The Sun. — London, England, 1839-01-30 00:00:00

----,........_ -........- Any be prom o t e d . I have stateii freely and openly my belief, that the restriction on the Suffrage is as unjust and unreason table, as would be the demand, on the part of the rich, to peep the poor out of the markets, on the pretence that the :rich could not properly enjoy the markets without their exclu ,, tsion. I would give every man the power of the Suffrage— (Cheers)--and of using the influence which has fallen to his share. Then, and not till then, will anything like justice prevail, and we arrive at a stable condition, and something like the end of those continual agitations which this country has wit mewed. I came not to repressyour demand for Universal Suffrage; on the contrary I say, go on and heaven prosper you.— (Cheers.) But I wish to state my opinion on the question whether the best means of obtaining that object be to demand the Suffrage and not the repeal of Corn-laws ;or to demand that the Corn-laws be removed as a means of obtaining the Suffrage? The question with me is, which of the two is the softest plan. Let us suppose the agitation against the Corn laws to succeed or to fail. If it succeed you will have given a heavy blow to the Aristocracy that oppressed you; and they know it and will defend that point to the utmost. This is but the beginning of the great quarrel, and if we can force them to give way on the Corn-laws, their weakest position, the chance is that we may make them give way on other points also. And sttottose this effort to fail, then you will be strengthened, for 'en people will join you in demanding the Extension of the Suffrage. Teke all the men with you you can who are willing to go. I have heard it stated here in the way of blame, that the master manufacturers cef Manchester talk of their own losses, and not of yours. I 'know the right way to remedy that ; talk of them yourselves. If the manufacturers of Manchester omitted to state your sufferings, do not follow the example. We have now an opportunity of pressing upon a point where our adversaries are the weakest, and we ought, as wise men, to make that the point of attack. Recollect, once more, lam among you not to quarrel with Universal Suffrage. lam one of its earliest friends and most earnest supporters ; but since I am driven to make a choice between the motion and the amendment, I must state that I for one shall be for attacking the Corn-laws first, that we may be better able to obtain the Suffrage aftervverde. (.'elcers.) The motion exhorts you not to trust ten much to the effect cf petitionine the House of Connt:ins. They :have queer ways in that House, and it reiteires some expe rience to understand them. Will you believe it that when they moved for a Committee, to inquire inut the cause of agricul tural distress, the first thing they did, WAS to bar inquiry into what they know was its real cause. Yet it was the fact, that they forbad all inquiry as to the effect of the Corn-laws on the agricultural classes. One of the sources of me belief, thi:t we are certain to sucerited in the attack upon the Corn laws is that I are sure it. is provable that the agriculturists also suffer from there. I will not detain you with the details, but it can be proved that there are only two portions of the agriculturists whom these laws ultimately benefit. One portion of these are those members of ecclesiastical corpora tion, who are debarred by their statutes from marriage, and consequently ought to be debarred from having children.— (Limgleier.) 'I he other and the wider crass consists of these vibe, having children, have the power cf making eldest sons the heirs of all their property, on the condition that they shall use their influence to ob. tale a living for the others from the public. These classes may be permanently interested in the continu ar,ce of the Corn- laws, and will no doubt make a stout resist ance to their abolition in the House cf Lords. I guess we shall go twice to their door, and obtain no answer; but the third time they may have held a domestic council, and will perhaps be found to have thought better on the subject. We must not expect to gain what we want by simply asking. When do ye a t hi n k we are likely to get Universal Suffrage? F rom my experience, lam sure I cannot tell. It will eer tsiely need a long series of efforts ; you must make up your minds'to perseverauce.—( No. no.) I beg to diffor from that gentleman, who thinks we shall get Universal Suffrage at one jumps We shall be very lucky if we get it in ten. Wait and see Which of us is right. What then is to be our mode of aetieg how ? You will say, sign petitions. Very right. Riendreds will ba signed here and in other places—and they will all be put into a bag.--( Hear.) That is the end of the petitions of the people in these days. The present Ministers ( I cannot withhold it) have committed the wicked act of striking at the root of the influence of the petitions of the people, by prohi biting discussion upon them. I wish it was their only one. What is the good of petitions that nobody may talk about, be yond reading theer prayer, and the mere numbers who have sigued them. The time was when debates arose upon them, and that tire.4e may come again. Get it, and then I will tell 3-on a different story ; but till then I tell you that the petitions of the reople are of little avail, particularly those which are only signed, by the multitudinous classes, for whom the Legislature earce as little as can be expressed. Take with you then the men, who, as things are constituted, have more influence, Wealth, and power :do not despise then]. Go with your masters, if you can, as long as you can persuade yourselves that yolk have interests in common. I do not ask you to re pose cenifidence in any man. Calculate as clearly as you can, whet'ner your condition will be better or worse by obtaining a cein:ain objeet. Ifethe Corn-laws be removed, will you b e more or less able to push that honest object which, I trust, you will never give up, the obtaining the Suf frage for every man of sound mind?—(Cheers.) Heed not the taunts which are thrown out against the manufacturing classes. The Coro-law journals call you " spectres." I see nothing like it here, though many of you may have been ground down by the competition among yourselves and the lowness of arages consequent on the Corn-laws. If you are shut up like rats in a cage to breed upon a given quantity of food, there is ne difficulty in seeing how some of you may be reduced to starvation point? It food is strength, will you not be as able to stand up for U n i versa l S u ff rage , and make as good a fight :or it, is as you are now without it. Your enemies taunt the - manufacturers if they are poor, and say these arc poor men, and we will not be troubled with them. If you are rich, they say these men are well enough off, and therefore we will rob them out of. both pockets at once.