The Sun. — London, England, 1845-02-27 00:00:00

SUN OFFICE. Seven o'Clock. TAT TERSALL'S.—THIS EVENING Six o'CLocK. c novirAt n to 1 agst Cataract 13 to 1 agst Serniseria 16 to 1 agst Era 17 to 1 apt Obscurity 22 to 1 agst Winetour 25 to 1 agst S. Lawrence 30 to 1 agst Pug 33 to 1 agst Tho Pride of Kildare 35 to 1 agst Yheomun ac Knuck 40 to 1 agst Ould Ireland 66 to 5 agst Alice Hawthorn 66 to 1 agst Seaport DERBY 11 to 1 agst Alarm 15 to 1 agst Idas 15 to I agst hedger • 16 to 1 agst Cobweb colt 20 to 1 agst New•smonger 25 to 1 ngst Miss Whip colt 33 to 1 agst ➢lentor 33 to 1 agst Pantasa 33 to 1 agst Clear-the-Way 33 to 1 agst Ironmaster 40 to 1 agst Old England IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. - - • The LORD CHANCELLOR took his scat on the Wool lack shortly after Five o'clock. The Duke of BUCCLEUGII presented a petition from the schoolmasters of Lant;ham, praying for pro tection. TEMPERANCE. • The Bishop of NORWICH presented fourteen peti tions, signed by upwards of 2,000 persons residing in hie diocese, in favour of tt mperance. He must con fess that at fir t he was averse to it, but since then he had entertained different opinions, because he was convinced that it was attended with the best results. He thought they were greatly indebted to one individual for the success of the movement that had taken place on the subject. The great object of the petition was, that beer-shops should be closed on Sundays. These petitions were signed by the clergy of every parish in his diocese, showing the interest they took in "the subject, and the advantages they expected to be deri% ed from those temperance societies. TIIE RUBRIC. Lord FORTESCUE said that the petition of which he had given notice from Exeter and Southmolton, and from the Reverend William Carwithan, fur a revision of the law attached to the observance of the Rubric in the service of the Church, would oblige him to state the facts of the proceedings that have resulted from the agitation of that question; because, although the circumstances themselves were of a local nature, they were to be talc-n in connexion with the opinions which were expressed on the subject in the other districts. On the 19th of last November the Right Rev. Prelate who presided over the diocese, ad dressed a pastoral letter to his clergy, in which he cotn .manded a greater uniformity to the directions of the rubric. Whether the Right Rev. Prelate were correct or not in his construction of the law of the Church, he 'seemed to be prepared for considerable opposition to his orders,but he (Lord Fortescine) believed that he was quite unprepared for the amount of opposition that was offered. Ttos excitsment was occasioned without the slightest ffforts of any political party, for in most cazes the question was taken up by the religious portien of the community. Indeed, he believed it was confined almost entirely to the members of the Established Church. Various meetings were held on the subject .and requisitions were forwarded to nearly every church- • warden, requesting them to confer with their congrega tiens on the subject. At these meetings resolutions, strongly framed, and against the conduct of the Right Reverend I're'a'e were unanimously agreed to. But even where these meetings were nut held, still a feeling of great excitement prevailed amongst the congregations, and the letter of the Right Rev. Prelate *as spoken of in terms of a deprt catorylcharacter. Th y declared that the Right Revs:tend Prelate was inciting them to depart from the est iblished maxims of the Protestant Church, and numerous protests were entered against the r commended course. After this fer ment and excitement had prevailed for three or four weeks, more or less, the Right Rev. Prelate issuetl,a second communication, quashing the directions cOn - tained in his former letter. But still this Lad not the desired effect, for the Right Reverend Prelate found it a matter of some difficult, to restore the former peaceful state of his diocese. Notwithstanding the can celling of the first letter, the unpopular practices still prevailed in one of the parishes in tee city of Exeter. In this state things continued, until the petitioners thought they had no other mode of proceeding than to present an eppeal to this Houi.e. The first petition which he had to present was from the city of Exeter. This petition was agreed upon at a meeting convened by the mayor of that city, and wa; signed by upwards of 3,200 members of the Church of England. The petition was, he believed, signet unanimously ; and that circumstance, in his opinion, gave it the greater weight. The petitioners complained that their feelings had been outraged by the violations of the privileges which they had hitherto enjoyed t that these proceedings tended to impose laws inconsistent with the feelings of the people ; that the attempt to revive usages now obsolete were rapidly destroying the uniformity of one diocese ann another; and that this led to circumstances which deeply violated their sense of the necessity of peace and good feeling in the Established Church. The petitioners said that the effect of these proceedings h a d been greatly to d i st urb the quietude of Established Church. They asserted that the Book of Common Prayer contained directions for alter ing the usages of the Church whenever the events of the times should render it necessary. The petition concluded by praying for an alteration in the rubric, so as to establish uniformity in the Church. He was persuaded that the feelings which were expressed in the petition were entertained by a very' large poriion both of the clergy and laity in the county with which he was connected.—(hear.) It was impossible that the whole of the rubric could be fulfilled, and yet a clergyman, omitting to conform to it in any par ticular, was liable, for the first omission, to twevle snonths' imprisonment ; for the second, a longer period ; and for the thiri, imprisonment for life. He had, both in public and private, uniformly depre cated the expresLion of angry feeling or the use of vitu perative lari r etage. At the only meeting he attended the petitieo he bad now presented was substituted for a resolu tion hat was preposed. He thought the Legislature ought to interpose for the purl ose of regulating the for• mulct of the Chticch in all parts of the country. (The . Noble Lord then read ex to aces from a pamphlet, written by Mr. Benson, the Masttr of the Temple, iu which that Rev. Divine reemumench d some alterations in the rebri :of the. Church.) He cordially supported the prayer of the petition. lie had another petition to pre sent to their Lerdships, and although it was differently Worded, it was to the same effect. It was -numerously signed by members of the Church of England residing in the parish of Uppingharo. The last petition he had to present was from the Rev. William Carwithen, The Rev. Gentleman complained that the rubric of the Eetablished Church rind been altered, and prayed their Lerilships to take the matter into their serious considera tion. The Reverend Gentleman had been long attached to the Protestant Church, and no man performed his functions of a clergyman more conscientiously, or with more benefit to his flock, than the Rev. Gentleman whose petition he had now the pleasure of laying before their Lordships. Tha!:king their Lordships for the attention with which they had listened to him, he begged to move that the petition he had just mentioned be immediately taken into consideration and afterwards printed. The Bishop of EXETER asked permitoion to ce:upy their Lordships' attention for a short time, while he answered the speech of the Noble Lord He did not expect that the House would wish hint to enter upon his defence. Had he to make that defence, certainly there was no place he would choose for it so readily as the House of Lords. Ile felt it a great honour and a great privilege to make his defence before that Howe. That House was the very sanctuary of honour and of privilege. But he did not tisk their Lord ships to hear his defence, for he had no defence to make. He was charged with the spiritual care of a diocese. Ile was amotlicer of the Church of Christ, and for his. conduct responsible to no other tribunal, but only to the Church. He should, therefore, at once refuse to enter into any defence, but he did not refuse to enter into a statement of what had led to his conduct in the matters referred to, and of what his conduct had been. He should Mate, then, that he had not voluntarily taken up this line of conduct. It hail been forced upon liird by circumstances. This was one of the cffecas of the attention to eceleSiastical subjects in England. When a gentleinan took upon himself the care of souls, ho took upon himself in the most solemn manner, by his ordination vow, to observe the usages of the Church. Several gentlemen who felt their consciences thus bonnd had applied to him for permission to fellow out the usages which the Rubric prescribed. Ile felt b ound to gran t t h at perm i ss i o n. But matters had not stood there. Complaints had been made, and occurred. As the eeelesi as i ca l Prop o f t h e di ocese , h e f e lt it to be his duty to seule this dispute, and to attempt to obviate the objections from Ta enton, and other places, had arisen the circumstances which prompted the complaints contained in the petition Pr h esent i ed by the Noble Lord. Under these eircumstane l . e r ; ad, e ,i a , leil r a hi canonical council to assist him with the were nineteen members of that council, two third rim whom tdvised him to talon the steps which he :tit and every one 4.f these, hal the c h: e „ q( h tt a l y,:( cartoeokof, a parish. Under these eirentnstaneeq n that It tier of which the Noble Lot. hadittsPt 1 ( 1 1 tb e There w re parti es in he countr y alio wa nted to make most imp Trott ehen:,es in society, and they were not merely cmfined to laymen or to churchmen; they were a considerable body of men objecting to the liturgy, be cause it (pito% d the docktint s tv loch they themselves advocated It had happent d to Lim (the Lishop of Exete ) ti be oblied to proceed against one .or Ow persons for setting at nought the injunctions of the Litur gy , and (he belie thing was common) this had happened in ore or two instances in the parishes of his own diocese, that pm ti.ems of the I'rayor 130:,k were tampered with or set at n.,ught. He had heed it said—" How is it possible for the Bishop to procced.again s t cler gy men for leaving eel portieres .of the baptismal service, w;hen, every time he goes to church, he must have portions of the rubric Set at nought." LEFT SPEAKING.) - HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Five o'clock. A messenger from the Court of Bankruptcy brought up.tlw usual returns. Mr. Stansfield, Mr. Duncan, and other Members presented petitions relating to private Bills, of which the designations were not heard in the gallery. Mr. BARNARD presented a petition from the parish of Greenwich, against the Fisher- lane Improvement Bill. SUGAR DUTIES. Lord SANIAIDN presented a petition from the surer refinery of Liverpool, complaining of the hardship they would undergo if the Governmrnt plan for the reduction of the sugar duties should be carried into effect, in con sequence Of the large stock of sugar which they had on band, and praying the [louse to give them relief. 