The Sun. — London, England, 1844-03-20 00:00:00

birb libttton SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Cloch. SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAY. GLOBE.—The defeat sustained by Ministers onLord Ashley's proposed limitation of the hours of labour for women and children employed in factories to: ten hours, has filled the ants-manufacturers with delight. 'The Standard pronounces it a " glorious triumph ;" 'and "laments that her Majesty's Ministers voted in the mi nority." "It is the first time they have so voted ; be cause," says the recently-installed organ of the Govern ment, " it is the first time they have been wrong !" The Post absolutely revels in contemplation of the difficulties in which the adverse vote has involved Sir Robert Peel, and in the self-stultifying contradictio.rs which Sir James Graham uttered, in utter obliviousness ,of for mer speeches. The Times, which on Saturday in voked heaven and earth to aid Lord Ashley in accom plishing his god-like purpose, was yesterday sobered by • the vote of the preceding night, and looked at the ques tion with the eye of practical common sense. This morning there is—no unusual thing with the Times—an inclination to give the other side a turn. Sir J. Graham is alternately rated and ridiculed for rigorously adhering to the 12 hours he originally proposed as the maximum of labour for females and children employed in factories. Sir Robert Peel is hit off as a statesman distinguished for infirmity of purpose ; who sees the right course, but is scared from purSuing it by the difficulties which pre . sent themselves :—" He (Sir R. Peel) sees the future duties of the British legislator only to shrink from them. He sees, in the protection of the British labourer, nothing but a horrible bugbear, pursuing the unfortunate Minister, session after session, through town and country, factory and de elling, through a labyrinthine intricacy of public and private relations." The truth of the description given by the Times of the Premier, and of his man-of-all-work at the Home office, we are not disposed to question. But we greatly doubt whether the prediction that journal ventures to put forth as to the fate of the Bill, in favour of which it embarks so much zeal, will be realised by the vote to which Sir James Graham last evening announced he intended to appeal on Friday night, when the Bill will be further considered in Committee. Mr. Labouchere having inquired of Lord Ashley "what his intentions were as to the amendment on the Factory Bill, which he succeeded in inducing the House to adopt on the preceding (Monday) night'?"—Lord Ashley stated, that "in order to make his amend ment as little offensive as possible in quarters which he wished to conciliate, he intended to submit certain modifications (which he stated at length) in the clause as it now stood, and by which he hoped the oppo sition with which the ten hours' clause had been threatened would be diminished, if not wholly with drawn." Sir James Graham's reply was at once prompt, explicit, and—we apprehend—decisive of the fete of the measure. We have expressed ourselves as doubtful re specting the policy of this legislative interference with the rights of capital and the interests of industry, now sought to be more stringently applied. The humanity which is urged as the basis of the interference is, we fear, short-sighted, though sincere. Let us not be mistaken. We are no advocates for the ceaseless toil to which the la bouring classes are subjected, and from which females and young persons especially ought to be exempt. Un remitted labour is debasing to the individual, and dan gerous to society. But the severity of labour which is demanded from the working classes, and the meagre ness of the remuneration which most of them receive, is chargeable—not upon the manufacturers, to whom all kinds of cruelty have been imputed, but to the opponents of extended commercial intercourse, and the partizans of monopoly. To these the charge of cruelty to the factory women and children is far more justly applicable than to the master manufacturers ; who themselves share the disadvantages of the restric tive commercial policy, which necessarily falls with crushing weight upon those in their employ. The Ten Hours' Bill strikes at the root of none of the evils which affect the poor. The opponents of al most every other measure which has been proposed, in and out of Parliament, for promoting the physical and moral elevation of the people, are found among the most noisy clamourers for diminishing by law the hours of labour in factories, with the certainty of, by so doing, • diminishing the earnings of the labourers, and thus further curtailing their .already insufficient supply of food. Those who originated this questionable measure —we speak not of Lord Ashley, who has been induced to take the lead by the impulse of his heart, which has, in this instance, refused to be guided by enlightened judgment in a matter in which his feelings have become embarked ; but of the origina tors of this Ten Hours' Bill, and those who were most active in launching it upon the tide of benevolent, but, as we think, mistaken philanthropy—the originators of this project are among the number of those who were content to leave the people uneducated and uninstructed in domestic economy; they were horror-stricken at the thought of their being politically enlightened; they were the indiscriminating defenders of the old vitiat ing poor-law system; they are the champions of re strictions on trade—and they would add to the bene factions of their microspic benevolence, the paltry boon of reducing the hours of the labour of the ill-paid poor, thus making them still poorer ! Surely these re collections are sufficient to create suspicions as to the soundness of the philanthropy whence this scheme has emanated, and to justify a disinclination to accept from such quarters, without the fullest evidence to confirm its claims to confidence, al project which comes z.ecom mended from so questionable a source ! STANDARD.—Lord Ashley last night declared his willingness to agree to any terms uponwhich the abridg ment of the hours of factory labour, determined upon by the vote of the House of Commons on Monday, should be introduced in the most gradual manner. He was ready to continue twelve hours for six months, then to pass to eleven hours, and not to make the complete reduction to ten hours before 1846. This proposition, we lament to say, was not received as we think it ought to have been, by the opponents of the reduction, Sir James Graham declaring his resolution to adhere permanently to the twelve hours. This perseverance is to us per fectly inexplicable. The limitation to ten hours will be made final in 1846 as certainly as the year 1846 shall arrive. The feeling of the whole country commands it, and that feeling has grown up too gradually, and is too much the effect of rational conviction, to be changed in twenty-four months or twenty-four _years. The Leaguers will no doubt attempt to operate a diversion in favour of their tyrannical monopoly, by new and fiercer attacks upon the agricultural body, but the Leaguers are in truth already dead beaten—beaten, not solely or principally by the agri cultural associations, very properly formed to check their progress in the rural districts, but beaten in the first place by the good sense of the population in the towns and in the manufacturing districts. It was a consciousness that their fallacies and their sordid purpose were seen through by the intelligent townsmen and manufacturers that drove them into the country to look for proselytes ; there is, there fore, no hope for them unless the representatives of agricultural districts again throw the town popu lation and the manufacturing population into their hands by opp os i ng th e t en hours resolution. Let the agri cultural Members look to this. They have the League at their mercy ; they may 'crush it into annihilation by supporting Lord Ashley ; they may revive it in aug mented strength by opposing his Lordship. Last night, the 19th of March, 1844 (we mark the time exactly, be cause, if the agricultural Members now make a mistake, we may have to recur to the state of public feeling at this particular time), last night the emissaries of the •League were ignominiously chased from a meeting calkd by themselves in the metropolis of England—from a meeting, not only in the metropolis, but in its very centre—and that part of London where League notions might be expected to be most popular. The meeting was held on Clerkenwell-green, and, of course composed in much the greater part of the electors of Finsbury—the constituents of Mr. Coroner Wakley and Mr. Thomas Slingsby Duncombe. This shows the estimation in which the League is now held. The agricultural Members of the House of Com mons may, by their votes on Lord Ashley's Bill, either confirm the prostration of their enemies, or revive them; and with this assurance, that it is not in their power, or in the power of mortal man, ultimately to pre vent a T en H ours ' Bill, though it is quite competent to them to resuscitate the enemy who would ruin them and their constituents. But, ex cepting such efforts as the Leaguer s may make inthe interval,at there divert public attention f rom t h e question, what that can occur to s h a k e the present universal conviction that the hours o f continued labour Tor women and children in factories ought not to exceed ten ? Arguments will no doubt be offered in favour of prolonged labour, and we welcome them, for we never met one that would stand ten minutes of calm investiga tion. We have, indeed, met few that, properly con sidered, did not conduct to a conclusion precisely the opposite to that to which it was intended to lead. STATE OF TRADE. (From the Manchester Guardian of this day.) MAN CHESTER. —Notwithstanding the anticipations which generally prevailed upon the Exchange yesterday, as to the probabl e a d opt i on of Lord Ashley's amend ment by the House of Commons on Monday night, the market was exceedingly dull ; and all descriptions of goods, with the exception of 40-inch shirtings, and 28- inch printing cloths (of which latter very few are now made), were difficult of sale, with a tendency to decline in the prices. The same may be said of all the ordinary counts of yarn below 60's, which were offered at a slight decline on last week's rates. ROCHDALE FLANNEL MARKET, MONDAY, MARCH 18. —There has been a better demand for flannels to-day than on either of the two preceding Mondays, but no improvement in prices. The wool market remains the same, both as regards prices and demand. firDEATIT OF VIE EARL OF LONSDALE, K.G., &c. &c. —We regret to announce the decease of the aboie nobleman, which took place last night, at seven o'clock, at York House, Twickenham, at the advanced age of 86. JUST AND EQUAL GOVERNMENT IN IRELAND.