—( Cheers.) That is the kind of justice you are treated with. What would be the result if you were toput the same law on the agricultural classes, 'Why should wenot put a tax on the home grown corn or rent, or a bounty on the importation of corn ? Why sbould we not do these things, and say to the agriculturists, " It is a fine thing for you to have rich manufacturers ; let us tax your corn, and then we shall have more money to spend with you." That is just what the landlords say to you. They take money out of your tills, and then promise to spend it at your shops. They now propose a fixed duty ; but sooner than relax any part of our demand for the complete abolition of the Corn laws, let us ask for something more. I have been at Man chester, and can tell you that th e m i n d s of the people there are turning to the idea of a bounty on the importation of corn of ss. a quarter for seven years. This would be a perfectly just and equitable demand, and sooner than take any compromise, and leave a rag or remnant of the mischief, it ought to be urged. Let us not stop short for any visionary dangers. Get food in plenty; for food is a substantial good. Do not heed the men who say that you would obtain so much em ployment that you would not be able to be employed at all. Exercise the reason which God has given you. Think closely and calmly; and omit no opportunity of acquiring knowledge in situations better adapted for calm reasoning than a public meeting like this. I look forward to the time when we may meet here again to congratulate one another on the union, the calmness, the resolution, and the perseverance which shall have gained a great victory over those who for twenty-three years have ground down every poor man in the dust for the promotion of their own private interests. My countrymen, let me retire, after thanking you for the patience with which you have heard me on subjects respecting which there necessarily is a difference of opinion. I hope that with equal calmness you veill resolve at all events to make a strong demonstration in tlee face of our enemies, and whatever difference of opinion may prevail on minor points, that you will all agree on one, no longer to be oppressed, but to take the most decisive and rational mode of removing the grievances with which you are afflicted.—( Loud cheers.) Mr. BUCHAN supported the amendment, and urged that it was as decisively against Corn-laws as the original motion. As to Colonel Thompson's advice, that they should take the naiddke classes along with them now, as the best means of pro moting the attainment of Universal Suffrage, he urged they had been told the same thing at the time of the Reform Bill ; and 'had always been told so when the middle classes wanted the aid of the people—but they had always had their hopes disappointed. He contended, too, that the repeal of the Corn-laws involved the adjustment of the National Debt, and that the present Legislature was not to be trusted in dealing with such questions. E. BRADLEY, Esq., supported the retotion. He argued that there was no ultimate connection l 'eetween the Corn-laws and thy: Suffrage. He should be wi'.'iling M support an Extension of the Suffrage, but he connidered the repeal of the Corn laws to be one of much mere urgent importance. He showed ow work largel a r e duct i on y e in, the p r i ce o f f ood would augment e man's ommand over the necessaries of life, and how needless was the awrehension that to import part of our corn from abroad woteid place us at'the mercy of foreign Powers. Mr. J. CRAIITIre.E supported the amendment. He said that in France wage,, were about one-half the rate of the wages in this county e but C'ol. Torrent had stated that one English. man could do as. much work as eight Frenchmen. Assuming, however, that an Englishman could do the work of only four Frenchmen, the result was that the cost of work was 50 per cent. higher in France than in England. If they voted for the amendment they would have Universal Suffrage before another year.—(Laughter.) If they voted for the original :notion they would take away the power of the application to Parliament for Universal Suffrage.—( Laughter and cheers.) Mr. Lowes said they all knew he went the whole hog in Radicalism, but Pa great portion of the people did not agree with them as to Universal Suffrage, and they could not make them agree. But to repel the hand that held out to them a loaf, which would improve their condition and benefit their families, because it was not accompanied by Universal Suf frage, would be conduct only fitted for bedlamites. Mr. S. MARMALL said if he were a supporter of the Corn laws, he should desire nothing better calculated to defeat the objects of 'chose who desired their repeal, than to distract th‘i' , ntectings by such amendments as had been proposed. Mr. JAS. IRONSIDE S ur ge d th e mee ting to act upon the advice of Colon e l Thompson, and support the motion. He reminded them that Mr. Elliott, who had seconded it, vies the Chair matt of a meeting held a few months ago in support of Uni ver,al Suffrage—( A person on the steps exclaimed that Mr. Elliott would vote for the amendment). Mr. ELLIOTT stepped forward and said, I am for your Charter, but I am not for your being starved to death first. L. PALFREYNIAN, Esq., in an able speech, supported the motion, exhibiting a variety of saws, butchers' knives, mat chets, &c., of foreign manufacture, and stating their prices as compared with the manufactures of Sheffield. He stated that some ,British i 'merchants who had co nnect i ons on the Con- D i Eusetir,t :wiry I now compelled to supply their cus ,etnkirelyei,with foreign goods— Meer, bear.) O ur . C .' ,..tiiri4ipiti iinfeie e cl export to the Continent c ons i ste d o f steel, ;4; :-°'(. ti roll' tini‘tOreig4 . r s would soon manufacture for the mse l ves. / (-tik'^v:74l-1.';•,:;:,:.''':::7;711..),;(;., Many years must no doubt elapse before Universal Suffrage c uld be obtained; but if the Corn-laws lasted only two or three years longer, our foreign trade would be entirely gone. The amendment was then put to the vote, but lost by a ma jority of at least 2 to 1. The adoption of the petition was moved by T. A. WARD, Esq., and seconded b) Mr. JOHN BRIDGFORD. It was carried unanimcash-. Votes of thanks to the Chairman and to Col. Thompson were then passed, and the meeting broke up about four o'clock, AN- rLCORN-LAW MEETING AT LEICESTER. A meeting of the inhabitants of this city was convened by the Mayor, on Monday evenin g , for the purp ose o f petition ing for th e t ota l repea l o f the Corn-laws. It took place at seven o'clock, in the largest room in the town. When the Chair was taken the room was quite full. The most remark able feature in the proceedings was the perfect unanimity which prevailed amongst the two classes—the manufacturers and the working men, of which it was composed. Those who acted on behalf of the working men, joined heartily with those above them, in denouncing the monopoly of the agricultural interest. The MAYOR (T. Stokes, Esq.), on taking the Chair, said, with the object of the requisition I have great pleasure in complying. I assure you, you could not have one who is a more decided opponent of the Corn-laws, or a more deter mined friend to free trade in general.—(Cheers.) I advocate free trade, not merely as a benefit to this country, but to man kind at large. What is the position in which this country is now placed with regard to a repeal of the Corn-laws ?It ap_ pears that a majority of the landholders consider that their interest s would be sacrificed by a measure of this kind; but I think they take a very short-sighted view of the subject. If there be an increased demand for manufactured goods, em ployment must become more profitable, and the produce of the land must find a larger number of purchasers. We have seen in the papers statements of the decrease in manufactures which already prevails in Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, and Not tingham. lam sorry to say that Leicester is nct exempt from sufforine, of the same description. Mr. BRUEN came forward to move the first resolution, which formed the first of a series which had been adopted by the Committee, but which be felt bound to say were drawn up by a gentleman whose knowledge and the circumstances of his position entitled his opinions to the utmost respect. He need only say he alluded to Mr. Paget.--( Loud cheers.) If it Mere essential to the protection of the landed interest that corn should be kept at a high price artificially raised, Mr. Paget had as large an interest as landholders in general in the continuance of the present state of things. He believed that if Mr. Paget thought his own interest to be at variance (which it was not) with the welfare of the community, he would still adv oca t e t h e repea l of those laws. But Mr. Paget well knew that the commercial customer was the best supporter of the agriculturist, and that any system of le gislation which had a tendency to cripple and im pede commerce was the most dangerous for the agri culturists themselves.