will, by the aid of the Tories, have no doubt a strong majority against the ballot, and against shorten ing the duration of Parliament. Without the Tories, they would probably have a majority on these questions. Yet several Whigs have ex pressed themselves en the subject of the ballot in such a way as to cause it to be believed they would advocate it in Parliament. Thus, for instance, Admiral Fleming, speaking of the in timidation to which recourse was had so exten sively in Scotland, observed— " His Tory opponents had tried to set up a clamour against him by the most false and disgraceful means. They had even accused him of intimidation—at least he had been so accused in the public prints—but be believed that out of the 976 votes in his favour, he did not owe one of them to intimidation.—(Clieers.) He could have wished that no such means had been resorted to against his friend ' ,t the other end of the table—be could have wished that no such means had been practised amongst his country men ; but he bad seen so much of it in this quarter and elsewhere—he had seen so much undue influence, even in This very county, that if vote by ballot were brought for ward in Parliament, he would give it his serious conside ration, and he did not think that he would oppose it." We trust that there are many Whigs who will reject indignantly the doctrine, that the power to intimidate voters is necessary to the security of property. Mr. Roebuck, in the article above alluded to (assuming it to be his), lays down the policy by which he supposes the independent Members will be guided in this eventful Parliament : " They (the popular representatives, he says) will put these things, viz., ballot, repeal of the Septennial Act, in crease of the number of voters, and the renewal of all obstructions to knowledge, in the very front of their pro ceedings. They will consider that their chief great mis sion is the attainment of these; that all other views must be made subservient to these, and that they must be sa crificed for no purpose whatever. Should this be their view of their own position, an immediate practical diffi culty arises, which they ought to anticipate and de. termine on. Are they prepared to pursue these great ends, in so unflinching a manner, as even to endanger the existence of the present Ministry, should they (the Mini stry) be found hostile to them? During the last Parliament, and while the Befor in Bill was going through the House, it became necessary for the independent Members—those linked to no party; those who pursued according to the best of their ability the welfare of the nation—to decide this very question. When the Tory faction divided the House on the Russian-Dutch Loan, it was evident that the Ministers would have been left in a minority, bad the independent Members followed the bent of their opinions on that individual question. Had they done so—and we may cite Mr. Home's declaration on the matter as good authority—they would have voted against the Mini stens, Should they be in a minority, the Ministers de clared they would resign. The independent Members determined that such resignation would at that time have been a greater evil than the loss of two millions of money. They, therefore, in order to keep the Ministers in their places, voted against their own opinions, and in favour of the Ministers. Is the present situation of the Ministers at all similar to this ? Are they so impor tant to the nation, as to make a sacrifice of principle in order to retain them in power, justifiable? There ate p. r son, who would answer in the arliirultlve. We, how - ever, and we believe almost all who can be considered as really independent men, and not belonging to any party in the House of Commons, would vehemently protest against any such assertion. We believe the public mind now to be so thoroughly made up, that no reaction can take place; also, that we possess an interest which, though far from perfect, is still a very formidable legal protection — we mean the Reformed Parliament ; so that now no pos sibility of injury, at the hands of the Tory faction, can be supposed to exist. If the present Ministry be obliged to resign, it will be because they have not obeyed the voice of the nation—have not been sufficiently liberal in their views and conduct.: Any Ministry which succeeds would come with promise of more liberal proceedings ; and so that we attain what we desire, it matters little by