'I hey also prayed that no duty might be imposed upon molasses, and that a high duty might be imposed upon foreign and colonial refined sugar. They aLo prayed that grout.d Manila sugar might be considered as muscovado sugar, and that no duty might be imposed on sugar refined in this country. PRIVATE BILLS. Mr. Ponlett Scrope,lLord Francis Egerton, Mr. Bro ...erton,lond Wood, and Mr. Collett, presented several petitions on private Bills. LAW OF SETTLEMENT. Mr. MILES presented a petition from Somerset against the poor-law clause in the law of settlement; and also two petitions from laces in the same county, complaining of the awful extent of intemperance on the Sabbath day. Mr. SPOONER presented a petition from Birming ham, signed by several thousands of theinhabitants of that town, against any increase in the navy. Ile &so begged to present two petitions from the same town, complainig of the manner in which passengers and goods were treated on the Great Western Railway. Sir C NAPIER presented a petition from Marylebono against the window tax. Mr. BRIGHT presented a petition from Durham against the duty on post-horses. Mr. R. PALMER presented a petition, signed by 150 farmers of Bucks, against the malt duty. POST- OFFICE ESPIONAGE. Mr. WAKLEY presented a petition from the inha bitants of Finsbury, agreed to at a public meeting. The petitioners stated " That they learned with mortification and disgust that there exists at the General Post-office a secret spy system, under which lettera are broken open, their seals counterfeited, and post marks falsely imposed, in order to deceive the persons to whom such letters are directed, and to whom they arc afterwards forwarded, while the information thus obtained has, in some cases, been used to promote the despotic interests of foreign Governments—that this meeting strongly denounces the existence of such disgraceful transactions, and refusing to be satisfied with the Report - of the Committee published at the close of last session, deem it essentially necessary for the honour of this country, and also for public satisfaction and security, that a sir ict, searching, and open inquiry should be instituted into a ll the cir cumstances referred wit: certain petitions presented to Par liament on this subject, in order that by such inquiry the manner in which such illegal and unconstituzional prac tices have been carried on, may be clearly exposed and brought to public shame. They also state that they had read with iedignation, the statement made by our repre sentative in his rlace in Parliament, that his correspond race had ben clandestinely intercepted and secrecy opened, ut.der Government authority, at the Post-office. That, in the opinion of this me,ting, the only exeuse for the excercise of such power towards Mr. Duncombe, would be that the Government had good reason to . deem him capable of conduct which, if true, would, in our opinion. render him totally unfit to continue the repres entative of a froc and indepentkett constituency ; that we therefore feel it due to ourselves, as well as to Mr. Duncom')e, to demand from the House of Commons such a.. 1 inves tigation into the proceedings toward him as shall either justify the implied suspicions of the Government, or fully es'ablish the innocence of our long-tried and faithful representative.”—(Hear, hear.) THE TARIFF. An Host. MEMBER, on the Conservative Benches, asked whether it was the intention of the Government to give up the duty on straw plait and plaited straw. S r ROBERT PEEL said there were. several descrip tions of straw manufacture, which went under the name of 4` straw-plait"—there was the straw, or grass, for plait ing ; then there was plaiting-straw and straw plait. lie proposed to take the duty oil that particular kitid of plait made of chips, t.nd of straw or grass But from the ma nitfactured article . ct)aimortly call, d " Straw the duty would not be removed. CERTIFICATES OF SEAMEN. Mr. MUTT wished to put a cpiestiort to the Se cretary of the Admiralty, ln the course of last session an Act had been passed requiring ail British seamen to register themselves at the port from which they sailed, and. each received a certificate of registration. No sailor would be received on board a vessel without this certificate, and the captain who so received him would become liable to a penalty. There hail been a considerable body of foreign seamen brought to this country. As the Bill of last year made no provision for the re gistering of those seamen, they were thrown out of employ ment. Many of them had been t welve, thirteen, and fourteen years in the coasting trade, and they were men of the most orderly conduct, and esteemed amongst the best in the trade. Those men, having settled, married, and domiciled in this country, were unable to obtain employment, in con sequence of not being registered, and their condition excited very great commisseration. The question which he wished to put to the Hon. Gentleman the Secretary for the Admiralty was, whether the Government intended to propose any measure for their relief ? Mr. CURRIE said there was to doubt that foreigners had b-en for years employed in the coasting trade con trary to the navigation laws, and the stringent operatlun of the Act of last year had pr vented them fr-tin being employed. But they could get rid t f the disqual.fication by takeing the oath of allegiance, which would only cost ls., and would entitle them to register. BANKING IN SCOTLAND. In answer to a question from an HON. MEMBER, Sir R. PEEL said that he was in communication with several pe.sons connected with banking in Scot land, and he thought he could not he prepared to bring in a Bill upon the subject, or to state the intentions uf the Government, until after Easter. MIXED MARRIAGES IN IRELAND. Mr. ROSS wished ti put a question to the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Secretary for Ireland, on the sub ject of mixed marriages in that country. The Roman Catholic clergy had been long subject to penalties for marrying Preabytetians t Roman Catholics. and tin se penalties had been reduced from time to time. The consequence of this state of. things tnust be obvious to every ot,e, and the question he wished to ask was this—that as it was impossible for matters to remain as they were, he wished to know which of the only two courses open to the Govertauent it intended to take? Would it reimpose the old penalties on Catholic cler gymen celebrating such marriages, or would i; make the solemnization of mixed marriages by the Catholic clergy legal. Sir I'. FREMANTLE said the law on this subject remained in precisely the same state as before the pass ing of the Marriage Act of last st ssion ; no penalties whatever were imposed by that Act. He could not state which of the alternatives mentioned by the lion. Mem ber the Government was prepared to pursue. Mr. ROSS then gave notice that on an early Jay ha should move for leave to bring in a bill on the subject. GAME LAWS. Mr. BRIGHT presilited petitions. numerously signet' by farmers and landholders in Horsham, Sussex, Alne ick, in Northumberland, from the western side of the Severn, Gleucester,bire, and Ruyslip, in Middlesex, all praying for the aboli tion of the game laws. The Hon. Dumber than said, the motion ehich he had given notiice of bringing on this evening, was a motion fur the appointment of a Select Committee to inquire into the operation of the game-laws ; and in bringing this motion before the House, he acknowli dgrd that he was fully sensible of the importance anal difficulty of this question. Her regretted extremely that it could not have all the weight in the House from his advocacy which it might have had in other hands. He regretted extremely that some Hon. Gentleman of longer standing in that House had nut tali( n this question up; he might have been able to impsrt to it a degree of weight and authority Which he was unable to give it. But he was so convinced of the importance of this qui stion, and of the ne-. cessity of some alteration in the respecting game, that he considered he should ba neglecting his duty, if he had hesitated fur a longer period to bring this question under the notice of the House. lie had observed that for several years past, a conside rabic portion of the convictions m hich had taken place at petty sesions, more especially in the agricultural counties were I,e. offences against the Game Aet (Hear, hear)—and thousands of the poorest of tha population had b. en tined and imprisoned for such offences. It frequently happened too that vio lent a Wines, and ferocious encounters took place be tween gamekeepers and poachers, ending frequently in the infliction of serious injuries, and not unfrequently in death. We found also tliat the last sentence of the law had been fr: quently put into operation on unfortunate indi viduals whose celarnities had been brought upon them through the laws fur the preservation of game. It was be cause he hada decp sympathy for the poorest classes of the people, and because he had a deep reverence fir the sacredness of human life, that he asked the attention of the House to the motion which he was about to propose. and he felt certain that no considerable number of mem bers would refuse to accede to such an inquiry as he asked. Looking tack to former legislation e n this sub ject,' he felt justifi d in making this proposition, as there had beta frequent instances of late years of the appointment of Committees to consider the game-laws. In the years 1816 and 1823, Select Committees of that House had beer. appointed to inquire into this subject ; and in 182,, there had been a Select Committee of the Hours of Lords, appointed for the same purpose. The Committee of 1816 appeared to have been appointed for immediate object of obtaining such evidence as might induce ilv.! Legislature to abolish the qu dification then existing which was the possession of a considerable portion of landed property, and of throwing open the sight of hiking game to all persons who should purchase a Government ce rtificate. In 1823 the object of the clunivaittc, was to obtain such evident e as should in duce the Governmunt to legalize the sale of game,Lords and w'as il a ' plitantttheel S t e .b le t c h t e e s i tt im m rr e ti , t , t i e . e ect of t T hiLi t l i i:t ii s t e h o e f immediate objects otnt,hesoeneCtm,Aitnhi o) coui l l t , a i d read the t j IE'CS . were Stich as he lied stated. evidence ad!uced before convince 1 of the fact teat the fail to be of their appointment had been the preva'ence ‘ of poach ing,c"'e and the frequent recurrence of thee disastrous e n c ounte ra between gamekeepers and poachers, which they had of lete years so deeply to deplore.