The Sun. — London, England, 1844-05-09 00:00:00

.~~' ^-- GRAND WEEKLY ANTI-CORN-LAW LEAGUE MEETING AT COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. The usual: weekly meeting of the League took place -last 'night at Covent-Garden Theatre. Long before the lic;ur appointed for the commencement of the business' the theatre was filled in every part. At half-Pia *Seve•ri o'clock the chair was taken by H. Warbtirton, , Esq.; M.P..for Kendal, who was received with lond cheers: • Among those - present we observed— ThellOn.. Q. Pelham Villiers, M.P. ; Benjamin Smith, 111. P. ; Richard Cobden, Esq., M.P. ; Professor•Lieber ; Robert R. R. Moore, Esq. ; Hon. E. P. BouVeriei Colonel Tuckett ; W. A. Wilkinson, Es_q. ;P. Taylor, Esq. ;W. S. Burton, Esq. ; WilliaM HaWes; Esq.; William Graham, Esq. ; John Evans, Esq..; Dr. Cooke Taylor ; T. Sharwood, Esq. ; G. Dunn, Esq. ; Chapman, Esq. ; J. Coul thard,Esq. ; C. J. BroWne, Esq. ; T. Poulter, Esq. ; Jobn Lalur,. Esq. ; William Leaf, Esq. ; Major Reid Revell.; J - Priss, Granger, Esq. ; Rev. E. Muscutt ; J. B. Scott, Esq., 'Manchester ; Thomas Allen, Esq. ; James - Clarke, • ,sq. ; Thomas Browne, Esq.; John Gibbs, Esq., Aylesbury ; William Starling, Esq. ; William Elliott, Esq.; Samuel King, Esq.; W. A. Smith, Esq.; Michael Sal,vard, Esq.; Samuel Wat son, Esq. ; A. Colquhoun, Esq. ; J. Chalmers, Esq. ; 'John - Brown, Esq., Warehain ; Richard Forest, ; Hen,r3= L. Keeling, Esq.; Rev. Richard Tod man -;-Rev. H. Mirarn ; Lawrence Rawstron, Esq., Manchester ; Henry Rawson, Esq., Manchester ; Samuel Harrison, Esq. ; James Brotherton, Esq. ; William Henry Burke, Esq. ; J. T. Burke, Esq., Tottenham;. Thomas Turner, Esq., Bridgewater; 11. R. Marriott, Esq. ; W. Thornborrow, Esq. ; Geesin, Esq. ; John Macfarlane, Esq., Edinburgh ; S. Holbein, Esq.; It.. 0. Fuller, Esq.; Robert Bag shaw, Esq. ;,Rev. W. J. Massie, Manchester. Ifir4-Warburton, on taking the chair, was loudly •cheered. • • • The minutes . of the last meeting having been read and approved of, The CHAlsteti!i proceeded to address the assembly. lie said , that, although this was the first meeting of the Anti-corn-law League in that place which he had had the honour of attending, yet they , were not . to suppose from this circumstance that he was a novice in opposition to the corn • •la*S - - - -- - -(Cheers)—for ever since the year 1826, when he first entered Parliament, he had never failed on every occasion that presented itself, from express ing his decided hostility to those laws.—(Loud cheers.) As this was the first opportunity he had had of meet ing 'them since he had been returned for the borough of Kendal—(Hear, hear)—he would beg to thank the League, thus publicly, for the sympathy which they had evinced during the election in his favour. Not that its aid was necessary, for he was happy to say `that 'the electors of Kendal : were such decided free traders, and had so great an abhorrence foi the corn leeK that he believed any candidate who had come forward as a free-trader would have . been. success ful.; but, 'nevertheless, be was deeply sensible of - the _sympathy which the League had manifested in his • favour.—(Hear, hear.) The meeting had beeh so often lectured on the history of the corn laws, and .011 their abominatiens, that it was diffi cult to find any new tovic connected with the subject -on which to address them. . Ile well recollected the introduction of those laws- in 181.5; at that time, when_ peace' had just opened the ports of the Conti nent,- and when it -was expected that the price of im ported corn , would naturally be much lower than it had been during the war, tho general belief of all thinking Men, when these laws were introduced was, that they were introduced for the purpose of throwing impediments in ; the way of the importation of fo reign corn, of:giving an unjust monopoly to the growers in this country, and he was not aware that the thinking men, from that tiThe to this, had seen any reason to take's different view of the matter.—(Hear, heat:) He . well remembered the agitation -which had been put in motion . against those laws ; tl Ghat agitation he had lent his best assistance, and he bad never relaxed in his opposition to them fn that time to the. present.—(Hear, hear.) The eels duct of the landlords on this question reminded him of the saying of a certain General—", Give me money, and I'll get men : or give me men, and I'll get money ;" so with respect to the great landed proprietors ; their large possessions gave them in fluence over the acts of the Legislature, and their influence over the acts of the Legislature they. made 'use of ..for _the purpose of adding to their property.—(Cries of " Hear, bear.") The , agitation against the corn-laws went on for a number of years c till at length, in 1840, the League arose, and gradually _extended- _itself among the middle classes in every town in the emplee.—(llear, hear.) He was very glad to find that the proceedings of the Le to had excited antagonist proceedings, and that there had been formed not only an Anti-League League, 'iit that protection - societies had established them selves among the farmers, for he knew; that the more i the subject was discussed, the better for the League; only let ethe'questioe be reduced to arguinent, and the League would triumph.—(Hear, hear.) It was _true that the great landlords, more than the farmers, . were active in these societies and Anti-League League, and that their cry wag, "No surrender to argument ;'but let us stick to our rights and privileges." But, argapert would make its way, despite the weighty influence of the landlords—despite the ma jority which their power now gave them in the - Leg;sltiturn....-(g m ., hear.) Everything showed that, howeeee, by slow degrees; the principles of the League were making their way on to a triumphant result.. - s -(Hear, hear.) But three years ago,' a l arge - 'majority of the House of Commons refused . to grant even the insignificant, con cession of allowing corn to be taken out of ' bond, for 'the purpose of being ground and baked . into biscuits, not for home consumption, but for exportation. Since that time, however, va rious concessions, most important in principle, if of no great value in themselves, had been made.--(Hear, hear.) There had been abatements of duties made which opened up the most gratifying anticipation for the future.—(llear, hear.) Look, too, at the recent budgetl- 2 (Hear, hear.) Hypocrisy, it was said, in counterfeiting virtue, paid homage to virtue ; the mea sures to which the Government had of late had re course; with reference to the principles of taxation, ' were a clear acknowledgment by the Government and the - Executive of tho truth of the principles advocated - by the Anti -Corn-law League.— (Hear.) That had been done with reference to wool, for instance, in which they carried out to the full extent their doctrines of total repeal of . all duties b,, , aring injuriously upon the interest and industry of the country.—(llcar, licar.) They. had'got a material improvement in the reduc tien of the duty on foreign coffee, from Bd. to Gd. F:tr , V)und, the ditty On British colonial'sugar being 4d. Per .pound.. That, no doubt was going in the right , directiOn. A s he told the m before,. it was a - homage paid to theirp rinciples. - they had been aivocatin I . t admitted that all . as itwas right. However, it only. went half WA it t r . eited with their, by continuing their peaceful 3 • no distant period, a still further ale, to reductioncarry out, at of that article se essential to the in the case work ing cies:sec—Meat., hear.) Thenb c om fort of the upon, foreign sugar, which was red . u e ee re d A f . as the duty 34s', per cwt., the duty on British col onia l from 635. to . being 245., per cwt.; so that there was sugar duty ,of.l o s. per cwt. left upon that artiCi r e ote.c rlf however, they must expect a very considerable , i reduction in the price of sugar , consequent upon - that partial reduction of duty. There were 200,000 tons of sugar imported from the British Possessions, and the whole of the sugar grown in those coun tries,.from which, under the proposed change, sugar was to be imported, amounted to 90,000 tons an nuallY--nearly one-half of the whole quantity that WO imported from British possessions. It was pro bable that, owing to the difference of price between tfidse two description; of sugar, the , greater portion of those- ninety thousand. tons would be subject to a , higher rate of duty, be imported into this country, • arid wetild have a material effect in considerably re : duoitig•the price of Sugar to the British consumer. . Viero *as another instance in which there was cause re'ent)gratultite them on • not only in hat ing their P rl i i 9l sl 4"icknowJedged;but'also -on having in the rgslAtttlen. of . the price- of sugar to the consumer, : it'er osPeet l pf reaping the benefit.—(Hear.) He satirtlhat because' he thought , considering all . poettiOn. that thelandl ds .... ~_ . _ or and the West Indian pro :: la.F.? Pro gavo :to; this, p rinciples f 7eo npe.toNsaretoodearcleupon a Mi 'et who had 'if 4f- - nt . fitg4lly.carrie'd ,the.