whose hands the good is produced. No Ministry can exist for a moment which comes in on principles more approxi mating to Conservative than those of the retit ing Ministry. The time for retrograding is past; why, therefore, need we dread the going out of the Whigs? The mere change, and the bustle and stoppage of public business, attendant thereon, are certainly evils, and evils not of small amount ; yet are they not to be, for a moment, compared with the monstrous mischiefs resulting from a compromise of great principles. All th e goo d th Whigs will ever do cannot compensate for this; all the evil the tories can possibly accomplish cannot equal it. If this view of the matter be correct—and we know of nothing to impeach it—the course to be pursued by the indeppndent or popular Members is a straightforward one; and whatever the difficulties attending it, the evils and difficulties of trim ming and shaping their conduct to suit petty expediences will not beset it." Whatever may be thought of this policy, it is pretty clear that Ministers, by abandoning the cause of the people, would not find their situa tion a bed of roses.—Morning Chronicle. For the first time in modern English history we have a Ministry whose opinions apparently are midway between those oftwo extreme parties. One Member of the Government appears to lean to this side, another appears to lean to that ; a third thinks both in the wrong, and a fourth does not think at all. But the result on the whole is, that the policy of the Cabinet is vague, and uncertain, and unsettled ; that we have Bills drawn in the morning and burned at night; that the Speaker's Chair is offered to one man and given to another ; that Mr. Stanley de nounces what Mr. Thomson recommends ; that we may fancy Edmund Burke our Premier to-day, and Thomas Paine to-morrow. Such a state of things, it is obvious to all men, can not continue. " Whatso'er you say, With strong aversion shun the middle way; The middle way the best we sometimes call, But 'tis in politics no way at all." Whether such a doctrine might be true for all ages we will not inquire ; but it is most indis putable in ours. Two parties, both powerful, although the power of one is of a different nature from the power of the other, are contending for the mastery. The arms of the one are numerical force, active combination, constant excitement : of the other, rank, property, intelligence. Be tween these two parties the King's Ministers place themselves ; a few individuals of at least suspected integrity, of at least respectable abili ties'; scarcely likely to add strength to the ranks of either, utterly unqualified to control the ani mosity of both. They must make a choice, col lectively or individually, for themselves. They must be with the attack or with the resistance. They must be for a King or for a President. If they will maintain, they must maintain with the Conservatives : if they will subvert, they must subvert with the Levellers. From this pe culiar position of the King's Ministers every little circumstance which tends to show the in clination either of the Cabinet, or of any Mem ber of the Cabinet, derives unusual importance. And therefore we attach to the fact we are about to relate an interest greater than any which in ordinary times would belong to its scene, the town of Nottingham, or to its hero, Lord Dun cannon. At the late election for the town the Noble Lord, being a candidate, was supported, as might have been expected, by much influence arising from his personal friendships and his po litical connections. But it was not enough. The partiality of Earl Grey was ineffectually urged ; the memory of Sir Thomas Denman was invoked in vain. A letter was exhibited, more potent than a circular from the Treasury, or a mandamus from the King's Bench. The letter was from Mr. O'Connell. It stated that the Whigs had been perfidious to Ireland ; that it had become necessary to expel from Ireland all Whigs ; that on this account Lord Duncan non, a Whig, had been dismissed from Kilkenny; that, on the other hand, the Whigs had been liberal to England ; that it was desirable to in troduce Whigs into Parliament for the English constituencies ; and that on this account he, Daniel O'Connell, recommended Lord Duncan non, a Whig, to the favour of the people of Nottingham. Lord Duncannon holds high office under the existing Administration ; he is very active in all the more confidential arrange ments