—( Hear, hear.) The resolution put into his hands stated, that this meeting was deeply im pressed with the injustice, impolicy, and ruinous consequences of those laws, and called for their repeal on account of the hardships which they occasioned by creating a monopoly in the necessaries of life. Many arguments were urged against the repeal of the Corn-laws ; but the only one which had, in his opinion, any force, was that by which it was maintained that we should not be dependent on foreign supply, but that we should grow all the corn we want within our own ' country. Those who made use of this argument, forgot that it was quite impossible that the manufacturing population of England could be adequately supplied with corn by the land on which they stood. They had now the proof that the present system had actually failed. Corn was now excessively dear, with the prospect of its being still dearer. The growth of the kingdom had not supplied the wants of its population. They stood in need of foreign supply. That supply was not forthcoming, because no man would provide a commodity foil a market in which the demand was not regular.—( Hear, hear.) The repeal of the Corn. laws would not only introduce a more abundant supply of corn, but, in all probability, increase the amount of labour, in order to meet the growing wants of all classes. So far, then, from the working man having no interest in this ques tion, he who lived by his daily bread was the person who would be most benefited by the repeal. Independently of the plea sure which every man of right feeling must experience in see ing those around him contented and happy, die prosperity of the manufacturers depended on the prosperity of the working classes. They were the great home consumers of manufac tured goods, and they all knew that the present high price of bread prevented the artisan from furnishing himself with many of those comforts and conveniences of life which he was en titled to enjoy.—( Cheers. ) Dr. NOBLE seconded the resolution. The Rev. Mr. BERRY said, his opinion was the same, as to the injustice and impolicy of the Corn-laws, forty years ago, as it was now. He recollected that there was great apathy on this subject, not only amongst the manufacturers but amongst the working classes ; and that about twelve months ago a meeting was called in that town on this question, the numbers at which were so few, that it was quite mortifying to witness the indifference to their interests which all classes exhibited. They might judge, then, of his delight at seeing the progress of opinion display itself so rapidly and powerfully on this subject. It only remained for them to keep up the interest, to fan the flame, and to concentrate the public opinion, arid it must in the end prove irresistible.—(Cheers.) The great principle on which he advocated this question was, because he believed it to be founded in justice. Per sonally he had little or no interest in it. His establish. meat was not very large, and though he could not say that he as as without land, he could throw a stone over any part of his eseate.—( A laugh.) Lord Melbourne had told them that it was not desirable to make frequent changes affecting large masses of property, until it was seen that the people demanded them. Lord John Russell now began to think that sonic modification of the present system was called for. Now his advice was, that they should follow the example of the people of Manchester, Sheffield, and Edinburgh, and insist on a change in those laws which so vitally affected their comfort end h appiness.—(Cheers.) He spoke honestly from his heart, without meaning to say anything harsh, when he ex pressed his conviction that the Ministers ought to have spon taneously led the way on this subject, and should not have waited for compulsion. Mr. FIELDING seconded the resolution. Mr. Alderman HARRIS, in proposing the next resolution, which stated that rivals were every day starting up that would ultimately compete with us successfully in foreign commerce, observed that he witnessed last summer what he was very much alarmed to behold. He had travelled in Belgium, and there saw how cheap provisions were, and that though the quantity of manufactured gocds sold there was great, scarcely any of them was supplied by this country. As to cotton goods, they were supplied at a much cheaper rate by Saxony than that at which we could afford to export them. He himself bought a cotton buskin for Is. Op., which he brought over to England, and as he was not himself a competent judge of the price at which such an article could be made, be put it into the hands of a hosier, at Nottingham, and asked him what he would charge a dozen for such goods. He replied 14s. a-dozen, which was Is. 6d. more than they would cost in Belgium. Other articles could be had at the same proportionate cheap ness. He never saw in Belgium a stccking of English manufac ture. There were some worsted stockings still supplied by the English, because they were a superior article to those which could be procured elsewhere ; but there were very few even of these. Having stopped some time in Belgium, he went tnto France, where he could see no English cotton goods. The prices= of such articles were certainly as high there, if not higher, than in England, though silk goods were considerably higher. He would now give them a practical illustration of the evils of the Corn-laws. He visited Rotten, a large manufacturing town, which was looked upon as the Manchester of France. He obtained admission to the factories there. He saw 250 machines, all power looms, at work, and spinning as well as weaving was carried on there in an excellent manner. He was introduced to an English workman in these manufac tories, and he asked him did he prefer France to England? The man replied that he did ; that he had worked at several places in this country, but that he preferred living in France, because, having a large family, he could lire there at a cheaper rate. He (Mr Harris) asked him whether the machines in Rouen were made on the best principle. The answer was that nothing could beat them in the way of machinery. He next inquired whether wages were higher for a first-rate artisan, such as he appeared to be, and he said he fouqd them to be the same as those in this country, about 255. a week. This statement afforded, he thought, abundant proof that if the preient system were continued they should lose their bestme chanics, who could not be blamed for leaving England, and be taking themselves to those countries where provisions could be procured at a cheap rate.--(Cheers.) Mr. J. COLMAN seconded this resolution. Mr. Trios. BURGESS moved the fourth resolution, which stated that, as wool and yarn were allowed to be exported on payment of a mere nominal duty, the principles of a just re ciprocity demanded that corn should be freely admitted into this country. Mr. PAGE seconded the resolution. Mr. J. Bice's, in moving the next resolution, said—Had any one told you a yehr ago that the Corn-laws could be repealed by the Legislature as at present constituted, you would have looked upon him as a dreamer and a visionary, and yet now, without fear of being styled either, I tell you that it is my firm conviction they will be so repealed. From my own observation of the intense feeling upon this subject in the manufacturing parts of the kingdom, from the fixed determination of those who have engaged in this agitation, and the force of public opinion, when intelligence, wealth, and numbers are combined as they are now, I augur the re sult as certain. When I went from Leicester last week to attend the meeting at Manchester as your deputy, I had little conception that I should find such firmness of purpose —such stern determination upon this subject. As Birming ham carried the Reform Bill, so will Manchester carry the repeal ; and I promised that we would agitate, secovd, and support them ; that we, who in this district are suffering, and have suffered as much as any from the operation of these lees, would follow their example. At this very moment, were it not for the expectation of' a fair American demand, half the population here would be unemployed, and notwithstanding the famine price of corn and the sad low rate of wages, they would be still lower than when corn was half the price if we depended upon the home market alone; is it not high time then that we should adopt the course insi s ted upon by Mr. Villiers at the Manchester meetin g ? Ought w e not one an d all to take our stand upon the rights of the community, that every man should exchange the fruits of his toil with whomsoever and wheresoever he may choose ?