„.prin'c' lul 71* eine eff!ct,7- .. . (Hear, hear.) lie- would -ot f o re2 T a t i i i i: quest* Sether, on a former occasion, by g oipnpooi,in g those very principles which they now carried into effect, the Government did not supplant their prede" cessors. It was better that those who advocated the reduction of those duties should not mix th mselves up with any party considerations.—(Cheer .) Let them -endeavour, by their reasons, and by tl - e mode ration with which they proposed them, to gain friends to the doctrines of free trade from all parties whatso ever. By that course they were most likely, within a reasonable space of time, to carry their principles into effect. . The greatest opponents whom they had, he regretted to say, Were a section of the working classes. If the working classes, with the middle classes, were unanimous in opposing those diffe rential duties and sliding scales the thing would be done at once.—(Cheers.) He could not conceive by what process of reasoning a portion of the work ing classes persuaded themselves they were benefited by monopoly. It really came to this sort of argu ment—the greater the, quantity of any commodity that was to divide among the whole of the com munity, the less a part of that community would have. It would be just as if he were to say to them, the larger the space in which that assembly was collected, the less room there would be for any one particular individual of them. The cne proposition was just as absurd as the other. There was no dif ference whatever* between them. If there was a larger quantity of corn, sugar, and coffee, to divide among the millions of which the population of the United Empire consisted, and if there was every year a greater facility for introducing more of those commodities, was it not clear as day that that greater abundanee ' would reduce the price, and that the purchasing of any given quantity would be brought more within the reach of every member of that population.—(Cheers.) Let them he high or low, if there was a greater quantity divided among the whole of them, was it not clear every one would have more? Yet., it was that obvious proposition which certain sections of the working classes con vinced themselves, he knew not by what process of reasoning, to be unfounded; What effect could the introduction of a greater quantity of coffee, sugar, or corn have in depressing money wages ? A great authority—Sir R. Peel—had, on one occasion, said that wages were determined by the competition of all the labour of the world ; and that was the case. It was manifest that the price of any article of general consumption was regulated by competition. It was the same with lahour as. with other commodities. — (Hear, hear.) There was another fallacy which he regretted found advocates among a portion of the middle classes ; not with many, because the greater mass of the middle claws were with them. But those to whom he alluded thought that a very large proportion of the prosperity of the middle classes depended upon the high rents of gentlemen of large fortuue. _ It was easy by an arithmetical argument to settle that question. 'What proportion, to the whole population did gentlemen of easy eircurastances, who lived upon their rents and incomes without following any labour, business, or profession, bear—what was their per .centage to the whole population? Why, 31. It _was easy to test that by the population of 27 counties, partly agricultural, and partly ,manufacturing, of- which the details had been tho roughly investigated. They might, therefore, pre sume that as those gentlemen in easy circumstances formed only 31 per. 'sent. of the -whole populetion of those 27 counties, the proportion could not be very different in the population. of the whole empire. Could it then be supposed that the prospe rity of all the shop-keepers, traders, Sec. depended upon the custom of only 3i per cent. of the whole population ? It was really too absurd a propo sition-to require refutation.—(Cheers.) . The argu ment of persons who so reasoned, was very much like thd argument of the boy,' who having robbed . his • master's till , when • brought up for judgment, said—" Did I not lay out my thievings at your shops."—(Cheers and laughter.) Precisely - of the same kind was the argument used by those who would persuade them to 'let' the landlords rob them a little more, as they could get back the greater-portion of. it by charging them a higher price when they got them to become their customers.— (Hear, hear, and laughter.) There was another fal lacy which, however, had a certain portion of truth in it. It was said that the agriculturists—meaning thereby, he presumed, rather the landlords than the farmers--and manufacturers and traders of the country had all one common interest, and that, if by any al teration of the corn-laws, one class was rendered a little poorer, it necessarily followed that the other classes were rendered poorer. Why, certainly, if they all thoroughly understood their own interests, and acted up to them, he would admit that, in that sense, they had all a common interest. So England and France had a common interest. They ought to re main .at peace, and they sacrificed the common inte rest of both if they foolishly went to war with each other.—(Hear, hear.) • But no one could with reason contend that France could not reap ad vantages in which England could not par ticipate, or that England could not, reap some advantages in which France could not participate. In the wider sense, their interests were the same; but in the more restricted sense, they were different. It could not be said that one party could not be robbed, and that another party might not receive the proceeds of that robbery.—(Hear, hear.) It could not be said but that inns and other establishments on the mail coach roads were impaired by the formation of rail ways. It was in this more particular sense that their interests were not quite the same. ' He was happy, however,: to see that a very considerable and import ant section of the landed interest, headed as it was by such great names as that of Earl Spencer— (Cheers)—Lord Fitavvilliam—(Cheers)—Lord Rad nor—(Cheers)—Lord pucie—(Cheers)—Lord Kin naird—(Cheers)--and the Marquis of West minster—(Loud and -prolonged cheering)—were beginning to understand their own interest. Why, even it was lately promulgated, that it was in consequence of the great decline in the price of agri cultural produce that . the Whole fanning world thought of nothing but agricultural improvement — that drainage was going on, and that they were im porting manure even from the other hemisphere.— (Hear, hear.) - Why, what was this but a proof that monopoly in the case of the farmers, as in all others, led to idleneas and ignorance, and prevented them from finding out those real advantages which an unassisted position would give them ?—(Hear, hear.)' It was gradually presenting itself to their minds that their real advantage was not to be found in protec tive duties, but in their own industry and in their own enlightened study. of that branch of agricul ture which they were the parties to carry into effect. —(Hear, hear.) lie was, however, very sorry to say, that there were certain parties who very ho nestly wished to see the decline of manufacturers— who thought that- by reducing the magnitude of the manufacturing towns it was possible to make of England a very Arcadia.—(Laughter.) They were of opinion that by certain measures which they would gradually carry into effect, and which would throw discouragement.upon manufacturing industry, they would introduce all the simplicity of agricultural life. Now, how was it possible for a country like England to enter into such a career as this ?—(Hear, hear.) Why, their happiness depended, in a great degree, upon their political power, and if that political power was diminished, other countries would step forward and endeavour to deprive them of the many advan tages which they possessed as a manufacturing power. —(Hear, hear.) When they looked to the large masses of the population who were engaged in the various branches of maneacturing industry, was it possible for them to throw any impediment in their. way without introducing the most dreadful state of pauperism into the country?-(Hear, hear.) What were the poorer classes to do ? There was one mode of proceeding for the poor suggested—they might expatriate themselves to distant colonies. They would thus be constantly called upon,to exercise their long arm, not merely for the expatriation of their countrymen, but to defend them 'in distant parts of the world.—(Hear, hear.) How were they to atlord them that' protection in distant places, unless they were enabled to do so from the produce of their con-anerce and manufactures which they ex ported to distant countries, and which would enable them to pay the expenses of that protection ? They had embarked in a course of manufactures; other countries had done the same; and if this country lagged behind, those other countries would wrest from England the superiority which she now pos sessed—that which formed a part of the character of every • Englishman.—(Hear, hear.) Ile believed that every man whom he now addressed would feel degraded if he saw This country reduced to the state of a second-rate power. —:(Hear, hear.) Therefore, he said it was essential to- the greatness of England that her commerce and manufactures should be up held,nnd the most efficacious way for them to uphold it was by persevering till they succeeded in fully es tablishing the system of free trade throughout-the Conn try . 