The Sun. — London, England, 1839-08-20 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION. affect the money market, and he did not think it just i towards those he was to deal with, to make any pro position until it had been well ascertaini.d that Bill would become the law of the land. His communica r tion to the City had been made on the 10th August, and the time for receiving tenders was the 16th. Before he went into particulars, he wished to explain the former mode of proceeding with respect to those loans; and the pointi on which he had deviated from that former course, leaving it to the House to determine whether he was right or not. The former mode was / that the Minister of the day should fix the price arbi trarily, and communicate that to the Stock Exchange, and they either entered into the contract or rejected it. On the other hand, when the price was left to free open competition, the public object was attained at the cheapest possible rate. The course he (the Coanceilor of the Exchequer) had adopted was this—the loan being a loan for 4,000,0001, the Government invited the ca pitalists to unreserved competition. It was stated that tenderi fo,r any sum not less than 500,0001. would be received, and thus the utmost competition that was ne cessary would be secured. In these loans it was of course an object to have them carried at once into ope ration, and, therefore, when a Minister was allowed to fix a price, he was sure to fix it so high as to make it f certain the individuals would come in and accept of it. On the other hand, the tendency of his (the Chancellor of the Exchequer's) plan being to reduce the profits of the contractors, it was not likely that the object would be so readily attained. Therefore, although fixing a large price might be more convenient for the Go vernment of the day, the principle of competition was more likely to lead to advantageous results to the public. He would refer in proof of this to the two last occasions when a similar operation took place. In 1825 there were three millions of Exchequer bilis funded, and on that occasion the course taken was to fix a price, and to send it to the Stock Exchange. It was stated in Parliament, in the course of the discus sions on the subject afterwards, that persons representing 18 millions of Exchequer hills, had coma forward ; and he further stated, in proof of the favourable nature of the terms, that the bonus upon the loans was equal to 21. The same results took place with respect to the loans of 1820, and it was then said that the propo3ition was so advantageous that a much larger sum could have been taken if it was required. He (the Chancel lor of the Exchequer) had taken a new course, and if it was necessary to bring forward any autho r ity on th e subject, he could readily so. In 1801, when there was a su. of 8k millions of Exchequer bills funded, and in which a bonus was given to the parties of 41. ss. per cent., a discussion took place in Parliament, and it was stated that if the matter had been made the subject of free discussion, there would have been a ranch better chance of obtaining fair terms for the publi c . I n 1829 that very subject had been agitated ; and one indiv dual, whom the House would, lie was satisfied look up to as a high authority on financial matters (Mr. Hus kisson) had given his opinion distinctly in favour of the course he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had taken, namely, allowing the fullest and freest competition in the money market, instead of the Government fixing an arbitrary price. The Right Hon. Gentlemen then read an extract from the speech of Mr. Huskisson on the subject and observed that more clear and distinct au thority in his favonr could not well be asked for. It had been urged against him as a matter of complaint, why had he limited the operation to the funding of Exche quer bills ?—why had he not also made it a money operation ? Why, the proposition was not to obtain Ex chequer bills, but to extinguish a certain amount of the unfunded debt. If he had made a contract for money alone, the parties who made the tenders to supply it would avail themselves of the ordinary advantages of the ope ration. But what would have been the practical effect of withdrawing a sum of four millions out of the money market in order to pay it in at another period ? The result would have been a pressure upon the Bank, and then that deposits made in behalf of the loan, would have come out, and a reaction would have taken place, which would be likely to be productive of the most serious inconvenience. In the first place, the party paying the money would have the benefit of the advance he made, while that money would be again applied to the payment of the Exchequer bills, and the public in both points of view, would be losers. It was, he trusted, unnecessary for him to argue that branch of the case any further. He would now come to the proceedings of the 16th of August, and he would observe that the principle of open competition being adopted, the system pursued was analogous to that of a loan. He did not know that he should have more than one offer. He mentioned that more especially in reference to the allusions that had been made to the tender sent in by the Bank of England that morning. —(H .hear, from Sir J. R. Reid.) He was entirely ignorant both of the amount and the price, nor did he know that the Bank was about to send in any tender at all. He had anticipated the probability of such a ten- tier being made, and he thought the Bank was perfectly justified in so doing. The third Wider had been made by a gentleman who had arrived only that morning from Scotland, and another, and the largest offer, had been made by a house which was well known for its extensive operations in the monetary world. He trusted that those who now bore the name of that house would sustain the high character which it had hitherto preserved. The fourth was a sealed paper which had been prepared by Lord Melbourne and himself. The principle adopted was that if the offers made were more favourable than the terms contained in the sealed paper, these terms were then to be offered to the lowest contractor, and so on in succession to the others. The terms offered by the Bank were 1091. ss. 10d. Three per Cent. Consols ; by Messrs. Rothschild 1101. 17s. 6d. ; and by the Commercial Bank of Scotland 111/. The proposal contained in the sealed paper of the Government was 1101. The House would see that these proposals came very near to one another, but that of the Bank was the most favourable to the Govern ment, and that tender was received. According to the value of Stock, the proposal of the Bank was equal _ . . to 90/. 18s. 2d. ; that of Messrs. Rothschild was 90/. 2s. 10d. ; and that of the Commercial Bank of Scotland, 901. ls. ma. Comparing these prices pith the average price of Consols for the 64 transfer days ending Monday the 16th of August, the resjilt would be as follows :—The average was 921. 4s. 21d., and the closing price on the Saturday before the loan was 91/. 12s. 6d., therefore the difference between the several proposals and the "sing price was as follows :—The Bank offer was be- Tow it 2s. 6d. ; the Government offer was below it 14s. 4d. ; the Messrs. Rothschilds was 1/. Bs. and a frac tion, and that of the Bank of Scotland was below it 11. 10s. and a fraction. An offer had been made by the Bank in the first instance, and the other parties had been offered the Government terms, which they declined. An immediate communi- cation was made to the City, stating that the Govern ment adhered to the proposal of 1101. To the 23d was the time fixed for the receiving tenders ; a considerable amount had already been received, 600,0004 that morning.—(Sir J. R. Reid--" Nearer 700,0001.") This was satisfactory, as showing that the Government had not attempted what was unreasonable. He felt con fident, that before this Bill passed through its stages, the operation would be brought to a successful termina tion. As to the bonus which the tender of the Gover ment would afford the parties, it was a question which coald scarcely be solved with certainty, seeing that it must test on data open to controversy, for instance, the average pren2ium of Exchequer bills : the closing prices were not the real average. But he believed that on the whole the bonus would be from 15s. to 16s. The offer of Messrs, Rothschild would have been equivalent to a bonus of 11. 11 s. 9d., and the offer of the Scotch rank, to 11. 14s. He hoped the result would justify him in having adopted the plan of pubiic competition.—(Hear, hear.) He acknowledged thatihe had felt some considerable dis trust in adopting it. Not that he doubted the cor rectness of the reasoning by which it was supported, but feeling that in adopting an unusual proceeding he incurred higher responsibility. The resolutions he meant to propose were these :—Erst, that the contract entered into with the Bank should be completed, on terms more reasonable than those proposed by the Government. Secondly, that in respect to all parties who should on these terms deliver up their Exchequer Bills to be can. .celled before Friday next , should receive in lieu thereof Three per Cent. Consols. Thus, assuming that 2 400,000/. more were subscribed for, which, in addi tion to the 500,000 i. from the Bank, would make a 000,0001., leaving a million, which should be as Three p er DCents. Consols calculated at the average pthe quarter immediately preceding the transactionreof engrafting in respect to this deficiency th e provisions vi Bill, he might be askeds‘ous on the Irish Bank Charter , Cents. and not i n stock in why he funded in Three per o ldahigher 1 reply (Hear) —to which he would denomination ? discrimination betweenthat there must be a the general interest of moiey the o p temporary loans, and public intere s t as peraa gently shown in the securities, he m ere l y t oo k th e temporary interest he should has': selected stock of a higher denomination ; but that was different, when the permanent interest was low. He should, if he com pleted the operation , conclude it attasuprtiuce equi va l en t per c en t. u of its to the interest, of not much more h —a clear proof this that there was nothingri st s e t e r i n the cir cumstances of the country to create any d resour ces. Next year would be the first commence. w ent of a series of dro pp in g securities, which fromy e e e ; to year would fall in. He would not advert to the halycon days of 1860, which probably few present would live to enjoy--( A L;ugh)—and when the danger would be from the amount of income set free.