of the Government ; he is supposed to be on terms of the closest political sympathy with those members of the Cabinet who have been chrisened by the Times, not by us, " the Lick sp. ittles " This nobleman is " recommended" to the electors of Nottingham by a patron who, in common sense, if not in law, is guilty of high treason between the rising and the setting of every day's sun. The result of the battle fought by his Lordship with the aid of so mighty an auxiliary could not be doubtful. When we count up the nominees whom the Agitator has sent to Parliament, we must remember that his authority is not confined to his own green isle. When we have written down the O's and the Mac's, the Maurices and the Morgans, we must add to the account one more illustrious item, Viscount Duncannon.—Morning Post. The Standard states that the measure con templated by Ministers, relative to the News papers, is the reduction of the advertisement duty from 3s. 6d. to I s., and that the stamp duty is to remain as at present. We know not what degree of confidence may be reposed in this statement of our respectable contemporary. The reduction of the advertisement duty would certainly be a wise and just measure, and would be hailed as a boon by nearly the whole body of newspaper proprietors, and would put an end to that monopoly which has too long been enjoyed by certain journals. It would have a tendency too to remove one of the greatest nuisances of ' the large towns, namely, the bid-sticking, f walls, the the advertising placards, the chalking of defacing of houses and shops, and the other and innumerable practices resorted to in order to elude the duty, and of course cheat the Govern ment. Newspapers would then beco me , w h a t they ought to be, the principal medium of no tices of this kind, and the .registers of wants and sales. We are quite satisfied that by such art alteration the Government would lose nothing of the revenue at present derived from this source. But if this is to be the only alteration affecting newspapers, or in other words, if it be not the intention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to reduce the stamp duty, we are afraid that the measure will not give general satisfaction. The complaint is that newspapers are too dear. Four pence of duty on an article which sells for seven pence, is an exorbitant tax. It is true that it is carried free through the Post .office, not in the first instance only, but as often as it may please the possessor ; and therefore as concerns the papers so carried, the tax is not exorbitant ; but it is so to the consumer on the spot, and to all par ties who purchase, but do not transmit the article to a considerable distance from the place where it is published. We say nothing for ourselves on this subj ec t ; f or a lth oug h a nxious to see a re , duction in the price, to a certain extent, we are nevertheless content to bear with the tax so long as the public are content with paying it. But it is complained that the vast number of penny publications, in which the most revolutionary and dangerous principles are inculcated, can only be superseded by cheap newspapers. These publications are printed and circulated in viola tion of the law. They abound everywhere, and are rapidly on the increase : they are calculated to do much mischief, and have a most pernicious influence on that class of men, who have re cently come out of the hands of the school master, and have no way of acquiring informa tion but in the pot-house, or by means of these rubbishy productions. When the importation of silks was prohibited, and when Mr. Hume waved his India handkerchief in the House of Commons, and boasted that it was a contraband article, the wise men and Solons of that day, and the whole herd of political economists, insisted that the only way to remedy the evil was to impose a moderate duty on the impor tation of foreign and India silks. It was the same with Scotch whisky, which was smuggled over the borders in cart-loads, despite all the vigilance of the Excise officers. " Reduce the duty," exclaimed the same persons, " and there will be an end to smuggling." If that policy was justifiable in the instances of the silk and spirit trade, what objections can there be to resorting to it in the matter of the cheap publi cations ? Reduce the stamp duty, or abolish it altogether, and then, it is argued, the newspapers would drive these obnoxious vehicles of