—At a meeting of the i leading Reformers of Liverpool, held this da -, at the Reform Association, William Rathbone, Esq., in Apt ir, it was resolved, on the motion of Thomas Black sq., seconded by William Wood, Esq., that a public 4 meitin of the Reformers of Liverpool should be held, for the ..i- purpose expressing their convictionfirst, that impartial .i.,justice )07 not done in the recent State trials in Ireland; t 2 t , ..!.( - -and, se d, that the only true way to act: towards Ireland : .--i. Ayas to. 1 with that country justly and' fairly, both" in le ., t 7.7Lgislati d administration. And it was further resolved, ~,,;,__,_-----__ : tliattlip opportunity of Mr. 0:Colwell's return to Ireland 1 -/----' ..... - thonlik be taken for this public demonstrationo—Liverpool 1 I 1 11.1 WSP., IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. NORTHERN AND EASTERN RAILWAY. Mr. GREENE moved it be an instruction to the Com mittee on the Eastern Counties Railway Bill to hear the petitioners against the Bill on any ground of objection arising out of the lease of the Northern and Eastern Railway, thereby intended to be confirmed, although such grounds of objection be not specifically set forth in their petitions, provided it be shown to the satisfaction of the Committee that such petitionershave a right to be heard before them.—Agreed to. Mr. TURNER presented a petition from Chichester, praying that the House would adopt some means which would tend fto put an end to the practice of duelling. Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD presented a petition from the weavers of Aberdeen, praying for a full, fair, and free representation of the people. DROPPED ORDERS. _ _ The dropped Orders, in consequence of the House being counted out last night, were re-appointed. NEW WRIT. A new writ was ordered to he issued for the borough of Hastings, in the room of the Right Hon. Joseph Planta, who has accepted the office of the Chiltern Hun dreds. INTERMENT IN TOWNS. Mr. TURNER wished to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether. the Government in tended to submit to the House of Commons any general plan of cemetery interment? Sir J. GRAHAM said that more than one Hon. Mem ber had put a question to him of the same kind, ,at a for mer part of the session. He could only give a general answer toil the question. If he understood the Hon. Gentleman, he wished to know whether the Government intended to bring in. a general measure with respect to interment in cities. Mr. TURNER explained that he wanted to know if the Government intended to introduce a general mea sure on the subject, applicable to the whole country. Sir J. GRAHAM said he had already stated that it was not his intention, on the part of the Government, to introduce any measure that should prohibit interment in the ancient churchyards of the country in which the dead had been interred for centuries. COUNTY CORONERS' BILL. On the motion for the Order of the Day for bringing up the Report on the County Coroners' Bill being put, Colonel T. WOOD said he objected to the Bill on prim ciple, because it transferred the appointment of an ancient county officer from the county electors to the town electors. The consequence would be that the town constituency would overwhelm the freeholders of the country. An other objection which he had to the Bill was, that it clubbed together the country and town constituencies, which were heretofore kept distinct. He should there fore move that the Bill be committed that day six months. Mr. PAKINGTON said as he had several amend ments to propose, he thought it would be better that the Bill should be recommitted. After a few words from Mr. SCOTT, the Report was received, and the Bill was recommitted. After a few words from Sir J. GRAHAM, Clauses 1,2, 3,4, and 5, were agreed to, with some verbal and immaterial amendments. _ _ Clause 6, was also agreed to, after a few observations from Colonel T. WOO Dd. When the next clause was proposed, Mr. SCOTT moved, as an amendment, that the words " knights of the shire" should be omitted, and the word " coroner " substituted in its place. Mr. PAKINGTON opposed the amendment. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE supported the amendment, on the ground that as the clause stood at present it would disfranchise many persons, and ho hoped they would not consent to a disfranchising Bill. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the Committee divided, when there appeared— _ vv ~For the amendment 7O Against it • 45 Majority in favour of the amendment —2s On our readmission to the gallery, we found clause 7 under discussion, which was agreed to. After a few words from Mr. PAKINGTON, Clauses 8,9, 10 were agreed to, without amendment. - Clauses 11 to 19, inclusive, were agreed to, without alteration. On clause 20 being read, , Mr. PAKINGTON said it would be in the recollection of the House that when they were last proceeding with this Bill a good deal of discussion had taken place on the subject of remuneration to coroners, and much differ ence of opinion prevailed. It had been maintained by several Honourable Members, that when the coroner had two or more inquests he charged mileage for them all, and was authorised by the law to do so. From that opinion he (Mr. Pakington) had differed, and, in looking into the law authorities, he found his opinion to be a correct one. The law permitted them to charge for the several inquests only from place to place, the dis tance from their homes they were obliged to go. This was the law; but he had been astonished to find how the practice had varied from the law. To remedy this state of things, and make law and prac tice march together, he proposed to add to this clause the following words :—" Provided always, that whenever any coroner shall take more than one inquest on the same day', then, in respect of every inquest after the first, the said sum of one shilling per mile shall be computed and paid to such coroner, for every mile only which he shall be compelled to travel in going from the place of holding any one inquest to the place of holding any other inquest on the same day." Mr. B. ESCOTT hoped his Hon. Friend (Mr. Pakington) would not press the proviso. (LEFT SITTING.) SHAM ATTORNEYS. Complaints have frequently been made at the Cen tral Criminal Court, the Middlesex Sessions, &c., of the disgraceful conduct of a set of fellows who have long been in the habit of attending there, and offer ing their services to the prisoners and their friends as legal advisers, and who, after extorting from them almost their last shilling, for the alleged purpose of retaining counsel in their behalf, but which, in many instances, they neglect to do, and after wards take care to keep out of the way of their dupes on the day appointed for the prisoners' trial. The attention of the Legislature has lately been called to the subject, and the following clausd in the late " Act for Consolidating and Amending several of the Laws relating to Attorneys and Solicitors," will, it is hoped, put an effectual stop to the disgraceful conduct above-mentioned:—" That froni and after the passing of this Act, no person shall act as an attor ney or solicitor, or commence or defend any action, suit, or other proceeding, in the name of any other person, or in his own name, in her Majesty's Courts of Chancery, Queen's Bench, &c., or in any Court of civil or criminal jurisdiction, or act as an attorney or solicitor in any cause or suit, civil criminal, to be tried or determined before any justice of assize of oyer and terminer and general gaol delivery, or at any general or quarter sessions of the peace for any county, city, borough, &c., or before any justice or justices, unless such person shall have been previously to the passing of this Act ad mitted and enrolled, or otherwise duly qualified to act as an attorney, and continue to be so duly qualified to act," &c. The thirty-second clause enacts that if any attorney or solicitor shall willfully or knowingly act as agent in any action, &c., or permit or suffer his name to be in any way made use of in any such action, or shall do any other act thereby to enable such unqualified person to appear, act, or practice in any respect as an attorney, &e., knowing such person not to be duly qualified as aforesaid, and com plaint shall be made thereof in a summary way to any of the said superior Courts, and roof thereof made upon oath to the satisfaction of the Court that such at torney bath knowingly and wilfully offended therein as aforesaid, such attorney may be struck off the roll, and for ever after disabled from practising ; and it shall and may be lawful for the said Court to commit such unqua lified person, so acting or practising as aforesaid, to the prison of the said Court for any term not exceeding one year. . . • In addition to the above the " new prison regula tions," recently promulgated by the Secretary of State, directs that the governor shall allow prisoners com mitted for examination or trial to see their legal ad visers at all reasonable times, and in private if required, unless a committing or visiting magistrate shall have issued an order to the contrary, or unless he shall know any sufficient cause why such legal adviser should not be admitted. Every person, however, claiming ad mission must be a certified attorney or solicitor, or his authorised clerk. In order to tarry the thereinto fnii effect, the Sheriffs of London have caused a notice to the following effect to be posted in Newgate : "No person, acting as the legal adviser of any prisoner committed to Newgate for trial, will be allowed to visit such prisoner, unless he is a duly qualified attorney or clerk to such attorney ; and that, i n e i ther case, he must produce a written retainer, sign e d b y the prisoner, and authorising him to act as his attorney, and sign an entry in a book to be kept by the gaoler, stating that he is so authorised, and that every attorney, or attorney's clerk, will be re quired to sign such entry before he will be allowed to have an interview with the prisoner." With regard to what constitutes "acting as an at torney" within the meaning of the above Act of Parlia ment, Mr. Walesby, when lately presiding as Chairman at the Middlesex Sessions, intimated that preparing and delivering a brief to counsel was acting as an attorney. THE NAPOLEON - MUSEUM. We allluded last week to an incident that took place at this most interesting and extraordinary nat i onal exhibition at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, relative to the unfortunate Queen Marie Antoinette, on one of the occasions when his Grace the Duke of Wellington honoured it with a visit, and in order that our readers may be able to form some idea of its merits from other sources :as well as ourselves, we have much pleasure in giving them copies of the follow ing interesting historical documents, from these we were enabled to take :._lst. His late Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex and Lord Holland's protests in the House of Lords against the Bill for detaining the late Emperor Napoleon at St. Helena. 