--(A laugh.) There were several inillions of the debt in terminable annuities. Lord Spencer bad felt strongly the advan tage of converting perpetual into terminable annuities, and had proposed terms for the conversion into annui ties for 100 years. But the House might be curious to know in what measure the public had availed them selves of this ; and the result had been that only one annuity , And that for 201., had been so converted. This, too, was to pay 100 years' rent of the same amount. Ad am Smiai, who was the great authority for the terminable annuities, said that though there wa s no real difference between the perpetual and the ter- 1 minable annuities of 100 years, the public would not I purchase the latter so willingly. Hence, he (the Chan cellor of the Exchequer) feared that had he attempted it, he would not have secured for the public very fa vourable terms. If he had created a new stock for this particular transaction, a five or a six per cent. stock for example, he feared that it would not have found a very favourable market. The public were extremely fastidious as to stock which had the largest sale, and would fetch the highest price in the market, as might be exemplified in the comparative indifference as to the South Sea Stock, which was in all real respects as va luable. In conclusion, the R ght Hon. Gentleman thanked the House for the attention with which they had heard him, and he moved the first of his resolutions. This resolution was then read by the Chairman. It merely provided for the completion of the contract with • the Bank. The resolution was agreed to. On the second resolution, providing that every per son sending in his Exchequer bills to be cancelled be fore the 23d instant, on the Government terms. should be entitled to have the contract on these terms, Mr. HU ME said whatever objections he might en tertain to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's plan, he did not object to the admission of public competition. On the contrary, he thought that was the wisest and the most equitable that could have been adopted. But he considered that the Right Hon. Gentleman should have taken stockin a higher denomination, trusting to a possible reduction in favour of the public. By a well conducted system of finances, he trusted that the country would be able to effect considerable reduction. And he believed that experience undoubtedly established the opinion that it was most advantageous to fund in the higher and not in the smaller stocks. He therefore had hoped that an attempt would have been made to borrow the money in the 3} per cents. If the Chancellor of the Exchequer had acceded to the inquiry for which he (Mr. Hume) had moved last year and the year before, he would have shown the erro neous principles on which the Bank was acting, and by guarding against those errors the evils that had taken place might have been prevented, He thought the Chancellor of the Exchequer was highly blameable for not having brought this subject forward before the Budget, when the state of the pecuniary affairs of the country were developed. The Right Hon. Gentleman ought before this to have reduced the amount of un funded debt, and he ( Mr. Hume) was sorry the Bank did not take the whole of the tender that had been made. _ Sir J. R. REID felt satisfied that the conduct of the Bank on this particular question would meet with the approbation of every Member in that House, except perhaps the Hon. Member for Kilkenny.—(Hear, hear, and No, no.)—The conduct of the Bank had been most liberal, and he would take that opportunity of affirming what had been stated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that no communication whatever had passed between that Right Hon. Gentleman or any member of the Bank of England. He stated this, because a certain journal had taken every opportu nity of writing down the conduct of the Bank. He held in his hand an extract from the Times, in which the writer, after the usual abuse, said " they made an offer on the part of the Corporation, towards which they stand in the character of Trustees as well as Managers, which was an improvident one ; and they may take their choice of being supposed negligent, or of acting in subservience to a Ministry whose good-will they imagine it essential to cultivate with a view to the renewal of their Charter. They even went in their zeal beyond what was necessary for a time-serving, spi rit." He denied that he had been, or was subservient to o any Government, particularly to the Governmont of the present day.—( Hear, hear, and laughter.) He de clared solemnly that on no occasion whatever had he been subservient to the Right Hon. Gentleman.— (A laugh.) The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. — Never since I can remember. Sir J. R. REID said, I detest the source from which these imputations came, and I throw them back with all the scorn they deserve. (The Hon. Baronet with great excitement threw the extract on the floor of the House.) He believed there were no individuals who worked harder, and who had a greater quantity of abuse thrown on them than himself and the Chan cellor of the Exchequer.--(Laughter.) As long as he retained the situation which he had the honour to hold, he would endeavour faithfully and honestly to discharge his duty as Governor of the Bank without fear, favour, or affection, and his anxious wish always had been and would continue to be, as long as he filled that post, to promote by all the means in his power, the prosperity of the country and the prosperity of the Bank with which he felt the interests of the country were materially con nected. Looking at the sum subscribed —looking at the im provement of trade and the state of the foreign exchanges, he had no hesitation in declaring it as his opinion that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would obtain the money he required, and on the terms he had stated. He should not for the future care what was said about him, and although he had no doubt that he would to-morrow get a scourging, yet be would endeavour honestly to pursue the same course he had hitherto adopted.— (Hear, hear.) Mr. HERUIES could not but express his regret that this proposition had not been made at an earlier period, when a greater number of Members would be present to discuss a subject of so grave importance, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer had stated no good reason for bringing forward, on the 16th of August, a measure that ought to have been introduced on the 16th of March. That Honourable Gentleman ought to have mentioned when he made his financial state ment that he meditated so material a change in the financial condition of the country. With respect to the terms of this funding of Exchequer Bills, he did not object to the price fixed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, nor to the mode adopted, and he hoped that effect would be produced which the Chancellor of the Exchequer anticipated. There was one thing, however, which the Right Hon. Gentleman had not adverted to in any part of his speech. He had not stated any thing of the permanent provision to be made for this permanent addition to the national debt. He could not but deeply regret that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should have brought forward such a measure at the present period of the Session. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER de fended the course he had adopted. He did not think a Minister of the Crown could have adopted any other course. Sir THOMAS FREEMANTLE regretted ex tremely that the measure had not been brought for ward at an earlier period of the Session. For this mi seralAe sum of 4,000,0001., Exchequer Bills the Right Hon. Gentleman had been compelled to resort to three different expedients, and it was doubtful whether he would be finally successful. He believed the old plan was not so objectionable in principle as it appeared to be. But the Right Hon. Gentleman having adopted one principle was compelled to act on the other; having obtained only one-eighth on the principle of com petition, the Right Hon. Gentleman adopted the other principle. It had been stated that the public credit of the country stood as high as ever it did, and he really thought it did, but he could not admit the statement without some warning. And if we were to go on for many years longer with the income less than the expen diture, the public credit could not retain the ascendancy which it now did. There had been a deficiency for the last two years of 1,800,0001., and there was an antici patcd deficiency for the next year, and he asked where the amount was to come from ? He feared that they might be compelled to resort to a property-tax, in time of peace.