sedition, licentiousness, and pollution out of the field. We do not say it would, unless other measures were employed to suppress these illegal traders ; but at any rate if the policy be sound in the one case, it is equally sound in the other. Besides, it ought to be borne in mind that the present Ministers have always been the advo cates of cheap knowledge. It was they, in fact, who set the example of dosing the public with penny papers, and forcing down their throats the most desperate trash that ever blushed black under the pressure of types. They are therefore bound, if there be any con sistency in their characters, to carry into effect their own avowed principles, and relieve the public from that sort of taxation which presses most severely upon the dissemination of infor mation. But will it be believed, by the simple reader, that the Ministerial journals are opposed to these reductions ? The little Globe, like a tea-pot in a tempest, is quite frantic at the pro posed reductions. It says that the cheapening of newspapers would produce a revolution ! Oh dear ! this from a Reformer is terrific ! Any competition with the Ministerial journals—any measure which affects their interests—any change touching their receipts,— touching their cash box, is a revolution ! Was there ever such twaddle as the following ? _ . . " If there be any one me;,ure, after the vote by ballot and universal suffrage, which is more likely than another at this moment to precipitate a revolution, we believe it to be the removal of the stamp duties on newspapers and papers of political discussion." The " revolution" here spoken of in this melancholy strain must mean a revolution amongst the newspapers, and a sort of discount from their profits. The murder is confessed in the next paragraph " But a grosser error st 11 is to suppose that the most prosperous newspapers would maintain their present character or comparative influence. The newspapers and stamped political writings which now flourish are those which suit the taste of the sevenpenny buyers; they represent, perhaps. the tiste of the middle classes ; they are enabled, by the support of these classes, to expend money for intelligence—the intelligence causes them to he re d by those who probably do not always approve their politics, but who become insensibly influenced by their doctrines." The Globe trembles at the idea of any change which would interfere with the exclusive enjoy ments of the middle classes, thereby meaning the shopkeepers, and extend to the lower orders, thereby meaning the operatives and labourers of the country, that information which is solely in tended for the edification of their superiors of the shop. This is genuine Whiggery. What is the meaning of this sneer at the operatives ? Does the Globe mean to insinuate that they are less informed than the order immediately above them ? If it do it is indulging in a very gross error. The operative mechanics of London, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, and other places, are much better informed than the lower order of shopkeepers. We know at least fifty journeymen printers, any of whom could write a much more grammatical letter, and one containing a vast deal more of valuable information upon any given subject, than could be done by the united talents of the Common Council of this, the fir't ' city in the world. What invidious meanness is it, therefore, to sneer at the labouring classes, and place them beyond the pale of information, merely because they are not admirers of the shuffling politics of the Globe and its patrons, the Whigs! We say again—we care nothing for ourselves in this question ; but if any al teration is made we contend that the poorest man in the kingdom is entitled to have the ad-, vantage of it. Our contemporary further states that the " majority of the people cannot read." This is false, and a libel upon the country; but even if it were true, why be jealous of circu lating papers among a people who " cannot read ?" It might with equal justice protest against feeding horses upon p l um pudding ! Guardian. A German paper gives an interesting de scription of a late sitting of the Hungarian Diet. The Emperor of Austria had called to (Tether the States of Hungary, to demand from them resources which he could not obtain with out their consent, and to propose changes in the existing laws to which their concurrence was like wise necessary. But he has found it