7 --(Cheers.) ing l , fr a'n V d n was Lilt ec E r sn e e ived xtPresented himself to the meet ing, comm ence d by saying with tha t t he hs Hon. g i reatest i e;i ri t e h r u d sia 3 s i m r . Warburton,. h a d not asked him to address the:in ' that evening for th e purpose of visiting upon them a long speech on-the subject of the corn-laws, which he had too often done before—(No, he might account fol.' the' absenc no)—h f ut in order that 'o za s r c u im a e w, f ,a r r ie e r , id t •s t 2 the present . occasion. . As thez e u friend, the Hon, Member: for intended to have had the honour of addressinglirtitht' that evening, but hdregretted to.say 'that he was pr e e n-L .' vented from doink 50 in consequence of a dorneftie affliction which had occurred in his'fanely. easl;er if their earnestfriends were to have been there thatevening, and amongst them their usual chairman, but they were - at present in Lancashire, in order to give their aid and devote their best energies to procure the success of a free : trade candidate, who had been brought. into the .fiefd in consequpice of the . elsatb of the- late Member. - It would be useless to state how anxious he was as to the result of that election. He believed a more important event could not have oc curred in the progress of their cause ; its importance was scarcely equalled by the election for London, and they could not forget what vast importance was at tached to that election, and what a great impression was produced by its result, not only throughout this eountry but throughout the whole world ; for it was hardly exaggeration to say, when they considered what was the single question at issue on that occasion, and what the consequences of it might be, that its vast importance must be acknowledged wherever the influence of British commerce extended.—(Dear.) In foreign countries the result of that election, he be lieved, was looked on as the approaching decline and downfall of that restrictive system of monopoly which was upheld by those who professed the truth and wisdom of the opposite principle in the abstract.—(Hear, hear.) It formed a leading topic in the journals of Europe and America, and was hailed as a sign that the commercial classes were awakening from the slumber in which they had too long indulged. Wherever they had an enemy, the result of that election was seen with regret; and those who wished well to this country beheld it with joy and satisfaction. To confirm what he said, he would call the attention of the meeting to the notice which was taken of the late London election, by a leading man in the United States—a man of great talent, and a firm advocate of free trade, and who, till lately, had been a candidate for the Presidentship. When he was about retiring from the field, he put forward an address to the people, and alluded to the London election. After professing his attachment to the prin ciples of free trade, he said, " that he would not aban don the glorious principle now that its banner was waving in triumph over the metropolis of the com mercial world.—(Cheers.) No, he would maintain the immoveable ground he so long occupied till he witnessed the great and final victory. A vic tory it would be indeed, and the harbinger of a new, a brighter, and higher civilisation."—(Hear, hear.) That election was an example of what might be done if the people of the country only did themselves jus tice, and exercised their own sound judgment. It would give a stimulus to other countries in the di rection of free trade. He alluded to the London election, because a struggle of a precisely similar na• ture was now about to take place in Lancashire. There was, however, this difference—that the consti tuency in Lancashire would be of a mixed character, part being an agricultural, and,part manufacturing and commercial, so that if the same result attended their efforts, it would be even more glorious than that of London.—(Hear, hear.) He did not mean to say that the two classes were in conflict. He believed the man was not fit to be at large who thought that the agriculture of the country was not bound up with the prosperity of manufactures and corn merce.—(Cheers.) But he had no doubt there were a large class in that country who had no sympathies with the manufacturing and commercial prosperity of Lancashire, because all their sympathies were with domination, and they were jealous of the encroach ment of the commercial classes. That class, he knew, would exercise their influence ; but when one consi dered what was their business and occupation—what was the history of the people of Lancashire—it, it would be difficult to find an excuse for them if they did not follow the example of London.—(Hear, hear.) The commercial and manufacturing classes, understood what was due to their own order and interests as well as any other class in the community, and he hoped they would be wise enough to avoid party spirit, and party zeal.—(Hear, hear.) The question of free trade had nothing to do with party. At the very, first meeting he attended in Lancashire on the sub ject, he was happy to say some leading Con servatives took a prominent part to further the principles of free trade.—(Hear, hear.) He re membered that just the same thing occurred with regard to the Anti-Corn-law Association in London, a few years ago. The late Right Hon. Thomas Peregrine Courtenay, who had .been Vice- President of the Board of Trade, who was a Tory, but who had always been an advocate for free trade, asked him (Mr. Villiers) whether if he (Mr. (Courtenay) were to address the constituents of a metropolitan borough, as a candidate, the Anti- Corn-law Associations of London would support him. He (Mr. Villiers) had, in consequence, consulted the leading persons belonging to those Associations, and they all stated that they were anxious to give Mr. Courtenay every support, because they considered the country to be in a state of severe distress, and that the more markets were opened to them the greater would be the field opened for the employment of the people. They said they would support any man who would support a repeal of the corn-laws; and that in support of the doctrines of free trade they should be glad to avail themselves of the talents and services of Mr. Courtenay, without regard to his po litics. He could not believe that in the present state of the question the manufacturers, the capitalists, and the employers of labour could be so faithless and treacherous to their principles, or so forgetful of the trust reposed in them, as to return to Parliament one who would vote for the perpetuation of that curse and grievance of which they complained.—(Cheers.) His Honourable Friend Mr. Warburton had alluded to the immense importance of our maintaining our superiority in manufactures. It was.more important to Lancashire than to any other county, that this superiority should be maintained. When they con sidered the immense population which in that county depended for their bread upon manufactures, they could not think without horror upon anything which should bring such a disaster upon that place as the destruction of manufactures. The reason why the question of free trade had become one of so much importance was, because they were under the appre hension of losing those advantages by the eagerrivalry of other countries. They were about to try the ques tion at this contest.—(Cheers.) They were about to apply a test to this great manufacturing district. The manufacturers, capitalists, and the employers of labour would now have an opportunity of showing how far they were sincere in those wishes they had expressed to promote the interests of the industrious classes.—(Cheers.) When they supported free trade and called out against restrictions, they said that they opposed restrictions because, by limiting the field of production and lowering the profits of capital, they compelled them to reduce the rate of wages. The question now was, for whom would they vote ? (Loud cheers.) They objected to limiting the hours of working, by Act of Parliament, because it would have a tendency to limit the number of people to be employed and lower the rate of wages. But let them enlarge the field of production, and more employment and higher wages would be the consequence, and every one who wished well to the working people would refuse his support to any candidate who would not support the doctrines of free trade.—(Cheers.) Never was there at any time less excuse for with holding their support from those doctrines than there was at present.—(Loud cheers.) Many might have doubted as to what would have been the operation of the corn-laws when they were first passed. Many might have doubted when they had no experience, but now that they had had a long and dreary experience of those laws, no man could expect any good from them, and most men had experienced evil. There was hardly a week passed in which some of those who had hitherto supported them did not come forward and acknowledge their error in so doing. Those who were capitalists—in the true sense of the word, cultivators of the soil—(Cheers) e —whenever they had spoken out, had denounced the corn-laws as inflicting more mischief upon them than upon any other class. Those who had addressed these meetings had been unanswered. They had stated facts which had been uncontradicted. There had been different opportunities of answering their statement, but not one syllable had been uttered in reply to them.