The Sun. — London, England, 1844-03-23 00:00:00

'.............._........ s ,iol`o' r Covow°s') [ITT E.) E or nit to b e 1; ) W hol be the en t it That o t be 1)1 ['hat t fed fi a / u Rigb t ‘i rail, with , (10' :re , ji, It. • .$4 O O ;00.. !SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS PRIM THE MORNING PAPrRS OF THIS DAY. rl~lEsSir James Graham came before the House last night t o demand the reversal of a deliberate decision four days old. It hardly be expected that he should do this with success, nor ii : v be succeed. We regret, however, to say that his defeat has ue en' accompanied with a c o rresponding triumph on the side f i l is tiee and humanity ; for, strange th to, say, both the Ten Hours' 2 .,ahal its cpponents have for e present suffered defeat. We otr",lly7 do not kno w w h a t pretence Si r J ames Gr a ham has had for to ng this affront to the Legislature. He could not suppose it de ave been t a k en b y surpr i se. Th ere h a d b een t wo n i g hts' long r _"te, includi ng two l ong speec h es b y Si r J ames himself ; and pr _ to that there had been discussion without end, both In TAs and out of doors. He could not suppose that any o f Lord y As o hle' his stir/porters on the division of last Monday would come to rerun when they found Ministers in earnest. There is too ü b ch self: respect in the Moine of Commons to expect so base a stl .1 1 ttiss ioll. As for the power of importunity, it is great, especi. 1 t he golden i m p ortun i ty o f t h e power f u l ; but Sir James had ' ll st in continently wasted that plea. Could a third speech ans ..'" ebose who listened to two already with increasing antipathy ? N a , v_ it , expected that a fresh display of Ministerial earnestness ,°nl(.l accelerate and secure the decisions of those who had been t"hreviously deterred by the difficulties of the question? But ci :re are few who like to be evoked out of mental inde. no :" or indifference to assist in political emergencies. It is kaie r e'Pectable to be a mere brute addition to the Ministerial This is not, forsooth, a Ministerial question. It W- "lo not look well—it would cut rather a sorry figure in history Z-,rthat 'Ministers had resigned in favour of twelve hours' d a il y f ee women and young persons. But are we to suppose they -e ar , 1 . a gentle intimation that the country runs some little risk of sin g their servic es ? We must take care what we are about . ,we don't let Sir James Graham keep these people to their work, la, the n — we may possibly lose not only two hours' labour R day, to he r m • , • ' • and if the former ss . - aJesty s Ministers into the bargan , h o „ " r'llnous, how much more the latter ? Cutting off the two "ra will only shut up the mills; but it Sir Jamey Graham re the Constitution is at an end. How nimbly and cheerfully N wit h what renewed heart and strength--will the poor creatures from spindl e to spindle after six o'clock on aright summer's 1 j a e tti ni r ) g, whe n they know that they are paying the price of Sir e the, Grah am ' s mu l t if ar i ous set v i ces i n the Home-office: On e Other hand, supposing for a moment such s calamity, imagine tbe Lactoiles closed at six o'clock, and Sir James Graham spending ~,„s Prir' g of 1845 in unotNcial though d J ignified leisure, what a , Would that national bereavement cast on the amusements or i"u rt "Pations of those two or three hunred thousand factory idlers ! 4:: 1 7 Sir James Graham cannot means uch a thi cat! Then, why Without biting ? That long list of Right Honourables it , th e minority every Minister every underling —makes m4ook like a Ministerial measure. Let there lee no istake ill the matter. Is it a Ministerial question, or 4Q t For the benefit of those who are not familiar with lb'aelentary forms, it is as well to explain the particular mode Procedure by which the House was asked to stultify itself. In p i e s econd, or int er pr e t a tion cl a use of the Factory Bill, the word t) Was defined as the period from eight o'clock in the evening m,h ors; o'clock on th e f a ll o wing morning. Lord Ashley thereupon . - I ved that " the word night' shall be _taken to mean from six and th e Word `meal.tl lo the evening to six o'clock in the following morning; nie' shall be taken to mean an interval of t t atsatiun from work fur the purpose of root and refreshment, at the ot two hours a.clay, with a view to effect a limitation of the 1 ,. -4 ," et labour t o ten in the day." The division of last Monday W as ill favour of this amendment. The Bill was thus left ,Ce'llsistent with itself. The above amendment, compared with 'latlse forbidding young persons and all females to work in the , rendered the Bill a Ten Hours' Bill, as far as those clauses satire concerned. But the eighth clause implicitly allowed them s ott hours' daily labour. It enacted, "that no young person, no female of any age, shall be crop oycd in a fac- Ihel4 any one day more then twelve hours, or alter 1 ) , ation of twelve hours from the time when t c hild or young person in the factory first begins ti Work M the morning, over and above the time given for meal. ththee'. sav ein the cases hereinafter excepted." The alteration, th i , ref °re, in the second clause entailed the necessity of altering l s ; s 'lllth clause, I. e. the word." twelve" to " ten ;" and if Mi. e ja had re s i gne d th emse l ves t o the vo t e o f l as t Monday, they h 044 have made this substitution as a matter of course. This vs etild not do. Hence the debate of last night, which was t• el 4 alr :ng but the old fight over again. This being, then, nothing h 4 o a third night of the debate, and the chief speakers har ts; eady exhausted themselves and the subject, much novelty bt,:tnterest was not to be expected. The day after the feast is the lis,„"t ntrar of the feast, some people say! but it is not so in a Par. of the debate. Speakers thrust out in the brisk competition e first nights now have elbow room. Odds and ends of state. 0 'ht a, 'd argument are now pi oduced. Remainders are disposed ti tl " r ld forts reembered. Peple who delight in the peculia. 14 1 / 4e ratherge m than in the obviousn o ess of their views, now find a ea e. 'Mich they could not in the broad field of the earlier discus. ev en . most prominent and the most rational Sell:iment of the Or even. was the impropriety of asking the House to convict itself I,,l ndi scretion, and perpetuate a burden which it had just ro t'. '' . e.c t to be intolerable. What can be more odious than to de. Ir u r r , - ,' 'offering class to be free, and immediately withdraw the °f freed ou , • , • 4 4 10 morning witnessed one of those unaccountable O t i tis which we should perhaps look fur in vain, except in the th, t 4 t h Rouse of Commons, Sir James Graham, having moved filk d he blank in the eighth clause of the Factory Bill should be thr. e 4 l ) with the words " twelve" hours, was left in a minority of tet naipe lii consequence of this division, the blank of course still rep„ d ; arid Lord Ashley then moved the insertion of the words eldy hours. The House divided; and the same men who had, f eW minutes before, voted against the Government, now con ttls ed W,a slmilar compliment on Lord Ashley, and negatived, by a th ey sity of seven, the identical motion which, on Monday last, hL , 41 affirmed by one of nine votes. After all the debating that i. a4 ett place on the subject, therefore, the blan . k in the clau , s! .ll ot t. Precisely as it did when the Bill first went into ConunittcL. ilti o ', ( " 0 811 nothing has been done in the House, something very h ear" ta ut has, we fear, been effected out of it. The country has 11 0 ' 41 - ' 4 that the decisions ' of the House of Commons are based upon for : l e fixed principle than the caprice of the moment, and that, 1 4;lthing we can see, the pressing interests of humanity might , 04 11 be entrusted to " the hazard of the die" as to a Parliamentary ` t hey What may be the effect of this morning's proceedings, when eli t , 6 b ecome known in the manufacturing districts, it is melan. top s ? t o anticip a te. Sir James Gr a h a m has t a ken till M o nd a y t o Arn e . er what he and his colleagues may determine to do, and we kt,,CtlY hope that, among the other topics to which their attention tortes turned, they will not forget how the labourers its our fax ' 4 tli ha ve been now, for four days, excited into joyfulness by the 1 41: t hat the Hou se o f Commons had agreed upon ten hours as 4 th e '' ' h it of their daily toil. Will these poor people be able to corn. ltti ti - v .41 the Parliamentary game of chance, by which they have been 111 4, -ed , of the boon ? Will it be an easy task to convince them 44 4 as just and humane on th• Monday, became unfitting -"Poliwtic on the Saturday of the same week ? • _ _ _ _ _ _ • 11l POST-OFFICE NOTICE. ka t ti fo . llc:wing notice appeared to.day at the General Post.office, t Itati,J n 5 -le-Grand 'a to the Public, and Instructions to all Postmasters, Sub. Postmasters, and Letter Receivers. h " General Post.cfgce, March, 1844 . "a "..a from the Ist of April next, letters may be sent unpaid, ,1 4 Zee, to the following countries and places, or the postage set ert raid t o d es ti na ti on , v i z . : —Th e A u strian dominions, the tttlitt. y °f Cracow, Moldavia, Wallachia, Turkey in Europe, to. ',with the to w n of Scutari, in Asia. )4 4 i0 t , t , e " may also be sent through France unpaid to the follow , 'lts . si, i 'ces and governments of Southern Poland and Southern via. 'tt Pay - totts.—The provinces of Cracow, Lublin, and Sando • USata.—The Governments of Abkhas, Astrakhan, Bes .ta ucasus, Circassia, Cossacks of the Black Sea, Cossacks of naughistan, Ekaterinoslaw, Georgia, Imeretla, Kievr, I. P th l dingrelia, Nieolaei, Podolia, Poltonia, Schirwan, Tau . 1 4 4 2 be Uchraine, Volhynia, Vowney; or the postage 'e ''d as far as Podgorce in the one case, or as far as Brody b ! combined B r iti s h and Foreign rate of postage to be taken 4,B3,le.letter, wei g hing less than a quarter of an ounce, for any Olti an — uve :mentioned countries, will be as follows :—To the dominions, Is. 5d .; Free City of Cracow, Is. sd. ; City of Op t ' ib i s. sd. ; Moldavia and Wallachia, Is. 9d. ; Turkey in 7,1. 1 .,',7 1 . grade excepted), and . Scutari in Asia, Is. 11d.; p b , Lat t r'and and Southern Russia, Is. 6d. t , . ts exceeding the weight before.mentiened will be charged ,n ll "eiple adopted with French letters. ets ‘,, addressed to Greece, the Archipelago, and the lonian tt e "44l o .7" t ch hitherto could only be paid to the extreme frontier t daY in future be paid as far as Trieste, and these which , - "Pet l to the Two Sicilies, the Papal States, Modena, Parma na, will.not be sent in future thiough Sardinia, but by . 