--(hear.) In the year 1816 a Committee of this house was ap pointed to inquire into this subject, and they reported TBE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING-, FEBRUARY 27 1845. that if a more extended permission were given to parties to kill game, a certain class of per sons would be ilitercsted in the preservation of game, and therefore poachers, it was telieved, would have been put an end to ; but that recommendation had not been followed up. Then, again, in 1823, and also in the year 1828, when similar inquiries had be. n gone into ; if the Legislature consented to legalise the sale of game by the owners of the land, and thus supply the markets, it was supposed that the poachers would be thus driven out. In order to carry out this plan, large numbers of pou!tercrs from Leadenhall-market were summoned to attend ; and in answer to the questionS put to them they seemed to be in favour of the plan. [LEFT SPEAKING.] 1 PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS. - - WEDNESDAY, Fun. 26. The following Bills were read first time:— Blackburn ' Burnley, Accrington, and Colne Extension Rail way Bill, Chester and 'Holyhead Railway Bill, Guildford, Chichester ; and Portsmouth Railway Bill, Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole Railway Bill, Eastern Counties Railway (Cambridge and Huntingdon Line) Bill, Eastern Counties Railway (Ely and WhittleAea Deviation) Bill. Newark and Sheffield Railway,—Petition fin. Bill ; referred to the Select Committee on Petitions for Private B Ifs. Norwich and Brandon Railway Deviation, and Diss and Dereham Branches,—Petition for Bill reported, and Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr..Wodettouse and Mr. Bur roughes. Whitby and Pickering Railway-,--Report from Select Com mittee on Standing Orders read ; Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Aaron. Chapman, Sir John Lowther, and Mr. Red head Yorke. Bridgwater Navigation and Railway,—Petition for Bill re ported, and Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Broadwood, Mr. Forman, and Mr. Arland. Barnsley , unction Railway,—Petition for Bill reported, and Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Stuart Wortley, Mr. James Wortley, and Mr. Beckett. Leeds and Thirsk Railway,—Petition forßill reported, and Bill ordered to be brought in by Sir tyeorge Cockburn, Mr. Beckett, and Mr. Busfeild. Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway,—Petition for Bill reported, and Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Stuart Wortley, Mr. Stanstield, and Mr. Ward. NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL OFFICE. Newcastle-upon-Tyne and North Shields (Tynemouth Ex tension) Railway,—Committeeon petition, Tuesday, March 11. Caledonian Railway - ,—Second Reading, Monday, March 3. Monkland and Kirkintolloch Railway,—Second reading, Monday, March 3. Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway,—Committee on petition:postponed from Friday, 28th February, till Mon day, March 3. Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway,— Second reading, Monday, March 3. Chester and Holyhead Railway,—Second reading, Mon day, March 3. Newark and Sheffield Railwav,—Committee on petition, Monday, March 10. Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway,—Committee on petition, adjourned till Friday, Feb. 28. Clydesdale Junction Railway,—Committee on petition, ad journed till F. iday, Feb. 28. Cornwall Railway,—Committee on petition, adjourned till Friday, Feb. 28. --- --- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. Yesterday the Annual General Meeting of the proprietors and donors of the Univer:ity College, London, took place in the theatre of that institution, Gower-street, for the purpose of receiving the report of the Council for the past ear, and the election of officers for the year ensuing. The Right Hon. the Earl of Auckland, Vice-President e' Le College, at two o'clock was called on to preside, aL noript those present were—Mr. W. Ew art, M.P., Mr. W . Christie, 11. P., Mr. 11. Warburton, M.P., Sir J.L.Golds. mid, Mr. H. Waymorith, Mr. Martin Thackery, Mr. H. C. Robinson, the Hon. Colonel L. Stanhope, &c. The meeting was very thinly attended. The Noble CHAIRMAN having briefly explained the object of the meeting, called upon Mr. ATKINSON, the Secretary, who read the report. From this it appeared, that during the past ye'r there had. been 834 pupils, and 183 students in arts and English law. The total number of attendants at the Medical Faculty classes was 303, Laing an increase of 10, as compared with the num ber attending those classes last year. The classes of the Faculty of Arts were at present 64, and in the aggregate 129. There was an increase in the amount of fees of 2,1061. 2s. - - as compared with - last year, which showed that the er.tries for general.education bad been much snore numerous. The incr..ase of the mathematical class was from 58 to 79. The schoolmasters and ushers on the endowment foundation were 27. The junior school this term had 245 pupils. The Coun cil had appointed annual examinations of the pupils of this school, and had received two reports, which were highly satisfactory, showing that the pupils were well-grounded in the various branches of useful and liberal education, at a 1.• ,, • .•• ••-• - - - - - very moderate expense. The school had also a high reputa tion for classics and mathematics, and formed a good moral character without corporal punishment. At the examination of the University of London in arts, law, and medicine, the students had maintained a high reputation, and had received. a large share of distinctions and rewards. The receipts of the past year were 21,498/. and the expenditure, includ ing the investment of 5,5001. in Consols, and an Exchequer bill of 5001., amounting to 20,5221.25. 5d., leaving a balance of 975/. 17s. 9d. The balance of Mr. llrandreth's legacy had been received, and the same had been settled to amount to 21,000/., two-thirds of which was to be given to the college, and one-third to the hospital. The report further stated that several of the proprietors of the college had agreed with the Council that their shares therein should, at their death, be given up, to be bestowed as rewards on uteri ' torious students. The report having been adopted and ordered to be printed, Colonel L. STANHOPE said he observed by the report that certain gentlemen had agreed to give up their shares at their deaths. lie wished to know upon what grounds ? Lord AUCKLAND—For the purpose of rewarding distin guished students. There is a by-law providing for it. The Secretary having read the by-low, Colonel S. STaNnorE said, he wished to observe, that a clause in the deed which prevented a shareholder in the college willing away . his share without the consent of the Council was most iniquitous, and had he been aware that such a clause existed, he, for one, would nevtr have joined the college.—(Hear, hear.) Lord AUCKLAND said, the power had never been exer cised, and he did not believe it ever would be. Colonel STANHOPE then said, that he observed that the . founder of tie college, Lord Broti,;ham, had not been present at a single meeting of the Council throughout the year. He seemed as though he had launched his ship and then left her to the mercy of the waves. Lord AUCKLAND observed, that nevertheless . Lord Broug ham took great interest in the institution. He was consulted on most subjects, and was still one of its most active and zealous supporters. A ballot took place, and at its close Lord Brougham was re• Elected President, tie Earl of Auckland Vice-President, and six gentleman members of the Council. Lord AUCKI-IND then quitted the chair, and Mr. Bishop having taken his place, a vote of thanks was passed to his Lordship, who briefly acknowledged the compliment, and the meeting separated. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE ASHDOWN PARK COURSING MEETING. WEDNESDAY. THE Cur.-Mr. Parkinson's Sandlark beat Mr. Lawrence's Laudanum ' • Mr. llowles's Brocade beat Mr. Archdale's May fly; Mr. Wyndham's Wivanhoe beat Mr. Gordon's Crasse ; Mr. Lawrence's Laura beat Mr. Archdale's Mischief ; Mr. Wyndham's Walburgha beat Mr. Gordon's Gammon ; Mr. Parkinson's Sarah Bates beat Mr. Bowles's Blessington. First Ties.-Brocade beat Sandlark ; Laura beat Wivanhoe ; Walburgha beat Sarah Bates. Tice. CLARET STAKES.-Mr. Parkinson's Steam beat Mr. Wyndham's Whim ; Mr. Bowles's Bras de Fer beat Mr. Law rence's Lothario. Ties.—Bras de Fer beat Steam and won the stakes. —.— THE OPEN STAKES.—Mr. Lawrence's Linchpin beat Mr. Bowles's Bridal; Mr. Goddard's Smolensko beat Mr. Par kinson's Slyboots ; Mr. Bowles's Beau Biumnwl beat Mr. Wyndham's \Vesuvius ; Mr. Lawrence's Limb beat Mr. Parkinson's Sprite Junior. THE WETLAND STAKES.—Mr. Wyndbam's Varty beat Mr. Parkinson's Sylph ; Mr. Lawrence's Leinster beat Mr. Bowles's Bondmaid LYTHAM REVIVED CHAMPION MEETING. The Great Lytham Derby Stakes, for 64 puppies of 1843, were divided by ➢lr. Temple's Tom Tough and Mr. Lamb's Lime. The Great Clifton Cup, for 32 dogs, at 5/. 10s. each, was divided by Mr. Dickenson's Dart and Mr. Rodgett's Whiskey. The Talbot Stakes, for 32 dogs, at 3/. ss. each, were divided by Mr Thomas's Tip and Mr. Garnett's Zingaro. The Ribble Cup, Fylde Cup, and Westby Stakes were also divided, in consequence of the frost. SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION AND EMPLOYMENT OF DISTRESSED NEEDLEWOMEN.—A fancy-dress ball was given last night at the London Tavern, in aid of the funds of this highly laudable institution, and we are happy to say that it was very numerously and most respectabli attended. Lord Paget, gir M. Montetiore, Alderman larebrother, Alderman J. Johnson, with their families, and many others of note, were present ; and the whole was so admirably con ducted, that there was a total absence of that irregularity and confusion so often met with at public assemblies. That interesting Indian, MoliamLae, accompanied Mr. Roper (the secretary) and his lady from their house, in Queen-square, to the ball, and was a❑ object of general regard and attraction during the evening, from the kindly feeling which he was known to have previously shown in his own country to British subj. di. The dance and other amusements of the evening were kept up to an advanced hour of the morning, and we doubt not that the result of the ball will be a handsome addition to the funds of a charity that falls short of none in its claim upon public sympathy. EXTENSIVE FIRE IN CHEAPSIDE.