2nd. The late Mr. O'Meara's Letter to the Proprietor after visiting the Napoleon Mu seum in company with the Count Surveilliers and Prince Lucien Bonaparte, many years before a public exhibition Was contemplated. 3d. The Baron Emanuel Las Cases letter to the proprietor on presenting him with one of the two pens with which the late Emperor corrected the M.S.S. of the Memoirs he dictated to the Counts Las Cases and Montholon, and General Gourgond, at 4. He lena, and 4th. Lord Hollands letter, in 1828, to the writer of a Memoir of the late Duke of Reichstadt, who dedi cated the same to his Lordship. The Duke of Sussex and lord liollaml were among 4 the Peers who individually protested. in the House of Lords, shortly afterwards, against a Bill, called " Bona parte's Detention Bill." Their protest was as follows: "Because, without reference to the character or previous conduct of him who is the object of the present Bill, I disapprove of the measure it sanctions and continues. " To consign to distant exile and imprisonment a foreign and captive chief, who, after the abdication of his authority, relying on British generosity, had sur rendered himself to us in preference to his other ene mies, is unworthy of the magnanimity of a great coun try ; and the treaties by which, after his captivity, we have bound ourselves to detain him in custody at the will of sovereigns to whom he had never surrendered him self, appear to me repugnant to the principles of equity, and utterly uncalled for by expediency or necessity." " 16, Cambridge-terrace, Edgware-road, Nov. 26, 1835. "My dear Sir,—l am very glad to learn that you con template printing a catalogue of your extensive and valuable Napoleon collection. It is, I believe, unique, and contains numerous exquisite objects, which, not being an artist, I am incapable of describing, and' hall not attempt to paticularise. I can, however, speak with confidence as to the strong likeness to the deceased Emperor in several of the Portraits ; amongst others, that in a bust executed by an Italian sculptor, whose name Ido not recollect. A similar observation was made by his brothet, the Count de Survilliers, in expressing his approbation of your splendid collection. Altogether, I think that your Museum is most interesting, and does great credit to your industay and good taste. " Believe me to be, my dear Sir, yours very sincerely, " BARRY O'MEARA. (copy.) The Original is among the MSS: in the Napoleon Museum. " Sir,—l am much flattered by your dedication, and the approbation you express therein of my conduct in Parliament on the occasion of the imprisonment of the late Emperor Napoleon. " It is my firm conviction that, the more the trans actions of that day are examined by a dispassionate pub• lic, the more every just and generous Englishman will regret the decision taken by the Government of this country. _ _ " Accept my best thanks, and believe me, Sir, your obliged, " VASSALL HOLLAND. "Holland House, 22d Dec., 1828." " Sir,—The magnificent labours you have undertaken relating to the Emperor Napoleon induces me to present you with one of the pens he wrote with, and which I send herewith. lie made use of it at St. Helena in the year 1816. In giving it to you, Sir, I am making a great sacrifie, as I possess but two of them, and was _ prevented from obtaining other things which belonged to the Emperor Napoleon by the sudden and violent manner in which I was separated from him. I offer it to you, Sir, nevertheless, in consi deration of the labours you have gone through in favour of the memory of that great man, who is, and ever will be, the subject of my affection as well as of my vene ration.—Believe me, Sir, your devoted servant, "BARON DE LAS CASES." POLICE INTELLIGENCE. (YESTERDAY.) MANSION-liOVSE. A young man, whose appearance was very much like that of a journeyman carpenter, and whose name was stated to be John Thirkell, was brought up in the cus tody of Daniel Forrester, the officer, charged by Mr. Muliens, of the firm of Freshfield and Muliens, solici tors to the Committee of Bankers for protection against forgeries and frauds, charged with having committed a series of forgeries upon the Southwark department of the London and Westminster Bank. It appeared that, at the latter end of last year, Mr. Mullens having ascertained that a variety of forgeries had been perpetrated upon the Southwark department of the London and Westminster Bank, procured a war rant against the prisoner, an d cause d him to be appre hended. The present examination was merely prelimi nary to sending the prisoner to Maidstone for trial. Edward Alport Grattan, cashier in the Southwark branch of the London and Westminster Bank, stated that he paid the cheque produced for 15L, dated 11th November, 1843, and signed Wm. Tubb, St. George's road, Borough, Southwark. Mr. Tubb, of St. George's-road, Borough, said that he kept an account at the Bank specified. The cheque produced was not signed by him, and the prisoner never had his authority to sign for him. Mr. R. Mullens stated, that on the 30th of December he applied to the magistrates at Maidstone, and obtained a warrant for the appehension of the prisoner, whom he believed to be John Thirkell. The prisoner was remanded. _ Alderman WILSON took the opportunity of noticing that of late the railroad waggons and carts caused very serious obstructions in the street, in consequence of their very great width between the wheels, and the manner in which they were loaded. He had frequently ob served how dangerous those unwieldy vehicles were, in passing through Watling-street, when parties walking with loads on their backs had to encounter the projecting loads of the waggons, and not seldom were jammed against the houses, and exposed to imminent danger. It was only that morning he perceived one of these waggons obstruct the passage of Cateaton-street, near Mr. Hall's house, and cause the greatest possible em barrassment and confusion for a full hour. In fact, another vehicle got entangled so completely with the waggon, that it became actually necessary to obtain the use of some machinery to raise the wheels, before the annoyance ended. It was indeed, a hazardous thing for a man to hold up an umbrella in some places of narrow dimensions. He hoped that a representation would be made to Parliament through the Corporation. THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 20, 1814, CLERKENWELL. Yesterday Mr. James, clerk to the Board of Guar dians of the Holborn Union, came before Mr. Comb', the sitting Magistrate, and stated that Daniel Murphy, a young man, whom the Magistrate had sent to the workhouse for admission or relief, on the previous even ing, had been refused admission. Murphy had been four times brought before the Magistrate for insubordi nation and misconduct in the workhouse, and the Board of Guardians had come to the following resolution. Mr. James then read the resolution, which was to the effect, that, considering how often and how grossly the prisoner had misconducted himself, and how " ineffectual, un equal, and inconsistent the punishment inflicted on him by the Magistrate had been," and how much disorderly and profane behaviour he was guilty of, almost every sentence he spoke being accompanied with an oath, they (the Guardians) would not be doing their duty to the 600 paupers under their charge if they did not decline admitting him, and they accordingly directed their officers to act on their resolution, and not to admit him. Mr. James added several instances of misconduct on the part of the prisoner, who had not been more than a few days out of the House of Correction, where he had been imprisoned for seven days for misbehaviour in the work house. Mr. COMBE—What are you going to do for the boy to-day—he says he is d es tit u t e ? M r . James—We can't do anything to-day for him. Mr. COMBE—Can't you give him work? Mr. James —We will not receive him into the house. Mr. COMBE—I do not ask you; but give him some work, and, if he misconducts himself, he may be taken before the Magistrate, and punished. Mr. James—But although he has used the worst lan guage, and even threatened the lives of the officers, he has not been sentenced to more than seven days' im prisonment ; whilst a destitute person, who has been ad mitted as casual poor, and refuses to work for his lodg ing and breakfast, is sentenced to fourteen days, or a month's imprisonment. Mr. Cox - 11 E-1 am not aware of any such case, nor do I think the Board of Guardians have worded their resolution very discreetly. lam not aware the pri soner has been before me hitherto, but I am sure he has been dealt with as he ought to have been. Magistrates cannot send persons to prison for an unlimited time. Regarding the charge of inconsistency brought against the Magistrates by the Guardians, the inconsistency, if there be any, is attributable to the Legislature. The Act of Parliament prescribes twenty-one days as the longest term of imprisonment for misconduct in the workhouse, whilst it assigns a month for refusing to work there. I deny that I have ever sentenced a pri soner to a month's or a fortnight's incarceration for re fusing to work, unless there were other circumstances of aggravation. Murphy was destitute, and being so, the law gave him a right to demand relief, whatever his character was. After some further discussion Mr. James promised to give Murphy employment at the workhouse. Matilda Neill was charged with stealing a gold chain, three gold brooches, and three gold rings, the property of her mistress, Miss Plant, the proprietor of a school in Cornwall-place, Holloway. The evidence addneed was of a veryiansatisfactory nature, and did no more than establish a case of sus picion against the prisoner. No portion of the stolen articles had been found.