14 4141 , Pusterlengor, ,San Benedetto, to which frontier 1114 tat - i . Postage may be paid. The combined British and Is tl b qs2f Postage to be taken on a single letter, weighing less , ;:efea r ,T e c of an ounce, to these countries will be Is. 3d. If it 1, 4 Th e the British rate (only 5d.) may be paid. tOse : Pti an of paying the postage to the extreme frontier of is set l etters addressed to Switzerland, Baden, Bavaria, or served through the office of Tour and Taxis is with. Nlle z , l . s ootie letters which are directed to the German and 4 tat e , • nnt a tO be forwarded through the office of Tour and Posted unpaid, inust in future be paid to destination. •Y command, "W. L. MABERLY, Secretary." to t , •"t or ExcaA. .. . Ptle at si ght....CF. 12 6i 12 4i . )1 4 t1t,: 484 4 . 211 12 7 N4l) ..... • 26 0 S44loKli ............... 14 0 1.8 . .... ... . ... ktts egye .25 75 ...... 26 (.7 'ta • • ........ 26 5 po i , SIGE.—(YESTERDAY.) Gibraltar Leghorn 3O 65 Genoa 26 5 Milan Venice 47 Naples Palermo, per oz ll7 Lisbon 53 Oporto 53 Rio Janeiro 23 Bahia 23 Buenos Ayres NewYork,2ldys sight Philadelphia PRICES OF BULLION, PER OZ. Foreign G old, bars...£3 17 9 Portugal Gold Coin 3 17 5 New Doubloons__ 0 0 0 New Dollars 0 4 9a Silver in Bars 0 4 11A et t , tah .., l i„.. : ... ..... 25 5 ) Maine. alne .. 122 k 1 1 ',_ .. 3 Us... 36f 1011, 4 4 , 14 ;of i ........... 7 /I Kt 41 t e• fl• 3M. 958 P:tti, tto ......... 1 9 59 tiN, , -. ............... 364 s7to . .. ............... 36e. !..1 01 ; ....... ........ 36 I A 4 . t ............. 36 . ................. AL I 'l', . r , l 'ith gell 0t he ( ENIX ...STEAMEI frigate to be fitted t.—The Lords . Commis tit .Admiralty have ordered t his 4 % . 4 4t •ateo, k trik e t „ suldrii ii y ina t n r l submarine e :Majesty's ste a mers st w e l a ' rn ich ers has ßee alrea an d d y Mi l - tepi x - With new engines of 260 horse power. i l 11 se is the first war.steaxner fitted by the Admiral ty er tat se .:" if we except the Rattler (200 horse pr .), 4541 itt.---Pttiraents and has been placed at Mr. Steinman 's dis t orneideratior: of his prop eller having surpassed in speed . 4 4°4 lo ltr ' Smith (.. the Arcitimedean screw") and Captain t i : tote 4 the late trials , conducted by the Admiralty, in the Bee. ht e 644 : 1. the Dwarf when tried with this same propeller Z i t: l l44; l Mile was 12.139 miles, which is the greatest resu lt ke pe bra , screw , at A le,Sty. ' • Cerito commences her engagement at her 4 I Theat • ,14 t. ~ re in the month of May, and remains iri town till i t t lan, eor ge.teraber and October she is engaged by the Irn e_4ole. (.4 th --t. -vp,.Pergola at Florence, after which she:proceeds t . o 4 b e_,,,, is snabtive city to enjoy some repore there. The fair I.4eZe. and !equentlY engaged for four-and-twenty per formances 1 -, t . ly mr. for twenty representations at Berlin; and .is also re. tit 4 t s .., ,i 4 untey for next season. ke,hettpa,*: lei that the Postmaster-General, .. . in i '- 1,, ,ean b„ .. _ tends to relinquish his office so soon as .arrange. no w Earl r l ait i. is 1 , 11 4..ade for the appointment of his successo r. 0 i 4 %i ttl is 0 .. er3t ° o (l that one of the Admiralty steam ,.. , , Tufted t • ‘'thti ' eon, ,_. °be in readiness on Wednesday o r Thursday i . ks- Ileht ° n e Y uls Royal Highness Prince Albert and s mite to the tO 4 -mt l ta, th i ri2t2lsit of condolence, it is understood, to t heir High. 0 0 • It a,`ebtk r ., rill! Duke and Duchess and Duchess - Dowager of ; 08 _, N! li ke • ‘ _ ,,, tith a , His Roy4l Highness has not vi cited Ger- O r %014. ,2?Ino arriage with the Sovereign, in Febru . cry, 1840; 4,,,r_i_ gh-t7c_. n the present occasion is not expected. to exceed " A i , 17 to ,eini_.'nal:ee weeks, during which period the Coin . t is ex ' bri tit Oter 0 :: In tow n. or t rtip... IN Bar bour_ Dox.— Ca tai rh - 11, IsT the DON.—Captain 11 is er, . .-., "i i ; ~ Ite th„ m 1 04 _ s.erci l, a few days ago received orders 1•4 1 ,,, Wre c k,. vasteray the removal of the Atlas and Ileso ,ll , Ag pi e/id i i lunch had beets sun • 14 1 Rati o each and kin the lower 1) , form dangerous obstructie•as lrt of eV 11 Yke n of th ;• . 1. 0 the ill' h Ail an . _ e 11 er. lie has received instructions to t tdopt 1 41 1 h ... °I. accomplishing the object, either by• blot . viaB i 1 ttp .4 144 4 13 t 1r . ail n P ci e Nt k l . r or by loughing, ho may con sider n lost 114 . "e IR now engaged ill making the , neces§i 11 7 _._ .o:t r ti i• 0 41 1 I COURT CIRCULAR. The Queen and Prince Albert walked yesterday in the royal gardens of Buckingham Palace. His Royal Highness Prince Albert, rode out on horseback, yesterday, attended by Sir Edward Bowater, Equerry in Waiting. The Royal Family were taken airings yesterday in the royal gardens. His Royal Highness Prince Albert presided yester day afternoon at a• meeting of the Commission for pro moting and encouraging the Fine Arts, in the re building the Palace of Westminster. The Commissioners present were, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord John Russell, Viscount Palmerston, Lord Colborne, Sir Ro bert Harry Inglis, Mr. Gaily Knight, Mr. Henry Hallam, and Mr. George Vivian. The meeting was held at Gwydyr House, Whitehall, at half-past two o'clock, and sat until a quarter past four o'clock, when Prince Albert, attended by Sir Edward Bowater, went to the new Palace of Westminster, and after inspecting the new Houses of Parliament returned to Buckingham Palace. The Royal dinner party at Buckingham Palace yes terday evening included her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, Lady Anna Maria Dawson, and the Duke of Wellington. Her - Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester took an airing yesterday in a carriage. The Ecclesiastical Comthission for England held a meeting yesterday at the office in Whitehall-place. The Commissioners present were the Bishop of Exeter, the Bishop of Hereford, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Earl of Besborough, and the Right Hon. Sir George Grey. _ _ Sir James Graham, Lord Stanley, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, had an interview with Sir Robert Peel yesterday. The Countess of Uxbridge, we regret to state, expired yesterday afternoon, at her residence in York-street, St. James's. Her Ladyship was the daughter of the late Right Hon. Sir Charles Bagot. HAMBURGH MAIL. FRANKFORT, MARCH 10.—The accounts from Greece are melancholy ; to be brief, persons who in general judge correctly, expect to see KinglOtho shortly in Ger many. The chief point in question is said to be, whether his brother will.tbink fit to accept the Throne of Greece. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, March 22. ROYAL ASSENT. The Royal Assent was given to-day, at a quarter be fore Five o'clock, to the Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Annuity Reduction Bill ; the Three-and-a-Half per Cent. (1818) Annuity Reduction Bill ; the Consolidated Fund (8,000,0001.) Bill ; the Gaming Transactions Witness's Indemnity Bill, and tho Teachers of Schools (Ireland) Bill. The Lords Commissioners were the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and the Duke of Buccleuch. Their Lordships then adjourned during pleasure. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack shortly after Five o'Clock. Messengers from ' the commons brought up the Ramsay Inclosure Bill and other Bills. The Duke of BUCCLEUCH presented petitions from Rye, against any alteration in the corn laws. Lord PRUI)HOE presented similar petitions from Shillbottle, in Northumberland. The Earl of RADNOR took that opportunity to explain that on a former occasion, when he referred to a meet ing which. had been held in Yorkshire, respecting the corn-laws, he had not alluded to Lord Feversham, but Lord Harewood. After a few words from the Duke of RICHMOND and the Duke of BUCCLEUCH, the matter dropped. The Bishop of EXETER gave notice that he would move for copies of any communications which had been made between the Government and the Poor law authorities, respecting the case of Mary Miller, the unfortunate female who committed suicide in a work • house a short time ago. The Marquis of NORMANBY presented a petition complaining of the operation of the Act under which the Lambeth Water-works was established. The Earl of RADNOR said the Noble Earl to whom he had alluded on.a former occasion (the Earl of Hare wood) had stated a fact at the meeting in Yorkshire, and from that fact he drew an inference, which was that the Anti-Corn-law League incited to incendiarism. He (the Earl of Radnor) had called the attention of the Noble Earl to the paragraph in the newspaper in which the meeting was reported, and the Noble Earl admitted that it was correct. The Duke of BUCCLEUCH said, that within the last four days he had seen Lord Harewood, and the conversa tion turned on this very subject. The Noble Earl ad mitted that the report in the newspapers of what he had stated was correct, but he did not admit that the infer ence which was drawn in the leading article of that pa • per was correct. The Noble Earl never imputed to the ..Anti-Corn-law League any attempt to incite to incen diarism. The Earl of RADNOR Said, the fact the Noble Earl (llarewood) had stated was, that a farmer had attended a pro-corn-law meeting in Norfolk, and the same night his stacks were burnt. The inference the Noble Earl meant to draw from that was, that the stacks had been burnt through the agency of the Anti-Corn-law League. Lord WHARNCLIFFE denied that such an infer ence could be drawn from the words of the Noble Earl. Lord BEAUMONT said, he was at the elbow of the Noble Earl (Harewood) when he made the speech to which the Noble Earl (Rad nor) had alluded, and he was sure that no person at the meeting supposed for a moment that the Noble Earl intended to impute to the Anti-Corn law League any intention to incite to incendiarism. The Marquis of NORMANBY said he was neither a pro-corn-law man nor an " anti-corn-law man," but he thought it was to be regretted that Noble Lords should make speeches from which objectionable inferences might be drawn. The Duke of RICHMOND presented several petitions from parishes in Norfolk, complaining of the Anti-Corn-' law League. He took that opportunity of observing that he did not know why Lord Harewood did not answer the letter of the Noble Earl opposite ; yet he was not surprised that his Noble Friend did not think the House of Lords ought to be a court of appeal for, what passed at public meetings. He was not sorry for. the explanations that had passed, and he hoped that they would induce the League to be more guarded in future. The Noble Earl (Radnor) said that a gentleman advised the country people at an anti-league meeting to throw the leaguers over the bridge if they came to Lin coln. He did not approve of such advice, for he always was opposed to violence ; but if the gentleman alluded to, had said se, he would recommend the leaguers not to go to Lincoln.