—This morning, shortly after one o'clock, the immediate vicinity of Cheap side was thrown into a state of the greatest alarm and ex citement in consequence of the sudde.. outbreak of a most serious fire upon the extensive range of premises belonging to Messrs. Courtould and Taylor, crape manufacturers, situate at No. 42, Gutter-lane. The first discovery was made by police• constable Garmoi, 436 City force. It appears that the officer, while passing along his beat, had his atten ' tiun directed to the premises by perceiving a dense mass of smoke issuing out of one of. the front windows. Feeling satisfied that a fire was burning within the building, the officer sprang his rattle, and commenced knocking at the street-door. After considerable trouble he succeeded in arousing Mr. Taylor, his wife, and three other females, who all made their appearance at the -second floor front. The fire by that time had obtained such a firm hold, and the smoke - was ascending in such dense bodies up the stair case, that none of the inmates were able to descend by the usual means. The intelligence having been sent to Mr. 13raidwood, the superintendent of fire brigade, that gentle man immediately started to the scene of conflagration with a couple of engines and the fire-escapes. 0:1 his arrival, he found the flames breaking throitgh the shop window with such vehemence es to extend completely across the roadway, and the fronts of several et the opposite house.; were smoking with the intense heat thrown out by the conflagration. The police having opened the jumping' sheet of the London Fire Establishment, three females precipitated themselves font the second floor, and w ere received in safety below, Mrs. 'fa% lor and anotherfemale elfeeted their escape by sliding clown a ladder. By that pe: iod the whole of the lower part of the premises presented one vivid sheet of flame, causing, as may be supposed, the most lively apprehensions . fur the safety cf the contiguous property. Five engines of the brigade with those of the parish were soon in full working order, but the fire still progressing, a messenger was sent for additional assistance. Mr. Connorton, on being informed of the outbreak, also proceeded with the West of England engine to the scene. The New River Company supplied an abundance of water, which was diStribatcd upon the ihnilcs, but the firemen were unable to extinguish the ecattlagtation until past two o'clock, and not before the flames had reached almost every portion of the three lower floors of order that by such inquiry the manner in which such illegal and unconstitutional practices have been carried on, may be clearly posed and brought to public shame." Mr. HoD6KIN seconded the motion. The question was between Sir J. Graham and Mr. Duncombe, the one a rene gade to his former party, the latter a straightforward gen tleman, who bad stood fast by his principles, and was at all times the zealous and independent advocate of popular rights. The motion was carried by acclamation. Mr. WALKER moved the next resolution:— " Thht this meeting have rea I with inlignation the statement made by o, r represent Ative, Mr Thomas Duncombe, in his place in Parliamen , , that his corresponeence bas been clandestinely in. tercepted and secretly. opened, under Government authority, at the Poil.office that in the opinion of this meeting the only excuse for the exercise of such pawer towards Mr. Duncombe, would be that the Government had good reason to deem him c.pable of conduct which, if true, would, in our opinio,, render him totally unfit to continue the representative of a free and in, ependent constituency ; that we therefore fed it due to ourseves, as well as to Mr. Dun. combe, to dermna from tl e House of Commons such an investiga. tion into the proceedings towards him a. shall either justify the implied suspicions of the Government, or fully establish the inno. cence "f our lcmg.Aried and faithful representative." Mr. RoGIIIts seconded the motion, which was also sup ported by Sir C. NAME; M.P., who said that whatever . excuse mil,ht exist as to opening the letters of foreigners suspected of plotting against their country, the Government had no right to violate the sanctity of correspondence between a re. presentative of the people and his constituents. Mr. Dun come had put to Sir James Graham a plain simple question— " Did you opera my letters, or did you not ?" He could get no answer. The matter was reterred• to two Committees, but the reports were silent with respect to Mr. Duncombe; upon that part of the case they made no report whatever. The question for the electors of Finsbury to decide was this— he had been suspected of carrying on a treasonable corre spondence with some persons in this country :—Was Mr. Duncombe capable of high treason ? (Cheers, and cries of " No, no.") Well, .then, you must believe either that Mr. Duncombe Was plotting against the Government, or that Sir .lames Graham iya4 . plotting against Mr. Duncombe. Under these circumstances, the electors of Finsbury had done right todemand a fill inquiry into the subject. The resolution was carried unanimously. On the motion .of Mr. Cooi'Eu, seconded by Dr. Errs, a petition embodying the resolutions was then adopted. Mr. WAKLy.r, M.P., then addressed the meeting at very great length, pledging himself to present the petition. Mr. Ike:writ A:r. for Monmouth, promised it his best support. Thanks were voted to the Chairman, and the meeting se parated. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE. OF COMMONS, Feb. 26. SUGAIt DUTIES.—SUPPLY. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER (in con tinuatien from our Third Edition of last night.) said— The Right Hon. Gentleman then real the extract, th substance of which was to the effect that the sieves um played in that country in the cultivation of sugar, ave rage .)bout one-third of the whole number of slaves em ployed ; while the propertion of those employed in the production of cotton and of coffee averaged about four fifths ; so that it appeared that of the Creole population of t"at country four-fifths wire employed in producing coffee and cotton, while the remaining one-fifth were slaves that had.been imported into the country prior to the year 1831. lade. el, on nearly all the sugar estates in the interior of the country, such a thing as a recently imported slave •was very rare to be met with ; while upon those estates along the coasts of the country the slaves employed upon them were slaves imported from Africa, because they afforded greater facilities for that trade than the iaterior, and received more profitable employment.. The report went on to state, that at pre sent the sugar estates in that country were in a sta.e of very little better than halt' cultivation, for want of slaves, and therefore that a reduction of duty would have the effect of increasing the profits to such an extent as to enable the grower to import slaves, in spite of all that the British Government could do to prevent ir. The Right Hon. Gentleman having concluded reading the extract; resumed by saying that by that report the House would see that in Brazil an extensive importation of slaves would be the result of keeping up a high price for sugar, and that there fore when the price could be reduced to a moderate standard, by a certain reduction of duty, the same inducements to slave importation were not created. The Noble Lord had told them that the soil of Brazil aeltnitt , d of greater cultivation, and that the cultieration must be extended only by importa tion of labour from Africa, and therefore it was that he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) would adhere to the erinciple recognised by Parliament, that they should use every endeavour in their power to put dovin the slave-trade, by whomsoever it might be conducted. Bat the Noble Lard said that, if they did so. they would draw away from the foreign nvirk• is an amount of free labour suseer at a higher price, which would be replaced by the cheaper Slave-grown sugar, but that in the mean time slave- growiesugar would be fraudulently introduced through the medium of other countries with whom we had treaties, and lie referred to Venezuela. It was true we hal treaties with Venezuela, by which that country was to import sugar into this country on a footing with the most favoured nations. Very great ingenuity indeed must have been exercised by those who fraudulently in troduced sugar from the slave-grown countries under the name of Vent zuela, when they imported one single hogs head only, as if for the purpeee of a basis for the Noble Lord's argument.—(Laughter.) When he was told that Venezuela encouraged slavery, he admitted that in the cane of that country and all others with which we had treaties, and which used slave labour, we could not ex clude their sugar. But if our market were large enough to consume their product., there were circumstances con nect: d with them, and with the United States, which se parated our receiving their produce from the charge of encouraging s'avery. In the first place they did not continue the slave-trade, and in 1822 Venezuela passed a law that every 'Arson born subsequent to that year sheu:d be a freeman, so that every individual under the age of 23 year.) was at the present moment free, and each succeeding year was advancing towards the term of human slavery. Whatever part, therefore, Venezuela might have taken in introducing slave-labour sugar into this country, to encourage the cultivation of sugar in that republic was not to encourage slavery, but the The Noble .Cold had told them that the exclusion of the sugar of Cuba and Brazil tended to aggravate the burden of the protection on colonial sugar MI the people of this country. He confessed himself unable to uader stand the proposition the Noble Lord had intended to enunciate. If thtre was any truth in the argument of the Honourab"e --- rlientber for Manchester, which he addresSed to the House on a preceding evening, his argument went to this, that whatever was the amount of the protective duty, ,to the extent of that duty a burden was imposed on the con sumers of this country. Ile made no distinction what ever between the protective duty applied to free-labour sugar or slave-labour sugar. He said, whatever that