---the conse quence of this would be an equalization of the price of corn throughout the world. A fair, steady, remunerating TUE SUN, LONDON, WE JANUARY 30, 1.839 pi ice to the farrriee (when the increased demand for his other aerieulturepr'oduce is taken into account), constant general employment as a necessary consequence at an aver -3e undiminished rate of labour for the industrious popuh'tion, and instead of being threatened by famine, England would be come the granary of nations, and the storehouee of the world. Who can wonder at dissatisfaeOen atel discontent, when power is used fur the ssereotts of gross selfishness in defiance of the rights of tteati, of justice and humanity, and a system persisted ie; year after year which will eventually doom tie: people to pauperism and the nation to ruin, and that, too, by Act of Perliament ? The time is now come when every employer, every manufacturer, throughout the country is imperatively called upon to identify himself with his own workmen in de manding justice. The repeal of those laws is no question now for cold debate or heartless indiff2rence. It involves the safety of life, the security of property, the well-being of millions, the very existence of our institutions and of the State. Mr. WHETSTONE seconded the resolution. Mr. PAGET was received will loud cheers. He could not disguise from them that however strong his opinions were in fivour of the repeal of the Corn-laws, in point of numbers those opposed to such a change had the advantage. He he sitated not to say that of the farmers and labourers there was only about one to a thousand who was not violently and de cidedly opposed to the repeal of these laws. The proportion favourable to a repeal amongst the landlords, was one to a hundred. This was the state of the question in England and Scotland ; but the demarcation was still stronger between the supporters and opponents of these laws in Ireland. The %%hole population of the country was agricultural, and he did not go too far in saying they required the union of the coun tries, as depending on their preservation. He had placed before them what he believed to be the real state of the facts, in order to show that unless they preserved unanimity there was no possibility of their success. Though be sas descended from those who for a long series of years were attached to the landed interest—though his earliest and dearest friends were amongst the followers of agrieueural pursuits—though all the enjoyments of his life were associated with that interest—he could not but acknowledge the danger with which those laws were fraught to the whole community.—( Cheers ) In the first place, they imposed a tax for the benefit of the landlord to the injury of the people. Bat this was not the only evil to which they gave rise. They prevented this country from deriving that benefit from intercourse with foreign nations which it had a right to claint. Though rents must fall as a consequence of the repeal, he would rather forego an excess of rent, and see the people amongst whom he lived contented and prosperous. The evil of the Corn-laws is as that they not oely enhanced the price of corn, but they introduced fraud and chicanery.—(Hear.) A nation that depended solely on its exports was miserably dependent on its neighbours for the comforts of life. The true principle was to allow manufac tures and agriculture t o b e carr i e d on w i thout the slightest re striction.. Mr. Paget concluded by moving a resolution, call ing upon their Members to give their strenuous support to the petition in the House of Commons, and upon Lord Durham to present it to the House of Lords. J. EASTHOPE, Esq., M. P., then rose amid loud cheers, and said—ln responding to the resolution which calls for my sup port to your petition, I can only say, that in presenting it, in conjunction with my colleague, my only anxiety is, that it may prove completely successful.—(Cheers.) No effort of mine shall be wanted to accomplish that object; and I can answer for the hearty coeoperation of my colleague. It is needless to remind you that this is no party question—it is a question affecting the dearest interests of Englishmen— it has an intimate relation to the comfort of every poor man's home, and to the success of every manufac turer's establishment.—( Hear, hear.) Talk not to me then of party politics, whilst we discuss a Tiestiou in which the best interests of all parties are involved. Let us listen not to factious views whilst we should oppose a system which aggra vates the misery of the poor man, and threatens destruction to commerce and manufactures.—(Cheers.) You know it is a saying as old as the hills, if cheap bread is not permitted to come to the people, the people will follow cheap bread. It is one of the obstacles which still impedes the progress of this question, that as it has not been sufficiently agitated, the obvious principles on which it rests arc not familiar to all the industrious classes. The varied and complicated details, too, by which the evils of the present system affect the working classes, are not so easy of illustration in a popular assembly as might be wished. There is one thing, however, so clear, that specious fallacies cannot disguise, nor dextrous sophistry ex plain away. When trade is bad with the manufacturer, it very soon reaches the workmen. It sales abroad fail, manufac turers at home suffer ; and if the merchant and manufacturer are destroyed, the corn-grower will share their distress.— ( Cheers.) Don't trust the mystifications of those who affect an inordinate deeree of commisseration for your sufferings, and attempt to mislead you by their favourite assertion—that wages must be high when corn is high. Examine the matter for your selves, and you will soon discover that the price of corn has little to do with the price of labour. I come now to the ques tion, what should be my course as your Representative, if the Government should feel it. their duty to resist a motion for the repeal? You know I have repvesented you with fidelity._ (•• You have.") Though; a general, I have not been an indiscriminate, supporter, of the Government.--( Cheers.) I have never given a vote in favour of the Government on any measure which I did not honestly approve, and I never re frained from voting against them when I believed that they were wrong.—( Loud cheers.) If they do not row support the change which the nation so imperatively calls for, then my course is clear—l shall use every means and exert every in fluence which I can put in motion to attain the great object on which we have set our hearts, careless what may be the consequences of such a course in relation to the present Ad ministration.—( Loud arid protracted cheering. ) I have heard with delight the address delivered by Mr. Paget, for it proves how clearly hie strong understanding comprehends the unquestionable truth that the interests of the landlord, of the farmer, of the agricultural labourer, of the manufacturer, and the artisan, are all bound up together : when one interest suf fers decay the other must feel it, and when one is destroyed the annihilation of the other must quickly follow.