easier to convoke the assembly than to direct its pro ceedings ; he has conjured up the spirit of free discussion, which he cannot now lay. From finding that they were not mere ciphers, of va lue only as they were added to the Imperial Unit, the Members of the Diet have begun to assert the rights of freemen. Sensible that the publicity of their proceedings would augment their influence by bringing to their support the whole of the reading public, or by, in fact, enlarging their audience, so as to include the whole of the kingdom, they have or dered reports of their deliberations to be printed and published. The King's Lieutenant in the assembly strongly protested against this de ' cision, but his opposition was fruitless. The members of the Diet even went further. They demanded an entire liberty of the press, as well for discussions beyond their own assembly as in its bosom. The Imperial Lieutenant again pro tested, telling the Diet that the regulation of the press belonged to the King, and not to them. His opposition was equally ineffectual—the assembly having decided not to insert his pro test on their minutes. Thus has a contest be gan between the Government and the people in one part of the Austrian Empire which may extend to others. The Government has still the power of curbing the press, but will not have that power much longer. The journal which began the publication of the Diet's debates has been ordered to discontinue its reports, but will the assembly, if allowed to sit much longer, per mit this extinguisher to be put on a privilege on which it seemed to set so great a value ?—Times. We publish to-day the conclusion of the of ficial article from the Supplement to the Madrid Gazette, omitting some irrelevant portions, of which the first part was given on Saturday last. This document is said to contain a detailed re lation of all that took place before the Cortes in 1789, when the repeal of the Salic law was ob tamed by the then King Charles IV., and is the basis upon which the Queen would fain rest the claims of her daughter to the Spanish throne. We use the word said, because there has been hitherto no official promulgation of such an act of the Cortes; but now a document has been found, or pretended to be found, which purports to bean authentic record of the proceedings of the Cortes on that occasion ; a document, the production of which, after 4' years of con: cealment, cannot but be regarded with sus picion, and we think leaves the claim of the infant daughter of the present Queen just where it was before. It has been seen that our Spanish correspondent is of opinion this do cument will avail nothing unless confirmed by a new appeal to the Cortes, whose authority in so important a question, he says, can alone have weight with the people. In this we believe his opinion correct; but it may be necessary to in form our readers that he does not speak of the Constitutional Cortes, which is the reverse of being popular in Spain, where it is regarded as a revolutionary innovation. He alludes only to the ancient ecclesiastical and aristocratic institution called the Cortes per estamentos, composed of the clergy, nobility, and certain officers of the municipal corporations. Yet as even this assem bly seems, at least in name, and in historical associations, to have something constitutional about it, the Queen has not the spirit to con voke it, and, in conjunction with her " liberal" Minister, Zea Bermudez—the persecutor of the Constitutionalists, she prefers relying on a musty and suspicious document to an appeal to the living wisdom and justice of the as sembled Estates of the realm. As to the Queen of Spain, we believe the whole of her liberality, and the world will find it out, consists in the selfish policy of securing the succession to her daughter in defeazance of the alleged rights of Don Carlos, the King's brother. Our own opinion is this, that if she can induce the " Apostolical" party, by any means, to transfer their " alle giance" from Don Carlos to her daughter, she will be quite content that Spain should be governed by apostolic doctrines and apostolic institutions, that is, upon the unmixed principles of religious intolerance and civil despotism. But if that party remain firm in their attachment to their present leader and his son, the Queen will then throw herself into the arms of any party that she may believe strong enough to make head against the faction of Don