duty was, it was a burden on the 'consumers of this country. its the protective duty of 10s. was given to the free-labour sugar of Java, or the slave-labour sugar of Brazil, there could be no difference in this re spect. Therefore, there was no ground whatever for assuming that the burden which this protective duty might impose on the population of this country, had any connexion with the distinction attempted to be drawn .between slave and free-labour sugar. But when he talked id' the burdens this protective ditty imposed on the consumers here, he must beg leave to differ from the argument of the 'lion. Member for Manchester, and which the Noble Lord had rcpea'ed on the present.occa sion. He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was not coetent to assume that the burden on the consumer of this country depended on the differenthd duty alone, which was imposed on the commodity introduced from foreign countries. lie believed, and he thought it could not be denied, that the price of the commodity here must ilt pend on the extent of the supply, compared with the demand--(Hear, hear) —and if they could show that by the admissiOn of free-labour sugar from other countries, in conjunction with the sugar of their own colonies, they should secure such an amount of supply as would be more than ample for the consumption, even with the great increase of pepulation, the West Indies would come again to the position in which they stood previously to the abolition, of slavery, and there would be a consider able surplus, which, coming into competition with foreign sugars iii the foreign markets, and so regulate the price here, that it would not greatly exceed that which sugar obtained on the continent. Who ever, at that period, thought of arguing that, because there was a great protection in favour of West Indian produce, the public were taxed to an amount equal to that differential obtained in this c...fosoac. from re y nt:nt: I I_ ol., duty? What would have been thought then, had such a was ur statement as this been made to the House, that when there was a differential duty of 245. on colonial sugar, and 635. on foreign, that the consumer had to pay an additional tax or 295. as a consequence? Mr. GIBSON—It was put as a supposition. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said if the Right lion. Gentleman would allow him to finish his argument he would find this was no argument at • i a s(mn(, ;u s olteglin g taarchets r raiu e i nrsfc a r,ereo t ohnc e umeot r ol:fdurs t ntt.u h hih: Ic a reoely n ltAe,caax t onus h nittoeni c ‘entdi d ,xfit(o. t. cruo , st m eitri a iesiat n ernhbeso d deeu.f . all. Who would then have thought of urging such an d argument? Aid why not? Because the supply It then of eessarily followed that the diff.rence between cis f ht i r h t u t ) ie r i e r r ie e tp ‘ l lP el t l :m a n : bb . e t wto oc l a u nc o. d or t u ti n m . : l 3d ; d e t i e l t gt t cd bah t r i " l i circumstances, in the view of relative cheapness, impose thoseThatduties: to the l wered by producers. y ; hu not the people of England always expressed their willingness to sacrifice somat'ing to the abolition of slavery ? had not the people of England besought the Parliament to make those sacrifices?--([Tear, hear.) The Noble Lord's views huh undergone much alteration since last year, but he still admitted that the colonies were entitled to some protection. The immediate in troduction of Brazilian sugar into this country would lead to immediate cheapness, to be followed by a gradual and excessive rile of price. They knew that at the present moment a great number of the estates in the West India colonies were thrown out of cultivation, and that the produce was reduced one-half. If by the introduction of Brazilian sugar they were to create a vacuum by causing the abandonment of the cultivation of sugar in particular islands, the effect must be a rise of price in this country, causing a severe pressure on the community. The whole produce of the world, the Noble Lord told them, amounted to only 670,000 tons, independent of what the auger-growing parts con sinned themselves ; and oue- third of that amount was grown in the free British possessions. If ..0,000 or 60,000 of th:.t amount were a ithdrawn, the effect would inevitably be a great rise in price. In 1792, the island of St. Domingo produced 40,000 or 50,000 tons of sugar per annum, for the consumption of the world ; when, by the repeated insurrections in that island, and the decrees of the National Convention, its whole sugar production was swept away, the consequence was, that the price of sugar an this country rose from 50s, to 565. 625., 715., the building: The ~total damage will amount. to a consider able sum,' as several of the opposite and adjoining buildings are extensively injured by fire aid water. The origin of the firewe were unable to learn in the excitement that prevailed. STATE or TRADE.— l'he news from India received i by the intermediate mail, yesterday, though not con sidered very favourable, has not produced any injurious effect upon our market. The demand for all descrip!.. Lions of yarn, and especially for those suitable to the eastern markets, was very good yesterday, and prices continue to advance. There was als9 a fair demand at good prices, for nearly all descriptions of manufactured goods, except twenty. seven-inch printing cloth, whiCh has begun to accumulate in the hands of. the manufac ttirers.—Manchester Guardian. Mr. Oak c!cy, of Margaret-street Chapel, who has made hithself so notorious by his Romanist practici s and his Romanist publications, and by a lute defiance to his diocesan, has been at length suspended by the - Bishop of London.—Evening Paper. TIIE BUDGET.—If, instead of abolishing the auc tion duty, Sir R. Peel had either reduced the duty, under the income-tax, upon trade and industry (leaving it as it is upon the real and the.funded property), or had not taxed trade and industry beneath 3001. or 5001. (the real and the funded property as it is), the country generally (the land holders excepted) would have been by far more gratified. A line or scale ought, in justice and honesty, to have been applied in this respect when the Property and Income-tax Act was passed. If Sir Robert had not courage to do that on passing the Act, he might now accomplish it, as he has his team of landholders more " in hand" in 1845, than in 1842.—From a Correspondent. SEA SICKNESS. — The usual symptoms are nausea,. vomiting, and subsequently weakness and nervousness. Children are either not attacked at ail, or only very slightly. Men of dark colour and rigid fibre suffer 'ess than youths of dark skin and hair. Those are most subject to the disease who are fair, of lax fibre, and venous constitu tion. Persons weakened by previous diseases are by no means predisposed to the disease, as Man son .asserts. Short-sightedness does not protect against. sea-sickness. ,Dogs, swine, and sheep are also occasionally seized by it. The heaving of the boat is the cause of the is exactly analogous to turning or pressure on the brain ; the n. vagus is, r(ind, complaint. intoxication, This heaving therefore, chiefly affected. In moist and cold weather, the complaint is more obstinate than in dry and warm weather. First, heaviness of the head appears, dejection, melancholy ; then the bead turns hot, the face reddens, nausea ap pears, then vomiting, after which relief is felt. Ob struction is a constant symptom, and even with a quantity of different purgativqs,.. the author could not produce any stool for eight days, till the' cessation of sea-sickness, when evacuations ensued spontaneously. If no vomiting takes place, obstruction is more obstinate, and likewise all he other symptoms. In the torpid form, the head is more :iirJeted, and the nausea remains almost without intermission. Chilliness, cold, suppressed func ais of the skin, and exhaustion accompany this. form. The appetite is not impaired ; on the contrary, some relief is felt during meals. But, with the process of digestion, suffering recommences. Horizontal position ope rates beneficially, particularly if the functions of the skin can be promoted. The adv:litageotts results of sea-sickness are, that complaints of the chest are sometimes removed or ame lioratel ;, disadvantageous—digestive weakness occasionally remaining, emaciation and tendency to plethora. —Medical Times. PROVIDENT CLERKS' MUTUAL ASSOCIATION AND BENEVCLENT FUND.—The fourth annual general meet ing of the donors, subscriber . , and friends of this ex ! chll-nt institution, was held on Wedrrsday evening, at the - London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street. John Abel Smith, Esq., M.P., treasurer of the society, in the chair. The - annual report read by the secretay showed a gradual increase in the prosperity of the society, which, together with the accounts, was warmly received. THE MURDER AT HAMPSTEAD LATEST PARTICULARS LAST NIGHT. Immediately after the conclusion of the examination of. the ac. cused man, Thomas Henry }locker, yesterday, at Marylebone Pollee-court, Inspectors Shackell and Haynes, of the detective police force, feeling convinced from the evidence adduced that the party who had undergone examination was in reality the murderer of Mr. Delarue, considered it necessary further to prosecute an in. quiry with respect to him. The impression made on the mind of the officers was that a sufficiently minute search had not been made of the lodgings of the alleged murderer, or of those of his father, by Inspector Partridge and Sergeant Scotney, at the time they apprehended the prisoner Hocker. Acting on this impression, and under a fear that unless they were prompt in their movements the evidences of guilt against the prisoner might be removed, Inspectors Shackelt and Haynes at once prcceeded to the residence of Hocker's father, No. 17, Charles street, Portland-town. The inspectors, on their arrival, made known to the father of the alleged murderer the object of their visit, and at once, without any hesitation on the part. of the father, every facility was offered them to make a search of the premises. They were first shown into a front room on the first floor, which was the one occupied by his. son, who also had a lodging where he was captured, No. 11, Victoria-terrace. In this room the officers found that which is presumptive, if not conclusive, evidence of the atro. cious guilt of the prisoner. Secreted in this room were a pair of trousers stained with blood and covered with dirt; a pair of stock. ings, the legs of which were also bloody, the blood having gone through the trousers, and a Mackintosh the front and back of which were also splashed with blood. On these things