—She was discharged. A young man, dressed in the garb of a sailor, who stated that his name was Henry Williams, and that he was a carpenter residing at Plymouth, was charged with the following artful fraud : About two o'clock on the previous day the prisoner went to the house of Susannah Hayes, a poor woman, living in Peter-street, Saffron-hill. He said he had just returned from Rio Janeiro, where he had seen her son, who is a seaman, and went out, on board the Blenheim, to China, at the commencement of the war with that em pire. The young man has since left the Blenheim, and become attached to the Castor. For his services in the storming of several towns he received batta money, and with all these circumstances the prisoner seemed per fectly conversant, and told the mother that her son had entrusted him with a letter, and two valuable lace shawls wrapped in brown paper, in which the letter was likewise inclosed. When the ship reached Liver pool the parcel was seized upon by the Custom-house officers, and detained for 14s. 2d. Custom duties, and until that sum was paid the parcel could not be released. The officer of Customs had, he said, broken open the letter, and he had seen an order addressed to his mo ther for " batta money,' payable by the East India Company He concluded by saying he was going to Liverpool on that evening, by the six o'clock train, and requesting of the prosecutrix to give him the money, swearing in the most solemn manner he would forward the parcel to London, when he had released it. He ob tained the money, but having been seen in the company of two girls of the town about two hours after, he was given in charge. He made a desperate effort to escape, threw away the money, and knocked down two persons who endeavoured to stop him. • The prisoner was fully committed for trial on this charge, but remanded, as Tate, the constable, expressed I a belief that several other charges of a like nature would I be brought against him. THE EARL or itmutownr.--Tbis venerable noble man is labouring under severe indisposition, and we regret to hear that, from the advanced age of his Lord ship (upwards of 80), but little hopes are entertained Of his again recovering his usual good state of he§ltb. _-_~ "-- IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF COMMONS, March 19. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. Mr. HARDY presented three petitions in favour of he Bradford and Leeds Railw!ty. INDIA: Mr. MACAULAY inquired what had caused the delay in the presentation of the papers ordered respecting the late occurrences in India. Sir R. PEEL said he was sorry if any delay had taken place, but he had not been certain whether the House should get the papers printed or not. The SPEAKER was understood to say that they should be printed by the Foreign-office. Sir R. PEEL again said he was sorry for the delay. POOR-LAW (SCOTLAND). . . . . _ _ Mr. E. ELLICE, junior, inquired of the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir J Graham) when the Commissioners of Poor-law Inquiry in Scotland would send in their report ? Sir J. GRAHAM understood from the Noble Lord at the head of the Commission that the report would he ready to be laid before the House soon after the recess. THE TARIFF—FOREIGN RECIPROCITY. Mr. RICARDO rose to bring forward tho motion of which he had given notice, to the effect—That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying that her Majesty will be graciously pleased to give directions to her servantsnot to enter into any negotiations with fo • reign Powers which would make any contemplated altera tions of the tariff of the United Kingdom contingent on the alteration of the tariffs of other countries; and hum bly expressing to her Majesty the opinion of this House, that the great object of relieving the commercial inter course between this country and foreign nations from all injurious restrictions would be best promoted by re gulating our own Customs' duties as may be most suitable to the financial and commercial interests of this country, without reference to the amount of duties which Foreign Powers might think it expe dient for their own interests to levy on British goods. The effect of the course which had been hitherto pur sued was altogether unsatisfactory. Having signally failed in obtaining their object by means of nego tiations to extend their exports, it became them to inquire whether they might not arrive at the same end by simple legislation on their imports. The treaties which were in question in 1842 were those with Brazil, with Portugal, Spain, and France. .The fate of the first of these treaties had been most pathetically described by the Right Hon. Gentleman the President of the Board of Trade. It was now clearly understood that the result of all these pro tracted negotiations with Brazil was a handsome propo sition on the part of the Brazilian Government not to raise the duties on our commodities more than 25 per cent., in return for concessions on our part. What the concessions were the Right Hon. Gentleman had not shown; 'but he ventured to say, however preposterous were the proposals of the Brazilian Government, those of our own Government were so in a four or five-fold degree. Great as was his respect for the abilities of the Noble Lord, at the head of the Foreign Department, and of the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of the Government, displayed, as these last were so conspicuously, in making a good case out of bad materials, he could not imagine what arguments they had used- in order to entice the Brazilian Government to adopt the course which they re commended. Certainly aproposition to reduce restrictions would not come well from a nation which had imposed a duty of 400 or 500 per cent. upon Brazilian produce.— (Hear, hear, and laughter.) A convention for tke sup pression of slavery was one thing, and a treaty of com merce was another, and if slavery were the ground upon which they voted, he would suggest to the Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it would not be best togrant compensation to the Brazilian slaveholders, as they had done to the West Indians.— (Hear.) In Spain they had done more than negotiate. The Government of Spain could not but know that upwards of 300,000 of her people were employed in smuggling, and in smuggling only. And yet with every circum stance apparently in our favour to assist and encourage our commerce, it was a fact that we were further off our point than ever. British influence hadnever been so low in the Peninsula as at the present moment. The next commercial convention which had miscarried was that with Portugal, and he need not now point out the derangement in the wine trade which had been occasioned by .it. Owing to this circumstance alone there had been a diminution in the usual quantity of wine, amounting to not less than 1,080,000 gallons. Those interested naturally remonstrated on the subject with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but, instead of redress, their position had been aggravated by a fresh impediment, which hadgrown up to a reduction in the duties on wines, in the shape of a drawback, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had granted to the merchants. So that before any arrangement can be made with Portugal, for every one shilling of duty that may be reduced an enormous sum of money must be paid by us as compensation. This was what had been happily termed by the Honourable Member for Taunton (Mr. Labouchere), always ending, never ending. The Hon. Gentleman then referred to a paper which had been laid on the table of the House, containing a valuable series of commercial tariffs drawn up by Mr. Macgregor. A French gentleman, Mons. Saint Ferrier, had aid down the system of commercial policy pursued by France. Amongst other things, he said that in the negotiations of France with England, most of the con ditions proposed by the latter should be avoided. The French Government had lost great sums of money in fostering its own manufactures, which they might have had at less expense from other countries. It was usual to introduce some clause relating to commerce in most treaties. There was such a clause in the late treaty with America. Lord Ashburton had a clause introduced that the agricultural produce of Maine might be admitted on the same footing as the produce of the American colonies. But, Maine being now as much a portion of the United States as New York, the other States might claim to have their corn admitted on the same terms as that of Maine. The Right lion. Baronet had admitted American rice on the same terms as the rice from the west coast of Africa. The Right Hon. Baronet admit ted, in answer to a question from the Noble Lord, the Member for London, that great difficulties existed in ne gotiating commercial treaties, and that even greater dif ficulties existed in negotiating them where constitutional governments and the representative system had existed. It was unwise and impolitic to wait to see what other countries would do. It would be better for them to commence with their own Custom-house. M. Guizot, in answer to a question put to him by ono of the Members of the Chamber of Deputies, announced his intention of not following the ignis fatuus of com -mercial treaties, but would adopt such measures as might be necessary for the welfare of the country without reference to foreign countries. He also said that the modification of tariffs would produce all the benefit desired by all