— (Cheers.) They would be followed to-night by a gentleman, a farmer, who would tell them, as others had done, that no advantage bad resulted to him from the corn-laws, and that he was ready to giye them, heartily, 'all his assistance to pro cure the abolition of those laws, and to promote free trade. He had only risen for the purpose of comply ing with the request which the Chairman had made to account for the absence of those gentlemen who would have addressed them, and he would now retire and make way for some other gentleman.—(Cheers.) The CHAIRMAN then announced that Mr. Gibbs, a Buckinghamshire farmer, would next address the meeting. Mr. Gums then came forward, and was received with loud cheers. He believed that the stage of that theatre had furnished this large metropolis with a great deal of information and a great deal of amuse ment for many years past—a variety of different characters had there been presented before them; but he thought they would see a fresh one there that night.—(Cheers and laughter.) Ile had been intro duced to them as a Buckinghamshire farmer. Ile was a Buckinghamshire farmer. He was a native and resident of the principal town in the county, living under the immediate and heavy influence of the great Duke, who bad been so often brought before them.—(Loud cheers and laughter.) He had been introduced to them as Mr. Gibbs. It was rather a delicate matter for him to introduce himself to them, but it was necessary that he should have some further in troduction. He must therefore lay aside all coy ness, and appear before them as a straightforward, plain-spoken man ; and he hoped that he would be allowed a somewhat greater latitude in speaking than was usually acceded to those who addressed them in that assernbly.—(Cheers.) There were two reasons why he should give them a history of his life. The first. was to encourage every young tradesman ; and the second was, to show the meeting that they must not expect anythinF, from him but plain Buckingham shire facts, in plain Buckinghamshire language.— a (C dv h .e e r e s r e s. c ) ir _ c A um b:u ta t n 3 ces 3o . r 34 years ago, he first became a commercial man—a man of business, under rather farmeds H iila e ll sz y n t o o t .p ti o l v a i r a g e e fo far od m f e o r r , he merely his family—his business was i n another line. He THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 9, 1844 stood before them as a character which had hitherto been considered as one of their greatest enemies—he was rather a large land agent.—(Cheers.) He was employed to dispose of the stocks of farmers; to help one unfortunate farmer out and his successor in, until the successor should again stand in need of his as sistance. (Laughter.) He had commenced his public life, and his trade, in the county town of a county under the monster foot, which covered the whole of Buckinghamshire. Every little privilege was given unto those only who deserved it by such means as he would not stoop to do.—(Cheers.) He would not go back to his ancestors, but he would merely tell them that his father was what was called a Jacobin. He himself was proud of being called a Radical, which was, perhaps, a softer term for the same thing. He, however, had always had the hap piness to resist temptation. He had kept his inte grity, and had never sacrificed his political principles to the profits of his business ; and he would venture to say, that there was not a great Protectionist in that neighbourhood who wished to have his pro perty turned into cash, but what had full confidence in him, and would employ him as readily as any other person. Solomon had said, " Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." His eldest son, who possessed better advantages of education than himself, was now Editor of the Aylesbury News. In his paper he advocated the doctrines of free trade. The meeting and he were now getting better acquainted. He had at first felt some diffidence in addressing them, but he had now got rid of it. He would content himself with stating some facts in support of his opinion, and a statement of facts he considered the best sort of oratory. In considering the question of monopoly, he always looked at it in a broad light, and lost sight of many petty reckonings. He took a broad view of the effects of the corn-laws. God Almighty, by his bountiful providence, had supplied the earth with fruits of various sorts. Man, by his ingenuity, had invented the steam-engine, which had shortened dis tances, and brought the ends of the world together. All men had a right freely to interchange the pro ducts of their industry, and trade in all articles should he free. He knew of no reason why any man should ask for protection.—(Cheers.) He had seen an ad vertisement in the county paper for a meeting in the County Hall at Aylesbury of agriculturists to pray for protection. He had sent an advertisement to the same paper, calling a meeting of tailors on the same day, at the same time, and in the seine place, also to pray for protection.—(Cheers and laughter.) The agricultural meeting took place ; and there were se veral excellent speeches reported as having been made at the tailors' meeting. Those who clothed the back were as well entitled to protection as those who filled the belly. He meant nodisrespect to the tailors in what he had said, but merely to show the folly of any class asking for protection. What would they say to him if, in the event of his business falling off, he were to apply to Parliament for protection, and to ask them to raise his commission to 10 per cent. ? What would he be called ?—(Cheers.) He would now advert to the state of the agriculturists. it hat was the real state of the small farmer ? No man knew what was the state of the small farmer better than he (Mr. Gibbs) did. The small farmer, for the last few years, had been tolerably well off. Some who had deprived themselves of the common comforts of life had made money. Others, who had not denied themselves the ordinary comforts, were on a level. Last year the scale turned another way, and those who had not laid by anything were obliged to move off. The labourer was not paid, because the farmers could not pay him ; and the labourer who, with a large family only got from Bs. to 10s. a week, and had to pay 2s. a week rent out of that, could not be supposed to make a very decent appearance. The repeal of the corn-laws would raise the wages of labour. If manufacturers had abundance of cheap food trade would flourish. One of the greatest evils the country laboured under was a surplus population.—(Hear, hear.) There were plenty of well-disposed able bodied men who were now asking for a day's work and could not obtain it. Those poor feellows, who were chiefly agricultural labourers, in strolling along the roads sometimes stole a hare, and sometimes only half a hare, as in a late instance, and for this theft they were sentenced to two or three months' impri sonment, and by those who called the hares the pro perty of the land.—(Hear, and laughter.) He would not encourage poaching—far from it—but he believed every man would have a hare if he could get it. He was new about to speak of the state of the tenant-farmers, and the Tory editor of an Aylesbury paper, who was the unflinching advocate of mono poly, had let the cat out of the bag about a fortnight ago. In supporting monopoly he declared against the attendance of the agricultural population at agri cultural meetings, for it was manifestly to the ad vantage of the monopolists to keep the people in igno rance. A little Radical newspaper in that county to which he had already alluded had done a great deal to remove the foolish prejudices against the repeal of the corn-laws which had previously existed. An attempt had been made to burke this little newspaper, as one which previously existed had been put down, but " John Gibbs" started one on his own responsibility. An endeavour had been made to crush it, but the very first week, the sale of the Aylesbury News was three times that of the other local papers, and had continued so ever since. —(Hear, hear.) In a certain village that belonged to the great Duke of Bucking ham, there was a certain agent that reported every little circumstance to the Duke, free trade discussion was prohibited, and free trade pamphlets were like " the forbidden fruit," to be avoided, and like the for bidden fruit, too, they were the more anxiously de sired, because of their prohibition; this agent gene rally made his " rounds" of a Sunday • morning, when the farmers were taking a sly peep at the Aylesbury News. When the poor farmer heard him coming he slipped the News into the dresser-drawer, but immediately plucked it out upon his departure, and began to con it over more anxiously than before. —(Laughter.) The moral condition of the Buck inghamshire farmers was not to be envied. The ques tion of free trade had been very ably argued Mr. Cobden, am ong th e Buckingham shire meeting had b een h e ld th ere , an d he believed Dr. Cobden was as m uc h gra tifi e d as sur by their farmers fri eir. A prised at the reception free -trade principles had met among them.