—( Hear, hear.) This was the only tax which could be made available for producing a large amount of income, and it ought to be reserved for a period of war. If the deficiency should next year be fairly met by the Government, there would be nothing to com plain of, but if another year should be allowed to pass over, the effects might be very serious. After a few remarks from Mr. FINCH (as we under stood) against the impolicy of funding, the resolutions were agreed to, and the Report ordered to be received ;o-morrow. LIGHTING THE HOUSE. Sir F. TRENCH moved that compensation, at the discretion of the Treasury. be granted to Mr. Gurney for the expense of experiments respecting lighting the House. The SPEAKER said the motion could not be en tertained without the consent of the Crown, and in a Committee of the whole House. Sir F. TRENCH said he would leave the matter in the hands of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. HUME said the Committee provided for the payment of Mr. Gurney—than whom a more disin terested scientific man did not exist. He thought the experiment had succeeded. Lord ELIOT expressed a similar opinion. BANK OF IRELAND. Mr. ELLIS asked what time this debate was to come on to-morrow. Mr. BARING said, twelve o'clock. Mr. O'CONNELL considered it was understood that it was to be four o'clock ; and gave notice that he should move that it be postponed to that hour to morrow, and repeat his motion till he succeeded. The House then adjourned. been pleased to appoint a authority that his Majesty has HANOVER, AUG. 11 . — We learn from g ood Commissi on o f nine members to p repare the proposals which are t o serve , i n the cases of future discussion, in order to come to an agree ment w ith the Estates of the Kingdom. N o t on l y i s t ran quillity restored, but the minds of the people seem also to be calm ; the measures ordered by th e po li ce, such as closing the h ouses at an early hour, have ceased ; and the m ilit ar y that have been called in will lulus us this week, to return to their garrisons. , ..The criminal i nvest i gat i on is proceeding, but it is b e li eved that the Government will nqt continue it. VIENNA, AUG.9.--wrln the 7th instant, at ten in the morning, died an eminent benker, Baron von Es keles, after a few days illness, at his country seat at Hit zing. He was in his eighty-seventh year. His eminent services, especially as founder of the Austrian National B an k, bas e.o.t4led him to the gratitude of the country. Advanced Ili life as he vrkts, his loss will be felt and uni versally regretted. ' --- THE SUN, LONDON,. TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1839. CHARTIST TRIALS. CHESTER ASSIZES. MR. M•DOUALL'S DEFENCE. The defendant M'Douall then entered on his defence, which occupied four hours. In appearing before them at the present moment to plead his own cause, he eould not help recollecting the old and trite expression, fre• quently made use of, and which might, perhaps, be ap- plicable to himself, that he who pleaded his own cause had a fool for his client. He might certainly haveemployed counsel, and by so doing have given more dignity andim portance to his cause, but when be considered the splen did legal talent which would be arrayed against him, and felt that as far as legal talent were concerned, that humble as his own abilities were he should be compelled to rely upon them and upon the justice of his cause, aided by that wise and humane provision of the law which made it a duty of the Judge on. the Bench to act as Counsel, not for the prosecution but for the prisoner. in the justice of the laws of this country he placed his confidence ; to the authority and decisions of the Judges who bad presided on the judgment-seat ; and to the well known and established impartiality of British Juries; to these, and to these alone he trusted for the success of his cause, and for his honourable dismissal from that bar. It was needless, he hoped, to ask the Jury to lay aside any prejudice that might have pre-occupied their minds, but he did entreat them to cast aside all preju (lice which even unconsciously arose in the mindsof many from the extraordinary alarm and general agitation which prevailed in this country, and in that district at the present moment. He did not stand before them to deny any one principle which he had advocated, but he did protest against the manner in which the Attorney-General had alluded to meetings, circumstances, and events, which had no connexion with the case the Jury had to try— meetings that had formerly taken place, and which the Attorney-General had no right to allude to, because he did not, and could not, give them in evidence. He pro tested against the unfairness of imputing to him motives of the worst description, and language, the atrocity of which the Learned Gentleman said he had not language to describe. What language had been proved to the Jury which could justify such an epithet ? What conduct that could justify the imputation of such motives? He then proceeded to defend the grounds on which he had supported the present agitation. He had not en tered on it from any visionary notion, derived from mere theoretical principles, but he had founded the doctrines which he had advocated upon the Constitution and statute book of England, and upon the ancient and most authentic records connected with that Constitution. He then proceeded to quote a considerable number of authorities in support of those views. From Tacitus and Caesar to prove that the British tribes were in the habit of meeting in bodies in council ; that the same plan was followed by the Saxons, and that all their laws were passed by edicts of general assemblies of the the whole body of the people, and referred, in proof of this, to a decree of Sigeric, thus headed, " This is the decree of Sigeric, in the Court held before King Ethelred, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop, Abbots, and Senators, the chiefs, and people of the whole country," and then proceeded to enumerate various other Charters headed in a similar manner. It was Alfred the Great who introduced the princi ple of representation, in consequence of finding the assemblage of the whole people too cumbrous and in convenient. Thus it went on till the Norman dy nasty became supreme in England, and soon they re spected and adopted the ancient Saxon customs. By the 4th Edward 111. c. 1.5., it was enacted that Par liament should be held once or oftener in every year, if need be. Thus the principle of annual parliaments was sanctioned by statute as well as by custom. Nor was there by the ancient laws and Constitution any pro perty limit of suffrage until the reign of Henry VI., and what was the reason alleged for passing that Act ? Not that any inconvenience had actually arisen, but because by reason •f men of smaller substance and no value voting at elections riots might arise and be Annual parliaments were held up to and in the reign of Henry VIII., and it was wellknown that the attempt to in terfere with the duration of Parliament had material influence in bringing Charles to the block. It was a remarkable feature in English history that it was not to English but to foreign Monarchs that we were in debted for those invasions of the English Constitution which formed the subject of such general complaint at the present moment. Willliam 111., a stranger, abro gated annual parliaments and introduced triennial par liaments, and George 1., another stranger, passed the Septennial Act. The jury would remember probably the celebrated protest of the Peers on that occa sion, and the reason they alleged, viz.—" Because they conceived that frequent and new Parliaments were required by the fundamental Constitution of the Kingdom, and the practice thereof for many ages." It was therefore for nothing new that the Chartists contended ; all that they ask was the restoration of those ancient laws and customs which were fundamen tal to the Constitution, and which the necessity of the present times demanded should be re stored. All that the Chartists claimed was the integrity and the reality of that Constitution which had grown with our growth, and strengthened with our strength, which had been the boast of this land, and the envy of surrounding nations. One of the most impor tant elements of that Constitution was the right to per fect freedom of discussion, and it appeared to him a monstrous violation of the Constitution to prosecute per sons attending such meetings, and to treat them as tu multuous and unlawful. Was it unlawful to call or to attend meetings for the purpose of petitioning Parlia ment, to return to those ancient laws and institutions under which the grandeur and greatness of this country had been developed and matured ? There could be no greater mistake than to suppose that the Chartists and the people generally were reckless advocates of change. It was contrary to the very nature of man to suppose this ; for national habits, customs, and laws were the things to which the majority of mankind were especially attached. It was from the violation of those ancient laws and customs, which he sincerely believed were framed in the spirit of the profoundest wisdom, that dis tress pervaded our land, and agitation stalked in its train. Another of those erroneous notions regarding Chartism which had been extensively and authoritatively propa gated, and which had excited a most unjust prejudice against them, was that it was their object and intention to appropriate and divide property. It was not to be wondered at that any new political sect arising in the State, should meet with obloquy which they did not deserve. The early Christians themselves were a proof of this, and were accused of crimes and motives of a most atrocious character. To say that the Chartists advocated a division of property was a most atrocious libel upon them. Let them take the Charter with its five points ; let them read them from beginning to end, and