(Great laughter on the Tory side.) THE SILK WEAVERS. Lord LILFORD presented a petition from the opera tive silk weavers of the township of Leigh, praying for the 'appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into their case ; and also to move for the appointment of a Select Committee thereupon. The petition was signed by upwards of 5,000 persons. He did not intend to go into the general question affecting the grievances of which the petitioners complained. He knew their Lordships were jealous—and properly jealous of the statements of petitions. He should confine himself merely to the allegations of that petition. They stated the causes of their distress to be low wages, unjustifiable abatement of those wages, want of employment, and home competition. From all the investigation he had been able to make on this • subject, he was satis fied that their allegations were well founded ; and if their Lordships would give him the opportunity, he would confirm those statements by evidence on oath. The Arbitration Act had been found to be very ineffec tive in reconciling the differences of masters and men ; for a recourse to them was attended with expense, loss of time, and seldom was attended with any satisfaction, (The Noble Lord then read extracts from letters received by him from magistrates, confirming the statements of the petitioners as to the inefficiencyof the arbitrators, and that the wages of the workmen were abated frequently in an arbitrary manner, and without any justification.) He trusted their Lordships would consider this matter coolly and dispassionately, and look at all the bearings of the case, for by so doing it would be holding out a hope to those people, and prove to them that their Lord ships were most anxious to do all they could to alleviate their distress. He should not, under all the circum stances of the case, at present move for the appointment of a Select Committee; but he, nevertheless, hoped that the matter would not be allowed to rest where it now was. Lord DALHOUSIE felt great satisfaction in bearing his Noble Friend announce his intention of not applying for a Committee, because it would have a tendency to mislead the public mind. The subjects mentioned in this matter were many and varied, and in many instances so totally beyond the control of Parliament, that it would be almost impossible to legislate for them. Such being the case, he thought it would be only exciting the public mind without doing any practical good, and tend to increase the difficulties by which the matter was al ready surrounded. He could not agree with his Noble Friend on the propriety of the alteration which he proposed in the law relating to this subject. He did not wish, as an individual, to pledge her Majesty's Government to the adoption of any particular course, but still he would say that there should be no loss of time in their endea vour to amend the existing law. After a few words from Lord KENYON, the subject dropped. The Marquis of CLANRICRADE presented a peti tion from a place in Ireland, praying for the repeal of the legislative union. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from Harefield, Middlesex, against the Ecclesiastical Courts Bill. The House then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, March 22. The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. The following Bills were read a second time, namely, the Eastern Counties' Union Railway, the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway and Tyne Bridge 8111, the Pontop and South Shields Railway Bill, and the Edinburgh, Leith, and Granton Railway bill. The Birmingham Canal Navigation Bill was read a third time and pased. FACTORIES BILL. Sir JOHN EASTHOPE presented a petition from Leicester, signed by a large number of manufacturers, expressing in strong terms the disapprobation of the amendment introduced by the Noble Lord, the Member for Dorset. THE SILK MANUFACTURE. Lord F. EGERTON presented a petition signed by 5,000 persons connected with the silk-weaving trade, complaining of the many disadvantages which pressed so heavily on them, and praying that Parliament would appoint a Committee to inquire into the matter. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD presented a petition prom the managers of the poor in the several townships of the parish of Rochdale. The petitioners stated their objections to the bastardy;clauses of the Poor-law Bill, and prayed that they may be amended before the Bill be passed into law ; also, a petition from Braintree in Essex, praying for a full and fair representation of the people ; and a petition from J. B. Harvey, of Col chester, against certain clauses in the Great Western Railway Bill. IRELAND. Mr. O'CONNELL presented a petition from St. John's, Newfoundland, praying that justice might be done to Ireland, and that recourse might not be had to measures of coercion ; also several petitions from dif ferent places in Ireland, complaining of the mal-admi nistration of justice ; also petitions from different parts of Ireland, signed by upwards of 180,000 persons, com plaining of the effects ,produced upon Ireland by the legislative union, and praying for its repeal. Lord J. RUSSELL presented a petition against the ten hours' clause of the Factories Bill. Sir R. IL INGLIS presented a petition from the mem bers of the Bath Church of England Lay Association, complaining of the conduct of Dissenters, and praying the House to resist all attempts to deprive the Church of England of the full amount and benefit of her esta blished rights.--(lronical cheers from the Opposition.) SWEDEN AND NORWAY. STOCKHOLM, MARCH 12.—0 n Saturday, at 9 o'clock in the forenoon, the heralds, accompanied by a detach ment of the Horse-guards, read, in the principal market place of the city, the following proclamation:— • " We, Oscar, by the grace of God, King of Norway and Sweden, and of the Goths and Vandals, announce by these presents :—lt having pleased the Almighty, yesterday afternoon, at half-past 3 o'clock, to call away, by a tranquil and happy death, his Majesty Charles John XIV., King of Sweden and Norway, and of the Goths and Vandals, we have, therefore, by virtue of the Constitution, entered on the government of the kingdom, as King of Norway, Sweden, &c., and we are assured that all the inhabitants of the kingdom will, with all loyalty, obedience, and zeal, obey us as their rightful King, and faithfully perform all their duties as subjects. " OSCAR. "Palace at Stockholm, 9th March, 1844." After the reading was finished, the people loudly cried. " God save the King." At two o'clock in the afternoon the garrison assembled in front of the palace, and the King, with the Duke of Upland, appeared on horseback. The King took from each regiment the oath of fidelity. He addressed the soldiers, who loudly cheered him. Wherever his Majesty appeared, he was received by the people with the most unequivocal marks of affection and attachment. The marine has also taken the oath of allegiance. The opposition papers themselves attest that the pub lic have the greatest confidence in our new King, and that a perfect calm is happily manifest among all classes. , It has also been observed with satisfaction, that no such' extraordinary precautions are taken as at the death of: King Charles XIIL, when chains were drawn before the palace, the Custom-house shut up, &c. On the con trary, the people passed to and fro through the palace. court-yard till night. when the gates are usually closed. The King has made a declaration i n th e S we di s h Council of State, in which he solemnly promises to govern the kingdom according to the strict letter of the Constitution, and to do his utmost to promote the good of the kingdom and of each of its inhabitants. His Ma jesty afterwards made the same declaration in the Nor wegian Council of State. It is said that his Majesty has not left any will. CHRISTIANA, MARCH 12.—T0-day we received the afflicting news of the death of the King. In the pro clamation announcing the accession of King Oscar 1., which was read to-day by the herald, he styles himself King of Norway and Sweden (not Sweden and Norway); and it is added that, as the reasons which prevented the late King from making this alteration no longer exist fbr his successor, the King's title in all Norwegian, documents shall be as in the proclamation.—Hamburgh Papers, March 19. LAW INTELLIGENCE. HOUSE OF LORDS, Mare/i 22. The House sat to-day to hear appeals. The Peers present were Lord Brougham, Lord Cottenham, and Lord Campbell. MURRAY V. MURRAY. The arguments in this appeal were resumed to-day, but not having concluded at four o'clock, the further consideration of the case was adjourned till Thursday. COURT OF CHANCERY, March 22. The Lord Chancellor took unopposed causes and Lunatic petitions to-day. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. (YESTERDAY.) MANSION-HOUSE. George Gumm, the young man who was some days ago brought up on suspicion of having been concerned in the robbery of the City of Bolougne steam vessel, belonging to the Commercial Steam-packet Company, was put to the bar, in the custody of Daniel Forrester, for re-exa mination. A great quantity of gold, and a number of bank-notes, had been placed in the charge of Captain Tune, who commanded the vessel, and several bags were missed upon the arrival of the vessel at the Custom house. The Captain was brought, soon after the rob bery was discovered, to the Mansion-house, but, after a very minute investigation, the Lord Mayor (Alderman Humphery) dismissed the case, being decidedly of opi nion that Captain Tune, who had always been most highly respected, knew nothing of the circum stances. After the last examination, a 101. note, which proved to be one of the notes tliat had been stolen out of the vessel, was traced to the prisoner. Mr. Child appeared for the prosecution, and a solici tor appeared for the prisoner. A cashier in the Bank of England produced a 5/. note, No. 52,944, and dated 12th January, 1543, and a 51. note, No. 14,673, and dated 12th June, 1843. These notes had been paid in at the Bank. Mr. Joseph Robinson, of St. Martin's-lane, deposed that the notes produced were of those which had been stolen on board the City of Boulogne steamer. Henry Goldby, assistant to Mr. _News, a shopkeeper, stated that on Saturday the 10th of February, the pri soner called at the shop and paid to him the 51. note, No. 52,944, and wrote upon it before he received the change the name and address of " G. Green, Board-road, Kensington." Frederick Baker, of No. 207, Fleet-street, tobacconist, ‘ stated that the prisoner called at the shop on the sth of March, and bought tobacco to the amount of 7s. 2d., and presented the note No. 14,673, having written upon the back of it " T. Thomas, Church-lane, Kensington." In answer to a question from Mr. Child, Daniel For rester said he thought it probable that other notes be longing to the parcels which had been stolen would in a few days be produced. The prisoner was remanded till Wednesday. Alderman HUNPIIERY took occasion to say that the suspicion which had at first existed against Captain Tune was altogether groundless. A-gentleman sent 21. 