—(Cheers.) It is said that corn must fall here to the price at which it is on the Continent, and tho agriculturists anticipate entire ruin to themselves from such a state of things. Now, is it net much more likely that corn on the Continent will advance, so as to secure a remunerating price to the English grower, especially after foreign corn has been subjected to the charges of transmission ?—and is it not certain that the growers of corn, who manufacture little or nothing else, will increase their demands for the products of your skill ?—( Hear.) The egriculturists maintain that their condition will become miser. able if the Corn -laws are repealed ; but I should like to know how they can prosper by continuing their present absurd and reckless career?—(Cheers.) Again, it is urged that this is a question in which the artisan has no interest, and that it affects the manufacturer alone. Now, see on what ground this as. sertion stands. The man of capital can remove his factories to the banks of the Elbe or of the Hudson. He can there com mand good machinery and cheap corn, and he will not have to contend with prejudiced landlords bent on injurious monopolies, yielding partial and transient gains, but ultimately leading to ge neral ruin. Can the artisan, when trade and manufactures are in decay and ruin, move away to a foreign country with the same ease as the wealthy capitalist? You that know aid feel the sorrows and privations of poverty will easily discover the almost impossibility of your escaping from your sad condi tion.—( Cheers.) You may depend on my doing every thing within my power to obtain the total repeal of the present Corn-laws ; and I trust the people of England will never cease to urge it upon the attention of the Legislature until their just demands are successful.—(Loud and prolonged cheering.) Two admirable speeches were delivered by Messrs. Roberts and Markham (working men) in proposing and seconding a resolution, stating that if the Ministry did not repeal the Corn laws, the country was bound not to trust them any longer, but to insist upon their relinquishing their present position. This resolution, after a short discussion, in which Messrs. Easthope, Paget, and several other gentlemen deprecated mea sures before it was seen what course the Government intended to take, was carried, and the meeting broke up. DRURY-LANE THEATRE. Her Maj, , sty visited this the'atre in state yesterday even in:T. The Royal box was fitted up in a manner which reflected the highest credit on the taste of the ma nager. Those of her Majesty's suite who were not im mediately on duty were in the adjacent box. For a list of the names of the distinguished persons in attendance, we refer to our Court Circular, Her Majesty was dressed in a suit of black satin; a wreath of brilliants encircled her hair. Her reception was such as could not have failed to gladden her inmost heart ; one enthusiastic feeling of loyalty and affection pervaded the assembled multitude. The house, within a quarter of an hour after the doors were opened, was crammed in every available corner, notwithstanding the extreme un favourableness of the weather, and hundreds of disappointed expectants were obliged to return home. The performances on this occasion were The Maid of Artois and The Spirit of the Air, in addition to which Mr. Van Arnburgh displayed his extraordinary feats. The National Anthem was performed by the company both at the commencement and at the conclu sion of the entertainments; and in both instances the entire audience took an enthusiastic part in the chorus. Her Ma jesty looked extremely well, and appeared cordially to appre ciate the manifest attachment displayed towards her Royal prson. Her Majesty did not retire till the close of the per formance. CORN-LAWS-ROTHERRAM. On Tuesday there was a dinner of the Working Classes at the Ring of Bells in Rotherham, to which Mr. Ebenezer Elliott, Mr. Willoughby Wood, Colonel Thompson, and other friends from distant parts, were invited. The first was absent in consequence of his exertions 'on the preceding day. At seven o'clock the meeting adjourned to the yard of the Red Lion Inn, where between two and three thousand persons were assembled. Cole el Thompson addressed them from a window of the Inn. He said, he had come there under the impression that it was a meeting for the same purposes as the meeting at Sheffield the, day before, and had only learnt the contrary in the Railway carriage. He trusted, however, he was able to speak at 'a Universal Suffrage meeting as well as an Anti-Core -law one; and they should not find tint he was come to throw any brand of discord into the meet ing.—( Cheers.) All he wanted was leave to explain the reasons which guided him at the Sheffield meeting, and guard against any charge of inconsistency, which might otherwise be brought against him. Both Mr. Elliott and himself would have been most ready to vote for the amendment yesterday, if they could have found any way of reconciling it with their long expressed opinions and ex pectations, that the Corn-laws were the point on which the enemies of popular rights were most open to at tack. The difference of opinion was merely as to which end should be begun on first. With this reservation, everybody knew that there were no more open supporters of the Extension of the Suffrage to all men of sound mind, than they.—( Cheers.) He was a l ways ready to avow that the re striction of the Suffrage t o t h e rich, was as unreasonable as if the rich should declare that they could not have the benefit of a market unless the poor were kept out. —( Cheers.) Property should be represented, but then it should be everybody's pro perty—( Cheers)—and it was only as we approached to this, that we should approach to a tranquil state. The affairs of this country were too complicated to give a chance for any particular class obtaining an object by violence, and conse quently there was the less dange r of such an attempt being made. He was closely pressed for time, and must withdraw with a wish that their conclusions might be directed to the greatest good. At half -past seven the meeting was left pro- I seeding;. ELECTIONS AFTER THE MEETING OF PARLIA mENT.—On the first day of the approaching session writs will be moved for to supply the following vacancies in the re presentation :—The Tower Hamlets, Yarmouth, Sandwich, Cavan County, Bucks County, and Leitrim County. The above are the positive vacancies ; but it is said that Mr. E wart will obtain the seat for Carlow. to be vacated by the eleva tion of W. H. Maule, Esq., to the Exchequer Bench. One of the seats for Southwark must also be added to the above unless it shall turn out, as Mr. D. W. Harvey asserts, that his office of Registrar does not require him to vacate. COURT CIRCULAR,. The Queen walked in the garden of the Palace yesterday. Viscount Melbourne had an audience yesterday of her Ma. jesty. Baron Bulow, the Prussian Minister, transacted business at the Foreign Office yesterday. The Chancellor of the Exchequer returned to town on Mon day evening from Hastings. Mr. Daniel - Whittle Harvey and Mr. NV. Harris Jones had interviews yesterday with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cam bridge did Mr. George Hayter the honour to visit his studio, to see his portrait of her Majesty in the Dalmatic robes, and also his great picture of the Coronation. Mr. J. Bishop, Secretary to the Metropolitan Beer.sellers' As , ;ociation, and a Deputation, had an interview with the Chan cellor of the Exchequer yesterday, iu Downing -street. DEATH of the DUCHESS-COUNTESS OF SUTHERLAND. We regret to announce the death of her Grace Elizabeth Duchess-Countess of Sutherland, who expired yesterday at her residence in Hamilton-place, after a short illness. The Duchess-Countess was in the seventy-fourth year of her age, having been born on the 24th of May 1765. Iler Grace was Countess of Sutherland in her own right, the origin of which title is lost in its antiquity. In 1766, when under two years of age, she succeeded her