they would not find the slightest ground for such a charge. The only division of property which the Char tists aimed at was a division of political property, an equal participation with others in political rights and privileges, and by which no one would be robbed or injured. He could say, not only for himself, but for all with whom he had associated in this cause, that he never heard, either in public or in private, the slightest whisper of such a proposal. What ra tional man could for a single instant entertain such an idea? For were property equally divided one week the next would find it merged in the hands of the strong, the designing, and the industrious, by whom it would be wrested from the weak, the foolish, and the idle. Another atrocious libel on the professors of Chartism was the attributing to them the advocacy of the dagger and the torch. In all times the patriotic, those who sought the improvement of the institutions of their country, had to encounter unmerited abuse. The great Washington himself had not escaped, and, unfor tunately for the Chartiits, unfortunately for those who, out of pure love of country, advocated the rege neration of our ancient Constitution, there were a large number of bad and vicious men, to whom it might be exceeding convenient to assume the mask of Chartism, but whose vices and crimes, which existed prior to and independent of Chartism, it was most unfair to charge them with. Thus, in London, it was said there was a predatory population of 100,000 persons, or at least, that 100,000 persons rose every morning in London, without knowing where to get a breakfast. Were the crimes of all the lawless of society to b charged upon the Chartists ? No ; though the five points of the Charter 'were insisted upon, and insisted upon mainly because of the misery in which the poorer classes were at present plunged—though he felt deeply for those miseries, he could still feel for those who had been born in affluence and nurtured in luxury, and should the torch of the incendiary ever, unhappily, be applied to their dwellings, none would be more deserving of commiseration than those who should thus be ren dered homeless. The Chartists, the true Chartists— those who entered upon or joined the present agitation on pure and philosophic and constitutional motives— were just as anxious to put down the use of the dagger nd torch as the rich and the powerful themselves. He then entered into a description of the miseries and suf ferings of the working classes, to which he attri buted the agitation commenced by them for the increase of their political power. It had been the early habit of his life to observe closely the condition of the people and the operation of the laws, and the misery which hi h a d seen prevail around investigate the indu ce d hi m c l ose l y t o exam i ne i n t o a nd the causes. Of late years he: regretted to say there had take n pl ace a str iki ng an d l amenta bl e c h ange in the condition of the working daises of this empire. He could well (though young) remember the time when there existed in his native country (Scotland) a high. minded, educated, noble, and industrious race of men, the hand-loom weavers. The men were intelligent and prosperous, their wives we ll c l ot h e d an d h appy , th e i r houses smiling, and their hearth-stones glad. He could remember when the song of joy mingled is ith the rattle of their looms, when the people worked with happiness and. pleasure instead of as now with curses muttering on whi m ch en t 2 hey T w h e e renot their lips ag•‘avinhsetrethwoseerelanw byows those America, the watch-fire o f th e so ldi er , t h e iro•debtor'sback woodseof te d gaol, and the culprit's cell, had completed the work of misery ; their cottages were roofless`; their hearth-stones cold, and in the beautiful lan guage of Scripture, the place that once I I knew them, knows them no longer. When he came to this country he beheld the same decline of a once noble race. The handicraftsman was passing away, and carry ing his talent and his ingenuity to other lands, whilst the mighty genius of machinery was calling factories into existence in every direction. He once entertained the hope that machinery with its vast powers, was doomed to mitigate the toil of man ; to enable him with less expenditure of labour to gain more of the comforts of fife, and to improve the happiness of our social condition. In consequence of the stimulus given to trade machinery was invented, and it had produced the effects to which he.bad just alluded. He had examined minutely into the condtion of the:factory labourers, holding, on the only rational conclusion any one could come to, that by the introduction of machinery manual labour would be lessened, but he found on the other hand, that instead of the eight hours labour being reduced to four by the application of machinery, which would produce so much quicker and cheaper, that it had doubled the manual labour and increased it to sixteen hours. In his exami nation he was not disposed to take the complaints of the people themselves or to believe all they stated, but he made it his business to examine and inquire from house to house, and from door to door, and ascertain what the real condition of the people was, and from the si tuation he occupied as a medical man, he was the bet ter enabled to judge not only of their social but their domestic condition. Of so much importance were his investigations and researches deemed that one of the Secretaries of State of the present Government had written to him for a copy, and it also found a place on the books of the British Association held at Newcastle-on -Tyne, which was, perhaps, the best evidence he could give of its correctness and truth. He had examined the houses, which, he would observe, were built by the factory masters for the workmen, for the purpose of realizing 20 per cent. by the speculation. Instead of the boasted comfort and convenience of the factory labourers, about which so much had been said, he found that in 137 families, consisting of 777 indivi duals, there were only 137 bed-rooms, or one for ea c h family. In 24 families he had found as many as five sleeping in one bed-room ; in 24 families there were as many as 7 persons sleeping in one bed-room ; in 5 fami. lies there were 9 in one bed-room ; in 3 families there were 11 in one bed-room ; in 2 families there were 12, and in one family there were 13 sleeping in one bed room. There were only 172 families out of 309 who had two bed-rooms- In 11 of these families there were 10 persons in two bed-rooms ; in 4 families there were 12 ;in 7 families there were 14, and so on. He had then inquired upon the subject of wages, and he had taken the data laid down by the best and leading manufacturers of Lancashire, namely 10s. per head per week ; but on examination he had found that on the average of a number of families the wages ranged only from 2s. 6d. to ss. 6d. per bead per week. At the date of his investigations (August 1838), there was a law in existence by which the factory masters were com pelled to find teachers for the persons employed under them, and on the subjeet of education the result was that out of 309 families in 11 families, con sisting of 50 persons, there was not one person able to read. In 26 families there was only one in each family able to read—in e l b,nndin 54 families 32ferniliesonl there yweret were beret only bree two in persons in each able to read. In 86 families, consisting of 525 persons, there was not one able to write. In 62 families there were only two able to write in each ; in 29 fami lies there were three in each. He would now direct them to another point for the purpose of showing the connection between his former persecutors and the pre seyi I n l e t g e p r w o b s e e c r e u t b i oen. had Tbhe been n arrested, c i r cumstance and o w c b c e u r r e r ed the n t e t e h t e . ing had been held, to answer which he now appeared at their bar. He had stated already that he had gone into an examination of the factory system, in consequence of a challenge Thomas which As beenha b d tonat t thrown n out was the that best n the mill of England, and of which a report had been drawn up and submitted to the British Association, by Mr. Falkin. That report was calculated to spread an erroneous notion throughout the world concerning the boasted comfort of the factory people of England, because at the meeting of that association the most distinguished men from America, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and almost all the important towns and districts in Europe and America, were present. And in order to show the connection between the present prose cution and that investigation which he had made into the factory system, he would remind the jury that the principal witness against him, was the bro ther-in-law of Mr. Thomas Ashton of Hyde. I n th e first house he had visited he had found six males and three females—two out of the nine were workers and received 17s. per week, out of which they paid Mr. Thomas Ashton ss. 51d. for coals, rent, and water, not forgetting 2d. a week for the Sunday school, leaving a sum of I Is. 7d for 9 persons to live on during the week. In another house there were two females, one of whom was a worker who received 193. a fortnight. Out of that sum she paid 10s. Id. per fortnight to Mr. Thomas Ashton, which left Bs. 11d. to live upon and support another female for a fortnight. He might quote to theta innumerable instances of this of the same descrip tion, but he had collected together in the report he had prepared some facts of the foregoing description to show the world the condition of the workers in what was boasted to be the best and most comfortable of the factory districts in Lancashire —and in fact throughout the whole of his investigation there was only one woman whose husband re ceived 255. a week, who said that her condition was moderately comfortable. In consequence of that inves tigation he had been made the subject of the present prosecution ; and she was now accused by the Attorney- General of having only money in view, and refusing to work without being paid. Seeing no means of one in dividual contending against a class of men possessing not only combination and numbers, but capital, and perceiving that some of the noblest and most philan thropic, and richest of men had fallen into poverty of the worst description by a s i m il ar course of endeavour ing to procure justice for the poor and the industrious classes, he began to dispair of being able to improve their condition by any individual efforts of his own. Believ ing that, and entertaining still the hope of bettering their condition, he saw no probability of effecting the object without, at the same time, giving the people the means of combatting the powerful opposition raised against any man who would dare to come forward and advocate the rights of the people. H e had at length become convinced that there was no means of improving their condition without, at the same time, giving them the political power by which to effect it ; and even if the effect might be calculated to produce some agitation and some evil to society, still there was infinitely greater evil in leaving these men exposed to the tyrannical influence under which they were suffering at the present moment. It was; impossible, if the reports made by the masters of the condition of their workmen were true, that the statement of the Attorney-General could be correct, when he had accused him (Mr. M'Douall) of exciting and raising up the workmen against their masters. No man, whatever might be his eloquence or popularity, could rouse and excite the people to complain of the tyranny of their masters, and to put forth the many grievances under which they laboured, unless some of these grievances really existed. If the people were really comfortable, no power on earth could induce the people to become agitators, and subject them to the absurd charge of attempting to subvert the laws and institutions of the country, when their only object was to resist changes in their social condition and obtain the restoration of those political rights which their ancestors had enjoyed. If the people were comfortable there would be no agitation ; but if real misery and distress existed, then agitation was merely an effect, and the misery they suffered the cause of that agitation. The Attorney-General had therefore entirely mistaken the matter, and had imputed to the effect what he ought in justice only to have ascribed to the cause. Whatever obloquy or misrepresentation might attach to his actions or proceedings, he would never relinquish his proud position of advocating the es t a bli s h ment o f . . :hose principles which were founded on the ancient sta tutes, and customs and rights of their forefathers, forming the brightest page in the history of England, ' and which were never more imperatively necessary than at the present time, in consequence of the miseries which the people endured—he would never relinquish that great purpose for any visionary scheme of a divi sion of property, or the atrocious system of the dagger and the torch. What he had demanded was to esta blish those principles which would extend to the labour ers of that country, the same po li t i ca l p owers w hi c h t h e Reform Bill h ad conferre d upon t h e m iddl e c l asses. He dema n d e d t h at as a r i g h t, w hi c h t h ey oug ht t o pos sess from th e i r position, as producers of the wealth of that count ry , and as b e i ng super i or an d more important, as a class, than those in whose hands only that power was at presen t v es t e d, an d who wer e merely the distr ib utors o f t h e wea lth an d sustenance which the industrious classes produced, and created. He demanded it in right of their intelligence, those len ses by which distant spheres were brought for wh a t c l ass of men, he would as k , possesse d a greater right to it on the ground of intell i gence an d men t a l capa city tha n th e mechanist, who by his ingenuity could form ap parently clos er to the inha bi tants o f t h e ear th, by whi c h they we re ena bl ed to examine into t h e b eau t y an d har mony of their construction, and thus teach them to wor ship the Creator in the contemplation of the wonders and magnitude of his works ? What men were better entitled to those rights than the labourers who toiled in their field s , an d made the vallies an d t h e hill s id es o f t h e country green an d i n the proper seaso n waving w ith luxuriant crops of gr a i n a nd teeming with fertility and abundance? F rom that class of men t h ey d er i ve d a ll b y which lite was sustained ; and ' for every t hi ng, f rom com forts the meanest to luxury the highest, they were de pendant up on t h at vast m echanical arm, the labouring,. population. Without the labours of that class all their efforts in commercial enterprise and mechanical im provement, and social advancement were as nothing, and, as good architects, they should certainly be anxious to see the basis of the noble edifice of which they were so proud, established upon a foundation of security, and permanence, iti(l happiness. He sought for no wild visionary, or theoretical improvements. He only wished to see the ancient institutions and the recognised rights of the people of that nation restored and acted upon. He merely sought for what at the present moment existed in its most extended sense, in a country which was likely to be one of the greatest among the nations of the earth—the American Republic. At the sam, time he would observe that even by the establishment of these principles he did not expect that everything theo r. tically beautiful or politically deceptive would be gained. From all the evidences he had yet seen, he believed that idea to be illusive. If they consulted the most ancient records, such would be found to be prac tically the result. Even under Moses, the chosen people of God occasionally endured want, and famine and desolation stalked across the land ; and even in that place, where the peculiar care and concern of God was manifested in their behalf, and where they peacefully tended theirflocks,the smoke of battle rolled through these beautiful valleys, and the chosen of the people, the heads of the house of Israel, were compelled to buckle on their armour, to gallop through the waving fields of corn, and charge through their affrighted flocks. He would now call the attention of the jury to the meeting at Hyde, and from what had fallen from the Attorney-General it would appear that he was not disposed to dispute the right of the people to meet and petition. To establish that point, he would take the liberty of reading an ex tract from a !peach of the Learned Gentleman, and he would observe that the last time he had had the pleasure of seeing him was in the midst of " a riotous and tumul tuous assembly," in the High -street of Edinburgh.—(A laugh.) The Learned Gentleman had taken the liberty of imputing to him the crime of being in the midst of a " riotous and tumultuous assembly," at Hyde, and had most unjustly and unfairly imputed to him (Mr. M'Dou all) the motives which might have actuated the men among whom he was, but he would not be so uncharitable or dishonest as to impute to the Learned Gentleman the motives which influenced the mob among whom he was when he ( Mr. M'D.) had seen him borne on the summit of the shoulders of two stout porters, who appeared to groan under the weight of their legal burden— (Laughter, in which the Learned Judge joined)—and when the Learned Gentleman wore a hat of a most peculiar shape, his own having been transferred to some of his friends around him, under circumstances that might lead one to consider it a fair exchange. If he (Mr. M'Douall) had judged from the company he had then seen him in he should certainly have supposed he had assembled " in a riotous and tumultuous manner with other evil disposed persons."—(A laugh.) He might, if so inclined, even accuse the Learned Gentle man of being a member of the Whig Government, whose conduct and practices had been so violently de nounced, and whose proceedings and language had been a subject of general execration. He might remind the Learned Gentleman that he had thought proper to en ter Dudley by torchlight, and had advocated and de fended the riots that took place there, maintaining the right of the people to use torches ; and such was the connexion in the minds of Attorney-Generals between meetings of the people and torches that in his opening address to-day— Mr. HILL—For God sake say which Attorney-Ge neral you mean.