2s. to the Mansion-house poor box, the contribution of a witness who had been subpoenaed in a ease which had come on for trial. He begged that it might be mentioned in the newspapers that the contribution was the amount of his subpoena and attendance, and that he expressed a wish that gen tlemen receiving money in a similar manner might be induced to appropriate it to the poor. CLERKENW ELL. William Sands, a little urchin, apparently not more than twelve years of age, was charged with the following daring street robbery : On Thursday evening Miss Wright, an elderly lady, was passing along Charles-street, Hatton-garden, where she resides. It was broad daylight, and the street was full of people, when the prisoner ran up to her, and, seiz ing her reticule, which hung from her arm, pulled it violently. lie did not break the string by the first jerk, but with a second, more violent, became possessed of it and ran away. The reticule contained some silver and copper coin, and some other trifling articles. The pri soner was arrested on the following morning by a City officer. Although so young, the police described him as an old and dexterous thief. He was committed fur trial. Ellen Sullivan was charged with deserting her infant child, by John Leary, the father of it. It appeared the prisoner had been married, and that she left her husband in Ireland, to earn her bread by servitude in this country. She was in a situation in this City when the prosecutor, who had known her in Ireland, induced her to leave it, and they cohabited for a while together, and lived in Spitalfields. A child, born about six months ago, was the result of the adulterous inter course, and this child, or its:mother, the prosecutor refused to contribute a farthing towards the support of. She accordingly left the child in the prosecutor's residence in Daddy's-rents, Islington, and was running away when given into custody. The case was referred to the authorities of Spital fields parish. A lad, named Mountstevens, an apprentice to I , lr. Fribben, a brushmaker, residing in Coppice-row, Clerk enwell, and John Wilson, a painter, were charged with stealing a quantity of brushes, value 155., the property of Mr. Fribben. Mr. Duncombe appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Humphries for the prisoner Mountstevens. Evidence was adduced which left no doubt of the guilt of the prisoners. Wilson he been painting on the prosecutor's premises when the brushes were stolen, but it did not clearly appear whether or not Mountstevens gave him the brushes on the premises, or at a distance from them. Upon this, Mr. GREENWOOD observed that there was a great de feet in the law in this respect. If a party were indicted for stealing goods, and it turned out they were given to him 100 yards from the premises, he would be acquitted on the ground of having been a receiver, for which lie I should have been indicted, and the prisoner, however guilty, would escape, for lie could not be indicted a second time for the same offence.—The prisoners were com mitted for trial. TEE SUN, LONDON. SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH oe, 1f44, NOTICES OF MOTION. Mr. FITZSTEPHEN FRENCH gave notice that on Tuesday he should move for certain returns on the sub ject of the working of the Tithe Commutation Act in Ireland. _ _ _ _ Mr. EWART gave notice that he would take the earliest opportunity, upon the house going into a Com mittee of Supply, of moving for the abolition of the duties on raw materials, and for a reduction of those duties which tend to encourage smuggling. ROYAL COMMISSION. Sir A. Clifford, Usher of the Black Rod, appeared at the table, and summoned the Rouse to the House of Lords to hear the Royal Assent, given by Commission, to several Bills. The SPEAKER, accompanied by several Members, then proceeded to the other House. On his return, The SPEAKER announced that the Royal Assent had been given to several Bills, (for which see Lords' report). Dr. BOWRING withdrew the motion which he had on the paper for the 2d of April, relative to our treaty o commerce with the Ottoman empire. Colonel WOOD gave notice that, on going into Corn mittee on the Commons Inclosure Bill, he would move the adoption of resolutions to the effect, that it was ex pedient to have a Bonrd cousigting of a superintendent and two vice-superintendents, to whom (as we under stood) the subject should be referred. WRECKS OF THE NERBUDDA AND ANN. Dr. BOWRING put the question, of- which ho had given notice—Whether any reply bas been received from the Government of Pekin, in answer to the application • made for the punishment of the authorities of the Island of Formosa, who ordered the murder of the crews of the Nerbudda and Ann ? Two hundred of the crews of these vessels fell into the hands of the natives, and were treated with great cruelty by them, the greater proportion of them being subsequently murdered. He wished to know whether any redress had been obtained or promised for this outrage. It was understood that the na tive authorities had been advanced in rank by the Emperor of China ; he wished to know if any punish ment was likely to be inflicted on them for this violation of the laws of nations and humanity. Sir R. PEEL said he believed the statement of the Hon. Gentleman was substantially correct. Two Bri tish vessels were wrecked on the coast of Formosa, and after the sailors and passengers had been detained a consider able time, and suffered. great privations, many of them were put to death. Sir H. Pottinger made a representation to the Emperor of China, stating that the British Government viewed the transaction with great regret, and trusted that signal punishment would be inflicted on the authorities of the island: He must say that he thought the statement of the Emperor in reply to him was a very satisfactory one, and worthy of a ruler of a great country. A proclamation was inserted in the Pekin Gazette, of which Sir Henry Pottinger spoke in high terms. He stated he had seen with great pleasure the decree of the Em peror on the subject of the British subjects who were put to death on the island of Formosa, and he was sure it would be received with great satisfaction by his Government. That proclamation he (Sir Robert Peel) thought exhibited as great a desire to do justice as he had ever seen on the part of a civi lised State. The Emperor alleged in the proclamation that he had been entirely deceived by the Chinese authorities of Formosa, who stated that the crews of . the ships landed with arms in their hands, and were taken as prisoners of war. He had ordered an inquiry into their conduct, and finding that they had deceived him, •he had ordered all who had obtained a promotion of rank by their false , representations 4o be degraded from it, and to , be handed over to the Board of Punishment, The Emperor had therefore disgraced all the parties concerned, and had caused them to be removed for the purpose of being tried by the regular authorities, and having such further punish ment inflicted upon them as their crime de served. Now he really thought, upon the whole, this proclamation was all that could be expected. They there saw the advantage of increased intercourse between civilised countries. INCENDIARY FIRES. Colonel FOX begged to ask the Right Hon. Gentle man the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any steps had been taken by the Government in consequence of the numerous incendiary fires which had recently taken place in Suffolk. It was well known that several such fires had taken place. The Hon. Gentle man then read an extract from an address delivered by the Chairman of Quarter Sessions, in which he expressed his astonishment that the rural police had not been able to detect any df the offenders. Sir J. GRAHAM said it was undoubtedly true that several incendiary fires had taken place in Suffolk within a recent period, and that, though every attempt had been made, no offender had as yet been discovered. Although the crime miat be frequent, it was still difficult of detection. He had thought it necessary to send some assistance to the rural police from the me• tropolitan force, but he was sorry to sarthat, up to the present time no detection had taken place. Lord HENNIKER rose amidst loud cries of " Order, order," but was at length alloWed to proceed. He said the fires in the county which he had the honour to represent—namely, Suffolk—were so fre quent, that it was matter of wonder when there were none.