—(Loud cheers.) An impudent fellow had presumed to style a meeting in favour of protec tion in Aylesbury, which they called, a meeting of the Aylesbury electors. The meeting was addressed by a Dr. Sleigh. The Doctor spoke in a fine, flowery way—he gave them plenty of what was called " soft soap"—(Great laughter)—and be effectually turned the stomach of the few friends he had.— (Renewed laughter.) The Doctor said enough to get himself hooted out of the room, and bonnetted, too, in going out.—(Roars of laughter.) It was needless for him to discuss the causes of the moral condition of the farmers of Buckinghamshire—the well-known con dition of the tenant-farmers,. and the farm-labourers, spoke more than words could say.—(Hear, hear.) The present system threw numbers of well-disposed ,poor men out of employment; they could get no re lief, and had no . alto illative between he prison and the workhouse—there was not esen out-door relief. He firmly believed that the repeal of the corn-laws would be beneficial to the la bourer—(Hear, hear)—for it would give them that employment in manufactures which agriculture at present denied them.—(Hear, hear.) If the corn laws were to be repealed to-morrow he assured the meeting he would take a lease of land at present prices —he would sign the lease with the one hand, and with the other sign a petition for the repeal of the corn-laws.—(Hear, hear, and great cheering.) He would have no hesitation whatever in engaging in the culture of land—arable land. He believed the repeal of the corn-laws would produce, protection, but a na tural protection; it would give fresh life and vigour to manufactures, and promote prosperity in trade ; it would drain off the surplus labour, and the people of this country would then be enabled to consume that corn, the produce of foreign countries, which was of late years suffered to rot, and had been thrown into the sea while the people of England were starving.— (Hear, hear.) He knew several farmers—he did not speak of landowners, but of the yeomen of Bucking hamshire—not those wearing red coats or blue coats, but of the good honest stout-hearted yeomen, who were in reality in favour of a repeal of the corn-laws. The farmers were not so much opposed to a repeal of the corn-laws as had been imagined. They preferred that the question of the corn-laws should be settled on a sure and solid foundation. He would give them a proof of the truth of what he said—facts were stub born things—as stubborn as the League itself.— (Laughter.) A farmer had come to him not long since—he was his agent, and wanted to give up a farm. He introduced himself by saying, " Well, I must leave my farm, and I must ask your assistance to get me out.' The conversation turned on the state of agriculture and on the agitation of the re peal of the corn-laws; he stated that twenty-five years ago he took a farm in the upper part of Buckinghamshire ' • an Act of Parliament had just then been passed, and by that Act he had been guaranteed, or assured he was guaranteed, ten shillings a bushel for his is heat. Upon the faith of this promise he took the lease, but for many years after wheat was only six shillings a bushel. In fact, protection to this man was false, ruinous, and deceptive, as it had proved to many.—(llear.) lie would not go into the details of prices as other speakers had done, but he believed he did not exaggerate when, he said that time prices of corn were 30 per cent. lower than the farmers expected when they took their leases (Hear.) At the same moment that he was talking to this farmer a deputy from the League came into the room with a petition in favour of a re peal of the corn-laws in his hand, and asked them to sign it, and he was happy to inform the meeting that both of them signed this petition, and they further agreed to sign a requisition to the League te furnish them with a free trade candidate at the next election. —(Cheers.) He believed the motives of those who op- posed a repeal of the "corn-laws were not foundel upon patriotism, or worthy motives, but in order to pay off marriage portions and heavy mortgaes. The I greatest landed proprietor in the county in which he resided had scarcely an apartment in his native country in his own home, and there were a great many more landed proprietors similarly situated. In fact, the landed proprietors could not afford to live upon much lower rents than they at present received. An instance of the disposition and motives of land lords lately came under his notice. A poor woman on the Duke of Buckingham's estate had lately be come a widow. The lease of her farmhad expired, and she applied for a renewal of her lease. The lease was, granted to her, but only on condition that her son should be made a party to the contract. And why was this ? In order that her son might have a vote, and that vote should be given in favour of the Duke of Buckingham and protection.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") And, not far .from the neighbour , hood in which he had resided, twenty or thirty voters had been created for the sole purpose of swelling the list of advocates in favour of protection. He would not enter into a history of the mode in which these votes were obtained, but he was sorry to . say that there was nothing they would not stoop to in order to sustain monopoly. "Satan, the fowler, who betrays The souls of men a thousand ways." At times, the landlord class were much in favour of purity of election, and at times they were, altogether in favour of protection. " When the Devil was sick, The Devil a monk would be ; When the Devil got well, The Devil a monk was he." The farmers in Aylesbury market, last Saturday, seemedto have been considerablyshaken in Sir Robert Peel. They said, " Oh, he has repealed the duty on _ wool ; he announced himself in favour of the con tinuance of the corn-laws as they stood, but he after wards proposed a measure for their modification, and the reduction of the duty." "After these things," said they, " what confidence can we place in him ?" He was willing to be the Uriah of the cause. He had stood it for a pretty long time; their shots were nct lead, and their words would never kill any honest man.—(Laughter and cheers.) Mr. W. J. Fox then addressed the meeting. He was received with loud and continued cheering. He said, he spoke to them that evening under the dis advantage of having lost the earlier part of the pro ceedings, from a cause which he must make a plea for their indulgence in what he did address to them —namely, indisposition, which pressed upois him even in the sight of so inspiring and magnificent a meeting as this.—(Hear, hear.) And what could be more inspiring 'and more magnificent than these meetings were ? The long series of them, which had now been held with unabated attention and zeal —meetings gathered together to listen either to those elementary and simple truths which every one knew, or to the more recondite speculations and researches of political economy, not often apt to gain the atten tion of multitudes—multitudes among whom every heart glowed with as burning a sense of wrong as ever nerved those who took the field to protect with musket on their shoulder and sword by their side ; yet who had blended this sense of wrong with a patience as wise, and a forbearance as dignified, as ever marked the best school of philosophers—meetings which had made this place the asylum of truth and jus tice, when they had been banished from the mansions of those whose station ought to have made them the leaders of the people, and when those principles had been violated in those legislative halls where they ought to have been held sacred, their advocacy of them here had procured them the blessing of the entire mass of the community. He confessed for himself he was sometimes weary of the statistics of this question. Interesting as those statistics. were, the list of deaths, which rose in proportion to the rise in the price of food occasioned by these laws, the long muster-roll of pauperism which kept up a con tinual pressure from year to year, the continual com mittals for crime which bore a constant proportion to the fluctuations in the price of food ; the calculation Of the number of poor children who died, above the number of the children of the rich, in consequence of their hard bringing up—not from natural causes, but artificial laws which aggravated the disparity of con dition ; these, and all the other fearful items in that account, though of a nature to harrow up the soul, yet the continuance of those details drove them back upon the plain and simple truth in which the whole question was involved, and which contained all its merits —he meant the fact that the "labo - urer is worthy of his hire." In that was the beginning anti end of the argument in his view of the question. It was a ques tion of justice, of simple, impartial, and universal justice. The doom of mankind was toil, and " the labOurer was worthy of his hire,"—worthy of it un diminished by trick, or rapacity, or oppression; wor thy of it for what that hire would fetch in the world's market ; worthy of his hire to lay it out with whom soever he pleased, and for whatsoever be pleased; worthy of it undiminished by any interference what ever, except that which took-from him his proportion of the national expenditure, his proportion of what was necessary for carrying on the government, and for the defence of the community.