par ties in extending their commercial relations. If this were true, no person could find fault with him (Mr. Ricardo) for not bringing forward his motion before. With respect to Russia, a country which was surrounded by protective duties, he should say that their trade was much greater. The imports from that country amounted to five millions sterling, while the exports amounted to only 1,600,000/. It was asserted that this balance would have to be paid in gold, but he considered that a profitable trade could be carried on in gold. He thought there was no supernatural attribute in the word gold. The exports to Russia during the year 1841, consisted chiefly of cotton twist, sugar, coffee, wine, rum, and such articles, which came from th e bonded warehouses in this country, where they were sent by the Brazilians, who received in return cotton, woollen, and other manufactures from England. If they could not find Ministers bold enough to carry out those principles which would tend to abolish restrictions which crippled trade, they might bid adieu to the greatness and prosperity which this country had so long enjoyed. He hoped that the Right Hon. Baronet would not content himself with contemplating the present years of plentiful harvests. He trusted, that the same causes which were in operation in past years were in operation now, and it was possible that they might have years of scarcity again. He hoped he would throw aside all the old principles of protection and monopoly, and see the absurdity and injustice of forcing the people into such costly sacrifices. He trusted that their Ambassadors would receive instructions to tell the different Courts of Europe that Great Britain had aroused herself from her delusions, under which she had so long laboured; that she now knew she could not sell without buying, or buy without selling ; that in using the productions of other countries they were only using their own in another shape. He hoped they would be able to say that all the ports of the country were opened, and that the only , limits to their commerce were those which they them selves imposed. He concluded by proposing his motion. Mr. EWART seconded the motion. In referring to the history of commercial treaties, he asked what good result had this country ever obtained from them ? The first treaty to which he would refer was the cele brated Methuen treaty of 1703, which was for a long time the wonder of the commercial world. The effect of it was to introduce into this country a taste for the wine of Oporto, which then superseded French wine, that until then was the only wine consumed in England. The next great treaty was that which was concluded with France in 1786, by Mr. Pitt, of which it was said that it was so advantageous to the English nation that the French ought never again to make a commercial treaty. He turned from our own country to other countries, and he asked whether the reduction of the duty on im ports had not been highly beneficial The most obvious country in reference to this part of the question was the United States of America. For a long series of years, while the United States of America were steadily pro gressing, their imports largely exceeded their exports, and the attention of one of the most acute observers of human nature, Dr. Franklin, was turned to the subject. He said, that if the importation of foreign luxuries could ruin a people, they, the Americans, would proba bly have been ru i ne d l ong ago , for the British nation had claimed and exercised the right of importing, not only the superfluities of her own production, but of every nation under heaven. But setting aside these questions of the past, the simple question was, whether they were likely to succeed in future. There appeared to be no approxima tion on the part of France towards a commercial treaty with this country. He believed that there existed in France, and in almost every nation in the world, an extreme Jealousy of English commerce. The same thing prevailed in Germany. He did not believe that the United States contemplated any approach towards a commercial connexion. Our future connexion with them could only consist in our throwing open our ports to them, and taking whatever we wanted, convinced that they would in the end take from us what ever they wanted, in return. He did not think that the answer of the Minister would be satisfactory to the country. The mind of the country 3C as made up on the subject. The French Government had given a decided answer on the question, and her Majesty's Government ought to take the same course, and relieve the commerce of the country from the mischiefs occa sioned by the uncertainty, Mr. GLADSTONE did not think it would be difficult to show the House sufficient reason for refusing the motion. Whether he should be able to answer the Honourable Gentleman to his own satisfaction, he did not know, for he did not quite under stand the terms of the motion. He thought he could satisfy the House that the motion ought not to be conceded, and that without disputing or even referring to a great many of the Hon. Gentleman's statements. The Hon. Gentleman had alluded to the negotiations which had taken place between Great Britain and other countries. Now, he (Mr. Gladstone) did not think it necessary to enter with him (Mr. R.) into the policy of these negotiations. He did not think it necessary, because if he agreed with him that all these were use less, still he had not made out a case for a motion so broad as this. The Hon. Gentleman last year brought forward a motion that it was neither useful nor expedient to make commercial treaties ; but this motion was still larger, as it would go to declare, abstractly and without condition, that this Government ought never to enter into arrangements respecting tariffs with other countries. It would declare that no to o countries could enter into any arrangements involving questions of trade. He thanked the Hon. Gentleman, however, on the part of his Right Hon. Friend for the high opinion he had ex pressed of him and which he believed to be deserved, and for the extreme charity of his judgment. The Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Ricardo) in speaking of Brazil had ventured to say, that the proceedings of this country in the attempted negotiation with Brazil were absurd. Mr. RICARDO—No, I said preposterous.—(A laugh.) Mr. GLADSTONE--Well, preposterous. He said that nothing could be more preposterous than that on the part of Brazil duties on certain articles, to the amount of only 40 per cent. should be charged, whilst in our tariff we charged 300 per cent. on some of the articles coming Brazil. Now, did the Hon. Member think that this was a fair representation of the case ? Why it was only the other evening that he (Mr. Glad stone), when discussing another question, had been called upon to show that the 40 per cent. duties of the Bra zilians were imposed not for the objects of revenue, but for the avowed purpose of raising up a protective system. Surely that was a very different matter. Mr. RICARDO—It comes to just the same thing. Mr. GLADSTONE then did not understand tha sub ject at all—he knew not the distincticn between duties laid on for revenue and duties laid en for protection. However, that was a matter into which he would not further enter. The Hon. Gentleman had adverted to the case of Spain, and to the failure of every attempt to effect a commercial negotiation with that country. He did not at all wish to disguise the particular objections which lay in the way of these negotiations. But he ought to have taken into his view all the special circum stances which affected Spain, and the difficulties which this Government had to encounter in a country where Government, at the best of times weak, had lately become powerless, as, unfortunately, recent events had but too clearly proved.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman had alluded to the case of America, and had said that one of the clauses of Lord Ashbur ton's treaty was likely to produce the worst effects; that was a question that he would not now go into, but he thought that the Hon. gentle Man had given a wrong interpretation of the clause he had alluded to with re spect to the State of Maine. The opinion he had formed on one of the clauses was entirely groundless; so also with respect to rice. With respect to Maine the privi lege given to it was one that had been given by treaties. The Hon. Gentleman appeared to think it unreasonable that they should stickle with the duties that had been put on by Portugal on goods the produce of this country, while they were placing a duty of 30 or 40 per cent. on the products of that country. Nov for his own part he thought there was no comparison between the two cases. He would not deny that there were great difficulties connected with the subject. The uncertainty itself was a great evil. The delay was an evil.