being shown to the unfortunate parent, he identified them as those of his son now in custody. A further search was pursued, but nothing else was discovered, and Shackell and Haynes left the place with the clothes in question in their possession, and Inspector Shackell at once proceeded to the Marylebene Police-court, where he explained to Mr. liawlinson, the magistrate, who had not then left the bench, the impot taut discovery which he had made. After this Inspector Haynes proceeded to the New Prison, Clerkenwell, to which place Hocker was conveyed in the prison ♦an immediately after his remand, for the purpose of making a minute examination of the prisoner's dress and person. With this view he directed the prisoner to take off his coat, which he wore on Friday night, the cuffs of which, upon examination, were covered with blood. A button was found in the field near the spot where the deceased was murdered, and also one found at the lodgings of the accused, in Victoria-terrace, and on Inspector Haynes comparing them to. gether they exactly matched each other, and what is more con clusive, on the inspection of the prisoner's coat two buttons were missing, and on comparing both of these buttons with the remainder of those on the coat they exactly tallied with them. The pair of drawers which the prisoner had on were on examination found to be also spotted with blood. Whilst at the station.house the prisoner, in reference to a large sum of money he was stated to hare been seen to spend on Saturday, said that it came into his possession fairly, having been given to him by a woman with whom he was acquainted in the New-road; but this, it is understood, will be disproved. The defence which Hocker set up when before the magistrate, that he could prove that he did not leave his residence till a quarter or 10 minutes to l o'clock on the night of the murder, will, the reporter is informed, be denied by several witnesses. An official report of the above facts was last evening made to the Commissioners of Police. It has already been stated that there was strong reason for believing that there were three men wke were concerned in and supposed to be the perpetrators of the horrid - - crime. The inspectors have instituted the most rigid inquiries uponu this point, and from the information they had received there is but little doubt that more than one person was engaged in the ta , ••••••. . murder. The reporter was informed that a belief was entertained that another man would be in custody early this (Thursday) morn. lug, if not last night. The a lege(' murderer is stated to be a teacher of the violin, but formerly was a teacher at tLe Christ Church District Schools, St. Marylebone. LETTER-OPEN ENG AT THE POST Oli I C%. Last night a numerous meeting of the electors of the borough of Finsbury was held at the White Conduit-house Tavern, Pentonvillc, relative to the opening of letters at the Post-office addressed to Mr. T. S. Duncombe, the representa tive of the borough. Mr. It TAYLOR having been called to the chair, said that he had for many years examined the elective franchise in the borough of Finsbury; he had therefore readily consented to take .the chair on that occasion. That borough had done itself great credit by the choice of its present representatives; they were both gentlemen of great ability, perseverance, and courage. In proportion as a public man was courageous he became an object of suspicion to the Government. The power of opening letters in the Post-office might be a most danger ous weapon in the hands of a tyrannical Government. He (Mr.. Taylor) recollected that during the time of, he believed, the Sidmouth Administration, when it was deemed necessary to get up sham plots, the letters of Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, the late Earl of Leicester, were opened in order to obtain mate rials on which to ground a charge against him of hostility to the Government of the day. But such conduct would be tolerated no longer, for the people would not submit to such a monstrous violation of that confidence which ought to sub sist between the Members and their constituents. The electors of Finsbury were bound to call upon the Government to wipe off the stigma which it had attempted to cast on the charac ter of Mr. Duncombe. If they did not, they would be un worthy of that reputation for public spirit which they had hitherto maintained. Sir C. Napier, M.P., and Mr. Wakley, M.P., here entered the ream, and were loudly cheered. The SECROCARY then read the following letter. from Mr. Dnncomba : " TO THE ELECTORS OrIFINSKYRY IN PUBLIC MEETING ASSEMBLED. " Gentlemen,—l have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of invitation and to express to you my regret that recent events in Parliament have rendered it imperative on the borough of Finsbury to meet on my account —the fault, however, rests not with me, but with her Majesty's Ministers. ".I need not assure you how happy I am, at all times, to meet those whom it is my pride to represent, when questions affecting public interests are tinder their co nsideration, as, upon such occa_ sions you will do me the justice to admit I have never shrunk from doing that which I felt to be my duty. • "But, gentlemen, the question which you are convened to discuss appears to me to be of so peculiar and of so purely a personal character, that I think it would be most indelicate on my part to be present upon the occasion. In declining, however, the honour that you have proposed to me, I hope I may be permitted to state that all that I have asked of the House of Commons is that which I think I have a right to demand, viz.—an opportunity of removing those base suspicions implied by the fact of the Governmant having violated the sanctity of my correspondence. The expression of your independent opinion, which, hops, w ill assist me in obtaining that satisfactionwithout I am convinced you will agree with me, I cannot continue a Member of the present House of Commons with either advantage to you or credit to myself.—l- have the honour to be, gentlemen, your obedient and faithful servant, " Albany, Feb. 20. "THOMAS. S. DUNCOMBE." • The reading of this letter produced vehement cheering. Mr. Lnetrox, in moving the first resolution, observed that three distinct charges had been made against the Govern ment, one was—that letters had been illegally orened and detained at the Post-office; the next—that seals had been counterfeited to conceal that examination, and the third was —that it had been done to serve the interests of certain despotic Governments. Mr. Duncombe had called for ex pla nation, but he obtained no answer. By Sir J. Graham lie was met with dogged silence—by Lord Aberdeen with subterfuge and false assertions, and by Sir R. Peel with shuffling and evasion. The only answer given to Mr. Duncombe was con tained in the reports of two Committees which did not agree with each other. Mr. Duncoinbe's character bad been most foully stigmatised ; and it was the ditty of his constituents to demand a full vindication from the Government. The reso lution was as follows That this meeting learns with mortification and disgust that there e;tists at the General Post-office a secret spy system under which letters are broken oxen, their seals counterfeited, and post marks falsely imposed, in order to deceive the persons to whom such letters are directed, and to whom they are afterwards for warded, while the information thus obtained has in some cases been used to promote despotic interests of foreign Governments—that this meeting strongly denounces the existence of such disgraceful transactions, and refusing to Be satisfied with the Report of the CoMmittee published at the close of the last session, deems it es sential:y necessary fur tic honour of this country, and also for public satisfaction and security, that a strict, searching, and open inquiry should be institutel Into al the circumstances referred to in certain petitions presented to Parliament on this subject, in and even 755. This was the °fleet of this.event on the slave-trade ; and was he ►peaking without authority in this matter ? Undoubtedly not. Ile would,refer Hon. Gentlemen to the returns on the books of the House. By those returns it appeared that the vacuum which the proceedings in St. Domingo had created had been supplied by imrortations into our Own islands, and they enjoyed . the. benefits of those pro ceed:ngs. The planters in the West India islands had been blamed for entering so extensively into this trade; but he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was n't one of those who imputed that blame. It appeared by the returns, that after the discontinuance of the cul tivation of sugar in St Domingo, the number of ships chartered in Liverpool for the West Indies was not 88 in one year, and 92 ships in ano:her year ; but the number had risen to 122 in one ) car, and 150 in another. From those returns it also appeared, that the number of slaves who hail been entrapped and deported was rot ac tually, as it had b en, 9,000, 10,000, and risirg to 12,000 slates in one yi a• ; but the number had risen to 30,000 in one year, 32,000 i❑ another, and vs high us 36,000 in another. Such had teen the effect whe❑ the increase of sugar in our own islands had given an im p- tus to the slave trade. Anti what had been done in our own islands, the motion of the Noble Lord would effect in Brazil. The same inn ems w► uld be given to the introduction of slaves into Brazil. 'I he slave trade would be revived in full force, hut it would 1w revived with tenfohl horrors, for it would he ,:onduoted without any ot' the se humane regulations «hi h had twen intro duced itlto our own ves.e's. He (the ChancePor of the Exchequer) must also be pnreoecd if he pr( smiled to doubt the assertion of the Yoble 'Lord . that the success of his motion Would produce any permanent benefit to the consumer; for he did not, believe in a certain calculation into which the /sl,ble Lord went te show what would be the high price of sugar aft. r the new rates of duty had come into cffict. The Noble Lord 0 1 jecu d to a protective duty, and yet he was de sirous of osing sore duty. and could not vote for the amendment of the Hon. Member for Manchester. According to the Noble Lord's calculation, the sugar of Java and Manilla could not be brought into the market under 485., when the price of West Indian sugar was 425. If this were the ease, there would certainly be a protection of Gs. on West Iniian sugar. Now, he believed the Noble L-rd to' be-wror gin this cdculation, for he believed sugar, uhether 'fr,,m our own possessions or from abroad, would be subject to the same rule as every other to, rcantale arid'. When two articles came into competiti,n, under similar circumstances as colonial and foreign sugar, the natural result was, that one would be a little raised and the other a little depressed. He . . did think the Noble Lord had been wrong in his figurs. Now, Java sugar was quoted the other day at 225.; the best at 21s 61; and he btlieved that ordinary Java sugar might be bought at 235.; the average quality might generally be bought nt 205. Now, to take the average of these prices at 23s 4d., and to impose the du'y upon it, the long price would be about 425. The avtrage of West India sugar was 295. 