—(Hear, hear.) He himself had been called up at two o'clock in the morning, and had witnessed a most awful conflagration. He believed that one fire had taken place yesterday ; but it was quite true that, up to that moment, not one of the offenders had been detected. INDIA. Mr. MANGLES gave notice that he would move for a return of the letters to the Board of Control from the late Lord Hastings, dated the 19th December' 1809, and the Ist of March, 1810, or extracts therefrom' Sir ROBERT PEEL was understood to say that he had no objection to the return of the letters, but if the Hon. Member moved for extracts, that would be a matter of discretion. PR E'VENTION OF SMOKE. Mr. HINDLEY begged to ask the Hon. Member for Lymington (Mr. Mackinnon), as Chairman of the Com mittee appointed to inquire respecting the nuisance of smoke in towns, whether it was intended to found any measure upon the Report of that Committee? Mr. MACKINNON said that the Committee's RepOrt recommended that a Bill should be passed on the subject, but the Government declined to introduce such a mea sure; and, therefore, he, as Chairman of the Committee, would feel it his duty to propose a Bill. THE ARRESTS IN THE 76Tu REGIMENT. Mr. GILL rose, pursuant to notice, with a view to ob viate an erroneous impression produced by the state ment of the Secretary-at-War on the 12th instant, to call the attention of the House to the detention of Captain Brewster of the 76th regiment, under arrest for eight months, without any charge being made against him, and to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman whether he had any ob jection to communicate to the House the order from the Horse Guards for that officer's relief and admonition? On a former occasion the Right Hon. and Gallant Officer (Sir H. Hardinge) was reported to have said as these officers had violated their duty they had been put under arrest, and they would be kept under arrest foF a short time longer. That statement was incorrect ; but he was sure the inaccuracy did not attach to the Gallant Officer (Sir Henry Hardinge), whom everybody in that House, and out of it, knew to be incapable of stating anything but what was fully borne out by facts. The effect of such inaccuracy might, however, be injurious to the character of Captain Brewster, and he (Mr. Gill) therefore mentioned the sub ject, that, should any {imputation rest upon him, it might be removed. The two officers referred to were or dered under arrest by another officer, who was present at some proceeding which had taken place, and who had subsequently communicated to the commanding officer what bad taken place. Now he (Mr. Gill) found, by the articles of war, that no officer was liable to arrest, except for an offence committed, and that it was the duty of the party putting an officer under arrest immediately to take steps for instituting an inquiry. When he stated to the House that Captain Brewster had not been guilty of any offence whatever, he thought lie was not asking too much when lie tried to have an imputation removed from his cha racter. After being five months under arrest, Captain Brewster wrote a letter to his commanding officer, begging it might be forwarded to the Major-General in command of the district, and which in!reated to know under what charge he was labouring , and stated that if any offence had been committed by him, he would cheerfully submit to such punishment as the C o mmander-in-Chief might think fit. Subsequently two letters were written by General Brewster—one of them to his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and the other to Lord Fitzroy Somerset. The Noble Duke, in his reply to General Brewster, said he was aware his son was under arrest, and as certain regulations were being pre pared on the subject of duelling, it was intended that these officers should be made subject to them when completed. Notwithstanding these letters, these two officers were continued under arrest three months longer. He complained, on the part of these gentlemen, of their having suffered the long arrest they had done, and that arrest without some explanation from the Right Hon. Baronet might injure the character of Captain Brewster. Although the articles of war stated that no officer should be kept under arrest for more than eight days before he was tried, that course had not been adopted in the present case. He thought the House would agree with him, that this severe punishment was uncalleefor. He wished to know whether the Right Hon. Baronet had any objection to communicate to the House a copy of the order of the Horse Guards for the liberation of these gentlemen, and the admonition given to them ? Sir IL HARDINGE had a strong objection to produce the papers—first, because it would form a bad precedent ; and secondly, because the proceedings took place under a private warrant. Captain Brewster had violated mi litary discipline, by immediately accepting a challenge from a young and inexperienced officer. He would frankly confess, as to the other point, that there was no imputation on the character of Captain Brewster. DROPPED ORDERS. The dropped Orders of yesterday were then disposed of. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. On the Order of the Day for the House resolving itself into Committee on the Factories Bill being read, Lord JOIIN RUSSELL suggested the propriety of entering on the paper the Orders of the Day which were to have precedence. Sir 11. PEEL agreed with the suggestion of the Noble Lord, and would take care that it should be at tended to. FACTORIES BILL On the Order of Day being read for the House EiC firm s o f P reston , stating presented a p e titi on s i gne d resolving itself into Committee on the Factories Bill, bylNlr.W twenty-two ILSO N T of the principal that the petitioners had heard with the utmost alarm that the House had come to a resolution limiting the hours of labour to ten, and praying the House not to consent to such an enactment. Lord ASHLEY presented ninety-one petitions from various districts in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in favour of a ten hours' clause. Mr. FIELDEN presented a petition in favour of limiting the hours of labour. The SPEAKE3 then left the Chair, and the House re solved itself into Committee on the Bill. On clause 2 being proposed, Lord ASHLEY said that he would postpone the amendment of which lie bad given notice on this clause, and would raise the discussion on the Bth clause, as it would be more convenient. Mr. T. EGERTON then rose to move the omission of the word " silk " from line 31. He said that those who were engaged in the silk manufacture did not de sire to be exempt from legislation on the subject, but they did not wish to have their interests huddled up in the legislation which affected others. He read various tabular statements of the condition of the silk trade, and endeavoured to show that it would be necessary to establish the relay system in this branch of manufacture, as there was not a sufficient number of children in some places to supply the demand of the silk trade. ith respect to cducation, he vvas happy to say that there existed throughout the various districts a great disposition, on the part of the wasters, to afford facili ties for education, and an equally great desire on the part of the children and their parents, to avail them selves of those facilities. Sir J. GRAHAM said he co&d assure his Hon. Friend that the caution which he had enjoined with respect to dealing with these great manufacturing in terests, was a caution which, as far as be was concerned, was altogether unnecessary ; for •he -was anxious to give the best consideration to the subject under discuSsion. He • admitted that in past legislation silk had been treated differently from any other branch of the staple manufactures. The mo tion of his Honourable Friend, as it now stood, would, if carried, take silk altogether out of the operation of the present Bill. It was necessary to call the atten tion of his Hon. Friend to the portion of the children employed in the silk • manufacture. Ile thought that that if any portion cf this legislation was more de fensible than another, it was that which referred to the children engaged in this manufacture. The po verty of the parents, notwithstanding their natural affections, led them to overwork their children, in order to obtain the largest possible amount from their labour. The legislation on this 'subject at the commencement of the present session was first confined to apprentices, but was afterwards extended to young children. At the present moment, hi the silk trade generally, there was no limitation whatever with respect to the age at which children might be employed. They might be employed as early as five, six, or seven years of age. Thqre was a limitation with respect to time ; they could not be employed above ten hours, between the time when they first entered the factories and thirteen years of age. I here was another distinction, that the children employed in silk did not require the certificate of education which was necessary in other cases. He thought it of great importance, with respect to both these points, that the children employed in the silk trade should be brought under the ge neral operation of the Act, and this was the opinion formed by the Committee which sat in 1841. He (Sir J. Graham) would now briefly state the course he proposed to adopt with the portions of the Bill affect ing this portion of our industry. He must resist the motion of his Hon. Friend, which would take the silk trade entirely out of the operation of the Bill. In the 75th clause were provisions which dealt particularly with the silk trade. In legislating upon this subject, they must bear in mind the large proportion which the children employed bore to the adults employed—it was no less than as four to one. He should propose to omit certain parts in the clause referred to, and then to enact - that no children from eight to eleven years old should be employed in the silk manufacture more than six hours and a half ; but that from eleven to thirteen they might be employed., for ten hours in winding and throwing ; and then at the age of thirteen, they should return under the general provisions of the Bill as it now stood. By the arrangement which he proposed to the House, they would, for the first time, impose a limit in regard to children, and which he (Sir J. Gra ham) certainly thought to be necessary. At the present moment there was no such limit. In this manner he was willing to hope the just demands of the people engaged in the silk trade would be met. When they came to the 75th clause of the Bill he should propose to remit the limi tation as to children under 11 years of age, and intro duce words to carry out the arrangement he now sub mitted, which he sincerely trusted would, upon the whole, be considered satisfactory to the various inte rests involved in this great and important branch of our trade. Mr. LABOUCHERE said that he observed, with some apprehension, the Bill which had been in troduced by her Majesty's Government on • the subject of factories, because he believed that it was the first time that the silk manufacturers had been put on the same footing as cotton manufacturers. These considerations operated so strongly upon the late Government, that they, brought in two Bills—one with respect to silk, and the other with respect to cotton manufactures—and he confessed upon the whole that he thought it would facilitate the progress of the Bill if the Government adopted a similar course. He thought, however, after what the Right Honourable Baronet had stated that the objection urged by the silk manufacturers had been fairly met : and he believed that his