—(Cheers.) He would not deny that, in certain cases, negotiations of this nature might give rise to hostile feelings. The negotiators might be apt to over-estimate the advan tages which they themselves offered, and to under-esti mate the advantages offered by others. He admitted that inconveniences might attend negotiations of this nature, and therefore he admitted that negotiations for commercial treaties ought not to be undertaken without some prospect of their being brought to a success ful termination. He had no desire to underrate the practical difficulties of the subject, but the question really raised by the Honourable Gentleman was this—Could commercial treaties, under any circumstances, be advantageous ? Because if it were possible to form an advantageous commercial treaty, it would be most unwise in the House to preclude itself from taking advantage of such a circumstance, by consenting to this resolution. Now, the treaty with the Brazils was an advantageous treaty. He admitted that the treaty was in one respect an illustration of the ar gument of the Honourable Gentleman, because in later years it had tended to create a belief among the Bra zilians that they had been unjustly dealt with. No doubt in that treaty political countenance and encou ragement had been exchanged for commercial advan tages, and when that political countenance was no longer necessary, those who had to pay for it, in the shape of commercial advantages, felt no doubt a degree of sore ness. The Hon. Gentleman said that the trade with Russia was as great as that with the Brazils. He de nied that such was the case ; but it should be recollected that the Brazils had a population of six millions, while Russia had a population of sixty millions. The stipula tion with regard to the limitation of duty in the Brazilian treaty, was a most advantageous one for the manufac turers of this country. The Hon. Gentleman had referred to the commercial treaty with France, in 1787. Now, that was an example of a good commercial treaty. He wished to draw a distinction between occasional duties, and an indiscriminate system of commercial duties. He hoped that the present Government, and those who might in future govern, would profit by ex perience, and give to commercial treaties not mere than their due weight ; but that need not preclude the possi bility of making any treaties. The question was, whe ther abstract propositions in commercial matters were the most convenient forms for expressing the opinion of legislative bodies upon them. Instead of allowing cir cumstances their due weight, they were called on to tie up their hands, and put it out of their power to legislate at aIL The lion. Member talked of the spinning jenny and steam-engine being abstract propositions ; he was not aware that either of them made their way into this world as abstract propositions. He thought they were the result of labour and invention, perfected by men who studied, and followed Nature, according the guide of cir cumstances. That was the principle on which he should wish to proceed. The doctrine sought to be laid down extended to all commercial treaties. He denied that no case could arise in which it might not be desirable to make a remission of revenue duty, without depending on the contingency of concessions made by foreign Powers. The Hon. Gentleman appeared to assume that because, as he said, he would gain his result in another shape, as in the case of Russia, from the shape in which it would be obtained in the case of India or America, that there fore it was a perfect matter of indifference in what shape it was obtained. He (Mr. Gladstone) admitted that the trade with Russia was beneficial to the country, but that it would be more beneficial if their tariff, instead of being almost restrictive, was more liberal. It was a great mistake to exclude from their view the purposes for which the commercial treaties had been completed. The Methuen treaty was a case in which the manifest result was, that they paid in hard money for real or supposed political advantages. The treaties entered into during the last two years had not been entered into with a view of establishing permanent systems of dif ferential duty. It had always been plainly avowed that the reductions would be extended to other countries. The negotiation with France five or six years ago was not undertaken merely with reference to Sheffield and woollen goods. He believed the object was to break down the system. Let them watch the use of the means as much as they pleased, but let them not take from the Government the means of doing what, in given circumstances, would be a powerful instrument in producing a favourable change in commercial legisla tion. Unless the Hon. Gentleman could show that it was immaterial to this country whether other countries with which we dealt should have prohibitive systems or not—unless he could show that the treaty with Brazil had been injurious to our trade, and that the treaty en tered into with France had been injurious—he had no right to call on the House, in language perfectly clear and perspicuous, to affirm each and every one of those propositions which he (Mr. Gladstone) had mentioned. He, therefore, called on the House to reject the motion, and to affirm the principles of common sense, that if a commercial treaty was to be attended plainly with advantage it should not be refused in consequence of the Hon. Gen tleman's proposition. He again called ou the iltHiSe -to I reject the motion, and not to tie up their hands for the future, and shut the country out from the possibility of availing itself of advantages which might hereafter offer. Lord HOWICK had heard with satisfaction much of what had been said by the Right Hon. Gentleman. His Hon. Friend who made the motion did not more clearly show the impolicy and inconvenience of those negotia tions than the Right Hon. Gentleman himself.— (Cheers.) The Right Hon. Gentleman had expressed, with greater force and conciseness than he (Lord Howick) could attempt that inconvenience and impolicy. The only objection which the Right Hon. Gentleman alleged to the motion, and in which he called on the House to reject, was thit there was a probability that a case might arise when it would be desirable to enter into a negotiation.—(Hear.) He (Lord Howick) con fessed that he was astonished to hear the Hon. Gentle man object to this motion on the ground that it was an abstract one.—(Hear, hear.) Would the Right Hon. Gentleman inform him how anything could be less ab stract than this : that the House in the exercise of its constitutional right should address the Queen, praying her to exercise her prerogative in a certain manner, , and ok to un te s w t t a h t te e h at Housel t e h r e e G a s ho o av n ve s irnn w gm h ae y nnyt t h ec e no y tne asked trreo i into de negotiations t t e o t h s so they called . cra withlhl eeyd. u than ho p an o n n e tw t hhe at a Ho tt ht eh us e House o couldshould givebe e their r i era address dr a or n ep c se t s i r f thewtoh what Qatuei eesns h el a a obtel d nosot tburwtherha t her ft s oh u re b jtechecatmt, common, 1 1 4, rs the t a t t h e ep r t oo h tp e he i er r r, r aH e n a od s u o st n eh s e t f oc o o r gn i d sv o t ei i t n ua g t ov s ni o ca . Majesty upon any subject which they might think justi fied or required such a step. The only question for them to consider was this—is that advice proper on the present occasion? He (Lord Howick) for one, was prepared to argue that it was. It was impossible to compare the language of the leaders of the great political parties in this country, and not be surprised at the practical re sults of their legislation. In the abstract—that was in their language—they were free-traders ; but in their practice, they were complete restrictionists. Hon. Gen tlemen opposite said, .free trade principles were the principles of common sense—they said they ought to buy in the cheapest and to sell in the dearest market. Though this was their general doctrine, they did heir best to encumber the trade of the country wi the most noxious and oppressive provisions. They laid upon our various branches of national industry the heaviest duties—duties which could be defended on no grounds of necessity, and on no sound political or com meecial principles. What was the reason for such conduct ? It was plainly this, that private interests were enlisted against the public good. It appeared to him, that the motion of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Ricardo) was a motion calculated to be most eminently useful to the country ; but it was calculated to bring before the House, and the country, distinctly and separately from other questions, the policy of insisting upon what were termed reciprocity concessions. If the House might judge of their conduct, there really appeared to be very slight grounds of difference between her Majesty's Go vernment and those who supported the motion. The supporters of the motion held that all restrictions in trade were disadvantageous ; and that restrictions by other countries were just as disadvantageous as those in this country. Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite held that it was injudicious to maintain high duties, and there by punish ourselves because other nations did so. No man had avowed that opinion more strongly than the Right lion. Baronet himself did in his speech when he introduced the tariff. So far they were entirely agreed, and the only difference between them was re duced to this, first as to the expediency, even for a short time of submitting to the inconvenience of restric tion upon our own trade, in the hope of getting other countries to join with us in taking off the restrictions they imposed, and next as to what would be the best course to pursue for the purpose of placing the trade between this country and the other nations of the world upon that footing which all agreed was desirable that it should be placed. Now it appeared to him that if they ad• mitted that it was inexpedient to punish ourselves by high duties, because other nations imposed high duties on our produce, it was hardly possible to avoid the conclusion that it was necessary at once to make the change ; because time was a very material element in this case. If they admitted that the system was punishing themselves, and that it was unwise per manently to continue it, he could not conceive how they could reject, even for a day, that relief which was available to them, and which would better the population of this country. Ile could not conceive how they could do this under the vague expectation that by main taining the system they would get other countries to join them in the establishment of perfect freedom. It appeared to him that this must be a mistake, arising from misconception as to the relative importance of re striction upon our imports and exports. Her Majesty's Government seemed still, with all the advances they had made in the doctrine of free trade—they still seemed not entirely to have shaken off the old notion, that it was the export trade that was the most advantageous, and that what was long ago called a favourable balance of trade was desirable. It was now nearly three quarters of a century since that theory was exploded by every educated man ; yet something of this opinion still hung on the minds of statesmen, and still seemed to be the governing influence of the conduct of nations. We still seemed to think that the exports were really the most advantageous. Now he entirely concurred with the Hon. Gentleman behind him, that the real value of trade lay in the imports, and not in the exports. —(Hear.) The first question to be considered was, what amount of goods they were able to obtain for the consumption of the population.