father, William, the eighteenth Earl of Sutherland, who died at Bath in June of that year, a few days after the death of his Countess. On the 4th of Sep , t , .mber, 1785, she was married to George Grenville Viscount Trentham, who succeeded his father as Marquis of Stafford in 1803. and was created Duke of Sutherland early in 1833. The late Duke died at Dunrobin Castle, on the 19th of July, 1833, leaving issue the present Duke of Sutherland, the Countess of Surrey, the Countess Grosvenor, and Lord Francis Egerton. A Correspondent has sent us the following : " During Monday and )esterday her medical attendants, Sir Henry Halford, Dr. Chalmers, and D. Holland, gave little or no hope of her recovery. The pangs of death were un known to that estimable lady, for she departed to a better and purer world without a sigh, having her bed surrounded by her dearest ties. The Countess of Surrey came to town from Littlehampton. and Lord and Lady Francis Egerton, who have been visiting the Duke of Wellington, at Strathfieldsaye, also came to town, and were present at the dissolution of their revered parent. The inquiries yesterday after her Grace's health were very numerous, and we believe that the Countess of Clarendon called several times, so anxious was her Ladyship after the health of her old and esteemed friend. By the death of her Grace several distinguished families are placed in mourn ing. An express was forwarded to the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, at Rome, to inform them of their unexpected bereavement." His Royal Highness the Duke of Lucca, attended by Dr. Carina, left Mivart's Hotel last evening on a visit to Mr. and Lady Caroline Masse, at their seat near Nlidhursr. The Dowager Lady De Clifford commenced her dinner parties yesterday, at her mansion in Carlton-gardens. The Countess of Ashburnham gave an elegant din ner yesterday to a select circle of fashionables at her house in Eaton-square. Lord and Lady Lyndhurst arrived in town on Mon day from Paris. The Duke and Duchess of Montrose have post poned the poriod for their arrival in town until Saturday next. The Earl of Charleville is expected to arrive in town from Dublin on Friday next. Lord Carrington is expected to leave Wycombe Abbey, in Buckinghamshire, to-day, for his mansion at White hall. Earl Grey leaves Howick on the 10th of February For town. Prince Paul Lieven, after staying a few days at Paris to condole with his mother on their late domestic be reavement, intends to proceed to St. Petersburgh. It is thought he will resign his Secretaryship to the Russian Em bassy at this Court. The Marquis and Marchioness of Aylesbury enter tained the Earl of Cardigan and a select party at dinner on on Monday evening, at their residence in Grosvenor-square. The Noble Marquis is in the enjoyment of excellent health, and purposes to give a series of grand dinners shortly after the assembling of Parliament. Lord Howick's announced soiree yesterday, and his Lordship's dinner party, did not take place, many of the per sonages invited being required to attend on her Majesty on the occasion of her visit in state to Drury-lane Theatre. The Duke and Duchess of Leeds and suite are ex pected at the Clarendon Hotel on Wednesday next, from Hornby Castle. His Grace comes up from Yorkshire to take the oaths and his seat in the House of Peers. The Postmaster-General and the Countess of Lich field and family are expected by the railroad in St. James's square on Saturday next, from Shugborough, for the season. The Chevalier Von Vaert, of the King of the Bel gian's household, has arrived in Jermyn-strcet, from Brussels. He officiates as Private Secretary to the King. The real cause of Peter Purcell's ire against Mr. O'Connell is but little known. The fact we have ascer tained to be this-- Wr. O'Connell refused to recommend him as a candidate to the electors of Kildare for the next vacancy, which is reserved in preference for the Duke of Leinster's eldest son, who is on the eve of his majority.—Limerick Chronicle. MASTER 0 WEN.—We understand that Master Owen, who has performed the character of Oliver Twist up. wards of sixty nights at the Surrey Theatre, intends taking for his first benefit Richard the Third. He will himself sus tain the arduous character of Richard. Master Owen's ,n -gagement at the Surrey ceases at the termination of Oliver Twist. THE VACANT CORONERSHIP.—A public meet ing of Mr. Waklcy's friends took place last evening at the Crown and Anchor, when various resolutions were passed in his favour. Mr, Wakley sta•ed his intention, should he be elected as Coroner, to resign his seat in Parliament if he found the duties of the two offices incompatible with each other. He thought, however, he could attend to his legislative duties as efficiently as those lawyers who were in full practice. On Monday a meeting of the friends of Mr. C. F. Adey was held at Barnard's Inn-hall, Holborn, for the purpose of receiving a communication respecting the intention of that gentleman to contest the election of Coroner for the county of Middlesex. Mr. Adey on the occasion addressed his friends, and intimated that lie had thought it right for the present to withdraw from the - contest, reserving the right of offering himself again should circumstances allow him so to do. It was anticipated that the Act for permitting the sale of game would cause its destruction, but the prediction has failed, for it has been, since the Act passed, in great abundance, and the sport excellent throughout this season, which ends on Friday next. ENTERTAINMENT TO MR. HUNIE.—On Monday morning a meeting of the friends and supporters of Mr. Joseph Hume, M. P., was held at the residence of Mr. Scares, 23, Surrey street, Strand, for the purpose of taking into conside ration the must efficient measures to be adopted for the pre sentation of a valuable service' of, plate to Mr. Hume, as a testimonial of their esteem and respect. Sir J. S. Lillie was unanimously called on to preside. From the discussion that ensued, it appeared that some time since subscriptions com menced in the Tower Hamlets, and in several other districts, and in the parishes of Middlesex, but it had not yet been de termined on whether the subscription should be local or ge neral. It was originally determined that the entertainment should take place on the 12th of February (Shrove Tuesday). Mr. Hume preferred the following day ( Ash Wednesday), but this was overruled. It has now been resolved that the dinner shall be held on the first Wednesday after the Easter recess. In the course of a trial in the Sheriff's Court, yes terday, it was stated that the plaintiff, a fashionable tailor at the west end of the town, had charged 501. for discounting a 2501. bill. The Queen gave audience yesterday at the New Palace to Count Sebastiani, the French Ambassador. His Excellency was ir.troduced by Viscount Palmerston, G. C. 8., her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Her Majesty went in state last evening to Drury-lane Thea tre to witness the performance of the Maid of Artois. tier Majesty was accompanied by Lady Barham, Lady in Waiting, and the Earl - of Albemarle, G. C. H., Master of the Horse. Her Majesty's suite were in five of the Royal carriages, and included the Marchioness Of Tavistock and the Marchioness of Breadalbane, Ladies or the Bedchamber; the Hon. Miss Murray (in Waiting), the Hon. Miss Spring Rice (in Wait ing) ; the Hon. Miss Pitt, the Hon. Miss Cavendish, and the Hon. MiSi Paget, Maids of Hoi;our ; the Duke of Argyll, G. C. H., Lord Steward; the Marquis of Conyngham, K. P., Lord Chamberlain; Lord Lilford, Lord in Waiting; Lord Hill, Gold Stick in Waiting; the Right Hon. G. S. Byng, Comptroller of the Household; Colonel Cavendish (Clerk Marshal), Silver Stick in Waiting ; Sir Robert Otway, Groom in Waiting ; Lord Alfred Paget, Equerry in Waiting ; Mr. Martins, Mr. Blackwood, and Mr. Montgomery, Gentlemen Ushers; and Sir Thomas Horsley Curteis, Exon of the Yeo man Guard in Waiting. Her