proposition would be satisfactory to the trade.' He hoped, therefore, that no obstacle would be thrown in the way of the Government. It was not his wish to see the silk trade excluded from the operation of a Fac-, tory BilL The silk manufacturers had the largest amount of children employed in their factories. Mr. GRIMSDITCH thought that upon the whole the plan of the Government would be satisfactory. Sir G. STRICKLAND said that, in answer to those who contended that it was impossible to carry on the silk-manufacture if the hours of labour were limited, he would observe that the same argument bad been used when it had been proposed to limit the hours of labour in the cotton manufactories. Experience, however, had taught them a different lesson. The hours of infant labour had been limited, and none of the inconveniences which had been foretold had occurred. The general impression among the Members of the Committee of 1841 was, that the silk-manufacturers had made out no case for exemption from the operation of the Bill. There were more children employed in the manufacture of silk than in any other branch of manufactures, and, there fore, they stood in need of greater protection. The rooms in which they worked were hot, and the nature of the labour was the same as the labour in the cotton manufacture. Those children were standing on their legs for fourteen hours a day, and many of them walked twenty miles in the course of the day. He could not but recollect the evidence of a surgeon, who was against any restrictions on labour ; he stated that he considered the exercise they took was healthy. He was asked if he had children of his own? He answered, yes. He was then asked if he forced his own children to take such exercise? His answer was that they were not labourers. Why no human being could say that a child of fourteen years of age ought to be forced to perform such herculean labour, and he was sorry that the Right Hon. Baronet had consented to do as he had done. He was sorry that he confined the relays to children between the ages of six and eleven. This was departing from the prin ciple of the Bill. He strongly urged the Committee not hastily to make a distinction between silk, and cotton, and other manufactures. Mr. BANKES said if the Hon. Member for Cheshire persisted in his amendment he would support it. The persons engaged in the manufacture of silk claimed no exemption from the protection given to those engaged in other branches. But they said that the work in the silk factories was so different from that in the cotton and woollen mills, that the regulations that applied to others would not apply to them. Mr. STRUTT said he did not think the Hon Ba ronet could have much refreshed his memory by read ing the report before he spoke on the subject, so com pletely had he misrepresented the evidence.—(Hear, hear.) With regard to the temperature in the silk factories, so far from its being the case that it was very high in them, the fact was, that the work could not be carried on if the temperature was not kept cool.— (Hear, hear.) The Hon. Baronet then alluded to what had been said of a surgeon, who happened to be a con stituent of his (Mr. Strutt's) own. It was true that he had stated that the children ran from fifteen to twenty miles. But this occurred in the case of working at sowing silk—a process in which there was no machinery whatever, and which was something like that of rope making.—(Hear, hear.) This was not a case which could be reached by legislation.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Baronet then said that the children worked for thirteen or fourteen hours; but in the town of Derby there was not a single mill which worked more than ten hours.—(Hear, hear.) He believed that, on the whole, some of the silk manufacturers would prefer being left out of the Bill altogether. But he thought they would be satisfied with the suggestion of the Right Hon. Ba ronet, and he therefore hoped his Hon. Friend would not press his amendment. Mr. T. EGERTON said that, after the suggestion of the Right Honourable Baronet, he would not press his amendment. The amendment was then withdrawn, and the clause agreed to. Clauses 3,4, 5, and 6, were agreed to without discus sion. On clause 7 being proposed, Mr. ALDAM said that the woollen manufacturers objected to the seventh clause. Mr. SHEPHERD said he wished to correct a mis representation whick had occurred in reference to what he had said the other night. He- wished now to state that in the town of Frome, children were altogether ex cluded from the factories. The men and women and young persons usually worked twelve hours, and it would be very injurious to their interests if they were prevented from so doing. Mr. VERNON SMITH said the whole argument really turned upon the words "no female of any age," and to these words, and to the principle embodied in them, he entirely objected. He thought it was a very dangerous principle to introduce that of restricting the labour of adult males or females in manufactories. The House had, on one or two occasions, decided on inter fering with the labour of the helpless. They had inter fered between the parent and the child, but that was because the parents made use of the labour of their children in a manner to seriously injure their health, and sometimes even to destroy life. But he had heard no argument brought forward why men and women above the age of twenty . -one years should not be allowed to work as at present in factories. He had given his vote with great pleasure to the proposition of his Noble Friend opposite (Lord Ashley), but they were now lay ing down a very important principle—interfering with, and restraining the labour of adults in factories, and which, if carried into operation, might very seriously prejudice the best interests of this country. If it were persevered in, he should certainly divide the House on the subject.—(Hear, hear.) Sir JAMES GRAHAM must frankly express his concurrence in what had fallen from the Right Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down, regarding the im portance of the words of the clause alluded to by him; and he further agreed with him in believing that the present was the first time that restraint was sought to be imposed on adult labour in factories. But he was under the impression that female labour, under peculiar cir cumstances, required restraint. For instance, married women, Under the control of their husbands ; children under the control of their parents ; and women in a de licate condition. At present there were frequent in ' stances, he believed, where the class of persons he had enumerated worked in a manner inconsistent with their health, and it was necessary the Legislature should in terfere. He hoped the House would accede to the proposition. After a few words from Sir W. CLAY, which were not audible, the clause was agreed to. On clause 8 being proposed, Lord ASHLEY rose to move as an amendment, that the word " ten" be substituted for the word " twelve," and in the event of this amendment being carried, to add a proviso, to the effect that the restriction of the hours of labour to ten in the day shall only take effect on the Ist of October, 1846 ; and that, from the Ist of October next until the Ist of October, , 1846, the hours of labour for feniales and young per sons shall be eleven. The Noble Lord said he would not fatigue the House, which had been already so in dulgent to him, by going into details. lie would quote the opinion of Mr. Horner, as stated in his report. He said that in factories a restraint ought to be put upon the labour of females, and of children. because where there was such a redundancy of labour, there could be no such thing as practical freedom. Women in the manufac turing districts were not free agents, they were obliged to toil, and they were not able to bear fatigue to the same extent as men. The experience and knowledge of all medical men was against their being employed in the manner they were at present. And, in his report of December, 1841, Mr. Horner further stated that there could be little doubt but that working ten hours a day would be less prejudicial to health than working for twelve ; but without entering into the question of health at all, such an entire absorption of the labour and time of the working classes, was in a moral point of view, most objectionable. He (Lord Ashley) thought the House had, to a great extent, to consider whether it was better to have a moral population, with smaller wages or a depraved people, with greater?—(Hear.) But he was not by any means prepared to admit, at least to the extent supposed by Honourable Gentleman opposite, that a diminution of the hours of labour would cause such a reduction of wages. In 1833 the hours of labour of children in factories had been reduced considerably ; yet when he (Lord Ashley) visited the manufacturing districts in 1836 Ile found that chil dren had just as much wages then for eight hours' work as they had previously for ten or twelve. In 1818 a pe tition to that House was presented by Sir Robert Peel, father of the Right Hon. Gentleman at the head of her Majesty's Government, from the cotton-spinners of Manchester, praying for a reduction in the hours of la bour, and the Hon. Baronet on that occasion, in urging the prayer of the petitioners, said they (the petitioners) were most anxious that the Legislature would interfere, and that they would prefer a diminution in the comforts of life they were then enjoying to their present intoler able toil. In combatting his (Lord Ashley's) arguments the Hon. Member for Durham and the Hon. Member for Manchester spoke in very high terms of the comfort of the operatives, and of the wages those employed in the factories could earn. Why, he thought that that argu ment was rather in favour of his (Lord Ashley's) proposition, for if they earned such large wages they could the better bear a diminution of them. He held in his hand certain returns, which would show that the operative population would not be injured by any reduction in their wages, arising out of the limita• tion to ten hours a-day of their labour. He took, in the first place, the case of a single woman; he would sup pose that her earnings from work in the factory amounted to 9s. per week. Now it must be recollected by the House that there were many things to be done at her home which might be done by herself, but caving to the length of time she was, under the present system, engaged in the factory, she was compelled to hire another person to do that work for her. The ex penses of her washing, which, under a system of ten hours' labour, she would be enabled to do herself ; the loss arising from her meals being carried to the factory, and other little matters, would amount to about Is. sid. per week. If she had to work but ten hours in the day she would save these expenses; and supposing her wages to be reduced one-sixth in conse-• quence of the reduction in the number of hours of labour, it would be seen that she would not be a loser by the change. He would take the case of a family of five persons, three of whom worked in a factory twelve hours a day. The mother obtained los. a-week, the eldest child 4s. per week, and the second child 35., making in all 17s. per week. The expenses of washing, mangling, &c., would amount to 2s. per week. A woman would be required occasionally to assist the husband at home in the domestic work, and that would take another shilling. He would then put down another shilling for the loss which would arise from the meals being carried to the factory, by which great waste was caused, inasmuch as when several persons dined together, anything that was left might be put by towards another meal. A loss would arise from the husband cooking the meals, for scarcely any man, whether Frenchman or Englishman, could cook so economically as a woman.