—(A laugh.) Mr. M‘DonaLL—Such were the visions of torch lights that flitted through his mind that until he had examined his brief he could not divest himself of the idea that the meeting which he (Mr . M'Douall) at ttended was a torchlight meeting. He would take the liberty of reading for them a passage from the speech of Mr., now Sir John, Campbell in defending Mr. Samuel Cook, in 1827. He then read—" Gentlemen, English men have a right to entertain and express their strong and decisive opinions with respect to all public officers." Such was the opinion of her Majesty's Attorney-Gene ral, and if he (Mr. M'Douall) called the Whigs " a base bloody, and brutal" set, he was only doing it on his high authority, for which he might have been taught to en tertain respect. Therefore, if he had made use of strong language in denouncing the conduct of public men—if he, as an individual ignorant of the law, had expressed " strong and decisive opinions" on the con nect of members of the present Government, he was only doing so on the authority of Sir John Campbell, the Attorney-General. That was " a right" according to him, " which they had inherited from their ancestors, bought, amongst other things, at the price of their blood, and he hoped they would preserve it pure, and transmit it to posterity unbroken." His opinions had been also fortified by another autho rity, higher, if possible, than the Attorney-General—he meant Lord John Russell, who, in a speech in October last, said—" some perhaps might think that these meet ings, (alluding to the Chartists) should be put down, but such was not his opinion - , nor that of the Government with which he acted. He thought the people had a right to free discussion—it was free discussion that eli cited truth." He (Mr. M'Douall) agreed with his Lordship in that position. "If the people had griev ances, they had a right to declare them, but if they had no grievances common sense would speedily come to the rescue, and put an end to them." Lord John Russell did not state that if these grievances did exist, and that, consequently, common sense did not put them down, that he would have recourse to violent measures, that he would proceed by indictments, and prosecutions, and imprisonments, to put down these legal and constitu tional meetings of the people. In another speech, the Noble Lord had observed, that "it was the nature of the people to push obedience almost to a fault." If any other authority was necessary, he should feel disposed to refer to one still higher as to the right of the people to meet, and that authority was the Learned Judge now upon the Bench. Mr. (now Baron) Gurney, who was counsel on the trial of Daniel James Caton, had stated that "the first political truth engrave!' on the soul of man was that all power flowed from the people, and as a trust far their benefit, and when that trust was abused resistance was not only a right but a duty." He then proceeded to contend that the assembly at Hyde was not a riotous or tumultuous one. He did not deny having been present at it, but he did deny that it was an illegal meeting, or one calculated to excite terror and alarm ; it was not a torch-light meeting, nor did it produce any breach of the peace. Now, certainly, Lord John Russell must have a singularly constituted mind to evince so muc h t error an d alarm at a small meeting, at an obscure place, like Hyde, and yet have overlooked the great Kersal Moor meeting of 300,000 persons. Why did he not instruct the At torney-General to prosecute Mr. Fielden who presided, or Mr. Attwood, who spoke at that meeting ? Why did be now descend from Olympus to a molehill, and passing over the rich and' the powerful, bring the whole powers of the Government to crush him self, whom the indictment denominated a poor " labourer," and his co-defendant a still poorer clogger ? It was said that the meeting had bands of music and banners. Why, had not large bodies of' men during the last two days passed by that very Court with musk and banners, and had any, one called that a tumultuous or unlawful meeting? And what were the inscriptions on the banners at Hyde ? " Equal laws" and I' Equal rights" who did not contend for, and " No property qualification" —was it not at present the law of the land in Scotland ? The evidence proved that no alarm was excited by or at the meeting, and it was only said that one pistol was fired ; surely that was not very alarming, nor could it constitute an act se very criminal as to involve all who attended the meeting, and who did not sanction its being fired, in the conse quences of criminality. How weak was the evidence of seditious language. The witnesses made no notes. One who swore to his words could not read. They heard only parts of sentences. The omission or alteration of a single word might make all the difference in the mean ing of a sentence, and these men, on the perfect accuracy of whose testimony the Jury were called on to find a verdict of guilty, could not repeat in Court immediately after be had read it the substance of a sentence which he read to them, much slower and more deliberately than the speech made by him, the words used at which they pretended to repeat. How absurd it was to imagine that he should have advised a meeting consisting principally of boys and girls, as the witnesses had described it, to arm ; how absurd to say that he had advised the meeting to attack the soldiers with guns, pistols, and pikes, when, in the very same breath the witnesses said that he told them five out of seven of the officers of the army and navy were in their favour, and that the soldiers were signing petitions in favour of POLITICAL GRIEVANCES.—WhiIe we decry the Chartists. On such evidence as this he put it to the Chartist panacea of stabbing and burning, as a remedy the jury, who were bound to decide on the evid ence , f or political grievances, we should be untrue to the cause and that alone, how could they but acquit him ? we have so long advocated did we not take the same oppor- But it was said he told the people they had a right to tunity of recordin g the sense we have of the existence of have arms. Surely that was not seditious, it was a a wide-spread discontent, which can only be removed by well known and recognised constitutional right, sane- reforms far more extensive than any which have hitherto been attempted ; and we feel very distinctly that if the tioned by the Bill of Rights, by Sir John Fortescue, by proper remedy be not found and applied, and that shortly, Blackstone, and by a host of authorities. The Con- no z e d xtsion of the army, or of the principle of acerra stitution of England was jealous of any other power will save this country frem . tha o t_to a which ver radical unconstitutional than the people being armed. A standing army was evene police, rira r r d i ee ly d. adv T an h c e i r n e g- i - s a e re e volutic f unconstitutional in this country, and though it in reality character intelligence awakening existed, existed, it existed only from y ear t o y ear , an d th e A c t which puts in a cl a i m f or privileges that cannot much for maintaining it m us t b e vote d annually. He then longer be safely withheld: and, far worse than that, there proceeded to contend that the Ch ar ti s t s had d one is temple generating which will be fed, and which will nothing that the Whigs had not set them the come to the Corn.law m onopolists with the Poor-law at its heels, and in all probability, sweep sway, at one rush, example of, and for which they had been applauded. both tne goad and the evil, if the safety of that which is He referred to several passages in the Chronicle and the good be not timely purchased by the surrender of that Times, of 1831, the extract from the first concluding Afere ,r ury , winch is bad.—Bristol with the words " Union—arms—reform," and in the last COIN with "Organize and arm." Lord John Russell's recent IMMENSE ANNUAL ISSUE OF BASE letter also proved the right of the people to arm, and the Weheard it A mentioned tere yesterday by Mr. SergeantPl Attorney -General for the Count . readines s o f th e G overnment to ass i st i n arming them i A n te a l li e u r s l i e lr" t tt e the t im n po - rtance of the Mint pr y osecuatitoinne, for pa r ty p ur po ses . What language h a d bee n used by t h at n ot less than three thousand persons are at present a ny Chartist half so violent or half so seditious as that ' entraged in eetniterfeiting and utterin g b ase coin in the whi c h h a d b een over an d over again, used by the great Ueited Kingdom, and that the amount annually put in dr_ i M us r t . iee FLowil i l l , m i r e . culation is not less than 600,0001. Doubtless the vil and unprosecuted ally of Government, Mr. O'Connell ? would be still more . extensive but for the exertions of' the Did the Jury forget the Reform agitation—.the groans ings at the Queen—the allusions to the fate of Charles onuchie.t offenders hew ethis indefatigabledescription agent,to I.—the banners with paintings of the Queen wearing the breeches, and the black flag meeting at Edinburgh, ;at THE WEATHER AND TIT- 'HARVEST.— The last Sunday evening where banners of crape were displayed with death's heads . and cross bones painted on them ? and all this was iests,.. by heavy Thy fohowin neighbourhood of L0...„. 