Majesty was escorted by a party of the Life Guards. HIGH XV.A.Tr. , .! AT ('DON To.m(ruzolv. mornhvi nli utes after 3 1 Evc,ing 18 miinrtes after 3 CALIFORNIA. This day was published, in One Volume demy Bvo., with a New Map, by Arrowsniith, Plans of the Harbour, and numerous Engravings, price 14s. cloth boards, In ST OR Y of UPPER and LOWER CALIFORNIA,tfrom their First Discovery to the present time, comprising an Account of the Climate, Soil, Natural Pro ductions. Agriculture, Commerce, &c. A full View of the . Mi ssionary Establishments, and Condition of the Free and Domesti cated Indians. By ALEXANDER FORBES, Esq. With an Appendix relating to Steam Navigation in the Pacific. Smith, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhiil. _FUN AND PHILOSOPHY. The singular MEMOIRS of DAVY DREAMY, Edited by FLIT, and Illustrated with Humourous Etchings, by PETER PALETTE, will be Published on Friday next. SOLD EVERYWHERE. Officcs, 343 and 268, Strand 111 IS Majesty the EMPEROR of AUSTRIA. His Majesty the EMPEROR of RUSSIA, His Majesty the - KING of PRUSSIA, having AUTHORISED and GUARANTEED several Distribu tions of Money, which (though they are NO LOTTERIES, and do NOT EXPOSE the Shareholders to Blanks) offer possibilities of obtaining _ . _ LARGE FORTUNES, HEINE BROTHERS at HAMBURGH, and HEINE BROTHERS at LUBECK, are NOW SELLING SHARES for any of the said DISTRI BUTIONS of MONEY, at various ',vices. The Distributions contain various portions, from NINE POUNDS TO TWENTY THOUSAND POUNDS and upwards. Orders for less than 10/. cannot be attended to. Persons desirous to purchase may receive PREVIOUS to giving any order, the Prospectus and Particulars, upon addressing, WITHOUT DELAY, a line to HEINE BROTHERS at HANII3URGH. The publication qf Tii SUN NEU SPAPER commenced Lids day at 40 minutes past Three o' Clock. 0 ? a -4 , - , ' : '7 : c7 : 2 „ (---1).:...V, ~-.- -, 4 • Ali ) ._ ,i...', 4,.,,- „... . . 7 „ If f :: _ ,:,tt ~ : o, :,... 04z e> '..,, ,„„, , , A)-,,,,,..C.:,- , _ : '•' ,, -:%- z fr —37 - ,i , , , , ,,, ..... ,, ...-- - - 4,-, ( - 7" rif k),e 1111+ LONDON : WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 30, 1839, We know that our readers are growing tired of Corn-laws, so are we, just as a man is tired who is laid up with an ulcer on his leg, sloughing and spread ing from ancle to knee, threatening to mount to the vital parts—sure, unless it be speedily cured, to deprive him of his limb ; allowing him no sleep at night, and no peace by day ; harrassing him with pain, and wear ing him out, with the prospect of terminating his exist ence in unspeakable agony. He has good reason to be thoroughly tired of his ulcer, and so has the na tion to be tired of the Corn-laws ; but as he knows, so we know, that to get cured we must be constant in our vigilance, and must, however painful and irksome the applications, continue incessantly to employ the means which skill has discovered to prevent the progress of the disease, and restore the limb to its original strength. The ulcer of the Corn-laws exists in a most destructive form ; we had no hand in bringing it on ; we are rather the surgeons, whose tight bandages, caustics, and probes, though painful, must be borne that a cure may be effected. Every one speaks of the Corn-laws. Meetings are everywhere holding, and they are all about the Corn-laws. The frost even makes us think of the increased sufferings of the poor, and then we naturally advert to the Corn laws, which tend to impede the increase of those in-door occupations which can be carried on with a profit in all times acid seasons. From every part of the manufacturing districts—Leicester, Shef field, &c. &e.--to-day,-yFe have stirring accounts oh the zeal and almost unanimity with which the people, to use the words of Mr. E. ELLIOTT, are resolved "to have fair play, and not to die-like flies." We will not here quote any passage of his stirring address, nor of Mr. IBBOTSON'S, but we refer our readers to those gentlemen's speeches, which are fully reported in an another part of our paper, as decisive proofs that a spirit has been roused in the North which no half measures, which no compromise, no fixed duty, will ever again set to sleep ; and that there will be neither peace nor hope for the country till every vestige of the foul and harassing ulcer be wholly and completely eradicated. As if to spur on a zeal which seems, if we may judge from Mr. E. ELLIOTT'S proposition to tax the land 50 per cent., to have already reached an extreme point, and to take rather the hue of vengeance than of justice, the Morning Herald assures us to-day, Along the Black Sea, it is indisputable, that there exist millions of acres, uncultivated at the present moment, but possessed of a degree of fertility so high, that wheat may be grown upon them, and carried to market, for less than twenty shillings a quarter. Suppose the English ports open for the admission of this wheat, it could, beyond all question, be sold in our markets for less than thirty shillings. What glorious news for the cutlers of Sheffield, and the spinners and weavers of Manchester, that if the Corn-laws were abolished they would have bread down to 3d. the four pound loaf, and plenty of it ! If the zeal of the manufacturers needed a stimulus to lash it almost into madness, the Herald's observations, so well calculated to snake the mouths of our hungry people water, will surely apply it. An excellent ally of ours is the Herald ! We know, indeed, that it will expect to cool the burning zeal it excites, by saying that the land of England would go out of cultivation if the cotton-spinners and cutlers were well fed by foreign corn ; but we beg leave to remind the Herald of a little page in the History of England which it seems unaccountably to have overlooked. Between the years 1773 and 1791, embracing the whole American war and all the changes imme diately consequent on that, the trade in corn was vir tually free in England. Whenever the home price reached 48s. wheat might be freely imported at a nominal duty of 6d., and as the price was in the great majority of those years above 485., the importation was all that time actually free. In those eighteen years the price was the steadiest to be found in the whole history of our corn trade, the extreme variation of it having been only 20s. The lowest price was 365. in 1779, and the highest 565. in 1790. That was a flourishing time, as is well-known, for our farmers, and if any proof of it. beyond traditionary re collections were now required it would be found in the fact, that the greater part of 1,532 Inclosure Acts were passed, and the greater part of 2,804,197 acres of land were brought under the plough during those eighteen years. In 1791 the free trade was abolished, and never since has the country known aught, whatever system of prohibitory or fluctuating .duties may have been devised, but excessive fluctuations in price, great public distress, and overwhelming ruin for the farmer. Our authorities for these statements are Mr. MACULLOCII'S Dictionary, and Mr. CLAY'S speech in 1837. In conclusion, let us observe, that if the Tories exult over the failure of the middle classes at Bir mingham, and the triumph of the Chartists—the new allies of the Tories, bent apparently on keeping the people hungry that they may the more cordially hate our institutions—the Tories will not find any cause to rejoice in the success of the acknowledged destructives at Sheffield. They proposed a❑ amendment to the effect " That the people could not expect to reap the benefit of the repeal, unless they also obtained Universal Suffrage," but they were defeated, at least two to one. It re . joices us to see that on this occasion the Chartists were in opposition to Colonel THOMPSON and Mr. ELLIOTT, who, in July, when they met in Palace-yard, . _ supported the Chartists. They will probably now join us in regretting that they did not discountenance the agita tion in thesummer, for though theyhave by their