7d. ; add to that 14s. for the duty, and West India sugar would only be about 3d. dearer than Java sugar. He had taken the average upon the %hole, and of course to the higher class of Java. sugar they would have to add 16s. 4d. This would make a difference in the results ; but upon the whole he thought the ealculati ns he had made might be relied on. The Noble Lord next entered upon the subject which had more connexion with the state of the colonies than the immediate ques tion before the House. The Noble Lord had entered into a description of the happy state of those who were formerly slaves .in the West Indies, but who were now enjoying the blessings of freedom, with occasional re laxations from labour, and receiving wages quite ade quate to their respective merits. The Noble Lord had said that a loan had been effected in the island Gf Ja maica to ensure emigration ; and, to provide for the in terest of this loan, a tax had been imposed upon the labouring population. Now in this the Noble Lord was entirely wrong. No loan whatever had been effected, and of course they could not impose a tax on the working man to enable them to pay the interest. W►th respect to Demerara and Trinidad, in those places he Government had sanctioned no duty whatever pressed upon the labouring community: Still the Noble Lord had spoken of loans being raised there also, but it would be gratifying for the House to know that such was not the case.---(Hear, hear.) The taxes imposed on those colonies were limited to a tax on the exportation of sugar, and of course this bore upon the proprietor of the produce, for whom the immigration was intended. The Noble Lord had said the House should have considera tion for the artizans and mechanics employed in the colo nies, as well as for the proprietor. The ateizans. whe ther in the West Indies or at home, Were, he admitted, entitled to every indulgence., • and every remission of taxation that could stfely he made. But what he con tended for was, that those classes were not willing to purense exemptions from buidens by the sacrifice of principles for which they had been ell their lives con tending ; and he thought he could produce to the House evidence to show that, if they would not consider imme diate hut permanent interests, the course recommended by Hon. Members opposite, of overwhelming the planters, would only give temporary relief, and would not in the end answer the vies s for which it had been in troduced. With respect to the financial part of the sub jcct, the Noble Lot d objected to the reduction of the duty on sugar. as one I.f those articles N hilt should not— Lord JOHN RUSSELL—What I said was, that the reduction you if cted went partly to the planter and partly 'tm the revenue, and would not much benefit the consumer. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER ad• mitted that the burden arose from the protective duty, but the Noble Lord had agreed with him that there should be someprotection. He believed it was gene rally admitted upon both sides of the House that some reduction in the article of sugar was desirable.—(Hear, hear.) That was the sentiment which had been gene rally expressed, and if he had formerly resisted the re duction then proposed, it was only upon the ground that as the supply of sugar on which we relied was ne cessarily drawn from a great distance, it could not arrive contemporaneously with the reduction then effected. He wished to make a preparation for the period when they would be able to make the reduction in sugar, and so as that reduction might not operate upon a limited supply.—(Hear, hear.) When the in come-tax came under the consideration of Government this year, he thought it necessary to review this part of the subject, and whilst he would propose some protec tion, he would nevertheless afford a material reduction to the consumer, and so contribtite to the general good. They might either have retained the existing law, made without classification, or la pied the proposition now submitted to the llouse, making a division into two classes, and imposing a lower duty on one class, than on the other. And this scheme appeared to have this ad vantage, that it enabled them to lower the protective duty on the cheaper class of sugar, and thus contribute to the comfort of the lower orders of the community.— (Hear, hear.) The reduction of duty, whether right or wrong, under the present proposition, would admit of the sale of the article to the consumer at lid. per lb. cheaper than at present. They were prepared to sink the amount of revenue, that the change might be felt universally among the lower classes. The Noble Lord talked of a gradual redaction. He would propose to take off 3s. this year, and 3s. next year, and so on. Now he confessed he did not expect to hear such opinions from the Noble Lord. The Noble Lord ended his resolution by rather a captivating announcement to the country, that no portion of the income-tax would be remitted at the end of there years. No vhe (the Chan cellor of the Exchequer) did not believe that any man, whatever his latent ingenuity or experience might be, i coull possibly speak with certainty of the changes which would take place either in politics, commerce, or finance, at the end of three years. But this he would say, that upon reference to former periods during which taxation had been remitted, that the pressure which had thus been taken from the springs of industry, had been attended with the best effects, not only to the consumer but the revenue itself. Events might occur which might defeat the best considered arrangements ; but if they looked to the past, he found that in three years, after a judicious remission of taxes had taken place, the revenue had not only recovered itself, hilt was paced in a better position. He had looked for many years back, and found that the resources of the country had exhibited the same elasticity. In 1816 the income of the country was 51,500,000/. .and in that year taxation to the amount of 3,250,0001. of positive taxation had been remitted. Now, upon ordi nary calculation, the revenue should have been reduced to little better than 48,000,0001 But what was the fact ? Three years after its repeal, in 1819 the revenue, instead of being 48,000,0001., amounted to 52,000 ; 0001.. ; thus surpassing the revenue previous to the reduction of the taxation. Take again the year 1822. 'Flee revenue in that year was 55,000,0001. It was then thought expe dient to make a large reduction of taxation. A reduc tion of 2,400,00011 ml then be en raade.Now theeffectshould be the reduction of the income to 53,000,0001. But in the very next year the revenue exceeded the original amount. In the year 1823 the revenue was 53,100,000/., in 1823, 1824, 1825, and 1826 taxation had been repealed to the amount of 11,000,0001. The ordinary effect of this reduction would be that the revenue a ould stand at 42,000,0001. ; but in 1829 the revenue amounted to 51,000,0001..—(Hear, hear.) The same thing followed in 1830. - when a large reduction was made in the malt duty, and in 1834, when the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite proposed a reduction of 1,000,000/. Thus the remission of taxation had in all these cases been attended with advantage. What occurred before might occur again; and. if so, there was a fair prospect that the income-tax might be, if not alto gether remitted, at least the duty upon other articles which came into gemeral consumption might be lowered without any loss to the revenue. Was the House pre pared to abandon the object for which it had so long contended ? Were they prepared to give up those prin ciples which they had so long 0 , ririhed ? Were they to cease exe. tieg themselves in making treaties with Spain an.l Portugal for the suppression of this odious traffic ? If they did so, they might Le sure to find some tem porary relief, but they would tarnish th.! high character of Englishmen, who had, at lunch expense, and with such zeal for s I long a period contended for the ab. , lition of the slave-trade. lie believed that if Honourable Gentlemen would consent to abandon the slave to his fate, the horrors which those creatures suffered in their passagewhen they came to the kno w ledge of the people of this country would excite the sympathi s of the Le.nevolent, and create such sensa tions and such a feeling that it would be impossible to withstand.—(Hear, hear.) There was no doubt but a great impetus would be given to slavery by sanctioning the free importation ef all foreign sugar, for this was the article on which slave labour was chic fly expended. Upon the whole, therefore, he was strongly opposed to the proposition of the Noble Lord as impolitic, and in expedient, and above all, because it was subversive of those principles for which they had been so long con tending.—(Cheers.) Lord J. RUSSELL explained—lie did not contem plate any such gradual reduction as that mentioned by the Bight Hon. Gentleman. What In meant, was, a moderate protective duty, which was not to be of t 44/. porary character.