0a was visited"; 4, has day vvas equ-dly wet. In ted, sanctioned, and approved by ver y Gr,o -p r o a o d n h e i t o s si c o o o u s t f n e u r an t f i e ,holt the weath ,s er so is as n o o na w , been i too characteristic vernment which now Sent down its • Attorneys es of St. Swithin e h oe r casions Herat to prosecute him for merely asserting the ancient same quarters serious in st. In and recognised constitutional rights of the people. the Midland and Southen, Comities A considerable av My Lord, and Gentlemen of the Jury, continued All" City of corn has been cut durin g the past we, k. Sucnivaanud *Douai), when I consider the position of thiii country, a high temperature are much wanted everywhere, at the present moment—when I weigh in my own mind the probable termination of the present agitation—when I look at the speeches and proceedings of the great body of the people in a social and national point of view, there is much in my opinion to be feared and much to be hoped from the progress of political opinion at the present moment, The under currents which have been flowing seem to have, for some time past, been separating themselves and running counter to the upper currents on social' and political matters, but the great changes which are daily taking place in our social and commercial relations, will speedily merge these two into one common stream whose force will be irresistible. It has been matter of observation with me that this will be brought about mainly in consequence of the vast im provements which are taking place in all classes of so ciety, although one would suppose that at the present moment, when in all other things we are advancing as a great people, the strongest measures are resorted to to suppress and resist the extension of political privileges to the people. If I might allude, for instance, to the extension of railways, which, although available for promoting the commercial intercourse and the diffusion of knowledge and information among the people, may be made to afford facilities to a tyrannical Govern ment, which, God forbid, we should see established in this country, or a tyrant monarch, which I trust we shall never see in England, they may be made the means of centralizing power and suppressing all efforts for freedom on the part of the people. When I look at the political horizon at the present moment it appears dark and lowering, and aithorgh I do not anticipate anything like what alarms the mind of the Attorney- General—although I see nothing of revolution and anarchy and blood, yet I can see approaching a train of oppression in this land which is calculated to level down the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and the few remaining privileges of the people, in the new and arbitrary ideas of centralization. copied from the ;espo tic Governments of France, Prussia, and Russia. I see the approach of that tyranny in the incomprehensible abhorrence of the middle classes to extend any politic iI influence to the poorer classes, and I see Its ground work laid down in the prosecutions, imprisonments, and banishment of all those who have dared to advocate the extension of these privileges. The effects of that tyranny will only be fe,t when it pours its flood across this country—when, like a vast tide, it rolls its waters over the face of the land, submerging all our ancient insti tutions, and when it ripples on the thresholds, and flows over the hearthstones of the upper and middle classes, and when the power which might have prevented its approach shall no longer exist—then only will it be felt. Then will they regret the divisions which they them selves have created by their false and absurd fears be. tween the higher, the middle, and the working classes— then wirbtte., regret the hatred which has been engen dered by *Their common enemy between the two great classes of the community in this country—and they will regret it the more, because they will have engraven on their hearts the fact that they themselves have con tributed to annihilate the power of resistance to that progressive tyranny of a centralized Govern ment, which is fast effacing all the ancient rights which their ancestors enjoyed they will regret it because they will remember there was a period when they might have opposed to this torrent as it rolled along a barrier over which it could never have passed and when they might have said to it—" Thus far thou shalt go and no farther." My Lord, and Gentlemen of the Jury, it appears to me that the efforts that have been made to suppress the agitation which has been ex cited throughout the land, agitation founded on the noblest principles and most philanthropic motives—it appears to me that the suppression of that agitation will be attended with results of the greatest magnitude and importance to the future greatness of the land. It ap pears to me as if the ancient laws of the country, which have been laid down with the greatest wisdom and foresight, and calculated and based upon those princi ples which were most likely to render them perpetual, so far as human contrivance could effect it—it seems to me as if these great principles were now to be disre garded and laid aside, and our country permitted to sink down into that tomb of oblivion to which so many other mighty nations before her have been consigned. My Lord,andGentlemen of the Jury,the experience of all ages has proved that persecution is the very worst weapon by which to attempt to efface those principles which have been impressed upon the public mind by griev ances at length become intolerable. It must appear to you, that no persecution that ever yet existed has'been able to efface the principles which that persecution has only endeared to the hearts of the people. If you were to summon all the persecuted spirits of political or religious agitation, this Court, this city could not con tain them, and they would stand before you a fearful but potent evidence of the great truth, that the esta blishment of the principles for which they lived and died had not been in the slightest degree affected by that persecution, but that they had been still more firmly and securely implanted in the breasts and affections of the people. My Lord and Gentlemen, I should not wish to see, I have never desired to see, and I never ex pect to see, any great principles of freedom gained or established in this country by means of the sword. I never hope or wish to see any great political or social changes achieved by the use of this weapon, by revolution ary violence or civil commotion. If we consult the evi dence of history we shall find that in all such cases the freedom which I so highly prize, and which I hope to live to see gained, has been hunted down and over whelmed beneath a military despotism. My Lord, and Gentlemen, the war that has been commenced now by persecution and imprisonment is a war against prin ciples, and I believe I may add against individuals. You may imprison the leaders, you may persecute the men who have taken an active part in the present agita tion, but you never can reach those deep and wide spreading principles which have taken root in the minds of the people of this country, and which never can be reached by the hand of the tyrant, or only through the enthusiastic and hasty expressions of some or the ill judged actions of others. If these principles be true they must exist, if they be well grounded they must flourish, if they are worthy of being perpetuated they will be handed down to the latest posterity, for, like truth, they are in themselves eternal, My Lord, it is or little importance to me whe ther I be imprisoned, or banished, or condemned to the scaffold—on the principles in which I have commenced I intend to end my career. These principles I revere and respect, and by these I am de termined to stand or fall ; but, my Lord, you cannot condemn me on the vain pretext of this most miserable indictment : if you condemn me at all, and if in your judgment you conceive it right to find me guilty, then you must condemn me for the cause which I have en deavoured by my humble means to establish and pro mote—a cause which has been founded on the principles of justice must of necessity progress in this country—a cause which cannot be reached by persecution, or which if reached by it will only invigorate the seeds that are sown, like the thunder-storm that clears the polluted atmosphere. My Lord, and Gentlemen of the Jury, while I thank you for the attention you have bestowed on me, I beg to say that I retire cheerfully within the gates of a prison ; I retire there knowing that I am p rosecute d an d i mpr i soned because I have dared to advocate the rights of the poor man, and because I have presumed to assert, and am now prepared to demand, the extension of these rights to the working classes of this country which their forefathers possessed. I retire, therefore, in the hope and consciousness that the temporary imprison ment will at length draw to a close, and that at some period I must be liberated ; and being young in years, I am high in the expectation that I shall yet live to see those principles carried into execution in this Country— that I shall yet live to see them perfected in this land, and peace, and skcurity, and comfort, enjoyed by all its people. That short space of human existence must soon, so far as we are concerned, draw to a close. The period will soon arrive when all those now around me will be numbered with the things that were, and then will come the time when all of us will have to appear before a tribunal higher than the present. When that day arrives, and when our hearts are examined, our motives sifted into, and all our hopes, and principles, and prospects are seen, and known, and understood, it will then be seen, and known, and understood who has I been right and who has been wrong, EVENING EDITION CORONER'S INQUESTS. THE LATE FATAL AND MELANCHOLT STEAM-BOAT AB. ciDENIT OFF Woomicm—Yesterday at twelve o'clock C. J. Carttar, Esq., the Coroner, and a Jury assembled for the third time at the Crown and Cushion Tavern. Wato-gat,, Woolwich, and the investigation into the circumstances attending the death of Muster Joseph Wm. Malys, aued 13 years, the son of a gentleman belonging to the Ro y al Arsenal, was resumed. The evidence adauced on the two former days was so contradictory that the Coroner decided upon hearing the testimony of as many of the ladies as were suf f iciently recovered to attend, who were in the boat with the deceased when it was struck by the Falcon Gravesend steamer. - Mr. Newbon, of Doctors'-commons, attended profes sionally on behalf of the Eagle Steam-packet Company, to which the Falcon belongs, and the proceedings were listened to with much interest by a crowded room. After a lengthened investigation, the inquest room was then cleared, arid the Jury having consulted for about an hour, strangers were admitted, and a verdict of " dental Death," with a deodand of 5/. upon the Falcon, was recorded. The investigation occupied nearly thirteen hours. TILE LATE FATAL STEAM-BOAT ACCIDENT, NEAR WATERLOO BRIDGE. —Last night an inquest was held at the Savoy Palace, public house, Savoy-street, Strand, be fore Mr. Higgs, on the body of Henry John Hay, aged 18, an apprentice in the New Bell's Weekly Messenger office, who was unfortunately drowned by being run down by a steam-boat. After the examinaton of two or three witnesses, who stated how the unfortunate accident oc curred, the jury considered as there was a serious charge against the Steam boat Company, and they had no agent present, it would be better to adjourn the inquiry to a future evening. Adjourned to Wednesday evening. THE MARKETS-(YESTERDAY) ET, AUGUST 19. a. d 9 Walls Endßraddyll'aletton 22 0 Wal s End Haswell Walls End Hetton Walls End Lanibton W. E North Helton Lyons 2l 0 Walls End Pernhertnn Walla End Stewart's 23 * Walls End Whitwell Walls End Hartlepool 2s 6 Walls End Adel , ide; 24 0 Walls End Barrett 22 i Walls End ~a rrington Tees 20 • Walls End Clarence 'fees_ 19 6 Walls End Nevin's Tanfield 16 1 Walls End South Durham 2l 6 Walls End Tees 22 0 W 4115 End Tees Hetton Howard's Netherton Maim 18 is Walls End Henderson ls ist market4ny, a COAL MAR a. d Adair's Bell, Hobson & Co. Hartley IS 6 Buddle's West Hartley :0 6 Chester C,r's Ilartl y 2O 0, Hebburn Main .. . 