—(Laughter.) This loss he estimated at another shilling, and these expenses together would amount to 55., which left 12s. for the purchase of provisions, clothing, and other expenses. Now that was the estimate under the system of twelve hours' labour. He would now state the amount of the expenses for the same family, under a system of ten hours' labour. Supposing that the wages, in conse quence of the reduction of the number of hours of la bour, were to be reduced one-sixth, the wages of this family would amount to 14s. 2d. Undera system of ten hours' labour the woman would have time to do the washing of her own family at an expense of about one shilling. A woman would be required occasionally to assist in cleaning the house, and that would take another sixpence, making one shilling and sixpence to be de ducted from the 14s. 2d., reducing the wages to 12s. Bd. per week. It would be seen, therefore, that rather than the family-losing by any reduction in the amount of their wages, they would be gainers by the change. These were the statements made by the operatives themselves. He held in his hand a note, from a person who was on the spot, respecting the expenses of a family—he took the case of a family of four persons working in a factory, all of whom were engaged in different kinds of labour. Each of those four persons had separate teas, and consequently four journeys were made in conveying the meals to the factory. Under the present system of twelve hours' labour, the full amount of victuals sent out was either consumed, or destroyed, and great waste often took place. Now, under a system of ten hours' labour, only three meals a day would be required. Under the present system, such was the great exhaustion to which the labourer was subjected, that it was absolutely necessary he should have at least four meals a day. Under a system of ten hours' labour, therefore, one meal a day would be saved, besides the advantage of having the meals at home. The writer of the note he held in his hand said that, when he worked ten hours a day, in 1842, he never had more than three meals a day ; but that, when he was working twelve hours a day, in the same mill, he was abso lutely obliged to have what were called " extras." These consisted of little delicacies, such as ham and other things, to enable him to go through the hours of his daily labour. There was another point to be con sidered, and that was, that it required one child to carry meals from the home to the factory. Now, under a system of ten hours the labour of this child might be employed more advantageously and profitably to its parents. But the most important consideration of all vas, that it was generally believed amongst the opera tives themselves, that if the hours of labour were to be reduced from tea to twelve, it would have the effect of prolonging for at least three years the term of their working life ; many went as far as to say that it would prolong their working life as mucti as five years. He had only one other fact, which was a very remarkable one, with reference to this subject which he would trouble the House with, and that was a table showing the num ber of criminal offences committed in England and Wales in the year 1841. From that the House might judge of the condition, or rather the moral character, of the females in the manufacturing districts. The pro portion of females committed for offences was much greater in the manufacturing and commercial counties than in the agricultural counties. He took 13 manu facturing, and 13 agricultural counties ; and in 1841 the number of females committed in the agricultural districts was one to six males, and in the manufacturing and commercial counties one to three males. Now he would appeal to the House to consider the position in which this question was placed. He would tell her Majesty's Government that it was not a new matter—it was not now propounded for the first time—for the last twelve years it had been gradually growing up. Let the Go vernment bear in mind what was the position of the question now, after a majority of that House had affirmed it—a majority involving the representatives of the greatest of the commercial constituencies in the kingdom —(Cheers)—and supported by the fervid and undy ing sympathy of this country.—(Cheers.) Did they think it wise—did they think it just, to reverse such a mighty decision by the simple exercise of official autho rity?—(Cheers.) He appealed to the House whether, after having excited such bright hopes and expectations, they would now destroy that hope which had been called into life amongst the great body of our manufacturing population—he called upon them not to do so—from the bottom of his heart he called upon them to do justice to the sympathy which had been evinced by the whole country on this subject—to do justice to their own cha racter, and not turn round upon their decision and de stroy its effect. He called upon them to have regard for the character they occupied in the country, and to the character they occupied in the minds of all the nations of the world. Did they think that the feeling which had been excited amongst the people would ever rest until they arrived at that con summation which was so much desired ? He could assure the Government that if they succeeeded that night—he did not believe they would—but he could assure them, that if they succeeded that night, it would only be to give additional vigour and additional determi nation to those who had so long maintained the principle he was then advocating. If they succeeded that night, their success would have the effect of prolonging the sufferings and the evils which he had described. But they might depend upon it that the sympathy of man kind and the feeling of the country would compel them ultimately to surrender, and they would surrender at last, when the boon would have lost all its grace, and he feared would be of little remedial power. The Noble Lord concluded by moving that the labour in factories be ten hours instead of twelve, intimating that if this motion should be carried, he should then move a proviso that it should not come into operation until 1846. Sir WILLIAM CLAY said it that was his intention to oppose the motion of the Noble Lord ; but while he did so he would give the Noble Lord full credit for the humane and exalted sentiments he had expressed. He could not, however, think that the Noble Lord had made out a case sufficiently strong to justify the Government in adopting his proposal. He did not think that the remedy proposed by the Noble Lord would h ave t h e effect of removing the evils of which the Noble Lord complained. He thought, on the contrary, that the proposal of the Noble Lord would aggravate rather than diminish the evil. He did not think that the labour performed in factories was s o severe as to ca ll for le gislative interference. In the opinion expressed by medical men, as to the effect of factory labour, there were great discrepancies. It was a remar k a bl e f act , t h a t those medical men who were of opinion that factory labour was injurious to health, were persons not per sonally conversant with the subject Medical men resident on the spot, in the midst of the factory popu lation, were decidedly of a contrary opinion. If the House were to refer to the sanatory reports, they would find that the average duration of life amongst the labouring population of the manufacturing districts was greater than amongst persons of a similar class in the large towns. For instance, the mean duration of life of persons employed in factories in Manchester as not less than the mean duration of life amongst persons in 'a similar station of life in Liverpool. He believed that the operatives —members of his own constituency—in Bethnal-green were much worse off than the operatives in Lancashire. He dreaded that this measure of the Noble Lord, in stead of realising all the benefits which he anticipated, would tend to aggravate a great many of those evils. He (Sir. W. Clay) could only say that he had bestowed considerable attention upon the matter, and he would bear his share of the responsibility, by expressing his coincidence of opinion with the Right Hon. Baronet op posite, that the reduction of the amount of the opera tives' wages would be nearly 25 per cent., instead of what the Noble Lord had stated. It had been said that if there were no manufacturers in other countries, prices would rise, but that was not the case; they were running a race with various foreign nation s,and had to combat against a very strong and powerful competition. They could not have two separate prices for the home and the fo reign markets, for that of the home market must always be regulated by the foreign one. The principle sought to be laid down might do very well for the large manu facturers, who exported to the amount of thirty or forty millions, but it would certainly tend to produce a cor responding diminution of labour ; and he would entreat the House to reflect well upon the woful effects which follow, and had followed, the dearth of employment which the manufacturing districts suffered under some time ago, and to consider if the objects proposed would compensate for the enormous defalcation of employinent. The Hon. Member for Ashton, when alluding to the report of 1834, proposed a remedy for this state of things. The Hon. Member proposed that the country should endeavour to persuade foreign nations to adopt a similar course of legislation with this country. But he (Sir W. Clay) was afraid the House could not see the likelihood of succeeding in effecting this object. He confessed that the Noble Lord seemed to him (Sir W. Clay) to have imbibed some peculiar opinion that the profits of the manufacturer were so enormously large that they could afford so far to sacrifice their incomes as to pay the operatives for working only ten hours the same sum which they did for twelve hours' work.