personal nfluence succeeded at Sheffield, their friends at Bir- miugham have failed partly, as it appears to us, by their fo:mer exertions. We ara as great friends t° the improvement of the people, and the extension of the popular rights, as our two friends at Sheffield, or as any of the Icatkrs of the Chartists, but we prefer practical im , astnes, which will surely improve the condition of all classes, to vanlic Consri!utional chmges which history tells us, however apparently well devised, have almost always led to confusion, if they have not ended in despotism. Such a practical measure is the aboli tion of the Corn-laws, and heartily glad are we to See our friends now bending all their exertions to a ttain that object, though they have thrown the Chartists overboard, as we were, from a sense of duty, formerly compelled to oppose them. It cannot prove inopportune, at a moment when the Spanish Government has directed an agent to proceed to this country for the purpose of raising a New Loan, to put the mercantile classes upon their g,u'ard against being made the dupes of a credulity which has al' ready plunged thousands of families in irretrievable, ruin. S trong as are our sympat hi es i n favour 0 1 Spanish liberty, they have never so warped our judg' went as to blind us to the now notorious fact , that Spanish patriotism in loan-contracting is seldon more than a cloak for the carrying on of a fraudulent system of credit, which an honest Government would blush to countenance, and which is unequalled in the annals of European finance. We will even go so far as to affirm, that to the bad faith of the Cortes to the public creditor is attributable all the failures that have hitherto attended the efforts of the Constitutional party to drive the PRETENDER and his partisans out of the Peninsula. Had the Constitutionalists convinced the capitalists of France and England, by their first legislative proceedings, that they were honest men, and had resolved to sustain Spanish credit by the just liquidation of the national debt, they would have soon been furnished with the means of terminating the Carlist rebellion. But in Spain one system of dis honest jugglery has succeeded another; and truth obliges us to add, that of guarantees the worst hitherto offered are the solemn decrees of the Constitutional C o rtes. Upon this important subject, a clever, well-timed pamphlet has just been published by RIDGWAY, en' titled " Spain—its Loans and ResourceS considered , : with ref e r ence t o th e Cl a i ms o f i ts F ore i gn C re di tors ,'' which we recommend to the perusal of all who feel disposed to dabble in New Spanish Securities. "It would be too long and too irksome a task," says the sensible writer, "to enter into a full historical detail of all the loan transactions since Spain was blest w ith the twaddling Cortes of 1821. The Loans called Cortes (independent of all the other public recognized debts of Spain) amounted, in the year 1834, to the moderate sum of sixteen millions sterling ! It is now upwards of 17 years since the first Cortes Loan was negotiated, and how many dividends have the English bondholders received for their money ? Just three diva. dends !" In the year 1831 about four millions sterling of Cortes bonds, bearing nominally five per cent. interest, were converted into three per cents.; the interest on which, by a solemn decree was to be punctually paid on the Ist of April and the Ist of October. As a bait to. borrow five millions more in London and Paris in 1834, the Cortes Loans of 1821 and 1823 were recognised at very reduced prices, but of the interest upon either n ot a fraction has yet been paid. The Cortes d e bt Of Spain at the present moment exceeds twenty millions sterling ; nor is there the remotest chance of its ever being liquidated, if the present system be continued. To mark the dishonesty of the National Cortes it is only necessary to point attention to the fact, that the produce of the Almaden Mines is the security offered for every new loan contracted, al though such produce was mortgaged years ago, foe; more than the Mines, if sold, would bring in any m ar ket in Europe. What has become of the conventual and church property in Spain ? If the Government have not money to pay the interest on the loans already contracted, let the Minister of Finance propose the sale of the church lands now con" fiscated to the Crown, and accept the national bonds in payment, at their nominal value. Such a scheme saved the credit of Portugal, because it evinced a disposition to deal honestly with the public creditor: ,;o But the Spanish fi nanc i ers p ropose no suc h expe - , ditnt, because their object, in nine cases out of ten, is to enrich themselves and their creatures at the expense of the national faith, and the interests of the credulous inhabitants of Great Britain. We have not forgotten the TORENO job of 1834, nor the partici pation of the REGENT herself in that most disgraceful transaction. To our countrymen, then, we say in all earnestness—Leave the support of the constitutional cause in Spain, as far as regards the sinews of war, to the Parliament and Government of Great Britain. Give the Patriots your sympathies, but do not trust them with your purses. For what aid our Government grants in either money or arms, it can compel repayment by the seizure of securities, but you will obtain no other security for your money than bits of dirty paper, only the more valueless for the inky blots on the face of them. There is gold enough in Spain. Why, then, are not the loans contracted there ? 'We will tell our readers. Rather than lend their money to the Government, at any rate of interest, the Spaniards choose to bury it in hiding-holes near their dwellings. They are sensible people, and do not like to lose the principal for an empty promise of exorbitant interest. Such is Spanish confidence in the good faith of the Spanish Go vern ment The Tories, it seems, are determined to " sweat" old BURDETT for the deeds of former days. They owe him a grudge for the virulent abuse he used to heap upon them, and they are now making him do penance for his sins. The drivelling grey-beard is hawked about from town to town in a white, sheet, recanting his opinions, and proving to all the world either that he is bereft of his senses, or that he never was anything but the hollow-hearted hypocrite that COBBETT, who knew him well, represented him to be. The other day he was shown at Ashby-de-la-Zouch ; since that, he has we see been exhibited at Wolver— hampton before an Association got up to display the virtues of " operative" Toryism ! At this latter place he openly acknowledged his apostacy, and made a lame attempt to justify it. The idiot ! has he forgotten that he has always hitherto insisted that he had not changed his opinion, but that his farmer friends and supporters had changed theirs ? What a lamentable spectacle does this old man afford of all that is humiliating ire human nature ! RIDGWAY has just published a very able pamphlet, on a subject which engaged the attention of Parlia ment last session, and which cannot fail to be brought before it during that which is approaching—namely, the Custody of Infants. The law, as it stands in re gard to this important matter, is characterised by the barbarity of a rude age, which drew a broad and de grading distinction between the rights of men and those of women. The legal position of a married woman is i❑ many respects little better than that of a slave. Her humiliation commences at the very altar, and every day of her future life, serves to remind her of the inferiority which she is there made to acknowledge. Should the man whom she has sworn to " worship" turn out a brute, as not unfrequently happens, the law gives him a power of oppression which is shocking to every feeling of humanity, to say nothing of religion. He may squander her fortune in sensual and criminal gratifica tions) embitter her 'ife by a thousand nameless art• ~ p. b ~4~