—(Hear, hear.) The export trade was no doubt important, but it was so only as a means by which they were enabled to obtain their imports. It was a most extraordinary course of policy that they should refuse to receive imports because they were not quite certain that there would be no difficulty hereafter in providing the means of payment. Now he would ask whether that difficulty had been particularly felt hitherto?—(Hear, hear.) It was enough to state that for a considerable time we had been carrying on what was called a triangular system of trade, by means of the smuggler. The greater facility they gave to the introduction of foreign goods into this country it was clear that a corresponding extension of the export trade must follow. That was a truth which seemed to him to rest upon the most obvious principles of the commonest arithmetic. For his part he did not deny that extrava gant duties existed in foreign countries, and he thought that by such duties those nations not only obstructed the progress of civilisation, but also prevented them selves from benefiting by the produce of other nations. —(Hear, hear.) It was in that sense only that he be lieved those duties were injurious to us. The grounds for such a cause of policy therefore appeared to him to be almost inconceivable. In considering this question he had derived considerable advantage from the state ments of Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite, and he thought he (Mr. Gladstone) had stated the grounds for antici pating what would be the result of commercial treaties. He (Lord Howick) would appeal to experience upon this subject. Ever since the termination of the war we had been engaged in one unceasing course of negotiations. We had lost no opportunity. Our ablest Ministers at home and abroad— Mr. Canning, the Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton (Lord Palmerston), the Earl of Aberdeen, the Duke of Wellington, the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (Sir Robert Peel), and some of the most distinguished men this country ever produced, had, for a period of nearly thirty years, been engaged in attempts to negotiate ad vantageous commercial treaties with other countries. What had been the result ? Why, that at this time we were no better off than at the beginning. Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite themselves admitted that there was a growing desire upon the part of foreign countries to throw obstructions in the way of trade. What would I have been the result if a different course of policy had been pursued by Great Britain ? Suppose that at the end of the war no negotiations of any sort had been entered into—suppose we had commenced by reducing all our duties to as low a point as revenue considerations would allow. If that course had been taken in 1815—if they had dealt on that principle with Brazilian sugar, with Prussian corn, with Baltic timber—did they think that they would have driven foreign countries to the ne cessity of adopting a commercial system of so exclusive a character as they had ? He believed no man would contend that such would have been the case.—(Hear.) Although this course had not been pursued hitherto, it was not too late to adopt it now. Let them teach other countries by example, not by precept.—(Hear, hear). That would be the practical result of the motion of his Hon. Friend. It was not an abstract proposition, but was one eminently calculated to be useful to the country. The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Gladstone) admitted the general impolicy of commercial negotia tions, but he said " Do not tie up the hands of the Go vernment, for it is not probable"—(The Right Hon. Gentleman knew it was not probable)—" but et is pos sible, that a case may arise in which we may be able to conclude advantageous commercial treaties." The Right Hon. Gentleman then referred to examples, and the first to which he adverted was a treaty in 1787, with France. He (Lord Howick) did not question the advan tage of that arrangement. Although he was a great ad mirer:of Mr. Fox, he must admit that, as a commercial Minister, Mr. Pitt was superior to him ; but he (Lord Howick) believed that if the treaty of 1787 had not been entered into the result would have been more beneficial to this country. If we had then adopted a liberal po licy, and had left France to follow our example had she pleased, at this moment the beneficial effects of such a ' cburse would have been visible. The Right Hon. Gentleman's next example was the treaty with Brazil. Now the Right Hon. Gentleman himself was obliged to admit that, in point of fact, that treaty with Brazil gave her no commercial advantages, as they were called, while it required a great deal of her in order to secure our political countenance. That he (Lord Howick) thought was the strongest condemnation of the treaty that could be found.—(Hear.) He firmly believed that if, instead of driving this hard bargain with Brazil—if; . instead of doing that, they had liberally admitted her produce, and shoe n her the same poli tical countenance, only giving in return what, accord ing to the opinion of the Right Hon. Gentleman, was little better than a bribe—if they had given freely their political countenance, and admitted her produce, he believed they would have obtained greater commercial advantages than they had enjoyed from that time to this. He believed that now, in the year 1844, there would have been no reason to apprehend that Brazil would impose differential duties with respect to our commodities. He believed that they would not have had to apprehend that Brazil would impose a duty of 40 per cent, on British commodities. But further than this, he said that he was prepared to tie up the hands of the Government on this point, and he was prepared to lay down a rule, that commercial treaties ought not to be entered into. He would do this in such a manner, as to show to foreign nations that this country did not merely disclaim any attempt to enter into treaties which they thought they could not get but in such a manner as to show that there was a bona fide pre ference of the principle of dealing largely and liberally with all the nations of the world. If they acted on that principle—if they said we want no com mercial treaties—we want no stipulations with foreign countries as to the rates of duty to be levied on our goods, but we will proceed at once to adjust our duties with regard to the financial interests of this country— if they did this, he (Lord Howick) was persuaded that the result would be, that the trade of this country would make such an immediate spring, and such an ex tension of our present export trade would ensue—he did not say at once, but in the course of a very few years—that other nations would see the wisdo m o f fol lowing our example. He believed that the feeling which now influenced the conduct of foreign countries, which had been so graphically described by the Right Hon. Gentleman, would no longer be called i n t o p l ay . Th e monopoly interests in foreign countries—the iron interest of France, for instance—would no longer be enabled to enlist, in supp or t o f th at monopoly', the angry passions of a great portion of the com munity. The commercial policy of foreign coun tries would be so influenced, that in a very short time—in the course, he believed, of a very few years—the practical effect of their adopting the policy wh ic h h e recommen d ed wou ld b e, that trade in this country would be relieved of extravagant rates of duty in foreign countries on our goods, which were now levied. Ile asked them, was it a satisfactory answer to them, now he wished to secure those great advantages, by the adoption of a liberal, a generous, and a manly system of commercial policy —now, when he wished to secure those great advantages, was it a satisfactory answer to him, for the Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite to say—" Don't tie up the hands of the Government. It is not probable, but it is possible, that the case may arise when we may conclude some commercial treaty ; and, for the sake of that possibility, surrender those large and great advantages we have now in our power to secure ?" He (Lord Howick) said that the adoption of that address to the Queen, by the House, would be a most important step with reference to the civilization of the world at large—(Cries of " Hear, hear") —it would be a -pledge in the face of Europe and the world,. that this, the first commercial nation in the universe, was determined to give up her narrow and restricted system of commercial policy. It ' would be a pledge binding upon them in f u ture time, and therefore it would give confidence to foreign countries, and furnish a btrong inducement for them to follow our example. The motion of the Hon. Member he considered veil well-timed; first, because it was introduced when th e long protracted negotiations with the four great Colt mercial nations had utterly and lamentably failed neL was there any prospect of these negotiations being re sumed with success. Now the ound was clear before them—they had given a trial oft hirty years to one sY.s t/ i tem of policy. Let them give as fair and as long a trl id to the system proposed ; but he was convinced it t prove eminently successful before a fourth part o f ti t period had expired.—(Hear. hear.) But the motion '6''; well-timed in another sense, because it was impossible I c L any man to look around him and behold the pre sent sew of the country without being convinced of the urgen t. 33e ; cessity there existed for the extension and improversenos of commerce. It was true the distress was not to great as it had been two years ago. He was hag& t believe that trade had revived to a great extent---wsol there was, in some measure, a return of corninel e prosperity ; but no man, who looked deeply iii condition of the country, would say that it was 1, - ; factory. Were not the rate of wages and the prO of capital ruinously low ? That the profits were le was proved by the measure which the Right Hon. G t tleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer had brouTe forward a few evenings ago. He agreed in the app ro ve tion which had been bestowed on the measure for „ .0 reduction of the Three-and-a-Half per Cents, but w high prices of the funds, which caused the introdlic' tion of that measure, must be regarded as , s 11.1; thing but satisfactory. The high prices of the ni l ; he ,, proved that there was great difficulty in finding ). means of profitable investment for capital.