Carlos. This can hardly be the Constitutional party, for they are exceed ingly weak, having the priesthood against them, the nobility, and the populace. There is, we be lieve, a numerous party of moderates, between the admirers of despotism and the friends of demo cratic institutions. The Queen seems not yet to have made up her mind whether to intrust the cause of her daughter to the latter party—and the reason of her hesitation is, that she has still some hopes of conciliating the favour of the Apos tolicals—and then farewell to any ameliora• tions in the laws and institutions of Spain. After all it is very likely that the knotty question of the disputed succession must be cut by the sword. In the case of Ferdinand's death it can hardly be otherwise, unless the head of the Carlist party resigns his pretensions previously to that event, which appears not very distant. Our correspondence, as we have already stated, leaves no doubt of the fact, that the grand object of the Mission of Sir Stratford Canning to Madrid has proved a total failure. That object, as an nounced by the Government papers at the time, was to obtain the consent of the Court of the Escurial to an arrangement for putting an end to the civil war in Portugal, and settling the suc cession to the throne of that country in favour of Donna Maria, whom we had already recog nised as Queen de jure, but whether in con junction with the adoption of a constitutional form of Government did not appear. This at tempt to settle the affairs of Portugal, has proved as abortive as our interference to adjust the Bel gico-Dutch dispute, though our Government did not set about the matter in as foolish a way as they adopted in the latter case. They did not collect a Conference of the crafty diplomatists of France and the Holy Alliance at London, and thence issue volumes of protocols, which pro duced about as much effect in bringing matters to a peaceable termination as if Lord Palmerston had employed himself, during two long years, in flying the paper kite of Martinus Scriblerus. The mission to Madrid, we believe, was under taken without involving ourselves in the prelimi nary fully of forming any entangling alliance. If, by her good offices, England could put a stop to the miseries and bloodshed caused by the unnatural conflict of the Portuguese brothers, it were well. If not, why should she intermix herself in the quarrel of other people, especially as she has repeatedly shown of late years, more particularly in reference to the insolent ambition of Russia, that she has not spirit or energy to resent injuries offered to herself, or to vindicate her insulted honour ? Of the Anglo-Gallic Convention, by which England and France combined to terrify the little kingdom of Holland into their measures, and faded, the people to of be so. We this country are haveashamed, n n w atnod hope have reason that experience has not been altogether thrown away upon our Ministers , and that they will not, although hints to , that effect hav e been thrown out by the French papers, be ofguilty otfimwakpinnrgpaoisteotloief settling r A Gallic Co t n n ev Cio n foy for the affairs of Portuga l or S p ain, or, indee d , for any other purpose whatever ; not even in rela tion to Turkey , where England ought to ope . ra te by herself, according to the best view of her Convention I own interests, or not at all. In the mean time, if our Ambassador, Sir Stratford Canning, has an y propositions to make at the Court of Madrid in favour of the commercial interests of Great Britain, he has no time to lose. It is of mu ch more consequence to the people of this c ounty; that they should have a favour a bl e c ommerce treaty with Spain, than that the sceptre of °l a g once mighty kingdom should be wielded by 0 1 puny hands of a baby-girl or a n a p os t o lical 0 , 5 ' 1 woman I. The foreign news received last trig' merits but little attention. The German pape rs ' details of which will be found elsewhere, re, 1 port that the Sultan had at last seriously resolve" upon negotiating with the victorious Ibraki° l ; upon the con di t i ons th a t if his father makes his submissi on t o th e o ff en d e d P orte , t h e dea f, of excomm un i ca ti on aga i ns t hi m an d his s° c may be recalled, and even the Pachalick ° Syria, the great object of ambition to both, COa' ceded to him. It is added that Halil Pah j °l formerly Capitan P ac h a , h a d a l rea d y et - 11 1)01P for