— (Hear, hear.) In the present superabundant state of the money market he did not see how the Noble Lord could form such an opinion. The large capitalists would not suffer so much, it was true ; but it would press most severely on all the lower class of persons engaged in manufacture ; for if a bur den was imposed upon the master, it must, most as suredly, fall upon the operative ; and in the speech of the Noble Lord, he laid particular stress upon the medical evidence, which st,ted a female in a state of pregnancy ought not to be compelled or permitted to work for twelve hours a day. Now lie (Sir W. Clay) would ask the Noble Lord one question, which he thought would show that this was not so good a point as the Noble Lord seemed to imagine. The question he would ask the Noble Lord was, if it was fit that a female should, when in such a condition, be allowed to work for ten hours—the time contemplated by the Noble Lord's Bill ? He conceded that the Bill afforded facilities for the de tection of fraud ; it also prevented women and children from working in factories from night till morning. In these respects he agreed with it. But he would ask the Noble Lord whether he might not direct his benevolent efforts to other departments Of labour ? There was scarcely any department of labour in which the efforts of the Noble Lord were not more wanted. The Noble Lord had shown that highest df human qualities, enthu siasm in well-doing, without which nothing great could be accomplished. He entreated him, therefore, to direct his attention to other branches of industry more requiring his care ; and then, instead of having a narrow majority in that House—(Hear, hear)—he would be supported by its unanimous voice and the universal approbation of the community. Mr. MONCKTON MILNES said, as a Member con nected with the great manufacturing district of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in which this question excited so much interest, he hoped he should be excused from shortly addressing the House on this question. He rose under a conviction that it would be his duty to oppose the Government, with which he usually acted • he felt a conviction that the course th e G overnment h a d taken on this question was attended neither with benefit to the country nor dignity to themselves.—(Cheers from the Opposition.) In the course of last session, the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State for the Home Department brought forward another Factory Bill. They all knew how it was met, and how it was foiled. He did think that, in yielding to the agitation mani fested, the Right Hon. Baronet took a course as little dignified then, as his persisting in his present course was now.—(Cheers.) Had the Right Hon. Ba ronet then persevered, he for one would have been ready to have risked his seat to have supported him. Under what a different aspect the question came before them at present, to what it did last year. The agitation which the Right Hon. Baronet now met, aroLl so stre nuously opposed, was one that had lasted ten years, which excited the most vivid attention and the deepest interest among a large portion of the people, and which was now confirmed by a solemn decision of that House. —(Hear, hear.) They were now asked to come down on so rare an occasion to rescind the solemn resolution of that House, come to after an adjourned debate of three days, without any pretence of casualty or haste, be cause the Government wished to take advantage of any chance or contingency that might enable it to reverse the former decision.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member for the Tower Hamlets who bad pre ceded him had undertaken the difficult task of showing that the whole matter was a dream of philanthropic enthusiasm on the part of the Noble Lord ; he held out the state of the factory children and women as so satis factory that it was almost impertinent in that House to interfere with them. He had hoped that that question had been settled for ever. He had hoped that they all knew that thousands and thousands of children ii the manufacturing districts were being brought up in a con dition more degraded than that o a slave population— (Oh, oh)—that thousands perished annually on the threshold of manhood, physically and morally unable to meet the difficulties of life.—(Hear, hear.) In the present year, as in the last, the Government had come down to the House with a Bill interfering with labour. He considered the speech of the Right Honourable Baro at the head of the Government against this propo sition, applied with much greater force against the prin ciple of any interference at all, than against the modifi cation of it, which was proposed by the Noble Lord the Member for Dorsetshire. All that the Noble Lord had proposed was, that the children, after passing the age of 13, should not be put at once to the dreadful toil of twelve hours a day. The Hon. Baronet, the Member for the Tower Hamlets, had tried to make out that twelve hours' labour a day was extremely light; and such as he himself would not mind undertaking. He said this on the authority of Mr. Senior; but he believed if the Hon. Baronet and Mr. Senior had but a week's expe rience of it themselves they would come to a very dif ferent opinion on that subject.—(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Milnes) attached more weight to the opinions of Dr. Hawkins and the medical men of Man chester; than the statement of Mr. Senior, who from his villa at Knightsbridge paid the manufac turing districts only a flying visit. But there was an other part of this question to which he wished to refer —that was the effect of this proposition on the wages of the operatives. Wherever the principle of wages had been scientifically laid down, he had always understood that there were four elements by which the amount of wages was regulated ; these were population, capital, the fluctuations in the price of produce, and the standard of living. Neither of these, taken separately and insu lated from the rest, could have any effect on wages— they all depended on each other. He could not believe, therefore, that a small reduction in the manufacturer's profit could have such an effect in reducing wages as seemed to be apprehended. He would solemnly ask the Committee to look well at what they n ere doing before they rescinded the former decision of the House. He asked them to consider under what a different aspect the question came before them now. Let them remember that it had gone forth to every village and hamlet in the manufacturing districts that there was now a majority of the representatives of the people who had declared it to be their opinion that children ought not to be worked more than ten hours a-day. At that moment the people were speaking of it to one another, telling each other that the noble exertions of the Noble Lord had at last accom. plished the object for which he had contended, by ten years of unwearied exertion on his part, and of unceasing hope on theirs. Could the Go. vernment suppose that a decision of the House, re. versing the former vote, obtained by any means they might command, would have the effect of turning back the river from its course, or make the people of England forget the decision of the former night ? They would not forget it ; and if they were likely , to do so, his Noble Friend would take care that they did not. But he thought it comparatively of small importance what might be the result of the vote of that evening ; the fate of the measure was settled. The Ten Hours' Bill was as much at that moment the law of the land, as any other part of the interfering Bill of the Government. He sincerely and heartily grieved that the Government had set itself against the opinions, the sympathy, the good feeling, and religious sense of a large portion of the people of England; and he would sit down by humbly imploring the Committee to resist the dangerous course the Government was pursuing, and not, by so persisting, drive his Noble Friend to some desperate extremity (Cheers and laughter) from in which, he believed, h e wou ld b e sup ported byamajority of that House—th a t o f l ay i ng a t taking a step the feet of her Majesty herself the prayer of the people, imploring the interference of her benevolence and noble feelings against the short-sightedness, or rather the blindness, of the Government.—(Cheers.) Mr. VERNON SMITH said he felt called on to vote for a Ten Hours' Bill. The whole argument of the oponents of the ten hours' system rested, the other even ing, on the ground that they ought not to interfere with labour at all. But he found that the Government had interfered in the Bill • with the freedom of labour. —(Hear, hear.) But it might be said that children and unmarried females were not free agents. That, he was sorry to say, was the case with regard to a great portion of the male population of the country ; and it was not exclusively applicable to females that they were not free to dispose of their labour. It was more in the power of the master to say to the labourer " you shall work," than in the power of the labourer to say " I will not work. They interfered with labour on the ground of the helplessness of the children, and because the system was tending to unhinge society altogether. Perhaps there might be some doubt as to the propriety of interfering with labour at all, for in 1833 the pres sure was found to be so great that persons of all parties were determined upon interfering on behalf of children. The question now proposed to him was, whether he thought a child was capable of working twelve or ten hours?—(Hear, hear.) He had no hesitation in answer ing such a question, and saying that he was decidedly in favour of ten hours as the proper limit--(Hear, hear.) He believed no person would say that the children could work twelve hours a day without injuring their moral and physical constitution.—(Hear, hear.) The real argument against the ten hours came from the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State for the Home De- .-. 0 i I 1