—(Cheers.) All other matters were but incidental to this. The great controversy here was this ;. we affirm that the " la bourer- is worthy of his hire;" but the monopoly that levies taxation upon this class for private, and not for national purposes, in fact denies that proposition, tramples upon it—spurns it away as if it were a mere cobweb, and not one of the primary laws of nature and providence.—(Cheers.) It was one of the accidents of society, that what the manufacturer thought the violation of this law, diminished his pro fits; it was an accident that the. landlords thought the violation of this increased his rents. But if it benefited the manufacturer, and was injurious to the landlord, the question would be just the same. They must not regard temporary subjects ; the consideration here was the recognition of a law, and the recognition of a title as sacred, aye, more sacred, than that possessed by any species of property, or held by any title by which estates were bequeathed or inherited. In the whole history of mankind lie did not know of any one class that had .been ruined by justice, unless it had deserved that ruin by crime.= (Cheers.) So linked together was the order of things in nature, that the dictates of equity were never vio lated with impunity. Those who had gone upon that road, should - begin to. look about them and return as soon as possible. Those who held property, those who depended on the peace of society for the security of their possessions, they of . all people should be ten der of the rights of the labourer, or their title deeds would be so much waste parchment. A man's right in his limbs and strength was beyond and above any one act of the Legislature. The opera tion of human toil was the first of titles, and 'those who trampled upon it endangered the entire order of society. They did that which, if carried out, would break down all safety of property, annihilate all suc cession in honours, and even shake thrones to their very f e undations.—(Cheeis.) It was well even for the enemies of justice—for its violators—that there was this breakwater between them and the toiling. multitudes. That they had to deal, in the first in stance, with the League, which combined all classes, and which had for its leaders men of station, of ability, of wealth, and of extensive influence. That they had to deal with this combination, and not merely with the labouring multitudes, disunited from others, and who, in such a state of society, if left to themselves in the conflict with the aristocracy, by whom they had been injured, would only afford them a prospect of confusion and desolation, who, in that violence, would plunge into ruin much that was the best and most ornamental- in the country, and whose energies would not be capable of being driven back and cooped up by all the severity or imprison ment of any poor-law system which the landed aristo cracy could supply. There was zio occasion for him to attempt going into details, since, at three or four meetings in succession, they had heard the agricul tural part of the question thoroughly entered into, and at once from members of the landlord class and • those of the tenant class of agriculturists ; they had heard statements showing that some among them knew their own true interest, and saw that honest) , was the best policy, and felt with those who were claim ing their rights against the body to which they nomi nally belonged. They had here voluntarily proffered the results of that inquiry which in another place had been asked for 'And superciliously refused. The League had held its open Committee, and on this portion of the subject evidence had been adduced which might well settle the question, and against which they found no contradictory evidence from the antagonist societies. In fact, all the arguments of what called itself the Agricultural Protection Society had evaporatedin the production of one tract, chiefly characterised - by the disgraceful peculiarity of being the most dishonest publication which had issued from the press for many a long year.—(Loud cheers.) There was not a position in it which had not been over and over again exploded on these boards. It was false in its logic, false in its history, false in. its statement of contemporary fact; and it was, above all, most glaringly and outrageously false in its attempt to pervert a great authority of this country, its highest name, the name of the pa triarch of political.economy; an attempt to bring him into court as a witness for the cause of monopoly. —(Cheers.) An attempt so impudent as that had never been made before in any cause, however despe rate. In the 'face of ,the whole tendency of that •:vriter's system • in the face of his principles, reite- • rated in book after hook, and in chapter after chapter, of his great work.; the Noble Lords and Gentlemen of the Committee of the AgricUltural Protection Society had called, not a false witness into court, but had called Adam Smith, a true witness, putting their 'false words into his mouth.—(Cheers.) This was beyond the pale of inefe'litefary Offences. Tb m was not one gentleman connected with the press, either there or anywhere else, who would .be capable of committing such an act, or if such a one could he found, who would not be discharged from his employment, and denounced by his fellow labourers.—(Cheers.) It was an attempt to impose on that great cause the highest authority on one side as an authority on the other side ; and that individual members of the Committee should say that they dis owned it, and washed their hands of it, us he under stood some of them did say in private, was not enough. .More than this was - due to a sense of public justice and of public decency. Of the violation of decency he would say nothing ; but it was a stain on the character of British gentlemen, that they should be mixed up in any way with such a subornation of false witnesses.—(Hear, hear.) It had been said that the advocates of a repeal of the corn-laws held out to their supporters the promise that it would be a cure for. all the evils of the com munity. He denied that the League had held out such a proniise. But he would contend that it was no good objection to a medicine to say that it could not heal all diseases, when it professed to cure only one.—(Applause.) A medicine might do much to mitigate disease, although it could not confer immor tality.—(Cheers.) It was said, that if those harriers were broken down, other evils would still stand in the way of improvement. He denied that there Were any such evils inherent in human nature, or that any such barriers were necessarily conditions of society. So long as there was the most insignificant portion of land in Europe uncultivated--to long as there was uncultivated land in the remotest parts of the earth, so long it was idle to talk of those insuperable bar riers. —(Cheers.) Those barriers would never be reached until mankind had peopled those regions where the finest fruits were so abundant that the cattle were killed- by the eating of too may peaches.—(Applause and laughter.) The friends of free trade might look forward to the period when a change would take place in the civilised world as great as that which took place in Europe upon the shaking off of feudalism—when the position of a land lord became a trade and ceased to be a dignity.— (Cheers.) It was asserted by the opponents of free trade that one effect of it would be to make this coun try dependent upon others. But, after all, what was better than that mutual dependence which gave to countries an interest in the welfare of each other? In modern times, Greece had obtained her independence by her reliance upon her ancient glories—the Low. Countries, by their reliance on the rights of religion—• the little state of San Marino, by following the ex= ample of America, and resisting the attempt to impose taxation without representation.—(Cheers.) But it was left to the landed aristocracy of England to assert the independence of the country through the agency of the Custom house officer.—(Cheers and laughter.) But he would never admit that the strength of the oak depended upon its being rooted in the dunghill of protective duties.—(blear, hear.) He would say let the independence of England be her reliance on her own power—on the capital which she had amassed—on the indomitable power which marked her children—on that power. which they possessed of rendering to other, nations services, which, without her, they could not render to each other.—( Applause.) He begged now to call the attention of the meeting to a most important subject—the matter of the regis tration of Parliamentary electors.—(Hear, hear.) In no case had the people attended to the registration so as to obtain from the Reform Bill all the benefits it was intended to place within their reach.—(Cheers.) In London the friends of free trade had succeeded; and he . hoped that -now in South Lancashire they would again succeed ; but it was necessary that it should be impressed upon their minds, and carefully attended to, that the registration was of the highest importance to their cause.