Alexandria, and thence to the head quar ter :i of Ibrahim, to convey the resolutions which 113 , been taken by the Divan. It was understo r l also that these conciliatory s t e p s on t h e part ° the Porte would be powerfully seconded at Ale• . andria by the English Government, and a ° immediate armistice and eventual aecommodari e l were looked upon as probable. The news these events had given general satisfaction I° , Constantinople, which, at the d a t e o f the accounts, remained perfectly tranquil. Belr papers, which reach to the date of Saturday, CO n : tain contradictory statements with respect to 1 1 ' 6 opening of the Scheldt to the ships of Englan France, and Belgium, which only go to pr ol that nothing ex ac t was k nown i n B russe l s tlP°' , the subject. These papers are otherwise barre l ' of even allusions to concerns of general interest' —Morning Herald. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING LAST WEEK. Wheat. I Barley. O a t s . .Bea d Per Quarter. s. to 8. s. to s. s. to s. s. Carlisle . 54 :26 18 4 0 48 60 28 33 18 23 Horpeth ...--...... 41 53 29 30 15 21 29 31 Penrith 55 26 19 Sheffield 56 33 19 4p Winchester ....... 40 58 21 28 22 24 42 4 Per Bushel. s.d. s.d. s.d. s, d. s.d. .; 1 1 Carmarthen....... 5 6 6 0 2 9 3 3 1 3 1 8 0 0 ' 6 ', Coventry 7 0 9 0 4 8 5 4 3 6 4 0 5 0 Newcastle (Staff.) 80 86 56 59 29 33 5 0 , e i Northallerton ...... 70 93 36 46 33 40 5 I f 84 90 53 60 32 40 60 01 Swansea 68 70 . 36 39 1 9 20 0 0 /f Warwick 90 10 0 1 4 6 50 22 26 79 Per Roll, Barnardcastle......l2 0 16 6 8 0 8 6 5 0 5 6 10 0 1 1 Durham . 1 116 14 3 7 0 80 40 50 g 0 101 Richmond :11 0 16 6, 6 6 7 0 4 6 6 2 9 0 of Stockton [ll 3 12 61 9 6 10 0 4 0 4 4 0 WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET.—Feb. 1. Wheat, Red, Norfolk and Suffolk - 3. s. 465. to 555. fine ‘,',";; Lin. and Cam. -- Yorkshire White Foreign, Red White Barley, Norfolk and Suffolk — ssss to tt t 00 0 5-4 % ) 2 fi s .fifiree e n fine 5 0. 5 6° , , 30s. to 355. fine Lincolnshire 29s. to 365. fine Yorkshire Wold Foreign —s. to —s. fine ,; Beans, Small Tick Oats, Potato Poland 320,251t0 225. fine —s. • 18s. to 208. fine Friezland and Small —s. 16s. to 19s. fine Mealing Shelling °ls. to 265. ed. per Loa Malt 33s. 425. fine 455. per Lowi: Rapeseed 2Ol. Os. 221. Os. 23/. 10s. per 1.33 SCOTCH MARKETS. SUOTCH MARKETS. - Wheat. Barley Oats. I Beans. Oata l- Aberdeen ..... 40 54 21 23 16 18 Berwiek..—..... 32 35 17 19 12 14 22 24 Coldstream 34 36 19 21 14 15 19 21 •"" Cupar ......... 48 70 28 32 20 24 26 29 """ / Dundee.......— 50 CO 30 33 20 25 30 31 " Elgin-- 40 47 24 26 17 20 23 30 ""'„ Inverness.... 40 46 24 27 16 20 22 25 4" / Kelso 34 37 17 19 13 14 23 24 44 40 45 27 39 25 32 45 48 . 3 Perth 54 57 29 31 21 24 26 30 op jr,- The site of the measure varies throughout the cet o 2., EDINBURGH CORN MARKET.—Jan. 30. Ole We had a large supply of , all kinds of Grain to-day, sin ° ' • EDINBURGH CORN MARK: We had a large supply of all kinds of 4 sales in general were rather heavy. Wheat. \ Barley. Oats. First 6ls Od 33s 6d I 2.2 s Od Second s6s Od 30s Od 20s Od Third 4OB 04 22s oci 16s 04 Pease. 303 Od 29s Od 27s Od Bewi c t, sets co s Ps 0 0 PRICES OF PROVISIONS, Re. Beef, per lb. Os. 4d. to 08.7 d. Fresh Butter, lb, s.lotl. to Mutton 0 4 0 7 Salt 0 9 Veal * . 0 6 0 9 Ditt o , p er c% t. 74 0 , Pork 0 4 0 7 Eggs, per dos. 01l Lamb, per qr. 2 0 3 6 OatStraw(kp!.) 6 0 ['allow, cwt.... 37 0 40 0 Wheat Ditto.. 5 0 Quartern Loaf 0 8 0 0 Barley Ditto —5 0 Potatoes, 1711 b. oal 0 0 8 EDINBURGH !HEA L The supply of Oatmeal at thi the sale brisk, at last week's pric, Per Sack of 2t30113. Imp. First Oatmeal iecond ditto 1 S 0 Barleymeal 1 4 0 Peas ent gal Pot Barley—No. 1, per cwt. 12s L MARKET..—Jan. 29. gM its day's market was goo. , Per Stone 01 141 b. First Oatmeal XO I Second ditto Barleymeal 0 / Peasemeal 0 .-2d. ~...... GLASGOW CORN MARKET.—Jan. 30. tr , ' We have a considerable arrival of Barley and Oats, 0 1 0 0' former has given way in price. In Wheat a moderate b u ,',.:we doing, aZ previous rates. Beans and Pease dull, and a little w o ,d Wheat, per 2401 b. s. d. s. d. Oats, per 2641 b. I. d• l'' i British, old 25 oto 31 0 Irish l3 0 t ° /' -- new 25 0 27 6 British P Canada, free 27 0 30 0 Beans, per 2601 b. ..o f Irish Barley, per 3201 b. Scottish English ....... ........ 0 C Pease, Scottish Scottish 2l 6 23 0 Oatmeal,perl4olb. 13 0 O F Irish CORNWALL MARKETS. 0 0 ,1 Tituao—Wheat (average) 203.0(1—Barley, 103.