— (Hear, hear.) Mr. LABOUCHERE gave credit to the right 11°12. Gentleman for his sincerity, but did not think tbe sent me asure based on sour.d principles. He 1114g o i the attempt to draw a diatinct'on between foreiga slave-labour sugar, a most unsuccessful one, and it 111 gem-rally so consi , ered by the mercantile elastics. did not think it had been conducive to the interi'le.e of the colonists themselves. He thought that l t e t never was a more untenable stet position, than th'', Die the Right Hon. ;promoteh the t o ' os Noble Ft iend a mild slavery. But wha t pe r the statement of lion. Gentlemen opposite ? computed that 60,000 tons of free-labour sugar ‘l„,i be produce! in Java, 31aiiilla, and other place s ; 4 0 thry calculate (I, that while this country toile 2 t e tons, the remaining 40,000 we old be sold illose, gene rid markets of the a oriel. If that were the ' of the price of 20,000 tons sent to this cot would be gove ned 1-y the price ° f t isit 40.000 tens sent abroad, and their legislati on on 0,1 20,000 would affect the suaar sent into Ge rinay) else a here The present measure would Octal) . o r the sugar of Cuba and the Brazils, arid a s far 93 °eerie position there lore went, they were not g iving Y ) , 1 1 Inlieur sugar the advantages they pretend( el tog''''',.atel %%mild, for the sake of argument, suppose thft a bot lr we re (Tabled by the measure to exclude tlavel,oioe sugar (lie doubted greatly the pos-ibility of o , l'o however) from the markets of this country, d i pot imagine that frauds upon a very large scale o° ll , , be attempted ? He had it from a person inti ma te' H o f versant a !th the sugar trade, that the very first carbor. Manilla sugar hich had arrived in their ports, "461;i0 ridged to be the production of Surinam or F"e,l°,arr Now his first objeetien to the proposition of t he me. nt was one which, if well-founded, was of the g r vi be importance, as proving that this was not lthe l Y o , the a permanent measure. lie perfectly agreed wl Chancellor of the Exchequer in some of the rcnasl. i t at had made, but he (Mr. Latouchere) must say al ( ;: c tite when ti e Chancellor of the Exchequer was f° s o° upon the advocates of a gradual reduction of ethetb 0111 inties, he was astonished at the conduct of Ob. Hen. Gentle man in thus pronouncing a censure 0 ,5 0 ;); Government, and upon those who supportedit uriOe ter.) Never was so unfortunate a course as distl:tier by the Government upon this question. T he)/ made such an alteration in the sugar datiel.ooo they left no doubt of a further a lle sd t this year, and now he hoped that, :after 0014011 warnings of the Lord Chancellor. they would 00 y 1 0 peril the ()the r branches of the trade ef the• c o tints similar manner.—(Laughter at.d Bear, hear.), ai r trade with the Brazils was interfered with by 111 el e ' sure which was non , proposed. There was 1115° Asf r mint introduced into it which could not a dd to frodo manency, and that was the encouragement ° lo re l b upon the revenue.—(Hear, hear.) He would /e he It, say, notwithstanding the smile of increduliq ,100,1„ served on the faces of some Hon. M e inbers, ° ;.ol , ;„,' that the West India cultivators themselies( benefit they were asked to sanction that anolna l(ni t be I . of legislation, were alarmed at . the course o ploto vernment were pursuing. His eye was eaughtlitetlicip ing over a newspaper of that morning, by a 3,ooefet copied from a respectable organ of public 43,0eiectiui. the West Indies. It stated that the y•- 4 1, the ndirdission of Venezuelan sugar to " 4 ".. taro had caused the utmost excite ment the agricultural inter( sts of those colonies,ty'6L:o meeting had been held to memorialise her MoJe,",,,a/I„'',l, vernment upon the subject, and the writer .stipPi;e jo.r, those meetings would be held in every part of t t i l t Ile (Mr. Labouchere) greatly feared, therefore:,l,oo manency did not attach to the sugar duties 4, present proposition of Government was intencleusa It proposed to draw a distinction between (Jorers,l'o, labour sugar which would be useless and I l i t aer,,,i l and yet nevertheless irritating to the feeliu! ° A the try.—(Hear, hear.) In that way they entailea3.o,lol,o unfortunate consequences on the c ommerce- 4 1 , 11 . e c i te li rs of their colonies and of the country. lie °d e i ri ° this measure was not likely to increase in ; s i t re I° ,o l tions a belief in their sincerity, and in their o !. t t, 11, e ! away with the s'ave trade and with slavery to the other points, he could not understan" ak, i f were discouraging the slave trade b) . slave-grown sugar from this country. C° ll l .,i l° l , say, that when they admitted free labour sog l ts ta'V not raise the price of slave-grown sugar jusl; tell,;e1 11 if in the first instance they had given ° d oe', them? Ile agreed with the other portions Lord's resolution, that this plan, without benefit to the consumer, tended so greatly revenue as to render the removal of th e i re ifey, property-tax, at the end of three years, ° to stli, certain and improbable. Without entering calculations on this question, and taking th e , ' 0 4 1 ,( 1 ", mere financial merits, he was afraid that f l o ollei aisswer the expectations ef the Right Ha. 'No, under these circumstances he could n ot 1 . 1 c ,t 0 0 1 1/ tensing it as trifling yeah one of the gr. ta,:e 4 t. of revenue. He believed that they might I ° ° ,l tb ° oe 4 o consumers of sugar the same advantages( 1 ., 11 0 ,/ 1 1 1 ;i by a more moderate protection to the c oloial e tfc e eo lit o hear.) But by this important distinctionli°o e sugars of free aid of slave countries, lie ' 1 ' 4 01, 0 / whether they would receive in amount of ``, at the end of three years, the sum at presca . e' „ revenue of the country At the end of tnre-copo, would find it still necessary to continue a part of the permanent revenue 0 1. the cou n f t 'l, Y,fc is not enter into the details of the Bight 1 , ° 1 '" 1 6 measure. Ilis own view was, that tha t „et not discourage the cultivation of s lave-ittuoiac l o /0 foreign countries further than tee the groom;[ that they in England consumed of free-Liboo those countries; and exactly to that ant` t . 1 : 00 e nc r6 only, would they encourage the prolia e i . 3 sttlVv' labour sugar in foreign countries. He w( 4 l . i i orat , / c , first part of the resolution of the Noble 1 , °, 00 ilr (e ll tj grounds, and he would also support the e' l ' s/ ie cause be was convinced that while they id of ductions in the duties on sugar, t h e y coo. fo atVot time place their differential duties . otte r s t be of 0 though diminishing the cost of sugar. e ve!' of in this country, they would at the same 00 4 I ti 4 revenue in such a manner as to prevent t' any continuance of the income-tax. ti be l i e Mr. GLADS'fONE said that he Wig", of / ) 13 ,, , i by the House to speak on the amendrae n e - ol btot i e l l i e Lord, both on account of the share he had ~f decision to Government had conic fiatabid:llll tion, and as lie wss most anxious, althetig hid' 06 to claim his share of the responsibility ‘ / 1,0 r(1 ito P e ? incurred. He thanked both the Nob le tall e ac P l i e l ' gentleman who had just sat down, for th e y. - i oPca per they hail manifested on that occa sl `,l,ol 3, oe o tl e that the Noble Lord and his support ers °editaaf vacating their own opinions, yet give ° r y a,' 11 ‘,,t0, verntnent, for not perhaps very li a ig e h tet oi r int s o tie t li hcor3 4 o 4 4 motives, but at least for having as to render the charge of lukewartnne'Sdi reg 004.4 the oppressed inapplicable to them. 11.1 G e ee motion of the Noble Lord, he had t° 0 0 11- for submitting it in such a form. If th e e , ar, who had just sat down had o difficult) . I Die deo) and all of the propositions of the N° fe o Gladstone) lead equally little difficul t )" and all of them.—(Laughter and ehee rs) ee first, that the distinction sought l ' 9 „.are 0 V o ic i ; between free-labour and slave 611 00 11 0 11 ' sory and impracticable ; that it s e e t iit: e to the consumer; and that tbe income 1 7 r/ ien tion was likely to be continued a h s ,, be ‘ , 011 country. With regard to the income" r . es siaboll 1 11 ;( very little; but lie could not help e% . 1) fly nishment that the Noble Lord sl I nc ool e ; 1 0 )4 exhibit so stream , an opinion on toe th ,ht b°,, / the Noble Lord expect a revolution._ 0 4, fact fortune ? Did he consider what partfite_'o4;ll,'oo,,rell, reins of Government, d that that t x erf.) lit ( their doings three years hence ?—(C h ,, en t aP,i o ob l „tt, f ,t Lord said that the distinction "-iiireseisw free labour sugar and slave sugar wa s st ian /j oie' granted that the real and prac tical q O . O c oon 1 . 1 0 , 0 1!;;, they should exclude sugar f ro m eerta l to de., eo n P"^ at present carried on an Afeican s lave e crta l b c reit tion of the exclusion of sugar might be principally confined to and one of the grounds on v. hich h e on , n o. 4, founded his at guments against to , s ap° t of. gave scope to the perpetration of fratt.(l.lst the, so) He was prepared to contend aP I in ion The Hon. Gentleman quoted the:'a yort ° ll ,o l s e tr, tlemen, that sugars from Surinam 1: V e nt ( oc io! fc enter the country as the pro duce set nilla. Now it was impossible to nd ll ic a atal: oo o l ,A pressed in those general terms, t he g i „d 0 1 ' ( 0 ; request the Hon. Gentleman to . 11: / ti e n deret7 tb i e o 4, opinion, its order that it might u o H f e an w 7rp l i d ni n o o n t He last session went into the par ,P O her set I ( Ifer t e h d e thatsutsubject, a l n lo d n i . le G ( en i t r, given full con i'an 10 1 ' r of'' in e rhoistisleootse't idecocii:rgesl:(l,llli:s.ere,?:' House had expressed theirl.elliGeland.::,,:tsevic')jUrs:is)(l)ll°l°rerlis!te: of ( lion .Gentlemenng ti e " rice str-t those rnade use f j%ineo r e P' joll r of in streaking of some law o - ever b e t° t ot 0 1 nary law—such a law as was n we nir I p a a w ym by en w t i m iic a l d i, e th b r 3 o 7 u o g n h e so z n e d ; o st t e ( r , :he this e ° , r "r;t rj ' 4." l o`l America was introduced ihnatever. ' 3 o roe li f ti . payment of any duty w a rg... i popular, a most telling argo t. e n_i_ .r ., o , o o t t . _" o Foe) the public mind. and serve i t: , g P_" .e r nt o f a g a o t , o iot i i that was a mere labrieatio7, or; public ot i viovi A 4 palmed on the credulity o 1 w ith a belie ~ea some per , s e on w e hich he w , men opposite, by upon them and serve a purpo.:. t eed tit ° , not be of any avail now. interr ip plie ° Al 1111 0° "1 Me T ro h b e e l r l s e e n iip l o la si r t o e n , e vi t h a o .as t ce rt al 1 ' common report. deprieleer:ted hiS c , ulel not fro nt wt.], °r l in 11 ' 111 r. GLA DSTONE—I ie r%arlllearclt,,paperlee oaNnrhildgoialhneattielbudea brruceatP:hreitthilaividdtseheP,rll:lo_..ll,omtini6lieneteso:-:.l,:eielitii,eoir: any rate, it was one of thoSisendibor proieLsitTof 14ittc,161,:i Gentlemen opposite had stßuthegeyuteblinlilesiti.dra,abtntultrottai, it i ti n ,e : nn i c i e s t! ( :. i t r i sviie nn e sugar o e%r he (Mr. Gladstone) be te . nt d tai rec htec iit ce , readily 3 t PO° Pi" countries would lee c no duties imposed last session, fi_ointt p . s e one , e ; di p; troduction of sugar from Ci t mr ! G oAlst if/00,01i a paying transaction. iction t ll t t it , sitate to express a cum' t hat , -, bl ii eovol) tial duties were re:3eal e :i G 1 30 1 1 0,0 '',31 0 ,4 she produce d e t ( u o i e f e o g r o i :f t ' e s those ro st d i u n c e w o t liuotn:t.r to lit te/iff;goctifej::°Delortste amare that common feeling de ci d ed of Of lot?: o ir,, ; there was in this countrY,,voe,e,e,l7osite„,; of °veil , thing that promoted the, z _ u o. , (-Pr o t ~of the stave trade. lion. Gen't w org O w grP°eliatticr74llidtgaml-pahanncidplee.xpoecutteattoey ;cop. ~. ' hr it