—(Hear.) The Western Times told us the other day, that on the occasion of the Attorney-General's offering himself again as a candidate for the representation of Exe ter, a young workman who had a vote was required by his employer to give it to Sir William Follett. There were six workmen in the shop who had votes. Five of them voted 'for the Attorney- General, and the sixth, who refused to obey in that respect the command of his employer, was discharged. —(Vehement expressions of indignation.) Such i then, was protection.—(Great cheering.) Such was the protection of the aristocracy in election times.— (Cheers and laughter.) The man might go'to the workhouse, and whilst he was there, some monopolist Lord might get up a meeting for the assistance of the distressed needlewornen, of whom the wife of the victim might be one.—(Hear, hear.) He confessed that he viewed with disgust the conduct of those who seemed to think that ail principle was super- . seded by the struggle of an election, and by the prospect of a seat in Parliament, who priced their land, reckoning that land by a certain number of votes—who exercised the cruelty of their authority in threatening dismissal from their' holdings of those who were not obedient, who directly or indirectly applied the screw to the tradespeople and the la bourer, thereby demoralising their character, and subduing their spirit of independence... He (Mr, Fox) did not hesitate to say that the poor outcast that walked the Strand for the wages of infamy, contri buted less to the amount of public vice than many persons who were dignified and noble, and who would less pollute by her presence the sanctity of a Court, or the presence of Royalty.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) He had another thing to say to their friends from the country, and that was, let. them take care of the tricks that were practised here, There was thimble-rigging and ring-dropping in other places than at Epsom or the pot-houses of the metro polis. Let them beware of knavish humanity.— (Cheers and laughter.) He. would not utter one syl lable to steel any man's heart against a grief that should be felt, or to close his pocket against liberal alms-giving. But when it was attempted to blind the country to the claims of justice by interposing some shadow of charity, by putting forth compara tively imperfect, pitiful, and . paltry donations, which were got up in rooms, he said that it was time to cry beware, and to mark the character of the charity which, however aris tocratic the names which adorned the list, was a false and bastard charity—a charity which, at the same time cut down the hours of work in mills, and the worth of wages in the market—a charity which gave guineas to individuals and drew millions from the community—a charity which bestowed half an inch of court plaister for a scratch on the finger of society. while it drove the iron 6f oppression into the very - scul—a charity which gave to hundreds of chil dren a penny bun, while it made millions of men pay ninepence for the sixpenny loaf—a charity which, having set the land in a conflagration of misery and wretchedness, brought its silver thimble to put a drop of water on the flame, and he said that - this charity was un wor thy o f the regard of a right.: man.—(Great cheering.) Let such persons give over talking sensibility and voting monopoly.— (Cheers.) Let them render justice to the poor, and take care of the poor man's children. Let them pay their own workwomen, and they would do more by that means to benefit the condition of those work women, than ever self-appointed patrons could do. Those who were present then from the country, per haps had some . of them come to London in connection with many of those institutions which were then hold ing their anniversaries. They had come to talk of a subject more sacred than that which occupied them that night, but he must say to them that if such were the case, the state of their minds was such as to enable them fully to. enter into the spirit of that meeting because he believed that the doctrine of free trade was essentially connected with giving peace on earth, and diffusing good will into the minds of mankind. They needed no greater' bar to the progress of religion than monopoly. Let them behold the richness of the harvest when the golden fields were waving in heaven's light, when the poor labourers heart should be gladdened—let them behold this scene and they would find that as the feelings of thankful ness rose in the poor man's heart, there came the shadow of overgrown monopoly brooding over the scene ; and interposing between hirri and his share of God's bounty.—(Cheers.) While such a state of things lasted, there Would be an incessant struggle with the possessors of power. By enter ing into that strife those to whom he was addressing his observations would be only aiding . the . cause of inorality and religion, and they would therefore desire to follow in that long list in which they found such illustrious names as those of Clark ion and Howard, for they would be Carrying eman cipation to the slave—they would give the voice of gladness to the tongue of the widow and the orphan, and they would place kindly feelin g an d soc i a l order here now was to be found only strife and contention. (Cheers.) In this good work, then, he asked for their concurrence there and their co-operation when they returned to the several places in which they lived. For himself he had to thank them for the cheering sympathy with which they had met, him, which in some measure rendered unnecessary the apology with which lie had commenced. Whether in sickness or in health there was no cause that laid a stronger grip upon the heart and mind than did that great cause of justice and humanity. It was one for which the exertions of a life were well spent, and a dying breath could scarcely be poured forth more appropriately than in a last protest against that in sidious system which denied to man the right of his labour, the charter of his bein , s., and the bounty of his Creator.—(Great cheering ) The meeting aeli MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF A YOUTH AT WOOLWICH. —On Monday an inquest was held at the Mitre public-house, to inquire into thedeath of a youth unknown, found drowned. The case excited the greatest interest, from the extraordinary manner in which the arms of deceased were pinioned and fastened. Thomas Ball, of 5. Little Bennett-street, Green wich, said he was rowing past the Justitia convict hulk, off her Majesty's Naval Arsenal, when he saw the body of de ceased floating. He laid on a rope to the body. and brought it ashore. It was now in . - the same position as when he found it—the arms were tied behind. The jury, after' consi-, derale discussion, adjourned for a fortnight, to allow time to make inquiries. CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. OLD COURT. (Before Mr. Baron ALDEu t sox.) THE MURDER AT MARI:LEP:WE (Continued from. our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.) William Brookman deposed that in 1.40 the prisoner w - ef , in the service of Lord Cadogan, and he heard of his receiving an injury by a fall from a ladder. He was hurt on the head , and was attended by Dr. Lincoln. The- prisoner could not perform his duty after the accident, and was clisohdrged in few days. - By Mr. PARRY.—The prisoner was not Employed as CAD' boy. His head was cut open by the fall. Mr. Wm. Fisher, the landlord of the Crown and Thistle in Thomas-street, Oxford-street, deposed that in January last the poisoner entered his service as waiter and pot-bey, but ho found that he was quite incapable of doing what was required of him. He appeared drowsy and stupid, and he could not make him understftnd anything. He kept him for seven weeks, and was at length obliged to discharge him. On th e day this occurrence happened, the prisoner came to his house . and he was informed that he had been playing at skittles. He had some drink, but witness could not say to what .e le tent. While the prisoner was in his house, he heard h 0 speak affectionately and kindly of his wife and child, and shortly afterwards he observed a degree of wildness in manner and appearance. By Mr. Paurtv—The deceased used occasionally to ee1 316 ,. -- to his house to see the prisoner, but he had no opportunity 0 ' observing his demeanour towards her at his own house. • Mr. G. White, the landlord of the' Horse and Grooni' • George-yard, Grosvenor-square, stated that the prisoner came to his house as pot-boy after he had left Mr. Fisher's service.