-0,d5,.....1 ) ,Di ST. Aus-rELL—Wheat, —B. to 20s.—Barley, —s. to 10th ,),. to 7s. 6d. 0 410 PENZANCE—Wheat, 20s. to 215.--Barley, 9s. to 11s. '4 , 7s. to Bs. 6d.—Beef and Mutton, Od. to &I.—Pork, Od. t° Butter, 12d. per lb. ~,, 0 0 LAUNCESTON—Wheat (average) 19 s . 6d.—Barley, 95......." 5c Bd.—Beef, sd.—Mutton, 6d. CO usKEARD—Wheat, -to 19! ...OW' .o to 6s. 3d. Oct BonmlN—Wheat (average)2os.—Barley, 9s.;6d.—Oats, HELSTON—Wheat, 20s. 6d.—Barley, 9s 6d. Sr. COLUMB—Wheat, 20s. to —3.—Barley, 9s. to 103.... e And Mutton, sd. to 6d.—Veal, Od.—Lamb, Od. :. -s. W.—Barley, 9s. 61. MINING INTELLIGENCE. Tong• v i (d A t uv ia ae n rnat t g l i t te y y p o o l rf C ofid o nu p ec ,r w 4r e eL w old Redr_uth last Thurday 2,0 70 Jb Amount of Sale, 13,7911.95. 6d.—Average Standard. MEETINGS OF CREDITORS, AT THE COURT, BASINGHALL-STREET' (From the London Gazette.) TO-MORROW, FEB. 5. 2 , G. F. Hunt, oilman, Wappi ng J. Fensham, carver, Portman.street W F. Brown, grocer, . atford, Hertfordshire - H. Wright, surgeon, Camden-town o G. Williams, lodging-house-keeper,_ Henrietta-street W. Smith, draper, Portsea J. Hardwick, horse dealer, Tottenham-court.road T Freetby, carpenter, Acton 9 E. K. Proctor, engraver, Pentonville W. Leahy, millwright, Grove, Great Guildford-street .1. Grundall, builder, Brixton.road 1 'F. C. Swift, victualler, Eastchurch, Kent 1 W Wood, jun., chymist, Bognor 1 G. Nelson, currier, Woolwich An Irish orator recently concluded a magi quent speech on the advantages of Reform with th e ./ lowing beautiful specimen of the broken metalt ir i ? "In short, Reform," said the Learned Gentleman, 40 # flood which will bl aze t h rough every part of the BIRTHS. On the 13th December, at Halifax, Nova Scotia, th e Georgiana Cathcart, of a son. The lady of Dr ... (ady (h _ Jr. Billing, ii . e . dford-place, of a daughter. ic tu On the 'd inst. on boa r d th e D rea d noug ht , off Greet -kW' wife of Captain Bowers, R.N., of a daughter. MARRIED. At St. Jam es ' s Church, Frederick Angerstein, to the IF Charlotte Sophia Blayney. On the 2d inst. l a ' t la S Y t. 'Bartholomew's by the Exchallf e P;: i John George Lacy, of Chamonaile-street, to Miss Mat' l'1) niece of the late Charles Foster, Esq., of Angel-court, morton-street. 1)4 On the 2d inst. at Trinity Church, Charles Thomas t he Esq., of Langley-h o u se , B uc k s , t o M a ry Eli za , w idow o' e‘ i C. P. Ch r i s p, E sq. 1 On the 2d i ns t . a t P ancras , G eorge Dickins, Esq. c pt!: log, Northa m pt ons hi re , l a t e o f hi s Majesty's 213Z-1-10er goons, to Eliz a beth, r e lict of Joseph B r i g ht, Esq., lo I Vormwood-s.treet, Bishopsgate-street, London. U r On the 2911 i ult. at Worthi D ng IED. in the 40th year 0e pc t '" Mary Ann, wid ow o f th e l a te Lieut.-Col one l Edward I Wimot, of the Rol Horse Artllery. On the 20th ult. ya at Anntield- i house, Fifeshire, of 11 .0 d cline, J. T. T. Mackenzie, Esq., of the 46th Regiment , ) et ,' son of the late K. F. Mackenzie, Esq., of Montagu.sfr e man-square. On the lot inst. at Walworth, Robert Gazeley, EA . ' A r aged 52. h On the 3d inst. in the 18th year of his age, Joseph s re p of Mr. Stubbs, of Connon-street, and Brixton-oval, °";„- t fr; On the 2d inst. aftor a long and painful illness, ',, - (101' year of his age, Adrian Herman Bicker Caarten, lay 0' crescent, eldest son of the late Frederick P e t er Bicke r Esq., of Rotterdam. I l 0 • PRINTJID AND PUBLISHED BY MURDO YOUS O° SUN OVVICY, 112, STRANn, LoNpori. rws US , . 1 . %E AA, Ur Gt. AN her e b y AND giv tj h a 4t the bnts_,-aY f;" in Iv, t ° ta gli ." % g h t • t u h g e _tatnitte e ta , e . rfals in eitro us P"rt Serv e tine ' l44 k 1 at th e 8 fila .13 "e that aY . e e C'3pe offi l('' LON DO• CIP " a l 1 111 E eirr,ri tio n 01 takig Jut g, fror n k e " 4 , by at; and hi s m: , arsty' s 'I Mt', th e .vrnp , r►ill '4Por i i„ r: , :y e m cei, .1:10 °L:ini3c:lAlcebNid: AN Evii I) I G P the 1 / 4 -ecre T;ZENEW Se 2_eo• Editic NEMC w e CAT sple t , lid recotn raft, arid J 0114 that Ilnet Rid gm ,„ 1 , O REI netin est tt E FLE tip and ett the WA 1 4 , 4 E.ll j .__ licls Lv „ ;lu l l , jitg,.., ru1144 h able his 4 'eat e lightei 4 1 . U4 e x ha v nge in • and ktl a Ed ... I N STIa C ktra e La ws . ' ai k ib4ZlF,ti e on il s V 1 .0. 1 44 4 dOn L k-)1N t,slNirtwrs es till °LI Alacl 4, it Of New /l e i , r olungati( A ti tiki and 1 N t • 18 $ , ies.—.B. hq v --9 . Lc kt:tulecl ar 3 ttl P id s% t Published