2l 0' Holy well Main :20 6 South Pontop Tanfied Moor Butes 2l • West Hartley .... 2l 6 Wylam. 2O 9 Walls End Brown's .... Walls End:Gosforth walls end Het,on Walls End Hilda 2l 3 Walls End Hotspur WalisEnd Newmarch ._.. 21 I Walls End Northumberland 21 9 Walls End Perkins. 2O 9 Walls End Belmont Ships arrived since li Wheat. Barley. "er Quarter Bath Blandford Chard Gloucester Exe er Guildford Newbury Reading Salisbury Shtrborne SheptonMallet Uxbridge W - xminster Winchester Yeovil NEW a. to a. 74 80 s. s. 3; 41 38 60 95 6$ 72 70 $4 31 36 40 42 27 34 36 302 33 3.9 37 42 32 39 32 40 31 38 37 43 39 42 50 83 65 85 5$ 77 64 711 69 76 COUNTRY CORN MARKETS. Oats. 1 Bea..s. I. to B. SO SI s. t• s. 44 45 li , 24 2$ 52 21 25 31 33 2$ 31 25 32 21 52 22 se 22 21) 28 32 28 31 42 41 41 43 42 44 4• 46 33 46 40 50 3$ 42 39 44 ?.•N a. 57 79 64 76 67 73 132 40 24 33 'CASTLE CORN EXCHANGE.,—August le. Red White. Wheat, Northumllerlsind s4s. 7 !Cow 735.' --- Norfolk and Suffolk 67s. 70s. 765. Berwick and Scotch.. ...... Foreign s. Vs. 745. Rye, Norfolk and Suffolk 'lls 455....... —a. —L Foreign Barley, Malting, Norfolk and Suffolk 3Ss. 40/....... --s. --s. Grinding and Feeding ?Os. —s. —a. Malt, Norfolk and Suffolk 64s Gels. —s. —Rs Beans, Small 36s. 40s —a, Tick 43s. 465...... Pease, White 44s. 461, Gray c•ats, Northumberland, P o t a t oe ..... 30 s 6 6,, Feed s. 32s —1...-s. 44 47 21 22 -- Foreign Flour (per sack) -s. -q 495. -s --8. WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET-August 16. ',teat, Red, Norfolk and Sulfblk ..... -s. 63.. CO 725. fine 746. Lin. and Cam. -s. bls. to 725. fine 745. Yorkshire -I. 635. to 7111. fine 735. %Vhite 646. to 755. fine 7$ - Foreign, Red -a. 625. to 635. fine 795. White -1. -6. to -a. vane Barley, Norfolk and Suffolk ._s. to -.s. fine --I. --- Lincolnshire -s. to -s. fin* - Yorkshire Wold --4. to -s. fine -.1% Foreign Beans, Small to -6. fine -s, to 41s. fine 43 Tick - Oats, Potato -s. to 40s. fine 42 Poland 0 235. to 31s. fine SW --Friesland and Small .. - s. -. a. to 266. fine :Ist --s. to 236. line - Shelling ............. ..... '_4d. to ; sd. p e r SWne M 365. to 36s Od. per Loaf alt Rapeseed ...... ...... . ...... 465. fine 49 a . per L o ne. •...... 211. Os. 241. Os. 251. (14. per Last SCOTCH MARKETo. DALKEITH CORN MARKET.—Aug. 15. 1 Wheat. Barley. I Oats , I Pease. First 74s Od 40s 6d 34s tki 43s Od Second 6os Od 34 1 61 31s 6d —s Od Third. soa Od 23s (Id 211 s rid —s Id .-- -- GLASGOW CORN MARKET.—Aug. 14. Wheat, per 2401 b. I. d, s. d. British, old 37 0t039 0 Irish2t. . 1 .!«. 2 .2 1 . 1 . ) : I 'it. a• British, --- new — 0 0 British 23 0 26 ' Canada, free —o 0 'Beans, per 2601 b. Irish Barley, per 3201 b. Scottish 0 1 St 0 English 3O 0 32 0 Pease, Scottish ...... 23 0 2 -i 0 Scottish 2B 0 30 0 oatmeal, per 1401 b.... 22 0 24 0 Irish EDINBURGH CORN MARKET. —Au. 14 The supply of Wheat to.d a y was l arge, that of other aorta or orals less than last Wednesday. Sales heavy for all kinds. Wheat. Barley. oats. rease. First I 765. Od. 40s 6d. 375. 04. 455. rid. Second CS 0 3-; 0 31 0 43 41 Third Average price of Wheat 3/. ii% 64. EDINBURGH MEAL MARKET.—Aug. 13. We had a small supply of all sorts of Meal, Fleur, and Pot Barley Sales h, ary. Per Sack of 2801 b. Imp. Per Stone of 14lb. IMO. First Oatmeal £2 7 41 First Oatmeal ift 2 I Second ditto Barleymeal....... ..... .—.. 114 0 Barleynteal ....... ........... 0 110 Peaserneal - .. 112 0 Peas e m ea l . 0 Ila Pot Barley from 335. to 554. per sack. HADDINOfON CORN MARKET.—Aug. 9: There was a good supply of Wheat ; sales heavy, sad prices have fallen slightly. ____ t Wheat. First second 6ss od Third s9s Od Average. , Barley. Oats. Pease. 43s Od 366 6d 041 40s Od 32s Od 37s Od 29s Ost —s 04 I ss. 9d. 3.l2ths. Beans. 434 Od Od ed Bemis. 45i Oil. 43 • 40 ii Beans 4s Id 45, Oct 410 Ili VICTORIES OF TILE BRITISH ARMY. BY THE AUTHOR OF " STORIES OP WATERLoo."--.. We know of no writer," says the Literary Gazette, "whose style is better adapted for a work of this kind than Mr. Maxwell. It may, par excellence, be called the 'belligerent style.' It is striking, forcible, dashing, smart, and spark ling. A roll of the artillery of words is succeeded by the rattle of musketry; the noise ceases, and the smoke clears off; and we have the clearest idea possible of a skirmish or a Beige, a battle or a storm. So much for the general effect ; and as for the particular details, in so far as we are capable of forming a judgment on military matters, they are very impartial and candid. The author's object not bein g critical commentaries, b ut d escriptions of those scenes in whicu the British arms have been renowned during the last half century, he has not found it necessary to involve himself in comparisons and opinions. He has related the events and circumstances connected with them, in the liveliest manner ; and although there are plentiful proofs of judg ment in discriminating the bold from the rash, and the skihul from the incompetent, yet the whole gives rather the idea of a series of excellent paintings than the laborious efforts of a mere historiographical penman. These volumes may truly be received with pleasure, and ranked among o ur literary and national trophies." 96, CHEAPSIDE, AND 39, ALZEMARLE-STREEL PICCADILLY.--DEAFNESS AND DRFRCTIVI VISION.--The late melancholy occurrence of death by operation for deaf ness has induced the Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, Auris ts and Opticians t o th e R oyal Family, to lay before the public the simplicity of their invention, by which it will be seen that serious risk of torture by medical treatment is com pletely obviated by merely placing a small voice conductor in the ear, which is not more uncomfortable nor percepti ble than having a piece of wool in its place; it pours into the ears the general conversation to such an extent that most severe cases in company are not the least perceptible. The newly-invented Spectacle Lenses, immediately they are placed before weak and imperfect eyesight, either by day or candlelight, every object becomes cle'dr and dis tinct, and the most minute particle is seen with exact dis tinctness. Those new inventions have met the sanction and unqualified approbation of the princip a l memb ers o f the medical profession, by the use of v; hick both the sight and hearing become much improved. No agents nor travellers are employed. mom- AM 0 N DON MADE WATCHES. —T. COX SAVORY, 47, C orn hill (S even d oors from Gracechurch street' London, off ers a ver y l arge St ec k et Silver Watches at the fallowing prices ( Warranted) Superior Watches on the Vertical Construction, jewelled, with hand to mark the seconds, double backed engine -turned cases ............ £4 • Watches on the celebrat e d patent-lever con- 4 struction, jewelled in fo ur holes, capped, hand to mark the seconds, double-bottomed engine- Ei t th u e rn r ed of ua th se e s ;b . ...... .c.i;;;;;;C;;;;n; .... ..................... be 10s. 6d. extra. Second-hand Watches taken exchange. SECOND-HAND PLA.TE PURCH AST2D.-- A. B. SAVORY and SONt;, Goldsmiths, No. 14, Cornhill, othLondon (opposite th e B an k of England), inform Executors and ers, having a ready wishing sa to disihepo'se of S econ d-h an d Plate, that, from than can usuall le, 'y can o ff er more a d vantageous price . of be received in cash. o r th e amount allo eft in exchange for er sav he . yLe given by th e T rade ; payment may either Ame BIRTHS. On the 18th inst., at Earl de Grey's house, West Cowes, at one, p.m., the lady of E. Jekyll, Esq., of a son. On the 15th inst., at Tyndale -place, Mrs. John Hore, of a 130 D, On the 16th inst., the lady of B. W. Laroche, Esq., of Kl bion-road, Stoke Newington, of a daughter. On th e 16th i nst., at Camden-terrace West, the lady of Cap tain F. Edwin, R.N., of a son. MARRIED. On the 12th inst., at Bonville, near Gksgow John Maclean Lee, Esq., Cavendish.street, Londert, to J ane, daughter o f William Shand, Esq., of Craigieleo. On the 15th inst., at Newcastle -on-Tyne, George Reid, Esq., Newcastle, of Op ast le. orto, to Ellen, eldest daughter of Anthony Nichol, Esq., IJIED. • On the 15th inst., 3 nr. Barker, of the White Hart Hotel, Herts, mPL i y y ears coac h and postmaster on the Great Welwyn, on North-road. th :, 14th of June last, on her passage to England from Trinidad, Jane, the wife of Thornton Warner, Esq., of that Island, aged 20. bOurn,n the aged II th inst., at Hersh am, Surrey, Mr. Robert W'flit -68. ondon 19PrintStrand, ed and Published by MUR DO YrJUNG, of No. , at The Sun Office, No. I PI, Strand in. I iddleseit.—TuesAaj. August 20, 1639. .~. .~,,.