- He only kept him a week, and considered his mind Ate' affected, and that he was not capable of doing what It!: required. He.consideredlis mind waa not, so sharp ste ? t , should be, and he therefore discharged him. By Mr. PARRY—He knew nothing of the prisoner excerit what he observed during the week he was in his service. Mr. CLARKSON said that this was all the evidence he had to adduce on behalf of the prisoner. - Mr. PARRY briefly replied. The Learned JUDGE then summed up, and left the case in the hands of the jury, who retired at four o'clock. They re: mained in their room for five hours, and at nine o'clock, th e usual hour for the adjournment of the Court, the Common , Sergeant, who was then presiding, directed that they shoul d be sent for, and he inquired whether there was any proba.bl" lity of their agreeing to a verdict in a reasonable time? The Foreman said he did not think there was. The Coariaox - SERGEANT said the Court would be read,' 1 1/ wait an hour or two, but if there was no chance of thetr agreeing it was of no use for them to wait all night. The.jury, after a short consultation, said it was not Pr e. bable they should agree. The Court was then adjourned, and the jury were locke d up for the night. . . POLICE INTELLIGENCE. (YESTERDAY.) MANSION-HOUSE. An unfortunate wretched woman, %vim was ascertaine d, after much inquiry, to be the wife of a respectable in' duArious man (foreman to an extensive engineer), °45 brought before the Lord Mayor upon suspicion of bey" ing intended self-destruction. A policeman stated that a few nights ago he found the prisoner in one of the recesses of London-bridge, aPP 6- rently in very great distress of mind. Believing thaV she contemplated a leap into the water, he took her i nt° custody, and she subsequently admitted to him that if he had not arrived at the moment, she shotild have cer tainly a destroyed herself. As she gave a wrong name, and could not be prevailed upon to let the witness know all; thing about her family, great difficulty was encounter o in arriving at any knowledge about her. At length her husband learned where she was, and appeared before ths Lord Mayor. The poor man drew a melancholy picture of the Of ferings to which his wife's profligate habits had for . long time exposed him. They had been-married 00 0 4 years, and frequently had she, during that period, ' all the furniture, inciudin. , the very buds and the clotbv" which covered the Ms. * Despairing, after a great vr riety of experiments, of producing any improvement T, her habits in this country, he determined to resign situation, and to take her and their children to Amet i Thither they repaired, but the change of climate ini duced no alteration in these depraved habits which 1144 inflicted so much domestic unhappiness, and he found P o condition worse in the place to which he had fled as 0 refuge, than it had been amongst those to whom he ° I known. He accordingly brought her back, and was r il e ; instated by his former employer, but the conduct of to wretched woman became worse and worse, and, ala rms at the example she held out to the children, he der :I, mined to let her have nothing except through the w,r, dium of the workhouse, to the authorities of which 2 ,,1 had made such allowance for her as they conside right to demand. eon The LORD MAYOR (to the prisoner)—What hav e i 4 to say to this dreadful account of you 2 . The pris osl " —.Nothing. The LORD MAYOR—I never heard of any thing 03° disgraceful than your conduct as a wife and a mother,' , The husband--I have done all I could -to make i and my children comfortable and happy; but the ta. spe exertion I made, the worse she became in every re .0.. The LORD M AYOR—I' shall now send her to TT oc f well for a month to undergo hard labour, and if she oue bo again in the some way, I shall send her for trial . to try Central Criminal Court. The prisoner was then b ,, k l moved from the bar. The unhappy man frequently sob aloud during the examination. • The Lord Mayor was occupied till past 5 o'clock, it; hearing summonses against omnibus drivers' and cor' t ductors, and cab drivers, for having loitered in differel , parts of the city. Very few of the defendants escape " a the police having become exceedingly vigilant an evinced a disposition to let no offender of the descrir tion pass unpunished. C LERKENTVELL. al Peter Yone,late!,a private in the 95th Regt. of foot, W ag charged with an assault of an unusually violent and ° lv provoked nature, on police constable 175 N. the ir The officer. who appeared to be suffering from 0 juries he had 'received, deposed that at five o'clock__ j, the previous evening, he was on duty in the New -, Pentonville. The prisoner, who was under the in'eo, ence of liquor, had, by his violent language and g r e, tures, attracted a crowd round him. The officer or quested him to go away, but the prisoner became ~.1 130 . violent than before ; the complainant repeated - 111 ',, re e quest, when the prisoner knocked him down'. ti' . 6 1 1 times, twice so violently that his body descended .°.4), somersaults on the flags. Assistance, however , nrrilthe and the prisoner was, with difficulty,, removed to i 0 station-house. Witness felt much pain from the inj ur he had sustained. • The superior officers of the division: to which the c ° 40 ;11 ; plainant oolongs gave him a most excellent charee t o and Mr. Combe said, as tar as his knowledge otter' do he was one of the most quiet and inoffensive men i n -' , force. hatft. v The AleciisTnATE asked the prisoner what he say to the charge. o ugi Prisoner—l was drunk at the time, and I 0 111 las e when lam drunk. I am very sorry for what ~ done, and hope On account of my aged mother e"" presert, you will forgive me. tea Anne Yone, the mother came forward, and entrls of the magistrate to discharge her son, who was is cis' trious and affectionate towards her. He had bee% fe et charged from the army on account of a physic al t. "' be in his constitution.. When he took strotig drink P e came Mr. quite.. insane. • e COMM said assault on the police were beco'ci,g,- ~f such frequent occurrence, and of so ag gravatoil ece pt ratter. that unless they were put 'a stop to, Lk ) , " n ei 3 tnan would join . the force, The plea of dru n " e- n . et' was no excuse, and if' liquor bad such a maddenitiVi• feet on the prisoner, he was the more blameable f" 1. ., 0 0' ing it. He would fine him .11. or a fortnight's imPridoe meat. The money not being forthcoming he was locke • . i AC S. SUPPOSED MURDER AT HAMPTON COURT --„ I ' o r —Tuesday Mr. Wakley, M.P., at die Mitre Tavern , J", ao co ton Court, held an inquest, to inquire into the circutnnor attendant upon the death of a newly .born male infalt Lions of whose mutilated remains had been found in a? . " to the sewer belonging to Hampton Court Palace. ' 141. , e .tr' titulars already adverted to having been narrateo!i 1,0 Wakley observed that there was no proof that this chil,i s ice , been 'murdered, but where a concealment of birth toek b r e ia' and that Was followed by horrid acts of mutilation , t'„ioio, ll , ference would be, that it had been killed. He was of ° rat '" that this child had not come from the Palace at all t . t ; 3 , bi like . de; had been thrown into the barrel drain, and very some person coming from a distance. The jury, ha a 7ili t " liberated for a few minutes, returned a verdict - Murder against some person or persons unknown.: BIRTHS. 94., On the Ist inst., in Brighton, the lady of J. R. Br/11' of a daughter. fr it*, ° On the 3d inst., the wife of Thomas Pynsent, EA t Hemlock, Devon, of a daughter. wife of J' 11' - On the 3d inst., at Liverpool, Eliza, the ifs 4 Roche, Esq., merchant, of a daughter. t i l e y On the sth inst, at Kingswood Lodge, Croydon, d' of, of the Rev. J. S. Hodson, M.A., Curate of Sander Of b daughter. - On - the sth inst., Mrs. J. Hillard, Bentinck-stre4,,t, daughter. clr ti ' On. the 27th ult.:, at 3144 Heliv R i R tre i e E , n p e . ;r Exeter, Anton,„iois iot a ' '' Esq., of Florence, to Susan Parr, third daughter a r Parr Pope, Esq.. , ; tell° t• On the 6th inst., at Catherington, Hants, - , -" e11 i,0t ,5 :4 Colonel E. Napier, late 46th Regiment, to Eli° gatir youngest daughter of the late Thomas Daniel, EA"' r o, Civil - Service. / col is to On the 7th inst., at - St. George's, Hanover•equ lr e'Llso s '•o. eldest son of Colonel Iremonger, Wherwell Pri0r):,,•...00P Mary Anne Widmore, only child of William flopig.“' , EsqKingselere, Rants. O w I/. ` ter On the 7th inst., at St. James's, Clerkenwell, ....; o at' Esq., of Upper Islington-terrace, to Elizabeth, thiru 14' of T. Davis, Esq., of Baker-street, Pentonville. gneviaP°ler On the 7th' inst., Elias Mocatta, jun., Esel '',Ai eol' street, to Rachel, second daughter of the late Goldsmid, Esq., of Tavistock-place. ,ii, DlED.sh'v ~ u , On the 7th hut:, in Salisbury-square, Mrs. D'ar t `` oarc I ,cs On the sth inst., inHart-street, 13loomsbu4-sq ra iler, relict of Mr. }lnnis. On the sth inst., Woodlancls,C.helsfield, gent' oro, youngest son of T. Waring, Esq. , hea th, F•le itn On the 6th inst., at West Lodge, Bcxley- et soil the wife of John Bayley, Esq. c outtg e On the 6th ult., at Funchal, Madeira, George:y(lloc%. ,_cy, of the late D. Guillethard, Esq., of Hackney, M r 1 !-', /. lieu' On the 24th ult., Mary, jou ngest daughte u" tena nt Esq., of Rugby. , - Lio ite . On the 2d inst, at Dublin, Gordon Scott, MP, in the sth Fusiliers. of Maidinan. Esq. , peter 'till , ° On the 6th inst., at Brighton, the Bev. On the 4th inst, at Bedford, Elizabeth, relict of th e lat6G. .tistock, Dorsetshire. 'On the Bth inst., Henry. Grey; Esq., WA On the sth inst., Mr. Patrick O'llyam igatlti v Wandsworth-road. . dfor A _ a ntlarel a g c ed rr 9 o .. spee t.pla ce, On. the Bth` inst., in Gower-street; Be " „ e Jan e, w niel Saxon, Esq. Finsbury' On the Bth iitst., in Whitecross-place, _ ---; -- 12 - ;1 wife of Mr. Andrew Kaye. • ..-----, -- 4 3-0 ~.", , —--- --- ------ 1 - O:ED ° 1 *lO 11 ' . f ,London.: Printed. and, Published by office, ,- 1., 03 • No. 112, Strand, Printer, ar The. Bus,_ ~,, couny Strand, in the Precinct of the Siiioy, J. --. Aliddlese2i, Thursday, May 9, 1844.