—( ea in r o When there was a low rate of profit there was a had rate of wages. The Hon. Member for Stockport adverted, a few evenings ago, in the course of his 10 2, liant and unanswerable speech, to the low rate of w i srd:_ n in the agricultural districts of the south of Eni,n o and he vtry properly observed, that he threw no DIM on the employers.—(Hear, hear.) He said the low rsi., of wages did nut depend on the will of the employs) but on causes far deeper. That was his (Lord Howie me , opinion too. The same state of things had existed °the years ago, and the cause was admirably described lamented Mr. Huskisson, who said it arose from the get pressure on the springs of productive industry . same state of things existed now from the sam e CaUS ;4I (Hear, hear.) It was the great pressure on the s P et be of productive industry that caused the low wag ees t he Dorsetshire labourers, and the miserable earnings e st ' London semptresses.—(Hear, hear.) The Bigil l "%re Baronet told them last night that wa ges a nd profitsl-ra, ground down to so low a state that th e y could net ? I : i l ia to make any restriction in the hours of labour, er . '",e. protecting females from over exertion, which, in fb e lo street, was most desirable. That pressure on the ®Pr of productive industry arose now as then from a' ciency in the field for the employment of labour al capital. It was their restrictive laws which prey( l o t that field from being enlarged—it was these laws t ot kept down profit and labour to the lowest point. l o g therefore it was those restrictive laws which it sh % ti e be the first object of every man to get rid of. Aa: tio t of the most important steps towards accomplishing "jag object, he should concur with his Hon. Friend in Igo down the rule that they should not unite for srbs: r ies termed reciprocity of concession from foreign count 0 14 but ought at once, trusting that other national! i t ot follow our example, take into serious consideratios means of consistently, and upon general principles clueing the rate of Custom duties as far as revereue;X poses would allow them.—(Loud cheers.) Sir J. HANMER, after complimenting the be Lord on the ability and force of his speech, ss' he could not agree in the principles enumerated bi,t he Noble Lord. He thought this country should Del he altogether indifferent to commercial negotiations , IT p eg thought to them it owed much of its greatness. WhY st ; is et we allow corn and cotton to come free from the ban inet the Mississippi to our ports, whilst they mail their present high tariff; or what guarantee bit p all country that America, or the European States w e i a• renounce their import duties, some of which weave. most prohibitory, if we adopted ever so liberal an be restricted a system? This Government should /3 : N O indifferent to the reciprocity of concession. authority, Lord Ashburton, had declared in lBis°o .; et presenting the great petition from the raercba%pe London, that reciprocity was by no means to be u j3"oe' garded.—(Hear.) He was quite as anxious a s _..,trif Members opposite to extend the trade of this 07,1, and promote its commercial prosperity, but b e t" think the course at present proposed would ha re I/ 0 or dency to affect those objects, and he should therefor , pose it. #‘, tY I Mr. HUME said it must be very gratifying vi s House to learn that the Hon. Member was desir e alit extending the commerce of this country. He, the so°: ' neither the Right Hon. Baronet at the head or '"; i i:ee• vernment, nor the Right Hon. Gentleman the Ff e ,o 4l ; of the Board of Trade, had—judging from their,. r yea • ments—read the motion of his Hon. Friend, I c t , f ete d I, one point adduced by him, he thought, had been 113 : 15 i,40 by them. The Hon. Member was about enterNois ' some financial details, to prove the injury w hie nais o restrictions inflicted upon the commerce of this c" ' when, coin' • An Hon. MEMBER moved that the House be jjev . and only thirty-nine Members being present , the adjourned at a Quarter to Eight o'clock. SOUTH EASTERN COUNTIIig' RAILWAY. Yesterday, at one o'clock, a special m eeting .4 ° Proprietors and Directors of the above BailwaL,wsl or at the terminus, London- bridge, for the Pul te " r, taking into consideration the draft of a Bill to sibrits___4 improve the harbour at Folkestone, and to f 00 1 1 , 3% railway from the main line to that place; also ,-14.;,),e_i of a second Bill, empowering the Company te,: t e;_t w branch line from Ashford to Canterbury, OW - 0;5 Margate ; and to consider the propriety aitio rising the Directors to raise, by the issue of .eel' shares to the amount of 28,000, a sum 11°t e a rrte s e 7, 696,0001., for the purpose of providing for C° l .. ing amount in securities now existing under t" the Company. 711W7),1, The Chairman of the Company, Mr. BAOt took the chair at one o'cloek, and said, th e ohitessct present meeting was only to confirm certain P'eetingo which had been adopted at the last general ltd 110 the Proprietors. As they had so recently ex„010 f 4s the objects for which the present meeting 1 05 , 7 0 per',le should not detain them longer than to expr ess 1 willingness to answer any questions which the tos Innight wish to put to him. 0,-Onri °Si rot reply to questions put to him by severs , ' . ., - 0 " 0 10,..01 The CHAIRMAN said that the new s hares r ha iJ v' ot t be registered until the first instalment of 4 '• lel h e paid, otherwise it would be only a scrip. 1. ,, e- ' j j fien , who paid 4/. would have his name enter c or d 0 004 Company's book for 61. 55., and be debited nec,aoP..,e The sum of money so raised would be strictly. ated to the purposes named in the requiowl,ool; the meeting, and if there were a residue, i t ..,hieti applied to the Parliamentary liabilities to " lot Company was subject. the obipse d s A number of resolutions, confirming ll „re which the meeting was convened, having m-- e , D atiff '- and thanks voted to the Chairman, th e rated. ohs WITCHCRAFT IN THE 19TH CENTVg/* ----I :fi l tik . circumstance, showing that even at tbis in t a i i V e d , rr st ir fro e °. superstitious belief in witchcraft atnnug country is not yet altogether extinct, haPPeldi in the Town's Muir. A small farmer there ha ~,0 5 0.„0 0 `, which the milk fell away, and believing it vrt 5 ,,,,",;, th o ,4 " evil eye," sent for a person professingen to of discovering the agent of the mischief. " 0" it' called, and Crummy's condition explained to 14, ball lien's egg, blew it, and filled the shell with I n , ,, j d 0 'Sof i ! the owner of the cow, and told him to gojt" the tie b i s neighbours with it, and that when on 110 103 ,b„we up he found the milk did not rp in the "`" h„,e 'ost le t did so, there was the destroyer o of his COws.,,, ld man did as he was desired. From walking, s 10 - rally became churned, and at a certain otts o .l oi t drop. The result was, that the occupier, ;dere ° , 0 13 , 4 ° pronounced to be the witch. A very serious ds 0 ,: c orw held by the owner of the cow and his frie olo il if tch til heo . ...s then should be done. The projector of the for t' was called. He told them the only thing 0- or cp— ito t_, to get a nail and scratch the brow of the Os t ie ; Tho the milk would again come to the COw'. fro better managed, but the cow was, of course , no eritnent.—Pert h Courier. MA RRIED. Frotestall 00. io On the 3d of January, at the Barra', to go l • Berhampore, Frederick Arthur Rillwickihpore enioolo, third daughter of ES" Nali gia tke°lresllsl o f On the 27th ult.. at the Palace Ch a pel, op vit., Erasmus Ommanney, R.N., of her aiestY_;stattlit to Amelia Mary, eldest daughter of M Samuel her Majesty's Dockyard, Malta. ter ti —__—__ DIED. o p- o r • Ilarriott, kw__ 0 On the sth inst., at Torquay, Marla . , Lob" , Major-General H. Roberts, C. 8., 0 of I ' m Lymington, Hants, aged 12 , A,,,ightor t On the 4th inst. ' , at Elgin, Jessie, secona u- 10 . ,. " late Robert Marquis, Esq., of Durn , age d 29c: y , j, On the 29th of February- at Naples, . A"- , ...- Sir Peregrine Palmer Fuller' Feltner Acland , 9t field, Somerset. SidneP 04 At Leicester House, Jersey, Richard C 1,!..,, mak of On the 16th inst., Eliza, the wife of Will''''" ifi f ef Iliafora vipan Ir ' A surgeon, Brighton. On the 16th inst., at Sitting fir. gent, A ,-- ° p 0 W. Castle, Esq.chi ld o f W. , 1 On the 16th inst., Catherine, only - 0 , - ' Henrietts, re lict id, Seaton, surgeon, Sloane-street Bl3B:;o o :lfnn n ogttug t roo h ,nn e E7 l6 . t . h nst., in Curzon -street, v., fCserb° An t, On the 16th inst., Robert John Harrison, -u'''`l'' ° ..cre' On the 17th inst., Mr. John Groves, of , - , `' 3 Oord , aged 86 f i G h p 0: 1 g :1° On the 17th inst., at Kentish -town, -. 0 . P daughter of Major Baehild, of the Royal gargl e 00 On the the 14th inst., at Woolwich, John WY* _7( son of Captain J. IV. Mitchell, R.A. ;, -- ,10 , ; ~..n 'fo,u' 11" I London : Printed and Published by v_' , e ;4°.: t y 0 No 112, Strand, Printer, at The Su n g v; 'CO". Strand, in the precinct of the Savoy , ill ' 1 Middlesex, Wednesday, Afxrch 20,18'4' Ito oft %LI tZ,4, Abt kin Aft w~ ~.~ crunen.L.-1 - enll O,IUI - 1,. 40 1% ‘ f oe „A i r o 6 0 BIRTHS. be in. et " 1 .1 r On the 14th inst., at Castlebar, Mr' t of ' ander Magmay, Esq her Majesty's 69th Ro the o lio , 41 ~ On the 16th inst., at Clifton grove, Yor k ' the 1' • bp tain Darnell, of a daughter. nir nerso llt On the 16th inst., at Laurel Villa, ga — 60 0(11.: ; ofAuthony Reboul, Esq., of a daughter... j . T. jo ght e o k On the 16th inst., at Brighton the of o f A u pig Esq., 16th Regiment Bombay Na,tive Infa°7l o t, the Ole On the 17th inst., in Upper Harlere _ oitr e ' Lambert Pole, Esq., f a daughter. ictrosem --- e s ll• On the 18th inst., at Montague-street, .--110 P wife of John Shaw, Esq., of a son. Job . PE" s_pla ee, On the 18th inst., at St. James ge rib 0, of a son. B e igrai r e- 1 4 On the 17th inst., in Eaton - p lace, .0 0* HorAinson, of a daughter. e nor—z 00. On the 17th inst., in Park-street, Gr° s c t, feie P e George Lewis, of a son, who only survil e o . c li, ...,,t elle